Free Heart

Ch 35 - I am Bonding.

"Excuse me...What do you mean by-" Emmy started to ask but then she was cut off by a very familiar cry.

"EMMYYYY! SOMEBODY! HELP ME!"

Everyone's attention went overhead to see three bodies sailing across the painted blue skies. One of the three happened to be sporting a straw hat and a red vest. They dropped right into the green sea.

"Luffy?!" Usopp gasped as Zoro dove into the gastric acid to save his captain.

"Well," Crocus sighed as he looked around the skies, "It looks like you managed to calm Laboon down for a bit but it's only a temporary relief. I'll still need to give Laboon some sedatives to settle him down."

"So you are treating Laboon-san," Emmy said with a smile.

"Ah," Crocus said and then stonily glanced over at the blonde, "And you sensed his suffering."

"Yes. Although, it was more than I could handle," Emmy admitted

"I'll go tend to Laboon...when I'm done I'll tell you about bonding. It might help," he said and then swiftly dove into the water and swam for the exit.

Before Emmy could call after him, Zoro burst through the water and tossed not only Luffy up to the deck but also the two other people that fell in with him. One was a orange haired man with a golden crown on his head while the other was a girl with luscious, blue hair tied up into a high ponytail.

Thunk! Thunk!

Two heavy bazookas landed right next to them before the swordsman climbed aboard himself. "God, what a hassle," he grunted.

"OOH! Mellorine!" Sanji swooned as he twirled over to the woman in the ponytail.

Emmy went over to Luffy as he sat up from his puddle of gastric acid and he grinned at her. "Ooh! Emmy, are you feeling better?"

"Yes," Emmy said as she got hit with his unabashed joy, "Much better."

"Shishishishi," he laughed and got up to his feet. Then he nodded over at the two new people on his ship, "Who're those guys?"

"You're the one that brought them over!" Sanji and Zoro snapped. Emmy winced at their anger and she shrank behind her brother.

"What's going on?" Luffy asked with a frown. He turned to look at her sister, "Why is your headband off?"

"I'm trying to calm down the whale," Emmy explained, "If I put my headband back on, he might have another episode."

"Huh?"

"I tamed the whale," Emmy oversimplified, "But only if I keep my headband on."

"Oooh!"

"Hey, the old guy is gone," Nami announced.

"Forget about him," Zoro said and pointed his sword at the two strangers, "We saved you guys for the time being but depending on who you guys are, we can easily unsave you."

The girl moved further away from Sanji's sappy grin and edged herself towards the man she came with. "Mr. 9, they're pirates," she hissed at him.

"I-I-I know. Miss Wednesday...B-But if we talk to them, they might understand," the man said back.

"Understand what?" Zoro asked.

Mr. 9 gulped. "We are here to take down this whale as part of our mission."

"You're whale hunters?" Usopp asked.

"No," Mr. 9 said, "But we need to take down this one in order to turn it into food for our town."