~Y/n pov~
I woke up in between two warm bodies.
This was happening a lot lately.
I tiredly cracked open my eyes.
The first thing I saw was a mess of black hair.
His arms were looped around my waist and he was snuggled into me.
I tilted my head to look behind me.
As expected, there laid Zoro, his arm had slid underneath my body while we slept and he had pressed my back against his chest.
I smiled tiredly at the fluttery feeling in my chest.
Curling back up, I fell straight back asleep in the warm embraces.
~*~
It was finally time to say goodbye.
I stood beside Luffy on the small boat.
The rest of the crew stood behind us.
In front of us was the Merry.
Luffy grabbed the stick and lit it on fire.
"Merry... The seabed is dark and lonesome, so we'll watch you to the end. Maybe it was good Usopp wasn't here." Luffy lit the Merry on fire, "There's no way... that he could bear this."
I discreetly snuck a glance at Usopp.
His body was shaking. He was probably crying.
"What do you think?" I heard Zoro ask Usopp.
Of course Luffy didn't hear them.
"I disagree. Everyone must someday day farewell. This is a man's parting." Usopp stated.
So he's finally accepted it...
Once the fire had started to spread quite quickly, Luffy threw the stick into the water.
I watched sadly as the ship burned.
There were lots of good memories.
We should make more with our new ship. But I'll never forget Merry.
It's like a part of the crew died.
"Thank you for carrying us for such a long time, Merry." Luffy stated.
Snow started to fall.
I looked up as the small white blobs fell from the sky.
My smile turned bitter before disappearing completely as I remembered the past.
I didn't cry.
The whole ship was on fire now.
I'm sorry...I wanted to carry you even further. I'm sorry.
My eyes widened. So earlier... it wasn't our imagination.
I grabbed onto Luffy's hand when I saw the tears building in his eyes.
I want to continue going on adventures with you forever.
"It's us who have to apologise, Merry!" Luffy yelled, "I'm not good at steering... so I ran you into icebergs at times. There was a time I tore the sails, too."
Tears were freely running down his cheeks.
I squeezed his hand gently.
"Zoro and Sanji are stupid, so they broke all sorts of things!"
I'd probably laugh at that if the situation was different.
"Usopp would fix them each time, but he isn't good at it!" Luffy continued, "So it's us who have to..."
Luffy let out a choked sob and moved his head down.
But I've been happy. Thank you very much... for taking good care of me all this time. I really have been happy.... Because I had you.
"Merry!"
I pulled Luffy into a side hug.
He sunk into my embrace and rested his head against my shoulder as he continued to cry.
I stood and held him while he cried.
~*~
It had been a few days. We had no ship so we'd probably be here a while.
I hadn't seen Usopp at all.
Is he really not coming back to the crew?
I turned my head when the doors opened.
"I'm coming in." Kokoro announced as she walked straight in.
Sanji greeted her and set down more plates at the table.
The only people at the table were Luffy and I.
Everyone else had disappeared.
Luffy snatched the food off the plate as soon as Sanji placed it down.
"Looks like everyone's finally woken up, huh? You guys slept for two days." Kokoro stated.
I quickly grabbed a plate of pancakes as Sanji set it down.
Luffy glared at me momentarily until Sanji placed another few plates down.
Slowly, I ate the pancakes, batting Luffy's hand away from time to time.
"By the way, the log for the log pose should be ready soon." Kokoro stated.
I looked over and saw Nami laid across a table, looking depressed.
I didn't even notice her until now.
"Even if the Log is ready, we can't move forward for a while." Nami told her gloomily, "The whole one hundred million Berries we saved to buy a new ship, our clothes, furniture and Bellemere's tangerine trees... Everything...."
"We entrusted them all with a backstreet inn, so..." Sanji trailed off.
"I wonder if the visitors outside have anything to do with this."
There was a knock and some people came in with a bunch of bags and the tangerine trees.
Nami jumped up and hugged the tangerine tree tightly.
"Tangerine trees! I thought I'd never get them back!" She squealed as she hugged it tightly.
"Well, when we were chasing you guys around as Iceberg's assassins, we confiscated everything as pirates' belongings. Sorry about that." The guy told us sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.
I guess it all worked out then. We have all our stuff.
"Not at all! Thank you!"
"We're back!" Chopper announced as he walked through the door with Robin.
Sanji ran over to Robin and grabbed the bag she was carrying.
"It must've been heavy. Now, give me your hand." Sanji smiled.
"Thank you." Robin laughed at him.
"Look at this!" Nami yelled, catching their attention, "We got everything back, including our money and belongings!"
I looked to the side and realised Luffy had passed out after he finished eating.
He had pushed the plates away and rested his head on his arms.
The door slammed open again as Franky came through.
I'm surprised Luffy was sleeping through this racket.
"Are you guys super?! Everyone..." he glanced around, ".. isn't here, but that's okay."
"What is it, Franky?" Sanji asked.
His sudden appearance startled us all.
I wish people would stop slamming the doors open and just walking in.
"Listen." He pushed his sunglasses up, "I've got something important to discuss with you."
He sat down in front of the door.
I'm waiting for someone else to barge in and accidentally whack him with the door.
"On an island where wars happen one after another..." Franky started.
Sanji interrupted him, "What is it all of a sudden? You just barged in here. If it's a stupid story, we're not gonna listen."
"Shut up! Just listen to my story." Franky retorted, "No matter if the islanders start a war where cannonballs fall incessantly, or if everyone dies and the town also dies and turns to ruins... this huge tree would continue to stand. No matter what happens, this tree will not fall."
What's the point of this story?
"People once again nestle close to that tree and create a town... a country. Only a few trees like this exist in the world. The name given to the strongest of all trees is... Adam the treasure tree."
"What about the tree?" Chopper asked.
"It's wood appears on the black market on rare occasions." Franky told us.
"What's your point?" I asked him.
"I wanted it... but it cost almost two hundred million. So it was impossible to buy. And then, there appeared pirates with a lot of money - in other words, you guys." He explained.
"You jerk!" Sanji yelled angrily, "You'd better not have bought something like that with our money!"
"Just keep listening." Franky punched the ground, "A long time ago, I made the decision that I'd never again build a ship. But I wanted to catch up to the person who was my goal after all. The next thing I knew, I was drawing blueprints for a ship. My dream is... to use that treasure tree to build one last ship. A dream ship that crosses any sea! I've already obtained the tree. And I have blueprints. When the ship is completed will you set sail on the ship I've built?!"
We started at him in a stunned silence for a few moments.
"Really?!"
"Nothing would make me happier than having people I like sail on my ship." Franky smiled.
There was a loud bang as someone demolished the wall.
We all shielded our face from the smoke.
"So you guys are the Straw hats?!"
We could only see a silhouette through the smoke.
Did the marines come?
"I've for some guys who I want to have meet Monkey D. Luffy."
The smoke cleared and I saw Garp.
He ran past us and punched Luffy in the face.
"Wake up!"
"That hurt!" Luffy cried while clutching his head.
"Hurt? That was a punch! There's no way that's work on rubber." Sanji responded.
"There's no means to ward off a fist of love! Looks like you've gone on quite the rampage, huh, Luffy?"
Luffy looked up at him in surprise, "Grandpa?"
I'd never met Garp before but I knew who he was.
"Isn't there something you need to apologise to me for?" Garp asked.
"Luffy, is he really your grandpa?" Sanji asked in shock.
"That's right. Don't you dare mess with him! When I was small, he almost killed me a bunch of times." Luffy frowned while holding his head.
"Now don't go around giving me a bad name." Garp responded, "I shoved you into a bottomless pit... I threw you into a jungle at night... I attached you to balloons and let them fly... I did all those things in order to make you a strong man!"
He's the one making himself look bad. Who does that?
Everyone just stared at him silently.
Sanji was the one to break it, "I think I've just discovered where Luffy's endless vitality comes from..."
"I eventually entrusted you with my friend and had you train with Ace... but I take my eyes off you and look what happens... I trained you to become a strong marine!"
Luffy jumped up, "I told you over and over that I wanted to become a pirate!"
"You for corrupted by red hair! How foolish!" Garp yelled in response.
"Shanks saved my life! Don't badmouth him!"
Garp grabbed Luffy by the shirt, "How dare you talk to your grandpa like that?!"
He raised his fist threateningly.
"Ah!! I'm sorry!" Luffy yelped.
"This is terrible! Luffy got captured by the navy!" Chopper yelled.
They both fell asleep.
Everyone stared in shock.
Guess it runs in the family...
Garp suddenly woke up, "Oh no. I fell asleep. Wake up, Luffy! Is that how you behave when you're being scolded?!"
He punched Luffy really hard.
Luffy screamed as Garp continued to punch him.
"That hurt!" Luffy clutched his head.
~*~
There was yelling outside and the sound of swords being clashed.
"Oh, that's Roronoa Zoro." One of the men stated.
"Oh? That's Luffy's friend." Garp stated, "He's quite energetic, huh? Well, you guys, try stopping him."
Energetic? He's the opposite.
I looked through the gap in the wall as Zoro was easily beating them.
"Wait, Zoro! You don't have to fight." Luffy yelled while running out.
A pink haired man stepped in front of him to stop him.
Luffy went to punch him but he disappeared.
He was then behind Luffy and he ran at him.
Luffy waited for him to get close enough and then grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the ground.
Garp laughed as he saw his men easily defeated, "You really are no match for them."
I walked out of the destroyed wall and came closer to them.
"You really are strong." The pink haired man stated, "I'd expect no less from you."
Luffy stood up and let the pink haired man stand.
"Luffy. Y/n. Zoro. It's been a while. Do you recognise me?" He dusted off his pants.
Pink hair.... Is this Coby?
"Who are you?" Luffy asked.
"It's me, Coby." He smiled.
So I was right. He looks so different. I almost didn't recognise him at all.
"I do have a friend Coby... but the Coby I know was short."
"That's me! The Coby who was a hopeless crybaby!"
Well at least he admits it.
"Why are you in the Grand Line?" Zoro spoke for the first time in a while.
"I've still got a long way to go... but when I heard that you were nearby, I just wanted to see you guys so badly." Coby grinned.
~*~
"Your father's name is Monkey D. Dragon. He's a revolutionary!" Garp stated.
"Dragon?" Luffy asked.
Everyone let out yells of shock.
"What are you so surprised about?" Luffy asked.
"Idiot! You don't know the name Dragon?!" Sanji yelled.
"Your father is a dangerous man!" Nami added.
Robin decided to explain.
"Pirates wouldn't start a fight with the Government or the Navy, but there's a power trying to bring down the World Government directly now. That's the revolutionary army and Dragon is the man who leads it."
"Ah, I guess I shouldn't of said anything about it." Garp simply laughed it off, "Well then, forget what I said."
Soon after they just left.
Of course they didn't try and capture us. Though I have a feeling next time will be different.
We are still on different sides of course.
~*~
"What's the deal? The Franky family went on a rampage." Nami wondered aloud.
"Maybe your grandpa spin the information by saying that there were regular people who got dragging into the incident." Sanji responded.
Luffy was silent for a moment before he dismissed it with a wave of his hand, "Well, I don't think he'd even think of that."
"At any rate, that's good. We're pirates, not them." Sanji sighed.
Zoro flicked through the newspaper, "Still... they're saying horrible things about us. According to this, we declared war on the World Government. Even burning down the island was our doing, it says."
I raised an eyebrow, "We actually did declare war on the World Government..."
"I wonder if our bounties will go up." Zoro grinned.
Sanji laughed to himself as he imagined getting a cool photo and bounty.
Nami looked in the safe and then froze up.
I peered over her shoulder and noticed there was basically no money.
For my own safety, I got very far away from her?"
She gave us a fake smile, "Where did the one hundred million berry go?"
"Oh, that. I gave it to them to buy meat and booze and stuff for the party." Luffy responded nonchalantly.
"Gave it to them?" Nami took a deep breath and started yelling, "It was our money!"
"It was our party, wasn't it?"
Nami started crying and having an existential crisis.
She sat in the corner and cried, "I wanted to go out and buy gorgeous furniture for the ship."
Robin placed a hand on her shoulder and calmed her down before dragging her out.
~*~
The sun was starting to set and Zoro still hadn't come back from wherever he wandered off to.
The others were slowly started to come back.
Nami wasn't angry anymore.
I gazed out the window and looked at the purple, pink and blue sunset.
It was really pretty.
Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to go and search for Zoro.
I walked around the streets and looked for him.
There was no point calling for him.
I didn't know my way around town that well but if I followed the river I could make it back to where we were staying so I wasn't too worried.
If not for the river I'm sure I'd get lost here too.
It's an unfamiliar town after all.
I checked in all the alleyways as I went past.
It was then I saw the green haired swordsman.
"Zoro." I called out to him.
He turned to me and looked relieved.
"It's getting late." I grabbed his hand, "Let's go."
"I was just about to come back." Zoro still tried to deny that he got lost.
"I'd probably get lost around here too. New places are confusing." I smiled to myself.
I'm surprised I'm not getting lost.
I had a good enough sense of direction but I didn't do well in unfamiliar places (that's a lie I'm always getting lost in town even though I've lived here all my life. Though I don't go to town that often).
Zoro yawned, "I'm tired."
As far as I knew he hadn't had a nap today and most days he would because he stayed up at night later than the others.
The walk was mostly quiet.
The only sound being our footsteps and light breathing.
Zoro walked sleepily next to me.
When we got back, everyone had come back and most were asleep.
Others were just laid there quietly.
I slipped off all the uncomfortable layers of clothing so I was comfortable enough to sleep.
My eyes were already dropping with tiredness.
I'll change my clothes in the morning.
I climbed into bed.
A few moments later, the bed dipped as Zoro got in.
I turned to face him.
He smiled tiredly at me and wrapped his muscular arm around my waist.
I shuffled closer and rested my head on his chest.
The soft beating of his heart lured me to sleep.
~*~
"Pirates guys!" The doors burst open.
"Franky asked us to bring you guys. The ship has been completed." They told us.
"What?! It's already done. That was fast." Luffy exclaimed.
"Straw hat!!" The Franky family came rushing towards us, "Did you see the wanted posters?!"
"Wanted posters?" Luffy asked as we walked outside to greet them.
"Straw hat, the bounty on your head has gotten crazy! And all the others, too, are wanted in addition!"
"Me too?!" Sanji beamed.
"All eight of you now have bounties on your heads!"
The man dropped all the wanted posters onto the floor to show us.
Luffy's was now three hundred million.
"All right! It went up!" Luffy cheered.
Zoro and I both had a one hundred and twenty million bounty.
Nami's was sixteen million.
Chopper's was only fifty.
It was so low compared to the rest.
They've never seen him fight so I guess they're underestimating him because he's so tiny.
Robin's was eighty million.
And Sanji's was seventy seven million.
I almost laughed when I saw the picture.
It was extremely unattractive and only looked slightly like him.
He curled up into a ball and internally cried.
"Look, Sogeking's got a bounty too." Luffy pointed out.
"Please take a look at this." The man showed us that Franky also had a bounty, "If he stays in Water seven he's in danger. And if he gets caught again, we're not strong enough to rescue him! But he will probably try to stay on the island because he's worried about us! Pleas take him out to sea."
I'm pretty sure that was gonna happen.
I already had the scenario in my head.
We'd see the new ship he made.
Luffy would be like 'awesome' and demand for Franky to join the crew.
When he refused Luffy would force him onto the ship and set sail.
Or that's what I thought might happen.
"You guys didn't have to ask me that. I decided a long time ago that he's the only person I'd accept as our shipwright." Luffy laughed.
Of course.
"Thank you." The man smiled and then ran off.
"You guys are prepared for the worst regarding Usopp, aren't you?" Zoro asked.
That's right. He might not even come back. But he has no ship and probably no money.
Sanji mumbled to himself and then shoved the bounty in Luffy's face, "Why is mine the only drawing?"
"You normally don't get a bounty that high to start off with." Luffy completely dodged the question.
"I mean it looks nothing like me. How could this happen." Sanji cried.
"Actually, it does look like you." Zoro told him bluntly.
I was expecting another argument but Sanji just said incomprehensible things to him.
"I don't even understand what you're saying." Zoro spoke over his loud mumbling.
Sanji stumbled his way back into the room and collapsed on the floor.
"I want to file a complaint about my fifty berry bounty!" Chopper yelled.
"Well, there's always next time." Luffy responded.
He doesn't really care since his bounty is really high.
Everyone grabbed their stuff and left the room.
We were lead to the ship Franky had built.
When we got there, there was a huge object covered by a cloth.
Obviously it was the ship.
Franky was nowhere to be seen.
"Whoa! There's something huge!" Luffy smiled excitedly, "We're here, Franky!"
"Franky's not here. Unfortunately, he had to go somewhere." Iceberg told us when he noticed our confusion, "But the ship is completed. I'll show it to you in place of Franky."
Luffy's face lit up.
Iceberg pulled the cloth off revealing a huge ship.
"When I saw it's blueprints, my eyes opened wide in surprise. It can sail any kind of sea. With this ship, going to the end of the world isn't a mere dream." Iceberg smiled.
It had a lion head at the front.
The ship was adorned with red and yellow.
It was more than twice as big as the Merry.
We all climbed onto the ship to see the interior.
There was a lawn and a few trees on the deck, which was strange.
There was even a swing.
~*~
"Hey, Ice pops. Where's Franky? We'd like to say thanks." Luffy leaned over the railings to talk to Iceberg.
"It seems he has no intention of seeing you guys again."
"What? But I've already decided that he's out shipwright." Luffy stated.
"He seems to have realised it." Iceberg responded.
"Then he doesn't want to?" Luffy frowned slightly.
"It's the opposite. He's not sure if he can then you down if you ask him face to face. His honest wish is that he wants to set sail with you guys. That he's entrusting this dream ship that he's been planning all this time to you is proof enough, isn't it?" Iceberg explained, "Franky has come to genuinely like you guys. But he's imposing a duty upon himself to stay on this island forever. Take him by force. That's the only way."
"By force?" Luffy sighed.
I'm pretty sure most of the crew mates felt forced to join... but no one regrets it.
~*~
I shouldn't of been surprised when Luffy stole Franky's swimsuit and ran away but I was.
Is this his way of taking him by force?
Luffy laughed and led Franky straight to the ship.
"Thanks for the ship."
Franky smiled despite his lack of clothes on his bottom half, "Yeah! I wish you a safe journey."
"If you want me to give this swimsuit back to you, then join us!" Luffy smirked.
A crowd had gathered now and there was a lot of screaming and shouting as they saw the sight.
"Don't be silly! You think you can make me join you just by stealing my swimsuit? Nothing should faze a man. A man should be resourceful even with only the skin on his back. He should be like a lion that stands against the waves!"
What is even happening right now?
Robin used her powers to make hands and pull Franky's balls.
And it just got weirder.
Franky collapsed to the ground with a scream of pain.
"Oi, Robin! I still want Franky to be a man when he joins." Luffy yelled at her.
~*~
Eventually we did convince Franky to join the crew.
I'm sure Luffy would've just been persistent and not left until Franky agreed anyway.
And now we were setting off on our next adventure.
We finally got a break too.
~*~
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3971 words
A/n yay Franky joined the crew. Anyway I should sleep because I need it badly. Sorry I forgot to update yesterday oops