Kaku didn't personally know you, but he sure as hell recognized you first glance. The Princess Y/n. From his resources, your kingdom was thriving and almost on par with Big Mom's island which is a feat on its own, but you in particular caught his friend's eye and that wasn't something that was easy to do.
Whenever Kaku would walk around with the rest of CP9, he'd occasionally hear things about you or even sometimes see you when all the royal families gathered every now and then.
When he saw you, his confusion grew. He had assumed someone who interested Lucci would at the very least be a very attractive woman or impeccably strong, but you...you looked like nothing of the sorts.
I mean, Kaku isn't saying you're ugly it's just that you're not drop dead gorgeous and you seemed strong, but more like a rookie-who-hasn't-been-in-a real-fight strong. In shorter terms: you were nothing special.
The long nosed boy would watch curiously at the strongest member of CP9 who's gaze would linger on you if you were in the vicinity. It genuinely stumped him and he decided that he'd try to get to know you to see if there was something he was missing.
Sadly, he never got the chance. It was only after Kaku had wanted to talk to you more that he realized....you really did not leave your island. He never saw you anywhere unless it's at those royal gatherings but those don't happen often and it's rare for him to be stationed there even if it does.
So Kaku had no way of satisfying his curiosity.
.
.
.
Until now.
***
"I can take you back to your friends since I'm going to tell the news to them right now," Kaku offered as he smiled at us sympathetically.
I looked to Zoro who had the same tense face as we both imagined what Usopp would have to say about this.
"You'd better go, Y/n," Zoro nodded his head toward Kaku, "I don't know how he'll handle this, but I know it won't be pretty."
I agreed with him before turning to Kaku with a polite smile and suspicious eyes to compliment them before taking his offer.
"Alright, you ready?"
I eyed Kaku's hand that he was offering me, "What do you mean?"
Kaku grinned, an excited look in his eyes, "We're gonna jump!"
"Excuse me?"
The boy rolled his eyes playfully, his grin calming into a smile, "Just trust me."
I don't know why, but his offer seemed tempting. It's not like I trusted the boy, it was nothing like that, but my body liked the excitement in his eyes and it sensed an upcoming adventure. I slowly took his hand, my brain not sure about the decision but my body bubbling with anticipation.
When my hand reached his, his smile turned back into a grin and he pulled me to him. I stumbled into his chest as his other arm snaked around my waist, "Ready?"
Zoro got up, alerted by his actions, and before either of us could question what he was going to do he bent his legs and launched off into the sky.
My eyes shut reflexively as wind blew past our hair and I had no choice but to grip onto the boy's clothes.
Kaku let out a light laugh, obviously enjoying himself as we jumped from roof to roof, "You're missing the view! Open your eyes!"
I hesitantly opened my eyes before realizing that he was right. The view was incredible, people smiled and waved at the well known boy and the water reflected the sun as it glistened and waved as well. The city was bright and beautiful, a certain energy that made it feel like a refreshing breath of air. The kind that you can feel enter your lungs and spread out.
"Woah..."
"Right?!" Kaku grinned down at me before jumping off another roof, "This is my favorite thing to do! It just feels...amazing!"
I nodded, a smile creeping onto my face without me realizing it. I didn't want to admit it because I was still suspicious of Kaku but my hunch was right. This is exactly the kind of fun I've been looking for.
We safely landed in front of the Galley Co. building, but he still had his grip on me.
I place a hand on his chest and lightly push, "You can let go of me now."
Kaku smiled down at me, "Do I have to?"
My eyebrows furrowed before I pushed myself out of his grasp, him allowing me to as to not make me feel uncomfortable, "Anyways, where's Luffy and them?"
Kaku watched me dust off imaginary dirt in frustration with that same smile plastered on his face, "Ah, right! I forgot about that. Follow me."
I sighed at the shipwrights behavior and attitude before following him into the facility. Men and women alike were working on ships or parts for ships. It was impeccable. They all knew what they were doing and they seemed to do it with ease.
"This is incredible," I watched them all work together to create and repair ships for other people and the most fascinating part of it was that there was so much passion put into it that it seemed to overwhelm the atmosphere.
"Pretty amazing right?" Kaku grinned back at me as he watched me gawk over his coworkers, "I've been here for several years and I've never seen any of them slack off. They all work pretty damn hard."
A glint in Kaku's usually unreadable eyes gained my trust as I watched him look around at the work and his coworkers.
He really does like this place.
A small smile takes place on my now calm face as I nod, not doubting the hard work ethic the shipwrights have.
Distinct orange hair causes my energy to perk up as I sped up a little, eager to finally be around another Strawhat, "Nami!"
A blonde haired guy next to her with a cigar in his mouth and a couple more strapped onto his jacket looked over as well to see me and Kaku walking over to them. His eyes met Kaku's first as he spoke, his cigar miraculously not falling out of his mouth, "Where have you been?"
"An assessment," Kaku kept the response short and forward, not wanting to waste time.
"Ah! So you checked out the ship!" Nami and Kaku began to talk a little as the blonde haired guy from before turned and caught notice of me.
"Y-you!"
I raise my eyebrow at him quizzing my as he pointed his finger at me and jumped back, "Do I know you?"
A deep blush appears on his cheeks as he stammered over his words, "The fact that you're not showing anything off and dressing modest is somehow worse than what this woman is wearing!"
I scratched my head at his weird behavior, seeing Nami get irritated at his words, "Okay...?"
"Sorry about him."
I turn to see an older male with dark blue hair, a mature vibe to him. He continued to speak smoothly, glancing at the blonde haired guy before looking back at me.
"He says that stuff cause he can't handle seeing a beautiful woman," The man offered his hand for a hand shake with a polite smile, "I'm Iceburg, the mayor here, and he's Paulie. He may not seem like it, but he's one of the best shipwrights here."
I nodded, shaking my hand and smiling politely back at him, having to stop myself from introducing myself as the princess like I had done so many times over, "It's nice to meet you, Iceberg. I'm Y/n and don't worry about it you should meet our cook, he's a way more of a mess than him!"
We shared a light laugh, a nice comfortable atmosphere between the two of us. It didn't last long though as Kaku began to describe Merry's condition.
"Her scars from battle are too deep."
"Do you mean that it'll take a long time to fix her?" Nami asked, not really sure what he was going on about.
"Frankly speaking, she can no longer be fixed, even with our skills."
"Huh?!" My crew members helped before turning to me in disbelief.
Luffy was the first to speak, "Oi! Y/n! Is this true?!"
I glanced at Kaku who caught my gaze and nodded before turning back to them, "It is, but listen guys...it's not that hard to believe if you really think about it."
Nami nodded hesitantly with a sigh, "Especially after the knock up stream..."
Paulie began to explain how the keel is basically the most important part of the ship, without it the ship wouldn't be able to sail at all much less stand on its own.
"Then build us another one from scratch! Build us the Going Merry!"
Before I could deny Luffy's request and tell my captain that there was no use, a bird's cooing was heard.
"That's impossible!"
I turn to the birds voice to see a man that I hadn't noticed until now, but from his distinct gaze on mine I could tell it wasn't the same for him.
He had a hat on top of his long black curls and a resting frown, like Mihawks but more uncomfortable to look at. He wore a tank top with suspenders on top and he had a goatee type of facial hair going for him.
"Strictly speaking, we can build you another ship, but no one can make the same exact ship."
I was a little confused as to why the bird was talking for him, but I decided to ignore it and just turn to Luffy with a nod in agreement, "It'll look like Merry, but it'll never be Merry."
The bird man agreed saying that ships are made out of trees and every tree grows differently so there's no way that they could build the exact replica and even if they could we would know it's not her.
"Your only options are to wait until she sinks or take her apart quickly."
"No, I don't intend to get a new ship," Luffy immediately shut Kaku down as he clenched his hands into fists, "Our ship is the Going Merry! Even coming here she sailed comfortably!" His voice shook slightly in anger and disbelief, "And now we're just supposed to believe she can't sail anymore?! How are we supposed to believe that?!"
"Will you be satisfied if you keep sailing on her until she sinks?" Iceburg petted the little mouse that was in his shirt pocket as he sighed, "Good grief...and you call yourself a ship's captain?"
Kalifa, Iceburgs assistant and another shipwright agreed with the mayors offer to come back when we're ready to buy another ship, "Please consider it. Here's a catalog of the new and used ships, please use it as a price range."
A man with one part of his hair sticking out and a tattoo on his chest approached us, telling Iceburg that there was someone waiting at the gates for him only for the blue haired man to tell him to pretend like he wasn't here.
"Hold it Iceburg!" In the distance, three men in black suits could be seen walking towards us, the one in the middle drastically shorter than the other two.
"Oi! You guys hide!" Paulie pointed to the logs behind us, "It's a government official!"
We complied, not wanting any trouble and picked up the suitcases before squaring behind the massive logs.
I turn to look at Luffy when I hear him hum uncomfortably and I see beads off sweat rolling down his forehead.
"I noticed it when I carried these bags earlier but...they're light after all!" He turned to Nami with an uneasy laugh.
Nami smiled weakly, not wanting to believe the boy, "Hey...don't joke like that...how could they be light if they're holding all that money in them..."
And upon opening them they both let out a very, very loud scream.