"It's over now. Don't worry, I'm okay," I smiled awkwardly as my father shouts through the transponder snail about how he knew it was too dangerous to let me go.
"If someone tries to hurt you just call me and I'll chain their ass to the depths of hell!" The transponder snail had an angry and threatening look as it resembled my fathers expression.
"But what about Sinthaya? Who will watch over our people?"
The angry face shifted to a proud one as it rolled its eyes in a dismissing way, "I've started to enhance the guards trainings and I'm training Maki as well, she's become quite the capable maid!"
A look of pleasant surprise possessed my expression as I stopped drawing circles on the bed I was sitting on, "Really?!"
"Yup!" The transponder snail was now grinning at me with closed eyes, "She wanted to pick up a scythe like you but she ended up picking up a sword instead. Don't tell her I told you that or she'll kill me..."
A chuckle escaped my lips and the sun seemed to shine brighter through the window. Footsteps were heard heading towards me and when I looked over I saw Nami turning the corner with a curious face, "Who ya talking to?"
"Who is that?!" The transponder snail darted its gaze to her with a suspicious look, "State your name and age and what your intentions are with my daughter!"
I glared at the snail as I whipped my head back at it, "Father!" I spoke in a stern and scolding voice as I indirectly and silently lectured him about his manners.
"What?!" The snail looked up at me with one of its brows raised way higher than the others, "You think I'm gonna let my guard down just because it's a girl?! Your mother was the same way! I had to fight another woman just to marry your mother!"
I shook my head, flabbergasted at the information I was receiving as Nami stood there awkwardly, not really sure what was going on, but feeling as though she probably shouldn't leave. Which was good since my father began to interrogate her.
"Nami..." The ginger spoke her name once she was asked for it with a hesitant voice, not really knowing where the conversation would lead to. She then gave her name and what her position was on the ship.
"A navigator..." The snail looked down in thought, "So she's smart huh?" It looked back up at a Nami radiating pride as it asked a sensitive question, "And what do your parents do?"
Nami's prideful smile fell and she looked at the snail with an empty expression, "My mother was killed by the marines and I never had a father."
This was news to me considering I wasn't there when Nami first entered the crew. I gave her a sympathetic look which led her to giving me a small smile before I glared at the transponder snail.
There was silence from the transponder snail and I could tell my father had froze at the information. The snail closed its eyes and immediately apologized for its words.
"Okay father, I think you've done enough damage for today. I'll call you later okay? Bye," Even before he could say anything back, I hung up and sighed before turning to Nami, "I am so sorry, Nami. He's a little..."
Nami smiled with a dismissing wave of her hand, "Don't worry about it. It's nice to see that you guys patched things up!"
Subconsciously, my finger went back to making circles on the bed as I looked to the side with a bashful smile, "Yeah...I'm just happy he came to his senses."
The navigator smiled softly before gesturing to where she came from with her thumb and a tilt of her head, "Well, Luffy just woke up and I thought you would've wanted to know."
I perked up at the information and tucked the transponder away and back into my bag before hopping off the bed and following her outside the room. Our captain had been out like a light once we got back to Water 7, most likely because of how much strength he exerted in his victorious fight with Lucci.
I entered into the big wooden room to see Luffy stuffing his face happily with Sanji's cooking. I slapped the man's head to wake him up, scolding him about how he might start choking. Greeting Sanji, I helped clean up the dirty and empty dishes as I asked Luffy how he was even capable of eating while sleeping.
"Because I'm hungry?" Luffy answered with a weird look on his face as if he was stating the obvious.
I rolled my eyes at the brain dead answer before smiling at Nami's sulking since we lost everything on the ship. Thankfully, god came to her rescue and sent shipwrights to give us all of our stuff back including the clementine trees since they had confiscated it beforehand. Next thing we know, Franky bursts open the door with the two twins and appeared in a pose and an extravagant yell.
"Ah...everyone isn't here...oh well," Franky sat down with his legs crossed and a more serious expression, "I have something to talk to you guys about."
I sat down at the table where Luffy was sitting before and Chopper hopped on the chair next to me, smiling at me sweetly making me return the gesture before we look back at Franky and listen to his story.
His story covered the tale of a tree called 'Adam'. A tree that would not fall no matter what it went through, be it fire or wind or anything else that tried to tear it down. It was strong and unnerving.
"My dream is to build one last ship using that tree. A dream ship that'll sail across any sea!" Franky smiled at me and I smiled back as we both remembered our conversation on the sea train. "I've already got the blueprints and the tree. I'm going to build it now so...when it's completed, will you sail on the ship that I've built?!"
We all looked at him in shock, not fully processing the request and I chuckle at the small mutter of how we basically paid him for it since he stole our money.
"You mean?!" Chopper slowly started to smile as he came to a realization.
Sanji completed Choppers thought for him, "You're giving us a ship?!"
"There's no one else I'd want to sail my ship than people I like!" Franky grinned with pride as he pointed out that his master built Gol D. Rodgers ship, "Gol D. Rodgers ship was also built with that treasure tree!"
Kokomo smiled and shook her head as she looked down, "Guess it can't be helped."
"You really are a nice guy! We'll take it!"
Everyone celebrated at the good news, cheering and chatting up new ideas for the new ship. I walked over to Franky and nudged his arm playfully with a smile, "You'll be sailing with us, right?"
Franky shook his head with a melancholy smile, "I can't."
I tilted my head curiously, "And why's that?"
Before he could respond dust went flying everywhere along with debris as everyone covered their mouths and blocked any debris from hitting them. A man's shout was heard and we all looked to the source to see the navy.
"So you guys are the Strawhats?! I've got some guys I want to meet Monkey D. Luffy!"
"The navy?!" Franky and Sanji got into a fighting stance as the rest of us tried to asses the situation as well.
Upon further inspection, the marine was wearing a familiar hat with the characteristics of a dog and a grin on his face was the only thing that was visible. He had broad shoulders and he walked with authority and power.
"Garp?!" I pointed at him with baffled expression, wondering why I was running into him here and why he gave a damn about Luffy.
The old man in question stopped his 'tough' act as his jaw dropped to the floor and he looked at me with an expression mirroring mine, "Princess Y/n?!"
I walked up to him with a smile of disbelief, "What are you doing here?"
Garp laughed as he offered me a hug, that same wrinkly grin plastered on his face, "I could ask you the same thing! I thought your old man would never let you off that Island again!"
"We talked it through so he's doing a lot better now!" I smiled softly as we parted from the hug and stepped back away from each other a little.
Garp's eyes caught Luffy's figure who had fallen asleep again in the same position he was in while he was eating. He chuckled under his breath slightly with a small shake of the head, "Guess he's as hopeless as ever."
I tilted my head in confusion as my eyebrows furrowed but before I could ask him what he meant, he sped over to Luffy and landed a punch on his head.
"You went and caused a big ruckus huh, Luffy?!"
Luffy instantly woke up and held his head in pain as he kicked his feet slightly, "Ow!" When the strawhat man looked up at the older man, his eyes seemed to fill up with slight fear, "G-G-Gramps?!"
A moment of silence washed over everyone before we all repeated Luffy in disbelief, none of us knowing this information.
"Hang on!" I pointed to Garp and then to Luffy and back at Garp, "Old man Garp is your grandpa?! And your the grandson he talked about?!"
Garp laughed with a wave of the hand, "Oh no, I was talking about Ace."
At this point my jaw was touching the floor and my eyes were outside their sockets, "Ace is your grandson too?!"
"I guess it makes sense since they're brothers..." Nami muttered to me, but looked confused when I shook my head.
Ace told me that he had a different dad so him and Luffy aren't related by blood...
Garp's grin fell and a look of irritation fell on his face, "That's before they went and became pirates even though I told them not too."
I walked closer to Luffy and Garp with a dissatisfied look as I crossed my arms, "Why didn't you ever tell me about Luffy?"
The Vice Admiral shrugged his shoulders with a fake innocent look on his face, "He wasn't the one I was trying to set you up with. He's too stupid. You're way out of his league."
"Set up with?!" Sanji's voice in the background was ignored as Nami pushed him aside.
"Wait! How do you know him, Y/n?!"
I pointed to myself with a dumbfounded look, "I'm an ex-princess remember? Plus Garp was really close with my parents. He was a frequent visitor at my kingdom."
Garp smiled fondly, "Ah, your mother. What a lovely women." His face fell when he mentioned my father as an after fact.
I rolled my eyes at his usual behavior, "I kept telling you, you're twice her age old man. It was never gonna happen."
The old man pouted his lips to the side, resembling Luffy's childish behavior, as his eyes followed as well, "I don't understand what she saw in your father."
I pointed to Garp as I turned to the others and with a crooked smile, I offered a little bit more context, "Garp was always trying to get at my mother, that's why he was always around, but he'd get rejected every time."
The Vice Admiral placed a firm and heavy hand on my head with a threatening smile, "I think enough has been said, young one."
I smiled up at him weakly before dropping down and out of his grip, walking backwards towards the rest. My eyes shifted to Luffy who was still sitting on the floor, upset about something and muttering to himself with a deep frown and an irritated look on his face. I looked at him curiously before my attention, along with everyone else's, was grabbed by a surprised sound Garp made.
"That means!" The old man looked at me before darting his eyes to his grandson and then back at me. His hands flew to his head in a frantic state as his expression morphed into a terrified look, "No! They've corrupted you too!"