"Well, to start, I didn't wake up in a nice bed with a nice family to take care of me. I passed out at some point during the journey through the air, and then I woke up when my body crashed onto an island. There was even a pawprint indent left behind."
"That's what I was told, but I never saw mine."
"I'm hoping that help cushion the impact, since I didn't really feel much since I'm made of rubber. Anyways, I took out Rayleigh's Vivre Card to follow, but I ran into a rock wall, so I tried to use Third Gear to break through it. Unfortunately I was too tired and hungry to make any progress, but there was a giant boar chasing after me, so I killed it to have a much-needed meal. There were all kinds of mushrooms around, and I knew one of them would make me laugh, so I ate that one to kind of cheer me up."
"You really shouldn't eat random mushrooms from an island you know nothing about."
"Well, you're right about that," he awkwardly chuckles. "One of the mushrooms made a whole bunch of mushrooms sprout on me and then I passed out from a combination of the mushrooms and the injuries that hadn't fully healed. I'm not sure exactly what happened next, but I do know that I was really hot at one point like I was on fire, but then I just passed out again. The next thing I know I'm waking up in a bed in a single room prison with some bandages around the worst wounds."
"They put you in prison? Was it because they knew who you are, or were they being cautious because they had no idea who you were?"
"Neither. They locked me up because I'm a man. I'd find out later that I was on Amazon Lily, which is entirely made up of women. Not a single man is found on the entire island, and any man that finds himself there meets an unfortunate end."
"Oh, that's interesting," I mumble.
"So, I wake up, stretching as I sit up, and I see a large group of women crowding around the bars of my prison just staring at me. Which know makes sense as they had never seen a man before me. So, I get out of bed and notice that someone took my hat," he reaches up to adjust his straw hat, "and I notice it on some girl with pigtails, so I stretch my arm to get it back. The girls went crazy over that."
I chuckle, "Let me guess, they think that since you can do it, that all men can do it?"
He softly chuckles, "I think I did hear them say something like that. Then one of them asked who I was, so I told them, and that's when I realized I was—oh," he nervously clears his throat.
"Noticed you were what?" I tilt my head to the side as I look over at him.
His cheeks are a bright red; the deepest blush that I've ever seen on him. He nervously shifts around, nervously coughing a couple times to give him some time to think of how to respond. "I wasn't embarrassed in the moment, but now that I'm telling you, I'm realizing a lot of different things."
"Now you're making me nervous," I pout.
He takes a deep breath, "It didn't mean anything, but I was naked in front of all those girls for a little bit before they gave me a similar outfit just with way too many flowers and frills all over them. And now that I've said it out loud, I wish I had noticed before I stood up so I could have wrapped the blanket around my waist because you're the only person who's supposed to see me like that. Wait!" He covers his now beet red face with his hands. "That came out wrong, I think. I'm not trying to be a pervert, but I don't care about seeing any other girl's body but yours, and I hope you feel the same way about me. I remember Ace gave me some kind of weird talk around stuff like this before he left, and I think I'm finally figuring it out now."
My entire face is hotter than it ever has been that it's even reaching the tips of my ears. I'm not even sure what to say back to Luffy, and I doubt that I can even trust myself to speak after what I just heard. I had a feeling that Ace gave him The Talk around the same time that Makino did for me, but it's nice to have that finally confirmed. That he's not as clueless about that side of a romantic relationship. Except that it has now made this situation extremely embarrassing.
"Luffy," I choke out, having to clear my throat before I try again. "Hey, Luffy, it's okay that they saw you naked. It's not that it doesn't bother me, but there's nothing I can do about it now. As for that other part you said towards the end, I mean, you're the love of my life, and the only person I ever want to be with, so I do feel the same."
He slowly lowers his hands, his face still very much mirroring mine. "What if I told you that I saw another woman's body?"
I shrug, "You've seen Nami's one time because of Bon Clay, but you told me that it didn't make you feel anything, so I don't really care."
"Yeah, I didn't care about seeing her either. It didn't make me feel the way I do anytime that I look at you. We'll get to that later though. I don't want to skip around my story."
"Are you okay to continue?"
"Are you?" he nervously smiles.
I nod a few times.
"Well, I yelled because of the horrible outfit, and they got really offended because of that, and ever after I apologized this one said they were going to kill me an never speak of me there ever again. They fired arrows all at once, but I just broke out through the ceiling before running through the city while they did whatever they could to try and kill me, but I took the one that gave me my new clothes because I had to ask he some questions, and then I escaped to the forest. Her name is Marguerite, and I think that you'd really like her. She helped me out a lot."
"I hope that I get to meet her," I softly smile. "Thank her for helping you, and it would be interesting to learn about life without a single man."
"I'm sure she'll tell you all about it, and she'll ask a lot of question about what it's like to live with men," he shortly chuckles. "Anyways, we talked for a little bit out in the forest. She gave me back Rayleigh's Vivre Card, so I was very thankful for that. She told me that their empress is also a pirate, and that only the toughest warriors are allowed to go on the ship. She called her the Snake Princess. She's a Warlord of the sea, which will matter later."
"Hold on, Snake Princess...Warlord of the Sea? Are you talking about Boa Hancock? I remember Brook mentioning her once. He said she's like beyond beautiful."
"Yeah, that's who it is! She's pretty, sure, but I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever laid eyes on, so that's all that matters to me. Anyways, since Amazon Lily is in the Calm Belt, they only have the pirate ship that's lead by these giant snake sea monsters, so I first tried to make a raft and I was going to row all the way back to Sabaody. That would have made me a lot stronger for sure, but my raft didn't make it far before falling apart, so Marguerite had to save me. Then she started attacking me again, and she said her arrows had Haki. Then some other girls showed up ready to take me out."
"She had Haki in her arrows?"
"I'm not sure how much I understand it all yet, so I'm just explaining it how she did to me. Her arrows were crushing stone, but when I grabbed one I could easily snap it in half."
"Sounds like I need to learn that kind of Haki too," I nod a few times.
"After all this, we'll find someone to train us. Now, I've got a group of girls chasing after me, so I start running away because there's no reason to fight them, and I find myself back at the city trying to find someone to talk about taking me back to Sabaody on their ship, and I decide on the tallest building. Basically, I crash through the ceiling of the castle and land right in the bath where Hammock is taking a bath, but I don't see anything!"
I softly smile, barely shaking my head not at his last statement but at the incorrect use of the woman's name.
"Yeah, I didn't see anything but her back. Even when she turned around I didn't look anywhere. Okay?"
"Okay, Luffy," I reach up to pat his cheek a few times.
"So, she has this mark on her back that we've seen before, and you would have been branded with it if we hadn't of gotten you back in time from the Celestial Dragons," he's jaw clenches. "It's their symbol that they stamp on slaves."
My eyes widen as I blink a few times to let the information process. "She's been through a lot then, yet she's not letting anything stand in her way to tackle whatever she wants."
"She doesn't want anyone to know, so don't tell her I told you. She was more angry that I saw the symbol than anything else. Then her sisters barged in to see what was going on, and Hammock tried to use her Devil Fruit to stop me, but it relies on me to love her, and I don't," he shrugs. "She's helpful, but I'm not in love with her. My attempt to escape once more didn't end nearly as well, and I was caught and taken to an arena where everyone was watching. They tied me up with snakes!"
I giggle, "Well, she is the Snake Princess, so it makes sense. But, they're gonna make you fight now?"
"Well, Hammock asked me all kinds of questions, and I answered them truthfully, but they were still going to kill me until Margaurite stepped in to defend me."
"Damn, I really do hope that I get to meet her."
"Two more jumped in that also helped jumped in to defend, and then Hammock walked down to get them all to look at her, and she turned the three to stone with her Devil Fruit. A giant cat, I think it was a panther, was sent out to kill me, but I knocked it out with a single punch. When I talked back, asking what would happen to the stone girls and why everyone was laughing like their friends weren't just turned to stone. Hammock said everyone would forgive her because she's beautiful, but at that point she was just making me sick."
I grin, "She ran into the only man that can resist her looks, and I'm sure that didn't sit well with her."
"Not at all," he flashes a grin back at me. "Instead of fighting me herself, she sent her sisters to do it. Both of them have a Devil Fruit power that can make them turn into snakes. Before I could start fighting though, I moved the three stone girls out of harm's way. Then, even though everyone was chanting for my death, and there were spikes in the moat surrounding the fighting area, I wasn't going to lose."
"I'm sure that it was an intense battle, but you don't have to give me the details. Unless something really exciting happened."
He shrugs, "They can use Haki, so it was hard in the beginning to get a hit on them. They were actually hurting me, but I wasn't going to go down easily. I was going to keep fighting back no matter what. And then one of the sisters grabbed Margaurite intending to smash her body. Intending to kill her for helping me. When they wouldn't listen, I screamed loud enough that I might have used some Haki. I heard some women in the stands passed out."
"Luffy," I shove his shoulder. "That's awesome!"
He chuckles, "I had a feeling you'd think that. I'm not really sure how to do it though. It just happened. Kind of like how you were telling me you think you used it when in emotional distress in the auction house."
"When a person is pushed to the limits of what they can handle, this power explodes out of us because we don't know how to control it, but it is so dearly needed."
"Okay, so how'd you win?"
"I used Second Gear, so even if they could predict my movements, I was still faster than them. When they used their like own power ups, I tied their tails together to have them crash into each other. One of the girls shirts burned up from the other's attack, and when she fell across the spike filled pit, her back was exposed to everyone, so I quickly flung myself to cover her mark. All three of them have the same mark, and that has nothing to do with our duel. They all realized that, so Hammock made everyone evacuate. I'll count it as a win."
"Were the girls able to be turned back?"
"Yes," he nods. "Hammock didn't want to fight me, but she gave me a choice to either be taken off the island, or for the girls to be turned back. Of course I asked them to be turned back after everything they did for me. She did, and then she invited me back to the castle. I was hoping she'd have some food for me, but when I was allowed into her room, um," he clears his throat, "she was just sitting there naked. It was really weird. I'm not sure if she was trying to shock me at first, but I really didn't need to see her like that. Anyways, she showed me her back again before telling me how she got it. Well, she had to be convinced by this old lady that I deserved to know, and that I hated the Celestial Dragons as much as anyone. I kind of told you earlier, but she and her sisters were slaves of the Celestial Dragons. The mark reminded me of what is on Hachi's forehead. She says she was freed by a fish-man, I think it was Fisher Tiger, who created a pirate crew that would cover up the Celestial Dragons mark."
"The sun symbol on Hachi."
"That's right," he nods. "Everyone got one, so we don't know if Hachi was ever a slave, but he's been on some wild adventures for a long time. I'm not sure what it was, but Hammock started crying before saying she'd take me to Sabaody the next morning. Before that though, we finally got the banquet with all the food that I wanted. Except all the girls were poking and stretching me and I just wanted to eat. Margaurite helped me escape to the edge of the city where the old lady was reading the newspaper. I grabbed some food, but it wasn't nearly as much as I had wanted. It's where I learned Hammock was a Warlord, and how she was going to get that title removed for refusing a summons by the World Government."
"A summons of all Warlords to be at Marineford to fight against Whitebeard and his crew," I sigh. "I knew that Whitebeard wouldn't let Ace die without putting up a fight."
"That's right. It's there that I learned that Ace was going to be publicly executed, and that no matter what I did I wouldn't make it in time to help rescue me. We decided that if the summons was accepted, Hammock could get me to Impel Down in time to break Ace out, as Marineford is no doubt going to have all their forces out to make sure Ace dies today. Obviously we didn't break him out, but I am thankful we made it to Impel Down because I got to reunite with you there."
I lean over to press a kiss to his cheek, "There's always sunshine even in the darkest of storms."
"It wasn't going to be easy to convince Hammock to go there after everything she's been through, and especially when I learned she was sick. When we went, the old lady knew exactly what was going on, and she said to ask anyway, so I did, and Hammock said she'd do it."
"What was her illness?"
"Actually, I think you had a mild case of it many years ago," he chuckles. "I heard the old lady say lovesickness."
"She's in love with you? Doesn't she know you have a girlfriend? It feels like everyone knows we're together."
"They don't get the paper a lot because the paper birds don't fly over the calm belt or something. It doesn't matter if she knows or not, and I don't care if she loves me. I love you, and that's all that matters."
I take a deep breath, "You're right. I love you too, and it's one of the best feelings in the world."
"I'm only ever going to love you. I figured that out a long time ago. Now, it was decided that we'd leave as soon as possible, so we did not long after Hammock agreed. Everyone was sad to see me go, but I said I'd come back with all my crew. Then it was a short journey on her ship to the Navy battleship. I had to hide under her clothes to avoid being found out, but then we just stayed in a room on the ship, and she got anything I asked for. I ate a lot of food. When I wasn't eating, I was just staring at Ace's Vivre Card and thinking about how angry he'll be that I came to save him. I didn't care though."
"He'll never ask for help, but he definitely needs some help."
"Hammock on the other hand, when she wasn't telling the Marines what to do, was sitting in a corner being really weird. It took four days for us to make it to Impel Down. Once we arrived, I had to hide within Hammock's coat to not be seen. She was even taken aside to be searched, but she turned the woman to stone in order to give me time to escape. We parted ways after I thanked her, and then I was on my own to find where Ace was. I thought the easiest way to do that was to use he's Vivre Card, but I just kept running into dead ends. Then I ran down a hall with some prisoners that were asking me questions and favors. That's when I ran into Buggy running away from some gorilla beast wielding an axe, Blugori they called them, and running after him, so I had to run too."
I chuckle, "I was wondering when you'd run into him. I didn't think it would be that soon. Out of everyone we could have run into, I'm most surprised about Buggy. Crocodile makes sense, but I'm glad he's on our side for the moment. I guess I'm glad Buggy's on our side too, if you're about to tell me he helped you out."
Luffy nods, "He did. After I defeated all five Blugori, we talked for a minute. In exchange for the band on my arm, he'd take me to the next level, so we started heading that way after everything was settled. We needed to get down to Level 5, and at the moment we were on Level 1. My armband that I gave him is apparently to help reach some treasure he's after, but that doesn't mean more to me than Ace."
I softly smile, "You have a pure heart, Luff."
"Only for certain people," he shifts closer to me. "So, we are running through the halls to avoid the guards. Well, I'm running and holding Buggy's feet so he can fly through the air. Anyways, I had him the armband since he's leading me to Ace, and then we crash through a door that I thought was a shortcut. It does turn out that way, but right below us is a forest made out of knives where prisoners are being tortured. You would have hated that place Akari. There was blood everywhere."
I wiggle as the shiver runs down my spine. "Glad I could avoid it."
"Since Buggy can't get cut, he has me toss down his feet to run through the knives as I ride on his back as we sail through the air. He takes me right to this hole in the center of the place that will lead me down in the direction Ace is. I leapt in without hesitation, and then a few seconds later I can hear Buggy screaming as he follows after me."
I snicker, "I don't think he was intentionally following you if he was screaming."
He shrugs, "Either way, we were still together when we landed in Level 2. The first thing we came across was a giant chicken monster that I had to use Third Gear to take out, but it would have been a waste of time to fight normally. Everyone on the floor was really happy to have that thing taken out, and I also wrecked the guardroom in the process. Buggy freed a group to then free the rest, but I needed to get to Level 3 and quickly onto Level 4. That's when Buggy revealed he didn't know where he was going next, as all he wanted was the armband, but we weren't totally out of luck because one of the guys we freed was Mr. 3."
I shake my head, "It really is amazing how many of the people we've run into over our short journey have come back to be such a huge help in all this."
"He wanted to escape, but I made sure that he stuck with me to show me where to go next. Also, we were all being chased by some strange monsters. A string of scorpions and lions with human faces. Then the boss of the floor was a giant lion that actually helped us crash through the floor by slamming it's paws into the wax figures that Mr. 3 was making. It was a quick way down to Level 3 where I needed to go."
"Level 3 was unbelievably hot that it felt like we would be baked alive if we stayed for too long. The three of us got into an argument of what to do next, which led us to be trapped in a giant net that was laced with Sea Prism. They also had the giant lion captured, and while this little monkey guy was talking to us with a horde of Blugori gathered, the lion woke up and went crazy and broke the net for us all to escape. That's where Buggy and Mr. 3 would go a different way while I continued on to find stairs down to Level 4. Except the next staircase I found was going up, and I needed to go down. At the top of the stairs were a bunch of guards that I had to avoid being caught in the nets they shot at me. And then I was trapped under the paw of the giant lion, but I was saved by who I thought was Zoro, but it was actually someone else that could just look and sound like Zoro."
"Bon Clay," I sadly smile. "He keeps saving our ass right when we need it."
"He knocked the giant lion out as he revealed his true self. It was exciting to see him, and I was glad that I could have someone that would actually help me to the end of my journey to Ace. Bon instantly agreed to help me get to Level 4 then 5 and fight off anyone that got in our way. He said there was someone on Level 5 that he wanted to find, so it worked out in both our favors."
"Who did he want to meet?"
"Ivankov, who I will get to soon, so don't worry. Obviously we did meet them, so he got what he wanted. Back to us on Level 3, we had to fight off against a minotaur, and then Bon showed me to where Level 4 was. It was even hotter than where we were, and I was already extremely hungry and thirsty. However, before we could make a decision, Buggy and Mr. 3 come running after us as their being chased by the minotaur. This time I knock it out for good to give us a moment to gather ourselves before we head on down to Level 4. It wasn't long after that the piece of floor we were standing on started to fall, and we didn't have a choice but to go down to the next level."
"At least going down has been fairly easy," I grimace.
"I guess I'm just lucky and get where I need to go," he shrugs. "It was even hotter down in Level 4. It felt like we were burning without being on fire. The platform we were on was unbelievably hot, so I just smelled the air to find where the kitchen was because I needed to eat. I had to take out some guards on the way, but I never would make it to the kitchen as I ran into the man in charge. Some guy who ate a Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to produce poison. I did my best to run away from his attacks to avoid being poisoned, but there comes a point where running isn't going to be enough. Kind of like how you decided to fight instead of having to rely on running away from the danger all the time when we were kids. I made up my mind that I would sacrifice my arms to hit Poison Man, and I did hit him a couple different times, but once his poison took hold, it was only a matter of time. I remember thinking of Ace and failing in rescuing him. In thinking that I was going to die before seeing him again. And I thought about you, and how you might never know what happened to me if I died in there."
"Luffy," I breathe out.
"My memory is a bit fuzzy from then on because of the pain and going blind. The place the guards took me was the complete opposite of Level 4. It was so cold that I'm surprised people were still alive. Still, I pushed my body to try and keep escaping. The only thing on my mind was rescuing Ace and somehow living to have us all together again. Then, Bon showed up to save me in the name of friendship. I remember him pulling me around in a sled and going around trying to figure out where Ivankov was. He ended up going into this forest where we were attacked by wolves, so I used the last of my energy to force a burst of Haki to take them all out. I'm not sure if I ever fully passed out, but I'm sure I faded in and out."
"And this is where Ivankov steps in and saves both of you, right?"
"Yes, his assistant found us and took them back to where he'd been hiding out for a couple of years. They had a whole community running between Levels 5 and 6, and it was there that he patched up Bon and started my treatment. All because I asked him to save Bon for all he did for me. It wasn't easy treatment though. Whatever Ivankov injected into me using his Devil Fruit power sent my body into a torment that felt like a war was being fought within me. I had to be chained up and locked in a room. I don't think I stopped screaming the entire time. He said that the treatment would take ten years off my life if I survived, but I couldn't die right then and there."
"Ten years!?" I blurt out. "I know there was no other way, and I'm so glad that you're alive, but ten years would be a long time without you."
"That's why we're making the most of the time we have right now. We can't worry about that far into the future or else we won't be able to appreciate what's going on right now. I only had one option, so I'll have to deal with the consequences later. Right now though, I'm enjoying all this time that I get to spend with you while we tell each other about what we missed while separated. You're my silver lining."
I blink a few times and feel the tears slide down my cheeks. "You're right. We can only live in the moment and appreciate what we have right now. If we look too far into the future, we'll just worry about stuff we can't control anyways. Out of all the shit I've dealt with in the past few days, I'm beyond grateful to be able to sit here with you. I love you so much, Luffy."
He reaches up to wipe the tears off my cheeks with his thumb. "And I love you so much, Akari."
"Please, continue your story on how you survived being poisoned."
"Oh yes, so at some point I could hear chants from outside the room I was in. Bon Clay started them, and he never stop as he led the chants for ten hours. I don't think I was supposed to beat the toxins that quickly, but the second I was no longer in pain from the poison or Iva's treatment. All I knew was that I was extremely hungry and needed food fast. They gave me a lot as fast as they could, and after about half an hour I had eaten enough to make me feel almost all the way better. It was still a struggle walking around, but I couldn't let that hold me back. I thanked Iva and then Bon because it was him who's chants really pushed me to beat the toxins as quickly as I did. Then I was asking them to tell me where I needed to go to get to Ace, and I learned that Iva knows my dad."
"What luck," I giggle.
"It's that connection that made him decide to truly help me. He even gave me an adrenaline shot so I would be able to run and not worry about passing out from everything my body had gone through. I'm sure after this I'll sleep for a long time. So, Iva and his assistant led me out of their hideout to get to Level 6 as quickly as possible. No matter how many traps or guards they threw at us, we kept pushing forward. Except we weren't quick enough as we got there just after they had taken Ace out. It was there that we met Jinbei, and he told us to go to the elevator. They were ready for us and sent spikes down on us, so we went for the stairs that were also closed. Then they tried to put us to sleep with gas, but Iva's assistant can cut anything and make it like paper, so he closed where the gas was coming from, but that also happened to be the stairs up. By that time we knew that Ace was already handed over to the Navy to be taken to Marineford, so Iva wanted to just try and get me free while leaving Ace's rescue to Whitebeard, but obviously I couldn't let that happen. I had to go and help out too."
"I was thinking the same thing when I left Schmied. I have to do whatever I can to save my brother, or I won't be able to live with myself."
"It was there that we found Crocodile. Iva knows him too, so if he did anything to go against us after we set him free, it wouldn't have ended well for him. Jinbei also wanted to help Ace, so of course we let him free to go with us. Then, all we started to make our way up using Crabby's power to cut through anything. Iva gathered his people on Level 5, while Jinbei, Croco, and I made our way to Level 4. We fought a lot of guards without issue, and then Iva and his group joined us as we continued to make our way. Croco got one of his former men, the guy that Zoro beat in Alabasta, out of his cell. Basically, nothing was going to stand in our way to get out. We just had to keep fighting and heading up. Iva's people would free anyone that we came across to keep the riot going. At one point Iva's head was really big, and then he was a woman, but that's all because of his Devil Fruit. Then we ran into some weird dude with a head covering of a cat or something, and that's who Blackbeard," his voice drips with venom at the mention of the man's name, "jumped down on. Which means that's when we were reunited. You're all caught up."
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Hope you enjoyed reading! With Luffy's recap done, that means next chapter we will return to the main story. Well, after a little talking between Luffy and Akari to wrap everything up and transition into what happens next. Anyways, I would love to know what you thought! :D