Coffee Cake

"Cherry! Teach me Haki!" Luffy was getting impatient.

"Okay, okay, sheesh." Cherry said exasperatedly, but her smile never left her face. She gave Robin a peck on the cheek and went to find Serene.

Once she found Serene, Cherry took her aside to whisper her plans to her. "I'll unseal your devil fruit, but you're on probation, you hear me? Here's what I need you to do..."

Serene nodded in understanding as Cherry explained her plan. She'd be happy to have her devil fruit ability back, though she'd miss having baths without the feeling of weakness.

"Does anyone else want to have a go at awakening your Haki?" Cherry called out, figuring she should just do it all at once.

She met Usopp's eyes, but he glanced away, clearly not interested in experienced the horror show he witnessed the night before.

"Sanji?" Cherry asked, figuring he had a good shot at it.

"I cannot kick a woman. That method won't work for me." Sanji said simply.

"Not even if I promise to do a swimsuit photoshoot if you beat Zoro's time?" Cherry smirked.

"Geh?!" Sanji had never come so close to betraying his ideals. "M-my answer is still... no..."

"Well, I have another way that'll work for you, so just come along anyways." Cherry waved away his excuses.

No one else expressed interest in using this method at this time, Cherry led Luffy, Sanji, and Serene to a secluded spot.

Once they were alone, Cherry winked at Serene, the signal they agreed upon beforehand.

Serene released her hallucinogenic fragrance for the first time in a while, ensnaring the unsuspecting Luffy and Sanji. Cherry simply held her breath, which she could do indefinitely.

Luffy walked forward and took a battle stance. "Eh?! Ice guy?! What are you doing here?!"

Cherry had instructed Serene to show them hallucinations that would place them into the right state of mind to awaken Haki.

In Luffy's hallucination, Admiral Aokiji shows up out of nowhere and freezes the other three solid, threatening to smash them to pieces. Because it isn't real, Aokiji can't actually lose to him, so he'll be forced to awaken Haki to defend his friends.

Sanji's wasn't too different. Nami, Robin, and Cabernet come to cheer him on, but Admiral Aokiji freezes all the ladies solid, and so on.

Cherry just needed to make sure they didn't hurt each other or Serene. If they didn't show any signs of awakening, she'd tell Serene to have Aokiji kill someone.

Not a very nice way to force them to get stronger, but they're the ones who signed up for it even after seeing what happened to Zoro.

It wasn't too difficult to keep Luffy and Sanji in check and it didn't take too long until they displayed Armament Haki. They both finished around the same time, slower than Zoro. Sanji because he just wasn't as talented, Luffy because he was always a bit slow in getting serious.

"Alright, bring them out Serene." Cherry said, and Serene did as she was bade.

""Huh?!"" Luffy and Sanji said simultaneously, gasping for breath.

"Sorry for deceiving you. Serene used her devil fruit powers to make you hallucinate, none of that was real." Cherry explained.

"Oh, okay." Luffy just accepted it without the slightest hint of anger.

"I'm just happy you're okay, Cherry-chaaan, Serene-swaaaan!" Sanji wiggled with infatuation.

"Oh, you were slower than Zoro, Sanji. What a shame." Cherry ripped out his hopes and dreams and stomped on them. Sanji was depressed for a while after that.

Cherry instructed them to beat each other up for a little while to get the hang of Armament Haki and returned to the ship to relax until they were ready to set out again. To her knowledge, they were just waiting for Franky to finish fixxing up Brook's old ship for Moria's victims.

Cherry spent the time making a coffee cake for the first time in years. She didn't really know why she suddenly felt like doing so, but she'd be happy to make one for Robin to enjoy.

The two enjoyed their first date, chatting over coffee and cake.

"Won't you teach me how to read poneglyphs, Robin? I already memorized the blueprints for Pluton, so you know my interest is purely academic." Cherry asked sweetly whilst batting her eyelashes.

"Really? It's not because you want an excuse to spend more time with me?" Robin countered, resting her chin on her hand.

"Well, maybe it's a bit of that. I also want to try switching up the teacher and student dynamic for a change. Please, Nico-sensei?" Cherry said.

Robin wouldn't admit it, but she really liked the sound of that.

"Only if you properly apply yourself. If you start to get lazy, that's it." Robin spoke sternly.

"Yes, Nico-sensei~" Cherry giggled.

Luffy and Sanji came back from their sparring, Sanji being quite happy that his kicks actually hurt Luffy now. He has a lot of trouble keeping Luffy out of the pantry, so Haki is a game changer for him.

"Oh, where did you get cake?! I want some!" Luffy exclaimed, reaching for the coffee cake.

"Oh, I made it. You can have some." Cherry said.

*Bam*

Sanji kicked Luffy away. "Like I'll let you hog Cherry-chan's cake all to yourself!"

Another battle ensued between them, Luffy trying to snatch the coffee cake all for himself whilst Sanji fought tooth and nail to not lose the opportunity to try Cherry's cooking.

When they stopped fighting long enough to look back, they saw their other crew mates enjoying slices of coffee cake for themselves. None remained for either of them.

"This is pretty good!" Usopp praised.

"Somehow it tastes nostalgic." Nami said.

"Who could have guessed you were capable of more than destruction." Serene observed.

"So sweet!" Chopper spoke happily.

"This is SUPER!" Franky exclaimed.

"This makes my tongue happy! Though I don't have a tongue! Yohohoho!" Brook laughed.

"It's okay I guess." Zoro blasphemed.

"If you don't like it, give it to me, Moss-head!" Sanji shifted his anger to Zoro, sending a Haki coated kick his way.

Another battle started on the ship, though with different opponents this time. Luffy was just sulking at having missed his chance to eat cake, or to eat anything really.

"Hehe, don't worry. It won't be the last time I make one." Cherry tried to cheer him up, with little success.

"I've completed the repairs and renovation of Brook's ship. I'm ready to go whenever." Franky reported.

"I've stocked all the food we could, but after the banquet we don't have much. We'll need to catch fish to fill the pantry or we'll be forced to ration." Sanji said.

"Let's GO!" Luffy shouted, suddenly full of energy.

Finally their preparations were completed and they were ready to continue their adventure.

...

Marineford.

"What terrible timing to start making a ruckus..." Fleet Admiral Sengoku said.

"Only one man could pull something like this off." Garp said.

"He's been quiet all this time, over 20 years. Why now?" Sengoku grit his teeth.

Garp and Sengoku gazed out of the office at the chaos below. Several Marine warships were floating up into the air as a flying island-ship flew overhead.

"Let this serve as a warning to you. Don't get in my way." A voice was broadcasted from the flying island-ship.

The warships were dropped to their destruction below as the island-ship flew away. "Jihahaha!"

""Golden Lion Shiki."" Garp and Sengoku said.

Garp was inwardly somewhat relieved, though that relief came with guilt as well. He hoped that Shiki would cause enough of a disturbance to delay Ace's execution.