Chapter 56: Families are like fudge – mostly sweet with a few nuts.

"Good. Now where are my grandsons?"

Looking around Garp saw Luffy eat-sleeping and that angered him. Without anyone able to do anything he got closer to him fast and punched him in the head.

"WAKE UP LUFFY!!"

That had the desired result. Luffy woke up screaming in pain and holding his forehead.

"So, I heard you've been doing reckless things, Luffy!"

"Gr- Grandpa?!" said a panicked Luffy.

""""""What?!""""""

"That's right! I'm Garp the fist! This scoundrel's grandfather!"

"Wait! Garp the fist? As in THE hero of the marines?" said Nami, shocked.

"The one and only!"

"Luffy, is he really your Grandpa?!" asked Sanji.

"Yup! Don't mess with him, you'll get killed! Grandpa nearly killed me on many occasions in the past!"

"Don't say such scandalous things! Now, where is the other one?"

"The other one?" asked Chopper.

With the best timing, or perhaps the worst, Rick exited the bathroom.

"Come on guys, I can't go to the bathroom for two minutes without you breaking…."

He stopped his sentence short when he saw Garp in the room.

"Oh shit!"

He tried to run but wasn't fast enough. Garp was already upon him and grabbed him by the collar.

"HERE YOU ARE, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!"

Garp threw a fist that Rick tried to dodge, despite his situation, and got counter attacked. That didn't please the old man in the least, making him stop being nice and pummel his grandson into the ground.

"Is that how you treat the one who raised you after not seeing them for more than a decade?!"

""""""...""""""

""""""WHAT?!""""""

"Hmm? Oh, well I more or less picked up the little shit when he was a kid."

"It was borderline kidnapping!" Interjected Rick.

"What are you talking about? You came to me when you were six, wanting to join the marines."

"Perhaps but the story going around is that you kidnapped me! How many people told you that kidnapping was still illegal and to put me back where you found me?"

That was mostly true. Back in the days many marines officers had told Garp those exact words. Unfortunately he was used to Rick spinning things the way he wanted with half truth. A decade without seeing him didn't change that.

"I didn't! And even if it was true it doesn't matter! I trained both you and Luffy to be marines and you became pirates!"

"Wait, what? You trained Luffy? How do you even know him?" said Rick, playing the ignorant.

"Well, he's my grandson!"

"..."

"WHAT?! What do you mean grandpa?" exclaimed Rick

"Grandpa?" asked a puzzled Nami.

"Then that means" began Sanji.

"Rick is" then Chopper.

"His grandson too." finished Robin

""""""HOW?!""""""

"Hold on! You're saying that Rick and I are related?" said a dumbfounded Luffy

"Well, not by blood but yes."

"So we're like brothers then, awesome!" screamed Luffy in joy.

"I don't know if I should be happy to have even more family or sad to be my little brother's subordinate." lamented Rick.

"Oh, come on!" said Luffy, putting his arm around Rick's shoulders.

The joyful moment didn't last long as Garp punched them again.

""What the hell?!""

"That's for becoming pirates!"

"I always said I wanted to be a pirate!"

"And I'd rather be a pirate than a marine after knowing how corrupt they are and how they fucked me over!"

"Why… you…"

Garp gave them another round. Rick tried once again to dodge and hit back which really pissed Garp for good. The results? Rick ended up outside and unconscious after going through a wall.

When he came to, he was in one of the beds the Galley-la had provided them. Garp and his men were fixing the walls he destroyed. Apparently the Vice-admiral and his grandson already had their talk, as well as Coby and Luffy.

"Ugh…"

"Guys, Rick is awake!" said Chopper.

"Not so loud…"

His head was hurting a lot. After a punch of Garp though, that was not surprising. He raised from bed and went to lend a hand fixing the wall.

"So you're up." said Garp.

"Yeah, no thanks to you. Seriously, did you have to hit me so hard?" replied Rick.

"It was good for what you have."

"..."

"..."

"Why did you use this power in front of everyone? The marines know now. They will be more determined than ever to arrest you and study you."

"Wait, what power?" asked Chopper.

"Those hands, they were your doing right?" stated Sanji.

"It looked like my own." added Robin.

Garp stopped hammering to look at Rick.

"You didn't tell them?"

Rock shook his head sideways.

"I didn't intend to use them in front of anyone, ever, like big sis and you told me to do but this time, my safety was less important than theirs."

He turned towards his friends.

"When I was around eleven, I ate a second devil fruit."

That news shocked everyone. That was impossible, no one could eat a second devil fruit. Anyone who ever tried died. That's one of the ironclad rules of the world, like always following the logue pose. And now, Rick was telling them that he did and survived? That sounded preposterous.

"That's impossible, you would have died." said Nami.

Rick made two hand sprouts and gave them his hammer and some nails to keep working on the wall.

"Except I didn't."

"But how?" said Sanji.

"I don't know. And since the only three other people who knew about it had no knowledge of biology, we couldn't really investigate why."

"Why hide it?" asked Chopper.

"The World Government would have probably studied his body without any morals or ethics." answered Robin.

"It's painful to hear and even more painful to admit it but you're right Nico Robin" said Garp before adding a few more words.

"We couldn't let them do that to Rick so we hid everything. Besides Sengoku, who needed to know there were only three people who witnessed Rick eating another devil fruit, so it was pretty easy to do."

Speaking of witnesses, Rick remembered who was there at the time and suddenly his mind clicked. His face paled and was almost deathly white.

"Oh god!"

He stopped doing what he was doing and rushed to pack his things.

"Rick, what are you doing?" asked Luffy.

"I- I- need to go! Right now! I need to get off this island!" the Vice-captain said in panic.

He was reaching the nearest exit when Garp grabbed him."

"What are you doing? If she finds me I'm dead meat! Let me go!" yelled Rick while trying to break free.

"She's not here." said Garp.

"But you are! So she will be soon!" replied Rick.

"Okay, what is going on?" asked Sanji.

"What's going on is that Rick is running for his life..."

"AND MY ASS!"

"... Yeah, knowing her, you should probably run for it too." admitted the Vice-Admiral with a serious tone.

It was a first for the crew to see Rick panic. They saw him joking, serious, sad and utterly furious but scared? Never. Who was he trying to run from?

"Who is 'her'? " asked Nami.

"His ex-girlfriend." answered nonchalantly Garp while picking his nose with his free hand.

"She was not!" objected his grandson

"You did make the promise to marry her so it was serious enough for her to be your girlfriend." reminded him the Vice-admiral.

"""""""YOU WHAT ?!"""""""

Garp had dropped a bomb. Every member of the strawhats had a different reaction. Nami and Robin didn't seem to be pleased by the news. Sanji, Chopper and even Zoro had their jaws hanging, and Luffy was confused because he didn't know what marrying someone meant.

"I was trapped okay! It was the only way to get my freedom back! Now grandpa, I'm begging you, please let me go!" Rick explained.

"That's not necessary Rick. When I said she was not here, I meant on the island."

"There is no way she's not here when you are!"

"She left the marines!"

Rick stopped trying to break free, shocked by the news.

"... What?"

" Less than a month after you left, she did too."

"... Why?"

"... I… don't know." said Garp.

"..."

"..."

"Can you tell us more about his ex-girlfriend?" asked Nami, putting an emphasis on the word girlfriend.

"Yes! Why is Rick so scared of her?" said Chopper.

"Is she ugly?" asked Sanji which earned him a smack on the head by Nami.

"Kaza? Ugly? Bwahahahaha! She's one of the most beautiful women I have ever met. And she's strong too! As for why Rick fears her, well… She can be... rather overly affectionate."

"Affectionate?! Affectionate?! She's bat shit crazy! Do you remember how long I was in the hospital after…" He didn't finish his sentence, too embarrassed to discuss his sexual life in front of his friends.

"After. What?" questioned Nami, determined to get everything out of this conversation.

"When they met again after 8 years, Kaza gave him a choice…"

"Grandpa!"

Garp used the same hand he used to pick his nose to cover Rick's mouth.

"Go at it until she's satisfied or until he breaks. He held on for three days before ending up at the hospital with a dislocated hip."

"Hmmmmphf!" replied Rick

"Holy crap!" said Sanji.

Everyone else was speechless.

"Affectionate indeed." finally said Robin with a hint of jealousy that Nami didn't miss.

"Well, that was not the worst she did." confessed Garp.

"Because there is more?!" said Sanji

"Plenty!"

"Would you mind telling us more?" asked Nami.

"Don't you dare grandpa!"

"Be quiet, you friends want to know more about you and I don't see the problem with that!"

"But.."

"When Rick ate his second devil fruit, she passed out from shock."

"Wait, she was there?" asked Sanji.

"Of course, she was his captain after all and always watched over him."

'Oh MY GOD, Rick had sex with his superior!' thought Sanji.

"When she woke up and saw him alive, she hugged him tight and never let go. For three days Rick was his prisoner. Eating, sleeping, even bathroom breaks, he was stuck. So he bargained with her; if she let him go he would marry her too when he came of age."

"Too? As in, he already asked someone else before?" questioned Nami

"Yes, but that's a story for later. Anyway, unlike you, Kaza was too busy being full of glee with his proposal to notice the 'too' part immediatly. When she did, she had already released him. She was not a happy lady I tell you."

"That's not surprising." replied Nami.

"Rick fled by going through a wall and she followed him. She searched the ship for the rest of the day and all night for him before fainting due to exhaustion."

"That remind me of a story." said Nami

"Yes, the screaming witch." added Robin.

"What's that story about?" asked Chopper

"It's a scary story sailors tell children about a witch searching for her unfaithful lover in the dead of the night on ships." said Robin.

"To think that you and Kaza's love affair gave birth to those stories… Being young sure is nice." lamented Garp.

"Wait, what?" asked Nami.

"The screaming witch and the enraged hellhound were stories born out of that event." answered the Vice-admiral.

"No shit!" said Sanji

Robin couldn't help herself and laughed.

"Glad to see that my misery entertains you Robin." said a reproachful Rick.

"I-... I'm sorry, I… I was picturing an eleven years old you running around for your life for something so silly and I just… I'm sorry." she apologized trying to get her laughter back under control.

Since the story had come to an end, Nami tried her luck to know more about the other woman Rick asked to marry.

"Who did Rick propose to besides her?"

"Tsuru." answered Garp.

"As In vice-Admiral Tsuru?" asked Nami which prompted Garp to nod in agreement.

"""WHAT?!"""

"I was six, okay?! And she had just beat the shit out of Grandpa for bullying me! She literally mopped the floor with him! She was my idol from that moment of course I wanted to marry her."

"I was training you!" replied Garp, offended.

"My.. Six years old and already proposing to ladies." said Nami with a smirk.

"Oh you! Don't start!" said Rick.

Nami decided to be merciful and didn't say anything more. The wall was repaired and it was time for Garp to leave. He threw something at Rick who caught it.

"Grandpa that's…"

"Yours. Always has been."

Rick didn't say anything. What Garp handed him was his sword Ryusei. He had meant to talk about getting a new sword with Zoro but with the recents events forgot about it. Now he didn't have to. Garp addressed both Luffy and Rick.

"Now you guys are my grandsons! That's why I won't be arresting you on this island. That's how I'll report it to HQ so don't worry about anything and enjoy your stay here as long as you like."

"Sir, that's not an excuse. Should Fleet Admiral Sengoku learn of this… It's better to say they got away." said one of Garp's subordinates.

"Well that's fine, I'm just tagging along with the kids." replied Garp, referring to Coby and Helmep. Turning to both his grandsons he bid them goodbye.

"Okay, bye." said Luffy

"Why are you still here?" was Rick's answer.

"That's not how you say goodbye to your grandfather, you ill mannered brats!" yelled Garp before giving them another and last beating.

~~~~~

"Now that everyone is awake, shouldn't we celebrate ? You know, with a big party." proposed Rick.

"Hell yeah!" screamed Luffy overjoyed with the idea.

"Just us?" asked Chopper

"Hell no!" replied Luffy

"I guess we should invite the guys from the Galley-la and the frankies. Well Sanji, it's up to you to warn everyone one." said Rick

"Why me?"

"I don't think you'll let Nami and Robin do it. Luffy WILL be distracted by something, and Chopper would probably be kidnapped because of how cute he is."

"Hey!" protested the reindeer.

"What about you?" asked Sanji

"Nami?"

Nami, who was reading the newspaper, didn't even raise her head from it and just answered with two words.

"Still grounded!"

"So that's that." said Rick

"Zoro?"

""""""...""""""

"Yeah, okay I realized it was stupid as soon as I said it." admitted the cook.

"Oi!" protested Zoro who was ignored by everyone.

Sanji left to give the invitations and in less than two hours everyone gathered in the huge pool area. More than two hundred people showed up. Eating, dancing, joking and singing, everyone was having fun.

Rick saw Robin leaning against a wall, apart from the crowd and was enjoying people-watching. When he saw her tense he knew he was there. He floated from this position to the top of the wall and looked down at Aokiji.

"Now, I don't think you were invited, uncle nice."

"Rick." greeted the Admiral.

"You know it's borderline sexual harassment."

"..."

"Going after Robin again and again, not sure uncle would approve."

Aokiji just sighed.

"I guess, I'm not the only one who didn't change. You still have your weird humor."

"Don't play the jaded man, you love my humor."

"Keep telling yourself that. Anyway, I'm done with what I came to do. See you around."

"See, you! And don't ever try to pick up my girlfriend ever again!"

That remark made Aokiji stumble and almost fell to the ground. He turned around and saw Rick with a big grin on his face sending him a wink. The admiral shook his head sideways and smiled back then left. Rick landed next to Robin.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, I am."

"..."

"..."

"So, I'm your girlfriend now?" she asked with her poker face on.

"You got a problem with that?"

"Aren't you engaged?"

"You know what? If I ever meet her again and she still wants to marry me then I'll keep my word and marry her. I do wish to never see her again though and if we ever meet again that she forgot about it."

"She was that bad?"

"... No. She was pretty nice, and taught me a lot but at the same time she was just too… suffocating."

"I see."

"So, is it still a problem?"

She didn't answer. Rick pulled her to him and just kisser hotly. When they separated he spoke up.

"So?"

"I-..."

Robin started an answer but couldn't go further, so Rick kissed her again.

"I'm warning you I won't stop until I get a yes."

"Rick, I'm.."

And he kissed her again, interrupting her.

"Will you stop doing…"

And he did it again.

"You know Robin, the only answer you're not straight out giving me is a resounding no. Find all the excuses, all the lies you want but the answer isn't no. And you know why? Because you enjoy me kissing you as much as I do. You could restrain me and leave easily but you don't because you don't want to say no."

"I've never…"

For the fifth time he shut her up with his lips on hers but this time he put every he felt for her into it. When they separated both were panting.

"Okay fine! Yes!"

"See? Was it so hard?"

"Rick, look.. Love isn't really my thing. I've never experienced this before and…" he kissed her again.

"And my only experience was bat shit crazy, and a bit older, woman obsessed with me. So I don't really know much either. And that's fine because we are together and that's all that matters. We'll find our own way. Now, we can go back to the party or go to some place where there would only be the two of us and where we could enjoy ourselves in whatever way we want. Your choice."

She looked him in the eyes and for the second time initiated a kiss.

"Let's go" was all she said.