Chapter LIV: Wounds Healed and Truths Revealed

Lucci growled in aggravation as he dodged another lightning strike and series of explosive projectiles, only for Black Leg Sanji to assault him with that annoying technique. Although he normally wouldn't have any trouble with these fighters in his godforsaken Zoan form, he had to grudgingly admit that their coordination was phenomenal. The only one that was attacking him straight out was Black Leg Sanji. The reindeer was attacking only when an opportunity presented itself, and Franky, who had been freed, had grudgingly adopted the same tactic after nearly being defeated by a single hit while he'd still been focused on the chef. The other two were both shrouded from his view by what he had deduced was one of the orange-haired thief's techniques. Had he had any breathing room, he'd have been able to pin them down with his other senses without too much trouble.

Suffice to say, he had no such breathing room at the moment. He was being triple-teamed up close and liberally assaulted from afar by two opponents he couldn't find. Using Life Return would be counterproductive. His speed form sacrificed both strength and endurance, and their attacks were too unpredictable and could, in some cases, bypass his Tekkai. To make matters worse, the reindeer had taken advantage of his underestimation of the pirates' abilities in order to recover Nico Robin, who he was currently guarding protectively.

That wasn't even taking into account that his fellow assassins were currently drowning, and he was a Devil Fruit user.

His only option seemed to be to outlast the chef and then take him out of the fight. Without their superior combatant keeping him occupied, the rest would soon follow. A plan quickly formed in his mind, and he quickly aimed a Shigan to the chef's throat as to gain some time. As expected, the chef leapt away. Before he could re-engage, Lucci aimed a deadly Rankyaku at the reindeer, who couldn't dodge since he was covering Nico Robin. Predictably, the chef intercepted the attack, as he had been doing for the past minute.

Before he was even finished deflecting it, Lucci was upon him, arms extending outward to unleash his most devastating attack.

"Six King Gun!"

That, unexpectedly, was when the fight fell out of his favor. He was shocked as all the force behind his strike seemingly vanished, along with the shockwaves that it unleashed. He felt, rather than saw, a large crack form through the small circular object that he had unknowingly run into. As his momentum carried him forward, he also felt said object being pressed to his torso, and heard a foreboding whisper of "Impact."

His entire body tremored as his own move was turned against him, his Tekkai barely holding it together as blood erupted from his mouth and he was forced backwards, feet grinding against the ground in an attempt to keep their traction.

"Kokutei, Roseo Metel!"

"Strong Hammer!"

Before he could regain his bearings, the reindeer unleashed a barrage of strikes upon his already battered body, while Franky landed one powerful blow to the back of his head. Ignoring the pain, he lashed out with a kick to the reindeer-human hybrid, before turning around and backhanding the cyborg away. But he was injured, and the strikes were weak in comparison to what he would normally inflict. Chopper used his Guard Point instantly, and although the attack was staggering, he wasn't rendered unconscious. Franky, meanwhile, was durable enough to withstand the hasty strike, even though he was sent skidding across the ground.

Lucci was then forced to once again parry a barrage of kicks from the chef, who had now regained his bearings. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed another projectile hurtling towards him.

It was a water balloon.

While he would have normally dodged it just to be sure, he wasn't in a rational mindset at the moment, and so he instead ignored the apparently harmless projectile as it collided with him, soaking him from head to toe.

That was a mistake. The next attack hit him like a spear of lightning piercing through him, because that was exactly what it was. The Lightning Lance Tempo, augmented by the water covering him, easily bypassed his Tekkai. As he convulsed, the chef took the opportunity to land a Flambage Shot to his cranium, and he was sent hurtling backwards over the ocean. He righted himself in time to use Geppo, only to see that the chef had jumped above him, in perfect position to kick him into the water.

Sanji was forced to abandon that pursuit, however, as his Observation Haki alerted him to an incoming attack. He hastily twisted himself to the right in order to dodge a Shigan from the charred form of the now conscious Kaku. His momentum diverted, he fell and landed in the ocean himself, buying the two agents some time to converse.

"Lucci, time for a tactical retreat," Kaku reasoned.

"Fuck off," Lucci growled.

"Not to question your judgment, boss, but we can't win this fight while I'm carrying around dead weight," Kaku said, referring to the two unconscious agents he was carrying with one arm.

"I wasn't disagreeing with you," Lucci replied.

"Then that was some thank you," Kaku replied with an impudent smirk. Ignoring the belligerent but somewhat justified comment, Lucci roughly grabbed Blueno from his second in command, and the two agents retreated from the island through the sky.

"…We lost today. But I swear, one day we will bring that infernal crew to ruin," Lucci snarled.

"No complaints here," Kaku agreed. No more words were said as the two departed to give their first report of failure in years to their chief in Enies Lobby.

Sanji took his time emerging from the water, sensing that Lucci and Kaku had retreated. Making his way back onto land, he grunted in pain. As the adrenaline slowly left him, the extent of his injuries became all too obvious. He may have given more hits than he'd taken thanks to his Observation Haki, but Lucci had sure as hell made the hits he'd landed count.

Quickly surveying the area, he saw that Nami and Usopp were now visible, meaning that Mirage Tempo had expired. He let out a heavy sigh and collapsed onto the ground, the rest of the crew soon following suit along with Franky.

"Those agents couldn't have picked a better time to retreat," Franky commented. "Physical attacks weren't very effective against that guy, and if you guys were forced to fight head-on, we wouldn't be as lucky," he said, gesturing to Nami and Usopp.

Sanji simply nodded. Although he technically hadn't even met the cyborg yet, he hadn't been picky about allies while fighting CP9, and Franky's help had been appreciated. He was confident that the assassins couldn't have won, but that didn't mean they couldn't have taken down the weaker members of the crew before being taken out themselves.

"Somehow, we made it through this shitfest relatively unscathed," Sanji said finally. "That's what matters."

"CP9 retreated? That's…that's good," Luffy's voice came from nearby. The rest of the crew turned, and recoiled at the sight of their Captain's condition.

Luffy and Zoro were walking side-by-side, arms locked at their shoulders, literally holding each other up as they trudged towards them. It was glaringly obvious that they were even more exhausted than the rest of the crew, and would have barely had enough energy to help in in the fight against Lucci and Kaku had they not retreated.

"What the hell happened to you two?!" Usopp and Chopper demanded in unison, the latter charging forward and opening his medical bag.

"You…You won?" Robin breathed in awe, drawing everyone else's attention.

"Won? Won against who?" Nami asked. They never had found out for sure who the two were fighting.

"Admiral Aokiji," Luffy and Zoro said in unison. All but Chopper stiffened at that, and Luffy raised his head to look at Robin.

"And we didn't finish the battle. He surrendered and left after I clarified a few things about why he was here."

"But if we had to, we would have won," Zoro affirmed, then straightened as Robin's handcuffs caught his eye. "Ah, damn it. They took the key with them, didn't they?"

Robin's thoughts turned from the impossible sight before her as she realized what he was saying, and sighed. "Yes, but I'm sure we'll figure something out. Perhaps with time, we can forge a key."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I can cut them off," Zoro said, drawing his white sword. "Just turn around and hold still."

"…Are you certain? It's as hard as diamond," Robin asked uncertainly.

"So were the ones in Rain Dinners," Zoro replied dryly.

Robin's eyes widened at that, and she slowly complied with his request.

"The rest of you keep quiet; I need to focus, and I don't think I have enough energy left to do this more than once," Zoro grunted, kneeling and taking a two-handed grip on Wado Ichimonji, one on the hilt and one on the sheath. His eyes sharpened as he tightened his focus:

"One sword style… Lion's Elegy!"

With a single and immediate motion, the swordsman unsheathed and re-sheathed his blade. The moment that it clicked into its hilt, both he and the handcuffs, cut clean through the middle, fell to the ground.

Robin felt as her power returned to her, and brought her hands to her face in shock; despite the confidence, it still surprised her that Zoro had managed that. Though, as she turned around, it soon became apparent that he was completely correct about how much—or rather, how little energy he had left, as he collapsed onto the ground, sprawled on his back and grumbling incoherently about needing some sake.

That, of course, brought the fact that they had fought Aokiji and won back to the forefront of her mind.

"But…But why did you go so far?" she asked incredulously. "You could have died against—"

"No, we couldn't have," Luffy cut her off firmly. "Aokiji was strong, sure. But the only reason that fight went on as long as it did was that we were luring him out of Water 7, and that took up most of our energy. If we had gone all-out from the start—"

"You were holding back against him until you got to the coast?!" Sanji demanded incredulously. "Seriously, what the hell kind of monsters are you?"

"The kind whose crew you don't fuck with," Zoro replied firmly, forcing himself into a sitting position to lock eyes with Robin. "And I hope that this is the last time we have to prove it."

Robin processed that statement and all that it implied. He knew that she had surrendered, the handcuffs had likely given that away. And there was a high chance that he knew about Luffy's talk with her earlier as well. They had done that much for her…and she had doubted them.

And looking back, she saw the rest of the crew, weary but hardly the worse for wear, even Franky, who was standing awkwardly to the side and attempting not to cry at the display.

Slowly, she bowed her head in equal parts shame and gratitude. "…Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you, all of you, for fighting for me."

It wasn't long before Iceburg arrived at the coast, his injuries having been hastily treated. He was followed by the remainder of the Dock 1 workers: Paulie, Lulu, and Tilestone. He soon came to the correct conclusion that they had been victorious. He only had one question.

"Franky, the blueprints?" he asked. The cyborg nodded. "Yeah, I've still got 'em. They never even found them. Still…I honestly don't think we need them anymore."

Iceburg snuck a glance at the Straw Hat pirates. "I'm inclined to agree with you," he admitted, before his gaze swept over to the downed sea train. "Well, you guys sure did a number on our city though," he said dryly.

Luffy looked at the ruined sea train as if seeing it for the first time. His eyes widened. "Hey! You guys destroyed the sea train!" he scolded, turning back to the rest of the crew. "Be more careful next time, will you?"

"IT WAS YOU!" the crew including Zoro shouted indignantly, Franky joining in.

Luffy jaw dropped. "HUH!? You mean it's my fault!?" He suddenly turned toward Franky and Iceburg with a determined look on his face, before bowing low. "Sorry!"

The two looked amused. "Well, don't worry about it," Iceburg said. "You helped protect the blueprints, so we'll say it balances out." He then looked back at the wrecked vehicle. "Besides, Tom-san always wanted us to surpass his prowess." He exchanged a look with Franky, and the cyborg smirked. "We'll build a new one," Iceburg decided. "One that surpasses even the Puffing Tom."

Two days passed, in which Franky and Iceburg modified a second seatrain, the Rocketman, to be able to operate on the tracks without constantly moving. After that, it was used as a temporary seatrain so that Blue Station could open again.

It also wasn't long before Franky informed the Straw Hats that their ship materials had arrived. With 600 million Belly, Luffy guessed that their ship would be at least twice as big as before, with the rest of the money going towards various upgrades. That was usually how Franky did things. In short, the Thousand Sunny was shaping up to be even more badass than before.

But the arrival of the materials meant one thing that they were dreading: it was time to let go of the Going Merry. The crew agreed that they shouldn't delay the inevitable any longer, but they weren't sure how to go about it. Finally, Franky made a suggestion. While the keel was irreversibly damaged, most of the rest of the ship was still intact. He asked their permission to use some of the wood from the Going Merry to build a smaller version that could fit on their dream ship. The Straw Hats liked the idea, especially Usopp, and the Franky Family went about dismantling the Merry with an unusually sensitive and somber care. As the Straw Hats said their goodbyes, they could have sworn they heard the voice of a young girl answer them.

Another day went by before Paulie reported that there was a Marine ship heading towards the coast of Water 7. Although Iceburg seemed disconcerted upon hearing this, Luffy told him not to worry about it before leading the rest of the crew towards the coast to meet them.

When Vice Admiral Garp stepped off of the ship, everyone tensed. Even Zoro's hand was itching to reach for his sword as they were faced with the legendary Marine. Luffy smirked.

"It's been a while, Gramps," he said, shocking the entire crew, save Zoro and Robin, the latter of whom had put two and two together after their discussion about Luffy's parentage.

"Luffy?" Nami asked sweetly. "Remember that talk we had in Alabasta, when we met Ace?"

Luffy thought back, before his eyes lit up in remembrance. "Oh, yeah! The one about how blowing your minds is so much fun and how I do it on purpose! And then she went back on her bet with Usopp. True story."

Nami's eye twitched.

"STOP IGNORING ME, LUFFY!" Garp shouted in false rage as he lunged forward and threw a punch at his grandson in greeting. Half-recovered from his fight with Aokiji, he dodged the half-assed punch easily enough. That only made Garp grin, as if he'd been expecting it.

"That was slow, Gramps. Maybe you're getting old. You should have taken that admiral position while you still had the chance," Luffy said with an impudent smirk.

Garp, rather than rising to the bait, burst out laughing. "That's my grandson! Doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut! Always I'm gonna be a pirate, or Shanks is cooler than you, or You're getting old, Gramps!" He rubbed his beard in thought. "Though admittedly, that last one is quite new. Which leads me to the reason I came here." His grin widened. "So…what are you hiding, Luffy?"

Luffy barely flinched, though the entire crew noticed it. Garp, for his part, kept grinning as he looked Luffy in the eyes.

"I may have acted like it in front of Sengoku, Luffy, but I'm no idiot," he said. "All three forms of Haki. Half of the Six Powers. And enough mastery of your Devil Fruit that you're capable of beating an Admiral. I'd bet that you could even give me a run for my money. And the only person who could have taught you all of that while you were still in the East Blue is me, and I know that I didn't. So, tell me how you did it."

Pure silence fell for the next minute, during which Luffy considered the consequences. Telling his grandfather the truth could be dangerous; how would he react, and would he keep it to himself? On the other hand, if he reacted the way Luffy was hoping he would, telling him could be a major advantage.

There was also the fact that he'd likely be at the receiving end a few city leveling punches if he didn't answer, and he was still fucking tired. He shared a brief glance with Zoro, one that he was fully aware no one missed this time, in which the frowning wordsman simply shrugged.

With a sigh, Luffy turned around. "Not here, Gramps." Saying no more than that, he began walking off, far away from any potential eavesdroppers.

Garp's eyebrows rose. "Not even willing to say it in front of your crew?" he muttered as he followed after him. He was vaguely aware of the fact that the rest of the crew was talking to the first mate as he walked off.

When Luffy and Garp got back, the latter's grin was completely gone. It its place was a tired and subdued look that didn't seem to fit his face. The crew's curiosity spiked even higher upon seeing this. "I'm going to sleep," Garp promptly told the Marines guarding the ship, who stuttered out a confused "Yes, sir."

As he made his way back to his quarters, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Ace died.

The words repeated themselves in his head, ricocheting back and forth through his mindscape, like a phantom venom.

I stood and watched as Ace died.

His fingers drew blood from his palms, which dripped onto the floor as he walked. He was angry, and he was confused. But most of all, he was disgusted by his own indecisiveness. He made a silent vow. He'd never repeat what he'd heard here. He'd take the information to his grave.

He'd protect his family.

Luffy knew he wasn't getting off without answering any questions this time. The crew was staring him down determinedly, having gotten nothing from Zoro while he'd been gone. The swordsman merely shrugged at him apologetically, recognizing that they couldn't continue to keep brushing off their concerns. Luffy inhaled and braced himself for what had been building for a while now.

"Luffy, Zoro, you've been hiding something from us since the day I joined you," Nami began without preamble. "I know I'm not one to talk, but…at this point, I don't know how comfortable I am with you keeping it from us."

"Nor am I," Robin added, drawing everyone's attention. "I won't say that I don't have faith in you anymore, I can't say that now. But from the moment we met in Whiskey Peak, you've both been puzzles that I can't figure out. How long do you intend to wait to tell us?"

Luffy and Zoro exchanged glances, and messages flitted between them.

Should we? Luffy conveyed.

Zoro closed his eyes. Franky's already on good terms with us, and Robin and the rest of them trust us. You wanted to wait until everyone felt secure with their place in the crew, right?

Yeah, Luffy thought with frown.

There shouldn't be any problem now, Zoro conveyed firmly. Franky isn't the type to care about something like that, and Brook…well, he's Brook. There's no reason to keep it from them anymore.

Luffy waited for a moment before sighing, and turning back towards his friends.

"We were planning to tell you after we left the next island that we land on. But you're right that we've been hiding something from you, and you have a right to know. So, if you want us to tell you everything now, we will," Luffy said.

The rest of the crew shared a speculative glance, before unanimously turning back towards Luffy and Zoro and nodding expectantly. Franky, who had been silent up until now, looked back and forth between everyone before speaking up. "Uh, should I give you guys some privacy?" he asked finally.

"No, Franky. This concerns you too," Zoro said solemnly. The cyborg blinked upon hearing that, but shrugged and decided to hear them out.

"Alright. Where to begin?" Luffy said. "The first thing I'll say, which the rest of you may have guessed, is that Zoro and I aren't really rookies."

"I told you before that I had known Luffy for about two and a half years," Zoro continued. "When we first met, he saved me from being executed at the hands of some corrupt Marines, and I became his first mate from then on. We sailed through the East Blue, and then the Grand Line, building our crew and gathering more allies all the way through."

Although some of the Straw Hats looked completely lost, Sanji and Robin's minds were working in overdrive, and Nami was completely pale, having recognized the beginning of the story.

"We made it further into the New World than anyone had since Roger himself," Zoro continued. "But when we reached the last island before Raftel…"

The end of the sentence hung in the air, but the sheer despondency on their faces said it all. Robin was the first to identify it.

"You lost your crew," she stated.

"…One after the other, right in front of our eyes. There wasn't anything we could do," Luffy whispered, his fingers digging into his palms.

"In the end, they managed to buy us enough time to get away. We didn't want to…but the last one still alive said that it would be pointless if all of us died there. So, with nothing left but shattered dreams, we made it to Raftel Island. And what we found there was nothing short of a miracle."

Luffy looked up at all of them. "Gol D. Roger's ghost was there. Zoro couldn't see him or hear him, but he talked to me, saying that I was the successor he had been waiting for. But he saw that we had lost too much. Becoming the Pirate King…it wasn't what I wanted anymore. It was worthless next to the lives of my friends. And because of that…Roger gave us the chance to get them back. He sent both of us back to the beginning."

"In short," Zoro finished quietly, "The Straw Hat crew was reborn."

"That's why you know so much," Robin said in an awed whisper. "You've lived all of this before, sailed with all of us before."

Luffy and Zoro could only nod.

The rest of the crew's reactions were varied. Chopper, for once, fully comprehended the situation, and all he could do was with wide eyes. Usopp was getting emotional at the revelation that the two had come back for them. Sanji was gritting his teeth, knowing that the one who'd sent them on to Raftel…was most likely him.

Nami's reaction was arguably the most worrying. Tears streamed down her face unchecked as she kept her eyes locked on the two time travelers. "Why?" she whispered, so quiet that they almost didn't hear her.

Luffy's heart clenched. "Why what?" he asked, despite knowing the answer.

"You know damn well what! Why didn't you tell us earlier!?" Nami shouted. "Why did you carry this burden alone for so long! You said we're a family, right? That means we're supposed to support each other! All this time, the very sight of us has been causing you both nightmares! Don't deny it, I've noticed you two sneaking out in the middle of the night! Why couldn't you at least share that burden with us? Why is it always you protecting us!?" She took several heavy breaths as her outburst ended, her sobs sending tremors through her.

"What would have happened if we'd told you?" Zoro asked. "How do you think you would have reacted if we'd told you when we first met?"

Nami visibly recoiled, her mind instantly coming to an answer.

"It took time to gain everyone's trust," Luffy said quietly. "We didn't want to complicate things. What would you have had us do? Tell you that you'd joined once already? Would that have convinced you, or would you have felt like you were being forced into something? Something that would ultimately have been a life altering decision? We wanted you all to make that choice yourself."

"You could have told us after we'd joined," Nami refuted, but the argument was weak, and she knew it.

"And then what?" Zoro asked. "What about when we ran into more crew members? The two of us alone weren't able to cover this up completely. Would you have been able to act as if nothing was out of the ordinary, knowing what was to come?" He turned to Robin next. "If you joined the crew, and were just starting to trust us, how would you react if you realized that every single one of us was hiding something from you, and not just the two of us?"

Robin closed her eyes. Rather than answering, she just shook her head slowly, telling them all they needed to know.

Luffy sighed. "We didn't want to hide anything from you," he said tiredly. "It hurt, every day, doing that. But that world…what we'd experienced…that was our burden to carry. We're the ones who failed, and we won't let that happen a second time."

The rest of the crew was silent, both stunned and subdued at having finally heard their explanation. The next to speak was Franky.

"I was one of your crew members," he said. It wasn't a question, more of an observation. "That's the only reason you'd be telling me this."

"You were our shipwright," Luffy confirmed with a smile. "Like I said, I don't want you to feel forced into it just because you were one of us in our time. But it wouldn't be fair to you we told everyone else and left you out."

Franky considered this for a moment. "Why did I join you the first time?" he asked.

"We stole your pants and shot you out of a cannon," Luffy answered.

"…Come again?" Franky deadpanned.

Zoro gave Luffy an annoyed look, and Luffy shrugged. "Also, we may have made an impression on you when we stormed Enies Lobby to take Robin back from CP9," he said nonchalantly.

"...I won't act as if I'm surprised at this point," was all Robin could say to that.

"Your dream is to build a ship that can reach the end of the Grand Line, and sail on that ship all the way through. The fact of the matter is, we're the crew that can help you fulfill that dream. Since you had a bounty on your head then, and you probably will again now, flipping off the World Government was a bonus. Besides, you loved us when it was all over."

"You're exaggerating," Franky said with narrowed eyes.

"Nope," Luffy smirked. "You said, and I quote, I love you guys. You were even crying."

"And denying it, of course," Zoro added with a smirk of his own.

Franky opened his mouth to deny it, only to shut it swiftly. Finally, he turned away. "Eh. I'll think about it," he said, though he was grinning now.

"I'm still upset," Nami said, wiping a few tears away, "But I understand why you handled it the way you did."

Luffy sighed in relief. He hadn't realized how heavily their secret had been weighing down on his shoulders. He could tell that Zoro felt the same way.

It was good to truly be back.