Chapter 25

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East Blue 

Somewhere in the middle of the sea 

A completely bandaged Luffy, from head to toe, wakes up groggily after three hours. He grabs his straw hat from the bedside table and gets up, heading up the stairs to the deck. 

He stumbles a bit on his way to the kitchen, and upon opening the door, he's met with a funeral-like atmosphere. 

Zoro is drinking alcohol from a half-empty bottle, with five empty bottles lying beside him. 

Usopp is consoling Kaya, who's crying a river of tears for some reason that Luffy doesn't understand. 

Nami is sitting at the counter, silently crying and drowning her sorrows in a drink, again for reasons Luffy doesn't quite get. 

Next to Nami, Chouchou is lying on the counter, looking downcast and sad. 

The only ones who noticed Luffy entering the kitchen were Johnny and Yosaku, who stared at him, wide-eyed, for reasons unknown. 

"What's with the funeral mood, guys? Who died?", Luffy asks, confused, not understanding why everyone is acting that way. 

Everyone stops what they're doing and looks at Luffy, standing in front of the door, completely shocked. 

"You're alive, Luffy", Nami says, running over and hugging him tightly, burying her face in his chest. 

"Urgh... of course, I'm alive. Why wouldn't I be?", Luffy says, feeling a bit of pain from the strong hug but hugging her back without pushing her away. 

"You... you were so injured that we thought you wouldn't make it", Nami says, crying into his chest. 

"Well, I'm very much alive and starving", Luffy says, his stomach growling right after, agreeing with his statement. 

"Ah, you need to rest, Luffy. Why are you out of bed?", Nami asks, worried about him. 

"I already told you, I'm hungry", Luffy says, heading to the kitchen counter to sit down. 

"Luffy, go back to bed. I'll bring you food in a bit", Kaya says, wiping away her tears, feeling relieved that Luffy is okay. 

"Nah, I'm fine", Luffy says, petting Chouchou, who jumped into his lap as soon as he sat down. 

Seeing Luffy was okay, Zoro stopped drowning his sorrows in alcohol and peacefully fell asleep. 

Usopp comes over and hugs Luffy, relieved that he's alright, then asks, "What happened between you and those marines?" 

"I fought with my grandpa, and when I saw an opening, I ran." 

"That old man is your grandpa?", Usopp asks, trying to understand how the grandson of a marine becomes a pirate. 

"Yep." 

"And why did he beat you up like that?", Kaya asks, joining the conversation. 

"He didn't beat me up. As far as I'm concerned, it was a close fight, and I won", Luffy says, shrugging. 

"It doesn't matter if it was close or not, or if you won or not. That's no way for a grandfather to treat his grandson", Nami argues while cooking something for Luffy to eat. 

"That's just how my family works. We're naturally stubborn and do what we want. Grandpa doesn't want me to be a pirate, and I want to be one, so the only solution is to fight. Trying to get Grandpa to agree with me is way more work than just brawling", Luffy explains the dynamic between him and his grandfather. 

"That still seems wrong to me", Nami says, with Kaya nodding in agreement. 

"Well, it works for me and Grandpa", Luffy says, shrugging again. 

They continue talking until Nami finishes cooking and places a large amount of food in front of Luffy, who immediately starts devouring it as soon as he sees it. 

=Scene Break= 

After eating and going back for seconds, Luffy turns to Nami, sitting next to him, and asks, "How much longer until we reach Baratie, Tangerine?" 

"About six more hours", she replies, focused on drawing a map. 

"You're heading to Baratie?", Yosaku asks, curious. 

"Yep, we're going to recruit a cook for the crew there", Luffy says, petting Chouchou, who's peacefully sleeping. 

"If I were you, I wouldn't get my hopes up. The cooks there are... well, 'eccentric,' to say the least, and they're pretty tough to deal with. I don't think any of them will accept your offer", Johnny says, doubting anyone from that restaurant would join Luffy's crew. 

"I already know who I'm going to recruit, and he'll accept... well, eventually he will", Luffy says, confident that Sanji will join. 

"What do you mean, 'eventually he will'?", Usopp asks, confused. 

"Well, I'm just going to keep pestering him until he does", Luffy says, explaining his foolproof strategy. 

"Man, that's not how things work", Usopp says, making a weird face. 

"It's worked pretty well for me so far." 

"Just give up, Usopp. Like he said before, he's stubborn and hard-headed. And for some reason, that tactic works really well for him", Nami says, not looking up from the paper in front of her. 

"Well, it's true. The Captain didn't give me much of a choice. It was like that. He decided I was part of the crew, and nothing could change his mind", Kaya says, reflecting on how she joined the crew. 

"Wait, what if I had refused the offer, Luffy?", Kaya asks, curious. 

"Well, since we were already leaving and there wasn't enough time to stay on the island and pester you until you accepted, I kinda would've kidnapped you", Luffy says, scratching his nose. At the same time, everyone present, except Zoro and Chouchou, who were asleep, gave him strange looks. 

"Geez, guys, you believe everything. Of course, I wouldn't kidnap you", Luffy says, though internally he thinks he probably would have. 

They continue chatting for a while until Luffy decides to take a nap. 

A few hours later, Luffy wakes up completely recovered from the fight and re-energized. He goes to the bathroom, takes care of business, brushes his teeth, and takes a shower. Then he heads up to the deck, where he sees Nami holding a newspaper and staring angrily at a wanted poster. 

Approaching, Luffy sees that the poster belongs to Arlong. He then asks, "What're you looking at, Tangerine?" 

Nami quickly turns around, crumpling the poster and holding her left shoulder, saying, "Nothing... just some interesting news." 

"Oh, and what's the news?" 

"They were talking about the turbulent weather where you and your grandpa fought", Nami says, trying to change the subject. 

"Wow, news travels fast, huh?" 

"Yeah", Nami says, giving him a weak smile. 

As Luffy walks away to talk to Zoro, who's now awake, Nami gazes at the horizon, thinking, 'Does he know? It doesn't matter, just a little longer. I'm so close, just one more million Berries, and they'll be free.' 

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(AN: 1,101 Words)

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