Reward For Loyalty

When Boa Hancock opened her eyes, she was staring at an unfamiliar roof.

"......."

It took her sometime to become aware of her situation.

"....Luffy must've found a new place to use for shelter."

The last two places they stayed at were either destroyed or had turn into a monster. So, Hancock didn't feel like shouting, "It's our third love nest!", she felt that it would just bring misfortune.

"Ugh?!"

She tried to sit up but, she couldn't move without feeling intense pain.

Realizing that she would just hurt herself, Hancock decided to just lay down and just stare at the ceiling.

".....This doesn't look like Luffy built it."

The ceiling that Hancock was looking at was very high. When she turned her head from left to right, she saw that she was in a huge space.

Everything was white. The ground felt spongey, and the air was so warm that it was hard to believe that the island was in winter right now.

She looked at the material used to make the place she was in, but she couldn't identify the material.

It didn't look like neither wood nor stone. It closely resembled mud.

"Just where did Luffy take me?"

It was then that Hancock realized that Luffy wasn't anywhere near her.

She started feeling lonely.

She would've have love it if the first thing she saw when she woke up, was the face of her beloved.

Hancock then started to remember everything that happened before she passed out. She ignored the fighting parts, and focused on a certain memory.

"...I forced a kiss on Luffy."

Her face immediately dyed red. She didn't feel embarrassed at the time, because she had prepared herself for death.

But now that the adrenaline is gone, she understood the gravity of her actions.

"W-What should I do? I know that it wasn't on the lips, but I still kissed him! I don't know how to face him!"

She started to panic on her own.

"What should I say to him? What will he say?! While he start acting differently around me?! Will he become cautious?! What if he starts avoiding me?!"

Hancock was only think of all the negative outcomes. She didn't once considered that she could use this to shorten the distance between she and Luffy.

Well, she is inexperience in romance. So, it's natural that she'll over think things.

"What should I do?! What should I do?!"

Hancock forgot about her beaten up body, and started rolling on the ground while holding her head.

It was when she collided in a soft white column, she stopped.

"Hm? What's this?"

Hancock saw that something was warped around her body.

"Bandages? Did Luffy treat my wounds?....Its really sloppy work."

Even though she said that, Hancock held the bandages to her cheeks. She smiled while imagining Luffy sloppy wrapping bandages all over her body.

"That's right. Luffy cherishes me, and I cherish him. Even if it becomes s little awkward between us for a while, I'm sure we can get pass it. I'll just have to be patient."

Even though she got flustered remembering what happened, Hancock didn't regret kissing him.

In fact, if she could do it again she would. She would've probably kiss him on the lips this time though.

".....Lips. Luffy's soft lips.....I want to taste them."

Hancock had a bashful look when she spoke those words.

Just imaging she and Luffy locking lips made her body hot.

"Luffy~."

"Yes."

"!"

Hancock nearly flew up when she heard an unexpected reply. She would've if it wasn't for the pain that return to her.

"You're finally awake, Hancock. I was getting worried because you weren't walking up."

Hancock slowly turned around to look behind her, and saw Luffy standing there smiling with fruits in his hands.

"L-Lu-Luffy?! H-How long have you been standing there?!"

"Hm? I just got here. I heard you call my name so I answered. Is something wrong?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no! As long as you didn't hear anything it's fine."

Luffy tilted his head to the side, when he saw that Hancock was panicking for some reason.

"Hm? You're bandages are loose. Let me redo them."

Luffy put down the fruits and walked over to Hancock, and stoop down beside her. He then her help up and lean her against the column.

He then went behind her and removed the bandages.

"Thank you Luffy for....Huh?"

Hancock mouth stop moving and her mind froze when she look down on her body.

Bare skinned.

There was no cloth covering her torso. That's when she realized that she was naked.

"............Huh?

"Hm? Is something wrong, Hancock?"

Luffy who noticed that Hancock's body suddenly became tense, asked her that with an innocent tone.

"...Luffy, you were the one who wrap bandages around me,right?"

She spoke with a weak voice.

"Yeah."

"I see......Kyaaaa!"

Hancock suddenly screamed and instantly distanced herself, while using her arm to hide her chest.

Luffy looked at her confusingly.

"W-Wh-Why am I naked?! What happened to my clothes?!"

"Ah, they we're in the way so I removed them."

"Removed?! You stripped me?!"

"Yup. Is something wrong?"

"Yes! I wanted to be awake when you stripped me for the first time....."

Hancock mumbled the last sentence.

"What's the big deal? Its not like it's the first time I've seen you naked."

"Ah.....That's right!"

When Hancock and Luffy first met, Luffy crashed through the ceiling of Hancock's bathroom, where Hancock was having a bath.

There was also the time when she striped, and showed Luffy her slave mark.

Including the time she was bathing in the river, Luffy has seen her bare skin on three occasions.

"Ah! Remembering those incidents is really embarrassing now!"

Said Hancock with a red face.

"If you're so upset about it, I could strip too to make it even."

"Huh? Really?....Ah, no no no no! It's okay let's leave that for the future!"

Hancock who looked tempted for a moment quickly came to her senses and rejected Luffy's offer.

"Is that so?"

Luffy walked over to the blushing Hancock, and took the bandages that were loose, and showed them to her.

"Hey, do you know how to do this? Since Chopper was the one who normally does this kind of stuff, it took me a while to do it."

"Y-Yeah. I know how to do it. I'll tell you how since I'm too injured to move....."

Hancock turned around and unwrapped herself. She blushed even harder when she saw that she was completely naked.

She started to imagine what kind of expression Luffy had, when he stripped her. Causing her heart to start racing, and her body to heat up.

"H-Here."

She handed Luffy the bandages while still facing her back toward him.

She then instructed Luffy on how to treat her.

Her body squirmed when Luffy wrapped certain places, and screamed a little whenever he messed up and touched her in certain places.

It took nearly an hour, because of Hancock's squirming and Luffy's mistakes.

"Hah~ Hah~. I thought that my heart was going to give out."

"Why are you exhausted when I was the one doing the wrapping?"

Luffy tilted his head looking at the heavily breathing Hancock. He then walked over and picked up the fruits, and gave them to her.

"Here. You must be hungry."

"Ah, thank you.....ow!"

She tried to take the fruits but felt pain when she lifted her arms over her head.

Seeing that, Luffy sat beside her and place one of the fruits in front of her.

"I'll feed you. Say 'ah'. "

"N-No. I can feed myself."

"Think of it as thanks for everything you've done for me when I was sick."

"But..."

"Say 'ah'. "

Luffy made a pushy gesture, that made Hancock resign and took a bite out of the heart-shaped fruit.

"Hm~ it's delicious. What kind of fruit is it?"

"I don't know, but it makes you heal faster. If you eat a few of these you'll be as good as new in no time. I fed you these while you were sleeping."

"Y-You can't mean, mouth to mouth?!"

"Hm? No, I just opened your mouth placed a piece inside, and made you chew it. You swallowed on your own."

"I see...Thank you."

Hancock was a little disappointed but still felt grateful.

"Do you wanna rest your head in my lap?"

"Huh?!"

Hancock was shocked by Luffy's sudden question.

"You made me do it, so I wanted to return the favor."

"W-Wait! That true but!"

"But, you looked really happy when you did it with me?"

"Y-Yeah, but this is different! And..."

Hancock got flustered and tried to talk her way out of it, but gave up when she saw Luffy's innocent expression.

"F-Fine..."

Hancock timidly brought her head down and stopped a few times before resting her head in Luffy's lap.

"T-There. Happy now?"

Her face was so red that you would think she wearing face paint.

"Yup."

Hancock tried avoiding eye contact, out of shyness.

Because of that, she didn't realize what Luffy was doing.

"Hancock."

"Y-Yes."

Hancock slowly turned her face to Luffy, and-

*Smooch*

Luffy kissed her on the forehead.

".........Huh?"

Hancock froze and her mind went blank.

Luffy smiled gently at her and said-

"I told you. I'm returning the favor."

Hancock didn't say anything. She couldn't. Tears just flowed from her eyes.

"Huh?! Hancock, why are you crying?!"

Realizing that she was crying, Hancock quickly wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry....*sniff*....it's just that I'm so happy to be alive."

Luffy stopped panicking when he heard that.

"I see."

He lifted her torso up, and hugged her.

"Then you can cry all you want."

Hancock was surprised by Luffy's actions but still nodded.

"Thank you, Hancock. Thank you for protecting me. I'm really glad you were here. Thank you."

Luffy whispered those words into her ear, causing Hancock's tears to multiply.

"Hm."

She hugged Luffy in return and nodded.

She felt pain from moving her body, but she didn't care. She hugged Luffy as tight as could and cried.

'I still have a chance! I still can obtain it! The title of Luffy's Pirate Queen! My love can still come true!'

Hancock realized that her dream was still possible. And truly felt grateful for being alive.

Hancock reaffirmed her resolve.

She won't die until she becomes Luffy's Queen. Because he is her king.

Her one and only true love.

Hancock cried in Luffy's arms with that kind of determination.

But, the two still had a powerful obstacle standing in their way.

An obstacle that will put their bond to the test.

Can they overcome it, or are the two not meant for each other?

The time for it to be clear is extremely near.