Their Relationship

The day after leaving Bounty Island, the Perfume Yuda had left the Calm Belt and was on course to reach Sabody Archipelago, thanks to the directions given by Frantz. 

"Morning, Elder Nyon." 

"Good morning." 

Elder Nyon greeted the Kuja girls after coming out of her room. 

"Granny, good morning. Did you sleep well?" 

Mariegold and Sandersonia greeted her as well. 

"I did." 

She looked at the mast behind them. 

"Especially, when I know the food is safe." 

Luffy was chained to the mast fast asleep. Marie and Sonia looked at him with a dry smile. 

"I'm surprised he can actually sleep like that." 

"What kind of life did he live on his ship? He acted like it was normal for him to be restrained from eating all the food." 

The three of them looked at Luffy in silence for a bit. 

"…I feel sorry for his cook. It must be really hard." 

Marie and Sonia nodded in agreement with Elder Nyon. 

"What's more surprising is that your sister allowed us to chain him up." 

"Ah, about that." 

Marie and Sonia wore awkward smiles which puzzled Elder Nyon. A few minutes later, Elder Nyon stood outside of Hancock's door. She sighed before knocking. 

"Snake Princess." 

She got no answer. She shook her head and opened the door. 

"I know you're not asleep." 

She entered the dark room and spotted Hancock hiding under her bedsheets. She approached the bed and dragged the sheets off her. 

"Come on, get up already." 

"Be gone, old woman. This room shall be my tomb." 

Hancock spoke with a coarse voice. 

"Why do you always have to be so dramatic? You don't want to share a room with Luffy any more, because you're scared of what you'd do? Get a grip, girl." 

Elder Nyon grabbed Hancock's arm and started pulling it. 

"Come on, get out of bed." 

Hancock pulled her arm back and Elder Nyon was forced off her feet and flung across the room. 

"Ugh…This goddamn brat." 

Elder Nyon slowly got up while holding her back. 

"I can't understand you." 

She gritted her teeth and pounced on Hancock's body. She grabbed Hancock's neck and started shaking her. 

"Get off you me, You senile old bat!" 

"Listen to me, Hancock!" 

Elder Nyon's shout caused Hancock to instinctively close her mouth. 

"You somehow made progress with Luffy! From what I can tell, he has feelings for you even though he might not know it yet! And here you are hiding away because you're embarrassed?!" 

She started strangling Hancock and slamming her head on the pillow. 

"Are you trying to waste all my effort, you damn brat?! Give me back all the time I spent on your romance despite being single at my age! I want some love too, dammit!" 

Elder Nyon's inner thoughts started slipping out halfway through. Hancock looked at her for a bit before opening her mouth. 

"Gra—Keh!" 

Elder Nyon's grip became stronger and cut off her air supply. 

"Give me your youth if you're just going to abuse it, dammit! Become old too—Ugh?!" 

Hancock slapped Elder Nyon off her and sat up. 

"You have issues, Granny!" 

Hancock got off her bed and picked up Elder Nyon. 

"I'm going to change." 

She threw her out without another word and locked the door. 

"D-Did you do it, Granny?" 

Marie and Sonia looked down at Elder Nyon who was lying on the ground. 

"Did what?" 

"Convince her to go see Luffy." 

"…..Oh, that's what I was supposed to do. I forgot." 

The sisters looked at Elder Nyon who stared back at them in silence for a while. They turned away. 

"Why are all the empresses eccentric people, Sonia?" 

"Maybe you need to have a screw loose to be that strong, Marie." 

"Hey, you're not comparing me with that maniac are you?" 

Elder Nyon pointed at Hancock's door but the sisters ignored her and continued their conversation as they walked. 

"But Shakky was normal." 

"That's true." 

"But she's married to a playboy like Rayleigh." 

"Also, true." 

"Hey, I'm normal! I'm normal!" 

Behind her door, Hancock took off her dress and stood in front of her bed. The words of Elder Nyon played in her head. 

"Alright." 

A determined look appeared in her eyes. 

"...Hm?" 

Luffy lightly groaned as he opened his eyes. Before him was Hancock who was undoing the chains around him. 

"Oh, morning, Hancock." 

He greeted her with a smile. 

"Good morning, Luffy." 

Hancock did the same. Luffy's eyebrows slowly raised. 

"What's wrong?" 

"Nothing's wrong." 

Luffy flexed and the chains broke before Hancock could finish freeing him. 

"That's a lie. I don't know why, but I can tell something's bothering you." 

Hancock straightened her body and smiled at Luffy. 

"Can we talk at the back of the ship?" 

"Sure." 

Luffy followed Hancock to the back of the ship where they were alone. 

"So, what's wrong?" 

Luffy eagerly asked. Hancock leaned on the railing and looked at Luffy. 

"Luffy, how do you feel about me?" 

"I like you." 

Luffy answered without hesitation. Hancock's chest tightened but her expression barely changed. 

"Well, I...I love you, Luffy." 

Luffy opened his mouth, but Hancock lifted her hand to stop him. 

"I don't mean as a friend or a comrade." 

Her flushed face betrayed her hardened expression. 

"I love you how a woman loves a man. I wish to hold you, kiss you, feel you, touch you, talk to you, consume everything about you. Luffy, I want to spend the rest of my life with you." 

Luffy didn't say anything and just silently looked at Hancock. Despite trying her best to hide it, her body was shivering. It was the first time he had seen her look so vulnerable. 

"Luffy, let me ask you again." 

Her voice was shaky. 

"How do you feel about me?" 

"I like you." 

Once again, Luffy didn't hesitate to answer. However, this time his tone was different. Hancock noticed this but didn't rush to say anything. Luffy continued. 

"I know what you're trying to say, Hancock. Shanks and the guys used to tell me about their relationship with women all the time." 

He started smiling. 

"You basically want something like what Shanks has with Makino." 

"Huh? I don't think I understand." 

Luffy chuckled at Hancock's confused face before walking up to her. 

"Don't worry, Hancock. I like you too." 

"Huh?" 

Hancock froze. Luffy leaned on the railing beside her with a grin. 

"I've told you I love being around you right?" 

Hancock nodded. 

"Then, I obviously like you. I mean...." 

He placed his hand over his chest. 

"My heart is always racing for some reason whenever I'm around you. That must be because I feel excited whenever I see your face." 

He looked at Hancock and showed her a smile overflowing with innocence. 

"I like you, Hancock." 

Hancock looked at Luffy in disbelief until her vision became blurry. Luffy stretched her hand and wiped the tears flowing from her eyes. 

"Why are you crying? Did I say something bad?" 

"No, I'm just..." 

Hancock held his hands. 

"I'm just so happy." 

"I see. I'm glad." 

Hancock was smiling from ear to ear until she realized something. 

"Wait...Why did you use "Like" and not "Love"?" 

She realized the way Luffy worded his sentence. Anxiousness started brewing in her heart. 

"Oh, it's not a big deal. It's because I don't understand things like love. So I'm forbidden to say it until I understand." 

"You're forbidden?" 

Luffy nodded. 

"When I was a kid, Makino said I shouldn't copy Shanks and Benn Beckham's ways of dealing with women. She said I should only tell a woman I love them when I'm 100% sure. Otherwise, I might get stabbed in my sleep." 

"R-Really?" 

Luffy nodded again. 

"I had nightmares about being stabbed for a few days after that." 

He laughed with a look of nostalgia on his face. Hancock looked at his face and a smile crept on her face. 

"So because you don't understand love you can't say it?" 

"Yup." 

"Is it because you're afraid I'll stab you?" 

"Nah, I don't think you'll do that. I just don't want to hurt you." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Makino says even if I don't get stabbed, I might hurt women if I go around saying it like it's nothing. I don't want to hurt you, so I won't say it until I understand what love is." 

"I see." 

Hancock's body relaxed. 

(I don't know why, but I feel at ease after hearing him out. Granny and Caria were right, Luffy loves me he just doesn't know it yet. I just need to wait...) 

"Wait. How long do you think it will take for you to understand love?" 

"Hmm, probably after I find the One Piece and done adventuring. Shanks says when you experience love the world around you changes, so I want to see the world first and see if what he says is true." 

He showed a bright smile. 

"Although, the world already looks a lot more colourful when you're around." 

He laughed. Hancock's body started trembling. 

"Then..." 

She grabbed Luffy's shoulders. 

"Then we can get married after you become Pirate King?!" 

"Huh?....Hm...I don't really want to get marri-" 

"Oh, I need to start planning the wedding as soon as possible!" 

Hancock cut Luffy off. 

"This will be the greatest marriage of all time! We will have parades, fleets of flowers, golden snakes carrying us to our honeymoon! Oh!" 

A look of realization came over her. 

"Your Grandfather is a marine and your father is a Revolutionary, doesn't that mean they'll fight at the wedding?! We can't have that!" 

Hancock started blabbing about all kinds of different wedding details as she raced back and forth. Luffy sat on the floor and watched her with a small smile on his face. In his eyes, she was sparkling more than any diamond and shone brighter than a thousand suns. 

"I don't want to get married..." 

He grinned. 

"But I don't think I'll get tired of seeing this sight even after an eternity."