Trafalgar Law finished up with his check up with Luffy and Jinbe, treating their wounds after determining that they would only need plenty of rest to recover.
He came to find that Cherry had raided his quarters and taken some of his clothes for herself. Her own clothes were ruined, so she would need something fresh to wear of course, but that didn't mean he would have given his own clothing to her.
"Why didn't you guys stop her?" He asked, turning to look at his crew. The reason they didn't stop her became pretty apparent after spotting the swollen lumps on their heads.
"We tried to stop her, captain. We even offered her some of our clothes, but she insisted that the only clothes suitable for a woman were in your room..." At those words there was some stifled snickering.
"I'm not wearing one of those weird jumpsuits. Your clothes will do just fine." Cherry said, sitting in a meditation pose.
"If you wear my clothes like that someone might assume you're my woman." Law said, in a last ditch attempt to save his custom shirt from permanent blood stains.
"That would be a terrible mistake on their part, though it wouldn't be me they'd need to worry about." Cherry spoke mysteriously.
A few hours later they surfaced as they had limited air supply and didn't wish to waste it unnecessarily.
Luffy had woken up and had remarkably quiet, though he didn't hold back from eating all the food they put in front of him.
The experiences he's had since they landed at Sabaody Archipelago weighed heavily upon his mind. However simple minded he may be, he couldn't deny the fact that Cherry had been right to say he and the others weren't ready to throw themselves into the New World as they are now.
He felt that he needed to train himself, though not just physically. He needed to train his haki as well, but that was easier said than done without a proper teacher. Cherry was strong, but she was no expert with haki. She was only just delving into it herself, at least that's what she told him when he asked her.
Perhaps the Kuja could teach him? They were quite adept at the use of haki when he fought them in their arena at Amazon Lily. Men were forbidden there, however, and they've helped him so much already that it didn't feel right to ask them for this.
"What are you thinking so hard about, Luffy? It's not like you." Cherry asked, snatching some meat away from his plate.
"I need to get stronger." Luffy said simply. He was never one for long winded speeches.
"Just ask Rayleigh then." Cherry offered.
"Oh! Okay!" Luffy perked up immediately. It didn't even occur to him that he might be refused.
A marine warship was spotted in the distance and was on a intercept course with them. They prepared for battle, but it ultimately wasn't necessary as the ship had been hijacked by Hancock. She had turned the marines to stone after they set off to bring her back home.
Ivankov and his okama, Bon Clay included, had stowed away on the ship as well for some reason.
"Luffy~" Hancock almost whispered, seeming too shy to call his name too loudly.
"Bitch." Hancock turned a hostile gaze at Cherry.
"Oh? I guess I won't tell you what Luffy's favorite food is." Cherry teased.
There was an awkward silence for a few moments.
"I'm sorry, please tell me." Hancock said without an ounce of shame.
"Hehehe, I like you. You're very straight forward. Okay come over here, I can't let this exclusive knowledge be known to just anyone. I'm sure you'll agree." Cherry said, motioning her to come closer.
Hancock nodded her head, thinking that was very true. She couldn't let the harlots of the world find out the likes and dislikes of Luffy.
Cherry didn't just tell her about Luffy's favorite foods (all meat pretty much), but just about everything she could remember about him. By the end of their little talk, Hancock considered Cherry to be a very close friend and ally. Especially since Cherry told her she only likes the ladies, so she couldn't be interested in Luffy.
Cherry thought that Hancock was adorable in her single minded pursuit of Luffy. If she didn't know better, she'd think Hancock was a stalker type. Hancock wasn't trying too control Luffy's life at all, though, so it wasn't really a big deal.
Cherry had to admire the woman's beauty as well. She wasn't called the world's most beautiful woman for nothing. Though in Cherry's opinion she was only 3rd most beautiful at best, Cherry being 2nd and Robin being 1st of course.
The others were looking at them strangely, which was understandable as they had spent about half an hour muttering to each other about Luffy. Both of them simply ignored the looks and refocused on Luffy, who was currently eating through some of the food the okama brought him from the marine ship.
"You should come back to Amazon Lily with me, Luffy. The marines won't find you there. I can also teach you a bit about the basics of haki, but unfortunately not much more due to some stupid antiquated laws. I'll call the kuja pirate ship to pick us up." Hancock said, thrilled that she can offer something that Luffy likes, that being training to get stronger.
"Ohhh, thank you Hancock!" Luffy was grateful for even a little guidance at this point.
"Y-you're welcome..." Hancock said in a small voice as she blushed. 'He said my name!'
When the kuja vessel arrived to pick them up, Law tried to insist that Cherry at least stayed with his ship until she actually recovered. Cherry responded by showing some of her wounds to him, which shocked him to the core.
Her wounds weren't completely healed, but didn't look nearly as bad as they had only hours ago. In their current state, one could easily survive with the help of a regular doctor, compared to before where perhaps only the most skilled doctors in the world could even have a slim chance of saving the patient.
"Is this the work of your devil fruit or something?! I can't imagine anything else would allow healing this fast..." Law's mind was filed with various ideas in how this fruit could potentially be used for medical purposes. His own devil fruit allowed for unparalleled surgical skill, after all.
Cherry found the kuja pirates to be quite likable. After chatting with them, it seemed that they considered strength to be the highest quality in terms of beauty. After telling them she defeated the hero Garp in the middle of Marineford during the war with Whitebeard, their eyes sparkled with amazement (though only after confirming that it was true with Hancock).
Once they reached Amazon Lily, a little old lady had insisted quite heavily that Luffy not be allowed back in the settlement and instead stay on the other side of the island, citing the 'stupid antiquated laws' that Hancock mentioned before. It didn't seem like she really wanted to do it though, just that she was a stickler for tradition.
Cherry was allowed inside if she so wished, though. Normally outsiders regardless of gender weren't allowed inside, but since she had become quite good friends with Hancock an exception was made.
Figuring Luffy could use some alone time, she decided to explore the city. Hancock's sister Sandersonia offered to guide her. The snake-like woman had long, luscious green hair flowing from her wide head, and stood about four and a half meters tall.
Cherry could tell the woman had volunteered with an ulterior motive from the way she had sent sidelong glances at her for the duration of their trip.
Once they had broken away from the others and were alone, Cherry spoke up.
"I'm afraid that I'm taken, though I'm very flattered." Cherry said, giving a smile and a wink.
Sandersonia blushed furiously and turned her head away to hide her face.
Cherry raised her eyebrows, surprised that she'd actually hit the mark. It was almost a shame she already had Robin, as the snake woman was very cute despite her unusual proportions.
'I wonder how many kuja women are going to fall for me before I leave?' Cherry pondered seriously.