"I just wanted to be certain, now that you're sober, that you can truly repeat your feat of restoring the dead to life for someone who has long passed?" Tesoro asked, paying close attention to her expression.
"Wow, I just went and blabbed about that?" Cherry lied as naturally as she breathed, catching onto what she was conspiring whilst Drunk Cherry had taken the wheel. "I've been trying to keep it on the down-low, you know? If the Celestial Pigs find out about what I can do, then they'll stop at nothing to catch me."
Tesoro nodded enthusiastically, barking a laugh when she referred to the world nobles as "pigs" instead of "dragons". A much more appropriate designation in his opinion; especially since he has them begging for his table scraps twice a year. The idiots didn't even realize he was just using them until he was strong enough to dispose of them as they had him and his love so many years ago.
"I'm sure that you're right about that! Who wouldn't want assurances against death itself? You're quite wise to avoid them, for they would not enrich you as I would for your services; rather they would collar you as they would any of their slaves, and treat you no better either," Tesoro said, meaning to stroke her ego.
"So who is it you're wanting to bring back? My apologies if you already told me, but my memory of last night is a little fuzzy." Cherry moved the conversation along, eager to leave.
Tesoro hesitated for a moment before saying, "Someone who is very important to me, and who didn't deserve to die as she did."
'Ah, so that's it? Give him hope, then mercilessly dash it upon the rocks.' Cherry concluded. "I'm sure that we can manage that."
Tesoro didn't miss the 'we' in that sentence, indicating that she was completely on board already. "Excellent. It'll be some time before the preparations are finished, so just enjoy your time on the Gran Tesoro in the meantime. Oh, and don't miss the special show we have tonight."
Cherry nodded to him semi-committedly and left the office. Through the door this time.
'You could have opened it first…' Tesoro thought, his good mood ruined at the sight of a cherry shaped hole through his office's door.
"Hey, there, cutie~ You come here often?" he heard Cherry say outside the door.
'And now she's trying to steal my secretary… Whatever.' Tesoro pulled out a bottle of bourbon and didn't bother with a glass. This wasn't much to put up with if he could see his sweet Stella once again.
…
Law was VERY curious why the Straw Hats hadn't come back to their ship the previous night. He supposed they got other accommodations, but there was always the possibility that they fucked up big time.
The fliers advertising Zoro's impending execution should they not pay a debt of over 300 million Beri answered his question.
"Bunch of fuckin' idiots, haaaah…" Law rubbed forehead to get ahead of the headache that was undoubtedly in its early stages.
Cabernet set a bowl of oatmeal and a banana in front of him before starting to eat her own breakfast that consisted of the same with the addition of about 10 pounds of burnt bacon.
"Does your head hurt?" Cabernet asked cheerfully, in as good a mood as anyone can be right after waking up.
"Your buddy Zoro-ya is going to be executed," Law said, placing a flier on the table. He reached over to take some of the bacon, but Cabernet moved the plate away from him.
"That's weird." Cabernet didn't seem remotely distressed. "This is MY bacon."
"Room." Law chimed and swapped his bowl of oatmeal with the plate, before promptly vanishing who knows where.
"AH! You dirty cheater!" Cabernet flared up angrily.
'Does she not like Zoro-ya, or is she so blindly confident in their survival?' Law wondered to himself, quickly stuffing charred bacon in his mouth before Cabernet could find him. 'I suppose I have to be the level headed one, damn it…'
That was easier said than done, though. He couldn't use his Room to search the ship for Zoro since the effect was easy to see. He would have to rescue him at the actual 'event' to avoid giving the enemy an advantage.
'It'd be a lot easier if I had any idea where the rest were, though…' Law complained silently.
…
The Straw Hats were in the midst of planning the ultimate heist when they were interrupted by Cherry crawling out of a hole in the floor. She brushed the dust off of her shirt and looked around before locking onto Robin.
Cherry leapt through the air and landed directly in Robin's arms. Or she would have, if Robin hadn't sidestepped out of the way. Sanji swooped in to perfectly position himself to catch her instead, only to be toppled over by the unexpected force.
Sanji lay on the floor, a bit dazed from the blow, with Cherry sat on his chest.
"Don't try to catch me if you're not prepared, fool." Cherry admonished, pinching and pulling on his ears. "It makes me look heavier than I am."
"Then why did you use armament haki?" Sanji asked abashedly, though not-so-secretly enjoying the situation.
"Huh?! Are you back talking to me, you pipsqueak? Even Zoro doesn't skip leg day, but you think it's fine to take it easy with your upper body?" Cherry pulled his ears harder, making his yelp in discomfort.
Cherry stood up with ease, her feet digging into his gut, before stepping off. She embraced Robin lovingly with a goofy smile, and was fortunately not rejected a second time. "I missed you~!"
"Did you, now?" Robin asked in mock exasperation as she returned the hug.
"Hmph, and you had the nerve to say that I was crushing on Nami?" Carina said, pointing out Cherry's 'hypocrisy'.
Cherry raised an eyebrow at her as if to ask 'Are you stupid?' before giving Robin a long kiss. When she broke it and looked at Carina again, her face was beet red with her hands failing to cover her own eyes.
"Stop teasing her, Cherry." Nami admonished half-heartedly. In truth she was greatly enjoying how easily flustered Carina was about romance; she never could have imagined that ever-confident thief would fall apart so quickly.
"Dahaha! She looks like a tomato!" Luffy flat out laughed at her, followed shortly by Usopp and Chopper.
"S-shut up!" Carina feebly shouted before storming out of the room, more out of embarrassment than genuine anger.
"Are you alright, Cherry?" Jinbe asked.
Cherry was caught off guard by the question. Jinbe was well aware of her capabilities, but he asked regardless. "Yeah, I'm fine big guy. Tesoro is a pushover; I got him wrapped around my little finger. Turns out he's very polite when you have something he desperately wants."
"What does he want?" Brook asked curiously.
"He hasn't said who, but I convinced him I can bring back the dead and he's willing to pay any price to bring her back. I'm guessing a lover. I can't wait to see his face when I tell him I can do no such thing, hehehehe~!" Cherry chuckled darkly.
A shiver went down the spines of the Straw Hats and the samurai, making them happy to be on the same side as her.