In due time, everyone who left the ship returned.
Nami looked pleased with herself, so she probably had a good hawl whilst burgling people. Sanji and Reiju pulled two large carts behind them, full of necessities like preserved foodstuffs and water barrels.
Luffy was napping on the lawn deck peacefully and Pudding was pacing with a nervous demeanor several meters away. She wanted to wake him up and ask if she could come along like Cherry said she should, but she also didn't want to upset him by doing so or her chances might plummet down to hell.
"Are you sure you want to go your own way, Pekoms?" Pedro asked the lion mink.
"As much as I would love to follow my brethren into battle to take revenge against Kaido, I have some important business to take care of in paradise now that I've cut myself loose from Big Mom," Pekoms explained. "I also don't need to give Big Mom any more reasons to follow you. She won't be happy with my betrayal."
"That's a shame. May we meet again, Pekoms," Pedro said.
*Garchuuuuu*
The two of them rubbed their furry faces together in a manly embrace.
Luffy's snot bubble popped and his eyes shot open. He sat up quickly, wincing slightly from his injuries. "Are you leaving, Pekoms?"
"That's right. I've done my part in helping your crew, and now it's time to take my leave," Pekoms said.
Everyone said their goodbyes with him, except for Reiju who barely knew the guy and Pudding who was biting her nails as she waited for her chance to talk to Luffy.
*Splash!*
Just as Pudding was about to speak up, the sound of something surfacing from the water drew everyone's attention. A large figure lifted itself up and over the railing of the ship onto the deck.
"Hey, I was lookin' for ya," said the 8 meter long hammerhead shark mermaid.
Her hair was light brown and shaped like a hammerhead shark's head. She wore heavy, water-proof eyeshadow, eyeliner, and lipstick on her freckled face. Sharp teeth lined her easygoing smile and she wore an open-chested, flowery jacket with rings of frills around her tail.
"Charlotte Praline, what do you want from us?" Jinbe was the first to address her.
"Don't be so cold, Jinbe~" Praline chirped cheerfully. "I was just wondering which way you were going. With Totto Land in disarray and Mama injured, now is the perfect chance for me to leave."
"Eh? Just like that?!" Pudding spoke up unintentionally.
"Oh? Are you leaving too, Pudding? Good for you," Praline acknowledged her younger sister. "Anyways, if you're heading back towards Fishman Island, I was hoping to catch a ride. Do you know if I'll find Aladine there?"
Jinbe's eyes widened. "Aladine? If you're looking for him, you'll find him there, yes. We aren't heading that way, though. Why are you looking for him?"
Jinbe could understand what Praline would want from his long time crewmate and friend from his time in the Sun Pirates.
"Oh…" Praline flushed in the cheeks and licked her lips. "No reason in particular~"
Only an idiot wouldn't guess her reason, which naturally meant Luffy didn't understand a bit.
"I'm going to be passing through Fishman Island, and I wouldn't mind having a mermaid along to make the journey go more smoothly," Pekoms said.
"Perfect!" Praline clasped her hands together with a pleased smile.
"S-Straw Hat!" Pudding plucked up her courage, shouting perhaps a bit too loud.
"Hm?" Luffy spun his head around slowly to an angle that would undoubtedly be painful if he weren't made of rubber.
The fact that he hadn't even bothered to turn his entire body screamed that he could even be bothered to face her completely to Pudding. Of course, this was just an overanalysis of Luffy's lazy body language.
"I- I would like to go along with your crew…" Pudding said, then quickly added, "J- Just for a little while! Not for a long time, certainly!"
Luffy's face scrunched up in what Pudding assumed was displeasure, but was actually just how Luffy looked when he gave more than half a second of thought towards something.
"Hmmmmmm…" Luffy's head tilted to the side, then continued to tilt until his forehead was below his jaw.
Inside his head, he was weighing the fact that Pudding was a pretty good cook from his personal experience, but also that two cooks on his ships would double the kitchen's defenses against his late night burglaries.
Pudding was physically leaning forward from anticipation and became more conscious of the nervous sweat forming on her palms.
"Don't wanna," Luffy mercilessly crushed Pudding's hopes of having a lovey dovey dream voyage with her ex-fiance.
"Luffy!" Nami scolded, but she knew she couldn't override her captain in this. Pudding had lied to them, and the fact that they've been moderately friendly after the 'canceled' wedding didn't change that. She likely would have said the same, if a bit more delicately.
"Th- That's great, because I didn't want to sail with a bunch of… a bunch of…" Pudding burst into tears, unable to finish her venomous retort.
Sanji was caught between wanting to kick Luffy's ass for making a woman cry and comforting Pudding. His instincts took over his body and started leading him to do the latter, but Cherry grabbed his shoulder to stop him. He looked her in the eyes, which seemed to tell him to "wait and see", so he did. Although he wasn't sure how long he could hold out for.
Pudding frantically wiped away at the tears that spilled from her eyes, her face a cross between a hateful scowl and a sadness that she just couldn't stuff down deep inside like she always had done before. She gave up trying to stem the tears and put her arms down, surrendering to her emotions.
"Dahahaha! You have three eyes, that's so weird!" Luffy pointed and laughed. This was the first time he'd personally seen the third one as she had covered it up with her bangs after the ruined ceremony.
The ship was stunned silent. Sanji went red in the face and his feet started to ignite involuntarily. Pudding's face had gone steely and emotionless, her hands clenching so hard her nails drew blood from her palms.
"Okay, you're in!" Luffy gave her a thumbs up and a big, toothy smile.
Pudding went from looking like she was about to commit a murder to the happiest girl in the world so quickly, that everyone present almost thought they had imagined it.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!" Pudding squeezed Luffy in a tighter hug than she had ever given before.
Sanji had a different reason to be angry at Luffy now. Too bad that Pudding was in between his captain and his vengeful feet.
Cherry wore a twisted smile on her face. It really was just too fun to watch Pudding squirm, and now she would get to tease the girl any time that she wanted for the foreseeable future.
"Of course Luffy lets her in because she has a third eye," Nami sighed. "Why can't he have more reasonable criteria? Wait… is there something wrong with me?! Am I a weirdo too?!"
Nami whipped her head towards Cherry. Cherry turned to face away from Nami.
"Nooooo!" Nami fell to her knees in despair.