"That's… hm… huh…" Merry didn't really know what to make of the fact that his old ship was literally alive now.
"Congratulations are in order, I suppose," Cherry said.
"What do you mean?" Merry asked.
"Well, you clearly took good care of Going Merry before giving her over to our crew. She developed a Klabautermann before I gave her the fruit, and that doesn't happen over such a short period of time, you know?" Cherry explained. "So, you're kind of like her grandpa."
"G-grandpa?!" Merry's voice was higher than before.
"Congratulations, Merry!" Kaya jumped on board the bandwagon, much to Merry's dismay. "Oh! We should prepare some gifts! What do sheep like? What do ships like?"
"She really likes apples, and you can't go wrong with a nice wood polish or shampoo," Cherry informed her.
"Perfect!" Kaya exclaimed, already skipping down the hall to make the arrangements.
"I'm a grandpa…" Merry muttered to himself, still in a daze.
…
Cherry was amused by the people of this village bending over backwards just to send a gift package to Usopp and little Merry Jr.
She supposed that it made sense. Kaya had been very busy over the last two and a half years investing a lot of her fortune in the village, and her life had been saved by Usopp, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami.
She had wanted to do so before that, but her old traitorous butler had convinced her that she would only insult them by doing so. The truth, of course, was that he wanted the fortune to be whole for when he inherited after Kaya's untimely death.
The result was that this once quaint and quiet countryside settlement was now bustling with activity. Many local businesses have expanded and started exporting goods via the shipping company that Kaya started up and were doing better than ever. They even had a proper doctor move into town instead of relying entirely on a man who, while he did his best, was only qualified to handle common injuries and illnesses.
"Mrs. Meredith has the best apple pies that I've ever eaten," Kaya spoke her compliments openly in front of the woman. She then scrunched up her face in thought. "Can sheep eat pies?"
"Merry can handle it. She isn't a normal sheep," Cherry assuaged her worries.
"Perfect!" Kaya clapped her hands together. "It's a shame we can't ship these pies to other islands. They'd be very popular."
"I couldn't handle that kind of volume by myself, even if they'd keep that long," Mrs. Meredith said with a cheery smile. "It's the love and care that goes into each pie that makes them special."
"Sanji would agree with you, I'd bet," Cherry said.
"He's one of your other crewmates, right? What is he like?" Kaya asked conversationally.
"A damned good cook, a pervert, and a gentleman. In that order," Cherry said. "He's working on switching those last two around, though."
"I hope that he sorts that out before he ever comes here. I would hate to practice my assertiveness on him," Kaya said.
"Hehehe, just don't say that to him. Sanji loves assertive women," Cherry laughed.
"What about the rest of your crew? The ones I haven't had the good fortune to meet, that is. What are they like?" Kaya asked.
"I'll just go in the order that they joined, then, I suppose," Cherry said, looking thoughtful. "First, there's Cabernet; she was my ship before I fed the human human fruit lunarian model to her. Weird that we actually have three human fruit users on our crew. She's a sweet young lady who likes to punch things. Naive, but less so than you'd expect. Curious to a fault."
Kaya nodded and Cherry continued, "After that, we met our excellent Doctor Chopper."
"His bounty poster says he's a pet!" Kaya looked both scandalized and bemused.
"Yes, it's very funny. Good bedside manner and quite intelligent. Like his moniker suggests, he loves sweet things and he is very sweet as well. He's the same as Usopp in the sense that he has nerves of steel hidden beneath a healthy coat of cowardice," Cherry described.
Kaya giggled. "Usopp IS like that!"
Cherry practically lit up for the next one. "My lover and future wife, Robin. She's wicked smart, decisive and deadly, with a heart as warm as a perfect summer day and even more beautiful. Also, she's VERY good with her hands…"
It took a second for Kaya to realize that Cherry wasn't saying that Robin was a carpenter, then she blushed.
"Then there's good old Franky. Best shipwright in the world if you ask me. Biggest pervert in the world if you ask him; fortunately not the kind that creeps on women, just a weirdo. He's an oddball with odd ideas that, more often than not, work out quite well. His own nerves of steel might be literal as well as figurative," Cherry said.
"Wait, so that isn't some sort of armored suit that he's wearing…?" Kaya asked.
"That's all him, I'm afraid. I don't why he would alter his body so heavily, but to each their own, I guess. Must be a pervert thing," Cherry shrugged and Kaya felt a shiver down her spine.
"Now Brook. Full time spooky skeleton, part time rock star. Loves music, as you might have guessed. Somehow he didn't go completely bonkers after spending half a century on a ghost ship in total isolation, so it's fair to say he's strong willed. Also a pervert, but a gentleman before that; always asks politely to see your panties," Cherry said. Kaya gasped at the man's audacity. "Huh. We've got three perverts as well as three human fruit users; I never noticed."
"Anyways, last but not least is Jimbe, our whale shark fishman helmsman and certified badass," Cherry nodded.
"Who certified him?" Kaya asked.
Cherry paused. "Hmmm, the World Government? They did make him a shichibukai… I could break into Marineford and forge some official looking documents."
"I'm… sure that won't be necessary…" Kaya fidgeted.
"Right. Jinbe is probably the coolest dude I know. I can certify THAT myself, and my dad is Dracule Mihawk so that really means something," Cherry said.
"Eh? You don't mean…" Kaya was startled.
"Just between you and me, Hawkeye is a big softie," Cherry winked at her, causing her to laugh at the thought of that terrifying man truly being soft in any sense of the word.
"There's a few more people who might become more permanent fixtures in the crew, or perhaps not. Only time will tell, so I'll have to get back to you," Cherry said.
"You certainly sound like an unusual bunch. Even more so than when it was just Usopp, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami," Kaya hummed. "Sometimes I wish I was out there, sailing the seas and exploring the world like Usopp. My true dreams and desires can all be found here, though, even if I wasn't too afraid to throw myself headlong into the unknown."
"Nonsense. There are more cowards on the sea than you can count, and I'm not talking about Usopp. I mean REAL cowards," Cherry waved away her words. "It takes courage to chase your dreams, no matter where they lead you."
Kaya smiled from ear to ear.