Now it's finally time to leave. You were saddened that you were going but you have more important things to do, such as getting a new ship.
"Ora~ Don't worry. I will visit again when I have time" you reassured baby-5.
"But-"
You gave her a hug which she gladly returned. You turned to the tall flamingo and gave him a peck on the cheeks. "See you guys, later"
____________________________________________________________
Now that you're on Water 7. You went to the Galley-La Company to meet one of your acquaintances there.
"Hey, (First Name)!! How have you been doing?? Haven't seen you in a while!!" one of the shipwrights waved at you.
"I've been doing well, thanks for asking!! Where's Iceburg-san??" you asked.
"He's in his office as usual"
You nodded and thanked them as you walked through the building and found his office. You opened the door and slammed it open, causing Iceburg to fall over from his chair and startle the woman with him.
"ICEBURG-SAN!!" you exclaimed cheerfully.
When he got up to see the source of the voice, his eyes widened. "(F-First Name)?? Is that you??"
You chuckled and grinned. "Is there another person with the same name as me??"
He shot up from the desk and grabbed your wrist as he ran out of the office. "Kalifa, cancel all the next meetings from the schedule. Something came up"
You gave her a sympathetic look as the secretary shouted profanities, scolding him for not attending the meetings and taking things seriously. Once you both were outside and out of sight, he brought you into a hug.
"It's been so long!! I haven't seen you in a few years and Tyrannosaurus missed you a lot since your last visit"
You giggled and returned the hug. "Ne I missed you guys too. You know the usual. It can't be helped"
He pulled away from you. "So, what brought you here to visit??" he asked.
"I came here to check up on the spare ship I asked for months back" you replied.
"It's still in process. Where's your current ship??" he looked around for the now sunken ship.
You groaned in response. How the hell are you gonna explain this now?? "About that . . ."
After explaining what happened to the ship while leaving out your identity and the names of the rookie pirates, he laughed at you heartily while you growled in annoyance.
"Oi, it's not funny!!" you shouted.
"Well, it is"
You were irked and veins started forming on your forehead. After he finally calmed down, he led you to one of the canals where the ship's hull was. He explained to you that the hull of the ship was just finished and was about to build it from there.
"That looks great there, Iceburg. Leave the rest of the building to me. I plan to stay here until the ship is done" you said.
"Okay. You know where the materials are, right??"
You nodded in response and smiled. "Yep, I do. No need to remind me"
After he left, you grabbed one of the hammers on the side and smirked. "Let's get to work"
You learned these skills exactly from Water 7 a couple of years back when you were traveling around the Grand Line thanks to a couple of shipwrights and Galley-La workers who were kind enough to teach you the ropes. Although it's not as good as the best it's enough to not make a complete wacko and it's also how everyone here knows you, not as Arsene but as you. You were about to get the planks when you heard a voice.
"I don't recognize you from around here. Who are you??"
You turned around to see a pigeon flying toward you. It stared at you as you silently stared back. The two of you had a friendly staring contest until someone behind the pigeon broke the silence.
"You didn't answer the question. I'll ask again. Who are you??" he repeated.
The bird flew back to what you assume, is its owner. The man had long black hair and a slight goatee with his black eyes piercing you. It didn't startle you one bit so you calmly replied, "I'm an old acquaintance of Iceburg. I came here to build a new ship for myself"
You pointed to an incomplete ship with a hull. "I believe we have never met before so it's better to be acquainted. My name is (First Name). It's nice to meet you, sir" You reached out your hand to him as you smiled.
He looked at your hand first then grabbed it and shook it. "Lucci. It's nice to meet you as well"
You noticed that the bird was talking in the man's stead but you shrugged it off cuz you didn't want to pry. The both of you talked over while you built the ship. He wasn't that approachable at first, but he started to open up to you over time. He even started smiling which surprised you but didn't at the same time because you felt you had seen this type of person before but you don't remember when.
____________________________________________________________
3 months later~
The base of the ship is done so all that's left is the machinery to be implemented. You stretched your aching body from building and decided to take a break before looking for the machinery and electronics. You were walking around the ship when you noticed some pirates causing trouble. You walked over to the commotion when you overheard that the pirates refuse to pay for their ship's repairs but you know that the Galley-La workers can take care of it. You then noticed that the pigeon on Lucci's shoulder flew to your shoulder and nuzzled your cheeks.
You giggled slightly and noticed that Lucci was staring at you. When you looked back, he averted his vision away. You raised a brow. What the hell just happened??
Before you could question yourself further, you were lunged forward a little by a small figure. "What the??" you turned your head and looked down to see a familiar straw hat. He looked up at you with his usual grin.
"(First Name)!! I finally found you again!!" he grinned widely.
"You guys . . . what are you doing here??" you asked when you saw Nami and Usopp coming in after.
"We're here to repair the Going Merry since it was badly damaged from all our travels" Nami replied. "What about you??"
You hummed in response. "I came here to build a new ship for myself. You know after that little stunt you guys pulled"
Arrows of guilt pierced the two idiots, mainly Luffy and Usopp while Nami awkwardly laughed.
"So where are you guys going??"
"We're going to the pawn shop to trade in the treasure we found on Sky Island"
You perked up. "Oh, you went to the Sky Island?? Also known as Skypiea??"
Luffy beamed at you who overheard the conversation. "You've been to the Sky Island?!"
You nodded. "Yeah, I did. It was a very good and fun place . . . except for that so-called god" Your face scrunched up in disgust.
"You know Enel?" Nami questioned.
"Ugh, I never liked that guy. He was so persistent in keeping me there. Barely escaped that place" you groaned when you thought back to when Enel tried to make your stay there longer. There's a limit to how much you can take so what he did already shot through the roof and you had enough of that nonsense.
While you are reminiscing your memories, you don't notice the looks of the straw hats have darkened. Anger bubbling up in their chests at your words.
'We should've killed that fake god'
______________________________________________________________
You decided to follow the straw hats since you're currently taking a break and have nothing else to do than wander around the waterways. The trio went ahead first to trade the items and thanks to Nami's bargaining, they managed to nab 300 million berries from it while you whistled at the large amount they gained.
You had your fair share of business bargaining in the past. While you did turn in the gold to the poor, that doesn't mean you can't have a share of your money. Thus, all your gold is stored in the vault on your island where it is appropriately safe and guarded.
You and the trio left back to the Shipyard. Each of them was carrying a suitcase. Then Luffy dropped the suitcase and was about to fall into the river before you sprung forward and caught it.
"I got it. You should be careful with these kinds of things"
You sweatdropped when you saw Nami beating Luffy up and Usopp thanked you as he took it out of your hands.
"By the way, is this normal??" you whispered.
He looked in your direction and nodded with a yes in response. You sighed. At least he's in good hands . . .
Luckily there were no more hiccups along the way. Luffy tried to climb over the fence into the private area where only employees were allowed but someone moved so fast and stopped him as you know who that person is.
"Hey, hold on. You're not from here!! Let's talk outside. Only employees are allowed here. Ah, so what are you guys here for??"
You waved and smiled to get the person's attention. "Hey, Kaku!!"
He turned to you and smiled back. "Ah, (First Name). How's that new ship you're working on??"
"I just finished with the base. Currently taking a break right now" you replied.
He hummed in response. You met Kaku during your stay in Water 7, one of the people you met besides Lucci and Kalifa.
"You two know each other??" Luffy asked, looking between the two of you.
"We do. Mostly the whole Galley-La workers know her way back before we met which is why she was an exception to enter the private area" Kaku answered.
You grinned and nodded. "By the way, these three are here to see Iceburg for their ship to be repaired. Is he currently free right now??"
Kaku shook his head. "No, he's not. You know he's a very important and busy man, right??"
Yeah, but he tends to skip meetings sometimes but I can't say that . . .
He casually stretched his legs on the floor as he turned to you. "Wanna come with me to see their ship??"
You smirked. "Are you asking me out on the date??"
He shrugged. "Depends on the context. What do you think??"
You placed your thumb and index finger on your chin in a thinking manner. "When was the last time we did this??"
"A month ago"
You grinned close-eyed. "Then I'll just consider it a date"
You didn't notice that Kaku and the trio's faces were red. Not from embarrassment though. After that, you calmly stretched your legs to prepare for the run. You both took your marks as you grinned. You haven't done this in a while so you are very excited to run around on rooftops again.
The moment he said go, you launched yourself forward with a dash before jumping over the large and free-falling with Kaku behind you. He seemed genuinely happy to free fall with his arm outstretched.
It's a shame that he had to be an undercover agent from the World Government. . .
Kaku waved at some of the kids who were in their boats. You waved at them as well and they seemed to be super excited by it. The both of you landed safely on the rooftop before springing right off toward the Peninsula. You've been running and jumping around rooftops for a while before finding the Going Merry. You showed it to him before he let you start sprinting back.
Running and jumping around rooftops was so much fun, letting the windy breeze flow through you as you bounced from roof to roof before jumping up onto the wall and back down, effectively scaring everyone. You found Iceburg and Kalifa to be standing there with the Straw hats.
"Ahahah, that was so much fun. I haven't been able to do this in a while!!" you laughed.
"You're crazy, (First Name)!!" Nami shouted.
"Like you guys are any better. No one is normal in the Grand Line" you smirked.
Luffy was still stunned that you had willingly jumped over the wall but laughed regardless. Kalifa started stating their bounties which now included Nico Robin. You were surprised that she had decided to join Luffy's crew. It could be that she joined willingly or Luffy asked her to join. Either way, you hoped that she wouldn't betray them, to say the least. Knowing her and her connection to the World Government is not always a good sign.
You tuned out most of the conversation with Iceburg and the Straw hats when Kalifa launched forward and delivered a barrage of kicks at the three. She called them ill-mannered brats.
You stopped her as you went in front of the trio and blocked most of her kicks in the process. "Ora~ Kalifa, you know you shouldn't lose your cool with that pretty face of yours. Besides, you know that it's true that Iceburg isn't always a model mayor"
Your grin widens, even more, when Kalifa's face turns 50 shades of red. "Shut up!!"
(I forgot to add her as a love interest so she's added now)
You went behind her and hugged her, snickering while she tried to break free from your grasp forcefully but gave up eventually. You stopped laughing as you heard slightly heavy footsteps behind them and chased after the Franky family. These people are supposed to know better than to get caught by you since you always beat them up when they tried to steal from you during these past 3 months. They never learned.
Usopp stupidly yelled out the amount of money. You were already close to capturing them when someone else had already done so by swinging their rope at the two idiots who tried to take the Straw hats' money and slammed their heads together which threw them in the water.
You landed safely on the boat with both cases under one arm while you went over to the other boat and grabbed the last suitcase in the other arm.
Usopp again stupidly told the amount inside the cases as the man you noticed was Paulie perked up.
You gave them a deadpan look for Usopp to say the amount of cash they have while Paulie was trying to steal the money to pay back his debts. You noticed that Lucci landed on the boat Paulie was on and pulled his ear nonchalantly.
"I'll remember this, Lucci!!"
"You tried to steal money to pay your debts?! You're shameless"
"Plus these are not yours. They're for my friends over there" you pointed at the trio who came in later. You gave the suitcases back as Nami was very grateful for the help.
"You shouldn't leave your valuables around unguarded. It would be best if you also looked out for those troublemakers. These guys won't stop until they get what they want" you informed.
Nami nodded and will make sure it doesn't get stolen again. Then all of a sudden you and Nami got called shameless girl/woman just because our outfits didn't cover our female counterparts and also called Kalifa shameless.
You shook your head and sighed. This has always become a common thing when you're with that guy. "That's not our fault that you can't keep it in your pants. Unless . . ."
You walked over to Paulie and leaned at his height to whisper something in his ear. His face turned red as a tomato and you laughed hysterically.
Lucci was holding Paulie back from chastising Kalifa and going after you.
"If you're this much of a pussy, then I guess you can just stay single for the rest of your life" you smirked smugly.
"Or maybe I could just strip then"
"No!!"
You laughed at his reaction, throwing your head back. You were just joking but it seems it wasn't the same for the rest. You look at the rest and their faces were extremely red. You thought that you just saw that steam came out of their heads. You sweatdropped. Did your joke go too far?? Yea, most definitely. . .
You told them to lighten up and that you were just joking. It took them a while to calm down before Iceburg took them inside. While they were talking, you tuned out most of the conversation, dozed off again, were not interested in it, and just tagged along due to boredom. It was then you noticed Kaku came jumping down. He got them the good news and bad news. The Going Merry can no longer be repaired anymore.
Everyone seems devastated. You frowned and asked what the main problem was. He explained that the keel of the ship was severely affected by all the traveling and was nearly broken. From what you know, the keel is the base of the ship, and replacing it is impossible. Luffy angrily slammed the suitcases from them onto the ground but Paulie explained the basics of constructing a ship. It just would never be the same Going Merry.
You sighed sadly as Luffy refused to accept it, screaming that Iceburg had no idea how strong the Going Merry was. Then one of the shipwrights came at a moment and told you all that some people from the World Government were here. Without hesitation, you grabbed both Luffy and Nami by hand and dragged them behind the large pile of logs to hide. You put a finger to your lips and they got the message as they kept quiet while you casually left the vicinity. You do not want to mix with those people as you're too uncomfortable with them.
After they left with Iceburg while you were waiting for Luffy and Nami outside, you heard a panicked scream. You ran back inside and asked what was wrong. She told you that the money inside the suitcases was stolen. You were irked by this and clicked your tongue. You're starting to get annoyed with the Franky Family.
You used your Observation Haki at a large scale and found a familiar brown aura. You leaped in the air and over the wall. Jumping down to a roof before running around in one of the streets. You found Usopp heavily injured and beaten up on the floor.
You rushed over to tend to his injuries. You didn't bring your pressure needle with you so you used your index and middle finger to press the acupoints. Luckily, he wasn't in any life-threatening danger but he still needed to get his injuries healed.
He apologized to you and the crew as he called himself useless as they managed to take the money.
"Usopp, don't apologize, and don't call yourself useless. You're not and you did your best. Luffy and the rest will take care of them for you" you said firmly.
He was crying uncontrollably as you carried him back to the Going Merry to find Chopper.
"T-thank you!! W-we were so close to fixing Merry!!"
You kept silent the whole way. You wanted to tell him but you felt like it was not your place to tell. Hopefully, Luffy will relay the news to him . . .