Kaya watched in melancholy as the Going Merry faded out of sight over the horizon. Usopp was finally making his way out into the vast seas. Her eyes threatened to water as she remembered their conversation from earlier that afternoon. After the conflict, Usopp had pulled her aside in the restaurant. He had explained that he was finally going out to sea today, and wanted to make sure that she would be OK. She had replied with conviction that she would be.
She was sad that he was leaving, of course, but she could never bring herself to stand in the way of his dream. She had assured him that her condition was getting better. It really was. She felt better than she had in a long time, since her parents had passed away. She remembered first falling ill that day, and being visited by a strange young boy with a long nose, who had started telling her stories of his adventures to a sky island where pure souls went after they passed, and what an amazing and happy place it was. His lies had been ridiculous, but she had listened eagerly to them all the same.
A year later she would find out that the boy's father had been a pirate who left on a journey to roam the seas. His mother had fallen ill soon afterwards, and the boy had run through the town yelling that pirates were coming, that his father's ship had arrived on the coast, that his father was waiting to see his wife alive and well. Kaya cried more that day than she had since her parents had died.
How he must have felt, seeing her fall into despair. She had almost lost the will to live like his mother must have. She resolved that day to live on and to overcome her condition so that he wouldn't have to worry, but it was just so hard. Only the boy's frequent visits and eccentric fictions kept her going.
"Pirates are coming!" she heard three juvenile voices shout in the distance. She smiled, still looking out at the horizon even after the ship vanished from her sight. Good luck, Usopp. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be OK from now on. Just sail on, and live strong.
The Going Merry made it's way through calm, cerulean waters as a couple seagulls flocked overhead. Luffy jumped onto his feet from the dock where a dripping paint bucket lay and held up a flag with a poorly drawn pirate flag excitedly. "It's done!"
His three crewmates stared at the abomination with neutral expressions. Usopp was the first to comment. "What's done? Your prop for a live adaptation of When Flags Attack?"
"Are you that artistically challenged? Or is this some kind of abstract art?" Nami asked curiously.
"You guys are missing the point," Zoro said, shaking his head in disappointment. "A pirate flag is meant to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. If I cringe at the sight of it, then it's picture perfect.
Luffy pouted at his crewmates' reactions. It wasn't as if he hadn't been working on his artistic talent since the first time he'd attempted this. Usopp grabbed the brush from his hand. "Your first draft was…terrible, Luffy. But let an old pro show you how it's done."
With that, he quickly painted a Jolly Roger on another flag. Only it wasn't a Jolly Roger for the Straw Hat Pirates. It had a long nose, a brown hat with a crossed stripe pattern, and a slingshot in place of one of the crossbones. Luffy continued to stare at it as he bonked Usopp over the head.
"Third draft's the charm," he said as Zoro and Nami laughed out loud. Usopp gave in and drew a perfect Straw Hat Jolly Roger, just the way Luffy remembered it. He cheered. "All right, Usopp! Now the sail!" Once that was painted, Luffy really got psyched. The ship was exactly the same. Zoro wore a small smile as well as he looked up at the finished product. "The pirate ship Going Merry is ready for action!" He picked up his drink from the deck. "A toast to our two new comrades," he said gleefully.
"Cheers!" they all shouted as they clinked their cups together.
"So, now that we have our ship, what's next, Luffy?" Nami asked. Luffy thought for a moment and turned his attention to the positions that needed to be filled.
"Well, we'll need a chef," he began. "As well as a doctor, and eventually, a carpenter. We should also recruit someone once we get into the Grand Line who has practical knowledge and experience from traveling the area." Luffy and Zoro fit this description of course, but Luffy was thinking about Robin. Nami nodded at each suggestion, genuinely impressed. Luffy had really thought this through. "And of course, we'll need a musician at some point. Can't go without that."
Nami sweatdropped. "Uh, right." Luffy looked at her innocently.
"What? Pirates love to sing. Right Zoro? Come on buddy, let's get a duet going."
"Piss off."
"See?" Luffy concluded, turning back to Nami. Suddenly they heard the sound of cannon fire and turned to see Usopp standing in front of one of their few cannons with a shocked expression on his face. In the distance, they could see the shattered remains of what looked to be a strange rock formation.
"I hit it," Usopp whispered in shock.
"Nice, Usopp! You're definitely our crew's sniper from now on!" Luffy stilled, though, as he sensed two auras at the rock formation. One was frantic and desperate, while the other was extremely faint. A relevant memory suddenly came back into Luffy's mind. "Nami, can you take us over to that rock?" Nami looked confused but did as she was asked. Comprehension quickly dawned on Zoro's face and he started to look worried, no doubt sensing the weak state of the second aura.
As they pulled up next to the rock formation, someone jumped onto their ship. "Damn pirates! First you attack us while we're vulnerable, and now you show up to finish the job! It won't be that easy," he shouted angrily before catching sight of Zoro. "Zoro…aniki?" he said with a confused expression.
Zoro quickly got down to business. "Johnny, what happened to Yosaku?" Johnny's shoulders sagged as he made his account of what had happened. When he got to the part where a cannonball had come and almost killed them, Usopp's jaw dropped and his face took on a blue tint. "I'm very sorry," he said, bowing. Before Johnny could respond, Luffy cut in.
"Bring him onto our ship. We'll see what we can do for him." Johnny quickly obeyed, his mind filling with hope. He brought the sick man onto the Going Merry carefully, and Nami's face took on a focused expression at the sight of him.
"Is he gonna be ok, aniki?" Johnny was on the verge of tears. Zoro turned to Nami.
"Scurvy?" he asked sternly. Nami nodded.
"Usopp, can you go get some limes from the fridge, squeeze the juice out, and bring it here?" she asked.
Usopp followed her instructions hastily. He came back with a cup full of juice, and Nami told him to let the man drink it, which he did.
"He should recover in a few days time," Nami told Johnny, whose eyes widened.
"Really sis!? He's gonna be ok!?" he asked in relief.
"Don't call me sis. And yeah, he'll be fine. Just make sure he gets more vitamin C in the future. Yosaku suddenly got up and looked at his hands in awe.
"I'm…alive," he stated in wonder. Johnny really did start crying now.
"He's better! It's a miracle!" Both men cheered and started dancing around the ship. Luffy and Usopp joined in.
"You don't get better that quickly, dipshits! Lay your ass back down!" Nami screamed in frustration. Yosaku unwillingly did as he was told, passing out in the process. She signed. "Let this be a lesson to all of us. Things like this can happen on the open sea. We have to be prepared for long journeys."
Luffy nodded. "I guess our first goal is to get a chef then," he said matter-of-factly.
"If you're looking for a chef, I know a place around here that sounds promising. Of course, actually getting one to join you is a different story, but you should head to Baratie, the floating sea restaurant."
"A restaurant at sea?" Usopp asked curiously. There certainly were a lot of strange things in the world.
"Sounds like fun! Let's go," Luffy said jovially.
"You should be able to get there in a couple days," Johnny said. But you have to be careful. This place is kind of close to the Grand Line, so there is no shortage of dangerous adversaries." He turned to Zoro. "I heard Hawk-Eye Mihawk was sighted in the area as well." Zoro let a small grin cross his features.
Two days later, the excited voices of Johnny and Yosaku echoed across the ship. "Zoro-aniki! Luffy-aniki! Nami-aniki! Usopp! We've arrived!"
"Why am I aniki?" Nami grumbled.
"Why am I not aniki?" Usopp grumbled.
"So, what do you think?" Johnny asked once they made their way out. He observed their reactions. Zoro kept a blank face. Nami smiled and let out a low whistle. Usopp looked on in awe. Luffy wore a wide grin.
"It's a huge fish! So cool! I'm getting psyched," he said enthusiastically.
"When you guys are done, we've got company," Zoro commented. A Marine ship made pulled up next the Going Merry. Nami, Usopp, and the bounty hunter duo all stiffened as someone walked out onto the deck of the by default enemy ship.
"Hey, you pirates! I've never seen your flag before. I am Marine Lieutenant Ironfist Fullbody. Who's your captain? Identify yourselves."
"I am Straw Hat Luffy!" Luffy shouted as he stepped forward.
"I am Honorable Liar Usopp!" Usopp shouted, stepping up beside him. Luffy shot him an annoyed look, but turned his attention back to Fullbody.
"Our mark was just made a couple days ago!" he shouted.
"I was the one who made the mark!" Usopp added. He was about to shout something else, but Zoro walked forward and bonked him over the head, causing him to bite his tongue. Zoro then proceeded to drag him away, telling him to come make himself useful.
"Well, I'm just here to eat at the restaurant. Consider yourselves lucky. But the next time we meet, consider your lives forfeit," Fullbody shouted. "Come on darling, our food is waiting for us." But as their ship pulled up towards the entrance to the restaurant, Fullbody turned to the Marine on duty and pointed his thumb down. "Their ship is an eyesore. Sink it."
"Hey, the bastards are firing at us!" Yosaku yelled frantically. Luffy was ready for the cannonball that flew towards their ship and batted it away with his fist. It exploded when it hit the water, but their ship was unharmed. "What the hell did you just do!?" Yosaku asked.
"I punched it," Luffy said as if it was obvious.
"You don't just punch a cannonball away! That's not possible, you know!?" Johnny chimed in.
"Well I just did, so it clearly is," Luffy said sensibly. The enemy Marines, who had been ordered to sink their ship, not just fire at it once, scrambled for the second cannonball that they didn't think they'd need, and fired again. This time, Luffy kicked the cannonball up into the air where it exploded again without leaving a mark on the ship. Yosaku and Johnny watched with awestruck expressions. Could he do this all day?
Suddenly, the sound of a cannon went off again, but this time the cannonball flew from the Going Merry. It hit the Marine ship dead-on through the hull and exploded. The larger Marine ship started to sink after one shot. All eyes turned towards Usopp, who looked shocked himself.
OK, this definitely makes up for earlier, Luffy decided. As the Marines panicked at the sight of their ship slowly sinking, the Straw Hats entered the restaurant. Zoro wondered what kind of dumbass Marines weren't prepared for an enemy ship to fire back. Idiots…
A waiter with a large build met them at the door. "Hello, you horrid scumbags. My name is Patty, and I'll be seating you." He said it with a practiced voice and a blindingly fake smile, and yet he gave off a tone of sincerity despite himself.
Once they were seated, Fullbody burst into the restaurant with an outraged expression.
"Fucking pirates! You think you can get away with sinking my ship!? I'll show you what your audacity just earned you!"
Luffy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You attacked us. We returned fire. What did you expect?" he asked.
"I expected you to sink and drown like the useless scum you are!" Fullbody screamed irrationally. Behind him, his date flinched at seeing this new side to him. She hadn't expected him to get into a confrontation with pirates when he promised to take her to a nice restaurant.
"Well, we didn't," Luffy said simply. "Now, piss off. We came here to eat good food and find a chef, not babysit Marines with inferiority complexes."
Fullbody was stomping over to Luffy with a dark, vengeful scowl when a blond-haired chef with spiraled eyebrows burst through the kitchen doors and made his way over to their table. Luffy and Zoro perked up at this, the bored look completely vanishing from Luffy's face. Painful memories flashed through both of their minds as the chef locked eyes with all of his guests. His gaze lingered on Luffy and Zoro for a second, before he turned to Nami, who his gaze really lingered on.
"Welcome to the Baratie," he started formally. "My name is Sanji. What can I get you all?"
"Food!" Luffy yelled excitedly, his mouth watering.
"That much is implied," Sanji replied nonchalantly. "You're going to have to be more specific."
"Meat!" Luffy yelled excitedly, his mouth watering.
"That's better, but I'm still going to need a little more—"
"Sorry about this, waiter," Fullbody said in a low voice. "But I have some business with these pirates. Come back later."
Sanji hummed thoughtfully. "Well first of all, I'm a chef, not a waiter. We're a little short handed at the moment you see. Second, we don't allow fighting between guests in the restaurant. You'll have to take it outside." Fullbody looked like he wanted to protest, but controlled his temper and nodded slowly.
Luffy had other ideas. "No way," he said with a pout. "I can kick his ass later. I came here to eat." Sanji hummed again.
"Well, I guess that settles that," Sanji said matter-of-factly. "You can beat each other senseless once they're done eating." Fullbody's expression turned murderous.
"They're not eating shit. As far as I'm concerned they're all going to be starved to death, and I'm not prolonging that by letting them eat something!" He slammed his fist down on their table, fully expecting it to break, but surprisingly, it didn't budge. Luffy had applied an Armament Haki coating to it. He was not waiting longer just because this asshole felt like breaking their table on a whim. He wondered if Sanji would notice, but he flinched at his future chef's dangerous expression once he looked at him. He almost felt bad for Fullbody now…almost.
"I think someone needs a lesson in table manners," Sanji said in a low tone. Within seconds, Fullbody was reduced to a bleeding unconscious heap, not even expecting Sanji's swift barrage of kicks, much less being able to defend against it.
"Hey, Sanji!" a voice called out. They all turned to see the large man who had ushered them in. "What do you think you're doing to our customer, you bastard!? How many times do I have to tell you not to beat the crap out of our customers!?"
"Customer?" Sanji scoffed, still holding the Marine lieutenant up by the neck. "Get your eyes checked, Patty. This guy wasn't even ordering anything. He just barged in here and tried to pick a fight with our other guests."
Patty blinked at this information, and then said, "OK, then. Do whatever you want with him," before walking away. Sanji dropped Fullbody in front of the woman he had entered with, who was scared out of her wits.
"Sorry about ruining your date, Miss," he said with a serene smile. "But honestly, I think you can do much better." As the rest of the Marines scrambled to get Fullbody out of the restaurant so they could call for a retrieval ship, Sanji took the Straw Hat group's orders.
They were interrupted once again, however, as a gunshot pierced the back of one of the Marines, who fell over gasping for breath. A dark-skinned man walked in, sweating profusely and soaking wet as he hobbled over to the nearest table, and sat down. "Bring me some food. Anything will do. This place is a restaurant, right?"
Patty made his way over and clasped his hands together with the same awkward smile on his face. "Hello, you miserable bastard. I apologize, but I must ask. Do you have any money?"
The man, who looked like Death had passed over him clumsily, pointed the gun at Patty's head. "Do you accept lead?"
"So I assume you can't pay," Patty stated before promptly smashing Gin's head to the ground with both arms, along with the table he was sitting at. Gin groaned as his stomach rumbled. This elicited no sympathy from the muscular chef. Sanji watched with a neutral expression as Patty ruthlessly kicked him and then threw him out of the restaurant while the customers cheered him on.
That was when a blond-haired man with a long mustache and a longer hat walked in. "Hey, Patty! What do you think you're doing, destroying tables? That's coming out of your paycheck."
Patty gave him an apologetic smile and nodded. "Sorry about that, Owner Zeff. Won't happen again." A little while later, Sanji strolled out of the restaurant with a plate of food in hand, which didn't escape Zeff's notice. He set the plate in front of the grumbling, dying man.
"Eat up," he said. The man gulped, but looked away from the food.
"That's even worse. I won't accept charity," he said with difficulty.
"It's not charity," Sanji replied evenly. "To me, any hungry person who makes their way to this restaurant is a customer. Pride will get you far in this world, but not if you're dead. Wouldn't you like to live to see another day?"
The man's eyes widened considerably, before he promptly grabbed the plate and dug in greedily. His tear ducts betrayed him, and he started to sob. "I don't know what to say...it's so delicious," he said emotionally in-between bites. "I thought I was gonna die. I really thought I was a goner…"
A wide grin spread out across Sanji's face for the first time since he addressed the woman with Fullbody. This grin was even more profound, though. "It's pretty damn good, right?" Sanji said proudly.
"Looks like I've found my chef," a voice said from above. Both men turned to see one of the restaurant's customers standing outside the upper floor of the restaurant. It was the one who was really passionate about food, Sanji noted. While this naturally elicited a degree of respect from the chef, he didn't know what to make of the boy yet. "Aren't you lucky?" the boy said to Gin. "He saved your life, huh?" Then he addressed Sanji. "Hey, you. I like your style. Join my pirate crew as our chef. My name is Luffy. I'd be your captain."
Sanji looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?" was all he said. This guy was really…straightforward. He had nothing against pirates, but he didn't really want to be one either. "Sorry, but I'll have to refuse," he said. Luffy looked at him stubbornly.
"No!"
"What."
"I refuse your refusal!"
"…What?"
"You're an awesome chef and I like you, so come sail the sea with us," Luffy said as if that was the end of it.
Sanji grew annoyed. "Hey, do you listen at all?"
"Sure," Luffy said. "What's your reason?"
"I don't need to tell you," Sanji said in frustration. "I meant you should accept other people's decisions, you shitty Straw Hat!"
"Oh come ooooon," Luffy wined, letting the 'shitty Straw Hat' comment slide. "Being a pirate is awesome! The open sea is the best place to chase one's dreams. Don't you have a dream you want to fulfill?
Sanji thought on that for a moment. "I do," he admitted. "But I'm not ready to pursue it yet. I still have unfinished business here, and I can't leave until I'm done with it."
"I see…" Luffy said, looking down sadly. "I'll give up then."
"Your hand's not giving up!" Sanji shouted, freaking out as he tried to tug away from Luffy's outstretched arm. "How the hell are you stretching like that!? What kind of human are you?"
"A rubber man," Luffy said in a downcast tone as he let go. "I ate a Devil Fruit." Sanji seemed to accept this easily enough, and the man, having found his strength again, spoke up.
"Sorry to interrupt. My name is Gin. If you're a pirate, may I ask what your dream is?" he said.
"To be the Pirate King," Luffy answered.
"One Piece, huh? You're going to the Grand Line, then." Gin said slowly. He hesitated, and then went on, "Let me give you some advice kid. Give up on the Grand Line. You're still young, there's no need to rush it. There are plenty of other amazing places out there on the open sea."
Luffy frowned. He remembered the story of what happened to Krieg's crew. To put it bluntly, they had had the worst luck. They had run into a very bored Dracule Mihawk on the first week of their journey. The Grand Line was treacherous by East Blue standards. That much was certain. But Mihawk? He wasn't exactly the norm in Paradise.
Luffy knew that Don Krieg didn't have the mindset needed to get through the first half. He wasn't just reckless. He was extremely overconfident and thought himself invincible. This would most likely lead to him pissing off some relatively powerful Grand Line pirate and getting thrashed despite his superior forces. Luffy shuddered to think what would happen if Krieg ever miraculously made it to Sabaody Archipelago. If his God complex was to crash with those of the Celestial Dragons, and Luffy was sure it would, Krieg would come up short.
Luffy honestly thought that Gin had what it took to survive Paradise with a little luck once he got some experience behind him, but he'd never make it through with Krieg leading him. He had pledged his allegiance to a lesser man who covered up his weakness with a suit of armor.
"Thanks for the warning," he said finally. "But my mind is set."
Gin nodded. "Well, it's not my role to stop you. I just thought I'd give you a heads-up." He hopped into the boat that he had salvaged from the sunken Marine ship and untied it. "Thanks again for the meal, Sanji-san. It really was the best I've ever had. Would you mind if I came back sometime?"
Sanji's wide smile returned to his face. "Anytime," he said.
"Hey, Sanji! Get your ass back to work, you little eggplant!" They all turned to see Zeff standing above them. He was eyeing the empty plate in front of Sanji.
"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you then, Gin," he said meaningfully. Gin looked ashamed.
"Sorry, Sanji-san," he said with his hand in his hair. "You're gonna get in trouble because I didn't pay."
"What are you talking about?" Luffy said with a small smile. He flicked a gold coin at Sanji, who caught it gracefully. "You did pay. Now get on out of here."
Gin nodded gratefully. "Thank you, both of you. I won't forget this." He bowed his head low as his boat sailed away from the floating restaurant.
It was 15 minutes later when the Straw Hat group received their meal, all digging in to their heart's content. It was then that Sanji made his way over to their table and started hitting on Nami. "But alas," he sighed as his chivalrous drawl ended, "I fear this is quite the tragedy. Such a large obstacle stands in the way of our love." Nami just looked uncomfortable. How could the guy who had casually beaten a Marine lieutenant unconscious be such a flake so soon afterwards?
"I'm guessing that obstacle is me," came the voice of the owner and head chef. Sanji's head perked up at the sound. "Actually, this is perfect," Zeff continued. "Why don't you go along with them and be a pirate? We don't need you here after all."
Sanji's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean you don't need me? I'm the assistant head chef. What are you trying to say exactly?"
"I'm saying you cause trouble with half of the male guests, hit on most of the female ones, and can't even cook a decent meal to save your life. None of the other chefs want you here either, so why don't you just scram?"
"So that's how it is, huh? You shitty old geezer," Sanji growled. "I don't care about that other stuff you said, but I won't stand for people insulting my cooking, even if it's you!" he said angrily as he walked up to the old man. "You can bitch at me all you want, but I'm not leaving!" he shouted.
"Disrespectful little shit!" Zeff roared as he kicked Sanji with his wooden leg, sending him crashing into a table. It occurred to Luffy that everyone in this restaurant seemed to tell other people not to fight or break things before proceeding to do it themselves. "You're a hundred years too young to be standing up to me," Zeff growled, as Sanji wiped the blood off of his forehead. "Like I said, we don't need you here. I don't know why you stay around."
"If that's how you feel, then fire me," Sanji said simply. They stared at each other a while, neither one of them backing down. Finally, Zeff scoffed and turned away, heading back into the kitchen. Sanji got up and quickly recovered as if nothing had happened. He started where he had left off, pouring Nami a glass of wine.
Nami, who had grown used to his antics, smiled widely. "This is all so great," she praised. "But to be honest, it's all a little expensive for my budget," she said sadly. She really was opportunistic. Sanji waved her off, telling her that he wouldn't even think of charging her. Then he turned to the rest of their group.
"You shitheads have to pay," he said bluntly.
"Yeah, we kind of guessed," Zoro said lazily. Usopp didn't take it so well.
"You bastard! This is gender discrimination! I'll sue your ass, you love cook!"
"Yeah, have fun taking this up with the World Government, shitty pirate," Sanji said in an astounding display of logic.
"Oh, you wanna go?" Usopp challenged. "If you start something, you better be ready to finish it!" He pointed at Sanji. "Get him Zoro!"
"All you, Usopp," Zoro replied as he continued eating. Usopp's jaw dropped. That was cold.
"Hey, boys. Please don't fight over me," Nami said with an innocent expression.
"Yes ma'am! It's just so tempting," Sanji replied.
"Who the hell is fighting over you!?" Usopp raged.
Zoro questioned Luffy about the search for their chef. Luffy responded that they should stay there for a while and keep looking, giving Zoro a meaningful look, and Zoro nodded.
It was two days later when a large, rundown ship bearing the mark of the Krieg pirates was sighted making its way towards the sea restaurant.