It had grown quite quickly after the raft had gained distance from the cruiseliner and the approaching Marine battleships.
The crew of four, two of whom had been screaming loudly since their loud boarding onto the boat, had slowly started to calm back down.
Now they were no longer in any danger, the two screamers — Koby and the orange haired girl — could finally let their rapidly beating heart settle down. Koby was still hugging Uta for support after having their boat flung into the air. The other girl leaned on the edge of the boat with a hand on her chest as she tried to calm her racing heart.
Luffy on the other hand, was giggling happily to the heavens while Uta scrubbed his hair, running her fingers through those dark fibres.
With the most pressing issue far behind them, Luffy's surprise boatmate got to her feet, her hands reaching under her skirt. She pulled out her weapon, assembling the three-part bo staff mid-air with a fluid motion before pointing it towards the young man in a straw hat and the famous pop idol.
"Who the hell are you ?" She asked, a bead of sweat running down her temple.
— What was that?! What just happened? How'd he send us flying like that?! How'd he catch a cannonball and throw it back at the marines?! What the hell is going on?!
Luffy and Uta looked at her.
She was holding her bo-staff defensively, beads of sweat sparkling in the sunlight as she stared at the pirates with anxiousness and wariness.
"Oh, are you scared ?" Uta question, getting up in her face, making the other girl shriek and lean backwards, almost falling off the boat.
"Ahahaha! Don't scare her like that Uta!" Luffy laughed, rubbing his stomach. His face shone with evident amusement that made the orange haired girl growl angrily.
"I think she's scared of you, Luffy! You're the one that threw those cannonballs and sent us flying!" Uta responded while turning back at him, making Luffy look at her in confusion.
"Eh ? Why'd she be scared of me ? I'm not going to do anything." Luffy asked nonchalantly, not really grasping why she's be scared of when if he didn't intend on harming her.
"You just did something like that and expected me to react normally?!!" Nami screeched, frustrated about the situation she found herself in but still willing to defend herself if need be.
"Oh, that ? That was nothing! My grandpa used to throw cannonballs at me for training ever since I was seven! At first, it hurt like hell and I hated it! But after a while, I got used to it and now... It's actually really fun!" Luffy explained casually, laughing about it as if it were a fond childhood memory of his. On the other hand, Nami and Koby's jaw dropped. What kind of grandfather would throw cannonballs at a child ? At his own grandson, no less! What kind of crazy family did he come from?!
The young woman's fear turned into anger in an instant.
"Get off of my boat!"
Koby whimpered off to the Uta's side, but Luffy ignored him. Instead, both Luffy and Uta stared at Nami passively and raised a single hand, speaking the exact same thing simultaneously in the same nonchalant tone.
""Sorry, can't do that.""
"Why not?!"
""We ate a devil fruit. We can't swim.""
"Those are real?!" Nami screeched, pulling the bo staff back and preparing to swing it with all her might. She hoped that if she swung hard enough, both of them would fall out of the boat.
Of course, there's no way it could've; even if Luffy wasn't impervious to blunt attacks.
""Of course they're real."" They said simultaneously.
"Yeah, sorry lady. But we can't leave you even if we wanted to. We'll both drown." Uta shrugged, before looking at the lounging Luffy.
"Well, there is one way." She looked at Luffy, making like raise an eyebrow and look at her weirdly.
"Eh ?"
"We could use your ability to walk on the air to our next destination, couldn't we ?" Uta laid back, her head pressing against Luffy and looked up at him.
"Shishishi! But it's more fun this way, Uta!"
"If you can go yourself, then get off my damn boat!" Nami screamed at them, making Luffy wiggle his fingers at her as if saying "no".
"Don't wanna!" Luffy replied, grinning at her in a precious way that made Nami flare up in rage.
"HUH?!"
"Sorry, I'll have no clue where I'll be going if I did that, and I can't sustain it that long."
"So were stuck in this boat, eh ?" Uta then looked at Nami and grinned at her brightly. "Sorry, lady! But you're stuck with use for a while."
"I did not sign up for this!"
"Neither did we! But fate works in mysterious ways, doesn't it ?" Uta retorted.
"I could still push you both out, y'know ?" Nami spoke in a threatening tone, her grip on her weapon tightening since those words would probably aggravate them.
"You can try~" Uta responded in a sing-song voice.
"I want food~!" Luffy said while digging his ear, clearly not listening to a single thing she said.
"YOU LITTLE SHITS!!!"
"What's your name ?" Luffy asked curiosity.
The young navigator shook her head firmly. "You don't need to know."
Luffy pouted at that answer, leaning forward and grabbing his ankles.
"But I wanna know!"
"You high jacked my boat, threaten me, and now demand my name!?"
Luffy blinked widely as he registered what she said, tilting his head.
"...didn't you threaten us, though ?"
"You should calm down, girl. We're all stuck on this boat temporarily, anyways! Attacking us would make you an obstacle in the way of our goal. We wouldn't want that, would we~?" Nami felt shivers running across her spine as she heard the sweet voice of the diva smiling slyly at her. With the way she phrased her sentence and her tone, the underlying threat was easy for Nami to identify.
"See that Koby ? That's what you should think too!" Luffy chimed in, looking at Koby and calling for his attention.
"Huh ? What ?"
"If someone is trying to limit your freedom or stop you from achieving your dreams, beat them up! Don't let anyone stop you from reaching your goal!"
Nami stared at the boy for a while, then back at the "scary" girl, then sighed. Begrudgingly, Nami surrendered and sat down again, hesitantly putting her staff away and then looking away from the group.
"Alright, fine. You guys can come with me until we reach the next port. But after that, we're going out separate ways. Got it ?" Seeing no way out of this situation, Nami decides to let the two of them stay until they made landfall. After all, there was nothing she could do to make either of them leave her boat.
"Thanks a bunch! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, by the way!" Luffy introduced himself cheerfully, making Nami look at him with a distinct lack of amusement.
"Am I allowed to call you a monkey brained idiot ?"
"Sure, if that's what you want!" Luffy laughed, making Nami blink.
"...what?"
— He's okay with it ?
"Luffy may be okay with it, but I sure as hell aren't! Sure, Luffy is an idiot, but you can't insult him like that!" Uta glared at Nami, her haki flaring momentarily, making the young navigator flinch below her gaze.
Luffy hugged Uta from behind and grinned. "Uta~ Are you trying to be like Shanks again~?"
"Yeah, how'd you figure that out ?" Uta, in a completely unseen way, flipped her personality and answered her boyfriend with another question.
"Hold on a minute... Aren't you the daughter of an emperor?! What's someone like you doing out in the boonies like this?!!!" Nami questioned, eyes shrinking in ushered fear at the realisation that she had threatened an emperor's daughter.
"Why ?" Uta blinked at her widely, before smiling and hugging her Luffy and bringing her face close to hers. "Because my dear Luffy wanted to start here!"
***
The sun had finally set when Nami got to terms with her new passengers.
The small, wimpy kid — Koby, his name was — had been sleeping quietly in the corner, balled up to take as little space as possible. And the dumbass wearing the hat had managed to fall asleep at a weird angle, splayed against the wall of the dinghy, his straw hat covering his face and shifting with every soft rise and fall of his chest. On his rising and falling chest, was Uta, laying down comfortably in a tangled hug with her eyes closed while humming a beautiful tune to herself.
Part of her wondered if she could just push them off before they woke up enough to fight back.
But she also figured that such an action would earn her to ire of an emperor, which she desperately wanted to avoid.
She wondered how these people just suddenly dropped into her life one random day.
While thinking about that, her mind coalesced around his advice about defending dreams again. His wording had been direct, straightforward, and it struck her deeper than she thought it would've. If she hadn't known better, she would've thought he was sent by someone to toy with her feelings and entrap her somehow.
She didn't know who would, though, let alone why. She was already trapped enough as it was.
— "If someone is trying to limit your freedom or stop you from achieving your dreams, best them up! Don't let anyone stop you from reaching your goal!"
Luffy's words played on loop in her mind.
Her lips were pressed against each other and her fingers instinctively tensed up. What a naive outlook of life that was. She remembers when she was just like that — hopeful and happy, hoping for a better future and working to achieve her personal goals and dreams.
"If only it were that easy..." She mumbled, gripping her own arm harder than intended.
"Get serious... That's not something you can just do..."
"What's with the pessimism ?" Uta questioned, opening one eye to state at Nami, who flinched.
"Wha– you're awake?!"
"Yeah. Didn't you hear me humming a song ? Did you think I'd hum in my sleep ?" Uta responded casually, as if she believed it were common sense.
Nami blinked.
No she did not. Was she so deep into her thoughts that she failed to register the humming of the pop idol ? Or was it drowned in the sound of the ocean and the waves.
"What were you talkin' about anyway ?" Uta suddenly questioned, making Nami snap in her direction.
"Pardon ?"
"Your pessimistic rambles. About something not being as easy as it sounds."
Nami's gaze fell, eyes observing the wood of the boat they occupied. Uta observed her reaction carefully, while simultaneously pondering about what Nami just said.
A few seconds passed and Nami didn't respond, so Uta started to hum another tune while Nami pondered on what to say. Nami instantly felt so much more peaceful.
"I was thinking about..."
Nami then looked back at Uta. Why is she even saying anything to her ? She isn't obligated to speak to either of them, not does she have to reveal any secrets to them. So why does she feels so comfortable around Uta ? Her eyes were drowsy; she hadn't taken any rest in a while and she needs to sleep. She won't be able to be on watch duty.
"I was thinking about what Luffy said." She replied, which made Uta stare at her with an unamused expression.
"Luffy says a lot of things. Some factual, mostly nonsense. What words exactly are you talking about ?"
"The ones regarding someone's dreams."
Uta stared at her momentarily, her face slowly turning to look at the sleeping for of the shy pink haired future marine, and then turned back to Nami.
"Oh, you mean that little thing he said to Koby earlier today! Got it!" Uta snapped her fingers in realisation, finally recognising exactly what she was talking about.
"Why, that's an obvious question with an even more obvious answer. Luffy can't say a lie to save his own life! He's too sincere and stupid to lie. And besides... He's too free-spirited. He's a free bird that wants to liberate everyone."
Nami blinked.
— A liberator ?
Uta then laughed and patted Nami's shoulder casually while saying, "You're too young to be worried about something like that. You just do your own thing, and I'm sure you'll find your salvation one day."
"Luffy wants to be the free-est man alive. So I'll help him every step of the way. Trust me when I say this, Luffy would rather die than give up on his dreams. He'd sooner take his own life than do something like that." Uta said, hands slowly moving through the sleeping pirate's hair.
Luffy was sleeping soundly, unaware of and unconcerned about whatever was happening around him.
"Let me just say this much Nami, if you're not willing to die for your dreams, then you'll never be able to achieve them." Uta told her, leaving Nami stumped and staring back at her with a complicated expression.
Nami was lost. So very lost...
"Why are you asking about Luffy like that though ? If you're interested, just know that you may not be able to handle him. Also, he's mine already." Not that she was expecting someone like Luffy to settle for just her, but at least for now she's his only.
Uta thinks Nami is just an ordinary girl. Someone like her could never handle Luffy and all the bullshit he puts her through.
"Uh, what ? No! I wasn't thinking any of that!"
"Oh really ?" Uta smirked, the mischievous glint in her eyes sent shivers down Nami's spine.
"Well, then... Allow me to bless you with some information that you'll have a hard time forgetting, hehehe..."
Uta, in order to make Nami even more scared, went on all fours and crawled over to Nami. The young navigator gulped in fright and leaned back at the edge of the boat, her back arching. Anymore and she'd fall of the edge of the boat.
Realising there's no escape, Nami dreaded what kind of information she was going to receive, and Uta grinned while going very close to her face. She then whispered something in Nami's ear, making her eyes pop out unnaturally.
Nami's face went red. Her entire body shuddered as the woman counted off things she'd never imagined doing.
Uta pulled back with a smug look in her eyes as she patted the sleeping pirate's head.
Nami's face burned as she looked at the sleeping man, her heart hammering in her chest harder and harder with each passing second.
"It stretches!?"
"Yes, it does!"
***
Dawn had arrived, and with it, came Shell Town.
The sun had arrived at Shell Town around the same time as the dawn arrived.
— Pretty symbolic if you ask me.
Uta noticed the coincidence, something that always gets her all giddy. She's been loving the dawn a lot, lot more recently than she did before.
Nami huffed and got out of the life raft, looking down at the stowaways.
"This is where we part ways."
Luffy smiled back at her as he stepped onto the docks himself.
"Thanks for the ride."
Nami rolled her eyes and watched him walk down the dirt path of the town, calling for Uta and Koby to come along with him.
"I hope you have a safe journey, wherever you go!" Uta turned back and wished, before running after Luffy while screaming at him to wait for her.
Nami was left behind, thinking back about the weird stuff that happened yesterday. Her mind then wandered to the filth that Uta had filled in her mind and blood immediately rushed to her face.
In reflex, Nami slapped herself with both hands and let out a frustrated squeal, trying to get those images out of her head.
In the meantime...
"You sure she'll be fine ? She looks worried or something." Luffy questioned Uta, a little confused because he could sees the way Nami was slapping herself while they were moving away from her.
"Yeah, she'll be fine. She's just having fun." Uta responded casually, making Luffy tilt his head like a confused kitten ?
"By slapping herself ?"
"Hey..." Koby called out for them. "Are you two sure you want to be here ? This is a marine town after all."
"Hahaha! Don't worry about it Koby! We're too strong for them!" Luffy laughed while patting his biceps.
Uta on the other hand, grinned and eyes him with a certain glint in her eye. "If they have a problem with us, they can try to do something."
She said this ominously, sending shivers down Koby's spine. Luffy looked at her with a knowing look, fully aware that Uta was acting scary and mysterious for no reason at all.
"Y-yeah, I guess your right... I think they'll freak out if they realise who you guys are."
"Kahaha! That'll be precious to see!"
"But I heard that the infamous Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro, was captured here!" Koby said, his voice becoming serious again.
The townspeople around them jumped away in fear, and Luffy only raised an eyebrow.
"Pirate hunter ? Sounds like a big deal." Said Uta, arms folded behind her head.
"He is! In the East Blue, this man is a vicious swordsman that's gone around collecting bounties like nothing! They say he's like a demon in human flesh! A man with a thirst for blood! He's a real fear for the East Blue pirates!"
"Oh ? Sounds like a fun guy! Luffy, you should ask him to join us." Uta laughed while saying this, jokingly suggesting to let him join the crew.
Koby was horrified, but Luffy's eyes just little up immediately.
"Good idea, Uta! But first, I wanna meet the guy myself. I wanna see what kind of man he is for myself!" Luffy said, grinning from eye to eye. If he's not actually a horrible person that needs to be put down, Luffy may get his first official crewmate in his journey.
Uta does not count. She's been with him from the start.
Koby gaped, looking at Luffy in disbelief.
"Impossible! Impossible, impossible! He's been locked up because he's a bad guy! And besides, he's a pirate hunter! You're a pirate! Why would he join you?! He'll just kill—" Koby stopped himself before he said that after noticing Uta's deadpan expression, before realising exactly who he was talking to. "He'll try to kill you. Why would a pirate hunter become a pirate?! It's an impossible task! You won't be able to convince him. It's just not—"
BONK!
"Ow!" Koby cried and fell on the ground as Luffy bonked him on the head, making him test up comically.
"Why'd you hit me...?"
"Felt like it." Luffy shrugged, and continued walking towards... Wherever he was going.
"Why are you still coming with us, Koby ? We've arrived at a marine base. You should probably go; don't want you to get associated with us after all." Uta suggested logically, but also out of concern. She did not want to be the reason why Koby fails to get his dream.
"Probably, but I'm not sure if I'm ready yet. I heard the man in charge of this place is called Captain Morgan." Koby revealed the name of the marine captain, which immediately generated an unnatural response in the crowd.
The civilians, like they did with Zoro, jumped backwards and tried to hide themselves out of fear when they heard the name of the dreaded Axe-Hand Morgan. Koby looked utterly bewildered by their reaction, but Uta and Luffy looked suspicious. Mostly Uta though.
''Oh, so this is one of THOSE marine bases.'' Both of them thought simultaneously.
Normally, Luffy may have taken a little longer to realise such a thing, but after spending years in the Grand Line, he knows many things about the world and the way it works. This was not the first time he's run into corrupt marine officials, and it certainly will not be the last.
"What's with their reactions ? I understand why they'd be scared of Roronoa Zoro, but why are the acting like they're scared of Captain Morgan ? He's a marine captain, isn't he ?" Asked Koby innocently, making Uta look at him momentarily with pity.
— This kids in for a rude awakening...
"Koby, as you grow older, you'll realise that you can't just believe everything you hear. The world isn't black and white. You need to go out there and see for yourself! Only your opinion on it matters! My grandfather once told me that not all pirates are bad, and not all marines are good." Luffy began to give Koby a little lecture, one of the moments where Luffy becomes more serious and less care-free.
Koby, unsurprisingly, looked like he didn't want to believe what was just told to him. That would, after all, shatter his entire worldview. For the longest time, he believed that the Marines were righteous heroes; people that maintained order, delivered justice and captured criminals. He's never encountered any "bad marines" so far.
This will be a new experience for him.
"Hm, since this is that type of marine base, I'll just go free this Zolo guy while I'm here. Whether or not he joins my crew... That we'll see after I meet him."
"It's Zoro, Luffy."
"Yeah, let's go see him!" Luffy's eye flashed with a red glint.
He then turned into a random direction and said, "Zoro is that way! He's tied up to some kind of pole outside the marine base."
"How would you know that ?" Koby questioned, to which Luffy just laughed.
"Observation Haki!"
"Observ– What ?"
"You'll understand in a few months!" Luffy claimed, making Koby tilt his head in confusion.
"Don't worry about your marine future, Koby! I'll make sure you get in. I'll call my grandfather and tell him to help you directly!" Luffy's words made Uta pale and state at him in disbelief.
"Oi, Luffy. Do you want him to die ?"
"Grandfather ?" Koby questioned, wondering if Luffy's grandfather was anyone important.
"Yeah, he's a marine. A Vice Admiral!"
Koby stared at Luffy in shock, his entire body was trembling and his eyes were the size of pins.
"A.... V-vice admiral...?"
"Yup!"
"You're the grandson of a marine..."
"Yup!"
"And you're an infamous pirate."
"Yup!"
"His family situation is very ridiculous." Uta leaned down and whispered to him in a hushed voice.
...
"Ah! We're here!" Luffy exclaimed, staring up at the marine base with a knowing smile and then looked at one of the walls.
"He's behind this wall." He said and jumped up, grabbing the wall and looking over it to see the man, in the flesh.
Uta quickly followed suit, and so did Koby.
"Why are you so sure he's here ? I'm pretty sure he'd be locked up in some kind of cell." Koby, unconvinced by Luffy's words of promise, went for a more logical answer, but still looked anyways.
Koby's heart dropped.
He got a proper good look and all his hopes about Luffy being wrong, vanished in an instant. He had hoped desperately that Luffy had merely mistaken him for someone else or that he was just very confident despite being wrong, but nope. Luffy knew exactly where he was.
"How'd you know he was Zoro ?" Uta questioned, since neither of them have ever even heard of Roronoa Zoro, much less seen him or know what he looks like.
"I saw a man tied up to a cross and assumed it was him." Luffy responded cheerfully, before looking at Koby with a knowing smile. "Well, Koby ? Is that him ?"
"Yeah... That's him alright..."
The muscular man was average in height, with green hair and a green bandana around his head. He had a defining green haramaki, white shirt and black trousers.
"That's... Roronoa Zoro!"