CHAPTER 83 THANKFUL DAD
<span style="font-weight:400">“Weston, give me those weights,” I heard. I grumbled, pushing the person away. “Stop being a stingy dick.” I pulled them out of my screen and dropped all the weights out. I heard a loud crash and my bed rumbled but I was soon asleep again. A long dreamless sleep.
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<span style="font-weight:400">It wasn’t till Luffy yelled that I woke up fully. “I slept amazing!” I grumbled throwing my pillow at him. “Ech! Weston, get yourzy ass up!” Luffy yelled, throwing the pillow way harder at me than I did him. I grabbed another and hit him harder. This time the pillow burst into feathers. That’s when the fight started.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“What the hell! You could have killed me!” Luffy yelled. He had me by the neck pounding me in the head with a pillow. I ripped it from his hands hitting him with it. Both of his arms extended out grabbing more. He used them like cymbals, smashing them into my ears.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“I’ll kill you! I was trying to sleep!” I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“It’s time to wake up!” He yelled, hitting me harder. This time he caused the feathers to fly.
<span style="font-weight:400">“How are you 2 so lively?” Nami asked from across the way. I opened my eyes fully to see we were in arge room with beds lining the walls. Nami was on the other end of the room reading a book. “You’ve been in bed for 2 days now.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“2 days?” I asked with a yawn. Luffy and I released each other as we separated.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Where’s my hat?” Luffy asked. Vivi was sitting by Nami. Picking the straw hat off the table she tossed it like a frisbee. Luffy grabbed it, putting it on with a content smile.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yeah, 2 days,” Nami said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“We win?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Of course,” Luffy said. “I’m hungry. Where’s Sanji? I missed 10 meals.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Iughed loudly. “That’s 5 meals a day, Luffy.” I looked at the drooling man. “Nevermind, you’re probably right. How did your fight with Crocodile go?”<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">“Eh, he was dumb. He tried poisoning me, but I guess it didn’t kill me,” Luffy said with augh.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“That’s because I made an antivenom,” the small Chopper said. The Drum Kingdom, where he was from, was known for having the best doctors.
<span style="font-weight:400">Zoro soon walked in. I noticed the training weights on his arms. All of them. “Hey, that’s my set,” I said. “I gave you your own.” <span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">“You weren’t using either,” Zoro said. “Now I get twice the training done.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Give em back,” I said walking up.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Zoro, you shouldn’t be training!” Chopper yelled. “Your injuries were too bad.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Psh, they’re the ones that slept for 2 days,” Zoro said.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Quit, changing the subject. Where is Sanji? I need food,” Luffy said as I made Zoro unbuckle my set of weights. He frowned by did so.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Right here,” Sanji said, walking in with a cart. On it was meat and fruit piled high. “I also have the kitchen working overtime to make you a real meal.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sanji, you are a lifesaver,” Luffy said, running up to the cart. He was soon putting whole fruits in his mouth and swallowing them down. His rubber body stretching to allow them inside his stomach.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright, what did I miss during my cat nap?” I asked.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“You meana?” Chopper asked. “You were barely alive when we found you.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Let’s start there. What happened? I don’t remember much,” I said. <span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Well you grabbed the bomb that was supposed to blow up the city and ran out of town with it,” Nami said angrily. “Then it blew up in your face.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Right, right,” I said. Vaguely remembering. “What about you all? Beat your opponents?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mr. 1 wasn’t so hard,” Zoro said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Mr. 2 was a dick,” Sanji said. <span style="font-weight:400">
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Huhd whdkk hhghl,” a voice said. I turned to see a mummy, the only reason I recognized it was the long nose sticking out of the bandages.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh no, Usopp died,” I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Umm hatt fedd!” He yelled.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“These are the death throes I’ve heard about. I will say a prayer on your grave, Usopp,” I promised. He began yelling again. Iughed and said, “Good job beating up your opponent.” He nodded, saying more but I moved on. Heading over to Nami and Vivi I asked, “And you girls?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I beat that Double Fudge Sundaydy,” Nami said, closing her book.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Good job. And you Vivi?”
<span style="font-weight:400">“I didn’t fight anyone,” she said with a frown. “Just a lot of running around. After you showed up they finally stopped fighting.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That was my role. Did you…do what I asked?” She slowly nodded. “Good. Thank you.” I had made her promise to let Nico Robin see the Poneglyph. “Any idea if she stuck around after?”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“No,” Vivi said. I nodded. Hoping she would be waiting for us on the Going Merry.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What about the Marines?” I asked.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“The pce has been saying we aren’t here,” Nami said with a sigh. “We are waiting for the heat to die down.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Sanji! I need more!” Luffy yelled.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Alright, I’m sure they’re done with dinner,” Sanji said. We were soon following him out of the room. Walking down the halls we were let into arge dining hall. On it were tes littered with piles of food.
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<span style="font-weight:400">A woman that looked very much like Igaram said. “Dinner is ready.” Luffy didn’t wait long and was diving right into the food. Used to hisck of manners we all sat around him. The king himself soon appeared with his personal guards.
<span style="font-weight:400">I had pretended to be him to stop the fighting. He was a lot more regal in person. “I hear that you all are to thank for keeping my kingdom intact,” the king said. Luffy didn’t hardly register the guy as he continued to scarf down food.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What? No,” I couldn’t help but say. “We are pirates, right Luffy?” The rubber man looked up. Mumbled some words between bites then went back to eating. “Well said, captain.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“That’s right,” Zoro said. “We take what we want.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“And damn the consequences,” Sanji added.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“We just happened to want to start a war with a Shichibukai, and your country was caught in the middle,” I said.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Really?” Chopper asked. “I thought we were helping.” The cute reindeer said. I gave him a stern look. But it wasn’t long until the room burst intoughter.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Igaram!” I yelled across the table. “When did you make an appearance?”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“A few days ago,” the tall man said. “Sorry you had to infiltrate the Baroque Works like that.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“It was pretty awful,” I said. “They were the lowest of the low.” I really wanted the number of those girls that gave me the massages. I hoped they got jobs again soon. “Thanks for believing me about the whole faking your death thing.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Oh no, thank you,” Igaram said. “Your bounty poster was proof enough for me.”<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">“What did end up happening to Crocodile?” I asked.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“We gave him to the Marines,” the bird-man said next to the king. “There was plenty of proof of his crimes. Many of those in Baroque Works flipped on him. Apparently more people knew about his identity than we realized.”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Enough of that!” Luffy yelled. “It’s time to party!” Raising a mug of ale he extended it out, ready to start the drinking. It wasn’t long until we all had mugs in our hands. Clinking them together we chugged them down and started throwing a real Straw Hat party. It wasn’t long until the king and his royal guards were drinking and celebrating with us.
<span style="font-weight:400">“One thing I never understood is why we aren’t singing?” I asked.
<span style="font-weight:400">“We don’t have a musician!” Luffy said. “We need one.”<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">“We don’t need a musician to sing!” I said. “Alright, alright, I got one.” Ale in hand I began to sing. It wasn’t long until the other Straw Hats were throwing out ideas. By the end we had a passable sea shanty.
<span style="font-weight:400">What can you do with a drunken Zoro
<span style="font-weight:400">What can you do with a drunken Zoro
<span style="font-weight:400">What can you do with a drunken Zoro
<span style="font-weight:400">Early in the morning
<span style="font-weight:400">Way hay and up she rises
<span style="font-weight:400">Way hay and up she rises
<span style="font-weight:400">Way hay and up she rises
<span style="font-weight:400">Early in the morning
<span style="font-weight:400">Hide his swords where he can’t find em
<span style="font-weight:400">Hide his swords where he can’t find em
<span style="font-weight:400">Hide his swords where he can’t find em
<span style="font-weight:400">Early in the morning
<span style="font-weight:400">What can you do with a drunken Zoro
<span style="font-weight:400">What can you do with a drunken Zoro
<span style="font-weight:400">What can you do with a drunken Zoro
<span style="font-weight:400">Early in the morning
<span style="font-weight:400">Way hay and up she rises
<span style="font-weight:400">Way hay and up she rises
<span style="font-weight:400">Way hay and up she rises
<span style="font-weight:400">Early in the morning
<span style="font-weight:400">Mow his hair like the grass it looks like
<span style="font-weight:400">Mow his hair like the grass it looks like
<span style="font-weight:400">Mow his hair like the grass it looks like
<span style="font-weight:400">Early in the morning
<span style="font-weight:400">Put him in the fridge with the captains bento
<span style="font-weight:400">Put him in the fridge with the captains bento
<span style="font-weight:400">Put him in the fridge with the captains bento
<span style="font-weight:400">Early in the morning
<span style="font-weight:400">Stick him in the crow’s nest till he’s sober
<span style="font-weight:400">Stick him in the crow’s nest till he’s sober
<span style="font-weight:400">Stick him in the crow’s nest till he’s sober
<span style="font-weight:400">Early in the morning
<span style="font-weight:400">That’s what we do with a drunk Zoro
<span style="font-weight:400">That’s what we do with a drunk Zoro
<span style="font-weight:400">That’s what we do with a drunk Zoro
<span style="font-weight:400">Early in the morning
<span style="font-weight:400">By the end even Zoro was singing. Luffy pped loudly and in our drunken state it was the funniest song in the world. Once over we wrapped up the meal. Vivi mentioned the amazing hot bath they had.
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<span style="font-weight:400">It wasn’t long until we were running to it. Though separated by gender, it was still an experience. My first real Japanese style bath house. The others had to walk me through it. Cleaning up first. Scrubbing each other’s backs before dipping into the water. It was a little weird but they acted like it was normal so I did my best to act normal as well.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Where is the girl’s bath?” Sanji couldn’t help but ask.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Like we would-”
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Over that wall,” the king said. It wasn’t long until a few of the guys were climbing up it. Since I wasn’t one to fight peer pressure I joined as well. The 10 foot wall showed the steamy mirror of our bath for the girls’ side. On the other side Nami and Vivi were washing one another. Nami turned, locking eyes with me.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“You said this bath was our side too!” I yelled.
<span style="font-weight:400">Nami smiled big. Grabbing her towel she said, “100,000 berrie for a peek.” Those men on the side of the wall quickly dropped down. Too rich for their blood.
<span style="font-weight:400">“How about 10 million,” I said with a smile. Namiughed and shed me. Her towel only open for a split second. I still saw her in her glory.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“Worth it,” I said, dropping down.
<span style="font-weight:400">The others were already ying in the water. Dicks flopping around, I decided to sit in the pool by myself. Letting it rx me, I could feel my tense muscles loosen up. It was easier to see the draw to a hot bath in a situation like that.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I want to thank you,” the king said. His voice drew all of our eyes. “All of you.” He surprised everyone by getting on his hands and knees, bowing in our direction.
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<span style="font-weight:400">“My liege, you shouldn’t-” Igaram said, trying to stop him, but the king cut him off.
<span style="font-weight:400">“As a father. I want to thank all of you for bringing my daughter back safely. As a king I thank you for helping my countrymen.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Of course,” Luffy said. “It was fun.” The king looked up with a tear filled gaze. Nodding as he recovered hisposure. It wasn’t long until someone found a bucket of cold water and dumped it on Zoro. That’s when the real fight began.