Second Wind

35

"Seriously, how the hell did we forget about that?" Nami asked again as the room erupted into a mix of joy and panic. "It's pretty damn important now that you mention it!"

"Could someone please explain how this happened?" Robin asked. "It would seem I missed something, having only now joined."

"Luffy's brother is Fire Fist Ace of the Whitebeard Pirates," Sanji explained, causing her eyes to widen. "He asked Luffy if we wanted to be their allies. Luffy agreed, and now...I guess Whitebeard must have agreed to it as well."

Robin turned to Luffy. "Is that true? Portgas D. Ace is your brother?" she asked. He nodded in response.

"Hey guys? Not to ruin the moment, but won't this make it harder for us to leave?" Usopp pointed out. A few of them stopped to consider the possibility. Being allies with one of the Yonko could make it much more difficult for them to move around.

"That depends," Zoro answered. "The thing about the Yonko is that they're powerful enough that even the World Government would rather avoid conflict with them. In theory, this could cause the marines to back off, but if they're determined enough to capture us that they'll risk challenging Whitebeard, it means they'll be that much more willing to commit their resources to taking us down. It's hard to predict which." The room was silent again as the rest of them soaked that in.

"No," Robin said suddenly. "They'll be coming for us, without a doubt." The rest of the crew looked at her in question. Luffy and Zoro seemed visibly intrigued by her input. "Haven't you noticed something strange?" she continued. "Not only has this crew toppled one of the Seven Warlords, but now it's allied with arguably the most powerful pirate fleet in the world. Normally after such an uproar, those involved would gain a large increase in bounty." Luffy and Zoro's eyes widened in comprehension as she gestured to the newspapers. "And yet none of you have."

Suddenly, Luffy and Zoro both smirked, which confused most of the crew. "Interesting," Luffy said. "Who do you think they'll send?"

"I don't know, but if they're that confident, they better not waste our time," Zoro replied. Nami groaned.

"What are you all talking about? Why didn't your bounties increase? What does this mean?" she asked impatiently.

"It means the World Government doesn't think it matters whether their bounties increase or not," Robin answered in a worried tone. "It means whoever they're sending after us, they're sure we won't be able to escape."

"I guess that means we better get going then!" Luffy concluded, a little too jovially. "We wouldn't want to prove them right, would we?"

Usopp looked at him oddly. "You seem unusually happy. I would have thought you two would be bummed about not getting new bounties."

"Not really," Zoro replied. "All it means is that we'll get bigger ones after this."

Vivi listened in trepidation as she recalled their conversation from the previous night.

If you asked me, I'd say you should come with us. But something like that isn't my decision. It's ultimately up to you. So we'll give you until noon tomorrow to make your choice. If you decide to come, we'll celebrate, like pirates. If not, just know that we will always think of you as a Strawhat.

She bit her lip. It was a tough decision. She loved being the princess of Alabasta, but she loved being a Strawhat pirate too. Nevertheless, she knew where she needed to be.

Luffy noticed her uneasiness. "Don't be nervous, Vivi. Just go where you feel you belong. Like I said, we won't think any less of you either way. You'll always be our comrade."