Straw Hat Luffy: The Black Fist

Chapter 22: Parting

Chapter 22: Parting

"Bring us in nice and slow boys!", Nami said to the two currently paddling.

Luffy and Zoro brought the small craft up beside the larger Merry, slowing to a halt close enough to touch the other vessel.

"Levi!", yelled Luffy, out to the water, "Stay around here. I need you to pull the Merry!". A muffled sound came from under the water and the teen smiled in satisfaction. With that figured out, he looked over to the ship he'd missed so much.

The orangette eyed Merry with more regret than she wanted to. This was the last time she would see it... Maybe forever... Before she could shake the thought away, she wondered if her nightmares would come back. Her vision shifted to the boys moving to pick up their sacks of treasure and a pit began to form in her stomach.

"Alright!", Luffy exclaimed, his bag of treasure flying through the air and landing surprisingly softly on the deck of the Merry. He turned and saw Nami looking at him just as the Zoro's cloth sack landed next to his. He walked to Nami with a big smile on his face, the girl eyeing him uncertainly. However, she made no move to refuse when he picked her up bridal style and jumped from the wood of the small ship.

"Hey! Be careful with her! She's still injured!", Sanji screamed as his and Carina's boat came up beside the other three's. He turned to the purple-haired girl, the sound of Luffy hitting the deck echoing into the air, "If I may, Lady Carina?", the chef asked, gesturing to the Merry.

Carina hid her light blush and nodded in confirmation. It was time for her to set off, anyways. She needed to find a place to trade all this treasure for actual money. She'd been upset to leave Mad Treasure's ship, but it was too large for her to sail by herself, same for Nami. She'd thought about trying to take some of the gems that decorated the boat but they were all too big. The thought made her pout... Those would have gone for some serious money.

Sanji ignored the violette's surprised yelp when he picked her up bridal style and jumped to the deck of the Merry, the screaming girl securely held in his arms.

The blond landed and her screaming kept going for a moment until she realized she was back on solid ground. Carina tried to hide her blush from the four lightly laughing individuals as the chef set her down, huffing in irritation. She'd definitely misunderstood what he meant by 'May I?'. "What the hell, Sanji! Warn a girl first!", she chastised, looking at him in consternation.

Sanji laughed in reply, trying to keep the blood from flowing out of his nose. He'd held Carina so close... "Sorry, my lady. I thought you understood.", he smiled, walking through the group and to the kitchen.

The purple-haired girl looked at his back oddly. Where was he going?... And why did he bring her here?

"Food.", Zoro provided.

"Sanji! Make me something too! I'm starving!", Luffy called, hearing the galley door open. He hadn't eaten in way too long and Sanji's food was the best. He started to laugh in excitement. He'd found the best chef ever!

Carina's palm smacked into her own face. With the excitement of the treasure, she'd forgotten about food. "That makes sense...", she paused, shooting the verdet a look of gratitude, "Thank you. I really appreciate it.". She still could have probably stayed on her boat but... You know what, it didn't really matter.

The swordsman shook his head. "Don't look at me.", he said, pointing toward his future captain, "Also, the cook would have never let you leave here without making sure you had enough to eat.".

Luffy looked at the girl, smiling, "I didn't want you to be hungry!".

Carina could only smile back. She didn't even know him really but she could tell that his heart was kind. "Thank you, Luffy.", she expressed, genuinely.