Our last sail

34. Bonding time (1)

"Luffy": talk

"Sabo": whisper

"ACE": shout

"Gomu Gomu no": the skill's name

'idiot': thinking

<Joyboy>: voice of all things

-Into the story-

"Is everything ready?" Zoro asked while holding two wooden boxes, walking up to Merry. 

After Zoro had fully recovered, the crew then went to stock everything they needed for the journey, and got ready to set sail once again. As soon as Luffy and Nami were on board, the captain then went back to his favorite spot, while Nami locked herself inside the girl's dorm, and left the others to do the stocking. As for Yosaku and Johny, they had decided to go on a hunt again, so they had already said their goodbye to the crew since the early morning.

"I think these are enough", Usopp said after checking everything. 

"OI, SANJI!" Someone shouted. 

When Sanji heard someone say his name, he quickly looked back after he had placed the boxes down on the floor. In front of him were all the chefs from Baratie. They had decided to close the restaurant only for today in order to see Sanji take off. Somehow, the scene had made Sanji tear up while listening to those chefs shouting their goodbye to him. 

"YOU ANNOYING BRAT!" Patty yelled between sobs. 

"WE'RE GOING TO MISS YOUR STUPID FACE!" Carned, who also had cried along with other chefs.

"I'LL SEE YOU ALL AROUND SHITTY BASTARDS!" Sanji shouted back to them. 

Zeff, who had been quiet from the start, couldn't hold himself to tear up. It was a normal reaction for every parent who saw their children leaving just to chase their dream. Usopp and Zoro were also smiling at the heart-warming scene, but then they went back to releash the sail and pull up the anchor, ready to set sail. Soon enough, they couldn't see the restaurant anymore, so Zoro decided to go back to training while Usopp guided Sanji to the kitchen.

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Luffy still sat on the figurehead, his eyes were watching the beautiful sky that was full of stars. It had been very late already, but the captain didn't seem to like the idea of sleeping. It could be easily understood, because whenever he went to sleep the imagine of his friends' lifeless bodies kept appearing in his dream. He couldn't stop feeling guilty. 

Looking at the night sky somehow made him miss his time with the crew. Back then, every month they would pick out a day to star grazing, and it was truly fun. Everyone was all dressed up in cozy clothing and sitting by each other on the grass floor of Sunny. Sanji also prepared some hot drinks and a few snacks for the crew, while everyone was talking with each other about their day. Chopper was always the one to fall asleep first, and Robin was always the one to take the doctor to his bed. Those were good memories. Just remembering about them, Luffy couldn't help but smile widely. 

"Luffy? Why are you still up this late?" Someone from behind him asked 

Luffy was startled by the deep voice, but he didn't react, scared that he would get scolded. Meanwhile, Zoro was getting more worried, because it was obvious that Luffy hadn't left his spot since this morning, except for lunch and dinner.