Our last sail

41. More bounties and Haki training

"Luffy": talk

"Sabo": whisper

"ACE": shout

"Gomu Gomu no": the skill's name

'idiot': thinking

<Joyboy>: voice of all things

-Into the story-

Luffy had been sleeping for a whole day straight. It was understandable if you always put your guard up for danger and didn't have a good sleep for a few days, then went on freeing one of your friends' island without rest. However, as soon as he was up, the captain wasted no time jumping into the party along with his crew and the townspeople. Not like the last time, Luffy had made sure that he would take a bite of that ham melon, or at least have a recipe for Sanji to make it.

As Luffy was on his way to satisfying his black hole, the captain had also kept an eye on his crew. He could see Nami was having a drinking competition alongside Zoro, and it seemed like those two were winning against the townspeople. As for Sanji, he was tasting all kind of dishes that the townspeople had offered him, while asking for the recipe at the same time. Usopp could be seen not so far away, as he was sharing his ridiculous stories with the townspeople. Luffy then decided to let them be, while he walked up to give Nami's mom a visit.

Standing in front of the grave, Luffy noticed someone else also had the same thought as him as he saw Genzo was also there, paying his dear friend a visit. Luffy then took a bite of the meat in his hands, while watching Genzo in silence. After Genzo had finished whatever he was doing, the mayor then slowly turned to him and said

"Thank you, kid! I didn't have a chance to say it as you immediately fell asleep after the fight. However, if it wasn't for you brats, we could never dream of a day like this"

"I won't take your thanks!" Luffy said bluntly.

"What do you mean, you won't take my thanks?!" Genzo frowned.

"It means I won't take your or your people's thanks, old man. Nami is the one you should thanks, not us. If Nami hadn't asked us to help her, we wouldn't have come to this island in the first place", Luffy explained.

Luffy then took another bite, while Genzo just looked at him speechless. The mayor then suddenly started to laugh his ass off at Luffy's statement. Now he was sure Nami would fit just right in with this kind of crew. A group full of dreamers, a group full of freaks and idiots, but also full of life and laughter.

"You're an interested kid!" Genzo said.

"Do you mind?" Luffy asked.

"No go ahead" Genzo replied.

Luffy then swallowed all of his food in one go, then quickly clean his mouth with his hand. The captain slowly walked up to the grave, sat down in front of it, and stood silent for a while to pay his respect to the fallen Marine. It was so peaceful, with the cool wind and the cheerful sound of everyone in the festival in the background.

After a while, Luffy then stood up and looked down at where the party was being held. He and Genzo were very high up from the hill, so all he could see was some colorful dots of light and people running or dancing around. However, he could still see his crew's happy faces as they were enjoying the party.

"Old man, I promise that I will do anything to keep their smile shining brightly like how they are now." Luffy said sincerely

Genzo's eyes were wide open as he didn't expect the captain to say something like that. The mayor stared at the captain for a few seconds, then a grin broke out across his face.