Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

Chapter 29: My Darkness to Bear

"I'm glad that it all ended well," Brook informed them as they found themselves near a small creek that cut through the forest, and they were glad for the quick drink of cold water. "You all got your memories back."

"Losing your memories sure causes a lot of problems," Usopp nodded as Chopper stuck his head into the water and took several deep gulps.

"Yeah," Sanji said, spitting out the blade of grass, "Like someone here I could mention who tried to get us to thinking that we were his crew?"

"Hey now," Usopp said laughing a little at that, "It all worked out right?"

"You did that?" Franky asked before he burst out laughing. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Usopp turned red before he added, "You can still join if you want?"

"No thanks," they all chorused as Brook laughed happily.

"You really know how to hurt a guy," Usopp said in a wounded voice.

"Oh, big baby," Zoro poked fun, an amused smirk on his face.

"So does this mean that we'll be heading to Water 7 soon?" Franky asked hopefully. Though he wasn't looking forward to seeing his own introduction and how they started off, he was dying to see his home and the Franky Family again. He hoped that they were doing alright wherever they were right now and hadn't fallen apart without him there.

"We should," Nami confessed, splashing some water on her face. "Not much else had happened between that and Water 7."

"Won't that be fun to see?" Zoro said tiredly, wishing that he could just head back to the ship so that he could take a nap. It was late and he knew they were all exhausted. He sat down on the grass and looked up the sky, wondering just how much longer this was gonna take. But as he looked at the moon, it changed so suddenly that he was startled.

It was suddenly a full moon and had turned to such a dark red color that it looked like blood. He got up and looked around to see that they weren't in the forest anymore. They were all standing on the top of some old ruins... like an old temple. They were all getting up and staring around, the moon now looking like you'd expect it to start dripping with blood any moment.

"Ok, this is creepy," Franky muttered, trying to make sense of what memory they were in this time.

"Up there!" Chopper pointed a hoof up above them. Standing next to some crumbling stairs, Luffy was there with two women. The one standing next to him was an elderly woman with pink hair tied in side-locks and had a large hunchback. She leaned heavily on a crooked walking stick as she and Luffy stared up at a beautiful, young woman dressed in stunning robes. She had long blue hair similar to Vivi's, only hers was a much darker shade and she wore it with side-locks and large pink beads. She was kneeling on the highest point of the temple, her hands stretched to the sky as if in prayer.

"It's Maya-san!" Sanji gasped out happily, wanting to run up and hug her. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.

"She's gorgeous!" Brook cried out, "I really want to see her panties!"

Nami hit him as Robin's eyes widen. "So this must be when we were on Asuka Island!" she said.

Zoro's one eye widen, understanding why he recognized this place. "Which means that this is the night that Saga...?" he trailed off, unable to think of anything else to say.

"Saga?" Franky asked in confusion. "Who is he?"

"He's the one who was possessed by a cursed sword," Usopp gulped, remembering seeing that blade himself. That thing scared him to the core... it wasn't natural.