Baby on Board

Meetings and Rejections

This chapter is a bit shorter. Notice Zoro and Sanji's emotions towards Luffy. It will be important later. Enjoy~

They all woke up when there was a soft knock on the door from the outside. Robin got up and opened the door to Sanji, who was carrying two plates of regular pancakes and one plate with a small stack of miniature pancakes. He brought all of them cups of water, including Luffy's special cup.

"I'm having Franky and Brook eat before everyone else so Luffy can come in and get used to everyone together," Sanji said before he left, closing the door quietly.

"I feel bad for them," Nami said sadly between bites of her pancakes.

"Yes, so do I. But we do not know how Luffy will react. I don't want to scare him badly on his second day. But it's not fair to Franky and Brook. Maybe in a few days we'll introduce him to Franky, and if he does okay with him, we'll try Brook," Robin replied, still watching Luffy as he ate. He ignored the wooden fork after Robin cut each pancake into small pieces and ate them with his small fingers. It didn't cause a mess since there was no syrup on the bits, so they didn't say anything and let him eat how he wanted.

Even though Luffy had less food, he finished after Robin and Nami. Robin stacked the plates and brought them back to the kitchen to see everyone was done eating. She told them that Luffy might come in soon, so everyone would need to not yell, but act normal. "We want him to get used to everyone as soon as possible," she informed and then looked at Franky and Brook. "I'm sorry, but we still need you two to stay out of Luffy's sight."

Both looked sad and disappointed and left the room. "Zoro, please don't glare at him today," she said, leaving Zoro's face red. Robin left the room as Sanji cackled loudly.

"What happened?" Chopper asked. No one but Zoro, Sanji and the girls had been in the room when Luffy cried at Zoro's face.

"Nothing-" Zoro began to say, only to be cut off by Sanji, who said, "He scared Luffy and made him cry because his face looked grumpy," with another laugh.

"Shut up!" Zoro shouted at him. Chopper and Usopp covered their mouths to not laugh out loud; Zoro gave them the death glare and they immediately lost their desire to laugh and cowered pathetically.

"Now now Marimo, you don't want to make Luffy cry from that face again," Sanji said haughtily. Zoro turned red again, trying to relax his face though he was furious with the cook. Chopper hadn't heard Luffy crying yet.

Robin entered the room with Luffy and Nami. Luffy was walking between them, holding Nami's hand because Robin was too tall to reach his hand with hers. Luffy hadn't wanted to be carried across the deck this time. He still had no shoes and none of them knew how to make shoes, so they'd just have to make sure the deck had nothing he could step on that would hurt or upset him. He did like walking on the grass; the grass between his toes felt nice. He didn't recognize the feeling though.

Robin lifted him up to his high chair and started talking to the others about how luffy had slept and ate. Zoro made sure not to look straight into Luffy's eyes. Only Usopp and Chopper did, and he had no problem with them. He hadn't really interacted with Chopper since he'd been asleep when he was being treated, but in his mind, a teddy bear was walking and talking. He liked Usopp because he gave him blocks and played with him.

Usopp asked Chopper if he wanted to play with Luffy today. "Yeah!" Chopper said loudly. Luffy didn't know what anyone was talking about, but he recognized his name sometimes. He was mostly looking at everyone's faces, trying to see if he recognized anyone from his old ship. It hadn't been a pirate ship, just a ship of friends who could defend themselves against most pirates. They had been happy people, playing music often and making friends with the locals where they would dock. The pirates that had caused Luffy to be left out to the ocean had been strong and in large numbers. He hadn't seen the attack, just his mama put him in the barrel in secret while she bled from the side. But Luffy hadn't known what blood was, and his mama tried her best to not look scared or in pain. She had just smiled and kissed him. Then everything was dark and loud and wobbly. No one heard Luffy crying as he barrel was gently, but quickly, lowered into the water. She was dead before she lost sight of Luffy from the distance. Then the ship sank as it burned. Leaving one lone piece of debris floating alone, accompanied with a baby's cry.