"…and what do you want me to do about it?" Luffy deadpanned as he sat in the doctor's office with Leah.
"I don't know…your usual Luffy magic? Somehow make things right" Leah pleaded.
Luffy sighed looking at Leah and pondered over her problem. It had been three days since they left Callipe Island and after checking up on Hancock and Sonia the morning after they confessed to Leah and making sure they were okay, he had spent the next two days asleep. The fight had been intense and he needed that much time to recover.
When he finally awoke, filled his stomach and said hellos to everyone, Leah pulled him into the doctor's office and started telling him how things between her and Sonia were a bit awkward. One was almost killed by the other and then learned what the other thought was her shameful past, so things were apparently a bit awkward between them and neither knew how to navigate the relationship anymore. There would apparently be long silences in their conversations and they just didn't know what to talk about. And so, Leah wanted him to do something about it.
"It's between you and her though… what can I do?"
"C'mon… You and Sonia seem to be completely fine" Leah protested, "How is that possible? Unlike me, you guys actually fought and you were almost battered to death"
"I don't know… we talked with our fists I guess. You can do that too?"
"That's not a solution!" Leah snapped.
"Okay okay, calm down…" Luffy sighed, "Get drunk? Alcohol usually loosens the tension"
"Yeah, but we'll have to drink a lot. And what's the reason for us drinking?"
"I'll just throw a party, that's not a problem"
"Hmm yeah, you are capable of that… Okay, what do I talk about with her then?"
"What are you, a child? Figure it out yourself"
"C'mon Luffy! Help me!" Leah whined shaking him. Even though she didn't want to be labelled as one, she was definitely acting like a spoiled little sister.
"Ugh, fine fine" Luffy relented and thought of how he could help her out. He wanted to do something which would be fun for him too and suddenly got a glint in his eyes as a certain comedy duo popped up in his mind "Let's put on a show! You and me"
"Wait why? I'm having issues talking with her, not you"
"Don't worry. After we do the show, you and Sonia can later do it too. That should give you guys something to do together"
"Hm… I guess that works. What kind of show though?"
"Leah," Luffy grinned, "Let me introduce you to one of the greatest comedy sketches of all time, Abbott and Costello's genius work - Who's on first"
———
The women didn't get it at first as they watched Luffy and Leah arguing over something on deck after they explained what baseball was to them.
"All I'm trying to find out is what's the guy's name on first base" Leah said exasperatedly.
"No. What is on second base."
"I'm not asking you who's on second!"
"Who's on first."
"One base at a time!"
"Pfft~" the giggles started slowly as only some got it, but before long everyone got it too and the deck exploded with laughter.
"What's the guy's name in left field?"
"No, What is on second."
"I'm not asking you who's on second!"
"Who's on first!"
"I don't know."
"THIRD BASE!" all the women chorused together guffawing.
—
The Kuja pirates had an almost nonexistent relationship with Luffy. After the fight the first day, they virtually had no contact with him and only saw him sometimes when he was sitting on top of the Sea serpents. Sonia herself had let him stay on the ship and they could understand to a certain degree why he was left alive as they themselves admired his fighting resolve, but that was it. Some were curious as to what kind of classes he gave, so had attended his sessions, but it was only a small number.
Only after they came back from the island and Luffy was summoned to Hancock's room where he had been in for quite some time before walking out with a smile, had they gotten curious about him. Hancock herself talked to him and didn't mind his presence, so they were intrigued. And tonight, they stood on deck watching Luffy and Leah performing something on the other ship. Hancock and Sonia were both also standing at the railing and watching them, so they were even more intrigued as to what was happening.
"The left fielder's name?"
"Why."
"PFFT~" the decorum broke as one let out a laugh and others couldn't hold it in anymore.
"…I just thought I'd ask you"
"Well, I just thought I'd tell ya"
"Go ahead and tell me the name of the left fielder then"
"Why."
"AGGH Because! BECAUSE!"
"Oh, he's centre field"
"PFTTTHAHAHAHAHA!"
—
'Oh Luffy, you're awake now!…' Hancock had thought as she finally spotted him walking on deck after not having seen him for two days. She didn't know why but her mood was down when she couldn't see him but when she finally saw him again, she became happy.
Currently though, Hancock's shoulders trembled as she tried to hold her laughter in as she watched Luffy and Leah. She had the ships positioned such that their decks were parallel to each other and Sonia, the Kuja pirates and herself watched the two putting on a show.
"You got a pitcher on this team?"
"Wouldn't be a fine team without a pitcher"
"What's the pitcher's name?"
"Tomorrow"
"Pfft~" Hancock broke last after Sonia and pretty much everyone else was laughing.
"…You don't want to tell me today?"
"I'm telling you"
"Then go ahead"
"Tomorrow!"
"Pffttt…Hehehe…"
"Okay, what time?"
"What time what?"
"What time tomorrow are you gonna tell me who's pitching?!"
"Now listen here, Who is not-"
"I'LL BREAK YOUR ARM IF YOU SAY WHO'S ON FIRST!"
"KYAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
—
Grand Line, Paradise, Deep undersea
"I throw the ball to first base, somebody's gotta get the ball! Now who's got it?"
"Naturally"
"Who?"
"Naturally"
"Naturally?"
"Naturally"
"KrrKrrKrrKrr"
A very low grating sound like two rocks being rubbed against each other reverberated across the deep undersea cavern where the fairy-like figure was laughing. She was watching the Strawhat wearing man and another blonde long-legged woman doing a comedy routine, and for the first time in a long, long time, she was laughing. "KrrKrrKrrKrr"
She could feel whenever there were intense emotions around her gold trinket, whether it be joy or despair or hostility or melancholy. She had felt intense and strong hostility from a lot of people a few days earlier and when she had gazed, she had found the Strawhat man fighting a bunch of women on a ship. She didn't even watch him for more than five seconds, not caring about him one bit.
And today, she had felt joyous emotions emanating around her gold trinket and when she gazed, she saw the same women who had shown hostility to the Strawhat man earlier were now watching him and a long-legged woman arguing over something and laughing their asses off.
She got slightly curious and continued watching and finally understood that the two were performing a comedy routine, and couldn't help but laugh out loud herself too. She didn't know what baseball was but she could get the gist of it from the context.
"Why? I don't know! He's on third and I don't give a darn!"
"What'd you say?"
"I said, I don't give a darn!"
"Oh, that's our shortstop!"
"KrrKrrKrrKrr"
It was only when the two finished and took a bow did she realize what she was doing and instantly stopped gazing at the Strawhat man. 'I don't deserve to laugh… I don't have the right to laugh…'
She sighed feeling melancholic again, missing the people she loved and regretting not being enough to protect them. 'You let them all down…'
Her glowing wings drooped down and she again let out a deep sigh. She had already awoken, so just decided to gaze at what was happening in other areas where her gold trinkets were.
She first gazed at the family that had recently moved off of the depressing island in South Blue and found the woman holding a baby while the Hound husband and her daughter were watching the baby like it was something amazing and two more women stood by watching them warmly.
She was feeling miserable and didn't like the happy atmosphere, so instantly stopped observing them and gazed at their former island. It was still the same old depressing atmosphere of the people doing weird dances and rituals to worship her that meant absolutely nothing.
She lost interest and then gazed at another island in another part of the world where some of her gold trinkets had ended up and the people there worshipped her as a god too, just under a different name. A woman was kneeling down in front of a sigil with her gold trinket on it and was praying for her help.
"Oh Great Mother Wymia, please protect us…Please! Protect us from the Magma bastard!"
She gazed at the praying woman for a while hearing her talk about how a man with magma powers was apparently intruding on her island and causing chaos. Her only reaction to that was 'There's a person with magma powers in the world?'
This wasn't the first time someone was praying and begging her to do something. She had already gone through generations of people asking for help while all she could do was watch them without being able to help in any way and had already grown numb to it.
She soon stopped gazing at the praying woman too and buried her head into her knees again as her wings slowly lost the soft golden light and plunged the deep underwater cavern into darkness again.
———
It had been seven days since they left Callipe Island and it would apparently take another six days for them to get near East Blue where Luffy could get off. The first three days were spent sleeping and the next four days, he fell into a routine of trying to unlock the Voice, getting some Armament Haki lessons from Sonia and Leah, trying out new voices by modifying his larynx and just enjoying his time on the ship.
After he and Leah had performed the sketch, he had followed it up by throwing a party and everyone had joined in. Sonia and Leah actually bonded too and as Luffy suggested, the two began rehearsing the sketch themselves which gave them something to talk about and broke all the awkward atmosphere they had between them. It would take some time, but they would become closer than ever before.
The women on his ship were even more comfortable around him now and even came up to strike up casual conversations with him of their own accord. The Kuja pirates also mellowed out and came to give him lessons on Armament sometimes when he was practising alone. Seemed like his favourability had skyrocketed among them ever since he had made Hancock laugh that joyously and loudly. The deck had almost frozen in shock when they saw Hancock laugh and seeing her face like that had them smitten. They fell in love with their Empress even more and they were extremely grateful to Luffy for letting them see such a side of their beloved Empress.
And lastly, all the women on both ships loved just pinching and stretching him. They would just pull on his skin while training him in Armament or if he was meditating and disturbed him a lot.
As for interaction with Hancock herself, they had had small conversations but it was nothing more than a few minutes of small talk. Usually, there would be Sonia, Leah and others around them too, so they didn't talk directly one-to-one. She also hadn't fallen sick, so Luffy was sure she hadn't fallen in love with him.
On the afternoon of the seventh day though, his normal routine was interrupted when ten ships were spotted in the distance and judging by the sails, they were pirates.
"How do those pirates even traverse the Calm Belt? They don't have a sea stone lining do they?" Luffy asked Sonia as the two lazily stood on deck watching the ships change their course and start coming straight towards them.
"Some do, some don't"
"But isn't sea stone like really expensive? And only Marines have access to it?" Luffy asked remembering Reiju saying something like that.
"Yeah, but there are also underground markets where it can be bought by anyone. Never seen one but I've heard of it from other pirates we've killed before"
"Hm then do some pirates just come out to the Calm Belt without sea stone?"
"Yeah, some are foolish and don't know much. Some even get really lucky and actually manage to enter the Grand Line too"
"Hmm I see" Luffy said wondering if Krieg had any sea stone lining on his ships.
"Why? Do you want some for your own ship when you set out?"
"Of course not! Imma use the Reverse Mountain to get into the Grand Line. That's the coolest entrance!"
Leah, who had come up just then, let out a chuckle. "You and your weird obsessions" she said patting his head.
"…You two sure have gotten close" Sonia said eyeing the two, who had really gotten closer since Luffy offered to become her brother.
Leah gave her a small smirk "Jealous?"
"As if," Sonia rolled her eyes, "Just wondering if something happened between you two back on the island"
"Well~," Leah trailed off mischievously while hugging Luffy from behind, "Maybe?"
"Hey, stop making stuff up!" Luffy protested.
"Oh? What do you mean Luffy?" Leah drawled, "We did wake up in the same bed"
Sonia alternated her gaze from Luffy to Leah "As if Beast would sleep with anyone. He's pretty adamant on not doing it"
"Tch," Leah clicked her tongue losing the chance to trick Sonia and embarrass Luffy, "Well, we did wake up cuddling but that was all it was…we were black-out drunk and just ended up on the same bed"
"Hehe knew it"
"And even then, he didn't show the slightest bit of lust towards me… after that, I got way more comfortable with him"
"Ah so that's why you're more touchy now"
"Yeah. By the way, Luffy is an amazing cuddler. In spite of the size difference, it felt amazing when he snuggled me"
"Oh? Really, beast?"
"Apparently" Luffy said not paying much attention to the conversation. He was more interested in fighting the pirates coming towards them, "So do you guys wait and hear them out or just attack?"
"We're not savages. We at least hear them out… If they mind their own business, we let them go, otherwise, just destroy them"
"I hope they're bad guys" Luffy said stretching his joints, "I want to fight some people"
"I'm sure they are" Sonia said eyeing the ships as they waited.
The ships soon came within talking range and it was some pirate Luffy didn't recognize. There were about 30 pirates on each ship and by the looks they were giving, they were definitely the bad kind of pirates.
The Amazons gave a warning first telling them to get out of the way or face the consequences, to which the pirates just hollered perversely at all the women as the ten ships spread out around the two Kuja ships. The captain then started making inappropriate comments about Hancock, saying how he wanted to kidnap her and make her his bitch, which of course, guaranteed his death sentence.
"See? This is the kind of men we deal with" Sonia said pointing at them with a disgusted expression.
"Yeah, I know you do. As I said, I don't blame you for the worldview you have about men." Luffy said cracking his fingers. "So now do we attack and destroy them?"
"Ye-" Sonia was nodding but stopped when Hancock herself suddenly stepped out of her cabin.
"Who dares get in my way?!" she demanded really irritated for some reason. The pirates all started hollering and whistling upon spotting Hancock while she stared coldly at them.
"You are scum" was all she said before she brought both her hands in front of her making a heart symbol.
"Die. Mero Mero Mellow~" she sang as she used her powers on the captain's ship. All the gawking men instantly turned to stone as her beam touched them, including the captain, and basically ended the fight before it even began.
Hancock then jumped onto that ship and started kicking the stone statues to bits as if she was taking out her anger on them. The other warriors and Luffy were getting ready to take care of the pirates on the other nine ships, who were panicking after seeing their captain die, but Hancock just released a wave of Conqueror's Haki.
Luffy felt a sudden wave of pressure pushing down on him and watching the men on the pirate ships faint, he instantly understood that the pressure he felt was Conqueror's Haki. It was the first time he had ever felt this power being used on him, barring Ace's when he was a child and didn't even know such a thing existed, but now that he was aware, he started analyzing just what the power was and tried to push back. It was a sort of mental attack that told him to submit, told him to give in to the other power and in response to that, his own Conqueror's Haki instinctively activated. It rebelled against it as no one could make him submit under him and he started pushing back against Hancock's Haki. There were small sounds of cracking in the area as the two invisible waves of Conqueror's Haki collided making the surrounding people gawk in shock and awe, at least the ones who were still conscious.
Luffy had forgotten everything else as he focused on latching onto the feeling of how he activated his Conqueror's. He felt Hancock's Haki increase in pressure and when he felt himself losing, he instinctively pushed back further increasing his own pressure. He kept analyzing as he let out his Haki and after a few seconds, finally understood how he activated it. It was like an organ or sense that he hadn't noticed until then through which he could unleash Conqueror's Haki and his lips twitched upwards as he finally grasped how to activate his Conqueror's on command. It was only then that he paid attention to other things, and his mind finally registered the two dark mesmerizing eyes he was looking directly into.
Luffy instantly stopped using Haki as his mind finally registered the rest of his surroundings and realized that he and Hancock were staring right into each other's eyes as they had their Conqueror's match. All the men on the multiple pirate ships had fainted while a majority of the women on Luffy's ship had collapsed foaming at the mouth but the ones on Hancock's ship were all standing gawking with bewildered awe, as they alternated their gazes between Hancock and Luffy.
Hancock also stopped using her Haki as soon as Luffy stopped and was studying him carefully with all her irritation gone, while Luffy was panicking on the inside as he looked around. He caught Sonia's amused eyes as he awkwardly massaged the back of his head and turned towards Hancock who was still staring at him with a blank look. "Sorry, didn't mean to. I still can't use mine on command and when I felt your power, I instinctively pushed back"
"…That's okay" Hancock said softly as she jumped back from the enemy pirate ship back to her ship. "Come" was all she commanded before retiring to her room.
"Wow… You're also a Conqueror!" Leah gawked, one of the few women who were still conscious on the ship he was on.
"Yeah"
"First time I've felt Conqueror's and it's from two Conquerors clashing…Holy fuck, that was amazing! The way everyone just fell! Wow!" Leah was excitedly lost in her own world, while Sonia just laughed.
"Sister called for you in case you didn't notice" Sonia reminded him as she and Leah got to taking care of all the fainted women.
"Yeah yeah, I'm going" Luffy said as he jumped to the other ship and went towards her room while all the Kuja pirates stared at him in awe. There was a sort of reverence in their eyes he couldn't quite understand ever since he had made Hancock laugh, and that look only seemed to have intensified even more now as they realized he was a Conqueror too.
He shrugged not caring about it much and entered her room.
———
Hancock was feeling something she had never felt before for a few days now and she just couldn't understand what it was. She had noticed the night she had fought Luffy that she felt bad when she hurt him but she had just dismissed it as her feeling guilty for hurting someone who was similar to Fisher Tiger.
After he chose Leah over his own self-interest, that feeling of something intensified and she was readily willing to share all her secrets with him. And when she did, seeing his reaction and hearing him talk had made her extremely relaxed and happy. His views on things were a bit too optimistic sure, but she also understood that he wasn't naive either and had the qualities of a Ruler too. And then at the end of the conversation, he had dropped a bombshell on her by claiming that he will change the world for her (in her mind).
'He's professing his love to me?!' she exclaimed internally coming to the wrong conclusion. She couldn't be blamed for coming to that conclusion though as many men had done the same previously too. Mostly they were disgusting pieces of shit who just straight up demanded that she become their woman, but there were a few who said they would do something for her to earn her love and thus, she equated Luffy's words to a confession. All were the same in her eyes though and she would turn everyone to stone… with the sole exception of Luffy.
She should have been irritated just like all the other times, but Luffy's confession (in her mind) didn't leave her disgusted or irritated, but rather her body heated up with excitement. She didn't know what she was feeling but it made her really happy, so didn't question it much. She was as childish as one could be regarding things like dating, and unlike in the story, she didn't have Elder Nyon to tell her what she was feeling, so poor Hancock couldn't even assign a name to the feelings she had.
After that day and they confessed to Leah too, he had come to see if she was okay in the morning which only had her heart jumping for joy more. Unfortunately though, he apparently went to sleep and she didn't see him for two whole and unnaturally long days during which she kept thinking about him.
When he finally did wake up and she saw him walking on deck, she became joyous again and went to talk to him. But so did Sonia, Leah and a bunch of other women and she so wasn't able to talk much with him one-on-one. And then he had spent the whole day with Leah discussing something, which left her dissatisfied and irritated, especially at Leah for some reason, and she only learned at night that they were rehearsing a comedy sketch. It was hilarious though, so she got over her irritation soon.
Days passed by with her only getting chances to make small talk with him which wasn't enough for her. She wanted to summon him to her room but she didn't have any reason to and she was also worried about what she could discuss with him. He mainly spent his time sitting on the Sea serpents, where he apparently meditated, and also trained his Armament when he wasn't meditating. When she first saw him trying to train Armament, she was about to go to him, but Sonia and a few other warriors beat her to it and she missed her chance.
She could also hear him during meal times as it was always noisy on the other ship. It seemed like Luffy livened up the place by telling stories, jokes and even sang a few songs. She had asked Sonia to call her during such times and she had listened to him from inside her room. During one such time, her body heated up again when she realized he was singing a love song. 'HE'S SERENADING ME!'
She had finally decided she would call him out and talk to him on the seventh day, but some random pirates showed up. She was already irritated for not getting a chance to talk with him for so many days, which only grew when she saw the pirates. She sighed peeking at Luffy longingly who was cracking his fingers and getting ready to fight. 'He's irritated that these pirates are intruding upon our alone time too!' she concluded not realizing that Luffy had no idea she was even planning to invite him that day.
She was about to excitedly go to him and ask if they could team up, but she saw Sonia and Leah coming up to him and talking with him. And when Leah hugged him from behind, she grew really really irritated for some reason she still couldn't understand and grew annoyed and angry.
She then heard the intruder pirates spouting off some disgusting things, so she burst out of her room and took all her anger out on them. When she released her Conqueror's to finish them all off, she felt Luffy unleashing his own too and she stared into his eyes… her irritation melted away and everything was right with the world again. She could see him staring right at her as if telling her to calm down and trying to control his Haki, so she guided him by slowly increasing her own pressure and she could feel him increasing his own in response. He then smiled at her and her world became pink.
After he stopped and apologized, she finally had something to talk about with him, so invited him and waited for him in her room excitedly. She thought she could teach him a bit of how to control his Conqueror's and thus, spend time with him.
—
Luffy walked in closing the door behind him and saw she was sitting on the throne, fully clothed thankfully. "Look, I'm sorry but I really did do it unco-" he began as he walked towards her but he was cut off.
"Yes, I know. I could feel that you were inexperienced," Hancock said with a smile, "You were only releasing your Conqueror's in response to mine. I even raised mine and felt an increase in yours. That was actually impressive and quick adaptation"
"Oh" Luffy leaned in closer as he sat down across from her, interested as she was actually giving him pointers. "Thanks. I think I just learned how to activate it on command too"
"I see. Would you like to practise with me?"
"Really?!"
"Yes. I do not mind helping you a bit"
Luffy vibrated with excitement as he got a way to learn more about Haki "That would be great. Thanks!"
"Alright. I will unleash my Conqueror's and you try it too" Hancock said as she released a wave of Conqueror's. Luffy activated his own and then Hancock began guiding him by increasing and decreasing the pressure. He had a hard time varying it and took some time to do it correctly while Hancock guided him patiently. After he got the hang of varying it, Hancock kept increasing the pressure to see how much he himself could increase his own in response.
"Okay, I think this is your limit as of now" Hancock said as he finally hit a cap point. "You need to train to increase it more"
"Hmm"
"Do not be disappointed. This much is actually quite amazing for someone who has just learned to activate it on command"
"Thanks but let's try it one more time"
"Very well"
They then spent almost an hour with Luffy trying to get total control over releasing it instantly and by the end, he was mentally tired and collapsed on his back.
"It is very impressive how fast you can learn this" Hancock said really impressed, "It took me longer to learn to release it on command"
"Did Rayleigh teach you?" Luffy asked conversationally.
"You know him?"
"Yeah, Sonia told Leah and me a bit about how you guys escaped and came back to Amazon Lily"
"Ah, I see. Well, he did train me just a bit. I was mostly trained by the previous generation of Kuja warriors but I spent a bit of time with Rayleigh on Sabaody Archipelago, so he trained me in Conqueror's for a bit"
"I see. He's so cool huh?!" Luffy excitedly said thinking about his future teacher.
"Yes, he is the one other man besides Fisher Tiger I am indebted to. He is also the husband of a former Empress, so I am comfortable around him"
"Wait what? He's married to the former Empress?"
"A former Empress. She was called Shakuyaku, who was the Empress of Amazon Lily and also the captain of the Kuja pirates two generations ago"
"Shakky is a former Empress?!" Luffy said surprised, not remembering if this was ever mentioned in the story.
"Wait, you know Shakky too?"
"I know of her. She runs the bar at Sabaody right?"
"That's correct"
When he thought about it for a second more, it made so much sense actually. The sisters finding Gloriosa there, Rayleigh having a good relationship with the sisters and the Kuja… it was glaringly obvious now that he knew about it. 'Oda, you glorious bastard!'
"Anyway, let's continue" Luffy said as he sat up straight and Hancock nodded as they continued training. They kept taking breaks from time to time and filled the time with talking about random topics like before. Hancock asked what kind of stories and jokes he told to make the ship so noisy during meal times and Luffy spent some time telling her all sorts of stories.
"I've also heard you singing in different voices? You are a ventriloquist too?"
"Kinda. My body's rubber, so I can modify my vocal cords to soUNd like diFfeRent people" he said tuning his voice as he talked.
"That's a smart way to use your devil fruit" Hancock nodded approvingly.
"Shishishi yeah, It's so fun to talk in different voices"
"That sounds like Sonia!"
"Shishi Yep! I practised her voice to freak her out" Luffy said still in Sonia's voice.
"Ah, your so-called prank war with Sonia?" Hancock smiled amused. "I now see why she kept thinking there was a baby stowaway on board yesterday"
"Shishishi yeah! It was so fun seeing her run around the ship trying to find a crying baby!" Luffy grinned. After coming back from the island, he had started playing pranks on Sonia and he had spent the previous day making a very realistic crying baby's voice only around her and it had her convinced that there was a baby on board. He had even planted his recorder that played the crying noise to make her think it wasn't him and had fooled her into performing a hunt for the nonexistent baby.
"That was indeed quite funny" Hancock said amused.
"Yeah! I can do this too. How do I sound now?" Luffy said as he changed his voice to Hancock's.
"You can do my voice too?!"
"Yes, I fucking can!"
"D-Don't use such crude l-language while using my voice…" she said meekly as she blushed. Luffy burst out laughing and after giving a huff, so did Hancock. He continued showing her a few more voices he was working on and she excitedly gave feedback, as they chatted and trained. When training Conqueror's became tiring, they shifted to training Armament Haki and it was only hours later when Luffy's stomach started grumbling that he realized how much time he had spent with her.
"Are you hungry? I'll have food brought here" Hancock said already getting ready to call someone.
"Nah, it's okay. I'll go to sleep after, so let's call it a day"
"I see. Very well… Today was really fun…"
"Yeah, thanks for all the tips. See you tomorrow!" he said waving goodbye.
"Yes! See you tomorrow" Hancock said with a bit too much enthusiasm.
Luffy walked out, went directly to the kitchen, ate quickly and soon went to bed where he began thinking. 'She has a crush on me at least…I think…'
He really had enjoyed spending time with her and she wasn't behaving over the top like in the story either. She didn't blush at everything he said and could hold proper friendly conversations with him too, but he could see her slightly blushing and getting shy when he said certain things or teased her. 'But she hasn't fallen sick or anything though' he argued with himself. He was sure that she had a small crush on him, but he had managed to make sure that it stopped at that and she didn't fall crazily in love with him. He teased, played around and treated her just like every other woman on the ship, and her reactions and responses were friendly too. He thought a lot about it but ultimately he concluded that she hadn't fallen sick, and thus, hadn't fallen in love with him.
Meanwhile, Hancock was rolling on her bed squealing with happiness as she had had so much fun that day and felt ecstatic. "Kyaa! Luffy!" she squealed imagining all that he had said to her through a filter. He had also said that he wanted to spend the next day together too (in her mind), so she was extra ecstatic.
'But why is he not confessing directly to me?!' she stopped and wondered. Luffy was clearly smitten with her (in her mind) and was even serenading her but he hadn't directly told her he loved her. She was actually thinking that he would soon confess directly but he hadn't mentioned anything. She kept thinking hard about it and suddenly gasped coming to a conclusion, "He's going to do something grand and then confess to me!"
'Yes, that must be it!' She nodded satisfied by her own conclusion. 'But what is the grand gesture he promised me? To change the world? Make sure I don't have to be afraid of the brand? But that would mean he would have to stand against the Celestial Dragons…' She knew he was pure of heart and would do anything to protect people close to him but would he fight a Celestial Dragon? She remembered the resolve he had and wanted to think 'Yes!', but realistically, she didn't think he could do it.
Her mood dipped a bit when her thoughts reached that line of thinking and this was the only thing that was stopping her from falling completely and hopelessly in love with him.
She also didn't realize she herself had fallen in love yet. She just knew that Luffy loved her and she didn't mind it one bit. She actually felt really excited because of it but she couldn't internalize her own feelings and come to the conclusion that she had in fact fallen in love too. Elder Nyon wasn't there to point it out and no one else seemed to have noticed it yet.
———
The next morning during breakfast, Leah was telling him about how their Conqueror's training the previous day had made many women faint because of the continued exposure when Hancock herself showed up at the dining hall.
"Snake Princess?!" the women yelped in surprise as Hancock never showed up at the common dining hall and bowed down quickly.
"Luffy!" Hancock chirped happily ignoring the others, "Come! We will further train today"
Luffy gulped nodding and went with her thinking that it had inevitably happened and was ready to have a serious conversation with her, but the more time he spent with her, the more he grew confused as that didn't seem to be the case.
The following days too, she showed up bright and early with a happy smile on her face, inviting him to spend time with her, and they would spend at least spend four hours every day alone together in the name of Conqueror's training. If they weren't training Conqueror's, Sonia and Leah would also join them and the four would hang out together, with some other warriors joining them from time to time. And Hancock was happy regardless.
He did see her blushing, getting shy and her overall demeanour gave off the feeling of someone having a crush on him, but at the same time, she wasn't showing any reactions like she did in the story and just had a normal, fun and friendly conversation with him, and hence, Luffy was convinced that she just had a slight crush on him but that was it.
The remaining days passed by quickly with Leah and Sonia only growing closer to each other. The two would hang out with Luffy at the beginning so that he would be the icebreaker between them, but soon all the awkwardness between them vanished and they even teamed up to prank Luffy. Hancock was still the Empress, so Leah couldn't be as casual with her as she was with Sonia, but their relationship had definitely improved as Hancock sometimes talked to her one-on-one too.
As for his Haki training, he could release Conqueror's Haki easily on command but the range and accuracy were out of control. He could basically just blast it around himself and everyone in his vicinity would feel it. As for Armament, he could coat Haki better but it was still nowhere near anything significant. It was just a week of training and they were also on a ship, so he couldn't do any intense training and improve a lot, but still, he had gotten pointers on how to train it and was extremely grateful for it.
It was currently the penultimate day Luffy would be on the ship and he was on deck stretching his legs and getting ready to do something he had put off for all those days as Leah had finally told him that his legs had healed sufficiently.
"What are you planning now?" Leah asked watching him get ready as if he was going to a fight.
"Imma go fight Roxanne"
"Who?" Sonia asked.
Luffy just pointed in the distance where the reptilian Sea King was still following them. He had named it Roxanne in his head as he got tired of referring it to as simply Sea King.
"Ah, that one. It keeps following us," Leah nodded in understanding, "It wants to eat you that bad huh?"
"Not really. Sea serpents told me that she wants a fight"
"…Wait wait wait, you actually heard them?!"
Luffy shook his head sadly "Nope. Not sure what I'm missing, but I can only make out low incomprehensible whispers…"
"I'm sure it's just in your head. No one can hear Sea Kings…" Sonia said again for the umpteenth time and Luffy just shrugged like always.
"So if you didn't hear the sea serpents, how do you know she wants to fight you?" Leah asked.
"Just asked them yes or no questions and they nodded or shook their heads"
"Ah okay"
"Anyway, see you guys in a bit" Luffy said as he grabbed a piece of wood and started airwalking towards Roxanne.
"Luffy!" Hancock suddenly called out popping her head out from a porthole, "Where are you going?!"
"Just going for a fight," Luffy said pointing at Roxanne, "Be back in a bit"
"Be careful!" she yelled and Luffy waved at her and went to Roxanne.
As he got closer, Roxanne also noticed him and her eyes brightened up and she looked challengingly at him showing her teeth, which Luffy interpreted as a grin. Luffy airwalked right up to her and threw the piece of wood on the sea right in front of her before softly landing on it.
"Yo!" he waved with a smile.
Roxanne also nodded in greeting.
"So you understand human speech right?"
Roxanne nodded.
"Okay good. How and all, we'll talk later. You want a fight, right? So let's fight. If you win, you can eat me. If I win, I want to talk to you a bit. Agreed?"
She exhaled loudly through her nose, which Luffy could only think of as a scoff, before nodding her head.
"Great!" Luffy said as he started airwalking again and reached her eye level. He picked out a coin from his pocket and showed it to her. "Fight starts when this touches the surface of the water" he said as he threw the coin up.
Both stared into each other's eyes and as soon as the coin fell into the sea, Luffy activated Gear 2 and jumped higher, while Roxanne's tail came up intent on whipping him. Luffy was extra careful of tail whips so had started jumping to get out of her range as soon as the fight began. It would be an easy win for him if he could just get one good punch in, but Roxanne had quite a big field advantage as she could dive any time and hide, while Luffy didn't even have a standing platform.
As expected, when he wound his arms behind him and was about to launch it at her, she just dived escaping him. Luffy looked around while still keeping his hands wound up and pretty soon, she surfaced with her mouth open right from under him. Luffy could, of course, sense her with his Observation so knew exactly what she was planning. The moment her mouth resurfaced under him, he faced downwards and launched his fist at her. It made contact right on her upper set of teeth pummeling her downwards back into the sea as she let out a groan of pain.
Luffy wound his arm again intent on delivering another punch but Roxanne stayed underwater for a minute before resurfacing by just putting her head out a bit away from him and glared at him. They both could play the endurance game as Roxanne could just stay underwater until Luffy got tired of airwalking and then attack, or Luffy could just airwalk out of her range and then go back to the ship… But both didn't want that. They wanted to be in each other's attack ranges and fight fair and square.
The fight between the two continued with Luffy completely dodging every attack from Roxanne, while she dodged most of his attacks by diving, but still, a few managed to hit her. But none of it was the deciding attack. After fifteen minutes of exchanging blows, Luffy finally saw a chance to finish the fight. Roxanne had brought her tail up again to smack him, which Luffy dodged and before the tail could go underwater, he grabbed it and wound his arms around it. Roxanne, suddenly finding her tail grabbed, tried to shake him away but he didn't give her any time to retaliate as he first yanked her towards him, making her anterior get submerged under water, before spinning in place while dragging Roxanne.
He couldn't possibly lift something as heavy as a Sea King while airwalking and hence, he first spun her in water creating a centrifugal force before slowly lifting her up.
"Gomu Gomu no Carousel!" he yelled as he lifted her more and more while spinning like a top. Roxanne tried to bend her body to bite him, but she was spinning just too fast for that to be possible.
"GRRROOOOAHHHH!" "…..stop….."
Again, his head felt a sharp twang of pain in his head as he heard her. He had also heard it the first time they had fought but he just couldn't understand why he could only hear her. That was one of the main reasons he wanted to talk to her and knew he would have his answers soon.
He soon let go of her while angling her towards the sky and she got flung upwards into the air as she roared in fear and apprehension. Luffy grinned as she was finally out of the water where she couldn't dodge by diving anymore, and he could finally end the fight with a single punch.
"Gear Third"
He blew into his arm and quickly made a giant fist as big as Roxanne's face just as she began her downward curve. Her eyes comically widened in shock as she laid eyes on a giant fist materialize out of nowhere and it took her a moment to realize she and the fist were on a collision course. She tried to dodge but couldn't do much in the air but simply roar.
"Gum Gum Gigant Pistol!"
"….give up…"
Luffy heard her voice again accompanied by the pain, but it was just before his fist made contact with her, so he couldn't stop. Roxanne had closed her eyes accepting defeat already and when the fist made contact, she got flung higher up and she felt her mind almost blackout because of the pain. She did another upward curve before unceremoniously dropping back into the sea.
Luffy airwalked, still with his giant fist, towards the small piece of wood he had thrown at the beginning and carefully hovered over it before deflating in a controlled manner. It was hard to keep himself in place while he blew out but he controlled the rate and finally fell on the piece of wood in his shrunken form panting hard. Since he wasn't in Gear 3 for a long time, it took less than two minutes for him to come back to his original form and he looked towards where Roxanne had fallen but she still hadn't resurfaced.
"Hey! You there?!" he yelled when he didn't sense anything underwater. Had he hit her too hard? He just sat there waiting for a while and after a few minutes, he finally sensed her swimming up. She emerged right in front of him while slightly glaring at him but still sighed (let out a heavy breath of air that almost knocked Luffy into the water) accepting defeat.
"I win" Luffy grinned while Roxanne nodded slowly and tiredly. Luffy tried to hear her but couldn't and the two just stared at each other for a while Luffy tried to hear her and Roxanne wondered what the human was doing.
"Hmm, why isn't it working?" Luffy tilted his head confused. It had never worked with the Sea serpents but he could hear some words from Roxanne for some reason. He had thought about it a lot and the only reason he could come up with was that Roxanne had felt strong emotions towards him while the Sea serpents just talked with each other in a calm environment. The first time he had heard her, he had just punched her and she had felt angry at him for that. Even during the current fight, he could hear only when she probably felt strong emotions.
"Hey! I just wanted to test some things. I can hear you sometimes but only when you seemed to be angry…"
Roxanne tilted her head now more confused but Luffy didn't hear her say anything.
"I know Sea Kings communicate telepathically so are you saying something right now?"
She nodded but he still couldn't hear anything.
"Hmm when I was spinning you, I heard 'stop' and when in the air I heard you say 'give up'….you did say those things right?"
Her eyes widened with shock. "….hear me?!….."
"Ah! Heard you just now too! You just said 'hear me'" His head still hurt whenever he heard words, but it became tolerable as time went on.
Roxanne's already widened eyes widened even further and her mouth hung open. "JOYBOY?!"
"Joyboy?" Luffy repeated what he heard and Roxanne just lost herself as she started trembling and moving around as if unable to control her excitement while eyeing Luffy with a sort of reverence.
"Okay wait wait!" Luffy hastily stopped her, having flashbacks to the time another Sea King had done the same thing before swatting him away, and she instantly obeyed coming right up to him while staring at him with wide eyes.
"You've obviously jumped to come conclusions about Joyboy," he said and she shivered with excitement when he even muttered that word, "Wait wait! Listen first! You think I'm Joyboy?"
She nodded enthusiastically.
"Okay wait and hear me out first…please don't punt me away…" he pleaded and she seemed to be confused but nodded anyway, "Okay, I'm not sure if I am Joyboy though. I have the Voice of All Things that lets me hear Sea Kings but I don't know the first thing about it. I've been trying to unlock it by trying to hear you, but I can only hear a word or two…"
Roxanne just stared at him losing a bit of reverence and got a contemplative look.
"Are you saying something to me now?"
Nod.
"I can't hear anything… I think I can hear it only when you're shocked or angry?"
"...you're…."
"Ah! I just heard 'you're'"
Roxanne frowned not able to understand.
"Okay, just let me get some answers first. Yes or no questions"
Nod.
"Okay good, we're communicating… How are you able to understand human speech?"
"…..human…."
"Okay, I didn't hear much. Did you perhaps have a human friend?"
Nod.
"So that's why you were able to understand me… Now, about Joyboy. I know he was some figure around 800 years ago and he made some promise?"
"Yes!….promise-keeper…"
"Promise keeper. Yes, Joyboy made a promise to Poseidon" Roxanne shivered again when she said the name Poseidon and nodded vigorously, "Okay, you're excited. She's your Queen, so makes sense"
Vigorous nodding continued.
"Okay, and Joyboy has a promise to fulfil to her and the Sea Kings?"
Nod.
"Okay good. Why do you think I'm Joyboy though?"
"…hear…"
"…Because I can hear you?"
Nod.
"Okay, I can hear you because of a power called Voice of All Things. Does Joyboy also supposed to have this?"
She didn't do anything, so he interpreted it as her not knowing what he was talking about.
"There are others who could hear Sea Kings too though. Roger, Momo, maybe Hiyori and Pudding too? Maybe even Apiscould hear you if she's real…"
"…many…slow…"
She tried to tell him something but he wasn't able to figure it out, so he moved on.
"Okay, I don't know if I'm Joyboy, whatever that even means. I'm Monkey D. Luffy. I'm pretty sure it's a sort of title I guess and I most probably am him, but I don't know anything concretely… So, I'm not a 100% sure if I'm Joyboy. Do you know who or what exactly that is?" The story did pretty much confirm it after his Gear 5 transformation, but Oda could've easily thrown a curveball at the end, so he didn't want to say something about what he himself didn't know for sure.
A shake.
"You don't? Then why do you see me with reverence?"
"….Queen….fulfill promise…"
"Yeah, Joyboy is supposed to fulfil some promise to Poseidon. What's the promise?"
A shake.
"You don't know?"
"….older.."
"Older?…Ah! The older Sea Kings know?"
Nod.
'Ooh, so Roxanne is still a child and has heard stories from the older ones. That would explain why she's so excitable' he concluded. In the story, the Sea Kings at Fishman Island were curious about him possibly hearing them, but they didn't have any intense reaction like Roxanne was showing. But it made sense if Roxanne was just a child who was told stories of Joyboy and thus, was so excitable.
"Okay, so the Older ones tell you that Joyboy is supposed to fulfil some sort of promise. And is also able to speak to Sea Kings?"
"…ask…Sage…"
"Sage? What's a sage?"
"… the Oldest…"
"Oldest? One of the Oldest Sea Kings?"
Nod.
"Huh… So do you guys have a council of some sort that decides things for the species as a whole?"
She just stared at him seemingly saying something but he couldn't hear.
"Hmm, you don't have a council?"
She tilted her head, probably not able to understand the question.
"Okay, forget that"
Nod. "…ask…about…"
"Hmmmm… you can ask others about all this?"
Nod.
"Nah, it's okay. I still haven't figured out this power of mine. And even if I am Joyboy and have to fulfil some promise, it'll only happen after I awaken my fruit, which is still a bit into the future"
Nod. "…see"
"So until then and I learn what Joyboy exactly is and what the promise is, I'm not sure what will happen. So, don't do spreading around this fact that I'm somehow Joyboy"
Nod. "….command…to…attention…"
"Use smaller sentences…I'm only hearing random words"
"Won't tell"
"Won't tell. Shishishi, thanks!"
Nod.
"So, do you guys take orders from an Older Sea King?"
"Oldest…years…"
"Hmm didn't get you. Are all Sea Kings independent? Or are you all one species that band together?"
"Independent"
"Right. So, how come all of you obey Poseidon?"
"Queen"
"Because she's your Queen?"
Nod.
"I guess that makes sense in a way… Have you met her? The current Poseidon?"
Shake. "…born…"
"Born… Yeah, she's already born… She commanded a few Sea Kings during her childhood if I remember correctly"
Nod. "…heard…"
"…You've heard from others?"
Nod. "When…meet…promise…"
"…When will I meet her? And fulfil my promise?"
She nodded with a shine in her eyes.
"Well, I'll meet her around two to three years from now… as for the promise, I don't know what it is, so I'm not sure. But whatever it is, it'll be soon"
Enthusiastic nod. "…wait…"
"Shishishi okay. Still not able to understand you completely… Tell you what? I'll get better at controlling this power and then we can talk again?"
Enthusiastic nod.
"I'll be leaving the Calm Belt tomorrow, but I will be stopping by here just before I head to the Grand Line through Reverse Mountain in about 2-3 months" he said not being sure how long it would take for his East Blue adventure. Travel times were rarely mentioned, so he had no idea. "If you're around the area, then we can meet again?"
Nod nod.
"Okay good. For now, some more yes or no questions if you don't mind"
Nod nod.
Luffy wanted to learn about Roxanne a bit too and also Sea Kings in general as their existence was something that was never explored much in the story. Through lots of trials and errors, he found out that Roxanne was a really young Sea King of around 100 years old. A majority of them are born in the Calm Belt and usually leave it when they reach around 120 years old, so Roxanne was like the oldest kid around. They didn't have names either, but she accepted the name Luffy had given her quite happily.
Sea Kings weren't like a single species either so they didn't have any sort of bond as a species like Humans or Fishmen. It was pretty much every Sea King for themselves kind of thing where the strongest survived. The Calm Belt seemed to be neutral ground as it was a nursery almost, but anywhere else, they were on their own. Of course, some banded together as friends, but that was up to the individual Sea Kings.
He also found that Roxanne had a human friend when she was very young and thus, she understood human speech. They had already died around fifty years ago though.
Responses to some questions like "Who exactly Joyboy was 8 centuries ago?" Or "How the world was eight centuries ago during the Void century?" seemed to be very long and he couldn't hear and comprehend much of what she was saying.
He also told her about how a Sea King he had talked to earlier had gotten angry at him for mentioning the name 'Joyboy' and asked if she knew the reason. She did say something, but he wasn't able to understand it. His theory was that the World Government, or someone else who knew of the name, at some point in the past had tried to trick Sea Kings by using that name and had tried to befriend/order them. And thus, it had gotten angry at him thinking he was also someone who was tricking it. Roxanne said something about that theory but again, he couldn't understand.
He hoped he would get good enough by the next time he came to meet her so that he could hear more and understand what it was. He spent pretty much the entire day talking with her and only when the sky darkened considerably did he put an end to the conversation.
"Okay, I think we should call it a day"
Nod.
"As I said, I'll be near the Calm Belt while heading towards Reverse Mountain, so if you're anywhere near there, we can meet again"
Nod nod. "…be…"
Luffy stood up preparing to airwalk back but Roxanne just submerged and re-emerged from under him, picking him up on its head. "…allow…"
"Okay…" Luffy sat down while Roxanne headed towards the Kuja ship. Luffy had paddled together with Roxanne also pushing his makeshift raft the entire time they talked, so he hadn't lost sight of the ships.
"I know you think I'm some sort of reverential figure in your eyes-"
Nod nod.
"-but I would prefer it if you treated me like a friend"
Roxanne paused as her eyes darted upwards towards him with excitement. "…my…"
"I'm gonna assume you said you want to be my friend?"
Nod nod.
"Okay good!"
Roxanne soon reached the Kuja ships and the Sea serpents eyed her cautiously but seeing Luffy, they didn't attack. They had seen the whole fight and also how the two had apparently talked the entire day. Seeing Roxanne nodding and shaking, they thought that Luffy was just asking yes or no questions as he did to them, so they didn't suspect anything about Joyboy.
Luffy had told Roxanne to keep it a secret as he didn't want to be known as Joyboy when he had no idea what exactly that was. So until he knew for sure, it didn't feel right for others to call him Joyboy. Besides, if he is Joyboy and was forced to fulfil some promise he didn't even know or if it was something he didn't want to do, he wouldn't do it.
Roxanne gently faced the deck where the women were warily looking at her and Luffy jumped off and landed on deck.
"See you soon, Roxanne. Goodbye"
Roxanne bowed gently once before submerging back into the sea.
"Wow, did you befriend it?" Sonia asked coming up to him.
"Yep!"
"We saw the fight…Poor thing being flung in the air like that…"
"Shishishishi we made up after, so we're cool"
"Luffy!" Hancock called out to him from the other ship, "You're finally back! Come and have dinner. It's a feast tonight!"
"FOOD!" Luffy yelled running into the kitchen, getting an exaggerated sigh and a fond smile from Sonia and Hancock respectively.
———
After a night of partying, Luffy was standing on deck the next day as the Kuja ship was near the edge of Calm Belt and he could finally see the East Blue again. He was finally back with just under two months left until his birthday. 'Just a little more now…'
The Kuja gave him a dinghy and the navigator told him the general directions to Loguetown as that was the only island they knew about that Luffy could recognize. After saying goodbye to all the women he had befriended over the last month, he stood on deck ready to leave.
"Luffy," Hancock said sweetly as he said his goodbyes to her, "You know the Kuja have a rule of not allowing men on the island right?"
"Uh-huh"
"Well, I hereby declare that you are exempt from that law. You will be welcomed to our island any time you wish to come"
"Shishi Thanks. I'll come to visit sometime" Luffy said with a smile, already expecting it.
"I'll be waiting" Hancock nodded with a smile.
Sonia stepped up next, "Since you're serious about becoming Pirate King and all, I'm sure we'll run into each other. So, see you around Beast"
Luffy grinned as he held a hand out for a handshake and Sonia took it with a smile but as soon as she touched his hand, she got shocked and instantly jerked her hand back. "What the hell?!"
Luffy laughed as she showed her a black baton-like thing he was hiding on the underside of his forearm with electrified iron rods at his palm.
"Cool huh? It's called a taser staff!" It was the one that Reiju had. Luffy had kept playing around with it like it was a wand, so she had given it to him since he liked it so much. He had plans for it though, so had made sure to keep it safe along with the log poses and had only taken it out now to prank Sonia one last time.
Sonia smacked him a couple of times for pulling that prank while he just laughed. "I couldn't pull too many pranks on you, but I'll have plenty of prep time the next time we meet, so be ready"
"Oh, I'll have prep time too then!" Sonia said challengingly, "I'll show you what a prank is the next time we meet!"
"Shishi okay!"
Leah stepped up next and gave him a big hug, "I'm gonna miss you"
"Yeah, Imma miss you too… Sure you don't want to come with me and join my crew? We're gonna be having epic adventures you know"
"Hey! Don't steal Leah!" Sonia protested.
"Sasasa Yeah, I'm tempted to. But I'll stick with the Amazons…"
"Well okay then. If you change your mind, you know you have a place with me"
"Thanks and be safe" Leah said kissing him on the forehead before letting him go.
A few women took one last chance to stretch him while saying goodbye and Luffy soon jumped into his dinghy.
"Stay safe and happy guys. See you around! Bye Sea serpents!" he yelled as he rowed quickly into the East Blue while the women waved back and the Sea serpents nodded in acknowledgement.
Roxanne emerged just as he left while waving goodbye with her tail.
"….you"
"See you, Roxanne!"
———
Leah finished dinner, already missing Luffy's usual loudness, that night and she was about to head back to her doctor's office when Hancock stepped into her path.
"Ah, Snake Princess" Leah greeted bowing politely.
"Need to talk. Come" Hancock ordered her before turning and walking to her room. Leah was confused at the seeming coldness in her voice and wondered if her mind was playing tricks on her as she followed behind her. She felt a chill run up her spine for some reason and it felt like she was walking to her death. 'Don't be paranoid. She wouldn't kill me after all the things Luffy did, and I have grown closer to Sonia too…' she tried to calm herself but a small voice in her head said, 'You thought the same for your brother too and how did that turn out?…' She couldn't help but feel paranoid because of past experiences but shook her thoughts away and chose to trust in Hancock.
She soon found herself standing in front of Hancock, as she sat on her throne studying her with slightly cold eyes. '…Yep…she's going to kill me alright…all this time was an act? Another betrayal?… oh well, it was inevitable I guess… just end it soon…' she thought getting ready to die… but then, Luffy's face popped up in her mind and her thoughts changed. '…no, I don't want to die… I need to escape… how? Look for a-'
"Leah" Hancock said coldly while Leah continued thinking of ways she could escape. "What's your relationship with Luffy?"
Leah's thoughts froze as she stared confused at Hancock. "Umm, I'm sorry?"
"What's your relationship with Luffy?"
"…We're friends…?" Leah was not able to understand what was happening.
"You seem very close to him to be just called friends… You k-kissed him while saying goodbye too"
"Ah well, we are closer than normal I guess… hard not to be when I found that he almost died for me… he offered to become my brother too, so on some level, I do think of him as my brother. I wouldn't label us as such but still, we're close like that…"
Leah watched in confusion as Hancock's whole demeanour changed as the coldness in her eyes disappeared and got replaced with warmth and her lips widened into a smile as she let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, he sees you as a sister? That's good"
'…what the hell?…'
There were a few seconds of silence as Leah tried to understand what was happening when Hancock spoke up again, "Leah…can I ask you something as a doctor?"
"Sure"
"I've been feeling something these past few days… I did not want to cause a commotion since Luffy was here, but can you check up on me?"
Leah instantly went into doctor mode putting everything else at the back of her mind and started asking about her symptoms. But the more she heard what Hancock said, the more she became bewildered.
"…So to summarize, your heart speeds up during certain times, especially when you're around Luffy or thinking about Luffy. Most of the time, it makes you happy but there are times when you feel irritated or annoyed especially when you see Luffy around other women… And your body heats up sometimes too…"
"Yes" Hancock nodded meekly.
'OhmygodOhmygod even her?!…' "Snake Princess… there's nothing wrong with you…"
"Are you sure? I've never felt like this before"
"Yes, I'm sure… You…you have a crush on Luffy"
She wasn't the only one. There were many women on board who had had a small crush on him too, but that was all it was. He was the first man they had seen and he had a magnetic personality too, so of course they developed a small crush but seeing him treating everyone the same, they quickly got over it and just enjoyed being with him as a friend. She was shocked to hear Hancock had also developed a small crush, but she didn't think it was anything major.
She was sure Hancock would also quickly get over it but she watched in fascination as Hancock's cheeks reddened up, her lips curled upwards and she started squirming in her chair. "Wh-what? No no, it's Luffy who is in love with me…"
"Say what now?" Leah snapped even more shocked now, all decorum and polite speech flying right out of the window.
"Yes," Hancock nodded with a blush, "He indirectly confessed to me and even serenades me"
"Really?!" Leah exclaimed. 'That bastard! He said he had no interest in love and he was doing all this behind my back?!' "When did this happen?!"
"The day after we came back from that island… He said he would change the world for me… And during meal times, he keeps singing love songs for me…" Hancock mumbled softly covering her blushing face.
'….wait what?….' Leah became confused again. She had heard from Sonia about what Luffy had said about changing the world and doing something that would make sure they wouldn't have to be ashamed or afraid of the brand anymore. She had asked him directly too and he had said "Yeah, I already had plans of taking down the Celestial bastards, so told them that. I'm not sure how exactly I'll do it, but I'll do it nonetheless"
As for his songs, she had asked him why he was singing love songs too and he had just blinked as if just realizing it then, and had said "Huh… I guess these are love songs huh? Leo's country had a lot of love songs, so I know a lot too. I didn't even pay attention to the lyrics…they're just catchy tunes…"
Remembering his words, Leah watched Hancock mumbling and squealing as she covered her embarrassed face and finally understood what was happening. Misunderstandings galore!
She had always used words like drop-dead gorgeous, sensually hot, and so many other such words to describe Hancock, and even though she was straight, she had been infatuated with her too and could understand why she was called the most beautiful woman in the world. But seeing her blushing and squealing right now, only one word came to her mind that she had never used to describe her before. 'Cute…'
She was like a young girl experiencing her first love and Leah couldn't help but think of her as cute. And it was also clear now that it wasn't just a small crush either.
"Snake Princess…I was wrong…you don't have a crush on Luffy. You are in love with Luffy"
"What?!" Hancock gasped while her cheeks reddened even more.
"Yes. All the symptoms you just told me are of a person who's in love…"
"…I-I'm in l-love…" Hancock muttered softly before she suddenly stood up and dived onto her bed yelling "KYAAA!" and started rolling around.
Leah's face flushed too, the gap between seeing the cold and unapproachable Empress and the Empress who was behaving like a little girl in love was just too much for her. 'Oh my god, she's so cute!'
Leah kept watching her squealing like a girl but Hancock suddenly stopped and sat up as if she had had a revelation, "Wait a minute! This means that I could confess to him too now, does it not?! I don't have to wait for him to confess directly, right?!"
'OHMYGOD What's with this childish logic?! She's so fucking cute and precious!' Leah squealed internally while keeping a straight face and nodded. "Yes, you can"
"KYAAAAA!" hands covered her face and she started squealing incomprehensible things again.
"I need to tell him now!" Hancock suddenly sat up again, "Turn the ship ar-…but wait! Should I wait for him?" she mumbled incomprehensibly as if in a huge dilemma before turning to Leah with a desperate expression, that almost gave Leah a heart attack because her cuteness was going off the charts, "Leah! What do I do?! Tell me, please!"
"Umm…ahh…that is…" she mumbled trying to buy herself some time to think. She was already heavily convinced that Luffy was in love with her, so if she told her that it was all her misunderstanding, she didn't know what the reaction would be, and she also didn't want to crush this little childish Hancock's heart.
"He has resolved himself to show me his love, so I should control myself right?! Yes, I should respect his choice. Right?! Right?!"
"Yes, yes, that's correct…" Leah mumbled seeing her almost forcing it.
"Yes, you're right…I should wait" Hancock resolved herself clutching her heart. She stayed like that for a couple of seconds before turning to Leah with a blushing smile, "If you are like his sister, then you will be my sister-in-law correct?"
'Oh boy! That just fucking escalated out of nowhere!' "Ahh, I don't think marriage is on the table…" she said hesitantly. She wasn't going to keep quiet and not step in if the misunderstandings had escalated this much.
"What?! Do you think he won't propose to me?!" Hancock gasped heart-broken.
"Umm… I think that's something you should both sit together and decide…"
"…I see. So, that's how it works… Thank you, Leah. Still, since you are like his sister, let us two get closer than before too then!"
"Mmhmm" Leah just hummed giving her a thumbs up, not being able to voice out any words. Hancock then went on a tangent about how all Luffy had shown his love to her, which was unbelievably forced, and finally, after two long hours, Leah was allowed to leave and she instantly went back to the doctor's office.
She locked the door upon entering and immediately pulled out a transponder snail to call Luffy. "Oh god, please connect…"
Unfortunately, it didn't and Leah slumped down in her bed thinking about the whole thing. She tried hard but couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. "SASASASASASASA!"
How had she not seen it up until then? Now that she thought back on it, Hancock had changed so much with Luffy around, so she couldn't believe she hadn't noticed it before. But then again, almost all of them had changed. Sonia had changed, the Kuja pirates had changed and so, Hancock had somehow slipped under their radar. And she couldn't believe that what she thought was Hancock betraying and killing her at the beginning was Hancock just being plain jealous of her.
She thought back to how she had reacted when she thought she was about to be killed and smiled softly. Just under a month ago, she would have resigned herself to her fate and accepted death, but now, when faced with death, she had thought of ways to escape. "I've changed too… I want to live…"
She smiled warmly thinking about him but soon fell back on the bed giggling as she imagined his face if he found out about all this. "Can't wait for the reunion! It's gonna be so much fun! Sasasasa!"