Chapter 209: Straw Hat’s Gratitude, Reunion and Shock

Chapter 209: Straw Hat’s Gratitude, Reunion and Shock

_________ POV Narration_________

As Luffy noticed Enel's presence, his eyes widened as a smile spread on his face.

Robin also sighed, closed her book and slowly got up from the Emperor's lap. Instead walking around and standing by his side with her arms crossed.

Almost as if on cue, Luffy immediately jumped towards Enel.

"Long ears! It's been so long! I bet you got even stronger, right?!" The Young Pirate laughed and danced around the Sky King's chair.

Enel just sighed. 'He really feels a lot like a child... Hasn't changed one bit... At least he knows how to take things seriously when needed...'

"I did train quite a bit in this brief 2 year period... I am glad to see you're holding up well..." Enel just nodded to the childish future Emperor and also slowly sat up from his chair.

Standing at his full height, the Emperor towered over everyone in the crew besides Brook.

"Of course I am! Thanks for saving me and Ace back then! That was soo awsome!"

Enel's gaze turned blank as he half-listened to Luffy's honest gratitude. The young pirate went on to describe the events of Marineford as a child would.

Things like 'And you went 'El Thor' and that red guy went 'Shwoosh' and -'

It was strangely endearing to hear his view of the events that day. The outcome of the war was a very positive one, so Luffy was thankfully not left traumatized by Ace's death.

In truth, it originally hadn't even done all that much to help build Luffy's character in Enel's opinion.

The only difference now, when Ace survived, was that Luffy no longer had a cool scar. He was otherwise the very same person.

'Well, I guess he doesn't have to also carry Ace's will now... But they trained together, so I doubt he changed his fighting style too much compared to the original...'

Although, Ace's death also technically meant the end of Roger's bloodline, which was arguably more critical narratively than Luffy's character developing and becoming more mature(which essentially never happened anyway).

Enel's mind wandered off, checking out in a sense as Luffy continued his speech.

His crew around him had also listened to the entire exchange. Some were surprised to hear how things had gone at Marineford.

Most of them had just seen/heard of the outcome of things, missing a bit of the context that Luffy provided in his childish interpretation of events.

The only ones with a good idea of what had happened were Brook, Zoro, Sanji and Robin. They were the ones with the most access to outside information during that time.

Franky was stuck on a more desolate island and too busy learning more from Vegapunk's old notes.

Nami was also busy studying in Weatheria, she only managed to catch a newspaper which informed her of things and also contained her captain's message to the crew.

Chopper was also busy honing his skills as a doctor, after which he was somewhat stuck helping the revolutionaries on whatever island he was on, not having much time to look into Marineford too closely.

And Ussop was stuck on a wild inhabited island. He was lucky enough to get the message and arrive back at Sabaody in time. Although Heracles, his teacher and saviour, did keep him somewhat up to date on recent news, the strange warrior seemed to have his sources...

They didn't really know what to think about their captain actually trying to go ahead and fight Admirals by himself... But it was still within their expectations.

Luffy was always the hotheaded type. Stubborn, and he wasn't ever going to let Ace die if he could do anything about it. Thankfully they were both safe.

'At least Enel managed to save him...' Nami sighed and shook her head. The situation could've been much worse for both Luffy and Ace from her captain's story.

The only reason they were alive was that the Sky King decided to turn on the Marines and help the Whitebeard Pirates at that time... Though casualties were rather low on both sides thanks to his efforts...

Enel blinked a few times as he started regretting showing up on Luffy's ship, forgetting how chatty the young pirate actually was.

'No, I need to make sure he's on our side... Nika is important to have. If three gods failed, then just me with the army I've gathered might still not be enough... I need to have at least Nika...'

The Sky King sighed as he cracked his neck and looked back at the Rubber Human, his eyes completely serious.

All of the fists of love he had received. All of the times Garp tied him to a tree and left him to repent for a few hours. All the times Garp shouted in his ears about becoming a marine...

'Just so he could become a pirate?!?'

Luffy was a bit angry, he couldn't really help it. But he still loved his grandfather regardless, he just found it unfair...

Not that he'd ever have the guts to say that to Garp's face.

"The Marine Hero... A pirate?!?" Zoro, Nami and the others seemed to need even more time to take things in.

Robin just sighed, knowing that it was going to take a while for all of them to process that information...

"Pirate is a strong word. We're essentially all revolutionaries now, however, the Government will call us whatever they want..." Enel at least helped them by clarifying that they weren't actually pirates.

Still, the damage was already done to Luffy's mind, even if Enel now tried to cushion the blow.

The fact that Garp could even 'technically' be called a pirate was enough to floor the rubber pirate...

"..." Enel could only sigh when looking at the steam that was leaving Luffy's ears.

Robin answered a few more questions from the rest of her crewmates as she waited for her captain to recover.

They were relatively simple questions, asking a bit more about the people under Enel's employ, as well as how Robin tied into the situation.

"Well, I was rescued from a predicament by the Revolutionaries, and Enel got into contact with them at around the same time... That's how we met, and after that, he trained me a bit.

It wasn't long after that our training that the Baltigo incident happened, and we all ended up back on the sky islands... Where I also got trained by Garp alongside Enel..."

"Hoho? You were trained by the Marine Hero? I bet you got really strong..." Franky smiled a bit as he remembered the stories he had heard of the legendary marine.

"Well... His training methods were not quite personal... Enel was also helpful." Robin just shook her head and smiled.

"You sure got lucky..." Nami pouted a bit as she felt a bit jealous of Robin's opportunity.

Training not only with Luffy's Grandfather but also an Emperor of the Seas... It was not something that many people could claim to have done.

"... So Grandpa Garp trained my friend, huh..." Luffy scratched the back of his head as he tried to remember Garp's style of training.

"Is your head ok?" That was his next question. Quite logical too given his knowledge of Garp's methods.

"Well, yes. We did spar a few times as well, but it wasn't like he was going all out against me..." Robin's smile strained for a bit as she remembered all of the fights she had during the two-year separation.

"What?! That's not fair..." Luffy grumbled a bit as he remembered Garp being a hard ass constantly during the training he had received in his youth.

"Well... Regardless of that... I came here with a mission, so I'd like to ask you a proper question now that you're brought to speed on our state of affairs..." Enel clapped his hands together with a metallic clang as he captured Luffy's attention.

The young pirate nodded, giving the Emperor the only response he needed to continue.

"... When the time comes, I want you and your crew to join our fight. Well, I will call upon you when the time is right... Would you be willing to assist us?"

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Hope you enjoyed today's chapter!

I was finally able to write. Yesterday was a lazy af Sunday tho

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