Chapter 126: Stowaway

Chapter 126: StowawayChapter 126: Stowaway

Rick’s good mood didn’t stay in his socks for long. Robin and Nami were there to cheer him up. Both inside the bedroom but mainly outside. With a continuous storm making it rain for days, the usual hyper active member of the crew found themselves spending time in the garden. A place that they have rarely visited if ever. Sitting on the fake grass that Franky had put on the ground, Luffy was playing cards.

“I never thought the garden was so nice. Seven?” he admitted.

“Go fish. It’s perfect for relaxing while enjoying nature. Threes?” replied Reiju and took the card Usopp gave her.

“The smell is nice too!”

“Queens?”

“Go fish, Usopp.” answered the reindeer. “I always stay a bit for tea when I’m coming here. Luffy do you have any tens?”

“He...”

“Luffy!” came in a screaming Sanji. “How many times did I tell you to not raid the pantry!?”

“I didn’t!” the rubber man answered with a frown. “Not since... At least since we left O’Hara. It’s not like I can with the new locks you put on the door!”

“You largely have the strength to break them.” said Usopp.

“Actually... The locks are intact.” Sanji realized.

“See! Not me!”

“Then who else?!” the blond man shouted and looked around the members of the crew who all denied doing the did.

“Well, either someone is lying or we have a stowaway on the ship.” Rick announced.

Raising his hands he sprouted eyes all over the ships. Sometimes arms to open doors or hatches that blocked his view. When he let out a long sigh he made his way out of the garden.

“Found them?” asked Luffy.

“Yeah. Chopper, you may be needed.”

Luffy ,Chopper, Reiju and Sanji followed him to the infirmary. Not really where they thought he would go. Taking a look inside the room, they saw a clone of Rick putting a drenched and shivering Erica on a bed.

“Oh, that spells trouble.” said Sanji while his sister and Chopper immediately went into action.

Luffy stayed next to Rick waiting patiently as both watched the ship docs do their thing.

“She’s going to be alright. It’s just a nasty cold.” explained Chopper.

“She has a high fever but we gave her something for it, she’ll be fine.” added Reiju.

“Thank you.” said Rick as he took a seat near the bed, his mind racing about the reason for his daughter’s presence here.

Everyone else left. Chopper and Luffy went back to the Garden and Reiju to the kitchen to give Sanji some directives about what to cook for the teenage girl.

“So who is it?” Usopp.

“Eri.” replied Luffy sitting back down in his spot and picked up his cards.

“Eri?!” Nami gasped. “Why would she... oh.”

“She caught a cold. I don’t know where she was hiding but it wasn’t inside the ship.”

Seeing Robin leave the garden, Nami followed suit. In no time they arrived in the infirmary. Silently, the brunette sat next to her husband while the redhead sat on the other side of the bed.

“Her mother is going to kill me.” he muttered while holding his daughter’s hand.

“Where did you find her?” Robin inquired.

“In the Gaon canon cockpit. She had a sleeping bag, a bag full of clothes and her sword.”

“So she... What? Sneaked in the kitchen during the night for food and went back to her hiding spot while evading Brook?” wondered aloud Nami.

“I guess so. Damn it, I don’t know if I should feel proud or furious.”

“Probably both.”

“Robin’s right and if I may add, she’s definitely your daughter for doing reckless things.” she joked trying to lift up his mood but it fell flat.

“What are we going to do with her? We can’t bring her to the New World with us and going back to O’hara will delay us even more. Everyone is on the move. From Blackbeard to the World government.”

“What are you thinking about?” Robin asked, biting into an apple while waiting for her coffee to cool down a bit.

“I... Hmm... Well...”

The redhead felt herself blushing, not knowing how or what to answer but was thankfully saved by Reiju who put in front of her a steam inhaler. Even with her nose stuffy she could discern the smell of eucalyptus.

“Sanji, can you leave us alone for a while?” Reiju asked her brother.

“Why?”

“Would you have like girls present during your puberty talk?”

“Callmeifyouneedanything.” was said even faster than he went out, making the women laugh.

“There. Now no one is going to bother us or to eavesdrop.”

“Is that what’s on your mind, Eri? You saw Reiju and I and...”

“Yes. I mean.. Mom used to take baths with me before so I know that she’s... pretty but she’s nothing like the two of you. Especially you Robin. And I wondered if I would ever get that big.”

The more she talked the more her demeanor changed, going from shy to bold. As if the words came out she found courage to speak her mind freely bit by bit. The way and boldness with which she talked reminded Robin of Rick.

“Perhaps, perhaps not. Your mother may not be as... curvy as we are but she’s plenty big herself. Since you look a lot like her, the odds are high.”

“True. Even if you didn’t inherit that from her you’d still be a beautiful woman. No need to fret about it.”

From there, Eri asked plenty of questions to the two older women that no male, especially fathers, ever wanted to answer or even hear.

~~~~~

Not different from Eri, the first thing that Rick saw was Robin. Naturally that put a smile on his face. A smile that was quickly replaced by a tight expression.

“She’s fine. Reiju and I dragged her out for a bath and breakfast.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t be. She is kind of my daughter too.”

“You didn’t have to.” he replied and got out of bed. “I’m going to clean her hiding spot and then take a nice bath.”

“Take an umbrella, it’s still raining outside. Less than a few days ago but enough to soak you. One sick person is enough.”

“Umbrella? I’d be a poor gravity man if I needed one.”

“I’m not nursing you if you get sick.” she warned.

“Sure.” he replied and left to do his task.

It didn’t take long, Eri had been well organized and didn’t make much of a mess. He would have to praise Kaza for teaching her that. When he dealt properly with trash, meaning propulsing them into orbit. He took the sleeping bag and her bag of clothes and went back inside, straight to the laundry room. Once done he went to the dining room for breakfast and was surprised to find his wife, lover and daughter talking and laughing.

“Good morning.” he greeted them and was greeted back in return. “What are you talking about that’s so funny so early in the morning?”

“How you literally got caught with your pants down on fishman island.” replied Eri in a joking mood. The story Robin was telling her about her father was amazingly funny.

“... I’m not sure I like that.”

“We can go back to talking about me going through puberty if...”

“Jokes on me it is!” he quickly exclaimed and went to the kitchen to escape any more embarrassment.

“You know, I have noticed that you’re more open in the way you talk and what you talk about.” said Reiju.

“I’ve noticed too. I dare say there is a hint of shamelessness somewhere.”

“I thought that... After running from home to get on a pirate ship with my dad and talking about breasts and butts... There isn’t any point about being embarrassed anymore. If I can survive the puberty talk without dying of embarrassment I can survive pretty much anything.”

“Hmm... I wonder if your father thinks like that.” wonder out loud Reiju.

“Thinks like what?”

“That you’re so shameless because you either made great shows of courage or because you survived something so shameful that anything else is just a joke to you.”

“Both.” he replied, sitting down and drinking his strawberry milkshake.

“What’s your most embarrassing moment then?”

“Robin already heard that story but it’s when I negotiated my release from Kaza by telling her that I’d marry her.” he replied nonplussed.

“You did what?!”

“Your mother never told you?”

“No. The only thing I know is what you told me, that you were younger than I am.”

“Oh well...”

~~~~~

The trip to Sabaody lasted two more weeks and to everyone’s pleasure without any more storms. Luffy had not spoken a word about his decision concerning what to do with Eri and that drove Rick completely nuts. If he didn’t know any better he would have thought that his captain and little brother was trolling him but that wasn’t Luffy’s type. At least not purposely.

Since the only way to go back to the New World for pirates was through Fishman island. They decided to pay Rayleigh a visit to redo the coating on Sunny. Luffy in his usual enthusiasm kicked open Shakky’s pub’s door with a shout.

“Hey! Rayleigh!”

The first mate of the pirate king looked up from his journal and looked at the disturbance calling his name. When he saw father and daughter side by side with a nasty grin on their face his eyes grew thrice in size.

“Old man! I...”

“NOPE!”

That was all the infamous dark king said. With a speed and an agility that no man of his age was supposed to have, jumped out through the nearest window and ran for the hills.