Heading to Sabaody
After the revelation that Sir Crocodile is Luffy's biological father and King Cobra himself is almost like an uncle for Luffy, there is not much to do so Vivi gave Luffy's crew, Smoker and Tashigi a tour.
She showed them the restaurants, the clothing stores, the tourist places and she told them the anecdotes that happened with the ASL brothers in each of those places.
For example, one time Crocodile decided it would be a good idea to take Luffy on a sandstorm trip until Luffy came up with his Gomu Gomu no Mi, shooting out at super high speed in a random direction.
Or that time Sabo stole in a store and ended up being chased by the owner of the store with a knife in her hands.
Or that time when Ace thought it was a good idea to set fire with a torch (who knows where she got it from) to the sand that Crocodile was using against an enemy and ended up cutting herself.
(Rouge got really worried and almost stab Crocodile for not taking good care of her daughter. Since then Crocodile makes sure Ace doesn't catch anything on fire when he's fighting.)
The anecdotes were very interesting and Vivi helped Sabo to be alone with Smoker so they can have a "date". It wasn't difficult, especially with Luffy's unconscious help.
Right now Sabo and Smoker were in the middle of the crowd losing sight of the rest of the group.
-Emm... Do you want to try the meat skewer from that stall? It's quite delicious.- Sabo suggested nervously.
-Hmp...- Smoker looked at the stall and nodded sullenly.
Sabo took Smoker's wrist and guided her towards that food stall. She raised an eyebrow at this and Sabo noticed.
-I-It's to prevent us from getting separated by the crowd!- Sabo explained, releasing Smoker nervously.
When Sabo was extremely nervous trying to prevent Smoker from getting mad at him, she grabbed Sabo's wrist and pulled him.
-Didn't you say that the meat skewers from that stall are delicious? What are you waiting for?-
Sabo looked at Smoker's hand that was gripping his wrist and his cheeks were slightly flushed with red. A goofy smile that he didn't even notice began to appear on his face.
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Natsu looks at the calendar that he had hanging on the wall of his ship.
-What are you doing, Nastu?- Zeref asked entering the room.
-I'm trying to remember about the Arabasta Saga... And try to locate the time line.- Natsu scratched the back of his neck.- It's difficult since there are time jumps in the anime and you can't know exactly how much time has passed since Luffy arrived at Arabasta and defeat Crocodile until the beginning of the Enies Lobby Saga and the Thriller Bark Saga... It's been too long since I've seen these Sagas.-
-I don't think it matters much, right? The important thing is to prevent certain tragedies...-
-I'd like to be on time for the Sabaody arc. It's interesting to see how history changes due to some changes that took place in the past.- Natsu said with a big smile.
-I haven't seen the original story so I can't understand how he feels in your place.- Zeref said. -But I understand what you mean.-
-I'm sure things will go well. I just hope that the Marineford War Saga doesn't happen... But there is still a chance that it will happen despite everything.- Natsu leaned his head on Zeref's shoulder.- Everything seems so different from the original story, but at the time so similar... I fear the worst, Zeref...-
-Don't be afraid... Whatever is going to happen in the future, I'll be with you and I'll help you.- Zeref said resting his head on Natsu's head.
-Thank you...-
Natsu lifted his head and kissed Zeref softly on the lips. The black-haired man returned the kiss.
-I'm glad I'm not alone to face all this.-
Zeref just smiled and laced his fingers with Natsu's before kissing him again.
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When Luffy left Alabasta he took Robin, who promised Luffy as a child that she would join him once he comes to pick her up like he did with Nami and Vivi, despite King Cobra's constant nagging.
Ace and Sabo parted ways with Luffy once they left Alabasta and Luffy continued on his journey to be the Pirate King. After a lot of crazy adventures and getting a skeleton in an afro and a cyborg into the crew, Luffy and the others headed towards Sabaody.
They meet a Sea King and they rescue a mermaid named Camie and her pet Pappag, a talking starfish. The entire crew is shocked to see a mermaid for the first time. When they were going to contact Camie's friend, Hatchan, and find out that he is kidnapped by the Tobiou Riders and Macro.
They arrive at Fishman Island and Zoro rescues Hatchan, easily defeating Macro while the rest of fight the Tobiou Riders, where Franky demonstrates the ability of the Thousand Sunny (the second ship of the Straw Hats after Going Merry accidentally destroyed after the incident in Enies Lobby), during the fight Luffy falls in the place where Duval was.
The Straw Hat Pirates defeat the enemy and now they're eating Hatchan's takoyakis.
-So you're headed to Sabaody. Good luck.- Hatchan said.
-Thanks! It is necessary to go through there to enter the Red Line. I heard that Torao is heading there too so I want to say hello!! It's been four years since I saw him in Foosha!- Luffy swallows a lot of takoyaki.- Torao is mean!! He never comes to visit me!!-
-Torao? Ace's boyfriend?- Zoro asked, remembering the freckled woman mentioning him.
-Yes!! He has a super strong Akuma no Mi and he loves making human art!!- Luffy said as he smiled.- I also miss Shachi, Penguin and Bepo!!!-
Luffy begins to tell some anecdotes from his childhood with them. It is clear that they are good friends.
-Now I'm curious about them.- Nami commented trying to imagine Luffy's childhood friends.
(She won't be when he learns who "Torao" is and watches him dismember enemies with a smile that would make a child cry.)