The barbeque the night before, ended without too much of a bang. Many people passing out from the alcohol they consumed, or falling into food comas. Tani being of the many who passed out after eating too much. Not that it's her fault, Luffy kept shoving more meat on her plate and Sanji had hammered the rule of 'don't waste food' into her head.

The morning after was slow, with everyone too groggy to move around and clean up. The Straw hats all sleepily made their way back to the cabin, the wall that Garp had broken through was completely patched up.

Sanji jumped straight to making a lite breakfast that would be easy on the stomach. Slicing up in season fruits to make a fruit salad bowl that the crew could serve themselves. Nami and Robin were mapping out the next course they should take. Chopper and Zoro were taking a nap together.

"Tani," Usopp summoned. Tani turned to see the awkward look on his face... Oh he was gonna do the thing. "I... Can you... Look I can't do this unless you're there too," he sighed. She gave him a supportive pat on the shoulder.

"It's Luffy, he'll forgive you so fast it'll give you whip lash," Tani giggled. "But I'll come along with you, moral support and all." she assured. Usopp nodded nervously.

"Uh, Luffy?" Usopp called. The boy was shoving a whole pineapple into his mouth. "Can we talk for a minute? In private," god, Usopp sounded like he was a teenage girl that was about to confess to his crush.

Luffy hopped off the bar stool he was sitting on and stood in front of the pair. Tani decided to lead them out of the room. There was a nice spot on the back porch. She directed them to said spot, and stood by the door. Just in case someone decided to walk in on the conversation.

"What's up?" Luffy asked, perching himself on the railing like some weird monkey... Hahaa Monkey D. Luffy. Usopp took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry," he said. His gaze avoiding Luffy, the captain was quiet for a second.

"For what?" Luffy tilted his head, his straw hat flopping with the motion.

"For starting that fight about Merry. I know you probably don't want me back in the crew after-"

"Why wouldn't I want you back on the crew? You're already back on it. I'm not kicking you out again, that's just mean," Luffy pouted, crossing his arms and legs on the railing. Tani had to stop herself from laughing.

Classic Luffy.

Usopp was at a loss for words. Processing what Luffy had just said... Was he on the crew? Luffy was acting like none of that ever happened. Luffy just gave him an easy grin.

"I'm sorry too, for yelling at you. Merry was important nakama, and I was a bad captain," Luffy apologised.

Wow... That was unexpected. A good unexpected, but strange none the less.

"So... I'm back on the crew?" Usopp reconfirmed. Luffy jumped from the railing and crashed into Usopp with a big hug.

"Of course! I can't be the pirate king without everyone there," Luffy reminded. Usopp opened his eyes wide, turning to look at Tani. She winked at him.

"I told you so," she mouthed to the sniper.

The crew was back together again. For real this time.

...

The new ship was planned to be finished within the next 3 days. Franky was hard at work on the project, day in, day out. If he wasn't sleeping or eating, he was working hard on the new vessel.

Tani wanted to pay him a visit. Robin decided to tag along, something about finding Franky entertaining to talk to.

They'd arrived at the build sight. The location was that scrap yard that the Merry had docked by. Franky was sanding some wood down when Tani and Robin arrived to greet him.

"Morning Franky!" Tani waved, the shipwright looked up with excitement.

"Ow! What a super surprise to see such super lovely ladies," Franky greeted with enthusiasm. He was working alone at the moment, the others from Galley-La working on fixing the city or other boats.

"How's the boat building going?" Tani asked curiously, taking a seat on some stacked wooden planks. Franky wiped his brow and took a seat.

"Pretty good, I haven't done this in so long." he smiled with nostalgia. "This boats gonna be the best of the best," Franky promised. Tani had no room in her heart to doubt him.

"The most important question is... Does the infirmary have comfy seats?" Tani asked. Franky laughed at the innocent question.

"Only the super! Most comfy seats I could get," he proclaimed. Tani cheered. Finally! No more barrel butt pain! Her prayers have been answered.

"Did you read over the notes I handed you?" Robin asked. Tani looked at her curiously. What notes?

"The translation for the Pluton weapons? Yeah I read them over. Super scary stuff," he stated seriously. Robin nodded.

"Thank you for protecting the blue prints for me," Robin smiled. "As dangerous as this weapon is, history must be preserved," she said happily. Tani had found that after Enies lobby, Robin was more comfortable and open with her expressions. Though still more reserved than most of the crew, she was more likely to crack a smile or show shock in her expressions.

It felt nice, knowing she was comfortable.

"I decided to mess around with some of the cannon designs from the translations you gave me. So the ships defenses are top of the line," Franky informed. Tani was in awe.

"Usopp's gonna flip out!" Tani jumped up, "You're so super! Cool!" Tani shouted, pulling Franky's iconic pose. Franky pulled the pose with her. Chanting his own super loud cheer.

Robin watched the pair going about their excited babbles. It was relaxing, having this energy running rampant around her. This was the life she was signing herself up for, and she couldn't be more grateful for it.

Saul would be so proud of her, she could see him smiling from the heavens now.

"Derashishishi~"

...

Only one more day until the new ship was complete. Nami and Robin decided they wanted to go clothes shopping. They didn't have much money to spend, since it was recently discovered that Luffy had spent the 100,000,000 that they still had saved, on the barbeque party.

He walked away from that argument with three smacks to the head.

Nami divided the money up into everyone's pocket money, as well as the food budget for Sanji.

Zoro took off to find a replacement sword for the one he lost. Usopp was grabbing more supplies for weapon upgrades and crafting stars for his kabuto. Chopper was looking for new medical books, as well as herbs for home brewed medicines. Luffy just ran off to god knows where. So that left the girls with plenty of free time.

They haven't been able to do this yet. This down time was so well earned, and they were gonna have a great time.

The first store they entered was a rather high end looking women's fashion store. The style of clothing being more on the spring-summer end of the scale. Lots of summer dresses and long skirts.

Tani had nothing against dresses and skirts, in fact she found a lot of them very pretty and wanted to wear them... But the material was often easy to tear, and they got caught in the wheels of her skates. So she never went out of her way to buy any.

"Tani, this would look so pretty on you," Nami called over, Tani found herself staring at a white dress with a peach-orange gradient on the way to the tip ends of the skirt part, which cut off below the knee. Spaghetti straps and elastic sewn into the top and bottom of the chest area, for support.

To say it was pretty, would be an understatement in Tani's eyes. Nami had great tastes.

"It's gorgeous... But dresses and I don't mix." Tani said sheepishly, with a hint of disappointment. Nami gave her a look, the kind she makes when she's about to win or start a bet.

"Let make a deal," ding ding ding, we have a winner.

"Try it on, and if you don't instantly fall in love with it. I'll pay for the next three things you buy. No matter how expensive," Nami started. That sounded too good to be true. "But, if you do fall in love with it." there was a dangerous flicker in those cocoa brown eyes.

"You have to take Luffy on a date, in the dress." Nami challenged. Tani's eyes bugged out.

"What?! No no no way! No deal!" Tani crossed her arms and shook her head so hard that her hair was slapping at the dress racks. Robin watched with amusement.

"You too scared that you'll lose the bet, and have to man up-"

"Don't even finish that sentence, or I will pour green hair dye into your shampoo." Tani threatened. Nami balked at that.

"Then try the dress on," Nami continued to tease. Tani snatched the dress from the red heads hands and stormed off to the changing room.

"I'm gonna prove you wrong!" Tani declared.

Nami was not proven wrong.

Tani slide the dress on and it just... It looked great. The soft colours complemented her dark skin and hair. She felt pretty, and that was more than enough to sell her on the item.

To say Nami was smug about it, well that would be correct and an understatement... Tani left that store with a bagged dress, and the knowledge that she had to ask Luffy out on a date in said dress.

She'll ask him for that date later, Nami never specified when it had to be done after all-

"If you don't do it within the month, I'll get Robin to snap you in half. Right Robin?" ... Can Nami read minds now? What kind of magic does this girl have?!

"Of course Nami," Robin said, her bags swinging by her side as she walked.

"You guys are the worst!"

...

It was the finally the day of the big reveal. What would the new ship look like? What's her name? Is she bigger than Merry? Well she was because Tani saw the base and she was huge!

The whole crew was vibrating with an energy of excitement, some more reserved than others.

Everyone had packed up their bags, just personal belongings like clothes and smaller objects. Most of the bigger pieces of furniture were already moved there, or Franky and the Galley-La guys made them.

Everyone was pulling their bags onto their backs, when a frantic knock at the door alerted them to some company. In came a couple of member of the Franky family, the centre man holding a pile of papers in his hand and throwing them at the Straw hats like they were burning him.

"Look!" the men all shouted at the same time. Nami was quick to grab a page, and she screamed in terror at what she saw.

"Dead or alive: Cat burglar Nami 16,000,000 berri," Robin read out the page Nami dropped. The navigator was in a ball rolling back and forth. Sanji grabbed the page from Robin.

"That's a lovely photo, they even got your tattoo," he pointed out. "Then again you're always stunning, Nami," he swooned. Nami continued to roll on the floor.

"Wait... Did we all get one?" Usopp asked. There was a beat of silence before the crew scampered towards the pages in search of their own.

"I've got Robins," Usopp called out, handing it to the woman. She gave a small smile at the size increase.

"Dead or alive: Demon child Nico Robin 99,000,000 berri," she read out with a soft smile. It was nice that the government feared her.

"Zoro, Sanji. Found yours," Tani said, handing them over to the boys. The both of them grabbing the pages and comparing.

"Dead or alive: pirate hunter Zoro 120,000,000 berri,"

"Dead or alive: Black leg Sanji 80,000,000,"

"What the hell is this?!" Sanji said with a slap to the page. The picture for the wanted poster was an odd looking drawing. An ugly looking abomination of Sanji's features that didn't work at all.

"Oh wow, they got your good side. Really captured your charming eyebrows," Zoro teased. Sanji kicked him in the head. The pair kicking and slashing at each other in an instant.

"Mine..." Chopper's voice wobbled. Tani held up the page he had dropped and read it.

"Dead or alive: Cotton candy lover Chopper... 50 berri," she had to hold back the snicker. What kind of idiot marked him with such a small bounty.

"Don't worry Chopper, you'll always be worth 50,000,000 berri to us," Tani assured. The crew gave a nod, except Luffy who was reading his own bounty with pure excitement.

"Dead or alive: Straw hat Luffy 300,000,000 berri!" the captain cheered. Jumping over to Usopp and Tani to take a look at their bounties.

"Dead or alive: King of the snipers Sogeking 45,000,000 berri,"

"Alive only: Silent bell Tanisha-"

"150,000,000 BERRI?!" Tani screamed. The crew lost their minds. Zoro and Sanji instantly grabbed her page and stared at it with shock. Her bounty was the second highest?! On the whole crew! Tani wanted to pass out.

"Hey, Franky has a bounty here too," Usopp mentioned. Lifting up the page and reading it aloud to anyone who wasn't freaking out over Tani's insane bounty.

"Dead or alive: Cyborg Franky 70,000,000 berri... That's pretty impressive for a first bounty," Usopp read out. Robin looked at the image and nodded.

"It would be dangerous for him to stay around here, with a bounty like that." she stated. The crew fell silent as the woman spoke. "Surely there must be somewhere that he could stay, that would be not only adventurous." she cracked a smirk. "But super... Wouldn't you agree captain?" she gave Luffy a look.

"Oh, Franky? He's already on the crew," Luffy said simply.

"He joined already?" Chopper and Usopp questioned. Luffy shook her head.

"No, but he'll join so it doesn't matter if I asked or not." Luffy shrugged. Folding his bounty up as neatly as he could and shoving it into the bag he was carrying. "Everyone keep your bounties. I wanna hang them up, so we can look at how cool we are," Luffy laughed his iconic laugh and marched towards the door.

"Let's go see our new nakama!" he beamed.

"Aye aye captain,"

...

The ship was all they'd ever imagined it would be. She was triple the size of Merry, coloured in bright reds and yellows that matched Luffy's straw hat. The boat took on a lion theme, with the mast head being a cartoony looking lion head, and the anchors being paws.

The crew couldn't hold back their gasps of awe and excitement at the sight of such a beautiful ship.

There was just one thing to do before they set sail-

"Where's Franky?" Luffy asked Iceberg, the man was standing there in place of Franky. Beside him was Paulie, most of Galley-La and a couple of the Franky family members.

"The idiot is hiding in the Franky house," Kiwi said, crossing her arms. Her twin Mozu, copied the motion.

"He said he wants to stay in Water 7, but we all know that's bullshit." Mozu said with an eye roll.

"He knows that if you were to ask," Iceberg turned his gaze to Luffy. "He wouldn't hesitate to say no." the mayor of Water 7 was smart, and he knew Franky like the back of his hand. Luffy gave a nod.

"So... We just need to break into his-"

"Hold that thought Luffy," Tani interrupted. "If we want him to join, I think it would be more effective if you asked him in front of the new boat." she grinned slyly. Nami and Robin both caught her line of thinking.

"Motherly instincts," Robin huffed with laughter. "He'd be forced to stare at his own creation. How cunning of you," Robin praised.

"He'd feel so guilty building such a magnificent boat, and never getting to sail her." Nami grinned. "Franky knows he'd never be able to abandon his magnum opus," Nami, clever as ever, deduced. The information seemed to click with Luffy.

"So I gotta ask him, while standing in front of the boat?" he asked. The girls nodded. Luffy tilted his head, "How are we gonna get him out of the house?" Luffy questioned.

"Leave that to us," the Franky family grinned maliciously. "We may need to borrow those two though," they pointed to Sanji and Zoro. Luffy gave them his approval.

The group walked away, setting their plan in action.

"What should we do while we wait?" Usopp asked. The Franky family gave a shrug. Luffy had an idea.

"We can explore the new ship!" he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Only the outside parts," Nami instructed, Luffy gave her a pout. "It's more fun to discover new places, with nakama right?" she sighed, Luffy nodded energetically. "Then we should wait for everyone." she concluded.

"That makes sense," Luffy shrugged. He turned to the gangplank and started making his way up the wide board. Racing towards the centre deck. Usopp, Chopper and Tani followed him closely, Nami and Robin were much more calm in their ascent.

Everyone's reaction was pretty much the same.

A loud cry or gasp of awe and excitement.

The main deck looked more like a courtyard, with freshly cut grass instead of wooden decking. The main mast had seating wrapped around the base, this same seating could be found on either side of the courtyard.

The entire ship gave off this childish vibe, perfect for a crew made up of teenagers and one adult over the age of 19.

What would normally be two sets of stairs, that would lead to the galley (the kitchen is called the galley apparently) and back areas of the ship. Now had one set of stairs on the right, and a slide on the left! What ships have a slide? The best one in the world, that's what.

Tani found herself being drawn towards the tree with a swing. The base part of the swing was large enough to fit two people. Franky was already considering the clingy nature of Luffy. He was perfect for the crew.

Nami instantly ran towards her trees. They'd been miraculously saved from Aqua Lagoona, so Franky replanted them in a much larger plot of land.

There was so much to explore, and they'd only seen the main deck!

"Oi! Straw hat!" called out Kiwi and Mozu. Luffy ran towards the edge of the boat, and found a suitcase being tossed towards him. He caught it with ease. "That's all of Franky's belongings, the boys should be sending him your way in about... Five minutes," they stated together. Luffy thanked them, and stayed where he was.

He was going to wait for Franky.

"Woah!" Usopp called out from the back deck. Tani leap from her spot on the swing and rushed to the snipers side, Chopper trailing behind her.

There was a seated weapon that looked like it could pivot on both the X and Y axis. The cockpit was to the left side, while the cannon was to the right. The controls looked similar to something from a space ship in the movies, with handles and buttons. It was all pretty advanced tech, even by this world's standards... Was this one of the things he made using the translations from Robins readings of Pluton?

Because this look super!

"$10 to watch Usopp destroy a rock with this thing," Tani barked with laughter. Usopp joined in.

"And have some angry pirate hunters chase after us again? You'd have to pay me double that," he joked. Taking a seat in the cockpit. His body fit it perfectly. Like it was built for him to use.

The sound of Nami's heels clicking up the stairs to the back deck drew their attention to her. She waved for them to follow.

"Franky's on his way over, Luffy what's everyone there." she smirked. The trio moved to follow after her, Robin was already standing beside Luffy.

One of the Franky family members tossed a navy blue something at Luffy, who caught it with one hand. Upon closer inspection...

It was Franky's speedo.

Did that mean-

"Oi, Franky!" Luffy called out, waving the clothing item around to get the cyborgs attention. Franky having just come barreling from the sky, like he'd been launched from a cannon. Franky lifted himself off the ground and yep...

Royal jewels just... Out in the open.

Tani turned her attention away from such an embarrassing sight, Nami was doing the same. Many of the towns folk, who were drawn towards the commotion. Screamed profanity and disgust at Franky's indecent appearance.

"I'll give these back if you join my crew," Luffy grinned cheekily. Spinning the speedo on his finger like a hula hoop.

Stop thinking about it Tani, stop thinking about how there a half naked guy just standing there. God this is the most embarrassing initiation to the crew, ever!

"I'm not joining your crew for something so stupid," Franky responded. "I'd sail the waves with no pants for the rest of my life if I had to." Franky declared like it was manly. Tani just wanted him to put some pants on!

"Luffy," Robin started, "Mind if I attempt to persuade our cyborg friend, into joining?" she asked with the softest, evil smile Tani had ever witnessed. Luffy gave a nod, unsure of what she was planning.

Robin lifted her arms to cross over her chest. A pair of arms bloomed from Franky's thighs, hands already...

Holy shit, she wouldn't-

"Clutch,"

Everyone present winced, with phantom pains in the nether regions. Franky howled with the most emotional filled agony Tani had ever heard from a man.

Robin didn't lose that maliciously sweet smile of hers. Tani had never been more happy to be born a woman, in her life.

"Robin! Stop," Luffy winced, his body fidgeting as Franky's voice box hit levels not yet heard by human hears. "I want him to join the crew, in one piece." Luffy's voice sounded strained. Oh right, he's probably been hit in the crotch many times.

Franky continued to refuse Luffy's invitation.

"I'm glad you want me on your crew, that's so super of you bastards." Franky howled through his sobs. Robin had dropped her arms... So he wasn't in pain anymore, just crying. "I already owe you lot more than I can ever pay back. But-"

"Franky," Icebergs leveled voice called out to the big, sobbing goof. "Stop messing around and follow your dream already." he sighed with a smile cracking at his lips.

"I thought his dream was to build his dream boat?" Usopp recalled. Iceberg was there to correct him.

"That's the first half, but he also wishes to see the ship on many adventures." Iceberg informed. "It's been his dream, ever since Tom... Hasn't it Franky?" That smug bastard. He knew exactly what to do. Franky continued to sob, unable to handle the overflowing emotions. "You said it yourself "The ship won't be my dream ship, unless I see her survive adventure after adventure," I believe," Iceberg finished.

"It hurts, it hurts!" Franky wailed. The boys on the ship continued to wince. Nami had noticed Robin had removed the arms.

"I've changed my mind you idiot!" Franky whined towards Iceberg. Who rolled his eyes at the blatant lie sent his way. "I still have stuff to do here-"

"Big bro-Franky!" came a call from the Franky family, who had finally arrived at the ship sight. Where are Zoro and Sanji?

"You bastards! This is your doing ain't it!" Franky howled.

"Big bro... You deserve to be happy! And this crew, they'll make you more happy than you would be here." they cried. Franky continued to sob.

"Luffy!" Zoro shouted over all the commotion. Sanji was sprinting beside the swordsman, both of their faces holding some level of distress. "Garp's ship is heading our way! We have to leave now," the swordsman declared.

The chef and swordsman leapt over the large crowds, running and jumping to make it to the new ship as fast as possible.

Luffy tossed Franky his underwear (Finally!)

"Hurry up and get on here," he commanded. Zoro and Sanji dashed past the cyborg and boarded the boat. Franky slid his speedo back on.

"It's not like you guys would have any idea how to repair the ship without my help," he claimed flippantly. "I'm only coming along to make sure you super idiots don't destroy my masterpiece." he was super in denial about wanting to join.

"Hurry up Franky! Gramps is scary!" Luffy summoned. Franky picked up the pace. Zoro grabbed the gangplank and dragged it onto deck.

"Set sail!" Luffy commanded. Everyone was running to their new stations. The feeling was... Odd? Yeah that would be the best way to describe the feeling of this new boat.

The marine boat came sailing around the corner, with Garp's large figure standing at the front of the boat.

"Gramps! You said you wouldn't arrest me or my crew!" Luffy whined, poking his tongue out at the liar.

"Damn brat! Orders are orders, I gotta arrest you and those other brats!" Garp yelled back.

"What way are we going?" Chopper called from the steering wheel. Nami was beside him, pulling up her compass and pointing in the direction they needed to head.

"Kokoro said we needed to visit an island called Sabaody, since Fishman island is underwater," Nami explained. Tani froze, slowly turned to the pair at the wheel.

And let out the loudest cry of joy she could! Finally! Her prayers had been answered! An island underwater? Sign her the hell up!

"Tani, less dancing, more tying up sails," Zoro said with annoyance. Tani apologized quickly, before falling into her role.

*bang*

"Are they shooting at us?" Tani asked. Usopp called back from the other side.

"It's just Garp throwing freaking cannonballs, the usual." he answered. Tani just grabbed that information, and shoved it into her brain box of "shit that just happens in this world".

"There's more! He's gonna hit the ship," Sanji called, "We're not gonna get away in time-"

"Everyone, gather around." Franky called. Summoning everyone to the courtyard/deck, "I have a way to get us out of here fast, but a ship can't set sail... Without a name first," the man declared.

"Isn't now an inappropriate time?" Nami stated, just as a cannonball smashed into the water, far too close for comfort.

"He's right though," Luffy said like Franky's statement was common knowledge. "All the best ships have cool names." he nodded.

"Well let's hurry up and pick a name, I'm gonna go steer the boat." Nami said, before running off to keep the ship on track.

"I think we should call it Pufferfish-horse-lion," Luffy said with starry eyes. Everyone looked at him weird and ignored his contribution.

"Master sleeping lion," Zoro contributed.

"But the ships eyes are open?" Usopp pointed out. So Zoro's was out.

"Marshmallow sunshine," Sanji said dreamily. Chopper liked that one, but Franky, Zoro and Luffy said that sounded too girly. So that name was out too.

"Ran-goku-maru," Robin grinned. Tani had no idea what that meant, but everyone said that was the opposite of bright and sunny... Hey that's got a nice ring to it.

"What about Sunny? Or something with the word sunny in it?" Tani suggested. That's when Franky remembered something.

"Iceberg said the same thing. Suggested the name "The thousand sunny" or something like that. Because she'll see a thousand sunrises," Franky explained.

Yep, that's the name. That's the perfect name.

"I think we should call it-"

"The thousand sunny sound so cool!" Luffy cheered.

Nobody could say a word after that.

"At least we didn't call it the titanic," Tani laughed. Nobody got it... Right, earth jokes.

"Are you guys done yet? We kinda gave an angry grandpa trying to kill us!" Nami called out. Franky jumped to action.

"It'll activate in about three minutes," Franky winked, before jumping down a hatch. Usopp and Chopper decided to follow after him. Luffy was gonna a spend this time saying goodbye.

"Oi! Gramps! Koby! It was nice seeing you guys again." Luffy said with a wave. Garp answered that with a big grin and another cannonball (which Luffy deflected with his foot). "Iceberg! Everyone else! Thanks for the help! I hope we can meet again!" he waved happily.

Franky popped his head back up from the hatch.

"You guys might wanna hold on to something," he warned before the sound of something charging up became known.

Tani walked over to Luffy, she had a feeling this would involve flying, launching into the air, boat out of water, rocketing, literally any other words for being tossed into the air at speeds that weren't safe.

Tani grabbed one of Luffy's arms, stretched it out, tied it around her waist, double knot it just to be sure, turned to Luffy, and hugged him.

Luffy wasn't complaining at all.

The back of the ship charged up like a rocket engine. Bright lights and all that flare that made it super extra, and super duper Franky.

"Coup de burst!" Franky called out. The move sounded an awful lot like a "Coup de vent". Franky must really love launching things into the sky.

And it did launch. Very fast.

Tani watched as the two blues of the sea and sky, merged into the same blur of colour. Sunny soared through the air like a shooting star, the entirety of Water 7 had vanished into nothing. How far did Franky launch them! That's some insane air time.

"We're landing!" Franky called out. Tani braced for impact, Luffy was whooping with joy the entire time. At least someone was having fun.

*splash!*

Sunny landed front first, the entire crew and all things not attached to the ground, were lurched forward. Sunny's back side dipped into the ocean to even out the buoyancy, rocking around in a way that would make most people seasick. Tani was glad she didn't get motion sickness at all.

"Well..." Robin started, the arms she'd spawned to hold her down, vanished. "We've made yet another daring escape. Surely the beginning of another interesting adventure," she said.

The crew straightened themselves out, hair and clothes fixed. Standing up right, checking for broken bones. Everyone checked out... Now-

"I've waited long enough!" Luffy declared, lifting the arm that Tani still hadn't finished untying from herself. Causing Tani to topple backwards, lucky for Luffy, the limb just stretched.

"I wanna explore the ship!" Luffy shouted with excitement. Tani laid on the ground, still untying that cursed double knot.

"Ow! Feel free to take a look around at my super! Masterpiece," Franky pulled a pose and made his way over to the steering wheel. "I'll keep an eye on the course for Sabaody," he stated.

Finally! That knot was untied-

"Let's go look at the kitchen!" Luffy cheered, grabbing Tani by the back of her shirt and dragging her towards the first door he saw.

Today was gonna be a very tiring day.

...

Tani let out a sigh as she flopped on her new bed. The women's cabin was fitted out with three beds, but there was enough room for another one or two more to be added. There was also a vanity, a walk in wardrobe and a couch with a coffee table in the corner. A fluffy salmon-red carpet fitted the centre of the room.

All in all, Tani loved it. The walls were bare, so the girls had the space to cover it. Which Tani planned to do with all her photos, which should be delivered in the next two days.

She'd spent one of her days in Water 7 taking so many pictures that she used up her newest roll of film. She couldn't wait to see what shots she'd taken.

For now, she had to focus on organising her bags and putting away her clothes. Since Nami was having a bath, and Robin was storing books in the library, Tani had the room all to herself.

Tani tossed her backpack onto the middle bed. While her larger bag was tossed towards the wardrobe, let's start with that-

*knock knock*

"Come in?" Tani called out. There was no way that was Luffy, Zoro or Franky. Luffy and Zoro because they don't knock, and Franky because his hands are too big to make such a small knock noise.

"Am I intruding?" Sanji asked, opening the door with one hand and popping his head in. Tani waved him in.

"Nah, I'm just unpacking my clothes. If you're looking for Nami or Robin, they're not here." she informed. Sanji continued into the room, in one of his hands was a tray. The contents being a bunch of different tarts. Ranging from chocolate, lemon meringue, pecan, mixed berry, and the one that caught her eye. Tropical fruit tart.

"Feel free to pick one," he smiled sweetly. Dipping the tray towards her, she instantly snatched the tropical tart. A fork was handed to her, which she took and instantly shoveled a mouthful of the sweet treat onto her mouth.

She sighed with content.

"How are you so good at this? Your future partner is one lucky person." she praised. Sanji went beet red at the compliment.

"Thank you my dear," he said sweetly, "I'm sure your future partner will be just as lucky," he gave her a playful wink. Which she rolled her eyes at.

"Hahaa, very funny." she rolled her eyes with a deadpan expression. Sanji found it adorable. "Why's everyone teasing me about my crush now? It's so embarrassing..." she whined.

"Because it's painfully obvious, yet neither of you are acting on it," he laughed. Tani gave him a pout.

"I'm so obvious..." Tani planted her hands into her face. "He's probably being polite, or something else." she justified to herself. Sanji barked a laugh.

"Are we talking about the same Luffy? Polite is not a word I would associate with that brute," Sanji mocked. Tani groaned.

"Stop poking holes in my logic!" she whined. Sanji made his way towards the door, he still had plenty of tarts to hand out.

"Just do what Luffy would do," Sanji said as he walked out the door. Shutting it with a click. Tani flopped onto her small pile of clothes and groaned.

She hated having these feelings, everyone was bullying her! Bullies she says!

...

There was a party that night, because they had a lot to celebrate. The return of Usopp and Robin, the welcoming of Franky into their crew, and the maiden voyage of The thousand sunny.

There was singing, dancing, eating, drinking, games and more. There was so much to get excited about. After such a stressful ordeal, they deserved the time to relax and mess around.

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were dancing with chopsticks up their noses. Nami and Zoro were having a drinking contest (Nami was totally winning right now), Sanji was dancing with Robin, twirling her into Franky's arms and back.

And Tani?

She was on the swing, kicking back and forth, watching the party play out. It was fun, seeing everyone all gather together. The crew felt complete.

Except for that person that Oscar mentioned by accident, Broke? Book? Brook? Brick? Something with a bruh at the start. Tani wondered who they were, and how much longer it would be until they met them.

"Tani!" Tani had no time to comprehend what happened, but she had Luffy on her lap, and the swing was wobbling. If Tani didn't have an iron grip on the ropes of the swing, she would have fallen backwards and bonked her head on the grass.

"Tani, guess what?" Luffy beamed. Tani rolled her eyes, fighting away the fluttering mess her brain had become. 

"I don't know," she replied. Luffy kept smiling.

"Guess! It's boring if you don't guess," he insisted. Tani couldn't help the giggle that bubbled from her throat.

"Um... You've learnt how to speak Spanish?" she tossed out. Luffy had no idea what Spanish was, so he shook his head. "How about... You've learnt decided to quit being a pirate and become a farmer?" Luffy shook his head again.

"You suck at this game," Luffy accused. Tani put on an innocent face.

"What? No I'm not... Ok I do suck at this game," she admitted. "Don't leave a girl hanging, what is it?" she was genuinely curious about what he had to say.

"Nami said we'd be at Saba? Sabob- Sabody. In the next two days!" he cheered. Wow, that quick huh? "We're gonna be in the second half of the Grandline soon," Luffy bounced. The swing jerked about with every move he made. Tani was holding on for dear life.

"That's great Luffy," Tani grinned. Luffy calmed down a bit more, before turning his attention to her arms. His hands moved to grab one and feel up the limb. Tani suddenly found her face exploding with heat... And she was doing so well...

"Wha-what are you doing?" she asked with a dumb flutter in her delivery. Luffy didn't look up to talk to her, just kept poking, prodding and gliding his hands up the limb.

"I told you, I wanted to touch your muscles. They've gotten bigger since you first arrived." he replied. Oh! Right, he had mentioned wanting to do that. "You look way stronger now." he complimented.

"It's not that much of a change-"

"Yes it is," he interrupted. "You've gotten stronger, and I think that's really cool." he removed his hands from her arm and looked her straight in the eye. "You're too mean to yourself. It's annoying and I hate it," he crossed his arms.

"Low self-esteem my friend, it's a curse I've yet to lift." she sighed. Gently swinging her legs so the swing would move. Luffy gave her a pout.

"How do we break this mystery curse. It's dumb and makes you stupid," he asked. Tani snickered at his childish outlook on life. Luffy never had image issues, always so confident and sure of himself. Something Tani had always envied.

"If you can figure it out, I'd love to know." she joked. Luffy nodded, agreeing to help solve this mystery curse.

Luffy let out a yawn, which Tani caught. Letting out a massive yawn of her own. Luffy decided that he wanted to go to sleep now.

The captain slid off of Tani, only to scoop her off the swing and drop her on the grassy ground. Then he dropped himself on top of her, and instantly fell asleep. Bastard...

Tani couldn't get up, so she resigned to her fate, and fell asleep too.

Luffy made for a great blanket.