Chapter 13

"I guess we now know where Luffy gets some of his endless will to live from," Sanji said, shaking his head, suddenly reminded of the 'training' he had with Zeff when he was a kid. "And I thought the old geezer was bad when he was teaching me to cook."

Suddenly, it went dark again.

"Oh, no!" Usopp yelled in worry. "What's happening now?!" But before anyone could come up with an answer, everything came back into focus and they were standing over the edge of a deep ravine in the ground.

"Wow!" Chopper cried, looking down the hole. "That's really deep!"

"Why do I not like where this is going?" Zoro asked, his eye looking around and soon spotted them coming. Garp was there arguing with Luffy, who was dragging his feet, trying to prevent his grandfather from taking him somewhere. He latched on to a giant rock they were passing and held on for dear life as Garp pulled on his arm.

"Looks like we're about to see another training session," Sanji said, not sure if this was going to be pleasant what they were about to see.

"Why doesn't Luffy-san's arm stretch here?" Brook asked, seeing that Luffy's arm remained as it was as Garp pulled him free.

"I think it's safe to say that this must be before he ate the Devil Fruit," Robin said watching them as they approached the ravine.

"Wow, it's hard to picture a Luffy who isn't made of rubber," Usopp said, thinking about it.

"Well, he wasn't always made of rubber," Robin smiled.

"But why are they here?" Brook asked hesitantly, as they finally arrived at the fissure.

"Granddad!" Luffy called out, still fighting tooth and nail to pull himself free of Garp's hold, "I don't wanna do training today!"

"And that is what makes you weak!" Garp snapped as he held his grandson up by his shirt over the fissure and looked down.

"What is this place?" Luffy asked nervously, his feet dangling over the hole.

"This is known as the Bottomless Ravine," Garp said conversationally. "Though it isn't technically bottomless… apparently, if you fall in, it would take about three days for you to hit bottom so you have plenty of time to try and get out."

"WAIT WHAT?!" Luffy yelled in panic as Garp let go and Luffy fell with a scream.

"HE DIDN'T!" Usopp yelled, griping his hat in horror, watching Luffy's tiny form disappear into the dark. "WAS HE TRYING TO KILL HIM?"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HE DROPPED HIS OWN GRANDSON DOWN LIKE THAT!" Nami yelled as the rest of the crew stared at Garp.

"This explains a lot now," Zoro said, in an impressed voice. "Dealing with this every time you see your grandfather would make you hate those family reunions wouldn't it?"

"How can you say that?!" Brook yelled in dismay. "He could've died from that! Three days to hit the bottom? That would kill anyone! And Luffy-san's not made of rubber yet!"

"How can anyone do that to their own grandson?" Nami repeated to herself as Chopper gulped.

"Luffy's grandpa is scary!" he whispered.

"I hear ya, Chopper," Sanji agreed as the image slowly faded away again until they were standing outside a tavern with the name, "PARTY BAR" hanging over the entrance.

"The Party Bar?" Robin repeated, looking up and down the road, before looking up, able to see the ocean from the little pub on the hill. Sanji whistled loudly at the view. There was a beautiful sunset along the horizon. The sky was filled with color; orange faded to purple as the sun receded across the glassy, blue-green. They could all hear the sounds of waves washing slowly against the shore and the gentle tumble of the scattered windmills echoing throughout the village.

"It's so pretty here!" Chopper said, his eyes bright at the sparkling sea.

"It kinda reminds me of my hometown," Usopp said smiling, and suddenly feeling a little homesick as he thought of Syrup Village. "But—ah—does anyone have an idea where we are?"

They looked around at the houses along the way, the few people that were now heading home, cows behind the fences enjoying the grass before heading off, the spinning windmills…

"Windmills?" Nami said softly, watching them. "Didn't Luffy say his hometown was full of windmills? You think this is it?"

"You mean this is Luffy's home?" Chopper asked.

"Not a bad place," Zoro said, looking around. "Looks kinda boring but…"

Suddenly a young woman came out of the bar they were standing next to with a broom in her hands as she began to sweep the front way. She was a very pretty girl with dark green hair that fell to her shoulders and tucked underneath a bandana; she was humming softly to herself as she worked, clearly not able to see them anymore than Luffy or Garp could.

As soon as he saw her, Sanji's eyes turned into hearts as he twirled over to her, his hands over his heart as if he was in great pain. "My, what a beauty," he whispered, his heart feeling like it would burst from his chest from happiness. "It would be my greatest pleasure to take this off your…"

But as he reached out to touch her hand, his own went right through it and he gasped before he fell to his knees in depression, tears in his eyes. "It's not fair…" he whispered, softly hitting the ground. "Such a beautiful lady and she… she can't even…"

"I guess you forgot that she can't hear or see any of us?" Usopp asked him, his face devoid of all pity as he looked at him.

"Stupid cook," Zoro grumbled.

"What did you just say, Moss Head?!" Sanji cried, jumping to his feet, ready for a fight.

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