Chapter 18

"It's all right, Makino," Shanks sighed, waving his hand at his tipsy crew. "Believe me, it doesn't take much to get these losers laughing."

"Who the hell are you?" Luffy asked, looking at him.

"He has a short attention span," Nami sighed, shaking her head.

"Where did all this people come from?" Luffy asked Makino with bright interest.

Shanks went back to his food. "The name's Shanks. I'm a pirate."

Luffy's eyes lit up with stars as he yelled out in excitement, "Did you say you are a pirate? As in you guys aren't Marines?" Luffy quickly crossed the room to his side. "Does that mean you go on adventures? Tell me!"

"The little guy has a death wish," Zoro laughed at Shanks surprised look—as if he expected the kid to go and hide at the mention of pirates. "If Shanks was like most pirates, he probably would've killed him a long time ago."

"Yes, and I think that all this is really interesting, but we really need to start getting out of here," Nami said as the image disappeared again.

"Not like we have much choice," Zoro shrugged. The next memory came back, and they were still in the bar, this time though, the pirates didn't seem to be as drunk as they had been before. The tavern scene was a lively one, a pirate crew was partying and laughing, drinking and eating and cracking jokes with each other.

"Wish I could have some of that," Zoro sighed, looking at all the bottles of sake that were being passed around.

"Well, too bad!" Usopp said to him, slapping his chest irritably. "If this is a memory then we won't be having anymore luck than with Garp walking through us."

"Yes," Brook sighed. "It was so terrifying, that I thought my heart had stopped. Ah, not that I have one."

"Oh, look!" Franky said, pointing, and they saw that Luffy was still sitting at the same stool he had been before, only now he looked a little older and was now wearing a bandage on his cheek.

"Looks like some time had passed since we last saw them," Robin reasoned.

"Yeah, Luffy did mention that Shanks visited his hometown for about a year," Usopp said, thinking back to the day that he and Luffy first met. "So this had to been some time before that."

"So let me see if I got this straight," Shanks said to Luffy, sitting exactly where he had been before. "You wanna be a pirate because your gramps said not to?"

"I don't wanna be a Marine!" Luffy said loudly. "It doesn't look or sound like it'd be any fun at all! Training all day, following rules, you can't go anywhere without permission! That's why I think it'd be a lot more fun being a pirate!"

"Yeah, that makes sense," Franky laughed. "Who'd want to work for the government anyway? It'd take all the fun outta life!"

"Well, I guess I can't argue with any of that," Shanks said, thinking that over. "Yeah, it's great being a pirate… I mean sure, it'd be better without the bounty hunters and Marines on our tails all the time, but job hazard I suppose."

"Why'd you become a pirate?" Luffy asked him.

"Hmmm," Shanks said, thinking it all over. "Don't know anymore," he finally confessed. "I guess I just wanted to go out and have as much fun as possible. Like you said, I knew that it'd be freer than locking yourself up in Marine Headquarters for most of your life. I mean, when was the last time you heard about Marines going out for adventures? Marines… they're given an order, and they do it no matter what… the best thing about being a pirate is that you can do whatever you want, whenever you want."

"Yep, I can see right away that this guy is a big influence on Luffy," Sanji smiled. "Almost like seeing an older version of the rubber brain…"

Luffy's eyes lit up at that. "Then, take me with you on your next adventure, Shanks!" Luffy said at once. "I want to be a pirate, too!"

Shanks laughed out loud. "How can a boy like you become a pirate?" he asked him in a teasing way.

"Why not?" Luffy demanded hotly.

"Luffy," said a voice next to them and they looked in time to see a man leaning back in his chair with his feet up on the table. Usopp gulped down a gasp, staring at him as he felt cold sweat on his face. The man's skin was tanned and sea worn as his sandy blond hair fell over his face… but he was looking directly to the blue bandana he was wearing… and the name written on it… 'Yasopp'.

"Dad?" he whispered softly.

"Dad?" Chopper asked in amazement. "You mean that's your dad?! You never mentioned that your dad's a pirate!"

"Oh, right, I remember when we first met, Luffy said something about meeting your old man," Zoro said thinking back.

Usopp sniffed a little, finally getting a good look at his father.

"I can definitely see a family resemblance," Franky smiled.

Usopp grinned proudly as he exclaimed to them all loudly, "That's right! It only makes sense! After all, this brave warrior of the seas had to get his talent from somewhere."

"That's for sure," Nami whispered to herself, rolling her eyes.

"That's awesome, Usopp!" Chopper cried, stars in his eyes.

"It must be nice for you to get a good look at your father," Brook said softly, though it was hard to tell without skin, but he appeared to have been smiling.

"Listen," Yasopp said, pointing at Luffy. "It's not about how well you can or can't swim. A pirate is a lot more than that."

"But I can fight!" Luffy said, punching the air in front of him. "My punches as strong as pistols!"

"Are you kidding?" Usopp asked, sweatdropped. "They're now stronger than cannons!"

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