Chapter 22

On this particular day, his stomach was so hungry that he was in pain. He was starting to straggle behind the rest of the herd until he spotted the strange looking fruit. It wasn't like anything he had ever seen before and couldn't help but stare at it as it lay, half-buried, in the snow. He remembered putting his nose to it to sniff it, but couldn't smell anything. He turned it over with his blue nose and his stomach was now crying with hunger. Unable to help himself, he had devoured all of it, crying at the exertion of swallowing each unpalatable mouthful all the while.

"After that," Chopper said, "I slowly started transforming!"

"What about you Brook?" Usopp asked. "Did you eat yours by accident too?"

"No," Brook admitted. "I remember that day as if it happened yesterday. Not long after I joined the Rumbar Pirates, we got into a fierce battle with some Marines that had been chasing us back in the West Blue. The Devil Fruit came bobbing up from all the wreckage…"

"So you knew what it was beforehand?" Zoro asked.

"At first, we couldn't decide if one of us eat it, or if we should sell it," Brook went on. "It was a problem… none of us had ever seen one before and we didn't have the slightest clue to what it could do. But it was decided that I would decide."

"Why you?" Sanji asked.

"Yohohoho, because I was the one who fished it out of the sea!" he laughed. "It was a rule on our ship. Whatever we find, we decide what to do with it. In the end, I couldn't help myself and ate it."

"And what did you do when nothing happened?" Franky asked.

"I thought that it was just a fake at first," Brook confessed. "I didn't feel any different, nor did I suddenly have any powers. But I learned the hard way that it was the real thing when I next went for a swim! I almost drowned! Yohoho!"

"And you figured out what kind it was later?" Usopp asked.

"Merely a guess," Brook answered. "It wasn't until I died and came back as All-Bones Brook did I know for sure!"

"Well, it's good," Robin smiled. "Otherwise we never would've met you."

"Yohoho! Your words are so kind, Robin-san!" Brook laughed. He was about to ask if he could see her panties, but before he could, the scene changed. And just like that, the scene changed. They were still in the village just a little ways away from the bar—they could see it just up the road. Luffy was there, skipping along as a few people looked over at him.

"Hey Rubber-boy!" a fish monger said as he passed by them. "Why are you in such a good mood lately? The pirates set sail without you, you know." He then smirked and added, "Won't be much of a pirate if you can't even swim."

Luffy just laughed and waved cheerfully at him. "It doesn't matter if I can't swim!" he said happily. "If I sink like an anchor, then I'll just become a pirate that doesn't fall overboard."

"Who does he think he's kidding?" Usopp asked, remembering all the times that Luffy needed to be rescued from drowning. "If he even takes a bath it's hard for him."

"I'm glad I ate the Gum Gum fruit!" he said, grabbing his face and pulling it so that it stretched out, causing all the villagers to all stare. "Look what I can do!"

At that moment, a middle-aged man approached them. This man had a cleft chin, grayish-white mustache and beard, and was wearing oval glasses—he was also leaning on a walking stick as he approached Luffy.

"Who's this guy?" Zoro asked unimpressed.

"You think being stared at because you're a freak is a great thing, eh?" he demanded from Luffy. "Well, this village doesn't need any more idiots, sonny!" Robin's eyes darkened at that, remembering how the other children had been scared of her after she ate the Devil's Fruit and ran away from her like a monster. Next to her, she could hear Chopper sniffling a little, and knew that he could understand what it was like.

"A freak?" Nami repeated angrily. "That's a terrible thing to say to someone!"

"Oh," Luffy said happily with a little wave. "Good morning Mayor!"

"Luffy-san doesn't seem to mind," Brook answered happily.

"Of course not," Zoro answered. "He's proud of that."

"So he's the major?" Robin repeated a little surprised.

"He looks really grumpy," Chopper stated, not sure if he liked the man.

"I suppose you would too if you had to put up with Luffy," Sanji pointed out.

"For the last time Luffy, I won't allow you to become a pirate!" the major declared. "It'd make the village look bad! Now the captain's not such a bad fellow but you stay away from those pirates."

"Guess he didn't listen," Robin said with a smile.

"I think that's a safe guess," Nami laughed.

Luffy just stuck his fingers in his ears as if he couldn't hear him and went charging on ahead like nothing happened.

The scene changed again suddenly, and the next then they knew was that they were back in the tavern with Luffy and Makino. It was quite a different place when it was just the two of them there and no laughing pirates drinking and poking fun at Luffy. As for Luffy, he was sitting at the bar with a glass of juice in front of him while Makino was cleaning up some of the glasses behind the bar.

"Almost don't recognize it when it's empty," Franky said, looking around.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Usopp asked, looking around, hoping for another glimpse of his father. "It's a little creepy to be honest. I wonder where everyone is…"

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