Reluctance

In the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.....

"I tried to stop him Sengoku, I really did. But once Garp has set his eyes on something, there's no stopping him from getting it." Sengoku listened to Kong, the World Government Commander-in-Chief while sitting in front of him.

Kong is an extremely muscular, broad-chested, tan-skinned, strong-shouldered elderly man who has his whitened hair and a beard arranged in an array of spikes, and some fuzz on both sides of his face, similar to a lizard's spine. He also has a stitched scar under his left eye.

He wears a sleeveless dark shirt adorned with medals, revealing his muscular arms, dark green armbands, a light yellow scarf around his neck, and a white and dark grey Marine coat draped over his shoulders.

"As you probably know from the man himself, Garp has already stepped down from his post but will still retain his title and his place in the Marines. So if you're going to step down, I would ask you to do the same, Sengoku."

"I can accept that, that would be a good way to spend my remaining years. The World Government has crossed the line time and time again. I turned a blind eye for it for the sake of justice, uI cannot bear it much longer."

"Hmmm...." Kong narrowed his eyes at Sengoku's bold choice of words. Sengoku wasn't usually like Garp, who has the rebellious and the 'I don't give a fuck' personality.

'Guess he finally snapped huh.' Kong thought as Sengoku continued speaking.

"The age of Pirates is changing now. What good are old soldiers? Justice is a matter of value, one can't overcome one's generation. But more importantly Kong-san, I would like to nominate Aokiji to take my spot as the Fleet Admiral."

"Really now....."

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Also in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.....

*Bang!*

"Damn that Monkey D Luffy!" Saturn shouted as he slammed his fist onto the coffee table angrily after reading the casualty report on the Marines' side and what happened during the battle.

"The pirates won without a doubt. Gol D Ace is saved. Monkey D Luffy along with Whitebeard were the main sources of the casualties and the success of the rescue. The allies Monkey D Luffy brought to the battle were unimaginable."

"The new made Pacifistas are all destroyed. The old Giant Warrior Pirates are somehow active again. He got Buggy D Clown to ruin our image with the illegal livestream...."

"He killed one of the Seven Warlords.... The prisoners in Impel Down have all escaped. He even got the Revolutionary Army's Second in Command to join him in Marineford." Ju Peter muttered as he read report after report from the Marines.

"What Red Hair Shanks did to Akainu... The Marines' military might is severely reduced, not to mention the casualties..." Warcury whispered to himself as he red the injury report about the Admiral.

"That Morgans better not lick that kid's boots again... Or anyone's at all...." Ethanbaron grumbled. There was obviously a tense mood in the meeting room where the Five Elder Stars were gathered in.

"At least Whitebeard looks like he's out of commission. We won't see much of him again. Now about the bounties...." Marcus Mars muttered before Jaygarcia shook his head.

"We shall discuss that later. Right now we focus our efforts on reducing as much backlash as possible. The affiliated nations distrust us now since they think that the World Government is incompetent due to our loss in Marineford."

"Yes...."

"Sir!!!" The Five Elder Stars looked at a Marine who barged into the room unannounced. The Marine stopped and saluted them.

"Report!" Jaygarcia ordered, not in the mood to deal with more problems.

"Vice Admiral Garp and the Fleet Admiral are stepping down sir! There are also numerous reports about Marines all over the world filing for retirement! Also, the Fleet Admiral has also nominated Aokiji as the next Fleet Admiral!"

"Argh!!!! Goddamnit all!!!"

As you can tell, the Five Elder Stars are not used to complete and utter failure.

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In the Amazon Lily.....

"Welcome back Hebihime-sama! How was the battle?" Granny Nyon greeted respectfully as Hancock strutted through the crowd of women like a model while they were cheering her on crazily with some even fainting at the sight of her.

"The one who was going to be executed, Gol D Ace was successfully rescued by Luffy." Hancock suddenly had a dreamy smile at the mention of Luffy.

'Wow. Hebihime doesn't even care about the consequences that would happen. That boy lives in her mind 24/7.' Granny Nyon thought.

"A fellow woman rescued, that's wonderful news Hebihime-sama!" Ran commented. Hancock nodded.

"Indeed. I am exhausted from the journey, let me return to my chambers." Hancock muttered as she and her sisters started heading towards the palace.

"Hebihime-sama!!! Hebihime-sama!!!! This is bad!!! We're being invaded!!!" Aphelandra shouted as she ran towards Hancock. Hancock widened her eyes before she looked at the giant warrior.

"What?!"

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"Aphelandra is telling the truth. Have a look for yourself, Hebihime-sama." Rindo handed Hancock a spyglass. The captain of the Kuja Pirates immediately looked through it.

What she saw was horrifying. Hundreds of ships of different sizes, all having different Jolly Rogers were sailing at full speed towards their island.

"It isn't the Marines, all are Pirates." Hancock whispered in confusion. Granny Nyon was relieved that the Marines hadn't figure out that Hancock was the one who snuck Luffy into Impel Down.

"What confuses me are the different Jolly Rogers." Rindo whispered. Hancock studied each Jolly Roger, trying to find one that she could recognize.

"That one.... Isn't that the Whitebeard Pirates' Jolly Roger?!" Hancock widened her eyes in shock as she quickly used her Observation Haki to sense the amount of people in those army of ships.

"That small little ship is leading the charge. Isn't that a Marine warship?" Sonia wondered. Hancock suddenly gasped and squealed loudly.

"Sister!" Mari shook her repeatedly, in concern for her sister's sudden reaction. She jumped back in shock as Hancock suddenly looked at her with stars shining in her eyes while having the largest smile anyone has ever seen from her.

"KYAAAA!!!!~~~ LUFFY'S HERE!!!!!"

"Luffy?! As in the man pirate who taught us about how to make babies?! That Luffy-sama?!" Ran shouted as Hancock started rushing towards the beach. Everyone in the village started running after her, shocked at their leader's unusual reaction.

"Carry me! I need to see what all the fuss is about!!" Granny Nyon shouted at Aphelandra who just put Granny Nyon down on her large shoulders before running.

The Kuja were all whispering amongst each other as they followed after Hancock who was running as fast as she could down to the beach.

"So it's not an invasion?"

"Dunno, Hebihime-sama did just shout out Luffy-sama's name. So I guess it's not an invasion like we thought."

"Luffy!!!~~~ Oh Luffy!!!!~~"

"She's not going crazy right Sonia?" Mari asked Sonia who shook her head. She herself had sensed Luffy's presence on that small Marine warship after Hancock did.

Every Kuja villager, young and old gathered around the sandy beach with Hancock in the front, letting the waves splash her feet. The giant fleet of ships got even closer, making Hancock smile even wider and get even more excited.

But then she remembered that those fleet of ships are full of filthy men. She can't let them see her smiling, blushing like a high school girl in love and jumping up and down like a little girl.

So she cleared her throat and returned to her stoic expression. The authoritative and noble aura returned around her again. But her heart couldn't stop pounding at the thought of meeting with Luffy again.

Everyone was watching the ships get closer silently. It was so silent they could only hear the wind blow and the waves splashing around. They could also hear an argument coming from the small Marine warship leading the hundreds of ships behind it.

"OI!!! YOU BASTARD!!!! DO YOU WANNA KILL US OR SOMETHING?!!!!"

"NO DUMBASS!!! WHY THE HELL WOULD I WANNA DO THAT?!! I'M TRYNA HIDE OUR ASS FROM THE MARINES!!!"

"By bringing us to the Island of Women?! Are you insane?! We just got out of a war and now you're trying to get us into another one again?!"

" Yes I'm insane!! It runs in the family Jaggy! Jinbe, you can stop manning the helm now. Tell the guys to anchor the ship. Now let me go, Jaggy! "

" Hell no!! I'm not letting you go anywhere! Don't listen to him Jinbe, turn this ship around! Look over there, they're already waiting for us!! You're a man remember?! If you go down they'll kill you!!!" Kid shouted at Luffy who groaned and pouted.

"Let him go, Kid-san." Shanks suddenly appeared behind Kid and put his right hand on his shoulder while smiling down at him.

"Don't you see his eyes? He is confident that he will succeed in convincing them to let us stay. How can you not believe in him?" Shanks asked Kid who scowled even harder.

" Tch! Fine! I'm not the one going down there anyways! " Kid let go of Luffy's collar before he backed up.

"Glad we could reach an understanding." Shanks patted Kid's back before Luffy grinned at Shanks.

"Thanks Shanks! Shishishishishi! Here I go!" Luffy declared as he jumped onto the wooden railing on the ship.

"Wait, shouldn't we come up with some sort of game plan to convince them.... Oh.....There he goes...." Marco who had been witnessing the argument sighed as Luffy jumped down from the ship and onto the beach.

"Yahoo!!!" Luffy yelled as he landed on the sandy beach, making sand around him scatter away from him. He looked at Hancock who was trying her absolute best to maintain her noble and serious aura.

"Hancock!!!!" Luffy shouted and ran towards the empress. Everyone on every ship had their jaws dropped onto the ship's floor as they saw the straw hat wearing pirate embrace the empress into a loving hug.

"I TOLD YOU HE WAS TRYING TO KILL US!!!" Kid shouted with an 'I told you so' voice. Marco was absolutely horrified. The fact that he wasn't shot down even when he took a step towards them was astounding.

"Interesting. I can see the shockwaves of love upon those two, especially from the Pirate Empress." Hawkins replied quietly after he drew one of his tarot cards.

"Brave as ever. " Shanks smiled a little watching Luffy hug Hancock like a husband reuniting with his wife. This reminded him of the time when Luffy would hug Uta if she ever got sad.

"L-luffy....." Hancock's eyes had hearts in them as she raised her arms to hug him back. She put her head on his shoulder and enjoyed the warmth pf his body.

"SHE HUGGED HIM BACK?!!!!" Kid and just about everybody shouted. They couldn't believe it, the Pirate Empress who was known for her hatred for men was having physical contact with one. Even worse, she's enjoying it.

"THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN US DAMNIT!!!!" Kid and everyone added loudly, jealous of Luffy. The ones who weren't jealous of Luffy hugging Hancock were just baffled about it. Shanks just laughed loudly with his crew doing the same.

"Jeez, what's all this noise? Do you want your pops to come out alive or not?!" Law shouted as he exited his submarine only to see Luffy hugging Hancock.

"Oh, so we're at the Island Of Women. Big deal. " Law grumbled nonchalantly but in his heart, he couldn't deny that the women were as attractive as they say. Heck, they were a thousand times more attractive than what was said in the rumors.

But Law had to focus on his operation, so he went back into his submarine to continue operating on Whitebeard.

"Wh-what b-brings y-you here, L-luffy?" Hancock stuttered shyly while twiddling her fingers. She can't even look at him in the eyes.

"And he got her stuttering?! What is with his luck goddamn?!" Kid shouted as he laid down on the ship's deck to contemplate his life.

"Well, I'm tryna find a place to rest up and hide from the Marines temporarily and I think that your island is the perfect place to become a hideout." Luffy explained.

" O-oh. Sure. A-anything f-for you Luffy. " Hancock replied, the blush on her face getting redder and redder as the seconds go by.

"It's not just for me only though, they're hiding out here with me. Are you and your village okay with that, with men being forbidden on the island and all?" Luffy asked with a frown on his face. Hancock bit her lower lip nervously and looked at the fleet of ships. She saw a lot of men and some women watching the conversation unfold.

"Yeah, it's a lot of people. We also have Whitebeard who's getting operated on by Law. we'll only stay here for a while to let him make a full recovery."

" We'll only stay on the beach and nowhere else. Maybe we'll make trips to the village to get some supplies but that's as far as we'll go.... We can turn around and leave if you like—"

"No! " Hancock immeadiately replied, surprising him.

"No, don't leave." Hancock replied after a few seconds, making Luffy raise an eyebrow at her. Hancock sighed and looked back at her people.

"I'll discuss it with them. Please don't leave me, Luffy." The Pirate Empress said with a little hint of pleading in her voice as she grabbed his right hand with both of her hands. Luffy smiled and nodded.

"Alright Hancock, I won't. I'll wait as long as I can. Make sure to discuss it properly with them? Don't let your relationship with me cloud your judgement. Okay?"

" O-okay....." Hancock smiled as she turned around to look at her people.

" Everyone, head back to the village!!! We must discuss something!!!"

"YES, MILADY!!!"

To be continued.....