Ben got dressed. He thought they were going to leave today. He thought they were getting closer to Marineford. He thought the world would be changing soon. He left his room and headed upstairs. He walked into the dining room.
The warm scent of food filled the air. Around the long table sat Vivi, Marianne, Zala, Robin, and Saphir were there. "Good morning," Ben said.
Zala was standing. She was gracefully serving food onto plates. She turned around "Captain, you're just in time," she said with a sly smile. She gave some food to Marianne. "You already gave me my breakfast," she added as she winked.
Marianne sat at the edge of her chair as she nibbled on biscuits. "Ben! You should try these, they're sweet and crunchy," she said.
"I will," Ben responded.
"You look prepared. Planning to leave already?" Robin said as she elegantly sipped her tea. "Everoyne else is outside. We have made all the preparations to leave," she said.
Saphir was halfway through a plate of roasted fish. There were crumbs on her cheek. She waved at him with her fork. "Ben! This fish is good," Saphir said.
Vivi rose from her seat, her long hair flowing as she approached him. "Please sit with us," she offered. "We do need to hurry, they will leave soon," she added.
Ben smiled. He sat down with Vivi.
"Princess, you should serve him with your hands so he will be quicker," Robin teased.
"What?" Vivi questioned.
"Yes, Ben does serve us personally," Zala teased as she looked at them.
Vivi pouted. "He does," Vivi responded.
"It is fine," Ben said. "I can eat by myself," he added.
"No I can help," Vivi said as she grabbed a spoon and moved it towards Ben`s mouth.
Ben looked at her. He thought they had done a lot together but still felt intimate. Ben opened his mouth and took the spoon. He swallowed the food.
Vivi took the spoon out. She smiled at Ben. She thought they had done a lot together.
Marianne smiled. "My turn," she said. "Take my biscuit," she added as she gave the biscuit to Ben. Ben took a bite.
"My turn," Saphir added as she moved over and gave a piece of fish on a fork. Ben took the bite.
Robin smiled as she drank her tea.
At that moment, Alvida walked in. "My love, the Strawhats will leave soon," Alvida said. She looked to see her love being served food. "My love, you should have invited me," she added.
Ben cleared his throat. "We can do it later, first let's say goodbye to the Strawhats," Ben said as he got up.
Robin and Zala giggled. The rest nodded.
Vivi, Marianne, Zala, Robin, Saphir and Alvida with Ben all headed out and onto the deck of the Miss Love Duck. He saw BM standing on the deck.
"My Lord, good morning," BM said.
"Good Morning," Ben responded.
"We have almost prepared the Miss Love Duck ready to," BM responded. "Perona Dorothy and HQ are still within the ship, everyone else is nearby," she added.
"Thank you and HQ for everything," Ben said. "You all are truly amazing," he added.
"We will do anything for you my lord," BM responded.
"How long till we are ready to leave?" Zala asked.
"We should be done in an hour," BM replied.
"That will give us plenty of time to say our goodbye and then we can leave," Ben said.
"BM you can come with us and say goodbye to Nojiko," Ben said.
"Okay my lord," BM responded.
"Ben, we will stay on the ship, you Alvida and BM can go," Zala said.
"Yes, we can stay here," Vivi agreed.
"Are you sure?" Ben asked.
"We are," they all nodded.
BM, Alvida and Ben left the Miss Love Duck and headed down onto Thriller Bark.
They looked to see Kaya and Chopper treating a few injured people. "You are all patched up," Chopper said as he wrapped bandages around the person.
"Thank you," the person responded as he got up.
"Looks like he is fine now," Kaya remarked.
"He is," Chopper said. He was covered in a bandage around his stomach. "Some of their injuries are life changing," he added.
"They are," Kaya responded, who looked perfectly fine.
"Hi Kaya," Ben greeted her.
"Good Morning Captain," Kaya responded as she walked toward him.
"Hi Ben," Chopper said. "Are you hurt?" he asked.
"Kaya would look after my love if that was the case," Alvida responded.
"Yes, as the ship`s doctor," Kaya added.
Chopper looked at them. "Everyone from the Love Pirates have recovered quickly," Chopper commented.
"We do have devil fruits," Ben said.
"Yes, maybe," Chopper responded.
Ben thought Chopper had his suspicions on their recovery. He had spoken to Kaya and the girls before and they had a theory.
"Well in any case, we will be leaving soon," Ben said.
"We will be as well," Chopper said.
"Ben, I will put my supplies away and then meet you back on the Miss Love Duck," Kaya remarked.
"Okay," Ben responded.
They walked down and saw Mikita and Raki standing next to the Rumbar ship. "It is super repaired," Franky shouted.
"Thank you," Lola said as she waved from the deck.
"This ship looked destroyed," Mikita remarked.
Franky laughed. "Nothing is too hard for Franky," he remarked.
Ben walked forward as he saw the ship sailing. "They are leaving my love," Alvida said.
"They are," Ben replied.
"You are up," Raki said.
"Yes I am," Ben responded as he smiled at her.
"Is there any problem with the Miss Love Duck?" Franky asked.
"No, it is in perfect working order," BM responded.
"HQ and BM look after our ship," Ben added.
"Okay, well I am heading back to the Sunny," Franky said.
"Raki, Mikita, we are leaving soon," Ben informed them.
"Okay, we will head back now," Mikita said.
"The rest are over there with the Strawhats, " Raki remarked as she pointed to them.
They all nodded. Ben walked down and saw Zoro and Maya were talking. "Where did you get that sword?" Zoro asked as he looked at the sword in her hand. He knew she was a strong sword user.
"My Captain gave it to me," Maya responded.
"Want to have a spare?" Zoro asked. He knew Vivi had one as well.
"Maybe next time," Ben said as he walked towards Maya and put an arm over her shoulder.
"It will be a friendly fight," Zoro said with a smile.
"You idiot," Sanju shouted as he came flying in with a kick.
Zoro lifted his sword and blocked the attack. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"You don't know how to speak to a lady," Sanji remarked as he swung his leg.
Zoro dodged. "You idiot cook," Zoro said as he ducked down.
"Should we stop them?" BM asked.
"They will be fine," Alvida responded as she leaned towards Ben.
"Maya we are heading off now," Ben said.
"Okay I will grab Honey, Kalifa and Conis and we will head back to the Miss Love Duck," Maya said.
"Where are they?" Ben asked.
"They are looking through Thriller Bark to find anything useful," Maya responded.
"Oh yes my love, they volunteered to look for any treasure," Alvida added.
"Okay," Ben said. He thought Moria might have had some treasure laying around. He would have a look of what they found.
Ben walked forward and saw Nojiko and Nami talking together. BM flew forward. "Hello my daughters," BM said.
"Mum," Nami said with a smile on her face as she hugged her.
Ben thought they knew it was not the real Belemere however they did not mind.
"How are you doing Nami?" BM asked. "Did your husband save you?" she asked.
"He is not my husband," Nami responded back. She glared at Ben.
"But Nojiko said he kissed you in a wedding dress," BM teased.
"Nojiko," Nami said as she looked at her.
Nojiko smiled innocently. "I can't lie to our mum," she said.
Nami did not respond back. She hugged BM and felt her warmth. It felt good. "You can do anything you want," BM said.
"I know," Nami responded as she took a step back. "It is time for us to go," she added. She looked to see the sky. "There is going to be a big storm here soon," she remarked.
Nojiko nodded.
"We should also get going then," Ben said. "Nami we will see you soon, everything will be fine, don't worry," he added.
"Why would I worry?" Nami questioned. She smiled. "It is you who should worry," she said. "Bye Nojiko, mum," she said as she moved towards the Miss Love Duck.
Nojiko looked at Ben. "Is she going to be okay?" she asked.
"She will be," Ben replied. He thought she was going to be separated from her crew, however she will be fine.
"Ben," Luffy said as he came flying toward Ben. Ben saw this and got hit. They both landed on the ground.
Ben thought he was becoming part of the anime. "Luffy, good to see you," Ben said as he got up.
Luffy got up as well. Luffy smiled. "That was fun fighting him but the next two are mine," Luffy said as he dusted himself.
Ben saw the small jewelry on his shoulder. He thought he managed to get that somehow. "I know," Ben responded.
He thought of bringing up Ace`s vivre card however he knew he would change the story too much. It could cause unexpected events which at his current level, he was not ready for. He was getting stronger but he needed to get stronger. "Luffy, I will be there for you," Ben said.
Luffy looked at him and smiled. "I know, we are best friends," Luffy responded as he raised his hand.
Ben extended his hand and they shook. "We are, we even have an alliance," he said.
"The best alliance," Luffy responded.
"We need to go now," Ben said.
Luffy smiled. "We will meet again," Luffy said.
Ben nodded. Luffy looked to see the Thousand Sunny. He stretched his arms and went there.
"He is interesting, my love," Alvida said.
"He is," Ben responded
"Where is Ashivra?" Ben asked.
"I am here," Ashivra responded as she came down from the sky. Ben thought she looked like an angel.
"Where did you go?" Ben asked.
"I was stretching my wings," Ashivra replied with a smile on her face.
"Let's go back," Ben said as he nodded.
They all headed back to the Miss Love Duck.
Ben saw Kaya, HQ, Alvida, Mikita, Honey, Nojiko, Vivi, Marianne, Zala, Robin, Saphir, Conis, Raki, Maya, Kalifa, BM, Dorothy and Ashivra all on the deck.
"Where is Perona?" Ben asked.
"She is resting in her room," HQ replied.
"Okay, I will talk to her later," Ben said. "Everyone, we have done it, we have completed what we needed to do here," he added. "We can leave this ship," he said.
"Okay Master, I will set sail," HQ said.
"Let me help plot the course," Nojiko added.
"Is the next island Sabaody Archipelago, next to the Red Mountain?" Ben asked.
"No, there is another island, which is south of us," Nojiko said.
"Okay, set sail there," Ben said. Ben thought he could explore the next island and then head to Amazon Lily.
They all nodded.
"The quest is not over my love," Alvida teased.
"Whose turn is next?" Zala asked.
"It is my turn," Kaya said quietly.