Chapitre 393: Sanji Reunited

Sanji wasn't sure what to expect when he came crawling back to Luffy and asking for forgiveness, but it wasn't the small party that he found.

"Sanji! You're back!" Luffy exclaimed upon noticing him from the top of King Baum.

Logically speaking, he knew that they weren't celebrating his absence given that they came all this way just to collect him, but it was nice to have concrete evidence that he was still welcome.

"I'm sorry, captain, for not trusting you… for trying to shoulder everything all on my own," Sanji said first and foremost.

"That's fine. You gonna eat that?" Luffy didn't even wait for an answer as he snatched the food basket from Sanji's hands and started choking it down, almost without chewing.

"Your cooking is the best in the world, Sanji! You missed Cherry doing the funniest thing! Brook asked to see her panties and she actually showed him! Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed through a half mouthful of food.

A vein bulged in Sanji's forehead and he was suddenly filled with immense regret for not rushing back here as quickly as possible. The feeling quickly passed, though; old habits were hard to break.

It was around the time that Luffy finished horking down the meal that Sanji made that the others made it down to greet him and welcome him back.

"Now that we have Sanji and the poneglyph etchings, we can leave!" Chopper exclaimed happily.

"It's not quite that easy," Sanji burst the poor little reindeer's bubble. "Not only is the Baratie still at risk, but…"

Sani glanced at Cherry, knowing she was the only one who knew the full story.

"The whole wedding is a trap, set to kill the Vinsmoke family and take Germa for the Big Mom pirates. Up until today, they were planning to kill me too," Sanji explained.

Gasps of shock and outrage echoed around. Luffy himself was stewing in a quiet anger.

"Why did they change their minds about you?" Carrot asked, worried that they were planning to torture him for eternity or something.

"They want to recruit Cherry, so they can't go killing her friends," Sanji revealed, causing all eyes to turn to her.

"Just a precautionary measure, nothing more," Cherry lied with a shrug like it was no big deal.

"Big Mom isn't liable to just let you go though," Jinbe spoke concernedly.

"There isn't anyone in the world who could stop me," Cherry said confidently.

"Luffy," Sanji said, gaining the attention of the group again. "I… I don't want my family to die. Even if they're the absolute worst, and they are, I still don't want them to die like dogs."

Sanji was tearing up something fierce. He never imagined that he would feel so strongly about those bastards, and maybe it was Reiju alone who tipped the scales of his desire to save them, but he couldn't just stand back and let it happen.

"I don't even think of them as family any more, and look at me. Blubbering like a child." Sanji wiped his face with his sleeve. "I can't save them all by myself…"

"Oh, let's save them then," Luffy agreed without the slightest hesitation. "What else are friends for?"

"Of course, we'll help!" "It's only natural." "The crew of the future pirate king isn't afraid to contend with a mere emperor." "You're my ride out of here, so…" The other chorused their agreement.

It never ceased to amaze him how casual Luffy could be at times like these, nor did it ever cease to endear him to his captain. The tears came back in force, and one sleeve wouldn't be enough.

…

Everyone calmed down from their heightened emotions soon enough and it was Jinbe who broached the serious conservation that needed to be had.

"Now that our course has been set, we have to acknowledge the fact that we are greatly outnumbered. Luffy and I were able to fend off one of the Sweet Generals and a crowd of Big Mom's homies with a few of her children mixed in, but that is only a fraction of the forces that she can bring to bear. That isn't even including the forces that the guests of the wedding brought with them, among will likely be multiple emperors of the underworld," Jinbe explained.

"Not to mention that Cherry can't be allowed near the wedding itself." Sanji said.

"What?!" Cherry exclaimed.

"Why not?" Nami asked. "She's probably the strongest among us. If she can't be at the wedding itself, we'll be at a great disadvantage."

"Yeah! Don't you go making decisions on your own!" Cherry shouted.

"Cherry will pick a fight with Big Mom directly if we let her anywhere near the wedding," Sanji relayed.

"""WHAT?!?!?!""" the others yelped and glared at the woman in question.

"... No, I won't," Cherry excused lamely.

No one believed her.

"Ahaha, what's wrong with that? If she wants to fight, then let her," Luffy said, slapping his knee in good humor.

"Don't give her permission, Luffy! You're the only one she'll listen to besides Robin!" Nami shouted and throttled the rubber pirate. Luffy didn't stop laughing.

"It wouldn't be a good tactical situation to be in even with an assurance that you will win, Cherry. The resulting chaos would probably level the entire chateau, if not the entire island." Jinbe tried to reason with her.

"S-surely it wouldn't get THAT bad Jinbe?" Chopper chuckled nervously. He went deathly silent when he looked at Cherry and found that she looked a bit sheepish, like leveling the entire island was a real possibility and she was mildly embarrassed that it may happen.

"Still, it's true that we don't exactly have many options, given how few of us there are," Jinbe said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Well…" Cherry started before stopping herself.

"Well what, Cherry?" Nami seized the tail of her unfinished comment.

"Well, there's Bege," Cherry finished a bit unwillingly.

"What about him?" Sanji asked.

"Bege's planning to kill Big Mom during the wedding. If we absolutely MUST have more people, then he and his gang are available to fill in the numbers," Cherry said. "I'm surprised he hasn't already approached you about it, to be honest."

"That makes sense," Jinbe wasn't surprised. "He has quite the reputation for taking the heads of enemy organizations…"

Jinbe proceeded to fill in the others on exactly the kind of man that Bege is, the depths of his cruelty and insanity. He never killed for ambition, it was always with the intent of watching what was left of a group tear itself apart and taking great satisfaction in it.

"When he grew tired of playing his game on land, he set out to sea. Now, he's going for his biggest game yet, it seems," Jinebe said.

"Do we really want to team up with that guy?!" Chopper asked.

"He sounds insufferable," Pedro said.

"He sounds crazy!" Carrot added.

"Well, it's up to you, captain. We're bound to get in each others' way if we act separately from him, but that could be fun as well," Cherry said.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm…" Luffy hummed frustratedly. On the one hand, he didn't really want to work with a traitor, even if the one they were betraying was his enemy too. On the other hand, what Cherry said was true as well, and the worst case scenario was Bege using them to cover himself or even killing the Vinsmokes themselves.

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Chapitre 394: Obligatory Bath Time

The group arrived in front of a castle built into a cliffside around the back of the Whole Cake Chateau.

Luffy ultimately decided to team up with Bege, which was all according to Cherry's plan.

"Hey! You're thinking this is all according to your plan, aren't you?!" Nami accused baselessly. "You are NOT fighting Big Mom!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cherry denied innocently.

As they approached the entrance, a long tongued man walked out to greet them.

"Well, well, well. Lelolook who came craaawwwling back!" Vito drawled, crossing his arms smugly as he glared at Cherry.

"Get over it, Vito. You only got a bit wet," Cherry waved him off.

"I still have grape soda in my nose! I can still smell it! I've had three nasal irrigations done! Three!" Vito jabbed an accusing finger in Cherry's direction.

"That's because I upped the sugar content and made it extra sticky~" Cherry snickered.

"Why you…!" Vito went to reach for his pistol, but was unable to find it. He awkwardly patted his clothes until he stopped and looked at Cherry, twirling his gun around her finger with a knowing smile. "When did you even…?"

"Pshhh, I took it when I left your ship. I'm honestly shocked you didn't notice it was gone until now," Cherry smirked.

Vito scowled and his cheeks pinked in embarrassment.

"I'm here to talk to Bege!" Luffy cut in.

Vito was grateful for the change in subject. "Yeah, yeah. Let's get you guys cleaned up, the godfather isn't going to meet with some unwashed hobos."

They all followed Vito into the Fire Tanks' fortress.

"Hey, I was curious, do you just use shampoo for your whole body or what?" Nami asked Carrot.

"What's shampoo?" Carrot asked back.

"You're about to experience a whole new world of grooming, girl," Nami said.

"Where are you going, Cherry? Don't you need a bath, too?" Carrot asked as Cherry started to split off from the group.

"I can take care of impurities just fine without a bath. Since the chateau's blueprints didn't include this tasteless addition, I was going to scope it out." Cherry said.

"Oh no, you don't!" Nami spoke in a motherly tone. "I promised Robin that I wouldn't let you skimp out on baths, and more importantly I'm not letting you out of my sight until Big Mom is FAR behind us!"

"Blueprints?" Vito asked.

"Oh yeah, found them stowed away in a secret crawl space between the walls. They've got all the little secret passageways in the chateau and everything," Cherry latched onto his curiosity for dear life.

"The godfather would like to see those," Vito said, putting aside his personal issues with the woman in favor of business.

"I'm sure that he would, but for now Cherry is coming with us!" Nami snagged Cherry by the ear and dragged her away kicking and screaming. Mostly figuratively speaking.

"Wait, where are you taking me?!" Brulee demanded.

"If I'm going down, I'm not going down alone," Cherry said.

"What? It's just a bath, why are you making such a big deal about it?" Brulee asked in confusion.

"If you could use your internal energies to clean yourself, you'd never want to take another bath again either!" Cherry defended herself. "Besides… I don't like how water makes me feel all weak and stuff."

"THAT'S the reason you don't like baths???" Nami asked, dumbfounded. "You're like the only devil fruit user in the world who can swim!"

"Nuh-uh. I taught Robin how to do it, too," Cherry excused. "And that isn't the point. That's more like puppeting your own body like a marionette and it's annoying on top of making me anxious!"

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Brulee asked.

"Yeah, sure," Cherry agreed easily.

"Cherry, she's the enemy! Don't teach her your secret techniques and stuff to her!" Chopper complained.

"She's my buddy," Cherry shrugged.

"No I'm not," Brulee denied.

"We might as well be. I'm going to be engaged with Katakuri anyways, so we'll be sisters-in-law soon enough," Cherry said.

"I don't believe you. You're just saying that to mess with me," Brulee said reasonably.

"Oh, I did hear about that, but we figured that you would have ratted us out if you were really doing it," Vito chipped in.

"If Big Mom dies, then I'm the uncontested strongest and the whole crew belongs to me. That's the thing about ruling through fear; it becomes easy for someone else to take over where you left off." Cherry nodded sagely.

"What?!?!?!" Brulee exclaimed in shock.

"Look on the bright side. There's basically no chance that I eat any of you," Cherry said.

Brulee opened her mouth, then shut it again. She couldn't really deny the appeal of that, but she felt like she was falling into Cherry's trap somehow.

"Ah, yes, the bath. Get lost, Vito, before I give you a reason to take a bath, too," Cherry mimed shooting him. He got the picture and skedaddled.

When Vito was gone around a corner, Jinbe spoke up. "Is there a reason you're so antagonistic with that man, Cherry?"

"Listen, Jinbe. Sometimes a girl just needs a punching bag, and Vito has such a punchable face. If he didn't want to be bullied, then he should earn my respect or whatever," Cherry explained.

"Oh… really?" Jinbe looked to Nami, Carrot, and even Brulee for confirmation and didn't get anything from them.

'Women are frightening…' Jinbe thought as he went into the male side of the bath.

Cherry saw a familiar face as she dragged her feet into the bathroom. "Oh hey, Chiffon. How's the kid?"

"Spending some quality time with his father. Did you come here with your captain?" Chiffon asked, drying her hair.

"Yeah, I guess Luffy wants to maybe team up or something," Cherry confirmed.

"That's good. It should be easier to kill Mama if we have some back up," Chiffon said casually, like she wasn't talking about a plot to murder her own mother.

Naturally, Brulee took offense to this. "Chiffon, how could you be a part of this?! Have you no loyalty?! No sense of filial piety?!"

"I stopped considering that monster my mother the day she decided that Lola should die over a broken engagement, let alone when she tried to sell ME off in my sister's place. It's YOU who should be reconsidering your loyalties, not me," Chiffon spoke coldly.

"Lola?" Nami caught the name.

Whilst Nami started chatting about the time they met Chiffon's sister, Cherry took the chance to hurry up and finish bathing so she could snoop around Bege's hideout, maybe steal something or plant something.

"Why are you rushing, food friend?" Carrot asked her. "Isn't this a pretty nice place? Back on Zou we have to use rainwater in wooden tubs!"

Seeing the sparkling look in the girl's eyes, Cherry knew that struggling was useless. Carrot had entered a sort of sworn friendship with her with that clothes swapping thing and now it was like having another baby sister that she couldn't say no to, but with rabbit ears instead of wings.

"I suppose that it's a pretty nice bath. Best that I've seen in a little while, in fact. Only the royal bath in Alabasta beats it really," Cherry said. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay a bit longer…"

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