Bab 303: Epilogue 1: Natural Progression, Grand Event and Memories
___________ POV Narration ___________
The years rolled by quickly, with so much work or leisure all over the world, it was hard to keep track of it.
Enel and Robin had spent all of the years since their reunion together, hand in hand, exploring the world as they finally rejoiced in the peace after the storm which had almost destroyed the world.
They only really stopped their exploration momentarily when Enel noticed Robin's belly bulge outwards visibly one day...
Yep, it seemed that the pull-out method was not a perfect contraceptive in the end.
Regardless, the two merry archaeologists saw that as a sign that they needed to settle down slowly, and also get married.
They were neither panicked nor saddened by it. In fact, they were both quite excited to become parents.
Enel already had experience wrangling old man-children, so he felt even more ready for the role.
As for Robin... She was already an old lady even if her appearance said otherwise. She was mentally prepared to have a child for decades, it had just never been a priority.
There was no glamorous proposal, the two of them just logically decided that getting married was the right way for them to go forward.
Of course, the former Emperor still got on one knee and put a ring on her. But he was usually on one knee when interacting with her due to their size difference.
Being as large as Enel was as much of a blessing at times as it was a curse. But the former Emperor could manage, Robin also didn't seem to mind.
The following wedding was about as grand as one would expect.
Invitations were sent out through the world with the help of Morgans, who was the Godfather of the wedding alongside Stussy.
It was unknown when the two of them had ended up together, but they seemed to be quite happy.
Morgans himself was the best fit as Godfather since he was essentially the closest thing Robin had to a father in general.
He had protected her from many threats, including the former World Government when she was young and had been there for her for the longest of times—mostly from the shadows.
Among Enel's best men were counted Francisco, Garp, Wyper, Oven, Luffy, Dragon and even Akainu.
There were plenty, and Robin herself had a pretty big list of people to invite, so really they ended up with a rather packed 'venue'.
Francisco and Bonney essentially came as a package, the two of them were living together, freeloading in Shiki's grand estate, without even the slightest hint of shame.
Garp came with Dadan, the two of them acted more like bickering old men than a couple, but Enel wasn't one to judge.
Wyper came along with Raki, one of the Shandian Warriors of the past and a member of the God Guards.
Oven didn't have a partner unfortunately, he was just randomly paired up with Nami, much to Sanji's displeasure.
The Blonde Cook had not lost his great temper nor personality over the years, though he was also in a committed relationship and even technically married to one of Big Mom's daughters, Charlotte Pudding.
Luffy had also come hand-in-hand with Boa Hancock, much to the envy of many. The woman had eventually managed to win his heart after learning how to cook to a level at least close to that of Sanji.
Enel found her efforts both sweet and amusing, as Luffy likely would've been just as flattered and won over by a constant supply of gigantic slabs of meat with some pepper and salt on it.(condiments are optional)
Dragon also came along with... A suspiciously female-looking Crocodile.
The previously notorious member of Cross Guild seemed to have been returned to her original gender. At least that was what Dragon mentioned.
Enel had already been suspecting it, but the fact that it had turned out to be true was still enough to make him spit out his drink.
But it still couldn't be compared to the reaction that Luffy had shown when finally learning that Crocodile was his mother.
But that was a story better left for another time.
Akainu was a bit of a strange case, he was paired up with Hina, Viva and a few others for some pictures, but he wasn't all that interested in them or any woman in general.
He was already technically an old man, he could do without the drama.
He mostly hung around with all of the other Marines, as well as the pirates that he had grown to respect during and after the war like Law or Kuma.
The wedding didn't happen in one venue... No, it happened in an entire kingdom-sized amalgamation of islands brought together by Shiki.
As for the other attendees of the wedding...
Shiki had been busy, arranging just about every aspect of the wedding with an almost stunning dedication.
Of course, Enel was sure that a part of that was because the Golden Lion just wanted a good reason to host everyone on his islands again.
Sengoku and the New Marines were also there, not like they'd ever miss it for anything.
Fujitora may have been blind, but he still wanted to bear witness to the union.
The glorious army of the Sky King was gathered once again.
They had essentially made a world tour, both collecting guests and sightseeing during the entire 2-week duration that the wedding celebrations lasted.
Big Mom and her children led by Katakuri and Perospero came in bringing a lot of sweets.
Linlin herself had overseen the creation of the largest wedding cake one could think of, it was easily the size of a castle.
That cake was partially built by Sanji as well, who was now spending most of his days by Pudding's side, cooking with the best in the world.
Shanks and his crew were also present, for a present they brought lots of gold and jewellery, as the Red-Haired man was feeling largely uninspired that day.
The red-haired man was now wearing his Straw Hat too. Luffy had returned it to him after the war. At the end of the day, only after accomplishing his goal fully could the Sun God proclaim to be a Great Pirate.
Mihawk had also arrived, bringing in some personally brewed wine. He was looking much the same as before, except for the three massive, cross-shaped scars now marking his chest.
Though he was no longer the Strongest Swordsman, he remained a dependable ally. The title had never mattered to him; all he cared about was facing worthy opponents.
Roronoa Zoro, the man who defeated him and claimed his title, was the very swordsman Mihawk had cultivated for that purpose—to have a worthy fight.
And the moss-haired sword master had delivered. Alas, if only he had managed to make his way to the wedding properly...
He had only arrived after a week and proclaimed that everyone else had gotten lost.
Thankfully the other Straw Hats were a lot more punctual.
Especially Brook, who was also the wedding's musician.
It had been difficult for him to recover after the war, but his devil fruit had allowed him to revive eventually after Vegapunk had put his body back together.
Now, he had a travelling band, with one of the main musicians being, oddly enough, a gigantic whale that made rhythmic sounds out of its blowhole.
Shiki had, of course, prepared accommodations for it as well, bringing in Sea Clouds so it would be comfortable during the performance.
Franky had arrived alongside Vegapunk and his satellites. Stella, the old scientist's main body was already fully robotic, so it was only really looking old as a design choice.
Over the years Franky had not lost any of his unusual style, but he did at the very least wear the upper half of a tuxedo to the wedding.
For a present, he brought the bride and groom a marital bed that could also act as a flying, laser-shooting battleship.
It was a cool gift, difficult to refuse, and certainly stylish. It did have one painful design flaw though... Its battle mode could be triggered after three clapping sounds.
But that was something Robin and Enel were going to find out the hard way.
Jinbei and a large delegation from the Fishman Kingdom also attended, they brought many gifts, including some trinkets made out of special shells that could only be found at the bottom of the ocean.
Nami had come along with Vivi and King Combra all the way from Alabasta, after finishing her map of the world she mostly spent her days travelling and tending to her tangerine garden within her hometown.
Chopper was also now a travelling doctor, mostly sticking with Nami and protecting her whilst also checking out and researching different diseases.
Ussop had returned to his hometown after a while, now with some actual stories to tell his childhood sweetheart, who he also ended up married to eventually.
The Straw Hat Pirates remained a crew, even though they were scattered across different parts of the world. Each member held onto a piece of Luffy's Vivre Card, and every few months, they would reunite to spend time together.
The bond they had built would never truly fade away.
And Enel had managed to form a similar bond with plenty of people as well.
When the former Sky Emperor finally took a step to the Altar, surrounded by all of the people who had walked alongside him through his arduous journey, he felt truly fulfilled.
Friends turned enemies, then friends again. Criminals and Kings, Kingpins and Emperors, they all gathered in unison and fought alongside him.
Now, they stood alongside him again, but this time to celebrate the happiest moment in his life.
And to close the book and cut the cake... Well, there was no longer much cake left, as Luffy managed to stuff most of it into his mouth(somehow) during the ceremony.
Robin and Enel were too happy to get upset or even care, though Big Mom and Sanji did start kicking the shit out of the inflated Sun God.
Garp just laughed out loud and gulped some of the remaining cake, whilst Dragon just looked at the scene in concern, before joining his son and father in eating more of the cake.
Crocodile to the side also muttered something along the lines of 'This is why I abandoned you all and became a man!'
Alas, the Monkey family was always going to be a dysfunctional one.
But the wedding was otherwise free of other incidents.
Aside from the time Francisco and Zoro started a swordman's duel.
They only managed to cut apart a mountain or two before Shiki buried the both of them neck deep into haki-reinforced ground. Garp then proceeded to play a game of Whack-a-Mole with their heads, but that was neither here nor there.
It was a beautiful moment. And Enel was left with plenty of good memories.
And when seeing Robin's groggy figure still waking up in the morning, her hair a bit burnt after their bed started shooting lasers at the sky, he felt like the good memories would just keep flowing...
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That's it, folks! The end of the first epilogue at least, took me a bit to write, I'm also constantly working on the original story in tandem, that's progressing along nicely.
I plan to also write one about the 'Hall of the Greats' which is essentially about the people who died and what was written to remember them.
But that's finna come out later.
Anyway, I'm off now! Thank you all for sticking around for all this time and for reading my story!
If you want to support me and any future writing endeavours, you can do so through Patr_eon, just look up VeganMaster there!
Status Power Mingguan
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