บท 357: 357. Years of Promise
After the crew leaves the teens and Manba on the island, they go to the Reverse Mountain. They will leave North Blue already, but they won't return to East Blue yet. The crew has another plan and that is to enter Grandline again through the normal way.
Yeah, they will really use the Reverse Mountain to enter Grandline like they're supposed to. The Clown Pirates haven't used Reverse Mountain to enter Grandline for years. Their reason is just one, to avoid meeting Laboon before Brook fulfills his promise.
His promise was to go through Grandline and return to Twin Cape from the other side of Red Line. Brook's late Pirate Crew didn't specify that they would find Laugh Tale because it hasn't been found at that time. They just needed to pass the challenges of Grandline and return to Twin Cape from the other side.
That's why Brook thought that it was enough because The Clown Pirates have reached the end of Log Pose, which was also Rumbar Pirates' original goal. So Brook decided to meet Laboon again and fulfill his late crew's promise. He doesn't want to make Laboon wait even longer, after all.
It doesn't take long for the crew to reach the Twin Cape at Black Pearl's speed. They arrive just in a few hours, but they don't find anyone there. Both Crocus & Laboon aren't there, at least not in the place they can see.
"Well, let's just wait, maybe they are diving or something," says Buggy.
The crew then docks their ship and right when they drop the anchor, the water in front of the downstream raises. It keeps getting bigger until eventually something massive comes out of the water. It's a massive blue whale that has many scars on its head.
Brook's body trembles and tears come out of his hollow eye sockets. But no word comes out of his mouth, he is rooted in his spot on the ship's deck. Many emotions are filling his heart now, but his mind can't convey them.
"Hmm? That whale seems to be the same as a few years ago," says Palu.
"Well yeah, it is the same whale, after all," says Jude.
"No, I mean it doesn't change at all. Didn't Crocus tell us that this guy keep ramming its head onto the Red Line? Then its scars should increase, right? But it looks like the scars stay the same," says Palu while rubbing his chin.
"Maybe it's just your imagination. You don't have a good memory, after all," says Jude with a rather annoyed tone.
"This again? Come on, haven't I apologized," says Palu with a defeated tone.
"Hmph, how many times have you apologized about the same topic? You always forget our anniversary and never remembered it even from the 1st year," says Jude while pouting.
Both of them have been dating for a rather long time now. Palu was working hard to get Jude's heart after she moved on from Buggy. He succeeded and she finally accepted him, but well, there are always problems in relationships.
Jude is someone who always wants to celebrate their couple's events. But Palu always forgets them, even their anniversary. Well, men don't usually think about that, but the problem is he forgets it every year.
Luckily, it's easy to appease Jude, so she won't get angry for too long as long as he gives her something she likes. They are like a couple of teenagers, so their crewmates are always amused by their antiques.
Anyway, the crew's attention is on Laboon again. Most of them had never seen Laboon before, after all, so they are quite amazed by it. They've seen many giant creatures and whales bigger than Laboon, but somehow this guy looks more impressive.
Then they get more surprised when they see a side of Laboon's body open up like a door. A small ship that looks like a floating island with a house on it comes out. There's also a man on the ship, it's Crocus who has just entered Laboon's body.
Crocus also sees them and he gets rather surprised. It's been a long time since he saw The Clown Pirates, after all. The last time was when they've just entered Grandline with their small ship and only have 5 people, but now they have a bigger ship and many more members.
"LABOON!" shouts Brook so suddenly.
Crocus & Laboon get surprised when they hear his voice. It's a familiar voice they haven't heard for a long time, after all. Of course, Crocus has known about Brook being in Buggy's crew and he has speculated that the living skeleton is Brook from Rumbar Pirates.
But he wasn't sure yet until now when he finally hears Brook's voice. Laboon also recognizes Brook's voice and looks toward the ship. The whale then swims closer and looks around to find Brook with its big eyes.
However, it can't find the Brook that he remembers. Brook waves his hands while calling Laboon and the whale is tilting its head in confusion. Well, Brook is very different from how the whale remembers him.
Brook gets sad, so Buggy tells him, "Hey Brook, why don't you sing something that this guy likes? It must be confused right now."
"Oh, that's a good idea, Lord Captain," says Brook while giving Buggy another nickname.
Brook then goes to his Grand Piano and starts to play it. He plays the song that almost every old Generation fun pirate in this world knows, Bink's Sake. The crew enjoys Brook's play but they don't interrupt him and let him play alone.
"Yohohoho~ Yohohoho~," sings Brook while remembering his late crew.
"Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo...." Brook keeps singing the song while the crew listens to it calmly and swings their bodies to the left & right.
Crocus who is still on his ship house smiles while closing his eyes. He's also remembering the Rumbar Pirates who always played this song back then. Some tears come out of his eyes and then he looks at Laboon.
Laboon the Whale is staying still as if it is just a statue with its mouth opens. Then as Brook keeps singing, tears also come out of Laboon's massive round eyes. Laboon also remembers its old friends whom it has waited for so many years.
Then Laboon looks at Brook and finally realizes who he is. Brook's appearance is different now, but he is still the same person. After realizing it, Laboon cries happily and sadly at the same time. Laboon is a smart whale, so it knows why Brook comes back alone.
It makes Laboon happy that Brook returns and fulfills their promise. But it also makes Laboon sad that only Brook returns after so many years. That's why Laboon's cry is full of happiness and sadness.
Everyone there can feel it and it makes many of them cry. But the ones who cry the most are still Brook, Laboon, & Crocus. This is such a happy yet sad day for the 3 of them who have waited for this day to come for years.
"I thought you were joking when you said that you would find them. Even if only 1 of them returns, they are still fulfilling their promise," says Crocus to Buggy after he gets on Black Pearl.
"It was luck that helped me meet Brook. Also, different from Roger Pirates, we were exploring more places, so our chance to find him is higher," says Buggy.
"How did you find him though?" asks Crocus.
"It's better if you ask Brook rather than me. He must have a lot of things to tell you and Laboon," says Buggy.
"You're right, Laboon needs to know what happened too. It will be devastating, but I'm sure he also wants to know what happened to his friends," says Crocus.
Crocus & Buggy stop talking and look at Laboon & Brook who seem to sing together. Then everyone in the crew starts singing with them. It makes Laboon very happy because it feels like the past when it was just a small whale following a pirate crew's ship.
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