บท 45: Chapter forty five- Recruiting and talks

Landing on the top of the Drum Rockies for the third time Gabriel smirked as he headed towards and around the castle, putting his hands behind his head as he took the leisurely stroll, and as he came around the side he smirked as he saw both Sanji and Chopper standing over the downed form of the freaky abomination of those two idiots that followed the fatso.

"Well looks like I missed a fight," Gabriel said announcing himself as Sanji lit up another cigarette.

"there you are, where have you been, we had to take care of these idiots without you" Sanji complained.

Gabriel snorted, "I didn't know you needed your hand-held blondie" he taunted, "I was busy exploring the island saw some interesting sights" he mused.

"So, you're the one who brought that young lady up here for treatment I take it," Doctor Kureha spoke getting his attention.

Gabriel looked to her and nodded, "I did, name's Gabriel, I trust you were able to treat her?"

Kureha snorted, "of course I was, the little lady will be fine"

Gabriel nodded, "good," he said before looking at her closely, his crew was in need of a doctor, but he didn't know if she would fit, she certainly had the skill but it was a question of how he could get her to join him.

She saw him looking at her and smirked, "You interested in finding out the secret to my eternal youth" she mused with a grin.

And that was when it hit him and he smirked back at her, "No, I was just considering making you an offer,"

Kurha cackled, "sorry but you're a little young for my tastes, I'd be afraid of breaking you" she mused before taking a drink from her bottle.

Gabriel looked a little green at the idea but shook his head, "Not that kind of offer, my crew will be needing a Doctor in the future and if you're as skilled as people say"

Kureha laughed, "Sorry kiddo, but I prefer to keep my feet on solid land, you couldn't get me on a boat even if you paid me" she said as she brought her bottle to her mouth to take a drink.

Gabriel smirked, "even if I was able to provide you with the means to make you young again" he said and watched as she froze with the bottle against her lips.

Taking the bottle from her lips Kureha flipped her glasses up and gave him a hard look, "and just how would you do that"

'got ya' Gabriel thought to himself before crossing his arms, "I am aware of a devil fruit that is currently in circulation, a devil fruit that allows the user to alter the age of anyone that they wish, I am unaware of the extent of its powers but I know that it can at least turn back thirty years on a person perhaps more, imagine the benefits of that"

Kureha looked thoughtful at the comment and both Sanji and Chopper were listening on intently to the conversation, both seemed very interested in what was being discussed.

"Alright kiddo, you have me interested, if you can make me younger then sure I'll join your crew, but only after I'm young again and not before" Kureha said as she pointed her finger at him, "don't think I'll join up a second before that"

Gabriel smirked and nodded, "Then we have a deal, I'll keep to my word if you keep to yours" Gabriel intoned before he got a quest notification that appeared in front of him.

Quest: Starting a fleet

Goals:

Recruit the Bonnie Pirates under your flag

???

Reward: ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???, ???

Looking at the quest Gabriel had to fight to keep from his eyes bulging as he read it, it was clearly a huge quest and one that he wouldn't be completing any time soon, but the rewards had the potential to be huge for a quest like this. He accepted instantly before looking to the castle.

"Well I assume that Luffy is fighting the Fatso inside?" he asked getting nods from the rest of them.

"Well I'll just head in and see if he needs a hand, though I doubt it" Gabriel said as he began to walk to the door spinning his staff as he went.

Getting inside he didn't see Luffy or the fatso anywhere but just shrugged, his vibration senses told him exactly where they were and he knew it would be over soon enough and decided to go up and see how Nami was doing while everything was being taken care of.

Nami was back laying down in bed under the covers when Gabriel opened the door and walked into the room, she looked at him when he came in before looking away, her thoughts conflicted. She had woken up a while before feeling much better than she had been, only to find herself in a strange place with Luffy there beside her. He had told her where she was and how Gabriel had been the one to carry her up a freaking mountain to get treated. She just didn't understand him, she had been treating him as if he hadn't existed before after they all found out about his dangerous method of training that could get him killed, and yet despite that he turned around and brought her to get help. She just didn't know what to make of that.

Seeing her look away Gabriel sighed as he made his way over to the armchair and sat down, "still going to give me the silent treatment" he mused, "that's fine with me, I could do with a nap either way" he mused as he lay back in the chair and leaned his staff against the wall and closed his eyes.

Nami frowned at his words and remained silent for several moments after as they sat in silence, eventually the silence got to her and she bit the bullet and spoke, "Thank you," she said before clarifying, "Luffy told me you were the one to carry me up here to be treated, so thanks"

Gabriel smiled as he kept his eyes closed, "don't mention it, I was only doing what was right, you would have died if your illness got any worse, it wouldn't sit right with me if I let a friend died when I could easily help them"

"You carried me up a mountain, and you call that easy!" Nami snapped at him and he only chuckled in response to her yelling, he didn't have the heart to tell her that he'd came up and down the mountain twice more since then, he let her think what she would.

Nami looked at him pissed off at his chuckling but after he had what he had for her she didn't have the nerve to hit him, he would probably just phase through it anyway. Letting her anger fade she sighed and looked out the window.

"I don't get you," Nami said after a moment, "you risk your life like you do, I treated you like you didn't exist because of it and then you go and do this right after, it just doesn't make sense to me"

Gabriel smiled, "we had an argument, that's hardly reason for me to let you die now is it" he mused.

"But we're not even on the same crew!" Nami snapped at him, "all of us know that you are only traveling with us because of that agreement you have with Luffy, you're not one of us but yet you risk your life for me regardless of that." Nami said making Gabriel open his eyes and look at her, "even though you and Luffy have that agreement, everyone else still see's you as a member of the crew, but every time you rebuke us and remind us that you're not, I don't get why you would go out of your way to do this, especially after how I acted towards you."

Gabriel sighted as he leaned his head back and looked up at the ceiling. What she was saying was the truth, even though he had stated in the past that he was forming his own crew and wasn't a part of the Straw Hat crew that didn't stop them from treating him like he was. Hell, sometimes they even listened to him as much as they did Luffy. It was both out of respect for his strength as it was anything else, and as much as he hated to admit it he was getting closer to everyone of the straw hats. He was just as much a part of their crew as he was captain of his own despite everything he said, but then what could he really expect given that he had been sailing with them for so long.

"I suppose I can't fault you there," Gabriel said after a moment of thinking, "I have become one of you guys regardless of my future ambitions and dreams, I feel as close to everyone of you guys as I do my own crew, I suppose traveling together as we have I can't really say I should have expected anything less to happen" he said shaking his head, "But I don't regret it, traveling with you all has proven to be the most fun I've had in all my life." He said closing his eyes and remembering his past life, "I was never close with my family growing up, my folks had better things to do than look after me once I was able to take care of myself, I don't suppose you could really call what we had a family, but what we all share, I suppose that's as close to the feeling of having a family as I've ever truly had. The way we laugh and have fun together, the way we each have one another's backs, to me that is what a family is, and I don't think I could live with myself if I let any member of my family die without knowing that I did everything in my power to make sure they survived"

Nami listened to him as he talked, as far as she knew he had never talked about his past before except for the odd comment now and again, so to hear that detail about his parents not caring for him, it seemed to explain a lot to her about his personality and attitude towards things.

"then why do you risk your life training like you do, you're constantly putting yourself at risk every time you do that, don't you think that we all feel the same way about you?" Nami voiced remembering how she felt when she had seen him all beaten up and bloody because of his training.

Gabriel sighed, "of course I do, but I have my dream, and families support one another in achieving their dreams just like the crew does, and when they can't help, they have faith in them do to so on their own. I aim to fulfil my dream and use every method I can to become stronger, you can't gain anything if you don't risk something, if I die before achieving my dream then that's just how it is meant to be, it means I wasn't strong enough. But I would rather die like that than die a coward that never did everything to reach for his dream in the first place"

Nami looked down at the bed and clenched the sheets in her hands, she didn't know why but every time she heard him talk about dying if felt as though someone was punching her in the gut, she swallowed deciding to think about it another time before she spoke, "then you had better achieve your dream then" she said before looking at him hard, "and no more talking about dying before you do, you're going to be the strongest Yonkō right, a future Yonkō shouldn't be talking like that, nor should you when you're a Yonkō. So, the next time you talk like that I'm fining you a billion Beri got that"

Gabriel looked at her and blinked at the hard look she was giving him and the threatening tone which she spoke with. "Um, got it"

Nami nodded, "good," she said before laying back down in bed, "I'm going to sleep so you had better be quiet, and don't even think about trying anything funny while I'm sleeping"

Gabriel blinked again and only nodded at her response before watching her pull the covers over herself and turn her back to him. 'what the hell was that all about' he thought before a thought struck him.

'is she really falling for me?' he thought with some mild shock, sure he had noted her attitude towards him previously, but he had just brushed that aside as just her normal attitude. Nami in the series never showed any kind of romantic feelings towards others on the crew before, she only ever cared about money.

Sighing to himself and shaking his head he decided that it would be best to keep a close watch on her, truthfully he didn't mind a relationship with her, besides her money loving ways Nami was a good person, he just wasn't sure how it would work out with them being in two different crews.

Putting that thought to the back of his mind Gabriel shut his eyes, 'a matter for another time, until she acts on it I'll just wait and see what comes in the future' he thought before deciding to get some sleep himself.