CHAPTER FINALE: REBORN
Everyone got off at Cocoyashi Village, the island where Nami stayed and grew up. They have dropped 3 2 1 Jango on another island quite far away from this island—they have no intention to have anything to do with this Michael Jackson wannabe anymore than he did. They hid the ship somewhere secluded just in case Smoker would be out at sea looking for them.
The Cocoyashi residents welcomed Nami back and gave an equally warm welcome to the rest of the crew. Of course, they had to get acquainted with Chopper for it was the first time they saw this member of the Going Merry crew. The village doctor took a look at Luffy’s condition and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“This boy is a real fighter. He may have been revived and being in a coma state for quite a long time, but his new heart is really beating away, since you said that Luffy was stabbed in the heart.”
“Any chance that he would wake up from his coma state?” Sanji asked.
“I can’t give you a conclusive answer. Could be tomorrow, could be next week, could be anytime. You can never predict when a coma-stricken person will wake up. It’ll have to depend on his spirit now. Do you wish to leave him here for us to take care or take him home?”
“We’ll take him home and take care of him ourselves,” Zoro said as he carried the sleeping Luffy in his arms and walked out of the clinic.
“We can inform you when he wakes up, and we have the equipment…”
“It’s OK, doc,” Sanji laid a hand on the doctor’s shoulder to stop him from following Zoro, “we can handle it. We would rather get the news first hand.”
The crew walked all the way to Nami’s home at the far end of the village. Nojiko was quite surprised to see them all and even more surprised to see Luffy who was rumoured to be dead in Zoro’s arms. Nojiko’s husband, who happens to be studying a lot about the sea, said, “He may be fed with the self-generating fruit, a.k.a. the Dosu-Dosu fruit.”
“What the heck is that?” Usopp asked, surprised.
“It’s a fruit that can help the eater regenerate him/herself no matter how many wounds are infected on him/her. This fruit could be the fruit of immortality itself!”
“Wow!” Usopp was impressed. “To think we are about to suffer the same fate! We’re going to be immortals!”
“Yeah, but the idea of floating in a container filled with icky green fluid forever doesn’t give a good ring to our immortality,” Chopper said, his eyes half-closed in frustration.
“Whatever he’ll turn out to be, he’s here with us. That’s all that counts,” Zoro replied, stroking Luffy’s face gently. He then turned to his crew members and said, “Come, guys. Let’s get busy. We got a treasure to bury.”
“Let me do it,” Chopper said as he morphed to his battle mode. “The condition that you and Sanji are in is not appropriate to be carrying heavy objects, and as the Going Merry personal physician, I forbid you to do anymore strenuous exercise.”
“We’ll help out too,” Nami and Usopp said in unison.
So, with the help of Nojiko and her husband, the crew carried all the One Piece treasure from the wine cellar of Colonel Smoker’s ship all the way to the lime orchard of the late Bellemere. Nami and her brother-in-law took a shovel each and dug a hole under one of the lime bushes. Sanji and Zoro watched them from the house as they worked, propping the sleeping Luffy on their knees.
“Do you see that, Luffy? We’ve retrieved the One Piece you have been dreaming of for years now,” Zoro said as he stroked Luffy’s hair. “We’ve did it, Luffy. We’ve got back what was meant for you.”
“You are the one true Pirate King,” Sanji said too, as he popped a Gummy chewing gum into his mouth. “Our one true Pirate King.”
“Should we tell him, Sanji?”
“It’s now or never, Zoro. We won’t know when he is ever going to wake up.”
“OK,” Zoro took a deep breath before saying, “Luffy, I know you can somehow hear us, so listen carefully. Do you remember our first night after the wedding?”
“And do you remember the day you said that I could be your lover?” Sanji asked as he, too, stroked Luffy’s hair.
“Before you proposed to me, I have already made plans for anything incoming. I have bought myself some devil fruit from a person who works in some sort of black market. It wasn’t cheap, but it was worth it.”
“And I swiped some of it from Zoro when he wasn’t looking. It’s called the Piku fruit,” Sanji said. “It makes a person—especially men like us—able to conceive.”
“During our first night,” Zoro continued, “I ate a little of the fruit before we made love.”
“And I ate it too before we made love, Luffy.”
“The fruit took quite some time to take effect, but it actually worked.”
“And guess what, Luffy?”
“We’re pregnant,” Sanji and Zoro said in unison, loud enough for the sleeping Luffy to hear.
“Can you feel anything now, Zoro, Sanji?”
Zoro and Sanji shook their heads. Chopper nodded and took out a scalpel. He also took out two cloths and stuffed them into their mouths.
“Just in case you do feel anything. The effects of the anesthesia are unpredictable. Ready, guys? I’ll start with Zoro first.”
Zoro bit hard on the cloth when he felt the pressure of the scalpel below his round belly. Nine months have passed after the burial of the One Piece in Nami’s lime orchard. Zoro, Chopper and Sanji decided to stay in Cocoyashi Village with Nami while Usopp returned to his island to be with Kaya. They used some of the One Piece to build a home right next to Nami’s old hut, and offered to renovate her hut so that both Nami, her sister and her brother-in-law could live more comfortably. Luffy was kept in a special room upstairs and Zoro and Sanji took turns taking care of Luffy, hoping that one day he would wake up and see his children that they were carrying for him inside them. Nojiko had a son of her own, so she and Chopper teamed up to make sure that Zoro and Sanji took good care of the babies inside them. Now the time has come to let the children out to the world and Chopper was about to perform a C-section for both of them.
“Are you sure you can do this, Chopper?” Nojiko asked worriedly, wiping the cold sweat off both Zoro and Sanji’s head.
“Trust me, ma’am. I can do this.”
The procedure was quite tricky and needed a lot of patience, but finally, after much cutting and prying and wiping off the excess blood, Chopper finally pulled out the baby inside Zoro. He held the baby upside-down and tapped the baby’s back a few times until the baby started wailing, letting air into its lungs. Chopper smiled as he cut the umbilical cord and handed the baby to Nojiko to wrap.
“You have a son, Zoro. Congratulations!”
Zoro took the wailing baby in his arms and kissed him tenderly. He wanted to be cool and collected about this whole thing, but as much as he tried, he couldn’t help feeling touched at the sight of his newborn son. He kissed him over and over again, tears of joy flowing out of his eyes.
“Now it’s your turn, Sanji. Hang in there,” Chopper said after sewing up the gaping wound under Zoro’s belly. He laid the tip of the scalpel below Sanji’s round belly and started operating. Lucky for Sanji, the effects of the anesthesia had not worn off yet. The same procedure repeated: the cutting, the prying and the wiping of excess blood. Nojiko put her hand on Sanji’s shoulder, comforting him and telling him to relax. Zoro watched the whole procedure with interest, surprised to see that this was what happened to him before.
Finally, Chopper pulled out the baby inside Sanji. He did the same thing to the baby until it wailed to let the air into its lungs. Chopper cut the umbilical cord and handed it to the ever ready Nojiko. He quickly sewed up the wound while Sanji was occupied at the sight of the baby.
“You have a girl, Sanji. Congrats to you too!”
Sanji didn’t attempt to hold his tears of joy. He let it fall freely out of his eyes as he, too, kissed his daughter over and over again. Emotional kind of guy, but that’s how he is.
“Congratulations, both of you!” Nojiko said happily, clapping her hands with glee. “So, what are you going to name your children?”
“Luffy,” Zoro said almost immediately. “Monkey D. Luffy Junior.”
“I guess I’ll call her by your guardian’s name,” Sanji said. “Monkey D. Bellemere. It has a nice ring to it. If that’s OK with you, Nojiko-san.”
“No problem. No problem at all,” Nojiko smiled outgoingly.
“I have another surprise for you two, Zoro, Sanji,” Chopper said as he winked at the grinning Nojiko. “Nami, come down a second!”
Zoro and Sanji turned their heads weakly to see what he was talking about. Nami appeared—her face was all smiles. She seemed like she was supporting someone who was trying to walk properly. As the mysterious person revealed himself, Zoro and Sanji gasped. He was a little shorter than Nami and was wearing the ever familiar maroon vest and khaki jeans. He had a scar below his left eye and most importantly, he had the straw hat on. He opened his mouth and called out in his ever familiar voice:
“Zoro-chan? Sanji-chan?”
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