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“Franky finish giving you the tour?” Sanji asked as Jinbe joined him and Usopp in the aquarium room.
“Yes, and about time, too,” Jinbe said, collapsing next to Usopp. “I admire his pride in his work, but I can’t say I’ve ever taken an interest in engineering.”
Usopp laughed and took a bite of one of the mini sandwiches Sanji had brought in on a tray. “He likes to show off! You get used to it.”
“And how long will that take?”
“Before that, here you go,” Sanji said, opening the dumbwaiter. He removed the tray sitting inside and presented it to Jinbe. “I noticed you ate a lot of this at the festival.”
“Ochazuke!” Jinbe exclaimed, taking the small, warm bowl. “Thank you very much.”
“My pleasure. What do you like most about the ship?”
“This room,” Jinbe said, sipping broth from his spoon. “It’s beautiful. It reminds me of home.”
“I guess it would,” Usopp said, swallowing his sandwich. “Do you miss it?”
“Sometimes. But please don’t misunderstand—I’m very happy to be here.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sanji said. He sat down next to Jinbe. “We all miss home sometimes.”
“Where do you hail from?”
“I worked at a restaurant in the East Blue before this,” Sanji said. “My old man made me join.”
“I’m from Syrup Village in the East Blue!” Usopp said proudly. “Of course I think about all my old crew back home, but I wouldn’t trade being a pirate for the world!”
“Crew?”
“Don’t ask,” Sanji whispered. Raising his voice, he said, “Yeah, you were pretty scrawny back then.”
“I was just as strong as I am now! I was hiding it for your sakes!”
“Yeah, of course.”
“I wish I had known you all two years ago,” Jinbe remarked, stirring his rice. “Luffy I knew, and it’s obvious he’s gotten much stronger even since he came to Fishman Island. But the rest of you, well . . .”
“Luffy just keeps finding new tricks to win battles,” Sanji said, smiling. “First time I met him, he saved my restaurant, and then I had to save his ass from drowning.”
“That’s not surprising.”
“Trust us, we’ve gotten stronger, too!” Usopp said. “Only recently have I been able to unlock my true power—”
“He has gotten better at lying,” Sanji said. As Usopp sputtered, Sanji continued, “I wasn’t able to walk in the sky until about a year ago, if that gives you any indication.”
“I almost wish I could do that trick myself, but I prefer to stay close to the sea,” Jinbe said with a small laugh. “Say, how long has Franky been on this crew?”
“He was . . . uh . . .” Usopp counted on his fingers. “Counting Luffy, he’s the eighth.”
“May I ask what vessel you used to sail before he built the Sunny?”
“Oh. That was Merry.” Usopp clasped his hands in his lap. “She died.”
“She was a fine ship, but not strong enough for the Grand Line,” Sanji explained.
“I . . . I see. I’m sorry. I’m sure she was wonderful.”
“Her spirit lives on in Sunny,” Usopp said quietly. He shook his head. “Do you ever think, if we could travel back in time and face the same situations, how easy everything would be? I mean, Baroque Works would be a snap!”
“Baroque Works was Crocodile’s old company, wasn’t it?” Jinbe said. “I heard about it after the Navy broke them up.”
Sanji tsked. “We broke them up. They were trying to ruin Vivi-chan’s country, so we kicked their asses.”
“And the Navy took the credit? That’s typical,” Jinbe said with a shake of his head.
“Whatever did happen to those crooks?” Usopp wondered.
“Some of them ended up in Impel Down,” Jinbe said. “Crocodile included. But they got away during Luffy’s break-in.”
“Wait—so they’re at large?!”
“Don’t worry, Usopp,” Sanji said, reaching around Jinbe to pat his head. “You just said they’d be a snap, remember? I bet you could beat Crocodile himself.”
“I meant back then! It’s been two years! Who knows how strong they are now?!”
“Hey, what about you?” Sanji said to Jinbe. “You asked us how strong we’ve gotten. Do you feel any stronger after what you and Luffy went through two years ago?”
“I wish I could say yes,” Jinbe said. He felt his chest. “I . . . went through the same attack that gave Luffy the scar on his chest. It’s healed over, but I still feel it sometimes. And I think to myself . . . if we went through that again, right now, would I be able to protect him better?”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Usopp said. “We’re here now. And we’re not going to let it happen again.”
Jinbe gave him a nod. “Of course. I . . . should have realized that. Thank you.”
Sanji stood, stretching. “I’m going to start thinking about dinner. When you guys are done, send your dishes up the dumbwaiter.” He headed for the door, and then paused, turning around. “Oh, and Jinbe? If you really do feel that old wound acting up, go see Chopper. He’ll come up with something.”
Jinbe smiled. “I will.”