ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛᴇ - 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦

𝙭 - 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨

As the siblings finished hugging, Nami quickly laid out the situation for the "stuck-between-buildings" duo.

"What's there to think about? Let's set sail and go after them!" Luffy declared, fire in his voice, Zoro nodding beside him. "Hey, rope guy, lead us to a boat!"

Wait... did Luffy just call him "Rope guy"? Meela blinked, caught off guard. No way. That's my nickname bro.

"By the way, is there another sea train?" Luffy asked.

"There's only one sea train in the world: The Puffing Tom," the man replied.

"But it already left," Meela cut in, brushing past him. "We get it. If we wanted a boat, we'd have to wait until morning, which would mean being too late to save our besties. What we should talk about is the place we're heading to before we commit to Operation Rescue Our Besties."

Before anyone could reply, Nami added, "I know what kind of place Enies Lobby is. Isn't that where the Gates of Justice are?"

Luffy and Zoro exchanged confused looks, and Meela jumped in. "Enies Lobby is where criminals are put on trial."

"The fact that someone's being taken there is evidence enough of the crime," Nami said.

"True," Meela nodded. "Once someone's taken to Enies Lobby, they pass through the Gates of Justice—and from there, it's either Marine Headquarters or Impel Down." She frowned. "Those bastards don't do mercy."

"Which is why we can't wait until morning!" Nami insisted. "While we're standing here, Robin's getting closer and closer to those gates!"

The rope guy started repeating the same situation like they hadn't just covered all of this, and Meela's eye twitched.

"Do you still plan to wage war on the world?" he asked finally.

Meela turned to Luffy. We've literally been over this, Rope dude.

"In that case... we'll take the ship by force!" Luffy shouted. "We're leaving now! Our friends are waiting for us, so don't get in the way!"

The Straw Hats jumped into action, weapons drawn and eyes fierce. But of course, Rope dude—apparently named Paulie now, thanks to some shipwright in the back—blocked their path like a one-man wall.

Still Rope dude, Meela thought, not even pretending to care about his name.

"Paulie is right," an old woman said as she stepped forward. "You guys aren't thinking straight. You should hear me out. The only thing that can survive Aqua Laguna is the sea train. So follow me. I'll start the 'sea train' for you."

Wait—so there's another one?! Meela's eyes widened as she watched the old lady shuffle off, leading the way.

⸻

(Mini time skip)

The old woman brought them to a hidden dock, where a bulkier, beat-up version of the original train sat—apparently called "Rocket Man." Iceberg was already there, fixing it up like it was no big deal.

Meela turned around and immediately gasped.

"Wow!" she yelled, bolting to the mountain of food that had been laid out. She dug in without hesitation—everything except the meat. That was sacred territory.

"Me-Me! Don't eat it all!" Luffy whined, sprinting over and snatching a huge hunk of meat. "Save some for me! And Zoro!"

Meela peeked over to see Zoro already in the corner downing bottle after bottle of sake.

Bruh, she thought, chewing without pause.

Just as she hit a second plate, the Franky Family came crashing onto the scene.

"STRAW HAT! PLEASE TAKE US WITH YOU! WE HEARD FROM THE GAL—" one of them blurted dramatically.

Meela tuned it out instantly. Blah blah blah, dramatic monologue, got it.

She noticed everyone was already climbing into Rocket Man and made her move.

They were gonna end up coming anyway, she shrugged mentally.

But then—

"SIS!?" the Franky Family yelped in sync when they spotted her stepping aboard. "Why are you here?!"

Meela stared at them. Hard.

"I'm helping my little brother," she said flatly.

"Your brother?" one of them echoed.

"Yeah. I've talked about him before."

They all exchanged blank looks.

She rolled her eyes and shouted, "STRAW HAT IS MY LITTLE BROTHER, YOU IDIOTS!"

A collective gasp.

"OHHHHH!" they chorused, looking like they'd just had a religious awakening.

Luffy laughed out loud. "Alright, since it's cleared up that Me-Me is my sister, let's go!"

Meela smirked and leaned back against the train wall.

Now would be a perfect time for a juicy nap...