One Piece: Pride and Reunion

33: revived friendship

Benn's POV

"How...are you alive?" Robin hiccuped, looking up at the redheaded giant he looked to have gone through just as much as Robin if not more" how do you know my daughter?" I asked," I...was her first friend, she found me after an incident with some kids and we became friends...we were only friends for 3 days until the Ohara buster call happened and it all went to hell from there." Saul explained.

Robin collapsed onto her knees shaking" he was...he was the one to get me out to sea and escape after telling me I would never be alone. I watched him get frozen to death by Aokiji right in front of me, HOW THE HELL ARE YOU ALIVE!?!" Robin stuttered before falling apart and crying hysterically.

"That's the answer, Aokiji and I were good friends, he didn't kill me, he just encased me in ice with his ice time capsule and took me to Marie Jois for a trial where I would be a slave, on that day I had wished I had actually died for the horrors I saw in there for 22 years." The giant explained sadly" how did you get out?" I asked as he took Robin into his hand and gently hugged her.

"Same with all the other slaves, the invasion of Marie Jois 2 months ago, I didn't want to be seen so I got the hell out of dodge and came straight here." He said," all I can say is...thank you for saving my daughter." I said, his eyes widened" Robin is your daughter, now that I think about you do look similar. By the way, the names Saul." He said," Benn Beckman, I owe you for this." I said," if you survive the throne war, come and find me so we can have drinks." Saul said" sure." I said.

After several minutes Robin finally calmed down and the old friends got to talking about their experiences, by the time they were finished my fists were clenched in anger at the horrors they went through over the decades at the greed of people and not taking into consideration the bounty belonged to a child at the time, my daughter.

"Hey Saul, do you want to come back to the ships and meet my friends?" Robin asked," I would love to but I don't want to be seen by many people, when all of the chaos dies down maybe I can meet your friends." Saul said," you were the lynchpin to me even meeting them and liberating me from the hell I was in all my life, they should at least get the chance to thank you." Robin said," not when Buggy used to be a warlord and might blab that Saul is here to everyone he sees when we leave." I said.

"Exactly, but I will give you this much, relay a message to your friends that I say thank you for everything they did." Saul said," I will, thank you so much, and see you after the chaos dies down." Robin said," it probably won't when your captain becomes the pirate king, we'll pick you up and come back to Elbaf." I said" probably." Robin said and we went back to the ship.

45 minutes later, Luffy's POV 

Blocking a hit from Shanks I looked over to see Robin and Benn walking out of the treeline" hey Robin! How was research?" I asked," great, when the right time comes everyone will be converging on Laughtale along with the ancient weapons." She said," they probably have a timer until there activated which might be very soon since we just invaded and took down Marie Jois." I said.

"By the way, it should've taken a couple of hours to find what you needed at the library, what took you so long?" Chopper asked," I was uh...getting reacquainted with an old friend, he told me to pass this message to you guys, thank you for everything you did." Robin said," tell him you're welcome." I said" hold up, hold up! You told us Saul had died! How is he alive?!" Franky demanded," that's a long story." Robin said.

Aka's POV 

Watching Monaco walk up to Rockstar I looked over Mac" get to Yggdrasil and get 2 rubbings, one for the Straw Hats and the other for the Heart Pirates." Monaco said quietly" ok." He said and left" so we're in the final stretch." I said quietly" yeah we are, it'll be a shame to crush everyone's dreams but the devil fruits have to be destroyed no matter what." Mac said," I'll miss these idiots but it's all for the greater good." Tetsu said.