One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty Seven

-Chapter Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven-

"Hey, you guys left the party too?" Luffy asked as he and Jinbe joined the rest of us in the room we had taken refuge in. Nami and I halted in our quiet conversation with one another to look back at our captain who was carrying a large plate of food with him.

"Zoro sort of dragged me here with him—he most likely thought he was going to get some action in his drunken state only to instead fall asleep on me" I deadpanned, causing the ginger beside me to snort as I jabbed a thumb towards the sleeping swordsman.

"I'm trying to sober up" Nami admitted. "I drank too much."

"And I ate too much..." Usopp groaned, his stomach and cheeks bloated.

"Sanji flirted too much..." Chopper sighed as he waved a handkerchief at the blond who was sprawled out on the floor with a blissful, lovestruck look on his face.

"This place is so magical... there are so many babes I can't take it..." he dreamily sighed as he reminisced about the beautiful mermaids that had served us during the banquet.

"What? So Akainu and Aokiji fought each other?!" Luffy gasped through a mouthful of food after hearing what Jinbe had to share with him.

"Luffy..." I said, giving the captain a pointed look as he jolted before quickly swallowing the food in his mouth. It seems even after two years, some things never change as I heavily sighed.

"It was a major event, did Rayleigh never mention this to you during your training?" Jinbe asked.

"Nope, this is news to me" Luffy shook his head.

"That was cruel of him" Jinbe frowned.

"Oh, I knew about it the whole time! So did I do good?" Chopper sparkled.

"I was aware of it as well—surprised you hadn't heard about it, it was quite big news" I tilted my head.

"That's crazy!" Usopp exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"It all started two years ago, right after the war ended" Jinbe began. "Sengoku resigned as Fleet Admiral—Aokiji was well-liked among his own men, so Sengoku nominated him to take over the title. But many high-ranking officials favor Akainu, so he became a contender as well" he explained. "Aokiji is normally cool-tempered, but he was quite adamant in his disapproval of Akainu—he found him unfit for the position. So it did not take long for the disagreement to come to blows on an island somewhere" he frowned.

"It was the first and final battle between the two Admirals" he continued. "It was agreed that whoever lost would withdraw his candidacy without protest and the winner would become the leader of the Navy" he recounted. "As the rest of the world now knows, they fought for ten whole days—the two opponents were equally matched in power. But the duel eventually ended and Akainu—or as some know him, Sakazuki—emerged victorious."

"That bastard won?" Luffy frowned, his hand flying to hold the large scar in the middle of his chest before he angrily continued to eat his meat. "So did he kill Aokiji?" he asked.

"Well both Admirals were severely injured—in fact, Aokiji couldn't even stand after it was over" Jinbe revealed. "However, Akainu was strangely merciful towards him" he frowned. "Despite this, Aokiji refused to accept the result—he has resigned from the Navy."

"I can't believe Aokiji would just up and quit like that" Luffy said.

"They did lose a good man" I said, looking down.

"Indeed, I wonder what's been going through his mind since then—the government has certainly lost a valuable asset" Jinbe nodded as he looked up towards the fishes that swam above us.