One Piece : Safety second

With Yuuki picking up Tom and Jerry picking up Tyke, the Whisker pirates ran straight to their ship as the people around them casted them weird looks watching the small Jerry running with Tyke on his shoulders.

After reaching the ship, they ran straight into a cabin. Yuuki gently laid down Tom while Jerry tossed Tyke to the side and sat down. Wiping the sweat off his face, Yuuki looked at Tyke who had a crestfallen expression on his face as he sat up on the floor.

A sharp contrast to Jerry, who had walked over to Tom and started sketching on his face. Thinking that the young boy had not come to terms with the situation, Yuuki walked over.

Seeing Yuuki walk over, Jerry stopped sketching and looked at Yuuki and said,

"I'm hungry."

Looking at Jerry, whose stomach was growling, Yuuki clenched his fist remembering that Tom was usually the one who took care of their meals.

"Alright, let's go to the kitchen then."

Yuuki watched as Della took Jerry's hand after saying that and left the cabin. Leaving Jerry with someone they didn't know very well wasn't a good thing but he knew the boy could handle himself. Being left alone in the room with Tyke, Yuuki walked over and sat next to him in silence.

After exiting the cabin, Della walked to the kitchen with Jerry guiding her. Seeing the boy sitting at the table while waiting for his food, Della let out a heavy sigh and thought,

'I wonder what he's going through. Has the death even set in yet?'

Thinking that she might as well help him through it before she left, Della finished cooking and brought out some fried rice for the boy and sat next to him, waiting for him to finish first.

A single plate of food could not stay for long in front of Jerry as he finished it in a couple of minutes and looked around to see if there was more and looked bewildered when he found none.

"Do you want to talk, Jerry?"

"Huh, about what?"

Looking at the boy tilt his head in confusion, Della kept talking and trying to make him open up.

"It's okay to talk about it, you know."

"Huh?"

"Your captain's no more, but it's okay. He will live on inside your heart."

As Della hugged Jerry after saying that, the boy made a puzzled expression and said,

"Tom-san will just get up in a while."

Della hugged Jerry tighter and let out a few tears, thinking of the naivety he will lose after today. Trying to struggle out of her embrace, Jerry thought,

'I'm still hungry..'

**********

Yuuki and Tyke had been sitting in silence for a while, with Tyke blaming himself for what happened and Yuuki thinking of what to say.

When Yuuki finally decided what to say, he noticed Tom's body twitching. Brushing it off as his imagination, Yuuki opened his mouth to talk when Tom abruptly sat up.

Yuuki's jaw almost dropped to the floor as he saw his captain stretch a little bit before taking out a napkin. Getting up, Yuuki walked over to Tom, something which drew Tyke's attention as he looked up and saw Tom sitting up and wiping his face with a napkin.

Yuuki stood next to Tom for a while and rubbed his eyes. Upon realizing that the hole in Tom's chest had disappeared, Yuiki started poking him in the chest.

Feeling someone poke him, Tom looked away from the smudge filled napkin and looked at Yuuki. As the latter continued to poke away, Tom frowned and asked,

"What?"

"AHHHH!"

Tom looked at Yuuki, who had fainted after letting out a shriek and got up to leave the cabin. Just before leaving, he turned to Tyke and said,

"I'll beat the absolute crap out of your dad!"

Tyke's surprise slowly died down when he heard that, as put on a stoic expression. Seeing Tom leave soon after, Tyke looked at his fist and muttered,

"If only you can get a chance.."

**********

Tom went looking for the person that was responsible for scribbling on his face and soon found him in the kitchen. The interesting thing was that he was being chased around by some woman.

"It's okay, Jerry! Let out the tears! It'll help you process it better!"

"Shut up! I told you he's not dead!"

Just when Jerry thought of taking serious measures against this crazy woman, he saw Tom standing at the door. Immediately, he ran behind him to hide from Della.

Stopping for a moment to see who Jerry hid behind, Della immediately started to think she was hallucinating.

With the woman finally stopping to chase him around, Jerry wiped the sweat off his brow and said to Tom,

"Geez, Tom-san I think she's crazy.."

"Oh, and why's that?"

"She made me only one plate of food. She would've starved me to death!"

"Uh-huh, really?"

"Yeah, it's great you're here now though. Go and make me some food."

Tom, who was holding back his anger could not anymore and shoved the napkin in his hand in Jerry's mouth.

"Eat this then, you brat! You seriously drew on a dead guy's face!?"

Della tried to pinch herself to wake up from her dream or stop hallucinating as Jerry struggled to not choke on a napkin.

**********

Sitting on the table with the Whisker pirates barring their captain, Della felt there was something wrong with the situation. She looked around and saw the other three were just sitting around with no one even questioning anything about it.

'The guy somehow returns back to life but the first thing he does is cook!?'

Just when she was about to voice her thought, Tom walked to the table with a cart that was filled with food. Taking a seat, Tom looked at Jerry who had started eating and clicked his tongue.

"Tch, you shitty brat. You make me cook right after I get back up?"

"Abbaedjy…"

"Shut up. Don't talk while your mouth is so full."

As Jerry shrugged his shoulders and got back to eating, Tom looked at Della and asked,

"Who the hell are you though?"

Della tilted her head in confusion and realized that she had taken off her hood now. With snow white hair and black eyes on a beautiful face that would turn heads, Della hoped that Tom would not fall for her. Clearing her throat, she said,

"It's me, Della."

"Who?"

"..The one that guided you just before you got skewered."

Tom looked at Della for a moment before tilting his head and asked Yuuki,

"Oh, didn't I tell her to go away?"

Della instantly got pissed off seeing how dismissive Tom was of her. As she laughed in anger, Yuuki asked Tom,

"Anyway, are you immortal or something?"

"Not really."

"What's that mean?"

"Well, it's a devil fruit power and I think I can only come back up a few more times."

"How many times exactly?"

"Seven maybe?"

"Why seven?"

"It's.. a feeling I get. I dunno, I died twice already. The feeling sucks."

"Oh, that's great captain. So you'll make a great shield seven more times huh."

"I'll kill you if you try that!"

As Yuuki tried to placate Tom, Della, who had gotten interested after hearing the conversation said with laugh,

"Haha, so you have nine lives? Are you gonna tell me you're a cat now?"

That question seemed to halt everything as the Whisker pirates all looked at Della. As she wondered why everyone was looking at her, Tom said,

"Well, it is a cat devil fruit."

Looking at the ears that grew out of Tom's head when Yuuki said that, Della's smile slowly became shaky as she said,

"Haha, now will you tell me there's a mouse that eats everything?"

She got her answer when the Whisker collectively turned towards Jerry who was trying to take Tom's food. Della watched Tom slap away Jerry's hand and then looked at the number of empty plates in front of him and let out a huge gasp.

Tom looked at Della for a moment when he heard the gasp and asked,

"You, do you know something?"

"N-no! I don't! Definitely not!"

Tom frowned at Della as she started to try and avoid his gaze. He soon decided to put it off for later when he noticed everyone had finished eating.

Getting up from the table, Tom said,

"Let's go then."

As Della watched everyone get up and follow Tom, she hurried to get up and did the same. Throwing her a glance, Tom walked out of the dining room.