Lara's POV;

It was kinda strange that the Marines didn't take pursuit, I would have done so immediately. Sure, they would have problems to go after us without their ships, but the five Vice-Admirals could have done so anyway.

Maybe someone told them not to.

Whatever it was that held them back, it allowed the escape of us. In a fight between Lia, me and the Vice-Admirals I wouldn't know about the chances of onlookers like the Straw Hat and my crew. A target like the Going Merry would have been destroyed for sure, and you can only swim for so long without drowning and a couple Devil Fruit users on your hands.

Anyway, we escaped from Enies Lobby, now only Fiara, Yosaku and Jonny are unaccounted for. I don't think that they are dead, but there is a good chance that they are wounded in some way. I'd like to heal them.

However, the burning of the Going Merry held precedence.

My crew and I were standing on the Galley-La ship that came to pick us up and watched how Luffy torched their ship. We all heard the ethereal female voice thanking the Straw Hats for being their friend and taking such good care of her.

It was by far not the most strange thing I have seen, but for some of us, it was. Especially Noa was captivated. As a shipwright, he has some kind of religious belief that a ship has a soul of its own and that a well cared for ship will create a bond to its crew that brings the best out of every ship.

Having seen and heard the Going Merry do it things proved such a claim and made me wonder if we were not 'friendly' enough to our ship. It never showed any signs of being alive. But then again, we never were as nice to it as the Straw Hats were to theirs.

Lia was knowingly damaging it whenever she was training her Devil Fruit or used her power to create a training area for us. All of us knew that and none of us has had done something against this. Sure, Noa took care of it and lovingly so, but that was one man. I know for a fact that Lia and I have only seen the Shadow as a tool.

A transport to get from A to B, not a friend that carries us to ever growing adventures.

I won't change my behaviour with our next ship as well. It's not as if we treat it harshly or damage it without reason. And the new one will be able to take Lia's Devil Fruit with far more ease.

We watched how the ship burned down until only a few floating planks were remaining. The Straw Hats were all crying or looking depressed, even the usually calm Robin and Zoro. They climbed back on the larger Galley-La vessel and we took course back to Water 7.

The destruction caused by the Aqua Laguna was devastating. Whole city blocks got destroyed, both rubble and dirt was dirtying the streets and water channels. Still, the people were already in the middle of cleaning up. Workers were repairing facades and clearing streets.

We were told that there was a hotel for our two groups. It's a large house inside the Galley-La HQ and was given to us so that we could rest in peace and without interruption from the populace. There were many who want to thank us for saving Iceburg.

The moment we reached the house the Straw Hats fell into the freshly made beds and slept. None of them took even their time to get out of their clothes. On our side, it wasn't much different for some of us.

Jonny has been healed by me during our trip back, but his body, as well as the mind, were still tired from the day. So was Yosaku. They did get out of their clothes but were fast asleep as well.

The rest of us ate something quickly made by Lia before we too got into our respective beds. Lia was in mine, as was proper. Much to the complaining of Paulie, who was ignored. Sanji, who was 100% asleep, had a creepy smile on his face and was mumbling about sleeping elven beauties.

I myself was too tired to kick his face in, the fight against this clown guy was quite taxing. Even if I can't show any physical injuries. Healing my own body is straining on my mind and leaves me exhausted. Using so much advanced Haki on top of that is a quick way for me to get dead tired.

Lia wasn't as tired, she would have been good to fight a lot more, but she wouldn't skip an opportunity to cuddle.

The next morning it was me who did the cuddling. I had both my arms wrapped around Lia and was sleeping on the comfortable cushion that were her breasts. She was holding me close to herself and her left knee was rubbing me between my legs.

Which was what woke me up. I left a trail of light kisses on my way up and woke her with a kiss on the lips. Her eyes fluttered open before she smiled and kissed back.

But something extremely annoying interrupted our morning kiss. It was the lewd chuckle of a blond cook. “Hehehehe, such beautiful elven goddesses. Kissing intimately like that, Hehehehehe.”

Lia acted faster than me, she threw the real cushion at him, increased both speed and impact pressure and made Sanji fly right through the wooden wall and into the two dozen metre distant metal fence.

My finger pistol only hit hair and not his heart.

The noise woke the rest up, except for Luffy, he slept on with an annoying snore. “Who is making such a ruckus?” Asked a groggy and half asleep Nojiko. Somewhen during the night, she must have changed beds, as she was now sleeping with Nami in hers.

The cause for their rude awakening came twirling through the hole he created and danced over to the kitchenette. “I'm sorry to have awakened you, my beautiful lady. Please forgive me and accept the pancakes I have made as an apology.” Sanji then proceeded to swiftly prepare a table and placed pancakes, fruits, marmalade, chocolate sauce and other sweet things on it.

There was also bread, buns, meat, cheese and the normally seen breakfast foodstuff. All in all, it looked way too much for a simple breakfast and more at place for someone who had their birthday.

We nonetheless stood up and sat down to eat. Luffy got his own cart of food and Zoro got ordered to act as food guard, which means that whenever Luffy tries to grab some of our food Zoro will stab him with his fork.

The food was okay, by far not as good as Lia's, but still better than what most restaurants can do. My sentiment was shared by the rest of my crew, which doesn't mean that they said that out loud, they had manners after all.

“Lia, could you make something with chicken and cheese for today's dinner?” I asked after finishing three pancakes. Just because Sanji's food was edible doesn't mean that I couldn't ask for something better.

“Sure, I can do a quick casserole,” agreed Lia. Sanji had no problem with being pushed to the sidelines and requested to watch Lia while she cooks. He had no leering undertone, so Lia nodded, yet still warned him to not get touchy or perverted.

The rest of the morning we spent relaxing and doing generally nothing. Lia was reading while resting her back against me, who used the chance to cuddle up to her and doze off.

Jonny and Yosaku were training out in the yard. They were just tired yesterday, Yosaku's muscles needed rest. Jonny might have been healed by me, but someone I have healed with my Angel Fruit is by far not back to one hundred per cent. I can heal up to almost any wound, but it will leave the healed in an exhausted state. Less than what it is when I heal myself, but still noticeable.

But after a night of sleep, both were back at 100% and eager to train some more, their fight seems to have been a narrow win. Only their teamwork and the arrogance of their enemy made it possible to win with such view wounds.

Noa was off to our ship, looking for any damage that might have been done to it during the Aqua Laguna. We did leave it inside a bunker, but you never know what might have happened. The ship itself is mostly finished, we now only have to add some trinkets and our personal stuff.

Nojiko was out with Robin, Fiara and Nami. They are having a woman's day, they did ask me and Lia if we want to tag along, but we declined. Lia isn't one for group outings and I like to cuddle with her more than I like going out with a group of women.

Sanji was also out, looking for some good groceries. He looked very eager for his and Lia's cooking session today's evening. He must not be able to cook with other good cooks very often. Lia isn't much of a fan of cooking in groups. She doesn't like it if someone interferes or adds parts to her cooking. Always of the mind that many cooks are only oversalting the soup.

And Zoro, who has had stared at his broken sword for half an hour, has left to find a blacksmith that might be able to repair his sword. He didn't ask me, maybe because he doesn't want to have a debt or owe me one.

That left the sleeping Luffy in his bed, Chopper and Jo. The two doctors are speaking over some medical stuff. Chopper was laying on a pillow, he could still not move very much.

“Hey Jo, what happened after Lia and I left to scout anyway?” I asked after remembering that I have no idea of what happened to Jo, Noa and Nojiko.

Jo looked up from his patch of parchment he was writing on and glanced at Chopper, who looked worried but nodded after a moment of indecision. “Well, I don't know what happened to Noa or Nojiko, but Chopper and I decided to group up and chase down one of the keys we needed to free Robin and Franky.

On our search for the said key, we came across a weirdo with long pink hair. He had perfect control over his body and was hard to hit. He could also manipulate his hair.

He managed to hit me with his staff and I got thrown through a room or two. It broke pretty much every rip I had, so healing them took some time. By the time I managed to get back he was already defeated by Chopper. Who has had to use three of his Rumble Balls, these yellow-orange balls he has given you.

Well, an overdose of these small balls seems to do something to a Devil Fruit user. He transformed into a humanoid elk that was easily towering above seven metres. The downside was that he couldn't differentiate between friend or foe.

Thankfully the weakness of every Devil Fruit user was still a thing and I managed, with Franky's help, to throw him into the sea. Franky then fished him out before he could drown.”

Chopper looked embarrass and apologetic for turning into a mindless monster. “Huh, sounds almost like the guy I fought. He too had a Zoan Devil Fruit. He could access different forms as well, only that he wasn't in need of a Rumble Ball to do so.

His last transformation was also a massive form of his animal. It had a scarily high amount of strength, as well as speed. But he could differ between the Marines and me. Even spoke to me.”

Chopper's eyes lit up during my brief explanation of the clown's abilities. “Then how did you win? Has he done anything that might explain his clear mind?”

“I destroyed his brain. I did send a wave of vibrations into his skull from each side. They clashed in the middle and ripped the soft tissue to shreds,” I explained with a happy grin. That fucking clown guy was a bitch to wound and I would have had serious trouble without the ability to heal myself.

“Eh right. Thanks for telling,” muttered Chopper with a light blue nose. Something that shows that he is pale. Dark blue means angry or embarrassed.

“No problem,” I said and continued to cuddle with Lia.