"Waaah... Big Sister Ai, Klee, I don't want to leave you!"
Bonney's illness had been cured, so naturally, Xie Wen and the others were going to continue their journey. When it came time to part, however, Bonney clung to the two cats she was closest to and burst into tears.
Ai Haibara Meow remained as cool and distant as ever, while Klee Meow looked just as reluctant to part, hugging Bonney and nuzzling her nonstop.
"Klee doesn't want to leave you either, meow..."
Xie Wen had actually suggested that Bonney travel with them for now and let Kuma pick her up once he had finished his business, but Bonney said she wanted to take every trip with her father, so Xie Wen did not press her.
Meanwhile, Kuma was helping move the medical equipment he had collected earlier onto the Toot Toot Forward.
Xie Wen accepted it without standing on ceremony. The doctors in the Sorbet Kingdom lacked the skills to use it anyway, and not only had Ai Haibara Meow cured Bonney's Azure Jade Scale Disease, but he had also contributed a lifesaving Potion. He felt perfectly justified in accepting the medical equipment.
"If I come across any Devil Fruits or Famous Swords in the future, I won't be able to give them to you anymore," Kuma said apologetically. "The Revolutionary Army needs their power more. But if you were to join us too..."
"Stop!" Xie Wen interrupted Kuma's recruitment pitch and looked at him helplessly. "Give it up. Even if I get on the World Government's bad side someday, I'm still unlikely to join the Revolutionary Army."
Admiring them was one thing, and helping them was another, but actually making their cause his life's work... Xie Wen's sense of belonging to the One Piece world had not reached