#ch 1044 spoilers

[nehswritesstuffs]

fly little seagull, the world awaits - Part 5 of 5

Okay, NOW I promise we’re done, lol. I have actually two different endings for this, but the first I wrote less than a day before I read ch 1079, which then screwed it up, so you have this one now instead ahahaha I’ll also let y’all figure out for yourself what got written before and after I read 1081 last week (more before than what you might think), so... enjoy!

Chapter 1 on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3]

Chapter 2 on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3]

Chapter 3 on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3]

Chapter 4 on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3]

Onigashima shall rise and fall. A boy shall become a man. Friends shall part ways. A certain legacy shall come full-circle despite the need to be broken. [14,616 words; AU where history repeats itself in the worst way]

It had not been long and Nauja was beginning to deeply regret her decision to sneak onto Onigashima. Tengu-ya had been extremely angry when they had left and she was beginning to understand why. She didn’t have a Devil Fruit ability like Tama or Momonosuke—only her knife—and things were already pretty hairy. There was not a familiar face around as she and Tama wandered around the chaos; most of the people running by them were Beast Pirates and other lackeys of Kaidou and Orochi.

“Okay, let’s split up,” Tama decided. They were both riding on Komachiyo, having snuck off Speed’s ship when no one was looking. “We can cover more ground that way.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“We’re here as samurai—we need to find our units,” the junior kunoichi reasoned. “Your father and his men should be around somewhere, while I have to find the Straw Hats and distribute these dango.”

“Makes sense, I guess,” Nauja nodded. She and Tama high-fived before she slid off Komachiyo’s back. “Let’s do this!”

“Right!” Tama rode off speedily, while Nauja crept about in the shadows, trying to not be seen by the large amount of adults that were wandering about. Some of them were engaged in fighting, while others were simply going to and from different stations. She eventually found a large alcove where she could catch her breath without anyone around, glad for the breather. Her dirk was already getting heavy against her wrists and she wasn’t anywhere near a member of the crew.

“…a child…?” a voice marveled. Nauja jumped nearly out of her skin and turned around, raising her knife in defense. There, she saw a strange blond man standing there, his expression unreadable, but there was no mistaking him for any of the other bounty posters she had been quizzed on. “What is a child doing here…?”

“What do you want with me, Basil Hawkins?!” she snapped. Instead of answering her directly, he brought out his tarot cards, the bits of paper hanging in the air.

“A Paradise accent tempered by a conspicuous Northern lilt,” he said, swishing the cards around. “Approximately seven or eight years old, accurate identification of other pirates, bladed weapon, very short hair, yellow and black hearts on her lavender yukata, a Sora backpack and matching charm on her weapon’s sheath… probability of being a certain Supernova surgeon’s natural child or ward… ninety-seven-point-two-six percent.” Nauja shivered and a chilling smile crept onto his face. “I was correct.”

“Get lost, you creep.”

“On the contrary: I think I found my way to get back on Kaidou’s good side,” Hawkins observed. “With this offering, I might survive that much longer.” He held out his hand. “Come, child, I shall bring you to safety. All this fighting must be scary…”

“No,” she snapped. Her dirk wavered in her hands. “You said Kaidou—I can’t trust you.”

“He’s not necessarily interested in you, child, but your father,” he said. “You’re worth more to him alive, trust me on that at the very least.”

“I won’t go with you!”

“Do not make me use force—I do still have some respect for your father, after all.”

“Then don’t you dare touch her!”

Out of seemingly nowhere, a large rock seemed to teleport itself to slam into Hawkins, which he had to create a straw shield to defend against. When he brushed aside the rubble, he saw Law had slid onto the scene, looking rather worse for wear as he knelt down and brought his daughter into a hug before he began physically checking her for injuries.

“What in the hell are you doing here?!” Law scolded, panting hard from his effort to get to her side. His heart felt as though it was going to explode out of his chest. “I told you to wait with the other kids!”

“Vaor, I did wait with Tama-ya… kind of…” the girl grimaced. “She’s here too…”

“You girls are in so much trouble!” Law groaned. “After all that, you deliberately disobeyed me and now you’re in the one place I wanted you far away from?! How did you even get past Tengu-ya?!”

Nauja bit the insides of her lips and tried to look away guiltily—busted.

“Quite possibly, my fortunes have changed.” Hawkins stared at the cards in front of him before clearing them from the air. “A forty-percent increase… it’s worth it.”

Glaring at his fellow Supernova, Law held Nauja close to his side as he extended his free arm, attempting to activate a Room to get them out of there. It wasn’t working, with each attempt flickering out in his panic.

“Kaidou is going to love this,” Hawkins stated. He drew his sword, readying to strike. “Trafalgar and his brat, handed to him on a—”

Just then, a massive roar cut him off, so loud that it shook everything around them. Hawkins turned to look and instead got a face full of allosaurus tail, which cleared him through the far wall. The dinosaur slowly stomped into full view, growling lowly at the broken wall before shifting down into X Drake’s Human form.

“Are you two alright?” he asked. He saw Nauja’s eyes were wide in amazement; few kids were immune to the charm of a literal dinosaur saving them.

“It was under control,” Law hissed.

“Mmhmm, sure.” Drake watched as the other man put the child down and leaned against the wall in an effort to catch his breath properly. “Hey… can I, uh, give her something?”

“What could you possibly have to give?” Law asked. Drake bent down and picked up a pen Hawkins must have dropped when he was hit and procured a piece of paper from his inner jacket pocket. Law raised an eyebrow, knowing full-well what sort of paper it was.

“Something I never really should have had on me to begin with.” He knelt down and used the floor as a writing surface before beckoning Nauja over. “What is your name, darling?”

“Trafalgar Nauja,” the girl beamed. “Who are you?”

“Nice to meet you, Nauja. My name is X Drake, and as you can tell, your father and I know each other… in a way.”

“You sound a little like him. Are you also from the North Blue?”

“I am,” the man admitted. “I even have a father like you have Trafalgar here. Got him in a similar way, if what I hear is correct.”

“Your dad’s navigator found you and he just kind of took over?”

“More like my father’s friend found me, but close enough.” He sat directly on the floor in an attempt to hunch over more and be at her eye-level better—curse his height. “I even have a brother, although I never met him. He left our father’s life as I entered it. Although I’ll never know his laugh or hear his voice or learn what he thinks of me, I’ve been living in his shadow this entire time… seeing and experiencing the consequences of his actions. He’s like a ghost, in a way, and there’s something telling me that he would want you to have this.”

Drake held out the paper and handed it to Nauja. She looked at Law before accepting it, only doing so once he nodded. Looking down at the note, she scrunched her nose in thought.

“‘Please take care of her. Dorry.’ That’s weird. Why do you want me to have this?”

“…because one day, you might run out of options,” Drake said. “Your father is strong and capable, but even he has limits. If you ever find yourself with nowhere to hide, and he can’t help you, let this paper guide you to my father. Call him Grandpapa and give him a hug and show him this paper.” He then paused for a moment. “Do you know what a Vivre Card is?”

“Oh, yeah! We have some of those! That’s what this is?” She held open her palm and laid the paper in it—sure enough, it began to shuffle across her fingers.

“Yes. Remember: only use it as a last resort. There is only so much my father can do for you, but it’s safer than wandering around on your own. He will make sure nothing bad happens while you’re in his care… he will think of what my brother would have done—what my brother did for a scared little boy before he died—and will hide you from the bad people in the world until you are ready to face them yourself.”

“Then I’ll keep it safe,” the girl nodded. She carefully secured the note in her yukata sleeve. “Thank you, Dinosaur-ya, for this special gift.”

“…and how do I know I can trust your father?” Law asked. Drake shrugged and stood.

“You don’t,” he replied honestly. “Is this a risk? It’s a major one, but you are the only one who can truly talk to him about my brother, and that is at least worth something.”

In an instant, everything felt to Law as though it shifted violently and clicked into place as he stared at the other Supernova… this now-former Tobiroppo… there was more to him than he could have ever imagined. He wasn’t just any deserted Marine… he was Sengoku’s project after Cora-san died… Law was sure of it. His eyes went to the Vivre Card in Nauja’s hand—to trust her with it was to trust him with it, Drake clearly under the assumption that he wasn’t going to use it to attack the former Fleet Admiral. The other man’s actions were all beginning to make a lot more sense, even if all it did was make him more conflicted…

“Does he know about her…?”

“Possibly…? He doesn’t hear a lot of chatter these days, but at the same time, many of Kaidou’s officers know she exists. The intel might stay on Wano, it might extend off the island—that I can’t say. What I can say, however, is that it wasn’t me if it gets leaked.”

Just then, a massive burst of Haki came from the ruined wall, causing Drake to shove Nauja towards Law. “Hawkins is coming to; I suggest you book it.”

The little family did, not even turning around to watch Drake morph into an allosaurus and roar so loud he shook the building.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Law slashed the last of the guards down and finished descending the staircase into the lowermost basement. Nauja tap-tap-tapped her way down the rest of the stairs, avoiding her father’s unfortunate victims. The room they entered held a large blue stone, covered completely with strange symbols that made the little girl’s eyes go wide.

“This is a Poneglyph?” she marveled. Law nodded, placing his hand on the smooth, cool stone.

“It is—people have died for so much as being able to read what’s on it.”

“You can read that…?!”

“I can’t, but Nico-ya can. Her home island died because some of them could read Poneglyphs. She was the only survivor.”

“…like you…?”

“Indeed.” He let his fingertips catch in the grooves, feeling the enormous weight of the writing’s unknown message. “I wonder how many people died for this over the centuries.”

“Couldn’t they just listen…?” Nauja asked. She looked up at Law and tilted her head. “It’s whispering… you don’t even need to read it.”

“You can… hear it…?” He looked at her and raised his eyebrow. “How do you mean?”

“I… don’t… know…?” The little girl looked at the Poneglyph and tilted her head. “It’s just kinda… I dunno… humming, I guess…? In a way? I understand it.”

“…and what is it saying?”

“It’s talking about a legendary warrior and how he killed a dragon with a perfect sword, becoming a hero to all of Wano and the world,” she replied, wrinkling her nose in thought. “Do you think I can hear it because it’s part of the age-related hearing range?”

“No… I think you can hear it because of something special.” He placed his hand on her head and stroked her hair.

“Symetesia…?”

“No, not synesthesia,” he paused, “more like the Voice of All Things. I’ve heard of it being something before, but wasn’t certain about the existence of such a talent due to the rarity and lack of clinical observation.”

“Really…? It’s rare…? Then why can Momo-ya hear it too…?”

Law stared at his daughter. “What do you mean?”

“Momo-ya could hear a voice at Zou. I couldn’t make it out, so I ignored it, but he could hear it clearly. That was the excuse he used to hide in his room all the time.”

“Was it now…?” He needed something to tell her, and quickly. “If it is the Voice of All Things, then that is a rare trait, possibly an offshoot of Observation Haki if my theory is correct.” He considered something briefly, then knelt down to be at her eye level. “Does this whisper anything about the Will of D.?”

Nauja paused, closing her eyes. “No. Why? What’s that?”

“Cora-jiisan once told me that the People of the D. are the enemies of the gods… meaning the Celestial Dragons. Something the crew doesn’t know—not even Bepo-ya—is that I am one of them.”

“You… you are…?”

“Trafalgar D. Water Law was the entire name your opa and oma gave me, the name your jiisan told me to keep hidden,” he explained. He placed his hand on the cool stone of the Poneglyph again, Nauja copying him. “Nico-ya says I must search for the Poneglyphs in order to discover the truth. What you told me confirms I need the red ones.”

A low rumbling shook the floor, making the plaster above them creak.

“A sub-basement is probably not the best place to be right now, in retrospect,” Law noted. He grabbed Nauja again and opened a Room, bringing them to a higher floor again and the heat of the battle. “Those assholes better not do anything drastic without me.”

“Uh… that looks kinda drastic,” Nauja squeaked. She was pointing to some nearby rubble, which contained an arm draped in a familiar kimono sleeve.

“Shit,” Law spat. He put Nauja down and spotted the familiar allosaurus on the other side of the hall. “There’s Drake-ya. Stay with him. I’ve got some samurai to bring down here.”

“Vaor…?” He looked at her and saw that her eyes were glassy with tears. “I’m sorry for sneaking over here anyhow despite agreeing not to. Please come back.”

“I’ll do my best, famke,” he echoed. He pressed a kiss to her hair before swapping her with a rock next to Drake and himself with a splinter of wood from an even higher building level.

Honoring an alliance sure was shit.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Drake wasn’t certain as to why he had Trafalgar’s child by his side again so soon, but he definitely imagined it had something to do with the fact her father was on the roof of the building fighting with Kaidou and Big Mom. He allowed her to sit on his oversized allosaurus foot, the girl clinging to his leg as he stomped around in an attempt at intimidating people. Anyone who dared to snatch or otherwise harm her got either tail or teeth making the definitive decision for them: no.

Not on his watch.

Drake fought and intimidated the Beast Pirates while he watched over not only Nauja, but the little reindeer-doctor as he synthesized a cure for the chilly disease that was ripping through Beast Pirates and Alliance members alike, not caring about things such as sides and loyalties. He only began to relax as the Straw Hats’ doctor blasted a cure into the air. It even had a certain smell to it—sweet with a hint of spice—that brought him back to the infirmary of Tsuru’s ship, where he had been laid up for so, so long after she had found him. The girl slid off his foot and he shifted back into his Human form, looking over the scene as frozen limbs melted and the healing flames from Whitebeard’s former doctor, of all people, seas be damned, flickered out.

“NAUJA!” The girl jumped as she heard her name called, seeing Shachi run up to her and Drake, accompanied by two of Kid Pirates. He flicked her on the forehead, which caused her to squeak. “What are you doing here?! Does the captain know?!”

“He knows,” she admitted sourly. “I’m just here with Dinosaur-ya because Vaor’s up there.” She pointed at the giant hole in the ceiling. A roar just above the basement of Human hearing came from the hole, which made them all shudder.

“Impressive,” one of the Kid Pirates nodded.

“I think we can take it from here, beefcakes,” the other Kid Pirate said, giving Drake a wink. Shachi facepalmed, her crewmate ignored her, and Drake simply stared.

“We’re kind of in the middle of a life-or-death war here…” he mentioned.

“Little flirt don’t hurt,” she shrugged. She then looked at Nauja, who seemed some level of disturbed. “C’mon kiddo; let’s get you to the main of the group before shit gets too hairy around here.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Nauja replied. The adults all exchanged a quick look—yeah, kid must have been in a ton of trouble already. They left Drake’s side to head on back to the little group of Penguin, Bepo, and some stray Kid Pirates, who were fighting Beasts Pirates to the best of their abilities.

“Oh, fuck,” Penguin cussed soon as he saw Nauja. “Cap’s gonna blow a gasket…”

“Already blown!” Nauja insisted. “I think I’m grounded until I’m older than Bone-ya.”

“Sounds about right,” another Kid Pirate nodded. He then noticed a large horned person running their way. “Ah, fuck, another strong-looking one…” Except, Shinobu was there too…? The fuck…? “Hey, what’s going on?!”

“Are you the one referred to as Trafalgar Nauja?” the tall person with Shinobu asked, voice booming. The pirates all tensed, only not attacking because they knew the kunoichi was trustworthy.

“Uhh… yeah…?”

“Oh, good!” squeaked a voice from nearby. It sounded familiar…

“Momo-ya…?”

Sure enough, Momonosuke fell out of the tall person’s pant leg and ran up to Nauja, wrapping her in a hug. “I heard that you and the junior kunoichi had joined the battle! It’s so auspicious that you’re still alive!”

“It’s… auspicious… that… you are… too…?” she replied. She tried looking to the adults for answers—none had any.

“I have decided,” Momonosuke declared. He held Nauja at an arm’s length and put on his most serious face. “Verily! If we survive this and I become shogun, in recognition of your bravery and service to Wano, I shall name you as my intended!”

If the area around them all could have become quiet, it would have.

“What the fuck,” the horned person groaned, snatching Momonosuke up by the collar. “You dragged us all the way over here to propose to your girlfriend?!”

“I’m not his girlfriend!” Nauja snapped, the boy’s words now clicking into place in her brain. “Ask Tama or Toko to marry you, pervy brat!”

“O-Tama is a vassal and it would therefore be inappropriate, as would O-Toko for being my sister’s ward,” Momonosuke stated plainly. “You are the natural choice.”

“Ooooh, Kid’s gonna want t’ hear about this,” a Kid Pirate marveled. A couple of her crewmates nodded sagely in agreement—any ammunition for their captain against the others’.

“This is stupid; Oden out,” the horned person scoffed, stuffing Momonosuke under an arm. By the time Nauja had recovered from the shock of the encounter, the other three members of the Heart Pirates were staring at her with amused expressions that made a chill go down her spine.

“Don’t tell Vaor!” she insisted. “Momo-ya’s just being dumb!”

“Love makes people do dumb things,” Penguin chuckled. Still paying attention to their surroundings, he took his polearm and used it to knock some arrows out of the air. “Look alive! We’re still targets, people!”

Nauja drew her dirk and tried to stay close to the other pirates, attempting to not get too close to any enemies. She really regretted coming along with Tama—so much was happening, everything, all at once, everywhere, and to make matters worse, she was missing the festival! For what?! Her dad being cross with her and Momo being weird? Yeah… this wasn’t one of her most brilliant ideas.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Having popped back down below the battle to regroup, Law and Kid found themselves unfortunately within one another’s company. They were going to have to figure out a way to separate Kaidou and Linlin; the only way those two could have been even more dangerous if they had been actual siblings instead of, well, whatever the fuck they truly were.

“Feck… sounds like the ol’ bird’s down below too,” Kid noted as they ran through the corridors. “Did our dirty work for us.”

“Wouldn’t know what that’s like,” Law grunted. He tried not to think about what had happened before he ran into the Southern redhead again, having been snatched out of the air by a Northern blond, who he repaid in kind by having him watch over the severely injured Wanolese Easterner. Fuck, there was a lot going on. “We need to figure out where our crews are; they’re our support system.”

“No shite, Shirley,” Kid scoffed. He raised his eyebrow, however, at the nearly distracted look on the other man’s face. “Thinking ‘bout some other orders Straw Hat gave yeh?”

“Fuck off,” Law growled. They turned a corner and saw the group that their respective crews had merged into, with Killer already there and helping protect them. “It’s about time… Penguin! Report!”

“No one else has been able to get on Onigashima,” Penguin replied as he parried a blow from a Beast Pirate. He pushed his opponent back and a Kid Pirate took over, slashing their adversary across the stomach. “Sounds like Tama’s here too, working her dango-magic.”

“I figured as much. Based on that, I figure you have her little co-conspirator?”

“I have stabbed a lot of people,” Nauja stated, popping out from behind Penguin. She was splattered in blood, but it was clear it was not her own. “This is way worse than when we show up in a Marine port…”

“Yeh brought yer bairn t’ the battle?!” Kid said, completely flabbergasted. “What the actual fuck, Trafalgar?!”

“Not on purpose, let me assure you,” he replied, marveling at the fact he didn’t have a headache already.

“Och, aye, like I’d believe yeh at this point, yeh bloody fucking twat,” Kid snapped. He then turned to Nauja and gave her a toothy grin. “Ever get tired of the pompous ol’ windbag an’ yeh can come visit wi’ yer Uncle Kid. We know how t’ treat a wee bairnie right.” The little girl giggled, making her father roll his eyes.

“He’s not your uncle; don’t listen to him,” Law deadpanned. “He’s just an idiot whose metal plate in his skull’s gone magnetic.”

“At least I don’t do any of that daft posing shite,” Kid shot back. “Yeh looked like yer at a modeling gig, not fighting for our fucking lives!” He struck a couple poses to prove his point. “At least the Straw Hat knob’s putting in visible effort!”

“Sorry my Devil Fruit requires concentration and finesse!”

“Fucking finesse yersel outwith m’sight, yeh moody-arsed beanpole! Big Mam’s mine, yeh ken?!”

“Are we speaking the same language?!”

“Awww, playin’ the daft laddie, aren’t we? Well, while yer nerd-brain’s so busy tryin’ t’wrap its processes around m’accent, I’m gon’ take t’ bint’s head mysel.”

“As though I’d let you take all the credit after all that shit I had to pull to keep you together!”

“Aye; I bet yeh’d like it all, eh? Took yer turn already, Trafalgar! Now it’s time for the lads’ lads t’shine!”

Just then, a giant spider made of straw crashed onto the scene, with Basil Hawkins sticking out of its back. It roared—somehow—and made it clear it was out for blood.

“A’ll gie him laldie,” Killer said, his voice almost mirthful. “Fucker’s mine.”

“Then let’s split up!” Kid shouted at the rest of his crew. “Pick off some officers!”

“Bepo!” Law saw his navigator’s ears perk up and the Mink took the three steps to join him. “Take Nauja and run. I don’t care where. Just get her someplace quiet.”

“Understood,” Bepo nodded. Before Nauja even had time to protest, he picked her up and ran, dodging Beast Pirates and arrows as he did his best to do what was asked of him.

“Come on, Kid,” Law scowled. “We’ve got an Emperor to distract.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Blood pounded in Law’s skull as he watched Charlotte Linlin grow both in girth and in power. He knew there were some who called his Devil Fruit abilities horrifying—and rightly so—but what was happening before his eyes was down-right chilling. She was tampering with people’s life forces; she was killing them without so much as a drop of consent. It wasn’t just the doctor in him, but his very humanity was sickened.

“All I do is for my family,” she chortled as she continued to bulk up. “My children are heirs to a legacy of greatness. As their mother, it’s my duty to clear a path for them. I’m sure you will understand as I grind your bones into dust.”

“Classy,” Law replied, rolling his eyes.

“Yer eldest is fifty, yeh dusty ol’ bint,” Kid scoffed. “That’s more than time t’ stop relying on mam to fix yer problems.”

“Say a pair of brats who don’t know a mother’s touch,” Linlin smirked. “I still have some daughters I could marry you to if you decide to do the smart thing and submit. I’ll teach you a little something about filial piety.”

“Fuck that,” Kid spat. “That shite got m’crew and me nowhere! All we got, we took oursel!”

“…and you, Trafalgar?” Her voice rumbled with power, echoed with the cries of all the souls she ripped from their hosts. “Do you wish to become Mama’s new favorite?”

“My parents never played favorites—that’s part of what made them good at parenting,” Law fired back. Kid let out a snort—fuck this was the good shit. “Besides, I wouldn’t use my daughter’s wedding as a bargaining chip. She’s too headstrong for such a thing, even if I was that shitty of a parent.”

“Roast t’ hag!” Kid cheered amongst the gasps and marveling. “Gie ‘er good!”

“What would you know about being a parent?” Linlin sneered at Law. “My intel does say you have a bratty little tag-along these days. That’s not a daughter; that’s a charity-case. What sort of pirates resort to charity, I wonder?”

“If being a father is charity, then I wonder what your children think of their fathers? What your sons think of their children.” Law drew his sword and widened his stance slightly. “I know more about being a father, being a parent, than you can ever fathom.”

“You really think she’s yours, you delusional boy?”

“More mine than whatever caused your multiple uterine prolapses are to you.”

Kid was fucking cackling.

“Have it your way,” Linlin hissed. “Napoleon! Prometheus! Hera! Let’s finish these upstarts.”

Law brought up a Room and Kid cracked his knuckles and neck. Now they were talking.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It took a while for Bepo to finally find a corridor that was relatively quiet before he felt safe enough to put Nauja down. Surprised that there was even a place still calm within Onigashima, he searched for a storage room before ushering in his littlest crewmate and closing the door behind them.

“You alright?” he asked. She nodded. “Good, now let’s figure out what we’re going to do from here.” He peeked out into the corridor to double-check and breathed a sigh of relief—no one.

“What’s gonna happen if Vaor can’t stop them?” Nauja wondered. She looked around the room in a panic, seeing that it was empty aside from some low tables, boxes, and stacks of Wanolese seating cushions.

“This place crashes into the Flower Capitol and we would have to get back to the Tang fast as we can,” Bepo replied. He looked back at Nauja and saw that she was shaking as she tried to not cry, likely overloaded by everything and regretting having come along. She was so different from the first time he saw her—a pair of curious eyes poking out from behind smears of dirt and matted hair—and it only showed him how far she’d come with them… with Law. “Listen: nothing bad’s going to happen, okay? We’ve got this.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” chuckled a low voice. The Mink scooped the child up into his arms and held her close. “Cute… as though either of you are anything other than a liability…”

“I don’t know who you are, but you’re not getting to us that easily,” Bepo announced. He put his back to the wall and tried to sniff out the other person in the room and couldn’t; the smells from elsewhere in the complex were still too strong.

“I’m surprised you don’t recognize me… little brother…”

A figure stepped out from behind some cushion stacks and both Bepo and Nauja gasped. There, standing before them as though everything was completely normal, was Zepo.

“You’re dead!” Nauja declared, pointing at the other Mink.

“How would you know?” Mystery Zepo chuckled. “What would a Lesser Mink cub know about me?”

“Enough to know you’re not real!” She looked at Bepo, who seemed completely at a loss for what to do. “Come on! We need to get out of here!”

“I… I…” Bepo breathed, his brain sputtering out. “Was Fred wrong…?”

“He can be,” Mystery Zepo replied. A large explosion rumbled from elsewhere in the castle.

“No, he’s the one lying! That’s proof!” Nauja wiggled from Bepo’s grasp and tried to shake him out of it. “Bepo-ya…!”

“…but… how can he be here…?”

“Shoot…” The small child looked around and tried to figure out what she could do to snap Bepo out of whatever it was that was keeping him from knowing that this wasn’t real. Was it a Devil Fruit? A robot? A really good imposter? She needed to figure it out, and quick.

“You’re going to let me take care of the cub,” Mystery Zepo said. He began to step forward towards the pirates, sending a chill down Nauja’s spine.

“Bepo-ya! It’s a trap!”

“Of all the people in this place, don’t you want to trust your brother?”

“Don’t listen to him!” Nauja could see that there were tears forming in the Mink’s eyes as he trembled against the wall. “I don’t know who he is, but he’s trying to trick us!”

“Why would I trick my brother?” Mystery Zepo asked.

“Your brothers are Vaor and Penguin-ya and Shachi-ya!”

It was no use—Bepo was absolutely frozen in indecision. Nauja knew she had to do something, or else they were going to fall victim to… whatever it was that mimicking the long-dead Mink.

“Bepo-ya! Look at the moon!” she shouted, running to the shut balcony door. She struggled to pull the frame open. “Look at the moon and let’s get out of here!”

Just as she was able to force the frame open, the Mystery Zepo was there next to her, having appeared in nearly an instant. He took a knife from his belt and glared at Nauja, sunglasses glinting in the moonlight.

“This is not your place,” he hissed. “Don’t you da—”

Mystery Zepo was cut off, a giant paw reaching around his skull and crushing it. Electric sparks frizzed from his body as the illusion tech broke, revealing a faceless robot in its place. Bepo, in full Sulong, casually tossed the contraption to the side and straight through the wall.

“Nothing hurts the captain’s daughter,” Bepo growled, voice low and gravelly. Nauja carefully went over to the now-ruined wall and looked at the robot, taking careful note of the markings along the side.

“PUNK…?” she wondered aloud, tilting her head. “Why’s it got the word PUNK painted on it?”

“I don’t want to hang around long enough to find out,” Bepo replied as another explosion made the building quake. He muttered a low apology as he swept her up into one paw and burst through the outer wall of the storage room, bringing them into the open air. Despite there being no change to the color, his fur was now longer and fiery, and his face more fierce.

He roared at the moon in mid-air, cursing and thanking it in one long, rumbling note that crackled in Electro.

If he ever found the people who tried to trick him with his brother’s face, he was going to rip them apart.

“Hang on, Nauja!” he boomed. She held on tight as he brought them to the ground around the palace, the clouds closing up once again once his paws were on the dirt and he shrank back to his normal size. He shuddered and coughed up some blood—one of the benefits of an underwater ship was being able to avoid Sulong and the effects therein.

“VAOR!” Nauja screeched as she saw the flames that were engulfing the castle. Bepo grabbed her and secured her against his chest—she wasn’t going anywhere.

“We have to stay out here!” he insisted. “I can’t let you burn!”

“…but Vaor…!”

“…wants you to live!” Bepo exclaimed. “Everything he does, everything the crew does, is so that you can live!”

Nauja went limp at that, knowing that he was both right and correct. Guilt settled on her, knowing that her actions, her presence was what drove Law and the crew to do a lot of what they did, and it hurt more than she could comprehend. Bepo let go and placed her on the ground, a paw resting supportively on her shoulder.

“All we want is a future you can look forward to,” he said.

“…but… why…?” Her voice cracked as tears began to choke her. “I’m just some kid you found…”

“You’re Law’s kid, the crew’s kid…” He licked her temple gently. “We love you.��

“…but… why…?” she repeated. “What did I do to deserve it…?”

Bepo stared at Nauja, completely flabbergasted. “Nauja… you didn’t need to do anything.”

“…but I’m nothing but trouble!” she cried. “If it wasn’t for me coming along, you’d…!”

“Don’t think that way!” Bepo held Nauja’s face in his paws and made her look directly at him. “There’s no reason for us to love! We just do! Why else would we let you stay? Why else would we take care of you? Why else would the Captain adopt you as his own daughter?” He saw the tears and snot running down her face and tried to wipe it off with his sleeve. “We knew what bringing a kid into the crew meant… we wanted to love you. There doesn’t have to be a reason other than that.”

“…even though I do stupid stuff…?”

“Kids do stupid stuff all the time—it’s how they learn.” He saw she was biting her lower lip in an effort to stop crying, it not really working. “The rest of the crew does stupid stuff all the time too, and they’re adults, so I don’t know why a few mistakes is such a big deal.” He licked her forehead again. “Sorry, but you’re stuck with us.”

Nauja nodded weakly and hugged Bepo, letting the Mink comfort her as they remained hidden in their spot outside the castle. The muffled sounds of war punctuated their embrace; both were drawing strength from the other, the aftereffects of the raid and their conversation completely wiping them.

Just then, a curious smell reached Bepo’s nose, then a noise that was definitely not fire.

“Is… is that seawater…?” he marveled. He and Nauja looked at the castle and saw that there was water and smoke coming out of the building—something was extinguishing the flames.

“Vaor!” Nauja gasped. She broke from Bepo and began to run towards the castle. She made her way past water-logged Beast Pirates and samurai, Bepo tailing close behind, as she searched for Law. By the time she found him, he was laying down in a pile of debris, eyes closed as he breathed heavily.

“Dinna worry; he ain’t dead,” Kid groaned as he caught sight of the child. He was laying in his own pile of debris, though had his eyes open. “The ol’ bat kicked our arses, but we got her in the end.” He gestured towards a nearby hole in the floor, presumably where Big Mom went.

“Vaor…?” Nauja knelt down beside him and put her hands on his chest, shaking him. “Are you alright…?”

“Ja, famke,” he groaned. Law struggled to lift his hand, reaching out towards Nauja. He was able to find her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb as he opened his eyes. “I’ll be alright. That was just…”

“…a lot…?”

“Yeah… it was a lot.” He offered her a wan smile, which she took as permission to hug him, clinging desperately as he rested his hand against her back. “Ball’s in your court, Strawhat-ya.”

Almost as if Luffy heard him, a gleeful shishishi reverberated throughout the castle.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

After having the sheer audacity to to return to the fray on the back of a dragon, Luffy turned into Nika to no-sell Kaidou.

Fucking hell… Monkey D. Luffy became Nika, the legendary sun god and liberator of peoples from times ancient and immemorial, while Law had a time with the hag that just wouldn’t die? And the “help” he had gotten from Kid? Had to almost carry the moron while he was staggering about and yet Strawhat-ya turned into a literal god.

Now wasn’t that some straight-up peak protagonist-level shit right there?

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The aftermath of the raid on Onigashima was, fortunately, plenty less complicated than was feared. With Kaidou and Big Mom done for (Law did not want to say they were dead, as he knew he needed a corpse to do that), the Beast and Big Mom Pirates scattered like ants after a good threatening from Yamato. Orochi actually was dead, confirmed by Hiyori and Denjiro, who were there as he spoke his final words before being consumed by flames. The royal siblings were reunited and Oden’s long-lost heir proclaimed himself shogun.

Wano was free.

Oh, the celebrations that were had! Those who had been in the Flower Capitol wept in joy and relief, knowing that they had nearly become victim to a misplaced Onigashima. Parties broke out throughout the lands, bolstered by food sent from the unpolluted farms. Talk of the old ways now flowed freely, bringing with it reminisces of a society—while not perfect—was still defined by full bellies and factory work not being a death sentence. Many of the Alliance members were met with cheers and grateful platitudes, much to their derision. Pirates were not heroes, after all, and honestly had been in it for their own reasons. Whether itching for a fight or wanting information, they were not the ones that Wano should have been heaping their praises on.

Despite this, while members of the victorious forces recovered, there was a heightened sense of wonder and gratitude in the air. Adults took their first clean drink of water since childhood alongside their own children, festival stalls did not close up, and people smiled in the streets at whomever crossed their paths. It was even evident that the inhabitants of Ebisu were genuinely happy, as there was something about their demeanor that was simply right. All were thankful, even as they cleaned up the messes that had been left behind in the fighting.

Meanwhile, invitation had been extended to all the members of the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance to stay within the royal palace while things were settling down. Although Law would have rather started living in the dockyards in Tokage, he subjected himself to the Flower Capitol for a while longer as he put aside Nauja’s impending punishment and allowed her to remain with her new friends. He had taken to wandering around the palace while they were at play, doing exactly the sort of thing he knew his daughter couldn’t whilst aboard a submarine full of adults.

“Vaor! Vaor! Vaor! Look at this!” Having been examining a frieze in a quiet corridor, Law glanced over to see Nauja with Tama and Toko, the three girls striking a set of poses out of Sora, Warrior of the Sea, with the pink-haired girl in the middle with her arms up and arched, while the older two stood on either side of her, hiding their faces in the crooks of one arm while their other pointed up and towards each other at an angle, nearly touching in a point.

“Teaching them about Sora, I see?” he chuckled. “How does he compare to Wanolese stories?”

“O-Ja tells us tales of this warrior, and he seems mighty!” Tama gasped dreamily. “I wonder if he ever gets sent to the New World…?”

“Well, I like Poison Pink!” Toko giggled. “She’s really cool! And her hair’s like mine! I can wear her costume!”

“Maybe when you’re a bit older,” Law replied. Shit… he hoped the kids saw the earlier versions of the Germa 66 costumes and not the ones that looked more like the real deal. There was no way he was getting blamed for a Wanolese child wanting a neckline that passed her navel. A distraction, a distraction… “Say, how about the four of us head down to the festival before it gets too crowded?”

All three girls’ eyes became large and round—perfect.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Okay, so maybe being a chaperone to three energetic children wasn’t the smartest move after all. The trio were excitable and bouncy and not only chattered like chipmunks on uppers, but moved as such too. Between that and the fact that he was out in public, it made Law tired just existing, which wasn’t a very good look if he was perfectly honest. An even worse look would have been opening a Room just to keep tabs on them—he only had two eyes and there was three of them.

Then again… this must have been how his parents felt when they were taking him and his sister to festivals, wasn’t it?

Still attempting an aloof aura, Law smiled inwardly as he watched the girls rush from stall to stall; Nauja had friends and that was irreplaceable. They bounced and giggled and acted like normal children, making him wonder if any of them had ever been this way before… if that luxury had been afforded them. At least he knew more days like this were ahead of them… ahead of him…

“Oh, what’s that…?” Nauja asked, pointing at a stall. People were standing in front of it and lighting incense, a sight that made her tilt her head in curiosity.

“That’s some leftover incense from the Fire Festival,” Toko said. “Haven’t you ever seen any?”

“They don’t have it where we’re from,” Nauja replied. “What does it do?”

“You light it as an offering to people who’ve died,” Tama explained. “I light some for my mom and dad every once in a while. Some people say you can talk with their spirits that way.”

“Like… tell them you’re doing alright…?”

“Yeah! Do you want to light some for your mom?”

Panic seized Nauja as she came at a crossroads. What was she going to tell her friends…?

“Ahahaha! O-Tama, some people don’t have moms!” Toko laughed. “I don’t! I only had a dad too!”

“…but you have Hiyori-sama!”

“She’s more like my sister!” Toko then turned to Nauja and grinned, tilting her head to the side. “Do you have anyone you’d like to light incense for?”

“Well… um…” Nauja glanced back at Law, who nodded in permission. “My grandparents… and my aunt. I never met them, but I want to say hello… let them know my dad’s taking good care of me.”

“Then that’s perfect!” Tama gasped excitedly. She and Toko pulled their friend to the stall, their chaperone hanging back. “Three sticks, please!”

“All three of you girls are going to light one?” the stallkeeper asked, trying not to chuckle.

“O-Ja never has and we need to show her how!” Toko said cheerily.

The stallkeeper nodded at that and set out three sets of incense. Each girl got a wooden skewer, which they lit with the flame of a lantern. Nauja watched as her friends transferred the flame to the ends of the incense, which she copied, and snuffed the remaining flame on the skewer in some provided sand. She placed her hands together and closed her eyes in imitation and tried to think.

‘Uh… hi Oma, Opa, Tante Lami, Cora-jiisan… I don’t really know if this is going to work, but I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Nauja and I’m your granddaughter… or niece, in Tante Lami’s case. Law-san is my dad now, and although I’m not related to any of you by blood, I’ve heard stories about you that makes it feel like that doesn’t matter. Vaor and the crew love me and protect me and take care of me, and that’s more than I’ve ever had before. Thank you for making him so kind. Even when he’s sad, he is kind, and I know you all did that.’

She peeked at the incense sticks—only halfway.

‘Well, I know about you, so I guess you should know about me! I’m almost eight years old, I love reading Sora, Warrior of the Sea, and drawing! I want to become a doctor, like Opa and Oma were and like Vaor is now! I love drawing things like how they are in the textbooks! Clione-ya calls it “hyper-realism”. Oh, yeah, and we live on a pirate ship! It can go under the water! Vaor’s crew is made up of some of the kindest pirates out there. I know, I know, there shouldn’t be such a thing as kind pirates, but there are. All they want is to be free. There are other crews like that we’ve been meeting, and I really like it a lot!We’re good friends with so many other kind pirates and that makes our crew seem not so weird!’

Another peek—nearly done.

‘Okay, the incense is almost done! I know we’ve never met, but I love you! Thank you! Bye for now!’

Opening her eyes and letting her hands fall to their sides, Nauja watched the incense as it fizzled out. It was kind of stinky, but it was a good sort of stinky, she guessed.

“Did you girls have a good chat?” the stallkeeper asked as Toko and Tama also opened their eyes. “I’m sure whomever you were talking to loved the attention.”

“I’m sure they did as well,” Law said. It was barely there, but Nauja could hear his voice crack slightly. “Now let’s hurry back—you don’t want to miss the fireworks, do you?”

The three girls gasped—no they did not!

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

With stray mochi wrappers and broken konpeito littering the balcony, Nauja watched as the fireworks reached their grand crescendo. Tonight she and her friends were watching with Zoro-ya, Hiyori-ya, and Sanji-ya, with each child snuggled into an adult. Toko-ya was already snoring against Hiyori-ya and Tama-ya was beginning to falter in her perch on Zoro-ya’s lap; only Nauja was really awake of the three.

“I believe it’s high time we put these little ones to bed,” Hiyori-ya said sweetly as the last bit of glitter faded into the sky and smoke. Zoro-ya grunted something and stood, hauling Tama-ya up with one meaty arm and accepting Toko-ya with the other. “Did you wish to join them, Lady Trafalgar?”

“No, I should clean up here,” Nauja said, leaning out of Sanji-ya’s grasp and grabbing at some of the wrappers. “I promised I’d sleep with the Hearts tonight anyhow.”

“Suit yourself,” Zoro-ya shrugged. Hiyori-ya followed him inside, with Sanji-ya’s eyes trailing behind them in a way that Nauja couldn’t tell who he was looking at. He then turned his attention back to Nauja, taking care to stub out his cigarette before moving to help her.

“You’re such a hard-working kid,” he noted. “Does Trafalgar work you that hard with chores?”

“Technically, I’m still in trouble,” she reminded him. He nodded, knowing that she was talking about sneaking onto Onigashima. “Most of my actual punishment is gonna come after we leave Wano—I won’t get any sweets or be allowed to do anything but study or train for a while after this.” She saw that he had a curled eyebrow raised in question. “It’s… more than fair.”

“You’re a pretty neat kid, Nauja-chan,” Sanji-ya chuckled. “I mean, you were brave enough to go to begin with.”

“It’s not bravery if you go in not thinking about how bad it could be,” Nauja muttered. “All I wanted was to be with Vaor.”

“Still… not everyone can figure out who I am without me giving more facts,” he replied. “You had me sweating on Zou when you mentioned my eyebrow. No one had made the connection until then.”

“Then everyone’s stupid,” she scoffed. Sanji-ya snorted at that, which in turn made Nauja grin. They finished putting all the wrappers in a bag and left the spoiled konpeito shards for birds before heading inside. Zoro-ya and Hiyori-ya met them in the corridor, the other two adults now free of Tama-ya and Toko-ya.

“You coming?” Zoro-ya asked. Sanji-ya swallowed hard and glanced at Nauja: the final obstacle.

“I can find my dad on my own,” Nauja said frankly before walking away. She heard a door to one of the rooms slide open and shut as she made her way down the corridor, not wanting to alert her adults to the fact she knew what possibly might be going on.

The palace was quiet as Nauja padded her way through the corridors and staircases looking for her dad, the only other ones active being the staff. He was not in the large bedroom where most of the rest of the Hearts were already asleep on the giant mega-futon they made by pushing a bunch of singles together. Nor, she noticed, was he in any of the banquet halls and receiving rooms, where he had been apt to sulking in the past few days. The only ones she could find were the members of the Hearts who were off cavorting with pretty maids or the handsome footman, making her wrinkle her nose in irritation… some use they were being…

Wait! There he was! Nauja found a staircase that led down into a room that had dozens upon dozens of wooden dolls. A blue Poneglyph sat in it, whispering to her tales of Wano’s past. Ignoring it for the time being, she went down what looked like another staircase set into the floor, continuing to descend deeper and further into the rock below.

“Who is this joining us?” As Nauja’s eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that Tengu-ya was standing there without his mask, leading her Vaor and Nico-ya down below the surface. “Ah, another intrepid explorer for our group.”

“If the fireworks are over, you should be headed to bed,” Vaor said sternly. Nauja shook her head instead and grabbed hold of his coat.

“I wanted to stay with you,” she reasoned. Nico-ya giggled quietly, while Tengu-ya simply gestured to an opening in the wall where a dim light shone.

“I think there is something here that you all might wish to see,” he said. Nico-ya and Nauja proceeded to crawl in through the hole, while Vaor placed himself at the end with his Devil Fruit ability.

There, beyond a pane of clear glass, was an underwater Wano shimmering in the moonlight.

“That is Old Wano,” Tengu-ya explained. “Our nation used to be much bigger, but when the country was sealed off it was done so literally, and the rainwater had nowhere to go. The buildings you see are probably around eight hundred years old. It is good that the sky is so clear tonight, or else it would be impossible to see except for in the daytime.”

“Wow…” Nauja marveled. “Does that mean there’s even older stuff further down?”

“There is,” Tengu-ya said. The girl slid out from the opening and rushed down the staircase, the clack-clack-clack of her geta echoing against the stone-hewn walls. Once at the bottom, she gasped in wonder at what she saw in the pale moonlight filtered in past waves and glass.

There, telling her its secrets, was a red Lode Poneglyph.

“Vaor!” she squeaked. “Oh, seas, Vaor!” Nauja ran up to the fence that surrounded the stone and jumped up and down excitedly. When Tengu-ya brought Vaor and Nico-ya to the chamber, both were nearly at a loss for words.

“It’s really here,” Nico-ya marveled. She tilted her head in confusion as she watched Nauja stare at the Poneglyph in wonder. “What do you know about these, Nauja-chan?”

“It’s singing!” the girl replied cheerily. All three adults blanched. “The blue stone that was on Onigashima and the one upstairs were just whispering, but this one is singing! I can hear it clearly!”

“How can you do this?!” Nico-ya gasped. She grabbed Nauja by the shoulders and looked into her eyes, scared beyond her mind. “If this is a game, Nauja-chan, you need to tell me, now.”

“She’s been showing signs for a while,” Vaor replied, his tone calm and serious. “It’s the Voice of All Things—I think she can hear it. She did on Onigashima.”

“That legend…?” Tengu-ya questioned. He then scoffed. “Then again, look at all here that otherwise lives in folklore and whispers…”

“Why is that such a bad thing?” Nauja asked. “It’s just something I can do… it doesn’t hurt anything, right?”

“It might not to you or to the rest of us, but this means that you understand this,” Nico-ya said. She pointed at the Poneglyph, which seemed to buzz in joy. “Never tell anyone outside this room you can hear those. Do you understand?”

Nauja nodded.

“It’s like my full name: we have to hide it from the world,” Vaor added. “Never be ashamed of it, but you have to know that if a bad person discovers you can hear what these things have to say, then our travels might become more dangerous than they need to be.”

“A secret name?” Tengu-ya mused.

“You may know, as payment for this,” Vaor said, gesturing at the Poneglyph. “My name in-full is Trafalgar D. Water Law. My parents died before they could pass on the knowledge of its meaning upon my coming-of-age.”

“So you wish to search for the meaning behind the Will of D., hmm…?” Tengu-ya asked. Vaor nodded. “Then you must take care… as though this old man needs to tell you that. There is nothing of the Will in what has been passed down in the shogunate, but I believe it is something you might be able to find an answer for at the End.” He then stared at the younger man, intensely curious. “Where are you from? I was one of the few with access to newspapers, even after my escape, so I might know of it.”

Vaor hesitated. “Flevance, in the North.”

“Ah—then how fortunate that the son that survived bears such a name, and that he might be one of the heroes that graced this country.”

“We’re no heroes, and we are far from saints,” Vaor stated. “We are pirates—our goals merely aligned.”

“Hmm… strooth… however, it does not change what you have done, nor will it change the meaning behind your name.” Tengu-ya went to Nico-ya and Nauja, putting a hand atop the little girl’s head. “Now, my child, can you tell me what it is this lovely stone sings of?”

She recited it perfectly.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was the late following day and Law was returning to the Flower Capitol after having visited the dock at Tokage Port where the Polar Tang was now sitting. Ikkaku and some of the more mechanically-inclined members of the Hearts, along with Robo-ya and Nose-ya, were working on making some additional upgrades to the ship, some that put him at-ease and others that were… questionable at-best. He made it back to the palace before it was time for dinner, the festivities still going strong. How long did a festival need to be, anyhow? A quick check on Nauja—she was reading some Sora books to Tama and Toko, who presumably could not read common script, given their expressions—and he decided it was time for a bit of wandering before dinner.

…or else he would have, had Shachi and Penguin not cornered him.

“So…ooo… Cap…tain…” Penguin said, drawing out the words. “We hear the Head Brat in Charge is looking for ya; has all day.”

“I am not beholden to Momo-ya now that he’s shogun,” Law frowned.

“It’s about Nauja,” Shachi said. Law blinked at that.

“Is she still beating him up?”

Shachi grimaced slightly, making a tsk noise as his lips parted. “No… more like… I think you need to get changed into something more appropriate.”

“What about my clothes is inappropriate?” Law threatened. He was wearing a button-down shirt, jeans, and boots, with his usual hat and his feather-trimmed coat draped over his shoulders. Just because he wasn’t still in Wanolese garb didn’t make him look inappropriate…

“Nothing normally,” Penguin said, “but come on, let’s go; Bep’s getting Momo for us.”

“I don’t like this,” Law stated as his two officers dragged him through the corridor, one on each arm. They got him to the room the lot of them had been sharing before most of the crew left for Tokage and wrestled him back into his yukata… the one he could have sworn he left on the Tang. “You two better explain yourselves, and quickly.”

“It’s probably better we don’t,” Shachi claimed. He and Penguin then pulled him along again, bringing their captain to a small meeting room where Bepo was waiting nervously out in the corridor.

“Oooh, ready…?!”

“Bepo…” Law warned. The polar bear mumbled an apology and quickly slid open the door, allowing Penguin and Shachi to literally shove him in. By the time he regained his footing, the door was traitorously shut behind him.

“Lord Trafalgar, there you are.” Law’s attention snapped towards the voice and saw that it was Momonosuke; he was still not used to the deeper timbre of his older self. “Please, have a seat.”

Law raised his eyebrow; they were the only two in the room, the young shogun already sitting seiza on a cushion while an empty one sat across from him. He complied, sitting in the Wanolese fashion in hopes that this wouldn’t take long, placing Kikoku down at his side.

“Mind telling me what this is about?” Law asked, getting directly to the point. Momonosuke swallowed hard.

“It… it’s about your daughter… the Lady Trafalgar…”

“You know you don’t have to refer to us by titles we don’t have,” Law stated, pinching the bridge of his nose. Wano was so nauseatingly extra he could barely stand it. “What did Nauja do?”

“Uh… nothing… I…”

“She and I, as well as my officers, are staying here at your request, in order to not break up the friendship she has with Tama-ya and Toko-ya while we can,” he explained. “If she has done something that needs addressing, then I shall address it as her father.”

“You see, that’s it! She hasn’t done anything!” Momonosuke gasped. Law narrowed his eyes. “It’s just that, since I’ve become shogun, I’ve been made to think of the future!”

“We’re setting sail soon; I don’t expect to return any time in said near future,” Law said. “I know Tama-ya and Toko-ya are fond of Nauja, but they’ll have to make do with letters.”

“Then… will you come back? In, say, fifteen years?”

“Why fifteen?”

“We shall be the year we both become twenty-three years of age; verily, I seek your permission to wed Lady Trafalgar upon such an auspicious reunion.” Momonosuke bowed deeply, his hair hiding his face as his nose nearly touched the tatami mat. “She is a hero to the nation, and no doubt shall become a fine woman. It would be an honor to have her as a bride.”

Of all the fucking…

“You know you’re older than me now, right?” Law mentioned, voice sharply deadpan. “You know… the man who is her father…?”

“I am eight years of age!”

“You are twenty-eight goddamned years old,” Law said firmly. “In fifteen years you will not be twenty-three, but forty-three. Furthermore, I am not the person whose permission you would need in order to marry her.”

“…then whose would it be…?”

“Nauja’s!” As a pirate and a medical professional, he had heard plenty of absurd things in his life, but this conversation was quickly ratcheting itself towards the top of the list. “She’s not some thing to treat as a token! It’s not my job to barter her away!”

“…but, I…!”

“…and what the actual fuck makes you think that, even if you were still an eight-year-old brat today, that she would want to get married to you in fifteen years?!”

“Her fortitude and dedication to this country’s freedom makes her an excellent candidate to be a shogun’s wife!” Momonosuke cried. Fuck… Law really still was bullying a kid, wasn’t he? “Her character is precisely the sort of thing that this country needs at my side, that I want to see in my own children some day!”

“This conversation is over,” Law decided. He picked up Kikoku and stood, trying to flex impending numbness from his calf muscles. “If I ever hear that you’ve come within fifty feet of my daughter without my presence, you shall learn precisely why they refer to me as the Surgeon of Death on my bounty posters. Do I make myself clear?”

“Uhh…”

“Then let me make it clearer: I don’t care that you leapt through time and this,” he gestured at all of Momonosuke, “is because of a Devil Fruit. I don’t care that when I met you a few months ago, you were still a literal child. I don’t even care that you are Shogun of Wano and Strawhat-ya’s new idkbff. Come near my daughter again and I will make you wish I killed you.”

“…o…okay…”

Law slammed open the door, finding that all three of his officers were there, as well as Hiyori, the princess looking rather irritated while the pirates all jumped at the sight of their captain.

“I told him it was a horrid idea,” Hiyori said, composure calm as only a vindicated younger sibling could pull off. Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi, however, were frightened into silence.

“How long have you known about this?” Law glared.

“Ju-just when we were s-sent to g-g-get you…” Penguin lied. Law turned his amber eyes towards the weakest link: Bepo.

“Onigashima!” The bear cracked instantly. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! We should have told you sooner, but it was low priority since we kind of had other things on our mind!”

“It was the middle of the battle!” Shachi added. “He was still a kid then! We thought it was cute!”

“Didn’t you ever propose to a girl when you were a kid?” Penguin asked, trying to brush it off. “I mean… that’s just what boys do when they find a girl that doesn’t put up with their shit…”

Completely done, Law turned on his heel and went back to change his clothes. Once he was in actual pants again, he found where Nauja was, with her and her friends trying to act out a scene from Sora.

“Alright girls,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Sleepover at the Tang. Grab your stuff. Come on, this means all of you.”

“Oh, do you think Jean Bart will bake us cookies?!” Nauja gasped.

“Wait…” Toko stared at her friend, smile still wide, but the tiniest hint of confusion in her voice. “What is this ‘sleepover’ your father speaks of, O-Ja?”

“It’s when friends all stay the night over at someone’s house!” Nauja explained. “Well, if submarine ships count as houses!”

“So… this has been a sleepover this whole time…?” Tama asked, looking around the room. That’s right—none of them really lived there.

“Yup, and now I’m returning the favor; chop chop,” Law said. The girls cheered and began to gather the stuff they would need to head back to the Polar Tang. Once he was able to corral them out into the corridor, they ran into Hiyori again, the woman giving him a knowing smirk.

“Hiyori-sama, we’re going to have a sleepover with O-Ja!” Toko grinned. “Isn’t that neat?!”

“It is,” she agreed. She then turned her attention to Law—they really had seen a lot for their age, hadn’t they? “I shall set my brother straight. He has a lot to learn.”

“A lot to learn about what, Hiyori-ya?” Nauja asked.

“Never you mind,” Law said. He took the bag that had Tama and Toko’s things and waved the girls off. “Make sure everything’s in your backpack before we go—I don’t know when we’re coming back.”

“Okay!” The three girls rushed down the corridor towards the Hearts’ room, leaving the two adults.

“Don’t fret, Lord Trafalgar,” Hiyori assured. “By the time you return to these shores, my lord brother will have long-forgotten all about his childhood crush. She’ll be safe.”

“I hope so,” he frowned, staring down the corridor. She giggled at that, catching his attention. “What…?”

“Sir Denjiro looks at me that way when I’m being particularly troublesome,” she admitted. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You’ll never stop worrying, you know.”

“I know.”

“One day, she will thank you, and it shall be about everything you’ve never told her about… this included.”

He nodded and inhaled deeply, trying to keep it together. “I know.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was well after nightfall and the dockyard was still bustling with activity. Several bonfires were lit to help with light, though they also served as gathering places for the varying pirates and shipwrights that were not currently working. One pirate in particular was utilizing the atmosphere to take to storytelling, with three pajama-clad children sitting rapt in front of him.

“Aye, so there we was, staring down this absolute unit of a granny; bigger than the whale that guards the entrance t’ the Grand Line!” Kid watched as the girls giggled at him, all three amused by his tale. “She tried t’ gie us t’ join her, but that would’ve involved marrying some kid of hers and that bloody fucking bunch of reprobates? Aye, right, I dinna ken a worse fate than being tied to one o’ them.”

“Don’t swear like that around them,” Law scowled in disapproval from his reading spot on the other side of the fire. Kid scowled right back and gave a venomless two-fingered salute.

“Yer lads cuss.”

“My lads can speak without anyone feeling like they need a dictionary.”

“Where the fun in that?” Kid then noticed Toko let out a yawn, the pink-haired girl being the first to flag. “Oi, Trafalgar, I think the bairnies here need a wee kip.”

“Is that right now?” Law asked. “Time for bed already?” Nauja, Tama, and Toko all shook their heads in a panic.

“NO!” they all chimed in.

“I thought Eustass-ya couldn’t tell you what to do!” Nauja added.

“He can’t tell me what to do, but he is part of the Inter-Seas Association of Semi-Capable Adults and therefore knows when certain children might need their sleep.” He snapped his book shut and placed it in his inner coat pocket before standing. “Now then, say goodnight to Eustass-ya.”

Pouting, the three young friends tackled Kid in a hug, not entirely wanting to leave just yet. He was able to wrap his right arm around them with a chuckle. “I can finish in the morning if yer that interested.”

“We are!” Tama replied. “Even though O-Ja and I were there, we did not see all the events unfold!”

“Yeah, and I was not there at all,” Toko said. She closed her eyes and hummed. “You’re warm.”

“You’ll be warm inside too,” Law said. He plucked Toko from Kid’s grasp and motioned for the other two girls to follow. After exchanging a knowing glance with Kid, Law led Nauja and Tama over to the side of the Polar Tang, opening a Room so he could place them by the top deck’s entrance. They went below, with Nauja leading the way to her bedroom. It had been finished earlier that afternoon, with more shelves, chests to place her things in, and a bunk bed that was sitting over a desk. The older two girls marveled at the changes, while the third was already too asleep to notice.

“Oh, wow!” Nauja gasped. “This is all mine?!”

“That it is,” Law replied. He placed Toko underneath the blankets while Nauja and Tama investigated the rest of the room. “Robo-ya and Nose-ya worked rather hard on it with Ikkaku-ya.”

“I’ll have to thank them in the morning!” Nauja beamed. She hugged Law tightly before climbing up the ladder leading to her bed. “This is so cool! I thought this place was neat before, but now… it’s the best!”

“Did you sleep here before?” Tama asked, following her friend.

“Yeah, but before that I had to sleep with Vaor, because this room was actually storage,” Nauja said. The girls allowed Law to tuck them in as they settled in on either side of Toko, the three fitting snugly. “Ikka-ya put this together for me when it was decided I needed my own room.”

“That’s neat…”

“Good night, girls,” Law said. “If you need me, I’m at the end of the corridor, to the right.”

“Good night,” Nauja and Tama echoed back at him. Law then turned out the lights and switched on the nightlight—the star-filled, mid-ocean sky illuminated the ceiling, garnering a couple little gasps before he closed the door.

Nodding, Law went over to the kitchen and made himself some coffee first before heading into his cabin. There, he sat up with his mug of liquid life and a medical tome he had acquired from the Flower Capitol, reading it to see what sorts of things Wanolese medicine did the same and different compared to others. It was a surprisingly engaging read, making it so that he almost flew through the first half of the book on only the one mug of coffee. As he put the mug down after draining it, the photos secured to the wall caught his eye. He had recently added some more of Nauja, snail-captured images of her having fun with him and the crew surrounding the ones he had of his parents, sister, and Cora-san.

“You’d be proud,” he whispered in the silence. “I’m gonna figure out this mystery myself, so I can give my daughter our true identity. I’ll teach her everything, and then she’ll do us proud.”

The photos simply smiled back.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

When it was finally time for the Polar Tang to depart, it was difficult separating Nauja from Tama and Toko. The three girls sobbed at the prospect of not being together again for a long time, with some of the Wanolese well-wishers that had gathered needing to hold the girls back. Even Momonosuke was there, wailing about not wanting Strawhat-ya to leave, though in reality, it was the same deal.

They would come back again, one day. It was a promise between friends.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

They were nearly at the next island when they ran into trouble again.

“Captain, uh, we’ve got a problem,” Hakugan stated, peering through the periscope. He, Law, and Bepo were in the navigation room, with the captain sitting in his chair.

“What is it?”

“It looks like there’s people already on the island…”

“…so…? There are people on most islands.”

“It doesn’t look like it holds a permanent settlement, but there is a small harbor. Some affiliates of Blackbeard are currently docked there.”

“Fuck…” Law’s upper lip curled into a sneer as he contemplated the new information. He didn’t want to risk pissing off anyone who answered directly to one of the Emperors, not if they didn’t have backup. Wano was one thing and this was another. “How close by can you get to the island in order to reset the magnetic field?”

“…for this place? It’s gonna have to be close.” Bepo was checking the Log Pose and comparing it to the map he had unfurled on the dash. “According to the information we got from Zou, this place has a tight reset zone.”

“Alright—down periscope and dive—I want us off their radar soon as possible,” Law stated.

“Aye, aye,” Hakugan nodded. He turned off the periscope and concentrated on a series of dials and switches, which he used to begin prepping the Polar Tang to dive. “Huh…”

“…what…?” Law raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong?”

“No… just… I feel kind of funny…” He then grunted suddenly, holding his stomach. “What the…?”

“I feel weird too,” Bepo agreed. “Do you think it might have been those pies Penguin made…?”

“The pies were cooked,” Law sighed, “you’re just being sill—urgh!” A sharp yet pulsing pain hit him in the abdomen as well, causing him to fall out of his chair and collapse on the floor. Something odd coursed through his body, making it feel as though it was changing, much to his chagrin, and they hadn’t even started to dive yet.

“Captain!?” The voice sounded like Bepo, and yet wasn’t. It was too high in pitch. “Captain!? What’s happening?!”

“I don’t know, I…!”

Law paused at the sound of his own voice, something intrinsically off about it. He struggled to his feet and looked over at Bepo, only to see that his navigator was donning a hairstyle close to Fred’s and was gaining a pear-shaped figure. Looking at Hakugan, he saw his helmsman was now sporting a cup size probably larger than Ikkaku’s. He felt his chin and discovered his goatee was no longer there, which caused him to look in the glass of the porthole at his reflection.

After all the years of his father staring back at him in the mirror, it was now his mother’s turn.

“FUCK!” he cursed. “Hakugan, dive, NOW!”

“Captain, what’s going on?!” the helmsman asked, attempting to maneuver to ship fast as he could.

“I don’t know! We’ll figure it out later!” Law turned towards the doorway and saw Shachi standing there with four mugs of coffee in his hands, now staring wide-eyed at the scene.

“What the fu…?”

Suddenly, a rumble shook the Polar Tang, spilling coffee and sending those in the control room into furniture and walls. Shachi in particular landed in Law’s new cleavage, which the captain did not appreciate. By the time he shoved off his crewmate, he was looking at Shachi alright, but a Shachi with the sort of hourglass shapeliness he’d normally be chasing instead of sporting.

“WE’VE BEEN HIT!” Ikkaku’s voice blared over the intercom snail. Sirens started to go off and a deep panic seated itself in Law’s chest.

Nauja.

“TACTICAL MANEUVERS!” Law ordered into the receiver on the dash. “BATTLE STATIONS!”

Once the command was given, Law rushed out of the navigation room and went to the engine room, seeing that Ikkaku was already barking orders, and then the mess hall, where most of the crew still were. A leak had sprung near a join—it was worse than he thought.

“CAPTAIN?!” gasped several crew members. Someone in the back was already infected, with Jean Bart changing into a bearded woman before his eyes.

“Vaor?!” Law’s head snapped towards the sound of Nauja’s voice, seeing that she was running towards him. “What’s going on?!”

“Sorry, but I’m gonna look like Oma and Tante Lami for a bit,” he said quietly. The terror in her face made him sick to his stomach, yet he kept it together as he looked at the rest of the crew and their quickly-transitive state. “What’s the status of that leak?”

“It’s hard to hold! We’re going to take on water sooner than later!”

“Shit!” Law grabbed the intercom snail and hissed into it. “We’ll need to surface!”

“…but Captain…!”

Another blast shook the ship, where transforming people got flung into walls and Nauja clung to Law’s leg.

“Captain… it’s Blackbeard himself! We have a visual!”

No…!

“If we keep going down, the water pressure will crush us!”

“Let’s surface!” Law ordered into the Den Den. “Prepare for battle, and be quick about it!”

“Vaor, what’s happening?!”

“I don’t know, famke,” he frowned. The girl watched as Law finally realized what was going on and used his Haki to bust through the forced gender flip, going back to his normal self. Once he did, the others in the room began to change back as well.

“How the fuck…?” Law whispered. He looked at his hand, then at his crew, as they went through changes at different rates. A sense of dread filled him like nothing he had ever felt before.

They had made it into the ship without so much as boarding.

Blackbeard’s crew had made it on the ship without boarding, and was about to make them surface.

“Shit—Nauja, backpack, now!”

Squeaking in reply, the girl scampered off, dodging crewmates as they ran around the ship, popping back to normal and panicking about the condition of the Polar Tang. She made it to her room and found her Sora backpack, putting in it all the things that she knew she needed: Professor Nanuk, books, photos of the crew and her family, the envelope with money and some Vivre Cards, her dirk, a jacket…

“Nauja, move!” She jumped and looked over at the door; Law was standing there, his arm outstretched and his face stern. He grabbed her soon as her backpack was secured and carried her through the ship.

“Vaor…?! What’s going on…?!”

“I need you to listen to me, Nauja,” he murmured in her ear, voice softer than she expected. “The crew loves you. Can you remember that?”

“…but Vaor…!” She looked around and saw that suddenly they were in the loading bay. “What’s going on?!” He set her down on the floor and knelt before her, ignoring the blaring klaxons and flashing warning lights all around them.

“Repeat what I said,” he demanded, voice shaky. She nodded weakly.

“The crew loves me.”

“I love you.”

“You love me.” She clung to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Vaor… Vader… Dad… please…”

“It’s going to be too dangerous from here on out,” he said. He gently placed her on a chair in a sort of… thing…? She wasn’t sure what, but he strapped her into a harness and kissed her hair and forehead. “Be good, alright? You’re going to grow up to be an amazing person, Trafalgar D. Water Nauja. It’s a shame I won’t get to see it.”

“Vaor…?!”

“I love you, Nauja, with all my Heart.”

Nauja’s eyes went wide as Law hit a button on the wall and the seat turned into a capsule. She screamed for her father as she struggled against the harness, although he couldn’t hear it thanks to the workmanship of the pod. It sank onto a track and another wall slid down between them, a glass panel allowing them to keep eye contact as the capsule settled into place and tears streamed down their faces.

Fly little seagull, he said silently. The world awaits.

The escape pod jettisoned itself, whisking Nauja far away from the current battle. The torpedo chamber filled with water as the contents were all forced out until only air bubbles and the sea remained.

Law set his face and exhaled heavily—it was time to take care of Blackbeard and, if he was lucky, at least his crew would survive this.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Nauja stared at the folded Vivre Card in her hand, then up at the building in front of her. Everything her father ever told her came rushing back all at once, as she knew she shouldn’t be there. It was the Marine Headquarters, which was precisely not the place for a pirate to be, even a little one. She was glad she put her boilersuit in her backpack a while ago to blend in with just her t-shirt and shorts—this was going to be leagues more difficult than infiltrating the okiya.

Knowing she wasn’t going to get anywhere with hiding in the wharf, Nauja stepped out into the sunlight and began to walk up to the Marine Headquarters with her head held high. Recruits and minor officers all stared at her, wondering whose kid she was, all the way until an elderly lady with kind eyes stopped her.

“Where are you going, my dear?” she asked. “I think you’re a bit young to be signing up.”

“I’m here to see my grandfather,” Nauja said. She held up the folded Vivre Card and it shuffled on her palm. “My uncle gave this to me because I don’t remember what my grandfather looks like.”

“What is your grandfather’s name? That might help.”

“Uhh… Grandpapa…?”

The woman chuckled; oh, the innocence of children. She then noticed that there was writing on the inside of the Vivre Card. “What’s that?”

“A… erm… a note.”

“For whom?”

“It’s for Grandpapa from Uncle Dorry.”

The elderly lady inhaled sharply, her eyes going wide for just a moment. Nauja began to panic, only for the woman to reach out and grab her arm.

“I know your grandfather; let me take you to him.”

“You… you do…?”

“Yes. I knew your Uncle Dorry before your grandfather knew him.”

A light went on in Nauja’s head—this was the friend that Dinosaur-ya had mentioned. She nodded and let the woman take her hand, bringing her through the maze-like corridors of the Marine Headquarters. She eventually found an office, where there was an elderly man sitting at a desk doing paperwork.

“Tsuru, what’s this?” he wondered, sitting fully upright. He watched as the little girl detached herself from his old comrade’s side and approached him, holding up a Vivre Card. It spun in her hand when she was directly next to him—it was his.

“I think you should read that, Sengoku,” Tsuru suggested. He picked up the Vivre Card and unfolded it, seeing the familiar, distinctive script inside.

‘Please take care of her. Dorry.’

“Where did you get this, child?” Sengoku asked gently. Nauja shuffled in place nervously.

“Your son gave it to me,” she said. “He knows my dad, and we met not too long ago, and he gave me that saying that if I were ever in any trouble Dad couldn’t handle, that I should find you.”

“Did he, now?”

“Yeah; he said something about his brother, and how although they never met, his brother would want me to have this.” The adults both looked at one another, which allowed the girl’s eyes to wander towards the photo frames on the desk. “That’s him! That’s Uncle Dorry!”

“Yes, it is him, isn’t it?” Sengoku nodded. He pulled the photo frame closer, allowing Nauja to see both the portraits clearer. She gasped when she saw the other one in the frame, before it having been shielded by glare from the lights. “What’s the matter?”

“That’s Cora-jiisan!” she realized. Nauja went into her backpack and pulled out an envelope, from which she presented a copy of a photo she last saw on her father’s wall. “He was Dad’s dad! Like how Dad is my dad! Dad needed Cora-jiisan and he took care of him, like how I needed Dad and he took care of me!”

“Is that so…?” Sengoku marveled, looking at the photo. It was something he had never seen before, with his son taking the photo of himself and a sour-looking teen with white patches on his face and in his hair. He wasn’t sure there was a time he had seen that sort of smile on him as an adult, and it made him nearly want to cry.

“Yes! This is Dad and me!” Nauja said. She held out another photo, this one of her and a very familiar-looking pirate. It was the teen from the first photo, no longer sick and now the adult taking the picture. Sengoku stared at the photos side by side, then stared at Tsuru, terrified of what was happening.

“I did not know,” he apologized to the child. “Since I’ve retired from my normal duties, I don’t hear a lot of chatter about who is in what crew these days. That this man has a child is news to me.”

“Dad didn’t really think he was my dad until very recently, but now that his adoptive uncle’s in prison, we’re safe to be a family! Well… kind of…”

“What do you mean by that?” Tsuru asked.

“Well, there’s this big, mean, ugly guy who made his crewmate turn all the guys on the ship into women! After he fixed it, Dad had me get my backpack together and he put me in an escape pod. I… I’ve been going by this ever since.” She tapped the now-still Vivre Card on the desktop. “Now I’m here! Why do you have a picture of Cora-jiisan?”

“He was my son, before your Uncle Dorry came into my life,” Sengoku said. “I found your Cora-jiisan, he found your father, and your father found you. We are family.”

“Then maybe,” Tsuru said, “this is a chance to make things right.”

“Indeed.”

Sengoku stared at the little girl for a moment, wondering what he did to deserve such a sweet and innocent thing as this. He had done so much wrong by his son—by the boy he had taken in without thought of reproach from the Celestial Dragons—and the kid he’d decided to take in. That Flevench boy should have grown up to become a Marine… should have been allowed to do great things, and yet he had squandered it. He, Sengoku, had squandered the future of a young man he’d never met—Trafalgar never truly had any autonomy when it came to this—and now the man’s daughter was here… in his office… in need of a place to be safe and free.

“What is your name? I can’t introduce my adorable little great-granddaughter if I don’t know what her name is.”

“Trafalgar D. Water Nauja,” the girl said firmly, head held high. “My dreams are to become a medical illustrator and get justice for Vaor and the crew and the ship that was our home. Dinosaur-ya—erm—Uncle Dorry said that you can keep me safe while I grow up. Is that true?”

“It is,” Sengoku nodded, “and it shall be. No one, pirate or Marine, will know what hit them.” He brought her into a hug and the girl broke down into sobs. Tears flowed from them both as the finality washed over them, unaware of the note that had been slipped into her backpack, tucked between the pages of a book about a city long-razed, written on the back of a photo taken while neither subject had been paying attention as they read together in the sun.

You shall fly, my little Nauja, and the world shall know your name.

#Trafalgar Law #Trafalgar Nauja #Heart Pirates #One Piece #fan fiction #Penguin (One Piece) #Shachi (One Piece) #Bepo #Straw Hat Pirates #X Drake #ch 1044 spoilers #ch 1063 spoilers #Eustass Kid #I TRIED SO HARD TO REIN HIM AND KILLER IN #but their dialogue still reads like it's out of The Thick of It #because they're just Jamie and Malcolm if Jamie was the boss prove me wrong #Trafalgar D. Water Law #Kurozumi Tama #Shimotsuki Toko #semi spoilers for ch1081 #post the 1313th

[kookoofufu]

Is it just me or do Wano's chapter titles go especially hard?

#wano #one piece #op spoilers #ch 971 #ch 989 #ch 991 #ch 1007 #ch 1030 #ch 1036 #ch 1040 #ch 1042 #ch 1043 #ch 1044 #titles

[oh-warizoro]

When ch 1044 and 1045 were released and all the chaos was unleashed, I remember having a very obvious question

"How come the power of human human no mi: model Nika is connected to rubber?"

How is a gomu gomu fruit's awakening the power to turn imagination into reality?

I mean... This awakening grants the user freedom, not just of spirit but freedom of how to use power too. Luffy's ability to manipulate reality while in gear 5 seems to show that.

So??? Why rubber? Why does the fruit give the user a rubber-like body? What does that have to do with anything?

I was totally not re reading Skypiea when I noticed this.

Of course it's white they're in a cloud sky instead of a water ocean, but it's the fact that they use "pure white". White would've been enough to get the point across, right?

Guess where else have we seen that exact expression!? Oda's drafts of Gear 5!!

And the chapter after that? Guess what?!

We learn island clouds in Skypiea bounce just like rubber.

There's no need for Oda to make them bounce, but they do! Exactly like when Luffy turns the environment around him to rubber due to the awakening.

Let's not forget that Skypiea is where we first hear about the "Sun God" and we see Luffy's sirouette resembling the "Sun God Nika" transformation.

So would it be insane to think whatever Luffy has going on during his gear 5 is clouds?!! More specifically island clouds just like the ones found in sky islands.

Think about it.

Rubber was unknown to the people in Skypiea, and sea clouds/island clouds don't survive in the blue sea under natural conditions. Most likely 99% of the blue sea population has no idea what an island cloud is or what their properties are.

For all intents and purposes rubber was the best description blue sea people could give to the power of the fruit. If the fruit hasn't awaken in 800 years, it means no one has seen that transformation (which clearly is not just a “rubber fruit” awakening) EVER?! since the end of the void history gap. You would have no way of knowing. You would just think it’s rubber.

Now what does clouds have to do with the Sun God?

Well other than "they're in the sky" I'm not sure 😂 but someone that dreams a lot is said "to have their head in the clouds". The same way imagination and thoughts in manga are depicted with a floating cloud above the character's head.

It seems to be a perfect physical and symbolic representation of dreams! That's the theme of skypiea and the true pinnacle of piracy - dreams and freedom. It’s what the whole story is about!

#opspoilers #op spoilers #opwmspoilers #opmeta #luffy #human human no mi model nika #It's fucking clouds isn't it??? #I've been staring at the void for too long trying to articulate a decent explanation of my afternoon discovery #And don't get me started on how dials have to be ancient tech from the ancestors of the skypeians #and possibly even from THE ancient kingdom!! #the way pagaya and Gan fall talk about them... It just feels like it and that they don't know how to make dials anymore #Plus skypieans were from the moon #and super technological advanced. They has mecha and all! #And vegapunk has managed to make sea and island clouds in egghead #They can definitely be #manipulated and maybe even man-made #Also pyrobloin!!! It's a component from both Kairoseki and cloud islands! #I have too many thoughts running through my mind. #Maybe another day ill post about some of the other stuff but for now CLOUDS?!! #I needed to get that out bc it's so stupid but... One Piece is stupid?!! Right??? #I think I might've just gone insane #§mine #ch: 1044 #ch: 1046 #ch: 1061 #ch: 237 #ch: 238 #ch: 1053.4 #§optr #§opmta

[chenziee]

Five

@lawluevents - Day 6: Conqueror's haki/Hand holding

@onepiece-bingo: Sound of Drums

Alternate summary: 1044 because of course it is :)

Alternate summary 2: write Nika Luffy without him turning into a giggly murdering maniac challenge

! MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1044 (ENDING OF ONIGASHIMA) !

[ Read on AO3 | series ]

—————

Luffy never thought about losing. He refused to think about losing. There was too much on the line in Wano and if he lost to Kaido, then all of it was going to be destroyed. He promised he would win and smash the night to pieces—to Momo, to Tama, to Yamato, to Kin, to his crew, to Torao. He promised to win no matter what. 

And more than that, he himself couldn’t forgive Kaido.

He couldn’t afford losing to this man.

And so, when he did lose…

He was shocked to find out that he wasn’t upset, disappointed… or even angry.

No; instead, he was happy. Who knew losing would be so much fun? 

A giggle bubbling out of his chest, Luffy got to his knees. There was blood dripping off his face and staining the ground under him but he couldn’t feel any pain. He felt too giddy, too excited to get back to fighting.

What was that DOOM-DUT-DA-DA rhythm resounding all around him? A drum? Sure sounded like one… but that didn’t feel right. Oh, was that his heart beating?

“Okay, that’s funny!”

A new wave of giggles overcame him as he finally got to his feet; he felt so light now, like some invisible restraints had been lifted, giving him all the freedom he ever wanted. He was sure he could do everything he wanted to right now.

Looking at his hands, Luffy clenched and unclenched his fist a few times, testing. What if I make it bigger, bigger than Gear Third?

He barely finished the thought before his fist blew up into giant proportions—big enough to make it seem like he could just reach out and grab the moon off the sky, and big enough to make Luffy himself stumble at the sudden shift in his centre of gravity. Quickly shrinking his hand back to normal size, Luffy grinned.

“This is amazing!” he laughed happily, jumping up and down. He didn’t even notice until now but did his clothes turn white? That was so weird! “I really can do anything!! I can totally fight a bit longer like this! This is my peak. This is Gear Five!!”

Taking a deep breath, Luffy focused on his surroundings. He could feel countless people down below him, scrambling around as the battle went on. There were several strong Voices—Kaido’s was the strongest but he could hear Sanji, Yamato, Jaggy, Momo a bit further away… Zoro’s voice was weak but also there, just like several of the Akazaya samurai.

If at all possible, Luffy’s smile widened even more when he found his Torao.

He knew he and Jaggy would win. Torao was strong, after all; much stronger than stupid Big Mom.

His presence was comforting; hearing his Voice was grounding, keeping Luffy’s mind from getting off-track. He really was the last one to wrap up his fight, huh? That wouldn’t do! He couldn’t keep everyone waiting like this!

Luffy snickered, cracking the knuckles of both his hands before pulling his right arm back. “Here I go, Kaido!” Luffy called to no one in particular, letting his haki flow—

—only to startle at how effortlessly it came to him. Has his Conqueror’s haki always been this powerful? Did it always so free, so light, was it always so easy for him to control?

This form, this Gear Five… It was just so fun!

A grin on his lips, Luffy thrust his hand forward, letting it grow into the arm of a giant to easily bust a hole in the Skull Dome’s ceiling, grabbing for Kaido. He laughed at how tiny the dragon’s body seemed in his hold. Like a simple rope, just ready to be tossed around.

This was where the real battle started.

—————

“Idiot!”

“Huh?” Luffy blinked, pausing with where he was stuffing his mouth with meat to stare at Torao.

He was pacing all over the room in the Shogun’s castle that Momo let Luffy use while he recovered, his hair dishevelled from how he had been running his hands through it in frustration. He wasn’t looking at Luffy, only muttering something to himself about ‘reckless morons who never stop to think’.

“What did I do?!” Luffy asked, instead of doing something stupid like laughing. The sight that Law’s stress made might have been very funny, but Luffy also didn’t have a death wish.

Law clicked his tongue, his head snapping up to glare at Luffy. “Take a fucking guess,” he hissed angrilly.

Tilting his head to the side, Luffy thought hard about what might have caused Law to act like this but he was drawing a blank. “You wanted to eat this meat?” Luffy tried, offering him the half-eaten drumstick in his hand.

“No. Try again.”

Luffy studied Law’s face, taking note of how Law’s eyes flickered away from Luffy’s face to dart all over Luffy’s body—over his injuries—and suddenly, Luffy understood. And he couldn’t keep the warm, happy smile off his face as much as he tried. “Torao~” he sang easily.

That only earned him another glare and he had to bite on his lower lip to stop himself from giggling as he shook his head. Torao could be so cute sometimes.

“Torao, I’m fine,” Luffy said, trying to sound reassuring but he wasn’t sure how good a job he was doing with the way his voice shook. He was just so happy his Torao was so worried; it made him feel all warm and fuzzy in ways he didn’t bother deciphering. He simply basked in the feelings, and in the pissed off, adorable look on Law’s face.

“You died,” Law said flatly.

“Did not!” Luffy cried in his defence.

Clicking his tongue again, Torao sighed deeply. “You’re impossible.”

Unable to keep it in any longer, Luffy snickered—while ignoring the frustrated noise Law let out in response. Discarding his meat on the provided plate, Luffy quickly wiped his hands before he turned back to Law and stretched out one of his arms to grab Law’s elbow, forcing him to come closer to where Luffy was sitting on his futon.

Surprisingly, Law didn’t protest; he let Luffy drag him over to himself, only turning his eyes away so that he wasn’t looking at him. Embarrassed, and unwilling to show it, and Luffy grinned.

So damn cute.

Letting go of Law’s elbow, Luffy let his fingers slide down Law's arm until he found his hand, taking it in his own. Slowly, he brought Law’s hand to his lips, pressing a small kiss to the inside of his wrist—right at the edge of his soulmark—before lacing their fingers together.

“Torao, I love you,” he said in a teasing voice, making Law freeze.

He didn’t say anything for a long while, only standing there completely tense… until he clicked his tongue and finally deflated. Luffy wasn’t surprised when a moment later, Law flicked his forehead—armament haki and all—before he heaved a sigh and replied, “Don’t I-love-you me in this situation.”

“But it’s working!” Luffy said cheekily, sticking out his tongue.

Law narrowed his eyes. “How about I cut your dick off and toss it into the hole with Kaido. It’s not like you’re using it anyway.”

“You wouldn’t!!” Luffy gasped.

“Fucking try me,” Law growled back and Luffy gulped.

Maybe he shouldn’t be pushing Torao much further… Oh well!

“I’ll still love you though,” Luffy said defiantly, squeezing Law’s hand for good measure.

Law didn’t say anything to that… but when he squeezed Luffy’s hand back, that was all the answer Luffy needed.

#one piece #lawlu #trafalgar law #trafalgar d water law #luffy #monkey d luffy #opfanfic #lawlu fanfic #one piece spoilers #opspoilers #op spoilers #one piece chapter 1044 #op 1044 #ch 1044 #ch. 1044 #sun god nika #wano act 3 #wano #during onigashima #post-onigashima #soulmate au #soulmate identifying marks #fluff #comfort #cute #established relationship #katie pretends to fic #lawluweek2023 #one piece bingo #chains of fate

[hasturs-fanboy-number-one]

Gear 5, cos i’m a wee bit obsessed

#ik my anatomy's shit #i had a lot of fun drawing this one #once it gets animated i'm loosing it #mah sunshine boi #luffy #monkey d luffy #gear 5 #op spoilers #one piece spoilers #ch 1044 #alan draws

[wifeofkatakuri]

Yo ho ho he took a bite of Human Human Model Nika!

#one piece #monkey d luffy #1044 #ch 1044 #one piece 1044 #1044 spoilers #wano spoilers #4kids dub #4kids one piece

[everykawamatsu]

As you might have noticed, we have reached the end of Wano in the manga! I will keep a lookout for our precious kappa going forward, both in the manga and the anime. We still have a ways to go with anime so the blog won't go completely dead for now, however, there will probably be pretty long breaks depending on how often they show him!

See you again soon!! 💚

#management #kawamatsu #kawamatsu the kappa #kappa boy #i also binge watch over keeping up weekly so there's that #i have enough trouble remembering to keep up with the manga ahahaha #thanks to untagged spoilers on twitter i have to read chapters asap tho #so yeah anyway this is not about my ch 1044 spoiler salt

[moonpaw]

Do you have any one piece fic recs? Mainly stuff that doesn’t really deal with romance. That sweet sweet platonic shit is calling my name

yeah, i got a ......couple!!

Luffy was raised as a marine and makes it everyone's problem (Series, spoilers for all arcs they're in sections so read up to where you are)

Luffy was raised as a marine, but now has more childhood trauma (Series, first fic is a full fledged fic, again spoilers for all arcs)

Somewhere to Belong (childhood ASL, garp strikes a deal for whitebeard to watch them for 6 months)

The Fire and the Sun (A what-if marineford fic, luffy gets hit)

I’ll keep the king (I’ll keep him safe) (a whump fic centered around luffy's injuries and his crew taking care of him, nakamaship)

sweets and chains can't keep away the king's straw hat (AU where luffy is Big Mom's son and Dragon keeps breaking in checking up on him)

There is no such thing as freedom in a cage of your own making (AU where it's found out much earlier that luffy is Dragon's son and the marines are sent after him on Dawn, Garp calls Ace to go get him first)

Dammit Garp (stop kidnapping your grandson) (Garp finds out Ace is on whitebeard's ship and throws luffy over there too)

the sky is falling (but you’re with me so there’s nowhere i’d rather be) (ok i know you said no ship, but i'm obsessed over this fic for being one of the BEST gear 5 fics out there because of how much LORE it has, Gods AU, ch 1044+ spoilers)

Treasures for a Treasure (pearls pale in your eyes) (Gods AU, luffy is the son of the sea)

Who We Were Meant To Be (Marine!Luffy AU)

Undo, Rewrite, Again (Luffy gets blasted to Baltigo instead of the Isle of women)

Smile Again (Modern AU nakamaship, the crew help luffy recover from ace's death after a crash)

Adopted By Default (Luffy gets blasted to the whitebeards instead of the isle of women)

Beginning the Next Dream (Luffy gets reincarnated as his own uncle and raises the ASL brothers lol, only gets to ace though but the fic is worth it for the luffy, dragon, and garp interactions as well as roger and shanks)

The feel of family (ASL brothers but law and corazon are there too somehow)

Boy With a Scar (luffy went missing for 4 years as a fighting ring slave, fic begins after he's been freed and returned to Dawn)

The time the ASL Brothers ran away from home because they didn't want to deal with Garp (ASL brothers become pirates instead of building their treehouse)

How it Should have Healed (Another nakamaship fic about luffy's wounds throughout their adventures)

The Past and Future King (two pirate kings accidentally meet on a weird island)

one bleached from lying in a sunny place (someone comes up to Usopp and asks to join the strawhats)

Twin Flames (Ace calls Sabo his twin when talking to jinbe in impel down, this has consequences)

across ocean tides and snow-covered hills (ace and luffy meet up on Dawn right before luffy's 2 year time limit)

What if (ace is born a few days early and Rayleigh takes him in instead, making the ASL brothers estranged)

In That Bottle, Is an Ocean Of Memories (AU where luffy is big mom's son)

The World Goes Around In Circles ("How come you're called the pirate hunter, when you're a pirate yourself?")

sea king prayers (Gods Au, series)

it's all been done before (timetravel Au but told in ace's perspective who has no idea time travel is a thing that's going on)

on brotherhood (ageswap, luffy is the older brother)

gods apparent. (gear 5 fic)

Claimed by the Sea     (pirate king luffy gets kidnapped by a cult, zoro and the crew searches)

light up, light up     (Ace goes missing after the fire, leaving Sabo and Luffy alone. Outlook wants Sabo back and sabo agrees only if luffy can come with him)

as the world goes on its wicked way (Luffy gets turned into a kid for a day, big brother usopp moments)

trouble is a friend of mine (Sanji gets captured)

literally anything written by taizi

the weight of you (Platonic strawhats cuddling :D)

over the course of a day (An AU in which Usopp is forced to hitchhike and meets a few concerning characters)

Like Cats and Dogs (Daemon Au)

stared at the sun and the sun smiled back and called itself pirate king (or: loyalty, on the high seas) (Crew loyalty series)

Little Monsters ( Post-Wano, some lucky (or not-so-lucky) Marines capture the still-injured Sanji and Usopp)

no gods (Gods Au/gear 5, days after the Flevance massacre but with an extra guest)

DreadLetting (gear 5 & time travel, luffy ends up back on that day ace sets sail)

All Hail The Sun God (Gods Au, Zoro offers himself as a human sacrifice so the god of the valley will return)

sky blues (little luffy and vivi meet)

to have and to hold on (Spade pirates are worried about ace and tries to recruit luffy into helping them, Deuce pov)

Pain Scale (Nakamaship, luffy gets hurt)

You Still Have Me (Ace and luffy ageswap, marineford)

It was cold without you by my side (Sabo remembers a few days sooner, just in time to break into impel down)

teacup lizards (luffy is born as dragon’s twin)

reach up to me (if you even can) (Ace reacts to gear third’s “side effect”)

Same Difference (Sabo remembers years sooner, revisits Dawn island)

You Can't Teach a Monkey to Read (Nakamaship, the crew teaches luffy how to read after the timeskip)

The Will of D Carries On (Klabautermann au)

Of pirates and touches (Nami & luffy friendship)

Seven Deadly Sins (Modern Au, Law’s new apartment is haunted)

We Set Our Wishes Upon Her Waters (Gods Au, the 4 Blues are seen as gods and these gods have their own chosen)

Captains' Flowers (a kinda soulmate/mark fic, platonic nakamaship)

Sibling Sympathies (ace’s arabasta visit, nami pov)

interviewing the Future Pirate King (REAL! NOT CLICKBAIT!) (does this one even need an explanation?)

Diving Into The Sea  AND  Diamond Stratosphere (Au where some people with the D name have wings, series but the fics isn’t under one for some reason?)

Overboard (A typhoon hits the Going Merry's crew harder than any of them could anticipate or accept)

Know Me Like Waves Know Shores ( When Dragon and Luffy meet face to face for the first time, Luffy doesn't recognize his father.)

of scissors and combs (usopp gives luffy a haircut)

burning rubber (Chopper worries over luffy, post marineford & timeskip)

hey, let's get lost (along the way) (Ace, Luffy, Vivi, and Nami accidentally get lost in Alabasta)

etch the ocean into my soul like a guiding light (platonic soulmates Au, zolu)

Si c'est une âme (Platonic soulmates, nakamaship)

The Experiment (The crew make a game out of Zoro’s sleeping habits)

A Chance Encounter ( After Ace get's defeated by Blackbeard, he's held at a temporary prison for a little while, and there he meets a quirky, young marine that surprisingly is related to Ace!)

the voice of all things (The ocean's all the same to everyone―but no one else can hear it quite like he can.)

Many Kisses (Nakamaship & kisses)

Bearing the heat (Modern Au, ASL, slice of life)

tumbling overboard, faces full of fear (luffy falls overboard during a storm, franky dives in after him)

a place that burns (It is then, that moment, strikingly clear, that Luffy realizes he doesn’t have a home.)

Sleep is a Beast, Polar and Bear (post marineford, luffy has trouble sleeping, zoro does what he can to help)

you gotta go the long way 'round (Robin teaches luffy how to read, timeskip)

Swimming Lessons (Thanks to Law’s bodyswap ability, Usopp teaches luffy how to swim for the first time)

take a step in mine (marineford au)

Cool! Two Zoros! (the crew somehow ends up in the past. in the east blue. zoro is there)

wish by spirit and if by yes (Sabo tracks down the whitebeard pirates)

don't bury me with gold (Wolrd noble!Sabo Au)

whatever you can still betray (Haruta is convinced Ace is a spy)

Captains Don’t Get Sick (luffy & nami nakamaship)

where the rims have ridges (Outsider POV, a girl happens to meet both roger and luffy during her life, the strawhat is what she notices)

Code of Misconduct (The crew sets down some ground rules)

I Can't Be Selfless (Pre-canon, Aokiji meets luffy in fooshia)

worn to the bones (that scene where luffy, zoro, and sanji are traveling to fishman island and get separated from the crew in bubbles)

sing songs of the sea (Luffy drowned once, series)

God's emperor (Gods Au, shanks meets luffy)

i'll fly away (Au where everyone is born with wings)

a sailor by any other name (Zoro pov, luffy is forced to join the marines at a young age)

Chasing the Remnants (Sabo goes with dragon to lougetown)

Almost Giving up Before We've Even Started  (Luffy and dragon meet up, it’s awkward for them both)

Being together we are stronger than ever (ASL bodyswap)

Here There Be Dragons  (Dragons Au)

#one piece #fic recs #mp answers

[panda-puma]

Luffy's "I know exactly who I am"

Warning: Don't read unless you are up to date with the Manga Chapter 1070 and OPLA! (or don't care about spoilers!)

(still not available in the Anime)

(One Piece Live Action, Episode 2)

Very long post ahead:

(First of all, appreciation for Iñaki's awesome acting, knowing exactly how to look intense, eerie and God-like through the whole Live Action. And look how the hat makes a perfect Halo or Sun around his head...)

This will probably be a little over the place, but bare with my silly brain.

At first this scene can just look like he reinforcing his own dream and regaining confidence after all the doubt Buggy has tried to inflict on him, and it probably also is that! But with the intense expression, the music and the wording... I think it's also a message to readers that are up to date.

Nowadays we know that the Gum-Gum is just a name used to hide the real name of Luffy's fruit: the Mythical Zoan Human-Human Model: Nika (Sun God)

(Chapter 1044, Wano Country Arc)

The World Government has since its origins (after the Void Century, 800 years ago) tried to control this Fruit, and Vegapunk states that there's no mention to this "Gum-Gum" Fruit anywhere previous to that, so this new name is just a way of the Government to hide the importance of the Fruit and make it as unappealing as possible.

(Chapter 1069, Egghead Arc)

Who would want to be rubber, anyway? Anyone who hears about it thinks it's a silly power and wouldn't want to eat it.

(Chapter 585, Post-War Arc)

But here's the thing: it doesn't matter that the new Devil Fruit Guides or Encyclopedias have no information about a Fruit.

If we go way back to Enies Lobby, we get to see this explanation by Lucci (another Zoan fruit user): you learn the name of the Fruit when you gain its power.

(Chapter 385, Enies Lobby Arc)

Lucci specifically states that the Fruit itself will reveal its powers and name to you once you've eaten it and gained its power. Luffy gained his power long time ago, when he was a child, and his goal started changing as soon as manifested his powers.

He went from: "Take me with you on your next Voyage!!"

(Chapter 1, Romance Dawn Arc) To: "I've decided to become a Pirate on my own!" after eating the Fruit.

(Chapter 1, Romance Dawn Arc)

At first he was just content with being a Pirate in a crew, but suddenly he has a definitive goal: being the King of the Pirates (to achieve something else).

(Chapter 1, Romance Dawn Arc)

(Chapter 585, Post-War Arc)

(Chapter 1060, Egghead Arc)

In the first chapter it is also shown how his personality changes:

Luffy was a very sad and angry 7 year old, who wanted to desperately escape from his horrible life (loneliness and abusive Grandpa). He only smiled when people were nice to him, or when he was listening to pirate stories.

It is not until after he eats the Devil Fruit that he starts to smile and laugh on his own, looking at the bright side of things even if he gets teased.

(Chapter 1, Romance Dawn Arc)

It seems clear that the fruit changed something in him that was way more than just his body, but in the manga one doesn't think much of it until you read the Five Elder's description of his fruit (ch 1044) and remember Lucci's explanation (ch 385).

If the Fruit communicated its real name and abilities to him, he should know exactly who and what he is.

One could argue that he specifically states he is not a Zoan in Punk Hazard while talking to Momo:

(Chapter 685, Punk Hazard Arc)

But maybe he doesn't consider his fruit as a Zoan, as he doesn't really turn into an animal. (Zoan comes from the Ancient Greek and means "animal" or "beast"). Luffy's Fruit enters the same category as Sengoku's: a Human-Human Fruit.

(Chapter 585 SBS, Post-War Arc)

(Chapter 1044, Wano Country Arc)

Gear 5 is Luffy's awakened form, one that he couldn't use before because his body and mind were not ready to catch up to his powers. But that doesn't mean he didn't know about it's existence.

In this form, Luffy manipulates his surroundings giving everything he touches the properties of rubber, just like the awakening of Don Flamingo. But is it just that?

(Chapter 1070, Egghead Arc)

I believe we have been seeing him manipulate reality since the very beginning of the series, inadvertently thinking it was just typical main character things. Yes, everything usually goes how he says in the end, just typical in a MC... But is it? Or is it an intelligent way of covering his real powers behind the typical shonen clichés?

There's so many instances where Luffy and his powers feed directly from people's hopes and prayers (just to name a few: Skypea, Enies Lobby, Thriller Bark, FishMan Island, Dressrosa, Wano...), and all he asks is for people to have faith in him.

When people have faith in him, reality changes in his favour.

(Even with Ace's Execution, the one instance where Luffy failed... he actually achieved what he said he would: to free Ace from the Marines. Ace was killed not because Luffy couldn't save him, but because he stopped running away.)

Going back to OPLA: this is Oda's opportunity to explain things in a different way and medium, to hint to things that are very far away (like how they showed that Garp is Luffy's grandpa so soon in the series, because it made it more interesting sooner).

Then we have the scene were Luffy wishes for Zoro to be by his side, and to wake up.

I can't stop thinking about how... intense this scene is. How they wrap it with eerie music, so you know something special is happening.

We are in front of a Miracle.

(One Piece Live Action, Episode 6: The Chef and the Chore boy)

Luffy closes his eyes, concentrates and makes a wish. Or not even a wish, he just states that he needs Zoro (to fulfill his dreams).

Luffy manipulates reality a bit, even in this early stage of his power (Gear 1) and, seeing how he phrases everything he wants, he seems to know it. (for example, the way he always says "I will" instead of "I want to")

In OPLA it seems clear that Zoro was not going to wake up from Mihawk's attack, no matter how strong and resistant he is. Even if Mihawk said it wasn't his time to die... He would probably not make it without external help.

Luffy doesn't really know what to say, for a while. He is shocked and shaken in his beliefs, as he thought believing in Zoro would already make him the greatest... but instead his friend got badly hurt. With that and everything that's been said around him, he is losing faith in himself.

But eventually he understands that he needs to express how much he needs Zoro out loud. Why would that be, if he wasn't conscious that his needs and desires get usually fulfilled, even more if they serve his goal?

He concentrates and says "I need you, Zoro", and nothing changes. Why? Well, Zoro is there. His body is there and he is alive, even if just barely. It's not like he has really gone anywhere. Then Luffy, seeing that it didn't work, reformulates his way of saying what he needs: "I need you to wake up".

And then the Miracle happens: Zoro starts really recovering and immediately wakes up. He then makes the vow of never leaving Luffy's side until they reach his objective, fulfilling his needs.

This is not Zoro being awake and just teasing him, or him just waking up to the voice of his Captain. No.

This is a Miracle. This is Luffy consciously using his God-like powers and his destiny to get Zoro back from the dead.

And that's why Zoro can never die. Even in Wano we get a look at that:

(Chapter 1038, Wano Arc)

He was supposed to die, but Death couldn't finish the job. Something is protecting Zoro from Death, and it's probably how Luffy has tied Zoro to his own destiny.

And I am going to finish this post here, because I need way more space for my theories of Luffy, the others and One Piece in general xD

Thank you for reading this huge and all over the place post ^^

#one piece #one piece theories #one piece manga #monkey d. luffy #non native english speaker #one piece live action #opla #very long post #roronoa zoro #devil fruit

[sunshineting]

y'all i. i love one piece so much. I love luffy so so much. ep 1071 and ch 1044 spoilers ahead

gear 5 luffy brings so much joy and delight to me and I get so happy thinking about him. like he really is joyboy. when I was reading it in the manga I was so pumped to see how it would turn out and its even better than I could have imagined. he's happy, he's free, he's silly, he's everything to me. I love love love that he's silly. sooooo many ppl were confused and even upset that he's not serious enough. dude. have y'all even watched one piece? luffy as a main character is so unserious. he's a fuckiing goofball. and I adore that about him.

he's free. he's free. he's FREE!!! Freedom is so beautiful. in a world that's so oppressive and serious and is controlled by an incredibly overpowering government, my sweet sweet boy is free to be silly. he can be as unserious and goofy as he wants to be. I can only hope to feel like that one day.

all the shonen bros are like 'this ep was way overhyped it was too goofy what was that looney toons ass ep' likeeee ugghhhhh booooo yall suck! have some fun! im throwing tomatoes at you bitches!

I have so many thoughts and this post is already long enough but whatever sorry for the rant I just love him

#my adhd brain was working overtime trying to articulate this well #sorry if its a jumbled mess #one piece spoilers

[mezzy303]

Just some One Piece ruminations that I need to put into words lol

I’ve been rewatching the show and started thinking about how Luffy doesn’t really hold grudges and very easily lets things go and how this has helped so many people he’s encountered on his journey, particularly his crewmates. Like he has this skill that lets his crewmates move past their traumas and gives them a space where they can dream when they had all but given up on it ;w; (Well... all but Zoro, who’s also the type that doesn’t dwell much on the past and I think having both him and Luffy as the captain and first mate sets a good foundation for the Strawhats but that’s a discussion for another time lol)

Spoilers discussing events past ch 1044 under the cut

Road to Laugh Tale said that Nika is a warrior who spreads laughter and relieves suffering and!! this is what Luffy is!! He brings so much joy wherever he goes like a light in the darkness 🥰

But also the Road to Laugh Tale special chapters made me think about how, now knowing that Luffy’s devil fruit is a zoan type, there’s a possibility that the fruit’s will has effected Luffy’s personality. We already know that Shanks had a big impact on Luffy, but with this new information, it kinda makes it hard to distinguish what was Shank’s influence and what was from the devil fruit’s. (The wikia page says “Shanks has had a profound effect on Luffy's personality, as prior to meeting him, Luffy was arrogant, impatient and extremely prideful” and in the ASL flashback, there’s a moment where Luffy remembers Shanks not taking certain things did to heart and tries to do the same. But like?? what if this change was from the devil fruit’s will??) Tbh considering how young Luffy was at the time and how brief the Romance Dawn story was, it’s difficult to get a good sense of what he was like before to say for certain.

I haven’t stopped thinking about this, like obviously only a specific type of person would be able to awaken a fruit like the Nika model but.......... it’s haunting me wondering how much of what makes Luffy Luffy is actually from him or from the devil fruit sdjkfhsdf

#word vomit ig #one piece #one piece spoilers #monkey d luffy #one piece strawhats #one piece meta #i had a moment of luffy is like the dawn after a long night! #and then remembering he's from fucking dawn island jsdfhskdf #like bruh

[chronik-krybaby]

one piece ch 1044 spoiler under the cut

oh my GOD GEAR FIVE LUFFY IS ADORABLE!!!! MY LIL SKRUNKO AAAAA

[oh-warizoro]

Reminder that this account is not spoiler free in regards to the manga.

Make sure to filter out the tag #opwmspoilers to avoid weekly manga posts from my blog. I'll also start to tag major manga spoilers with this tag (like the events of ch 1043 /1044) until the anime adaptation occurs.

One Piece Red movie spoilers are also going to begin soon. Make sure to filter out #opredspoilers if you don't want to see them.

#§mine #I'm still going to use the tag 'opspoilers' until the official manga release every Sunday.

[chenziee]

Character request: Luffy (Nika ver.)

A huge thank you @irafook for requesting my weakness, my boy, my unhinged little baby... with a little lawlu, as a treat to myself. I hope you like it ❤️🖤

Single character requests are still open but I will only take one or two more :)

----------

The sound was deafening. He wasn’t sure what it was at first; a crazed music, a drum beating at a volume that shouldn’t be possible, a rhythm signaling salvation… or destruction.

Which one was it for him? He wasn’t sure.

He could feel his blood thrumming in his veins in tandem with the funny beating of his heart, making him feel light. Like he could just fly up into the sky and grab the moon shining above, bring it down to the ground like it was nothing. He was free, the freest he’d ever been.

It was making him smile—a grin so wide his cheeks hurt but that wasn’t enough to show his happiness. A laugh bubbled out of his chest, loud and clear, a joyous chime that reverberated around the broken remains of what was once called a city—now destroyed.

And Luffy just laughed.

He laughed as he watched his enemies collapsing to the ground one by one, unable to withstand his haki. He laughed when he saw the mangled bodies of the civilians who got caught up in the fight. He laughed when Nami screamed at him to stop, Luffy, please!!

Laughed when the image of his Torao’s lifeless body flashed before his eyes.

Ah, someone was going to pay.

Who would it be? The navy, the pirates, the army…

Or himself?

#one piece #opspoilers #luffy #lawlu #becuse i have no self-control but what else is new #irafook #monkey d. luffy #one piece 1044 #ch 1044 #ch. 1044 #one piece manga spoilers #gear 5 #sun god nika #op 1044 #drabble #opfanfic #katie pretends to fic #if someone requests law i promise to make it gay too #and i will make it a companion piece to this #as law going batshit insane because luffy was hurt #because it's just fair you know #he also deserves to go a little unhhinged for his husband #might write it anyway but yeah #3/600 follower event #requests

[yourtamaki]

I have to say. 1044 Luffy is just the cutest ever??? I just know he’d be so giggly doing dirtier things… Sorry I’m just thirsting I keep thinking about… things.

no you’re so right (ch 1044 spoilers under the cut)

just,, sun god luffy who’s so in love with all the pleasures in life, including making you cum so hard your thighs shake where they’re wrapped around his waist. he’s somehow more relentless in this state, bullying his cock into your poor cunt and hitting every sensitive spot inside you like it’s nothing.

sun god luffy who’s so beautiful above you it’s hard to keep your eyes open, even harder when he thumbs at your swollen clit and smiles down at you like you’re the most wonderful thing he’s ever seen. all you can do really is spread your legs wider for him all let him use you to chase his own high.

sun god luffy whose cum almost burns when he spills endlessly inside you, who doesn’t mind when all of it leaks out when he pulls his still hard cock out because he’ll fill you back up in a minute. until then he’ll worship your pretty ruined pussy the way it deserves, the way you deserve, curling his tongue inside you to scoop out anything that hasn’t spilled out yet.

#lil sunbeam #ch 1044 spoilers #maybe i’ll write more when the spoilers are more known #luffy smut #one piece smut

[wifeofkatakuri]

Over analyzing time! Ch 1044 and ep 1071 spoilers

Luffy’s gears are all Zoan transformations!

It’s obvious that both 4th gear forms are his hybrid and beast forms but what about 2nd and 3rd gear?

I think they’re Luffy forcing his fruit to prematurely transform. Kinda like how Chopper uses the rumble balls.

We know 2nd gear is him pumping his blood faster which makes sense, but it’s hard not to compare it with snakeman. The smoke could be evidence of this. 4th and 5th gear have those smoke rings and if 2nd gear is really a devolved version of snake man it would make sense that the smoke ring is less organized.

3rd gear and bounceman have super obvious similarities. They both make Luffy bigger! So then where’s the smoke? Well I think there’s no smoke because it doesn’t take as much out of Luffy. Sure it made him small but from what we see it never had any effect on his energy.

So what does this mean? Idk, the biggest takeaway I can think of is that Luffy’s awakening has been silently built up since enies lobby!

Another possibility is that 4th gear isn’t his hybrid and beast forms but Luffy pushing his body further towards awakening (even if he doesn’t realize it). But I think it’s a little bit of both. Luffy made the human human fruit model Nika way more complicated than it had to be. Probably because he’s an idiot and thought it was a paramecia. He probably could’ve gone into 4th gear from the beginning but he just never tried. So what I’m saying is Luffy puts way too much haki into 4th gear!

#one piece #monkey d luffy #over analyzing #sorry for rambling #one piece theory #wano spoilers