#that all the lies usopp tells about himself are true for luffy?

[franeridan]

extremely interesting that sanji and zoro unveil diable jambe and asura during the same fight, btw. extremely interesting that both of them are likened to the devil when luffy is a god too, actually

#totally forgot sanji had that sorta form too haha oops #my bias in who i decide to retain information about might be showing #btw during the same arc robin is called demon child #chopper becomes a 'monster' for the first time #nami calls herself a witch #pretty sure there was something very negative used for franky too #isn't it interesting that during that fight the only one who gets a positive moniker is usopp with his king? #actually wait I'm having a revelation #usopp calls himself king now and becomes god later #luffy will be a king in the end and has just become a god #wait now that i think about it usopp used to call himself captain and luffy IS a captain #he used to say he had thousands of men under himself and luffy DOES #didn't usopp call himself an emperor at some point too............ #oda what are you trying to tell me #that all the lies usopp tells about himself are true for luffy? #me jumping to the obvious conclusion: it means luffy actually descends from nolan- *gets shot*

[imeanitplsmorenamifics]

hihi !!

can you do an Usopp X reader where reader is a much better liar than he is and it always sounds believable—and honestly sometimes it is the truth, so no one realizes until either Y/N tells them it was a lie or it’s too late and they’ve already fallen for it and USO’s just like “… AH—WAS THAT A LIE? YOU LITTLE!” but it’s cute? I dunno how but it’s all silly silly banter

bonus points if despite this, Y/N somehow always falls for Usopp’s lies even when they’re shitty asf 😭

Hey! This was such a great idea! I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope I did it justice for you! I tried to brainstorm and be original with it. Hope you enjoy reading! Summary: When a lying competition gets a little out of hand. Characters: Usopp, GN!Reader, Sanji, Zoro, Nami, and Luffy. Pairing: Usopp x GN!Reader TW: Nothing that I know of.

Liar, Liar

.·:·.✧ ✦✧.·:·.

There is a week that the Strawhat crew officially calls the worst week in hell. Now, you might be thinking that something horrendously bad happened. Maybe there was a series of bad events during that week? Maybe they were stranded on an island for a week and couldn’t leave? Something bad. You would be wrong. Nothing horrible happened during that week… Unless you count a lying competition as something horrible.

It all started with the two resident liars on the crew, Usopp and (Y/N). To say that lying was their specialty would be putting it lightly. They were experts. If anyone could convince you of anything, it would be them. This was useful on multiple occasions, especially with their pirate lifestyle. It was an absolute hindrance when that ability was used against you.

One day, a conversation took place between the two. It was a day like any other day. It was another day out at sea. The crew was bored to death. It was a while before they would reach the next island and they had zero entertainment. They all did things to keep them occupied in the meantime. Zoro polished his swords, Sanji was cooking their lunch, Nami was studying the Grand Line map, and Luffy was sitting on the mast. This left the last two additions of the Strawhat Crew.

“You have a tell when you’re lying,” (Y/N) was on one of the crates on the deck of the ship. Their legs were crossed, and so were their arms. They were giving a stern look to Usopp.

Hearing this from them made the man make a face. This expression clearly said, ‘You’re lying.’ Usopp scoffed with a smile on his face, “No, I don’t. I’ve taught myself to remain perfectly normal,” He locked eyes with them, “If anyone has a tell, it’s you.”

That wasn’t true. They had zero tells whatsoever. They stared at him with a questioning look, “Oh, really? Then what is it?” They knew he wouldn’t be able to name anything. They were confident in their lying skills.

For a few moments, Usopp stumbled over his words, “Well, uh… You do the thing-” (Y/N) hummed, urging him to continue. All that came from him was jumbled-up words that didn’t make sense. It wasn’t long until (Y/N) started giggling. This was all it took to set Usopp off. He nodded to himself and leaned forward, “Okay. How about this… We have a lying competition,” Now (Y/N) was interested. “Whoever can make everyone believe the most outrageous lie wins.”

A smirk took over (Y/N)’s features, “You’re on.”

Just like that, the week started. Both parties started off with small lies. Things like shoes being untied or lying to get out of doing stuff. Then, it started to get bigger. They would lie about forgetting something important or being sick. That’s when (Y/N) decided to take it up a notch. They knew exactly what they could do to win.

In the morning, while they were docked at a new island, everything was calm. The crew was eating breakfast and chatting over what they were going to do that day. The only one not there yet was (Y/N). This wasn’t surprising. They always overslept. What was alarming to the group was when they walked into the room with a panicked expression. With wide eyes, they said, “I can’t find the map.”

The group froze. Nami slowly looked up from her food, “Which map?”

“The Grand Line map.”

Everything went to chaos. They all freaked as they looked furiously around the ship. They came up with nothing. This made them panic more. What could have happened to it? They rarely took it off the ship. When they did, it was always with one of them. They would never take the risk of having it out in the open for someone to take. After more moments of freaking out, one of them took charge.

“Who had it last?” Zoro inquired.

Only one person spoke up, “I was, but I would never lose it.” It was Nami. That wasn’t surprising. She had the map on her at all times. Though, everyone knew she wouldn’t be dumb enough to misplace it somehow.

“Let’s retrace your steps!” Usopp suggested. “If we can find out everything you did yesterday, we can find the map.”

This gave (Y/N) an idea. They pulled out the container the map was usually kept in and looked inside once more. That’s when something caught their eye. They pulled it out for everyone to see. It was a slip of paper. Everyone stared at the slip of paper curiously. (Y/N) scanned their eyes over it before they sighed, “It says that it was taken. They’ll give it back for a ransom.”

“Ransom?” Sanji questioned.

“Maybe we can take it back by force!” A smirk appeared on Luffy’s face.

Shaking her head, Nami asked the question on everyone’s mind, “Does it say who took it?”

Once again, (Y/N) looked down at the note. Their eyes stopped on a particular part of the note, “Hold on, I didn’t notice this before. It says..,” Everyone waited, worried for what they might hear them say. “It says that I lied,” (Y/N) looked up from the note with a grin. They pulled the map out of their bag. “It was right here the whole time.”

All hell broke loose from three people.

“Not this again!” Sanji.

“Can you guys cut it out already?!” Nami.

“This lying competition is getting out of hand.” Zoro.

And Luffy was laughing at the reactions of their crewmates.

Meanwhile, Usopp had a shocked expression on his face, “SO THAT WAS A LIE?” (Y/N) hummed, rocking back and forth on their heels. “YOU LITTLE-”

He was quickly cut off by (Y/N) saying, “I guess this means that I won!”

No response was given. Usopp shook his head with an amused expression. He walked up to them and took the map from their waiting hand. He opened up the map and suddenly froze. He looked at (Y/N) with a serious face, “(Y/N), this isn’t the map.”

Fear filled (Y/N). Everyone else froze when they heard him say this. (Y/N) didn’t know what to say when they heard his words, “But- It should be. I didn’t lose it- I wouldn’t lose it- I had it with me the whole ti-” A grin grew on Usopp’s face. “OH, I HATE YOU!”

Lying competitions were banned after this incident.

#one piece oneshots #one piece imagine #one piece usopp #one piece #oneshot #opla usopp x reader #opla x reader #opla #one piece live action #one piece x reader #one piece netflix #x reader #sanji #roronoa zoro #monkey d. luffy #cat burglar nami

[ms-all-sunday]

What are your thoughts on the metaphorical utilization of masks used by different characters throughout water 7?

so ive never actually thought about this before outside of the acknowledgement that it's a factor. the most obvious being robin wearing a mask in almost all her more ghosty scenes in water 7, and then taking it off and the entire thing escalates further though with more honesty.

the three main characters of water 7 (robin, usopp, and franky) all wear notable masks. robin when she's going to murder the mayor, franky when we have a perception of him when he's putting up a front, and usopp when he becomes sniperking.

i think the most interesting use of the masks is the less obvious immediately one, when franky and usopp are wearing masks. franky is wearing a mask of weird toxic hyper masculinity the kind that you'd see from a gangster in a movie. we learn later that this is a front he puts up to protect the franky familys reputation, (which is a parallel to robin putting on a mask to save the strawhats) but the way he changes his personality to create a more confident version of himself that shows no weakness parallels usopps use of the same mask with sniperking. you could also argue that usopp is at least under the perception that hes saving the strawhats from having to care about him when putting on the sniper king mask, (i actually think he directly states this? its been a year since i saw the beginning of enies lobby and itll be a 4-5 month journey before i get to it on my rewatch please pray for me) and that robin is becoming more confident when she puts on the mask as well. (although as ive said before robin is a wonderful intuitive competent woman whos never actually used any of her skills for anything good. /loving). i think with robin and usopp theres more of an inherent lie in their confidence when they put on the mask because robin, while she presents herself as confident is very much not. (although i think shes a lot like luffy in this aspect where i think she is genuinely confident but is insecure about things that are very deeply meaningful to her and that drives them more than you would think because they seem confident everywhere else) and usopp is usopp. franky is confident but where his confidence lies is way different. its less that hes lying about being confident but more lying about the type of confidence he has. franky is the type of guy whos confident in bawling and hugging you so tightly you feel like youre going to explode. he doesnt have confidence like gang bege. franky wouldnt tell you to kill a guy

I really fucking love sniper king. i think in general sniper king is the best use of usopps character, because it highlights that lying is a good thing when it comes to him and his personality. sniper king allowed usopp to be there for his friends when he had to lie to himself to keep holding onto their relationship. lying in a lot if senses symbolizes usopps inherent want to hope for better things for himself that he thinks won't happen and i relate to that. a fucking lot. when usopp lies i think it speaks to an inherent hope and openmindedness for whatever hes lying about to be true. all of this is what usopps use of the sniper king mask represents, along with his want to be a hero type guy. (oh to be an antihero in an anime that wants actively to be the type of guy the protagonist is)

there is a gender aspect to it. like i think the reason usopp and franky wear the same mask is because of both of their relationships towards their masculinity and to further the idea that franky is everything usopp wishes he was in a lot of ways. i was like "why do people read usopp as transgender" a bit ago but then i realized it was a stupid question because. like usopp as a character is inherently tied to masculinity in a very trans way. i read fanfiction about this recently so I think I'm a scholar on it but zoro is very transguy in the sense he is masculine inherently but still feels a disconnect between him and masculinity despite that. very post transition transguy. whereas you look at usopp and you see like a pre transition transguy who feels like he has to inherently grow into masculinity and a lot of that is tied to for him a better stage in his mental health. (and im glad he eventually gets that post ts).

anyways back to the masks on the other hand i think theyre a lot like the lines in scott pilgrim. like the weirdo lines ramona gets when she's insecure about her relationship with scott due to past experiences. yes the 3 people who put them on really do change their behavior when they put them on but it's because of the same thing (past experiences influencing them to the point where they arent changing their behaviour in the present)

ALL of them being influenced by trauma

and usopp is the only one who can spin this as a positive utilization of the mask as opposed to franky and robin because of what we talked about previously (usopps lies are his hopes)

and i think usopp gets his "in his own head so much because of past experiences hes refusing to see the truth in the present" pre getting his sniperking mask. but because of how usopp works as a character, he wasnt in a mask there because to him because of his neuroses he sees that as the truth of who he is. i also think the "in his own head so much because of past experiences hes refusing to see the truth in the present" still applies to him as sniper king but ends up meaning something differently. because as sniper king he is not acknowledging the reality of his need to take accountability for the shit he started but instead reverting back to lies hes previously told for the sake of reverting temporarily to normalcy with his friends. (which is a positive in the sense nico robin is going to die but negative in terms of interpersonal accountability)

this is all to say its really good that you cant see usopp/franky/robin when they put on the mask. they are emotionally unavailable to the people around them like they're not even considering other people as a factor which continues the idea of the masks as something that turns kind people alien and shuts them off from whats happening around them. thank you for watching my thoughts develop in real time, anon.

#modposts #op #one piece #meta #nico robin #god usopp #sniper king usopp #cyborg franky #sorry about the extended usopp rambling #i just think hes interesting about this subject spefifically because hes the only one out of the three that breaks the pattern of the mask #being wholistically negative #asks

[soullistrations]

some thoughts about usopp (and kaya, but mostly usopp):

so with nami we get this character that's pretty obviously obfuscating who she is and putting on a poker face, but i love that with usopp we get another example of a character who is putting on a front, but in a totally different way. i am so FASCINATED by usopp and i cannot WAIT for them to dive into his character more. he's like, the archetype of a guy who's had a hard life putting up a silly front--except everyone who knows him knows that he's lying most of the time. they know that he's just some orphan who runs through the town screaming about pirates every day, and they just kind of dismiss him out of hand. like, everyone assumes that the boy who cried wolf is just some shitty kid playing pranks, right? (and then at the end he gets eaten by a wolf, serves him right.) (and then at the end usopp runs off with pirates, good riddance.)

but you actually look at the lies he tells, and it's like. oh. i get it. he's not just an orphan, stuck in a shitty job in a town where no one really cares about him. he's a maintenance specialist, he practically runs a shipyard, he's a captain, he fights off monsters all alone, he goes on adventures, there are PIRATES. (and maybe one of the pirates is his dad, but that's neither here nor there.)

and then there's kaya. the entire time they were headed over to her house i was like. are they actually friends or is this someone who just barely tolerates him like everyone else in the town? but then there she was, smiling and hugging him, and then there he was, fighting to get to see her even when her staff was trying to keep him out, because they come from completely different places, but they understand and care about each other in a way that no one else in the town does. god, that scene that was cutting back and forth between them as they each explained how they had to be there for the other when they lost their parents--it was everything. and the way that kaya listens to his stories, believes them because just like with usopp they're fun, and they're an escape from her shitty lonely life.

so when reality (and pirates) come banging down both of their doors, shattering usopp's illusions of heroism and kaya's illusions of safety and being cared for, it hits that much harder. but then, in the place of those illusions, they're able to build up true versions of the things they've wanted--usopp refuses to run, refuses to leave until kaya's safe. usopp fights a pirate! and kaya finds the people who will actually stand with her in times of danger, and more than that she finds that she is able to stand up and speak for herself as well.

another thing i love is that even when they finish his arc, he doesn't stop telling tall tales. he's usually a three beer guy. he took down those pirates all by himself. he's basically the captain. at this point it feels like a reflex, an attempt to live up to the guy that luffy chose, but also, it just feels like fun. like yeah that's his thing! and his friends like him for it and don't dismiss him out of hand! and he includes them in his tall tales--he doesn't fight the monsters alone anymore! ugh i'm emotional about it

but even still we see him use obvious tales with his friends to deflect from the things he doesn't want to deal with. like. how does usopp actually feel about his dad? i saw his face, even if he quickly covered it up with loud enthusiasm. and, at the very end, that flashback to his mom dying, and then his loud declaration that he was going to be the greatest warrior in the world. is that really his dream? what's going through his head? I want to KNOW

#rebs watches things #usopp la #one piece la #rebamble #okay i'm done for now i think

[brainyxbat]

Kuro: You, there! What are you doing?!

Kaya: Khlahadore...

Usopp: 😠😠😠

Kuro: *pushes his glasses up with his palm* I don't appreciate you breaking in here without permission!

Luffy: Who's he?

Kaya: A-actually Khlahadore, these people are-

Kuro: That can wait for now. I can hear about your reasons later. Now leave, all of you! Or do you have something to say?

Venus: *raises her hand* Um, excuse me? I do have a question, Mr. Ladore.

Kuro: What?

Venus: *mimes pushing glasses up with her palm like him* What's this, that you're doing?

Zoro: Venus. 😑

Venus: I've only seen people do it like this. *mimes pushing glasses up with her fingers*

Zoro: Venus, stop.

Venus: I've never seen it done that way before, with their palm.

Zoro: Shut up, Venus.

Luffy: We want a ship!

Kuro: No!

Venus: 🙁 Why not?

Nami: *finally claps her hand over her mouth* Shush!

Kuro: Usopp-kun!

Usopp: (hiding on the trunk, digging through his bag* Crap!

Kuro: I've heard about all of you. You're well-known in the village.

Usopp: *climbs back on the branch* Yeah?

Kuro: I hear you've been on many an adventure. Quite impressive for someone so young.

Usopp: You can call me Captain Usopp, too! Since you admire me so much!

Kuro: Captain, huh... I've heard all about your father, as well.

Usopp: What?!

Venus: Hm?

Kaya: Khlahadore! Stop!

Kuro: You're nothing, but the son of a filthy pirate! Nothing you do will surprise me, but I ask that you stay away from the lady of this house!

Venus: 😠😠😠

Usopp: F-filthy?!

Kuro: She and you are from completely different worlds! Is it money you're after? How much do you want?

Kaya: That's enough, Khlahadore! Apologize to Usopp-san!

Venus: *hums angrily in agreement*

Usopp: Hey, now! Be careful, Kaya!

Kuro: What reason is there to apologize to this savage man, my lady? I am merely stating the truth. I feel for you. You must truly hate your great idiot of a father... for abandoning his family and village because of his lust for treasure!

Kaya: Khlahadore!

Usopp: Don't you dare insult my father anymore! *jumps down from the branch*

Kaya: Usopp-san!

Usopp: *uses a grappling hook to lower himself to the ground*

Nami: *yanks her hand away from Venus* EWW, EWW!

Zoro: What?

Nami: She licked my hand!

Venus: 😠 Stop talking about him like that!

Kuro: What are you getting unnecessarily riled up for? Why not simply tell another of your special lies at a time like this?

Usopp: 😠😠😠

Kuro: About how your father is really a traveling salesman, or how you're not related by blood.

Usopp: 😡😡😡

Usopp: *punches Kuro* Shut up!

Kaya: 😰😰😰

Venus: 😲😲😲

Ninjin/Tamanegi/Piiman: Captain!

Kuro: S-see! You immediately resort to violence! Like father, like son!

Usopp: Shut up!

Kuro: 😨

Usopp: I'm proud that my father is a pirate! I'm proud that he's a brave warrior of the sea! You're right, I am an exaggerator! But I'll never lie about my pride to be related by blood to a pirate! I'm the son of a pirate!

Ninjin: Captain...

Kuro: A pirate, a brave warrior of the sea? That's quite a twisted way of putting things. *stands on his feet, and brushes himself off* But you're the undeniable proof of his savage blood! You run around spouting lies, and act violent whenever you're angry! And to top it off, you cozy up to the lady of this house, so you can get her fortune!

Usopp: What?! But I'm not-!

Kuro: The fact your father is a pirate, is more than enough proof that you'd hatch such a scheme!

Venus: 😡 That's not true, you big jerk!

Kuro: Shut up, you little brat!

Usopp: *grabs his shirt collar, preparing another punch* Damn it, you still won't let up?! And don't talk to Venus-chan like that!

Kaya: Stop, Usopp-san!

Usopp: *hesitates*

Kaya: Please, no more violence! Klahadore isn't a bad person! He's just... he's just trying too hard to do what's best for me!

Usopp: *reluctantly loosens his grip*

Kuro: *slaps his hand away* Leave this place! Never come near this mansion again!

Usopp:

Usopp: 😡 Yeah, I get it. I don't need you to tell me! *heads for the gate* I'll never come back here again!

Kaya: 😟 Usopp-san...

(Ninjin, Tamanegi, and Piiman run over to Kuro)

Ninjin: You stupid butt-ler jerk! Our captain's not that kind of guy!

Piiman: Yeah! You stupid-head!

Tamanegi: Stupid-head!

Luffy: Stupid-head!

Zoro: *punches Luffy's head* Why're you saying it, too?!

Venus: Because they're right! *turns to Kuro* Stupid-head!

Zoro: Venus!

Kuro: *sends the kids hiding behind Nami with a single glare*

Luffy: *held back by Zoro* What's your problem?!

Zoro: Hey, now! Stop!

Luffy: Let go! You stupid butler!

Venus: *held back by Nami* I'll kick your ass, you big jerk!

Nami: Don't you start too!

Luffy: Come fight me, if you can!

Venus: Bring it on!

Kuro: You will leave at once, too!

#roronoa venus au #one piece #one piece episode 10 #usopp pirates #one piece oc #tempeste g. venus #usopp #one piece usopp #roronoa zoro #nami #monkey d. luffy #kaya #one piece kaya #kuro #khlahadore

[readsrealm]

His first lie

"Hey, what was the first lie you've told anybody?", Luffy asked while stuffing food in his mouth. Everybody looked at him interested. Well, he was known for his lying but they wanted to know what his first lie was.

Usopp was silent. He was so focused on his thoughts that he forgot about them. That was before he felt a punch on his head.

"What the hell was that for!", Usopp shouted only the see a Zoro glaring at him. "The captain asked you something. What was the first lie you've told?" "Why would you want to know?", he asked annoyed while rubbing his head. "Just tell us it's not that hard.", Sanji said while taking a cigarette. "I can't remember I've told many lies after my first lie", he lied to them. He was a good liar, but his crew noticed that something was wrong.

"What is the problem with telling us? We know you lying!", Nami said not understanding why he would lie to them, after all, they had been through. "Well, maybe it's just a bit too personal to tell you right now and you wouldn't understand it. So leave it be.", Ussop said getting pissed off. "Maybe if you tell us you feel better perhaps. It could help you to feel more comfortable.", Brook said in his unusually calm voice. "The only ones who make me feel uncomfortable right now are you guys. I'm going to my factory. Please do not come in.", Ussop said and left the kitchen.

They all sat there surprised. They didn't understand why Ussop would react like that. He would usually tell them without problems. "I think we made longnose feel uncomfortable.", Robin said in her usually calm voice. "He had no reason to feel uncomfortable. It's not like we would laugh at him.", Zoro said. "Well, aren't we all feel uncomfortable by telling some things about us even if we know the crew wouldn't laugh at us?", Robin smiled at Zoro. Zoro looked away knowing she was right. Maybe they crossed the line. They should've known that Ussop wouldn't lie if he weren't uncomfortable.

Luffy stand up and went to the door. "Whatcha doing captain?", Franky asked the captain of the ship. "I'm going to Ussop," Luffy told them without care. "But L-Luffy! Ussop told us to leave him alone. We should give him free space." Chopper said in his doctor's voice. "Our doctor is right. We should give him time. We all know Ussop. There is something he doesn't fear most of us fear. He is not afraid to ask for help. If he is ready he will come to us." Robin said while ignoring the dancing Chopper saying he wouldn't like them saying he is their doctor. Luffy bit his inner cheek: "Fine, but if he doesn't come today. We will confront him. It's an order from the captain." "Ay Ay Captain!", they said simultaneity.

Ussop said in his factory working on new weapons for his Kuro Kabuto. He felt bad about shouting at them. He knew they didn't mean bad but his first lie was something he told everyone until now. He told even his crew this lie and everybody believed him. He wanted to tell them the truth but he was scared...scared they would call them insults he got called he told someone the truth. The only ones who know the truth were...himself? He didn't know. He lied to himself that this lie has to be true but he knew deep in his heart that it always would remain a lie.

Hours passed and the day was almost over. He forgot about dinner, which wasn't very good with Sanji as the cook. But he didn't complain. He wasn't the one who almost starved to death. When the sun was going down he opened the door and the first thing he saw was his crew staying in front of his door probably wanting to knock before he opened the door.

"Oh, hello guys. Do you need anything?", he said much calmer than this morning. "...you didn't come for dinner. I was worried.", Sanji said a little angry but not too much because he knew it wouldn't help. "Hehe, I'm sorry, Sanji. I was so busy working on my new weapons that I got lost on time." "Are you going to eat now?", Sanji asked, but Ussop knew he wouldn't accept a no. "Well, it depends on. Are you sure Luffy ate all of it?", Ussop said while laughing slightly. "Hey...I would never do that...I'm always sharing my food!", said Luffy. It was silent before everyone were starting to laugh. "Yeah yeah right. I'm going to the kitchen.", said Ussop while going to the kitchen.

The crew went to the kitchen with Ussop while Ussop was eating they were talking, but Ussop knew something was off. He finished dinner and thanked Sanji for the food. "So...I guess you want to know my first lie?", said the liar knowing he was right. Then it was silent. They stopped talking. "Yes, we want to know and we hoped you would tell us on your own. I don't want to force you, but you know one day you have to tell us.", Luffy said in his serious voice he didn't use often. "I guess your right..., but first I want to apologize for snapping like that I didn't mean it. "No worries. We know that.", Nami said while smiling gently.

Ussop: "Okay...my first lie...I hold it since I was a little kid more precisely six years old. It was the time when my father left..."

Luffy: "Oh yeah, Yassop! He is the sniper of the shank's crew. It makes sense because they were one year on this island and I met them nearly the end when I was seven!"

Ussop: "Yeah...s-so my first lie is that...that I'm proud of him because I ain't!"

The crew stared at him with shock. The guy who always talked about how proud he was that Yassop was his father and that he always wanted to meet him.

Ussop continued: "I hate myself for that but I just can't be proud of or LOVE him. I-I mean he left me and my mother and two years later my mom died I was so alone, you know? The reason I lied was because of her...my mother was proud of him and I wanted to make her proud, but then when she died she told me to follow my dream...like my father. That's why I lied always about I felt about him. I-I...GODDAMN, I HATE HIM! I just hate him so much for leaving me. Why did he create me if he would leave! The worse is that he probably doesn't even know that his wife died. I don't know anything about him and he doesn't know anything about me! I-I respect him as a sniper and damn he is a good one but I will never see him as a father!... Never..."

The crew stared at him in silence. "I-I sorry that I lied to you. I was scared...I never told someone. I tried to make this lie the truth but I can't. The moment I think of him I feel disappointed, sad, and furious."

Chopper ran to him and hugged him tightly: "Don't be sorry for how you feel. I would feel the same too."

Now it was Ussop who was in shock as the others agreed. They all hugged him with love and care that he couldn't hold his tears anymore. He thanked them very often saying that they were the best.

The crew smiled. Yeah maybe they were surprised at first but they weren't mad at him...how could they?

#ussop #usopp #nami #zoro #sanji #luffy #chooper #brook #franky #robin #yassop #fanon #onepiece

[unknown-writing]

When you Proposed First...

Summary: You and your boyfriend have been together for a really long time. You couldn’t handle just being “Boyfriend and Girlfriend” anymore. So, you took matters into your own hands...And Proposed first!

Warning(s): Fluff, spoilers for Sanji’s past

A/N: Had a thought of how Sanji would react to me proposing to him and giggled lol.

     Luffy isn’t one for getting the Hint for specific moods in the air. He’s pretty dense when it comes to stuff like that. So, despite being alone together on this very romantic outing on the Island your crew had been staying at for a small vacation after a recent battle. He missed a lot of subtle details you kept bringing up.

“---Luffy! Earth to Luffy! Hello!?” You shouted while hitting his head a few times, wondering why he was spacing out. You panicked a bit because you thought he was angry with you for your question.....You asked him to marry you.

Luffy never expected to find a girlfriend(or boyfriend) while traveling at Sea. Not that he’d ever planned on getting with somebody any time soon. His life was WAY too dangerous for anything romantic anyways. But even so...Meeting you, befriending you, and then falling for you...It all just.../Happened/. it wasn’t planned or expected, he never met somebody as strong as you were, even without devil fruit powers. You just kept surprising him with every day that you woke up.

You stood there while awkwardly holding the box with something /other/ than a ring in it. It was actually a small charm-like Pin that he could pin to his hat or shirt instead. You knew that he wouldn’t wear the ring because it’d easily break with his stretching abilities, he wouldn’t want to break such a valuable gift from his beloved s/o that he loved so much. “Is...Everything alright Luffy? Did I do something wrong?” You asked while tilting your head. Asking that question made him snap back to reality again.

    Before you could respond though, he had pounced you. Clinging to you for dear life with this big dopey grin going from ear to ear. His face was blushing a pink hue as well. Pausing to grab your face and give you a big smooch, he chuckled, “Do you have any idea how amazing you are y/n!?” He asked, making you blink, but then blush as well. “I don’t know how you managed to read my mind but, I wanted to marry you too!” (He didn’t fully know what he was talking about here). Your blush got redder, he paused and blinked, “Y/n....Your face is red....” he commented, making you flinch then glare up at him

“S-Shut up...I just didn’t expect you to know what was going on is all!” You lied...He chuckled as he started giving your face kisses as he still clung to you tightly. You watched him put the pin right in the front of his precious hat. The sun was hitting him perfectly, so you watched a gentle ray glow on the pin.

You kept staring until he pulled out a small box himself that he’d been hiding for the past three weeks, nervous to give it to you as he’d never done something so big before...You held the box in your hand. and he’d gotten you the typical ring as well but, it wasn’t gold or silver. It was oddly enough...Purple? Purple was your favorite color after all, so seeing that he got you a purple colored wedding ring of all things, you knew he was the one for you.

       Zoro was actually pretty quick when he realized he wanted you as his Wife. Each day passed when you two were dating for more than a few years now, would be met with “Please be my wife” as a small joke despite being pretty serious about it.

Today was no exception. At first he woke up pretty angry because one of his swords had gone missing...His childhood sword wasn’t with him this morning. About to scold you for taking it, he noticed that you were with Franky and Usopp helping fix it after a recent battle, since you couldn’t go on the island due to being sick, you thought these two could help fix it.

“---Hopefully this does the trick. The metal on the handle has been worn out for a while...It may need to be completely replaced when we reach the next Island in a few days.” Franky comments, while pointing to the dents in the golden handle. You picked it up to get a closer look at it. “It doesn’t just look like the metal part is busted either....It’s the cloth too. Which is something that I can easily fix myself.” You comment out loud, unaware that Zoro was listening in on the conversation.

Eventually leaving to go grab some food and booze, now that he didn’t have to worry on who stole his sword, Zoro sighed as he sat down in his secret drinking spot (that he shares with you of course). “Damn...I want her to be my Wife” he mutters to himself before taking a sip of the drink he was holding.

Later that same day, you had brought back the sword that you had “borrowed to try and get it fixed” for Zoro. before heading back from putting it back, you felt an arm grab your leg. And before you knew it, you were sitting right on his lap again as he hugged you tightly. You giggled as he pressed his face against your neck, his grip getting tighter, “You trying to hug me, or strangle me?” You teased before planting a kiss on his hair. “I want you to be my Wife” He asked again, which just made you chuckle because he’s been doing this for the last week now.

     A brief silence filled the room, you squirmed a bit while you tried reaching in your pockets to grab something. A small box. You held it out awkwardly while blushing a deep crimson red from ear to ear. “....W-Why not...You become my husband?” You asked. That caught his attention real quick. He blinked as he started at the small box in front of his face, he reached out to open it and see two rings in it (one for each of you of course)

A big sheepish grin started to form as he ignored the pink hue on his own cheeks. “...I love you y/n...” He simply says while putting the ring on his finger, and then puts your ring on your finger. You giggled before reaching up again to give him a proper smooch that started turning to a passionate kiss. “I’m happy that your finally my wife now~” He jokes as he nuzzles into again and the two of you just cuddled together before dinner time.

     You knew about the Political marriage between him and Pudding from Big Mom’s family. You figured out that something had happened when you saw that Pudding and Sanji had “broken up” when you two had started getting more serious in the relationship. You were Pissed Off knowing that he might have been cheating on his Fiance with you, but the crew later explained the full context of what happened (Usopp had to tell you the details that Pudding erased from Sanji’s memory so it didn’t traumatize him again).

After a rocky start to your steady relationship. Sanji has been nothing but honest with you for anything that you may have wanted to know about. He even offered to tell you his childhood at some point but you declined, saying “Sanji-kun...Tell me when you feel emotionally ready ok? Don’t force yourself if your not ready.” And after he heard that, he /knew/ the girl he had to be with was with you. No ands ifs or buts about it. You were the one he was going to Marry for Real one day.

Today was a special day for the two of you, and thankfully, you were on an Island to be able to celebrate it. This was your third year Anniversary together after the time skip of being apart. Sanji had surprised you with a /very/ romantic date to the local festival that was happening nearby since he knew that fancy restaurants weren’t your thing as you were too used to /his cooking/. You two had spent the majority of the festival with the crew, but after a while, you two had gone off to have your own little private date on your own. Sneaking off to the nearby forest for some privacy.

You knew that he was a Romantic Sap when it came to dates. You were the type to just stay home and chill there but, this was a special day so, you thought that you’d amuse him this time. By the time you two had managed to sit down and start eating the delicious meal he had prepared for the two of you (which included some of your favorites). Sanji was telling a big story that happened when you weren’t part of his life, doing silly poses whenever he’d quote his other crewmates, making you have a hearty giggle fit throughout his story.

Before he turned around, you got on one knee and held the Ring box in your hands and stayed quiet. You grinned when he turned around to see you but, completely /froze/ at the sight of you on one knee with the Ring box in your hands. A pink hue started to form as you started to get flustered, “Sanji-kun.....” You started, which made him gulp, anxious of what’s gonna happen despite knowing what it may be. “...Even though we’ve only been together for a few years without the Time skip included...” You paused again so you could pull out the ring, which was a nice silver ring with a very small diamond in the middle. he recognized this ring as you used to wear it on your chain. “Y-Y/n...You can’t...” he starts off, making you nervous, “That ring is yours...” he finishes while avoiding eye contact due to being nervous himself

You giggled, “Sanji-kun....I love you....I want you to have this. I’m willing to gift you something precious...Because your more precious than a silly ring.”

     That did him in. That tiny speech of you claiming he’s more precious than one of your rings was what got him to cry. He cursed, flustered with himself, “D-Dammit....I-I should be proposing t-to you...Not the other way a-around” He complains with a dopey grin that showed his true feelings towards this. “...Will you Marry Me?” You finally asked, holding out a hand so that way you can put the ring on his finger if he said yes.

He didn’t technically say /yes/. But he did nod his head as the awkward crying turned into sobs. After putting the ring on his finger, he fell down to tightly hug you. He’d never been given something so precious in his life without it being taken away from him right after. You knew this though, and just allowed him to cry as you pat his head gently and giggled every now and again

“I love you y/n-san! I love you so fucking much!” He’d repeat, making /you/ get flustered with his chanting declaration of love to you. You hugged him tighter, “I know. I love you too Sanji...After all that you’ve been through...I knew that you were perfect for me, as both a boyfriend, and a Husband.”

Hearing those words just made him sob even longer. He’s never had somebody love him /like this/ in a very long time. And he can’t wait to continue to be loved by y/n for the rest of his life.

#luffy x reader #zoro x reader #sanji x reader #one piece x reader #spoilers for sanjis past

[akaiamedama]

Of crocodiles and rings and a possible connection to a teased weakness

Crocodile is a guy that is real extra and dresses sharp and loves his bling bling, right? He’s a man of high standards, so of course, he’s gotta wear bling to show that. Other bling loving characters are Capone Bege and Blackbeard for example. All three of them like to show off that bling. Now why do I mention the other two? Coz look at these three bling loving gentlemen, wearing rings on every finger and tell me where the difference lies. I’ll wait.

Exactly!

As opposed to Bege and Blackbeard, Crocodile doesn’t wear a ring on every finger. Obviously he cannot wear 10 rings coz he only got one hand with 5 fingers but he also never wears 5 rings. No, no. This guy, ladies and gentlemen, kinda makes it a point to always leave out one finger and that’s the ring finger. Ha- interesting.

Now, of course this could be mere coincidence. But let’s be realistic here, it’s Oda. He clearly has a reason for it as he’s been true to this detail ever since Crocodile was introduced over a decade ago and the only real question is ‘why’?

Why would Crocodile do that? He clearly loves wearing rings so why not wear them on every finger? Why leave out the ring finger for crying out loud? If one wanted to leave a finger without a ring, one would probably leave out the pinky or the thumb but who puts rings on every finger and leaves out the ring finger? I tell you who.

Crocodile. That’s who.

If you’re one who believes in symbolism and all that stuff, then you’d probably find it interesting that the ring finger symbolises releationships with others especially romantical ones as it is seen closest to the heart and therefore or because of it is the finger a wedding ring is worn on. In most cultures the engagement ring is worn on the right hand and the wedding ring on the left as the right hand is often the ‘physical’ one and has a greater visibility. It’s probably interesting to note that the left hand is considered to represent your character and beliefs. Ha. Interesting that Crocodile is missing that one, huh? Anyhow, in Crocodile’s case left or right hand doesn’t really matter as he only has one left (duh) so an argument can be made that sides don’t matter and the importance lies on the finger itself.

The way it looks right now is that he’s making a statement leaving out the ring finger and there are a few possibilites here. Of course it could be a family ring and he could be from an important family but really, not only would that be a bit to similar to Doflamingo, it would also not make sense to not just replace the family ring on the occations he’s not wearing it. But he never wears a ring on that finger so one can only come to the conclusion that there’s some sentimental thought behind that.

The most logical would be that there is a ring he believes should be on that finger. Either he’s keeping it free for a future event coz he doesn’t have the ring yet (which I doubt) or he’s keeping it free coz technically there already is a ring for the finger. This could be a ring he doesn’t have anymore and regrets it (like he lost it with his left hand or threw it away) or a ring he does have but decides not to wear for his own reasons. Whichever it is, it clearly has such an important value that he doesn’t just covers it up or replaces it. 

Now, given the ring finger and it’s symbolism the thought of a wedding ring isn’t too far fetched. We don’t know enough about his past to say that he could never have been married so I think it’s worth looking into.

Let’s just imagine for a second, that the ring missing is indeed a wedding ring, what could that mean?

He could have had a wife but she died and even though he’d technically not be married anymore, people who lost their partner almost always keep their wedding ring as a memento. If they move on, they don’t wear it anymore but they often keep it. This could give another perspective to the ‘wounds’ Daz was referring to after Marineford as he was clearly not talking about Luffy’s physical wounds but about the emotional wounds that came with losing a loved one.

Crocodile could have had a wife but she betrayed him and he took the ring off as to break the relationship and connection. Then the choice to not wear a ring on that finger in the future could serve as a reminder to himself not to trust people, not even those close to you. This could possibly explain his huge trust issues.

However, these two scenarios, while possible, don’t strike me as the most likely simply due to the two following scenes:

“If you want to protect something, do it right!!” 

This could be totally random and only refer to the moment at hand but it could also indicate that he knows a thing or two about how to successfully protect someone. Which leads us to the infamous

“I know one of his weaknesses ...!! But if he cooperates with us ... then I won’t say anything about it!!”

Think about it, the biggest weakness ANY pirate of Crocodiles caliber could have is a loved one or people they care about and their identity and location to be known by the public or enemies (marines, pirates etc.) because no matter how powerful a pirate you are, if information like that was to spread and reach the wrong ears, this could have catastrophic consequences for you and the people you care about. It’s used over and over in OP stories like when the marines hunted down Gol D. Rogers offspring and slaughtered all newborn who could potentially have been Roger’s child or when the marines swore to kill Luffy for being Dragon’s son or when Zeff was used as leverage to force Sanji to comply. I doubt anyone knows Usopp is Yasopp’s son or that he had a woman and child in Syrup village otherwise someone would have probably attacked them to get back at Yasopp. Maybe that’s one of the reasons he left them. As to protect them.

Ivankov and Croc met years ago when Croc was still considered a rookie, so in his early/mid twenties. If there is indeed a ring to that finger and the person is still alive, Ivankov could know her identity or location and this could totally be the weakness Ivankov was refering to. Of course this only works if the person is still alive. 

Now I know, you’re probably scratching your head, thinking I might be a bit nuts going this direction considering it’s Crocodile we’re talking about but really, think about it. His choice of jewelry is mega weird so what could be the reaaon for it? Also it’s hardly the weirdest theory out there (looking at you femCroc theorists).

This would also tie in neatly with why he decided to have his Baroque agents working in teams of two with male/female. I mean, unlike other characters, he clearly doesn't seem to see women as the weaker sex and him having his agents work in pairs has to be grounded somewhere. Maybe he was raised like that and his parents where a good example of how well men and women complement each other or maybe he made the experience himself. If so, I tend to think that he wasn't betrayed by the woman... or maybe he was and that's one of the reasons why he was so paranoid and basically expected Robin to betray him. All possible, really.

It’s also apparent that Oda incorporates marriages a lot more often nowadays than he did in the early years of One Piece. Mr 9 and Mrs Mondey got married on a cover page and have a baby, Capone got married and his henchman Gotty married too, Sai and Baby 5 married, Sanji and Pudding were meant to marry and let’s not forget poor Senior Pink’s backstory. 

Last but not least, I’d like to point out a seemingly random fan question Oda answered in an SBS which seems just kinda odd once you consider everything I said above.

Now the question focuses on “they never had a child” and “I wonder what faces their children would have”, yet Oda starts with “They’ve been to weddings before ...” ... WOW. Really? Why would he say that? XD No one even asked about weddings. Funny. So they’ve been to weddings, huh? As what? Guests? Grooms? You know? It doesn’t seem to mean anything but if you consider Crocodile’s rings and such imo it’s just a weird thing to say. Then the mysterious “I wouldn’t say whether they had children or not ...” ..... 

Note: Especially during Alabasta Oda often forgets to draw Croc’s rings at all or accidentally leaves out the wrong finger but he is consistent with the rings since Impel Down. He still forgets them from time to time but he doesn’t switch the fingers anymore so one could reason that he had a vague idea of Crocodile’s reasons behind the rings when he introduced him but only solidified it or gave it more details once Croc showed back up. The anime and games however often just leave out the wrong ring probably thinking that it doesn’t matter.

#one piece #sir crocodile #crocodile #eiichiro oda #one piece theory #crocodile theory #wani yarou #crocoboy

[classysmashy]

Right Behind You Baby

#2/??? of Nuclear Winter

ZoNa Holiday 2020 Entry Prompt 2 (Under the Christmas Tree / Something Red)

@zonamievents 

One Piece in Fallout Universe (kinda~) [I do not own One Piece or Fallout]

AN: It’s done! Took awhile to get it together, but I’m happy with how it turned out. Since I’m behind, there will be a double update tonight with this one (pretty casual) and another one (bit of a darker mood) that are readied up, major apologies on the wait. Ideas are easy, but words are hard. I’m so happy that people liked the first one and I hope that this one also holds you’re interest, it’s so much fun to write. <3 Also, I need more of Nami and Usopp being open friend with each other in my life. I just can’t help how much I think the two would be honest with one another and gossipy. And, if it isn’t clear yet, I live for horny Nami not being able to catch a break. ;) Honestly, I can’t believe you read all of these rambles and haven’t moved to the story yet...

Rated: T for Blood, Violence, Suggestive Themes

Word Count: 5,716

*****

Nami hadn't been lying to Zoro when she said she was a busy woman. Of course, when they got back, there was Chopper fretting his little self over Nami's injuries and racing over his hooves to carry out the upmost care to her. It made her a little sad to worry him so much, but nothing could be done about it now.

By the time Chopper had properly wrapped her up and let her leave the infirmary, Luffy had whisked Zoro away and the two were gone on another job. 

Which meant Nami wouldn’t see Zoro again for at least a week, knowing Luffy’s track record of getting off topic from the original reason he would set out, and that wasn’t even counting in the times the two would get lost. Great.

Yet, maybe that was a good thing for now, she thought after arriving back at her bedroom, picking up Zoro’s jacket that he seemed to have forgotten about. A soft roll of Nami’s eyes accompanied the moment she brought the fabric close to her chest, pressing her nose to it. There was a mix of the Deathclaw blood, the radiated wasteland, dirt and grass, but it was worth getting a huff of those smells just to be able inhale Zoro’s scent from the jacket.

A musky metal and sweat and booze, but it was Zoro, and her head spun as she fell back on her mattress of her bed, still clutching the jacket close.

Slipping her eyes closed, Nami let her mind drift back to the heat of his hand in her pants, mind you, it was only a second, but it was only a second she needed to lash onto for her thoughts to race of him doing more than just snapping the band of her panties.

The jacket laid nicely over her eyes, covering it entirely and the scent intoxicating, taking both hands and tracing her fingers down ever so slowly along the side of her breasts, ghosting over the fresh bandages on her stomach, and arriving at the front of her jeans.

Zoro, Zoro, Zoro. Nami could only think of him, his rough hands on her body, hot lips working her... 

She popped open the button and pulled the zipper down. If it was Zoro, he would have taken the damn metal between his teeth and yanked it away, his one good eye burning her alive. And that was only if he hadn’t cut them to bits yet in frustration of wanting her.

Nami’s body came alight, her hands were so close to the promised area, just as close as Zoro’s body had been so many times in the past couple days, oh how she wished that Chopper hadn’t interrupted them yesterday...

Knock! Knock! Knock!

“Oiii, Nami! You’re back, right?! Chopper said you were!” A frustrated whimper was drowned out by the fabric of the jacket. 

Usopp. Of all people that had to come by now, it was Usopp. There was no way he would leave her alone, even if she had fallen asleep already.

Fixing her jeans back and folding the jacket to place on the right side table by the bed, Nami came to her feet to let the fool in. 

“You do realize what time it is, right, Usopp?” she had questioned as soon as their eyes met around the hunk of junk, his nose pressing into her cheek with how much he invaded her space right away.

“Yeah, but goodness Nami, those ugly monsters really did get you good! I thought Chopper had to be lying!” Usopp pulled back, pushing one hand under his chin and the other at his hip. “It’s too bad I wasn’t there, I would have taken those Deathclaws out in a millisecond, after all, the Great Usopp here had killed a whole horde of a hundred Deathclaws on his own just at the age of nine!” 

Her eye twitched and it took all the strength in the world to not out right punch the idiot to stop him in the middle of one of his over the top lies. 

“Right, right, the Great Usopp would have killed them in a flash and not have been forced to play Mommy,” Nami teased, watching the way Usopp scrunched up his nose and blanched at what she had been insinuating.

“There’s no way that I could help them breed, I don’t have those types of organs in me!” his voice hit a shrilly octave, hands flapping around at the insanity. “That’s only something Robin would say, did they put the wrong memories into your synth?”

That really got to her and Nami’s fist connected with the top of Usopp’s head, sending him down to the floor with a cry of panic and pain, clutching the bumps forming. “Don’t say something that only the idiots from that city would say! I’m tired of hearing what does and doesn’t make someone a synth!”

“I’m so sorry!” Usopp cried, running behind Nami and taking shelter at her bed. “Though, I guess you won’t be too happy with what I came here about if it means having to go to the big city.”

Stretching out a frown, Nami closed the door finally and took a seat next to him on the mattress, wrapping her plaid blanket across her shoulders. “Sabaody? Why do I need to go to Sabaody?” She winced at the tiny twinge within the muscles of her leg alerting her to the care it needed that only could be gotten from a well rested night.

Her thin fingers kneaded the skin while Usopp leaned back on his arms, “Well, you’re the one that always says our trades should be worth their while and a caravan is leaving tomorrow to trade our water surplus for bottlecaps. Plus, Franky is wanting some more shipments for materials that go into decorations.” He brought his left hand to Nami’s leg as well, helping to massage the pain away. Usopp was always a sweet friend to have around, even if he could get annoying with his tall tales.

Nami rung her head side to side, trying to uncoil some of the pressure. “Mmm, that’s true and I guess it wouldn’t hurt to catch up on any stories that have been floating around that we should be privy to.” Usopp took over the massage completely with both of his hands, letting her lay on her back to toss the leg into his lap.

“Oh? Like how there’s rumors of you and Zoro being weird in the hall outside of your mikan trees yesterday?” his voice was teasing and he made a snicker like he had the full scoop of what went down and more. Nami’s hand coming forward to swat his arm, but her eyes didn’t hold any actually discomfort from the question.

“If you mean weird in Zoro planning to rail me out of the blue in a semi-public hallway, then you would be correct,” she dug her teeth into her bottom lip, not even trying to hide the grin she had. Nami’s loud giggling echoed around the room at the way Usopp’s eyes went wide like dinner plates and stuttered over his thoughts of the image.

Usopp gave up on the massage to flop in a laying position beside, curling his arm under his head and gathering together his racing mind. When Nami turned more to him and the two looked like a pair of teenage girls from those old magazine pictures, he seemed to finally decide on what he wanted to say.

“I want to know, but I don’t want to know. But, I do want to know why you didn’t let him after all this hopeless pinning you come to rant my ear off about after your thirty-fifth bottle of wine,” garnering a laugh from both of them. 

That was true, she’d spent so much time turning to Usopp as the only person she could properly talk about the feelings that had been creeping through her about Zoro and he listened well, helping her calm down at the times she would be so freaked out inside about how it could be possible to like, let alone be falling in love, with the meathead. It couldn’t be helped that she trusted him the most as her best friend and the only normal person in a relationship —Nami didn’t feel comfortable in giving away the information to Robin or Franky, as they would definitely tell one another and force her into situations with Zoro like sneaky rats.

Curling the blanket tightly around her body in one swift movement, Nami let out a long sigh. “Well, Chopper came around and Zoro started off being weird by pointing out how I had been avoiding him and saying to never do it again and just deciding all of a sudden to make a move. He said it was because of Brook, but I'm still confused from how strong he came on to me,” she drummed her fingers on the mattress and Usopp gave his own sigh in reply.

“Well, it can't be helped that the two of you would have an awkward phase, right? You're switching from being friends that always berate each other to possible lovers. Trust me, it’ll be a weird and awkward switch for everyone if the two of you do make that decision to cross those thresholds.” 

Usopp had grown an understanding about dynamic’s between lovers that could only be achieved by being in a relationship —as he liked to say himself. And while Nami was sure that officially being with Kaya had changed some things for Usopp, there was nothing that could make up for how different the dynamic he understood with Kaya that varied from the dynamic between herself and Zoro.

But it was still sweet of him to try and downplay her worries so she wouldn’t be overwhelmed too much.

“Thank you,” Nami whispered, her body slowly relaxing to lay flat on her back, head lolling to the side as she began to doze off. 

A hint of a chuckle left Usopp and she felt the bed dip when he stood up. “Don’t worry about it!” Lights caught the corner of his eye and he turned his attention to a small metal table pushed into the farthest right corner of the room with a Christmas tree resting upon it. “Ohhh, that’s pretty, feeling a bit festive, huh? Well, that’s exactly why Franky is wanting more supplies, so he’ll be able to spruce up the place for people to have a bit of holiday cheer around here. I mean, it’s not like we haven’t celebrated all together before, but so many people in this world haven’t thought about holidays their entire lives and him and Luffy decided it would be a great morale boost for all the new folk around.”

The Christmas tree was a tiny tabletop one stuck to a mat as the bottom and a piece of metal going straight through the middle to be the stand. The tree itself was a dark pine, dazzling with mini ceramic string lights wrapped into the shape of the branches, leading to a prefect star at the top of the tree, shining a golden hue along the table. On the mat beneath the Christmas tree, there was about twenty to thirty mini presents varying in sizes and colors, though all of them sparkled like glitter and had a beautiful red bow to adorn the top. 

She was sure of the beauty a life-sized Christmas tree would be, but it was hard to come by any of these tabletop ones that had survived the wasteland and Nami worried that it would be even worse for Franky to try and recreate such things for their home. But, then again, she really shouldn’t doubt Franky’s skills and knack to make anything that he set his mind on, he was a Strawhat after all, and it only seemed proper he would have a fortitude to carry out the very reason he had joined up.

“You should leave and get some rest, Usopp, and let me rest too if I’m going to be protecting the caravan, huh?” Nami stretched out a lethargic smile to the long-nose and he gave a wide grin back. “Hey, are you done messing around with my Clima Baton yet?”

Usopp scratched at the back of his head with a choky laugh, “Almost, uh, shouldn’t be much longer, but I assure it will be worth the wait!” 

If she wasn’t so sleepy, Nami would have gave him a solid beating for the answer, but instead gritted her teeth together. “Won’t you just go ahead and tell me what it is you’re doing exactly with my precious weapon?”

“Definitely not! It’s a surprise!” Usopp shouted and straightened his spin up before zooming off to the bedroom door, peaking his head around the wood one last time to wish her goodnight then sprinting away down the hall.

Mumbling to herself about how it was taking forever for him to do whatever it was with her weapon, Nami quickly faded into a dreamless sleep, much needed for the coming week.

*****

A trip ranging from the Strawhats personal settlement to the outskirts of the grand city of Sabaody Archipelago would take a full week, give or take the time that she and the others walked and whether the brahmin wanted to keep a fast pace or not.

Before even leaving the compound, Nami had decided she would send one person back on their own before the rest after arriving in Sabaody as to get the supplies Franky wanted to him faster. That would mean five people in total would start on the job, but only four would travel back together with the brahmin. 

Sure, she and the four other somewhat new settlers to the settlement could just carry plenty of the water cans to Sabaody to save time on the trip, but that would mean sacrificing money that could be made from loading up the Brahmin with many cases and sacks filled to the brim. 

Nami would never sacrifice money that could be used to improve their lives, so there was no way she would choose a different option. 

The trip to Sabaody would be complicated, she had explained to the settlers once everyone geared up and left the gates of safety. There wouldn’t be a good, straight shot to the city and the only available pathway would put them in broad visibility, meaning the risk of being attacked by raiders, gunners, rogue robots or synths, super mutants, ghouls, Deathclaws, mole rats, radroaches, and the likes were higher than the normal run of the mill luck to ending up in bad fights.

Well, to put it mildly, an hour into traversing and she had finished off her small speech of what they would go through, the settlers decided that next time they would avoid a Sabaody caravan trip. 

But, really, what could go wrong? Nami tried to play it down, just as Usopp managed to help her the night before. It wasn’t easy to take the edgy off of them though and rather than help, she soured the mood even more.

Nothing was wrong with a quiet trip, it gave a better chance to listen out for impending doom.

*****

Not much had happened on their first day out, nor the second day either, the tarnished blacktop of highways seeming to never end and the polluted waters they passed by glowing up a storm that made Nami’s skin crawl. 

The downside of winter meant the night sky would shine above sooner in the day and the sudden darkness only played more into the isolating, eerie air the wasteland had when the tragedies could no longer be seen. It wasn’t the same as the high roller city in the desert where they had spent time with Vivi, oh how the night never came there because of the lights that was forever aglow, compared to the wasteland that had been swiped of all such things and left a shell.

Sometimes she wondered about Vivi, if the princess would ever collide paths with them again and have fun times together as well. Thinking back on the girl though brought a memory to the forefront of her mind she had seemed to discarded.

Vivi had tossed around in the other bed of the girl’s cabin for hours on end before asking if Nami had been awake. Once she had realized that, yes, Nami had never went to sleep, she let loose what had been plaguing her mind. 

“There was just something so interesting in how Mr. Bushido looked at you today!”

The statement had caught Nami off-guard, as nothing of particular note had gone on during that day and was only spent drifting along and waiting for the time of finally reaching Alabasta. Nami had tried to get her to explain more, but Vivi was too caught on the fact that it had to of been a loving stare that he gave the orange-haired navigator and was happy to get it off her chest. 

It had been such an odd thing at the time, but also not so odd. She played it off with Vivi that her eyes must have been wrong in what she saw, that Zoro was probably looking at her in scorn and hoping that she would burn up on the spot and making the debt he owned Nami to also vanish.

Yet now, looking back on that moment, there seemed that some of what she thought was wrong could have been real. That Vivi had seen him with a wanting stare at her so long ago and well before she had gotten to this moment.

Tilting her eyes to the sky, the sun inking out from the clouds marked the third day of the caravan’s walk and that she had also spent the entire night awake thinking of just how long ago Zoro’s view shifted of her.

*****

The afternoon creeped on quickly, Nami’s leg had started swelling only an hour into the restart of their walk, but she had toughened it out so far with the thought of how the sooner the whole thing was over, the sooner she would get some good rest and not be on the leg doing strenuous activity. 

A simple snowfall had started only a mere few minutes ago, the sky painted a soft white that went for miles and the snow falling to a melt instantly. It was a pretty picture, one that made up for the surroundings outside of the bubble of paradise that could exist in such moments.

And it was that distraction, her eyes so focused onto the sky, she had missed the warning sight of gunners facing off against a legion of super mutants, cutting off the rest of the highway with their battle, and the five of them walking right in-between the onslaught.

Zoro would have chewed her ear out with a grin of how she was worse than him, waltzing into a fight that could have taken care of itself. Damn idiot creeping into Nami’s mind, he would have easily put down both sides without so much as a yawn.

In a flash, one of the settlers grabbed for the brahmin and led it to hide out behind an overturned semi-truck they had just passed up, leaving her and the other three to duck behind a concrete traffic barrier. Making sure it was full on ammo, Nami gripped the laser pistol she’d been using with both hands, peering her head a hair of an inch beyond the barrier to mark her aim for a super mutant.

No person in their right mind would rather take on super mutants alone, and aiding the gunners for a moment before they would turn their fire onto Nami would be fine if it meant the worse threat of the two was dealt with.

The green giants, a darker shade of green than Zoro’s hair, towered with miniguns that seemed to never cease an end of a rain of bullets, and the group of six all were packing one. Except for the suicider strapped up with mini nukes making a run towards a gunner squatting behind a metal bin, only a couple seconds of beeping indicating the explosion that blew the body of the super mutant into flying chunks.

Sometimes, the amount of suffering that the super mutants had been through made them so dumb they didn’t even understand how they were causing their own death, along with ally super mutants. Which, is what the suicider did, as the gunner’s head and limbs promptly tore from the rest of the flesh and bone and muscles of his torso, blood sprouting out everywhere. 

Two of the super mutants, with their miniguns in hand, were shaken by the blast, sending them backwards firing upon each other rapidly during the stupor, killing one another with multiple shots to the head.

That left them with four super mutants and seven gunners. 

How fun it was to wait it out and see the wild shenanigan's the wasteland offered on its own before a somewhat sane person intervened, Luffy would’ve gotten a good kick out of seeing something like that, Nami would definitely have to pass the story to him about the scene.

Just as she was releasing off some rounds towards the hands of the closest super mutant —hoping to cause enough damage to make him drop the minigun— one of the settlers yanked open their pack to reveal an array of grenades, catapulting nearly ten cryogenic grenades and diving back down to hide out of view again. Each one landed and exploded right by the super mutants, delivering a shock of pain through each one over and over again, freezing their bodies in place for a handful of seconds between each blast.

There were better ways the grenades could have been put to use, a plan worked out, but that didn’t matter now as one of the gunners suddenly tossed out his own grenade, which was a plasma one that knocked the four super mutants to the ground as soon as the green wave burst out and hit them. It was only about two seconds that they were down, but the force of the hit made them lose hold of their miniguns and made easy picking to drive bullets into their heads.

With the gunners sending all their firepower in and Nami aiming nicely timed shots into eyes that Usopp would be proud of, the super mutants were dead in a matter of minutes and once the last body had dropped, the gunners turned their attention towards Nami and the three settlers with her.

Bullets ricocheted and got caught into the concrete as the gunners began running down to surround them, her and the other settlers shifted around to get in some shots from the side rather than raising their heads to easy hits. The first one to run up on them had looked dead into Nami’s eyes, cocking the shotgun in her hands and placing the barrel at the space between Nami’s eyes.

Unloading the whole clip of thirty shots into the female gunners own face, Nami drew back and clutched her chest, trying to even out the ragged breathes that came from being so close to a bullet in the head.

One settler to her right was using a semi-upgraded 10mm pistol, burying bullets into a gunners shoulder and creating a splatter of blood as the arm endured too much of the burning metal and tore itself away, flying into the face of the gunner beside him upon death.

Five more.

Even though gunners were extremely skilled in the area of guns, they also seemed to go down pretty easily just as a normal raider would because of being a normal human, and that was what helped Nami regained her strength to finish the fight off.

The settler that went with the brahmin peaked himself out, guiding down the scope of a pipe rifle to split open a hole through the left ear and ripping out of the right ear of one of the gunners.

Four more.

Nami took the moment to reload the laser pistol and left the position of hiding out behind the barrier to run up on the last of the gunners perched on the hood of a rusted and busted pickup truck. She easily shot through the one who jumped off and rushed at her, sending the gunner to the ground in a final scream filled with agony at the hole left in his gut. The female gunner who had been behind him on the hood shot at Nami’s feet, but she ignored the hail, raising up to focus in a shot and the blast from the laser melting the gunner into a puddle of ash.

Past her head, a storm of bullets impaled the final two gunners, one bashing into the open cab and dying out in a folded position while the other tried to rush Nami with the last of her strength. 

The gunner knocked into Nami’s body like a ram, hands clawing out at the fabric of Zoro’s jacket she wore and slamming her head into the edge of the highway railing. Just below had to be a fifty foot drop into a heavy stream of a river, and if Nami didn’t die on impact, then she would have died by the rush of the water beating into her body. In an act to prevent herself from being thrown over, Nami brought her right foot into the gunner’s ankle, causing the gunner to stumble and release the hold over Nami.

Bringing her knee between the legs of the gunner, Nami used the moment of confusion to push her over the side of railing, leaning in to watch the pulls sweep the body into a thrashing current and the screams came to a silent halt.

No more. 

All of them were huffing in puffs of air, trying to regain a footing after the battle. This was a normal day in the wasteland, how could she have forgotten about things like this?

Too much time spent behind walls and tending to those needs was clearly taking a toll on what Nami could do away from the building societies. If it kept up, would she really be able to call herself a survivor anymore? How many times was she going to put herself close to death in simple situations? 

Something needed to change.

*****

The rest of the week was still filled with fighting for their lives, though not to any troubling extent that super mutants posed, but it seemed a multitude of raiders had decided to bug out along the highways for the winter, bracing themselves for any heavy storms that may come. Not a single snowstorm had hit during the travel, which had to be an upside since there didn’t have to be any stops or struggling to make it away through piles of snow.

When the unnerving border of the Sabaody Archipelago came into view, its trees extending among the clouds, there was a choir of cheers from the settlers she set out with and the brahmin waddling forward to lead the way to safety this time. It was the dead of night though and Nami was sure that there wouldn’t be any merchants available until the morning, so she paid for hotel rooms for the settlers, got the brahmin set up somewhere safe, the water put away with one of the settlers, and took off to a familiar bar.

All the feelings that had been swarming her lately and after the many gun fights, Nami needed a nice drink. 

She strolled along a worn out path of stones, zoning out to the cracks between each one. A set of shadows from the overarching trees were casting spookily over the sleeping city, but that was until a swarm of lights broke out over Nami.

“Woah,” her breathe had been taken away from her body as soon as her eyes laid on the sight sitting in front of her.

It seemed that her worries were wrong.

Standing at least seventy-five feet, was a beautiful spruce tree that was still brimming in life, the branches sprouting out in silverish green. Wrapped around the Christmas tree was thousands of string lights, all glinting off each other and sharing the light to the ground below and surroundings. In different shapes and sizes were cute ornaments, round bold colored ones, spiky ones with glitter, plaided cones, and even handmade ones that were probably put up by citizens. At the very top was a shining star, swaying in the wind and sending a spark of its golden light in different directions with each movement.

Beautiful, so beautiful. 

Seeing the real deal of a Christmas tree like this up close and personal didn’t compare to the idea she had in mind by the little light up tabletop Christmas tree she had in her room back home.

Nami was certain now that she definitely wanted Franky to decorate the compound for Christmas or she wouldn’t be able to live there without seeing a beauty like this when she woke up in her bed during the winter mornings.

Across the way from the Christmas tree was a rundown bar where Nami was planning to stop in, the words had gotten more faded since the last time she had been around, but there was no way that someone in the area didn’t know who’s bar it was.

A soft chime above her head alerted the few in the bar of Nami’s entry. Standing behind the counter was a tall woman with a dark bob of hair, cigarette perched between her lips as she read a newspaper. The woman’s eyes glossed above the paper with a smirk at Nami, folding it away and blowing out a cloud of smoke.

“Impeccable timing as ever, Nami,” the woman curled her lips as Nami settled at the bar, pointing at a bottle of whiskey on the top shelf. She needed a hard drink that was worth the money and knew that Shakky would deliver on that here.

Watching the drink splash around in the glass, Nami twirled a strand of hair, “Why do you say that? Did something happen that I wished I had been here to learn about?” 

Knocking back the glass in one gulp, it slammed to the table with a hard raddle, Shakky filling it again as she talked, “No, instead you narrowly missed that Monkey-chan and the grump.” Nami paused midway to carrying the glass for another fast gulp.

“Luffy and Zoro were here? When?” To think she had been so close again to being able to talk, but missed him, her luck seemed to be running up lately.

“They only left a few hours ago, not sure of where they're headed, but they did seem to know you were going to be here,” Shakky smiled slyly, looking too much like Robin when she really wanted to tease someone, and Nami felt her stomach do an uneasy flop. “The grump left this for you.” In a fluid motion, she had pulled out a flat plain white envelope and slid it to the younger girl’s grasp.

Nami stared at it, burning holes through it with her eyes and questions zooming around in her head of what exactly was inside of it. 

“He also said it would be best to read outside,” Shakky finally laughed this time, shaking her head at the antics the man pulled and made her carry out for him. 

“Shakky,” Nami swallowed down the second glass of whiskey and laid out some bottlecaps on the counter, scooting out of the squeaky metal, “I’ll come back tomorrow to talk more. Have a good night.” She didn’t even wait to hear a response from the older woman or notice Rayleigh coming from the back to greet her, just picked the envelope and took back off into the night.

Once right outside of the bar, she dug into the envelope with shaky hands, the cold night eating her up. Within it had been one slip of a thick card that Zoro wrote a note for her on.

“Nami, the real tree is better than that one in your room, right? Search beneath the tree outside of Shakky’s and you might find something you’ll enjoy. —Zoro”

The thought of Zoro hiding a gift for her made a heat bloom through her chest, the tingly feeling in her spine reappearing. She instantly rushed over to the tree, keeping her brown eyes peeled for any sort of box or bag that Zoro had left behind. 

About halfway around the tree, a small box wrapped in red with a light green ribbon finally caught her eye and she settled on her knees to tear open the box beneath the tree. Once the paper was away and the cardboard box rested on her hand, she gently pulled the lid away to reveal a bracelet.

The bracelet was a simple band of polished gold with three different charms hanging off of it. The first charm was meant to represent her, she’d assumed by the plate having a 2Dcarved compass on it. Next was a charm to represent Zoro, three swords carved into the gold plate. And the final charm was a gold plate that had a mikan carved into it and there was the three swords being stabbed through the fruit, showing how the two were connected.

Grinning, Nami put the bracelet on, being extra careful of harming it when she slid it on. She turned her wrist back and forth, seeing how it looked so good and perfect on her.

She was alone beneath the tree. To anyone else, it would be a sad sight to see a gorgeous woman all alone beneath a Christmas tree when she received a gift, but that didn’t matter to Nami at all.

Her eyes guided up the tree again and brought the jacket she wore to her nose.

Zoro’s scent was nearly gone by now.

Because even though she was alone under the tree, Zoro was still with her by a small way that he made the decision on. 

#zonaholiday2020 #fanfic #one piece #zona #zonami #zoronami #zoro x nami #ronoroa zoro #op nami #op zoro #op usopp

[oriigami]

we’re running against the wind

[Part two of my One Piece Wing AU, this time focusing on the Strawhats and their histories. Read it on AO3 here!] [Part One]

“I can’t fly,” Kuina told him, one warm and dusky night, sitting on the porch step and staring down at the grass. Arms wrapped around bony knees, bruised and grass-stained. “Did you know that?” 

Zoro blinked, and sat down beside her, baffled for a moment. “What do you mean? Cause your wings haven’t grown out yet?” 

She sighed, heavy and tired, and stretched one wing out at her side. It was simple, plain black, small for her age. “You know what a rail is?” 

“A rail?” 

“It’s a kind of bird. The kind I am. They live on the ground,” Kuina said, staring down at the grass between her scuffed shoes. “They don’t fly. They’re no good for it. Their wings are too small. Even if they try, they can never get too far off the ground.” 

She shot him a sideways look, and halfheartedly tugged on one of his feathers. His wings were still growing, but already much larger than hers, big and brown, almost gold in the sunlight. Eagle wings. Wings meant to soar. 

“You’re lucky, Zoro,” she said, looking up at him with a terribly sad half-smile on her face that he never, ever wanted to see again. “Someday, you’re going to fly.” 

Zoro woke up with her voice still ringing in her head. 

Consciousness hit him with an unpleasant jolt, and he had half a second to process the dusty courtyard- not Shimotsuki dojo- before a half-dozen different varieties of discomfort hit him all at once. 

The hunger pains were practically screaming in the back of his mind, and he was parched from dehydration. He was half-numb from the ropes digging into his skin, cutting off blood circulation. He shifted, trying to prop himself up as best he could, and grit his teeth against the sharp, stabbing pain of blood starting to flow again.

As soon as he moved, his wings pulsed with pain, and he had to bite back a yell. They’d been lashed roughly to the pole at his back at an uncomfortable angle that had started as barely tolerable and progressed, over the course of the days, to maddening. The dusty ground all around him was scattered with fallen dusty gold feathers, both those that had been pulled loose by the ropes and those that had shed on their own as starvation had taken its toll. 

It was fine, though. What was a few feathers lost? It wasn’t like he was going to die here. It wasn’t like he could.

He had a promise to keep, after all. 

-

Arlong never clipped Nami’s wings. They were too useful for quick getaways. To him, they were just some of the features that made her such a valuable tool, such a clever, profitable little thief. So, no, he never damaged her wings.

But he loved to remind her that he could. 

If she disobeyed, if she tried to run away- well, fishmen were so strong, and wings were so fragile. She learned to bear the fear, though she always kept her wings folded close and tight to her back whenever she walked through Arlong Park. If there was one thing she could be grateful for, at least, it was that he never thought to threaten to hurt Nojiko’s wings instead. 

She could still hear the crunch of Bellemere’s wingbones when Arlong had stomped on them.

Fishmen didn’t have wings. It made sense- what sure would undersea creatures have for them? But she couldn’t help but suspect, every now and then, that Arlong was envious. He could rule their towns and beat them into the ground and proclaim himself and his brethren superior over humans in every way- but he would never, ever fly. That was something Nami would always hold over him.

Nami’s wings were simple at first glance- black, with splotches of bright white at the shoulders and tips- but under the sunlight, the black glittered, turning to dark iridescent bluish-green. They looked nothing like Bellemere’s wide, long-feathered osprey wings had. 

“Would you cut it out?” she snapped, one wing stretching out to swat Luffy’s curious hands away from the straw hat resting in her lap.

She’d known him for more than a day now, but she still couldn’t really make up her mind on her temporary captain. He was annoying, but good-hearted, but stupid, but honest- and she’d never seen wings like his either. They were bright red and featherless, looking more bat than bird. Overall, he was a frustrating enigma, for how open he was. 

Not that it mattered, really. She’d be parting ways with them soon enough. 

“Are you done yet?” he asked insistently, leaning around her shoulder to peer at the mostly-repaired hat cradled in her hands. The wide, ugly knife cuts Buggy had left in the golden straw were mostly hidden now, though you could still see the scars if you knew to look- the replacement straw she’d had to use in places was brighter and cleaner than the worn, aged material of the rest of the hat. 

She wondered idly just how old this stupid hat was. There were other repairs worked into the straw here and there, some more recent and some much older, hand-stitched with varying levels of neatness and expertise. 

“Nearly,” she said, not for the first time. “Be patient.” 

The sun caught on the mended straw, and all of a sudden she remembered a question she’d wanted to ask. “Hey, Luffy,” she said before his attention could drift. “What’s with this feather?” 

She’d noticed it when they’d first met, and wondered at it. It was tucked into the red ribbon that ran around the hat, and when she’d taken the hat to repair it and gotten a closer look, she’d noticed that it was carefully stitched into place. It was striped black and sapphire blue, with a tiny splash of white at the tip. 

“Oh!” Luffy said. “That’s Sabo’s!” 

Nami blinked. “Sabo?” she repeated. 

“My brother!” Luffy said. 

Zoro blinked one eye open from where he’d been napping on one of the little boat’s benches, lifting his head. “You’ve got a brother?” he asked. 

“There’s more of you?” Nami said at the same time. 

Luffy snickered. “I’ve got two big brothers!” he explained. “They both set out to sea before me, though. Sabo first, and then Ace second. Sabo had bluejay wings. Yours kinda remind me of them, Nami!”

Had, Nami thought, and thought of Nojiko- solid blue wings, tipped with black. Thought about the osprey feather tucked away in the very back of her dresser in Cocoyashi. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah!” Luffy said. “They’re really pretty! And glittery and blue, like the ocean!” 

“Oh,” Nami said. “...Thanks.”

...So maybe she liked her temporary captain, just a little. It wouldn’t change anything, in the end. 

-

Usopp lied about his wings. He kept them tucked close to his back, and whenever someone asked, he’d come up with a new species, something big and intimidating. Hawk, eagle, falcon- something flashy, impressive, worthy of a brave warrior of the sea. 

Of course, none of those were true. (Nothing he said ever was.) Everyone in the village knew it, too- they’d known him since he was a kid, after all. The truth he never wanted to admit was that his wings were unremarkable, just like him. Plain black, medium size, with a thick stripe of white running through the middle of each. He only ever opened them when he was with his friends, or with Kaya. 

The first time she’d seen his wings was when he threw his arms open too wide when telling a story, caught up in the fantasy inside his head, and unbalanced himself from his perch on the tree outside her window. They’d snapped open on instinct to break his fall and let him catch himself midair, and he’d flapped back up to her window to see her beaming. 

“Look,” she’d said, and stretched her own wings open- big beautiful crane wings, wide and white but with a thick band of black on the inside of each. Just the opposite of his. “We match!” 

Over time, Kaya’s sickness had taken its toll on her wings, just as on the rest of her. She was always shedding drifts of feathers, leaving her wings looking scrawny and patchy. They were beautiful nonetheless, though, wide and graceful, the surviving feathers bright white. 

“Someday,” he told her, “We’ll go flying, once you’re better and your feathers grow back. And I’ll show you the island where everything is made out of candy, and the trees talk to you!”

She laughed into her hands, wings curling around her. “Do they?” 

“They do!” Usopp confirmed, nodding emphatically. “And they sing, too. But only for kind-hearted girls with white wings. So if we went there, they’d sing for you for sure!” 

She smiled, big and warm and honest. “That sounds lovely, Usopp!” 

Usopp grinned back. 

A couple days later, the pirates came. 

And it was sudden and violent and terrifying, and Klahadore’s massive black vulture wings seemed to block out the sky, and Usopp was sure a dozen times over that he was going to die, but- 

But he didn’t.

By the time it was all over and it was time to set sail, Kaya’s wings were already looking healthier. 

-

“Kid,” the old man had said, the first day on the rock, voice gruff and thick from coughing up seawater. “You still alive?” 

Sanji didn’t say anything, pulling skinny knees to his chest and glaring over the top of them at the old man’s back. The old man had a long piece of driftwood balanced over his knees, and was methodically shredding his shirt into long strips. One of his wings was awkwardly bent in a way that made Sanji cringe to look at. The pain must have been terrible, but the old man’s voice didn’t even shake.

“C’mere. I need your help with something.”

Sanji didn’t move. “What?” he asked, and almost winced at the croak of his own voice. 

“Can’t reach my wing. Busted it against the rocks, and if I don’t set it now it won’t heal right.”

“So?” Sanji muttered sullenly. “What do I care?” 

“You stupid, brat?” the old man asked tiredly, and didn’t even give Sanji time to bristle before he continued, “Your wings ain’t big enough to reach land yet, but you’re little enough to carry. If my wing heals right, I can get us both off this rock. Hopefully before we starve to death.” 

“...How do I know you won’t leave me?” Sanji had asked suspiciously.

The old man looked at him askance over his shoulder, holding himself stiffly so as not to jar his injured wing. “Shit, kid, I might be a pirate, but I’m not a monster. You think I’d just ditch a little kid to die?” 

Sani blinked. Oh.

(It had made Judge so, so angry, that Sanji was the only one of his brothers with wings. It was an embarrassment, an infuriation, that the failure could fly unassisted when the perfect sons could not. It was why he’d been locked away, in a cell where he could never see the sky, where there was no hope at all of flight.)

He inched his way across the craggy stone to the old man, lips pressed tight. He took the stick of driftwood and makeshift bandages and quietly set to work, following the old man’s terse instructions. He wasn’t used to being on this end of it. Normally it was Reiju bandaging his injuries, setting his sprains and broken bones. 

(“You deserve to fly,” she’d said through desperate tears as she shoved him towards the ship, grey-and-violet wings pulled close to her back. “Go!”)

One he had the last clumsy knot tied, the old man gave him some of the food- so little- and they split to wait. For the old man’s broken bones to heal, or for a ship to come. Whichever came first.

And they’d waited, and waited, and waited. 

After the third week, Sanji had started to lose feathers. After the makeshift shelter he’d managed to scrounge together fell apart, his wings provided the only protection from the elements. He huddled behind their shade as the weeks crawled by, agonizingly slowly. 

Fallen black and white feathers littered the stone around him by the time desperation drove him to curl shaking fingers around a knife, and drag himself to the other side of the island, and discover the terrible truth. The knife clattered to the stone, and Sanji collapsed along with it.

It was twenty more days before the old man was well enough to fly. Sanji was half-unconscious with delirium by then, and all he knew of the flight was hunger, and wind, and endless, endless blue. The ocean below, and the cloudless sky above, and nothing at all between.

It never did quite leave his mind. 

“Have you ever heard,” he said, leaning against the railing and turning to look at the idiot in the straw hat, “of the All Blue?”

-

Chopper had never had wings. 

It was just another reason he knew he’d never fit in. No matter how human he could make himself look, he would never have wings, and that would always give him away.

He did know how to treat them, though. Of course he did. A great doctor needed to know those sorts of things. Doctorine had taught him- about wing breaks and sprains, the sort of injuries that could be crippling and the ones where the patient might fly again, her own grey parrot wings flaring dramatically whenever she made a point. 

At the moment, Doctorine was leaning over the unconscious bodies of their three newest patients- the blonde man with the back injury, the girl with the fever, and the black-haired boy. 

“Let’s see here,” she hummed. “Secretarybird, common magpie, and- hm.”

Chopper blinked up at her, intrigued by her sudden silence. Her expression was hard to read. “Doctorine? Is it about that boy’s wings? I saw they were different, and he hasn’t got feathers, is that normal for humans? Is he sick?”

“Not normal,” she agreed absently. “But not unprecedented, either.” She chuckled. “It’s been some time since I last met a D.”

“A… huh?” 

Doctorine waved it off. “Oh, nothing. Get him to a warm room and then prep Mr. Secretarybird there for surgery, will you? I need to find the antibiotics for Miss Magpie, she’s the most urgent of the three.”

“Ah- yes, Doctorine!” Chopper agreed, and bounced into action, and questions about feathers and wings and Ds were quickly forgotten. 

-

Franky didn’t have wings. 

He had had, at one point, though he’d never really cared much about them either way. After all, Tom-san hadn’t had wings, and neither had Kokoro. And it wasn’t like they were any use for shipbuilding, and he didn’t have many places to fly to, anyways. 

Iceberg had taught him how to fly, even though he’d always insisted he didn’t need Iceberg to teach him anything. But it had been useful for getting up to high places that needed construction, or making a quick getaway after breaking something, and- yeah, okay, he could admit it. It was fun. Flying had been fun. 

And then there had been the sea train. And wings were so very fragile. 

By the time he hauled himself aboard the scrap ship with broken hands, he already knew he wouldn’t fly ever again. His wings were wrecked beyond any dream of repair, skin shredded and bones shattered into fragments. Even if he had the ability to create prosthetics lightweight and detailed enough to replace them- which, not to sell himself short, he probably could, given time and materials that he didn’t have- he never would have been able to attach them to the nerves properly, not at that angle. 

No, better just to amputate, and cauterize, and focus on the things he did need: his hands, his eyes, his organs.

And he’d gone on, and it had been fine, and most of the time he barely missed flying at all. 

“Look,” he said, as the Agua Laguna raged outside and the dumb pirate kid refused to listen to reason. “Listen to me, bro. I’m serious. You listening?” 

The kid didn’t answer, but he did pause in hammering away at his dead ship for a moment, which Franky decided to take as a yes. 

“Your ship’s crippled,” Franky said bluntly. “She can’t sail anymore. It’s like- okay, you saw my wings are gone, right?” 

“...Yeah.” 

“Taking that ship to sea,” Franky said, “would be like pushing me off a cliff. There was a time I could’ve survived that just fine, but now it’d smash me to pieces. Your ship’s lost her wings. And no matter what, you can’t fix that.”

The kid stared at him, biting his lip so hard it looked like it might bleed, something cracking in his eyes, black and white wings curling protectively around his shoulders. Franky felt for him, he really did- he knew better than most what it felt like to fight something you couldn’t possibly win to try and save something you loved- but truth was truth, even when it hurt. 

He was just starting to hope he might have finally gotten through when the door crashed open and suddenly, they all had bigger problems to worry about. 

-

Robin’s wings were nondescript. It was useful, in its way, when it came to living in hiding. From the slanderous stories told about her and the people of Ohara, people expected crow, raven, rook- something dark and threatening. Or even featherless demon wings, much like those of her new captain. 

Instead, her wings were simple, uniform dark grey with tawny orange-brown patches spreading from the shoulders. Robin wings. 

Her mother’s had looked much the same, she remembered. It was one of the only details that had stuck in her head about Nico Olvia, as the long years had worn away at the few memories of her mother she had. Most of her mother’s face was a blur, now, but she still remembered a few things: white hair, sad eyes, wings of a mourning dove.

As Spandam dragged her down the Bridge of Hesitation, hands and powers bound, she flapped her wings frantically as hard as she could, even as the chains around her shoulders to weigh her down and stop her flying broke feathers and gouged at skin with every movement. She didn’t even need lift, just to push herself backwards a meter, a foot, an inch- 

If she could buy even a minute, even a second-

Spandam spat an ugly word at her as he was jerked backwards, stumbling for a moment and nearly face-planting onto the bridge before he managed to find his balance. He snarled, grabbed her by the shoulder and hurled her to the ground, driving the air from her lungs with a painful gasp. 

He stomped down hard between her shoulder blades, pinning her down. 

“You know,” he said, sounding almost gleeful, “the Tenryuubito cut off the wings of their slaves. To be sure they’ll never escape. Maybe I’ll recommend that, as part of your judgement. Or…” 

He moved his shoe from the center of her back to press lightly down on one of the delicate wing-joints in her right wing, and her breath caught. 

“Or maybe I’ll just do it myself,” he said. “What do you think, Nico Robin?”

Nico Olvia, with white hair and sad eyes and mourning-dove wings that had been bloodied, perforated by rifle-shots, ruined to stop her from flying away-

They’d aimed for the wings, first. They’d wanted to be sure that not a single scholar could escape. Not one was left uncrippled by the time the marines evacuated the burning wreck of Ohara. 

(Except Robin.)

“It’s not like you’ll be flying ever again, where you’re going,” Spandam continued, starting to press down, and Robin closed her eyes and grit her teeth against the pain and the rising plea for mercy alike. She refused to beg. Her mother had fought to the end, and so would she. 

Then there was a blaze of light, and a crash, and a fireball caught Spandam perfectly in the head, and Robin was saved. 

(Though, perhaps, if she was honest with herself, she’d been saved a very long time ago.)

-

When Brook had been alive, his wings had been soft, plain uniform brown. 

Nightingale, Yorki had laughed, one late night when they were sorting through a wing glossary one of the crewmen had picked up on the latest island, trying to place everyone’s wings. Oi, Brook, no wonder you’ve got the best singing voice on the ship.

Brook had warbled out a few notes in response, as horrifically flat and off-pitch as he could physically manage, and Yorki had nearly cracked a rib laughing. 

But wings rotted away just like all other flesh, and by the time Brook crawled his way back to the world of the living, they were nothing but bones and a drift of soft brown feathers, shed on the rotting planks. He tucked a few of the feathers away in an inside pocket of his coat, just in case they helped Laboon to recognize him, someday. 

Catching the remnants of his wings in the corners of his eyes (ah, but he didn’t have those anymore-), grasping and skeletal, always caught him off guard, almost worse than catching sight of his reflection. The bare, bright white stood in such contrast to the soft brown he was so used to seeing that he thought he would never truly get used to it. He couldn’t imagine anyone else would, either. 

And then- 

“Your wings are awesome, Brook!” Luffy said, bright and enthusiastic and entirely sincere, sprawled on his back on the piano. His wings were splayed out beneath him- featherless and red, entirely unlike any Brook had never seen before. “They’re so cool!”

For a moment, Brook couldn’t find words. (How unsuiting, for a songsmith.) And then he said, “Why, thank you, Luffy-san. I should tell you, though… I’m afraid they’re not good for much. I can no longer fly.”

Luffy blinked, and then said, “So? I can’t, neither.” 

“...You can’t?”

Luffy snickered, grinning. “Nah! My wings only sorta work. Something ‘bout my devil fruit and my bones or something. I don’t really get it. But it doesn’t matter! I mean, I can just rocket to places. And you too, right? You can run on water! That’s so cool!”

Brook looked at Luffy’s beaming grin for a long moment, and couldn’t stop the urge to smile back, even though he had no lips with which to do so. 

And then he said, “May I join your crew?” 

Luffy laughed like the best song Brook had ever heard. “Sure!”

#my writing #ill fly away #opfic #op #one piece #straw hat crew #ugh so many characters to tag... #zoro #kuina #nami #luffy #usopp #kaya #sanji #red leg zeff #chopper #kureha #franky #nico robin #brook

[deepmagician]

Chapter 41: To The Sea

This is a nice cover, featuring a good look at young Luffy, Shanks, and his Red Hair Pirates. Now that we finally found out the name of one of the crew members, being Yasopp there in the corner, let’s have a look at the other names that haven’t been told to us yet.

The big guy eating the meat, who shot one of Higuma’s men back in chapter 1, is Lucky Roux. I remember it being Lucky Roo, but apparently all official sources after the first translation go with Roux. Roux is an ingredient, and he certainly likes food, so that seems to check out. The man with the cigarette and rifle behind Luffy is Ben Beckman, who took out all the rest of Higuma’s men single-handedly in chapter 1. He’s Shank’s first mate.

And that’s it. None of the rest of them have been named. Hard luck, but also maybe they should’ve done anything and maybe they’d deserve it.

So Luffy seems to be recovering well from his injury, as he almost eats an entire fish skeleton. He’s just sucking plates into his mouth whole, I guess. Zoro implies that he could’ve eaten the skeleton better, and Nami reminds them that they’re crazy people. So all is well with Luffy and friends, but it’s about to be better.

Kaya shows up looking better than ever, now that her mean ol’ butler Klahadore isn’t abusing her trust any more. And she’s got a ship? Anything’s an upgrade from two small boats. Meanwhile, Usopp’s finished packing up his life, having moved literally everything that’s not furniture into his backpack.

Turns out this makes his bag comically large, and he breaks the front wall of his little house and rolls down a hill in the process of leaving.

Life is great, he says with double exclamation marks. Definitely no brain damage from the roll or being crushed here! Usopp’s as durable as Zoro and Luffy, turns out.

Ah, and here she is! Complete with thematic sheep figurehead. birds for scale, and Merry’s personal Jolly Roger on the mast, it’s the ship Kaya’s giving to Luffy: The Going Merry! 

...Oh? The Viz translation calls it the Merry Go? Nah, I’m ignoring that one like I did with the Nyabans. Going Merry is the name of the boat, and if you said Merry Go I and other One Piece fans would be pretty confused.

Merry says he thought Luffy would be taller as he explains some traits of the ship, which he designed himself. It’s true that heights tend to be pretty exaggerated in One Piece- Luffy’s 5′7″, and Shanks is 6′6″ and not even the tallest of his crew. Kuro was 6′9″!

The ship is a type called a Caravel, apparently a sort of faster, lighter sailing ship from the 15th century. It was favoured by merchants due to speed and manoeuvrability. Seeing as Luffy’s shown no desire for a huge crew like the Black Cats, this should be perfect for them.

Usopp rolls in for his comedy approach- does he stick the landing?

Perfectly! I love his long nose sticking out between their feet, it’s a good gag. Usopp promises Kaya that he’ll return one day with better stories than ever- and they’ll all be true.

Why? says Luffy? Why would Usopp act like they might cross paths one day? Because they’re going to be sharing a path- Usopp is of course going to join the crew!

This chapter came out May 25th 1998, almost 23 years ago. Of course people reading these recaps 100% knew Usopp would join the crew, along with any future member’s identity. Still, imagine what it would be like for people reading this as it originally came out, the excitement of a new crew member joinging the main cast. A joyous occasion.

As the Going Merry sails off into the horizon, the Children Formally Known As The Usopp Pirates watch and wonder what they’re gonna do now. As well, Kaya and Merry watch from their own cliff, and Kaya confesses that she did want Usopp to stay. Merry decides to tell her a story about Usopp in response.

Yes, every crew member has a tragic backstory. Usopp’s father left to be a pirate, and shortly after his mother died, so he had to take care of himself. As she lay sick in bed, young Usopp burst in, yelling that his father’s ship had returned to take them away once she was well again.

Usopp was desperately scrabbling for any hope, and as his mother weakened, his lies and wishes and dreams were where he found them. Yes, he shouted every day that a pirate ship was coming, but he secretly wished it would really happen, so that he could see his father again and have a family.

It’s legitimately a sad story, but it inspires Kaya to carry on Usopp’s strength of heart.

As the children take up Usopp’s mantle, Kaya declares that she’s going to become a doctor. Syrup Village is in good hands.

And with that, the arc is over. Kuro is defeated, Usopp has joined Luffy’s crew, and they finally have a proper ship. There’s still so much ahead for us, though- let’s see where we’re going!

#one piece by piece #one piece #syrup village

[frobin]

astolfobia

hat auf deinen Eintrag geantwortet

“I can totally understand the Jinbe/Robin ship, it does make sense. But...”

>> What... do you mean about not being sure if Zoro reacted correctly or not about Usopp?

Hey hey, 

okay this has nothing to do with FRobin and is more about Zoro, Usopp and the crew dynamics but since you asked I decided to answer. And I try to make myself clear because it’s probably VERY, VERY, VERY subjective and also comes from my female and very European point of view. 

I read the scene again (in german bc I don’t have the official translation at hand) but I also looked if kaizoku-ni-naru has it translated and here it is: https://kaizokuou-ni-naru.tumblr.com/post/190464807603/thank-you-so-much-for-your-wonderful-blog-im

Also many of it is from memory because of course I’m missing the volumes with the beginning of Water7 More behind the read more: 

Let’s do a little recap: 

Usopp left the crew. Why? Because to him it seemed like they were leaving Merry behind because the ship wasn’t strong enough anymore. 

That might seem weird since Merry is just a ship right? But we know that Merry had a soul, that manifested in the Klabauter. Merry was part of the crew but as soon as she was too weak (Usopp did not know that Merry was beyond repair), as soon as there was something better, Merry was replaced. 

That hit Usopp hard because Merry had not only been a present from his friend Kaya but this ship had been with them through so much and who knows how strong the bond between Usopp and the ship had really grown (he had been the one to see the Klabauter and the first to hear Merrys voice) so of course for him it felt like they were abandoning not only a ship, a thing, but a friend and even a crew mate.  Now, Usopp has a lot of problems. He feels weak, especially compared to Luffy, Sanji (who is also the cook) and Zoro who are The Monster Trio for a reason. Nami is a Navigator and so essential to the crew. Chopper is a doctor (also essential) and a literal monster! 

But all Usopp can do is shoot. He is probably going to be the best sharp-shooter in the world but he is not aware of that. Not back then and not now. Even after all the amazing things Usopp did in the recent arcs, he still considers himself weak. 

His self-worth is low and he loathes himself, probably feels like he is worth nothing. The only thing that he is good for is keeping Merry afloat, a memento to his island where he was important. Maybe the only thing that keeps him afloat too. 

So, the crew is willing to abandon Merry. Who tells that they won’t abandon him? Right after he lost a part of the money that was supposed to be used for Merry, right after he had to be saved by his crew, because he is weak!  

And you can bet that Usopp has abandonment issues too. After all, his father left to have adventures. Usopp lost his mother to sickness when he was still a small child. The village was annoyed by the child that ran every morning along the road to shout “Pirates are coming!”. Not as a threat but because he hoped that it would be true, that his dad would come back for him one day. Instead he grew up alone until he found some kids that thought he was cool enough to be their leader. He somehow managed to befriend the sick girl, and told her lies, like he did for his mother. And then Kaya was willing to renounce, to abandon him for Kuro.  

Merry is important and they want to leave Merry - him - behind.   

Usopp was afraid, got angry and he attacked Luffy. 

Was it smart? No. Was is it understandable? Yes. Could they have handled all that better? Fuck yes! 

But they are both teens who are stubborn and hot headed and in a tough and loaded situation. So I understand why it happened. 

And Usopp again is beaten, even with his smarts and his knowledge of Luffy’s weaknesses. He could not win. Because he is too weak. He lacks. He is not good enough. Luffy not only destroyed Usopp’s (already beaten) body, but also another part of his self worth. 

(I’m not crying you’re crying!) 

Then, we all know that Robin was caught,  while Usopp fixed himself up and then later met Franky. It was only then that Usopp learned that the ship was beyond repair but also learned that Merry had a Klabauter. And then more shit happened. What we also know is that Usopp had a very, very large role in the rescue of Robin and that he was one of the people who talked sense into her. Without him they wouldn’t have saved Robin and Luffy might have given up. He pep-talked him to continue fighting. 

(It’s still you who is crying! Shut up!) 

Anyway, let’s get to Zoro telling the rest of the crew that they can only accept Usopp back when he apologizes. Which, let’s be honest, makes sense.

Usopp should apologize. Because he was in the wrong. But his decisions came from a very specific place. 

So yeah, Zoro is right. But I get a bad feeling at the whole display of aggression and that Zoro expects Usopp to live up to his (Zoro’s) also very specific views and values of a warrior and the honor associated with it, without caring for Usopp’s. Again, a boy who grew up alone without any role model except that vague idea of an amazing pirate that was sailing the sea.

And the whole “Either it is like I say or I go!” stroke me as especially harsh.

Because I’ve been confronted with that sentiment so often, that I felt that deep in my bones. When I read it first, I didn’t even realise why that scene shook me. But it was that exact sentiment that poisoned my club and ultimately made me leave it, because I gave the ultimatum right back “You will go if things don’t go your way? Then go or I leave!” I’ve been part of that club since I had been seven years old. I left it with 25 because I had more balls than that fucking asshole and I’m still pissed about it, ten years later. And I’m very forgiving.

What Zoro said was that everyone has to know their place or they are no material to be a pirate (which is kind of weird since some people become pirates to be free, if you want to follow and know your place, maybe you should become a Marine). Ultimately you have to know whom to follow and that is - in this case - Luffy and no one else. You have to trust his judgement because he is the captain or else he is not much of a captain. 

And again this can make sense because if you don’t trust your captain or know your place on a ship it can be a death sentence at sea. 

Then there is this thing that this is ‘no playing pirate’. 

We still don’t know all of Luffy’s reasons why he wants to be pirate king but he often hints that he just wants to be free and have fun with his friends. That sounds a lot like ‘playing games’. At that point he only slowly learns that being a pirate is often way more serious and dangerous and filled with tough decisions than he thought. Playing games and have fun, that is why he was so delighted when he heard that Usopp wanted to come back. But playtime is over that is why he agreed with Zoro. Time to grow up they are at war after all.  

We know why Usopp left the crew, went against his captain and friend, because Usopp felt like they were abandoning ANOTHER FRIEND. 

But whatever reason there MIGHT BE does not matter for Zoro. He even says he does not know why all of it happened, does not care who was wrong or right.

I think that is a dangerous sentiment! Because personally, I feel like it’s important to try to see outside of your own perspective and I think you should never judge before you know all the facts. If you then still come to the same conclusion that is fine and if you come to another that is good too.That is what it means to make an informed decision, because the world is not black and white. Many things have reasons that are so layered that you can’t just expect everyone to come to the same conclusion when they don’t have the same information. That is why communication is important. 

Usopp waited for the very last moment to reach out to his friends. The longer he waited the longer he could imagine that everything would be fine in the end. He gave himself to that illusion. Zoro would have never done that and so no one else should do it. He is not exactly empathic. I feel like Zoro can’t look farther than his own ideas.

But I can agree with Zoro to some amount. I understand where he comes from.

Do I like it? Absolutely not. 

So, to slowly come to an end, we all know how this went. And I have to give it to Zoro, he also did say “I hear nothing” whenever Usopp tried to handle the situation like nothing had happened. He wanted him back too, after all.

And shit, it worked. Usopp cried out to his friends, he apologized and Luffy reached out to him to reel him in. 

But I can’t help but think that it absolutely destroyed Usopp after all. He saw his friends leaving him behind in a foreign city without any support. He just got a bounty and so would get in the focus of the marines, especially them thinking he is still part of the Strawhat crew. 

The crew, his friends, would leave him because he is weak and not worth anything and he would have no friends and be alone forever. 

I don’t even want to start to imagine the pure despair he felt that moment. And it stayed with him, as we learn in Thriller Bark. And again and again. 

So yeah. 

It worked in the end but I think it could have been handled better. 

Well, that is easy to say as a grown up with some more years under my belt and from an outside perspective. But even back when I first read it, it gave me a strange feeling. 

I think at least one of the crew should have talked to Usopp and given him some clues. And I’m sure Franky would have if he knew what was up but he hadn’t been part of the crew. Robin didn’t for whatever reason talk to Usopp, but she also never agreed with Zoro, looked almost angry about it. Nami also didn’t want to go against her captain, I guess. Sanji agreed with Zoro, maybe also with a bad feeling and Chopper is even less experienced than any other of them.

Oda is an amazing storyteller with a lot of characters that have an incredible amount of layers but that does not mean I agree with him all the time and so I don’t agree with his characters all the time.   

And that is what I meant. XD Sorry for the long text.

#astolfobia #One Piece #analysis #not frobin #aks #text #long text #Zoro #Usopp #Pirate Hunter Zoro #god usopp #meta #my opinion #kon #personal #the things you read and how you interpret them is always influenced by your own experiences #1900 words #damn

[lawssword]

ZoLu~ Meetings, Jealousy, and Marines

Info: awwe Zolu, i love them so much here's a little drabble that i desperately wanted to write <3 The story takes place after Wano probably. The meetings between the Strawhats and Hearts are rarely, if ever, dull.

Rated G

4.4K words

Zoro smiled as Luffy pulled away from him. Not much could make the day better. The breeze was in their favor and the ocean was calm as any sailor could wish it.

"Well, good morning to you too, captain," Zoro smiled up at Luffy. He was still foggy from his nap and Luffy kissing him as soon as he opened his eyes wasn't much better.

"Shishishi, Zoro, it's afternoon, almost evening," Luffy corrected with a smile that always lightened Zoro's mood.

"Screw time," Zoro muttered. He took hold of Luffy's shirt and pulled him into another kiss. Zoro bit hit captain's lip and Luffy fell into Zoro's lap. Luffy ran his hands through Zoro's short, green hair. Luffy pulled away from Zoro's lips.

"Your hair is so soft," Luffy said. Zoro brought his hands to Luffy's waist and pulled him closer so their chests were pressed together.

"You say that every time you touch it," Zoro stated, it was true, almost. Zoro was sure Luffy ran his fingers through it while Zoro slept.

"Well, it's true, every time I touch it." Luffy countered. Another kiss was shared. This one was much shorter. The two interacting like this was far from unusual. Luffy was the kind of guy that liked contact, the crew all too used to it by now. In fact, Robin and Usopp would often poke fun at the two. They weren't alone in it either.

"Anything planned for today?" Zoro asked.

"Yep," Luffy nodded vigorously. "Nami said we're gunna be coming up on the island we're supposed to meet Torao at tonight."

"We're hitting land soon?" Zoro asked. Luffy nodded. "Good, we're almost out of booze."

"Are we?" Luffy tilted his head.

"Mhm," Zoro hummed.

"Luffy!" Usopp shouted, running down the steps, onto Sunny's grassy deck. "Brook said he saw a seaking, let's go catch it!"

"Sanji can make the best dinner with a seaking!" Luffy said, moving out of Zoro's lap.

"One second," Zoro muttered, pulling Luffy back down and kissing him.

"Shishi, see you," Luffy climbed off Zoro and ran to join Usopp on the railing across the deck. Luffy nearly crashed into Usopp and knocked the fishing rod off the rail.

"Oh!" Luffy stretched out to catch it just in time. Try as they might, Usopp and Luffy couldn't catch a single thing all day. It was like the seaking outsmarted them or something! Luffy told Usopp as much. Sanji started making dinner before they could catch it.

"C' mon Luffy, there's no way the seaking is still around," Usopp said.

"We'll catch it!" Luffy insisted.

"Give it up Luf," Usopp sighed.

"Dinner's done!" Sanji called.

"Oh! FOod!" Luffy gasped and dropped the fishing rod and ran into the kitchen, leaving Usopp to clean it all up. Could he blame Luffy, though?  Sanji's food was always the best! The crew gathered in for dinner and sailed on.

Now, when Nami told Luffy soon, Luffy thought they'd hit landfall at right after dinner. Or, even better, during dinner. But that hadn't been the case. The Thousand Sunny docked alongside two fishing boats at dusk. The colors of sunset had given way to the dull blue of a darkening, cloudless sky.

"Let's go explore!" Luffy declared, already heading to the ship's railing. Nami took hold of Luffy's infamous strawhat, the string tightened around Luffy's neck and Luffy dash for land fell short.

"I already told Law we were here, he's at the bar up the road with the rest of his crew, that's where we're going," Nami said.

"I wanna explore the town first!" Luffy argued.

"You can do that tomorrow, we have to stock up on supplies so we'll be here a few days," Nami suggested, letting go of Luffy's hat. It fell against Luffy's back.

"Fine, Torao's cool anyway," Luffy gave. With that, the crew made their way off the ship. It was late, and the docks were quiet. The only noise came from the ocean's breeze blowing between the fishing rigs and dingies floating on the choppy water. Further, into the town, lights were on in houses and the faint smells of already cooked meals lingered in the air.

The bar was only down the road a ways from the dock, sailors never wandered very far from their ships, and sailors enjoyed a drink when they were on land too. Of course, the bar was close by. The little bar that the strawhats came to was small, humble, but professional. The building was old but clean and well kept. Luffy pushed the door open to an atmosphere that he didn't expect based on the exterior of this building.

It was loud, loud and full. Full of pirates. Specifically, the pirates that were strangely adorned in the Jolly Roger of Luffy's ally, Trafalgar Law. Sure there were others too, locals probably. They were just faces in the crowd.

"No weapons in the bar," the bartender said. Zoro sighed but relinquished his swords.

"Those are important, take care of 'em," Zoro said.

"Will do," the bartender agreed. The rest of the strawhats emptied their weapons unto the bartender too. Nami's staff, Usopps slingshot, all of Franky's ammunition, and Brooks sword.

The others started to join Law's crew. Usopp and Chopper were already talking to Shachi. Nami was giving another guy the cold shoulder. Sanji was fawning over Ikkaku. Jinbei and Brook seemed to be in a meaningful conversation with Uni. Robin and Franky were at the bar with Penguin.

"There's Law," Zoro pointed out, gesturing to a corner of the bar. Law sat alone at a table with a half-empty plate in front of him, sipping from a glass when Luffy laid eyes on him.

"Oh, I see him," Luffy said. Zoro pressed a kiss to Luffy's temple.

"I'm going to the bar," Zoro said. Luffy expected nothing less.

"Don't drink too much."

"Not in my vocabulary," Zoro stated as he walked away. Luffy made his way through the bar, greeting some of Law's crew as he went until he made it to the table Law sat at.

"Hi, Torao! I hope you didn't go on any adventures too fun without me!"  Luffy greeted, sitting across the little table from Law. It was old and worn down at the edges. It still left clean and smooth when Luffy leaned onto it.

"Probably nothing you'd consider fun," Law replied, his voice professional.

"Awe, you can have some fun without me," Luffy chirped.

"I'm well aware." Law turned to Luffy, tucking his legs beneath the table. Law took a sip from his glass and met Luffy's eyes. Luffy really was something else... Law had no qualms admitting his attraction to the younger captain. At least no qualms admitting that to himself.

"What'd ya wanna meet for?" Luffy asked. The truth was simply that Law has wanted to see Luffy. But Law couldn't just tell Luffy that. Luffy was with Zoro and there wasn't anything Law could do about that. So Law would just have to get over this little crush of his.

"I think some of Kaido's men have been tailing my ship, I'm not sure how," Law said. That wasn't entirely wrong... someone had been tailing the Polar Tang. It just wasn't Kaido. But Law couldn't use that as an excuse to see Luffy. It was probably just some bounty hunters.

"They haven't attacked you, right? I'll kick Kaido's ass all over again!" Law chuckled at Luffy's words. Maybe he had been drinking this scotch a little too much.

"No, nothing like that, I just wanted to know if you had something similar going on," Law lied. "Since I knew we'd be close to crossing paths, it was a decent enough reason to meet up. I didn't want to use the snail in case they were tapped."

"Nami hasn't said anything about being followed," Luffy said.

"That's odd, I wonder what he's planning in that case..." Law thought out loud and stared into the space beside Luffy.

"Eh, who cares? It doesn't matter unless he tried to fight us," Luffy decided, stealing a fry from Law's half-eaten plate. Law frowned but didn't say anything to the Strawhat's captain.

"I suppose, but it's unsettling that he can even track me, we travel underwater after all," Law rested his jaw against his closed fist and glanced about the lively room. Mostly lively because the pirates weren't cooped up on a ship anymore.

"Oh yeah! How is he doing that?" Luffy asked, not really asking Law, but the question was there nonetheless.

"Tracking my transponder snail's signal, probably..." Law trailed off in his thoughts, taking another sip of his scotch.

"Hey, hey Luffy!" Penguin hooked his arm around Luffy's shoulders. Law frowned at that."Don't let my grumpy old captain keep you from having fun, here have a drink and join us when grandpa lets you go."  

"What is that?" Luffy asked, looking at the brownish liquid in the cup Penguin had sat down.

"It's Brandy," Law interjected.

"Oh, I don't like booze," Luffy declared. Penguin stared at him a moment.

"Okay, then I'm just going to leave that there." Penguin sauntered off. Luffy tilted his head, looking down at the glass.

"You want it Torao?"

Well, Law couldn't let a good spirit go to waste. He finished off what was left of his scotch and took a sip from the Brandy. "Thanks.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Essentially," Law confirmed.

"Ah, okay, I'm gunna get some food, I'm starving!" Luffy took off, darting between the tables and people.

"Of course you are," Law said to no one but himself seeing as Luffy was gone. The night went on and Law drank, mostly by himself, he was joined later in the evening by Bepo. Zoro drank too, but Zoro was always drinking. Once Luffy had stated his hunger, he demanded Brook play something at the small piano in the corner of the bar, near the bartender. Of course, Brook complied with his captain's orders.

That sailor's shanty started an old one. Bink's Sake. As old as it was, and as young as they were, neither crew missed a beat. Luffy was the loudest of all. Singing off-key without a care in the world.

Zoro joined in, at the parts his drunken brain remembers. He slurred some of the words, but most of them were slurring words so that didn't matter.  When that song was over, Zoro found Luffy sitting in his lap. Whether or not Luffy put himself there, or Zoro had pulled Luffy into his lap, was not information Zoro was privy to.

Still, he held his arm around Luffy's waist and drank his booze while Luffy found some chopsticks. Which really meant one thing.

"Zoro, let me go!" Luffy squirmed around, pushing on Zoro's arm.

"No, mine," Zoro mumbled into Luffy's ear, hugging Luffy to his body.

"You're starting to stink like booze," Luffy said, pushing Zoro away as he leaned in to kiss Luffy. "I take that back, you already stink."  

Zoro sighed in defeat and relaxed his arm. "Alright fine." Luffy grinned and stood up. Luffy turned to Zoro and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"I'll be back," Luffy assured, Luffy took the chopsticks, gathered a few more and ran off calling for Chopper and Usopp. The room broke out into laughter when the three climbed up onto some tables, dancing and singing very badly. Even the bartender was laughing his ass off at the idiots. Luffy only came back down from the table when Brook changed to a slower song. Law had made his way to the bar for another glass.

Luffy came running to the bar, knocking into Law. "Do you have orange juice?" Luffy asked.

"Plain orange juice?" The bartender asked. Luffy nodded. "Yeah, I'll get for ya."

"Strawhat-ya, watch what you were doing," Law grumbled.

"Huh?" Wow, Law was standing really close to Luffy.

"You ran into me," Law said.

"Oh, sorry!" Luffy smiled at him. That stupid fucking smile. Luffy really was an oblivious idiot.

"Whatever," Law muttered. The bartender set Law's drink down just out of Law's reach on Luffy side. Law leaned over Luffy to grab it. It was just Law's luck that someone happened to bump into him while he was doing that. Law fell against Luffy, pinning him between the surgeon and the bar. Law caught himself on the bar, arms outstretched on either side of Luffy.

"Torao?" Luffy muttered. Fuck, Law was really close now. Their noses were almost touching. Law took a step back.

"Sorry," Law muttered. Someone bumped into him again, shoving him into Luffy.  Law was pressed up against Luffy's body and wow that was too close, their noses were inches apart.

Zoro wasn't very far away. He noticed Law on top of Luffy. Zoro ignored it the first time, knowing Luffy would correct the situation. But then Law was still close and Luffy wasn't doing anything, or he tried and Law wasn't listening.

Zoro made his way over to them. "Trafalgar!" Zoro bellowed. The room fell silent. Law moved away from Luffy. Zoro didn't give him time to even think. Zoro took Law's shirt into his fists pulling the captain away from his captain. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Holy fuck- Roronoa-ya you must be wasted." Law turned his face away from Zoro's because he really did wreak of alcohol. That probably wasn't wise to say to an angry drunk.

"I'm not wasted enough to beat your ass!" Zoro barked.

"Hey! If you're gunna fight you'd better take your asses outside!" The bartender shouted over them.

"Over what? A fucking accident?" Law scoffed and tried to push Zoro's hands away. Zoro didn't budge.

"Oh, don't give me that shit, I've seen the way you look at him!" Zoro snapped, getting up in Law's face. Given the smell of Zoro's breath, Law really preferred if he didn't.

"I don't have damn clue what you're talking about," Law lied. Zoro pulled Law forward and shoved him back against the bar. Pain shot up Law's spine, fucking christ.

"Take it outside!" The bartender hollered, "I'll have the village guards here in less than five minutes!"

"You're lucky I the took my fucking sword." Zoro, let go of Law only to throw a punch that hit Law square in the nose. The whole bar broke into chaos. The Heart's crew started shouting, Sanji was making his way over.

"Hey!" Luffy shouted, over everyone, his concur's haki all but shook the building. It didn't faze Law or Zoro a bit. Law pushed Zoro back and Zoro stumbled into a table, knocking it, and all that it bared, onto the floor. Zoro charged at Law, and both of them went flying over the bar, almost into the bartender.

"That's it!" The bartender pulled a transponder snail from beneath the counter.

"Those are my friends!" Luffy snapped, grabbing at the snail.

"Luffy, let it be," Sanji grabbed Luffy's arm before he could stop the bartender. The guy made the call. Law punched Zoro in the eye. Zoro threw Law onto the bar. Punching him one, two, three times.

Law rolled to the other side and took a few steps back. Blood dripped from his nose. "That all you got Pirate Hunter!?" Law taunted. Zoro jumped over the bar and charged at Law again.

"Room." Law's room engulfed the bar and Zoro was traded in for a table. Zoro crashed directly into a wall.  

"Why'd you do that?" Luffy shouted at the bartender.

"Luffy, he's just doing his job, it's not his fault his bar is full of dumbasses," Nami said.

"He didn't have to go and call the guards, now they're both gunna get arrested!"

"Don't worry about it kid, bar fights happen all the time. They'll be held overnight and released in the morning if someone comes to get them," the bartender explained.

"Trafalgar, you low life bastard!" Zoro growled.

"If I'm a lowlife, what the hell does that make you?" Law retorted. Zoro threw a table at Law. It stopped mid-air and fell to the ground.

"Stop hiding behind your devil fruit you fucking coward!" Zoro yelled from across the from.

"Devil Fruit users, of course, entitled bastards," the bartender muttered. The bar door burst open and guards filled into the room.

"The dark-haired one's a devil fruit user," the bartender warned. One of the guards pulled out something that looked a lot like a gun.

"Hey!"Luffy shouted, marching over to the guards. "Don't you use that on my friend!"

"Luffy!" Nami yelled. "Sanji, stop him." Sanji jumped into Luffy's path. The guard shot the gun and a net fired out, engulfing Law. The room fell and objects clattered to the ground.

"What the fuck!" Law yelled. The other guards restrained Zoro.

"You can't just take them!" Luffy shouted. Sanji lifted Luffy onto his shoulder.

"You heard the bartender, it'll do 'em good to sit in a cell overnight," Sanji grumbled.

"That's our captain!" Shachi shouted, getting onto his feet to intervene. Jinbei stuck his arm out to stop him.

"You'll only make it worse," Jinbei said.

"Oi! Sanji!" Luffy pushed on Sanji, squirming to get away from him.

"Luffy! Cut it out!" Sanji snapped. "Let's get back to the ship, we'll get them in the morning."

"Hang in there Zoro!" Luffy called, outside the bar. The crews collected their weapons and went back out to the docs. The breeze was much gentler than earlier in the night and the fishing boats weren't so creeky. The Strawhats and Hearts parted to their respective ships and called it a night.

In the meantime. Zoro was cursing out Law.

"Shut up, you big, drunk idiot," Law muttered. He had had enough of Zoro's shouting and cursing to last a lifetime. The man really could curse like a sailor. It's not like the seastone shackles Law was in made the situation better.

Zoro fell silent, which came as a surprise to Law. Zoro was in the cell next to Law's. There would be no more fighting tonight. Zoro didn't say anything else to Law. And it wasn't very long until Law could heat Zoro snoring in the dark cell. There was no way Law was sleeping tonight. Law watched the soldiers come and go, he had drunk a fair bit last night and he could feel the headache settling between his temples. It wasn't until Law could see traces of the rising sun that sleep finally overcame him.

Zoro woke early, maybe. He wasn't sure. He could hear talking but the words were hard to focus on over the hangover he had. Zoro may have a high tolerance for booze, but he had greatly overestimated it last night and he had a blurry memory of whatever the hell had happened. He knew he got into a fight with Law, but he hadn't a clue what it was over, and had no idea where he was. A cell of some sort.

It was dark, only a window on the opposite end of the building. A window Zoro could only see as a result of an open door. There was also a desk Zoro could see, or part of one anyway. There were people speaking there, guards Zoro assumed.

"-Surgeon of Death-" the familiar name caught Zoro's attention but that's about all Zoro caught. Then, "-Strawhat Luffy-" Shit. If they knew who they were, that couldn't be good.

"Law," Zoro muttered. Just that made his head pulse. Still, Zoro moved closer to Law's cell. He was leaning against the wall of the building and the bars that separated their cells, asleep. Zoro grabbed Law's shoulder and gave it a shake. "Law."

"Hm?" Law mumbled, adjusting his hat and stretching out his legs.

"I think they know who we are now," Zoro said.

"What?"  

"The guard mentioned the name on your bounty, and Luffy's," Zoro explained.

"Shit," Law murmured. Zoro nodded, thought Law didn't see him. He had his back to Zoro.

"What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," Law replied, he shifted, sitting up a bit more. "I can't use my powers, and neither of us has our swords..." Law trailed off. Thinking.

They were screwed.

_

"Luffy, there are marines in the harbor," Robin said, she had just come down from the crow's nest.

"We'd better hurry and go get Zoro and Law then," Nami said.

"Oh yeah!" Luffy declared. Usopp gave him a skeptical look.

"How do you forget your boyfriend is in jail?" Usopp asked.

"Let's go get them!"

"Make sure to get Bepo before you go," Nami said. Luffy nodded and left the ship.  Luffy found the Polar Tang docked a little way down the docs from the Thousand Sunny. He banged on the door that led into the submarine.

"What the hell!?" Shachi answered the door looking tired and annoyed.

"I'm going to get Torao and Zoro," Luffy stated.

"Oh, shit," Shachi muttered. "Right, guess I'll go with you then." Shachi stepped out and closed the door.

"Nami said we should hurry since there's a Marine ship coming into the harbor," Luffy stated, already leaving the submarine.

"A Marine ship!?" Shachi's eye widened and his eyebrows rose.

"Uh-huh, let's go." Luffy and Shachi made their way to the guard's station. The little town was quiet, almost too quiet. No kids playing outside, very few people hustling between sales stands. It was the quietest Luffy had ever seen a port town. A few directions and turnarounds later, Shachi and Luffy found the guards station.

"Hello?" Luffy called as he walked in, Shachi right behind him. A guard came from another room, closing the door behind him. She wore the same long coat the guards were wearing last night, so the assumption wasn't a bad one.

"Can I help you?"

"We're here to get our friends," Luffy said.

"We're they arrested?" She asked.

"Yeah, those two dumbasses just drank a little too much last night and got into a fight," Sahchi spoke up before Luffy could. "We're not from here and we're supposed to be leaving the harbor in a few hours."

"They were arrested, that means they'll be stuck here, from the damage they caused at the bar, it'll be until they can pay it back."

"That's no-" Shachi elbowed Luffy's side.

"Money's not a problem Ma'am, how much?"

"They're bounties worth," the woman said with a smug grin. "And his."

"No way in hell!" Luffy snapped. "Where are they?"

"Luffy!" That was Zoro's voice, it came from the other side of the door. Luffy walked up to the guard that stood between him and the door.

"Get the hell outta my way," Luffy challenged.

"Hey, Strawhat, you wouldn't punch a woman-"

"If she doesn't get outta my way I will," Luffy snapped.

"You're not going anywhere, Monkey D. Luffy," the woman said. She pulled a gun from her coat. Luffy smirked.

"That won't work." She shot the gun and is burrowed into Luffy's arm. Stretching out his skin and ricocheting into the wall behind her.

"Devil Fruit user?" She asked. her cocky disposition fell and she took a step back. Luffy moved to step around her but she stopped him.

"That's my first mate you have in there, now move!" Luffy's demand was so intense, so demanding Shachi fought the urge to move from where he stood.

"Your tricks don't work on me, demon." She stuck her nose in the air and pulled that cocky demeanor back together. Luffy pushed past her.  She moved to attack Luffy.

Shachi hit the back of her neck, he may be without a bounty, but that doesn't mean he was someone to ignore. She dropped to the ground on her hands and knees, shit, he didn't hit her hard enough. Shachi did it again before she could get back up.

"Thanks," Luffy said, glancing back as he went on into the room.

"My captain's in there too," Shachi said.  He followed Luffy.

"Zoro!" Luffy called.

"Here, Luf," Zoro said from the cell. Luffy ran over to it.

"Are you okay?" Luffy asked. Zoro got to his feet and met Luffy at the door to his cell.

"Captain!" Shachi yelled, running into the room too. Zoro and Luffy ignored him.

"I'm fine, no thanks to you leaving me in a cell all night." Luffy stuck his hand through the bars and grabbed Zoro's.

"Nami said I'd make it worse!" Luffy argued.

"Uh-huh, just get me outta here."

"I guess we need keys for that."

"One step ahead of you," Law said, motioning to Shachi who was re-entering the room with a set of keys in hand. Zoro and Luffy were so focused on each other, the didn't even notice Shachi or Law. Shachi Unlocked Law's cell before tossing the keys to Luffy. Luffy let Zoro out and didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Zoro.  

"There are Marines in the harbor," Shachi told Law.

"In that case, we should get out of here, I'm too hungover to deal with Marines today," Law said. "Coming Strawhat-ya?"

"Yup!" Luffy chirped. He pressed a kiss to Zoro's cheek.

_

Luffy pouted as he watched the island get smaller and smaller on the horizon. Zoro slipped his arm around Luffy, making Luffy jump just a little bit.

"What's the matter?" Zoro asked he pushed Luffy's hat off and it hung around Luffy's neck. "Pouting 'cause you couldn't cause any problems?"

"I wanted to explore the island and I didn't get to!" Luffy leaned against the Sunny's railing and sighed. Eyes glued to the spec of an island.

"So cause problems?" Zoro asked he rested his chin on Luffy's shoulder.

"No! I just wanted to explore!" Luffy was almost whining and Zoro couldn't help but find it cute.

"Sorry for cutting our visit short," Zoro kissed Luffy's cheek. Luffy smiled and leaned into Zoro "What did me and Law even fight about?"

"I'm not sure, I think you were mad that he was really close to me," Luffy said.

"Hm." Zoro wrapped his arm all the way around Luffy and hugged him close. "Well, there's always the next island."

"I still wanted to explore that one," Luffy huffed.

"Even you can't always get what you want." Luffy turned his head to face Zoro. Luffy kissed him and Zoro tried not to smile into Luffy's lips.

"I will when I'm the Pirate King!" Luffy declared once they parted. Zoro squeezed Luffy in his arms a bit.

"We'll see about that."

#ZoLu #Roronoa Zoro/Monkey D. Luffy #roronoa zoro #monkey d. luffy #one piece #fanfiction #my fanfiction

[lululawlawlu-writes]

Softly Stained with Spring Part 2: Dreams

note:  This fic was written for @lawlu-week!!

rating: T (maybe M)

tags: canon universe, fluff and angst, hanahaki

The entire fic so far is also on AO3.

______________________

Rosales, Law had told him, is a perpetual spring island with perfect weather year round and flowers constantly in bloom. Although, much like Law himself, seeing the island in person is infinitely better than thoughts or hearsay can really convey.

From the Sunny, Luffy can already spy a bunch of flowering trees along the shoreline, smattering the area with a virtual rainbow of colours—colours Luffy didn't even know trees could come in. A sweet scent dances on the breeze, something flowery and light. Pale pink petals of the fragile cherry blossoms rain down on them as they near the docks, sprinkling the ship. If the scenery is alone this beautiful, Luffy can’t wait to see what kind of elaborate restaurant Law is going to take him to—hopefully something with a hundred different kinds of meat.

There's a small building off to the side of the docks, adorned with a colourful sign that reads 'welcome center'. It looks more like a gardener's cottage than an actual welcome center. It’s got window boxes overflowing with bright yellow and orange flowers and the walls look nearly covered in carefully manicured ivies and morning glories with their purple buds huddled in on themselves as they wait for the warmth of the morning sun.

‘Robin will love this,’ he thinks off-handedly, hopes Usopp will find some kind of fun new plant to show him later.

Luffy knows they've been spotted when four people file out of the building, walking down the dock, waving to them. Although there’s an adrenaline-rush that comes with landing on islands unknown or marine-occupied, Luffy has to admit it is nice in a different way for them to be received with such a warm welcome. Hopefully they’re the kind of people to be generous with their food. And hopefully they won't interrupt his meal trying to capture him for a bounty or anything—there’s a certain charm in that.

“We’re going on ahead!” Luffy calls to his crew stretching out to snatch up Law from the deck, jumping out onto the dock before the rest.

“Welcome to Rosales, where dreams come true,” the locals echo each other as they offer them crowns woven with an array of different coloured flowers, and thrust pamphlets into their hands. All of them are chattering on at once about the attractions that their little island offers to visitors.

Luffy isn't interested in any spas or gardens though. He came here for food and Law has assured him that he called ahead on the den den mushi to reserve a place just for the two of them at a buffet restaurant that will not disappoint. He’s still holding out hope for a ton of meat--that would be the dream come true.

And he’s going to go eat somewhere with Law! He has Law all to himself all day. Law—just being with him is like being in a dream itself. Law makes every experience better by being there—even mealtimes—especially mealtimes because he always feeds him food he doesn’t like. Luffy’s heart feels high and happy just thinking about it and he can’t wait to get to their promised destination.

“There’s gonna be meat, right?” Luffy asks, looping his arm in Law’s, pulling him along at his own pace.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Law tells him, “so long as you stick to the plan.”

That doesn’t answer his question. And as much as Luffy likes being free to do as he pleases, the way Law said that, it feels like he’s being sneaky or something.

“So,” Luffy struts our in front of Law, turns to walk backward so he can look at Law face to face. “There’s gonna be meat if we go where you planned,” he surmises, looking at him for confirmation.

He thinks he catches the faintest of smiles on Law’s lips but that’s all he needs—it must mean he’s right.

“Let’s go, Torao!” Luffy cheers, giving Law’s hand a quick tug. He lets Law’s hand slip easily from his own, sprinting out ahead on his way into town along the stone street set out before them.

The scent of something meaty catches him on the breeze, enticing him away from the main road. Luffy follows his nose, lets it guide him up a hill into a wooded area. The path winds through the trees, but is well worn—enough that he’s sure to not get lost or catch his feet on any roots. His mouth waters at the thought of what kinds of meat this place will offer them. He half-expects there will be flowers involved and he's not really sure if he wants to eat those, but if Law says they're good to eat then he'll give them a try. It's all really exciting and Luffy can't wait to check it out.

But when he reaches a clearing in the woods, it’s not a restaurant awaiting him at all. It doesn’t even look like there’s any food even though the meaty smell is so strong, so promising it’s starting to make his mouth water. All that’s there is a circle of tall stone statues that look like people, flowers set in front of each of them. In the center of it all is a small structure of elaborate woodworking which houses nothing but a giant golden bell.

A pang of hunger rolls in Luffy’s stomach, churning out a low growl. There’s gotta be something making that delicious smell. He lifts his nose, sniffing around in the air, letting his feet wander to the left a little, then to the right, but he can’t locate whatever it is that’s teasing his stomach.

“Hey, Torao, where’s the- Torao?” Luffy looks around the clearing, but Law’s nowhere to be seen. He just did what Law didn’t want him to again, didn’t he? He ruined the plan. Law isn’t going to be happy. He hopes Law is still going to want to take him to the restaurant, hopes Law isn’t going to be tired of him and not want to be around him anymore. What if Law got mad and went back to the ship and he’s not going to-

Pain strikes him like a bolt of lightning through his chest. Luffy falls to his knees, the pain unforgiving. He’d thought this wouldn’t happen anymore. It hadn’t happened since Law had arrived at his ship but now it’s back. His fingertips clutch at his chest. Something inside threatens to continue stabbing at him unless he forces his breath shallow to better bear the shocks it sends through his body.

He eases himself to the ground fully. Maybe Law won’t be upset or anything if he waits for him, and Law did say rest would make him feel better. He lies down beneath one of the statues—one that looks like a sweet old lady—the kind of lady who would offer him food unconditionally.

But that meat smell, it’s just relentless. He can smell it even stronger than before. He reaches up to grasp the flowers at the statue’s feet. Maybe if he just smells the flowers instead, it’ll keep his mind off of meat until Law catches up with him. He pulls in a breath, taking in the scent of the flowers.

The flowers! It’s the flowers! The flowers smell like meat! Luffy pulls them back to study them carefully. They don’t really look like meat, but they are deep crimson—in a way like bloody, raw meat. He sticks his tongue out, gives one a cautious lick before shoving the entire thing into his mouth.

He downs an entire fist full of the flowers before he starts to feel sick to his stomach.

“Be careful,” the old stone lady seems to caution, “a dream come true may actually be a nightmare.”

“What are you talking about old lady?” Luffy asks, his eyebrows scrunched together. How is she talking without moving her mouth? And come to think of it, why does she sound so young?

“I think she means, those flowers might taste pretty good, but they’re poisonous if you eat too many,” Law speaks, learning over him. “You good?”

It’s Law! He really did come and he’s not mad!

“I think your friend is as good as dead,” a young woman says, leaning over him from the other side, her long hair falling over her shoulder. Her arms are full of the meat flowers but the smell of them just makes his stomach turn now. She places a hand on Luffy’s forehead. “He’s been cursed already,” she comments.

Icy shivers suddenly flood his body and he goes deathly cold for a split second before the sensation is gone. It’s a strange sensation. This lady is even stranger and not in a fun way.

“I don’t care about curses or whatever,” Luffy says, brushing her hand off him.

“He’s pretty resilient when it comes to poisons,” Law supposes, “but he shouldn’t have eaten them.”

“They’re an offering for the gods anyway, not him,” the woman grumbles, replacing the flowers he’d eaten.

“The rock people are your gods who eat flowers?” Luffy asks, sitting up a little too fast. His stomach churns with a warning. “That’s weird,” he comments, taking short breaths to keep his snack from coming back up.

“Of course not,” she scoffs, “these sculptures are a tangible representation of the gods, not an actual manifestation of them. And the flowers aren’t meant to be eaten. Not unless you want to die.”

Luffy’s either too sick to focus on understanding what she’s saying or she’s making up words. He does know without doubt he is starting to salivate a lot more than usual.

“Let’s go,” Law commands, holding out his hands to help Luffy up “We’re going to be late.” He seems bothered but it isn’t a gesture meant to put distance between them, so Luffy takes his hands.

Law pulls him up a little too quickly. Actually, a lot too quickly because Luffy’s snack takes one more turn around in his stomach and decides it really doesn’t like all the movement going on in there.

Law takes a quick step to the side, out of the way, to let Luffy void his guts onto the ground in front of them.

Viscous crimson liquid pours from his mouth. His body heaves, expelling more than he ever thought his stomach could even hold. Luffy really thinks he might die. All he can see is red. The acrid taste of iron, of blood and bile, sticks on his tongue. But Law just mercilessly swats him on the back, makes his stomach convulse again, his body heaving dry because there’s just nothing left.

Luffy wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, wonders how much of it might be blood and how much of it is because of the meat flowers.

“Guess you learned your lesson,” Law says, looking completely unbothered by what now looks like the remnants of a murder scene.

The young woman does seem pretty bothered by it. “Get out of here before you desecrated this holy place any more,” she barks, coming back over as if to chase them off.

“Don’t worry, we’re going,” Law tells her, taking Luffy by the wrist.

“You still want to go eat?” Law asks, looking down at him, the sunlight speckling his face through the trees, “There’s a ton of actual meat waiting for you.”

A ton of meat waiting for him--this island really might make dreams come true. “Yeah!” Luffy chirps. “I’m actually pretty hungry now that my stomach is empty.”

“I thought so,” Law chuckles low and subtle.

#lawlu #10 Days of LawLu #10 days of lawlu 2019 #softly stained with spring

[foxboymyles]

[ZOLU] Pardon My Imprudence Chp.1

((Note: Hey! I made a One Piece fanfic a while back but never fully published it :) So here it is for anyone to read. I hope you enjoy!))

He doesn't intend to mess up. Usually, it's something that happens in the fault of his obliviousness. If he truly meant to slip and almost cost his life, it was always from his own self-righteousness. In school, it was grades. The only good grades he got in his first week of freshman year were from PE. He was lucky enough to escape with C's, mostly. Even his name, Monkey D. Luffy, was written sloppily and never taught into care. Until his friend, Zoro came around. They met at a frozen yogurt shop, as Zoro explained he was hungry and wanted a snack before he headed to his house where his parental guardian Mihawk was. After the first week of school, Luffy's friend looked bewildered at the grades he kept up. Zoro was a slacker, but he always made his way towards B's. Luffy instantly got C's in his first week of school! Zoro decided to teach him some aspects of math for an hour or two each day since they met at the frozen yogurt shop every day since then.

"You see, it's all easy. This is just a review from last year." Zoro said, calm and collective.

Luffy took a bite of his froyo, pouting and talking with small lips."I didn't even pay attention last year."

Zoro sighed and looked at the teen, a little annoyed but more just disappointed.

"Usopp said you can lie out of homework by pretending you have a stomach ache," Luffy mumbled.

Zoro smiled and questioned in his head Luffy's choice of friends. It seemed like he was the only normal person in the clique they had. There was Nami, who always asked them for a dollar to get chips from the vending machine and asked for 20 dollars when doing Zoro's homework. He didn't ask her to, but she forcefully made him anyways. Then there was Usopp, who lies constantly and attempts, unsuccessfully, to get out of any possible pester in school. After that, there's Chopper, who looks 7 but is actually the same age they are. He's 4'5 and is already in Math 3, even when the first semester always starts with Math 1. His counselor immediately put him in with Grade 10 kids. And lastly, Luffy, who's a flunk in all his classes except for PE. He has a knack for childish things and goofs around at school.

"My brothers try to help me with homework but it always fails..." Luffy continued.

Zoro raised an eyebrow while asking."You have brothers?"

Luffy nodded and put his pencil down."I have 2 brothers in their Senior year."

Luffy explained one to be Ace and another to be Sabo. Ace got a little irritated too fast, but he cares for other people. The irony of it is that he's also a little too confident in himself. Sabo is kind, really smart, and gives Luffy really good advice. He continues to tell Zoro that they don't help him very much because he has a low attention span.

"At least you got through some parts of your homework with me," Zoro commented, after hearing even the brightest of people can't go through any sort of brain training with Luffy.

"Yeah! You're the first person to go through more than 3 problems of my math homework with me."

"Maybe the teacher'll give you SOME credit..." Zoro remarked.

"I bet it won't be that bad!" Luffy said, grinning.

This kid is highly positive, Zoro thought. Just hearing a silver lining like that when he only did 1/10th of his homework is surprising. So they talked, did a few more math problems, and headed off both different ways. Luffy started school the next morning and sufficed a little smile on the teacher's face. Then the teacher continued to tell him to keep on going and to lay off the video games for a little bit. Of course, Luffy never listened.

It's been 2 months. Zoro continues to hang out with Luffy and his friends. The time is almost near for Halloween, and Luffy is excited to dress up. Of course, Zoro never tries to dress up and gives candy out instead. The children laugh sometimes and tell him he didn't have to dress up because he's already scary. The sophomore was used to this. He wasn't really afraid of backlash or anything of that matter. It doesn't help him that he got grade retention and wasn't able to do junior work either. Most kids try not to make fun of him anyway because he has a resting death glare. What's strange to him is his grumpiness floats away when he sees Luffy. His face is still scary, but inside, he'll feel a lot more comfortable.

"Zoro. What did I tell you about wearing dirty clothes?" A low voice called. It was Mihawk, his parent guardian. He adopted Zoro when the boy was 7.

"Right, I'll get a black shirt. Those are better with stains." Zoro said, going up the stairs.

Mihawk followed him with his eyes."Be sure that one is clean!"

"Alright, I get it."

Perona sighed and crossed her arms. "Papa, why does he get to dress all casual?"

"That's just his style. I can't get him to wear anything formal unless we're going somewhere prestigious."

"Hmph. He's a lazy bum, that's also why."

Zoro called from his room out loud."I heard that."

Perona's face grew red in irritation."So what?!? You already know it's true!"

Mihawk lowered his hand as a gesture for them to quiet down.

"Now, now children. There's no need to quarrel right now."

"Papa, I'm gonna be an elegant witch!" Perona said, twirling her dress around.

Mihawk looked at her with uncaring eyes. He nodded and glanced at the slightly opened door, in which was opened by Zoro. He had a suit on with a masquerade mask, his shoes reflected intensely on the marble floor. Mihawk was really confused at what he was wearing.

"So why do you decide now to dress up on Hallows Eve?"

"I'm going to my friend's house. We're going to the fall festival tonight, remember?" Zoro said, nonchalantly.

"I didn't try to remember because it sounded so unbelievably fake, but, as you wish." Mihawk turned to Perona.

She pouted and went downstairs to put the candy outside. Zoro checked on his phone and put it in his back pocket, and was about to leave. Mihawk spoke.

"Zoro."

"Yes?"

He looked at the teen very seriously.

"The only reason why you're retaking sophomore year is because you need to learn discipline. Procrastination is not the answer for everything. And if you fail this year again, you will not live in this house."

Zoro looked at him with unblinking eyes.

"Do you understand, my boy?"

"Yeah. I get it." He said, no nervousness or strain in his voice.

Mihawk smiled and left to his room.

___

There was a knock at Luffy's door. He quickly opened it and hugged Zoro tightly.

"Zoro! You came, you really did!"

The teen grunted angrily. "Alright, alright. I know I'm here. Get off already."

Luffy smiled at him warmly. For a second Zoro had this feeling. He couldn't think of it because Luffy pulled him to the couch before he tried to observe his thoughts.

"Sooooo Zoro! These are my brothers! Ace and Sabo!" Luffy said, grinning.

Ace and Sabo were both dressed casually. The only costume piece Ace had was a really creepy looking mask on the side of him. They both had long hair. Ace's was straight jet black and Sabo's was a fairly wavy golden blonde.

Ace smirked."Hi. You're Zoro?"

"Yeah."

"Well nice to meet ya."

Ace firmly shook his hand. Afterward, Sabo reached out and shook Zoro's hand as well.

"Glad to meet you!"

Zoro sat down and Luffy tossed him a bag of chips. Zoro tossed them back and shook his head.

"Aw, why not?"

"I'm saving my stomach for the festival."

Luffy smiled."Oh, okay! When are we leaving again?"

"In 10 minutes."

Sabo replied."You can play a few video games with us if you'd like."

"Yeah, sure. We're up for another game." Ace said, fiddling with the controller.

"Okay, I'll play a few rounds," Zoro said as he caught the tossed controller that Ace had gave him.

Luffy sat on the carpet and watched the brightly colored screen for what seemed like seconds to him, until he noticed Zoro stood up, looking at his watch.

"We should go now." He turned to Ace and Sabo. "It was nice meeting you."

"Of course! You're always welcome if you want to hang out." Sabo said, trying to be as polite as he could be.

Luffy skidded out with his scarecrow costume on and grinned at them, shouting a short bye as they went out the door. They walked down the blocks and talked to each other.

"Your brothers are nice. Unless they were doing that just to keep an impression." Zoro said.

Luffy laughed."No, they don't do that! They liked you!"

Zoro sighed."Yeah, yeah. Why are you a scarecrow anyways? You don't scare anyone."

"Ace told me it suits me."

"Maybe he was wrong then," Zoro replied, coldly.

Luffy frowned."No, Ace is usually right about me."

Zoro decided not to respond. They finally got there after a few short conversations. The lights were dim and people gathered around the pumpkin patch and buffet. Luffy ran after the buffet, and Zoro's response was to run after him and tell him angrily to slow down. The boy chomped down pumpkin pies to turkey, as people looked bewildered at the teenager's appetite. They laughed softly and continued eating. Zoro rested his head on his hand and glanced at the boy.

"You sure like eating."

"Who doesn't?" Luffy said, happily.

"People who don't eat," Zoro said, chuckling at his remark. He knew it wasn't funny, but somehow he got a kick from it.

Luffy gasped."Some people don't eat?!?"

Zoro smiled."Sure. There's a lot of people that don't eat. It's in a lot of religions. Fasting. Haven't you learned about that?"

"No!!! Well- maybe I did and didn't pay attention."

Zoro handed the waiter a check and continued to eyeball Luffy's eating. He finally stopped and fell on the grass. He belched and smiled calmly.

"That was like eating in heaven's gate~"

Zoro was still smiling. He felt weird to have been smiling all that time. He doesn't usually smile all that much. But somehow being around Luffy made it felt so comfortable to smile. He lent Luffy a hand as he got back on his feet.

"Here. Pick a pumpkin and we'll carve it at your house when we get back."

"Reeeally?!? Awesome!"

Luffy hurried to the pumpkin patch and tried to find a good pumpkin. Zoro watched him scavenge for a while until the boy put out the smallest pumpkin in front of Zoro's eyes.

"What's this?"

"It's a pumpkin!" Luffy said cheerfully.

"Why'd you pick the smallest one?" Zoro said, looking at all the other ones.

"Well, I just like this one better!" He said.

Zoro smiled warmly and scuffled Luffy's hair. "Come on, let's go."

They started to walk back, slowly but surely.

"Zoro," Luffy said.

"Yeah?"

"You seem grumpy a lot. What's wrong?" Luffy said, worried.

"That's just my personality. You'll get used to it."

"Right," Luffy said.

They got quiet for a few seconds.

"Zoro, do you ever feel that if you don't do something you'll make everyone angry?" Luffy asked.

"Of course. My father says if I flunk sophomore he'll kick me out."

"Kick you out?" Luffy said, surprised.

Zoro nodded."How about you?"

"Well...I have to fight this one guy."

Zoro's eyes widened."Fight? You?"

"Yeah. And the whole school doesn't like him so if I don't win they'll get angry at me. And I'll be angry at myself." Luffy said, hands in his pockets.

"I have a hard time believing you fight people," Zoro said.

"People say that a lot," Luffy mumbled.

Zoro thought about what he said and kept on walking. When they got to the house, Luffy quickly hugged Zoro and told him 'thank you'. He opened the door to let him in. Zoro felt a little confused at what just happened, but entered anyway. His mind was fighting to get the hints. Just that second of Luffy touching him, his smaller frame against his and his chin pressed on to Zoro's shoulder. It was strange what he was feeling. He decided to just ignore it for now.

"You guys are back already?" Ace said.

Luffy nodded, then scurried to the kitchen, where Sabo placed a plastic wrapped pie. Sabo smiled and looked at Zoro kindly.

"I made an extra pie, but I knew Luffy wouldn't have eaten it because of the festival. Would you like to have it?" Sabo asked.

"I'm good. You guys can have it." Zoro shortly answered.

Sabo look surprised but laughed and put it back.

"You're really generous, Roronoa!"

"So are you guys gonna cut this pumpkin or not?" Ace said, a tiny bit impatiently

Zoro came up to the pumpkin with a kitchen knife. He cut around the stem, his movements smooth and precise.

"How are you so good at cutting pumpkins, Zoro?" Luffy asked, watching him.

He continued to cut,"My dad taught me when I was 7." Zoro took off the lid and spoke again,"We're a very Halloween orientated family. We don't fool around with decorating."

He handed Luffy the knife."You can cut things out now."

Luffy grinned and dug the knife in the pumpkin. when he cut out his first eye it was huge because he didn't know how to properly handle the knife, and always worked in straight lines. Zoro grabbed Luffy's hand and positioned in on the knife.

"You have to hold it like this. Try again." Zoro said, after observing Luffy's hand posture.

Luffy carved again. And Zoro was right. He was more accurate with his cutting. The second eye was out, and now Luffy was cutting out the mouth. Luffy was silent when he was carving, but he still had that warm smile on his face. The feeling that pleasured Zoro to be comfortable, and maybe even cracked a smile out of him was there again.

"Done!" Luffy said as the mouthpiece dropped onto the newspaper spread.

Zoro looked at it and laughed. Luffy pouted and pushed it to Zoro.

"Just tell me if you like it or not!" Luffy said, his face red with embarrassment.

Zoro smiled and looked at it."Yeah, I do. Just looks a little goofy."

Luffy grinned and hit him playfully."Halloween is supposed to goofy, isn't it?"

They both smiled and looked at each other for a second. This time, Luffy felt it too. A weird feeling of security. He was wondering where this sense of safe-ness came to mind. Luffy talked hours with Zoro, just discussing things at school.

"Just a question. Is there anyone that makes fun of you at school?" Zoro asked.

Luffy nodded."Bellamy. He's full of 'em self. I just ignore him."

Zoro gave him a blank stare."You have to have somewhere to draw the line."

"Well, he hasn't hurt my friends. If he does anytime soon that's when I'll get involved." Luffy said, a little too serious for his own good.

Zoro looked at his phone and yawned."I better get going. It's almost curfew for me."

Luffy stood up with Zoro and gave him a tight hug. Zoro smiled and put his hand around Luffy's back for a second. Zoro let go and waved goodbye to Sabo and Ace. They waved back until the door shut. Ace grunted and changed the tv's input.

"I hope you don't like the guy." Ace said.

Sabo dishearteningly turned his head to the tv. Luffy looked confused at what Ace was implying.

"What do you mean? He's a good friend!" Luffy said, surprised.

"No, I don't mean it in that way. I mean in a romantic way."

"Oh," Luffy said, shortly and abruptly.

Ace waited for a longer response."What does that mean?"

"I might have felt like that, is all," Luffy said, smiling.

Ace scrambled for words until all he could say was."You've only known him for a month and you think you have feelings for him?"

Sabo decided to get involved and responded to Luffy."That's good, Luffy. You just have to wait and see if you'll still have those feelings, right?"

Luffy nodded and stared at the door for a moment. Ace nagged at Sabo for saying that and shook him around like a fish.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go to bed now," Luffy said.

Ace raised an eyebrow."Now? But it's 9:00 on a Saturday."

"I'm gonna wake up early to hang out with Usopp and Nami, remember?" Luffy said, racing up the stairs.

Sabo tried not to laugh and in result Ace held his anger in and sighed, his eyebrows arched low. Sabo commented on how Luffy could invite more friends. Ace elbowed him and started to laugh as well, giving in to the idea Sabo described.

#fanfic #pairing #noncanon #anime #writing #ZoLu

[pingo1387]

'time' for the writing wip game

This got pretty long so it’s under a cut! 

From A Dream Whose Name I Dare Not Mention 

“Did I lose track of time?” he muttered. “It was noon just a minute ago . . . wasn’t it?”

~ 

The man smiled. “You are the first man I’ve met in a long time who would say something like that, Roronoa Zoro. Very well.”

~ 

He charged and swung his sword down at the same time as the man, and they passed each other, and for a moment they stood there, facing away—

~ 

Zoro turned and snatched the flung item from the air just in time. He opened his palm to find another warm, shiny object.

~ 

“About time you got something through that rock head of yours!” Sanji snapped. “Hurry it up!”

~ 

The man raised one arm and swung it at Zoro, who dodged just in time. With clumsy handiwork, he ran forward and sliced, cutting him down. As he did so, Vivi’s face came to him in a flash, and he fell to his knees. He spotted a shiny object on the ground next to him and took it with weak fingers.

~ 

“This can’t be heaven,” he said, placing a hand on his white-sheathed sword; as awful as his skills were at the moment, they were better than nothing. “Have I been dead this whole time? What a cliché twist.”

~ 

Zoro stepped forward and caught her just before she hit the ground. Giving himself no time to wonder how he knew to do such a thing, he looked at Enel.

~ 

Zoro tilted his head. “That woman, Robin . . . she was on the ship with me and the others. And it looks like it’s been a long time since all this happened. So . . . we must’ve succeeded in getting her back. I may not have that, but I think I can trust those other guys, and if this woman’s important enough to them to go through all this for . . . then that’s what I have to do. And that’s why it’s not ridiculous at all.”

~ 

He looked around again, and then back at this huge man who had nearly killed him (he was certain he had nearly died at that time).

~ 

A violin came flying from the crowd and Brook caught it just in time. The music started up again. Brook raised the instrument to his shoulder and dragged the bow across the strings, producing a sound like a banshee being strangled.

~ 

When Brook returned, he shrieked in surprise, for he found himself on the same ship as before, but this time it was hurtling down a mountain river like a roller coaster, with everyone clinging to the rails and masts so as not to be hurled off. 

~

Sea mist sprayed all around them, obscuring their views for some time. When the clouds finally cleared, the ship made a mighty splash into the end of the river, coasting into open sea; someone had the sense to drop the anchor, slowing them until they came to a halt portside of a cliff. A few crewmembers vomited overboard, and several collapsed to the deck, but soon cheers filled the air—they had made it at last.

~ 

“Aye,” the man said after a moment. “Wouldn’t be the first time.” His eyes moved around the crew and came to rest on Brook, and he grinned after a moment. “Brook, old friend. Do you remember me?”

~ 

That same evening (so it seemed, for time had no real meaning in that place), Brook stayed away from the raucous drinking Yorki and Crocus and the others were participating in, and sat on the low part of the cliff’s edge. Laboon floated in the water next to him.

~ 

Yorki sighed. “Listen, knucklehead, you’re Laboon’s favorite. Everyone knows. He might listen to you this time.”

~ 

Yorki gave him a bitter smile. “Give it time,” he said. “You’ll find out sooner or later.”

~ 

Brook raised the old violin for what seemed like the fiftieth time, and for the fiftieth time, he could only pluck out tuneless sounds.

~ 

The doctor bowed his head, surrounded by the crew, who stood in stunned silence. Brook’s memories between leaving Laboon and this time had been spotty, filled with flashes of sailing through bad weather and good weather alike, running through jungle and city, and now—

~ 

The Rumbar Pirates, under Brook’s clumsy command, had been sailing for some time (at least a year, Brook guessed) after Yorki’s passing. It was smooth sailing, and Brook had collected a few more shiny objects, which were pocketed with the rest.

~ 

“I really lost track of time, going through all that,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not that I expect anyone to have a watch, but . . .”

~ 

“Got that right,” Zoro said. He grinned. “Do you have any stories to pass the time?”

~ 

“I think . . . I must have spent a very long time here.”

~ 

“I wonder why I spent a long time in this place,” he mused aloud, going to the ship’s steering wheel at last. “This fog is thicker than molasses, true, but even sailing in a straight line should . . .”

~ 

Brook stood and went to take a proper look at the island. He was sure his ship could not have moved very far, even in all that time (however long it had been), and yet . . .

~ 

Brook stared into space, leaning against the railing of his ship. He sensed that some time had passed since he had departed Thriller Bark; his shadow was still missing, so he couldn’t yet leave the Florian Triangle. But it seemed he could not meet that island in such thick fog . . . and therefore, to pass the time . . .

~ 

He followed the three down the rope ladder and landed upon the deck of the Thousand Sunny, where he came face-to-face with everyone for what felt like the first time in a very long while. Looking around, he noticed everyone appeared different—but Zoro was the same as he had been after returning from his door.

~ 

By the time Brook was running into the maze of the castle, having explored the grounds to no avail, there had been several distant commotions and shouts, leading him to think that the Strawhats had landed upon the island.

~ 

Ryuma readied his sword with a dusty laugh. “Is that so? I hope you’ve improved since last time. I would like a challenge.”

~ 

“That little whale,” Brook said. “He’s waiting for me. Even if he’s also died by now, I promised to return. I have a duty to go back there one more time, don’t I? No matter what I may look like.”

~ 

“I . . . must return to Laboon,” Brook said, voice hollow. He clutched his ribcage, beginning to understand. “It’s as Luffy-san said. Despite that I do not know why I must keep this promise, or why I made the promise in the first place . . . if the person I was before all this fought this hard for his word, I will do the same in his honor.” He stared at Ryuma with some rudiments of defiance. “This is perhaps the third time you’ve asked me ‘Why,’ Ryuma-san. Desist and let us duel.”

~ 

Brook’s next memories came by in a blur, and he watched like an outsider as he retrieved an enormous salt bag and proceeded to watch the Strawhats fight until Moria was defeated at last. The shadows flew into the sky and Brook watched Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Robin begin to burn away, only to have their shadows returned in the nick of time.

~ 

He removed the Tone Dial from his head, ignoring another shocked yell, and pressed the button to replay his memory. Despite that his playing that time, too, had been horrendous, the melodies and voices flowing out were beautiful, and one of the voices was—

~ 

“Certainly,” Brook said, making a miraculous recovery and sitting up. He reached over and pulled Chopper into his lap, holding him with stick-thin arms. “Why, I’m sure that, were you not affected by this Nightmare Syndrome as well, you could devise a cure in no time.”

~ 

The memory faded again, this time around Kaya’s soft, sad smile.

~ 

“That was us,” Luffy said after successfully swallowing the food this time. He laughed. “We actually came here looking for a proper ship. D’you know where we could get one?”

~ 

“Yes,” Nami said. “She’ll be disappointed if you stop visiting her after all this time.”

~ 

“You came here last time, too.” Luffy sat next to him. “But that was after you punched that butt-ler.”

~ 

Just in time, several of them went flying back the way they came, and Usopp looked behind him. Zoro and Luffy stood there, breathing hard.

~ 

The children looked crestfallen. “Why?” Onion repeated. “’Cause, ’cause they’ve always called you a liar. And this time you were telling the truth. They’ll think you’re so cool!”

~ 

“Nami?” the saw-nose fishman said. He grinned. “Don’t tell me you’ve decided to betray us after all this time.”

~ 

But holding up the glowing ball, heavy and light at the same time, showed him nothing new in the darkness. He tilted his head and lowered it again, staring at it and holding it close to his chest, trying to push the warmth inside of himself.

~ 

“He also picks the worst time for lies, it seems,” Brook added, but Sanji, preoccupied, did not notice.

~ 

“With your words, idiot! What have we been saying to you all this time?!”

~ 

“Usopp-san!” Brook exclaimed, seeing him still standing there as the bear-like man approached with all the time in the world. “Usopp-san, please run!”

~ 

Usopp found himself in total darkness again. This time, no Cheshire Cat appeared before him, and this time, there was a door with a key and a glowing object in front of it. Usopp frowned and picked up the glowing object.

~ 

and criticisms. And yet—and yet, he wanted to know. But his throat was paralyzed, the words weighing on his tongue and making it impossible to speak, and by the time he thought he could do it, could force the words from his

~ 

There was a man in the restaurant, a man thin and shaking and on the brink of death from starvation. Sanji watched as he was treated with disdain, tossed out of the dining hall in spite of his weak threats, and without knowing why, he found himself walking into the kitchen, and rinsing and boiling a cup of rice, and chopping vegetables—and chopping his hands in the process, but every time he thought he’d lost a fingertip, he looked down and his hands were clean.

~ 

Luffy turned and grinned at him, and as he rushed towards the pirate crew, he tossed a glowing object back at Sanji. Sanji barely caught it with clumsy hands, and he shoved it into his pocket, not wanting to look at it this time.

~ 

Sanji walked next to him, and then ran to keep up. All the while he stared at Luffy’s face, so determined as he muttered reassuring things under his breath, and at Nami’s face, flushed with fever and lips cracking in the cold. Maybe the pang in his chest at that moment was pity, but it was gone in an instant, as if he’d merely been sitting wrong and fixed his posture. Had he chosen to reflect on the feeling, he wouldn’t have had the time, for at that moment, the snow from the mountain ahead began to bear down on them.

~ 

Sanji thought. “Yeah,” he said, truthful this time. “I know. I don’t understand, but I know.”

~ 

Sanji felt something in his hair and plucked it out. He examined the shiny object, and barely had time to stow it away before the memory blurred around him, twisting and turning like the view from a roller coaster.

~ 

From Sealed with a Kiss 

“Faintly as tolls the evening chime . . . our voices keep tune and our oars keep time . . . soon as the woods on shore look dim . . . we’ll sing at St. Anne’s our parting hymn. . . . Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast . . . the rapids are near, and the daylight’s past . . .”

~ 

“Faintly as tolls the evening chime,” he sang idly, “our voices keep tune and our oars keep time! Soon as the woods on shore look grim, we’ll sing at St. Anne’s our parting hymn! Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast, the rapids are near, and the daylight’s past! The rapids are near and the . . .”

~ 

Law turned the jacket this way, and seeing it was similar to his coat, he slipped his arms in, one at a time, before pulling the front closed, fiddling with the buttons until he managed to slip one into its hole. He felt the pockets and slipped his hands inside, wiggling them around. The coat just barely covered his thighs.

~ 

A delicious smell wafted towards him, and he sniffed the air. It was surely meat, but it was something he didn’t recognize—no time for that now.

~ 

“Good time to start, because I’m all out of meat. I’ll bring it out in a little bit!”

~ 

“Fur coat,” Robin repeated. She glanced at Luffy again; he was busy passing his finger through a candle flame on a shelf, grinning every time he succeeded.

~ 

“I’d love to ask you questions, but . . . there’s not much time.” 

Right on time, the door in the back flew open, and someone strode out. It was a man, taller than Robin and hair painted light and shaved short on the sides. He wore weather-inappropriate attire from top to bottom and his shiny hands were covered in grease.

~ 

“Dunno,” Luffy admitted. “I go there all the time, but I usually run. Also, I have no idea how to tell time.” 

“Time? Use the sun.” 

~ 

“Telling time.” Luffy glanced up at the sun. “Like, right now it’s not right above us, right? But we know it’s not morning, which means it’s past noon. Noon’s when it’s right above us.” 

~ 

“Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time,” Law continued, trying to match Luffy’s tempo.

~ 

He narrowed his eyes and sat up, leaning forward and straining his ears just in time to hear Usopp say in exasperation, “What do you mean, ‘Him?’ Your friend Law.”

~ 

“I’ll show you!” Luffy exclaimed. Usopp hung back in a cloud, the spotlight taken from him, and Law went back to the stove, far more prudent of the front this time as he craned his neck again to stare into the pot.

~ 

“Sometimes I don’t have time to cook, or I run out of firewood!”

~ 

He became so distracted with watching the steam rise and condense that he didn’t realize it was time for food until Usopp tapped his shoulder and said, “Hey, move, I ought to put out the fire.”

~ 

Law stared at them as they clopped along. After a moment he turned his gaze forward again, taking his time gazing at the street and people around them. Folks of all shapes and sizes milled about, some clutching their hats in a hurry, others stopping in their tracks to examine something, others entering the buildings surrounding them.

~ 

“Okay, yeah. Brook, I’ll come back another time to talk about work, I promise,” Luffy said. He hurried after Law, flinging the door open and sprinting out.

~ 

Luffy seized the small wheelchair handles and dashed down the street. Law reached behind him and clutched Luffy’s arms as the chair bounced up and down the old pave at high speeds, sending him into the air for seconds at a time. A loud whistle, much closer than before, reached them as Luffy skidded to a halt.

~ 

The pulling on Luffy came again, and this time Law allowed the foreign hands to take Luffy from him. He watched Luffy’s trembling form as detached hands held him, and detached hands wrapped a long, long strip of cloth around Luffy’s neck, and felt his forehead, and felt his chest. Someone said something, and then Luffy was gone, being carried by another person, away, away, away . . .

~ 

“Then you mustn’t worry. When the time comes, you can track them down, and find your coat.”

~ 

“I smell the ocean,” Chopper said, lowering his hands from his nose. “And something else . . . okay . . . okay, it’s a little better now.” He rubbed his nose and bowed his head. “I’m sorry for being rude. I have a sensitive sense of smell. You must’ve spent some time at the beach before coming here.” He blinked back tears and took in the wetness of Law’s shirt, pants, and chair seat. “Um—”

~ 

“Someday, you’ll learn who’s nice and who’s not, and then you know who you shouldn’t waste your time on. Trying to make friends, I mean.” Chopper suddenly covered his face. “Oh! I’m sorry if that was out of line!”

~ 

From Two Households, Both Alike 

Kilo raised his arms, and the rocks flew into the air once more. This time they hurtled towards Aubergine—but they stopped short, hovering in a threatening circle around him.

~ 

Admiral had just turned around when she was struck with a harsh jet of water. By the time it died down, she had gone down on one knee, battered and bruised.

~ 

Admiral stood on shaking legs, bringing one back and raising her arms to her head. Aubergine eyed her as the air trembled around her, energy gathering. She closed her eyes, and then they flew open as she lunged forward, flinging the concentrated blast to Aubergine, who couldn’t even run in time to avoid the attack.

~ 

“Hey, I’m not mad at you guys,” Zoro said. “I’m sure we’ll do better next time. It’s just one battle, and it’s not like we lost.”

~ 

“Yeah, I’m not mad at you guys,” he said with an encouraging smile. “We didn’t exactly lose, and we’ll do better next time. Speaking of which, I’ve agreed to meet that guy tomorrow night for a rematch.”

~ 

“We can’t leave it like this, Nami-san,” Sanji exclaimed as Brie wandered over to join Franky’s Croconaw and Poliwhirl. “One of us has to win this time.”

~ 

Sanji sat next to him and released his own Pokémon. After assuring them it wasn’t time to battle, Brie sat next to Admiral to meditate with her, and Admiral cracked open an eye to check on her for only a moment before closing it again; Aubergine sat next to Kilo, silently judging him, and Cerise settled down to nap next to Sanji.

~ 

They fell silent for some time, listening to the rain beating a tattoo outside, and the river rushing as it swelled.

~ 

Zoro pulled his hood over his head, tugging it down to hide his face. “So it was love the whole time,” he said, voice muffled. “Damn it.”

~ 

“I won’t fall asleep this time.” Zoro grinned up at him. “Gardevoir.”

~ 

By the time the trainer with the straw hat wandered into the cave, the old man was beating Franky into the ground as quietly as possible.

~ 

“Not only is it powerful, but now, next time she levels up, she’ll evolve!” Usopp ran a finger over Betty’s head, petting her. “And I think Betty’s close to evolving, too!”

~ 

Zoro jumped when his Pokénav beeped. He glanced at Robin and Usopp and held up a finger, hurrying away to another part of the caves. Since anyone could overhear a call, they’d promised to contact each other only in emergency or at an agreed time.

~ 

“Can’t be late if we didn’t set up a time.” Sanji stared at him in disbelief as he continued, “Either way, I need to head back.”

~ 

“Oh,” Sanji said, catching his breath. “Right—um, we stopped fighting. Seemed a waste of time to draw over and over.”

~ 

“Better luck next time,” Robin said, smiling.

~ 

Sanji sprayed his head and sighed in relief, tossing the bottle. “I’ll get you one next time I’m out. Archie got carried away, that’s all. He was pissed I went on another walk.”

~ 

“Right—Cerise, to Fallarbor,” Sanji ordered. Cerise took off properly this time.

~ 

“Perk up!” Nami said, punching his shoulder. “You can finally face off against that asshole you talked about, and win this time!”

~ 

“We’ll get you next time for sure,” Usopp threatened, pointing at Sanji and Franky as Nami rejoined them and Robin came out from around the corner. “Team Magma forever!”

~ 

Chopper stuck out his tongue at Magma and Aqua one last time before following Luffy into the ashy forest of Mt. Chimney.

~ 

“You take these,” she said, shoving them at Sanji. “We’ll relay it. We can use your Pokémon to take one across the water at a time.”

~ 

“Sure,” Zoro said at the same time Robin said, “I don’t.”

~ 

Cuddlebug passed under Robin’s face in the darkness, his rings glowing in the eerie, magma-lit darkness of the hideout cave. Robin held him in her lap as she spoke, and Zoro and Usopp sat in front of her, Zoro repeatedly checking his Pokénav for the time, and Usopp biting his fingers, staring at Robin.

~ 

“Winter is the time for scary stories,” Robin said.

~ 

Their conversation was put to a halt as they stalked Sanji directly to Route 118, where Nami made Franky carry her across the shallow water. From there he turned left at Mauville onto Route 110, dodging the Oddish and Electrikes in the tall grass—like most of Team Aqua (and Magma), he preferred to walk or ride on his Pokémon rather than ride a bike. Meanwhile, Nami had to physically stop Franky from inventing a super-fast bicycle right there and then. They argued for so long they almost lost track of Sanji, but remembered their mission just in time and caught up to him on Route 103. He passed through Oldale Town, and then Route 102, and then Petalburg, and finally—

~ 

“You weren’t. I told you the wrong time on purpose because I knew you’d get lost on the way. You were right on time.”

~ 

Sanji pulled away slightly to laugh. “Alright, sure. Maybe next time I’ll make some and bring it to you.”

~ 

“I saw mochi one time at a seaside town,” Zoro said. They went down the vines, Brie bringing up the rear, and as they landed on the tiny island again, Zoro took out a pen and knelt in front of the sign, writing something. He capped the pen and stood, pocketing it again. “It had a beach and a market. I think it was north of here.”

~ 

A noise made them look over, but it was only Chopper glaring at them, and Robin turned back to Luffy and let his shirt drop. She pulled down the neck this time and found something over his heart: A faint pink circle, perfectly symmetrical.

~ 

From Your Princess Is in Another Castle 

A long, long time ago, in a strange and faraway land, a big, bustling town thrived. It was a town whose citizens all lived long, happy lives, and was said to be lovely and prosperous. But one day, tragedy befell this wonderful place. A great cataclysm struck the town and its people.

~ 

Nami snatched up the bag and smacked him one more time for good measure before leaving the broken-down shack with Brook close behind. “Who are you, Luffy?” she said, tossing him his coin purse. “Be more careful.”

~ 

“Oh?” Professor Frankly said, lowering the book and squinting at Franky and Nami. “You look very suspicious, but if Gabriella trusts you, I suppose it’s fine. She’s one of my best students, you know. I remember a time when—”

~ 

“There wasn’t much information on this in our research, but it did come up once or twice,” Gabriella said as Nami held out the Map again. It glowed when she moved it closer to the lower level, so she made a beeline for the stairs close by. “This place might have existed hundreds of years ago, as a city that came before our modern time.”

~ 

“Seriously, I think Nami’s right,” Franky said. Luffy’s face fell. “Cheer up, I bet there’s nothing in the town at all. We’ll go see that dragon in no time.”

~ 

“Is this a bad time?” Usopp asked, standing in the doorway with Nami.

~ 

He broke into a jog. Nami and Usopp paced him, smiling at each other over his head. Tall grass brushed their calves as they ran, some of it flattened as if a small tank had plowed through, and in no time at all the three of them stood before the great doors of Hooktail’s castle.

~ 

“No time to waste,” Usopp said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. He stumbled, making Usopp stumble. “Our friends are probably making their way to Hooktail as we speak.”

~ 

Hooktail took in a deep breath and breathed fire on her attackers, ridding the room of the mist Nami had created. Luffy leapt out of the way just in time, and Franky grabbed Nami, rolling to dodge. Usopp and Kory inched along the wall, trying to find a place where they would be out of the danger zone.

~ 

“I made it up here a long time ago, and I fought that beast,” Kory’s father said, hugging his son in return. “But it played a trick on me and ate me up. I stayed alive by eating pieces of my clothes and bits of whatever Hooktail swallowed. How long has it been? How is everyone?”

~ 

Thank you for playing! 

#writing adventures #excerpt