Chapter Text
“LUFFY!!!”
“DAMNIT LUFFY, DON'T DO THIS TO US NOW! NOT SO SOON…..!”
“LUFFY IF YOU DON'T STAY WITH US I WON'T BE ABLE TO COOK MORE MEAT FOR YOU!”
What was that screaming? It sounds so familiar and yet…..at the same time it wasn’t one voice, it was many, and they were………
Frightened…..?
Odd, he didn’t want them to be upset.
He could feel his lack of energy. That was also odd as he usually didn’t lack in anything.
Not since he became Pirate King, it was a job that one couldn’t afford to have a lack of anything if they wanted to stay alive.
Oh that’s right, he remembered now the reason for his lack of energy. His attention to his surroundings had waned and he was now paying for it…….
They had arrived at Raftel, he had become King and then he had let everyone return home for a week to rest and relax. Their journey up to that point had been long and before he had died Garp had managed to get the World Government to give the Straw Hats a break should Luffy ever become Pirate king.
Loathed at they were to do it they ordered it as a week later their hero had died in a battle against his own son. Luffy figured they felt they owed it to respect their great hero’s last wish.
After that week he had regathered all the crew and they had set sail again, this time helping Nami to complete her map and Robin complete her search for the Rio Poneglyph.
They had, after all, helped him attain his dream.
Zoro had finally beaten Mihawk and taken the title of greatest swordsman ever.
Sanji had discovered that All Blue had been the immediate ocean around Raftel
Usopp, after having trained and mastered Observational Haki had gotten to hear his dad brag about him and say how proud he was of Usopp (and it not be a lie).
Franky’s Thousand Sunny had managed to get them to Raftel, and to this day still ran, something Franky was overjoyed at and celebrated every day he woke up to find her still working near perfectly
Brook had kept his promise and sailed alone to see Laboon and play the recording of Bink’s Sake for him.
Chopper had actually developed a cure for scurvy after finding a variety of rare plants on Raftel which, after some trials got him recognized as one of the top medical experts of the world.
Despite the fact that Chopper was not a Mink himself people had seen his interactions with the Straw Hats and had started small protests on how Mink, Fishmen and even Merfolk were treated. Dragon, seeing an opportunity, had reached out to the real Mink, the Fishmen and the Merfolk in an effort to improve relations. Jinbe had been been dubbed the ambassador and things had been getting better…
….Until the World government had had enough that is, thinking themselves better they had stormed the meeting place on Amazon Lily (where Boa had graciously sectioned off from the rest of the island specifically for Dragon and Jinbe to meet) and proceeded to slaughter everyone in the building.
Luffy’s heart still hurt to think about that piece of news. He’d not only lost his Father, Grandfather AND one of his Nakama that day but his brother ……..his last living brother, Sabo……..
had died…….
That was why he couldn’t afford to lack anything, his heart couldn’t afford to let him loose anyone else………..but he’d forgotten one vital thing. Something his crew in the early days would never let him forget.
They needed him around as much as he needed them around……...
After that period of devastation (that had occurred only a day before they were due to pick Jinbe up from the week long siesta) they had moved on. Boa, sweetheart that she was, understood that he couldn’t attend the funerals, couldn’t even plan them and couldn’t even return to Amazon Lily to see the woman he loved. They both knew if he did he would break in a way that couldn’t be fixed, with his permission however his 4 loved ones were buried with Ace and Whitebeard.
After Raftel Luffy and Marco had gotten together for a discussion and had declared to all that the site where Ace and Whitebeard were burried was officially marked as Whitebeard-Mugiwara family grave plots and thus was officially under theirs and their allies protections. Out of respect for Jinbe, and both crews in general several Fishmen, human and Mink allies of either crew had set up a shared community with the self appointed tasks of forever guarding and keeping up maintenance of the site. Luffy had been touched and he could tell Marco and the remains of Whitebeard crew were too.
Moving on from the loss of Jinbe had been….hard for the Strawhats. Luffy had tried to keep everyone’s spirits up but at times he would catch Nami comforting Chopper while trying to hold her own tears in, Zoro and Sanji silently sharing a few shots of sake while staring out to sea and making lack luster verbal jabs at each other, Robin waking up from another nightmare in which the rest of the crew died and left her alone (or else reliving the destruction of the village she had been born in), Franky staying up all night working to avoid falling asleep at all…….
And yet…..they had moved on, they had finally completely mapped out the world 3 weeks into their month of freedom. With only 1 more week Nami had started on a book of notes to accompany her map while sailing to a place that Robin heard about from a lead of her search. They had stopped for some rest and supplies in Foosha Village and he had left the crew to get to know Makino and her son. He had walked up to Dadan’s place………
Only to find everything melted and Dadan herself…….dead…..and Akainu…...that Gods be-damned Marine sitting on Dadan’s broken and bloody body a small smug grin on his face as he stares at Luffy
“You’re late to the party Monkey D. Luffy. I respect her enough to tell you that her last words were “Tell that damned foolish son of mine that I’m proud of him” Akainu taunted.
That had undone Luffy, he doesn’t remember much after that, he suppose he lost it. It had always been a silent agreement between he, his brothers and Dadan that their relationship as mother and sons would never be talked about, it was a taboo subject. To know she had finally voiced it as she was being killed to even say that she was proud of him…………
At the end Akainu finally managed to melt a hole through his chest (just like Ace). It had been the end of the fight. Luffy had fallen back into a rock where he didn’t even try to move.
“You did well to last against me for as long as you did Luffy, I respect you, any last wish?”
Luffy had blinked blearlily up at Akainu and then reached a shaky hand into his belt and pulled out a letter and a pen shakily writing something at the bottom before holding it out to Akainu.
“Take…...Take this to m-my ship, when the c-crew’s not there. Leave it f-for them to f-find” Luffy struggled to say.
Akainu reached forward without hesitation and took it before turning away, the last Luffy had seen of him Akainu was vanishing into the jungle.
Akainu’s punch had just barely grazed Luffy’s lungs but he could feel the lava spreading to not only his lungs but other vital organs. He knew this was it. His life would end here, no one would find him in time to save him. Not even Chopper could fix this.
He could hear sobbing now and the humming of what he thought was Bink’s Sake, his eyes had stopped working, his limbs wouldn’t respond but his voice……...he would will it to work, just like he was willing himself to live for just a bit longer. He refused to die without saying goodbye to the rest of his crew. He forced himself to take a deep breath.
“Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho”
The sobbing got harder and the humming paused before a voice and violin Luffy was sure was Brook’s joined in.
“Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho”
Now the rest of the crew joined in, Luffy could hear them and felt nothing but relief though he could also hear Coby, which he thought was odd. His oldest living friend must have been visiting Foosha village and come across the crew.
“Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho”
“Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo
Umikaze kimakase namimakase
Shio no mukou de, yuuhi mo sawagu
Sora nya wa wo kaku, tori no uta
Sayonara minato, Tsumugi no sato yo
DON to icchou utao, funade no uta
Kinpa-ginpa mo shibuki ni kaete
Oretacha yuku zo, umi no kagiri
Something was happening with his hearing now, it was like he was getting pulled backwards through a tunnel. The noise around him, the singing and the sobs were slowly, very slowly starting to fade out. He struggled against the coldness he knew he could feel settling into his body. He had to finish the song and nothing the Universe could do would stop him. A proper goodbye was the least he owed his crew for being reckless and dying on them.
That thought brought tears to his now sightless eyes.
Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo
Warera kaizoku, umi watteku
Nami wo makura ni, negura wa fune yo
Ho ni hata ni ketateru wa dokuro
Arashi ga kita zo, senri no sora ni
Nami ga odoru yo, DORAMU narase
Okubyoukaze ni fukarerya saigo
Asu no asahi ga nai ja nashi
The voices were getting fainter. Whoever controlled this stuff was certainly impatient weren't they………….
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho
Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo
Kyou ka asu ka to yoi no yume
Te wo furu kage ni, mou aenai yo
Nani wo kuyokuyo, asu mo tsukuyo
“LUFFY!!!”
This time the scream, which was still faint, was most definitely Makino’s…..right, it wasn’t just my nakama who would miss me, Makino is probably horrified, Kid’s alliance had taken out the father of her child last year. Damn was Shanks ever going to be pissed off at him. He hoped he could avoid him wherever his soul was going.
Binkusu no sake wo, todoke ni yuku yo
DON to icchou utao, unaba no uta
Douse dare demo itsuka wa hone yo
Hatenashi, atenashi, waraibanashi
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho
Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho”
The sound went completely went silent after that and Luffy was left to float around in a what could only be described as a void. It felt like there were eyes on him, judging him. Then, quite suddenly color and sound rushed back to him so quickly that he couldn’t help but give out a humongous wail of pain.
“Aw, poor kid, he’s going to just as loud and obnoxious as James” a voice seemed to chuckle from somewhere to his left.
“Severus Snape you will behave yourself or I will neuter you” a more feminine voice huffed sounding exhausted.
“Y-Yes my lovely Fire-flower!” the male’s voice whimpered.
After his head stopped ringing from the explosion of……. well………. everything …..Luffy managed to sniffle and carefully open his eyes. Staring down at him were the greenest pair of eyes he’s ever seen.
“Hello little Harry” the owner of the eyes said with a smile “Welcome to the New World”
Only one thought crossed Luffy’s mind………..
‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’