Absence, chapter 13, part 3
Dec. 9th, 2011 09:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainsometimesTitle: Absence, chapter 13. Part 3 of 3.
Continued from Absence, Chapter 13, part 2. For disclaimer, warning and more info, see that part. Forward-dated to avoid f-list spamming.
**
Zoro
Zoro walks in a darkness that's almost but not quite total. There is a very faint light that comes in from somewhere, but he can't tell from where; it's not enough to show him where he's going or what he leaves behind, only the barest outline of his own body and a mere hint of the ground in front of him.
He holds the green Kabuto in one hand, recognised by shape rather than colour. There's a very low, vibrating hum coming from it. At times he thinks it sounds like someone mumbling inaudibly, but when he holds it up to his ear it goes back to a buzzlike hum.
Or maybe he's simply too distracted to listen properly. Because the swords by his side are only two: Shusui and Sandai Kitetsu. Wadou Ichimonji isn't there, and he can't see it anywhere in this great engulfing darkness.
And then, finally, bright light in front of him in the form of a burning torch. He squints and shields his working eye as he comes closer to the source. As he realises he half expected, it's Usopp who's standing there with the torch in one hand. And holding Wadou in the other. Zoro walks up to him, then stops, folding his arms.
"Finally," the sniper says, looking relieved. "Figures you'd be the hardest one to find. Come on, let's get going."
Zoro stays put. "...You're carrying my sword," he points out.
Usopp shrugs. "Only fair, right?" He nods at Green Kabuto. "You're carrying my weapon." Zoro tenses up at that – Do you want to get it back? he thinks, but doesn't say. After a beat, Usopp puts his head to one side and smiles briefly. "Relax, it's just for a little while. Until we get there." He starts walking, holding Wadou on the other side from where Zoro is.
Well, Zoro isn't going to start lunging for the sword, nor will he propose a trade. He tightens his hold on Kabuto and follows.
"Where are we going?" he asks.
Usopp doesn't turn his head. "Depends. Where do you want to go?"
Zoro thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "Doesn't matter. Some place where there's booze, I guess."
"Okay," says Usopp. He scratches his nose and nods. "No problem, I can do that." And then they're off to walk down dark narrow passages, Usopp leading them in what feels like haphazard turns and twists to Zoro. They're both quiet for several minutes.
Then, just as Usopp's torch sputters and goes out, there's another light in front of them - a lantern, hanging askew above a broken wooden sign over a door. Zoro can't make out the words, but it looks like the sign of a bar or pub. Only then does he realise he must have been wrong this whole time: they haven't been walking in mountain tunnels as he thought, but rather through the narrow alleys of a town on a dark clouded night, with no street lamps.
Usopp tosses aside the torch and presses down the door handle, but then he pauses as there is suddenly less darkness around them. Zoro turns around and looks up, where a silver moon crescent has just sailed out from a sea of clouds, now spreading its light on the quiet city street with its brick walls and rubbish bins, window shutters and prowling cats. And then they step inside.
Despite the broken sign, the place inside looks more scruffy and forlorn than seedy; sparse in its decorations and lighting, but still relatively clean. Some of the chairs and tables are unusually rough and misshapen, not that that bothers Zoro any. There are no other patrons in sight. The bar itself is the most well-kept area, with its polished dark wood and the two bright lamps hanging over it.
At the opposite end of the bar sits the bartender, smoking a pensive cigarette. She looks up as they sit down at the bar, and Zoro recognises Shakky of Sabãody. But while her smile is friendly enough, she doesn't seem to be in a mood to chat – she simply slides them one bottle each before they've even said anything, and without asking for money. Then she goes back to smoking and looking off into the distance.
Usopp lets go of Wadou, not handing the sword over but instead putting it down to lean against the side of the bar between them. Zoro lays Kabuto down on the bar itself. They open their bottles: Zoro drinks deeply, Usopp more moderately.
He doesn't recognise the taste, and the bottle has no label. The drink feels smooth but potent, like something that hasn't yet revealed its full power. It tastes of summer nights on land or misty evenings at sea, of possibilities, discoveries, and unforeseen wisdom.
Usopp breaks the silence first. "It looked just like that the night we first fought together. Remember? When the Black Cat Pirates attacked, there was a new moon."
Zoro nods. He does remember. Full moons always make him think of Kuina, of a secret fight and a promise made on a night like that. He's pretty sure that from now on crescent moons will always make him think of Usopp.
Usopp leans his chin on his hand and looks out into the air with a thoughtful, faraway expression. "It was pretty terrifying, that time," he says softly. "But it was more scary thinking I'd fail than just not making it. First time I realised that." He adjusts his hat a little, drinks some more.
Zoro's eyes fix the Kabuto lying in front of him on the bar. Don't sound like that, don't look that way, he wants to tell Usopp. You're not supposed to say that kind of thing. It's too much now, all of a sudden, even in a dream he's too tired. Things he's kept suppressed for all this time start to bubble up, helped by the booze and the moonlight outside and the fact that it is a dream.
"I still think it's all wrong, you know," he says in a low voice, not raising his head. "It wasn't supposed to happen." It wasn't fate. Or at least it wasn't the kind of fate that Zoro could recognise and acknowledge. Zoro continues. "The cook got mad when we had a council…" He recalls Sanji's outburst that day, exploding in a way the others hadn't dared to, "...he wanted to imagine you in a peaceful future, with your wife and children and grandchildren, telling everyone stories about us…"
He finishes his first bottle. Shakky slides down four more bottles towards them; Zoro halts them and opens a second one, without turning his head to look straight at Usopp; but he’s very aware of the now quite still figure beside him.
"I wanted that, too," he goes on, his voice still low, "but more than that, I wanted to see who you would become. If you would be a captain one day, maybe not like in your stories… maybe better. Or if you'd set that aside for real and become… something else, I don't know what it'd be. Something different from the kinds of pirates and warriors I already know, something new." It is not a thought he's ever put into exact words before, but it has still been there for a long time, vague and half-shaped. "Different from the rest of us, too, 'cause you already lived your dream. You conquered it every day, just by surviving."
In the corner of his eye, he sees Shakky stub out her cigarette and takes out a big notebook that she starts leafing through, in her inscrutable bartenderish way. He puts down the second bottle and starts on the third. This one has wine in it, red and strong.
Darting a quick glance at Usopp, he sees him nodding his head a bit, not like he agrees but waiting for Zoro to go on, looking guarded and wary. Zoro turns back to stare down at the grain of the wooden bar, of his own calloused hands and the polished green wood and white bindings of Kabuto. He isn’t done yet. More words that had been crushed down come spilling out.
"But you abandoned us. I wanted to see the kind of person you'd become, I wanted you to stay by our side in battles to come. And you just… fell. You weren't supposed to go ahead and do that. I'm the one who ought to have died the first of us, didn't you know that? Luffy was right, you really are an idiot." His voice grows thicker and shakier. He puts down the bottle slowly, a careful movement.
Usopp shifts in his seat, looking uncomfortable.
"Don't think that would have made anyone happier," he mutters. "Geez, Zoro, you're not shy about bringing out the big guns, are you?"
Zoro flares up. "And why the hell should I be? You LEFT! Again!!" He takes another deep drink, then goes on in a much lower and even gruffer tone, "And I never got to tell you I'm really proud of you. Guess you might've known, though."
A long pause follows. Small sounds fill the air: creaking walls, Shakky turning over a leaf in her notebook.
Finally, Usopp clears his throat. "If you're expecting an apology, forget it," he says roughly, just a hint of tremor in his voice. "I'm not Merry."
"No, I don't, and I never said that," Zoro protests. "What the hell good would that do?" He thinks a little, one hand wandering over to Kabuto and seizing it. There's still a hum there. "But you did say it to Kaya," he points out, the report of Usopp's last words still very clear in his mind. "Mermaid said so."
It's Usopp's turn to drink deeply, from another bottle of wine. "That's different," he mumbles, softer now. "I couldn't keep my promise to her."
Zoro bristles, a hot fire of fury inside him now. "Yeah?? And what about us, then? You think that was just okay?" Has it been there all the time, this fire, only hidden away in the protective cocoon around him? Zoro suspects so.
This time, Usopp actually flinches; but then he straightens up and seems to rally. He turns in his chair to face Zoro more directly, leaning on one elbow, the other arm resting on his leg. "So," he says in a low, tense tone, "the next time Luffy is in great danger, or it looks like he is, you're gonna just ignore it if it might be too dangerous for you?" He snorts disdainfully. "Pfft. Like I'm supposed to believe that."
"That's not the same thing!" Zoro insists, though in the back of his head he's aware his logic might be failing.
"Why not?"
"It – it just – it’s not." Because we never viewed death the same way. "And I should have been there," the words tumble out now, and he knows this is the strongest, deepest part of his fury, "I should have stopped it." He has to let go of Kabuto, afraid he'll grip it too hard and snap it in two by accident. Instead he grabs the edge of the bar, feeling it starting to crack under his grip. I wasn't there. Too busy with less important fights. Never realised you were still alive when we left the island. Should have known, should have sensed it. All wrong, wrong, wrong now. It's been a month and he's still burning. He didn't even know this fire was in him, all hidden away and pushed down so deep he couldn't see it before. "Should have..." he whispers hoarsely, can't go on.
Usopp rubs his eyes, then sits back. He hugs his arms for a moment, looking down, then folds them more properly and looks straight into the air with a tired expression. They're both silent for a while.
Zoro's aware his logic is lacking on the face of it, but he refuses to take anything back. If he did that... he's not sure what would happen. Something would break. And it would feel like a lie.
Then Usopp leans forward again, chin in hand, no longer looking tense and defensive. "Maybe... maybe I'd be just the same, in your shoes," he says thoughtfully, starting to spin an empty cocktail glass around on its edge. "Hell, I'd probably throw stuff at you to start with." The glass goes faster and faster. A sparkle appears inside it, growing stronger. "You're still wrong, though," Usopp adds, but not very loudly. Zoro holds his tongue, watching the spinning bottle closely. There are odd colours within it, metallic and purple-grey.
Usopp lets go and the bottle keeps spinning on its own, without slowing down, until the sniper snaps his fingers. A tiny bell chimes, and then the whole thing dissolves into a shimmer and a yellow butterfly which promptly flies away and out of sight. Zoro blinks, rubbing his eyes, then starts drinking again.
"Hey," says Usopp. "I wanted to ask you something."
Zoro nods shortly, calmer by now. He's released the bar’s edge. "Okay."
"About that." Usopp nods at Kabuto, lying next to Zoro's hand. "It works like I'd hoped. You guys will be stronger like that. But... you and I both know it's only a stopgap. All of you are better suited for other kinds of fighting."
Zoro puts a protective hand around the big slingshot. "Getting cold feet?" he asks in a low tone, managing to keep fear out of his voice.
Usopp shakes his head. "No way. I'm only saying this to you now, 'cause I don't think the others are ready to hear it. One day you're going to run into someone out there who's real good at sniping, someone who wants to sail with us and is someone we'll like and that Luffy will want. It may take a long time, but I'm sure it will happen, eventually. There has to be someone out there like that. It's a big world."
He opens a new bottle and takes another drink. "So. I'm selfish, okay? If there's a person like that, let them handle Kabuto. And if it works out fine, if they don't have a style that's too different from mine, then they ought to be allowed to stay." He looks at Zoro, very seriously. "When that happens, it would be good if you could stand up for the new one in front of the others. Tell 'em it's supposed to be that way. It makes the best sense."
Zoro twitches. "You're saddling me with that now?" he growls. "It's up to Luffy in the end, isn't it?"
Usopp nods. "Yeah. But maybe he won't be sure. And the others might make a fuss." He starts to slide empty bottles (the ones that Zoro emptied, mostly) back over to the bartender's corner. Though Shakky isn't there anymore, Zoro notices only now. "Or," Usopp adds, "no-one might even think of letting them try the Kabuto in the first place."
Mouth thinning, Zoro folds his own arms and leans a bit away from Usopp, resentment coursing through him. Why does it have to be me? Surely one of the others would have been able to see the reason in this, too. Would they still say no? Would they forget about it after waking up? He doubts it.
But fair or not, he is the one who's being asked. Swearing under his breath, he kneads his forehead and slumps a bit. "Fine." He bends down to pick up Wadou, putting it in his lap. "I will. But only if they really are compatible like that. In every way." He glares at his crewmate. "And that's assuming there even is someone like that who we will run into."
Usopp looks relieved. "Sure." He turns back to look down at the bottle he's just opened, then frowns. "Nah, I've had enough," he mutters. Instead, he waves a hand over it and it turns into a cup of steaming hot coffee.
"Show-off," says Zoro, milder now. For his part, he'll stick with the booze. His hands are trembling when he raises the bottle. But he drinks it slowly, and it feels like he drinks it all in, now, taking this moment in with him, putting it where it should be in his heart and his mind. When he lowers the bottle again there is nothing left, and his hands are steady again.
"Hey," he says suddenly a little later, "have you talked to everyone else now?" At Usopp's raised eyebrows, he goes on, "When you ran into me, you said I was the hardest to find."
Usopp shakes his head. "No, not yet. But I know where Luffy's gonna be."
"Okay. Good." Zoro nods. He raises his air and sniffs: the air tastes differently, now, like it's not all that far from morning. One of the windows must be open.
A movement. Zoro spins around, swords at the ready. But it's only Shakky who's come back from wherever she's been. She's putting up chairs on the tables and blow out the few candles still burning.
Or... is it Shakky? He was sure so at first, but now he wonders. The height is the same, and the movements, but the figure is wrapped in a coat with a cowl, face half-hidden. A chill runs through Zoro. No. Don't come here. Not yet. He stands up in front of Usopp in useless protectiveness.
But then she pushes the cowl down and it is Shakky after all (or it became her again; we're in dream country now, Zoro reminds himself). She's quite unperturbed, as usual. "Closing time, boys," is all she says. The two ceiling lamps go out at her wave, and the bottles disappear.
"Hey, maybe we're not ready to– " Zoro starts to say, but Usopp stops him, tugging at his haramaki. "It's okay, she's right," he murmurs. "Hold on, just gonna drink this up..." He finishes his coffee in one gulp, then stands up and dusts himself off. "Come on."
He walks towards the door, his steps light and easy, and there is nothing for Zoro to do but follow.
"Mind your step," Shakky murmurs behind them, even though the threshold is not very high. Outside it, however, the ground – the ground moves. And it isn't stony pavement, but planks on a deck.
"So, we're on a ship now," he says, blinks briefly but not terribly surprised. He looks around in the moonlight, as bright as from a full moon. "Doesn't look like Sunny, though..." Not like Merry, either, for all that he still dreams of their old ship at times. The sky is already noticeably lighter in one direction, though he sees no hint of a rosy-yellow glow over there yet. The moon has almost set, with one point of the crescent touching the horizon to meet its reflection.
Usopp seeks his hand and presses it, just once. But when Zoro turns his head he's not there anymore.
Yet something – instinct, perhaps, the memory of all Usopp's grandly romantic stories – propels him to walk over to the railing at the side where the moon is, and look down. And sure enough, there he is, standing on some kind of raftlike skiff holding a tiller. There's no sail and hardly any wind for that matter, but the tiny vessel has already started to move away from the unknown ship, even so. Maybe there's some kind of cola engine driving it, Zoro thinks fuzzily.
If it had been him there on that skiff, Zoro isn't too sure he would have looked back. But it isn't him, and Usopp does turn his head and looks back. He's always been the type who does that, thinks Zoro, raising a hand slowly. The sniper is hard to see well with his face against the moonlight, but his teeth gleam, so he must be smiling. And he's waving back. Then he turns again to tend to the small boat. He seems to be heading straight towards the setting moon.
Zoro keeps looking, the cold fresh breath of the night's last hour on his face, his cheeks hot from the booze, his three swords by his side.
When he can't see him anymore, he turns his head and wakes up. Only then does he realise he left Kabuto behind at the bar, and panics for a moment until he sees it lying on the cave floor where it should be, between the still-sleeping Nami and Luffy's empty bedroll. Zoro has to touch it for a moment, reassured by the tingling presence still in it, before he lumbers off for the morning wash.
*
He eats breakfast slowly, listening to what little small talk there is, agreeing or not to the important talk about the day to come. Then it's time to go, to help carry the stretcher with Sanji and Robin, darkness and emptiness all around them. It takes a long time to walk up the path.
He waits on the green mountain slopes as Franky carves their symbols all over the coffin, marking it bit by bit as belonging to them all. It's a beautiful day; Nami's sure it's been raining. Robin gathers flowers. Now carrying only the spade strapped to his back, he walks the rest of the way with the others, breathing in the air that seems even fresher now. Autumn has come.
They reach the cliff with the sea at both sides, western and eastern, and a tall boulder on it. It will do, he quietly agrees with the others. There's no need for him to speak up and say so.
He unstraps the spade and starts digging with Sanji. They make the grave as deep as it needs to be. The silence is as wide as the sky.
Then there is music and words that break the silence briefly; there are also quiet gestures that don't. Brook's new song still echoes in Zoro's head as he watches Robin step back from the coffin with an empty flower basket. He walks up there, intending to close the lid, but then he stops himself. He feels like he's on the brink of something, and has to focus to regain his inner balance. When he starts to speak it's with a husky voice; he hasn't been talking since breakfast.
"I bet there's new adventures where you're going. I don't think those other lands, or the journey to them, are without their dangers. But you've got a weapon." He nods at the black Kabuto that Chopper's just put there, and the pouch of ammunition next to it, all surrounded by flowers. "Maybe you'll find Merry there. And you've got... you. I'm not worried." He swallows. In front of this still figure that he helped wash and wrap yesterday, the words all sound very clumsy. There's no way he can make them sharp and clean enough, like a good sword cut.
So instead of going on, he just draws Wadou and lets the tip of the sword touch the black Kabuto where it lies. The slingshot itself will stay in the earth until it rots, of course, but who's to say there can't be a spirit of the trusted weapon, one that can go on to be somewhere else? And if there is a way Zoro can share some of his own strength and will, it is worth a try.
There is a part of Usopp left with them in Green Kabuto, now, lending his strength to stay with them. They can all feel it, they just need to accept the weight of it. It feels right to try to pay back a little of that gift – but there's more to it than that. Privately, Zoro thinks as he sheathes his sword and gently closes the lid, that perhaps there is another, smaller spark of Usopp's that will be in Wadou from now on.
He steps back and watches as Robin and Luffy together lower the coffin into the ground, then closes his eyes when Nami starts to sing an old lullaby. Yes. It may be so. Kuina's will can find room for Usopp's courage.
*
Luffy
He is standing on a long, windswept shore. It's early in the morning and the sun is still hidden by the tall trees of the island's forest, but the sky is as blue as it ever gets,. It's going to be a fine day.
The beach looks longer and wider than he remembers, yet he's absolutely sure this is one of the beaches of Usopp's home island. Because he recognises the cliff overlooking it, with the one tree right next to the edge. That was Usopp's special place and it's where they first started to become friends, talking about Yasopp and stupid butlers and great pirate dreams. He wants to reach it now, that spot where things began. It seems to him that if he could only get there, he could get back to how it was back then, all those many months and years ago. And they could redo everything all over again except he'd do it right this time and save his friend in time.
So he aims at the tree and starts to stretch his arms... Or he wants to. But nothing happens. The arms stay their normal shape. He pulls at his right arm with his left, but only feels a pinch of pain, just like a regular person would.
And yet there's no seastone around, he's perfectly dry and doesn't feel weak at all. He frowns. "Mystery," he mutters to himself. "Where the heck did the rubber go?" Focusing really hard, Luffy tries to stretch again, but to no avail.
"Hey, Luffy!" cries a voice behind him. "What're you doing?"
Luffy spins around. There's Usopp, standing on a small boat, almost a raft except it seems to have a lot of stuff for a raft; a big tiller that Usopp's holding, a long oar, a tiny mast with a ragged flag on it, and a familiar red cape tied to it like a sail. It's not the Strawhat flag, but Usopp's own symbol. One part of the boat is higher than the rest and there's a big crate standing there.
But it's the nineteen-year old Usopp, not the shorter and skinnier seventeen-year-old Luffy was hoping for in order to turn it all back. The black Kabuto sticks up from his usual bag across the shoulder. He's holding the tiller and steers towards Luffy and the shore.
"I wanted to get to the cliff!" says Luffy. "I thought you'd be there! What are you doing on that raft?"
"Isn't it obvious? Coming to see you! But I can't stay long," Usopp adds, as he picks up an anchor. "I'm on my way somewhere."
"I thought you'd be sailing on Merry." This is just a dream, Luffy gets that now. But it still feels important. It’s also the first dream he’s had in a month where he remembers Usopp clearly, not just in hints and little pieces.
"Merry is flying right now." Usopp half turns around, pointing up and away. Then he drops the anchor into the sea. "I'll get up to her later, once I get out a fair bit."
Luffy looks up into the sky, seeing nothing but blue. But he doesn't think Usopp is lying. "How're you gonna do that?" he asks. He really does want to know, but aside from that, he just wants to keep talking, and keep Usopp talking so he won’t turn away.
"Noooo problem!" Usopp's waves his fingers confidently, then points at the crate on the high end of the boat. "I've got rockets in there to launch me with half the raft. Worked it all out with Franky before, so it's gonna be just fine." He grins widely. "Besides, I'm an old hand at raft-launching. I used to launch whole flotillas of rafts up into the sky!"
"That's a lie, right?" Luffy tilts his head, then feels a smile start on his own face, too. "That sounds really cool, the rockets I mean."
Usopp straightens up, flexes his arms, and then... Luffy's jaw drops. Usopp's arms stretch out as if they were rubber, he grabs hold of a rock on the beach and then he's yanked into the air, flies about fifty metres and lands in a spray of sand.
"Hey!! How did you do that??" Luffy exclaims.
Usopp gets up and starts dusting himself off. "Oof. The landing part wasn't as easy as it looks."
Luffy points at him, confused. "You took my devil fruit!"
Usopp shrugs. "You were me for a while, can't I be you for just a couple of minutes?"
"Huh." Luffy considers that. "Well... I guess that's fair. But I'm gonna need it back when I wake up." He doesn't much want to think about waking up, though.
"Don't worry about it." Usopp gestures at the sea. "I'm not going to sail way out there without being able to swim." Luffy nods. Something holds him back from walking right up to Usopp and making sure he's there. Because if he isn't, if he turns out to be all ghostly, it would really suck.
Instead it's Usopp who walks up to him and bonks him on the head, not very hard.
"Hey! What's that for?!" Luffy rubs his head. At least it wasn't ghostly.
"That's for calling me a dummy, dummy!" Usopp huffs, "You think it was easy, coming up with all that wise stuff? Ptch, I thought I was doing great." He puts his nose in the air all pretend-snootily.
Luffy pouts. "No-one forced you to say that stuff." He shoves Usopp on the shoulder. "But telling us to listen was good," he adds, more quietly.
Usopp shoves back, smiling a little as he looks down and nods. "Yeah," he says quickly. There's a pocket of silence. Luffy looks down at the sand and grass and seashells at his feet.
"Hey. Luffy." Usopp pulls off his blue-and-white armband, then holds it out to Luffy. "I'd like you to have this. You already took this back there in the mountain, right? You should have the dream version, too."
Luffy opens his mouth to ask him if he's sure, then shuts it. He must be. "...Okay." The armband is dry and warm (unlike the real one), and fits really well on his arm.
He fingers the brim of his hat, pulling it around a bit. "I wish I had two strawhats. Then I could give one of them to you." Usopp laughs a bit at that, looking surprised, but in a good way. Luffy looks around, but there's still just the beach, the forest, the cliffs, with nothing interesting on it – no washed-up treasure chests full of cool stuff, or driftwood in interesting shapes, messages in bottles... Nothing he could give in return.
Digging in his pockets, his fingers closing in on something hard and flat in one of them. Oh. Right. He'd forgotten about that.
"Look." He takes out the impact dial and holds it out to Usopp. "I found this yesterday morning and thought it was mine, but that was when I was still kinda crazy. It's yours, isn't it? D'you want it back? Maybe you'll need it." For all he knows, there might be... stupid demons or real crazy ghosts or other weird stuff on the way to wherever Usopp needs to go.
Usopp hmms thoughtfully, eyeing the dial. "Isn't that the one I hurt you with back then?"
"Maybe?" Luffy hasn't thought of that. He shrugs. "Does it matter if it is? That was a long time ago."
"Yeah, it was." Usopp sighs softly, smiles a bit. "Long time now. It wouldn't be that bad if it were... hm. What to do, what do to..." he mumbles to himself, scratching his chin hair. "Nah, I don't think so," he finally says, putting his hands in his pockets. "Even if it's not that bad, there's still a weight to it, you know? I think we're only supposed to take stuff that keep us light."
Luffy sighs and puts the dial back in his pocket. "Fine... but that's no fair, you should still get something, too. Hey, wait." He points at Usopp's bag. "Do you have a marker in there?"
"Lemme check..." Usopp starts rifling through the bag and digs up a marker after a little while. "Here it is. Why?"
Luffy takes it. "Hold out your arm. You need something else there now." He draws an X on it, like they did before landing in Alabasta. Over that he draws the Strawhat symbol: maybe it's not quite as neat as when Usopp draws it, but it's still the right one. "There, now you got both flags with you." He grins, not quite as wide as he usually would. Usopp looks at his arm, laughs in half surprise, then opens his mouth only to close it right again. He closes his eyes for a moment and looks pretty happy.
"It looks really good, Luffy," he says in a low voice. "Thanks." Looking up again, he smiles and adds, "Everyone's gonna be all right, you know."
A lump in Luffy's throat that's been there for a while is a bit too big all of a sudden. He nods, his grin gone. "I know."
"I was in Sunny's dream," Usopp continues, "and everyone of us was a small boat, sailing around the ship. Then the sea turned to sky and we all turned into all kinds of seabirds, flying around it and shouting and stuff. Never stopping." He takes out a tiny toy boat from his bag, one that looks just like his new raft-boat thing. "Can you hold this for me? I just want to get some bark."
"Are you gonna make little boats?" Luffy follows him to the nearest tree, an evergreen with plenty of good bark that's easy to tear off. Usopp starts to do so, handing them to Luffy. As soon as Luffy receives them, they all turn into tiny carved boats, some even with twig masts and leaves for sails. "Coool!" he comments, meaning it. He remembers playing at things like this with Ace and Sabo, even if they had to beat up alligators in the creeks first at times. Luffy was never all that good at the carving bit, though.
They walk over to a spot on the beach where the sea fills into a tiny stone basin, putting all nine boats there. Right then the sun rises over the treetops and the waters glitters around the little boats while they dip and rise together.
"That's good," he says, sitting down on his haunches to look at them.
"Yeah," Usopp agrees, squatting down as well. "But I guess..." His voice trails off as he picks up his own boat, gives it a considering look, then breaks it in half. Luffy's about to protest, but swallows it when Usopp puts half the boat back down with the others. It's still floating. The other half goes back inside the bag.
"You're gonna have to let them fight again, you know," says Usopp without looking up.
The boats don't seem as bright and happy anymore. "...I know," mumbles Luffy, biting his lower lip. "'S not fair to them otherwise, I know. I was nuts before," he adds defensively.
Usopp turns to him and shoves him a bit again, smiling. "All right. Hey, if you don't shape up, I'll just have to start haunting you!"
Luffy blinks. "I thought you were already haunting us!" he points out, but the thought still makes him feel better.
"Oh yeah, I guess one could say that..." Usopp splashes his fingers in the water, wipes his hand on his trousers and gets up on his feet. Luffy pokes one of the boats with a stick and then gets up as well. "Well," Usopp announces, "maybe I'll learn how to make Green Kabuto tickle people! Then you'll watch out!"
A slingshot with weird tickling arms? Luffy laughs, even though he also has to wipe his eyes just a little. "Well, so what? Then I'll just tickle back!" He sticks out his tongue. "Dumbass!"
Usopp grins real widely now. "You're the dumbass!" And then he just steps closer and hugs Luffy tightly. Luffy hugs back, even harder. He really is all warm and solid.
"You have no idea how damn proud of you I am," Usopp whispers roughly.
Don't let go. It's all Luffy can do not to say it out loud. He just holds on, squeezing his eyes shut and swallowing tightly, unable to speak. Breathing, breathing. His arms are trembling now, no, his whole body is.
He's afraid Usopp will let go after just a few seconds, but he stays like that, he stays. For as long as it takes for Luffy's breathing to steady, for words to be possible again.
"How long?" he finally manages to whisper.
"Huh?" Usopp breaks off the hug and takes half a step back, blinking at him.
Luffy licks his lips, swallows once more, and tries agan. "You-in-Kabuto. How long?"
"I– I'm not sure," says Usopp, looking serious. "I think at least until you become the Pirate King. Maybe longer." There's a hungry, wishing look in his eyes. "I really want it to be longer. Um, those souls who were tied to the bone whistle before, they said they'd try to give me as much time as they could. Some... it was some part of the spell they could redirect, before they all passed on." He makes a vague circling gesture with both hands.
Then he reaches out to pull at Luffy's mouth and lights up. "Hey, hugging worked! You're rubber again!"
"I am!" exclaims Luffy, and has to help pull it too just to make sure. It may just be a dream, but it's still nice to have his powers back. Even though he's forgotten what he wanted them for, earlier.
"Okay..." Usopp says slowly, takes another step back. Then he unties his shoes, steps out of them and hikes up his trouser legs. He nods towards his boat. "Guess I'll have to go on now, can't stay here all day..."
"What? Hey, that's not fair!" Luffy protests while Usopp starts to wade out towards the raft, carrying his boots. "Are you just gonna leave me here?? This is your home island way back in East Blue, I can't stay here! I have to get back to where everyone is!"
Usopp gives him a surprised look over his shoulder. "Luffy, it's a dream," he says patiently. "You'll just wake up and be back."
"I know it's a dream, idiot!" Luffy starts wading into the water as well. "But what if I still get lost? I was lost in my mind for a month, you know."
Usopp sighs. He's reached the raft now. "Don't I know it. But I can't let you ride with me, it's not allowed... Though maybe..." He gets up on the raft and turns to point at the basin puddle. "If you take one of the small boats and try to make it bigger – just think it big, you know – you could get in that one. But you can only go with me a short way!" he adds quickly.
Luffy doesn't question the advice. Make it bigger, okay, why not? He turns around and runs to the basin, picks one of the little bark boats at random and puts it into the water. Then he leans back a bit, puts his hands on his hips and gives the boat a stern look. "Okay, grow!" For a moment nothing happens, but then there's a big creaking sound and there's a real boat in front of him in the water, made of planks and not bark. No sail, but who cares, he can row.
"Great work, Luffy!" Usopp shouts, and there's a sharp twinge in his chest at that but Luffy still grins in response. He jumps into the boat and pushes it out to deeper water with one oar, then starts rowing properly. Usopp has already hauled his anchor and waits for him, then just sits down and presses down on a familiar-looking shell at the end of his raftboat, one of a whole row of them.
"You've got wind dials! No fair!" Luffy says happily. "Bet I can still row faster, though."
"Oi, I'm just using this one for now." Usopp looks pretty smug, though, settling into a crosslegged pose while still holding the tiller. "Since there's not much wind. Anyway, yeah, there was this great scrapyard thing in Franky's dream. Figured I might as well take advantage."
That does sound pretty neat, Luffy has to admit. He looks at his own boat. "Hey, you know, this looks just like the boat I first set out in on my home island. Except I brought a barrel of water along. If it hadn't been for that, I'd have drowned for sure."
Usopp makes an incredulous sound. "What, that small? You're nuts! Not even a sail?"
Luffy laughs. "Yeah, that's what everyone said, but I didn't want anything bigger. It was fine for the first hour or so, though!"
To Usopp's questions, laughs and groaning remarks, Luffy continues telling him of those early days, meeting Coby and Zoro and the crazy Marine Captain, then running into Nami and Buggy. He can't quite keep the story in a straight line, but that doesn't really matter. They're moving slowly over the waves, driven by oars and dial, with sun on their skin and salt in the air.
Luffy's right in the middle of talking about the weird white dog who turned out to be quite cool, when he realises he can only hear his own voice talking. It's dark around him and the air smells of cave.
*
He opens his eyes and looks around him. Early daylight comes in from the opening at the mountaintop, and Shaman-Guy and Mermaid-Doctor are standing around their stove with a fire crackling under it. No-one else in the crew seems to be up yet, though.
He pulls his knees up and hugs his legs, then just sits like that for a while, staring into the grey morning light.
Eventually he turns his pillow over and picks up Usopp's armband. It's a lot warmer now, but not dry yet. Luffy gets up and slowly walks over to the stove, nods hello to the merguys and puts the armband on a spare part of the stove so it can dry. A pot of porridge is boiling there, and he can't stop his stomach from rumbling.
But first he turns to the merman and mermaid and tells them what kind of place they want for the funeral, a cliff that's high up and not too many trees but close to the ocean. Oh, and with soil that's easy to dig in. "Is there anything like that around here?" When Ananshio tells them there is a place like that far to the south, which overlooks the sea both to the east and to the west, Luffy nods in satisfaction. "Okay. We'll all go there, and see if it's good enough."
Ananshio slips into the water and swims away to do some breakfast fishing, which Luffy can only approve of. He pulls out the impact dial still left in his pocket and shows it to Piriko. "Hey, do you know what this is?" She shakes her head and looks curious, so he starts telling her all about how it works, finishing with "...so even if you're not strong you can deal with much stronger people like this, you just throw their power back at them." He thinks for a moment and adds, "But it can be rough on your arm if you're not prepared for it."
"Still, it sounds quite amazing," says Piriko, reaching out to touch the dial carefully but avoiding the button. "What a clever device."
Luffy grins. "Yep. Anyway, you guys can have it if you like. You never know! You might need it one day if some jerks come around again." Well, they'll need more stuff than this, actually, but that's a thought for later. "I don't use them myself, so..." He keeps holding it out to her as she looks hesitant.
"Well..." she finally says, "if you're sure... It's a great gift. Thank you very much, Monkey D. Luffy." She smiles softly as she takes the dial, putting it on her medicine table. "Maybe my daughter will want it some day, when she's older. She'll be quite the warrior then, to listen to her!"
Luffy nods again. "Good."
*
When they all walk off after breakfast, he leaves Kabuto and the bag behind in the cave, with their packs. They don't have to be taken up there. It's different.
*
Nami finishes the lullaby and the air is full of silence as they all stand by the grave. The coffin is in the ground now, and soon they'll need to start covering it with earth. The air is fresh, swift winds passing by. Seagulls are calling further away.
Luffy sits down in the windswept grass, crossing his legs. Sitting is easier than standing.
"I don't wanna start talking," he says, roughly and slowly. "I don't wanna say anything." He pauses, looking at the ground, adjusts his blue-and-white armband. A ladybird creeps up one of the blades of grass, then flies away.
"I don't wanna start talking," Luffy repeats, faster now. "'Cause then I'll have to stop talking later. And that will really be like saying goodbye. To the part of you that won't stay with us. And I don't want to do that."
He goes on. "You were in my dream last night so... so maybe that means you wanted to do that, then. But just because you were ready for it doesn't mean I am." He swallows. Everything is big and bright and raw and hard, really hard. Luffy squeezes his eyes shut, pressing his hands into tight fists, nails digging into his palms. Breathing in, out. His pulse roars in his head.
"...it's not that important what I want," he gets out at last. A long exhalation, then he stumbles awkwardly to his feet, takes a step forward.
Usopp wouldn't want him to say 'Sorry', but he can still say this. "Thank you," he whispers, then coughs and tries again, louder. "Thanks for holding out so long, waiting for us. For telling us what to do, for K-Kabuto." For joining up, for sailing with us, fighting with us, laughing and joking and sharing your dream, for being one of us. For being you. His throat is all thick again, and all those words won't come out, he can't make them. "...For all of it," he says simply. Tears are trilling down his cheeks now, but he manages to stand straight, only wiping away the worst of it.
And now he can find nothing left in him to say, no words to capture from the air. He turns his head, looks at the rest of his crew - he will always think of it like that from now on, never simply the crew as an unbroken whole again - and finally settles his gaze on the tallest and oldest. He nods at his musician. And Brook takes up his violin again and starts to play "Binks' Sake".
Brook plays it differently from all the times he's played it before, neither party-happy nor alone-sad-lonely. Somewhere in between. He also plays stronger and wilder and more beautiful than Luffy's ever heard him, putting all his soul power into the tones as they pour out like wine, like great green waves over the cliff, the crew, the forest behind them, shore and sea below them.
The music goes out, out, further away, and Luffy thinks the merfolk must hear it even if they're still in the mountain, or swimming in the sea. The beasts of the island must hear it, the sea currents further away. He can feel it in his mind, the music travelling on secret paths known only to the best of musicians, flying over the New World, the Red Line, the first half of the Grand Line, the Reverse Mountain, East Blue... up ten thousand metres in the sky and down to the bottom of the ocean, he can hear the melody flowing. Our song. Our song.
A voice starts singing the words, shakily; it's his own, faster than his thoughts. He doesn't try to match the strength of Brook's violin, doesn't make the words ring out, just sings them as best he's able to,
"...to deliver Bink’s sake,
let's follow the sea breeze, follow the waves,
There's a great big sun in the evening sky
and it blazes bright and red...”
Bit by bit, the others join in, some with words and some only with low hums, while Brook only lets his instrument speak.
And then – just then, only then, only for an instant, a moment as thin and brief as the glint of sun on the edge of a quickly moving blade – he feels like the music takes him to a glimpse of Elsewhere, of something deep and wide and high and very very strange, where the sea is not the sea and the sky is not the sky and nothing moves yet everything does. Far, far away there are sunlit waves behind a great dark passage, but the song rises, rises; unfolds its wings and flies and moves and keeps striving.
It's too much, the next moment it's gone again in his mind, and he puts a hand on his chest and the other hand on his arm and stands there in the sunlight of the day, singing the words of that old song with everyone. All of the words, until Brook lowers his violin. Then it's over, and there's only one thing left to do. They've only got two spades, but this time everyone wants to help, and hands can carry earth, too.
*
End of chapter 13
To be concluded
Continued from Absence, Chapter 13, part 2. For disclaimer, warning and more info, see that part. Forward-dated to avoid f-list spamming.
**
Zoro
Zoro walks in a darkness that's almost but not quite total. There is a very faint light that comes in from somewhere, but he can't tell from where; it's not enough to show him where he's going or what he leaves behind, only the barest outline of his own body and a mere hint of the ground in front of him.
He holds the green Kabuto in one hand, recognised by shape rather than colour. There's a very low, vibrating hum coming from it. At times he thinks it sounds like someone mumbling inaudibly, but when he holds it up to his ear it goes back to a buzzlike hum.
Or maybe he's simply too distracted to listen properly. Because the swords by his side are only two: Shusui and Sandai Kitetsu. Wadou Ichimonji isn't there, and he can't see it anywhere in this great engulfing darkness.
And then, finally, bright light in front of him in the form of a burning torch. He squints and shields his working eye as he comes closer to the source. As he realises he half expected, it's Usopp who's standing there with the torch in one hand. And holding Wadou in the other. Zoro walks up to him, then stops, folding his arms.
"Finally," the sniper says, looking relieved. "Figures you'd be the hardest one to find. Come on, let's get going."
Zoro stays put. "...You're carrying my sword," he points out.
Usopp shrugs. "Only fair, right?" He nods at Green Kabuto. "You're carrying my weapon." Zoro tenses up at that – Do you want to get it back? he thinks, but doesn't say. After a beat, Usopp puts his head to one side and smiles briefly. "Relax, it's just for a little while. Until we get there." He starts walking, holding Wadou on the other side from where Zoro is.
Well, Zoro isn't going to start lunging for the sword, nor will he propose a trade. He tightens his hold on Kabuto and follows.
"Where are we going?" he asks.
Usopp doesn't turn his head. "Depends. Where do you want to go?"
Zoro thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "Doesn't matter. Some place where there's booze, I guess."
"Okay," says Usopp. He scratches his nose and nods. "No problem, I can do that." And then they're off to walk down dark narrow passages, Usopp leading them in what feels like haphazard turns and twists to Zoro. They're both quiet for several minutes.
Then, just as Usopp's torch sputters and goes out, there's another light in front of them - a lantern, hanging askew above a broken wooden sign over a door. Zoro can't make out the words, but it looks like the sign of a bar or pub. Only then does he realise he must have been wrong this whole time: they haven't been walking in mountain tunnels as he thought, but rather through the narrow alleys of a town on a dark clouded night, with no street lamps.
Usopp tosses aside the torch and presses down the door handle, but then he pauses as there is suddenly less darkness around them. Zoro turns around and looks up, where a silver moon crescent has just sailed out from a sea of clouds, now spreading its light on the quiet city street with its brick walls and rubbish bins, window shutters and prowling cats. And then they step inside.
Despite the broken sign, the place inside looks more scruffy and forlorn than seedy; sparse in its decorations and lighting, but still relatively clean. Some of the chairs and tables are unusually rough and misshapen, not that that bothers Zoro any. There are no other patrons in sight. The bar itself is the most well-kept area, with its polished dark wood and the two bright lamps hanging over it.
At the opposite end of the bar sits the bartender, smoking a pensive cigarette. She looks up as they sit down at the bar, and Zoro recognises Shakky of Sabãody. But while her smile is friendly enough, she doesn't seem to be in a mood to chat – she simply slides them one bottle each before they've even said anything, and without asking for money. Then she goes back to smoking and looking off into the distance.
Usopp lets go of Wadou, not handing the sword over but instead putting it down to lean against the side of the bar between them. Zoro lays Kabuto down on the bar itself. They open their bottles: Zoro drinks deeply, Usopp more moderately.
He doesn't recognise the taste, and the bottle has no label. The drink feels smooth but potent, like something that hasn't yet revealed its full power. It tastes of summer nights on land or misty evenings at sea, of possibilities, discoveries, and unforeseen wisdom.
Usopp breaks the silence first. "It looked just like that the night we first fought together. Remember? When the Black Cat Pirates attacked, there was a new moon."
Zoro nods. He does remember. Full moons always make him think of Kuina, of a secret fight and a promise made on a night like that. He's pretty sure that from now on crescent moons will always make him think of Usopp.
Usopp leans his chin on his hand and looks out into the air with a thoughtful, faraway expression. "It was pretty terrifying, that time," he says softly. "But it was more scary thinking I'd fail than just not making it. First time I realised that." He adjusts his hat a little, drinks some more.
Zoro's eyes fix the Kabuto lying in front of him on the bar. Don't sound like that, don't look that way, he wants to tell Usopp. You're not supposed to say that kind of thing. It's too much now, all of a sudden, even in a dream he's too tired. Things he's kept suppressed for all this time start to bubble up, helped by the booze and the moonlight outside and the fact that it is a dream.
"I still think it's all wrong, you know," he says in a low voice, not raising his head. "It wasn't supposed to happen." It wasn't fate. Or at least it wasn't the kind of fate that Zoro could recognise and acknowledge. Zoro continues. "The cook got mad when we had a council…" He recalls Sanji's outburst that day, exploding in a way the others hadn't dared to, "...he wanted to imagine you in a peaceful future, with your wife and children and grandchildren, telling everyone stories about us…"
He finishes his first bottle. Shakky slides down four more bottles towards them; Zoro halts them and opens a second one, without turning his head to look straight at Usopp; but he’s very aware of the now quite still figure beside him.
"I wanted that, too," he goes on, his voice still low, "but more than that, I wanted to see who you would become. If you would be a captain one day, maybe not like in your stories… maybe better. Or if you'd set that aside for real and become… something else, I don't know what it'd be. Something different from the kinds of pirates and warriors I already know, something new." It is not a thought he's ever put into exact words before, but it has still been there for a long time, vague and half-shaped. "Different from the rest of us, too, 'cause you already lived your dream. You conquered it every day, just by surviving."
In the corner of his eye, he sees Shakky stub out her cigarette and takes out a big notebook that she starts leafing through, in her inscrutable bartenderish way. He puts down the second bottle and starts on the third. This one has wine in it, red and strong.
Darting a quick glance at Usopp, he sees him nodding his head a bit, not like he agrees but waiting for Zoro to go on, looking guarded and wary. Zoro turns back to stare down at the grain of the wooden bar, of his own calloused hands and the polished green wood and white bindings of Kabuto. He isn’t done yet. More words that had been crushed down come spilling out.
"But you abandoned us. I wanted to see the kind of person you'd become, I wanted you to stay by our side in battles to come. And you just… fell. You weren't supposed to go ahead and do that. I'm the one who ought to have died the first of us, didn't you know that? Luffy was right, you really are an idiot." His voice grows thicker and shakier. He puts down the bottle slowly, a careful movement.
Usopp shifts in his seat, looking uncomfortable.
"Don't think that would have made anyone happier," he mutters. "Geez, Zoro, you're not shy about bringing out the big guns, are you?"
Zoro flares up. "And why the hell should I be? You LEFT! Again!!" He takes another deep drink, then goes on in a much lower and even gruffer tone, "And I never got to tell you I'm really proud of you. Guess you might've known, though."
A long pause follows. Small sounds fill the air: creaking walls, Shakky turning over a leaf in her notebook.
Finally, Usopp clears his throat. "If you're expecting an apology, forget it," he says roughly, just a hint of tremor in his voice. "I'm not Merry."
"No, I don't, and I never said that," Zoro protests. "What the hell good would that do?" He thinks a little, one hand wandering over to Kabuto and seizing it. There's still a hum there. "But you did say it to Kaya," he points out, the report of Usopp's last words still very clear in his mind. "Mermaid said so."
It's Usopp's turn to drink deeply, from another bottle of wine. "That's different," he mumbles, softer now. "I couldn't keep my promise to her."
Zoro bristles, a hot fire of fury inside him now. "Yeah?? And what about us, then? You think that was just okay?" Has it been there all the time, this fire, only hidden away in the protective cocoon around him? Zoro suspects so.
This time, Usopp actually flinches; but then he straightens up and seems to rally. He turns in his chair to face Zoro more directly, leaning on one elbow, the other arm resting on his leg. "So," he says in a low, tense tone, "the next time Luffy is in great danger, or it looks like he is, you're gonna just ignore it if it might be too dangerous for you?" He snorts disdainfully. "Pfft. Like I'm supposed to believe that."
"That's not the same thing!" Zoro insists, though in the back of his head he's aware his logic might be failing.
"Why not?"
"It – it just – it’s not." Because we never viewed death the same way. "And I should have been there," the words tumble out now, and he knows this is the strongest, deepest part of his fury, "I should have stopped it." He has to let go of Kabuto, afraid he'll grip it too hard and snap it in two by accident. Instead he grabs the edge of the bar, feeling it starting to crack under his grip. I wasn't there. Too busy with less important fights. Never realised you were still alive when we left the island. Should have known, should have sensed it. All wrong, wrong, wrong now. It's been a month and he's still burning. He didn't even know this fire was in him, all hidden away and pushed down so deep he couldn't see it before. "Should have..." he whispers hoarsely, can't go on.
Usopp rubs his eyes, then sits back. He hugs his arms for a moment, looking down, then folds them more properly and looks straight into the air with a tired expression. They're both silent for a while.
Zoro's aware his logic is lacking on the face of it, but he refuses to take anything back. If he did that... he's not sure what would happen. Something would break. And it would feel like a lie.
Then Usopp leans forward again, chin in hand, no longer looking tense and defensive. "Maybe... maybe I'd be just the same, in your shoes," he says thoughtfully, starting to spin an empty cocktail glass around on its edge. "Hell, I'd probably throw stuff at you to start with." The glass goes faster and faster. A sparkle appears inside it, growing stronger. "You're still wrong, though," Usopp adds, but not very loudly. Zoro holds his tongue, watching the spinning bottle closely. There are odd colours within it, metallic and purple-grey.
Usopp lets go and the bottle keeps spinning on its own, without slowing down, until the sniper snaps his fingers. A tiny bell chimes, and then the whole thing dissolves into a shimmer and a yellow butterfly which promptly flies away and out of sight. Zoro blinks, rubbing his eyes, then starts drinking again.
"Hey," says Usopp. "I wanted to ask you something."
Zoro nods shortly, calmer by now. He's released the bar’s edge. "Okay."
"About that." Usopp nods at Kabuto, lying next to Zoro's hand. "It works like I'd hoped. You guys will be stronger like that. But... you and I both know it's only a stopgap. All of you are better suited for other kinds of fighting."
Zoro puts a protective hand around the big slingshot. "Getting cold feet?" he asks in a low tone, managing to keep fear out of his voice.
Usopp shakes his head. "No way. I'm only saying this to you now, 'cause I don't think the others are ready to hear it. One day you're going to run into someone out there who's real good at sniping, someone who wants to sail with us and is someone we'll like and that Luffy will want. It may take a long time, but I'm sure it will happen, eventually. There has to be someone out there like that. It's a big world."
He opens a new bottle and takes another drink. "So. I'm selfish, okay? If there's a person like that, let them handle Kabuto. And if it works out fine, if they don't have a style that's too different from mine, then they ought to be allowed to stay." He looks at Zoro, very seriously. "When that happens, it would be good if you could stand up for the new one in front of the others. Tell 'em it's supposed to be that way. It makes the best sense."
Zoro twitches. "You're saddling me with that now?" he growls. "It's up to Luffy in the end, isn't it?"
Usopp nods. "Yeah. But maybe he won't be sure. And the others might make a fuss." He starts to slide empty bottles (the ones that Zoro emptied, mostly) back over to the bartender's corner. Though Shakky isn't there anymore, Zoro notices only now. "Or," Usopp adds, "no-one might even think of letting them try the Kabuto in the first place."
Mouth thinning, Zoro folds his own arms and leans a bit away from Usopp, resentment coursing through him. Why does it have to be me? Surely one of the others would have been able to see the reason in this, too. Would they still say no? Would they forget about it after waking up? He doubts it.
But fair or not, he is the one who's being asked. Swearing under his breath, he kneads his forehead and slumps a bit. "Fine." He bends down to pick up Wadou, putting it in his lap. "I will. But only if they really are compatible like that. In every way." He glares at his crewmate. "And that's assuming there even is someone like that who we will run into."
Usopp looks relieved. "Sure." He turns back to look down at the bottle he's just opened, then frowns. "Nah, I've had enough," he mutters. Instead, he waves a hand over it and it turns into a cup of steaming hot coffee.
"Show-off," says Zoro, milder now. For his part, he'll stick with the booze. His hands are trembling when he raises the bottle. But he drinks it slowly, and it feels like he drinks it all in, now, taking this moment in with him, putting it where it should be in his heart and his mind. When he lowers the bottle again there is nothing left, and his hands are steady again.
"Hey," he says suddenly a little later, "have you talked to everyone else now?" At Usopp's raised eyebrows, he goes on, "When you ran into me, you said I was the hardest to find."
Usopp shakes his head. "No, not yet. But I know where Luffy's gonna be."
"Okay. Good." Zoro nods. He raises his air and sniffs: the air tastes differently, now, like it's not all that far from morning. One of the windows must be open.
A movement. Zoro spins around, swords at the ready. But it's only Shakky who's come back from wherever she's been. She's putting up chairs on the tables and blow out the few candles still burning.
Or... is it Shakky? He was sure so at first, but now he wonders. The height is the same, and the movements, but the figure is wrapped in a coat with a cowl, face half-hidden. A chill runs through Zoro. No. Don't come here. Not yet. He stands up in front of Usopp in useless protectiveness.
But then she pushes the cowl down and it is Shakky after all (or it became her again; we're in dream country now, Zoro reminds himself). She's quite unperturbed, as usual. "Closing time, boys," is all she says. The two ceiling lamps go out at her wave, and the bottles disappear.
"Hey, maybe we're not ready to– " Zoro starts to say, but Usopp stops him, tugging at his haramaki. "It's okay, she's right," he murmurs. "Hold on, just gonna drink this up..." He finishes his coffee in one gulp, then stands up and dusts himself off. "Come on."
He walks towards the door, his steps light and easy, and there is nothing for Zoro to do but follow.
"Mind your step," Shakky murmurs behind them, even though the threshold is not very high. Outside it, however, the ground – the ground moves. And it isn't stony pavement, but planks on a deck.
"So, we're on a ship now," he says, blinks briefly but not terribly surprised. He looks around in the moonlight, as bright as from a full moon. "Doesn't look like Sunny, though..." Not like Merry, either, for all that he still dreams of their old ship at times. The sky is already noticeably lighter in one direction, though he sees no hint of a rosy-yellow glow over there yet. The moon has almost set, with one point of the crescent touching the horizon to meet its reflection.
Usopp seeks his hand and presses it, just once. But when Zoro turns his head he's not there anymore.
Yet something – instinct, perhaps, the memory of all Usopp's grandly romantic stories – propels him to walk over to the railing at the side where the moon is, and look down. And sure enough, there he is, standing on some kind of raftlike skiff holding a tiller. There's no sail and hardly any wind for that matter, but the tiny vessel has already started to move away from the unknown ship, even so. Maybe there's some kind of cola engine driving it, Zoro thinks fuzzily.
If it had been him there on that skiff, Zoro isn't too sure he would have looked back. But it isn't him, and Usopp does turn his head and looks back. He's always been the type who does that, thinks Zoro, raising a hand slowly. The sniper is hard to see well with his face against the moonlight, but his teeth gleam, so he must be smiling. And he's waving back. Then he turns again to tend to the small boat. He seems to be heading straight towards the setting moon.
Zoro keeps looking, the cold fresh breath of the night's last hour on his face, his cheeks hot from the booze, his three swords by his side.
When he can't see him anymore, he turns his head and wakes up. Only then does he realise he left Kabuto behind at the bar, and panics for a moment until he sees it lying on the cave floor where it should be, between the still-sleeping Nami and Luffy's empty bedroll. Zoro has to touch it for a moment, reassured by the tingling presence still in it, before he lumbers off for the morning wash.
*
He eats breakfast slowly, listening to what little small talk there is, agreeing or not to the important talk about the day to come. Then it's time to go, to help carry the stretcher with Sanji and Robin, darkness and emptiness all around them. It takes a long time to walk up the path.
He waits on the green mountain slopes as Franky carves their symbols all over the coffin, marking it bit by bit as belonging to them all. It's a beautiful day; Nami's sure it's been raining. Robin gathers flowers. Now carrying only the spade strapped to his back, he walks the rest of the way with the others, breathing in the air that seems even fresher now. Autumn has come.
They reach the cliff with the sea at both sides, western and eastern, and a tall boulder on it. It will do, he quietly agrees with the others. There's no need for him to speak up and say so.
He unstraps the spade and starts digging with Sanji. They make the grave as deep as it needs to be. The silence is as wide as the sky.
Then there is music and words that break the silence briefly; there are also quiet gestures that don't. Brook's new song still echoes in Zoro's head as he watches Robin step back from the coffin with an empty flower basket. He walks up there, intending to close the lid, but then he stops himself. He feels like he's on the brink of something, and has to focus to regain his inner balance. When he starts to speak it's with a husky voice; he hasn't been talking since breakfast.
"I bet there's new adventures where you're going. I don't think those other lands, or the journey to them, are without their dangers. But you've got a weapon." He nods at the black Kabuto that Chopper's just put there, and the pouch of ammunition next to it, all surrounded by flowers. "Maybe you'll find Merry there. And you've got... you. I'm not worried." He swallows. In front of this still figure that he helped wash and wrap yesterday, the words all sound very clumsy. There's no way he can make them sharp and clean enough, like a good sword cut.
So instead of going on, he just draws Wadou and lets the tip of the sword touch the black Kabuto where it lies. The slingshot itself will stay in the earth until it rots, of course, but who's to say there can't be a spirit of the trusted weapon, one that can go on to be somewhere else? And if there is a way Zoro can share some of his own strength and will, it is worth a try.
There is a part of Usopp left with them in Green Kabuto, now, lending his strength to stay with them. They can all feel it, they just need to accept the weight of it. It feels right to try to pay back a little of that gift – but there's more to it than that. Privately, Zoro thinks as he sheathes his sword and gently closes the lid, that perhaps there is another, smaller spark of Usopp's that will be in Wadou from now on.
He steps back and watches as Robin and Luffy together lower the coffin into the ground, then closes his eyes when Nami starts to sing an old lullaby. Yes. It may be so. Kuina's will can find room for Usopp's courage.
*
Luffy
He is standing on a long, windswept shore. It's early in the morning and the sun is still hidden by the tall trees of the island's forest, but the sky is as blue as it ever gets,. It's going to be a fine day.
The beach looks longer and wider than he remembers, yet he's absolutely sure this is one of the beaches of Usopp's home island. Because he recognises the cliff overlooking it, with the one tree right next to the edge. That was Usopp's special place and it's where they first started to become friends, talking about Yasopp and stupid butlers and great pirate dreams. He wants to reach it now, that spot where things began. It seems to him that if he could only get there, he could get back to how it was back then, all those many months and years ago. And they could redo everything all over again except he'd do it right this time and save his friend in time.
So he aims at the tree and starts to stretch his arms... Or he wants to. But nothing happens. The arms stay their normal shape. He pulls at his right arm with his left, but only feels a pinch of pain, just like a regular person would.
And yet there's no seastone around, he's perfectly dry and doesn't feel weak at all. He frowns. "Mystery," he mutters to himself. "Where the heck did the rubber go?" Focusing really hard, Luffy tries to stretch again, but to no avail.
"Hey, Luffy!" cries a voice behind him. "What're you doing?"
Luffy spins around. There's Usopp, standing on a small boat, almost a raft except it seems to have a lot of stuff for a raft; a big tiller that Usopp's holding, a long oar, a tiny mast with a ragged flag on it, and a familiar red cape tied to it like a sail. It's not the Strawhat flag, but Usopp's own symbol. One part of the boat is higher than the rest and there's a big crate standing there.
But it's the nineteen-year old Usopp, not the shorter and skinnier seventeen-year-old Luffy was hoping for in order to turn it all back. The black Kabuto sticks up from his usual bag across the shoulder. He's holding the tiller and steers towards Luffy and the shore.
"I wanted to get to the cliff!" says Luffy. "I thought you'd be there! What are you doing on that raft?"
"Isn't it obvious? Coming to see you! But I can't stay long," Usopp adds, as he picks up an anchor. "I'm on my way somewhere."
"I thought you'd be sailing on Merry." This is just a dream, Luffy gets that now. But it still feels important. It’s also the first dream he’s had in a month where he remembers Usopp clearly, not just in hints and little pieces.
"Merry is flying right now." Usopp half turns around, pointing up and away. Then he drops the anchor into the sea. "I'll get up to her later, once I get out a fair bit."
Luffy looks up into the sky, seeing nothing but blue. But he doesn't think Usopp is lying. "How're you gonna do that?" he asks. He really does want to know, but aside from that, he just wants to keep talking, and keep Usopp talking so he won’t turn away.
"Noooo problem!" Usopp's waves his fingers confidently, then points at the crate on the high end of the boat. "I've got rockets in there to launch me with half the raft. Worked it all out with Franky before, so it's gonna be just fine." He grins widely. "Besides, I'm an old hand at raft-launching. I used to launch whole flotillas of rafts up into the sky!"
"That's a lie, right?" Luffy tilts his head, then feels a smile start on his own face, too. "That sounds really cool, the rockets I mean."
Usopp straightens up, flexes his arms, and then... Luffy's jaw drops. Usopp's arms stretch out as if they were rubber, he grabs hold of a rock on the beach and then he's yanked into the air, flies about fifty metres and lands in a spray of sand.
"Hey!! How did you do that??" Luffy exclaims.
Usopp gets up and starts dusting himself off. "Oof. The landing part wasn't as easy as it looks."
Luffy points at him, confused. "You took my devil fruit!"
Usopp shrugs. "You were me for a while, can't I be you for just a couple of minutes?"
"Huh." Luffy considers that. "Well... I guess that's fair. But I'm gonna need it back when I wake up." He doesn't much want to think about waking up, though.
"Don't worry about it." Usopp gestures at the sea. "I'm not going to sail way out there without being able to swim." Luffy nods. Something holds him back from walking right up to Usopp and making sure he's there. Because if he isn't, if he turns out to be all ghostly, it would really suck.
Instead it's Usopp who walks up to him and bonks him on the head, not very hard.
"Hey! What's that for?!" Luffy rubs his head. At least it wasn't ghostly.
"That's for calling me a dummy, dummy!" Usopp huffs, "You think it was easy, coming up with all that wise stuff? Ptch, I thought I was doing great." He puts his nose in the air all pretend-snootily.
Luffy pouts. "No-one forced you to say that stuff." He shoves Usopp on the shoulder. "But telling us to listen was good," he adds, more quietly.
Usopp shoves back, smiling a little as he looks down and nods. "Yeah," he says quickly. There's a pocket of silence. Luffy looks down at the sand and grass and seashells at his feet.
"Hey. Luffy." Usopp pulls off his blue-and-white armband, then holds it out to Luffy. "I'd like you to have this. You already took this back there in the mountain, right? You should have the dream version, too."
Luffy opens his mouth to ask him if he's sure, then shuts it. He must be. "...Okay." The armband is dry and warm (unlike the real one), and fits really well on his arm.
He fingers the brim of his hat, pulling it around a bit. "I wish I had two strawhats. Then I could give one of them to you." Usopp laughs a bit at that, looking surprised, but in a good way. Luffy looks around, but there's still just the beach, the forest, the cliffs, with nothing interesting on it – no washed-up treasure chests full of cool stuff, or driftwood in interesting shapes, messages in bottles... Nothing he could give in return.
Digging in his pockets, his fingers closing in on something hard and flat in one of them. Oh. Right. He'd forgotten about that.
"Look." He takes out the impact dial and holds it out to Usopp. "I found this yesterday morning and thought it was mine, but that was when I was still kinda crazy. It's yours, isn't it? D'you want it back? Maybe you'll need it." For all he knows, there might be... stupid demons or real crazy ghosts or other weird stuff on the way to wherever Usopp needs to go.
Usopp hmms thoughtfully, eyeing the dial. "Isn't that the one I hurt you with back then?"
"Maybe?" Luffy hasn't thought of that. He shrugs. "Does it matter if it is? That was a long time ago."
"Yeah, it was." Usopp sighs softly, smiles a bit. "Long time now. It wouldn't be that bad if it were... hm. What to do, what do to..." he mumbles to himself, scratching his chin hair. "Nah, I don't think so," he finally says, putting his hands in his pockets. "Even if it's not that bad, there's still a weight to it, you know? I think we're only supposed to take stuff that keep us light."
Luffy sighs and puts the dial back in his pocket. "Fine... but that's no fair, you should still get something, too. Hey, wait." He points at Usopp's bag. "Do you have a marker in there?"
"Lemme check..." Usopp starts rifling through the bag and digs up a marker after a little while. "Here it is. Why?"
Luffy takes it. "Hold out your arm. You need something else there now." He draws an X on it, like they did before landing in Alabasta. Over that he draws the Strawhat symbol: maybe it's not quite as neat as when Usopp draws it, but it's still the right one. "There, now you got both flags with you." He grins, not quite as wide as he usually would. Usopp looks at his arm, laughs in half surprise, then opens his mouth only to close it right again. He closes his eyes for a moment and looks pretty happy.
"It looks really good, Luffy," he says in a low voice. "Thanks." Looking up again, he smiles and adds, "Everyone's gonna be all right, you know."
A lump in Luffy's throat that's been there for a while is a bit too big all of a sudden. He nods, his grin gone. "I know."
"I was in Sunny's dream," Usopp continues, "and everyone of us was a small boat, sailing around the ship. Then the sea turned to sky and we all turned into all kinds of seabirds, flying around it and shouting and stuff. Never stopping." He takes out a tiny toy boat from his bag, one that looks just like his new raft-boat thing. "Can you hold this for me? I just want to get some bark."
"Are you gonna make little boats?" Luffy follows him to the nearest tree, an evergreen with plenty of good bark that's easy to tear off. Usopp starts to do so, handing them to Luffy. As soon as Luffy receives them, they all turn into tiny carved boats, some even with twig masts and leaves for sails. "Coool!" he comments, meaning it. He remembers playing at things like this with Ace and Sabo, even if they had to beat up alligators in the creeks first at times. Luffy was never all that good at the carving bit, though.
They walk over to a spot on the beach where the sea fills into a tiny stone basin, putting all nine boats there. Right then the sun rises over the treetops and the waters glitters around the little boats while they dip and rise together.
"That's good," he says, sitting down on his haunches to look at them.
"Yeah," Usopp agrees, squatting down as well. "But I guess..." His voice trails off as he picks up his own boat, gives it a considering look, then breaks it in half. Luffy's about to protest, but swallows it when Usopp puts half the boat back down with the others. It's still floating. The other half goes back inside the bag.
"You're gonna have to let them fight again, you know," says Usopp without looking up.
The boats don't seem as bright and happy anymore. "...I know," mumbles Luffy, biting his lower lip. "'S not fair to them otherwise, I know. I was nuts before," he adds defensively.
Usopp turns to him and shoves him a bit again, smiling. "All right. Hey, if you don't shape up, I'll just have to start haunting you!"
Luffy blinks. "I thought you were already haunting us!" he points out, but the thought still makes him feel better.
"Oh yeah, I guess one could say that..." Usopp splashes his fingers in the water, wipes his hand on his trousers and gets up on his feet. Luffy pokes one of the boats with a stick and then gets up as well. "Well," Usopp announces, "maybe I'll learn how to make Green Kabuto tickle people! Then you'll watch out!"
A slingshot with weird tickling arms? Luffy laughs, even though he also has to wipe his eyes just a little. "Well, so what? Then I'll just tickle back!" He sticks out his tongue. "Dumbass!"
Usopp grins real widely now. "You're the dumbass!" And then he just steps closer and hugs Luffy tightly. Luffy hugs back, even harder. He really is all warm and solid.
"You have no idea how damn proud of you I am," Usopp whispers roughly.
Don't let go. It's all Luffy can do not to say it out loud. He just holds on, squeezing his eyes shut and swallowing tightly, unable to speak. Breathing, breathing. His arms are trembling now, no, his whole body is.
He's afraid Usopp will let go after just a few seconds, but he stays like that, he stays. For as long as it takes for Luffy's breathing to steady, for words to be possible again.
"How long?" he finally manages to whisper.
"Huh?" Usopp breaks off the hug and takes half a step back, blinking at him.
Luffy licks his lips, swallows once more, and tries agan. "You-in-Kabuto. How long?"
"I– I'm not sure," says Usopp, looking serious. "I think at least until you become the Pirate King. Maybe longer." There's a hungry, wishing look in his eyes. "I really want it to be longer. Um, those souls who were tied to the bone whistle before, they said they'd try to give me as much time as they could. Some... it was some part of the spell they could redirect, before they all passed on." He makes a vague circling gesture with both hands.
Then he reaches out to pull at Luffy's mouth and lights up. "Hey, hugging worked! You're rubber again!"
"I am!" exclaims Luffy, and has to help pull it too just to make sure. It may just be a dream, but it's still nice to have his powers back. Even though he's forgotten what he wanted them for, earlier.
"Okay..." Usopp says slowly, takes another step back. Then he unties his shoes, steps out of them and hikes up his trouser legs. He nods towards his boat. "Guess I'll have to go on now, can't stay here all day..."
"What? Hey, that's not fair!" Luffy protests while Usopp starts to wade out towards the raft, carrying his boots. "Are you just gonna leave me here?? This is your home island way back in East Blue, I can't stay here! I have to get back to where everyone is!"
Usopp gives him a surprised look over his shoulder. "Luffy, it's a dream," he says patiently. "You'll just wake up and be back."
"I know it's a dream, idiot!" Luffy starts wading into the water as well. "But what if I still get lost? I was lost in my mind for a month, you know."
Usopp sighs. He's reached the raft now. "Don't I know it. But I can't let you ride with me, it's not allowed... Though maybe..." He gets up on the raft and turns to point at the basin puddle. "If you take one of the small boats and try to make it bigger – just think it big, you know – you could get in that one. But you can only go with me a short way!" he adds quickly.
Luffy doesn't question the advice. Make it bigger, okay, why not? He turns around and runs to the basin, picks one of the little bark boats at random and puts it into the water. Then he leans back a bit, puts his hands on his hips and gives the boat a stern look. "Okay, grow!" For a moment nothing happens, but then there's a big creaking sound and there's a real boat in front of him in the water, made of planks and not bark. No sail, but who cares, he can row.
"Great work, Luffy!" Usopp shouts, and there's a sharp twinge in his chest at that but Luffy still grins in response. He jumps into the boat and pushes it out to deeper water with one oar, then starts rowing properly. Usopp has already hauled his anchor and waits for him, then just sits down and presses down on a familiar-looking shell at the end of his raftboat, one of a whole row of them.
"You've got wind dials! No fair!" Luffy says happily. "Bet I can still row faster, though."
"Oi, I'm just using this one for now." Usopp looks pretty smug, though, settling into a crosslegged pose while still holding the tiller. "Since there's not much wind. Anyway, yeah, there was this great scrapyard thing in Franky's dream. Figured I might as well take advantage."
That does sound pretty neat, Luffy has to admit. He looks at his own boat. "Hey, you know, this looks just like the boat I first set out in on my home island. Except I brought a barrel of water along. If it hadn't been for that, I'd have drowned for sure."
Usopp makes an incredulous sound. "What, that small? You're nuts! Not even a sail?"
Luffy laughs. "Yeah, that's what everyone said, but I didn't want anything bigger. It was fine for the first hour or so, though!"
To Usopp's questions, laughs and groaning remarks, Luffy continues telling him of those early days, meeting Coby and Zoro and the crazy Marine Captain, then running into Nami and Buggy. He can't quite keep the story in a straight line, but that doesn't really matter. They're moving slowly over the waves, driven by oars and dial, with sun on their skin and salt in the air.
Luffy's right in the middle of talking about the weird white dog who turned out to be quite cool, when he realises he can only hear his own voice talking. It's dark around him and the air smells of cave.
*
He opens his eyes and looks around him. Early daylight comes in from the opening at the mountaintop, and Shaman-Guy and Mermaid-Doctor are standing around their stove with a fire crackling under it. No-one else in the crew seems to be up yet, though.
He pulls his knees up and hugs his legs, then just sits like that for a while, staring into the grey morning light.
Eventually he turns his pillow over and picks up Usopp's armband. It's a lot warmer now, but not dry yet. Luffy gets up and slowly walks over to the stove, nods hello to the merguys and puts the armband on a spare part of the stove so it can dry. A pot of porridge is boiling there, and he can't stop his stomach from rumbling.
But first he turns to the merman and mermaid and tells them what kind of place they want for the funeral, a cliff that's high up and not too many trees but close to the ocean. Oh, and with soil that's easy to dig in. "Is there anything like that around here?" When Ananshio tells them there is a place like that far to the south, which overlooks the sea both to the east and to the west, Luffy nods in satisfaction. "Okay. We'll all go there, and see if it's good enough."
Ananshio slips into the water and swims away to do some breakfast fishing, which Luffy can only approve of. He pulls out the impact dial still left in his pocket and shows it to Piriko. "Hey, do you know what this is?" She shakes her head and looks curious, so he starts telling her all about how it works, finishing with "...so even if you're not strong you can deal with much stronger people like this, you just throw their power back at them." He thinks for a moment and adds, "But it can be rough on your arm if you're not prepared for it."
"Still, it sounds quite amazing," says Piriko, reaching out to touch the dial carefully but avoiding the button. "What a clever device."
Luffy grins. "Yep. Anyway, you guys can have it if you like. You never know! You might need it one day if some jerks come around again." Well, they'll need more stuff than this, actually, but that's a thought for later. "I don't use them myself, so..." He keeps holding it out to her as she looks hesitant.
"Well..." she finally says, "if you're sure... It's a great gift. Thank you very much, Monkey D. Luffy." She smiles softly as she takes the dial, putting it on her medicine table. "Maybe my daughter will want it some day, when she's older. She'll be quite the warrior then, to listen to her!"
Luffy nods again. "Good."
*
When they all walk off after breakfast, he leaves Kabuto and the bag behind in the cave, with their packs. They don't have to be taken up there. It's different.
*
Nami finishes the lullaby and the air is full of silence as they all stand by the grave. The coffin is in the ground now, and soon they'll need to start covering it with earth. The air is fresh, swift winds passing by. Seagulls are calling further away.
Luffy sits down in the windswept grass, crossing his legs. Sitting is easier than standing.
"I don't wanna start talking," he says, roughly and slowly. "I don't wanna say anything." He pauses, looking at the ground, adjusts his blue-and-white armband. A ladybird creeps up one of the blades of grass, then flies away.
"I don't wanna start talking," Luffy repeats, faster now. "'Cause then I'll have to stop talking later. And that will really be like saying goodbye. To the part of you that won't stay with us. And I don't want to do that."
He goes on. "You were in my dream last night so... so maybe that means you wanted to do that, then. But just because you were ready for it doesn't mean I am." He swallows. Everything is big and bright and raw and hard, really hard. Luffy squeezes his eyes shut, pressing his hands into tight fists, nails digging into his palms. Breathing in, out. His pulse roars in his head.
"...it's not that important what I want," he gets out at last. A long exhalation, then he stumbles awkwardly to his feet, takes a step forward.
Usopp wouldn't want him to say 'Sorry', but he can still say this. "Thank you," he whispers, then coughs and tries again, louder. "Thanks for holding out so long, waiting for us. For telling us what to do, for K-Kabuto." For joining up, for sailing with us, fighting with us, laughing and joking and sharing your dream, for being one of us. For being you. His throat is all thick again, and all those words won't come out, he can't make them. "...For all of it," he says simply. Tears are trilling down his cheeks now, but he manages to stand straight, only wiping away the worst of it.
And now he can find nothing left in him to say, no words to capture from the air. He turns his head, looks at the rest of his crew - he will always think of it like that from now on, never simply the crew as an unbroken whole again - and finally settles his gaze on the tallest and oldest. He nods at his musician. And Brook takes up his violin again and starts to play "Binks' Sake".
Brook plays it differently from all the times he's played it before, neither party-happy nor alone-sad-lonely. Somewhere in between. He also plays stronger and wilder and more beautiful than Luffy's ever heard him, putting all his soul power into the tones as they pour out like wine, like great green waves over the cliff, the crew, the forest behind them, shore and sea below them.
The music goes out, out, further away, and Luffy thinks the merfolk must hear it even if they're still in the mountain, or swimming in the sea. The beasts of the island must hear it, the sea currents further away. He can feel it in his mind, the music travelling on secret paths known only to the best of musicians, flying over the New World, the Red Line, the first half of the Grand Line, the Reverse Mountain, East Blue... up ten thousand metres in the sky and down to the bottom of the ocean, he can hear the melody flowing. Our song. Our song.
A voice starts singing the words, shakily; it's his own, faster than his thoughts. He doesn't try to match the strength of Brook's violin, doesn't make the words ring out, just sings them as best he's able to,
"...to deliver Bink’s sake,
let's follow the sea breeze, follow the waves,
There's a great big sun in the evening sky
and it blazes bright and red...”
Bit by bit, the others join in, some with words and some only with low hums, while Brook only lets his instrument speak.
And then – just then, only then, only for an instant, a moment as thin and brief as the glint of sun on the edge of a quickly moving blade – he feels like the music takes him to a glimpse of Elsewhere, of something deep and wide and high and very very strange, where the sea is not the sea and the sky is not the sky and nothing moves yet everything does. Far, far away there are sunlit waves behind a great dark passage, but the song rises, rises; unfolds its wings and flies and moves and keeps striving.
It's too much, the next moment it's gone again in his mind, and he puts a hand on his chest and the other hand on his arm and stands there in the sunlight of the day, singing the words of that old song with everyone. All of the words, until Brook lowers his violin. Then it's over, and there's only one thing left to do. They've only got two spades, but this time everyone wants to help, and hands can carry earth, too.
*
End of chapter 13
To be concluded