Repost fic: Repairs & Replacements

[rainsometimes]

Here's a fic I posted a while back on onepiece_300, where it was treated kindly despite going waaaay over the word limit. But afterwards I felt like polishing it up a bit. After getting great beta from tonko_ni (PLUG: whose fic Till You Feel It All Around You, one of the bestest genfics ever, has now gotten recced on TVTropes! \o//PLUG), I rewrote it a bit and then... sat on it for several weeks for some unaccountable reason. To be honest I figure those who'd be interested have probably seen it already, but since I think it's better now I shall go ahead and post it here, anyway. ;p

After I'd posted the first version, it occurred to me that this ficlet felt close to the style of another fic writer who's on my friends' list. I'm not sure if anyone else would agree, let alone that very writer, but I'm noting it here anyway. Nothing wrong with a little influence, I hope!


Title: Repairs and Replacements
Rating: G
Media: fiction
Characters: Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Brook
Prompt: Broken

Spoilers/setting: From volume 3 to somewhere in Thriller Bark
Summary: Some things can be fixed and others can't.



"Then I'll leave my hat in your care." Yet now three daggers have been thrown at the strawhat, tearing through the crown. Luffy stares in shock, then turns white with rage, and explodes.

But after Buggy's defeated, Nami sews up the holes, and Luffy smiles happily. The world is set right again, and now he has a navigator to boot.

*

One effortless strike from Mihawk and Zoro's two black swords that he’s carried since childhood are cut in half, blades falling down onto deck. Irreparable. Everything's over, flashes through Zoro's head for an instant; but Wadou is still in his mouth and he finds his pride isn't completely broken after all. If he can still stand he will go down fighting; if he's meant to survive this, he'll find himself new swords.

Months later, he will watch in mute disbelief as Yubashiri crumbles before his eyes. And even though this time it’s due to a Devil Fruit power, not a superior swordsman, he can’t help but wonder if this means his will still isn’t strong enough.

*

The ship gets busted up by storms and seakings and cannonballs; by clumsy captains and bickering crewmates; by insane all-devouring kings, crazy apelike pirates and too many other weird things.

Usopp grumbles and mutters repeatedly that he's a sharpshooter, not a shipwright. Then he picks up hammer, nails and wood and gets to work patching Merry up, just trying to keep her going a little while longer. It's all he can do; it's not enough.


*

Chopper gets shy and stuttering when asked about the brace on his left antler, never really answering. He doesn't talk about the fight with the leader of the herd, much bigger than him, and the whole arduous, desperate quest to find a miraculous healing mushroom.

Although he didn't feel that way at the time, now he's happy that Doctorine fixed it up for him. If he had just the one antler, he couldn't fight as well as he does.

*

After he's pretty much finished the work of converting his broken-down human body into a new mechanical one, Franky finally allows himself to pass out.

When he wakes up, the first thing he does is inscribe his hardware shoulders with "BF 36". All his earlier Battle Frankys, thirty-five in number, are gone now; and this cyborg body is the last in the line. He will never build another ship, he’s decided. But at least this one won’t break as easily as the others.

*

For Brook, death itself has been corrected. He has no blood to lose, no organs that can get hurt; he's truly nothing but bones and memory and will. His bones do break sometimes, in tough fights; but milk will heal them quickly.

But his afro, if cut, will never grow out again. And if that happens, his friend won't ever recognise him, which means his promise would be as good as broken. He claims he'll die before he lets that happens... only, dying is no excuse.

Comments

[roseveare.livejournal.com]

I really love the section on Franky. And the line about Yubashiri. That moment horrified me in the anime -- for some reason I'm fond of Zoro's swords.

Luffy's hat has been repaired soooo much. :)

[serrende.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I have to admit I never noticed the "BF36" thing until someone on a discussion forum pointed it out. I pretty much steal ideas from all over.

Zoro and his swords are interesting. He does seem to think the strength of the blade and the will of its owner is the same, right? And there's that arresting line in Arlong Park (paraphrased), "Johnny, Yusaku! Lend me your swords - your souls!" I re-read the Ryuma fight the other dayin the Swedish translation, and noticed he claimed to only be carrying the broken Yubashiri for balance. Yet later we saw him doing a kind of funeral ceremony for it, next to Brook remembering his old crew. I took that to mean that Zoro felt the spirit of Yubashiri would be at rest now, knowing Zoro had found a worthwhile successor.

(I may be over-analysing things...)

[horusguard76.livejournal.com]

I adore your stories. My favourite paragraph was about Brook. The last sentence was brilliant. :)

[dethorats]

Augh. Just...augh, for all of them, but especially Zoro, Usopp, and Brook. I like how Franky and Chopper are more...positive overall but how the vibe stays the same throughout the piece. It really captures the prompt and yet spins it in such an affirming way.

[serrende.livejournal.com]

Really glad you liked it. Thanks. I'm glad it comes across as affirming. (My other try for this prompt was even more positive, with Robin following Luffy's example when it comes to breaking things that need it - like prisoner chains.)