I know authors should love their stories but I don't much care for my first one. I kinda lost it. Guess FV is going to have to be my redemption. Final Voyage is probably the first story I'm pursuing to actually finish. I feel terrible when I write on certain parts but so far I'm really loving writing this story! I plan to keep the story going for some time. ^_~ Enjoy, please!

Disclaimer: Oda-sensei, I'm glad I don't own One Piece cause it just wouldn't be the same awsome-ness that it is now.

Where would one start a story? Would you start with 'Once upon a time. . .'? A picture or a snapshot? A quote or a sentence describing the area or recent events? What about a description of the character? Some would start in the middle of a suspenseful scene and then backtrack to where it began; however, most would start from the very beginning. This one though does not begin with any of those.

This story begins with dreams . . . this one starts with the stars.

x X x

From a very young age, Kaizokou Monkey D. Luffy loved the stars. When he was finally allowed to leave his house on his own on Fushia Island, he would wander out to any field and lay out on the comfortably long grass. He would spend many hours staring up at the stars; counting and then recounting when he noticed one he hadn't seen before he started. Staring at those twinkling lights fueled Luffy's desire to sail the sea, where he could see the stars without any foreign lights to wash them out. His dreams grew with each swell of the tide, each star he counted, and every person he made a promise to. Before long, when he was lean and strong and much older, Luffy had made promises to his hero, his hat, and the stars.

To his hero that he would become a great pirate, the ruler of them all: the Kings of the Pirates.

To his hat that he would return it to its rightful owner, and keep it close to him and avenge any harm to it.

To the stars that someday when all his other promises had been fulfilled, he would visit them.

Even at thirty-nine years of age, Luffy still wanted to visit the stars like he promised. But his time as a pirate was very much limited; he would soon be above the health standards of most pirates. He had always been strict with all pirate rules and laws of conduct; he lived by them. Sometimes he would stretch those rules as far as he could just like his body. Sometimes he would break them so he could save at least one poor soul. So why not stretch his years as far as he could? Why not just forget the whole thing and keep going, he was a pirate after all. But even if he was still young physically, he was growing everyday mentally. Each battle, each fight, every hardship; they slowly wore on his mind until Luffy couldn't go to sleep without checking his ship thoroughly several times. He used to see life through the eyes of a child's, thought with an adult's common sense, and a logic all his own. Now everything seemed to be all in black and white.

Slowly, so slowly even that he hardly noticed, his logic changed, his perspective shifted. When he finally noticed all that was happening to him he tried to prevent it and worked to reverse it, but his new way of seeing things was now a permanent part of him, just like the flashbacks and paranoia.

Luffy stood at Sochero's stern, staring up at those twinkling stars. His mind was running in circles. He thought of one thing after the other that led to a different thought that backtracked to another. He thought of his island, the estate, his wife, his nakama, previous battles, enemies, the Marines, his nakama, titles, everything; it all ran around like children on a playground.

And Luffy was getting tired of it.

Not just his never ending thoughts, but the pain and the hidden tears only a few had the chance to witness. The nightmares and the images. Seasickness and worry.

Everything the life of a pirate had brought him.

What was a dream to him now? Some figment of his imagination so he could be the best of everyone? What were his promises? When he thought of them, they seemed meaningless. What was nakama? A back-up for when he was lonely?

What was anything to him now?

"Rufi-sencho?"

The troubled man jumped. Scenes flashed: swords, pain, blood,--

"Rufi-sencho, it's me!"

Luffy blindly reached out for the owner of the husky, bass voice. Zoro gingerly griped his captain's arm until the flashes seized before Luffy's eyes, "Rufi-sencho? Are you alright? You've been up here for some time."

"No. . . no. No, I'm not alright. . . Zoro."

"I'll be right here," His first-mate said softly. It was the only thing that assured Luffy when he was given time to think over all that had happened to him. Zoro kept a firm grip on his arm; Luffy's anchor to the world.

As Zoro patiently waited, Luffy thought over everything one more time. He thought of his promises, the fights he returned to finish, his nakama's dreams, and all the circumstances that led him to where he was today.

And he realized there was only one more thing that was left undone.

But there was no way he could ever do that. He had to be real— No!

It was thinking like that that had led him to his current state of mind. So he backtracked to when he was seventeen (if only for a moment); when life on the sea was still young and fresh, and he knew what he was going to do now.

Luffy looked at Zoro.

He would break one promise. He wouldn't fulfill the stars' promise—not because it was impossible—but because he would break it and forget it. He would not care.

"I've made a decision," he said with finality, "Zoro, I'm leaving."

Those words froze the blood in Zoro's veins, "W-why?" he gasped.

"It's become too much for me. I can't take anything this sea will throw at me whether I participate in it or not. I can't do it."

"Rufi-sencho, Choppa-kun says that it'll be only a little bit longer. I know the flashbacks are hard, but it'll go away soon."

"It's not just about that. It's about everything. Everything doesn't seem worth it any longer—"

"Worth it?! What happened to the idiot I became nakama with twenty-two years ago? He never would sprout such crap!"

"Yes, he would!" Luffy snapped, yanking his arm from Zoro. His heart rate peaked and he held a hand to his chest as he continued, "Zoro, I can no longer take care of you—of anyone! That makes it not worth it! I haven't been allowed to fight for over two years. My health is the worse than anyone I've ever known. And it's all because I pushed myself further than I should have! That last battle, at Shandai, it broke everything. Every fight I threw a punch in, every village and life I saved; it all led to this! One stacked on the other. You know as well as I do that I'll never be the same again. I have to leave. It. Is. Not. Worth it."

His first broken promise; he felt sicker than before.

"You can't leave," Zoro said mournfully, "What will happen to us, to Sochero, the Mugiwara no kaizoku-dan? The One Piece? Will you leave it for someone else while you're still alive? You want to see that?"

"No, of course I don't."

"Then why bother leaving?" Zoro, holding up a hand to stop Luffy, continued, "You've gone at such a fast pace. Kaizokou at 20? Unheard of; Gol Roger was in his early thirties. Rufi-sencho, I may not be a doctor on this ship; but if you suddenly stop, you're gonna kill yourself. You're already deteriorating!"

Luffy looked to the stars once more. They glistened, telling him softly that he was forgiven for his lie.

"One more then," Luffy said, "One more voyage to slow things down and prepare my body for my new pace."

Roronoa Zoro sighed, closed his eyes, "Yagatta," he said silently.

That gave them plenty of time to convince Captain Monkey D. Luffy he was well enough to stay.

________end prologue________

UPDATE: Romanized Luffy's name.