The Merry's Sea

by Aldura Rising

A few small changes can force the winds of fate to blow astray, and the ships that catch those winds off their course. In one timeline, circumstance prevented Usopp from leaving Water 7, and led to his capture by Franky and becoming Sniperking... but what if he had set sail as planned? Canon divergence at episode 237/chapter 334.

1. Pirate Blues

The title of each chapter of this story is taken from the title of a song, ones I love and which resonate with the feelings I tried to bring forth with each chapter. A relevant snippet from the song's lyrics tops each chapter as well. I strongly recommend you find and listen to these songs for the fullest experience of this story; I'll be sure to advise whether the song in question would be best listened to before or after reading the chapter in question, as it may vary.

Chapter one's title is drawn from the song 'Pirate Blues' by As Cities Burn. Listen to it before or after reading the chapter.

---

Oh, I wanna find out I'm wrong

And every road leads us home

~:~:~:~:~:~:~

He was broken and bruised, and the bandages that snugly wrapped about half of his body were growing stiff from dried blood and inactivity, but Usopp couldn't bring himself to move enough to change them. He had barely been strong enough to drag himself onto the Going Merry's deck, and it took all his willpower to carry up the medical supplies that Chopper had left on the ground beside him-

Don't think about him, Usopp chastised himself, cutting off his train of thought before a certain cheerful, gullible doctor's furry face could insert itself into his mind- he'd been crying, biting his lip hard to try not to wail anymore, trying to put on a brave face because Zoro's cold eyes were still fixed on the young reindeer's trembling shoulders, and Usopp forced himself to stare blankly into the distance-

Stop it! Stop thinking! Usopp stuck his bandaged fist in his mouth and bit down, hard enough that the dried blood on them cracked and new blood welled up from torn scabs to wet the dirty linen anew. It was so hard, but he knew he had to banish all thought of them from his mind. Otherwise, Usopp would never think about anything else again.

Laboriously, Usopp raised his head to stare at the battered tin plates that girded his beloved Merry's splinter-studded mast. They would need replacing, he knew. As would the steel plates reinforcing her hull, and the strips of steel that bolstered her keel. The chips and cracks and peeling paint was hard to look at, but every bit of it was still Merry. His Merry, now and forever. Only his, now. He was all she had left in the world, the only one who would still fight tooth and nail to repair her and sail her well. Usopp sighed and let out an involuntary groan as he levered himself up onto his knees.

It was still dark, but Usopp had passed out right after flopping down onto the deck and he couldn't guess how long he'd been out. He wanted desperately to get some real sleep, but he had work to do.

The supply room was depressingly empty; some dried goods, a few spare boards, a box of nails, and a single rusty steel plate the size of his arm were all Usopp could find. The rest of the room was occupied by cobwebs, empty crates, and outlines of dust on the floor where other stored items had once sat. Usopp found himself drifting in and out of awareness as he stared at the bare spots on the floor, until he noticed a single tangerine sitting abandoned between two sand-filled ballasts. It was fresh; it had obviously fallen out of a sack as it had been carried out the the hold, along with almost everything else. Usopp blinked a few times as an absurd scene of Nami pestering the others to go back and retrieve the lost fruit played on a loop in his head. He almost smiled, but the throb in his cheek as the corner of his mouth pulled up made him remember why he couldn't.

Usopp was no shipwright- he admitted that much himself, freely, no matter how little respect he had for the opinions of certain members of that particular brand of craftsman -but as hard as correctly repairing the Merry's various scuffs and cracks was, it was three times as hard to do it at night. The hurricane lantern sitting on the deck beside him made the task marginally easier, but Usopp still felt his eyes straining as he replaced the warped boards around the base of the Merry's main mast. The waves splashed quietly against the coast, rocking his ship gently, but aside from that there was almost no sound but the sound of Usopp's hammer.

Usopp's focus was iron-tight as he put nail after nail into the boards to keep them flush with the rest. It was the kind of work he usually found menial enough to let his mind wander, but tonight of all nights Usopp knew he would not like the places his distracted thoughts would take him. So he focused on minutia, on every strike of the head of his hammer, on the angle of every nail, on the grain of every board, as if such details were the most important thing in the world. This made his work slow going, and Usopp had only just finished replacing his sixth board (and used the last of the spare lumber in the hold) when the oil in his lantern finally ran out. The sudden darkness shocked him for a moment and he stilled his hammer mid-swing, staring at the moonlit outline of his hand against the deck.

Fatigue overtook Usopp as quickly as the returning darkness. He gathered up his tools and lantern and was about to reach down and unlatch the hatch into the men's quarters just below deck when a sharp pain seemed to jolt from his heart and run down his arm, paralyzing his hand just as he touched the latch. Usopp gasped and reeled back, overbalancing and landing square on his rear. His gaze flitted between his hand and the latch for a moment before he clenched his fist and closed his eyes, his brow furrowed.

"Right..." Usopp muttered to himself, and he was distantly surprised at how hoarse his voice had become over the last few hours of silence. He levered himself up off the deck and, rather than heading below deck, climbed the stairs and entered the galley.

The shattered remains of the dining table still lay in the pile on one end of the room where someone had stacked them in preparation of throwing them out. Usopp was surprised to see that one of the spare mattresses for guests had been left behind, rolled up neatly with a blanket and pillow set upon it. Surprised, and some other roiling feelings Usopp was far too tired and unwilling to acknowledge, so he focused on the tired part. It took a monumental effort to roll out the mattress- I wonder if it's the same one Nami rolled out for Vivi in the women's quarters, sprung a thought unbidden into his mind before he dispelled it with a furious shake of his head -and Usopp didn't even bother to extinguish the lights in the galley before he collapsed onto the padded bed. Usopp pulled the blanket onto himself, ignoring the dried blood flaking onto the pristine white of the linens, and closed his weary eyes.

An hour later, Usopp found that despite any and all efforts on his own part, sleep would not come to him. Annoyed and exhausted he stared up at the clock sitting on the lip over the kitchen area of the galley, which read a defiant four in the morning right back at his insistent glare. Groaning, Usopp dragged himself up out of his bed and started rummaging through the fridge, though for what exactly he wasn't sure. The fridge had been cleared out of most supplies, but not nearly all of its stock was gone- Probably Sanji's doing, he'd never let anyone go hungry- STOP -and Usopp's hand curled around a wine bottle that had been opened recently and had a little of its contents poured out for some meal or another. Cooking wine: not exactly Usopp's first choice, but it would have to do. The bottle was quickly uncorked and at his lips.

Sour, sharp, and astringent, the low-quality red wine didn't go down all that easy. Usopp wasn't really much of a drinker, and hadn't even had anything stronger than beer before boarding the Going Merry- Zoro's unusually mischievous smirk as he handed the bottle of sake over the table to Usopp, a smirk which split into laughter when the young sniper began coughing and spluttering at the strong spirit's burn, joined by Sanji's laughter from the kitchen and Nami chuckling from next to Zoro, as Luffy patted Usopp on the shoulder and giggled that he couldn't stand the taste either-

Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!

Usopp groaned and brought the wine bottle to his lips once more, taking in great big swallows of the sour wine until it drove the memory away. He surfaced a minute later, gasping and shuddering, more than half the bottle gone. A wave of dizziness washed over Usopp after he finally extinguished the lights in the galley and he sat down hard on his pallet, blinking owlishly in the darkened room.

I wish I could just not think about it... about them, Usopp thought to himself, taking another heavy mouthful of wine. Even as he adjusted to the darkness he found his vision swimming and blurring as tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. Usopp angrily wiped them away and downed the rest of the wine, then chucked the bottle across the room. It shattered satisfyingly against the far wall, but the catharsis was short lived as Usopp realized he'd have to clean the glass up in the morning. He stretched out on his futon and tried to relax, willing the alcohol to give him a dreamless sleep.

I've got a lot of repairs to do tomorrow... and I want to be out on the ocean before sunset... I can't sleep too late... but I wish I could just sleep for a year, Usopp's wine-soaked mind seemed to mutter under its breath. As the weight of his eyelids finally became too much to handle, Usopp let himself drift down into sleep... and just before the veil of night settled over him once more, Usopp heard a small, soft voice muttering in the distance, so quiet it might have been a figment of his imagination. His tired mind did not register the words or their source, but he took comfort from them nonetheless.

I'll take care of you... I promise...

Good night...

~:~:~:~:~:~:~

The sun streaming into the galley woke Usopp the next morning as a shaft of golden light slid down the wall to rest directly on his face. The sniper groaned and sat up slowly, stiff and sore from both injury and the unfamiliar sleeping arrangements. A quick, groggy look at the clock told him he'd only gotten about three hours of sleep, but judging by the twinge that was running down his back and the feeling of needle-sharp cotton balls filling his skull, he wasn't going to be getting any more sleep for now. Someone had been yelling something from the shore not too far from the ship just moments ago- two people, perhaps, having a shouted conversation about a storm approaching -but Usopp was not nearly awake enough to really care.

As Usopp changed his bandages (a painstaking process that was made all the more difficult by the stiffness of his joints and the injuries themselves) he considered his options. He found himself muttering under his breath as he worked, both to help him concentrate on his thoughts through his pounding headache and to distract himself from the stabs and throbs of pain that shot through him as he moved his battered body.

"I could just lay low here for a while then head into town... pick up some supplies... I've still got a bit of money left... hm, but the Merry still needs some repairs... and I'm out of wood and tin plates... should probably pick up some tar and pitch too... do I have enough nails...?" Usopp was still muttering to himself as he levered himself up onto his feet and, on a whim, stepped out onto the deck. The wind was blowing steadily in from the east, carrying with it the scent of the sea. Usopp began pacing on the deck in front of the galley, staring at his feet as he walked. "I've probably got enough food to make it to the next island, so I don't need to worry about getting any of that... plus I can fish, and I can always distill some seawater to make drinking water... shouldn't be too hard to put together a little pot still like the whiskey makers back in Syrup had... I'll need to rig something up so I can ply the oars myself if I need to... jeez, I didn't think this could be so hard... all on my own..." Usopp stopped abruptly at the railing facing the coast and looked out at Water 7.

I wonder... if they found a hotel to stay at... came a thought unbidden to Usopp's head. He gritted his teeth and shook his head vigorously to dispel the unwanted thought, slamming his fist into the railing and grunting at the pain in his injured arm. "Dammit, I can't spend all my time thinking about them!" he growled at himself. Usopp knew he needed something to distract himself, and he knew exactly the thing to do it: shopping for materials for the Merry.

"How much money exactly do I have, anyway?" Usopp muttered as he rummaged about in the pockets of his overalls. That was one small blessing: even though those thugs from the Franky Family had beaten him senseless, they hadn't relieved him of any material wealth other than the original briefcases full of fresh-printed Berries. A cursory search brought up just under 5,000 Berries in small bills and loose change, but Usopp was certain if he took the time he could scrounge up at least three or four times that... in the men's quarters.

Well... what do I even have to be afraid of? Usopp reasoned as he gingerly made his way to the hatch by the mast. He unlatched it and made his way slowly down the ladder, pointedly staring at his hands and only his hands as he finally alighted on the floor. Usopp took a deep breath, and his nose filled with the scents of unwashed blanket and dirty clothes, along with the strong scent of a certain curly-browed cook's favorite cologne- Sanji was standing by the couches spritzing his small cut-glass bottle of Eau de Mikanne into the air complaining loudly about how 'some people' couldn't control their bowels as Luffy and Usopp rolled on the floor laughing at how loud Luffy's fart had been, Chopper holding his nose with watery eyes trying desperately to clamber up the ladder to the fresh air beyond the hatch, Zoro waking up from a dead sleep just to yell at Sanji for making the men's quarters smell like 'a damn village market fruit-stand' stop Stop STOP IT DAMMIT!-

Smell is a powerful subconscious signifier of memory, as Usopp learned. He had to fight back tears again as the waves of memory crashed over him like an unrelenting storm, like a tsunami eight thousand feet tall. Usopp's first night sleeping on the Going Merry as he tried and failed and tried again to stay in the hammock as Zoro laughed and Luffy frustratedly tried to show him the proper technique ("No, Usopp, you have to get your leg into the hammock before you flop in!" "Not all of us can stretch our legs above our heads like you can, Luffy!")-

Usopp helped change Zoro's bandages after the battle at Arlong Park and the celebration in Cocoyashi as Zoro protested that he didn't need any more bandages and Usopp and Nami shouted him down-

Luffy brushed his teeth with a grumpy expression on his face ("But I don't wanna wash the taste of that meat outta my mouth!") as Sanji did his best to explain basic dental hygiene to his captain ("Look, if you don't brush your teeth they'll fall out and you won't be able to eat meat at all!") and Usopp made a note to try and invent meat-flavored toothpaste the next time he sat down to work on ammo-

Chopper and Usopp were designing a very big banner for their captain's upcoming birthday, working on it in their quarters so as to hide the planned surprise from a nosy, bored Luffy ("Ooh! Ooh! Usopp, can we paint some cherry blossoms on one end, like the Doctor's flag that Luffy protected?" "Of course, Chopper! You just mix the pink paint and I'll tell you the story of how the mighty Captain Usopp was consulted by the committee that designed the world's first cherry trees!" "Wow, seriously?!")-

"I can't- I can't take it!" Usopp sobbed as he fell to his knees, pounding his fist into the floorboards over and over, trying to drive out the sparks of pain that danced through his body and mind. Usopp let out a frustrated growl and rubbed furiously at his eyes, wiped the snot from his nose and tried to focus on the task at hand so he could get the hell out of there.

Usopp tore through the few items that had been left behind by the guys, throwing a few unsalvageable scraps of cloth that might have once been a vest or a suit coat or a once-white shirt out of the laundry hamper, digging through the nigh-empty chest that sat against one wall, looking under the rug and under the couch cushions. He worked with a manic speed, focusing on his search and driving every other thought out of his mind. After a while he didn't even remember what the hell he needed that money for in the first place.

An hour later a red-eyed, panting Usopp dragged himself out of the hatch to the men's quarters and slammed it shut, latching it solidly and then re-latching it a couple more times for good measure. He leaned against the mast, trying to slow his breathing and his racing heart, then sniffled loudly and looked down at what he'd found. All in all with his original findings, Usopp had just under 20,000 Berries to his name, mostly in coins, but a few bills and one unusually-crisp 10,000 Berry note he'd found being used as a bookmark in a dirty magazine that had been abandoned under the couch- if Nami ever found out about that she'd be livid and not not not NOT THINKING ABOUT THIS -sat in a small pile in his hands. Usopp swallowed hard and stuffed the money in his pocket, then wandered back into the galley to gather his things and rustle up something to eat before setting out to find a hardware shop.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Water 7 was much more difficult to navigate on foot than by yagara, but after an hour of dead-ends and turnabouts Usopp found himself standing before a shop labeled "Timber & Hardware." Unfortunately, the shopkeeper was currently closing up his shop and was hesitant to do any more business that day, repeatedly mentioning something called "Aqua Laguna" as Usopp tried to convince him to sell to him for almost half an hour. At first he tried to be polite, but after a while his irritation got the best of him.

"Come on, old guy! I've got to make some repairs on my ship before I can set out and I'm all out of supplies. Can't you sell me something?!" Usopp wheedled as the bulky bearded man before him reached up with a long hook to pull down the door to his store. The man hesitated and turned around to face Usopp, an irritated look on his face.

"Look, kid, I'm sorry if it's inconvenient for you, but like I said, Aqua Laguna is coming tonight, so I'm gonna secure my belongings and head for the shipbuilders' island," the man grumbled. Usopp's arms, which had been held in a pleading gesture, slackened and fell limp by his side as he glared down at the sidewalk under his feet.

"Please, mister, all I need is some lumber, some tar, some pitch, and some tin plates!" Usopp said, despondent. "Look, I've got money, I'll take whatever this can get me!" Usopp reached out and grabbed the shopkeeper's free hand, then pulled his wad of coins and bills from his pocket and set it in the man's massive palm. The shopkeeper stared at the pile of money for a moment, then looked back up at Usopp.

"This wouldn't buy you much, you know. Maybe a few eight-by-two boards and a half gallon of pitch and tar, plus, eh... six three-by-three tin plates?" the shopkeeper explained slowly, as if he was talking to a young child. Usopp just clenched his fists and stared at the man with what he hoped was a determined face, but in retrospect was probably nervous and fearful. A silent moment passed before the shopkeeper broke eye contact and sighed, setting his long hook in the corner past the doorway to his store. "Fine, fine, I'll sell you some goods... but honestly, this ain't that much."

"Thank you, old man! I'll take whatever you can sell me and be on my way immediately," Usopp replied cheerfully. The old carpenter made a noncommittal noise in his throat and walked back into his shop, gesturing Usopp to follow. The man set about examining his stock and gathering things while Usopp waited. When the shopkeeper had finally put together his purchase Usopp was a little dismayed by how little his entire monetary worth could actually buy, but he tried his best to hide it. Judging by the shopkeeper's grumpy expression, he didn't do a great job of it.

"I warned ya, didn't I?" the old man growled. "This kind of material is expensive on Water 7 'cause we have to import almost all of it from other islands."

"I-I know... I guess I might need more than that..." Usopp mumbled, a little embarrassed. He opened up his satchel and started to rummage around in it. "Er, how about I trade you some things for more supplies? I have some pretty nice tools and gadgets I don't really need anymore, and-"

"Whoa there, kid, slow down. This is the big city, you know! We don't do barter around here," the old carpenter said firmly. "I'm sorry, but it's cash only." Usopp's face fell despite his best efforts not to seem too disappointed, and the old man sighed. "Kid, what kind of repairs do you even need to make on your ship?"

Usopp was a little taken aback by this line of questioning. "Ah! Uh, well... her main mast is held up by some tin plates and rope girding, but it's been a while since it was all put on there and they need to be replaced... and the reinforcement on her keel needs reinforcing... and she's got some leaks in the hold that a need tarring... and her rudder hangs to one side and needs some patching... oh, and her mizzen mast has some damage to it too... and her side paneling is beginning to get gaps in it-"

"Jumping gerbils, kid, what have you been putting that damn ship through? She sounds like she's about to fall apart," the carpenter said. Usopp felt heat rising up the back of his neck again, but not due to embarrassment this time.

"She's not gonna fall apart!" Usopp barked. "The Going Merry is my ship, and she's one of the greatest ships in the world! She's been to an island in the sky! How many other ships on the ocean right now can claim that, huh?! None!" Usopp paused, panting a little, ready to be rebuked by the old man for being rude. Which was why he was so confused when the shopkeeper began to laugh.

"Har har har har! Ah, you pirate types are all the same, and ya have been since I was younger than you!" the old man roared with amusement.

"P-pirate? How could you tell- I mean, why would you think I'm a pirate?!" Usopp stammered, the prospect of having to face a Navy attack all on his lonesome sending shivers from his spine down to his knees.

"You kidding me? I've been a carpenter on this island for almost ten years now, and I worked on Pucci before that! You live and work in this area of the Grand Line long enough you learn how to tell a pirate idiot from a regular seafaring idiot!" The shopkeeper started to laugh again, and Usopp felt a conflicting desire to run away and to punch the old man in his hairy jaw.

"Har... y'know, kid, I apologize for how I said it, but it's the truth. Every pirate I've met seems to think their ship is the best in the world," the old man said. "But seriously, with the amount of repairs you say you need to do, you'd never finish before tonight. Aqua Laguna will smash any ship left in the water to pieces, and that's a fact no matter how good of a ship she is."

"You keep saying 'Aqua Laguna' like I'm supposed to know what that is," Usopp grumbled.

"Ah, you're right! Sorry, I keep forgetting visitors don't always know these things," the shopkeeper said sheepishly. He reached into one of the pockets of his shirt and pulled out a battered pocket-watch. "It probably won't really show up in force until after sunset, but the Aqua Laguna is a huge storm that blows through this portion of the Grand Line every year. It usually comes out of the east, and brings huge waves and winds that can tear the skin off your bones. It's the most dangerous weather in the first half of the Grand Line, for sure."

Bet it's got nothing on the Knock-Up Stream, Usopp thought to himself, bitterly, but in truth he was beginning to get a little worried by the man's words. "Well, what do locals do with their ships? During the storm, I mean?"

"Heh, you'd be hard pressed to find a local around here who owns a ship and doesn't also own a private dry-dock to slap it in. Most everyone takes the Sea Train when they need to get to another island. Most of the time we warn any visitors about it well in advance so they can get their ships out of the path of the biggest waves, but there's often a pirate crew or two whose ships get wrecked by Aqua Laguna." The old man paused for a moment to reach into another pocket and grab a little flask, made even more comically tiny by the massive size of his hands, and tap a long sip from it. "If your ship is as battered as you say, your only safe bet is to get as far away from Water 7 as fast as possible. I'd suggest heading north in the direction of the Calm Belt bordering the East Blue. You'll probably hit Bardigras Island by evening if you leave now and can get a straight shot across open seas."

"The Merry needs to be fixed as soon as possible, though!" Usopp protested. "I can't just let her keep on suffering! She needs me to make those repairs, so we'll be- she'll be whole again."

"Then work fast and pray it holds, kiddo. You need to leave by four in the afternoon if you wanna have any chance of escaping the storm's leading edge," the shopkeeper said, oddly cheerful now. Usopp considered his options, absent-mindedly letting himself be ushered out of the shop as the old man carried his bundled purchase, then reached back and pulled down the heavy door with the hook. Usopp didn't break out of his thoughtful state until the shopkeeper handed him his purchase, and Usopp strained under the weight of all that wood and everything else.

"Oof!" Usopp grunted as little jolts of pain sparked from his various injuries. Carrying this back is gonna be a paaaain...he thought as the shopkeeper smiled.

"Hm... looks like you're a little over-burdened there, kid," the old man said, with a mocking tone. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the watch hidden there, examining its face for a moment before replacing it and sighing. "Well... I suppose I'll help you carry your purchase back to your ship, whaddaya say?"

Stunned, Usopp gaped for a long moment before replying. "Y-you mean it, old guy? Well..." he said as a twinge of hurt pride struck him. "I don't really need help, but... I mean, if you want to carry something, I'm not gonna tell you no!"

In the end, the shopkeeper wound up carrying the bulk of the purchase while Usopp carried a bag containing a gallon of pitch, some tar, some nails, and a coil of rope (which Usopp did not remember asking for or paying for, but he wasn't about to question it), which was still heavy and made his injured body hurt the whole walk back to the cape, but Usopp tried his best not to show. It was a fairly short walk this time- Usopp told the shopkeeper where the Going Merry was moored and the old carpenter seemed to know exactly where it was and how best to get there -but Usopp's back and ribs were still store when they finally set down the repair supplies on the coast. He took a moment to catch his breath and tried to pop some joints and massage some muscles while the shopkeeper gave the Merry a cursory examination. His long, low whistle after a moment wasn't a terribly comforting response.

"Tsk, tsk, kid... this ship is in even worse condition than you said!" the old man muttered, a big frown on his bearded face. "You're never gonna get her worthy to sail out of the path of a storm like Aqua Laguna in time."

"Yeah... well... that's... my problem..." Usopp panted, still trying to reorient from the struggle of carrying the weighty sack back from the shop. "I'll do my best, and... I'll do it for her. That's all that matters."

"Don't you have a crew or any friends who could help you out with this?"

Usopp clenched his fists and glared at the ground, struggling to say nothing. I'm done... done thinking about them... "I'm alone... except for the Merry. She needs my attention right now, so if you don't mind, I'm gonna get started on fixing her up, and I'd appreciate not having any more expert critiques of her condition-"

"You really are an idiot, I was right," the old shopkeeper said matter-of-factly. Usopp turned from the ground to glare at the old man instead, but stopped short of an angry retort when he saw the man was smiling. "Look, I'm no shipwright, but I know a hopeless cause when I see one... and I know a stubborn fool of a pirate, too. Looking at your bandages I'm gonna guess you're in a lot of pain, eh?" Usopp just grunted, to which the man chuckled. "If I let you go and kill yourself trying to patch up this pretty little hulk here- or even worse, let you sail off into Aqua Laguna in sub-par condition! -I know my dear old mama would come back from the dead just to nag me about being heartless. And if there's one thing I want in this world, it's to never hear her screeching at me again. So, I'll cut you a deal: you promise to take this ship to a professional as soon as you get out of Aqua Laguna's path and take their advice seriously, and I'll help you put her in better shape."

"Wha- you mean it, old man?!" Usopp exclaimed, relief he hadn't expected to feel flooding his tired frame.

"The name's Happa Yamao, kid, but call me Big Yama," the shopkeeper said. He held out a hand to Usopp expectantly. "So, we got a deal, kid?"

Usopp considered for a moment, torn between accepting help and maintaining his pride and his certainty that nobody understood the Going Merry as well as him. He looked at the Merry's figurehead, wishing she'd give him an answer to his hurting worth, but he knew that at this point his pride meant nothing. The Going Merry was everything.

"Alright, Big Yama... deal," Usopp said as he put his scrawny hand in Big Yama's meaty paw. "And the name's Usopp. Captain Usopp."

"Ooh, captain, he says," Big Yama chuckled as he enclosed Usopp's hand in a powerful grip and shook it hard enough that Usopp's elbow and shoulder both popped uncomfortably. "Well then, Captain Usopp, you reckon we should get started on putting this girl back into sailing shape? What's her name, again, anyway? I didn't catch it earlier when you were shouting at me, har!"

Usopp freed his hand from Big Yama's grip and turned to face the Merry, a little more pride swelling in his chest; not for himself (even though it was kinda cool to be called captain by someone other than himself), but for his ship. His ship.

"Her name's the Going Merry. And the sea belongs to her."

~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Working on the Going Merry's numerous wounds was slow going and hard work, even with the assistance of Big Yama's seasoned talent. Usopp realized within the first half hour that he had vastly underestimated the true depth and number of the Merry's injuries. For every easy patch and simple application of tar and pitch, there was a deep crack in the frame or an infestation of termites that had to be dealt with. To be honest, it was a little embarrassing every time Big Yama would point out a new problem to be patched that Usopp had missed. The old carpenter wasn't malicious about it though; it was obvious he only wanted to help, and Usopp felt doubly frustrated with himself for even feeling a little upset with the man.

Their work continued as the sun crested noon and began its slow descent into evening, until Big Yama straightened up from patching a dented tin plate on the Going Merry's bow and put his hand on his lower back, groaning as he pushed hard into his spine until a series of small cracks was heard. Usopp leaned over the railing on the foredeck and glanced down at the old man. "Uh, Big Yama... you alright? Need to take a break?" he asked hesitantly.

"Har har... no, Usopp, no, I'm fine! This ship of yours is a real beauty, and she's worth a little back pain," Big Yama chuckled, grinning up at Usopp. It was obvious to Usopp, however, that the grin was a little strained, and that the huge old shopkeeper was moving more slowly as the day rolled on. Truth be told, Usopp was beginning to feel new aches and pains creeping up his injured body to settle in right next to the old ones, and he would not have minded a break. Plus, all he had eaten that day was a bit of bread and dried fish before setting out to find a hardware shop, and the yawning pit in his stomach was grumbling and clenching on a terrible emptiness. Usopp considered telling Big Yama that in a way that would avoid making it obvious how much he wanted to keep going despite his pain. The practical side of Usopp's mind was muttering about how he'd never be able to sail effectively if he exhausted himself, and he had to admit it was sound reasoning.

Usopp had leaned back over the railing and was just about to tell Big Yama he should take a break if he needed it when the grumbling in his stomach suddenly grew in volume and for a brief, mortifying moment drowned out even the surf and the sound of Big Yama sawing a board. The old shopkeeper paused in his work and looked up at Usopp, who grinned a little sheepishly. Big Yama chuckled and said, "Y'know, hard work is hard work, and I don't know about you, but I'm getting a bit peckish. It's about time for a lunch break as far as I'm concerned."

"Uh... y-yeah...lunch sounds good," Usopp mumbled as his stomach growled loudly yet again. He scurried over to help Big Yama up the rope ladder, and the carpenter reached into a bag he'd brought along to the ship and withdrew two packages of four rice balls each. They settled down on the outer railing of the Going Merry and ate, and as they did Big Yama cheerfully regaled Usopp with tales of his youth on the island of Pucci.

"Woah, you were a bandit?!" Usopp exclaimed around a mouthful of his third rice ball. Big Yama laughed as Usopp coughed and choked a little around some rice which had gone down the wrong tube due to his shocked reaction.

"Har, it's how I got my nickname!" the old shopkeeper explained. "I was a tall kid- as tall as the bandit chief himself when I was only twelve! -so I got a reputation for being like a big ol' mountain... plus, the chief was such a drunk he always stumbled on the last 'o' in my name, anyway!"

"I just can't believe you were, y'know, a ruthless bandit," Usopp said after he'd recovered. "You're such a nice guy! The only bandits I've ever met were jerks."

"You're one to talk, being a pirate and all!"

Usopp had to admit, the old carpenter had a point... not that he said so aloud. Big Yama watched his expression go from indignant to thoughtful to bashful all in a split second and started laughing again. "Har har! Well, I suppose there's a good reason I got out of the whole banditry business more'n ten years ago. And not just because the Navy finally decided to send some backup to Pucci's wimpy police force, either!"

"Haha, yeah... one fight with the Navy woulda been more than enough for me, too, but..." Those crazy, fearless idiots kept on dragging me into trouble... Usopp finished silently. It hurt to think, and it hurt more to speak about them. Big Yama, to his credit, seemed to get the gist of the unspoken sentiment.

"It's hard to leave friends behind," Big Yama said after a brief moment of quiet. "I haven't been back to Pucci in ten years now. Sometimes I still think about the old clan and the chief, and I wonder if they're still fleecing tourists and mugging smug noble turds..." The old shopkeeper gave Usopp a pointed look. "No matter how bad the reason you had for leaving, anyone who used to be in something as tight-knit as a bandit clan or a pirate crew is gonna leave with some regrets."

Usopp pursed his lips and stared at his last rice ball. He wanted to respond- your clan didn't abandon you when you became a burden, though, perhaps he'd say -but he kept his silence for a while longer. Big Yama seemed to get the hint, and they finished their meal break without further conversation.

"Welp," Big Yama said as he crumpled up the paper that had been wrapping the rice balls. "Best get back to work. I needed me a good meal, and I feel like I could work on this little ship for the rest of the night!" The carpenter clambered down the rope ladder and alighted on the rocky coast. "Too bad for us, we've only got another two hours or so, so let's work fast!"

"Er... yeah! Right" Usopp said, trying and failing to match Big Yama's enthusiasm. Despite still feeling beat down and sore, however, Usopp was bound and determined: he'd certainly fight his way through his aches and finish repairing the Going Merry. His Going Merry. She deserved nothing but his hardest work, after all.

Two hours seemed to pass even faster than the hours of work before, but Usopp tackled his tasks with renewed vigor. In the end, he and Big Yama accomplished more than Usopp had ever expected: not only the repairs that the Merry desperately needed, but a number of reinforcements and cosmetic repairs Usopp had put out of his mind before the old shopkeeper offered his help, along with things that would have taken far too much time to do alone, such as replacing some of the Going Merry's rigging and putting together docks for the oars so Usopp could use them by himself.

After they were finished, Usopp stood on the shore and looked up at the Merry. Despite her patchwork appearance and the plates and boards reinforcing a good fifty percent of her hull, the little caravel looked more put-together than she had since Jaya. However, after having worked on her for most of the day Usopp could no longer fool himself into pretending she was totally fine: it was obvious to him, now, that the Going Merry's wounds were deep, and despite how much work he and Big Yama had put into fixing and reinforcing her, there would come a time when she would no longer be able to sail.

Of course there will... I'm not stupid, Usopp reasoned, running his eyes along the Merry. I know that any ship will one day reach its limit. It's obvious. I've known that the whole time.

But I also know that this isn't the Going Merry's time to die.

Usopp felt a heavy hand land on his shoulder jarringly, jerking him out of his thoughtful moment, and he looked up to see Big Yama standing beside him, looking almost as proud of the Going Merry as Usopp felt. The enormous carpenter gave a chuckle and glanced down at Usopp. "She has some life in her yet, I'd reckon," he said with a nod before he walked over to finish packing up his own tools. Usopp smiled and looked out at the sea.

The wind had been picking up steadily the whole day, slowly growing from a stiff breeze to a continuous, blustery gust. Even now the waves that crashed against the rocky shore and the Going Merry's hull were growing taller moment by moment, and the sky was darkening more and more, the clouds marching solemnly across the sky from the east.

"This storm really is gonna be huge, huh?" Usopp muttered. He heard Big Yama hum behind him.

"It's a monster of a squall, that Aqua Laguna is," Big Yama said seriously. "You're lucky we finished patching up your ship this early; any later, and I'd have doubts about you escaping her even if you took her tailwind and went straight to the west. As it stands, you've got a good chance of taking it at an angle and heading toward the Calm Belt. You should run into some islands before that, though. Bardigras Island is your best bet. There's a town there that used to be a pirates's cove, called Bluesend. Mention my name to the innkeeper at a pub called the Poxy Wharf-Rat and you might get a discount if the old codger's still alive." Usopp heard Big Yama's heavy footsteps crunching on the rocky coast, and suddenly the tall old carpenter was standing beside him with a wistful smile. He had something clenched in his meaty fist, which he held out for Usopp to see. "Also, I noticed you were missing one of these, so I fished this out of my old gear." Big Yama opened his hand and Usopp was stunned at what he saw.

"Is that... an Eternal Pose?" Usopp said quietly. Big Yama nodded, then he laughed aloud.

"Har! It's not something I've ever had need for- you remember what I told ya about the sea train around here, right? -but it was given to me as payment from an old pirate about nine years ago, when I was still getting my start in my shop." Big Yama grabbed Usopp's hand and set the Eternal Pose in it, and up close Usopp could see that the glass on the dome was scratched and chipped, and the wood frame was worn and salt-stained, though he could still make out the word 'BARDIGRAS.' Usopp looked up into Big Yama's face and willed himself not to cry from gratitude.

"I hadn't even thought of it, but Na- er, the navigator took the Log Pose we... they had." The awfulness of his oversight finally really struck Usopp and he placed his face in his hand. "And I woulda just sailed out into the Grand Line with no way to navigate. I really am stupid, aren't I?"

"Har, well, you seem like you might've been through a lot recently, so it makes sense you'd lose track of something like this, eh?" Big Yama chuckled. Usopp smiled and closed his hand over the Eternal Pose. "You'll have to buy a new Log Pose on Bardigras Island though. Or steal one! You are a pirate, after all, eh? Har!"

"Big Yama... I really can't thank you enough. For everything," Usopp said sincerely, pocketing the Pose.

"You can thank me by not dying before you get where you wanna go," Big Yama said with a grin. "You better get that ship out to sea fast. Judging by the sky, Aqua Laguna will be here in force by sunset. As for me, I gotta go finish preparing my shop so I can head up to the shelter on the shipbuilders' island."

"Oh, man, I forgot about that. Will you have enough time!?" Usopp asked, feeling guilty for possibly taking up too much of Big Yama's day, but the old shopkeeper just laughed.

"Oh, when you've been boarding up the windows and sandbagging the doors as long as I have, you tend to figure out how to do it fast." Big Yama turned around and went to grab his toolbag. "You be safe, and don't do anything too stupid, kid!" With that, he walked briskly back toward the backstreet area of Water 7. Usopp watched him go with a mixture of gratitude and bewilderment. For a moment he wondered if this was some residual effect of travelling with Luffy for so long, that his weird ability to make friends with everyone might have rubbed off on him a bit. Unfortunately, that just made him think about Luffy, and the still sore throb of his cheek reminded him why that was a bad idea.

I'll have to find a way to repay Big Yama for real someday... but for now, I've got to go... I've got to go home. Usopp swallowed and climbed up onto the Going Merry, then began preparations to set off. Once the sails were drawn out (a difficult task to accomplish by his lonesome and with all his injuries) and the anchor raised up (a right pain in the ass), the blustery winds from the east caught the Merry up in their flow and drew her away from the shore, and Usopp with her.

Usopp stood on the fore deck, leaning on the railing beside the Going Merry's figurehead, and he stared out at the open sea in front of him. Not because he needed to, at the moment, but because Usopp knew that if he didn't keep his gaze fixed forward, it would drift back toward Water 7, toward... them. And he might never be able to pull it away.

I don't need to feel guilty for leaving. This is what we all wanted, really. We're only getting what's best for us. Luffy and them can keep sailing on down the Grand Line... and I can take the Merry out to sea and let her be the ship she deserves to be. The ship of a brave warrior of the sea.

We're heading home, Merry.