/When our time is up,
/When our lives are done,
/Will we say we've had our fun?
A warm breeze touched across Loguetown that day. Quiet murmurs of the crowd bloomed into loud, boisterous conversation, speculation, lamentation. Surely this was it, the end they had finally captured them.
All eyes strained in the square, searching, waiting, needing to see what would soon take place. The tall wooden scaffold waited, for the time empty. The spears were being sharpened, the sentences being readied, the prisoners being prepared. There had been no event this large in the time that had passed since the late Gol D. Roger had met his end there with a cryptic grin, sending the world into the Great Age of Pirates.
Silence descended as the courtroom's doors opened at last and two Marines emerged, leading with them a young man wearing a captain's red coat and a simple straw hat over ever-unruly black hair. Hands bound with heavy sea stone cuffs, it was none other than Monkey D. Luffy. He met the crowd with an unmovingly wide grin, surely would have been waving if he could.
When the procession had reached the top of the scaffold, the Marines moved to either side of the stairs, standing at attention. Before the crowd could begin its chatter again, a much larger procession emerged from the courthouse. Luffy watched and couldn't help laughing with a sad sort of eagerness as it did.
It was them his nakama.
Zoro. The swordsman met the crowd with a smirk, his eye sharp and predatory. His hair had grown longer, stubble on his chin and newer scars over his left eye. He looked up and spotted Luffy, nodding to him.
Nami. The navigator walked with poise, chin up and wearing a plain smile. Her hair fell in long, flowing locks that glowed like fire in the bright sunlight. She too caught sight of her captain and beamed.
Usopp. At one time, being in such a situation would have found the sniper shaking in his boots. But he showed no signs of fear then, his shoulders squared and his eyes full of courage.
Sanji. His left eye flashed and a grin pulled the cook's lips around his last-request cigarette, longer hair loose to obscure his right eye from view. Polished as ever, his pace was only faltered by the extra shackles binding his feet.
Chopper. Proudly wearing the professional coat of a doctor with his pink top hat and a pair of glasses perched on his nose, the reindeer's eyes filled with tears of happiness when he looked up to the scaffold.
Robin. Calm and collected, the archeologist gracefully made her way along, studying her surroundings and those gathered with her keen eyes. The breeze pulled at her short dress and she gave a soft chuckle.
Franky. The shipwright flashed his teeth in a smug grin, his pompadour slicked back now with a few fly-aways sticking out in the front. He leaned down to mutter something to Robin about the unattractive Marine escort to her left, causing her to laugh again.
Brook. The musician had not changed much, wearing a newly tailored suit in the same fashion of his older one, a small top hat perched atop his afro. He bowed his head to Luffy and was lead last up the stairs to stand beside the rest on the crew on the scaffold.
/Will we make a mark this time?
/Will we always say we tried?
Reunited for the first time in nearly three years, each of the nine regarded one another in silence, their escorts leaving them in the care of the two Marines by the stairs and the civil servant who arrived, moving before them to deliver the sentencing. Pirate and civilian alike turned their attentions to him, a long parchment unrolling in his hands and he cleared his throat.
It was a long list that barely scraped over the tip of the iceberg that was their adventure across the seas. Counts of theft and disobedience, resisting arrest, assaulting officers, commanders, ships, declaring war on the World Government and the countries it represented as it went on, the crew smiled collectively wider and wider it had been a wild ride.
/We're standing on the rooftops,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
/Standing on the rooftops,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
Anticipation was thick in the air from the beginning, but grew to a new threshold as they were to now be allowed their last words. Starting at the left end of the line stood: Franky and Brook, then Usopp, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Chopper, and Robin at the far right end.
The first hints of a frown pulled at Luffy's expression. He had hoped that he alone would be taken in by the World Government, yet they had also caught his precious nakama.
"My dream ship reached the end of the world, didn't it, Luffy?" rumbled Franky, looking over at him with a raised brow.
Luffy nodded.
"Then that's good enough for me." He chuckled, nodding to the civil servant. "I've got no regrets."
"Yohohoho~!" Brook twittered. "Laboon was so happy to hear our song one last time and to see me again, even though I'm just bones! Now he can go see the world, just like we did! I have no regrets, either!"
"A brave warrior stands strong until the very end!" Usopp cried out. "I saw the island of Elbaf and I'm courageous just like my father! The brave Captain Usopp lives without regrets!"
"I kept my promises," Zoro mused, smiling. "I defeated that man and claimed my title for us both and I never lost again, just like I swore to you. No regrets here."
"All Blue is as beautiful as it had been in my dreams," Sanji sighed reverently. "My restaurant will outshine even that old geezer's! Regrets? Nah. None here."
"My map was finished," Nami said, looking to the sky. "I was able to see it all and add it to my charts. No greater map exists in all this world. I have no regrets."
"I can cure it all!" Chopper cheered. "Every sickness, every pain that hurts a person's body! I have no regrets, Luffy!"
"The True History is no longer a mystery," Robin said calmly with a soft smile. "I found the Rio Poneglyph was able to complete the studies of my late parents and the scholars of Ohara. I no longer hold any regrets."
/Standing on the rooftops,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
/This is all we got now,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
Luffy looked at them all, his grin having returned fully.
"Everyone." he began.
/All the love I've met,
/I have no regrets.
/If it all ends now, I'm set.
"...let's go on one last adventure!"
His eight nakama cheered in agreement.
/Will we make a mark this time?
/Will we always say we tried?
Luffy turned to address the crowd.
/We're standing on the rooftops,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
/Standing on the rooftops,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
"OI! LISTEN!" he called. "I am Monkey D. Luffy, the Pirate King, and these are my nakama! We are the greatest crew in all the world and together we saw it all and had our grand adventure! We have no regrets! But before we go on our greatest adventure yet, I have one last thing to say!"
The crowd was on edge
"One Piece is REAL! It exists! We found it!"
"Aye!" echoed his nakama.
/Standing on the rooftops,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
/This is all we got now,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
"I won't tell you where it is, or even what it truly is because that would make the adventure boring!" he continued. "Everybody set out to sea to risk their lives to find it! And they're going to keep doing it! We added to it, after all! It's even GREATER now!"
/Standing on the rooftops,
/Wait until the bombs drop!
/This is all we got now,
/Scream until your heart stops!
"We're leaving for another world today, together! But we've left our greatest treasure in that place! Go find it if you can!"
There was a lingering, awed silence that was only broken when the unmoved civil servant cleared his throat.
"Are you quite finished?"
"Yep," Luffy nodded, turning back around to face him.
"Very well. Let the executions begin."
/Never gonna regret,
/Watching every sunset!
/We'll, listen to your heartbeat,
/All the love that we found!
The Marines stood aside as two men dressed in all black mounted the scaffold, each carrying a long spear with wicked blades at the end. Flanking the civil servant, they awaited further orders.
"First. Dead Bones Brook. Due to his condition, this pirate cannot be executed by the spear," mandated the servant. "His sentence will thus be carried out by flame instead."
He was taken by the arms by the two Marines, escorting him down the stairs.
It was the last time the musician was seen, the only evidence of his passing was the smell of smoke and burning, a haunting melody filling the air
'Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~'
Eight remained.
/Standing on the rooftops,
/Wait until the bombs drop!
/This is all we got now,
/Scream until your heart stops!
"Next. Cyborg Franky."
"Supah," he murmured under his breath, stepping forward.
Forced to kneel, he was the first the crew would endure seeing impaled, the twin spears piercing skin, steel, and mechanical parts alike. In the end, they found his heart and so went the shipwright.
Seven remained.
"Next. Demon Child Nico Robin."
Elegant to her last, she knelt with an almost unearthly calmness about her. As the spears pulled back, readying to end her life, she looked up with a soft smile and laughed
""Dereshishishishi."
Even though it hurt, the archeologist laughed.
Six remained.
"Next. Tony Tony Chopper."
There was some verbal protest from the crowd at this point, but nothing would disrupt the proceedings. Shortness of stature did nothing to prevent the spears finding their mark and soon the doctor's clinical white coat blossomed with red.
Five remained.
/Never gonna regret,
/Watching every sunset!
/We'll, listen to your heartbeat,
/All the love that we found!
"Next. Black Leg Sanji."
The cook took in the last of his cigarette, letting out a sigh of smoke before spitting the spent cylinder at the servant's feet. He crossed past the swordsman, sharp green gaze meeting the stellar blue for just a moment.
"See ya on the other side, marimo."
"Yeah, ero-cook."
He turned and knelt, the cook embracing the cold steel that had already taken the others.
Four remained.
"Next. Usopp: alias Sogeking, King of the Snipers."
Though his legs shook just a bit, as they had so many times before, he exchanged one last nod with his captain before taking a knee, eyes bright and wet. A last thought escaped the sniper's lips as he fell:
"I wonder if Merry will be there too."
Three remained.
/Scream your heart out!
/Scream your heart out!
/Scream your heart out!
/Scream your-!
"Next. Cat Burglar Nami."
She would pause before Luffy, giving a slight smile before kissing his cheek softly, only then turning to meet the spears. She closed her eyes and thought of her fragrant mikan trees, the quiet putter of a pinwheel in the wind the image slipped to darkness as the navigator faded away.
Two remained.
/Standing on the rooftops,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
/Standing on the rooftops,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
"Next. Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro."
"Luffy."
The captain turned to the swordsman, meeting his firm gaze.
Not being one for words, he said no more, simply nodding before taking his place. He regarded the spears with a distasteful glance-such pathetic weapons, really nothing like his katana-but it was a blow that not even the swordsman could endure all the same.
Only the captain remained.
/Standing on the rooftops,
/Everybody scream your heart out!
"Last. Strawhat Monkey D. Luffy, the King of Pirates."
The Marines forced him to face the crowd, pushing down on his shoulders until he knelt. The breeze kicked up into an angry wind, as if to show disapproval. Some had begun to cry, others shouted angrily in protest. He could see them from all over the world, those they had met had come to say their good-byes. The spears lifted, the blood-soaked tips glinting in the sunlight
Luffy drew in one last deep breath.
As they pierced through to silence that strong heart forever, he roared with a wide grin and a laugh
"THE GREAT AGE OF DREAMS WILL NEVER END!"
And then none remained.
/This is all we got now,
/Everybody scream your-
In the years that would follow the passing of Luffy and his crew, pirates continued to seek out the world's greatest treasure, One Piece.
Those who knew them fondly would gladly repeat their stories to anyone who asked, their wanted posters still displayed with pride. Rather than making an example with their execution, the tale of the Strawhats served to inspire a whole new generation of pirates to take to the seas.
It was a grand legacy, one that would continue on and on so long as there were hearts that beat strong and longed for adventure.
Truly, the Age of Dreams would live on forever.