The Adventure

A One Piece oneshot

By Yumeniai

A/N: If you think the title has nothing to do with the fic, that's because it's based off the song, The Adventure, by Angels and Airwaves. NOT, however, a songfic, before you go screaming into the night.

He dreamed.

Locked in that small cage, surrounded on all sides by cruel seastone, wrists bound so tightly in seastone-weave rope, ankles rubbed raw by seastone shackles … he could do nothing, not move, not see.

And so he dreamed.

He dreamed of the first dingy that he and Zoro had commandeered – the first real day he'd been the Captain of a Pirate Crew.

He dreamed of the Going Merry, cresting over waves so valiantly, carrying with her a crew of only seven.

He dreamed of the Thousand Sunny and his current crew of nine, of sunny days and blue skies, of clouds drifting low and of the many smiles and laughs.

He woke and vomited violently. He winced at the bile, and the smell that he could not get away from. It did nothing but increase his nausea, making him throw up again, though weaker this time and lacking anything but acid. Coughing, his eyes lost focus. And he wished that the dreams would return.

But sleep eluded him, exhausted though he was.

A sigh escaped him, originating from deep within his gut and rushing out explosively, just as the door to the brig opened and a familiar figure decked in white walked in. Though his blindfolded eyes could not even distinguish between light and dark, the smell of smoke overpowered even the vomit.

Luffy fought to smile, though even that expression eluded him. He settled instead for a croaked, 'Hey, Smokey."

The twitch was almost audible. "Mugiwara."

"Heh. I'm huunnnggggrryyy … feed me?" Though his voice was weak and a bare mockery of the insatiability that often coloured it when asking for food, his hunger was obvious, and Smoker felt his heart weaken at the pitiful picture that his greatest adversary painted. This … boy, not yet twenty, had already become the Pirate King, and now …

"Answer my questions first."

But no reply was forthcoming – Luffy lost hold of his tenacious consciousness again. Smoker sighed at the greatest pirate of the age, leaning against the wall of his cell, looking more dead than alive.

He was about to walk out when the sound of irregular dripping reached him. Smoker frowned, turning back towards the slouched figure.

He clicked his lighter, and warmth filled the room. The trussed up boy was illuminated, along with the copious amounts of blood leaking from his head, chest, arms and leg, pooling around him, mixing with sweat and vomit to form a pungent stew that would make most people turn away in disgust. Instead, Smoker was horrified. When he was alerted that the Strawhat had been captured by some no-name marine in a no-name island, he hadn't expected this amount of damage on the boy!

Instead of transporting the boy, Smoker had merely been commanded to take over the ship, and deliver him to Louguetown for his trial and imminent execution. Technically still the officer in charge of said town, he still had official custody over the boy until his trial.

Smoker growled, stalking out of the brig and onto the main deck, shouting for a doctor to look at Luffy and for some hands to move the boy to the infirmary.

When Luffy woke again, he had already been patched up and thrown back into the cell, though the blindfold and ropes had been removed this time. Though still nauseous and powerless from the seastone, he felt much better than before.

His stomach rumbled, and he groaned. As if this was a signal, the door opened, revealing Smoker with a tray of food.

"MEEIIIiissshhhi …" he trailed off, not even the promise of food reviving him from the exhaustion that seastone brought.

Smoker looked faintly exasperated, though a slight hint of relief was visible. He frowned at that small part, ultimately deciding to ignore it as he opening the cell, slipping in the tray. He sighed at the enthusiasm with which he attacked the food, dampened by the seastone, but still beyond obvious.

He leaned against the far wall, watching with morbid fascination as the boy ate. As the amount of food diminished, so did the speed, until finally nothing was left but an empty tray and unused utensils. He snorted in disgust.

The two sat like that in complete silence, years of cat and mouse boiling down to that brief moment. Though Smoker had always imagined that would've come at the boy's funeral, it seemed that this was a more suitable time.

Luffy broke into the silence like the hammers they both were.

"You know, I don't particularly want to die." His grin was audible – the thoughtfulness of the statement not.

Smoker snorted again. "No one does."

"But I'd always known that I'd be the first."

At this, Smoker paused, his reply dying as he processed that statement. "Care to explain that, Mugiwara?"

"Heh. I'm the Captain, you know? And the Captain's supposed to be the first to do everything! I was the first to set out on the journey and the first to accomplish my dream, so my adventure should be the first to end too. You see? That way I can go ahead and make sure that … well, everything will be okay for them." The wistful tone that developed as he talked about his nakama almost made Smoker smile. Almost.

"And if there's nothing afterwards? What then?"

Luffy paused before replying. "Well, that's the end then, isn't it? All adventures have to end at some point, and they always end where they started. If there wasn't anything before life, and if there's nothing after … well, afterwards, then isn't that just the end of my adventure? It's sad for adventures to end, but they have to, otherwise there's no fun in setting out on one!"

That was almost … thoughtful, coming from the strawhat boy, Smoker admitted grudgingly to himself. Though the logic was completely twisted, it still made sense … in a way that really shouldn't.

"I couldn't have done anything without them, you know?"

Smoker blinked at the sudden turn of conversation. Remembering the fever the doctor had talked about, he decided to humor the boy, and stayed silent as the boy continued.

"They're gonna be really sad afterwards, even though I don't want them to be. They will be anyway, 'cause that's just how they are … damn it …"

A sniffle caught in his throat, and Smoker stared. It just didn't seem right for the Mugiwara, the boy who had declared war on the World Government, destroyed Enies Lobby, punched a Tenryuubito, broke into Impel Down to lead the largest breakout in history, then taken part in the Whitebeard War … that boy shouldn't be crying, of all things! Not knowing what to do, Smoker kept his silence as the boy composed himself.

"I hope they'll be there. At the execution, I mean. I really do. Then I'd be able to thank them. 'Cause I really couldn't have done it without their help. And to tell them to keep going after their dreams. Nami's World Map still isn't finished yet, you know? And Zoro's only just got his title, he has to keep it too! Usopp's always been a brave warrior of the sea, but he can't see that yet, and he can't stop his adventure until he does. All Blue's been found, but the restaurant that Sanji's always wanted to open on it's still only a dream, not a reality. We've found out about the Lost History, but Robin's still in the middle of writing her book about it. Chopper's still finding cures for all the illnesses in the world, and Franky's gotta keep going on adventures with the Sunny, it's his dream! Laboon's still waiting for Brooke to take them home – they have to go around the Grand Line again to do that, but I believe that Zoro can lead them in that … so they have to keep going, even without me …"

What could he say to that? Smoker's silence persisted as the now sobbing boy spilled his thoughts to the only person he could.

"Isn't it funny that the Captain's the easiest member of a crew to replace? If the navigator, the doctor, the cook, the shipwright, or any of the fighters are lost, the ship wouldn't be able to go on. But if the Captain's gone, they can get the First Mate to replace him.

"I hope my Nakama are at the execution."

Smoker finally broke in. "You don't even know if they'll sentence you to death."

Luffy laughed, the innocent sound almost completely covering up his previous sobs. "You don't have to lie to me, you know. I can take the news. I'm basically already at the guillotine, all that needs to be finished is the paperwork to take me there, shishi!"

Silence, again, this time cold and impenetrable by all but the boy that seemed to light up the world.

"The only thing I'll miss is seeing my friends."

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

Zoro swore as he fought his way towards the execution platform, destroyed so many years ago by lightning. No such miracle was forthcoming this time though, not in this beautiful day.

It's wrong, he thought, it's wrong that the day he dies should be so faultless. Straightaway he berated himself for the thought – Luffy wasn't gonna die, dammit! They would save him, and then they would be off on their adventures again … that was why the sky was clear, because their reunion would be happy, flawless, like that never ending sky!

Sanji's body ached as he kicked through another dozen Marines at once, the shock rattling his very bones as he rushed forwards. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" he screamed at those who blocked his path. Can't they see that they were obstructing him from his Captain? Didn't they see that THEY NEEDED TO GET THEIR CAPTAIN OUT OF THERE?"

Clouds gathered in the sky at Nami's commands, calling lightning to strike anywhere that her nakama weren't occupying, including the execution platform. Usually she wouldn't hesitate to shock Luffy, but at the moment, his devil fruit was no doubt suppressed by seastone, and an electric shock would fry the little brains he had left. But without bringing down the platform, she could do nothing but thin the opposing ranks of Marines.

They were picked off in pairs or more by Usopp's projectiles, killing more than just a few. His slingshot was nowhere in sight – instead, he used heavy firearms that were far more efficient, despite his aversion to killing. If it would save Luffy, his innocence was too little a price ..!

The bulky form of Chopper cut a swath through the Marines, sending them flying left and right. Wearing bullet-impenetrable armor, he thought of nothing but stopping the execution and rescuing his hero. Detached, he thought that his progress was like walking through water, or what walking through water would've been like if he'd never eaten the devil fruit. With a roar, he discarded irrelevant thoughts and focused his entire being into getting ahead to save Luffy …

A hundred Marines fell at once to Robin's many arms, spines cracked, necks broken, bloody piles of flesh with no visible blood. Brutally efficient, she stood on a building, protected by Brooke's sword as she concentrated in dispatching the defending Marines, and killing the executioners holding twin spears whenever new ones arrived. The boy who had allowed her to live must be protected at all costs!

A growing pile of bodies fell at the foot of the execution platform, numbering in the dozens and growing as Luffy's would-be executioners fell.

Brooke's swords flashed, not quite as fast or as efficient as Zoro's three, but still delivering the fates of dozens, targeting all who decided that coming after Nico Robin would be a good idea. To protect, that was his sole duty at the moment, for by himself he could not decimate as many as Robin in such a short time. Better to make sure that the woman whose concentration could not afford to be broken be protected than to leap into the battle and save Luffy himself, however much he wanted to. However much he wished he could, he had to restrain himself, to give Luffy the best chance of survival …

Franky's three bottles of Cola was quickly depleted, refilled as quickly as he could as his weapons of mass destruction, though aimed poorly, quickly destroyed whole squads of reinforcements. He couldn't afford to shoot into the crowd, as his weapons were more suited to blowing up many without discrimination, so instead he concentrated to keeping an open path for their escape after they rescue Luffy. Because there was no doubt that they'd succeed, no way that they could fail, not at this all-important task.

A scream was heard from Robin as a stray bullet pierced her shoulder, breaking her concentration enough for the new executioners to raise their spears in preparation to plunge them down …

"NO!"

A wave of haki punctuated the eight screams, felling half the Marines and freezing the rest. The eight members of the Strawhat crew fixed their eyes on the platform as Luffy's eyes became shadowed by his hat.

"Zoro! Nami! Usopp! Sanji! Chopper! Robin! Franky! Brooke!"

The scene was all too familiar to Zoro and Sanji, who watched with increasingly widened eyes as two spear-wielders recovered, lifting their weapons far above their heads …

"Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you." His wide smile lightened up the square, regardless of the incoming weapons.

"NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!"

A sickening, wet squelch, then nothing for what seemed like an eternity.

From his vantage point where he had stood two years ago, watching almost the exact same scene, Smoker sighed.

Until the end, the boy had believed his own drivel. Easily replaceable? In what alternate universe?

He looked up as the sky started to cry with the Strawhat's former navigator.

Town of the beginning and the end indeed. Apologies at the beginning, and nothing but thanks at the end.

And he watched dispassionately as the remainder of the crew decimated all the marine forces on the island before escaping, free falling tears and clenched fists assuring him that they would keep going.

Even if only for the sake of their first and only Captain.

A/N: I've read a whole lot of execution fics, so this is my take. Not copied off anyone but the original series. I don't own One Piece, and this does not make me (or anyone) any profit (unless you count motivational profit - so please review!)