Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
Author's note: Whew, it feels like ages since I posted some LuNa. But this one has been in my fanfic folder for so long already, it was just time to finish it. It's mostly re-narrating the events before and after their reunion, with some extra fluff fit in. Writing this, I realised something: Do. Not. Write. In. The. First. Person. Perspective. It looks so stupid now, I apologise. And you might find the characters a teensy weensy bit OOC. But I don't feel like apologising for that, since nobody ever apologised to me for serious stupid LuNa OOC-ness when it was necessary. Jeez, do I sound negative. Sorry. Hope you'll enjoy despite all that.
Cheersy!
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Two years can be a long time.
I don't say that it always is, because that wouldn't be the truth. If you get told you only have two years left to live, then it isn't long enough. If your new ship gets wrecked after only two years, then it isn't long enough. If you buy a house and two years later it gets destroyed by a storm or a fire, then it isn't long enough.
Being apart from your boyfriend for two years sure is a long time.
Those were the things I mused about as I sat in that shabby-looking little bar, with my drink on the counter in front of me, and with the barman telling me about the Marine HQ switching its place with the G1 branch. It only confirmed my previous assumptions.
"So that's why I thought this place seems wilder than two years ago," I stated, taking a sip of my orange juice. How I had missed that. I just hoped that someone had cared for my mikan trees in the meantime, or else I'd have to punch him, no matter what or whom.
"Huhh? Did I just mishear that?" a voice came to my ears, and I concentrated my attention on the speaking subject. "A 55 million bounty …!?"
A loud thump, someone screamed, and the speaker laughed nastily. "Go back and read the poster carefully! I said 70 million, at least!"
Blah, blah. Stupid people talking shit. No need to listen anymore. Instead, I wondered, not the first time, about how my crewmates would have changed. Of course they would have become stronger. Even if it was hard to imagine that someone like Sanji or Zoro could become stronger than they had already been. Or … Luffy.
How would he be? Had he changed? Well, if the death of your brother and two years of hard training non-stop wouldn't change you, there was something seriously wrong with you. So I surely had the best reasons to contemplate.
"Go home, trash! I'm the son of Dragon, the revolutionary!"
This, again, managed to catch my attention. The son of Dragon, the revolutionary? Holy crap. How crazy was this person?
"We've got no interest in people who'll just slow us down, we're the chosen pirates, you know!" another person stated, and I rolled my eyes. Really, such nonsense. Such bullshit. Who did they think they were?
" … and we're gonna keep on gatherin' more from here on out!" the first speaker shouted in a loud, annoyingly low bass voice. "Hey old man, bring over the ale! … ahhh, and that woman that's sitting there!"
Yeah, that was exactly the thing one expected from such idiots. As there wasn't anybody sitting here except me, it was clear whom he meant. "No thank you," I said calmly, keeping my temper. When you were two years on an island inhabited by weather ossans it would be a wonder if you didn't learn at least a bit of patience. "I'm waiting for a man." I didn't really know in how far it was that dimwit's cup of tea at all, but perhaps it would clarify my position.
I looked up when a loud gasp spread around in the bar. Even the barman seemed scared. "She refused!"
Yeah, that's right, I refused. Why is that so much of a surprise for you? Don't you see how this guy looks like? As if I'd drink with someone like that!
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Listen to what he says! That guy's Strawhat Luffy!" the barman whispered to me.
I had to suppress a yawn. Man, this was getting boring. I already knew who he was – and definitely not Strawhat Luffy.
"He's the insane pirate who charged into the war on the summit two years ago! Don't you know of him?" he went on.
Oh, yeah, I knew him. Better than he thought. Better than probably everyone thought.
"Hahaha!" someone at his table laughed. He looked like a bad joke of Usopp – uh, sorry. I mean Sogeking. "Waiting for a man? Whoever he is, he'll just cry and apologise like the weak bastard he is when he hears Captain Luffy's name! Now get over here!"
Yawn. Certainly not.
"I'll only say it once more, okay?" I felt the urge to straighten out. "I've got no interest in you, so I'm not gonna drink with you." And besides, I have a boyfriend. At least, that was what I still hoped.
"That woman's dead!" someone whispered into the silence that superimposed onto the little room.
"Another drink? Strawhat … who?" I asked him, but merely because I've had enough by that time and wanted to provoke him, while I casually crossed my legs and propped my head on my hand.
"Stop it!" the barman yelped.
"IT'S STRAWHAT LUFFY!" the fat monster in the corner growled.
And the woman who had stood beside him the whole time now came to me, put her arm around me in false friendship while pointing a gun at me and said with a malicious grin, "I'll give you two choices. Accept Captain Luffy's invitation, or die! By the way, I've also got a bounty on my head: I'm the Cat Burglar Nami! Don't underestimate me!"
Like I said, yawn.
"Hissatsu Midoriboshi …" I heard someone say casually. Oh, this voice … it sounded quite familiar … could it be …?
"… Devil!"
I had no more time to think about it as a huge carnivorous plant broke out of nowhere and tightened its large jaws around 'Cat Burglar Nami'. Another one threatened 'Strawhat Luffy' and the other bad jokes around him.
"Okay Miss …" I heard that voice again, "will you drink with me, then?"
Dear me! That was Usopp!
"KYAAAA!" I exclaimed, overwhelmed by joy. "USOPP, IT'S BEEN SO LONG!" I pulled him into a passionate hug, really, two years was a long time. "What's this? You've gotten a little manly!" I said when I noticed his new muscles at places where they hadn't been before.
"A-and … You've gone up another level yourself …" he uttered from somewhere at my bosom.
"You did that?" I asked, somewhat amazed, and pointed at the giant plants growing everywhere and eating people like crazy.
"That's right! These are my new weapons, Pop Greens! I haven't just been staring at the sea and daydreaming for the past two years," he explained and showed a large grin. "Sorry, but I've graduated from the 'weakling trio' that me, you and Chopper belonged to! No matter what happens, I won't flinch! I've become a warrior!"
Haha, I was so glad to see some people never changed. It kind of comforted me.
"Hey, kid!" the fake Sogeking yelled at us. "Don't tell me you're the one who did this!"
"WHAAAAAT?" Usopp screeched at seeing his face. Mask. Whatever. "SOGEKING!? WHY?"
Yeah, some people really never changed. "Usopp, just ignore him," I said and would have rolled my eyes if we had had time for this. But it was getting uncomfortable now. "Let's go to another bar," I said, grabbing his wrist and my shopping bags, "I have something to ask you anyway."
"WAIT! YOU BASTARDS! JUST WHO DO YOU THINK WE ARE?" 'Strawhat Luffy' yelled after us and burst out of the jungle this bar had become.
"EHH!? LUFFY!?"
"AHH, MISS! WHAT ABOUT YOUR TAB?" Well, crap. I'd totally forgotten about that. But it didn't matter anyway; this was getting too tumultuous for me. I tagged Usopp along with me while placing nice little bubbles into the room without looking back. That would do.
When I just told Usopp about my own little adventure, the whole ugly place was blown up behind our backs. I thought that would teach them some manners, even if I felt a little bad for the poor barman.
We went to another bar, hoping to not get disturbed like last time, and we were lucky. No brainless idiot pretending to be 'Strawhat Luffy' or 'Cat Burglar Nami', so we could actually talk in silence.
"So how long are you here? And who else is there already?" Usopp asked as soon as we were seated.
I smiled and brushed my hair out of my face, "Well, for a few days already. I haven't been at the ship yet, but Shakky told me there was Zoro and Franky here. I haven't seen them, though. I haven't been at the ship ever since," I admitted.
"You haven't?" he asked, and I could see the glimmer in his eyes. "Aren't you curious how she looks? How everyone else looks?"
I shifted on my barstool uncomfortably. "Ah, well. I'm just waiting, you know. I want to be surprised," I tried to explain but did not give away my real reasons. I just couldn't, and he wouldn't understand anyway.
He looked as if he didn't buy it, so I added, "Yeah, besides, someone's gotta look for the idiots anyway. If Zoro's here and hasn't shown up yet, he's probably getting lost at this very moment, and if Luffy comes …" I gulped and hoped he didn't notice my getting nervous, "I think the same will happen, so I'm just looking for them."
"Ah. Yeah, you're probably right," he mused. "So I'm the fourth."
"Seems so."
"And who were those idiots in the other place?" he asked on. "I suppose that wasn't Luffy …"
I rolled my eyes. "Of course not. Would I have blown the place up if he were?"
"Umm, no."
"The only question is, are they just acting or are they really that stupid to believe they're us?" I wondered. "Have they gotten brainwashed?"
"I don't think so," Usopp stated, taking a sip of his drink. "They're using our amazing reputation to gather followers. That's unforgiveable …"
I sighed. "As long as they don't disturb us, it's alright."
He gave me an incredulous glance. "Am I misled if I say you've gotten more forbearing?"
"What makes you say that?" I couldn't help but feel scared. I didn't think I had changed that much, apart from my outer appearance, but if I had without even noticing, then the others must have, too.
"Usually you would've claimed their heads," he said calmly and gave me a smile. "But hey, don't worry. That's nothing bad, you know."
"Suppose so …" I muttered. Somehow, my pleasant anticipation had disappeared in an instant. I just wanted to delay the meeting – not with the others, but with him. Two years of anticipation, and now I felt like it was better if it would never take place.
I wanted to see him again, but I also feared it.
"So, tell me about that island you've been on! You said it was a sky island …?"
I knew it was cowardly, but when Usopp went off to look for the Sunny, I didn't go with him. Instead, I stayed at the little hotel I've been living in for the last few days or just went shopping. I didn't know how Fishman Island was supposed to be like, so I bought clothes for warm as well as cold weather. Even if I didn't know how there could be any warmth at all on an island at the bottom of the sea.
So as I lay in the bathtub in my hotel room and tried to relax, the thing Usopp had said went through my head over and over. Of course I had changed. It had been two years after all. And who knew what the others had done in that time? If someone had experienced some horrible things that had changed his or her character until nothing of the once beloved person was left anymore? What if they had? What if he had? Oh, no what if. He had, and I knew it. I really couldn't imagine Luffy fighting in a war. Or in that horrible prison. Or seeing Ace die, for that matter. Of course he had changed, it couldn't be any other way.
I sighed. I knew what it was like to lose a person you loved. It was hell on earth. After Bellemere had been murdered, it had been exactly the same with me. I had changed. And, finally, gotten stronger. But that had been a long, hard and painful way.
I didn't want him to be hurt. I wanted to protect him from pain … but see what had happened. I hadn't been of any use after all. While he had put his life on the line for his brother, I had sat on a freaking weather island with strange old guys and thought of how many of those tools I could steal and get away.
Very, very helpful.
I took a handful of foam up to my face and watched as it glistened in the soft light. It had been just great before we arrived on Sabaody Archipelago. So great that I had wished so desperately to keep it like this. But, of course, nothing is forever, and then it had happened.
God, how I missed him. But then again, didn't I only miss his old self? His old, cheerfully-stupid way, his face-splitting grin, his owlish look that looked so dumb you just had to hug him for it? And … what if he had lost it?
Even thinking about it sent a sharp pain through my chest. I couldn't imagine Luffy without his … Luffy-ness. That just wasn't possible. But after all he had gone through while I had been uselessly sitting on a cloud, wasn't it wishful thinking to hope he was still like that, still like I knew him, like we all knew him … and loved him?
Normally I wasn't afraid of changes. Time changed, weather changed all the time. People changed.
But why then did it feel like my stomach had twisted into a hard knot every time I thought about how Luffy could have changed?
The day I so desperately looked forward to and, at the same time, feared so much, came faster than I could prepare for. After meeting up with an incredibly fluffy Chopper, an even more robotised Franky, and Robin, still as calm as ever, Rayleigh arrived on the ship to tell us about the situation on the Archipelago and how the Marines were sounding the charge on the fake Mugiwara Crew, which was bad for us since we were the real deal and the Marine wasn't as stupid as the other folks. He started giving me directions about manoeuvring a coated ship and surprised us with wonderful news – Luffy was on the island already. We'd set sail – or rather, start our sinking – right after he would arrive.
I was grateful for having something to concentrate on. Like that, time flew by much faster than if I had sat in some corner biting my fingernails and counting seconds. Not that I was that type of person, anyway.
And then, without warning, a yell.
"HEEEEEEEEEEYYYYY!"
His voice.
We all looked up. My heart started pounding like mad, but I guess the others were experiencing a similar feeling. We had all been kinda nervous about this.
"AHHHH! YOU GUYS!" Up there, sitting on a giant bird…something, were …
"Luffy!"
"Zoro! Sanji!"
I felt my heart leap in my chest, somersaulting a couple of times. "HEEEEYYY!" I answered, waving my arms up in the air, a grin of pure happiness on my face. And that was exactly how it felt, pure happiness. I had feared this moment, but right now, I couldn't exactly remember why again. All I knew that he was here now, that we were reunited as a crew, and that it was just perfect.
They jumped down from the bird, and I ran towards them, drawn like metal to a magnet. Thoughts, fears, all left behind. Screw the others' opinion for just this moment. And one well-measured dive later, I was in his arms – finally.
"Hey," he murmured at my ear, and I closed my eyes.
Yes, this was happiness.
"Hey," I murmured back, eventually letting go. Most unwilling, though. His eyes were sparkling with joy, with power. Aww, God. "I missed you." Just about as loud as for him to hear.
"I –" he started, but I never heard his reply. "WHOOOOAAAAA! F…! F…! FRANKYYY!"
Yeah. What did I just say about happiness? But at the same time, I felt a smile creep upon my face – this was Luffy. The old Luffy. The one I knew, and the one I loved.
We prepared the ship and were about to take off (or under), when a Marine battleship fired at us. Luckily (and very surprisingly), another ship blocked its path.
"That's the emblem of the Kuja," Robin stated.
"The Kuja?" I asked, narrowing my eyes to see what was going on. As far as I could see, there was an unusual amount of women on that ship; unusual for a pirate ship, that is.
"An all-female pirate crew, led by the shichibukai 'Pirate Empress'."
Usopp, looking through binoculars, cried out about the stunning beauty of that Empress, and Sanji, also with binoculars, turned to stone. "Ahh! She … she just winked at us!" Brook exclaimed, performing strange contortions.
"Oh! It's Hancock!" Luffy laughed. "That was lucky! Come on, let's set sail!"
"Do you know that shichibukai?" Stunning beauty, eh. I pursed my lips.
"Yeah, I was sent to the isle of women, so they're all my pals."
I could have laughed. What was I worrying about? With Luffy, there was nothing to worry about. He could have been naked with her in a bathroom, and I still wouldn't have to worry about anything at all.
"And she's really funny. When I fell through the roof into her bathroom, she wanted to kill me because of the sign on her back …"
Okay, scratch that.
"You've seen her NAKED?" Sanji yelled, fire erupting all over him.
Two lumps later, we started sinking. The underwater world was really amazing, with many creatures swimming around, basked in a strange light. Our adventure had finally begun.
On my way to the rear of the ship, trying to get a better view, I suddenly felt myself snatched and pulled behind a barrel. "Argh! What …!"
"Shhh," Luffy said. His face was directly before mine, looking serious. He held me close, pressing my body up to his. And without saying much else, his lips captured mine in a hard kiss.
I didn't find the right words to describe it. It just felt so … right, like a puzzle piece that had snapped in place. My hands got tangled up in his pitch black hair as I kissed him back, my eyes closed as I savoured the feeling, put it in a mental chest and locked it up to never forget.
"I missed you too," he said when he released me. "Sorry 'bout earlier. Shishishi."
I gave him a heartfelt smile. "Forgotten. That's just who you are. And that's why I love you."
He softly caressed my cheek. This tender gesture, how I had longed for it. "I –" he started, but it seemed to be my fate never hearing him complete his sentences.
"LUFFYYYY! Come look! Sea monsters!"
"SUGOOOIII!" He was up and away in a flash.
I sighed, thinking about what mess I had gotten myself into by falling in love with a mentally eight-year old, when I was jerked up and down the stairs. "Waaah! Luffy, stop!" He had grabbed my hand and was dragging me over half the ship.
"Luffy!"
He realised his mistake when everyone on the ship suddenly stopped and stared. At us. And our connected hands. I face-palmed. "Not what it looks like …" I half-heartedly started, but was interrupted.
"HOW DARE YOU PUT THE MOVES ON MY POOR INNOCENT NAMI-SAN! I'LL KILL YOU BASTAAAARD!"
Yup. Nothing had changed. And the story goes on, as always.
Author's note: Yup. That's it. You might have noticed that I often end my romance fics with Sanji. That has a reason. I hate, hate, HATE those "Ohh I love you! - I love you too darling! - *chu chu chuuu*" (- s'posed to be kissing noises) endings. That's why I often end them with humour, and who's better suited for this than our favourite ero-cook? Teehee.
Thanks for reading!