It was early evening on the Going Merry, and the sun was beginning to set. The sky was clear and the stars were beginning to peek out.
"Hey, Zoro!" Luffy called, walking over to Zoro.
"What?"
"Can we do fireworks tonight? I mean, it being the fourth of July and all…"
Zoro shrugged. "If we have any."
"Who said anything about us having any? I was planning on making some!" Luffy grinned.
Zoro started and turned around to tell him that that wasn't a good idea, but the boy was gone. Probably off to who-knows-where to find some sulfur and the other stuff needed. Zoro was fine with the crew making their own fireworks, but he just didn't want Luffy trying to make them himself.
Making fireworks was something like cooking, and that was something Luffy positively could not do. The last time he tried to cook, he was trying to make chocolate chip cookies because he was hungry. He ended up putting in way too much sugar and baking soda and he even added meat. Meat, for crying out loud! Who puts meat in cookies?
Luffy, obviously! Zoro thought. Then he walked around the ship for a while, trying to find him.
-x-x-x-x-
"Hey, Sanji! Have you seen Luffy?" Zoro called, walking into the galley. He wouldn't have normally asked Sanji, since the two of them were practically mortal enemies, but it had been three hours and no one else was in sight.
Sanji turned. "No, you old fart. I thought you were supposed to be keeping tabs on him this month?"
"DON'T CALL ME AN OLD FART EVER AGAIN!" Zoro shouted, brandishing his swords.
"Whatever," Sanji said. "Good luck with finding Luffy. I heard he took the dinghy and rowed to shore."
"WHAT?" If Luffy left the ship without the crew knowing, Zoro would be in big trouble. His chore for the month was to constantly keep tabs on Luffy so the crew would always know where he was.
Zoro stormed away. Please let Luffy still be on the ship.
Suddenly, there was a big BANG and the roof flew off of the bathroom.
"Well, I found Luffy," Zoro muttered, before running over to see if the boy was okay.
Apparently Luffy had anticipated this, because he said, "I'm okay, Zoro!"
Zoro stopped just outside what used to be the door and huffed. "Luffy, you know you're supposed to tell me everywhere you go."
"Well it gets so annoying to have to tell someone where I am going to be at any given time," he whined. "It makes me feel like everyone is treating me like a little boy. I'm the captain, for crying out loud!"
Zoro could definitely relate to what the boy was feeling. When he was younger, his swordsmaster would always hire a type of nanny to watch him all day long. Even though he was perfectly capable of watching himself.
"So what exactly are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm making a fireworks show!" Luffy said excitedly.
Well, obviously. "Do you want me to help?"
"Nope! As a matter of fact, I'm already done!" he held up a charred cardboard box full of fuses attached to black tubes.
"How do you know how to make fireworks?" Zoro asked. As far as he knew, no one had ever taught Luffy how to make dangerous explosives. And he had been with Luffy for a long time.
"Oh, I had some training with Usopp last year."
Zoro blinked. So that's where he was the day before the Fourth of July!
"Oh. So, when does the show start?"
"Right now, if you want!" Luffy exclaimed. "You gather everyone together and tell them to meet at the main deck. I'll be setting them off right here."
"Okay," Zoro said reluctantly. He didn't really trust Luffy with a lighter, but trust has to start somewhere.
After Zoro left, Luffy hurriedly began taking the fireworks out of the box and arranging them in a specific order. They would all be tied to a timed master fuse which would set them off at specific times, each one going off three seconds apart.
Once he had the arrangement right, he tied all of the explosives together and set the timer.
Right then, Zoro came back. "Everyone's on the main deck," he announced, eyeing the fireworks.
"Great! Now, you go join them."
"But—"
"I'll be fine!" Luffy said.
"Whatever," Zoro grunted, walking away.
Luffy attached a longer length of fuse to the end, which would give him one minute after he lit it to go join the others on the deck.
A minute later, after Luffy was sure that everyone was on the deck, he bent down and lit the end of the fuse. Then he made a run for it, his feet pounding against the wooden slats of the deck.
He saw everyone gathered up ahead, and he put on a final burst of speed. "I'm here!" he announced before sitting down and facing the direction of the show.
Everyone saw him and faced the same way. Zoro came and sat next to him. "This better be worth all my trouble," he said.
"Oh, it is," Luffy answered.
Just then, the show started. The first firework to go up was a red and silver one that exploded and fizzled gold for a second before falling.
There were a few of those, and then came the moving ones. The first moving one exploded and what looked like a bunch of worms floated across the sky to a chorus of oohs and ahhs.
A few minutes later, there was a pause.
Luffy grinned. "Here comes the grand finale!" he called.
Everyone stared at the sky in anticipation.
A huge BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM made everyone jump. Suddenly, the sky was filled with pictures. There was a straw hat, complete with gold and red. Next to it stood Luffy, looking happy, holding food. On the other side of the hat was Zoro in a fighting stance.
Zoro grunted.
Everyone else on the crew was up there, too, and so was the ship.
Just as the pictures fizzled out, another bang shook the deck, and three large hearts lit up the night.
Everyone cheered. "That was amazing!" Sanji said, hearts in his eyes.
"I loved it!" Nami said. She was tearing up with emotion.
Luffy stood, grinned, and accepted all of the praise. Even Zoro was impressed and gave Luffy a hard pat on the back, making him fly forward.
"I think this calls for a celebration!" Sanji announced.
"What kind of celebration?" Luffy asked.
"A late-night picnic….with MEAT!"
I wanted to do a little story for the Fourth of July, so this is what I came up with. Yeah, I know I finished this the day after the fourth, but who cares? Definitely not me. :) Hope you like it!