Disclaimer: I am not the Pirate King, nor am I Eichiro Oda. Therefore, I do not own One Piece.
A/N: This is my very first One Piece story. Please be kind to me and drop a review to let me know what you think.
Special Thanks: To my betas, Checkmate-13 and Wordlet. Couldn't have done this without you!
Dedicated: To my little brother for introducing me to One Piece. Even if it was in a very roundabout way. :P
Live Forever
People die.
Usopp remembers Luffy's words as if he'd heard them yesterday, even though it's been years and years since they'd travelled across that desert country, fighting, bleeding, and in the end saving it for a friend. He had wondered, as his captain had said those words, firm and sure and knowing, who it was he had lost that made his eyes darken and lips press in a firm straight line. He had wanted to ask about it then, but it wasn't the time or the place, so he waited.
But by the time things had settled down and everyone had woken up from their battles, the sniper had already forgotten.
They were all alive. They would all be okay, and that was all that really mattered, wasn't it?
..X..
He was the only one who saw Luffy go overboard that day. They had been fishing and he was trying to distract his captain from the delicious smell of Sanji's cooking when a tailwind sent the ship heaving to one side. It was all he could do to snag the railing, but when he looked around Luffy was gone.
No one else seemed to notice, leaving him to rescue their anchor of a captain. It wouldn't be too much trouble, he was a good swimmer and he had dived after Luffy on multiple occasions so why would this be any different?
Except this time Usopp couldn't find him.
Diving deeper and deeper, lungs aching and eyes burning, he couldn't see the rubber man's red vest anywhere, and a chill that had nothing to do with the cold depths shook him hard. Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? Deeper and deeper till his head was spinning with the need to breathe and, there! Just a little further, was Luffy. Limp and pale, mouth open, eyes closed. He kicked hard, fingers straining as they snagged a wrist and they were heading up, towards the shimmering sunlight. He had to hurry; he had to get him out of the water now!
A gasp, a shout, and Zoro was pulling them both up, scowling hard but worry displayed in his eyes. Usopp spluttered, shaking, as air rushed into his lungs. Luffy was lying still on the dripping deck. Usopp caught his breath as the swordsman worked, pressing hard against the rubber man's chest, seawater splattering across the deck, before Zoro sealed his mouth over the captain's and breathed.
By the time Usopp realized that the CPR wasn't working, Zoro was already running across the deck, arms full of Luffy, shouting for the doctor. Chopper! Chopper! He won't breathe!
His breath hitched as the others shouted, confused and fearful, only just now realizing that something had gone wrong. If only, If only...
People die.
If only it hadn't been him. Sanji or Zoro wouldn't have let it happen.
If only he had been faster, a better swimmer. Then Luffy would be running around the deck, not lying unresponsive in the infirmary.
I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I'm so sorry. Please, Luffy, don't... don't... I'm sorry—
Hands grasped his shoulders—It's okay, he's gonna be okay, Chopper will save him, it's okay—and a tissue was pressed into his hands. When had he started crying?
Later, when Luffy was stable and sleeping everything off, he'd slipped into the infirmary, hands shaking and heart racing. He took in his captain's pale face, the white sheets rising and falling with his even breaths. Luffy was alive. He was alive, alive and breathing, and mumbling a bit in his sleep, as usual. Usopp couldn't think of a sweeter sight. Sinking onto the stool beside the bed, Usopp sat watching for a long while before reaching out to press a finger to the rubber wrist, and gasped when the hand weaved itself into his own calloused one. Luffy mumbled and smiled, fingers tightening, and he squeezed them back.
Luffy was alive.
And the chill that had encased his heart since their plunge into the depths melted away and he felt as if he were breathing for the first time in ages. Closing his eyes, the seventeen year old slumped forward onto the bed, body pressed against his captain's side and hands pillowed under his head, yet never letting go of the warm hand in his own.
He fell asleep with a smile.
..X..
It wasn't until they hit Water 7 that those words had come back to haunt him. From there, everything had gone spiraling out of control, tearing the crew to pieces before their eyes. Usopp had thought it was the end for them; people aren't the only things that die.
Because he wasn't like the rest of his crewmates, weak and cowardly in the face of the Grand Line's many dangers. Usopp had struggled to find a place, dabbling in many things, but master of none, until Merry's repairs became a chance to contribute, a way to maintain his fragile place. But now it was being taken away, his efforts hadn't been good enough—he wasn't good enough and soon they would throw him away as well.
They didn't need someone like him.
Wounded and angry, he lashed out at the ones he was closest to, spewing vicious words designed to hurt, to deeply hurt. He and Luffy were at each other's throats, then, when suddenly his captain was lying in the remains of their table, and unspoken words hung in the air. Something snapped inside and he had walked away into the cold, dark night, a challenge on his lips and ice in his chest.
It ended as Usopp had thought it would, him lying beaten and bloody on the ground. They left, silent as they went by, their belongings on their backs, and soon there was only the sound of waves beating against the rocks, the winds crying in his ears. Their ship—no, his ship now—anchored in the shallows, equally broken and he couldn't help but weep. Why? Why? Why?
(He remembers what he never noticed then; the sharp glints in Luffy's eyes like broken glass, betrayal bleeding through the frustrated, angry words. He can recall the soft, wounded keen as rubber knees hit the ground, asking why?
And he regrets.)
..X..
Yet, somehow, in spite of everything, out of the ashes Luffy had risen up and dared to risk everything for their former enemy-turned-friend.
Robin was going to die, she had given herself up to save them all. Even though he had quit the crew, she was still his friend and he wasn't going to let her go without a fight—even if he had to do it as a stranger. Usopp had wondered back then what he could do, because everyone else was fighting—risking their lives—while he could do nothing but hold them back and get in the way. But Sanji had said otherwise and he had finally figured out where he was needed and he had done what only he could do.
It still wasn't enough, because when Usopp looked through the smoke and dust all he could see was blood against the grey stones and Luffy lying still—no, no, not him, please—with that pigeon-guy looming over him and grinning. He pleaded and yelled and cursed, mask in hand, trying not to acknowledge the chill twisting in his stomach, because his former captain wasn't supposed to die, he had to win and go back with everyone, together.
But people die, so Usopp did the only thing he could think of and put himself in danger, so that Luffy would get up and stop looking like he was dying and scaring him, so he could beat the pigeon-guy, "So we can all go back together!" Just like they were supposed to.
… And Luffy did.
When he finally threw off his pride, days and days later, with tears and snot running down his face and took the rubbery hand that was offered, he was never happier. Sailing with a new ship and new friends, it felt so good to be back that he forgot the fear and the blood and the words that had haunted him.
..X..
Everything had been going well, as far as Usopp was concerned—with their crew you had to take what you could get most of the time—until they hit the Florian Triangle. Suddenly they were in battle with a warlord, against ghosts and zombies, struggling to regroup and take back their shadows. Then there was Oars, a monstrous giant of giants, who nearly killed them all. Would have too, if Luffy hadn't come along when he did and, even then, it still took all of them working together to take the giant down.
They were racing against the clock by then, Luffy stretched to the very limits of his endurance in an all-out attack that took out the Warlord, but left him down and out. Then a second Warlord showed up and the bottom dropped out from under them.
They had barely a chance to catch their breath, let alone treat wounds—Chopper hovering over Luffy, the less injured aiding the others—when Kuma appeared. They were too weak to fight in their state, but the warlord would let them go for a price—the head of their captain. Usopp had shifted closer to the stone slab, to Luffy, and gripped his Kabuto with shaking fingers, head spinning as the air froze in his lungs.
To be handed over to a warlord of the World Government would be a death sentence. He would be imprisoned, tortured and executed.
Luffy would never be the Pirate King.
It was almost unfathomable to think that; it would be like betrayal.
And Kuma actually thought that they would betray their captain?! That they would put his life in the hands of this monster?! To save themselves?!
How dare he.
Their captain would have done it, would have traded his life for theirs in a heartbeat, but they couldn't—wouldn't—do it, because the thought of turning him in, betraying him like that, was unfathomable. The recoil from even the thought left him breathless as his eyes snapped down to see the lines of pain and exhaustion on Luffy's pale face, his battered knuckles, his bandaged body. The surge of emotion was overwhelming.
People die.
No. Not him. Not today.
And the world flashed white at their answer.
(Looking back, it was a miracle that they all lived—especially Zoro—and that Luffy was somehow unexplainably healed and the warlord gone. But as long as they were together the questions didn't seem important. Instead, Usopp drank in sunshine smiles and clung to rubbery arms and sang off-key on the table tops with his friends—his family.)
..X..
He'd never thought that he would see Zoro fall to the ground screaming, then fall silent, unmoving, after the beam of light shot through him. The admiral looking bored and disappointed as he charged the final strike. Luffy's voice brought him out of his paralyzed state and Usopp was shooting, screaming, but he could do nothing, nor could Brook. Then, just when he thought it was all over, a miracle came and saved them from the would-be disaster. Only they were now out of the frying pan and into the fire and he couldn't run fast enough, couldn't get away, and then the real warlord was there—
And Zoro was gone.
Gone, as if he was never there, erased for what could be forever and Usopp shuddered, terrified. No, it's not possible. No, no, nooo! He was screaming again, demanding to know what happened where is he?! because he couldn't believe what he was seeing and Luffy was crying out for them to run, just get away!
But it was too late.
And people die.
With a quiet, unfinished joke—oh, the irony—Brook was gone and Kuma was looming over, reaching out, and he couldn't move, could hardly breathe, and wake up, wake up, it's a dream, wake up! The hand came down. His captain's scream would haunt Usopp's dreams for years and years and he woke shaking, reaching out for a hand that was no longer there.
..X..
The afternoon paper had been a wake-up call. Usopp hadn't realized just how out of control he had let things get, had let himself go on that stupid, man eating island, until he saw the headline, the picture of Ace, no way, that can't be, he's so strong! And then, Luffy's name.
He couldn't have... wouldn't... would... no, no, nooo! Please! Luffy!
And then Usopp ran. He ran and ran and ran, sobbing and stumbling, nearly getting himself eaten as Hercules shouted behind him. Because Luffy was hurting, had been wounded physically and emotionally and mentally, and he had to be there, had to make sure that his friend wasn't alone.
(He remembers lonely nights in an empty house on a hill, crying himself to sleep because she was gone and never coming back. He remembers waiting for a father who never came to return and take him away.
He remembers what it's like to be alone.)
But even as he fought and struggled to find a way to get off the archipelago a spark of doubt ate away at the back of his mind, and he wondered if his captain was even still alive to go back to.
Because it's war, and people die.
Because Ace had died. Whitebeard's commander, Ace. Stronger-than-Luffy, Ace. But now he was gone and Luffy... What happened to him?! Where is he?! The article mentioned grievous injuries, likely death, but his captain couldn't have actually... No!
So Usopp tried all the harder to get away until the message came, he's alive! He's alive! And he stopped trying to run and asked to stay.
Because that's what the captain ordered.
..X..
The entire mess with Hody and his goons at Fishman Island was frustrating, to say the least. Why couldn't they have a normal visit to an island where nothing tried to kill them or go to a place that actually allowed them to relax just a bit?! Surely that wouldn't be too much to ask for... But then Luffy would look over at him with a pout saying, it wouldn't be an adventure if there wasn't any danger, before dragging him off for a game of tag or to fish for sea kings to take his mind off his fears.
In the end, Fishman Island wasn't so bad, he'd got to show off some of his new moves and his opponent was not nearly strong enough to bring him down. And then Shirahoshi came back wailing and crying and Usopp's heart seemed to stop. He couldn't even breathe, when he saw the blood—sooooo much blood—dripping down between her cupped fingers and his captain, pale and still, placed gently on the ground, because people die and they had finally got back together again. No, no, nooooo!
And Jinbei saved him, gave his life blood and a promise to join them later and soon they were on their way to the New World, healthy and happy once more. Except for the worst nights where Usopp would wake with a start, gasping and sweating, to crawl into bed with his captain who never questioned why he'd wake with his sniper at his back or his doctor curled into his front some mornings.
Some nights he woke to find rubber fingers running through his long curls, shaky breaths filling in the dark and he'd lie still, very still, until his captain turned away reassured. Sometimes—when Luffy hadn't calmed fast enough for Usopp's liking or just because—he'd reach out and pull him into bed with him, mumbling and nuzzling his head against his best friend's shoulder, feeling his captain's arms wrap around him as he relaxed and his shallow breaths even out before Usopp drifted back to sleep, equally comforted.
Luffy wasn't alone anymore, and neither was he.
..X..
It had bothered Usopp a lot when Luffy had agreed to ally with the Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law. Even his captain's reassurances that 'Traffy' was a good guy and pointing out that the man had saved his life during the war two years before—and hadn't that reminder hurt—wasn't enough for him to trust the man. It wasn't until they hit Dressrosa that he began to actually trust the guy and by that time they were neck deep into a country-wide crisis. Facing down that freaky Sugar girl and the weird goo man was harder than he'd imagined it would be.
It wasn't until he was standing at the plaza that Usopp became really and truly afraid, more so than he already was at the time. Sugar was back and was targeting his captain, and if there was anything he feared more than pain, it was forgetting about Luffy.
Luffy, who had saved him, befriended him, accepted him, fought him, forgiven him, and had done so much for him that words couldn't begin to express.
To forget would be like death.
It will be their death.
(He can taste the hot winds of Alabasta, can see a scared face and golden hook and hear the words 'people die' even now in the screams of the people running from a madman's birdcage and he can't help but think that some things never change.)
And so, Usopp aimed, hands steady and heart pounding for the shot that must save his captain and their ally. The shot that would save them all, because as long as they didn't forget, they would live.
It was a perfect shot, aided by newly awoken Haki, and his captain had been none the wiser to the danger he'd been saved from.
When it was all said and done, the people free and the birdcage gone, Usopp let himself collapse on the end of his captain's bed and be lulled to sleep by the voices and presence of his crew.
..X..
Usopp watched as his captain fought against emperors and the government and became even stronger than ever. He was there when they saved a crewmember gone astray and claimed islands as their own. They fought in the greatest war the world had ever seen and somehow managed to come out alive.
He was there by his captain's side when they landed on a smooth white beach and found the One Piece, crowning Luffy as Pirate King as they laughed and celebrated for days upon days. It was like living in a fairy tale, a wondrous story that one couldn't even begin to dream of.
It was a dream come true.
Luffy's promise was fulfilled and Shanks declared with a fond laugh that the rubber man should keep the hat.
It suits you, Anchor.
..X..
Everyone!
And Usopp was there at the end, watching through a veil of tears, as his king, his captain, his best friend, smiled one last time.
Thank you for everything.
..X..
He finds himself seated on the figurehead as he is wont to do on nights such as these, watching the stars fade into the grey predawn. The ship rocks and sways on the gentle waters of the South Blue and the ocean stretches out before him, deep blue and glistening. Usopp finds that he misses the danger of the Grand Line more than he thought he would, though, that sea has never been quite the same as it once was.
The sky has become the same way; it's pale and dull and the sun does not shine the way it used to. Colors are washed out, they no longer shine as brightly as they once did. Nothing is the way it was, before, and it's as if the sniper cannot quite find his balance, cannot quite find what he is looking for because it's not there anymore. Sometimes, when Usopp looks into the navigator's eyes, he knows that she feels the same, that something—someone—is missing, as her fingers trace old scars hidden under a pinwheel tattoo.
He often remembers a proverb from a tiny island deep into Paradise that says that all things change, nothing stays the same. It's true. It's true and Usopp wishes on mornings like these that it wasn't; that he could go back to when they had forever, back when the world was bright, when the shadows in his heart and eyes weren't there. He'd go back to Luffy and Sunny and the days of dreams—if only for a moment.
He wants it so bad that it hurts. It hurts and please, I just want to go back.
I want to go home.
There's salt on his lips and he tells himself that it's the sea spray saying good morning that's making his eyes sting and that the ache in his chest is just remnants of wounds from the crew's latest battle. Still, Usopp pulls down the brim of his hat to hide his eyes as waves of grief and homesickness threaten to swallow him whole. Home has been gone for years now yet it still hurts even after all this time—edges dulling and the weight a little lighter.
He knows it will hurt some days, like the scar across his face or the ones on his shoulder that ache on cold, rainy mornings. The loss is a wound that hasn't fully healed and the scar it leaves behind is as large as the one Luffy bore across his chest during the old days. Sometime he wonders how Shanks and old man Rayleigh made it through, but then he doesn't need to because he already knows the answer.
(He remembers seeing the dark places in their eyes when someone mentions their captain. Looking back he can remember the way Rayleigh looked at Luffy and wonders if he saw Roger somewhere in the young captain. And he remembers on that one day when a promise was fulfilled seeing Shanks' grief-tinged smile. He remembers too the way that they smiled and laughed and lived even after all that they lost.
He understands it better now than he did back then.)
And so, Usopp sits at the bow of the ship staring out at the never ending sea, trying to see what his captain always seemed to see across the limitless waters.
Sometime later he hears footsteps on the deck behind him. They pause and Usopp knows who it is before they speak.
"Captain?"
He sighs a little, brushes a hand across his tear-crusted face before answering in what he hopes is a normal voice. "Need something, Cuyler?" He doesn't turn around.
The cabin boy shifts restlessly behind him. "No..." There's another pause, and then, "Is everything alright, Captain?"
Usopp shifts on the figurehead. "Just thinkin', kid."
He doesn't want to appear weak to his crew. He suddenly wonders if Luffy ever felt the same way—probably.
"'Bout what?" Cuyler asks moving to lean on the rail, a light breeze ruffling his short cropped hair.
When he glanced over he could see the boy's chocolate brown eyes watching the rising sun slowly turn the sea into molten gold. He mulls over his answer for a while. "A friend."
The lad makes a noise of interest and he turns away from the rising sun to look at his captain. His eyes ask the question he doesn't put into words and Usopp is suddenly grateful, though for what he isn't sure. Tell me?
He doesn't remember starting to talk or even where he started from. The beginning? Somewhere in the middle? There are a million things he could share, a thousand stories and not nearly enough words to describe such an unfathomable and reckless journey they had gone on. It feels like a lifetime ago and it hits him hard when he finds himself standing beside the caramel haired boy who is only a little younger than he was at the beginning.
Whatever happened to our forever?
When Usopp nears the end, all too soon, so much left unsaid, his voice falls away. "And then?" Comes the breathless whisper, and he turns, having forgotten where he was and that he was telling a story, the end of which the cabin boy is waiting for.
The ending he won't hear. Because there are some stories even he cannot bear to tell, they are too close to his heart and his chest aches. Maybe, someday he will get to the end of that story, but not today, not now.
Usopp shakes his head and keeps his eyes on the sea awash with gold and royal blue. There's a light sea breeze tugging his curls and he can hear the rest of the crew calling to each other as they make their way towards the kitchen and washrooms.
Cuyler is growing worried and presses a bit more. "Captain?"
"...People die," he finally answers, softly, eyes dark as he turns back toward the horizon and pulls his hat down to shade his eyes against the newly risen sun. The cabin boy is struck still, frozen by the words spoken with a finality that frightens and sobers him. Usopp almost smiles, and it's as if he's back in that desert country under the hot sun watching his captain wrestle the princess all over again—back when it seemed as if they had forever, but never had more than the moment. It is something he now knows Luffy knew, even back then near the start of their journey, and something he himself had learned well by the end.
Because everything, even adventures, comes to an end sooner or later, and one must go on, someway, somehow. And he has; he's got his own crew now and a ship and he's living his dream. But the pain is still there, a part of him is gone and Usopp sees the shadows in his eyes every time he looks in the mirror, and that's good because he still remembers. He holds onto the pain, the memories, so that he cannot—will not—forget.
He nearly loses himself in his thoughts once again, but straightens when his youngest crew member moves, turning to slip away and leave his captain to his thoughts—good-hearted lad that he is. His hand reaches up to clasp the worn straw hat to his head, thumbing the faded ribbon as he breathes deep—it smells of sea salt and apples and home—before pushing it back to cast his gaze to the sky. He blinks back the tears and speaks; voice broken, but clear and sure and knowing.
"People die," and Cuyler freezes before turning slowly to meet his eyes as Usopp grins, remembering the fierce, dazzling smile of the Pirate King, all teeth and gums and raw joy.
We're friends, right? So get on.
I'm the man who'll be King of the Pirates!
"...But legends live forever."
A man only dies when he is forgotten.