Hey so, here's another one for you! This particular fic is a SoulMate AU fro my friend Emygrl99, cuz it's her birthday and I love her(tons)!
Some couples on here will be those obscure ships people, so be warned! The awesomely cute cover picture is used with permission made by Makkuart on tumblr, please go see her other works they're so cute!
Beta'd by Emygrl99
So I own neither the art, any mentioned songs or One Piece. Enjoy!~
My precious little boys, remember to never lose your song. If you ever feel sad or lonely, sing a song and someone who loves you will never be too far behind. Sing, Luffy...
A smile appeared on the teens lips once more as he opened his mouth and began to sing, all eyes in the crowded lunch hall turned towards away with disdain as the young raven haired boy began to sing to his heart's content.
Luffy's voice was loud and clear as he sang shrilly to a nursery rhyme melody. "Tasty Tasty stacks of meat! How I wish you were mine to eat! Tons and tons to fill me up, I'll eat them all until I pop! Tasty tasty stacks of meat! Where are you so I can eat!~"
Beside him a redhead groaned, "Luffy, really do you have to yell at the top of your lungs?"
The teen beamed, giving his friend his largest smile. "Shishishi. I'm not yelling Nami, I'm singing. There's a difference you know, if I was yelling then it would sound like this." The teen took a big breath, preparing himself to let out his demonstration when a hand whacked the back of his head.
"Oi! Isn't it bad enough you're screwing with the alphabet, and now you want to scream?" An irritated blonde chastised the hurt looking teen, who pouted and rubbed at the spot behind his head.
"Stupid Ero-cook, Luffy wasn't messing around with the alphabet, he was butchering Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Zoro stated rather dully, though his full glare was on the swirly browed teen.
"Shitty Marimo, that was the Alphabet nursery song, or have you lost your sense of hearing along with your sense of direction?" Sanji retorted.
His response elicited a growl from the tanned male. "That was the fucking star song Dartboard brow, it's not my fault you can't distinguish between the two."
"It was the Alphabet song!"
"Star."
The two glowered at each other and squared off. Both the blonde and the green haired teen shouldered into the others personal space and without their complete conscious knowledge, they began to argue face to face, twin emerald against a single sapphire, locked in a combat of wills. Their words didn't take long to start echoing into one another's, blending with each syllable, rising and falling in the same pitch and tone.
Luffy watched his friends silently in that moment, listening to the two engaged in verbal confrontation and he found himself grinning–those two were happy, they found another, they were almost singing.
"Oh be quiet both of you! They have the same melody!" Nami interjected after a few moments of listening to the two arguing, her open palms cutting in between the two bodies pressed together and physically separating them, effectively cutting off their words.
That's too bad, Luffy thought, though he smiled all the same and continued to gather his lunch, piling up his plate with a various assortment of meats.
Unbeknownst to Zoro,Sanji, and those around them, that debate had started the beginning of something for the pair. They had found each other, but until they sang together for real, then they would never know how deeply their connection ran. And neither would anyone else until that moment came.
"Moooooooooom tell me the story! Story time, story time!" A childish voice called out as he sped through the halls, running over the toys that littered the floors and nearly tripping on rumpled carpets, completely ignoring the angry cries of an older boy, this one just three years older than the small boy with wild raven locks.
"Oi Luffy! Clean up your mess!"
"Just let him go Ace, he'll clean up next time." A blonde boy and the oldest of the trio spoke up as he gathered the toys left behind by their youngest brother.
"Tsk." The freckled boy glowered but helped his brother clean up. "You baby him too much Sabo, he needs to learn how to clean up after himself."
Sabo only offered a smile and quickly put the toys away, running out of the room the first chance he got, following after Luffy. "Luffy, be careful with mom!"
Reluctantly Ace joined his two brothers, their mother laying back against the mass of pillows that adorned the bed. A bouncing Luffy was already in her lap and urging her to tell them a story she had told them over and over again.
Rogue smiled and gently ruffled Luffy's untamed lock of onyx colored hair, smiling fondly to her three loving children as they all now accompanied her on the bed. Luffy pressed against her and looking up at her with his large innocent eyes, Sabo quietly sitting to her right and leaning his head against her arm. Ace, her most reserved child, was to her left, dark brown eyes cast to the sheets as he too leaned into her gingerly. Rogue had to smile at each reaction of her children, they were all a mother could ever ask for, and she was repaying their love with… no, her mind should not wander to such dark thoughts, not around her children.
"You three never get tired of this one do you?" she asked instead, and before they could answer her question, the story was told, Rogue's sweet voice like honey filling the small space of her bedroom, gently caressing the air as she retold the old tale.
"Long ago, the people of this world lived in harmony. Everyone spoke the same language and everyone was happy with one another, one person could start a song and another could finish it without a problem. Love came easily back then, connections were made wherever you went. A song meant more than anything to people back then. Do you remember why, little ones?"
"Because a song showed what your soul felt, it mirrors your true feelings." Ace said after a pause a small frown furrowing his brow as he waited to hear what his mother would say.
"That's right Acey." Rogue praised her middle child and carded her hand through his waves of dark brown hair.
"Shishishi Ace is sooooo smart." Luffy piped up, making Ace blush proudly, though before the pink tint could fully settle, Luffy added, "Not as smart as Sabo though."
At that point the fiery child frowned, his blush now deepening due to embarrassment. "Oi! At least I'm smarter than you!" However before Sabo could interject and appease the freckled boy, Luffy laughed, much to both brothers surprise. "Shishishi. That's true, moooommy continue the story, please?"
Laughing herself, Rogue nodded. "Many many years ago, songs were very special, this was a discovery that was made by a man, and who was the man Luffy?"
"He was a pirate! The best pirate to sail all the seas! King of the Pirates Gol D. Roger!" the small child cried out proudly. He loved this story because it featured this famous person- the king of the pirates. Someday, Luffy knew he would grow up and be a pirate too, and he would be the next King of the Pirates.
Chuckling, Rogue continued. "Yes he was, Roger was the greatest pirate to have taken to the seas. He had acquired all the fame, power, and wealth that came with the position of being King of the pirates, but what was missing? Sabo?"
"He was alone," Sabo said somberly after a moment and his two brothers hushed as they knew that he had gotten the right answer.
Gently carding her hand through Sabo's hair and smiling softly, she nodded. "Roger had gained all the things he had thought he wanted; he had followers, tons of money, he was both feared and respected and he was known everywhere, but what he did not have was someone who loved him for himself. Gol D. Roger was alone, and so he sang. His mother used to tell him when he was little that if he ever felt sad, then he should sing.
"And that is exactly what Gol D. Roger did; he took to the seas once more and sang. For years he did this, but was unable to find the one who answered to his song. Roger began to think that he was truly alone in the world, that is until he met a lovely person with long silver hair who answered his call. Their words easily melded into the other's, rising and falling as one melodious voice, Roger and Rayleigh's voices flowed together as they should. It wasn't until they sang that they discovered that they were meant to be together, that they were two souls meant to be one.
"Years and years before that, song was how people knew who they were meant to be with, they were synched in mind and soul, and they sang to rejoice their connection.
My precious little boys, remember to never lose your song. If you ever feel sad or lonely, sing a song and someone who loves you will never be too far behind. Sing, Luffy. Sing, Ace. Sing, Sabo…
"Promise me you'll sing and be happy."
"I PROMISE!" three boys cheered for their smiling mother.
Sabo woke with a start and frowned, the remnants of the dream returning to him as he willed his sleepiness to wash away for the day.
Strange, I haven't thought of one of mother's stories in some time now, Sabo thought to himself as he travelled back to that time in his past, back to when their family was whole, back to when he hadn't realized many things.
He missed her, and Sabo was sure that Dragon, Ace, and Luffy did too.
Sadly, wistful reminiscing had its drawbacks, and Sabo was going to be late now. Damn it, if he didn't hurry then he would miss the train and would have to commute in a different manner to the neighboring city where he worked as an architect. They were remodeling a library, and Sabo was determined to make it the best housing place for books of all kind.
The blonde man rushed down the early morning street, apologizing to the few citizens that actually had to be up that early along with him when he had to cross their path and narrowly miss them. Thrice he almost collided with the people outside, but luckily he made it to the station accident free and with thirty seconds to spare.
"Oh man…" Sabo panted heavily as he sat back into the train seat, his blue eyes closing to the rest of the world as he tried to catch his breath, listening as all the steamed instruments created their symphonic melody, informing him that the train was ready for departure.
"That was so close!" he exclaimed breathlessly and was surprised to hear a chuckle coming from his right, the seat that had been empty only five seconds before.
"You just made it on too?" A distinctly female voice chirped happily, ignoring the fact that she too was out of breath.
Cracking a smile and turning his blue eyes to his train buddy, Sabo was not prepared at all to meet the large hazel eyes of the other passenger and the full blown smile she gave him. His usually composed demeanor faltered in that moment as he may have stared for a minute or so longer than what might be considered socially acceptable, it was long enough to make the redhead laugh softly.
The laughter snapped Sabo out of his momentary gaze and had a pink tint coloring his cheeks as he offered her a weak smile. "Sorry, but yes, just barely it seems I took too long to prepare coffee this morning."
The girl nodded in understanding, an amused smile on her face. "Ah yes, I couldn't imagine leaving the house without some coffee first, I don't think I'd be able to function at all without the caffeine. I'm like a literal zombie until I get that first whiff."
Sabo laughed, he could sympathize with her. "I know exactly how you feel, before I have a cup I feel like I'm moving underwater and have lost the ability to think clearly. I don't know how my brother can deal without caffeine so early in the morning, but the kid is a literal powerhouse of energy. Ever since we were little he's always had an abundance of energy, no one could ever keep up with him." Sabo laughed and then blushed faintly again.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ramble on about my little brother, I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear about a random stranger's complete backstory." Sabo apologized quickly and offered her his most sincere apologetic smile.
The girl beside him hummed in thought and nodded, "Yeah, you're right. I don't want to listen to some stranger's completely irrelevant life story," she agreed, and as much as it pained Sabo to admit it, he was genuinely saddened to learn that this would end his conversation with the redhead, but he would respect her wishes and end his babbling then and there.
"So let's stop being strangers. My name is Koala, and yours?" The large smile was adorning her features once more, her large hazel eyes meeting his head on once more.
Sabo found himself smiling as well, a laugh escaping him as he realized that his heart had started beating faster in his chest. This was a welcome change, he very much wanted to get to know this girl better. "Sabo, it's a pleasure to meet you, Koala."
Law woke up to a cold bed that morning, and it hurt just slightly because he knew he should have expected it, after nearly a year of the same routine how could he have expected anything else?
He guessed not, yet there was still a little voice in his mind that told him to cling to the hope that one of these days he would wake up and be able to see the red haired man still sharing his bed.
Their last time waking up together was nearly four months ago. They lived together, ate together when Law's job allowed it, and spent as much time together as they could before they had to sleep–or in some cases before Law had to go back to the clinic to take care of a patient who needed him.
Law and Kid were destined to be together, they both knew that. They had sung together, their song resonated in both of their hearts, they had felt it. Law knows this. But did Kid?
Cora-san, what am I doing wrong? Law wondered not for the first time as he thought back to his father figure.
It was Cora who told a young Law and Lamie that music was what brought them happiness, and it was his song that the two children had answered to. Cora's voice had reached through the pair's despair and darkness when they had needed him the most and with the help of the clumsy blonde, Law and Lamie were able to discover joy again.
Cora had been the one to tell the two siblings of the old tale that every soul was connected by Harmony, a wonderful phenomenon that brought people together. He gave them small examples, such as how both Law and Lamie's laughs echoed off the other, how they fit perfectly together. That was proof of how the two siblings responded to the other, how well their souls knew each other. Lamie and Law had always been close, and their harmony only made it more pronounced.
It hadn't taken long for the pair to grow accustomed to the blonde and the rest of his family, which was huge in Law's opinion. They already had three kids but had readily taken in the pair. After all, Law refused to go anywhere without Lamie and vise versa.
Time passed and Law had found the harmony in the large household, and again in high school when he met Kid. The attraction was immediate and Law after some time confided Cora's theory on Harmony with Kid to see his reaction. Kid had laughed at Law that day, but after he had witnessed a disgruntled and flustered Law, his laughter died and they gave it a shot.
Much to Law's surprise, Kid was willing to go with the idea, after that they spent hours talking and would occasionally hum together. Their words, much like Cora had said, worked together–they shared the same pitch and the same notes when they sang the same song and they just fit.
Over the years Law and Kid had sung many songs, they'd hit all of the notes and reached all the right keys, they created harmony… yet, why weren't they working? Why were they drifting apart?
Law did not know, maybe Cora-san had been wrong and Kid had been right after all?
Luffy was, maybe lost?
He was actually exploring, he wasn't lost. He went to this school, so he would eventually bump into someone he knew and would find his way back to his scheduled class.
The hallway bathroom pass dangled from the keychain that was loosely held in his hand, his sandaled feet echoing across the empty halls as he looked around, certain he had never been in this part of the school before. It was oddly silent, where the heck were all the students?
Luffy frowned as he walked along the unfamiliar halls, he wasn't liking this new area of the school, it was too desolate for his liking too... Lonely.
The moment he was about to hightail it out of the area and just turn himself around until he reached the cafeteria or a place he knew, he found himself rooted to the spot. A voice was singing down the halls, it was a nice voice, and even though Luffy couldn't make out the words, he knew that it was a song. With determination to find out what was happening and what was being sung, Luffy continued down the hallway, his ears perking as he heard the words being sung now.
"...under the water, water." There was a pause where the singer probably took a breath and continued to sing.
"When the cat came out to sing, the dog came by and made him shush. The dog to the cat, the cat to the mouse, the mouse to the spider, the spider to the fly, the fly to the frog that was singing under the water, water.
When the dog came out to sing," the voice giggled and Luffy found himself in a place he had never seen before. Shelves upon shelves of books lined the giant open space–Luffy had heard tales of such a place, he'd seen some of Sabo's sketches to build something like this. A library, Luffy thought was what his brother called it. But houses that contained musty old books could wait, right now he wanted to find out the source of the singing.
"The stick came by and made him shush. The stick to the dog, the dog to the cat, the cat to the mouse, the mouse to the spider, the spider to the fly, the fly to the frog that was singing under the water, water."
Luffy beamed as he neared the voice, he knew this song- his mother used to sing it to him and his brothers a lot when they were little and Ace had often scolded Luffy for singing it way off key and for messing up the order of the items.
Standing at the corner of a bookshelf, Luffy peered around to where a girl sat glancing over a book with no pictures, only words, her mouth opening to sing the next series of events on the silly story.
"When the stick came out to sing," Luffy could not help but to sing along with her. "Fire came by and made him shush."
Luffy would have continue to sing the next words if it hadn't been for the sudden 'eep' that was sent his way. Large gray eyes looked to Luffy with a mixture of shock and barely contained horror.
Luffy instantly felt guilty, but he tried a smile either way and offered her a small chuckle. "Shishishi, sorry, I got lost and I heard you singing. I knew the song so I sang along."
The girl didn't say anything for a moment before sighing and composing herself. "It's- yeah, it's fine. I uh didn't know anyone else came to the library during this time."
"Oh so it is a library, shishishi thanks, now I know where I am."
The girl's brows knitted together as she looked at him for a minute. "You're not kidding, are you? You really are lost?"
Luffy laughed, a laugh that filled the library and echoed around in the empty space. If the librarian had been present, she would have banned him for a week for sure, but she was thankfully absent, entrusting the girl within the library with all the books it contained.
"Yep, I'm definitely lost, you wouldn't happen to know how to get back to Alvida's class would you?"
The girl shook her head. "Sorry, I just started school this week. I was at boarding school for a while, dad wanted me to get some sort of cultural experience."
"Ahhhmmm," Luffy hummed and sat down in front her giving her a large grin. "I guess I'll have to skip her class then. Oh and Sabo says that I should always introduce myself to new friends, my name's Luffy D. Monkey. Shishishi."
"New friends?" The girl asked with a tilt of her head, smiled as well, "Nice to meet you Luffy, my name is Lamie, Lamie Trafalgar."
"Shishishi, is it okay if we finish singing the song, Lamie?"
Lamie smiled and nodded. "Of course."
The two teens opened their mouths and sang in the quiet library, both smiling widely as they repeated the silly song. A single verse echoing sweetly in the large space.
"Singing under the water, water."
And there you have it! Happy Birthday Emy!
*The Twinkle Twinkle Litter Star / Alphabet song was made in one of my sleepy episodes XD*
*The song Lamie and Luffy sing is actually a Spanish song I grew up with, I'm unsure if there is an actual English translation, so if there is let me know, that is the real song though. XD *
Let me know your thoughts, comments? Any pairings you want to see that hasn't already been established? ( Also I may or may not be avoiding some updates due to neglect, I'm trying my best but then ideas form XD I won't abandon them though I promise!)
