Two Cups Empty, One Cup Full...
A week has passed since the Straw Hat crew rejoined after two years of separation. The crew decides to throw a party to celebrate the reuniting of the Straw Hats but, everyone can't tell Luffy since it's a surprise for him as a Captain.
After Luffy finished dinner (which wasn't long) he went towards the door.
"I'm going to sit on Sunny's Head for awhile." He said as he went out.
Once his footsteps were gone, the crew closed the door and started planning.
"Alright, lets get planning. Luffy hasn't been himself lately. We still don't know why but we'll have to cheer him up by throwing a party. Franky, you and Chopper do the decorations around the deck." started Nami.
"I'll make sure to do them real SUPPPER!" said Franky.
"Yay! I get to help with the decorations!' said Chopper, sounding like a child.
"Sanji, you prepare the food for the party."
"Of Course Nami My Love!" said Sanji with hearts in his eyes.
"Stupid love cook." mumbled Zoro.
"What did you say you dumb moron?" asked Sanji with a vane popping out his fore-head.
"What, you can't hear now so your deaf?" retorted Zoro.
"You wanna fight? Lets fight!"
Bang!
"Will you two stop fighting just for tonight!" yelled Nami as a bump starts to form on the both of them.
"Anyway, Robin and Brooke will go into town to get both supplies for both the party and the journey to our next island. The shops should be opened for another hour." continued Nami.
"Very well then." said Robin with a calm face.
"Great, I'll keep a lookout for any good decorations too! Only, I have no eyes to look! Yahohohoho - Skull joke!" said Brooke.
"Usopp, you keep Luffy busy by exploring the island while we set things up."
"Right!" said Usopp.
"And Zoro, you move things on and off the deck of the ship." finished Nami.
"Wait a minute, your not going to help out?" asked Zoro.
"Of course I'll help. I'm going to be supervising. Especially to you since you keep getting lost all the time."said Nami in an innocent voice. Zoro rolled his eyes as everyone went out the door.
Once Usopp talked to Luffy into going to the island to explore, the rest of the crew went to work.
Usopp and Luffy are on the island exploring. After about fifteen minutes, Luffy began to speak.
"Hey Usopp?" asked Luffy to get Usopps attention.
"Yes?" he replied.
"Why are we exploring again. Nami says that we should always wait till morning to explore a new island. So why now?" Luffy had stopped walking to face Usopp when he talked. Usopp stopped and looked at Luffy who tilted his head in confusion.
"Uh...well... you see, Nami thought it would be best to explore now so that...uh... we won't annoy her or... uh... cause trouble in the town..yeah that's it! So that's why we are exploring now!" Usopp replied.
Luffy brought his fist in his opened palm.
"That makes perfect sense!" exclaimed Luffy.
'He actually fell for it?! Well it is Luffy after. He can understand his own logic.' Usopp sighed. 'Luffy logic.'
A bright light appeared in the sky. 'There's the flare' thought Usopp.
"Well, i think it's time to head back to the ship." he said.
"Aww but we haven't gone far." whinned Luffy.
"Lets have a race. First one back to the ship wins! Ready. Set. Go!" said Usopp and he ran in the direction the ship was. Luffy ran behind him, yelling at Usopp that he cheated because he didn't warn him.
Luffy ran the race though and won.
Once everything was set up, Franky shot a flare up in the air to signal Usopp that it's all ready.
A few minutes later Usopp and Luffy came onto the deck. Usopp smiled and Luffy stared with amazement in his eyes and on his face.
"The Thousand Sunny looks so COOL!" shouted Luffy as the others gathered around. Everyone smiled at his enthusiasm and delight.
"Lets party!" shouted Usopp and everyone cheered.
Brooke started playing music with Usopp, Chopper and Franky trying to see who can dance the silliest.
Zoro and Nami are having a drinking contest. Robin watched on the side-lines with Sanji trying to ask her to dance.
Luffy devoured most of the food until Sanji shouted at him before going over to Robin.
A few hours later...
Luffy leans his elbows on the railing facing the sea. I wish Ace was here to celebrate with us. Thought Luffy with a sad expression. He sighed and went across the deck.
This caught the attention of his crew. Luffy kept walking until he grabbed three cups and a bottle of sake. Brooke kept playing the music while the rest of the crew watched in secret.
Luffy went back to the railing. He put the three cups down along with the sake. In his pocket, he has a knife. He drew the knife out and cut his finger.
"Luffy wh-" started Nami but Zoro stopped her with his hand and gestured with his other to be quiet. Nami did as she was told and watched.
Blood ran down his finger and on his hand. He wrote letters on the three cups then poured some sake into them. The crew couldn't see what he did on the cups with his blood but watched as Luffy poured the sake.
"Cheers guys, for the future and to live with no regrets." said Luffy. The rest of the crew was surprised to see a few tears go down Luffy's face as he drank his sake.
After Luffy finished his sake the rest of the group continued to party but watched Luffy at the same time.
As Luffy set his cup back down, he saw that the other two cups are empty. Two figures stood on either side of Luffy as they saw him set his cup down.
Luffy smiled a sad smile and cried. His crew stood were they were and watched, not doing anything to help because they knew he needed to be alone right now.
Unknown to the crew, the two figures put their arms on Luffy's shoulder to comfort him with sad smiles on their faces too.
Luffy felt something on his back as he cried. He knew who they were and cried more.
'It's okay Luffy, we'll always be here with you like we are now and we'll never leave you.' Ace said in his mind.
'We'll always be watching you and be with you when you become the Pirate King..' said a young blond-haired man Luffy knows as Sabo.
"Ace, Sabo I miss you guys so much." said Luffy. He turned his head to see Sabo smiling at him. He turned the other way to see Ace smiling too. Luffy smiled back. Ace and Sabo moved in closer to Luffy.
"I'll make sure that I carry all three of our dreams and achieve them." he said with tear-filled eyes. The two of them start to fade away with smiles on their faces.
'We know you will and we'll be watching you. We'll always be here Luffy...' said Sabo as he disappeared.
'I'll always be watching you Luffy. We don't say it much but we love you Luffy...' said Ace as, he too, disappears.
"I love you guys too..." said Luffy as he watches them go.
A few minutes passed and he noticed that it's quiet. He wiped away his tears and turned around.
The crew watched with surprise as Luffy turned towards them with puffy eyes.
He switched his sad look with his happy look.
"Luffy, whose Sabo?" asked Zoro. Luffy looked at them, his smile faltered for a second or two before he recovered.
"He's just someone I knew who died." replied Luffy.
"What are we standing around for? Lets PARTY!" he shouted. The crew smiled at how fast Luffy can change his moods.
The crew went back to partying as Luffy grabbed the three cups and chucked them overboard in the water. He watched them sink before going to party himself.
As the cups sink, the two figures watched as Luffy partied with his crew and they both smiled.
The blood on the cups washed away. They had one letter on each, A S L. A and S had a cross on them, meaning they are gone. A stands for Ace and S stands for Sabo.
The L is the only one that doesn't have the cross because he is still alive to carry Ace and Sabo's dreams on his shoulder. Luffy will make those dreams come true not only for himself but for his two dead brothers as well...