Today I dreamt of when we'd met.
We'd sailed that sea I'll ne'er forget.
Now I drift alone to our old tunes…
It had been nearly four months since the Summit War, and after that outrageous stunt with the oxbell, there had been no more news on Straw Hat Luffy, or any of his crewmates. Many were beginning to speculate that the young captain had since died of his wounds.
Crocus tried not to give in to such speculations.
Because after more than fifty years, Laboon finally had something to look forward to again, and it would simply be too cruel to have that taken away so soon.
And then, halfway through the fifth month, it happened.
The weariness cuts right to my bones,
And I feel I should move along,
But I'll move on when I've met you.
A raucous young pirate crew came down Reverse Mountain, the lilting tunes of an impossibly familiar voice drifting from their ship. Crocus watched in disbelief as the ship came closer and closer, noticing Laboon's entire attention fixed on the ship as well. The two were so entranced that Laboon didn't even flinch when the ship slammed into him, as he was blocking the way.
The young crew had begun panicking by now, the music grinding to a halt. Laboon grew anxious when that beloved voice was cut off, stirring up waves and causing the crew to panic even more in turn.
Snapping out of his stupor, Crocus cut in before things got even more out of hand. He hopped onto the deck, ignoring the shocked exclamations of the pirates, and turned to the captain.
"Turn the music back on!" he demanded. "It will calm him down."
The pirates looked sceptical at first, but as Laboon's thrashing increased, they hurried to do as told.
The crooning voice of "Humming" Brook once again filled the air, and Laboon immediately stilled, listening with rapt attention.
I taught you tunes when you knew none,
We sailed together, our voices as one…
The pirates stared in fascination.
"He likes music?" the captain asked, looking at Crocus, and the old man nodded.
"He does, but that voice in particular holds special importance for him. How do you have one of his songs?"
"You mean the Soul King?" asked the captain, brows furrowed in confusion.
"If that's what they're calling him these days," replied Crocus.
"Everyone knows him," said the captain, looking incredulous. "He's the biggest new celebrity in years. His TDs are everywhere!"
"Are they, now?" asked Crocus with a harrumph, crossing his arms.
"If you don't even know that, Ossan, then how do you and the whale recognize his voice?" asked one of the other pirates in a curious voice.
"Brook and his crew passed through this way fifty years ago," replied Crocus, leaning back against the railing of the ship. "Laboon actually arrived here because he was following them."
"Seriously?" asked the captain, eyes wide. "That long ago?"
Crocus nodded, expression twisting into a glare. "They were his family, but Laboon was just a baby, too young to follow them into the dangerous waters of the Grand Line. So they left him here, and promised to come back for him in a few years' time. He's been waiting for them to return since."
Black arrows fell from heaven and carried them away,
White sparrows sing my grief, I kneel and pray…
There were sharp intakes of breath from the pirates.
"But they died before they could come back…"whispered the first mate, his expression stricken.
Crocus turned his gaze sharply on the one who had spoken, and the man flinched away at the force of the glare.
"What do you mean, they died?" he asked. "I received word long ago that their ship had left the Grand Line safely through the Grand Line. And Brook does sound very much alive to me, if he's still singing…"
"But he's a skeleton!" a guy to Crocus's right piped up. "So he must have died at some point. Most people think the reason he came back to life is because of a devil fruit."
Crocus stared at the one who had spoken, feeling his heart drop into his stomach. "No…" he whispered, feeling his heart break for the men he thought he'd come to hate over the years.
"It's true!" said someone else, before nudging his captain in the ribs. "In fact, don't you think this song might be meant for the whale?"
Crocus turned back to the captain, and the man who next to him. "This song?" he asked.
The captain nodded. "Haven't you been listening to the lyrics? They've been telling the story…"
"Most people think it's just a song," the man from before piped up. "It tells the story of a man separated from a loved one, and how he's still trying to return to them. It's called "See You Again"."
They gave me one more day, to say the words they couldn't say.
I'm crying in pain, their love will remain…
Another of the pirates, who had been studying the lopsided Straw Hat jolly roger painted on Laboon's face, spoke up then.
"A lot of his songs are about pirates," he said. "The most popular one is "The Pirate King's Musician". No one pays it much mind, considering we are in the Great Pirate Age after all, but there are some that think it may be something more…"
Just then, the song came to an end, and anything else the man may have said was cut off by Laboon's long, keening wail.
The pirates startled, expressions growing sad at the loneliness in Laboon's song, at the grief he must have felt for his family. For surely he had understood the words of the song, and the story they told.
The pirates stayed at the lighthouse for a few more hours, waiting for their log to set, and playing more of Brook's songs on the TDs they had with them.
They ended up leaving most of them behind when they left, as a gift to Laboon who seemed to have taken great comfort in hearing his friend's voice.
Once the pirates' ship was out of sight, Crocus turned his eyes to the jolly roger on Laboon's nose. The whale had his eyes closed, listening to another of Brook's songs for the nth time, and in that moment, Crocus found himself wishing fiercely that they lived in a kinder world, the kind of world where Laboon and Brook wouldn't have had to endure the tragedy they had.
But wishing would change nothing, so he turned instead to the hope that, just maybe, they lived in the kind of world where Laboon's two favourite people in the world had somehow managed to find each other.
It wasn't likely, but oh, what he would give for it to be true.
Our promise remains,
I'll see you again (see you again).
It was two years after the Summit War when Crocus saw the "Soul King's" face splashed all over the news, and felt hope surge within him.
After his concert at Sabaody, the superstar had revealed that he would be quitting his life of stardom to return to his life of piracy.
On that stage, with the whole world as witness, he had declared Straw Hat Luffy as his captain, and had vowed to do whatever it took to make him the Pirate King.
And Crocus had smiled, because maybe the world they lived in wasn't quite so cruel after all, if it had let these two men come together.
Fin
SkyGem: I hope you all liked! Please do leave a review and let me know what you thought, yes? And just in case anyone was wondering, Brook's song was actually based heavily on Billy Talent's "White Sparrows," which you should all totally check out. It's an absolutely lovely song, though I'm sure my re-write didn't do it any justice at all.