ONE DAY

Every time I look at the sky after the rain,

I think of the cry-baby I used to be.

"Nami! Are we setting sail?" Luffy all but shouted, as he stood on his perch on the bench, arms folded, that familiar, never-changing air of a Captain they all remembered so vividly, like it was yesterday and not two years today.

"Yes. Go right ahead, Captain."

Luffy took a breath. "All right, guys! There's a ton of stuff I've wanted to say to you, but for now, I'll just say 'Thank you' for putting up with my selfishness these past two years!"

"Just these past two years…?" Sanji enquired playfully.

"Seriously!" added Usopp. "You've always been selfish!"

I was desperately chasing after someone's back,

Saying, 'I want to become stronger.'

Luffy looked up from his now empty plate. The lawn-deck of the Going Sunny was bright and loud and cheerful and… happy. The image from his dreams of the lonely vessel flashed before his eyes every now and again, and Luffy knew that the ship had had to survive without it's nakama, just as the rest of the crew had. Sanji bustled around, happy to be cooking and serving and having his food eaten by the crew again; Luffy didn't know what had happened to Sanji in the past two years, but sometimes the cook would look at the Captain with a wistful, almost jealous, expression. When Usopp and Chopper were on their own, everyone could see how much the young pair had grown, but seeing them dance uncontrollably to Brook's music, just like before, had everyone thinking otherwise and that, maybe, they were still the same kids at heart.

Robin was still her quiet self, but she had, not even once, stopped smiling since the party had started, and that, in itself, was reassurance enough for her nakama. Nami too; the separation seemed to have done her good, because everyone knew that in the New World, the whole crew would have to be at the top of their game. They would, of course, protect each other and do the things that the others couldn't, but there was an unspoken understanding that this time, it would be different. She had an unspoken strength about her now. Physically, Franky had changed the most and Luffy found himself staring at the cyborg shipwright with an awed expression. Sometimes, Franky would catch him looking and smile, and flash off a new addition to his body, making Luffy's eyes shine. And Brook, if it was even possible, had levelled up his personality to the point that whenever Luffy said something even remotely Captain-like, or Luffy-like in general, the skeleton would burst into tears, proclaiming how much he had missed the rubber boy – now young man.

Now my 'Thank you' has disappeared into the wind.

Am I getting stronger?

But, as Luffy observed his crew silently, only breaking his thoughts temporarily to exclaim at the massive platter of food Sanji had placed in front of him, the Captain noticed one crew mate missing. As the others were occupied with eating and drinking, singing and dancing, Luffy slipped away, leaving his untouched food on the table. His nakama either didn't notice or pretended not to. He found Zoro on the front deck, his dark, tall silhouette visible against a quickly setting sun, that cast the ship in a deep orange glow.

Since I haven't got an answer to that,

I'll keep moving forward.

"Oh, there you are!" Luffy shouted excitedly, bounding onto the front deck up to Zoro, as he turned slightly. The cast shadows across his face and for a second Luffy thought he saw his scarred eye open. A trick of the light.

"Luffy?" The swordsman's silent question didn't go unnoticed and Luffy smiled.

"You weren't down there, so I came to look," Luffy said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ah," sighed Zoro, understanding and turning back to watch the last half of the sun fall behind the horizon. Luffy became uneasy in the silence, the quietness of the deck around him and the swordsman an echo of his dreams, and he took a step back, drawn to the hum of music and colour drifting from the lawn, but Zoro spoke. "In the past two years, you've really gotten stronger." Zoro turned to face the younger man, expecting to see Luffy usual grin when someone acknowledged his power, but the expression on his face was something new, something older, adultish… Captain-like.

"Of course," Luffy stated, the matter-of-fact tone in his voice making the older crew mate smile slightly. "I'm the Captain, right? You've said it before, Zoro…"

"That's what it is… to be a Captain," Zoro said evenly, switching his eyes from Luffy to the ship. Tears rolled down Luffy cheeks as he pulled his straw hat down over his eyes, trying to hide the tears from his crew. "Don't waver now. If you hesitate, who are we supposed to believe in?"

"Before, we were lucky," Luffy continued, a hand on his chest, memories that Zoro hadn't been a part of filling his mind, as he felt the coolness of the scar on his palm. "From now on, it's my responsibility to protect you all. I don't know what's gonna happen from now on, but at that time I didn't have the strength to protect anyone." Luffy looked up, his hand moving to push his hat up from his eyes, and that crazy smile, that Zoro knew so well, returned. "But it's okay now, because I've gotten stronger!" Something close to nostalgia crossed Zoro's eyes as he watched Luffy laugh, pumping his fist in the air.

"If that's so," Zoro turned back to the horizon, "Then, I'll need to protect the Captain–"

"I don't need your protection!" The raised voice shocked Zoro and his body snapped back to Luffy, like he was made of rubber himself. Luffy's face was down, his ebony hair curtaining his hair and his hat shadowing his face. "You don't need to think that," he continued more calmly. "I'll protect myself. I can't–" he hesitated. "I won't watch someone I treasure die for me again!"

Zoro eyed Luffy carefully. "Sorry, but I can't follow that order." Luffy's eyes shot up, sheer panic shocked across his face and Zoro saw the ghost of his Captain that he had not been around to see in the last two years; a shadow that those two years had managed to cover, just enough, with that signature smiled and hat, just enough so that the crew could feel secure in their Captain's presence, and even though it was only for a split second, Luffy knew Zoro had seen it. He turned to leave, but stopped when Zoro spoke again.

"What am I to this crew, Luffy?" Zoro's voice has devoid of its usual soft laziness whenever the two where alone; just Captain and Swordsman. It was hard and cold as he stared at the back of the red shirt, the same as when he had told Chopper to act like a man, like the time when Usopp had left, and again when he refused to let him return without apologizing. In his mind, Zoro was praying for his words, the harsher the better, to break though the wall around the Captain that had not been there before. "What am I to you, Captain?" Luffy couldn't turn around as Zoro continued in an icy tone. "Am I just 'another nakama' you feel you have to protect?" Zoro stood up straight, an arm resting on his swords. "Or, am I your companion, who has survived in your company from the beginning?" Luffy turned, his expression blank.

So, let's go! We'll never give in!

We won't lose against the flow of time.

"The same applies for me," Zoro said, his usual lazy tone returning. "I don't want my Captain to die, I want to protect him. I trained for these two years for that purpose, and that purpose alone."

We'll keep getting up, again and again,

Because we don't want to lose something precious.

"You've been holding out for two years, thinking that you've made yourself a burden to us," Zoro said as he walked past Luffy, drawn to the slowly beat, knowing Luffy wouldn't want to miss his favourite song. "But we're all here for you now. You are the reason we all came back stronger, because even you, especially you, Luffy," Zoro paused and looked back at Luffy's silent back. "Need protecting sometimes."

I can hear the voice inside of me,

Always, always pushing me ahead.

Even when the teasing rain gets in my way,

I won't try to run away.

Zoro could see the slight shaking of Luffy's shoulders and hear Brook starting a slow upbeat piano chord as the other nakama cheered. He placed a hand firmly on the younger man's shoulder, turning him around with a strong grip. There were no tears on the Captain's face, but Zoro could see the effort it took to not let them fall. Zoro could now hear Brook's familiar and harmonizing voice.

"Yo-hohoho, yo-hohoho," drifted across the ship.

Zoro lent down so his eyes were level with Luffy's, making the younger pirate look at him. "Never lose faith in us."

Like a bird flying in the sky,

I'm searching for a tomorrow I can't see.

Even if I'm scared while stumbling,

My eyes won't drop to my feet.

The crew cheered as Luffy appeared, bounding down the stairs, followed more slowly by Zoro who stopped and watched as the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates ran straight into the middle of the group gathered around Brook's piano, throwing an arm each around Usopp and Nami, his ebony hair flying in all directions. Zoro looked on from the stairs, smiling gently at the straw hat in his hand, as Luffy led the song. "Going to deliver Binks' Sake! Following the sea breeze! Riding on the waves!"

"I believe in that future."