Hello everyone! Welcome to this new story I've created! This is my first published One Piece fanfiction, but I can assure you I have experience in writing fanfiction. So yeah, I don't really have too many grammatical errors, but feel free to PM me or Review and notify me either subtly or bluntly. I take criticism well, but if it reaches a certain point I begin to get annoyed.
Anyways, this is not a one-shot. Just saying. It sort of seems like it, if you only look at this chapter, but it's not. Trust me guys. I wouldn't do that to you. It would just be mean.
*Ahem* Please bear with me on the first paragraph. I couldn't really seem to be able to get that out right, and it feels odd to me. I dunno though. It could just be me and my lack of self-confidence when it comes to reading over my writings.
Onto the story!
One of his earliest memories was of a middle aged man. He was six years old; even then he knew this man was special. When you looked and the man didn't notice, his eyes were distant and sad, as if he was reminiscing on old memories, and sometimes a smile would grace his face. But it was never more than that. It felt like it wanted to grow larger; a grin would seem natural on the man's face. Like he was supposed to be carefree and happy all the time.
If he caught you though, the grin would come. It didn't seem as real as those small smiles, though. They were warming, nevertheless, and filled him with a warm and comfortable feeling he couldn't quite place.
The two of them would often explore the island often, and it gave him such excitement. The man would often tell him stories; some about a man named Gol D. Roger, some about Shanks, Whitebeard, Portgas D. Ace, Sabo, and a Monkey D. Luffy along with his crew.
He told of the most wonderful adventures, and one time he asked the man how he had learned to tell the stories so greatly. His eyes would unfocus for a moment, but soon afterwards he would give a short chuckle and say he's learned from a good friend. The King of Snipers, he would say with great enthusiasm.
He found the man staring down at an old straw hat sometimes, staring at it as if though it were a great weight. His hand would twitch upwards at times, as if though he were tempted to put it on, but then he would seem to lose his courage to do so and he set it aside, letting it sit there. He would always continue to watch it, however.
At those times when the man seemed sad, so despairingly sad, he would go and sit next next to the man and hold his hand, and tell him everything was going to be okay. The man would get teary-eyed, and sometimes even cry, so he would always hug him and sit through it, calming him.
Even at his age he knew the man was lonely. He had lost his important people.
He and the man soon became great friends; best friends even, never mind the age difference. Who made that rule, anyways? A child and an adult can most certainly be best friends if they wanted to be so.
The two of them saw each other every day. Often they would go out for a few weeks before returning to the village, and they would bring tales of their venture into the jungle or the mountains.
They always had so much fun, and he learned so much from the man. It lasted two years.
Then that day came.
That day when the man read the newspaper. It was funny; he never read it, yet for some reason that day, he did. The man's eyes widened and he dropped the newspaper, standing there for minutes in silence just staring at the sky.
He turned and gave him a wide grin; a real, honest one. It stretched so wide that he was quite sure the man had found something. Or perhaps someone.
They adventured for the remainder of the day, and then they talked. For hours.
Then he found a sentence coming out of his mouth that he hadn't expected to come out. But when it was said, his resolution grew and settled firmly. He knew this was it.
The man grinned and from out of nowhere came the old straw hat; it was shoved firmly onto his head, and he blinked in surprise. "Then do it." Said the man. "Do it, and show the world. Show me."
Later that day the man left on a beautiful ship. It had the head of a lion on the prow, and it was so expertly crafted that even he, who had almost no knowledge of ships, could tell. The man waved and called out a goodbye, leaving him crying, but happy, on the cliff. He would never see the man again.
One month later, the infamous pirate captain Monkey D. Luffy was executed in his hometown, his infamous grin never once leaving his face.
For he knew his dream would be fulfilled through the legacy he left behind.
Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be published soon.