Journey Of A Straw hat
Summary: The return, the death and the legacy of a battered, yet proud straw hat. Three-shot, drabbles.
A/N: Second chapter, then. Thanks so much for the reviews everyone! Can I just say that my One Piece stories (and there will be more) will actually be connected so some details here will be explained in other stories. This particular chapter will almost certainly be rewritten to add stuff I wanted to write but couldn't fit with the theme as well as various other details…
Anyway, on with the chapter!
Chapter Two: Eternal
The sounds of the battle are still ringing in the ears of everyone who dared witness it. The sound of bombs being fired, desperate yet determined battle cries, the sound of a young man laughing… as he left his last breath with a smile.
The newspapers were very popular the following day, tabloids with large, bold letters reading: "PIRATE KING IS DEAD! END OF ANOTHER ERA!", "WHERE IS THE ONE PIECE NOW?", "VICE ADMIRAL SMOKER DECLARED MARINE HERO," "TRIBUTE ALL AROUND THE WORLD DURING THE BATTLE! RAISED FISTS IN HONOR OF THE PIRATE KING." They didn't seem to stop…
The marine reports were a little different, more accurate, more… insightful…
"… and from the lack of shocked reactions or even attempts at rescue, it was assumed that the Strawhat crew was well aware that their Captain, Monkey D. Luffy was going to die that day…"
Official Marin Hero, Vice Admiral Smoker has refused to report anything yet.
And the Strawhat crew disappeared for a while.
The Baratie wasn't filled with costumers as it usually was. In a way, it was reserved for something special and as if people could sense the trouble, they stayed away from it.
A huge, scarred whale was waiting outside the restaurant and what appeared to be a skeleton was passionately playing the piano inside. And one by one, hooded figured walked in and proceeded to take their seats at the especially grand table, not uttering a single world, not until the song was over.
"Going to deliver Bink's sake!
Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the night!
Waving our goodbyes, we'll never meet again!
But don't look so down, for at night the moon will rise!"
And if anyone could hear the skeleton's voice cracking, they didn't say anything.
"Going to deliver Bink's sake!
Let's all sing it with a DON! A song of waves
Doesn't matter who you are, someday you'll just be bones.
Never ending, ever-wandering, our funny traveling tale!"
And if anyone saw the tears in the woman's eyes, they pretended not to notice.
"Yohohoho, yo-hohoho
Yohohoho, yo-hohoho
Yohohoho, yo-hohoho
Yohohoho, yo-hohoho!"
And as all their voices meddled together, they could hear the slightly off-key voice of a raven haired man, who wouldn't miss a party even in death…
In the name of their captain, the Strawhat crew met each other again for three days, every two years. At the Baratie, Alabasta, Shaki's bar, Fishman Island, they even went to Windmill Village once. Wherever there was a place open to them to celebrate and remember the boy with the straw hat, the pirate king, their friend.
As the world's greatest swordsman, also known by his crew as the person who got lost in a straight line, Ronoroa Zoro held his captain's hat in his hands, while the rest of the crew was chatting away in the Baratie, he recalled the last time Luffy had held it…
Right before Smoker killed him, as he knew he would, he had to, because for the first time in his life Luffy had a plan and it would go the way he wanted it to, the pirate king removed his treasured hat from his head. Just before the Marine gave his final hit, he concentrated all his force and threw the hat in the air, high up in the sky. Watching as it floated in the wind, the childish man smiled, then laughed, laughed with all his heart.
Monkey D. Luffy died with the widest grin on his face, without his precious hat. Because that straw hat was a symbol of freedom and it could never be defeated.
A/N: So, that's it. Not sure I like this chapter. Not to mention it's ridiculously small, though as I mentioned above, I will write an extended version of it. Look for it… at some point. There is one more chapter to this particular story, Legacy, and then I'm off to a new one. But like I've also said before most of my One Piece stories will be linked in one way or another.
Anyway, leave a review and tell me what you think!