A/N: Thank you to MysticWaterWolf and Jujus for reviewing, and to the people who followed and favorited. You warmed my heart.
recap:
A loud cheer echoed about the Thousand Sunny when Sanji surfaced and the old chest was carefully placed on the deck. Luckily, the sun was hot and the wood seemed to be drying quickly.
"Any sign yet?" Robin asked Chopper.
"No..." the doctor moaned dejectedly.
"Hmm...if this doesn't work—"
Chopper interrupted her thought with a cry. "He frowned! Ghost-Kid frowned!"
And indeed he was, as if he were having a bad dream. And then his eyelids twitched, and his fingers flexed. In mere moments, Ghost-Kid woke to a crying Chopper in his face.
It was Robin's turn to frown. What in the world could this mean?
By all appearances, the Strawhats were going about usual business on the high seas of the Grand Line. But there was a heaviness in the air, a question. Every now and then, the crew would, in their own way, cast a fleeting glance at the closed door of the infirmary. Chopper was still inside with Ghost-Kid and, after seeing what had happened with the old wooden chest and the aquarium, everyone was both curious and a little anxious to see what story came of it. The look in Ghost-Kid's eyes when he had woken up was markedly different from the expressions he had shown them this far. It was a look of heartbreak and loss and Brook seemed especially quiet. Perhaps he was remembering the fifty years he spent floating aimlessly in the Florian Triangle.
Sanji observed the abnormally quieter dinner table. Zoro wasn't present. The swordsman didn't even make much noise in the first place, and it wasn't strange for him to skip the usual dinnertime in favor of his workout routine, but today his absence seemed especially meaningful. Even Luffy wasn't eating with his usual gusto though that certainly didn't stop him from gulping down plate after plate of food. But Robin was so deep in thought she barely touched her dish, Franky his cola. The cyborg had been watching the liquid slosh back and forth in the bottle as he rolled his wrist. Chopper had a crease in his forehead that hadn't gone away since he'd exited the infirmary hours earlier. The cook bet it had been there for much longer.
Finally, when he met Nami's and Ussop's anxious eyes, Sanji had just about had it. His food was growing cold and his friends were all mopey over a… Well, if he was being honest with himself, he had been smoking a lot more than he usually did. Ghost-Kid's condition was getting on his nerves as well.
Suddenly, Chopper sat up in his seat, ears twitching back and forth. At the same time, the door opened and Zoro stuck his head in, "He's awake."
In a second the reindeer leapt from his stool and rushed out, the swordsman trailing him. There was no time to wonder how Zoro had found out that piece of information first because the muffled, joyful exclamation coming from the wall between the kitchen and the infirmary was enough to get everyone on their feet and rushing towards the sick bed. Their green-haired crewmate held the door open as they filed into the small quarters one by one and arranged themselves around their tired-looking friend.
Ghost-Kid was paler than they had last seen him when he was awake and moving about. They could nearly see the wrinkles in the sheets at his back right through his body. At his request, Chopper helped him sit up against a pillow-cushioned wall. Sanji entered last with a bowl of soup he'd grabbed from the kitchen. When Ghost-Kid finished drinking, a little color and material returned to his body and he offered them all a sheepish smile.
"I need to tell you all something. But i–it's kind of long…" Ghost-Kid faltered, his voice much softer and hoarser than before. To everyone's surprise, he looked straight at Luffy and asked, "Is that alright?"
Luffy's eyes were wide and expressionless as he nodded, once and vigorously, "Mm!" Zoro slid into a comfortable position on the floor, his arms tucked behind his head. He was settling in for what was to come as though he had been waiting for this exchange the whole time.
Ghost-Kid scanned the room, his eyes resting on each of its occupants, then asked, "Before that, what did you do to the chest? I'm assuming it's dry since I'm feeling rather awake, but it's part of the story and I guess you could say it's...it's my treasure and the last thing that keeps my existence in this world."
The word 'treasure' seemed to suddenly change the atmosphere of the room. Luffy often spoke of his hat the same way, and the friends who did give their captain a glance guessed what he was thinking about. Robin moved to the foot of the bed and knelt down but it was Franky who spoke up, "Don't worry, lil' bro. It's right here." The archeologist carefully, almost reverently, picked up the old chest and rested it atop the sheets at the end so Ghost-Kid could see it.
The boy visibly relaxed and nodded, "Thank you, Robin. Franky, you are an extremely skilled and caring shipwright. I can tell." His fingers curled absentmindedly around the empty bowl in his hands as the cyborg turned a bit red. "The Thousand Sunny is a very happy ship—and should be with all of you as its crew—though I pray you will never meet it in its ghostly form. Earlier, the day you discovered me running about your ship, you were discussing it with Usopp—the spirits of ships."
"Klabautermann?" Usopp supplied.
"If that is what you call the incarnation of a ship's spirit, then yes," Ghost-Kid smiled. "I am the spirit of a ship owned by a merry group called the Fishing Pirates...but they are certainly all gone by now."
This news generated a few gasps and murmurs of surprise. Robin frowned, "But if you are a klabautermann, then where is your ship? Could it be...?"
"The old chest is the remains of my days of glory," Ghost-Kid replied, guessing what the archeologist was thinking. "When I was born, I had many secret compartments built into my walls. The old chest is what's left of one of those compartments. Its location was in the heart of my wooden shell—the hardest to get to—and it's also where my captain hid a collection of many things that reminded him of his dream of total freedom, including a devil fruit which was going to be used to help fund any expenses we might have. There was no use eating it, you see, because none in my fishermen crew wished to give up their ability to swim.
"My captain loved to fish, but he wanted to be more than a fisherman. He was a wanton adventurer, wishing to see and catch new species all over the world. Even so we kept coming back to one specific part of the Grand Line. Fish Island was given its name because of the deep sea fishing community. It was his favorite piece of land and our base though it was smaller than any other we'd been to." The Strawhats nodded. They had just come from that island and not much had changed. The Fish-Ossan, whose tank and treasure chest Luffy was obsessed with, had confirmed that much.
Now a distant look sparkled in Ghost-Kid's eye, "The crew loved me so much—almost as much as they loved fishing. I didn't deserve it. And now they rest safely on land if they got away, or they lay on the bottom of the ocean if the sea king got them and rid them from its system by now—the very monster you fished up and ate just the other day."
Franky lifted his sunglasses to his forehead, "If I'm not mistaken, you were made of Adam's wood as well."
"Yes," Ghost-Kid laughed and gazed at the old chest before him. "That's probably why I feel so at home here and why I've lasted this long. Other wood should have wasted away long ago. I'm not even sure how long I was in the sea king since I cannot remain conscious if what's left of me is wet with seawater.
"But you see," Ghost-Kid looked up and continued his story, "my captain's dream was to be free. He had escaped from some horrible form of enslavement. Even as a captain he still wore the scars and brands of his owners..." Ghost-Kid clenched his fist.
"We had just arrived at Fish Island and Captain thought he had found a buyer. Then, when they realized our captain had a bounty, they decided they wanted more than the devil fruit. But my captain was no coward," Ghost-Kid exclaimed. His tone had changed as he spoke powerfully about his captain, but he quickly deflated partially from sadness, and also from pure exhaustion. Sanji's food had done its job but he was still slowly losing his strength. "My captain would never run away from a fight. But he quickly realized that the enemy was much stronger. These pirates dabbled in the slave trade, and they had very little regard for me. If he stayed and fought, his crew would be enslaved or killed, I would sink to the bottom of the ocean, and my captain would be punished if not executed by his former owners. But if he sacrificed himself...then his friends could still escape to freedom."
Tears began rolling down Ghost-Kid's cheeks. "He was willing to give up his dream of freedom so his friends could be free," he choked. There was a moment of silence while Ghost-Kid recovered his voice. "Sorry," he whispered. The Strawhats shook their heads, murmuring that it was alright, and Ghost-Kid gulped down the glass of water Sanji quietly handed to him, trading him for the empty bowl.
"He loved everyone so much," the tired spirit sighed. "If someone was cold, he gave them his coat. If someone had no food, he'd feed them and then teach them how to fish. If someone was lost, he'd show them how to be free. He always said that he knew what it was like to be cold and hungry and lost, and that freedom was the best gift he had to offer..." Ghost-Kid blinked back his tears and exclaimed, "Such a thing—it wasn't fair! I was not going to let him experience any of that ever again even if it was the last thing I did! So when the captain surrendered and led the other captain to the devil fruit, I...I did a bad thing. As soon as they went below deck, I went against his wishes and appeared to the rest of the crew."
He chuckled a little bit at the memory. "I sure did give them a scare. Our enemy, as I expected, never intended to follow through with their end of the deal. But I was able to scare enough of them into retreating back to their ship so the Fish Pirates who were still alive could fight the rest of them off—that is if our opponents didn't jump overboard first. I got our first mate to rally the rest of my friends into the lifeboats and told them to row as far away as they could."
Ghost-Kid smiled sadly, "I could tell they wanted to ask me more, but there was no time. When I rushed to my captain, he was just about to hand over the devil fruit. I snatched it away and swallowed it whole."
He met the shocked reactions with a small grin, "I had no idea if it would work. We didn't even know what kind of devil fruit it was though I once overheard the crew discussing that potential buyers had speculated it was the Mirror Mirror Fruit. Of course, I never had a chance to find out what it was or what my abilities might be at the time. As a ship, I'm constantly in contact with water. When I became a devil fruit user this small, ghostly body immediately collapsed and my wooden shell began sinking. Somehow I managed to maneuver myself so I tangled my sails with the enemy ship's and I took them down with me. The sea king must have been passing by because he came and ate us soon thereafter.
"I don't know what became of my captain or my crew. I'm only positive that I took the enemy with me into the water. I vaguely recall a state of semi-consciousness in the great beast's stomach but I was waterlogged still. When you fished it up and settled the old chest in your closet to dry, I slowly came to and found myself wandering your ship, unable to remember who I was or why I was here.
"You know the rest of the story," Ghost-Kid slowly bowed his head as low as he could from his seated position. "I cannot thank you enough for your kindness to me. To Sunny especially because I don't know that I would have allowed another to walk my decks as Sunny has allowed me to do."
Franky discreetly swiped at his eyes and sniffed. Brook bowed his head. Luffy quietly, thoughtfully pulled at the string of his hat wound round his neck.
It was Robin who spoke up, "We thank you for sharing with us and we're relieved you've regained your memory. But...hold on. This doesn't make sense. Doesn't a ship need to be whole in order to have a klabautermann?"
Nami agreed, "I mean, when Merry..." At the mention of the Going Merry, a gloomy feeling filled the room, but she kept going. "We saw the klabautermann of our first ship, the Going Merry. Some of us, many times actually." Usopp nodded. "Merry's spirit spoke to us as well, but sailing with us took its toll and we had to send it off. It even gave us parting words. I'm sure not all the ship was touched by fire, so how is it that you're still here?"
Robin agreed, "If we were to think of a klabautermann literally as a ship's soul, then why, despite only being part of a ship, would your soul still be here?"
There was a length of silence before Ghost-Kid slowly replied, "I can't be sure since I haven't encountered many of my kin, and so have only my experiences to go off of, but I have many theories and it is quite possible that it is only the cumulation of many reasons which has allowed me to appear as I am before you today. I'm guessing that I'm still here because I was made of Adam's wood, which is quite sturdy and also happens to be the wood that I'm in contact with now." He brushed the wall at his side with his hand. "Maybe it's because the old chest was located at my heart and was constructed there very purposefully. The captain kept a great deal many other things in there, things that reminded him of his freedom. It may be that his will allowed me to live on.
"There is also the fact that you can see me. Maybe it's because you've already seen one of my kind before, or because I happened to be taken up on such a kind ship with a moving spirit who helped me along, though young, my kinsman in spirit and in body." The Strawhats looked at each other, wondering at the implication that Sunny had had a hand in Ghost-Kid's recovery.
"Or maybe it is my own will that has carried me this far," Ghost-Kid grimaced. "Maybe I feel I did not go down as I should have. After all, I don't even know what became of my crew or my captain."
"And what about your devil fruit?" Chopper piped up, feeling much better now that the possibility of another emotional crisis or blackout seemed to be over. As usual, the poor doctor had been analyzing his patient for any signs for alarm throughout the whole story. "Have you figured out what your devil fruit does?"
Ghost-Kid gave the reindeer a wry smile, "I'm almost sure I've figured it out." Then he asked a rather strange question, "What color is my hair?" Startled, the doctor repeated his question back to him. Ghost-Kid replied, "Just say what color hair you see."
"Alright," he nodded. "I see dark brown."
By the surprise on everyone's face, it became clear that not everyone saw dark brown hair. Usopp said, "But I always thought his hair was darker like mine and Luffy's." The apparition before them flickered, reminding them that Ghost-Kid was indeed not made of the same material as them.
"So we all see an image of what we imagine instead of the reality," Robin pondered aloud. "Seems fitting with a name such as the Mirror Mirror Fruit. When I first saw you outside by the garden, I thought you were a little girl." Sanji remembered his first encounter with the spirit, but kept quiet about seeing his younger, starving body as a reflection.
"Does it have to be that way?" Nami worried her lower lip, "There isn't some way you can override whatever it is that we're seeing until we all see the same image?"
Ghost-Kid tilted his head, "I would assume so, but I haven't tried yet. It's funny that I've been a devil fruit user for this long but I've only been able to test it out for all of a few days." He hesitated. Then said, "I'm also worried about what would happen to me. I do think I benefit from your assumptions about me. I know many of you think of me as a strong individual despite my lack of solid form. For example, even your assumption that food will make me better is helping me, and I wonder if reverting to what I really am would suddenly render me so weak that I would disappear. I've been feeling much more drained lately."
Suddenly, he made to get up out of bed. The Strawhats protested and voiced their concern for him until they realized he was shifting until he could bow face-down on the bedsheets. "I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you," he nearly whispered. "When you took me in and comforted me, and fed me, and showed me around, and played with me, I had so much fun it was like a dream. When I saw the fish in your aquarium, I felt something was at once wonderful and incredibly saddening, but I couldn't know at the time—" and now he was babbling. "You took me in and cared for me like I was your own. You worried about me and I—"
Luffy frowned then cut him off. "You're our friend, our nakama," he stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Crouching low and learning forward until he was craning his neck to see the small boy's face, he said simply, "Of course we worried about you, but you're alright now, aren't ya?" He ruffled Ghost-Kid's hair with a grin.
A chorus of affirmations erupted from the others. A contented smile spread on Zoro's face. And, for a while, there was nothing but peaceful bliss to be felt as the Strawhats stayed gathered round their friend in support, voicing their love and concern for the poor spirit. Then Robin, who was still deep in thought, murmured, "Morning Gloria."
Ghost-Kid froze. He had somehow heard her soft voice over the louder din by his ears. "What did you say?" his hands shook.
"Is that not your name?" she asked.
"Yes, but...how did you...?"
"An ex slave with the brands still scarring the skin. A passion for fishing. Fish Island. Pirate enemy. A sea king." Robin was building a list. "The rusted lock on the chest resembling one we'd only seen a few days ago. An optimistic, freedom-loving old man living alone, reminiscing about the days he was a captain, who loves to rise early and rejoice in each new day as a new beginning."
"I did think that lock looked familiar," their resident money-hoarder muttered under her breath. Usopp shot her a dubious look but he was getting excited about the direction of Robin's observations.
The archeologist explained, "We spent some time at Fish Island and met a retired old man."
"The Fish-Ossan!" Chopper cried. He, like the others, was beginning to follow Robin's logic. Luffy wondered aloud what the old man had to do with what they were talking about.
Robin nodded, "While everyone was asleep, I happened to have a lengthy conversation with him that revealed more details about his past. Out there on that island he finds it especially fitting that his beloved ship sank to the east of Fish Island. Now he can look towards the sunrise while thinking of the wonderful ship who carried him and his friends to freedom."
Ghost-Kid, or Morning Gloria, sat quietly, his hands fisted into the sheets around his legs. Tears dripped softly onto the white linen, leaving dark stains. "What..." he mumbled, then threw his head back and gave a short bark of a laugh, "So that's how it was. All this time I thought..." He trailed off, shaking his head. The Strawhats smiled and the room was filled with a happy warmth that left them all nearly giddy with excitement at the turn of events.
"This calls for a party!" Luffy leapt onto a chair and yelled.
"Luffy!" Nami hissed. "Be careful not to fall and hit the chest. It's fragile enough as it is!"
"I don't know..." Chopper worried. "Ghost-Kid is still pretty weak."
"Don't worry!" Luffy huffed, impatiently. All we have to do is believe he's strong, right?"
"Well..." Nami hesitated.
"It's been so long since we've partied. And we should celebrate since Ghost-Kid got his memory back. Right? Right!?" Their captain grabbed Ghost-Kid's shoulders, "Just believe it! Believe me!" he cried. "You've made it this far because you are strong!"
The look on the klabautermann's could only be described as amazed. Still, he was looking more solid than ever and a bit of color was returning to his cheeks. Sanji chuckled, "You just don't give up, do you? Alright," he conceded. "Give me fifteen minutes."
Fifteen minutes later, as promised, food was making its way onto the dining table as everyone laughed and danced and sang the night away. Ghost-Kid was scandalized at some of the tricks Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper pulled, but they soon had him in a joyous fit, his tinkling laugh echoing off the walls of the Thousand Sunny. Franky danced something awful in the background as Brook provided the music and Nami clapped her hands along. Robin and Zoro simply smiled and observed the happy gathering. In a few hours, all but Brook, who offered to take the night watch, was fast asleep.
At some point, Ghost-Kid awoke suddenly, a twinge in his gut. A voice he was sure had called him had faded away. He quietly slipped outside to the deck.
Brook was there, keeping watch. He seemed to know almost intuitively what was about to happen, because he quickly walked to the kitchen to rouse his sleepy-eyed crewmates. When he opened the door though, he saw that Sanji and Zoro had already begun waking everyone up. It was nearly the time Sanji started breakfast anyway, and Zoro must have, unsurprisingly, heard the klabautermann's exit.
When they made it out to the deck, they saw the sky erupt into a warm yellow. As the fiery white of the sun flashed over the horizon, they were dismayed to find that it shined right through Ghost-Kid's small form by the railing. He examined his arms and body, then met the concerned and sorrowful expressions of his friends. "I'm sorry," he smiled, a twinge of regret in his eyes. "It looks like whatever has been holding me here has moved on."
It was true. His body was becoming more and more transparent, and soon they saw a figure wearing a raincoat staring back at them. Then he leapt into Luffy's arms, "I'll miss you. I'll miss you all!" He buried his face into the crook of the rubber man's shoulder.
"Damn it! I'm not crying at all!" Franky choked as the Strawhats gathered round for a group hug. It was time to send the spirit off for the last time.
When they all backed up so they could look properly at one another, Ghost-Kid beamed at them, "You know, I was named Morning Gloria because of my captain's wonderful outlook on life—every day is a new day to rejoice in. But I will always treasure the name you gave me. I'm glad I stayed this long because I got to be Ghost-Kid. I got to meet all of you!"
He looked straight into Luffy's eyes and said, "Captain, I heard you would love to have a treasure chest in your aquarium. I know I won't be here any longer, but if Franky or Usopp could restore my heart to a better condition, I'd be honored if the last of me could go to rest on your ship."
Luffy looked surprised for a moment, but he quickly recovered and squeezed Ghost-Kid tight before springing around, "Yahoo! I finally have a treasure chest for the aquarium!"
"Luffy!" Nami chided, but she smiled all the same.
Chopper sniffed and Franky was nearly bawling, "That's so...romantic!"
Usopp gave the cyborg a look, then saluted the klabautermann, "Don't worry! Leave the refurbishing to us!"
Ghost-Kid smiled. Behind him, the last of the rising sun leapt above the sea, and then he was gone. But not quite. The old chest was still at the foot of the infirmary bed, ready for expert hands to restore it to its former condition and to be laid to rest in the aquarium of the Thousand Sunny. The crew gathered near the railing, watching as the sky turned pink, then purple, then faded into a pleasant blue. It promised to be a new and glorious day indeed.
A/N: And that's it! I'm pretty sure Sunny's aquarium doesn't have a treasure chest in it, but if it did, I'd like to imagine such a thing as this could happen. I'd think if a gun or sword could somehow 'eat' a devil fruit, then surely a klabautermann could too (though it usually wouldn't make much sense because it's a ship in contact with water). Also, the Mirror Mirror DF is something I made up for this story. I've been using Japanese words, but decided to render the DF in English because Kagami Kagami is a mouthful.
I'm always interested in hearing what any of you would like to say. Like most of my fanfictions (though there are few) they are explorations of my theories of One Piece. Thank you especially to those who supported me way back in July, for sticking with me and just being awesome. Please R&R, plz&ty. And it's been so long, but this is Misa-kike-chi, over and out!
