A/N: This ficlet was originally written for the prompt "mine" on a chaos thread. Warning for 2nd person narrative (I usually don't do that, but it seemed to fit the idea).
Spoilers up to and including manga chapter 489 (end of Thriller Bark). Word Count:271.
Ownerships
Sometimes the objects that matter the most are not the ones that truly belong to us. Maybe you've dreamed of building a great ship capable of travelling all around the world, but when the chance finally come you can only allow yourself to go through with it by building it for somebody else. The ship belongs to all the crew and to the captain the most, not to its builder.
Or you need a log pose to do your job, and having a treasure around is always a good idea - but those things belong to the whole crew as well, not really to you. You are only the caretaker.
Or you carry a sword that belonged to someone else and you still think of as only half your own. You can wield it but only on the condition you will never forget what it means. There are two other swords that truly do belong to you, earned through your own merits, but they don't matter even half as much.
Or there's a song that was sung by men long dead that you keep stored in an amazing device, hidden in your skull. It will be taken out and listened to again on the day your promise is finally fulfilled. You carry it in their name. It isn't yours.
And the battered strawhat resting on your captain's head will be returned one day to the man who gave it to him for safekeeping. It's the sign of a very important promise; it's what the world names him and his crew for: but it doesn't fully belong to him. You do, though.
