Another update! I was in the mood to write so this came to be. Thanks for all the support and remember to wash your hands!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or One Piece.

The Captain

A lone figure stepped out of the cabin, sandalled feet making their way to the figurehead of the ship. The desk was unnaturally quiet, but his walk remained steady as the floorboards underneath his feet rumbled in comfort and excitement.

Finally sitting on his special seat, the boy breathed in the salty air and finally finally felt some peace in his heart. After all that anger sadness loneliness, so much time alone so alone why had they done this to him and his crew where were the pirates where was the freedom? But at long last he was back in the sea, albeit the Celestial Sea and while the songs of the waves against his ship were different to the tunes he was used to, he knew he could come to love it just like his original home.

Though having his crew would help immensely and he mourned that they were not by his side, that he was not at their side. But that would change, and he could feel it deep in his bones that things were finally changing since the day they had been separated and stranded in the human world, as if the gears had all shifted in motion when he met Lucy Heartfilia. Perhaps it was fate. But he doubted that as soon as he met her eyes.

"EVERYONE! I'M COMING TO GET YOU!" The faces of his crew flashed behind his eyes. "And you'll all get to meet our newest recruit Lucy!"

Vivid brown, specks of gold lurking within their depths.

She had her eyes.

Layla's.

What does it take to be a captain?

He's met a lot of captains in his lifetime before he became a spirit of the Celestial Sea. Strong ones, weak ones, kind ones, too many to count but so few that were memorable.

She summoned him in one of the gardens surrounding the Heartfilia mansion. They moved to sit at one of the tall stone walls overlooking the rolling hills,

"So, where's your crew?" Are you actually a captain without a crew was the unspoken question, "And how have you survived outside the spirit sea for so long without a summoner?"

He hummed at her question and she felt the vibrations as they sat together, her shoulder to his torso.

"I've been wandering place to place, looking for them but every time I found a good lead, it's either a false trail again or I'm led astray. For the longest time it's been this way."

"Then what changed when we met? I don't understand how we formed a contract."

"Just going with my gut." He shrugged nonchalantly and she slapped his forearm instinctively.

"Your gut is not what you go with when making life-changing decisions."

"I just have this feeling that with you, I'll find them."

"…so, you only formed a contract with me…to find them?" Lucy tried to keep the hurt out of her voice, but she was still young, and her tone wavered.

This time it was Luffy bopping her on the head before ruffling her golden locks. "Don't say stupid stuff. One day you'll realise why I asked you to join the crew."

They stayed silent as the sun finally began to set, the sky bathed in a warm golden orange light. Behind her eyes, Lucy experienced more of those strange memory flashes.

Three children, two black-haired, one blonde laughing on their backs in the grass.

A brotherhood forged with the meeting of sake cups.

The exclamation of a straw-hat wearing boy to be the King of the Pirates.

"I want to be the freest person on the seas!"

"Hey Luffy…?"

He hummed again, more cheerfully this time as if they had both seen the same memories, though neither would admit this for some time.

"Before the whole you're my spirit and I'm your summoner, you'll always be my friend first Luffy."

He beamed; a smile so bright the sun would be jealous.

What does it mean to be a captain?

A captain is one of the crew but at the same time they are not. The captain makes the final call, even when some of the crew disagree and once that decision is made, the captain must stand by it.

"When are we going to go find the others?" The question came out suddenly, but the feelings of frustration and anxiety had been building up in Lucy for some time. They'd been residing at the Heartfilia mansion for a month since their meeting but other than them running around playing games, Luffy hadn't spoken a word about setting out.

"You're not ready."

"How am I not ready?! How long will I have to stay here…?" In the empty halls, the whispers behind her back, facing her father's indifference.

"Then prove it. Punch me." He faced her directly, arms crossed and a serious expression on his face compared to the goofy one she was used to.

Lucy balked, immediately taking a step backwards with a pale face.

"Not ready." He said firmly.

She bit her lip, but it didn't prevent the moisture from gathering in her eyes. Luffy sighed, squatting down beside her as he placed his hat over her head again, tilting the brim so they would meet eyes.

"Lucy, it's never not a bad thing to not want to use violence but when it's your captain's orders, you can't hesitate. Hesitation can kill. Putting yourself and others at risk."

Lucy wiped her eyes and nodded in acceptance. Luffy was right, she wasn't ready.

"Get a bit older, get a bit wiser and get a bit fitter," He teased, "Those short legs of yours aren't too good at hide and seek."

The blonde puffed her cheeks and slammed the hat to his chest, which he gingerly laid his hands on, smiling fondly while the mental connection they had formed came alive.

Blazing red hair hiding under the brim of a straw-hat.

Sea chanties sung harmoniously in a bar.

A tearful departure but a promise to meet again on the sea.

"Hey Luffy, who's Shanks?" She asked curiously, her previous ire forgotten at the new memory shards she had acquired from their strange connection.

The spirit couldn't help but grin widely at the familiar name. Immediately, the captain burst out with endless stories, each unique and full of admiration for the red-head and his crew. He wasn't the greatest storyteller, but the passion in his voice kept Lucy hooked on until the end.

One day, she hoped, she would have her own stories to tell. Full of adventure, friends and laughter.

What does it mean to be their captain?

There were stories once. Of a time, long past but so enduring that their tales became the foundation of legends. When they became legends, they became spirits. But that time was not long past and the wounds of being alone once again had not yet mended into scars.

He didn't have broad shoulders, Lucy noted down, but he did have a reliable back.

Many years in the future, she sat underneath a cherry blossom tree in bloom, Natsu starting a fight nearby and Luffy snoozing loudly beside her. On her lap was the journal she had worked on since meeting Luffy, that she had diligently filled as they had done their own share of adventures, met the people they had been fated to meet and reached the destination they had never realised they had been seeking for.

Listening to the deep breaths of her captain, she mused back over the question that Levy had asked after finding out her allegiance to the Monkey Spirit.

Why do you call him captain?

Mulling over the question, she tapped her fountain pen over the journal before finally penning down her answer.

To never hesitate. To never waver. To have the strength to carry our weaknesses, to have the courage to allay our fears, to heal the wounds we didn't realise we carried. To make us realise our potential, bringing out all that we could not see within ourselves, that he had always seen. He was our captain, the Sun who always made everything brighter, who we naturally revolved around.

While there are so many stories I could share to prove this point, there's some words Luffy once said that I received from his memories that feel most fitting.

"Of course I don't know anything about swords! I can't navigate! I can't cook! I can't even lie! I know I need friends to help me if I want to get ahead in life! But there's one thing I can do…I can beat you!"

To answer the question, I call him Captain because he called me friend.

Closing the journal, Lucy lovingly traced the book cover where she had paid a specialist to engrave certain words on the cover. Towards the Sun, she mouthed, holding back some laughter when she recalled Luffy confusedly asking why she had named her special book, because what was a journal to him other than just a different kind of book.

She had put a finger to her lips stating it was a secret which had made the captain pout, but the rest of the crew smile knowingly. Luffy had then smiled and only hugged her, leaving her helpless to the rush of affection for the slim captain. Indeed how could she ever properly explain all the captain had done for her, what he meant to her with only a few words.

But for now, Lucy held back those words knowing Luffy would not accept them. She smiled in contentment instead, resting her back comfortably against the tree trunk feeling at peace. At least until a familiar tanned hand shoved a mug of beer at her face. Her eyebrows knitted together.

"Always giving me alcohol. You never change…"

A familiar greenhead sat on her other side, nursing his own drink which she was sure was not his first and almost certainly not his last for the day.

"Zoro."

Thanks for reading!