Hi! Finally, here's an actual oneshot! It's loosely inspired by King of Pirates, Savior of the World by coffeelatte, so go check that one out if you haven't already read it.
I struggled with the voice for this one, so I hope you enjoy it. Someone once told me that you can never see how you impact people, because the moment you walk into the room, you start changing things. I think this is intensely true for Luffy who sees the world in simple immediacy and I tried to portray the way others change for him without him really noticing. I hope this comes through.
As always I love hearing from you and constructive criticism is welcome (I've been sitting on this for ages trying to get it right). Thanks for reading!
It's an order and a request in the form of a seat. Luffy sits on the head of Thousand Sunny, gazing at the endless sea in front of him. It's one of those rare moments when Luffy relishes the solitude. Not silence: there's never silence on the Thousand Sunny. There's laughter, and shouting, and the rhythmic swish of Zoro's weights at his back. Every member of his crew accounted for, everything as it should be. Luffy lets contentment fill him, knowing his friends, each one so very precious, are right there, waiting until he's ready to play with them again.
He never told them that he sat on Sunny's head - or Merry's before her - to have some time alone, but with these friends, he never needed to. Strictly speaking, Franky built a cabin for him in the Thousand Sunny, and Luffy could go there when he wants to be alone, but even that feels too far away most days. With his dreams ahead of him and his crew behind, Luffy knows he can take on the world.
It was hard, from the time Ace left until he first found Zoro, to be alone, and again during his training, even though old man Rayleigh was there for most of it, but he's never alone now unless he wants to be and it's glorious. Even at night, Luffy falls asleep listening to the quiet sounds of his crew. His wounds are healing, and he knows that eventually Chopper will come over and insist on checking them, but for now he enjoys the sun in his eyes, the wind in his hair, and the music in his ears.
Which was, of course, how he ended up snatched up by a horse.
"Something just ate Luffy!" Carrot shouted beneath him. "So cool!" Luffy heard the smothered laughter across the deck, but was too busy giggling to comment. The horse hadn't actually eaten him and seemed to be having trouble with his weight, so his crew's words carried clearly to their captain.
"Franky, Usopp, Brook, pay up," Nami called out, not moving from her lounge chair.
"Yohoho!" Brook exclaimed, halting his song, "Nami's scary about money!"
"Well, it's about damn time," Zoro replied, not pausing in his exercises.
"What kind of bird is it?" Sanji asked, shielding his eyes and looking up. Franky hopped to the lookout to see.
"I'm not sure," he called down. "It looks more like a horse, honestly." Luffy decided he had enough of being awkwardly carried and climbed onto the horse. He'd never ridden a horse before, and it was really tricky to figure out where to put his legs with the wings in the way, but what the hell, he was rubber.
"A flying horse, eh?" Zoro asked. "That sounds interesting." Luffy thought so, too, and giggles spilled out of his mouth in delight.
"Hey horse," he said, "why don't you land so you can meet my crew?" The horse beat it wings above the ship, apparently considering it.
"A flying horse is typically called a pegasus," Robing told them, pulling out her sketch pad while staring at the hovering figure, "and they're considered mythical."
"I wonder how I should prepare that," Sanji muttered heading towards the kitchen. Luffy drooled at the thought and the horse reared in protest.
"Hey horse, do you taste good?" The horse turned it's head to glare at him.
"It's a little weird this is the first time it's happened since we entered the new world," Usopp commented, glancing up from his work.
"Shouldn't we help?" Jinbei asked.
"No, it's pretty common for Luffy to get eaten, so we don't worry about it anymore," Nami answered, making the merman pause.
"…You're not worried about him? What if it drops him in the ocean?" Everyone turned to stare at him. Robin laughed lightly breaking the silence.
"Jinbei is so sweet."
"He sure is SUPER!" Franky agreed, hopping back down to the deck. Jinbei blushed at their praise.
"I'm more worried about how I'm going to cook it," Sanji replied honestly. Franky laughed.
"That's only if he doesn't decide he wants that pegasus as his pet!" The cyborg pointed out. "Robin, do you have any idea what sort of accommodations a pegasus would need?" Apparently the horse had heard enough. He landed on the deck, away from the crew, and shifted to a man, dropping Luffy in the process.
"No one is going to eat me," he said firmly, "and I'm not a pet."
"Eh?! You're a person?!" Luffy protested. "But you were so much cooler as a horse!"
"I am also not a horse," he told the rubber boy seriously.
"He must have eaten a mythical Zoan fruit, Luffy," Robin commented, standing up and walking over. The rest of the crew got to their feet and moved in as well.
"I'm not here to fight," the man said, raising his hands in surrender. "I'd like an interview, actually." Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded by the idea of someone interviewing Luffy.
"You want to talk to our captain?" Sanji asked incredulously. "Like ask his opinions on things?"
"So cool!" Carrot exclaimed. "It's like you're famous!"
"Technically, Luffy is pretty famous," Franky pointed out. "Everyone knows that he is SUPER."
"Do you normally try to abduct the people you interview?" Zoro asked, his eye narrowed.
"A mythical Zoan is a powerful Devil Fruit for an interviewer," Robin commented, examining the stranger critically.
"How much will you pay us?" Nami asked, bellis forming in her eyes.
"Powerful people are not always interested in being interviewed," the stranger said, "so it's good to have an exit strategy planned."
"Trying to abduct your interviewee probably doesn't help," Nami pointed out. The man glanced at her.
"I apologize for the… unfortunate introduction. Are you willing to be interviewed, Captain Luffy?" Luffy picked his nose, considering the matter.
"I dunno. Will it be fun?" Horse-man stared at him.
"You are, of course, already famous, but this help spread your influence and improve your image." Luffy frowned.
"He said it'll make you look cool," Usopp told him.
"Really?!" Luffy asked excitedly, remembering how cool he looked wearing the armour he found at the arena in Dressrosa. Horse-man sighed.
"Let's try again. My name is Hosei and I write for Sky High News. We would like to get an interview with the rising star, Monkey D. Luffy."
"I'm a rising star?" Luffy asked, turning to Zoro for confirmation. Zoro shrugged.
"…we'll start with some simple questions to get to know you. What's your favourite food?"
"Sanji's!" Sanji turned away, while the rest of the crew smiled.
"You're just supposed to choose one meal," Robin clarified.
"Ehh?!" Luffy said, appalled. "How can I do that, Horsey? All of Sanji's food is the best!"
"My name is Hosei."
"That's what I just said." And since they were on the topic… "Sanji! Food!"
"Yes, yes," the cook murmured, glancing at Zoro, who took a step closer to Luffy, before heading into the kitchen. Horsey watched him leave before turning back to Luffy.
"Your favourite story?"
"Usopp's, but Shanks tells great stories, too!" Usopp blushed brightly and puffed his chest out.
"Of course! My stories are always top notch!"
"…you actually know Shanks? The Yonkou?" Luffy wondered if there was something wrong with the man's jaw; it was just hanging open.
"Of course! We're nakama!" Franky wandered away and came back with a table for them to sit at while Brook, Carrot, Jinbei and Chopper brought over some chairs. Luffy took a seat with his crew surrounding him and tried to sit still. He might have been fidgeting a little, but everyone does that, right?
"What's your favourite book?" Luffy frowned, thinking. That was a hard one. Robin read him lots of great stories on rainy days or when he was recovering.
"Robin, what's the name of that book you read me the other day?"
"Sky Sailing," Robin answered, smiling over at him. It always made Luffy happy to see her smile since he knew she hadn't done much of it for a long time. She looked prettiest when she smiled.
"Isn't that a children's book?" Horsey asked sceptically. Robin nodded placidly while the man wrote the answer down. "What's your favourite music?"
"Brook's!"
"Yohoho! Thank you, Captain! Let me play a new single to celebrate!" Brook strummed his guitar and Luffy got to his feet to listen, but Horsey kept talking. Thankfully, Sanji came out with some snacks, so Luffy sat back down and ate his food; he knew Brook would understand.
"…your answers seem to be focused on your crew," he observed.
"That's because they're the best!" Luffy gushed, watching as they blushed and wiggled. They were so funny!
"…Your most treasured possession?"
"My hat!" Luffy exclaimed, reaching up and taking it off to look at it. As always, his memories of Shanks and his powerlessness rose up. The bandages wrapped around him were proof that even after all these years, he still wasn't strong enough. Stronger, but not strong enough. Not yet.
"Your favourite colour?" Luffy startled a little at the question.
"Yellow."
"Not red?" Luffy stared at him.
"Nope. Red was Ace's favourite colour."
"But you're frequently photographed wearing a red shirt. I've never seen a photograph of you in yellow except at Marineford." Luffy nodded in agreement, and the interviewer made a weird face. "Do you wear red for Fire Fist Ace?" Luffy nodded again, his eyes unfocusing as he remembered Ace.
"Yeah," he acknowledged softly. "When Ace left home I was super lonely, so I started wearing red because it made me feel like he was still nearby." His fingers dug into his scar, but the muffled noises his crew started making drew him back to the present. "Guys, what's wrong?" They were making faces like something had hurt them, but Luffy didn't know what was wrong or how to fix it.
"Nothing, Captain," Usopp replied, but his voice was strained and Luffy thought he might be lying. Luffy looked around in thought.
"Do you guys need a hug?" Because hugs always cheered Luffy up when he was sad.
"Yeah, Captain," to Luffy's surprise, it was Zoro who answered, "we need a hug." So Luffy stood up, stretched out his arms, and gathered all his nakama to him. Zoro's sword was poking him in the side, and Chopper's antlers were pressing into his stomach, but somehow, as always, it was perfect. His crew smelled like tobacco and parchment and fur and oil and salt water and somehow it all meant home. Luffy didn't care that Horsey was standing there; right now his friends needed a hug and they came first, always. "Thanks, Cap," Zoro said eventually, and Luffy let go, because if Zoro said they were ok, then they were ok.
"You had more questions for the captain?" Sanji asked, reminding Luffy about their guest.
"Who do you most admire?" Horsey asked after examining them all for a minute.
"Shanks!" Luffy answered immediately, because who else was there, really? "He's the best! I'm still going to kick his ass, though!"
"…Right. Where were you born?" The man asked. Luffy opened his mouth, but Nami got there first.
"Don't answer that, Luffy! If your enemies find out where you're from, they might try to hurt people close to you." The interviewer stared at her before sighing and crossing some stuff out.
"…alright. I apologize for the question." There was silence where he just stared at Luffy before clearing his throat and continuing. "How did you get so strong?"
"I trained." And people called Luffy stupid.
"…moving on… why did you decide to become a pirate?"
"I didn't want to share my meat," Luffy man just kept staring at him, but Zoro nodded because of course he understood.
"…right."
"Why did you storm Ennies Lobby?" His tone turned somber and Luffy frowned.
"They took Robin." Horsey was making that face again - as if Luffy was the one who didn't make sense, even though it was everyone else who got caught up in stupid stuff and forgot about the important things.
"Why did you punch a Celestial Dragon?"
"They shot Hachi." There was a silence as the man examined him thoughtfully.
"It's all about the people for you, isn't it?" Luffy stared at Horsey, perplexed.
"What else is there?"
"You didn't do those things to make political statements?" Horsey seemed really confused, but it made the crew laugh, so that was ok. Luffy was happy they were happy again.
"Luffy didn't know who Dragon was until Robin-chan explained about revolutionaries to him," Sanji commented. The man was now gaping at him, but Luffy was used to that look.
"You set the World Government's flag on fire - declared war on the world - for a friend?"
"Of course I did," Luffy confirmed, puzzled. Why was that confusing? "That's what you do for friends."
"If you could go anywhere, where would you go?" Luffy looked at him for a moment, thoroughly convinced he was stupid.
"I can go anywhere, and I'm going to Raftel." There was silence after that, but the crew was smiling, so it was fine.