In Them

In him, she sees the sun. The ruler of al things under his gaze. The King of the Seas.

Her King.

In him, she sees the sun. The light of her life, the dawn of her day the bane of her darkness, the warmth of her skin and the burning in her belly. He is her inevitable future, the vanquisher of her past. He is her courage, her strength, her freedom. He is her happiness, her power, he anchor.

And yes, as the Sun is wont to do, sometimes he runs too hot, and he truly drives her insane.

But yes even despite that, even though sometimes she wishes the Sun would disapear for while, he is always there to light her life. He is the beginning, middle, and end of her day. Though she was alive before him, she was not living. Thus, his existence is the beginning of her life, his journey the middle, and his end her end.

He is her savior. Her sun.

He is the Sun, his power is total. He is an absolute force of gravity, how could she not revolve around him?

In her, he sees the moon. The ruler of all things under her gaze. The Queen of the Seas.

His Queen.

He sees her beauty, ethereal, of a Goddess.

In her, he sees the compass to his dreams. He sees his guiding light among the stars.

In her, he sees one of his most trusted advisors, one of two to have started this journey with him. In her, he sees a reason to be strong, a smile to desperately protect. In her, he sees reason to crush anyone that makes her cry and a reason to destroy any place she does not want to be. In her, he sees feelings indescribable, feelings he has never felt, nor that he can truly comprehend. In her, he sees mystery feelings.

In her, he sees an otherworldly power, a pull on him like he was the tide under her sky. In her, he sees need.

She is his moon. His Queen.

In them, the Swordsman sees two of the original three; the man who would be the greatest King, the man who would be the greatest Swordsman, and the woman who would draw a map of the world. In them, The Captain, The Swordsman, The Navigator.

In them, he sees the luck he's become accustomed to having, for there was no greater luck than meeting his Captain, and then them meeting her.

In them, he sees insanity, as he surely has been subjected to the fracturing of his own psyche at the mercy of his Captain's whims and as the subject of the Witch's greatest source of debt revenue.

But despite that, in them he sees the happiness they deserve, a happiness that he would die to protect.

For in them, he sees the highest ranking, the three progenitors, the originals, The Captain, The First Mate and Vice Captain, and The Quartermaster.

The Captain, The Swordsman, The Navigator. His best friends.

In them, the Sniper sees the fairy tail he recites often to the gullible Doctor. In them, he sees the things he aspires to have; the unrelenting dominance and sheer force of will displayed by the Captain, and the ability to stand resolute despite crushing terror displayed by the Navigator. In them, alongside a certain Swordsman, he sees the beginning of a journey.

In them, the Cook sees the perfect pair he's only ever heard of in stories. In them, he sees the man that gave him a reason and opportunity to dream and the man that pulled him from his darkest moments, believing all the while that some of his worst traits are actually some of his best. In them, he sees the woman with the power to ensnare the world (the only woman that can reign in the Kaizoku-O) and the woman so ready to forgive him for his worst traits and actions. In them, he sees the happily-ever-after.

In them, the Doctor sees the ferocity and fierceness he was once so hesitant to embrace. In them, he sees the reason to abandon worry over preconceived notions and wishes of acceptance from those who shun you, the reason to become a monster if that's what it takes to defend those you love. In them, he sees immediate acceptance from the first two people to acknowledge him. In them, he sees the power he so admires and, in contrast, someone like him who perhaps isn't the strongest or the bravest but won't ever back down in defense of those they stand with. In them, he sees a long future, perhaps with the pattering of small feet, and he begins to prepare for that inevitability.

In them, the Archeologist sees a history rich and powerful, low points and periods fraught with tension overcome to transform into something deep and strong. In them, she sees the best kind of relationships present in her most favorite and precious romance novels (because its not all dark and gloomy themed!); strangers to friends to best friends to lovers and soulmates. In them, she sees her reason to live, given to her by the man who taught her it was okay to live when the entire world wanted you to die, who challenged the world itself to justify her existence. In them, she sees her savior and her best friend alongside each other and smiles to herself, because she knows the best endings in the books she consumes are the happy ones. In them, she sees a reason to offload a few of her more mature books to the navigator in order to help (tease) the poor girl, because the Captain surely wouldn't understand, let alone read the books she would pass on.

And in them, she also sees reason to perhaps make a more overt move on the perpetually lost swordsman and show him other, alternate forms of swordplay.

In them, the Shipwright sees a partnership of such perfection that his wondrous creations would be red with envy if they could gaze upon how well the two mesh. In them, he sees a King and a Queen fit to rule aboard the ship of dreams. In them, he sees all the reasons he was persuaded to join this miracle journey to begin with. In them, he sees adventure, he sees unshakeable resolve and unwavering kindness. In them, he sees eyes that don't pass over the overlooked and ears that listen to the unheard. In them, he sees the joy necessary to sail the seas. In them, he sees the only one capable of ruling the ship, and the only one capable of directing it. In them, he sees the dream pair (trio, if he counts the swordsman, but he's sure the swordsman doesn't want to be mentioned in this particular context) ruling the dream ship.

And perhaps, in them, he sees reason to build smaller things for smaller life, and no, he's not crying, you are, you idiot.

In them, the Musician sees a tune of perfection. In them, he sees the flaws of one instrument being covered and smoothed by the strengths of the other. In them, he sees pages upon pages of musical inspiration, songs and tunes and jingles and ballads written in their image. In them, he sees the romance that musicians and songwriters struggle to express in even their very best pieces. In them, he sees salvation from each others' loneliness. He would know, because the Captain was his salvation for his very own loneliness. In them, he sees. In them, he sees souls intertwined, soulmates, and he would know because he is the Soul King after all. And in them, he sees perhaps a reason to craft a lullaby or two or three, in anticipation of the future.

He sees all this in them, though he doesn't actually have eyes, Yohohoho.

In them, the Helmsman sees ghosts long past. In him, the Helmsman sees the image of a sworn brother, the same spirit, the same flame, the same burning desire for greatness, the same honor and courage and loyalty and kindness. In him, the Helmsman sees all the same flaws, too, the stubbornness, the recklessness, to name a few. But in him, the Helmsman sees all the reason in the world go respect him with his entire being and throw away his life for him at the burning fist of an Admiral or at the feet of an even more fearsome foe in a Yonko. And in her, the Helmsman sees the very same kindness of a truly gentle spirit, one who seeks to reach out to others in pain despite her very own. And in her, the Helmsman sees an astonishing capacity to forgive those who wronged her, crimes perceived by them or no, regardless of the severity. In her, the Helmsman sees a heart as large as the ocean she helps her captain navigate,. And in them, the Helmsman sees a reason to live and dream, and keep moving forward to the future, because they are indicators of everything the future can be.

And sometimes, the Helmsman can't help but laugh because in them, he sees a-lot-a-bit of crazy, and it surely makes for a good time.

In them, the Ogre Princess sees freedom incarnate. In them, she sees that which she has always wanted to experience, the adventure of the world with the wind at your back and the means to move forward with the person you want to experience it with most in the world. In them, she sees a small piece of what she could have experienced with bis brother, as far as the freedom, his promise burned away due to a tragic death. In them, she sees the chains that once bound her shattered as he crushed the man she once called Father, with her unwavering support, seen in the midst of torture and near death or during a stare down with a Yonko in steadfast refusal to accept his defeat and subsequent death. In them, she sees a world of dreams she so desperately yearned for, and is nothing but thankful that she was given this opportunity.

And if she's honest, in them she sees a story eerily similar to one she read in the journal bonging to a certain someone, where said someone came across love that transcended time itself…

In them, the Phoenix sees the bright flame that will light the dawn of the new era. In him, the Phoenix sees the aura of his sworn brother, once a smoldering ember protected by the ultimate sacrifice and cultivated into a raging flame powerful enough to engulf the world. In him, the Phoenix sees rebirth, for after the War of the Best, and the Payback War, the Phoenix felt his world turn to ash, only to rekindle when asked to join. In him, the Phoenix sees clearly the purpose for which the man he once called Father and the man he once called Brother died. In him, the Phoenix sees the firestorm and in her, the Phoenix sees the gentle breeze that can soothe it. In them, the Phoenix sees the dawn.

And in them, the Phoenix sees a story that he swears he's seen once before long ago, when a samurai and a time traveler met aboard his father's ship…

In them, plus the Swordsman, the crew sees the beginning of their journey. In them, the crew sees hope. In them, the crew sees the greatest story of love. In them, the crew sees family (and perhaps future family, too).

In them, the crew sees the King and his Queen, and the Queen and her King.

Short experiental blurb. Written for and because of a friend who got me through hell without words. Sometimes thoughts alone can power you through the worst places on Earth. Hope you enjoy, let me know if you find any mistakes. Should be clean, but I can't catch everything.

Also, Luffy and Nami forever, and maybe little navigator doesn't like other women around her King, or such is the word regarding Film Red...