A/N: updated the content on chapter1, working on chapter 2.
Luffy got back on his feet. He always did, and always would.
That's what made him, him.
The thing that had poisoned Uta couldn't change that, no matter what it was. He didn't care.
They'd called it a monster of concepts given shape: fear, loneliness, rage; all wrapped into each other, compounded and hammered into a song, molded into reality by a devil fruit—abstraction given a concrete form. It could and would consume their very souls if they didn't stop it.
Luffy would. He always did. If this mystery beast had really wanted to win, it should've kept being intangible. Even then, Luffy would probably find a way to kick its ass regardless. But that didn't matter.
How it'd managed to get a physical form didn't matter. He wasn't one to question how things like that could exist; he wasn't going to wonder about how a song had managed to urge his friend into singing it. The events that had ended with Uta singing it didn't matter.
Nothing but the utter beatdown he was about to give that thing mattered.
Him being in this song-scape didn't change that, nor how that bastard was the cause of so much of Uta's pain for all these years. Twelve years harboring all that pain. He was going to avenge it all, right here and right now. He didn't need to understand all the intricate details and all the moving pieces to do that.
He was in a place made by a mystery power, facing a mystery beast. That's all he knew, and all he needed to know.
If he was unsatisfied after he erased the bastard out of reality, he'd ask Robin again. But for now, none of that baggage mattered. It wouldn't change what he wanted to do.
What he was going to do.
He saw Chopper eye him warily from the corner, the small doctor looking between wanting to join in on the efforts against the bastard that was hurting Uta, and trying to heal him further. Luffy met his eyes for a second, and the reindeer nodded and rushed off.
He smiled softly. It was good to have a crew that knew him so well.
He didn't need to listen to Usopp's attempts to coordinate the rest of their little battalion, feeling the intent in the sniper's soul as his Haki spread to cover the abstracted space, pinging through the mystery beast and sensing the same intent from Yasopp on the other side.
He reached out with his Haki further, and his soul resonated with Shanks'.
They didn't even need to try to communicate what they were going to do, they didn't need to go through the effort of trying to send their thoughts back and forth. They were already blasting their raging intent for everyone to hear in the detectable realm of Haki, blazing like the sun over Alabasta.
Luffy grinned and got into his favorite stance, knees spread wide, his fist to the ground, breathing rapidly through his nose, forcing blood with timed convulsions in his legs and wrists.
Shanks hummed with thought, and got to his feet with a slight wobble, letting the civilians fall off his body.
They both huffed a breath out, knowing what came next;
"Luffy, attack the hea—"
Usopp didn't get to finish his coordination orders. Luffy had already shot out into the sky like a bullet, Shanks copying his movements in reality without missing a beat.
Their thoughts synchronized between the two realities, the beast flinching as the push and pull of Haki started cutting into its form, serrated edges of will digging through its abstracted flesh. It roared in pain, attempting to defend against the unseen force by using some sort of mystery power, trying and failing to defend against the torrent of observation and conquerors' Haki blasting through the gate it'd formed by its existence.
Luffy's heart hit the exact tune, his face splitting into a smile that grew more manic with each thump in his chest. He couldn't help but start laughing, amused by how his body suddenly felt even lighter than thought.
Gear 5 roared to life, and Shanks pulled out his sword on his end, coating the blade with his conquerors' Haki. Luffy laughed and shot his arm out, the song-scape bending to his will.
A god bearing joy and a father denied his daughter faced down the physical manifestation of human fear and agony.
The eldritch beast realized that the two it had dared to cross were bending both realities it was occupying, and all the eyes it had widened with fear at the sight.
Luffy laughed harder.
It was amusing to the rubber man. Seeing a monster that was just so happy thriving off the misery of others shuddering in fear. He felt Shanks agree with a smile on the other side of the beast.
Father and God moved, their visions splitting down the middle, each side seeing part of the other as they commenced their combined attack.
Blade and fist moved at the same time, in the same angle, occupying the same spot in two realities. The rubberized hand and sharpened metal shot forward, slicing through abstraction. The beast attempted to shield itself, creating barriers that shattered immediately as the push and pull of taut Haki between the two realms and the synchronized attack continued forward.
Luffy was cackling now, his hand not even feeling the barrier as it sailed through.
His fist hit and burst through another layer of barrier, made contact with its hardened skin, broke through the abstracted flesh, and continued going, stretching further and further.
He wasn't going to be stopped. Neither was Shanks.
They reached out, Uta glowing like a beacon inside the beast in their Haki-infused senses, their attack continuing to drill through the forehead of the monster, breaching closer and closer to her silhouette. With a shared roar, they made it through the last of the eldritch muscles.
Uta's unmoving body was within reach.
Luffy corrected the trajectory of his hand at the last second, his fist ripping a hole that barely grazed his childhood friend's waist, and he could see the same happen with Shank's sword. Their collective arm wrapped around her body. With her safely in their arms once more, they used the entire power of their shared will against the beast.
Reality bent, Tot Musica howled in pain; for a single moment, they erased the very concepts it was made out of.
Fear was silenced, loneliness disappeared, and rage burnt out.
And with it, the monster shuddered, the song that formed it fell out of tune, the sound of a plucked chord echoed in empty space as it started to dissolve. When its core concepts vanished, its form started to break down into soft musical notes.
Luffy and Shanks panted in a duet, finally catching their breath and looking back down into the woman in their arms.
When their shared vision was cast down on Uta, they realized her state.
Their synchronization shattered, and Luffy's heart was ripped from its joyful tune as it stuttered.
Uta was barely breathing, and he was struggling to feel her through Observation Haki. She was fading from life in his arms and the situation was too familiar to the rubber man.
Scenes of Ace's last moments rushed to the forefront of his mind, his chest clenching tightly as his heart didn't dare to beat. He collapsed on his knees, looking down to the fading soul of someone so precious to him once again.
Everything mattered again. He needed to fix this, and he needed to fix it now. He leaned down and placed his forehead against hers, breathing softly as he attempted to think of a way to help her. To do something, anything other than freezing and screaming into the heavens like the last time.
Not again…
He could feel his brain actually ache as it recalled everything he'd heard, past and present, something, anything.
He remembered Sanji's comment about the Wake-shrooms. Glueno's revelation about how she only had another 2 hours, Coby's warnings about how they were trapped in a reality of Uta's fruit created.
He remembered Robin's explanation about how there was no way to get out with their own strength.
He recalled Roo's explanation of Uta's fruit.
Nothing.
There was nothing he could do, defeating Tot Musica was the only way out that anyone could think of, and even that hadn't freed them.
They were trapped inside the song-world with no way out.
He couldn't save Uta, not from in here no matter what he did.
Fuck.
That.
He let his will shoot out of his body, conquerors' Haki roaring as it expanded rapidly to encompass everything that he could still see. His friends squeaked as the sudden wave of will rushed over them, and the abstract reality created by Uta's fruit shuddered. His heart picked up the three-part cord again, pounding in his chest like a drum, his body slowly turning white once again, pulling Uta into a tight hug.
He wasn't going to stand there, and feel another person so precious to him die in his arms.
Never again.
His mouth opened in a soundless scream before it turned into a raging laugh that made his lungs ache. He could feel his body shudder with every beat of his heart against his sternum, but the ground under him was starting to shudder along.
They were in a reality made from the powers of a Devil Fruit. A cage that was a core part of reality. A nightmare no one would be allowed to escape as long as the rules that shaped their world remained.
They didn't matter. Things like logic and rules didn't matter. Devil Fruits could kiss his ass.
He was going to liberate them regardless.
He was going to break free of the fate that was repeating in his arms.
"Luffy…that's not goi—"
He laughed harder, overpowering the sadness in Nami's voice, even as his chest felt like it was going to split apart from the strain in his lungs and the ache in his heart.
Not again…
Uta attempted to sit up in his arms, starting to sing a new song, her body decaying into glistening sparkles as the melody escaped her lips. Her very soul was fading as he held onto it, trying to use her Devil Fruit one last time to take them out of the cage of her own making.
She was trying to bring joy to others using her voice, even if it killed her.
Luffy could relate to that feeling.
He moved without thinking.
And repeated what had saved him once before.
His lips slammed against hers, and he sucked, trying to emulate what Sanji's sister had done to him.
The two childhood friends shared their first kiss, their souls touching each other in the clumsy, impulsive lip-lock.
Uta's eyes snapped open, then slowly closed again, her arms wrapping around him gently as her soul resonated with Luffy's. His will poured into her as hers poured into him.
For a moment, their devils gazed at each other.
And hers blinked .
Reality itself around the two friends caved in, the glittering sky that surrounded them on all sides pulsated, stars snuffing out in a wave before the air itself cracked, shattering like a mirror as the remaining remnants of Tot Musica were snuffed out of existence.
Their souls were freed.
The world around them faded into true reality, rain pouring down the two; he was back in the same clothes he'd worn to the concert, now dyed white.
Luffy slowly pulled away from the kiss, giggling as Uta's eyes fluttered and opened once again.
He gazed deep into her violet eye, a wide smile refusing to leave his face.
Uta's breathing was rough, her two-tone hair drooping behind her head, her legs were wobbly and her shoulders were slumped. She looked like she was about to collapse if Luffy wasn't still holding onto her, but he could feel her soul pulsing with more than enough energy.
He'd managed to pour enough of himself into her to keep her from extinguishing.
He couldn't help but laugh. "I win this time."
Her hair flipped back up, a blush forming on her cheeks as what had happened finally hit her. "You…but…"
Luffy laughed harder, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a hug that fully engulfed her. "Who's a sore loser now?"
He heard the familiar sounds of muskets getting aimed his way, but that didn't matter. Not now.
He wanted to hold Uta tight, to bask in the sound of her beating heart.
"...You know." Shanks's voice cut into reality next to him, making his presence known. "I know we promised to meet each other again when you became a great pirate…"
Luffy didn't pay him mind, even as Uta flinched at the sudden burst of intent washing over the two of them, shakily wrapping her arms around him in an attempt to protect him from her father.
"Stealing an emperor's precious daughter from under his nose is something even a great pirate would hesitate to consider. Don't you think, Benn?"
"Let the kids have fun, momma bear." the red-hair first mate grumbled. "Besides. We've got bigger fish to fry."
Shanks growled, and sighed, his faux anger giving away to righteous parental rage. "You're right."
"I'm sure you've all heard me." the redhead captain continued, glaring at Kizaru. He let out a conquerors' Haki burst which swallowed the entire kingdom. "Uta is my precious daughter . And if you think I'll let any of you try to take her away from me..."
He punctuated his threat with a pulse through the bubble, increasing the intensity of his will until even the admirals were having trouble keeping on their feet.
"You'll regre—"
"Luffy's gone."
Shanks blinked, looking back to the spot where he knew Luffy should've been standing in, still hugging Uta.
Now only empty space greeted him. The rest of Luffy's crew, also missing.
Roux started laughing, falling on his ass. "Anchor pulled a fast one on us, eh captain?"
Shanks growled for a second, but couldn't help but laugh softly in the end, a small smile gracing his lips.
"Guess that's what I get for separating those two so long ago…"
Sunny soared through the skies, a coup-de-burst flinging it away from both the Red-Hair pirates and the navy rapidly.
Its crew was still groggy from getting dragged back into the ship while half-asleep. But they spurred back to life when its hull landed back onto choppy waves, all other ships mere specks on the horizon.
Luffy held onto Uta tightly, the woman asleep in his lap, head resting on his shoulder and the side of his head.
"Uh…" Usopp mumbled, finally shaking off the dizziness and casting a look at Luffy. "Did we just…kidnap Princess Uta? Actually what the hell did you even do at the end Luffy?"
"Not the first time we kidnapped a princess…" Zoro grumbled, a slight smile tugging at his lips at the sight of Luffy and Uta.
"Yeah! How dare you kiss her like that you brute!" Sanji raged, looking for a spot to hit Luffy without disturbing the sleeping beauty in his arms. He failed to get a clear shot, and settled for a fight with Zoro instead.
Luffy laughed, softly patting Uta's hair once again after so long, reminiscing about how he'd always do so after she'd tire herself out by singing. "Thought that mouth thing would save her, like your sister saved me, Sanji"
"Wait Reiju did—" Sanji's eye widened in realization, all the fight left him, and the chef fell to his knees and punched the grassy deck of sunny. Zoro howled in laughter at his side.
Luffy's voice grew a little less bubbly as he rested his head back against Uta's with a satisfied hum. "Chopper, she's going to be fine, right?"
"Yeah! The antidote I managed to make for the wake-shrooms worked!" the smaller doctor boasted, clapping his hooves on the sides of his waist. "I'm glad Blueno was wrong about how much time she had left…she should be fine after sleeping this off."
Luffy smiled at the reassurance, wrapping his arm tighter around his childhood friend.
"That's all well and good, but…" Usopp cut in, "How the hell did you stand up and kiss her, Luffy?" He turned his gaze to Robin. "I thought you said we couldn't escape from our end no matter how hard we tried. How did Luffy move his real body? What was that blast that caused in the song-world?"
Robin slowly took a sip of tea, then put the cup down, a cryptic smile on her lips. "Well, common sense always failed around our captain, I think it's only fitting that he managed to make another miracle happen." she explained, giggling softly as she took another look at her captain.
"I expected no less from Ace's brother!" Jimbe added with a belly laugh.
"It was super manly too!" Franky interjected, posing behind Luffy. "The whole romantic kiss that saved the princess!" he fell down to a kneel, wiping the tears out of his eyes. "It can make the manliest man shed a tear!"
Nami looked at the two snuggling on the deck. And her face broke into a smile, sighing with relief. "Well, the more girls on the crew, the better."
Brook cackled. "And more duets for me! I can feel it in my bones!" he paused and glanced to the side. "Wait a minute! I'm just bones!"
He cackled again and spun across the deck, yelling 'skull joke'.
Luffy smiled, looking up to the sky. "She'll stay only if she wants to stay, guys."
Uta snuggled harder against Luffy's body, letting out a happy hum, smiling in her sleep.
The Straw-hat crew, except the captain, didn't need anything else to guess what the idol wanted.
Oda, please stop killing Luffy's precious people in his arms, I beg of you. The ending of the movie where he just sat down quietly with the realization that she was dying just broke me, and well...this happened. Hope you liked it.
You know, it's kind of funny to see the similarities between Gear 5 and Uta
Both will bring joy to anyone that hears their music, and I thought well—
Just like gear 5, I could bend reality for a bit.
So here, second chapter coming soon