A Pirate's Life For Me! We Need A Musician!

Part 2 of a 4 Part Saga

by Aoikami Sarah

Chapter Six – Straw Hat Character Songs

The crew gathered around the music box as Harmony cranked it up again. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "Ok, I'll play that one," she said to no one in particular. A medium tempo beat introduced a lilting melody before she sang. When she did, the crew was awestruck at the power coming from such a small body.

"Ah, under this sky where the stars rain down
I etch this moment that will never come into my heart again"

"Aa hoshitachi ga furi sosogu kono sora no shita
Nido to nai ima wo hora mune ni kizande"


"On the wings of a bird, free to fly anywhere

I will convey this endless dream of mine to you…"

"Dokomade mo habatakeru jiyuu na tori ni
Kagiri nai yume wo nose kimi ni todoke ni yukou…"

.:o:.From "Free Will" 9th Ending theme.:o:.

After breakfast, they gathered around the music box again and Harmony sang dozens of songs along with Nami, Luffy, Usopp and Chopper. Sanji, Zoro and Robin only listened as the others belted away.

"Ne, ne, Harmony!" Usopp called to the musician. "Who on the ship has the best voice?"

Harmony made a face. "I don't know…"

"Oh, come on, you can tell us," Nami coaxed her.

"Well, I haven't heard everyone sing yet," she replied and looked to Sanji, Robin and Zoro.

"Sounds like fun," Robin said with a smile.

"I'll give it a shot," Sanji agreed.

Everyone turned to Zoro. "Oh no. No way. Not me. I ain't gonna sing," the swordsman muttered. Their stares perforated him. "What!" he barked. Harmony giggled.

"Please, Mr. Swordsman?" Harmony pleaded, using the word 'swordsman' as she had heard Robin call him. "I'll try to think of a song you can sing that would be perfect for you, unless there's one you know well?"

Zoro shifted his weight from one foot to the other and played with the hilts of his swords. "I don't know any songs."

"What!" Luffy cried. "Not even one, Zoro!"

He glared at his captain. "Not one."

Harmony pounded her fist into her other palm. "Then I'll write you one!"

He blushed slightly. "That… That's not necessary!"

Luffy pouted. "That's not fair. Zoro, you're lucky."

"I'll write you one too, Captain Luffy." Soon, everyone was calling foul and Harmony had the daunting task of writing each crewmember a song to sing. "I wrote a half a dozen songs last night that I need lyrics for. It would be very helpful if each of you could help me write your song."

"Oh! This sounds like so much fun!" Chopper cried. "I wonder what mine will be about?"

"Who gets to go first?" Nami wondered.

"Not me. I still have to make you bastards breakfast," Sanji said. Harmony was starting to understand the way these friends treated each other.

"Since the captain wants a song so badly, why doesn't he go first?" Robin suggested.

"Yay! Me first!" he crowed. "I want a super cool song!"

Harmony laughed. "Something high-spirited, just like you." She flipped through the pages of sheet music she had written the night before. "Ah, this one." She let him look over the notes that made no sense to him as she played the music for him. "That's the general idea. Now what should it be about?"

"Me!" Luffy grinned.

It took about an hour to hammer out the lyrics of Luffy's song, mostly supplied by Luffy and made to sound better by Harmony. After breakfast, the crew assembled for its debut.

Wanted! Wanted! The best nakama in the world!

Wanted! Wanted! The greatest feeling in the world!

Wanted! Wanted! Sekai jyuu no nakama tachi!

Wanted! Wanted! Sekai ichi no iikanji!

Who the hell are you?

I'm Monkey D. Luffy!

I'm the man who will be the pirate king!

Omae dareda?

Ore, Monkey D. Luffy

Kaizokuoo ni naru ottoko!

.:o:.From "Wanted", Luffy character vocal song.:o:.

Everyone was very impressed with how well it came out. "Let me guess," Sanji teased his captain. "It's called 'Wanted'?" Luffy stuck his tongue out at him, but was too delighted to bother with being insulted.

Nami handed out paper and pens to everyone and they all worked on lyrics for their songs. Harmony played the tunes for them as they wrote: a soft, somber one, a brash loud one almost as loud as "Wanted", a mysterious ethnic sounding one, a poppy fun one, a tropical bouncy one. She seemed capable of writing songs in any style imaginable.

"Ooh, I really like that one," Nami said of the poppy one.

"Ok, that one can be yours then," Harmony took a look at the lyrics Nami was working on. "So it's a weather themed song? Wow, I really like the imagery!"

"Hear that," Nami leaned over to Usopp. "She likes my imagery."

"Isn't that nice for you?" he said out of the corner of his mouth. "My song is going to be about the pride of the Great Captain Usopp!" he declared.

"What about yours, Sanji-kun?" Nami asked.

"Well, I suppose it should be about cooking…" he said, lighting a cigarette. His paper was blank. "But I'm a lover, not a writer."

Nami rolled her eyes. "Any luck, Chopper?"

"I'm a doctor, not a writer!" he mimicked Sanji.

Harmony giggled. "That's alright. I think I can write you one, Doctor. How about you, Mr. Swordsman?"

No one was surprised to find that Zoro was sleeping. Luffy pounced on him. "Come on, Zoro! Write a cool song!"

"Ah! Leave me alone!" he cried and pushed him away. "You are way too energetic." HHH

Harmony smiled and scribbled something down on a blank page. "That's good," she said to herself. "That's really good…"

"Here you are," Robin said and handed Harmony her paper. "It's not very good, but I think it's a start."

"My never-ending search for the truth…" Harmony read aloud. "Real… Po… Negryph?"

"I'm sorry it's not very melodic."

Harmony shook her head. "It's fine. I think I have just the tune for it. I was going to try to work Mr. Swordsman's song around it, but I'll find him another."

"Suit yourself," he said yawning. "I can't sing anyway."

"Everyone can sing," Harmony stated seriously. "Even the tone-deaf can sing. It doesn't matter how well you do it, just so long as you put your heart into it."

"That sounded like lyrics right there," Sanji commented.

"Sorry, I tend to do that," Harmony said.

"Can you use your Akuma no Mi ability while you're singing?" Usopp asked.

Harmony clenched her fists. "That I would never do." Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. "If my heart can't move people through my songs, I wouldn't force them to move. That would be cheating."

"We can attest to the power of your songs," Robin said. "They are quite moving."

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered. "We've got the best musician in the whole world!" Everyone agreed.

More to come...