Sol Invictus

Chapter Nine: Whisper In The Wind

Usopp had climbed up on deck with a red face and a promise settled on his lips. He kept glancing back to where Kaya stood waving and brushing tanned fingers over his mouth, even when she was only a speck in the distance.

"You're not thinking of changing your mind, are you?" Nami asked absently, only half joking. She glanced at her compass and measured the distance between the sun and the horizon. Three fingers… They had around three quarters of an hour until sundown to get the hell out of this part of East Blue. The marines were always the most persistent when it was the most inconvenient, so they'd probably do a ten mile radius a sweep search around the Gecko Islands.

"No way!" he blustered. "The Great Usopp's word is absolute!"

"Hmm," she replied. "That's good to know. I'll hold you to that."

The weather would be nice and mild for a while yet, at least until the next island, which was a relief since she still had to accustom herself to navigating a ship of this sort. She knew the theory behind working a caravel of course, and Merry-san's details had helped, but there was nothing quite like actually doing it yourself.

"Luffy, you said our next destination is that traveling restaurant, right? Baratie?"

The girl leapt down from the figurehead, where she'd decided to make her nest. She was still pouting from the realization that she'd missed yet another chance to be chased by an angry mob, plump lower lip jutting out.

(Luffy was… To put it frankly, she was a strange, strange girl. Nami was still adjusting, but she thought she was doing rather well all things considered.)

Nami pulled out a rolled up map from her belt and splayed it out in the air between the two of them. "You told me it was in this general area - " a manicured finger traced a circle at a point considerably to the south from where they currently were " - but how sure are you? If it's a traveling restaurant, then there's no guarantee, right?"

"It'll be there," Luffy told her, shining with confidence. "Or if it isn't, we'll be able to find it anyway."

"How do you know?" Nami asked, a little impressed. She'd thought perhaps the girl was a directional idiot, but maybe not. She must have some sort of way to track the other ship to be this sure of herself. Right?

Luffy grinned at her, bright and carefree, and Nami felt her respect for the other girl rising.

"Because I'm lucky!"

Or not.

Her finely trimmed brow twitched furiously, and a shadow darkened her eyes. "Oi… Lu~ffy…"

A girlish face cocked to the side in question. "Yeah?"

"Come closer, won't you?" Nami asked pleasantly, a gentle smile curving her cheeks.

"Sure - ACK!"

Nami stomped off to the direction of the kitchen, leaving behind a confused, pouting captain in her wake, rubbing at a bump on her head.

"That didn't hurt though… Because I'm rubber…" Luffy mumbled petulantly.

She twitched but otherwise ignored the noirette, her focus back to the calculations roiling in her mind.

When she was finally alone on deck, Luffy reached into the sack she had thrown at the mast earlier to fish out a thick book, its wraparound jacket nondescript and a dull black, and dug deeper into the mass of burlap to locate a quill and a jar of ink.

She glanced around again to see if anyone was watching and then retreated to her perch on Merry's head.

A dyed leather thong was uncoiled. The unblemished spine crackled as she laid the book open on her palms. Luffy took a moment to touch her nose to the weave of where pressed sheets met leather and just inhale, appreciating the unyielding press of its creamy eggshell finish cool and smooth against her skin, the rich, evocative smell of perfumed leather, the crisp tang of fresh, untouched paper…

She had always loved the smell of books, whether new or old. Her childhood had made it frustratingly hard to get ahold of any sort of literature: Garp hadn't been of the academic sort, and Foosha hadn't had any scholars. The arrival of the Akagami Pirates and Benn's private collection had been like a godsend... but that had only lasted a year or so before Shanks left Dawn Island for good and she was shuttled off to live under Dadan's care.

Living with the bandits had made it even more impossible to settle down and read as much as she wanted, what with the chaos of Ace and Sabo and with her rekindled determination to become stronger and stronger, strong enough so that she could act on the knowledge she carried in her soul. The few texts she had managed to wheedle out of her gramps were settled into the roots of a great tree, having been burnt to ashes quite a few years ago.

She didn't regret it - not any of it - but it was still nice to appreciate the smaller things in life.

The inside was no less unremarkable than its plain leather wrap, filled with only white pages that impatiently awaited the lines of her scrawl. They beckoned to her, begging to be filled with something, anything, to fill the blank void, and she was more than happy to oblige.

Luffy spread the deliciously heavy journal across her lap and contemplated it, tapping the pen's goose feather against her lip. Her memories were only so strong because she held onto them tightly, almost obsessively so, constantly reminding herself of what she had read in that other life so they wouldn't slip away before they found their use. But now… now, she had to make space for new memories, new experiences, her own adventure. So she would. And after that, she would record her crew's journey too, because Hiluluk really had it right when he said death was being forgotten, and that was such a lonely thought. She wouldn't let her friends be forgotten even centuries after their last adventure, whenever that would be.

So Luffy inked her nib and set it to the first page and began to write in her first language.

'In the original tale of One Piece, Monkey D. Luffy, child of Monkey D. Dragon and one of the many heirs of the Will of D, was a brash, rambunctious boy...'

Sabo grimaced to himself as his leader swept into the room, dark cowl shadowing his face as thickly as it always did. The blond glanced to the IV drip feeding into his arm. Another reckless mission; another day in the infirmary; another silent rebuke from their stoic leader, despite the fact that he had succeeded in fulfilling his objectives. The man did so disapprove when Sabo did something unnecessarily nearing suicide, especially being the second in command as he was. Leader would never stop him if Sabo thought it necessary, and, indeed, sometimes found it amusing as well, but that didn't mean the man had to like the thought of losing operatives due to carelessness.

Monkey D. Dragon came to a stop at the foot of his gurney with arms crossed, and Sabo promptly gave his mission report. Short and to the point, filled with all the pertinent information. Everything he'd done, everything he'd discovered, everything he'd reaffirmed. He even went as far as to give an estimate as to how his team's slight deviations from the original plan would affect the future of that particular country. As the Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff, he had done this so many times that it came naturally to him.

He wasn't sure how the man did it, but no one could wear that air of reproof quite as well as Dragon-san could; newcomers had been known to go into nervous breakdowns just by the man's presence. On the worst of days leader could even send nervous sweat dribbling down the back of his neck, though it had never unnerved him enough to stop his self-destructive tendencies. On the best of days, however, Sabo could get away with it by distracting the man in a very particular way.

"Dragon-san... do you know what Christmas is?"

The man paused at this abrupt statement from someone who had been ordered to talk as little as possible, save for the necessary report. Admittedly, the purple bruise blooming on his throat hurt like a bitch by now, but he preferred the physical pain. It reminded him that he was still alive, that he hadn't faded away that day eight years ago, that even though the world - even though his siblings - did not, could not, know of his survival, he was indeed still living, still breathing, could still see them again someday. And besides, this particular topic was one he was rather fond of. (He could bear through any pain, if it was for her, for them.)

The man said nothing, but the oppressive air of disapprobation slowly began to lessen, as if Dragon suspected the words Sabo was about to say next.

"I didn't either. I still don't really; something to do with some obscure religion called Christianity and fat bearded guy? Luffy didn't explain it very well, but it's not like we needed an excuse to have a feast. The hard part was convincing everyone to get presents for everyone else." His throat protested as a chuckle bubbled from his lungs. He ignored it, warmed by thoughts of his true family. The memory of a brightly grinning little girl came alight on his own face, stretching and creasing the stiff skin of his scar. "I'm pretty sure Luffy is the most stubborn person in the world, though, so it's not really a surprise that she even got that grouch Ace to join in. Then again... you wouldn't believe how convincing your daughter's pout is."

Dragon-san, leaning against the wall to the right of his bed now, shifted as he always did when Sabo mentioned Luffy's heritage. But they were alone, and the infirmary had been designed to make wiretapping impossible, particularly since so many confidential statements had to be given there instead of in the office. (The more he thought about this harsh truth, the more it left a bad taste in his mouth.)

Sabo was long used to it; he'd known about Luffy's father before he'd even met the man, had referred to him as 'Luffy's father' the moment he'd realized who his dark savior was. She was the first of the three to openly disclose every part of herself after all. Even though she was the youngest - or maybe because of it - they had been the ones to follow her lead instead of the other way around.

And perhaps the only reason he still had stories of Luffy to tell Dragon-san after all this time was because Sabo was guilty of hoarding all of his precious memories with his sister.

Well, he'd never claimed to be anything but selfish, no matter what everyone else seemed to think.

Hours later, the light of the moon her lantern and the rushing of waves her only companion, Luffy had just begun inking in the events of Mock Town when she heard a shuffling behind her.

"Luffy?" her new sniper called out tentatively. She twisted around to see him standing at the base of Merry's figurehead, a curious glint in his eye. His mane of curls was left wild around his head, the bandanna long gone, and he was clothed in loose, comfortable attire.

"Oh, Usopp. You're not sleeping?"

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, I tried, but somehow I couldn't get comfortable."

Ah. She understood.

But he looked so ashamed at this admission, so she didn't say as much. Instead, she volunteered a, "Sleeping on a ship takes a little getting used to!" He took it for the offer it was and agreed heartily.

Silence reigned between them once more as Usopp stepped up to the railing next to her perch and looked out onto the ocean. Luffy knew him to be a bit of an artist, so he was probably appreciating the play of moonlight against rippling water, the way everything around them seemed at the same time so soft and so harsh.

"Luffy," Usopp began again, his voice hesitant. She tilted her head in his direction and saw that he was still looking out in the depths of the sea rather than at her. "How… how likely is it that I'll die? Sailing with you?"

"Hmm," she replied, looking up at the moon. "Really, really, likely." There was another silent pause, his heavy gaze resting on her. Then she turned back to him and smiled, full of feeling, and said, "But I won't let you die. Because I like you. You're my friend."

His eyes went wide with shock for a moment. And then he relaxed, smiled back at her, crinkles spreading out from the corners of his eyes. "You know, I... don't want to die… but if it's dying for my dream, I think… I think I might be able to do it."

"Huh?" And it was her turn to be surprised at this, because wasn't Usopp supposed to be the coward?

"Not right now," he hastily corrected. "Not as I am right now. I… I'm still too scared for… for… death. But I feel like, like I can reach that point, maybe. Where I become a true brave man of the sea. It's not this far off dream like it was before, I feel like maybe I can grab hold of it... one day. One day soon. Definitely."

"Definitely," she agreed, eyes warm. She had full faith in him, and perhaps he could feel that too, because his spine straightened and he met her gaze straight on.

They shared another quiet smile, and Usopp turned back to the men's bunks with a muted 'Goodnight' that she returned.

Luffy turned back to her journal and continued to write.

Shanks paused as the cold breeze buffeting against the mouth of the cave seemed to whisper words to him. As unlikely as it was to be true, he smiled at the thought that perhaps Luffy was talking to him from across the ocean. She certainly was willful enough for it.

Ah, now that he thought of it, she'd probably set sail by now, hadn't she?

Shanks grinned and turned to face the rest of the cave. Curious eyes followed his movement, confused as to why he had suddenly stood up in the first place.

"Men!" he roared, thrusting four mugs full of booze into the air. "Let's have ourselves a party!"

"Eh? A party? Why, captain?"

"Why not!"

And the Akagami Pirates roared with laughter and knocked back their drinks.

Come, Luffy. I've been waiting.

Zeff the Red Leg breathed out a stream of warm air and stared up into the cold moon. A wind of change was blowing towards the ship; Zeff could feel it in these old bones. And the one to be affected by it most…

A jaded mind turned towards the young protege sleeping soundly a few doors away. Only nineteen, and he already believed himself to be a full-grown man; always so impatient, that boy, always striving towards adulthood and never quite reaching it - or perhaps reaching it unreasonably soon. The damned brat's life had not been spared just so he would chain himself to this restaurant in atonement for the rest of his life.

Zeff was old now, too old and too handicapped for a life of violent ocean storms and the constant chase of adventure. But the boy... the boy wasn't. He was young, still. Young and talented, though the once infamous pirate captain would never say so aloud. He had his entire life in front of him, time to search for his dreams and find his own nakama to live for.

Sanji knew what it meant to be a cook, knew it too well, and Zeff wouldn't stand for letting him waste away doing nothing of much worth out in the middle of East Blue.

She just hoped that this approaching catalyst wouldn't be the death of him.

AN

'This' is English. Because Luffy knows she runs the risk of her nakama reading the journal, so she's trying to make sure they can't.

I… like books. I really really like books. You guys probably like books too, seeing as how you're on this site. Somehow the vague idea that Luffy would write down her adventures ended up with me waxing poetic about books. You understand, yeah? Yeah.

Shorter than usual since Shanks! Sabo! Deep character interaction! Dragon! A surprise! And a very subtle hint.

… But very much not in that order.

Next chapter, Sanji appears. Briefly. Next next chapter, however, is very Sanji-intensive.

And I'm really really really really glad you guys like my version of Luffy (though I guess you wouldn't be reading this in the first place if you didn't). I'm trying my best with the tricky little dance called 'Change Fundamental Parts Of A Character While Still Keeping Her In Character', and I'm not entirely sure how I'm doing with that, so it's a relief to hear that I'm not inadvertently Mary-Sueing her in some horrible way, or making her OOC, or making her intrinsically dislikable.

Reviews

Wolfsbane Will: Changed your alias? XD As for the journal thing, I've already made it a later mini plot point. Don't even try to wiggle away from my gratitude! It won't work!

Guest and general yumi: Both of your wishes will be granted next chapter! (Sanji and ZoroxLuffy moments, respectively.)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed [lilsakuraxxXX (domo!), Wicken25, Juliedoo (omg thank you thank you thank you that made me really happy x), general yumi, guest, EVA-Saiyajin, Wolfsbane Will, Telepath98 (well… uh… next chapter? :D?), wordcrafter (thank youuuu!), Marie, Mairposa (I'm glad! I'm trying to pull away from canon without messing with the overall scheme of things too badly (yet), and it's a relief to hear that you liked it), ShaDow EmpIre (ahaha thank you)], and everyone who favourited and alerted!