Laying down on the bed of the town doctor, staring at the ceiling, Luffy was in the process of trying to make sense of what had, in theory, been twenty-four hours; one day. One day, with all that the solitary temporal process implied. The sun rose, and though she hadn't been conscious to see it, set.
Birds chirped outside, quick to return to the homes that the island's townspeople reclaimed as soon as they sensed the danger had passed. Morning light streamed through a gloriously unshuttered window, forcing the young woman to squint.
It had been one day. One solar cycle. Approximately one twenty-eighth of the time she needed to wait between re-invigoration. But yet…
The young woman gripped the straw hat that Nami had so kindly repaired during the pre-dawn hours like a safety blanket as she stared blearily at the ceiling. There wasn't much else to do aside from think, forbidden as the captain of only two was from moving by a middle-aged man plying his trade. It was just as well, as being stitched back together when blessed with rubber skin was an odd sensation indeed.
She could hear the sound of a clock, ignorant to all of the violence that had passed so close to the wall it clung to. But, like the rhythm of Zoro's snoring in comparison, she couldn't peg her experience to the truth of time with the brain she'd been born with.
She didn't even have the capacity to measure how much time had passed as she'd taken advantage of the river of alternate realities whose current she was too desperate to ignore. The young pirate captain had backed herself into a corner when she'd left Zoro to his own devices. She'd screwed up even further in engaging the enemy alone.
Everyone could have died, and it would have been her fault. She had trusted Nami, which had worked out fine, but the possibility was still there, flashing like a distant lighthouse to signal the worst possible shore. Said rocks and shallows loomed even closer when she realized the extent of her folly.
Perhaps it would be better to call it "their" mistake. This Luffy had not been alone, which was something that both comforted and horrified her because of its implications. She had been driven into her position by stolen experience and fortune. Had the other Luffies been there due to the same circumstances? Were they like her? Yet, these may have been the least terrifying of the problems pulling at the edges of her mind.
She had fought Buggy and Cabaji so many times that she'd ceased to count the encounters. Instead, she mapped blows, mentally found likely combinations of attacks, and.. well… how to minimize damage. Not unlike the jaunt that convinced her not to hide in some other Luffy's skin, she had witnessed things that didn't just disturb her, they paralyzed her. She lingered too long at times, watching Nami bleed or Zoro staring at her with those empty eyes…
Perhaps the worst of it, though, was when the trip became punctuated by absence. The edge of nothing.
The strawhat pirate (or another version of herself: she could never really be sure who had the original idea, or if that was even a valid question to ask) had established a precedent of taking damage in his or her nakama's place. While many things could be said of this pattern of behavior, the simplest thing Luffy could take away was this:
It didn't always end well.
She'd never lingered so close to the brink before.
The icy tendrils that served as harbringers of nothing would thrust out of the thing that used to be the host's heart.
She had pulled away with all her might, leaving behind a black spot in the river. A dark, spiraling blotch in the waters of causality, pulled apart in the currents until it dissolved into the nothing it had nearly inflicted upon the traveler.
Trying not to thing about what could become of her, Luffy had plunged back into another self as many times as she had required. Only one time looking at what could only be the worst possible scenario guaranteed this level of effort.
In her mindless dedication, holding onto her own thoughts in her parasitic role, she had succeeded at what she had intended to do. Her friends were /safe/. She wasn't another eddie ripped apart in the great expanse in a current that she nearly had a hand in dooming.
However, the memories had mixed together, and that fateful night with Nami had happened eons ago. What had she said, exactly? She remembered goading the navigator, but had she screwed up the terms of their alliance? Had she said something she shouldn't have?
Luffy winced as the doctor of the town she'd help liberate pushed the needle into a particularly inflamed bit of skin. The clock continued to tick away on the wall, making a small and rhythmic sound. Zoro continued to snored asynchronously. Nami scribbled notes on a nearby table. Time moved on.
"Lucky little brats, aren't you?" The doctor grumbled, moving to get a roll of fresh gauze. He shot a glance at her sleeping first mate. "If he'd been attacked and hit just a little further to the right..." The physician shook his head. "..that would have been that."
Luffy avoided making eye contact while listening to the physician's following hums of disapproval. When he began the process of covering the sutures, his voice dropped to a low hiss. "As for you, young lady, I do not know why you aren't dead."
"I'm very stubborn." she offered, grinning nonchalantly. To be honest, she didn't know enough about anatomy to fully understand everything a normal human body could take, let alone the anomaly she inhabited. Still, most people didn't have access to her insanity-inducing access to trial-and-error where their own mortality was concerned. She had measured her damage so that she could leave that ever-critical inch of her life intact when beaten. Not that she could tell anyone that without losing what little credibility she had left.
The doctor stared down at her, unconvinced. "I haven't ever worked on the body of a Devil Fruit User before. I'm pretty sure that has more to do with it than your being too stupid to know how to bleed to death."
The second sentence was punctuated by the low-pitched gravelly laughter of an chronic smoker and Nami snorting on the other side of the room. Luffy joined them even though it hurt.
"Yeah, I guess I am pretty stupid." she agreed.
At length, the doctor regarded Luffy with steely brown eyes and said, "In all seriousness, I can't emphasize enough how careful you need to be with these stitches. Your body might be elastic, but you can't be reckless with those wounds." He put his hands up in the air in frustration. "Who can say if you won't just pop like a balloon?
I still don't know why you and your crew can't just stay another day or two to rest. The mayor is more than happy to lodge your crew for months after all you've done for us."
Luffy could practically feel Nami's eyes rolling. 'All you've done for us' included leaving half of their hard-earned treasure, something that the newly-appointed navigator had been loathe to do, but too in love with her own reputation to stop her captain from making the offer. To be fair, it was hard to blame someone for making a bad decision when bleeding out, but Nami was up to the task.
"Yeah, I get what you mean, but I've got places to be, Grand Lines to conquer." Luffy hummed. "Pirate Kings do not rest on their florals."
Nami slammed her pen down on the table with sudden force. "They're 'laurels', Luffy, and I swear to God himself that you did that one on purpose."
She wasn't wrong, but Luffy was too busy enjoying the exercise of riling her up to give Nami the satisfaction of an admission. Perhaps that is why her navigator chose to ignore her for a couple of seconds.
"Doctor Wise, is there any way I can ask you to donate medical supplies in place of your care? I doubt these idiots have any desire to stay out of trouble. In fact, I'm will to be money that this one," she jerked her head at her bedridden captain, "will actually go looking for it!"
Luffy did the best job she could of looking hurt. "You're being mean, Nami."
"You shut your face," Nami snapped. "I still don't have any idea what the hell your hurry is. No one is claiming the One Piece anytime anytime soon, and I don't want to shove your organs back inside you when you decide to punch a sea king!"
"That sounds kinda fun, actually..." Luffy murmured, eyes brightening and reflecting the beams of sunlight invading her corneas, creating the illusion of starlight leaking out of her eyes. "Do you think there are any nearby?!"
"Don't you DARE get any ideas from my hypothetical worst case scenario!" Nami retorted loudly, pushing her fingers into her orange hair with frustration.
Zoro stirred long enough to be the primary suspect in the pillow-throwing incident that followed. The fluffy missile bounced off of Nami's face. She seethed. "Don't you go encouraging her, Roronoa."
This time Luffy's laughter was genuine. Somehow Nami's bitter mood at the fact she'd have to leave some of the treasure from Buggy behind with the townspeople so that they could rebuild their homes had helped set up the scenario her captain needed to avoid grappling with troubling questions.
It was worth being made the next target for a pillow attack.
The people of Orange Town (a name that left Luffy utterly speechless) were more than happy to donate a small ship to the cause of the tiny pirate crew. As far as Luffy could tell, it had belonged to someone who had died during the initial pirate invasion, and the townspeople felt it would better serve someone who intended to use it.
The vessel was a small green affair with a cabin hardly large enough to do more than sleep in comfortably, but it was a massive upgrade from the dingy they had been dealing with. Not that Luffy and Zoro would enjoy most of the benefits of the indoor space. They had swiftly learned that Nami had decided that the dry, safe space was for 'delicate ladies' only, and as long as Luffy was going to insist on taking her clothes off and laughing riotously every time Nami strung those two words together in a sentence, the pirate wouldn't make the cut.
That was fine by Luffy. She preferred being where she could see the vastness of the sea and hear its churning. She also had made a habit of sleeping curled-up next to her first mate, a habit that Nami also disapproved of, though Luffy didn't understand why.
Her two nakama shared a powerful mutual dislike for one another, and Luffy couldn't help but notice Zoro constantly interposing himself between the two girls. This made conversation a little difficult at times, but Nami was nothing if not creative in finding ways to manipulate Zoro into moving. She also demonstrated a great deal of cunning in finding small ways to passive-aggressively make his life a little harder, whether it was a small comment during a morning trading session or a bit of seawater that just happened to get on his food ration.
Luffy hated it. Annoying one another was not only fair play but inevitable in such close quarters, but for her nakama to actively attempt to murder one another with the looks in their eyes with such frequency over a period of days…
Oh, what she wouldn't give to know her idol's solution to something like this. Unfortunately, all she could come up with when summoning the red-haired pirate into her head was rapport he'd already established with his men. Well, that, and him getting too drunk to speak a coherent sentence. And wriggling around like a caterpillar on the floor after Makino after she cut him off. Now that she thought about it, she also was pretty sure she remembered him in a suit carrying a suspicious briefcase, winking at her conspiratorially before entering a massive tower of glass and steel that she somehow knew was the headquarter to his massive criminal enterprise.
Wait, no, that wasn't helpful. She tried again.
She conjured up the sensations of being carried on his shoulders, reaching up to the sky and behaving like a child with an adult who loved them was supposed to.
...The sky was the limit, and she wasn't even scared that she was on a glass platform overlooking an incredibly deep canyon. There were people everywhere, and Shanks gleefully handed his stepdaughter a disposable camera. Luffy knew she could use the whole roll of film, and there was so very, very much to see! Ace was already posing next to a striking vista, his souvenir hat lopsided on his head.
"Go wild, kiddo. Uncle Ben said he wanted to see at least one bird, though, so don't waste them all on your brothers."
That one was sad by nature of it being wrong, but still clearly not the origin story that pertained to her universe, let alone one that she could use to gain insight into the current situation.
Shan Kus grunted, straining as hard as he could against the onslaught of the men with the red, thrumming blades. A bright green light struggled and sparked against the three attackers.
Luffy knew he had to take advantage of the time his master was buying to escape, but he couldn't move, his leg pinned under a slab of rock that was going to be the death of him.
He shouldn't have ever listened to the pilot's son Usopo and snuck away to this awful place. It didn't matter how well what he recorded would exonerate his friend. Shan Kus, the man whose reputation he was trying to protect, was going to die an admittedly awesome death, but a death nonetheless.
Unwilling to let this happen, Luffy reached out, hands shaking as the rock began to move…
What the hell? Luffy didn't even know if that one was actually a crazy-ass dream as opposed to an alternate reality.
She took a deep breath in. Zoro and Nami yelled at one another about a rotten apple the swordsman had just bitten into. She had to at least try one more time.
Luffy could feel her face pull into a tight scowl as Shanks laughed so hard beer ran out of his nose.
She didn't know what was so funny about any of this. She had a black eye, and her interference hadn't mattered in the least to the dynamic still playing out in ugly ways on the beach.
"Oh, Luffy, you adorable little jackass," Shanks sputtered, pulling her onto his lap. Her body didn't cooperate (she was being tough, goddammit, how dare he pick her up like some kind of simpering baby?!), but he was strong enough to place her there regardless. The tears she'd been holding back wavered on the tips of her eyelashes.
"Life is never easy, kiddo," he said simply. She could still hear him smiling. "-not for you, me, or anyone else."
The tiny little girl felt herself trembling, but Shanks had the decency to ignore it. His crew drank and socialized noisily in the background.
"B-but all she had to do was fight back, too!" Luffy said, wiping her nose and trying to appear as fierce as possible. "So why,-" she shook her head, infinitely hurt by a small interaction. "-why did Miri punch me?"
Shanks swallowed, taking a moment to find the proper words.
"Because it wasn't your battle, Anchor."
"But those guys were ruining her sandcastles OVER and OVER. They SPAT in her FACE. They were buttnuggets! They're always buttnuggest and will always be buttnuggets!"
Luffy endured a small earthquake as her idol proceeded to laugh heartily at her choice of wording.
The child, however, wouldn't have any more of it.
"Quit laughing, Shanks. This is important!"
Shanks turned his small charge over on his knee, biting down his mirth. "Look, Luffy, you can't control what other people do or think. You can't make your little friend stick up for herself anymore than you can make it rain,"
Luffy bit the insides of both her lips, small rivulets trickling down pinkening cheeks. She swore she knew what was coming next. "-and you can't expect a bully to change just because you kicked him in the crotch."
"But at least I made him stop!" Luffy sputtered, pleading.
Shanks grew more serious at this, shaking his head. "All you did was prove your own power, Luffy. In all honesty, you probably made Miri's life worse."
The child in his lap flinched as if she'd been slapped in the face. "How?"
"Now that boy will want to hurt her because he's angry at you, but you're too strong to hurt." he said simply, putting a comforting hand on Luffy's shoulder. "-and because you can't always be there to protect her."
Luffy's diminutive hands clenched back into fists. "But she's my friend, Shanks… What am I supposed to do?!"
Shanks closed his eyes in thought, then opened them just as suddenly. His face hardened in determination.
"You must be as the wind, and fan the flames of her spirit!"
Luffy was so impressed that she didn't remember the lump in her throat. Shanks was so cool!
But she still didn't know what that meant. She ventured,"So I have to be a mystery wind?"
Shanks frowned, his moment in ruins. "Erm, no. I just mean that you have to be there for her when you can and, you know, encourage her to stick up for herself in her own way."
"Of course." Luffy said, face altogether too straight.
There was an uncomfortable silence.
"You don't know what I mean." Shanks stated with a sigh. It was a fact, not an opinion. His would-be student deflated. "Don't worry, Anchor. I'll just explain so you understand."
"Okay." the little girl agreed.
"Find out what your friend wants to do about the bullies. Don't act. Listen to her. Then, help her if she asks."
"What if she never asks? What if she's too scared?" Luffy asked.
"Then you be strong for her. Tell her you don't want to see her be hurt and do your best to be happy."
Luffy furrowed her brows in puzzlement. "But, but… How can I be happy when my friends are sad or mad at me?"
Shanks shrugged. "Sometimes you can't be. Other people are going to do what they are going to do. But when you have the choice to be happy, let yourself be happy."
Luffy looked at Shanks like he'd spontaneously converted his goatee into a living snake.
"Let myself be happy?" she echoed, the concept altogether too complex for her six-year-old brain.
"Yep." Shanks tilted his head to the side, relaxing on his elbow. "You'd be surprised how miserable people get trying to control everything all the time. They get so mad that life isn't easy they forget how to smile."
A hand settled in the young Luffy's unruly hair. "You won't be like that, will ya'?" he asked wistfully.
"Little Luffy won't let some random buttnuggets rule her life, hm?"
Luffy didn't know how to answer that. That was fine, as they seemed to be more of a rhetorical set of questions, anyway.
A butterfly of warmth settled on a lotus of relief within Luffy's stomach. Despite her trepidation, she had found her Shanks. He didn't really look any different than the others. He wasn't even remarkably tall or short in the scheme of things. In essence, there were many like him, but this one was hers.
The fact her recollection of him had brought some decent advice to the forefront of her memories was really a bonus. Granted, neither Zoro or Nami fit nicely into the role of bully or victim here, but here Luffy was, letting herself get wrapped up in their personal conflict.
She couldn't follow Shanks' advice all the time. In some ways, his council was an anathema to how she lived her life. After all, if she just patiently waited for everyone she'd helped to ask for her help, she'd have lost Zoro, at the very least. Yet, at the same time, she ached to live the way Shanks had suggested.
Luffy sincerely wanted to live in both mindsets. She wanted to continue to run damage control and keep her friends and family safe. This instinct was especially strong after she had gone through countless alternate experiences to save them, but yet…
..but yet…
Nami had slammed the door to the cabin. Zoro kicked it once for emphasis before sprawling out on the deck, eyes firmly shut. Almost involuntarily, Luffy felt a fond smile pass over her face. Doing what felt natural, she laid down beside her first mate, sliding her hat over her face so that only her grin would be visible to anyone laying eyes upon her.
Maybe Luffy didn't have to let her sense of having failed her two shipmates fundamentally stop her from being the person she wanted to be. So what if she had a whale-load of someone else's memories? So what if Nami and Zoro loathed each other so much that they might consider dropping one another into the drink while she was sleeping? Everyone on the dinky little boat was alive in this very moment, and Luffy was profoundly glad.
Even if it was just for now, the young woman in the straw hat let herself be happy.
A/N: Syrup Island is next, but I wanted a little bit of a transition. Plus, I got to have fun writing about Shanks.