What He Means To Us: Bellamy

Bellamy stares at Straw Hat's prone form, snoring, with various other Straw Hats', Trafalgar, and Kyros, asleep around him, with a blanket pulled haphazardly over him. They all look as if they fell asleep right away, it wouldn't be surprising, given the circumstances. But he's also not stupid enough to think that he's not being watched, most likely by Straw Hat's swordsmen.

"The lost city of gold? The emerald city!? The great treasure of "One Piece"!? The fools who go looking for their "dream treasure" cannot notice what's in front of them! In this era of the sea, the ones who lack real strength... are the ones who are killed by their own imaginations!"

He was a fool who thought that he knew everything, always seeing himself better, always trying to find the weaker targets so that he wouldn't be beaten, maybe he did it unconsciously. But then, then this straw hat wearing brat showed up, claiming to be a pirate, and to beat it all, the Future King of the Pirates. Back then, he seen Straw Hat as a brat with stupid dreams and a death wish.

The bar proved it at the time.

Straw Hat and his swordsmen stood still, waiting for their punishment —as he had seen it at the time— while their navigator watched in shock and anger. At the time, he didn't realize that Straw Hat was taking a stand, that Straw Hat didn't think he was even worth the effort. Now, Bellamy looks back on it with a grin and his shattered and tattered pride crying as much as he did at the Final Fight.

He mocked the teen, stole his friend's treasure, beat him.

Mocked pirates and dreams.

"You asked if I know how to throw a punch."

And damn if the brat didn't.

Bellamy continues to stare at the snoring form, remembering marks on his cheek from the sheer force of the punch. It was a punch that changed his course of life. It was a punch that spoke of anger at having dreams and nakama mocked and laughed at, it wasn't for Straw Hat's self.

This stupid brat in a ratty straw hat showed him Sky Island, showed him the 'Island of Dreams', knocked the belief of dreams back into his head, and made impossibilities seem possible.

(And Bellamy strived and strived to catch up, hearing the news of Straw Hat's brother's death, and wondering if that was it for Straw Hat, if he finally woke up. But then he'd touch his cheek, remembering phantom pain and the walking conviction that's known as Straw Hat Luffy.)

But... what good did it do him?

"You have changed, Bellamy."

Straw Hat's stronger than ever, his brother's death just another thing that strengthens his conviction and belief in dreams. And him? The stupid brat he mocked those two years ago had the nerve to root for him. Maybe it was his fault for giving the brat the wrong idea.

"I ain't gonna laugh at ya anymore."

The brat probably seen those words as an offer of friendship, despite being his enemy. Then again, does Straw Hat even see him as an enemy? Does the brat even care about what he did to him in the past? He did all those things to Straw Hat, mocked him and his dreams, stole from him, fought him again even after two years. The only time Straw Hat gets angry enough to really fight and go all out is when his friends (his nakama) and brother(s)? are hurt. But he's nothing to the straw hatted brat, so why did Straw Hat defend him?

"I don't care about the past. Let Bellamy go!"

Shit.

Bellamy clenches his fists, tears burning behind his eyes, threatening to fall while he watches this stupid brat snore, uncaring about how he messes peoples beliefs up, how he inspires them, and just... just doesn't care, only continues to travel and live, dreaming, and inspiring.

"Stupid brat..." Bellamy mutters, teeth gritted.

Straw Hat pauses in his snoring, turning on his side with his eyebrows pinching together, probably at the pressure he's putting on his bandaged chest. Unknowingly, Bellamy feels his fist relax at the sight, his body sagging in exhaustion as much as defeat at the sheer presence of Straw Hat, even if Straw Hat's asleep and snoring and not fighting and inspiring.

If he had to say what Straw Hat is to him, it'd be that Straw Hat is what made him dream again, as stupid as it sounds. Sounds more ridiculous to say that Straw Hat's the living, breathing, embodiment of dreams, that inspired him to make the hopeless dare in believing that dreams do come true.

"Meat..." Straw Hat mumbles for the umpteenth time in his sleep.

But what's more stupid? The idea of dreams, or for having respect for this short idiot in a straw hat, who acts more like a kid than a pirate?

"Looks like your dreams are at an end."

Talk about eating your words.

A/N:

Unbeta'd.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

I hope that the italic quotes weren't confusing, because I used quotes from the past that Bellamy and Luffy said. If they are, let me know and I'll have to find a way to fix it.

I didn't really like this chapter because I felt like I couldn't get as much feeling as I would have liked to be put into it, and I would have liked for it to have been longer than just eight hundred words. I hope that it wasn't too disappointing, because you guys are amazing. I couldn't believe that I reached 100 follows and favorites, much less nearly 170. So thank you all for that.

And, to all of you who have requested chapters on this, I haven't forgotten about you. I've just been really busy and stressed and haven't had a chance to update in a while (and for another slightly embarrassing reason, that involved being locked out of my account due to loss of email address and a forgotten password) so I've just started updating my stories again, but I will get to your requests eventually.

Much love

—Anea