Extravagant Spirits

Without their fierce devotion
We are fragile and forlorn,
Stumbling briefly, among the stars.

We and our futures belong to them
Exquisitely, our beliefs and our
Breaths are made tangible in their love.

By their extravagant spirits, they draw us
From the safe borders
And into the center of the center ring
There they urge dance upon our
Leaden feet
And to our sullen hearts,
Bright laughter.

Not the crowd's roar nor the gasped
Breath of the timorous can stay their mission.

There is no moderation in their nature.
They spit upon their fingers
To test the wind of history,
They slip into our bonds and steal us
Away from the slavery of cowardice.

They skin back their thin lips over fanged teeth and
Rocks in hand, in our presence
Face down our Goliath.

These mothers, fathers, pastors and priests,
These Rabbis, Imams and gurus,
Teach us by their valor and mold us with their courage.

Without their fierce devotion
We are only forlorn and only fragile
Stumbling briefly, among the stars.

~Maya Angelou~

Disclaimer: OP isn't mine

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Why We Can't Forget
EPILOUGE
-

-One Year Later-

In an empty field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania there was a small group of people. Well actually the gathering was fairly large but compared to some of the other memorials it wasn't very big. Off to the side of the field near the road, there was a homemade memorial site with cards and flowers and such piled up. There were a few news cameras covering their small gathering but other than that not much media attention.

There were no big politicians or fancy speeches to sit through. That all happened in Washington or New York. It was, for the most part, family and friends of the passengers and crew on Flight 93 or 'the flight that fought back' as some people called it.

Most of the mourners there were with family or close friends and some had traveled all the way across country to be here for this day. Among them stood a young woman, her short black hair was pulled back and out of her face. In her arms she held a small child that looked to be around a year or so old. Two men stood next to her looking around quietly in respect.

The three of them had driven all the way from California. All three felt that it wouldn't be right to fly here, not for this occasion. The little baby boy in the young woman's arms began to whine, no doubt getting tired and hungry. She brushed a hand through the boy's short green hair trying to calm him down and he turned to silently pout at her.

Kuina turned to one of the men beside her. He had dark hair and a tattoo on his face. "Johnny, would you go to the car and get his bag?" She asked quietly so as not to disturb anyone else around her. The tattooed guy nodded and quickly began weaving his way through the small crowd to get the needed object.

The black haired woman frowned softly, closing her eyes, it was almost like she could hear Zoro's voice again. She brought the little child closer to herself. Then his voice changed and it sounded like the message he had left her, this day a year ago.

Her and a friend had been watching the news broadcasts together at her father's house and she hadn't arrived home until late in the afternoon. Of course she had heard the news of the plane that had crashed in a field but she had no clue Zoro was one of the people on that plane. When she had played the man's message that afternoon she had felt her heart tear in two. A normal person wouldn't be able to tell much from Zoro's message, it wasn't all that much to listen to.

You would really have to know the green haired man in order to get his meaning. He had never been one for showing his love for someone, a best friend was about as high as you got on his level. Zoro had only ever called her a 'best friend', everyone else he only called them a friend or at most a good friend.

In his message he had apologized for what he did to her but he didn't need to. She had loved him, still did, and it had also brought her a life saver. The small green haired boy in her arms had saved her life. The small child was the reason she made herself move on and live each day.

XxXxX

A young woman with short black hair and red rimmed glasses stood at attention while the police commander stood in front of her and a few other officers from the department that were lucky enough to survive a year ago. Tashigi tried not to fidget but old habits are hard to break. Her uniform was sharp and crisp, nothing out of place. Yet something still felt off. Of course that same feeling had been plaguing her for a year now.

The smell of cigar smoke suddenly came to her, like he was standing there next to her, listening to the police commander talk about the honor and bravery of the fallen.

When Captain Smoker and her had been split up in the lobby of the South Tower, something, she didn't know what, had told her it was going to be the last time she was going to see him. Not wanting to sound like scared little kid she had only given a mock salute to him and run off to do her job. She never suspected that she would be right.

Then the South Tower had collapsed instantly killing hundreds of people, firemen, policemen, and her partner. She had been the one to break the news to his brother, a policeman down in Florida. After that day it always felt as if he was watching over her shoulder, like he was still looking out for her. Tashigi had become almost like a new person, she was still slightly clumsy and naive but she was hardly like she was before. Once she got over that it turned out she was a natural with a gun, she had been happy to find that Smoker had been too.

The police commander finally finished with his speech and the obligatory applause was given and Tashigi filed offstage with the other officers, they were going back to the station to change maybe get a bite to eat and get back to their jobs.

In front of the Pentagon Vice Admiral Garp was in much the same situation as the young police woman from New York. Sitting behind some politician or other, Garp had lost track, in yet another memorial for the September 11 victims. Don't misunderstand, Garp was more than happy to remember the heroes and the victims, and the victims' families, and the rescuers and so on and so forth. But after sitting through so many it was difficult to remember which one you were supposed to even be attending.

Which was why, when the speech was over and Garp with his fellow military officers could exit the stage, he smiled at the dark haired secretary as she handed him a cup of tea and pointed out where he was supposed to be going next.

Garp scowled at the brewed tea, he was always a coffee man, but on his last medical visit the doctor decided tea would be much better than coffee for the old man. "Unless Garp wanted to have a heart attack and keel over". The vice admiral cursed the overpaid doctor and drank the tea Robin had given him.

Luffy better thank him for this, after all, he was only going along with the doctor's orders so that he could help his grandson in the upcoming future. Even though Luffy didn't know it he was going to be looking for all the help he could get pretty soon.

Aside from the coffee ban this past year hadn't seen much change in the old Navy officer. The military itself had changed though which didn't surprise Garp in the slightest. The U.S. Military was an ever changing machine, always adding in new parts, or taking out old ones to make the machine as a whole work even better.

The old man's family life had picked up a bit though, with the marriage of his grandson, and even though the news hadn't made it past a few close friends and family there were rumors of something big fixing to happen in the Monkey family.

XxXxX

In a little fire house situated in the middle of New York City a large blue haired man stood alone in front of nine firemen's helmets, ones that would never be worn again. They were lined up on a shelf above the doorway to the station's living area. Franky bowed his head and said the Fireman's Prayer in respect for his fallen companions.

He was one of the lucky few to survive the collapse of the towers, really it wasn't luck at all, he had been sent angels. There had been stories of some person or other being sent divine intervention in the middle of that nightmare, an angel leading the way. The big man considered himself privileged. He had been sent two angels. When he had gone to help the woman in the wheelchair he could not have known it would be the last time to see Marco, Ace, or any of the other guys again.

The woman who had come seeking help was named Melanie and her friend in the wheelchair was Carol. Franky knew that without them he would be dead alongside everyone else. It had been tough going down all those stairs again even though he had left his gear behind, to be retrieved later on his way back up. On the way across the balcony level looking over the lobby, he had run into Kaku and the young man made a decision that would save his life.

The younger firefighter followed after his senior officer so they could go back upstairs together. Franky huffed as he remembered that he had just been about to hand Carol over to a cop near the escalators going down into the mall when the skyscraper had come crashing down around their heads. He had acted quickly pushing the young policeman down the still moving escalator, using one hand to grab Kaku by the front, and used his body to basically throw them all downstairs.

The policeman then grabbed Carol so the blue haired man could get up and he started running, Kaku and Melanie were right behind and Franky followed last. By some miracle all five of them had come out relatively unscathed.

When they had both made it back to the station hours afterward both men had collapsed in exhaustion, both physical and mental. Franky had been the one to break the news to the few remaining men that had been left to take care of the firehouse.

During the days that followed it had been Franky's duty to tell the families the bad news, it was always the worst part of his job. In the year following there had major changes in the small firehouse. For one Kaku had decided that his efforts could be better suited elsewhere and in a move that surprised anyone who knew him, he joined the military.

Franky hadn't changed nearly as much as his younger friend. In the months following the disaster the big guy was more reserved and quite but he had slowly gotten back to his old self and now was laughing like old times with the new recruits that had joined the station.

Today though, the station was silent, almost everyone else had gone to participate in one of the parades. Franky didn't notice the other man until he stepped up beside him.

The pair of them stood in silence for a minute then Kaku bowed his head and said a silent prayer for his fallen friends. Both survivors seemed to have the same idea of paying their respects without all the fanfare that would have embarrassed their comrades were they alive to see it.

"Come on kid, let's have a drink." Franky said nudging Kaku's shoulder. He nodded toward the living area where the kitchen was. The older man walked underneath the shelf holding the helmets and into the little kitchen of the firehouse. The younger blonde man followed after a minute and at entering he saw Franky already sitting at the table holding a beer. Another bottle was sitting across the table from the big man, apparently waiting for him.

Kaku smiled and lifted his bottle. "What shall we drink to?"

"How about new beginnings and old friends." Franky laughed raising his bottle also to gently knock it into Kaku's.

XxXxX

Luffy was laid out in the grass staring up at the clouds. He was enjoying married life, really it wasn't much different than when he and Nami just lived together. The young man felt his wife lay down next to him on the large blanket they were using and snuggle up to his side.

Central Park was quiet today, Luffy guessed a lot of people were staying home or attending one of the memorials that were going on around the city. Nami hadn't really felt like going to any of those and he didn't really want to stay cooped up in the house, so they had come to the park for a picnic.

Things had changed for Luffy since the stuff that had happened a whole year ago. Obviously being married was a big change in his life. He had also owned up to his responsibility and found a steadier job working as a photographer for a local magazine and he also did his freelance stuff on the side. Though the biggest change in his and Nami's life would come in a few months. The black haired young man fidgeted with the small golden cross necklace Nami had given him for his birthday. He was worried for the future, true it was something he didn't usually do, but now he had a stake in it. He never wanted something like what happened a year ago to happen to anyone again, especially if it meant his children would have to go through it.

He looked over at the orange haired woman next to him, she had her eyes closed, enjoying the sunshine. It had taken a long time for Nami to get over what had happened on that day and after the initial questioning when she had arrived home she hadn't talked about it much. Luffy still remembered clearly her exhausted expression as Shanks pushed Bellemere and Nojiko out the door. She didn't even make it to the bed before she was passed out in his arms.

Nami had changed a lot in the past year also. She was less ambitious than she used to be, which explained the quitting her job and finding one that was far less stressful, even if it wasn't so high profile. It also allowed her to spend more time with him. Which they both enjoyed.

Luffy turned on his side then frowned slightly as the afternoon sun slipped through the leaves overhead lighting up a spot on Nami's forehead. He softly ran his fingers over the small scar above her left eye. It had faded over time and now you wouldn't even notice it, unless you knew what to look for. He was sure his heart skipped a beat every time he thought about how close he had come to losing her. So many others had been lost that day. His brother had been just one among hundreds to disappear beneath the Trade Centers as they fell. Nami's friends from her office had also been lost, Vivi and the old woman, Lola. Though since she hadn't been family it took her longer to find out than it had for him to learn about Ace.

Brown eyes fluttered open at his touch and Nami smiled softly up at her husband, she knew what he was thinking about, he always thought about it when he started tracing her scar. "Luffy," she brought his gaze down to meet hers and grinned teasingly, "what do you think Ace would say if he saw his father get all teary-eyed over a little scratch like that, hm?"

A small smile appeared on Luffy's face, Nami always knew how to get his mind off things it shouldn't be dwelling on. With a chuckle he poked his wife softly in her slightly protruding belly. "He'd probably say 'wow Dad, what a wuss'. Then I'd have to show him how much of a wuss I really am." Nami gave him a look and pulled away slightly as Luffy's smile widened. "Of course then you'd come in and knock us both on our heads."

Nami laughed loudly at his answer. She had meant it as a rhetorical question but Luffy could always get her to laugh at the dumbest things. It still felt odd to be laughing on today of all days when it was supposed to be one of remembrance. But, she supposed that was a sign of returning normalcy.

=O=O=O=

Alright that ends it. Reviews welcome.

Wow got a bit carried away, I think. I meant this as a two-shot but now it's doubled.