After future Luffy's talk with Whitebeard, the rest of the Strawhats have been welcomed on the Moby Dick and a party was in full swing by the time night had fallen. Everyone was curious about the famous – amongst the Whitebeard Pirates for the moment – pirate crew that their Second Division Commander was always talking about.
Even though they happily participated, the younger pirates carried with them a subdued atmosphere that was amplified ten times by their captain. Zoro had never seen young Luffy so mellowed down – especially during a feast! – and he knew that his future self was thinking along the same lines.
"He died with a smile on his face." The Pirate King declared at some point, when most were passed out on the deck from the alcohol and only a few remained gathered in a circle around the campfire. Zoro downed the rest of his drink, noting younger Luffy's flinch as he put down his barely munched – another dooming sign – on piece of meat.
The other Strawhats also stopped whatever they were doing and looked at the older raven head with wide, frightened eyes. Marco's posture was stiff and he was clutching his glass of beer in a white knuckled grip while Whitebeard simply looked on.
"He saved me and died in my stead. But he told me that he didn't regret it and I believe him." Onyx eyes met their younger twins and the Pirate King smiled. "Don't worry, I will make sure everything turns out fine in the end. I promise!" He lifted his drink high and a wave of cheers echoed his declaration, Zoro and Marco's a shade grimmer, but amongst them.
Luffy considered this for a few moments before his lips slowly stretched until a full-out grin was splitting his face again.
"Alright, I'm counting on you!" The young pirate clinked his glass with his future self's, his crewmates following his lead with a noticeably lighter air around them and Zoro was glad that his stupid captain hadn't forsaken that part of him.
"Alright, I guess we are done here." The Pirate King declared loudly the next day after lunch, successfully stirring a couple of still hung over pirates into wakefulness. It did not take long for the groans to follow.
The Strawhats blinked at the abrupt declaration while Zoro only nodded with a grim expression on his face. It was high time they returned home.
"Wait a minute!" Nami's shout effectively stopped Luffy in his tracks. He turned with an inquiring expression towards the woman.
"How are we supposed to get back?" The navigator crossed her arms, foot tapping impatiently on the floor.
Luffy grinned. "Just hold on tight to your ship and you'll get back where your journey started going haywire. You're gonna forget about ever meeting us, too."
Whitebeard nodded in confirmation at his words.
Nami sighed and raked a hand through her short locks. "Just like this?"
Zoro nodded firmly and turned back around to face his captain.
"How do I get back in my own body?"
The Pirate King only hummed and walked closer to the railing. Placing a steadying hand on it, he jumped to the other side, successfully scaring the hell out of his first mate.
Zoro was almost ready to group Luffy with the real crazy ones until he arrived at the railing along with everyone on the Moby Dick. Shouts broke out, most in surprise while others beckoned the man to climb back and explain how the hell he wasn't drowning in the ocean when he was a Devil Fruit user in the first place. Despite his questioning attitude towards his captain's actions, everything became clear when his eye caught the man standing on water casually.
"Nami," he said, making the navigator jump in surprise, "steer the Going Merry towards where Luffy's standing."
Nami looked between the older Luffy and him for a moment before she nodded and gathered her crewmates.
Luffy closed his eyes and inhaled the ocean's scent deeply, allowing the breeze to ruffle his dark locks of hair. Not for the first time, he missed his precious straw hat. Opening his eyes once again, he stared a moment more at the sky before his gaze found the darker depths at his feet.
"Raftel, we need your powers once more." His whisper carried across the expanse of water, generating small waves that hit the hull of the Moby Dick stubbornly.
"What's he doing?" The younger straw hat wearer asked, scratching his head in confusion. He was also watching his future self mumble incoherent things that made no sense to him. They only seemed to be random sounds spoken at confusing and abrupt intervals of time.
"He's speaking the ancient language that is also written on the Poneglyphs." Robin whispered from besides him, her face lit up in surprise and admiration and Zoro felt her whole persona vibrate with excitement at the sight before her eyes.
The swordsman smiled. She was displaying the same expression her future self had worn when Luffy had first started speaking it. Her curiosity was flowing off her in waves and the swordsman felt transported back on the legendary island, standing in front of the Rio Poneglyph along with his crewmates as the archaeologist read them everything about the world's long forgotten history in the Void Century.
"Does he know how to do that?" Marco asked, surprised at the notion.
"No." Whitebeard shook his head from his seat, still watching the Pirate King closely. "He's only listening to the Voice of all creation. Seems like the lad can hear it too." The Yonko grinned, a spark of interest dancing in his eyes.
Luffy's speech stopped as abruptly as it began and the raven head took a few steps back to survey his invisible handiwork before launching himself back on Moby Dick's deck.
"Thanks for everything, old man." The rubber man grinned obnoxiously wide at the older pirate who nodded once again.
He turned to face both halves of the Strawhat crew at the same time – now with the Going Merry floating on the other side of the whale headed ship – and inclined his head.
"Thank you for the help, guys! We couldn't have travelled so fast without you, Merry. So thanks as well!"
Though their past crewmates were shocked at the sudden politeness, they managed to offer some words in return.
"Who is that and what happened to our unmannered captain?" Usopp whispered, almost afraid of the answer.
"Heh, he's gone through a crash course with a couple of rather pretentious individuals." Zoro smirked, looking at his captain who shuddered at the thought.
"With who?" Chopper asked, tilting his head to the side in curiosity.
"I think it's better we don't know, Chopper." The sniper whispered, patting the reindeer's head reassuringly.
The Going Merry suddenly lurched backwards. Nami looked up in confusion, but found the same expression thrown right back at her by the crew on the Moby Dick so she directed her gaze to the waters below just in time to see the previously small vortex become larger and larger, almost encompassing the two ships, though it stopped its advance at Moby Dick's hull and in its stead a rumbling began. It grew louder by the minute and Nami was almost on the verge of asking the two time travelers about it when the surface of the ocean was broken by a form evading from its depths. It was transparent at first, but its colors became more and more pronounced the further it resurfaced.
At first glance, Nami wouldn't have called it a big ship, but when it finally settled on the surface, she reconsidered the thought. It was definitely bigger than the Going Merry, but still too small in comparison to the grand vessel that was the Moby Dick.
It was a collage of different colors and shapes, culminating with a sunflower shaped figurehead that at a second look was more of a lion. The sails were unfurled and she realized with dawning awe that the Strawhats' Jolly Roger was painted on it as well as on the flapping flags tied to the masts. Besides her, the rest of her crewmates looked as awestruck as their navigator was feeling.
Robin offered a quick, warm smile that Zoro knew she'd only ever show after Enies Lobby again while his captain's younger self continued to watch Franky's masterpiece in astonishment and wonder.
"Been a long time, hasn't it?" The Pirate King asked his first mate, feet dangling off the railing.
"And whose fault is that?" The green haired man drawled, not looking at him.
Luffy pouted. "You just destroyed my mood."
"Don't worry, that won't be the only thing you'll have destroyed when they are through with you." Zoro smirked sadistically at his captain who suddenly had a look of dawning horror on his face.
Shouts and bangs were heard from the lion headed ship before the Pirate King's crew made their entrance in the form of an outraged orange haired woman.
"What in the hell happened?!" An older looking Nami yelled, appearing next to the figurehead. Her hair was longer, cascading in waves on her back. She was dressed in a colorful bikini top, black jeans and a flowered shawl that was draped on her shoulders. "I thought I told you to not navigate through that damn whirlpool, Franky!"
She didn't seem to notice the two ships floating near hers as she was listening attentively to someone further back on the deck. The deathly silence across the two decks further served to hide them in the background.
"... and I followed your instructions, sis." A blue haired man walked up next to Nami. He had shocking body proportions amongst other things, such as the speedo he was wearing without any pants, the strange hair styled in a buzz cut and his metallic nose. "But the currents were too powerful and the Sunny just kept changing course no matter what I did!"
Nami opened her mouth to retort, but her words were stuck in her throat when she noticed Franky's eyes widen behind his sunglasses at the same time a chuckle started from behind her.
"This is a nostalgic sight, y'know?"
The Pirate King's navigator turned her head around slowly, almost afraid of what she'd find behind her. Or better yet, who she'd find standing there. Her captain's grinning face greeted her from a larger ship's railing and Nami swallowed back tears and yells, choosing instead to study him for a little while longer. He hadn't changed a bit, from behavior to his appearance. She would have thought he'd sport some smile lines by now, but it seemed that Devil Fruits were more effective than anyone would give them credit to be.
"Well if it isn't our super captain and first mate!" Franky exclaimed, putting his hands together in his trademark pose, managing in its originality to raise a few eyebrows.
A chorus of three respective voices' cheers could be heard coming from the newly arrived ship's deck.
"It's certainly nice to see that you have decided to join us!" The shipwright continued, reciprocating Zoro's smirk.
"Did I hear you right?!" An incredulous voice intoned and footsteps thudded on the wood before the rest of the future Strawhats appeared.
Dressed in a pair of rolled-up yellow pants with red suspenders, black jacket, trademark white sunhat perched on his head, his favorite headgear over his ears and goggles hanging from his neck, future Usopp went right for the railing and slammed his hands on it, looking desperately around until he found his waving captain and Zoro's past self along with some others and then the Whitebeard Pirates. It was shocking to say the least, but not quite. Which was unsettling in its own way. Shaking his head to get rid of the confusing thoughts, the sniper scowled at the raven haired man.
"There you are! You've got a beating coming for you Luffy, you bastard!"
The Pirate King blinked owlishly and pouted quite innocently.
"Damn right he does!" An older Sanji spoke, exhaling the smoke from his cigarette. The cook was dressed in a standard black suit, though the jacket was open to reveal a white shirt and a yellow tie with swirly patterns strapped around his neck. "Wait 'till I put this bastard on a diet."
"Nice tie you've got there, swirly." Zoro grinned at his own joke about the horrendous – in his opinion – tie, but quite shockingly, the blond only twirled in place with hearts in his eyes.
"Isn't that right? It was a wonderful gift from the amazing Nami-swan!" Sanji declared proudly, going to hug the orange haired woman. Nami simply stopped him with an effective hand on his face and a good push backwards, rolling her eyes in the process.
"But you don't get anything, stupid marimo!" The cook once again righted himself, sticking his tongue out at the green head.
"I've been trying to save the future and this is how you're thanking me people!" Luffy yelled before Zoro could start a shouting match. He was shaking a fist in their direction in a way that was supposed to be threatening.
"Did you do it?" Robin asked from her spot on the far left of the group gathered near the figurehead, her longer hair framing an enigmatic smile.
"Not yet, but-"
"Then you have no excuse, captain." The archaeologist finished casually.
"Luffy, we found your hat!" Chopper said excitedly from his perch on the railing, his new blue cap being the only new remarkable feature besides his light brown fur and slimmer figure while in Brain Point. The small reindeer waved happily at his captain and the raven head waved right back, glad that someone was finally on his side. "But you won't get it back until we're done beating you!"
The doctor's next words made many Whitebeard pirates to fall down animatedly.
"So they really are going to beat him." Was the general murmur of conclusion coming from the crowd.
"Yohoho! It's so nice to see you again, Luffy-san!" A colorful dressed skeleton sporting an afro and a crown hat declared, strumming an absurdly decorated shark guitar joyously.
Most normal people gasped at the supernatural sight, though the few knowledgeable ones were quite impressed at the strange additions the Strawhat Pirates would gain in the future.
"I still cannot believe my eyes you are really here! Though I have no eyes... Skull joke!"
Luffy laughed along with Brook, glad to see his friends were all there and healthy.
A rather large snore broke their happy bubble and the future Strawhats turned around collectively to watch the last member of their crew approach with a manic scowl on his face, all the while grumbling about the unfairness of the world.
"You've slept through that whirlpool?!" Usopp's exclamation was lost to the wind as past Zoro – in future Zoro's body – slammed his hands on the railing, glaring through his one eye at everyone and everything daring to stand in his way before his gaze stopped on the principal culprit for the entire shit he'd been stuck in for so much time.
"There you are, you bastard!" The swordsman growled, taking two of his swords out. "I have a few bones to pick with you!"
"Oi, oi, watch it with those swords." Future Zoro – in past Zoro's body – stepped forward, clearly conveying through his equally heated glare that he didn't want any chips on his swords' blades.
"Zoro?" A shaky voice asked from their right and the inhabitants of the Thousand Sunny turned to look in the direction it came from.
The Going Merry greeted them back with the familiar serene smile that they had unknowingly missed so much. Usopp almost teared up at the sight, but held the waterworks back and decided to concentrate on more pressing matters.
"So you really travelled back in time!" The sniper concluded, crossing his arms. "How can you even travel backwards in time?" He asked no one in particular, though the crew on the Merry chortled at the question. He spied his future self giving him a wide eyed stare and he grinned back at him.
"Hell if I care!" Past Zoro grunted, looking for a way to disembark. "I want my body back right now! Who knows how much that strange whirlpool's gonna last. I'm not taking any chances." With that, he took a few steps backwards before jumping onto the Going Merry's form that was floating in front of the Sunny.
"Damn right I am!" The future swordsman grinned, resorting to the same method in jumping ship.
It was truly a strange sight for the present pirates to see two green haired men step forward on the smaller ship's deck.
As the only Strawhats present on the ship, Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Sanji decided to step back and leave the two to their own devices – whatever those would be.
"Two marimos exchanging bodies. This almost makes for a strange sight." Sanji commented, flicking the stump of his cigarette into the water.
"Shut up, stupid cook." Both Zoro said, turning to glare at the offending blonde, who blinked in surprise and shrugged.
"Between you and your more emotional, though somehow much more intelligent future self, I will be forced to choose the idiotic one. It makes for a better amusement source." Sanji grinned at the twin dirty looks thrown his way.
Releasing a heavy sigh, future Zoro scratched his head tiredly and scrutinized the man in front of him for a moment.
"What?" Past Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing, just taking a third point of view look at my body." The older swordsman shrugged nonchalantly and extended a closed fist.
His counterpart shrugged it off as well and, after a moment's consideration, extended his own hand and bumped the man's fist. A sudden green aura engulfed the two, though it only lasted for about ten seconds before the two swordsmen were thrown apart roughly to the ground.
"What the hell was that?" Future Zoro asked, rubbing his sore back from the fall. The man blinked and a positively feral grin appeared on his face. "Finally!" He grumbled at the same time his younger self stood up with a jump and proceeded to stretch.
"Good thing this is over. I was beginning to get used to it." The younger swordsman mumbled through his exercises and his counterpart nodded sagely in agreement.
"Yosh! Now that Zoro's back, we're returning too!" The Pirate King declared, jumping to his feet on Moby Dick's railing and attracting everyone's attention from the two first mates. Grinning widely, he launched a rubber hand to grasp the mast's yard and let himself be transported on the Sunny.
Older Zoro simply grabbed the rope Usopp had thrown for him and climbed on board.
"We are sorry for all the inconveniences our captain might have caused you." Robin smiled amusedly at the two pirate ships in front of them. The faces full of wonder and the partially unlocked jaws present on most of them were a rather peculiar, but funny sight. Even she couldn't stay stoic at seeing those looks.
The man in question huffed and pouted at her. "I wasn't causing anything..."
Most of his crewmates gave him incredulous looks.
"He wasn't so much a handful as Zoro was, to be honest." Nami's past self commented casually from the Going Merry.
Two green heads glared at the same time.
"You witch! What the hell did I even do to you?!" The world's greatest swordsman looked quite the impertinent kid in that moment.
"Besides besieging our ship without any explanation, not much really." The navigator grinned at the pure shock emanating from the man and the rest of the Strawhats' unmerciful grins. Oh yes, there will be blackmail later.
"Gurara, you kids haven't changed at all." Whitebeard's booming laugh ceased all murmurs from the Whitebeard Pirates as well as the chat between the Merry and the Sunny. "You take care of your captain now. He's quite the insecure guy. I didn't know you risked becoming like that when you make Pirate King." The older man grinned teasingly at the pirate captain.
Luffy's sudden downcast expression made even his past self blink in confusion.
"Yohoho! I'll say." Brook chuckled.
"Our captain's got some load on him now, no wonder, eh?" Franky patted Luffy's back roughly in what was meant to be a reassuring way.
"Or he's just a bigger idiot." Nami shook her head and sighed. Turning on her heels, she made a beeline for the helm, shouting for the cyan haired cyborg to follow her.
As the rest of the Strawhats dispersed, Robin smiled at the Yonko.
"He wasn't as prepared as we all thought. It was our fault."
Her words reverberated through the sudden stillness.
"It's too late to blame anyone now." Usopp offered a small smile and a wave to their past selves before marching off inboard.
"True." Zoro nodded determinately. "Thanks for everything again. We'll take care of him."
"I'm counting on you, kids. You can't have a Pirate King unwilling to defend what he had conquered." Whitebeard said.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that!" Brook spoke as he reappeared near the figurehead. "Unfortunately, he will have to fight whether he wants to or not."
"What do you-" Younger Usopp began, but the Pirate King's sudden shout cut him off.
"YOU DID WHAT!"
As one, the future Strawhats save Zoro smirked. The swordsman turned around to study Robin's face with an acute air of surprise.
"You just did what I think you did, right?"
The archaeologist shrugged softly, giving the man all the answers he had really needed. Zoro's grin was once again blood curling.
"Good luck, Luffy." The first mate said at last, offering one last nod of the head to the younger captain.
Younger Luffy grinned and waved at them excitedly. "See ya! Take care of the future, yeah?"
"You bet, Luffy!" Chopper suddenly jumped on the railing and waved a familiar straw hat in goodbye.
"Chopper! Gimme back my hat..." His captain's whine was the last thing they heard before the lion headed ship was fully turned to the left and the wind inflated the sails. Luffy's smiling face appeared at the railing as he waved as well.
"Tell Ace that the Pirate King says hi!"
"Will do, kid." Whitebeard said, amused. He raised a large hand in goodbye.
Another set of waves assaulted the remaining ships' hulls and many blinked and gasped at the sudden image playing before their eyes.
Just like earlier the myriad of forms appeared like ghosts on the horizon. The ships were transparent and varying in form, either bigger than the Moby Dick or about Merry's size, but in spite of their immaterial shapes, minute details could be discerned such as the swarm of men on the decks of said fleet of ships and the faded colors of their Jolly Rogers. Which were mostly the same, now that the majority of the crowd was studying them closely and murmurs broke out in the next moment.
"What-" Luffy began loudly, but his first mate cut him off.
"The Strawhat Grand Fleet." He announced loudly, stepping closer to Merry's railing.
Every pair of eyes was trained on him, but he opted to just cross his arms and gaze at the impressive sight again before it will disappear. It will be a long time until he'd see it again. The swordsman had been irritated when the future Strawhats suddenly announced they would be taking a detour, but what he found on the deserted island near Raftel where they had docked was an army of ships and people he had never met before in his life. In that moment he counted himself very impressed at the peculiar sight. It didn't help that it took a long time until all those blockheads understood that he wasn't his future self, so it was quite a while before he managed to get them off his back, though they proved to be alright in the end.
"They came to help in the war."
His friends' jaws hung collectively open and the Whitebeard Pirates were on their way to look the same judging by their incredulous faces.
"Look, it's Red Haired Shanks!" One of the men on the Moby Dick shouted and pointed in the Red Force's direction much to the awe of the others. "And the Kuja Pirates!"
"And that's Wano's flag." Vista said, twirling his moustache. "And the Sun Pirates, if I'm not mistaken."
"And Alabasta Kingdom." Marco added with increasingly raised eyebrows. "Inuarashi and Nekomamushi are there, too."
"Are those Marines?!" Izo asked, slamming his hands on the rail.
"Luffy's friends with the Fleet Admiral." Zoro said like it would clear off all the confusion. Which did not, unfortunately. It only generated more outrage and shock.
"Look, the Revolutionaries are there!" Jozu pointed in the direction of the black ship with a dragon figurehead.
"Some new flags are here as well." The Yonko muttered from his seat. Eye narrowed, Edward Newgate studied the Worst Generation's Jolly Rogers with curiosity.
A wave of roars coming from another part of the ship made most of the commanders jump while their captain simply raised an eyebrow.
"Look, it's the Moby Dick!" A pirate yelled, pointing to a whale shaped ship in the distance.
"It's not, you idiot! That ship's smaller and it's black!" His comrade argued.
"But it has the Whitebeard Pirates' Jolly Roger!" Another argued.
"Marco, that guy looks like you!" Haruta cried, leaning over the railing to point better at the blond figure standing on the figurehead. Though from that distance nothing but his clothes and hair could be discerned, it was certain that that was their first division captain standing there.
Said past self simply shifted uncomfortably and cleared his suddenly dry throat. He did not want to even start considering why he was standing in such a way on the ship or ask himself where the old man was. It was enough for him to know that he at least survived in the future, so it was no use in giving himself nightmares and regrets for things he hadn't yet done or would happen.
Howls and cheers jolted the onlookers from admiring the future ship of what would remain of the Whitebeard Pirates and most turned to see a green haired man jump on a Luffy-shaped figurehead and yell at his crew.
"Luffy-senpai is back! Let's show that bastard Blackbeard who he's dealing with!"
His words received response from most of the surrounding vessels.
"Look, their ship is disappearing!" Chopper cried, pointing in the direction the Thousand Sunny had gone in. True to his words, it was slowly becoming transparent, just like the others.
"It seems they got back safely." Marco remarked, leaning on the railing and heaving a sigh of relief.
"It's time for you to go back as well, kids." Whitebeard spoke, addressing the remaining Strawhats.
Their captain looked up at him in question.
"Your age doesn't start for a few more years from what I've seen. You better make good use of them and get stronger."
Looks of determination crossed the younger pirates' faces and they nodded resolutely. They would make sure things will end up fine, even without their memories of this encounter.
"Your age doesn't end when you become Pirate King. It will just begin!"
Back on the Thousand Sunny, Luffy grinned as he remembered the words his predecessor had left for him back on Raftel. If he was honest, they were partly the catalyst to his sudden adventure into the past. Even though now the declaration felt reassuring, telling him that he will win against anyone who posed a threat and protect his friends, in the past these words felt foreboding. Like a warning, threatening him with death and destruction, should he fail. From then on, an uncomfortable weight had pressed itself on his shoulders and affected him in more ways than he had realized. And before long, he was stepping in that waterfall.
Shifting on the seat in his favorite spot on the happy figurehead, the raven head sighed and smiled again. Damn he had missed it, though not so much as his friends. And now everything will be alright, he'd make sure of it.
"Full speed towards Raftel, everyone!" The Pirate King shouted, placing his trademark straw hat on top of his head.
His grin was echoed by a monumental wave of cheers coming from all of the ships assembled under the Strawhat Alliance.
It was high time they rid this world of traitorous bastards. And after that, the World Government will follow.
A/N: Here it is! The finale o3o
Sorry if this is shorter than usual, but you'll get a bonus chapter tomorrow so I hope it helps! :'D
Please send me your thoughts, I really want to know!
Reviews are loved :D See ya later!