Reconciliation

Fox was sitting quietly at the small table in the Straw-Hats shared quarters in the Gallery-La building, mending shirts. Luffy watched as the needle flashed as swiftly and surely in her hand as the swords and knives she used in battle.

Fox was the nakama Luffy found it most challenging to relate to; she kept all her feelings inside, even more than Robin did, unless you asked about them. She also firmly believed in letting people make their own mistakes and learning from them, though she gave good advice and was always there if you wanted help with something.

What was worrying Luffy was that he needed to apologise to her about Usopp: Sanji had come back after shopping two days ago and told them he'd seen the sniper practicing what to say when he returned and Luffy had been so excited at the thought of getting his nakama back he hadn't noticed anything was wrong until Fox' South Bird had dive-bombed him, cho-ing furiously. Then Zoro had made them stop and told them that he wouldn't let anyone fetch Usopp and wouldn't accept the sniper back at all unless he apologised for everything he'd said and done.

Chopper and Nami had protested at once, but Zoro had shushed them so thunderously that even Cho the bird had stopped trying to eat Luffy's hat and paid attention. The swordsman had then pointed out that Usopp had lost the fight and left the crew; left his nakama. Zoro went on to say that Luffy was the captain and that having somebody who didn't respect his authority in the crew would cause it to fall apart. He then turned on Luffy and said that if the rubberman just rolled over and let Usopp back in Zoro would be the one leaving, as he refused to serve a captain who let such things as the sniper had said slide.

It was then that Luffy had noticed Fox wasn't there anymore and realised that Zoro was talking about her and how Usopp had upset her. Zoro then added that if Luffy didn't make Usopp apologise it was like saying that Luffy felt Usopp had been right to speak and act as he had, and that leaving the crew was not something that should be taken so lightly. Upon gaining everyone's agreement to do nothing Zoro had run out after Fox, leaving Luffy to think very uncomfortable thoughts.

Fox had not come back for dinner that evening, nor come back at all the next day. She hadn't even been in for breakfast this morning and Zoro had been silent on where she was and what she was doing. Then Luffy had come back to the room for lunch and found her sitting at the little breakfast table with a pile of torn clothes on the chair next to her and one of Sanji's shirts half-mended in her lap. Sanji himself had been standing by the stove cooking and the silence had been oddly oppressive. Luffy hadn't known what to say. He knew he owed her an apology, but the more it sat in his head the more things he realised he needed her forgiveness for.

Usopp leaving had hurt her; she told Luffy her dream was to have nakama strong enough to stand by her and rescue her, but he knew what she really meant was that she needed those nakama to never, ever so much as think of leaving her, no matter what. Usopp had left. Usopp had abandoned her, abandoned Luffy, abandoned all of them and in doing so he had taken some of Fox' dream away. That Luffy had even considered just letting Usopp back on the crew had hurt her more: Nami had explained to him last night that Fox had seen his willingness to let the sniper back on the crew as Usopp being more important to Luffy than Fox was. That Usopp had abandoned the crew and Fox had been completely loyal made it worse for her, making her feel unwanted and rejected, never mind that by wanting Usopp to come back without apologising first, Luffy was saying he agreed with all the horrible, hurtful things the sniper had said to her.

Luffy didn't agree with anything Usopp had said to her, but in his joy at getting a nakama back he had forgotten that he was not the only one Usopp had hurt. Fox had poured herself into Merry and Usopp had accused her of not caring at all; Usopp might have loved the little ship a lot but Fox had known her best and still missed her the most. Luffy could still see the pain in Fox at having lost the little caravel, like she had lost a precious friend, and it made him wonder. Fox' Devil Fruit connected her to living things, so that meant Merry had been alive, sort of. Because Fox had been able to feel Merry was alive, how did that mean she had felt when they laid Merry to rest?

"Fox?" he asked.

"Captain," Fox acknowledged, eyes rising briefly from her mending. She had done two of Sanji's shirts already, one each of Nami's and Robin's and was working on one of Luffy's own vests.

"Did you talk to Merry? Before, I mean," he said hurriedly. "Back when we'd just started sailing together."

Fox' lips quirked up slightly. "I've been talking to Merry ever since I first mended her, back when you ripped the mast off to fight Laboon," she said quietly, eyes on her work. "At first she was like a tiny baby, barely more than sensations and emotions. But the whole crew loved her so much and I put so much work into fixing her that she truly came to life and grew into a lovely girl. I miss her." A tear slipped down Fox' cheek.

Luffy suddenly understood why Fox had been so very angry with Usopp when he refused to let Merry rest. "She was like a daughter to you, wasn't she? Not just a nakama."

"She was." Fox tied off the end of a thread, put Luffy's vest aside and picked up another shirt, one of Zoro's this time. "I've never put so much of myself into a ship before."

Losing a brother had hurt Luffy terribly; he couldn't even imagine how horrible it would be to lose a child. He put his hat on the table then dropped to his knees and touched his forehead to the floor.

"I'm so sorry!" he burst out. "I hurt your feelings! I wasn't thinking and I said things I shouldn't have! I'm trying to be a good captain, I really am!"

There was a soft sigh and a sound of rustling fabric before a familiar pair of knees entered his field of vision. "Get up Luffy," Fox said quietly.

"Not until you accept my apology!"

Fox made a small sound somewhere between a giggle and a sob. "I accept your apology and I forgive you. Now give me a hug: I really need one."

Luffy sat upright and threw his arms around his assassin, taking advantage of his rubber body to wrap himself around her as tightly as possible. "I'm really sorry for not respecting your dream," he mumbled into her shoulder.

Fox sighed. "As captain, your decisions affect your entire crew, not just you," she reminded him. "And a captain who allows others to walk over him and disrespect his decisions will not be a captain for very much longer."

"Zoro would have left with you if I just let Usopp back in, wouldn't he?" Luffy asked quietly.

"Yes," Fox replied simply.

"I thought so. It isn't easy being captain."

Fox smiled. "You notice I don't have a crew on my boat; I've seen what kind of responsibility being captain is and I want no part of it. You've more courage than I do, leading like you do." She kissed his cheek. "Now let me finish my mending or we'll be setting sail in our underwear when Franky gets the boat done."

Luffy let go, chuckling at the thought of his crew sailing a ship in nothing but vests and underpants: Zoro with his swords and haramaki, him with his straw hat, Sanji with a cigarette sticking out of his mouth and Nami with the Log Pose, Robin and Fox just in their underthings. Chopper only ever wore a hat and trousers anyway.

"Where's the marimo?" Sanji asked, putting a drink and two plates down on the table in front of them. Luffy immediately commandeered the stack of meat, leaving the pretty little fishy rolls to Fox.

"On Swift Hunter, playing with my swords," Fox replied, finishing a seam. "I would let him have one of them but most of my blades are shorter than he's comfortable with; the only one that isn't I refuse to part with and Zoro doesn't want it badly enough to pry it from my cold, dead fingers." She popped one of the fish rolls in her mouth and hummed happily. "Fabulous as always, Sanji-kun."

Because this was going to be upsetting and needed addressing.