Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or it's awesome characters.
A story dedicated to dreams and nakama.
The Boy We Call Captain
written by Leiyoi
A man, with three katana propped against the rail he was leaning against, snored serenely away. A light sea breeze blew from the east, sifting through his light green hair, lulling him into a peaceful slumber. But the nap was short-lived, since he started to shift a little, feeling an uncomfortable gaze falling upon him. Roronoa Zoro cracked open both eyes, squinting in the direction of the gaze cast upon him. He didn't like the feel of it. Not at all. And his feeling of discomfort was justified when he found four people peeking at him from the other side of the deck.
What the hell? Was the first thought that surfaced as he came into consciousness. He watched as one person with orange hair waved him over hurriedly. Zoro noticed as a reindeer and a boy with a long-nose stared past him at the front of the ship worriedly. What are they doing? The girl with orange hair seemed to be waving at him with more vigor, trying to get the green-haired man to move towards them. A man with blonde hair stood over the girl, glaring at him and motioning for him to join them quickly. Zoro stared lazily at them and decided to ignore them all. Weirdos… the swordsman thought idly, closing his eyes and pushing away the fierce gazes directed upon him. Suddenly, hands had covered his mouth and another set of hands had lifted his arms and legs above the ground. His eyes snapped open and glared at the four people who were hurriedly scurrying over to the other side of the deck. Nami's hands left his mouth and he shouted at them angrily, "What the hell are you doing?!"
The other three dropped him roughly to the ground and Zoro watched Nami put a hand on her hip in annoyance.
"Shh! Not so loud! He'll hear you…!" Usopp, the long-nosed boy, put a finger to his lips, staring nervously in the direction of the front of the ship. The reindeer's eyes glanced worriedly from side to side and he looked like he wanted to say something.
Zoro glared at them. "What? Who'll hear me? Why did you guys drag me here?!" He noticed a dark-haired woman sitting nearby, a book set down in her lap. Even Robin's paying attention to them over her book? He blinked in confusion. Was there something wrong on the ship today?
The man with blonde hair lit up a new cigarette and puffed on it before letting out a trail of smoke from his mouth. "There's something wrong with the captain."
Zoro's eyebrow's scrunched in thought, going over his day so far with Luffy. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The boy had eaten breakfast and had gone to sit in his special seat at the front of the ship. Wait…that's odd. Luffy usually runs off to find Ussop or Chopper around this time…The swordsman stared at the people on this side of the deck questionably.
Nami tapped her foot impatiently. "When I went to assign a chore to him, he didn't whine or complain and he said that he would go finish it later."
Zoro raised an eyebrow. That's weird…
Chopper stared at his hooves in worry. "And Luffy didn't come bother me when I was working on my experiments as he usually does…"
Zoro stared at the little reindeer. That's a little weird too…
Usopp let out a loud sigh. "And when I offered to tell Luffy one of my most amazing stories, he said that he'd come by later to listen to it when I had more time to spare!"
Zoro's eyes narrowed in thought. What's wrong with Luffy today?
Sanji stared off at the vast sea. "And he only ate two plates of food today."
"What?!" The crew cried in shock.
Both of Zoro's eyebrows raised in surprise. Now that was really weird…
"This is bad! What if he's sick?!" Chopper clamped his hooves over his face. "We need the doctor! Luffy's in trouble! Doctor! Doctor!"
"You are the doctor!" Usopp and Nami cried together, trying to get the little reindeer to be quiet so that their little meeting taking place at the back of the ship wouldn't be discovered by their captain.
"Wait," Zoro stood up and patted his pants of any dust. "I'll go talk to him and try to figure out what's wrong." The other crew members nodded in acceptance of this decision. Maybe Luffy would be more willing to talk to his first mate…?
The swordsman sighed and ran a hand through his short green hair. He walked casually towards the boy sitting serenely on the goat shaped head at the front of the ship.
"Oi, Luffy."
Zoro watched as the boy seemed to flinch in surprise before turning his head towards him to show that he had heard. The swordsman's eyebrows knitted together. This is odd behavior…
"Are you feeling okay?" The swordsman observed quietly, watching the corner of the boy's lips curve up in a half smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Zoro."
The green-haired man stared suspiciously at Luffy for a moment and shrugged, deciding to leave it at that and report to the rest of the crew. He turned to leave.
"…Zoro?"
The swordsman stopped and looked back over his shoulder at the boy, waiting patiently. His heart beat faster, hoping that Luffy would tell him what was wrong. It was strange watching the captain act this way.
"Aaah…nevermind."
Zoro stared at Luffy's back. What's going on? What's wrong with him? He sighed and walked back from where he had come from with heavy footsteps. The people waiting there stared at him hopefully but when he shook his head and sat down against the wall of the ship, their faces fell.
Nami stood up abruptly and clenched her fists together. "Ugh! What's wrong with him?! I've never seen him act like this before…" Her voice trailed off, betraying the worry hidden beneath her anger.
Sanji breathed out a long puff of smoke and stared out at the sea. "That bastard. Making Nami-san and Robin-chan worry for him." Zoro smirked slightly, understanding the underlying meaning of this sentence.
We're all worried about Luffy... The swordsman smirked at how much power the captain seemed to have over them. The boy shows odd behavior and the whole crew gets worried. He started to think back to the time the boy had asked him to join the crew.
"I'm going to stay alive and fulfill my own dreams." Zoro gave Luffy a confident grin although he could feel fatigue creeping upon him
"Oh? Is that so?" The boy wearing a straw hat stared at him blankly before turning to the side and crossing his arms, smiling. "But, I've already decided that you're going to be my nakama."
Despite all the bad rumors circling around him, Luffy had accepted him as nakama even before Zoro had decided whether or not to join him. The boy had asked him, the notorious pirate hunter, to join his pirate crew. That's Luffy… A small smile grew on Zoro's face as he remembered when Luffy had jumped in front of the bullets aimed at him and Coby.
"Who the hell are you?!" He had asked with shock apparent in his eyes.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy." The boy said simply. "The one who's going to be the Pirate King." And then Luffy gave him that confident grin that brought so much strength to the people around him.
While he was remembering his first encounter with the boy and the times they had fought together, fighting for their dreams and goals, the rest of the crew around him were recounting their own memories with their captain.
Nami smiled as she remembered the time when the boy had entrusted her with his treasure, a tattered straw hat, and had left to risk his life and beat up Arlong.
"Nami!" She thought of Luffy, standing on the rubble that used to be her jail room, yelling out so that the whole world could hear it, "You're my nakama!!"
The orange haired girl smiled softly and hid her head in her arms, wondering what Luffy was thinking now.
Sanji blew out another trail of smoke, thinking back to when the captain had shown him what it was like to risk his life on his dreams and move forward without regret. And when the blonde had told Luffy about All Blue, the boy didn't laugh and mock him like the other chefs did. Luffy offered him a chance to go for his dream even though it sounded improbable.
Chopper sniffed as he thought back to the time Luffy emerged from the explosion of a cannonball, holding Dr. Hiruluk's flag upright, not letting it fall. Luffy is such a good person… The little reindeer sniffed and wondered why he was acting so strange today. He's not sick, is he? I need to cure it!
Robin smiled, watching the five other crew members in deep thought. The captain had done a lot for them; she could feel it from the heavy atmosphere floating around them. The straw hat boy had also saved her life and shown her that no matter how impossible her dreams were, it was worth fighting towards it.
Usopp stared at the ground, clenching his hands into fists. Luffy had helped him protect his village and he even let a coward like him join his pirate crew. The boy with a straw hat had given him hope to become a brave warrior despite his cowardly actions at times.
"Yosh!" The long-nosed boy nodded confidently, holding a fist up in front of him. The crew members stared at him in surprise. "If Luffy is feeling sick or something's wrong with him, we just need to make him better! Right?"
Grins started to creep upon the faces of the crew and Nami slapped a hand across Usopp's shoulder.
"Well said, sharpshooter!"
"Mm!" Chopper smiled, nodding confidently.
"Heh." Zoro stood up, ready to do what he could for his captain.
"So what should we do?" Sanji flicked his cigarette into the ocean.
"I have an idea…" A mysterious smile played across Robin's lips and the five straw hat crewmembers stared at her questionably.
The boy of all their worries sat at the front of the ship quietly. He smiled slightly as a calm breeze blew at his face, ruffling his hair and straw hat gently. Luffy's smile died a bit as he stared out at the water. Am I becoming a burden to them? He thought idly, remembering the events over the past few days. It seemed as if none of his nakama really wanted him around. Sanji had kicked him out of the kitchen as usual, Nami had waved him off and threatened him with debt if he didn't leave her alone, Usopp and Chopper were too busy with their experiments and had told them to leave them alone. Even Robin had turned him away and Zoro had gotten irritated at him and knocked him away. Luffy pouted slightly and stared at the waves beneath him. "Maybe I'm too annoying to them?" He asked the ocean as if they would know the answer. I should stay out of their way and not be so selfish anymore… "I don't want them to leave me…"
He sighed. The boy knew he would probably get over this wrenching feeling by the next day, but it was really bugging him right now. Luffy started to draw circles on the head of the Going Merry. Suddenly, a pair of strong arms lifted him from his special seat and he nearly yelped in surprise before the arms set him back down on the deck.
"That was the reason for making me worry?" Luffy heard a deep voice come from behind him and a hand ruffled his head playfully.
"LUUUFFY!!" The straw hat boy heard the cry of his smallest nakama and he felt something furry hug onto his leg.
"You idiot. You have that little trust in us, eh?"
"Geez, Luffy." And a flash of orange hair went by before a pair of arms circled around his front. The straw hat boy felt another pair of arms circle from behind him.
"L-Luffy…you thought that we'd leave you just because you're too annoying?!" Luffy felt a bony nose poke into the back of his head.
The boy with a straw hat blinked for a moment before finally registering the voices of the people surrounding him. His nakama who wouldn't just leave him for a petty reason like 'being annoying'. If that were the reason, they would've all left by now, right? A smile started to crack across his face and he beamed at them happily, extending his arms and grabbing Zoro and Sanji from the sidelines to join the group hug.
"Shit!"
"Dammit, I should've seen that coming…"
The two men struggled to get out of their captain's grasp.
"Neehee!" Luffy grinned as they all squished together around him. "My nakama are the best in the world!"
"Okay, okay." Nami laughed, trying to push the boy away from her. "We still have a surprise for you, Luffy."
Chopper unlatched himself from Luffy's leg and jumped from foot to foot excitedly. "I hope this'll cure your sickness, Luffy!"
Robin smiled from where she was standing—a few feet away from all the commotion—and pulled on a piece of string, making the cracker in her hands pop open with confetti and glitter streaming across the deck.
"Robin! You didn't join us!" Luffy grinned brightly, extending a hand and pulling the dark-haired woman into their group. Her eyes widened in surprise before hugging onto the group happily.
"Oi, Luffy. You totally ruined the start of our surprise party for you." Zoro grunted from his spot, stuck under the long arm Luffy was holding him in.
"A party?" The boy looked over the heads of his nakama excitedly. "A party?! Where? For who?"
"For you, shithead." Sanji grumbled from under the long arm he was pinned by, although he wasn't unhappy since he was pinned right next to Robin-chwan.
"Oh!! A party for me!" Luffy let go of the group eagerly, smiling happily. "Is there a lot of food?"
Usopp unlatched himself from the boy and grinned, pointing a thumb at himself. "There's a ton of food! And this time, I made it all. You might not know this but when I start to cook, even Sanji can't beat me with his little recipes!" The cook promptly gave the long-nosed boy a kick in the face which sent him flying into the kitchen.
"Just get in the damn kitchen and let's start the party." The blonde followed after Ussop into the kitchen. "Oi, Marimo. Set up the tables."
Luffy laughed happily, watching his first mate mumble curses at the cook before stomping off to the other side of the ship to get the tables and barrels they had prepared for the party. Chopper bounded off to help the green-haired man bring the tables over to the front of the ship.
Nami smiled and waved to Robin and they both ran in the direction Zoro had left. Luffy stared at them in confusion and as quick as they had left, the girls had come back with a long white sheet in their hands. The straw hat boy tilted his head to the side, watching the girls hang up the white sheet over the kitchen door. He could see that something seemed to be written on it in large letters and around it were pictures of the adventures he had gone on. Rescuing Zoro, beating up Buggy, saving Syrup, Usopp's town, beating up Don Krieg and Arlong, saving Vivi, Nami, and Zoro from becoming wax figures, holding Dr. Hiluruk's flag up on the castle tower, saving Arabasta from civil war, beating up Eneru and saving all of Skypiea…
"Woah…! You guys drew all of these?" Luffy's eyes widened in awe. "So cool!"
Robin and Nami smiled happily at their captain. Zoro and Chopper had come back with the tables and barrels and smiled at Luffy's look of awe.
"And what does it say?" The boy wearing the straw hat grinned and pointed at the lettering in the middle. The crew members present on the deck almost fell to the ground in shock. The most important part and yet he could not read it…
Robin smiled. "It says, 'We're still here for you, Captain.' Captain-san"
Luffy stared at the words in awe and a large, warm smile spread across his face. Sanji and Usopp came out of the kitchen, carrying large dishes of food and drink towards the tables. They stopped to survey the large grin on their captain's face and couldn't help but smile to themselves, setting out the plates. Luffy snapped out of the trance Robin's words had put him under and his nose sniffed in like a vacuum.
"LET'S EAT!" He pounced over to the table. The crew laughed as the boy stretched his arms towards the food—although Sanji had tried to stop Luffy since everyone hadn't sat down yet—and stuffed it into his mouth at the speed of light. They all settled down around the table and Usopp lifted a large wooden mug up to the sky.
"To become a brave warrior of the sea!"
The straw hat crew smiled at each other and took up their wooden mugs.
"To find a cure for any illness!"
"To discover the true history."
"To find All Blue!"
"To draw a map of the world!"
"To become the greatest swordsman!"
Luffy grinned from ear to ear and watched as his nakama gave him knowing smiles. Then he clunked his mug against theirs and shouted so that the world would know.
"To be Pirate King!"
END.