Journey Of A Straw hat

Summary: The return, the death and the legacy of a battered, yet proud straw hat. Three-shot, drabbles.

A/N: First One Piece fanfic. First anime fanfic to be exact even though I've been watching anime for months. Expect more to come (in other fandoms as well). I just couldn't get it out of my head. As for my other stories, I'll update my profile on their status sometime soon.

Might be a little OOC since this is my first shot at it.

Chapter One: The Return

An eerie silence surrounded them all. The two crews were facing each other, not with hostility but with mutual respect. They stood, silent, proud and watched as their captains approached each other.

A man around his late thirties with flaming red hair and three distinctive scars on his eye was the first captain, walking slowly, with his facing hiding any emotion. A dark coat rested proudly on his shoulders, moving with the wind and hiding the fact that this strong person was indeed missing an arm.

The other one, a boy, or… perhaps a man now, in his early twenties with ink black hair and equally colorless eyes was coming to him, his posture humble for once, grasping the seriousness of the moment, yet with pride and accomplishment shining brightly in those eyes. A simple, worn out straw hat adorned his head and gave some color to the black coat he was also wearing on top of his red shirt.

Some people believed this meeting was long overdue.

Others thought it had come surprisingly soon.

And some of the newest members of the Red Hair Pirated had no freaking clue as to what was going on.

But even the most clueless of members could understand the importance of what they were witnessing and the need to stay silent.

Eventually the two captains reached each other and their crews held their breaths to see what was going to happen next.

A moment passed, fast as a heartbeat and the younger boy, the new Pirate King of all things, kneeled down on one foot in front of his idol. Straw-hat Luffy removed his trademark from his head and bowed down as he offered it to the red-haired man. A mark of promise. An act of fulfilling it.

"I did it, Shanks," his voice was raw with emotion but even so they could all hear the smile in it, the ever-present laughter, now even more apparent that he had both accomplished his dream and kept his promise. "I did it. I found the One Piece. I'm Pirate King now. I… I kept my promise."

Luffy felt him take his hand and looked up. Red-Hair Shanks, former member of the previous Pirate King's crew was smiling down at him, looking surprisingly a lot like a proud parent watching his child.

"Didn't doubt you for a second, Luffy," he stated.

Then he proceeded to do something that shocked everyone watching them. With a mischievous laugh he put the battered hat back on the boy's head, much to his protest. "You should keep that, though."

"Eh? Why? Wh-what did I do wrong?"

Shanks used his one arm to lift the boy from the ground. "Nothing. This hat just wasn't mine to begin with. This hat belongs to the Pirate King. Either one of them. If anything, you should give it to your successor."

Luffy thought about it for a moment, eyes still wide with shock until he threw his head back and laughed, having obviously decided it wasn't worth worrying about it. "Okay then!" He agreed happily. "Only… how will I find him? How will I know it's him?"

"Trust me, you'll know it. Same way I did. Or maybe your crew will…" His eyes looked over the Strawhats, lingering ever so slightly at the green-haired first mate. "Either way, enough with that… Let's celebrate!"

And with that the crews started cheering and went off to prepare what, knowing their captains, should be a huge banquet, perhaps lasting more than a few days.

As the party went on and one and the town's supply of sake between Zoro and the Red Hair Pirates was quickly running out, Shanks couldn't help but bring his former captain in mind and wonder just what he thought about how the boy he originally gave his hat to found a more than capable successor for him. A small chuckle left his lips. Somehow Roger had known. Somehow he had known. The same way he had always known himself the hat belonged to Luffy because he would become the new Pirate King. Roger just needed someone to pass it on to him…

And boy was Shanks glad he was the one chosen to do it.

A/N: So that's it. Not quite sure where that came from. As for Luffy's coat, I have two words for you: Strong. World. Plus being the whole pirate king, a coat would look good. Maybe. Anyway…

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