Title: Destiny
Author: Phoenix
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I am poor. This fic is for entertainment.
Fandom: One Piece
Pairing: Not telling. That would ruin the surprise.
Rating: PG
Warnings: Past death, first person, yaoi aka m/m slash mentioned, train of thoughtish, and I wrote it. Can't deal? Don't read.
Archive: Ckos, WWOMB if they want it. All others please ask
Summary: Destiny sometimes plays tricks on us.
Destiny
by Phoenix
The Captain is dead. OUR Captain is dead. There was a time when I thought we were invincible. Nothing could take us down. Not when we were together. But then, we weren't all together when he died. Somehow he knew it was time and made sure we were safe.
From the beginning, he always seemed to know more than he let on. He gathered us one at a time. Finding us seemingly at random. Yet once he found the one he was looking for, he wouldn't let go. We were going to join him and that was all there was to it. Of course, none of us simply threw aside our lives to follow some dreamer.
Especially not to the Grand Line. Who was going to give up their lives for a man they didn't even know? But he reached us and found our real dreams. To become the best, find courage, see the world. To face our destinies.
First he found our swordsman. Young, impetuous, brave, and more than a bit overconfident. The Captain got him to owe a favor and then used it to blackmail him into joining the crew, which at the time consisted of just the Captain. I would still pay almost any price to have seen the man's face when he heard that.
The two of them were like fire and water at first. Our Captain laughed easily, enjoying life to its fullest. While his new partner was too serious. No one knows when they became lovers. All I know is that they were when I first joined. And I was the third one the Captain found.
Watching them together was a joy. Arguing. Fighting. Living side by side and loving it. Made the rest of us a bit jealous I guess. I was afraid that each new member might not see the beauty of their love, but they all did. Of course the cook could make the most caustic remarks. Yet there was a twinkle in his eye.
Eventually we made for the Grand Line. And adventure after adventure followed. It was glorious and dangerous. Deadly, life threatening adventures day after day. I wouldn't trade a single memory for all the treasure in the world. Together we beat the Grand Line. The first to have done so. Then we went home. It really was that simple. Each had
achieved his or her dream. What more was there?
We were all so happy to be home. At least I thought so then. Oh the tales we were going to tell. The people we would impress. The sheer magnitude of what we had accomplished left us all a bit full of ourselves. We were also blind to what was happening with our Captain.
He didn't join in the celebrations. He cut himself off from everyone, even his lover. When we reached that first homeport, he told us to stay there and spend a few days celebrating. There were things he needed to take care of. Alone. I don't think anything he ever said hurt our swordsman as badly as that simple word. Alone.
I think he knew, our Captain knew, the time was not right. His dream of being the Pirate King couldn't happen yet. The time of the Pirate was still years away and while we had all achieved what we wanted, beating the Grand Line was the last thing he'd been living for. If he lived, life would be bleak for him. He'd become one of those old fools iving off tales with no real purpose left. Or worse, take out his disappointment on us. Hurting us was the one thing he never wanted to do. The thought of hurting his lover must have terrified him. Him, the man who wasn't afraid of even the Grand Line.
So he went home. To die. He could have escaped. Could have held off the Marines for days. Could have let us know he was in trouble. But he didn't. His time was up and we weren't ready to take on the entire Marine force. Not yet.
While we didn't feel his danger, a first for us, we did feel his death. In the middle of a toast to ourselves, we felt a monstrous blow. Most of us were left doubled over, but the swordsman completely collapsed. I will forever be haunted by the empty look in his eyes; as if life had just lost all meaning, all joy.
Before the pain was over, we were on our ship. We sailed like madmen, making insane time. However, two nights outside the Captain's hometown, we all dreamed. He came to us, told us not to seek revenge. There was more for us to do in this world. A destiny we hadn't fulfilled. He'd be back someday and we were to be ready for it.
Of course we would never just turn around. We landed and went to the center of town. Everyone in town was celebrating; not noticing death walked among them. His body was on display. How dare they? He wasn't an animal. He was an honorable man! For that alone we would have leveled the town if not for his final, dreamed orders. With him dead, not many guards remained. It was pathetically easy to steal his body.
We buried it at sea, on the Grand Line. I think he would have laughed at our sentimentality. Strangely, no one could cry. There was this feeling of anticipation hanging in the air. Something was incomplete and so this grand adventure wasn't quite over yet.
For years afterward we wondered what he meant in the dream while we drifted away from each other. Eventually, each of us became a pirate. Ironically. Our skills grew and grew until no one in the entire world could stand up to us. No government could muster a force big enough to take just one of us down.
Then the governments cooperated and actually sent the Marines to hire us. Another irony. I don't think they really knew who we were in the past, just who we were then. Still, we took their money. Better than really working.
We took on new names, drifting ever further apart. Until one night about sixteen years ago. I felt a strange kind of lightness grow in my heart. As if an old wound were healing. I had a hunch and sought out the others. Shanks now has his own pirate crew. He felt the same thing I did. Being who he was, the kid had to go find out what it was. I already knew. Our Captain was back. Just like he promised. I suddenly understood what he meant.
The swordsman now goes the name Eagle Eyes. Silly name if you ask me, but it's a free world. Sort of. He also felt it. So did everyone else. And we waited. Sooner or later, the Captain would come back to the Grand Line.
And he did. With a new crew. This new Captain is far more carefree than our old one. A lot more innocent too. Shanks loved him enough to give him the straw hat he so cherished. Can't blame him. Luffy is like the light we lost so long ago. We want to clutch it too us but know such a thing is no longer possible. I guess giving up that hat was Shanks way to trying to do simply that. It is kind of fitting really. The Captain gave Shanks that hat. Now Shanks has returned it.
Naturally we all wanted look at his new crew and good old Eagle Eyes couldn't resist a chance to challenge his replacement, Zoro. What a kid! He actually impressed that sour old coffin rider. The boy isn't nearly powerful enough to protect Luffy. But I get the feeling he's going to clean Eagle's clock someday.
I don't know if the two are lovers yet. Luffy and Zoro. I sense something going on there. However, Luffy holds back. Perhaps something of our Captain haunts him? The pain he caused his golden-eyed lover is obvious still today. Maybe they will find happiness. We are hoping.
The others are impressive yet young. So much younger than we were. Different too. Of course, that should have been expected. We don't know if they will be strong enough. Although, we have decided to protect our Captain no matter what. Interfere when needed. We're going to see to it those kids grow stronger. Strong enough to beat us. This time around, the Captain will find his destiny. No matter that it kills us and his new crew. This time Destiny won't be denied. There WILL be a King of Pirates. And with a little luck, a crew of fighters, friends, and at least one lover, to back him.
END