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sanjisluvbot · 2 years ago

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Isekai Yandere Strawhats x Black Fem Reader Pt 4

MASTERLIST

Trigger warning: Anxiety, violence, and swearing

The pounding in your head was the first thing you noticed when regaining consciousness. Next was the sounds of cannons and bubbles, then finally the crew standing in front of you.

All of them now held a different aura, they seem to have really found themselves and hardened up into stronger more dangerous people. It was one thing to see them through a screen but to see people like this up close was making alarms go off through your head.

It’s going to be 10 times harder to escape, especially when they figure out just how to snatch you back into their world so easily.

That question is on the tip of your tongue, “ How were they able to get to me?” You remember hiding the paper where you were writing notes somewhere underneath a book shelf.

While Nami worked on her maps you read through everything you’ve written, you had a good feeling about that night. Nothing would be able to stop you no matter who cries or tries to intimidate you. You were going home.

While lost in your thoughts a hand was held out for you to take. Sanji stood in front of you with the brightest smile, though anger and distaste was the only emotion you could muster. His smile dropped when you pushed his hand out of your face and stood up own your own.

Their shameless starring made you want to turn away but you needed to stand your ground, this has affect your life for way too long. It started off as a dream come true, you got to hand out with your favorite characters and sail their version of the seven seas. But suddenly when one of them grabbed your hand to drag you to adventure you noticed the unshakable grip the strawhat crew possessed.

Comforting laughed turned into silent threats and the entire fiasco turned into something sinister and ugly.

“ Y/N! We missed you so much, we thought you were gone forever.” Chopper chimed running into your arms. The anger in your eyes softened a bit due to the absolute innocence of the small reindeer, it couldn’t be helped.

Adorable

“ I missed you too chopper”

“ See I knew you’d be happy to join us again, why would anyone leave their crewmates without getting homesick.” Luffy spoke walking up to you.

You glared at him and placed chopper on the ground before starting an argument you could never come back from.

“ Luffy the only reason I am here right now is because you can’t take NO for an answer!”

“ yup”

“ NO! No more bullshit don’t act dumb right know you know what I’m talking about”

The crew were all starring wide eyed, there hasn’t been a fight between the crew since water seven. After being with Luffy and the others so long you were able to read their facial expressions with ease and right now he was pissed.

The unwavering smile on your captains face was crooked, his eyes were burning you to the ground.

If only looks could kill.

“ Y/N maybe you should just settle down we’re on our way to fish man island and-” Nami reasoned.

“ ENOUGH ! I have had it— with all of you. I’m not going to sit here and explain myself again you are all smart enough to remember what I said two years ago. I am going home, MY HOME.”

“ You are home, I won’t make the mistake of letting you leave us again” Luffy boomed as he towered over you.

“ Fuck you”

A sword was thrust between you and Luffy and you both looked over to the frightened crew and the very angry swordsman. “ You both need to calm down now. There is no use in fighting knowing what we’re about to go through this deep in the ocean.”

Looking back at Luffy you mustered up all you could and spit on his cheek nearing his eye. He turned to you and pushed you to the ground, going underneath the sword and climbing on top of you. You kicked and screamed trying to throw him off you but strength was more than tripled from the last time you were together.

Your hands held up over your head as he peered down at you smile completely gone. A shiver ran down your spine from the deafening silence that eclipsed the Thousand Sunny.

“ Didn’t I tell you to rest when we got on board? I think you need that right now ”

“ Fuck. You. ”

He chuckled and released you, soon as he did you raised your arm and slapped him leaving a hot red mark across his cheek as he stumbled off of you.

“ You think Ace would be proud of you right now ”

You couldn’t breathe. The pressure of a hand on your neck didn’t leave any room for it. You knew he had a strong grip but this was like a weight of iron been cast on your neck. Zoro was looming over you while you scratched up his hand and arm begging him silently to release. When your eyes started rolling back the oxygen flooded through your lungs and you started gasping like a fish out of water.

“ Nami, Robin, take Y/N to the girls quarters for a nap we can wake her when dinner is ready”

You sobbed as the girls picked you up and took you to their room. They laid you down and covered you with a blanket before turning off the light and leaving silently.

You cried for around half an hour, the tears were now dried on your face but you still tried to concentrate on going home. You felt like you were in the Wizard Of Oz when Dorothy was clicking together her Ruby shoes hoping to go home.

It wasn’t working no matter what you did. So you laid there lazily gazing at the ceiling letting your thoughts run free till you fell asleep.

Dinner was as awkward as it could get. The entire crew starred at your every move and you were squished between the captain and his first mate. There was some conversation that you could barley hear and Sanji asked you every other minute if you were enjoying your meal.

You felt like you were viewing life from 3rd person, your vision felt like you were watching a movie and every bite you took you thought your mouth was numb and staticky, like when your foot fell asleep. It was like your brain and body were malfunctioning and you couldn’t do a thing to stop it. When you chewed you felt your teeth grind together to break down every little piece of meat and rice in your mouth. This was a panic attack. You had them before but this was even scarier, nothing made sense and you were now a robot who was programmed to look forward, be wide eyed, and eat every last inch of food on your plate.

When dinner was done everyone was doing their own things. Nami and Robin decided the best thing for right now was a lavender bubble bath with scorching hot water that irritated your skin but also calmed your nerves. The theme of the night was silence so it seemed, that was till Robin decided to speak up.

“ Y/N I know everything is frustrating right now but I know that you understand we really mean no harm.”

“ It’s not about meaning no harm. I have an entire other life outside of this world, I’m missing out on real life.”

“ This is also real life. I studied your paper you poorly hid under the book shelf in Nami’s study. What you’re doing right now is shifting and to my understanding you aren’t erased from your universe when you’re in this one. The rest of your consciousness is living your life as well, you’re like a double agent in a sense.”

The woman had eyes literally everywhere. You were sure no one would find that paper but you should’ve been smarter because now pirates from another dimension can go in an out of your world with no issue.

“ But I don’t want to be a double agent. I don’t want to live two separate lives, I want to live on my own terms just like the rest of you. That’s why you were all created in the first place and why you all joined Luffy’s crew. To be free”

“ Why do I have to be the acception?”

You all stayed in the bath till you pruned and you were finally able to get off edge. It felt like when you first arrived. The conversation strayed from the issue at hand and you were able to gossip and just be yourselves.

Tonight both beds were pushed together and you slept between Robin and Nami, they were warm and comfortable and sleep came with ease.

Though a stray thought lingered in your mind.

Would it really kill you to stay here with them?

A/N: Interpret this as you will 🫧🐡🗺️🫶🏽

#one piece #one piece x reader #x black fem reader #yandere one piece #yandere strawhats #luffy angst #x black reader #zoro x black reader #one piece imagine #one piece headcanons #one piece oneshots #one piece strawhats

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rosa-e-luna · 2 years ago

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And now just them 🐯👒

I have this little story in my head that will never be written down but i want to share the scenes that appeared in my head as I was drawing this(or maybe I’ll make it if I ever finish the story I’m working on at the moment, highly doubt it) If anyone actually like this idea and does use it, send me a link I’d love to see what anyone creates! It’s choppy, many run on sentences, bad grammar more than likely misspelling but I just wanted to get these LawLu thoughts out of my head and share them with you all!// gets slightly suggestive there near the end if you know what i mean?

Read:

It’s just Law saving Luffy, healing him, then leaving him but despite saying he doesn’t fix people twice he comes back, for some reason Law can’t just leave, a week hasn’t passed but he tells his crew to turn the submarine around and back to Rusukaina, he uses the excuse that he came back to see Luffy’s chest injury and making sure that it’s being properly taken cared off so it doesn’t get an infection and die from it; it’s enough for Boa to let his crew stay until Luffy heals properly. Seeing Luffy, he uses the same excuse and the younger young man shrugs and says okay and thanks.

Law notices that he is healing properly, and despite training with Rayleigh it’s not about about physical strength, and while Luffy is off playfully chasing some large animals of the island the older pirate tell him, “He’s still struggling mentally, but he smiles and laughs, their honest and true. Most people wouldn’t be able to do that in such little time.”

Law knows this, but he doesn’t say anything to Rayleigh.

One thing that confirms the older pirates words of Luffy struggles are the redness and puffiness around the young pirates eyes.

It’s one of those sleepless nights for Law, he’s in his captain quarters, tossing and sighing, just thinking about the past and his future plans, about Corasan, he’s frustrated and he wants to have never have met Joker but then he wouldn’t have met Corasan, theres so much filling his thoughts, especially those two nights when he lost the people he cared about, then there hate for the marines, hate for Doflamingo and he wants to cry because they took everything from him. He doesn’t cry, it’s been a long time since he’s cried. Then comes the nagging, telling himself he’s wasting time, Mugiwara doesn’t need him, Law doesn’t need to be here. Law can easily wake everyone up and tell them to head out but he doesnt and it frustrates him so he goes out, walk into the island and tries to convince himself there’s something he needs to do here, it’s important and that the fresh air will clear his mind. So he walks, until he thinks he hears a sniff the sort of kind you do after crying and he find Luffy in a tree his back to him and it looks like he’s watching the moon and he’s sure Mugiwara knows he’s there but it takes a moment for the other to turn to him. When Luffy does look at him, Torao hold his breath because the moonlight that shines off Luffy’s golden skin makes him feel like he shouldn’t be allowed to see him, and he buries word beautiful deep into his mind. Law doesn’t have time for those thoughts, there’s no point in them. He thinks he sees tears in Luffy’s eyes as he looks down at him from where he sits but then Law blinks and Luffy is coming down, there’s no tears but his eyes are red.

Luffy ask’s him if he came to give him a check up, Law says no.

“Ah, so you’re also enjoying the moon?” The moon was nice but he doesn’t comment and Luffy just smiles at him and somehow they both just walk. It’s comfortable silence, Law appreciates it, he was never good with small talk but he finds himself speaking, asking Luffy ‘if he’s enjoying the moon’ but instead the words, “Do you cry a lot at night, since what happened?” Law freezes himself he has no idea why he asked that, they both stopped walking, he wasn’t one to care about others feelings if they weren’t part of his crew. If someone had asked, ‘hey do you cry at night?’ He’d punch them in the face, he’d think they were making fun of him. So when Mugiwara turns to look at him it happens so slowly, he braces himself for the punch but keeps his eyes open, he himself doesn’t raise a hand to cast ‘room’, in the back of his head he hears a voice say that he deserves to be punched.

It doesn’t come, Luffy doesn’t punch him instead he tilts his head and just looks at Law before a small smile appears on his lips, it’s a sad smile, it’s honest and he nods. There’s not one once of shame in his face that he’s letting Law know, a complete stranger that just on whim saved his life, Luffy doesn’t hide what he feels as he looks to the ground, “Yeah, I still can believe Ace is-.” He trails off but looks back up at Law with that sad smile, “I miss my nakama, too but I have to get stronger for them.” Luffy hums and then chuckles as if he remembered something, that laugh is so bubbly that Law doesn’t even notice the corners of his mouth turn slightly upwards as he asks what so funny? Luffy smiles, this time brighter and tells him about the one time Zoro and Sanji woke up face to face and how they were red, from there Luffy just went on and on about times of his crew, Usopp made-, Sanji’s food-, Chopper hides-,Robin said the scariest-, Franky is super-, Brooks so funny-, Nami gets mad at-, Zoro drank so much-. Law could put a face to the names he was saying, he knew of them because of the wanted posters but hearing all the unbelievable silly things was hard to imagine, they all were so serious during the fight at Sabaody, when he first saw them at the auction house they were so serious, but the most unbelievable one was Luffy. Law had admittedly gained respect for Luffy when he saw him punch the celestial dragon in the face, however hearing the stories he was saying the one that sounded unbelievably stupid was him. The conversation was one sided mostly at first but soon Law found himself asking ‘what happened after that’ when Luffy told him about the time he suddenly got hijacked by a giant seagull, this caused Luffy to laugh and act more animated as twisted his arms inhumanly to give Law more of a visual of how he brought it down on to the ship so Sanji could cook it. Law was comfortable with this kid and he hadn’t realize it because he wasnt one to trust someone so easily.

When Luffy yawns catching Laws attention, the older pirate tells him he should sleep and Luffy just huffs, “I know, but every time I do- I just- its bad- I feel lonely and I don’t like it. I sleep with my nakama, I like to cuddle, Chopper is so warm and despite how rough Zoro looks he super comfy to lay on, Sanji and Robin always brush my hair when I cuddle with them, Nami holds my hand and Usopp is super funny when he sleeps hugging me, Brook and Franky aren’t as comfortable but it’s nice and they sing to me. I just can’t sleep with out them, it’s hard being alone.” Law just stares, how can he say all this to him, so honestly tell him about the most vulnerable moments he has with his crew, it’s hard to imagine some of them actually be that vulnerable with anyone, “I don’t like sleeping alone, I know Ossan is there but it’s not the same he smells old.” Law can’t stop the snort that comes out of him and Luffy giggles looking proud that he made him laugh.

The next day, Law goes to where Luffy is training with the excuse that he’s going rebandage the large scar on Luffy’s chest,(also trying to convince himself that he is not wasting time and that he is needed here.) He arrives just when is complaining but Rayleigh cuts him off telling him today he should rest, that resting days are part of training but to always stay alert and with that Rayleigh says he’s going to explore the small island some more for another training spot and that Luffy has to stay here and rest. Old pirate leaves, Law notices Luffy looks in comfortable until Luffy sees him and he smiles, “Traf-To-fal- Torao!” Torao!? Law thinks at the nickname, he tries to correct him but to no avail. Law does a check up on Luffy, Luffy thanks him after the new bandages on his chest and Law just grunts. Is he needed here? He knows Luffy doesnt like to be alone from what he learned last night but is he okay with Law keeping him company? He feels awkward as Luffy just hums to himself and walks around in the area Rayleigh told him to stay at, stretches here and there to grab something to get a better view of something and Law just stands there awkwardly, he’s about to go when Bepo comes. Luffy saying he likes to cuddle when he sleeps crosses his mind when Laws eyes land on his bear, Bepo was warm, comfortable, Law always laid on him, he refused to think of it as cuddling but looking back at Mugiwara, Law just look at at Bepo and tells him to sit and rest against on of the trees around the area. Law’s mind brewing a plan to get Luffy to sleep on his laps because there’s no way he’s going to tell the other captain, ‘hey, you can’t sleep unless you cuddle? Then cuddle with me and Bepo.’ Yeah, no he ain’t gonna say that. He’s not doing this out of the kindness of his heart either, his not nice to strangers- but Luffy doesn’t feel like a stranger, he scratches the thought in his head, he can’t allow himself to open himself to more people. Especially not Luffy, he reminds him of him, of Corasan and he doesnt want to acknowledge it, not those thoughts. So he reasons that he’s only doing this to get the boy to sleep, so he can finally rest easy, he’s a doctor so it’s only natural for him to take care of his patient, sleeping helps with the healing he convinces himself. This is why he’s here, the patient need him to help him do a full recovery. Luffy needs him. Law swallows thickly at the thought, he likes to feel needed, that he’s not just a burden to others.

Law then sits laying back into Bepo, and the bear, law swears he hears him purr, Law knows how much the Mink like cuddling. He closes his eyes and waits, he knows he looks comfortable and has an idea of what Luffy likes so this was for sure going to tempt him. Law doesnt react when he hears sandals walk his direction, then shuffling that make him guess that the other sat on the ground in front of him and is eagerly scooting over.

“Hey,” Luffy’s voice comes in a whisper and Law opens his eyes. Suddenly he can feel heat in his face, his cheeks warm, his stomach feels weird, and his hands feel clammy. He hasn’t felt like this since he was sixteen since the night of his first time with a complete stranger. Luffy is on his hand and knees leaning towards him, looking curiously at him and Law’s thoughts can’t help themselves but imagine Luffy closer, lower, mouth open and inviting, back arching, then theres a more intense thoughts. Luffy crying not from pain, saying his name in that nasally voice, would he be loud or quiet? He’d like to see him soaked in the moonlight again, so many possibilities when one is made of rubber and so flexible-

“Hey.”

Law snaps out of it, then hears Bepo soft purring and mumbling behind him, it makes him feel shameful that he had such thoughts with a crew member so close to him. Law hasn’t had such thoughts in a long time, only has them on one night stands with strangers when he wants relief. “What,” he manages to say normally and he knows the words that are coming from Mugiwara but he wants to hear him ask something else instead but unfortunately Luffy asks him to move so he could lay on the ‘cool’ bear. Law repeats what? And his thoughts he had of Luffy before seem so shameful, so stupid because Luffy is asking him to move like a demanding childish brat as if Bepo is his and it irks Law so much because Luffy’s supposed to cuddle with him, lay his back against his chest and enjoy Bepos purring not push him aside so he could cuddle with Bepo himself. Law tells him no and Luffy pushes at him to move but Law doesn’t budge, Law grabs Luffy and manages to sit him on his laps, Luffy’s back to his chest and he wraps his arms around the other who’s still struggling and whining, really Law feels so shameful that he thought of someone so childish like that, he wanted to go crawl into the darkest corner of the Polar Tang and hide but the best he could do was hide his face into Luffy’s shoulder as the other struggled in his arms and kicked his legs loosing his sandals, he was sure he was blushing and hell as if he was going to let Luffy see that!

“Let go off me you weirdo! I want to lay on the bear!”

“Shut up, L-Mugiwara-ya. No one lays on Bepo.”

“Hah? But you’re laying on him!?”

“I’m his captain.”

“That’s not fair, the bear is so cool.”

Soon Luffy calm, Law and him stay quiet until Luffy laughs and taken by surprise Law looks over at Luffy and his smile is so bright but he’s crying, eyes red and but laughing so happily, “You’re so warm Torao! It feels nice to cuddle, I want to sleep like this!” Luffy’s tears clear up but his eyes are red still but he’s smiling and finally Lw notices he’s relaxed not as restless as before finally Mugiwara closes his eyes and sighs with a smile on his face and says, “I miss them, everyone. I can’t wait to see them again, I know I can’t see Ace anymore or Sabo but I’m going to get stronger and live because I still have my nakama and I’ll become pirate king.” Luffy keeps talking and Law just listens soon his words become mumbles and his head rolls back onto Law’s shoulder, Law realizes Luffy fell asleep and he hugs the other closer leaning his head more into Luffy.

How was Luffy able to be so full of life, how was he able to smile so honestly. He knew he couldn’t after his family and friends died, when Cora-San because of him, died protecting him and he blamed himself every day for it, some days were a bit easier to smile with his crew and the only will he had to live was to take down Doflamingo but after? Was he even going to survive that? What was there to look forward to?

“Mm, I love them so much, ‘gonna be stronger to protect them,” Luffy mumbled in his sleep.

Love. He wants to be loved too but love meant-

“Love, Captain- we love Captain too, we protect,” Bepo mumbled reacting to Luffy’s words.

Law knows he’s loved but love meant having a weakness and he couldn’t lose those important to him again, never again. Luffy suddenly laughs softly, words thick with sleep, “Yeah being loved is- nice, mm.”

He couldn’t stop the tears that fell down his face, Law felt so vulnerable but safe being surrounded by his navigator and the other captain, Bepo was so warm and despite Luffy being awkwardly gangly build he was very comfortable.

Law remembers the days with Cora-San, being cared for and loved.

“Law, I love you.” That goofy face will forever be engraved into Law’s brain

———

‘Go farther..and farther..there is nothing to bing you down anymore, whether it’s the iron border barrier of the White Town, or a short life expectancy, nothing and no one will limit you. You are free now.’

———

So, that’s it hope someone likes this, I just wanted it out of my head, I couldn’t allow myself to think of this anymore because I need to focus more on my Shattered fic! But thank you for your time and to anyone who read this.

#lawlu #law x luffy #lawlu fanfic #my brain is rotting due to such wonderful lawlu #punk depressed boy x happy go lucky idiot boy seems to be my type i guess #law is sooooo unstable #i love it #i love how i imagine law like this awkward boy who’s desprate for love #chandler from friends says: I’m hopeless and awkward and desprate for love #yeah that be Law #i also love the idea of Law falling for Luffy and not realizing it

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cherryblossom-chopper · 4 years ago

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Sorry this might get really sad, tw for griving a child's death

OK so I've been making myself sad lately by listening to "its quite uptown" from Hamilton and I couldnt help but think, how would the Straw Hat pirates react if their own kid died? Or the Red Head pirate's reaction to having a younger member of their crew die?

You don't need to do this just a thought

TW: Loss of a child

I’ve actually thought about this more often than you would think. I don’t sleep well, so I’ve got a lot of time to think. I might elaborate on this later. Let's just do the Straw Hats for now, alright?

-Emotionally none of them could handle the loss of any crew member, gods forbid it to be one of their children.

-I think Luffy and Usopp are the most emotionally unstable, so losing their child is a nightmare. If Luffy lost his kid, especially if they were young, he would be difficult to deal with, to say the least.

-If his child died suddenly, in combat, for example, he would go on a rampage. Screaming and crying and tearing down everything in his path. His own crewmates aren’t safe from his rage.

-It takes Luffy completely exhausting himself before anyone can approach him. Anyone getting too close before he collapses is going to get hurt. Even Zoro, who I imagine would have just as much to lose if Luffy's child died. Luffy’s kid is Zoro’s kid after all.

-Chopper would do everything he could to save the child, but their little body took too much damage. Chopper has seen a lot of horrible things, but this... this was too much for him. He can barely see anything through his tears in the end. Robin tries to help Chopper keep it together, but it’s no good. Especially not when she’s just as upset.

-Robin would have to be the one to tell them. Chopper wouldn’t be able to face them. I mean, they trusted him. Luffy trusted him, with the most precious thing Luffy ever had, and Chopper still failed.

-Zoro is so… tired… once Luffy collapses. There’s nothing he can do but take Luffy to the med bay and hope everything will be okay. For once in his life, Zoro can’t sleep. He just sits on the deck with his head in his hands. He’s sick to his stomach and can’t get the sound of screaming out of his head. The sound of his partners' child calling for help, calling for their father, haunts Zoro.

-Usopp and Nami experience some serious sensory overload during this time. Chopper crying and Luffy’s meltdown and the experience of losing their captain's child is just far too much for them. When the fight is over and Luffy is down, they lean into each other and cry. Both for what they’ve lost and how exhausted they are.

-Sanji hasn’t experienced familia loss in a long long time, not since his mother passed. When Luffy’s child passes, he doesn’t know what to do. So he does what he does best; cook. He washes the blood from his face and his hands and he begins to cook. Anything and everything to keep the pain at bay. That doesn’t stop him from crying into a saucepan, once the quiet gets to be too much.

-Franky locks himself away for a time afterward, he’s not sure what he can say or do for Luffy. And his dear sweet Robin who has had so much tragedy in her life had to have that innocent child die in her arms. He does attempt to hide her away in his workshop for a while because he feels safe there and he wants Robin to feel safe too. Robin would humor him for a little while, she’d bundle up in some blankets and bring some books down to his workshop. She’d sit and read while he worked and would try to coax him into talking about how he felt. It took some time but he would eventually come around to telling her how he feels.

-Brook is very calm throughout the entire experience. Loss is nothing new to him that when he loses a part of his family again, he becomes very introspective. He sits and fiddles with the strings on his violin, thinking about the Rumbar Pirates again. He’s actually the one who encourages recovering on the ship. After about two weeks of letting his family cope on their own. He starts encouraging them into space with the library and the aquarium. A while ago, Franky installed a piano and Brook started playing to help his family cope.

-Robin, Nami, and Usopp are the first to spend time with Brook. It’s quiet. They listen to Brook play music. Nami and Robin sit together with a stack of books that Nami isn’t reading. She’s just staring at the page. Her eyes go over the lines again and again, but she can’t retain any of the words. Usopp had been sitting with them, but sitting up was too much. He ends up laying on his back near the girls, with his arm draped over his face.

-Franky and Chopper are actually the next individuals to join their crew. Whenever they sit together, Chopper typically ends up on Robin’s lap, reading whatever she happened to be reading. Franky ends up coaxing Usopp off the floor and helps him get more comfortable. Franky can't just let him stay on the floor.

-Sanji and Zoro spend the most time with Luffy and try their best to get him out of bed. When Zoro and Sanji finally get him out of bed, Luffy is… so tired looking. He stares blankly at his friends. Sanji can’t help but sigh and leave the room. He cooked up Luffy’s favorite food and took it to the aquarium.

-Zoro encourages Luffy to at least spend some time with the crew, or even get some fresh air. Luffy does eventually come around and lets Zoro get him out of his room. While holding his hand, Zoro brings Luffy to the aquarium.

-The crew smiles a little upon seeing their captain and Luffy smiles for a moment. Before he can’t breathe again. Luffy begins to cry again, even though he thought all the tears had dried up. The crew sits with him and some of them cry too. This is the turning point for their collective healing. It will still take a long long time, but things will hopefully be better.

#one piece #luffy #zoro #usopp #nami #robin #brook #sanji #angst #tw #child loss #straw hats #luffy angst

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tooweirdforyou · 4 years ago

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Lunar New Year » Teases

Trafalgar D. Water Law x Reader

Summary » Law is being the typical, cocky and teasing ass. But, he’s a lovable asshole, who secretly cares for you.

note : modern! AU, reader works at a cafe :p, friends to lovers(?)

also, some of these might seem a little rushed. And they are. lol — this is the only one I’ll post, accept maybe one on actual lunar year-

“Thank you, please come again!”

Waving goodbye to another customer, you stretch your arms and sigh. “Another busy day of business.” You sang and Penguin chuckles beside you, turning the open sign to closed.

“It makes sense today was a little busier. Don’t you know what day it is?”

“How could I forget, with the amount of envelopes we’ve received from customers?” Gesturing to the pile of stacked red envelopes on the counter behind the register, Shachi and Penguin laugh once more.

“It’s a good thing we decided to open on New Years though, I heard almost every store is closed.” Shachi says, taking off his apron and hanging it up.

You began doing the same, smiling at the thought. Sure, you were exhausted but the amount of customers that came in meant tons of cash, so it was worth it.

“Oh, Shachi! Did you get a personal red envelope from anyone?” Penguin asks, and Shachi shrugs. “Besides my parents and Bepo, I don’t think so. Did you?”

“Not yet, but I heard Boa Hancock has a personal envelope and hasn’t given it to anyone yet.” Penguin grins with a small pink blush across his cheeks, and his words shocked Shachi. “Really? No way!”

Unable to help yourself from overhearing, you laugh lightly. “Sorry, boys. I heard she’s giving it to some guy named Luffy. The one with the straw hat, remember? He barged in here one day, asking for meat with his brothers.”

The two began to sulk at you. “Seriously?.. how lucky..”

Rolling your eyes, you glance at the time. Seeing the clock strike eight, you grin a bit.

You dust your clothes and made sure everything was neat in your area before grabbing your things that you needed.

“Alright, I’m heading out for the night. I’ll see you both in a couple of days. Remember to lock up!”

Penguin nods sullenly before perking up, noticing you already heading for the door. “Wait, aren’t you going to grab some of the envelopes?”

Understanding what he meant, you shrug. “I’ll pick up my share later on. Go ahead and take as many as you two want though.”

With that, you quickly open the door and head out, waving to the two of them before leaving completely.

“Wonder what’s the rush.” Shachi comments and Penguin shrugs, beginning to sweep the shop while Shachi began putting chairs away.

“No way, sold out already?”

Staring at the window display, your shoulders dropped in disappointment at the large sign that signaled the status of the item you’ve been waiting all day for.

Your lips slowly curled into a pout, clearly upset at not being able to be one of the many people who were able to get a copy of the limited edition remake of Sora, Warrior of the Sea comic series.

It was a once in a lifetime situation, considering there were only a few copies of the remake, since it included extra scenes and artwork.

“I can’t believe it..”

“What a pity.”

Whirling your head around to see Law leaning against the wall of the building, a particular book in hand.

“Law? What do you want?.. and is that-!”

“How cruel. I stood here waiting for you to arrive, knowing you’d be upset that it was sold out.” Law states, feigning a look of hurt as he stands up straight.

You furrow your brows at him, not at him for the amount of time it was sold out, but the fact that he actually stood there for as long it was sold out and you arrived.

“What, so you waited for me to laugh in my face about it?”

You never particularly liked Law but you didn’t hate him either. He was attractive yes, but he often got on your nerves with his teasing attitude, his dumb ass smirk, etc.

“Do you think so low about me all the time? It hurts my feelings.” Law hums, making his way towards you as he swung the book around a bit in his hand.

You roll your eyes and sighed. “Right.. well, I guess I’ll get going then. I left the cafe just to find it was worth nothing so.. I better get back to help Penguin and Shachi clean up..” you mumble, clearing your throat and turned around.

Law hums as he stops behind you. “Leaving already? I haven’t even gotten to offer you the book yet.”

Your eyes widen as you whirl around excitedly. “Wait, really?!”

The male closes his eyes with a innocent smile. “Of course. Feel free to take it.” You didn’t even question him as you quickly went to reach for your book eagerly, only to nearly trip in the process when Law pulled away.

He then held it up his head, smirking teasingly. “It’s right here, [Name]-ya. Just reach for it.” Law hums, waving the comic book in the air.

You sent him a small scowl as you reach up for the book once more, just for him to grab your wrist and roughly pull you into his chest,

Lips now right next to your ear, Law hums.

“If you wanted me that badly, you could’ve just asked.”

The unexpected action was enough to bring the heat up to your cheeks, quickly reaching the tips of your ears. “As if!”

Seeing your visible blush was enough to satisfy him, an amused smile spreading across his lips before pulling away from you.

Law turns around, back facing you as he checks the first page of the comic in his hand for a brief moment.

Reassured what was on the front page, he closed it and turned back to face you.

Smirking lightly, Law held out the book for you, before a genuine small smile was seen from him. “Here.”

You eyed him suspiciously for a minute before a wide grin came over you, and you eagerly took the book from him. “Thanks, Law!”

The pink tint of your cheeks and excited smile on your lips made Law’s heart skip a beat, but he wouldn’t admit it.

The male only nods before turning away, his hand up with a wave. “See you around. Happy Lunar Year.”

With that, he began leaving without waiting for your response, hands shoved into his pockets as he did so.

You didn’t seem to mind, too busy thinking about actually having the comic book in your hands and went to see the first page, wondering what it looked like.

However, the sight shocked you.

Upon opening the cover, the blank page showed a bit of writing along with a red envelope.

‘To [ Name LastName ], hope you’re grateful.’

Was all it read as you slowly reached for the red envelope and pulled the seal open.

Inside, instead of it being money, it was a folded paper. Curiosity took over as you pulled it out and read it.

‘You’re welcome. Happy Lunar Year, [ Name ]-ya. I like seeing you smile and I knew you’d want the latest remake of the comic so I made sure to get it. Don’t be a klutz and ruin it.’

and right near the bottom was his phone number, with two words. ‘Let’s talk.’

Irritation was evident in your eyes but the small warm smile took over your emotions as you held the paper tightly in your hands.

Law sure was an unexpected type.

Meanwhile, as Law walked away, he looked down at his path as he did so, warmth spreading over his cheeks at what he did and the image of your excited grin was plastered in his mind.

A/N : MAN IDK OKAY ITS RUSHED AND IM BEST AT RUSHING THINGS BECAUSE MY FINGERS TYPE BEFORE MY BRAIN THINKS! wait does that make sense?

#tooweirdforyou #one piece #one piece x reader #op x reader #x reader #op #one piece writing #trafalgar d. water law x reader #trafalgar d. water law #trafalgar law x reader #law x reader #trafalgar law #lunar new year #🧧

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goodlucktai · 3 years ago

Note

Hi! I love your works! 71 + 72 for Luffy and Jinbei?

PROMPTS LIST

71. “I’m going to protect you.”

smile again

As a watchdog journalist, Jinbei's work takes him everywhere. He isn't always in the best position to receive phone calls. Sometimes, depending on what story his group decides to chase after and what far-flung corner of the world it leads them to, Jinbei goes weeks without internet access.

By the time he gets news of the accident, Luffy has been out of the hospital for a month and Ace has been dead just as long.

Jinbei has to go home.

His colleagues-- a group of solid, hard-working people he's known for going on twenty years, has worked with on the field and off, in smoke and fire and claustrophobic office spaces-- are entirely understanding.

Tiger drives him to a small airport, the truck bouncing along a bumpy gravel road. There's a single, hastily-packed duffel in the bed of the pickup. Jinbei isn't even sure what he shoved in there, having only made one mindless pass through his room. He would have left without his passport if Hatchan hadn't shoved it into his hands on his way out the door.

"It may be time for me to retire," Jinbei says aloud. His mind is ebbing and rising like a tide, a vast ocean of grief. Thoughts go bobbing away like loose buoys before he can get a grasp on them.

All he can think of is the last video-call he made home, over a month ago now. Ace and Luffy, pressed cheek-to-cheek so they'd both fit in-frame, competitive in all things and unwilling to take turns, even as Jinbei laughingly promised he had plenty of time to talk.

They made him promise to call again soon. He meant to.

"Don't worry about us over here," Tiger says. His eyes are on the road, hands tight around the steering wheel. He carries Jinbei's grief like it's his own. "Just worry about your boy."

His boy, Jinbei thinks. Not by blood or by law, certainly, but by something less quantifiable than that. Those scrappy kids that spilled into his yard one muggy summer evening, hiding in the hedges from their well-antagonized CPS caseworker and somehow claiming a piece of Jinbei's heart from the moment he first laid eyes on them.

Ace was so angry back then, and Luffy was so easily frightened, and they clung to each other in a practiced way, as if they were so used to the world trying to claw them apart that they didn't expect anything else, even from a perfect stranger. They didn't seem to know what to do with kindness. Ace watched Jinbei like a hawk for weeks, long after Luffy warmed up to him. His trust, when he finally gave it, felt like a prize.

Jinbei was working long, unpredictable hours, and knew it wouldn't be fair to drag two children into his household if he couldn't afford them the time and care they deserved-- but after school? Weekends? Holidays? Those he gave up freely.

His days gained some semblance of routine again, for the fist time since he finished college. His kitchenware came down from the cupboard, the pockmarked kitchen table was often set for three. He made dinner at home, more than he ate in the office with his colleagues.

Hell, his colleagues ate dinner with him at home more often, too. Within an hour of meeting the boys, each of Jinbei's friends, to a man, would have taken a bullet for either of them, no questions asked.

The sense of structure did wonders for the brothers. With a safe place to return to when they needed it, and someone to fall back on, Ace stopped looking at every potential foster home as if it was a threat. Luffy came out of his shell, bolder with each new day. He made a friend in the village, a boy with vivid green eyes, and they hardly spent a moment apart.

They were finally placed with a couple who lived nearby. Shanks was wry and good-natured, and Benn had the patience of a saint. After a few weeks, when Jinbei asked how they were settling in, his worries were soothed: Luffy clearly adored them, and even Ace grudgingly admitted they weren't so bad.

And when the time came, and Ace applied for emancipation as well as custody of his brother, he had a small army in his corner. A patchwork family collected in little bits and pieces, ready to support him through anything.

"I will always be here for you both," Jinbei had promised him, countless times. "You'll never be alone as long as I'm alive."

"Thank you," Ace said, a little bashful. But he was so pleased, and so full of hope for the future, and he said, "I'll feel better, knowing someone's around to look after Luffy if I can't."

He immediately got shouted down by his entire strange extended pseudo-family for daring to suggest they'd ever let anything happen to him, and it made him laugh so brightly, and now the memory sticks like needles in Jinbei's throat.

Tiger hugs him hard before Jinbei boards the plane. In the back of his mind, where there is a tiny corner free from drowning, Jinbei can't help but wonder when he'll see his friend again.

He keeps thinking of that last video call. He can't remember everything they talked about. He doesn't think he said enough. He almost certainly didn't tell Ace everything he deserved to hear. Foolishly, he assumed there would be another time.

He's learned from this. He won't take it for granted any more.

"Call me when you land," Tiger says. "Give the monkey our love."

"I will," Jinbei replies. His heart is so heavy he doesn't know how he manages the steps onto the plane. He doesn't know how the pilot manages to lift them up from the tarmac. It's a wonder they aren't sinking, straight through the earth.

Nami and Usopp are waiting for him at the airport, wide-awake even though it's well past two o'clock in the morning. They're familiar to Jinbei from the stories Luffy has told him, from the numerous video calls they've bullied their way into over the years, and the handful of birthdays and holidays Jinbei was able to make it home for.

"Luffy wanted to come with us to pick you up, but he fell asleep," Usopp says, apropos of nothing, as they're waiting for their Uber. "Sanji said it was a small miracle, and Zoro looked like he was going to hunt us for sport if we even thought about waking him up, so--"

"He hasn't been sleeping, then?" Jinbei asks quietly.

"After he came home, he was on some pretty heavy meds, and he slept a lot," Nami says. Her arms are folded tight against her chest in the nighttime chill, her eyes trained somewhere far away. "But he had bad dreams and he would wake up disoriented. Now he fights sleep tooth and nail."

"We've all sort of become the insomnia squad," Usopp pipes up. "Thank god I'm not taking any classes this summer."

"Sanji's gotten really good at making lattes," Nami adds with a small smile. "Wait till you see his shiny new espresso machine."

"I'm like eight-five percent sure he stole it from the Baratie."

Jinbei listens to their chatter, feeling at once anchored by them and adrift at sea. It makes sense that they would be ahead of him. They've been here all this time, practically from the moment of the accident, facing it with all the bravery and endurance of sailors in a typhoon. Jinbei, meanwhile, had been living in an unchanged world.

For the last month, Ace has been dead. How many times had Jinbei thought about him? Mentioned him to a friend? How many times had Jinbei wrongly said his name in the present-tense?

The house is warmly-lit when they arrive, but quiet. An old blue Irish wolfhound greets them at the door, wagging his tail. Robin looks up from the papers she has spread out on the coffee table and smiles. Chopper is fast asleep beside her, his head on her shoulder. Behind them, Jinbei can see Sanji at work in the kitchen, shaping dough. Something is baking that smells of cinnamon and apples.

They weren't kidding about their sleep schedules being a mess.

"Hello, Jinbei. It's good to see you," Robin says. Her voice is soft, in deference to the sleeping teenager. "Luffy is asleep, but you can see him if you like."

"Please," Jinbei replies hoarsely.

"I'll take him," Nami says. "Usopp, would you bring his bag to the guest bedroom?"

"'Course," Usopp replies, but he makes a detour into the kitchen first.

Nami takes Jinbei's hand and leads him toward the stairs. "I feel really stupid about this, but I was so angry at you," she admits as they make their way up. "It's hardly the first time we haven't been able to contact you, and I know why that is. But-- I don't know, I think I was going crazy. I wanted Luffy to have everything he wanted. I wanted everyone who loved him to be here every time he woke up. So I-- so there might be some angry emails waiting for you, but please don't hate me for it."

"I won't even read them," Jinbei promises gravely, his heart cleaved clean in two. "I can't imagine how-- how hard it must have been. I-- if I had gotten the messages sooner-- "

"I know," Nami assures him, pausing outside a closed bedroom door. "Franky spoke to you like six hours ago, and you're already here. You dropped everything to be here. We know the kind of person you are."

She stands up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, and Jinbei bends to accommodate her, the same way he does for Koala. Then Nami reaches out and pushes open the door.

Zoro is awake, sitting against the headboard with his phone in hand and earphones in, and his eyes are as bright and sharp now as they were when he was a child. He looks up when the door opens, and seems to relax when he sees Jinbei stepping in behind Nami.

"Go to sleep," Nami whispers, pointing at the second bed across the spacious room.

"Don't tell me what to do," Zoro replies, just as quiet, but he pulls his earphones out and extracts himself from the bed with all the exacting precision of a bomb disposal technician. Nami takes him by the arm, helping him get up so carefully that the mattress hardly moves. It's such a well-practiced maneuver that Jinbei thinks he honestly might cry.

"If one of you would stay for a bit, I'll grab a shower," Zoro says.

"Sure, stinky," Nami says, nudging him toward the door. "Jinbei?"

He nods, unsure of what he's agreeing to. Now that he's finally next to Luffy, nothing else seems to exist. He sinks into the chair beside the bed, only half-aware of Nami and Zoro leaving. Their murmured conversation is cut off by the closing door. The room is silent, save for the gentle, unobtrusive sound of Luffy's steady breathing.

He's lost weight since Jinbei saw him last. There are shadows on his face that don't belong there. He looks both older and younger than he has any right to, even now, when his face is untroubled and slack with sleep.

"Hello, little monkey," Jinbei says. His voice is quiet, but it still breaks. He's crying, he realizes, thick tears rolling down his face with abandon. "I'm sorry it took me so long."

He thinks of two little boys, spilling into his life on accident, taking up room in his home and his heart as if they always belonged there. They weren't his, not really, but he loved them anyway. Loves them still.

"I'm here now," he whispers. His hands are shaking. "I'm going to protect you, like I promised. I'm here, Ace. Please believe me, wherever you are. I won't fail you again."

#one piece #op #opfic #knight of the sea jimbei #cat burglar nami #god usopp #my writing #smile again #i woke up and chose violence #but i mean a couple people were wondering where jimbei was so u brought this upon urselves

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 4 years ago

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The Voyage So Far: Paramount War (Part Two)

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

ace’s execution is, in a way, the exception that proves the rule when it comes to one piece’s themes of blood and family. ace is set up to die for the crimes of a father he never knew and never wanted, and he does die here, but in the end he dies for the family he did choose, in the form of luffy, rather than the one he didn’t.

god do i wish we knew more about ms portgas d. rouge. with ace’s storyline pretty much wrapped it looks unlikely that we’re going to be learning more about her than what we got, which in my opinion is an absolute tragedy, because what little we do know about her is amazing and she’s an absolute badass. oda give us more female ds please.

whitebeard’s power is so cool. it might be one of the visually coolest devil fruits we’ve ever seen, in my opinion. he he causes earthquakes and tsunamis while far past his prime; he pulls the sky apart with his bare hands. this whole arc is world-shaking, and whitebeard’s power is perfectly appropriate for it.

doflamingo’s speech on justice and rightness is one of the most well-remembered quotes from this whole saga, and rightly so. i’ve always found it fascinating, myself, because he’s right. he dead-on hits how the one piece world works- the world government and the marines rule the world not because of any inherent actual goodness or justice or right, but because they won a war a very long time ago.

in a way, this reminds me of blackbeard’s line of “people’s dreams never die” from jaya. i like how oda isn’t afraid of letting his villains be right about the themes of the story, sometimes even having better awareness of them than the protagonists.

man, if i had to pick a single favorite spread out of the whole manga, it might be luffy’s marineford entrance. it’s so epic, and so completely unexpected for everyone else there. absolutely nobody was expecting strawhat luffy to drop out of the sky with a posse including two former warlords. it just makes me grin!! so much!!

it also gets followed up by a solid two pages of just people’s reactions, from smoker’s “what the HELL is he doing with CROCODILE” to moria’s immediate incoherent rage, and i just love that the world and cast of one piece is so well-established and built up that we know exactly how all of those people know luffy and why they react the way they do.

going back to what i mentioned in the last post about marineford being luffy’s conflict of interest arc, i’d say it’s also the only time where he isn’t the future king first and foremost. in this arc, before anything else, he’s a little brother.

there are a lot of what-if moments in marineford. moments where you kind of have to ask “what if this specific thing hadn’t happened, had gone differently?” would things have turned out differently? squard’s betrayal is one of them. does this change the outcome? would whitebeard have been able to survive if not for this injury? there’s no way to know. marineford is a lot of little tragedies, and they just pile up and up.

marineford has just so many incredibly striking spreads. all of the momentous moments (and there’s a lot of them, in this arc) are done full justice. this is such an image heavy post just because marineford is such an incredibly visually strong arc.

conqueror’s haki is so cool and i love the way it’s set up and built up throughout this saga, with luffy’s constant inadvertent uses of it, from duval’s bull to marigold and sandersonia to the wolves in impel down, all leading up to this moment.

i’ve heard people complain about conqueror’s as kind of a deus ex machina, but i honestly love it, it’s very cool and honestly i think it just seems to fit luffy as a power. if there was ever gonna be a character who turned willpower into a weapon, it would be monkey d. luffy.

i’m gonna take this chance to talk about garp, because this sequence of panels is heavily implied to be garp’s thoughts just before luffy punches him down, and it hurts. garp is a flawed person who makes some bad choices, and there’s no arguing that, but i think it’s very obvious he really, really cares about his grandsons, even if he never could understand them as people and that they never would have been happy as marines. and that’s just tragic, really.

the moment ace gets freed and the brief span of time where he and luffy can fight together feel so triumphant, and i think it’s one of the reasons the final tragedy of marineford hits so hard and feels so cruel, because luffy succeeds, here. he saves ace. he gives absolutely everything he had and makes it, and saves ace. the ultimate failure isn’t his. there was nothing more he could have done.

the first time i was reading one piece, i hit this page (which is also the last in the volume) and had to put the book away, take the bus downtown, wander around for a few hours, and buy myself some candy and some new books before i started feeling okay again.

the thing about ace’s death, i think, is that it’s a tragedy, but it also feels so completely essential to the story going forwards and luffy’s character growth specifically that it’s really, really hard to imagine one piece without it. there are a lot of (really excellent!) fix-fics out there for marineford, and although those are often really good and their authors super talented, i think it’s really hard for them to ever hit the same way canon does with regards to this.

i always think of this scene specifically in contrast to zoro and mihawk’s fight, back on baratie. zoro and mihawk are both people who believe in honor in battle, true victory or death, and that’s reflected in their fight, in zoro’s refusal to turn and run even in the face of imminent death, and mihawk’s respect for that resolve. whitebeard, too, is an honorable man. he refuses to turn to run, even when facing certain death.

the blackbeard pirates, however, are not.

i do enjoy how, just like roger’s, ace’s execution backfires tremendously on the marines. this was entirely a predictable outcome, too! this exact thing happened twenty years ago! the marines don’t learn. they don’t change. they’re so assured of their own rightness and power that they make stupid mistakes like holding a massive public execution after the last one blew up in their faces.

(this is why they need coby so badly, for the record, and why it’s important that he still decides to become a marine after witnessing their corruption firsthand in shells town. the marines are long overdue for a reformation, one that orients them towards real justice.)

i really, really enjoy crocodile in this saga. mostly because he hasn’t been redeemed at all, he’s still pretty much the exact same kinda awful person he was in alabasta, he’s just on luffy’s side this time, and it lets us see him in a better light, when he gets angry at whitebeard for nearly dying or when he helps luffy and jinbe escape to keep the marines from getting their way. few of one piece’s characters are truly so one-dimensional as they can seem, and i really appreciate that.

i really really love all the interactions between luffy, ace and sabo as kids. they’re so fun and bounce off of each other so well. even though we only see them together for a brief time, they really feel like siblings. (which of course only makes later events hurt so much more.

i’ve always been a little fascinated by the fact that it takes us this long to get luffy’s full backstory. it’s almost a fakeout, because we get part of his backstory in the very first chapter, and we’re kind of led to believe that’s all there is. it’s not until ace’s introduction nearly two hundred chapters in that we’re given any indication there’s more.

but at the same time, it makes sense. marineford is luffy’s focus arc, as arlong park to nami or thriller bark to brook. he hasn’t had a focal arc that’s really about him before this, while all his other crewmates have. it makes sense that this would be when he finally gets his flashback.

i think it’s cool that dragon and the revolutionaries show up at the grey terminal fire, because it’s one of the only looks we’ve gotten so far into what their actual regular operations are like. and, of course, they’re saving people. i really like this about the revolutionaries, that helping people in trouble is basically their modus operandi, when pretty much everyone else in one piece’s world mostly does saving on an incidental basis if at all.

i think a lot about how the last line of sabo’s letter to ace is also both of their last words to the strawhats.

death in one piece always feels much realer and more impactful to me than in most other series, and i think this is part of the reason why: in one piece, we are always shown the mourning. nami at bellemere’s grave, carrot grieving pedro, ace and whitebeard’s funeral.

there are fewer deaths, comparatively, than most other series, but they’re given so much room to echo. we’re still feeling the impacts of ace’s life and death in the most recent chapters of wano. it ties into the theme of inherited will and all the way back to hiriluk’s final speech, of men not being dead so long as they’re remembered.

the picture of luffy at marineford always kind of strikes me. he looks so young and so solemn, and yet much more himself than he did when we last saw him losing his mind on amazon lily. i really like it.

sometimes i just think about the sheer depth of trust and love the strawhats must have in each other to separate for two years, far longer than they were ever together, to solely dedicate themselves to improving for the sake of crew and captain. none of them even hesitate, and none of them ever doubt that the crew will be reformed at the end of it.

after all, luffy keeps his promises.

#the voyage so far #one piece #opmeta #not japanese #arc: marineford #arc: post marineford #long post

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robinchan-hananomi · 3 years ago

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One Piece 1023

I have a lot of thoughts here about the new chapter. There is a lot of things to unpack here!

So first, things I loved! I absolutely loved Zoro and Sanji’s dynamic in this chapter. Yes, the two were bickering a bit but honestly it felt like their comments were more to reassure each other than anything. Zoro immediately noticed that something was wrong with Sanji and Sanji responded honestly, that his body has felt funny ever since using the raid suit a second time. Zoro probes to see just how deep the concern is, asking if Sanji is going to slow him down, and Sanji’s answer seems to reassure him enough that he almost jokes, teasing Sanji about his eyebrows. One the flip side Sanji knows better than almost anyone just what kind of shape Zoro is in right now. They both look out for each other and they tease each other during the start of this fight, but it is mostly them being more like ‘look asshole, I know you’re trying to see what the extent of the damage is but I swear I am fine enough to knock this son of a bitch out’.

And make no mistake, Zoro and Sanji are probably going to have a lot of physical issues after this chapter. Sanji mentions that his body is feeling weird. This could be anything from the raid suit being intentionally designed to hurt Sanji to his body just not being able to cope with the strain the new technology is putting on him. The mink doctor also just reminded Chopper that while Zoro is up now, he won’t be for long and that he doesn't even want to imagine what kind of shape Zoro is going to be at the end of the fight. No matter how Wano shakes out, Zoro and Sanji are going to be hurting and will require some serious rest and TLC.

After Sanji and Zoro face off against King and Queen, we also get a small moment for the opponents to communicate. On Queen and Sanji’s side, Queen talks about how Judge experimented on his children and questions the validity of Sanji’s claim of being completely human since he can light his body on fire. Sanji admits he’s probably just that dramatic. On the other side Zoro notes King’s unorthodox fighting and when King points out there is no need to follow technique and method in combat, Zoro agrees and reminds King there really isn’t anything preventing Zoro from ripping out King’s throat with his teeth.

Now Zoro and Sanji are only able to fight King and Queen in peace due to Hyogoro and Kawamatsu’s efforts. Kawamatsu prevented a Beast Pirate from taking a shot at Zoro and Hyogoro explains that anyone who tries to help either side at this point would just be in the four combatants way. While they watch the fight, they comment about Zoro.

The thing is, Zoro has been connected to the Shimotsuki Clan from the start. Zoro’s hometown is Shimotsuki Village. In the SBS corner, Oda explained that the village was founded about 55 years ago by Shimotsuki Kozaburo, the man who forged Wado Ichimonji and Enma. Kozaburo’s son Koshiro ran the Isshin Dojo, which used the Shimotsuki Clan crest as it’s symbol and Zoro had worn that crest his entire childhood. Koshiro’s daughter Kuina was Zoro’s best friend and rival. Then Zoro met and fought Shimotsuki Ryuma, whose family name was again confirmed in the SBS corner. More on Ryuma in a minute. Ever since Zoro has entered Wano, he has been even more connected to the Shimotsuki Clan. The Clan had two Daimyo’s that we know of, Ushimaru and Yasuie. Zoro has spent a lot of time in Ringo, Ushimaru’s territory, and even combated with Ushimaru’s retainer Onimaru a few times now for Ryuma’s sword Shusui. On the other side Zoro befriended Yasuie and his daughter Toko. While all the strawhats were seen to be fond of Toko and quite a few met Yasuie, Zoro spent the majority of time with him.

Now as for Ryuma. Ever since the Monsters oneshot was tied to the One Piece Manga, fans had noticed the similarities between Zoro and Ryuma. The two look very alike in appearance and they had many similar mannerisms. They also have the connection of sharing a sword, Shusui, and both decapitated a dragon in the air. And now, apparently, Ryuma had lost an eye in his adventures and was known as a one eyed swordsman...which I mean his zombie did have a scar on his face that would have gone over his right eye along with bandages covering his right eye so it’s not really a surprise.

The two citizens of Wano comment that Ushimaru is a direct descendant of Ryuma and note that Zoro has a similar appearance and style of fighting to Ushimaru and by extension Ryuma. Now if this is because Zoro is somehow part of the Shimotsuki Clan (which I actually kind of hope not), or if it is just a coincidence about appearance and the other similarities are because Zoro trained at a dojo from the Shimotsuki Clan is still up in the air. Either way, I really do like the idea of developing Zoro more and I have been waiting for someone, anyone, in the manga to finally notice just how much Zoro seems to be connected to this family.

Anyway, back to the chapter! While Zoro and Sanji keep two of the three calamities busy, we see there is a LOT of other things going on. I’m not going to go in order of the rest of the chapter because I want to organize my thoughts a little.

So first, which is actually the last thing to happen, is Momo is now 28 years old. He has Shinobu turn him into an adult because he can only do so much as an eight year old. It is a fantastic way to follow the panels of the battle that came before it, because we see the samurai are willing to die to bring about an age where Kaido’s reign has ended and Momo’s time can start. They believe that Momo will bring Oden’s will and bring Wano to a wonderful future, they believe it so much that they are willing to die for it. Momo answers that belief by giving up twenty years of his life. Understand while twenty years have passed for everyone else, it hasn’t for Momo. Momo just had Shinobu mature his body by twenty years in order to get stronger, bigger, and be able to take a stand against Kaido. There is going to be a lot of issues in the future with having an eight year old in a twenty eight year old man’s body, but just like Zoro and quite possibly Sanji’s physical health; this is a bridge to cross when we get to it. After all everyone has to survive the battle and win before they can worry about what is next. So now as a much bigger and stronger dragon, Momo and Luffy can go face Kaido together.

On a side note with everyone talking about being ghosts and all, it’s kinda fitting that it is implied that Momo looks like Oden. Now we really will have people think they’re seeing ghosts.

We also have Inu and Neko fighting Jack and Big Mom’s son. These fights are not just about defeating Kaido either. There is an element of revenge to them both. As Inu sends Jack through a wall, he expresses recalls all the pain Jack brought to the people of Zou. Just like Neko talks about Pedro while fighting. And yet the two talk about how everything they lost, all that they suffered through, was all part of the road to get there, now, to bring Kaido and his Beast Pirates to an end. And the two are using their badass Sulong Form.

The last big note for this chapter is Marco’s memory of his discussion with Whitebeard. It is implied that King’s race are the Lunarian, and that King is the last one. They lived up on the Red Line in a long ago past. Marco recalls Whitebeard talking about how it was ‘God’s Land’ which is honestly giving me super Skypeia vibes. What exactly is this God’s Land?

Because we hadn’t talked too much of the Red Line, I for whatever reason, always imagined other people living up there. We knew the Celestial Dragons lived on the Red Line, but because it is like a long continent of linked together islands I just naturally assumed other races and beings lived up there. That doesn't appear to be the case. Which to be fair I am a fool for even thinking that because now that it’s put that way I realize a group so pompous and self important as the Celestial Dragons would never allow anyone so lowly as normal people to live so high in the world as they do. So they enjoy their life in the clouds while driving any peoples and race either off the Red Line or to extinction.

Marco brings up the old conversation to Izo, after the latter saves him for drifting off in a battle, and Izo says Marco sounds like Whitebeard when he was drunk. Whitebeard was part of the Rocks Pirates, the Pirate crew that shook the world to it’s core almost a whole generation before Roger even appeared. Whitebeard has seen some real shit. I wonder just what all Whitebeard knew about the world, and I wonder just how much he tried to impart on his children only for them to think he was drunkenly rambling?

Anyway, it was a fantastic chapter and I am so freaking excited to see where we go next!!!

#one piece #one piece 1023 #roronoa zoro #shimotsuki clan #shimotsuki ryuma #sanji #king #queen #inuarashi #nekomamushi #monkey d. luffy #kozuki momonosuke #marco #izo

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megashadowdragon · 3 years ago

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Warning: this theory contains HEAVY SPOILERS! If you’re not fully caught up with the manga, read at your own risk.

Since English isn’t my first language, I apologize in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes. Also, this is my first time posting.

It’s practically obvious to everyone that we will get a Kaido flashback in this arc, whether he dies or not: of course, there will be a part about his time in the Rocks Pirates, but we will also get to know possibly one of the most important people for him: his wife.

Because, let’s face it, Oda hasn’t done much yet to give his personality some depth and not being just an arrogant, cruel, child-beating antagonist with a penchant for alcohol and an obsession for death, and a figure such a woman he loved could be a great opportunity for doing so.

Some might speculate that she’s actually dead and that’s why Kaido started drinking.

It could be true but, knowing Oda, he would never introduce a deceased character of that importance out of the blue, without some sort of foreshadowing: a well-kept grave located in a secret place where an important character stumbles upon in the Onigashima raid (on screen, obviously), a framed portrait on a desk or a wall, a name seemingly being thrown offhandedly in a conversation… but there is nothing in Wano which even remotely resembles one of those things.

Therefore, she must be alive.

(Also, there are already too much fundamental figures in various characters’ history who ended up dead in flashbacks, such as Bellemere, Rocinante, Russian and so on. Come on, Oda.)

Is she going to be someone new, at least?

Well, that’s a possibility, however in next arc(s) new characters will be introduced and One Piece has got more than a thousand of them already… quite a lot, aren’t they? Consequently, there is a very good chance for her to be someone who has been already introduced into the story.

Of course, there must have been some sort of foreshadowing when she had been introduced, too: she was the lover of a Yonko, after all. Has there been a woman with an unknown lover in the past arcs?

Yes, actually.

It was her:

And I believe that the mysterious man she fell in love with was none other than Kaido himself. But wait, there’s more: Gloriosa has also eaten a Devil Fruit. An extremely powerful one.

Don’t worry, I will explain everything on the way. Now, hold onto your seat, because this will be quite the long ride.

Kaido and Gloriosa comparison

Kaido of the Beasts, Governor General of the Beasts Pirates, one of the Four Emperors, the Strongest Being in the world and Gloriosa, a former Kuja ruler. These two may have little to nothing in common... or have they?

Probably the most striking difference between them is their respective height: while Kaido easily dwarfs normal humans, Gloriosa is shorter than Luffy; however, both of their heights are currently not canonically stated.

Unstated as both of their ages are, although it’s clear that both of them are past their younger days: in Gloriosa this is highlighted by her grey hair and wrinkled face, but it’s clear that Kaido is not that young any more, too, having crow’s feet under his eyes and forehead lines. It is likely that these two are quite close in age, actually.

A notably interesting fact is, canon heights and ages of the various characters, along with things such as their favourite food, are revealed in the SBS corner in manga volumes. And yet, not even one of these little pieces of information has been revealed for both Kaido and Gloriosa.

It’s very unlikely that nobody has ever sent these question to Oda, or that the latter forgot to answer them; given the importance of the two characters in the arc where they have appeared, there must be a very specific reason why Oda didn’t tell us a thing. More than that, when Gloriosa talked about her Love Sickness in chapter 522, there was no flashback; not even silhouettes.

With these things and questions on mind, let’s move on to their position. Kaido is now an Emperor of the Sea, and Gloriosa was an Empress of the Kuja. Also, while Gloriosa was an Empress Kaido held no particular position, except by maybe being a pirate captain; and now the tables have turned, Kaido being an Emperor and Gloriosa being a nobody. A neat little parallel, isn’t it?

Now, let’s get to their Haki usage and knowledge: Gloriosa seems to have some knowledge about how it works and the characteristics of the people who are able to use the various Colours: in fact, in chapter 521 she comments about Luffy’s Haki, surprised by how he willingly bowed his head to Hancock to help those who saved him instead of a boat to leave the island without a second thought. She is not a confirmed user of any form of Haki; however, in a place where pretty much every powerful warrior can use at least Observation and Armament, it is hinted she is a wielder of these two colours at least and, since she used to be an Empress, there is also a chance she can use Conqueror’s, too. Kaido is a confirmed Observation, Armament and Conqueror user, and also one of the very few people, as he himself stated in chapter 1010, who can make the latter colour flowing through their body and coat their weapon(s). In the very same chapter, he also recognized Zoro’s illusions while performing Ashura as a manifestation of Conqueror’s Haki, revealing his in-depth knowledge about the subject.

Last but certainly not least... their strength. Kaido one-shot Luffy in Gear Fourth despite the Emperor being so drunk he could not stand on his feet properly; also, he was able to clash against a fellow Yonko for days and tanked pretty much both all the Scabbard’s hits and the majority of the Supernova’s attacks on the rooftop. Moreover, how can his absolutely epic introduction not be taken into account? He fell from a Sky Island literally 10000 metres above the sea level and he ended up with... a strong headache. I’ll tell you what: Gloriosa fell from a great height, too! In addiction to it, she landed without suffering any serious consequences, as shown in chapter 517, where she landed on her feet seemingly undamaged after Hancock quite literally threw her out of the Kuja Castle. As Gloriosa herself said, she might have grown old, but she is still a Kuja warrior. Also, being a former ruler where strength is beauty, she undoubtedly was a force to be reckoned with in her prime.

That being said*... Maybe they’re not so different, after all, huh?*

Mythology references

One Piece has loads of references to Japanese myths and folklore, however Wano is especially loaded with these; and how could it not be? It is inspired by Japan, after all.

Moreover, since Kaido can transform into a dragon, there must be some kind of reference to Japanese myths and legends regarding these legendary creatures.

There’s one in particular, which might be the key to Kaido’s backstory: the story of the Enoshima Dragon.

According to this myth, in the mountains near the Koshigoe village lived a five-headed dragon, called Gozuryu, who terrorized the inhabitants over a period of some-thousand years by provoking countless natural disasters such as huge storms, floods and earthquakes, as well as eating their children. The villagers kept praying and praying, until something happened: in 31st May, 552 AD, during a bigger and more violent storm than the usual, the clouds split in two and a rock began to emerge from the sea. A beautiful woman descended from a ray of light where the clouds slit and sat foot on the island just created, making it her home. The dragon, who assisted to the whole thing, immediately fell in love with her and asked her to marry him.

The woman, who was perfectly aware of the dragon’s evil actions, was none other than the goddess Benzaiten herself.

Benzaiten on a white dragon

Now, there are two versions of how the story ends: in one, the goddess turned him down at first, and told the dragon she would have considered his proposal only if he helped the people he used to terrorise. Gozuryu accepted and the village prospered thanks to their dual protection; in the end, the goddess agreed to marry him and the couple lived happily until the dragon met his demise. In the other version, Benzaiten straight up refused Gozuryu’s proposal due to his evil actions; ashamed for his wrongdoings, the dragon promised the goddess he would have never disturbed the village again, and retired in the mountains where he died of guilt.

Anyway, regardless of how the story goes, when the dragon died he fused with the land of Kamakura, creating the Dragon’s Mouth hill (Japanese: Tatsu no kuchi yama) facing south, the direction of the island where his beloved lived. Needless to say, the island of the myth is Enoshima.

The comparison between Kaido and Gozuryu is immediate: both are extremely cruel towards children, with the former having no qualms beating them, even his own, and the latter eating them. Moreover, the Emperor, much like the five-headed dragon, terrorizes the inhabitants of the place near where he lives (Wano Country and Koshigoe Village respectively) turning the land into completely inhabitable wasteland in the process, and is capable of causing huge storms; his apparition in chapter 921 is also being accompanied by a thunderstorm. Note that, in Chapter 1003, Zoro states that fighting Kaido was like “facing a natural disaster”, much like the natural catastrophes Gozuryu caused.

Now, let’s talk about Benzaiten.

Goddess of water (especially rivers), eloquence, and good fortune, Benzaiten is considered one of the protector deities of Japan, where she’s one of the most beloved and revered gods: every major city has at least one place for her worship and countless temples and shrines dedicated to her cult are present in many other areas across the country, all located near water sources such as rivers, ponds, lakes or even in the sea. She is part of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods, and she’s the only woman among them.

Benzaiten, however, is not originally Japanese: she is in fact a syncretic deity derived from the Hindu goddess Saraswati whose cult was brought to Japan by Buddhist monks who arrived in the VII century from China.

Due to her extreme complexity, only the most relevant facts to this theory will be reported.

She wasn’t very popular until the XI century, when her cult was fused with Ugajin’s, an obscure Japanese Kami of water, agriculture and good fortune, often represented as an old man with a snake body. Once this happened, her popularity skyrocketed as a goddess of water and by assonance ‘of everything that flows’: rivers, eloquence, knowledge, music, art and Haki. Even nowadays, Uga Benzaiten, the goddess with Ugajin on her head, is one of the most common Benzaiten representations.

Both lived in an island inhabited only by women: Gloriosa in Amazon Lily, and Benzaiten in Enoshima, since she was the sole inhabitant of said island and also a woman;

Benzaiten originated from an Indian goddess and Gloriosas, the flowers which Gloriosa was named after, grow in India too! Gloriosa superba is even Tamil Nadu’s national flower.

Due to being goddess of water, Benzaiten was naturally associated with animals connected with said element: snakes, turtles… and dragons. Especially the white ones, since this colour is linked with water in Japanese culture.

Snakes are a big part of Amazon Lily’s culture: almost every warrior on the island has her own Snake Weapon which can be used as a bow, the island’s dome is sculpted with snake motifs, the Perfume Yuda, Kuja Pirates’ flagship, is carried by two Yuda snakes, even Kuja, the name of the tribe, means ‘Nine snakes’

White snakes were considered to be Benzaiten’s main messengers and avatars and Gloriosa in Share the World opening appeared with a blue top and*...* a white snake.

Also, the traditional representation of the Black Warrior is a turtle intertwined with a snake, much like Kujas with their Snake Weapon. Due to these facts, I believe that Gloriosa has eaten the Mythical Zoan Kame Kame no Mi model: Genbu.

Timeline and character analysis – a PERSONAL take on what could have happened and when (and why)

For this section, other than time markings scattered throughout the story, Momonosuke’s (biological 8 – actual 28), Yamato’s (28), and Hancock’s (31) ages will also be taken into account for comparison.

It is known that the Rocks Pirates were defeated and subsequently disbanded 38 years before the current time. Also, Kaido was captured, and presumably sentenced to jail, eighteen times; given his reputation and danger, it’s pretty safe to assume that at least one of those nine prison ships he sunk was directed to Impel Down.

Impel Down is actually not that far from Amazon Lily: the journey takes one sailing week with an average ship, while Marine ones can make it in just four days, about half the time, because of the reserved currents. In my opinion, it makes sense thinking that Kaido has sunk a prison ship in the Paradise and somehow ended up in Amazon Lily.

Now, everyone here knows the supreme rule of the Island of Women:

NO. MEN. ALLOWED.

For any reasons.

So, by the laws of the island, he was imprisoned and, just like Luffy, was sentenced to death. But, like the latter pirate did, Kaido defeated/broke/knocked unconscious all the animal/things commonly used for executions on the island, therefore the Empress finally decided to take the matter into her own hands.

I believe the Kuja Empress at the time was Gloriosa. Why?

Well, it was stated that 33 years ago the remnants of the Rocks Pirates sent off to found their own crews, and probably Kaido arrived in Amazon Lily even earlier, between 38 and 33 years ago. As Hancock stated, Gloriosa is actually the former-former-former empress of Amazon Lily: this means that there were two Empresses between her and Hancock; since the latter is stated to have become Empress at the age of 18, 13 years ago, and given that the other two unnamed Empresses died of Love Sickness which probably is more likely to strike the unlucky rulers at a fairly young age, 20-25 years are more than enough for two Empresses to have reigned.

To estimate her actual force at the time, let’s analyse her name a bit.

Like all Kujas, Gloriosa is named after a flower (or a genus of those): Gloriosa is a genus of 12 flower species, widely spread in areas of the world such as Africa, the Arabic Peninsula and tropical parts of Asia. It can reach 3 metres in height and they display showy, vibrant-colored flowers with distinctively shaped petals, earning them the nickname of fire lily.

So, the question arises spontaneously: why is this short, wrinkly old woman named after one of the most beautiful (and tallest) flowers in the world? Given Oda’s attention even for the tiniest details, I highly doubt he chose this name randomly; at least, not for her.

Either she’s a grotesque parody of her own name… or it could be a foreshadow.

Gloriosa is also the Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan word meaning ‘glorious’, if the subject it’s related to is feminine and singular. A truly fitting name for a ruler and the wife of a Yonko, isn’t it? And Kaido want his death to be… glorious.

Maybe Gloriosa in her prime was actually even more beautiful and stronger than the current Hancock, to the point where nobody had ever beaten her in combat.

Anyway, you know how the saying goes: if it’s one on one, always bet on Kaido.

Therefore, Gloriosa was defeated for the first time. By a man.

Hancock’s case probably gives us how Empresses fall ill with Love Sickness: it happens when a man catches them off guard by behaving in a totally and positively unexpected way, defying all the previous experiences the rulers have. Hancock fell in love with Luffy because he showed her kindness and didn’t judge her when she told him about her past; Gloriosa got Love Sickness because she fell in love with Kaido for his strength.

Because love… is always like a Dragon Twister hurricane!

How about Kaido?

It is common knowledge that he respects physical strength, even in his enemies.

That’s probably why he joined the Rocks Pirates in the first place: out of respect for Rocks D. Xebec, because he was actually the first person ever to defeat him in combat.

Just like Zoro with Kuina, or Douglas Bullet with Gol D. Roger (in the Stampede movie).

Gloriosa may have not defeated him in combat, but she surely gave him a very good run for his money, maybe she almost won. And he respected her for that, to the point where he actually accepted to leave Amazon Lily, even if he won. He stayed there for a little more, while a ship for him to sail the sea was being prepared, and lived peacefully (meaning: extensively touched and examined) with the Kujas.; what are the chances that one of his favourite (or least) foods is actually penne with Gorgonzola and Sea King’s meat, the island’s culinary speciality?

When he sat sail, he probably found out that the Empress snuck aboard his ship when he was far away from the island already. He thought of bringing her back, but, after listening to her reasons, he decided to let her stay with him because, let’s face it, Kaido is not Luffy, he actually appreciates the company of women.

The most beautiful woman in the world fell in love with him and contracted a mysterious illness which would have killed her if she didn’t go with him and follow him anywhere?

Oh no! /s

I’ll tell you what, I don’t think that Kaido was actually in love with her at first that much. He surely enjoyed spending passionate nights with her, and was amused by her curiosity due to Gloriosa knowing little to nothing about the external world.

There was a specific moment when he actually fell in love with her.

Have you noticed that, despite being often shirtless, Kaido's back is never fully uncovered even in his dragon form? He always wears a coat, a shirt, or both.

That hints that Kaido has some kind of mark on his back he wants to hide from public view, just like the Gorgon Sisters. Something must have happened that made him show her said mark, maybe Gloriosa caught a glimpse and asked him to see it. Anyway, Kaido was reclutant at first, but she had the right to know, she was his wife after all.

So he showed it to her, in a way that, when it will be shown in the flashback, might be a callback to when Hancock showed Luffy the Celestial Dragon hoof.

That mark meant that for the world he had and would always have been something inhuman, a failed experiment, a monster; even Big Mom, who has the best spy network in the world, calls him a 'thing'. But Gloriosa didn’t judge him for said mark, nor she believed he was a monster. For Gloriosa, he was just Kaido, the man who she had fallen in love with.

That's when Kaido fell for her. And he fell hard, probably to the point of no return.

At some point, the two conceived a child, and that's when Kaido decided that it was time to move to Wano instead of travelling the world: the pirate life is dangerous for grown people let alone for a child, plus he was one of the most wanted men by the World Government, meaning the child was in danger simply by existing.

But how did Kaido know about Wano?

He probably heard something about the Continent Puller and the ‘country’ he formed about 600 years before but, since it was a closed nation, he probably didn’t know much more until he met someone who escaped from said island: Kurozumi Higurashi.

41 years ago, she told Orochi that she fled the country because of the persecutions against the Kurozumi clan, and because she knew nothing about the outside world, joining pirates was the easier choice. Also, in that way she could have found allies and power for the Kurozumi cause easier.

The Mane Mane no Mi allows the user to create a perfect copy of a person whose face has been touched. She transformed in a woman, who, judging by the color scheme in the anime, is heavily hinted to be Bakkin and a young Shiki, both known members of the Rocks Pirates, so Higurashi may have traveled with said crew for a while. There she met Kaido, who she sensed he could have been a great help for the Kurozumis: big, powerful, and stupid, easy to manipulate.

A closed off country not part of the World Government: a perfect nation for Kaido to reside to ensure the safety of his family (mainly his child, because Gloriosa was more than capable of defending herself) and to use as a base for his operations.

When Oden went with Whitebeard 29 years ago, there were no factories in Wano, but they were there when Toki arrived in Wano with Momonosuke, who was 3 at the time, and Hiyori; so Kaido must have arrived in Wano three years earlier at last.

Gloriosa may not have been the Kuja Empress anymore, but had everything a woman like her could ask for: she was one of the heads of a soon to be powerful army, plus a devoted, loving husband and a child.

Why did she leave it all behind?

I have already talked about the parallels between Gloriosa and turtles in the mythology section, but here’s another one: in Chinese culture, turtle (especially turtle egg) is a very serious insult regarding the morality of one’s mother; that’s why Genbu is called Black Warrior instead of Black Tortoise.

This also expands one of Wano’s most prominent themes: betrayal.

Gloriosa was forced to leave Wano and Yamato behind because she cheated on Kaido. But with who?

Well, the Beast Pirates follow a card games and decks naming theme, and currently there is none named Ace; also, when Oden faced Kaido, Jack was only 8, so my hypothesis is that the third Calamity before him was called Ace. He probably had a crush on Gloriosa and when she went to him for comfort while Kaido was away, probably out to recruit subordinates or captured, he couldn’t resist.

But Kaido caught the two in the act, and was absolutely furious.

He killed Ace, and his position remained vacant for quite some time, until Jack finally took his place in the Calamities; that's why, in Episode 972, there were only King and Queen along with the fodder.

However, Kaido couldn't bring himself to kill his wife personally, so he offered her a choice: be dispatched by the hands of King or Queen, or leave and never return.

Gloriosa chose the second option.

She packed her things and left, only to realize she had nowhere to go: Wano obviously was not an option, but she couldn't just go back to Amazon Lily, not after she betrayed Kujas by abandoning them while she was an Empress. Plus, as a pirate, she was wanted by the Marine. So she lived on the run, continuously assuming new identities and never staying in the same place for too long.

Also, Love Sickness certainly has played its role in weakening her, making her age faster and dramatically decreasing her height in the process.

Taking a look at Hancock’s bed, it’s decisiverly oversized for her: said bed could comfortably fit a laid Boa Hancock together with her Snake Weapon, which is way larger than the others, her sisters, the doctor and Gloriosa, and still have room left for someone else to stand on it.

It is very likely that this bed was the Empress’s for a long time, and, since that position is not inherited, it had to fit Kujas of all sizes. So Gloriosa could have been taller in her youth, maybe a little shorter than Kaido, but still enough to handle him.

Anyway, Gloriosa managed to survive through sheer willpower, the same that allows her to snap out of Hancock’s charm much faster than the others, until her feelings for Kaido eventually faded away, thus healing from said illness.

When she finally arrived to Sabaody Archipelago, at least fifteen years ago, she was unrecognisable. Coincidentally, Shakky's Rip-Off bar was searching for new waiters, and Gloriosa applied because she needed money. The former pirate immediately recognised her.

How is that possible? Feminine intuition!

In chapter 591, she correctly predicted that Hancock would became smitten with Luffy despite not seeing her for thirteen years and every evidence in Hancock's behaviour pointing out the contrary. (Also in the very same chapter Hancock asks Gloriosa how to have a proper marriage while surrounded by monkeys wearing Wano's typical hat. Let that sink in).

Shakky understood that Kaido had no interest in her anymore and let her stay with her and Rayleigh, until the Boa sisters arrived and Gloriosa could finally return to Amazon Lily with the excuse of bringing them back home.

On the other hand, Kaido was devastated, to say the least.

Can you blame him? His beloved wife was cheating on him with one of his most trusted subordinates. He needed to forget, to get rid of all those negative feelings overwhelming him: that's why he started drinking.

However, Kaido isn't stupid. Okay, he may not be as smart as Benn Beckman, the most intelligent person introduced in the East Blue arc, but he surely has some brains: you don't reach and mantain high positions within a crew without some smarts, let alone being an Emperor of the Sea. Kaido soon realised that he caught the two relatively easily. Too easily.

Almost if they wanted to get caught in the act.

While Kaido was drinking his sorrow away, someone else was toasting to a risky plan gone smoothly.

The Kurozumi clan.

Higurashi may have lured Kaido into Wano and the alliance with the Kurozumi, but she didn’t predict that he would have arrived with a wife and a child. Gloriosa probably had a great influence on Kaido, who was (and maybe is still) regarded as little more than a muscle head; and the Kurozumis were actually afraid that she may have been plotting something. This impression was confirmed by the Onibanshu who spied the two pirates: probably Gloriosa wasn't happy about the shogun and suggested her husband some ways to dethronate him.

She was a threat, and they needed to get rid of her as soon as possible.

They sensed that one of Kaido’s top subordinates had feelings for Gloriosa, and they decided to use this fact to their advantage. So Higurashi transformed using her Devil Fruit powers and seduced the crew’s Ace, in a time and a place where she was sure Kaido could see them, while someone else distracted Gloriosa. In the end, everything went according to plan.

However, when Kaido saw the old hag using her powers some time after, he understood everything. But he had no concrete proofs, and certainly wasn't in the position to kill someone so important to his pawn based only on simple suspects; so he waited, until the perfect moment arrived.

Meanwhile, Kaido kept drinking, to forget his actions and to numb his guilt. At first, a little quantity of alcohol did the trick, but eventually he needed more and more, slowly falling into addiction.

You know, Gloriosas’ beauty is only matched by their toxicity: as proud members of the Colchicaceae family, they contain colchicine, a powerful metabolic toxin; all parts of these plants can be fatal if eaten, even a simple touch can cause skin irritation. Due to this, Gloriosa superba has been used for centuries to commit suicide.

Just like colchicine corrodes the body, alcohol, together with shame, guilt and anger, slowly eroded Kaido’s soul, corrupting him from within.

While Kaido's original plan for Wano was simply to make the island his operational base, after all that happened he decided to destroy and utterly annihililate it, just like Orochi destroyed his happiness. The shogun was fine with his ally’s devastations and never suspected that Kaido knew. The latter made Orochi believe he wouldn’t touch the Flower Capital, just to completely erase it from the face of Earth once his army would have been powerful enough to fight an all-out war. Revenge is a dish best served cold and then smashed on the forehead.

The rest is history.

Surely Kaido will be defeated, but he will not be completely dealt with in this arc.

Yamato probably got their kind, selfless nature from Gloriosa. The latter would have never approved of the terms of Kaido’s promise to Oden, let alone all the hostages and atrocities done by her husband; since Oden began to dance naked in the streets 25 years ago, probably Gloriosa was already gone at that time.

Because of this, Yamato has little to no memories of their mother, so they will likely ask Kaido about her at the end of the battle. However, Kaido himself doesn’t know her whereabouts because he didn’t send spies after her; at first, because he didn’t care about her anymore. When he realised his mistake, he still didn’t search for her because otherwise it would have shown that she was still important to him. He is not naive, he knows there are spies in his ranks, even at high levels; therefore he wants to avoid attracting unwanted attentions to her.

Plus, Kaido doesn’t even want to know, because Gloriosa probably is dead or has found another person to be with; and he deep down knows that those news would definitely break him.

However, there’s one little detail: Gloriosa’s speech quirk-nyon. Even if her appearance has changed quite a bit, she surely did nyot change her way of talking. Luffy would probably understand Kaido is talking about her because of this, and will tell them that she’s alive and well in Amazon Lily.

It is a known fact that our protagonist either kills the villains’ dreams or changes them: Kaido will change his goal too. He wouldn’t want to die yet, he will probably want to meet Gloriosa again to apologize properly for what he had done to her.

Thus, he will survive the battle and somehow, after almost thirty years, Kaido and Gloriosa will meet again.

Will Gloriosa forgive him? Will she not?

Only Oda will tell.

Other references

Black Maria Many people actually believe she’s a Kuja, and I admit, they have pretty good reasons for thinking so. Let’s start by her name: other than being a card game, Black Maria is also a variety of bougainvillea, a clear reference to Kuja’s floral naming theme; there is also a flower named Spider Lily (Lycoris radiata) referencing her Devil Fruit powers and Amazon Lily alike. Black Maria has also flowers in her hair; the most prominent ones, colored in red, have also five petals, much like the one Gloriosa wears in her hair! She is also the owner of a brothel in Onigashima and, also due to her size, it’s heavily implied that she and Kaido have a… passionate relationship, as Oda would put it (However, Kaido probably views her as nothing more than a distraction). Of course, Kaido and his wife must have had their passionate moments, since they have a child. Moreover, Benzaiten is almost always represented playing a biwa, and, as shown in chapter 992, Black Maria can play it very well. She also has a remarkable singing voice, a feature which was one of the basic requisites to become a geisha. Geishas also were protected by Benzaiten. All in all, Black Maria is actually the biggest reference to Gloriosa... in a literal and figurative sense! Oh, one last thing: the men tied to her webs in Chapter 1005 can be a symbol for Kaido’s soul, unable to move on and perpetually being trapped in the memories and regrets of his relationship with Gloriosa together with his alcohol addiction.

Kaido’s flagship Currently, Kaido’s flagship is the only one among the four Emperors’ which has yet to be seen or named. Some speculate that it’s actually Onigashima, but, in my opinion, that’s not the case: why would he travel with his entire home, with the concrete risk of it being destroyed every time he faces an opponent? Also, Yamato is in there: they have explosive handcuffs which doesn’t allow them to leave the island, but what if someone with internal destruction haki actually removes them thus freeing Yamato and letting them escape? Also, what if Yamato actually gets severely wounded, or worse, killed by invaders? Kaido actually strikes me as an overprotective dad, thus he will never directly expose his child to external danger. The handcuffs will explode if and only if Yamato actually tries to leave Onigashima: if they stay there, nothing will happen. Plus, in chapter 997, when Kaido started lifting Onigashima someone said that the island had never trembled like that before. Kaido actually has his flagship, and the reason why it hasn’t been shown is its name. I’ve said before that Gloriosa means glorious in some languages, therefore there’s a big chance that the ship will have in its name also the Japanese word of the same meaning. Maybe it’s called ‘Glorious Dragon’ in Japanese, or something like that.

Yamato Now, this will touch one of the most controversial topics within the community right now, which is Yamato’s gender; I wish not to discuss about it under this post, because this isn’t the time nor the place (IMO it’s better to delay the discussion at the end of this arc, when Yamato will hopefully detach from the Kozuki Oden persona and find their own identity). Regardless of all this, Yamato was born as a female: and Kujas give birth to female babies only.

Kaido and Big Mom comparison: Although they were part of the same pirate crew for some time and both of them being now Emperors, there are a lot of things about their characters which mark these two as counterparts: first of all, Kaido is male and Big Mom is female. Big Mom belongs to the older generations of pirates, while Kaido belongs to the new one (together with Shanks). Kaido drinks a lot while Big Mom eats a lot. Big Mom has more than 80 children, while Kaido just one*. Lastly, Big Mom has had many unknown husbands, who she married and treated as equals only to discard them when their children are born, revealing she had zero feelings towards them. With the previous comparisons in mind, it would make perfect sense for Kaido to have had only one wife who has already appeared in the story and who he has loved dearly and maybe still does.

*In my opinion, Katakuri, Oven and Daifuku aren’t Kaido’s sons. Even if the physical resemblance is uncanny, there are two major arguments against this supposed paternity: first, the triplets don’t display any type of horns, which Yamato, the known child of Kaido, has. Secondly, the Yonko’s age: he is surely younger than 68, since this is Big Mom’s age and she considers him like a little brother; however, being heavily implied that Shakuyaku was part of the Rocks Pirates as well and she was considered a pirate, while Kaido was only an apprentice, it’s implicitly stated that he must be younger than her, too. She’s now 64, and this puts his maximum age at 63; given the triplet’s age, 48, Kaido may have had them when he was 15, which is an age when men usually have reached their sexual maturity, but he may be even younger than that, so draw your conclusion.

I admit, this turned out a lot longer than I actually expected. My sincerest kudos to you, dear reader, for reading all this time-consuming post – I hope you enjoyed it as much as I had fun writing it.

Please, let me know your thoughts, they are more than welcome!

TL;DR: Gloriosa is Kaido’s wife and Yamato’s mother, she has eaten the mythical variant of the Kame Kame fruit, Katakuri is not Kaido’s son and Gin will become Pirate King.

comments on reddit :

kaido has been revealed to be 59

I really want to know who yamatos mother was and I am willing to accept any theory for now

#one piece #op theory #one piece theory #one piece theories #kaido of the beasts #kaido one piece #op kaido #one piece kaido

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ghosts-and-swords · 4 years ago

Text

Before Romance Dawn

Mihawk has a crew but has been keeping away from them for more than a decade to hide them from the government's radar.

Each crewmate had their own coffin boat they used for stealthy attacks.

He met Shanks some time before Roger's execution, but their friendly banters began almost right afterwards. Mihawk's goal had always been to become the strongest swordsman in the world, and Shanks became aware of how weak he was when his captain was executed, so he promised himself to become the very best as well.

At some point, the two of them were considered part of the “Supernovas” of their generation. (I compare them to Luffy and Law to some degree).

Shanks does know and is friendly with Mihawk's crew, just as the swordsman is with the Red Hair Pirates. He keeps their secret and supports Mihawk's play pretend to make everyone believe he's a one-man-crew.

Sometime before Shanks stayed for a year at Dawn Island and lost his arm, their fights became so stupidly dangerous their crews helped the locals evacuate the area for safety.

Eventually they both grew desperate there wasn't a clear winner and they decided to call it a truce, only to fight on a daily basis over the dumbest things.

Over the course of a single year, they had dance-offs, sing-offs, food wars, eating competitions and many many other dumb stuff Mihawk would rather not talk about ever again.

Shanks, on the other hand, won’t shut up about them.

Hawks is a very good cook and a terrific dancer because of that, tho.

Mihawk accepted the title as Shichibukai ten years ago, only because he was bored. Shanks had already lost his arm and mostly no one was able to stand against him in battle, so he took the position to be left alone.

The reason his crew managed to stay off the radar was because Mihawk alone became really famous thanks to his rivalry with Shanks. Though the crew was feared, most people never knew their captain was none other than Hawk Eye Mihawk. When they vanished from sight, most people believed they had been either captured or killed.

Before the timeskip

Mihawk is Shanks' son goth-father (lol. And yes, you know what child I'm talking about you cannot take that headcanon away from me). If Mihawk ever got a child, he'd pick Shanks as their godfather too.

He hasn't considered parenthood as a viable option, but if he did, he'd rather have a daughter (*coughcoughcough*).

His attendance ratio to meetings with the government is below 40%. He only attends when absolutely necessary mostly because he doesn't want to lose his privilege of being left alone.

He's not friendly with the other Warlords, specially Doflamingo, Crocodile and Moria, knowing of the abuse they make of their positions.

Mihawk was ok with Kuma, though he's often tired of his religious preaching. He knew of his alliance with the Revolutionaries before turning into a Pacifista, but doesn’t dwell on it. He’s kinda bitter he sent him Zoro and Perona, though, even if he grew to like the two of them.

He'd never met Hancock before Marineford, but had heard many things about the Snake Princess that made him want to fight against her at some point.

He was actually friendly towards Jinbei until he got imprisoned at Impel Down, but he always believed he was kinda foolish for risking too much in defying Big Mom and joining Luffy’s crew.

Law seemed a promising warlord and another interesting rival swordsman, but it was more than obvious he was just using the government as a stepping stone. He wishes he could also fight him at some point.

He doesn’t have Blackbeard in good regards for his underhanded methods. He didn’t like him because of his beef with Shanks, and he likes him even less afterwards what happened in Marineford. He’s intrigued by his Devil Fruits’ powers, but doesn’t wish to fight against him.

Mihawk knows Buggy is Shanks' friend but cannot believe he was appointed as a Shichibukai. He'd fought against him briefly at Marineford and he thinks Buggy is just one very, very lucky idiot with a bothersome Devil Fruit.

The moment Weevil was appointed as a warlord, Mihawk knew the government no longer needed them.

Living with Zoro & Perona Pt. 1

Mihawk felt he had lost a spark until he met Zoro. When they clashed in East Blue, he took a liking to the young swordsman because he greatly reminded him of himself when he was younger.

We joke a lot about Mihawk’s chronic depression, but I hc that he actually suffers from it. He has a strict training regime and often follows a tight schedule and diet to keep it at bay.

If he feels like his depression is hitting him hard, he stops drinking for a while. He doesn’t take medication.

It was getting really bad until Zoro defied him and later on he and Perona crashed into his home. Ever since the three of them had been living together, he has felt his depressive episodes are shorter and not as hard to overcome.

He has never told anyone about this, though he is sure Shanks and his former crewmates know.

At first he was really annoyed Kuma had sent him two children to take care, but as time went by, he began to enjoy their company a lot. Zoro was a good practice partner and Perona had similar tastes in decor, books and fashion.

He still thinks they are annoying, mostly when they fight, but he gets them to shut up real fast.

Mihawk kills bugs around the castle for Perona, after too much nagging.

He forbid Zoro from drinking while mastering haki because he knows that’s what works for him when he needs to focus.

You’d never hear him say it out loud, but he’s quite attached to the humandrills. When they became a bit more amicable, he’d usually talk to them and pat them.

Contrary to what Perona and Zoro initialy thought, Mihawk is a dog person. He doesn’t dislike cats, but he freaking loves dogs.

He would never want to have one, since he believes he’d not be able to take care of another living being.

Perona considered giving him one, but decided it was better not to piss him off or she’d end up taking care of the pup.

In some timeline in which they keep living together (andmarryandhaveadaughter) they do adopt a dog and call him Cerberus. Mihawk likes crafting armor for him.

Mihawk is good at remembering important dates and very good at giving gifts. He once gave Zoro a silver flask and Perona a very beautiful sundress. In return, they try to give him cool gifts for his birthday, but they never manage to win against him lol

Mihawk pretends he doesn’t know where a certain cocoa tree came from. Perona knows.

TBC Other Headcanons 1 | 2 | 3

#dracule mihawk #one piece #one piece headcanons #headcanons #my writing #shanks

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aerialflight · 3 years ago

Text

Fic Rec (where i'm into too many fandoms rn and ships which is weird of me)

[Bleach] (been a while amiright?)

Oxytocin by Asuka Kureru (Askerian)

Ship: Grimmjow/Ichigo/Orihime

Complete trust and physical affection are great!

They're a bit less great when they were caused by weird hollow drugs.

They're even less great when the guy who was drugged up into loving the hell out of you is the same guy who tried to murder you a couple times a couple years ago.

(listen i just stumbled upon this and I have no regrets. i don't usually go for ships, let alone poly, but like, GOD, i love how everyone is characterized here, especially orihime and i just want to SCREAM OK? OK. the vibe i get from this fic reminds me of @murderlight (big fan) and if that doesn't say anything, i don't know what will.)

[Gintama] (i don't know how i spiralled into this fandom either, been literal years since i've even thought about this fandom, i have no regrets)

Grab Your Dreams With Your Fists While You Can Still Remember It by yatagarasu (leelhiette)

Ship: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki

Toshirou should learn to look both ways before crossing the road.

(Or he learns more about the people around him and about himself.)

(amnesia fic, and i know it's a common trope but they did it BEAUTIFULLY here. love this so much. and it's post-canon.)

I feel you by arashian155 for machinecuisine

Ship: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki

“I’m so done with this,” Gintoki muttered angrily. Zura sighed while Tatsuma laughed loudly. “Your soulmate’s getting roughed up again?” Gintoki groaned. “Worst timing ever! There was this one Amanto swinging his gigantic sword at me and I was just about to dodge it when, out of fucking nowhere, I feel something stabbing my shoulder! It threw me off and if it weren’t for that, I would have been perfectly healthy right now instead of getting nursed for this stupid wound!” he pointed at the ugly slash across his torso. “Fuck soulmates!”

A story about Sakata Gintoki's journey into embracing his soulbond, falling in love, and learning the cons of selflessness.

(THE SLOW BUILD-UP OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND THE PLOT FOLLOWS CANON AND I CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT THIS STUPID FIC I'M SO STUPID FOR THIS STUPID SHIP FEIWNFOPA)

[One Piece] (of course)

Undone by pkmntrainer_alex

After the entire family almost dies at WCI, Judge Vinsmoke orders the removal of his sons' emotional modifications in a bid to save his own skin in future endeavors. He doesn't stop to consider the ramifications of his 21-year-old sons finally, suddenly, being able to feel their human emotions in full - and their newfound ability to judge both themselves and him by their past actions.

(the vinsmoke family dynamics and the brothers trying to deal with 21 years of pent up emotions? they're trying?? so freaking hard to be functional people and they realize just how freaking amazing sanji is and that HE wasn't the failure in this family??? god, i've reread this fic so many times like an addict please read and suffer the feels with me. this is the one fic where i'm trying to patiently wait for an update. i'm just happy that this exists.)

Song of the Swords by authenticaussie

Wado is tiny when she first appears before him; her tears are as silver as her hair and the moonlight, and they gleam from within with golden fire as they pour down her cheeks.

Zoro’s heart fairly stops in his chest for a very, very long moment.

(personified swords au! introspective and fascinating and a character study of zoro and his relationship with his swords! really liked this!)

where the rims have ridges by Civillain

Everything everyone does is in their own self-interest.

"I like your hat," she calls out quietly.

And the change is instantaneous. He stops where he stands, a hand on his head and his knees still bent to take another step, and turns to look over his shoulder.

There's a moment of silence where he says nothing, just peering at her with squinted eyes, before: "Thanks!" he beams.

His smile is wide and unchecked, so wide that it might make his cheeks ache. He doesn't have laugh lines, but the way he smiles makes her imagine that he's spent his whole life grinning like that, warmly and brightly, so sincere and upfront that the breath gets punched right out her lungs.

Sometimes, there are people close to exceptions. But not quite.

20 years apart, and two people that don't make any sense.

(god, such a good outside pov look on luffy! luffy is such an unreadable character lots of times and it's so hard to pin down his characterization but this fic got it so right! made me fall for luffy all over again and realize just how incredible he is, as both a not-hero figure and main character! definitely recommend!)

those things beyond us by Civillain

There's something different about Luffy on nights like this, nights where there's soft rain and half-moons, and when the streets are quiet; no cars or trucks, only midnight joggers or early risers taking walks to the beach.

(Where Luffy and his friends have a relationship Sabo doesn't think he'll ever be able to understand.)

(honestly, i just love all of this author's one piece works. its a modern au where the straw hats are reincarnated and find each other all in sabo's pov. it's beautiful and this is how i would picture how the straw hats would fit in a modern au. nakamaship is the best ship, no questions needed. so so good!)

Magic Paint by 8ball

Luffy sticks his hands out.

“Paint mine!”

Usopp watches the expressions on Sanji’s face. He likes watching the obvious emotions go through him like a slideshow, and it's somehow comforting that he can see the exact moment Sanji decides that going along with Luffy will be the easiest choice. So Usopp waits for Sanji to test his own nails, deem them dry enough, unscrew the tiny brush top again, and then he asks if Sanji will do his, too. And because Sanji already has the brush ready, and they’re both right there anyways, Usopp knows he’s going to get what he wants.

or the au that came from nowhere where Sanji paints his nails and everyone elses and thats really it

(*screams* the pureness, the fluff, the nakamaship!! fneiwoapfe!! the best, sweetest headcanon ever! had the biggest grin on my face the whole time i was reading this! please please read!!!)

[Percy Jackson & the Olympians]

Stealing Shells by the Seashore by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle

Ship: Sally Jackson/Posiedon

Sally's eyes flicked between Poseidon and then the sea below. He could feel the understanding click.

"Oh, absolutely not-"

"It isn't that high!"

"Poseidon, I am not jumping off of this cliff! I'm not doing it. I won't, you can't make me, it's very high, I am not going to-"

"If my brother sees you here, he's going to assume that you're carrying my child."

"Ridiculous. I have much higher standards."

"I also have higher standards, but he isn't going to listen to us," Poseidon reasoned. The wind blew a bit harder, and Poseidon felt the sea rise with his anxiety. "I would use my powers to hide you, but he'll sense I've used them. You'll be fine," he tried, and Sally gave something of a skeptical laugh.

"Not happening."

The lightning grew closer. For the love of-

"In that case… I'm sorry," he said. Sally tilted her head suspiciously.

"Why are you-" she began but was cut off by Poseidon shoving her off the cliff's edge. He could hear a scream. It started loud and high before getting smaller and smaller. Finally, a splash followed.

Sally and Poseidon spent one summer together… and most of it was them being on the run for a godly crime they didn't commit.

(THIS is the ONLY backstory i will ever accept regarding this ship for the REST OF MY LIFE. i binged this so freaking fast and i am in love with sally as much as posiedon is. percy jackson got his Everything from his mom you can't change my fucking mind. THIS FIC NEEDS MORE ATTENTION AND KUDOS! READ!!!)

Son of Sea Foam by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle

“She’ll never claim me,” he whispered. Silena shook her head, eyes wild as she looked around for anyone who could be watching.

“My mother doesn’t remember half of her children as it is,” she said with a note of bitterness. “If you do something to impress her, it won’t matter. Return the bolt in her name. She’ll claim you if you act the part. If you stay unclaimed then they'll figure out what you really are," she said, squeezing his hands tightly. Percy's heart sped up.

"I - I don't know the first thing about Aphrodite-"

"My mother was born of sea foam," Silena cut him off. "And if you're really who I think you are... you are the sea. You can pull this off," she said and touched his cheek. "Get the bolt. Survive," she said. Percy swallowed.

"What if I can't act the part?" He asked. Silena's expression went blank for a moment. Slowly, she slipped off her bracelet and placed it in his hands.

"If you're going to be one of us... you better learn."

AU where Percy has to hide the fact he's a Big Three kid otherwise he'll be killed on the spot. Unfortunately for him, unclaimed kids tend to raise the most suspicion... but he might have found a loophole in the form Aphrodite.

(one of my current obsessions rn. my eyes are constantly glued on the screen because i want to devour more of this galaxy brained fic. this author just keeps on giving and i love them for it. also, SILENA IS AMAZING AND SHE'S GETTING THE ATTENTION SHE DESERVES HELL YEAH!)

[Haikyuu!!]

He Waits For a Miracle by ich_bin_ein_stern

Ship: Hinata/Kageyama

A minute ago, he was on the ground after he and the others were tackled by their happily weeping senpai.

They had just beat Shiratorizawa.

And now - "Kageyama-kun? Are you paying attention?" - he's trying not to freak out because he's surrounded by distantly familiar faces while wearing a school uniform he hasn't worn in almost a year.

(TIME TRAVEL TIME TRAVEL TIME TRAVEL *screams*)

[The Witcher] (seriously, all my rare fandoms somehow popped up this month)

the way fire holds by theundiagnosable

Ship: Geralt/Yennefer/Jaskier

“There’s a song there, somewhere, don’t you think?” Jaskier says. “‘A witcher, a sorcerer, and a human walk into a bar’…”

(ROLE REVERSAL FIC HECK YES!! Witcher!Yennefer, Mage!Jaskier, Human!Geralt is amazing omg. It all works out so damn well and the relationship between yennefer and jaskier makes me want to cry so much. Geralt is at peak himbo greatness and it's fantastic haha! Their dynamics are just *chefs kiss* so damn good.)

The Shape of You by lirulin

Ship: Geralt/Jaskier

Some people say it's old elven magic, a remnant from before the conjunction of the spheres. Other's will say it's the last fading vestiges of chaos as the modern era slowly drives all magic and wonder out of the world. Those people are, naturally, real killjoys whom Jaskier cannot envision loving anything, but that's fine. To each their own.

Soulmate Spiritual Animal AU

(you have no idea how much i laughed when reading this fic. no idea. jaskier makes me want to scream with how much of a himbo he is and geralt, for once, is not the complete idiot between these two though it's a close call, not gonna lie.)

to grow in adversity by Soulykins

Ship: Geralt/Jaskier, Renfri & Jaskier

“For you!” Julian cried, shoving a fistful of weeds in Renfri’s direction, his smile wide and carefree. Renfri carefully took them in her hands that were only shaking a little bit now, smearing red onto green stems and yellow petals.

Julian clambered into the bed beside her and crawled halfway onto her lap. “I got you flowers, ‘cause you’re so pretty like them!”

“These aren’t flowers, they’re weeds.” Renfri told him, rolling her eyes but allowing the contact with ease. Somedays it seemed like Julian was the only person in the entire castle who wasn’t afraid of her.

“They look like flowers.” He said, crinkling his nose.

“They’re dandelions,” Renfri informed her brother with a tiny smile, “They grow everywhere, even places they perhaps shouldn’t. That’s why they’re a weed.”

“Perhaps they’re a little like you,” She teased, “Growing in even the scariest of places with no fear.” Like a monster’s heart, she doesn’t say.

“Like a superpower!” Julian gasped.

Renfri separated one dandelion from the little clutch and reached out to tuck it behind a little ear. “For the stubborn hero, Jaskier.”

(this is THE fic that got me into the witcher fandom and i can't believe i never reced this before. renfri & jaskier's siblingship is so damn good and just, the amount of effort put into their backstory and relationship makes me want to cry sometimes. and yennefer, ohoho, yennefer is at her Best here, i love her in this fic and her relationship with these siblings! geralt both makes me want to punch him and hug him, which is the norm and totally understandable hahaha! seriously, one of the best witcher fics i've ever read, please please read!)

[Boku no Hero Academia]

Where your love has always been enough (for me) by classicequinox

Ship: Todorki Enji/Todorki Rei

It's a dark coil of anger deep in the pit of his stomach, reminding him that he was the root, the catalyst, the trigger for their family's downward spiral. It did happen - he reminds himself harshly. He can't forget that, even if time has actually reset itself.

Todoroki Enji gets a second chance. It's up to him to see what he can do with it.

(genuinely the most believable enji i've seen regarding how he deals with his past actions and trying to be better and rei being a complicated, good person who i can see matches well with enji. really well done characterization and slow building relationship that is believable to me. enji trying to change things in a meaningful, careful manner makes me want to root for him!)

Katsuki Bakugou Makes A Friend (And Also Almost Dies, But Whatever) by Sif (Rosae)

Katsuki Bakugou is eight years old, he has no idea how he got here, where he is, or who this other kid is with him, but that's not gonna stop him from being brave and tough, just like the hero he's gonna be when he's older!

The universe has other ideas, but Katsuki Bakugou is a child made of spite, hubris, determination, and way too much nitroglycerin, so the universe can take it's ideas and shove 'em. After all, nobody out-stubborns Katsuki. Nobody.

(KID BAKUGOU & KID SHIGARAKI FRIENDSHIP! BAKUGOU STOLE MY HEART! SO SMART, SUCH A HERO! I LAUGHED AND CRIED THROUGHOUT THIS FIC, MY HEART CAN'T TAKE THIS! LITTLE SHIGARAKI MAKES A FRIEND AND IT'S TOO CUTE!!! so freaking adorable, oh lord. fneiwofpweafe)

Play The Field by lalazee for Banna_Banana

Ship: Bakugou/Midoriya

Baseball and feelings, feelings and baseball. Turns out, Bakugou and Deku are both good and bad at the same things. They try to work on it.

(look, i don't even know man. i stumbled upon this baseball au fic and the characterization is so top notch!! the backstories and feelings you get from this matches bakugou and deku's canon relationship perfectly and i flew past this so fast, god. please give this a chance, it's fantastic!)

[Marvel]

Blips on the Record by ambivalentangst for Bean_reads_fanfic

Flash, let it be known, doesn’t like Peter. He’s too good at everything—infuriatingly so—and nobody ever calls him on his bullshit, like with AcaDec nationals. Flash has to put his all into everything he does for a fraction of the attention Peter gets for his bare minimum, and it pisses him off, to say the least, so sue him for looking for chances here and there to knock him down a peg.

However, when he notices, he shuts his entire operation down.

Maybe Peter has a decade on his age when he was in the thick of it, but Flash remembers what it was like. He gets having school be a safe place, and nobody, not even himself, is going to jeopardize that for Peter.

Flash Thompson’s story is not simple, Peter Parker can always use someone else in his corner, and secrets are had and protected by all.

(flash is fleshed out! flash is getting some Good Rep! flash doing his best and being grumpy but ultimately trying to help peter in what ways he could! flash being a complex character and making me love him all over again! flash! getting some actual freaking attention fewnifoapew! THANK YOU! seriously, if you're looking for an actual good flash fic that doesn't feel disingenuous, read this!)

people were mean to you, but I always thought you were cool by suzukiblu for beckyh2112

Fandoms: Avengers & X-men

“What are your feelings on the mutant threat?!” one of the reporters shouts, and Steve just looks at him.

“I think anyone threatening mutants should be stopped,” he says calmly, and the swarm of reporters explodes, a dozen camera flashes going off at once.

(not exaggerating when i say i've reread this fic so many times that it's honestly concerning. steve & cyclop's friendship here makes me so soft?? they're both leaders of their teams and steve not being what everyone expects of him is always a soft spot for me. will forever be addicted to this fic, please enjoy!)

#notmycap by missgoalie75

Fandom: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

In which Bucky fully embraces the 21st century and is a salty bitch on Twitter.

(nonono, you don't understand. you don't understand how much i howled and screamed in public while reading this, oh my GOD. honestly the funniest shit i've read in a VERY long time, bucky is Perfect here. fucking drag that guy you beautiful cranky soul. X'D)

#Fanfiction #AO3 #Fic Rec #Fic Rec List #Bleach #Gintama #One Piece #Percy Jackson & the Olympians #Haikyuu!!#The Witcher #Boku no Hero Academia #Marvel #The Falcon and the Winter Soldier #X-men

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thewildomega · 4 years ago

Text

Star in the Sand Ch.22

Waking up you groaned and moved your hand to rub your throbbing head. Pushing yourself to sit up on the cold floor you cracked your eyes open and looked around the room to see metal walls, metal floors and a heavy duty metal door. Trying to recall what you had been doing earlier you blinked. You remembered training with Zoro, it hadn't been easy to convince the swordsman to teach you some spearman ship but after explaining that you were determined to be able to protect your child he had agreed to help you.

It had been about a week since the ship had left Fishman Island and while you were excited to see Crocodile again you decided to take this opportunity to better get to know the crew. Teaching Sanji recipes from your world which Luffy enjoyed taste testing. You told Chopper stories you knew as well as exchanging jokes with Brook. Drawing sketches of different machines and explaining them to Franky while Usopp took a chance to help show you different plants he had learned about. At night Nami would explain the different weather patterns and how to better understand the signs of a oncoming storm. Before bed you talked with Robin about your world.

During that time your belly had slowly started getting a bit larger as well, your bones no longer protruding to the point that you could rival Brook. Nami and Robin had even had some lotions and oils to help with your dry skin and hair. You still looked different than you had before going into Impale down but hopefully now you might not scare Crocodile away. Sleeping in an actual bed had also helped with the deep shadows around your eyes even if you were constantly plagued with nightmares. Now that you thought about it that was the last thing you remembered doing. After sparing with Zoro a bit you had drank the vitamin infused smoothie Sanji had made you and then followed Bon's advice to go lay down and rest.

This however was not Nami and Robin's room. You weren't chained or tied so that was a good thing. However you were only dressed in a pair of jeans and a black tank top. You didn't even have any shoes on, the sandals that Nami had gotten from Pappag. Now that you were coming to some more you realized it was actually cold, not as cold as level five but still chilly. Then it hit you. Punk Hazzard. "Oh Fuck." How the hell had you slept through the arrival, you must have really been out of it. If you were in here then that meant that Luffy, Zoro, Robin and Usopp were already on the hot side and you and the others were here. Only thing was though that you looked to be locked away in a separate room. Why was that? No matter the reason you had to find a way out of here. Standing up you looked around the room and saw it completely bare. Trying the door just for the hell of it you weren't surprised to find it locked up tightly. Go figure. There had to be a way out, think! The walls were metal as well as the floor, looking up you saw the ceiling made of the same metal but... there was also a vent. You could work with that.

.............................

Looking around the frozen wasteland, his hair blowing in the harsh wind. They had been walking around for a while now, bypassing the group of marines. Splitting his crew in thirds to go search in a different locations while Daz, Hex and himself went towards the mountains he stopped when he heard explosions. Narrowing his eyes he sensed the presents of others and started that way. When they got close enough that they could see smoke he heard yelling and turned his head to someone he wasn't expecting.

"GATOR! Hey Crocodile!"

"Straw-hat." he spoke around his cigar. Of course, that's how she got here.

"Over here!"

Sighing he wasted no time in turning to sand and quickly flying towards the yelling idiot.

"You're here, that means you got Y/n's letter, she's going to be so happy!" Luff spoke with a smile as Crocodile reformed.

"AHHH NOW CROCODIE IS HERE TOO?!" Both Usopp and Chopper yelled.

"She's with you then? She's safe?" he asked, not being able to keep the emotion out of his voice. Quickly looking around the place that seemed to be in ruins he noted a few of the Straw-hat crew, Nico Robin included along with another face, Law. However he didn't see Y/n anywhere.

"Well no not exactly..." tilting his head and rubbing the back of his head.

Seeing Crocodile's brow twitch Robin stepped forward some. "What he means is that she is not with us right now."

"Then where is she?"

"I duno?" Luffy shrugged.

Gritting his teeth down on his cigar he heard as Robin offered to explain their current situation. Sighing he moved over to speak with her, hearing the Straw-hat crew go back to they previous conversations. For the next few minutes Robin explained to him how Y/n had temporarily joined them along with Bon Clay. "Bentham?"

"Yes he apparently helped her escape Impale Down. I am guessing that since she knew about us from her world, she knew where to find us in Sabaody, knew that Luffy would have no problem helping her."

Humming he puffed on his cigar as Robin told him about everything that had happened since they had gotten here. They had apparently separated but even once they were all reunited Y/n was not with them. "How is she? How has she been?"

Taking a deep breath Robin blinked and looked to her old boss. It was strange seeing him care about someone's wellbeing but she wouldn't comment on it. "Well I did not know her before hand but as for her health... it has improved slightly since she first arrived. I am sure our Doctor, Chopper, can tell you more at a better time."

"Hey how about changing us back now, I can't do anything in this body." Franky yelled.

Turning his attention back to the rest of the group he watched as Trafalger Law used his Devil fruit powers to change some of the Straw-hat members back to their original bodies. After that he stood back with his arms crossed over his chest as Law explained how this Caesar Clown who used to work with Vegapunk had taken over the island and how he was experimenting on children. His main goal to change them into giants so the military could use them in war.

"...this woman you are looking for, the one known as Firelocks Y/n, she's in the main Lab. Caesar is keeping her locked up in a separate location from where the rest of you were taken." Law explained.

"But why? What would he want with her?" Nami asked.

"Think about it. Caesar has been experimenting on kids for a while now and while he has had some results he hasn't gotten the ones he wants. Vegapunk himself determined the sooner a specimen started getting the drug the better the results."

"But that would mean?! NO! No he can't!" Chopper yelled.

"What I'm not getting it." Luffy said in confusion.

"Caesar is keeping y/n because he wants to experiment on her... because she is pregnant!"

His breath caught in his throat. Pregnant, she was still carrying their child? This whole time? Through Impale Down? Blinking and then gritting his teeth when he registered what he had just heard the cigar soon broke in half between his teeth. This Caesar was threatening his soulmate, his child.

"This guy is a sick son of a bitch ain't e'?" Hex spoke in a growl.

"Yes. I'm not leaving this island until Y/n and the children are all safe." Nami spoke.

"If I leave here with Luffy are you going to stay here alone?" Law asked.

"Wait I'm not going anywhere. If this is important to Nami and Chopper than I'll stay too. Plus Y/n is my friend and that Caesar guy has her, I'm not just going to leave her there. I mean I told her I'd help her get back with Gator. Then Sanji wants to put that Samurai back together. Look if you are going to work with us then get used to helping people." Luffy told Law as he turned towards him some.

Seeing Law's look Usopp sighed. "Here's the thing. See most of the time when you're forming an alliance you get a couple of groups with a common goal and you negotiate the best way to get it done, does that sound right?"

"Obviously."

"So you'd think but in Luffy's world that logic get's thrown out the window completely."

"Just means I'm friends with you." Luffy butted in with a smile. "Like me and Crocodile, we're friends, right Gator?"

Blinking slowly he stayed silent, his arms crossed over his chest.

"That's a yes." Luffy grinned.

"You can forget about having any say in what we do. It's all up to him."

"All up to me." Luffy beamed.

"As soon as this guy makes up his mind about something that's it. You're along for the ride wither you like it or not. If selfness was a power he'd take out that emperor on the spot."

"What Emperor?" Daz asked.

"After this we're gonna go take down Kaido." Luffy grinned.

"Fine but we have to hurry up, there's no time. Putting the Samurai back together can be your groups problem. I guess I can go investigate the drug that was given to the children. If they have already started giving it to the woman then maybe I can come up with an antidote. Now who's the ship's doctor again? You come with me, we'll do research behind Caesar's back. Crocodile, one of your men can come as well, maybe he can search around the lab for Firelocks but if they get caught it's on them."

Looking to Hex he tilted his head and saw him nod and start walking away with Law and the furball.

"Daz perhaps you can stay here and help Nami and Usopp protect the children. Their withdrawals have been making them lash out and they coudl use the help." Robin suggested.

Nodding once Daz looked to him he heard Straw-hat say that he was with them.

"Now I'm gonna go kick this Caesar's ass." Luffy smiled.

......................................

Crawling through the vent for sometime you grumbled to yourself as your knees started to ache. So far you hadn't been able to find a suitable room to drop down into and you were starting to wonder if you ever would. Continuing to crawl you stopped when you heard voices. Quietly moving over to look down into the vent you saw none other than Law and Monet. They seemed to be walking down what looked to be a hallway of sorts. You couldn't make out much but when you heard Law say something about leaving you knew what events were about to unfold. Shit. As they passed out of your view you heard another voice, a deep voice. As the three talk about 'Joker' you heard a pained gasp and wince, this had to be the part where Vergo shows up. That was one guy you really didn't want to be found by.

Staying as still and as quiet as a statue you watched as not too long later Monet and Vergo walked by, Vergo dragging a now unconscious Law behind him. With the poisonous gas soon to be flooding the place you didn't want to keep trying your luck with the vents. Glancing down to the floor you saw it not too terribly far down and sighed. Slowly opening the vent you peeked out to make sure the coast was clear. Easing out you hung from the vent as you tried to lower yourself down as best as you could. Taking a deep breath you let go and managed to land on your feet before falling back on your ass. Better than you stomach. Placing a hand over your baby bump you took a moment to get your barring's. Now you just had to make it to the center part of the lab so the gas wouldn't turn you to stone. Wrapping your arms around yourself you grit your teeth, cold why did it always have to be the cold? Hearing your stomach let out a growl you sighed. "I know." patting your belly gently you walked down another hall but stopped dead in your tracks when you saw two of Caeser's men standing there.

"Hey! What are you doing out of your room?"

"Get her!"

Throwing your fist through the air and kicking at the other you grabbed his gun when he dropped it. Slamming the but of it into the man's gut you heard him groan. Swinging it around into the other's face you knocked him to the ground and didn't see him get up. As the other went to get up you quickly went around him, putting the barrel of the gun against his throat and pulling back. Whimpering out as he elbowed your ribs hard enough to make the breath leave you, pulling it as hard as you could you were thrashed around until he finally fell unconscious. Pulling the gun out you swung the strap over your arm and hurried on before more showed up. Passing by a door you saw words written on it out of the corner of your eye you glanced up and rose a brow.

....................................

"It brings back memories to see you two in the same cell." Robin spoke.

"Oh yea Smoky and I got caught by you and Gator in Alabasta. Kinda funny now that you both are in here with us isn't it?" Luffy laughed.

"Forgive me if I fail to see the humor." He said with a slight roll of his eyes.

"Shut up you damn fools!" Smoker growled.

It shouldn't have surprised him that that feathered idiot was behind this whole operation. He wasn't even surprised to see he had managed to work a spy into the navy itself. When Caesar came into the room he grit his teeth. To think someone like him was able to defeat all of them, even when it seemed like Straw-hat had him. Hearing him tell the 'Vergo' man to start the video he saw him turn to them again and begin taunting Law. Seeing them have not only Law's heart but Smoker's as well made him raise his brow. Watching the screen he knit his brows at the giant piece of candy being laid out. Listening to Caesar go about explaining this 'smiley' creature he watched the screen as it showed the purple gas start infecting the island. When the footage showed others out on the snow running away from it he blinked when he realized it was some of his own crew along with the straw-hats and Bentham.

"Hey that's Zoro, they're all running from the smoke."

"Would you look at those fools, what are they doing out there and what the hell kind of run is that?"

"Oh look the Samurai got his body back." Robin grinned.

"Yeah you're right, guess that means he isn't going to give me his legs." Luffy grumbled. "Hey wait that's not important right now Robin." Leaning up some he looked to the video "Run faster guys, that smoke will freeze ya dead! You gotta ru..ahn..ahh." Falling to the ground on his face he groaned. "Aw man I don't have the strength to yell. Damnit, dumb sea prism stone."

"I take it those are your friends Straw-hat Luffy?" Caesar asked before laughing.

"Yea they are my friends and they are going to be make it just like Y/n once I find out where you're keeping her. You better not have given her any of those drugged candies." Luffy growled.

Hearing his soulmate's name get brought up he snapped his eyes over to the man, his body tensing slightly.

"Who?"

"I believe he is talking about the woman Joker wants." Vergo spoke in his calm voice.

"Oh her?! I wouldn't dream of drugging her, well not if I want to keep my life. Don't get me wrong I would have loved to test the effects of my drug on her and the unborn child but Joker made it perfectly clear she was not to be touched."

"Why what the hell would he want with her?" Law asked.

"He doesn't want anything with her, he's simply the delivery man."

"For who? Who want's y/n?"

"Big Mom maybe, Y/n told me, Robin and Nami that she wanted to kill her." Franky added.

"Try the other side of her family line."

"Yes one wouldn't be able to tell she comes from such a strong bloodline just by looking at her." Caesar grinned with a small chuckle.

"Kaido. She is Kaido and Big Mom's granddaughter." Law spoke once it clicked in his head.

"So Two of the emperors had a baby?!"

"What can I say, they're must have been some lonely nights on Rock's ship." Vergo huffed.

Shocked by the news he felt his heart hammer in his chest. She was in even more danger than he first thought. If that were true then that would mean...

"So what the hell does Kaido want with her?!" Luffy yelled.

"Kaido wants a strong army, she's his blood..." Law told him.

It wasn't difficult to put together what Law was saying and once he did he felt the vein in his forehead and neck stick out, his fist clenching at his side and his teeth gritting together. Over his dead fucking body.

"I can see this troubles you Crocodile." Vergo spoke, addressing the ex-warlord for the first time. "Knowing that the two of you were affiliated before her time in Impale Down I am going to go out on a limb and say the child growing in her womb is possibly yours. If it's any consolation Kaido may allow her to keep the child once it is born... if she behaves. If not then it will join you in the afterlife."

"Bastard." he growled so deep it almost sounded inhuman.

Laughing at the whole situation Caesar gave a smile. "I'll give you this one last chance to see her." Waving his hand towards the workers he saw them pull up the footage of her room, "Now say goodbye to your ahhhh where did she go?!"

Seeing the room empty he felt hope fill him. She had made her way out.

"Shishishi, Y/n escaped Impale Down, did you really think you would be able to hold her in there?" Luffy giggled.

"I wouldn't underestimate her if I were you." Robin chuckled

"Grahh. No matter, she will be found soon enough but I'm sorry to say that by then you all will be dead." Nodding his head he watched as the crane picked up the cage and started moving it. "Time for me to show the world that my weapon is tougher than any high bounty pirate, Marine vice admiral or Warlord of the Sea." Caesar laughed.

Getting freed by Law he stood straight and brushed off his clothes. Getting into the lab he watched as the rest of the Straw-hats, marines and his own crew hurry into the lab.

"Alright looks like everyone's here." Luffy smiles.

As soon as he heard Law tell them they needed to get to the door with R building 66 on it he looked down to his men. "Go help the Straw-hats with the kids then get to that door."

"Oh Mr. Zero there you are. Wait where is Y/n?" Bon asked, quickly looking around for his friend.

"I'm going to find her." he replied gruffly. Turning around he waited for no reply, refusing to be separated from his soulmate any longer.

...................................

Running through the lab you held on tightly to the sword you had gotten off the most recent group of Caesar's men. After hearing one of them yell 'There she is..." you were fairly certain they knew you were missing now, which meant Caesar did as well. Assholes had made you drop your jar of peanut butter you had swiped from the kitchen as well. You heard an explosion go off earlier so you guessed the others had made it inside by now. Knowing from the manga that the gas would be spreading quickly now you pushed on to make it to building R. Wincing when your leg ached you moved your hand down to hold it over the bleeding gunshot wound there. As another round of gunfire rang out around you, you heard one yell that you were not to be seriously injured. Running behind the corner and onto the stairway you tried to outrun them but were forced to stop when more yellow dressed men showed up in front of you.

"Now come on lady, just come with us and we won't be forced to hurt you anymore."

Gritting your teeth you looked back and forth, you were surrounded and while you may have been able to take on five or six of them there looked to be at least a dozen. Backing into the railing you snapped your eyes behind you to see the floor far below. There was no way you would survive the fall... but there was another option. Looking back to the group you saw them inching there way closer. It was now or never. Turning around quickly you climbed the railing and jumped.

"NO!"

Grabbing hold of the chain you gasped as it started falling, you were not expecting a pully. Seeing the ground coming up fast you grabbed hold of the other one and let out a muffled scream when it tore away the skin on the palm of your hand. Pushing through the pain you slowed yourself down enough to not die when you hit the ground but you didn't stick the landing and were left a little dazed when your head smacked against the hard floor. Blinking slowly as the world seemed to spin you held your belly with one hand and turned your head to the side to see the yellow suited men running down the stairs. There muffled yelling rung in your ears and you whimpered as you pushed your body to sit up. Seeing the fallen sword on the ground not to far away you crawled over to grab it and pushed yourself to your unsteady feet.

Raising your head as the heavy footsteps grew closer you just did swing your sword in time when one of them took the chance to grab you. The man was quickly replaced with another and all too soon you found yourself in another fight but this time it wasn't looking too good. Crying out when one of them sliced at your shoulder you backed away, the grip on the sword loosening to the point you almost dropped it. Bringing your knee up and then kicking you refused to give up but you were quickly growing exhausted. Tring to swing the now heavy sword again it was blocked and smacked from your hand. Feeling a hand yank on your hair you winced and hit against the man as he stood above you. Seeing him hold out a can of what you guessed was that sleeping gas you held your breath and tried yanking out of his hold.

"This would have been much easier for you if you would have just did as we sa... ah!"

"AHHH!"

Feeling the hand on your locks loosen you went to fall to the floor but something held you up. Seeing nothing but black you let your eyes slip close, a heavenly smell filling your nose. Then there was a voice, a deep voice, one you had only heard in your dreams for what seemed like a lifetime. Pulling back some you looked up and saw him. After so long you weren't sure he was real. "C..croc?"

Taking care of all the filth that dared hurt his darling he looked down when he heard her trembling voice. Seeing those sea blue eyes looking up at him and hearing her say his name he couldn't help but grin. As soon as he did he felt her arms wrap around his waist, her face burring into his abdomen.

Shaking with sobs you held onto him so tightly you only knew his clothes would be wrinkled. It was him, it was really him.

Prying her arms from him only long enough for him to lift her up he felt her arms wrap around his neck. Holding her with his left forearm and hook he wrapped his right arm around her to return her embrace. His eyes closed momentarily, relishing the knowledge that she was in his arms once again after six months apart.

There were so many emotions overtaking your body but none more prominent than happiness. Tears poured from your eyes, soaking into his coat and shirt but he didn't seem to mind. "I'm ssssorrryyy." you sobbed.

Hearing her heart wrenching apology he licked his lips, swallowing the lump growing in his throat. "Why on earth are you apologizing to me? You have no reason to be sorry..." Clenching his teeth he gently rubbed the back of her head and hair. "I on the other hand don't deserve your forgiveness, everything that happened to you, all of this, it's my fault."

Shaking your head you nuzzled your nose into his neck. "No it's no..."

"It is." he said through gritted teeth. "I failed you again... I didn't..."

Leaning up you pushed your lips to his. Holding his face in your hands you refused to let him break away. After a few moments he sighed, his lips softening to kiss you back and you knew you had won. Tears continued dripping from your eyes and no doubt onto his face. Pulling away only to peck his cheeks and lay your forehead on his you closed your eyes. You didn't know wither it was from finally being reunited with your lost love again after so much or all the injuries but you felt very tired.

Feeling her body slacken against his he opened his eyes slightly and looked down to her. Seeing the blood on her forehead he recalled where they were and what was happening. Moving her over to the steps he sat her down and kneeled in front of her while his eyes scanned over her body. He could see blood soaking her pants leg, a gash across her shoulder and blood coming from her head. There was so much more he wanted to observe but now wasn't the time. Removing his belt he put it around her upper thigh and pulled it tight to stop the bleeding until it coudl be treated. There wasn't much he could do about her other injuries unfortunately. As his eyes fell to the small bump under the thin tank top she was wearing he felt his heart beat harder in his chest. Reaching out he ever so gently placed his hand over the majority of her stomach. Blinking he stroked her belly with his thumb, "You truly are an amazing woman."

Grinning bashfully you looked down to his hand and placed yours overtop for a moment. That quiet moment was soon interrupted as a loud explosion shook the lab. "We have to go, now."

Nodding he stood and removed his coat wrapping it around her slightly trembling body he lifted her up into his arms again. He would get them out of this place and then he would never have her out of his sight again.

#Sir Crocodile #one piece crocodile #crocodile fanfiction #crocodile x reader #sir crocodile x reader #one piece crocodile x reader #crocodile x ofc #soulmate #soulmarks #soulmate au #One Piece Fanfiction

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yukipri · 4 years ago

Text

On the Baratie, Part 2 - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Tonight I bring another humble offering of a text story, this time a continuation of the Baratie story that y’all voted to see more of!

This was posted in advance on my Patreon several weeks ago ^ ^

Continues off of Part 1, but can be enhanced by reading the Prologue as well!

Links to previous parts:

👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 1

👒🐟On the Baratie, Prologue

Sanji and Gin jolt when they notice the mermaid draped over the rail above them, her tail gripping the wood like an anaconda.

"Glad you got food!" she says to Gin, who is too busy staring to hear her words. "And you!" now directed at Sanji, "You're cool! Join my crew!"

Sanji can't really judge Gin, because he's staring too. It's hard to tear his gaze away from the stunning goddess who has seemingly materialized out of thin air to be within touching distance, but he manages, and--it appears she's alone. The pirates are nowhere in sight.

"Are you alright?" his words leave in a soft whoosh, in case the pirates can hear, and Gin finally snaps out of it to look at Sanji with concern.

"Me? I'm great! The food here's awesome! I'd be more awesome if you joined my crew!" She grins, and her mouth is full of gleaming pearls, and Sanji struggles not to swoon.

"Your...crew?" Sanji's impressed he managed to catch that, he's so entranced by her voice. It's lower than he expected, but rich, and bright, and boyish in a way that matches her wind-tousled hair.

"Yeah, I'm a pirate!" She announces proudly, slapping her flukes against the wood in emphasis.

"A...pirate," Sanji repeats. "Those people who came in with you..."

"They're my crew! They're awesome!" The pearls flash again.

Sanji's inclined not believe her; he has no clue what the pirates have forced her to say, and even if that's not the case, she has this innocent air to her that suggests she may have been tricked into believing herself a willing member of the crew--but he stops.

There's something about her, the way her big, wide eyes sparkle and her smile shines down on Sanji warmer than the sun, that convinces him that she's telling the truth.

The mermaid really is a pirate. Which means she doesn't need to be rescued.

"I see," he manages to say, and slowly forces the tension from his shoulders. He'd be lying if he said there wasn't a small part of him that's disappointed that he won't be able to act as her shining knight. But a much larger part of him is relieved, relieved because he honestly wasn't sure how he'd get rid of the pirates without the shitty old man and the Baratie suffering, and relieved because it means his princess isn't in distress. As much as he'd love to be her hero, Sanji doesn't think he could bear to see her in tears.

They talk some more, and Sanji's once again impressed with his ability to maintain a normal conversation with the mermaid, whose name is Luffy. Gin blanches at her announcement that they're going to the Grand Line, but he'd seen the members of her crew too, and reluctantly nods.

"Just be careful out there, monsters live on the Grand Line," Gin warns as he prepares to set off.

"It's okay, we have monsters too!" Luffy grins, carefree as can be. Gin and Sanji believe her, though neither at the time suspect that she includes herself among her crew's "monsters."

Zeff comes out as Gin's leaving, and Sanji cheerfully destroys the evidence of having fed the starving pirate before the restaurant owner's eyes. Luffy blinks at the exchange, before something seems to click.

"Oh, you're the Zeff dude!"

Zeff's eyebrows climb into his impossibly tall hat. "Oh? And you must be our first ever mermaid customer. The cooks were in quite an uproar over you." His eyes flick to Sanji knowingly, well aware that Sanji had shoved the other cooks aside in order to claim the honor of cooking for their party personally.

Luffy seems weirdly pleased. "Hey, Zeff dude, I found you! Thatch wanted to talk to you. So you should go talk to him!"

She's clearly very satisfied at having relayed her message, and Zeff harrumphs. "Thatch, eh? Well that's a name I've heard before...let's go see the brat."

Zeff disappears back inside, leaving Luffy alone with Sanji. He feels his heart pounding weirdly again, now that they're by themselves.

"You should really join our crew," Luffy says, and her persistence is endearing. She's picking her nose now, and with anyone else, Sanji would complain about how unsanitary it is, but anything done by her is charming. Sanji notes that her nostril seems bizarrely stretchy. How absolutely adorable.

"Is your crew in search of a cook, milady?" Sanji allows himself to briefly imagine what it would be like, to travel the world with such a lovely companion. The rest of her pre-existing crew fades to the background, until it's just her and Sanji, leaning against the rail of a beautiful white ship, seagulls soaring through brilliant clear skies as he pulls back the veil to kiss the bride--

"Oh, nope! We already have a cook!" she says cheerfully, shattering the fleeting vision of their wedding. "But, that doesn't mean we can't have two! And your food looks great! You should be our cook too!"

Ah, they already have a cook...Sanji suddenly remembers seeing the pompadour man, the one that had tickled his memory. He frowns, because that niggling sensation won't leave, and something tells him it's important that he remembers where he knows the man from.

"I should get back now, or Ace will be mad," Luffy announces, and shimmies up the rail back towards the door that Zeff had left from. She glances back at Sanji expectantly, and Sanji follows, unable to deny his princess's summons.

The rest of Luffy's crew is still lounging in the back VIP section, surrounding the most lavish table in the entire restaurant and given a degree of privacy from outside with the help of thick curtains. Sanji had assigned them to the table in case they need a nasty confrontation, but it seems like that won't be necessary.

Sanji jolts when he realizes that the pompadour man has risen from his seat to stand in front of Zeff, and the two are talking animatedly. Sanji doesn't remember the last time Zeff looked so pleased to speak with an outsider.

"So yer now the Head Chef of that old man's fleet, eh," Zeff is saying, and the pompadour man looks weirdly bashful. "You woulda been a fine addition to our crew though, kid."

"Possibly," Pompadour agrees, "though my place is with Pops."

"And what about now? You change your mind about that, or taking a vacation all the way out here?" Zeff snorts, and Sanji acknowledges the affirmation that yes, these really are Grand Line pirates.

"Something like a vacation, and to spend some time traveling with my dearest--Luffy!" he exclaims.

"Thatch! I caught a Zeff!" Luffy announces, smacking her tail hard on the ground to bound up onto pompadour man's vacated seat.

All of the food at the table has been consumed, and Luffy looks sadly at the empty plate as though she had been expecting something to still be there. Sanji wants to immediately return to the kitchen to refill it, but then he notices that Luffy is now licking the plate. Her manners are absolutely beyond atrocious. It suits her though, and Sanji wouldn't want it any other way, because he hasn't ever seen such blatant appreciation for food that he'd cooked, and it's making his entire body buzz with barely contained bliss.

Before Sanji can make his offer to bring more, the pompadour man, Thatch, interrupts. "Lil Seastar, you don't need to do that, I'll make you seconds back on the ship," he says, fluffing Luffy's soft hair and Sanji seethes in jealousy.

"It was really good, you were right about the Zeff dude cooks," Luffy says mournfully at Thatch's plate. "Though Thatch's still the best!" She butts her head into Thatch's large palm.

Zeff laughs at her words. "High praise, to be compared to you, Whitebeard's lil cook, if you've grown as much as you claim. This meal was prepared by my Sous-chef. Come here Sanji," he says and Sanji jolts at suddenly being addressed.

Sanji's distracted by Thatch's hand on Luffy's head, but forces himself to look up at the tall pirate, who's now scrutinizing Sanji intently. There's something about the man that's really bothering Sanji, like he should really, really know him. Sanji thinks Zeff just said Whitebeard, and if that's the case--those are BIG pirates. Like, the Biggest actually, which is kind of insane. But, Sanji doesn't actually recall being familiar with any officers, other than having heard about Whitebeard himself, so it really doesn't solve the mystery of familiarity.

"So you're Zeff's best, hm?" Thatch says, and even though Sanji can only sense genuine friendliness from his smile, he still feels oddly awkward, unsure how to react. It's not often that Zeff holds another chef in such high regard, and one so much younger than him too. Sanji feels like he ought to be polite, at the very least.

He once again doesn't need to speak, because Luffy beats him to it. "Yeah! He's a good guy! And if he made our food, then he's good at food-making too! I pick him, I've decided. He's gonna join our crew!"

Sanji feels his cheeks burn at the praise, but being invited in private is a bit different from having it made into an announcement to an audience Sanji doesn't personally know. "Luffy, darling, please wait--"

"Lu, what'd we say about inviting people without consulting me? We're both captains here, we need to agree," a voice says lazily from Luffy's other side, and Sanji's gaze jolts to the man who unfolds himself from the shadows like a lethal big cat.

He'd somehow forgotten the others except Thatch, but this is the man who'd carried Luffy in, the dangerous one. He gives a careless nod in Sanji's direction, giving him a cursory sweep with dark, sleepy eyes even as he opens his arm. Luffy, pouting, slides onto the man's lap, and the arm settles again to wrap around her waist.

The move looks intentionally provocative, Sanji thinks, struggling to keep his scowl inside. It's hard to watch them pressed together, the man's bare, rippling torso to Luffy's revealing top and the soft flesh bulging from within. Luffy wraps her lovely coral gemstone tail around the man so it loops behind his chair, making their contact look very mutual. Throughout it all, the man doesn't break eye contact with Sanji.

The man's sending a message, and Sanji gets it loud and clear: Hands off.

Sanji decides he doesn't like the man.

"But Ace, he's a Good Guy, we want him on our crew," Luffy says, staring up at the man with enormous eyes and a wobbly lip that has Sanji clutching his chest.

The man, Ace--why does that sound vaguely familiar too?--has the nerve to look bored, even when exposed to the full blast of the gorgeous mermaid's luscious pout, and at this point Sanji has to conclude that the man isn't human, because what mortal could possibly resist her?

"Mm, a Good Guy, huh," Ace says, he gives Sanji a slow, knowing smirk that forces him to hold himself rigid to avoid stepping back. "I dunno Luffy, he's looking at you like you're meat."

His gaze gets colder then, and Sanji's indignation dies on his lips.

"Meat..."

The moment's over when Luffy looks down at herself contemplatively, and her stomach growls.

"I take that back," Ace says hastily. "You're not meat, you're fish, and made of rubber at that. Bad idea, Lu."

"How about I get you something, and I can let Zeff see for himself if I've improved while I'm at it?" Thatch slides in. "That is, if you don't mind me borrowing your kitchen, Zeff?"

"Outsiders don't play in my kitchen, boy," Zeff snorts, and Sanji's relieved at the sudden return to normalcy, but it's short lived. "But for you, I'll make an exception. Let's see it."

Tbc in Part 3...?

And so I write longer and longer Mermaid AU stories ^ ^;;;;

Thank you so much for reading!! If you liked it, I’d love to hear any comments or thoughts ;A;

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

Read the next part: On the Baratie, Part 3

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

#OnePieceMermaidAU #One Piece Mermaid AU #SanLu #AceLu #ThatchLu #text headcanons #longpost #long post #fic

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stardustryewriting · 4 years ago

Text

Nothing left unspoken

Zoro and Sanji shared a kiss days ago. Sanji refuses to speak about it. Zoro insists on speaking about it.

Also on AO3: here

Most of the time, Sanji’s annoyingly loud praises, that made everyone aware of his presence all the time, were the worst thing about Zoro’s day. When Sanji praised Nami and Robin for doing the bare minimum (something he always criticized about Zoro) his voice was something special between worship and sing-song, that was all Sanji’s own. And way too over the top, if you asked Zoro. So, usually he picked fights to get Sanji back to his normal voice and to divert his attention from Nami and Robin. Which Robin didn’t seem to mind at all and Nami only ever minded in the rare occasion she really wanted Sanji to do something for her. Also, when doing this, Zoro always had Sanji’s undivided attention. It was a nice added bonus.

Not that he would ever admit that out loud.

He didn’t have to either. Though what he did instead was objectively worse. How he had managed to turn their usual old I’m not going the wrong way, you do argument into a make-out session was still beyond him. In his defense, Sanji was hot when he was riled up, or annoyed or even just mildly inconvenienced. (Sanji was hot all the time, he wouldn’t admit that either.) And so, when Sanji was screaming at him about some directions that made no sense and were completely wrong anyways, he lost control and just kissed him. On the lips, with tongue, because he had thought Sanji opened his mouth because he wanted it too. He only realized way later, that Sanji’s mouth was open out of shock. In retrospect, that made more sense.

Sanji had fled afterwards, running faster than Zoro had ever seen him running, and Sanji wasn’t slow by any means. So, Zoro had expected that when he returned to the ship, he would get Sanji’s cold shoulder for a while. Or some passive-aggressive comments that would the turn into an active-aggressive fight. Or maybe some disgusted looks, because even though he never hid his sexual preference, he never openly stated it either, where as Sanji was very explicit about his favored gender. Which unfortunately wasn’t Zoro’s gender.

What he got instead was nothing. No looks, no comments, no cold shoulder. He got his normal treatment, Sanji nagging about him not doing enough, picking fights that were more about there respective prides than the thing they were actually fighting about, and Sanji still giving him a bottle of booze with every lunch and dinner. While this should have been good, their normal routine, same old Zoro and Sanji doing Zoro and Sanji things, it wasn’t. Because underneath Sanji’s normal, over-the-top surface he carefully kept around the crew, something was simmering. Zoro felt it in his bones, like Nami felt storms on the Grandline.

That wasn’t good. They needed to talk about this. (which Zoro didn’t really want to, but if it was to keep the peace on the ship, he could deal with it.) But every time he found Sanji alone - mostly in the kitchen to prepare food - the cook somehow managed to cut their talk short. It’s no big deal, was the best answer Zoro had ever gotten out of him and he would have loved to take it, but he knew there was more. Damn Sanji for not being able to give him a straight answer.

So Zoro decided to corner him on deck, when he came back from yet another delivery to Nami and Robin. He did more of those than usual, and Zoro had actually believed that he couldn’t possibly increase the frequency any further. Sanji just loved to mess with his head, it seemed.

„I need to talk to you.“ Straight and to the point. Cause if he said anything else Sanji would use that as a get away or a distraction. Or he would just flee again, which was so unlike him, that it made Zoro even madder, than the constant avoidance he had to deal with.

„I don’t think there was anything to talk about“, Sanji answered way too happy for his usual self. Certainly happier than he ever was talking to Zoro. It hurt, a lot. But it also was a serious test for his patience, and his patience for this situation was thin from the beginning. Zoro glared at him, hoping to convey that he was as annoyed and tired about this topic as Sanji was. And if they could just have one talk, to make sure that the Thousand Sunny stayed peaceful, he would gladly drop it forever. He would erase it out of his mind and hopefully never think about it again. (He wouldn’t be able to do that really. But he needed to try.)

„You can’t mean this. I know you’re not as stupid as you look.“

„Excuse me?“, Sanji sputtered, looking as insulted as he usually did, when one of Zoro’s compliments came out the wrong way. Zoro just didn’t have a way with words. And Zoro decided ages ago, when it became apparent that Sanji really had no interest in men at all, that it was better no one ever recognized his compliments for what they were. It did save him a whole bunch of explaining. And probably a lot of uncomfortable situations, too. But also, right now he was determined to make his point clear, no matter how much he had to shout at Sanji for that.

„Goddammit, we kissed, you can’t just ignore that“, and shouting that out in hearing range of the entire crew might not have been the smartest move, but Zoro hadn’t had it in him to care. Sanji seemed to care enough for both of them anyways, if his increasingly annoyed look was any indication. He also turned a little red in the face, which would have been cute, if the situation wasn’t as serious.

(„Zoro and Sanji kissed?“, he heard Chopper ask someone in the background. Thankfully not them. He really didn’t have the capacity for that right now.

„Yes a few days ago“, Robin answered patiently, and Zoro didn’t even want to know how she knew. There was just no hiding anything from Robin it seemed.)

„You wanna tell it to the newspapers too?“, Sanji whispered angrily and Zoro would have laughed, if he was any less tense. As if whispering would save anything now. He’s seen Nami collect money from both Usopp and Franky out of the corner of his eye, even though Sanji seemed to be blissfully unaware. Zoro was only surprised Robin hasn’t won. With her powers, she could have easily rigged the game.

„What, now you want a private talk?“, he mocked Sanji instead of screaming in frustration like he originally wanted to. Nami probably had a bet on that too, and he refused to let her win two times in one day. Also, mocking usually proved more effective when he wanted Sanji to talk to him, where screaming only ever lead to them fighting. A fight was the last thing they needed now. Maybe they could have one to get rid of some steam after all of this was over. Hopefully it was over soon. (It did hurt the first few days, now Zoro was just tired of it.)

Instead of giving him a verbal answer, Sanji grabbed him by the wrist of his hand and tugged him inside the ship, into the men’s sleeping room. Once there, Sanji grabbed his cigarettes and the lighter from his pocket pants and lit himself a cigarette. Zoro wished he didn’t, he hated the smell even under the open sky, but it was worse in closed rooms. Instead of starting a fight about the cigarette smell, he busied himself opening all two of the windows in the mans sleeping room. Sanji was trying to distract him, to change the topic, again. He wouldn’t let him.

„So what now?“, he asked, after he opened the second window and leaned on the wall next to it. Sanji still stood by the door, taking a long drag from his cigarette and disposing of the ashes in the ashtray on the night table next to him, seemingly having all the time in the world.

„Nothing, you wanted to talk, now talk“, Sanji answered him finally, tone carefully devoid of all emotions, making Zoro want to hit him in the head. And, for some reason, to kiss him again. Which was a dangerous thought, that Zoro carefully got rid of, before he decided to say something to Sanji again. He moved from his spot on the wall to sit on the bed furthest away from the door, where Sanji was still standing. It was Luffy’s bed, standing against the wall separating the room from the ocean, because Luffy liked listening to the sounds of the waves when he fell asleep. Zoro wasn’t usually this sentimental, but even he could agree that they were soothing right now.

„You can’t keep pretending that it didn’t happen, cause guess what? It did. And it obviously still bothers you“, Zoro stated, way more defeated than he ever thought he would be. When Zoro had thought about having this talk with Sanji (and he did think about it a lot more than he was willing to admit) he was always mad and screaming and demanding an apology for Sanji leaving like he did. In his imagination he was always so full of rage, because he had showed Sanji his heart that day and Sanji had stomped on it and pretended he didn’t. But now, that he finally talked with Sanji he was just fed up with the entire thing. Let Sanji be mad him for this, he could even spit on Zoro’s vulnerability a second time if he wanted. Zoro really just wanted all of this to be over now.

„I never pretended it didn’t happen. I just didn’t see the need to talk about it“, Sanji defended, sounding entirely too cool in Zoro’s opinion. He had known Sanji for long enough to know that it bothered him more than he let on. He also knew he would have to provoke Sanji to get something out of him. Sanji would rather implode than let Zoro in on his feelings. (How he was ever stupid enough to believe something else, for even a second, was beyond him.)

„You -“, he was rudely interrupted by the sound of a door slamming and what was very unmistakingly Luffy screaming out a demand for food. Luffy was however very abruptly stopped, by what Zoro thought sounded like Nami hitting him. Her reprimanding their captain a second later („Not now, you really have no sense for what is important“) confirmed his suspicions. There really was no way to have some privacy on this ship.

„You know that this is lie. As well as I do. If you keep it all in you’re gonna explode one day“, Zoro said, after the door slammed shut a second time, when Nami had dragged their captain back on deck. Sanji, who was well on his way to take the distraction Luffy had provided for him, froze in the middle of his movement and looked at Zoro with one eye blown wide. The next second it narrowed in anger.

„Don’t assume what I will or won’t do. You assuming things is what got us into this -.“ Sanji seemed like he lacked the proper word to describe their current situation, so he just gestured wildly with his hands. „- thing“, he finally ended rather lame. At least thing wasn’t wrong and it wasn’t as hurtful as ‚mess‘ would have been. Zoro had fully believed Sanji would use mess.

„Alright, I stop assuming when you tell me what your problem is“, he agreed, because it seemed like getting Sanji to talk would be easier than he thought. Lucky him.

„It didn’t hate it“, Sanji mumbled and Zoro almost didn’t catch it. In fact Zoro was sure he didn’t catch it and his brain just made up something he wanted to hear. Maybe he had some sort of spontaneous stroke that affected his hearing. Or he was laying on deck underneath the warm sun and dreamed. All those things were more likely than this.

„Excuse me?“, he said, because he was certain this wasn’t a dream, so he must have heard Sanji wrong.

Sanji sighed deeply, taking one last drag of his cigarette, before putting it out for good in the ashtray. Then he made his way across the room, dropping down on the same bed, Zoro was sitting on, close enough that their legs were touching. He leaned back, resting his head against the wall, looking at the ceiling and continued talking.

„I said, I didn’t hate. It was a nice enough kiss, even though you clearly have no idea what you’re doing. I was just really confused, during and after because YOU“, and he made a point of looking at Zoro now, „are not a women. You aren’t even pretty. So I was scared and I ran, because I couldn’t possibly fight my feelings. And then of course I insulted you, I might have even hurt you, so I couldn’t bring myself to talk to you. And you never talk about feelings, ever so I thought I was safe to just pretend, but suddenly you’re all ‚We need to settle this‘“, he did a horrible impression of Zoro’s voice here, „and I was just. I wasn’t prepared to talk about it so I didn’t. I honestly didn’t think it would bother you that much.“

Sanji’s leg twitched next to him, and Zoro couldn’t possibly ignore that way Sanji’s lean muscle moved next to his own significantly bigger leg. It made concentrating hard, but Zoro was determined to see this through to the end. He’d already come this far.

„I don’t just kiss people without a reason“, was everything his mind could come up with, because Sanji was still so damn close. And he smelt really nice, and he was still very hot, maybe even more so up close, but Zoro could say none of that out loud. And even though it wasn’t technically an answer to what Sanji had just confessed, the other took it.

„Why did you kiss me back then anyway? We were in middle of an argument! Full offense, you have the worst timing.“

Now, that got Zoro to concentrate on something other than the feel of Sanji’s leg against his own. (Not entirely true, it still stayed in the back of his mind.) Just what was he supposed to answer to that? The truth, he decided, because lying now, to save his face would get them into an even worse spot than before, if Sanji found out. And Sanji knew Zoro as well as Zoro knew Sanji.

„You’re really hot, when you’re riled up“, he confessed in small voice, in hopes Sanji wouldn’t catch all of it. He did judging by the way he laughed, and Zoro didn’t have it in him to be mad about. Sanji was more light-hearted than he had been in days and it was all thanks to Zoro.

„You’re also really hot, when you’re riled up“, Sanji confessed, after he had calmed down and leaned more towards Zoro. He placed his hand on Zoro’s thigh in the process, looking at him like Zoro was the only thing on Sanji’s mind right now. Zoro didn’t think he’s ever been happier.

#zosan #roronoa zoro #op zoro #sanji #vinsmoke sanji #i hate tagging sanji as a vinsmoke #awkward zoro #bisexual sanji #he just had his bi awakaning #sanji is bad at feelings #so is zoro #but they manage #they are idiots #i love them

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deathlikesdeep-dish · 4 years ago

Text

Inspiration (Zoro x Reader)

Hi all!!

This is one of my submissions for the lovely @nakunakunomi‘s 750 followers event! Many well deserved congratulations for reaching that milestone!

Cliche: Everyone thinks we’re already dating, but we’re just best friends. Oh wait--

Random word to include: Inspiration

Word Count: 1906

No warnings, just some cussing as per usual! Takes place Post Enies Lobby, Pre-Thriller Bark. Gender neutral reader pairing!

(read after cut)

He is normally able to keep these sorts of thoughts at bay, however, there are particular, special moments--like when the morning sun warms your skin and seems to melt the anxiety from your features, or when you let out a contented mmm when you eat your favorite food, or when your laugh is so boisterous that it instantly attracts everyone’s attention--in which Zoro is unable to ignore their quiet insistence.

You’re beautiful, he thinks.

The first time he had that thought, it caught him completely off guard. Before, Zoro had not considered ideas such as beauty. Sure, he found that his swords were beautiful, but not necessarily in an aesthetic way, though they were certainly visually pleasing. Their beauty, he decided, was more in what they represented, rather than their corporeal make-up. They represented power, assiduousness, and loyalty--a promise that he made long ago, and a promise he made to his captain.

But you. You have redefined this word, and many other words, for Zoro.

Never one to trust easily, Zoro had been wary of you at the beginning. Following the events at Enies Lobby, Zoro knew that the Strawhats would be targeted now more than ever. Each new place they encountered was rife with opportunities for mishap, and Luffy had a bad habit of inviting strangers into their world and asking questions later. But Luffy hadn’t been wrong so far. And he wasn’t wrong about you either.

You’ve been talking for the last few minutes, he is peripherally aware, but he has missed pretty much the entire conversation.

“Zoro?” You ask, and he is pulled from his thoughts.

“Mmm,” he responds, not looking up from his weights. The two of you spend the majority of your off time together in the Crow’s Nest. Zoro does his training, and you are content to read a book, take a nap or occasionally spar with him if you’re feeling brave. This fact, of course, was only fuel for the rest of the crew to concoct rumors of your “secret romance.”

“Zoroooo!” Chopper had asked Zoro one day. “Franky said that you and y/n were, I think he called it “bumping uglies” and I’m wondering what that means and if it’s happening.”

Zoro had throttled Franky for that, which naturally only made things worse and confirmed the crew’s suspicions in their minds. None of it was true, however. You and he were nothing more than friends. The best of friends.

In all of his life, Zoro had never found someone that was quite as compatible for him as you. Yes, he swore his fealty to Luffy from the moment Luffy had set him free from his Naval bonds, but this compatibility was different. You and he moved together, in sync without trying. It was almost as if the two of you had been charged with the same energy, and separated by time and space only to be brought back together by some fated cosmic event. Zoro would have rolled his eyes at the concept in the past, but there was something between you that he could not explain.

So, as with everything social-emotional component of life that Zoro did not understand, Zoro tucked these thoughts and feelings away, deep down in a place that only he could access. He wasn’t sure if even you were aware of their existence, but he certainly was.

“Zoro,” You try again and he puts his weight down.

“Yeah?” He replies absently.

“What’s going on with you today? You seem...off,” You say.

He turns his back, knowing that you will see something behind his eyes should he show them to you. He replies. “I’m fine, y/n. Didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Well,” You say with a quiet laugh, walking over to him. “That is a cause for concern.” You fold your legs and sit down in front of him. He avoids your gaze and does not respond.

You are worried, he figures.

“Nah, don’t worry about it, y/n,” He says. “Just had crazy dreams all night, I guess.”

He can tell that you are not satisfied by his answer, but you don’t say anything further. He is grateful for this, because he doesn’t know exactly how he would respond if you pushed him any further.

“Mm,” you say, unsatisfied, and pick at your fingernails anxiously.

It is silent for another long few minutes. Zoro can feel the air thickening in the room. He doesn’t like being so uncomfortable around you. In fact, he hates it. It had been such a rare occurrence up until recently. But things had shifted between the two of you as of late. One day last week, you and Zoro were hanging out as you normally did in your down time, when Sanji called the crew down for dinner.

“Bout damn time,” Zoro had grumbled, hopping to his feet and holding a hand out for you to take. When you grabbed his hand, he had pulled a bit too forcefully, resulting in you losing your balance and tumbling directly into Zoro’s arms.

He was immediately aware of your closeness, the thin fabric of your shirt allowing your warmth to seep onto his bare chest under his coat. Suddenly, his senses were heightened. Your faces were so close that your noses were touching, and he could feel your breath fan across his cheeks and his lips. He had let out a shuddering breath when your eyes met, and he could tell that you were also experiencing the current of electricity flowing between you.

“Zoro! Y/n!” Luffy had called obnoxiously, jarring you both. “It’s time for foooood!!”

Zoro immediately let go of your hand and took a step back. He was able to clear his mind when you were a few paces away.

“We should go,” You had mumbled, averting your gaze and walking ahead of him.

Zoro’s mind went back to that moment. It couldn’t have been more than 30 seconds, but it had felt like far, far longer. Every inch of skin that had made contact with your body was warm and tingling. Even now, he could feel the remnants of your presence.

This is Y/N. Zoro reminds himself internally. We’re best friends. You know how hard it is for you to make friends. You can’t jeopardize this relationship by letting that kind of shit get in the way.

Little does Zoro know, you’ve been thinking about the same moment. But unlike Zoro, you’re not going to let this tension go unresolved. You know that Zoro would let this go forever without saying a word. He’s patient like that, you’ve realized. And as much as he tries to hide it, he’s terrified of losing people. Of losing you.

“Zoro, we need to talk,” You finally say.

His stomach drops and his heart begins to race. Ah, shit. He thinks to himself.

“Yeah?” He replies, clearing his throat. He still hasn’t looked at you. You need him to look at you.

“Look at me.” Your voice is low and serious, pleading.

Zoro’s silver eyes finally reach yours. He is immediately disarmed, as he knew he would be. Your gaze is quiet and tender. He feels his chest tighten at the sight.

“What’s going on?” You say quietly. “Are you--” You pause for a moment, shifting closer to him. “Are you angry with me? About the other day?”

He hears the fear in your voice, and he is taken aback by the question. “Angry with you? What could I possibly be angry with you about?” Zoro is almost offended. How could you possibly think he could ever be angry with you? How could you possibly think that you are anything but his inspiration? Sure, Luffy was his motivation to be a better swordsman. But you. You were the reason for him to be a better man.

“You’ve been distant,” You insist.

He runs a hand through his hair, balling his fist frustratedly at the nape of his neck. “I’m not trying to be,” He says through gritted teeth. “I’ve just…” He starts to say, but immediately regrets it. “Never mind.”

“You don’t get to do that,” You object, raising your voice slightly. “You don’t get to just shut down. We tell each other what’s going on. We’re best friends!”

“Well, maybe I don’t want to be anymore!” He bursts out. The room falls immediately silent. He can hear nothing but his heart in his ears as he watches your face. Crestfallen, he sees silent tears forming at the corners of your eyes and he knows that he has not been clear.

“Goddamn it,” He mumbles, ripping his hand from his hair and clenching his fist tightly at his side. He looks away from you. He knows that he won’t be able to speak if he sees your face.

“I don’t want to be your best friend.” He says again, pausing for a long moment before speaking again. “I want to be more than that.”

“Wait, wha--” You start, but Zoro holds his hand up to you, pleading for silence.

“Please, Y/N, let me get through this,” He replies. You close your mouth and wait. “I want to be more than your best friend. I’m--I’m not the best with words or feelings or whatever. But, but...fuck,” He groans frustrated that he can’t articulate his emotions. “I think I’m in love with you. The other day, you were just so close and you smelled so good and your body felt…” He trails off.

“Zoro…” You whisper.

“Y/N, I can’t keep things like this anymore. I need…I need more. And I know I’m not in a position to ask for that kind of shit and you for damn sure don’t owe me anything, but, I just need…”

You’ve crossed the small distance between your bodies and quiet his speech with your finger. “Zoro,” You say again, more gently, smiling. You feel him shiver, the current flowing through his entire muscled body to the finger on his lips, the air sending chills down your own spine. “I think I might be in love with you too.”

The words land on his ears and he almost feels as if he could burst into tears. His sigh of relief is palpable and the hand that has been gripping his thigh moves to thread through your hair, pulling you closer to him. “Thank fucking god,” he murmurs before pressing his lips to yours.

The heat that he felt between the two of you that day was nothing compared to the heat between the two of you now. He groans, the pit of nervousness in his stomach slowly dissolving to a different sort of pit. He feels each line of your body pressed against his and makes himself pull back. He wants to be slow. He wants you to be sure.

He extricates his lips from yours with discontented sigh. “Y/N,” He whispers. “We have all the time in the world. I don’t want to rush you.”

You smile at his thoughtfulness. “I love you, Zoro. You’ll always be my best friend.”

He smiles in return and kisses the tip of your nose gently before resting his forehead against yours. He is nearly overwhelmed by his joy, relieved beyond belief that you felt the same way. You are his best friend. And now you were more than that too. He can’t find any other words to say.

“Yeah,” He says. “The very best.”

#writing challenge #nakunakunomi #writing event #750 followers #750 followers event #zoro roronoa #roronoa zoro #zoro x reader #one piece #anime #one piece scenario #zoro scenario #inspiration #cliche with hazel

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