Down Where It's Wetter (Fishman Island Finale)

I stepped out of the boat following just behind Robin. Earring hanging heavily on my ear.

It still… it still felt weird to be doing this. To not be imprisoned or killed or at least ostracised for my crimes against humanity. I was free.

As free as a pirate.

My steps were shaky and unsure, and obviously Robin could sense that.

“You’ll need to be more responsible,” She spoke calmly as we crossed over the ships boarding platform down to the ground, “I’m not going to be keeping as harsh an eye on you, instead we can both write down our new normalities whenever we apply them. Best to keep up to date with reality changes.”

The ship had been docked nearby to the palace, and we’d been thoroughly left behind for the beginning of the festivities. Bass boosted tunes vibrated the very ocean around us, with clear chanting and cheering coming from inside. It ended quickly though, as we were guided to instead get inside a massive bubble and step on a nearby long eel with a big grin. The dark aquatic corridor it was swimming towards, illuminated at the end, and we were going there together.

Together.

Without being able to resist as we stood still on the eel, I did the unthinkable and gently took my girlfriend’s hand. I know, shocking. But… after the conversation we just had there was still a chance she’d realise I’m not worth it and reject me.

But those lovely forgiving eyes looked down at me with a heavenly smile, with a gentle squeeze I felt a little more relieved in myself, “Don’t worry, you can still be naughty with the earrings, just still be the good person I know you are at the same time. Or else.”

“R-really tightening the leash, huh?”

“Oh, you’ll get your leash soon enough,” She giggled so nonchalantly, adding one more reassuring hand squeeze, “But for now you helped stop an awful man from overthrowing a peaceful king. We are heroes, and do you know how heroes normally party these days?”

I gulped at her word choice. “No…?”

The music was getting louder. The beat and cheers became unavoidable to not focus on. All as the light of the party slowly illuminated us in the darkness…

To reveal a giant fishman orgy.

“AAHHHH! LUFFFYY~!” Cried Shirahoshi. Her massive face shoving right by us, just moaning lewdly and exhaling a long hot breath before vanishing back down past the eel.

The interruption hadn’t changed the tone of the area at all. It was a huge hall, completely flooded thanks to the Straw Hats vs New Fishman Pirates earlier, but full of the aquatic creatures we’d come to know the last few hours. Some dancing, some singing, some just eating the rows of delicious food and drink being provided, but all enjoying their party to the fullest of their ability.

Oh yeah, and of course the fucking.

It was quite the varied and colourful orgy. Obviously the centrepiece was Luffy having sex with Shirahoshi, but they were far from the only one doing it. FAR from it.

Most of the floor of the palace was covered with mermaids and mermen. It seemed very libertarian to say the least. Older men, palace guards, the fishmen who had been part of Hody’s crew, all were welcome here now. The mermaids didn’t seem to care in the slightest. Most happily taking whatever cock they could in any hole that could be reached, all driven by the dizzying highs of their newfound freedom.

And of course, littering the bubbles around the hall, were our lovely fellow pirates.

Sanji had only an heart for an eye at this point. His head inside the bosom of a buxom black haired mermaid, while his cock was being serviced by a blonde, redhead, and green haired woman as well. Yes, Caimie had apparently decided to share her old human friends with her new mermaid friends, and from what I could tell they were all getting along swimmingly. Loudly moaning nearby was Perona, who was getting her hair pulled by a blue fishman in her ass as she rode her boyfriend drinking grog.

Jinbei sharing some food and a laugh with the Minister of the Right. Franky getting his ass eaten by a mermaid. Usopp telling a tall tale to nearby drunks. Nami sucking off Shirahoshi’s brother. Marguerite showing off her snake to a mermaid. Chopper raging his human form through six girls at once. And the less said about Brook and the opera singer the better.

“Shall we dive on in?” Robin giggled, already stripping her jacket and bikini off while I hadn’t closed my awe stricken jaw yet.

“Uhh, I’ll catch up. You go have fun!”

There was always a way that Robin said so much when she said nothing at all. I never know if I’m learning the mysteries of that woman, or just as lost as a stranger. Suppose it’s the latter considering it was just revealed how little I knew of my own fate and how it spun since I left the base, but there was still something about the way she smiled as she left me here that, if I were any more foolish, I’d say she trusted me.

Who knows if that’s the case though. I am to be led around by someone much smarter than me, like any other idiot in love.

Robin left through a bubble to go towards where Zoro was currently drinking, leaving me to sit on the fish we entered on as I turned my attention to the rest of the party. A sliver of me still wonders if I’m allowed to partake in said celebration. Even ignoring my reality warping crimes, I did basically die half way through that battle. They’ll probably leave me off the heroic Straw Hat statue, and for good reason. Still. For all the fishmen I made fall asleep with my massages, it feels nice to see so many beaming faces down there. Like I contributed just enough.

In all my ruminations I didn’t notice a massive pair of breasts had snuck up on me to the left, quickly permeating the bubble and landing next to me on the air laden ground.

“Hmm. Hello there, Natsuo. How nice to speak to you again for the first time.”

“M-Madame Shyarly?” I squeaked in mild fear, not expecting her to have remembered my name as she brushed off the water on her skin, “E-everything alright?”

She was still wearing her hoodie and some panties, but had her big greyish breasts out for all to see. I keep forgetting how much taller she is than me, especially as she manoeuvred herself to basically wrap her long blue legs around me where I sat. Dragging me in close to those panties with a smile.

“Tell me. How did your chat about the normality earring go with Nico Robin?”

…all this heart skipping is probably shaving years off my life…

“Uhm, well? I think we came to some resolution…” I answered honestly, wouldn’t you if a giant shark lady wrapped her legs around you? “H-how did you-?”

“There are many timelines where things work out differently,” She smiled, taking a pipe from her hoodie’s pocket and placing it on her lips to begin smoking some bubbles. “If you were any more cruel, or if Robin decided at any point you were not worth the risk, then we would not be sharing in such a nice chat right now.”

Damn, living on that many futures must be rough, but it makes sense that things could have gone differently… “So… it was unlikely for me and Robin to stay together…?”

“Ah, my apologies. I cannot reveal even a single drop of information about other timelines, or else we risk total collapse of reality itself.” She explained, “Hmhm. This is exactly how I explained it to my brother Arlong in the reality where he escaped from jail.”

Um. Seems like she’s a little too eager to reveal info if reality is at risk here…

“I guess I have to be thankful that it resolved in a good ending,” I said, looking over at the noisy party.

“Yes, but your quest is far from over.” I knew that much, still had to protect Robin in the New World, “And I don’t just mean the fate of Nico Robin.” Can she read minds as well? “I cannot, but what I can do is tell you to protect that earring with your life. For all our futures.”

My eyes widened a little at that. What was going to happen if I didn’t? The mind boggles in horrible eventualities and timelines where I don’t protect myself…

“I-I guess you aren’t allowed to explain what you mean?”

She took a long inhale of bubbles with those pouty lips before shaking her head at me, “Sorry, little one. But I’m sure you’ll do as fine a job as you have been until now.”

Large fingers gently stroked my hair. A head pat by such a large and beautiful woman was certainly a kind of thrill, but the reassurance by someone so wise was warming my heart just as much as my crotch.

“Thank you… and, since you probably know about my changes too, I’ll just say sorry if it ruined your life or anything like thaaaaAAAT!!”

I yelled at the end because the hands that were petting me decided to instead scoop me up, and soon I went right past the creamy shark cleavage to look in her deep blue eye, “I love Jinbei with all my heart. You gave me the chance to realise that in this timeline. It was all unorthodox, but I’ve lived enough lifetimes to know that things needn’t be orthodox to be good. Thank you, Natsuo.”

After a nice jagged tooth grin her lips gently kissed my entire forehead. It was always nice to hear I didn’t ruin things, and hey Jinbei is a great guy! “Happy to hear it.” I said with a pat on the side of her face.

What I wasn’t expecting was to be in the timeline where Shyarly was horny.

“In fact, I should reward you. My boyfriend is joining the Straw Hats unofficially tonight,” Her breath was warm against my face as the shark looked at me with hunger. “So, we are basically already members of the same crew… and I hear there were some rules added about crew members, hm?”

Man, am I glad to be a pirate.

Her massive tongue licked all the way up my face. Swirling a single lap of saliva before finding my own open maw and slithering its way inside. Such a huge and beautiful woman with such a long and flexible tongue was making out with me hard. Wasn’t really expecting to be doing this at my first party, but I always secretly hoped.

She leaned back on the fish we stood on, letting me straddle her, knees going on either side on her sexy greyish torso while those teardrop breasts rested against my legs.

Without delay I pulled out my throbbing member, happily letting the fortune teller manipulate her own chest to squeeze against me. She wasn’t nearly as huge as Shirahoshi but she was a tall lass, easily enveloping my whole schlong in those fishy mammaries of hers. The pure wet and warmth of her squishy chest was amazing. I groaned as my own cock was massaged so wonderfully by her body.

It was when I took over that the scene became truly steamy. I poured maximum massage attention duties on the huge boobs I grabbed. My fetish was both big gals and the demure type being overpowered by pleasure. Robin was perfect, but Shyarly as she moaned was becoming a close second.

“Mmm~ s-seeing these f-futures ah~ where you mas-sage me… it d-doesn’t prep-pa!re you for the actual pleasURE!”

That single eye looked at me with such intense lust. Biting her lip with those jagged teeth must not be safe, but she couldn’t stop it with how I massaged her.

Big tits like this are often in need of massages more than people realise, or at least that’s what the books in my brain told me. There’s some science there about how much strain gravity puts on larger chests, which is probably extra true with how much water pressure a fishwoman goes through. Or maybe I’m just talking out my ass as my brain focuses more on the tits in front of me.

Each supple squeeze was heavenly. Her greyish skin with pinkish nipples, rubbing up and down the full length of my dick. No part was able to escape this softness prison.

Even just watching the way her flesh moved around my pole was arousing. The angles and curves of pure booby goodness, all while a sexy older lady with hair covering one eye looked on happily.

My hips soon became a blur as I fucked my heart out. Something about the beat of the music coming from all around us making it easier to just get into the groove of the whole thing. Shyarly was getting into it too, rubbing her hands against my back while opening that jagged mouth wide to receive my seed.

I couldn’t keep her waiting long.

“NNG! CUMMING!”

With a final thrust into her tits I ejaculated hard. All the stress of the conversation I’d had with Robin just fading away as my balls unloaded into the mouth of this woman. Covering her face just enough with my seed to be extra sexy, while the shark lady lapped up my semen with her extra long tongue.

“Mm, that was wonderful, Natsuo.” She purred, taking my last dribbles on her chest and rubbing them into her skin, I got off of her slowly though she didn’t get off the ground. “But tell me, is this one of the timelines where you’re also man enough to go a few rounds in my aching pussy?”

She spread her blue legs, showing off her gushing slit after pushing her panties to the side. “Let’s find out that future together!”

Natsuo did in fact prove himself inside Shyarly, and then some. Having such a large woman ride him on their third go around was enough to put him out of commission for much of the party, but would go down as a massively fond memory for years to come.

Others were having equal amounts of fun as the never ending adventure of a Straw Hat party kept going.

Marguerite was showing some of the guards and mermaids the wonders of kuja bows. How that, when imbued with haki, they could fire arrows even through water. She even showed off how she could focus on her attacks even when getting railed from behind by Franky.

Most mermaids were getting a visit by Sanji, who was making it his mission to try and visit as many fishy cunts as he could before dying. Chopper was trying to get him to stop, fearing he’d need some sort of semen transfer with how much he was losing, but Sanji refused to let up. It was his dream to visit all the blues under this sea, and such an opportunity would not happen again.

Brook got to try out all the older women who had their tails split already. He had grown far less picky than his younger compatriots, as he truly did enjoy a good ‘mmilf’ as he called them.

Luffy eventually grew tired of fucking Shirahoshi, who had to go back to her room for bedtime anyway. She was certainly satisfied, much to her father and brother’s anger. He still had energy for days though, and would soon find that a drunken Camie had cornered Robin for quickie after the pleasure from earlier. Natsuo was quickly replaced by such a nice rubber sandwich filling.

And, in a quieter corner of the event, something truly interesting was happening.

“Nyuu…”

“I know, it’s weird for me too.” Nami chuckled in the octopus man’s arms, “But, I think this’ll show both of us that our relationship has properly healed. Right?” Her lips pecked at his cheek, not entirely sure how to go about bending so far back as to kiss his extended lips.

Hatchan swallowed.

This was a girl he’d betrayed and bullied for years… how she could have grown into something so beautiful, so forgiving, was beyond his understanding. Nami was incredible. And if she wanted to have sex with him to prove she and him had no qualms, then he had to do at least that for her.

Yet he felt scared of touching her body. Like one foul move or unintentional injury would bring it all back for the haunted woman.

But Nami wasn’t about half measures.

She had been carried here in his arms, but she pushed the larger boy to the ground with minimal effort. Landing the heavy character on his back to flounder around briefly.

A very naked Nami loomed over him, an evil looking smirk on her face that made the takoyaki salesman nervous. “N-Nami?”

With a simple turn that showed off her ample posterior, she sat down without a word on his chest. Making him exhale and accidentally inhale some of her long ginger hair. In his confusion was when the burglar struck, taking his top row of arms and quickly placing them on her body… before ripping them away from her skin just as fast.

“NNH!” She gasped out as his suction cups popped violently from her skin.

“A-AH! NYUU! SORRY! I-!”

Catching his waving panicked tentacles was easy, and while looking over her shoulder Nami could only continue to smile, “You aren’t going to hurt me, Hatchan. Don’t worry.” He stopped freaking out at that smile, though his worry increased when that smile went lewd, “Your suction cups… feel good ya know…” Her pants distracted him long enough to let her plant his hands right on her tits. “So have fun with me! Spoil me with your six arms while I ride your fish stick!”

Before Hatchan could agree or disagree, Nami had freed his cock from his pants and was rubbing her leaky slit up and down it. Her thick thighs clamping down around his pink skin while keeping his hands plastered on her tits.

It wasn’t long before her lewd teasing became too much. Even a repenting man can only get his cock rubbed by a beautiful woman for so long before he too snaps, and as soon as Nami had begun sliding her pussy down his length was about Hatchan’s limit too.

“NYUUUUUU!!!!”

Suddenly she wasn’t riding a fallen octopus anymore, instead she was being grabbed by every angle and fucked mercilessly by an old fishy friend. Her smile wide and sweaty. Trying to hold back screaming in his ear for as long as she could while getting assaulted by all sides.

His suction cups popped on her skin, causing such a strange massage she considered asking Natsuo to adapt the concept, or grow tentacles. Wrists were pinned behind her head, her ankles spread wide for Hatachan to enter her, all while her tits were in pure heaven from his attacks. “Ah~ AH~! Oh fu~uck Hacchi~kyun~!”

Perhaps it wouldn’t undo all of Arlong’s damage, but they were friends having fun. Wasn’t that enough? Nami’s pussy certainly felt so.

And Usopp really hoped so.

He was nearby, having been totally on board with the idea for Nami’s sake. Hatchan always looked so sad around her, so it made sense that they try and work it out in their own way.

But this was also part of a deal they’d sprung for them both to be brave.

Which meant he had to face his own old enemy.

“Ghost girl.”

The pinkette turned then frowned, “Oh. Long nose. What do you want, I’m trying to party here.” She already began turning away from him to munch on the plate of sushi she’d greedily picked up.

“I want to apologise.”

That surprised her, even more so that the overly proud sniper had his back at an angle to the floor in a bow. “You saved our life today in the cage. I thought you might still be evil because we fought in Thriller Bark, but I… guess that isn’t the case now. Sorry!”

Perona looked at him with suspicion. Then darted her head around to look for potential prank evidence. When none was found she still didn’t know what to think.

“Hmm… hmph! Of course you should beg and grovel for my forgiveness! I’ve been nothing but amazing since I got here!”

Though her tone was abrasive, and a part of him wanted to snark her back, he decided to be as amicable as he could be, “I’ll say,” said Usopp while sitting down next to Perona on the palace floor, “you managed to navigate Zoro to Sabaody on time! I thought the only one capable of that was, well, her.”

They glanced over to the continued railing of his girlfriend with an octopus. Staring for a good minute at her lewd rolling climax that was leaking on the marble.

“That is true… hey, why IS that idiot like that? You know…”

“As lost as a blind newborn faun in a mirror maze?”

She giggled a little, “Yeah! Is there a reason you all know about? He can’t just be that bad at it, can he?”

“Some think he was once attacked by a man with the Compass Compass fruit. Others think it’s a curse from the Gods above us. But for the life of all the crew… we can’t figure it out.”

As the two continued to laugh about their lost friend, he himself was looking on from below with a bottle of grog. Chugging it while looking on with his one good eye before shrugging with a smile. Good that they were getting along. He could use less headaches of her whining and his bitching. Though there was a nagging thought in his mind that they were talking about something that was annoying him…

“And then, he found himself trapped on a little rock with nothing but ocean in front of him.”

She gasped in shock, “Whaa-?! But you just said the challenge was one hill! Are you lying to me?!”

“No way! He is the only man who has ever gotten lost off of a straight line!” Usopp recollected the challenge with Foxy like it was yesterday, “Good thing me with my world renowned hill climbing was able to save the day for us! Hmhmhm~”

“Yeah yeah. Maybe I can buy the first part…”

They stayed there for a second, still listening in to Nami and Hatchan’s loud tryst so close nearby. A tent becoming apparent in Usopp’s pants, and the nipples clearly seen behind the thin white wet t-shirt of Perona. Even while she ate the last of her sushi and he looked up in awkwardness their hands began to touch with a weird electric energy.

“Uhh, you know I don’t think I apologised enough.” Usopp lied, “Anything else I can do for you…?” Without waiting for her to properly answer, seeing enough wanton in her eyes to go for it, he began moving towards her.

The ghost princess didn’t want to wait either, lying herself down on the floor and spreading herself for him. Reminding her vaguely of when he approached her on her Thriller Bark bed all those years ago, but with thankfully less fake cockroaches, “Well… if you really want to apologise..,”

She was perhaps most surprised to find that he knew how to finger a vagina. Even with the hot ginger gf there was basically nothing that screamed ‘expert’ about long nose. But to his credit he had seemingly picked up a lot from Nami in a short period and was able to swirl up her pussy in a nice rhythm. Good clitoris action, slight asshole teases, deep strokes mixed with smaller thrusts. Definitely enough to get her motor running.

Soon both women were getting pampered/fucked by their old villains. No one was sure when they moved next to each other, but perhaps that’s just how animal magnetism worked in an orgy.

Both moaned and jiggled to the rhythmic deep fucks of their current partners. Looking up at them with reverence and awe as their cunts were filled with pleasurable thickness. The slightly sticky Hatchan creating new experiences for Nami.

And though she preferred the absolute destruction that Zoro caused her groyne, Perona was definitely enjoying the more methodical approach Usopp had. Treating her more like an equation to be solved rather than meat to be spanked. It meant more time cooking with properly timed breast squeezes and position changes.

The men obviously loved what they were feeling from their partners too. Nami’s pussy was warmer than any mermaid that Hatchan had tried, and there was certainly a tightness in Perona that Usopp could appreciate.

Histories long forgotten, now it was just their raw bodies in the moment. The maddening thrills of such erotica, the new faces these old villains were sharing, it was all added spice to the amazing sexual meals each were providing the other. Helped along greatly when Perona and Nami began making out right in front of them. Sharing saliva and moans while their partners sped up in their thrusting.

With such beautiful visuals and such hot wet sex, their trysts soon reached their current climaxes.

“Nyuuu~! Nammiiii~!”

“LONG NOSE! RIGHT THERE! HNNN!!!!”

“YOU TOO HATCHAN! PLEASE CUM INSIDE ME NOW!

“F-Fuck! Ohh~ Peronaaa!!!”

Cum boiled forth into both women’s wombs. Filling them up with jets of fishman seed and blasts of human jism. Both girls writhed and moaned into each other’s arms, lost in the dizzying highs of such heated shared orgasms. Twitching and shuddering while their bodies tried to acclimate to the volcanic liquid in their bellies. Only helped by excavated cocks letting the white sauce dribble onto royal palace marble.

It was really a beautiful moment and achievement for group sexual therapy.

Even Perona was looking forward to apologising to the skeleton now…

“Noo! The damned pirate is having SEX with my little girl!” Neptune cried on the stairs leading to the balcony of the palace, “Curse this back of mine! I should have killed Straw Hat when I had the chance!” His groans yelling out. No one around to point out his hypocrisy of trying to get it off with one of the mermaids that had thrown his back out in the first place.

Well, almost no one. “It is a nice night tonight, isn’t it?”

The bearded fish would have jumped in surprise had his old age not inhibited such movement. Instead he could only wince and vaguely look over to the long black haired woman standing on the edge of the balcony.

“Oh? Has my luck turned around? I love the memory of wife Otohime very much, but I don’t think I could betray her for anything…?”

“Who is Joyboy?”

Nearby, as the two wisest party goers talked, was a slimy scumbag. One that had been privy to many events on Fishman Island, even if he had been distracted somewhat by the free blowjobs at the mermaid cafe. But eavesdropping on this conversation was perhaps his greatest accomplishment.

“Nyehehe~! I just heard some amazing info!”

As Caribou slimed away quietly with his forbidden knowledge, Neptune stroked his big bushy beard. “Tell me, lass. Why do you care so much about Joyboy?”

“Hmm,” She hummed, looking out to the dark waters above them with a soft smile, “I wonder why indeed?”

Wow. Straw Hats really know how to party!

It was hours later, but all I can remember is the blur of pure fun that had surrounded me. Dancing, laughing, drinking, and celebrating over and over again. It felt so much louder than any war or battlefield I’d been a part of, the echoes of the fishmen’s true feelings still reverberating through my soul as they continued to party it up.

Oh and the sexual freedom was truly divine. I’d been flashed by so many tits, been in threeways and fuck piles, slurped mermaid pussy and eaten human ass, all while spreading seed to whatever hole begged for it most. Perhaps the pirate life was for me after all?

It had slowed down a little now. Jinbei was being yelled at by Luffy, something about joining the crew which would be neat. A lot of the others were either passed out drunk or just resting after such a long day. Crazy to think that this band of wackos just stopped a revolution and saved a country after I saw them stick rods up their noses to be stupid.

But then, I guess that’s the best time to be stupid.

Dragon never really got that. He always said we’d party when the mission was done. Sure, little birthday things with less than ten members got through the cracks, but I’d never experienced something so carnal like this party before. It really made it feel like life was worth living. Like the fight was all worth it.

And it let me decompress a little to think about what had happened.

Taking myself to a corner of the palace, stepping over many half naked sleeping fishmen, I sat down on some coral and watched the calm clam jazz quartet do their wind down music set.

So, where were we?

I now have a magical reality changing earring on me, and my girlfriend supports that.

…

What do I do with this?

The obvious is to do everything I can. She believes in me, trusts me to hold onto ultimate power. I need to just… live up to that ideal. Resolve myself to always use my powers for good, like the great hero Sora would!

…maybe it’s the fact that I’m doing this amongst a sea of half naked drunks, but it doesn’t feel like my heroic origin story. What does doing my best with the earrings even mean? Say ‘it’s normal the one piece shows up for Luffy tomorrow, and everyone else succeeds in their dreams too’? That’s efficient, sure, but sort of negates the whole ‘adventure’ part of the adventure these guys are on.

Maybe doing my best is just being less erotic with my rule changes?

Robin said that she wants to borrow the earring too, assumedly for horny reasons, so it’s not a rule I’m going to be able to keep forever. Imagine if we ran into Uta or some other hot celeb out there in the New World, the temptation would be too grand.

Maybe it meant just…

“Ah! Luffy!”

He happened to be walking past me with a big piece of meat in his hand while wearing only boxers and his unbuttoned shirt. The captain seemed vaguely nonplussed that I’d called out to him, almost like he was more interested in where he was walking to than whatever I had to say. “Hm? Wassup Natchy?”

“Uh, it’s Natsuo.” I reminded him, “And… are you still alright with me joining your ship?”

“Robin wants you, so sure.”

I had to grab the scruff of his collar before he walked too far away, once more he seemed confused to be talking to me. “I’d… I’d like a little more than that.” My strained smile was thin yet hopeful.

With a lowered eyebrow and big bite of meat, he chewed on both the thought and his meal, “You’re a massage guy, right? That’s something. Can I go?”

“...um, how about I ask it this way. Is there anything I can do for you? Massages aside.”

“Nah, I’m good. Thanks!”

I give up. With a slump of my shoulders I went back to my seat to enjoy the clam jazz in quiet solitude.

“Why?”

Oh, Luffy was asking me now. I guess I assumed he’d walked off, “Uhh, you know…” Right, he didn’t. Digging my foot from my mouth I took a beat and decided to just be as honest as Robin was with me today, “I’m trying to resolve myself but I worry I don’t have anything to offer. Y’all are pretty incredible… with or without me. Maybe it’d be easier if your dreams didn’t have me around getting in the way.”

“You couldn’t get in the way of my dream,” He said casually with another munch, like I was barely worth thinking about. “It’s just something that I wanna do. There’s no time limit to becoming the Pirate King. Don’t you have something like that?”

Huh, I guess that’s what he meant, “Kinda. I guess. Protecting Robin?”

“That doesn’t count, we all wanna do that.” with a bizarrely serious energy to him, the rubber boy’s hand reached over and pressed my chest, “What do you want from life?”

“I-I don’t have a-!”

Our eyes connected in a way that made my heart skip a beat. He was looking right into my soul. Not dragging the information out, but definitely looking expectant that it come to the door.

Somehow he was the only one to figure out that I may have a dream after all…

“The ones that’ll always be chasing Robin, they… they killed my parents and… no. It’s stupid.”

“No it isn’t.”

He countered that so casually, “It kinda is though! I… I left the revolutionaires, left that whole life behind, to become a pirate… and want the same things they do?!”

Luffy laughed right in my face, “Hahahaha! You’re an idiot then!”

“That’s what I’m saying!” I agreed with exasperation, “My dream… is it really to do something so brazen as… take down the Celestial Dragons?”

My hands quickly found my face. I felt quite embarrassed to even admit that was my dream. Who was I to want something so big as overthrowing the highest level of our government?

And yet… to see those assholes from up high get taken down would be so satisfying…

Was my journey away from the revolutionaires just to make me realise I belonged with them? But then the thought of rejoining their cause… I dunno. It never really felt like I belonged there. “I was with your dad and his army for my whole life, and it’s not like I didn’t agree with the sentiment but… I was just never much of a fighter. We fought battle after battle after battle until I was reassigned as the dish cleaner for having a mopey face.” I continued to run my hands over said face, brushing my hair back slowly as I tried to figure myself out, “It feels so… hypocritical of me to want them to stop without any desire to fight, right?”

Without thought Luffy shrugged, “Eh. It’s your life. Do what you want with it.”

“So, what, defeat the strongest power in all the oceans by massaging it?”

“You never know until you try!”

He was munching away without a care in the world. Was this guy REALLY Dragon’s son?

I guess… no matter how long it takes… if I could at least support those that would take down those corrupt fuckers, then I’d at least be able to sleep well at night. Even if I ran to the ends of the Earth with Robin, the Marines would still hunt her for being the last from Ohara. I know that she’s working on solving the world’s mysteries, and surely that’ll lead to those guys getting taken down in time.

It really seems stupid to resolve my heart in the way that leads right back to where it was. To say ‘all I want to do is support you all’ but mean it this time.

But when I look at Luffy, this absolutely chill, yet ferocious, yet brave, yet selfish, yet simple, yet most complex creature I’ve ever seen…

All I can say is that I think I think too much.

With a long sigh I couldn’t help but smirk at him, “Taking down the Celestial Dragons… I’d probably need the help of the Pirate King to do something crazy like that…”

“Shishishi! Sounds like you’re in the right place then!” He beamed one more time before walking away yet again.

Even the quiet quartet was beginning to end their song. A final cap on the longest day of these people’s lives. And here I was. Alone but smiling.

With the only thing left for me to do being… live.

Here we come, New World.