Chương 246: We Walk the Beaten Path by soomin (One Piece)
Summary: They were so close to the end that a few of them have actually begun to think about the ever after. However, Sabo warns the Strawhat crew that one of them will not make it to the afterwards if they go to Raftel, the crew thinks. It has always been pirate king or death. Not a single one thought that the "or" could one day be "and".
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6656824?view_full_work=true
Word count:22k(COMPLETE)
Chapters:6
Chapter 1: We Took the High Road
"We're almost there," Nami smiled as she drew the final touch on her map. The crew had since calmed down when they learned that all three needles were pointing in the same direction on the log pose. At first, they couldn't believe it. It had only been a few years since they set off, and there were pirates out there who have searched for Raftel for decades. Nami thought that they had somehow broken the log pose during their last adventure. However, it was when Luffy screamed at the top of his lungs that he was finally going to be the Pirate King that they too realized what it all meant.
While they haven't even made it to Raftel yet, it was a long time since they had a Straw Hat-only party, and Sanji was more than happy to obliged to cook for the occasion. The nine of them partied for the entire night and then woke up the next morning preparing for whatever challenges would happen next. At least, eight of them were. Luffy was still running around, talking everyone's ear off on how great it would be when they finally got to Raftel and how Raftel was probably some kind of meat island. This time, they all smiled endearingly as listened to their captain's senseless ramblings and agreed to whatever he said. How could they not? His dream was almost in their reach.
Behind the scenes, the crew discussed what was next on their agenda. There was still the All-Blue to find, getting back to Laboon at Reverse Mountain, and sharing the secrets of the Rio Poneglyph with the world. While there were some suggestions, it was ultimately up to Luffy on where they went next. Of course, all of this will have to come after Raftel was conqured.
Nami sat back on her chair and thought back to when she first met her captain. It felt like a lifetime ago. She didn't realize it, but making Luffy the pirate king had been her dream for a long time too, and now that it was almost in her reach, it was a surreal feeling. Nami wondered how Luffy would act after becoming the pirate king. As far as she knew, Luffy had always dreamed of being the pirate king. She has always assumed that he would be happy just sailing the world with his crew; he was always a simple kind of person.
However, Luffy without some kind of unreachable goal was a weird thing to say. He always had this drive to push forward, and now that he had it, what would happen then? Nami frowned. As much as she liked preparing for the future, this was getting a bit much. She refocused herself and stared at the map in front of her. Based on the current wave patterns, the best course of action would probably be going through this-
"Nami! We need you out here," Usopp yelled as he abruptly opened the door, knocking Nami out of her thoughts and concentration.
"It better be important," Nami practically growled out as she glared at Usopp.
"Captain's orders," Usopp explained and ran off towards the deck when he heard Luffy call his name as well.
Curious, Nami stood up and followed her friend out the cabin.
"NAMI!" Luffy called out as soon as the door opened. Had she been the girl from years ago, Nami probably would still freak out at the arm stretching towards her. Now, she was just wondering why her captain demanded her attention at this very moment. It wasn't like she was one to entertain Luffy when he got restless, and there was no way he was going to guilt-trip her into another game of tag again.
"Luffy," she warned, but allowed the arm to grab her anyways. Luffy hugged her tight, but he wasn't looking for her to beg for money like he normally did when he got like this. Instead, he was looking at another man in front of them who simply wore worried look.
"Are you okay, Miss?" he asked, slightly alarmed that Luffy just did that.
"Sabo! This is Nami, my navigator! She's the best navigator in the world, even if she's bit stingy," Luffy commented with a bitter look on his face.
"Hey now," she warned, hitting her captain on the head, causing him to let go of her to caress the bump on his head. "Do you want a share of the One Piece or not you idiot?" She expected another look of worry to appear on the man's face at what seemed to some as mutiny, but she was pleasantly surprised when all she saw instead was a nostalgic smile. There were only a few that understood the relationship Luffy had with people: friends and family. Since Nami knew all of Luffy's odd friends, that must meant that this man was-
"You must be Luffy's other brother, the revolutionary, right?" Nami asked with a smile.
The man in front of him took off his hat and lowered his head in a small bow. Nami held back the habit of smacking the boy on the head when she realized that he wasn't going to ask her the color of her panties. She had to remind herself that for some reason, Luffy's family had some of the best manners despite being related to Luffy. This man was most likely no different.
"Sabo, commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army, at your service. It is a pleasure to meat you, Miss. Nami," he introduced politely. Luffy snickered and made some kind of comment at how snooty Sabo was. In a single swift movement, Luffy was suddenly stuck in a headlock as Sabo smiled and asked if he was still the snooty older brother. Luffy laughed as he tried to escape, but Sabo kept a good grip on his brother.
"You wouldn't imagine that that boy is one of most feared men in all of the Grand Line," another voice commented from behind. Nami turned around to see another woman on the ship. Immediately, Nami's eyes lit up.
"Ah! Another woman on the ship, come on, we need to talk!" Nami grabbed the girl's hand without an introduction and took her to the table Robin was sitting at.
"W-Wait, I think Sabo needed to tell you somethi-"
"KOALA!" Nami tried to defend her new female friend from her captain's grasps, but once Luffy needed someone, no one could protect them. Torao had a lot of experience with that. With a sigh, Nami let the stretched arm wrap around Koala's waist and let it whisk her away. It was a shame, but she'll find time later to ask her how she got her hair to look so nice with a hat on. Nami simply waved and promised that she'll have Sanji cook something up for the three of them later.
"Whaaaaa?!" Koala yelled as she was pulled away. The young woman gave her blond partner the death glare as Sabo traded places with her. Sabo swallowed hard knowing he was going to pay for that stunt, but this was the only way he could get Luffy away from his crew. In an instant, Sabo had crossed arms with Nami and began guiding her to the kitchen. He paused for a second as he passed by Robin to grab her arm as well.
Nami was impressed with the amount of class Sabo was displaying. While Ace was polite, Sabo himself was the epitome of a gentleman. Nami was so distracted by the display that it took her a moment to realize that most of the crew was sitting around in the kitchen instead of playing around with Luffy. Sabo let both her and Robin go and beckoned them to sit next to their fellow crewmates as he positioned himself in front of the group.
"So Second-in-Command, what do you have to tell us?" Zoro asked as Nami settled in her seat next to Robin.
Sabo tried to smile, but it didn't quite shine as bright as it did when he was with Luffy. "Good. You guys can tell something is up," Sabo commented. "That's, that's good." He took a deep breath, and he looked at each crewmember in the eye. Stopping at Brook, he closed his eyes and quickly got to his hands and knees. A few raised an eyebrow at the scene.
"Please, I beg of you, do not let Luffy set foot on Raftel," Sabo pleaded, his voice finally breaking. The crew narrowed their eyes.
"Oi, that's a big request you got there," Frank commented, "Mind you, we're no revolutionaries: we're pirates. Your lil' bro is going to be the pirate king. What makes you think that you can come down onto our ship and make us stop our captain from getting what he wants?"
Sabo didn't answer. Tears began dropping from his face, but none took pity on the man. No one threatened their captain's dream that easily.
"Sabo-kun, why are you asking us of all people to not go to Raftel," Robin repeated gentler, her eyes furrowed as she tried to think of an answer herself.
Sitting up and wiping tears, Sabo looked at the group with fierce eyes. "Are any of you familiar with the Will of D?" he asked. Brook perked at the title, and Robin simply tilted her head.
"That is something I haven't heard about since I was alive," Brook commented quietly. Zoro inched closer to the skeleton, but he kept his attention on the older brother.
"I have heard of it, and I know Senchou-san possesses it, but what does this have to do with our final destination?" Robin asked. Sabo began laughing at the phrase.
"Final destination, that's a fitting title for it Robin-san," Sabo responded bitterly and stood up from his demeaning position. "They say long ago, there was a clan gifted with a curse. Those with the Will of D will be guaranteed to achieve their dream; however, it is at the cost of their own life. All members of this clan can be recognized with a 'D' as their middle name," Sabo waited to see if anyone reacted and frowned when no one did.
"If you go there," he clarified, "if you let Luffy achieve his dream of being the pirate king, then you better use that damned treasure to give him a good funeral."
Silence fell upon the crew. Some didn't quite understand the full extent of his words, and the rest didn't believe it. Usopp began laughing nervously.
"Luffy? He can't die. He literally fought God and lived to tell the tale, and I'm not just talking about me," Usopp argued, adding humor to lessen the mood. "There's nothing in this world, supernatural or not, that's going to kill Luffy or keep him from Raftel."
"That's true, God. I know Luffy better than any of you, and there's nothing that's going to keep him from his dream, but what happens after he becomes pirate king? Do you seriously think that you lot are enough to protect him?" Sabo said, and dug a few neatly folded pieces of paper from his pocket. He tossed them out to the group and sat dejectedly on a chair nearby. He leaned back on the chair and looked to the ceiling.
"Nutt D. John," Sabo began reciting, "he was said to have dreamed that the world was not flat, and went out proving scientifically prove it to the world. He was later found dead on the seabed a month after finally publishing his work and being accepted by the scientific community. William D. Knight: he was a slave out in the West Blue. His dream was to avenge his family and community his slavers destroyed. He was said to have died through disease a month after the slaving company completely disappeared. Gol D. Rogers: he dreamed of seeing everything the world had to offer, and he gathered it into what we all know now as the One Piece. He was executed three months after placing the treasure on Raftel," Sabo paused and looked at Robin who was still looking through all the papers.
"Jaguar D. Saul," he continued, and Robin looked up to stare him. "He dreamed of finally showing the humans that not all giants have to be large, tough, and brainless in order to be successful. He achieved the rank of vice-admiral three months before being physically removed by the marines on a small island called Ohara. Portgas D. Ace," Sabo waited a second as if the name personally pained him but quickly continued, "I personally know that it was his true dream to find a family that accepted him for who he was. He died months after the Whitebeard Pirates took him in.
"This pattern finally got so ridiculous that I actually went up to Dragon and asked him to explain these coincidences, but even he was unsure the true connection was. He didn't even know the significance of the initial or what the Will of D was. What he did know was that Monkey D. Garp has consistently turned down the promotion of becoming admiral despite having many accounts during marines training of him stating that he was going to become the best admiral out there," Sabo finished. He leaned forward to allow the chair to stand on all four legs. He looked to the crew and dared them to challenge him.
There was a moment of silence before a leg crashed and broke the table in front of the Straw Hats. Sanji stormed over to the revolutionary and picked him up by the collar. Sabo narrowed his eyes.
"Now you listen here, are you suggesting that we're just going to let some kind of stroke of fate take Luffy away from us? We've trained for two years to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. I don't care about the 'Will of D' or any other bullshit you're making up with these dumb connections of yours. Luffy is going to become the pi-"
"The pirate king," Sabo finished and grabbed Sanji's wrist. Without a word of warning, the hand quickly became fire. Sanji quickly released his grip, but Sabo did not extinguish the flames.
"Hey Mr. Zoro, tell me, how has Luffy's been faring in your fights lately? Yeah, he's strong, but you've noticed a slight lag in his step and how he beats you a little too quickly right when you noticed it? I saw that last fight, and a swordsman of your caliber must have noticed it," Zoro flinched at the accusation, but he didn't comment.
"Mr. Brook, you've noticed how the rhythm of Luffy's heart just sound off, right?" Brook didn't move. "Ms. Nami, you've know that Luffy is just a little less hyper whenever there's cold weather around, and you know that's not just his devil fruit acting up." Nami looked away. Sabo looked around; they still didn't understand.
"Ms. Nico Robin, you've noticed that Luffy's been sleeping just a little more, haven't you? And you Mr. God, you've noticed that Luffy hasn't been bugging you while you needed alone time. In fact, he was telling me that he was glad you two didn't play as much." Robin and Usopp swallowed, not liking where Sabo was going along with all of these accusations.
"Mr. Sanji, you've noticed that Luffy doesn't complain as much when you have to ration out the meals a little thinner, but you just chalked that up to him maturing? And Mr. Franky, Luffy just doesn't have the strength to break through all the Adam's Wood, or is it because he got some more control?" Franky stared at the man in front of him hard. Sanji was just about ready to kick the bastard when Sabo made his finally accusation.
"Dr. Chopper, you've been keeping a big secret, haven't you?" Sabo asked. All eyes turned to the doctor who gulped at the sudden attention. It was only Brook who saw the Sabo held some kind of hope in his eyes, a kind of desperation for hope that he could only recall seeing in his crew's eyes in their final hours.
"H-How did you know?" Chopper asked. The light in the boy's eyes died, and Brook could almost feel the boy's heart break as well. However, the flames on Sabo's hand grew and crackled dangerously, and the group began sweating. Even as Chopper began faltering under the heat, no one on the crew took pity. Their captain was in danger, and Chopper was keeping them from saving him? It felt like years, but the young doctor finally began to speak as tears fell down his face.
"I-I-It was Law-san who told me," Chopper stuttered as he got through his explanation. To the side, Sabo's finally extinguished his flames, but no one made a word of acknowledgement toward him. "H-He gave Luffy a checkup the last t-t-time he was here, a-a-and I-I wanted to k-k-know everything he found," Chopper managed. He paused, struggling to hold back tears that wanted to fall from his face. "Luffy's heart can't keep going," Chopper finished quietly.
"What?" It was Zoro that asked, his hands already gripping his swords as if Chopper was the enemy. Chopper screamed and jumped into Robin's arms.
"Zoro, wait," Nami tried to reason, still trying to comprehend what Chopper had just explained to them.
"You've noticed the signs, haven't you Dr. Chopper," Sabo asked, as sat down again. His hat was off and he stared at the reindeer with eyes that demanded the truth. Chopper looked at Sabo as if he had no idea what he was talking about.
Sabo sighed. "We get to an island, his heart is good as new, right? That's why you didn't really think of it until now. However, once you're on the sea, Luffy's heart starts skipping beats, slows down, or does some kind of insane stunt that hearts shouldn't be able to do, right? However, Luffy looks great, and nothing can stop him. That's why you've thought of it as some kind of side effect of his devil fruit for the longest time, and that's a great way of thinking of it. But the Surgeon of Death broke that little illusion. He told you the truth, and ever since the two of you parted ways, you've been working to fix it," Sabo explained.
"I spoke to the surgeon before coming here, and he was saying that my brother only had a few more weeks at this point if you kept going at this rate, am I right, Dr. Chopper?"
Chopper didn't say a word, but Robin held onto Robin just a little tighter, as if she had the power to make Sabo stop talking, as if she had the power to fix everything. Looking at his brother's crew, Sabo shook his head and stood up.
"You've been disillusioned to think that Luffy is going to live forever, so you've ignored the signs. However, you all need to face it: whether you believe in the myth or not, Luffy is going to die after you step foot on that island," Sabo sighed, "I see that this is a lot to take in and that you all need to talk amongst yourselves. I won't be leaving until tomorrow, and until then, I can keep Luffy stationed here. After that, however, it will be up to you if he lives or dies." Picking up his hat and putting it back on his head, Sabo readied himself to face his brother. He breathed deeply, grabbed for the door, and smiled a smile that seemed so artificial after all that has been said.
He began laughing.
"Luffy!" Sabo called out, "Your crew is a riot!" and in an instant, he was gone.
Sabo certainly did not have his brother's lying ability. However, as the crew looked at each other, they weren't too sure they had Sabo's ability to lie either. How were they going to face their captain after this? The eight of them stayed in their spots motionless for who knows how long. It wasn't until Luffy's laughter could be heard from the deck that they realized that they needed to do something.
But before that, Brook gathered his violin and played a tune to sort his thoughts, Franky began planning a new design on the table Sanji broke, Robin opened a new book, Chopper simply laid next to Robin, Sanji lit a cigarette, Usopp stared in the distance, Nami broke down and cried, and Zoro began polishing his blades. None of them dared to leave, and none of them dared to make a conversation.
The crashing realization hit them all at different points, but before long, they all had tears falling to the ground. Soundless cries escaped them.
"Damn it. What the hell were we all training for?" Usopp asked.
They already failed once, like hell they were going to let it happen for a second time.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6656824?view_full_work=true
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