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Shanks stares at the newspaper, a slow grin creeping across his face. Staring back at him, from the large black and white picture spread all across the front, Monkey D. Luffy winks with a shit eating smirk stretching across his confident face.
"5TH YONKO STRIKES AGAIN. Not an overly detailed story title." Dracule Mihawk muses as he leans over to read the headline of the paper Shanks just picked up. The two men sit on stools at a small outdoor drink shack, situated in the grimy part of the small island village. Both have drinks in hand, and Mihawk gently swirls the golden liquid in the wooden mug he holds in his hands.
Unusually, Shanks doesn't respond.
Which makes Mihawk glance sideways for a moment at the red-haired Yonko, and pause his drink swirling. Strange. He's never quite seen that aura around the man before.
Silence stretches on. Even more unusual. Finally, with a nonchalant shrug, Mihawk looks back at his drink, his nose twitching just barely at the unrefined tankard.
"Why you keep convincing me to sit at these ungodly filthy shacks remains a mystery. Your tastes in entertainment establishments are disgusting." Mihawk notes, filling the quiet space. Another sideways glance. Is the one armed man still lost for words?
"Did I ever tell you-" Shanks starts, still staring at the paper, before he lifts his eyes to look at nothing in front of him, the strange aura still present. Mihawk couldn't place it. Pride, regret, grief... peace.
"-Why I gave him the hat?"
the words startle the world's greatest swordsman, enough that the man raises a single eyebrow in slight piqued interest. Now, that was unexpected. Quietly, motions fluid, Mihawk places his tankard back on the bar, letting one arm rest on the splintered surface.
"No, you have not." the swordsman's response is simple, and ready. Shanks barely smirks, closing his eyes and shaking his head a bit. Loose strands of shoulder length red locks fall in front of his face, but not fast enough the hide the gambit of emotions coursing through his features.
"Strange." The yonko whispers, voice almost hoarse. Mihawk quirks his other eyebrow this time at the irony of the word.
"Quite. You rarely pass the chance to brag on yourself." The swordsman starts, turning to look at the pathetic line of drinks balanced on the rickety shelf behind the bar. "And many consider it quite the feat to pass on the Pirate King's crown."
The spoken words turn air to drowning thickness, heavy with the weight of truth. Not many knew the straw hat's importance. Those who did... well, secrets are strange. especially this one.
Slowly, Shanks smiles, small and bittersweet.
"She made it for him when he was 10. A simple hat for a simple man. Apparently that's what she called her son. Simple man. Even back then, at that age. Guess if you name your kid D, you know they won't quite fit the average."
He looks up slowly, eyes fierce with excitement at the tale he was spinning.
"She never meant for it to become a crown, that strange woman. Who told him stories and lulled him to sleep at nights with lullabies of legends and lore. She just wanted her child to stay safe from the sun and rain, weather good and bad. She never expected him to become king." Shanks grins, and chuckles lowly as memories and adventures flit through his stare. "He told me about her just once, and it's all I needed to hear. The one story in particular, that she sang him at nights. About a warrior and a lover, of sea and earth, of freedom. And a straw hat in the midst of it, worn by a grinning man."
Shanks pauses, and looks sideways at Mihawk, who turns respectfully to meet his stare.
"Rogers stopped wearing the hat by the time I joined the crew. But sometimes at night, after a few too many, he'd go sit on the bow, twirling the silly thing in his hand." Shanks pauses, then chuckles and looks back at his drink.
"He gave it to me."
The words come out thick again, and Shanks stays silent for a few moments. "After just a few months on his ship. He didn't say anything really, just plopped it on my head and told me to take good care of it." With a sigh, Shanks lifts his tankard and downs the contents quickly, slamming the rough mug back on the bar and standing up suddenly, stretching his arms over his head with a yawn.
"Then he sang me the song. About the sea and freedom and grinning straw hat men. And I got it."
Mihawk follows Shanks motions, curiously thoughtful as he also finishes his drink, wrinkling his nose a bit at the distaste of cheap sake, before turning full attention back to a now grinning pirate. Minus the straw hat. Shanks eyes twinkle, and he crosses his arms with a smirk.
"He died. I didn't understand why at the time. I do now. I kind of wish I had figured it out sooner, like I figured out the straw hat. Instead, I mixed myself all up for a while."
The yonko's stool scrapes against the wooden deck that elevates the whole stand, and he throws a few gold coins on the bar before turning to leave.
"I used to think for a while that the straw hat meant I had to sacrifice. That I had to upset the world, carry on his legacy. Be free and grinning and revolutionary all at the same time."
Shanks pauses, and stops in his tracks to turn and see Mihawk had already followed him away. The two men now stood along the sea, a stone harbor under their feet as they looked out at crashing waves.
"I never liked being revolutionary. Turning the world upside down. I didn't care. But I thought I had to in order to honor him. So I spent years running and hiding, or standing and fighting- depending on what part of me won out that day. Till I made it to Goa. And I met this snot nosed kid running around on the shore, chasing some butterfly and laughing his head off." Shanks snorts at the memory, eyes growing distant again. But the grief and regret seemed far away now.
"We pulled up in our pirate ship, and the kid didn't even blink twice. He stopped chasing the butterfly, he looked up at our flag, and he just, grinned."
Something sends shivers down Mihawks back, a sensation he does not like but understands. Because he thinks he gets it too now. This straw hat. Shanks stops walking, hands in his pockets, eyes closed and shaking his head again, until he looks back at the sea.
"I couldn't tell at first why he was grinning. Too far away, and Luffy was pretty tiny back then. So I jumped off, ready to have some fun. I got closer, and all I saw was... well, the stuff." Shanks pauses, and laughs. "The stuff to make it. Bravery, challenge, a bit of fear, but a whole lot more curiosity. I lighted a spark. I think we both knew it. Aaaaand five seconds later, he was chasing the butterfly again. Cause it's what he wanted to do in that exact moment. But I could tell. He hadn't forgotten the spark. And I remembered the grinning straw hat man. That old song, sung by a mom about who knows what."
Shanks sighs, and looking at the red-haired pirate, Mihawk isn't surprised to see a silent weight lifting off his shoulders.
"Straw Hats aren't about revolutions. They're about freedom. and the power to chose, and never forget. Never forget what makes you free. Luffy's freedom is found in chasing the spark and whatever the heck else he wants to diddle daddle with on the way."
"And what's your freedom?" The question springs from Mihawk's lips before he can drag it back, back to his dark chambers of secrets and desires. Back to his places of truth and freedom. Before him, the ocean waves continue to lap against the shore stones. He can feel Shanks looking at him, and he quickly assumes his silent rock stance. It doesn't help his case. The Yonko laughs, and turns to start walking away, back to the Red Force.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out."