Work Text:
Prequel;
Luffy was being uncharacteristically quiet, almost subdued, since parting ways with the other captains after Wano.
Nami was starting to worry she’d been too harsh in her response to Luffy making them go down the waterfall, but in her defense, he deserved it for making her life flash before her eyes...
But watching Luffy like this was just... wrong. He hadn’t been first into the kitchen when Sanji called that dinner was ready, and though he was stuffing himself it was not with his usual gusto, more slowly and almost mechanical as he stuffed his mouth full. Chewing like it was a dull shore he just did on autopilot. It was almost like he wasn’t there, not really.
The other straw hats had noticed and were giving their captain weird and concerned looks. Just the fact that Luffy had barely tried to steal food from them was alarming enough for Chopper to almost start hyperventilate and panic over what could be wrong, going over a mental list of possible deceases that could be the reason for Luffys weird behavior.
Nami finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Luffy...”
Luffy put his meat down, his eyes were hidden behind the brim of his hat, but his mouth was frowning in a serious manner.
“Hey, Nami, is it true that you guys accused Trao’s crew for treason back in Wano?”
“Huh?” Whatever it was that Nami had expected, it wasn’t that.
“Back in Wano, when me and Jaggy were in prison...” Luffy looked up and met Namis gaze. “Did you guys actually tell Trao that his brothers were sellouts?”
Nami recoiled lightly at the memory.
“B-brothers...? What- ? No- I mean- we didn’t... not really! I mean, Shinobu did but... we just tried to meditate between them... but Trao would hear none of it...” Nami trailed off as Luffy had once again crammed his hat down so it hid half his face and the rest only portrayed grim severity.
The passage of time seemed to slow down to a crawl, each second almost painful in its passing.
“AAARGH!!!” Luffys roar of rage made everyone jump. “That’s it! I have to get stronger! Zoro! Sanji! Train with me!!”
Before the collective ‘huh?’ had even registered, Luffy had gotten up and slammed his hands on the table.
“Nami! Robin! You’re good at that locomotive thing Trao does!! Teach me!”
“Loco...?” Nami floundered. “Are... are you talking about thinking logically ?”
“Yeah! That! The plan-stuff!”
Nami facepalmed. Robin just chuckled softly before speaking.
“Of course, Captain, whenever you want.”
“YOSH!” Luffy shouted, seemingly back to his normal self before looking at the table, blinking, and before anyone could react, taken every morsel of food and showed it in his mouth.
The cry of denial, despair and outrage echoed across the room.
Luffy only blinked in surprise.
“What? You weren’t eating it.”
Sanji kicked the rubbery bastard he had the great misfortune to call Captain straight out of the galley before returning to salvage whatever he had left to feed the rest. Crying and pleading with Nami and Robin to forgive him for failing to protect their food from the bottomless pit they followed and promising to get them whatever they wanted in the form of drinks and dessert to make up for having only food of lesser quality than usual to offer them.
“Geez...!” Nami said with great frustration. “Why do I even bother to worry about that idiot?”
Robin only chuckled at the antics of her family.
“Wait...” some unidentified emotion flickered across Namis face before settling on surprise. “Did- did- does this mean that the alliance with Trao had an positive impact on Luffy?!?”
Usopps and Choppers jaws dropped. “EEEH?!?”
“It does look like it, doesn’t it?” Robin said with a soft smile. “But only time will tell just how much it impacted Luffy in the end.”
“Yeah, I can’t imagine Luffy sticking to trying to actually get better at planning things out or thinking logically... or thinking at all.” Nami said, only to add on wistfully; “Sure would be nice though.”
Robin couldn’t hold back her laughter even if she tried. The happy sound took the other Straw Hats by surprise before they all started laughing and talking about the different things Luffy could improve upon to make their lives easier.
*****
Luffy lies on his back looking up at the blue sky above him. If there wasn’t for the few clouds scattered across it, you could almost pretend it was a second sea, stretching from horizon to horizon. Laughter and the sounds of happy conversations float through the air, Luffy feel his hands forming into fists as he thinks back to his conversation with Law the other night.
What the hell do you think you’re doing?!? This isn’t a joke! What the fuck do you think a Captain is? Nakama?!? This careless attitude of yours IS going to hurt you again! Are you really that desperate to relive the death of Ace-ya?! To give that kind of pain to your nakama?!? You DIED! They MOURNED you!! You seriously think you can become King of the Pirates like you are right now?? Grow up! Neither I nor anyone else will ever acknowledge you unless you actually get your act in gear and learn a thing or two! Not everything can be solved with brute force alone! Until you get that, all you’ll ever achieve is giving your nakama needles suffering!
Luffy gritted his teeth, desperately trying to contain the feelings inside of himself.
“I’ll do it. I’ll get stronger, I’ll never make my loved ones feel like that again... I’ll get smarter too, I’ll learn how to think better and plan stuff! I’ll get Trao to acknowledge me and we’ll go on fun adventures together! Just watch! This isn’t my peak!” Luffy practically hissed out through clenched teeth.
A calm settled in Luffy and he found himself relaxing into the grass. An odd determination settled in his core, unlike anything since the day he decided that he was going to be the next Pirate King. He closed his eyes, just existing and enjoying the moment.
The crew eventually found him like that; asleep and with a small smile on his face.