Chapter Text
Wano was finally free.
Kaido had fallen.
The people of Wano were celebrating everywhere, and fireworks illuminated the night sky.
On the rooftop of the castle, Luffy sat happily with an absolutely ridiculous mountain of meat beside him.
"Meat!"
He stuffed another piece into his mouth while watching the fireworks.
"Best victory ever!"
Then he felt someone sitting beside him.
Luffy turned.
A strange woman was sitting there.
She was enormous and obese, with long blond hair, grey skin and countless scars covering her body and she was wearing a simple and tradicional Wano outfit. Despite her frightening appearance, she simply watched the fireworks in silence.
Luffy tilted his head.
"Are you okay?"
The woman looked at him.
"Why do you ask?"
"You're covered in scars and you look so pale." Luffy pointed toward her. "Do you need a doctor? I know a really good one!"
The woman sighted faintly.
"There's no need." She looked at her scarred body. "My body has always been like this."
"Oh." Luffy shrugged. "I see..."
And just like that, he returned to eating.
The woman stared at him. Then they both watched the fireworks. For several minutes, neither said anything.
Finally, the woman spoke.
"I saw your despair."
Luffy stopped chewing.
"My despair?" He repeated, confused
"Yes." Her voice was melancholic, "The despair you experienced in your journey. The despair that would have broken the spirit of almost any man.”
She looked at him.
"Yet you kept standing." She frowns, “Every time you fell, you stood again. Every time you were defeated, you fought again. Why do you do it? Why don't you fall in despair after all this?"
Luffy thought for a moment.
Then smiled.
"That's easy; because I have my crew and friends."
The woman raised an eyebrow.
"I always get back up for my friends and my crew."
His smile faded slightly.
"Don't tell anyone..."
The woman leaned closer.
"...but I'm always afraid of losing them."
Luffy looked at the fireworks.
"I'm afraid of being alone again."
"So whenever I think I'm going to lose someone..."
His hands tightened around the piece of meat.
"...I get back up."
The woman was silent.
Then she asked:
"What do you think about despair itself?"
Luffy stared at her.
"That's a weird question, Fat Lady."
"Perhaps." She says “Just answer the question.”
Luffy thought about it for a moment. He looked like he was heaving a headache just thinking.
"Despair is a bad feeling." He finally said
The woman's expression became jaded as if she was already expecting the answer.
"But I think it's necessary."
She looked genuinely surprised.
"Necessary?" The woman repeated.
"Yeah." The young pirate nodded
Luffy pointed toward the celebrations below.
"If people never felt despair, how would they know what hope feels like?"
The woman stared at the strawhat in surprise.
Luffy continued.
"Look at Wano”
The woman looked down, where the festivities were still proceeding.
"These people were hungry, scared and they thought things would never get better. They had so much despair. But now..." He grinned. "Look at them!"
Fireworks exploded above the city. People cheered, ate, got drunk and finally felt able to breathe after a long time.
"They're celebrating because they finally have hope. Their deepest despair became their biggest hope for better days."
The woman's eyes widened.
Luffy continued eating.
"And honestly without despair…" He looked at his own hands. "...I wouldn't be as strong as I am now.”
He returned his gaze to the woman.
"Every time I lost someone, every time I was hurt, I learned more and I became stronger, so I could protect the people around me."
The woman stared at him. For the first time, genuine emotion appeared on her face.
"This..." She looked almost stunned."...is the first time someone has told me that my duty is important."
Luffy blinked.
"Your duty?"
She smiled.
A genuine, warm smile. A real smile.
"No wonder my brother, Destiny, is always complaining about you."
Luffy tilted his head.
"Your brother?"
The woman stood.
"You're an odd little mortal, Monkey D. Luffy.".
She smiled. And then she vanished. Luffy stared at the empty spot, completely confused.
"What a weird Fat Lady; talking about despair…" He shrugged.” But I hope she's feeling better."
He grabbed another piece of meat.
"Anyway..." He looked back at the fireworks.
"These are awesome!"
And resumed eating.
XXX
Somewhere Beyond the Mortal World
Despair returned to her realm. She sat quietly, staring into space. A familiar presence approached her.
Desire; her twin sibling. He raised an eyebrow when they saw Despair looking different. Was it them or did their sister look happy?
"You look oddly happy, sister." Desire comments.
Despair smiled.
"I am."
Desire looked genuinely confused.
"Why? You usually do not look happy."
"Someone finally told me my duty matters." Despair says.
Desire blinked.
"...Someone?"
Despair nodded.
"A mortal."
Desire stared at her as they folded their arms. Now they were curious about this mortal.
"Who?"
"Monkey D. Luffy."
Silence.
Desire's expression slowly became amused.
"Of course it was him." Despair chuckles.
"He understood something most mortals never do." Despair says, still smiling
Desire looked at their sister. Usually, Despair enjoyed her work in a quiet, almost melancholy way. She rarely smiled. Now she was practically glowing.
Desire couldn't help staring.
"You realize this is strange, right?"
"I am aware." Despair nods, agreeing with her twin.
"You normally make people miserable."
"I know. That's my job."
"And now you're happy because one of the mortals you encountered made you feel appreciated?"
Despair nodded happily.
Desire sighed, but smiled
"Only that mortal, Monkey D Luffy, could somehow make Despair of the Endless feel better about herself." Desire chuckles,
"I like him." Despair added
"You know Destiny is going to complain even more now, right?"
She shrugged.
"He already complains about Monkey D Luffy."
Desire chuckled.
"Fair enough."
For once, Despair simply sat there smiling while doing her job.
And somewhere far away, fireworks continued illuminating the night sky of Wano.
A place where despair had finally become hope.