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“Luffy!” says Sunny, pointing one chubby finger towards the azure horizon.
Makino laughs and scoops up her daughter into her arms, her fingers cradling through her soft curls.
“What about Luffy, honey?”
Sunny giggles, her dark eyes still fixed over the ocean waves.
“Luffy Luffy Luffy!”
Makino snorts. She puts her hand over her brow, shading her eyes against the sharp sunlight. And sure, there’s a dot in the distance, slowly approaching.
“It’s just a ship, Sunny”, she says. “Probably merchants.”
“No!” says Sunny, her big eyes liquid and a pout forming on her lips. “Luffy!”
Makino sighs, though it’s only for show. She’s got nothing better to do, either way. It’s her day off and Woop Slap does always tell her that she needs to learn to relax. Not that Woop Slap knows anything about that, but Makino can appreciate the effort.
“Fine”, she says to Sunny. “We can wait and see who it is.”
Sunny nods smugly. She’s barely two years old, but she’s already a brat. And Makino loves her so.
They sit on an outcrop of rocks surrounding the harbor. Makino takes out the sandwiches she’d prepared for them, and Sunny reaches for them hungrily, the ship momentarily forgotten. Makino gazes over her head as she eats, eyes squinting as she tries to make out the ship’s flag.
It’s looks black, and Makino’s heart leaps.
Pirates.
“Mama?” asks Sunny, half-eaten bread still dangling from her fingers.
Ever since Luffy became the Pirate King, the Foosha Village has stayed protected from rivalling crews. Not many dare to challenge the King, especially not on his home turf. Nowadays, the pirates that dock on there are almost always in some way or form allied with Luffy.
The Foosha Village is long past fearing pirates.
Makino thinks about the wanted posters on the wall of her bar, how they are like pieces of art more than anything else. And, a fact that still shocks Makino, how there’s only ten of them. Luffy’s crew is so small, much smaller than most she’s heard of – but no doubt one of the strongest. The strongest, even. Makino doesn’t know the details of their recent battles, the battles that made Luffy the King, but they must’ve been spectacular. Even the little fluffy creature that smiles so sweetly now has a bounty higher that an average pirate captain from East Blue.
They must all be monsters.
“Mama?” Sunny demands, tiny hands pulling on her shirt. “What is it?”
“Pirates”, she says, and grins. She points past Sunny’s shoulder, laughter building in her chest. “Look!”
Sunny cheers and twirls around, jumping up to stand next to her. “Luffy!”
“I don’t know if it’s Luffy, baby”, Makino says. “It might be-“
Suddenly, something shoots out from the ship. Makino watches with fascination as a human hand zooms past her and grabs one of the support beams of the pier. An arm a mile long, smooth and stretched like rubber.
“Fine”, she says. “It’s Luffy.”
Luffy follows the hand like a rocket. He lands on the pier with surprising grace and a loud sound of laughter that warms Makino’s heart to its core.
“Luffy…” whispers Sunny in awe.
The Pirate King stands on the wooden pier of his home island and watches his ship arriving, taller and stronger than Makino’s ever seen him, his battered straw hat set proudly on his head like crown. Makino squeezes Sunny against her chest and feels her heart about to burst from happiness.
Luffy turns, then, as if she had called his name out loud. His eyes meet Makino’s, and his smile stretches impossibly wide.
“Makino!”
He rockets himself over to the rocks. His stance is steady even on the slippery, uneven ground. Waves crash against the sudden drop next to his feet, spraying the air with a mist of salt-laced water, and Makino briefly wonders if he should be more careful while so close to the edge of the churning ocean. But as quickly as the thought had come to her, she also discards it.
It’s the Pirate King who rules the ocean, after all, and not the other way around.
“Luffy!” she says, breathless. She’s on her knees now, arms still around Sunny to keep her from running off and slipping. “You came back!”
Luffy plops down onto the rocks next to her. A strong burst of wind blows the hat off his head but it stays securely behind his back, held up by a loop of frayed string.
“Well, of course I did”, says Luffy, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. The wind ruffles his hair, and his eyes drop from hers down to Sunny, his brow tightening in confusion.
“This is Sunny”, explains Makino. “My daughter.”
“Daughter?” asks Luffy. He grins again. “Your name is Sunny?” he laughs. “Shishishishi, that’s the name of my ship!”
Makino can’t help but laugh, too. “Oh, I know!”
“Luffy!” yelps Sunny, and Makino lets her go. She runs towards Luffy, and he grabs her gently and lifts her up, looking at her with strange intensity.
“So your name’s Sunny, huh?” he asks, and grins widely. “I’m Luffy!”
“You…” Sunny, eyes wide as plates, points a finger at him. “Pi…pilate King!”
“I am”, says Luffy, his tone solemn.
Sunny’s mouth forms a perfect O of wonder as she reaches for his face. Her finger presses against the tip of his nose – and when it flattens unnaturally under her touch, she yanks her hand away with a surprised gasp.
“Oh yeah, I’m rubber!” laughs Luffy, and he hooks the corner of his mouth with his finger and pulls. Sunny stares at him, horrified, for a moment, before she starts giggling hysterically.
Makino hides a smile behind her hand. Luffy is still such a kid himself, she thinks – and yet, he isn’t. There’s something solid about him now, something steadfast and unbreakable that Makino doesn’t remember from the years before.
Realizing it makes her chest ache with feelings she can’t quite form into words.
Wistfulness, gratitude, and more than anything, pride.
“You should meet my crew”, Luffy says to Sunny, and lowers her onto his lap. “They are gonna love you.”
“Is everyone here?” asks Makino excitedly. She has only seen Luffy’s crew in pictures, and she wants to know if they are actually as cool and intimidating as the papers make them seem.
“Everyone’s here”, confirms Luffy. He’s watching the ship arriving, and everything about him is so distinctly relaxed and content – the look in his eyes, the way he smiles, the way his shoulders are set and how his hand lies lax on his lap – that all Makino can think about looking at him is that—huh; he really is the Captain, and the King, and there’s nothing in the vast blue world that can change that. Nothing that stands in the way of his insane, wonderful dreams. Not anymore.
The Thousand Sunny is already nearly at the harbor. Makino tears her eyes away from Luffy and sees his crew working on the deck of the ship, preparing it for docking, and for a few moments she’s lost in just looking at them, how they work smoothly around each other like in a coordinated dance.
And she knows there’s a skeleton, a fish-man, a cyborg, and a reindeer in Luffy’s crew but seeing them in person is still an experience. She watches as the cyborg – Franky, and woah, he looks way bigger in real life than in the pictures – jumps down from the ship and attaches it to the docks with practiced ease. And the ship is huge, too. Colorful – and full of secret weapons, Makino is sure.
“Shishishi, Zoro’s already lost!” snickers Luffy suddenly. He jumps up, waving his hand towards the green-haired swordsman who’s already standing where the pier meets ground, looking like he has lost something. Or someone.
“Zoro!” Luffy yells. He’s still holding Sunny with one arm, and for a second Makino fears he’s going to rocket back while holding her. But when the swordsman whips his head in the opposite direction, Luffy just yells again, “Oi, Zoro!”
This time, Zoro looks the right way and spots them. He raises his hand in greeting and then turns back, joins the others in helping them unload the ship.
“We should go over there to see them”, Luffy says and hands Sunny back to Makino. The girl is silent and still as stone in her arms; awestruck, her eyes fixed on the hero of the stories she’s heard Makino tell her so many times. Luffy grins back at her, and even the sun above them pales in the light he casts. “Come on!”
He doesn’t wait for her to answer. He turns, grabs a protruding rock, and flings himself over to the harbor in one smooth movement. Makino scrambles onto her feet, presses Sunny against her chest, and runs.
Oh, this is the best day of her life.
