Chapter Text
Seventeen-year-old “Diva” also known as the famous singer; Uta. Who everyone prefers to call ‘princess’ was in her usual wear. A short white dress with a frilly neckline; ribbon and buttons accompanying it, her pink baggy jacket with her symbol at the back, her long hair tied into braids.
She was in front of Foosha Village, its inhabitants staring at her; knowing exactly why she was here and were amazed she had even dared to return. Uta notes; It seems she became somewhat unwelcomed due to leaving Luffy behind, and everyone in the village adored the soon-to-be menace to society; which he technically already is.
Greeted by both the mayor and Makino. The singer wordlessly walked up to them, stepping off from the port and on to the grassy ground of the home of her friend. “Uta.” Makino nods her head; the young woman returns with a nod of her own, for all that is worth; Makino was a kind woman by heart and she could never be dismissive with Uta.
“You have a lot of nerve, returning here after your father had left.” The mayor, the stingy Woop slap; narrowed his eyes at her. Uta frowns, she doesn’t
want
to talk about
him
.
She doesn’t want to
talk
about
what he did.
“I only wanted to visit. Seeming as I at least have one person that will have me here, I promise; I never meant to leave him.” Her gaze trained on the old man who had his guard up, even the mayor had a soft spot for her friend. He was bright, warm smiles. She just wishes he will do the same for her again after all these years.
Gordon was still on the ship that they boarded, watching from the deck with an observing expression; this was after all, her temporary home. And she came back to collect a piece of her.
Or her whole
The intense and stern glint in Woop slap's eyes and glasses intimidatingly glowing in the sunlight, she never experienced this when she was a kid but at that time she only ever played and spent time with Luffy. When she left, she knew it would’ve hurt her friend.
To be honest and to her own shame...
She had forgotten about him due to her grief and mourning for the destruction of Elegia.
He destroyed it
She forgot her only friend.
When the loneliness almost became unbearable; familiar and sharp words struck her through like an arrow pierced through her chest.
Being lonely hurts more than any kind of pain.
Like a cluster fuck up that she was, Uta remembers how she had practically jumped up from her seat in front of her desk. Looking at the poorly drawn straw hat on her blue sleeve and rubbing it.
Woop Slap sighs and moves a few steps back. “He’s living with the Dadan family, a group of bandits, up in Mt. Colubo.”
“BANDITS?! ON THE MOUNTAIN?!”
She was let through.
And she was grateful.
Luffy was BORED TO ALL HELL .
Ace left a few months ago and had just created a huge ruckus. Obtaining a bounty and gaining notoriety that caused the mayor to complain all day, Luffy could only find himself laughing at his misfortune. Now he was just lying down on the ground, staring at the moving clouds and reminiscing .
He wasn’t one to dwell in the past but he just couldn’t stop thinking about Uta and the day she disappeared, after that sorrowful memory. He resorts to the happier ones where him and Uta practically made a competition out of everything and he proclaims to win every single one.
Luffy misses her. When he was a kid, it was a lot worse but it got easier with Ace and Sabo; but then Sabo -
The straw hat-wearing teen shook his head, no don’t think about that. You’ll regret it and cry all afternoon. Ace would reprimand him not to cry and be strong but by the gods he misses him.
Sabo made him think of Uta too, how was she? Was she singing to her hearts content? Did she have fans like she always dreamed of having? Was she famous?
Luffy doesn’t really know how singers produce their music at all so he doesn’t know where to look as well, and he already visited Makino and the others a day ago so it would be pretty clingy of him to go back again and ask for some intel.
Luffy sits up from his lying position on the comfortable grass, thinking does him no good and his head already hurts!
To compensate for the loneliness of not
never
hearing Uta’s wonderful voice, Luffy began to sing the songs he heard from her. ‘Where the wind blows’ is his favorite. Especially on days like this, he hums it to himself or...
Let’s just say he began to do something... weird in his perspective.
He...wrote a song.
It was either the song he made (mind you he’s actually quite sensitive and is really worried if people would like it or not) or ‘Where the wind blows’ and he only became comfortable with singing it out loud a few weeks ago.
Luffy’s cheeks puff, it was quite adorable, but back to the topic; He doesn’t understand why he was so shy about his voice now of all times. He wants to sing so badly but he has no song in mind, if Uta was here then she would suggest a song right away.
She was the one who taught him too, even if her knowledge was also limited.
Uta admits. She’s gotten lost. She has never been to this side of the forest yet, and the bandits say that she’ll have a good chance of running into him if she made her way to the cliff. It’s been so long but everything seems to be the same, what can you expect from a forest?
“Maybe, it’s the way you say my name.” Uta’s head snaps up, a voice? Someone’s singing! And now that she observed her surroundings a bit more, she can tell that the trees were clearing up and were probably leading to the cliff they told her about!
“Maybe, it’s the way you play your game.” Hiding behind some trees, crouching behind some bushes as she tries to survey and identify the person who was singing. She hasn't heard this song before, so maybe it was made by the person singing?
“But it’s so good, I’ve never known anybody like you.” She lifts her head up to take a tiny peak at whoever was singing by the cliff side and believe her when she thought that she wasn’t expecting this at all.
“But it’s so good.” The lyrics were wholesome... Cute... ‘Just like a kid...’ Uta thought like what an older sister would.
“I’ve never dreamed of nobody like you...” Uta smiled at the serene expression the singer had on his face, it was Luffy ... Loud, expressive and impulsive Luffy she knew since her childhood; singing with a calm serene expression.
“And I’ve heard of a love that comes once in a lifetime~” To her surprise, Luffy started to dance. His steps unrefined, yet mimicked the calm waves of the sea in front of him. Just like East Blue’s calm waters, Luffy was listening to the waves splashing and answering with his own.
“And I’m pretty sure that you are that, love of mine~” Uta excitedly stood up from her position behind the bushes, accidently breaking a fallen stick of a tree branch.
Snap!
“Huh? Who’s there!?”
Oh crap.
A bit of a reunion and explanation later (
She doesn’t know why she left out the fact that Shanks had destroyed Elegia
) Uta urges Luffy to sing to her, like what she did for him all those years ago. To her bafflement and amusement, Luffy went shy and shook his head. However, with a bit of an encouragement. He sang in the Partys bar, like what Uta had done years before.
Makino cried. To which Luffy had hurriedly tried to comfort her, the bandits that had come down to hear their brat’s voice cried as well. The leader of the bandit family complaining that she didn’t have a den den mushi to record it. Too bad, Uta had one and she wasn’t willing to share at all.
They were back to the place where they had exchanged each other’s dreams. Watching the wonderous sunset together again.
“Uta, I’m going to become Pirate King and you’ll make a new genesis! Doesn’t that sound fun?” Uta still thought of it as absurd, this boy who was younger by two years becoming Pirate King? It’s like a fantasy!
A fantasy her Uta world doesn’t have the ability to conjure.
“Yeah, the same thing. And I’m currently being mentored!”
“Really?”
“Which leads to the reason why I visited.” Luffy tilted his head a bit, the sea breeze ruffling his hair. One brow lifted to indicate his confusion.
“Luffy, would you like to be a Singer?”
“Hey, have you heard of ‘L’?”
“No way! I thought I was the only one who knew him!”
“He has such an amazing voice!”
“’He’?? Crap, I thought L was a ‘she’!”
“He said that in one of his ‘Journals’, didn’t he?”
“Aahhh! I got to keep up with those videos!”
Word spread about a new rising star all around the New World, he’s got the looks (although his face was rarely shown, always wearing full-face masks or masquerade mask that also covered his eyes with a thing sheet of see-through cloth), the fashion sense, the musical talent, and overall charisma.
His freedom for singing resonates with the population.
Shanks mouth curled into a smile. “HEY, YOU BASTARDS!! UTA DID IT! She turned Luffy into a singer!”
“YEAH!!” The commanders cheered, the crew members that had been with him the longest. The other members cheered, although still confused but happy that the hardened commanders that they rarely see show any emotions express such joy.
“His voice actually sounds good too.” Yasopp grinned as he held out the audio transmitting Den Den mushi. Shanks snickered, that den den mushi had ‘Usseewa’ on repeat. Only anchor would write a song about opposing the corrupt system in the perspective of a school student.
“I love all of his songs!” Roux bit down on the chunk of meat, all of anchor’s songs were a wide variety of music genres.
“I can’t wait to see everyone’s faces when they find out that L is a pirate! HAHAHA!”
“We’ll have a party, won’t we?”
“HELL YEAH.”
“Damn it, Yasopp.”
“Have you heard?”
“Huh?”
“In Uta’s first live concert... L’s returning from his hiatus!”
“Woah, really!?”
“I MISSED HIM!!!”
“I can’t wait to hear his new songs!”
“Let’s go and buy the concert tickets, mom!”
“Alright, dear.”
“Please~??” The coward trio were giving their best puppy dog eyes, shocking the other members of the crew. Openly begging (although comically) their captain to stay with them for just a while to The Diva’s concert. L was there as well, although officially announcing that he was, in fact, a man. The world’s population continued to call him a ‘Diva’.
Brook was taking Shark Submerge III so he could publish his newest song to his beloved fans, a nearby Island had studio on it. Which wasn’t used by Uta, since she had her own. It was also rumored that L once used Uta’s studio but that was just a rumor.
“Stay with us, Luffy!!” Chopper refused to let go of his captain’s leg and Luffy looked just about had it, when it was usually Nami the one done with their shenanigans. The young captain lets out an exasperated sigh when Usopp had pushed his weight on top of him, Nami following and now Luffy was stuck in place.
“You go on ahead, Brook.” With a ‘yohohoho’ the musician made his way under the deck and prepared the Shark Submerge III in Channel Number three.
“YAY!”