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At the edge of the world, on the distant shores of Raftel, Monkey D. Luffy drew his final breaths.
The journey was up. The end of the Line. You knew the day would come, you had only hoped you would have more time.
You had worried about him from the start, about the toll his powers would take on his body. You had watched as he pushed himself further and further, time and time again past breaking point, as the years he shaved off his life flew by like the pages of a calendar in the wind.
Years he could have spent with you.
It was all just a faraway dream now. You could feel it slipping through your fingers like the sands of an hourglass, ticking down until the last beat of his heart, the last puff of air to pass between those parched lips.
You held him in your arms, his body emaciated. A skeleton. A shadow of the great king he once was. He’d barely been king for a day, or so it had felt.
His voice rasped in his throat and you had to lean closer to hear.
“Do you… think they’ll remember me?”
You smiled through your tears. “Of course they will.” Your voice shook but you held steady. “For centuries.”
He nodded weakly. “Good. Don’t let them forget me.”
“Never.” Your voice was barely a whisper. “In Alabasta, your name will be on their lips like a mantra. In Skypiea, they’ll chant it like a prayer. In Dressrosa they’ll sings songs about you until the end of days. And in Marineford they’ll curse you with every breath.”
His eyelids fluttered as he struggled to hold on to your words. You thought you could almost see the trace of a smile.
“You’ll go down in history. I’ll make sure of it.”
He sighed and closed his eyes. He seemed content. His pain would be over soon.
Unable to hold it in any longer, you let out a choked sob, resting your head against his chest. It rose and fell softly beneath you cheek, but his skin was cold. So cold.
“[Name]…”
You raised your head at the sound of your name.
“Thank you,” he said and you were shocked to find he was smiling, that wide, dazzling smile you had grown to know and love. “For being my nakama.”
A moment later he was gone, leaving behind only a smile, and his name, an anguished cry on the wind.
You closed his eyes, resting his beloved straw hat over his heart.
“Rest well, Captain. I’ll see you soon.”