Chapter Text
In hindsight, it actually made sense that Brook would be the first to remember. Maybe it was because he’d eaten the Revive-Revive Fruit the last time around, or maybe it was because he was a musician at heart. Whatever the case, it started with a car crash.
Brook had been on his way home after a long day teaching music at Rumbar High School, followed by a staff meeting (which Yorki had thankfully held at the local Laboon’s, enabling them to have dinner there). Like usual, he had the radio on, occasionally singing along.
“All our times have come.
Here but now they're gone.
Seasons don't fear the Reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain...”
“We can be like they are.
Come on, baby.
Don’t fear the reaper…”
A flash of light grabbed his attention. Looking up, he caught sight of another car spinning out of control, seconds before said car slammed into him. There was a burst of pain from the resulting ignition, and everything went black.
🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵
“Valentine is done…
Here but now they're gone…”
Brook slowly opened his eyes to find himself lying on something wooden. The sky above was an odd shade of reddish-orange, like the sun couldn’t decide if it wanted to be rising or setting, and strange glowing shapes flew through it like birds. Listening closely, he could hear the ocean, and…
Was that Yorki singing?
“Romeo and Juliet
Are together in eternity…”
“Romeo and Juliet…”
“40,000 men and women every day.”
“Like Romeo and Juliet…”
“40,000 men and women every day.”
“Redefine happiness…”
“Another 40,000 coming every day.”
By this point, Brook had gotten to his feet and walked over to the man standing by the side of the ship—for they were indeed on a ship straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean or something like that—a man who not only looked like Yorki, but sounded like him too.
“We can be like they are…”
“Come on baby.”
“Don’t fear the reaper…”
“Baby take my hand.”
“Don’t fear the reaper…”
“We’ll be able to fly.”
“Don’t fear the reaper…”
“Baby I’m your man.”
Yorki—not the principal of Rumbar High, but the captain of the Rumbar Pirates—turned and smiled at Brook.
“It’s good to see you, old friend.”
Brook blinked—or he would have, were he not lacking eyelids at the moment. “Am I…dead? Like, actually dead?”
“No,” Yorki chuckled. “This is just the only way we can talk.”
Looking down at his bony hands, Brook turned them over. “What about?”
“About what you need to do.” Yorki put an arm around Brook’s shoulders and made a swooping gesture with his other arm. “The second Pirate King and the rest of his crew reincarnated too, as did a number of their friends and allies. If they’re going to regain their memories—and I know that needs to happen, even if I don’t know why—they’re going to need a little help, and you’re the man for the job. You see, it’s all linked to music—just as you regained your memories with help from a song, so too will they. And as a man of music, you’re the best one to help find those songs.”
“Makes sense, I guess,” Brook admitted. Then he frowned. “Are any of them at Rumbar High?”
“I don’t think so,” Yorki replied with a shake of his head.
They spent a little more time talking, but eventually their reunion had to end. Brook felt a tingling on his bones, and as he looked down, he saw himself beginning to fade away.
“It’s time for me to go.”
Nodding, Yorki gave Brook one last smile.
“We will see each other again one day. I promise.”
🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵
When Brook awoke again—this time in a hospital back in reality, he remembered.
More importantly, he had an important mission—find the rest of the Straw Hats (and a number of others as well) and help them remember too.
First, however, he needed to recover. As the doctors explained, the crash had not only injured him, but had also scarred his face (the drunk driver who’d caused the accident in the first place, on the other hand, had been killed on impact, the resulting fire burning his body so badly they had to get dental records to identify him). While the scars weren’t too bad, they were definitely noticeable, and after some discussion, Brook decided to get a tattoo that would both cover the scarring to a reasonable degree and also make it less difficult to look in a mirror without feeling weird about not seeing a skull staring back.
Yorki came to see him a couple of days later, and after a long discussion with multiple reassurances from both sides that made it clear neither had any hard feelings, Brook felt that he was ready to leave Rumbar High and start teaching at Grand Line High, where he felt (or knew?) the ones he was seeking would be. Of course, that wouldn’t be happening until after he got out of the hospital.
That evening, as he sat listening to the radio that one of the nurses had set up for him, he thought about the other Straw Hats, wondering what kind of lives they’d been leading and if they had already met each other. He hoped they wouldn’t be too hard to track down if they weren’t already in the same place. At the same time, he wondered who else had been reborn in this world, and what songs would help everyone remember.
“Love of two is one,
Here but now they're gone.”
Brook gave a jolt. He’d been so wrapped up in his thoughts he hadn’t realized what song had been playing. Somehow, though, it wasn’t entirely a surprise to him that it was the same song he’d heard before the crash and sung with his old captain—if anything, it was the most fitting song.
He lay back, allowing a smile to cross his face as he sang along.
“Came the last night of sadness,
And it was clear that she couldn't go on…”
“The door was open and the wind appeared.
The candles blew and then disappeared.”
“The curtains flew and then he appeared...”
“Saying ‘don’t be afraid’.”
“Come on baby.”
“And she had no fear.”
“And she ran to him…”
“Then she started to fly…”
“They looked backward and said goodbye...”
“She had become like they are…”
“She had taken his hand.”
“She had become like they are…”
“Come on baby... don't fear the Reaper…”