Fic post: Definitions
Title: Definitions
Medium: Fic
Rating: G
Prompt: Valour
Characters: Luffy, Makino
Word Count: 299
Spoilers/setting: Spoilers up to chapter 614 for the cover picture (part of the "Decks Around The World" cover suite)
They said he laughed in the face of his own execution, and they were right.
They said he took all the more delight in an adventure the riskier it was, scorning reassurance as "boring"; and they weren't wrong.
They said if he looked afraid it was never for real, it was just brief overreactions to small things, things that seemed funny to others.
They said, often admiringly, that he was a pretty crazy guy, who didn't even know the meaning of the word 'fear'. And it was easy to see why they'd think so.
But Makino looks at the newspaper stories and listens to the bar talk, and she remembers a little boy crying wildly. An older boy who'd be quiet sometimes, looking out to sea after Ace had left. In three years, he'd tell anyone, he'd set out himself; he'd find a crew, lead them on adventures and become the Pirate King.
The boy who hated being alone dreamed of sailing off all by himself. Trying to find a crew who would share his dangers - he who was so afraid of losing people important to him.
Once, she asked him, gently, about that.
Luffy smiled. "It'll be fine! I'll find them for sure! And once I'm that old I'll be strong enough to protect everyone. I won't let anyone be gone." He spun his hat around on one finger, legs dangling over the water.
*
No, thinks Makino now, hearing what they say about Strawhat Luffy. He isn't fearless. He's sailed right against his fears from the moment he left home. He's still doing it.
A faith and courage that was perhaps too wide and deep to fathom - yet these days, as she nurses her baby, she wonders if it hasn't become just a little closer in reach.
Medium: Fic
Rating: G
Prompt: Valour
Characters: Luffy, Makino
Word Count: 299
Spoilers/setting: Spoilers up to chapter 614 for the cover picture (part of the "Decks Around The World" cover suite)
They said he laughed in the face of his own execution, and they were right.
They said he took all the more delight in an adventure the riskier it was, scorning reassurance as "boring"; and they weren't wrong.
They said if he looked afraid it was never for real, it was just brief overreactions to small things, things that seemed funny to others.
They said, often admiringly, that he was a pretty crazy guy, who didn't even know the meaning of the word 'fear'. And it was easy to see why they'd think so.
But Makino looks at the newspaper stories and listens to the bar talk, and she remembers a little boy crying wildly. An older boy who'd be quiet sometimes, looking out to sea after Ace had left. In three years, he'd tell anyone, he'd set out himself; he'd find a crew, lead them on adventures and become the Pirate King.
The boy who hated being alone dreamed of sailing off all by himself. Trying to find a crew who would share his dangers - he who was so afraid of losing people important to him.
Once, she asked him, gently, about that.
Luffy smiled. "It'll be fine! I'll find them for sure! And once I'm that old I'll be strong enough to protect everyone. I won't let anyone be gone." He spun his hat around on one finger, legs dangling over the water.
*
No, thinks Makino now, hearing what they say about Strawhat Luffy. He isn't fearless. He's sailed right against his fears from the moment he left home. He's still doing it.
A faith and courage that was perhaps too wide and deep to fathom - yet these days, as she nurses her baby, she wonders if it hasn't become just a little closer in reach.