In hindsight, it all made sense really.
And the funny thing was- they could’ve just kept going about their adventures without this bombshell of a revelation, just assuming that this surreal Gear 5 form was just another weird Luffy-ism. After all the weird crap their captain had managed to pull over the years, it wasn’t that difficult to just accept it for what it was and move on.
But when Kaido had finally, finally fallen, and everyone was gathering their wits and winding down from their respective brawls, the man only known to them as Who’s Who had settled eyes on the fiery, still uncontrollably giggling figure of the Strawhat captain. And the name “Nika” had dropped at some point, in the middle of frenzied mumbling that felt equally hateful and nauseatingly reverent.
A short chat between Momonosuke and Zunesha had ensued, and now the crew was still reeling over the fact that their captain, their freaking captain who’d been advertising himself as a rubber-man from the very start of his adventures, wasn’t a rubber-man at all.
Well- no, he was. The whole mythical zoan thing was equally hard to believe as it was weirdly logical, given all that had happened. Chopper’s face had been a sight to behold especially, realizing that his own Hito-Hito fruit had basically been the berry-store version of his captain’s the whole time. Then he’d laughed, because it was all so ridiculous and Luffy was laughing even harder at the revelation, his hair still that weird flame-like quality (he hadn’t turned back at all yet, and he hadn’t stopped laughing and it was starting to freak his crew out a little bit, truly).
Then the reindeer had passed out from exhaustion, and everyone had agreed to take a break for now.
***
“How are you not freaking out over this?!” Usopp gesticulated wildly at Zoro, who was being taken care of by one serene-looking Hiyori, as their doctor was out of commission at the moment. The swordsman shrugged- or at least attempted to, given how much pain he was still in. “Why? Doesn’t change sh*t,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes. “If anything, it makes everything about him make more sense. He’s always been like that. Guess that fruit just made him- even more Luffy-like. Not that crazy.”
“Mossball’s got a point there,” Sanji huffed through a waft of cigarette smoke, leaning back against a tree- Onigashima was gone, sinking somewhere east of Wano after Luffy’s crushing victory (victory that could be short-lived given the dozens of Marine ships attempting to surround the country). The psycho doctor had room’d them all back onto the mainland when the demon island had been just shy of crashing into it, so that saved them a trip back by boat.
…f*ck, the Sunny. They’d have to get her back somehow. Maybe Jimbe could swim back to her later…? “Knowing him, he’ll just act like nothing’s different. Which it isn’t.”
Zoro quirked up a brow. “Wait, are you agreeing with something I said? Was this what you meant when you said you might not be yourself back there? Because I can still kill you like you asked-”
“f*ck off, you sh*tty swordsman,” the cook flipped him off, too tired to come and kick the other man- he wasn’t stooping so low as to kick a man while he was down anyways.
***
Nami looked up from her journal, the commotion further out in the clearing making her frown in confusion. “What are they doing…?”
“Celebrating, I suppose,” Robin smiled placidly, watching the people of Wano piling up more and more wood into a giant pyre, soon setting it on fire with much enthusiasm- citizens, former prisoners and slaves, the people of Ebisu and their eternal grins- even a small part of Kaido’s former horde were here helping out with all the carrying and dragging, albeit much more subdued and still very much attentive to little Tama’s words, even after her kibidango power had worn off. They couldn’t quite explain that- maybe they’d gotten attached?
Luffy was off to the side, flanked by a napping Zoro and being fussed over by Chopper, now awake and aware. Luffy himself wasn’t though, unsurprisingly and deeply asleep in his usual post-fight coma (their doctor had explained it wasn’t a coma, but it usually lasted so long they just called it that now).
The crew had been puzzled to see their captain still in his new Gear form, all hyper and active a full hour after his final battle against with Kaido- how he bounced around laughing and doing…
…actually, they weren’t sure what he was doing- in that state, wherever he went and whatever he interacted with got really, really weird, and it had hurt their brains to look at the display, in a way unfamiliar to all of them. Like they were witnessing a side of reality they weren’t mean to. Also, it made them want to laugh, because even if they couldn’t tell what they had been looking at, they could still tell it had been hilarious.
But then Luffy had started to slow down, more and more sluggish as his appearance gradually went back to normal, until he was collapsing into a heap of noodly limbs and bloody clothes, completely out. That had been about twelve hours ago, soon after the sun had lit up the horizon over Wano for what felt like the first time in years- which, in the hearts of its inhabitants, it probably was.
As the people of Wano settled in, and night fell for the first time since the brilliant dawn had risen on the country, the sound of drums started to fill the chill night air- and something imperceptibly shifted.
***
Luffy woke up, from deep within slumber to fully aware in less than a few seconds, his heartbeat making a funny sound in his ribcage and ears. Or maybe it was- oh!
He opened his eyes, his lips stretching into a wide, toothy grin- no, it was both! Haha, he could hear the drums again, and his heart was following them- or was it the other way around? Bah, same thing.
He giggled and jumped up, laughing heartily when he heard the sound of Chopper getting startled next to him. He turned to the little reindeer and waved an arm. “Haha, sorry, sorry Chopper!”
“Luffy! Wh- What are you doing, you shouldn’t be up, you should be resting-”
The pirate blew a raspberry- his eyes were a deep sienna color once more, his eyebrows curled in a way similar to Sanji’s, his hair a flaming gold compared to their usual black from a few seconds ago. “Bleh, boring! I wanna go and party!” he grinned impossibly wide before taking off like a rocket- a very bright rocket high on sugar and caffeine, probably.
***
Luffy danced, and danced, and laughed, and laughed some more. Because that was what he loved, what he wanted to do, and even the most stoic of warriors were unable to resist a smile as the fire burned bright under the starlit sky. He danced and laughed until the sun peeked over the skyline again.
The fire went out, and everyone succumbed to that sticky, heavy sleep that claims you after a night of partying.
Then, and only then did Luffy stop, still chuckling a quiet “shishishi” as he closed his eyes and curled up right there on the grass, out before he even realized.
And Nika slept on.
