(Laki POV)

Funerals always were a sad affair, especially if you had personally known the deceased. But there was something surreal about holding one for a mass of people at once, the fallen heroes of what was already being called ‘the War of Liberation’.

When she had been first confronted with the casualty count, Laki had refused to believe it. It just couldn’t be true, she'd thought. Someone had to be lying. Unfortunately for her, reality was cruel and that night Laki hadn’t been the only one to cry herself to sleep.

Now, she watched as the Chief lit the funeral pyre, built with the wood harvested from their reclaimed ancestral home.

Their victory should have been a joyous occasion, yet at most it was bittersweet.

But whatever her innermost thoughts, sadness and sorrow were not the Shandian way, for life was too short and too fragile to be wasted on tears. Instead, her people would send the fallen off with a smile, such that when they joined the great ancestors above, they would be able to do so without worrying for those they left behind. Thus, the Shandians laughed all the jollier, sang all the merrier and partied all the harder once the pyre was blazing bright and hot. They joked and prodded at the memory of the fallen, reminiscing about the good times spent together and toasted their names with copious amounts of alcohol.

Laki walked around the camp, actively approaching the outsiders one by one, the visitors who stood slightly apart from her people. It couldn't be helped, as her culture was not theirs and it was unrealistic to expect them to be used to celebrating life the way the Shandians did. However, that was no reason to relegate them to the sidelines. So she talked with them, longer with some than with others, but always thanking every last one of them for coming, and in the cases where it was deserved, thanking them for fighting alongside her brethren.

Eventually though, her questing feet brought her to Captain Bellamy, sitting alone beneath a tree. Words couldn't being to describe how much she owed to this man, because it was thanks to him that Aisa was safe and for that he would always have her gratitude.

“Not enjoying the celebration, Captain Bellamy?” she called out by way of greeting. Her voice was impudent, and she knew it. He knew it too, judging from his wry smile.

“Please, call me Bellamy. You’re not on my crew and we killed a god together. I’d say we’re past that already.”

“I’d offer to let you call me Laki, but you already stole that opportunity from me.” She laughed, referring to the moment in Shandora and he chuckled along as well. “How will you ever take responsibility?”

“By whatever means necessary.” He joked but then winced ever so slightly. Obviously, his wounds from the battle hadn't healed yet. “Though I hear that ending a tyrant is popular this time of year.”

“I never did thank you properly for that, did I?” Laki said, before she composed herself, sitting in a kneeling position, hands gathered into her lap. Then she bowed deeply. “Thank you for saving Aisa. You cannot understand how much she means to me. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“I did what anybody would do in that situation…well that’s a lie. I know that most people wouldn’t do what I did." he admitted, before smirking. "No, I did what any respectable pirate would do. Letting a cute kid like Aisa get hurt would have been a crime against humanity. I had no choice.”

“Then I’m glad you were a respectable pirate.”

After that, the two of them lapsed into silence, Laki quietly watching the revellers around the fire. Even the Skypieans had been dragged into the dancing circle as the celebratory mood began to bridge the gap between the two peoples. Down by the fire, Aisa was actively moving her body to the music, bringing a smile to Laki's face. She really was cute.

However, Bellamy’s gaze was not upon the dancers. Instead, it was locked upon the Straw Hat crew, particularly upon their captain, Straw Hat Luffy.

“Is he still giving you the cold shoulder?”

A shrug. “He’s young and naïve. Thinks he can fight the world without anyone dying, or at least no-one important amongst his enemies.” Then he muttered something under his breath. Laki didn't catch it all but heard individual words like Alabasta, Vivi, rebel army and Baroque Works.

Laki blinked. Shouldn’t that be ‘not amongst his allies’?

“Luffy is a dreamer and that comes with a strict personal set of values. My crew and I probably violated quite a bit of it.” Another shrug. “Not much I can do about it, though it is a shame. He would be a good ally to have.”

“Is this about Enel’s…?”

“Yeah. Luffy is not exactly miffed about it, but things have turned a bit awkward. I don’t think he quite knows how to react to that.” Luffy had seemed a bit out of sorts after the deed was done. His face had just gone blank before he walked away.

“But…I’m the one who killed Enel.” And hadn’t that been something? She had become a hero overnight. It was very flattering but it also hadn't felt like she really deserved it. It had been the others who had done all the hard work, and she’d just…been in the right place at the right time with a rifle in hand. Sometimes, she wished she could just get away from it all, but that was just wishful thinking. Laki was never going to leave Aisa behind.

“And I desecrated a corpse. Though I’m not sure he was dead before I cut his head off.” Bellamy said, leaning back to rest his weight against the tree. Laki followed suit. It was a comfortable tree. “But good riddance I say.”

“Have you tried talking to him?” That had usually been her mother’s go to solution whenever she got into a fight with her friends.

Sigh

“He’s been avoiding me. Zoro understands but the others are somewhat split as well. Mani killing Satori’s brothers didn’t help our image either.”

“I’m sure he’ll come around.”

“I’m sure he will.”

Once more, silence reigned between the two of them. But it was not an awkward silence, instead being more like a comforting blanket. For one, Bellamy didn't react when she leaned her head on his shoulder and they sat together like this for a while, watching the moon slowly traverse the night sky.

“How’s your crew doing?”

“Surprisingly well all things considered. True, they were somewhat roughed up, but Muret fixed them up real well and she is confident that all of them will make a full physical recovery. What I’m more worried about is the mental side of things.”

Laki hummed in agreement. It happened occasionally that a warrior would return from battle, changed. They’d be jumpy, easily panicked by the slightest noise, often curling up and crying about enemies who were no longer there. “It’s almost as if they are reliving the battle, in a bad way.” One of the healers had once told her. Considering how…chaotic the War of Liberation had been, it wouldn’t surprise her if the scars went deeper than just skin deep.

“Mani was especially shaken,” Bellamy confided. “Though killing her aggressors in the end helped a lot to make the whole memory less scary by removing the aspect of hopelessness. But the sheer terror she must have felt...that kind of thing is not forgotten so easily.”

“I had heard that her entire squadron died. It was the biggest loss of the war.”

“Yes, that was a clusterfuck. My condolences by the way. I heard that Braham was a friend.”

“They all were. But it’s fine.” she said, waving away the concern. “They are with the ancestors now. It is our way to send them off with a smile.”

“That’s what I had figured with the party and all. Though, are you sure you’re alright? Regardless of tradition, it’s never easy losing a friend.”

“I will miss them.” Laki began, carefully choosing her next words. If someone else had pried like this, she would have snapped at them already. But in his case she found his concern, while not pleasant, at least acceptable. It was a clear case of double standards, but what could she do? “But I know that they would want me to live life to the fullest and to experience everything they didn’t get the chance to do. Plus, how can I tell Aisa to be happy if I can’t manage it myself?”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Live life to the fullest, huh?” Something changed in his voice. Not the tone or the pitch, but something…almost like a weight was being lifted off his shoulders or like a beam of light clearing away the morning mist. A quality of hope. “I think I like the sound of that.”

She did too.

So, she gently pressed her lips to his cheek. Then she giggled when he turned to her in surprise, his hand flying up to his left cheek.

“What was that for?”

“A thank you.” His flummoxed look was actually quite cute. “Come, let’s go dance.”

“Uhm, I’ve never danced before in my life.” He replied, though he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. “Your feet might not forgive me afterwards.”

Laki just laughed as she lead him to the central plaza.

Later, she reflected that Bellamy was a liar.

He did know how to dance.

----------------------------------------

(Bellamy POV)

It was by pure happenstance that I ran into Luffy the morning after the party. I definitely had not sought him out to talk and Robin definitely had not pointed me in his direction. And anyone who claimed otherwise was a filthy, filthy liar pants on fire.

“Bellamy!”

“Hello Luffy. Is this a bad time?” Something I had learned in my past life, was to always ask no-oriented questions. Most people reflexively said no regardless of what was asked and once they’ve said it, it generally was a lot more difficult for them to take it back. Like so.

“No, it’s not. Uhhh. What do you want?” Wow, passive aggressiveness from Luffy of all people?

“I just want to talk a bit. Mind if I sit?”

“No.” he said, scooting over. See, it worked like a charm. Well, except with exceptionally rude people, but Luffy had gotten his manners drilled into him by Makino so he couldn't refuse without besmirching her memory. At most, he could keep his answers brief.

“How’s your crew? From what I saw, a few of them got really hurt.” A key aspect in any human interaction was to always establish empathy. A connection. And one way to go about it, was to get them talking about something they cared deeply about. In Luffy’s case, that was either his dream, his meat or his crew, not necessarily in that order.

“Yeah, but your doctor fixed them up real good. Even Chopper was impressed. Do you think she likes meat? I want to thank her but I don't know how.”

This was so ‘Luffy-esque’ that I had to suppress a chuckle.

“Muret is a vegetarian, but I’m sure she'll appreciate the offer.” I replied, but when Luffy looked confused I was forced to elaborate. “She doesn’t eat meat.”

Confusion turned into even more confusion. “But what do you eat if you don't eat meat?”

“Vegetables I reckon. Like brusselsprouts.”

“Yuck.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Shishishishi!” Empathy established? We kept debating the merits of different types of meat for a few minutes, Luffy insisting that crocodile was the best and me going with the more tame option like beef. Either way, some of the initial wariness Luffy had been exuding before faded, much to my relief. Meat really was the way to a man’s heart, well Luffy’s heart at least. Maybe I should tell that to Hancock if I ever got to meet her.

“Hey Bellamy?” It was actually quite jarring how quickly Luffy could go from a meat-loving idiot to being the captain of the Straw Hat pirates. “Why did you do what you did?”

Well, that wasn't a loaded question at all, was it?

“You mean Enel?”

“Yeah. I thought you were a good guy. On Jaya you helped us a lot and Cricket Ossan liked you too.”

“…” In response I said nothing, choosing to let Luffy talk.

“But up here, you guys kill, even those who are already defeated and robbing them of a second chance to pursue their dreams. Why?”

This was probably the make it or break it moment for my relationship with Luffy. How did I want to handle this?

“Do you know what happened with Enel before you arrived, Luffy?” I asked Luffy, who nodded in response.

“That Wyper guy hit him real hard but Enel got back up. Then he went all zzzaapp and then fuzzy and then I hit him.” It was an abridged version of the events but not wrong, except for one thing.

“Not quite. Wyper killed him, Luffy.” I turned to look him straight in the eye. “Enel just refused to stay dead.”

“Like a zombie?!?”

“No, not a zombie." Those would be waiting for him on Thriller Bark. "But he restarted his heart so it began beating again.”

“Oh. So, a mystery zombie.” I gave up.

“Yes, a mystery zombie. And that mystery zombie tried to kill us...again. If it weren’t for a whole lot of luck, a lot of us would be dead. Including Zoro & Robin.” I told him and he immediately rejected this possibility, shaking his head emphatically.

“Nuh-uh. I would have beaten him.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But what if you aren’t around when Enel wakes up next time?”

“I’ll come beat him again if he tries to touch my nakama.” he said with full conviction and I internally pumped my fist in victory. I had him right where I wanted him.

“Does that mean you’ll stay here forever to make sure Enel can’t hurt anybody ever again?” I asked, making Luffy scrunch up his nose in response.

“Uhhh…no, but we can lock him up?” he proposed but I shook my head.

“Enel can go through walls.” Not quite true but functionally true. Without seastone, no normal prison could ever hope to hold a logia.

“Chase him away.” he suggested and I shook my head again.

“He’ll come back. And once you’re gone, who’s going to protect these people from Enel?” I asked and Luffy shut up. He was simple mind you, not stupid and he could picture the consequences quite clearly. “Luffy, you’re a good person and I admire that.”

"..."

“But you need to learn something.” A little flattery never killed anyone, especially if I was going for the figurative gut punch. “Most enemies don’t forget and forgive. Instead, they try and get revenge.”

"..."

I know he knew this, because if I was not in an alternate universe, this had happened to Luffy once already in Logue Town.

“You and your crew are probably going to be fine. You’re strong.”

“But you’re strong too.”

“Not strong enough.” I admitted. It hurt my pride but it was true. I wasn’t nearly strong enough yet. “Neither is my crew. We were lucky this time. Very lucky.”

“…”

“What is going to happen when you get into the fight of your lives? Against an enemy you can’t afford to hold back against?” Like Aokiji. “When no matter how often you beat them down, they keep coming after you again and again, chasing you all over the world?”

“…”

“Sooner or later you are going to make a mistake. It may be a small one. It may even be negligible under normal circumstances. But when you’re in a fight? That one small mistake is going to get your nakama hurt. And that is not something I can accept and it's something I am going to do my best to outright prevent from ever happening by any means necessary.”

“But…”

“I’m a captain and I have to protect my crew, no matter what.” I stated, getting Luffy to nod in agreement. “That’s what being a captain means.”

“…”

“Mercy,” I paused, trying to convey as much seriousness as I could. “Mercy is the prerogative of the strong. Those who aren’t strong enough, can’t afford to be merciful.”

Light was dawning behind Luffy’s eyes as he finally got the point I was trying to make. I just needed one last nail to seal the coffin.

“Luffy, not everyone can afford to be as merciful as you.”