One Piece One-Shots

(Smoker) Keep Your Chin Up

Hi I'm back. I have some time so I'm going to write! Yay! Enjoy Smoker content! This one is a little dark, so I'm warning y'all about that.

The battle field after an all out war is terrifying. It's a surreal type of peace, seeing the places where the cannon fire had marked the ground, the trees and foliage stained with ashes. The serenity and lack of noise is an odd feeling.

I sat, looking over the battlefield, a cup of tea in my hand. My marine uniform was covered in ashes and was torn in multiple places, but it didn't bother me much. I simply sat there, observing the scars of war.

My superior officer, Smoker must've noticed the somewhat disturbed look on my face. "YN." He said from behind me. I continued to stare off, not realizing the person he had called for was me. "YN! Hey!" He yelled, shaking my shoulder this time. I shot around and almost spilled my tea on myself. "Captain Smoker! Uh... Sorry, did I miss something important?" I asked, forcing a chuckle. "No, not at all." He said, sitting down next to me. "Ok, good." I said, taking another sip of my tea. "So what is it you need?" I asked. "Just wanted to make sure you're alright. You seemed... out of it." He said, shaking his head. "Oh no, don't worry, I'm alright." I said, smiling at him.

He turned and faced me, then glared for a few seconds at me. "As long as you're certain. That battle wasn't for the feint of heart, that's for certain." He said, sighing lightly. "Yeah, that's true." I said, thinking back to the all out war with a local pirate group. "We made it out alright, though." He said, his voice tone changing to a more happy and light sound. "If that's what you call alright." I muttered, thinking about all of the casualties in the battle.

Smoker turned to me and shook his head. "YN. You're a marine. You should have expected something to go like-" "It shouldn't have to go this way, though!" I yelled, cutting him off. "When I joined the Marines, this is part of what I expected, but not this horrible! We lost over half our force and you expect me to be alright with it?!" I yelled, somewhat in shock.

At this point, everyone around was staring at the two of us. I myself was too upset to even notice. "Do you think you're the only one upset?" He asked, his eyes locking onto mine. "Wha- No of course not-" "That's the point, YN." He said, cutting me off. "We're all upset about it, but there's nothing we can do now. You've simply got to keep your chin up, or else this job isn't for you." He said, getting up and walking away.

I dwelled on his words as we sailed back to the marine base. I realized, if I couldn't handle the insane amount of pain and violence I witnessed, I shouldn't be a Marine.

I walked up to Smoker's desk and I slid him a piece of paper. "What's this?" He asked me, picking up the sheet. "My resignation. I'm done here. There's nothing more I can do around here." I said, looking down at my feet. "You're probably disappointed but-" He sighed. "You're right to do so, YN. You're too kind for this job. The time we had was lovely, but really, it's for the best you leave." He said, a smile actually crossing his face. I chuckled for real this time. "Then I hope we actually meet again some day, Captain Smoker." I said, holding out my hand for him to shake it. He grabbed my hand with a smirk on his face. "I hope I see you again someday too, YN."