COAST - Luffy x Reader

70. That's a Wrap!

And with that... Water 7, Enies Lobby, and Goodbye Going Merry are officially coming to a close. 20+ chapters. What a wild ride.

These three arcs were by far the most challenging to write for, but it included tons of fun moments, too. I think it's fitting to be both, tbh, since the Water 7 saga is a major turning point in the One Piece story as a whole. There was tons of character development for (Y/n), and for Luffy; Adding Rachel, a new character completely of my own making, and developing a story / development of her own; (Y/n)'s very first battle; And so much more, from my own additions to the canon story... Making me all emotional, ugh ;-;

As always, thank you all for sticking around for the journey. I'm feeling super accomplished, super motivated, and super excited for what's coming next. Some fun filler is on the way, before we dive straight into Thriller Bark (one of my fav arcs <33). Hope you guys are as thrilled as I am!!

Happy reading <333

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"Ooh, I like that one! Let's add it to the pile!"

Beneath the canopy of a candy-cane striped umbrella, Chimney and I are sifting through the remnants of mine and Luffy's collection. Tink, clink – Chimes each shell as they dance among the rocks, flimsy and flitting. The little girl has set aside her 'favorite pieces' to include in the bracelet I'd long-since promised... Hoarding too many 'favorites' for just one. She could make four or five with the material gathered.

"Think they'll all fit?"

Eyeing the still-growing pile, then the short strings of yarn set aside – magenta, like her hair elastics. I can't help but giggle. "We'll figure something out."

I was enjoying her company to the fullest, especially since company had been scarce today. Everybody on the crew was working over-time, healed enough where they could get started on gathering necessities for our impending departure; Something only made possible thanks to Franky, who was making us a new ship, all for free. This was an insane favor, obviously. We'd be forever indebted to him... That is, if he didn't choose to join the crew afterwards. A selfish part of me was hoping he would.

That aside... As much as I'd wanted to contribute, my job was to act as the crew's designated lazy bones. I had to stay off my feet as much as possible, as per Chopper's strict regime for rapid recovery. To the doctor, I'd simply gotten lucky over the past few days, steadily testing karma's limits each time I chose to move around. Thus, I resigned to my station – a seat by the pool, doing arts and crafts, and lounging in the shade.

Extra fragile, extra hurting, distaste had been curdling my guts since that morning. It wasn't fair. I couldn't even go swimming with these stupid injuries. Everyone else was fine at this point – They had bad injuries too, yet they could just go off and have fun in the city? 'From this world,' my ass. If I'm from here, and not the other world, then why the hell was I so different from everyone else?

Needless to say, I'd been feeling a little sensitive as of late. The others had noticed, although they never pried too much, save for one time during another heated discussion over my parentage. I can't even remember what Sanji'd said then... Most memorable was that I'd snapped at the chef harsh enough where everyone ceased conversation. Since then they'd been treading lightly. When Luffy'd asked why I'd lashed out so randomly, I couldn't even give him an answer.

So, you can imagine my gratefulness when Chimney popped up to spend the day with me. Bubbly, enthusiastic, and itching for her next bout of fun, she was the perfect anchor. With her around, I couldn't drift off, or sulk in my stupidity, or dwell on my plummeting sense of self... There was something else to take up my focus, a promise that she was ready to cash in.