Fic post: Definitions

[printfogey.livejournal.com]

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.

Comments

[ishimura.livejournal.com]

The last line called out to me, because it's true - wherever the Strawhats go, their faith and especially Luffy's calls out to others and revive them (I'm thinking about the Bell of Shandora right now). And Makino knows how much Luffy hurts when he's alone - when she raised him directly, when she visited Luffy and his brothers at Dadan's, when Sabo died, when she saw him to his own adventure. He's not a kid anymore, but inside there's that kid still with all his determination and fear and hope to be free which includes having true companions to share his freedom with.

He presses on, inspiring, and lifting up, and reviving faith so that there will be hope to nourish courage.

[printfogey.livejournal.com]

Very well said!

[jadekitty777.livejournal.com]

Aah I didn't even notice there was another ficlet posted!

A very nice, layered piece and very insightful. I can't help but think the 'they' kind of can be us, the fans as well, because a lot of us (myself included) do often see Luffy as fearless. But the more I consider it, the more I realize we have seen Luffy scared before - when Mihawk injured Zoro, Lucci walking towards Usopp, losing everyone at Saboady... and Ace as well. I like how this is portrayed through Makino too, since she's seen Luffy grow up and whatnot and know his origins, it makes this piece feel even stronger.

And I just adore how it's written with a cover story in mind.

So overall, wonderful work! And it looks like I can pick a winner now, yay!

[printfogey.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

Heck, I tend to think of Luffy as fearless too, a lot of the time! But that just makes me appreciate all the more the moments when Oda shows us what lurks below.

Makino or Dadan were the only ones I could think of for this, and in the end Makino's voice felt easier to do.