He had stood here for centuries, shaking with fury and finally, just shaking his head. There was little he could do but watch silently. The story he knew so well was retold, bringing tears to other's eyes.

It was all crashing down. He was proud that they kept trying--were willing to die, as he was, to die fighting. But they were running, now. Fleeing in the demonic light of the usurper, everything they had sought to protect and reclaim afire. Even their little refuge was crumbling.

The clouds were swallowed by the sky, and he looked straight up at the sun, expecting everything his people had fought for to evaporate under it.

The bell rang.

And rang, and rang. He charged up to it, through cloud and forest and open air. It was intact and alive, and from here he could see everything. Including a shadow with long strides and a strange, pointed shape atop its head.

The man emerged from under the clouds, dusting them off his jacket. He spotted Calgara, and he sank an embarrassed hand behind his head.

"Sorry I'm late," He smiled. "I got a bit lost."

"As did I," said Calgara, "But no more."

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They Never Learn (Night topic)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 288
Pairing: Sanji/Usopp

It was dark and cold, the sort of cold that suggests even the stars and the moon are hiding under their midnight blankets. The boys' room was full of snores and rumbles, and he closed the door on them, just so. There should have been at least the lap of waves or cries of night birds, but he couldn't hear it over the buzz in his ears. He waited for his eyes to adjust and then made his way to his target. He hardly needed his sight to find it, and he located the doorknob by feel.

Remember to pull up as you swing it open, lest it squeak. Transfer your grip to the inner knob--a slight jiggly noise--and carefully ease it back into place.

There. Now, hug the walls...

"Usopp."

He froze, sweating, one leg in the air. He could still run. Sanji had no proof it was him.

"Luffy would've crashed right through the door."

Dammit.

A match flickered into life, cupped between silhouetted hands just long enough for it to flicker ominously in his eyes. Then it was gone, leaving dots in Usopp's vision, floating amidst the smoke. Before he could blink them away to find Sanji, he could feel him.

"If you're having trouble sleeping, I can think of some things to occupy you..."

Sanji's lips pressed against his in the dark, warm and spiced and addictive. His back pressed against the door, his front against ... something else.

He really ought to have learned by now not to venture into the lion's den. He hoped, at least, that Luffy had learned how to knock. But no bets--they both seemed quite happy to make these same mistakes, over and over again.

Older Drabbles

Legends (Lies Topic)
Rating: G
Word Count: 200
Pairing: Usopp/Luffy

Usopp leaned into his hand, one cheek smooshed over his eye and his nose bent to the side. A sign of deep thought.

The twilight had settled, nestled into his bones and blanketed him in silence. Half an hour ago, he had spent the last of his energy on a tale. Caught up in grimacing and waving his arms, he had teetered at the banister and only Robin's quick handiwork kept him from a short tumble and a long soak. It was not until just now, catching his breath, that he realized he had been taking credit for something Luffy himself had done. Luffy had not corrected him--had shown no signs of even knowing what was to happen next. He'd laughed and rocked on his rear and made faces of delight such that Usopp would make, hearing a tale about himself.

Just as doubt came to knock at his door, Luffy tapped on Usopp's shoulder instead, asking for a bed time story.

Luffy laughed himself to sleep, but Usopp stayed awake. Someday, he would tell true tales that could not be believed and hear others steal his tales. He and Luffy would listen to them, and then they'd laugh.

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Soap Bubble Strength (Inner Strength Topic)
Rating: G
Word Count: 218
Pairing: Usopp/Luffy

Zoro thought he was the most mature because he wasn't easily swept up by emotion. His calm was a rock amidst a whirlpool of shouting and spazzing. They would whip about in the wind, and he'd stand firm, the definition of strength.

Sanji thought he was the most mature because he could cook, clean and fully care for himself by age seven. He gained pleasure from taking care of himself and others, and being able to protect them as well, the definition of strength.

Nami thought she was the most mature because the others never thought beyond today. Left to their own, they would spin in circles, fast and furious circles, but circles nonetheless. Her direction focused that energy into something powerful--the definition of strength.

And Luffy, Luffy was making soap bubbles sculptures with Usopp as they washed their clothing in their roundabout way. They accidentally flooded the room, of course, and made paper sailboats to race from one piece of furniture to another. Luffy's was semi-deformed, but both soaked through and sank in the end.

Both Luffy and Usopp had children in grown-up bodies for role models. Both knew that they could safely play, with the others watching their backs. That trust--in the form of soap foam Santa's beards--was their personal definition of strength.

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The World (Jealousy topic)
Rating: PG for violence
Word Count: 200
Pairing: Kuro/Usopp

When Kuro found himself standing thoughtfully beside Meri's rent form, he knew something was wrong. It was silly and unlike him, this impatience. Childish, beneath him.

Something had tickled at the back of his mind like an errant feather toy until he had to slash it apart. This would have been acceptable in former days, but now he had goals too complex to be reached by blades.

It was bouncing in front of him, at a wobbly, gangly run, shouting something.

He said he would destroy all of it, his men, his ship, his past, himself. But he had let the boy run away.

Who would they believe when the boy's lies came true?

He stared at the moon and the glow off his blades and the slick, oily gleam of blood. He would have to ... something. Have the boy hypnotized, and quietly taken care of later. Quite a shame. It wouldn't be the same town without him--it was such a small town, after all, and he was most of the noise.

He should have run after him. Should have killed him. Should have...

Everything he'd wanted was here, and all that idiot wanted was to run away.

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Stories (Bad Habits topic)
Rating: G
Word Count: 200
Pairing: None

Everyone did it. Even the kids without flag-following fathers played at being pirates. Or princesses. Or unicorns or dragons.

When you opened your eyes in the morning, it was the same day every day. But there were caves which were forbidden and that must contain buried treasure. There were haunted places and secret coves, even if they were only a few minutes from your doorway.

Footsteps were better when the belonged to monsters, and there was no point to staying out late unless you were chased by a mysterious shadow or heard plaintive wailing from the dark.

You'd race your friends home, screaming, and you'd get there and laugh and laugh.

You'd wake up in the same day your whole life, and make it different with a story. Then it turned out that the bogeymen were real and walked right among you in the daylight, and you had nowhere to run and no reason to laugh.

It was a new day. You wondered why you'd worked so hard to distract yourself. Now you had to avoid thinking of the real fears, sitting at the corner of your eyes.

"I was in a city 3,000 fathoms under the sea, when--"

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Fine Art (Luffy and/or Usopp topic)
Rating: G
Word Count: 188
Pairing: Usopp/Luffy

Luffy and Usopp were missing. Sanji sauntered suspiciously into the kitchen, but for once they weren't there. He could hear distressing laughter, however.

By the time he got there, the rest of the crew had given into their curiosity and were making their way towards the muffled noises as well. They peeked in, careful for any dangerously inane ideas the two might have left about. But they were just lying belly-down on the floor, over a large piece of paper.

"You two are playing quietly...?" said Nami with obvious doubt.

Usopp erked and tried to cover up the paper. Luffy, oblivious as always, said,

"Ooo, color Sanji's demon eye red!"

And they looked. Zoro was depicted as a carrot, Nami was in a wedding dress--the groom appeared to be a sack of belli--and Sanji's always-covered eye was revealed to show a dribbling mask of rotting zombie flesh.

"Some people just don't appreciate art," Usopp commented later. He hoped they would get over it. Although being wrapped in Luffy's arms wasn't so bad, being tied to the mast with them took all the fun out of it.

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Forever and Nothing (Time topic)
Rating: G
Word Count: 100
Pairing: Male/Luffy Pirates

He'd walked onto this ship and into a different world.

It'd been less than a year, so he couldn't claim the landmark of a birthday. The time was made of islands, sometimes days apart. Life moved too fast to catch up.

These people made up his day, and he fell asleep to their snores at night. He ought to be annoyed with them, wish a moment for himself, sometimes he did. But he assumed they would always be there and had forgotten a time when they weren't.

It wasn't until he was with them that he realized he'd been alone.