We Wa

Everything was over. Nami had made her map, Usopp was brave-er, Zoro was the greatest, Chopper had found the root to the cure of most diseases, Robin had found the True History, Sanji had found the All Blue, along with marrying Nami, and Luffy was king. They had found One Piece in their third year of traveling. They spent the next four years traveling everywhere outside of the Grand Line. Now it was seven, soon to be eight years after they had all sworn to be nakama. Luffy had already given Shanks his hat back, and paid his treasure tab to Makino. With nothing left to do, they had returned to Raftel. One by one, the crew went their separate ways, all staying as close as possible, yet still it felt far away. Luffy having no other place that he felt like going, simply stayed alone on Raftel. The whole place was so empty without his crew. The huge hordes of treasure were boring without Nami there, just sitting and counting for hours on end. The kitchen was lonely without Sanji, as was the library in the absence of Robin. There was no Zoro sleeping in random places in the halls, and the room that Usopp and Chopper had converted into a workshop robbed Luffy of any joy he had previously had.

Luffy sat in his cabin on the Going Merry. He needed to feel the light rock of the water were the Merry was docked. Looking back on the years Luffy’s shoulders began to shake. Where was his crew when he needed them? He didn’t even know where they were. Everyone had been writing letters to one another but had gradually stopped. Luffy knew he had where Nami and Sanji were somewhere in his room on Raftel, but in the clutter he also knew he’d never find it. And if he were to send them a letter, he’d have to give the albatross messenger some kind of clue on a map as to where they were, another thing he had lost.
Walking up on deck, Luffy thought about all of the fun times he had spent with his crew. This just made him feel worse. Where he was standing was Zoro’s favorite place to take his naps. The door to the kitchen was in sight sending an image of Sanji straight to his mind. The ship itself reminded him of Usopp, hence reminding him of Chopper. And to his right was the place where Nami and Robin would sit and chat, drinking the lemonade Sanji always made for them on hot days.
Tears began to well up in Luffy’s eyes. Wiping them away, he looked down to the water. The light waves rolling off the sides of the ship reminded Luffy of how much he loved the sea. Slowly looking up, Luffy found himself staring at open water. A pained expression came to his face. The Merry’s figurehead was in sight, bringing back memories of a random member of his crew saving him from falling into the water. Luffy’s eyes narrowed. When he first found his crew, he had done it by wandering around aimlessly. Then he had had a rowboat and a barrel, this time he had the Going Merry. There was no reason why he couldn’t find them again.
After getting the ship pretty far into the water, Luffy looked back at Raftel and smiled.
“Here we go again.” He said to himself. In front of him, was a whirlpool.