(no subject)

[fire-tears.livejournal.com]

Title: Moving Mountains
Topic: None
Rating: PG
Pairing: ZoLu-ish
Word Count: 300
Author's Notes: Well, I just read the part where... well, to be discreet, where Luffy finally, truly realizes the weight of being a captain. Spoilers beyond here, but I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about.

Moving Mountains
"It's heavy..."

The weight of being a captain. Like the weight of the ocean, crushing and suffocating, and for the first time Luffy seemed to remember that he couldn't swim, could only flounder and sink once the waves finally crashed down.

Steady. Steady. That's why the first mate is there; something to cling to, a buoy in the middle of the waves. Zoro can swim, Zoro can keep Luffy's head above the waves until Luffy finds the strength again to do more than simply bear that weight. To bear it... and move on.

"You said we can't go back, Zoro..."

Sometimes, it is the weight of being the first mate that seems heavier. His own burden to bear is substantial, but like a mountain. Zoro can move mountains, can split them in two. But it is near-impossible to carry them.

"But he can come back, can't he? Can't he, Zoro?"

Luffy, crying the ocean that he bears, crying it in the middle of the night when no one but Zoro can hear, face buried in Zoro's shirt. And for Luffy, Zoro has always been able to find strength he didn't know he had. Strength enough to lift that mountain for a little bit.

How did that saying go?

"Duty is heavier than a mountain, death lighter than a feather."

Heavier than a mountain, but if you drop it, it will crush you and those around you. Zoro can lift that mountain for a little while, lift it off of Luffy's shoulders and lift Luffy from the waves so his captain can breathe. But not for long. It's not his weight to bear, no matter how willing he is to shoulder it. Captain's weight. Captain's duty. Captain's price.

"It's heavy..."

And Luffy will carry that weight until the day he dies.

Comments

[sherriaisling.livejournal.com]

*awed* Wow. That was brilliant. It's not everyday a drabble can get me teary eyed. Thanks for sharing.

[fenm.livejournal.com]

Wah! Sad Luffy is really sad... )-:

[bluepard.livejournal.com]

Damn straight he's coming back!

This drabble wouldn't have fitted anywhere else in the manga, would it? Luffy's so light hearted, but this is way too much. Luffy angst is the saddest kind of angst. Make up, dammit! *kicks them*

So very sad.

[winter-sweet.livejournal.com]

Its so sad, but yet so touching that Zoro would do as much as he can.