Epilogue

Luffy was perched happily on the head of the Merry Go, the wind blowing fiercely enough to send his hat off his head, batting rapidly against the pull of each gust and the jerk of the string securing it to the pirate's neck. The crew had set sail away from the pear-shaped island of their last confrontation almost a week ago and things had just about returned to their usual routine; that was unless they counted Luffy taking a dive into the sea every few hours to show off his newly-won ability to swim. On more than one occasion he had come close to becoming sea-king chow, once actually getting caught in the jaws of one particularly quick eel. No real damage was done since the crew was usually on guard for their captain's sudden impulses, ever ready to raise the sails so not to leave him behind and armed for any deep-sea threat.

Now Zoro walked the deck, waking from an enjoyable nap to see his captain alone at the bow of the ship. He had often wondered what was going through his friend's head when he sat alone up there. The boy was so spacey most of the time, but on those rare occasions where it was necessary Luffy would reveal a hidden wisdom that led the swordsman to wonder about the true character of the man he called captain. Did he sit on that figurehead just enjoying the fresh-air of the sea or did he ponder life, their quest for the One Piece, his dreams. Usually he concluded the boy just zoned out up there due to the numerous times Luffy had proven to not to be thinking as deeply as Zoro had given him credit for and he would rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed.

On this occasion, be it Luffy was deep in thought or not, Zoro needed to talk to his friend. Though Luffy had let go of their argument from those weeks before (as expected), Zoro felt that it needed to be addressed. In all honesty he didn't know if he wanted to convince Luffy that he had been in the wrong for asking them to leave him behind or to apologize for arguing against his authority. Either way it would be incredibly awkward to bring up but it wasn't something he was willing to ignore.

"Oi Luffy, got a minute?" he asked, feeling overly-casual for some reason.

Luffy laughed, throwing him for a moment as he turned his head to look him in the eye.

"Did I look particularly busy?" the boy replied with the cock of an eyebrow and a grin.

It was Zoro's turn to smile, breaking eye-contact and chuckling "I guess not."

"What's up?" Luffy asked, jumping up to turn his body to face his crewmate as he gripped the ram horns with his hands and letting his feet dangle precariously over the water below. He did it on purpose, Zoro knew. Every chance the boy could get to risk a plunge into the sea he took, yet it still unnerved him a bit to see his captain set so unsecured over the surf breaking into the ship.

"I need to talk to you about our… disagreement a few weeks ago over us leaving you behind at that island."

Luffy frowned.

"We can't have that happen and ignore it ever did. You made an incredibly selfish decision for all of us and I went questioned your authority… I should have never gone against your command, it's as close to mutiny as I've ever come and-"

"Oi Zoro, it was nothing like mutiny. That's a stupid thing to say."

"Well what would you call it?"

"You were arguing with me, simple as that. Mutiny happens when a crewmate makes plans without the captain's consent; you were trying to get my consent…. And how can you say my decision was selfish! I made it with only your goals in mind, it was rational."

Luffy sounded defensive and… possibly hurt? Well this wasn't exactly the calm organized discussion Zoro had planned it to be.

"I know it was rational, and I admire the thought you put into it and your willingness to put our dreams ahead of yours, but even suggesting we leave you behind was an insult to our loyalty and nakamaship. It was selfish because it forced us to be disloyal no matter how we responded."

There was a pause as Zoro regained his composure, still trying to keep the discussion reigned in and controlled. Luffy looked down, his expression switching between anger and shame as he studied the white wood he rested upon. When he didn't speak Zoro continued.

"I was wrong to call your decision selfish, you're right. You did it with the best intentions for us, but you forgot to include our friendship and your importance in our lives in your rationing." He sighed, leaning forward to force his captain's eyes back to his and placed his hand on the messy raven hair on his head.

"All I'm saying is that your happiness is a major factor in our happiness, so include it the next time you make a big decision… and I'm sorry I went against your authority in front of the crew. It was disrespectful."

Luffy's face was hard to read but his brows uncreased where they were furrowed and there was understanding he could detect in the boy's black eyes.

"Being a captain is harder than I thought" Luffy finally replied, a smile quirking at the corners of his mouth.

"Well you're doing a great job" Zoro said as he removed his hand and straightened up; "I've yet to see a captain of your quality since I set out to sea."

Luffy's face flushed as he beamed at his first-mate, clearly pleased.

"Hey! I think I see something in the water!"

The shout came from the crow's nest where Usopp was taking his turn as look-out. He was pointing off towards the starboard side of the ship at a small shape floating on the choppy waves a hundred yards out.

"Can you tell what it is?" Nami shouted from her lounge-chair, lowering a drink from her lips.

"It looks kind of like a small boat! I can't really tell from here but I think there's someone on board!"

That was all the motivation Luffy needed to pop up from his seat and shoot an arm out, snagging the mystery object from the waves and sending it flying back in their direction. The projectile would have struck Zoro and Chopper both if they hadn't already experienced the consequences of getting in their captain's line of fire. They both easily slipped out of the way as the long wooden object crash-landed onto the deck.

A few of them took a moment of caution, not walking directly up to the gnarled wood before them, but Luffy scrambled right up, peeking over the edge into the hollowed out interior of a makeshift dingy.

"Guys! It's a monkey! There's a monkey in this boat!"

The crew cocked their heads in unison at his statement. Caution tossed to the wind, they all wondered to the spectacle in the middle of their deck.

It wasn't a monkey; not exactly. It looked more like a human with shaggy bangs, long hanging sideburns, excessively harry and calloused hands and a tail; a spotted tail that looked like it's patterning belonged to a Dalmatian but it's anatomy was that of a monkey. The boy looked to be in his early twenties, and despite his monkey-like features he had a very human face and figure aside from his flattened nose. Every inch of his fur was a silver-blue color, even the tail where it was a bit lighter and the black speckles broke up the solid hue.

"Is he alive?" Sanji asked, peering closer at the unconscious specimen.

Chopper scurried forward, successfully remembering that he was in-fact a doctor.

"Yes" he squeaked, feeling for a pulse then turning the boy over to his back. That was when they all got a sickening view of his arms and chest which were covered in deep gouges and scrapes. He had been bleeding a lot as some point but it all seemed to have dried up since, leaving dirty scabs to cover up the damage done.

"Oh my gosh" Nami gasped, covering her mouth.

"We need to get these cared for" Chopper said, stating the obvious as he transformed into his monster form, lifting the limp figure with him. "Usopp, could you go get my medical kit? I'll take him to the bed- LUFFY! Don't mess with his tail! He's gravely injured!"

"But his tail is fine!" Luffy whined, lowering his hand from where he'd been curling the long appendage.

"Try to give the injured some dignity" the reindeer scolded, turning his shoulder to keep the figure from the boy's view and walking away.

"Uhgg, no fun" Luffy pouted, his face sour as he turned to look back out to sea.

His expression changed immediately as he looked to the horizon, his scowl exploding into an expression that was so excited it looked to be borderline terrified.

"GUYS! We've made it to the bottom side of the earth!"

TBC… in Blue, Gold, and Pale

Wow guys, I can't thank you all enough for your support though "For Nakama." You've really encouraged me to keep writing and here we are, another One Piece fic on the way. It's gonna be intense and hopefully not quite as long as this one, but you never know XD

This next one involved a lot more planning and character/location design so please hop on over and enjoy it when I post it. The first chapter will be this one so don't get too confused thinking "wait, she already wrote this."

I know I didn't manage to get to all of you in my thank you's last chapter, and I'm sure I'll continue to do so by accident but here goes a few more.

HeroR- Hope you're still around I'll have you know your advice regarding the long speeches I was making Luffy give was a great help. It was totally out of character and when I write this next fic I'll keep that in mind. I also really want to go back and fix that in my earlier chapters here but I have so many new ideas I just don't know when I'll get to that. Thank you again!

Red Voident Dragon- yay! Thank you so much! Here's an epilogue! And I hope you stick around to read another fic ^_^ and I am honored to have introduced you to this world of fanfiction

XFangHeartX- yay! Thank you for keeping me going! It had been my pleasure

Pirate Queen of the 21st Century- awwwwwwww, thank you! Here is my epilogue and I hope you enjoy the next story

Chaos Is Order- Here's the Epilogue! I hope you stuck around to read it! Thanks so much for he support!

MetaLatias- lol! Hopefully this next one won't take 6 years XD thank you for reading through this incredibly long work. You're awesome! I hope you're still around to read my next one. Thank you!

GGCharms/Luffylover- Thank you so much! Your reviews have made me very happy! I would love to have you join me in another round of OP fanfic if you're up to it

X3ArumixIzumix3- I bet you really thought I was dead now, but here I am! Back! Here is my continuation/epilogue! I hope you're still around to read it you've been great! Thanks for the encouragement!

Darkness34- Thank you again for all of your wonderful support! I really hope you'll join me for this next fic, I'll need all the kicks to keep me going I can get and you're so good at that

- my pleasure! Thank you for taking the time to review ^_^ hope you stick around for the next one.

Caring16- -^_^- I'm so glad you were moved! That's totally my goal! I really hope you did wait forever and are still around! I would be heartbroken to update and not have your wonderful support to keep me going!

EALM528- here I go again! Hopefully this won't take me 6 years to complete XD I think if I have you guys pushing me I can get through really quick. Thank you so much for making this possible, I don't think I'd have the motivation to keep going without u. Please join me in my next fic ^_^ u would be a welcome companion on my quest to create more OP adventure when 1 chapter a week isn't enough.

Chibi-Onee-chan- dawwwww, thank you! I am super-flattered! Here's my epilogue if you're still looking to read it ^_^ thanks for taking the time to review`!

Kitty-bandit- T_T oh my gosh! I luv u so much! You really made this fic move with your awesome and so much appreciated support! I love your enthusiasm and it makes me want to make these chapters as enjoyable as possible to read. Please please please join me on this next adventure my good friend I hope you enjoy this epilogue and I will seriously be able to finish this next one with you at my back. Thanks again, for everything

Orgasmic Bunnies- interesting name XD thank you so much! I loved my virtual chocolate! I hope you've stuck around for the epilogue, at least to read my thanks XD

Rukiaathen- yay! Tears! That's what I'm going for! Woooo! 100 stars! What'll I do with them all! Thank you so much for taking the time to review my last-ish chapter ^_^ hope you enjoy the epilogue

Anime lover 3593- yay! I'm so glad you finished with me! You have been such a wonderful reader! Your support has really made all of this so fun and exciting to write. I hope you're still around to join me in another adventure. Either way you've been great and I'm so glad you enjoyed my "little" fic.

Aslef101- the magic of plot-holes… and the magic of seastone… yes, because… seastone allows you to control your bladder… _

LOVE THIS SO MUCH- I'm so glad you kept coming back to life to keep reading ^_^ thanks so much for taking the time to review! It has been a pleasure

Roxy12333- dawww -^_^- thank you! And thank you for reviewing individual chapters even though you coulda waited to the end. It means a lot to get reviews throughout the fic I really would love to see your fanart if you've still planned on making some XD thanks again! Hope you join me in my next fic!

0HorrorMasterOfTheUniverse0- thank you! And thank you for reviewing as you read! Hope you enjoyed the rest and will stick around for my sequel

Clarobell- thank you soooo much for the helpful advice! I really appreciate you're critique! You're right about everything, this fic definitely needs some editing done. I will apply that advice to me next fic too, cause I'm sure to make the same mistakes again XD please feel free to hurt my feelings all you want, I need to learn somehow ^_^ I'm hoping this next fic will be better from the start. Thanks again!

Once again! Thank you all! Hope you enjoyed!