Hi everyone. I'm back on a One-Piece kick and this is one of the small little one-shot things I've been working on.

This is based in Angelrider13's soulmates!verse, in which there is always one Angel and always one Demon, etc, etc. Please, go on and read The Pure and Tainted yourself if you haven't already. It's totally awesome.

(And none of this will make sense if you haven't read it so . . .)

The writing is all my own, except for a few sentences of Angelrider13's that I rehashed a little a few pages down when the whole Angel/Demon thing is being explained, because really, I couldn't figure out how to put it any better. Also, please excuse any grammar lapses. I adopted the style from The Pure and Tainted, and this is also my first time ever writing a whole story in present tense . . . (It's a little contagious though and I'm thinking about rewriting one of my WIPs which is even more ridiculous than it sounds . . .) I do not however, intend to profit from this fan work at all.

Okay then, if you still haven't left yet, let's get this show on the road!

The three unconscious members lie prone on the ground, face down. Their bodies don't give a single twitch, and if Chopper didn't already check, he would worry they had been killed. He did though and their heartbeats remain as strong as ever. Truthfully, Chopper knows that he really doesn't need to worry, because the monster trio has an uncanny ability to pull through, even after the most grievous of wounds. Having their shadows taken is hardly worth mentioning compared to everything else they had been through. Robin and Franky are quick to reassure Chopper and Usopp that Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji are, in fact, going to be just fine. The pair explain their run in with Brook, and the knowledge they learned. The trio will lack shadows and reflections and that should be all that is different, and they already know out how to fix that.

Which is a huge relief, because Chopper has no idea how to cure 'I-lost-my-shadow-to-an-evil-Schichibukai,' disease.

The only issue is that a side effect from the above-mentioned disease makes it so the trio shouldn't wake for two days. They certainly don't have that time, especially considering Nami's disappearance.

It seems, though, that Usopp knows the cure to that particular ailment.

"Hey, you guys," Usopp begins, kneeling on his hamstrings to talk to them. "A beautiful lady who's also a swordsmaster just arrived with a ton of meat!"

Chopper nearly falls down at the words. Surely his crew isn't that ridiculous—

Sanji, Luffy, and Zoro's hands visibly twitch at the words.

"A beautiful lady?" Sanji asks, pulling his face up.

"Who's carrying meat?" Drool is leaking from Luffy's mouth.

"And she's also a swordsman?" Zoro finishes.

"YOU'RE KIDDING?!" Chopper exclaims. Franky begins laughing and Robin has a small smile on her face.

Sanji looks around before deflating in disappointment as he realizes that he'd been had. Zoro just looks plain irritated.

Luffy's reaction though . . .

The captain's eyes widen dramatically and he hastily makes his way to his feet.

Usopp begins laughing at the shock on his captain's face. They really fooled him.

The laughter dies in his throat as Luffy starts swaying where he stands, his face slowly morphing into confusion and terror.

"Oi! Luffy? Are you okay?" Zoro asks.

"I think the loss of his shadow is disorienting him," Chopper murmurs aloud in concern.

"Luffy, don't worry about it! The lack of shadow is really slimming!" Usopp exclaims. He tries to move forward to clap his hand over Luffy's shoulder, but the captain backs away before he can.

"How is that supposed to help?!" Franky demands.

Chopper moves closer and Luffy staggers back. Luffy's avoidance of them is strange, and none of them know what to do with it. Usopp and Chopper both try approaching their captain this time, only to be met with worse results and they have to watch as Luffy moves away hastily and unsteadily from his friends until he hits the back wall of the kitchen. Everyone freezes at the unexpected action, looking at their captain with mute captivation. Robin's eyes only widen slightly, but Chopper can see surprise and concern as plainly as he can see it on Usopp's over exaggerated expression.

Both Sanji and Zoro remain still; the most they do is rotate slightly so that they can face their captain.

"Luffy, what is it?" Sanji asks, and he's serious.

"What did he take?" Luffy's voice is quiet and eerily solemn.

Chopper takes another step forward unconsciously, needing to help Luffy somehow. It only makes Luffy cringe away. The doctor stops and forces himself to swallow the hurt back. Something is making Luffy behave this way, so he knows he can't take it personally. But Luffy has never cringed away from Chopper before, and it's a little too painful and familiar from his time before joining the Strawhat crew for Chopper to dismiss it easily.

"He took our shadows," Zoro replies. "You know that, Luffy."

Everything about their captain's posture screams agitation. The way he presses himself against the wood, the fine tremor that races through his body, and the uncanny look of fear than all of them are frightened to understand. Sanji and Zoro don't try to move forward, but Chopper sees their bodies are tense— ready to jump into action. It seems possible that Luffy could have a panic attack at this rate, and Chopper is glad that someone will be there to catch him just in case he falls down.

"No, that wasn't all," Luffy murmurs, and his breathing becomes heavy, "What else did he take?!" The edge in his voice makes all of them want to move away, but they resist the urge. Their concern overpowers any fear the intimidating tone incites.

"What's wrong Senchou-san?" Robin asks, voice ever mild, "Perhaps if you tell us we can puzzle out what happened."

"He can't have done this," Luffy murmurs again, ignoring his crewmates. His gaze is blank and focused inward, and none of them know what's running through his mind right now. As Luffy pulls his arms to his chest tightly and bends over a little like he's in pain, they know that there is something more than a loss of shadow that's bothering their captain.

"No human could have done this!" Luffy exclaims.

The emphasis on the word rings awkwardly in the room. The increasingly conflicted expression on his face does nothing to ease the building tension.

"I can't stop it . . . Why can't I stop it? What's wrong with me? What did he do? What did he take? What is going on?!" He shouts— and he doesn't shout like they usually hear, where he shouts in joy, and sounds his battle cry of victory, or the shout he uses when declaring war on the government— no this shout is confused and worried— no, fearful, Chopper thinks.

"Tell us what is happening!" Franky snaps, trying to get through.

He never receives an answer, because Luffy's face blanches in horror.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!"

Without warning, there is an explosion of white from their captain's back. All of them take a step back in shock as large white wings appeared on their captain and Luffy's hands fly to his face.

Suddenly, the rush of anxious energy leaves him all at once. His legs collapse beneath him, and his wings settle around him like a white shelter. His face remained buries in his hands.

The sudden silence hangs uncomfortably in the air, but not as uncomfortably as the sudden shock that is the revelation of their captain's true being.

No one is able to say anything for a long time. There's an odd glow outlining Luffy's figure that makes them want to look away. The sudden air of innocence and purity that always surrounded their captain is amplified to an unnatural degree.

It is Robin who manages to compose herself first.

"Sencho-san, could it be that you are the Angel?" She asks rhetorically.

Luffy nods, trembling still.

"The Angel . . ." Franky exhales a shocked breath.

"The angel?" Chopper is confused. He knows angels from textbooks, and mythology, and he's even heard Sanji's take on the subject when the cook talks about what his heaven would be like— but he has no frame of reference for what this means. How can Luffy be an angel?

Robin readily volunteers to fill him in on this strange event. "In our history, there has always been one Angel and one Demon. Supposedly the Angel personifies what is good in the world, and Demon personifies everything that is wicked. The two have a long history of conflict whenever they meet. Every era has at least one instance that's been recorded and they tend to be . . . cataclysmic for lack of a better word. Despite all our records, it's rare for people to find out who they are. It's a rather well-guarded secret even though everyone knows they exist." Robin pauses and looks at the doctor, "I am rather surprised that you have never heard of it."

Chopper isn't. His experience in human society is limited to the cruel townspeople, two friendly, though debatably insane doctors, and his crew. Only recently has be begun spending time among humans as they adventure. Considering that Luffy's adventures are always jam-packed with oddities and unnatural events, he isn't shocked that he hasn't learned very much about normal society. What he is shocked about is the grander concept Robin is explaining.

"S-so Luffy is the Angel!?" Chopper asks in surprise. He looks at his captain with new, wide eyes. His captain is the Angel. The only one in the world! He's someone that embodies everything that's good, and Chopper is having a hard time wrapping his mind around the new concept, let alone applying in to his captain.

"I did not see that coming," Sanji comments as he pulled out a cigarette. Zoro just stares at his captain with an unreadable expression. Chopper sees that it's just as hard for all of them to reconcile that what Robin just explained is their captain, and they'd grown up with the concept their entire lives.

All the while, Luffy hasn't moved or made a sound, hasn't uncovered his face during Robin's whole explanation.

"What is so distressing captain?" Robin asks, voice even gentler than usual.

"I couldn't stop . . ." He whispers.

"What do you mean?"

"I couldn't stop the transformation." He replies, finally lifting his head. The large, ethereal wings rustle agitatedly, sending a few luminous feathers to the wooden deck. All of them can't help but watch as the glow slowly fades out of the lost feathers, until they look like an average, dull white.

Usopp, who has still been unable to speak, collapses in a nearby chair, just looking at their captain who sits on the floor.

Luffy groans. "A-and I can't undo it either. Why can't I undo it?"

"Huh?" Franky scratches his head.

"Could it be that you did not mean to change . . . forms?" Robin speaks slowly.

Luffy just nods his head, lips pursed and eyes unhappy.

"So what happened?" Zoro asks the question on all of their minds. None of them really know how the Angel thing works, but they get enough to question their captain's sudden loss of control. The still unsettled expression on Luffy's face only drives the discordant nail even deeper. Luffy's eyes fade slightly as he stares blankly at the wall, and Chopper would swear they took on a nearly silvery sheen.

". . . Part of it's missing." Luffy remarks, looking more disturbed than any of them have ever seen him.

"Part of what?" Robin presses.

"My humanity."

"Your humanity?" Sanji asks, and if his hands are trembling as he anxiously smokes, no one thinks less of him.

"H-he took it somehow," Luffy says, still looking disoriented. "He shouldn't have been able to. How can that be possible? I don't know what he did. Why would taking my shadow do something like this?"

Robin steps forward, glad to finally be able to say something to help. "Brook explained to us that one's shadow is a secondary soul."

Luffy is silent for a long time, expression blank before he finally murmurs, " . . . I see."

"Do you know what happened?" Franky asks.

"The fruit lets that guy remove half of a person's soul, in essence. They'll survive, but never be perfect." He stares at Zoro and Sanji as he spoke, giving both the impression that he is looking through them with his seemingly sightless gaze.

"That's accurate," Robin confirms.

"He only removed some of the human part of my soul," Luffy finally concludes.

"Luffy still has a shadow," Chopper notices with a small gasp, and all of them snap their gazes to the wooden deck, where there is indeed an outline of their captain. Perhaps it is grayer than normal, but nonetheless, it's there.

"You have many parts?" Robin asks, unable to stop herself from inquiring.

"I am of two parts. No mortal could ever remove this second part. Only the Divine."

His odd and ominous way of speaking is too unnerving to see coming from him, and Chopper and Usopp feel the need to avert their gaze.

"So what you're saying is that he took half of your human soul, but left all of the Angel soul?" Robin sums up.

"Yes. And we need to get it back, soon."

"Why?" Franky asks, brow furrowed.

"I can't exist this way!" Luffy exclaims. "It's unnatural." He nods, agreeing with himself.

"Well, being the Angel isn't exactly natural to begin with," Usopp says aloud, and it's the first thing he's said since Luffy's revelation.

"The world is unbalanced," Luffy murmurs, as though he hasn't heard Usopp at all.

"Luffy?" Sanji asks as Luffy's eyes drift upwards, seeming to look at the sky although they're all inside the boat.

"Without the equilibrium, things dangle on the precipice. And then the world will fall. It's shifting too soon. The world is not ready for the tipping point to be reached so early. Things will end without the counterbalance . . ."

"Luffy!" Zoro snaps, reaching out and gripping his captain's shoulder, and he'll never admit how strange and oddly good it feels to have those feathers brush over his fingers.

Luffy blinks a few times before looking around in confusion— it's like he'd forgotten they were there.

"Did I say something weird?"

"Yeah, you were rambling about the end of the world Luffy-bro," Franky replies as he clicks his arm gears uncomfortably.

"Sorry," he says, as though it happens often. "It's harder to stay grounded. If I start rambling again try and snap me out of it."

"Sure thing," Sanji replies mutedly and he can't believe this is actually happening. He's always known that there is something special about Luffy— his personality is such a shock to the system that his additional his status as the Angel is almost too much for him to take.

"So what do we do?" Chopper asks nervously.

"I don't see how this changes anything," Zoro replies in his brusque tone, and the familiarity comforts Chopper considerably. "We still have to get our shadows back."

"It's gonna be hard to get past those zombies unnoticed and reach Moria with those, no offense." Franky gestures to Luffy's wings which twitch in response.

"You still cannot undo it?" Robin asks.

Luffy frowns a little before shaking his head. "No, they won't go back in. I'm barely keeping the rest from coming . . ."

"The rest?" Robin asks, and despite the circumstances, she cannot help but say the questions that burn at the edge of her tongue. "I recall the Angel also has a halo? Is that accurate?"

Luffy nods. "It's hard for me to keep the Angel side from swallowing the human part. It needs a counterbalance."

"So it'll get worse?" Chopper's voice is nervous.

"Yeah, but hopefully we can get the rest of it back before the rest of my humanity gets consumed and before anything bad happens." Whatever 'bad' things Luffy is referencing, none of them want to know.

"So without you, the world isn't, what— stable?" Sanji asks, unable to keep the slight incredulity from his tone.

"More or less."

"Luffy." Usopp clears his throat to gather all their attention. "Is the world gonna end if we don't get your shadow back?"

Luffy pauses and thinks long and hard about his reply, scaring the rest of his crew nearly to death.

"Maybe," he says at length.

"T-t-then what are we waiting for?" Usopp announces with false bravado. "Let's go save the world!"

Having heard Brook's story from Franky and Robin, Luffy is more determined than ever to get the musician to join their crew. He readily lets his nakama sort themselves in different divisions so they can accomplish everything they need to. Luffy himself is headed straight for Moria, he flexes his hands and shifts his wings in anticipation. The small movement does not go unnoticed, but at least the rest of the crew is getting a little more adjusted to the additional appendages sticking out from their captain's back, (i.e. they can look away instead of staring with dumb fascination at the borderline holy glimmer that radiates from his feathers.)

"Before we leave, I wanted to ask." Robin begins, and all of them stare at the dark haired archaeologist who only has eyes for Luffy.

"Why is it exactly that the world will end without you?" Robin asks. "I already understand that the imbalance would cause disharmony, but are their other effects?"

Everyone's eyes switch to Luffy apprehensively.

"Well . . . there are two possible reasons why the world might end," Luffy begins.

Everyone is struck again by the realization that this is really happening, isn't it? I'm not going to wake up, am I?

"Okay," Sanji says, only because he honestly has no idea how to reply to such a statement.

"The first is that I lose my grip on humanity and try to destroy the world in a flash of righteous judgment."

Zoro chokes on air and Sanji's cigarette falls from his mouth while Usopp, Franky, and Chopper's eyes bulge in disbelief and horror. Even Robin's mouth falls open.

"I really don't want to do that though," Luffy mumbles in a disheartened tone before sighing.

"Then don't!" Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, and Sanji all shout with shark teeth.

"I wouldn't be able to help myself," Luffy says with a shrug. "The Angel without the humanity is a lot more short-tempered and seeing as I still have most of my shadow, there's nothing to stop me . . ."

And God, Sanji realizes, the righteous Angel they're talking about is their captain.

"What's the second reason?" Robin asks, moving the conversation along because she knows her other crewmates won't get over what Luffy just flippantly said until the next decade if left alone.

"The current Demon might rip up the world trying to find me. He'd be really unhappy . . ."

"The current Demon?!" Chopper remarks in surprise.

"He must really hate you if he'd rip up the world to try and find you to get his revenge," Franky says bluntly.

"So you know who it is then?" Robin asks, visibly intrigued.

"Yup!" Luffy chirps, and a large smile spreads over his face. The rest of the crew stares at their suddenly joyful captain.

"That's not really the reaction I was expecting," Sanji admits.

"Who is it?" Usopp asks the million beri question.

"Not telling!" Luffy says sticking out his tongue.

"Aren't you two mortal enemies?" Chopper thought that was what Robin said— she and everyone else seemed to believe it.

"It doesn't say anywhere that we have to fight." Luffy says, casually picking his nose.

"Yeah, but you don't really get along if the history books are to be believed," Sanji comments.

"You two are opposites, right?" Robin notes, staring intently at her captain.

"Yeah, so we complete each other." Luffy states simply, and the earnestness of his expression makes all of them fall silent.

"You know what, I'm not surprised," Zoro says. Luffy turns and smiles widely at his first mate.

"God, this is so strange," Usopp murmurs, grasping his head, futilely trying to make sense of the whole thing. He'd never thought much about the Angel and the Demon. He was taught about it casually in passing mentions by the adults, as all children learned it, and he remembered thinking that it all seemed so fantastic. He and some of the other village boys would play Angel and Demon when they were very young, before his mother died. And God, here he was years later, serving under a captain— a selfish, and hyperactive boy who apparently held the balance of the world in his hands. Up close, Usopp finds it isn't remotely fantastic. It's downright frightening, and the strangeness of it all is so offsetting that had it not been Luffy, Usopp would have run for the hills already. But it is Luffy. And Usopp is left to struggle with this new information that still seems impossible even as he stares the truth right in the face. He is almost envious of Chopper, who has no frame of reference for this impossible event, who doesn't grasp how utterly eerie this all is.

"It's still weird to think of you as being important to the world order." Franky shakes his head.

"I am part of the world's balance," Luffy utters.

"Luffy?"

"Things will fall down and a net was never set up. It will break. The precipice must not be reached it—"

"Luffy!" It's Sanji who snaps him out of it this time with a light slap to the face.

The captain blinks. "What? What happened?"

"Dude, you spaced out again," Franky says for lack of a better way of putting it.

"Oh." Luffy hmms to himself.

"Why are you always talking about the end of the world?" Usopp asks, and his face is still ashen. The color lost from the initial revelation has yet to come back despite the passage of time.

"Because I am a counterbalance on a scale far larger than what any man, creature, or plant could ever grasp, ev—"

Sanji slaps their captain again. "That's enough of that."

"You all need to stop asking questions or we won't get anything done," Zoro snaps, stepping in as first mate as Luffy shakes the daze from his mind. "Everyone just focus on doing your part. We won't have to deal with any of that, because we will get his shadow back. We will get everyone's shadows back." Zoro's determined words puts light into everyone's eyes and their attention is honed on the tasks before them. They will not fail— cannot.

The stakes are too high.

Finding Moria is easier than Luffy thought it would be. It's a good thing, really, because a few minutes earlier his halo appeared, and he knows that his time is running out. And God, all Luffy wants right now is Ace. He wants his counterpart here to keep him in check, to make sure he doesn't lose it, and even just to hold him because right now Luffy is on the verge of freaking out.

It isn't natural. The normal feeling of harmony in his mind and body has been utterly disturbed, and he's losing his grip on his humanity. And the Angel without humanity is a frightening thought indeed. God he wants Ace so badly that what's left of his soul actually hurts.

Luffy freezes and misses a step, when the sudden thought of fightpurifyexorcise springs to mind and he's suddenly overwhelmed by a whole new set of fears. His humanity is what lets him see Ace for Ace. Without it—

Luffy shakes his head. No, he can't think like that. It hurts too much. Right now he needs to focus on beating Gecko Moria, and nothing else. He has to before his time runs out.

Smoke is still coming from Absolam's form as Lola gathers him up in her arms. Nami can't help but feel a little proud of what she's done. After wishing Lola good luck, the pink boar quickly vanishes from sight, and Nami turns her eyes towards her blond nakama. She kneels beside him and debates how she should wake him up. He looks battered, and she wishes she could let him sleep. But she knows that they cannot stay here, not when zombies are crawling all over the place. Returning to the manor seems like the wisest choice, but there's no way Nami can carry Sanji all the way there— She pauses.

It's subtle, but Nami sees it; the slow tilt of Sanji's head so that he is facing her— in addition it put him in the direct line-of-sight of her panties

She smacks him across the head. "Stop pretending to be asleep you pervert!"

"Ah, Nami-chan, your dulcet voice called me back from the precipice of death!" At least, that is what Sanji means to say. A large portion of his face is swollen from her slap and half the words are lost. Nami sighs and stands up. He's fine. Of course he's fine. Sanji has been through much worse, and if he can be a pervert, he's still in pretty good condition.

Sanji pulls himself off the ground and dusts his clothes off before pulling out a cigarette. Nami notices with irritation that the swelling from her bruise is already going down in a show of the strange regenerative powers he, Luffy, and Zoro all possess. She sighs. At least she can find out what's actually going on.

She blinks as she realized that Sanji is oddly quiet. He's slowly puffing on a cigarette, looking very distracted, instead of oozing over Nami, as he generally did every opportunity he got— especially after she'd been in danger. It doesn't really bother her that he isn't raining compliments over her head, (although she doesn't mind them too terribly either,) what does bother her is his strange solemnity. Nami is beginning to worry that something really bad has happened.

"Sanji, what's going on with everyone else? What happened after we left? Is everyone okay?"

The cook exhales heavily, and her stomach drops. He obliges her request though and starts at the beginning.

"After you disappeared, I was understandably distraught . . ."

Nami listens as Sanji skims over what the others had gone through in the past hours. He manages to pepper in a plethora of compliments to both she and Robin all the while. When he mentions how his soul and Zoro's soul were stolen, he gets a sour look on his face. When he talks about Luffy's soul extraction though, his tone slows and he seems to struggle inwardly with something. Nami waits for the worst with a lead ball in her gut, wondering when he'll spring it. He pauses for a long while at the point in the story where three wake up on the ship.

"Spit it out already!" Nami exclaims anxiously.

"Luffy's the Angel."

The navigator closes her mouth, her hands fall limply to the side and she slowly lowers herself to the ground.

"Our Luffy?" Nami asks eventually as she looks up at him, unable to cover the disbelief in her voice.

Sanji nods, and suddenly his difficulty talking about it is made clear to Nami.

"Big white wing's came from his back out of nowhere."

Nami tries, but can't picture them on her captain no matter how she arranges them. The images clash too much.

"Why did he choose now to reveal it?!" Nami snaps, suddenly irritable. "Doesn't he know that everyone's preoccupied now?!" It's easier to focus on her anger and ignore the sudden rush of strange information that she cannot fully digest.

"According to Luffy, Moria took half of his 'human soul' so now Luffy can't control his Angel side. If things carry on this way, there's a chance he'll lose his humanity." Sanji makes a short sound of irritation and stamps his cigarette out beneath his boot, all while muttering about 'shitty rubber captains.'

"Lose his humanity?" Nami echoes blankly. "What does that mean?"

"Apparently there's a 90% chance he'll rain righteous judgment across the island." He says it like a joke, but neither of them can find any humor in it.

"So . . . does that mean he'll never go back to normal?"

Sanji's expression hardens, but Nami can see the worry and fear in his eyes and she knows that if they lose Luffy to this— whatever this even is— none of them will ever be the same.

"We will get his shadow back, Nami-chan. We will get all of our shadows back. Don't worry about it."

She nods slowly and when he extended a hand, she pulls herself up.

They begin heading for the entrance when she is suddenly hit by a sobering thought.

"Oh my God . . ."

Seeing the wide-eyed look on the navigator's face, Sanji immediately grabs her hand in concern.

"Nami-chan?"

"Ace called Luffy an angel back in Alabasta, and I-I told Ace a list of reasons why Luffy wasn't even remotely an angel. And oh my God, he is the Angel!"

Sanji doesn't normally laugh at Nami –unless she told a joke, in which case the very fact would send him into appreciative giggles— but this time, he lets out a few chuckles. Sanji laughs for the first time since waking up on the ship, and it feels good. It feels really good. Nami just watches him. Normally she'd snap in anger, but the sudden happiness on his face stays her hand.

"It isn't that funny," she says instead, "Those two were probably making fun of me behind my back."

"When all of this is over I'll get both of them back for you, Nami-chan," Sanji predictably promises, and Nami smiles and nods in agreement.

"Good!"

"It isn't nice to make fun of a lady!" Sanji raves, and the two leave the chapel feeling pounds lighter.

Somehow, everyone but Nami ends up in front of Oars and Moria. None of them know how it quite happened, but there really isn't time to figure it all out right now. Luffy stands beside Zoro, looking a little beat-up, but still raring to go. Which is good, because Moria is still in top shape, watching as everything happens from his place atop the castle. Luffy, after being smacked down into the ground by a strong left hook from Moria, regrouped with Zoro and the rest.

He stands beside his nakama, all looking a little worse for wear, but determined still to win this fight. He is momentarily overwhelmed with pride, but the sensation is muted, distant, and nowhere near as vibrant as he needs it to be. He's getting close. The Angel in him is gaining ground, and amidst all the fighting and stress, Luffy can barely focus enough to keep up, to keep it at bay. He's slipping and he needs to center himself around something. Thinking about Ace doesn't help anymore— it only makes it worse, and so Luffy needs a moment or two with his nakama so he can stay anchored a little longer.

"Luffy, we can get Oars. You focus on Moria," Zoro says, glancing at his captain from the corner of his eye. What he sees unsettles him. Luffy is glowing more brightly now. His wings, which are still completely white despite the rough landing, shift and rustle in an agitated way. He doesn't miss the golden circlet that now glimmers faintly atop his captain's head. He knows the others see it too, but all of them are pretending not to notice now. They already know the clock is ticking. Sanji and Zoro are at risk of burning to death from the sun, and everyone else is at risk of going down in a fiery reign of judgment if Luffy's prediction is to be believed. The halo only reminds them that they are running out of time— as if the approaching dawn isn't enough of a sign.

Luffy nods, but doesn't move to depart yet, and Zoro wonders what's going on in his mind.

"Zoro, if I get too angry and out of control, can I trust you to end me?"

"I can't control your moods captain." Zoro is irritated, not only because Luffy is requesting him to pull the plug, but also because Luffy knows when a request is ridiculous. He doesn't ask Zoro to help him— the two trust each other enough to believe that they can handle their own fights. The sudden lack of faith irks him to no end.

"Please? I need your help, Zoro."

The pleading expression on his captain's face is unlike anything Zoro had seen in the past. Luffy begs for food from Sanji with puppy-dog eyes and a whiny tone, and occasionally begs for Nami's forgiveness when he ruins her clothes. This is so entirely unlike that. The unnerving flash of silver in his captain's gaze does little to help. It makes a shiver run down the swordsman's spine.

". . . Alright."

Luffy smiles, but it's faded, like an old photograph and of everything else he's seen, Zoro thinks that it's the most unsettling thing he's witnessed so far.

"I'll leave this to you then."

"We have this under control," Zoro says and thankfully, Luffy just gives him a decisive nod this time. He doesn't know how many of those dissonant smiles he can take. The captain springs himself toward Gecko Moria using his devil fruit powers and crashes right into the shadow-user's stomach.

Moria leads him deep into the forest and it takes Luffy everything he has to keep the constant shadow bats at bay while he slowly but surely pounds Moria into the dirt. It is going better than he thought it would, but Moria's distinct lack of concern unsettles Luffy. There is something he's missing.

Moria lets out a long creepy chuckle. "I never imagined I'd meet the Angel here," he muses. "Your shadow is a part of my collection, which is really exciting for me. I've never had a Demon shadow, or an Angel shadow before now. Will Oars eventually be able to activate those powers? I wonder."

"Mortals are so foolish." The words possess Luffy's mouth before he even thinks about them. His grip on Moria's throat remains firm, and he slowly presses down harder.

"Angels are so gullible. Hopefully your friends won't have to pay the cost." As the last syllable leaves Gecko's mouth he wordlessly reveals that he's been a shadow all along before flying back towards the castle.

Luffy sits, oddly numb. He fell for Moria's obvious ploy, and left his nakama to deal with the actual Moria as well as Oars. None of this sits well with Luffy in the slightest. In fact, he vaguely notices that his entire body is trembling with rage. The anger builds quickly to threshold and his being explodes into a white blaze. His eyes flash silver and his thought processes diminish to a view of black and white. Gecko Moria would face judgment. His eyes gleam silver as he leaps upwards into the sky and extends his wings against the air. He shoots forward, over the forest, over the zombies, and heads straight for the hulking figure of Oars.

Zoro grits his teeth against the pain in his ribs, legs, and arms before doing a quick inventory of everyone else. Robin is probably the least hurt of them all, which is good considering that she isn't as tough. Usopp's nose is broken which is typical for any real battle. He's still standing but the faint shaking of his body belies the fact that he really probably shouldn't be. Chopper is bleeding in a few places, and Zoro only knows because of the dark spots matted in his brown hair. The doctor's thick fur hides most of the bruises and cuts making it hard for him to tell exactly how bad he is. Like Usopp, he's still standing, but his breathing is heavy. Franky's body is scratched all over, but thankfully, his metal parts seem to have absorbed most of the damage. Brook, who was a surprising, but not unwelcome addition, looks moderately okay— (apparently, milk can heal skeletons.) Next to Zoro, Sanji is the only one he can claim is as beat-up, if not more beat-up, than himself. Which really says something.

They thought they won when they tripped Oars over his head. But nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Gecko's appearance in Oars' stomach is one of the least pleasant surprises Zoro's ever received. He'd been cautiously optimistic about their battle, because not only were they all together, but they also had the distinct advantage of being Strawhat pirates, who never stayed down. Maybe they could have won. But with the addition of the Schichibukai, Zoro knows victory is more than unlikely. Looking at the eyes of his nakama, they know it too.

In a moment of weakness, Zoro begins to make peace with himself— with Kushina. He doesn't make it far though, because there is a sudden flash from the forest before a streak of white jets towards them. Zoro doesn't need to look to know it's Luffy. Their captain suddenly stands before them, facing the enemy down, looking every bit the avenging Angel that he'd made himself out to be. And in this moment, the only thing Zoro can feel is relief. Scolding himself for his lack of faith, Zoro musters his strength and walks forward to stand beside his captain. He sways, but remains standing, thankfully. Sanji is right behind him, and then Chopper, and Usopp, and Robin, and Franky, and Brook— all of them stand with their captain, clutching various body parts that are likely broken, and dripping blood where they stood, but they're standing and that's all that matters.

Zoro's gaze slips to his periphery to examine his captain, and he can't help but blanch. Luffy's eyes are silver— not the familiar black, or even a faded grey, but strong, shimmering silver and Zoro wonders if the changes ever end. The glow around his captain is even stronger than before, making it hard to stare directly at him.

The swordsman doesn't understand it fully, but he has a feeling that the bright radiance might be just what they need to end the battle.

"I wasn't expecting you so quickly," Moria comments blandly. "I suppose wings do make it easier to get around."

"Moria," Luffy's voice is eerily flat, "I will not forgive you for this."

"I don't want your forgiveness." The Schichibukai laughs.

"You will," Luffy promises ominously, and suddenly, he's airborne. The next thing they know, Luffy is inside Oars' stomach with Moria. The shadow-user immediately moves to disappear, but Luffy smacks him out before he can unsolidify himself. Moria crashes into the castle, Luffy flying right behind, and Oars looks on, confused. The rest of the Strawhats look at each other before springing into action. Their captain is taking on the Schichibukai. The least they can do is try and end the zombie.

Oars' spine is shattered into a million pieces and Moria is looking ragged beside him. Chopper cannot stand anymore, so he crawls to his nakama and tries to piece them together with the few moments they have. Although Luffy is battered, Chopper can't bring himself to approach his captain, and he loathes himself for his sudden fear. But the glow around Luffy is nearly blinding. He seems so far away from the boy who'd been present only hours ago, and Chopper can't seem to reconcile the fact. It's hard to think about that when dawn is so quickly approaching.

Moria, although damaged, doesn't lose his smile even as Luffy slowly approaches him.

"Do you really think it would be this easy to defeat a Schichibukai? You are out of your league. Go back to the Blue Seas. The New World would crush you— it won't of course, because I will have that pleasure right now." Right before their eyes, hundreds of shadows slither towards Moria all at once. He opens his mouth unnaturally wide and welcomes all of them into his stomach. His body pulses, and grows, stretching larger and larger until he's bigger than the castle beside him. His body morphs into a shape that strangely resembles a gecko, and all of them wonder what this means and how strong he has just become.

"Shadow's Asgard," he exhales, like one does after an especially nice feast. "I'm impressed you drove me to this point, but now it's time to end things."

Luffy runs forward to knock him into the ground, but find his enemy has disappeared. Gecko appears above Luffy, nearly crushing him into the dirt ground. Only a quick push from his wings saves the young captain. Luffy retreats and looks at his enemy cautiously.

"In case you didn't know, when I eat a person's shadow, I also gain their strength." He pats his stomach. "Most of your souls are already in my stomach. How do you expect to win against me?" Moria laughs.

The sun is minutes away from rising, and all of them do the only thing they can think of. They attack. Usopp launches freezestars at Moria catching his legs for a few moments, Franky launches rockets, and bullets, and everything in his arsenal. Sanji kicks and kicks against his thick body, straining his legs for every last drop of strength. Chopper pushes his rumble mode to the limit and attacks beside Sanji. Robin grabs him everytime he tries to move, and Zoro slices against his skin. He can't pierce it, but he is leaving bruises. The sudden burst of blackness that escapes Moria's mouth heartens them. They can beat the shadows from the Schichibukai. The thousands he swallowed make him taunt like a drum, ready for them to pop him.

Moria doesn't look as afraid as he does confused and angry. "How is it you can attack me?! I'm a logia user! They should pass right through my body!"

"What makes you think your shadows can escape my light?" Luffy asks, body lit up like a white torch as he flies up next to Moria and reaches forward. He cups Moria's face and stares into his eyes, and suddenly, looking at the other captain's silver gaze, the Schichibukai feels fear for the first time in decades. His soul feels exposed, laid out for the Angel to look upon, and judge, and Luffy was right, because he can't escape those silver eyes. The emptiness in Luffy's irises swallows him whole, and he suddenly realizes the difference between the Angel and a normal mortal man— which before this point in time, he'd never thought of himself as. He doesn't want this sudden understanding, because at the bottom of Luffy's hollow gaze, Moria finds the promise of death, and he cries out in fear.

It's too late though— because Luffy has grabbed ahold of his head, and he knows the Angel won't let go until Moria can no longer move. With a sudden burst of flaming white energy, the shadows flee from Moria's body, slinking away into the forest for cover, and he wishes so badly that he can join them and avoid this pain that sears him from the inside out. So this is judgment? He's suddenly very glad that he won't survive, because it means he'll only face it once. All of the dark energy leaves his body, blanching his skin a pale sheer color. Not that he can pay it much mind. Every cell of his being is being cleansed by fire and death. He cries until his lungs stop functioning, and the nerves of his mouth short out. His spine and motor functions are the next to go, and lastly— finally his brain reaches an end, swallowed by the white light.

And he knows no more.

All of the Strawhats are forced to avert their eyes from their captain, as he glows brighter than the sun which is just now peeking over the horizon. Zoro and Sanji should be panicking and trying to find their shadows, but they can't turn their attention away from the spectacle before them as strange energy that would only be described as white pulsed through all of their bodies, sending shivers up all their spines.

It fades slowly, and Zoro is the first to open his eyes. The light is still bright, but it is no longer blinding. It fades further and one by one the Strawhat pirates open their eyes and observe the shocking sight that awaits them.

Moria is dead. Beyond that though, he appears to have been utterly destroyed in the past minute. His entire body looks like it is bleached white— even the bright, purple hair has lost its color. His eyes are open and they can see his irises are pale and dead, just like the rest of him. The sight is horrible, and Chopper looks away in distress, and the rest feel vaguely nauseous. Luffy is still standing looking at the body, back turned towards them.

The bright heat of the sun suddenly reminds everyone of Zoro's and Sanji's eminent peril. It is not to be though, because sometime between the death of Moria, and the rising of the sun, their shadows had returned, unnoticed. Chopper and Usopp let out trembly laughs of relief at the sight, Brook 'yohohos' and Robin smiles her soft smile. Franky lets out a cheer, and Sanji merely gets a cigarette. Zoro, however, has his gaze trained on their captain. All of them look over in remembrance as they realize that Luffy will return to normal.

The smiles drop from their faces as they see that the shadowy silhouette of their captain is sitting a meter away from the Angel in a tense looking standoff. They haven't rejoined.

Zoro knows in this moment that the Angel has swallowed all of the humanity left in their captain and his mind flashes back to the conversation they had before Luffy went after Moria's shadow in the forest. And for the first time, he actually considers the fact that he may well have to do something. Because from the empty gaze the silver-eyed angel gives the shadow, it's clear he isn't inclined to rejoin. This is something none of the Strawhat pirates expected. They never even thought that Luffy wouldn't want to complete his shadow, and perhaps it is a sobering sign of how far gone their captain is.

"Luffy," Zoro speaks up. When the Angel looks at him, he knows that he stands before the Angel, not Luffy. "Don't you think it's time to get everything back to normal?"

Luffy hasn't blinked yet. He tilts his head slightly, as though Zoro has said something interesting and unexpected.

"No. I do not." He finally speaks, and it jolts them because his voice has two layers suddenly, and every word is dissonant.

"Then what do you intend to do?" Robin asks slowly.

"There is so much wickedness in the world," Luffy murmurs. "So much that mortals cannot see. The stain is embedded so deeply. And then there is the Demon. He should be the first to go . . ."

"How can do you expect to be king of the pirates if you're off doing—doing whatever you're intending to do!" Usopp manages, trembling.

"Why would the Angel need to be pirate king?" As if everything else he said wasn't bad enough.

"Luffy!" Chopper sobs. He can't help it. This strange creature is so cold and so far away and it hurts so much to see his beloved captain —his first real friend outside of the doctors— transformed into this.

Zoro refuses the comforting embrace of despair, and instead focuses on the black outline of Luffy that lies flat on the ground. The strange version of Luffy makes all kinds of gestures in the manic, energetic way that Zoro never realized he could miss. One gesture that the shadow repeats over and over is pointing at Zoro and then grabbing its arm. Zoro can't understand what the shadow wants from him. Surely it knows that Zoro doesn't have the power to grab shadows like Moria did, it's pointless to try. Then again, Luffy always has been a little slow— unless . . . maybe Luffy's glow still has the same effect. If it made Moria's shadowy body permeable, then maybe the light that had yet to fully fade from the Angel could work on the shadow. There's only one way to find out. If Zoro fails, then there's a 99% chance he'll die. But if that happens it's just deserts for failing his captain.

He can't do it alone though. Zoro tugs the cuff of Sanji's ruined shirt covertly. The blond's eyes flicker towards him before the cook takes a subtle step forward, slightly in front of Zoro so the latter can whisper to him.

"I think Luffy's soul is still tangible," Zoro says quickly. "We need to distract him long enough to shove it back in his mouth."

"And how exactly do we do that, Marimo?" The insult has absolutely no energy and Zoro knows Sanji is on his level of desperation. It's save their captain or die trying.

"Robin," Zoro exhales. Even as he speaks a plan slowly forms together.

"And how do we tell her?"

"Aren't ladies supposed to be your expertise? Just wait for my signal."

Sanji makes a short sound of irritation before he summons up what's left of his energy and leaps towards Robin.

"Robin-schwan!" He exclaims, running to embrace her. "I can't bear the thought of dying without you!"

The archaeologist is so stunned she doesn't dodge or move out of the way. Instead she lets Sanji pull her into his arms. The drama seems to have interested the Angel and Zoro uses the spectacle Sanji makes to sidle over to Franky, Brook, and Chopper.

"When I adjust my sash, I want you to do everything you can to distract the Angel," Zoro whispers quickly. It's a credence to his crew when they don't ask any questions, instead they just subtly nod. Looking a little further down, he sees that Usopp has collapsed to his knees. There is no way of getting there unnoticed, so he leaves the sniper alone. Now he just has to hope that Sanji and Robin are able to catch onto his choice of signal.

He moves back to where he was just in time as the Angel's seemingly sightless gaze ran over them.

"I don't intend to kill you," Luffy says.

"Why not?" Franky challenges, already dragging Luffy's attention towards the three.

"Why should I?"

"Not pure enough, maybe?"

"I don't expect perfection." Luffy shakes his head. "Only those truly depraved are worthy of judgment."

"For some reason that doesn't ease my mind very much," Brook adds in.

Zoro waits until both Robin and Chopper are staring at him before he reaches for his sash and tightens it. All at once everyone bursts into a flurry of movement. Chopper shouts to Luffy, catching all his attention for a few seconds, leaving Robin enough time to summon five hands around the Luffy shadow, and five more around the Angel. Sanji runs forward using the last bit of strength he has and picks up the shadow that Robin's hands pass to him. Zoro, meanwhile, sprints towards the Angel, who is looking mildly startled by the sudden actions, and not a little icy. When he sees that they have his shadow, then the Angel reacts. He pushes his aura forward, sending pinpricks of pain through their bodies, and the white flames lick around his frame.

Zoro refuses to relent, he pushes forward. He falters though when Robin's hands that are holding Luffy down start to disintegrate from the bright light. No, he can't let that happen— not when they're so close! He acts without thinking and throws his arms around the Angel before it can fly away.

Now Luffy begins to truly panic. His glow flares out, singing the skin of Zoro's arms and eating through the cloth of his shirt. The pain is indescribable, because it isn't like being burned, but it's the only thing remotely comparable. If Zoro has to put words to it, he would say it's like baptism by fire. These thoughts are only flickers through his mind as he blocks out the pain and reaches towards Luffy's mouth, barely ducking a surprised punch. The large wings wiggle powerfully beneath Zoro's one armed grip, and it's only due to his ungodly amount of physical conditioning that he can hold on. He manages to get one hand on Luffy's jaw and squeezes it, forcing the skin to move down. Sanji appears beside him, one arm clutching the shadow while the other reaches out and grabs Luffy's mouth as well.

They pull down as one, and Sanji shoves the shadow into the small opening before Luffy can throw them off. The shadow flies down Luffy's throat, disappearing. The wings suddenly expand throwing Zoro a few feet into the air before he falls to the ground, and sends Sanji sprawling to the side.

Everyone watches, breaths held as their captain collapses and begins dryheaving. It's to no avail— and they watch, stunned as the wings and halo disappear, and the fading silver eyes slide shut.

Everything is silent for a long time. No one knows what to say. The tears fear and relief come easier than the words, and Franky, Chopper, Usopp, Brook, and even the normally unshakable Robin, let them out. Sanji brushes one or two stray drops away before he scans the area, looking for Zoro. When he sees him, his stomach drops.

"Chopper!"

The reindeer is over there as fast as his trembling legs can take him. Upon seeing Zoro's condition, his eyes widen dramatically. Sanji is no doctor, but even he can tell that the damage is beyond their normal scope.

The skin of Zoro's chest and the inside of his arms had been burned by the white light, looking bright red and abused. He isn't bleeding, which Sanji cannot distinguish as being a good or bad sign when it's likely that his wounds were cauterized by Luffy's holy light.

Sanji admits that he is more than a little impressed that the marimo is still conscious. His crewmate's eyes are bloodshot, chest completely shiny with burned skin, and Sanji wagers that it's only Zoro's immense will to live that keeps his lungs expanding and deflating despite the excruciating pain it must cause him.

"Sanji, I need you to lift him. I can't move him until I wrap some of this."

Sanji wordlessly obliges. He carefully follows Chopper's every direction with more gentleness than he's ever used on his green-haired nakama. But these wounds aren't like their normal one. These wounds will take weeks to heal— if not months, which considering how quickly the swordsman normally heals, truly says something. Zoro takes his duties as first mate more seriously than any other pirate crew Sanji's seen. And maybe it's bad of him, but in this moment he is so glad Zoro is practically crazy, because Luffy is the center of their world. He's the sticky, rubbery glue that keeps all of them together. Luffy gives Sanji a reason to cook for something with a much more fulfilling end than money, gives him an opportunity to spend time with two beautiful women, and keeps Sanji dream alive simply by believing in it too. Without Luffy all of them collapse and Sanji thinks Zoro is aware of how much they need Luffy— maybe even more than him, because he does the one thing that none of them had the willpower to do— he held on to Luffy and didn't let go, even as his skin burned away.

He admires Zoro more than ever right now— not that the Marimo will ever hear a words on the subject.

When Luffy opens his eyes, the first thing he notices is that he's in the Sunny. The second thing is his nakama. The third thing is his stomach and before he can think for too long, he is hollering for food.

Sanji appears immediately, staring at Luffy for a long, long time before finally moving a cart of meat up near his bed. Luffy smiles and thanks his cook through his mouth that's already full of food. Sanji doesn't acknowledge his words. Instead he is still staring at him. Looking around, Luffy can see that all of his nakama are there— Brook too. Each and every one has an indecipherable look in their eyes, and Luffy can't seem to grasp it. Chopper climbs into bed with him after a few moments and Luffy looks down curiously, but the reindeer avoids making eye contact, instead he just curls up in Luffy's lap, antlers resting against his stomach.

Luffy's mouth slows down and he pauses in his eating.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asks. It seems as though that is the wrong question to ask because all of them flinch. Slowly, his memory filters back into his mind and he recalls his slow descent into losing himself. Grief washes over him as he stares at them all.

"I'm sorry." He says, and lowers the meat back to the platter on the cart. Suddenly his appetite is gone.

The sadness in his eyes suddenly seems depthless, and before all of this happened, none of them would have thought their captain could be capable of such a level of sorrow. But they now know he is, and the appearance of it in his (thankfully) black eyes is enough to make them all exhale and smile.

"We're just glad you're okay, captain," Robin says, smiling, and from the looks on everyone else's faces, it seems like some grand understatement.

Luffy grins widely. "I have my nakama, so of course I'm okay."

And that seems to be as much as Chopper, Usopp, and Franky can take because they all burst in dramatic tears. Luffy starts stuffing his face again without any prompting.

Sanji scoffs, "shitty captain." He leaves and after a few moments brings in another cart of food, and under all his typical irritation all of them know how grateful he is to have their grinning captain back— because they are too.

"Where's Nami?" Luffy asks, mouth completely stuffed.

"She's talking with the other pirates on the island," Sanji explains. "When you . . . removed all of the shadows from Moria they all returned to their rightful owners. She's networking right now."

"They did? That's nice." Luffy pauses for a moment when he sees Zoro from the corner of his eyes. His first mate's chest and arms are utterly covered in bandages, to the point where he looks a little like a mummy to Luffy. Zoro has just been silently watching him the entire time and Luffy shifts his gaze to stare at him.

"Ne Zoro, what happened? You got really beat up."

Sanji starts choking and coughing, and Luffy looks over in confusion. Everyone appears startled by what he's said.

"Luffy, what do you remember about what happened after Moria?" Zoro asks slowly. He's the only one whose expression hasn't changed.

Luffy tilts his head. "Nothing really. Everyone's shadows returned I guess, and maybe I passed out."

Sanji is trembling. "You idi—"

"Yeah, that's about what happened." Zoro cuts across the cook decisively. The two enter a strange silent battle of wills and Luffy just looks between the two of them with confusion.

"Huh?"

"Zoro . . ." Chopper trails off.

"Nothing happened," Zoro grits out. He stares at the doctor and the chef, and his eyes say because the captain doesn't need to know, because it's all over, and because I'm the first mate— and neither Chopper nor Sanji have a reply for that.

"Hmmm?" Luffy, still out of the loop looks around in misunderstanding. There's something he's missing. He's sure he'll remember eventually, but the only thing on his mind is the large cart of food. It's been a while since he's been this hungry, and he knows it's because he expended so much energy. His wings ache from flying so quickly and from being knocked around. All he wants is to let them relax, and without too much thought, he brings them to the forefront of his being, exhaling as they unfurl. He shakes them a little to ease the soreness. Chopper rolls off the bed and onto the floor in surprise.

So wrapped up in his relief, Luffy doesn't realize the effect it has on his crew. All of them immediately jump on their guard. Luffy is more intent on finishing what is left of the cart.

"Luffy," Zoro began, voice heavy. "Is that still you?"

Luffy blinks before shifting his attention to his first mate and his disturbed looking crew, all looking tense and ready for battle. He swallows and frowns. "Of course it is."

"Then why are you—" Zoro makes a gesture and Luffy slowly looks around until he realizes his first mate is gesturing to his wings.

"Because I'm feeling happy and my wings are sore. Besides I figure now that you all know I can spread my wings every now and then." He smiles widely, but it doesn't get the reaction he hoped for.

"Luffy the last time you looked like that, I thought you were going to destroy the entire island."

The captain pauses and thinks for a long time.

"Oh, but I'm all here right now. Everything's balanced."

"Then why do you look like that?" It's Usopp who asks this time.

Luffy pauses not understanding until it clicks to him.

"The Angel isn't evil." And this has to be the first time he's ever had to clarify that.

Usopp lets out a choked breath. "Yeah right."

"No really," Luffy says intently. "I'm not evil."

"We know you're not insane like the Angel, Luffy," Franky confirms.

"It's only because I was unbalanced. I'm not normally a judgment dealer . . . except that one time on Goa— but that bear almost killed Ace."

His attempt to reassure them seems to have the opposite effect, and Luffy pauses before crossing his arms and furrowing his brow. Maybe it's just because he's used to only having his family and Dadan know, or maybe that everyone always looks at Ace as being evil that they hardly even glance at Luffy that way. Or maybe it's just all of the preconceived notions about the Angel, because he's never had to explain his power before.

Then again, his crew did have a pretty bad first impression. He can't leave it like this though. So he tries to prove to them what he really is the only way he knows how: he shows them.

Nodding to himself Luffy summons the rest of his form, and when he next blinks it's with silver eyes. The inhaled breaths and gasps make him frown lightly but he pushes it aside and instead just slowly looks around the room, making eye contact with every crew member— even Brook, who still doesn't fully realize that he's already joined Luffy's crew but that's okay because he soon will— and he doesn't like how almost all of them except Zoro and Robin flinch, even if it's just a little bit.

"I'm not like that, normally."

Sanji sighs in exasperation. "Well we know you aren't, but Luffy—"

"I am the Angel." Luffy says, and his tone is serious again. They all pull away a little at the mood switch, but they know inside that this tone of voice isn't at all what they heard earlier, when things were still a mess. No, this is their captain speaking in the voice he uses when he's talking about things more serious than food, like dreams and nakama. And this apparently.

"I'm not Luffy and the Angel. I'm just me. I'm all of that. I don't think you all understand, because if I wasn't the Angel, I couldn't be Luffy, and if I wasn't Luffy, I wouldn't be the Angel, not really. It's all me. Too much of one or the other and I can't keep stable." Luffy pauses. "Though this is probably the first time I've ever been in a situation like this."

"Hopefully the last," Sanji can't help but add.

"Yeah, that wasn't very fun."

"Don't treat it so casually!" Sanji, Usopp, and Franky all shout with shark teeth and Luffy just laughs.

They all freeze as they watch their captain –coated in the thin layer of light, halo shining in his hair, eyes silver, and wings trembling— clutch his stomach and laugh in his familiar hearty way. The purity that radiates off of him sends waves of awe and wordless joy through their bodies. It's so far away from the righteous burning everyone, (Zoro most especially,) witnessed that no one can quite compare the two anymore.

"You all are so funny!" He speaks, still grinning, light burning even brighter, as though attuned with his mood. For all they know it may well be.

The sudden show of benign power allows them to relax one by one in the presence of their angelified captain. Normal banter resumes and merrily fills the infirmary. Twenty minutes or so later, Chopper eventually wanders back up into Luffy's bed and starts asking him about his wings, and why are they sore, and how does he keep them conditioned, and does he preen them often? The doctor's questions open a pathway, and suddenly the conversation about him roars to life. His status as Angel is asked after a fair amount by Robin and Chopper especially, and Luffy just laughs and answers less than a quarter of the questions. And he just can't stop smiling because he is complete on so many levels right now.

None of them are very sorry to see the island/ship Thriller Bark disappearing into the distance. After their tenser-than-average adventure, they're all ready to spend a few weeks at sea recuperating on the way to their next adventure. Things have generally returned to their version of normal, and most of their focus is on finding out the nuances of their newest nakama, Brook, and his beautiful music and his endless supply of skull-jokes.

This is their first truly calm moment since getting to the island. Even after everything with Moria, there were celebrations to have, new friends to make, and songs to learn. Nami is only just now hearing an extended version of everything from Usopp and Franky. The latter is there to confirm the veracity of the long nosed sniper and keep him from inventing new arcs in the story. Everyone else is preoccupied for the most part getting the sails aligned as Nami initially directed them, but the two storytellers wait until Luffy is well out of earshot, on the other side of the boat, before they tell her what happened after they beat Moria. Nami thought that after hearing that Luffy is the Angel, nothing could surprise her anymore. She now knows she is wrong, because the horrifying events being relayed to her in flat tones are beyond anything she could imagine, even in her worst nightmares. Nami keeps waiting— hoping— for Franky to call Usopp a liar, to deny any of what is being told. But he doesn't. The cyborg's expression remains steadfast, if tense.

Nami thought that Luffy's shadow returned with everyone else's. To hear the terrifying description of this strange, cold creature, and then to be told it was her captain of all things is something that makes Nami's hands tremble with repressed emotions. Usopp can't tell the story without his voice cracking near the end of it he is still so disturbed, and so it falls to Franky to talk about Zoro's sacrifice. After which there is a long pause.

"Anyways, after that Luffy's little Angel bits went away." Franky finishes the story off, not soon enough, in Nami's opinion. "He's back to normal. Zoro's going to make a full recovery. No real harm done, though it was pretty scary."

"A-and afterwards Brook composed an elegy to the great Usopp and his greatness!" Usopp revives in front of her eyes.

"Really!?" Chopper calls from across the deck, "Can I hear it?"

"If Brook wants to share my magnificent story with the world, then who am I to stop him!"

"That's so cool, Usopp!"

Everyone looks on amused and it's as though everything is normal. And. It. Eats. Her. Up.

When Chopper calms down and says a relieved, "I'm glad everything is alright," mostly to himself, she can't help but snap.

"It isn't alright! How can any of this be okay?!" Nami exclaims, jumping up with agitation. All of them look towards her from their various positions on the ship, surprised. Luffy's gaze, directed at her from atop the crow's nest, is completely blank. Things grow tense and the air gets heavy as she stares darkly at her captain. They all took it for granted that Nami would be okay with it— perhaps they were wrong. All of them know it is a tough pill to swallow, especially if she's just now hearing the whole thing in all its awful entirety.

Usopp finds he can't fully disagree with Nami's sentiment. After everything he's seen, he is still a little wary of Luffy. But Usopp is slowly coming around to the idea, and he has faith Nami will too. Right now though, if the trembling of his hands was anything to go by, he knows it might take a little time. He just hopes the navigator doesn't say anything now that she'll regret later.

"None of this is right at all!"

"Nami," Chopper says, looking at her with large eyes.

"I didn't get to see your wings at all!"

And the atmosphere is suddenly bright again.

"You shoulda just said something Nami!" Luffy exclaims, grin wide and all of them feel varying levels of exasperation and amusement.

"It isn't the sort of thing you just ask, idiot!" Nami struggles with the urge to combat his stupidity with violence.

She doesn't struggle for long because soon every thought flees from her mind as two large white wings appear behind her captain. Suddenly, it isn't so hard to picture Luffy as the Angel now, with wings and everything, because it just seems right. He drops from the crow's nest, wings catching the air and slowing his descent. He's standing in from of the mast now, wings extended for the sole purpose of her viewing. And view she does. They're larger than she remembers seeing in an artist's depiction she saw once in one of Bellmere's old books, and they certainly aren't delicate, like the drawing showed either. Luffy's wings are wide and powerful looking. The soft light that radiates off of them seems to belie their true power.

She steps closer and tentatively reaches to touch them, but stops a few inches away. It's inexplicable, but she feels like she isn't pure enough to touch them, which is never something that has ever concerned Nami before. Luffy seems to pick up on her thoughts somehow because he takes her hand and smiles reassuringly. Her eyes widen as she looks into shimmering silver orbs that she initially overlooked in her captivation with his wings. The shifting silver in his eyes is like the mercury Nami remembers seeing spill out from a broken thermometer once. Luffy's expression is much gentler than normal, his smile wide, but not bursting as it normally does. Instead, a glow of contentedness seems to push off of him, affecting everyone around him.

Nami moves forward and with trembling hands she grabs the brim of his hat and pulls it off his head, leaving it dangling by a string in between his wings.

She knows the Angel has a halo, but Nami is unprepared for the thin golden circlet nestled in her captain's dark hair. A simple golden band doesn't seem like something the Angel would have, but on Luffy, it looks right, so Nami thinks perhaps she needs to reevaluate her preconceptions of the Angel.

So fascinated by it all Nami barely notices the tensing of his muscles until he wraps his other hand around her midsection and picks her up like a bag of potatoes. Before she can even shout or yell, Luffy has already begun running towards the edge of the deck. Nami shuts her eyes, expects at any moment for salty seawater to assault her from all sides as it does every time Luffy accidentally knocks her and himself over the railing. Instead, all she feels is the rush of air over her skin and a weightless sensation in her stomach. She opens her eyes and her only view is the surface of the shimmering blue sea.

After a few mute moments, it strikes her that she is flying, and her mouth opens in a soundless shriek of surprisejoyfear. Luffy starts laughing above, and she glances up to see his silver eyes full of happiness. His large wings thrum with energy, flapping steadily to keep them aloft and gradually rising. Her legs dangle helplessly in the air, and she fears at any moment Luffy's grip around her midsection will loosen and she will fall . . . But then Luffy laughs again and the idea seems ridiculous. Luffy is careless, not concerned about trinkets and things the way other people do— but he is never careless with his nakama. They float through a batch of clouds and she shivers from the dew that collects on her skin.

Nami is distantly aware that the cries from the ship are getting quieter and quieter, until she can't hear anything except for the wind, the flapping of wings, Luffy's laughter and her own breathless gasps. Though all the emotions are battling for a spot, it is elation that finally wins and zips through her body like a live wire. She finally lets her worries go and releases a jubilant scream that's half swallowed by the wind. Luffy echoes, and suddenly the two are shouting gleefully at the top of their lungs as they zoom through the air. Her voice sort of hurts, but she can't seem to stop from laughing.

Nami looks up to see that her captain has stopped laughing, and is instead looking at her with a wide grin and a slightly wistful look in his silver eyes.

"What is it?" She asks.

"It's like flying with Sabo!" Luffy says, and Nami barely hears the words through the rush of wind in her ears.

"Who's Sabo?"

Luffy does an aerial acrobat which unsurprisingly dashes all thoughts from her mind, including his passing comment.

After fifteen minutes or so of amazing flying feats, Luffy slows down and the two begin coasting back towards the ship. As the adrenaline gradually leaves her system she starts examining everything she can see. Thriller Bark is a small pinprick on the horizon, and there isn't another object in in sight for miles, even at this height. Eventually the rocking movement of Luffy's steady flight makes her shut her eyes for just a moment or two. She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing Nami knows, she's in Sanji's arms, on the ship again.

"—do something like that again to Nami-chan I will make sure there will never be any meat on this ship ever again you shitty rubber captain!"

"Whaaaa?!" Luffy protests in upset. Nami opens her eyes up fully and sees that he is predictably pouting. He hasn't undone his Angel form though, and the two images combined make her head dizzy.

"Let me go, Sanji," Nami says. He sets her on her feet before immediately pulling out one of the long deck chairs that she and Robin occasionally sunbathe on and gently gestures her to sit down. She obliges, only because she's still dizzy and exhausted from the adrenaline of their sudden flight. Sanji flutters around her, plying her with hot chocolate he seems to pull out from midair and trying to make sure she's completely fine. She gently bats him away, and sets the hot chocolate aside.

"I'm okay, really," Nami assures the cook, whose motions eventually slow down to a pace more acceptable to Nami's still befuddled mind.

"See, I told you, I didn't do anything to Nami!" Luffy says, "She just fell asleep."

"And I told you that even if that was the case, you can't be trusted with her and her glowing skin you—"

"Sanji, it's fine, really. He didn't do anything." She earns a grin from Luffy for her troubles and a sullen acceptance from Sanji who looks like he wants to argue more. Nami admittedly barely notices the latter— her eyes are still trained on Luffy, in all his ethereal glowing glory. Flying with him was unlike anything else she'd experienced— Sure she's been on bubble bikes, and clouds, and hovercrafts, but there is just something about the rawness of flying with Luffy that everything else lacks. She knows that this is the closest she will ever get to actually being able to fly herself.

Luffy's attention hasn't wavered from her, smile still blinding, and Nami thinks that maybe he knows what she's thinking. And in this moment she hopes he does because the thankfulness she feels at the gesture goes so beyond anything she could ever say. His smile grows a little wider and he lets out a laugh, and Nami thinks that perhaps he does understand. Her captain then turns away from her and starts making stupid faces at Chopper, sending the little reindeer into fits of giggles.

Or not. Who knew with Luffy anyways?

She exhales and watches as Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper start making bizarre expressions at each other, each trying to make the strangest one. Everyone else is still on deck, and Nami thinks that perhaps the normality of it soothes them as well. She only heard after the fact, but finding out how close all of them had come to losing their captain makes her heart freeze in anxiety. Nami sees Zoro exhale, and can almost sense the invisible load leaving his shoulders. The swordsman sits down and rests against the mast of the ship and closes one eye, lazily watching his crewmates, and Nami knows in a matter of minutes he'll be napping away. Sanji has pulled up the second deck chair for Robin who thanks him and joins Nami. The archaeologist pulls a long bright white feather from Nami's hair and gives in the ginger girl. Nami holds it delicately in her hands before carefully tucking it into her top for safekeeping when no one's looking. Even years in the future, she never tells anyone that the feather she uses as a bookmark is actually Luffy's, although she never does escape Robin's knowing, cheerful eyes. Right now though, Sanji brings out two glass cups of raspberry sorbet, and wiggles jubilantly around the two women. Franky has no problem standing on deck for no reason other than to watch the other three, and leans against the railing to do just that. Brook, who has only just joined their crew, hovers to the side and watches them fondly, as though he'd been there with them through all of it— not that he can watch them, seeing as he doesn't have eyes.

Luffy's wings brush Chopper's face on accident, making the doctor giggle and sneeze at the strange sensation. It draws attention back to his wings, which although their attention never truly left, it faded to an almost negligible detail. Now the wings are front and center again.

Usopp pauses their game to prod at the wings curiously, and they shift away from him before disappearing completely.

"So you really can fly?" Usopp asks rhetorically, voice covered with awe and disbelief as he looked at the place where said wings had just been. He saw Luffy fly in the fight with Moria, but at the time he'd been preoccupied by too many other things to pay it that much mind. Seeing him casually lift Nami off the ship and fly her over the ocean is a different matter entirely. Flying is effortless to Luffy. It seems like he barely has to expend any effort, or activate his Angel status with any drawbacks like Usopp secretly wondered about.

"Of course," Luffy replies, eyes a familiar black again.

"Why haven't you before? It would have come in handy." Franky finally voices the thought running through all of their heads.

"Like that time you were almost eaten by a bird," Zoro grunts.

"Or the time there was a bomb on a clock tower in Alabasta," Chopper points out

"Or the dozens of times you've fallen off the ship," Sanji notes irritably.

"Nothing bad's ever happened, right?" Luffy remarks simply.

"That's mostly luck!" Usopp exclaims, aghast.

"So?" He sets his familiar straw hat back on his head.

"I'm never saving you if you fall into the ocean again!" Nami exclaims, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I have to keep my identity a secret." His voice is firmer now.

"Why?" Chopper asks, confused. It all seem like a neat thing. Everyone else seems placated by Luffy's reasoning and Chopper wonders what he missed.

"'Cause it's funner that way. You should see the looks on peoples' faces when they find out," Luffy continues.

Apparently that wasn't the reason everyone else was thinking because Sanji, Zoro, Franky, Usopp, and Nami all snap forward and shout;

"YOU IDIOT!"

Later, when everyone is sleeping, and Luffy is taking the night shift in the crow's nest, he carefully pulls out the Vivre card Ace gave him and watches as it slowly tugs over his palm towards some invisible point in the distance. One of the corners is slowly burning and Luffy stares at it blankly.

Now that everyone is safe and he is no longer in danger of losing his sanity, he can being thinking about everything that happened. During every part of their adventure after he'd first woken up on the ship, Luffy wondered why he didn't felt a recoil through the world— wonders still. Luffy sent dissonant waves through the balance of the universe, and he knows Ace should have sensed it. At the very least, Luffy expected to get some feedback— worried, irritated waves— but all he hears is silence.

Luffy stares at the smoldering piece of paper in his hand and wonders what it means, because suddenly, it seems like the universe has focused all of it's gravity into one point and he's holding it in his hands. Luffy makes a face, he doesn't like it, not at all— the silence, and the ominous shifting leave a bad taste in his mouth.

He takes a deep breath in and out before carefully tucking the card back into the ribbon of his hat.

Ace can take care of himself— he has to trust that.

He smiles to himself.

And besides that, Ace would never forgive him if his little brother came and 'saved' him while Ace is on his adventure.

Nodding to himself decisively, he tucks the matter away and begins humming 'Bink's Sake' as he thinks about his newest crew member. Now, if only he could ignore the silence of the world, Luffy would be fine.

He can't though, and it sits and festers in a far corner of his mind until the night he hears about Ace's execution when it then roars back to life in his head and threatens to swallow every part of his being whole.

End.

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Maybe it got a little too angsty later on there. Oops. There also isn't very much Ace in this, which I am really sorry about. This whole thing was just an idea I got from watching Thriller Bark.

Flightwulf just reminded me that I forgot to clear up a few details. For the sake of fanfiction, we're pretending Kuma didn't attack them. I couldn't let go of the scene with Zoro though, so it's kept in with different circumstances.

All the conclusions I've reached about the Angel/Demon mythology and Luffy's opinions are just what I've speculated from the Angelrider13's text.

Sooo, I hope it wasn't too awful to read. If any of my readers from other sections are here, uhhh, I'm sorry.

Comments? Thought? Concerns? Flames?

Do review if you are so inclined.

Review?