I always laugh a little when I read the part where Kohza just up and lunges forward to catch the first raindrop-not because it's especially funny, but because it's just so...One Piece. It's great! And then I started thinking about how on earth he could have known about it, and it occurred to me that previously in that arc, we'd seen a man experiencing something like that on the edge of death. Zoro had his "breath of all things" moment, so maybe that's what happened to Kohza as well. So that's where this came from.

In the white heat, sand crusting his bloody face, Kohza waits to die. He's heard the phrase "glimpsing eternity" before, but never thought about it. Now, with regrets lashing his shoulders and bullets burning in his chest, Kohza feels he understands the sentiment. Infinity opens up before him. He can at once feel his cheek pressed to the grainy earth, flies crawling near his mouth, and a great, bright openness all around him.

After what feels like hours but might have been only a moment, listening to his heart and his lungs throbbing, Kohza hears the sky singing. There's a great rushing; his ears tingle and his stomach churns, and he can hear…

Kohza waits to die, and hears the raindrops singing. He can hear a thousand million tiny jewels roiling miles above him; he can hear them breathing. Clouds. Beyond the thrumming of the dust above him, water clusters in tiny, hanging particles. And just as Kohza fades back into the pain and heat of consciousness—just as Kebi hoists Kohza's arm over his shoulders—there is a coalescence, the first glimmer of light through the cruelty of the times.

He feels it falling.

"Kohza!"

His muscles seize with agony—raw flesh in his back, bullet wounds cracking. One gloved hand scrabbles out before him, filthy palm up, as he contorts himself forward. The world spins around him, hot and dizzying and the pain makes his right leg crumple beneath him. But more importantly…

He stretches, reaching for it, desperate—he can feel dried blood cracking on his chapped lips as he grimaces.

"Kohza, what are you—"

He feels it. Barely. Water falling from the sky. It had started to seem like a fairy tale. But now…

His fingers close, trembling, over his palm, and he savors the echo of that brief impact. Faint, but tangible. A raindrop.

A raindrop.

Kohza gasps hoarsely, something like a disbelieving laugh. "Can you feel it?"

I love the Alabasta Arc. To a kind of ridiculous extent. I just adore how the plot comes together, the character dynamics... Brilliant. Some people don't like Vivi, some people hate her, some just don't care about her...I hardly ever hate a character just for being who they are, especially when who they are is a really nice person.

But let's get into Kohza, because that's who this is about. Some people also hate him. I understand why they would-Mr. Rebellion himself, unknowingly following along with Crocodile's plan. But that's why his character is so intriguing! Especially his regret after the battle-it's a big catalyst for me fanfiction-wise. I'm a sucker for conflicted characters. And in Chapter 171, there's this tiny panel where he says he was fighting in hopes that the king would declare his innocence. So, I dunno... I just really like writing Kohza.