Straw Hat Luffy: The Black Fist

Chapter 25: Romance Dawn

Chapter 25: Romance Dawn

Makino stood next to the mayor of the village with a large smile on her face as they both watched the lamb-headed ship sail out to sea. "So, he's finally doing it… I'll miss that little rascal.", she looked over at the short man beside her and sent him a smirk, "Just like his brother, amiright, Mr. Mayor?".

"Don't even get me started on Ace, Makino.", the man replied grouchily, watching the vessel disappear in the distance. "If he becomes even half the pirate his brother is…", he turned his back to the sea, beginning to walk back toward town, "He'll bring even more shame to this village.".

The green-haired woman watched the mayor leave in amusement, before turning back to the sea and smiling. "Be safe, Luffy.", she whispered to no one in particular. Once the words left her mouth, she held her gaze until the vessel faded from her sight before turning away and following the mayor back into town with a soft smile on her face.

Luffy stood on the figurehead of the Going Merry with a massive smile, a loop of rope resting firmly in his hands as Levi pulled him on his first-ever voyage as a pirate.

The now seventeen-year-old boy had changed much since he and Levi had set out on that day almost a year ago. He stood at a height of five foot eight and it looked like he would continue to grow in the future.

He'd shed some of the youngness in his face and his body had filled out a bit more making him seem a little older than he had back then. The muscles showing on his figure had also grown as well and were slightly bigger, looking a little more defined. The lankiness of his form had all but disappeared and he really just looked lean and built, now. He probably even looked a little older than his actual age.

His outfit was almost the exact same, the only changes to it being the pants and a small adjustment to his red vest. Instead of the usual shorts, he now wore a pair of loose-fitting jeans that cut off just below the middle of his shin bone. Around the bottoms of the jeans, the fabric was frayed making it look white and fluffy. The change to his vest was in the form of a high collar wrapping around his neck instead of the fabric laying flat like it used to. Everything else was the same as he usually had it.

In regards to strength, Luffy had grown by leaps and bounds. His punches were literally as strong as pistols, now. Plus, he'd learned how to find cores a little better. He still didn't think he'd even really scratched the surface of what he could do with his Sun Palm but he could at least use it consistently now.

The one thing that wasn't so great, was the fact that he STILL couldn't use Armament Haki. The battle against Forest Guy had been forever ago and it was still gone! A part of him was already reserved to the fact that he might have been cut off from the power permanently. The other part was still hoping that it would just suddenly come back at some point.

He'd been wondering if the exhaustion affected his Conquerer's Haki, so, after he'd made it back to Dawn, he'd had a couple of days to himself and found a secluded place to answer that question. And it didn't. Thankfully. It would have been a real bummer if he hadn't been able to use that either.

"Levi! What the heck is that?!", Luffy yelled, his eyes glued to a spot just off the starboard side of the ship. His answer was a deep rumbling from the water below. "A whirlpool?… I've never seen one before.", he said in wonder, watching the swirling water intently as they passed it. If he wasn't the only one on the ship he totally would have tried to swim in it, it looked like it would be tons of fun.

The pirate captain pouted while he watched the swirling water get further and further away, turning to face the sea once again. As he looked out at the blue water glittering in the sun, the pout on his face disappeared and was replaced with a massive smile.