Freedom & Fate | One Piece x Reader

Chapter 49 | Method

"My name is Y/N and I'm 17 years old. The weapons I use to fight with are my two guns and a knife, which I hold very dear. I love sweet things and music. I can play the piano. My favourite colour is blue, the colour of the sky and the sea. I have a longing for freedom, though I'm not quite sure what it means to be truly free. Maybe I just want to be free from all the doubts and worries," you pause for a second and glance at Vivi. She looks slightly confused but her expression softened a lot. "So far the people who recognised me have called me Silent Gunner. Now I understand that people know me by this name but I don't feel any connection with it. Concerning your questions... the last memory I can think of is meeting Luffy. I can't recall the ones prior to that moment."

It takes Vivi a while to digest your story. "You don't remember anything?"

"No... I'm hoping to find something or someone who will trigger my memories. The things I've heard about me have been quite shocking. Although Iga told me they're just rumours, they must've stemmed from somewhere. For example, I do have peculiar abilities but I'm not sure if they can be that powerful," you explain, your eyes trailing off to the small window. "I want to find someone who knows me beyond all those rumours."

After hearing that, Vivi looks down at the ground, a bit ashamed of the way she was acting. "I'm sorry I spoke so carelessly without knowing anything about you."

You smile softly. "It's alright. I understand your suspicion."

She raises her head again and smiles back. "I hope you'll find your memories along the way." Suddenly an idea pops up in her head. "Oh! Do you know what I always do when I can't recall something?" Vivi takes your arm, gently tugging you along with her. "I let Carue carry me around until I remember!"

The both of you make your way to the kitchen's entrance. When Vivi tries to push open the door, she bumps into someone with the wooden entry. But the curious thing is, the moment she goes to look who she hit, there is nobody standing behind the door. After Vivi was convinced that she must have imagined blonde strands disappearing when she peeked around the door, she calls her dear companion. "Carue, will you let Y/N ride you for a bit? She has forgotten quite a lot of things."

And just like that, you sat down on the back of the large duck who carried you around the deck, bouncing you up and down on its back. "I don't think this is working Vivi," you say once Carue passes her again. Your voice is shaking from how much Carue is hopping around.

"This motion helps to wake up the brain!" She shouts after you. The bird runs round after round, giving its best effort to make this method work for you as it has with its owner. After the third or fourth lap on the ship, your eyes start spinning and you could barely hold onto the strap around Carue's beak.

As expected, this commotion attracted the interest of a certain playful captain, who could not wait for his turn to take a ride on the fast running duck. "Y/N, let me try it too!" he yells excitedly while running alongside you. His patience quickly runs out after following you for a course, he extends his rubber arms and grabs onto the large bird. In an instant, he pulls himself forward and lands right behind you.

You could not hold onto the strap any further but luckily Luffy takes over and you fall back into his embrace instead of the hard ground. Although, what is not so lucky is that he has no intention of stopping this ride anytime soon. Once he took control, he steered Carue wildly across the deck, knocking over a canon and even stepping on an unaware swordsman who was taking a nap after the meal. Zoro wakes up grumpily and puts a stop to the ones who disturbed his sleep.

"Cut it out already!"

Finally, you are able to get off of Carue and stand on a firm ground again. The world around you is still spinning but the dizziness fades away quickly.

"Carue, you overdid it a bit," Vivi says, whereas the duck quacks in protest and points accusingly at Luffy. She ignores Carue's objection and turns to you. "Are you alright? Could you remember anything new?" she asks.

"I'm fine but this method doesn't work on me," you answer while slowly regaining your sense of balance. When you could see clearly again, you notice you were holding onto Zoro as support. He looks at Vivi weirdly at the mention of your lost memories.

"I see..." She crosses her arms and looks into the distance, trying to think of more ways to help you. "Then how about this. People say we process memory in our dreams. Maybe your dreams are giving you clues about your past?"

"That makes sense! Vivi, you're pretty smart!" Luffy beams.

Dreams? You think about it carefully. I feel like I hardly dream at all but there was this one time...

"Do you think our relationship could be different if you were only a simple pianist?"

His voice resonates deeply inside you. The pace of your heartbeat increases at the thought of it. Who did I see in my dream? No matter how hard you think, you could not recall that person's face. Instead, you suddenly feel your shoulders getting heavier and warmer as if something is wrapped around them.

"Oi, are you not feeling fine after all?" Zoro shakes you slightly after he saw you not moving for a while.

"Ah, no. It's just..." you put a hand on your head. "I think I remember someone."

"Really?! Who is it?" Luffy promptly asks.

"He was... wearing a mask," you stammer. "I can't believe I didn't think more thoroughly about this. He definitely knows me, he knows a different side of me. If I can find him, he can me more about myself!"

Luffy's bright smile from before vanishes. "Y/N, should you not be more rational about this?" Zoro asks while grabbing hold of your arm as if you would disappear any moment from now.

"Once I regain my memories I can prove to you that I'm not a bad person!"

"Y/N!"

You snapped out of the trance when you heard Luffy's stern voice. Everyone else went silent too.

"I know you're a good person. I saw the way you fought. You don't have to prove anything to us," he says to you. The way he is staring at you convinces you of the sincerity in his words. "And don't worry, we'll find this mask guy together!"

✘

Hello, everyone!

Do you still remember who the masked man is? ヽ( ･∀･)ﾉ I bet they will be quite surprised when they find out...

This month's updates are going to be released irregularly because of my exams ('︿'｡) I'm sorry for that! Once exam season is over, it'll return to weekly updates!

Thank you all for the amazing support~ I appreciate every reader, every vote and every comment left by you!

Until next time...

~ Rin