I don't know everyone who died or didn't at my execution. Whitebeard... [ the feelings are a mess, here ] Pops was sick. For a long time. Before I joined the crew, even. I know he went out the way he wanted to. [ even if he feels guilty about it, going out in a fight-- ] He yelled at anyone else trying to stay behind, because a father shouldn't have to bury his kids.
[she curls a little closer, at the messy feelings. purrs very gently and quietly, just out of habit - she got accustomed to doing this for people when they were really out of it after trials.]
Better to go out the way you want, I guess. [she says, though there's a little buzzy feeling when she says it. for. a lot of reasons, honestly.] What about Sabo?
[ it's fine that she curls up and purrs, because they've arrived at the beach and he can plop himself down next to the ocean and just kind of pet her quietly. if he's honest, he doesn't know how he feels about that himself properly, though he's distracted by being kind of shocked she's even bringing sabo up ]
... He's been dead for ten years, Nimona. [ twice as long as ace knew him, and that hurts in a distant way he's used to. more than that... ] We promised we'd live with no regrets. I can't undo all the bad things that happened and just...
[ he shakes his head ]
All we wanted, the three of us, was to be free. To be able to control our own destinies. Even using the book for this much feels weird to me.
[she figures she might as well bring up possibilities, and she's patient enough to just let him pet her and think it through.]
Yeah. I get it. [she hasn't put anything in the book either - she doesn't even really care to. it's not like she has anything in particular other than the people here that she wants to protect.]
... I just talked to Temenos about bringing someone he really cared about back, who didn't deserve to die, is all. [and it made her wonder if she should do the same for ace, but - the circumstances are different, and that's okay.]
But - no regrets is good. [she says, settling. listening to the waves.] And using the book this much means everybody is free. It means I get to. And it means you get to, too.
[ for temenos. he's not objecting; he just thinks it's different circumstances, even though he's also a little conflicted about it. thatch was more recent, but is it any better to bring back a man who was murdered by someone he thought of as a brother when a large part of his family would be dead by then? what's the actual end goal? absolving his own guilt for letting him get hurt? ]
I'm not objecting to people using the book. And I'm definitely not objecting to anything we agreed to put in it. [ scritch scritch ] ... You deserve all that. [ generic you and nimona you both. he can't quite convince himself he does, but enough people think so he's not going to argue when he wants it too anyway. being selfish is part of the pirate job description. ] Just feels weird to start changing too much.
[she nods a little at the first part. it's just on her mind.
but the second part is also fine, and she gets it. she didn't have anything she thought was worth putting in the book. for a bit, she thought about trying to save her world somehow, but - actually, she doesn't care. so.
she settles.]
I just wanted to know if you'd thought about it. [because temenos hadn't!] But it's fine to not change things if you don't want them to. If everything fits better like this.
[ he throws his head back a little with the laugh ]
Yeah, we are. [ he's a little delighted she believes it, and it also helps him believe it, even though like. he does on his own anyway! ace's self esteem is so funny please save me ]
[ the idea... of making a new crew... had not crossed his mind... and it is clear when he blinks ]
... I figured we'd find what remained of my old crew and go from there. Even if Pops is gone... [ hmmm ] Remember that friend with the phoenix fruit I told you about? Marco should still be around somewhere no matter what. I figured we could start by looking for him. He's pretty much impossible to kill, and he was first division commander, so he'll know everything.
[ there's a pause ]
Not that you guys would have to listen to him. [ they only have to listen to ace :/ ]
I wouldn't, anyway. [nyeh. only ace gets to boss her around and even then that's a 50/50 shot.] We can find that guy, though, yeah. Especially if he's got info. Do you think he'll know where Luffy is?
Maybe. He should at least know if he's okay, anyway. [ boops her kitty nose at the wrinkle ] To be honest, I don't even know how Luffy got to me in the first place. He broke into Impel Down somehow, and he showed up to the execution with a bunch of escaped convicts and Boss Jimbei, but his crew was nowhere around.
[ things he probably could've asked robin but he forgo..... and also has no idea. when she joined so would she even know??? ]
If he's alive, Jimbei's another one who might know, but he's a fishman, so he'd be a lot harder to find unless he went back home... [ sighs a little ] I'm sure Luffy's fine. My crew wouldn't have let anything happen to him after I... you know. [ Died For Him ]
[her tail flicks back and forth when he boops her.]
I've got no idea, but the way you talk about him all the time makes me think that he's kind of like, magic. [he's got protag powers] I don't believe for a second that he's in any sort of real trouble. Physically, anyway.
[there's a little like... sympathy twinge. ace has only been important to her for a little bit in comparison to luffy, and she was a wreck. she can't imagine what it might be like for luffy.]
He gets into plenty of real trouble physically. But he's more resilient than a cockroach.
[ neither of them know luffy needed life saving surgery after being hit by magma. but ace seems confident luffy is okay! this is partially because robin said luffy talked about him and ace was like WHILE I WAS ALIVE? FAKE ]
... His crew'll be there for him. I'm sure of it. I entrusted him to them, after all.
[help all of you stop being vulnerable to magma. simply be invincible]
I'm guessing they took that serious. [she's not gonna lie, she's curious to meet the rest of the straw hats, too. nami's going to be her best friend or else]
[ ok you joke but this is an actual skill they can and have learned. simply become invulnerable to things. ACE'S TURN TO LEARN THIS ]
They better have! It was a serious request. [ but despite the joke he leans back ] ... He really got himself a dependable one. They look at him like he's an idiot, but one they'd follow off a cliff if he asked. It's why I wasn't worried about what'd happen to him after.
she does little cat kicks against his back and ignores how embarrassing it is that i called dibs makes her happy every time]
Super embarrassing! What if I'm looking for a cooler hat theme, huh? Or really good benefits? Reigen said I should be looking for better employment after my last gig! [does ace's crew have dental]
Being a pirate isn't a job, it's a way of life! [ it is also sometimes a job. this is all mock offense and he's grabbing her so he can do that thing where you kinda just hold a cat like long cat is long and wiggle them a bit ] And there is nothing cool about his strawhat, don't lie to me.
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I don't know everyone who died or didn't at my execution. Whitebeard... [ the feelings are a mess, here ] Pops was sick. For a long time. Before I joined the crew, even. I know he went out the way he wanted to. [ even if he feels guilty about it, going out in a fight-- ] He yelled at anyone else trying to stay behind, because a father shouldn't have to bury his kids.
[ which is like. and then ace died, but anyway ]
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Better to go out the way you want, I guess. [she says, though there's a little buzzy feeling when she says it. for. a lot of reasons, honestly.] What about Sabo?
[she does not know that sabo is alive, but]
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... He's been dead for ten years, Nimona. [ twice as long as ace knew him, and that hurts in a distant way he's used to. more than that... ] We promised we'd live with no regrets. I can't undo all the bad things that happened and just...
[ he shakes his head ]
All we wanted, the three of us, was to be free. To be able to control our own destinies. Even using the book for this much feels weird to me.
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Yeah. I get it. [she hasn't put anything in the book either - she doesn't even really care to. it's not like she has anything in particular other than the people here that she wants to protect.]
... I just talked to Temenos about bringing someone he really cared about back, who didn't deserve to die, is all. [and it made her wonder if she should do the same for ace, but - the circumstances are different, and that's okay.]
But - no regrets is good. [she says, settling. listening to the waves.] And using the book this much means everybody is free. It means I get to. And it means you get to, too.
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[ for temenos. he's not objecting; he just thinks it's different circumstances, even though he's also a little conflicted about it. thatch was more recent, but is it any better to bring back a man who was murdered by someone he thought of as a brother when a large part of his family would be dead by then? what's the actual end goal? absolving his own guilt for letting him get hurt? ]
I'm not objecting to people using the book. And I'm definitely not objecting to anything we agreed to put in it. [ scritch scritch ] ... You deserve all that. [ generic you and nimona you both. he can't quite convince himself he does, but enough people think so he's not going to argue when he wants it too anyway. being selfish is part of the pirate job description. ] Just feels weird to start changing too much.
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but the second part is also fine, and she gets it. she didn't have anything she thought was worth putting in the book. for a bit, she thought about trying to save her world somehow, but - actually, she doesn't care. so.
she settles.]
I just wanted to know if you'd thought about it. [because temenos hadn't!] But it's fine to not change things if you don't want them to. If everything fits better like this.
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I don't know about better. But it's probably what's for the best. [ ... ] I've never been one to take shortcuts anyway. Kinda ruins adventures.
[ he is maybe convincing himself A Little ]
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[...]
If you ever change your mind, we still have the book.
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[ scritchies under the chin ]
Only thing I regretted when I died was that I wouldn't get to see Luffy get to the end of his dream. That's about all I should care about fixing.
[ it's not, but. ]
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Should. [she huffs.] You can care about fixing what's important to you.
[she knows he knows this, just. she takes the scritches...]
No regrets, I know, I know. You're gonna get to see Luffy do all that. And we're gonna be really fuckin' great pirates. We can do anything.
[she actually believes that. it's wild. she didn't, when they started.]
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Yeah, we are. [ he's a little delighted she believes it, and it also helps him believe it, even though like. he does on his own anyway! ace's self esteem is so funny please save me ]
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What do you think you wanna call us? Like - your crew. Or do you want one?
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... I figured we'd find what remained of my old crew and go from there. Even if Pops is gone... [ hmmm ] Remember that friend with the phoenix fruit I told you about? Marco should still be around somewhere no matter what. I figured we could start by looking for him. He's pretty much impossible to kill, and he was first division commander, so he'll know everything.
[ there's a pause ]
Not that you guys would have to listen to him. [ they only have to listen to ace :/ ]
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and then she wrinkles her nose.]
I wouldn't, anyway. [nyeh. only ace gets to boss her around and even then that's a 50/50 shot.] We can find that guy, though, yeah. Especially if he's got info. Do you think he'll know where Luffy is?
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[ things he probably could've asked robin but he forgo..... and also has no idea. when she joined so would she even know??? ]
If he's alive, Jimbei's another one who might know, but he's a fishman, so he'd be a lot harder to find unless he went back home... [ sighs a little ] I'm sure Luffy's fine. My crew wouldn't have let anything happen to him after I... you know. [ Died For Him ]
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I've got no idea, but the way you talk about him all the time makes me think that he's kind of like, magic. [he's got protag powers] I don't believe for a second that he's in any sort of real trouble. Physically, anyway.
[there's a little like... sympathy twinge. ace has only been important to her for a little bit in comparison to luffy, and she was a wreck. she can't imagine what it might be like for luffy.]
... Hopefully he's with your crew or his own.
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[ neither of them know luffy needed life saving surgery after being hit by magma. but ace seems confident luffy is okay! this is partially because robin said luffy talked about him and ace was like WHILE I WAS ALIVE? FAKE ]
... His crew'll be there for him. I'm sure of it. I entrusted him to them, after all.
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I'm guessing they took that serious. [she's not gonna lie, she's curious to meet the rest of the straw hats, too. nami's going to be her best friend or else]
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They better have! It was a serious request. [ but despite the joke he leans back ] ... He really got himself a dependable one. They look at him like he's an idiot, but one they'd follow off a cliff if he asked. It's why I wasn't worried about what'd happen to him after.
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Kinda seems like he has that effect on people. [she's vaguely amused.] You better watch out, maybe I'll end up joining his crew instead.
[she would not]
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[ don't do him like this!!! ]
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she does little cat kicks against his back and ignores how embarrassing it is that i called dibs makes her happy every time]
Super embarrassing! What if I'm looking for a cooler hat theme, huh? Or really good benefits? Reigen said I should be looking for better employment after my last gig! [does ace's crew have dental]
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she dangles, and is doing her best to be a cat slinky, trying to chew on his fingers in PROTEST but it's all mock protest in response so, y'know]
I'm very serious about my work! [ok] You just want me to tell you that your hat is cool.
[she has been wearing it without taking it off for like three weeks.]
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[ his hat is not cool and he has bad taste but he thinks its so cool ]
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