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The world turned.
Zoro looked out on the sea, the crew celebrating over a victory they had won once before. They didn't know that though. Zoro was the only the only one who remembered. The sunset reminded Zoro of a smile. The warmth felt like a hug of someone familiar. He heard footsteps and looked behind him.
"Hey, Zoro, you've been staring at the sunset for a long time. Is something wrong?" Nami asked, walking up beside him.
"Just looking at the sunset. It reminds me of someone." The green haired man responded. The wind ruffled his hair like an old friend might, and Nami smiled, looking out from the Sunny. "Yeah. If feels familiar, as if there's a friend from long ago with us."
Zoro nodded. Nami didn't remember the death of the first world, but she and Robin seemed to have some sense that there was something missing. That someone who should have been with them was gone. A memory washed away from history. They were right.
"Zoro, come on! Sanjis got some really good wine." Usopp shouted.
Zoro smiled and looked up. His silver eyes staring into the only blackness. He knew that somewhere, a pair of golden eyes looked back at him. "Coming!"
Nami was walking in a field of destruction. Everything was dark and the sky shone with an eerie light. Raindrops fell down on her face. A figure stood some ways away turning it's back to Nami. Her eyes widened and she yelled "Don't go!"
The figure turned and a familiar laughed filled the air, ringing like bells. The figure turned it's head and then ran away. Nami tried chasing it, but no matter how far or fast she ran, the navigator knew she could never catch up.
Nami often had dream like that. She would always wake up with tears in her eyes, as if she had said goodbye to and old friend who she would likely never see again. It often felt as if there was someone missing in her life.
Some person who was so vital to her life, who had cared for her.
And yet the ginger could never recall the face of the person who she chased in her dreams. She had once asked Zoro about it and if had experienced anything similar. He had simply smiled with a wistful look in his eyes. He knew something, but he never told her.
She often wondered what he could remember that she couldn't.
Usopp was a liar. He made up tales of whimsy to entertain other and embellish his accomplishments. He loved it. Chopper would always believe him, no matter how fantastical that story. And tonight he was certainly telling a fantastical story.
"Oi, Chopper, did you know I once sailed with God himself?" Chopper turned, widen mouth and said, "Really?! Tell me!" Usopp smiled and got up, ready to tell his story. He looked around the room, seeing if everyone was engaged. Everyone was looking at him with various amounts of amusement. Except for Zoro who was staring at him, mouth slightly agape as if he had just realized someone knew a secret he didn't want others knowing.
Usopp ignored it and continued, "Yes, I once sailed with the seas with God, being the best sniper in the world, he wanted me to be on his crew! We once went up against a Yonko and beat him with my sniping skills and his fists alone! We were best friends!" Usopp said proudly pointing his thumb at himself in accomplishment.
Choppers eyes were full of stars. "Wow!"
Usopp looked over to Zoro, who was now standing and looking off into the distance, small smile etched on his face. Usopp wondered about his reaction, he would ask later.
Sanji often wondered about his inadvertent habits. He would occasionly cook meals that was seemingly meant for someone who wasn't there, completely out of habit, as if the man had always done it that way. He had recipes that he didn't think anyone would particularly enjoy that were underlined in importance.
He would also often accidentally make too much food, and then he would have to save the abundant leftovers. He would lock the fridge, but nobody on the ship would steal food like that. Everyone was always fairly polite (even Mosshead) about their food.
And yet he still did these things as if they were a normalcy. As if there was someone who was missing. The crew sometimes commented on it, complaining about how Sanji locked fridge, making it hard to get snacks or how he made too much food.
The odd thing was that Mosshead had never commented on it, as if he also saw the actions as completely normal. Sanji thought that was weird, because the swordsman critiqued him on basically everything he did, as it it was destiny for them to fight. So why not this?
Robin knew that there was something odd about the Poneglyphs. Out of the Poneglyphs she had found and read, there seemed to be 2 conflicting narratives. The first was slowly unfolding the story of 800 years ago, of a man named Joyboy and an ancient civilization, with the most recent one of that narrative being an apology letter to Poseidon.
The second, however, was what truly intriguing her. It was the story of a boy who sailed as a pirate. But the crew was the crew Robin was on. Her name was etched in events that seemingly never happened. Adventures they had yet to have, and adventures that hadn't happened. She hadn't found every Poneglyph for that story, but she knew that a grim fate befell the world. She wondered what had happened.
Robin was certain that this had something to do with this crew. The stories felt familiar, like they had happened once before, in some distant dream. And yet they were engraved on stone, set to be remembered by history.
Ace felt as if there was hole in his life. As if there was a gap where a person used to be. There was Sabo and Gramps and the Bandits and the Whitebeards. But it felt as if someone wasn't there. He had lived his early life in the woods, with Sabo, and Sabo had nearly died on him. He had Gramps around since he was a baby, as well as Dadan and the bandits. He loved them with all his heart.
And now he had the Whitebeard pirates, with Pops and all his sisters and brothers from the crew.
But someone was missing. Ace ha once tried to explain it to several people. Gramps had spaced out and agreed that something was off. Sabo had repeated the same sentiment, and the two brothers would talk about it from time to time. He had asked the Whitebeards and they didn't think anything seemed off about the world.
Then Ace met the Strawhats. It was odd for a pirate crew to not have a Captain, and for the titular straw hat to be a simple item. But it wasn't a simple item to Ace. It exuded the same energy he had felt his entire life. Of something missing. When he had said this to the crew, they had agreed immediately. Ace knew something was off, someone wasn't there, but he didn't know who or why.
Somewhere, a pair of golden eyes looked down. A small smile etched itself on his face. "I miss you guys."
The world turned.