justicereigns | Action // Journal || Ocean Guide; to the end of the world

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Action // Journal || Ocean Guide; to the end of the world

[As Smoker moves through the village of Luceti, checking old haunts, and getting his things, he catches himself up in his usual way of stalking the journal before heading to the barracks.]

[As he wanders, he sings quietly in a deep voice.]

♫The ocean sees the beginning of the world,
And the ocean knows the end of the world.
Thus, it calls us towards the way we must take.
Thus, it leads us towards a just world.
Enveloping pain and suffering,
greatly and kindly wrapping them up.

[It's ironic actually. Aokiji, no Kuzan, (how many times must he remind himself of that?) loathed that song. A marine's dirge.]

♫The ocean sees the beginning of the world,
And the ocean knows the end of the world.
Even if I were to disappear,
The omniscent ocean leads the way.

[Was Justice really like that? So omnipotent that even after Smoker died, people would fight on for her? For a just world, by traveling to the end of the world to fight for justice. Smoker usually believed he had to do it because if he didn't, who else would? But these days, it seemed more and more like marines weren't the ones fighting for that just world after all. What was Kuzan? What was Doflamingo? Tch.]

♫I must not fear, because you are here.
I must not be timid, because my comrades wait for me.
We must advance towards the blue horizon.

[And so Smoker carried on, but he no longer fought just for justice. He also did it for his friends. For the G-5 marines, who without Smoker, really had no one. For the kids who were going to grow up viewing pirates as heroes. For those like Kuzan who fought to protect him and save the world with justice even when Justice seemed to fail.]

[Smoker falls into old habits like riding a bike. Even if he doesn't have his Billower Bike here. He has something better. He has friends. Still, he doesn't check up on them first, he goes through old motions with his jitte, old routines, and ignores his own whistles of pain from air sucked quickly through teeth. Yes, Law had done a good job of patching him up back in their world, but then he got beaten an inch from death by Doflamingo. Fucking shichibukai, Smoker was so done with the lot of them. Done with the brass, done with politics -- no. He wasn't. Not yet. He wouldn't fall yet. Because it wasn't just for the ideal of justice that he kept fighting. The ideal of true justice bound him together, bound him to his friends, but those people needed him and he wouldn't fail them. Kuzan was so much smarter than he let on, but did he know how deep the course of corruption ran? It seemed that every time Smoker found one rabbit hole, the warren turned out bigger than an entire island worth.]

[Sometime when it's all over, he walks around at night, singing again and looking at houses.] [That's when he makes the journal post in voice.]

I'm back. Ikki, get your ass back to the village if you left. [An irritable huff.] And I need to see a doctor. [He can't bring himself to say please. Can't bring himself to mention Law by name either.] Whoever's available, it's important. [He probably shouldn't have been exercising in this condition, but whatever. He goes at his own pace.]

For New Feathers, I'm Smoker. [A marine. Vice Admiral of G-5, it means nothing to no one, except a few, and to G-5, he's their last savior. Traitors everywhere.] I intend to pick up teaching basic self-defense, kickboxing, and jitte outside the barracks, daily. If you haven't been told yet, there are Drafts rather frequently and the Malnosso have no qualms about taking noncombatants.

And to anyone a little more battle-hardened... [Where does he even begin? "Hey have you ever had one day where everything you ever knew about right and wrong were turned inside out, only that day then sort of became the story of your life? Oh and my best friend is currently a badass hobo who saved my life from a good guy traitor. Not really sure how to take that...."]

I just had a very long day that lasted about twenty years of my life. I need a drink. [And a friend. A pair of ears. Someone to talk to him and tell him he wasn't going nuts. Or maybe just tell him the truth... whatever that was at this point.] That's meant to be an invitation. Open to anyone. For one night only, that includes pirates.

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Of course. [And she can't lie.]

...If you want, but I have no problem coming to you.

You know, one of these days I'm going to get you to learn jitte. [Or die trying.]

Okay, I'd appreciate that, thank you Kohaku.

I have a hard time carrying things that are harder than me.

No problem. I'll be there soon.

What if you used a wooden one?

I can try!

[And now she's out. Flying over all the buildings Smoker said he was by, and eventually, she'll land right infront of him]

[A small grin. He's actually really relieved to see her strangely enough.] You seem to be doing well, angel.

That's maybe because nothing bad has happened to me lately. But you don't look your best.

[A small barking laugh.] I'm glad you've been safe, but yeah, wish I could say the same.

[Gloved hand to his forehead. No more blood, but it's clear he went through quite a bit of abuse.]

I was less outclassed in the War of the Best. [Shakes his head.]

Only kidnapped once...and what they did was very rude.

[She'll kneel down, and give it a good look over, and soon after that, he'll see a light, and it should almost warm as she heals it.]

...The War of the Best?

What'd they do? [A headtilt.]

[And a grunt as he closes his eyes. At this point the worst of the gashes have been healed and stitched, but there's a lot of deeper muscle damage that you know training didn't help. But it slowly starts to melt away, the deeper pains lifting, though there still might be some scars already getting added to the canvas that seemed to map out a journey through the hardest parts of his world.]

Marineford. When one of Whitebeard's sons was going to be executed, he took all his allies and came to the marines' base to rescue his son and sink the port. Every marine in the Grand Line who could be spared had to be there. Boa Hancock broke my jitte back then, but at least not my face. [A snort.] I got my butt handed to me by two more shichibukai this time. In the same day. It was a very long day.

They made me eighty-five pounds, instead of my normal fifteen...I couldn't walk around without someone helping me for a little over a week. [See. Rude. Very, very rude.

And hearing he was in at least a few fights, her healing doesn't stop at his head. Luckily she's mastered healing magic that it can go through a whole body.]

That sounds dangerous, and painful.

I see. That does sound difficult.

Yeah... it wasn't fun. [Snorts.] And that was after a pirate thought it would be a good idea to switch my body with second in command's. But since he saved my life I can only complain a little.

Were you affected by the shift here?

That doesn't sound fun at all..

[And in a few minutes she'll be all done!]

Shift? [No one has mentioned that since she got here, so it's not one of the things she remembers.]

Something about the spirits? [Another head tilts.] I only skimmed the journal so I'm not that caught up.

[He's a pro stalker, but if it doesn't have pirates, his interest is less >>;]

I wouldn't know anything about the spirits. I don't need them for using magic here...so I don't really know much about them.

[A shrug.] Same.

I know a few of my students used them, but that's about the extent of it.

I guess you were all right then. [And he totally didn't skim her latest post... except that he did... Only he doesn't know how to ask "Hey did you find the answer to your question and do you still need to talk about it?" without saying that. Hm.... tact... Tact is hard.]

Or was anything on your mind lately?

If you want to learn more about them, I could always find them. They should be easy for me to find and talk to.

[Aww, he cares. She should give him more hugs.]

Of course, there's a lot to think of here.

No, it's all right. [Waves a hand back and forth.] It seems like there might be some downsides to it that weren't accounted for before.

[He does care! He really liked Patchouli too.]

[And hm. Have another head tilt. He is doing that a lot today.]

Anything specifically bothering you?

Then it might be a bad idea to do that.

[Well, have one head tilt back.]

...One or two things...why do you ask?

Yeah, don't worry about it.

[They are just going to mirror head tilts for now. Because Smoker is way too awkward to handle this like a socially competent person.]

[He's not capable of lying to her though, not even bluffing. Hm.]

[He can't say just to catch up. Is it really that bad if he goes super direct?]

[It'll just have to do!] I'm wondering if you got the answer to your question on the journal. [Nod. Just don't ask how he knows about it when he wasn't here for it.]

[It is easier to just be direct with her, so she can't go thinking of something else.

At the question though she'll sit, with her arms hugging her legs.]

I didn't. Most people couldn't understand that I can only fall in love once, but Okita said that it was something I needed to figure out...and that hasn't worked so far.

[Gently rests a hand on her head in as reassuring a gesture as he can manage.]

What does love mean to you?

[Even with a hand on her head, she looks slightly confused, and worried. And it takes a minute or two to answer.]

...It's a feeling...I've never had to explain it.

[A soft grin.] Don't look so worried, there's no wrong answer.

I think love's a little different for every single person, and because of that, most relationships too.

Do you really think you love Shuichiro and Patchouli in the exact same way?

There was a difference...

[It's kind of rude to say that. Comparing the two seemed wrong.]

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