He stood on the beach.
Luffy had been awake since dawn, keeping himself busy in the typical restless manner: dashing back and forth along the bay’s length, grappling an octopus, and trying, unsuccessfully, to teach Usopp a tuneless, yelled song that had absolutely no lyrics.
When the sun had risen he’d fallen down into the sand in the spot where Kael was repairing his cloak, with his usual simple, unhelpful stitches.
Kael lay flat and gazed at the sky, producing a long, drawn-out buzzing sound from between his lips.
“You’re coming with us.”
Kael nipped at the thread.
“And you think I’ll agree to this.”
Luffy gave a deliberate nod.
“Luffy.”
“What?”
“I have never answered your question with an affirmative.”
“I know.”
“And I am not going to ask again.”
Luffy turned his head to one side in the sand to show his trademark grin behind his straw hat—calm and confident and not threatening.
It was not aggression but the certainty that he had already made his decision and waited only for it to take root in everyone else.
“I did ask you yesterday.”
“I didn’t think of it as a question.
I thought it was an announcement.”
“There is no difference.”
“Oh yes, there is.”
He studied Luffy for a second before returning his attention to the sky.
He made another buzzing sound, then sat up straight.
“Okay.
Want to come with us?”
Pause.
“Yes.”
Luffy grinned again in honest delight, startling three seagulls perched on the rocks above the bay.
“See?
Easy.”
He bounced off to inform the others before Kael managed to gather his thread again.
And Kael watched him go.
A few months ago, sitting on this beach and feeling the residual chill of the storm in him, he knew that he had been waiting for something.
For a while after that, he didn’t know what it was.
But he knew that whatever it was, it would give a simple answer to the simple question he’d heard, and he would know the right one when he heard it.
He heard the question.
He got the answer.
After this he gathered his thread and cloak and went to face the rest of the crew.
The crew reacted to the news in the expected order.
Sanji shook his hand warmly, saying how this event allowed him to execute a particular meal plan he’d been devising ever since day one of meeting them.
Kael saw the real joy in him—joy completely irrelevant to the nature of Kael’s power and solely concerned with the idea of having yet another person to feed for years to come.
Usopp began an entertaining story about how he knew from the first moment he’d met Kael that Kael had to join them, that he’d been advocating for him from the very day Kael appeared from the waves.
His story looked very unlike what had actually happened.
Nami noted the discrepancy.
Usopp modified his story and started praising himself even louder.
Nami met Kael’s gaze from over Usopp’s story, without smiling.
No smile was necessary.
Her chakra focused towards him ever since she heard Luffy’s triumphant cry down the beach, and did not retreat an inch since then.
He read it silently.
She held his gaze for half a second, then returned to her map.
Zoro nodded.
No words were needed.
He expressed what he wanted to say about Kael the previous day on the cliff.
The departure happened the next morning.
They prepared Going Merry early in the dawn.
Just like Kael predicted it would be, the bay was calm and quiet at this hour; a breeze coming from the southwest would take the ship from the bay mouth and set it on course for the next island in the middle of the morning. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Sanji hummed in the galley.
Usopp examined each line, announcing their excellent condition with the pride of a man who put in the actual effort into their perfect state.
Zoro slept at the base of the mast.
Kael leaned over the rail on the bow, putting the island under Sage Mode for the final time.
He sensed the cliff he’d been standing on a hundred mornings.
Then the fresh water stream, the grove of bitter fruit trees, the flat stone where he sat when she revealed herself.
He sensed the bottom of the bay, the place where a young Sea King rose just a few days ago and engaged in the long conversation he was not going to finish before leaving this place.
Finally, he sensed the energy of this land, the deep, steady energy of the place, and he thanked it, being himself.
He did not say goodbye.
There was no request for that.
The lines were lifted.
Nami commanded the heading from the helm.
The Going Merry circled around the promontory, heading onto the sea, bow splashing in the wake created by the wind blowing the sail.
He did not look back.
He did not feel, but sensed through the distance of departing bay, the ripples forming on the water surface.
The young Sea King raised herself to watch them leave, making the steady round motion with the intent focus of eyes.
He sent her a last pulse of chakra.
“Thank you.
Please guard the western passage.”
She replied with a gentle wave.
“I will.
You’ll come back.”
He smiled and turned to find Nami standing in front of the helm.
“So.
What is today’s work?”
He did not notice that there was someone watching the Going Merry on the beach above him—someone wearing a long cloak and holding a book.
She stayed there for a long time but did not open the book.
She watched as the ship sailed away and became a mere dot on the eastern horizon.
When the dot finally vanished, she vanished into the woods.