The treehouse was quieter than usual.
Night had wrapped the city in deep blue and orange, and only the occasional wind stirred the branches of the old sycamore. Gwen sat at the edge of the platform with her knees pulled to her chest, the wood cool beneath her. She'd been waiting.
A rustle of leaves told her Luffy was climbing up.
He paused halfway up. His hand clutched the railing, but he didn't move. He stared at the planks, heart hammering in his chest.
"What if she doesn't understand?" he whispered.
Ava hovered near his shoulder. "She will. You've seen it in her. You chose her to be your crew."
"She's the first person I've let in," Luffy muttered. "And the last thing I want is to lose that."
"Then show her why you trust her," Ava said gently. "You've faced your fears before, Luffy. This one matters most."
He took a deep breath and finished climbing.
He appeared through the shadows, hoodie zipped halfway and hair a little messy, as if he'd debated coming until the last second. Ava floated behind him as a dim sphere of light—calm, silent, unusually quiet.
They sat across from each other without saying anything for a while.
Finally, Gwen broke the silence.
"You said you'd tell me everything."
Luffy nodded.
"I will." He took another breath. His fingers trembled slightly in his lap. He was terrified.
He had rehearsed it a dozen ways. Ava had given him prompts. Gwen had earned the truth, and he knew she would accept him. But still—what if she looked at him differently? What if she stepped away?
"I'm scared," he admitted.
Gwen blinked.
"I'm scared you'll think I'm a freak. Or that I'm lying. Or worse—that you'll stop trusting me."
Ava floated closer, her voice a gentle murmur. "You've always faced things head-on. You don't have to do this alone. I'm here. She's here."
Luffy met Ava's glow for a long second, then looked back at Gwen.
"I'm not from this world."
Gwen blinked again, lips parted slightly. "You mean, like… you're an alien?"
"Not exactly." He scratched the back of his head. "I used to be someone else. In another life. Another world. My name was Kai Nakamura."
Gwen's brow furrowed.
"I died when I was twenty-one. A car crash. Sudden. One second I was finishing an animation—my dream project—and the next, I woke up as a baby. In New York. No parents. Just… me."
Gwen stared at him, trying to process the idea of someone being reborn with memories. "So you remember everything?"
Luffy nodded. "Everything that mattered."
"And Ava?"
He turned toward the glowing orb beside him. "When I died, I met someone. A being called the Archivist. They offered me three wishes. I didn't even get to think about it too long. It was like... my soul already knew."
Gwen shifted closer. "What did you ask for?"
"One: to have the best of the best that One Piece could offer. The Nika Fruit. All the potential of Haki, and more."
She blinked. "Wait, what's One Piece?"
Luffy stared at her.
"You've never heard of One Piece?"
"No. Is that a game or something?"
He let out a soft laugh. "It's… a story. From my old world. A masterpiece, even with its flaws. It was the first anime I ever saw as a kid, and it changed my life. It made me want to create. It made me believe in freedom, in friendship, in adventure."
Gwen watched him, fascinated.
"It's about a boy who wants to become King of the Pirates. He builds a crew—not out of strength, but out of heart. People follow him because his dream is so big it feels like the sun."
She smiled softly. "Sounds like someone I know."
He chuckled, but his voice cracked. "I made a wish to become the best version of that character—Monkey D. Luffy. But in this world."
He flexed his hand. It shimmered for a moment—just enough for the rubbery skin to glint. Then he let it go.
"Two: to keep my memories. My creativity. My skill. I was an animator before. I wanted to keep creating."
He looked at Ava.
"And three: I didn't want to be alone. So I asked for a lifelong companion. Someone smart. Capable. Someone who could grow with me."
Ava drifted forward and projected a small holographic figure: her tiny form glowed with a gentle smile.
"Hello again, Gwen."
Gwen gave a breathy laugh. "Wow. Okay. That's… a lot."
Luffy swallowed. "You can walk away if you want. I'd understand."
But Gwen didn't move.
Instead, she asked, "What's it like?"
He blinked. "Being reborn?"
She nodded.
"It's weird. Lonely, mostly. You remember everything—but no one else does. And you're always waiting for the world to catch up to what you know."
She nodded slowly, gaze down. "Must've been scary."
"It was. Until I met you."
Gwen looked up.
Luffy continued, "You were the first person who felt… real. Like I wasn't just stuck between worlds. Like I was here for a reason."
She smiled, small and genuine. "You're still you. Weird and awkward and kind of amazing. You could be from Mars and I'd still be your friend."
Luffy laughed softly, then paused. "Do you want to see?"
She nodded.
He stood, then stretched his arm forward—ten feet, fifteen. It wrapped around a branch, then retracted like a ribbon. Next, he closed his eyes.
Ava whispered, "Observation, light tap."
Luffy opened his eyes. "You're calm now. You were nervous earlier. But not scared."
Gwen's eyes widened. "You read that?"
"Felt it," he said. "It's called Observation Haki."
She reached for his hand and touched it. "It's warm. I thought it'd feel like rubber."
"It is rubber. But it's still me."
They sat down again. The night held its breath.
"I still don't know what I'm supposed to do in this world," Luffy admitted. "But I know I'm supposed to make something. Something big. And I can't do it alone."
Gwen's smile returned. "Good. Because you won't have to."
Ava floated between them, glowing a little brighter now. "The crew is officially complete."
Luffy blinked fast. His chest felt too full.
He let out a shaky breath. "I haven't cried since the day I woke up here. Not really. Not once."
He turned to Gwen. "But right now, I kind of want to."
Gwen nodded. "It's okay. You don't have to be strong all the time."
They sat together in quiet understanding.
Gwen leaned back against the treehouse wall. "So what happens next?"
Luffy opened his sketchbook.
He drew three figures: Gwen sitting with her arms around her knees, Ava glowing above, and Luffy looking across with his hand stretched forward. Then he flipped to another page.
He started sketching more frames—
A pirate crew silhouetted by the moon.
An AI smiling from a corner of a screen.
A girl swinging from a rooftop, eyes lit with purpose.
Beneath the first drawing, he wrote: Frame 004: The Whole Truth
He looked at her and grinned. "Next?"
She grinned back. "Captain's orders."