One Piece One Shots

Stay With Me [Rayleigh x Reader]

A heavy silence fell upon the ship the day Gold D. Roger decided to disband the crew.

For years, every single one of you had fought at his side, had taken his leadership to heart. To know that your captain would no longer be there to guide you through the darkest days, that you would all be most certainly forced to move on in separate directions...

You hadn't honestly been able to process it yet.

For the past hours, you had done nothing but let the cool breeze grace your cheeks as you stared at the evening sky in hopes of finding there an answer to the millions of questions that piled in the back of your mind —⁠something that had seemed like a good idea at first, but that sounded ridiculous now that you stopped to think about it. Roger's decision was final, he had said so himself, and nothing you or anyone could come up with would change his mind.

What were you going to do.

After letting out a defeated sigh, you rubbed your face with your hands. You could feel the after-effects of having cried more that day than the previous year under your fingertips, and you grumbled at the idea of letting your crew mates see you like that, even when they shared your sadness in their own ways.

That was just not one of the last memories you wanted them to have of you.

Your arms fell to your sides as you gave your surroundings one last look. Your mind wanted to wander towards more questions —⁠what would happen to the ship when you all left?⁠—, but you refused to give in to new headache-inducing worries. You shook your head instead, and stepped towards the deck's door absentmindedly.

It was only then that you caught a glimpse of blond hair from the corner or your eye, and to say that you froze on the spot would be an understatement. You were in no way a positive emotional support in that moment, not having anything remotely nice to say that would or could comfort anyone, and specially not Rayleigh. He had been Gold D. Roger's first mate from the get go, had seen that ship and that crew come to life.

You couldn't even begin to fathom how he must have been feeling.

Chewing on your bottom lip, you ran your fingers through your hair. On the one hand, you wanted nothing more than to lock yourself in your bedroom and to spend the next decade sleeping your sadness away... on the other hand, you knew you had to be there for him, and not just because he would had it been the other way around. You cared for him, probably more than what was wise, and a lot more than you liked to admit.

"Hey," you greeted as you rested your elbows on the old railing, hesitating for a split second before allowing yourself to lean against his covered arm.

"Hey," he echoed, dedicating you a soft smile that vaguely reached his eyes.

The calm demeanour he displayed even during the worst situations was something that always managed to soothe your racing heart, and for a moment you wished you could stop time right then, with the sky over you two tainted with a million shades of orange and purple and the soft rocking of the ship lulling you into a false sense of security.