Luffy takes the seat next to her bed after Sanji left and tilts his head as she watches him go. He hasn't met his soulmate yet, so he's a bit clueless when it comes to loosing them. He's clueless completely. What's a red string have to do with love?

Why's it so important? Why does a string her to dictate who they're meant to be with? Isn't string fragile? Does everyone get a string? Are soulmates born on the same day? When does the string appear? The system doesn't make sense to him. If it's "the perfect system" like they claim, then why are there so many people on this side?

Why are so many people getting hurt by it? If meeting his soulmate only means he's going to have to go through getting hurt like this, then he never wants to meet them. He's glad that he was born over here.

"Hey, Luffy," her voice causes him to give her a smile and forget this train of thought. "Can you tell me a bit about everyone here?"

"Of course!" Luffy moves the chair so he's facing her. "So... I was born here! Ever since I was little I've wanted to be a gang leader! Uhm... Zoro wasn't born here... but he got lost and wandered into town. And he didn't bring his identification... so he got stuck here! He wants to be the world's greatest swordsmen!"

"Nami lost her soulmate... because she's stingy," Luffy crosses his arms over his chest. "But actually, we don't know why, as she told you before. But she's really nice, but also really mean. And she wants to make a map of the whole world! So one day we're gonna get out of this town!"

"Usopp, lost his soulmate, I think he told them one too many lies or something," he shrugs, thinking over conversations they've had. "He wants to be brave! And I think he is! But he gets scared real easy."

"Sanji loves women," Luffy forms his mouth into a straight line. "So I don't really know how, but he lost his soulmate too. He wants to find a place called the All Blue. He's a great cook! And the All Blue is said to be the best place to find ingredients! I'm excited!"

  "Chopper... well... he's a reindeer," Luffy nods his head. "He's our doctor obviously. I think he was born on this side of things as well. He wants to be a great doctor!"

  "Robin, she's our archeologist! That's a big word," he sticks out his tongue. "She already told you how she got here... and she wants to read all the Poneglyphs. Something you probably don't know about, considering you didn't even know anything about this side..."

  "Franky is our architect! He mainly just builds things for us! Like our secret base! Oh it's so cool!" he gives her a smile. "I can't wait to show it to you! Anyway, I'm unsure... how he got here... but he wants to see his creations complete their journey! So when our journey ends, so do theirs! He's a great guy! I'm sure you'll get along with him!"

  "And Brook is our musician!" Luffy swings his legs. "Obviously, he died! And he wants to meet up with someone who he made a promise with before he died!"

  "That's... that's a lot to process,"  she laughs, before thinking about the other two. "But what about Ace and Sabo?"

  "They're not in my gang!" Luffy puts his arms behind him. "But they were born here as well... well, not Sabo. He's from the town next door. Ace is a part of the Whitebeards! He's pretty high up and they're like a family there, but he lives with us when we're not at our hideout because Sabo and I are his brothers. By oath."

  "Sabo nearly died when we were younger, but a few months back we found out he's been alive," Luffy nods, thinking over his words. "But he's a part of the Revolutionary Army. They're trying to get the Government to remove the soulmate system. Which makes sense to me. It's pretty stupid if you ask me."

  "And why?" she tilts her head. It doesn't seem stupid to her. Not at all. It give people a chance at feeling loved.

  "Well, why should a string dictate who you marry?" he looks at her, straight in the eyes. "I mean, don't we go through life making mistakes? Why should put love life be anything different? We learn what we need by trail and error, right?"

  "So it only makes sense that we should be able to fall in and out of love without being punished," he shrugs. "We shouldn't have to be constantly looking behind our shoulders... hoping that we fall in love with the one person the government decided was the perfect one for us. And the only person for us."

  "Like, what if they were wrong? Then is it really your fault that you two didn't work out? Aren't they putting too much blame on other people and they aren't taking enough blame themselves?" Luffy takes a deep breath. "But maybe I'm crazy. My dad is the one trying to bring the system down... so who knows? I'm pretty biased."

  "I think you're onto something," she reaches out and ruffles his hair, her hand throbbing slightly. "Thanks, Luffy. I'm glad that you answered my question. You did it really well."

>~<