The Light Falling Snow of Reminiscence

Merry drifts over the sea while voices call, "HEY!!" and "HEY, HEY, HEY!!" On deck, Luffy asks, "DO YOU KNOW WHERE USOPP IS!? HE'S MISSING!!!" Sogeking tries to dodge the question: "N-NO, I CAN'T ANSWER!! NOW THAT I'VE COME AROUND..." Sanji says people are calling them, and Luffy shouts, "USOOOPP!!!" but Sanji reminds him, "DON'T WORRY. HE WENT BACK FIRST WITH A BOAT." Chopper panics, "EEEEH!!? WHY!?" Luffy insists, "BUT THIS IS HIS SHIP." Sanji quietly wonders how they still do not recognize him as Usopp. Nami checks the ship and says, "I CHECKED, BUT NO ONE ELSE IS ONBOARD." The victory has ended, but the crew's first instinct is still to look for every missing friend.

The crew talks about the voice that guided them. Luffy says, "I DID HEAR A VOICE CALLING US." Chopper agrees, "I'M SURE WE WERE CALLED," and Luffy says exactly what he believes: "LIKE I SAID, THAT WAS MERRY'S VOICE!!" Sogeking is stunned: "EEEH!? REALLY!?" Luffy tries to make the ship answer: "RIGHT, MERRY!? SAY SOMETHING!!" but Sogeking snaps, "IDIOT. THERE'S NO WAY A SHIP CAN TALK." Nami admits, "... I SOMEWHAT THOUGHT SO, TOO... BUT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE." Ahead, someone spots another vessel: "HRMM? A SHIP'S COMING FROM AHEAD!!"

The Galley-La Company ship appears on the waves. The crew recognizes it at once: "IT'S THE GALLEY-LA COMPANY'S SHIP...!!" From the other vessel, people shout, "WUUOO!! IT'S THE STRAWHATS!!" and "THEY'RE ALIVE!!" Another voice cries, "YOU ARE SAFE!!!" Luffy beams at Iceburg and calls, "ICE-OSSAN!!" The shipwrights are amazed that the Straw Hats made it back alive from Enies Lobby and set out during the Aqua Laguna. Robin falls silent, Franky mutters "BAKABURG..." and Iceburg watches Merry with a grave expression.

Iceburg smiles at the Straw Hats' impossible return. "WHAT A BUNCH OF OUTRAGEOUS GUYS..." he says. "THEY REALLY MANAGED TO GET... EVERYTHING BACK FROM THE WORLD GOVERNMENT...!!" The crews cheer across the water, but then Merry scrapes violently against the larger ship. Someone cries, "UWAH!!" and another shouts, "MERRY!!!" The little ship that carried them through the Buster Call suddenly shows the truth in her hull: she has spent the last of her strength.

The allies stare down and shout, "LOOK!! THEIR SHIP...!!" Luffy cries, "MERRY IS...!!!" while someone asks, "HEY, WHAT'S GOING ON ALL OF A SUDDEN!?" Sanji answers with painful calm: "... THIS IS NOT 'ALL OF A SUDDEN'...!! THIS IS EXPECTED!!" He reminds them, "THEY DID SAY THAT MERRY COULDN'T GO ANY FURTHER." Luffy refuses the idea and begs Iceburg: "OSSAAAN!! WE'VE GOT TROUBLE!!! MERRY'S IN DANGER!!! PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!!" Others join him, "GUYS...!! THIS IS PERFECT TIMING!! YOU'RE ALL SHIPWRIGHTS, RIGHT!!? PLEASE!! PLEASE DO SOMETHING!!!" Iceburg only listens, because he knows what the damage means.

Iceburg tells Luffy, "THEN LET HER SLEEP ALREADY...!!" Luffy stares in shock. Iceburg says they have done all they possibly can, and a strange sound comes from the wreckage. He asks, "WHAT'S THAT SOUND...? IS THERE SOMEONE IN THE SCRAP-SHIP ISLAND...!!?" Looking at Merry, he says, "... ISN'T THIS... THE STRAWHATS' SHIP...?" He remembers the Aqua Laguna and says it seemed the ship was hit by it and was in such bad condition. Yet something else was wrong too, and then the voice comes: "I WANT TO SET OUT...!!"

In Iceburg's memory, Merry's voice repeats through the storm: "I WANT TO SET OUT." "JUST ONCE MORE." Iceburg, drenched and shaken, looks at the broken ship and thinks, "WHAT AM I DOING...? FIXING UP A HOPELESS SHIP...!!?" But the wreck keeps calling through the rain, and he cannot ignore it. He works anyway, even while knowing that no repair can truly save her.

The memory continues as waves crash toward Water Seven. A worker shouts, "ICEBURG-SAN!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE!? ANOTHER BIG WAVE IS COMING THIS WAY!!!" Iceburg stands with Merry and hears the ship say, "THANK YOU." Even as others beg, "WAIT!! WE CAN'T LET YOU GO BY YOURSELF!!!" Iceburg answers the ship's wish: "I'LL GO EVEN IF I HAVE TO GO ALL BY MYSELF!!!" Someone warns, "EH!? YOU'RE SETTING OUT NOW!? THE SEA IS STILL REALLY VIOLENT!!" but Iceburg has already accepted that Merry wants to reach her crew one last time.

Back in the present, Iceburg tells Luffy, "I'M... SEEING A MIRACLE RIGHT NOW." He says it is a miracle from a ship that reached its limit long ago. "I'VE BEEN A SHIPWRIGHT FOR MANY YEARS," he explains, "YET I'VE NEVER SEEN SUCH AN AMAZING PIRATE SHIP." Merry floats beside the Galley-La vessel, small and ruined but still dignified. Iceburg gives his verdict: "IT LIVED A VERY ADMIRABLE LIFE." Chopper quietly answers, "I UNDERSTAND." No one can pretend anymore that another repair will carry them forward.

Iceburg asks, "THEN, ARE YOU GUYS READY?" The crew falls silent. Nami can only answer, "YEAH." Luffy stands with a torch and calls the ship by name: "MERRY." He says, "THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA IS DARK AND LONELY. WE'LL SEE YOU OFF HERE!!" The little ship bobs beside the large Galley-La vessel, and the farewell becomes real. They will not abandon Merry to sink unseen; they will send her off themselves.

Merry burns on the sea while the crew watches from a small boat. Someone worries, "MAYBE IT'S FOR THE BEST THAT USOPP... ISN'T AROUND..." because there is no way he could endure this. Zoro asks, "AND WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THAT? HE'LL BE ALL RIGHT..." and Sogeking answers, "A TIME OF SEPARATION HAS COME. WHEN MEN PART WAYS... TEARS SHOULD NOT BE SHED. HE'S FULLY PREPARED FOR THIS MOMENT." The words are brave, but the flames crackle. Luffy tells the ship, "THANK YOU FOR CARRYING US ALL THIS TIME... MERRY."

Ash drifts through the air like pale flakes. Nami catches it in her hand and whispers, "IT'S SNOWING." The chapter turns the falling ash into memories: the day the "GOING MERRY" was completed, Usopp shouting "CARAVEL!!" and "UWOOO!"; the crew working together, someone saying, "LOOK! THE MERRY IS SO SCRATCHED UP!!" and another insisting, "EVERYONE NEEDS TO WORK TOGETHER TO STEER HER!!" Usopp tries to fire the cannon and says, "I'M TRYING TO GET A FEEL OF THE CANNON. IT'S HERE, AFTER ALL." Luffy snaps, "IDIOT, LET ME DO IT." Through those flashes, the ship's voice says, "I... I'M SORRY."

The memories continue through the falling ash. Chopper sleeps on Merry's head while Luffy calls, "ZOROOO!! THAT'S MY SEAT!!" The ship remembers the voyage: "LET'S GO!!! TO THE GRAND LINE!!!" At Reverse Mountain someone shouts, "THE ENTRANCE IS A MOUNTAIN!!" and then the ship enters the greatest sea in the world. Luffy cries, "WOO HOOO, WE'RE HERE!!!" and says, "DON'T LOOK BACK!! WE'RE GOING STRAIGHT AHEAD!!" The funeral fire carries every adventure at once: the Grand Line, storms, laughter, and the ship that never stopped following them forward.

The memories rise higher. The crew remembers Merry flying, the shock of "SKY ISLAND--!!!" and the wonder of "WHOA, THIS SHIP IS FLYING IN THE SKY!!!" Up in the clouds, someone cries, "WAHA-HAHA!! THIS IS GOOD!!" and another says, "AH, IT FEELS GOOOOD..." The happy images give way to the fire eating through the ship's body, the figurehead burning as the ash falls like snow. The ship that crossed seas, skies, and impossible currents is now breaking apart before the crew's eyes.

Merry speaks to them one last time: "I'M SORRY." Luffy looks up, startled: "EH?" The ship says, "I WANTED TO CARRY YOU JUST A LITTLE BIT FURTHER..." and then, "BUT I... I'M SORRY. I WANTED TO GO ON MORE ADVENTURES WITH YOU..." The crew realizes they are hearing her. "MERRY!?" someone cries. "A VOICE..." The ship apologizes for reaching her end, even after everything she did to save them.

Luffy cannot accept Merry's apology. He shouts, "WE'RE THE ONES WHO HAVE TO APOLOGIZE, MERRY!!!" and admits, "I'M NOT GOOD AT NAVIGATING, AND I CRASHED YOU INTO AN ICEBERG!!" He sobs that he even ripped the sail sometimes, that Zoro and Sanji are idiots who broke many things too, and that Usopp always tried to fix her even though he was not good at it either. "WE'RE SO SORRY..." he says. But Merry answers with no resentment: "BUT I WAS HAPPY." The burning ship gives them the one truth she wants them to keep.

The crew breaks down as Merry's final words reach them. Nami cries openly, Sogeking sobs behind his mask, Chopper wails, Sanji lowers his head, Zoro stands silent, and Luffy trembles. Merry says, "THANK YOU FOR TAKING GOOD CARE OF ME UNTIL NOW." Her voice completes the farewell: "I WAS REALLY HAPPY." From the little boat, Luffy cries, "MERRY~!!!" while the figurehead burns away in the snow-like ash. The volume ends with the Straw Hats saying goodbye to the ship that was their nakama.

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