[2 Days later, Boot Town]
In two days, the Straw Hats have done nothing but what can be described as a miracle. The talk is all about the Straw Hats who opened Boot Town.
Once the Drifter, what they now call the man, vanished, the Straw Hats organized the townsfolk and led them in putting out the fires. In the whole incident there was only one casualty, the preacher, whose body was dumped into the wasteland where they once dropped the bodies of the preachers victims.
The Boot Town Church underwent some serious reform with the Straw Hats assistance. Priest- now Father Ted, a kind and generous soul who was always sympathetic to the poor and the one who took confession took the role as the new preacher and openly worked with the Straw Hats and helped reorganize the church and reconstruction efforts. The people also elected a ruling council that established a separation of Church and State and used the preachers enormous accumulated wealth that Nami found and, after taking a share of it, Nami helped organize it and spread the money to repairs, reconstruction and new infrastructure and support for the poor.
Social structures also changed as the people worked next to one another and overcame their differences as a community. Usopp had several very inspirational speeches about community and overcoming hardship and inspired hope among the people. Zoro and Reiko help train the people to fight for themselves, teaching swordsmanship, discipline and more. Jinbei and Franky lead and organize reconstruction and the physical aspect of the towns reconstruction. Usopp gives inspirational speeches in the square and tells the children stories and Brook helps a local band. Gigi and Nami work with the new administration, working finances as mentioned and other administrative tasks and training the new staff. Luffy gets free meat but is hailed a hero by the townsfolk. Robin and Reina help them develop a true history and write the tale of the Drifter so his truth will be remembered forever.
Eventually it is time for the Straw Hats to leave. The bell rings as they leave, this time not to signal danger but to signal celebration at the reconstruction of the town being completed. The townsfolk thank them and apologize for their actions from before and are deeply grateful for the Straw Hats assistance.
The crew leave the town with cheers and begin the long trek back to the ship. Luffy puts a hand on his straw hat, "They're gonna be ok now." He says quietly, looking back at the town. Jinbei nods "They will." He says. The mist that had been on the path when they arrived cleared with the sun shining down. Reina and Robin hold hands as they walk quietly, Luffy munches on another piece of meat from the giant bag of meat he's carrying that the townsfolk gifted him in gratitude, Sanji and Zoro argue, Nami leads the group using the map they got at the start, Brook playing an adventurous tune as they walk, Franky posing, Jinbei watching Luffy down another piece of meat with a small satisfied smile, Reiko whispering something to Gigi near the front with a mischievous smirk and Gigi bright red and stumbling behind Nami, Chopper picking every herb he sees on the trail and Usopp dramatically telling Robin and Reina about how he motivated the people with his very heroic speeches.
After a few more hours of walking, they are all dead tired and complaining as they arrive at the log cabin. The dock master comes and sees them and he smirks, "You made it back up the hill from hell." He says impressed. Nami plops the map into his hand, "Yeah, we did." She says smugly. "SUPER thanks for the map and taking care of the Sunny." Franky says gratefully shaking his hand. He nods and turns to Luffy. " "Its not hell anymore." Luffy tells him simply. The dock master looks among the crew and nods "You did good son. I'm impressed. Thank you for what you've done." The dock master says and bows deeply.
The crew board the Sunny, the hilly, mountainous island seeming less intimidating than it did coming in. It's no longer intimidating or frightening, but welcoming, and warm. The Thousand Sunny soon departs from the dock. The dock master waves goodbye as the crew watches as the island slowly disappears behind into the distance. The weight of Hell from when they entered is gone. Now ahead is the open sky.
A/N AUTHORS NOTE
Writing this conclusion was difficult, physically, mentally and emotionally.
I realize i have a lot of characters which makes it physically and mentally challenging and writing in 3rd person limited was truly a challenge for this arc.
I cried writing this arc.
Credits to Poor Mans Poison, Villain Song Wiki, Google, Motionless in White and my friend Bryan for motivating me to write when i was having some trouble with motivation.
This isn't the end though.
This is just the beginning.
Thank you for reading this far,
The City of Light awaits.