RUMBLE! | By : TreeStar Category: +M to R > One Piece Views: 7990 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1 |
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
RUMBLE!
24
In My Worst Dreams
Luffy relaxed in Zoro’s shirt collar as Zoro walked into the galley and slumped down against the wall. Sanji flopped down on the floor of the Galley as soon as he walked into it. His leg hurt pretty bad. It was hardly the worst wound he’d ever gotten, but it had left him emotionally drained. Nami had walked inside and sat down on a bench, looking tired but pleased with herself while Robin had probably elected to stay outside and make sure no one followed them, or so Luffy assumed. He wasn’t actually sure where she was, but that had never bothered him.
Chopper had flopped down on the deck to catch his breath outside before beginning to tend to the wounds of those around him, so Usopp was getting some attention, and that was fine because he had earned himself a couple red badges of courage.
“That was such a great island,” Luffy sighed happily.
Everyone who heard him glared at him, and Luffy laughed.
“Kuso, uresei,” Sanji grumbled.
Luffy's tummy rumbled loudly in answer. “Sanji…” he whined hesitantly.
Sanji sighed, eyes closed. He was a master chef, but he was so tired…
“I’m hungry,” Luffy finished.
“I know,” the cook mumbled in exhaustion. He started pulling himself painfully to his feet, and Luffy felt guilty for not eating all day and having to put Sanji in this position. …But he hadn’t eaten ALL DAY.
And then… beautiful salvation.
“Sanji-kun,” Nami placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll take care of it. I didn’t get hurt or anything, and I’ve still got some adrenaline going in me that I need to spend.”
Sanji smiled up at her. Not a flirtatious smile, but a smile of relief and real gratitude. “Thank you, Nami-san.”
Nami walked out the kitchen door. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
As soon as she was out of sight, Chopper came in with a tearful Usopp behind him.
“Chopper,” Luffy got his attention, “Take a look at Sanji, okay?”
Chopper instantly became a little man with a mission even as Sanji whined (rather childishly) that he was “just fine, dammit…”
“Take off your pants,” Chopper ordered.
Zoro made a disgusted sound and dramatically looked toward the door again as Sanji took off his pants at his captain’s insistence and allowed Chopper to give him a once over in his underwear before the reindeer predictably took out the disinfectant and proceeded to try to burn his leg off.
Nami came back in with a small basket of mikan and began preparing her own dinner menu. The rice had been steaming throughout the battle, so it was already done as she began preparing a sauce. She also got out some mushrooms and began chopping them up.
Sanji watched her prepare the food as Chopper bandaged his calf, which had a few good deep but short slices in them. Walking would be painful for a little while.
“I thought we would die,” Usopp sighed with luster. “I don’t want to die at the hands of pygmies.”
This was such a stupid statement in itself that Zoro rolled his eyes. “Rest, idiot. When dinner’s ready we’ll let you know.”
Usopp’s panting was evening out and he barely nodded as his eyes fell closed, taking Zoro’s advice right there on the galley floor.
It was quiet for a little while after that, the only sound being a few scattered yawns and Chopper working whist giving advice on healing as he finished helping Sanji and moved over to Zoro.
Luffy watched carefully and never asked any questions, choosing instead to assess Zoro’s damage with his eyes. He was lifted down to the floor so that Chopper could finally give some attention to the wound Zoro had gotten the day before from the alligator. It was a shallow wound, but the skin around it was raw and red with a black bruise forming around the red parts.
It was a rare moment of calm that always set in after a battle when everyone was exhausted and sore. There was nothing to be said, so no one spoke until Nami finished dinner, which raised spirits around the room unanimously.
“Food!” Luffy cheered and pumped his fist in the air. His stomach was so empty he could feel its hunger pangs more than hear its rumbling. Thanks to his stretchy arms, he had a mouthful of rice that could choke a giraffe before his plate had even been fully placed in front of him.
“Should we weigh the new anchor tonight?” Zoro suggested. “Get some sleep collectively?”
“That would be nice,” Chopper sighed tiredly.
“I don’t know if it’s safe enough, though…” Nami added. “They could come after us in boats or something.”
“Who cares?” Zoro asked.
“I CARE!” Usopp screeched.
“Don’t screech!” Nami hissed at him as Zoro threw a dirty look and Luffy cringed.
“You really think they have any boats?” Robin asked, undistracted by the peanut gallery.
“What do you mean?” Luffy piped from Zoro’s leg.
“I mean, they have believed themselves safe all these years from sea invaders due to the alligator, and they naturally would fear it enough to avoid sailing themselves. They are extremely primitive, probably due to the fact that none of them have ventured beyond their shores. Ever. Combine that with the lack of visitors for obvious reasons, and you have a civilization whom I doubt can row a canoe.”
“That, and their islands sort of on fire,” Zoro threw in casually. “I doubt they have time to chase us right now no matter how badly they want vengeance.”
“Can’t we ever just have a normal week where nothing tries to kill us?” Nami slumped forlornly.
“I know what you mean,” Luffy nodded.
“IT’S YOUR FAULT WE CAN’T!” Usopp accused him.
Nami dropped down on a bench and rested her chin in her hands. “Okay… we’re all stressed out and it was a long day. More so for some than for others-” (Luffy looked at his feet) “-so how about I just take watch like normal while the rest of you take a rest? I slept today, after all. But it’s the last time this week. After this, Zoro HAS to take a watch. Seriously. It’s only fair.”
“I’ll take it tomorrow,” Zoro shrugged casually. The break had been nice while it had lasted.
Luffy kept looking at his feet and said nothing.
Dinner continued with half the exuberance it normally had. At one point Usopp regained enough energy to put on a reenactment of the heroic battle he had single handedly fought that evening, much to Chopper’s amazement (even though Chopper had been there and seen the whole thing...).
When Zoro noticed Sanji rise and move for the door, he decided to follow suit and scooped up Luffy to head down to their room.
“Good night!” Luffy called out behind them as they left the room.
A string of half-hearted “G’night, Luffy”s followed them out onto the deck. They were so tired.
No, it was more than that. Luffy sighed in understanding. His crew was stressed out. They were stressed and sick and he knew why. They were worried. Worried about him, worried about Sanji, worried about Zoro, probably. They’d all been through a lot lately, and without the Mugiwara no ichimi’s front line there was no real defense the ship had. Tonight they had been hurt when they shouldn’t have been. In truth those pygmies could have been taken out by Chopper and Usopp alone on a normal day.
The two went below decks and Zoro set Luffy’s hat on the table beside Usopp’s teddy where it usually sat before sitting down on the couch himself. Gods, he was tired! Now he’d eaten a pretty good meal (Nami was pretty inventive with her mikan dishes) and was ready to sleep like the dead all night. He hoped it would be a smooth night. He hoped Luffy wouldn’t have anymore attacks, because he was seriously worried about how hard he would be sleeping that night.
“Feeling okay?” he asked the small captain as he laid back against the couch. He moved his arm to put Luffy into his hat, but he wasn’t fast enough because Luffy hopped out of his palm and onto his belly, thwarting his efforts.
“Yep. Almost normal,” Luffy answered, curling up and getting comfy right there in place. Zoro wasn’t getting rid of him that night. Boshi was wonderful, but Zoro was Zoro. Really there was no toss up.
“Almost?”
“Mm-hm,” Luffy sighed, settling down.
“…Oi,” Zoro said before Luffy’d completely stopped moving. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Luffy looked up at him with big eyes and blinked owlishly. “Snuggling?” he answered innocently.
“You have a bed,” Zoro returned.
“But I want to stay here.”
“You’ll fidget all night.”
“I won’t, Zoro! Please? I’m not tired and I want to be here.”
Zoro groaned. That’s right, Luffy had only woken up from a nap an hour ago. Damn those RumbleBalls for screwing up Luffy’s sleep schedule. But the boy couldn’t be allowed to sleep on him tonight. Zoro wanted that too much. He was getting to attached to having Luffy snuggle against him and act adorable.
Luffy clung to the blue tank top and tried to wrap it around himself as a last line of defense, as if Zoro would forget he was there if he was rolled up in his shirt.
Usopp and Chopper stumbled down the ladder half asleep and shuffled to their hammocks, rolling themselves into them, likely asleep before landing completely.
Zoro smiled after them, then sighed. He had a good opportunity now to learn more about his captain and do some soul searching of his own, and as tired as he was, he didn’t want to waste it. “Okay,” he acquiesced. “I’ll stay up with you for a bit. BUT-” he added as Luffy unrolled and sat up with stars in his eyes saying “REALLY?!” -- “-you have to play a game with me.”
Luffy nodded exuberantly. This was so great! Zoro and a game! “What game?”
“It’s called ‘Truth’, and the way we play is that I get to ask you any question I want about you,” Zoro explained calmly, “and you have to answer it. Then you have a turn to ask me.”
“That doesn’t sound fun at all, Zoro.” Luffy looked confused. “How do we win?”
“First one to back out without answering loses.”
Luffy nodded. A challenge he understood. But it was only answering questions. Why wouldn’t he or Zoro want to answer them? Especially since they were being so much more open since Luffy got sick.
“Okay, I’m first,” Zoro said. “On the island today, you said something about having been in quicksand before and knowing how hopeless and impossible it is to get out of it without outside help. When and how were you in quicksand? Explain that to me.”
Luffy’s face had lost some color. This wasn’t going to be a fun game at all. He even had the inkling that perhaps it wasn’t meant to be. He rolled over and faced away from Zoro. “Nevermind, I don’t want to play.”
“Then I beat you already,” Zoro said.
Luffy’s face scrunched up. He couldn’t lose to Zoro like this! He couldn’t lose ever! He took a deep breath. Maybe he could laugh it off like it had been really funny. He always did that, after all. No one knew any better.
He rolled over again with a huge smile on his face. “Oh that?” he laughed. “It was really interesting-!”
“Luffy,” Zoro interrupted, and shook his head in disappointment. “You don’t have to put on a show for me. I’d never judge you.”
Luffy’s smile fell. He looked down at Zoro’s shirt in silence for a moment before drawing his knees to his chest. Why was Zoro doing this? “Ano na, Zoro… it’s really not a big deal,” he stammered in a way that told Zoro that somehow to Luffy it was a very big deal.
“Okay,” Zoro nodded, “I just want to hear.”
“Why?”
“Because those are the rules.”
Luffy’s shoulders slumped and he nodded.
Zoro wasn’t sure what he was about to hear, and he knew he should’ve hated the RumbleBalls altogether for what they did to his captain, but in a way they were a blessing. Luffy had never showed his inner pain to anyone before this, even though Zoro knew he’d seen more horror and been through more pain and fear than all the rest of them since this cruise started. He just hid it really well.
Now, finally, little by little, he could come free. “Zoro, do you remember in Alabasta, when I told you all that I’d lost to that bastard before?” the boy started softly.
Zoro nodded. “When you stayed behind to fight him and sent the rest of us ahead to cut off the rebel army.”
“Yeah,” Luffy nodded. “That time. Well, when I first fought him, it was… hard. I learned that I couldn’t hit him normally.” He laughed at his own ignorance. “I didn’t even know what a Logia was. Even after fighting that smoke guy…”
Zoro said nothing.
“So anyway, I was fighting him, if you could call it that. I was trying really hard, but it wasn’t doing any good. He made quicksand traps beneath me, and I would run and struggle through them… then he would stop them before I could sink. He was just scaring me. Like it was just a game. And he, um… he called up this sandstorm and he sent it to Yuba. To where that nice old grandpa was digging for water…”
Zoro’s eyes fell closed.
“…And I couldn’t stop it. All I could do was watch and shout for him to stop. I couldn’t do anything about it. I ran up to him and I was shouting at him and I-I wasn’t paying attention. It’s like I forgot I was in a fight… it felt more like I was being subjected to torture… to watch that happen.” Luffy took a shuddering breath and pushed his bangs out of his eyes. “Crocodile… he took advantage of that, and he stuck his hook right through me. He tore right through me like I was nothing, and all I saw was red. Red, and him. His stupid smile, his poison voice. And a sea of red. There was nothing else. It… it hurt. It hurt a lot. Sometimes when I sleep, I can see it, and it’s just… all red.” He fell quiet for a few moments, and Zoro touched him lightly to bring him back to his arms and away from the smell of blood that only the boy could sense.
Luffy shook his head sharply and pushed on. “I think my mind shut down after that… or I just don’t remember him throwing me aside, but he must have after… something. I don’t know…” He rested his head on his arms thoughtfully, looking slightly entranced by the memory that only he could see. A memory that words could never do justice.
“So he opened up a bed of quicksand beneath me, or something… It’s kinda fuzzy,” he looked slightly ashamed, and Zoro knew it was hard for him to acknowledge such a complete defeat. “and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even breathe. He was playing with me. Just scaring me and laughing. He wasn’t even trying. I was really fighting for my life and he was fucking playing with me. I was a fucking joke to him.” He fell quiet, and when Zoro cupped his hand around him, he allowed himself to be laid down and covered by it.
“Know what Zoro? …I’m glad I killed him. I’m glad.”
Zoro said nothing for a while. Then after a while he asked, “Who saved you?”
“It was Robin. She came back for me. And then there was the Falcon dude. She asked him to heal me. He sewed me up and stayed with me until I could move again. After that we flew to the city and met up with you guys...”
“It's okay,” Zoro said. “I won't make you relive that. It you want to tell me, I'll listen, but I won't hold it against you if you choose to stop.”
The two laid there in silence, the candle Sanji had lit flickering on the dresser across the room.
“Thank you, Luffy.”
Luffy didn’t move. “Why did you want to know?” he whispered again.
“Because you carry a heavy weight, and a load gets lighter when you share it with someone else. I don’t want to watch you carry everything alone,” Zoro whispered, stroking the little one’s back.
Luffy brushed his bangs from his eyes again, which Zoro had the feeling was a feint to hide that he was wiping something else from eyes instead. “Selfish bastard,” he whispered.
“Yeah,” Zoro smiled. “Sorry.”
Luffy brushed his bangs away two more times before finally adjusting himself to look Zoro in the eyes. “Now it’s my turn,” he said. “Who’s Kuina?”
It was Zoro’s turn to lose color.
Luffy elaborated. “You say her name in your sleep sometimes. I hear you. Especially when it’s a warm night and you sleep on the deck. Who is she? What happened to her?”
Zoro sighed. “Kuina, ka? …She was my idol. When I was a boy, I trained in swordsmanship at her father’s dojo. I could beat anyone… except her. She was formidable. Skilled, smart. We dueled 2,000 separate times, and I never won.” Zoro smiled at the memory. “It drove me crazy. She was so good.” Now his smile faded. “But she was coming into womanhood, and her father was a traditionalist. She was to be forbidden from using swords again, but before that happened I fought her one last time. Our last duel. I lost, of course. I lost to her, my greatest rival, and then she told me that she would never be able to use swords again. She wanted to be the best in the world, you see,” he nodded to himself. “She was the best… and I told her that. I made sure she knew. And that night we made a promise; that we would stay rivals forever, and see which of us became the best in the world first. I’d never seen her smile like that.”
Luffy petted Zoro’s thumb, and the swordsman looked down at the future pirate king and smiled sadly at his attempts.
“That was also the last time I ever saw her. You see,” Zoro continued, “we both got really excited after that. We were happy. So you can perhaps imagine what it felt like to me to be training beside the river near the dojo the next day when some of the students came to tell me she’d died the same night we’d made the promise. She’d slipped and fallen down the stairs. Just like that.”
He felt Luffy hug his thumb, and held him a little tighter to himself. “That’s how easy it is to lose someone in this world.”
Luffy nodded. “So that’s why you need to be the strongest.” It was a statement, not a question.
Zoro nodded anyway. “That’s why. I made her a new promise on the day of her funeral. We would be the strongest together. That’s why I fight with her sword. Because I can’t forget her. I can’t leave her behind. That’s why I fight with her sword.”
Luffy looked up in realization. “Then, Wadou…”
“Is her katana,” Zoro finished. “It’s never broken or even gotten badly dinged. She protects me. …At least I like to think that.”
Luffy laid still for a little bit. “I think you’re right,” he whispered at last, but somehow he sounded like the idea made him sad.
“Zoro?”
“Hn?”
Luffy twirled his finger in idle circles on Zoro’s diaphragm. “Do you still miss her a lot?”
Zoro watched him for a moment before closing his eyes. “Yeah,” he whispered.
Luffy’s circles became slower. “……Oh.”
Zoro fleetingly wondered if he was jealous. He’d been pretty greedy about Zoro’s attention, lately.
The silence that moved in after that was loud with memories and considerations as each thought about what the other had told him, and about what they themselves had divulged. Finally Luffy murmured, “Zoro?”
“Hn?” Zoro breathed tiredly.
“I’m kinda tired now. Can we finish the game later?”
Zoro closed his eyes. “Later’s good.”
“Thanks.”
Luffy barely got out the courtesy before slipping into dreams.
After a few minutes, Zoro heard one of the girls close the hatch above them, and the little gust of wind it caused blew out the candle, leaving them in darkness. He put Luffy to bed.
------
Luffy shot up in the darkness.
He wasn’t panicked or anything. He was exerting a lot of control. Sort of. But he heard something so out of place and close by that it had pulled him out of a sound sleep, and now as he looked for the source of the out-of-place-on-his-Merry sound, the captain of said vessel noticed one thing right away: It was pitch black, and no exaggeration. He couldn’t make out a thing with his eyes. He rubbed this once… twice to be sure they were actually open. They were. He couldn’t see where he was or his own hand waving in front of him, or any light reflecting off of ANYTHING. It was PITCH black.
He heard the sound again. It was a sawing type of sound, like wood was being cut slowly as the blade drew back through the wood. Except it was different. It was a sound that Luffy had never heard, and wasn’t able to place.
Now that he had experienced a couple of very misplaced-feeling wakeup scenarios, Luffy was finally getting his grip on knowing where he was when he first awoke. The first thing he smelled was all of his nakama embracing him, which meant he was in his Boshi-bed, which meant that he was on the ship, which meant his crew was near him, which was good.
His guard was tense as he stood in his bed, completely frozen and hoping that the noise wouldn’t repeat itself again. For a moment, it seemed that it had stopped, and Luffy started to consider curling up in his hat again. Then it suddenly sounded again, louder this time. It sounded closer. What was it? Where had it come from? A distinct and startling snapping sound rang out behind him with out warning. Luffy had spun around and was facing the sound before it had even finished echoing in his ears. What was happening? Where was the light? Even in the cover of darkness there was usually some type of light resonating from somewhere. And Luffy’s eyes were pretty good at picking up light under his given circumstances… right?
He stood on his tiny sort-of-mattress, trying to make his eyes focus on anything. The sound came again, just as close.
Okay, he was not about to get scared off by some pathetic MEANINGLESS noises on his OWN SHIP! He just had to think for a minute. He remembered telling himself that he’d need to be prepared just in case something like this happened.
One of his senses had numbed. He couldn’t see because his eyes temporarily weren’t working. Of course his hearing was still amplified, so that made things seem louder, but at least he knew what was wrong. Of course that was of little comfort at the moment. He was getting really scared. He needed to find one of his nakama right now. Any one of them would do at this point, but Zoro was the closest, thankfully. …if only Luffy could figure out which direction Zoro was in now. It sounded like everyone in the room was snoring except his swordsman.
…Had Zoro LEFT?! But he’d promised to stay… But Luffy couldn’t hear him… He could hear everything BUT him! Why?
The noise came again and this time Luffy cried out and dropped down into his bed. Never in the even the last few days had he heard something like that on his ship. It was like a scritch-stritching sound now. Was he imagining things?
He fell forward on his shaking hands, eyes squeezed shut. There were other sounds now. He had to be imagining things, because he swore he could hear someone laughing. That cruel familiar laugh that never failed to enrage him… and scare him. But he was dead. Luffy’d killed him. It had taken everything he’d had in him, but he’d killed him. Why did he have to still remember him? He wanted to forget… Everything was growing bigger and louder and closer in his panic, and finally he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Zoro!” he cried out, then took a few gulps of air and shouted again. He shouted and shouted until words turned into nonsensical babble, and almost swallowed his own tongue when hands suddenly wrapped around him and lifted him out of bed.
“Luffy. Luffy it’s okay. I’ve got you.”
“Zoroooo,” he moaned in the darkness.
“I’m here,” he heard Zoro whisper back to him as he was held close to a warm body and a familiar scent.
“What’s happening? Zoro?” Another voice drifted softly across the room as the commotion woke it’s owner.
“Usopp, can we get some light?” Zoro whispered.
A few seconds later Luffy heard a match being struck, but nothing changed in the darkness he saw.
Zoro lifted the boy up to himself again, and watched as he blindly groped the air, reaching for something to grasp on to. Even after he got a hold on Zoro's shirt, he was constantly releasing and reclenching his hands, trying to get a better grip to pull himself closer.. It was as if he feared that if he stopped trying to get closer, Zoro would vanish beneath him and leave him alone in the darkness where he’d been a moment ago.
“Easy, easy. Are you hurting? Luffy?”
“I can’t see! Zoro, I can’t see!”
“Luffy, you’ve gotta calm down or you’re gonna stop breathing,” Zoro pressed urgently.
Luffy nodded and took a few deep breaths, but he pulled himself tighter against Zoro and kept shaking. At least he wasn’t struggling anymore, and they could talk to him. Zoro looked at Usopp, who had carried the candle over and set it down on the table.
Usopp took a seat on the floor beside the couch, and Zoro wasn’t going to send him away. Usopp was worried about Luffy, too, and telling him to go back to bed would only hurt his feelings and worry him more. Besides, no one could deny that Usopp had a way with Luffy.
“Okay, now,” Zoro whispered gently. “What happened?”
“I-I can’t see,” Luffy stammered as calmly as he could. “And there’s something in here.”
“What do you mean something in here?” Usopp spoke up for the first time.
Luffy froze, suddenly aware that he had an audience. He’d been to distracted to notice before. He looked toward the direction of Usopp’s voice, and both of the other men could tell by his unfocused gaze that he was serious about being blind.
“It’s just Usopp, Luffy. The others are asleep. It’s okay to tell us,” Zoro soothed, hoping Luffy wouldn’t clam up.
He didn’t. Luffy closed his unseeing eyes and nodded. “There’s something… I heard something that sounded like it was moving around near me. It’s… I’ve never heard it on the ship before.”
“Have you heard it off of the ship before?” Zoro asked.
“I don’t know! Everything’s all messed up right now! …maybe,” Luffy shrugged helplessly.
“Okay,” Zoro nodded, even though Luffy couldn’t see it. “Can you hear it now?”
Luffy shook his head. “No, it stopped a minute ago.”
“When Usopp lit the candle?”
“I wouldn’t know that, now would I?” Luffy answered bitterly.
“What did it sound like?” Zoro asked.
Luffy looked unsure of himself. “I… don’t know exactly. It was moving, but there was also… an echo.”
“Echo?”
“…Laughing,” Luffy whispered.
“Who was laughing?” Usopp asked. “I didn’t hear anyone laugh, but I was sleeping…”
“You wouldn’t have heard it, anyway,” Luffy amended nervously, rubbing his eyes.
“…Why not?” Usopp was confused.
Luffy didn’t answer for some time, and eventually Zoro dawned a look of comprehension and then frowned.
he thought to himself, and looked up at Usopp and mouthed ‘Crocodile’.
Usopp sat up a little in surprise. Luffy still had nightmares about that guy? Granted the guy had almost killed him, and even defeated him before, and teased him mercilessly and threatened to kill all the rest of them as well--
And suddenly Usopp was more surprised at himself for never before considering the possibility of Luffy being more affected by all of that than he led them to believe.
Of course he had nightmares. And with him so physically weak right now… of course.
Luffy was rubbing his eyes again and blinking quickly as they watered under all the abuse.
“Luffy, stop rubbing them.” Zoro took Luffy’s hand between two larger fingers and held it there. “It’s an attack of some sort. It’ll pass if you just relax.”
Luffy sighed and fell forward against Zoro again, burying his face into Zoro’s shirt.
“Are you in pain, Luffy?” Usopp asked hesitantly.
“No… No, I’ll be okay. I just …got kinda scared.”
Usopp smiled understandingly. “I feel that. I get scared all the time. It’s not a good feeling, and then I feel guilty for being scared, even though there’s really nothing wrong with it. If we never got scared, we’d be insane, right?”
Luffy smiled a little and nodded. “Right. It’s okay to be scared.”
Usopp’s smile grew. “Yeah. Like, there was this one time when I was visiting a town in South Blue and the sun didn’t come up for two days! It was pitch dark and I was stuck there with my crew of 8,000 men, and they were all scared of the dark! So I had a time of it, trying to keep them calm, because I was scared, too. The dark isn’t a fun place to be.”
Luffy’s smile became a grin. He knew Usopp didn’t have 8,000 men, but still… “What did you do?”
Usopp shook his head. “I didn’t do anything.”
Luffy looked surprised and rubbed his eyes again. “Then how did the sun come back?”
Usopp shrugged. “It did it all by itself. I waited and stayed with my nakama, and that way we all got through being scared together, so it wasn’t so bad. And then the sun came back all on its own.”
Luffy grew quiet. He came to realize during Usopp’s story that his vision was sort of coming back.
“Did it ever get dark again?” he asked.
Usopp shrugged. “Not in that same way, but if it ever did get dark again for me, I think the best thing to do is to wait it out with friends until the light comes back.”
Luffy rubbed his eyes again and smiled. “I’m not really sure what all that means, but I can see again!”
Zoro and Usopp looked at each other and laughed. Luffy laughed to, though he wasn’t sure why.
Zoro stopped laughing to smile down at the Mystery Smurf. “Feeling better now?”
Luffy smiled and nodded. “Aa!”
“Ready to go back to sleep?”
Luffy’s smile slipped away into a wary frown. “…A-actually… I mean…” he stammered.
“Guys, real quick,” Usopp suddenly whispered, as if remembering something. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Can’t it wait until morning?” Zoro groaned, though Luffy looked grateful for the distraction.
“It could, but it’s not really something you talk about over the breakfast table… that we no longer have.”
Luffy nodded. “What is it?”
“…It’s Sanji. He isn’t saying anything, but he’s sick.”
“It’s just withdrawal, Usopp,” Zoro argued, but Usopp was already shaking his head.
“I’m not so sure. I heard him getting sick last night, and then this morning, I know everyone was distracted and I think that’s how he did it, but he didn’t eat breakfast. He hardly ate anything tonight, either, and I don’t know about lunch because no one was with him, but if he’s being consistent…”
“…You’re saying the cook’s not eating?” Zoro asked.
Usopp nodded. “I mean, if it were opium withdrawal, then I could see this happening, but it’s nicotine, and he’s getting worse all the time. And I’m not even getting into the mood swings.”
“How have you been the only one to notice this?” Luffy asked incredulously. He had known there was more to Sanji’s condition than he let on, but he’d assumed that Chopper had been on top of it.
Usopp fidgeted. “Because everyone else has been… distracted.”
“What the hell’s distracting them?!” Luffy demanded.
“You are,” Zoro replied bluntly.
Usopp nodded. “But there’s more than that. Sanji’s a moron, so of course he’d never say anything, and I think that made it easier to miss when we all think of Sanji as being so strong all the time,” he added.
“Yeah,” Luffy agreed. “It’s a good thing you watch him as much as you do, Usopp.”
Usopp blushed at the same time Zoro mumbled “I don’t think he’s so strong… Have you asked him about it?”
Usopp looked nervous. “I wanted to, but there hasn’t really been a good time.”
Zoro sighed. Yet another person he had to worry about. “Okay. If you can talk with him in the morning, we can get an update from Chopper. If he’s sick, we need to get it taken care of before it can get worse. Getting sick on the ocean isn’t a game.”
Usopp nodded.
“But for tonight we should really get back to sleep. I don’t know what time it is, but I know that all of us-” he indicated toward Luffy “-need to get more sleep tonight.”
Luffy picked up on the motion. “But… I don’t wanna go back to sleep yet,” he confessed in a small voice. A voice Usopp wasn’t used to hearing his captain use.
The sniper was unsure of what to do, so Zoro waved him off, clearly establishing control so that Luffy didn’t give any spontaneous orders to get out of having the light go out again. “You can go back to sleep if you want, Usopp. He’ll probably be asleep in a minute or two.”
Usopp nodded and reluctantly got up to go back to his hammock.
“Zoro, I don’t wanna go back to bed. Don’t make me go back to bed. I’m not ready to go back to bed agai-”
“You’re not going back to bed. You’re going to stay right here, okay?” Zoro realized as the phrase left his mouth that telling Luffy this didn’t bother him anymore like it would have a few weeks before.
And Luffy remained innocent, naturally. Zoro had to wonder if he was aware of the world enough to comprehend anything as being lewd. In fact, the boy looked at him so hopefully that Zoro found himself searching for something more than innocence in those eyes.
Luffy’s words had cut off, and after it sunk in what Zoro had just said, he nodded as he laid his head back down.
“Okay,” Zoro agreed. “I won’t make you leave, so don’t be afraid to go back to sleep okay? There’s no sound in the dark that can get you anymore. I’ll keep them away.”
Luffy nodded again, belief in his swordsman complete, and scooted up Zoro’s body enough to lay over his heartbeat like he always did. Now any sound that came would be blocked out by the hypnotic pulse he felt beneath him.
Zoro started to reach for the candle. “You ready for me to put out the light?”
Luffy tensed, and Zoro stopped mid-reach and brought his hand back. He cupped Luffy in it instead. “Luffy, what’s the matter?”
Luffy shook his head. “I don’t know,” he confessed. “I’m thinking about Sanji, and those sounds I heard, and him…”
Zoro rubbed his back. “That’s an awful lot of big thoughts for someone your size.”
Luffy slumped a little.
“I’m sorry, Luffy.”
“For what?”
“I’ve never lost my sight before, but I would never want to be alone when it happened. It must have been scary. It must’ve been bad.”
Luffy was quiet.
“We’ll take care of Sanji in the morning, okay? And as for the rest of that stuff, I’ll keep you close tonight. So do you think you can try to sleep again?”
Luffy was still for a little longer before nodding.
Zoro watched him for a few moments before moving to massage Luffy. The boy was easy to knock out, and within a minute he was sleeping, snuggled firmly against Zoro and breathing deeply. Zoro watched him sleep a minute longer, simply entranced by the round little dumpling cuddled against him so rightly. Then, making sure to keep Luffy warm and covered with his hand, Zoro reached over and pinched out the flame.
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