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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.

Chapter List
- 26
- 27
- 28
RUMBLE!

27

A Rock in the Middle of the Sea

�This is a joke, right? Tell me this isn�t really happening.�

�Fate must hate us,� Sanji said, instead. �I blame Luffy.�

�Huh. It isn�t the beach,� said Zoro observantly.

�No shit,� Sanji congratulated.

Usopp went rushing down to check to bottom of the ship for damages. After a few minutes he popped back up top to report, �There�s a tear in six planks over the rock where the wood�s split and splintered. I can fix it, but I�ll need tar to do it right so it doesn�t leak because of the splintering.�

Nami fell to her knees on the deck and covered her face in her hand, a tiny cloud of depression hovering over her. �Why can�t I ever be part of a normal voyage?�

�It�s okay!� cried Chopper. �Zoro can get us off with his magic! He�s a wizard, so he can just magic us off somehow, right?�

Nami turned a glare on Chopper, who cried out and scampered back through the kitchen door to hide behind Zoro�s legs.

�There�s always dials,� Robin suggested.

�I�m not getting my hand blown off! One of you can do it,� Usopp stated immediately. �And Merry can�t keep taking damage like that, so if we can find another way, then we need to be more considerate of her.�

Everyone sighed a little and went into thought. At last Luffy looked up to Zoro and asked him something quietly. The others who were all down on deck didn�t hear what the question was because Luffy�s voice was small, but they saw Zoro�s accepting nod. �Yeah,� he answered the captain, �That would do it.�

He looked over at Usopp. �If you wanna fix it, get started.�

�But what are w-�

�Nami! Sanji! DINNER!� Luffy shouted loudly (for him). His little voice didn�t have the dramatic effect he wanted, but it still caused several smiles to brake the heavy atmosphere and trampled Usopp�s questions.

Nami�s stomach growled and she got up. �I don�t even want to think about this right now,� she said, sounding as though she had chosen to pretend it just wasn�t happening. �Sanji-kun.�

Her voice called Sanji out of his thoughts that Zoro was a moron and that any idea he had was therefore moronic, and he spun his way across the deck behind her like a tornado, kicking things out of the way, pain forgotten. �Haaai Nami-swwwan!�

Usopp didn�t know if anyone had a plan or not, but he had to fix his baby, so he went to the Armory to get rope, tar, and spare wood left over from the table. It looked as though it would come in useful after all.

Chopper ran back to check on Mama-turtle, and Luffy wanted to go along, but Zoro didn�t want to look at the cool turtle again and wouldn�t take him outside. Luffy had the feeling this was just an excuse to cover Zoro�s concern that he would have another attack. Didn�t he realize that Luffy could usually feel them coming now and could warn him? �Of course by then it was too late because the attack was coming no matter what they did�

Luffy pouted to himself.

�What are you pouting about?� Zoro teased. �We won�t be stuck forever.�

Luffy decided to make something up so that Zoro wouldn�t know that he didn�t think Zoro was overdoing it. That would take away his power of persuasion over the swordsman, and he needed to be able to convince Zoro to lighten up for his own good sometimes. Zoro had been scared too many times in the last couple days. Luffy didn�t like seeing Zoro so scared when there was nothing he could do to make it better.

�It�s just time! Mama-turtle doesn�t have time to be tied to a ship that�s stuck on a rock. I told her we�d help her, not hold her back.�

Zoro�s eyes closed as he relaxed and defended their situation easily. �It�s just until Usopp can get the hull fixed. He�s got all the materials he needs, plus Chopper�s going to help him with it. They know it�s important to hurry, but this is the hull we�re talking about, and they know that too. It needs to be done right, even if that takes longer.�

Luffy pouted harder because he just didn�t like that answer.

Zoro decided to go for his simplest tactic. �What will we do if the ship sinks, Captain?�

Luffy tried to keep pouting, but finally gave it up with a sigh. He hated it when Zoro put it all on him. It made everything so clear in his mind, because it forced him to start thinking of answers as if it was really happening.

He sighed. �Even if it takes longer�� he agreed in resignation.

Zoro nodded and, sensing that things were just too serious in little Luffy�s brain, he bounced the boy up in the air a few times, earning a surprised shout of laughter as Luffy flapped his arms and kicked his feet in the air between catches.

Over by the sink Nami wanted to roll her eyes at their childishness, but it was just so cute that she found herself trying not to laugh along with Luffy instead. Sanji was the one who rolled his eyes. When would those two figure it out? It couldn�t take too much longer�

After a few more throws, Zoro stopped so Luffy could catch his breath. The captain rolled onto his front and hung limply with his arms dangling down around Zoro�s fingers, using a large finger pad as a pillow.

�I thought you�d forgotten about that,� Luffy smiled after a minute.

Zoro snorted. �As if you�d let me.�

�Can we play again later?�

�If you�re feeling good after dinner,� Zoro conceded, unwilling to say more with the blackmailing witch in the room.

When Luffy didn�t answer right away, Zoro looked at him in slight confusion. �Luffy?�

Luffy felt oddly disappointed in Zoro�s answer. He hadn�t meant �again� to be just �one more time�. �Okay, but other times, too? And not just like this?�

He listened carefully to Luffy�s tone as he answered, knowing that his captain wasn�t great with words, and that more was always to be read in his tones and expressions.

�I mean� you weren�t playing with me as much anymore --before this happened, I mean. But now you are again��

Zoro started to understand what Luffy was trying to get at. All the same, he softly ran his thumb over his captain�s back to prompt him, and Luffy met his eyes, �I like it when you play with me� because you play with me different than the others do. It�s� I don�t want it to go away when I get big again��

Zoro nodded in hesitant agreement. �Alright.� This was the first time one of them had breached the subject of how things would change when Luffy got big again. Zoro agreed with him, but took it no further than that.

He let Luffy slide down onto the tabletop.

�You�re doing wonderfully, Nami-san!� Sanji sang, reminding Zoro that he was there in all his annoying glory.

�Shut up, Lemon boy.�

Sanji�s nostrils flared smoke as he turned around. �What was that, Cactus Head?� he growled as Luffy fondly informed nobody in particular that he liked lemons.

In front of the sink, Nami sighed, no doubt because the two men were going to try and start yet another fight that they weren�t allowed to have -- especially with Luffy right in between them. So she asked a pointless question to distract them. �Sanji-kun, do you think Luffy can eat leeks?�

�No.�

It was Luffy who answered her question, looking positively rebellious with the �and that�s final� stamp on his face.

Zoro almost laughed. Most people thought Luffy would eat anything, but after many nights of taking watch together due to insomnia, Zoro had learned that there was actually an official list of foods that Luffy would not touch with an eighty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole. He just flat out refused to eat them, no matter how they were served. Leeks were on this list, as were brusselsprouts and wasabi--they slowed down eating due to their unique flavor. Luffy didn�t know anyone who could gobble these foods. Then there were leeks--Luffy just didn�t like those.

�Best let him have his way for now,� Zoro advised.

Nami nodded. She didn�t envy Sanji�s job, that much was certain. She�d never considered how hard it must have been to keep all diets balanced and shift menus around to accommodate when one of them was injured or sick. She couldn�t imagine trying to create a series of varying dishes for the all-liquid diets that a few of them had been put on by Chopper when severely injured and in her own case, deathly ill.

On the table, Luffy listened to the conversation while retaining his stubborn sit. He did not want to eat leeks. Leeks were gross. He listened to Nami and Sanji talk calmly with Zoro injecting sporadic demeaning lines meant to tick Sanji off. He listened until it just became like background noise that he had zoned out on, and it wasn�t until he felt his muscles getting weaker that he really noticed how the conversation was actually growing dimmer in volume.

But weakened muscles meant a weakened mind, and he puzzled over the way the others� voices kept getting quieter until he finally broke into a cold sweat and realized what was happening. Pale and dizzy, he managed to shakily push himself up and stumble over toward where he thought Zoro�s direction was.

He couldn�t really see anymore, but he could hear his blood rushing though his ears loudly. That quickly became his only awareness. He didn�t know he had collapsed again until he felt himself being moved, and after that� nothing.

----------

Zoro had been looking at Sanji when Luffy�s attack had hit, and it wasn�t until the boy had tried to move that Zoro�s attention had been drawn to him at all. It hadn�t been much--Luffy had swayed dangerously as he climbed to his feet, where he had managed to keep something distantly related to balance for two seconds before crumpling down and passing out on the table.

Now Zoro held the ghost-white boy gently, helpless to do anything besides wait it out. Luffy was breathing shallowly like a person who�d just passed out typically did, and his skin was cold and clammy to the touch.

Sanji and Nami had both come over and were waiting with him, Sanji looking somber and Nami near tears.

It wasn�t supposed to be this way. It wasn�t fair. It wasn�t right.

Zoro stroked Luffy�s back as the boy�s head lolled back and forth, his only sign of dim awareness, if one could call it that.

Usually Luffy fought harder. Usually his attacks were a bigger deal because he struggled through them. But this time there was no fighting. The will to fight wasn�t there anymore, and all three of them thought that same thing: Would Luffy be able to hold out until the end?

Sure he was able to act strong when he wasn�t having an attack, but all it took was one second to bring him from smiling to this. It couldn�t take much more to take him from this to�something worse.

Groaning and not really aware that he was doing it, Luffy tried to pull himself across Zoro�s hand, visibly straining from the enormous effort involved.

�Luffy, what do you need?� Zoro whispered.

The boy started to heave, and Zoro realized what was happening in time to hold him over a cup before bile burned its way up his esophagus and Luffy threw up the bare contents of his stomach. After finishing, he collapsed against Zoro�s fingers. His arms dangled limply as Zoro gently rolled him over to be more comfortable.

Luffy realized somewhere in his hazy mind that he needed to offer comfort to them. He had to tell Zoro not to worry somehow. He raised his hand to reach for Zoro�s thumb to pat it in what he thought would be a soothing gesture, but his hand fell short of its goal and dropped limply into his first mate�s palm.

At long last, the Sandman had come to take him far away.

Zoro sat at the table, watching the captain in his hands with blank eyes.

Luffy looked like he was finally peaceful enough now, but Zoro could read him well--he could see the signs, and as much as he hated to think it, Zoro knew--he knew--that Luffy�s physical strength had been held its limits for so long that he had lost his ability to cope. Luffy was just too small and sick to face his attacks like he had before.

He wouldn�t say anything out loud, but Zoro had secretly started to fear that the RumbleBalls were trying their hardest to take Luffy away from him.

He was filled with a surge of emotion that was indescribable at that moment. He felt angry and sad and hurt and scared all at once and he just needed to destroy something.

It was at that moment that Usopp walked inside and sighed, �Okay. It�s patched up. She�ll be fine now, so if anyone has any ideas on how to get off this rock, we should be setting out� about now��

He trailed off when Zoro rose from his seat without a word, put Luffy in Nami�s warm hands, grabbed his swords from where they were propped against the wall, and stalked towards the door. He walked with a purpose, and his eyes held neither the patience nor forgiveness that they usually did. He looked like he wanted to kill something.

Usopp moved out of his way in order to make sure that �thing� wasn�t him, and Zoro pushed right past him to the deck. He walked to the side of the ship, held his swords steady with one hand, and dove into the ocean.

Damn, but was he glad that Luffy�d suggested this earlier, because boy did he need it.

Swimming down beneath the ship, Zoro positioned himself for a pop quiz in swordsmanship. It was nothing for him to cut the rock, and he made short work of it, but it wasn�t nearly as satisfying as he�d hoped it would be. The rock slid apart into several large smooth pieces, lowering the ship into the water and setting it free. Zoro took another ten seconds underwater to just hover several feet below the surface of the ocean, feeling the cold currents tug at his body and make him feel alive and immortal. He centered his chi and relaxed, allowing the tension to leave his body and his mind to go white before he made for the surface.

-----

As the ship suddenly lurched and dropped deeper into the sea to float on its own, Nami held Luffy in her hands and watched him sleep. He was so pale. She was afraid for him.

�Please, please get better,� she whispered.

Sanji stood beside the sink chopping celery, and though he heard her, he acted like he didn�t. The truth was that he was scared, too. Luffy�s ability to rebound from an attack two days ago was not the same level of ability he was showing now. He was getting worse. Perhaps it was because the consistent attacks were so veracious, or perhaps it was because the attacks were becoming more intense. More than likely it was both, Sanji knew the burden had become too heavy for Luffy to bear as he had been. Zoro had been doing a lot to ease it for him, but that wasn�t enough anymore. And it wasn�t like Zoro couldn�t give more, and it wasn�t that he didn�t want to give more. The stupid ass was just afraid to. It had to be fear, because not even Zoro was dumb enough for ignorance to still be his reason for not taking things further.

Was he?

Sanji frowned at himself inside. Thinking about those two was getting so tedious that he just wanted smash their heads together. Except it wouldn�t hurt Zoro right now and Luffy wouldn�t be fazed ever, so he had to wait until Luffy was bigger to find a more effective way.

Sanji glared at the celery. It had leafy green floofs sticking out of the top just like that moron who was SO MORONIC that he had to be to blame for Luffy�s added stress somehow. Grasping his knife more firmly, he started hacking the celery into little diced up bits until he felt better.

While he was abusing the food, the person he wished he was dicing up instead came wandering back into the kitchen, having changed his shirt.

He walked over to Nami and reached to take the captain, but she didn�t move to give him back.

�He�s getting worse, isn�t he, Zoro?� she whispered instead. She looked up from the boy in her hands to the swordsman standing in front of her, and both Zoro and Sanji were surprised to see her tears. �What has he told you? I mean� is he going to be strong enough?�

Zoro didn�t know how to answer that. Nor did he know how to treat a crying woman. He glanced at Sanji for help, but none came.

�Nami, he-� Zoro stopped and started again. �I� he�s not having it easy.�

It�s all I can do to keep him together.

�He�s in pain, he�s tired, and he�s far more emotional than he usually is. It�s a lot for him, and he doesn�t know how to handle it.�

And I feel like the hardest part has yet to come.

�But he�s strong. And it�s almost over now.�

He�s been so strong, you�d be amazed. I�m proud of him.

�He can make it another couple of days.�

He has to.

�Then you know he�ll act like it never happened.�

And then I don�t know what I�ll do.

Nami made no move to show that she�d heard him. She continued to watch Luffy sleep obliviously on, deep in a dream world that none but himself could pull him from. After some time, Zoro sat down, too, but it was several minutes more before Nami slowly walked to Zoro and handed Luffy over, never once looking away.

Then Usopp and Chopper came in and continued to work on the mousetraps, and only then was Nami prompted to go outside and verify their course.

----------------

Luffy roused to the smell of finished dinner. It smelled good, and seeing as how he was positive that he was on the brink of certain death from starvation, he was glad.

Rubbing his eyes, he pushed himself up and looked around the room through blurred eyes. It was dim in the galley� or maybe it wasn�t. Maybe it was bright and it just seemed dim to him. He didn�t know. He was no longer sure about anything. It was a hard position for a captain� no� for a human being to be in.

�Luffy? Oi, Luffy?�

Usopp.

Luffy nodded automatically, his arms wobbling as he tried to lean on them, grateful to find himself again in one of Zoro�s hands (the other one was holding a fork) even though his boshi bed was right there on the table beside them.

�Hi,� he smiled. It was a painful smile. It was a smile that looked so genuine that it hurt the crew to look at it, yet they could say nothing.

�What are we eating?�

Sanji started to get up to get him a plate, but Robin�s power beat him to it and the food was on the table before Nami could finish explaining what they were eating, but how it was a little bit different for Luffy. Zoro could feel the shift in Luffy�s posture indicating that Nami�s words weren�t what he wanted to hear, and that his pain had nothing to do with the food itself; Luffy didn�t want to be a little bit different anymore. He hadn�t minded at first, but it seemed that it had just been pushed for too long. Yet the captain did nothing other than accept his food with a slightly hollow sounding �thank you�.

They all ate in silence for several minutes, filled with tension that Luffy seemed to be disconnected from. He never asked about the rock, so they assumed he could feel the ship moving again.

�Who has a watch tonight?� Usopp asked after a minute of quiet closeness. He knew the answer, but things changed a lot, so he wanted it clarified.

�I do,� Zoro confirmed. �All night.� He watched Luffy when he gave his answer, but the captain didn�t seem interested in their conversation in the slightest. He�d known it was coming, but no reaction from Luffy was off. It made Zoro feel�unneeded. But maybe he was wrong. Maybe Luffy was just distracted by something.

I never thought I would hope that something was bothering him.

The atmosphere was heavy and chilly that evening. It was dark already, and the moon was hidden by cloud cover. The ship bobbed a little stronger in the water than what was normal. It felt strongly like Autumn--the season when winter felt impending all the time, but wasn�t quite ready to strike yet. Mookloo had been a summer island, they had expected an autumn island, but the smell of the coming storm was starting to creep into the air as well, and that made the mood quiet and expectant.

�Who wants to play Poker?� Usopp asked.

All of them had finished eating, and as Usopp passed out the chips and dealt the cards, he included the captain without question as he would have had Luffy been acting as full of life as normal. He wouldn�t put his best friend on the spot by treating him any differently than he normally would, and normally Luffy would want to play.

Unfortunately this was not a normal evening. Luffy could feel that there was something happening inside of him--something was changing, pulling at him, making him think strange thoughts that he�d never thought about before.

Despite his foreboding feelings about playing, Luffy tilted his cards up enough to see them before he put them back down and fiddling with the string around his waist. Not a bad hand, considering he had only two cards and the first three hadn�t been flopped yet. They all put in their chips and started raising and calling bets.

�I never bet more than I�m willing to lose,� Luffy said with attempted cheerfulness when it came around to him. �I�ll bet Usopp�s bed.�

�Nice try, Smurf,� Usopp smirked, as Nami asked �What would I want with Usopp�s bed?� very practically at the same time.

�Don�t insult your captain,� Luffy said with less enthusiasm than usual.

�Don�t bet my stuff,� Usopp returned easily.

Luffy let it drop with a pout. He was trying to act normal and energetic for them, but it wasn�t working. The truth was, he wasn�t very hungry anymore.

As the first round commenced, people began asking each other personal questions as conversation starters. Poker was the game of choice for an after-dinner game. It got money involved, but just loose change--not enough to be worried about, but enough to keep interest up for the sake of it. It also made it possible to disengage easily--all one had to do was fold and get up for a drink and any question you had been asked would be forgotten about with the utmost respect of personal boundaries. Poker time on the Going Merry was a rare time when they talked about their pasts and their hometowns, all of it in a careless manner like they were all discussing good book--as if the story was someone else�s and not their own.

As conversation continued, Luffy became more withdrawn from them. He was the only one not engaging at all. He had won a few rounds because of it. But it was only a matter of time before someone asked him something he didn�t want to divulge, and he didn�t have it in him to play dumb like he usually did.

He sat next to Zoro, half-heartedly playing the game and dazing out every now and then. He felt� stretched. That was a good analogy, Luffy decided. It felt like his feelings and thoughts had been pulled so far from his zone of understanding that he was going to tear apart inside if something didn�t give and start to make sense.

Suddenly he was very tired. He didn�t want to be asked anything right now. He knew they would respect that, but he didn�t want them to know that he was shutting them out, either.

He didn�t like hearing about their pasts; the past didn�t matter anymore, it was over! Luffy had fixed everything! Right? He�d tried so hard to make everything right again, so why did they all have to talk about it?

He got up and sort of stumbled to the edge of the table before hopping down onto Zoro�s thigh, where he immediately curled up in a ball and laid still, just feeling himself breath and inhale Zoro�s scent--all the while trying to figure out why Zoro�s scent comforted him; why he needed this closeness.

The crew said nothing about Luffy�s strange behaviour, though the looks were as present as ever. Sanji nodded to Zoro, and when his turn came around the swordsman folded and got up to take Luffy out for a bit.

The rubberman was reaching up even before Zoro reached down to pick him up.

Neither said anything as they went down to the bathroom. Zoro wordlessly stopped up the sink and set Luffy down on the edge as it filled with warm water.

Luffy covered his ears until the water stopped, and then began cupping the water and splashing his face gratefully. His eyes stayed closed the whole time and he let his hands run over his face longer than was really necessary, rubbing his eyes and taking deep breaths until he felt up to talking.

Zoro said nothing; asked no questions, made no comments.

For a while after he had finished, Luffy stayed in the same position and looked at his reflection. He could see Zoro�s reflection in the water across from him. The sword fighter had planted himself on the toilet lid and looked the other way to give him some privacy while the smaller boy had splashed off.

Now he held a washcloth that Luffy knew was for him to dry off with, but the captain made no indication that he wanted it. Zoro kept looking at the wall, waiting for Luffy to make a move. Luffy turned back to his reflection.

�I don�t like secrets.� Luffy said suddenly, making Zoro look over at him. �I mean, I know I can�t tell them what�s happening to me. But it makes me feel dirty. I just� I want to include them in everything I do! But I can�t, and it makes me feel bad sometimes. I don�t like secrets, yet I keep so many��

Zoro looked at him and listened quietly. Luffy seemed like such a carefree and open person that it was easy to overlook how he never talked about the past at all, especially his own. This is why Zoro was positive that Luffy had at least a couple skeletons in his closet that he wasn�t willing to let his crew know about. Most people did. At the same time, who besides Zoro ever would read that Luffy�s ever-present smile sometimes doubled as a mask over every single bad thing that had ever happened to him that he would never tell anyone about? Luffy�s past was the only one shrouded in mystery on the ship, and Zoro had always kind of had an idea of the way his captain valued secrecy.

�I keep telling myself that it�s for their own good, that they�re better off not knowing certain things. After all, it would only upset everyone.� He reached down and trailed his fingers through the water. �It would make Sanji act the same way he has been even if he had his smokes, and that�s pretty significant. Usopp would freak out and overreact. Chopper would feel so guilty. Robin would become even less social. �Nami would cry.� He stopped here and sighed.

Zoro spoke softly. �You�ve really got each of us pegged, don�t you?�

Not in the mood to downplay it, Luffy simply nodded. �I know my nakama. Sometimes better than they do.�

It was quiet again, and then Zoro asked in a whisper, �If you told me all the things about yourself that you�ve kept hidden every day since I met you, what how would I react?�

It was silent for about three seconds.

Then Luffy splashed his face with water one more time, grabbed the washcloth and started patting himself dry. Almost the whole front of his red yukata was sticking to him, leaving not much to the imagination, but it didn�t matter. �I just hate not being able to tell them things. �It�s hard to not tell someone things.�

Zoro could tell by Luffy�s weighted expression that there were a lot of �things� that it was hard not to tell. Luffy�s abrupt diversion from Zoro�s question had been like a big warning sign that said: �No Trespassing -- violators will be prosecuted -signed Monkey D. Luffy�.

Luffy would hate empathy right now, but Zoro couldn�t help but add one last comment. �Secret keeping is hard. But it gets a little easier when you can tell just the one person you trust the most.�

�Telling them defeats the purpose of having them.� Luffy answered without looking up. He knew that he had just promised Zoro not to hide from him no matter what. But this and that were different things.

Zoro recognized Luffy�s stance. It was the same one that a man always dawned when being forced to face an enemy that he didn�t know how to deal with, and it made Zoro wonder even more about what kind of a past could produce this reaction in a seventeen year old boy.

�Maybe,� Zoro continued, �But those who keep too many secrets locked down deep will always be alone in some way. I know it. I live it myself.�

Luffy still didn�t look up, but said, �You� you could tell me things. If you ever wanted to. I can keep a secret.�

Zoro nodded, his point proved. �I know you can. I know you do. But so can I. So likewise, if you ever want to talk, remember that.�

Luffy started fiddling with his red string and didn�t reply. Zoro was about to stand up when Luffy nodded in silent acknowledgement.

But Luffy was still distant when Zoro picked him up and took him out of the bathroom, and the first mate didn�t know what more he could do for him.

They went down below decks rather than back into the galley, but everyone had finished the worried gossipy chatter they�d no doubt had after Zoro and Luffy had left, because they were all getting ready for bed.

�You heading up?� Sanji asked Zoro.

He was asking about watch. Zoro nodded hesitantly, looking at Luffy. Luffy didn�t react at all. Zoro had hoped that taking Luffy away for a break would revitalize him, but it didn�t seem to have worked. He was still scarily silent and compliant with whatever was happening, and Zoro recognized a ticking bomb when he saw one, and there was still that rat on board, to top the bad situation off.

He�d eat his left sock if Luffy slept through the night, and the others would have no clue what to do for the boy when he woke up.

But the fact was that Zoro still had watch, so he could only hope that Luffy was tired enough to sleep like the dead, attack-free until morning.

Yeah right.

�I�ll stay with him,� Sanji volunteered as Zoro crossed the room and let Luffy climb into his Boshi bed where he loved it so much.

�You gonna be okay for a while?� Zoro asked him.

Luffy tried to smile Zoro�s concerns away, but it didn't work. He couldn't smile right. Instead he scooted down the blankets and curling up underneath them to snuggle tightly.

Zoro nodded slowly, more of a concerned motion than an agreement.

�I�ll be right outside,� Zoro informed the general population, and turned on his heel, eager to get this night behind him.

Luffy�s only answer was to nod without looking up, but when Zoro turned around to go, Luffy watched him until he was out of sight.

The others shuffled around a bit more getting ready and rolling into their hammocks. At one point Luffy distantly heard Usopp ask Sanji if he was going to be okay for the night, but Luffy wasn�t sure if the �he� referred to was Sanji or himself.

Luffy kept his eyes on the ladder long after the light had gone out.
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RUMBLE!