5When I die - Wavering on the waves
Sequel to "The happiest day of my life".
Disclaimer:
Once again, I do not own One Piece.
If I did, some certain events would never had happened.
With that said, read 'n' enjoy.
`Wandering in darkness,
searching for the light.
Always searching.ยด
Any minute now, the axe would sever the young pirate boy's head from his spine.
Luffy waited. Any minute now. Luffy still waited. Surely the end would come now.
Yet nothing happened, absolutely nothing.
Luffy opened his eyes in confusion and was greeted by a most awful sight.
Coby laid on top of him - with the axe deeply buried in his back.
The only sound that could be heard for a few seconds was Coby's blood dripping onto the floor.
For a few seconds, it was quiet. Then, when reality was brought back all of a sudden, Luffy screamed in protest.
He wasn't the only one, though.
A few of Coby's friends from the marines was shouting, tears streaming down their faces.
"W-why...," was the only thing Luffy could say at this point.
Coby blinked and slowly raised his head, meeting his pirate friend's eyes.
"Because friends... doesn't abandon their friends when they're needed," Coby replied weakly.
(Luffy's POV)
I didn't know what I should say.
I had aboslutely no idea of what I should do.
The only thing I could do was watching the life in Coby's eyes diminish, and then finally vanish altogether.
I think I called out "No!" once, although I'm not sure.
At this point, my mind wasn't clear for the obvious reason.
All I do know is that this wasn't what I'd wished for. No, not at all.
What am I supposed to do now...?
(Third person's POV)
It was during the confusion and uproar of the crowd that Zoro saw the right moment to act.
Without anyone noticing, he ran towards the platform where Luffy and Coby's body was.
With a most skillful swing with one of three swords he always carried with him, the marine soldiers on the platform was swiftly defeated.
Zoro looked over to the body of Coby, nodding in respects, and left the site carrying his captain in bridal-style.
The only sound heard apart from the shouts from the marines pursuing them, was the soothing sound of wind chimes
the three long earrings in his left ear made as he ran towards the docks.
Most of their crew was already onboard of Thousand Sunny as the duo entered the ship.
In the next moment, they took off, shamelessly waving at the marines left behind on the docks.
Luffy was the only one who wasn't waving, laughing or smiling.
In fact, he didn't do anything but stare at the waves without seeing anything at all.
Luffy's mind was completely blank. His mind was blank, and so was his heart.
Luffy didn't know how many hours he'd spent staring at the walls in his cabin, and quite frankly, he couldn't care less.
Only Coby mattered. Coby, his marine friend.
Coby, the boy he'd shared his dream with. Coby, the boy he had killed.
Brooke and Nami, Shinji and Usopp, even Zoro tried to make him see reason.
They all said that what had happened wasn't his fault. That he wasn't to blame.
That Coby'd made his decision out of his own free will.
They were only sweet lies, though. They had to be.
If it wasn't for him, Coby would still be alive.
Luffy couldn't understand how his crew could try to make him see it in another way than just that.
He was only telling the truth, so why were they lying?
How could they deny Coby's death so easily? Was Coby only important to him?
For the first time ever, Luffy was feeling angry at his crew.
Angry that they could lie to him and deny the truth which was so plain to see.
A gentle knock on the door and then Sanji's voice was heard, asking for permission to enter.
Luffy didn't say a word. He had no words for liars, even if they happened to be members of his crew.
Apparantly, Sanji took the silence of his captain as an agreement, and then let himself into the gloomy room with a plate in his hand.
"I brought some food for you, you must be starving," Sanji whispered and put the plate on the table.
Sanji looked over to the mourning boy, then shook his head in anxiety.
Was there anything he could do for his captain, other than making food...?
He then left the room, leaving the words "I hope you'll feel better soon" behind.
The next morning, when Zoro peeked into Luffy's room to tell him it was time for breakfast,
he noticed that the plate with food from the evening before was left cold and untouched.
(Zoro's POV)
I've never seen Luffy like this before.
It's almost as if he has given up completely.
The only time he'd actually left his room was when he needed to go to the bathroom.
It's been 3 days since we sailed off, and Luffy still refuses to talk to us.
But what's even worse is that he doesn't have any interest to eat or drink.
He just lies in his bed, staring at the ceiling, mumbling to himself.
I can't bear to see him like this. I just can't.
What should I do...?
On the 6th day, I simply had enough.
All of us is just as depressed as Luffy is, but we don't hide in our rooms because of that.
I decided to let Luffy know the reason why I shouldn't be messed with.
With this newfound determination, I opened the door to Luffy's room and stepped inside.
"Hey, you, I have something to say to you and I suggest you listen," I told Luffy,
ignoring the pillow he threw in my face the moment I'd stepped inside the cabin.
Luffy's eyes flashed in anger, which was a good sign in this situation.
It was a sign that our Luffy was indeed still in there somewhere, and if he was,
it also meant that if I played the right card, I could lure him out of there too.
I stepped closer to the bed and sat down, observing Luffy's facial expressions.
'He looks sulky. Good. That makes this much easier'.
(Third person's POV)
Zoro smiled gently at Luffy, and although Luffy didn't smile back, he kept the eyecontact.
"Luffy... I know that you miss Coby," Zoro said calmly.
Luffy shrugged and said nothing to neither confirm nor deny Zoro's statement.
He simply didn't know what to say.
Zoro studied the younger male and then did something he'd never done before.
While holding the boy tightly in what he hoped was a soothing embrace, he gently whispered;
"It's okay to cry, if you're really, really sad."
All the tears he'd held in for so long was suddenly caressing his skin.
"It's okay, I'm here," Zoro said when he felt the shivering boy hug him back.
Zoro patted Luffy's head, whispering the same phrase over and over again for what seemed like an eternity;
"It's going to be all right, I'm here."
Sanji put a cigarette between his lips, gazing at the stars above.
It was the same stars he'd always look at this time of the night, but it didn't feel the same.
In fact, nothing did. Usopp hadn't told any of his usual "stories" for almost a week, which was quite unusual.
But that wasn't all. Although they'd crossed paths with another pirate ship, Nami hadn't knicked even the slightest pin from them.
Now, that was scary, once you thought about it.
That Brooke would hum on a melancholic 'song' wasn't unusual at all, mind you, but it wasn't with the same passion as before.
Of course, it was all because of their dysfunctional captain.
Sanji understood what the boy went through, a close friend of his did pass away in front of him when he was 12, after all.
Not that he'd ever shared that story with anyone, of course.
Even though 10 years had passed since then, the memory of it still hurt too much to talk about.
Sanji also had the suspicion that telling his captain about that wouldn't help to sheer him up at all.
If anything, it would only make him feel even more depressed.
"Hi there, Sanji, you're up so late?" a familiar voice was heard.
Sanji turned his head, seeing his captain smile brightly at him.
Mixed feelings of confusion, happiness and relief flashed across Sanji's face before he launched himself towards Luffy,
hugging the boy with no intention to let go of him. Ever.
"If you two lovebirds are done, I think there's a party downstairs waiting for us," Zoro said mischievously.
Sanji flipped a finger, muttering, "You're only saying that, 'cause capt'n likes me best!"
The End.
Authoress's note:
So, that was the end of the sequel.
Wow, Luffy+Sanji? Never saw that one coming!
Although I think that Sanji was just trying to mess around with Zoro.
He kind of asked for it. =P
Once again, there's little to no action (fights) in this story.
I guess focusing on the psychological aspects is much easier for me to write.
Oh, well. Thank you for reading this and feel free to leave a comment if you'd like.
Peace out!