Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mordor Island, an uninhibited island right smack in the middle of the New World, is where we begin our journey. It was a summer island, and a blistering one at that. The forest, which made up almost 98% of the island, with its 200-foot trees and 50-foot bushes, did nothing to combat against the suffocating humidity that blanketed the area.

The Straw Hats had arrived on the island just past midday; calm waves lapped at their ankles as they climbed down the twisted ropes and onto the sea soaked sand. The group, save Franky who decided it best that someone stay with the ship, followed an ancient map that Nami had stolen off pirate passersby a week earlier. The map, barely legible with its numerous tears and faded lettering, was said to lead to an area on the island rumoured to be home to an ancient treasure.

Walking through the jungle had proved to be more strenuous than they had originally thought. The humidity and intense heat combated that of even Alabasta, leaving the group far more exhausted and irritable than they would have otherwise been. The animals, which stood five to six times the height of an average human, had no chance against the cranky Straw Hats who wanted nothing more than a cool shelter. Chopper, with his thick reindeer coat, barely made it ten minutes before giving up and turning back to the safe haven of the Thousand Sunny with Brooke.

It was nearing supper when Usopp had finally spotted something that was not trees or other forest debris. "A castle?" he questioned, his sharp eyes zoning in on the deteriorating building before anyone else. He turned to Nami and looked over her shoulder towards the small map clutched in her hands. "Is there anything about a castle on that map of yours? I thought this was an uninhibited island."

She glanced down at the map in her hand and turned it over to the scrawled writing in the back. It was illegible. Annoyed, partially because of the heat, partially because of the faded map that held very few clues, Nami glared at him. "Do you see any people, Idiot?" she snipped.

"Touchy," Usopp muttered to himself, running a hand through his sweat soaked curls to pull it away from his face. He grimaced at the wetness and wiped it off on his tank top. He looked over at Luffy who was trotting beside him looking for all he was worth as if he were about to keel over, "oi, Luffy. Are you okay?"

"So thirsty," Luffy whined, sending puppy dog eyes towards Usopp.

Usopp chuckled and rolled his eyes, "well, you aren't getting any of my water. You should have thought about needing water when you were giving yours to that flying bird thing."

"I was giving him water so that he would let me ride him!" Luffy pouted his voice defensive as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and glared at his best friend.

"Oh that worked brilliantly," Usopp snapped back. "You lost all of your water and you don't have a ride. Brilliant plan, Captain."

"Knock it off, it's too hot to be listening to you two bicker," Nami sighed and rubbed her head.

"Miss. Nami, would you like me to carry you?" Sanji asked, attempting to hide how fatigued he himself was.

"We're here," Robin stated and sure enough, they were. "This castle is very old; I would place it at almost a thousand years if not more going by the structure and the amount of deterioration it has been through." She squinted towards the top of the castle her eyes scanning as they brought their way down to the large, eaten away wooden door. Vines covered the building way past the roof, causing the castle to look almost as if the foliage were eating it. Then again, they were in the New World that meant it highly probable that the vines were in fact eating the castle. "I would say it has been at least five hundred years since someone properly maintained the castle, less if there was some kind of war."

"Is it safe?" Zoro asked from behind the group. His arms crossed in front of his chest as he studied the large structure.

"With castles this old there will always be traps that have yet to be triggered."

"Miss. Robin is so smart!" Sanji cooed, his pupils dilating into little hearts as he twirled around.

"I wonder where the treasure is- Luffy, Usopp, where are you going‽" Nami called out as the two boys made their way up the stairs and through the wooden door.

Relief crossed their features as soon as they entered the stone building and Usopp turned towards the others, "get in here! It's so much cooler than outside." He sneezed softly and shook his head, "If not a bit dusty."

"If you wish for treasure, Miss. Navigator, you should head to the lower levels." Robin informed her crewmate as she scanned the golden interior. "It would interest you to know that the walls have gold imbedded in them."

Luffy, Usopp and Nami turned towards her, "really‽"

"Yes, but I would caution against taking any of the gold out of the walls. It would cause instability in the structure and we will all probably be crushed to death on impact."

"Down we go!" Usopp said with a forced gusto, leading Nami to a flight of stairs.

"Keep your hands off Miss. Nami, you shit-sniper!" Sanji snapped, kicking his foot out to hit Usopp in the head, but the sniper was quicker and dodged the attack, taking the stairs two at a time. Luffy, not wanting to be left out of the fun ran down behind Usopp, his laughs and Usopp's screams echoing through the narrow staircase.

Zoro slowly made his way down the stairs, a small frown trained on his face as he looked around, an unsettling feeling rising in his chest. He moved to the side, allowing Robin to pass in front of him, his hand coming out to stop Sanji from passing him as the cook descended behind her. "What is your problem, shit-head?" Sanji sneered, "Scared of the dark?"

"Keh, as if something like that could scare me. I'm not Usopp," Zoro retorted, "do you feel anything weird? Like something is out of place?"

Sanji snorted, "yeah, your head. Now get out of the way so that I can help my gorgeous Miss. Nami find her treasure." Sanji ducked under Zoro's arm and started towards where the others had gathered at the bottom of the staircase.

"It's so dark in here, I can barely see anything," Usopp complained from Luffy's left, his hand lightly trailing against the walls as they moved inward. He gripped the back of Luffy's shirt in his other hand, intent on keeping his friend in close proximity. It would be a disaster if they were to lose him in the castle, who knows what sort of trouble the rubber teen would get into. Usopp's hand met with empty space, "there is a room here. Sanji, do you have a match on you? Maybe there is a torch somewhere."

There was the sound of the match meeting paper before a tiny flame gently illuminated the corridor in which the group stood. "Try not to touch anything; there is no way to know the type of traps that can still be activated." Robin advised as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. "There is a torch right above the door, Mr. Cook." She added, following Luffy, Nami and Usopp into the large room Usopp found.

"You think there are traps‽" Luffy asked his archeologist excitedly, "Usopp! We need to explore!"

"We really don't," Usopp protested, but did not fight as his friend pulled him towards another room connected to the one they were standing in.

"Keep an eye out for anything that might be treasure!" Nami called to them as they disappeared from view.

"The treasures you are seeking will most likely be rigged," Robin warned the younger girl as she passed her hand gently across an etching in the wall.

"It's Luffy and Usopp, they'll be fine," Nami said airily, waving her hand as way of dismissal. She huffed, and folded her arms, "there's nothing down here."

There was the sound of rumbling echoing through the room right before the room began to shake. Bits of stone fell from the ceilings onto their heads as Luffy's exuberant laughter and Usopp's fearful screams filtered into the room.

Zoro cursed and quickly followed Sanji out of the room towards the sound, Robin and Nami right behind them.

"Luffy! I am going to kill you! I swear on my mother's grave I am going to hog tie you and dump you into the freaking ocean the moment we leave this island!"

"What did you guys' do‽"

"We found a bunch of stuff!" Luffy exclaimed, grinning widely as he pointed behind himself to all of the gold piled on the floors and adorning the walls.

"We almost got killed," Usopp hissed, throwing his hand to the right and left of him where there were arrows stuck into the wall, broken bits of stone, and broken clawed traps scattered about the place. He ran behind Zoro and Sanji, feeling it safer behind them than in the middle of the room where there was the possibility of more traps still.

"Well, since you two are alive I think the most reasonable thing to do is gather all of the treasure and get back to the Sunny." Nami nodded her head as she examined the stuff lying around them, "Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, you guys get to work gathering all of the gold and anything that looks like we can get money for. Robin, could you watch over them while Usopp and I check upstairs for more treasure?"

"Sure thing, Miss. Navigator." Robin smiled and leaned against the wall behind her getting comfortable, her bright eyes scanning the room, watching for any possible traps that may remain.

Zoro rolled his eyes at the ceiling, muttering angrily under his breath as Sanji skipped and twirled around doing Nami's bidding. Luffy, while not completely ignoring what Nami said, was merely staring in wonder and laughing excitedly at all of the things they revealed as the other two lifted up piece after piece of treasure and placed them in rugs, and any type of cloth they found that they could to carry their goods in.

Usopp, merely glad to be free of the trap infested basement, was up the stairs before Nami had even finished giving instructions to the others.

Zoro kneeled on the floor, placing the treasure surrounding him onto a sheet that lay by his feet. He reached out to touch the last treasure in front of him, only to be stopped by a hand protruding from the floor. He looked up questioningly towards Robin who had a small smile on her face. "Don't take that one, it's trapped." He glanced down at the item again, merely shrugging and standing up, gathering the cloth in his hands.

"Luffy, step away from there," Robin commanded, her hands popping from the wall and holding Luffy in place. He had gone towards a golden religious statue, one that was obviously booby-trapped.

"Robin, let me go!" Luffy fought stubbornly against Robin's hands.

"If you touch that statue we could all be in serious danger," She explained firmly, her hands squeezing his shoulders before letting him go.

"Oh," He glanced at it and shrugged, "okay."

"Let's get going," Sanji threw a bag towards Luffy and another one towards Zoro before dusting off his pants and picking up his own bundle, "Miss. Robin shouldn't be in this dusty place any longer and it would be rude to keep Miss. Nami waiting."

Luffy cheered running forward, bag in hand, towards the stairs leading to the first floor. However, his foot caught a loose stone causing him to smash head first into the religious statue that Robin had warned him off of a mere few minutes earlier. He groaned, rubbing his head and squinting in confusion at the statue that had not moved. Had Robin been mistaken?

"Luffy, move!" Zoro grabbed Luffy by the back of his shirt and pulled him out of the way just as the statue began to come to life.

Luffy's eyes widened, "that's so cool! Hey! Mr. Statue, do you wanna be on my- "

"NO!" Sanji shoved Luffy and Zoro forward, making sure that Robin was ahead of him before racing up the stairs towards Nami and Usopp who had begun screaming.

Usopp and Nami met them at the foot of the stairs both frantic and holding on to each other, "what the hell did you guys do‽" They both exclaimed, quickly following the others out of the castle as several statues began gaining on them.

Usopp took the lead, his sling shot in hand as he lead the group back out of the castle, "these statues suddenly came to life while Nami and I were searching one of the rooms. Freakiest thing I have seen since Thriller Bark. What the hell happened?"

"Luffy fell into a statue that he wasn't supposed to touch," Sanji grunted, "take one if these would you?"

Usopp stopped and slid his slingshot over his shoulder before relieving Sanji of one of the bags. The two of them stopping had caused them to lose the crew. This meant that the statues that they had lost were on their heels once more. "Separate, we need to get back to the ship before they get to us."

He took the right while Sanji took the left, both disappearing through the trees and shrubbery just as a guard of statues ran into the clearing where they had been just seconds before. Confused, the statues stood, moving their stone bodies from left to right. However, it was no use; none of the Straw Hats could be found. Resolutely, the statues decided to head back to the castle, satisfied that they had scared off the intruders.

Sanji ran, his long legs moving quickly as he jumped gracefully over fallen trees. He stopped, the ocean expanding in front of his eyes, the Thousand Sunny, bobbing happily in the water. The others, already having found the ship, were searching for their friends from the safety of the Sunny's railings. The chanced a glance behind himself and noted that the statues that had been after their blood where now nowhere to be seen. Sanji had hoped that didn't mean that they were after Usopp. He merely shrugged and lit a cigarette, sucking in a calming breath before heading back to the Thousand Sunny with the bag of treasure thrown over his shoulder.

Usopp ran, the sack of treasure he relieved Sanji of slung over his left shoulder, his trusty slingshot in his right hand. He swerved, first to the left then the right, never running in a straight line in an attempt to make himself a more difficult prey. He chanced a look behind himself and stopped short, his shoulders sagging in relief when he noticed that none of the statues were following him. However, there was another issue at hand to replace being chased by bloodthirsty statues. He was lost.

Usopp sighed, placing both the treasure and his slingshot on the ground. He squinted, glaring up at the sun, shielding his eyes. "The sun rises in the East and sets in the West… I can't remember if it's different in the New World or not." His eyes lit up upon remembering a fact. "I can make a compass and find my way back to the Sunny!"

He kneeled in the dirt and pulled his messenger bag over his head to lay it in front of him. He slipped his hand inside, biting his tongue in concentration as he looked for the old sewing needle he kept in there for cases of emergency.

"Yes!" He pulled the needle out of the bag and attached it to his shirt, once again moving his hand inside his bag, this time for a magnet. Unfortunately, for him, the last time he cleaned out his bag he accidentally left the magnet on his desk, never replacing it back into his bag.

"What am I going to do now?" He muttered to himself, pushing a lock of hair from his eyes. Usopp allowed himself to fall back against the tree behind him and hit his head against it, closing his eyes, "think, Usopp. You know this!"

"If you don't have a magnet… you can use wool to magnetize a needle… or silk? No, not silk, just wool. You rub the material for… gah! I can't remember!" Usopp ran his fingers through his hair pulling on the strands lightly. "10...60...90...30...100...70...100...100 times! Yes, that's it!"

He took the needle from his shirt and rubbed it vigorously on the inside of his messenger bag. His eyes glanced to the ground, looking for a suitable puddle to lean the needle on. Usopp then stood, his needle well magnetized, and plucked a leaf off the lowest branch of the tree.

Usopp yawned, slowly walking towards the small puddle he had noticed was ripping. He kneeled, placing the leaf in the middle and then the needle on top of it. Slowly he turned the leaf in the water and backed away, watching anxiously as it swirled in the water. The Sniper stared up towards the sky as the needle came to a stop, his eyes squinting up at the setting sun.

"Okay so assuming it's the same in the New World, that way would be West, which means," he twisted his body towards the way the top of the needle was pointing. "That would mean that that is the North." He closed his eyes in thought, "the ship is in the North East which means that I would have to go that way."

The Sniper nodded to himself, happy to know the path he would need to take. He nimbly extracted the needle from the leaf and wiped it on his pants before placing it in his pocket. He stood and brushed his pants off. If he hurried, he could make it as night completely falls.

"Ow!" Usopp complained, stopping short to slap his hand against the back of his neck and wincing. "Stupid bug," he muttered as he bent down to pick up his messenger bag and the treasure bag. He gripped the handle of his slingshot and made his way back to the Thousand Sunny.

Little did Usopp know, in a few days time, he would be knocking at dealth's door merely because of said stupid bug.

Chapter Text

Usopp sighed, the sound carrying his vexation across the dining area, but none of his crew mates noticed. His long thin fingers tapped absentmindedly against the green cloth adoring the table as he looked down at his drawing in his lap, eyebrows knitted together in concentration. He frowned and tilted his head to the side as he glared at the drawing of his mother. It showed her, as she was, right before she got ill, and he had been working on it for the better part of the day. To the naked eye, it looked finished, but to Usopp, he knew something was missing from the piece. Slowly, his eyes roved down the page, but no matter where he looked, or how critically, he could not pinpoint the problem. A surge of anger ran though him, and he let a harsh breath out, slapping the pads cover shut and carelessly slipping his pencil into his hair.

He pulled his googles off his head, placed them beside his dinner plate, and leaned back tiredly while shaking his head. If the picture was missing something and Usopp could not find it, that meant he forgot something about his mother and that did not bode well with him. He breathed heavily through his nostrils and leaned forward to rest his chin on his hand. Leant to the side, he was able to catch sight of clouds happily floating in the sky through the kitchen window. He gave himself a moment to study them, but even the whimsical shapes did nothing to improve his mood.

He was startled from his reverie by the sound of his fork scraping against his plate and falling to the floor. He huffed and turned in his chair to glare at Luffy. The Straw-Hat Captain was eyeing Usopp's last potato as if it were a juicy steak, the remnants of Usopp's chicken hanging from his mouth. His long rubber arm was stretched, slowly inching towards its goal. "Hey!" Luffy exclaimed, his black eyes glaring into Usopp's own when the Sniper suddenly rose from his position, sketchbook in hand and shoved the rest of the potato into his mouth. Usopp's reflexes have become infinitely better since joining the Straw Hats'. Had they not, he would not eat. Well... he would not eat a lot at any rate.

Usopp left his sketch pad beside his goggles on the island and began to gather the dishes and cups from the other members, placing them in a basin at the foot of the table. In the background, he could hear Sanji giving Luffy a resounding 'I said 'no', Shit-Captain!' when asked for more food. Chopper was sat beside Nami happily finishing off the rest of his meal, away from the prying hands of Luffy. Bits of potato, corn and carrot stuck to his fur along with some of the gravy that accompanied their meat, but he was smiling as if he had just been given the world's biggest supply of cotton candy.

Usopp patted the young reindeer's hat as he passed by, shoving a bread-stick in his mouth as he went for more of the dirty dishes. "Guys, why don't we go look for those Nargles I told you about last week? A few of my markers went missing and I suspect that they are behind it." He could not help but chuckle and Luffy and Chopper's elation. Sometimes it was just too easy to keep them entertained.

"Hey, Usopp, do you think that the Nargles could've been responsible for the lotion I've misplaced?" Chopper asked innocently, before taking a tentative lick at his hooves.

Out of the corner of his eye, Usopp caught Sanji's reaction. While he reached for Brooke's plate, he watched suspiciously as the Cook's cheeks began to take on a fevered appearance. The Sniper raised an eyebrow in a way that said, 'are you serious?' before he snorted and shook his head, placing the last pieces of dinnerware in the bucket to be washed.

"Yeah, Chopper, I am sure the Nargles are the ones responsible for that." His voice was layered with sarcasm, which earned him a glare from the guilty party, but Chopper did not seem to notice. He merely nodded his head as he began to think about where the Nargles could have taken his lotion to.

Usopp shook his head and took the bucket in his hands past the serving island and into the dimly lit kitchen. He hung a right and placed the bucket beside the sink, and slid over, reaching across to turn on the tap.

Over the dish drying rack hung several dish towels, partially stiff. He took the closest one to him, running it under the tap. Turning the tap off, he rung out the rag and grabbed the crumb shovel from its place under the sink and walked back over to the dining area. Everyone else had already stepped outside, but he knew that Sanji would be back in after he had his afternoon smoke.

Usopp allowed his thoughts to wander while he wiped off the table, careful to get the crumbs into the shovel. When finished, he gave the chairs the same treatment. As he was working on the last chair, the door to the kitchen opened, and Sanji walked through. The Cook stopped short when he noticed that Usopp was there as well. "You didn't have to clean up," he said. Despite those words, he looked very appreciative.

The younger boy shrugged, and slowly made his way back to the kitchen. He passed the sink and dropped the rag there on the way to the trashcan. "It's fine. I like to clean when I have something to think about."

Sanji took his place by the sink and turned on the tap, rinsing off the rag and replacing it on its hook. "Want to talk about it?" He plugged up the drain and began to run water in the sink and swirling soap in so that suds would appear.

Usopp tapped the crumb sweeper over the trash and allowed the crumbs to fall in before kicking the can back under the counter and placing the crumb shovel back on the hook. He hip-checked the door and leaned back against the counter, blowing bangs out of his face, and crossed his arms over his chest. "I think I am beginning to forget, and I don't like it."

Sanji frowned, reaching over to turn off the tap. He pushed his bangs out of his eyes and turned his attention to Usopp, leaning his hip against the counter. "What are you talking about?"

"My mother."

"Oh," Sanji let out a breath and nodded to himself, "it happens."

"Well, I don't like it. All I have left of my mother are memories, once I forget, well, then she really will be gone, wouldn't she?"

Sanji breathed through his nose and turned back towards the sink. He reached over and took a couple dishes from the bin and placed them in the soapy water. "Come here and help me with the dishes while I tell you a story." Usopp pushed himself off the counter and walked over to where Sanji was, taking a dry dish towel in hand.

"I come from a family with 5 children. There is my older sister Reiju, and then came me and my brothers, quadruplets, with me third in line to be King of Germa Kingdom. My father, wanting his own little personal army, gave us genetic enhancements, in the hope that we would develop superhuman abilities. He forced my mother to undergo surgery to make the enhancements happen invitro, it was extremely painful for her. My mother, because she loved all of us dearly and thought that we should grow up to be normal humans, with normal emotions, did everything she could to stop the enhancements effects on us. She even went as far as to take a drug to counteract the surgery my father had forced her through, putting herself through even more pain."

Sanji handed him the dish he had been washing, and reached into the water for another one, "in the end, however, the drug only affected me, and it weakened my mother to the point where it eventually took her life. For the longest time before she died, she had been bedridden in our medical ward. Reiju, and I would visit her from time to time. To cheer her up, I once brought her a meal that I prepared. At that time, I was horrible at cooking, but she ate it so happily, and said it was delicious. That was one of the last times I saw her. She had died not too long after. In many ways, she is the reason I became a cook, I wanted to become a great chef for her."

Sanji fell silent for a moment, his visible eye shining with unshed tears. He cleared his throat before continuing. "Unfortunately, right after my mother died is when my father began to train my brothers and myself. They excelled in their training and they evolved, I did not. Due to the drug my mother took, I stayed human and could not do the extraordinary feats my brothers could. It made me a target and they bullied me relentlessly. Father never stopped it, he hated that I was so weak."

Usopp scowled, "that's ridiculous, you aren't weak at all!" He took the next dish from Sanji and dried it angrily, keeping his eyes on the plate.

Sanji smiled sadly, "to him, I was. One day, he caught me feeding a rat in my room, he had become somewhat of a pet of mine. He yelled at me and told me that I needed to stop cooking and start training harder if I wanted to catch up with my brothers. He threw my food and rat out of my bedroom window. However, I tried my best, I trained hard- it was never enough. It would never have been enough. My only reprieve was Reiju, who would often tend to my injuries after.

"My father, one he realized that I would never be able to live up to what he wanted, decided to erase my existence completely. He shoved an iron mask on me and threw me in the dungeon." Sanji gave a harsh laugh, "even threw a funeral for me, and said I died in a tragic accident."

Usopp sucked in a breath and worried his lip, taking another dish from Sanji and drying it quickly before placing it on the rack with the others. They stayed quiet for what seemed like an eternity for Usopp, washing and drying the dishes. It was only after the last dish was washed and Sanji moved on to the cups and Usopp had moved to place the dishes back in their respective cabinet that Sanji continued his story.

"I have no clue how long I was stuck in that dungeon, all I knew was that the mask would come off for me to eat, and then it would come back on. Thankfully, I was able to get some books while I was down there, and that was how I learned about the All Blue. It was my one reprieve from it all.

"Somehow my brothers found out about me, they must have heard the guards talking or something, and they came down to 'practice' on me every chance they got. Reiju, she came down and helped me when I was hurt, but she made it clear she was not on my side. I don't blame her, self-preservation on her part was a smart move. She still needed to live in the castle and was under my father's command.

Eventually, around the sixth month of me being down there, the Kingdom traveled from the Red Sea into the East Blue. When I found out, I told my sister that I wanted to escape and become a chef. My sister, kind in many ways but hid it so well, broke me free and allowed me to escape." Sanji let out a harsh laugh, "and would you know it. I ran into my father as I was escaping."

"You were okay though, you are here." Usopp said quietly, his heart squeezing in his chest. "You got away."

"He let me get away."

"After all he went through to make believe you were dead?"

"All he wanted was that I never mention the family I came from, fair enough." Sanji snorted. "I escaped onto a ship known as the 'Orbit' and wound up working on there for two years before the Old Geezer and his crew attacked the ship. Both ships wind up going under in an intense storm, and the rest, well, is history I suppose." Sanji's hands had stopped washing the cups and were merely lying in the soapy water as he spoke. He looked so sad and vulnerable in that moment that Usopp could not help but want to give him some form of comfort.

Usopp put down the dish rag and reached into the water to take Sanji's hand but felt awkward and merely laid his hand beside Sanji's. It did seem to have the desired effect since Sanji smiled, much to Usopp's immense relief.

"Anyway, the point of the story is that my mother died when I was very young. At times I would just sit down and write down what I remember about her. I have so much trouble remembering- a mixture of time and trauma, I think." Sanji took a deep breath and rubbed his hand over Usopp's quickly before picking up the cup he dropped and going back to cleaning. Usopp took his hand from the water and dried it on the rag before accepting the cup.

"I found a technique recently that seems to help. I have trouble remembering details when I try to force myself to remember. Try to remember her face off hand, her voice - it is near impossible. However, I have photographs of her up in my locker and sometimes during night watch, I take them out and look at them. When I am relaxed and just stare at the photos for a bit I can remember almost everything. The sound of her voice, her smell- it is as if I never left."

"Do you think that would work for me?" Usopp asked hopefully, taking the last cup from Sanji and grabbing the others to place them on the cup holder near where Sanji made coffee and tea. "I have been working on a picture of my mother, but something is missing- I can't put my finger on it and it's bothering me so much. I've never had this much trouble before."

"Why don't you come spend night watch with me tomorrow and we can try it?" Sanji suggested while dumping the eating utensils into the soapy water.

"I'd like that," Usopp said brightly, smiling widely at the older boy.

Sanji grabbed the rag before Usopp could pick it up again and began to shoo him away from the kitchen. "Now go find those Nargles with Luffy and Chopper. I have stuff to finish in here and you are only in the way!"

"Hey!" Usopp pouted, causing Sanji to smile brightly.

"Go! Have fun, I am almost done anyway and then I will be out with an afternoon snack for you guys."

"Okay, fine, I'm going." Usopp raised his hands in the air and turned, making his way out of the kitchen. He paused only when he got to the door to look back at his friend, studying the blonde, who had gone back to doing the rest of the dishes. Sanji's fringe hung in front of his eyes and he whistled a soft tune to himself as he worked, bobbing his head slightly. "Oi, Sanji."

Sanji's head whipped up, not realizing that the younger boy was still with him in the galley. "Yeah, Usopp?"

"Thank you." Usopp pushed the door the rest of the way and walked through, leaving a chuckling Sanji alone.

Sanji placed the last of the utensils in the dish rack before rubbing his hands on his apron. He took off the apron, placing it on its hook. When he went for his inventory book he noticed that 9t was not in its normal place. Frowning, he scanned the kitchen looking for his book. He finally spotted it on the island next to Usopp's abandoned sketchpad and goggles. He hummed to himself before walking over to the island to grab his book. He paused, his eyes catching Usopp's sketchbook. Sanji knew it was wrong to peek without the Sniper's permission- that would be like reading his journal, but after their conversation, Sanji was curious about Usopp's mother.

Sanji quickly looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was entering. Gently, he touched his fingers to the cover of the pad and slid them down to the dog-eared page on the left, flipping the pad open to the middle. The page he landed on was blank, so he moved a couple of pages back until he landed on the one of Usopp's mother.

Sanji gasped in awe. The sketch was so life like, it was almost as if you could hear her laughing. Usopp had drawn her so that her head was leaning to the side as she listened intently to whomever was speaking, hair falling in her face in her mirth. Her mouth was stretched into a grin that was undeniably Usopp's and her eyes sparkled in a way that Sanji had only seen a few times in Usopp's own eyes. He could not stop the giggle that bubbled from his lips when he noticed that she shared Usopp's nose.

To Sanji, an objective party, the sketch looked perfect- better than most photographs even. It had been done mostly in charcoal, save for her eyes and hair, which held an emerald-green hue. Sanji stared at it for a moment longer before closing the pad. Tapping the cover lightly with the pads of his fingers, he mulled over his conversation with Usopp and the picture he had just seen. Perhaps, it is not about what is missing from the picture, but what is missing from Usopp himself.

Usopp did not have to look far to find the others. Peering over the railing he could see Nami, Robin, Franky and Brooke surrounding several bags of gold that they had procured several days ago. Nami was carefully spilling the gold out onto a checkered blanket while the others stared on. Luffy stood on one of the swings with Chopper on his shoulder, their mouths were hung open wide in awe at all the treasure spread out before them. Zoro was sleeping against the mast, not a care in the world for all the gold spread out on deck.

"Sorry I was taking so long, I was helping Sanji in the kitchen," Usopp announced himself, forearms against the rail as he glared down at them. "Are you guys ready to go look for those Nargles?" The others paid him no mind, too caught up in the treasure. He sighed, long sufferingly, and began his descent to the first floor. He stopped at the bottom step and squinted; a blinding light was reflecting off the treasure causing him to be momentarily stunned. He blinked heavily and looked to the ground. When he did so, he noticed a tiny object laying innocently beside his feet. He bent down and picked it up, rolling it in the palm of his hand. He frowned, staring at it, feeling entranced by the tiny jewel. It was no bigger than the tip of his pinky and held the emerald green color like his mother's eyes. He smiled, remembering his mother's face, and how her eyes used to light up when he told her one of his many tales.

A sudden flash of hot white pain bloomed in his head, causing his vision to blur and the jewel to drop to the floor. He stepped off the bottom step and kneeled with his hands pressed firmly against his eyes to dispel the sudden disabling migraine and dizziness that overcame him. He took a deep breath through his mouth, held it, and then let it out slowly before repeating the action. The pain slowly began to ebb away with each breath he took, and soon enough, it became a manageable throb.

Taking one last breath, he slowly opened his eyes, blinking them against the blinding afternoon sun. The voices of his crew seemed distorted despite how close he was to them, but they seem to be blissfully unaware of his predicament, which was just fine by him. Their eyes still trained on the treasure in front of them. He shook his head and picked up the emerald he dropped from where it was stuck between two of the floorboards at his feet. He stared at the jewel for a moment longer before shoving it into his back pocket. They wouldn't miss it.

He stood, ignoring the sudden aching pain of his legs as he did so. "Guys, ready to look for those Nargles?" he tried again, to no avail.

Usopp tutted, estimating that he had a good fifteen to twenty minutes before Nami got sick of them staring at and touching all her treasure. He nodded to himself, and slowly made his way back up the stairs to the washroom above the Library. He walked into the Library and slowed down by the bay windows to watch the dust particles dance in the basking light of the sun before he began to climb the ladder to the washroom. The climb up took him longer than usual and by the time he finally entered the room where the sink and toilet were, he was slightly out of breath and just a bit sweaty.

The room was dark and a bit chilly causing him to shiver. Not even the sun beating down on the ceiling had warmed the tiled room. Shakily, Usopp reached into his pocket and procured a pack of matches. He lit one and used it to light the candle beside the toilet door. The flame cast a soft orange glow, the light relaxing.

He walked into the bathing area and pushed the shower's curtain aside and turned the showerhead on. The water took a while to heat up and he hated showering in cold water. Slowly, walking back out to the toilet, he pulled off his shirt, and undid his pants before toeing off his shoes and socks. On his way to the sink, he deposited the lot on the toilet.

Stopping in front of the sink, he smiled a bit at his reflection. Usopp had grown a lot in the last two years, they all had. It was almost unbelievable, to some degree, how much they grew. He watched as the candle flickered, casting distorted shadows over his face. The play of light and shadow made it seem as if there were things present in the mirror that weren't there. It reminded him of the old games he used to play with his friends at school.

"Light a candle and say, 'Bloody Mary in the Mirror' she will show up and rip your face from your skull." He snorted at the silliness of his childhood games, shaking his head, because really, it was silly. "That didn't stop me from being too scared to try it though." He mused, "Perhaps now...?" He stared intently at the mirror, the shadows and light dancing across the glass giving the moment a more haunted ambiance. A face appeared above his shoulder, all hollowed eyes and stringy shoulder length green hair, and he slammed his eyes shut- "just my imagination playing tricks on me! I-I did not even say anything, so no one is there! When one stares at something long enough their brain starts making imagines because... well, things are ever-changing! Why would it register the same thing if it already knows it's there... hahaha?"

He quickly turned his back to the mirror and bent down to grab his pants, rooting in his pocket for more matches. He lit another match and held the flame to the candles on either side of the sink and rushed into the washroom to light the ones adorning the walls. He sighed, feeling relieved and threw the used match into the toilet; it was much brighter in the room now. No one would come and rip his face off as he washed.

Wearily, he looked over his shoulder back at the mirror, his image stared back at him nervously. "Perhaps playing that game isn't the best idea. We are in the Grand Line after all. Here, there may very well be someone in the mirror waiting to rip my face off."

A shiver ran down his spine and he ran into the shower room, slamming the door shut that lead to the toilet and sink to protect himself from any monsters hiding in the dark shadows. He quickly jumped under the shower and gripped the knobs to the water tightly as he felt himself begin to slip. He straightened himself, taking a deep breath, began to chastise himself, "I'm just freaking myself out, I always do that."

The Sniper took a deep breath and walked into the shower, letting out a sigh of content when the water began to cascade down his back. A heavy wave of fatigue began to sink deeply into his bones, almost as if the water was casting a sleeping spell over him. He closed his eyes tilting his chin against his collar-bone, allowing the water to wash over him.

Feeling his legs about to give out, Usopp allowed himself to slowly slide down the wall until he was firmly sitting, the water now pounding over his head and shoulders. The pain from earlier was beginning once again, and a wave of nausea hit him, the room span violently. He pressed his face into his knees and closed his eyes tightly.

He briefly contemplated the fact that him freaking out over some non-existent thing ripping his face off was probably the reason he was in his current state, as he has never truly been ill before. The sudden influx of adrenaline had to be the explanation for what was going on.

As soon as it had arrived, the pain vanished. With his head no longer spinning, Usopp blinked owlishly around the washroom. He stayed firmly on the ground, as he did not yet trust himself to move, but straightened out his legs. He closed his eyes, and took calming breaths, clearing his mind of everything.

Normally, when he felt stressed, clearing his mind helped him feel better. However, he could still feel the cling of nausea in his weary body, and it was distracting him.

He tutted and opened his eyes, clearing his mind wouldn't work today. He would just need to- "Ugh!" With a sudden burst, the once warm water turned cold, causing him to cry out in shock. Reaching up, he gripped the knobs above him and pulled himself shakily to his feet.

He slipped, turning the cold-water on full force. "Son of a-!" The water hit him directly in the face and he stood there in the stunning cold, before cursing and turning off the cold water completely. His legs shook, and he needed to lean against the wall to hold himself upright under the now semi-tolerable water. He rubbed his head, "what is going on?" he muttered to himself, mussing his hair before he reached over to move the showerhead, so the water would cover him more thoroughly. He obviously could not trust himself to stand on his own.

Usopp stood against the wall, staring at the floor and unmoving as the water fell upon him, until there was a knock on the door alerting him that the afternoon snack was being served. He let out a long breath, before telling Chopper that he would be out in a couple of minutes.

Grabbing the soap, he pushed himself off the wall and quickly ran the bar over his body, and through his thick hair. He rinsed before shutting off the water completely. Usopp shook his soaked hair out and walked over to the towel rack on the other side of the room. He grabbed his towel from beside Luffy's and wrapped it tightly around himself. He was still shivering from the cold, and felt even more tired and weak than before, but he could stand to get a snack with his crew. He took his time drying himself off, and merely left the towel around his neck to catch the water dripping from his hair when he finished. Walking over to the toilet, he grabbed his underwear and pants, pulling them on.

After taking time to put on his socks and shoes, he allowed himself another cursory glance in the mirror. Although, he could not have been in the shower more than forty minutes, he looked as if he had aged a few years. There were bags under his eyes, his cheek were hallowed, and he could hear, now that the water wasn't running, a wheezing to his normally healthy breathing.

He shook his head, now realizing that it is not just an adrenaline rush causing him to feel the way he was. He very rarely had headaches (that Luffy didn't cause!) or felt nausea or lost strength in his body. In fact, that was something that did not happen at all unless he was in a battle and had been seriously injured. However, he had not been seriously injured- not since their last major battle over two months ago.

Truthfully, if he still felt ill tomorrow he would have to go see Chopper, and they would have to notify the crew. He could have caught something from one of the recent islands they were on. He groaned, the last thing he wanted was everyone worried about him- they would never leave him alone then!

"Usopp! Are you okay?" Usopp jumped at the voice and pushed himself away from the sink. He looked down to see Chopper standing at the foot of the ladder. He roughly ran the towel over his hair and threw it into the used towel basket to be washed.

"Fine! I just lost track of time, I'll be right down!" He hollered, he checked himself one last time in the mirror before throwing on his shirt and sliding down the latter to greet a curious and worried Chopper.

"Are you sure?" Chopper gave Usopp a curious sniff, "you smell a bit funny."

"Well, that is just rude." Usopp scoffed, chuckling and picking up the reindeer. "I'm positive! Now, let's go get some snacks before Luffy eats them all." He smiled warmly and marched out of the Library and down the stairs with Chopper in his arms.

Discretely, Chopper sniffed Usopp and frowned, but Usopp pretended that he hadn't noticed. He could keep this to himself for now. No need to bother the crew needlessly, it was snack time after all.

It turned out to be a beautiful evening. A crescent moon hung mischievously in the cloudless, star filled sky, resembling a Cheshire Cat smile against the rippling sea water. The air was warm and welcoming, drawing the Straw Hats from their various rooms of activities to spend time in the unique peacefulness that was their evening. Sanji had even gone as far as to get Franky and Zoro to bring the Galley table outside so that the crew may enjoy dinner on the lawn.

After dinner, Usopp happily played with Luffy and Chopper on deck. Climbing up the walls and ropes, searching under crates, digging holes and jumping out of various hiding places to scare each other.

By the time night fell completely upon them he had all but forgotten his short bout of illness earlier that day. He felt happily exhausted now and only wanted to crawl into his bunk and sleep for eternity. However, Chopper had watch that evening so Usopp crawled up to the crow's nest instead of into his bunk to hang out with the small reindeer. He always stayed with him and told him stories or played games to help pass the time.

When it was finally time for Robin's watch, around two in the morning, Usopp carried a sleepy Chopper to their room. Luffy was snoring contently in the hammock above his own, and both Sanji and Zoro somehow ended up on the floor again. Based on the twisted sheets on the top bunk, it looks as if Sanji had a bad dream and fell into Zoro's bunk which resulted on them both falling on the floor. They looked comfortable enough, however, so Usopp let them be.

Franky was nowhere to be found, but that was hardly a surprise. He was either upstairs with Robin or snoozing in the factory downstairs. Brooke was sitting in the corner of the room in a soft chair that Usopp could not remember being there before. He was not asleep, unusual for the skeleton considering the late hour.

Usopp sighed, and pulled down the blanket in his bunk before slipping in. He hugged Chopper to his chest as he laid his head against his pillow. He pulled the blanket over them and snuggled into its comforting warmth. As soon as he settled in, he felt what little energy he had leave his body. He was asleep in mere minutes.

Unfortunately, he was not asleep for long. He awoke violently, and the stabbing pain in his head returned with a vengeance. He shifted in his bunk, transferring Chopper to legs so that he could lie more comfortably on his back. Usopp gasped, pain shooting across all the muscles in his body. He sat up, one hand reaching out to make sure Chopper didn't fall, the other pressing against his head.

"Usopp, you okay?" Luffy mumbled sleepily, his head popping up over the side of his own bunk to look down at his best friend. Brooke had shifted in his seat to lean forward in case something was wrong and Usopp needed help.

Usopp screwed his eyes shut and breathed heavily through his nose before answering. "I'm fine, just a bad dream. Go back to sleep."

"M'kay, night." In seconds, the straw-hat captain was snoring again, not a care in the world.

Chopper cracked open one of his eyes and stared at Usopp. "Are you okay?" he asked sleepily. "Just a bad dream," he reiterated before throwing himself back against his pillow and pulling Chopper more against him to keep him from falling out of the bunk. His head still pounded, but slowly sleep overtook him, and he decided not to worry too much about it. If he was ill, it was probably just some stupid little bug he caught. He would be better in the morning.

Chapter Text

"Oi, Usopp, are you okay?"

Usopp lifted his head from his fist and blinked at Sanji, before taking a moment to situate himself, and look around him before answering. The seats around him were vacant, but on the table lay dirty dishes save for his own which, surprisingly, had untouched food. Breakfast was over then. He cleared his throat, "I'm fine."

"Did you sleep well last night?" the Cook questioned, "you came in pretty late with Chopper." Sanji stood behind the island at the sink washing the pans from breakfast.

"I fell asleep as soon as I got into bed," Usopp responded before falling silent. Other than waking up in the middle of the night once, he slept like a log. Shaking his head, he offered Sanji a bright smile. "Heh, heh, I must've slept a bit too well!"

Sanji reached over and placed the pan he was washing on the drying board, his eyes roving over Usopp. "I've had days like that," he said carefully.

Usopp ran a hand through his hair and smiled lightly, "then you know what I mean, yeah? I'm sure after I get some fresh air I'll be good as new!"

Sanji offered him a smile that did not reach his eyes, "Would you like me to heat up your breakfast for you, so you can eat it outside?"

Usopp looked down at the food on his plate and felt his stomach twist in protest, "no. I'm not feeling hungry right now." Sanji narrowed his eyes as Usopp pushed away from the table and stood shakily to his feet. His fingers bit sharply into the edge of the table as he fought to keep his balance.

Not wanting Sanji to see the pain that crossed his features, Usopp leaned his head down so that his curls could block his face. Sanji, not one to miss a beat, cleared his throat, as he continued to watch the younger boy suspiciously, "go outside. I'll pack the food away for later."

Usopp straightened himself and forced a smile on his face. He pushed in his chair and left the Galley as quickly as his weak legs would take him. He could feel the burn of Sanji's eyes on his back as he went. Once outside on deck, he paused to think about his options. He could go back to the boys' cabin and sleep a bit more, he could really use it- the exhaustion weighing heavily in his bones, but that would lead to unnecessary questions that he did not want to answer. His factory it would be then, Franky had watch for most of the morning so that would give him the privacy he needed. He turned left and carefully began his descent downstairs. He would get the privacy he needed and could easily avoid those awkward questions that may arise. Afterall, he locked himself in the factory at least three times a week.

Slowly, he pushed open the door to the factory and closed it firmly behind him, leaning back heavily on the Adam wood. He sighed, pressing the back of his head to the door and running a shaky hand through his sweaty curls. The smell of cinnamon buns wafted through the open window behind Usopp's desk. It caused him to place a hand over his mouth and nose to keep himself from being sick, his stomach reacting aggressively to what would normally be a delicious smell for him. Keeping a hand over his mouth, he willed himself not to be sick as he walked over to the window and slammed it shut, cutting of the nauseating cinnamon scent.

Usopp fell limply into his desk chair and leaned forward so that he could lay his head against the cool surface of his desk. He felt very heated and weak, and his head seemed to decide that it was an opportune moment to play a very active drum solo. He screwed his eyes shut, and nuzzled his head into his arms.

He had a lot of work to get done. His pop greens needed cultivating, and he should find out what was going on with the new ammo he had created. What exactly was causing it to go off too early? Usopp did not know, but he will be damned it if would blow up in his hands again. Then, of course, he needed to spend some brotherly time with Luffy and Chopper before dinner, if only to keep Nami from killing them.

He pushed himself up onto his elbows, looking around blurrily he searched for the ammo that he left on his desk the morning before. Usopp caught sight of it on the far corner of his desk and reached towards it. However, his fingers could not quite reach so he dropped his hand to the desk to bring it back under his head. Perhaps a nap was in order. Yes, after a nap he will be back to his usual energetic self.

Sanji frowned from behind his glass as he watched Usopp from under his fringe. While the rest of the crew was inhaling their dinner as if it were the last they would ever eat, Usopp was pushing his around the plate with his fork. He looked half asleep and when he did bring the fork to his mouth, it was with a pained expression and the fork was void of food.

His eyes moved over to Zoro, who was chewing his food thoughtfully and watching the younger boy as he too had noticed Usopp's peculiar behavior. His had a hand around Luffy's wrist to keep the Captain from stealing his food, but when he let go, Luffy had instead went for Usopp's food. Zoro and Sanji frowned as Usopp made no move to stop him, or even seemed to notice what was happening. Odd, as Usopp never let Luffy near his food, not without a fight at any rate.

The more Sanji studied Usopp, the more he could see how 'out of it' the younger boy was. His eyes were glazed over, and a pained expression crossed his face whenever he so much as moved a finger. His breathing even seemed off to the point where he was panting. What the hell was going on with the shit-sniper?

While the others left the Galley, chatting happily amongst themselves, Usopp remained seated. Cautiously, Sanji took the plate from in front of Usopp, frowning deeply when the boy just stares ahead and gives him no acknowledgement. Zoro, who was picking up the dishes from the other side of the table and placing them in the bucket on the table, stopped what he was doing to watch the exchange, or rather, lack thereof.

Sanji reached over to touch his arm, "Usopp?"

Usopp did not answer him, causing Sanji to panic. "O-oi, Shit-Sniper!"

Zoro stopped putting the food ware in the bin and walked around the table to where Usopp was still sitting. He crouched beside Usopp, and shook his knee, "oi."

Usopp blinked and looked down at Zoro, "sorry. What were you saying?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sanji snapped, standing up straight. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips. He expertly lit the cigarette before inhaling deeply.

Usopp pushed his chair back and stood up, "w-what are you talking about? I'm fine!" He turned away from them so that they would not see the pained expression on his face. His muscles ached in ways that did not seem possible to him, every movement he made was filled with an aching pain that he had not felt since he had begun to train during their two years apart.

He sent them a strained smile and pushed in his chair. Slowly, he began to move towards the door, aware that their eyes were still on him. He breathed heavily through his nose, feeling the dizziness as it began to wash over him, causing his legs to become wobbly. Suddenly, his legs gave out from under him, and he screwed his eyes shut, preparing for an impact that never came. He took a few calming breaths allowing Zoro to support him for a moment before he pulled away to stand unsteadily on his own feet.

"if you are sick you need to see Chopper," Sanji pressed. He threw his cigarette into the ashtray on the island and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Leaning his hip against the island, he glowered at Usopp from over Zoro's shoulder.

"I'm not sick," Usopp insisted, unconvincingly as his hands and voice were shaking. At Sanji and Zoro's stern glares he added, "I'm fine, really." He backed away from Zoro slowly, careful to school his expression to hide any pain he felt as he tried, once again, to make it to the door.

"Usopp," Zoro said firmly.

Frustration and anger crossed Usopp's face. He was feeling weak and just wanted to get out of the Galley. "I said I'm fine! Why can't you just leave me alone!?" He turned on his heel, and slowly made his way out of the Galley, slamming the door as he went.

It was closing in on the witching hour when Sanji's night watch was interrupted by the sound of scaping down below on deck, close to where the boys' cabin resided.

He poked his head out of the crows' nest, cigarette pressed between his lips, and looked down watching as Usopp stumbled about. The younger boy barely made it to the railing, his hands scrambling to grip the wood to keep himself upright. After a moment of fumbling, he sat himself on the barrier and looked out at the ocean. Normally, Sanji would have gone back inside as this was normal for Usopp to do, however, the boy was leaning much too forward for Sanji's comfort.

"Back it up a bit," Sanji chastised, jumping down from the crows' nest to land neatly by Usopp. He placed a hand on the Sniper's shoulder and pulled him back.

Had Usopp been feeling his usual self, he would have jumped and comically complained to Sanji about sneaking up on unsuspecting people. As it was however, he was barely able to give the Cook a look of reproach. He pulled himself back, wincing as he did do.

The Cook froze when he got a proper look at Usopp. The boy looked terrible. His cheeks were sunken, his skin pale, eyes glazed over and his breathing- well, what he was doing could hardly be considered breathing.

Usopp laughed weakly, "sorry if I bothered you. I was just taking in some fresh air. Seem to have a bit of trouble sleeping." His voice was worn, making what he said sound completely true, and false at the same time. "Shouldn't you be up in the crows' nest?"

Sanji eyed him as he lit a cigarette and leaned back against the railing beside Usopp. "Came down to see who was clever enough to break into the Sunny without me sensing them. Turns out, it was you!" He pushed back a strand of hair from his eyes and grinned cheekily at the boy beside him. His eyes still watching Usopp as if he would fall over the railing at any moment.

Usopp rolled his eyes at the Cook's antics. "Hardly counts as breaking in when I live on the ship, Idi- ", he took as gasp of breath and fell backwards off the railing. His fingers gripped into the wood, in a mostly failed attempt to keep him upright. "Shit," he cursed under his breath, and struggled back to his feet.

"What the hell has been going on with you, Longnose!?" Sanji hissed, bending down to help Usopp to his feet.

"I'm fine, it's just fatigue." Usopp insisted as he allowed the Cook to help him up.

"How long have you been feeling this way?"

"It's only been a day. If I feel like this tomorrow I will go to Chopper, okay?" Usopp sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "But, I am sure that after a good nights' rest, I will be my usual annoying self."

A chuckle escaped Sanji's throat as he shook his head, "if you don't tell him tomorrow than I will."

Usopp murmured his agreement before stumbling away from Sanji, back towards the boys' cabin. He tripped again but Sanji, who was keeping a close eye on him, caught him. Sanji tutted, pulling Usopp's arm around his shoulder and half carrying him into the cabin.

"Just stay here the rest of the night," Sanji whispered. He leaned down to make sure Chopper was not in the bunk before placing Usopp there. Everyone tended to fall asleep where they landed, and he did not want to risk dropping Usopp on someone.

"Mmhmm," Usopp muttered, snuggling deeply into his pillows and blankets, immediately falling to sleep.

Sanji stared at Usopp a moment longer and then turned to leave. "Mr. Usopp is ill then? I was afraid so, he has been acting odd lately."

Sanji jumped and turned to glare at Brooke who was sitting on the low sofa in the middle of the room. Brooke's dark empty eyes glared back at him in the moonlit room, "why didn't you send him back to bed, Shitty-skeleton?"

"I assumed he was going to use the bathroom."

Sanji glowered at him before turning his back and storming out of the cabin and back to his post. He picked out the last cigarette from his pocket and lit it as he entered the crow's nest. He paced back and forth muttering to himself about Shit-Snipers and even Shittier-Skeletons.

Sanji did not get any sleep that evening after his shift. Instead of going to sleep, he would use the extra time to cook a big breakfast for the crew. He also prepared ingredients for smoothies for later that day. The unsettling twist in his stomach not leaving the entire time.

Sanji told Chopper.

It was around midday when Nami, Chopper and Luffy stormed into the factory with worried expressions marring their faces. They caught Usopp off guard, he was sitting on the floor with a marker in his mouth, and blueprints littering the floor around him. Nami's Clima-Tact was in his lap as he fussed with a screw, the screwdriver in his hand shaking.

"Usopp!" Nami glared down at him with her arms crossed in front of her generous chest.

"What?" he asked, not bothering to look up from the object in his weak grip.

She reached down and took the small circular piece from his hand and threw it onto his desk. Usopp growled under his breath and jumped up, he reached back to steady himself on the desk as dizziness settled in with his sudden active movement. "Sit down, you Idiot! You're sick!"

"I'm fine, I don't need you to baby me."

Chopper pushed in front of Nami, "I need you to sit anyway, Usopp, in order to give you a physical," he chirped.

Usopp sighed and sat back down on the floor. It was all he could do to stop himself from rolling his eyes as Nami, Luffy and Chopper gathered around him with crossed arms and stern expressions. How Chopper, in his tiny stuffed animal-like form, seemed to tower over him, Usopp would never understand.

Usopp's hand, still shaking, ran through his hair as he stared back defiantly at his friends, "what?" Nami pulled out a mirror and held it in front of his face. He blinked at his image and looked up at her, "I'm sorry?"

"Look at yourself!" She insisted, pushing it closer to his face.

Usopp stared at his image in the mirror. Truth be told he looked like crap. His hair was a tangled mess; his skin had an even deeper yellowish hue than the day before, the whites of his eyes taking on the yellow color now as well. This puzzled Usopp. Sure, he was shakier than he felt earlier that day, but otherwise he felt much better today than most of the previous days. He felt almost normal, except for the shaking and dizzy spells with fast movement, but that could be attributed to him not drinking enough water, and eating less food, the last couple days.

Clearing his throat, he said, "I am quite handsome, I know." His attempt to lighten the mood did not fly. He got neither a smirk nor an eye roll.

"You're sick and you are in here working on your stupid little gadgets! You could die, Usopp. Do you not realize that or are you just too stupid to care‽"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic," Usopp muttered, rolling his eyes. He might not look any better, but he sure felt it. Her statements of dying were over-dramatic, and that was him talking.

"We have no idea what you have!" Nami insisted, "you could very well be dying or even have something that could kill us all! Did you even think of that? You could spread something to us that will take out the entire crew!"

Chopper placed his hooves on Usopp's left knee, "we're really worried about you! If you overexert yourself, you are likely to get even sicker!" A small syringe appeared in Chopper's hoof, just where had be been hiding that?, and was waving it threateningly in front of Usopp. "I have no idea what you have or how dangerous it is. So, if I see you pushing yourself too hard, I will be forced to sedate you."

Usopp shoved himself back, pulling the desk chair with him to get away from the syringe wielding reindeer. "No, no... no, do not come near me with that thing. My can't-go-near-needles-or-I-will-die disease is acting up."

"I will if you leave me no choice!" The tip of the syringe prodded Usopp's knee, and he kicked out, pulling his knees to his chest.

"I said no! Touch me with that and I swear the only stories I will ever tell you again are ones that will make Thriller Bark look like Candy Land!" Usopp snarled. He breathed heavily, glaring hard at Chopper. He startled the small reindeer, causing him to drop the syringe to the floor and run and hide behind Luffy's legs.

His hooves hugged Luffy's leg tightly as he peeked out from behind them, "Ah! Usopp's being scary."

Luffy blinked as he stared down at Chopper. Slowly, he slid his eyes over to Usopp. Nami was standing beside him, muttering to herself. After a moment, he decided it was safe to ignore her. "From what Sanji says you've been sick, Usopp, and you didn't tell us. We can't lose you. You're the only sniper we've got."

"We're all just worried about you." Nami added, "We realize that you hate to feel like a burden, and that you want to do everything you can to help, but you really don't need to. Especially not now. We can help Sanji with the cleaning and someone will happily take over your watch. I'll do the laundry this week and Luffy can mop the deck tomorrow." She paused to throw a weary look at her captain who gave her a blank stare as he picked his nose, "I'll get Zoro to do it." She said as an afterthought.

Usopp slowly let his knees down from his chest and leant forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. He kept his eyes trained on the floor as he spoke, "listen, I appreciate your concern. It makes me extremely happy, but..." He paused and slowly took a breath, suddenly, he was having a lot of trouble breathing. "I rather just live through it until it goes away." He lifted his head and looked them in the eye, exhaustion coloring his features. "Look, I will not overwork myself, and I will let you guys take over when I get too tired, but I need to do as much as I can for myself."

Nami sighed, "you're such an idiot," she muttered. "So, freaking stubborn and reckless." She rubbed a hand over her forehead, trying to clear the headache forming.

After a moment, she reached down and took Usopp's hand, pulling on it to get him to stand. "Come on, up you get. Chopper is going to do a quick physical and then you are going to sleep. If you are better tomorrow and Chopper clears you, you can come on the island with us. We will be docking at a new island in the morning."

Usopp tensed as his stomach gave a lurch, before allowing himself to be pulled up. "Just let me put my blueprints away."

She gave him a stern look before letting go of his hand, "five minutes," she conceded, her voice leaving no room for argument. She tapped Chopper on the shoulder from where he was still hidden behind Luffy's leg and motioned towards the door, "Let's go ge-, USOPP!?"

Luffy rushed forward to grab his friend as Usopp fell to the ground, his breath labored, and beads of sweat forming.

"Lay him flat on the ground!" Chopper commanded, "Nami, move that chair out of the way." Luffy kneeled by his friend, shell shocked. His eyes were wide as he watched his friend struggle to breathe. "Luffy, move away," when he saw that the captain was not moving, he snapped, "now!" He motioned for Nami to move away from where Usopp was laying as well, not wanting them near Usopp while he worked.

Usopp's lips were starting to turn blue, as were the beds of his nails. He let out a cry and then he passed out, his arms flexing up before they were flung outwards, their movement stopping completely as they hit the ground. "Nami, grab that jacket and place it under his head. He looks like he is going into a seizure." Chopper's eyes roved over Usopp's body, waiting for something to occur.

Nami ran over to the door and grabbed the jacket hanging on the doorknob. She raced over and rolled the jacket up, placing it under his head. She squeaked and jumped away violently as Usopp began to jerk violently.

Nami reached her hand out, only to have it slapped back firmly by a hoof, "don't touch him!"

Nami sat back, watching wide-eyed as her friend jerked on the floor, tears filling her eyes. She spared Luffy a glance; he was staring blankly at Usopp, his eyes unblinking- obviously in shock.

They waited, and waited, and waited. Slowly, Usopp's jerking began to slow, and soon after, it stopped completely. Chopper nodded to himself, "Luffy, help me get him on his side."

Luffy gave no indication that he heard the Doctor. The reindeer frowned and turned to Nami, "help me move him onto his side. I need to make sure his throat is clear so that he doesn't choke. It should also help him breathe better."

Nami pulled on Usopp, but he only returned to his back. She sighed and tried again, starting when slightly larger hands covered hers and helped put Usopp on his side. She looked over her shoulder, watching Luffy as he frowned down at Usopp and placed him in a position he would stay in on his own.

"Are you okay?" Nami whispered to him. She slipped her hand out from under his and placed it on top, squeezing his fingers gently.

Luffy continued to stare down at his best friend, stiffening as the boy took in a particularly harsh breath. He sighed, and squezed her hand back, before allowing his hand to fall into his lap.

Chopper was on the other side of Usopp's body. He was writing notes on a notepad that he found on Usopp's desk and muttering to himself. He placed the pad down with a sigh and shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked.

"The average cold would not give Usopp a seizure and he does not have a past of them. This means that whatever illness he has caused it. It is good, because narrows down the illnesses significantly."

Luffy and Nami gave out a sigh of relief, "it is bad, because most illnesses I know of that cause seizures, as a side effect, are mostly life threatening."

Nami's face fell, "when will you know what he has?"

Chopper cocked his head to the side in thought, "once he wakes, I can draw blood from him and begin to run tests to eliminate illnesses. I need to investigate his family history, what he knows of it at any rate, and see if there is anything to find there. If there is nothing, I will begin to look into illnesses found in the New World. I hope to have an answer by tomorrow evening." He examined Usopp for a moment longer before nodding. "He should be okay for now. I am going to go tell the others what happened. One of you should stay with him until he wakes. Once he does, call me so I can look him over."

Chopper gave one last sad look at Usopp before turning and leaving the room. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he sniffled and let out a choked sob. He rushed up the stairs to his sick bay, needing a moment to himself before he talked to the crew.

"Luffy, you can go. I'll stay with him," Nami whispered. She sat beside Usopp's head and was running her fingers through his hair. Luffy sat beside her, cross-legged, merely staring at him. The shock hadn't worn off yet.

"Nami, I'm scar-"

"Ugh," Usopp flipped himself onto his back, his eyes screwing shut. Pressing a hand to his forehead, he swallowed, "what happened?" he complained, as he attempted to sit up. Neither Luffy nor Nami were having any of that, however, and forced him back into a laying position. What is going on?"

"You had a seizure," Nami said as she pressed down on Usopp's shoulder to keep him there. "You shouldn't be moving."

"I'm fine. Just got a bit of a headache," Usopp pushed Nami's hand away and leaned on his elbows, hanging his head back so that he could see Nami's face. "Oi! Stop crying, Stupid!" Usopp stuck out his tongue at her as she gave a weak laugh, "I'm fine, really." He lifted himself up into a complete sitting position, "If I am completely honest, I feel better than I have in a few days. Well, minus the headache of course, but well, can't have everything I suppose." He reached over and wiped Nami's tears away with the back of his hand, "so stop crying, yeah? Sanji will kick my ass if he knows that I made you cry."

"True," Nami muttered as she wiped away the rest of her tears. "Would you... would you like me to get you some water?"

"I'm really not dying, Nami." Usopp teased, rolling his eyes at her. "No need to be so nice."

Nami rolled her eyes and stood up, rubbing her hands over her eyes one last time. "I need to go get Chopper anyway." She looked towards Luffy, "he can help you get to the sick bay. You shouldn't be alone."

Usopp allowed his gaze to shift to Luffy and frowned at what he saw. "I think it's more likely that I will be helping him there. What the hell is wrong with him?"

Nami shrugged her shoulders, "I think you scared him." She leaned down at patted Luffy's head before making her way out the door. "I'll be around to check up on you soon."

"Aye," Usopp nodded, shooing her away. He waited until the door was closed before twisting in his spot and sitting cross-legged in front of Luffy. "Oi, Luffy?" He poked his friend in the forehead to get his attention, to no avail.

He reached out and squeezed the other's shoulder, shaking him violently, "oi, Luffy," he tried again with no success.

He sighed and pulled back only to have Luffy's hand shoot out and grab his wrist. He gasped as he was pulled forward into Luffy's arms. He stiffened when he felt hot tears on his shoulder and did the only thing he could do, hug Luffy back.

"Luffy, …what?"

Luffy squeezed him a bit tighter, "seeing you there... I thought I would lose you, just like I lost Ace. I thought you were dying, and I froze because I couldn't bear the thought of losing my best friend."

"Luffy..."

"I don't care that you are our only sniper, there are a million more of those that we could get."

"... thanks?"

Luffy shook his head, "even though that sniper would never be as good as you, because you are the best, we could always get another one." He paused, taking in a shaky breath. "You, I am commanding you not to die. You can't die, because you are by best friend and losing you would hurt me as much as it did when Ace died. I… and I am not strong enough to deal with that. I will never be strong enough to deal with that again. I know… I am being selfish, but I don't care. I want to be selfish if it means you don't die- if none of you do. So, I am giving you a Captain's order. You are not allowed to die, okay, Usopp?"

Usopp snuggled his face into Luffy's shoulder and nodded, "yes, Captain." He gave Luffy one last squeeze before pulling away. Inconspicuously, he wiped his eyes, not noticing that his tears were stained red.

When he looked back up, he saw that Luffy was still giving him a very stern expression that made the bottom of his stomach fall out, "… what, Luffy?"

Luffy hadn't even bothered to wipe the tears or snot from his face, he only sighed and looked away to gather his thoughts. When he looked back into Usopp's eyes, what the Sniper saw reflected in them was determination, fear, sadness, and an air of command that Luffy only possessed when he was about to say something extremely important. "Until you are better, I am relieving you of all duties."

Usopp sucked in a pained breath and shook his head, fresh tears filling his eyes. . "Luffy, no, please... you can't do this." He begged, sucking in his breath and squeezing his eyes shut, willing the pain in his heart to decrease. "I don't want to stop. I'll be fine, I can do it all, you'll see."

Luffy dropped his gaze, his own heart hurting at the look of pain and loss on his friend's face, knowing that he was the one that put it there. "You'll get better," he said, voice leaving no room for argument. "You will get better, Usopp, but until then, you need to focus on getting better." Luffy stopped, the pain in his chest getting worse, "it is for your own good."

Luffy reached up and removed his hat, pausing for a moment before placing it on Usopp's own head. He felt the hot tears in his eyes slip down his cheeks as Usopp nodded and pressed his forehead to Luffy's own. His own tear trails matching Luffy's, leaving red trails down his hallow cheeks.

Chapter Text

Chopper ran a hoof over his hat while he frowned down at the medical texts strewn in front of him. He ruled out hereditary diseases to the best of his ability from a survey of Usopp's family history, but there was not much to go on in that respect. Usopp knew little to nothing about any family illness, other than his mother, but when asked to name the disease, the boy came up blank. When asked what happened to his family history, Chopper knew better than to pry when Usopp's eyes dangerously darkened.

With a sigh, Chopper pulled his eyes away from the texts to the twenty test tubes on his desk. Most of them would be done within the hour, a couple of the more delicate ones- which he ran out of pure desperation, would not be done for another three or four.

He looked back down at his books, but the words were starting to bleed together on the page from his hours of fruitless searching. Sighing, he pushed his chair away from the desk so that he could jump down. Now would be a good time to check on Usopp.

Chopper walked down the stairs towards Usopp's factory down below. He stood outside the door for a moment before he knocked and let himself in. Usopp was sat at his desk with his back to the door. He was poring over blueprints that were spread across the desk. A frustrated mumble came from his lips as he scribbled something into the notebook that lay open in his lap. "Usopp?"

Usopp placed his pen in his notebook before putting them both on the desk and swiveling around to warmly smile at the doctor. "Hey! I was feeling better, so I thought I would get some work done."

"I'm glad!" Chopper replied earnestly, "I was thinking that if your check up goes well you can visit the island with the rest of us. We could all use a break from Sunny, no matter how much we love her."

Usopp's smile brightened further, "seriously‽" He turned and rolled up the blue prints on his desk, and threw them into his bottom drawer with gusto, "and here I thought I would need some elaborate plan to get off the ship today."

"Were those the Sunny's blueprints?" Chopper asked suspiciously.

"Copies of them," Usopp admitted with a sheepish shrug. "Franky would kill me if I were to ruin the real ones."

"Usopp," Chopper threw him a scowl but it lacked bite behind it. He would not have blamed Usopp if the older boy had tried sneaking out- they haven't seen an island in a week after all. On top of that, it had been a harrowing could of days as well.

Chopper pulled out his blood pressure kit and motioned for Usopp to lean his arm against the armrest of his chair. The doctor sighed as he worked the mechanism, a small frown on his face. "95 over 60, that is a bit low. Do you feel dizzy or tired?"

"Nope," Usopp shook his head, using the hand not occupied with the cuff to move his hair from his eyes, "I feel fine."

Chopper studied him warily before writing down a couple of notes into Usopp's medical chart and disconnecting the blood pressure cuff from Usopp's arm. He placed the cuff on the desk and pulled the stethoscope around his neck up and into his ears. "Lift up your shirt and take a deep breath."

Usopp obliged, shivering as the cold metal pressed against his chest. "Let the breath out slowly." Chopper moved the stethoscope and nodded, "once more. In, then out." He nodded and pulled the stethoscope away, hanging it back around his neck, "your wheezing slightly. I can hear it when you take breaths. Do you have any pain in your chest?"

Usopp shook his head, "none."

"Open your mouth," Usopp obediently opened his mouth allowing the oral thermometer to be slid under his tongue. He shied away from Chopper when he pressed the otoscope into his ear, but otherwise, made no other movement. When the thermometer beeped, Usopp took it from his mouth and handed it to Chopper. "101.3, that is a bit high, even for you."

"What is that in Celsius?"

"38.5."

Usopp scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. At his reaction, Chopper frowned, "it is not that much higher than your normal temperature. I have no issue with letting you leave the ship. You'll just need to make sure that you do not overexert yourself."

"I can go‽" Usopp jumped up from his chair, his hair swinging wildly around him mirroring his excitement.

"Yes, but no picking up heavy things and you need to bring water with you and make it back to the ship by lunch time!"

Usopp out the door with his jacket and bag before Chopper had even finished his sentence, "oi! Luffy, let's get out of here before Chopper decides that I am too sick to get off the ship." Usopp seized the back of Luffy's shirt and pulled him out of the kitchen.

"Ushap, mim etang!" Luffy protested, his hands still stretched towards the table as he nicked bread and other various foods left over from breakfast. He shoved the food into his mouth while he was pulled down the stairs to the main deck.

"You're always eating," Usopp pointed out as he stopped at the bottom step and frowned, looking around. He could see the island they were heading towards in the distance. "We aren't there yet? Weren't we set to land a couple of hours ago?"

Nami looked at him from over her sunglasses, "we should be arriving within the hour. The wind had stopped for a bit, so it was slow sailing. Luckily it has picked up again, so we shouldn't have any more trouble. From your enthusiasm, I would say that you have been cleared to come with us. If that is the case I will need your help today carrying my bags."

Chopper ran out onto the deck and stood in front of Nami, glaring sternly at her. "I gave him permission to explore the island under specific instructions that he is not to do anything strenuous. That includes carrying your bags, Nami. His blood pressure is a bit too low and his temperature a bit too high for him to be doing anything that may affect his health."

Nami gave Usopp a scrutinizing stare before shrugging her shoulders, "fine. I'll just get Zoro to do it."

"Dream on, Sea Witch," Zoro countered from where he lay at the mast. He was the epitome of relaxation, hands behind his head, legs folded neatly in lazy ease. "I need to go to the blacksmith."

"I guess you really want me to raise your interest again," Nami said threateningly. A snort of derision was his only reply.

"I'll help you carry your bags, Nami-swaaan!" Sanji danced onto the deck, a cool glass of fruit drink and a fancy pastry lay neatly in the middle of the tray he was holding. He bowed and presented them to her, "for you, my dearest flower."

Usopp choked back his laughter and rolled his eyes towards the sky. If there was one good thing about being confined to bed it was that he didn't have to watch Sanji drooling over Nami.

"Thank you, Sanji." Nami said sweetly, taking the glass and pastry from him and placing them on the small fold up table beside herself.

Noticing Sanji's distraction as an opening to steal more food, Luffy was marching back to the kitchen with Chopper loyally following behind him. It only took a moment for Sanji to follow after, screaming at the both of them to keep their hands off of the leftovers, while he gripped the tray in his left hand, and his right hand reached into his breast pocket for a cigarette. After watching the interaction with mild amusement, Usopp slumped down into Robin's chair and scooted up so that his head leaned over the back. He stared at the cloudless sky, a smile on his face.

Everything seemed to be going back to normal. He was feeling better and could go to the island with everyone else. Little did he know, right now was merely the calm before the storm.

Usopp sighed, and scanned the crowd for any sign of Luffy, but the captain was nowhere to be seen in the sea of people. For a few minutes he attempted to retrace his steps in the hope that he would find Luffy drooling over some window display, but slowly tiredness began to seep into his bones and he soon needed to stop to rest.

He came upon a small drawbridge that linked the residential side of the island to the shopping center and decided to stop for a bit and rest. Even Luffy could stay out of trouble the couple of minutes Usopp decided to take for himself.

He leaned heavily against the cast-iron railing and looked out at the murky water beneath him. His eyes followed the small white cargo ships as they bobbed happily, ropes keeping them secure to the port-side not too far away from where he stood on the bridge. Busy workers were loading and unloading crates as people gathered curiously around the tables lined up next to the river. Venders were there selling everything from snacks to clothing, jewelry to perfume.

A group of school children on their bicycles rode behind him, speaking excitedly in a language that seemed vaguely familiar to Usopp but not one he could quite put his finger on, as they rushed to the ice cream shop on the other side of the river. Their bikes blocked the walking path in front of the establishment as they jumped off them, leaving the bikes carelessly on the pavement, but most people did not seem to mind much, merely walking around the bikes rather than making a big fuss.

He could see Zoro and Nami about half a mile away entering yet another clothing shop where Nami was sure to swindle the poor owner out of all the clothing he possessed there. Zoro was laden with bags, but did not seem to mind much, merely following Nami into the store wordlessly. She must have struck some type of deal with him to get Zoro to come with her, probably something to do with the blacksmith in town.

Robin was in the bookshop with Chopper down the street. He could see them clearly through the meticulously clean windows. Chopper was on the second floor looking through the books in the medical section- perhaps something that would help him diagnose what Usopp had. Robin was on the first floor speaking to the store clerk, a beady eyed mousy man with long hair. She held two books in her hand, but he couldn't tell what they were from his position.

Sanji was walking past all the venders, his hands free from any bags which Usopp took to mean he was merely browsing. Had he gone to the stores, he would have had at least a bag or two of spices as were his routine. Usopp raised his hand and waved to Sanji when the older boy looked up towards him. Sanji smiled and waved back before going back to the vender he had stopped at. The vender happened to be a young girl with long black hair, so Usopp needn't guess what Sanji was up to.

Usopp could hear Franky rather than see him. The Cyborg was at the other side of the bridge talking to one of the ship mechanics about the Adam Wood he used for the Sunny and why it was better than ordinary wood. He tuned them out quickly, having heard that conversation a few too many times for his liking.

Brooke, well he stood out like a sore thumb. Not only was he eight feet tall, towering over almost everyone on the island, he was also a walking skeleton. It was a bit hard to miss him. Brooke was sitting on the railing across the boardwalk; his legs tangled into the spokes to keep himself from falling into the water and was playing with his violin. He seemed completely unaware of the small group of onlookers he had gathered, most of which were children on the way home from a long day of classes.

Usopp stiffened when someone leaded against the railing a foot away from himself. His hand began to twitch towards his bag out of habit, but he kept it firmly on the railing. He wearily studied the man beside him from the corner of his eye, hoping he would not try to strike up a conversation.

"Beautiful here, isn't it?" No such luck.

Usopp blinked and turned his head so that he could see the man more clearly. He was about his height, perhaps an inch or two taller than himself with blonde dreadlocks with skin just a tad darker than his own. He wore a white cloak with blue stars decorated on it. On his back was a musket, securely tied by red cloth.

Usopp felt a slight twinge at the back of his head, almost as if he were forgetting something, but he barely registered it as a surprised look crossed the man's face beside him. As quickly as the look had appeared, it was gone, and it took Usopp a moment before he realized what had happened. He tried using Haki on me, so rude. An annoyed look flashed upon Usopp's face and he turned back towards the river. A sniper and one that uses Haki- there aren't many of those in the New World which means he is on one of the stronger crews.

Deciding to play it cool, Usopp nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah. It's gorgeous." He pressed forward, leaning heavily on the railing. His own weapon dug into his thigh reassuringly from inside his bag. He crossed his right leg over his left, his eyes scanning the crowd again for his crew mates to make sure they were still in close proximity. If he was in trouble, he would need all the help he could get.

Franky was still behind him; with the conversation shifted from Adam Wood to this new metal that was supposed to be rust proof- something Usopp filed away to ask about later. Brooke had moved to the square in the middle of the street performing for a larger group than earlier but was close enough if Usopp needed him. Sanji was still chatting with the pretty girl from earlier. She hadn't told him to shove off and looked to be having a good time. This meant that perhaps Sanji had a chance of getting some this island. Good for him.

"The sea is beautiful, but there is something about being back on land and communicating with normal people that really makes you appreciate it all the more."

Usopp smiled despite himself, that was a feeling he knew all too well. "Heh, yeah. After a while you just need a break from it all no matter how much you love your crew." He smiled sadly as he pushed his hair from his eyes. "I don't know what I would do without them though, probably be back in East Blue struggling to keep the roof of my parents' house from caving in."

The man turned towards him, "you left your family behind?"

Who doesn't? Usopp looked straight down into the water where a group of ducks happily swam. "No, my father left to become a pirate about fourteen years ago. My mother had insisted upon it, probably hadn't planned on dying a couple years later." Usopp shrugged, "I have a couple of friends I left behind, but I am sure they are fine. I still send them letters from time to time."

He had no idea why he was spilling his life story out to the person who could potentially be an enemy of the crew eventually, but there was a presence about the man that made Usopp trust him and it wasn't the Haki.

The man beside him had stiffened a bit, "I'm sorry to hear about that. You, you must hate your father for leaving your mother and yourself. I have a son I left at home myself; my greatest fear is that he hates me."

Usopp sighed and shrugged, "I am extremely proud that my father is a pirate and I love him. I don't hate him, not anymore. I did for a while, but I was younger, and Mom had been gone for a while and I was so alone, God, I hated him so much back then, but then... then I realized that he was following his dream. I realized how amazing that was, and if I were to take anything away from him it would be to always follow my dreams. Well, that and how to shoot stuff. He taught me the basics.

"He was so awesome! I remember him forcing me to shoot leaves off the trees in our village, but I wasn't allowed to shoot the leaf part of the leaf, only the stem where it was connected to the branch. I was so frustrated because I was having trouble getting it, but eventually I got it and I was so proud of myself. My mother was so angry at him," Usopp laughed gleefully, "I don't remember ever seeing her so mad! She was screaming at him saying..." Usopp paused and frowned, scanning his memory but coming up blank. Shrugging, he sighed, "Well, it's been seventeen years, I was bound to forget some of the story eventually." He smiled sadly, "I was three at the time, so it had something to do with a three-year-old not handling a gun- I do remember that being the reason I got a sling shot."

The man seemed to stop breathing and Usopp studied him, "are you okay?"

He seemed to snap out of his reverie and turned towards Usopp with a forced smile, "yeah, just... I hope my own son sees it the same way you do."

Usopp shrugged, "that would depend on the circumstances that he has found himself in." Usopp murmured. The sun was almost at its highest point in the sky and Usopp could see the rest of the crew starting to head back to the docks for lunch.

He pushed away from the railing and stood straight, fixing his bag so that the strap lay against his shoulder more comfortably as he smiled at the stranger. "Thank you for the talk, but I need to go find my captain. He'll be upset if he misses lunch. Besides, who knows what trouble he has gotten into not being under any supervision?" Usopp cocked his head to the side, his smile growing wider. "There are no war bells sounding or explosions, so that is good news."

The man chuckled and held out his hand, "thank you for indulging me." Usopp accepted his hand, causing the man's smile to grow. "I didn't catch your name, mine is Yasopp. I am a Commander and head sniper for the Red Hair Pirates." His eyes caught Usopp's causing the boy to swallow. It was obvious that he knew who Usopp was and was merely waiting for a reaction from him.

Although shocked, Usopp somehow managed to keep a smile, albeit a forced one, on his face. "I am the sniper for the Straw Hat Pirates." He said smoothly, as if he had no idea who Yasopp was. He took a deep breath to state his name when a sudden burst of pressure pressed behind his eyes, and a burning heat flushed through his body causing him a bout of dizziness. He grabbed onto the railing to keep himself upright as he swayed in his spot.

Yasopp's smile dropped into a frown as Usopp leaned heavily against the railing and started breathing heavily as if he were having trouble taking breath into his lungs. "Hey, are you okay‽ Can you breathe?"

Usopp shook his head as Yasopp pulled him closer to steady him. Usopp pushed him away as a wave of nausea hit him, his body shaking so violently that he fell onto the floor. His hand slipping from the railing as he weakly coughed up blood and spit.

Yasopp kneeled beside him and pulled up Usopp's chin to bring his face up towards his own. Usopp felt a wetness in his eyes that was slowly making its way down his cheeks. "Shit, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?" Yasopp hissed as he wiped Usopp's eyes and cheeks with a handkerchief from his back pocket. When he pulled away, Usopp caught sight of blood staining the cloth. He leaned over and emptied his stomach onto the pavement in front of him. There was a reddish black tint to it that caused Yasopp even more alarm. "Why are you throwing up blood‽ What the hell have you done to yourself‽"

"Sick, Chopper doesn't know why... no one else is ill... only me. I was better this morning... had a physical and was cleared." Usopp leaned his head against his knees and held his stomach, "I need to get back to the ship... they'll worry if I don't show up... but they can't see me like this. Can't... I can't be a burden to them... I won't be." He closed his eyes, feeling the last remnants of consciousness leave him.

"Usopp! Usopp, I need you to stay with me, Son." Yasopp pressed his hand to the back of Usopp's head and rubbed his scalp, trying to get the long nosed teen's attention, but it was no use. He remained limp, head resting in his knees.

Yasopp lifted Usopp's head and shifted it so that he could rest comfortably on his shoulder before reaching under Usopp's knees and pulling him flush against him. He stood, pulling Usopp closer to his body as he made his way towards the docks. His doctor would be at the docks if no one else.

Quickly, he made his way through the crowds of people, ignoring the curious stares he got from people as he rushed past them. Normally he would run, but in this crowd and a sick Usopp in his arms, he could not risk hurting himself or the boy. Usopp was completely lax in his grip, but his breathing, while labored, brought some comfort to Yasopp.

He stopped just before the entrance to the docks, Luffy and Shanks walking down the road just a bit ahead of them. "Captain!" Yasopp picked up the pace as Shanks and Luffy stopped for him to catch up.

Luffy's eyes widened and he rushed to meet him half way, "Usopp!" Luffy touched Usopp's forehead before glaring up at Yasopp. "What the hell happened to my sniper‽"

"We were talking and suddenly he got really sick, then he passed out! He mentioned something about being sick for a while but being given leave from the ship."

Luffy's eyes softened in understanding but worry blossomed in its place. "Did he have a secure? Seixure?" Luffy shook his head, "something bad happened to him a couple of days ago. He almost died. He has been relieved of ballistics duty until Chopper clears him and he was getting better! Chopper would not have allowed him off Sunny if he weren't." He turned and looked over Yasopp's shoulder towards Nami and Zoro who were rushing towards them. The latter was laden down with twice as many bags as before.

"I saw someone carrying Usopp past one of the shops! What's going on?" Nami asked, skidding to a halt beside Luffy and taking his shoulders, shaking him roughly. "Tell me!"

"Yasopp said that he passed out when they were talking. Did you guys see Chopper on your way here?"

Nami pulled out her Den Den Mushi, "he was with Robin. I'll see if I can contact her."

Zoro placed the bags down and studied Yasopp for a moment before reaching out for Usopp, "hand him over."

Yasopp stared at Zoro and pulled Usopp closer to his body causing the swordsman to narrow his eye at him, his fingers grazing over his swords. Sanji turned up suddenly, out of breath as he knocked into Zoro causing the other man to take a couple steps back. Zoro pushed Sanji away, "what the hell is your issue, Curly-brow‽" he snarled.

"You were in my way, Marimo! If your dumbass wasn't standing in the middle of the road, maybe you wouldn't be knocked into!"

"I was trying to get Usopp, Love-cook!" Zoro sneered, hands on his swords readying himself for a fight.

Yasopp had backed up a bit to keep Usopp out of the line of fire, a weary look crossing his face as he turned to Luffy, "I don't know if I feel safe leaving Usopp with you guys."

Sanji turned his eyes fell on Usopp, the fight with Zoro immediately forgotten. He reached over and pushed Usopp's hair from his eyes, "he was fine this morning. Chopper told him he would be okay to leave. Why is he suddenly sick again?"

Luffy studied the scene and turned towards Nami when she popped up by his shoulder, "Chopper and Robin are on their way. They will notify Franky and Brooke if they run into them. Chopper said to get Usopp into the sickbay and if he has a fever to put a cool cloth on his head."

Luffy nodded, turning towards Zoro and Sanji, "Zoro, take Usopp there and stay with him. Nami, you go with him and help Zoro if he needs it. Sanji, you can go start on Lunch. We'll regroup by the time its ready."

Zoro reached over and took Usopp from Yasopp as Luffy walked over to him and maneuvered Usopp's head, leaning it so that it was nestled between Zoro's neck and shoulder comfortably. Nami put her Den Den Mushi away and pushed Zoro forward towards the ship. "Oh, Luffy, bring my bags back to the ship, would you?"

Luffy blinked down at the bags and shrugged, "eh, sure why not?"

"Thank you!" Nami winked and blew him a kiss, walking up to Zoro and slapping him across the head. "The ship is that way, Idiot!"

"Nami-swan is so smart!" Sanji gushed, twirling around behind them as Zoro merely gritted his teeth, and reminded himself that he had Usopp in his arms and it wouldn't do to throttle Sanji at that moment.

Luffy leaned his head down so that his hat covered his face as he rubbed his hands over his face, letting out a weary sigh. He smiled tiredly and looked up at Yasopp, rubbing the side of his eye with his wrist. "I thought he was getting better." He pushed air out heavily through his nostrils and shook his head, "I'll give you updates on him. I don't know what we are going to do yet, but if you want I can keep you updated on our plans as well. I can't allow you on the ship, any of you, because it might upset him and make him even sicker."

Yasopp opened his mouth to protest, but Shanks cut him off with a hand on his shoulder, "if you need anything don't hesitate to ask. All our resources will be made available to you. If you need other people to help watch after him, or another doctor..."

Luffy glared up at Shanks, his hands curling into fists at his sides, "why would I need another doctor?"

"Well, Luffy, your doctor let him go out when he obviously still was ill-"

"No!" Luffy snapped, "Usopp was fine. He looked perfectly happy and he was up working in his factory! It isn't Chopper's fault that he couldn't catch it, no one could have caught that!"

"I am just offering my doctor in case you needed him, I wasn't putting down your doctor I am sure he is fine."

"Luffy!" Luffy turned and smiled softly as Chopper jumped into his arms. "Is Usopp okay‽"

Robin, Brooke and Franky walked up behind him, worried looks on their faces. "Robin-sis told us what happened."

Luffy nodded, "can you guys take Nami's bags to the ship? Lunch will be ready soon and then we will talk about what we will be doing." He looked down at Chopper who was looking up at him with watery eyes, "Chopper, I need you to find out whatever you can about what is wrong with Usopp. I don't care how long it takes; I want you working on nothing else. Do you understand me?" Chopper nodded, and Luffy squeezed him tightly before placing him down on the ground. "I'll be home in a couple of minutes."

Chopper jumped up on Robin's shoulder as Brooke and Franky collected the bags from the ground and started talking a mile a minute as they walked away. Robin was petting his head, trying to soothe the doctor.

Luffy turned back to Shanks and Yasopp, "listen. Usopp is in great hands and I really need to get home now. I'll keep you updated."

"Your doctor is a reindeer, Luffy, you can't be serious!" Yasopp hissed as he pointed in the direction Chopper went in. "Usopp needs a human doctor."

"Chopper was trained by some of the best doctors in the world. He saved Zoro from the brink of death, and he will figure out what Usopp has and make him healthy again."

"Luffy-"

"No, Yasopp! I am his captain and I know what is best for him. I am sorry if you don't like it, but it is not your choice."

"I am his father!"

"You abandoned him!" Luffy snapped, before he fell silent, his head dropping into his hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I am just worried for Usopp. It feels like losing Ace all over again." He paused for a moment to wet his lips, "it doesn't get easier does it?"

Shanks reached over and pushed the straw hat back so that he could run his fingers through Luffy's hair, "no. Are you going to be okay?"

Luffy backed away and forced out a laugh, "of course! I have to be."

Shanks looked at Yasopp who looked as worried as he felt, "Luffy-"

Luffy chuckled and turned waving his hand, "I have to get back to my crew, lunch is about ready. I'll see you guys later!"

"Luffy!" Shanks called after him, frustration coloring his voice. He sighed and shook his head, "I have a feeling this isn't going to end well."

Yasopp shook his head, watching as the boy retreated. "It will, it has to."

Usopp whimpered and leaned over the edge of the sick bay mattress, his head bowed down towards the floor as another wave of nausea hit him. He coughed and closed his eyes and mouth tightly as he felt the bile rise in his throat, willing it back down. His clothing and sheets were soaked through with sweat, but he was shivering violently as if he were in 3-degree weather with only a t-shirt and shorts.

"Usopp, are you awake?"

He moaned in response, unable to move both from weakness and the severe ache in his muscles. "Usopp!" Luffy rushed to his side from his seat beside Chopper's desk, his eyes filled with worry. "Usopp, what's wrong?" Luffy grabbed his hand and squeezed it, a feeling of relief filling him when Usopp squeezed back.

Usopp shook his head, his eyes screwing shut even tighter. He couldn't speak; if he were to talk he would vomit. He leaned his head against the edge of the bed and lay there panting, wishing that Luffy would shut up and just leave him alone. He was being too loud, and it hurt Usopp's head. "Chopper! Usopp's awake, but I think he's even worse now!"

Chopper flew into the sick bay from the Galley with Sanji on his heels. The cook stayed by the door, apron wrapped tightly around his body and oven mitts around his hands as he shook his head and sighed wearily, "doctor! We need a doctor!"

"You're the doctor, Chopper," Luffy said firmly, moving away from the bed so that Chopper could have room to look Usopp over.

"Right!" Chopper nodded his head, eyes filled with determination as he stood on Luffy's abandoned chair with a frown on his cute fuzzy face. He pushed Usopp until he was properly sitting back in the bed and rechecked his vitals.

"Do you have any news?" Sanji asked from his spot by the door.

"Well, I am almost positive that he caught it from the last island we visited, but other than that I am clueless as to what it could be. All tests that I've run have come back negative, except for the last one which is set to be finished in a couple of hours. Once I figure out what Usopp has, I am going to have to run tests on the rest of you."

Luffy nodded his head, hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Is there anything the rest of us can do, Chopper?"

Chopper shook his head, "until I know what he has it is actually best if you guys stay as far away from him as possible.

"Very well, Brooke?"

"Yes?" Chopper blinked and turned his head towards Brooke who was sitting against the wall on the other side of the room. When he arrived, Chopper had no idea. But he had not been there when Chopper first came into the room- he would have helped with Usopp had that been the case.

"You are on night watch tonight- it was supposed to be Usopp's turn."

"Of course, Mr. Luffy," Brooke said, leaning back more comfortably against the wall as he cleaned his violin strings.

"Thanks," Luffy looked down towards Usopp with determined eyes. "We'll get out of this, Usopp. I promise. You will be at my side when we finally reach Raftel Island, when we reach One Piece and you will realize your dream. You just need to stay strong for a bit while we try and figure this out, okay?"

Luffy took off his hat and placed it beside his friend on the bed before turning and smiling at Chopper. "Remember, any news comes to me first." Chopper nodded as he rushed back and forth around his desk, various books and notes falling off his table in his haste.

Luffy took one more look at Usopp before exiting the sickbay. You'll be okay, Usopp. We won't lose you, we can't.

Chapter Text

History Repeats Itself

__________________________________________

Toxic Phase: Day 11

__________________________________________

"Yellow fever!" Chopper exclaimed, running into the kitchen just before dinner with a worn heavy book in his hooves.

The talking ceased as the crew focused their attention on him, their expressions confused. Sanji, who had been lining the island with food for dinner, put down the plates in his hand and shut off the stove before joining the others at the table. "What is yellow fever?" He asked, drawing a cigarette from his pocket. He didn't light it, merely held it in his fingers.

Chopper plopped the book onto the table beside Luffy's elbow, causing the teen to scrunch his nose as a plume of dust flew up from the impact.

"Hm?" Luffy picked up the book and looked over the page Chopper had opened. "Yellow fever is a mosquito-borne viral illness found in tropical and subtropical areas— what‽" He snapped, noticing the wide-eyed stares of his crew.

"We're just impressed you can read more than a menu, go on," Nami said with a grin and a delicate wave of her hand.

Luffy rolled his eyes. "Of course, I can read. I just don't like to unless it's important or interesting." He looked back down at the book. "And it never is," he muttered to himself. "It is a hem..or..rhag…ic, a haemorrhagic disease transmitted by mosquitoes. A small portion of those that contract the virus develop severe symptoms, and approximately half of those die in 7-10 days—"

The group broke out, speaking all at once.

Luffy dropped the book to the table and tightened his fists, shouting at the top of his lungs that Usopp would not die because of some stupid illness, that none of his crew were that weak. Sanji and Zoro cursed under their breaths. Nami had covered her mouth with her hand and hid her face in Robin's shoulder as the older woman rubbed her back in comfort. Robin used her powers to bring the book over so she could read Chopper's notes. Franky had burst into manly tears, and Brooke was sipping on his tea, but there was a tell in the quiver of his teacup that showed that he was just as shaken as the rest.

"It's only fatal if he enters the toxic phase, correct, Chopper?" Robin asked loudly over the commotion, catching the notice of the rest of the crew. She handed the book to Luffy as he reached out to retake it.

Sitting back in his seat, he scanned over the page, his face dark as he took in the information in front of him.

Chopper nodded and moved to sit beside her. "Yes, unfortunately—"

"He already has signs of entering the toxic stage," Luffy supplied for him, turning the book around and squinting down at the notes written in the book's margins. He placed the book down in front of himself on the table and sighed heavily. "How much longer do you think we have?”

"Given Usopp's prior health, the numbers are in his favour. He will likely get through it without permanent organ damage, and the fatality rate is only around 3-7.5%. However, while he will likely get better, it can take a couple of weeks to several months for him to heal and return to his duties."

"We’ll have to consider that if we are to leave the island before then," Nami said thoughtfully.

"We have Shanks' crew here," Luffy added as he leaned his chair back on two legs and crossed his arms over his chest. "I doubt Yasopp will let him leave our side while Usopp is like this."

"I am not going to start worrying too much about Usopp unless his eyes start to turn yellow because that's a sign of liver or kidney failure," Chopper admitted with a frown. "But, Law is the only one I know equipped to handle that. On top of that, if that happens, Usopp's chances of survival drop by 50%."

Zoro scoffed. "He's beaten worse odds before."

"Almost exclusively," Robin added.

"We don't have the equipment if Usopp does get worse. And that is what worries me." Chopper admitted. "While the island seems friendly enough, we don't know how the hospital will react if we need them to help Usopp. It would be great to have another pirate doctor with the equipment we can trust."

"We'll call Traffy after this," Luffy said. "He'll come." There was no room for argument in his voice. If Luffy said Law would come, he'd be there even if Luffy had to drag him there.

"How bad could Usopp get?"

Chopper hummed, "It depends. Usopp already has high fevers, vomiting, and exhaustion, which we can deal with. However, there is the possibility of blood loss— Robin, we'll need to work something out in case Usopp needs transfusions. It might be best to have his father tested in case we need another donor. The possible delirium we can deal with—"

"I will go around and gather his weapons, experiments and other equipment and lock everything up in his factory for the time being." Nami volunteered, raising her hand.

"I'll look under the floorboards and behind wall panels. Usopp has a lot of dangerous things hidden around the ship," Franky said wearily, rubbing his cheek. "I don't know if I'll be able to get everything because the kid is disturbingly good at hiding things, but I'll do my best."

"I'll make sure anything sharp in the kitchen is out of reach," Sanji added. "And I will try to locate his lock picking kit, but if we can't, we will have to have someone stationed by the factory."

"I'll make sure the weights and everything are put away in the Crow's Nest. My and Brook's swords shouldn't be an issue as they are always on us."

"Mm," Brook agreed, taking a sip from his tea.

Chopper nodded, "That will help a lot. Just remember, for someone like Usopp, anything could be made into a weapon, so even if it looks innocent, I would put it away." He scrunched up his nose as he looked down at his notes,

"Luffy said something about mosquitos being the thing to transmit Yellow Fever?" Nami asked, pushing her bangs away from her face.

Chopper nodded, "Yes, specifically mosquitos that have been infected with it. This is not an airborne virus. We will all be safe if we take necessary precautions."

"What precautions is that?"

"We can put a mosquito net around Usopp's bed to avoid any from biting him and then spreading it to us. Bug spray can help, too. I will see if we have the ingredients to make it. If not, I'll send someone to get them and make more.

"I'll need to do some more research, but there might be a vaccine we can give everyone to help with it."

The clock above the sink chimed, indicating that it was six in the evening. "Luffy, you should try and call Law now before it gets too late."

"I will go do that," Brook volunteered.

He unfolded his long legs and swiftly drained the rest of his tea before leaving the Galley for the Library where they kept their Den Den Mushi.

"If he gives you a hard time, come get me," Luffy called to the skeleton's retreating figure. Luffy leaned back in his seat, arms crossed over his chest as he rested his head on the chair, hat falling to hang from his neck as he stared up at the ceiling. "Okay, ship watch will be 4 hours rather than our usual 2 hours, and we need to make sure someone is available to look over Usopp at all times."

"That means, make sure you plan accordingly," Nami interjected. "We will have to change when we sleep and for how long."

"Hmm," Luffy closed his eyes and rocked his seat as he thought. "Me, Brooke, Nami, Robin, Franky, and Zoro have a ship watch today. We will only use one person rather than two since we are docked. This will free up Chopper for whatever he needs to do for Usopp."

"Can we have Robin go to the Medical Library? I have a list of things I need to look up, but I'd prefer to stay close by." Chopper asked as he flipped to the back of the book and pulled out a piece of paper. "I've got a list of symptoms here. Any information on a vaccine, either how to make it or where to get it, would be helpful, and anything to help Usopp be more comfortable."

"I can also stop by the local doctor and see if he has vaccines made," Robin offered. "This is a big enough place where they might have them readily available."

"Robin, stop by the Red Force before you go and see if Shanks will lend you his doctor, Hongo," Luffy said. He sighed heavily at Robin's raised eyebrow. "I'll go with you and apologise to him."

Robin smiled and nodded her head, "Of course, Luffy."

o0o

The bar door opened, allowing the sound of the village people to filter through the opening before the quiet hum of the bar returned once again. Yasopp sat on the edge of the stool, his elbows leaning heavily against the mahogany wood bar as he stared down pensively into the pint of grog in his hand. He absentmindedly swirled his hand, the amber liquid circling in his glass.

He sighed and threw his head back, gulping down the golden liquid. He raised his hand, ordering another and smiled gratefully when the bartender filled up his pint again.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of bright red as Shanks sat down heavily on the stool beside him. Shanks eyed him while ordering himself a pint. "Hongo went with Luffy's archaeologist to see if they could find anything to help Usopp."

"Mm, I'll make sure to get Hongo something as a thank you."

"You know he wouldn't expect anything from you. He wants to help because he's your friend, and Usopp's your son."

Yasopp breathed heavily through his nose but refused to look up from the bartop.

"Are we talking about this, or are we just drinking our problems away?" Shanks asked cheerfully after a few minutes of silence before taking a sip from his drink. "Personally, I am all for drinking out problems away."

"Aye," Yasopp nodded, "As is evidenced by your reference to any alcoholic drink as healing water," Yasopp hummed and took a sip from his drink. "Not very healing at the moment," he muttered, leaning his head forward so that his hair covered his face.

Shanks chuckled darkly, "I should not hope. Not with something as serious as this, it is not a situation one shouldn't be trying to run away from."

"We're pirates; running away is what we do," Yasopp murmured. He kept his head bent, eyes trained on his glass so that he did not have to make eye contact with Shanks.

"Is that what you believe? I've never known you to be such a pessimist, Yasopp."

Yasopp grunted and lifted his head to look Shanks in the eye, "I love our crew, and you know that I do."

Shanks smiled softly, "Yes." He took a sip from his pint while waiting for Yasopp to continue.

There was a long stretch of silence between them. Yasopp's usually steady hands were shaking slightly from where he had them, clenching the glass between them. "It's this thing with Usopp. It has me thinking some. It has me rethinking things, things that before now I never took a second to rethink. Never, not once have I ever doubted my choice to come out to sea. Not once, but now?"

He fell silent again, and Shanks made no move to speak, giving his friend a chance to collect his thoughts. "Shanks, I could lose him. My only son, my only child. That scares me— it scares me to death. More than all the battles we have ever fought in, all those times, I almost died. Seeing him so helpless in my arms made me realise just how much of his life I have missed."

Yasopp threw his head back to chug back his beer, "For fucks sake, I should have contacted him. I should have tried once Banchina and Usopp stopped contacting me, but…."

He shook his head. "I know… I have never claimed to be a good father." Yasopp chuckled darkly and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "I have always said I was a horrid one; I never hid that fact, but to not even recognise my son until he was all of two inches away from me? I cannot even begin to think of what that could be. For fuck's sake, I know Luffy better than my own kid!"

Yasopp stopped mid-rant, panting as he took another sip from his drink. If a tear ran down his cheek, Shanks made no move to show that he had noticed, merely keeping his eyes forward and his lips on his glass. "I don't regret joining the crew," Yasopp continued in a much softer voice. "I don't, but I should have at least visited all those times we were near the village. Maybe have sent him a letter from time to time, maybe some gifts, or anything. I should have attempted contact with him after they stopped calling and writing. I shouldn't have allowed the radio silence for twelve years." Yasopp choked back a sob, "I—"

"Yeah, you shouldn't have," said a feminine voice softly from behind him. Yasopp and Shanks looked up to see Nami standing several feet behind him. "He looks up to you, you know."

"He does?"

"Yeah." Nami smiled softly and sighed. "He asked Garp about you, trying to get some information. He's been trying to locate you for a couple of years now."

Yasopp's eyebrows knitted together, "He's been able to contact me all along. We were in contact until about twelve years ago. Then suddenly, all contact fell off." He took a huffing breath, "I thought neither of them wanted anything to do with me."

Nami smiled sadly and shrugged. "I don't know too much, I'm afraid. He tends to keep things to himself a lot. But, I do know that if he could have contacted you, that he would have."

Yasopp took a shaky breath, leaning back into Shanks' hand when he placed it on his shoulder. "Can you… can you tell me what he's like?"

"Usopp?"

"Mm."

"Hm," Nami sat down at the bar beside him, one leg crossed over the other. She bit her lip as she thought of where to begin. Then, thinking it best to start lightheartedly, she did.

"He's such a dork. Everyone loves him so much. He can catch anyone's attention, no matter where he is, with no trouble. He tells these amazing stories. They're completely enamouring and pull you in. He's raised entire groups of people to fight for his cause—"

Shanks cocked his head to the side thoughtfully, "Conqueror's Haki?"

Nami shrugged, "Not that we know of. He has a pretty developed Observation Haki though." She breathed heavily through her nose as she leaned back in her chair. "He's sweet and encouraging. He cares a lot about other people and does what he can to try and help them feel better." She hesitated momentarily, weighing the pros and cons of telling Yasopp the more negative aspects of Usopp's personality.

"He has a real fear of abandonment, and it affects him. It might have something to do with him being left alone from a very young age and made to fend for himself, but he struggles to leave people, or… ships, behind. He took it very hard when we had to burn down our first ship, The Going Merry— he left the crew for a while because of it."

"What do you mean 'being alone from a young age?' I hadn't heard from them, but I thought that was because they no longer wanted to remain in contact."

Nami's eyebrows knitted together. "You mean you don't know what happened to Usopp's mother?"

Yasopp shook his head, "Did she leave to go back to work for Dragon? She did talk about that being a possibility." Yasopp growled, "But how could she leave a child to fend for himself!?" His hand shook where it held his drink. "If she no longer wanted him, she should have contacted me. I would have taken him."

"She died when Usopp was seven." Nami bit her lip, "I… I don't really know why. I'm not sure Usopp knows either, but he said that she started to get very sick, and even though his friend's father tried to save her, he couldn't."

Yasopp looked stricken, "And… no one ever told me?"

"I'm really sorry."

Yasopp shook his head and took a shaky breath, "No, just… tell me more about Usopp. Please."

"He shies away from conflict but will act when someone is in danger or being mocked. I think his unwillingness to go headfirst into battle has to do with fear of the unknown— he craves routine, to the point where it aggravates him if his routine is interrupted unknowingly.

"He gets very anxious thinking about the future and has a hard time believing that things will eventually work out, so he tends to second guess himself and ponders his use, but he comes back around eventually. He's gotten a lot better because he's able to predict how events may unfold, which helps prepare him a bit. He often points out patterns in our behaviours that we wouldn't have ever noticed. It's weird, but I suspect that he might be a seer. A lot of the outlandish things he says have been coming true."

Yasopp chuckled darkly under his breath, "That is highly possible. His mother's side has seers. She was one but never really bothered to foster it. She is more science-minded and didn't like not understanding why she could see things happen in the future or why she couldn't alter them."

"Hm," Nami bit her lip. "We might have to find someone to work with him on that. I think he'd be very interested in learning to control it." She crossed her arms and frowned as she thought. "Let me see. He is insanely creative, an inventor of sorts. He helped create my weapon and does upgrades on it. He created his slingshot, too and makes all of his ammo from scratch. A lot of it is plant-based, and he mixes plants to make different combinations. He became quite the botanist while we were apart training.

"Oh! He loves finding new things and tinkering with them. We got so much new technology from Skypiea that it kept him occupied for almost a month. He even found a way to use a good portion of what we found in battle." Nami laughed, "Although, much to his annoyance, Luffy uses them as toys."

Shanks rolled his eyes, "Of course he does."

The bell to the door rang, and they turned to see Robin enter. Nami stood, "Is everything okay?"

"We were able to procure vials of the vaccine from the doctor on the island. Chopper wants us back on the ship to administer them."

Nami turned to Shanks and Yasopp, smiling. "I need to go, but please feel free to stop by. Our ship is open to you."

Yasopp and Shanks nodded, "We'll take you up on that offer." Shanks said. "The same goes for your crew. If you need anything, you know where to find us."

"Thank you!" Nami turned and walked towards Robin, frowning as the older woman leaned down to whisper something in her ear before they vanished from the front of the bar.

o0o

Luffy leaned back in his seat, smiling as he chatted with Shanks, Benn and Lucky. Yasopp was sitting on the other end of the table talking about Usopp with Hongo, Robin and Chopper.

"There's really nothing that can be done?" Yasopp asked with a frown. He had a pencil in his hand, which he was twirling between his nimble fingers.

"Law is coming to help, but he's just here if Usopp's condition worsens. So there's nothing we can do but let him fight it." Chopper said, his eyes not leaving the book in front of him.

"He's a strong boy. He'll pull through," Robin added, looking up from the book in her lap to smile at him.

Yasopp looked over helplessly at Hongo, who breathed heavily through his nose before pulling the sniper to him. "It'll be okay, Yasopp." The man whispered in his ear.

The door to the Galley opened, and Law appeared with an agitated look on his face.

"Traffy!" Luffy stood and grinned widely. He stretched out his arms and legs to wrap around Law like a cobra.

"You got here quickly, Traffy?" Robin smiled sweetly at him. "We appreciate it."

Law put out his hand to keep Luffy from hugging him, "Get off me, Idiot." When Luffy refused, Law held out his hand. "Room!" He was quickly out of Luffy's arms, having replaced himself with a chair. "I want permission to move God-ya to the submarine."

Luffy stood, brushing himself off. "Eh, why would I give you permission to do that?"

"Usopp's not in the best mental state. It might not be a good idea to move him," Robin added. "We haven't been able to locate all of the weapons and things he hides around the ship. If he somehow gets away from you, it might cause some trouble."

Law waved a hand dismissively, "I think I can handle, God-ya. We have the equipment on the submarine to help him, and the use of extension cords will weaken the machines. To best care for him, he should be on the submarine. We can make accommodations if we really have to, but we should try it."

Robin and Luffy looked at each other in amusement before Luffy shrugged. "You can try, but if he says 'no', then we leave him on the Sunny and figure something else out."

"Come on, Traffy, I'll take you to Usopp!" Chopper said brightly as he got up from the table and jumped onto Law's shoulder. "It's time for me to check on him." Law nodded his head in acknowledgement before leaving the Galley and heading to the sickbay, a grimace on his face as Chopper spoke a mile a minute.

"Traffy is grumpy today," Luffy said as he watched them leave.

"He's just like that," Robin said with a wave of her hand. "I did find something interesting, Luffy. If you have the time to hear me out."

Yasopp looked up from Hongo's shoulder, eyes widening. "Is it something to help Usopp?!"

Luffy sat back beside Shanks, Lucky and Benn before giving her his full attention.

"Maybe," Robin frowned a bit as she looked down at the book in her hand. "I was about to show Chopper and Hongo before Law came in." She stood and placed the text in the middle of the table so everyone could see the page.

On the page was the drawing of a flower, average looking by Grand Line standards. It looked similar to a cross between the camomile and daffodil flowers in many forests. White on the tips and yellow for the rest of the petal with an odd blue middle and stem.

"The Omnia Remedia flower is said to cure all ailments. But, unfortunately, it is difficult to get to and even harder to find on the remote Grand Line island of Hidden Mist, as it can camouflage into its surroundings unless touched."

Yasopp looked over at Hongo, "Have you heard of this flower?"

Hongo frowned, "Yes, but I always thought it was a myth. I don't even think there is a Hidden Mist Island on the Grand Line."

"Hidden Mist exists. Roger took the crew there, but I don't remember there being such a plant." Shanks said, humming as he thought back. "It's uninhabited. There is nothing remarkable about the island unless you count the ridiculous amount of fog making it difficult to find."

"Nami would be able to find it, no problem."

"Hold on, Luffy, there's more to this."

"Sorry, Robin."

"Hidden Mist island is notoriously hard to get to. It has many tropical storms and hurricanes that pass through the area and the Grand Stream Current, which causes sudden and extreme changes to the weather. Much research into the area also suggests an anomaly where Log Poses, and Eternal Poses change positions, pointing towards True North rather than Magnetic North, making it easy for ships to be lost if their navigators don't know what they're doing. Many think the island has a huge reserve of methane gas under the sea, but studies have shown that there hasn't been a large methane eruption in the last 20,000 years."

Luffy snorted, "So, it's just the Grand Line. Nami can handle that."

"That is true, but it says that even if you find the flower, it will curse the one that picks it."

Luffy blew a raspberry, "That's just a stupid tale. There's no way that's true, and even if it were, we would kick its ass. But, if the flower exists, we'll get it for Usopp."

"Of course, but we should go in with a plan. Who will pick the flower, for instance."

"I'll do it," Yasopp said, eyes burning determinedly.

Shanks nodded, "You'll go whether you have my permission or not, but you won't go alone."

"I'll go with him," Robin volunteered. "Between his sharp eyes and my knowledge, we should be able to find it quickly enough." She looked down at the book and pursed her lips. "We should talk to Nami and your navigator as well, Mr. Red-hair, if you wouldn't mind."

"I'll have Snake come by after dinner."

"Nami should be off shift by then, so that—."

The group turned towards the door as Usopp's angry voice filtered in through the door. "Let me walk! Just because you are a captain doesn't mean you can just fucking boss me around. You aren't my captain."

Luffy scrambled from his seat to check on what was happening. "Usopp, what—"

"God-ya, if you would just listen for a second. You aren't well. You can barely hold yourself up. If you just let me carry you…."

"Absolutely not! I am not some swooning damsel in distress that needs to be carried."

"Usopp, be careful! You're going to get hurt!" Chopper fretted, his eyes widening as he ran around Law and Usopp's legs.

Law pulled Usopp against him as the boy almost toppled over and picked him up into his arms. "You like telling stories. So pretend that you are and just let it happen."

"Law, be careful! He's not a doll," Sanji scolded.

"I fucking hate you," Usopp growled, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring down. "I am not broken. I can walk a hundred feet!"

"No, you don't. I never said you were, and no, you can't, as is evidenced by you almost falling on your face a second ago." Law said patiently.

"All of my experiments are here. My friends are here. I don't want to go on the Polar Tang. It'll be cold and lonely there." Tears started welling up in Usopp's eyes and he began to hyperventilate. Law kneeled to place him on the floor just as Usopp burst into tears. Usopp huddled in on himself, pulling his knees to his chest and hiding his face in them, hands twisting into his hair, pulling at the strands.

Law looked helplessly at him before turning to Luffy and Chopper, "It's not going to work. Him being this upset will do nothing but aggravate his condition."

"You'll have to bring your equipment on the Sunny?"

"Yes, but you won't have the electricity to run it all."

"Extension cords?" Sanji suggested, from where he knelt beside Usopp. "We have a lot of those because of Usopp's experiments. I'm sure we have one long enough to reach, especially if we keep the two ships close together." He lightly rubbed Usopp's back as he leaned down to whisper into the sniper's ear.

Slowly, Usopp relaxed into Sanji's side, allowing the cook to hold him. "'M tir'd," Usopp said, closing his eyes, breathing shallow.

"Let's get him back to bed, then we will figure out how to best set up everything," Chopper said.

The group watched while Sanji carried Usopp back into the Sick Bay. "He's getting worse. I thought he was going to attack you for a minute there." Chopper said after a moment.

"I could have handled him."

"Usopp doesn't look it, but he's dangerous. He could do some serious damage if he catches you off guard." Chopper warned. "Especially since we still haven't found all his weapons and things, and those are just the ones we know about."

"That reminds me, Law, I would make sure you look around your ship. Usopp might have hidden things on there as well," Robin said thoughtfully.

"When was God-ya on my ship?"

"He wouldn't have to be. All he would have to do was talk to Penguin or Shachi and get them to do it for him."

Law cursed under his breath, "Those idiots. They would do him that favour, especially if he said they could use the things they hid." Law turned to walk over to his ship, "Tony-ya, come by, and we will talk about what we need to bring onto the Sunny."

"If it's okay with you, Law, please bring Hongo with you. He's my ship's doctor."

Law eyed Shanks before grunting his allowance. "Room," in his place was a soft blanket.

Robin smiled and picked it up, "He's sweet when he wants to be."

"Because Traffy switched himself with a blanket?" Luffy asked with a cock of his head.

"It's his way of apologising to Usopp." Robin looked around at the men on deck. "Why don't we meet up later today after our respective meetings and come up with a plan before Yasopp and I leave in the morning?"

The group murmured their agreement before dispersing. Only Yasopp remained on deck with her. He was standing outside the Sick Bay, his head leaning against the window as he looked inside to where Usopp was lying in bed, Sanji beside him petting his head while Usopp rambled on about something that caused the cook to smile.

"I've wasted so much time," Yasopp muttered to himself.

"Then let's make sure you don't waste any more," Robin said before leaving the man to watch his son through the window.

"Aye."

Chapter Text

Usopp groaned and pressed his sweaty face into his pillow. He felt as if his body was engulfed in flames. His head throbbed, his throat was raw, and every time he opened his eyes, his vision was blurry. He struggled to get his bearings when he heard a woman’s voice suddenly fill the room.

“Hanging… have you?”

Usopp’s mind raced to make sense of the disjointed words. Hanging. Was he on a Marine Base? Had he somehow been captured? Panic set in as he tried to piece together what was happening, but his memories were hazy and disjointed.

“I’m sure....”

His heart pounded in his chest as fear gripped him. Who was sure of what? Did they know who he was? Was he going to be executed? The uncertainty was overwhelming. Vaguely, he could hear a machine beeping loud and frequently by his ear, becoming louder with the beating of his heart.

“...responded… fast.”

Responded fast? Usopp couldn’t make heads or tails of what they were talking about. Did the Marines somehow get the Thousand Sunny? Where were the others? Were they all trapped, and he was all that was left? Usopp opened his eyes and looked at the night table on his left. He had no weapons, and he was trapped.

“...it’s quick…”

He tried to force his rapidly beating heart to slow. He knew his panicked breathing would give him away. I can do this. I’ll get out of here and help the others. He thought.

Summoning his resolve, Usopp grabbed the nearest object and bolted upright, his eyes wide as he tried to scan the area for a way out with blurry eyes.

“Usopp…”

“....behind me… not safe…”

He lunged at the people in the room. He missed, stumbling into the desk. He growled and lunged again.

“Get… others…”

They were bringing in reinforcements! He had to act quickly.

He swung it wildly, watching as the hazy blobs in front of him backed away.

“What are… doing?”

He lunged again, the assailant quick to dodge him. “Let me go!” Usopp shouted, his voice hoarse.

Someone with green hair tried to grab him, but Usopp was much too quick and was able to dodge the grasp. He turned and aimed the weapon in his hand at the person’s face. His trajectory was blocked by something fast-moving coming at his hand. He was able to grasp the object harder and stabbed the offending thing away. He heard a pained gasp and a crash. Victory!

A person appeared in front of him. They looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t pinpoint who. He pushed past them, stumbling through the door. He was hit with drizzling rain. “I’m outside,” he muttered to himself. “Should be easier to get away now.”

He stumbled forward until his hips hit the hardwood. He glared down, squinting through the haze at what lay below him. It was green and looked like grass. They were on a military base then. He grabbed the railing and moved to hoist himself over, only to be pulled roughly back and thrown onto the floor.

“You almost…the ocean.”

There was pressure on his hips, and someone was holding his hands in a vice-grip, keeping them against the cold, wet wood below his hands.

“Snap out… it.”

He bucked his hips and tried to get them off, but they were too strong in his weakened state. Usopp closed his eyes and leaned back, relaxing. If they thought he had given up, maybe they would let go of his arms.

“Isnt you… hurt…”

Usopp’s eyebrows furrowed at the distressed voice. Why were they upset? He was the one going to the gallows. Slowly, he opened his eyes and gasped. It was Luffy’s face above him, not some random Marine. “Luffy…?” Usopp asked, uncertainty in his voice.

Relief filled the man’s face above his, “Yes… Usopp, God…”

Usopp closed his eyes and swallowed heavily, trying to sort through his thoughts. But doubt crept in, colouring the edges. No, it couldn’t be Luffy. Something was off, and he couldn’t fully trust what he was seeing. He shook his head rapidly. No, not Luffy. Luffy wouldn’t hold him like this. It must be a trick!

He felt the hands on his wrists loosen, and he quickly pulled away, grabbing his weapon and aiming it at the man’s neck.

“Help…!”

Usopp struggled, moving backwards until his feet were free and stood, spinning around when he heard rapid food steps behind him. “Leave me alone.”

“Usopp… are… enemy.”

They’re the enemy. I knew it! His suspicions were confirmed, and Usopp lashed out again, but he felt weak, his movements were slow and uncoordinated. Panic surged through him as he sensed another presence behind him. He swiftly dodged to the left and swung his weapon wildly, making contact.

A sudden pain seared through his stomach, causing Usopp to collapse to his knees. His weapon slipped from his grasp, and he writhed in agony. Usopp pressed his forehead against his knees, and he tried to breathe through the pain, but it was futile. He felt himself fading, the edges of his vision darkening.

“I can’t let them get me,” Usopp muttered weakly as he tried to crawl across the floor, desperate to escape. But his strength was fading, and he struggled to stay awake.

Usopp froze as two arms wrapped around him. He struggled, tears of frustration and pain falling down his face as he tried to escape. “Let me go… please.”

“Can’t… danger…”

“I’m not a danger to anyone!” Usopp growled, trying to resist as he felt himself being lifted. He kicked his feet, attempting to break free from the hold.

Another person joined them, pressing a hand to his forehead. “Hold… still…”

“No! Let me go!” Usopp protested, pushing himself forward with all of his strength. As he struggled, both he and the person holding him tumbled to the floor.

“Hold him still…”

His arms and legs were held in a vice grip, and he couldn’t move them, no matter how much he tried. In his desperation, he slammed his head against the floor, pain blooming and black spots floating above his eyes.

Something sharp pricked him in the arm, and slowly, Usopp’s strength began to wane. Try as he might, he could no longer resist the hold. Slowly, his struggles ceased, and his consciousness faded.

~o0o~

“He’s out,” Law said, signalling for Zoro and Luffy to release their holds.

“Fuck,” Luffy said breathlessly, slumping back onto the floor and crossing his legs. He stared at Usopp’s slumbering form with a deep frown.

Zoro made his way over to Nami, where she was sitting with Sanji by the railing. He helped her assess Sanji’s condition and winced when he caught sight of the painful wound on the Cook’s calf. Law crouched down, inspecting the injury closely. “I don’t think it’s as deep as it looks. I’ll get the supplies from Chopper-ya’s office to stitch you up.” He handed Zoro a towel, instructing him to apply pressure to the wound while he went to fetch the necessary supplies.

“What do you think happened?” Nami asked. She was helping Sanji out of his blazer and button-down so that Law could check his shoulder when he got back.

“Delerium due to a high fever,” Chopper said, kneeling beside Luffy to check his neck. “Bend your neck that way,” Law said, gently pushing Luffy’s head to the right so that he could check the damage.

Luffy waved him off, “I’m fine. He barely touched me.”

Chopper brushed against the blood pooling on his shoulder and held up his hoof to show him. “He did more damage than you think.”

Luffy turned down, staring at his shoulder in shock. “How’d he do that with a spoon!?”

“Anything can be a weapon if you try hard enough,” Nami murmured. She knelt up and began washing the blood off Sanji’s shoulder.

Chopper frowned, “You’ll need stitches.”

“So will you, Cook-ya,” Law said, stopping by Chopper and Luffy to give them some of the supplies in his hands before going over to Sanji.

“How did I miss this!?” Franky exclaimed, stomping up the stairs, clear frustration on his face. “Brook just came down and told me what happened.” He knelt beside Usopp, gently brushing the sniper’s hair from his eyes. “How’d you get him to calm down?”

“Sedative,” Chopper explained.

Franky surveyed Luffy and Sanji’s injuries. “I’m sorry, Usopp, was able to injure you?” He looked around incredulously. “With what exactly? We put away all of his weapons and anything relatively dangerous.”

“Believe it or not, a spoon,” Sanji said dully, breathing heavily through his nose when Chopper and Nami added antiseptic to his wounds.

“A spoon!?”

“God-ya is crafty,” Law said with a raised eyebrow and motioned to the boy lying on the floor. “And has a very high fever. He shouldn’t be out in this rain any longer.”

Franky sighed, pulling Usopp into his arms. “Let me get him settled.” He looked down at Luffy. “Should we call a meeting?”

Luffy nodded, “Yeah. We can all meet in an hour.”

Franky nodded and whisked Usopp away back into the Sick Bay. He stopped at the door, turning to Nami. “Can you grab some of his clothes from his locker?”

Nami nodded and brushed herself off, hurrying to the Men’s Cabin.

~o0o~

The meeting on deck was tense as everyone tried to process Usopp’s sudden outburst. Luffy sat by the mast with Nami and Zoro, his expression grave.

“Chopper?” Luffy motioned with his head towards the crowd.

Chopper nodded, clearing his throat and speaking with a somber voice. “Usopp’s fevers have begun to affect his brain, and we must be vigilant.” His gaze shifted towards the Heart and Red-Haired Pirates, aware that the Straw Hats already knew the gravity of the situation.

“When cornered, Usopp is both aggressive and resourceful. He can, and will, use anything he finds as a weapon.” Chopper looked down at the notebook on the deck in front of him, flipping it open to show the group various detailed drawings and notes that reflected Usopp’s keen interest in anatomy and physiology before he fell ill. “He’s smart and has the remarkable ability to learn quickly and adapt. Even in his current state, he retains this knowledge and will use it to identify and exploit weaknesses.”

Nami rose to her feet and crossed her arms crossed over her chest as she met the eyes of the many worried pirates around her. “Usopp’s a master manipulator— both cunning and charming. He can effortlessly weave lies, making them almost indiscernible, seizing opportunities when they arise. We saw an example of that when Luffy was holding him down earlier today. He relaxed, making Luffy let his guard down. It was merely an opportunity that he thought he could use to escape.”

“Usopp is dangerous. We need to be very clear on this. Until this fever clears, he is not your friend. He cannot and should not be trusted. It could mean your life.”

“Nami, this is Usopp we are talking about,” Penguin said, laughter in his voice. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Nami motioned to Luffy and Sanji. “Tell that to Luffy and Sanji. He injured them with a spoon.”

Penguin hesitated, trying to find an explanation for his normally sweet friend’s behaviour. “But… he’s our friend.”

“He is not your friend right now,” Nami said seriously.

“You’re making him seem like the enemy!” Shachi growled defensively.

“If that is what it takes to make you take this seriously, then yes. At this moment, Usopp is the enemy.”

Shachi and Penguin shook their heads angrily, looking away to glare at the floor.

Luffy clenched his fists, growling in frustration. He knew that Nami and Chopper were right, but it was hard for him to accept. Usopp was his friend, his sniper and the thought of treating him like the enemy was unfathomable.

Yet, the twinge in Luffy’s neck reminded him of the harsh truth. Underestimating the threat of Usopp in his current state could lead to disastrous consequences.

Zoro broke the tense silence, his tone resolute. “We have to be prepared for the worse. We can’t allow sentimentality to cloud our judgement. If we let our guard down, Usopp could wind up seriously hurting himself or someone else. Maybe even something worse.”

“Is there anything we can do, Chopper?”

“Yasopp and Robin are going to the island to look for that flower. I’m still looking for other cures with Law and Hondo, but his illness is progressing rapidly. We must keep him even more isolated, in a more secure location. All we can do is hope they come back soon, and if they don’t, we can come up with something.”

Sanji, who had been sitting quietly behind the bar, smoking, finally spoke. “We should consider finding a way to restrain him. We can’t risk him escaping the room and causing more harm. If his hands are free, he’s a threat.”

Luffy shook his head, “I can’t do that. Restrain his hands? He’d never forgive us.”

“He’ll never forgive himself if he kills someone,” Zoro said.

Luffy breathed heavily through his nose, “Alright. We will do what we have to do. But I want to try and talk to him first. Try and let him know what is going on. I can’t just do that to him.”

Nami leaned her head on Luffy’s shoulder. “We’ll support you in what you think needs to be done.”

As the meeting continued, they discussed a plan to keep Usopp confined in the Medical Bay. They would remove all of the equipment, except for what was strictly necessary and keep the rest in the storage room next door.

The crew would take shifts watching over Usopp, ensuring that he remained comfortable but secure. It would prove a difficult task, especially for Luffy, who’d find himself sitting with Usopp more often than not, talking to him but never receiving a response.

Later that evening, Luffy stood on deck, staring at the starry sky. He couldn’t shake the feeling of helplessness. It pained him to see Usopp in such a state.

Shanks approached, leaning against the railing beside Luffy. “You did well.”

“Go away, Shanks,” Luffy said moodily.

Shanks chuckled, unfazed by his moody response. “I’m serious. Dealing with situations like this, especially those involving our friends, it’s not easy. You showed maturity and strength.”

“You think so?” Luffy asked softly, looking up at his mentor.

“I know so,” Shanks affirmed, a genuine smile on his face. “You’ve grown so much since the first time I met you. Back then, you were just a kid with a big dream. Now, you’re a captain leading a crew, making tough decisions and taking responsibility for your friends. You’re going great.”

Luffy shifted his weight. “Usopp’s my best friend, you know? I don’t want to have to walk around eggshells and treat him like an enemy.”

“I understand, Luffy. But sometimes, being captain means making difficult choices, even if they hurt. It’s about protecting your crew and looking out for their well-being. And that’s what you’re doing.”

“I know that, but…”

“Remember, you aren’t alone, Luffy. You have your crew, and me, and Law. Lean on us for support.”

Luffy nodded, a small smile forming on his face. “Thanks, Shanks.”

Shanks patted Luffy’s back and walked away, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He looked to where Nami sat with Chopper and Sanji, flipping through medical books.

They were a family and would face whatever came their way together.

~o0o~

“Zoro?

Zoro lifted his head and turned his gaze to Usopp, who was watching him as he lay pale against his bedsheets. “Hm?”

Usopp turned his attention to the ceiling and wheezed out a breath. “I’m glad at least you and Sanji are acting normal.” He gave a weak laugh that rapidly progressed into a violent coughing fit. “The others try, but I can see the sadness, even on Luffy.”

Zoro merely stared at Usopp, not knowing what to say.

“I’ve got the same thing millions have died from, but…” Usopp shifted his gaze back to Zoro and smiled. It was almost too innocent and pure to be Usopp. “I’m going to be all right, right, Zoro?”

Zoro’s eye widened, and his breath caught in his throat, practically suffocating him. He schooled his expression and nodded stiffly. “Don’t ask stupid questions. You’ll be fine.”

Zoro merely stared at his friend, not making a move to say anything.

Usopp laughed, his chest heaving as another coughing fit ensued. He reached over and took one of Zoro’s hands, squeezing. “Thank you for lying to me, Zoro.”

“Go to sleep so you can get better.”

Zoro gave him a soft smile and allowed his eyes to only slip closed against the dimly lit Sick Bay. Other than the occasional cough from Usopp, silence filled the room, and soon those faded into the slightly less harsh breaths taken in his sleep.

Zoro waited until he was certain Usopp was asleep and then stood from his chair, stretching. His eyes moved over Usopp’s thin figure, a frown on his face. In a rare moment of sentimentality, Zoro leaned down and brushed the hair sticking to Usopp’s forehead away from his face. He leaned down and pressed a light kiss to his forehead. He reached over and squeezed Usopp’s hand before pulling away and straightening the blankets around Usopp.

Giving Usopp one last glance, Zoro bent down to retrieve his swords from where they lay on the floor beside the bed and turned away. He exited the Sick Bay and closed the door firmly behind him, sliding the lock in place. He took a deep breath, ignoring the sudden wetness on his cheeks and made his way through the kitchen to the main deck.

“Zoro, are you okay?” Nami asked over her magazine. He turned to look at her, noting that her eyes were just as red and puffy as many of the other crew members were these days— not that his eyes were much further behind.

Zoro grunted his affirmation and climbed the ladder to the crow’s nest. It was only after the door was closed did the barely held-together facade in the Sick Bay finally crumble. He stormed over to his weights, ignoring the tears that began to fall unashamedly. He took his heaviest weight and began to do reps, ignoring the protest of his muscles. He would likely be feeling the soreness for days, but at that moment, he could not find himself to care.

Zoro threw his hand out in front of him, almost hitting Sanji in the cheek as he entered the crow’s nest. Sanji ducked and kicked the offending weight away from him and out of the swordsman’s grip. “Oi, Moss Head! Are you trying to fucking kill one of us? What if that had been one of the girls or Chopper!?”

“Fuck off, Shit-Cook!” Zoro snapped. He winced inwardly, not liking how his voice revealed that he had been crying. “And take that toxic smoke with you. I told you to stop smoking in here.”

Sanji threw his cigarette out the window and placed his hands in his pockets. He stood quietly, watching Zoro, a twisted smile on his face. “So the so-called heartless demon Roronoa Zoro can cry,” Sanji mocked. “Pathetic.”

Zoro turned, moving to punch Sanji, but was effortlessly blocked. “What did you just say!?”

Sanji stepped close so that they were nose to nose with each other. “I said, it’s pathetic that you are crying.”

Zoro pushed away and threw another punch, only for Sanji to kick the offending fist away and slam his foot, none too gently, into the swordsman’s side. He fell suddenly, his leg weakened from Usopp’s attack earlier that day. “Shit,” he growled, holding his calf.

“One of our friends is dying, and you are acting as if you don’t even care,” Zoro said darkly.

Sanji ignored the jab, peering down at his calf, where blood started to run down his leg. He had opened his stitches. With a sigh, he pulled his pant leg back down and glared up at Zoro. “Have you no faith in him?”

Zoro stared down at him as if he had a second head. “What? Of course I—”

“Obviously not if you are in here crying.”

“Have you seen him?”

“Yes, I got up close and personal, protecting you from going blind in your second eye,” Sanji said pointedly.

“He’s getting worse by the hour!”

Sanji blew his bangs from his face and leaned against the workout bench. “I know it looks bleak, but Usopp is strong. He’ll hold out for as long as we need to. Or maybe his body will heal itself before we get to that point.”

Zoro stayed quiet.

Sanji looked up at the ceiling, staring out at the skylight towards the full moon above. “We always tease him about being a coward, but in reality, he’s probably braver than most of us.”

Zoro grunted his agreement.

“Yes, he runs away sometimes, but even when he’s scared, he comes back and fights. Isn’t the definition of bravery someone who fights even when they are scared?”

“What are you getting at?” Zoro asked suddenly, agitation clear in his voice.

“Usopp is brave, and his will is as strong as any of ours. He will be all right.”

Silence fell over the duo. Sanji continued to stare out the skylight, chuckling suddenly and catching Zoro’s attention.

“What?”

“Usually, you would be on my side of the conversation.” Sanji directed his gaze to Zoro and graced him with a rare smile. “I’m glad I could be there for you, for once. Don’t think this will change anything, though. I still hate you.”

“I wouldn’t think of it.”

Sanji nodded, wavering before holding out his hand for Zoro to lift him from the ground. Zoro hesitated before taking the cook’s hand in his, dragging him up to his feet. A moment later, he was shocked to find himself in Sanji’s arms.

Sanji hid his face in Zoro’s neck, his hands shakily gripping the back of his shirt. “Usopp’s gonna be fine.” Zoro nodded, freezing when he felt fat tears fall against his neck. Tentatively, he hugged Sanji back, patting him awkwardly. “This changes nothing, you bastard,” Sanji mumbled into his shirt.

Zoro closed his eyes and pressed his cheek to the top of Sanji’s head, trying but failing to hide his own tears.. “I know.” Sanji choked back a sob, and Zoro rubbed his back soothingly. “I know.”

~o0o~

Robin and Yasopp stepped cautiously into the dense, humid forest—the canopy above blocking most of the sunlight and casting dappled shadows on the forest floor. The air was thick with humidity, and the chirping insects and distant calls of unknown creatures created the cacophony. It was a foreboding place, but they had no choice. The Omnia Remedia was their only lead for a cure.

As they ventured deeper into the forest, the vegetation became thicker, and the vines intertwined like serpents around the ancient trees. They skillfully parted the foliage, eyes peeled for any sight of the flower.

“Be careful. It feels like we are being watched,” Yasopp whispered.

“Oh, Usopp gets his paranoia from you,” she said lightly. “I had wondered. From reading your wife’s journals, I hadn’t got the impression it was from her.”

Yasopp snorted, “Banchina? No, she was never paranoid and always ran into things headfirst without thinking. I was always the more cautious one.”

They continued to tread carefully, the forest becoming more enigmatic with each step. Then, as if sensing their purpose, a soft glow caught their attention up ahead. They pushed through a particularly stubborn cluster of ferns, and there, in all its glory, was the Omnia Remedia flower.

It was mesmerising. The petals were a vibrant yellow, giving it a very ethereal quality. Each petal had a pristine white tip, and the stem and leaves seemed to glow blue.

“It’s beautiful,” Yasopp whispered in wonder.

“But cursed,” Robin cautioned. “It possesses great power, but it will only give up that power for a

price.”

As Yasopp reached to touch the flower, a haunting voice echoed through the air.

“Beware, those who dare pluck the Omnia Remedia. A curse will befall upon the one that disturbs its tranquillity.”

“We have no choice. My son’s life is at stake.”

“No, we don’t.”

Yasopp took a deep breath and reached forward, closing his eyes as his fingers brushed the stem.

Chapter Text

Robin and Yasopp, not having Nami’s weather foresight, found themselves caught in the midst of a treacherous storm. Rain pelted them, and the fierce wind made it difficult for them to see or move the Mini Merry. Violent waves emerged, rising taller and mightier with each passing moment, leaving them at the sea's mercy. The waves crashed over the sides, drenching everything in their path and tossing the vessel around as if it were a mere toy.

Yasopp grabbed onto Robin, winding a strong arm around her waist and pulling her to him to keep her from falling into the water. The howling winds roared past their ears like fearsome beasts, tearing at their clothes and causing Mini Merry to almost topple with the impact of the colossal waves.

Despite the onslaught, Mini Merry proved itself to be a fighter, just like its predecessor. Between Yasopp and Robin, they were able to move through the tumultuous waters, steering it away from the most dangerous crests and troughs, only slightly veering off course.

They were exhausted, panting and shivering, as the storm began to lose intensity after several hours, and the rain lessened to a drizzle. Several miles ahead, they could see the Thousand Sunny and Red Force bobbing in the middle of the ocean, lurching forward and pulling back with the stormy waves.

Yasopp urged the Mini Merry on towards the ships, eager to reunite with their crews and present the flower to them.

However, no cheers met their arrival—only dead silence.

The Thousand Sunny was enveloped in sorry and uncertainty as Chopper, Law, and Hongo delivered the grim news to the crews gathered on the rain-logged deck of the Sunny to hear the update on Usopp’s health.

“I…” Chopper took a deep breath. “Usopp’s condition has significantly worsened. We fear that Usopp may only have a few hours left.”

Nami held a shaky hand to her mouth, shaking her head. Her trembling lips emitted silent sobs as the weight of the news bore down on her heart, breaking at the news of her friend’s prognosis.

Zoro and Sanji closed their eyes tightly, each taking several deep breaths to keep themselves from lashing out. Luffy’s expression shuttered, and he shook his head. He closed his eyes tightly, fists and teeth clenching as tears welled up in his eyes.

Franky’s devastated cries echoed through the deck, and Penguin and Shachi had turned their backs on the group, quickly leaving the ship and running into the Polar Tang, the latch of the submarine slamming shut behind them.

“We have the flower,” Yasopp said desperately. “It’ll work. It has to work.” he pleaded, his voice trembling from the impact of his emotions.

“We will try,” Chopper said.

“However, it would not go remiss if you began saying your goodbyes. All of you,” Law said as he walked up to Yasopp and took the waterlogged flower from his shaking hands. He motioned with his head towards the Red Force, “Hongo, we will do this in your Medical Bay.” Chopper and Hongo followed Law onto the ship, leaving the three crews to stand in silence on the deck.

An hour later, the three doctors emerged from Hongo’s office and slowly made their way onto the Thousand Sunny, despite the fact that all three of the crews had been mingling on the decks of the Red Force and Sunny, picking at the food the cooks of the crews had put together, it was silent.

With a knock, the doctors entered the Sick Bay. They were greeted by the sight of Luffy sitting in the bed with Usopp, his back against the wall and his face still blank of any expression. Yasopp was sitting in a chair beside the bed, looking exhausted.

Chopper switched out IV he had Usopp on with the medicine they created and stepped back with a sigh.

“What do we do now, Chopper?” Luffy asked quietly, his eyes never leaving Usopp’s face.

“We wait.”

And wait, they had. Time seemed to stand still, every second feeling like an eternity. An hour tolled, and hope began to fade as Usopp’s condition showed no improvement, the beeping of the machines becoming farther and fewer between.

It had happened so slowly at first that no one had noticed, but slowly Usopp’s breathing had steadied, and his vitals began stabilising.

“It’s working!” Chopper exclaimed, gaining the attention of those loitering by the doors. “He’s responding.”

Luffy giggled, wiping the tears in his eyes with the heel of his hand, “I knew you could do it!”

Yasopp’s own eyes welled up with tears as he watched Usopp slowly begin to regain consciousness. “Usopp,” he whispered.

Usopp’s eyes fluttered open, and he weakly smiled at his father, “Dad… you made it…”

~o0o~

Several hours later saw Usopp sitting on the edge of the bed in the Sick Bay, a pained expression on his face as he faced Sanji and Luffy. Luffy hadn’t left his side since Usopp woke, instead sending every other person out of the room when it was time for someone else to visit. When asked, he would merely shrug and say ‘I’m the Captain.” No one argued except for Yasopp, but he was soon dragged away to change his still-damp clothes and for each dinner.

He eyed the bandages on Luffy’s neck and turned to Sanji. Although he didn’t know where exactly he had hurt Sanji, he knew that he had. “I’m so sorry.” His voice trembled, flush with guilt. “Please forgive me.”

Tears welled in his eyes as he continued to watch them. He couldn’t believe that he had hurt them, especially when they had always been there to protect him.

“You were sick. There’s nothing to forgive,” Sanji said.

“Aw, Usopp, don’t cry!” Luffy said, cocking his head. “We aren’t as badly injured as we look, and we know you didn’t mean it.”

Sanji nudged Usopp’s leg, “We’ve been through much worse and are still standing, yeah? No shitty spoon is going to end us.”

“I attacked you with a spoon!?” Usopp asked incredulously, wiping the tears on his cheeks away.

“You were vicious. Quite an interesting sight,” Zoro said with a smirk. “You almost took out my other eye.”

“I did not!” Usopp said, scandalised.

“It’s true,” Sanji said, leaning back and pulling up his slack leg to show Usopp his calf. “It’s how I got stabbed here.”

“Oh, God,” Usopp groaned, throwing himself back against his pillow and hiding his face in the crook of his arm. “Next, you’ll tell me I almost threw Nami off the ship.”

“Well, not Nami…” Sanji said, amusement in his voice.

“Not Chopper, surely?”

“Nope.”

“Brook? I know his music pisses me off sometimes.”

The Monster Trio burst into laughter, the three shaking their heads. “No, you tried to jump ship, but Luffy caught you.”

Usopp took a deep breath and closed his eyes, “I think I remember that. Or… some of it? I remember seeing Luffy…”

“And then you stabbed me in the neck!”

Usopp flopped over and hid his face in his pillow, wanting nothing more but to hide away and gather his thoughts. “Go away!” he mumbled, his voice muffled by the cushion.

Luffy paid no heed to Usopp’s request and plopped on him, causing the other to grunt in discomfort. “Awesome, nap time. I’m exhausted.” He laid his head on Usopp’s back and waved his hand dismissively at the others. “Nap time,” he proclaimed again.

Zoro and Sanji exchanged amused glances. They couldn’t help but smile at each other and roll their eyes in mock exasperation. Recognising what Luffy wanted, they decided to leave them for bonding time.

In the serene silence that followed, Usopp found himself torn between annoyance and gratitude. He was irritated at Luffy’s continuous lack of disregard for personal space, but he couldn’t deny the comfort of having his friend close. He sighed heavily and shifted into a more comfortable position before relaxing, allowing himself to fall asleep.

~o0o~

Two days later saw Yasopp and Usopp sitting in the Sick Bay. Yasopp held Usopp’s hand as they talked about Banchina and caught up on what each of them had been doing since Yasopp’s fateful departure from Syrup.

They had been sitting in comfortable silence for about ten minutes when there was a knock on the Sick Bay door. “Come in,” Usopp called. Not surprised when Shanks entered the room.

Usopp eyed him wearily as the Captain approached them, a warm smile on his face.

“Yasopp, it’s time to go,” he said, his voice gentle but firm.

Yasopp looked at Shanks, torn between his duty as a member of Shanks' crew and his love for his son. "I... I don't want to leave Usopp," he admitted, his voice filled with emotion.

Shanks placed a reassuring hand on Yasopp's shoulder. "I understand, Yasopp. But your place is with us. Adventures still await you."

"It's okay, Dad. I'll be fine. I’ve my crew."

“Of course… just… take care of yourself, Usopp,” Yasopp said, his voice betraying the depth of his emotions. He reached out, trembling slightly and gently cupping Usopp’s cheek as if trying to convey a lifetime of love and pride in that single touch.

Despite the storm of emotions that swirled within him, Usopp tried to maintain a brave face. His eyes met Yasopp’s, and a flicker of understanding passed between them. He knew they were not having a ‘farewell’ that was much too permanent. They were merely beginning a new chapter in both of their lives. They would see each other again.

“I will, Dad,” he replied after a moment, his voice steady, determined to stand tall in the face of their impending second separation. “Let’s make sure we don’t go so long between goodbyes again, yeah?”

He wanted to ask if he could send his father letters to stay in touch. He had so much he could learn from Yasopp, so many things he wanted to hear about his adventures. But he held his tongue, not wanting to seem like a nuisance.

Usopp wrapped his arms around his father’s neck, pulling him into a hug. Yasopp, choking back tears, returned the hug with equal fervour. He held onto Usopp, savouring the last moments of their embrace. “I am so proud of you,” Yasopp whispered, pressing a kiss to Usopp’s temple. “I can’t wait to see what you do next.”

Usopp choked back a sob and nodded, “You too. I can’t wait to see what you do as well.”

Standing, he led Yasopp and Shanks to the deck where everyone else was gathered, unable to stand being in the room much longer. He stood on the deck, nestled between Luffy and Nami, as they watched the Red Force begin to depart as Shanks and Yasopp boarded.

“Oi, Shanks!” Luffy called, “I’ll see you on the other side!”

Shanks laughed, “You might be getting stronger, Anchor, but you are still no match for me!”

“I could beat you now! I’m just giving you a chance to get to Laugh Tale before me!” Luffy called after him, voice full of conviction, his grin widening.

“Not on your life, Anchor!”

Luffy merely grinned and waved goodbye, Usopp following his motion and waving goodbye to his father.

“Keep in touch, Usopp! Weekly!”

Usopp beamed at his father’s request. “Weekly!” he agreed readily.

Yasopp chuckled, his smile slipping off his face as he suddenly stumbled, reaching out to grab Shanks’ shoulder for support.

“Yasopp, what’s wrong?” Shanks asked, turning his head to see what was wrong with his friend.

“I… I can’t see.”