Work Text:
First Night
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Kaya was always beautiful but she was like an ethereal goddess with the moonlight in her long blonde hair and her eyes riveted on Usopp as he told her about LIttle Garden. He was describing the duel between Dorry and Broggy, the two giants clashing after endless ties.
“BUT!” Usopp told her, “this time it wasn’t fair. Dorry had been tricked, the rum he was drinking had a hidden bomb which exploded in his stomach! Despite his injuries, Dorry insisted on continuing their fight when the volcano erupted. ANNNDDD I, the Great Captain Usopp, will finish this tale another night.”
“Noooo.” Kaya playfully whined, familiar with the points in stories Usopp liked to leave as cliffhangers.
Usopp laughs at her pouting as he bounces on his familiar tree branch. He does want to stay longer, he would have loved being outside her window until the sun rose.
“I am so sorry, but you know I need to go.”
“Usopp, you don’t. Remember Kuro is gone now, you could actually come in if you wanted to.”
He had forgotten, the major obstacle between him and Kaya, the overprotective butler, was gone. Not truly someone looking out for her best interests but a former pirate trying to kill her. Usopp had helped defeat him, and now he was free to be with Kaya.
There was a delicate pink blush highlighting Kaya’s cheeks. Slight embarrassment at inviting Usopp into her room kept her from making eye contact. However, she still reaches out a beautiful pale hand to him. Everything about her is inviting Usopp to cross the gap from the tree to the windowsill.
He reaches forward and takes her hand, however as he moves towards her, he can feel his body go backwards instead. Something is pulling Usopp away from Kaya, an invisible force taking him away.
“USOPP!!”
He can feel the ground below him but can’t move, his arms and legs are stuck, held down by many invisible hands. As Usopp tries to open his eyes and focus his vision, he can see a blurry face above him, blonde hair hanging down as it shone in the moonlight. He is being shaken by the shoulders.
“USOPP!!”
The voice isn’t Kaya’s, it is too deep.
“USOPP!! WAKE UP!!”
It is the wrong beautiful blonde.
“Sanji?”
“Finally. Are you ok?” Sanji gently lets him go and then turns his head to speak to someone else. “Robin-chan, I think you can let go now.”
“What happened?” Hands disappear around him as Robin releases him from her hold. Usopp rubs the back of his head, realizing he was lying on the deck of the Merry, not in Syrup Village.
“You were sleepwalking and were about to jump off the ship. You would have probably drowned in the cold depths if Cook-san hadn’t noticed you.”
“Even with me noticing you, you were fighting back a lot, you were determined to get in the water.” Sanji holds out a hand to help Usopp stand up and even brushes off his shoulders in what was likely an apology for tackling him to the deck.
“Sorry, I never sleep walked before-”
Usopp is cut off by the very distinctive sound of a splash from the other end of the Merry. The three of them all lock eyes, silently asking if the others had heard that as well.
“Shit.” Sanji spits out, taking off his suit jacket as he runs to dive off the ship and find whoever else was apparently going for a midnight swim.
An awkward moment of silence passed as neither Robin nor Usopp wanted to be the first to voice the assumption that maybe this isn’t just a strange moment of sleepwalking. Before either of them can say anything, they hear the door to the girl’s room open.
Nami’s eyes are closed as she walks barefoot in pajamas towards the railing. Robin quickly summons more hands to hold their navigator in place, and moves to awaken the other woman.
“Would you mind waking up whoever is left?” She asks at the same moment he says,
“I’m going to wake up whoever is left in the boy’s dorm.”
Five minutes later they are sitting in the galley with a wet Luffy as Sanji prepares coffee.
“What’s happening? I was just falling asleep.” Mumbles Zoro suppressing a yawn as he stumbles in.
“Is everything ok?” Chopper asks, blinking sleepily, riding their swordsman’s shoulders.
Luffy seems to be falling back asleep with his head on the table, a small puddle forming under him.
“Not sure but considering three separate people just attempted to go for a swim in their sleep, grouping up seemed like the right idea.” Sanji says.
“Who went swimming?” Luffy asks, practically mumbling in his sleep.
“YOU DID YOU IDIOT!” Sanji and Nami yell in unison both hitting his head partially in anger and partially to keep him awake.
“Makino had made a meat feast. Dadan, Ace, and Sabo were waving me over to eat.” Luffy is drooling as he remembers a dream full of people none of them knew, besides Ace.
“Nami and Usopp had attempted swims but we were able to stop them.” Robin informs their captain.
“I was telling stories to Kaya and she invited me into her room.” Usopp blushes as he explains his dream.
“Vivi was visiting my home and calling me for a picnic in our mikan grove.” Nami looks sad at her lost dream as she sips her coffee.
“Perhaps we should sleep in shifts for the rest of the night? Make sure no one else wanders off.” Robin suggests.
“Looks like Luffy and Zoro have already volunteered to sleep first.” Usopp points out, a bit jealous of their rest but honestly afraid to fall back asleep himself.
Both men are heavy enough sleepers that they don’t really bother speaking much quieter. Sanji keeps a steady supply of coffee flowing for the four of them still awake. Chopper takes the initiative to try and monitor what parts of their sleep cycles they are in. It takes about an hour before Zoro starts moving in his sleep.
They all get quiet as they watch Zoro start mumbling in his sleep. This was already an unusual event, the swordsman was only a noisy sleeper in that he snored. But now he was mumbling as if he was speaking with someone and also twitching. Usopp considers waking him as the twitching becomes more intense but Robin holds him back.
“Let’s see if he sleep walks.” She insists.
Nami pokes Luffy awake, so that their captain can also observe what is happening. At the very least whatever Zoro is dreaming about seems to be pleasant, so they aren’t just observing their friend stuck in a nightmare. A smile is actually tugging at the corners of the sleeping man’s face. It makes sense, Usopp figures, his dream had been nice and it sounded like Nami and Luffy’s were too.
After a few minutes, Zoro, still asleep, starts to get up. Usopp goes to shake his shoulder and wake him up but there is no response. Robin attempts to slap his face next but Zoro pushes her hand away and makes towards the door.
“Hey! Being asleep is no excuse to be rude to Robin-chan!” Sanji calls out blocking Zoro’s exit from the galley.
“Seems as if our difficulty waking up Usopp was not unique.”
“Zoro is a bit harder to hold down then Usopp is, no offense.” Sanji offers him an apologetic grin even if he was just stating the obvious.
With a mixture of Sanji kicking Zoro to the ground and pinning him with the other Straw Hats piling on top, they finally get the swordsman awake again.
“Get the fuck off of me, shitty Cook.”
“I’ll just let you walk off into the ocean next time, Mosshead.”
Usopp ignores the normal bickering and releases Zoro’s legs even if he was only complaining about Sanji holding him down. He returns to his coffee, knowing that the chances of getting sleep tonight are becoming very unlikely.
“Maybe it’s just a weird night thing? We might be fine once the sun rises.” Nami says, clearly hoping to convince herself as much as all of them.
“How should we test it once the sun is up though?” Sanji asks.
“Traditionally when preventing falling prey to temptations luring them off a boat, sailors would either block their ears with wax or tie themselves to the mast.” Says Robin.
“Should avoid any of us strong enough to break the ropes, no devil fruit users just in case, and it would be unspeakably rude to tie up a lady.” Sanji starts the list slowly and then begins looking at Usopp as he realizes who is left.
“I think those are all excellent points, Sanji-kun.” Nami also smiles at Usopp.
“What about someone it hasn’t happened to yet? Like Chopper?” Usopp starts to back away from his crew mates.
“We need Chopper to monitor whoever it is.” Zoro had apparently moved behind him at some point.
“What about Sanji?” Usopp could hear the squeak in his own voice.
“Sure, but you will need to catch his kicks when he starts to fight against the ropes.” Robin points out, joining everyone else against him.
“Robin?” He isn’t sure if he is offering her to be tied up or if he is begging her not to turn on him.
No one even countered the idea of putting Robin on the mast, her smile just let everyone know it wouldn’t be happening.
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First Day
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Robin taps her finger against her coffee cup as she tries to think. Her thoughts briefly focus on her own finger and how easy it would be to pull it back until it snapped. She shakes her head to refocus her mind on the problem at hand, letting her dark thoughts pass.
Every dream so far has been tied to desire, and used to lure her crew mates away. Romantic and likely sexual desire for Nami and Usopp’s first dreams, very likely as well for Zoro’s considering he refuses to tell people what it was. Luffy’s dream involved food but she isn’t sure if that is because he has no interest in the other types of desires or not. She is curious if Usopp’s next dream will be a continuation of the previous one or a new one.
Considering they were all lured into the water, Robin feels secure in assuming they have drawn the attention of some type of predator. They have already denied it four attempted meals; perhaps it will lose interest in such difficult prey. She decides to express these thoughts out loud.
Predictably Chopper and Usopp look horrified by her commentary, Nami seems to be trying to mask her own fear.
Surprisingly Sanji mulls it over before responding.
“Depends on their feeding pattern. If they eat something besides people, then it probably isn’t worth putting too much effort into an occasional treat. However, if they only eat sailors who happen to stumble across their territory, then they are ready for a long hunt.
They’ll also be used to a certain amount of resistance from their prey and long periods without food. If that is the case, it will take a while before the energy to try and catch us is no longer worth it.
This is also assuming they are only after us as a meal for themself. Some creatures will lay their eggs into their prey’s bodies so their young have a first meal. So if breeding is involved there are extra incentives. ”
“You are very knowledgeable about predators, Cook-san.”
“Thank you Robin-chan.” Sanji’s eyes light up at her compliment. Perhaps because he is tired or maybe it is the topic but he does not dance around like usual and his voice returns to normal. “I’m knowledgeable about food and that includes the situations in which I might become a meal.”
The rest of the crew are clearly looking more and more disturbed by their conversation, even Luffy and Zoro seem a little put off. Robin can’t help but giggle though, she had a feeling the cook might have darker thoughts like herself and they are interesting to hear. When things calm down, she may have to try and get into his head more.
“I guess our best option still is to test it and see if we are still in its hunting grounds.” Robin says with a sigh while glancing at Usopp. The sniper’s face goes even paler than before, at this rate he might begin to match Sanji and Nami in skin tone.
“Looks like it's nap time buddy.” Zoro starts to get up as he places a heavy hand on Usopp’s shoulder to keep him from bolting.
Despite his fearful protests and shaking limbs, Usopp does end up falling asleep rather quickly. For comfort reasons they decided not to actually tie him to the mast but bound his wrist and ankles instead. His bindings are connected like a leash to a rope looped around Zoro’s ankle, so that he can’t out run them and jump off the Merry.
Chopper estimates it will be about an hour until he is in a deep enough sleep for dreams to occur. To pass the time, Sanji brings out some books from the boy’s room. He has some interesting texts on ocean life, including predation styles and tactics that he gives to Robin. Nami bravely has pushed down her own fears and is reviewing the texts with her.
Again Robin needs to shake off a thought of shoving the pencil Sanji is twirling in his hand into her eye. She must already be feeling the effects of not sleeping, her dark thoughts always get worse when she is sleep deprived. Once when she was awake for five days straight, they became her every thought which was very annoying.
As if sensing her thoughts, Luffy decides to plop his head into her lap. Sometimes she thinks the rubber boy is capable of reading minds the way he comes into her space whenever things get particularly dark. A reminder of him agreeing to be responsible for ruining her previous attempt to die.
“No falling asleep now Captain-san.” Robin says gently, as she runs her fingers through his soft hair. He’s such a cute little boy, she really doesn’t want to see any further harm come to him. It would be like watching a puppy get eaten by a bananawani. Though she has in fact seen this puppy take down a crocodile so perhaps she shouldn’t underestimate him.
“I won’t.” He smiles up at her, a ray of pure sunshine. “I’m just bored.”
Despite closing his eyes as he relaxes in the sun, she can tell that Luffy is indeed staying awake. His presence does seem to keep her more violent thoughts at bay and Robin is able to read the book on predators.
As they approach and then pass the hour mark, she can feel tensions on deck rise as everyone waits for Usopp to begin moving. The books in front of them are mostly forgotten as people pretend to read. A small bubble of hope rises as they start to move about fifteen minutes past the hour mark, though no one wants to voice their thoughts just yet. Perhaps they will wait until Usopp wakes up before saying anything, allow him a full eight hours of rest just to be sure.
Unfortunately, Usopp starts to mutter in his sleep and begins to sleep walk. Their hopes are dashed as the sniper starts straining against his bonds and Chopper tries to wake him up. It again takes a while for Usopp to come to but this time he has slight tears in his eyes.
“Sorry, was dreaming about my mom.” He explains quickly wiping away the moisture.
So not just sexual desires then, or Robin needed to strongly reconsider the crew she joined. “What was the dream?” She asks.
“My dad’s ship was in the harbor and I was running home to tell my mom, but I was my current age, not--.” The implication that his mother has never seen him as an adult is one Robin is familiar with. Everyone else also nods with understanding and doesn't press him to finish the sentence.
“We can try again in the evening, see if we got away.” Nami says and after a moment of looking at Usopp adds. “I can make the next attempt, it would be nice to get a nap anyway.”
Robin watches the silent conversation between the sniper and navigator. Thankfulness at her volunteering, asking if she is sure, her letting him know she is sure. Robin hides her smile behind a hand, a little jealous of their friendship.
“We can probably get away with naps, no longer than 40 minutes. That way we can prevent anyone from getting too exhausted.” Chopper instructs them.
“I’ll try and change our diet to help keep us from getting too tired. Smaller, frequent light meals to keep energy up instead of bigger meals that will make us lethargic.” As Sanji speaks, Luffy looks unsure if he is upset about smaller meals or happy about more frequent ones. “Also avoiding foods with melatonin and tryptophan, no cherries, almonds, milk, or turkey. We should also avoid fatty fish, sugary foods and alcohol.” Usopp, Chopper and Zoro all groan as he lists the last three.
“Wouldn’t sugar give us energy though.” Luffy asks.
“Yeah but it gives a quick burst that burns off and will leave you more tired afterwards. Honestly, we probably shouldn’t be drinking as much caffeine as we are.”
“You are not taking away my coffee during this.” Nami insists and Sanji is immediately promising to keep providing coffee and it should be ok.
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Second Night
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Nami dreams of treasure and adventure, she would never admit to her crew how much she sometimes enjoys the places they explore. It’s embarrassing to admit once she wakes up that her life with them is something she desires like this. That Luffy calling to her over to look at the treasure chest he found is as tempting as everything else that had been dreamed so far.
They all hang out on Merry’s deck together to keep each other awake and monitor anyone taking a nap.
“What’s the longest you have ever stayed awake?” Usopp asks while staring up at the sky. The question isn’t directed at anyone in particular.
“I don’t think more than a day.” Chopper answers first. “Sometimes I would get really into studying but would eventually pass out.”
Luffy rolls around and giggles as he thinks. “I once tried to stay awake longer than Ace and Sabo but I lost really quickly.”
A small quiet descends afterwards, Nami doubts that Zoro with his constant naps has anything to really add and Usopp asked the question, probably not having a truthful long period of time. That leaves the small group Nami has secretly dubbed the Truma Trio.
She doesn’t actually know what Robin and Sanji have faced before, but the hints are there. When happy childhood stories come up, they are the ones who stay quiet with her. Sanji sometimes contributes but Nami noticed he never mentions anything before he was about ten or so. Funny enough, it is the same age that Nami stops having good stories.
“I think it was about five days.” Sanji finally says, as expected, he doesn't offer context. Usopp deflates on hearing Sanji’s tone, realizing whatever lie he was about to tell would be in bad taste.
Nami sighs, she doesn’t want to leave him exposed and vulnerable alone for too long. “First three days I was with Arlong I didn’t sleep. That’s my longest. Had some other multi day periods when I was in---unsafe spots.”
“I don’t actually remember,” Robin admits. “It was probably more than five but I wasn’t able to focus enough to keep track after that point.”
The silence left behind is heavy and awkward.
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Second Day
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Tensions are starting to run high as exhaustion begins to set in. Chopper had been expecting this as they passed the twenty-four hour mark, the point when the symptoms of sleep deprivation would become as much of an impairment as being drunk. He had tried to offset the effects a bit by allowing naps, focusing on research he had read that even lying down with your eyes closed for twenty minutes can help with exhaustion even without sleeping.
Unfortunately, he is surrounded by idiots who don’t listen to their doctor. No one is taking naps, either afraid or too protective of the others to rest. On top of that he is constantly needing to try and get Luffy, Zoro and Sanji to not waste energy. Thankfully, the other three are able to help him in getting those bastards to stop moving.
Usopp has Zoro hold poses for him to practice sketching, it isn’t resting but it at least keeps him from training or fighting with Sanji. Robin had dug up some adventure books that interested Luffy and is reading them with him to keep his focus. She has also unknowingly settled a long term bet on whether or not their captain could actually read, earning Chopper a small reward. Nami is simply ordering Sanji to sit down in between snack deliveries, forcing him to make simple meals to maximize the time he rests.
Chopper can see the reduced coordination in Usopp’s drawings, the impaired concentration as Nami and Robin both read slower than normal, the increased irritability as Sanji smokes more to keep himself calm. Chopper decides to force them as their doctor to take naps, even making a sleep schedule. He feels his own brain fog and drowsiness taking over and needs to do something for his crew’s health.
He knows he’ll have to lead by example and take some naps himself. Unfortunately, that means trusting someone else to monitor him. Chopper briefly considers sneaking himself stimulants so he can stay up and monitor everyone else but the risk of him crashing and leaving them without a doctor is too great.
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Third Night
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They had rotated from Nami back to Usopp for the morning check if they were still within range of whatever it was trying to make them walk into the water. They will be going back to Nami for the evening check soon. Zoro is starting to feel a little bad about only subjecting Nami and Usopp to these tests but considering how it seems to be getting harder and harder to wake them, it really couldn’t be a stronger crew member.
He is feeling restless despite the exhaustion pulling at him. Before Zoro could even think about training Chopper had cornered him and banned it. Nami had quickly followed with banning him and Cook from fighting, a harder and harder command to follow as tiredness also made the blond even more irritable than usual. All he had left was naps but only for about forty minutes at a time and following Chopper’s schedule.
Eventually Usopp had run out of poses for him to hold in an attempt to give him something to do. After he considered seeing if he could do anything to maintain his swords for a second time, Cook had apparently sensed his frustrations and appeared with what looked like every knife he could find, asking for them to be sharpened. Which is how Zoro now finds himself cleaning and sharpening a full set of steak knives under Nami’s trees as the sun sets.
“Oi Mosshead! There you are!”
“Yeah! Right with all the knives you dumped on me. What do you want?”
“Did you not hear Nami call land?” Sanji looks at him with a confused head tilt, before reaching down to pull him up. “Come on, we might be able to get away from here and actually rest.”
Perhaps it is the exhaustion that makes Zoro quietly follow as Sanji pulls him by the hand. As they approach the gang plank, he starts to notice the strong feeling of wrong . Everything just feels a little off, it is a little too quiet, Sanji is a little too calm. He doesn’t remember walking away from the mikan trees or going down the stairs. Just standing up and then being by the gangplank.
“Who are you?” Zoro asks as he draws out Wado.
“Oh come on, what the hell Marimo?” The response sounds like what he would expect but it isn’t right. Less bite, like Sanji but muted, washed out.
“You’re not the cook.”
The whatever in front of him doesn’t change appearance but almost seems to shrink as it pops out a hip and holds itself in a more feminine position. “This is starting to move from fun to frustrating, you know.”
Zoro doesn’t respond, he charges forward to slash at whatever this thing wearing his crewmate's face is. If it thinks that he won’t harm it because it appears as any of his nakama, it is sorely mistaken. He ignores the calls of his name that suddenly surround him, the creature likely trying to confuse him inside the dream.
The thing wasn’t quick enough to run away from him and he felt satisfaction as Wado bites into its shoulder. Zoro smirks with satisfaction as it lets out a high pitched scream. Before he can continue slashing forward and cleanly remove its head, tight bindings suddenly surround him. An invisible force pushed against the tip of Wado, sending her back towards him. He freezes as he recognizes the bindings as familiar rubbery arms and the pressure of the cook’s foot on his blade.
Zoro lets his entire body go loose, he lets Wado drop to the ground, fear settling in his gut at the idea of attacking in his sleep. There are the ghosts of hands grabbing him, someone shaking his shoulders, Luffy hanging on his back. He tries to wake up, focusing on the wakeful hands of his nakama, willing himself to leave the dream world. Trying to focus on waking up and not thinking of the possibility of anyone being in front of him when he attacked.
Hoping that only Sanji would be in front of him when he opened his eyes. It couldn’t be Luffy, Luffy was behind him so he had to hope it was Sanji. He could handle hurting the cook, they fought every day, the cook was tough he could handle it and Zoro would only need to live with some extra bitching.
Finally opening his eyes for real, all he can see is curly eyebrows. Sanji is right up against his face, blocking anything else from his view. When Zoro tries to move back and look around him he suddenly finds the cook and Luffy holding his head in place.
For a moment he resists, he can hear someone whimpering quietly in pain. He wants to see what he has done but Luffy is wrapped around him so tight he can barely move.
“Zoro! Look at me!” Sanji demands. “Hey! Look at me!”
Usopp’s voice calls out. “Sanji, he didn’t mean it.”
Luffy is the one who responded. “Chopper, take her inside, we have this.”
Her. Her. He had hurt a her. Robin or Nami.
Zoro has no choice where to look but the cook waits until they lock eyes before continuing.
“You love Nami and would never hurt her, right?” He is forcing his voice to be calm, but Zoro can hear the anger boiling underneath, ready to burst forth.
Shit, Nami. He had hurt Nami. Panic fills Zoro at what he might have done to their navigator. Anything the Love Cook did to him in retaliation would never be enough.
Sanji slaps him, it is shocking enough that the cook had used his hands but it is also a relatively light slap nowhere near his full strength. “Hey, look at me. You would never ever hurt her on purpose. Say it so I know you know.”
“I love Nami and would never mean to hurt her.”
“So you admit it was an accident.”
What?
Sanji keeps speaking to him slowly and loudly, the message not for Zoro alone. “It was an accident. The only one at fault is whatever has been hunting us. However, you are going to beg for sweet beautiful Nami-swan to forgive your unworthy ass for this unfortunate accident.”
The hands holding Zoro’s head loosen enough to allow him to nod and then fully release him after he does. The cook steps back hands up in a placating gesture to show he isn’t going to attack. Luffy remains on his back, no longer restraining him but hanging off of him, likely in an attempt at comfort.
“Hey, Zoro.” Luffy shakes him a little. “Let’s go see Nami.”
It takes a moment for Zoro to move, shocked that Sanji of all people didn’t attack him for harming Nami. He wants to have the blond yell at him, kick him, he wants someone to be angry at him for letting this happen. Instead Luffy rocks on his shoulders harder to get his attention.
“Cooooommmmmmmeeeeee oooonnn.”
Grabbing Luffy’s feet more to ground himself than to support his captain on his back, Zoro turns to go inside. Sanji stays outside, stress smoking, clearly trying to take his own words to heart as well. Robin is with him, a hand on the cook’s shoulder seeming to praise him for keeping calm.
Despite his whining as soon as Zoro steps inside, Luffy ditches him, taking Usopp and Chopper.
“Wait, I need to finish wrapping the bandage!” Chopper complains as he is pushed out by Usopp.
“I’ll do it.” Zoro says, replacing the doctor’s hooves on Nami’s shoulder.
They both sit in silence as Zoro gently wraps Nami’s shoulder. He covers a line of four stitches sewn a few inches above her tattoo. The wound isn’t as large or deep as he feared, Luffy and Sanji were quick enough to prevent more serious damage. Even if it was the smallest of scratches, Zoro wouldn’t feel anything but intense guilt.
As he ties off the bandages, Zoro leans his head over her shoulder and whispers to the wound. “I am so sorry.”
Fingers stroke through his hair. “It wasn’t you, it wasn’t your fault. It was an accident.”
“I still failed to protect you. You're my best friend and I didn’t protect you. I can’t-” lose my best friend to an accident again. He wants to say but the thought of losing Nami like Kuina chokes him.
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Third Day- Morning
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While Nami had been freed of the check by the “Zoro Incident”, Usopp still finds himself tied up as the sun rises to see if they had escaped. They hadn’t and he is left with another interrupted sleep that makes dealing with his constant exhaustion even worse. Chopper tries to explain why the forty minute naps are somehow more refreshing then the interrupted longer sleeps, something about REM and cycles but Usopp is far too tired to try and understand.
All of them lay around on the deck, unable to rest and too low on energy to really do anything. No one is allowed to be alone anymore, they don’t want to risk someone falling asleep unmonitored like Zoro had. Zoro himself has taken the accident hard and had asked Robin to store his swords in the girl’s room. He also kept looking at Nami with a guilty face, looking at the rest of them like he is afraid to hurt them.
It strangely disturbed Usopp to see their swordsman so affected, Zoro had always been a calm rock to his own fear. Though all of them were not themselves, they are all lethargic, unfocused, and a little irritable though trying their best to push it down. Sanji strangely went from normally irritable to extra grumpy irritable on the first day to being the calmest of them all, even immediately forgiving Zoro after Nami was hurt.
Usopp glances at the small clock they had put out on deck, before returning to watching the sleeping figures of Robin and Sanji. The two of them had been the most resistant to Chopper’s nap schedule so he had paired them together so all the headache could be dealt with at once. Robin’s eyes are closed but her breathing isn’t heavy, so she likely is still awake. Surprisingly, Sanji had actually fallen asleep quickly for once. Usopp didn’t actually have to watch them, it was Chopper’s job but everyone ended up doing it anyway.
The moment Sanji’s leg twitches, Usopp can already see in his mind’s eye what is about to happen. “Shit!” He yells at the same moment that Sanji, still asleep, jumps up and is immediately running full speed towards the railing. Zoro quickly grabs Sanji’s torso, halting his progress as Usopp’s eyes return to the clock to confirm that he only laid down for his nap ten minutes ago.
It is the first time they had to deal with Sanji stuck in one of the dreams and Usopp isn’t sure what he expected but it wasn’t Sanji screaming and crying. A well placed kick knocks Zoro back, briefly freeing Sanji before Luffy wraps himself around the cook’s legs. The two of them fall to the deck, Luffy’s rubber body the only thing keeping him from being pummeled by Sanji’s legs trying to break free.
“Wait! Please!” Sanji screams, suddenly grabbing at his hair and then clawing at his own face. “I can’t get it off! Why are you doing this? Please let me go!”
“He’s hurting himself!” Chopper yells as beads of blood appear behind Sanji’s nails.
Robin’s hands appear from the deck holding back Sanji, he continues thrashing not even aware that he is trying to hurt a woman in his attempts to break free. Chopper and Zoro are able to hold down his wrists together and no one dares risk going near his legs besides Luffy.
“Let me out! Please! Dad, I’m sorry! I’m sorry, please let me out!.”
Usopp is frozen watching the scene, he has no idea what he can even do to help. He looks towards Nami seeking guidance, she looks back at him, also looking scared and unsure. Suddenly her eyes go wider as she cries, “USOPP!”
Nami brings his awareness back to himself and that the cold feeling on the back of his neck was not imagined dread. He wants to look, to know what is behind him but before he can move his body, sharp claws pierce both of his arms. Usopp’s screams of pain mix with Sanji’s screams of fear as something cold and wet rips into him. Now he couldn’t move due to being literally stuck in place by needle-like claws.
The hands are dark green, slimy with a thin coating of what might be hair matted on top of them. There are only three fingers on each hand and somehow Usopp finds himself stuck on that feature. He can hear snuffling behind him as something presses against the back of his neck. Cold slime becomes hot moisture as what must be a mouth presses against him and Usopp can feel the small pricks of teeth. He waits for the feeling of teeth ripping into him as Sanji practically chants “I’m sorry” in the background.
“Clutch!”
The mouth against Usopp’s neck is pushed back as arms sprout from his body to push out the claws.
“I have you Nose-kun.” Robin is sprouting more hands working to free Usopp from the creature’s grasp. Once the claws are out he can feel her summon something from his back so that it is pushed back in the water. After a splash carries back up to his ears, Usopp feels his knees buckle beneath him and Robin’s real arms are holding him up.
“I still see it!” Nami is also by his side, he hadn’t even noticed her approach or the heat and cool balls she had been releasing into the air. He does notice the final thunder ball she summons. “THUNDERBOLT TEMPO!”
The roar of thunder is deafening and it is immediately followed by silence, the only sound on the Merry’s deck is everyone’s breathing as Sanji’s screams suddenly stop.
“I don’t see it anymore.” Nami’s voice feels like it echoes across the quiet deck. “Sanji-kun? Usopp? Are you ok?”
Chopper answers her in an unsteady voice. “I-I think he is just sleeping now.”
“In that case, Doctor-kun, could you please come here?” Robin speaks calmly but Usopp can hear the hint of urgency in her voice.
“Ohh no! Usopp!” Chopper cries as he rushes from Sanji to Usopp’s side.
“Was that the thing that’s been trying to get us in the water?” Usopp asks as small hooves replace hands to prod his wounds.
“Considering harming it stopped Cook-san’s nightmare, it appears so.”
Nami slides down next to him on the ground. “Hopefully that was enough to get rid of it.”
“Did Nami beat it?” Luffy asks hopefully.
“I don’t know.” She admits.
“Even if she didn’t kill it, she knocked it out.” Zoro says, a little pride at Nami in his voice. “This might be our best chance to get some real rest before it comes back.”
“We shouldn’t all sleep, just in case.” Usopp is a little afraid at the idea of sleeping after watching Sanji.
Luffy answers in one of his rare moments of using his captain's voice. “Nami and Zoro go sleep. Chopper too after he finishes with Usopp and Sanji.”
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Third Day- Afternoon
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Bright sunlight shines through Sanji’s eyelids, forcing him to wake up. He must be out on deck, if the light is that bright but it is way too quiet. Opening his eyes, he could see he was loosely tied to the lovely Nami-san and an idiot who were both asleep. No one else was around and all he could feel was a deep sense that something wasn’t right.
Sanji slips his foot out of the rope, leaving others tied together. He shakes the sleeping Moss’ shoulder and steel gray eyes quickly snap open, coming to immediate alertness as Zoro looks around too.
“Mosshead, something is wrong. Protect Nami-swan, I’m going to investigate.”
Sanji gets up before he can be given an answer, he does get a grunt in response, Zoro a little too proud to just follow his order but smart and wary enough to agree with Sanji’s plans. He can hear the Mosshead silently waking up Nami-san behind him as he quietly goes up the short staircase.
It is disturbing having the Merry be this quiet in the middle of the day, none of the laughter, of Luffy chasing Chopper, of Usopp telling a wild story, not even the soft turning of pages or scratching of a pencil. Even at night when they were all sleeping there was snoring and murmurs as they dreamed. It feels like even the creaking of the wood as it passes through the waves has become muted.
Sanji is about to go inside the cabin when he hears the soft sound of something being dragged across wood from near the mikan trees. He immediately runs towards it, the stomp of his running feet echoing loudly across the quiet deck. Turning the corner, Sanji immediately sees a pair of familiar sandaled feet disappearing over the railing into the ocean.
Luckily growing up on a ship has Sanji’s first instinct to yell “MAN OVERBOARD!” before he leaps off the side himself after Luffy. As he dives into the sea, salt water immediately stings his face, pain tracing the lines of cuts that he hadn’t been aware of. It isn’t hard to spot the bright red of Luffy’s shirt among the blue and greens.
Luffy is already deeper than Sanji expected him to be and is sinking fast. At first it appears like Luffy is wrapped in algae and barnacle encrusted ropes, like anchor lines that had been in one spot so long that life began to grow along them.
As Sanji swims closer, he sees that the ropes all move with a rhythm, they are the tentacles of some creature pushing them deeper and deeper into the water. Most of the creature is hidden from view, hidden behind Luffy as it tries to drag him away. Sanji is able to get glances, at least six of those rope like tentacles, a more humanoid torso with arms, teeth or claws or maybe even spikes holding onto Luffy.
He is starting to feel his lungs burning for air when Sanji finally gets close enough. With no time to waste, he kicks through Luffy to hit the creature on the other side, knowing that his rubbery captain can handle the impact. The surprise strike of hitting through his friend is enough for it to let go of its prey.
Grabbing Luffy, Sanji immediately kicks off the creature with both feet to push it back and give himself a burst of momentum. He swims as hard as can towards the surface with Luffy cradled against his chest and his own lungs demanding air. He feels movement of a claw near his ankle and kicks out again, trying to use the creature as a springboard towards safety.
There is no time to relax or celebrate after breaching the surface. Sanji desperately takes a breath of air and is spinning in place trying to find the Going Merry. He hears someone call out before he sees it and immediately turns in that direction. There are more than two figures on the deck, so hopefully the rest of the crew is ok.
As a pachinko ball comes from the Merry to go flying past him, Sanji realizes the calls from the ship are begging him to run. More of Usopp’s attacks are released around him as Sanji tries his damndest to get back. Unfortunately, it is hard to swim fast while also carrying someone and having a creature grabbing at your ankles.
A cheer from Usopp signals a direct hit to the creature, which Sanji hopes buys him just a little more time. Taking advantage of the moment to breathe, Sanji treads water in place and hoists Luffy up into the air. He leans back a little and then throws Luffy towards Merry with all his strength. The rubber man sails through the air and briefly looks like he might fall short of the target but a chain of arms comes out to catch him and pull him aboard.
A cry of “Hurry up you idiot!” reassures Sanji that Luffy has landed safely among their crew since they have time to focus on him. With his arms freed, he is able to swim faster now while Usopp continues to fight back the creature. Nearing the Merry, the chain of hands returns as his beautiful Robin-chan reaches out for him. He is so close to grasping those perfect, delicate fingers when a much less lovely grip clamps around his ankle and pulls him down.
Sanji feels the faintest brush of Robin-chan’s hand against his as she makes an attempt to grab him before he is surrounded by the sea again. Her hand immediately disappears from view as the water is filled with bubbles, the unexpected pull causing Sanji to gasp and immediately lose any air from his lungs. Sanji quickly shuts his mouth to prevent the loss of more air but it is too late. He had accidentally swallowed water and his chest aches as his lungs scream to cough, he is fighting the conflicting desires to expel the water in his lungs and to breath in deep, desperate for air.
As black spots start to dot his vision, the bubbles around him begin to swarm rapidly. Between the bubbles and the dots, Sanji doesn’t see the attack but he feels as a slash flies past him. The grip on his ankle stays but there is no longer a force pulling him down, instead he is pulled upward from unseen hands beneath his armpits.
Breaking the surface, Sanji is too focused on expelling water and taking in air to complain about Zoro rescuing him. The mosshead is kind enough not to comment either, instead just treading water while silently supporting him. After a moment, Sanji is about ready to return to the Merry, when a long rubber arm shoots by them. They both turn in time to watch Luffy’s fist connect with the face of the creature who had reappeared behind them.
Another rubbery arm follows soon after to scoop them both up onto the ship. As soon as Sanji feels the wooden deck under him, he hears his wonderful Nami-swan release a thunderbolt tempo.
“Yeah! You better run!” Nami-swan yells out, raising her clima-tact to threaten the creature, Usopp at her side also ready to attack.
Luffy leans over the rail to yell too. “AND we’re keeping your hand! Stupid fish!”
Usopp looks at Luffy in confusion. “Hand?”
“Yeah, Zoro chopped it off.” Luffy responds nonchalantly while pointing at Sanji’s ankle. Everyone turns to look and Sanji realizes he never felt the grip release because the creature’s hand was still wrapped around him, nails deep in his flesh holding it in place.
“AHH! Call a doctor!” Chopper screams before remembering that he is their doctor and rushing to help Sanji.
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Fourth Night
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Dinner that evening feels like the first normal meal in ages. Despite being tired, Luffy couldn’t help but bounce in excitement as Sanji presents him with a bowl of ramen with five extra helpings of meat on top. It is funny that Sanji pretends not to be worried about him after the creature had dragged him overboard but still gives him more meat then noodles and serves him right after Nami and Robin. He didn’t even scold Luffy that much when he tries to steal off Usopp’s plate.
There had been a heavy presence hanging over all of them since that creature had stolen their sleep but it was getting lighter. Usopp had successfully slept for four hours without disturbance earlier, which was making everyone hopeful. Then watching Chopper try and force Sanji to rest, while their cook kept sneaking off to the kitchen had gotten rid of the awkwardness of wondering what his nightmare had been. When Nami had whacked Zoro over the head after he had tried to scare her with the creature’s hand, things felt almost normal again.
An extra egg suddenly plops into Luffy’s bowl, he looks up happily to see Robin giving him one her sly smiles and a wink. Zoro snorts as he tries to hide his own chuckle at Luffy getting more food behind Sanji’s back. When Sanji looks up at the snort, both Zoro and Robin look away, while Luffy happily hides the extra egg by eating it.
Once Sanji turns away to fiddle with something on the stove, Usopp quickly dumps his mushrooms into Luffy’s bowl. He would have preferred more meat, but the extra food and the stifled giggles of his crew are still good. They raise suspicion again as Chopper struggles to hide his laughter, trying to cover it up by eating quickly and then choking. Nami rolls her eyes at the antics, then as soon as Sanji isn’t paying attention again, flicks a fish cake straight into Luffy’s mouth.
The game continues with Luffy getting little bits of everyone’s food behind Sanji’s back. They all giggle louder than they think they are, also Chopper is not very good at sneaking, so Luffy can tell Sanji knows what they are doing. But Luffy can also see Sanji smiling at their game and pretending he doesn’t notice.
As he starts to get close to full, Luffy can feel that something is nearby, ready to encroach on the happiness of his crew. He quickly slurps up the rest of his ramen, throws his bowl in the sink and rushes out of the galley with a “thank you” to Sanji thrown over his shoulder. Once out of sight, Luffy lets the grin drop from his face.
Looking over Merry’s stern, he scans the dark water until he sees the glint from a pair of inhuman eyes peeking out. Luffy locks his gaze onto those eyes, refusing to blink as he stares down on the creature. Minutes pass and he feels his anger growing at this thing who dared to hunt his friends, who thought they could take away his crew.
Luffy’s anger grows in his chest, eventually bubbling out as a low growl as he bares his teeth. His growl feels as if it carries an energy, pulsing out, until it reaches the creature whose pupils widened in fear before finally blinking. As soon as it has lost their staring contest the creature dives into the water, quickly swimming far away from Merry.
Luffy let out the last of his anger in a huff before mumbling “And stay away.”
The air around him feels much lighter with the creature really gone. His grin quickly returns and he swings his arms skipping back to the galley. Luffy wonders if he could use Chopper as a pillow tonight or if Nami had already claimed their fluffy doctor.