Love Is Blind | ZoLu

4

"Can someone turn the lights on?"

Laughter filled the air after Luffy spoke, his friends all cracked jokes and even pushed him around to get him to laugh along with them.

But their Captain knew this was no joking matter, so he asked them again.

"I'm serious guys, turn them on! I don't even see the moon from here."

"Huh?? The moon?" They continued to laugh, slapping Luffy's back with their hands.

"You've been spending too much time with Brook, haven't you, Luffy?"

Sanji spoke. By now, they made a laughingstock out of Luffy, believing he was a true comedian.

"Stop laughing, I'm sure that Chopper is sleeping right now, guys. It's pretty late."

"C-CHOPPER'S RIGHT HERE, LUFFYYYY!! MY STOMACH HURTS, STOP!"

Usopp and Chopper wrapped their arms around Luffy's shoulders, laughing along with the others.

Everyone in the dining room was having a good time full of laughter and cheers, all thanks to their Captain.

Everyone... Except for their Captain, that is.

"How can you keep a straight face when pulling off these jokes?" Zoro smirked.

In that moment, Luffy's heavy wooden chair made a loud ruckus when it collided against the hardwood floor.

The smile on Luffy's lips had faded away completely, and had slowly turned into an 'O' shaped gape.

"Why..." His voice echoed throughout the ship when everyone else went silent.

"Luffy?"

"Stop messing around!"

He rubbed his eyes, placing his hands on the table only to get them splattered with the many drinks he spilled along the way.

The sudden disturbance from the distressed boy had interrupted everyone's afternoon meal and left an unsettling feeling in the pit of their stomachs.

"Where are the switches? Where?!"

"What switches are you talking about, Luffy?"

His friends questioned, backing away from the boy while he walked around the dining room area.

"The light switches, everyone. Help me find them." He insisted. Usopp started to laugh, nervously.

"This joke of yours is getting a little out of hand, don't you think?" Franky questioned, raising an eyebrow at Luffy.

"Fine, I'll find it myself. Move out of the way!"

Knowing his way around the Sunny well enough, the boy ran his hands across the walls until he reached a light switch.

"Got it... Wait, why isn't it turning on?"

He asked himself, flicking his fingers up and down the switch and still not seeing any of his desired results.

"That's because-"

Robin stood in front of Luffy, waving her hands across his face. Reacting to the touch of her fingertips, the boy shook her hands away.

"Robin, that tickles. Guys, please help me find another light switch. This one isn't working."

He instructed, bumping into everyone as they huddled around him.

"That is the right switch, Luffy." One of his friends announced.

"It can't be, it doesn't turn anything on!"

"That's because you kept on turning the lights on AND off, dummy!" Nami exclaimed, catching the bewildered young man by surprise.

He shook his head in disbelief, claiming that his Navigator was a liar, all the while pointing his finger at a plain wall.

The Straw Hats looked back at Luffy, growing phased by his constant discussion with them about a mere light switch.

But to him, it was much more than simply turning the lights on. It's the amount of desperation he was slowly developing from the lack of brightness in the ship.

"I'm going to step outside then, I'll prove it to you all!"

His temperamental state washed off on his friends as they chased behind their Captain, wondering what it was that he wanted to prove to them with such a disruptive haste.

Reaching the far end of the ship, Luffy spun around, puffing his chest out as he started to lack oxygen in his lungs.

The cause of his shortness of breath was an unexplained panic attack that ignited in his body out of nowhere.

"S-see guys? Everything is pitch black!! Look, even the sky looks foggy!" He demonstrated, pointing up at the sky above him.

Everyone looked back at Luffy as if he were mental.

"All I see is a sunset, anyone else?"

"Sunset? Pfft, a sunset?! We left that behind a long time ago when we were coming back to the Sunny, guys!" The boy huffed.

"I think we should go back inside now."

Nami and Usopp tried convincing Luffy into going back inside, but he wouldn't budge.

Nothing could change his mind about it being nighttime outside.

"Usopp, what time is it?" He asked, staring out into the plain ocean he could only hear and not view with his vision.

"It's 2:00-"

"See guys, there ya' have it. It's two o'clock in the morning! No wonder I can't see a thing out here." The brunette relaxed for a moment, regaining a sense of peace in his mind.

Zoro stumbled back, reacting to Luffy's response; a scandalous noise following his unexpected fall.

"P.M..." His Sniper friend admitted.

"Say what now?"

"It's... Two o'clock in the afternoon." The tan male responded to his confused Captain.

"It can't be!" Zoro whispered loud enough for only those around him to hear.

Those who heard him surrounded the man, interrogating him with questions they thought were useful to ask in that moment.

"How long do you plan on doing this for?"

Luffy's eyes reddened as tears coiled up within them, threatening to over spill at any given minute throughout his speech.

"How long are you going to mess around with me? What do you take me for!?" Chopper immediately took Luffy back inside.

"I'm going to examine him, wait here."

From there on, the rest of the members within the Pirate crew were left with doubts and a series of endless questions on their minds.

~~~

~ 2:00 p.m. ~

~ 3:00 p.m. ~

~ 5:00 p.m. ~

Three hours after Luffy was taken away by Chopper, the Doctor returned onto the deck where everyone had been eagerly waiting for him.

Their eyes targeted the doctor's clothing as he was wearing a bloodied white lab coat.

"CHOPPER! W-W-WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Their voices trembled, seeing the look on Chopper's teary eyes as he started to cry.

His sniffles triggered everyone around him.

"S... Straw Hat Luffy..."

Just by mentioning Luffy's name, the mood slowly died down along with the lively faces that the crewmates carried with them.

"Straw Hat Luffy... Will no longer be able to see again."

~~~