Love Is Blind | ZoLu

20

Aided by Zoro, Luffy felt something soft being wrapped around his forearm. After having accidentally slipped in the tub, he was lucky enough to have sustained only minor injuries, yet one was bothersome and big enough to require assistance in order to heal.

His close friend carefully bandaged his arm, and asked him if he needed anything else before he left his room, to which the Captain gently shook his head and told him he would be fine.

And trusting in him, the Swordsman decided to take his leave and go, given how late it was getting.

As Luffy was left alone in his bedroom again, it gave way for his thoughts to grow loud throughout the silence left in his room.

Luffy's POV:

I ran my fingertips across the bandage Zoro wrapped around my arm, thinking back to when Usopp found me crying on the floor.

It makes me feel regretful now; breaking down so easily like that isn't something a Captain should be doing.

I learned to overcome my anxiety and grow stronger thanks to Jimbei, back when he rescued me from Impel Down and brought me to Amazon Lily.

Thinking back to that time, I remember everything I went through in Impel Down...

From teaming up with my old enemies, Buggy and Mr. 3, reuniting with Bon-Chan, and meeting Whitebeard for the first time.

To nearly dying after getting poisoned by Magellan and being rescued thanks to Ivankov.

The amount of happiness I felt when we finally reached the place they had taken Ace to execute him within.

I never realized it now, but having all of us there, from the weakest to the strongest pirates, all aligned in one place to save him... Even so... He never wanted to be saved.

But that doesn't mean he wanted to die. He just never had the opportunity to live a free life.

"It's all coming back to me now."

My chest tightened as I sighed through a sob that snuck out of my lips, causing my breathing to hitch.

All I could do in that moment, was think. Because once the thoughts invaded my mind, there they remained with no intentions on leaving.

Author's POV:

With no where else to go and nothing to do, Luffy remained immobilized in his cold bed, feeling his eyelids sticking to each other while shutting his eyes to find out that there was no difference in between the darkness he saw when having them opened or closed.

The persistent sounds of his stomach rumbling could be heard through the thin layer of his shirt.

It was almost as if it were begging Luffy to have something inside of him, but there was nothing that gave him enough reason to request food from Sanji or anyone at all.

Not even his own body. Because in the end, he felt that if he were to take orders from one part of his body, he would be disobeying what the ruling side of his anatomy was telling him to actually do.

In short, he had two choices: Obeying his internal organs or satisfying mind.

If his mind didn't grant him the authority to feel hungry, despite there being physical signs of starvation within Luffy's body, he wouldn't eat anything.

But there was a deeper meaning yet to be understood by others, as to why he wasn't consuming food the way he should be, and disposing of it in the trash, or disgorging it through his mouth.

That reason that lead him into making such extreme decisions, was to get a better sleep at night.

Luffy believed that if his stomach was empty, his mind too could be emptied of any sudden thoughts that would invade him late at night and plague him with dreadful nightmares.

So, with an unfilled stomach, the young man wanted nothing more than to experience a peaceful sleep, in hopes of his bad dreams disappearing.

Though not all of his dreams needed to consist of something terrible happening to make them unpleasant.

Some of them were unexplainable nostalgic phenomena that Luffy couldn't gravitate his feelings towards.

But even the most saddening dreams he's had can't be compared to the morbid and macabre nightmares he continues having, in which he's seen things beyond his own imagination.

Dark dreams such as those made his wishes for having one good dream, become a farfetched fantasy for the boy to apprehend without fearing the mere concept of falling asleep.

And now, late at night, he debated on whether or not he should go to sleep for his aching, dry eyes and weakened body to recover the strength that they needed.

Which is why the eerie desolation that created a rather comforting ambience in Luffy's cold room, managed to put the Captain to sleep, allowing him to drift off quietly.

Perhaps not as peaceful as the other Straw Hats, but at the very least... He found a way to rest, lacking the energy to fight back the sleep he now thought his mind was untrustworthy of.

"Today was difficult, but tomorrow might be easier."

~~~