COAST - Luffy x Reader

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

FINALLY got this bad boy posted. Feelin' wholesome for this update. I've tried not to write so 'heavy' in this chapter, which is a little funny because I used Sleep Token for background music LMAO

This one was lowkey tuff to write. Had to scrap my original plans because I felt that Skypeia was dragging on a little longer than I had hoped, and I tried to mess with my writing style a bit to make it a little more uniform. 

We're nearly at the end of Skypeia Arc, now. Actually crazy that we've gotten this far, and I'm so friggin' excited to keep going!!

Hope y'all enjoy! <3

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"Horsey-bird! Horsey-bird I'm sorry--" Aisa's distant cries snap Luffy out of a fog that he hadn't even realized he had been stuck in. The sobs trailing on the younger girl's lips as she tearfully apologizes to the Sky Knights companion who lies in the dirt with a gaping beak. The bird doesn't utter a sound.

"I'm sorry, you hurt yourself trying to protect me!" She sniffles woefully.

Groggily, Luffy attempts to come back to his senses. The dust from the impact of Eneru's attack was still settling over the destruction in its wake, soil crumbling at the edges of the circular chasm which all four were now trapped inside. Right, there were four of them. Aisa, the bird-thing, Luffy, and you.

It's like all the gears in Luffy's body begin to rev as he realizes that the weight on his chest isn't the rubble at all; it's you, laying limp against his chest, all of your dead-weight keeping him grounded while he regains his composure. His shirt is wrinkled in the places where your hands had so-desperately gripped him during the free-fall, but now they barely even twitched with life.

"(Y/n)?" Luffy calls hesitantly, and when there isn't any reaction from you, he's quickly panicking.

"(Y/n)," He calls, a little more urgently this time. Luffy shuffles around on the ground like a bug trying to get off its back, attempting to sit up so he can properly look at you. Why weren't you responding? "(Y/n), wake up!"

Yet still, there's nothing. Even when Luffy finally gets himself into a sitting position, legs criss-crossed to keep you steady since one of his arms is unavailable, your head falls limp, lolling backwards. He scrambles to stop you from crashing to the ground, flipping your body forwards again, where your forehead bumps against his chin and collar with no remorse.

Luffy hears Aisa call his name in the background somewhere, but he's not really listening. Tracing over every crevice of skin he can find, there are no wounds other than the ones you had already contracted so far during the havoc that took place on the island in the sky. That meant there was probably something wrong with you that he couldn't see, and only Chopper would be able to help with something like that. What if you didn't get treatment in time? You weren't already--

The soft brush of your breath against Luffy's neck swiftly puts a stop to any spiraling thoughts in his head. It was subtle, soothing the hairs that had raised on his skin. The boy lets out a deep sigh of relief. Luffy knew you weren't exactly durable, but if you were breathing then that was good enough for him.

"You are my dream!"

And when the nerves subside, all that remains is his leftover anger.

"Aisa," Luffy calls to the inquisitive child, who stands a few feet away as she stares down your lifeless face. "Let's get back to that bean-stalk where Robin was at. I'm not going to let Eneru get away with this!"

And the makeshift-God would never get the chance if Luffy had anything to say about it. Still supporting your form, the boy comes to a stand, epidermis scuffed and tarnished from taking the brunt of Eneru's final attack. Flashes of your admittance in the sky kept replaying in his head, though if anybody was watching they wouldn't have noticed it; Luffy's eyebrows still furrowed as he slumped you over his shoulder, busily hunting for a way out of the hole that Eneru had planted you all in.