Stolen // One Piece

chapter thirty

The very first thing that Luffy noticed when he awoke, was the incredibly comforting fact that he was laying in a bed. A very soft bed, he noted.

Second, the sound of gentle laughter and cautious, soft pattering footsteps above him, mingling with the soothing sounds of the ocean rocking a boat in its waves.

Oh. Third, he was staring at a ceiling. Hardwood, red, and each of the planks of wood had its own unique groove that somehow connected to the others.

Fourth, the smell of salt and tangerines, and fresh-cut grass, and bitter liquor filled his nose, and made his heart swell.

Fifth, the dull aching in his body, working its way in waves from his head to his toes. That wasn't ideal, but it was a minor inconvenience at best.

Very slowly, as his body didn't much like the idea of moving, Luffy sat up and rested on his elbows. He winced at the sharp pain in his chest, but eventually he relaxed, and looked around the room, piecing together his surroundings.

Warm sunlight spilled through a window above his bed. Jars of herbs and medicinal plants lined the shelves on the walls, and a little desk sat in the corner opposite of the bed. On it were open books piled on top of each other, with scribbled notes under different lines of sentences that Luffy couldn't read (Robin had tried to teach him how, but his short attention span and lack of stillness got in the way and he ended up giving up), and page corners were folded over to mark certain spots. On the wall that the desk was pushed up against sat a photo, one that Luffy recognized his face in.

The Straw Hats were on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, all smiling and doing their own thing. Zoro was drinking his sake, Sanji was flirting shamelessly with the two women of the crew, who were (as they called it) "tanning," Usopp and Franky were cooing over Franky's newest invention, and Brooke was happily playing his violin, while sitting on the edge of the railing. Luffy, however, was not involved in his own activity, but sitting in the shade of the tree and smiling and observing his fellow crew mates with nothing but love and adoration. Chopper had taken the photo of his family in order to commemorate their love for each other.

Luffy sat up fully and smiled.

As he continued to observe the med-bay he was in, Luffy noticed other things. Unpleasant things. Things that made his stomach grumble like the one time he ate the skin of a poisonous fish and nearly died. (He did not look back on the memory with pride so much as bitter embarrassment; it was a stupid way to almost- die, compared to the many other, objectively much cooler, near-death experiences he had.)

Unpleasant things included a bucket in another corner, with reddish-pink water and a white rag stained brown, and a pile of other rags and used bandages that implied how stressful Luffy's recovery must have been to Chopper. These unpleasant things were mostly blocked by other buckets and piles of books, obviously purposely hidden to prevent unpleasant feelings.

Luffy appreciated the attempt, and turned away to ignore the unpleasant things. Instead, he looked at the soft, pale-blue blanket draped across his body, which was covered in bandages. Bandages that covered the damage done by Bluejam—the name made Luffy shudder—and his goons. Luffy huffed stubbornly and held the thick fabric of the blanket in his fingers, admiring the embroidery that Nami done.

A little straw-hat replica of Luffy's hat, complete with individual straws, the red band, and two little vivre cards tucked into the band, was sewn into the edge of the blanket, next to a little tangerine replica, that had a little green leaf and a stem.

Luffy grinned at her handiwork, carefully brushing his fingers over her beautiful embroidered decorations. Her attention to detail was astounding, but that was to be expected from the greatest navigator in the world, who clearly had some sort of supernatural connection to the weather, though she'd deny it until the day she died.

Luffy looked up again, to glance around once more, realizing that he didn't quite remember how he escaped Bluejam. He screwed his face in concentration, and replayed the events in his mind.

He remembered watching her and Zoro run off toward the ship in the dark, Nami's little lantern quickly disappearing in the night.

He remembered Bluejam's hideous, malicious smile on his face. He remembered a burning sensation in his leg, and the smell of smoke. He remembered being carried... No, dragged, through the forest floor and sandy beach. He remembered water in his lungs... and then being very cold.

He remembered the chains clipped onto his wrists in the storage area of the ship, and shaking. Lots of shaking. Shivering? No, Bluejam had his hands on his shoulders.

He remembered slashing, screaming, and the taste of metal in his mouth. He remembered flashes of Bluejam's face reflecting the light of a candle. He remembered his cold, angry, merciless eyes. He remembered the digging of nails into his skin.

He remembered being cold, very, very cold. Warm blood. He remembered how heavy his head was.

Then, Nami. Scared and angry and anxious and alive. Chains released. A raft? No. Dingy. Nami brought it. He remembered her words:

"Please don't die, Luffy. Just make it a little longer. Where would we be without you? You gotta keep breathing, okay?"

He remembered her warm hands on his cold face. Her hot tears dripping onto his shoulder.

More hands. Grass. More screaming, worried rather than angry. A pillow. A bed. Red, lots and lots of red.

An awful feeling of more burning in his stomach. Screaming. From him, this time. Chopper's blurry face.

Him screaming, pleading, "No! Please! Bluejam! Please!"

Bark in his mouth. Hands above his head and feet bound. Hands holding him down, while burning. Burning.

Then black.

Now here he was, awake, in the medical-bay of the Thousand Sunny.

The unpleasant things in the corner made more sense to him, now. Luffy swallowed the nausea rising in his throat, but he couldn't help the tears stinging his eyes and slipping down his face.

A whine escaped Luffy's lips, followed closely by a stifled sob, and then another, until he was bawling, choking on hiccups, and pushing the heels of his hands into his eyes as he released the fear, anxiety, and pain in his chest from the past five months into the air. He didn't care if someone heard him, right now. He was tired, and in pain, and scared, and traumatized.

His body shook from head to toe as he sobbed, struggling to breathe. His chest felt compressed, like he was trapped under a building, and his lungs were on fire. He wheezed, dropped his hands from his face, and laid back down. Bringing the blanket to his chin and wrapping himself up, he whimpered and cried out, eventually tiring himself out and falling asleep.