Stolen // One Piece

chapter thirty-six

It was near dusk, and the Strawhats and brothers of Monkey D. Luffy were all chattering to each other and relaxing on the grass deck as the sun began to sink below the horizon.

Luffy was lying flat on his back, arms behind his head, staring at the pink and purple sky as stars slowly appeared. Robin sat elegantly beside him, absentmindedly running her slender fingers through his hair. Usopp leaned against her, picking at the lawn and weaving blades of grass together. Chopper was settled in Robin's lap, gushing about the different herbs and plants in his book.

Nami sat on the other side of her captain, flipping through a fashion magazine and chuckling lightly at the reindeer's excitement. Zoro and Sanji sat together at the Captain's feet, sharing a bottle of sake and shoving the other playfully from time to time. Franky sat beside Nami, tinkering with his arm, a screwdriver in his hand. Brook sat on her other side, tuning his violin.

Kaito sat on the cyborg's shoulder, leaning on the man's head. Ace and Sabo sat back to back at the Captain's head, leaning against each other and braiding twine together to form bracelets, to give to their youngest brother as a gift. Naturally, Sabo was better at braiding, as he had to help Koala with her hair from time to time, so his braid was much tighter than Ace's inexperienced braid.

It was nice, Luffy thought, to be surrounded by his family and showed so much love. It was comforting to know that they were safe, and that he was safe. He was happy to be home with them.

He had missed this dearly. Five months without the comfort of his family was insanity and he hated every second he was away. But he was home, and that was all that mattered right then.

"... right, Luffy?" At the mention of his name, Luffy, who hadn't been paying attention, looked over at Kaito.

"Huh?" The boy sighed.

"Is it true that you were fed moldy bread and old, rotted fish and sometimes went weeks without eating?" Luffy stared at him blankly. "On the ship...?" Oh. Oh. Kaito was talking about their time on the Lost Maria. Luffy visibly winced at the reminder of the hours he had spent vomiting all over himself uncontrollably.

"Y-yeah," he replied, uncomfortable with the looks of shock and concern on his friends' faces. Sanji looked like he was going to be sick. Chopper looked horrified.

"Oh my god," Sanji mumbled, leaning his face in his hands. He was all too familiar with starvation and eating whatever the hell he could. "Fuck, Luffy," he said, "I am so, so sorry."

"It's fine." Luffy rubbed the back of his neck.

"No, no, it isn't fine, I promised you that I wouldn't let anyone o this ship starve, ever, and I let you down. I'm so sorry, Captain," Sanji lamented, wiping his eyes.

"It really is fine, Sanji, I wasn't on the ship so there was no way you could have known or prevented it," the younger boy replied, shrugging his shoulders. "And I didn't die so there's no harm, no foul." The blond shook his head violently. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off when Chopper spoke.

"How the absolute hell did you survive four months on a diet of moldy and rotted foods and just not eating?" Luffy shrugged again.

"Sheer will power, I guess." Zoro laughed.

"That's pretty much your only answer to 'how did you survive' questions!" the swordsman said. The Captain smiled at his First Mate.

~   ~   •   ~   ~

When it had come time for the Strawhats to go to bed, all went into their quarters and climbed into bed. Ace and Sabo chose to sleep on the couch, and Kaito was perfectly happy to sleep on the floor, with a pillow cushion tucked under his head. Luffy settled into bed, but then someone climbed in with him. He opened his eyes and noticed a familiar head of curly hair.

"Move," Usopp grunted as he shoved Luffy over. Luffy snorted and made room in the bed for his friend, holding the blanket up for him.

When Usopp was satisfied, he relaxed and wrapped his arms around his Captain. The sniper pulled Luffy closer to his body, and sighed in content. Luffy, who adored cuddles, snuggled up with his best friend and breathed in the comforting scent of oak wood and ash.

"I missed you," Usopp whispered into the inky hair of his Captain. Luffy smiled and closed his eyes.

"I missed you too," he replied, hugging his friend tighter.

And for the first time in months, Luffy felt safe and warm.