Secrets of Blood

The Cuffs

Shorter chapter, sorry about that. Enjoy anyways~

Luffy continued to have nightmares for a few days, each one a different scenario of killing his crew, but he didn't react as he did the first night. He kept them to himself, and was so good at acting by now that even Robin and Zoro didn't notice. Even though he had been with the two since before they learned about his condition, he couldn't bring himself to confess to them. And there was no way he was going to tell them that he had started to smell blood more clearly lately.

After the worst nightmare he had had as of yet, in which he ripped everyone's heads off, he secretly started carrying the sea prism cuffs in his lined it with multiple pieces of fabric he had cut from one of his old shirts to make sure he didn't come too close to the stone and make him weak. If he had to, he would want someone else cuff him,shut him in the storage room and barricade the door. Since he was too afraid to confess, he could only hope someone would have the sense to do that.

Luffy even started hiding the cuffs in the wooden frame under the mattress he slept on. No one noticed this since he made sure to go to bed first and get up first, therefore avoiding someone seeing him hide them at night and then put them in his pocket after waking up.

After it had been a week straight of nightmares, it was obvious to everyone that he wasn't sleeping well. The bags under his eyes were now purple and very noticable. But he just said he had been so focused on turning back to a human it was hard to sleep at night. He also did his best to not sniff more often, breathing more lightly, but the smell of blood was just getting so strong. He wanted to ask Chopper to give him sedatives at night, but no one knew how his new body would handle it. For all they knew, human medicine could poison him.

Zoro had finally started waking up earlier than him to see what was going on. He was able to train his body to wake up when he wanted to. He saw Luffy gasp in his sleep and then sit up straight, panting, eyes watery. He then quietly kneeled under the bed. Zoro was surprised for the first time in a while when Luffy pulled out the cuffs he had asked about a while ago and put them in his pocket, using fabric to move them so he didn't touch them and become weak.

He rubbed his eyes and walked out of the men's room. Zoro frowned and felt irritated with himself. How had he not noticed yet? But then he remembered that Luffy had been stuffing candy in his other pocket, making both pockets seem to be filled with candy. "Jeez, Luffy has become smart..."

He needed to talk to Robin about this. Zoro decided to go talk to Robin right then, before the other members began to wake up. Even Sanji didn't wake up as early as Luffy, and he had always been the first to get up, being the one cooking breakfast for everyone.

Zoro knocked on the door to the girl's room very softly, knowing Robin slept right next to the door and hoping he didn't wake the witch up also. After a moment, Robin came out, surprised to see Zoro so early. He gestured her to come with him some place more private.

They sat in the crow's nest, Robin waiting for Zoro to speak. "Luffy has been carrying sea prism cuffs in his pocket. I woke up earlier than him today, and saw him pulling them out from under his bed and stuffing them into his pocket. Luffy's become too smart for his own good. It seems like he's been balancing the weight with candy in the other pocket," Zoro explained. "I assume his nightmares have still been happening. When he woke up he looked severely disturbed, and this explains the bags under his eyes."

Robin had stayed quiet, her brows furrowing in concern. "I believe we should talk to him about this. It might be the only way to help Captain-san at the moment," Robin said. "He shouldn't go through anything alone right now."

So the two agreed that the next day they would confront him. When the crew gathered in the kitchen both Robin and Zoro noticed the bulging pockets, and could now tell that one side was shaped differently than the other. They wanted to talk to him about this, but before they were given the chance to talk to him in private he went to them instead. He asked both of them to come talk with him. Not caring what the others thought, they all retreated to the library.

Luffy wasted no time before he spoke nervously. "If something goes wrong, I would like one of you to cuff me and lock me in the storage room." Then he stayed silent, looking at his feet.

"Luffy, we know you have been carrying the cuffs in your pocket. It's the nightmares, isn't it?" Zoro asked.

Luffy nodded and hesitantly said, "They have been getting more violent. I still don't feel like doing anything when I'm awake," he assured them as best as he could with not making it obvious that it was a half-truth. "But just... just in case I do do something... can you help with it? I don't care if you have to cut me somewhere with your sword, or restrain me with your devil fruit," Luffy said, looking in both of their eyes, showing how desperate he was for them to agree.

"We won't let that happen, but yes, Captain-san, we will do what you ask if anything ever happens, which I severely doubt will," Robin replied gently. "I'm surprised the nightmares haven't gotten any better despite you feeding off Zoro more often," she said curiously.

"I think that might be the problem... I feel like I'm not only drinking more often, but a larger amount... isn't that right Zoro?" And it's starting to taste stronger...

"Yeah, Luffy, I realized that too. But it's not like you're hurting me, so why is it bothering you?"

Because I might.

"I don't know. Maybe because it makes me feel like I crave it more, which happens in my... dreams. What if it gets worse?" Luffy looked at him with wide, concerned and guilty eyes.

"If I become uncomfortable, I will tell you. If you don't stop, I will do as you ask and cut you somewhere, and if you keep the cuffs in your pocket, I'll use those, too... Robin, maybe you should keep an eye on us when he drinks, so I don't need to shout for you in case you need to help me restrain him."

"I also had another idea about this. I didn't want to resort to this because it will make Franky suspicious, but do you think he could make a ring out of the sea prism cuffs for me? Don't you guys think that will make it harder for me to do anything to anyone. I don't know how strong I am since I haven't fought since this all started..."

"I think that's a great idea, Captain-san."

So when breakfast was over, all three of them went to Franky to ask. He agreed warrily, and Luffy handed him the cuffs. Franky was surprised when he pulled them out of his pocket. Luffy, Zoro and Robin stayed in the room with him as he pounded one side of the cuffs into small fragments and melted them into the shape of a ring. Luffy was eager to put it on, hoping it worked.

When he put it on, he looked a little sleepy. Not enough for him to be out of it, but enough to make him walk a little slower. It would be annoying, but Luffy felt it was a small price to pay for the amount of relief that flooded through him.

That night, he didn't have a nightmare, and when he woke up, he was happier. The scent of blood was nearly unnoticeable. Nobody mentioned the ring, because honestly they didn't want to know why he was wearing it in the first place. He felt in control of himself and he felt his nightmares were behind him. He thanked Franky again, and sat down for lunch with the rest of his crew.

Gotta love dem angst