(A/N Hello everyone! This takes place right after Movie 6, so some spoilers if you haven't watched it yet. This fanfic will be a few chapters long, hope you enjoy it!)
When Luffy saw his crew, he took a moment to look at each of them. The crew barely noticed of this for they were staring in horror at their bloodied captain thinking, what that hell happened? The said captain however was grinning broadly, not even registering the pain. His nakama was safe, and that's all that mattered. A few seconds later Luffy closed his eyes in exhaustion, and Chopper got to work.
The small reindeer hastily pulled off his pack and shuffled through it before pulling out an antiseptic, cleaning off the dirt and blood and applying emergency care. "Sanji! Zoro! Carefully lift him so I can wrap bandages on his wounds!" Chopper ordered the bandages already in hand. The pair of men stood still for a second as if they were still processing what was happening. It wasn't until Chopper snapped 'Now!' that they began to move. The other crew members stood off to the side watching with worried expression as their captain's bruised skin was wrapped up. It took a while and when Chopper was done Luffy looked like a mummy. Everyone grimaced as they looked at the state Luffy was in. And to make the situation even worse, they didn't know what happened.
"Does...does anyone remember what happened?" Usopp asked quietly as they made their way back to the Merry. Currently they were being led by five unfamiliar people. Two men and three girls. They claimed to be friends of Luffy so we let them lead us, everyone was still on edge.
"No…" Robin began, a hand on her chin as she glared at the earth, "The last thing that I remember was us being on the ship. I don't recall us coming to a island."
"Me neither." Zoro grunted as he shifted Luffy's weight.
"CAREFUL!" Chopper screeched from next to the swordsman. "Don't move him around too much! I don't want his wounds to open anymore than they already are!"
"About that, it must've been something sharp to get him this injured. Mere punches won't do this much damage." Sanji said as he lit a cigarette.
"You're right," Chopper said in confusion, but added on a bit more darkly, "Let's be thankful Luffy's rubber, if he wasn't he would've bled out long ago." This was enough to darken everyone's mood.
They arrived back on the ship not too long after that conversation. Chopper had Zoro put Luffy on a couch in the Men's Room. A hammock probably would irritate his injuries. As of right now, the Straw Hats and the strangers were on the main deck, awaiting answers.
"So, who exactly are you? And what happened to Luffy?" Sanji asked in a cold tone, eager to find out what had happened no matter what. The short man nervously look at the people in his group, they exchanged a few words before saying,
"My name is Brief. I'm the only survivor of the Toothbrush Pirates. You guys...well, it's not really my place to say. When your captain wakes up he can tell you what he wants. But I'll tell you this. A few days ago you came to this island; Omatsuri Island, hoping for a few days off at the resort here. But the owner of it; Baron Omatsuri, had lured you here. It was a trap you see. He hates pirates after losing his own crew and tries to break apart nakama-he was a former pirate himself. Baron had captured all of you but Luffy got you back." Brief finished being purposely vague. The short man rested a hand on his hat and gave everyone a smile, "That's all I will tell you, but know this, your captain is a great one. There's not many out there who would go to such great lengths for their crew anymore."
Nami furrowed her brows, 'To such great lengths?' Just what did Luffy do to get us back? The navigator sighed in a fit of frustration and asked, "But do you know why we can't remember anything?"
Brief gave the woman a confused look, "You can't?"
"No," Chopper answered. "Maybe it's a Devil Fruit."
Brief shook his head, "Luffy will tell you what you need to know when he wakes. But if you don't mind, we'll be leaving."
The smallest girl pouted as she was shooed to the side of the ship, "Bye Mr. Reindeer! It was nice to meet you!" She called out to Chopper with a wave. The others in her group hushed her and disappeared from sight. Everyone's eyes went straight to the doctor who was just as bit as confused as they were.
"You know her?" Nami asked.
Chopper slowly shook his head, "No...or at least I don't think so…" Chopper kept his eyes focused on the girl as she headed to a small boat in the distance. Daisy. He rapidly blinked. Even though it seemed like he'd never met her before, he somehow felt a tad bit responsible for the girl. And that name, was it hers?
Usopp groaned and massaged his face, "I hate not being able to remember! I mean, Luffy was probably risking his life for us while we were doing what? I don't even know!"
Robin pursed her lips and said, "I agree, Sniper-san."
Sanji's eyes flickered over to the entrance to the Men's Room, "We have to wait until Luffy wakes for answers. But for now let's just get away from this island. Something about gives me the creeps." The cook gazed into the dark forest, it was too quiet. Brief had said there was a resort here. Even if it had been a trap where was all the people who had been there? Dead? No, Luffy wouldn't kill them. Had they fled the island already? Or were they still here? His brows scrunched up and he headed towards the galley to prepare dinner. Whatever the reason was, it didn't feel right.
Zoro watched through slitted eyes as the shitty cook went up the stairs. He could've made a smart remark regarding him being scared about an island, but truth be told he felt on edge as well. That island was where they woke up, no idea where there were or how much time had passed. They found their captain almost unconscious on the earth surrounded by strangers. He had to resist the urge to go down in the Men's Room and shake Luffy awake, demanding to know what had happen. Chopper would kill him though. All he could do was wait.
Four days, six hours, and eighteen minutes. That's the amount of time that passed before Luffy awoke.
It started off when Luffy cracked open his eyes, a wave of confusion was placed over him. Then he remembered; the Baron, Omatsuri Island. For a split second his mouth curved downwards into a sour frown and the crew surrounding him took notice of it. It wasn't until Luffy began to stretch his stiff muscles that Robin spoke, breaking everyone from the trance that had transpired,
"Captain-san...how are you feeling?"
Luffy paused in what he was doing. Just now seeing that he wasn't alone in the room. He turned his head to the side and looked over every member of his crew. Each one bore worried expressions, at least they weren't hurt. A large smile grew on his face and he started to chuckle, which turned into a laugh. He was laughing so hard he thought he might burst into tears!
The crew only stared at his strange behavior. Yes Luffy laughed at random but he'd just woken up from a four day sleep, what could possibly be that funny? Zoro decided it was enough. With his mouth pressed into a firm line he stepped forward and locked eyes with Luffy saying, "We need to talk." At this one sentence, the captain's laughter started to fade away. Zoro picked up on this, could it be possible he remembered the events that had happened? Brief wasn't that specific, he didn't clearly say if Luffy did or not.
Luffy turned his gaze towards the floor, reaching behind him to grab his hat and place it on his head so it hid his eyes, "What about?" Zoro gazed at Luffy through slitted eyes.
"Omatsuri Island. No one can remember what happened there. Tell us."
"Zoro…" Chopper began to protest, seeing Luffy was still in bad condition, but his own curiosity took over and he let his sentence trail off.
Luffy's head jerked up slightly, "You don't remember?"
Nami leaned forward and said, "No, but we all feel like something's, missing. Luffy could you-"
"I'll tell you." Luffy cut Nami off and readjusted himself on the couch. Everyone's eyes widened, just like that?
"Should we, sit down? Is it a long story or…" Sanji asked slowly. He himself was hoping it'd be long. For some reason though, whenever he was around Luffy, he felt incredibly guilty. It was like there was a heavy weight on his chest, and these damn missing memories didn't help at all! Hopefully when Luffy told the story it'd become clearer.
"No." Luffy said simply. "It's short. We arrived at Omatsuri Island hoping for a few days off, but it'd been a trap and one by one you guys disappeared. I confronted the guy who did it, Baron Omatsuri, and lost. I confronted him a second time and won, getting you guys back."
The crew stared at Luffy in disbelief. That was all they were going to get? It's practically what Brief had told them! "You gotta tell us more than that Luffy!" Usopp exclaimed. The sniper was feeling a bit angry at this point. Luffy should be able to share what happened no matter how terrible. We're nakama after all. But here he wasn't.
"Usopp's right Luffy! You have to tell us the full story!" Nami said in a loud voice.
"I agree with them." Robin said in a calm tone.
"Same here," Sanji said as he bit down on his freshly lit cigarette. Luffy grew still for a few moments and the crew began to think they had done something wrong, maybe pressured him too much. But after a minute or so Luffy removed his hat and faced everyone with a firm look,
"You want to know the full story right?" The entire crew nodded save for Zoro who had moved to lean against a wall and was watching the scene through one eye. "Let's head up into the galley. We'd have more space there."
Chopper almost screamed at Luffy as he began to climb the railing himself. But it'd be no use to stop him. The doctor went next and mentally scolded himself for not making Luffy wait to change his bandages before the explanation was given. Robin was the last one to exit the Men's Room, she'd been wondering over what Luffy would say. A memory came to mind, it was an hour after the strangers had left. Chopper had finished giving Luffy a proper examination and he'd come up to the main deck to let everyone know what he'd found out…
"There were several puncture wounds in his body. But they were mostly focused on his back. A lot of them pierced organs, a few of them almost touched his spinal cord, they're bruising over. If his skin wasn't rubber he'd bled out before I could've done anything. Whatever did this, from the way his bones look, it almost seems he fought with them in him." Chopper finished with a shiver.
The crew was silent as they took this in. "But he's going to be alright, isn't he?" Nami asked in a small voice.
Chopper gave everyone a tight smile, "Yes, but he won't wake up for a few days as his body heals itself."
Usopp sighed in relief, "That's alright, as long as he does wake up. That idiot probably went all out again." Several murmurs of agreement were heard in the crew.
Robin shook her head, pushing the memory to the back of her mind and climbed the railing to join the others in the galley.
The Straw Hat's sat with serious expressions. Everyone was focused on their captain who glared at the table, tracing the lines in the wood. "I'll start from the beginning." Luffy suddenly said, his eyes becoming dark, "We had just received a letter in a bottle, it read, 'If you are a pirate, among pirates, among pirates, among pirates, then gather your steadfast crew of nakama, and set sail for our island. The name of the island is...Omatsuri Island."