I'm here for you

" The enemies just keep getting stronger one after another . What if .. "

Luffy felt the spear pierced through his stomach . He fell on the ground and gasped in pain .

Luffy thought silently to himself , sitting upon his 'special' seat on Merry 's head . The sun had already set sometime ago . The darkness of the night had long already engulfed the remains of the last light .

" I wasn't strong enough to defeat the opponent ? "

He saw more spears flying towards him . He panicked and wanted to dodge them but his body wouldn't move .

He gazed at the stars , deep in thoughts . He had barely defeated his last opponent , if this keeps on , he might as well be defeated soon . He wants to protect his nakama , he didn't want them to worry about him after every battle , but after those battles , he could only lie on the ground , almost at the verge of death , helplessly listening to his nakamas' worried voices as they hovered over him . He knew he needed to be stronger . His gear second and gear third was barely enough .

" What if .. I wasn't strong enough to protect my nakama ?

At the corner of his eyes , he could see his nakamas lying on the ground defeated , accompanied with a pool of blood surrounding them .

The usually optimistic Luffy was fading , as his inner side took over , as if he took off his mask when no one was looking . Everyone thought their captain was just a simple-minded , thick-headed and innocent boy , but they never knew what was behind that mask . He kept all the worries to himself . He wished he could talk to someone about it , or to share his burden . But he knew it was his job as a captain , he didn't want his nakama to worry .

" What if .. I lose my nakama because i wasn't strong enough to protect them ? "

He cried out at the top of his voice , " ZORO ..! NAMI ..! USOPP ..! CHOPPER ..! ROBIN ..! " But none of them responded .

His fists clenched unknowingly at the flashback of his nightmare he had earlier on .

Then , he saw a figure standing on his right , he turned only to realise it was Sanji . " Sanji ! " Luffy cried in relief , seeing that Sanji was okay . " Captain .. " He heard Sanji spoke . Luffy lifted his eyes to meet his . He was shocked to see his eyes cold with anger and disappointment . Sanji opened his mouth to speak again , " It is all your fault , Captain . You were suppose to protect us ! You are not fit to be the captain ! " With that said , Sanji turned and walked away . Luffy was shocked at his words . But nevertheless , cried out to him , " Wait Sanji ! I'm sorry ! Don't leave me alone ! SANJI !! " But Sanji has already disappeared out of sight .

" What if they leave me because i wasn't able to protect them ? "

His eyes slammed shut as he shook his head lightly to get rid of that thought . It was too terrifying to even think about . What was he without his nakama ? Even if he was the Pirate King , even if he has all the treasure in the world . He knew he was nothing without his nakama .

" Luffy .. "

He snapped out of his thoughts at the call of his name . He spun his head around to meet the speaker , meeting the shadowy outline of the his navigator with a mug on her hand and a pile of maps in another .

" What are you doing out here all alone ? Don't you want to get some sleep ? "

Back to sleep ? Back to that nightmare ? He shuddered lightly at that thought . Only to be noticed by the orange-haired woman in front of him .

" Hey Luffy , are you okay ? "

She asked with a concerned look on her face . Luffy pursed his lips into a thin line and frowned a little , debating with himself whether to tell her .

" Nami actually I .. " He voice faded . " Had a nightmare . " He continued under his breath .

" What did you say ? " Nami raised a brow as her suspisions towards the weird-acting boy began to grow .

" N-nothing .. I-I'm going back to sleep . " He stuttered as he jumped of the figurehead and landed lightly with a small thud and walked towards the men's quaters , only to be stopped by Nami .

" Not so fast , captain ! " Nami held her hands out to blocked the boy's path . Her eyes begin to search his face for any hints of what was going on inside the boy .

" W-what ? " The boy refuse to make eye contact as he feared his eyes might betray him .

" Do you .. want to talk about it ? " Nami asked as her eyes soften at the sight of the uneasy boy . Her captain has never behaved like that before , she was getting worried .

" I-It's nothing .. J-Just a nightmare ..I-I'm fine . " He said as he place his hat on top of his head , placing his hand on the front so that the hat would cover his eyes from Nami's sight as he relived his nightmare .

" You don't look fine to me , Luffy . Why are you stuttering ? And why are you shaking so much ? " Nami didn't know what kind of nightmare that has caused his captain to be like this but she wished she could comfort him .

Luffy felt he was on the verge of breaking down . He tried to fight his overwhelming emotions as tears welled up in his eyes . He realised he was shaking violently and his free hand was clenched tightly into a ball beside him . He could feel the unwavering stare of his navigator as he stood rooted to the spot . He bitted his lips and shut his eyes to prevent the sobs from escaping his lips and the tears from falling . He could taste the metallic taste of blood in his mouth as he bitted down onto his lips harder . He didn't want Nami to see him like this , he wished she would just go away so he could cry his eyes out .

Nami was shocked at the sight in front of her . She was not sure how to comfort this boy anymore . The boy that always seemed so cheerful and optimistic was now on the verge of breaking down in front of her . She placed a shaky hand on his shoulder and waited for his reaction .

The moment he felt a hand on his shoulder , tears that has threatened to fall before began to fall freely like a waterfall . He could control his tears or his sobs anymore , he legs turned weak and he collapsed on the floor beneath him .

" Damn it .. Nami , Damn it .. " He sobbed as he hugged the girl that was now kneeling beside him .

" It's okay .. Everything is okay now .. " She said as she embraced him . She removed his hat to look into his eyes and he looked up to meet her gaze .

" You don't have to keep it to yourself , Luffy . I'm here for you ..and I'll always be . " She looked into his watery eyes and smiled . Then she leaned forward to kiss his forehead lightly before he snuggled back into her chest and fell asleep .

- The End -