Drabbles. Both One Piece and Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail is property of Hiro Mashima, One Piece is property of Eiichiro Oda.

I guess this could be seen from Sunny's point of view…. Or a general point of view from the crew itself.

They sailed many seas and were always sunny. That's what Iceburg said, and that's how the ship got his name. But the ship wasn't always happy. Everything wasn't always perfect.

Then it would be too easy.

In order to be a good crew, you had to face hardships as well. Nakama, he had been taught, had to share the pain, share the tears. When One person was in pain, the whole crew brunted it with them.

It's how being nakama worked. No one was ever alone. Even if they had spent 50 years alone, or only a decade or two running away. Eight years alone and hiding, breaking, and deceiving to obtain freedom. Fourteen years being chased and shot at, save for those few where he was loved and trained. Ten years or so fixing, breaking, destroying, fixing and building once again, because he was broken inside, and couldn't seem to fix himself right. And years alone and lost because he had no sense of direction, or 82 days alone at sea with an old man and little food. Three years alone, serving a man trying to destroy your country, in order to learn his true objective and bring him down. A half a childhood alone, because no one liked to listen to stories and lies, except very little kids and that one, kind, sick girl in the mansion, and his mother wasn't there anymore, and wouldn't be back.

He couldn't have handled any of that. He couldn't be alone, even before he met Ace and Sabo. He wasn't alone for very long after shanks left, but he still longed for companionship. He remembers the choking fear after that fire, and thinking his brother was dead, the relief at discovering they were alive. And then the choking grief at the news of his other brother's death. He remembers the fear of being driven to the edge because one of his nakama was being drowned by her own guilt and fear that they too would die. She was willing to sentence herself to solitude alone, forever. She was smart, but being smart doesn't save you from grief. Because it was all right to cry. It was necessary for people to cry. Just as it is necessary for people to trust.

He wanted his crew to know he would protect them. He had seen their tears, knew their pains, fought hard to make them better. His crew was made of people who had been broken up inside for years, and who had fixed themselves up. His crew knew pain, some more than others. They knew the pain of having a loved one ripped away, and knew the unfairness of it all. They had suffered, and he had felt their suffering. Seen it in their eyes, and fought to fix it.

Robin, Nami, Usopp…. All three had lost their mothers. Robin lost her island, Nami suffered and broke herself trying to save hers. Usopp spent years trying to build himself, because his mother was the only one who listened to his lies, and that last lie nearly broke him, but all he wanted was her smile. And Kaya had that smile. Luffy felt their pain and tried his best to ease it, even if it meant getting so bloody he couldn't move to fix it.

Zoro had lost his best friend, the only person besides Mihawk who had ever beaten him. It gave his life a drive, a purpose. Luffy knew this, and vowed to help him achieve that goal, despite how impossible it seemed. It was a goal worth dying for, but h wouldn't let hi swordsman die. And even if he was grumpy and rude, and drank a lot, he was still Nakama, and would still die for him. So Luffy too, would die for Zoro and his dream. That's just what nakama do.

Sanji's dream has been called impossible for generations. It couldn't possibly exist, yet Luffy will still search the world over as many times as needed, because Sanji was his Nakama, and that deep, blue sea was his dream. And dreams aren't meant to be locked inside and searched for alone.

Chopper wasn't a monster, despite what he had been told. Luffy knows this, and will gladly beat the hell out of anyone who even TRIES insisting that Chopper is an abomination. Anyone who doubts his tiny doctor is dead meat as well. Because Luffy trusts Chopper with his life, and Chopper trusts Luffy to help him. Even though that trust was hard-earned.

Franky was big, and metal. He had literally fixed his own body. But he couldn't fix his soul. He healed, and tried fixing it. He gathered all those in the city who needed help, who needed to be fixed, and started a family. He fixed them as they fixed him. But Luffy saw he was trying to stamp out his own dream. His own dream of building the best ship in the world and sailing the world on it. Franky may have fixed his body, but he tried to stamp out his soul. It took a devastating battle and also the theft of those awesome pants… and some… disturbing… actions from Robin to convince him, but now he had the shipwright where he belonged. Because Franky's dream was also a dream worth protecting. So Luffy had fixed Franky.

Brook wasn't that hard. He had spent 50 years in total solitude awith the corpses and skeletons of his friends littering the decks of his ship. 50 years trying to keep a promise to a whale. All he wanted was companionship. He needed friends to heal. So Luffy gave him just that.

Vivi, although she wasn't with them anymore, was still their Nakama. They promised they'd return to take her around the world, when all was said and done. Luffy promised to save her country from ripping itself in two, according to the plans of Crocodile. He would not let the princess break when all seemed lost. His crew fought hard in a battle they didn't need to fight to save her country, because she was their Nakama, and their fore any battles she fought became their battles. Any tears she shed became their tears. Any pain she went through, they would help brunt, and then kick the shit out of the person who made her suffer. Six green x's on six pirates' arms marked the beginning of a promise they fully intend to keep. So she'll wait for them, and join them if- WHEN they come. Because she loves them. Because they are her nakama. Luffy fixed her by saving her country. Her work was not wasted, nor was his.

Luffy protected his rag-tag assortment of newly fixed souls with the ferocity of a hurricane. He was unstoppable when he stood by his friends, and he was nothing short of a demon when someone threatened his family. His crew. His treasure. He wanted to become the King of the Pirates, but not for the title. Solely to keep a promise to a red-haired hero of the golden age, his first friend. He would stop at nothing to get it. Well, he'd stop to help his friends.

He was not only their captain, but their guardian. He chose them, because they needed him, as much as he needed them. They understood this. They were loyal to him. He had saved them, picked the broken pieces of their shattered lives off the ground and placed them back together. He was the glue that held them together.

They would die for him, and he for them. The bonds ran too deep to sever. Zoro almost died for him at Thrillar Bark, shortly after Luffy had almost died saving Robin at the Gates of Justice in Impel Down, where she was trying to save them by giving herself up. When Kuma demanded Luffy's head at Thrillar Bark in exchange for their lives, they didn't hesitate to shout their answer.

He almost died for Nami in Skipeia, and Drum Island, and Arlong Park. She didn't want to lose her captain. But he was stronger than anyone she had ever met, and always pulled through. She loved him for that, even though he constantly woke her up at ungodly hours begging for meat, and even though he worried her sick because he was reckless and stupid, and marched right into things without a plan. He was her captain, and she would deal with him, and protect him when needed. So when Kuma asked for Luffy's head, her voice, and the others rang out with one, simple answer.

Sanji would protect his captain, and his captain's dream, because Luffy would help him find the All Blue, and he had protected the old Geezer's restaurant fro Krieg, without expect anything but food and to pay back for the stuff the idiot had blown up. Luffy did stupid things, but never did them without good reason. He had good reason to rush ahead to get Nami up the mountain to the witch doctor. So when both were in danger, he gave himself for them. He was saved too, by Chopper and Luffy. Luffy suffered so much for his crew, Sanji didn't think he'd be able to repay him. So he cooked his large feasts for the captain's appetite, because that's why the captain chose him. To achieve his dream, and his captain's dream. Sanji would protect his captain to the end. So when Kuma gave his ultimatum, Sanji spat out a definite answer.

Usopp was not only allowed to join the crew once, but twice. Luffy forgave him for the battle over the Merry-Go, and wouldn't have allowed any other sniper to join his crew. Because Usopp was his marksman/storyteller/liar, and no one could replace that. Luffy had helped Usopp become brave, and Usopp vowed to help Luffy become the king. When Luffy becae the king, Usopp would tell his stories far and wide, because Luffy's strength was not only just his own, but the strength of the entire world. A world he would stop and help at the drop of a hat. That's just what Luffy did. He protected anyone and everyone who needed it. So at Kuma's order, Usopp glared and roared out his answer visciously.

Robin, Franky, and Brook had all been fixed by Luffy. Robin and Brook had lost everything. Luffy gave them new things to believe in and love. Franky had been granted his dream by Luffy, and had relearned his love of ships. They owed Luffy everything, because he would not let them fall to darkness or break. Even Brook, not even part of the crew yet, had been touched by Luffy's kindness. They too, shouted an answer to Kuma, an answer that echoed off the rubble of Thrillar Bark like thunder in a valley.

Chopper owed his captain everything. They all did. Luffy protected them when they needed it. Held them when they were hurt, and fixed them when they were broken. He opened up himself to them. He knew their pain and their promises, and their dreams. And he would make them come true if it killed him. This worried Chopper. Chopper owed his captain his life. He had a promise to keep himself, and he did not want his captain to die without keeping the promise if the Straw Hat. So Without keeping, he shouted along with the chorus of protest his answer to Kuma's demands,

"NEVER!"

They suffered together. They got hurt together. They shared tears, dreams, and pain together. Because that's simply what Nakama do. That is how their captain worked. He found those who needed help, and he fixed them with his fists or his words. When the hat came off and was placed on someone else's head, they knew he was serious. No one hurt someone in front of him, no one messed with his nakama, ever. The crew knew that. The crew knew Luffy needed them as much as they needed him, and they vowed to be strong enough to protect him should the time arrive.

And arrive it did.

When the time arrived, they weren't ready. Not even Luffy. The enemy outnumbered and outmatched them. Even Zoro, one of the three strongest members of the crew, was at the feet of the admiral, about to die. His wounds had reopened.

Pushed to the limit, Luffy had ordered them to flee. For the first time they saw fear in his eyes. Because Kuma and the other two were stronger than they were. They couldn't defeat them at this point in time.

Fear for them, Fear for the outcome of the battle, fear they would not make it before being killed. They heard that in Luffy's order, saw it in his face. He trusted them, but he didn't want to risk it.

Life is so unfair isn't it? Things finally had started to look up for the crew, mismatched and fixed crew, and then it all ran downhill. One can't oppose the Government directly and expect to get off scotch free.

They heard his cries as he desperately tried to get to them in time. Heard him scream as one by one they vanished before his eyes. They heard desperation they did not want to hear in his voice.

Only Robin, the last to vanish before Luffy, saw his face before vanishing. He was devastated; broken by the loss of his beloved crewmates. Watching him as she vanished felt like being punched repeatedly in the gut. They had failed him. Failed to escape. Failed to flee fast enough, or fight hard enough, in order to regroup and escape. In doing so they devastated their captain, the man they had vowed to follow and protect. Robin looked into his eyes and saw frustration, pain, heartbreak, and the loss of hope. Because he too must have felt guilty.

He bore the pain of not being able to protect.

The amount of guilt they felt upon waking on their individual islands was awful. Sanji and Usopp were meanwhile too desperate running and dodging to actually pay attention to that, and Chopper was being hunted so there wasn't much time to linger, but it was there, when things slowed down enough. Nami felt nothing but guilt and despair. She had failed to protect the man who saved her from Arlong. Not even the fact she was in the heaven of all navigators was enough to cheer her up. Franky was freezing inside and out- cold climate and speedos do not work at all, and cold in the heart because he let his ship and his captain alone. Brook was bewildered by the people who "Summoned" him, but needed to leave to save his captain. He was alone, but so was Luffy. Nakama should never be alone. Robin, in chains once more, was panicking on the inside, while outwardly expressionless, because she was in danger and needed to get out of this facility. A bridge being built to nowhere, by the hands of slaves who desired nothing but freedom. She didn't care. Luffy was alone, scared, and devastated. He needed his crew back, and so she needed to escape.

It wasn't until much later, when everything had worked out in the end, that they realized what had happened, and why Luffy hadn't come to them immediately.

A large headline proclaiming the death of Whitebeard and Ace. Ace was Luffy's brother. The crew went berserk. Their captain needed them the most right now, and they were useless. Unable to escape and get to him. They were weak and useless. He had saved them from despair and death countless times, yet here they were, unable to save him. Nami choked back tears as she rushed away from the people of Weatheria, trying to find a sky octopus or whatever it was Conis gave them last time, so she could get away.

Sanji fled the okama until he met Ivankov, who refused to let him leave the island, because not only did the queen know where Luffy was, but also what kind of state he was in in the wake of the tragedy. Sanji was unable to escape.

Zoro wasn't capable of movement. At all. Really. He had fought through a horde of war-crazed monkies to find a boat, but wasn't able to fight off the rest, and yet AGAIN the fucking wounds just wouldn't stop bleeding. Perona bandaged him, Mihawk mocked him. He didn't care. All he could think about was Luffy. All he can think about was the devastated look his captain had as he vanished, and how he must feel now. Zoro's pain was nothing, he believed, compared to that of the captain who had brought them together, saw them ripped away, and then lost his brother not even a week or two after.

Usopp was obese and depressed, but he flew through the jungle anyway, as fast as possible, searching desperately for an escape, nearly being ingested by the carnivorous plants along the way. His best friend had suffered so much for them, had done so much for them, and now he couldn't just leave him. Usopp knew the pain of loss. He knew how Luffy must feel, fighting so hard to save Ace, and then failing at the end. He wanted to vomit. He wanted to stop and cry, but he had to be brave. Luffy was brave for him so many times in the past, he was brave for his crew; brave for the world. Now it was Usopp's turn to be brave for his friend. Because Luffy was alone, and needed them.

Robin by now had escaped, with the help of Dragon's Rebels and the other slaves. At first, she wanted nothing more than to rush to Luffy's aide. She knew what he must be feeling. And she saw his face as she vanished.

Pain, desperation, withering hope, and finally great pain was etched into his eyes. Losing his crew and then his beloved older brother, after fighting tooth and nail to get him back must have left him devastated. So Robin's goal was to save the man who had broken down her walls of solitude and forced her to live. He accepted her, and loved her like a sibling. He was their crew's leader.

Brook and Franky felt the same, and desperation was in every movement. They needed to get to Luffy, because he fixed them and now lay broken. They weren't able to save him an protect him the first time. He needed them now, more than ever.

His nakama. Their nakama. Nakama… nakama… Luffy lay near-dead on the forest floor. He was suffering large wounds. He wa bleeding, and crying. Devestated, broken, a failure. He had tried to get to his nakama before Kuma sent them away, but he failed. He had tried to save his brother from execution, and he did, until Ace was murdered by an admiral. He wasn't strong enough to protect anything. Hardly worthy to even gaze at his beloved Straw Hat. Taunted by memories of past failures, and his childhood, he felt hopeless. Until, Jimbei fixed him.

Luffy understood now. He needed to get to his crew, but Two years couldn't hurt right? Two years to get strong enough to protect everyone. Because He couldn't lose any one of them. He loved them more than adventure. And he knew they'd kill themselves to save him, which he did not want at all.

So two years, he decided. Two years for everyone to become stronger.

Two years to heal and learn.

Two years to make up for past weaknesses, and to prepare for future battles.

His crew, on each island they landed on, were in shock at first. Then they nodded. Two years to make up for failure. Two years to become strong enough to not rely on Luffy so much anymore. Two years to make up for the failure to protect the captain, and keep a promise.

Because he fixed them, because he promised them he would take them all over the world to achieve their dreams, they would wait and train.

He fixed them, the broken, devastated and wayward souls, ready to give up to life's twists and turns, and gave them a home, and renewed their dreams. They would become stronger for him, so that when he needed them most they would be there.

Next time, they would be there to fix him when he broke. Because they're his nakama, and that's what they do.