Author's Note: Hello there. The whole premise of this does get better when more is revealed; I just didn't want to give too much away in the summary so it may have been slightly misleading.

Also this is my first fan fiction (*internal screaming*) so I could really do with constructive criticism. There will be alternating POVs.

This is very short (apologies for that) but the first chapter will be up in a few days and will be much longer. Hope you enjoy it

~ Prologue – The Tide is Creeping Further Away ~

Luffy stared out at the multi-toned blue sea. He watched the pale cobalt waves plough forward into the dry sand of the shore, then creep away momentarily just to charge forward again in repeated, hypnotic motions. He could see a few small sailing boats far out in the distance, that seemed to be balancing on the horizon as the sun began to set behind it.

He used to love the ocean.

When Luffy saw the ocean he couldn't help but think of his friend. Well, maybe 'friend' wasn't the right term.

"I wonder if he'll be alright." He said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Who gives a shit?" Zoro deadpanned rhetorically, knowing exactly who he was talking about.

"Yeah, I can't believe you're worrying about an ass like him." Nami bit.

Luffy's head dropped in defeat. He was down. Torn between conflicting emotions. Confusion, anger and sadness all collided with each other and formed a kind of sickening, toxic potion within him.

Usopp looked up from his sketchbook. "Yeah, Luffy. Nami's right. You shouldn't waste your concern on such a person."

"But-!" Luffy began to protest, but he stopped himself. He knew it was useless. He had tried this before. He had tried telling his crew that something was wrong with his friend. He tried to explain that his friend's behaviour had totally changed and he'd warped into the kind of person he would have hated. He repeatedly tried to explain that he wasn't always how he was now. That something really bad had happened to him.

But his crew just told him that people change, and grew to hate him as they got dragged, unwillingly, into his life and affairs.

They witnessed his cruelty towards Luffy and his disregard for people whom he thought himself better than, which was pretty much everyone. Most of them were also subjected to his boundless selfishness. He was vulgar and vain. Conceited and corrupt. They hated him to say the least and, though it hurt Luffy a lot, he couldn't blame them.

How could such an amazing friend disappear from his life only to return as a different person? A hateful person. Luffy was usually buoyant and upbeat but this tore at his sanity. There were so many unanswered questions. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Could I have stopped it? Can I still stop it? None of it made any sense.

Luffy had his suspicions, but no one he knew would help him follow them through. He was once so determined to solve this mystery. He begged his friends but all they offered was logical reasons that he couldn't argue with; reasons not to get involved with this person's life.

His friends rarely denied him of anything he truly wanted for too long, but this was an exception. His best friend even said no to him. Zoro, who was endlessly loyal, refused to help Luffy involve himself with this person. Zoro knew that what Luffy wanted to do was potentially dangerous but that wasn't his concern. Zoro knew that Luffy could protect himself in a hazardous situation; he was just worried about his feelings. He believed that they weren't worth being damaged for such a cruel, careless person. Luffy's emotions had already been toyed with enough because of him.

So Luffy was told to move on. Seemingly every possibility became a lost cause. Finding out what happened to his ex-friend was now a pipe-dream. He was lost. So Luffy… gave up.

But Luffy still cared though most hope was gone. He still felt in his heart how that strong, kind soul had impacted his life. He was once a great friend, and if he didn't come out of that coma there would be no chance, not even the slightest, of ever getting him back.

Please wake up, Sanji. Please wake up. And I promise you, I'll fix this.