~ Crew P.O.V. ~
Luffy turned around when he heard the inhalation of air that certainly wasn't his. Suddenly, something hit his chest. There was no longer anyone in the bed. As he looked down all he saw was blue hair and scars.
~ Kenna's P.O.V. ~
I pushed myself closer to him even though the cloth around me was slipping lower. This usually didn't happen when I came back but then again I had been out of my body for a long time. The longest time actually. I pushed my face deeper into his chest as the cloth slipped down to my waist.
I heard the door open behind him.
"Hey Luffy, I brought you some fo-" I heard the crashing of a plate, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Hey Usopp? I thought I heard you drop the food I sent for… what the hell Luffy? What are you doing?"
"She woke up." said Luffy simply.
"What? Hey everyone, she woke up!" shouted Usopp
I heard more footsteps come running into the room.
"Luffy, put her back in the bed." Said a female voice
"She won't let go." He said
"Kenna? Is that your name? Do you want to let go of Luffy? We have to check you to make sure you're not injured." Said the same female voice
I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn't form the words. Was this also another effect of being out of body for so long? I loosened my grip on Luffy but didn't let go. He was so warm against my cold, bare body. I felt him pull the cloth back over my body and place me back on the bed. He wrapped the cloth tighter around my body, covering me. I tried to reach out for him but he moved back.
"Ok, Kenna? Is that your name?" said the orange haired girl again
I nodded seeing as I couldn't speak.
"I'm Nami." She said
"Usopp." Said the boy with the long nose
"I'm Sanji!" said cook with hearts in his eyes
"Zoro." Coughed the boy with the green hair and three swords
"I'm Chopper, the doctor." Said the little reindeer creature
"And I think you know that this is Luffy." Said Nami
"Um… shouldn't someone be on deck looking for an island?" asked Zoro
"Right!" shouted Chopper and Usopp as they sped away
"So how old are you?" asked Nami
I just stared back at her, seeing as I couldn't speak.
"Oh wait! Can you write?" she asked me
I nodded vigorously. Sanji ran out of the room and was back in mere moments with a pencil and a pad of paper. He handed it to me and I immediately started writing.
My name is Kenna Smith. I am 16 years old. What do you guys what to know?
They read it and started talking again.
"What happened to you? Where did you come from? Why couldn't you wake up?" asked Nami before anyone else had a chance
I think that Luffy can answer the first two for you.
The whole crew turned to Luffy and saw that he looked very pale while staring at the girl on the bed.
"Smith… Kenna… is it really you?" I nodded once again while the whole crew watched us.
"Shanks… this was before I ate the gum gum fruit… sometimes took me sailing with the crew. One day we went to this island after a long battle. The ship was pretty beat up so we stayed on the island for a while… that's where I met Kenna. We became friends really quickly but then after a month I had to leave. After a day back at sea, we got a newspaper. It showed that a group of pirates had been on the prowl and to watch out. The island Kenna lived on was prime targets for lowly thieves. I begged Shanks for a whole day to turn back and when we finally got back, the town was burned to the ground. That was when Shanks decided the sea was too dangerous for me so he dropped me off back home. The day before he left, I ate the gum gum fruit. It seems like so long ago now…" He finished
The reaction of the crew members was mostly shock. Even the monotone Zoro had wide eyes at some points.
"So what happened to you?" Zoro asked me
A day after Luffy left, the pirates came. They killed all the ill and elderly and only took those in prime condition, which included me. They killed my parents. After they took us onto the ship, they sold most of the people they took to slave traders. Except for me because one day, they found out about my ability. It's been 9 years since then.
"Wait… what ability?" asked Sanji
I have a devil fruit power. That's why I couldn't wake up.
"Wait! Did you have one while I was there?" asked Luffy staring at me, slowly returning to his usual self
It's a long story… but I'll shorten it. Ok.
They all nodded vigorously and I started to write. Luffy even looked a little less pale.
As a child, I was very sickly. My parents were pirates like you guys so they went on many adventures trying to find something to cure me. That's when they came back with a devil fruit. I ate it thinking it would help me but it didn't. I eventually grew out of my illness though. I also learned about my power.
"What's your fruit? What can you do?" asked Nami
I ate the Nemuri Nemuri Fruit.
"Nemuri… Nemuri?" asked Sanji
"It's the sleep sleep fruit." Said a voice at the door
Everyone turned around to look at a girl with long black hair, holding a thick book.
"Robin…" said Nami watching as the girl walked in
Robin walked over to the bed and sat down next to Kenna.
"Is this what the fruit looked like?" Robin asked pointing to a large picture
I nodded energetically and pointed wildly at the picture.
"Read it?" asked Zoro
I nodded quickly and Robin complied.
"The Nemuri Nemuri no Mi is a Paramecia type. Nemuri means Sleep. The user can put their body in a comatose state for some time while they let their soul explore the spiritual plane."
"So, it's a mystery fruit…" Luffy said
"Idiot." chorused Nami, Zoro, and Sanji as they hit him together
"It is not known how they are revived. Not much is known about this fruit since it is quite rare." Finished Robin
"That's so cool Kenna!" gushed Sanji
"Wait, how did you wake up? What happened exactly?" asked Nami
"I was just talking to her. And then," Luffy stopped talking and I saw a blush creep across his cheeks.
The only way to wake me up is if someone I care about kisses me just about anywhere. Not just on the lips. That's why I couldn't wake up because I didn't care about anyone on the last ship.
As I looked around the room, Luffy visibly blushed a deeper shade of red. This was not the Luffy I was used to.
"Captain-san, we need to get Kenna some clothes at the next island." Said Robin closing her book
"Ok, let's go on deck!" shouted Luffy as he ran out
"I'm going to bring Chopper so he can check you up." Said Nami as she left too
"Do you want to come on deck with us?" asked Robin
I shook my head 'no' and put the paper next to me on the bed. The rest of them left to go back on deck. After some time alone, Chopper walked back in. He checked all the normal stuff and even brought me a really big shirt so I wouldn't have to keep clutching the cloth.
"You need to rest but other than that your fine." He said as he finished putting salving cream on the scars
I nodded and lay back down. I started to let the boats movements lull me to sleep. My eyes closed and I fell into a deep slumber.
I had a dream. I was floating in the sky. Touching the soft as feather clouds. Suddenly, I fell into the ocean. Since I had eaten a devil fruit, I couldn't swim so I struggled with breath. I felt something curl around my leg like seaweed. I gasped and large bubbles escaped my mouth. I flailed some more, reaching up, but, what felt like a wet tongue, started to curl around my leg higher and higher. I gasped again and started feeling faint.
I looked down but I couldn't see anything. I only saw darkness. I looked at my leg and saw that where I felt the tongue was also darkness. I tried to push the darkness away but it wasn't working. Suddenly, I saw a light above me and felt the tongue retreat. I tried to swim closer to the light and I soon broke the surface. But it was like another ocean. I felt like I could breathe but bubbles were still coming out of my mouth.
I swam around in the ocean and saw a room floating in this above ocean. It was wood paneled and as I touched the walls, saw it was also full of oxygen. I pushed through the walls but was still in this above ocean environment. I looked down and gasped again. I saw my body lying in this room, dormant. I thought I had gone back into my state and sighed. I felt myself float closer to the ceiling as I waited but then a thought came to me.
How was this room floating by itself?
Suddenly, I felt myself fall down as gravity was once again introduced. I fell into my body and sat up quickly. I took my first breath of air and wondered how I could have held my breath for so long. Then, I realized it was just a dream and my head was pounding. I looked in front of me and saw Luffy holding his head.
I tried to say sorry but all that came out was a squeak.
"Well at least we know your vocal chords still work." He said sitting down near my feet
I tried to say 'What? Why?' but there was another squeak. Luffy passed me the paper and pencil and I wrote it down.
"You screamed in your sleep. What did you dream about?" he asked me with brows knitting together
It was a nightmare. I thought I drowned.
"Oh, ok." He nodded
Where are the others? Are we at an island yet?
"Zoro, Chopper, and Usopp are on deck. Nami and Sanji are shopping on the island and Robin is in her room." He said
Why didn't you go with Nami and Sanji?
"I wanted to stay here just in case." He said rubbing his nose
Just incase of what?
"Anything like this happened."
I looked away blushing. Luffy didn't used to be this serious. He used to be much sillier and I think, an image from his past; namely me, reminded him that life wasn't all fun and games. He showed a bit of his regular self when Robin was explaining my devil fruit but everyone silenced him.
Suddenly, I felt a hand on my chin and my face was forced up. I felt an electric shock pass through our skin and I gasped. I looked, with wide eyes, at Luffy, who pulled his hand back. He looked like he hadn't known why he did that and he looked down at his fumbling hands. I sucked in a deep breath and calmed my racing heart. I exhaled and grabbed the pencil and paper again.
How have you been? I tried to act normal but my hand was shaking.
"I've… I've been good..." he nodded slowly. "How about you?"
Not so good… He read it then his face fell into realization as he became conscious of what he had just asked.
"No… I didn't… I just… forgot… I'm sorry." he finished lamely
It's… ok… You should probably go up on deck. Didn't Robin call you the captain?
"Right… you're right." He said getting up from the bed. "You should rest."
I nodded and put the paper and pencil on the side once again. I lay back down and surprisingly, Luffy bent down above me and kissed my forehead.
"Good bye Kenna." He said walking away
Subconscious, I opened my mouth to say goodbye. I scrunched up my face, waiting for a squeak but what actually came out stopped Luffy in his tracks.
"B...ye…"
