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Luffy trudged back into the back room where all the guys slept. He hadn't felt like eating earlier, he really was just tired. He slunk into his hammock and pulled the blankets up over him.
He tossed and turned, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, yet sleep would not come. Hours had passed, and the rest of the male strawhats came into the sleeping room, minus Franky who was out on watch. Luffy pretended to be asleep while they settled themselves in their beds. Soon their breathing evened out, and Luffy could tell that they were asleep. But Luffy still lay, wide awake in his hammock.
"I promise you, I'll never die!"
The words that his older brother once spoke rang in his mind.
Luffy shook his head slightly. It had been two whole years. That should have been enough time for the wounds to heal. But for some reason, it wasn't, and he was still hurt by the war and the death of his brother. Luffy just couldn't forget the events that happened at Marineford. He couldn't forget the massive battle between the Whitebeard pirates and the marines. He couldn't forget how Admiral Akainu killed his brother...
Luffy took a shaky breath. His breathing was ragged, coming in short pants.
This happened whenever he thought about the war.
He mentally berated himself for being so weak. I'm going to be the King of Pirates, he reminded himself. The Pirate King wouldn't be weak enough to let the death of their brother wear them down. No, the Pirate King would stay strong and never reveal their weak side.
But Luffy wasn't the Pirate King yet.
His crew had already realized that something was wrong with him. Why was he letting his mask slip now, of all times? Not once during his training time with Rayleigh had the older man realized that Luffy was still haunted by the memories of his past. He was determined to be strong for his nakama, so why was he letting them down by making them worried about him?
Luffy rolled over in his hammock, trying to clear his mind and get some sleep. But the endless thoughts would not cease.
He knew that his nakama were there for him, but he didn't want them to needlessly worry about him. He was okay, he was fine. He didn't want anyone to be concerned about him. Sighing deeply, Luffy knew that no sleep would come this night. But it was okay; it's not like this hasn't happened before.
Light filtered in through the rounded windows, and Luffy could tell that it was morning now. Yawning, he decided that now was a good a time as any to get up and start the day.
He crawled out of the hammock, letting his bare feet hit the icy wooden floor. Rubbing his arms, Luffy stepped out into the chilly morning breeze. The Thousand Sunny was quiet, as the majority of the crew was asleep. The only sound that broke the silence were the waves that gently crashed against the ship.
Luffy stepped out into the grass lawn, and was once again thankful for Franky's excellent ship building to have added such detail. The bright green grass was soft underneath his feet, so Luffy laid down on it. The clouds overhead were light and puffy, and incredibly calming. Relaxing with a sigh, Luffy finally felt a light sleep take him.