Sorry for the wait on this chapter, but it's finally done. I know it's a bit shorter than normal chapters, but you could either wait another 2 weeks for another 500 words, or have it now

The Quest for the Gomu Gomu no Mi

Chapter 7: Swimming

It wasn't long before the island Nami had mentioned was in plain sight. Luffy bounced around in excitement as Merry drew closer. They set anchor a little way off shore, and departed in the small rowboat, making two trips to get everybody on shore.

It was a small island, with overgrown trees and foliage, fresh, ripe, juicy looking fruits adorning the huge trees. The crew had changed into bathing suits and swim shorts to accommodate for the warmer climate and were currently spreading across the beach to enjoy their 'vacation'. The sand was a gorgeous untainted golden colour, soft under the crew feet and perfect for games and sunbathing, while the dark but calm jungles past the beach offered great places to hide and explore.

Sanji wandered along the jungle's edge, inspecting the bounty nature had to offer. They were running a little low on food, and it would be best to see if the fruits here were safe to eat so that they could restock again. Luffy, for being so excited earlier, seemed to have completely forgotten about his 'mystery activity' and was currently sprinting along the sand in a race with Chopper and Usopp. It didn't matter that they hadn't actually set a finishing point. Nami and Robin were relaxing on the sand, soaking up the sun and enjoying the semi-peaceful moment as Zoro took to the sea for a swim.

Before long, Sanji had gathered enough fruit to last them the trip to Sandatei, and the crew were settled and relaxed. Nami and Usopp had followed Zoro to the ocean for leisurely swims themselves, leaving the devil fruit users plus Sanji, on the beach watching them.

Chopper gazed up curiously from his seat beside the captain, smiling as he noted the ever present longing in the boy's eyes. Luffy hid it well, but it was obvious tot hose who knew him he wanted to join his cremates in the sea. The dark haired boy loved the ocean, everything about it. The feel, the smell, even the salty taste, everything but the helplessness. Chopper giggled slightly into his hooves, imagining Luffy's face if their assumptions were correct. Surely he would be overjoyed!

"Ne, Chopper, what's so funny?" Luffy asked, glancing down at the reindeer with a fond smile.

"N-Nothing!" the little doctor stuttered back, "I just… thought of something funny… heh… hehe…"

Luffy blinked before shrugging and turning his watchful gaze back to the sea, leaving Chopper to breathe a silent sigh of relief. It wouldn't be good if he let the surprise slip. The little reindeer felt his heart flutter in excitement though as Zoro turned his and Luffy's way, swimming a little way off sure. It was time to start.

"Oi, Luffy!" the green haired man called, "Why don't you come and swim with us?"

Luffy cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion before a rather large pout slipped into place.

"You know I can't swim, Zoro." he replied, grumpily, crossing his arms over his chest in a childish fashion.

"I'll take care of you," Zoro grinned, motioning for Luffy to join him. "Come on – you're not scared are you?"

"No!" the young captain cried indignantly, "Of course not!"

"So come one then." Zoro smirked, floating a little closer to the shore. "You'll love it."

"No I won't!" Luffy muttered, only pouting deeper in annoyance. "I won't be able to move!"

Chopper cautiously reached out a hoof to his sulking captain and tugged on the bright red swim shorts he was wearing. Luffy turned to him and the little reindeer faltered for a second before he started to explain, unable to keep a smile from creeping onto his face as he did so. He was so happy for Luffy.

"Luffy," he spoke slowly, making sure his captain would take it all in, "Did you ever think that maybe if you're powers were gone, then maybe your curse was too?"

Luffy frowned in confusion, thinking over Chopper's words.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," the doctor shuffled, "Zoro said that when you fell in the ocean a few day ago, you're body wasn't heavy any more."

Silence seemed to reign over the beach as all eye were fixed on Luffy, waiting for him to comprehend what he had just been told. Finally his eyes lit up with wonder and realisation and he turned grinning towards his first mate.

"You mean I can… swim?" he asked, barely able to contain the excitement.

"We don't know for sure," Chopper added, not wanting the boy to be disappointed if things didn't work out. "But you can try."

That was enough said for the dark haired boy and before another word could be said, he was sprinting towards the ocean, kicking up sand and almost tumbling over in his haste. For as long as he could remember, the ocean has been his strength and weakness. The drive to explore it and enjoy its wonders drove him on, but the curse of the devil fruit also made it his greatest enemy. The only opponent he had no chance of defending himself against. Now he had been told that the ocean was his territory once again, and the feeling was overwhelming.

The rest of the crew grinned, knowing that their captain had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Watching the almost desperation in his run, they inwardly hoped Zoro's hunch had been correct and that Luffy was indeed free from the curse of the devil fruit. They watched anxiously as he crossed the distance in a matter of seconds, wondering how the boy would move into the ocean. Would he dive as he had so many times in the past? Or maybe wade through the shallow waters and test his limits?

However, just as he reached the water, Luffy skidded to a stop, kicking a spray of sand into the sea and almost fell flat on his face from the speed he had been running. A look of wariness crossed the boy's features as he slowly began to walk the length of the beach, not once stepping further towards the ocean. He stopped walking and stared out at his swimming nakama, before reverting his eyes back to the waves lapping at his toes. And resuming his trek along the length of the beach, back to where he's came from.

As Zoro watched he could only compare Luffy's action to one thing. A caged animal pacing the lengths of its confinement – but why wouldn't Luffy come any further? The water wasn't the limit for him any more. Frowning slightly, he realised that it wasn't the ocean Luffy was wary of; it was the disappointment he might face if they were wrong in their assumption. Deciding to step in before anybody else spoke up, Zoro swam further to the shallows until his bare feet hit the sand and small rocks, gaining a foothold and standing up.

"What's the problem, Captain?" Zoro called.

"I… I guess I'm kind of… scared." Luffy admitted quietly. He knew his crew well enough to know they would understand his feelings in this sort of situation. "I mean even before I ate the devil fruit, I couldn't swim and would sink like a hammer. I… hn…"

Zoro caught the unfinished ending. I don't want to be disappointed.

Climbing out of the water, the first mate moved to stand next to his captain. Pressing his palm to the boys back, he gave him a gentle shove towards the water, sending the boy stumbling forward at the unexpected motion and sloshing into the lapping waves. Luffy turned back to face him with wide questioning eyes, ankle deep in sea water. The younger boy soon relaxed though as Zoro moved after him, slowly looping an arm around his captain's waist and leading him into the ocean. He could tell this was a delicate subject and if Luffy had to be taken by the hand and led with this, then that's what he would do. Feeling Luffy relax under his touch, the swordsman smirked. He knew the boy trusted him with his life and vice versa, so no matter what the outcome of today, he would still be there to watch out for Luffy and make sure he was safe.

Step by step, the waded into deeper waters, the salty liquid darkening ever so slightly the further they moved. After a few seconds, Zoro stopped, glancing to Luffy to see if there had been any reaction concerning the devil fruit. The water was now lapping gently at their waists, just above Zoro's waistband. Raising his watchful eyes to Luffy's face, the swordsman was pleased to see all traces of wariness replaced with an expression mixed between shock and delight. Obviously his assumption had been correct. Luffy no longer carried the curse of the devil fruit. He wasn't willing to take any chances just yet though. For all they knew, it could only take longer to take effect, so for now he would keep a watchful eye on the energetic boy.

"How are you feeling?" he asked casually, letting his protective grip fall slack, allowing Luffy some freedom to move around on his own in the water. "Any weaker?"

"No…" Luffy breathed, seemingly entranced by his own motions in the crystal clear waters. Soon though the wonder faded to be replaced with excitement. "I feel great! I wanna go deeper!"

Pulling away from his first mate, Luffy started pushing forward at a faster rate. It had been so long since he'd been able to even walk in water this deep; he had forgotten how it felt. The push of the waves on his body, the floating feeling as the sea gently pushed him up from the sand and then lowered his feet back down the ground – it was all too much. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so happy, so carefree! This was almost, almost better than meat!

Grins spread across the entire crews faces as Luffy confidently pushed himself out to sea. By now the water was up to his chest and seemed to have no effect on the boy whatsoever. Their grins fell quickly though as he suddenly lost his footing in the shifting sand under his feet and plunged head first under the water. Instincts took over and in less than a second both Zoro and Sanji had dived under with a muffled curse to retrieve their captain, what they saw however, surprised them.

Luffy was simply floating there. Not sinking and definitely not afraid. Though the young captain didn't like to admit it, and always trusted in his nakama to help him when the sea sapped him of his freedom, he could never hide the underlying fear always lingering in those times. Now however, Luffy seemed bewildered. Experimentally shifting his arms, his eyes widened as they glided slowly through the clear waters.

The waters were shallow where they were, their heads being only a few inches under water and their feet almost touching the silky sand under their feet. Sanji and Zoro glanced to one another, the edges of their lips turning up in a smile as they decided to stay put for a few more seconds. Knowing they could never understand how this must feel for their captain, they decided wordlessly to give him a little while longer. It wasn't as if he wasn't used to holding his breath after all.

Luffy's heart was racing, blinking slowly in the blue glow of the water around him, swaying his arms gently and blinking in wonder as his body floated along with the shifting waters. His stomach fluttered, sending a shiver down his spine. Was this really for real? Was he really swimming? It seemed so illusory. Maybe he's passed out in the water and this was a dream? But he could feel it. He could feel the cool water gliding against his skin and the soft sand, sifting under his feet when the shifting waters bobbed him along. How could this be real?

Feeling the familiar ache in his chest telling him his air supply was getting low, Luffy seemed to finally snap out of his daze. Looking around, he spotted Zoro and Sanji floating nearby, watching him with interest. Blinking, he sent a grin their way before waving and flailing his arms in an attempt to swim. The swordsman and chef each raised an eyebrow at the strange flopping their captain was displaying. Shaking his head, Zoro swam forward, gliding almost gracefully through the water, unlike a certain flailing captain. Sanji followed suit and each took a hold of halting him in his erratic movements. It was quite obvious nobody had ever taught Luffy how to swim.

Slowly the two kicked their legs, pulling Luffy up with them and letting him enjoy the feeling of being free under water just a few more seconds before breaking the surface. Gasping for air as his head broke free from the water, Luffy gulped in air, releasing it again in loud bouts of laughter, kicking his legs like a child that had just been lifted in the air by an adult.

The remaining crew on land breathed a sigh of relief. They knew Sanji and Zoro were down there with him, but regardless of that fact, it was always a relief to see Luffy emerge from falling in the water. Chopper's grin threatened to split his face as he watched Luffy flail around in a useless attempt to swim, only succeeding in making Sanji and Zoro curse as they tried to keep their grip on him. Nami sighed, smiling softly and lying back on the sand again, closing her eyes and letting the sun warm her body.

"It's nice," Robin smiled, settled nearby to Nami a she too soaked up the sun. "To see him happy again."

"Mm," Nami noised, smile widening slightly as the cheers and screams from her fellow crewmates echoed across the beach. For once, they didn't annoy her.

By now, Luffy's flailing was getting a little out of hand, and after a solid whack to the face, Sanji abandoned the boy, leaving him to Zoro's care in favour of returning to land to wait on his two lovely ladies.

Zoro wrapped his arm securely around Luffy's waist to steady him in the water and gave a firm squeeze, silently telling him to calm down. Panting slowly, the boy stilled, gaining his breath from all the excitement. He looked around with slightly tired eyes at all of his crew before flashing a huge grin and wriggling in his first mates grip.

"Teach me to swim, Zoro!" he cried, suddenly. "I want to learn how to swim! You too Sanji! That's an order! You can help too Nami! And you Usopp!"

It seemed as though Luffy's enthusiasm was growing by the second. Usopp gladly complied, splashing into the water and paddling his way over to the wriggling young captain.

"I, the great Captain, Usopp-sama will teach you how to swim!" he cried, causing Luffy to gape in awe. "Why, it was I who taught the fish how to swim!"

"So cool!" Luffy called, eyes huge and jaw hanging open. "How!"

"Oi, oi, master swimmer," Zoro muttered, eyes narrowing. "Watch for any fish that might want to eat you."

"…e-eat?" Usopp stuttered weakly.

"And poison." Sanji added helpfully. "Paralyse, stun, snap—oi, why are you over here, long-nose? Wasn't the 'great captain Usopp-sama' about to teach our captain how to swim?"

"W-Well," Usopp mumbled, panting for breath at the burst of energy it had taken to get out of the water so fast. "I just… didn't want to take any glory from Zoro!"

The green haired man snorted as Sanji raised an eyebrow. Kicking his strong legs, Zoro propelled he and Luffy to deeper waters, smirking as the younger boy in his arms gawked and gaped. He could start off slowly, teaching Luffy the basic movements of swimming in shallow water, but really, he'd found that his captain learned best from doing rather that teaching.

"Alright, Luffy," the swordsman instructed, "Stop being stupid and let's try this for real."

Blinking, Luffy adopted a determined look, smirking confidently and nodding.

"Yosh! I can do it, Zoro!"

Nodding, Zoro released his hold, only loosening it at first, but keeping his arm looped around the younger boy's waist. Luffy's wild flailing slowly transformed into co-ordinated strokes of his arms and following Zoro's steady instructions, his legs soon joined the party. Releasing his hold entirely, Zoro smirked proudly as Luffy stayed above water. He had to admit, Luffy wasn't the most graceful swimmer he'd ever seen, but the boy was swimming… or, hovering in the water at least.

Elated with his achievement, the younger boy laughed heartily, but soon found that laughing and swimming don't really mix to well as he slipped under water. Zoro twitched, resisting the urge to simply dive under and collect his captain. Luffy could swim now, so the boy would have to learn to save himself. He didn't let Zoro down either as he popped back up a couple of seconds later, coughing and spluttering, grabbing on to Zoro for a break while he caught his breath.

"Not bad, Captain," Zoro praised, gently slapping Luffy's back, kicking his legs to keep them both afloat. "How was it?"

"I wanna… try again!" Luffy crowed, pushing himself away from Zoro.

The first mate watched, swimming around Luffy, but always sticking close by. As the boy grew more confident in both his movements and attitude towards the water, the green haired man slowly gained distance, giving his captain some room to swim and freedom of space. He was pretty sure that soon Luffy would call for him to come play, or maybe Usopp, but for now, the boy needed some time alone to learn how his body reacted in the water.

After an hour or so, Luffy was paddling around and dunking underwater by himself with the rest of the crew watching in amusement. It seemed that the captain couldn't get enough of his new found swimming ability. It had taken a few attempts to learn how to propel himself in the water to the direction he wanted, but before long, Luffy was slinking around like a fish, acting as if he'd been swimming for years. It kind of reminded them of the Davy back fight when Luffy had attempted skating.

Nami had joined him for a while, when he wouldn't stop whining, but as soon as Usopp had come back into the sea (having been assured by Robin that there were no large carnivorous fish in the area), she'd quickly taken the chance to escape again. Laying back against the hot sand, she sighed in annoyance as the scratchy grains clung to her wet body.

"Ne, Robin," she called suddenly, "Have you ever wanted to swim?"

The archaeologist blinked at the unexpected question, before smiling.

"I suppose," she replied, "Though not as much as Captain-san, I'm sure."

"Could you swim before?"

"No, I don't recall ever having the chance to learn. Much like Captain-san, I ate the devil fruit at a very young age." The dark haired woman explain quietly, smile still in place, "Why the sudden interest?"

"I don't know," Nami replied, thoughtfully. "I guess I just never really thought about it, not being able to swim, I mean."

Robin chuckled quietly.

"It's not something that bothers me," she explained, truthfully. "I trust this crew to protect me should I fall in the water."

"Mm," Nami noised in agreement. She was about to continue the conversation, when she spotted Zoro leaving the water, yawning widely as he headed for the shade of a big tree for a nap. "Oi, Zoro!"

"EHz?" the swordsman replied, sleepy, grumpy eyes turning to Nami. "What?"

"Aren't you staying in the water?"

"He's fine." Zoro replied, shrugging his broad shoulder before shaking his head to rid himself of the excess water residing in his hair. "You shouldn't worry so much."

Nami huffed and lay back again, glaring up at the sun; stupid Zoro and his stupid green head. Zoro grimaced, muttering about bitchy, money hungry women as he continued on his way. What was her problem anyway? It wasn't as if he'd let Luffy drown.

Chopper continued to watch Luffy, Usopp and Sanji play around in the water and fidgeted a little before getting to his feet and trotting after Zoro. He wasn't lonely! He was just… bringing the sun-block bottle to Zoro so that he wouldn't burn! Quickly grabbing his excuse (being said bottle), the little reindeer continued on his way, settling down beside the swordsman and handing him the bottle wordlessly.

Zoro didn't bother to apply the cream, sharp eyes gazing down at Chopper. He knew the little doctor must be feeling left out with his friends all playing in a place where he couldn't join in the fun. Sighing, he guessed sleep could wait a little while longer.

"Could you ever swim?"

Chopper held back the yelp of fright at Zoro's sudden question. He hadn't expected the man to speak. Thinking it over, he nodded.

"Once," he explained. "Before I ate the devil fruit, I fell off a cliff-side and into the sea."

Zoro raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a word.

"It wasn't very far out, so I swam back pretty easily, but it was so cold."

Zoro hummed in agreement. He remembered all too well how cold the waters of Drum had been. Folding his arms behind his head, the swordsman pondered whether to say anything more. It seemed to be a comfortable silence. He didn't get the chance to think on it long, as Luffy's voice carried over to the pair.

"Oiiiiii! Choppeeeerrrrr!" he yelled, waving from shore, dripping wet. "Usopp made you a raft! Let's play volleyball!"

With a yelp of excitement, the little reindeer shot forward, stumbling a second to stop and wave goodbye to Zoro before ploughing back towards the sea. Zoro smirked and settled back for a well deserved nap.

---

Hours later found the crew recuperating from the days events. Luffy had been tireless all day, but as the after noon came into full swing and sun rose high in the sky, the young captain started to feel weary. Slowly, he made his way to shore, crawling from the sea and stumbling further onto the sand. As soon as he was far enough away from the sea, he flopped down, sighing contently and let the sun dry his body.

Chopper, worried as always, quickly left his games with Usopp, scampering over to his 'fallen' captain to give him a quick check over. Satisfied that Luffy was fine as ever, the reindeer sat back, smiling fondly at his captain.

"Ne, Luffy?" he called softly, not wanting to wake the boy should he have fallen asleep. Luffy hummed in response, not moving or opening his eyes, smiling softly and basking in the suns warmth. "What… what was it like?"

Peeking one eye open, Luffy stared at his doctor before chuckling lightly. His smile slowly spread into a grin and his chuckled bubbled into a full eruption of laughter. Chopper grinned, understanding that reaction better than any words Luffy could have said. He hadn't been this happy since he had lost his devil fruit abilities, and it was a pleasant change. Slowly quieting again, Luffy panted softly, cheeks glowing red and grin wide.

"Wow," he whispered, chest rising and falling slowly and deeply, arms spread at either side of him. "It was so… wow."

Sighing contently, Luffy settled back on the sand, intending to sleep off the suddenly exhaustion brought on by his exertion and the afternoon heat. Giggling quietly, Chopper left him to rest, running back to hear the end of Usopp's story. The crew stayed quiet, revelling in the peaceful moment. For the first time in weeks they truly were all at peace.

---

W00t! Finally got this done! Apologies for the long wait again with this one, but it gave me quite a bit of trouble. This was originally the ending of chapter 6 and now is mostly new content. I hope it was a fun read and a nice break from the ebil, ebil angst monsters. Review and let me know what you thought.