Chapter 8
Luffy's eyes opened, just a tiny bit, so no one could see she had just woken up. Zoro, Usopp, and Chopper were sitting near her, staying there just in case something happened to her condition. She heard them talking, about how she had lost the battle, completely failing Usopp when he had really needed her to defend him.
She was so ashamed. How could she have let that happen? How could she have been so weak? She felt like letting out a sob, but held it inside of her, not wanting to let them hear her cry.
Luffy wanted them to leave her to herself, and if someone had to be with her she wanted Nami or Robin. It was easier to talk to them, for she didn't feel as bad when admitted how un-manly she was now.
Luffy was still pretending to be asleep, but Zoro soon saw right through her.
"Good, you're awake Luffy."
She stiffened, acting like she hadn't heard him.
"Hey there's no point in pretending you're still asleep." Usopp pointed out.
Luffy gave up on not moving, pulling the blankets up over her head and turning her back to them.
"Luffy?" Chopper said worriedly.
"I don't want to talk to anyone, unless it's one of the girls…"
The boys each looked at each other, showing their concern for Luffy to through their facial expressions. They complied to her request, silently leaving the room, which seemed to be filled with a strange darkness.
…
Sanji knew when the three walked out that Luffy was awake.
"I should take some food to her!" He exclaimed, about to pick up a small tray.
"No, don't Sanji. She doesn't want anyone in there, except for Nami and Robin." Zoro explained, looking to the slightly surprised girls.
"Are you sure about that Zoro?" Nami asked him, not sure whether or not to actually believe him.
He nodded and sat down against the mast, falling asleep.
"Alright, then why don't we go see him." Robin rose from her seat, Nami following.
They walked to the bed and sat beside Luffy. She heard them sitting there, but she didn't speak to them. The room was silent for a few minutes, except for the slight swaying of the ship as it sailed over the waves of the ocean.
"Hey Luffy," Nami finally broke the silence, "there's no reason to be like this. You're a man right?"
"No I'm not." Luffy choked out, "I couldn't even fight today. How can I be a man without being able to fight?"
"Well, that's not really your fault. You just aren't used to fighting in this new body yet."
"That doesn't change anything that happened, I failed and Zoro and Sanji had to rescue me and Usopp."
Nami had nothing left to say. It was hard to talk about being manly when she wasn't a man herself. Wouldn't the boys of the crew be better for this? But Luffy refused to talk to them.
"Luffy, chopper and I have been searching for the cause of this. If you consider the possibilities, one of them is that a person could have done this to you. If that ends up being the case, wouldn't you want to teach them a lesson? And to do that, you'd have to be able to fight." Robin reasoned with her.
"This is just an obstacle you have to overcome. You're right that you need to be able to fight, not to be manly, but because your crew, your friends. They need you. You're our captain. So learn how to fight again, as a girl. You don't need to be afraid to ask for help, we ourselves have to be girls everyday of our lives, so we know how to get through certain situations ."
Luffy listened to every word that came out of Robin's mouth, understanding every bit of it. It didn't make it any easier, but it inspired her.
She sat up in the bed, grabbed her straw hat from the side table, and plopped it on her head.
"Ok. Then help me please. And I'll try, for my friends." Her voice rang with strength, weakness, bravery, and fear, all at the same time.
Robin and Nami both smiled, seeing their captain was ready to try.
…
"Now dodge this!" Nami commanded.
Luffy thought fast, grabbing the mast and zooming past the lightning that flashed where she had just been. A hand appeared out of the mast reaching toward her to hold her down, but Luffy swerved, leaping back to railing of the ship.
Now Nami was running towards her, Clima-Tact in hand. She was able to produce another bolt of lightning from the small cloud above, coming straight down upon Luffy. She couldn't stretch any of her limbs in time, and ended up getting shocked.
Well she didn't actually feel it of course, since she was made of rubber and it is an insulator. But she still had been touched by it, which she had been trying to avoid doing.
"Man, I thought I would actually do it this time!" Luffy exclaimed, frustrated.
"Calm down, calm down!" Nami told her, "You did way better than last time, so you should be happy!"
They had been practicing all day, mainly working on dodging. Luffy was improving, learning how her body moved and reacted to certain actions. One major thing she had discovered, was that even with slightly shorter legs, she had become much faster. Whether that was when she was running, stretching, or…eating…
Another thing was that she was lighter, which they had learned the hard way. Luffy had launched herself into the air, aiming for a large bird flying through the sky. But because of her difference in weight, she had gone flying way farther than she had expected, and sank into the water. They had to change the Going Merry's coarse to where she had splashed down, and Sanji leaped into water to save her from drowning.
But now she had gotten a handle on that a little more. Since moving had become easier, she was able to enjoy herself a lot better. And practicing was fun to do, except for the fact all the others on board would get upset because they couldn't go on the deck, unless they wanted to get hurt.
Usopp poked his head out the kitchen door, "Are you guys done now? You're not the only ones who want to be outside you know!"
Robin replied "Yes Usopp, I do think we are done here. You may come out now."
"Aww, but I wanted to try again! I want to be able to do it without getting hit!" Luffy complained.
Still inside the kitchen, Sanji spoke, "Then we should let you do that sweet Luffy!"
"Ugg, shut up Sanji," Usopp yelled.
"I thought for sure you would want to stop and eat Luffy." Nami said.
"Oh ya, I'm hungry! Sanji make me something to eat!" Luffy demanded.
"Of course!"
Satisfied, Luffy sat down where she was, watching as the rest of the crew came out. They all looked happy to be able to move freely around again, she hadn't realized how annoying it was for them to stay below. But she put that thought out of her mind, knowing it was important that she be able to fight again.
Nami thoughtfully said, "I think since you're getting good at avoiding attacks, we can work on actual defense tomorrow. If you succeed at that, then you should be able to work on attacks of your own. But I think you're going to have to get the boys to help on those things, seeing as they are better at it than me."
Luffy nodded, not too worried anymore about asking any of her friends for help.
"Soon enough, I'm gonna be just as strong as I was before!" She claimed confidently.
"I sure hope so." Nami murmured under her breathe.
