Hello my good readers!

I apologize for the lack of updates recently. I've been quite busy, but I know that that is no excuse. This last Thursday and Friday I had performances for my school play. Funny story, I was unaware it was my part coming up and then this friend of mine came running in saying "your part's up!" I jumped up from my chair, ducked under the costumes and hangers, hit my head on a music stand (I got a headache right after that), dropped my phone on the ground, tripped over someone's outstretched foot, and sprinted all the way to the other side of the stage. When I got there it was right when my cue came up and I had to go on stage out of breath. So, the whole time I'm up on stage, I'm trying my best to survive without oxygen because coming on stage huffing and puffing isn't exactly the best thing to do XD

Good thing is that, no one seemed to notice *fist pump* it was quite thrilling though might I just say.

Anyways, enough of my banter. I hope this is a sufficient update for those of you who have been wondering when I was going to update. Please, sit back, grab your popcorn, cuddle with your doggy/kitty, and enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: No matter how much it would flatter me to have someone tell me I am , I am no where near as talented as Oda senpai :3

As soon as he heard the scraping of wood against sand, Luffy sprinted towards where he knew the ocean was, yet didn't care because that was also where his nakama were. If it wasn't for the fact that he completely missed the ship, or anyone that was previously on it, it would've been a sweet moment, but instead he ran right into the sea, falling face-first into the weakening water.

With a sigh, Sanji dragged his sorry butt out. It wasn't a bitter moment, Sanji couldn't blame him after all, he wanted to go run right over to Nami-san and Robin-chan and give them both giant smooches . . . but, he was a gentleman! He would do no such thing . . . yet.

When Luffy was once again on dry land, Sanji assisted him over to his other nakama earning strange and slightly curious looks from the four of them. Knowing they were right in front of him on the sand, Luffy lunged forward, scooping them up as much as he could without his stretchiness. The crew didn't back away or anything of that sort. Instead, they welcomed the show of affection graciously, hugging him back.

Luffy eventually let go allowing for Sanji to run over and hug Nami, who surprisingly didn't punch him in the face. She just stood there and let him knowing he was probably going crazy being stuck on an island with Luffy and Zoro away from her and Robin.

Zoro pulled him off ensuing an argument between the both of them with Nami yelling for them to "knock-it-off-this-was-supposed-to-be-a-sweet-moment-you-idiots".

They both huffed, Zoro at both Sanji and "the witch, and Sanji for only Zoro. Luffy smiled happily throughout the entirety of the arguments and chatter between them. It was nice. They weren't worrying about their nakama or about how they might get off the island, or even about how they might not starve in the coming days. It was normal, and Luffy had surprisingly missed the 'normalness' they'd been deprived of for the past couple days.

Chopper's hoof on Luffy's leg snapped him out of his thoughts. He jumped at the contact, but immediately recognized the feel of his nakama's hoof and smiled gallantly down at the small doctor. It would have been a convincing expression of Luffy being perfectly fine, that is if Luffy was actually facing the right direction. He smiled at the sand, and no one stood there. Chopper cocked his head to the side before piping up.

"Luffy?" He asked tapping his captain again, "You okay?"

Again Luffy continued to smile at the sand, "I'm fine Chopper!"

Sanji and Zoro weren't sure why Luffy hadn't bothered to mention his current handicap, but they took to watching the interaction as the others have done.

Chopper creased his brow, "Luffy, open your eyes for me."

The raven haired captain flinched and hesitated, but did what the doctor said nonetheless. When he did Chopper let out a gasp and quickly turned into heavy point in order to look at his captain on the same level. Clasping Luffy's face in both hands, Chopper studied the pale looking orbs that had taken over his captain's once vibrant eyes.

It took a few edging minutes for the crew before Chopper finally finished his observation, "When were you guys gonna tell me?!" the doctor suddenly yelled, "This is pretty serious!"

Sanji and Zoro leered back at the sight of their doctor so angry over something they did . . . or didn't do for that matter.

Luffy set his hand on his doctor's shoulder getting remarkably better at guessing where everything was, and spoke to him in a calm yet serious tone, " Sorry, Chopper. I hadn't meant to keep it a secret."

"Wow, wow, wow," Nami began stepping toward Chopper, "What secret?"

Chopper shrunk back down to his normal form and looked up at Nami nervously, " Well, Luffy . . . um . . . can't see."

Nami gave a deadpanned look, "Maybe that's because he has his eyes shut now."

It was Chopper's turn to give a deadpanned look, "I mean he's blind, Nami . . ." he mumbled quietly.

Nami gaped, "What!?", She ran over to her unusually quiet captain and cupped his face with both her hands making him stumble back in shock, "Why didn't you say so earlier, you idiot?!"

"Zoro and Sanji should've."

"Oi", they said in unison.

Nami let out an exhausted sigh, "Figures, right when we find you guys and solve a problem there's just another thing we need to fix."

"But, it's not permanent, is it, Chopper?" Usopp asked what he had been wondering the whole time.

Chopper fiddled with his hooves and looked down at the sand, "Well, I . . . I don't know."

Everyone in the crew gaped except for Luffy who seemed to deflate under the news, "What?!"

Chopper wanted to shrink down. He didn't like giving them bad news. It wasn't exactly bad news, the cause of the blindness would be how he could determine whether or not it was permanent or not. He didn't know the cause and thus didn't know whether or not his vision would come back.

"Luffy," Chopper began once the other's questions ceased, "Do you know how this happened?"

Luffy turned his attention back to his doctor. The captain's enthusiasm had gone down exponentially, but it was no wonder. Afterall, he had practically just been told that he would never be able to see his nakama's faces again, or the sea, or anything!

"Yeah," Luffy said without the slightest shred of doubt, "It was that smoke stuff that the Marine's had used the other day."

Chopper deflated now. One bad thing after another rammed right into their small crew, "Oh." Chopper muttered.

Luffy's head cocked to the side, 'You okay, Chopper?"

"Just fine. You shouldn't be worrying about me." the doctor replied as he untied the string connected to his captain's straw hat from around his neck. When it was undone he held it out for Luffy, only to remember that Luffy couldn't see and nudged his hand with it instead. Immediately, Luffy recognized the feel of the familiar straw against his hand and took it in both hands, "Hat!" he yelled with his normal, head- splitting grin. Shoving the hat back on it's designated spot on his head, Luffy beamed down at where he assumed his doctor was, "Thank you, Chopper!"

Chopper gave a whimpery smile, "Don't go thanking me yet, asshole! But, you're welcome, idiot!"

Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp all smirked at their doctor's antics while Robin smiled contently. Nami, however- even though the situation in front of her was just as important-, was thinking of different matters. Those marines very well could have followed them. Even with them leaving before hand, they could have went in the exact same direction and catch up any minute.

Right when she was about to mention this to the others, it was as though the universe was playing with her, and the previous marine vessel was growing larger on the horizon.

Coming up blank as to what to say for several seconds, Nami snapped out of her stupor and clutched Luffy by the shoulders, turning him so he could look at the horizon. Once done, she pointed right at the ship, "Look!"

Nami wondered why there was no answer until she turned to see a deadpanned look on, not only Luffy's, but all of her nakama's faces. Then she remembered. He couldn't look. Couldn't see. Giving an exasperated sigh she shoved Luffy to Usopp and yanked Zoro over to her.

While Sanji swooned mournfully behind them about how she didn't drag him towards her and instead picked "the-stupid-marimo-who-fights-with-butter knifes", Nami pointed towards the ship, "The marines followed us!" she exclaimed.

Zoro flinched from the volume at which Nami yelled, "I can see that, witch."

"Are they the same as the marines we saw on the previous island?", Robin asked in such a calm tone that you'd think they were in a fancy restaurant drinking tea.

"Probably."

"I don't like those guys . . ." Chopper whimpered grabbing the leg of his captain who was absolutely confused.

"We should hop of Merry and get outa here!" Usopp screeched beginning to run towards their beloved ship still docked on the beach, but a strong hand caught his shoulder before he could get very far. To say Usopp was surprised when he turned and saw his captain's blank eyes staring at the ground with one strong hand clutched firmly onto his shoulder was an understatement. Luffy could barely walk straight. How was it he knew where he was was?

"We're not going onto the ship." Luffy aid in an authoritative sounding tone. One that told them to listen to him and trust in him no matter what he had in mind. It was one that he used whenever he was dead serious.

"Luffy?" Nami mumbled, confused. Why wouldn't he want to get out of there. escaping those guys would be the wisest move. Even with having all of them reunited again and most of the marine men wounded to some extent, it wasn't something that would be simply taking them down without any sort of difficulty.

Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy all looked like they needed a good meal, a gallon of water to drink, and a few day's rest. Not only that, but Zoro had six jagged claw marks covering his back and front, Sanji was bent over uncomfortably as though his back was hurt, and Luffy was blind and seemed to have hurt his arm somehow.

Nami noted, even without much medical knowledge, that the wound her captain seemed to have been inflicted with was one that needed to be splinted. Had he somehow - no, that would be impossible. Luffy was a rubber man, he couldn't seriously have a broken arm. And for God's sake, where were his shoes?

"We can't go on the ship because it would be safer to wait here." Luffy repeated with more information, "They probably have those smokey ball things still, and they could attack us while we're on the boat. It's be safer for all of us if we just waited and kicked their asses on dry land."

Nami shook her head, "They still may use the gas even on land." she pointed out.

"Then at least you wouldn't have to worry about us falling in the water." Robin chimed in.

Usopp was clenching his teeth as he listened to his nakama slowly agree with his captain in staying on the island. He REALLY wanted to leave. They found their nakama. They had their ship. They were ready to leave, but they were apparently not going to do that for he watched as Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Robin, and Chopper all turned towards the horizon and watched as the marine ship came closer and closer.

They were going to fight them. They were dead set on it.

A/N I had actually mulled over whether or not this would be a good ending for the chapter, but decided to continue. :D Now, please continue! Don't mind me just commenting randomly.

The marine ship was there before they knew it. Slamming into the sand similar to how they had, they were at least thankful for the fact that they hadn't slammed into their ship. That wouldn't have been good.

Yells from orders being given and received on board the vessel echoed down to where the Strawhats stood in the sand. None of them could really understand what was being said, but they prepared themselves for the oncoming attack nonetheless.

The Strawhat's traded glances (all except Luffy who stood there like a very serious statue). The voices on the enemy ship had suddenly quieted down. Now the only sound was their own breathing and the slap of waves against the shore.

As suddenly as the stillness had been, the chaos came back. Several dozen marines, some carrying wounds and bandages, came jumping over the side of their vessel and tumbling down toward the slightly surprised crew.

"Back up a bit!" Sanji shouted as he grabbed the collar of his captain's vest and dragged him backward a few feet. Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Robin, and Zoro did the same. Zoro drew his swords while Nami and Usopp drew their weapons. Chopper then turned into his heavy point, his own way to fight against enemies.

Without a second thought, Zoro charged forward with his swords, going after the marines who chose to wield that chosen weapon instead of the rifle. He figured that it would be wisest to do so, not only because he was the only one who had a strong defense against the sharp weapons, but also because it thrilled him to fight against fellow swordsmen. Even if said swordsmen fell like dead flies.

While Zoro did that, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper all slowly took out their own opponents. Chopper and Usopp would cry out in fear every once and a while with Nami having to scream at them to "get-their-act-together-and-protect-her-damn-it!"

Sanji chose to stay near his captain. It was the close enough so he could see both his Nami-san and Robin-chan and at the same time be sure his captain didn't get skewered and, even more worrisome, shot. Without his Devil Fruit abilities, which seemed to have vanished for the time being, it was nearly certain that the his young captain could very well be vulnerable to something that would've been brushed off any other day. Deep down, that scared Sanji to no end. Luffy may have had a point in staying on shore instead of fighting on the Merry Go, but even so, he was as vulnerable as a baby bunny at that moment.

When a sword came swinging toward the obviously anxious and confused captain, Sanji immediately put a stop to it. Swinging his foot down onto the marine's arm and then kicking him away. The action would have been simple. Something he could do without an effort, but right after he did the attack a shooting pain came from his spine making him fold in on himself with a horrid groan then causing his ribcage to ache.

Luffy heard this. He knew the sound of a nakama in pain. He hated that sound more than anything, and yet recognized it more than many other things. Right when he did hear it, he whipped in the direction of the sound. Of course he wasn't able to see anything. It was merely habit to try and find whatever bastard would dare to hurt one of his crew members.

A spluttered gasp sounded off in the same direction, and that alerted Luffy as to where Sanji was. The young captain moved to go and assist in whatever way he could, but something stopped him. He heard two popping sounds then. His body jerked forward without his permission, nearly falling face-first into the ground. Luckily enough, Luffy ungracefully caught himself before this could happen.

Luffy wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but he began to form a guess as soon as he felt two mind numbing pains in his lower left shoulder and lower right abdomen. A warm, wet feeling slowly grew from the two pained areas. With his will and remaining strength, Luffy stumbled forward a few paces until he ran into a solid object. A person.

Sanji was still folded in on himself, but he was frozen in place. He hadn't seen anything; only heard two more distinct gunshots than the others that continued to go off around them. And now, he felt someone run right into him; groping at his back in an attempt to "see" who he was.

Forgetting all of his pain, Sanji reached behind him and snatched one of Luffy's hands. He spun around and clutched his captain's shoulder to steady him. That was when Sanji knew that his prediction was correct. Luffy had been shot, and it had actually wounded him. Two dark red splotches covered Luffy's left shoulder and lower right abdomen. One may have mistaken it for water if they didn't know any better. Afterall, Luffy typically wore red anyways. Sanji, however, knew better. That dark red liquid was blood. And there was a lot of it outside of where it was supposed to be.

A shout or two around them sounded off. It sounded as though they were coming from Nami-san and shitty marimo, maybe even Usopp and Chopper, but Sanji honestly didn't know. He was too busy looking into his captain's pained face. Luffy's pale eyes moving back and forth without knowing what was happening and where he was. Maybe even who Sanji was.

But, when Luffy spoke it was surprisingly a relief, "S-Sanji, are you okay?"

Sanji nodded, then remembered that that meant little at the moment and quickly responded, "Idiot, worry about yourself. I'm perfectly fine."

"Good. I thought I heard you groaning or somethin'." Luffy replied.

Sanji grimaced, that statement reminded him that he was, at the moment, still in pain. Maybe if he just walked it off. That seemed to be what worked half of the time anyway. Although, Sanji doubted walking off a bullet wound - two bullet wounds - would work the same way.

Sanji was snapped out of his thoughts by a silver glinting from behind Luffy. The cook focused on it and impulsively stepped in front of Luffy once he realised exactly what it was. Several more shouts echoed around them as the bang went off. A flash of green and orange came running towards him as he fell backward from the force of the bullet. Two hands pressed against his back from behind and stopped him from falling to the ground. How was it that even after being shot twice, blinded, getting his arm broken, and being basically starved -on Luffy standards- was Luffy still able to be standing and assisting him?

Another pair of hands grabbed his upper arm. The continuous cling of swords clashing against each other echoed around them. Sanji could see orange hair from the corner of his eye right before he faded into blackness.

A/N Poor Sanji! Thought about ending it here again, but I just still felt like I should continue. I feel like there is a little too much drama and stuff going on! I don't know! HELP ME FIGURE THIS OUT!

Luffy suddenly felt his heart sink as Sanji slipped from his arms into Nami's and was, as far as he knew, lowered to the ground in a state of unconsciousness. It was all his fault. If he had just gotten away from the fighting then Sanji wouldn't have been hurt and shot. Neither would he.

Luffy felt a fire growing in his heart as he heard a marine laugh from his side, "Serves the scum right!"

The young captain clenched his teeth. Nami was apparently talking to him. Something about whether he was okay or not. Why was she asking him? Sanji was the one who was in trouble. More voices from surrounding marines flooded Luffy's ears.

"It's Pirate Hunter Zoro! Fire!"

"Get the redhead!"

Luffy's face contorted at these orders. They were plotting to hurt his nakama. To kill his nakama. The sound of gunfire continued and made Luffy realise something. He had to do something.

Since he couldn't see, Luffy tried to focus on his hearing. On trying to hear the footsteps that were near him. Zoro was protecting Nami, Sanji, and him as far as he knew, but Zoro was also wounded and weak at the moment. days without good enough nutrition and lack of water would do that to a person. Even someone as strong as Zoro. Luffy had to step up and help in protecting his nakama. That was the job of a captain, so he would have to do it, even if he couldn't see the threat.

Luffy heard footsteps approaching him. If they were charging towards them for a melee attack, then that meant that they were wielding a sword. Swords weren't exactly the best weapon to try and defend against. Especially when you're a rubber man. Having rubber bones only meant that it was easier to slice through than normal bones. Then again, he seemed to be taking a vacation from the whole "rubber man" thing.

Included in that was that Luffy's reflexes weren't as good as they usually were. Blood loss from his two gunshots, a broken arm, and being blinded just ended up becoming a huge problem.

Luffy took a deep breath, and when he sensed the marine directly in front of him he plunged his fist forward. Bones were felt being crushed from where the contact was made. A gasp escaped the marine, and then he went flying away; apparently crashing into several other marines in mid-air.

Luffy stumbled a little, but smiled brightly at his victorious attack. Several more feet came stomping towards him, a few fists went flying and then so did they.

The young captain let out a victorious laugh, but was interrupted when another sharp pain shot from his left thigh. Another bullet wound.

"Luffy!" Nami cried from where she sat on the ground with Sanji. With a growl, Luffy shot his fist toward where he assumed the bullet had been shot from.

To both his, and surrounding nakama and marines alike, his arm stretched. Far from the lengths his limbs would go normally, but that was besides the point. His fist made contact with what felt like a face before it came retracting back to his side.

He paused for a moment, taking in the new, glorious discovery, then shot out again. randomly. He did not think about whether or not he would hit one of his nakama, for he did not see the time he whacked Usopp straight in the back of the head sending him face-first into the ground and Chopper screaming for a doctor. Or, the time he knocked Zoro's feet out from under him taking five marines down with him in a disgraceful dog-pile.

Luffy was completely and utterly relieved. On a whim, Luffy attempted a bit of an experient. The young captain squinted his eyes, willing them with all his might to see something. Anything. And then he saw it. He saw it. A bit of green right in front of him on top of an array of light blue.

Zoro and the Ocean.

He could see.

He could do this!

Well, how's that! That seems appropriate enough to end here! I am already starting the next chapter. Hopefully it will be up sooner than this chapter.

I had this weird question to ask you all. Do not worry! I am not bringin my dirty mind out. You see, I am in Spanish and am loving another language! I was wondering:

What languages do all of you speak. I know I've had people form other countries reading this, so I am just curious.

Have a lovely night, and I'll see you al next time :)