Chapter 9
A few weeks gone by and there wasn't a word from Zoro.
Luffy stared at the phone, waiting for the caller I.D. to read out Zoro's name.
Robin came to visit and only saw the sad face of a boy waiting for a glimmer of hope from the phone. She saw the look of both the couple's faces in case she had other contact and only shook her head.
Soon a month went by, and Luffy was getting out more, since he 'promised Zoro', he would to say to the three when they have to go out to get something.
One of those outings they were in the park, Luffy enjoying the swing more than the other things in the park. He would try to get higher and higher to the sky, and would scare the three when he let go of the chains when he was really high up in the air, spreading his arms out. Of course he gripped the chains quickly and laughed at the freaked out looks of the two as Robin sighed and smiled as well.
He liked Robin a lot. To him, she reminded him a little of Zoro, usually silent and pets his hair. But Zoro has a rougher touch while the woman's was long and smelled of old books. She would read to him, just like Zoro would, only the voices were different. Robin would tell the stories in a voice that was calming and mystifying, but Zoro, the first time he read to him was a bit awkward, but then gradually put a bit of effort to be a character after character. Then he promise the man to never mention it to anyone.
It was raining in the apartment, so there was no outing. He watched the rain as he held onto his plush gorilla as he watched the storm through the window door. Both Sanji and Nami were out to get some groceries and other items they needed, and Robin had work, so he was alone. He read the books that Robin gave him and finished them three times. He didn't feel like watching T.V. especially after Sanji got in trouble with Nami when he came across one channel that confused him at first but then figured out that it was a human mating channel. Why Nami was mad at Sanji for that, he wasn't sure.
At this point, it has been a month and a half since he last saw the man and sighed. The sounds of the booming thunder were similar to those that of the island as well as the lightening. But the loud booms could not dull the gun fire shots on the answering machine in his mind.
He laid down, back to the carpet as he looked at the dark ceiling, the lights going out sometime ago.
He tried to remember back when he heard those sounds for the first time. He could only remember shouting, gun fire, more shouting and gun fire, flames followed by an explosion, and the sharp pain under his left eye.
He traced the scar under the said eye and wondered how he got it again.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he just couldn't remember.
Robin said he had family, but they went missing as well for close to three months.
He had seen the pictures of his brother, Portgus D. Ace, his father, Monkey D. Dragon, and his supposed Godfather Shanks. All M.I.A at the moment and no leads to find out where. He was told that they were last heard from their vacation spot in the Caribbean.
He groaned, having all to think of this was hurting his head, which made him remember something that Zoro told him once before.
#Flashback#
"Why Zoro sleep a lot?"
"Why do I sleep a lot?"
Luffy nodded.
Zoro, not wanting to do grammar correction, yawned. "For one thing, I'm tired. But sometimes, when I sleep, I get answers."
"Answers?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Your brain…" He poked at the teen's forehead. "Stores a lot of stuff, even when you don't realize it. When you get a certain problem, sometimes it helps to think of the question and sleep on it."
Luffy has no idea what he was talking about.
"Don't worry about it. It's a stupid theory anyway."
#End of Flashback#
Luffy still stared up at the ceiling when he started to feel tired and fell asleep.
+Dream+
Luffy was three years old playing with his six year old brother when a man with red hair came in and told them it was bed time. He and his brother complained about not being tired, but their yawns betrayed them.
Once they were tucked into bed, Luffy waited until he couldn't hear the footsteps and got out of bed to find out that his brother was out cold. He figured he can still have fun on his own as he opened the door, seeing that the hallway was dark and foreboding, but he was adventurous.
He walked through the dark hallways, imagining that he was in a monster's cave and he was the explorer. He found the stairs and thought of a mystery cave with stairs and went down to the first level, where he heard something. In his toddler mind he figured that there was really a monster there… and he wanted to see it.
He followed the sound of gruff voices and could barely make out the moving blobs in the dark. That's when he felt the feeling of being picked up and managed a yelp before his mouth was covered with a cloth, only to feel dizzy and tired.
When he woke up, he felt rocking and the sounds of water lapping against something in one ear and a heated argument on the other.
He couldn't make out the words, all that he knew that the men there didn't like what the other guy did and that was the first time he heard a gunshot. He looked to see a dead man, a bullet hole in-between the eyes. It was the first he ever saw a dead man. He became afraid of the dead eyes staring at him when he heard someone approach him, the metal in his hand that caused the damage.
"Awake now are we?" Said a voice that didn't have a face.
He couldn't move as the man moved the gun to his head.
"Should I kill you?"
+End of Dream+
Luffy woke up with a start as the boom was loud enough that he thought it was the gun in his dream. It took only a moment for him to realize that he was still alive, still safe, and he could hear Sanji's and Nami's voices coming up to the door.
"Luffy! We're back!" Nami called as she saw how dark it was, she tested the light switch and saw that it worked. "Why was it dark?"
"Hi Nami! Hi Sanji!" Luffy said as he got up from the floor and faced them. "The lights suddenly went out, so I guess I switched all of them off when I was trying to get light back on."
"Luffy…" Nami said as she went up to the teen. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You're eyes are red." Sanji said as he took out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped the remaining liquid from the teen's eyes.
Luffy blinked, but remembered the dream and hugged both of them.
"Did something happen while we were out?" Nami asked.
"Bad Dream…" He said as he felt the two's return hug.
"We're here Luffy… Everything is going to be okay…" Nami cooed as she rubbed the teen's back while Sanji rubbed the teen's head.
"Nami's right…" Sanji said, unsure of what else to say.
But Luffy didn't mind what was said, the contact being made lets him know that things were okay now, there wasn't any reason to be scared now.
When Luffy finally calmed down and washed his face for supper, the three heard a knock.
"That must be Robin." Nami said as she got up to get the door, which was the said woman. "Hey Robin!"
"Robin-chan!" Sanji said.
Robin giggled. "Hello you two. Where's Luffy?"
"Here!" Luffy said as he went up and hugged the woman.
She laughed as she hugged back. "I see you're doing well."
"No, I had a bad dream."
"Oh?" She looked up to see the two nodded in confirmation. "Well! We can't let a silly thing like that get in the way of a good dinner made by our talented Sanji-san."
"Yeah!" Luffy agreed while Sanji was doing a noodle dance behind the kitchen counter.
Nami just shook her head with a smile on her face. "Okay, okay! Come along! Dinner should be done."
"Come on, Robin onee-san! Let's eat!"
Robin, as well as the other two, were a bit caught off guard when he referred to her as the 'big sister'. But she smiled a smile that was rarely seen, it was just as big and just as happy then her usual smiles.
The two, seeing this side of Robin, felt the atmosphere go to a different high that was infectious and felt really good. And they have one jungle boy to thank.
That's when the phone rang.
"I got it!" Luffy called as Robin seated herself and the couple were setting the food down as he picked up the phone. "Hello! Sanji and Nami's love nest residence!"
Nami glared at the chef who grinned nervously, while Robin giggled.
"Hey Luffy…" Said a weary voice, but was highly recognizable.
"Zoro!"
The three looked at the boy.
"Are you okay!? Where are you now!? Is everything okay!? You're not dead are you!?"
"Luffy!" Zoro's voice was heard. "First of all, calm down, I'm not dead and won't be anytime soon. I'm fine, some scrapes here and there…"
Sanji rolled his eyes, knowing the man would refer a huge gash as a small flesh wound.
"Are you sure? You sound really out of it."
"Haven't really slept for a few days now."
"Where are you?"
"Uh… Don't know to tell you the truth. I'm following the family I'm protecting and so far none of them are dead."
"That's good."
"I guess… Anyway, I called to let you know I'm okay and to know if things are okay over there."
"Everything is great! Sanji, Nami and Robin onee-san are great!"
"That's good to hear. How's the city?"
"I don't know, Nami always takes me to places away from the city."
"Probably a good idea for now."
"Why's that?"
"Trust me, the city is definitely not a place you want to be caught alone in."
"Okay. I just have to stay with Nami, Sanji, and or Robin, right?"
"Your speech is improving."
"Nami and Robin helped me a lot with reading and writing and speaking."
"And Crap Cook?"
"He's teaching me manners. He keeps kicking me at the back of the head when I do something wrong!"
"Bastard… Well, if I wasn't here I would give him a piece of my mind."
Luffy laughed as the three watched in relief of the sight.
"I have to go now Luffy, sorry I couldn't talk long."
"That's okay! Come back soon okay!"
"Right!"
With that they hung up.
Luffy looked at the phone and blinked back the few happy tears that were starting to well up in his eyes. 'He's alive… that's good…'