Spoilers for Manga below. Beware.

AN: I know I've already done the theme of madness, but really, it's a big part of the picture. Now we'll read about it from another perspective.

In other news... I'm pretty sure I'm the only one still writing about Brook on this site with any semblance of regular updates (and considering how sparse they are sometimes, that speaks volumes for the other Brook stories). I think perhaps people find it difficult to remain interested in a character who hasn't shown up in over 30 chapters. God knows there's a lot of die-hard Brook fans, but perhaps they've given in, at least until the day he returns. I'll continue writing Brook-centric stories, of course. For as long as some people show up to read 'em.

Oh, and 'Human' will soon be updated as well. For those following it.

Chapter Twenty-One: War

Characters: Sanji, Zoro, Chopper, Brook

Warnings: I was in a dark mood

The Straw Hat crew brought on board a skeleton, and the skeleton unknowingly brought on board his curse.

Madness.

It could be subtle or loud, but it was always unexpected. It came with no tutorial, no training, and no trial period. There was no book in Robin's library that dictated how to deal with someone whose mind, when compared to others, was like a ship in a storm to a fleet in the Calm Belt. There wasn't a cipher to decode madness, or sheet music to predict the next crescendo. Madness was the cause of sudden silences.

But as they had in the past, the Straw Hats simply smiled a devilish smile in the face of their adversary, and declared war on madness.

For Sanji, it was a morning in the kitchen of the Thousand Sunny, cleaning up breakfast's dishes. Brook would sit at the table, surrounded by ink, paper, and drinking the hot tea that Sanji had placed there just moments ago. The air swam with the sound of his humming, harmonizing with Luffy's boisterous laughing outside and Chopper's loud scolding outside the infirmary.

Then out of nowhere, the humming stopped. Sanji heard the shattering of glass. He looked over his shoulder, accidentally splashing soapy water on himself, only for his eyes to land on Brook's fingers. Covered in ink and tea, they clutched a broken quill, in a rapidly spreading pool of hot liquid. Slowly, the stained water soaked into and ruined a stack of sheet music.

So Sanji strode over calmly, not missing a beat, and placed a second cup down. He'd kept one within reach. He always kept one within reach. Halfway through pouring the musician more tea, Brook's stillness ended, as he transitioned back to reality with a start.

"Ah, Sanji-san, I'm sorry-"

"Neh, Brook," the cook dismissed, placing the teapot down on a dry spot. He gently mopped up the spilled tea, brushed the shards of glass onto a tray and began to head back to the sink. "It's just a cup. Sorry your music was ruined."

"Oh..." The skeleton glanced down at the blurry measures of blotched eight notes and accidentals. "I think I can live with this...though I am already dead, yohoho!"

The cook cracked a smile. After a minute or two, he quietly reached into the cupboard, took out another tea cup, and placed it on the counter. Within arm's reach.

For Zoro, it was during his watch at night. His shifts were typically calm and serene, and they and let him do some light training without having to worry about waking the others. There were no interruptions and he didn't have to break concentration until it was time to wake Usopp for the next watch.

So when he scaled down the creaking ropes and alighted on the grass deck, he was just moderately surprised to find he wasn't alone.

Finding an eight-foot tall skeleton in the middle of the night would have creeped him out a month ago, before Brook joined the crew. But now, the sight simply made him stop and look.

Brook strode past him without a glance, and made to stare into the sea for a handful of seconds before he animated. "Laboon! You're up so early this morning...eh? You want me to play Bink's Sake? Yohoho, but the crew is sleeping and I'm afraid to get into trouble..."

Zoro gazed expressionlessly at the sight of his nakama sleepwalking. And he became more and more desperate to believe that sleepwalking was all it was.

"It is so lonely here! But I am having so much fun!" the musician sang, twirling about and laughing. "My heart is empty, but so full! Though I don't have one, for I am just bones!"

"Brook," Zoro said firmly, his heart like a weight pounding in his ribs.

"Laboon," he replied, speaking again to the black, glassy waves over the railing. "Please just wait for the crew to wake, and we shall all sing you a song. Ah, I know. I will entertain you with my latest impression! 45 degrees, yohohoho!"

Oblivious to all, the skeleton keeled over and formed a near perfect angle against the siding of the ship. For the longest time, he made no sound. No movement. Zoro's eyes widened slowly until at last, there came the faintest buzzing snore from his nakama's awkward sleeping spot. Relaxing his tense muscles, Zoro sighed at his own misfortune.

Part of him knew that if he was caught, especially by a certain curly-eyebrowed idiot, he wouldn't live it down for weeks. That part was fleeting.

"Idiot," he growled and approached the sleeping musician. Careful to not rattle anything important, the swordsman reached out and slung the impossibly light skeleton over his shoulder. Then he delivered him to the men's sleeping quarters, and slid the choke-snoring baka back into his hammock.

Time, he thought directly to the faceless skull framed by the stupid afro. "I can't do this forever, bonehead. You've got us now, so stop dreaming this stupid crap."

The next time he came down from the crow's nest to find his nakama lost in the Florian Triangle, he might not have the strength to carry him back.

For Chopper, it was when the crew got sick.

They had never had a bug go around the ship before, affecting almost everyone at once. It began with Luffy, who had probably contracted it from some wild animal he'd eaten many days ago. Though it wasn't serious, it was still an exhausting virus and it looked and sounded far worse than it actually was.

Within a couple days at sea, Zoro, Nami, Robin and Usopp were all bedridden. Stuffy noses, coughing, vomiting, indigestion, fever and a light skin rash were some of the more prominent symptoms. For the first forty-eight hours, Chopper guiltily never even thought twice about Brook, because he was a skeleton and could not get ill with human viral agents. His nakama were not in any danger, but they were miserable, and he desperately wanted to speed their recovery.

Brook did not sleep the entire time, and insisted being beside him every moment. Chopper was grateful for the help, because the others had to keep their distance to remain uninfected. The extra hands and tender care were a precious gift.

Chopper had just gone outside to gather some of his sun dried herbs, when he heard Luffy weakly calling out Brook's name.

Maybe it was the way his captain sounded, but it was pure instinct that threw the reindeer into a sprint. He skidded into the mens' quarters, where the crew was being treated.

Brook sat upon the edge of the table, not far from where their greatly weakened captain was resting. There seemed to be nothing alarming about this at first sight, aside from the fact that Luffy's arm was stretched halfway towards their skeleton nakama, and slowly sinking to the ground as it failed to reach him.

Then Chopper saw Brook was gripping the Rumbar Pirates' Tone Dial in one hand. So tightly, that his bones creaked, and the old shell was showing the faintest signs of beginning to crack. Brook was staring at nothing, listening to a song that was not playing.

Cold fear struck the doctor in the heart. Dropping his basket, herbs scattering, Chopper dashed over to the skeleton and seized him by the lapels, shaking him. "Brook! Snap out of it! You're going to break it!"

Still, Brook did not respond, instead tightening his grip on the dial. A small piece chipped off the very end, and Chopper screamed. Eyes gushing, his blue nose streaming, the doctor released Brook and grabbed the bucket of cold water next to Luffy's bed. Not knowing what else to do, he sunk all his might into throwing the contents of the bucket into the skeleton's face.

The dial clattered to the ground, still intact. Brook looked about himself frantically and began to panic. "Eh? W-What's going on? Chopper-san! Why did you-"

Which was all he said before Chopper dropped the bucket and launched himself at Brook. Despite his great confusion, Brook caught him and held on tightly as the doctor sobbed against his ribcage. Nothing he had faced in the past few days, despite all the sickness, had been as terrifying as the last two minutes.

"Don't ever do that again, ya bastard," he sniffed, his heart thundering in his chest. "Don't go somewhere where I can't fix you."

In the morning, Luffy wouldn't remember what transpired. Chopper would. It was the last time he let his guard down around Brook when their nakama got sick. It was the last time he forgot that Brook could become ill.

He was going to be the doctor who cured all diseases. All of them.