Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece; that belongs to Eiichiro Oda.
A/N: University, even part-time, can be time-consuming. But hey, I've been getting Distinctions all year. It's kinda hard to believe I started this story as a year 10(?) high school student. The Dream is at least 3.5 years old. I kind of didn't believe I'd be writing so long, no matter how sparse my updates have become lately.
Also, no one said you can't use Grammarly for your stories. So ha! Take that dyslexia!
Credit to Mephoenix from Deviant Art for the Fractured Rainbow Image in the Cover.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited, and/or followed. -I always mean this.
We're breaking this Dream. Let's see how it goes down.
WARNING: The Dream is Breaking in this chapter. Beware lies, cohesion and diminishing trust.
Chapter 44: A Shattered Dream
Is this what exhaustion felt like? It didn't quite feel like what everyone says it does. He feels more… disconnected, dissociated, distracted… if anything. It was putting a serious dent in his fighting ability. Not that fighting his Logia nephew wouldn't do such a thing but…
Sorry, he can't really think straight. Dodge, shield, wear his opponent down. But don't hurt him, teach. Like with… swords and legs?
Fire swallows the space he once was. Focus. Fight. Retaliate! But don't hurt. How do you fight but not hurt?
He was tired… he wanted to sleep… but he also didn't. The kids have too much energy. But they weren't kids anymore, were they?
Fire burned his fist, but he could barely feel it. A feminine voice called out somewhere. No gunshots though. Tattoos was quite… loud. Her weapon too. He's thankful to only deal with his nephew's shouting. He wasn't as loud as his brother, though he certainly tries.
His arm finally shatters. Bones creaking out of their place. Rigid cracks he knows only he can see, gape open in his skin. The Blackness was calling, whispering, crooning.
He felt empty, exhausted, extinguished… maybe he should fall. He's tired. Oh, so tired. People aren't meant to be awake this long, him most of all.
Everything fades. It's cold, cramped, compressed… No fire, no action, no fight. Only nothing. It's a relief, even as the cracks creep under his clothes. Pain, pulsing, pushing. But different.
Then even that fades as he slips into sleep. True sleep. For the first time in his life.
…...
Six days ago, Jimbei could say with confidence that he would have liked to meet Ace and Nojiko under a different set of circumstances. Still, he did get to meet them. It was great to see how his niece and nephew were doing personally, not second-handed.
There was a flash of remorse when he saw Nojiko. He wondered how her mother would react to her daughter's choices. It all stemmed from him too. He told Garp where to find Sanji, let him know who the Dreamers were. Garp set up that meeting on the Opening Day, where Ace and Nojiko got to meet because of the younger siblings he helped raise. They agreed to become pirates together because of their siblings.
He let Arlong out of Impel Down. He was his brother, just like Franky. He couldn't bear the thought of his human brother in there, why should he bare the weight of Arlong's imprisonment? He went to the East Blue because it was weak. His human children lived there…
The humans harmed our children, enslaved and sold them. Why not give them a taste of their own medicine?
Except he killed Belle-mere. He wasn't aiming to harm her, just his children, just his siblings, just him.
He couldn't bear to meet the kids for real after he caught his darkened brother. Luffy was there too, he saw Arlong. Chopper had to treat them. Sanji prepared their food. Nami lost her mother.
He never told Franky and Robin he visited the East Blue. He never told them he placed his own brother back in Impel Down to rot.
The strange crack on his back never faded after that day. It just grew. Slowly though, splintering only when another regret, another secret, tore at him. It took a lot to hide from Chopper. He knew it hurt his youngest, growing that crack that reached over his shoulder and was nearing his heart.
It was one of the fastest-growing cracks, the other reached over to his other shoulder and ran down that limb. It throbbed with every thought of Arlong and Belle-mere.
Ignoring the tingling in the crack, Jimbei carefully patted Chopper on his head and nudged Zoro's arm off his younger brother's ear. He slipped out of the room and onto the deck, his father sat staring at the stars. The moon remained clouded but at least there was something noticeably different in the sky.
Nami lay next to him creating a star chart as a part of her self-assigned 'homework'. The stars were very different from the ones in the East Blue and West Blue. She turned her head at his arrival.
"You promise to tell me how Nojiko is right?" Nami asked, packing away her supplies. "Robin already told me that she and Ace incurred the wrath of Whitebeard. Your sensibilities would lead you to meet them, I know that."
She finished packing everything away. "Make sure you get some stories about pirating from her, I want to make sure she's alright." She left with a smile and a secretly fuming grandfather behind her.
The empty sockets bore into Jimbei's soul. Judging him, silently disappointed. Sometimes Jimbei wonders whether Brook knew his past as a pirate is what made being a pirate seem an easy choice for Nami and even Nojiko.
Jimbei felt the crack on his thigh gap open further. At least he could fix the length of that crack.
"I will tell her about the health of her sister, but I won't relay any fun pirating stories. You have my word." Brook just nodded silently and turned back to gaze at the sky.
Extending his Observational Haki he felt his father's presence. It was dark. Not like Arlong's, full of Anger. No, it felt full of hopeless and twisted love.
His father still loved them all, but he'd given up on freedom. Robin and Franky were slaves to a Shichibukai and Jimbei was enslaved by duty and the eyes of the World Government. Brook was prepared to break his grandchildren's dreams if it kept them free and happy.
Jimbei hopes the encounter with Ace will be finished quickly so that he can stay his father's actions. When the kids grow up, they can free them. That hope is all he has left now. It would be nice to see his father again and not this fractured imitation.
A fortnight later Jimbei woke without the lingering aches of the cracks. Nojiko smiled at him beside his bed in the Infirmary of the Moby Dick.
"Nice to see you up, we were a little worried. Anyway, Whitebeard's taken an interest in Ace and he kidnapped the lot of us to help coerce Ace into joining. We had to make the rest of the crew stay on another ship but they're letting me stay. Ace burned down an entire mast when they tried to keep me away!"
She lifted her rifle, inspecting it. "I think he has some kind of sibling complex; it takes a lot to shut him up about Luffy and I'm really the only one willing to listen to his rants. It helps that he trusts me to cook his food too but I'm pretty sure he mostly wants me around to rant to."
Her gaze shifts to him. "So, you'd have just been with Nami right? They checked to make sure you were merely sleeping instead of unconscious. How is my little sister? Ace would be ecstatic to have an update on Luffy."
Jimbei turns to look at the date. It had been thirteen nights since he last saw Nami. He was awake for six days fighting Ace, he knows that, but he was asleep for another week? No Blackness, no Dream. Asleep? He turns to Nojiko.
"While I'm sure this is a splendid prank to pull on others, I'm quite certain I could not have been asleep for a week. There's no time dilation between falling asleep and either waking up in the Dream or experiencing the Blackness. It's only been a few seconds since I fought Ace."
Nojiko stared at him. He rose an eyebrow back.
Slowly, she got up and unwrapped his bandaged hand.
A minute ago to Jimbei, there used to be a second-degree burn covering the fist. Now the skin looked a little dry and darkened as if he had just been sunbathing a little too long and this showed up the next day.
Jimbei closed his eyes and listened for the faint breathing of his family. Nothing.
He tried to slip into the Dream, tried to fall asleep. It wouldn't work.
Jimbei opened his eyes. "I've lost the Dream."
Thin, toned, tattooed arms wrapped around him. He barely felt them.
Brook lay in his hammock; he knew he needed to return to the Florian Triangle soon. Staying either awake or asleep too long can have some pretty adverse effects. Still, he can lie here for a few more minutes before returning. Jimbei's fast deep breathes suggest a fight. Still, it's been five days now. They had to put his body on an IV Drip to make sure it can sustain itself.
The door opens and two sets of loud, heavy and near-silent heeled feet stride into the room. Franky and Robin then, what are they doing here?
"What's the Super bad news Robin?" Comes from Franky, quiet and downtrodden. Brook resists clenching his fists and remains silent.
"The base at Whiskey Peaks is complete, Crocodile is planning on having it filled with lower-ranked bounty hunters. While the quality will be taking a severe drop, the base will be able to house at least a hundred hunters." A brief pause. "Mr 8 and Miss Monday will be in charge, with regular visits from the Unluckies."
Franky chimes in. "Food will be hard to come by. With Little Garden on one side and Reverse Mountain and it's ever-changing weather on the other, they won't be able to support it."
A sad sigh rips itself out of his daughter's throat.
"Miss Wednesday and Mr 9 will be issued with collecting food for the town. We have about six months before they'll either start raiding other towns or hunting." The aggravated stress on the last word lit warning signs in Brook's mind. "Hopefully any pirates that come their way will have enough food to let them hold out for a few more months."
Franky hummed at that. Metal tapped metal. "How long is it until Luffy's seventeen again?"
Robin sighed. A bit happier this time. "Nineteen months. Taking into account for the speed of Ace and the skills of Nami, I would say about twenty-one months until Luffy reaches the Grand Line. Less than two years."
"I'll figure out a way to make food last longer, you draw some pirates with bounties towards Whiskey Peak. If we can make them spend the money on food, then that will give us a bit longer."
Brook wished he could speak up against this. But he was already half-asleep when they came in. When he woke up and Jimbei was missing from the Dream he forgot about the conversation.
He had to find his son. He couldn't be dead… Could he?
…...
Brook glared up at the sky. It was night-time but it remained clouded. He knew it wasn't due to his own safety anymore. The stars remained hidden behind clouds for seven months now. It was only newspapers with the mentions of some act by Jimbei that let him know the Fishman was still alive. Rejected and barred from the Dream, yes, but alive!
That was one of his few comforts. The constant strain from living made it hard to spend time with his family. He didn't know what was causing this strain on his soul. It wasn't Jimbei's disappearance. No, the strain existed for much longer than that. It merely got noticeably increasingly worse since then.
Something was going to snap soon. Brook's just happy he managed to prevent, whatever it was, from happening during early May. While Luffy's talk of becoming a pirate hasn't died down, he didn't want to bring his spirits down on his birthday. Why Robin saw fit of telling Luffy that Ace had become the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates escaped him.
She kept that silent for an entire month to tell him, why she couldn't have kept quiet about it longer he doesn't know.
Now it's up to him to remind Luffy that he shouldn't become a pirate. At least no one else has spoken up about-
"Don't worry about it, Chopper. You'll be there to take care of us whenever we get hurt." Luffy said.
A small thunk signalled a thrown scalpel. "But it'll be months before I'll be there to take care of you when you're awake. I'm not nocturnal! I won't be here in the Dream to take care of you whenever you get injured."
"You say that like we'll get that badly hurt in the East Blue. Besides, don't you have that sixth sense about whenever we get injured?" Scoffed Zoro.
"Drum isn't one of the first islands into the Grand Line!" Yelled Chopper. "You could get badly injured on any of those islands. Not to mention but the Marines will have Sea Stone! I haven't had the chance to examine any injuries caused by that stuff."
"Eeh, then we just won't let them touch us with it!" Luffy said, quite blandly.
"But our Devil Fruits are pretty obvious Luffy, and as Pirates, the marines will use that against us."
Zoro grunted. "Nami'll take care of it. Besides, Robin estimates that it'll take us less than three months to get to Drum. She already bought us an Eternal Pose for the Island. You'll be our second Island Chopper."
"Shishishi, Yeah! And Franky'll be on the first so if we get so badly injured that we're about to die than he can turn us into cyborgs too!"
"I'll still worry you know." Chopper whined.
Brook took the step forward to see Zoro place his hand on Chopper's shoulders. "We know, but we'll do our best to keep it at just that, worries."
Luffy jumped up in joy. "Yeah, as Captain I'll make sure it stays that way!"
Zoro fell back, hands on his face. "I still can't believe you got me to sign a contract on that. Not many older brothers can handle the shame of being their younger brother's subordinate."
Luffy flopped down on Zoro's chest. "Nakama, Zoro. I'm hardly going to be ordering you all, you guys know your jobs better than I do!" He poked at the elder's hands.
Spinning on his heal Brook strode away. He had a daughter to have a talk with.
…...
The fog of the Florian Triangle bore down on him. Constant, compressing, cold.
There was no Dream to escape it's grasp anymore. Sleep just meant lost time. It was a reminder that he was alone, he forced the issue and he lost his paradise, lost the Dream.
… but he hadn't lost his family. No, he drove them away a long time ago. The weight on his soul remained though. No longer was the pain of it hidden by the last vestiges of positivity in his relationship with his family.
He let his body fall forward, but a wall caught it. He blinked, or would have if he had any eyelids, and stared at the wall and floor. He could have sworn there wasn't a wall there but apparently, there was. Now he was leaning at a fifty-five-degree angle from the ground.
Couldn't he do a forty-degree angle?
He meant to slide his feet back a bit, but they kept on going until he landed on his face.
The tune of a dying crew's last song started to play on the tone dial now in front of him.
It was strange listening to himself singing. When was the last time he'd done so? When was the last time he'd sung this song on Luffy's birthday because this was his favourite song?
Today, and tomorrow, our dreams through the night!
Waving our goodbyes, we'll never meet again!
On his soul, Brook hopes that's not true… he wants to apologize first at least.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~."
Franky walks into the dining room. The others sit there silently, food absent from the room. Robin's grip on her hat relaxes at the sight of him. Chopper slumps as his muscles relax. Sanji removes the cigarette from his lips and tosses it in the trash. Usopp lets out an audible sigh. Nami puts away the Beri she had been counting. Zoro opens his eyes and adjusts his swords. Luffy smiles like nothing is wrong.
Except things were super wrong.
It's been two months since Brook disappeared from the Dream, and nine since Jimbei. The sky was always covered, and the turbulence of the sea made it impossible for anyone to swim in. Luckily, they had a submarine. While there was undoubtedly a risk in using it, it had to be done.
Franky just wished he'd come back with better news.
"It's super shattered down there. Couldn't even see the seafloor." He hesitated a second, not looking at anyone's reactions just yet. "I could see the Blackness though. It's seeping through all the cracks, and it's calling. It kept saying 'You're next~!', it's…" He trailed off.
The Blackness was seeping into the Dream. It was Talking! It could creep into people too, Robin showed him her hands. It was over a year ago now, not long after Crocodile had captured them. She was putting on gloves to hide them when he burst into her room to ask whether a bow would be useful for an assassin.
It took them the entire day to fix her hands, but they occasionally still twinged. She didn't have to wear gloves, but she admitted it would be better to keep them covered than not so the kids couldn't see her hands in case it reappeared.
He really didn't want to know what might have happened to her if he never saw those cracks. They realised afterwards that something in them affected their mentality. They didn't know how it did so even if they quickly figured out what caused them.
Sometimes, Franky wondered if Jimbei had hidden cracks on him before he disappeared. Their father certainly had a lot that they had confused with aging. It's not like they knew any other sentient skeletons to cross-reference with.
Not to mention but he's a human in his eighties. Whitebeard was younger than him and Jimbei had asked Chopper's mentor about a few healing methods for the aging man. Then again, Brook doesn't have any organs that can debilitate him or a vice for alcohol.
It's amusing how Chopper occasionally brought Whitebeard up when trying to convince Sanji not to smoke when he began. Eventually, Chopper decided to make 'healthy' cigarettes. Franky's not sure how because the part people become addicted to is the part that can both calm and harm people. Then again, Franky doesn't have a focus on chemistry.
The happier memories are replaced with reality as a rubber teen wraps himself around the cyborg. "Well, the Blackness isn't allowed to have you! You've gotta build the Sunny and sail with us." The determined expression was mirrored on a lot of the others' faces.
Franky remembers how the super blueprints are, technically, in the hands of the World Government. How he's trapped making weapons for a criminal organisation. That while he said he'll be waiting on Whiskey Peaks for the others he's a captive and there'll be enemies waiting from them.
He never actually told them how he and Robin are being forced to work for a Shichibukai. Jimbei kept a lot of secrets and then he disappeared. Brook tried to stifle the other's dreams out of worry for their safety and then he disappeared.
He can't keep it secret. He looks to his sister. She nods, the slightest bit of defeat hanging over her. She's good at hiding things but never from him. Robin is more than his sister, she's his super best friend.
So, he told them. He revealed how he and Robin were being forced to work for Crocodile. He admitted to some of the things he's done for Baroque Works. How he's Mister Decibel and Robin is Miss All Sunday. He even told them about Alabasta, not too much but unfortunately enough. Franky almost wishes he could, but he wouldn't. He needs to know how they'd react.
It still hurts to see the horror and even a few flashes of disgust on their faces. See how Nami draws a parallel between Arlong taking over her island and Crocodile drying out Alabasta. See when Usopp gets that flash of irrational fear and then look at his hands, wondering if any weapon he made found its way into another's hands. Chopper looking heartbroken over some of Robin's admissions. The unabashed deep-seated horror in Sanji as he remembers his upbringing. The murderous expression darkening Zoro's face.
Franky knows it says something about how he'd forgotten that Sanji's a Vinsmoke. That he was their favourite weapon until Reiju helped him escape.
When Robin and Franky stop speaking Luffy glares up at them. Hands firmly held over his ears. He'd put them up there right after Franky admitted they'd been captured.
"It doesn't matter." He states. "I'll come and save you and then you'll be free. Then we can get Sunny's blueprints and save Brook and find Jimbei!"
Usopp looks over and reminds Luffy they'd have to face a Shichibukai. Someone who shares Jimbei's rank and how they'd never beaten the Fishman.
"Rock-Paper-Scissors. Jimbei can beat us but Croco-man won't." He turns towards Robin and Franky. "Not to mention, we'll definitely be taking Franky on our way through to face him. Robin, do you think you can meet up with us while we do so? Then we can both of you easy."
Robin worries her hat. "It will take quite a lot to do this." Her tells show a different opinion. While it looks like she's agreeing to it, Franky knows she's doubting.
It's one thing to lose his weapons developer, the shipwright he plans to ensure Pluton is functional. It's another thing to lose the only person in the world who could lead him to it.
It's selfish to rely on their kids like this. A sharp crack echoed in his head. Hands clutch at his torso, organs screaming at him.
I tHouGht yOu'D want To kEEP them SAFE! tHat's wHY yoU WanTeD to SaiL. To SAVE them, tO keep tHEm FREE.
The echoes of cracks grew louder within him.
tO BuILd yOur DREAM ShIP, a sHIp thAT WiLl sAIL aLl aRoUnD tHE grANd LIne AnD sURvIvE. YoU"D HOped to SAIL with YouR FaMiLiY. yOU vOweD To PrOteCT AnD LoVe ALl oF tHeM.
Cracked hands shoved themselves in front of his face. The cracks made Robin's pale skin look like a cracked porcelain doll. They were growing too. Extending over her face, reaching for her eyes.
He drew her into his arms. The angry, cracking, distorted voice stopped growing louder. It even faded a little and the cracking of his organs stopped. A crack on the back of Robin's neck stopped. They thinned but the trembles wracking her frame didn't cease. He held onto her tighter. He spared a glance outward. They were still in the Sunny, but it was wrong.
Everything was riddled with cracks. Shadows danced in their corners. Colour had been leached out of its surroundings. The world outside the window was pitch blank but shifting, writhing.
Carefully, he manoeuvred his grip on Robin and picked her up. He approached the open door and tested it. It didn't budge. He left and walked around the ship. It was the same as the dining room and nothing could be moved. There was no sign of the children or Merry. He returned to where they started, and the room had changed.
Black dripped from the ceiling, cracks gaped open, the room was whispering. The lighting flickered. A grin peered through the window. Teeth of broken glass and dripping a liquid rainbow. A black tongue licked up the colour.
nO mORe DREAM foR YoU. No SLeeP FoR yOU. BuT iF You AbanDON eAcH oThER ThEN YoU CaN LeaVE~.
Franky just held on tighter. Arms bloomed from Robin and surrounded him in her embrace.
The lights flickered again.
Colour had disappeared from them, leaving Robin looking like a broken doll and his once colourful arms monochrome. A presence clung to him. He turned. The broken mirror had their colours dripping between the glass. It was smiling.
You WoN'T hoLD OuT. yOu"Ll BreAK liKE ME BeForE ThEY FInD YoU~!
Robin wishes she could open her eyes. But the cracks in them would tear a scream from her if she ever exposed them.
At least Franky never let go of her. His voice rarely could be heard, the cracks deep inside her ears often stole his words. But she knew he was talking to her, he'd continue to spend his few breaks sleeping, talking to her. She'd cling to him, tapping Morse code for thank you and I love you. She wishes she could brush up her knowledge of the subject, but she never had time to herself to do so.
He'd tap it back. Though he'd go still whenever the Nightmare would appear.
Franky believes that it's the personification of the Blackness. Robin doesn't agree. It said: "Break like me" when it first left them the warning. The Dream was broken. She knows it's the Dream. Dark and twisted and broken.
And it wanted them gone. Wanted Franky to let go of her so it can reject them as it did with Jimbei and Brook.
Sometimes Robin wondered how the kids are. She hopes they were ejected by the Dream. She doesn't want to think about how the Nightmare could be taunting them. She's used to the comments it whispers into her ears. Marines, civilians, pirates and bounty hunters have often spoken them.
She's just relieved it doesn't copy her family's voices. She doesn't know why but it doesn't.
Maybe it has standards?
A laugh breathes past her lips. The eye cupped in the palm of her glove continues to read over the earnings of Crocodile's casino. Truthfully it isn't too bad. Sunglasses can hide how she can't open her real eyes and her devil fruit appendages, free of cracks, can let her see. The cracks ache but it's ignorable and no non-dreamer can't see them. She can still feel the flesh and metal that makes up Franky's frame.
She has the constant whispers and worries preventing her from relaxing, but she's used to it from her years on the run. Besides, she's had a few months to get used to this. It would have been hard to tell without a calendar; time isn't constant whenever she sleeps. Not to mention how she often falls asleep if she focuses on Franky's presence too much.
The surveillance she keeps inside the casino reveals that Crocodile has just left. Another pirate attack apparently.
She sprouts a hand to grab the newspaper he's left behind and passes it down a line of hands. A pair of feet would have been easier, but she likes to see her arms uncracked. She reaches down to flip through it, searching for the latest exploits of Jimbei, Whitebeard's Second Division Commander and the former First Mate of the Spade Pirates.
Jimbei's managed to apprehend a particularly vicious pirate crew who'd just entered the New World. No mention of Ace although the Fourth Division had recently taken out a pirate crew known for collecting Devil Fruits. It seems Nojiko also got a raise for her bounty.
Queen of Diamonds Nojiko, Wanted Dead or Alive: 150, 000, 000.
Not many people can dual wield Rifles, but the array that was onto her sleeveless long coat showed that she had more than a mastery with just rifles. With her diamond accessories, bandanna embroidered with the Whitebeard crest and elaborate tattoos. She cut a contradictory figure, but fierce all the same.
"So, what is it that's caught your interest this time?" Came a voice Robin was unfortunately too familiar with. She showed the bounty. "Ah, Whitebeard's most renowned daughter. The only female fighter in the main crew I believe."
A tanned hand takes the bounty from her. "An amusing fact is how the Second and Fourth Division Commanders Fight over her. His old First Mate and a skilled chef capable of filling a black hole. Any facts you can add to that, Miss All Sunday?"
"Her mother was a Marine Captain. I suspect she was skilled with the rifle, judging by the Queen of Diamond's conquest to steal every rifle she comes across. 372 so far, quite an annoyance to constantly replace I hear." It's something that Nojiko never tried to hide. Although it is a mystery what she does with all those rifles.
Crocodile lets out a disinterested hum. The bounty is returned to her. "Inform Mr Decibel his results are lagging. I know how much sleep your kind needs to function and he's sleeping more than he needs to."
Robin bows her head. "I'll be sure to tell him, Mr Zero."
Crocodile nods at her and walks away. Robin checks her surveillance and keeps her attention on finding the hole Crocodile managed to slip through. She sighs as she realises it's his Devil Fruit. Of course, he'd do something like this. She just hopes that Crocodile doesn't get a false idea that Nojiko is a Dreamer. Maybe she should have made a joke on the rifles she steals, made it seem like she's merely amused by someone who's doing something ridiculous.
It's too late for that now.
She takes a glance at the calendar. It's six months till Luffy's birthday, and around eight months until He and the other children reach the Grand Line. It's not far now, she'll just need to remind Franky that it is not too long a wait now. Hell knows she can hardly wait.
…...
She wakes to a still sleeping Franky. There's potential that Crocodile has already threatened him about his sleep habits or maybe it was something else.
It was difficult to fall asleep. The Nightmare is what awaits but that holds no sway over her difficulty. No, her difficulty comes from her body. From the chemical balances of the brain to the lack of body fatigue, something that has never been required before, her body just doesn't want her to sleep.
It takes effort to sleep, not in the way it takes effort to do something, but in the way to not do something. As complicated as that may sound but, if she tries too hard to sleep, desires it too much, then it won't come. The Dream's remains were not easy to access, and whatever latent feelings it has for them it shows by trying to keep her away from its shattered self.
Best way to guarantee it? Make it so either she can't sleep or can't access the Nightmare.
That doesn't stop her though. She doesn't care for herself as much as she cares for her family. Her desire to live only exists if it doesn't get in the way of her family's safety.
Franky knows that if he goes with Luffy and the others when they reach Whiskey Peaks then Crocodile will take it out on her. However, he also knows that if he didn't go, if he let himself stay a prisoner… Robin wouldn't hesitate to remove the easiest obstruction to his freedom. It should tear them apart.
Strangely, it just made her brother more determined. They have a plan in place, one that accounted for the younger generation and their uniqueness. Luffy's thought process, Zoro's direction issues, Sanji's childhood teachings, Usopp's cowardice, Nami's attitude, Chopper's naïveté. And it all hinged on a certain job that would ensure they would arrive at Whiskey Peaks first. Before Crocodile got the chance to realise anything.
Franky stirred and that sickening, twisted presence seeped into the room. It always targeted Franky, for he was the one who refused to let go more vehemently. They grew up in the Dream, of course, it would know who it would have to target to get them to let go.
Robin was only holding onto Franky, but Franky was holding onto both her and his ship.
He once told her how a ship is like the child of their shipwright, and while Sunny was there long before he was born, he swore he'd bring her into being on the Grand Line. He swore when she was a scared child, that he'd bring the Dream to the cruel world.
Franky would never break that promise. Robin knew that.
"It will take a lot to do this," Robin says, thoughts flashing through her eyes. A morbid one must have crossed her mind as a smile flashed on her face for a split second. As a doctor – or doctor-in-training as Doctorine reminds him daily – Chopper's been trained to notice minute details. Especially the facial expressions of his family, seeing as they all do their best to hide their injuries even when they know he gets a sympathetic itch every time one of them is hurt.
Zoro is no doubt the worst of his siblings but Jimbei can certainly be stubborn at the wrong times too. So not even his parents and grandfather can escape his scope.
He was just opening his mouth to ask what he could do to help when-
CRACK!
The Thousand Sunny was gone. The raging sea below reached for them in arcing waves as they fell. Nothing below them but water. He was only submerged for a second, but that moment will stay with him.
Nails on chalkboards and screeching glass filled his waterlogged ears. Writhing, growing cracks splintered below the surface, reaching and crying. The weakness in his frame should only have been due to the water, but a new sympathetic itch stretched itself over him. Over his arms, into his chest, inside his brain…
It left him feeling empty. A little like the constant, quiet ache in his legs from Sanji's cracks.
Sanji shoved him free of any contact with the water. All the aches but the one in his brain disappeared.
Zoro already had Luffy free of the water and Usopp and Nami were supporting each other as they swam towards the Going Merry. She was still here with them but…
He coughed. "Where's Robin and Franky?"
Sanji tossed him onto the deck, following soon after. "They disappeared with the Sunny. The cracks took them like they said they would, and Sunny's a part of Franky." He hoisted Nami and Usopp over the rails and said to them: "Can you two check over Merry? Stick together, call out if you find anything amiss."
They nodded, trembling. Neither showed any signs of a headache and, while Sanji was clearly stressed, there was no minute flinches or tenseness that indicated a headache. He turned to Zoro, holding onto Luffy as the rubber boy cried and screamed.
He was clutching at his chest, not his head. Zoro showed nothing but resignation and determination. Contradictory to be sure, but he could be wrong. Robin and Sanji hadn't finished teaching him how to read people.
"Everything's fine, no cracks but-." Nami was cut off as lightning lanced through the sky and froze. Giant white, glowing cracks the split the very air itself. The sky and ocean were one thing, but the air? Usopp grabbed Nami and raced back below deck. Zoro followed behind with Luffy as Sanji rose and winced, clutching his legs.
Chopper switched to walk point and carried his brother below deck. One thing he remembers asking Sanji about when they were younger was if they could race when they met while awake. There wasn't much space to do any longer races on the Sunny.
He doesn't know if they will get the chance to now.
Carrying Sanji into the kitchen where it was filled with a meagre amount of ingredients. They wouldn't starve, but it would weaken everyone.
Merry wasn't safe, she was gone. The Dream, or whatever it's other occupant is, wanted them gone. At least it didn't want them dead. Silver lining? Lightning cracks look a lot like those so maybe not really.
…...
That cowardly King ran. One of his officers stayed but he couldn't do much to force the pirate from leaving. Honestly, Chopper probably would have tried something if Ace and Nojiko hadn't called and warned him to stay away from him.
Insomnia and constant terror aren't exactly the best for cognitive thought processes and common sense. From what Ace said, Blackbeard would leave after stocking up. Unfortunately, in the first print of Chopper's bounty, there's a mention of him having a Logia child capable of armament Haki. Zoro has no desire to eat a devil fruit and there were no pictures. Seems whatever projection thing Zoro and Luffy did gives them a vampire's lack of reflection.
Sometimes, Robin's comments scare him and Usopp. But she isn't here anymore and saying those comments makes it seem like she still here. There's a faint itch in his eyes and hands. Chopper wishes she'd come back to the Dream. Comments may make him feel a bit braver, but the Dream…
Sometimes he goes out onto the deck and looks around for the Thousand Sunny. They're not supposed to, the Lightning cracks whisper like the cracks of Blackness beneath the waves and on the keel of the ship. Although they're sweeter, more tempting with kind words.
Now Chopper knows why Franky would rub his back, regardless of the lack of cracks or any physical ailment.
Still. Blackbeard was on Drum until not long ago. The King is still missing and Doctorine wants to take over the Castle. She hasn't explained why completely, more central access and strategic location aren't the full reason, but he'll go with it.
Kind of has to with bullet in his leg and being carted off on a sled that Dalton has offered to pull. Although there is a temporary Island wide discount on Doctorine's services. She cursed and said that they'd be getting free treatment from Chopper when he recovered, why should she agree to any discount?
"You better go to sleep, rest is important to recovery." She growls softly, shutting his eyes for him. "I'm enjoying retirement."
"You still work Doctorine, it's not a retirement." He protests, reopening his eyes. She scoffs.
"I enjoy being retired from being the only competent and available doctor on the island. Now sleep." She closes them again. "Don't make me sedate you, I know how to send Dreamers to the Dream."
She presses a finger over a vein. No more protesting, get to sleep now. He could only oblige. Chopper sucks at trying to fake sleep, then again, she's a doctor, she'd know.
He wakes on the deck, white tendrils right in front of his eyes.
"CHOPPER! Don't move!" Nami cried out. She was behind the cracks, terror apparent in her eyes.
you miss her. you want to see your mother? you want to be held by her. i can take you to her. she is still here. reach for her, chopper.
"Chopper, don't listen to it!" Luffy yelled. He twisted through the lightning cracks that now blocked the entrances to inside the ship. "I'm coming, Chopper. Please, wait-."
Something hot touched Chopper's leg as it jolted in instinctive flight reflex. Then Luffy was gone. Nami was gone. The Going Merry was gone. And it was Bright!
we have you, we will take you to her. look, she is right there.
But he couldn't see. It was bright and white and he couldn't see anything. And it was hot, so so Hot!
I'lL tAKe hIM. ThEY NeED to LEaVE! i"LL MaKE Him LeaVe!
Then it was black and dark and cool.
A white light appeared, it was warm and cast several familiar silhouettes. Merry's Klabautermann, Jimbei and Brook.
they are still there, chopper. robin and franky still hold on to each other. you can see them soon.
But they weren't the only ones he wanted to see. He wanted all of his family back. He wanted them all happy and healthy. He wanted them together and safe.
then fix us. put us back together and do not rip us apart again. now sleep~
And Chopper woke up, several hours later in the castle atop Drum Island. Even now that he wanted to, he couldn't get back asleep. This would persist for months. Including after Luffy's seventeenth birthday in five months.
Coming up Next: A Shattered Home
This hurt me. A part of me hopes you can see that.
Review Responses: (13, so unlucky! Haha)
MasterQwester: Usopp's a master storyteller, Avatar: TLA is a magnificent story. I couldn't think of anything that couldn't go better. Besides, I like references. It feels like finding chocolate, and I love chocolate. :D
Things are just getting rougher. But hey, Paradise is coming to the waking world soon.
Mel72000: One can only appreciate what they have, after its gone. Or something like that.
LittleAngel2292: Thanks! It's always nice to hear that people enjoy something I wrote.
dragongirlgamer1: We love these characters because of who they are, situations are what makes a person. I want them to be recognisable and still loveable, but there are going to be differences. Although Robin and Franky in Baroque Works together is something I really want to explore when the crew starts reforming. :D
OmegaKenichi: *Sees your review* Wow, someone actually reads my authors notes this late in the story? Damn it I have to think about them now!
But yeah, if I must torture these beloved characters, I'm gonna torture you all a little too. (Hopefully, there was no real pain though.)
Lunapok: It's fun how Garp's efforts to prevent Piracy caused more pirates. Still, at least he has more Grandkids.
Slightly less than 7 months! Not a year. I don't want to make you wait too much, but I don't want to take so long to write 6.5 thousand words. If this was an assignment, then I'd be way overdue!
Chiaki: No pain, no gain. The angst makes the fluff, fluffier. But it still hurts! As for including Jimbei, I noticed how he said yes to joining in the Fishman Island Arc. Thank goodness I loved rereading that arc, huh.
While re-creating the crew might be easier for some members, it's going to be so much harder for others. Still, distance makes the heart grow fonder. (I really like quotes, okay?)
And ACE! I'm not gonna think too hard about that now. Unnecessary pain right now.
VampireApple: Are 7 months enough of a wait? And killing someone… interesting. Jokes aside, thanks! I'm worried I'm doing a bit too much of saying not showing when it comes to a Straw Hat's feelings but at least I conveyed the reason for mistrust.
And your delay in reading a chapter is nothing to the delay of my finishing a chapter. At least the rest of the Dream is breaking in the next few months, not years. (Timelines are hard to keep straight sometimes.)
FlamyAngelwings: Well new reader, now you get to experience my months-long waits on finishing a chapter. Though I'm happy you enjoyed it enough to binge read it! I hadn't found anything like the Dream before I wrote this and I happy with myself about coming up with it. :D Its doing better than I ever expected!
As for abandoning it… I don't know if I ever could. Although I'll hit my stride rarely for it. I love reading too much and find myself reading instead of writing far too often. Even with my course work!
Akuma no Hono: I like cliffhangers. They sometimes inspire me to write more. Also, Updated! Although I tried to update it by July 10th, the story's birthday. You can see how that turned out.
VerumUmbria: I'm glad you were happy to find it and still like it!
fatimaestrellitadeplatagmail: I'm glad you like that. Sorry for the seven-month wait. By the way, your username is really long. I hope I didn't mess it up, I have to type names out so they don't disappear when I post it.
betsybugaboo: I almost couldn't believe it! I remember you from the beginning, it was so great to see you again. I'm glad you still love all it too. Although considering I'm destroying some of those Bonds… It hurts…