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izzywolf22: No problem!
Finished my longest fic so far ever. 201,000 words. 537 pages to edit. So it won't be coming out for quite some time most likely. Statred posting my first posted crossover. Second ever written but the first isn't finished. This chapter and the rest of the story are heavy (HEAVY) with angst. Enjoy~
Three days later, and Luffy was still unconscious. And they all knew it was not just from being in the water, since that only lasted half the night, and it had been three days since then. Ace and Sabo barely slept, and when they did it wasn't a good rest. People came in and out of the infirmary to check on him. He was unresponsive to anything, and his power had stopped working correctly, so he had IVs in giving him water and nutrients. That worried everyone, his power not working how it was supposed to.
There had been no mention of the buster call in any of the newspapers they were given. There was, however, a new Wanted poster for Luffy, only this one was even more useless as it was only a photo of is monster form, not what he usually looked like. It had jumped to 300,000,000 berries, and was now "dead" instead of the usual "dead or alive". The pirates assumed the government didn't want him anymore, since he was now totally uncontrollable and very dangerous.
It was 2:00 in the morning when Luffy's machines started to beep. Ace and Sabo woke from their dozing immediately, shouting for Tami or Whiskey or any of the nurses to come over. Luffy made a tiny movement, just an almost unnoticeable move of his head to one side.
His powers suddenly started working again and tried to absorb the needles in him before the nurses were able to extract them with only a little stick that weakened quickly. "Lu?" Sabo whispered. Luffy's eyes scrunched a little bit and he opened them. It was dark in the room since it was the middle of the night, and Whiskey turned on the light in the office so that the room was lit up enough to see but not enough to hurt Luffy's head in case his eyes were sensitive.
"Welcome back, Luffy," Tami said, making the head of the bed prop up enough that Luffy could get a sip of water without pouring it all over himself. The marks on his body had faded significantly over the three days, but they were still visible and in most areas, even on his face, visible through the more faded tattoo. The more covered areas were his arms and legs. Ace and Sabo were doing their best not to cry, not wanting to worry Luffy.
Luffy drank the water with long gulps, clearly with a dry mouth. "Luffy, what do you remember last?" Ace asked quietly, almost in a hush, worried any louder would scare or hurt Luffy's head. No one knew how he was feeling since nothing like this had ever happened to anyone else.
Luffy licked his chapped lips and said, "We had to evacuate, I didn't want to. What happened?" he asked, his throat scratchy. Sabo moved a lock of hair out of his baby brother's face. He looked exhausted despite the fact he'd been asleep for over three days.
Ace didn't hesitate to tell the truth. "You swallowed the entire ship and everyone on it. Including us." Luffy looked shocked for a second before he settled back into the bed.
"Everyone is okay?" the boy asked in concern, though sleep was in his voice still. He'd be asleep again in a few minutes. Best to make the best of what time they had. Sabo and Ace nodded. "I don't remember anything… Is Haruta mad at me?"
Ace and Sabo understood. "No, Haruta is not mad at you. While you were in that form, at least four times taller than Whitebeard, you fought alongside an emperor. We didn't see it, but heard that it was really impressive," Ace explained with a smile.
"I never wanna do that again," Luffy mumbled. Before he could fall back asleep, he was asked how he felt by Tami. All he felt was tired everywhere, and he fell back asleep in the middle of Tami's next question. No one woke him again. He was alive and not quite well, but not dying or in pain either. Only tired.
Whiskey left the room to tell the good news to the captain, even if it was 2:00 in the morning. She knocked on his bedroom door, deciding not to wake the other commanders, since Luffy was asleep again. There was a minute of delay before Whitebeard welcomed her into the room.
When the man saw who it was, he was awake in an instant, thinking the worse, unable to help himself when one of his sons were hurt. Plus, no one knew what to expect with Luffy's newest situation.
"Don't panic, Pops. Luffy woke up. He's back asleep, but isn't in pain. His devil fruit also started up again," Whiskey said quietly, not wanting to wake the other commanders. Whitebeard let out a sigh he'd probably been holding for three days. He put his face in his hand. Whiskey hadn't seen him this exhausted in awhile.
"That's good to hear," he said, wearing a real smile, not the fabricated one he'd been touting the last couple of days. "Did you tell him what happened?"
Whiskey nodded. "Briefly, as he was clearly going to fall back asleep any second. He asked if Haruta was mad at him, since he wasn't evacuating the ship when commander Haruta ordered him to. I'm assuming you won't punish him for disobeying that order?"
"Of course not. You can't punish your son for saving his home and family," the captain said with a grin. Whiskey chuckled quietly, fondly. "I won't wake the other commanders, they need the sleep. Nobody has been feeling very well, so hopefully the news of his recovery will lighten the atmosphere."
Whiskey turned strict, and Whitebeard wondered if he'd said something wrong. "Don't assume there will be no lasting effects after this. The marks around his body have still not left, and we don't know if his body is functioning right until we can get him to stand up and walk. That stunt may leave him with lasting damage, I don't want you to convince yourself or anyone else that he will be perfectly fine after the whole thing," the nurse explained with a crisp voice.
Whitebeard nodded, not liking what he was hearing but knowing it was the truth and that Whiskey was right. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. "Thank you, daughter. Tell me if he wakes again."
"Will do," the nurse said, and walked back to the infirmary to see the lights were off again, and Tami told her that all three were asleep on the single bed. "Keep monitoring him. Switch out with Wendy if necessary. He's still in critical condition and we don't know if there is lasting damage."
"Right," Tami replied quietly. They didn't want to wake the three.
-x-
Luffy woke up halfway through the next day, stomach rumbling. He felt so tired everywhere, but didn't hurt. He was afraid of what might happen now. He already had enough mental problems, he didn't need physical as well. Ace ran from the room to get food, demanding soup from Thatch angrily. He didn't know why Ace seemed angry at him, but made the soup and brought to to the infirmary, where Luffy was the only patient.
Sabo was holding a water bottle to Luffy's lips, since he said his arms were tired and sore. Feeling heavy. When Thatch came into the room, tears sprung into his eyes. He never voiced it, but was afraid Luffy would never wake up. The cook brought the soup over, blinking quickly so his tears dried. He didn't want anyone to see him crying, especially Luffy.
He set the bowl of soup on the end table, and was about to hand Luffy the spoon when Ace snatched it out of his hand and gave it to Luffy. It was clear that Ace was very nervous, and to cope with it was snappy and rude. Thatch didn't take it personally; everyone reacted to stress differently. It was just good he wasn't catching fire.
Sabo took it, asking if Luffy could feed himself. Luffy tried to lift his arm to take the spoon, but was unable to. They all assumed they were sore from the stretching they'd done while fighting with Whitebeard.
"If you want seconds, Ace can come and get them," Thatch said, helping the older boy. The cook had a feeling Ace wanted to make himself useful, when both he and Sabo had been unable to do anything to help Luffy when he was out, and when he consumed the ship and themselves included.
"Okay…" Luffy mumbled. Sabo cooled the soup by blowing on it and laying some blankets down over his chest so the soup wouldn't burn him if it spilled. He was keeping his smile on while Ace's expression was pinched with worry.
After Luffy was done eating, not able to handle seconds even if the soup was delicious, Thatch took the empty bowl and silverware, and left. "Tami, am I gonna be okay?" Luffy asked suddenly, eyes wide but also hazy with sleep. He was still very tired, and his body was healing itself with rest where his devil fruit was unable to.
"Well, we're gonna run some tests once you're feeling up to it. We're not gonna jump the gun and go all out on your tests. You're recovering, but slowly." She didn't tell him that he might not be okay, but didn't give the youngest false hope. If he thought he was going to be fine and then wasn't, it would be worse.
Luffy nodded, and Sabo gently told him to go to sleep if he felt like he needed to. "But what about the tests?" he asked.
"We want you to be at your best when we do the tests so we can accurately see if there will be any possible complications. We don't want you to be forcing yourself to stay awake. Many injuries take a lot of rest to heal, and you can do that treatment by yourself."
Luffy leaned back in the bed, frowning softly, eyes distant. "Ace, Sabo, I don't wanna be hurt anymore," he said in a broken voice. Neither had the heart to convince him he'd be fine. He fell asleep before they could say anything, anyways.
Whiskey and Tami had never heard the words before on this ship. Those who were sick put on an act that they were fine, or at least thought they were going to be fine. Even those patients they had that were bleeding out and certain to die, they never sounded so broken and helpless as Luffy had.
The two were caught off guard by it and had to look away to not let the brothers see their tears of sympathy and pity. Ace and Sabo looked like they'd had their hearts ripped out. The nurses and Cureil were sure that Luffy was not going to die, but they hadn't said that because it would be worse to say something like that and be wrong than to not say it and have their instincts be correct.
If Luffy was going to die from the strain of ballooning into that behemoth in what some pirates said was less than a second, he would have already. Either right at the start or right at the end. They could only wait for Luffy to be awake enough for them to do extensive testing. They'd taken his blood already while his powers had been inactive, but nothing was amiss. So, they had to test how his body functioned. How he walked, how he moved, is senses, cognitive testing to see if anything was wrong with his brain.
The captain had ordered these tests before the nurses alerted him that they would. Whitebeard had felt useless the days following the attack. His sons would have been dead and him unable to reach the ships, leaving only Marco to fight, and having his ship stuck and a big target to hit easily. The Moby would be gone, many of his sons would be dead.
He was ashamed that the only way they had won was by using an eight year old who was hurting himself while doing all of that. He wanted to know the extent of the damage, but no one knew yet, and it upset him. The captain didn't want to lose a son he'd only just adopted.
Marco was feeling similarly ashamed, as he wasn't fast enough to stop Luffy to pull him off of the ship to evacuate as Haruta had tried and failed to do. If he had just gotten there sooner. He couldn't decide on whether this was a better outcome than if he hadn't. Deep down, he knew it was, but knowing that made him feel like a garbage human being.
Luffy seemed to be a magnet of problems and things going wrong. Marco didn't need to list them to know they were a lot. Marco had felt he was a magnet for a long time, but after he became a well known pirate, he assumed all of the bad things that happened to him were because he was a pirate. It was a weight off of his shoulders. Luffy's accidents or misfortunes always had to do with him alone. People were after him, people were trying to kill him because it was him.
Marco was alerted after the captain on the fifth day when Luffy woke up and was coherent enough to hold long conversations. The two men, and Thatch and Haruta who came uninvited, went in the infirmary to see Luffy was awake and talking to his brothers, no longer incredibly sleepy or out of it. But, his body looked limp and exhausted.
Sabo was brushing Luffy's bedhead with Whiskey's hairbrush, who'd let him borrow it. Ace was talking with Luffy about pointless things. About the sea kings they'd seen while they were gone, the storms they'd gone through, the pirates they'd defeated after they stupidly tried to raid the ship.
"Hey, Luffy. Long time no see," Marco said with a genuine smile and a little too cheery voice. Luffy smiled a thin smile, a facade. Marco could see Luffy was upset under his smile. After all, he was back in the infirmary, his second bedroom. "How are you feeling?"
"Not so tired anymore. Kinda sore everywhere but its not that bad. A little hard to move," the boy said. Marco had something in his pockets, and he pulled it out to show Luffy.
"We bought you a ton of coloring books before we heard about the buster call. Here's a smaller more compact one, and some crayons to color with," Marco explained. Luffy looked so excited to have coloring books again, and it made the phoenix wish they had restocked on those sooner. "We also got Sabo his journals, four of them, nice and leather bound. Ace got some target boards that are fire proof. So, the island wasn't all horrible. Just the end," the first mate finished. He set the presents down on the table next to Luffy's usual hospital bed.
"I'll use them once my tests are over," and it felt good for everyone in the room to see how happy Luffy was, even if it would probably not last long. Marco saw Whiskey watched, a clipboard in her hand, but she walked back to the office, giving Luffy some time to be happy before doing the tests.
Tami brought over a tray usually made for eating, but was for Luffy to color in his new coloring book. They got him tons of colors of crayons, and thought his hands were a bit on the shaky side, he colored alright inside the lines. His arms stayed stationary on the tray while his hands and wrists did all the work on the small page. Marco hadn't seen a kid color with coloring books before, so he didn't know that tey didn't really pay any attention to colors that would look realistic. It was a book with scenery, and Luffy colored the grass purple and the sky orange.
Ace and Sabo made small talk, trying to keep the atmosphere light and cheery. Luffy was completely distracted from the coloring book and didn't notice Marco left to go tell the captain that he was awake and ready to be seen, not delirious anymore and in a relatively good mood considering he was in the infirmary once again.
Pops was out on deck, trying to look cheery but had slight circles under his eyes. They were almost unnoticeable. After sending the sons who'd died in the battle to the after life respectfully, having the boys join had helped him move on. He still hurt for his sons, but he now had good distractions. But, now he had another one of his sons hurt because he wasn't strong or fast enough to protect his ship and those on it.
Even if he'd made it there before Luffy transformed, he would have been unable to stop the buster call, vice-admirals not aboard or otherwise. The island and crew would have been ruined. Whitebeard wondered if Shanks and his allied crews would go after the marines for trying to ruin and island under their jurisdiction or if he knew they were only targeting the Whitebeards and would not go after the marines for it.
The man was furious when he was told about the situation in full. Shanks had had a cold voice, and had told Whitebeard to leave his island and he was heading over to check on them and help with any damage that might have happened. Shanks specifically thanked the boy, Luffy, for creating a wall to protect the island, even if that wasn't his intention.
When he entered the infirmary, Luffy was captivated by the coloring book that the crew had gotten him. One of the forty of them. Once he was recovered, he would be so happy to see that massive stack and huge collection of art supplies. It had been cheap in the long run, nowhere near as expensive as food and water was.
"Hi, Pops," Luffy said, lighting up Whitebeard's face. He didn't close the coloring book but released the crayon out of his hand. Ace and Sabo didn't say anything but nodded.
"Hey, Luffy. How are you feeling?" Whitebeard asked, though he couldn't sit on any of the beds due to his size and weight.
"Okay, i guess. My legs and arms are tired and hard to walk, but I'm happy about the coloring book," he replied honestly. Whitebeard smiled, but decided to keep the amount there was a secret, making it a nice surprise when he was out of the infirmary.
Whitebeard asked, "It it only your arms and legs that feel different?" He hoped the answer was yes. Luffy thought for a moment, as if assessing his own body.
"My stomach feels hungry a lot, even after I eat," he said. Whitebeard laughed at this, and the boys wondered why he thought it was funny.
"Maybe after eating something as big as the Moby Dick, it's making you crave more to fill up on," he joked, though everyone knew that probably wasn't accurate. He was trying to make the atmosphere of the room brighter and less heavy.
Luffy closed his coloring book, which Whitebeard saw was one of scenery and nature settings.
"I'm tired and keep falling asleep," he added. "But that's it. So far." Whitebeard nodded, so glad that Luffy wasn't in pain like he had been for the alcohol burn. He thought that Luffy would never be burned by any of the crew again, as they had spent hundreds of berries on over a thousand sealable caps to put on bottles. The liquid would only come out if they bit on the cap to drink, so there was no risk of spilling. They bought smaller bottles instead of kegs just for that reason.
"That is very good to hear, son," the captain said sincerely. He didn't add that everyone was worried about him because it might make the opposite effect than what most might feel. Luffy might feel guilty for scaring everyone and making them worry. Whitebeard was an old man and was skilled at walking on eggshells with some of his sons.
Sabo then had a question, and asked, "Has there been anything in the newspaper about the buster call?"
"No, there has not. Since it was an utter failure, there was nothing about it besides a new bounty for Luffy, though it's quite useless if I say myself. It is a photo of Luffy in that huge form, which he won't do again." He turned to Luffy quite seriously. "I don't want you to ever grow that big again. It is not worth it to have you be ill from it. But, no one is mad at you for doing it, just concerned. But we don't want you to do that again."
Luffy looked down. "I didn't mean to, I didn't even know I could get that big. It just happened, and I don't remember anything after being afraid and then waking up with Ace and Sabo," Luffy explained. Whitebeard wasn't surprised that he couldn't remember it. He'd had a feeling it would be that way.
"Everyone said it was amazing, though. And no one is mad, so that's good, right?" Ace offered in a kind voice. Luffy nodded.
"Even though you helped us out to destroy the battle ships, we don't want you to do that again. If there's ever another emergency like that, I want you to follow the orders of myself or our commanders," the captain said in stern but not unkind voice. The youngest nodded, swearing he would listen, and was sorry he didn't do what Haruta said to do. Whitebeard slowly reached is hand out and put it on Luffy's head.
"Haruta is not angry, and nobody else is," he promised. Luffy nodded, not scared of Whitebeard's touch one bit. "Now, why don't you get back to coloring while I talk to the nurses?" he said, turning Luffy back to his coloring with Ace and Sabo straining to hear the conversation.
"How is he, daughters?" Whitebeard asked Tami and Whiskey. "I will not spread anything that you wish me not to." They exchanged glances before replying.
Whiskey started, "He slept for most of the time he was here, and that did quite a lot for him. When he first came, his blood pressure and heart rate were abnormal, worrying us, but he eventually got better. We didn't give him pills or injections like we would others, due to his different blood.
"The marks on his body don't seem to be going away, so there is a chance they will be permanent. They almost seem like some sort of stretch marks. They are everywhere, as Sabo and Ace told me after a sponge bath. His legs and arms are exhausted, and he had a lot of trouble walking to the bathroom once he was awake.
"I assume he'll need physical therapy to walk again, and he can't lift his arms very high. He was unable to hug his brothers back at a reasonable pace, and they were shaking the higher they lifted. So, his arms may need treatment as well.
"While his fruit was inactive, we were able to get blood samples, and there was no change. He is able to talk now, and seems to be able to think straight, so we're leaning towards thinking he doesn't not have brain damage.
"Since we weren't there to see what happened, as we were inside, we needed Marco to tell us what had happened in full. Apparently, he was unable to process words in that form, right? He didn't respond unless he did something he wanted. Returning the ship to the water shows that some of his brain was functioning that wasn't more primal, but he might have shut off part of his mind accidentally when in that form.
"If the black stretched out of his body so quickly, those marks are more likely to be stretch marks, like when people gain or lose weight rapidly, stretch marks are more often than not there afterwards," the head nurse finished. Whitebeard took it all in with both concern and relief.
"And there is no chance he is going to die from this?" the man asked in a hush. Tami replied, "We don't not think so, as of now. He seems to be in the clear."
Whitebeard let out a sigh, so relieved that Luffy would live, even if he needed physical therapy to recover. He wasn't surprised that Luffy would have stretch marks after the way the nurses described the rapid growth and then shrink. "If there is any change, let me know. Thank you, daughters." Tami and Whiskey smiled.
-x-
"Alright, I want you to walk as surely as you can. Ace and Sabo will be next to you, so don't worry about falling," Whiskey said, holding a clipboard. There was a tape measure taped to the floor, spanning the entire infirmary. Luffy starting at one end and was going to be trying to walk to the other. The boy nodded, afraid of how bad he would do, and knew everyone knew he wouldn't do well.
The first step was sure, the second and third ones wobbling, and the fourth one caused his knees to buckle, and Ace and Sabo caught him gently. Luffy swore quietly. "Let me try again," he said determinedly.
Tami and Whiskey both nodded. "Two more tries and we'll do the next test." Luffy tried again, but only made three steps this time. When Ace and Sabo helped him walk, he moved alright. It wasn't that he couldn't move his legs, he just couldn't put any pressure or weight on them.
"Okay, next test. This one will be more difficult, so we'll take a five minute break in between each test."
Five minutes wasn't long enough, but Luffy wasn't going to complain. "Alright, we want you to jump as high as you can. Ace and Sabo will again be there to help you." Luffy nodded, though he wasn't looking forward to it. He jumped once, and was able to get one inch off the ground before Ace and Sabo caught him as he was unable to support his own weight to land. Tami wrote something down on her ever-present clipboard. The nurses scrapped some of the tests that the boys could tell by crossing them off, though they didn't see what the tests had been.
The next one, Luffy was sitting on the bed, legs hanging over the side. They didn't hurt but were a bit sore. No more than they had been before the tests, though, which was a good sign. Whiskey told him to lift his legs up as high as he could, and as slowly as he could. The boy was unable to lift them up to waist height, but was able to lift them up fairly high.
Ace and Sabo had a feeling the only thing wrong with Luffy's legs were his ability to not support his own weight. He hadn't screamed out in pain when he jumped, so that was a good sign, right? The next test was to bring his legs up into a cross legged position. It was difficult at first, but he got them up. It was a loose one, not as compact as usual, but it was a good sign.
The nurses shared their findings with the boy. "We've x-rayed your legs while you were asleep, and found no broken bones. So, your legs are not what the problem is as far as we can tell. No fractures, fissures or broken bones. Whiskey has different things written on her board."
The head nurse sure did have different findings. "I know it's speculation, but we've been right about everything so far. Your power was not working while you were unconscious. Since you're a logia, even if it is a warped one, your body had been used to being made out of it. So, when your powers came back, your body was already partly used to them not being there. While they get back to normal, you may have problems with your body's bone and muscle structures, which goes for your arms as well. I could be wrong, but this is what my gut is telling me," Whiskey explained.
The boys trusted her words, since she'd been right most times so far. "We will bring Amy in here to ask her if she knows of anything tomorrow. Now, we're going to test your arms." Whiskey flipped the page over and started on a blank one. "Lift your arms as high as they can go without hurting yourself if it does."
He lifted his arms to chest height, unable to go any further as his arms were shaking and sweat was forming. They finally fell, but Ace and Sabo caught them so they didn't slam into his lap. After another break, Luffy was told to bend his arms up like he was doing a curl with a weight. Luffy wasn't sure what that was, so Ace showed him. Luffy was able to do it twice before his arms couldn't take it anymore.
One five minute rest later, he was to shrug his shoulders, which was fine. "Now, lift them up from your sides." Luffy couldn't do that very well, and didn't make them to chest level, only where his hands were at the level of his belly button.
"Alright, I'd like to do some x-rays to compare those of when your fruit was dormant, and now that they seem to be back," Whiskey said after she praised Luffy for doing the exercises despite that they were difficult.
Ace carried him to the room with the x-ray equipment, and laid Luffy down. He had a full body x-ray, like he'd had before. It only took a couple minutes, and Luffy was brought back to the bed. Whiskey stayed in the office for awhile, Tami eventually going in as well. Luffy's morale was down, feeling useless and utterly weak.
"There's always something wrong with me," he sighed. Ace and Sabo couldn't argue, because that was the truth.
"They all get better, right?" Sabo offered, though it was a weak response. Luffy didn't reply, just pursed his lips. It didn't feel like he got better, just that one problem replaced another. Ace tried to convince Luffy to start on his coloring book again, which was now one of butterflies since he'd already done the previous one. The three were told it'd be a surprise with how many books they got for Luffy.
After what felt like too long, the nurses came back, wheeling a big screen over with pictures of Luffy's limbs and full body on them. The first ones that Whiskey pointed to were before, when Luffy was asleep. The bones all looked fine, and the nurse pointed this out. Then, she put up the photos taken that day.
The bones were covered in black. The substance was also at the edges of Luffy's skin. It looked strange. "Since we've gotten no new information that is useful for now, we'll have to go on my theory. I'm going to have you start physical therapy, where you methodically practice moving until you get well enough to walk on your own. Then, you'll do little exercises to help strengthen your injured areas.
"People with broken bones go through physical therapy, as well as people with damage to their brain that messes up their balance. There is a room through the medicine storage for physical therapy we will use. It needs thorough dusting, since no one has used it in awhile," the head nurse finished.
"How long will that take?" Sabo wondered. He knew what it was, but he'd never needed it and neither had anybody he'd known.
"I can't tell. Only time and improvement will give a rough estimate. Usually, I'd be able to give a prediction on how long it will take, but this case and Luffy's body are different. I want him to have a wheelchair for going through the ship long distances. We have one just small enough for Ace or Sabo, but not for Luffy. The shipwrights will know how to make one. They can mold metal into the correct shapes and dimensions.
"We'll make sure they get that done asap."
Luffy nodded, but had to have the concept of a wheelchair explained to him. He was bummed he couldn't play any games. Wendy had told him not to to get better. Daily exercise and having fun. He guessed he'd be going back to playing cards.