I wrote this while I was actually supposed to be sleeping. I got a total of four hours of sleep -on a schoolnight... or schoolmorning, whatever... I didn't function well on Monday. XD
Anyway, sorry for the short chapter, but I didn't want to makeitget too long and boring. In all,this chapter was fun to write. Ke ke ke...

He wasn't sure if it was the pinch in the arm or the boat's violent rocking that woke him up. All he knew was that the sun had just begun rising above the horizon and that there was a tingling feeling in the back of his head as the bad dream pulled back to some dark corner of his mind where it would wait for the next time he fell asleep. There was also the light throb in his arm where he had pinched himself in his sleep, and a strange rushing sound that he wasn't sure where it came from.

Monkey D. Luffy rubbed his lower arm as he looked around with a glazed, sleepy expression in his eyes. For a moment, he wasn't sure where he was, but after a moment or two, his brain accepted the information his eyes sent him and allowed him to realize that he was in a small fishing-boat somewhere in the middle of the ocean with nothing else on board but a large barrel that should have contained lots of fresh water. But he already knew that it was empty, even before he reached out and knocked on its side to hear the same echo as the night before.

… Wait. The night before? Luffy blinked and mentally poked his still sleeping brain in an attempt to get a grasp of things. Right, he had drunk the last of the water before he decided to go to sleep, that was clear, but…

Hadn't he pinched himself to wake up from the bad dream? And if he had woken up, shouldn't he be back in the galley of Going Merry?

You've been dreaming for a long time…

Luffy's eyes were drawn to the large barrel of water as a small cascade of water sprayed over the low edge of the boat. There, written with a black marker on the side of the barrel, were the words 'Have a safe voyage, and don't forget us. Makino'. Luffy reached out and traced the neat, loopy signature with his fingertip while his stomach suddenly had decided to freeze up to a solid lump of ice inside him. He could feel the slow, painful beat of his heart inside his chest, and it made everything feel so much worse.

"We never met…" he mumbled, pulling his beloved straw hat further down over his eyes. A moment later, he gave a light smile as he noticed that he once again had his hat with him, but the feeling of faint joy was brief and faded quickly just like the pale grin on his lips.

Everything he had been through… Everything they had been through together… Had it all been just a dream? Did his nakama even exist in this world, or had he just dreamed them into existing in his mind? No… That just couldn't be true. Dreams weren't that detailed and he had never before dreamed of people who ended up meaning so much to him! Therefore, this had to be yet another trick by that other Luffy…

Do you even believe that yourself?

Clamping his hands over his ears didn't help to drown out the little voice inside his head that told him that he had only been sleeping for a few hours. It wasn't even three days since he had left his island and the little village there, and he was still at least a month's journey away from even reaching the Grand Line. And then there was the giant whirlpool just ahead of him.

Luffy blinked and eased the pressure his hands put over his ears. The what just ahead of him?

When he saw the enormous whirlpool, his little boat was already hopelessly caught in it. His eyes darted around, desperate to find something - anything - that could keep him from being dragged down into the whirlpool.

It was in the last moment he managed to open the lid of the large, empty barrel and climbed into it, making sure that his hat was still on his head before he shut himself inside the wooden drum and waited.

The barrel's walls were solid enough to keep the water from seeping in, but not thick enough to keep the horrible sound of the whirl out. It was a rushing, howling, gnawing, gargling sound and it rang in his ears while he was pressing his back against the wall of the barrel to avoid getting thrown around while the whirl devoured his boat.

Someone had once told Luffy that whirlpools can be caused by an underwater reef blocking a current. He had never really understood why that would be such a big deal. But even Luffy had no problem to understand that when a barrel is hurled towards a large rock with the speed of streaming water, it breaks like a house of cards in a mild breeze.

When the shield of wood around him was shattered and the icing cold water surrounded him, Luffy stubbornly turned his eyes towards what he thought had to be the surface, looking for any sign of his nakama coming to save him. His body was paralyzed to the point where he could only move his hands to cover his mouth and nose if he gathered all his willpower, but he still held his eyes on that source of light high above him that surely had to be the surface, where dawn was breaking just like any other day.

They would come. They wouldn't leave him there, not in the water, not alone in the dark. Never mind if it was all a dream, his nakama wouldn't let him down. He would be saved and be brought to the Going Merry, where he would laugh at Usopp's stories together with Chopper, pretend to listen to Nami when she explained something to him and cheer wildly while Sanji and Zoro got into yet another fight that would rock Going Merry to the point where she would be close to sinking. And he would help Vivi get back to her country, just as he had promised. Promises were made to be kept, and he would never let his nakama down, just like they would never fail him.

Not even when he could not hold his breath any longer did Luffy stop looking for the flurry of bubbles that would announce the dark figures he hoped would come for him.

Not even as his body forced him to take a deep breath which made the cold water rush into his lungs did the images of his friends' smiling faces fade from his mind's eye.

Not even when his heart sent one last surge of oxygen-starved blood through his veins did the sound of their voices stop chiming like golden bells in his ears.

Not even as his body sank to the bottom of the Eastern Ocean did the determination and faith in his nakama vanish from his still open eyes.

The eyes of the boy who strived tobecome the King of the Pirates remained open even as the world around him faded out into nothing at all.

Why do I insist on writing sentences that all start with the same words at the end like that? Even I'm annoyed over that... And what's up with the edit-tool and creating run-ons? e-e Meh...

Digitaldreamer - I originally intended to let Luffy see what would happen to Sanji ( I almost wrote 'Shanks' there o-O;) ifthey nevermet, and place them inan older,run-down Baratie, where a grown-up Sanji is all alone, still trying to find a way to rid himself of the guilt and the feeling that he still has to repay the old man for saving his life, even though Zeff has been dead for years. But I decided not to do that out of two reasons: 1.) I would mean I would have let horrible things happen to Sanji, and it would have ended with me making him pretty much insane, which in my opinionwould be kind of stupid... And 2.)Pure laziness XD Anyway, yeah Krieg got what was coming for him. The bastard... Although I do think he's quite an interesting enemy.

Shi - Don't apologize, having a unique pen name is great. Thanks for letting me use the short version, though. -grins- You know, I usually say that when I'm tired as well. Not much can stand between me and my sleep, except if I get inspired to write, because then I can stay up all night.

For all of you who reads but doesn't review- I know that you're there, I can see you clicking the 'next chapter' button. Ke ke ke, just kidding.

Note: We're not done here yet, so stay tuned... X3