No one knows for whom the Tells bowl. I was afraid Luffy was coming across a bit too childlike... I tweaked a bit at the last moment, but it's hard to say wheather it still... I went off on a tangent. I have no idea what I'm saying. Happy New Year! I like multiples of three. I hate seven. Three is the only good odd number.

Weirdo Base Strikes Back

Chapter 4. Off the Deep End

"LUFFY!" they both shouted in unison, jerking upright. They could hear him, but that was about it. And he sounded so far away...

Nami frowned. "Did you die?"

'I don't really know... I can't feel my body, I can't feel anything... But I can hear you guys...! And you can hear me, so I'm glad...'

"Hey Luffy, did you..." Usopp hesitated, then continued, "Did you talk to the others, Zoro and Sanji?"

'I tried to talk to Zoro, but Sanji's the only one who can hear me... I tried to talk to you guys for a long time, too, but you couldn't hear me either...'

"But now we can... Hey Luffy," Nami asked, curiously, "What do you last remember?"

A pause. 'The ocean... I remember being in the ocean, but it was okay, because everyone was there with me, and Zoro was pulling me out... And everything hurt... Especially my back, and my head...'

"That was right after we got out of the Weirdo Base!" exlaimed Usopp. "Luffy, do you still have my sash around you?"

'I can't feel anything, Usopp...'

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

'My hat... I can't tell where it is...'

"Zoro has it." Nami interjected confidently. "He's keeping it safe."

'Wow, thanks, Nami...! I'll be back, guys... I'm gonna go see Zoro...'

---

Zoro sighed.

Sometimes there were things that just couldn't be helped. Like falling. You try to fix it, but the only thing you can do is ride it out and hope you'll land safely.

It was the same thing with people. It was so easy to do something that would make them hate you forever. You can't take back actions, you can only hope they'll forgive you.

He hoped Sanji would forgive him. He didn't have to do this. But it was important.

Zoro sprung over the side of the gate and started walking down the dirt path that led up to the top of the hill. He hoped Sanji could forgive him, so he could land safely. He didn't want to fall forever.

A wet tiger. With wings, no less. That wasn't right. But, he was no tiger, so it was okay. Run, pick up speed, faster, faster, then, LEAP! Into the air and hung there.

What goes up always comes down, but the time in between was the best part. Just hanging there in mid air, where nothing can reach you, but you can reach everything. That was flying. The part in between jumping and falling.

Ah, but falling, that's when it changes from peaceful to interesting. The speed, so fast without even moving. The wind whistling past your ears, the earth coming closer and closer.

There was no tucking into a roll this time. No soft lawn to beak his fall. He looked closely, and saw exactly what he wanted to see. He had gone over the fence. He was on the other side, and the view was different now. In stead of a hill with sharp rocks and desert and thorns at the bottom, it was only half a hill. A sheer cliff, with not a desert, but a beach, not thorns, but crabs, not sharp rocks and a barren wasteland, but

the ocean. Waves crashing against the shore, salty air, seagulls flying- all the sensations hit him at once as he passed the barrier. He pressed his arms to his sides and straightened from a freefall into a dive. He didn't bother closing his eyes as he passed through the double-sided mirror. That's the surface of the ocean.

A mirror from the top, a window from the bottom. Everything was backwards. He broke the surface, and glided underwater. Bouyancy, what goes down must float back up. He hung there in the water, the split second in between sinking and floating. That was flying. He curved upward, resurfacing, shaking the water out of his face and hair.

There was something heavy on top of his head that wasn't there before. Treading water, he felt for whatever it was and took it off. He gazed at the thing in curiosity. It was a woven straw hat, with a red ribbon around the top. It must've appeared whe he passed through the barrier, just like the ocean. If that was the case, then how long had he been wearing it, unaware of its existance...?

Speaking of things he didn't know he had been wearing, he felt a light tug and heard a soft jingle by his left ear. He reached up to the side of his head and felt with the tips of his fingers three long earings. As he raised his arm, he noticed a black piece of cloth tied around his bicep.

Something quite heavy tugged at his middle. He dunked his head underwater to better see what it was. He was wearing a huge green sash, a haramaki. He almost choked on sea water when he saw what else had appeared. There was a scabbard hanging from his belt. With a sword in it. He was starting to feel slightly more intimidating than just some guy.

He swam to the shore and sat on the wet sand, dumping water out of his boots. This was great! He'd so have to tell Sanji. He'd find Nami and Usopp, too, and he'd tell them. He was sure it didn't just have to do with himself.

Thoughfully, he unsheathed the white hilted sword and turned it around, swooshing it gently through the air.

"Have I really been carrying a blade all this time? Wonder how I got it in the first place..."

Without warning, a horrible pain shot through his chest and he doubled over, dropping the sword. It felt as if he were a frog being disected alive. He groaned, clutching at his shirt. His heart throbbed painfully, his blood racing through him.

Then as sudenly as it came, the pain was gone, leaving him panting for breath.

'BROTHER!' 'My name is Dracule Mihawk! Strive to defeat me, Roronoa Zoro!' 'No, he's not okay! But he's alive!' 'I will never lose again! Got a problem with that, king of the pirates?' 'They make a good team.'

Zoro slowed reached out his hand to touch something on the inside of his shirt. Starting at his left shoulder, he traced a line all the way to his right hip. A scar, not even a week old. How did he not see...?

He fell back onto the sand, letting the waves lap at his feet.

Luffy was dead.

He let the finality of those words seep into him. He always knew it, but now that nothing was hidden from him anymore, he finaly understood what that meant. His best friend- his captain. Remembering the straw hat on his head, he took it off and calmly twirled it between his fingers.

"You could've at least stayed long enough to get your hat back, idiot."

'Yeah, you're right... Thanks for keeping it safe for me... Can I have my hat back now...?'

Zoro almost choked when his heart leapt into his throat. Hardly daring to belive it, he peered over the rim of the hat, half suspisious, half mock-suspisious.

"You Luffy?"

A grinning face peered back at him, the small scar under one eye curving with his lips.

'Yup...! You Zoro...?'

"Could be..." He raised one eyebrow, the hidden edges of his mouth twitching upward. "You willing to take a chance?"

'I'll bet you're Zoro...'

"I bet you a straw hat I'm not."

Luffy laughed.

"I thought you were dead."

'Yeah, me too... I'm still not sure about that part yet...'

"Well, let me check it out." Zoro stood up and faced the boy. "Your voice is funny, you are slightly transparent, you're floating, and if I poke you,-"

He did so. His finger met resistance in a rubber stomache, and Luffy giggled. Zoro had to use all his self control not to poke him again.

"-you're solid. Strange. You might just be dead."

Luffy put on a pouty face. 'Nu-uh... I don't wanna be dead...!'

"It's okay, you might not be. Even if you are, it's not that bad. We'll never forget you."

Zoro smushed the hat down onto his captain's head, making him bow slightly, and grinned.

"Keep that hat safe, alright? You know better than me how much it means."

'Stop it,' Luffy suddenly comanded, head bowed, his eyes in shadow. "Stop talking like you're leaving."

Suprised, Zoro lifted the brim of the hat with one finger and peekedbehind it. "You okay?"

Luffy's head snapped up. Zoro could see the beginings of tears in his eyes.

"Promise me! Promise me you won't leave! Not you, or Sanji, or Nami, or Usopp!"

Puzzled, Zoro stepped back and considered Luffy for a moment, then gave him a look. "Luffy, I'm suprised at you. As if the Straw Hat Pirates would ever abandon thier captain!"

And then, for some reason he felt he had to add, "You're the captain now. You decide where we go."

Luffy's face was unreadable for a moment, then he brightened considerably. "I can still be captain even if I'm dead?"

"No way! So don't die, okay?"

"But I thought you said I was dead?"

"I did, but look." He grabed Luffy's arm and held it up to the light. Neither of them could see through it anymore.

"Hey!" exclaimed Luffy, "My voice isn't echo-y! And my feet touch the ground!"

Zoro smiled broadly, and sheathed his sword. "Follow me."

To Be Continued...

Moo! I'm the most energetic when I'm sleepy. That is probably why I end up doing things more at night. Who thinks Zoro just figured the whole thing out? Likewise, I wonder who thinks it's just another shameless red herring? And who has no idea what's going on? All shall be resealed-! I mean, revealed! I love you all, and I squeal in the delight of confusing the masses.