Italics indicate thinking

Bold is for attacks.

Luffy's POV

"Let me go!"

"You're not going!" Zoro said holding me down.

"He wants to do this alone just let him!" Sanji yelled.

"Luffy you know Steve wouldn't do this without a good reason you just have to trust him." Rose pleaded.

"AGGHHH!"

"It's been fifteen minutes let him go already." Wyper said.

I broke free and ran into towards were Steve and Aokiji were. As I got closer the air got colder and colder and the grass began to collect snow and frost.

"There!" Sanji pointed out.

He was standing there, frozen just like Robin. He was stuck in his pose, frozen in time.

What the hell happened!

"NOOOO!"

"Don't touch him." Zoro warned "You're shaking too much, you might accidentally break him, let us move him."

The two of them moved Steve back to the ship and brought him inside to Chopper. I went to my seat to wait.

Rose's POV

I just sat there waiting for Chopper to give us some kind of good news. First Robin and now Steve, it was bad. Luffy hadn't said much of anything since they got back, he just sat on the figure head like usual staring out at the sea.

"Hey, are you alright?" I said climbing up next to him "It's not like you to be this quiet."

He sat there fingering his hat "I'm fine."

He's lying.

"Luffy it's okay to be scared. I'm afraid too but sitting around moping won't help anyone." I said putting an arm around his shoulder.

"I can't…lose him too."

"I know. It'll be okay." I said pulling him into a hug and lingering for a second "I'm gonna go check on things down there just call if you wanna talk some more."

"Okay."

I hopped off the figurehead onto the deck and found Zoro there. We hadn't talked much since we got back down from the sky, but we had to get used to being around each other or there might be problems.

"How is he?" Zoro asked.

"Not good. I haven't seen Luffy like this in a long time." I frowned "When Steve isn't around Luffy always loses his smile."

"Steve's your brother aren't you scared?" Zoro asked.

"Of course, I am, but right now Steve would want me to be strong for Luffy so I gotta keep it together." I said wiping away some tears "Luffy's a lot more sensative than all of you realize."

"You're not the only one on this ship; we're all here for each other." He said.

"Heh maybe this'll freeze those desires he has for Robin" I joked trying to lighten the mood.

"Doubt it."

Chopper came out of the bathroom where Steve and Robin were. I called for Luffy because it was clear Chopper had something to say.

Please be good news.

"Their hearts…are beating again!" he said crying.

I fell to my knees "Thank God."

I looked over at Luffy and the look of relief on his face spoke volumes. Chopper told us that we couldn't go in and see them just yet since they needed rest. Nami said the Log was set but suggested we wait until Steve and Robin were better to leave.

"We'll wait for them to get better." Luffy said agreeing.

Usopp fell onto the deck looking all depressed.

"What's wrong with you?" Zoro asked.

"Are we gonna run into more guys like that?" he asked.

We didn't answer him.

"Just get some sleep it's late and you look exhausted." Zoro told him.

"You get some rest to." He said gesturing to me.

Steve's POV

Getting frozen solid sucks, all my joints ache and my muscles are sore.

Apparently, a week had passed since my altercation with Aokiji. Robin still wasn't feeling well enough to get out of bed but I decided to go out onto the deck.

"YAY!" Luffy yelled jumping into me and hugging me.

"Easy Luffy I just got out of bed."

"Oh Sorry." He said putting his head down.

"What are you getting all depressed over, cheer up I'm not dead." I rubbed his head

"I'm happy." Luffy said.

"Yeah, sorry I worried you." I said with a smile "Don't worry I won't leave like that."

We stood there for a while before Sanji walked passed and made a passing remark about how the two of us looked.

"Would the loving couple like a table?"

"Shut it cook."

Luffy went off to play with Chopper and Usopp. I found Rose throwing darts at the mast.

"Hey." I said.

"You're out of bed, that's good. Where's Robin?"

"She's still not talking much. She was asleep when I came outside. The whole thing shook her up, and me getting frozen to didn't help matters." I sighed.

"Yeah." She said "it seemed like you getting put on ice did a number on everyone."

"How was he?" I asked.

"You know exactly how he was. The same way he gets every time you get hurt or go away; his smile disappeared. He's still so afraid of having to feel like that again. This gave him a real scare, I haven't seen him that bad in years." She explained.

"If that asshole's out there somewhere I'll tear him a new one. It's all his fault Luffy gets like that." I growled a bit.

"Steve it's not fair to blame him, besides it's not like you can exact revenge on a dead guy."

"Whatever." I sighed "I felt so damn useless."

There was a creaking noise and the door on the upper deck opened and Robin stepped out for the first time in a week.

"Robin! How are you feeling?" Chopper asked her

She still looked pretty exhausted "Much better thank you Doctor."

"Don't feel like you need to rush just because he got out of bed." Rose told her.

Robin asked for a cup of coffee and went about her business. I milled around the deck for a while before heading in to see Robin, I thought the two of us needed to talk. I opened the door and found her talking with Nami.

"Hey." I said letting them know I was in the room.

Nami said hello but Robin didn't. I guess Nami sensed the air in the room and excused herself. Robin and I sat there for a while before I finally said something.

"So…getting frozen sucks."

"Yes it does." She said getting to the point.

"Look let's cut to the point." I said trying not to get frustrated "Me getting frozen is not your fault, and I don't want you to think that."

"Alright."

Jeez give me something to work with.

"Robin say something, your lack of talking is freaking me out."

She just hummed to herself and didn't speak,

Let's see what it takes to get her attention.

"Robin…I stayed to fight Aokiji to help you, not make you feel worse. Losing to him sucked, I thought I was dead for sure." I paused to collect my thought making sure I knew what I was about to do "I was worried I'd die and I never get to see you again."

She just shook her head.

She's not even listening. I have to go all out. I have to tell her.

"I care about you Robin; I care a lot. It's obvious I have feelings for you. I'm crazy about you, so please say something because you're freaking me out!"

Robin picked up her coffee mug and walked off saying "I told you if you kept flirting with me like that you'd end up hurt."

"Robin wait!" I grabbed her wrist "If this is about what Aokiji said about your past I don't care. If it means I can have you I'll fight anything. I'm sick of waiting, I'm taking the lead, so whether you like it or not, the next island I'm taking you out on a date."

She broke free of my grip "I told you no."

"Yeah and I don't care. Go ask anyone on the deck and they'll tell you how obvious the two of us are when it comes to flirting. I'm sick of this song and dance, I'll show you a good time and make all your fears go away."

She walked out onto the deck "Leave me alone please."

I went out onto the deck after her and the rest of the crew was using the oars to chase something.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Gotta get that frog!" Luffy yelled.

I looked past the ship and there was a frog doing the forward crawl. It was a big creature, brown and covered in scars.

Well you see something new every day.

There was a horn like noise in the distance and the ship suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Nami started screaming for us to turn the ship around. We barely got the Merry free when a huge metal bullet shot past us. The frog didn't move he stood there and took it head on.

"Look Granny pirates!"

We looked over at the slab housing the light house and some old woman came out. She was plastered, fall down drunk.

Should someone like that really be watching a child?

Sanji gave them something he had whipped up in the kitchen and that made them very friendly.

"I'm Chimney, this is my Granny Kokoro, and this is Gonbe the cat." The little girl said introducing them.

Pretty sure that's a rabbit.

The girl explained that we nearly got hit by something called a 'Sea-Train' which is just a steam powered car running on tracks below the water. The frog, whose name is Yokozuna, was trying to beat the train in a contest of strength.

"Alright then I won't eat him, I don't eat hardworking animals." Luffy said

"You really shouldn't eat frogs to begin with." Nami said.

"Yeah they're all slimy." I told him "They don't look tasty."

Luffy wanted to take the train to a place called 'the city of cuisine' but Nami reminded him about following the Log.

"Where's it pointing?" Kokoro asked.

"West."

"Oh boy, you're headed to 'The City of Water' Water Seven. It's a place that specializes in ship building."

"Are the shipwrights there good?" Luffy asked.

"There the best in the world, even the government trusts those guys." Kokoro explained.

"Man we hit the jackpot Luffy, an island full of what we're looking for." I told him.

"Then let's go there and find one to be our friend and become our shipwright!"

The old woman went inside and came back with a scrap of paper "Take this it's a map of the area and a letter of recommendation. Give them to a man named Iceberg and he'll take good care of you. You'll be there a week before the Log records so stay and have some fun."

"We'll be going there soon so maybe we'll see you." Chimney said.

"See ya!" we headed off to Water Seven in search of repairs and a shipwright for the crew.

AN

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Till Next Time!