Of Loyalty and Leadership
By Lilium Bell
Disclaimer: Eichiro Oda-sama owns all. I just uncage my imagination near his fantastic works.
Hiyo! This is my first fic up here, so please be kind. Surprisingly, it's a One Piece fic. Here's a little drabble about the whole nakamaship and Luffy. I've just gotten obsessed, and my episode torrents haven't finished loading yet, so all I've got to go on is the million of fics I've already read, dubs (somebody shoot 4kids), and the sixth movie (the torrent was the fastest). Please feel free to correct me on accounts of OOCness and inaccuracies of plots/encounters. Enjoy!
"Luffy! What were you thinking!" Nami's shrill voice rang throughout the Going Merry's deck. Her livid eyes were set on a soaking wet Luffy who was laughing in spite of almost drowning minutes before. Sanji was nearby, coughing and also soaking wet. Chopper was shivering from the soaking waters of the roaring ocean.
What had happened was… well, nobody was really sure.
The captain, Chopper, and Ussop had been playing tag (despite Zoro's rude comments about their age) when Ussop had accidentally pushed Chopper too hard. The bluenosed reindeer had fallen overboard (it was a stormy day and the ship had pitched him off balance) and into the unwelcome waters.
Chopper couldn't swim.
Luffy couldn't either.
Ussop's panic had stopped his brain from functioning rationally, making him run about the ship, yelling "CHOPPER'S FALLEN OVERBOARD!" at the top of his lungs. His yells earned him a slap from Nami to calm him down.
The others had followed him to the spot where Chopper had fallen in.
"Where's Luffy?"
Unfortunately, Zoro's question had been answered in the worst way possible, as the signature straw hat suddenly surfaced with a small splash. Sanji swore, but took off his jacket and dived in to save them anyway. (Zoro would have done it, but was too slow in pulling off his katana. "Algae head never goes without them." As Sanji would say.)
As soon as they both had been dragged on deck, Luffy had coughed to prove he was indeed alive. Chopper had sat up, Ussop began apologizing profusely, only to be cut off by Luffy.
"Where's my hat?" Sanji lifted the wet trophy in manner of reply and placed it on Luffy's head.
It really made you wonder why some of the more sensible people in the world (save for Ussop and Chopper) would be following their fool of a captain. If you asked any of them why they stuck with the rubber boy, none of them would give you a straight answer. ("He brings in good loot." Nami would have said right away.)
Maybe it was because he wouldn't stop pestering them unless they joined him?
But if that were the case, Luffy might have been killed a number of times before, whether from Zoro's blades, Sanji's expensive shoes, or hell, even Ussop's slingshot. Robin even asked to join.
No, it was because Luffy tied them together. All of them had lost something at one point. All of them had it replaced by Luffy by something better, something more wonderfully filing than before.
Anyone of them looked at Luffy and knew by his smile, that he was there. He was truly and undeniably there for them. They would hear his childish laughter in the middle of a battle, when they were trying terribly hard to concentrate, and they'd know it was going to be all right in the end. His honesty (even when it made matters worse) could brighten up the darkest corners of their minds. Anyway, it'd make them try all the harder to be there for him.
Whenever they looked back, it was always Luffy, standing there and smiling at them, helping them all move forward.