izzywolf22: Not yay Franky for awhile. lol. You'll see.

Luffy and Zoro, now loaded with bags of sweets and Luffy's even bigger backpack, walked back onto the Going Merry. Everyone was already there, and they were the last to arrive. Chopper immediately ran over and asked what they'd bought.

Luffy set the bag of candy down and said, "All this candy is for everyone to share," and she opened the flap to show a massive amount of sweets, enough to keep all of them satisfied for a very long time. "We bought some books, and went to a couple restaurants, and Zoro got us these," Luffy said, showing Chopper her locket and opening it.

Nami came over after seeing the glint of the silver. "Ooh, that's so pretty," she cooed, but not touching it since Luffy tucked it back in her dress so no one could touch it.

"It was Zoro's idea," Chopper said. Zoro's face turned pink when Nami said, "Awwww! That's so romantic!"

"Sh-shut up," Zoro grumbled, taking Luffy's heavy backpack to their room. When he came back, he explained their encounters with the attempted muggers. "They were weak, it was pathetic." Nami frowned.

"That may have not been the best thing to do," she said seriously. "I've heard a lot of people complaining about this 'Franky', who causes trouble and violence. You beat and humiliated his family, so he might come after us and be angry."

"Wh-what? Should we move the ship?" Usopp questioned nervously, automatically looking around at their surroundings, though there was no one and nothing in sight but the rocky ground.

"It shouldn't be a problem tonight I don't think, but we will tomorrow," Robin said calmly as Luffy walked to Sanji and handed him the recipe she'd gotten from the restaurant.

This is really yummy so you should try and make it, she wrote, and then turned and walked away back to Zoro. Sanji looked at the sheet of paper and read the ingredients and how to make it. And it did look tasty. He'd get the ingredients to make it sometime tomorrow.

Robin was put on first watch that night, and then Chopper since the main fighting force should be rested in case the 'Franky Family' attacked them the next day. Like usual, Luffy and Zoro went to sleep later, after snacking on the candy they'd bought and talking about what they should do tomorrow.

-x-

The next morning, all hands were on deck as they moved the ship, sailing around the island to a coast on the other side. Luffy sat in the crowsnest with some binoculars, watching to see if anyone was around and seeing them move. Was it a mistake to take them on? Well, they attacked first, really. If the couple weren't strong, they'd probably have been mugged for real.

Yes, Luffy had the ability to create money, but they'd bought other things in that backpack, and the teen's pride was too big to have small fries rob her. No, she did the stealing. No one stole from her. Plus, Zoro was pissed that Luffy had been threatened. If the Franky Family did come after them, they better not treat Luffy like the little girl those failure muggers did. Luffy wasn't a little girl, damnit! It pissed her off.

After the ship was hidden behind a large rock, everyone but Luffy and Zoro came off. Those two were on watch since they just did whatever they wanted the day before while everyone else had duties.

While the rest of the crew was off doing other things (girls shopping for clothes, boys shopping for food or gadgets), Luffy and Zoro couldn't be intimate since they were possibly targets from the Franky Family. But they would be fine. And they would protect the ship. After all, those guys were total weaklings.

They both relaxed on deck, Luffy sitting in Zoro's lap as he napped. There was no one around, and nothing to see. It was quite boring, but at least she was in a comfy spot. When she got up to go to their room to go and get one of the books she'd bought, she smelled something bad. Really bad. It burned her nose, so she plugged it. But it still hurt her throat to breathe it in. with no one around, she just lifted the hem of her dress to cover her mouth, looking for whatever the smell was to get rid of it.

She had turned the corner behind the main deck so Zoro was out of view when a big hand grabbed her skinny neck, and shoved a cloth of that horrible stench in front of her mouth, burning her throat, sinuses and lungs horribly. Luckily, it didn't last for long as she was knocked out.

Her captors didn't notice the blood dripping from her mouth and nose when they put a bag over her head and left the ship quickly. She hadn't even had time to make some sort of loud noise for Zoro to come get her. Damn, he was too relaxed and didn't even realize there had been other people on the ship.

"You're gonna pay for embarrassing and hurting my bros," one of the men said, the one who was carrying Luffy like a sack over his shoulder. They wrapped her hands in wire, her hands behind her back, but didn't hurt her in any other way. Maybe they thought hurting a little girl was wrong.

The blood from her nose and mouth dripped down onto the rocky ground as they hurried away from the Going Merry and around the coast, to their own house. Luffy lost one of her shoes on the way.

"Z-o-ro…"

-x-

"Hey Zoro, where's Luffy? Ugh, and what's that smell?" Chopper wondered as he, Usopp and Sanji came back on the ship. It was later in the day, and the boys had used up all the money Luffy had made for them that day.

"Eh?" Zoro voiced before yawning. "She went inside to get a book," he said. "When's food?"

Chopper went inside, but found no Luffy. She wasn't at the back of the ship either, though it smelled stronger of that stench over there. "Zoro, she's not here! Did she tell you she was going somewhere?" the reindeer asked before he froze and looked at the little drops of blood on the railing. It mixed with the chemical smell that permeated the air. "ZORO!"

The swordsman hurried to Chopper, looking for Luffy as well. She wasn't there. "What? She didn't tell me she was leaving…" he said, extremely worried now. Luffy would have told him if she was going somewhere, because she probably would have bugged him about going with her.

"There's blood right here. It smells like Luffy, but also some sort of chemical!" Chopper shouted. The other men heard and came running, Sanji abandoning the food on deck. "It could be a really bad chemical for her!"

"Mosshead, you let her get kidnapped?!" Sanji demanded. Zoro looked horrified. Chopper immediately leapt off of the back of the ship in his human form and started running and following the trail. Zoro jumped off as well, followed by Sanji. Usopp hesitated for a moment, not exactly wanting to fight with the Franky Family, but Luffy was family. So he followed.

They all sprinted after Chopper, worrying and fearful.

"Oi, did you kill her? You were supposed to just knock her out," Zambai shouted at his brother, hitting him on the head. "She's just a kid. Is this really the one who shot and stabbed them?"

"All we did was make her smell the chloroform. It shouldn't have killed her!" the man responded.

"Then how do you explain this?!" Zambai pointed to the tiny teen who was tied to a chair, her head fallen forward with her hair curtaining her face. Now dried blood was staining her lips, nose and teeth. Her eyes were slightly open, but hazy. And she didn't react to anything around her. Just stared down, not responding to any surrounding stimuli. Even when she was shook roughly or slapped, she wouldn't speak or make any notion that she was conscious, though her eyes were open.

"I don't know! Maybe kids are more susceptible to it?"

Kiwi and Mozu were standing on either side of the seemingly little girl, not liking the sight. Sure, she was supposed to be the one that hurt and scared their brothers, but she looked so helpless and ill. "If Roronoa finds his sister like this, he's gonna kill everyone," Kiwi said worriedly.

Mozu lifted her chin with her finger to look up at her. "Are you okay? Are you awake?" she asked calmly, but loud enough for the girl to hear, even if she was asleep. She didn't make any reaction if she could even see Mozu in front of her.

"No, that is her! I swear," Kiev defended, supporting himself on crutches since the bullet wound was still fresh and painful, despite it being treated.

"Hmm, she doesn't look especially tough," Zambai said, crouching in front of the nymph. "Well, if she's like this, Franky-bro won't really have much interest. After all, he was looking forward to a good fight. Someone like this clearly isn't up to fighting, and what fun is beating a comatose child?"

Just then, Franky walked in. He saw the scene and frowned. "Yow! Is this the little girl who was with the pirate-hunter?" the cyborg questioned, lifting his sunglasses. She really didn't look anything but delicate and weak.

"Yeah, Kiev says she is. But she won't respond to anything. And we didn't use any sort of poison on her, so we have no idea what happened to her. Roronoa was just sleeping on the ship. Didn't even notice our bros going on it," Kop replied, sitting across the room, drinking a bottle of some cheap booze.

Franky frowned and walked right up to the teen. He kneeled down, and grabbed her chin with his large hand. She was so tiny compared to him. So plain and simple looking. "Man, what did you do to her?" Franky asked, as she didn't respond to him shaking her roughly or making eye contact.

Kop shrugged. "Don't know what's wrong with her."

"What should we do?" Mozu asked, still looking at the girl in pity. "I don't especially want us to hurt her."

"Hey! She's the bad guy, shot me in the leg and dissolved all of our stuff! She's not some little girl, okay? Well, she is, but she's also dangerous!" Kiev insisted. The others frowned at him. Did they really get bested by this shrimp? "She looks wimpy now, but only cause she's been drugged!"

Franky frowned. "Man, and I wanted to see her tricks, or whatever you said happened. Well, we'll wait for Roronoa to show up and then we can beat his ass since we can't do this one." The cyborg sighed. "Just go sit her in the corner. She's pitiful to look at."

-x-

"Zoro, I'm really worried about the chemical smell in the blood," Chopper said as he led the others to wherever Luffy was being held.

"She will be okay," Usopp said, though he was extremely concerned as well. He was trying to comfort Zoro, who looked terrified. He picked up one of her small shoes they found.

Sanji growled. "Then how was she taken in the first place?! Mosshead was asleep, but Luffy should have been able to take care of herself." He did admit Luffy was strong, and should have easily been able to win against the Franky Family. After all, they ran from her using her powers. They should be enough to at least protect herself from getting taken.

"Whatever chemical this is could have poisoned her. Right? I mean, she got really sick from the pain pills when she was on her- sick," Usopp pointed out. They finally came in view of where Luffy's scent ended. The Franky Family house. They weren't surprised that she was here.

"We need to find her first," Zoro said angrily. He was trying to be angry instead of fearful. He didn't even tie his bandana around his forehead, he just kept running to the front door, the other three following.

They could hear loud talking on the inside, and Chopper smelled many people. He stayed in his human form. If Luffy was sick, he'd need to help her, and if he ate a rumble ball, none of those forms would help her.

Sanji got to the door first and kicked it open so hard and flew into the room, crashing into a wall and shattering glass bottles. The four looked around, looking furious. Especially when Chopper found her. She was tied to a chair, eyes open slightly and not moving. Dried blood was caked under her nose and around her bottom lip.

"Yo, Roronoa," a strangely shaped man with blue hair and wearing barely any clothes said with a cold voice. "I hear you and your sister here beat up my guys."

Zoro didn't take the bait, and just destroyed the wall behind Franky with a slash of his swords. The swordsman sprinted across the room, leaving the rest to Usopp and Sanji, much to Usopp's dread. But there was no way to get Zoro to do anything but go to Luffy.

"Luffy? Luffy, can you hear me?" Chopper asked quickly and calmly, reverting into doctor mode as he pulled down his pack. Luffy didn't respond to him. He pulled out a tiny flashlight and shined it in both of Luffy's eyes. Thankfully, her pupils reacted normally. Then he shined the light down her throat, and gasped.

"What? What is it?" Zoro asked loudly and quickly.

Her esophagus was badly burned. The inner skin was bubbly and coated in blood. He tilted her head up gently and shined the light in both nostrils. These were burned as well. Chopper told him, and Sanji heard. He kicked everyone even more viciously, knocking out teeth.

Suddenly a metal fist attached to a chain nailed Sanji in the gut. "Ugh!" he coughed, but recovered quickly. "Are you Franky?" he asked the man coldly.

"That's right. I have no reason to fight you. I want to fight Roronoa and his sister." It was like Zoro was hearing through a tunnel as he looked at the almost comatose Luffy, though her eyes were opened.

Chopper ignored all of the fighting as he gently untied her from the chair, and carefully picked her up in his arms. "Don't worry, Luffy. You'll be okay. You just gotta wake up and heal yourself," the doctor said gently and soothingly. Luffy's left eyelid twitched.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO LUFFY?!" Zoro boomed, rushing the cyborg with his sword at Franky's throat. Everyone else around Sanji were unconscious or possibly dead. Usopp had started a fire in the corner, the alcohol spreading the flames. No one paid attention to the flames. They were too busy fighting, unconscious, or just didn't care at the moment and were so caught up in what they were doing.

But Franky didn't waver. "All we did was make her smell some chloroform. She had some weird reaction. How does it feel to have your own sibling injured?" Franky asked angrily.

"She's not my fucking sister!" Zoro shouted furiously, swinging his sword at Franky's throat, but the man dodged, and tried to punch Zoro in the same way he had for Sanji, but Zoro blocked the fist with his swords. "She's my lover and look what you did to her!" Franky's eyebrows raised. Lover? Maybe this girl wasn't a child after all. Interesting.

Luffy blinked slowly as Chopper quickly walked out of the building with Luffy in his arms. He didn't want to risk getting caught up between those still conscious and not on the ground. Those trying to get closer to Usopp and stop Sanji's onslaught.

"Your men attacked us first, you prick!" Zoro shouted. "You think we were just gonna let them mug us? You fucking dumbshit! I don't know why you people are such a big deal here. Your men are weak. Maybe, instead of kidnapping and drugging people, you should teach them how to fucking defend themselves and grow a pair!"

Zoro slashed his swords sideways and cut the entire building in half, knocking the roof down and causing dust to fill the air like smoke. He ran out after Sanji and Usopp, who was shaking at the close calls he'd just made.

When Zoro and the other two caught up to Luffy and Chopper, they stood around the doctor, who was still in heavy point. Luffy's eyes were still hazy and open, her mouth open a little bit, and looking like she couldn't see anything around her.

"Chloroform is commonly used to knock someone out, so it's not surprising it was used on her. Usually, it wears off after a few hours. It's been a long time since Luffy was taken I'd say, but it hasn't worn out yet. And humans don't react like this, the chemical doesn't burn them. I wish we could have had a nymph doctor," Chopper said quietly.

"Luffy?" Zoro whispered, taking her limp hand gently. "Can you hear me? It's Zoro. It's us, we got you," the young man said.

"I don't think she can respond right now, Zoro. We need to get her back to the ship. Damn, we can't take her to any hospital either. We can't use any medication on her or we might make it worse with another reaction," Chopper explained, frustrated.

"Can I carry her?" Zoro asked quietly. Chopper gently transferred the teen to Zoro's arms, who held her gently like he always did.

Sanji stayed in the back of the group, continuously looking back to make sure no one was following. No one came out of the Franky house, and they had to wonder if everyone was dead. No one thought Franky was dead, as fighting him made it seem he was made of metal, which he may have been considering his fist was so hard and kicks to his abdomen didn't do anything but make Sanji's legs hurt.

When they made it to the ship. Chopper went on deck and took Luffy from Zoro from below. The doctor quickly walked to the infirmary and set the nymph on the bed. He closed her eyes. Nami came hurrying out of the galley, demanding where all of them were.

Zoro walked right past the woman and to where Luffy was, while Usopp explained what had happened. Grimly. They didn't know how to help Luffy. Nami put her hand over her mouth, and ran after the group. She saw Luffy laying on the bed, so still, with her mouth opened slightly. Zoro sat at the side of the bed, holding Luffy's dainty but calloused hand.

"Hi, Nami," Chopper said quietly as he mixed together some natural herbs in water. It was a natural numbing medicine he was going to put in Luffy's throat. They had to wait for her to wake up, but he couldn't let those burns go untreated until the girl woke and could heal herself.

"Franky said they used chloroform to knock her out and she had a strange reaction. She was tied to a fucking chair in the corner of the room, completely ignored," Zoro ground out.

Chopper came over and had a little metal stick of some sort soaked in gooey green liquid. It smelled gross to Zoro. Chopper gently opened Luffy's mouth as wide as he could, and told Zoro to hold it open for him and tilt her head back. Then, Chopper extremely carefully stuck the metal stick down her throat, gently sweeping it against the burns, numbing them so she would at least feel no pain. She had to be feeling them, even though she was unconscious.

She didn't wake up from the foreign object in her throat. For her sinus cavities, he took a Q-tip and spread the mixture around in her nose. "That should make sure she isn't in pain. If she doesn't wake up in a couple hours, I'll hook her to a water IV so she doesn't get dehydrated," Chopper explained.

Nami, Sanji, and Usopp waited outside of the infirmary, listening through the open door. Sanji was against the mast, though he could still hear Chopper's words as he smoked a cigarette. Seeing Luffy like that was horrible. He wished he could have made more damage to Franky and his men.

"Nami-san, we should move the ship. Who knows when Franky will come after us again. Mosshead destroyed their stupid house, not that I can blame him," Sanji said through a drag of his cigarette. "It would be safest."

Nami sighed. "We could move it back to where it had been. I wish there was more of a coast here." She sighed again. "This was supposed to be a fun spot. Luffy's first real inhabited island visit and what happens? She gets kidnapped and horribly injured."

Sanji sat down next to her, tossing the cigarette into the water. "At least she still has the locket. And with her being helpless, she was probably too boring to hurt or fight, so she wasn't beaten at all. They might have also thought she was a child, though they fucking drugged her anyways. Well, if any of them are alive, they must know she's not a kid based on Mosshead announcing that she wasn't his sister but his lover."

"Yuck. I feel bad for Zoro and Luffy. Having to make it seem like they are siblings. Disgusting, considering they've had sex. Just thinking about it is terrible," Nami mumbled with a grossed out look on her face. Sanji sighed, but understood what she was saying. "I- I didn't want to say anything about it since things are already stressful, but I don't know where Robin went. I was shopping with her, and this guy was following us, so she went to inspect. She didn't come out for awhile so I went to follow… It was a dead end, Sanji, and Robin wasn't there."

Sanji's eyes grew wider. "Great. Now Robin-chan is missing and Luffy is helpless and wounded." He stood up suddenly. "I'm going to go look for her," he said and left the ship.

"What about moving the Merry!" Nami called as Usopp looked very frightened. Robin was missing? She was their captain, what were they supposed to do without her? No one else on the crew was captain material, even the automatic but unofficial first mate wasn't up to be a captain. He was too worried about Luffy.

The only person he felt was close to captain material was Nami. Robin was strong. She wouldn't get beaten enough to not return. Usopp hoped Sanji would bring her back.

Three hours after Luffy was brought back to the ship, and three swabs of the natural numbing was done, she woke up. Her eyes were really dry, and her head hurt. It was also uncomfortable to breathe.

Zoro was laying his head on the bed, breathing deeply so he was asleep. Luffy looked around, though moving her throat too much hurt. Probably from whatever she breathed in. What happened after that?

She remembered some dialogue wherever she'd been taken that was spoken around her. Mostly men, but one woman. Then she remembered screaming. Unfamiliar and familiar. She had been blind. Were her eyes closed? She slowly moved her sluggish hand to touch Zoro's green hair.

He woke up from that and sat up quickly. Taking Luffy's hand. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly. He wouldn't tell her about the absence of Robin, which the rest of the crew was worried about. They wanted to move the ship, but Robin wouldn't know where to come back to.

Luffy's hands were sluggish, and slow to make her writing tools. She slowly wrote Can you get Chopper.

Zoro nodded and got up to find the doctor. He was in the galley, eating dinner by himself. The others had either barely eaten or not at all, too worried about two of their crew. "Chopper, Luffy woke up and wants you," Zoro said quickly, hurrying back to the room Luffy was in.

She was propped up on the pillow against the wall, looking a little out of it. "Hey, Luffy," Chopper said softly. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts. And my throat is itchy and painful," she replied.

"The chloroform you inhaled burned your throat and sinuses, maybe even your lungs," Chopper explained. "Can you heal it yourself?" Luffy didn't know, but she embarrassingly stuck her fingers up her nose, healing the cavities. She breathed deeply through her nose, which didn't hurt.

Zoro drew comforting circles on her leg. She opened her mouth as wide as she could and stuck her other hand's fingers down her throat, almost deep enough to gag, and healed down the passageway. She imagined warm water pouring into her lungs, which was just the tingling feeling she got from healing herself.

She breathed deeply through her mouth. "It's healed. My head still feels funny, though."

"We'll have to wait and see when that feels better. We don't know how you'll react to the chemical. There's no cure. Humans just fall asleep with this certain type of drug. We'll have to wait to see what happens," the doctor explained. Luffy's face suddenly turned red and she hid her face in her hands.

"I'm so embarrassed," she confessed.

"You don't have to be embarrassed. Everyone makes mistakes. It's not your fault your body reacted badly to something," Chopper said softly. Zoro frowned, knowing what they were talking about based on what Chopper replied to her.

"I feel like a burden. I keep getting injured. Stupid period, and then I got stabbed and now this," she replied quietly.

"No one thinks of you as a burden, Luffy. It's the opposite. You help us all the time. You've healed injuries, and created necessities for us. You've protected us from marines and pirates multiple times. Heck, Zoro gets injured all the time and then takes all of his bandages off! You're not even close to being a burden. And two of those instances, you could do nothing about," Chopper told her kindly. Zoro took her hands down from her face and held both in his hands.

"You're no burden," Zoro said simply, but strongly. Luffy frowned and looked down, but didn't reply.

"Do remember anything from being in the Franky house?" Chopper questioned, sitting on the end of Luffy's bed. Luffy nodded her head.

"There were a few women that didn't want to hurt me. They kept calling me a little girl, and then I remember moving. Then a party started and then you were all there and I was moved by you. I hurt, but didn't know what was wrong with me. I was really out of it," she explained.

"The burns must have been excruciating," Chopper said with a deep frown and sympathetic expression. Luffy nodded her head. Then she asked for some water, which she was given a glass of. She was glad it didn't hurt her throat, and she was extremely thirsty.

"Am I allowed to eat solid food?"

"If you've healed fully, then there's no reason not to. But, there's something else that happened. Robin is missing. She didn't come back tonight, and we can't find her in town," Chopper said quietly. Luffy's eyes widened.

"Why not?"

"We don't know. Nami said she was shopping with her and then she went to check out whoever was following her, but then never came back. And she disappeared through a dead-end alleyway. I can only think that someone with a devil fruit got her," the doctor explained.

"Dart brow left again to search for her. Chopper is going to also, but he had to take care of you first," Zoro said. Chopper nodded, but gave her a soft smile.

"I already ate, so I'm going out with Usopp to look. You, Zoro and Nami will be staying on the ship, which we moved so the Franky Family won't come back the same way again."

"None of them seemed to have followed us, but there's no way all of them are dead. So we don't know what they're going to do next. We destroyed their house and beat the shit out of all but Franky, so they're bound to hold a grudge. Probably a big one, even more than you and I taunting and hurting only fucking three of them. And now there's the problem with Robin. It's not how we wanted your first island to be," Zoro said angrily. Luffy just shrugged; couldn't do anything about it now.

"Do you need anything to go with you?" Luffy asked Chopper.

"A flashlight and a mini den den would be appreciated." So Luffy formed them for him and put them in a little bag. "Good luck. I won't get kidnapped again." Chopper thanked her and hurried out of the room.

"Love cook made leftovers for you," Zoro said, helping Luffy off of the bed. She was glad it was night time because the light would have most definitely hurt her eyes. The headache was dull, but still there.

Nami was in the galley with her head on the table. Luffy and Zoro walked in and when she looked up, she smiled and hugged Luffy, glad she was okay. Luffy pat her back. Luffy got her sandwiches and ate silently. The other didn't talk, though Zoro didn't nap like usual. He was sitting against the wall, looking at his lap sadly. Feeling bad about not waking up when Luffy needed him.

It sucks not being able to talk, Luffy wrote on her board when both humans looked up. Nami sighed.

"I can see why," she said. "You could always make some sort of bell and tie it to your wrist or something."

"That would go off every time she walks. Be a dead give away, and also probably hella annoying," Zoro replied from the wall. Luffy nodded with him.

"Hmm, what about a blow horn. Those are super loud," Nami offered. "I'm sure we can figure out something. If the Franky Family comes around again, you should make some sort of gas mask just in case. If you react that strongly to a sort of sleeping gas, that could make you really vulnerable."

Luffy nodded. It hurt really bad. I started bleeding from my nose and mouth, but I passed out thankfully. Then, they acted like I wasn't even there once I was deemed useless. Well, for once that was a good thing. I couldn't have fought like that, so at least they aren't overly sadistic or anything.

"Still, it was underhanded," Zoro grumbled. Luffy shrugged.

I won't make the same mistake twice. I just don't want everyone to start thinking I need protection or supervision all of the time, the nymph wrote. Especially Sanji.

"Love-cook actually didn't make any remarks about you being weak and needing protection, and was just as pissed about what happened to you as the others. I think that idiot's come around. Finally. Only five months later. Dumbass." Luffy smiled.

Does everyone finally like me?

"Luffy, we all liked you since you got on the ship. If we didn't, you wouldn't be here. Sanji-kun just went about it the wrong way."

"What the hell! I haven't liked curly-brow since I saw him and he still came!" Zoro protested. "I was here before everyone else and nobody listened to my opinion," Zoro ranted. It made Luffy give a small smile.

"That didn't count. We needed a cook," Nami said cooly. Zoro fumed.

"There were tons of cooks at that restaurant! We could have picked any of them!" the young man ranted. Nami waved her hand.

"Too late to do anything now, Zoro. No reason to get worked up about it if you can't do anything to change it," she said dismissively. Luffy watched the conversation in amusement and slight sadness. She wished she wasn't the newest one, and that she'd spent more adventures with them. She'd read the logbooks Nami had written. Sky Island sounded amazing. Even though they had a ton of trouble there, being up in the clouds would have been really fun.

It was almost midnight once Sanji, Usopp and Chopper came back, all looking sad and discouraged. There was no Robin. Zoro was sitting against the wall with a sleeping Luffy sitting in his lap when the others entered the galley. All three sat down and laid their head on the table. Zoro woke Luffy up.

"I take it no one found her?" Zoro asked in a bland voice. Why would Robin abandon them if she was the captain? It didn't make much sense to any of them.

"No. Nothing. Usopp even stayed at the sea-train station to see if she was leaving there. If she was, she either already has or hasn't left yet. Early tomorrow morning, I'm gonna go back and wait to see if she goes. Robin-chan wouldn't just leave us after all this time. She either was captured, or is held ransom in some way," Sanji said tiredly. "I'm going to bed. Who's on watch?"

No one really wanted to be on watch, but Zoro offered, saying he slept enough that day already, but asked Usopp to split the watch at around four. Usopp agreed, and all but Zoro went to bed, exhausted. Luffy still had a slight headache, but easily fell asleep even without Zoro with her. Usually, she'd take watch with him, but not tonight. She just wanted to sleep normally, and try to forget the whole embarrassing thing.

What a terrible day.