Yosh, here's the next chapter! Time for the drama! Drama, this is your part!

Drama: Yo, I'm ready!

Great! Aaaand... Action!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece!

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Chapter 3 – Terrifying

Two days passed without Luffy showing any signs of getting better. Instead, the strawhat captain grew worse each minute; the crew hardly wanted to believe how weak their leader looked. It had all happened so incredibly fast – a few days ago, everything had been just fine! He'd been running around, laughing loudly and now he could barely breathe on his own! How come all their happiness had been shattered so quickly?

As the strawhats were gathered in the infirmary, Chopper told them about the many symptoms and how he couldn't find a fitting sickness for them. The poor reindeer had spent hours of searching his medicine books, but he just couldn't find what he was looking for.

He thought Doctrine had taught him everything she knew, but apparently that hadn't been enough. That thought frustrated and scared Chopper at the same time. How was he supposed to meet everyone's expectations as a good doctor if he couldn't cure Luffy? And what if Luffy really died...?

"You still don't know what sickness he has?!" Usopp didn't mean to shout, but he was so shocked it just slipped out like that. Usually, Nami would have whacked him for being so noisy but she was trying to process the bad news.

"Shh! Not so loud, Usopp!" Chopper barked, but quickly went back to his desperate expression. "Y-yeah... I don't know what I should do anymore! He just won't get better no matter what I try! I ac-actually fear for his life!" He sniffled and looked at the others as if they would tell him what to do.

But of course that was foolish, none of them had an idea of how to handle this.

Shocked faces stared at their youngest member as if waiting for him to tell them it was all just a terrible joke. But Chopper didn't start laughing... quite the reverse was the case.

"Chopper...", Nami put her hands over her mouth, near tears.

"Luffy won't die that easily." Zoro's deep, calming voice cut through the air like a knife. The others turned to look at the inofficial first mate. Zoro stood in the middle of the room like a rock that could not be removed, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"He's our captain, right? I bet he's going to raid the kitchen tonight after having so little to eat all the time. " The comment made some of them chuckle slightly.

"He'll be up before you know it. Luffy's always been a ridiculous fast healer after all." Zoro finished and stared at Luffy for a moment as if to wait for him to jump out of bed, whining about food. A second later he went out of the infirmary without another word.

"What's wrong with that idiot?" Nami shook her head after Zoro was out of the room, rubbing her nose.

Sanji agreed, scratching the back of his head. "That damn Marimo... I can't believe he's so blindly trusting...".

"I know what you mean... It's not like I don't believe Luffy-bro isn't strong enough or anything, but this sickness is something we should take seriously." Franky said, watching how their captain frowned in his sleep. It was almost as if he could feel the tensed atmosphere around him.

"Perhaps Zoro-san is just trying to hide how upset he is." Robin suggested and nodded towards the window. Sanji frowned and, for once not reacting oddly to a beautiful woman, took a look out of the window.

"What do you mean, Robin-chwan? ...Oh, I see."

What he saw made him sigh deeply. Zoro was training like a mad man, sweat running down his naked upper body already. There was a deep frown upon his face that made him appear years older. Everyone knew what this sight meant and it was quite sad. Zoro was forcing himself to forget everything and everyone around him in favour of not having to worry about Luffy anymore.

"... That dumb Marimo." Sanji bit his lip.

"Hey, guys...", Chopper piped up timidly, catching the other's attention. "Zoro's right, isn't he? Luffy's stronger than this sickness, right?"

Usopp forced a grin and stepped over to where Chopper stood beside Luffy's bed. "Haha, what are you talking about? Of course our first mate is right! Since when had Luffy ever let us down, huh? Right, never! And he won't start now!"

Chopper smiled a bit after hearing this. If Usopp said so, then it had to be true! "Yes! You're so wise, Usopp!"

The sniper grinned, the rest of the crew just rolled their eyes upon the obvious admiration. "Why yes of course I am! Don't worry, Doctor Chopper! I'm sure no matter what kind of sickness Luffy has, you'll be able to help him!"

"That shithead is right, Chopper. You're gonna cure him like always and everything will be fine." Sanji threw in a comment, smirking all the way as he casually put his hands into his pockets.

Usopp frowned at the nickname, but didn't reply. Chopper danced at the praise, grinning in embarrassment. The others just chuckled half-heartily at the scene, safe for Robin who sighed at the weak attempt of the crew to lighten the mood. They weren't any better than Zoro the way they tried to act as normal as possible. But telling them about this would just complicate things, so Robin decided to keep her mouth shut for now. A little good humour wasn't so bad, even if it was fake.

Usopp patted Chopper's head, smiling. "Sanji's right! We have the best doctor in the crew, after all! Besides, look at him-", at that, Usopp pointed at the sleeping Luffy - "he's our captain, there's no way he's going to lose to that fever!"

The moment those words left his mouth, Luffy coughed in his sleep. His nakama were looking at the bed, and as if reality had just hit them they couldn't say a word anymore. All the small smiles were wiped from their faces.

They just noticed how pale Luffy still was, except for the dark flush on his cheeks from the high fever. And now that it was completely still in the room, everyone could hear the ragged breathing; it was obvious that Luffy had trouble inhaling.

The crew exchanged concerned glances, the mood dropping a few degrees. Chopper gulped and Usopp didn't want to look at his sick captain anymore and stared at the floor instead, scratching his arm awkwardly. He'd just meant to cheer the reindeer up, but thanks to him everyone was even more worried than before.

Brook would have frowned if he was able to. He wanted to make a joke, but found he had no energy to do so. He grimly walked over to Luffy's bed and took a chair beside him. Sanji mimicked his actions and sat on the end of the bed, hands still in his pockets. The silence was threatening to squash them as realization settled in slowly.

Looking at him in such a weak state made them see the truth. Luffy had come out of so many dangerous, life-threatening situations unharmed that they just started to think of him differently. How many times had they thought – feared – that this time they'd lose him? How many times had he proved them it was foolish to fear for his life, because he always found a way to survive somehow?

They had gotten used to Luffy's countless reckless actions, that's why they just stopped worrying for him all the time. He was Luffy, the man who declared war to the world and all the foes of freedom; the one boy who had risked his own life without thinking twice for people he hold dear; the Luffy who was stronger than anyone, maybe not physically but by heart and will.

Somewhere in the back of their heads, the strawhats still knew that every living creature was vulnerable in a way and Luffy was no expectation. He was human like them, capable of dying, yes...

But it just never occurred to them that Luffy would be on the brick of death without returning to them; they just hadn't accepted the possibility of their captain dying.

They had all forgotten... but Luffy wasn't inviolable.

Because in the end, he was just a young boy who had lost so much and suffered more than anyone deserved. Right now, Luffy was just a lad who was fighting for his life with anything he had, trying hard to stay positive and keep on breathing.

One by one, the rest of the crew left the infirmary. They couldn't bear watching Luffy struggle to breathe and wanted to keep their minds occupied with different things. Sanji went into the kitchen to prepare the dinner, Franky wanted to repair an old machine of his, Robin and Chopper headed into the library to do some research, Brook sat on deck and played a slow tune. Only Nami stayed back since someone had to be watching Luffy in case something happened.

As she sat beside his bed, numerous thoughts and memories floated through her mind and she had to bite her lip hard not to cry. It was unbelievable how someone so powerful could be so weakened all of sudden by a sickness.

Nami absent-mindly pushed a strand of hair out of Luffy's face, looking at him with eyes full of affection. Luffy always tried so hard to make each of his nakama happy, and look what he got in return. It wasn't fair, but Nami didn't want to complain about it. Life had never been fair, she'd learned that lesson when she was a little kid.

A harsh cough rattled through Luffy's body, but he still didn't wake up. Nami breathed a tired sigh as she exchanged the wet cloth on his forehead. It was hard to watch Luffy fighting without being able to help... no, it was unbearable. His nakama were forced to watch how he was fighting against an invisible, horrible enemy that loved to see people suffer.

It's called fate. There was always a malicious grin upon its face.

And it was overly happy as it saw the big, salty drops of water running down Nami's soft cheeks. They dripped onto her forearms and hands that shook uncontrollably. She couldn't help it, it looked so horrible how her strong captain lay there suffering in that bed. This wasn't her captain, the Luffy she knew; it was a dying person.

"Luffy...", she whispered although she knew he probably couldn't hear her. Nami lifted her shaking hand and reached forward to caress his cheek. A harsh sob escaped her throat as she felt the immense heat radiating off him; the fever was still rising.

"Please don't leave us."

Of course, the sleeping boy didn't answer, but then, Nami hadn't really expected a reaction. She'd only hoped for one.

As Chopper came in fifteen minutes later to check on his patient, he wasn't surprised to find Nami fast asleep beside his bed. She had her head next to his shoulder and was holding his hand.

He didn't want to destroy that moment of peace since Nami and even Luffy looked comfortable and somewhat at ease like this.

So instead of waking the navigator, Chopper placed a blanket over her and took a seat at Luffy's other side, just watching his two nakama sleep.

It was silent in the sick bay. Right now, nothing was happening. Anyone would say it was outright boring to watch someone else sleep but Chopper thought this sight was actually really nice. It was nice to close his eyes and listen to that slow, deep inhaling and exhaling of his friends who matched their breathing perfectly, almost as if they had never done anything else. It was a moment full of harmony just between friends.

Chopper sniveled silently. The reindeer wished this could last forever, even though he knew it was terribly wrong to ask for something like that.

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At night, the crew sat together in an eerie silence. Each of them tried not to look at the empty seat that left a huge gap between them. But it was painfully obvious that Luffy was not present.

Of course, it's not like they had never had a meal without their captain. There had been numerous times they had eaten with Luffy missing it; how many times had Luffy been unconscious for a day or two after a battle? It's been too often to count already, it was nothing new. Though this time, it was entirely different. This time, they were actually scared their captain would never sit at the table eating with them again.

Not only was it awfully quiet, but also the fact that the whole atmosphere was way too depressing and dark made it hard to stay positive. This incident had thrown them all off-balance.

There was a tensed silence in the kitchen. None of the crew was hungry and felt like eating at the moment.

It just didn't seem right to sit there together while Luffy was down in the infirmary, fighting his high fever. Chopper was with him, keeping a watchful eye over their captain, but still they felt like they should go down and help Luffy fighting his battle. There had to be something they could do other than sitting around, acting as if nothing was wrong.

Usopp stared at his plate that was filled with hot spaghetti. Even though Sanji's cooking was lacking its usual perfection, it still looked like a work of art the way he'd prepared it. It looked absolutely delicious and almost too good to just eat it. Still, Usopp would give a lot to have Luffy's rubber hand crashing into the spaghetti, snatching the meal away.

Speaking of Sanji, the cook just didn't have the same energy and enthusiasm about cooking anymore, everyone had noticed. His meals tasted fine, yes, but different. Maybe it was because they didn't taste perfect anymore. There was something important missing. It's only been two days since their captain's unexpected illness, but it already had such a huge impact on everyone. The truth hurt but without Luffy around, Sanji didn't cook as passionately as before anymore.

Brook took a sip of his tea. It was funny... he'd spent fifty years - half a century! - all on his own in complete darkness, and he knew better than anyone how cruel time could be. Still, he was quite shocked to learn it had just been two days since Luffy's collapse. Those past two days had stretched like years and reminded Brook so much of his time in the fog. How could two days be so damn long?!

He also wasn't joking around anymore. They wouldn't admit it out loud, but they all missed the guy's terrible skull jokes badly. It was shocking how dead Brook looked when he didn't laugh or tell jokes. The strawhats had never looked at Brook like that; they'd always regarded him as one of them, a living, smiling, breathing human being. But right now, he was so different from what he used to be. He looked like a lifeless, wandering skeleton with ghastly, hollow eye sockets.

Franky wasn't any better. Though he always told himself that there was still a chance Luffy would survive it never lifted his spirits. Why were they all so depressed suddenly? Luffy was still alive, wasn't he? Still, the cyborg had changed. He even stopped saying the word 'super'. It was a minor detail, but his friends thought it was awful. To them it made a huge difference. That tiny, annoying word was part of whom Franky was, part of his very personality. Now this part was gone, and instead a more aggressive Franky had surfaced. He'd unintentionally snap at his nakama, almost constantly being in a bad mood. It was hard to compare him to the flower-shirt wearing Franky they'd come to like so much.

Since Luffy had fallen ill, Robin was even more quiet and thoughtful than usually. Nami thought she was the only one who had noticed, but Sanji and Zoro saw it as well. Wherever Robin went, a dark shadow was looming behind her. She seemed to transform back into her old, withdrawn self with ocean blue eyes full of sadness instead of freedom. Nami could barely stand watching it, but she just didn't have the strength and optimism to cheer Robin up.

Actually, Nami was worse than Robin. The orange-haired girl cried a lot, even though she hated weeping. It was not only a sign of weakness but also showed that she didn't believe in their captain's strength. Was she really that hopeless? Did she really give up on Luffy already? Nami bit her lip as new tears threatened to roll down her face again. Her beautiful eyes were bloodshot and dark circles underneath them told the others of the many sleepless nights she spent crying. She could only think of that grinning face of her captain, bright eyes full of earnest happiness. Nami was terribly scared... scared she wouldn't be able to see Luffy's blinding smile again.

And Zoro... Zoro was silent. He was strong, emotionless, stoic. Never angry, never seen crying. He was only training madly, stubbornly focusing on growing stronger and stronger. He missed the fact that he unconsciously began to build a barrier around himself. No one could go through that and see what's behind. He was locking them all out. Sometimes, it made the others feel as if Zoro didn't care but that was bullshit because it probably hurt him most what was happening to Luffy.

The other nakama couldn't think of Luffy without Zoro somewhere around the boy. As long as they could think back, they had never seen Luffy being alone. The green-haired swordsman had always been around. Of course, that lead to a misunderstanding to outsiders. Some began to think Zoro were the captain, others may think Zoro was like an attachment to Luffy, like his bodyguard, following each of his steps.

Though, truth be told, Luffy didn't need a bodyguard or an attachment. He needed someone he could always rely on and who would support him no matter what, he needed a true friend who helped him take the first step towards his dream. To make it short: someone like Zoro. Those two had shaped their pirate crew. They had been the first two people of the strawhat group; those two were the base, the cadre, the foundation stone of the crew. But right now, their foundation was cracked.

And that was what made Zoro's resolve break finally. It was unbearable... the depressed atmosphere that was looming all over the ship, the sadness and irritation you could clearly see on everyone's face. It was too much. Luffy would be shocked if he knew how much they had all changed in such short amount of time. This wasn't his crew anymore; he wouldn't recognize any of them.

So, as they sat there in the kitchen, each of them lost in thoughts, Zoro couldn't take it anymore. He grit his teeth, and let his hidden anger out at once, as he suddenly barked loudly at his friends.

"What's wrong with you? Why the hell are you acting as if he's already gone?! He's Luffy, for God's sake! He won't die from a fucking sickness! He'll become the king of pirates, before that he doesn't have time for dying!" Zoro all but shouted.

"Oi, Zoro-", Sanji snapped, but Zoro cut him off.

"Have you no faith in Luffy?" He asked, leaving a thick silence as everyone just stared at him in shock. How could Zoro even suggest such a thing?!

Suddenly, the silence was broken by the navigator as she snorted humorlessly, drawing everyone's attention towards her. Slowly, Nami rose from her seat, eyes shaded by her hair. She inhaled deeply to keep her compose and then turned to glare at Zoro.

"Have you lost it, Zoro?" She asked calmly. The rest of the crew members frowned but chose not to interfere. The first mate rose one brow, glaring right back.

"Nani?! What the hell-"

With a loud crash, Nami sent her fists down onto the table. Hard. The sudden noise made the others flinch and even Zoro shut his mouth quickly.

"Have you LOST IT?!" she repeated, this time screaming loudly. "What the FUCK are you talking about?! Of course we have faith in him, and you know better than to question our loyalty towards Luffy!"

"You-", Zoro began, but Nami slammed her hands down again, effectively silencing him.

"Shut it, I'm not finished! What do you mean with Luffy won't die from something silly like a sickness? He still hasn't become the Pirate King yet, after all? Cut the crap!"

No one dared to comment on that. They all just watched, gaping, as Nami took another deep breath and continued in her rage.

"What the hell kind of reasoning is that?! I know that we have to believe in him, but there's a huge difference between believing and denying! And just in case you forgot: Luffy is still human! Right now, Luffy is very sick; you can deny it all you want, but he is on the verge of death! Open your eyes, Zoro, don't pretend to be so blind! Just...don't … don't make it worse than it already is." She spoke the last part in a whisper and began to sob quietly, furiously rubbing at her eyes.

Nami's outburst made Franky weep silently, too, and he reached forward to pat the navigator's head in a comforting manner. Zoro, looking rather taken aback at first, opened his mouth to say something in return, but he decided against it. Instead, he turned around and stomped out of the kitchen, slamming the door loudly.

The others looked at the damaged door solemnly, unsure how to comment on that. He'd looked quite helpless. And that's how they all felt: helpless.

Brook made an attempt to follow the swordsman, but a hand spread out from the table and stopped him gently. As the musician looked at Robin, he was surprised to find tears in her eyes as she shook her head sadly, looking back at Brook. The skeleton gulped and forced himself to sit back down, fingering quietly with his right sleeve.

After that, the awkward atmosphere in the kitchen was absolute. No one talked, the only noise being made was Nami's and Franky's silent weeping. Most of them stared into nothing as they all began to ponder about what Nami had said. In the end - they all knew she was right - they were trying to deny their situation. Running away wouldn't solve anything.

On the other hand, what would good would it do to face what was about to come? Luffy wouldn't get any better even if they acted more prepared, anyways, right? Acting so clueless helped them to keep their composure, albeit they knew it was wrong to pretend false hope.

But even though they tried by any means possible to believe everything would be fine in the end, something was missing. It was lost and they all feared it wouldn't be found again. How did this happen? They thought they were more than a crew, more than just friends. They thought their trust was deeper than anything. But the small argument earlier just showed them that their bond wasn't as strong as they believed it to be.

But maybe it was because they all sensed this was something really big, something deadly serious. Something that would change them or maybe not, who would know? They just knew that A

apparently, this was just the beginning.

Because slowly, they were breaking apart. Each of them was busy pitying themselves. And who could blame them? The possibility of Luffy dying was absolutely terrifying.

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I know that it seems pretty rushed at some parts, my apologies for that. Anyways, I hope this was to your liking, dear readers :D The crew may seem OC, but that's intentional. I wanna write them in a state of utter shock (or something like that). In the end, this is just my personal imagine of what were to happen to the crew if Luffy was really dying.

Ok, enough of my pointless ranting^^ THANKS SO MUCH for all those lovely reviews! :D :D

Kaoru likes One Piece: So sorry I didn't answer your review last chapter! The moment you posted this review I already added another chapter... sorry! But thank you for reviewing again! :) Oh yeah, damn, you're right with that! :O I was just so used to her not saying the names but the titles of the others. Though I shall change it from now on! Thanks for pointing that out, you're totally right with this! Glad you liked the first chapters, I hope you liked this one as well :)

eowyn278: Oh, thanks a lot! :D I think it's difficult to write battle scenes, so it makes me double happy to hear you liked it! :,) Sorry to make you wait so long for this chapter!

Natylol: Yesh, isn't it? Thank you for reviewing! ;)

Llaelien: Thanks, I was glad to see I got such a kind review ;D Hm-hm, that is still to be found out *mystery smile* Truth be told, I still don't know myself. Maybe I won't make a big fuss about what kind of sickness it is, but then, maybe I'll have a sudden idea and throw that into the story. I still don't know :) Anyways, thank you!

MeikoKuran999: Aw thanks! Here you go~ :D

onepiecefan12: I know right? Thank you, hope your curiosity was satisfied ;)

AkaNeko-san: Woot! You did? That's great :D I'm always fussing over him as well when I read a story where something like this happens to him^^ Aaw, me too! I'm just the same, so I totally agree with you on all of that, haha! ;D Luffy's just that of an amazing guy! Thank you! =D Hopefully you enjoyed this as well (even though it was way darker than the last one...) Thanks for your review ;D

Domou Arigatou to all of you again :) You are amazing! :,)

Til next time~

Neko11