I shall get straight to the point: Thanks for all the amazing reviews, and for all the favs! It's incredible how popular my little story got, thank you! Please enjoy reading :D

Warnings: Some cursing.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

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Chapter 4 – It was a stormy night

"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength."

…

Zoro stormed out of the kitchen. Had that really just happened?! Nami had shouted at him, everyone had watched in shock and he'd acted like a stubborn, little child. He, Roronoa Zoro, the demonic fighter, the stoic swordsman, the immature kid. But the worst part was that he hadn't been able to get his point across, to get them out of their small, dark space. The crew was still as depressed as before. Maybe even more thanks to him now.

Zoro was embarrassed and mad and really disappointed. In whom? In the crew? In Luffy? In himself? He didn't know. There were so many emotions dwelling up inside his chest he could barely contain himself. Zoro wasn't used to being so sensitive and moody. Since when did he act like a girl with messed up hormones?

As he stomped on the grassy deck, he stumbled a bit and he had to lean on the mast not to fall down. For a moment, Zoro closed his eye shut to prevent throwing up right here and there. The rain was pouring down on him but he was numb to the coldness around him.

How on earth did he lose control like that in the kitchen? Zoro had thought he could contain his feelings locked inside him. He didn't want to show this kind of Zoro to the others, but now it was too late. The swordsman felt so ashamed.

He wished he would have behaved wiser and calmer back then, more Zoro-like. Luffy had chosen him because he was cool-headed. Now look at what that cool-headed guy did. Zoro sighed tiredly. He hadn't intended to burst like that... he'd wanted to state a calm but stern and unmistakably announcement to shake them out of their torpid state.

His thoughts whirled through his head and mixed up everything like a tornado. Zoro gritted his teeth angrily, his rage suddenly getting the better of him.

Damn that thick silence, damn that witch and the damned love cook, damn the others-

"Damn it, LUFFY!" Zoro suddenly shouted, hitting the mast hard enough to leave a three inches deep hole in it. The swordsman slid to the ground. Suddenly, he felt very exhausted. He massaged his temples and took in deep breathes. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale! He told himself. Slowly and steadily. Just get a hold of yourself, goddammit!

He was the in-official first mate. He should tell them not to worry so much, to maintain their lively and heartily spirit, to cheer Luffy on. He should give them the courage they needed so desperately. Why had it become so hard to spread some happiness all of sudden? Their ship had seemed like a damn kindergarten full of laughing little kids a few days ago, just until-

That's right. Until Luffy had fallen sick.

Zoro slapped his hands over his eye and clenched it shut. He felt so useless. Hadn't he lost enough of his dignity already? Nothing could stop his emotions, not even the immense strong feeling of discomposure.

"Damn you, Luffy!" He repeated, growling like a beast, "making me cry like a weakling...".

It was the first time since he got defeated by Mihawk that Zoro actually weeped. Later on, he'd be as quiet as a gravestone about the whole matter; though for now he decided even strong men were allowed to cry.

But only this time, and only for him.

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They were sitting in the kitchen when it suddenly happened. Chopper, who'd been watching Luffy until a while ago, had come up to get something to drink. Zoro was still outside, not bothered the least by the cool rain and the thunder. Chopper had spotted the quiet swordsman leaning against the mast, obviously asleep. The doctor wanted to tell him to get in before he got sick, too – but Zoro's unusual threatening aura had kept him away successfully.

Chopper sighed sadly and pushed the kitchen door open. Robin and Sanji offered him a small, tired smile and he smiled back, but soon it faded. The others either didn't notice him or were just too lost in their own thoughts to actually greet, but Chopper wasn't so surprised by this. Things had been so depressing lately... how he wished everything would change back to how it used to be... He shook his furry had quickly. Right now, the little Xoan just couldn't afford these kind of thoughts. It was extremely important for him – as the ship's only doctor – to focus on his patient.

Guiding his thoughts back to Luffy, he began to quicken his steps. Chopper had to hurry, he couldn't afford to leave his captain alone for long. He knew that Luffy was very weak and hadn't even woken up since his collapse...

But if anything, the strawhat captain was known for his talent to surprise people, even those who'd known him for a long time. That and the fact that Luffy's breathing worried him made Chopper walk faster. Though, apparently luck wasn't on his side. He wasn't quick enough. Even if the reindeer barely took two minutes, Luffy had actually managed to sneak out of the infirmary in that short amount of time. No one had noticed.

-YXY-

A figure stepped onto the deck, wobbling on unsteady legs as if he were drunk. If Zoro weren't focused on himself that much he would have realized the other person's presence immediately. As he was now, however, shocked and irritated about his own sudden emotional outburst, he didn't even hear the steps nearing him.

Luffy reeled around, feeling completely disorientated, and touched his forehead as a sudden spell of dizziness hit him. Groaning and blinking, he couldn't help but wonder where all the water was coming from. Wasn't he inside? How come it was so wet and dark everywhere?

The tired groan alerted Zoro and pushed him out of his dazed state. He jerked around in one movement, jumping up. He was ready to pull out his sword but froze upon seeing none other than Luffy, the last person he'd expected to see. He blanched visibly. "What the- Luffy?!"

Luffy's hand fell limply back to his side as he blinked at his first mate. "Huh?" The look Luffy gave Zoro was surprised. No, that wasn't the right word. Luffy regarded the swordsman with a look of pure wonder, as if he had just seen Zoro for the first time in his entire life. Which was a ridiculous thought since the strawhat boy and Zoro had known each other for the longest time.

Zoro hid the sudden urge to just stare and sort out his thoughts and whether he should feel relieved or terrified. Deciding that the latter was the more logical consequence, he cleared his throat and quickly stepped forward towards his captain. Luffy shouldn't be here outside with him. Heck, for all he knew, the boy was in a horrible condition and shouldn't even be awake!

"Luffy? Are you okay? Can you hear me? What on earth are you doing on deck?" he asked as gently as possible. The adressed boy didn't answer right away, instead he continued to look at Zoro in a strange way.

The older man suddenly scrunched his brows together in obvious concern. At first he hadn't noticed, but now that he was taking a more critical look at his friend Zoro realized Luffy didn't exactly look at him. His glassy eyes seemed to bore right through him, wandering around in a land that didn't exist. The nineteen-years-old face' looked hollow and so foreign it gave Zoro the chills.

Damn it, was all that shot through Zoro's head. As if the outburst in the kitchen earlier hadn't been enough. Now he had to be confronted with his very sick and very out-of-character acting captain. That was a little too much for one day, even for someone as strong as Zoro. What was he supposed to do? Did Luffy even see him?

In truth, the other hadn't really noticed Zoro was there. The strawhat boy didn't even know where he was or what was going on.

He'd just woken a minute before from a horrible nightmare to find himself in a strange place, trapped in a sweating body that hurt all over. He'd dreamt about a young man with freckles, a special someone he'd always recognize everywhere. Ace. It had been a terrifying and pretty scary dream and Luffy wasn't sure whether it had really happened after all. The battle. Ace dying. All the people screaming. The blood. The strawhat boy wasn't sure if he wanted to find out the truth, actually... it was all so dizzying!

He groaned miserably. Feeling more than just terrible, his stomach did strange flips and he nearly puked into his bed but managed to force it back down. Luffy was confused and so tired it was really hard not to let his eyes slip close again.

He couldn't remember what had happened for him to end up like this even if his life depended on it (which was ironic, since it was really on the line this time).

Not sure why he wanted so badly to get out of this room, Luffy somehow managed to half-crawl, half-stumble on deck, following his instincts to get out of this dark place of loneliness. Because that's what he felt; lonely. He needed to get away from this depressing atmosphere in this room.

Where were the others? Luffy could have sworn he'd been traveling with some people, his friends, hadn't he? What had happened? Why on earth wasn't he feeling hungry? He always felt hungry!

Was he even on his ship or was he in Fuusha village? Where was Makino...?

Thousands of questions shot through his mind like a rain of meteors, but soon they were forgotten in favor of focusing on moving his legs forward. In the end he didn't really care since thinking only made his terrible sight and awful pounding headache much worse.

He couldn't really sort out anything well and just made his way ahead, not even feeling the ice-cold rain and the strong wind. Then suddenly, something had appeared before him. It was just slightly bigger than him, the 'thing'. For a short amount of time Luffy felt as if he should know this whatever it was, this stinging feeling that told him there was more than a silhouette before him. But as soon as it had appeared, the thought was blown away by the wind the next second and long gone before Luffy could even grasp that tiny glimpse. There was a noise and it came from the thing before him, a strange gurgling noise. Was he supposed to answer or something? Luffy hoped not, his tongue seemed really tired and his jaw wasn't acting as he wanted it to.

Without warning, Luffy's eyes slipped close, only to shoot open a second later again. He felt too weird, so very dizzy and everything was hurting. The most disturbing thing however was that Luffy couldn't decide if he was hot or freezing. His skin felt cold and he was shaking like a leaf in the wind, but on the other hand his head felt as if it would split in two any moment from all the heat inside him and he was sweating up a storm. As his confusing thoughts drifted around, Luffy couldn't help but wonder if it was even possible for a human being to feel warm and cold at the very same time!

Not that he had ever paid much heed to his body's warning signals before, but this time it was different. Everything was different, his perception was blurry and colors mixed together wildly, his hearing was off – he was sure it was quite noisy around him but it all sounded so far away!- and his balance was messed up the worst. The rubber man could barely manage to stand upright.

Zoro had noticed this right away (it was hard to overlook even in the dark, really) and positioned himself near Luffy with his arms slightly opened up, just in case the younger one should collapse. Which Luffy looked ready for and Zoro wouldn't be surprised if that would happen the next second.

Zoro didn't know what to make of this. Actually, he'd figured out why Luffy was acting so strangely and didn't even try to respond to him, but the truth was so ugly Zoro didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be!

Did Luffy really not recognize him?! It was shocking and unbelievable sad at the same time, and the tough swordsman felt ready to cry for the second time this day. The older man quickly got a hold of himself however; he knew it wouldn't help anyone if he had an emotional breakdown right now. Luffy needed him more than ever, and Zoro needed to do something.

Where the fuck was Chopper?!

"Luffy? Hey, Luffy. Look at me. Hey." Zoro decided to try and talk to him again. Obviously, Luffy was delirious and didn't even quite understand where he was, so maybe it was good to let him know he wasn't alone. Even if Luffy didn't know the person before him at the moment.
Slowly, because Zoro didn't want to scare Luffy away or confuse him with too quick movements he hadn't expected, the swordsman stepped closer to where his captain stood on shaky legs.

Luffy's white oversize-nightshirt – Zoro noticed with a sharp intake of breath that it was one of his old ones – was completely drenched by rain in no time and the first mate could imagine healthier things for a sick boy. Unbelievable how this was the same Luffy who invaded into Impel Down and fought so hard at the battlefield two years ago, trying to save his brother. Right now, he was a rather pathetic sight but Zoro knew better than to call his leader pathetic. Luffy was the only man he'd bow to and that meant a lot. Roronoa Zoro was not someone who got impressed easily.

"Eh?" Luffy voiced again, still not quite there. There it was again – the strange gurgling sound from the weird shadow before him. If only he could catch the spoken vocals! Luffy frowned tiredly.

Zoro sensed this was leading nowhere and opted it was best to bring him straight back to bed. Now. He'd wasted enough time as it was already, and trying to get through that hazy fog around his captain's brain was a futile attempt.

"Alright," Zoro sighed almost sadly and reached out to grab the pale boy. To his surprise, he grabbed nothing but thin air. He looked up instantly and realized Luffy had managed to flinch back even in his weakened state. And suddenly, Zoro knew this would be much more difficult than he first thought. There seemed to be a tensed air around the strawhat boy and his stance practically screamed defense. Against whom? His own first mate and best friend?! Apparently so.

"Luffy, come on. Stop this crap. Don't make this matter more complicated than it already is! You need to get back inside. Right. Now!" Zoro barked angrily. He hadn't meant for it to sound so harsh, but he needed to make Luffy understand this was serious.

Unfortunately, Luffy didn't take the well-meant advice the right way. Quite the opposite was the case, since Luffy's hearing wasn't working so well, he only sensed the change in aura around the strange guy in front of him and got into defensiveness mode.

"Get away," Luffy growled in a low voice. It made his sore throat hurt like hell but at the moment he didn't care. This man meant business and right now, Luffy didn't want any unnecessary clash. He felt too powerless to fight, let alone stand on his own feet.

"The hell? Cut it out already! It's me, Zoro!" the green-haired man snarled back and stepped closer. If this stupid, stubborn, sick kid didn't listen to him, then he had no other choice as to force him back inside. There was no way Luffy would stand a chance against Zoro right now, and Zoro wasn't afraid to use violence if it was needed. He'd rather have Luffy get a few bruises that would with no doubt heal in one day than have his fever getting worse.

"What are you trying to do, jerk?! Where is everyone?!" Luffy demanded angrily, voice getting hoarse from the afford of raising his voice. Zoro wanted to respond but was attacked by an aimless gomu gomu no pistol that missed his head by ten inches.

Zoro grumbled, this was getting out of hand too fast. Luffy's arm snapped back into place and nearly knocked him over but surprisingly he managed to catch himself. Immediately, the captain prepared for another attack and extended both arms behind his back. Zoro recognized the familiar pose and knew what was about to come.

"Gomu gomu no baz-",

"Oh no you don't!" The swordsman jumped forward so fast Luffy could barely follow his movements and he had no time to react. The next moment he felt his arms being grabbed in an iron grip he could not escape, no matter how much he struggled.

"Let me go! I'm gonna kick your ass!" Luffy shouted and moved around in vain. Zoro's grip hardened a bit and he frowned in concern. The twenty-one-year-old could feel the immense heat radiating off Luffy's skin. It was a miracle the captain hadn't collapsed up until now.

"Hold still! Luffy, hey! Listen to me! Wake up! You need to get insi- hey!" It was useless. Luffy continued to fight against an enemy that was his best friend.

He didn't know, all he knew was that this guy was way too strong. Luffy could do nothing. He was such a weakling. A sudden feeling of all too familiar helplessness shot through him and he gasped.

"No! Let go of me! NO!" Dread filled his stomach and Luffy was appalled by the pictures of a dead Ace that flooded his mind. The swordsman hadn't expected to receive such a strong reaction and flinched just a tiny bit. However this person was, it was certainly not Luffy. Zoro thought it was atrocious what a sickness could do to a human. Luffy was on the edge of panic!

"Shit, Luffy calm down! Would you look at me for a moment?!" The rather loud request hit deaf ears. But Zoro wouldn't give up to talk some sense into him.

"Luffy, as you ar-",

"Ace?!" Luffy retorted coldly, cutting Zoro off roughly. The older man froze in shock. Luffy hadn't spoken loud but the unexpected venomous tone was enough to shut him up.

"What? No!" But it was too late. Luffy had misheard the word 'as' for 'Ace'. Oh boy, now he'd triggered something. Inwardly, Zoro kicked himself. Luffy wasn't himself right now and he'd just hit a soft spot. Well done Zoro!, he congratulated himself. His captain glared before shouting,

"Where IS HE?" With one sudden motion, Luffy thrust his head forward and knocked a really flabbergasted Zoro back. Accidentally, he let go of the younger one and Luffy seized his chance and jumped away from Zoro.

"Fuck!" Zoro cursed and rubbed his sore forehead. He could already feel a bump forming. The swordsman didn't even want to think about how much this had to hurt Luffy, rubber or not.

"Ace! Acee!" Luffy began to shout, searching for a person that could not be there. It was painful to watch him stagger around in desperate search for his lost brother. "Where are you?"

"Luffy, calm down. Ace's not here."

"No! You are lying!" Luffy screamed back, not quite recognizing the deep voice of his faithful first mate.

"Luffy!" Zoro growled back harshly. He was losing his temper too fast but he couldn't help it.

"What did you do to him, you jerk!"

"SHUT UP!" Zoro roared. "Ace is dead, he isn't here! It's me, Zoro! How can you think I'd do something to your brother?!"

Luffy clutched his head as if in pain and squeezed his eyes shut, whimpering as he staggered to the side. Zoro's eyes widened and thanks to his trained reflexes he managed to catch Luffy in time.

"Oi, Luffy!" Zoro lifted the younger one up a bit to see if he was still conscious, mild panic in his voice.

"Nooo...," Luffy only moaned back, panting softly. Slowly, with the rest of the little energy he had, he managed to get out of Zoro's grasp and pushed himself away from the strange man. "Leave me alone."

Zoro bit his lip. Darn. It hurt to watch his friend act like this. But it hurt much more to be rejected by Luffy of all people. Zoro had overreacted and he knew it. The confused, unfocused, sad look Luffy had given him made Zoro feel guilty... things wouldn't change for the better if he started to get violent now. Seeing this was going no where, Zoro made a decision. He had to get Luffy inside quickly, no matter what. By force if necessary.

"Chopper!" Zoro shouted, turning his head towards the kitchen, hoping the reindeer was there and would hear him over the storm. There was nothing he could do beside that. Luffy was gone too far already, Zoro was unable to pry through that fog. He was just helpless and there was nothing Zoro loathed more than this feeling.

"I'm really sorry, Luffy. But there's no other way." Zoro said and quickly jumped right in front of Luffy. The younger man was too surprised and dizzy to react in time and couldn't prevent Zoro grabbing him again.

"No no no no!" Luffy began to struggle again, hating this feeling of being trapped. He had to find Ace! This stranger had mentioned his name before, and Luffy was sure his brother was somewhere near. What if he was in danger? Luffy gasped before kicking his legs frantically.

"Argh, shit Luffy! Stop!" Zoro unintentionally squeezed Luffy's shoulder harder as one leg hit him right in the stomach. "Oof!"

"ACE!" Luffy's voice cracked slightly at the end. The wind carried the lonely name away into nothingness.

Suddenly, Luffy kicked with all of his might into Zoro's crotch. Zoro let out a pain filled gasp and let go of Luffy for the second time. The delirious captain half-robbed, half-dragged himself away and Zoro's agony was all but forgotten when he saw fear in Luffy's eyes. The green-haired man clenched his fists with wide eyes as the truth grinned at him cheekily.

He is afraid of me?! Oh Gods no...

"Get the hell away from me!"

This wasn't something Luffy would shout. Never would the nineteen-years-old act scared and … like this! Heck, Luffy would never be afraid of anyone, let alone Zoro! Just how high was this damn fever of his? What did this accursed sickness do to his captain? If the illness was substantial, Zoro would fiercely shred it to tiny pieces without hesitation.

"Don't you recognize my voice, sencho?" Zoro muttered half-heartily. To his surprise, Luffy groaned and shook his head. Hope was prying his way through sadness, and Zoro's lips twitched upwards slightly.

"Hey, Luffy? Do you hear me? We're on the ship, the Sunny. Not quite the best weather to sit at the front and watch the ocean, huh?" Zoro tried to smile encouragly, not daring to move closer to a fragile Luffy.

The captain didn't say anything for a very long time, and Zoro feared he'd blacked out, but suddenly, a very tired voice was heard and Luffy looked up with sluggish movements. Dark brown eyes met emerald ones.

"Zoro."

-Meanwhile, in the kitchen-

They heard a sudden noise on the deck; first, Zoro calling for Chopper, then someone shouting in a desperate, strained voice, and they didn't like how this voice sounded exactly like Luffy's. Normally, something like this wouldn't have been heard over the usual commotion around that ship but since there was a deafening silence in the kitchen it sounded unbelievable loud.

The strawhats froze in their antics, Chopper still had the bottle of water in one hoof but didn't move to close the fridge. For a moment, a collective silence was ruling. They looked at each other and exchanged glances, until all of sudden it clicked in their tired minds.

He wouldn't...! They all thought at the same time, coming to the same conclusion separately.

"Crap...", Sanji whispered wide-eyed. When Zoro was calling for help, then it meant shit was about to get down. And that could only mean one thing. "He's..,"

Before Sanji had a chance to finish his sentence, Nami jumped up and made a mad dash for the door, waking the others from their shock who quickly followed.

"Luffy!" Chopper screamed in panic. He should have seen this coming! He should never have left Luffy's side in the first place! Even though their captain had a high fever and he shouldn't even be able to move let alone walk on his own, it didn't come completely unexpected. Leave it to Luffy to do something so reckless. The poor boy probably didn't even know what was going on.

Outside, though it was already dark, they spotted a shady figure on deck. "Luffy..!" They cried out in unison but he didn't move an inch. Instead, their leader just continued to lean on the railing and stared out at the dark ocean as if he was alone in this world. In his fevered state, he maybe was.

Zoro was a few meters behind him, looking as if he didn't dare to touch the younger one because if he did, Luffy would shatter like glass. Hesitantly, Zoro took another step towards Luffy.

"Luffy! You-" Chopper began frantically but it got swallowed by the cyborg's loud voice.

"Zoro, what happened?" Franky demanded, stopping short to get a good look at the scene before him. However, there was no answer. The swordsman chose to ignore the rest of the crew. This was something personal between him and his captain, and he needed to make sure Luffy's state wouldn't get worse. Maybe Zoro tried to help Luffy because he didn't want to feel completely useless, too. He just couldn't bear to watch and do nothing when everything around him was in disorder.

"Luf-,"

"Ace is not here, is he? I am not at Marineford, right?" Luffy's exhausted voice cut through the air and hit them like a ton of bricks. No one dared to speak up at first, not quite knowing what to say. Zoro bit his lip, turning to look at the soaked ground. Suddenly, he noticed Luffy wasn't even wearing his favorite piece of clothes... his hat. Everyone else frowned sadly.

After what felt like a millennium, Robin slowly answered. "No Luffy. It's been two years since your brother died. It's over now. You're at your ship right now, and we are all here." She spoke in a firm but gentle voice. She wanted Luffy to understand he was not back at that awful place where they couldn't help him. He was with them and there was no need to feel alone.

The tension got thicker, and Sanji watched Luffy like a hawk. The cook nearly bit off his cigarettes' butt so hard was he chewing on it. "Shitty rubber brain...just say something...", he murmured half-heartily and everyone knew he didn't even mean the insult. He never had and never would think of his captain as someone to seriously insult that way. It was just his way of showing affection.

"Luffy?" Usopp asked carefully but no answer came. Instead, they all watched anxiously how their leader turned around in what seemed slow-motion.

There was a sudden gust of wind and at the same moment, a flash floated the scene with brightness, creating a bizarre picture of a wet, smiling silhouette in the middle of the dark night. The crew gasped. It looked so horribly wrong. There were so many opposites in that brick of the moment that it left the strawhats completely speechless. Wide eyes stared ahead and met a pair of unfocused ones.

There he was, right before them. They only had to take one more step to touch him, to be able to take his hand and pull him nearer. But they'd never be able to pull him back from wherever he was. He was near yet so far away, unreachable in a way that made it painful to look at him. Yeah, it was painful. Something inside them squeezed uncomfortably as he suddenly smiled at them and all at once, they were hit with a truth that tore through them like Crocodile's hook tore through their captain once.

It was the first time Luffy hurt them with his smile.

It didn't seem fake, quite the reverse; it was a true, honest smile. Though that made it only worse. Not face-splitting like usual, not determined and not even cheekily. It was a simple small grin. Like a greeting; he wanted to show them he was happy to see them. Yet it seemed so foreign on Luffy's face they all felt the urge to wipe it off.

Luffy was sick, that much was painfully obvious as he stood there panting like a dog. Everything on the Sunny screamed darkness, the situation couldn't be worse, and yet Luffy was absolutely oblivious to everything. Smiling innocently as if nothing was wrong, as if the sun was shining and there was another exciting adventure waiting for them. It hurt them more than anything else. It didn't cheer them up like it was supposed to.

Instead, it was raining and storming and there was this terrible atmosphere around them - a threatening loneliness that stuck to them like resin. How was it possible to feel lonely when you're surrounded by your dearest friends? And it was downright grotesque to think you could feel so sad and locked-in with Luffy around, but it was true.

Not being able to take it anymore, Nami began to cry and the salty tears mixed with the raindrops. The water and the tears united in perfect harmony and rolled down Nami's reddened cheeks together. Who could blame her?

"Oh Luffy... please...,"... Please what? She thought. Get better. Stop acting so strange. Don't scare us anymore. Please get better quickly, before we all break apart.

"Someone, help me carry him inside quickly." Chopper ordered softly. No one spoke when they brought a half-conscious Luffy back into the warm infirmary. They doubted he was even aware of being carried.

This was just the beginning, they all feared it. What would the next day bring? Would things turn for the better or would fate play another cruel trick on them? They didn't know. The darkness of the night threatened to sweep them away and the wind blew roughly.

It was a stormy night when they lost their last bit of hope.

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To the reviews:

Llaelien: Thanks! :3 Yeah, I could imagine them reacting worst. I'm sorry the update was so late, but I hope you liked this chapter, too. Thanks for your support :D

AkaNeko-san: And now I made him suffer even more :I I'm so cruel. Huh that's right ;) This one was pretty dark, too. Thank you~ ! =D

PinguSuperSquee: Wow, seriously thank you so much! Darn, I'm not crying -sniff, sniff- you're too kind :,D Sorry it's so much drama, this one was tragic, too! H-hope you had your blanket near as support.. sorry.. =I Hopefully you liked this chapter either way and there was some of Luffy (although I didn't quite explain about his sickness, yet. But that's about to come soon). And again, I was soo happy when I read your kind reviews, and three at once, too! This means a lot to me, I just love this kind of feedback!

LibertyBell.047: Thanks a lot! :))

Son of Whitebeard: I know, right? I don't know where this is coming from O.O But I hope you liked the chapter^_^

Thanks a lot, people! :D Makes me really happy, yohohoho! Until next chapter :)

Neko11