When Dreams become Reality

Chapter 2

When Luffy woke up the next morning he felt like shit.

His head was swimming as if he had been drinking too much last night. He looked down at himself and noticed the sweat covering his skin. Luffy started to shiver lightly. Then he noticed the weird metallic taste in his mouth. Did I bite myself while I slept? It sure feels that way, Luffy thought, grimacing. I must have had a weird dream ...

He blinked his eyes and slowly turned around to see who of his crew was still asleep in his bunk. As Luffy didn´t see anyone he sat up, yawned and stretched his arms over his head. Where is everyone? I didn´t sleep that long, did I?, the rubber man wondered and swung his legs over the side of his bunk, letting himself fall to his feet where he paused to yawn again. That was the moment he noticed the pain.

His head wasn´t just swimming like when he slept for too long, no. Luffy could feel a steady buzz behind his temples, like something is slowly but steadily pressing down on his brain. He groaned and massaged his temples while making his way to the door, grabbing his treasured hat on the way and letting it rest on his back with the string secured around his neck.

Once he stepped outside, he was greeted by a cool wind that made goosebumps appear on his exposed arms, but Luffy welcomed the cold, breathing deep the salty air in his lungs through his nose and letting it out again through his mouth. The sun was behind thin clouds, but here and there he could make out patches of blue sky shimmer through. It was going to be a nice day.

Before he walked to the galley, where he could already hear the voices of his nakama through the wooden door, Luffy looked up to the crows nest out of habit and remembered last night.

In retrospect, it was silly assuming that Zoro could ever even think about leaving Luffy and the crew behind. Although it sometimes seemed as if the whole crew annoyed the swordsman to no end, Luffy knew his first mate better than anyone, Zoro himself included, to know that his green-haired nakama, under his gruff appearance, cared a big deal about them all. They all loved each other like the family they were.

Then the kiss Luffy and Zoro had shared returned to his mind and a smile appeared on his face.

Actually, it wasn´t the first time Zoro had kissed Luffy. But the few times he did, like the time they had returned to Water 7 after burying Merry on the sea or after Zoro had finally opened his eyes on Thriller Bark, it was always a soft kiss, just lips pressing, almost shy, on lips and vanishing after a few seconds again. Both captain and first mate found comfort in each other and those small gestures of affection like none other could provide them with, and that was all there was to say to it. Luffy wasn´t sure if he felt anything more towards Zoro, not being sure how love really felt, but if their ´relationship´ could stay like it was now, than that was all Luffy needed. And he was sure that Zoro felt the same way.

Still smiling to himself, the captain turned, crossed the lawn deck and climbed up the stairs. He stopped in front of the galley door and pressed his right hand against his head, willing the throbbing pain away that started to get worse the more he moved around. Luffy could feel his blood running through his veins and with every strong beat of his heart the pain seemed to almost unnoticeably increase. If the pain won´t go away on it´s own I have to go ask Chopper if he has anything, he thought while pushing the galley door open to reveal his friends gathered around the breakfast table.

As soon as he closed the door he was greeted with shouts of "Good Morning, Captain!", "Hey sleepyhead! Nice to see you up, too" and "We´re almost through with breakfast."

"Ohayo, minna! What do you mean with ´almost through with breakfast´? How long did I sleep?", Luffy asked with an irritated expression, while sitting on his usual seat beside Zoro. He smiled at his swordsman who was watching him with his one eye, but gave a small smile in return before shifting his attention back to his bacon on his plate.

"Luffy, it´s almost midday! We were only waiting for you to show up. We were actually thinking about clearing the table and preparing everything to dock at the island. Your lucky that you finally showed up or else you would´ve had to wait ´till lunch", Nami said, annoyance creeping into her voice as she looked at Luffy who ran his eyes over the almost empty table. Silence followed, while all eyes rested on the still calmly observing captain.

"Eh, Luffy-bro? Are you feelin´ alright?" Luffy lifted his gaze towards the shipwright. "Yeah. Why´re you asking?" He looked at his other nakama. "Why are you guys looking at me like that? Is something in my face?" It was true. All seven pairs of eyes and one pair of empty eye sockets were watching the young captain closely, as if expecting he would blow up any second. "Then … why aren´t you screaming "I missed breakfast?!", Usopp started, imitating Luffy while throwing his arms into the air, "and inhaling everything that is still left on the table", Chopper added with concern written over his face, "and of course desperately asking Sanji-san to make more, especially more meat!", Brook finished and everyone fiercely nodded in agreement.

"Not to forget the hundreds of questions being asked with your mouth still full about the new island, even though we still do not have any more information as I already told you everything yesterday", Robin said with a smile on her face, lifting her cup of coffee and taking a small sip.

"I even started on making us bentou, and you´re always the first one to ask about them. That´s why we´re all asking if you´re alright. Because now your not behaving like the rubber-headed idiot we call our captain", Sanji said, a lit cigarette between his lips, smoke escaping them while he spoke.

Luffy chuckled to himself. "I´m just still a little sleepy, that´s all. Don´t worry ´bout it!", he said, looking them all into their eyes (well, those of them who actually had eyes) and grinning like he always did. But when his eyes settled on his first mate, his smile wavered a little. Zoro was looking at him with the stern expression he wore most of the time, but while looking into Luffy´s eyes it seemed more as if he knew the captain wasn´t feeling as good as he tried to make them believe and Zoro could easily see through that facade he had put on. Luffy almost noticeably nodded and then directed his gaze to the table to fill his still empty plate with the food waiting for him to devour.

After letting his eye rest a little longer on Luffy, Zoro looked towards their navigator, who had started to give each member a task to prepare the ship for the time they were gonna dock at the island. What was the name again?, Zoro thought. Genzoushima, wasn´t it? Something about this name gives me the creeps …

After breakfast was finished the Straw Hats scattered throughout the Sunny to follow their respective tasks they were given by Nami.

Usopp helped Sanji in the kitchen, Nami and Robin prepared whatever the girls needed to prepare for, Zoro simply vanished into the crows nest, and after some time one could hear the telltale rattling of his weights being lifted, Brook went with Franky to the docking system to see if everything was alright and if they had enough cola to use for a ´Coup de Burst´ if needed and Chopper made sure that he was stocked up on enough medicine, herbs and ointment if one or probably more of the crew get themselves injured.

The latter was just checking his instruments, when someone knocked at the reindeer´s office door. Chopper, perched upon his desk chair, turned around. "Come in!" The door opened and to say that the little reindeer was confused to see his captain standing before him was an understatement. Luffy disliked the infirmary almost as much as Zoro, seeing that the Monster Trio had to go there and get treated after almost every fight. But Luffy also knew that this little room meant very much to their smallest crew member and he, like everyone else, respected that.

Luffy came in and closed the door behind him. Chopper already knew that something was wrong with his captain after his weird and uncharacteristic behavior at breakfast, but he was surprised that Luffy freely came to receive help from the ship´s doctor. He was happy that the crew trusted him so much that they came on their own accord when something was wrong. "Hey Luffy! Can I help you with something?", Chopper asked, jumping down from his chair and smiling an assuring smile at his friend. "Hey Chopper. Actually, yes. That´s what I came here for. I woke up with a small headache this morning, but I thought it would go away after I eat enough meat. But it didn´t. And the more I walk around the worse it gets. Can you give me something to dull the pain? It´s making me crazy and I can´t explore the island with my head pounding like that." He kept the thing with the bad dream where he had hurt himself a secret. It wasn´t a big deal.

Chopper looked Luffy up and down closely. He had learned from Dr Kureha to not only treat the obvious pain the patient tells the doctor, but to look the patient over and check if the reason for the pain doesn´t have another core.

Luffy had small shadows under his eyes, his smile didn´t quite reach his eyes and the way he stood in the small infirmary looked kind of lost and unstable, like the smallest of wind could have the boy toppling over. Chopper nodded to himself. "Of course Luffy! Just sit down on the bed for a moment and I see what I have to help you", Chopper smiled again and walked over to the drawer where he kept all his medicine stuff. He rummaged around a bit until he found what he was looking for. He turned to Luffy and held two small pills in one hoof and a dried leaf in the other. "Here, you can take these. The pills you have to swallow, they´re against the headache. And just lay the herb on your tongue and wait until it dissolves. It´ll help to make you more awake so you have enough power for the new island." "Thanks, Chopper. You´re a great doctor", Luffy grinned down at his friend. He took the offered pills and swallowed them, then reached to take the herb and laid it on his tongue. His face contorted in a grimace. Uhh, gross that´s bitter!, Luffy thought disgusted, but kept the herb in his mouth. He didn´t want his nakama to worry about him.

"Saying that I´m a great doctor won´t make me happy or anything you bastard!", Chopper squeaked and began to dance a little, his cheeks turning red from being complimented. Luffy chuckled and stood up from the bed. "Thanks again", he said, petted the reindeer on the head and opened the door. Choppers "Your welcome!" followed him out on deck before he let the door fall close behind him.

Luffys hat fluttered against his back in the breeze. He grabbed it and set it on his head. I gotta talk to Zoro, he thought and looked up at the crows nest. Just as he was about to go down the stairs and cross the lawn deck to climb up the mast, he heard a cracking sound and shortly after the voice of said swordsman he was just going to talk to through the megaphone set on the bottom of the crows nest.

"Minna! I can see the island up ahead. I think we gonna reach it in about two hours."

Luffy smiled. He had a better idea to go up there. He could already feel the buzz in his head slowly disappear and with it the strength returning in his body. He felt more like himself again.

Luffy pulled his right arm back, letting it shoot forward again to grab hold of the top of the crows nest and, with a cry of "Gomu Gomu no – Rocket!" escaping his throat, he catapulted himself to the roof. Landing safely on the highest point of the Sunny, he carefully slid down until he was in front of one of the windows, his hands holding him on the small roof where he liked to sit sometimes. He knocked with his foot against the glass, catching the attention of a startled swordsman. "Luffy? You could have used the hatch like normal people would do, y´know?" Though his voice sounded annoyed, Zoro still walked over and opened the window to let his boyish captain in.

Luffy jumped inside and closed the window again. Zoro was facing his weights which were lying on the ground, started to pick them up and hung them in the appliance Franky had especially built for them. When he spoke there was no emotion audible in his voice. "What was wrong with you this morning? And don´t even try to fool me, you know I can read you like an open book." Straight to the point, huh?, Luffy thought and watched his swordsmans back, ignoring the fact that Zoro kept his feelings out of his voice, even though it were just the two of them.

"I know. And I won´t", he started. "When I woke up this morning, I felt weird. My head hurt and it became worse the longer I was awake. And I was covered in sweat and my tongue hurt, like I bit myself in my sleep or something. I felt like I had no energy at all … But I went to Chopper and he gave me something against it. I´m feelin´ better already!", Luffy finished grinning. But Zoro still didn´t turn around or commented on anything the younger of the two just told him.

Even if Zoro was concerned for his captain, he knew there was more to it than he told him. Watching Luffy closely at breakfast had revealed to him that, yes, the rubber man wasn´t feeling well, but the first mate was sure something other than a headache was the cause for this. The captain he knew and followed wasn´t someone who let himself get stopped by something so simple as that.

The silence stretched on like Luffys arm in one of his attacks, but neither would say anything. After some time Zoro finally turned around and locked eyes with his captain. "You sure that´s everything?", was all he said while searching for something he didn´t even know in Luffys eyes. "Yeah, I´m sure. I can´t remember anything from a bad dream or something. Just the headache and my tongue hurting. Zoro what´s wrong, it´s no big deal! Everyone has a time when he isn´t feeling so good, but it´ll pass. We have a new island to explore coming up and I´m not gonna miss out on that!" Luffy smiled up at his first mate, confidence shining behind his eyes.

"Alright, sencho. If you say so", Zoro said. Luffy nodded and moved towards the hatch leading down to the deck. But when he passed Zoro, his voice made him stop again.

"Luffy?" Luffy turned around and looked at the swordsman again, one eyebrow rising in question.

Zoro sighed and ran a hand through his still light sweaty hair from training. "Just- just promise me that you´re gonna be careful on that island, ok? I don´t know why, but I have a strange feeling in my gut that didn´t disappoint me in the last two years. I don´t want anything happening to you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Zoro felt stupid for saying them. He isn´t a little kid anymore! He can take care of himself, a voice in his head said, but the twisting in his stomach didn´t stop until Luffy smiled again and nodded. The first mate let out another soft sigh and nodded in response. "Okay, then let´s go down before the sea-witch gets angry and starts rising my ridiculous dept again", Zoro grinned and walked over to lift the hatch. Luffy chuckled and before his swordsman could say anything else he jumped and let himself fall to the deck rather than climbing down like normal people would.

Zoros grin widened. Hell, it was Monkey D. Luffy he was talking about. This kid, no, this young man wasn´t in any way normal to begin with.

And that´s exactly why I´m gonna follow him wherever he´ll go, he thought while climbing down the mast to his already waiting crew.