Freedom & Fate | One Piece x Reader

Chapter 26 | Euphoria

After what felt like hours of sleep, you woke up, only to find out that it was still in the middle of the night. The sky was lit up with countless stars and a round full moon, making it easy for you to see your surroundings. Compared to your dark, empty dreams, the nights out on the sea are like a firework show.

Soft snoring could be heard up on the crow's nest and heavier snoring came from behind the kitchen door. You sink to the ground, leaning against the wooden wall and gaze at the shining stars. Thoughts enveloped your mind.

You think about what happened since you first met Luffy.

You think about the good times you had with everyone.

And you wonder if you have ever felt this content before.

Your memories are still hazy. As if a thick fog is obstructing your view. A fog that surrounds and swallows you, never letting you find your way out. Insecurities bubble up inside you. It is scary not knowing what kind of life you led in the past, where your home was, who you left behind and who is possibly searching for you.

Who was I?

Who am I?

Your unpleasant thoughts are halted by someone placing their head on your lap. You open your eyes and get startled by the raven-haired boy smiling up at you considerately.

"I got woken up by your whimpering," he says.

"Oh... Sorry, I wasn't aware of that. I must've been close to falling asleep."

"It's fine. Now I can sleep better anyway!" he exclaims. Luffy yawns and shifts around, rubbing his hair on your legs.

"S-Stop, that tickles!" you squeal, covering your mouth to hide your laughter.

"Shishishi," he chuckles. "I like this better." He moves your hand away from your mouth. "I want to see you laugh lots and lots. So I'll make you happy."

Your laughter stops and you unconsciously stare into his big, childish eyes. Your heart starts to pound faster and you could feel warmth rising up to your cheeks. Words couldn't find their way out of your throat anymore, you simply stared at each other.

"I'll leave my hat to you tonight. Take care of it!" He breaks the silence and puts his straw-hat on your head, covering your red face. Within seconds, his snoring starts again.

You tuck on the rim of the hat, wanting to hide away in it forever.

What is happening to me?

Embarrassed, confused, nervous and giddy. That's the only way you could describe how you feel. Your breath speeds up and slows down again. The pulsation of your heart resonates in your ears.

You look up at the sky and let the cold breeze hit your flushed cheeks. His words replay in your mind over and over again, making you grin like a fool. Suddenly, the world feels a lot simpler to you. You feel like as long as there's someone supporting you, you could do anything.

ஐ

Zoro takes another glance at your sleeping form. The sound of your laughter, that he did not bring out and the redness of your face, which was not meant for him irritates him immensely. He smiled bitterly when he saw the widest grin on your face. His heart stung as he concluded that you would never smile like that for him.

ஐ

A loud thundering noise wakes you up from your slumber. You shoot up, positioning yourself in a defensive stance and dart your eyes around. You let out a relieved sigh as they land on Luffy and Usopp, who are trying out the cannon.

After a while, Nami calls everyone into the kitchen for breakfast. You walk in, pour yourself a cup of tea and put two cubes of sugar into it.

Nami looks up from the magazine she is reading and greets you.

"Morning," you reply.

She watches you take a sip of tea, shaking your head and adding another cube of sugar into it. She chuckles and slides a plate of biscuits over to you.

"Here, have some," she says.

"Thanks."

Nami leans her head on one arm and smiles impishly. "Say... how come you have Luffy's hat on?"

"Ah! T-This!" you stammer and quickly take the straw-hat off your head, trying to hide your embarrassment as memories of last night flood in. "I'm just holding onto it for him."

"Time to eat!" The door swings open.

You freeze in your spot while Luffy takes a seat next to you. You stare straight ahead, putting on a poker face, feeling the need to avoid eye contact at all costs.

"Your hat," you mumble and hand it over without looking at him. Nami is trying hard to hold back her laughter.

"Oh! Thank you!" He smiles and puts it on the place it belongs to.

And so breakfast went over like that. The whole time, you put on a perfectly blank face, only moving when you took a sip of your tea. Everything the others talked about went over your head. The only words you heard were 'sniper' and 'position'.

You finally snap out of it when Nami waves a hand in front you. "Come back to us Y/N, he's gone."

"Oh, is he?" You laugh awkwardly.

"He's fighting someone outside."

"There's an enemy?!"

You storm out of the kitchen, but what you see is merely a stranger lying on the ground, defeated. Zoro immediately follows after you, with his hand ready to draw out his swords.

"Hey! Aren't you Johnny?!" Zoro remarks surprised, loosening his grip on the handle.

"Z-Zoro-aniki?!"

Huh?

ஐ

After listening to Johnny's story, you got a grasp of the situation. His friend Yosaku got sick and he wanted to let him get some rest on top of a rock. But all of a sudden, this ship fired a cannonball at them.

Luffy and Usopp quickly apologise to him, but it doesn't make him feel any better about the situation his dear friend is in.

"Wait a moment, can you describe his symptoms again?" You come forward, kneeling down in front of Yosaku's injured body. His is clutching a bloody wound on his stomach.

"He turned pale and kept passing out. His teeth have begun to fall out and his old wounds have reopened!" he says while sobbing heavily.

With the move of a hand, you stop his partner's bleeding easily. "He has vitamin C deficiency," you explain. "I think it's called... umm..."

"Scurvy," Nami brings forward. "He's afflicted with scurvy. Luffy! Usopp! There are some limes in the storage room. Squeeze the juice out and bring it here!"

The two do as they are told and come back with a bucket of fresh lime juice. Luffy rapidly pours the sour liquid into Yosaku's mouth. Suddenly, he jumps up, full of energy, but quickly falls back onto the ground again, coughing blood.

"I'm glad that at least one of you know the basics of surviving out on the sea." Nami sighs.

"We definitely need someone to think about our diet, so we can stay healthy," Usopp comments.

"Alright, it's decided then!" Luffy's tongue hangs out of his mouth. "Let's go look for a sea cook and eat some good food!"

"Aniki!" Johnny exclaims. "If you're looking for a cook, I know just the right place." He smirks knowingly. "A restaurant on the seas."

Luffy shoots his arms in the air, waving them around excitedly. While walking past Zoro, Johnny whispers, "Even that hawk-eyed man has been sighted there once..." 

Zoro's eyebrows twitch with euphoria. A smirk spreads on his lips. He won't let this chance pass by.

  ✘