I'll Be There - ONE PIECE

Something's Not Right..

It was a calm, sunny evening, The Straw Hat Crew were up to their usual shenanigans until Sanji darted onto the Thousand Sunny's deck. The blonde, curly eyebrowed male stood on the ship's grassy law smiling as he gathered his crew mates attention for an important announcement. Once all 9 members were surrounded around him, he held up a stack of papers and began to speak, "Alright everyone, since it's been pretty calm out on the seas lately, I managed to get us tickets for this amazing resort that should be coming up once we hit the next island if the person I got them from gave me the right instructions." The crew was in awe as they began cheering, happy to finally be able to have a break and relax for once. Nami snatched one of the tickets and hugged tightly onto Sanji, "Ohh Sanji this is amazing! You're the best you know..? I can finally go to a spa and relax away from these idiots, especially our idiot captain, always bringing us right into the face of danger the second he gets the chance." Nami glared towards Luffy as she spoke, eventually releasing Sanji from the embrace. "Anything for you, Nami swaaaan! You and Robin deserve this break more than any of them. Honestly I got the tickets more for the three of us to relax but you know I guess even Marimo deserves a break for once.." The two exchanged conversation for some time until each of the members began to pack and prepare for their trip, all except Luffy who decided to goof off instead. Usopp was one of the first of the crew to finish his packing, keeping it simple by only packing necessities so he decided to go help his captain pack.  

A day had passed as the crew were all settled into the resort except for Luffy who was being furiously dragged out of the resort's gates by Nami. "Aw C'mon Naaami!! It wasn't my fault! I was Hungryyy!! I won't do it again." The Straw Hat whined as Nami dragged him back to the Thousand Sunny as Usopp was running after them, he was now in charge of keeping an eye on Luffy the entire time they were away at Traveling Island Resort to keep their captain in line at all times. Honestly, everyone knows that Monkey D. Luffy obivously can't be trusted alone anywhere especially on his own ship to get into mischief. Once the whiny and now pouting captain was finally on board of their ship, Nami conversed instructions with Usopp and headed back to the traveling resort which was about to depart, leaving the sniper and captain alone on the Thousand Sunny.

 Usopp watched Nami leave before heading back onto the ship's deck and sitting beside Luffy, placing an arm around his shoulders as he smiled, trying to cheer up the pouting straw hat, "Aw c'mon Luffy, so what if Nami got upset and you have to stay behind? This can be fun too! Think about it, the crew will be away for quite some time and I'm sure we can think of ways to entertain ourselves." the long-nosed male continued to attempt to encourage his friend as Luffy's face finally began to show his usual large smile as he hugged onto Usopp, "Shishishi, You're right Usopp, This is gonna be awesome!!" The two friends had decided to go fishing for a bit while on their ship. Luffy and Usopp made their way over to the edge of the Sunny as they began casting their fishing rods into the water, standing along it's railing. "Shishishihi.. we're gonna catch a ton of fish and cook em' up! Yummy!!!" the straw hat exclaimed excitedly as his mouth was already watering at the thought of delicious food being made, despite their ship's chef, Sanji being away with the rest of his crew at the resort. 

Sure, Luffy was used to all of Sanji's delicious, fancy foods but he also wasn't picky, food is food right? Usopp glanced over at his captain and smiled, proud that he was able to cheer  him up, "Aye aye Captain, I'm glad you're having so much fun. Just make sure they aren't so big that they can't fit on the ship this time will ya? Remember, we have to cook these for ourselves after all." Replied the sniper who continued to watch the overjoyed straw hat at work. Soon, the two friends had decided to step off the ship and gather supplies to create a fire to cook their freshly caught fish, Usopp figuring it'd be better to make this experience sort of like a "guy's night, roughing it" sort of day. More so because it was probably best that they prepared their food over a fire than risking Luffy destroying Sanji's beloved kitchen. 

Luffy had gathered large logs, placing them by their makeshift firepit, taking a seat as he watched Usopp, prepare the fish to be smoked over the hot flames, his mouth watering at the aroma coming from them as they cooked. Usopp had noticed his captain and chuckled slightly at the sight of him, this was typical Luffy, excited to eat food no matter what it was. The sniper took a seat beside him, handing Luffy one of the cooked fish on a stick before grabbing one for himself. It was already becoming late evening by the time the fish had finished cooking, the sky was a deep, peaceful blue color as the stars began to glisten above the two friends. "Woahhh, check out that night sky!! Pretty awesome, it's so clear tonight huh? Sugeeeee!" Luffy exclaimed as he noticed the bright stars and began to watch them in astonishment as Usopp glanced towards him, grinning at the sight of Luffy being so cheerful, he enjoyed seeing the straw hat this way, it was a nice change after the couple of serious battles they had all fought previously.

A couple of days prior, Usopp had woken up during the middle of the night, noticing that his captain was nowhere to be located in the men's quarters of the ship. He had quietly made his way to the Sunny's deck to notice Luffy was all alone, seated up on the head of the ship. It appeared that the straw hat was deeply in thought about something as his dark eyes focused on the shimering stars in the night sky. "This isn't like Luffy at all.. I wonder what's bothering him." The long-nosed male thought as he continued gazing at Luffy who didn't seem to even notice his presence. His expression also appeared to be rather unsettled.. Now Usopp was worried, Luffy was always alert.. What's going on?