Stolen // One Piece

chapter twenty-five

It was a cold day. The sun was hiding beneath layers and layers of clouds, wind whipped the air, and birds were screeching overhead as Luffy and Kaito made their way up the mountain slowly.

They were exhausted, feet aching and calves burning and sweat and salt all affecting the two as they trudged onward.

They had to make it.

There was no choice. 

They had to keep moving, so they could go home. 

Kaito was red and panting, though the wind felt nice on his heated skin. Luffy's face was scrunched in determination, the sweat dripping from his forehead into his eyes.

"Have to keep going," he mumbled under his breath rhythmically, "We have to keep going." 

The throbbing in his side only drove him further, informing him that if he didn't keep moving upward, death would befall him. 

He didn't want that.

So he pushed forward, urging Kaito along with him, resorting to short and snappy comments about how Kaito needed to pick up his feet, move faster, they couldn't afford any breaks.

As they climbed further, the ocean came into view, and Luffy wanted desperately to just sit down and stare at it, his home, his world. The constant thought of death loomed over his head, and so he grit his teeth and stared straight ahead of him. The path was his only center of focus.

Kaito, however, was bored and looked to his left, and squinted at the ocean's horizon.

"Hey, Luffy?"

"What?" Luffy didn't mean to use so much venom in his voice, but he didn't bother to apologize, either. He was too tired and fearful for Kaito's life.

"There's a thing?" The younger boy pointed at something in the distance, floating on the ocean, but Luffy hadn't cared to look.

"I don't need distractions, right now. We need to get to the cave." Kaito shut up, and resigned himself to temporary silence.

Though his determination was admirable, had Luffy been slightly less stubborn and actually looked to where Kaito was pointing, he would have seen what he had been craving for months.

The Thousand Sunny was bobbing on the surface of the ocean, headed directly toward the dock of the island. 

~   ~   •   ~   ~

Everyone had shut down.

Ace and Sabo never spoke, Usopp had resorted to locking himself in his workshop, Franky rarely emerged from the depths of the ship, and Zoro trained constantly. Robin sat in her chair in the library, staring off into space as each hour passed. Sanji barely batted an eye at the arrival of either female, and Chopper simply laid in his bed, staring at the wall as he blocked the rest of the world out. Brooke had not touched his violin in months, and the Sunny was despairingly  quiet. Nami hid in her tangerine grove, checking her Log Prose every second, waiting for something, anything. 

And thus all hope had been lost.

They no longer cared about fancy meals, and only ate small portions. They let their tools be covered in dust, the floors grow dirty with water spots, and the sails grow filthy with dust. The books on the bookshelves lay untouched, and the beds unmade. The only thing "normal" about the Thousand Sunny was Nami's tangerines, there was no way in hell she'd let those go.

Nami had directed the Thousand Sunny onward, day after day, using newspapers and a Marine's Transponder Snail that she had swiped a while back to listen in to the whereabouts of Bluejam's pirate ship. However, by the time that the news reached the Sunny, Bluejam had already moved forward. He was always one step ahead.

Thats why when Nami had heard that Bluejam hadn't moved from a small island just due north of the Sunny's path, she couldn't contain her excitement. She jumped and screamed for joy and set the Sunny's new adjusted path, and informed the other members of the Straw Hat Crew.

The hope had been restored. 

They celebrated, and began returning the Sunny to its original state, doing laundry and making beds and dusting shelves and preparing food. They used their tools and felt the passion of doing so, and they washed the sails and they cleaned and polished the floors, and it felt normal.

As they sailed closer and closer to the coast, they began to plan the rescue of their captain. 

They were going to get him back, no matter what it took.

(A/N) holy crap where have i been????? uhm, school, traveling, existing with writer's block.... but im so sorry i disappeared like that!!! ill be updating more regularly from now on!!!!!! i promise!!!!!!!!!! also sorry for the short chapter, the others will be longer i swear