Baby on Board

Why Is He In a Barrel!?

Been trying to make a story with this premise for months but it never went well. But here it is, finally finished and not a piece of crap, in my opinion. I did try to make Luffy cute, but I also tried to make him act like his age accurately. I think everyone will like what I did with Zoro and Sanji later in the fic. Anyways, please review. Enjoy~

It was a calm day on the Thousand Sunny. The intense storm had passed and now the crew was on the way to their next destination, which they wouldn't arrive at for quite some time. The temperature was a bit warm for their liking in the morning, but the breeze was nice, so most of the crew were on deck doing various things, except for Zoro who was in the crow's nest lifting his giant weights. Robin was reading, Nami was sunbathing, Usopp and Chopper were playing cards, Sanji was going in and out of the galley to bring food and drinks to his lovely ladies, and finally Franky and Brooke were trying to write a song. Though they enjoyed their activities, things were slightly boring. They'd been doing the same things for quite a while. Plus they were hungry, but Sanji wouldn't give the men any snacks, only the girls. They all wanted something interesting to happen.

Zoro was working out in the crow's nest before he looked outside one of the windows and saw a large barrel bobbing in the calm water near the Sunny. He hoped it was booze (he could use a good drink), so he put down the weights and stuck his head out of the hatch. It was cooler outside; the room had gotten hot and stuffy.

"There's a barrel floating in the water over there!" he shouted down. Usopp and Chopper leapt up, discarding their card game, and ran to the side of the boat as Zoro quickly climbed back down the ladder and onto the grassy deck. Finally something semi-interesting. The others soon went to where Usopp, Chopper and now Zoro were standing, looking over the side of the ship as the ever nearing barrel. It had a hole near the top. Zoro worried about seawater getting in the alcohol he was hoping for. Franky went to fetch some rope to pull it in and up to then to open.

Zoro wished it was alcohol, Usopp and Franky wanted random supplies, Chopper and Sanji wanted food, Brook didn't really have a preference like Robin, and of course Nami wanted treasure. Franky returned with rope and a hook he expertly caught onto the top of the wood, angering Zoro a bit since if it was booze, it would leak and more seawater would taint it.

The barrel was pulled up easily and was soon set down on the deck with everyone around it, excited to open it and see what the mystery inside was. It was not very heavy, but they could tell by the uneven movement that there was liquid inside.

Franky popped open the lid with a crowbar and made a shocked noise and dropped the metal tool. Everyone was in shock and just stood there, looking at the contents of the wooden thing. There was nothing in the barrel that anyone wanted or expected. It was... a little toddler. The barrel was full of water up to his waist while he was sitting down, curled up in a ball. He was shivering and pale, his lips blue. His eyes were a little glassy and Chopper knew at once he had hypothermia. He was already in heavy point so he could look into the wooden barrel and went into doctor mode immediately.

"He has hypothermia. We need to get him inside. Someone grab blankets and a hot compress," he said seriously. He gently picked the toddler up and out of the water and carried him in his arms. The kid was tiny, and it was hard to tell how old he must be. He had unruly black hair and wide brown eyes, slightly glazed. He would have been tan if he wasn't so pale and somewhat blue from the cold. He was wearing a simple red t-shirt and blue shorts, no shoes on his little feet. Chopper briefly was angry he was in such clothes, being in a barrel that no doubt had become cold quickly. Why was he in the barrel in the first place?!

He rushed into the somehwat dusty infirmary, since no one had been injured lately, and made sure not to jostle his little patient. He set the boy on the big bed and put a pillow under his small head and took off his clothes. Robin hurried into the room with a plethora of blankets. Chopper thanked her and piled the blankets on the little one, who was looking at the ceiling, seemingly dazed and out of it. Chopper then asked Robin to warm up some juice in a bottle to warm up the kid from the inside. Robin nodded and quickly walked out of the infirmary to the kitchen, where Sanji was warming up water and putting it in a bottle and going to deliver it with a washcloth as well.