One Piece Fan Fiction ❯ Broken, Only to Heal Again ❯ Nakama in chaos ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

 

He scampered quietly through the alleyways, making his way back to the place he called home. The sky had taken on the pink and purple hues of late evening. Merchants were making their way home, having closed shop long ago. Mothers called for their children to come in for bed. The village was preparing for night. Streets were empty of the normal daily bustle. The small child went unnoticed by passersby.

 

He was in trouble. He should have been home long ago. His grandfather would probably beat him good. Why did he have to go down to the docks today? But if he didn't go, then he wouldn't have seen him, now would he? Could it be? He'd heard the stories, seen the wanted posters, and saw the way people would flinch at just his name. It had to be a sign. He had prayed to the gods every night that they would send help. This had to be his help. No other man would do. And with the nakama he kept with him, he could be nothing but the best. Just like in the stories. He stopped to wonder.

 

A shadow fell across the boy and he looked up. Fear filled his eyes. `Oh no!' He stumbled as he tried to back up, falling on his rear. He continued shuffling backward till his back met resistance. He was trapped. Tears began to leak from his eyes. His body stiffening in anticipation of the pain that would soon follow.

 

“Well, well, what do we have here?” A cold voice mused. Laughter rang out in the street making the boy cower. Night had fallen. He shouldn't be here. The man's face was shadowed but the child could make out the strange outline of spiky hair and the man's plump frame.

 

“That's enough, Taro. You should know better than to be out scaring children. Go amuse yourself somewhere else.” The voice was firm, holding no room for argument.

 

“Old man, you sure pick the shittiest times to show up. We were just about to have some fun here, weren't we kid?” Taro snickered. The sound more like nails on a chalkboard than anything.

 

The boy sat there shivering from fright. Only the increase of tears running down his face showed he heard them at all.

 

“Feh, I've got better things to do than mess with some pansy-assed sissy-boy that can't do anything but cry.” Taro turned and practically waddled down the street. When he turned back, the light showed his face. Beady black eyes set too close together were almost swallowed by his rather fat face. A small pig-like nose sat just barely between them, over a large mouth. Thin lips pulled back into what one might consider a type of smirk, although it was hard to distinguish. “I'll be seein' ya!”

 

“Hurry home now, son. You're running later than usual today.” Kin, one of the local merchants, smiled kindly down at the boy. A large commotion was heard from a pub a few stores down. Kin sighed. “Someone's getting rowdy. Get going now, before the Marines show up and it gets ugly around here.”

 

“Th-th-thank you.” The boy wiped the tears from his face and ran as fast as he could. He just wanted to get home now. The thoughts of the pirates at the docks were now far from his mind.

 

 

Sanji woke up to voices yelling and arguing. There was movement all around him. The voices were familiar so he didn't panic right away. Slowly, he opened his eyes to take into account his surroundings. He had been laid on a bed with an icepack placed on the left side of his face. Chopper danced around helplessly trying to get Nami to calm down so he could check her head. Robin stood to the left of the bed talking to Usopp who seemed to be deep in thought.

 

“I can't believe that baka let himself get captured. I mean how stupid can he be! If he couldn't hold his drink any better than that he shouldn't have started drinking in the first place.” Nami ranted as she paced. Sanji had to wonder if she was speaking of Luffy or Zoro. Either one would fit that description. “And then that other one! OOOHHH!!! He makes me so mad!” Still no clue.

 

“Nami, please calm down. Here, sit on this chair so I can look at where you hit your head. Please I need to look at you. I'm the doctor here. You should be listening to me.” Chopper hopped up and down trying to get Nami's attention to no avail. The poor reindeer looked to be on the verge of panic.

 

“Just go take care of Sanji so we can find out what happened outside.” Nami collapsed in the chair. Her head held in the palm of her hand, elbow propped on her knee. She was worried. First Luffy had been taken right in front of her and she was helpless. Then Zoro, ZORO, got taken while with Sanji. A single tear fell.

 

“We'll get them back.” Sanji said. His voice was rough, like he'd be asleep for a while.

 

Nami's head jerked up and surprise filled her face. “Sanji! You're awake! Oh, my gods what happened? How could you let them take Luffy? What the hell was that baka Zoro thinking? He was probably drunk off his ass and couldn't even walk straight let alone hold a sword. I knew we should have just left him to himself. Then you could have been here and Luffy wouldn't have been taken and Zoro would probably be in an alley sleeping it off. Maybe we should have just stayed on the ship.” Nami slumped back in the chair, defeated. She looked like she had been through hell herself. Sanji decided to choose his words carefully.

 

“Cook-san, could you please tell us what happened after you left here? I'll fill you in on what happened here when you are done.” Robin asked softly. Sanji's gaze shifted to her. She appeared calm to the average eye, but, after traveling with her for a while, Sanji learned to recognize some of her expressions. She was as worried as the rest of them. The small twitch of her fingers, and the slightly saddened look in her eyes said it all.

 

“Man, I can't believe we didn't hear anything. I, Captain Usopp, vow to never drink that much again. As a leader I cannot take the chance of being unable to come to the rescue of my nakama.”

 

“Or unable to run away.” Nami retorted.

 

Usopp started to open his mouth to answer back, but the look on her face told him it would be a bad idea.

 

“I found the marimo in a pub down on Burning Street. He was toast. A couple of thugs tried to pick a fight and he took them out. We paid the tab and left.” Sanji reached for his jacket lying next to the bed and drew out his pack of smokes and matches. He placed the cigarette between his lips and lit it, slowly taking a drag. He blew out a long stream of smoke and continued. “I made him walk around a bit to sober up. When we got to the inn, we noticed guards outside. Then they came out carrying Luffy. We moved to attack. I remember going for the guy holding Luffy and then hearing them calling to withdraw. They must have come up behind us somehow when we were in the alley trying to make a plan. I saw Zoro bleeding from the head being drug by two goons. Then something came out of nowhere and hit me. I saw the guy who hit me and the one giving orders. I made sure to memorize their faces. They'll get what's coming to them for sure.” By the time he was done, Sanji had finished his first cigarette and lit another. As stressed as he was, he'd probably go through a whole pack this night.

 

“Did you hear any names? Or any reason as to why they only took those two. There's a bounty on almost all of us now.” Robin pulled up a chair next to the bed where Sanji still reclined. “It doesn't make much sense now does it? To only take those two when the rest of us are right here as well. What are we missing?”

 

Everyone sat in silence. The atmosphere heavy. You could almost hear the gears turning in each one of their heads.

 

“Oi, Sanji. Did you find out what had spooked Zoro earlier?” Usopp asked. “Do you think it might have anything to do with this? He said something about being watched. I wonder if there is someone out there with a personal vendetta against him.” There were murmurs of agreement from the others.

 

“He just kept saying something about his past and ghosts or dreams. Something like that. I never got a straight answer out of him. I just let it drop thinking we could talk about it in the morning. I wish I'd pressed him more about it now. It might give us a clue about what is going on. But then that only explains him. What about Luffy?” More murmurs were sounded.

 

“G-g-ghost!?!” Usopp screeched and passed out.

 

“What happened here? I saw the guards outside and them carrying Luffy out in a bag of some sort. I assume he was captured with the sea-stone.”

 

“Doctor-san helped Usopp-san up the stairs and they went to their own room to sleep. I went to my room and bid goodnight to Captain-san and Navigator-san. I remembered that there were not enough beds for the two of you so I went back downstairs to get one more room. I returned to my own room and retired for the night. It was a short time later that I heard footsteps in the hall. At first I thought it was the two of you returning. Then I heard them speaking of our captain and one of them gave instructions to toss the net on him as soon as possible. They said something about Devil Fruit power so I assumed they were using the sea-stone. Then there was shouting. I looked out my window and noticed the two of you in the alley. I should have kept my eye on you, but I went back to the door to look in the hallway to see what was going on. I saw them dragging Captain-san down the stairs. I assumed that you and Bushido-san would take care of things so I went to check on Nami-san.”

 

“I walked to his room with him. We went in and were talking. The door busted in and they started shouting. I remember this guy with gold teeth, and a hand came out of nowhere.” Nami shuddered in disgust remembering the look on the man's face. “The next thing I know Robin is over me, waking me up.”

 

“That bastard!!!” Shouted Sanji. He stood up, but quickly fell to the bed again. A wave of dizziness washing over him.

 

Sanji! You need to take it easy. You have a concussion. Standing up like that will cause you to get dizzy and fall again. The same goes for you Nami.” Concern filled his voice as he helped Sanji into a reclined position on the bed. “Maybe we should go back to where this person was stalking Zoro and see if we can get some answers. I can always try to pick up a scent.” Chopper offered.

 

“That sounds like a good plan. Unfortunately we all need some sleep. I'll have the innkeeper wake us at dawn.” Robin stood from her chair and walked to the door. “Nami-san, you are welcome to stay with me if you wish. I am not sure how much was damaged in your room during the struggle.”

 

“Thanks, I don't want to be alone right now.” Nami sighed. Robin had thought that she would protest to the delay in searching for their captain, but it seemed that exhaustion had won. “Good night, boys. We'll get an early start in the morning.”

 

“Goodnight.” “Goodnight, Robin-chwan, Nami-swan. Have beautiful dreams.” “Ghosts are scary.”

 

“Sanji, do you want me to stay with you. You have a nasty bruise there and I'm sure you hurt.” Chopper had climbed onto the bed and was currently inspecting Sanji's face.

 

“I'll be fine. You go get some sleep yourself. We need your nose in top shape for tomorrow's hunt. Besides Usopp needs someone to look after him.” He gave the small reindeer an affectionate pat on the head, well hat.

 

“OK. If you're sure.” Chopper hopped down from the bed and grew to his human form. He grabbed their long-nosed crewmate and returned to their own room.

 

Sanji leaned his head back. `Shit.' Two of their nakama were missing now. The captain and their first mate. Zoro. He closed his eyes. The image of Zoro, being dragged unconscious and bleeding from the head, popped into his mind. Pain erupted in his chest. Sanji jerked up swiftly to a sitting position. He looked around. `Where the hell did that come from?' His head reminded him that sudden movements were bad and he fell back into the bed to let the dizziness pass. That must have been one hell of a hit. He closed his eyes again and drew up the images of the one they called Sergeant and the one who hit him. “The fuckers will pay.” For taking his nakama and for striking a lady.

 

He played back the conversation he had with Zoro while he lit another cigarette. It seemed like nonsense at the time so he really hadn't paid that much attention. There was something about a girl, because he was saying `her'. Then something about someone not being real. The one time that he really should have been paying attention and he chalked it up to drunken babbling. Sanji sighed and put out his spent cigarette. He needed to have his wits about him tomorrow so he needed to get some sleep.

 

 

The young boy peered into the window of his bedroom. No one seemed to be there. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He was safe. He lifted the glass and crept quietly into the room. He closed the window and turned to crawl into bed, when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He let out a small squeak and looked up. Above him was the always formidable guardian of his miserable life.

 

“J-j-jii-chan. W-w-why are you still up?” He asked, trying to act as innocent as possible until he knew just how much his grandfather knew about his doings of the day.

 

“Just where have you been? Do you know how worried you had me? There was a pirate ship that landed here today! Kin stopped by a moment ago and told me you were down on Burning Street. Of all places for you to wander, you have to be there. And after dark too. Do you know that there was a huge fight just down from where you were? Four marine soldiers were beaten to a pulp by a single man. You could have been killed.” It was then that the boy noticed that there were tears on his grandfather's face. The old man dropped to his knees in front of him and enveloped him in a bone-crushing embrace. “You're all I have left. I can't lose you too. I wouldn't be able to go on if that happened.” Jii-chan pulled away and looked him in the eye. “I'm too old for this, Muteki. You have to be more careful. Promise me!” The intense look that he gave his grandson left no room for any other answer.

 

“I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, Jii-chan. I promise! I promise I'll be better,” cried Muteki. They embraced each other and let their tears of sorrow and frustration seal their words.

 

His grandfather made a small dinner and then helped Muteki into bed. Just before he drifted off to sleep he spoke. “Oi, Jii-chan? Do you know who my Daddy is? I know it's not the man Mommy is married to. He's told me so. I think I saw him today.”

 

The glass fell from Jii-chan's hands, shattering on the floor. Muteki didn't stir, having already fallen into a deep slumber. Could it be? Had he really come? Would he even help? So much had happened. The old man bent down and picked up the pieces of glass. He would search him out tomorrow. He'd beg if he had to. He had nothing else to lose now, save his grandson. He would even offer his own life if it would get the man to help.

 

 

That night, as the moon rose to its zenith, three men lay awake with their thoughts circling around a certain green-haired swordsman. One's thoughts murderous, one's thoughts in prayer, and one trying to figure out why the hell his chest hurt so bad at the thought of the baka being dead.