A/N: Woo, looks like this'll be my first One Piece fanfic published! Woo! I just watched the episodes about Luffy's childhood, and good heavens, the number of tissue boxes I have beside me right now, especially after ep. 505! LUFFYYYYYY, I wanna hug you, you little kawaii gomu! *cries*

Anyway, it's...rather simple, but I'm glad for the opportunity to beat the writer's block out of my system, even for just a couple of hours. I hope you enjoy reading this little fic. I'd appreciate any feedback (any!), or you can expect a fleet of Marine ships armed with used tissue boxes your way. :))

Spoilers: ...A handful is implied. It's best to read this if you've caught up to the 505th episode.

Disclaimer: ALL HAIL ODA.

Don't Leave Me

Even darkness had deserted him. The sun's fine edge was making itself known; the sky was tinged light orange in the east, whereas a black canvas still lay slumbering overhead. All around him, the very world had ceased breathing. The gulf was nowhere to be seen. The trees were dead shadows. The biting insects had much better to do than crawl up his cold, clammy skin.

He felt cloaked by grief.

Even the winds didn't dare caress his bandaged, shaking body. Luffy remained lying on the soft grass that once looked green, just days before. Before a whimper escaped his bleeding lips, he remembered Ace would simply whack his head to shut him up. "Stop crying like a baby, Luffy!" If only for a moment, his mind was sucked back into lulling remembrance. Wasn't it just years ago... The mountains were his sanctuary, the world was his playground? This same silent world taunting him now?

"I'm weak..."

The trees echoed his soul's torment, rustling with forgotten conviction. Tears never stopped leaking from his eyes, and he finally closed them for the first time since Jimbei left him that afternoon. He lay on his back, watching the clouds parade in the otherwise empty sky. No life came near him, confirming his acquired solitude. Exhaling slowly, he clutched his chest and felt a rhythm, an extraneous noise.

"I'm alone..."

Then there was no purpose to his beating heart. He let his head fall to the side, the pool of salty liquid in his eyes spilling accordingly.

"Sabo, Ace...why..."

He heaved a large breath and let his voice ring into the parting evening:

"Being alone hurts more than anything in this life!"

"Luffy, Luffy? Wake up! I'm gonna charge him for being this loud at this time..."

"Shithead's having a bad dream?"

"Like a little baby, ha."

"Stop it! Let me see him, he might be experiencing some mental or bodily difficulty!"

"What an un-supah wake-up call."

"Better than my daily one?"

"Excuse me, the presence of the great Captain Usopp will help—"

"Give him air to breathe, Long Nose-san."

Luffy opened his eyes. He was in the Thousand Sunny's cozy bedroom, wrapped in a thin square piece of cloth that usually sufficed as a blanket. He didn't know why he was trembling so badly, however. He bathed in sweat that soaked through his clothes and the bed sheet, and through the window across the room he could see scraps of light illuminating sky, like a patch of Usopp's paint blended on his canvas.

"U-Usopp! Minna!"

He abruptly sat upright, earning some nausea in the process with Chopper reprimanding everyone else for scaring their captain. Usopp blinked, wondering why his name was the only one brought up.

"What happened to you, Luffy?" Nami asked in a low voice. The crew waited for the nervous rubber-man to speak, all of them sharing a hesitant look.

"I..." Luffy gulped. The dream was half-forgotten by this point, but the feelings it evoked still pulsed angrily in his veins. He realized Chopper was inspecting him with a flashlight in one hoof and a stethoscope in the other when a cold, smooth metal was dabbed onto his chest.

"Nothing seems to be out of place. Whew," sighed the reindeer. He jumped down from beside Luffy as Usopp cast him a relieved look.

"You scared us there. Are you okay?"

Luffy nodded weakly. "Y-yeah."

"It's okay, bro," Franky offered, patting him on the back before he left to attend to his latest cola-project.

Sanji sat beside him. "How about an extra serving of meat this morning?" He wrapped a single arm around the younger man's shoulder, waiting for a nod or any manifestation he heard him. The cook caught the swordsman observing their captain with a small hint of concern in his stern face.

Robin flashed Luffy a smile, tapping him on the other shoulder before ushering the rest of the inquisitive Straw Hats out of the men's quarters. When Sanji noted that Luffy's breathing eased a little, he too stood to prepare the promised breakfast.

Luffy let himself fall onto his bed again. Eyes closed, he identified the squawks of three gulls somewhere overhead. He imagined their silhouettes gracefully placing shadows somewhere on the grassy deck. Nami would be there looking out into the distance, or sipping some fresh smoothie courtesy of Sanji. Robin would be with her, reading an old volume while Chopper fished with Usopp, laughing heartily about Brook's new song. Franky said he'd be working on something; the swordsman likely asleep again. He thought long and hard about these eight people who have endured the terrors of the Grand Line with him. And the two years' sacrifice seemed worth the time, for he had never been so confident in each of them, individually. And his pride swelled a little knowing he had their full trust and support, knowing their bonds as nakama would bind them forever the same way brothers were bound.

"Don't leave me," he said into the air, trying to relinquish the fear the dream instilled in him.

For a moment he missed having Ace's punch rattling his brain, "Stop crying already!" But then a mystifying scent like roast Sea King assaulted his nose, and he floated down to the bustling kitchen to merry greetings from his crewmates.

"MESHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII~!"

From his spot on the dining table he found the gulls he heard earlier. Someday, he would proclaim freedom and ownership of the sea as Pirate King, like the gulls ruled the air. He would be even prouder than Roger, because he would have the best and bravest nakama standing with him at the top, no regrets.

END

*nom nom nom* Review please? *nom* :D