Hey guys... I've finally come out of my dark hole, and I'm fine now. I just wanted to thank you all for waiting so patiently and for all those kind wishes, you're great guys!

I'm working on another chapter of PoL, it's my main focus to finish this story but it takes a lot of time. Thanks in advantage for your patience!

Anyways, back to this story. I think there aren't enough LuffyxStrawhats friendship fanfics around, so I decided to throw my own story into the mix! Bwahaha!

Have fun, people! ~ (and you may forgive me for the pathetic title of the chapter...)

Characters: Strawhat pirates

Timeline: Post Timeskip

Rated: T+ (language, cursing.. *cough*)

Warnings: Drama, baby, drama!

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, it all belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

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Chapter 1 – Darkness-

Sanji was busy chopping vegetables. He was fully concentrated on his task. Chunk, chunk, chunk. Next carrot. Chunk, chunk, chunk, like an old clock that never gets tired of moving its second hand across the clock face. Always ticking in the same rhythm, tick, tick, tick. The only difference was the sound it was making.

Beside the chopping sound the cook produced, nothing else could be heard. It was unusually quiet and there was an unreadable atmosphere in the air. Whatever it was, it wasn't comfortable and far from happiness. Usopp and Brook were sitting at the kitchen table but no word was spoken. It felt as if the cook was all alone in his kitchen and he nearly forgot about the two's presence.

In fact, both the sniper and the musician completely forgot about Sanji's presence. They just sat there, blank looks crossing their features. Each of them were focused on a different spot on the table and seemingly lost in thoughts. But who could blame them, after all that's happened?

Chunk, chunk, chunk.

Usopp slowly looked up, no expression on his pale face. Brook didn't move. Chunk, chunk, chunk.

„Do you think he'll make it?" Usopp's unusually monotone sounding voice broke through the air like water would crash through an old barrage.

Chunk, chu- cling! The knife clashed to the stone floor.

Brook flinched and turned to look up, too, only to find the normally calm cook shaking with anger. But what surprised him even more was the fact that Usopp didn't even blink. The long nosed man just looked at Sanji with cold calmness that sent shudders down Brook's spine.

„What did you say?!" Sanji all but spat.

„I mean it, Sanji... do you think that he'll make it through the night at all?" Usopp repeated with the same, low voice, no change in his expression. „Last night had been pretty close...".

'Usopp-san looks so old and tired!', Brook couldn't help but think. If he had a lip, he would've bitten down on it until he bled. That sight before him was so disturbing, so abnormal it was creepy. Where had all those happiness and lust for life vanished to? Brook didn't need to ask out loud. He already knew the answer. The moment they stepped onto Gerino Island they left all of that behind...and probably even more.

„What the fuck, Usopp?!"

The sniper didn't answer and just continued to stare ahead, but he didn't look at Sanji anymore. Brook noticed that his glance stretched far ahead, maybe into some other space neither Sanji nor the skeleton could reach at the moment. Usopp wasn't present with his thoughts, he was lost in another world of dread and darkness.

In a way, they all were. But each of them dealt with it differently. Brook wasn't even sure if they were all aware of the changes they'd gone through. How their bond seemed to stretch more and more, driving them all further apart without anyone putting a stop to it. Maybe they didn't have the strength to prevent the inevitable. Maybe they weren't such great nakama after all, or maybe they depended too much on him in the end...

No matter what was wrong or right at the moment, it was obvious that without Luffy they couldn't go on.

Realizing this one by one was destroying them even more. How could they stand up and pretend everything was all right if there was so much wrong right now? Was there a way to get out of this without a scratch? If there was, then how could they find it without the help of their compass? They were lost in an endless mist without him.

The captain of a ship shouldn't put all the pressure just at the crew's shoulders like that. But he did. He left them to fight on their own, a battle that wasn't about good or bad.

They were fighting against an enemy you couldn't beat. The thing that could be kind and gentle and make your life exciting, or tempt you with its charm and then stab you in the back. It seemed hopeless. Because in the end, it was a shame you couldn't turn back time.

"You heard me the first time, Sanji." Usopp answered without putting any emotion into his voice. Sanji bit his lip and, in a moment of blind anger, slammed his hand onto the counter.

The rest of the crew was somewhere on the ship, everyone seeking some time on their own. They still heard the argument that broke out between Sanji and Usopp. No, argument wasn't the right word. Friends had arguments, but no one of them felt like they shared friendship with each other anymore. They felt like strangers, randomly thrown at the same ship and locked up to fight each other. That's what Sanji and Usopp did. Fighting.

How could this all have come this far? Weren't they a family? The strawhats all thought along those lines, sometime when they just stared ahead and thought of the happy times.

But no one managed to open their mouth and spread some warmth where it was missing.

After all, they all had their special purpose on this ship. But if someone suddenly couldn't fulfill his purpose anymore, the others quickly found themselves in a deep dilemma. The order was cracked, all of sudden there was a huge gap between them no one could fill. It kept on growing and threatened to swallow them whole.

„Luffy won't die! He WON'T!" Sanji shouted. To the others it seemed as if he was in deep rage of what Usopp had dared to suggest. Though anyone who looked twice knew Sanji was just trying to tell himself that his captain was immortal.

But he wasn't. Even someone like the future pirate king could do nothing while being in the clutches of death. No matter what Luffy had managed to come out of alive, this was something that didn't depend on strength or optimism.

A sickness could drag anyone towards the dark abyss.

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Yosh... pretty dark beginning for a fanfic, huh? Pretty confusing, too.

Liked it? Thought it was terrible?

Well, now you all have the great opportunity to talk to me and tell me what you think, please seize the chance! ;)

I shall update as soon as I received some reviews (dirty, dirty tactic, but I really love reviews!)

Hopefully until next chapter~

Neko11