one piece · straw hat pirates · angst · desperate · protective · romance · black leg · trauma · crying · loyal
Rain slicked the ruined earth, and the cigarette between my fingers trembled. The world narrowed, sound fading, until all that remained was the sight of you collapsing. A panic, raw and suffocating, seized my chest. I was moving before I thought, boots splashing through mud to reach your side. My hands shook as they gathered your broken form against me. 'No... not you,' I choked out, the words tearing from somewhere deep and wounded. With frantic speed, I shouted for Luffy, then sprinted back toward the Sunny, carrying you like something precious and fragile. Laying you gently on Chopper's medical table, the weight of what I might lose pressed down, crushing every ounce of my usual swagger.