Docking on an island infamous for its violent pirates and bloodlust probably wasn’t the safest option, but the crew needed to restock of supplies before reaching its next major island.

Those pirates apparently didn’t take kindly to other random pirates intruding onto their land, and a battle broke out before the crew could retreat safely.

However, the pirates were much stronger than Luffy anticipated. Almost everyone made it out with minimal damage.

Almost everyone.

Everyone except you.

You were mortally wounded — almost of the brink of blood loss before Luffy carried you back to the ship.

Chopper put you under his intensive care once all of you got back to the Thousand Sunny. Out of everyone on the ship, you were the one who needed the most attention.

Those few days in the infirmary were a blur. With you falling in and out of sleep, being under a heavy amount of anesthesia, and needing constant supervision, the crew was starting to worry about you. They always knew you could hold your own, but your body recovering at a snail’s pace.

The final battle that freed the island from the pirates took a toll on everyone, and you bore the brunt of it. The guilt of not being able to do anything — of slowing the rest of the crew down, was slowly enveloping your mind.

Luffy could see that you weren’t always in the best mood whenever you were conscious, even after being taken care of by everyone else. He always wondered why.

You were there, with everyone else — with him — you had Chopper take care of you, you were safe in bed, and yet, you didn’t smile since you came back on the Sunny.

This was his biggest dilemma for the past few weeks.

*What can I do to make them smile..?"

Every single day without fail, Luffy would sneak into your room while everyone else was asleep or out on the deck. Luffy would talk to you — unconscious or half awake, he’d pull up a chair and talk to you about everything like you could hear him.

He would tell you about Franky's latest invention, how good Sanji's cooking was, or the biggest haul of fish him, Usopp, and Chopper caught that day.

"Don't forget, we have a treasure to find! Come back to us!" You swore you heard him say one time before running out of your room.

When you finally did manage to overcome the anesthetics Chopper gave you, Luffy took this as an opportunity to talk to you daily — only difference was you could listen to him properly.

Luffy would come into your room unannounced, checking on you constantly — how could he not? He’s your captain, and he was worried sick. When you did wake up, he talked your ear off about everything that happened while you were unconscious, but he could tell the stories weren’t making you happy.

At least, not as happy as he wanted them to make you.

You’d think about it, maybe give a witty remark of two, but he didn’t get the genuine laughter out of you that he wanted.

Oh, how he missed it.

Sometimes, he’d annoy you to no end — others, he’s just sit by you, whispering jokes to try and make you laugh regardless of how you might have looked to him.

Today was no different.

Luffy understood that this wasn’t just grogginess from the fatigue or regular mood swings — something deeper was bothering you, and he wanted nothing more than to make you feel better.

He stood by your bedside awkwardly, scratching his head as he stared at you like you were some kind of problem that had to be solved.

"Hmm.." he hummed. He sounded genuinely confused.

You could practically see the gears turning in his head as he looked at you with a confused expression. Your frown was a big problem in his eyes.

"Ooh! I know!" He perked up with a smile beaming on his face, snapping his fingers like he found the best solution for all of your problems.

Luffy, being the amazingly stupid goofball he is, used his powers to stretch his face at insane lengths, smiling through all of it.

"Hey! Look at me! This is funny, isn’t it?!" He asked with a stupidly wide grin, stretching his face and body to look like crazy shapes and forms — all to try and put a smile on your face.