The battle had been rough, but you’d won.

The last of the enemy pirates had hit the ground, and now the crew moved fast—gathering supplies, patching up wounds, catching their breath under the fading sun.

Your body ached. That was normal. The ringing in your ears, the pressure in your chest, the dull throb of bruises across your ribs.

Also normal.

But the blur in your vision? The sharp pulse behind your right eye?

Not normal.

You blinked once. Twice. The world tilted.

Then someone gasped.

You barely caught Chopper’s voice through the static. “Your eye…!”

You turned to him. “What—?”

Usopp’s face went pale. “Oh god—what happened?!”

The others looked up, eyes drawn to you—and in that single second, everything shifted.

Zoro’s hand lowered from his sword.

Nami’s brow creased in a wince.

Sanji stopped mid-step, a quiet inhale caught in his throat.

Robin’s eyes narrowed—not in disgust, but in thought. Something serious. Something cold.

You reached up slowly, fingertips grazing your cheek—wet.

Blood.

You pulled your hand back and stared at the red streaks staining your skin.

Then you turned to the side, where a cracked mirror leaned against a barrel from the fight.

You barely recognized yourself.

Your right eye—once sharp, clear—was now a soft, clouded white. Opaque. Blank.

You couldn’t see anything from it. Not even light.

It wasn’t just injured. It was… gone.

You took a breath.

The fear didn’t hit immediately.

But when you looked up and caught the way Chopper stared, wide-eyed and hesitant—how Usopp’s gaze had filled with something like fear—your stomach dropped.

And when you stepped forward, just barely, the others stepped back.

All except Luffy.

He didn’t move.

You turned your head. Slowly.

He stood just feet away, blood on his cheek, cuts across his shirt—but his eyes were locked on yours. And they weren’t scared. Or disgusted.

He looked worried. Yes.

But not about your eye.

About you.

He tilted his head slightly. “You okay?”

You wanted to answer. To tell him you didn’t know. That the panic was starting to bloom in your chest now—late, but loud. That your heart was thundering and your throat felt tight.

You looked back at the mirror.

The white eye stared back at you, and you swallowed down the wave of something horrible that tried to rise.

It looked—wrong.

Unnatural.

Scary.

Was it always there? Had something awakened it? Broken it?

Whatever it was, you weren’t ready for it. And by the look in everyone else’s eyes…

Neither were they.

You took a breath.

Tried to steady yourself.

You were about to step back when a warm hand grabbed yours gently.

Luffy.

Still close. Still right there.

“Your eye’s not scary,” he said softly, like he could feel the thought before you even spoke it. “It’s cool.”

You froze.

He grinned faintly, but it wasn’t his usual wild one. It was smaller. Calmer. “Really cool.”

You looked at him, at the boy who always saw the heart of people instead of the surface.

And for just a second, the fear didn’t feel so loud.