Archive of Our Own ^beta

Zoro was a light sleeper. On the Thousand Sunny, even though he was among friends, he still slept light. What if they were attacked? He'd have to be up, to protect the crew. That's why he woke up then. He captain was whimpering in his sleep again. Nightmares.

Even though the Straw Hat captain was strong, he was only 19. He was still very young, but he's been through a lot. Nightmares weren't common, but they happened often enough. After all the boy had went through, though, it'd be surprising if he didn't get nightmares.

Zoro knew what to do, though. He got up and sat on the ground next to his captains hammock. He then grabbed his hand and held it. Zoro had learned that this had helped, because it showed Luffy that his nakama were there. Speaking of nakama, Chopper was beginning to get up. Without a word, the littlest crew member shook Usopp awake, and they both crept over to their captain. Chopper sat on his stomach, and Usopp grabbed his other hand. Zoro noticed, from the corner of his eye, the ero-cook was getting up and leaving the room. Franky was waking up too, and shook Brook awake. They both walked over, simply sitting down near by. Brook began softly humming Bink's Sake. Sanji walked back in, with a little snack, placing it next to Luffy's hat. He then stood nearby. The door opened again, and arms started coming out of the wall, passing something along. It reached the group and Zoro took it: a tangerine. He put it on a table, next to the snack Sanji made. They just stayed like that for a while, until Luffy stopped squirming in his sleep, and the expression of pain wiped off his face, replaced by that of peace. The nightmare was over now. Some of the crew members began to go back to sleep. Sanji and Franky went first, with Usopp and Chopper following. Brook went too, until it was just Zoro sitting on the floor, still holding Luffy's hand. After all, it was a first mate's duty to help his captain.

That morning, Luffy woke up with a vague recollection of dreaming about fishing. He was pretty sure he had been dreaming about something else before, but he dream had changed. He couldn't remember what the first dream had been about, though. He just let it go. Luffy reached for his hat, only to realized two things. One, Zoro was asleep and holding his hand, and two, a snack and a tangerine next to his hat. He suddenly remembered what the first dream had been about, and then everything made sense. Luffy smiled.

"I have the best crew in the world"