He had lost her. They all. First Zorro, then Brook, then Usopp, then Sanji, then Franky, then Nami, then Chopper and at the end also Robin. They were all gone. Path. Away from him, from their shared history, from their adventures. It was almost as if it had never existed. As if there had never been such a thing as the straw hat gang. As if they were never friends.

But it was so.
They were all friends.
The best the Grandline had ever seen.
The bond that held them together was stronger than it ever was and would unite them again. Or so he hoped. No, he didn't hope so, he knew.

He would find his friends again, they would become a lot stronger than they were before, so that what had happened would not be repeated.

They would all achieve their goals and meet their friends and family again.

He had promised them.
He had promised each and every one of them to take good care of him or her, to always make sure that they were well.
That they were healthy. Or that he would at least try.

He'd try with all his might, he'd said at the time.

At that time he had never lost, never suspected what it was like to suffer defeat, to meet someone who is stronger than himself.
But that was a long time ago. Now he was a lot more experienced, a lot stronger, no question, but in some points also weaker and above all more thoughtful. He didn't show it, but he wasn't the naive little captain he pretended to be anymore. Time had changed him.

And yet he couldn't let this show, he had to keep the mask on. It wouldn't help anyway if he poured himself out on his friends, they would just be unnecessarily worried and worry about possible mistakes on their part. It wouldn't do anything. It would only slow them down in battle and, in conclusion, possibly mean death as well. No, he'd rather keep everything to himself.

He would meet her again, and then everything would be as it was before. Perhaps not, his friends would not take it coldly any more than he would himself, and yet everything would return to normal. It would all be back to normal. Nobody would give a lot of thought to him, how he ate 5 meals a day, how he and Usopp frightened Chopper again and again with captured sharks and sea kings, how Nami kept giving him head-nuts. That was normal.

And at least THAT was what Luffy wanted to keep for her. If everything changed, at least he wanted to stay the same.

"Luffy! Luffy? What are you looking at? I have your food! Hurry up, otherwise it will get cold!", A familiar voice called him from behind. Boa Hancock. He didn't want to worry her either, so he pretended everything was the same."AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Meat! Yummy !!", his voice penetrated through the door of the naval ship he was on. It would take him straight to his brother.