Grave. Open. Empty.

Kidd, it was Kidd calling.

He's out there, alone!

Despite how loud the boys got, you couldn't hear a thing over your own yowling, didn't even know what they were saying.

Frankly, at this moment, you didn't care.

How long has Kidd been.. reanimated? How long has he been left alone out here? What if a survivor got to him without you ever knowing?

Feeling the ghost of bile stirring at the base of your throat, you breathed a hiss before darting for the woods.

"Wait-! (Y/n)!" A hand stretched itself out to grab your wrist, and with quick movements, you swatted the offending appendage away with a snarl.

"Stay away"

You didn't look back as you dived for the trees.

There was a buzz in the air, a scent, almost.

It was if the insistent crackling in your head was guiding you, as with practiced ease, you weaved through branches and roots without hesitation.

Something popped in the pressure, and your ears felt like they were ringing, you couldn't hear a thing.

"(̵̟̈́Y̸̝̎/̶̨̈́n̶̰͛)̴͍̅.̶̦̑.̷̜͒.̴̬͑?̴̫̽"

Your breath hastened, lightning darted through your veins.

It felt like Kidd- it had to be him.

You blindly tried to reach out to him in the same manner he was, you weren't sure if you could even control whatever form of communication this was, but you felt something respond all the same.

"B̷͈̉a̶̫̿b̵̲̀y̷̛͉ ḍ̸͆o̶̻̅ľ̵̲l̴͚̄!̴͔́"

Tears were now streaming down your eyes.

Oh- oh Kidd...

Now slowing to a stop, nausea waved over you as it came apparent that you were now stuck stumbling in circles.

The panic must have reached Kidd, wherever he was, as the connection felt like it had some sort of jumpstart.

"B̷̩͝a̶̠̕b̴̠̀y̷̫̒ ̴͚͝d̵͎̓o̸̰̐l̵̘̿l̴̩̊,̸̺̏ ̴͇̈́a̶͕͝ṟ̶͛e̴͉̅ ̵̜̿y̴̲͋ỏ̶͎ṷ̴̾ ̷̥̒a̶̍ͅĺ̵̩ŕ̴̡ȉ̸̥ğ̵͔h̷̹́t̷̞̂?̶̜̓ ̶̪̃Ḭ̷̏'̴̦̂m̷̯͝ ̶͔̿ȏ̴̩v̴̗͋e̵̝̽r̷̝̆ ̷̗̀h̴̗̉e̴͉͂ṙ̶̮e̵͓͑!̸͍̓ ̵̤͠Y̸͕̽o̴͈͛u̴͎͗'̸̗͛r̸̖̓ẹ̵̇ ̶̘̄s̶̹̽o̶͇͊ ̶̳̃c̴̢̓l̵͎̑o̴͍͝s̶͉̃e̸͈̚!̵͙́"

It felt reassuring, however, you still had no clue as to where to go from here.

The redhead felt so near, yet it was obvious he was still practically a whole world away from you.

Again, you tried to use the connection to reach out to him, trying to inquire where he was, but all it brought was another wave of emotion as overwhelming as the last.

"Ḃ̵͓ȃ̴̳b̴͖̈y̴̰͆ ̶̣̇d̸̮͒o̸̞͝ĺ̷͓l̸̪̈,̴̞̌ ̵͚̌(̵̠̇Ÿ̵̫́/̴̩̊n̴͔̊)̴̙̈́,̵̪͠ ̷͈̉b̴̬̓a̸͙̔b̷́͜e̸̝͊,̴̬͘ ̴͖̒I̶̓ͅ'̷̱͆m̵̳̒ ̸͔̚r̵̹̃í̴̗g̸̻͋h̵͉͠t̵͎͐ ̸̙͌h̴͇̃ë̶͚́r̷͔͝ę̴͆,̸͍̍ ̴̮̀Ȉ̸͎'̷̬͠m̴͙̐ ̸̠͐n̷̳̐ö̶͚́t̵̜̆ ̴͉͛g̷̠͝ō̵̢i̷̜̾ń̴̟g̵͚̈ ̵̬͋ȁ̵̘n̶͚̕ÿ̷̪́w̵̢̽h̸̼́e̵͔͒r̵̯̆e̷̬̊"

You cried and shouted in frustration.

You were useless, again! Not only did you fail to reach out to Kidd on your own, but you couldn't even find him and bring him home!

In your breakdown you missed the figures approaching until one of them body-slammed you in the back.

If it weren't for the fact that you were undead, your jaw would have snapped right off as your face kissed a pile of tough roots.

"(Y/n)! Are you okay?! We were freaking out! You were acting all crazy and just gone!" As if taking advantage of your initial shock from the blow, your leader proceeded to loop his arms and legs around your torso, effectively caging you in his grasp.

It would be a simple task to forcefully rip him away, but that required more violence than you could ever think of throwing near a friend.

Much less Luffy.

Law heaved a groan of dismay at the display, looking both exhausted and worried.

"(Y/n), you shouldn't run off like that, we need to find that-! Kidd, together" His expression softened, and a hint of sorrow danced over his eyes as he crouched down to wipe a tear from your face.

"We missed him too, y'know" his tone was almost reluctant, but the expression he wore was too raw to deny.

Even if they never seemed to get along before, it was apparent there was always some kind of kinship between survivors.

"B̶̝̀a̷̜̍b̷͉̎ŷ̸̪ ̷͕̅d̵̼͑o̶̻̒ľ̷̞l̶̖͐.̴̛̠.̵̺̕?̶͓̾"

You jerked upwards at the fear directing itself towards you, but Luffy made it an effort to keep you pinned to the ground at any movement.

"Luffy! Get off! Kidd! Kidd he's-!" "we know!" The teenager shouted firmly.

"Kidd's calling to you, like mochi-man was called by you, right?"

Still fighting against his weight, you only snarled in desperation and hastened your struggle.

Kidd needed you, he was calling, he was scared-

"(Y/n)!" There was a shiver rushing through your veins.

Luffy's shout was forceful, almost demanding in the tone, and for some reason, you inwardly shriveled at the phantom thought of what consequences would arise from disobeying him.

Despite knowing full well that Luffy would never hurt you.

Nobody made a move, for a while, you just stared into the trees above, trying to get a read on what his expression could be.

There was a tiny piece inside of you that cowered at the chance that Luffy, that same Luffy that never truly let his bygones be bygones without a lifetime of effort, the same Luffy that swore death on those on his blacklist.

Was that Luffy angry with you?

"(Y/n).." he started off tender this time around, now actually unwinding his arms enough to curl around the nape of your neck and press his head to your shoulder.

"(Y/n), I know that you wanna find Kidd, we wanna do that too! You gotta let us help you! We're friends!"

Luffy reared his head back enough to show watery eyes of his own, "I know that being a ghoul makes you feel like you gotta do stuff alone, but you don't! That's stupid! So stop running off and doing shit alone!"

You deflated in defeat, and you could hear the soft laughter from Law at the sight of your cowed expression.

Growing aware of the pacified demeanor about you, Luffy easily broke out into a smile again and finally unwound himself from you.

"Yosh! You wanna go find Kidd together now?" Tearing up at Luffy's bright expression, you took his hand and threw him back into a hug.

"Yesh"

Nothing felt better, than the pair of arms wrapped around you in that moment, securing you in place like an anchor to shoreline.

Despite the buzzing of Kidd's presence still itching the back of your skull, you didn't feel the need to fly off the rails and throw everything aside.

You had Luffy and Law here to help you.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After finally having your head forcefully pulled out of your ass and hogtied by the noose of friendship that Luffy pulled around like a lasso, the three of you were stuck together the whole way.

Which, initially just took you in wide circles as you were doing alone before, however, with the boys' assistance, you came to realize that you were doing things all wrong.

It was Luffy, who eventually made the discovery of a cave's mouth just a few meters from where you were circling.

Just a bit away from the wood, there was a steep drop-off, where if one skidded down and gave it a good look, they would find the mouth of a spacious cave.

Kidd was in here no doubt.

Exchanging looks with your companions, you only hesitated once before reaching out for their hands as you worked through the rubble to get inside.

While the mouth of the cave itself was wide and open, there were plenty of boulders and small roots strewn around to make sure you knew that it was most likely the product of some kind of landslide or cave-in or such.

It was probably wider and deeper once upon a time, could have even been done recently, and the thought made you nervous, as you had no idea how long Kidd has been lost down here, for all you knew he could've been trapped in some closed-off part that got covered up in the change.

It wasn't long before all fears were dashed, as your ears picked up the sound of something shuffling in the darkness.

Both of the boys squeezed their hands around yours the moment you perked up and yipped at the presence, both were effectively blind this deep in the cave.

"(Y- Y/n)..!" You felt your throat choke up upon hearing the words directed at you from the approaching figure in the shadows.

Real words, spoken words.

You weren't even aware that you'd let go of Law and Luffy until your hands were curled around a strip of feathery cloth, nails catching on the material and threatening to break it as your fists tightened with an overwhelming emotion springing forth.

There was the faint brushing of the coat rubbing against your thighs as a firm chest eagerly pressed itself into your face.

Kidd groaned softly, his head nestled somewhere above, burying itself somewhere in your hair, "bw- bwaby dolll.."

The moment it finally registered that Kidd was here, in your arms and alive as he could be, it was too late to stop the howls bellowing from the bottom of your lungs, unfortunately, it meant that the coat was no doubt going to be soaked by the time you got back to base, but nobody cared enough to pull it away from your face.

Law and Luffy both joined the two of you from behind, forcing their way around you to reach Kidd, and give him their own clumsy, reckless hug.

This was the happiest you felt in days.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Law couldn't help but let his eyes stray from the road and to the back mirror as he drove, and cursed for the umpteenth time at the sight.

"(Y/n)! Stop chewing on his arm or so help me-! And Eustass! Don't just let her- stop licking her!"

The redhead peered up at the doctor with a growl, pausing just long enough to think before he gave him the smuggest look in the world, slowly leaned down and licked a trail up your forehead, much to Law's incredulity.

"Luffy!" The teen blinked up at the Heart leader from where he was pouting jealously at the pair's antics from the front.

"Get your head out of your ass and stop them!"

The teen just huffed in his face like a grumpy toddler.

"Why does Kidd get to lick her?! Last time I did that Chopper had me locked in the med bay for three days and washed by mouth out with soap! It wasn't even meat flavored! It's not fair!"

Law felt a vein pop on his head, he was alone, stuck with two half-brained ghouls too focused on molesting each other to even properly explain what they were doing, and a no-brained teenager who obviously had no common sense.

How did he get here again? Why was all of this a good idea?

Luckily, that thought process didn't make it very far when a string of shrill barks began from where the ghouls were, and Law nearly swerved the vehicle off the road in surprise.

"God fucking dammit, what now-?!" The words died in his mouth when he turned his head back and registered the sight.

Kidd, hovering over you in the back seat, sucking on your clavicle, his shirt was being hiked up-

Oh hell no!

Before his body could catch up to his brain, the surgeon stomped on the brakes, causing the vehicle to nearly fly off the ground at the stop, and causing the two of you to stumble off your seats with a pair of startled shrieks.

"Hands off each other until we get back and figure shit out! Now!"

Of course, that didn't stop either of the ghouls, however, it did seem to make the pair more weary of their surroundings, so they kept to just biting and licking wherever they pleased.

The poor surgeon had the sinking feeling that he was going to need a very, very big spray bottle once they got back.

And maybe some bleach, and a large dog collar.