"Akainu! Don't you dare touch them!" Luffy growled as he struggled with the sea-stone chains.

The fleet admiral merely chuckled. "Don't worry, Straw-Hat. I won't." Then, his hand slowly turned into a liquid hot texture that was frighteningly familiar. "But, my magma will."

"Stop!" Luffy yelled with a panicked wide-eyed expression, which was music to Akainu's ears.

"I'll just let you watch the show, Straw-Hat. It'll be like two years ago, though, so sadly it's not original." Akainu said with a sadistic smile. "But you probably won't mind, right?"

"Shut up, you bastard! Let my friends go!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs. The rubber boy tried to get the heavy chains off his body, but to no avail. The marines had gotten the strongest sea stone in the Grand Line, so it was no use.

Akainu watched the struggle with satisfication, before he advanced towards the rest of the Straw-Hat crew. All of them were chained to the wall, and Akainu was lucky enough to get the Drowsy Mushrooms that brat Komei had used to weaken all of them. Akainu couldn't help but laugh at the crew's unenergized faces. "I must say, you all look miserable."

The crew whimpered at him, not having the strength nor spirit to fight. Akainu stopped laughing and proceeded to make his magma covered hand grow larger.

"Akainu! I thought you said that you wanted to hurt me!" Luffy desperately cried out. "Leave my friends alone!"

"Oh, but I am hurting you, Straw-Hat." Akainu smirked at the captain. "The best way to hurt you is by hurting your crew, am I right?"

Luffy's eyes widened and he let out a sharp intake of breath. Pleased that his theory was confirmed, Akainu averted his gaze back to the crew. "Now, which one should die first?"

Luffy started to panic and he struggled harder. "No, stop! Don't you dare kill them!"

"Oh, I'm not the one that's going to kill them, Straw-Hat." Akainu said as he pointed his magma towards the crew. "You are."

Luffy gasped and his hands trembled. "M-Me?"

"That's right. It's your fault this happened, remember? If you hadn't been so careless, you and your crew wouldn't get caught." Akainu stated, his smirk growing wider. "Also, if you weren't sitting so helplessly two years ago when I tried to attack you, your brother wouldn't have to protect you and die."

Luffy's mouth trembled. "N-No, that's a lie."

"I never lie, Straw-Hat. I'm just stating the truth." Akainu answered. Then, he turned back from the helpless captain to the equally helpless crew and let out an evil chuckle. "Just sit there and watch as your friends die in front of your eyes."

Then, Akainu's hand striked. Luffy's eyes widened and could only watch as Akainu's magma came in contact with his friends' bodies and slowly took their life away.

"STOOO-"

"-OOOOP!"

Luffy bolted up from his bed and desperately looked around. He wasn't in the prison anymore, but rather in the men's quarters. Snores could be heard from the bunk beds and Luffy could identify a few. Luffy calmed down his racing heart and slowly took deep breaths.

"It's okay, it's just a dream." Luffy whispered to himself. "It's not real."

When his heart finally started beating in a normal rate, Luffy let out a tired sigh. The rubber boy lied back down and closed his eyes, trying to go back to sleep. But, it didn't come to him. After turning restlessly on his bed more than once, Luffy groaned and gave up on going to dreamland. The captain sat up and carefully got off the bed.

Then, he quietly walked over to every bed in the quarters. The nightmare was still haunting him, so Luffy wanted to see for himself that his friends were still alive.

Usopp was snoring and muttering about "the great Usopp-sama" while grinning like an idiot (though Luffy knew he wasn't one to talk). Sanji had slight drool dripping out of his mouth and the blonde's hands were positioned as if he was hugging a lady. Franky was snoring and drooling at the same time, and he was muttering about shipwright stuff that Luffy didn't understand at all. Chopper was drooling but he still looked cute, unlike the others. And, Zoro was just sleeping like usual. The Straw-Hat captain couldn't help but smile at the sight.

Then, Luffy walked out from the men's quarters and made his way to the women's. When he arrived, the captain slowly and carefully opened the door and saw Nami and Robin sleeping peacefully on their beds. Luffy smiled in satisfaction before he closed the door quietly and walked towards the deck.

The night was cold and the waves were calm. The scent of the sea welcomed Luffy as he stood upon the grass deck. For a minute, Luffy did nothing but gaze at the stars. The nightmare was still fresh in his mind, and Luffy could still feel his body trembling.

Luffy frowned, this wouldn't do. If he continued to be like this, there's a chance that his nightmare would come true. He had to be stronger, or else-

"Luffy-san?"

Luffy was snapped from his train of thought and turned around to see his musician looking at him with worry (or that's what he thinks. The skeleton didn't actually have an expression).

Luffy realized that his body was in a tense state, so he quickly relaxed and gave his friend a smile. "Hey, Brook."

The skeleton tipped off his hat and smiled. "Hello to you too, Luffy-san. Is something the matter?"

"Nothing." Luffy shrugged. "Just can't sleep, that's all."

Brook mentally frowned. He knew something was up when he saw his captain walk out of the men's quarters this late at night. "Oh, that's a problem."

"No, it's fine!" Luffy grinned, not wanting to worry his musician (though Brook easily saw through his act). "Weren't you on watch duty, though?"

"Yes, I am." Brook nodded. "But, I wanted to accompany Luffy-san when I saw you here on the deck. Though I have no eyes to see, yohohoho!"

Luffy laughed as well. "I see. Then, let's sit here together!"

"That's a good idea." Brook agreed. Then, the two pirates settled down on the grass and gazed up to the starry sky.

A comfortable silence filled the air. After the short conversation, neither Luffy or Brook said anything else. They seemed to be content just by being with each other (as cheesy as it sounds). Although Luffy didn't have any thought on his mind, Brook did.

The skeleton didn't say this, but earlier he had witnessed Luffy waking up from the nightmare and checking the other beds. At first, he was confused to why his captain would do such a thing. But one quick look at Luffy's desperate and scared eyes, and Brook understood.

The musician didn't walk over to him immediately because he knew that Luffy would end up on the deck sooner or later. That was what the captain usually did when he couldn't sleep, whatever the reason.

Truth be told, Brook wasn't very good at comforting. He wasn't the type to hug or give advice, both fifty years ago and right now. There were times that the pirate tried, but his old crewmates would complain from the noise. That's when he realized that comforting is not his forte.

But Brook still wanted to comfort his young captain, even just a little bit is fine. He didn't want Luffy to suffer anymore. So, he did the only thing he could think of.

"Luffy-san, would you like a lullaby?"

Luffy turned to him with a confused face. "Lullaby?"

Brook nodded. "If you want to, I can play something for you."

Luffy raised his eyebrows a notch in surprise before he seemed to realize his friend's intention. Touched by the feeling, Luffy let out a sincere grin. "Yeah, I'd like that."

If Brook had a face of flesh, he would've smiled in relief. Then, the skeleton sat up and grabbed his violin. "How does Bink's Sake sound?"

Luffy's eyes lit up at the name and he gave his friend a thumbs up. "Perfect."

Brook nodded and began to play. The tempo Brook played was slow and soothing. The melodic sounds coming from the violin was calm and it felt like the instrument itself was singing. The familiar music from the violin eased Luffy's nerves and the boy closed his eyes, feeling his tension drain off like rainwater. The captain was finally able to smile in peace, thoughts of the recent nightmare far away from his mind.

Brook gazed at the boy fondly, glad that he was able to help his friend and continued to strum his violin. Somewhere in the middle of the song, though, Luffy moved to lie his head on the skeleton's lap. Brook was so shocked he almost stopped playing, but the peaceful expression on the boy's face made Brook continue.

Although he didn't admit it, Brook was getting a bit worried. He was a skeleton, his body consisted of hard bones and he didn't have any soft exterior like the others. Brook deliberated over telling Luffy that, and as if he read his mind, Luffy opened his eyes and flashed the skeleton a smile. All concern and worry vanished from his mind at the reassurance and Brook didn't hesitate to continue.

When the song finally finished, Luffy blinked sleepily at the skeleton and smiled. "Thanks, Brook."

The skeleton laughed. "Yohohoho. It's no problem, Luffy-san."

Luffy chuckled. "When I can't sleep again," The boy mumbled before he let out a yawn, a sign that the effect of the song was working. Then, he sent Brook another warm smile. "I'll leave it to you to play me a song, Musician."

Brook's eyes widened (though he didn't have eyes...but this isn't time for a joke) and the skeleton's jaw dropped slightly. Tears gathered in his eye pockets but the Straw-Hat musician (oh, how Brook had missed being called that) refused to let it fall.

"Hey. Don't cry, Brook." Luffy chuckled, lifting a finger to wipe a stray tear from his friend's face. But, that just made Brook cry harder.

"I-I'm sorry, Luffy-san. These tears...can't seem to stop." Brook said as he wiped the tears away, earning a laugh from Luffy. After the tears finally ceased, the skeleton gently ruffled the boy's raven hair.

"Leave it to me, Captain. I will always play for you...for eternity."

Luffy nodded with a grin, before his exhaustion caught up with him and the boy slowly drifted off to sleep. Brook smiled (though it didn't show in his face) in relief that his captain's getting some shut-eye and continued to ruffle Luffy's hair gently. "Good night, Luffy-san."

The skeleton would've done that for hours non-stop, but his senses caught an unknown foe coming towards the ship.

Brook narrowed his eyes, they were advancing pretty fast. The musician gently picked Luffy up and quickly dashed towards the crow's nest. When he made it inside, Brook walked towards the sitting area and set Luffy down onto it.

"Wait here for a bit, Luffy-san. It seems like we have some guests." Brook said. He took a quick glance at the window and saw a small ship coming towards them. Brook put down his violin beside the sleeping captain and picked up his cane instead. As Brook made his way down, he turned to Luffy and tipped his hat. "Don't worry, I'll handle it."

When Brook walked back on the deck, the enemy ship had anchored near Sunny. Brook squinted and he could see around ten figures from the absence of light. The skeleton waited until the strangers stepped onto the deck before he let out a chilling laugh. "Yohohoho!"

The strangers jumped from the sound and looked around for the source. "Who's there?!"

"I'd appreaciate it if you don't shout. I don't want to wake up the others." Brook said as he approached the group. "Especially Zoro-san. He tends to get angry if anyone wakes him up." A pause. "Never mind. Nami-san's scarier."

The men stared at him with wide-eyed expressions (which Brook was used to have, he's a talking skeleton after all) before one of them finally broke the silence. "B-Bastard, who are you?"

"The question is, who are you? Stepping onto our ship at this hour." Brook questioned the group.

"We're bounty hunters! We're here to take Straw-Hat Luffy's head!" The man in the front exclaimed. Brook assumed that he was the leader of this band of misfits. (hm, nice name.)

"Oh, I'm afraid you can't do that." Brook said as he held his cane in front of the misfits (he was getting used to it already). "He's my captain, after all. And, he's sleeping at the moment."

"Well, we're going to beat you here and wake him up!" The leader shouted. "That pirate deserves nothing but death for everything that he's done!"

Suddenly, Brook's face darkened and his grip on the cane tightened. "Death...you say? I believe he deserves anything but death."

"You're wrong!" The bounty hunter shouted again. "He caused so much destruction in the Grand Line, it'll be better if he's gone!"

All of a sudden, the leader felt his lower half frozen. When he looked down on it, he saw both of his feet covered in ice. The leader's jaw dropped and when he heard his friends shout, he knew that the same thing happened to them.

"You men are really impolite." Brook sighed as he lowered his Soul Solid. "You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, or in this case a person by his actions." The skeleton slowly approached the half-paralyzed bounty hunters and said, "Luffy-san did all of those things for a reason."

The leader got over his shock and gritted his teeth. "I don't care! The world would be better off without him!" Then, an idea popped into his mind and the bounty hunter smirked. "I hope that brat will feel what his victims had felt when he dies."

"Oh?" Brook said curiously. "What's that?"

"Alone and miserable."

Brook was silent and his expression was blank. But, his tone held a deadly tone. "...You've crossed the line at that one."

"Huh?" The leader raised an eyebrow.

"You know, it's the job of a musician to make the adventure more fun." Brook murmured as he readied his sword, Soul Solid. "And for the first time in two years, my captain has given me that title again."

"What are you talking about, skeleton?" The leader scowled.

"Luffy-san won't feel any misery as long as I'm here." Brook said, walking through the group. "My captain's going to be the Pirate King one day and right now he needs his sleep." A tick mark appeared on Brook's skull. "But, you came here and bothered him with your loud, cocky talk."

"Oi, skeleton! We don't have time for this!" The leader shouted, cracking the ice with his fist.

"Exactly, that's why..." Brook held his sword before him and slowly sheathed the sword back. "Hanauta Sancho, Yahazu Giri."

Before the bounty hunters knew it, as soon as the sword was sheathed back, they felt their bodies being slashed.

All of them were too overwhelmed by the pain to even whimper as the misfits fell on the deck one by one. The leader stumbled a bit and before he let the pain take over, he heard six words that sounded like it was from hell.

"Don't get in my Captain's way!"

-

The New World was unpredictable and the pirates didn't really knew what to expect. But seeing wreckage of a ship and people floating near it was pretty normal for the sea, so the pirates weren't that surprised.

What surprised them, though, was the ice on the ship that formed the sentence, "Yohohoho."

They could hear the chilling laugh already.

Elsewhere on the New World,

"Brook, guess what dream I had last night!"

"What is it, Luffy-san?"

"I dreamed that we were celebrating after we had fulfilled our dreams! Everyone was dancing and singing and you were playing your violin with Laboon!"

"Really? That sounds like fun!"

"It is, isn't it? And then-Wait, why is this floor slippery?"

"Oh, that's because of ice."

"Ice?"

"Yes, I was practicing my Soul Solid over there yesterday!"

"Oh, really? No wonder. Franky! This floor's slippery!"

"WHAT?! Usopp, go get the mop and clean it!"

"Why me!?"