word count: 100

Close Call

…

In the beginning, there was darkness. Cold and infinite. An abyss of nothingness. Then, ah, the slightest tingle of fluttering eyelids. The softest touch of warmth against cheeks. The faintest whisper from a loved one.

Suddenly a hand insistently dragging him forward, upward, out of the abyss.

"Luffy? Luffy! Thank god you're awake! We thought…We really thought that…."

The warm feeling of tears as someone buries their face against his chest. The bright rays of sun in his eyes, the sound of the ocean. The hard wood against his back and looking up, his nakama enveloping him.

"I'm back."