Author: The Dark Crimson Blood
Story Title: Another Lie
Chapter Title: Sequel
Story Summary: The crew never expected to come back to the ship one day and find their Captain apologizing multiple times for losing the flag. They weren't prepared for it either.
Words: 1,037
Note: It's not as good as the first, but I couldn't leave it at that; after promising a second chapter... :p
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It hurt.
It made his chest clench up in pain, it took away his breath; he was suffocating, he was shaking. His breaths were ragged and his eyes had widened considerably, they were darting in every direction; it was as if he had lost control of his body. The blood was pumping through his veins much faster and he was sweating; despite the horribly freezing night air that swept past him every few seconds.

He knew

That they lied to him; that his ever so trustworthy crew lied to him. The same crew he had trusted so, so much had lied to him. Lied to him after he put so, so much trust into them. He believed them, he would have never known; he would have continued believing them without hesitation, without a single thread of distrust.

He was pretty sure they knew their mistake, that they would be forgiven before he even blinked an eye

He knew that his crew mates knew of their mistake; yet they didn't tell him, they kept it from him. For over two years now, they had kept a lie from him. It would've been fine if they had just came out and said it; admitted their mistake the moment they lied or, even better; the moment they lost the flag. But they didn't and that was the whole problem with this situation. It's the fact that they didn't trust him enough to tell him the truth that hurt him.

They lied

They had pretended nothing was wrong; should he have suspected something the moment they hesitated to speak to him? Should he have noticed the forced actions delivered through his crew when interacting with him? Should he have... Should he have trusted his crew so much in the first place?

Yes, he should have trusted them; it was his fault, that he was such a bad captain to cause everyone to lie to him... He couldn't blame them, could he?

He swallowed dryly, pulling his hat over his head to cover his eyes as he stood up; he turned, deciding he'd talk to the crew about it tomorrow.

His eyes had bore into the ceiling the entire night; he was tired yet he never managed to fall asleep. He wonders if anyone noticed his lack of excitement when breakfast was called; if anyone noticed how he slowly stood up and dragged his feet behind the rest of the crew members. Though, he was positive they noticed him stand up at the end of breakfast; without touching a single piece of food on his plate, he'd ask Sanji to save it for later. "Guys," he began, immediately catching everyone's attention.

"We need to talk"

Everyone tensed, not one person moved; even as the cheerful, fun environment ceased and became silent. "The flag,"

"W-What about the flag?" Nami was the first to speak up, turning away from the previously love struck cook yet avoiding eye contact with her captain, "You got it back, right; or is there something wrong with it?"

"D-D-D-Did something happen?" Usopp stuttered out, his eyes constantly moving from one person from the next; it was obvious he knew where this conversation was going, there was nothing he could to prevent it.

"He knows," Zoro stated, he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms; unlike denying it like everyone else was, he simply accepted it, he never took his eyes off of his captain.

"Knows about what?" Brook hadn't been there at the time the rest of the crew betrayed their captain in trust; so it was correct for him to be confused with the situation.

"The flag, we lost the flag; back on 'Lovely Land', we allowed the enemy to steal the flag" Franky said, breaking the brief silence that came after Brook's question.

"W-We lied and told him we had it the entire time!" Chopper cried out, small hooves wiping away his tears

"Chopper," Luffy said, eyes still shadowed by his precious straw hat; he turned to the reindeer sitting next to him, "Your mouth was covered, you tried to tell me"

"L-Luffy!" The reindeer cried, already jumping onto his friend, his captain, his savior, his brother, his family.

Luffy automatically petted Chopper's head; calming him down with one simple touch.

"How did you find out?" Sanji finally spoke up, putting down the multiple dishes back onto the counter

"You were discussing it; You, Zoro, Robin, Nami, Chopper, and Franky. Chopper wanted to tell me." The reply came without hesitation, which only managed to make the situation become even more tense than it already was.

"Luffy-" Robin had been silent the whole time, almost unnoticed; she had obviously been thinking. The second she spoke up, Luffy interrupted her; "But, don't worry about it; I forgive you, all of you."

Silence, there was nothing but silence before Luffy continued; seemingly oblivious to the shocked expressions on his crew's face. "I must've done something, to make you lie to me; I must of betrayed your trust... So I'll apologize; Sorry, guys."

With that, Luffy's hat fell back to the point where it hung off his neck; and a larger than life smile appeared on his face, his eyes were closed; which prevented his crew to see the lifelessness within them.

Brook and Chopper followed their captain out of the room, everyone else; stayed

They didn't know what to say, what to do, or how to act; the guilt was even worse than before,
It was suffocating.