Luffy frowned deeply as he processed Zoro's words.
Nami watched nervously, wanting to speak up and argue, but needing to know how Luffy felt about this. Anger and trepidation twisted her stomach as she waited for his reaction. Luffy wasn't seriously going to go along with Zoro's demands, was he?
Luffy's expression changed, moving from consternation to confusion. He spoke.
“Why does Usopp need to apologize? He was right.”
“It doesn’t matter who was right or wrong,” Zoro said.
“Okay, but Usopp was right,” Luffy repeated. “Merry was alive.”
Something seemed to click in Luffy's mind. He looked at the rest of them, his expression taking on an almost manic cast. “I need to tell him he was right. He doesn’t know Merry spoke to us!”
“He knows, Luffy,” Sanji said. “He heard her first.”
“He knew she wanted us to jump into the sea,” Chopper said. “It was his plan for Robin to roll you off the ledge so we could all escape on Merry.”
Luffy blinked.
“That was real?”
The Strawhats gaped in stunned silence. Only for a moment, though, before they all started yelling.
“What do you mean, was it real?!” Nami shouted, her voice rising above the others. She was more than used to making herself heard, between screaming over storm winds and barking orders at her unruly crewmates.
“He was there and then he was gone,” Luffy said. “I thought he was a halogen, like with the cactus juice in Alabasta.”
“Hallucination,” Sanji corrected, as he and Nami facepalmed.
“So he was really there,” Luffy said. “He saved us and helped us escape. Him and Merry. He still cares about us.”
“You thought he didn’t?” Robin asked.
Luffy shrugged, noncommittal. “He was really angry.”
“He–” Zoro started.
“He was hurt,” Nami interrupted. “Everyone says things they don’t mean when they’re upset.”
“And if he meant what he said?” Zoro asked, scowling.
“Then we need to prove him wrong,” Nami said, answering his glare with her own.
“We can’t just let him say all that and let it go," Zoro said.
A sniffle cut off Nami's argument. She turned and saw Chopper's lip wobble.
“He thought we’d be better off without him,” Chopper said. His voice was small, but his words cut through the room. “That he would drag us down.”
Sanji took a drag from his cigarette. Chopper had given voice to the thing no one wanted to talk about. The parts of Usopp’s argument that Zoro wanted to ignore; the parts no one except Sanji and perhaps Nami felt capable of addressing. It was for the best; someone needed to point out the sea monkey in the room, and their crew of emotionally repressed, uncommunicative bastards was typically short on volunteers. Sanji had done his best to be there for Usopp at Enies Lobby, but Sanji’s words alone wouldn’t be enough to assure Usopp of his place with them.
Robin broke the silence, her voice measured and eyes distant. “I thought the same thing when I turned myself in.”
Nami reached out and squeezed her hand.
Robin smiled at her. When she spoke, her voice was still contained, but her eyes had more light. "Usopp spoke to me on the train."
"He was there too!?"
"Indeed. He told me to have faith in you. That my friends would come and help. Rather prescient of our Longnose, don't you think? Hardly the words of someone who didn't believe in you all, or trust his captain."
"He didn't trust that that care would extend to himself," Sanji said. How he hated to put a damper on Robin-chan's sweet words, but it needed to be said.
"He thought he wasn't worthy of it," Nami added, remembering the fight, and what Usopp had said to her before as he lay bloody and broken on the street.
“Usopp said I wanted to move on like Merry didn’t matter,” Luffy said slowly. “He was right. I didn’t want to think about her dying. But he wasn’t right about himself.” He scowled, fierce and serious. “No one gets to talk about my nakama that way. Not even my nakama.”
"What are you going to do?" Chopper asked.
“Zoro’s right,” Luffy said. “We can’t let it go.” He pushed his hat down, the brim momentarily darkening his face, before he looked up, determination shining in his eyes.
“We’re going to find Usopp!” Luffy declared. "We're going to tell him to come back!"
“Yeah!” Chopper cheered.
“Now hold on!” Zoro said.
Luffy whooped. He snatched up Chopper and bolted out the door before Zoro could stop him. Robin and Sanji followed at a far more sedate pace.
“Did none of you listen to a word I said?!" Zoro shouted after them.
“We heard you. But like you said — gotta respect the Captain’s decisions,” Nami said, poison sweet, and sauntered out after their friends.