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rollinouttahere-writes · 8 months

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Wait; I don’t remember much about some arcs, but the foxy the pirate arc was fun; if you’re willing to do anything with this it would be much appreciated!❤️

It’s about on child lucky/reader during the foxy the pirates where they take the reader during one of the games, trying to win her back. Since she’s a child and has no idea what’s going on, she starts crying and stuff, but once they win her back that she’s so clingy and won’t let go of them to the point where she just holds onto on their legs when they win her back and if they lose again; she starts fighting tooth and nails to not let go.

Or something else. I just want to read more child lucky stuff if you have any! Thank you for reading, have a good day author!

I keep telling myself that I’m not going to spoil Lucky Break… but y’all keep giving me these plot bunnies and I keep caving instantly

When I wrote Get Back Here! I’d only imagined the deaging to be temporary, but now this ask has me thinking about it being permanent and now Lucky has been factory reset into a four year old. It’s a very interesting dynamic to think about. I’m gonna have to write about this some more… I’m hereby calling this the Little Lucky AU

I’ve written something like this about the Foxy Pirates before actually! It was just a short drabble, here, but it’s got a similar vibe. The davy back fights do not mesh well with yanderes, and considering that normal, regular-ass Zoro suggested just killing them and leaving in the anime, I think I underplayed how dangerous yandere Zoro would be tbh

Ok so into the spoilers for Lucky Break. They would not get Lucky at all. Period. Why? Because they couldn’t have come in at a worse point in the story. Don’t get me wrong, the Straw Hats wouldn’t take it well at any point, but by this point in Lucky Break they are unhinged. Skypeia is a really bad time for Lucky, and it really messes with adult Lucky so child Lucky is going to be severely traumatized by it. Enel winds up being the tipping point for the Straw Hats going from low-key yandere to full on yandere. Everything post Skypeia takes on a darker tone to match it and the yandere elements of the story go from subtle to very intense.

By the time they get to Long Ring Long Land, Lucky is looking like she got thrown down a flight of stairs, electrocuted, and strangled. This is concerning to see on an adult, and is horrifying to see on a literal preschooler. The Foxy pirates aren’t even really being malicious when they try to take her, they’re genuinely concerned (and also suffering under the effects of Lucky’s amulet which becomes much more potent post Skypeia). They have a team meeting beforehand and are all like “so we’re gonna take the baby and leave the rest of them behind, right?” and no one disagrees.

But needless to say, all of the Straw Hats are on edge and fucking feral so this concern is not taken well. This was supposed to be a drabble, but as per usual I have no self control and wrote a whole ass chapter basically.

3.9k words

Resisting the urge to pick at your scabs was hard on a good day, but when you were feeling sick to your stomach with nerves, it felt impossible not to do. Not wanting to make Chopper upset, you move your hands to grasp at the brim of Luffy’s hat. Partially to keep your hand busy, and partially to keep it from falling over your eyes again.

You guess it made sense that they wouldn’t let you participate, but that didn’t make having to be separated from your friends any less nerve wracking. Luffy had tried to bring you onto his boat regardless, only relenting when Nami bitterly admitted that they had a point and you would be safer on land.

Terrified at the idea of being alone, you immediately began to tear up and protest, but Luffy made a compromise with you. Since the race was going to be so dangerous, he needed someone to look after his hat and keep it safe. So, if you could be brave about being by yourself for a little while, he would entrust this task to you. Part of you still wasn’t happy about this, but you didn’t want to let Luffy down, so you put on a brave face and accepted.

Now you were left to sit on the cliffside overlooking the start of the race, waiting for it to begin so it could be over already. At least not everyone else will be in the games after this. From your perch, you could see your friends frantically scanning through the crowd. Oh, they were probably looking for you.

Standing up, you maintained your hold on Luffy’s treasure with one hand and waved to them with the other. Sanji was the first to spot you and pointed you out to everyone else. They all swiveled their heads in your direction, and the relief on their faces was palpable. Everyone waved back at you, and Luffy stood up, rather shakily on his raft, to call out to you, “Don’t worry, Lucky! We’ll win this no problem!”

There were some chuckles coming from the audience, and the weird looking announcer guy felt the need to comment on this, “Oh! What’s this? The Straw Hat’s captain thinks they’ll win this no problem? A bold claim to make from someone who has never seen the might of! The! Foxy! Piiiiraaates!”

You winced at the sheer volume and noise of feedback, not able to resist the urge to cover your ears. Luffy’s hat fell over your eyes, blocking out the view but doing nothing to block out the noise. You already didn’t feel good, and that was not helped by the roar of applause and cheers coming from the crowd.

The breath lodged in your throat. The onslaught of noise felt like it was coming at you from all angles, melding together and ultimately amping up into an obnoxious ringing in your ears. Your knees buckled, making you fall onto your behind as you struggled to force yourself to remember how to breathe.

It’s too much! It’s way too much! It’s-

“Hey!” Two familiar hands fell onto your shoulders, snapping you out of the downwards spiral you were falling victim to. One of the hands moves to lift the brim of the hat just enough for you to make eye contact with your best friend. He smiled, and just seeing it was enough to soothe you a little, “It’s going to be okay! Don’t listen to them, we’ve got this!”

“Y-Yeah, of course you do,” you choked out.

Luffy brought you in for a quick but tight hug, smushing your face into his red shirt, “That’s it! We’ll be back before you know it!”

“Luffy! If you’re not in your boat by the start of the race you will be disqualified!” The announcer shouted, causing you to flinch again.

His grip on you tightened, and while you couldn’t see it, you just knew that he was scowling. His neck snapped towards the announcer furiously, “I will be! Stop being so loud about it!” Gently, Luffy pulled you away from him, offering another smile. His voice was quieter than usual, “Don’t worry about it, we’ll beat them and be out of here before you know it.”

With a quick pat to your head, he rocketed himself back to his raft, nearly flipping it over in the process. While the exchange had eased your fears a little, there was still an overhanging discomfort about the situation. What would happen if they didn’t win? Who would those other pirates take? You shook your head. No. You’re not gonna think about it! Luffy will win, you just know it.

The distinct sound of grass crunching beneath feet made your shoulders tense up. Hesitantly, you turned to identify who was coming up behind you. It was two people. One of them was the captain, you think Luffy said his name was Split-Head? Yeah that sounds right. The other one was some big monkey-looking guy. You’re pretty sure his name was Hamburger, a funny name but who are you to judge?

Split-Head grinned at you, but it was not providing the warmth and comfort that Luffy’s gave you. It reminded you of a sleazy salesman that your mother yelled at in the mall one time for being too pushy. Maybe he’ll go away if you ignore him? You hope so.

“Why hello there, young lady! Your captain didn’t include your name on the roster, can you tell me it?” Split-Head was now crouched down next to you, much too close for comfort.

You kept your head down and shrugged, “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

This didn’t deter him in the slightest, “Aww, come on! You won’t make friends that way, kid. You can trust me! I’m captain Foxy of the Foxy pirates!” From your peripherals you could see him puffing out his chest in pride. His name is Foxy? Split-Head is more fitting in your humble opinion. He must think really high of himself. “There, now I’m not a stranger!”

It seems like this guy isn’t going away any time soon. You dug your heels into the dirt anxiously, wishing he would leave you alone. “Yeah, well… you’re still strange,” you mumbled.

Split-Head-Foxy let out an offended gasp, then fell to his knees with a gloomy aura looming over him. Wow. He’s pushy, full of himself, weird, AND dramatic. You rolled your eyes and took a decisive step away from him, looking out at the ocean as the race finally started.

It was then that it dawned on you that this race went around the whole island, meaning that you’re going to have to run to try and keep up. Emphasis on the try. Without a word to the two pirates bothering you, you ran after your friends’ boats. Both of your hands were tightly grasping the hat on your head to prevent it from flying off. Sure, there was a string attached to it around your neck, but you didn’t want to risk it.

Immediately, it became obvious that you were not going to be able to keep up. Even if you were at your best, you wouldn’t be fast enough. But with how injured you were, everything was sore and the pain of your muscles pulling on your scabs made your run more like a trot. The Straw Hats’ boats were getting farther and farther away, and you could feel frustrated tears prickling at your eyes.

There was the sound of… galloping? Yeah, galloping behind you. Pretty soon, Foxy pulled up next to you riding Hamburger like a horse. Man, this guy just keeps getting weirder.

“Looks like you need a ride there, kid. Why don’t you hop on so we can watch this race together, hm?” Foxy held out his hand to you, smiling smugly. Memories of your preschool teacher telling the class to never get in a stranger’s car came to mind. A monkey man isn’t exactly a car, but you think the same idea applies here.

You shook your head vigorously, “No, I don’t wanna go with you.”

Foxy’s smile fell, and his hand drooped. He plastered it back on his face after a moment, “Kid, you’re not going to be able to keep up, just come with me. I’ve got some candy! I’ll give you some if you hop on!”

A stranger offering you candy to get in their vehicle was another thing your teacher warned you about. Yeah, this was definitely a bad guy you shouldn’t talk to. You doubled your effort to run a little faster to put some distance between you and them, “No! Leave me alone!”

They sped up, closing the gap in seconds. Instead of saying anything, Hamburger simply reached out and plucked you right off your feet then dropped you onto Foxy. Naturally, you started thrashing and screaming, “Let go of me! Put me down! Stranger danger!”

Hamburger laughed at your terror, “What a feisty child.”

“Quit laughing Hamburg, she’s kicking up a storm,” he was frantically trying to get a good hold on you. “Calm down! We’re not going to hurt you, we’re help- OW!” You managed to land a good kick to his face. Despite that, he was able to hold onto you. He spun you so that you were facing away from him.

His hand grabbed your face and turned it to gaze out at the ocean, “Look! We’re caught up now!”

True to his word, you could see the contestants. Your face scrunched up in confusion, not seeing Luffy and Sanji’s boat anywhere. Or Zoro and Chopper’s. Were they that far ahead? Yeah, that was definitely it, had to be. You could still see Usopp, Nami, and Robin at least. Seeing them made you feel a little calmer.

“See? We were just trying to help you out,” his smug grin was back. “Now how about you tell me your name?”

As much as you didn’t want to, he probably wouldn’t shut up about it until you did, “It’s Lucky.”

“Lucky? Is that supposed to be a nickname or something?” “It’s my name! You asked and I told you, stop bugging me about it,” you grumbled. You want to get down, but you get the feeling they wouldn’t let you do that. At least you get to follow the race now.

Foxy fished around in his pocket and pulled out some brightly colored objects, “Here, I bet you want some candy, don’t you?”

It’s bad enough that you’re riding with him, you’re not gonna take any candy from this weirdo, “No thank you, I don’t want any.”

He sighed and stuffed it back in his pocket. You hoped this would be the end of his chattering. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear that luck was on your side today. Or this week, really. Foxy held out your arm, scrutinizing all the scabbed over burns on it, “How did this happen, Lucky?”

“It’s none of your business, I don’t wanna talk about it mister,” you huffed. You didn’t want to even think about that ever again. About him. About how cold and uncaring his eyes were. About how much it hurt. Your shoulders started to shake and your lip trembled.

“Whoa, hey it’s okay! You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to!” Foxy brought you in for a hug, but you really didn’t want it. You squirmed and tried to get away from him, but he wasn’t letting you.

“What’s this?! The last remaining Straw Hat boat has broken into first place with incredible speed!” The announcer shouted.

Wait. Last remaining?! How was there only one boat left?! You looked out to see Usopp, Nami, and Robin barreling towards the finish line. They were going to win! They needed to if they were the only ones left.

Foxy cursed under his breath, “Hamburg, you need to hurry to the end goal!”

Hamburger only nodded and sped up. You were kinda impressed by how fast he was able to go. Despite being pestered by these two so much, you were smiling and kicking your feet in excitement. They were going to win this race! And then they would win the other two races, too!”

A little ways before the finish line, Hamburg came to a halt, and Foxy hopped off. You took the opportunity to scramble off him, too. You rushed to the cliff and called out, “You can do it! You’re gonna win!” If they heard you, they didn’t react.

“I wouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch, Lucky,” Foxy stated ominously. He held out his hands and made some weird shapes with them, like he was trying to make shadow puppets. All you could do was eye him curiously, trying to figure out what that was supposed to mean. You don’t have any chickens, why is he talking about counting them? Weird.

His fingers were pointed right at your friends and then he said something about a slow-slow beam. Your friends, who were previously rocketing towards the finish, abruptly slowed down to a crawl, seemingly unable to move. Your jaw dropped as the other boat with the pointy nosed girl on it took the lead and then, much to your horror, won the race.

You whipped around to Foxy, who was looking quite proud of himself, “What did you do?!”

“I put my devil fruit to good use, that’s what! I can slow down anything with my slow-slow beam.”

“That’s cheating! You’re a cheater!” You stomped your foot angrily, pointing an accusing finger at him.

“No it’s not. I said there were no rules in this race, didn’t I? That means I’m allowed to help my team from the sidelines if I want.” He tried to pat your head, but you slapped his hand away.

“But that’s not fair!”

“Life isn’t fair, kid, you should get used to it and be a good sport about your team losing,” Foxy had the audacity to try and scold you for your behavior. Who does he think he is?!

“I hate you! Stupid Split-Head!” You kicked his shin before running off to try and find your friends, you need to tell them about this.

Due to how large Foxy’s crew was, it was difficult to find one of your friends. Especially when everyone was trying to get you to stop and talk to them for some reason. Finally, though, you spotted the red shirt that you would recognize in a heartbeat.

“Luffy!”

That catches his attention, alright. He whirls around and then runs to meet you. Knowing the drill, you lift your arms so he can pick you up. He does just that, holding you out in front of him, “There you are!” His clothes were wet and water was dripping out of his hair, he must have fallen into the ocean at some point.

Your first order of business was to return his prized possession to him. You pulled the hat off your head and placed it onto his, albeit a bit crooked, “I kept your hat safe for you!”

“I knew you could, good job Lucky!” Luffy pulled you in to balance you on his hip and used his free hand to ruffle your hair.

Now onto the big thing, “Luffy, that Split-Head guy is a cheater! He’s got a devil fruit that makes stuff super slow and he used it on Usopp, Nami, and Robin! He uses his fingers to do it!”

“Is that what happened?!” The grin he was previously sporting dropped and he looked surprised.

You nodded, “Mmhm! I saw it myself!”

Luffy mimicked your nod, humming in thought, “Well now that we know about it, we can look out for it in the next game. We’ll figure out how to beat it, don’t worry!”

You looked away, picking at his shirt nervously, “Are you sure? You said the same thing about winning the race, but…”

He tensed up from that, “Hey, come on! Have some faith in me, in all of us. We’ll win the rest of the matches for sure!” Luffy knelt down to put you on the ground, “Now how about you go stand with the others, okay?”

“Okay,” you didn’t really want to leave him, but you needed to listen to him. He probably had important captain stuff to do. It only took a second to spot some of the others. They weren’t far away and were watching your interaction with Luffy. You hurried over, squeezing yourself in between Robin and Sanji.

Sanji dropped onto his knees and brought you into a tight hug. He was also soaking wet. “Were you okay being on your own, princess? No one bothered you, did they?”

“I’m okay. Some people did bother me, but I gave them the slip after I kicked one of them in the shins,” you declared proudly.

Sanji’s face pinched in fury, “Who?”

“Um,” you took a second to remember their names again. “Oh, Foxy and Hamburger!”

“Hamburger? Do you mean Hamburg?” Robin asked, stifling a chuckle. Oh yeah, Foxy did call him that, didn’t he?

“Yeah, that. They kept trying to talk to me and made me come with them to watch the race. I didn’t want to, but Hamburger- I mean Hamburg, picked me up and made me come with. Oh, and Foxy tried to give me candy but I didn’t take any.”

Sanji was scowling and looked ready to go on a rampage. Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he let you go and stood up while digging his cigarettes and lighter out of his pockets. He was muttering about caving their heads in later.

The announcer and captain were standing on a stage and said that it was time to announce who they were taking for their victory. Your heart sank and you clung onto Robin’s leg nervously. Who were they going to steal? Would Luffy really be able to win them back? What if they won all three rounds and stole three of your friends? Robin pet your hair reassuringly.

“We have decided on who is becoming a Foxy pirate! It is none other than,” there was a pause for dramatic effect. Your stress was climbing with every second. The announcer took a deep breath and finally finished the sentence, “Lucky!”

Everyone fell silent, but for only a second. Then chaos erupted.

“Absolutely not!” Nami shrieked.

“You said she was too young to participate!” Sanji interjected.

“We said she was too young to participate in the fights, not that she was off the table for this part,” Foxy pointed out with a smirk.

“She’s four years old! What could you possibly want from her?!” Sanji was already mad before the announcement, but now he was furious.

“That doesn’t matter, you need to hand her over now, lest you want to break the rules,” Foxy reminded him.

Sanji was distracted from his argument as he heard a sob behind him. From you. Robin was quick to scoop you up, cradling you in her arms and trying to calm you down. “Now look what you did! She’s crying!” Sanji barked at them.

“I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna!” You wailed, clinging onto Robin like your life depended on it. Which, as far as you were concerned, it did.

“Pick someone else, Lucky isn’t going to go with you,” Luffy spoke. His tone was cool, but the words were sharp.

“Don’t tell me what to do, straw hat. I’m making the rules here, not you. She’s a pirate, is she not? She needs to learn not to be such a crybaby. Besides, once she’s with us she’ll see how nice we are!” Foxy crowed proudly.

“This is cruel, she’s just a child!” Robin chimed in, clutching you to her chest even tighter.

“Quit complaining so much, it’s not like we’re going to hurt her any worse than she’s already been hurt. We’re probably better suited for protecting her than you are,” the pointy-nosed woman was now approaching you and Robin, looking annoyed. “Now give her to me. Come here, Lucky! Do you want to go get some cotton candy with me?”

Her reaching for you only made you scream louder, “NO NO NO! I’m not going!” She tried to grab you anyways, but Robin was quick to put a stop to that. Arm sprouted from the woman’s body and immobilized her.

Robin backed up by several paces, “Get away from her, you’re just going to make this worse!”

At this point, tears were pouring down your face and you felt like you couldn’t breathe despite how frantically your lungs were working. You coughed and hacked between hysteric breaths and sobs. Your heart was pounding out of your chest and your head hurt. They were going to take you away. You were going to be taken away from your friends again. Just like in Skypeia.

They were going to steal you.

They were going to hurt you.

“Don’t let me get taken away again!” You wailed at the top of your lungs.

Foxy scoffed, “This is getting ridiculous! Fine, if you won’t give her to us then I’ll tak-”

His sentence was ended abruptly by Luffy’s fist connecting with his face. A sickening crunch cut through the air. Before he even hit the ground, Luffy’s hand grabbed hold of his jacket and pulled him close. As soon as he was in range, Luffy was on him.

He climbed on top of him and as Foxy was raising his hands to defend himself, Luffy grabbed them and snapped his fingers before he could put his devil fruit to use. Then Luffy began wailing on him, furious, raw screams erupting from his throat.

Everyone was frozen in place, shocked at the display, but then the crowd rushed at Luffy to save their captain. They couldn’t even get close, though. Zoro leapt into action, cutting them down like paper. You weren’t able to see anything else after that, as Robin snapped out of her own state of shock and buried your face in her neck. “Don’t watch this, Lucky,” she whispered.

A hand landed on your head, gently stroking your hair. It feels like Sanji. He confirmed this by speaking lowly, “Robin, get Nami and Chopper and head back to the ship. Prepare it to set sail, it looks like we’re not going to be finishing these games after all.” He peaked around her shoulder to be able to look you in the eyes, “Don’t worry Lucky. We will never let you get taken away again, I promise.”

Many Foxy pirates swarmed around you ready to attack, only to get sent flying by Sanji. He didn’t even look back at you and Robin, “Go! I’ll protect you so just focus on getting the others and going back to the ship.”

“Right, let’s go Lucky,” Robin held you securely in her arms and ran. “Navigator! Doctor! We’re leaving, follow me!” They didn’t need to be told twice, cutting through the crowd to run in tandem with you and Robin. “We need to free the ship and get it ready to sail!”

“Should be easy enough,” Nami said. She caught your eye and switched to a softer tone, “When we get back to the ship, I need you to go hide in our room until one of us comes to get you, okay?”

“O-Okay,” you sniffled pitifully. At least the tears had stopped now. You chose to nestle in closer in Robin arms for the duration of the sprint back to the Going Merry, eager to leave and for this to all be behind you.

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imsfire2 · 2 years

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Thoughts on “Rebels”

I’ve been having a “Star Wars Rebels” rewatch in recent weeks and have been struck all over again by what a terrific piece of work this series is. With the exception of “Rogue One” I don’t think any of the other more recent SW canon content captures the look, tenor and all-round feel of the OT quite so perfectly.

OK, so it doesn’t exactly capture the look, because it’s animation rather than live-action-plus-SFX; the difference of medium inevitably makes for visual differences. But it has the same quality of jumping from domestic-level scenes to scenes on a huge scale.

Glorious stars and planets and the vast expanse of deep space are drawn and lit superbly, and alien worlds evoked and made real. And within the limitations of a cartoon it manages to make these worlds look lived-in and grubby; the rough freshness of Sabine’s graffiti art, the muddled bedding in Ezra’s bunk, the dents and scoring on spacecraft hulls and Chopper’s chassis, the scratches and worn paint on Kanan’s mask. And not forgetting Rex and Co’s gorgeous, wheezing, rattling walking castle in “The lost commanders”, stomping straight out of a Studio Ghibli film into the sands of Seelos.

“Rebels” gets the tone right; it has the same mixture of moments of high drama and daft humour as the original films; dramatic battle, intense emotion and the lull between storms, and dad-jokes and corny droid slapstick. And just as with the originals, the humour is character-based and situation-based. It never feels stuck-on, much less as though it was added to gratify the creators or to make us aware they think they’re superior to the story they are telling.

And much of the drama likewise is character-based and character-driven. The protagonists get convincing flaws and strengths, and credible arcs, they grow and develop, and we get to see them deal with the results of their actions; we see them grieve over their losses, suffer in the aftermath of failure and disaster, face up to the past, work out how to move on. On occasion we see them fail; they try to recover, try to change, don’t always succeed. I came to care for the Ghost crew to a degree that I would never have expected to care for animated characters. To root for them, not just in a superficial way, swept up in the story, but with real emotional connection. I love the relationship between Kanan and Hera, the steady strength of their loyalty, the unspoken love that is so deeply-rooted in friendship and common goals. I am exasperated by Ezra’s follies, I root for him in his struggles, I’m moved by his growth, his self-acceptance and eventual self-sacrifice. I howled my eyes out several times over this show. They’re cartoons! - they’re not real people, they’re not even real actors, but they make me cry just the same.

There are moments that simply give me shivers, they are so perfectly right; scenes that hit the exact same emotional buttons as the original Star Wars films did for my teenaged self, all those years ago, sitting in the Odeon squeaking in excitement. Kanan’s lightsaber moment in “Spark of rebellion”, and the scene near the end of “Path of the Jedi” when the kyber crystal gifts itself to Ezra. Pretty much the whole of “Fire across the Galaxy”. “Legends of the Lasat”!! The entire Maul arc is packed with these heart-stopping moments, from Maul’s first appearance (I yelled at the tv) to the almost Kurosawa-esque classicism of the final lightsaber duel.

And as well as a wonderful cast of rounded, believable protagonists, and some terrific recurring and guest characters (Hondo! AP-5! The Bendu!!), “Rebels” also has some of the best villains. The Inquisitors sit perfectly in the space between “bog-standard darksider” and Darth Vader. The Imperials are realistic; bastards, bureaucrats, hypocrites, smarmy career officers treading on everyone below them. Thrawn is truly splendidly evil, but he’s well-rounded as well, and genuinely formidable because of his intelligence and ruthlessness, not simply because he can smash things up with the Force. And of course with Agent Kallus we get one of the best-executed redemption arcs I’ve come across in a while. The combination of good scriptwriting, decently-thought-through character motivation, and David Oyelowo’s beautiful voice-acting make it a real treat to watch that particular storyline play through a second time. It’s an object lesson in how to create a strong villain and then have them turn to the good side believably.

In short, I love “Rebels” and I love the Rebels themselves, and I love how emotional I get as I follow this now-familiar story, through triumph and disaster, through the funny days, the days of hard slog and the days when your heart breaks in two. It’s like a gem, cut from the best matrix, shaped and polished with exact skill, neither too grand nor too small but perfect in and of itself. It’s brilliant.

#Star Wars Rebels #Rebels #musing on SW #SW meta #why i love rebels #a shame Disney/LF seemingly forgot a year later how to do a good redemption arc

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silenceofthecookies · 3 years

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Heeey!!! May I request fluff headcanons of Law, Ace, Zoro x blind S/O but then later they found a cure so that they can see? And when S/O can see they starting to cry because after all those years they can finally see and also see their lovers face. (I just need some wholesome.)

Hi anon! I just love this idea! ❤ I’ve picked 3 different kids of being blind, now I’m no medical professional and I just found these on the internet, so they might not be completely realistic, but ah hell, it’s fiction 😂 Enjoy!

Law

You were born with severe glaucoma, optical nerve damage, and because of that, you had been blind since birth.

Law always hated that you were blind. He knew you were used to it and that you were perfectly able to function without your sight, but he wanted you to have everything in the world. Even sight.

Of course, Law would take no action without talking it over with you first. Once he has the ok from you he hits the books. With his power, giving sight to a blind person should be possible, right? He’ll study day and night to find a way. Severe glaucoma may be irreversible for the average doctor, but Law is no average doctor.

When it’s finally time for the surgery, Law isn’t sure if he’s more nervous or you. He wants this to work so badly, but he’s done all the research he can, and now it’s just a matter of putting his theory into action.

Finally, the big moment comes, and Law asks you to open your eyes again after the surgery. You open your eyes and there is so much to take in. Looking in all directions, you slowly absorb it all, trying to figure out what shape connects to what object in your mind. Tears are already threatening to spill from your eyes at this point.

When you hear Law’s voice call your name, you turn to him. The moment your eyes land on him, the tears start falling. Seeing your face, a your eyes focussed on him, Law starts crying as well. He wants to hug you but decides not to, instead letting you look at him more.

“Law? Is that you?”

“Yes, Y/N. It’s me.”

The big smile that appears on your face once he answers you just has him crying more with an added smile of his own.

Ace

Ace has always had so much respect for you, being able to live and fight the way you do while being blind. He tried to walk around the Moby Dick blind for a while to see how you did it, but after nearly falling overboard before being pulled back by Thatch, he decided it was better if he didn’t.

He’d bombard you with questions. How you do it, how you know where stuff is,… and finally, he asks how you see the world. What you imagine it to be. That’s when Ace finds out you haven’t always been blind, you actually lost your eyes in battle. How you used to be able to see and how you now have to live without it. It makes him sad because if you weren’t born blind, you knew differently. You lost something you used to have and now you can miss it.

So he finishes up his conversation with you and goes straight to Marco. He’s a doctor and one with a devil fruit that heals, maybe Marco could do something for you!

Marco wouldn’t be sure if he could or couldn’t help you, but he’s willing to give it a try to they call you over and explain the situation. Once you give they okay, Marco starts working his magic.

Once he’s done, Marco will move to stand behind you and turn you to ace before telling you to open your eyes. Once you do, the first thing you see is a man with black hair, freckles, and an orange hat. You knew someone who matched that description.

“Ace?”

“Whoa, you actually recognise me? That’s… cool…”

The fact that it worked, combined with you immediately recognising Ace has him crying like a baby. Seeing him cry makes you cry and Ace quickly wraps his arms around you so you can cry together.

Zoro

Zoro never made a big deal out of you being blind. He’s seen enough people to know that a disability doesn’t necessarily equal to weakness. In previous battles, he’s seen that you can handle yourself perfectly fine, and in daily life he’s seen that you can manage very well too. He rarely brings it up and just treats you like every other person, only offering to help you when he sees you struggling, and accepting a no if that’s your answer.

Eventually, during a chat with you and Chopper, you reveal that you’ve never been able to open your eyes. This piques the interest of Chopper, who tells you that your eyesight may be just fine, but that your eyelids are simply stuck together. Apparently, it’s something that happens sometimes at birth and the eyelids can be carefully separated. Figuring you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, you allow Chopper to separate your eyelids to test the theory.

The surgery goes well according to Chopper but you don’t want to open your eyes immediately. You ask Zoro to come with you to a calm spot on the deck of the Sunny. That’s where you open your eyes for the first time. It takes you a few tries to properly open your eyes as the brightness is overwhelming. The first thing you see is a man who can only be Zoro, surrounded by the sea and the sky.

Zoro watches you silently, wondering if it worked or not. Once you look him in the eye and smile at him, he too smiles.

“Hey, Y/N. How’s seeing?”

You start crying. Zoro panics a bit before he sees you smiling and crying at the same time. It’s not the question or his voice that made you cry, it’s the fact that you can see his mouth move. See the words leaving his mouth. See him.

#trafalgar law x reader #portgas d ace x reader #roronoa zoro x reader #one piece x reader #opfics #one piece imagine #trafalgar law #portgas d ace #roronoa zoro #cookie writes #headcanons #requested #anon #scheduled post

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sashi-ya · 3 years

Text

{+18} – Cherry Blossom & Tangerines – Trafalgar Law x Y/n – Part 5

Modern AU. Trip to Jeju Island, SK. No spoilers.

Female reader. No physical descriptions. Everybody is +18, canon ages. Chopper is human.

Tw: NSFW, blindfolding, soft sub/dom, unprotected sex (this is just fiction, pls wear protection). Fluff. A little bit of ZoSan

A/N: I haven’t had the chance to visit South Korea due to Covid, so everything included is pure research. Excuse me in advance if there is something that’s not 100% accurate! Keep in mind is purely inspired ♥

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31059467

Word Count: 4.5 K

» List of parts: {P1} {P2} {P3} {P4} {P5} {P6}«

Chapter 5

“Y/n it's our turn, let’s sing!!” Vivi told me, while pulling me from my arm. “Vivi, wait”, I said. I kept watching how Law was still hugging the girl. “What is it?... Oi!”, Nami said, also witnessing the scene.

“Don’t go, just… wait”, I begged my redhead friend who was ready to kill him. I saw how the mysterious woman and Law laughed together. Zoro didn’t even care, he was more drunk than anything else.

The girl was ruffling his hair, pinching his cheeks. Law didn’t even look at me. I didn’t know if he was just simply so amused about the girl that he simply forgot about me, or, he was doing this on purpose, knowing that I’ll be watching, maybe to let me know he wasn’t going to commit to me in any way.

“That’s it. I’m leaving”, I stated. Vivi, Robin and Nami insisted on me shouting at Torao, but I couldn’t. I was so hurt, and, besides that, I wasn’t even his girlfriend, so I had no right to reproach anything to him.

The girls came with me, and we drove home. The boys didn’t realize we had left until long after we weren’t at the karaoke bar, when Sanji texted Nami asking what the hell had just happened. “Sanji, you should ask your stupid ass friend Torao, what the hell is he doing with a bitch?, plus, go get your boyfriend too, she is right next to him”, Nami said via audio.

Sanji sent an audio back, “Nami-swan! Zoro is not my boyfriend… wait, you were talking about him, right?, whatever, Torao is still with her, I’m gonna see who the hell is she and kick the hell out of stupid Law for hurting Y/n-chwan”.

I drove as fast as I could, at that point I only wanted to bury myself in bed and cry my eyes out. I was silent all the way. My friends knew there was no point in saying anything else, so they just strung along with me.

We got home, and Robin offered me some tea, yet, I politely turned the offering down and headed almost running to my bed. I covered myself up to my face, and pitiful tears sprouted from my eyes.

I heard my cell phone ring several times, I knew it was probably my friends asking if I was all right. But I didn’t have the strength to even see the screen.

“Why did you choose to hurt me like this, Law?” ... I whispered to myself, unable to understand why I was in that position, why after all the romantic stuff he has done for me he didn’t even care I was there…

I reached my phone and simply turned it off, I was fed up with it ringing. Some minutes, perhaps half an hour passed until I fell asleep, crying.

Suddenly, Nami’s loud screams woke me up. “TORAO, WHAT THE FUCK? WHY ARE YOU BRINGING THIS SLUT HOME?”.

I didn’t hear Law’s voice, but I did hear someone climbing the stairs, quickly, almost running.

The door opened suddenly with a loud sound, like someone kicking on it. I was still in bed, and the bang of the door made me take an upright position instantly.

There he was, the villain of my story with tears on his eyes, hopeless, shaking. “Y/n-ya!!! it’s not what you think, let me explain…” “STOP, what type of lie are you going to spit out from your stupid mouth?, plus, what the hell? I heard Nami saying you brought that girl home. Have you been drinking? Are you drunk? what the fuck?” I shouted at him, also crying.

Suddenly, before Law could say anything else, I saw a brunette, tanned, tall girl, with big eyes that resemble Law’s ones. She looked at me, smiling and peacefully said, “Hello Y/n, my name is Lami. Trafalgar, Lami”.

I opened my eyes, and mouth… “Trafalgar?”.

“That’s right! I’m Law 's sister! Nice to meet you! I’m sorry if you got things wrong!” she said to my stunned me. “Oi, brother, she is so pretty!! Even more than in the pictures!”.

“Oh God…”. I was somehow relieved that Law wasn’t flirting with a girl, yet mortified because not only me, but all my friends had called Law’s sister a slut… a bitch.

“I am… I am really sorry… And, uhm, N-nice to meet you…”, I said, wiping the tears on my eyes. “It’s ok, darling! I’m leaving you alone so you can talk in peace, I’ll be downstairs!”. “O-ok”, I said sniffing.

Law slowly approached to the left side of my bed and sat there, next to me, in silence. I wasn’t capable of saying anything to him, either. I had put up a show, he probably thought I was a toxic girl, jealous or even worse things. I had mistrusted him. It was probably the end of something that hadn’t even started.

Suddenly, Law hurled himself on me, hugged me and nuzzled on my lap. “I thought you wouldn’t believe me, I’m sorry, I really do. Lami lives in Jeju and I wanted her to meet you because she is not traveling to Seoul any sooner, we just decided that we will be meeting at the bar so… so you could get to know her”. He said, still with his head buried onto my legs.

“Law…”, I began to cry again. I petted his hair and told him “I am the one who should be sorry. I- I thought you were a bad guy, a typical man that doesn’t care about the girls. I am sorry…”. I felt horrible.

I could hear downstairs my friends laughing, Sanji and Zoro fighting, Luffy shouting. Luckily everybody would make Lami feel comfortable, after all. Law was still sobbing over my lap.

After several minutes I decided to speak up. “Law, stop, you are not the one who should be crying asking me for forgiveness. You did nothing wrong. I was completely mistaken. I hope you will be able to forgive me someday”, I said, gaining composure in order to make things clear.

He sat back, looked at me with teary eyes and asked, “someday? There is nothing to forgive. I want to be with you, I … L…”

“Oi, you two, stop crying, Lami is leaving”, said Nami leaning on the door frame, smiling at us. As she left, and Law wiped the tears off my cheeks, we stood up from bed. I was still dressed so we headed downstairs right away.

“Sis, let’s go, I don’t quite remember how to get your home from here, so you tell me”, said Law. Lami looked at him with loving eyes, and said, “My big brother is always taking care of me, I missed you doc”. Law’s cheeks became red, and he hid under the white with black spots cap he was wearing.

Lami said goodbye to everybody, except me, “she probably hates me”, I thought.

I was going to wish her a good night, when Lami held my hand and pulled from me. “Let’s go sister-in-law, come with us!”. I followed them into the car unsure if Law wanted me there, because he was still embarrassed as hell.

I let Law’s sister sit on the passenger seat, and I sat on the back seat behind Lami. A few seconds after Law started the car Lami said, “Oi, Y/n! did you know that Law has never ever introduced a girlfriend to the family before?”. I choked a little when I heard her say “girlfriend”, and simply chuckled. Law told her to stop, but Lami continued telling me how “emo” he was when he was an adolescent, making fun of his sibling.

We finally arrived at Lami's house. It was a traditional Jeju stone house, with big windows and a typical korean roof construction. On the entrance was a tall guy wearing a cap with “PENGUIN” written on it, waving at us. Law parked the car next to a black Hyundai Ioniq.

“Oi!! brother-in-law!!! How are you? It’s been a year my dear friend!” the guy at the door told Law. We descended the car, and the guy hugged Law in a way “man” do. Lami introduced me to the man, he was his boyfriend, and they had been living together for a few years, and apparently before dating Lami, Penguin knew Law since they were little.

We went inside, and had coffee while chatting about everything. I didn’t feel uncomfortable at any moment, Lami and Penguin were really warm people.

Law’s sister and I headed to the kitchen. It was a perfect opportunity to ask her about their parents so I thought of the best way to bring up the subject. I didn’t need to, because it was the first thing that Lami mentioned.

“Y/n, I’m sure my cold brother didn’t tell you anything about our parents… right?”, she said. I was helping her putting some mochi onto a plate, so I looked at her and said “Not really… At first I thought Rosinante was his father, but then I realized that his surname was Trafalgar, not Donquixote”.

“That’s right, Rosinante is something like Law’s dad. When my brother was 10 years old, my parents passed away in a car accident. They were both doctors, the best ones of this city. Law looks exactly like my dad when he was younger…”, she stopped for a little, and continued, “We stayed with our grandparents at the moment. After two years, Law became really ill and had to be taken to Seoul for some doctors to cure him. Luckily, Rosinante was a volunteer at the children’s hospital where Law was being treated. After six months of intense treatment, he recovered and forged a friendship with “Corasan” who took care of him… Oh sorry, I meant, Rosinante. Corasan it’s just a nickname Law gave him during… the chemotherapy...”, she concluded.

“Oh… poor baby…I’m sorry for your loss too, Lami” I said, feeling a lump in my throat. “Don’t worry, we are all right now, time has passed”, she said, grabbing my hand softly and smiling. She continued, “but let me tell you something, I’ve never seen Law with that type of twinkle in his eyes in the 24 years I’ve known him. He loves you; I can sense that. Plus, when you left the bar earlier, he became so desperate, he was truly worried about losing you”.

I blushed instantly, yet, I was so happy of hearing how he probably loves me that I giggled. And Lami, too.

From the living room we heard Law calling me, “Bab… Y/n-ya, let’s go home it is pretty late”. “Ah… my sweet loving brother and his ways…”, Lami said with a sarcastic tone, rolling back eyes. We both laughed and headed where the boys were.

“Oi Penguin, do you have a bottle of cold water? I tend to get thirsty when I drive”, Law asked Penguin and looked at me with some sort of look I can only label as… horny?. “Right, bro, let me get you one”, said the cool cap guy and headed to the kitchen. “He gets thirsty?” I said to myself a little confused, but dismissed the thought as my attention went to Lami who was showing me a photo of his brother when he was a little baby.

The happy couple invited us to the lantern festival that was taking place the next night at the historical center of the city. They told us to bring all of our friends too. We were excited about it, so we accepted the invitation and left the house.

During the ride along a road by the sea, Law asked me, “Babe, can you please turn the GPS on?, I don’t really know where I am going…”. I searched for my phone in my pockets, but realized I’ve left it at home. “I didn’t bring my phone… give me yours”, I told him. He grabbed his from the black jeans pocket and gave it to me. “Law, your phone is dead…”, I said, trying to turn it on.

“Yeah, my battery died after calling you twenty times when you left the bar…”, he said, kinda joking. “Oh…”, I gasped, and continued, “Well, let me enter the address on the car sat nav”.

I approached my hand to the little screen when Law stopped my hand and smirked. “It would be a shame if the computer wouldn’t work and we ended up lost…”.

“You clearly had this planned, right?” I said arching a brow. “Me, planning things? that’s not something I usually do…”, he said in a sarcastic way, but with a sexy tone that made me somehow fidget on my seat.

I came closer to his face and almost talking next to his ear I said, “Let’s get lost”. Law licked his lips, placed his right hand over my lap and said “Heh, sure… I can’t resist myself anymore”.

He suddenly turned the wheel and took a little road that took us to the beach. Finally, my lover parked the car, luckily it was a deserted zone, a cliff area, and there weren’t any houses or places nearer.

The beach ahead of us was lightened by an intense moonshine, the sea was choppy so the waves hit hard on the cliffs.

Law threw his seat back and patted his lap, “Strip for me, and come here, baby”. “Ah, so we are fucking on the car, nice…” I thought and began to take my clothes off.

“Don’t take that off, yet. You know that little bandanna you have on your head could help us…”, he said to me after I jumped over his lap. I felt a rock hard bulge under my core, he was already so ablaze for me.

He then untied the cloth that was holding my hair, smirked at me, and said “may I?” while covering my eyes with it.

“Lay you back on the steering wheel, baby girl”, he ordered me. I remember instantly how he likes to dominate me, so I followed his order to a “Yes, sir”.

His fingers ran from my mouth to my neck. He kept lowering them softly caressing my flesh. I could barely feel the touch of his fingers over my skin. He wasn’t talking, and I was unaware of what was coming next, I was blindfolded, but surrendered completely to this man.

All of a sudden I felt a cold sensation over one of my nipples, “Uhg…” I moaned, throwing my head back. Then the chilly stinging feeling moved to my other nipple. God, what is that?... and suddenly remember Law asking Penguin the cold water bottle. “Damn you, Law”, I said to myself but only being able to verbalize moans and grunts.

He began to trail an icy path from my breasts to my lower stomach. My heated skin mixed with the cold water that began to melt over my flesh, felt like a sweet torture.

“Your hot body is making the icy water melt and wet my jeans… or is it perhaps your own arousal for your Master, baby girl?”, he said to me, while running a thumb over my clit.

He then penetrated me with two fingers as he only knew how to, took them off and asked me to open my mouth. “Taste yourself, baby girl”, he commanded me, and I opened my mouth and sucked.

I heard - and felt- how he unzipped his jeans, and slowly took his member out. I could feel how he began to softly hit his manhood over my sex. He was playing with it, but my body couldn’t wait for it to be inside of me.

“Is it getting hot in here, huh?” he said and unbuttoned his black shirt. I knew it because he then grabbed my hands making me caress his skin. My hands wandered along his chest, but my mind was only focusing on how much I wanted to be penetrated by this man.

I was drowning in lust, I needed him to do something, but he didn’t. “Law… Sir… What are you doing?... fuck me, I want you to fuck me…”. He laughed, and violently but gently enough he pinched and twisted one of my erect nipples. A strike of intense pleasure hit my center, and it was so unexpected that I only purred at it.

He then ran his inked fingers through my hair and pulled me closer to his face, this time he wasn’t being gentle, he was being rough… and I loved it. “What do you think you are doing? I am the one who gives you orders in here, are we clear?” he said, whispering with a grunt in my ear.

“Y-yes sir, I- am sorry…”, I said, stuttering. “Good”, he said and kissed me. We made out, hard, feverishly. I could feel over my entrance how his sex became even harder.

He suddenly put his hands on each side of my waist and lifted me up a little bit, so I could place my knees on each side of the seat. He used his right hand to guide his pennis inside of me. It was just the tip of it, he was enjoying how I was probably miming the words “fuck me” repeatedly. After a few seconds of torture, he grabbing me again from my waist, pushed me down against his lap. “Ugh..” I said, opening my mouth, throwing my back to the steering wheel, so hard that I made the car horn sound.

I wanted to be penetrated, and he did it so roughly, yet so pleasantly.

I began to ride him, back, forward, up, down, tracing circles with my pelvis. My left knee hit the emergency brake handle, it hurt but I didn’t care. I placed my hands over his strong abs, letting all of my senses focus on the pleasure, imagining the expression he had on his face when I heard him groan.

Law pulled my hair and threw my neck back, again making me hit my back on the wheel, and used his hips to bang me, hard, burying himself into me. Every thrust made my body react with little spams; I was being sent to heaven.

Law untied the bandanna that was covering my eyes, and said in between the thrusts and an agitated voice, “I want to see your precious face when I make you cum”. My eyes slowly returned to its functions, admiring the sweaty thorax of Law, the way his stomach would go up and down picturing his rapid breathing. His face showed a red glowing, he was more than aroused. I was too, and as I reached for climax, placing my right hand over the steamy glass of the car window, Law did too with a hard “Huh”.

He bathed my insides once again. I remained still enjoying the warming sensation inside of me, trying to erase any worry at the time.

Law placed a hand on my back and pulled me closer to his chest, while lying his neck over the headrest of the yellow Sonata.

I rested my whole tired body over his, enjoying the touch of our warm skins, the scent of his body, with my lips wandering along his neck, leaving soft kisses over its skin.

“We should go back home; they might get a little bit concerned…” I told Law, still over him. “Yeah, you are right, let’s go back…”.

It was 4 am so once we got home and opened the door, we entered stealthily. I walked behind Law when he suddenly stopped, and I fell over him. “What is it, Law?!” I whispered, “I don’t know, this is kind of a slumber party…”, he whispered back at me.

Suddenly all the lights turned on. Everybody was sleeping on bare mattresses on the floor of the living room.

Little by little our friends but Zoro and Sanji woke up.

“Oh my god, finally…” said Nami and everyone began to laugh. They weren’t laughing at us, but at Sanji and Zoro who were sleeping cuddled.

Law looked at them and looked at everybody else and said, “Excuse me, is this something new to you? Oi Mugiwara-ya, tell them every time you three get to sleep at home they do the same”. Luffy nodded, still laughing.

No matter how much noise they made, nor Zoro or Sanji woke up, they seemed to be happily enjoying sleeping like this, so we didn’t want to bother them anymore.

“Let’s go back to sleep, guys. Y/n and Law you can sleep upstairs, we left Law’s bed intact”, said Franky winking at us. “Thank you!!” I said, and we went upstairs jumping through the multiple legs of our friends.

We climbed up the stairs, and went into the boy’s room. I was undressing when suddenly Law offered me a big loose t-shirt. “Don’t get me wrong I love your naked body, but what if the boys enter the room and see you naked?”, he said. “Oh, Law, are you jealous? hahaha”, I mocked him. “Well, let's not discuss jealousy…”, he said frowning.

I grabbed his white loose t-shirt with some kind of black power ranger called “Stealth Black” printed on it and put it on, giggling. I could have sworn he was a geeky nerd, and that was the proof.

Law and I jumped into his bed and muffled up with the bedding. He hugged me, kissing my head. “Thank you for making this the best holiday of my whole life…”, he said. “Thank you for paying the bus ticket that time…”, I whispered with my face pressed up against his chest. We both laughed and soon after fell asleep.

I woke up with the sounds of some birds chirping on the window. Law was still asleep beside me, with his ruffled hair, his cheek pressed against the pillow with his mouth open, snoring softly. I couldn’t help but drool over that image, so handsome even like that, the intimacy, the person I wanted to wake up to each morning.

I placed my head over the tattoos of his chest, following with my index finger the lines of ink on his skin. I remained there for a few minutes hearing his heartbeat, drunk of his skin scent.

Softly he began caressing my cheek, still without opening his eyes. He was probably half asleep yet.

I felt a million butterflies trapped on my stomach, I was so in love, I had fallen for this guy, hard. I felt a little guilty, I mean, how was I supposed to fall in love so quickly with a man?... I guess it was just love at first sight…

Law’s hand stopped moving, and suddenly I heard him mumble something like, “Mmmm- hum - I-I- love you Y/n-ya”. I widened my eyes, “did he just say he loves me? “I was completely surprised and even unsure if that was what he said or if it was just my imagination.

Some minutes later, he opened his eyes, slowly. “Good morning, baby girl”, he said, kissing my forehead. I was immobile, watching his face still trying to process what he had just said. “What is it?, are you sleeping with your eyes open? you are gorgeous but that would be a little creepy”, he said, surprised.

“N-No, uhm, I am awake, yes. Good morning”, I uttered. “Are you ok, Y/n-ya?”, he asked with a confused expression. “Yeah, uhm… Law… Do you sleep talk?”, I inquired him. “Oh… did I? I’m sorry... I do, yes. Sometimes. What did I say?”, he said this time with a worried expression. “Oh, no, nothing, I thought I heard something but I don’t know. It’s nothing”, I said, trying to settle the matter.

We remained cuddling up a little bit more, until we heard movements downstairs. They were probably waking up, so I decided to go to my room and get ready for the day.

“New pajamas”, I thought while taking off Law’s shirt. I folded and put it on my suitcase, I wasn’t willing to give it back to him.

I went ahead and showered. I let the warm water bathe my skin while thinking about Law saying “I love you” while he was asleep. Was he really? Did he really feel that or was it just a dream?... I guess I should wait…

After the bath, which clearly made me more anxious than relaxed, I went downstairs to the kitchen where Sanji was already preparing breakfast. I decided to help him with setting the table while chatting about the lantern festival of that night. Nami, Vivi and Robin joined us and were pleased that Lami and Penguin invited us to such a pretty event.

Our last day in Jeju passed with us visiting the Samseonghyeol Shrine, which is the oldest historic site in Korea. That place is considered as the birthplace of three demigods of the island, founders of the Tanma Kingdom that governed Jeju Island before the Joseon dynasty took over.

At noon we came back from the city and began to get ready for the festival that night. I received a message from Lami, “@TraffLami.06 > hello Sis! How is the day going? Is my brother treating you right?. Listen, we usually wear “hanbok” to the festival. If you want to too, you can rent them from a friend's shop. I send the location. See you tonight! ♥”. I got super excited for it, I loved cultural clothing and I wanted to see Law wearing those clothes too. I told my friends and we all agreed on renting one. Law, being the warm boy he was, wasn't so sure about it, but with a little kiss and a little begging I could convince him.

The night came and we all drove to the historical centre of Jeju. The place was all garnished with paper lanterns, string lights hanging from some bridges, lit inflatable displays, food courts, typical music being played that mixed with the buzz of hundreds of attendants that were enjoying the night.

I was wearing a hanbok in yellow and orange tones, while Law used a green and black one. He looked like a typical groom; I couldn’t help but fantasize a little about us getting married someday.

Luffy of course ran to the food stalls followed by everybody else, Zoro went ahead and attacked the stall where they were offering some kind of soju and Law and I waited for his sister and Penguin to arrive at where we were.

Law was more silent than usual and his face showed concerned. I thought at first about him missing his parents or family, maybe the festival triggered some memories, so I held his hand without saying anything. He squeezed my hand, and began to sweat.

“Are you ok, doc?”, I asked. He looked at me, I could sense he got really nervous and finally mumbled, “Y/n-ya we need to talk…” …

Part 6, FINAL

63 notes · View notes

loversdelusion · 3 years

Text

softer

deacon st. john x reader

a/n: please let me know if you'd like a second part of Deacon and reader finding out Sarah is alive and their reactions to it, I'd probably write it anyway but still lol, my stories are never proofread so if my grammar sucks, apologies

You've known Deacon a few years before the apocalypse began, you just so happened to be in Farewell at the same time as him, Boozer and Sarah were, you watched him send an injured Sarah off with a NERO chopper, your heart ached for the lover's separation, having grown fond of their relationship.

Until you've experienced the much softer side of Deacon, you've seen him at his worst multiple times, seen him break, seen tears streaming down his face, you've also been the one to calm the sea of rage and hopelessness in his heart once or twice, or several times. Deacon did vow to find Sarah with whatever it took, and you helped him every step of the way, you loved him, you weren't entirely sure if he loved you but you felt like you could feel it, in certain things he did for you.

In turn of you giving him a light in darkness, he has done the same for you, he was there when you were down, there when all seemed lost and hopeless, he was your shoulder to cry but you only used that shoulder in the darkest of moments, his hands have held yours when they trembled, his smile replaced yours when you couldn't bring yourself to.

That had to have been love.

You were sitting outside the cabin in Lost Lake, watching Deacon tinker with his bike, Boozer's dog napping in your lap, Deacon sighed, fiddling with a wrench that kept slipping off the bolt he was trying to tighten. "Maybe try a smaller wrench?" Deacon's head lulled back "This is the only wrench I have" he muttered back, annoyance clear in his tone "Deek, you've been fiddling with your bike for over 30 minutes already, fucking with the same bolt" you picked up the puppy and placed it in front of it's little house.

"What's wrong?" You kneeled down beside him, studying his expression "Nothing" he replied, lifting his hand back up to his bike, you gently placed your hand on his arm "Deek, your bike is fine, what is it?" Deacon's arm lowered, dropping the wrench to the ground. "I was thinking about you.." His voice was soft, tone almost shy, you couldn't deny that your heart skipped a beat "Wh-..what about me?" Deacon turned his head to you, he cleared his throat and shook his head "Nevermind" he stood up, eyes staying on you.

"Wanna go for a ride?" He held out a hand to you "Where are we going? We just restocked yesterday" he smiled softly "Just for a ride, I want to show you something.." You slipped your hand in his, standing up "Ride with me?" He asked, mounting his bike, you obliged, getting on behind him, and gripping the bars beneath you.

"Okay, Mr. St. John, have me back before midnight, yeah?" He chuckled at your joke, shaking his head and starting the ignition "Okay, Cinderella" the engine started, the bike lurching forward into motion.

The wind breezed through your hair, sending it whipping around behind you, you were leaning against Deacon, your arms wrapped around him, since you ran over a bump and almost fell off, it was his idea, not that you minded much "Do you still have nightmares?" Deacon's voice called back to you, your whole body tensed slightly "Uh.." You were nervous to tell him, afraid you were annoying with what you felt was your overbearing neediness.

"Are you?" He asked again, his tone taking on worry "Um, yeah..still do" you finally replied "For how long?" He asked, you sighed "It's on and off, sometimes I'll have good sleeps, other times I won't" Deacon shook his head. "How long, (Y/n)?" The only sounds that could be heard was the bike's engine and the sound of the wind breezing passed the both of you, you sighed breathlessly "A few weeks" you could feel Deacon's posture go rigid, you knew he wouldn't like it, but you said it anyway.

The rest of the ride was silent, not tense but you felt like if you said something that went against your wellbeing, the atmosphere would turn tense instantly, so you decided to just leave it at that for now.

Deacon slowed the bike to a stop, you could see a trail in the tree line, Deacon dismounted, you following after him "I found this place, a while back on a job for Mike, I got sidetracked, wandered off the beaten trail and found it" Deacon approached the edge of the trail "Come on" he held out his hand to you, you stared for a few seconds "I don't bite, (N/n)" he smiled, you hesitantly slipped your hand in his, he gently pulled you along the path.

You were both about 10 minutes in, it was quiet and peaceful, the sounds of insects served as background noise, you could forget that the apocalypse happened here "I came here a few times after that run, just to think and breathe" he muttered, your hands still loosely held together.

You came to a grove, one that made your eyes widen, it was beautiful and serene, there was a pond a few feet away from you with a small waterfall behind it, flowers and bushes littered the the edges of the grove, fireflies floating around silently, you were in pure awe, unaware of the longing look Deacon gave you and the warm smile he held on his lips. "This-..it's beautiful" you whispered, letting go of Deacon's hand and walking over to the edge of the pond, the water was still, no ripples whatsoever, you sat down, Deacon sitting beside you, it was quiet again, this time it was a good quiet.

It didn't last long too long "Hey, (Y/n)..?" He sounded nervous, more nervous than usual, you acknowledged him by nodding, too enamored by the calm sight before you, you could feel his eyes on you but you couldn't bear to pull anyway from the scene. Deacon couldn't help but stare at you, the same longing look in his eyes from before, he admired you, the shape of your nose, the curve of your lips, your soft (h/c) hair, your soft (s/t) skin, he licked his dry lips and snapped his gaze away.

"I want to tell you something.." His voice was quiet, your trance finally broke away from the scenery "You've done so much for me in the entirety of us knowing each other, you've helped me through so many up's and down's". "You stayed right by my side when I've been so crazy, especially on my search for Sarah" you shook your head "Deek, you don't have to thank me for that, I'm sure I'd do that if I never knew the fate of my partner, you're just looking for closure.." Deacon took his turn to shake his head "No, I'm sure everyone's sick of me" Deacon laughed lightly.

"But you.." Deacon moved so he was kneeling in front of you on his knees "I want to do anything for you.." His words were quiet, it sounded like he was afraid of your reaction but he continued "I want to be anything for you.." You were stunned, unsure of whether or not he was confessing to you or just telling you how close he felt to you.

Deacon paused in his ramblings about your story together, eyeing your expression extra carefully "You..don't feel the same" his head dropped in defeat "What? No" you sat up, mirroring his sitting position "Deacon, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to say that..I was too scared" you smiled shyly, you could feel heat gathering in your cheeks. "Scared of what?" He asked "Scared of me saying something stupid and you not feeling the same way, I never want to ruin what we ha-" Deacon pressed his lips to yours, silencing your worries, you tensed at first, a little surprised at his actions but you warmed up to it quickly, kissing him back.

You were in pure bliss, finally after all these years, you got to feel Deacon's lips against your own, everything he's ever wanted to say poured in it, Deacon ran his hands up your arms, your own hands finding the skin of his neck, you pulled away instantly, realizing what you were touching- his tattoo of Sarah's name, his love for her basically immortalized on his skin, Deacon looked confused at your expression until he realized what you were looking at.

"Hey.." His hand caressed your cheek "Sarah will always have a place in my heart, you know that, but..the rest is yours" your heart fluttered at his words "If you'll have it" Deacon eyed you, waiting for your answer, you couldn't help the smile that curled on your lips "I'd love that" you breathed, your arms wounding around his neck and pulling him into a deep kiss, his hands finding the small of your back.

Deacon slowly pushed back on you, carefully lowering you to the ground, him hovering over you "You can have all of me, (Y/n)" he said, gentle eyes gazing into your own "No matter what, I'll always be yours" Deacon pressed a small kiss to your cheek. "That is a promise I'll make to you, if you can do the same" he held a hopeful look in his eyes, his thumb traced your bottom lip slowly "I promise" you brought your pinky finger into view, Deacon chuckled, wrapping his larger pinky around yours "We belong to each other".

It was nearing nightfall, you and Deacon laid tangled in each other's arms ever since your confessions "It's getting late.." You hated to break the moment, but night held dangers of it's own, Deacon sighed "Yep, let's get back" he stood up, holding a hand out for you, which you took with a smile.

The bikes came into view, nightfall was in full effect now, the same dreary world was back, ominous screeches could be heard in the distance "Hey" Deacon said, drawing your attention back to him, he smiled warmly at you, easing your worries a great deal "It's okay, I will never let anything happen to you" Deacon made his own silent promise of that, giving your hand a gentle squeeze and bringing it up to his lips, giving your hand a firm kiss, you blushed.

"(Y/n)..?" He asked once you were both back at the edge of the tree line "What?" You replied "It'll probably seem too soon..though I doubt that" he turned to face, grabbing both your hands "But from how long we've known each other..I feel like it's okay" you could almost hear him swallow the lump in his throat from how nervous he was, you could see how careful he was trying to be with his next words, you laughed lightly "Calm down, charmer, you can't lose me now" your heart melted as you earned a bashful smile from him.

He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, you placed your hand on his cheek, Deacon could almost faint at the adoration you had in your eyes, that was all for him and he almost couldn't handle it, the way you held him, the tone your voice had when you spoke to him, everything about you was comforting "I love you, Deacon" the words left your lips in a hushed tone, it was like it was only meant for him to hear it, three words for him and only him.

His heart soared at the words you spoke, the words his soul ached to hear, your eyes were warm and gentle, Deacon was an anxious person underneath his gruff exterior, with a wall made of bedrock around his heart, only the right people could ever get through to him. You just so happened to be one of those people "I-..I love you too, (Y/n)" he finally found himself able to reply to you, he pulled you in for a tight hug, tight enough to keep you from disappearing as if this was all a dream.

Deacon found his person, you in turn found yours too, he loved you and you loved him, that was all you ever craved, him- in his entirety, mind, body and soul, he was the missing piece to your messy puzzle, finally, you found your heart full again, and nothing in this world would take that feeling from you so easily, not even Sarah.

#days gone #days gone x reader #deacon st john #deacon x reader #deacon st john x reader

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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 years

Text

The Voyage So Far: Water Seven

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

i’ve mentioned several times before that the davy back fight is one of my least favorite arcs, mostly because i found it very dragging and tedious when i was reading it, but there are a couple things i really like in it, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, most of them have to do with zoro. i really like his moment here with chopper, and it also showcases his ability to act as more of an authority figure to the crew, which is something that makes a substantial return after enies lobby with the matter of usopp’s return.

zoro and sanji’s match in the davy back fight is far and away my favorite part of the entire arc. it’s just really fun.

like i said, this arc isn’t a favorite of mine, but i do definitely understand why it’s important to the saga and greater story in a couple different ways. one of them is that it’s just an easy, lighthearted detour that both gives the audience a chance to breathe and the strawhats a chance to showcase just how much they love each other and work well together- which turns into a fucking sledgehammer to the skull in the next arc when that unity is directly threatened. and the other reason this arc is important...

...is because of aokiji.

aokiji’s introductory scene is a brutal showcase of absolute power, and a very clear reminder that the strawhats are still very much little fish in a very, very big pond. all of the strawhats are impacted by this to some degree- it’s how badly they get curb-stomped here that leads luffy to come up with his gears as a way of closing the huge power gap he’s just learned about.

most important, though, are robin and usopp. for robin, this is a stark reminder of the fact that the government will never stop hunting her down; for usopp, who’s less obvious, it’s the seeds of the full-blown inferiority crisis that will later explode with the news about merry. both of their arcs throughout water 7 and enies lobby, essentially the twin emotional backbones of the saga, start right here.

i really like that the other strawhats all fell asleep waiting for robin and luffy to wake up. it calls back to them doing the same when nami was sick before drum, and also it’s just so fucking sweet.

water seven is my favorite island, full stop. if i was going to live anywhere in one piece’s world, i’d want to live on water seven. it’s just so creatively designed and visually great, with the canals and the tiered city and the massive fountain in the middle. the supporting cast are still one of my favorites, and the culture feels very real and authentic. i just love water seven a lot.

i just said it but it bears repeating- the water seven supporting cast is really good. iceburg, the galley-la shipwrights, franky and his family, kokoro and chimney are all really memorable, and most of them are really likable, too- and cp9, with all their eccentricities, fit in perfectly. water seven’s cast is very interconnected, as well, and their relationships all feel very believable.

all of which, of course, only makes the later treachery hurt all the more.

the atmosphere of water seven is really, really well done. the bad starts slow, with the news that merry is unfixable, and then continues into an accelerating downwards spiral of hopelessness: usopp and luffy’s fight and usopp leaving the crew, robin’s seeming betrayal, the assassination attempt on iceburg, the city and galley-la turning on them as a result, and the agua laguna- it just gets worse and worse and worse.

and then, after they’ve been stomped down about as far as they can go and come out alive anyways, they pick themselves back up again and go to save their friend, because that’s what the strawhat pirates do.

i just really like getting to see these four going feral on the franky family, it’s one of my favorite scenes in this whole arc. in general, i tend to love the moments where luffy specifically gets properly angry, and we get a lot of them in this arc.

even though the fight between luffy and usopp is genuinely very tense and fast-paced and would probably be exciting if it were any other two characters fighting, it never really feels anything other than melancholy. i think that’s a testament to just how good oda is at setting the mood of the scene. it’s made very clear, especially through the reactions of the other characters- merry ‘crying’ is fucking heartbreaking- that this is nothing less than a tragedy.

i think it’s kind of interesting we aren’t shown franky’s face until about halfway into water seven. prior to this, we’re given pretty much only reasons to hate him, with his theft of the strawhats’ money and the franky family beating usopp to shit. but just after this point is when we start getting our first humanizing and sympathetic moments for him, starting when he gets worried and a little frantic when he hears about the attempt on iceburg’s life.

i just really, really like the way some of these water seven action sequences are depicted. they feel very tense and desperate, which matches the general mood of this part of the arc perfectly.

this panel of usopp working on merry always reminds me of the shots of the klabautermann doing the same during skypiea. i’m not sure if it’s even intentional, honestly, but it’s an extra little bit of heartbreak either way.

one piece has a lot of amazing spreads, but this might be one of my favorites for sheer impact. cp9, watching as the city they’ve lived and worked in for years burns down in a fire they set, satisfied by a job well done. it’s almost all in black and white with very little grey, which creates some fantastic contrast, and their pitch-black silhouettes against the nighttime inferno are just striking.

this entire scene between usopp and franky, as usopp works on the merry and franky gives him advice and tries to make him see its hopeless and they kind of awkwardly, accidentally bond, is probably my favorite in the whole of water seven. it was also the scene that singlehandedly made me love franky as a character.

they have a really good, really enjoyable dynamic, and at the same time the conflict between them is real and understandable, and brought about because they’re both trying to do the right thing.

tom’s workers are one of my favorite little groups of characters in the whole of one piece’s story, and they deserve more appreciation. they’re family!! a little family of broken pieces who worked together to build something really, really amazing. and they still care about each other in the present, even though they got shattered apart so badly and none of them ever really recovered.

this is a tremendously under-appreciated chopper moment. not only did he carry two full-grown men out of a fire, he even managed to get zoro’s sword and iceburg’s hamster. extremely cool of him.

this is also the exact moment the strawhats’ collective luck begins to turn: chopper saves the day, and nami learns that robin did what she did to protect them, and sanji gets aboard the sea train, and from there it’s a no-brakes train from their very lowest low straight to the triumph at enies lobby.

i love all the shenanigans sanji gets up to with the sea train, i think the whole sequence is absolutely one of his shining moments. it’s always a delight to see sanji get up to Sneaky Bastard Bullshit, and the whole thing is just so fun, which is a dearly needed breath of fresh air after how relentless this arc has been until this point.

robin’s little smile when thinking of luffy and when she joined the strawhats... :( i’ve noticed it’s a recurring trend for strawhats who try to leave the crew to flash back to when they joined as they do. usopp has it earlier this same arc just before leaving, and sanji does it in whole cake island in the sanji vs. luffy chapter.

i really like how much everyone comes together at the end of water seven leading into enies lobby. after how fractured and fraught things have been throughout the arc, both within and without the strawhat crew, it’s great to see them not only all united again for a common goal, but with a huge group of allies at their backs.

these three are SUCH a hilarious team, and i would love to see them work together again like this sometime. they’re literally just clowning on the marines all the way up the train, it’s fantastic.

factually i understand sanji’s aversion to fighting with his hands and his fighting style is very unique and cool and also meaningful to him because he learned from zeff, and also if i remember right it’s implied he learned how to swordfight from the vinsmokes which makes it very reasonable he would want absolutely nothing to do with that skillset

but speaking purely in terms of stupid idiot lizard brain i think sanji should fight with knives more

this is another of my absolute favorite spreads, and i think what makes it for me is the casual confidence- luffy tells zoro to cut the train, and zoro does, both of them with no doubts at all about zoro’s ability to do so. it really goes to show how far they’ve come from back in east blue when zoro couldn’t even cut luffy out of a metal cage.

there’s something very impactful about the fact that of all the strawhats, robin gets this speech from usopp. usopp, who’s had the worst falling-out with luffy in the series to date, is the one who tells robin: you haven’t left the crew yet, you can’t leave the crew yet, luffy is coming to get you. believe in him.

franky’s “existing is not a crime” line is one of the most memorable and iconic lines from this entire saga, and for good reason. it sums up one of the main themes of not just this arc but also the series as a whole- the very same idea will come up again for ace during marineford, and in law’s backstory as well. it’s never a crime to just exist, and people should not never be persecuted for their blood or heritage. one piece doesn’t fuck around with its theming, it really doesn’t.

to be continued next time, with enies lobby!

#the voyage so far #one piece #long post #arc: water 7 #not japanese #opmeta

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kazimakuwabara · 3 years

Note

9, 23, 82--- one piece or sailor moon please.

I’ll do these one at a time jsyk. :>

****

9. Equip

***

"You!”

At the sound of a truly loud bellow, Usopp let loose a very loud, glass-shattering scream. (Though it sounded very manly, he swears.)

Hand over his racing heart, Usopp turned around to look at Sanji in startled befuddlement, “S-Sanji!? Why are you shouting?”

Sanji had barged into Usopp’s workshop, a ladle in hand, and a truly angry looking expression plastered on his face. Practically biting through the filter of his cigarette, Sanji hissed, “It’s your fault!”

“What’s my fault?” Usopp squawked, getting to his feet in case he needed to take flight. It was never good (for him) when Sanji looked like this. Someone (like him) was bound to get hurt.

Sanji shifted the cigarette to the other side of his mouth with his tongue, a skill that Usopp took a moment to admire, and then marched forward towards the sniper. With a firm smack, he laid the ladle against Usopp’s chest.

“You’re responsible for telling that tall tale about gunslingers, and showdowns at sunsets, and a place called “the old west,” right?” Sanji snarled, eyes narrowed.

Usopp was quiet for a beat, and then struck with a jolt of memory, sputtered, “W-well... yeah! I told Luffy and Chopper a bedtime story-”

Sanji smacked Usopp’s chest with the ladle, and Usopp let out a petulant, “Ow! Quit it!”

Sanji’s expression tightened, “Well, whatever story you told him, Luffy has been trying to put all the meat in the kitchen into his pants, his “holster,” as he’s calling it, and is chucking it around the deck, challenging people to showdowns! It’s your fault I’m not going to have a proper stew made for dinner tonight!”

“...That’s a lot to absorb,” Usopp said after a long pause of silence. This seemed to only infuriate Sanji more, who caught hold of Usopp’s nose, and proceeded to drag him to the deck of the ship.

“Look at this Long-nose!” Sanji hissed once they were atop the deck.

Usopp jerked his nose from Sanji’s grip, pouting as he rubbed it.

When he was done sulking, and his nose felt less bent out of shape, he looked up. And there, several yards away, with Franky no less, Luffy stood with two large slabs of meat, still on the bone, equipped to his hips via string. He was in a half squat and had one brow narrowed as he glared at Franky.

Franky was also sporting meat tied to his hips, somehow conspired into joining into Luffy’s strange game.

“Draw you yellow-livered rubber beach ball!” Franky hissed in his best villainous voice.

“On the count of three...” Luffy said with a nod.

Nearby, Chopper was watching with bated breath, his hands gripped into Zoro’s hair. Zoro, serving as Chopper’s chair was tolerating the reindeer hair pulling, and was watching the “duel,” with slight interest.

“You can’t count!” Franky laughed evilly, and Chopper and Luffy both let out insulted gasps.

Nami’s laughter floated somewhere from the deck, and she must have been somewhere too watching, which maybe meant the whole crew had somehow become involved.

“I’ll count for you,” Robin’s voice called out, though like Nami, Usopp wasn’t sure where she had placed herself.

“Deal!” Luffy and Franky crowed, eyes narrowed at each other.

In a very serious voice, Robin’s voice drowned out a slow count, “1... 2... 3!!”

And on the count of three, both Luffy and Franky pulled out their "guns,” which in this case was their pilfered meat, and threw it at each other. They struck each other at the same time, and both fell over backward, both of them giving out dramatic death cries. After a few moments of lying on their backs, they burst into laughter, the rest of the crew joining in.

Usopp was laughing too, and turned to look at Sanji, who was only glaring.

“What?!” Usopp cried, shrinking a little helplessly from Sanji’s glare.

“This is your fault!” Sanji growled.

Usopp shrugged, “I don’t see how! I never said the gun slingers used meat!” Usopp stroked his chin, “Though this does remind me of the time when I had to fight some little green men-little green broccoli men!”

Usopp didn’t get much further, as Sanji let out a feral cry and set chase after Usopp, who wisely, ran screaming from the cook.

“Sanji! You have no appreciation for my artistic abilities!”

“Long-nose, I’m going to kill you!”

Usopp had been right. He knew that look was going to kill him.

#one piece #kazi fanfic #humor #sanji #usopp #fanfic #Anonymous

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hobicomeholla29 · 3 years

Text

Shatter - Part 1 - JHS

Pairing: Hoseok x Reader

Genre: Angst/ Romance/ Fluff in the future

Word Count:3.9k

Warnings: Mentions of death/Mentions of wars/Mentions(hints) of depression/Mourning

Rating: PG13

A/N: Hey! Hey! Before I get into anything else I first have to that all the beautiful who helped me with checkin, beta reading and giving me fantastic feedback in general! @sugaa-sugaaa @spicykoreantatertots @nottodayjjk Thank you so so much for your words of support and for pushing me through to deliver a good piece for everyone!

That being said, This is a 2 shot! Please look forward to part 2!

THIS IS A REPOST. Cuz it wasn’t showing up in the tags.

Summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, where humankind’s greed has lead planet earth to turn into a ball of dust, all Hoseok wants is a better and bright future, yet strong feelings and a positive mind doesn’t always cut it.

Masterlist

The early morning sky was filled with an eerie fog that threatened to smother anyone who didn’t wear the appropriate attire for being outdoors.

You stood straight; hands balled in tight fists. A mixture of emotions running through your body. Sadness, anger, helplessness, fear…

You were the only ones standing in the middle of the empty field, no one else daring to stand still and be surrounded by the suffocating drafts of air that carried large amounts of toxins –a consequence of humankind utilizing nuclear weapons in the past.

You remember stories being told about your ancestors taking long walks through lucious fields without sporting gas masks on their faces, just imagine enjoying the air in the atmosphere instead of fearing it.

Most parts of the beautiful earth that once existed were now wastelands, all thanks to what was called The Colossal War.

Civilization was anything but civilized after that, creating division and animosity between groups of people with different ideals.

Clans were created and with them the claiming of lands. Lands that provided resources for sustenance, yet the quick dwindling of resources and supplies made some clans selfish, refusing to barter with others and instead attempting to conquer their lands as well.

With bigger and stronger clans taking over the smaller and weaker ones, eventually only four major clans remained, the only exception being small factions that settled between the abandoned areas near the borders of each clan.

Some factions were harmless, only looking for a peaceful place to live, making them nomads, since they had to constantly move to avoid being forced to pledge to one of the four major clans. Others were rioters, ready to go against anything and anyone who posed a threat to their beliefs and wants.

During the long solars that came and went after The Colossal War, much had changed.

Technology, communication, transportation, settlements.

It had all changed, but you really couldn’t say it was all for good.

Technology had turned obsolete at a steady pace, leaving only a few gadgets that were still able to function without being saturated or losing signal without proper cell towers.

Most of them had been vandalized or burned to ashes, mostly to steal copper from the area.

The only remaining signal towers were those of glass recorders.

A glass recorder was the device that kept track of a person’s life.

Since The Colossal War in 3010, civil wars had been blowing up everywhere. Causing inconvenience in simple tasks like having troops return to a fallen soldier’s clan to inform their family about their passing.

A simple duty as this one might have worked back in 2020 but not in 3011.

If troops were sent back, they were at risk of running into an enemy faction and breaking into another battle.

Hence, in 3015, glass recorders were created.

A glass recorder was a device made out of bulletproof glass. Its interior was filled with cables and microchips that contained a person’s personal information, tracking and broadcasting an individual’s vital signs at all times. Constant long-ranged waves went from the glass recorder - to the signal towers around the globe - to the chip installed in the individual’s neck and back.

You could say its data sharing function was similar to the behaviour of olden times bluetooth connections, except that the only information it could send and receive was vital signs and identification details.

Many tried hacking them, attempting to rob information from the device and using it for ulterior motives, however they are designed with an auto destruction mode in case of hacking or death and their towers were heavily protected by troops from each clan.

Usually their sizes were similar to that of an old cellphone.

On one side there’s a knob, remarkably similar to what DJs back in the day used on their mixing boards. It acted as a switch between the different modes the glass recorder could be set on, them being Vitals, Information and Hologram. And on the other side there was a touchscreen, where vitals could be read and holograms could be activated.

There was also an XBS dock entrance on one side of the device. It was mostly used by the law enforcers by transferring any new information about an individual from their archives to the glass recorder, whether it was good or bad.

All of that information, including marital status, first degree relatives, occupation, date of birth and allergies could be found on information mode.

On vitals, details were given about their current health status and the sound of their heartbeat could be played.

And finally on hologram mode, you could see a three-dimensional scale of the owner’s body, making it easier to check for injuries or if any internal damage had been taken.

Besides glass recorders, communication had jumped back to messaging via written letters or oral messages sent via a messenger.

Any vehicles that had existed on the face of earth, had been overhauled.

Updated to cater to the usage it now provided to the arid ground.

Motorcycles, cars, buses, trucks and ships, all modified.

Additional exhaust pipes, thicker tires, dust shields, dredging machinery, artillery and artillery holders, were examples of things you had seen being mounted on different transports, including aircrafts.

As for yourself, you lived in a colony that had been forced to be part of one of the major 4 clans, The Jeon Clan.

The Jeon clan was strong, the Jeon clan was powerful, the Jeon clan was feared, the Jeon clan was blinded by its greed, the Jeon clan stood above everyone and if you refused their ways, then you refused living.

That’s how your small clan ended up under their command.

It was common to hear stories as an infant about how the Jeon clan conquered. They always portrayed the glorious stories of how leader -Jeon the 1st- had tirelessly battled large creatures and evil men to save small clans from their miserable lives, however in each capsule each family shared the story with their offspring as they remembered it best.

Meaning some stories were wonderful, while others were resentful memories and stories of how their clans had been forced to change their ways or how they had lost loved ones to the Jeon reign.

You were only 7 when it all happened.

You remember it so clearly, it felt like you were reliving it each time.

You stood in the middle of the large hangar, eyes searching left and right for your father.

Men and women ran all around, either towards shelter or towards the battle zone.

A military truck’s engine roared in the background, yet you couldn’t figure out which of the twenty something trucks near you had been brought to life.

You frantically ran in the opposite direction. You needed to find him, you needed to convince him not to go.

Running as fast as your short legs could take you, you tightly held on to the glass recorder in your hand.

Tears started prickling your eyes the longer it went without you being able to find him.

Two NSTV vehicles sped past you, swiftly followed by a caravan of men on choppers, armed to the teeth.

Luckily none of them seemed to be your father.

You were getting desperate.

All he had done was left a note on your bed with his glass recorder.

“My beautiful cyberflower, I love you so much. And because I love you, I must defend you. Papa might not be back for a while, but he will make sure that if he doesn’t come back at all, it is because he was able to create a better place for you to live in."

He promised he would never go, that he would stay no matter what.

That he wouldn’t do the same thing your mom did.

Leaving you behind was never the solution. You preferred having them both and figuring everything else out later than having none of them and still being lost.

Why was it so easy for them to leave you behind…?

You didn’t notice you had dropped to your knees, you didn’t notice the tears that cascaded from your face and you certainly didn’t notice how your mourning wail had halted all activities under the hangar.

All frozen in place, no one in the building could figure out why. How could the desperate cry of a child send shivers down their spine? How could it express without mistake, their inner thoughts and feelings.

They felt the grief and pain of having to put their lives on the line to give their loved ones a better future.

A future that should have been granted to them, but the Jeons thought differently.

Yet, your clearest memory from that day was the tight embrace that pulled you out of your dazed state.

The embrace that told you that even if everything didn’t turn out as you wanted, he would be there to walk you through it.

He would be there with that bright smile of his that cleared away all of your cloudy days.

A rundown metallic shed stood at a distance, it was probably used in the past by troops as a hideout, yet for several solars it had been a place you used for solace.

The location gave you a quiet place to think, a quiet place to run away to when everything got too hectic at the colony, a place to yell out of frustration. It was your place -even if it was on enemy’s territory.

However, today said shed felt smaller, its tall walls choking you, suppressing your lungs, no calm remained in it as the words that dropped from your lover’s mouth bounced from wall to wall. The echo made you feel like the words were mocking you by constantly repeating what he said.

"I must go, and you must stay.”

You knew you had heard word of people in the colony joining forces with others near you, to topple the Jeon clan.

Nonetheless, you figured it was just tittle-tattle.

Yet here you are standing in the middle of the building, right in front of your lover, who is spewing the same nonsense your father did so many solara ago.

"Is this a joke? ‘Cause I’m not laughing…"

You saw his hands clenched into fists in annoyance, he tried holding in his feelings, yet the frustrated sigh that left his lips sold him out quickly.

Deep down he knew you wouldn’t take the news lightly, that you would want to accompany him on this journey as well or avoid the whole thing in general. But if he let you, if you came along, his departure would have no meaning. He was leaving for you. He thought you would be more rational.That the conversation would last less than a fraction of a solar, but he stood corrected.

"I can’t stay here on my own. You can’t leave me just like that.” You were distraught. Your eyes searched for his, yet his gaze remained on the door you had used moments ago to enter the shed.

You needed to bring his mind back to you, to the present where you both still remained, you needed to keep him away from thoughts of the unknown future and the doom that could be.

Why was he trying to be person number three on your mourning list?

Your eyes remained on his, yet your fingers occupied themselves trying to find his glove-covered ones, the action making him look down at your entwined fingers.

His eyes seemed to soften at your actions and that alone helped you breathe easier. Deep down you knew that you had to stay back and wait for him, it would be the safest place for you, the colony was your home, but the news he dropped on you like a bucket of cold water had your common senses frozen.Why would he want to leave you so suddenly?

Maybe he no longer wanted this, maybe you were too much, maybe that promise he made solars ago about walking the path with you was too heavy and too much of a burden…

“You must stay, for me,” He said, “and for them.” His eyes dropped to your stomach, his free hand caressing the bump that had started forming not long ago.

“Hoseok…please…” You had to try at least one more time. If he still was that warrior at heart that you had once met, then he was certain to leave even with you crying rivers.

“I must go, my love. I have to be a part of this fight that will give our family the freedom that they deserve. The freedom that WE deserve.” His eyes glossed over, yet not one tear abandoned his eye. He was sure of his decision and nothing could stop him now.

“You don’t have to… A lot of men are already there."

"And I am sure they also have families and other reasons to be there. I will lend them a hand and they shall lend me one. We will fight for a better life and world, a better place to raise our offspring, a better place to grow old.” At this point in conversation, his eyes are boring into yours, yet there is no anger towards you. Only love, strong, heated, unwavering, caring and passionate love. There was certainly no way for you to fight against that.

For a split second, his eyes left yours, and you followed the movements of his left hand. Carefully, he pushed his hand into his pocket, retrieving a device that you were very familiar with.

His glass recorder.

“I- I can’t."

"It’s the only way for you to know my status… and if it ever comes to worse, you’ll know not to wait for me any longer.” He said as he placed it in your hand.

“Please stop talking like you are a dead man already!"

"Y/n-” You interrupted him mid-sentence. You were blabbing now. All your thoughts and fears spilling out at once.

“No! I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want you to go! I want you here with me, with our babies. If you tell the Chief he will let you stay. We are expecting! I can’t lose you; you are walking to your grav-"

"Y/N!” His sudden yell made you flinch, but nonetheless, you looked him in the eyes, only to find them filled with tears. Filled with fear but determination as well.

He was always like this, a young man with a mission. Fire in his eyes, determined to make this world a better place, even if it scared him to the core. He always said…

“There is no better way to deal with fear than to walk right over it…” Those stupid words he repeated everyday since you were 7. “This is me walking all over it. This is me putting you -putting them over my fear of what may be."

"I love you."

"And I love you, my beautiful cyberflower.” His hand grabbed yours, slowly bringing each one of them to his face and kissing your knuckles and palms softly.

“I’ll always return to you."

And so, you watched him ride his chopper towards the horizon.

His silhouette quickly disappeared in the darkness of the night.

Even though the light of the moon shone brightly, it felt dark around you, as if your clouds had returned with the sole departure of his bright smile.

Your hand squeezed the device he left behind, your grip getting stronger the further he drove and now you really wondered, "How is it so easy for everyone to leave me behind?"

150 solars and 149 lunars went by, yet nothing had changed.

Since the day Hoseok had left, your days consisted of nothing but worrying, eating, and visiting the shed.

An old steel bench was set outside of the old metallic building and just like any other day you’d visited, you sat on the edge of it, contemplating life and hoping today was the day Hoseok would return to you as he had promised.

As time flew by, you added this day to the list of other ones where your lover didn’t return and although you tried to remain as positive as possible, you couldn’t stop thinking about why life was so cruel? Why did any of you have to live through this? It certainly wasn’t fair. No one deserved to be forced to choose death if they didn’t choose what someone else wanted.

Since your great-grandparents’ days, the future was supposed to be glorious, beautiful, and bright. Technology was supposed to make everything better. But somehow it all turned to worse.

Pride, arrogance, and selfishness had created the horrible world that you now lived in.

People lost their lives as an exchange for a promise they never received.

They fought battles to free people who were slaves to their own fears and now this was the consequence of all that was done. What a sad life to live. What a horrible life to live.

You rubbed your stomach feeling your bump as it continued to grow. Time doesn’t stop for anyone, is what they say and your clear example is how close you are to being due.

The walk back to your clan’s colony was an easy 10-minute walk that could turn mortal if taken while distracted, hence you carried a machete in your boot.

Once you set foot on your colony’s official territory, you swiftly made your way to your family home capsule, ready to wash off the sorrow and go to bed as you would wait for the next solar to come.

Sadly for you, that hope disappeared the second you made eye contact with someone you didn’t wish to see at the moment.

His eyes caught yours and you saw a mix of emotions: sorrow, understanding, relief and worry, all conveyed to you in a single glance.

You knew what was to come, it was always the same dialogue, but you didn’t want to do this today.

Today you felt drowned, disappointed, you could feel that dark cloud that loomed over your head enlarging day by day.

"You know it’s not s—”

“Save it, Namjoon. I’m not a chil—"

“—But you are a carrying woman, who is walking carelessly to a place where no one can or will follow you.”

“I am not carele—”

“Y/N, shut up for once and put this through your thick skull!! Hendra is enemy territory!!”

And with that he left to his own family capsule, stomping all the way to the door and slamming it closed.

For the first time, you felt different and maybe it had something to do with the fact that Namjoon and your argument didn’t end in the usual monotonous sermon he always gave you, where he remained calm all the way and you rolled your eyes in annoyance.

The funny part about the entire thing was that you were cousins, and your family capsules were right beside each other, so you were sure you’d have to see his sour expression the following day.

Finally in your own capsule - the one you used to share with Hoseok, you took that shower that you daydreamed about and headed to your room.

Just like every night, you muted your room to the outside world, opting to listen to the broadcast of your beloved’s heartbeat.

It was the only thing that helped you sleep at night and somehow you felt as if it pacified the two progenies in you.

You didn’t know when or how it happened, but eventually 365 solars had gone by.

365 solars since the day of his departure and you weren’t getting any better at being without him.

You were now a mother of two. A dawn and a dusk. One born in the early morning and one almost 12 hours later.

So, you gave them names that matched their arrivals to this world, Dawn and Dusk.

All times prior to that day, you felt that once they arrived, there would be this large turning point in your life. That once you had someone who depended on you, your days would start to shift into something brighter, yet somehow, even after the arrival of your children, you felt almost no difference, bordering on saying that you might even felt worse.

Their faces were the perfect mix of your deoxyribonucleic acid and his. Two different beings creating harmony in the body of two newer ones.

Their father had left to give them a better future but, in the process, he had left a broken family behind. It felt incomplete and hollow and somehow you envied the blissful ignorance that your infants currently lived in. Not able to understand the sorrowful life that currently surrounded them.

Another 365 solars went by.

You still listened to Hoseok’s heartbeats every night. The glass recorder remaining as your sole companion in addition to your —now— toddlers.

The night remained quiet. You could barely hear the murmur of voices from the capsule near yours. If you were right, you were sure it was Namjoon and his wife, discussing the plan for retrieving meals for the clan the following morning.

You shifted on the foam mattress that only reminded you more of him. A very faint and almost gone notion of his scent wafting up from what used to be his pillow.

From afar you watched the two small bodies –lying on the second mattress in your room— inhale and exhale deep in their slumber.

They had —just like you— fallen asleep to the beat of the heart of a stranger you placed in front of them and made them call him father.

You loved them, every bit of them. Would do anything for them not to suffer, and maybe just then, in that moment, you understood a bit of Hoseok’s reasoning.

You toss and turn all of a sudden jerking awake from your slumber. You could not recall when you had fallen asleep, so your mind remained disoriented for a short minute, trying to grasp your surroundings. Your heavy eyes roamed around the room, picking up on every detail, the babies were still asleep, the clock read 3AM and the glass recorder wasn’t beating…

THE GLASS RECORDER WASN’T BEATING!

Violently, you pulled the sheets off your body, grabbing the device as soon as your hands were close enough to grab it.

“Why are you not beating? Why are you not broadcasting? What the fu—”

And it hit you like a train… but you didn’t believe it, you couldn’t believe it.

You shook it and twisted the knob and switched it to hologram mode, but it wasn’t working and you didn’t know what to do, your hands were shaking, your thoughts were jumbled…

“This can’t be happening.”

And when a fake solar illuminated your mind, you quickly turned around to plug it in to your old computer, however, the universe had other plans for you and without announcement the device cracked.

You watched it crack little by little, extending all around the recorder, slowly marking the beautiful device with horrible lines that marked its ending, it didn’t stop until it was no longer graspable and all that was left behind was crystal dust in your cupped hands.

You didn’t hear when Namjoon and his wife entered your room or when your kids were taken out of there. Your sobs alerting 3 capsules nearby of the sorrowful occurrence of the night.

It was the worst type of Deja Vu, because just like your mother and father, you’d never see him again…

“Hoseok…”

Thank you so much for reading part one of this 2 shot! Hopefully it didn’t scare you off for part 2!

#btsnoonanet #btsghostie #bangtanscenery #castlebangtan #hobi x reader #hoseok x reader #bts x reader #hoseok x poc #hobi x woc #bts x woc

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ziggystardust8675 · 3 years

Text

You’re not alone

Pairing: Hawkeye x Reader

AN: I tried to make this as gender neutral as I could but I’m sorry if I accidentally specify, I try not to.

Summary: You get some bad news from home and Hawkeye is there to help.

Warnings: A n g s t, death of a family member, sad reader, hurt comfort

Oh no... You looked at the letter in your hands a second time with a sinking feeling in your stomach. Your mother had written to you with some bad news that your grandma died. As if that wasn’t bad enough your father had gotten severely sick in the last few months and they didn’t know if he was going to make it. Your cheeks felt hot and your throat was suddenly a lot tighter as the news set in.

This was enough for a discharge and you knew it, but with the war feeling like it was at its peak and more casualties than ever coming in, you felt like it would be a disservice to just up and leave when everyone needed all the help they could get. You knew that staying was right but it all felt so bittersweet. It made you want to cry but you knew now wasn't the time, there were so many other things to be worrying about other than your silly little problems, at least that’s what you told yourself.

Suddenly your head snapped up as you heard Radar shout about the incoming choppers. Taking a deep breath you stuffed the letter in your pocket, you’d have to write back later. With that, you ran out of the storage building ready to save lives.

After scrubbing up you put your scrubs on and went out to see who needed help. You bounced around from person to person before your boyfriend Hawkeye needed your assistance. He was humming a tune as you made your way over to him, that was one of the things you loved about him, he always found some way to make things brighter even just for a little while. You managed to crack a small smile under your mask before your feeling got the better of you. Hawkeye most certainly noticed your demeanor and decided to ask you about it when all was said and done.

BJ was just finishing up the last casualty while everyone was making their way outside and to their tents. Hawkeye wrapped his arm around your waist tiredly and you both made your way to the Swamp.

Upon arrival you both kicked off your shoes and layed down on Hawk’s cot. You were looking up to the ceiling of the tent and thought about the letter that was burning a hole in your pocket, you thought about your father, about the days in the summer when you were just a child and he would push you on the swing, all the way up to when you got drafted and that last hug he gave you.

Hawkeye noticed the expression on your face and how your eyes were glazed over. He also remembered how you were during surgery, he decided now would be a good time to ask you about it, “Hey, what’s wrong?” That snapped you out of it, you looked over at him and blinked away the tears that were forming, “Huh? Oh nothing.” This was your problem after all, not Hawkeyes. Hawkeye of course didn’t take that as an answer and decided to keep pushing, “Y/N you haven't been yourself lately just let me help you.” Instead of answering you dug in your pocket for the letter and handed it to him.

“Oh Y/N, why didn’t you tell me?” he breathed. “B-because there's nothing we can do about it.” you admitted. “But Y/N you don’t have to go through it alone.” You sniffled and Hawkeye pulled you into his chest, finally letting the tears go. Hawkeye just held you throughout the night. The next day Hawkeye helped you write your letter home and was there with plenty of hugs and comfort.

#x reader #hawkeye #hawkeye x reader #mash 4077 #mash x reader #mash #hurt comfort #angst

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yourdeepestfathoms · 3 years

Text

Put Your Head On My Shoulder

[Wing AU; Tour!Verse]

Wing Chart

I did another art-writing trade with @spooner7308!!! They once again requested EB and Tour!Joan content for the wing au, so here it is! I think their dynamic is great

Also art-writing trades are open if anyone is interested! Just DM me!

Also also for legal reasons Jane is Lauren!Jane, not Carly!Jane, because Carly!Jane would NEVER. Though, if Jane really did what happens in this fic is up to interpretation hehe

Word count: 4880

TW: Blood, discussion of torture

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

The frantic knocking at the front door roused EB from her half-dazed reverie on the couch. She peeled one of her large wings away from her face and squinted through the dim lamplight; she really had to change the light bulb one of these days. She should treat the electrical items in her house like she does with the ones at the theater, right? But there was no real motivation for her own personal things…

More knocking. EB grunted in annoyance, hoping it would just go away. It was probably some stupid solicitors trying to get her to buy some cable program or something dumb like that. Don’t they know not to wander into a vulture’s nest? She wondered if she could flash them to get them to go away and never come back… No, no. That would just throw her back in prison, and who wants to go down with public indecency due to nude tits and bare ass on their permanent record? It was already hard enough to get her current job as is. And that was very un-metal of her.

The knocking continued, and now it just sounded like someone was trying to bust her door down. She growled. How good could this fucking cable be? Unless it had free porn, she did NOT want to hear it.

But the salesavian apparently didn’t take the hint because they kept trying to break her fucking front door, and EB finally threw herself up with a roared, “ALRIGHT!!”

Stomping to the entrance of her small, dingy apartment, EB flung open the door and was nearly rapped on the chest by the person standing outside. She flared her wings and crest feathers, fluffing them up to look bigger, and snarled, “What the FUCK do you w--”

And then the words died off.

Because it wasn’t some degenerate annoyance trying to sell her shitty cable at all, but a small, stick-thin hybrid that would never in a million years be able to go door-to-door selling useless crap people.

And there was something attached to her head.

It almost looked like a diver helmet and bear trap were fused together. Two thick iron jaws were clamped firmly over her mouth, attached to a series of metal clasps and straps and hinges that branched out over the sides of her head, anchoring the thing to her skull. It looked heavy and very uncomfortable, and EB could see chipped and frayed pieces digging into the hybrid’s sensitive flesh. It was brown from age, rusted and pockmarked in dents and scratches, practically crawling with tetanus.

With a jolt, EB realized it was a jaw trap, and it was Joan beneath its abrasive metal grasp.

The jaw trap was never used on EB personally while she was being tortured before her execution. At the time, there had been only one existing in London, and it was mainly used for show, getting its own pedestal and everything like it was the king’s fucking crown. No, instead she owed her tortured pleasure to the end of fat dove fingers, which ripped out handfuls of her feathers until it looked like she was infected with Drop Feather Fever. And for a dove, a supposed “holy figure”, he was fucking BRUTAL and MEAN. She also got to get a taste of the merciless brutality of a tail chopper, which severed the bone, muscle, and tendons of her tail before she could even have another fucking vision--and her tail hasn’t even recovered from THAT experience, and it’s been over FIVE HUNDRED FUCKING YEARS!! And then there was also the whipping of the base of her wings, pulling out her talons, that one time they attempted to set her crest feathers in fire… God, she was starting to fall back into the darkness of those memories again.

Joan sniffled, and EB shook off the black vines trying to crawl through her heart and mind. Big, tear-filled grey eyes stared up at her, filled with so much terror and pain and distress. Joan looked absolutely shaken, like she was about to faint at any moment from pure horror.

EB grabbed her by the arm and dragged her inside.

Was her apartment too dirty? There were definitely some cans on the floor and it smelled a lot like cigarette smoke. Didn’t Vespers have heightened smell? Or was that the Hydras? Wait, Joan was crossed with both-- Shit, what if the smell suffocated her or something?! Could that happen? Joan whimpered, bringing EB back to awareness once again. She sat the young hybrid down on the couch and retrieved her tools from her bedroom (what? she’s a technician! might as well have some on hand! now if she could just change that light bulb…).

“Hey, hey,” EB said when she heard Joan whimper again, and she was surprised at how soft her voice came out. “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to get you out of that thing.”

She knew how dangerous jaw traps could be. Even though she hadn’t been around to ever see one be used, she did her research on the things that happened after she died. She read about the awful things Mary had done. The way she put the traps on hybrids, the Flightless, and even Vespers simply for existing and because she didn’t like them. How she would have them sprung for the stupidest reasons, ripping the jaw off or crushing the skull or tearing the face of innocent people because they disagreed with the things she said. And then what Jane did with her four hybrids…

Rage simmered in EB’s veins, but she did her best to cool it for now. She could get her revenge when Joan was not at risk of losing her entire fucking mouth.

EB brandished a screwdriver and began looking for a give, but there didn’t appear to be any gives on the jaw trap. It was made of very specific metal riggings and hinges and springs, which were attached with even more specific clasps and latches. It wasn’t like any normal device that she could just take apart.

This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

EB gently twisted Joan’s head with her hands and began searching for a weak part of the jaw trap. The back had several hunks of metal attached to it, dozens of locks and joints that looked very uncomfortable to have dug into the head. She tugged on one lightly and the entire trap creaked dangerously. Joan let out a muffled scream and burst into tears.

“Hey, hey, hey,” EB quickly swerved back in front of her. Glistening droplets ran into the grooves of the metal jaws clamped around her mouth; EB wondered if it was so rusted because of the tears of the victims who had to wear it. “You’re going to be okay. I’m going to get you out.”

Joan sobbed again. Her breathing picked up, raspy and muffled through her nose because she couldn’t gasp out of her firmly closed mouth. Her eyes were wide and manic, like she was already seeing her own bloody demise playing out to her, and EB began to wonder if she had visions, too…

But EB would not let the hybrid die. Not ever.

“You’re going to be okay.” EB said firmly, but her voice still had a certain softness to it that was able to grab Joan’s attention. The hybrid looked up at her with so much desperation in her shiny eyes. “I won’t let you get hurt.”

Joan sniffled and nodded. Her panic attack had yet to be tamed, but at least she didn’t look like she was visualizing her own jaw being ripped off anymore. EB considered that a win for now.

“Turn your head for me, love,” EB said, and the pet name slipped out without her even thinking it through. Joan obeyed, tensing when the jaw trap jangled when her head moved. “Now sit still for me. Yeah, just like that. Good girl.”

With careful claws, EB began analyzing the back rigging of the jaw trap with a surgeon’s eye. She poked and prodded pieces of the contraption with the gentleness of someone holding an extinct bird egg, knowing the risk if her talons slipped for only a moment.

There were two thick circular seals attached to either sides of the jaws, which seemed to be holding them closed. They were connected by taut wire rope that fastened onto the back, too tough to cut through with her claws, but maybe some bolt cutters or pliers could do the trick…

“Okay, hold still for me,” EB said, pulling a pair of pliers from her tool box.

Joan began screaming, startling EB and nearly making her stab her in the temple.

“What?” EB yelped.

Joan shook her head wildly, and EB had to grab her by the ears to get her to stop from hurting herself further. She screwed her eyes shut, crying harder, and made distressed noises that sounded like she was saying “no.” Upon closer inspection, EB realized her panic when she saw that the wires were tightened into their straightness by a gear--and her knowledge in tech told her that if she were to cut them without unlocking the seal, the trap would spring.

“Shit,” EB muttered.

Joan whimpered. Her wings, shaking so badly they may just shudder right off of her back, pulled close around her like she thought they could protect her. EB’s heart ached at her despair and she wiped her thumb under one of her eyes, brushing away the tears.

“Joan, pup, look at me.” She said softly. She unfurled her wings around Joan, and the hybrid tried to curl into them like she craved their warmth. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I’m going to get you free, okay?”

Joan sniffled pitifully and nodded weakly.

EB returned her attention to the back of the trap. She looked closer, carefully poking her claws through the cracks and creases in the metal. She eventually saw a sprocket and fastener near the center, slightly obscured by springs and links. She could tell that it was the key to unlock the trap, and was probably hard to get to for a reason, so victims couldn’t just reach back and set themselves free.

“Okay, Joan,” EB said, peering in at the fastener. “Take deep breaths. You’re doing so good. I’m going to get you out.”

She reached in and tried to twist the fastener, but it was much too tight for her claws to loosen. Which also made sense. And also made her angrier because a victim wouldn’t ever be able to get the trap off if they were forgotten about.

She took the pliers and stuck them into the small gap, grasping the fastener with the jaws. She began turning it, loosening it slowly but surely, and the jaw trap creaked, then clicked. Joan cried out as the entire thing shuddered around her head, but EB could see that the wires were starting to lose some of their tightness.

“It’s okay, love,” EB said, brushing one of her wings against Joan’s arm comfortingly. “It’s almost off. Just keep breathing.”

Slowly, carefully, the seals and riggings went loose and the entire trap seemed to go slack around Joan’s head, allowing EB to pull it off of the terrified hybrid.

The first thing EB saw were the purple bruises bloomed across Joan’s cheeks and lower jaw from the tightness of the trap, then the nicks and cuts from the frayed metal, and then her mouth full of blood.

EB had read about how jaw traps were sometimes so tight that they damaged the jaws of the victim, causing nerve damage and bruising. There was also a plate that went into the mouth, sometimes cutting into the tongue and gums, which explained why Joan’s mouth was all bloody.

Rage boiled up again, like pus from an abscess. EB clenched her talons, driving the black claws into her palms. She released her fists before they could break skin and jumped up to retrieve a rag from the kitchen, which she wet with warm water. She swiped some painkillers from one of the cabinets as well, knowing that Joan had to have been in pain, even if she didn’t say it out loud.

When EB went back to the couch and brought the rag to Joan’s face, Joan flinched away with a whimper. Her eyes were glazed and haunted; she reminded EB of the way she used to be after she had first been reincarnated.

“Hey, hey,” EB gently brushed Joan with her wing. “It’s just me. It’s EB. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“E-EB?” Joan squeaked. Her voice was raspy and hoarse…as if she had worn it out from screaming.

The anger bubbled back up, burning hot, like molten lava trapped in a cauldron. She fought to keep it from showing on her face, knowing it would definitely startle the poor hybrid in front of her if she did.

Joan’s face crumpled and she began to openly cry. “I-I was so scared!” She choked out. “I-I thought I was--” She trailed off into the frantic wheezes and whimpers of a spiraling panic attack.

“Hey, shh,” EB wrapped her wings around Joan, and Joan sunk into them. She was tiny in comparison to the feathery appendages, and EB realized she was curled in them like a chick would in the wings on its mother…and that EB had her hooded like an actual mother hen would.

EB internally snorted. Her? Being a mother hen? That was about as likely as her changing the lightbulb in her lamp, which was definitely getting dimmer by the second. In fact, she would probably be THE WORST mother hen! Absolutely terrible! Would probably actually sit on a kid instead of just hooding them!

Wait, wasn’t it nesting season?

EB shook out her wings and Joan flinched. She quickly calmed her when she made a noise of distress.

“Sorry,” She said, rubbing the hybrid’s head with one hand. She used the other to wipe off the blood on Joan’s face with the rag, making sure to be careful over the tender bruises. When she finished, she gave Joan the painkiller pill, and then Joan promptly balled back up in her wings.

As EB held Joan, rubbing her back with one hand, keeping her protectively wrapped in her wings, she let the anger finally march through her veins like a colony of army ants.

How could someone do this to a kid? She could understand in a way why she had been tortured, she had a blasphemous vision, but Joan was so young. And all she was was a hybrid. She just looked a little strange, and yet people hated her like she was a devil loosed from hell.

A growl curled at the back of her throat, coming out sounding more like something a dog would make rather than a vulture. Her feathers stood on end as she cupped Joan’s face, made her look up at her, and whispered, “Who did this to you?”

Joan’s big yellow ears swiveled around like a searching radar, then pinned back flat against her head. She looked away, hugging her wings around her.

EB let out another growl. She couldn’t have expected Joan to give her an answer; no fault of the girl’s own, she was much too timid and anxious to spill information.

EB gently deposited Joan from her hold and stood up, becoming very aware of the empty, cold feeling that quickly infected her wings. She quickly shook them out, as if they were crawling with spiders, but the feeling didn’t go away. She scoffed. Must be stupid nesting season shit. Not that nesting season affected her. She was METAL and TOUGH. And metal and tough birds do NOT become mother hens!!

“I’ll be back,” EB said, thorns edging her words. She picked up the jaw trap and was surprised that the metal didn’t bend within her tight grasp.

“Wh-where are you going?” Joan asked, stammering over her words.

“To get revenge.” EB stated bluntly, striding for the door.

“P-please don’t leave me!”

That made EB falter. She stopped at the entrance to the apartment, the door half open, her wings spread and ready for flight.

“I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry.”

She hurried out. If she heard Joan’s reaction, then she wouldn’t be able to go on with her plans.

She hoped the little hybrid wouldn’t be mad.

Outside, EB leapt into the night sky and began flapping her way across the city. She pumped her wings furiously, soaring like a speeding jet through the stars. Her rage fueled her onwards, and she flew like--

(like that damn dove was on her tail feathers.)

Elizabeth grit her teeth through the pain. One by one, her brown feathers were plucked from her wings, leaving ugly bald patches and red marks across the tender pink flesh. She did her best not to whimper or whine, bit small noises of pain escaped her lips against her will.

“Oh, so now you’re quiet,” Chuckled the dove. He ran his claws over a handful of her feathers. His white wings were spattered in blood. “Maybe you should have kept your mouth shut about your fucking visions and you wouldn’t even be in this situation.” He flicked his wings and droplets of blood went flying. “Though, I guess I wouldn’t have gotten to have some fun with you right now. And I don’t expect a vulture to understand anything.” He raked his claws down Elizabeth’s left wing and laughed cruelly.

--like a demon was on her tail feathers. A demon. Not a dove.

EB shook her head and growled deep in her throat. She flew faster, beating her wings until her muscles burned with exertion.

(like how her back burned when the dove whipped her)

A cry of pain escaped Elizabeth’s lips when the whip came down on her bare back, slashing open a gouge down her tender flesh. Blood came pouring out, wet and hot and sticky down her spine. Her head spun- how many lashings has this been now? Five? Twenty? A hundred?

The dove’s laugh from behind her sounded like the cackle of a hyena.

“Still no new visions?” He asked. “I surely thought I could beat them out of you.” He leaned down in front of Elizabeth, and his face was dripping with her blood. “Come on, nun. Predict my future. Where am I gonna be in twenty years?”

“They don’t--work like that.” Elizabeth said through her teeth. The pain was sharp and radiating, burning like a wildfire through her back. Her wings were trembling violently and every shudder sent a new wave of torture vibrating through her nerves.

The dove laughed loudly, and Elizabeth winced. “Well, aren’t you tough?” He gave a gravelly chuckle and raised the whip again. “That won’t last much longer.”

“GET AWAY FROM ME!!” EB roared, wheeling around to swing her wings at something that wasn’t there. A sharp gust of wind caught her flight feathers and nearly sent her spiraling out of the sky. Sweat dripped down her face and she shook her head wildly, growling. With a whirl of brown and gold, she spun back around and continued her flight path.

She couldn’t remember the last time the memories of her past really came up. She was good at repressing them, beating them down into the darkest reaches of her memory so they could never come crawling back up. And if they did, she would fill her body with so much alcohol or smoke that her brain would drown in liquor and ash and become muddled enough to block out the memories on its own.

But she didn’t have time to drink or smoke or suppress anything. She just had to fly.

(because the dove had made sure she never would again back then)

Elizabeth glared at the dove as he curled around her. It was agony to stand, but she held herself as still as possible. The cuts along her back had broken open and were bleeding through her shirt.

“Tell me a vision, vulture.” The dove said.

Elizabeth growled, opened her mouth, then screamed.

The blade of the tail cutter sliced cleanly through her tail.

EB tucked in her wings and dove from the sky like a comet falling to earth. She opened them back up at the last moment and swooped down to the front stoop of the queen residence. She knocked furiously on the door, surely thinking she was splintering the wood beneath her fist.

(just like the way her bones had been splintered)

Tendons severed, muscles cut away, tail feathers docked, wings twin labyrinths of blood and gore. Elizabeth lied in her cell, shuddering in agony, staring listlessly at the wall. She couldn’t think straight at all anymore. Did she ever really have any visions?

The dove opened her cell down, rope in hand, and stared down at her.

“Get up, vulture,” He said. “You’ve got a big day ahead of you.”

After twenty-two eternal seconds, the front door opened. EB shoved past a confused-looking Cathy and stormed into the house like a raging firestorm.

“JANE!” She roared. “GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!”

“EB, what is the meaning of this?” Howard asked, but EB ignored her.

Jane walked out of a hallway, eyebrows furrowed, and EB nearly tackled her right then and there.

“What’s going on?” The old world swallowtail Cimex asked. Her large wings were twitching nervously, and EB so badly wanted to tear into them with her talons and teeth.

“I am going to be asking the questions here,” EB said to her, fire licking her words. She brandished the jaw trap, and it looked so much more menacing in actual light. Jane tensed, and gasps went around the room. “Recognize this?”

Jane swallowed thickly. “Wh-where did you get that?”

“I think you know.” EB said.

Jane looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, you snotty, pompous gnat!” EB snapped, enjoying the way Jane flinched. “You know exactly where this came from. You know what you did.”

“No, I don’t!” Jane said, glancing all around the room. “I haven’t seen one of those in centuries! I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“YOU FUCKING LIAR!” EB roared, making everyone in the room jump. “You--you put this thing on a fucking kid, you absolute monster! She came to me crying, thinking she was going to die! I know you’re fucking racist, but how fucking SICK do you have to be to pull this shit AGAIN?”

Jane took a small step back. All four of her hands were wringing in her shirt, like she didn’t know what to do with her arms while she was getting ripped a new one. Her face was ghostly pale, eyes wide in shock, and her wings had started to tremble.

“I-I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” She squeaked.

EB scoffed. “You’re such a fucking joke.” She said. “I knew you were illiterate and fucking stupid, but do I really have to spell it out for you? I know what you did to Joan, and I’m not going to let you get away with it.”

“She did WHAT?” Howard snapped to attention.

“What happened to Joan?” Aragon followed, unfurling her golden dragon wings. She shot an evil glare at Jane.

“She put this fucking torture device on Joan.” EB said, shaking the jaw trap for emphasis. It clanked loudly, the deadly jaws hanging limply. She stalked closer to Jane, ruffling up her wings to look bigger than she already was. The butterfly cowered beneath her, shaking from antennae to toe. With a voice that was dripping with venom, she said, “And you should know that when it comes to all equipment, tech, and machinery, whether it be used in the tour or not, my word is law. And my decree is that if you so much as think of bringing along another one of these wretched devices, then you have another thing coming.”

Jane went to reply, and EB slashed her across the mouth.

Driven backwards by pain, Jane staggered, wings flaring out in shock. Her hands flew to her jaw, pawing tentatively, green Cimex blood drooling through her fingers. Four long claw marks were carved across her lips and cheeks, and EB struggled not to smirk at how long the scars would linger on her face.

“Do NOT try and argue with me!” EB boomed, her voice resounding like thunder through the house. “I did NOT live through torture at the Tower of London to see this fucking thing be used in modern day!” She clutched at the jaw trap with both hands, imagining it were Jane’s head she was crushing between her talons. “You’re not going to hurt anyone everyone again, you fucking monster. Not while I’m around. And if you lay a single claw on Joan, if your silk so much as TOUCHES her, if your wings even BRUSH her, I will fucking kill you, and I will make sure it’s much worse than goddamn natural causes. I will make you feel real pain, you useless baby-making trophy.”

And then she pulled the jaw trap apart, looking Jane dead in the eye as if to say, “THIS is you.”

Silence fell around the house. Jane was frozen, shaking madly, but her petrified expression was more than satisfying for EB.

Was this what the dove felt when he tortured her?

Come on, little nun, tell me my future. Don’t make this all be worthless…

Raising her chin haughtily, EB threw the broken jaw trap at Jane’s feet, fluffed her wings at her, and then turned and walked out.

She took to the sky instantly, and began flying home. She swore she had a boost under her wings as she flew, making her stronger and faster.

She felt powerful.

EB was home in record time, landing smoothly and instantly darting into her apartment.

Joan was curled on the couch where she left her, wrapped up in a cocoon made of her own weird wings. Her head popped up when the door shut, and her grey eyes were rimmed with thick rings of red.

“I told you I’d come back,” EB said.

Joan threw herself at EB, and EB caught her in her wings. The hybrid dissolved into tears once again, sobbing so hard it sounded painful. EB tried to maneuver her back to the couch before she collapsed, but she ended up scooping her up instead. She ignored the weird nagging sense of worry tugging on her brain when she realized how light Joan was, even for an avian of her size. Because she will say it again: she was NOT affected by nesting season!!!!

“Shh, shh, shh,” EB murmured, swaying Joan in her wings. “It’s alright. I’m here now. I’m sorry for leaving you, but I had to take care of something.”

Joan sniffled and whimpered something completely incomprehensible, but EB couldn’t really tell if it was because she was crying or because she was also Scottish, and who could REALLY understand Scottish avians?

“It’s okay, love,” EB held her tighter, feeling stubby little half-chewed claws grip onto her shirt. “I won’t let you go. Everything is alright now. Everything is alright.”

Joan cried steadily for ten more minutes, and EB was surprised that she had that much left in her. But after the storm of tears was over, she was reduced to weak hiccups, slumped against EB’s chest in clear exhaustion. Her shiny grey eyes were clouded with fatigue, and she barely had the strength to even lift her own wings. EB stroked down her crest feathers, clucking.

“Let me get you some water before you die of dehydration, little creature,” EB said affectionately. But when she tried to get up, Joan made quite an adorable whine (don’t tell anyone she thought that, though, or she will fucking rivet you a new anus) and mustered up enough strength to wrap her wings around her stomach and hang on her with her dewclaws. “Uhh. Pup? You gotta let go. I need to get you some water.”

Joan buried her face against her chest and shook her head.

“What, do you want to come with me to the kitchen or what?”

Joan looked up at her, eyes glistening like a newborn baby bat’s, and EB had her answer.

Carrying a hybrid hanging onto her like a baby koala might have been weird if EB hadn’t have read something that said Vespers liked hanging on things because it was “true to their bat nature” and also liked being swaddled by wings because it made them “feel secure” and “reminded them of their mother.” Not that she looked that up because she liked Joan, though! Well, she DID like Joan, but she was just looking up things about Vespers because she was interested in the other tribes, that’s all! Nothing for Joan’s sake! She was just curious!

Oh, who was she kidding? Maybe she could let her persona fall just this once. After all, Joan gave her a reason to change that goddamn light bulb. And when did a little nesting season instincts ever hurt anyone?

#wing au #dont tag as ship #six the musical #six the musical fanfic #six the musical fanfiction #six the musical fic #six the musical au #EB #elizabeth barton #tour joan on the keys #tour jane seymour #tw: blood #tw: torture #put your head on my shoulder

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purplehairedwonder · 3 years

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Inside a Broken Dream Chapter 2

Fandom: One Piece Rating: PG-13 Pairings: Gen Words: 3200 Characters: Trafalgar Law, Shachi, Bepo, Penguin, Ikkaku, Heart Pirates, Donquixote Doflamingo, Monkey D. Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Robin, Usopp, Zoro Note: Story title comes from the Vertical Horizon song “Shackled.” Character and relationship tags reflect the current chapter. Obviously this is canon-divergent ;)

Summary: Two years after Wano, peace on the Grand Line is fragile. Trafalgar Law and the Heart Pirates are doing their best to help maintain the peace, but the return of a figure from Law’s past might shatter the balance of power entirely.

Previous chapters: 1

Read also at AO3 / FF.N

“I’m here to take back what’s mine.”

Law barely had time to register the words before the Marines behind Doflamingo drew their guns and started shooting. Penguin cursed loudly as Law drew Kikoku and sliced at the incoming spray of bullets, his Fruit effortlessly cutting them in half. They clattered harmlessly to the Tang’s deck.

Before the soldiers could let off another hail of bullets, Law reached out for Penguin and Jean Bart, gripping them tightly. They’d all fought together long enough to know what was coming, so Penguin and Jean Bart braced themselves as Law shambled them from the deck of Polar Tang to the deck of the Marine ship, swapping places with three soldiers. The remaining Hearts on the Tang would be more than enough to take care of those Marines.

They’d barely landed when a loud bang rang out. Law’s eyes flew wide in shock as pain erupted in his shoulder and his entire body lost its strength. Kikoku dropped from his grasp and his knees buckled, the strength it took to hold himself upright gone. His Room collapsed around them.

Not good.

His breath caught in his throat as he looked down at his right shoulder to see a round hole with blood soaking into his shirt. He reached with his left hand to the back of his shoulder and it came back dry—no exit wound. The bullet was still inside.

“Captain!” he heard someone cry as Bepo growled dangerously from what sounded like miles away.

Law forced his gaze up to see Doflamingo watching him with a smirk on his lips and that damned pistol outstretched in his hand.

Law was fucking sick of getting shot by that man.

“Seastone bullet,” Doflamingo said, gesturing with his pistol.

The one he’d shot Law with in Dressrosa.

The one he’d shot Cora-san with on Minion Island.

Law had hated guns since Minion Island—especially that gun.

“The Marines have all kinds of fun toys these days.”

If there was a bullet of unadulterated Seastone lodged in his shoulder, it was no wonder Law could barely see straight. He could only hope the bullet had stayed whole and hadn’t fractured. The last thing he needed was fragments of what was essentially poison to a Devil Fruit user scattering through his system.

Law hissed in protest as big arms grabbed him roughly from behind, pulling him to his feet and immobilizing him. Not that he was moving much on his own at the moment.

“I’m sorry, Captain,” Jean Bart ground out behind him. Law could hear the struggle in his voice, but it was no use if Doflamingo had gotten his strings on the man. “I-I can’t control myself.”

“S’not your fault,” Law murmured in reply as he watched Doflamingo’s fingers twitch as he controlled Law’s nakama. “It’s him.” A surge of anger threatened to rise in his chest at the man doing this to his people, but the numbing effects of the Seastone suppressed it just as quickly.

“Captain!”

Law blearily glanced to his right to see an immobilized Penguin watching on helplessly, his arms and legs wrapped in strings and several Marines covering him with their weapons.

Fuck. He’d shambled them right into Doflamingo’s trap.

The sounds of fighting echoed from the direction of the other ships, and Law willed his first mate and the others to stay away. This was why he’d gone on his revenge mission alone those years before—he couldn’t bear to see his nakama being used like this.

“What? No witty comebacks, Law?”

Law blinked. Somehow Doflamingo had bridged the gap between them without him noticing. Fuck, he was out of it.

“Bite me,” Law muttered with the little energy and hatred he could muster.

“Maybe later,” Doflamingo chuckled before raising the gun again.

“Law!” Penguin yelled desperately.

“No!” Jean Bart struggled behind him but couldn’t free himself of Doflamingo’s influence to let Law go.

Doflamingo swung his arm. Law’s head burst into blinding agony—and then nothing.

-----

Bepo howled furiously as Law crumpled, his hat falling from his head as he went limp in Jean Bart’s shaking arms. The larger man was clearly trying to fight the hold Doflamingo had over him and failing. Bepo could barely hear the worried and angry cries from his crewmates over the blood pounding in his ears. He wanted nothing more than to rush the ship, to protect his captain—his best friend—but the Marines that had boarded his ship once the shooting had started kept the Hearts from bolting to their captain’s aid. A quick glance at the Tang showed a similar situation.

“Let’s go.”

Bepo started as Doflamingo’s booming order rang out across the ships. The Marines jerkily started to retreat, keeping their weapons hefted and firing if any of the Hearts tried to follow. On the Marine ship, Doflamingo forced Jean Bart to carry Law’s unconscious form while Penguin was escorted by two armed Marines into the bowels of the ship. The former Warlord turned to follow but paused; he bent over to pick up Kikoku and Law’s hat from the deck.

For some reason, Doflamingo’s hands on Law’s hat made Bepo’s blood boil more intensely than the sarcastic salute he gave with Law’s sword before he disappeared into the ship, a wall of Marine rifles protecting his exit.

Bepo’s head spun as the ship made its getaway, their captain and two crewmates aboard as prisoners. Law was… He was in the hands of the man he hated most in the world, wounded and undoubtedly restrained somehow with Seastone.

The two Hearts ships were silent for a long moment before chaos broke out, curses ringing through the air.

“What do we do now?”

“We have to go after them!”

“Against him? Without the captain?”

“We have to get the captain back!”

“Obviously, but how?!”

“Bepo, what should we do?”

“Yeah, Bepo, what do you think?”

Bepo started once he started hearing his name. “Huh?”

Ikkaku stepped up to him and put a gentle hand on his arm, an anchor in the hurricane of emotion around and within him. “You’re the first mate. Without Law here, you’re acting captain.”

Bepo blinked. That… that was true. He swallowed as the eyes of the Hearts turned toward him. Bepo couldn’t afford to let his emotions control him right now; he needed to think. What would Law do in this situation?

He’d take a step back and come up with a plan that best utilized the assets available to him. He wouldn’t play by the rules of the enemy.

Assets.

He had an idea.

“We’re going to get the captain, Penguin, and Jean Bart back,” Bepo said. “But we’re going to be smart about it, just like Law would. Doflamingo took him alive for a reason, so we have to assume he’ll keep him alive.” For now, anyway. Bepo tried not to think about what that reason for taking Law alive might be, considering their history. “And we have his vivre card, so we won’t lose him.”

The Hearts started nodding around him.

Bepo gestured to a few of the men he’d brought on his search for Shachi’s attacker, recruits who’d joined after Law became an Emperor and had needed more men as he’d taken territory under his protection. “Bring this ship back to headquarters and treat the wreck survivors.”

The men saluted. “What about you, Bepo-san?”

“We’re going after the captain,” Bepo said, turning toward the Polar Tang. “But first, I have to make a call.”

------

The Hearts gathered in the mess, one of the few spaces in the Tang big enough for all—or almost all—of them at once. Even Shachi had come up from the infirmary. He hadn’t let them keep Law’s, Penguin’s, and Jean Bart’s abductions secret, considering he’d heard the shooting and yelling. Bepo had tried to convince him to rest, but he knew in Shachi’s place, he wouldn’t rest either so had simply helped his friend out of bed and to the mess.

Once they were all present, Bepo explained what he was thinking and waited for the others to tell him what they thought.

“I don’t like it,” Clione said finally. “We should be able to get our captain back ourselves. We’re an Emperor’s crew!”

There were some murmurs of agreement, and even Bepo didn’t totally disagree, but he preferred to hedge his bets when the lives of his nakama were on the line.

“And the one Devil Fruit user on our crew isn’t here,” Shachi retorted, wincing when he raised his voice.

The Heart Pirates had never been a crew of brawlers. They were a crew who, led by a surgeon, planned every detail carefully and executed with precision. And they were damn good at what they did. Everyone on the crew was a capable fighter—some were even haki users—but Law was usually the one to handle other Devil Fruit users. Now they were looking at taking on an extremely talented Fruit user who also happened to be a former Warlord and had Marine backing.

“Why have allies if we can’t call on them for help?” Ikkaku pointed out. “They’ll come.”

“That’s what worries me,” Clione replied. “Do you think we can afford for this to get out to the public? That an Emperor was kidnapped by a suddenly-free Warlord? We’ve been working for the last two years to keep things stable. Half the time we’re smoothing over their messes! This could lead to chaos!”

“Can we afford to try this without help?” Ikkaku countered. “Maybe we can do it ourselves, maybe not. But why try if we don’t have to? Their lives are on the line.”

Clione sighed but didn’t disagree. He looked at Bepo. “I’ll follow your lead, Captain.”

Bepo started at the title. It didn’t sit right on his shoulders, like an ill-fitting coat. But he’d wear it until he could give it back to Law. “Okay. Thank you.”

“Bepo,” Shachi said quietly, and Bepo turned back to his friend. “Do whatever it takes to get them back.”

Bepo nodded. He glanced around the mess at each of his crewmates, and they all nodded back. There would be no risks taken when the stakes were so high. “Okay.” He picked up the Den Den Mushi and dialed the familiar number.

After a few rings, the snail connected. “Hello?”

Bepo recognized the voice immediately. “Nami, it’s Bepo.”

The snail perked up. “Oh, Bepo! It’s good to hear from you. We haven’t seen you guys in a while.”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized habitually. Shachi cleared his throat and Bepo winced. “About that, we were callin—”

Bepo was cut off as another familiar voice came over the line. “Oy, Nami! Who is it?” Luffy asked, apparently wandering into the room.

“It’s Bepo,” she told him.

“Oh, Bepo!” Luffy greeted. “Long time no see! How’s Torao?”

Bepo shut his eyes and forced himself to push through. “That’s actually why we’re calling. Captain’s in trouble.”

Though they were talking by snail, Bepo could still feel the atmosphere on the other end change. “What happened?” All traces of humor were gone from Luffy’s voice. Somewhere in the background, Bepo could hear Nami calling for the others to join the call.

“We had a… surprise visitor in our territory today,” Bepo said. “Blew up Shachi’s ship.”

“Is he okay?” Nami asked, alarmed.

“I’m fine,” Shachi said, shrugging at Bepo’s look. Mostly, he mouthed in reply.

“That’s good,” Nami replied. “What happened to Torao?”

“What’s going on with Torao?” That was Chopper.

“Is Torao-kun all right?” Robin.

“That’s what we’re waiting to find out,” Nami said impatiently. “Bepo?”

Bepo suppressed the urge to pinch his snout. It was easy to forget the comfortable chaos of the Straw Hats after being away from them for a while. Bepo opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. Images of Doflamingo and Law staring at each other, of Marines shooting, of Law falling flashed before his eyes. He felt himself tearing up and almost jumped when he felt an arm slip through his. Ikkaku again.

“Just tell them, Bepo,” she said quietly.

Bepo swallowed and nodded.

“Tell us what?” That was Usopp.

“Doflamingo,” Bepo said around the lump in his throat. Ikkaku squeezed his arm. “Somehow he got out of Impel Down in a Marine ship.”

“WHAT?!” the Straw Hats exploded collectively.

“He showed up in our territory, demanded to see Law, then blew up my ship,” Shachi summarized.

“And Torao went,” Zoro supplied.

“Yeah,” Bepo nodded, though they couldn’t see him.

“What happened with Mingo?” Luffy demanded, voice colder than Bepo had ever heard it.

Bepo was once more thankful Luffy was an ally and not an enemy. “H-he took Law. And Penguin and Jean Bart. He, uh, shot Law, probably with Seastone, and took him.”

There were sounds of fury on the other end of the line, confirming what Bepo had expected to happen. Law might be the captain of his own crew, but somewhere between Punk Hazard and Dressrosa, the Straw Hats had taken to Law as one of their own and would fight for him—already had fought for him—as such. Law would always belong to the Hearts first, but Bepo supposed he could share when the others cared so much for him. Yes, this was the right call.

“We’re coming,” Luffy said.

-----

The first thing Law became aware of was pain. His shoulder was on fire and his head throbbed. He tried to reach for his shoulder to assess whatever damage was causing so much pain, but his body wouldn’t respond. Everything felt heavy—so heavy. Law groaned.

“Captain? Are you with us?”

Even though his eyelids felt as heavy as the rest of his body, Law managed to force them open. He blinked a few times before his surroundings came into focus. He was lying on the floor of… somewhere. He was on his back, looking up at the nondescript ceiling. He tried to lift his hands to rub his eyes, but the sound of chains clanking startled him. He tilted his head down to see Seastone cuffs around his wrists.

“Captain?”

He recognized Jean Bart’s voice. And the first voice had been Penguin.

And the memories flooded back in. Shachi’s shipwreck. Doflamingo. The Seastone bullet. Strings everywhere.

“Yeah,” he croaked. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Thank god,” Penguin murmured.

Law swallowed. “How long have I been out?”

“Few hours?” Jean Bart guessed. “Hard to tell down here.”

Law huffed in response. “Brig?”

“Yeah.”

“You both okay?”

“We’re not hurt,” Penguin said, not quite answering the question. But Law knew what he meant; there was something demeaning and violating about those strings taking away your agency. He knew that feeling well.

“Captain, I’m sorry.” That was Jean Bart. “I couldn’t…” he trailed off.

Law wished he could see the larger man’s face, but at the moment it was taking all Law had just to stare at the ceiling. “I told you before, it’s not your fault. He made you grab me.”

“I know, but…”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Law cut in sharply, “got it?”

A pause. “Yes, Captain.”

Law sighed. They would probably need to address this again later, but it would have to wait. Law turned his head and had to wait for his vision to stop spinning before he could see the bars locking him in. He could feel the oppressive energy of Seastone emitting from them. Between the bullet in Law’s shoulder, the shackles on his wrists, and the bars of the cell, Doflamingo was really taking no chances with Law’s powers. Smart. The last time he’d seen Law’s abilities was Dressrosa, and a lot of time had passed since then.

He still needed to get a better sense of the space he was in, to see where Penguin and Jean Bart were, but the prospect of sitting up seemed like a herculean task. The trio lapsed into silence for several minutes as Law worked himself up to move. Finally, he took in a deep breath and slowly started to sit up. He felt unsteady and, without thinking, put his right hand on the floor for balance but hissed as pain jolted from his wounded shoulder down to his fingertips.

“Captain?”

Law grunted but didn’t otherwise reply, his teeth clenched against the pain. He listed to the side, but he’d sat up far enough that he could collapse his left shoulder against the wall. After a moment, he shifted until his back was flush against the wall. He dropped his head back and shut his eyes, sweat rolling down his neck.

He really needed to get the bullet out of his shoulder.

Once he’d caught his breath, Law opened his eyes and let his vision adjust to the dim lighting. Now he could see the space; it was more open than he’d expected. There were several cells, each enclosed by Seastone bars, likely in case the Marines had to transport multiple Devil Fruit users at once. Jean Bart sat in the cell across from Law, and he nodded when he saw Law’s eyes on him.

“Captain.”

Law nodded tiredly back then continued to inspect the room. There was an empty cell next to Jean Bart, and Penguin was in the cell next to Law.

“Hey,” Penguin greeted when Law met his eyes.

“Hey.”

“With all due respect, you look like shit, Captain.”

Law snorted. “I can imagine. I can’t exactly use my Fruit to get this Seastone bullet out of my shoulder. Cuffs and bars are one thing,” he said, lightly shaking his shackles. “The bullet is the real problem.”

“What can we do?” Penguin asked.

Law considered. He might be the Heart Pirates’ doctor, but he made sure each member of his crew had working medical knowledge so they could assist him and wouldn’t be completely reliant on him in case he was out of commission. Penguin had been with him longer than anyone other than Bepo and Shachi, so he’d been helping Law in the infirmary for years. If he could guide Penguin in removing the bullet, that would be an element of surprise they could use against Doflamingo. Law always carried a small surgical kit with him in case he needed to perform field medicine, so if he hadn’t been stripped of that…

Law’s thoughts were interrupted as the brig door slammed open and light flooded in. Law squinted against the sudden onslaught of brightness, expecting to see Doflamingo outlined in the light, but the figure that stumbled through the door was too small. A Marine, moving jerkily—still being controlled, Law noted—shoved the figure forward toward the empty cell. By the time Law’s eyes adjusted again, the guard’s back was blocking Law’s view of the figure that was shoved into the cell.

As the soldier walked back toward the door, he threw a pained look in Law’s direction. “Help,” he mouthed before the strings pulled him out of the door and shut the door behind him.

Law raised an eyebrow before turning toward the newest prisoner… and his eyes widened as the man straightened.

“White Chase-ya?”

#Caitlin's fic #One Piece fanfiction #One Piece fic #One Piece #Trafalgar Law #Heart Pirates #Donquixote Doflamingo

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bedlamsbard · 4 years

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Part 3 of the other side AU concept! Still estimating this at five parts total. The AU is Backbone-based and uses Backbone backstory up until the present day. Markus Anjali also appears in these Backbone backstory scenes, referred to in this sequence.

Previous: Part 1 Part 2

About 5.7K below the break.

***

“Don’t make trouble,” was the first thing Hera said to Chopper as they got off the maglev train at the station nearest the ISB Complex. She had told him that back at the Ghost, but she thought it bore repeating.

He grumbled back at her and Hera made a face at him.

The platform was crowded with commuters, most of whom were either Imperial officers or support staff for the Imperial Complex and ISB Headquarters a block away. Hera’s green skin and white-covered headtails got her a few second glances, but after four days here she was starting to become a regular, and a few people remembered her from the previous year. She stopped at a tapcaf to get a takeaway caf and nervously emptied two packets of sweetener into it while Chopper complained about the delay.

“Oh, shut up or I’ll leave you here,” Hera told him, jamming the lid back onto her cup. The tapcaf was full of people in gray or white Imperial uniforms, mostly junior officers or staff running errands for their superiors up at the Imperial Complex. Only moffs and flag officers could keep really good caf in their offices; even on Naboo what was available in the mess hall or the break rooms tended to be swill. Even if it hadn’t started out that way, being kept on a warmer for eight or twelve hours rendered it little better than tar. Not that tar didn’t have its place, but Hera was of the firm opinion that place was in the field on a sixteen-hour watch, not in the office.

She threaded her way out of the tapcaf back into the street, where several other astromechs were waiting on the pavement for their owners; Chopper had followed her inside rather than make polite conversation with them.

The Imperial Complex was only a street away. The stormtroopers at the entrance waved her inside with only a cursory check of her credentials and Chopper’s operating number; Hera wasn’t the only nonhuman who worked there, but as far as she was aware she was the only Twi’lek. She had to swipe her code cylinder in order to get into the ISB building, while Chopper had to plug in to be scanned. Since his ban had never been official, just verbal, he was allowed in without raising any alarms.

“Do not light anyone on fire,” Hera told Chopper under her breath when they had reached an empty hallway that she knew had a faulty security cam. “I’ll signal you when I’m done.”

He saluted her with one of his manipulators and rolled off. Hera took a deep breath, smoothed down the front of her uniform unnecessarily, and started towards the turbolifts and the bullpen on the sixth floor where Agent Beneke’s office was. Markus Anjali, as he had done the past three days, was waiting for her outside the glass doors to the bullpen.

“Hey, Hera,” he said, as if he hadn’t been staking the turbolift lobby out.

“Hello, Markus,” Hera said, pitching her now-empty caf cup into the nearest trashcan and already exhausted by the thought of having to spend the next few minutes with him. They had shared a desk when she had been working here, she and Markus and two other agents at one of the four-desk setups in the bullpen. The others had been all right, but neither of them were here at present.

Her old desk was occupied by an agent she didn’t recognize. A handful of offices ringed the bullpen’s second level; Hera glanced up and saw Agent Beneke silhouetted through the window of his office.

“Do you want to get dinner tonight, after you get off?” Markus said. “We could catch up.”

“I’m here with my partner, Markus,” Hera said.

“Well, it’s not like he has to come.” He put a hand on her wrist. “I know you were angry at me after Felucia, but by now you have to realize that he’s not –”

“Let me clarify,” Hera said. “I’m here with my partner whom I love and have sex with on a regular basis, Markus. I wasn’t trying to replace him two months ago and I’m not interested now.” She removed her hand from his before he could respond and was at the stairs to the second level before he could do more than open his mouth again.

She rapped her knuckles against Agent Beneke’s door and waited for him to look up and wave her inside before she entered.

“Good morning, sir,” she said.

Beneke gave her the kind of look that made her uncomfortably certain that he knew that not only had she spent the night in Kanan’s bed, but that her double was on the Ghost now and Chopper was rolling around ISB HQ looking for a convenient and sufficiently high-access dataport to plug into. But all he said was, “Good morning, Hera. Have a seat.”

She took the chair in front of his desk and set her shoulder bag carefully down by her feet.

“I hope this inactivity has not made the Inquisitor too restless,” Beneke said.

“No, sir.”

The cams are disabled, she reminded herself. He doesn’t know. They had checked the Ghost over months ago after Kanan had first come back, after a chance comment from another ISB agent Hera knew who usually oversaw internal surveillance. The bugs had ben transmitting until just after Kanan had returned, when they had been turned off; Chopper had been able to have the Ghost’s systems fry their internal circuitry so that they couldn’t be reactivated if the ISB and the Inquisition ever stopped fighting over the two of them.

Agent Beneke looked at her for a long moment. Hera met his gaze evenly, not allowing herself to blink or look aside; it was Agent Beneke who finally said, “Well, let’s get started then.” He touched the control on his desk that dimmed the windows to the bullpen, so that no one down below or on the balcony outside could see what they were doing. “Where were we when we left off last night?”

“Otoh Gunga, sir.”

As Hera was pulling out her datapad to bring up her own notes on the mission, Agent Beneke said, “Agent Anjali only has your best interests in mind, Hera.”

“Agent Anjali has getting into my pants in mind. Sir.”

Agent Beneke raised an eyebrow. “My impression has been that Agent Anjali has always been a good friend to you, apart from that little incident on Felucia. And you must admit you overreacted there.”

Hera felt a muscle in her jaw twitch. That “little incident,” as Agent Beneke called it, had been her slapping Markus in front of a tent full of officers and agents – not to mention Kanan – after he had called Kanan a thing and suggested that she was sleeping with Kanan because she didn’t think she had better options. As far as she was considered her reaction had been entirely justified and would have been so even if she had gone up on charges for it, which she hadn’t – mostly because everyone there had been too afraid of Kanan to suggest that she might have been in the wrong. He had been six months out of the Crucible, barely speaking, and terrifying even to the officers in command of that operation. It had also been the morning after the first time since he had come back that they had had sex; for months after his return Hera hadn’t been certain he would ever be able to touch her again. Markus’s reaction had gone a long way towards ruining her morning. He had also suggested with what was clearly supposed to be glowing praise that she was “nearly human,” presumably in contrast to the Twi’lek girl down at the Lake House whom Hera knew he slept with regularly.

“Sir,” she said instead of any meaningful response.

“We do have some leeway with the Inquisition, you know, Hera,” Agent Beneke said mildly. “If you were to request a transfer, it would go through. Your partnership – if it can be called that – is highly irregular and entirely unprecedented as a long-term assignment.”

“I’m content with my assignment, sir.”

Agent Beneke arched an eyebrow at her, as if gently contemplating how that could possibly be true. “You were very young when you met him, and you haven’t had much experience apart from your current assignment –”

“I had a year’s worth of experience, sir.” She had even seen other men on occasion, mostly to placate Agent Beneke when she had been so tired and so grief-stricken that she would have done nearly anything to make him leave her alone. Every one of those occasions had ended disastrously, including the time two years ago when she and Kanan had been fighting and she had gone out with another agent to make him jealous. She had never gone home with any of them; she hadn’t even gotten through dinner with any of them.

“I suppose that’s true,” Agent Beneke conceded, “but you must admit that it was somewhat limited. I could arrange for you to be transferred to one of the other ISB regional headquarters, or even to Coruscant. Give it some thought.” He activated the holoprojector over his desk and the city of Otoh Gunga sprang up in miniature. “Let’s review your operation here.”

It was one of her rare solo operations from her year on Naboo, and Hera was glad that she had made herself take extensive notes at the time, since she had blanked out most of her miserable year onworld.

From the Otoh Gunga op they moved onto a review of the Onaxa fiasco, which had ultimately been a win for the Bureau but had unfortunately involved several senior officers and government officials being completely humiliated. That had been one of the operations that had taken place shortly after Kanan had found out that Hera was ISB and not an independent contractor, so he had been as delighted about it as she was dismayed. It also happened to be the operation they had been working on when she had gone to dinner with Agent Taraj and come back to the Ghost drunk and crying. She and Kanan had been fighting for weeks; he had been furious with her for lying to him about working for the Empire, and she had been furious at him for not merely accepting it. He had left when she had told him the truth; he had come back not long afterwards, but the fact that he had left at all had hung over them both.

When he had come back, he had asked her to leave with him, and it was the greatest regret of Hera’s life that she had refused.

“Hera?” Agent Beneke said, a note of reproach in his voice.

She raised her gaze to him. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t sleep very well.”

She knew it was a mistake to say as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Agent Beneke’s eyes narrowed, so slightly that anyone who didn’t know him well might not have noticed, and he said, “Did the Inquisitor keep you up?”

Hera wondered how he would react if she told him the truth, that she had lain in bed beside Kanan and thought about the woman in the other cabin, the woman with her face and her voice and the insignia of something that didn’t exist, not yet. For that matter, she wondered what he would say if she told him yes, she had been having sex with Kanan most of the night, even if on this particular occasion it wasn’t the truth.

“No, sir,” she said instead. “I just don’t sleep well when I’m dirtside.”

“Perhaps you should see the Bureau psychologist about that, Hera,” Agent Beneke suggested.

“I’ll consider it, sir.”

She wondered if the other Hera Syndulla ever had to deal with this. She couldn’t see it – the other woman was too confident for that – but it seemed inevitable that she must have. With rare exception, humans were humans and her Rebel Alliance couldn’t be that different than the Empire except in goal.

A rebel alliance, part of her thought. She had gone after plenty of rebels and in her experience, none of them wanted to cooperate with anyone else, which was why they were rebels in the first place. The little she knew about the way her father ran Free Ryloth suggested that it only worked because he was the highest ranking person there; if another curial clan ever joined up – unlikely, given how much most of the curiates hated each other – then the fleet would probably self-destruct. Unless something had changed drastically by the other Hera’s time, Hera couldn’t see any way that a rebel alliance could actually succeed.

She forced herself to concentrate on what Agent Beneke was saying, despite her earnest desire to be anywhere else right now and her sinking feeling that no matter how intently she listened, it ultimately wouldn’t matter. After this, she wouldn’t be able to come back to the ISB even if she wanted to. And she wasn’t sure she did. She wasn’t sure she didn’t, either, but if she went through with this then the choice would be out of her hands.

She could also, she knew, tell him right now and then that would be out of her hands too. But she couldn’t do that. She just couldn’t.

She sat impatiently as Agent Beneke asked her a series of leading questions about Kanan’s involvement with the Onaxa operation and how he had interacted with the other ISB team on that operation. Since he had shot one of them – not Agent Taraj – it was an exhausting conversation, even if Agent Beneke had to admit that it had been a justified shoot. It just didn’t look good when a civilian contractor, which Kanan had been at the time, shot an Imperial officer.

What does it matter? she thought despairingly. I’m not going to stay.

The realization brought her up short.

She and Kanan had talked about this, or rather, they had talked around it. They had discussed what they were going to do; they hadn’t discussed what it really meant and what the outcome was going to be. But she was going. She wasn’t coming back.

“Hera,” Agent Beneke said pointedly.

He must have asked her a question; Hera didn’t have the faintest idea what it was. She was still staring at him when the comlink set into his desk beeped with an incoming transmission.

He touched the control. “Yes?”

Hera kept her expression neutral through the response; Agent Beneke said, “I’ll be down shortly,” and disconnected. As he stood up, he looked down at her and said, “This will only take a few minutes. We will continue this, Hera.”

“Yes, sir.” Hera folded her hands over her datapad, looking straight ahead.

“Stay here.”

He left the room. Hera sat where she was, silently counting off his progress across the bullpen floor until she was certain that he had reached the turbolifts, then got up and crossed quickly to the other side of his desk. He hadn’t bothered to log out of his computer, though Hera knew his log-in information and had been prepared to use it.

Hera pulled the datacard she had brought with her out of her jacket and inserted it into the slot. She kept an eye on the door and the darkened windows as she brought up the files she was looking for and copied them over. She was about to close out the files and disconnect when she saw a folder titled “SYNDULLA.”

It was probably nothing more than his notes on her, which Hera frankly didn’t want to see, but she copied them to the datacard anyway. She closed out of everything she had opened, then disconnected her datacard and stuffed it back into her jacket. It hadn’t taken more than two minutes.

Hera straightened upright. She looked around the office, taking it all in – a small, spare room whose only decorations were a handful of plaques and a single watercolor landscape of Naboo’s Lake Country. Then she straightened her jacket and walked out of the room, clicking her comlink once as she went.

Markus looked up as she passed his desk. “Hera,” he said, surprised. “Are you leaving already? I thought you –”

“We’ve got an op,” Hera said, surprised by how calm her voice was. “Orders just came in from Mustafar.”

He frowned, but even the ISB wouldn’t argue with the Inquisition.

“Could you tell Agent Beneke that I’m sorry I had to leave without saying goodbye?” Hera said after a moment’s hesitation. It wasn’t a lie, not quite, and that surprised her too.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Markus said. He started to stand, and then stopped, as if unsure what to do. “Hera, I – be careful.”

He didn’t add “with him,” so all Hera said was, “I always am,” before she left. She didn’t look back.

Kanan met her on the Ghost’s ramp with a quick kiss and an arm around her waist. Hera took a few moments to lean into the comforting curve of his shoulder before they went inside, breathing in the familiar scent of him.

She doesn’t have this, she thought, and the memory of what that had been like made her heart ache. The idea of going on like that for years was too painful to contemplate.

“All right?” Kanan asked her quietly.

Hera nodded. She leaned up to kiss him briefly, then said, “Did you get the transmission?”

“Yeah.” He glanced up at Chopper, who had preceded them up the ramp, and added, “Nice job.”

Chopper waved one manipulator and made a dismissive noise, but Hera could tell he was pleased by the compliment.

They went up into the Ghost, closing up the ramp behind them. Hera pulled at the front of her jacket, suddenly uncomfortable having it on, even though it wasn’t treason – not quite yet. They still had a few hours before then.

Kanan glanced at her, his expression understanding; he was in his uniform too, even though he hadn’t been wearing his leathers and armor when Hera had left that morning.

“Can you take us out of here?” Hera asked him once they were up in the cockpit. As Kanan’s eyebrows climbed towards his hairline, since she seldom let him fly, she added, “I have to work on the credentials.”

“Yeah, of course,” Kanan said, though from his expression she could tell he knew she just didn’t want to be the one who left Naboo behind. She had left the planet dozens of times before, but this was different. She didn’t know if she could bear watching, let alone doing it.

“Thanks.” She left him and Chopper in the cockpit, stopping in the corridor as soon as the door had closed behind her. She pressed her hands to her face , breathing hard, then started to strip off her gloves. She had one hand out for her own door controls when something made her frown and look up.

She went down to the common room instead, and started in surprise to find the other Hera Syndulla sitting at the holotable, holding a mug between her hands. She looked up as Hera came in.

“Oh,” Hera said. She didn’t know why she was surprised; of course Kanan would have let her out. She knew that he knew she hated being locked in anywhere.

“Hi,” the other Hera said.

Hera almost turned and walked out of the room again, but instead she said abruptly, “Are you afraid of the dark?”

The older woman blinked. “No. Why?” She hesitated, then asked, “Are you?”

Hera nodded. “If Kanan’s not there, I have to sleep with a light on.” Sometimes when he was there too, if she was having a particularly bad night; he had never commented on it or asked why. She thought he probably guessed, and something about the way he had acted after he got back from Mustafar made her suspect he knew exactly why.

She glanced at the door she had come through, feeling the Ghost’s engines vibrate through the deck as Kanan started them up. He wouldn’t be leaving the cockpit anytime soon. She looked back at the other Hera and swallowed before saying, “When I was at the Spire – when I was in prison – they used to turn the lights off. Or on. Not on the planet’s night cycle, it was just…random. Sometimes not for very long. Sometimes for – for a long time.” She looked down at her hands, which even seven years later were still flecked with scars where she had beaten them bloody pounding at the door to her cell when it had gotten to be too much for her.

She could still measure out the walls of her cell in the dark; it had been a little smaller than her cabin was now. On bad nights, when Kanan wasn’t there, she still walked the width of her cell, back and forth in her cabin or in the Ghost’s hold, turning invisible corners and skating around the steps that had led up to the door. Once one of the Ghost’s air filters had broken and Hera had woken up wild with terror, because it had smelled exactly the same as it had back in the Spire. Kanan had fixed it while Hera had curled up in a corner of her bunk, weeping as Chopper tried to comfort her.

She looked up at the other Hera’s stricken expression.

“It’s all right,” she said. “I just couldn’t remember if I was afraid of the dark before or not.”

“Hera –” She stood up.

Hera left before she could come after her, hurrying back down the corridor to her cabin and catching herself on the wall as the Ghost lifted smoothly up from the docking bay. She stumbled into her cabin, letting the door shut behind her and flattening one hand against the wall. She was breathing hard, tears pricking at her eyes; she wasn’t sure why.

But she had a lot of practice doing work while on the verge of tears; she had gone through all of last year and most of her Academy days like that. Swiping the back of her wrist across her eyes, Hera pushed away from the wall and dug the datacard out of the inside of her jacket.

Hera looked up as Kanan came into the common room. For lack of anything else to do, she had been playing sabacc against herself, which was easier said than done since Sabine hadn’t fixed the buggy software yet and creatures would randomly disappear and reappear on opposite sides of the board.

Seeing him was still a shock. She knew he wasn’t her Kanan – the age was a dead giveaway, even if the scars and black outfit hadn’t been – but it hurt to look at him. She could tell that he knew it, too.

“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” he said.

Hera shut the sabacc game off. “Do you have a plan?” she asked. She couldn’t shake her uneasy memory of what had happened the last time the Rebel Alliance had come to Scarif. They still didn’t know what had happened down on the planet, and never would; everyone who could have told them had died there. Many people who had never made it to the surface had died there.

He arched an eyebrow. “Did you think we didn’t?”

“Why do you think I asked?” Her Kanan would have had a plan. She might have had one, but it likely wouldn’t have been as good as his.

He smiled a little. “We do.” He glanced back as Hera – his Hera – came in behind him as if summoned. Her eyes were red-rimmed, as if she had been crying, but she looked grimly determined.

“I hope you don’t mind wearing an Imperial uniform,” she said to Hera.

“Well, this is new,” Hera muttered a few minutes later, pulling uncomfortably at the hem of her borrowed uniform. It was ISB field grays, and a little tight – she and the other Hera were almost but not quite the same size, though she thought the younger woman was actually broader in the shoulders, if smaller in the bust. Well, she was an active field agent instead of a flag officer, and she hadn’t had a child.

Even these days it wasn’t uncommon for Alliance personnel to have to go undercover as Imperials, and most larger ships had a small collection of Imperial uniforms and armor just in case. Hera, for fairly obvious reasons, had never done so. When she was in the field now she was commanding from the deck of a starship, or on now rare occasions, in the cockpit; when she had been younger she had always had humans around who could believably take that role. She had managed to avoid taking the dancing girl roles that Twi’leks tended to get relegated to when she was younger by virtue of never having to go on a mission where that was necessary; as a flag officer it was completely out of the question now.

She grimaced at her reflection in the mirror and began to wrap up her lekku, hating it immediately. Upper-caste Twi’lek women never covered up their lekku and usually left their other caste markings bare; Hera didn’t bother with the latter because when she had first been in the field she had been concerned about being recognized as a curiate Syndulla. In the Alliance, not only did it not matter, no one would recognize their significance anyway. Once off Ryloth, it wasn’t uncommon to see Twi’leks with decorative lekku markings; it would have taken a Ryloth native or a first generation colonist to recognize her markings as curial caste markings. The other Hera obviously felt differently, though probably for different reasons.

Once her lekku were covered, she used makeup to subtly change the shape of her face, accentuating the slight differences between herself and the other Hera. They would probably still be taken for sisters, but there was nothing to be done about that.

She stepped into the cockpit to a stream of familiar Binary obscenities. Chopper swiveled his dome at her approach, his invective suddenly replaced by a low, startled sound. The other Hera, who had been crouched in front of him, sat back on her heels and looked up at Hera.

“You’ll do,” she said, sounding unhappy about it.

Chopper chirped a cautious inquiry. It was, Hera realized with surprise, the first time she had seen him since she had arrived.

“Yes, it’s me,” she told him. “Do you want to do a genetic test?”

He waved one of his manipulators dismissively, but the sound he made was distinctively taken aback. The younger Hera waved a hand in front of his optical processors. “Come on, you. Your paint’s not dry yet.”

Hera gave him a second look. She had assumed that his black-and-red paint job was how he looked normally in this universe, but apparently not.

The door slid open behind her and Hera stepped out of the way so that Kanan could come in. She glanced at him, then did a double-take.

Even in his heavy leathers and black vambraces she had had trouble seeing him as an Inquisitor before. Now there was no question about it. He had added upper body armor, including pauldrons with the Imperial cog painted on, and his step was heavier; he was wearing blackened greaves that covered his legs from ankle to knee. A black mask of some unfamiliar material concealed the lower half of his face, leaving only his eyes visible.

The other Hera said, “I hate that.”

“Not as much as I do.” His voice was a little muffled. He reached up and unsealed the mask, wincing as little as he pulled it away from his face. Hera realized abruptly that the scars she had seen there earlier exactly matched the outline of the mask, as if he had worn it until it had worn the skin raw. “But it impresses the regs.”

“Hmmph.” The other Hera stood up and kissed him. “You look like you’re coming to murder someone.”

“That’s the intended effect.”

“I know.”

Suddenly Hera realized that they were both completely serious.

Kanan flicked a glance at her, as if he had sensed her revelation. He looked away, stepping past her to take the co-pilot’s seat.

He’s done it, Hera thought, her fists clenching and unclenching inside their black gloves. He’s killed people for the Empire. He’s walked into a room dressed just like this to do murder, and she was probably with him.

She didn’t know Inquisitors, but she knew how terrified Kanan had been after they had gotten him back from Tarkin’s star destroyer over Mustafar. He had had nightmares for weeks – months – afterwards. He had still been having them intermittently when they had gone to Malachor, which hadn’t replaced them so much as added something new to have nightmares about. Hera did know Imperials; apart from personal experience with those still in the Imperial service, there were plenty of Imperial deserters in the Alliance ranks. Kallus wasn’t the only former ISB officer, either, though he was the one she knew best. She had a pretty good idea of exactly what it took to succeed in the ISB and the other Hera had clearly done it.

She hadn’t been thinking of them as Imperials in more than name.

The other Hera glanced at her, her expression unreadable, then slid into the pilot’s chair. Hera looked down and took the chair behind Kanan, the one that should have been Sabine’s.

Hera had always felt a certain amount of pity for the Imperials who had come over to the Alliance, though too much experience had kept her for feeling any for those who chose to stay with the Empire. The Empire recruited heavily from worlds like Lothal and Tatooine, Outer Rim planets whose residents had few options to get out or make something of themselves, as well as from the lower levels of ecumenopoleis like Coruscant, where options were equally limited. She remembered being that desperate to get offworld when she had been a teenager, and if she had been human – well, she wouldn’t have taken that option, not growing up as Cham Syndulla’s daughter, but she understood how it felt to do anything, anything, if it meant you could get away. Those who came to the Alliance were the ones who understood that “anything” didn’t mean “everything.”

Hera had always thought that she would never be one of those people, even if she had had the option.

And Kanan –

She looked down at her hands rather than at the back of his head, breathing hard, and missed the transition from hyperspace to realspace.

“Welcome to Scarif,” Kanan said. “That is a lot of star destroyers.”

Hera straightened up, peering over his shoulder out the viewport. “Not as many as the last time I was here,” she remarked. The blue glow of the planetary shield was just barely visible; they had arrived on the day side of the planet. She looked at the shield gate and shuddered.

“You’ve been here before?” the other Hera asked.

“I had more friends with me,” Hera said, then clarified, “An Alliance commando unit infiltrated the vaults to steal plans for the D – for an Imperial superweapon. The rest of the Alliance fleet came to support them; it was our first major fleet action against the Empire. I was with the fleet; it was my last action flying the Ghost, actually.”

“They don’t sound like they were very good commandos,” the other woman muttered.

“They got the information out.” Hera’s mouth tightened. She hoped this didn’t go the same way that had. The Alliance would never know how Rogue One had died, just that they had, and so had everyone else on the planet’s surface.

She had heard their last transmission, the desperate plea to bring down the shield gate. It wasn’t the only thing that haunted her dreams, not by a long shot, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t one of them.

The two Imperials exchanged a look Hera couldn’t read, then the girl leaned forward to touch the comm unit, “This is ISB/Inquisition transport Ghost, code ISB/INQ-972484, requesting permission to land.”

There was a long moment of silence, then the response came, “Ghost, you’re clear to land. Landing pad 6.”

“Thank you.”

Hera supposed that no one questioned the ISB, or possibly the Inquisition; presumably the combination of the two was something that no one wanted to deal with for longer than they had to. It was a pity that that information would be useless back home, since the Inquisition no longer existed.

She watched as they slid past star destroyers, TIE patrols, and transport vessels, the latter all making their slow approach to or from the shield gate. The Ghost descended it slowly; Hera clenched her fists on the arms of her chair, thinking about the starfighters she had seen shattered against it when it had closed during the battle. She glanced up reflexively once they had passed it, even though that didn’t show her anything but the ceiling of the Ghost.

Scarif was pretty, she could tell from the viewport. It would have made a nice vacation spot if it wasn’t for the Empire. She wondered what had been going through Tarkin’s head when he had picked it for the data center – the location, maybe, though there were dozens of other planets as conveniently placed. Hera didn’t think she would ever see it as anything other than a killing ground. She watched the Citadel Tower slide past them as the Ghost circled to their assigned landing pad; the other Hera brought the ship down as gently as Hera herself would have done.

Kanan got to his feet, sliding his mask back on. “Well,” he said, his voice cold, a killer’s voice, an Imperial Inquisitor’s voice, “here we go.”

#cut scenes and concept writing #other side au tag #as always comments are appreciated

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omgsquee2001 · 4 years

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One Piece: Various x Former Slave/Whitebeard’s Daughter Reader: Part 4

~Whitebeard’s POV~

We were all positioned in a hidden cove near the Celestial Dragon’s Auction House. The Straw-Hat Pirates were quiet. Luffy was sitting on the mast head of the Thousand Sunny, his hat covered his face. The whole atmosphere was solemn and filled with anger. I still couldn’t believe that my little girl was alive. I felt horrible. I should have tried looking for her harder. I spent at least a year or two searching for my daughter, but gave up hope when there were no signs of her. I should have spent more time looking. He should have asked the Strawhats. Sensing my anger and sadness, Marco placed his hand on my larger one.

“Pops, it’s not your fault. We had no idea that she was with Luffy and his friends-yoi.” Marco said, trying to comfort me. I gave my son a sad smile.

“Thank you, my son.” I said. Zoro, being the first mate of the Strawhat Pirates, looked at Nami.

“Nami, why don’t you explain the plan. We all know Luffy is in no condition to explain it.” He said, glancing back at his captain. Nami nodded. She looked at the Heart Pirates and my Crew.

“First, we’re going to need someone to go and see how many guards are stationed around so we know how tough the competition will be.” She said. Marco looked up.

“I can take care of that by transforming.” He said. Nami nodded in thanks. Law frowned.

“We have an eavesdropper.” He said. Su-Yin gasped quietly and walked out form behind the trees on the island. We tensed, ready for a fight. Su-Yin raised her hands in surrender.

“Please! Don’t hurt me! I’m not here to fight! I’m here to help!” The young marine shouted. Zoro narrowed his eyes.

“How do we know that you aren’t going to hand us over to the marines?” He asked. The girl frowned.

“My name is Su-Yin Orahime, and I want to stop all of the wrongs that are happening here. I also know where [Y/N] is being held in the Auction House.” She said. Marco looked up at me.

“Pops?” He asked. I looked at Su-Yin with pleading eyes.

“Please. If you know where my daughter is, help us.” I said. Su-Yin nodded.

“Of course, Mr. Whitebeard,” she said. She looked at Nami. “May I join you in your plan?” She asked. Nami nodded.

“We already have Marco as a scout. Once we know how many guards here are, we will send Luffy,” Luffy had taken a seat next to Nami. “And Ace in as the front lines. Once we’re in, Robin, Chopper, Usopp, Law, Su-Yin and I will set out to find [Y/N] and free the other slaves.” She said. I looked up, more determined than ever to save my daughter.

“Let me come with,” I stated. Nami looked up in surprise. “I want to be able to save my daughter and apologize for not looking hard enough for her when I lost her.” I said. Nami nodded.

“Very well.” She said. Su-Yin looked at all of us.

“There is a secret door that I use to go in and out when I visit [Y/N],” she said. We looked at her in surprise. “It leads straight to the cells where she is being kept. But there is the possibility that one of the Celestial Dragons will be down there, so we might have to take the long way around.” She said. Nami nodded. Usopp raised a trembling hand.

“U-uh, Chopper and I discussed it, and we decided we wanted to stay behind and keep watch.” Usopp said. Chopper nodded.

“Besides, Law is a doctor. He can immediately assess [Y/N]’s condition.” Chopper said. Nami rolled her eyes at the coward/sharp shooter of the Straw-Hats.

“Fine. Let’s get going.” She said.

_______________________________________________________________________

~Third Person POV~

Everything was going according to plan. Marco had scouted, Luffy and Ace had busted open the gates, and now Nami and the rest were following Su-Yin’s directions down to the cells where you were being held. Luffy had joined them. He also wanted to see his friend. They came to a fork. Nami glanced at the young Marine.

“Which way?” She asked. Su-Yin looked left then right. She closed her eyes.

“Left.” She said. The group ran down. Nami and Robin stopped. Su-Yin turned to them.

“Nami? Robin?” The others turned as well. Nami smiled.

“I know this wasn’t part of the plan, but you guys keep going. We’ll keep watch. You guys go,” Nami said. Su-Yin nodded. “And Luffy,” Nami said. Said rubber boy turned to his friend. “Bring [Y/N] back safe!” She shouted. Luffy smiled and raised his hand.

“You got it!” He said.

“Alright. Let’s go.” Su-Yin said. They raced down. Su-Yin held up her hand, signaling them to wait. They heard shouting.

“My name is not Number 261. It’s [Y/N] Newgate. I am the daughter of Edward Newgate. He, my older brothers and my friends will come for me. And once they do, they will kill you and stop all the horrible things you are doing here!” It was [Y/N]’s voice. Whitebeard clenched his jaw as he heard the loud smack of a hand against a face. The Celestial Dragon said something that was inaudible. But the words shouted by his daughter afterwards made Whitebeard’s chest swell with pride.

“My father is the greatest and strongest man alive, aside from Strawhat Luffy! My family WILL come for me!” [Y/N] shouted. There was a cry of pain. Su-Yin looked at the group and nodded.

“Let’s go.” She said. They all walked down. They stayed silent as they watched her get kicked in the stomach and sides, making [Y/N] cough up blood.

“If they really were your family, they would have started searching for you the minute you went missing! But no, it took three long years for them to look for you and here you are, back in our clutches,” he said. The Celestial Dragon gripped her throat, choking her. Whitebeard’s eyes narrowed. “I would love to actually see them here for you. So that you could prove me wrong. But they aren’t here, are they?” He said.

“You have one second to let go of my daughter before I kill you, you filth.” Whitebeard said. His voice was low and demanding. Striking fear into the slave owner’s heart. The Celestial Dragon froze, letting go of [Y/N]’s neck. She fell, the chains catching her. She coughed, some blood leaking from her mouth. The group watched as a weak smile formed on her lips and tears of happiness trickled out of her [e/c] eyes.

“F-Father,” she breathed out, before fainting. The Celestial Dragon backed up.

“W-Whitebeard? Strawhat Luffy, Fire Fist Ace, Marco the Phoenix, and T-Trafalgar Law,” he stuttered. “W-what are you all doing here?” He asked. Whitebeard walked closer.

“Why do you think we’re here,” he gestured to his allies and his sons. “We’re here to retrieve these brats’ friend and sister. She also happens to be my daughter.” He said. The Celestial Dragon’s eyes fell on Su-Yin. His eyes widened.

“S-Su-Yin?! What are you doing here?! Have you come here to defend me?” He asked, hope in his pathetic voice. Su-Yin scoffed.

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m here to get my friend out of here.” She said. Luffy cracked his knuckles. He glanced at Whitebeard.

“Old man,” he said. Whitebeard glanced at Luffy. “Can I punch him? It will allow Ace and Su-Yin to get the chains off of [Y/N].” He said. The Celestial Dragon picked up the unconscious and beat up [Y/N], the chains clinking against each other. He held a gun to her head.

“D-don’t even think about it, Strawhat! I-I’ll kill her!” He shouted. Su-Yin took out her own gun and shot the gun out of his hand. He cried out in fear. Whitebeard nodded.

“Go ahead, my boy.” He said. Luffy smirked and pulled back his hand.

“Gum-Gum, Hammer!” Luffy shouted. His rubber hand struck the Celestial Dragon in the face, just like it had done all those years ago. The Celestial Dragon went flying through several brick walls. Once he was out of the way, Su-Yin and Ace ran up to the unconscious [Y/N]. Su-Yin took out the keys and unlocked the chains. The young girl collapsed into Ace’s arms. Ace held [Y/N] tentatively, brushing her hair away from her scratched up face. Law ran over and looked her over, assessing her wounds.

“How is she, Law?” Marco asked, walking over and kneeling next to the Supernova. Law looked at the first devision commander and the captain.

“She needs medical attention right away. We will bring her back to the Polar Tang where I can treat her. She will then be allowed to rest on the Moby Dick.” Law said. Whitebeard nodded.

“Understood. Let’s go.” He said. Ace scooped [Y/N] gently up, holding her bridal style. Law knew it would take her a few days to recover, but she would be fine. As long as he could treat her in time.

~Sorry for the long wait everyone. I’ve been stuck in writer’s block for some time, but I have finally completed part 4 of the One Piece: Various x Former Slave/Whitebeard’s Daughter Reader series. Part 5, the finale will be coming soon. In this, there will be different scenarios you can choose from: Staying with the Whitebeard Pirates and falling in love with Marco, Staying with the Whitebeard Pirates and falling in love with Ace, Leaving with the Heart Pirates and falling in love with Law, Leaving with the Straw-Hat Pirates and falling in love with Luffy, Leaving with the Straw-Hat Pirates and falling in love with Luffy, Leaving with the Straw-Hat Pirates and falling in love with Zoro, Leaving with the Straw-Hat Pirates and falling in love with Sanji. If you would like a scenario with any of the ladies like Robin, Nami or Su-Yin, let me know down in the comments and I will write one for them.~

#one-piece-x-reader #whitebeard pirates #trafalgar law #portgas d. ace #monkey d. luffy

52 notes · View notes

iamwhoiamtmblr · 4 years

Text

Title: Remember Who You Are

Story Rating: Chapter 21 -18+++ Last chapter in this series.

Warnings: Sex (intercourse), Romance

Relationships: Nomad Steve Rogers x Female Reader or Steve Rogers x Female Reader (Depends on your definition of him)

Master List - Link to Other Chapters

(Captain America photos property of Marvel)

All characters are property of Marvel.

The Avengers were back in the conference room. They were debriefing everything that had happened at the cabin. They were grateful they figured out in time where you were to save you. Steve would never have recovered if you had died. They were listening and arguing with the council regarding Sin and Crossbones. The Avengers all wanted them in front of a judge, tried and executed but the council disagreed; they say they could be valuable in the future. Fury was rolling his eyes at them.

“Same thing as the Battle of New York; stupid ass decision.” (Fury)

Fury shakes his head and ventures downstairs.

You awaken to find yourself in the medical ward. You try to sit up, it’s painful; you’re in a lot of pain. You sigh, now realizing that you’re back at the compound again where it all started. Bruce and Fury see that you’re awake and approach the bed. “How are you now? (Bruce) “Tired and sore.” Bruce places another pillow behind your head. “They removed the bullet. The wound was severe; you’ll need a lot of rest to heal. If that bullet had gone an inch in any direction, I don’t know if you would be here.” You sigh. “Why did you do that?” “He told me he loves me, somehow I know it’s true even though I don’t remember him.” Bruce nods.

“Do you remember your name or anything about yourself?” (Bruce) “No.” you whisper. “I also did another MRI while you were unconscious. There’s no permanent damage.” You nod.

You look around the room and see the man who loves you sleeping in a recliner chair beside you covered into a blanket. “He hasn’t left your side since returning from the cabin. He wants to be here when you wake up.” (Bruce)

“You may not remember him but he loves you so much. This whole thing has worn him down to the core. He never stopped looking for you.” (Fury) You stare at Steve, wondering why all of this happened.

“Do you know why they took you?” (Fury) “I don’t know. They kept talking about Captain America.” You replied sadly. “Y/N, Steve is Captain America.” (Fury) You looked shocked. “What?!” Bruce nods.

“Why did you go to the cabin?” (Fury) “I knew I would be safe there.” “It must be in your subconscious memory. Get some rest ok.” (Bruce) Bruce turns and goes back to the nurse’s station in the hallway.

You turn your head to see Steve awake and looking at you. “How are you?” “Tired and sore.” “Do you remember me?” “No…..” You start to cry. “Don’t cry baby girl.” (Steve) Steve caresses your cheek, wiping away the tears. You lay back down on the bed.

“I’ll leave you two alone.” (Fury)

“I don’t want this to ever happen again. I know I have enemies who want to hurt me and I don’t want you to get hurt. I promise that this will never happen again. I won’t let it!!” “With your memory gone, I feel like I still lost you.” Steve sighed. He reaches for your hands.

“After everything we’ve gone through, I don’t ever want to take you for granted and to appreciate everything you are to me. I learned to hard way, you were taken from me, I nearly lost you.”

“Look, I want to sell the house.” “What house?” “The one I bought for us. I want a new place.” “Why?” “Because you were taken from there; it only has bad memories for me, nights alone in the house without you, finding the blood in the bedroom. Worrying, fretting, wondering what happen to you, where you were, even if you were still alive.” Steve sits down on the bed with you, gently pulling you to hug him, you can hear his heart. “Come here.”

Steve reaches for the necklace around his neck and removes it. He takes the ring off and holds it in his hand. You sigh. “Is this mine?” “Yes but you don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to.” “I want to.” Steve places it on your finger, its back where it belongs. “I want you to remember us.” (Steve) You hang your head down. “I wish I did.” You start to cry again. Steve crushes you into his arms. “Me too.” Tears go down his cheeks. “Can we start over?” (Steve) You nod yes. “I know you love me.” Steve sighs; soft smile on his face. At least he has you in his arms again and you’re willing to try.

“Fury has put me on extended leave for 6 months, the same as you.” You’re puzzled “Why?” “You don’t have your memory back. Your injuries were extensive. He says you need time. You need to heal.” “I just want to go back to the cabin.” (You) “Ok. I promise.” You rest your head on his shoulder. He kisses the top of your head. You both close your eyes, tears running down both of yours and Steve’s cheeks.

(Meanwhile…)

Fury and Nat are in the interrogation room. Crossbones and Sin are sitting at 2 different ends of the table, shackled and chained. Both of them were shot, their wounds tended to. Crossbones had some broken ribs and concussion too, courtesy of Tony. He was in extreme pain but they both were in too much pain to try to escape. The medics wouldn’t allow them to have any painkillers.

“Even though everyone here wants both of you dead, the council has ordered that you both be kept alive. I wanted to let you know that you will be sent to the “Raft” our super maximum prison, which you know is underwater. Do you know how to swim?” Fury laughs. Sin stares at Natasha. “I’ll get you bitch!” “Now now Sin, you’re going to have to make the best of this. Hell, you two might even be cellmates” Fury smiles. Sin laughed. “Seriously asshole, to hell with that!” “Keep that bitch away from me! Fucking bitch shot me twice!!” (Crossbones) “You deserved it!” (Sin) Coulson walks in. “Everything is ready.” “Time to go….all aboard the chopper.”

“I’ll escape!” Sin sneers. Nat smiles “We’ll be ready and waiting.”

Fury decides to escort them personally to the prison. Sin and Crossbones were loaded onto the chopper. Tony & Rhodes land beside the jet in their suits. “We’re ready.”

Tony and Rhodes are ensuring that no one will intercept them. Thor and the Falcon will ride inside the helicopter. Fury is taking no chances with this situation. The helicopter starts to takes off, inside Sin and Crossbones stare across from at each other.

“Bitch!” “Asshole!” Fury can’t help but laugh.

(6 months later) You and Steve have been staying the compound. He sold the house immediately. He decided to wait before asking you about getting another house. You didn’t need the stress.

Going through rehab was really tough for you after all the injuries you suffered. The visits with the Psychologists and Psychiatrists have been brutal. Everything they tried to allow your memory to return has failed. You still have the headaches and trouble sleeping.

Thankfully Bruce gave you a medical clearance to return to work. Fury made the decision himself to put you on desk duty indefinitely. He wants you fully healed. He also wanted Steve to heal as well; both physical and mentally. This whole situation wore him down to his core. Not putting you in the path of dangerous situations would help him feel better, no worrying about you getting hurt or taken again.

Despite all this, Steve was happy that you & he started over. He’s been ‘dating’ you, so to speak. It gave him hope as you were still wearing his engagement ring. Steve wanted you to remember him, to remember the both of you. He knew this would be difficult. He hasn’t and won’t give up on you. The last 6 months have been tough for him; being patient wasn’t his strong suit.

You know he loves you. He knew you well enough to figure out where you went and came to save you; now he wouldn’t leave your side. He showed you tenderness, love, compassion, patience and strength. You were falling in love with him all over again. He even tried different ways to trigger your memory too. Places you went to, your favorite things, reliving your first date, the ice Cream Shack, your favorite foods. Nothing worked.

With Bruce’s consent, Steve decides it’s time to take you to the cabin. Throughout the long drive Steve wouldn’t let go of you hand. Sometimes you thought if he let go, he would be afraid to lose you again. He hopes bringing you here would help, in fact, you told him you wanted to come here.

You walk in the door of the cabin, looking around. You remember everything that happened here when Sin and Crossbones came after you. It should frighten you, never the less, still you still feel safe here.

“You ok?” (Steve) You nod. “I want to go for a walk.” Steve smiles, he intertwines your fingers with his. You both start down the path. You stay outside for most of the day. You even happened upon the old haunted mill. As night fell, you watch the stars in the night sky. “Hold me.” (You) Steve pulls you in his arms. “I will always hold you; I’ll never let you go.” He tips your chin up, he gently kisses you. You smile. “Time for bed baby-girl, I’m cold and tired.” (Steve)

You both enter the cabin. Steve follows in behind you. He starts kissing your neck and nibbles on your ear; you smile. You turn to face Steve. You wrap your arms around his neck and kiss him tenderly.

During the last 6 months he didn’t want to have any setbacks. Steve desired you, wanted to show you he loves you physically. He wanted you back in bed again. But he told you he wouldn’t pressure you into doing anything you weren’t comfortable with. He was afraid to touch as he feared you might leave him and run away scared. He has you back in his arms again and he’s vowed never to let you go!

You find the courage to say these words “Do you want me Steve?” He smiles, “You know I do.” “You’ve been patient with me, I want to thank you for that.” You whisper. He kissed your forehead. He sighs.

Steve is very nervous, he wants to make love to you but he’s afraid. He decides to let you lead. You gently nip at his neck. Steve removes his sweater and t-shirt. You stand on your tippy-toes and start placing kisses down his neck to his chest, even licking and sucking on one of his nipples.

Steve gasps. You reach for his jeans; unbutton and carefully unzip them. Steve discards his jeans. The top of his cock springs out of his underwear. “Oh, I can tell you want me.” You smile. He tips up your chin and looks at you in the eyes. “I will want you forever, you know that. You’re mine. The question is do you want me?” He whispers. You nod. Steve starts kissing you passionately, pulling you towards him. “What do you want me to do?” you ask. “Make love with me.” You nod again. “Undress me Steve.”

Steve smiles; starting with your hoodie and bra. He careful removes them. He gently kisses your neck, massaging your breasts, playing with your nipples. He gently takes each nipple into his mouth and teases them. You softly moan at his gentle touch. Steve picks you up and lays you down on the blankets in front of the fireplace. You help him remove the rest of your clothing. He sits back on his legs and takes in the sight of you before him; laying naked and waiting for him, wanting him; 6 months he’s waited for this.

He placed himself above you kissing you passionately, deep kisses leaving you breathless. “I want you……please baby-girl.” You nod. You help him remove is underwear and his cock springs out; hard as a rock. You gently run your hand the length of it. Steve trembles at your touch.

“I’ve missed you…. I missed this so much….!”

Steve places himself on you, resting on his elbows. He’s looking at you right in the eyes. You see lust, passion, desire and most importantly love. You raise yourself up and kiss him. Steve wraps his arms around you, flips on his back and pulls you on top of him, straddling his hips. Steve sits up with his arms around you. He can’t stop kissing and caressing your body; his touch teasing you.

You hold his head against your chest, feeling his hot breath. Steve raises you up by your hips and gently inserts his rock hard cock inside you. You gasp as you feel the hardness. He moans when you start to rock your hips against him. He holds you tighter against him, kissing your neck, breasts and your jawline. You run your fingers through his hair. He moans again. He begins rocking you, moving in and out of you with small strokes.

You sigh. “What’s wrong?” (Steve) “Nothing. everything is perfect.” you smile. “Hold on to me!” (Steve)

You hold on tight to Steve. He picks you up, withdrawing, carries you over to the bed and places you in the middle. He slowly climbs back on top of you, inserting him-self in you once again. You shudder. You start to touch Steve, caress his body. You reach up and kiss his neck. He begins to thrust, small strokes. You grab Steve and put your arms around him and your legs around his hips. Steve’s in heaven. He waited so long to have you; he’s not going to rush this.

He puts his hands underneath you, caressing your back, placing his hands under your bottom to change the angle of penetration. You start to moan even more. He thrusts becomes harder. You feel your core tightening. You place your head in the crock of his neck, your hot breath teasing him.

Steve thrusts now are even faster. Your body is overcome with waves of pleasure. Steve can feel them too. His muscles are tightening; you’re gripping him harder. He smiles to the way your body is responding to his. His patience has been satisfied. To tease you, he begins to rub your clit, slowly, causing you to squirm beneath him. Steve can’t hold back anymore.

“I’m so close Baby-girl…” “Then cum…” “Not without you…” he whispers into your ear. Steve thrusts faster and faster, you’re clinging to him for dear life. He remembers where your sensitive spot is. “Cum for me….please.” He didn’t need to wait long, a few moments later, you feel your walls spasming; your orgasm hitting you hard. “Steve!” you scream. Steve came at the same time. You feel the warmth inside you. Both of you are out of breath. He collapses on top of you; kissing you tenderly.

“I love you Baby-girl.” You look directly in his eyes “I love you Steve.”

Steve can’t stop smiling. Even though you don’t remember the past, he has your heart again. You made love, you were his again and most importantly you told him you love him. Wanda was right; after everything you went through, he was still in your mind somewhere.

Steve rolls off of you. You are chilled by the cold air. He sees you shiver and picks you up and places you in back front of the fireplace to warm you up; tucking you under the blankets. He kisses you softly on your forehead. Steve feels like celebrating. He goes to get a bottle of champagne from the mini fridge for you both to drink. You curl up on the floor on the blankets. You sigh as you are happy and content.

Out of the corner of your eye you see a dried purple rose just behind the firewood on the floor.

“Oh look, a purple rose, my favorite. It must have missed when you cleaned up that night.” “What?” (Steve) “You know, the night you proposed to me. You brought me here to the cabin. That was quite the night.” you blush. Steve drops the bottle and the glasses on the floor. Startled you jump. “Why did you drop the bottle?” (You) Steve stuttered “You remember?” “Yes silly, you proposed and made love to me in front of the fireplace, remember? There were candles everywhere; you were sitting waiting for me.” Steve can’t speak. He kneels down beside you on the floor. “You need to clean up the mess Steve.” You laugh. He stares at you. “What’s wrong? What? Why are you looking at me like that?” (You) Tears are rolling down Steve’s cheeks. He touches your face and he smiles. “Why are you crying?” It took you a couple of minutes to realize what you said. “I…..” You gasp. “Remember who you are.” (Steve)

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

Wanda was right. He was still a part of your mind. All it took was Steve’s love for you to remember who you are.

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

I hope you liked the story as much as I loved writing it. 💜

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mystical-flute · 3 years

Text

Uncharted Waters (YGOxOne Piece Crossover)

Also on AO3 || Buy me a ko-fi?

The worlds "Earth" and "Eturn" used to be united, until a mysterious force ripped them apart eight-hundred years ago. Now, the Veil between worlds is starting to crack, just as the Shadow Games return to Earth. Reika Muto, an undercover operative in Eturn and owner of the Millennium Bracelet, is caught between two worlds.

“Did you really think that a rookie like you could really stop Baroque Works?” Mr. 3 asked with a sneer, staring down at Reika with contempt in his eyes. “You pirates should have just left well enough alone, don’t you understand that? Then your poor body wouldn’t be in the state it's in!”

As if to emphasize, he wiggled the dagger that had been stuck in her, causing her to cry out in pain again.

“But don’t worry, you’re going to be at peace soon enough,” he continued, the wax slowly climbing up her foot.

Reika shifted her outstretched arm, desperately grasping for one of the batons just outside her grip. “I’m not dying here,” she choked out.

“Aren’t you? You’re out of moves! Out of options, and out of time.”

Her pinky grasped the baton, sliding it into her palm as his back turned away, keeping an eye out for any of her allies.

“Hey Mr. 3, do you know what’s scarier than a little shock?” she questioned.

“Hm? What do you - ”

“Jupiter’s Storm!” she called out, a bolt of lightning shooting from the baton and straight onto the Baroque Works Officer.

He slumped to the ground, unmoving.

“It came from this way!”

“It sounded like Sakura!”

Sakura. Stupid undercover names. But it was to protect her from the Marines, so she dealt with it.

She slowly sat up, knocking some of the wax off her foot just as two familiar shadows appeared in the alley.

“Chopper! Usopp!”

Chopper rushed forward with his medical kit. “What did he do to you?!”

“He picked up a dagger from one of his minions and tried to distract me before turning me to wax,” she grunted, looking at Usopp, who was almost totally covered in bandages. “I’m in better shape than you though, Usopp.”

“Nothing can keep the great Captain Usopp down!” Usopp replied, puffing out his chest before going into a coughing fit.

“Uh-huh. Where are the others? Are they okay? What about our captain?”

Chopper tied the last of the bandages to her shoulder. “This is all I can do for now. Luffy went to go hunt down Crocodile, but the others are waiting at the end of the alley!”

“Reika?”

“I’m okay, Azila. I promise.”

She rose to her feet. “Let’s go.”

All they needed to do was stop a civil war and disarm a bomb.

Get Princess Vivi to the top of the clock tower… watch in horror as Pell, the captain of the Alabasta guards, flew the bomb up to the sky. Watch it explode, knocking everyone off their feet. Watch as the fighting resumed despite the horror that just took place.

Be… unable to stop them. Marine and pirate alike stood in utter disbelief as VIvi’s cries for peace went unheard until rain, precious, life-giving rain, that had been denied Alabasta for three long years thanks to Crocodile’s manipulations, finally began to fall.

“I don’t remember much of what happened after that,” she admitted, days later. “We passed out in an alley after telling Vivi to go be with her father and her people. When I woke up, we’d been out for almost a full day.”

“So to recap, you’re telling me a rookie pirate with a thirty million berry bounty defeated one of the Seven Warlords?” Commander Kenji Hashimoto questioned, squinting at her from his screen.

Reika rolled her eyes. “Do you really think I would lie about a report like this?”

“I know you’d never lie to me, Reika,” Kenji said with a heavy sigh. “Have you spoken with your family?”

Reika Muto nodded slowly. “I talked to them about a week ago. I warned them that I’d be unavailable for a while. Said I was going off the grid for a desert excavation for an internship.”

It wasn’t a complete lie, technically. Alabasta was a desert, she did see ancient sites, and she never would have been able to contact her family with how chaotic the fight against Crocodile was.

Alabasta just wasn’t anywhere in the United States… or on Earth.

“I spoke to your aunt the other day. They don’t seem suspicious about your whereabouts,” Kenji explained.

“Good,” Reika said, glancing at her watch. “I should head back to the palace. The others are going to start wondering what took me so long. Agent Sakura signing out.”

The name still felt weird in her ears, but she was a scout, and the best scouts had disguises, after all.

“Thank you for letting me use your equipment,” she said to the old woman in the next room. “My commander was pleased to hear from me.”

“Of course. It must be hard to get a chance to contact them while you’re at sea,” Megumi replied with a smile. “Now, I’ve added a few little trinkets to your bag as a thank you for helping me arrange my furniture.”

Reika grinned as she grabbed her things, tucking her cell phone out of sight after sending a quick text to her boyfriend. “Of course. Thank you. It was good to speak with you.”

The walk back to the palace was swift, nod and say hello to the citizens who were diligently working to rebuild their city, duck when it came to Marines, and keep gaze steady when passing the ones that had stationed themselves on the palace steps, blocked by the royal guard, who let her through without issue.

“There you are, Reika! What did that old lady want, anyway?” Usopp asked with a small frown when she entered the room they’d bunked down at.

“Oh - nothing major. She just said I reminded her of her granddaughter and asked for help arranging some furniture,” she said, waving her hand dismissively as she set her bags on her bed to look over what the woman had given her.

“So… did she give you any cash as a thanks?” Nami questioned. If it were possible, Reika was sure Nami’s eyes would be money signs all the time.

Reika rolled her eyes and tossed over a small sack of coins, hearing Nami’s delighted ‘hah!’.

“Luffy’s still out of it, huh?” she asked, glancing over at the bed where their captain lay fast asleep.

“His fever broke, which is good, but otherwise no, nothing,” Chopper replied with a sigh.

Reika smiled. “Hey, don’t be so glum. You’re going to be the world’s best doctor, remember? I’m sure he’ll wake up -”

Her head throbbed.

The Shadow Games are coming…

“Reika?”

She snapped her head back up, looking at the worried crew in front of her. “Sorry, I’m fine. My head just hurt for a second. I’m just going to go splash some water on my face.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely!”

Luffy chose that moment to wake up, creating the perfect distraction as she ducked out of the room and took her phone out of her pocket, seeing an incoming call and feeling her stomach sink.

“Okay okay okay!” she grumbled to it, moving into an empty bathroom before putting it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Oh thank goodness I got through! Reika, grandpa’s hurt!” came her cousin’s frantic voice from the other end. “I was dueling with Pegasus and when it ended all of a sudden grandpa was passed out! We can’t get him to wake up!”

Reika blinked several times, trying to process the information. “Okay - what? Slow down this time.”

She heard Yugi taking deep breaths before he spoke again. “You know how I won against Kaiba a few weeks ago?”

“Yes, of course I do. I had a very… interesting conversation with him that night,” she said, frowning.

“Pegasus somehow found out that I won against him and wanted to find out more about me. But the DVD he sent was a trap - he was on it using his Millennium Item on it. He - he said he took grandpa’s soul and now grandpa won’t wake up!”

She pinched her brows together. “Well, that explains the headache.”

“What do you mean?”

A sigh escaped her. “I got the worst headache a few minutes ago. Heard a voice say something about the Shadow Games? Listen, I can’t really talk right now. I’ll be home as soon as I can. I promise. Call me if anything changes with grandpa.”

“O - okay…”

Reika ended the call and swallowed back the lump in her throat. Why now? Of all the times for this to happen, it had to be while they were celebrating their victory. After she’d clawed her way into the Grand Line to find her parents.

“Dammit all…” she grumbled, switching to her agency communicator. “This is Agent Muto requesting extraction from the Kingdom of Alabasta.”

“Reika? What seems to be the issue?”

“My grandfather’s in a coma. I’m at the palace. Be advised there are Marine ships in the area. The group I’m with plans to cross the desert tonight, so I’ll make sure my tracker is on.”

“Aiko will find you. We’ll get you home safe.”

With her family believing she was studying in California, they needed to match up the amount of time it would take for a cross-continental flight. Thirteen hours ought to do it.

Reika slid to the ground, her head in her hands. She’d finally made it to the sea her parents had gone missing in. She finally had started being able to investigate and now… now she had to leave it all behind.

But her grandfather had raised her, and she knew deep down Domino was where she needed to be.

“Reika! Where’d you go?”

She rose to her feet, swallowed the lump in her throat, quickly splashed some cold water on her face to get rid of the redness that had started forming, and opened the door to find Vivi.

“Sorry Vivi, splashing water on my face did the trick. I feel much better now,” Reika lied with a wide smile. “Did I miss anything?”

“Well, Terracotta said dinner will be ready soon. I’d say she brought an appetizer, but Luffy ate it all, so…”

“I can wait until dinner,” she said with a laugh. She wasn’t very hungry anyway, knowing what was going to happen tonight.

At midnight, the Straw Hat crew packed up their belongings and descended from the palace.

Reika switched on her tracker as soon as they hit the desert. It was only moments before Aiko appeared in a bright flash of light, the pirates tensing immediately.

“Who the hell are you?” Zoro asked, hand already on his sword.

“Zoro, wait! Aiko’s a friend of mine!” she said, eyes wide. “But how did you find me all the way out here?”

“Sheer dumb luck I suppose. You know my powers are still a little scattered,” Aiko said, slipping into the lie with ease. “I’m not here with great news though. Your grandfather’s fallen ill, Reika. The doctors can’t seem to wake him up.”

She let the tears she’d hidden before flow. “What?!”

“What’s wrong? Was it some sort of disease?” Chopper asked with wide eyes.

“Grandpa’s had heart issues for years now.” Reika sniffled. “I knew he shouldn’t have stayed by himself.”

“We’ll help him. Chopper’s the best doctor here!” Nami insisted. “Er, right, Luffy?”

Monkey D. Luffy sat with a contemplative look on his face.

“Where is this island?” he finally asked.

“Oxram Island,” Reika explained. “It’s only a couple days journey from here, but it’s back the way we came, and with the Marine ships around, it’d be too dangerous for you guys to come with me.”

Luffy gave her an uncharacteristically serious look. “I see then. If you feel you need to leave the crew, that’s okay. I understand.”

“You’re sure?” Reika asked, looking at the crew with wide eyes.

“It’s your family and your grandfather’s in trouble. Of course I’m okay with it,” Luffy agreed with a wide grin. “Besides, you can come find us again!”

“Luffy, she has to go back the way we came,” Zoro grumbled. “I don’t know if - ”

“Aiko has the power of the portal-portal fruit. It can help guide me back to you, especially if you guys keep making waves!” Reika said. “Come on, Aiko. You can ride with me back to the ship. I’ll hurry up and pack the rest of my stuff.”

The journey across the desert was long, and they arrived at the Going Merry around three in the morning. She ignored most of the chaos on the deck with the escaped Baroque Works member who called himself a friend, and ducked into the women’s room, haphazardly tossing her things back into her suitcase.

“You sure you’re okay?” Aiko asked.

“I have to be, Aiko. You know what Uncle Takeo and Aunt Kumi will say if I don’t go home,” she replied, slipping a tracking device behind her nightstand so she could find the crew whenever her grandfather recovered. “Let's just get this over with.”

“I guess this is goodbye for now!” she called to the deck, unsure if any of the crew could hear her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I promise.”

Aiko summoned a portal (using her technology, not a devil fruit power), and with a deep breath, Reika vanished through the Veil, back to Domino, Japan.

Earth.

“Welcome back, Agent Muto,” Kenji greeted. “I’m just going to need you to go through a health check and we’ll get you home to your family.”

Reika nodded, first making a stop in the changing room, where she rid herself of the Alabastan fashion she’d been wearing, removing the batons and their braces from her arms, revealing the golden bracelet she’d kept hidden during her time in Eturn. She slipped into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, then reached up to take the clip out of her hair, letting it hang free around her shoulders as the dark brown she’d had faded back into her normal color.

In the med bay, as the doctor took her vitals, she stared at herself in the mirror. It had been days since she’d truly been able to look at herself this way - her natural state. Multicolored hair like her father, warm brown eyes like her mother. The older she got, the more of them she could see herself in them.

It was why she’d been sent to Eturn. Why she’d been on a pirate crew, sailing around that mysterious world and getting into danger. She had a clawing, desperate need to find out why her parents had disappeared in that same world ten years ago.

She winced when Hiro’s fingers found the scar on her shoulder. “Easy there, would you?”

“When did you get this?”

“Four days ago. I jumped in the way of an enemy that had been going after my friend. The assailant ended up driving their dagger into my shoulder before I managed to get them off me,” she explained as Hiro’s fingers traced down it gently.

Hiro frowned. “It’s healing well, but I’m concerned about nerve damage in your shoulder. I’d like you to come back in a couple days so I can run some tests.”

Reika nodded in agreement, hopping off the exam table. “Sure.”

“One more thing before you leave, Agent Muto,” Kenji said, frowning as she passed him on her way toward the elevator. “The Veil is beginning to wane.”

She stared. “Wane? Megumi didn’t mention anything to me about that.”

“It hasn’t spread to all corners of the dimensions yet. Megumi’s superiors may not have informed her,” Kenji explained. “It seems to have started here in Japan, though.”

“Okay, so I’ll keep an eye out. Is it glowing blue like our portals?”

“It is, and worse, it seems to keep pulling people between worlds.”

Her eyes widened. “This could be a disaster. Is there any way to stop it?”

“At this time, it seems the only way to stop it is to close the portals. Each agent has been given a personal transporter for this emergency.”

Reika stared at the device as it was pushed into her hand. “Pretty odd to have one of these here in Domino,” she admitted. “You and Yume are always so strict about not using them unless we’re in danger in Eturn.”

“Things may get dicey here, so be on your guard. We’ve been trying to increase security, but it seems with each ripple we close, another opens. It’s like someone is trying to combine the dimensions,” Kenji sighed. “But I shouldn’t be bothering you with this now. Go home and get some rest. I’ll call you when we’re ready to put you on active duty.”

“Thanks, Mr. Hashimoto,” she murmured, making her way to the private parking lot and finally pulling out into the familiar Domino streets.

Three-thirty in the morning even in the heart of Domino City meant not many people were out and about, but still, it almost felt wrong seeing cars instead of ships. As she drove past the hospital, she squinted at the bright, fluorescent lighting of the parking lot.

Reika’s hands shook against the steering wheel.

Grandpa…

She let out a heavy exhale as she pulled up to the game shop, cutting the engine. In all honesty, she hadn’t even thought about what she might say or do if she ever came back to Domino.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

The scent of yakitori still hung in the air as she pushed her way into the apartment, closing the door as quietly as she could behind her and glancing around.

It hadn’t changed much in her absence. Not that she expected it to - Domino as a whole, despite being a city, seemed to be stuck in the mundane. They didn’t know about the global espionage agency that used a restaurant as a front. They didn’t know that there was an entire world beyond strange portals.

It was perfectly ordinary.

A yawn escaped her as she opened her bedroom door, dumping her bags by it and pulling out her phone as she flopped onto the bed. There was at least a fifty-fifty chance that her boyfriend would be awake, knowing his tendency to work through the night.

Seto, I’m home. Text me if you have time to meet.

She meant to stay up and check if he got back with her, but the exhaustion of the day finally caught up with her, and she drifted off, not even bothering to get under the covers.

#yugioh #one piece #uncharted waters #fanfiction

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