Author's Note:
Hi guys! It's been awhile since I last published something. Well anyway I have written a little something. I don't know if I'm gonna turn this one-shot into a story yet. I have some ideas for it but oh well.
Feedback and constructive criticism will be appreciated like always.
Anyway here it is! Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece nor do I gain profit from this. All rights are reserved to Eiichiro Oda.
"..." - speech
'...' - thoughts
cursiv - flashback/emphazising words
BIU - Quotes
How could you
Prologue
His heart is beating frequently, eyes are widening in disbelief, throat is closing up. Every sigle intake of breath hurts. So, so much. A deep burning hurt which had been pushed to the furthest corners of his mind, just pushed aside but never forgotten, resurfaces and it hurts it hurts it hur-
Staring at the small, sick looking boy in front of him makes him feel sick.
'I'm a monster.'
Opening his eyes again, when had he even closed them?, he refocuses on the kid who is just sitting there on the cold hard ground, blank hollow eyes following the moves of the man who instead of walking past him had stopped abruptly as soon as he saw him.
Feeling his throat closing up he croaked out a painfully quite "L-Luffy?"
A flicker of recognition. Just briefly but still. It was there. Luffy still knew who he was. He still remembered him.
And everything that he had to endure up to this point because of him.
"Luffy, I'm so sor-"
"Don't."
Luffy could have punched him in the face and it still wouldn't have hurt as much as that single nearly silent whisper.
"Please I just-"
"It doesn't matter. Leave me alone." With that Luffy huddled closer to himself and closed his eyes.
Blinking the tears that have gathered in his eyes away, it took everything he had not to outright start sobbing and begging for forgiveness which he knows he doesn't deserve.
Not one little bit.
"Lu you're my brother please just-"
This time he interrupted himself. Luffy was looking at him. And this time his eyes were not emotionless depthless black orbs.
No. For the first time this night Luffy showed emotion although all he could see was a deep-rooted hatred and anger towards the one person who managed to break him apart.
It was nothing less than he deserved.
"My brother you say? Hah, that's hilarious. My brother died years ago. Or have you already forgotten, Ace?"
'How Luffy, how could I ever forget what I did to you... all that I can say is..'
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't cut it." Gathering up his things, and god is that little bag really all he has, he turned to leave.
Footsteps. He really is going away. He really is leaving him. After all this time, after he finally found him, he walks away.
'Hypocrite', his mind whispered, 'Remember who left first.'
The footsteps came to a halt. Hope rose within him.
"Goodbye Ace. At least this time I got to say goodbye."
The footsteps continued. His hope died out.
He couldn't stop the tears this time.
He didn't want to.
'Cause his light, his reason for going on with life all these years, finally left him.
And it's his fault.
'I'm sorry..
Luffy.'
That was his last thought before the darkness finally swallowed him up in its embrace.
Never to let go again.
"Too often we do not realize what we have until it's gone. Too often we are too stubborn to say 'Sorry. I was wrong.' Too often it seems we hurt the ones closest to our hearts and we let the most foolish things tear us apart."
- The End? -