Chapter III: Euphoria
I'm officially ignoring my other stories in favor of this one! I'm so ashamed:( But, I'm on such a One Piece binge right now I can't stop. Not that I'm completely ignoring my other fics, it's just that I have so much inspiration for this one right now!
And I'm really loving the awsome responses I'm getting to this! Seriously, only ten reviews, but I'm so happy to see all the positive feedback and hits! To those of you reviewing so nicely; thank you so very much! And to those of you who aren't, well the wonderful feedback is very much encouraging and self-satisfying to a struggling author!
Anyway, I'm probably boring you all, eh? Well, I'll get on with it then.
Song of the Day: Wait for You by Elliot Yamin
Britt: Short little skit today!
Luffy: Skit? What's a skit?
Me: Well, it's...something I don't feel like explaining. Why did you use that word?
Luffy: Skit... Like skittles!
Britt: Uh...Sure, why not.
Luffy: *grins* Taste the rainbow!
Zoro: *scowls* Do you even know what a skittle is?
Disclaimer: Me no own. Me very tired. Me have school in morning. Ugh.
Ace's pov
It was an astoundingly normal day. His first day back in town. He really had missed Fuusha city!
Staying in St. Poplar for thirteen months hadn't been too unbearable. It might have even been fun, maybe. Under the circumstances though, it wasn't such a wonderful stay for Ace.
Despite it all, Luffy enjoyed himself. Dragged him all over the city to keep busy. Ace wondered if it was really more for his benefit, and that his caring little brother was trying to take his mind off of things.
Ace was settling back into a daily routine already. Got up, breakfast with his bro, saw him before he went to school, then left for work. Lucky for him that ol' man Whitebeard was like a father to him. He had complete sympathy for his situation and let him transfer to his company building in St. Poplar for the year before.
Whitebeard Shipping Industry was where he made a living. He was friends with almost all his co-workers and a surrogate son with the big boss. Everyone was treated like family there. He wouldn't trade his job for the world.
It's why he was able to so easily slip back into a sense of semi-comfort his first day back. Ace had been quite reluctant at even coming today. But, Luffy insisted he was fine. And Ace knew that was far from the truth. Luffy was as fine as you could be in this situation, but he wasn't fine in normal person standards.
Still, in a way, his brother was right. Dwelling on it and sinking in their own misery wouldn't help the situation. Besides, he needed as many hours in the time card as he could get. He needed those extra paychecks.
His cell phone rang quite suddenly, the vibrations almost making him drop the heavy box he'd been lifting. With a groan, he fished for the buzzing device inside his jean pocket. Puzzled, he stared at the caller-ID.
"What is it?" His friend, Marco, questioned, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"It's Nami. One of my brother's friends." Ace pondered why the hell she would call him during school hours. With a shrug at his friend, he opened th phone and answered with a baffled, "Hello?"
Ace had been unprepared for the fast, loud sound that came screeching through the connection. With a silent ow, he pulled the phone away from his delicate ear drum. Marco grabbed his ear in mock pain.
"Nami- whoa! Slow down, I can't understand you! Just calm down and tell me what happened!"
"Ace it was- well, something happened. It was so fast; we were there, but we couldn't stop it-! And shit, I'm freaking out, but oh kami, you should have seen him. All that blood..."
"Nami! Tell me what happened!" Ace couldn't help but let the nervousness creep into his voice. What could have possibly-
"It's Luffy...There was this thing - fight - or whatever and he had a gun. Luffy took the bullet. He was shot, and they just took him to the hospital. I had to tell you now, we're leaving now to go see him. Oh man, Ace it...it looked bad. I had to tell you. I'm sorry, but I have to go."
The call ended there, but Ace might as well have been deaf to half of it. As soon as shot and Luffy had entered the same sentence, a feeling of pure horror had settled in his chest.
For one whole terrifying moment, Ace just stood there - completely still. Afraid that if he moved, then it would all come crashing down on him at once. And if he was crushed beneath the weight of life, who would run to his brother's aid?
Breaking out his stupor, Ace charged like a lunatic towards the street. Marco called after him, and just to make sure his job stayed in tact, he yelled back, "I've got to leave! Family emergency!"
He bounded through waves of people, heedless of how insane he looked. Running so fast his lungs were on fire and the civilians passing by could swear there were sparks scraping off the edges of his heels. All of the times to wish he had a car, now was definitely one of them. Couldn't afford one. So, he could wish and wish all he wants but it wouldn't make a vehicle magically appear or get him closer to the hospital.
Which was an almost twenty minute drive by car, if you count the mid-afternoon traffic. A doubt flared in Ace - the worry that he wouldn't get there on time before something horrible happened.
Too late.
Ignoring that hopeless thought, he sped up, pushing his toned body to the limit. No, he'd get there before anything bad happened if it would kill him. Hell, it kills him now just thinking about the sick irony of it all.
After all that happened this past year, this just hadto happen to Luffy? Why? Anyone, butLuffy! Already everything is so-! It's not fucking fair! What the hell does a person have to do to take care of their stupid, sweet younger brother? Anyone- anyone, but... why sweet, energetic wide-eyed Luffy?
There was no answer to his inner frustrations. Ace expected as much. It still made him want to rip his hair out.
Ace is making the mistake of focusing his mind on all the negatives. He needs to cast away all doubts in his mind. Luffy won't die. If there was one thing Gramps, Dadan, and Ace raised him to be, it's stubborn. So, he wouldn't die.
Not yet, at least... A voice in the back of his mind adds, unhelpfully.
It's what makes him toss away all rational thought and run like the very hell he was cursing.
Luffy's pov
It's dark and lonely place of dying, Luffy thinks to himself.
Wow, he adds, chuckling. That was pretty cryptic of me!
But, it was true. His surroundings were veiled in a sea of unending blackness. It was all so bleak and desolate...certainly not a dream, then. Nightmare, maybe. Even his nightmares have more life to them then this, though!
...though that isn't all that comforting either.
His legs curled up to his chest, sitting on a surface he cannot see, Luffy wonders where everyone is right now. Where he is, for that matter. The last thing he remembers was being rolled up into the ambulance before it all went black.
Zoro's warm touch on his hand was the last thing he had felt. After that, the feeling had left him, and quiet honestly, he yearned for the loss. However, a while later, the warm feeling returned. Smiling now, as Luffy looks at his hand, and squeezes it shut; basking in the lingering feeling of warmth there.
Zoro's warmth. He can feel it. So, Zoro must be with him.
That thought alone brought a smile to his face. Comforted by that, he tried not to regard the erie space he resided in. Instead, he focused on the touch on his hand and what he could all recall.
His heart hadn't stopped; he knows that for a fact. He felt dizzy for a while, but then refreshed again. The only thing keeping him now was the draining exhaustion and the guilt.
Sadly, he remembers the look of horror on everyone's face; Zoro's especially. He had hurt one person he never wanted to. Sighing where no one could hear, Luffy allows the breath to tickle his bangs.
And Ace, he thinks glumly, will be worried sick. He's been doing enough of that lately. Luffy wishes he could stop all the concerns and give his precious older brother no reason to fret. Also, reach out and take that look of Zoro's face.
But, he can't. He can't move no matter if he tried. He's so utterly enervated. All he can do is wait and listen. Nothing else.
So, Luffy sits and waits, hoping to wake up from wherever he is, and soon. Luffy sits and feels guilty for something that was never his fault in the first place, yet he can't help but feel like he's putting a damper on everything.
Until, through the whispers of nothing, a voice reaches him. I missed you...
Luffy starts at the sound. It's Zoro's voice!
Missed you a lot...
Luffy blinks at that, trying to figure out what it means. Although he's not the brightest crayon in the box, when it comes to matters of the heart, Luffy is an expert; so he smiles a moment later when he gets it.
Clutching his hand once more, to assure himself that the warmth is still present, Luffy curls up and closes his eyes and lets the once scary darkness envelope him in a soft blanket of peace. Once he rested well enough, he'd have enough energy to go back. So, he'd better get a move on.
Because, he remembers, he has people waiting for him to wake up.
Zoro's pov
Zoro awoke with a start, waking from slumber as if someone had slapped him with a two-by-four. For a dreadful moment, he forgets what is going on - where is he? did something happen? - and then he remembers, but still worries.
Immediately, his eyes glance up and down Luffy, looking for anything wrong. He finds nothing, and Luffy's still at peace. If anything, some color seems to be coming back to his face.
Relieved at that, Zoro can't help but frown then. What the hell had woken him up?
His answer came shortly after the thought popped into his head. Sounds of feet scraping against squeaky-clean hospital tile could be heard, frantically so, mirroring his own from earlier - and really who else could it be but-
"Luffy!" Ace exclaimed, in a raspy huff.
Breath coming out in short pants, the older stumbled into the room on legs that should be utterly exhausted. Ace works all the way across town, which is at least a twenty minute drive at this time of day.
And the D brothers had no car.
Which suited them fine most of the time. But, Zoro bets Ace is probably wishing he had a vehicle right now.
"Damn cars," the older curses in between gasps. Then again, maybe not.
If anyone was impressed with Zoro's little sprint here, they should see the marathon Ace just ran! He wants to suggest the freckle-faced man take a seat, but the only chair in the room was currently occupied, and he doubted Ace would sit anyway, still unaware of how his little brother was fairing.
Zoro doesn't quite know what the hell to say in this situation, so he ends up going with a despicably lame, "Hey."
Ace gives a small mock wave in response, leaning heavily on his knees, before bouncing up without warning and striding over to his brother's bedside quicker than Zoro could blink.
"How is he?" is what he finally asks.
"Well, he'll be getting out of gym for at least a week," Zoro mumbles, his own attempt at a joke. "Other than that, they say he's fine. They removed the bullet no problem."
Ace nods, and Zoro doesn't missed the relieved sigh that escapes the elder D's lips. "Has he woken up yet?"
"No," Zoro sighs, and the one syllable tastes incredibly bitter in his mouth. "Lost a lot of blood, and they gave him a transfusion, but it still exhausted him."
On his periprial vision, he sees Ace grimace at that. "They said they wouldn't be surprised if he didn't wake up 'till tomorrow."
"Yet, you're still waiting, aren't you?" Ace states bluntly.
Zoro doesn't grace it with an answer, since it was more of a fact than a question. Yes, he's waiting; he's been waiting for hours, and he'll keep waiting if he has to wait for the world to end.
Ace stares at him for a long while, like trying to size him up and Zoro can literally feel the eyes burning a hole in his skin. With some input from his own mind, he realizes that it probably does seem a tad out of place. Ace was here - Luffy's big brother. Now, that he was present, there was no reason for Zoro to remain at the younger D's bedside.
All of Luffy's other precious friends had gone home at ease - mostly - knowing that their jubilant comrade would make it through the night. The next day too, and if he was lucky maybe even a few more-
"I..." Zoro says suddenly, pushing back all those kind of thoughts from his mind. "We," he clarifies the mistake, "know."
There was no question to what he was referring to and no doubt that Ace didn't misunderstand. In fact, the only noticeable change on the older's face was that it became even more grave. Almost as if ignoring him for a few glorious moments, Ace went to stand next to his brother's head and softly ruffled the unkempt locks of hair there. Affectionately, brotherly; and now, Zoro knows, this is what caring for a sibling is.
"Figured," Ace acknowledges gruffly. "He said he was probably going to tell you all, today. Didn't want to, though. I had to talk him into it."
"Should have told us long ago," Zoro all but growls, and finally the slight anger and resentment he felt at the whole situation begins to resurface.
"It was such a shock, you know," Ace explains in a wistful voice, recalling anything but pleasant memories. "To hear such a thing from a doctor's mouth. It had been a simple physical, but the blood work had come back funny, and well..."
Ace's mouth pulls into a tight line, before he wets his dry lips and continues, "Doctors, they try and make it as gentle as possible...but that's what makes it worse. Because you wonder how many times they've had to do this and how many lives they've seen destroyed or taken."
"That's no excuse!" Zoro raises his voice against the elder, eyes lighting up in accelerated rage. These emotions, these he was very inept at.
"What did you expect." Ace's voice hisses hoarsely, and if Zoro hadn't been three-fourths of the man he was, he would have been scared witless at the tone. "How does anyone react when they are told, they might very possibly die?"
"So, you just leave without a word and..." Zoro's own voice trails off, and he pinches the bridge of his nose with unhindered frustration.
"Thirteen months. Yes, thirteen months of radiation treatment and medicines poisoning his own body...but the saddest thing is, even when he couldn't eat, he was sick and he barely had enough strength to hold himself up - he still made sure to write letters to his friends! Every month; no matter how ill he was or how painful the lousy fucking treatment was..."
A twinge of guilt attacks him upon hearing that, but he'll dwell on it later. "I still would have wanted to know! I just...! I...I feel so fucking helpless..." Zoro finishes, burying his face in his trembling fists.
And there it was. A truth both of them could relate to. Perhaps, they both needed to vent after the recent events. So much to handle for people so young, and its just so disheartening to watch a young, vibrant life simply slip away. Right between their fingers...
Lost in his contemplative thoughts, Zoro's usually attentive mind never registered the slight change in the heart monitor's rhythm. Nor did Ace notice right away the stirring in the raven-haired teen below them.
"Mmmnn..." a soft groan assaulted Zoro's ears like a thousand ton atomic bomb. Both himself and Ace jumped out of their current positions and focused in on stirring boy, now twitching and brow furrowing in rueful awakening.
"Otouto..." Ace whispered fiercely, voice tender as he spoke with his beloved brother. "Wake up, Otouto. Wake up..."
"Mmm...Ace..." Luffy rasped quietly, eyes still pinched shut in apparent pain. Zoro's own chest constricted achingly upon seeing the younger in pain; but at the same time, his heart fluttered in pure, unrestrained joy. "Nnngh..."
Ace grinned a huge, toothy grin, genuinely and so utterly sincerely happy it was contagious. Zoro himself could probably never pull off such a cheerful look, but he had never been this tempted before.
Instead, a shit-eating grin split his face; one filled with such contentment and mirth that Usopp would most likely make some crack about the face being able to kill puppies. Oh well, it was worth it. Even though it wasn't the best first sight for Luffy to see when he wakes up.
Brown eyes unclamped after excrutiatingly torpid moments of restless whines and murmurs. Blinking, unfocused; and Zoro had the ludicity to dim the lights a bit so that his eyes could better adjust.
Adjust they did, as large, weary eyes opened and immediately fell upon his beloved older brother. With ample effort, a small smile crept it's way onto the latter's face. "Hey..." he mumbled groggily.
Ace chuckled, a true wonderous sound bubbling up from the pits of his throat. "Hey, yourself. We have got to stop meeting like this."
It took great strain, he imagined, but Luffy managed a quiet laugh. Zoro almost felt like an intruder in this touching, brotherly moment; like he maybe should have left when Ace arrived, because what much use was he now-
Luffy's eyes then glanced over at him and those glorious chocolate orbs brightened. "Zoro..." he grinned, physically proclaiming his happiness at the latter's presence. A familiar feeling of warmth traveled through Zoro's chest at the lovely reaction he set off in the younger.
"Hey, slacker," he greeted gruffly. While grinning, he noted. But, he was unable to change his expression. He was so happy, he was probably as delirious as his morphine-doped friend. "Gave us such a scare..."
Luffy chuckled, thought it strained him to do so.
"Not funny, you little runt," Zoro asserted, in his typical irritated tone. "I oughta knock you one to make sure you don't scare us again!"
"Yeah," Luffy croaked, pouting at how weak his voice sounded, then trying to swallow the dryness away. "Maybe. I'll let you in a little bit."
"Comfortable?" Ace asked, concerned instincts resurfacing. "I mean, how ya' feeling little bro?"
"Like I've been hit by a freight boat..." Luffy slurred, then giggled. "That didn't come out right!"
"Your all hyped up on morphine drip," Ace explained, ruffling the strewn locks fondly. "It's to be expected. You're already doing great by waking up for us," Ace continued to praise, truly thankful for his brother's natural resolve and reserve for strength.
"Had to..." Luffy muttered around a yawn. "Heard voice."
Ace's brow furrowed at the incomprehensible phrase. "Huh?"
"Heard a voice..." Luffy elaborated, beaming up straight at him. "Zoro's voice."
My voice...he heard me! I got through to him! Zoro's mind mentally awed, shell-shocked. Somehow the words had...reached him in his exhausted coma. But, how...?
You know what, his not-so rational conscious cut in. Some things cannot be explained with science, medicine, or even logic. Just be glad and leave them be unanswered.
Zoro couldn't have agreed more.
Ace was glanced between the two of them, a look of mild suspicion and uneasiness lingering in his dark eyes. Whatever he was thinking, he tossed it away in favor of speaking to his brother again. Though still relieved and happy beyong reprieve, the elder brother's features hardened significantly.
"You were very reckless today," he reprimanded with surpressed indignation. Exhausted, Luffy still had the gull to look somewhat shameful and more than a little sheepish.
"I know," he confessed, reminding Zoro of a scolded child. In ways, Luffy was more of kid than he appeared. "Are you mad at me?"
Large, adorably imploring eyes gazed up at them with a cross of anxiety and empathy; and it was such a cute, kicked puppy look that Zoro began to reassess his own anger towards Luffy's negligent, endangering act of courage. He wondered how Ace tolerated it. The freckle-faced young man wasn't immune to such pleading stares, but neither was he so easily persuaded by them in such instances.
"Nah," Ace replied after a few seconds of intense contemplation. "Not at you, just a little upset with your choices."
"Yeah..." A yawn escaped the teenager's mouth, though he tried to fight it. "M'sorry..."
"I know," Ace murmured soothingly, stroking the younger's head once again. "I know," he repeated, sighing, more to himself than his brother.
"We are going to have a serious talk," he warned, his tone leaving no room for arguement. "Once you can actually keep your eyes opened."
Luffy ruefully smiled as his traitorous eyes drooped, despite his best efforts to stay conscious. After a mighty inner battle of attempting to stay lucid enough for conversation, he nodded in defeat and seemed to drift into a calm slumber.
Ace sighed again, running a hand through his greasy hair. To Zoro, it looked like he needed a good shower and well-deserved eleven hour nap. He must be a sore sight himself, he thinks humorously. Even so, going home to rest was the farthest thing from his mind.
"I need to go make a call," Ace said suddenly, bringing Zoro's green eyes to his brown ones. "A few calls, actually. Sit with him?"
Unlike his other friends, Ace did not attempt to have him relinquish his vigilant beside Luffy's bed and leave for home. No, instead he was discreetly asking for help. His tone was flippiant enough, but Zoro knew that really, this was a big thing for Ace to allow him to watch over his brother in his place. And Zoro didn't think he knew Ace well enough to be granted such a privilege.
But, Ace knew Luffy trusted Zoro uncondintionally. That being the case, Ace was subtly beseeching him to aid his cherished person when he could not.
And Zoro, by no means, thinks he could ever deny or betray that trust.
"Sure," he says without hesitation, as if it was as simple as it would seem to any ordinary bystander.
Ace leaves with a small nod in thanks, but his eyes relay bountiful gratitude. Which gives Zoro a nice sense of self-accomplishment and pride. It was the little things that made it worth getting out of bed every morning.
"Psst...Zoro!"
Now, he would be a fucking liar if he didn't say that the unexpected call had caused him to jump out of his skin. Only a little. Zoro eyes shot down to see a more abruptly awakening Luffy.
"Luffy...?" Zoro questioned, perplexed. "Thought you were out like a light."
"Nnn..." Luffy yawned, eyes worn and fighting desperately to stay open. "I...Zoro..."
"Hey, now," he soothed, not quite as adapted to this as Ace. "Just go back to sleep, okay? Whatever it is, it can wait."
"No!" The younger argued, like a petulant child. "Wanted to talk to you..."
Zoro's green hues softened at the weary, yet so determined tone. No matter what, he realized silently, he is not sure he could ever refuse Luffy. Not because of any disease, or bullet wound, or teary-eyed look.
Just for the simple fact that he was Luffy.
"What is it?" he inquired, now curious as to what Luffy had to say.
"I'm sorry..." Luffy expressed, and although he couldn't move a muscle, the emotions storming through his voice made up for the lack of physical remorse. "Really sorry...I remember your face when I sprung it on you and..."
"I wish you would have told me sooner," he confessed without second thought. He wants Luffy to know that; know that Zoro needs to know because...because...
"I didn't want anyone to worry," Luffy replies, face contorted into a strained frown. "I didn't want everyone to be scared for me."
"That is what friends are for, aren't they? Ne? I," he catches himself, "-we all care about you so much... Of course, it's hard to accept, but we know it's the hardest for you..." Luffy reluctantly nodded, brown eyes flashing back to unimaginable days of pain and illness.
"I think I can vouch for everyone when I say," I won't let you die, "if you can live through it all, so can we. That is what friends are for."
"We make each other stronger." Luffy states, beaming. Not the smartest, nor the most moral man in the world. But Zoro's never seen such caring depths of friendship and love in one so young.
"Exactly," he says, and now, damn it - he's smiling too. It's so infectious with Luffy; you can't help but be pulled in by his joy. Even lying so weak - fragile - in a hospital bed, he manages to give him some semblance of cheer, some reason to look forward to tomorrow. Luffy could always make him happy in such gloom. It was preposterous, inexplicable and at that moment, the most incredible epiphany he's ever dared to dream. However, it was undeniably true.
Zoro loved Luffy to the depths of his soul.
Well! This is working out quite nicely, eh? I wanted to get Zoro's little personal confession out, 'cause I was getting tired of his corny denial. He loves Luffy so much! But, does the adorable ball of energy love him back?
As if you even have to
Next chapter up sooner; I promise! And I'm speeding things up a bit so I can get Luffy out of that damn hospital bed and write some more characters in! So, look forward to that!
