(A/N) I'm sorry it took so long to update, but blame my teachers for that. Each one of them seems to think that when we get home we have all the free time in the world to do homework. Because of that I had to put my other story on hiatus for now.
I'm sorry for Luffy being so OOC in this story, but I wanted everything to fit the plot You'll have to see how it works out in later chapters.
Last but not least, I would like to thank all the people who reviewed,favorited and alerted my story. Just so you know, I love you guys!
Chapter 4: Breaking Down
Neither Ace nor Sabo answered. They were both still looking at me wide-eyed, jaws dropped to the ground. I sat down on the grass and put my head in my hands, leaning my elbows on my legs. I was freaking out. What the hell had happened? Why did the water mirror my every movement? I felt my eyes water. I wanted to go home, even if HE was there. Home was something I knew, and this place was completely different from anything I had ever seen. Sure, it was nice at first, but now this? Just what is wrong with this dimension?! Tears rolled down my cheeks and onto the ground. Before I knew it I was sobbing. I didn't hear Ace walk up beside me. He put his hand on my shoulder. I flinched at the contact, the injuries on my shoulders still hadn't healed, even after all this time...
When I saw the water follow Luffy's movements, I was shocked. I looked over at Sabo, and noticed that his expression was mirroring mine.
"What the hell happened?", Luffy asked. Neither of us answered, we just kept staring at her. She sat down on the grass. I saw her eyes water, and then tears rolled down her cheeks. After a while, she started sobbing. Breaking out of my trance I walked up to her. Sabo was still pretty much out of it. I put my hand on Luffy's shoulder, hoping that the gesture might comfort her at least a little bit. I was surprised when she flinched away from my touch. I frowned. Was it because she was scared? Why would she be? Ok, fine, she did just (most likely) eat a Devil Fruit. I always thought that they were only a myth. I guess that is a good enough reason to be frightened, but still... What if she flinched away beacuse I touched an injury or something? But the only wounds we saw were the cuts on her arms and legs, and the 3 inch long gash on the side of her head. We thought that the reason she fainted was because of concussion. She had been out for about 2 days. We never really checked to see if she had any other wounds, we didn't want to take her clothes off, and since there was no blood seeping through them, we figured the she was fine and laid her down on the bed to get some sleep.
I looked over to Sabo, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He looked worried, his eyebrows were pulled together into a frown. The shirt I gave Luffy to wear had sleeves that easily covered her shoulders and her back. Gently, but quickly so that she wouldn't have time to get away before I could see, I tugged the left sleeve up. Luffy instantly pulled away, but not before I caught a glimpse of bandages. They weren't the ones we out on her. I pulled my hand back and quietly walked over to Sabo. Luffy seemed like she wanted to be alone for a while.
"Come on", I said. He nodded, still looking at Luffy. I wondered why we were so worried about a girl we had only known for 4 days (2 if you only count the days she was awake). She had something in her, something that forced you to like her. Sometimes she was childish and happy-go-lucky, and at others she was deadly serious, sure, and in my opinion that was all part of her charm. Even though at first I kept denying I liked her, I had eventually given in and admitted it. Sabo and I made our way up the ladder. Once inside the tree house, we went over to the so-called livingroom and sat down, both lost in thought. Sabo was the first to break the silence.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I was wondering about the bandages covering Luffy's shoulders. And did you notice how uneven the shirt was on her? If I had to guess, the bandages probably go down all the way to her waist, maybe she even has some on her legs. I want to ask her where she got the injuries from, but at the same time I know that she won't tell me. I know that she's strong, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to take down that tiger. And that fact makes me worry. What normal person would beat a girl, let alone one that could fight back? And how strong would that make the other person? By the way, did you notice that we've started treating her like a little sister? And we've only known her for what - 4 days? For some reason I just feel like I want to protect her. And I think that you feel the same way."
"You know, I think you're right. But keep in mind that she came from a different world-"
"Dimension", I corrected, "She came from an other dimension."
"And maybe in that dimension people don't have Devil Fruit powers, but maybe they have some other powers that make them stronger than the strongest people here."
"Judging from the way she reacted when the water started moving, I doubt that where she comes from they have any powers."
"Then who- how-, why-? What did she do to deserve this?! She seems like a really nice girl."
"I don't know. But that brings us to an other question - when did she eat the Devil Fruit? Did she find and eat it while running away from us yesterday, or did she get it today, while looking for breakfast?"
"I have no clue. We can ask her after she calms down a little. Funny, though. She didn't strike me as the kind to break down so easily. Maybe it was the stress. But there has to be something we're not seeing here."
"No, really?", I asked sarcastically, "Let's just patiently wait for her to come back, alright?"
It was quiet for a while. Then Sabo spoke up again:
"Hey, Ace?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think she'll want to come back?"
"Well ... yeah. Why wouldn't she? It's not like she has anywhere else to go, right?"
"I guess ... but what if she decides to live in the forest? By now she must know that she'd be able to cope on her own. Of maybe she'll decide to move to the village."
"I don't think she would-"
"Ace- what if she decides to go home?"
I was quiet for a minute, thinking about what answer I should give. Making up my mind, I quietly stated, "It's her choice. It's not like we can claim some sort of ownership over her, you know". I tried to sound sure of myself. I wasn't though. On the artifact, it said that travelling in between dimensions was dangerous if you didn't know what you were doing. Even though she survived the first time, it didn't mean that she would be able to do it again. I'd grown a little attached to her these past few days. I didn't want there to be a possibility of her dying. We'd have to look into this, to see what we can do to make the journey safer. Who knows - maybe she'd visit us sometimes.
At the thought of never seeing her again, I felt a ripping sensation in my chest...
