Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. The amazing said manga and anime belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

A/N: All I can say so far is that this chapter or the next won't be full of joy, or relief for that matter.

Title: Conflict concluded

Heedfully hauled over a someone's stoutly shoulder like a sack of potatoes from a market, along with an arm draped over his back. Cracking an eye open, all he catches is a shade of pink and red, red again and then another shade of red, almost maroon in colour. Strangely, he can no longer see pink, however he does stare at the black in his peripheral vision. For some reason, the sombre colour is comforting. So comforting that it persuades his heart to beat slower and slower and slower in tempo, along with programming his brain to log off, and shut down instead of restarting or sleeping. Unknown to him (in the poor state he's in), the blackness is the darkness of (near) death overcoming him as his eyes start to shut, since his body demands him too. Begs even. It's tired, it's pushed passed it's humanly limits, meaning he's tired and that he's passed his humanly limits.

Compensation (from external and internal injuries) needs to be paid.

"Stay awake, boy!" he hears this voice, in his head, or outside of it. Wherever it came from, it makes him blink, and jolts him a little, "Rest after ya see the Red Hair Pirate's doctor," the stranger's voice sounds male, and presumably a pirate, "Oi, you ain't takin' a caulk with me! I ain't allowing it!" it's definitely a pirate. Despite the fact that he is drowsily drifting off into the realm of unconsciousness, even he's not foolish enough to not know that tone of bluntness, 'Goddamnit, I promised my Captain I'd get ya there there quick, you can't-...don'tcha have loved one's who'd miss ya if ya floated up to Fiddler's Green?" the stranger has a point. The unidentified pirate he's currently hauled over is presenting a rhetorical question that goes against his body's, but strengthens the will within his mind.

Perhaps compensation can be paid another day.

With the amount of causalities and broken bones of all mean, Marine and Pirates alike littered across the battlefield like pieces rubbish, at long last, the conflict; ended; finished, and concluded itself. The massive war, the Battle of Marineford as some would call it had reached it's long-anticipated final phase no too long ago, where a young Marine (once a coward) with a courageous heart questioned morality and where an infamous red-haired pirate made his intervention, and demands, thus leaving Sengoku no choice, but the reasonable one to comply and concede to a ceasefire.

Although the late Gol D. Roger's son was still alive, yet had escaped, Whitebeard was dead after all, and that was a feat in itself. Sengoku eliminated the thought in his mind that he'd miss his much respected enemy. Now in concern of Whitebeard's death, anyone could easily argue that it was the Marine's that had emerged victorious in this war, however perhaps the next one in the years to come would have a different outcome.

. . . .

Undeterred by the doctor's recommendation to his mental health, (which were 'law' because Trafalgar was actually a doctor and he was simply a pirate), cautiously so, Ace closes the metal door behind him, desiring to self-hate and self-harm himself by forcing his eyes to bear witness to his little brother go under rehabilitation.

It is unbearable. The sight of him. Luffy. He knew that much, but it doesn't make it hurt any less.

Laying his palm on his brother's forehead with tender care, he murmurs, "Sorry Luffy, I'm so, so sorry. You have no idea," the guilt that turbulently inhabits his heart and gut won't rest. It consumes, challenges and accuses him, 'It's my fault you're like this, I'm responsible.' to the point where he can't even voice out those thoughts.

He chokes up to an extent, "I swear...if I could...I'd take all you're pain instead."

What he says is not a lie. Ace honestly would rather suffer intolerably himself, than witness a loved one do so. It's just that the idea the him, the older brother to have been the cause, the problem for his younger brother to hang on a loose thread of life almost makes him want to go back to Impel Down to freeze to death in the blizzard or starve to death in the desert. Ace knows all too well that his malfeasance to Luffy is without question the most terrible thing he's ever done to the teenager. This time round, Luffy might not...he might...perhaps he'll, "Lu," is a nick name her utters on special occasions, "You're gonna make it through. You will! I know this cause I-I can't, I can't lose you," which is the truth and nothing but that, "I've already lost important people today." which is another truth with too much meaning, "Don't make me lose you too."

. . . .

"I advise you to go out, and mourn Ace. You need to." instructs Jinbei rather than advise, "What you've been doing to yourself lately isn't healthy. You do realise don't you?"

The pirate Jinbei is talking to is unresponsive. He still is about to about that door to self-harm himself more.

Massaging his forehead, the ex-Shichibukai comes to terms with the idea that prodding and poking Ace with emotion will motivate him much more than common sense. After all, Ace is an inheritor of the will of D. Common sense did kind of have multiple problems arguing with those one in a million people.

"Are you so worried that he'll won't make it?" Ace bristles at that, scarily so, "Is that why you're constantly in his operation room, despite what Trafalgar-san said?"

"No." he says confidently. "I'm not worried. Luffy'll make it, I know he will."

"Well if that's the case, then stop devoting all your time with him as if it were his last, and go devote some to those who's last it was." he notes how Ace's attention is on him, actually taking his words to heart, "I'm sure you're other brother Sa-"

His persuasion has gone wrong. Biting his tongue, Jinbei acknowledges his poor choice in words. Plus, the manner in which Ace's questionably dark grey eyes flash is quite disturbingly.

Before the fishman can apologise for his slip of his tongue, he first tries to decipher the number of emotions that fashion Ace's face, however, immediately, the second division commander bolts away, exiting the submarine.

Far away from everyone, far away from the Kuja warriors and Trafalgar's crew, the Mera Mera no Mi user checks his surroundings one last time. When the close is clear, he slowly slides down a tree, to the ground, armour off, depressed, devastated and destroyed.

'They are fought for me. Me! Me, a bastard of Roger.'

Slumped lifelessly against a tree, broken and obviously hurt, Ace clutches the ground beneath him, weeping, sobbing and mourning for all those who died for his sake (he adds worthless as an adjective). He's able to make an educated guess of those who passed cause from the scaffold he was one, he got a pretty view of the show. As the list of the dead pass through his mind, he intentionally misses out a four-lettered word staring with 'S'. There's no way he'll do it. He can't. Ace cant bring himself to mourn about Sabo. He did that when he was ten, and the thought of doing now is beyond painful.

"I don't care where you are this time," is a rough whisper full of hope, "you better be alive, Sabo. Don't make me mourn for you again."

An ex-Shichibukai watches Ace from afar, tearing himself up at times when the names Ace mutters are the unforgettable nakama he knew also. Recently, Jinbei has been putting out all the fires Ace had unleashed on trees, so that the snake princess wouldn't reprimand him. He realises all too well that there's no need for a battle of Ace and Hancock's calibre to commence.

'I must tell him now, whilst he's calm.' he sighs a sigh contained with nothing but guilt, 'He must hear Sabo's final words.'

. . . .

Not only does a ear-splitting (or damaging) scream let everyone who is anyone know that Luffy is finally (and unfortunately) awake, but the way in which he as a canon bursts out of the submarine like a man on a mission again does seems to raise all the hairs on everyone's backs. At present, Luffy is not Luffy. It was a fact that he was mentally different than most, however now he is mentally unstable to an alarming degree.

"AAACE! SAAABO! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?!" he needs the find them. Right away. "DAMMIT, ANSWER ME! WHERE ARE YOU?!" He sets out about his search in the forest, sprinting past trees, marking his foot prints, slamming into rocks, obliterating them. Luffy can't understand why the universe wants to separate him from his loved ones.

Their attempts (Trafalgar's crew) at capturing and detaining the straw-hat pirate is frustrating as well as fruitless. He's as strong as ever, despite the multitudes of bandages he has. It's not that the white-clothed, penguin-looking men are weak (cause why would Trafalgar choose such a type), they have all handled an reasonably disturbed patient before, but a pirate that has lost his entire mind is new and unwelcome.

"Cap'n, what should we do?!"

Trafalgar Law takes a glance at his panicked, and worried crew, only offering them a look which communicates that they can't do a damn thing. They've done all they could. It's up to the Straw hat wearing teen now.

. . . .

The sprinting stops, "How could you?" once he hears Ace's voice, "How could he? He such a-!" at once, he rushes to the source, he can't contain his joy that he's found Ace, but why does his brother sound so enraged, "Didn't you try to stop him?"

Ready to leap onto his brother's back, Luffy hesitates at the unpalatable, unsafe aura that floats around the environment. "Ace, you're safe! W-what's going on he-" in confusion and perhaps horror, the scarred pirate notes the threatening fist Ace aims at Jinbei, his own nakama.

"Don't talk. And don't you dare come nearer Luffy." Instinctively, Luffy takes a step back, knowing there's a warning in that voice he really should listen to. After spending years with his childhood with Ace, there's a certain boundaries he's knows not to cross.

"Jinbei, you're not exactly a joker." his older brother's voice is too cold for his liking, "So you mean to tell me that he planned this from the start."

The ex-Shichibukai doesn't answer, because Ace already guesses the answer. He hates it too. Only with some remorse does he stand on his feet no longer straddling his nakama and inflicting punches.

His face now shadowed makes Luffy gulp leading him to look on in worry. "A-Ace?"

Only with his pure strength he had as a kid which has evolved, the poor tree besides Ace is attacked, punched and pulverized into a microscopic size smaller than debris. The one behind it is next, and then another, till the third one is the one Ace chooses to lean against before he sink down to the ground once more.

Bowing his head down to conceal whatever he feels needs to conceal, Ace mumbles to his younger brother, "Luffy, Sabo was prepared to die. He jumped in the fray not caring that he'd die if it meant that I'd be alive."

Luffy refrains from saying that he was thinking along the same lines too.

"That stupid sacrificial brother of ours used his stupid intuition of his to like, guess how things could turn out" Ace struggling to breathe, allows a crooked grin to appear. "I don't know how he does it. That crazy thinking of his. It's just like the time when we were both eight." his eyes close after that, "So basically, he made a plan with Jinbei earlier on to make sure we: you and me, escaped unscathed."

Luffy looks at Jinbei in disbelief and betrayal. He now understands why Ace was attempting to knock the daylights outta him, however somewhere within Luffy, a little part of him want him to make an attempt too.

"S-so that's w-why Sabo isn't...here,"

What Luffy actually means by his words isn't one-hundred percent clear.

"Pretty much." answers Ace quickly, casting his eyes on Jinbei's state. He flinches, grimaces and berates himself for his loss of control.

"Jinbei."

The ex-Shichibukai, sits up, all ears.

"I'm sorry for thrashing you about. Please forgive me."

"I understand Ace-san." his voice is mature as usual. There's no hint of malice to be noted. "You are frustrated and all, it's okay to-"

"Don't even." he says with a forceful, yet broken tone. "It's not okay. Nothing's okay Jinbei! I've lost pops, I've lost some of my comrades, I nearly lost this reckless brother of mine and now..." exhaling harshly, he sounds hysterical, "I've probably lost my other brother who I thought was dead, but who was actually alive, but now is dead or lost or, dammit I don't know!" the bitter laugh that emerges from the Mera Mera no Mi user makes Jinbei and Luffy wince at the notorious noise.

"How messed up is that?"