Starting Over

But she supposed, tucking her blue bangs behind her ear, the empty feeling was fitting. After all, the Navy was empty. Empty of morals, empty of loyalty, empty of justice.

Written for the OP Marines Week!
DAY 7: Comrades

It felt strange, her whole life stuffed in a suitcase. Over two decades in just a small old gray suitcase. No fanfare, no sendoffs. No tears, no yelling. She'd done that already, ages ago. Ain ran her fingers over her bag, an empty feeling overcoming her. The bare walls, vacant closet, empty desk of her quarters at Marineford all around her like a husk. The four corners, the walls that she'd slept inside for years. A cocoon to leave behind.

But she supposed, tucking her blue bangs behind her ear, the empty feeling was fitting. After all, the Navy was empty. Empty of morals, empty of loyalty, empty of justice.

She picked up her suitcase by the handle and left the room. The door closed behind her and she walked down the silent hallway. The sun had yet to rise, the time between shifts was always quiet and surreal. And empty too.

She left the barracks, her residence since the incident. Once it had felt like home. Once, the massive tower of Navy Headquarters had filled her with pride, a purpose. Once, the symbol of justice on her back had stood for something.

He'd had different eyes back then. Kinder, wild still, but kinder, framed under his shorn purple hair. Zephyr-Sensei's gaze, set deep in his face, had looked at these same tall, imposing, buildings like an old lover. Now though, his gaze was like hers. Or Ain supposed, hers like his.

For a long time, she'd felt nothing but pain. Pain for the loss of her crewmates. Cut down ruthlessly, long before their time. Pain for her Sensei, who'd given so much for the Navy. His family, his arm, his life. A special kind of suffering that sat low in throat and haunted her dreams.

She had felt like an alien presence around her crewmates who worked with and trusted Shichibukai. Who didn't see the hypocrisy! Ain had felt insane. How could the people around her not see what she saw? Did they not see how wrong it was that the man who slaughtered her entire platoon of barefaced recruits was now supposed to be on their side?!

The scar on her thigh had ached and burned, a sickness spreading across her soul. Binz had understood though. He retreated deeper into his plants, retreating from everyone but her because he couldn't bear to be around such naivete or stupidity or… falsity. And Sensei. Sensei understood. His arm ached like her leg. His soul had been scarred like hers, even more so.

Bonds forged in fire and blood are not easily broken. They are only strengthened by adversity Ain supposed. So it didn't bother her that the other soldiers began whispering about her and Binz behind their backs. When they began to eat alone. The final straw only broken, the last ties with her old life shattered when the whispers grew loud, but not about her or Binz. But about Zephyr-Sensei. She felt no guilt about the blood she had spilled that day.

Just emptiness. And rage, pure, fiery rage for her Sensei. Rage for the man who had given her everything.

Now, as Ain approached the ship that would take her away, a different feeling started to spread through her.

She could make out his figure on the deck of her new ship. Large, imposing, strong. Welcoming. He was waiting for her. They all were. Her real comrades. The man she would follow to the ends of the earth. The only one who told her she wasn't insane. Ain jumped onto the deck to join her brothers and sisters. Binz ruffled her hair. The only one she would ever let get away with something so intimate.

The sun rose, the light catching on Z-Sensei's sunglasses. He smiled at her. His right hand. A piece of him, a piece of her.

They set sail, and for the first time in a long time, Ain felt alive.

Notes:

I love Film Z so much. Ain is really good, I hope she comes back at some point! Anyway, this fic was written for One Piece Marines Week (check out the fic collection and all the artwork on twitter under the tag #OPMarinesWeek!)

Let me know your thoughts!

As always, thank you for reading and you can find me on twitter at buggyisbest