SailorStar9: With Chapter 142 uploaded, I present Chapter 143 this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors (myself included) sustain on readers' reviews.
Pairings: Ace/Sasha, sibling Luffy/Sasha and Sabo/Sasha, Background Protector!Law/Sasha
Disclaimers: One Piece belongs to Oda EiichirÅ-sensei. Me, on the other hand, own absolutely nothing, except my OC, the pairing and the fic idea.
Chapter 143: Arc 11: Aftermath Of The Fire
"They aren't dead!" Luffy protested, struggling against Magra.
"I understand." Magra assured. "I understand how you feel. But the military is at the Gray Terminal; going there in your condition is far too dangerous. You saw how big that fire was." he reminded Luffy. "The chances they survived... even if the chances are slim, we want to believe Boss, Ace and Sasha survived. Dogra is looking for them right now. Let's just leave it to him. This is difficult for us all, Luffy."
"Hey guys!" one of the bandits rushed into the house. "They've... they've returned!"
"Hurry!" Dadan ordered the bandit group, the trio arriving back to the house with Ace carrying the feverish Sasha in his arms. "Set a bed for Sasha! She's burning up!"
"Those injuries look horrible." one of the bandits gave Dadan a look-over. "Tend to Boss' wounds!"
"Ace!" the sobbing Luffy threw his arms around Ace, the other bandits are clamoring around Sasha's bedside.
"Luffy." Ace chided. "Did you think I was dead?"
"But..." Luffy wept.
"What're you crying for?" Ace slammed a fist on Luffy's head. "Don't act like I'm dead when I'm not, idiot!"
"Now, let him be." Magra soothed. "Luffy is just happy."
"Ace, about the night of the fire..." one of the bandits started after Dadan and Sasha were laid out on their beds. "After we took Luffy and left, what happened to the three of you when you stayed behind?"
"After you left, we fought Bluejam." Ace revealed. "Then, I saw it... and I think Dadan did, too. Sasha..." he cast a look at the feverish girl. "Her power just... exploded. A dragon made entirely of water came out of her body and forced Bluejam to back down. The dragon then made rain fall on the Gray Terminal, putting out the fire. We finally made it out of Gray Terminal, but Sasha broke into a high fever. We found a hiding spot where the fire won't reach us, by the river of the Middle Forest. I sneaked into the city to steal medicine and some food. Then, we tried to break Sasha's fever."
"So, that's what happened." Magra noted. "I'm glad the three of you made it out alive."
"I'm sorry I made you worry." Dadan muttered, her wounds were now bandaged up.
"I never thought something like this could happen to Gray Terminal." Ace admitted. "I'm sure Sabo is worried."
"Ace, back then..." Dadan started. "Why didn't you run?"
"Sometimes, my blood just starts rushing to my head." Ace replied. "I feel like, if I run, I'll lose something important. Back then, Luffy was right behind me. I don't know for sure, but I think that's why."
"I wonder what Sabo is up to." Luffy wondered outside the house later that evening. "Still, I'm glad Ace came back and Dadan is getting better. But Sasha is still sick... Dogra!" he spotted the short bandit returning. "You went looking for Ace, Sasha and Dadan, right? They've come home."
"Really, they have?" the shell-shocked Dogra stammered, the memory of Sabo's burning boat still ingrained in his mind. "That's great..."
"What?" Ace echoed in shocked after Dogra revealed what he had seen at the coast earlier. "Sabo is... you liar!" he jumped the short bandit. "Don't even joke like that!"
"It's not a lie, nor a joke!" Dogra insisted. "It was so sudden, I barely realized what had happened. I doubted my own eyes. I wondered if it was just a dream or an illusion."
"Shut up!" Ace glared. "Sabo went back to his noble born parents. There's no way he'd sail out to sea."
"That's right." Luffy agreed. "Sabo went home."
"Outlaws like us understand how he must have felt." Dogra pushed Ace off him. "We all have places we really don't want to go back to. Do you really think he would go to sea if he was actually happy? Do you really think he'd fly a pirate's flag and set out on his own?"
"Sabo..." Luffy started tearing again. "He really wasn't happy!" he wailed.
"Why didn't we try to break him out of there?" Ace cursed himself. "Where's the person who killed Sabo?" he demanded Dogra. "I'm gonna murder him!"
"The Celestial Dragon?" Dogra echoed. "There's no way you can..."
"I'm gonna avenge his death!" grabbing his metal pole, Ace took off.
"Drop it, you damn brat!" Dadan slammed the hotheaded boy into the floor. "You keep acting tough, even though you have no real strength. What the hell do you think you can do now? You'll just end up dead. You die and everyone will forget you by tomorrow. That's all you amount to right now. It was this kingdom that killed Sabo. It was the world itself. What can you do?" he shook the boy. "Your father's death brought about a new era. Once you become a man of his caliber, then you're free to live or die as you want. Go tie up this moron."
"Sabo!" Luffy let out his tears.
The next morning...
Sasha's fever had broken on its own during the night, much to everyone's relief.
"Have you calmed down a little, Ace?" Dadan asked the tied up boy. "Sasha's recovered, by the way." she informed. "Untie him. Where's Luffy?"
"He cried all night." one of the bandits replied. "He's asleep beside Sasha now."
"Boss!" Dogra exclaimed, receiving the envelope from the News Coo. "You have to see this! It's a letter from Sabo. He sent a letter before setting out to sea."
"Give me that." Ace instructed. "I swear I won't go into the city. That letter is addressed to us, right?"
"Is Luffy still acting the same way?" Dadan asked, some time later after reading the newspapers.
"Yeah, he barely even eats." Magra nodded. "And Sasha... she went into the sea again."
"The Sabo incident must have hit them hard." Dogra mused.
"How long are you going to keep moping?" Ace scolded, slamming a fist onto Luffy's head, the foster siblings were now on the ledge by the ocean. "All the treasure we hid in the Middle Forest is gone. Maybe it was stolen by the survivors of Bluejam's crew or maybe the military found it, I don't know where it is now. But that pile of loot doesn't matter anymore. Sabo and I were gonna use it. It was our Pirate Fund. But in the end, Sabo didn't use it. And so, I'm not gonna bother with it, either. There's no point in gathering treasure if we can't even look after it."
"Ace..." Luffy sniffled. "I... I want to become stronger. And then, I'll be able to protect anything. I won't have to lose anyone ever again. Please Ace... don't die!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Ace scolded. "You should be more worried about yourself than me. You're way weaker than I am. Listen up and remember this, Luffy. I will not die. Sabo made that request too. I promise, I will not die. There's no way I'd die and leave behind a weakling of a brother like you."
"You'd better live up to that promise." Sasha shouted from the water below.
"Oi Sasha, did you find what you're looking for?" Ace shouted over the ledge.
"No." Sasha shook her head. "But I have a feeling I'm getting close."
"Listen, you two." Ace continued. "I'm not all that smart, so I don't know what killed Sabo. But whatever it is, it was something opposed to freedom. Sabo died without ever gaining his freedom. But the two of us, who shared a toast with Sabo, are still alive. So we will definitely live life without regrets. Someday, we will set out to sea and live life the way we want to. With more freedom than anyone else. I'm sure that'll make lots of people into our enemies; Gramps will become our enemy too. We'll be risking our lives. We'll cast off when we turn seventeen. We will become pirates."
SailorStar9: Any OOC-nes is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Reviews are much appreciated.
