Dying
To be honest, there might be some triggers in this chapter. If any of you suffer from depression or any other mental issue/disorder, you are not alone. I suffer from depression and bipolar disorder. Ash is sort of a depiction of how I feel most of the time. She is sort of like another me, in a sense. Sorry to waist your time. Please, keep reading if you are able to get past the triggers in this chapter.
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"Hello, Ash. It's been quite a while," Travis said with a smile. The others still showed signs of hostility toward him. Ash walked up to him. Wanda stood to her right while Carrot took the side to her left. He seemed to understand the situation he was in and stayed put.
"About ten years or so, right?" Ash was smiling as well as she talked. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "How have you been? How did you get here?" She distinctly remembered that she had seen him where she came from.
"The say way you got here," he answered. That confused her. What is he talking about? He eyes widened. Can...Can he make the portals too?
"You...You mean...the portals?"
"Yes." He suddenly disappeared through the ground. But for Ash, she saw the portal that he had left through. Everyone looked for him. "I should explain it more to you." Everyone looked into a tree. He stood on a branch as he spoke.
"Are you related to Ash-ya?" Law came to stand next to her. She glanced between the two of them.
"Hm. That's a tricky question to answer, sir." Travis walked into the side of the tree and disappeared again. They went searching for him like before. Ash saw him walk out the side of another tree. "Yes. I am related to her in a way."
"So, are you a close family member or distant?" Robin asked. She seemed intrigued with him.
"Depends on how you define the two." Ash was confused. "If you call a great uncle close, then yes. But, if you consider that distant, then yes." That shocked her. She couldn't believe it.
"You're my great uncle?" Her brain was trying to wrap her head around it. "Why did Momma and Dad not tell me about you?"
"I am your mother's uncle." Travis sat down against the tree he was in front of. "They never told you about me because my sister never knew about me."
"Are you saying that your parents kept you secret?" Luffy asked. He seemed interested in the conversation.
"Yes and no." He looked to be in thought. "I disappeared for a while before she was born, and our parents thought that I was dead. They acted as if I never existed after that."
"That sounds horrible," Chopper said.
"It really wasn't. I was glad that they chose that route. It was better than to let my sister and niece think that I might come home one day." He smiled as he stood back up. "I can't stay long because of reasons. But I mostly came to see you."
"You came to see me? What for?" Ash wanted to know his reason for showing up suddenly.
"In our family, there are certain ones of us that are chosen to have the powers we have. For example, the both of us have the ability to create portals anywhere we choose to. But there is one thing that differs in each of us." He walked up to Ash. She watched and felt him place his hand over her heart. "You can communicate with animals and befriend them. That is your second power." Travis stepped back from her. Ash's eyes followed him as he went to stand in front of Law. "May I see your injured arm, sir?"
"Why?" Ash saw Law's body tense up.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm actually going to help you." Law slowly and cautiously held out his arm to Travis. He grabbed it before placing his right hand over the bandage. A yellow, glowing light shone from his hand before quickly disappearing. He let go of Law's arm and back up from him.
Ash looked between the two men. "Travis, what did you do to him?"
"Undo the bandage. You will be surprised with what you find." Law wasted no time in ripping the bandages off. He gasped. Ash was in shock by what she saw. The wound from his arm being cut off was gone. There was no trace of it having ever existed. Not even a scar from it being sewn back one was left.
"You...You have healing abilities?" Ash asked. She was beyond shock. Law seemed to be in the same state as her.
"You can call it that." He pulled up the sleeves of his shirt and jacket that were on the same arm that Law had had the bandage on. Ash looked over and saw a scar there. "I can take away wounds and afflictions, but I will be scarred by them. I have many of them from my lifetime." He rolled his sleeves back down.
"Can you do that for Ash?" Chopper asked. Most of the others had been quiet since he had showed up. They seemed to still be wary of him.
"Depends. What's wrong with her?" He looked worried about her. He turned to look at her.
Taking a deep breath, Ash turned around and lifted her shirt to show her back. She heard him gasp at what he saw. "This is what he was talking about. Can you fix it?" Ash hoped that he could. It would help her out a lot.
"I can try. There is no guarantee that I can get rid of any if all of it."
"What do you mean?" Robin asked. She seemed as anxious as Ash was.
"I will explain after I try." Ash bit her lip as he placed a hand on her back. She wanted to scream so bad because of the pain. She felt warmth spread across her back, and she could sort of see the light from earlier.
As soon as it had started, the moment was gone. Ash turned to look at the others behind her. "Well? Did anything happen? Is it better or still the same."
Travis looked at her. "It sort of worked."
"What does that mean? What does my back look like?" Ash was getting worried.
"Ash-ya, the problem that was happening to your skin is gone. But, the holes are still there," Law answered. She looked back to Travis.
"I thought something like this would happen. There was only going to be one of four outcomes if I tried, anyways." He stepped back from her.
"Can you explain now?" Wanda asked. She looked astonished.
"Well, there was one of four ways it could've gone. I could have healed her completely, it could've healed and did heal her somewhat, it could've done nothing, or it could've gotten worse. I am glad that it was a good outcome." He shrugged. "Better than the last two options." Everyone watched him look to the forest then to the sky.
"Is there something wrong, Travis-kun?" Robin asked. He laughed at what she said.
"Young lady, I may look young but I am older than you by at least a century or so. If anything, you are a child to me." Ash stared at him with wide eyes. "But, yes. I have to leave now." He turned back to Ash. "I may see you again. Not soon but some time in the future." Ash was brought in for a hug. "Take care and stay safe."
"I can't make any promises about that. But I will try," she answered. Travis pulled back with a smile.
"Oh." He turned to Law. "You may have some unexpected visitors sometime soon."
"What do you mean?" Ash saw him tighten his grip on his nodachi.
"The Marines are searching for you all." He stopped smiling. "Keep Ash safe. I do believe that they are searching for her, in particular." Ash watched him look between her and Law. "Also, you might want to catch them before they hit the ground."
"What are you..." Before Law could finish his question, Ash watched him pass out before them. Bepo quickly caught him before he could collide with the ground.
"What just happened to him?" Ash asked.
"There is a small side-effect of my power on others. It takes all of their energy away. After a few minutes or so, the body and mind catch on and it makes you pass out to regain it." He smiled down at her. "I won't be here when you get up. Farewell, Ash." Before she could say anything to him, her world turned to black. The last thing she felt was someone catching her before she could connect with the cold, hard ground.
...
Ash sat in a completely white space. There was nothing around her but white that seemed to stretch on for miles. The sound of a small bell made her look to the right of her. She saw nothing but decided to stand and find out.
Taking a few steps toward the way the noise came from, Ash heard it ring again. She kept walking. After what felt like ages, she stopped in front of a mirror. It showed her full body, even her feet. The sight that greeted her made her hate herself even more.
Staring back at her was her own reflection. The only difference between her and it was that her reflection was completely naked. Scar riddled her body from her neck to her wrists and ankles. The sight disgusted her to the point that she wanted to throw up.
"What a disgusting sight," she said. Her reflection moved with her. "How could anyone like this? One look and they will run from me."
Placing her hand on the mirror, she tried to rip it off the wall. When it wouldn't come off the wall, she started to beat her fists on it with all of her strength. It wasn't doing anything at first. Anger and frustration entered her body as she kept banging on it.
"Take it away! Make it go away!" Tears started to stream down her cheeks. She kept banging and banging, hoping that the mirror would shatter with the force that she was using. It wasn't even cracking the glass and that upset her even more. Fury coursed through her veins. "Why won't you just fucking break?!"
The more she pounded on the mirror, the more her anger and frustration grew. She didn't want to see the shame that she had done to herself. Ash didn't want to be reminded why she hated herself. All she wanted was for people to judge her for what she had done in her life. The scars showed on her body like they were medals on display.
"I don't want to be rewarded for my mistakes and hatred," she whispered. Her movements slowed down to just small punched to the glass of the mirror. Her reflection was crying along with her. She then took a closer look at her face. There were deep indentions on her face from her tears. They were scars from how many times she had cried.
Looking at herself again, Ash started to study what she had done to her own body. There were scars of cuts of different sizes and depths in her skin all over. She had been smart not to do anything past her wrists and ankles. She kept the cuts on her neck low enough that a shirt would hide them. Her face was untouched expect for the scars left behind by her tears.
The scars across her body went in all different directions. Some were sideways while some were up and down. Even some went diagonal and crossed into others. It was almost like you could tell her past just by looking at her body. Her body was a road map about her life.
You could see the pain behind every cut. The deeper ones were on the worst days. There weren't any good days. Just some days were better than others in her opinion. Even though her skin was a tan-ish colour, it didn't hide the scars. They shone like the sun on medals.
Suddenly, she was running through the forest. Swiftly. Ash didn't know where she was headed. There was a feeling that she needed to go forward. Ducking to avoid branches that were reaching like claws toward her and jumping over roots to keep up her momentum and not trip.
Then, she heard voices ahead of her. She couldn't make out what they were saying at first. It was like hearing something with things in you ears. The further she got, the more she could understand until they were clear as day. "Torao, what is wrong with her?!" She knew that voice. It was so kind and worried.
"I...I don't know." She knew that voice all too well. But Ash couldn't put a name to it at the moment. "Her pulse is dropping." The sounds of machines let her know that something was wrong.
"What does that mean?!"
"Straw hat-ya...It...It means that she's dying." Her heart almost stopped at that. His voice sounded so broken and sorrowful. She kept running. Her determination kept her going.
"Y-You can save her, right?" It was a young, sweet, high-pitched voice. He sounded on the verge of tears when he asked.
"I'm...I'm trying. I'm doing the best I can. I don't know what's happening to her." Tears streamed down her face as she kept her head up. She saw nothing at this point, but something kept her going.
"I'm still alive! Wait for me!" Ash shook her head as she ducked under another branch. "I'm trying here! Don't give up on me!" Her lungs hurt and her legs burned from the activity. That still didn't stop her. She knew she had to keep going. Wait for me, Law! I'm on my way! Just you wait!
The voices got louder and started to argue. She ignored them as she ran faster and faster. Suddenly, there was a bright, white light at the end of the forest path. Her heart was pumping, and she knew that she had to get there.
"Hold on! I'm almost there! Don't give up on me!" she shouted as she crossed the barrier of the forest and the light. It was blinding but warm all the same.
"What happened?! Torao?! What is going on with her?!"
"I don't know."
A hand touched her face from above. Ash looked up to see her mother reaching down to her. There was nothing above her. "M-Momma?" Ash reached out a hand to grab hers. Her mother pulled her up and hugged her to her chest like she did when she had her special moments.
"My shining, Ashy Bird." A wetness soaked into her shoulder. It was almost exactly like those times. She let her go and smiled at her. Lillie was still crying.
"Momma, what's wrong?" She went to touch her, but she moved back from her.
"No. You need to leave. It's not your time." A smile graced her mother's sweet, tear-stained face. A white light shone over her head and two lights were attached to her back. They looked to be in the shape of wings. "Someday, your time will come. But not today."
Ash was pushed down by her mother and she started to fall away from her. She heard the words her mother said. It almost broke her heart into a million pieces. Tears fell down her face as Lillie got further and further away from her. Those three little words had a big impact on her as she lost consciousness.
"I love you."
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Done. Please, tell me what you think. If you wanted to know, Ash's last name is Bird and her mother's name is Lillie. Hope you like it. Have a great day and I love you all. Tatty-bye!