Aftermath
Word Count: 100
We're Going to Be Friends
"I suppose that since most of our hurts come through relationships so will our healing, and I know that grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside."
-Paul Young, The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity
…
Luffy made it his mission to worm into Ace's heart. No matter what biting retorts Ace responded with to Luffy's offerings of brotherhood, he kept coming back. He kept trying. He never gave up, which, of course, was annoying as all hell.
But it was also the most effort anyone had ever made for him, and he couldn't say that he was completely unaffected.
One day, as they were walking back home, one of the neighborhood kids threw a rock at Ace.
At first, he had been confused, but as realization dawned on him, the familiar pang of shame arose.
…