Now following her brother out the door was one thing, it was just out the door, but it was sometime else entirely to follow him as he chased after Ace into the dark depths of the forest. She could still turn around, still go back inside and back to her lonely existence...if she stepped through the tree line she'd be committing herself to Luffy's side, where ever that may take them. It was a terrifying idea, every possible horrible outcome shot past her eyes, her mind twisting even the tiniest of things into something horrid. Then Luffy stopped walking, turning with a frown when he noticed Leo wasn't following,
"Come on imouto! or we'll lose him!" He grinned at her.
And with that one bright grin, the clawing anxiety was washing from her chest, brushed away like it was never really there. With a determined nod, she jogged to his side, with a courage she was surprised to learn she still had. With his sister firmly by his side the two set off in search of the older boy. It didn't take long to find him, he'd climbed to the stop of the same boulder they first met him on. With narrowed eyes she edged behind Luffy, just in case he wanted to spit at them again.
Ace watched them with those cold black eyes, as Luffy walked closer to the boulder until he was right beneath him.
"I'm Luffy!" He greeted with none of the earlier aggression, "I'm not angry that you spat at us anymore!" Not entirely true, Leo was still pissed off about it truth be told, but she was willing to let it go.
"After all, it's nothing to get worked up about!" she found herself saying, almost laughing when Shanks own words came to mind,
"Yeah! We should be friends!" Luffy carried on.
That struck a cord in Leo's chest, the clawing feelings slowly returning, sensing her moment of weakness...sure Luffy was remembering her now, but how long before he decided pursuing Ace's friendship was more important? How long until she was left behind because she just couldn't keep up? Because she knew her brother, of course, she did, she had known him her entire life, as short as it was. She knew him better than anyone else did, better than their grandpa, better than Shanks or even Makino. And she knew exactly how this was going to go down, he was going to chase Ace, every day for as long as he had to until the older boy either killed him or gave in...and she knew she wasn't going to be able to keep up with his pace, and he could only slow down so much for her because it started to eat away at his nerves.
He had set his mind on becoming Ace's friend...and a growing part of her wondered what place did she have? And if they did, when they did, where did that place her? When would Luffy decide the chase's were 'too dangerous' for his little sister, when would he decide that her lack of powers were slowing him down too much? Because without a doubt, this Ace was not going to just lay down and accept Luffy's affection.
Ace's next actions just confirmed exactly what he thought of the younger kids offer of friendship. With incredible strength, he kicked the base of a tree, and again and again until the wood splintered beneath his feet until it finally broke, the with one final kick he sent the snapped tree flying towards the two. Instinct kicked in for Leo at that point, urging her to jump out of the way, another fallen tree (this one without the help of a 10-year-old with anger issues) protecting her from the bouncing tree. Luffy was not so lucky. One would think years of dodging gramps would have honed his dodging abilities...apparently not.
Catching him square in the middle it carried Luffy on its destructive path until it came to stop at a tall rock face, crushing him between the two hard things. Even though she could see it happening from miles, she couldn't help the cry of shock that left her mouth when the tree stopped with a horrid thud. Logically she knew he was fine, being made of rubber and all being crushed was no longer an issue Luffy faced. Still she couldn't help but worry.
"Oh Nii-chan" she mumbled as she made her way to the where the tree and stopped, climbing on top of it, before turning her back to the rock face, planting her feet against the log. With a grunt she pushed her back against the rock, trying to force her feet, and by extension the tree away from her. The wood beneath her groaned quietly, moving only a little bit under her efforts,
"Nii-chan I could use your help with this" she called through grit teeth, "If you can push from down there that'd be fantastic"
It took a few minutes, but finally, the tree edged forward enough to allow Luffy to stretch his arms out, gripping the top of the cliff face to yank himself out. Leo let herself slump against the rock face as the tree rocked back into place.
"I don't think he likes us" Leo pointed out, as Luffy flopped down beside her
"He just doesn't know us yet!" Luffy declared as he stood, brushing his pants off,
"You're going to chase after him aren't you" she sighed, rubbing her face tiredly, wondering to herself if it was too late to find a nice dark corner to curl up into.
Luffy didn't immediately answer, instead he watched his little sister, trying hard to wrap his head around her mood swings, he knew she was down more times than she was up, he'd have to be blind not to notice! but times like these had him stumped, when she was fine one moment then down the next. He wanted to fix whatever it was that was hurting her...but it wasn't something he could hit, if he could hit it then it'd be so much easier...These last few weeks training with their gramps had been...agonizing. The loneliness that came from their separation was more painful than any punch.
That's when the light-bulb in his head went off, of course! how had he not figured it out earlier! If he was feeling the deep ache of loneliness, then of course she was as well! He still couldn't figure out how the loneliness was causing her moods, but that didn't matter! If he found a way to cure her loneliness, then she'd be better as well! And besides, Makino was always telling them they needed to make friends outside of each other.
Silently he made himself and Leo a promise, one he would never ever break.
"No, we are going to chase after him" he corrected loudly, "You've been drinking sea water again if you think I'm leaving you behind again!"
She snapped her gaze up to her brother, not truly believing she heard his words correctly,
"Besides if there's only two of us it's easy for one of us to be lonely, if there are three of us then it's just not possible!" he didn't bother to explain his logic, he didn't need to, not to her.
His words drew a moment of clarity for her as well, a small sad smile growing on her face, she wasn't the only one who was suffering from their separation. It took a few more moments before the rest of his sentence hit here, with a pout she crossed her arms,
"You drink sea water one time and he never lets you live it down" she mutters, before shoving him off the log onto the ground. Luffy let out a yelp, rolling on his back to glare up at her. With new life and determination flickering in her chest she offered him a cheeky grin.
"Well what are you just lying around for?" she teasingly asked, "We've got us a friend to catch!" and somehow convince into being their friend.
Luffy's own grin grew at her words, bouncing to his feet he threw his arms in the air,
"Yosh! Let's go then!" he cheered
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
After climbing down from the log, Luffy started his search in the direction he saw Ace go, Leo following quickly behind, catching up easily. While it was true she was initially a faster runner than Luffy, he had a hell of a lot more stamina than she did. They soon spotted the other raven haired boy crossing a rope bridge across a very deep canyon. The older boy didn't notice he was being followed until the bridge began to swing beneath his feet. Spinning around he watched as Luffy walked further out. Leo herself kept her feet on solid land, not really trusting the old ropes.
Turning on his feet Ace marched towards the younger boy, prompting a wide grin. Leo felt her stomach sink, Luffy didn't see the murderous look in Ace's eyes, he kept grinning thinking he had made progress. Before she could shout a warning Ace swung the pipe he carried, hitting Luffy in the stomach and launching him over the side of the bridge, straight down towards the bottom of the canyon,
"Nii-chan!" Leo screamed rushing out onto the bridge,falling to her knees she gripped the rope tightly as she watched her brother fly down into the deep crack in the earth.
She snapped her head towards Ace, white hot fury burning in her own black eyes,
"I don't know what he saw in you" she spat her words like hot oil from her mouth, "But he's a blind fool because you are nothing short of a heartless monster"
She stood, shoving him back harshly kind of hoping he would topple over the edge. No such luck. Turning tail she began to run back in the direction of the bandits hide out,fighting back the tears that wanted to pour down her face. Her breaths came out in harsh dry sobs, tearing away at her chest as she tried to breath. She slowed to a stop when she reached the tree line, not even bothering to fight the tears any more. What was she going to do now? Luffy was...he was...
She shook her head, trying to throw the thought from her mind. He wasn't dead. Unless he was unlucky enough to land in the thin line of blue, which she assumed to be a river, his rubber powers should have saved him from the impact...meaning all he had to do was find his way back! Getting lost trying to find him herself would help no one...but still there must be some way she could help! Then the idea struck her.
Wiping her face dry, and probably failing, she straightened her back. She knew what she had to do now. With one final mental pep talk she marched forward, head held high as she walked straight into the bandits den.
"Oi the brat's back!" one of the bandits on watch called out, she ignored them, continuing to march forward straight into the hut.
Once inside she quickly scanned the room, making quick work of locating the items she was going to need. Her fairly noisy search caught the others attention,
"Oi brat where the hell have you been!" Dadan growled when she noticed the girl, "You had chores!"
"Was busy" she shot back, as she reached over a box to wrap her fingers around the thing she was looking for, she grinned to herself as she held the candle up triumphantly, none of the lamps were available, either being broken or used, so a candle would have to do.
"Well you can do them now!" the bandit leader growled back
"Still busy"
The woman grew angrier, grabbing the girl by the front of her shirt lifting her up so they were face to face,
"Then you won't be getting ANY food tonight!" Dadan threatened with a grin, Ha! she had the brat now
Leo just stared back with a defiant frown,
"Fine then" she shrugged uncaring.
The bandit's grip loosened, allowing Leo to wiggle out of her grasp. Dadan expected anger, protest, maybe even a little crying! She got none of that! The girl just bent over, picking up her 'supplies' before continuing on her original path. With a deep frown Dadan watched as the young girl walked out the door, heading towards the forest edge. Sitting herself down at the tree line she placed the candle next to her before crossing her legs and resting her head on her fist.
"And what exactly is it that you're doing brat?!" Dadan huffed as she stood by the huts entrance with crossed arms,
"Waiting" Leo shot back, not tearing her gaze from the forest.
Dadan really was getting sick of this girls one worded answers,
"For what exactly?" She asked again, her paitence wearing thin. If Leo had turned around she would have seen the numerous veins starting to pop out from her forehead.
"I have the wait for Luffy" she finally explained...a little bit, "He's managed to get himself lost...so I gotta wait until he gets himself unlost and comes back to me"
"What makes you think sitting in the tree line will bring him back?" Dadan shot back,
"Because Nii-chan always finds a way back to me. Just gotta stay in one place" Leo nodded, sounding so sure of herself. It was kind of astonishing to Dadan that the girl could have such unshakable faith in her brother...it took a few moments for the entirety of the sentence to process in her brain...the brat was...lost. Growling the bandit boss turned on her heel, it was only day one and the brat had already gotten himself lost! Whatever, it wasn't her problem any more. And if the other one wanted to sit outside and freeze or starve...well that wasn't her problem either.
'Besides' she thought with a smirk, 'the little brat's gotta cave once her stomach starts rumbling' and Dadan wasn't in the generous mood tonight. If the brat wanted to starve, then she could.
The hours wore on, the sun rising and beating down with its harsh rays, yet the girl did not budge. She remained in the exact same position, only occasionally moving her legs to stretch them out when they started to fall asleep. At first the bandits tried to make her do her chores, giving orders and such. One poor idiot made the mistake of trying to physically move her, he soon learned she could bite very hard for someone so small. After nearly losing his fingers everyone came to the collective agreement to leave her be.
And as it does the sun began to dip, taking the light and warmth with it. Just as the insects of dusk started to awaken Ace finally made his return. He impassively walked straight past her, only offering a side glance as he passed her, not entirely sure what she was doing...not that he cared. Leo didn't even offer him that. Her unyielding gaze not once flickering from the dark depths of the forest.
"Hey Ace has returned!" The man on watch announced.
With him he had brought a feast of fish, some almost as large as Dadan herself! While she didn't turn to watch, Leo knew by the cheers and hollers of the bandits that they were excited about meat once again being on the menu. Her own stomach gave a traitorous growl. There were plenty of nut trees around, she could easily gather a handful to snack on without having to move too far from her vigil...except, she glanced at a new of the innocent looking nuts, she couldn't quite remember which ones she could eat, and which ones would make her throat swell up...
"Hey Ace, where's Luffy?" the mention of her brothers name pulled Leo from her musing over nut allergies, "Wasn't he with you?"
"Hell if I know" the boy muttered as he dropped the fish down, marching inside.
Leo felt a swell of anger and hatred burst into her chest, he knew exactly where Luffy was, down the canyon he kicked him! Taking a deep breath she tried to let the feelings steam away...when Luffy got back, not if when she kept telling herself, no doubt he'd forgive the boy instantly...unfortunately it was going to take Leo a little longer to forgive the older boy...although...maybe calling him a monster was a bit much...Shaking her head, she pushed the thoughts from her mind, instead trying to focus on the task ahead. Which would be far easier if it weren't so mind numbingly dull.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Soon the smell of cooking fish filled the air, and like the night before the room inside fell to chaos as the men squabbled over the food. She could hear it, even far out by the tree line...she didn't understand what the need to fight was...from what she saw they had plenty for all to eat well if they weren't greedy about it and rationed things out! adults were so weird. Her stomach grumbled sadly at the smell of food, but her resolve remained strong. She knew her brother, he was strong, much stronger than her...but his sense of direction was terrible. She was going to sit here and wait for him, and nothing and nobody was going to disturb her from her watch.
She waited until the sun had well and truly set before lighting the candle, sitting it in front of her. No point in wasting the precious wax while there was still some light. Luckily they were still in summer, the nights were warm enough that she could sit out in the dark forest without a need for a blanket.
"He's probably dead you know" It was one of the bandits, she glanced at him...she wasn't even sure he had mentioned his name, either was she didn't remember it, "He's not coming back" the bandit continued as he placed a small bowel of rice and the water next to her. Apparently Dadan wasn't as cold hearted as she first appeared...
"He'll be back" She didn't turn her head to acknowledge him, "Nii-chan always comes back"
Shaking his head the bandit turned away, heading back inside to join the drinking that had started. Once she was sure she was alone again, Leo picked up the bowel, slowly scooping up clumps of rice with her hands, popping it into her mouth as she continued to scan the tree line. She preferred the cliff faces by the ocean...you could actually see a horizon, in this damned forest it was just more trees.
The evening dragged on and the bandits became progressively more and more drunk, and the drunker they became the louder they were. At one point Leo heard Dadan stating just how much she didn't care if the boy was dead or never returned. Wasn't her problem, she didn't care. Leo tried hard not to listen, but it wasn't easy considering the older woman was practically shouting it from the roof tops. It was bad enough hearing how unwanted she was, how much of a mistake she was, that she shouldn't even be alive. It was unbearable to hear anyone say the same about her brother...Luffy was her whole world, and for someone to be so...indifferent about his fate. It hurt.
The sound of the door opening had her briefly glancing over, Ace stepped out with a towel wrapped around his shoulders, no doubt he was going to use the bath thing she had seen around the back of the house. He didn't even glance her way. Tiny tendrils of guilt started to crawl up her spine, she knew she had let her anger get away from her, he may have been a huge jerk (the biggest, stupidest jerk she'd even met) he didn't deserve to be called a monster...
Having left the door ajar, Leo then heard Dadan's quieter words (though still fairly loud in her opinion)
"In my opinion, it'd be best if he just went somewhere and died. Then we could tell Garp it was an accident!" Leo took back her earlier thoughts, the bandit was as heartless as she first appeared, "This is what they mean by 'A devil's child has a devil's luck' He is the child of a devil as well!"
The young girl frowned, confused by Dadan's words, Luffy wasn't the child of a devil...ok well he was, but he didn't know that and the bandits defiantly didn't know that. Leo couldn't quite remember how she knew their father wasn't a respected man. (She guessed the knowledge came from the vague memories from her life before Dawn Island) As far as the bandits knew they were just the grandchildren of Garp...so if not Luffy...they couldn't be talking about Ace could they? Leo let her mind wonder, pondering the possibilities...then who could Ace's father be...and how bad do you have to be to be considered a devil?
0o0o0oo0o0oo0o
The candle and burned out long before dawn, leaving nothing but a puddle of hard wax behind. It was only then, when the sun's rays broke through the tree line, blurring her vision did Leo move. Pushing herself onto unsteady legs she winces as he knees creaked in agony as feeling flooded back into them. She knew no one was awake yet, it was far too quiet and peaceful. Limping inside she stepped over passed out bandits, wincing as her legs remembered how to move. Grabbing a thin blanket she stuffed a couple more candles and a piece of stale bread into it, before turning back around to resume her post. She blinked in shock when she came to face Ace, who stood in the door way of what she assumed was his room. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out...what on earth would she even say? So she closed her mouth, walking straight past him and back outside. Setting her supplies down she spread her legs out in front of her for the time being.
When Ace walked passed her that morning she kept her eyes on her goal, missing the glance he shot towards her. Cold and glaring...and a tiny bit curious. Today was the day Dadan swore she'd get the child to do the chores she was ordered to. Any time a bandit did manage to move her (many ended up with sore ribs and bite marks for the efforts) she would quickly return to her spot, resuming her watch.
On the third day the bandits were coming to realize that she was not moving. Sure Dadan still made an effort to make her 'pull her weight' but she failed every time. It was that night that she finally decided to go through with her threat of withholding food. All food.
Day five is when Leo's fragile body had started to hit it's limits. Five days and nights with no sleep, three days with no food. Her body shook violently as she struggled just to stay awake and upright. She couldn't even muster the energy to get up and replace her candles any more. She hadn't even noticed some of the hot wax had dripped onto her feet and ankles, everything hurt...what was one more hurt.
But still she couldn't move, because Nii-chan would return, and if she wasn't keeping watch then how else would he find the right way home?
By day seven her body was on the verge of quitting for her, she slumped forward, unable to keep herself upright as her eyelids fluttered, struggling to remain open. Even blinking was agony. She closed her eyes for a moment, giving them just a little rest. She wasn't sleeping...just having...a little...rest.
She startled awake when the dog the bandits kept started barking, frowning she squinted, trying to force her eyes to focus on whatever had caught it's attention. Fuck she hoped it wasn't another squirrel. It took a few moments for her eyes to focus on what she was seeing, and a few moments more for her brain to process it. A tired smile spread across her face as she forced her weak and shaking body to stand, stumbling in her brother's direction
"Nii-chan" she mumbled happily as her knees gave out from under her, sending her crashing face first into the dirt. This, she decided, was an excellent place for a nap.
Deciding it was probably a wise idea to investigate what had the dog all worked up about, the bandits on watch almost fell over in shock when they spotted Luffy standing in the middle of the path, panting heavily. His clothes were torn and he was covered in scratches and bruises and dirt.
"Boss! Boss! Wake up!" one ran inside shouting
"Who's there?" Dadan mumbled still half asleep as her underlings forced her up, pushing her in the direction of outside.
When the bruised and bleeding figure of Luffy came into her vision, the shock to her heart was enough to wake her up completely,
"It's you!" she screamed in shock.
"That Luffy's came back!" one of the bandits shouted into the hideout in announcement
"That kid he's still alive!" many of the bandits scrambled to the door way to see for themselves, and sure enough the kid was alive.
Once the initial shock wore off, Dadan marched over to Luffy, grabbing his face as she lifted him up, giving him a little shake,
"Where have you been?!" She demanded
"I was being chased around by wolves at the bottom of the valley" was Luffy's tired reply
"The bottom of the valley?! Why'd you go down there?!" Dadan screeched
Luffy just stared forward, giving her no answer. He wasn't going to rat Ace out, he wanted to be his friend after all. Dadans frustrations grew when she received no answer,
"Boss?!" one of her men called out
"Oh what now?!"Dadan snapped as she spun to see what more could possibly be wrong.
"It's just...Leo's finally passed out..." he stuttered as he pointed to the unconscious girl.
Dadan snapped her head around to see that, yes Leo had in fact finally passed out, and had chosen the ground as her napping place. With a growl Dadan dropped Luffy to the ground, before grabbing him by the back of the shirt. Leaning down she grabbed Leo as well, the sleeping girl moaning for a moment, but remained fast asleep
"Neeh, wha's wrong with imouto..." Luffy slurred as he tried to fight through the exhaustion himself
"The damn brat has been sitting outside waiting for you to return" Dadan growled as she marched inside, "Idiot wore herself out" Slamming open the door to Ace's small room she tossed the children in
"Now sleep!"
And like a light Luffy was out of it.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
When Leo woke the next morning she was more than a bit confused, last she remembered she was whispering sweet nothings to the cold hard dirt...now her face was pressed into something soft and warm...very warm. Pushing herself up she inspected the soft warm thing...it was a body! A quick glance up at the bodies face confirmed her suspicions, and like that all of her worries and built of anxiety washed away,
"Nii-chan! You're back!" she screamed happily as she threw herself back down, hugging him tightly,
"Good to see you too imouto" Luffy laughed after recovering from the unexpected wake up call.
They quickly dressed and Leo made quick work of patching up Luffy's injuries, wrapping them tightly in bandages. They left the room in time to see Ace leaving for the morning,
"You're going out somewhere again today Ace?! Take us with you! Let's be friends!" Luffy immediately shouting upon spotting him
Ace looked back for a second before breaking into a run, Luffy did the logical thing and ran after him, Leo not far behind. Sitting still made running a bit of a task, she stumbled along behind Luffy. Despite everything she couldn't help but laugh as she ran after the two boys, the sheer joy of having her brother back still filling her.
"Boss! They're chasing after Ace again!" The Bandit on watch shouted down to Dadan,
"Hey! Your supposed to be doing chores!" Dadan shouted after them, which of course they completely ignored.
They chased after Ace for a good while, taking sharp turns and ducking under hollowed out trees trying to keep up, Luffy was having as easier time than Leo, but she swore if they really were going to be doing this then she wasn't going to slow her brother down, she run beside him like an equal...when she regained the ability to use her legs that came to a stop in front of a wide body of water, Ace had somehow managed to get across without getting wet or eaten by crocodiles,
"Ace! Let's be friends!" Leo could hear Luffy ahead of her, when she finally reached her brother he was struggling not to get eaten by said crocodiles,
"Nii-chan" she cried out,quickly grabbing a vine and throwing it out for him to reach and tug him away from the hungry reptiles.
Once back on safe land the siblings let out a combined sigh,
"I really don't think he likes us..." Leo muttered once more. They decided to spend the rest of the afternoon figuring out how to get across the crocodile infested river. It was Leo who suggested they climb over using the thick vines.
The routine went on for days, every morning Luffy would chase after Ace, and every day Leo would follow. They'd get a little further before being thrown into yet another obstacle. Luffy would try and get past it, and fail both of them losing sight of Ace. They would then spend the rest of the day figuring a way across. Sometimes it was Leo who found the answer (most days it was Leo) other days it was faced everything thrown at them together, be it falling rocks, angry birds, snakes or crocodiles. Every day for 3 months, rain or shine. Some days Leo didn't want to follow he brother, because despite the fact her life was better (now she wasn't so lonely) there were still days where she would wake up and just couldn't pull together the energy to care.
Those were the hardest days, when she could barely drag herself out of bed, because there was just no point. It was those days Luffy was the one who figured out the answer, who pulled them through. They were hard, but together they solidered on.
"He got away this time, but not tomorrow" he would promise.
Every day they'd get a little further, push a little more, got a little stronger, a little wiser. Then one day the ran out of obstacles, to the siblings great surprise when they walked through the tree line they didn't find some deadly creature or trap, they didn't even find more trees! They had reached the end of the forest.
"We did it...we actually did it" Leo stared in amazement,
"Haha! I told ya we would!" Luffy grinned at her
"You did...that you did" she muttered as she walked closer to the edge to gaze out,
"What is this place?" she muttered to herself as she stared out into the grey mess of rubble and trash, scrunching her nose as the stench of rot hit her with full force
"It's where Ace has been coming every day!" Luffy answered, so sure of himself,
"Well then...we best find him" she muttered again. Something didn't feel quite right to her, something just felt...off. Something bad was going to happen that day, she just knew it. If only she knew HOW bad.