Sorry

Characters: Bepo, Pedro, Heart Pirates. Rating: K+. Warnings: Mentioned character death.

While Bepo had no clear memories of his childhood on Zou, standing on Zunisha's back once again after so many years brought back vague recollections, muddled recognition of some of the minks he saw among them. While his nakama oohed and aahed at the sights, throwing themselves into the customary garchu with glee, he hunted for familiarity he knew he should feel.

One mink in particular, with a single eye and shaggy hair covering half of his face, niggled at his memory in a way few did, and he found himself subconsciously seeking the older out. For his part, the other mink appeared determined to avoid Bepo, vanishing into the safety of the trees whenever he was around.

Discomforted, Bepo began to back off, fearing he had somehow offended the older. It had been so long he knew his manners were lacking – he'd failed to remember garchu, for a start – and the mink in question had an air of experience that reminded him of Law. Bepo had learnt that people like that (admittedly, Law was his only prior experience), found a group they were willing to talk to, and shut out everyone else. Just because Bepo was in Law's trusted group, didn't mean he could find his way into anyone else's.

Realising that the mink, for all his niggling familiarity, was not interested in his presence, Bepo eventually gave up completely, finding other, younger, minks that were instead all too willing to talk to him and listen to his tales of life as a pirate. Unlike the other mink, they were fascinated by him, and Bepo spoke until dawn, and subsequent bed time.

Life under the sea in eternal darkness meant that the Heart Pirates were less averse to nocturnal living than most, and shuffled to their loaned quarters as a group every night, reuniting from where they'd scattered to explore Zou and its wonders. One night, Bepo felt a paw on his shoulder as he headed to the rendezvous with his crew and paused, turning around to face the owner of the paw.

It was the one-eyed mink that had drawn his attention from the start.

"You're Bepo, aren't you?" he asked, and Bepo nodded. "I don't know if you remember me, but my name's Pedro. Zepo was my best friend."

Two things hit Bepo. Memories of the mink before him running and laughing with his brother – back then with two eyes and far less of a Law-aura – came first, triggered by the name. Yes, he remembered Pedro, as much as he remembered anything from his childhood on Zou.

The second was the use of past tense.

"Was?" he asked. "Did you have a falling out?" Logic told him that wasn't what Pedro meant, not with his solemn tone and scarring he never used to have. Not when Bepo hadn't been able to find any news on Zepo since he'd arrived.

Bepo quashed logic with denial.

"I…" Pedro stammered, and Bepo knew, even as denial hammered down logic with all its might. "I'm so sorry, Bepo. Zepo's dead."

Denial only held up to so much weight, and Pedro's words smashed it into so many pieces it was impossible for Bepo to reconstruct it, to hide behind it with his paws over his ears as he ignored the truth.

Zepo can't be dead. My big brother can't be dead.

"How?" he asked, his voice cracking in so many places the word was barely there. Pedro looked at the ground for several long moments, silence stretching between them, before raising his head to face Bepo squarely.

Like Bepo had told tales of piracy to the younger minks earlier, so Pedro described the journey of the Nox Pirates, from leaving Zou to gaining bounties to Whole Cake Island and the terrors it entailed. Sometime during the tale, they had found seats amongst the trees, hiding from the sun as it rose to signal the end of the cat's reign, and the start of the dog's.

The end of Pedro's story was met with silence, only the wind singing through the leaves to disturb the pair.

"I-"

"I'm sorry," Bepo interrupted Pedro's own apology. Not knowing what else to say, how to react to the news he'd been subconsciously hiding from since he left Zou, he reverted back to the safety of apologies. "I'm sorry you went through that."

Pedro stared at him, struck dumb with confusion. Bepo went for the other thing he knew best, and wrapped his arms around the older mink, rubbing his cheek against him gently.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He repeated the words over and over again, a quiet mantra as the sun finished rising, bathing the two of them in light. Eventually, Pedro returned the affection, rubbing his own cheek against Bepo's in a comforting garchu before the two split apart, bound by the laws of the country to retire for the day.

Bepo didn't recall making it back to his cabin, stumbling through the door with an inelegance he'd lost years ago through a life of piracy. Startled voices spoke up, his nakama surging to surround him as he somehow made it to a seat, blind to the world around him as the story sunk in.

He didn't know how to cry. He could express emotions – joy, sadness, anger, love – but tears were beyond him and grief was too much to handle. One by one, arms wrapped around him, burying in his soft fur as his crew surrounded him, panicked cries morphing into sympathising murmurs as realisation set in.

Bepo had always been the one his crew went to when they needed a hug. Physically affectionate, and the perfect size to envelop most of them in a crushing bear-hug, he was used to giving them.

Now, with the world muted by grief, it was his turn to receive.

Bepo having no contact with the minks since he fell off Zunisha means that he can't have known his brother was dead until he finally returned to Zou. I realised that and cried a little inside because Bepo didn't deserve to only find out seven years after Zepo died.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari