Broken Faith

Lesson Finale: Four are One. One is Four

There had been no darkness that night. The flames of Gray Terminal licked the sky from sundown to sunrise, obliterating everything and everyone in its path until the air was saturated with boiling smoke. The few survivors that had been convinced by the Dadan family described it the exact same way. As if hell itself had risen up to greet the living. At least... that's what you had been told. You had only awoken far later, when only the ashes remained smouldering. But you didn't doubt a thing. Compared to what you'd witnessed yourself... and what you'd felt...

Bedsheets clenched in your fist.

Not even hell could compare to that inferno.

Your shoulder still burned. Even though the heat itself had left you, the sensation of flesh bubbling across your back still haunted you. Makino had bought up some homemade cooling, which helped a little... but the burning remained. Almost as if the flames were still there.

It was agonising to so much as move unaided, both because of your newly swaddled calf and the immense strain that would run through your shoulder if you tried to stand, which meant you were going to be bedridden for a day or two. At least until more medical supplies came in from the port. Normally you would have been fine with this, health was an important asset after all, but this time... this time... You dipped your head onto your lap.

Why? Why had this happened?

"Easy, easy, wait Luffy? You're not fully recovered yet- where're you going?"

"I...I gotta go and look for Ace and Dadan..." The voice moaned down the hall. "Th-they're still out there..."

"You can't do that!"

Thud!

"A-aaah!"

"See? That's what I told you."

Ace and Dadan were still... how could they be missing? They were so... so strong. There must be something out there you hadn't considered. A hidden variable that prevented them from returning. Since they couldn't... they couldn't be.

Your eyes burned with the promise of tears. But for some strange reason you couldn't manage a drop.

"Ah, Angel." Magra pushed aside the reed curtain that separated your room from the rest of the shack, Luffy's twitching body cradled in his arms. "You're sitting up! A-are you feeling okay?"

No. How could you be okay while Ace... he was your brother, you had called him your family... and Dadan... she'd only gotten into this mess because you'd asked her to... was... was it your fault she was... that they were...

You nodded, head hollow just like the rest of you.

"Good! Th-that's good, isn't it, Angel? Now then... Luffy..." He settled the boy on the nicest futon they had, taking care to lower him down as gently as possible. "You're seriously wounded. You have to rest nice and easy. Like Angel is."

You barely resisted a shudder. Compared to you... Luffy's injuries were terrifying. How had such a small boy ended up with so many bandages? And how did he bleed through them quicker with every passing hour?

Was... was this...

"There are a lot of troops in Gray Terminal now to take care of the mess after the fire-" Dogra knelt down next to his fellow bandit, perched midway between you and Luffy- "It's not just burned junk that they're throwing out, but survivors too. They'd kill you if you go there."

K...kill... They'd kill... surv-survivors... Like D-Dadan and and and and A-Ace...

"B..." Luffy's lip trembled, fat and heavy tears soaking into his pillow. "B-but... I wanna see Ace! I know that Sabo is worrying about us too! UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"