Marine || One Piece [ENG]

23

      She was left behind more alone. She was still standing, but it hurt to move her limbs.

This meant that Whitebeard was alone in direct combat. She could only support him from a distance. This meant that despite her condition, she could still help him and not get in the way because of her wounds.

"The crews have already withdrawn, we should too," Leona kept repeating.

"Go. I will stay to ensure a smooth retreat for you," he replied. Their conversation during the fight was like this - she was trying to convince him to retreat, he was stubbornly pushing to stay in the fight.

Leona staggered from another shock. She leaned back on one knee, took a breath, and quickly looked up at Whitebeard. She barely saw Akainu's punch pass through Edward's stomach, and he didn't even flinch. Leona raised her right hand. Her fingers were trembling.

She choked on her own blood. The metal barely moved. And she could barely see. All she could feel was blood flowing down her face.

She was too focused on not losing consciousness. She blinked her eyes. She gripped her leg tighter. All she heard was noise.

The next moment, when she regained some of her vision, she saw Whitebeard being impaled again.

Her eyes widened. She raised both hands. She tried to send metal to him. She tried so hard. She pressed against him with all her willpower. Its barely moved.

She panicked. The ringing in her ears turned to silence. She couldn't do anything. Her legs were shaking, she was starting to shake. She blinked furiously.

"ONE PIECE. ONE PIECE IS REAL" she heard Whitebeard's roar breaking through the void.

And with those words, Whitebeard froze. His chest stopped moving, his last breath escaped him.

Leona's knees buckled. Her mind was wondering how Ace would react to the news of the death of the man who was like a father to him. She failed to protect him. She fell to her knees. Shirohige died.

She was too weak to save him. Through her bloody eyes, she could barely see his massive figure. His words were the last she heard.

The physical exhaustion she began to feel, along with the awareness of how badly she had failed, were stronger. She sat on her knees, no longer trying to lift her heavy body. Staring blankly into space with wide eyes.

"Leona-san!" she heard something close to her, as if through a fog, and she looked up.

Coby stood in front of her. All she could see was the outline of his silhouette and his distinctive pink hair. He was protecting her. And Akainu was aiming his fist at him.

Her eyes widened in horror.

"NO!" she rasped. She tried to lift her hand, barely lifting it slightly.
She had enough strength to wrap a thin string around Akainu's wrist.

Since when was she so weak? She growled and raised her hands strongly. A shield appeared in front of Coby. Silver tentacles grabbed Akainu's hands and his legs were covered with metal. He quickly turned red.

Suddenly, another silhouette appeared in front of her, stopping Akainu's hand completely.

"That's enough," the man said in a low voice.

At these words, she took her metal to herself, swirling it around on the ground to cool it.

"That's enough death for today, right, Sengoku?"

There was silence on the battlefield. The man maintained firm eye contact with the admiral.

"Akainu, back off," Sengoku said after a while. " Everyone back off!"

This was supposed to be the end. Leona clenched her hands into fists. Fuck this ending. The person so important to her brother, the person he treated like a father, had died. Right in front of her eyes. The fluid in her eyes began to increase. If she were stronger, she would have sent them all to the ground.

"Leona-san, it's over," she heard Coby's voice and immediately felt a touch on her face.

The boy gently wiped the blood and maybe tears from her face with his sleeve. He looked at her with large, worried eyes.

"Sorry!" he said immediately when she made longer eye contact with him. "I shouldn't have done it with my own sleeve, it's not clean, I'm sorry Leona-san, I –"

"It's okay," she said. " Don't worry so much. You should go."

Leona put her hand on the ground and tried to get up. It was difficult. Trying to get up hurt more than the time she stood.

Then a large hand grabbed her by the arm and pulled her upright. Gently, smoothly.

"Leona-san, you shouldn't be walking like this," Coby protested, standing in front of her.

The hand didn't belong to him.

"Get back, Coby, before you get in trouble," Leona said, giving him a confident look. "I'm good."

"If you say so," he replied, unconvinced, and then added:
"Goodbye. The time I served under you taught me a lot, thank you for being there!"

He bowed and quickly left.

Leona blinked in surprise, but quickly felt a warmth in her heart.

"You seem to have a good influence on people," said a male voice she had heard before. The owner of the hand supporting her under the arm.

Leona looked up. This was the same man who stopped the war. Up close, she saw his red, longer hair and the distinctive scars that ran across his eye. Shanks, one of the emperors.

"Possible."

"Will you be able to go?" he asked, looking around. Then he looked straight into her eyes. "You can do it," he said.

"It's just the complete destruction of the entire body," Leona said, moving slowly forward. "You could stand things like that."

"It's obvious," he replied.

They were heading towards their ships. Leona looked back at Whitebeard's standing body.

"His body, we have to take it," she said, wanting to stop.

"My people will take them," he said, pushing her to go. However, it stopped. And she looked into his eyes. She looked for lies in them. "They will take care of him well, with due respect."

"Okay," she said, closing her eyes and moving on.

They walked very slowly. But Shanks didn't rush her or complain. He simply supported her by holding her arm.

"Thank you," Leona said at one point.

"What for?"

"For today. That you came to help them. For ending this war and protecting Coby. And that you're helping me now," she said calmly. "And for everything you did for my little brother. For taking care of him. Thank you for taking care of him."

"Wow, it's not often a pirate gets to hear thanks," he said with a wry smile.

"You don't often get something to get them for, I guess," she replied, with the same smile.

Then she looked over her shoulder at Whitebeard and her smile fell.