Marine || One Piece [ENG]

32

Not everyone can be saved. It was something she so often forgot. She was strong after all. She was devilishly strong. But it was never enough, she was never strong enough. And she will never be strong enough to save everyone. She was not a god.

She stared silently at the back of Ace's head, her lips pursed. The sky was clear, calm. The wind gently blew their hair. Her attention was entirely on her brother, not the grave they all stood in front of.

It was my fault. It's my fault, my fault...

She looked down, seeing Haruka tightening her grip on hers. Leona looked up at Haruka's face, but the girl stubbornly looked ahead. The corner of her mouth twitched and she lightly squeezed Haruka's hand, returning her gaze to her brother.

She reached her free hand towards Ace, lightly grabbing his hand, squeezing it, trying to show him support. She wondered what was going through his mind, what he was thinking now. She wanted to take it all from him, wanted to take this burden away from him, take all these negative feelings from him.

He turned his head to her, giving her a weak smile. But she knew better than what he showed. She saw the pain in his eyes, saw how hunched his body was, the dark circles under his eyes. She knew she had to go through her grief, that it would take some time to recover.

"I'm here," she murmured softly to him, and he nodded slightly in gratitude.

They stood there in silence for a long time.

She couldn't save everyone. But she could just be. She could try. She could be a support, she could be a wall, she could be a home. She could be everything, as much as she could, as much as they needed.

She was not a god. But unlike him, she was here, physically. And she fought. For her brothers.

****

"What a surprise," she heard Croccodail's voice behind her and looked over her shoulder, seeing that he was leaning back against the wooden wall, looking at her with his serious, dead look, blowing cigar smoke from his mouth. ''I really didn't expect your decision to resign from the Navy. Tell me about your future plans, I'm actually curious," he said, slowly approaching her and standing next to her.

Leona huffed in amusement, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Oh yeah, sure, I'll confide in you like a best friend," she said sarcastically. Then she sighed and added briefly:

"I don't know."

"I see," he said briefly, looking at her. his dark eyes stared blankly at her, the smell of his choking cigarettes lingering in the air. " Sure, you can do anything. Literally everything. But yes, let's stop at 'I don't know'."

"Are you mocking me?" she asked dispassionately.

"Of course," he replied in the same tone. " You limit yourself unnecessarily. Just do everything."

****

"Ace," she said quietly to get his attention.

He didn't answer at the first time. There was a long moment of silence.

They were still standing in front of Whitebeard's grave, but now they were alone. Night was slowly approaching, the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon. It wasn't cold, it was still quite warm, and a light breeze carried the smell of sea salt in the air.

Her gaze wandered from the back of her brother's head, to the grave, to the flowers. Her hands were hidden in the pockets of her coat, an old black coat she had dug out of the closet after her earlier coat had been damaged during the fight.

She took a deep breath, tilting her head back.

"Ace." She tried again, this time a little louder.

"If I hadn't gotten caught then..." he finally said after a long silence, his voice hoarse.

"No," she interrupted him. "Don't think like that. It's already happened."

"But..." he started and stopped himself, breathing deeply. He placed his hand on his hat, adjusting it on his head.

"It was his decision," she said, taking a step closer to her brother. "He decided to go out with a bang. I think that's how each of us wants to leave. Unforgettable."

The wind blew her hair and she narrowed her eyes slightly. She took her hands out of her pockets, tucking short strands of hair behind her ears.

"I know. But still..." he sighed, turning his head towards her. "He's gone. I can't... I don't know what to do with myself. I can't imagine what would happen without him."

"This will be difficult. You have to get through this," she said, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. "It will get easier after a while. All you need is... time."

He squeezed her hand, giving her a weak smile that didn't reach her eyes, and then turned his head towards the grave. They stood there in silence for another few minutes, which seemed like an eternity.

"Let's go back," he finally said, letting go of her hand and turning slightly sideways. "We can't let Luffy worry unnecessarily when he wakes up."

She nodded slightly, turning around too, taking small steps towards the ship.

"I'm sure when he gets up he'll be most worried about where the meat is," she said, causing Ace to snort.

"Sounds like our Luffy."

***

She stood at the bow of the ship, thinking about all the conversations she had recently had, about all the events that had transpired. So much has changed in such a short time.

But the most important thing remained the same. She still had her brothers. They were "safe". At least for now. They survived, although it almost had a different end. And that was the most important thing for her in all this. She couldn't survive the loss of her brother again.

Her brothers had already started their adventure. One continued on the same path, although more consciously. One was looking for his goal again, a new one. She believed in them.

And she won't stop either. It's time for her to move on with her adventure. This time, she will follow her adventure, her own path, not determined by anyone.

She brushed her black unruly hair.

"What now?" Doll asked from behind her in his hoarse voice.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, smiled slightly, and looked at everyone. This was supposed to be their journey together, their new adventure. It will be exciting, it will be more dangerous than before. They will be together, against the whole world. Literally. They had the right to choose.

She didn't know why she was doing this to herself, why she spent so much time thinking, plotting various possibilities and scenarios about what would happen to them next. There was such a simple solution, a simple few words that would make her no longer bear this burden of decision, this burden of responsibility.

In fact, she had no right to make this decision. She had no right to take it and impose her choice on them from above. They were finally free.

And finally she asked the question she should have asked from the very beginning, instead of agonizing over what she should decide for all of them:

"What would you like to do now?"

THE END

(part one)

(information what is next is written in the end )