Fabric Heart

Chapter 5

A/N~ Alright guys I'm back! Finals are finally over! Though I must apologize in advance cause I honestly don't think that this chapter turned out so well☹. But I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer so here it is!~

It was about a week later that you found yourself in a spot of trouble. Nightmares had plagued you for a long time and just like with most of them you didn't remember what it was about. But whatever it was it had been bad enough that you had awoken panting and sweating with the sheets tangled around your legs at 3 am.

There was no way you were going back to sleep like this. So you slipped out of bed and still in your nightwear walked slowly and quietly down the hall and up the stairs. Eventually you made it to the roof where the icy night wind was blowing. Turning a corner you went to a particular spot where you had hidden a music box. Grabbing the ornate box and opening it to reveal the heart shaped piece of folded fabric inside. Your mind going back to that day and wishing you were still as innocent as you were then. Winding the key you sat down where the wind wouldn't reach you and listened.

The tune that played was a beautifully sad one that reminded you of home and no matter how many times you heard it, it always brought tears to your eyes. Which was exactly what you needed right then. To cry out all your tears alone and let no one know the amount of pain you really felt. It helped you to keep calm in dire situations and with your devil fruit being sensitive to your emotions that also meant it kept you from accidently hurting your friends.

Especially Sabo. With his memories in the state they were he was probably the most vulnerable to your abilities. The very idea of hurting him shattered your heart into tiny pieces. It reminded you of something your father told you as a child.

"(y/n)?"

Speak his name and he shall appear. You didn't need to look at him to see that he had a worried expression. The tone in his voice already told you as much. Having him see you in such a state was the last thing you wanted so you kept your face down and tried to even your breathing. But the small waterfalls falling from your eyes refused to cease.

"Are you okay?" he asked. When you didn't respond slowly he approached you as though he didn't wish to scare you off until finally he was sitting next to you. Little resistance was offered when put his arms around you and pulled you close to his chest.

That was when you lost it. All the control on your emotions crumbled and you were balling into his pajama shirt as he held you. Words weren't needed in that moment. He may not know what it was that was upsetting you but he understood that getting you to talk about it would be pointless and that you just needed to let it all out. So the two of you just stayed like that with his shirt and the raging winds keeping your sobs from being heard until his warmth lulled you into a deep dreamless sleep. The last thing coming to mind as the darkness took hold being the words your father told you when he gave you that music box.

"(y/n) as your father I wish that I could protect you from all the pain in the world, but I know that's impossible since we all have to deal with it in one form or another throughout our lives. And that's because it's how we as human beings learn sometimes. So if there were any kind of pain that I would want you to encounter it's the kind that comes from caring for someone or something so much that it hurts, much like this song. That is the pain called love."