Since setting out to sea, he has abided by a single rule as a pirate doctor - to not abandon any one of his patients. This time will be no different.
No matter the odds, Trafalgar Law will not let Murasaki Arisa die.
« Trafalgar D. Water L...
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Jasha's smile was just the way Arisa wished to remember it. Hesitant, fleeting, wistful....but gentle. Always so gentle, at least the way it had been in the time before, when both his life and hers remained largely unmarred by the strokes of tragedy. And seeing him now, she couldn't help but pose the question to herself:
So which was it that came first... my sin or yours?
But her reaction was visceral and immediate all the same. She instinctively lurched forwards, launching herself into his arms. Saying nothing, he nestled her closer against him in a tender embrace, and for a fleeting moment it was as if everything had gone back to the way things should have been, before times had changed for the worst, before their entire world had splintered into pieces, and she felt nothing other than a brutal, crushing sense of relief - enough so that tears sprang to her eyes and a choking sob lodged at the back of her throat.
I miss you, she murmured, closing her eyes and relishing in the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
She felt his hand stroke her hair in familiar, calming motions.
I miss you too, 'Risa.
I'm sorry, she whispered, fingers curling desperately into the fabric of his shirt. It was all she could bring herself to say. I'm sorry. It was all my fault. I-
You didn't listen to me, he said, drawing back slightly and cupping her cheek. That radiant smile was still affixed to his features. Remember what I told you? What you promised me?
I know. And I-I'm sorry. But I can't... Her voice wavered, fracturing into innumerable shards of glass. You know that I can't go on living this way. I have to do this.
Delicate fingers ghosted past her jaw and tilted her chin upwards. His smile grew sorrowful as the longer she stared into the familiar amber depths of his eyes.
Jasha...?
Horror bloomed in her chest when she saw a bead of dark crimson well up at the corner of his lips and trail down his chin.
No. Please... The imploring plea fell past her trembling lips in a half-whimper. She took a tremulous step back as he began to cough uncontrollably, eyes beginning to glaze over in that awful blank sheen as his hands flew up to claw uselessly at his throat.
Why do you still hold on? he rasped, choking out the words past mouthfuls of gushing blood. Why keep dwelling on this?
What do you... even expect... will happen?
It's only... going to hurt you.
Drowning. He was literally drowning, just like before - just like he always did in her prevailing nightmares. Drowning in his own embittered grief, in the harsh cruelties of that awful war, in her unavailing hubris, in their shared spate of reciprocating transgressions.
