Fic: 21 Guns
Your faith walks on broken glass
And the hangover doesn’t pass
Nothing’s ever built to last
You’re in ruins
“Come again?” he replies mildly, eyes shooting open.
“I said, ‘you’re a traitor,’” a light kiss is placed on the back of his neck.
“More than you yourself, then?”
“Tell me,…”
And suddenly his arm is wrenched behind his back, caught in a grip far too powerful to be human as the hand on his throat closes, claws digging into his skin.
“Lucci…” he tries to warn, but the tremor in his voice is evident.
“I could kill you now,” the voice is low now, ominous and sinuous as it breathes ‘danger’ around him. “I could kill you so easily. Traitor.”
“Why?” he chokes out, the pressure on his windpipe increasing. “What did I…”
“The truth, now, and it will stay between us. You gave Roronoa the key.”
He gasps as the hand is pulled away and instead arms crush him against a firm chest, wondering whether or not the truth is going to be useful in this instance. He knows Lucci could kill him; knows that it’s within his rights, at least, no matter how unconventional it might seem.
“Roronoa defeated me fairly. He was better than I. As a worthy opponent, I would never stoop so low as to deny the victor their rights. He was promised the key. I am a man of my word…”
“And it will be your downfall,” Lucci hisses, one hand slipping under the baggy jacket he’s wearing and sliding over the still-present bandages. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”
“That I had the key to Nico Robin’s handcuffs?” he chuckles. “Yes. I went too far, though; I pushed him too far, and that’s why I lost. Anyone who is willing to fight that vehemently for their nakama…”
“Do you believe I would?”
“For me? No,” he sighs, letting his weight rest against the older man. “Should I?”
“We’ll see soon enough. When we arrive…watch your back, Kaku. If I can’t watch it for you.”
And this is it, he muses. This is Rob Lucci being romantic; his personal message of, ‘I care about you and I’d be hurt if you died.’
“Watch your own, first,” he replies after a moment, as he’s spun around and kissed like he’s only been kissed a few times in his life.
They are heading toward an unknown fate, but at least they’re facing it together.
As a team.
This war will change the world, and he only hopes that they’re all left standing by the end of it.
ロ一
One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
There are advantages, he thinks, to having the Devil Fruit power that he does. When Kuma had decided to blast the whole clearing before leaving, he’s still convinced that the only thing that saved him was switching himself with an unlucky tree on the other side of the grassy area.
It was a noble sacrifice on the tree’s part. However, he had no time to look out for anyone else, and so who knew where his crew (and Kidd’s crew, but that was hardly relevant) currently were.
Whatever the case, though, Kuma has certainly done a number on the island, he thinks, glancing around; many of the mangroves are knocked over and the grass in all directions is flattened. He sighs, resting his fist against the bark of a half-destroyed mangrove tree, and merely blinks when the soft sound of footsteps on grass comes from behind him.
“Eustass.”
“Trafalgar,” Kidd grunts, moving up beside the other man. “I saw you use that fancy switching thing to get out of there.”
“And you?”
“Had to make a little covering of whatever metal I could grab when he let that laser go,” Kidd replies in a rather offhand way; as if his life wasn’t just in jeopardy, and Law rolls his eyes in response.
“You’re laughing at me,” Kidd turns those piecing yellow eyes on him, and he meets them impassively with his icy blue.
“I am most certainly not.”
“Inside you are.”
“Mr. Kidd, this is no time to be flippant. We have bigger things to consider.”
“The war, you mean?”
Law shakes his head. “Yes. The war. Kizaru himself was sent here thanks to Straw-Hat and his crew, and now we’re right in the thick of it. The question is, do we do anything? Do we go to Headquarters and join in the fight, or do we hang back and merely observe?”
“It would be easy to,” Kidd grunts, crossing his arms and staring at the water. “All forces are on their way to HQ for the execution. We could slip away and they’d never know.”
“You’ve heard the news, then?”
“That Portgas and that Straw-Hat boy are brothers? Yes. At least we know where he is,”
“How many aren’t going to make it out of this war?”
And he must have sounded more bitter than he thinks, if the vaguely comforting arm around his shoulders is any indication. Of course, it’s all a little stiff and awkward, because it isn’t like he and Kidd really had any interaction outside of whatever they could scrounge up whenever their ships crossed paths, but the effort is appreciated. “You’re a bleeding heart, Trafalgar.”
“They’ve talked about it since I was a child. Up in the North Blue,” he says vaguely. “They say the war’s been brewing since Roger’s death, and it’s going to change the world.”
“And all because of one man getting captured,” Kidd sounds almost thoughtful, which is strange for him, but Law nods and leans against him, smiling to himself when the taller man makes no snarky comment about it.
“So what do we do?”
When it’s time to live and let die
And you can’t get another try
Something inside this heart has died, you’re in ruins
“We have to go.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
“You don’t have to come with me.”
“What, and let you run to your death alone? You’ve got no crew, Mr. Kidd. It’s only you…you against the World Government,” Law points out, although he’s sure Kidd already knows the truth of it.
“I’ll make it.”
“Don’t be so cocky,” Law snorts, expertly-lined eyes sliding closed. He’s not like Hawkins; he can’t foresee his own death, but if he had to take a stab at guessing, he would put most of his bets on the coming days. “Besides, you’re hopeless without someone to back you up.”
“And you’re any better? You’ve got that ridiculous talking bear that follows you like a lapdog,” Kidd retorts with a sneer, but the tightening of his hand around Law’s arm and the press of black nails through the fabric of his shirt tell him enough.
“So maybe we’re both a little adrift at the moment.”
“You may be adrift, Trafalgar, but I know exactly where I’m headed,” Kidd makes no move to leave, though, although Law can feel how tense he’s becoming. Can sense the blood-lust beginning to rise, and Kidd was nearly insatiable when it came to battle. “So are you joining me, or are you staying here and hiding like a scared child?”
“I’m afraid I don’t quite see why you’re so eager to race toward your death, Mr. Kidd,” Law says, voice rather contemplative as he watches the sun begin to set, turning the sky and sea below it the colour of fresh blood.
“Because it’s going to come someday, and when it does, the stories are not going to say how Eustass Kidd hid in a corner and begged for mercy. My pride couldn’t handle anything less,” Kidd furrows his brow in confusion, as if wondering why Law would even have to ask.
“Maybe I don’t have that obsessive need for posthumous fame,” Law smirks, although he knows Kidd can’t see it.
“Law, just drop the act and tell me straight: you coming or not?” Kidd’s tired of playing games, it seems, and Law takes a deep breath before swiping his hat off of his head and letting his other hand ruffle the short dark strands of hair; holds the hat against his chest almost like an early tribute to those who won’t make it out of this war.
“I’m coming.”
“Good. Let’s go,” Kidd runs a hand down his arm and clasps his hand for the briefest of moments before he turns and walks away, oversized coat flapping in the slight breeze.
Law lets that little half-smile linger on his face for a moment longer before it slips away and his eyes narrow, replacing the hat on his head and turning away from the setting sun; walking toward town and the ship that will carry him to his fate.
Only time would tell if it is carrying him to his death.
エス
Did you try to live on your own
When you burned down the house and home?
‘The last sky you’ll ever see.’
That was what they had told him, and while part of him had accepted long ago that his luck had run out and his death was inevitable, another part refused to believe it, knowing that Luffy won’t abandon him.
Luffy’s coming for him.
And that scares him more than it should. His life is his own, but how can he be expected to accept the fact that, because of him, his brother might end up dying as well? He’s the older sibling; it’s his job to protect Luffy, and what’s happening? Now he has to depend on Luffy to save him.
And he’s heard the talk: Whitebeard will come, they all say. He’ll intercept the ship somewhere during the journey to Headquarters.
And Whitebeard might, if he believes that it’s his own fault Ace lost to Blackbeard; if he believes that Ace will die because of his decision.
But Whitebeard can’t come.
Because that will be the trigger.
And the war will start.
The war…
That may be what hurts the most…how is a man supposed to feel, knowing that, because of him and him alone, countless people will die or be injured? How can a man accept that his death will not bring resolution, but will only cause more destruction?
And he tells himself that it’s silly, believing that he’s the sole factor in starting a war that’s been brewing for twenty-two odd years.
But…
But if he isn’t the cause, he’s something even more frightening:
The catalyst.
Because the leaders of all three sides of this war are directly connected to him, through no fault of his own. His grandfather probably doesn’t care, but he happens to be a Marine Vice-Admiral. His father can rot for all eternity as far as he’s concerned, and yet he’s the leader of the revolution. And his captain should concentrate on looking for the One Piece, but he knows deep down that he’ll come.
The three sides: the pirates, the revolutionaries, and the government.
Clashing.
Because.
Of.
Him.
Did you stand too close to the fire?
Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone
He decides after a while, enjoying the salty breeze in his face and the sun on his dark hair, that he has enough to worry about apart from whether the war is his fault.
But his next (and probably first) train of thought turns inevitably to his brother. Is Luffy safe? Did he make it out of Impel Down alright? And what about his crew, that motley bunch of incredibly good-hearted people that would follow him to the ends of the earth and back?
Because Ace knows that if they’re not with him now, they’re coming.
No, he has to get his mind away from the guilt and focus on something, anything…
“They say all of the Marine higher-ups are gonna be there too, you hear that, boy?”
They’re trying to goad him again, but he doesn’t reply. Hasn’t said a word since they boarded him onto the ship, not since he cried out for his brother in that moment of weakness.
He won’t let them see that he’s eating himself alive with guilt and worry.
He won’t let them know that he’s close to breaking.
Because he won’t break.
He won’t.
“You know some of them personally, don’tcha boy?”
Personally? Like…
And finally, a way to take his mind off of everything appears. Remember the good times with that Captain-turned-Commodore back at the start of the Grand Line. Because even though they spent all of their time chasing and being chased, Ace never really believed that Smoker would capture him.
Heck, Smoker couldn’t capture him: their opposing Logia fruits prevented it.
But he was going to be there, eh?
Pity that,
Well, then, Ace thinks with an invisible smile, he’ll just have to improvise. No matter how hard he’s hurting inside, he won’t let it come to the surface. Smoker’s taught him that much; that man’s stamina and persistence are, quite frankly, inspiring, and the least Ace can do to prove to the older man that he’s not going down defeated is to hold his head high as he’s marched to the execution platform.
And with that thought, a slow fire begins to burn in his chest, spreading warmth through his limbs nearly reminiscent of the ever-burning flame inside of him, as impossible as that is when he’s currently chained in sea-stone. But he can feel the fire; it isn’t dead, as he had once thought when being engulfed by Blackbeard’s darkness. It’s merely dormant; hiding, like a volcano everyone thinks is extinct until the lava bubbles to the surface again.
Luffy will be fine. He’s Luffy.
If Whitebeard comes, he’ll do it because he thinks it’s right, and Ace would never question his captain no matter how singled out he may feel by it.
The war may be inevitable, but that hardly means he has to face it without support or a firm belief that everything’s going to turn out alright.
He knows it will.
Deep inside, he knows it.
And the next time he sees that insufferable Commodore, he’s going to look him straight in the eyes and slap that cocky grin back onto his face; it’s been far too long since he was able to smile freely.
One way or another, it’s all going to end today.
It just helps a little bit believing that he’s going to be alive to see the sun set.
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky
You and I…
It’s been a while since I did a song-fic, but getting the new GD album inspired me enough to do so. I tried the whole present-tense thing again, so I hope that it worked! Once again I can’t promise when the next one will be, but I hope that everyone enjoyed :D
I blatantly used a quote from POTC as well, but it seemed to fit, so I decided to keep it in there…
On another note, the chapter page for this week’s OP chapter? Priceless. Okama with nets and Sanji failing hardcore xP
And please drop me a comment :)