#alloveragainseries

02. FLATLINE

→ for three minutes, you were gone

theme: withdrawal 🌧️

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

You came back slowly.

It didn’t feel like waking up. It felt like being pulled out of something warm and heavy and wrong all at once—like your body was being forced to remember how to exist again.

Air hit your lungs too hard. Too fast. Like it was punishing you for ever leaving. And the first sounds you understood weren’t comfort—they were panic. Your name breaking in someone’s throat. Someone crying like they couldn’t stop.

And when your eyes finally opened, it wasn’t relief that greeted you. It was fear. Not just yours. Theirs too. Like you had come back too close to something that had already accepted you were gone.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ZORO ✦

When you woke up, Zoro didn’t breathe right for a moment.

He just looked at you like looking away would make it real again. Like if he blinked, he’d be back in those three minutes where nothing moved and everything felt wrong.

After that, he noticed the shift without needing anyone to say it. You didn’t come close anymore. Not naturally. Not like before. Even when you stood near him, there was hesitation in your body—like something in you had decided distance was safer than trust.

He could’ve fixed it. He knew that. One step forward, one word.

But every time he thought about it, he remembered how still you looked before you came back. And suddenly, his own presence felt like something dangerous.

So he stayed where he was. Even when it hurt. Even when it felt like losing you in slow motion.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SANJI ✦

When you woke up, Sanji broke before he could even speak.

Your name left him like relief and fear at the same time—like he didn’t know which one was stronger. His hands were already checking you, already confirming you were real, even though his eyes kept shaking like they didn’t believe it yet.

After that, he never stopped taking care of you. Not once. Tea, food, medicine—everything perfect, everything careful, like if he controlled enough details, nothing like that moment could ever happen again.

But you started going quieter around him. Not rude. Not distant in a loud way. Just… slipping away in small pieces. Less eye contact. Softer answers. Like looking at him too long brought back something you didn’t want to feel again.

And he noticed. Of course he noticed.

But he stopped asking because your silence already felt like an answer he didn’t know how to survive hearing out loud.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LUFFY ✦

When you woke up, Luffy smiled like nothing in the world had ever gone wrong.

“You’re here,” he said, like it was simple. Like it was fixed. Like the universe had just returned something it owed him.

But that version of happiness didn’t last. Because you didn’t laugh the same way anymore. You didn’t react the same way. There was a space in you now that didn’t answer him back, even when you were sitting right beside him.

So he tried harder. Stayed closer. Talked more. Like if he filled every gap, nothing else could slip in.

Because Luffy didn’t understand distance.

But he understood what it felt like to lose someone and not know how it happened. And that scared him more than anything.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LAW ✦

When your heartbeat came back, Law didn’t say anything for a long time.

He just stood there, watching numbers stabilize, watching reality return in the most clinical way possible—because if he didn’t make it clinical, he wasn’t sure he could stay standing.

After that, he changed without announcing it. Subtle. Controlled. Distance built into every step like a decision he made to protect both of you.

Because he remembered too clearly what it felt like when you didn’t exist in the room anymore. When there was only silence and waiting and nothing he could fix no matter how precise he tried to be.

So he kept space between you. Not because he wanted it—but because closeness now felt like something that came with a cost he wasn’t ready to pay again.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ACE ✦

When you woke up, Ace laughed too fast. Too loud. Like sound could cover up fear before it showed.

“Don’t do that again,” he said, stepping closer immediately—like if he didn’t touch reality, it might disappear again. But his voice cracked halfway through anyway.

Because he remembered too clearly what came before it. The stillness. The panic. The three minutes where he thought he had lost you without being able to do anything about it.

After that, he stopped realizing when he was stepping back.

Jokes stayed. Smiles stayed. But something in him always paused now—like his body didn’t fully trust you were still here until he looked twice.

So he stayed close enough to see you. Never close enough to feel that fear again.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SABO ✦

When you woke up, Sabo exhaled like he had been holding his breath for days.

“Good,” he said softly. “You’re awake.” But it didn’t sound like relief only—it sounded like something fragile finally not breaking.

After that, he started coming less. Not because he didn’t want to see you—but because seeing you made everything inside him tighten. Relief. Guilt. Fear. All tangled together in ways he couldn’t separate anymore.

He kept thinking about how close he came to losing you completely. About how easily it could’ve gone the other way.

So he stayed away in safer ways. Words instead of presence. Distance instead of risk. Anything that let him care without standing too close to the edge again.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

You felt it before you understood it.

The space between conversations. The way people stopped staying near you for too long. The way your name was spoken more carefully now, like it had weight it didn’t used to have.

At first, you told yourself it was healing. Recovery. Time doing what it always does after something breaks.

But then you realized something worse.

They weren’t leaving you.

They were just afraid of what it cost to almost lose you—and that fear was turning into distance you could feel even when nobody said it out loud.

So you stopped reaching first. Not to test them. Just to see if the silence would finally mean something when you weren’t the one holding it together anymore.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

← previous: 02. FLATLINE ✦ masterlist ✦ next → 04. TRUTH

theme: confrontation ⚡

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

It didn’t come out all at once. It built inside you until there was no space left to swallow it back down.

The silence after you spoke felt louder than anything else. Like the air itself had stopped moving, waiting for someone to pretend this wasn’t happening. But you couldn’t take it back anymore. You didn’t want to.

“I was right there,” you said, voice trembling now. “But it still felt like I was alone.” And saying it didn’t fix anything. It just made the emptiness between you all impossible to ignore.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ZORO ✦

Zoro didn’t answer immediately.

His jaw tightened instead, like your words hit something he couldn’t block in time. Because he understood you too well to pretend he didn’t.

“I didn’t leave you,” he said finally, but it sounded heavier than before. Less like a defense. More like something he was trying not to lose control over.

Then quieter—almost like it cost him something to admit it—“I just… stopped coming closer.”

And that was the truth neither of you said out loud before now.

Not absence. Distance.

Because he was scared of watching you disappear again if he let himself get too close.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SANJI ✦

Sanji looked like your words landed somewhere deeper than he expected.

“I was trying to protect you,” he said quickly—but even he didn’t sound convinced anymore.

Because protection shouldn’t feel like being handled carefully from a distance. It shouldn’t feel like someone standing at the edge of your life instead of inside it.

“I thought if I stayed too close,” he admitted softer, “I’d break something I couldn’t fix.”

His hands curled slightly at his side.

“But I think I already broke it anyway,” he said, voice lower now. “Just differently.”

And for once, he didn’t try to smile it away.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LUFFY ✦

Luffy blinked like he didn’t understand at first.

“But I was with you,” he said immediately. Simple. Certain. Like that should’ve been enough to end the conversation.

But the longer he looked at you, the less certain he became. Because he remembered now—the quiet parts. The moments where you stopped reacting the same way. The places where his presence didn’t reach you anymore.

“I didn’t know you felt alone,” he said finally, voice smaller than before.

And that realization hit harder than anything else for him.

Because Luffy never thought presence could still feel like absence.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LAW ✦

Law didn’t deny anything.

“I kept distance on purpose,” he said finally, voice controlled but not cold. “After what happened.”

Your silence made him continue. Not because he wanted to, but because he couldn’t stop the truth once it started.

“I thought it would make it easier if something like that happened again,” he admitted. “If I wasn’t too close to lose control over it.”

His eyes didn’t leave you.

“But I see now,” he added quietly, “that I was preparing for you to disappear instead of letting you stay.”

And that was the first time his control cracked just slightly.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ACE ✦

Ace tried to laugh—but it didn’t land right.

“That’s not fair,” he said first, rubbing the back of his neck. But even he didn’t sound sure what he was defending anymore.

Because he remembered too clearly what happened when your heart stopped. The panic. The helplessness. The three minutes that felt like something permanent breaking.

“I didn’t leave,” he said quieter. “I just didn’t know how to act after that.”

His smile flickered—but didn’t fully come back.

“And maybe I stayed stuck in that moment more than I should’ve.”

Then, almost like it hurt to say:

“But I was still here.”

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SABO ✦

Sabo exhaled before speaking. Like he already knew this was going to hurt.

“I didn’t stop caring,” he said carefully. “I just thought giving you space was the right thing.”

But even as he said it, his expression tightened—because he could hear how wrong it sounded now.

“I didn’t realize it would feel like I was stepping away,” he admitted softer. “Like you were recovering alone.”

His gaze dropped for a moment before returning to you.

“When you woke up,” he continued, “I thought I was helping you by not overwhelming you.”

A pause.

“But I think I just made sure you healed without me in it.”

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

The room stayed quiet after that.

Not peaceful quiet. Heavy quiet. The kind that sits on your chest and doesn’t move.

You had survived something that should’ve ended you.

But standing there, hearing everything finally said out loud, you realized something worse had happened after survival.

You came back…

but nothing came back the same way you did.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

theme: regret 🤍

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

You didn’t slam the door. You didn’t make it dramatic.

That was the worst part.

It was quiet when you decided. Quiet when you stopped explaining yourself. Quiet when you realized you had already been leaving long before your feet ever moved.

Because somewhere between recovery and truth, you stopped expecting to be understood. And once that expectation died, staying started feeling like begging.

So you left emotionally first. And no one noticed until it was already too late to fix gently.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ZORO ✦

Zoro noticed the silence before anything else.

Not your absence—your presence without reach. You were still there, but not there with him. Like something had quietly closed between you and everyone else.

“Hey,” he said once, rougher than usual. “Look at me.”

But you did. And it didn’t change anything. That was what hit him.

Because for the first time, he realized strength wasn’t what kept people close. And he had been relying on it too much instead of speaking when it mattered.

“Don’t do this,” he said lower. Not command. Not order.

It sounded like he was asking you not to disappear in front of him again.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SANJI ✦

Sanji was already breaking before he spoke.

“I’m sorry,” he said immediately, too fast, like if he didn’t say it first you’d never hear it at all.

But you didn’t react the way he expected. No anger. No comfort. Just exhaustion.

And that scared him more.

Because he finally understood that being careful had turned into distance, and distance had turned into losing you without realizing it was happening.

“Please,” he said again, softer now, voice cracking at the edges. “Tell me what to do. I’ll fix it. I swear I will.”

But there was nothing left in your expression asking to be fixed anymore.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LUFFY ✦

Luffy looked at you like you were slipping out of something only he could see.

“Hey… wait,” he said, confused at first. Then louder. “Wait, don’t go like that.”

But you weren’t walking away fast. You were just… not coming back emotionally anymore.

And that confused him in a way physical distance never did.

Because Luffy understood chasing. He didn’t understand losing someone who was still standing right in front of him.

“Why are you leaving?” he asked, voice smaller now.

Not angry. Not playful. Just scared.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LAW ✦

Law realized it in pieces. Too late, as always.

Not when you left the room—but when you stopped needing anything from it.

“You’ve already decided,” he said quietly. Not accusation. Observation.

And that was what made it worse. Because he was right.

“I miscalculated,” he admitted after a pause, voice tighter than usual. “I thought distance would prevent harm.”

A bitter breath.

“But I didn’t account for what it does when it becomes the only thing left.”

His eyes stayed on you longer than before.

Not clinical now. Not controlled. Just… aware that he had been losing you in slow motion without realizing it.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ACE ✦

Ace didn’t joke this time. Not immediately.

He just stared for a second too long. Like he was trying to find the version of this where it wasn’t real.

“You’re really doing this?” he asked quietly.

Then his voice broke mid-sentence.

“No—don’t,” he said suddenly, stepping forward like instinct. Like panic. “Don’t shut us out like that.”

But he stopped himself halfway, fists clenched like he didn’t trust his own body anymore.

“I can’t lose you again,” he admitted, voice lower now. “Not like that. Not like before.”

And for once, there was no laughter left to hide behind.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SABO ✦

Sabo already looked like he understood too much.

Not surprise. Regret recognition.

“I did this,” he said quietly, almost immediately. “Didn’t I?”

He wasn’t asking for comfort. He was confirming damage.

Because he could see it now—the slow withdrawal, the emotional distance, the way you had stopped reaching before anyone noticed you weren’t asking anymore.

“I thought giving you space was kindness,” he said softer. “But I think I just taught you how to leave without needing to run.”

His voice cracked slightly at the end.

“Please… don’t let that be the ending I caused.”

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

You didn’t answer right away.

Not because you didn’t hear them. But because for the first time, everyone finally sounded like they were afraid of losing you in the same way you had been afraid of being left.

And that changed something. Not fixed it. Not healed it.

Just made it real in a different direction.

You stayed still.

Not returning. Not leaving.

Just… existing in the space where both hurt too much to choose immediately.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

theme: letting go 🍂

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

It didn’t feel like a decision at first.

It felt like exhaustion. The kind that sits in your bones after too many things unsaid, too many moments where you tried to reach and nothing reached back in the same way.

You watched them after the silence of that night. After the truth. After everything finally broke open instead of hiding underneath it.

And something inside you went still in a different way than before. Not fear this time. Not confusion.

Clarity.

“If this is what staying feels like,” you said quietly, “then I don’t want to keep hurting like this just to be near you.”

Nobody interrupted you.

That was the worst part.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ZORO ✦

Zoro felt it before you even finished speaking.

That shift in your voice. The kind that doesn’t ask anymore. The kind that’s already decided.

“You’re leaving,” he said, not as a question. Just recognition.

His hand tightened at his side, like his body wanted to move before his pride allowed it. But he didn’t step forward. Not this time.

Because he understood something too clearly now—every time he stayed quiet, every time he chose distance instead of honesty, he had been pushing you closer to this moment without meaning to.

And now that it was here… he didn’t know how to pull you back without hurting you again.

So he didn’t try.

That was the first time his silence felt like loss instead of protection.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SANJI ✦

Sanji looked like he forgot how to breathe for a second.

“Wait—no,” he said immediately, but it wasn’t strong. It was broken at the edges. Like he didn’t expect it to come out of his mouth so late.

Because he had spent so long trying to be careful with you that he didn’t realize careful had started feeling like distance. Like absence in smaller doses.

“I can fix this,” he said quickly, stepping forward before stopping himself. Like he was afraid even movement would push you further away.

But your expression didn’t change.

And that’s when he understood—this wasn’t something he could fix with care anymore.

It needed time he hadn’t given you when it mattered.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LUFFY ✦

Luffy didn’t understand it right away.

“You’re… leaving?” he repeated, like the word didn’t fit you at all. Like it belonged somewhere else in a story that wasn’t supposed to be yours.

His hands lifted slightly, then dropped again. Like he didn’t know where to put them anymore.

“You don’t have to,” he said, softer now. Almost uncertain. “We can fix it. I can—”

But even he stopped.

Because he remembered too many moments where “we can fix it” wasn’t enough.

And this time, you weren’t asking. You were telling.

That was what made it real for him.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LAW ✦

Law didn’t react immediately.

That was his first mistake. Or maybe his last defense.

When he finally spoke, it was controlled. “This is not a medically sound decision.”

But even he heard how wrong that sounded in a moment like this.

You gave him a look that said you weren’t something he could analyze into staying anymore.

And something in him tightened—because he knew exactly what this was. Not impulse. Not confusion.

It was consequence.

“I understand,” he said after a pause. And that was the closest thing to begging he allowed himself.

But he didn’t stop you.

Because he knew what happens when someone stays out of obligation instead of choice.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ACE ✦

Ace laughed first.

It came out wrong immediately. Too sharp. Too fast.

“You’re kidding,” he said, stepping forward like distance itself had betrayed him again.

But when you didn’t laugh back, it stopped working.

His smile cracked at the edges before it could fully form.

“Hey,” he said softer now, like volume could fix what words couldn’t. “Don’t do that.”

And that was the first time he sounded afraid of you choosing yourself over staying.

Because he thought surviving meant you’d stay.

He didn’t think surviving would mean leaving anyway.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SABO ✦

Sabo already knew before you said it.

That was the worst part.

He just stood there quietly for a second too long, like he was trying to find a version of this conversation where he wasn’t already losing.

“You’re not wrong,” he said finally. Carefully. Softly. Like every word had to be chosen not to break you further.

But that honesty didn’t stop the weight in his chest from sinking.

“I just wish I had done better before it reached this point,” he admitted.

Not to stop you.

Just to deserve you staying a little longer.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

Nobody followed you right away.

That silence wasn’t empty this time. It was full of everything they didn’t say fast enough.

You stood at the edge of it all and finally understood something you didn’t want to.

Sometimes people don’t lose you in one moment.

They lose you slowly… in every moment they thought time would forgive later.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

← previous: 04. TRUTH✦ masterlist ✦ next → 06. PLEASE

10. HOME → finally… everything is okay

theme: forgiveness 🌙

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

Forgiveness didn’t come like relief. It came like exhaustion settling into something quieter.

You didn’t suddenly feel whole. You didn’t suddenly feel safe. You just stopped holding everything inside your chest like it was going to explode if you loosened your grip.

“I forgive you,” you said eventually. And it didn’t sound like the ending they expected.

It sounded like the beginning of something harder.

Because forgiveness didn’t erase what happened. It just meant you were too tired to keep carrying it alone.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ZORO ✦

Zoro didn’t react immediately. Not because he didn’t care—but because he didn’t trust what he was hearing at first.

“You don’t have to say that just to keep things calm,” he said lowly.

But you shook your head slightly. No anger. No hesitation. Just truth.

“I’m not saying it to make it calm,” you replied. “I’m saying it because I can’t keep living inside that moment anymore.”

That made him go quiet.

Because he understood something about you right then—you weren’t forgiving them because it was easy. You were forgiving them because staying in pain was harder than letting it exist and still moving forward anyway.

And for the first time, Zoro didn’t know how to respond without feeling like words would break something fragile again.

So he just stayed. Close, but careful. Learning what “staying” actually meant now.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SANJI ✦

Sanji looked like he didn’t believe he deserved it.

“You… you really mean that?” he asked quietly. Like saying it too loud would make it disappear.

You didn’t smile. But your voice softened.

“I don’t hate you,” you said. “That doesn’t mean I’m okay.”

That hit him harder than anger ever could.

Because he had been preparing for rejection. Not this in-between space where he was forgiven but still responsible for what he had done to the space between you.

“I was scared of losing you,” he admitted finally. “So I kept you at a distance I thought I could control.”

His hands tightened slightly.

“But I didn’t realize I was just teaching you how to be alone even when I was right there.”

And for once, he didn’t try to fix it with food, care, or structure. He just stayed near you and didn’t move away this time.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LUFFY ✦

Luffy didn’t fully understand forgiveness when you said it.

“You’re not mad anymore?” he asked, head tilted slightly.

You exhaled softly.

“I’m still hurt,” you said honestly. “That doesn’t go away just because I forgive you.”

He blinked at that. Slowly processing it in his own way.

Then he nodded like it made sense in a way he didn’t have words for yet.

“Okay,” he said simply. Then, softer—almost careful—“I’ll stay better this time.”

And for Luffy, that wasn’t a promise of perfection. It was a promise of awareness. Of not repeating absence without noticing it again.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LAW ✦

Law didn’t ask for forgiveness. Not directly.

He looked at you for a long time before speaking. Like he was calculating whether he deserved to.

“You’re choosing to move forward,” he said quietly.

Not a question. A recognition.

You nodded once.

That should’ve been enough for him to step back into control. But it wasn’t.

“I can’t undo what I did,” he admitted after a pause. “But I can adjust my approach moving forward.”

A pause again. Then quieter—less clinical than before.

“And this time, I won’t assume distance is the same as safety.”

It wasn’t apology in the usual sense. It was accountability in his language. And that was how he showed he was staying.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ACE ✦

Ace didn’t know what to do with forgiveness at first.

“You’re really too nice for your own good,” he said, trying to smile—but it didn’t fully land.

You glanced at him.

“I didn’t say I’m fine,” you reminded him.

That made him stop.

Because he realized you weren’t returning to how things were before. You were just… not leaving completely. And that difference mattered.

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly, quieter than usual. “For how I handled it. For acting like jokes could fix it.”

His hand lifted slightly, then dropped again like he didn’t know where he was allowed to put it anymore.

“I’ll do better,” he added. “Even if I don’t know how yet.”

And for once, he didn’t hide behind humor to say it.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SABO ✦

Sabo looked like he had been waiting for this and dreading it at the same time.

“You don’t owe me forgiveness,” he said immediately.

But you shook your head slightly.

“I know,” you replied. “That’s why I’m giving it anyway.”

That made something in his expression shift—soften, but not heal.

Because forgiveness didn’t erase responsibility. It just removed the weight of constant punishment from the present.

“I thought space was respect,” he admitted quietly. “But I think I used it as avoidance.”

His voice lowered.

“I won’t do that again.”

And for the first time, he didn’t step away after saying it.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

Nothing went back to normal.

That was the first truth you accepted.

But something else started instead—not healing yet, not fully—but staying in the same space without breaking it further every time someone breathed wrong.

You were still hurt. Still tired. Still carrying everything that happened.

But now, you weren’t carrying it alone in silence anymore.

And for the first time since everything began falling apart…

that felt like a small kind of peace.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦