「wanted: dead or delusional」

10. HOME → finally… everything is okay

theme: belonging 🤍

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

It didn’t feel real at first.

Even after all the apologies, even after all the shaking voices and broken confessions, your chest still waited for something to go wrong. Like peace was just another fragile thing the world could take back whenever it wanted.

But nothing broke this time.

No one left. No one stepped away. No silence turned sharp.

Just… closeness.

Warm, messy, human closeness.

And when you finally exhaled properly, it didn’t feel like giving up. It felt like coming back.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ZORO ✦

Zoro was the first to move closer—but this time, you met him halfway.

His eyes softened slightly when you didn’t hesitate. Like something inside him finally loosened after being tight for too long.

“…You’re really okay with this?” he asked quietly.

You nodded.

And then you pulled him in.

That was all it took for him to break completely in his own way. Not loudly—but deeply. His arms wrapped around you like instinct, like memory, like relief he didn’t know how to carry properly.

“I almost lost you,” he said against your shoulder, voice rough. “And I didn’t know how to fix it in time.”

Your hand slid into his hair gently, grounding him.

And for the first time, Zoro didn’t stand guard over distance. He let himself fall into you completely—forehead pressed to yours, breath uneven, eyes shut like he was afraid to see a world without you again.

And you held him back just as tightly.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SANJI ✦

Sanji looked like he was still afraid to take that step.

“I’m sorry,” he said immediately, voice shaking. “I’m so sorry for everything I made you feel.”

But you didn’t let him spiral into guilt this time.

You stepped forward first.

And when your hands reached for him, he froze—like he didn’t expect forgiveness to feel like touch.

Then he broke.

Not into collapse, but into emotion he couldn’t hold back anymore. He pulled you into his arms like he had been holding back a flood for too long.

“I didn’t know how to stay without hurting you,” he admitted, voice cracking. “I thought I was protecting you… but I just made you feel alone.”

You shook your head gently and kissed his forehead.

And that was it for him.

He held you tighter, burying his face against your shoulder, crying quietly like relief didn’t know where else to go.

And you held him through all of it.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LUFFY ✦

Luffy didn’t even try to hold back.

The moment he saw you fully there, he reached for you like instinct.

“You’re really okay,” he said, like he needed to hear it out loud.

And when you nodded, his expression cracked into something overwhelmed and soft.

“I was scared,” he admitted suddenly, voice smaller than usual. “I didn’t know how to fix it when you were gone.”

You stepped closer first this time.

And that made him freeze for half a second before he grabbed you gently—then pulled you in fully, like he had been waiting for permission he didn’t know how to ask for.

His arms wrapped around you tightly, face buried into your shoulder as his breathing hitched.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’ll stay better. I promise.”

And you kissed his head softly until he finally relaxed into you completely.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LAW ✦

Law didn’t move at first. Not because he didn’t want to—but because he didn’t trust himself to do it right.

“You’re certain?” he asked quietly. “About this… about me being close?”

You didn’t answer with words. You just reached for his hand.

That was enough.

His grip tightened slightly, controlled but no longer distant. Like something in him finally stopped resisting the idea of staying.

“I miscalculated,” he admitted after a pause. “I thought distance would prevent damage. It didn’t.”

Then, softer:

“I should’ve stayed closer.”

And when you leaned into him, he finally let himself hold you properly. Not as a doctor. Not as someone calculating risk. Just as someone who almost lost you and couldn’t afford to again.

His forehead rested against yours briefly, eyes closed.

And for once, he didn’t step away afterward.

Neither did you.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ACE ✦

Ace tried to act like he was fine.

“Man… this is kinda embarrassing,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

But his voice cracked halfway through.

And then you hugged him first.

That was it.

He broke immediately—arms wrapping around you like relief had been waiting too long to come out.

“I was so scared,” he admitted, voice rough and unsteady. “I thought I lost you again… I didn’t know how to handle it after you came back.”

You held him tighter, and he let out a shaky breath like something finally gave up inside him.

“I’m sorry,” he said into your shoulder. “I didn’t know how to stay without messing it up.”

You kissed his temple softly.

And he just clung to you like he never wanted to learn what absence felt like again.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SABO ✦

Sabo looked at you like he was afraid of hope.

“I should’ve been there more,” he said quietly. “Not from a distance. Not after. There.”

His voice cracked slightly.

And when you stepped into him first, he finally stopped holding himself together.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he pulled you in. “For making you feel like you had to survive that alone.”

His arms shook slightly around you—not weak, just overwhelmed.

And then he cried. Quietly. Fully.

Not because he was losing you—

but because he finally wasn’t.

And you held him through it, steady and warm, until his breathing slowed into something calmer.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

Eventually, everything softened into something real.

Not perfect. Not erased. But held.

You were in the middle of them now—not separate, not distant, not waiting to be left behind again.

Zoro’s arm stayed around you like a promise. Sanji leaned against you like he was finally allowed to rest. Luffy curled into your side like he belonged there. Law stayed close without calculating space anymore. Ace held onto your hand like he had learned what losing it felt like. Sabo rested near you like he had finally stopped running from staying.

And you?

You held them back.

Not because you were afraid they’d leave again.

But because you finally believed they wouldn’t.

And as their breathing slowed, as exhaustion and relief finally won over everything else, they drifted into sleep around you one by one—

safe, tangled, warm.

And for the first time…

you didn’t feel like you were surviving them.

You felt like you had them.

All of them.

And they had you too.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

← previous: 09. STAYED

✦ masterlist ✦

09. STAYED → they stayed

theme: trust ❤️‍🩹

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

You didn’t notice the exact moment things stopped feeling like they were about to break again.

It wasn’t dramatic. There was no apology that fixed everything, no sudden conversation that stitched the damage back together in one clean moment. It was slower than that. Almost unfairly quiet.

It was waking up and realizing no one had left. It was saying something small and not being met with hesitation or distance. It was sitting in silence and not feeling like you had to prepare for it to turn into abandonment.

But even then… you still waited for it to fall apart.

Because part of you still remembered what it felt like when “staying” didn’t last.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ZORO ✦

Zoro stayed closer now, but not in a way that felt suffocating or loud. It was just… constant.

He didn’t apologize often with words. When he did, it came out rough, like it wasn’t something he was used to carrying out loud.

“…I should’ve noticed sooner,” he said once, voice low. “Before it got this bad between us.”

It wasn’t an excuse. It was acknowledgment. And for him, that meant everything.

Now, when you got quiet, he didn’t retreat into distance anymore. He stayed where you could see him, like he was learning how to exist without disappearing when things felt uncomfortable.

And one night, when you finally looked at him properly instead of looking past him, his expression shifted—like something in him finally loosened after being tight for too long.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SANJI ✦

Sanji tried to apologize more than once.

Not the polished kind he used to give. Not the careful ones meant to smooth things over. These were messier. Real.

“I didn’t mean for you to feel alone,” he said, voice shaking slightly. “But I still made you feel that way, didn’t I?”

And you didn’t answer immediately. Because the truth didn’t feel simple anymore.

He looked at you like he was afraid of your silence more than your anger.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, softer this time. “I’m really sorry… for making love feel like distance.”

That broke something in his voice. Not loudly. Just enough that you could see he had finally understood the weight of it.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LUFFY ✦

Luffy still smiled. Still reached. Still stayed loud when things got quiet.

But now, he also paused. Like he was checking if you were still with him before pulling you into his world.

“Hey,” he said one day, softer than usual. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like you were alone before.”

You blinked at him.

He scratched the back of his head, expression unusually unsure. “I thought staying close was enough… I didn’t know it could still hurt like that.”

And for once, his voice didn’t carry certainty. It carried regret.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I’ll do better this time.”

And somehow, you believed he meant it. Not because he was perfect—but because he stayed even after realizing he wasn’t.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LAW ✦

Law didn’t apologize often. When he did, it sounded like something carefully pulled apart instead of spoken freely.

“I miscalculated,” he said quietly. “I thought distance would prevent harm.”

His eyes didn’t leave you, but his voice softened slightly.

“It didn’t.”

That was all he said at first. Then a pause.

“I should have accounted for how it would feel to you instead of only what it meant logically.”

It wasn’t emotional in the way others were. But it was honest in a way that meant more coming from him.

And for the first time, he didn’t step back after saying something difficult. He stayed in it with you.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ACE ✦

Ace tried to joke at first—but it didn’t last.

“Guess I messed that up pretty bad, huh?” he said, trying to laugh. But it broke halfway through.

Then he stopped pretending.

“I’m sorry,” he said more quietly. “For acting like I could just laugh it off and it wouldn’t stay with you.”

His hands clenched slightly at his sides like he didn’t know what to do with them anymore.

“I was scared,” he admitted. “And I made it your problem instead of dealing with it.”

That was the first time he didn’t try to hide behind humor at all.

And the silence after felt heavier—but more real.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SABO ✦

Sabo looked at you like he had been carrying guilt for too long without realizing how visible it had become.

“I should’ve stayed,” he said quietly. “I kept thinking space was the right thing… but it just became absence.”

His voice cracked slightly on the last word.

“I’m sorry,” he added. “For making you feel like you were recovering alone.”

And that was the first time he didn’t try to explain it away. He just let the regret exist.

Because this time, he wasn’t trying to fix the past. He was trying not to repeat it.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

You didn’t answer right away.

Because something in your chest felt too full to turn into words immediately.

They were all here. Still here. Saying things they hadn’t said when it mattered most. Trying now, when everything already hurt differently.

And you wanted to be angry still. Part of you was.

But another part… was just tired.

So when you finally spoke, your voice didn’t come out strong. It came out fragile.

“I’m still scared,” you admitted. “That one day I’ll wake up and it’ll all go back to how it was before.”

No one interrupted you.

And that silence—this time—was different. It didn’t feel empty. It felt like listening.

Zoro looked away first, jaw tight. Sanji’s hands trembled slightly. Luffy’s smile faded completely. Law closed his eyes for a moment. Ace exhaled like he didn’t trust his voice. Sabo stepped half a step closer before stopping himself.

“I don’t want to go through that again,” you whispered.

And that was when it finally broke.

Not into separation.

But into something raw and shared.

Zoro turned his head slightly, like he was forcing himself not to look away. “Neither do I.”

Sanji’s voice came out broken. “I’m sorry… I really am.”

Luffy stepped forward first, slower this time. “I’m here,” he said, almost pleading.

Law didn’t speak—but he didn’t move away either.

Ace laughed once, sharp and wet at the same time, like he hated how real this felt. “Yeah… me too.”

Sabo’s voice barely held. “I won’t leave again.”

And then it wasn’t held in anymore.

You didn’t even realize you were crying until your breath hitched and your vision blurred.

And one by one, so were they.

Not loudly at first. Not all at once. Just the kind of crying that comes when holding it in for too long finally stops working.

Zoro turned away, shoulders tight. Sanji wiped his face quickly like he was angry at himself. Luffy’s hands shook as he stayed close but didn’t know what to do with it. Law looked down, silent, expression controlled but eyes not. Ace covered his face, laughing through it like it hurt. Sabo finally let his composure crack fully, breathing uneven.

And you—

you cried too.

Not alone this time.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

theme: recovery 🌱

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

Healing didn’t arrive like something you could point at and call progress. It came in uneven pieces—good days that made you believe things were finally getting better, and bad days that pulled you right back into places you thought you’d already left behind.

Some mornings you woke up and it felt almost normal again. Other mornings, silence hit too loudly and your chest tightened like nothing had ever changed at all. And the worst part was how unpredictable it all was—how healing refused to follow any kind of pattern you could trust.

But slowly, something began to shift. Not the pain disappearing, but the way you carried it. You stopped hiding every crack. You stopped pretending you were fine when you weren’t. And for the first time, you let yourself exist in front of others without shrinking away from your own feelings.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ZORO ✦

Zoro didn’t suddenly become gentler. He didn’t need to. What changed was the way he stayed.

He stopped assuming silence meant you wanted space from him. Instead, he started reading it differently—sometimes as exhaustion, sometimes as uncertainty, sometimes just as you existing without needing to explain yourself.

“You don’t have to carry everything alone,” he said one day, low and steady, like it wasn’t advice but something he had finally accepted as truth.

At first, you didn’t respond. And he didn’t push. He just stayed close enough that if you did need him, you wouldn’t have to search for him in order to ask.

That was his version of healing. Not fixing. Not forcing. Just remaining present even when things were quiet.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SANJI ✦

Sanji learned that care wasn’t supposed to feel like pressure.

At first, he tried to fix everything the way he always did—food, routines, attention, constant checking in—but slowly he noticed something important. You weren’t falling apart anymore. You were just… tired of being treated like you might.

So he changed. Carefully. Hesitantly.

He started sitting beside you without always speaking. Letting silence exist without rushing to fill it. Letting you decide the pace instead of trying to anticipate every need before you even voiced it.

“You don’t have to keep checking if I’m okay every second,” you said once, softer than before.

And he froze for a moment—because that sentence wasn’t rejection. It was trust in its earliest form.

So he nodded, slowly, like he was learning something new about love that didn’t require constant fixing to be real.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LUFFY ✦

Luffy didn’t change in dramatic ways. He never really did.

He still showed up loudly, suddenly, like he was incapable of understanding the idea of emotional distance. He still dragged you into conversations, meals, chaos—like staying close was the only way he knew how to care.

But now, there were pauses. Small ones. Almost unnoticeable to anyone else.

“Hey… you okay?” he’d ask in the middle of noise, like it suddenly mattered whether you were still with him in that moment.

And sometimes you were. Sometimes you weren’t. But he stayed either way.

Because Luffy didn’t heal by analyzing people. He healed by refusing to disappear from their lives again once he realized what absence had done before.

And slowly, your laughter stopped feeling like something you had to force—and started feeling like something that could happen on its own again.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LAW ✦

Law observed everything like he always did—but now, it wasn’t just observation. It was awareness.

He noticed the subtle things first: fewer pauses in your voice, less hesitation when answering, less tension in your shoulders when someone entered the room. Not perfect. Not finished. But changing.

“You’re stabilizing,” he said once, almost quietly to himself.

Then, after a beat, he added—“That’s a good sign.”

It wasn’t emotional in the way others were. But it wasn’t distant either. It was careful acknowledgment from someone who understood how fragile recovery actually was.

And for Law, that was how care looked now. Not overstepping. Not withdrawing. Just recognizing progress without trying to control it.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ACE ✦

Ace still struggled with silence. That part didn’t disappear.

But instead of filling every quiet moment with jokes, he started learning when to just… stay in it with you. No performance. No distraction. Just presence.

“Still here,” he’d say sometimes, randomly, like a reminder for both of you.

And you noticed something different—he didn’t joke about your near-death anymore. Not the same way. Not as armor. Not as avoidance.

“I don’t wanna scare you again,” he admitted once, scratching the back of his neck, voice quieter than usual. “So I’m trying not to make everything a joke.”

It wasn’t perfect. He still slipped. Still fumbled. But now the effort didn’t hide behind humor—it stood on its own. And that made it real in a way that mattered more than perfection ever could.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SABO ✦

Sabo stopped trying to love you from a safe distance.

He started showing up more often—not always at the right time, not always with the right words—but consistently. And consistency, in his case, was its own kind of apology.

“I missed too much already,” he said quietly once, handing you a letter he could’ve sent instead. “I’m not doing that again.”

He didn’t demand forgiveness. He didn’t rush healing. He just… stayed present in it.

And over time, you stopped flinching when he appeared. That was his version of progress.

Not redemption. Not erasure. Just presence without disappearance.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

Healing wasn’t a straight line. It never became one.

But it became something you could walk through without constantly feeling like you were about to fall off it. Some days were still heavy. Some memories still pulled harder than others. Some silences still felt too loud.

But there were also days where you didn’t think about leaving. Days where you didn’t expect everyone to disappear. Days where you could just exist without preparing for loss.

And slowly, that became enough to keep going.

Not perfect. Not fixed. Not fully healed.

But no longer alone in it.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

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.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

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

04. TRUTH → why would i stay when you already left first?

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.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

03. DISTANCE → if they wanted me there, why did they leave?

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: loss 💔

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ZORO ✦

Zoro didn’t register Chopper’s voice at first.

He only heard fragments—too fast, too sharp. “No heartbeat—” “I’m trying—” “three minutes—” and then nothing made sense anymore except the sight of you lying still on the ground like the world had simply decided to stop holding you.

His hand stayed on his sword, but he wasn’t fighting anymore. Not the enemy. Not the war. Just the unbearable idea that the last time he’d spoken to you might’ve been the last time you ever heard him.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SANJI ✦

Sanji was already moving before he realized it.

One second he was kicking someone across the field, the next he was on his knees beside you, blood on his gloves, hands shaking as Chopper yelled for space. The battlefield noise collapsed into something distant and unreal.

All he could hear was the absence of you. No breath. No reaction. Nothing. And the worst part wasn’t the silence—it was remembering the last thing he said to you before everything went wrong. Something sharp. Something panicked. Something he would’ve taken back a thousand times if he’d known there wouldn’t be a next moment.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LUFFY ✦

Luffy didn’t understand what “no pulse” meant.

Not until he saw Chopper’s face. Not until he saw everyone freeze. Not until he grabbed your shoulder and shook you once—then again—then harder, like sheer force of will could restart something the world had already taken away.

“Hey,” he said, voice too quiet for someone like him. “Stop joking.”

But you didn’t. And for the first time, Luffy just… stopped moving too. Like if he stayed still enough, you’d decide to come back on your own.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LAW ✦

Law didn’t panic easily.

He had seen death too many times to waste emotion on it. That was what he told himself—until he was the one checking your pulse and finding nothing but wrongness under his fingers.

“Again,” he ordered, voice flat. Controlled. Chopper tried again. Nothing changed.

And for a brief, terrifying moment, Law understood something he hated: knowledge didn’t protect him from fear. It just made it sharper. Because he already knew what three minutes meant. And he knew most people never came back from it.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ACE ✦

Ace laughed at first.

Not because it was funny—but because his brain refused to accept what his eyes were seeing. “That’s not—hey, that’s not funny,” he muttered, stepping closer, grin cracking at the edges.

Then he saw Chopper’s hands. Saw the stillness. Saw the way nobody was breathing with you anymore.

And the laugh died in his throat so completely it felt like something was ripping out of him. Because for three minutes, Ace Portgas D. Ace believed he had lost someone again—and this time, he wasn’t sure he’d survive it.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SABO ✦

Sabo arrived late.

That was the first thing he thought when he saw the crowd. Then he saw you. And suddenly time didn’t feel like something moving forward anymore—it felt like something collapsing in on itself.

He dropped to his knees beside you, calling your name once. Then again. Quieter the second time. Like saying it softly enough might fix it.

But there was no answer. Just silence stretching too long, too heavy, too final—until Chopper finally said the words that made his breath stop too: “I got it back… I got a pulse.”

And Sabo realized he had been holding his breath like you were already gone.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

You don’t see it.

Not the screaming. Not the shaking hands. Not the way someone almost broke down right beside you while fighting to bring you back.

All you know is darkness—then noise—then air tearing into your lungs like punishment.

And when you finally open your eyes, everyone looks like they’ve been holding their breath for a lifetime…

like three minutes nearly became forever.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

← previous: 01. LEFT BEHIND ✦ masterlist ✦ next → 03. DISTANCE

01. LEFT BEHIND

→ the day they walked away

theme: abandonment 🥀

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ZORO ✦

The war had lasted four days.

Four days of fighting, blood, screaming, and watching you throw yourself in front of danger over and over again. The last thing Zoro remembered was you taking a hit meant for half the crew before disappearing beneath collapsing debris. When you finally woke up in the infirmary, bruised and barely able to move, he was sitting beside your bed.

For a moment, you thought he'd stayed.

Then he looked at you with tired eyes and sighed. "You need to stop doing that." No I'm glad you're okay. No you scared me. Just frustration. "One day you're gonna get yourself killed trying to save everyone." Before you could answer, he stood up and grabbed his swords.

And then he left. Just like that. Training apparently mattered more than the person who had almost died four days ago.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SANJI ✦

The first thing you saw after waking up was Sanji.

The second thing was the bandages covering almost every part of your body. Relief flooded your chest when you noticed him there, waiting beside your bed. Maybe someone had stayed. Maybe someone had cared enough to wait. Then Sanji started talking.

"Do you have any idea what happened because of that stunt?" His voice was sharper than you'd ever heard it. "Nami-san got hurt trying to get to you!" Never mind the fact that Nami herself had insisted it wasn't your fault. Never mind that you'd nearly died protecting them. Somehow the conversation became about everyone else's pain instead of yours. By the time he stormed out of the room, you felt smaller than when you'd woken up.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LUFFY ✦

Luffy cried when he first saw you awake.

Actually cried.

His eyes filled with tears, his smile huge as he squeezed you into a careful hug and told you how worried everyone had been. For a few minutes, everything felt normal again. Safe. Familiar.

Then Boa arrived.

And suddenly Luffy was being dragged away for food, celebrations, and whatever Boa Hancock wanted. "We'll hang out later!" he promised with that same bright grin. The same grin he always wore. The same promise he'd made a hundred times before.

You watched him leave the room without looking back. Later. Always later.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ LAW ✦

Law didn't visit until hours after you woke up.

You'd expected that much. He was a doctor. He was busy. But when he finally arrived, you found yourself hoping for something. Anything. A sign that almost losing you had mattered.

Instead, Law checked your pulse, adjusted a few bandages, and informed you of your recovery timeline like he was reading a weather report. No emotion. No relief. Nothing.

Then, before leaving, he paused at the door. "If you pull something like that again, I'll leave you on the nearest island myself." The threat was probably meant to stop you from getting hurt. It probably came from concern. But all you heard was that even after nearly dying, you were still a burden.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ ACE ✦

Ace arrived with flowers.

A stupid bouquet he'd probably stolen from somewhere because he definitely hadn't bought them. He dropped into the chair beside your bed and spent ten whole minutes telling you how worried he'd been. For a little while, your chest felt lighter.

Then he laughed.

Actually laughed.

"You know everyone's calling it your hero complex now?" he said. "Seriously, Y/N. You gotta stop acting like you're invincible." Maybe he meant it as a joke. Maybe he was trying to lighten the mood.

But after four days unconscious, hearing your near death reduced to a bad habit felt like a slap across the face.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ SABO ✦

Sabo was the last one to visit.

By then, everyone else had already come and gone. The room felt emptier than before. You thought maybe Sabo would understand. Out of everyone, Sabo was usually the one who listened.

He sat beside your bed and stared at you for a long time before speaking. "You can't keep making people choose between the mission and saving you."

The words weren't cruel. If anything, they sounded tired. But somehow that made them worse. Because it sounded like disappointment. Like the person who always understood you had finally run out of patience. When he left, he squeezed your shoulder gently. But the warmth didn't stay.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ YOU ✦

Maybe they were right.

Maybe throwing yourself into danger had been stupid. Maybe you should've thought more about yourself. Maybe you deserved the lectures, the frustration, the disappointment.

But lying alone in that infirmary bed after four days unconscious, one thought kept repeating inside your head.

Not a single person asked if you were okay.

Not really.

They were worried. Angry. Frustrated. Relieved.

But nobody stayed.

And as the door clicked shut behind the last person, the room suddenly felt very, very quiet.

✦ ━━━━ .°• ♔ •°. ━━━━ ✦

✦ masterlist ✦

One piece men x reader

featuring: Roronoa Zoro, Vinsmoke Sanji, Monkey D. Luffy, Trafalgar D. Water Law & Portgas D. Ace, Sabo

sometimes the hardest thing isn't surviving. sometimes it's learning how to trust the people who hurt you... all over again.

✦ GENRE ✦

angst • hurt/comfort • emotional healing • found family • second chances • comfort • happy ending

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ STATUS ✦

COMPLETED ✓

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ WARNINGS ✦

temporary character death • abandonment issues • panic attacks • emotional neglect • crying • trauma recovery • heavy angst • comfort • emotional dependency themes • near death experience

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ MASTERLIST ✦

01. LEFT BEHIND

→ the day they walked away

They leave when you need them most, hurting you far more than they realize.

Theme: Abandonment 🥀

───── ✧ ─────

02. FLATLINE

→ for three minutes, you were gone

Your heart stops, and for a few terrifying minutes they believe they've lost you forever.

Theme: Loss 💔

───── ✧ ─────

03. DISTANCE

→ if they wanted me there, why did they leave?

After surviving, you start pulling away because you're convinced they don't want you anymore.

Theme: Withdrawal 🌧️

───── ✧ ─────

04. TRUTH

→ why would i stay when you already left first?

Everything you've been holding back finally spills out.

Theme: Confrontation ⚡

───── ✧ ─────

05. GOODBYE

→ oh. they're serious.

Packed bags, quiet goodbyes, and the moment they realize you're actually leaving.

Theme: Letting Go 🍂

───── ✧ ─────

06. PLEASE

→ please don't leave me

No pride. No excuses. Just desperate apologies from people terrified of losing you.

Theme: Regret 🤍

───── ✧ ─────

07. FORGIVE

→ i forgive you, but i'm not okay

You stay, but healing is much harder than forgiveness.

Theme: Forgiveness 🌙

───── ✧ ─────

08. HEALING

→ healing isn't a straight line

The recovery arc. Trust is rebuilt through small moments and everyday choices.

Theme: Recovery 🌱

───── ✧ ─────

09. STAYED

→ they stayed

For the first time, you completely fall apart—and for the first time, nobody leaves.

Theme: Trust ❤️‍🩹

───── ✧ ─────

10. HOME

→ and this time, nobody lets go

A quiet ending filled with love, healing, and the realization that you've finally found your way back to each other.

Theme: Belonging 🤍

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ SERIES THEMES ✦

Part 1: Abandonment 🥀Part 2: Loss 💔Part 3: Distance 🌧️Part 4: Truth ⚡Part 5: Goodbye 🍂Part 6: Regret 🤍Part 7: Forgiveness 🌙Part 8: Healing 🌱Part 9: Trust ❤️‍🩹Part 10: Home 🤍

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ SERIES SUMMARY ✦

When the people you love walk away one too many times, eventually you stop reaching for them.

After being ignored, dismissed, and left behind when you needed them most, you begin to believe a painful truth:

Maybe they don't want you anymore.

Then a mission goes wrong.

For three minutes, your heart stops.

And suddenly the people who took your presence for granted are forced to confront what life would look like without you.

What follows is a story of heartbreak, regret, second chances, and the long road back to trust.

Because sometimes surviving isn't the hard part.

Sometimes the hard part is learning how to love each other...

✦ all over again ✦

they all have a favorite place to kiss you ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡ and they all get a little softer when it comes to you (｡•́‿•̀｡)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Monkey D. Luffy = cheeks

Monkey D. Luffy kisses your cheeks like it is the most natural thing in the world, always rushing in without hesitation, pulling you close first like he cannot wait even a second to feel you near him.

Monkey D. Luffy repeats cheek kisses when excited, each one messy and loud, followed by laughter that makes it clear Luffy is not thinking, only reacting to how happy you make him feel.

Monkey D. Luffy gets extremely clingy when jealous, refusing to let anyone stand too close, immediately wrapping arms around you and pressing your cheeks repeatedly just to make his presence obvious.

Monkey D. Luffy holds your face in both hands when emotional, kissing slower for once, like he suddenly realizes he wants to stay like this without moving away at all.

Monkey D. Luffy never understands subtle affection, so everything becomes obvious—loud kisses, tight hugs, and constant closeness that makes it clear you are his favorite person on the ship.

Roronoa Zoro = forehead

Roronoa Zoro kisses your forehead like it is something unspoken, usually happening in silence when you are just close enough for him to reach without thinking about it too much.

Roronoa Zoro keeps a steady hand on your head or shoulder afterward, like he is grounding you and himself at the same time without needing to explain anything out loud.

Roronoa Zoro becomes noticeably quieter when someone flirts with you, not reacting dramatically but instead stepping closer, positioning himself like a barrier without saying a single word.

Roronoa Zoro pulls you in more firmly when jealous, forehead kiss turning slower and heavier, like a silent warning that he is not in the mood to share your attention.

Roronoa Zoro stays beside you longer than necessary afterward, like distance suddenly feels unnecessary, and his presence alone becomes enough to keep others away.

Black Leg Sanji = back of hand

Black Leg Sanji kisses your hand like it is something sacred every time, always starting by gently holding your fingers first as if asking permission without ever needing words.

Black Leg Sanji looks at you with constant admiration, like every single kiss still feels new to him, no matter how many times he has done it before.

Black Leg Sanji gets visibly more protective when jealous, standing closer without realizing it, eyes sharpening whenever someone gets too comfortable in your space.

Black Leg Sanji keeps your hand longer after kissing it, like letting go feels wrong, and the silence afterward is softer but more emotionally charged than anything he says.

Black Leg Sanji always acts composed in public, but the way he holds your hand tighter shows everything he refuses to say out loud.

Trafalgar D. Water Law = fingers

Trafalgar D. Water Law kisses your fingers slowly, one by one, like he is studying something important but refusing to admit how natural it feels to him.

Trafalgar D. Water Law pulls your hand closer without asking, expression calm and unreadable, but his actions always make it clear he is not planning to let go anytime soon.

Trafalgar D. Water Law becomes quieter when jealous, but his presence grows sharper, like the space around you suddenly shrinks until only he feels close enough.

Trafalgar D. Water Law keeps your hand held firmly even in silence, finger kisses turning repetitive like a habit he uses to stay grounded in the moment.

Trafalgar D. Water Law never looks away for long, like he is memorizing every reaction you have without saying a single word about it.

Sabo = forehead

Sabo kisses your forehead carefully every time, always removing his gloves first like even the smallest barrier does not belong between you and him.

Sabo stays close after pulling away, like distance feels unnecessary once he has already touched you like that.

Sabo becomes quieter when jealous, but noticeably more protective, positioning himself closer without making it obvious to others around you.

Sabo pulls you in gently, never forceful, but always certain, like there is no version of reality where you are not beside him.

Sabo speaks softly after, “I’ve got you,” like it is not reassurance but a fact already proven.

Eustass Kid = neck

Eustass Kid kisses your neck without hesitation, pulling you in immediately like he has no patience for distance or subtle affection at all.

Eustass Kid keeps a strong grip on your waist, making sure you stay exactly where he wants you, like space between you simply does not exist.

Eustass Kid becomes more intense when jealous, not softer, getting closer instead of backing off, like he is proving a point through presence alone.

Eustass Kid leaves lingering kisses on your skin, rough and heated, like he is marking attention in a way that cannot be ignored or misunderstood.

Eustass Kid lowers his voice near you, saying less but meaning more, like everything he feels is already obvious without explanation.

Portgas D. Ace = lips

Portgas D. Ace kisses your lips like instinct, always hesitating for a second first like he is grounding himself before actually closing the distance.

Portgas D. Ace cups your face gently before kissing you, like he needs to make sure you are real before anything else happens between you.

Portgas D. Ace becomes quieter when jealous, pulling you closer instead of speaking, like words are suddenly too slow for what he is feeling.

Portgas D. Ace stays pressed close after kissing, forehead resting against yours, breathing slower like he is trying to steady himself through your presence.

Portgas D. Ace always looks relieved when you do not move away, like staying near you fixes something unspoken inside him.

Shanks = corner of lips

Shanks kisses the corner of your lips like it is always half-tease, leaning in like he is about to say something serious before stealing the moment instead.

Shanks laughs softly after most kisses, but never lets go of your waist, like affection is casual but never careless with you specifically.

Shanks becomes quieter when jealous, watching more than joking, smile still there but noticeably less relaxed than before.

Shanks slows down his kisses when serious, turning teasing affection into something more controlled and deliberate without ever making it obvious to others.

BEGGING on my hands and knees for a sanji x reader fic where he's so ridiculously in love with the reader that the entire crew is sick of hearing about it 😭

maybe reader can't sleep and finds him in the kitchen at night and it turns into one of those "oh" moments where they finally realize the feelings are mutual?? lots of yearning, tension, soft kisses, forehead touches, and sanji absolutely losing his mind whenever reader gets close to him pls 🙏💛

hiiii im fine i hope you are well too꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡

omg this idea is so cute i love my prince sanji(⁠ᗒ⁠ᗩ⁠ᗕ⁠) he's the best fheushankxbr CUTESTTT

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✦ SANJI X READER ✦

✦ after hours ✦

→ the kitchen incident

genre: fluff • romance • mutual pining • late-night comfort • kissing

warnings: physical affection, kissing, lots of yearning, mutual pining, sanji being down horrendous, reader teasing sanji, sleep deprivation

✦ ─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────── ✦

word count : 1.8k

summary:

A sleepless night leads you to the kitchen, where Sanji is the only one still awake. What starts as a quiet cup of tea turns into the confession both of you have been avoiding for far too long.

✦ ─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────── ✦

The kitchen was quiet at this hour. Most of the crew had long since gone to sleep, leaving only the soft hum of the refrigerator and the distant sound of waves against the Thousand Sunny. You weren't expecting to find anyone awake, yet there he was—standing by the counter with his sleeves rolled up, looking unfairly handsome beneath the dim light. Sanji noticed you immediately. His lips curved into a smile, gentle and familiar. "Couldn't sleep, my love?" You shrugged, leaning against the doorway."Guess not." "Then you've come to the right place." He poured you a cup of tea without asking. It was your favorite. Somehow, it always was, You accepted it with a quiet thank you, and for a while neither of you spoke. The silence wasn't awkward. It never was with him.

Your shoulder brushed his when you moved beside him. A small thing. Accidental. Yet Sanji is visibly tensed. You bit back a smile. "What's wrong?" you asked innocently. "Nothing." he said nervously "Liar." His gaze flickered toward you before quickly looking away. "You're making it very difficult to be a respectable gentleman right now." Warmth spread through your chest. You stepped closer. Then another. Close enough to notice the way his breathing changed. Close enough to see the faint pink tint dusting his cheeks. For someone who flirted constantly, Sanji became surprisingly shy whenever his feelings were involved.

"You know," you murmured, reaching up to straighten his tie, "you're cute when you're nervous." The reaction was immediate. His eyes widened. His hand found your waist almost instinctively. For a moment neither of you moved. The distance between you vanished. The room suddenly felt too warm. Too small. Too full of things neither of you were saying. Sanji's gaze dropped briefly to your lips before returning to your eyes. The look there made your heartbeat stumble. Not playful. Not teasing. Something softer. Something that made your chest ache. "You're dangerous," he said quietly. You smiled. "Only to you." A breathless laugh escaped him before he leaned forward, resting his forehead gently against yours. The gesture was so unexpectedly tender that it stole every clever response from your mind.

His thumb traced slow circles against your side. Patient. Careful. Like he was afraid you'd disappear if he held on too tightly. "You have no idea," he whispered, eyes closing for a moment, "how hard it is to act normal around you." Your heart melted instantly without thinking, you slid your arms around his neck. Sanji inhaled sharply. Then, finally, he smiled. The kind of smile reserved only for you. The kind that made the world's greatest cook look less like a pirate and more like a man hopelessly in love. His gaze searched yours. As if asking. As if waiting. "Tell me to stop," he murmured. The words were barely audible. You answered by closing the distance. The kiss was soft at first. Gentle. Careful. The kind that felt years overdue.

Sanji's hand tightened slightly at your waist as he kissed you back, all restraint and tenderness slowly unraveling beneath your touch. Somewhere between one heartbeat and the next, you found yourself pressed closer, neither of you willing to be the first to pull away. The kitchen, the ship, the ocean outside— everything faded into the background. There was only him. The warmth of his hands. The way he smiled against your lips. The way your name sounded when he whispered it. When you finally broke apart, breathless, Sanji looked at you as though he couldn't quite believe you were standing there. Then you laughed softly. And whatever fragile self-control he'd been clinging to finally snapped.

His hands found your waist again, pulling you back toward him as your laughter dissolved into another kiss. And another. And another. Each one stealing the breath from your lungs. Each one making it harder to remember why you'd come to the kitchen in the first place. His forehead bumped against yours between kisses, a grin tugging at his lips despite the obvious affection shining in his eyes. "My love," he murmured, voice rough with emotion, "you're going to be the death of me." You smiled. "Good." The sound that escaped him was half laugh, half surrender. Then he kissed you again. Slowly. Like he had all night.

And for once, neither of you seemed interested in sleeping at all.

✦ ─────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────── ✦

✦ END SUMMARY POINTS

• a sleepless night leads to a confession

• sanji discovers that being a gentleman is much harder around you

• one kiss turns into several

• the kitchen becomes the setting for years of unresolved feelings

02. ocean guy 🌊

→ why is he still texting me?

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

• Ocean Guy reappears in Y/N's notifications.

• A simple wrong number starts becoming a daily conversation.

• Meanwhile, another pair of idiots accidentally enter their crush era.