A spoonful of Luffy angst, I'm afraid
Jun. 15th, 2010 09:24 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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onepiece_300I-I'm sorry. ;__; (hangs head)
Title: Heartbeat
Rating: G or PG (for sadness)
Media: fic
Characters: Luffy, Sabo, Ace
Word Count: 297
Prompt: Heart
Flavour: Angst
Spoilers/setting: Set around now in the manga. Spoilers for Marineford arc and the subsequent chapters, up to and including chapter 588.
Summary: Memories of heartbeat, metaphorical and actual.
Once, when Luffy was seven years old, Sabo had said, ”Hey, Luffy. Didya ever listen to the waves, really closely?” He paused, letting them both hear the steady beating waves upon rocks beneath them. “Don’tcha think it sounds almost like the beat of a heart?” He put his head to one side, “Or maybe someone breathing, like Ace said – but I think it’s more like a pulse. Right?”
“What’s a pulse?” Luffy asked. Sabo explained, putting Luffy’s fingers on the inside of his wrist to demonstrate. Then he went on, “Imagine someone with a heart so big you can hear it on every shore in the world!” He grinned, pleased with his own idea.
Luffy listened with wide eyes, but it wasn’t until he was a few years older that he understood what his brother had meant. From then on, he’d think about it at times, listening to the waves. The sea was huge and dangerous and didn’t like Devil Fruit users, but maybe it still took care of everyone in the end. Maybe it protected the souls of all the people who died in it.
But that was a long time ago.
When he dreamed now, on Kuja island, he returned to old memories of being little and cold and maybe just a little scared, when he’d inch over to wherever Ace was. Ace would mutter something in a grumbling tone, then put one arm over Luffy’s shoulder, holding him close. Feeling his brother’s heartbeat through the skin, Luffy would warm up and feel safe, no more trembling and sniffling, feeling warm and safe. And Ace’s heart would go on and on and never stop.
He could hear the waves on the nearby shore when he woke up. But it was only noisy water, nothing more.
Title: Heartbeat
Rating: G or PG (for sadness)
Media: fic
Characters: Luffy, Sabo, Ace
Word Count: 297
Prompt: Heart
Flavour: Angst
Spoilers/setting: Set around now in the manga. Spoilers for Marineford arc and the subsequent chapters, up to and including chapter 588.
Summary: Memories of heartbeat, metaphorical and actual.
Once, when Luffy was seven years old, Sabo had said, ”Hey, Luffy. Didya ever listen to the waves, really closely?” He paused, letting them both hear the steady beating waves upon rocks beneath them. “Don’tcha think it sounds almost like the beat of a heart?” He put his head to one side, “Or maybe someone breathing, like Ace said – but I think it’s more like a pulse. Right?”
“What’s a pulse?” Luffy asked. Sabo explained, putting Luffy’s fingers on the inside of his wrist to demonstrate. Then he went on, “Imagine someone with a heart so big you can hear it on every shore in the world!” He grinned, pleased with his own idea.
Luffy listened with wide eyes, but it wasn’t until he was a few years older that he understood what his brother had meant. From then on, he’d think about it at times, listening to the waves. The sea was huge and dangerous and didn’t like Devil Fruit users, but maybe it still took care of everyone in the end. Maybe it protected the souls of all the people who died in it.
But that was a long time ago.
When he dreamed now, on Kuja island, he returned to old memories of being little and cold and maybe just a little scared, when he’d inch over to wherever Ace was. Ace would mutter something in a grumbling tone, then put one arm over Luffy’s shoulder, holding him close. Feeling his brother’s heartbeat through the skin, Luffy would warm up and feel safe, no more trembling and sniffling, feeling warm and safe. And Ace’s heart would go on and on and never stop.
He could hear the waves on the nearby shore when he woke up. But it was only noisy water, nothing more.
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Date: 2010-06-15 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-15 08:02 pm (UTC)edited to add: ...wow, that's one pretty icon you've got. *impressed*
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Date: 2010-06-15 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 01:57 am (UTC)Amazing and heartfelt serrende.
It's truly astounding how good you are at portraying the characters.
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Date: 2010-06-16 09:42 am (UTC)I was actually afraid that Sabo and Luffy are a bit too philosophical here...
...I think a lot of my OP characterisation, if it's any good, has been improved by stealing from/absorbing other fic writers. I tend towards wordiness normally, but I've learned how to write briefly (sort of...) from this fandom.
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Date: 2010-06-16 01:38 pm (UTC)...but in rather good ways. Oh, your Sabo. I-I love him. He's just the right mix of upbeat and imaginative and brotherly concern and then when he's gone and it's just Luffy and Ace... oh.
And then Luffy is alone, and the sea is just noisy water, owww.
Wow.
I loved this.
Really powerful.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-16 07:33 pm (UTC)I honestly was quite unsure whether you'd like this or not... I didn't set out for it to be quite this sad, but the last couple of lines snuck up on me. I think it's just temporary, though. He will hear the ocean's pulse again! So I guess it turned into one of those "Oda broke my heart and this piece will reflect that" things. ;___;
I think maybe Ace took on some of Sabo's cheerfulness, eventually (thinking about the adult Ace)? Sabo's almost more like we-the-fans thought Ace would have been as a kid... though maybe a bit more hyper and criminal than that!
ETA: The music choice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcFDaDZbc3Y) was quite deliberate, this time around - I re-checked the lyrics (http://www.cmt.com/lyrics/the-beach-boys/dont-talk-put-your-head-on-my-shoulder/209853/lyrics.jhtml) and they don't have to be seen in a romantic way, I think. Although they're much more reassuring than the ficlet, alas.
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Date: 2010-06-17 02:49 pm (UTC)And I think your Sabo-Ace observation is really interesting. Hmm.
I will have to go mull it over!