The Elementalist Lucia [One Piece x OC fanfiction]

XIII - Finally Free

When she opened her eyes again, Lucia could not move, her body completely uncooperative. She was still lying on the damp wood of the scaffold. She tried to get up, but every inch of her body sent a jolt of pain through her that made her groan. Sengoku noticed that she had come to. He saw her leaning on her arms to pull herself up, collapse, and start again. Her limbs shook with the effort and blood continued to flow from her head, mouth and arms. She spat out a little blood before falling back heavily. She managed to stay steady at last, leaning on her elbows, and glanced to the right. A ton of lead fell into her stomach. Two guards had returned to Ace's side, blades held firmly above her head.

"No..." she moaned, "no..."

Sengoku again placed his foot between her shoulder blades to prevent her from moving or acting. He closed his fist and put it in front of her eyes, letting her know that he would not hesitate. Tears of rage ran down Lucia's cheeks, she had tried, she had really tried, and it still wasn't enough. Her nails scraped the wood, she reached out to her brother in a desperate gesture as the blades plunged towards Ace's neck. I can't move.

Suddenly, her eyes caught a detail that caught his eye. Her mouth opened in surprise, but again she had no time to act as a voice echoed from the square below and a discharge of Conqueror's Haki poured into Marineford Bay for the second time.

"STOP!"

Lucia was stunned. Whoever had caused this miracle was running with all his might through the unconscious fallen soldiers.

"What do you mean? Seriously?" said Aokidji.

"I can't believe it, two of them have it now..." Kizaru declared.

"Luffy..." Lucia murmured, "you too..."

Sengoku was more than a little annoyed. He pressed his foot into Lucia's back:

"You people... who are you to have this gift..."

On the battlefield, Whitebeard ordered his crew to support Luffy at the risk of their lives. A smile stretched Lucia's lips, it was unbelievable that everything always had to revolve around him. Whitebeard had chosen to bet on Luffy to save Ace. Unnoticed by Sengoku who had his eyes riveted on the melee below, she dug a nail into the palm of her hand until it bled. The pain was sharp, burning and seemed to wake her body up. Gradually she managed to move a hand, an arm, and finally her whole body could move again. Her wrists were bleeding under the marine granite handcuffs that were still firmly closed around her skin. The double security put in place by the government was effective. A painful tingling ran through his veins as the blood began to flow through his limbs again. As his body woke up, his mind also stirred. Noticing that Sengoku had definitely left her behind, convinced that she was no longer a threat, she decided to crawl slowly, inch by inch, to get closer to Ace, waiting for the right moment to really act. She could see Luffy covering every metre that separated them. Without stopping, supported by the entire Whitebeard crew.

Come on Luffy, you're almost there...

Ace was amazed, his brother was really going to do it, he was really going to join them. Well, you have to get past the Garp obstacle though. Lucia winced, how was the duel going to end. Without a second's hesitation, Luffy threw a punch that hit Garp in the face. The Vice Admiral flew through the air and crashed to the ground. Of all the possible outcomes, Lucia had not thought of this one. Garp had let himself be knocked down. Without retaliating, without really fighting, he let his second grandson cross the last obstacle that separated him from Ace. In a final leap, Luffy finally reached the scaffold.

"That's it, I made it! I finally made it."

Ace ended up smiling too, once the shock was over:

"Luffy... you... you're really a case!"