Her Wanderlust Odyssey

Gone...

I wonder how the treehouse turned out. The brothers should be finished by now. Sakura wondered as she tied her ship onto a private dock. As she walked down the streets of the Goa Kingdom she immediately realized how empty the streets were. All of the shops and restaurants were closed and there wasn't a single person on the street. Is there a festival or something going on that I didn't know about? Then she saw it. The huge world noble ship peaking above the town. Just the sight of the World Government insignia on the front sail ticked Sakura off. No way. What the hell is a World Noble doing here?! Wait, what's gonna happen to the Gray Terminal?! Sakura threw her hood on and ran towards the Gray Terminal entrance and while doing so, she thought that she heard the sound of explosions but ignored them. 

=~+~=

She arrived at what used to be the Gray Terminal... the sight was horrendous. All of Gray Terminal was burned to the ground. Nothing was left. Sakura clenched her fist with rage. Tch. Bastards... all because of a dam World Noble coming to this island! She then proceeded to look around for survivors, but of course, there were none. Suddenly, at the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Dogra, a member of Dadan's bandits running hurriedly towards Mt.Colubo. "Dogra! Dogra! What the hell happened while I was gone!" Sakura yelled as she ran towards him.

"Oh my god, Sakura! The worst thing just happened! I...I still can't believe it! S-Sabo was killed by a World Noble!" Dogra exclaimed, obviously out of breath.

"W-what?!"

=~+~=

Dogra explained the entire story of what happened to Sabo on their way to Mt.Colubo. She stumbled, "I-I'm gonna need a minute alone... go on ahead without me and tell them the news..." So the explosions that I heard earlier wasn't just nothing, it was the noise of what caused Sabo's death... 

Meanwhile, at Dadan's place, Dogra slammed open the door and yelled "I've got news! S-sabo... Sabo is dead!!" Ace and Luffy didn't take the news well and was refusing to accept what Dogra just said.

=~+~=

Somewhere back in the forest, even Sakura wasn't taking the news well. She started to break down. Sabo is dead? No way, they made a promise... Then it hit her. Ace and Luffy, crap I have to be there for them! With that thought, she started running towards Dadan's place. By the time she arrived, there was a depressing aura filling up the room, a little Luffy bawling his eyes out, Dadan drinking like crazy, and a mysterious hole in the ground. Sakura ran to Luffy and hugged him. "I heard what happened buddy..."

"Sabo is... gone!" Luffy cried.

"Where's Ace?" Sakura asked Dadan and the others.

"You ran past him, we tied him to a tree," Dadan replied. Sakura placed down Luffy and walked outside. There was Ace, tied to a tree, who looked more frustrated and angry than sad.

"I'm gonna avenge Sabo! Untie me Sakura-san, I'm gonna kill the person that killed Sabo!" She walked up to Ace and slapped him.

"Are you crazy!  The World Nobles are basically gods! If you do so much as punch a World Noble, a marine with a ranking higher than Garp-san will come after you!" Sakura yelled.

"Well what can I do, I can't do just nothing! Sabo deserves to be avenged!" Ace barked back. 

"We... we can't do anything to avenge him yet, but what you and Luffy can do is keep his dream alive. Can you do that for me?"

"Fine! I'll keep your dreams alive Sabo!" Ace yelled at the sky.

=~+~=

The next day a letter arrived from Sabo for the brothers, which was sent the day before. Ace was untied and he read the letter as he walked away. Sakura decided to follow him after comforting Luffy, who cried himself to sleep. As Ace reached the edge of the forest and started to cry. Everything that was bottled up, poured out of him: his sadness, anger, frustration, but most of all, he was lost. Sakura proceeded to walk up to him and hugged him while saying "Let it out Ace, let it all out. Sometimes it's okay to cry."

[End of the 2nd Part of the short story The ASL Trio]