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mekachu04
Feveruary | Chapter 7
" I'm still not used to being taken care of"
Category:
Fandom:
Language:
Gen
One Piece (Anime & Manga)
English
He's not sure why it feels like he's still asleep, even long after he's woken up, tiny child body curled up under smelly blankets in a dingy back alley. He wonders where Killer wandered off to this early, his friend's body heat sorely missed in the dreary summer rain of Kutzk. The air is wet and cold and he reaches up to pull the blanket higher, water beading and rolling down the wool as he huddles under it. It keeps trying to slip off his left shoulder, the stub of his arm aching, partially the phantom pain that regularly haunts him, and then something deeper driven by the bleak weather.
Things are not what they seem when Kidd wakes up in the wrong place, the wrong time.
- Eustass Kidd & his mom Brichtrede
Tags & Warnings
Baterilla aftermath
Background deaths
injury and death discussions
De-aging
Kutsukku
Character Deaths
some more vague and unconfirmed
Post-Wano Arc (One Piece)
Unreliable Narrator
kidd has terrible dreams|nightmares
Burn injuries
Art Embedded
Chapter
He looses track of the days.
Time has little meaning here, and too much of it is spent inside his own head.
Could ofs, would ofs, Should ofs tumbling over and over in a vain attempt to smooth away the sharp edges tearing at his heart when his thoughts drifted back to memories of his crew drowning around him.
And so, there was a peace in watching his 'Aunt' trying to take her first steps. His crew has dead and gone, decades away. Nothing he did could undo that.. Encouraging Brichtrede to stagger slowly down the support beam - dragging her legs more than anything else, but moving under her own power - was at least an action he could take to fix something -anything- in the here and now.
He also enjoyed glaring at the adults circling around her like sharks. He may be small, but he was more than able to ruin their days if they tried to take advantage.
And try they did.
The Boss' Goon was the worse. They wanted Brichtrede so they could hold her up as an invalid widow left ruined by the Unwanted Occupation of the World Government. They wanted her better; but not well. To limp along for pity, but never to heal.
Kidd hated them.
But they also were willing to pay Brichtrede for her appearances.
Less irksome, was that some of the dock men had raised a collection for her when the tavern burned - Originally for last rites. And burial.
But she lived, so now more was raised to get her a place to stay once she was released.
And money meant suddenly everyone wanted to help her during this trying time. Everyone wanted a few coin for their troubles.
And Kidd was there to glare-and occasionally bite- those who pushed too hard. Who overstepped.
Brichtrede's hands healed. Her arms got their strength back. She was steadily being able to stand on her own.
Kidd found himself at her side the first time she took a frustrated step of her own without the doctors around.
She was so sick of laying in bed. She was sick of being trapped. Of being helpless.
Kidd steadied her; helped her stay on her feet. Was it better or worse- to be reliant on a one armed child?
Regardless, by week's end, she was looking at the money raised by her misfortune. Maybe enough to rent a room for a season on two, but then what?
Would she heal enough to work? To make enough to not need the charities or be the Boss' dog-and-pony show? Who would hire her? Her face would scare away customers.
Author Notes
another one of those I'm just posting because otherwise im stuck
