You had the Moby Dick coated and travelled undersea to reach Marineford.

It was dark, in the deep.

You spent most of the time on the deck, contemplating the unusual view.

«Pops.»

«Hm?»

«Don't push yourself, okay?» you muttered, staring right ahead, your arms crossed.

Whitebeard was standing beside you. You always wondered how he could hear you, given the distance between your mouth and his ears.

He let out his unique roaring laugh.

«Listen to her! A little child trying to tell her papa how to handle a fight!»

«I wasn't.» you pouted «And, by the way, I was speaking as your doctor, not as your "little child".»

«I know, I know. I'm very proud.»

You buried your eyes in your hand.

«That's not what I meant...»

You had been a Devil Fruit user since you were eighteen. It was your birthday present from Whitebeard and the commanders, although they let you free to chose whether eat it or not. You lingered a lot, but finally the need of becoming stronger pushed you through it.

The Yume Yume no Mi* turned out to be extremely suitable for you. Aside from the utility in your profession, allowing you to keep people under anaesthesia with your power, you were now able to knock out fighters much stronger than you, without necessarily hurting them. Which fitted you. Of course you were also capable of hitting hard, but more on a psychological level, inducing nightmares and illusions, and that made you even more dangerous.

You had used that power on your brothers, just a few times, to get some sweet revenge on their pranks. Mainly on Thatch, though. When he was particularly mean, you sneaked in his room at night and induced some weird fetish erotic dream in his empty head, putting him through awkward scenarios and enjoying his unconscious struggling.

You did it on Ace as well, a couple of times, but that always induced a cruel revenge (mostly consisting in him tickling the shit out of you) and an escalation of reciprocated pranks that only Marco was able to stop.

As for Marco, although you were tempted, you never dared to use the fruit power on him.

As the memories flowed, you smiled bitterly.

We're coming, Ace. Hold on, just a little more.

The ship started to head to the surface. You already were in the bay of Marineford.

You swallowed, reaching the bow with the other commanders, right a few metres behind pops. A tall and warm presence appeared next to you.

Marco put a hand on your shoulder.

«Stay away from the Shichibukai and the admirals. Don't run ahead alone. That's all I ask, yoi.»

You took a deep breath and nodded.

«I'm here primarily for taking care of the injured.»

«Good.»

Then he reached the first line.

As soon as you saw Ace chained and covered in blood, you felt the heat flushing your brain. It took all your self-control not to jolt on the battleground, ignoring Whitebeard and anyone else, and throw yourself in Sengoku's face.

Instead, you managed to keep your cool and stand besides your crewmates as you faced the Navy headquarter.

Marineford got hectic pretty soon.

You had been on various battlefields before, but this was beyond anything you had seen.

Listening to your rational mind, you decided to leave most of the fight to your brothers and focusing on first aid, although you were also knocking out as many marines as possible in the meanwhile.

You descended on the bay, but didn't move much from the Moby Dick. The truth was you were really worried for Whitebeard, and wanted to be near him if anything happened.

The only moment your focus really shifted from him was when Marco crossed fire with Kizaru, but you forced yourself to continue what you were doing. He could be trusted.

However, all your deepest fears came to realization when Squard stabbed Whitebeard.

«POPS!» you yelled, running towards the ship. Marco was faster, though.

Your fool, fool captain hugged Squard, instead of killing him.

The bastard was crying, curled up on the deck when you finally reached the Yonko.

«Pops, let me treat you!» you cried out, grasping your medical bag.

With one hand, he imposed you to stop.

«Wha...»

«[Y/n], go help my sons.» Whitebeard ordered.

«But Pops...!»

«Now.»

You swallowed, exchanging a glare with Marco, who was on the other side of the Yonko. He nodded.

You were soon forced to move anyway, since the giants started to attack Whitebeard. It was not a battle you could face.

Then the apocalypse began.

They raised a wall, and Akainu made a volcano explode on the trapped pirates.

You watched tons of your comrades getting coated in lava and literally melting.

What can I do against it?

Among that mess, you were able to spot Jozu, and he saw you as well. His eyes were filled with relief for a second, but the fear flashed in them when he watched you jumping against another pirate to put him out the path of a lapillus. You both disappeared behind a wall of flames.

«[Y/N]!!»

In his diamond form, he crossed the fire, running towards you.

«I'm fine!!» you yelled to stand above the chaos.

Jozu found you treating the pirate you saved, who had passed out from previous wounds.

But you were not fine.

Your shoulder had a massive burn that reached your collarbone and devoured your skin down to the flash.

«This is nothing!» you stated, anticipating him «I can't even feel the pain right now!»

The lapilli were whistling all around you. With the thick smoke, it was hard to see something.

There was a sudden explosion behind you and you both startled.

«Oh god.»

The Moby Dick was going down.

Jozu stood still, giving his silent farewell.

You covered your mouth with your hands.

This is a war.

We knew the risks.

Goodbye, old friend.

Every time you thought the situation couldn't get more messed up, something absurd happened.

Like, at some point, there was not just Ace to rescue, but also his little brother. And no, not one of your brothers. The Luffy guy he was always talking about, who turned out to be even crazier than Ace himself.

He faced the admirals. All three of them. On his own.

«You gotta be kidding me...» you sputtered, raising for a moment your eyes from some man's fracture.

Part of the wall had been taken down.

At the same time, Aokiji attacked pops.

You couldn't help but growling in frustration, but Jozu stepped in.

«Leave this to me, pops.»

«Okay.»

«WHAT THE FUCK, POPS! IT'S NOT "OKAY"!» you yelled, but you weren't that close anymore, and the sounds of the battle covered your words.

«Kishishishishishishishi! You must be the little [Y/n].»

Oh, shit.

You turned as a big white zombie merged from the smoke.

«Moria.»

«I wonder how Whitebeard will react if I send his zombified pretty daughter after him! Kishishishi!»

A little team of zombies surrounded him.

«Sorry, but I promised my commander I wouldn't engage the Shichibukai. So can you please be a good onion and go away?»

«KISHISHISHISHI! Nice try, woman!»

«Fine.» you scoffed.

It was just a matter of time before a real enemy would show up against you anyway.

Zombies were bad, though. They didn't have a mind on their own, and that meant they couldn't dream, so your power was useless.

They jolted ahead.

You were thinking fast.

None of your brothers seemed to be around. You had to target directly the big fish if you wanted to stay alive.

«Let's do this.» you whispered to yourself.

Being the younger sister of Whitebeard's commanders meant countless fighting training sessions against some of the strongest pirates of the New World. Zombies were no big deal, compared to that.

You easily swung through them, avoiding their blades. Moria was still smiling.

He's a Shichibukai, I cannot indulge on minor attacks. I have to hit him hard immediately, when he doesn't know my power.

«NIGHTMARE REALM!» you yelled, locking your [e/c] orbs with his and maximizing your haki.

Surprise was your only chance.

Luckily for you, Moria clearly underestimated you.

He was caught out of guard and had no time to properly protect himself with his haki.

But what is a zombie master scared of?

You needed to define a scenario, fast, or else he would have not been affected by the illusion.

He's probably the weakest among the Shichibukai. He must know that. He must FEEL that.

It was enough for you to work with.

You quickly designed a scenario where he was forced to face all of the other Warlords, while they cruelly sneered at him.

It worked.

Moria bent on himself, eyes shut on the illusion, whining. His zombies dropped on the ground immediately.

You let out a deep breath.

«Nice! But don't let your guard down!»

Jimbe passed you, running towards the wall.

«[Y/N]!»

Pops?

You turned to the bay, only to see Whitebeard holding an unconscious Monkey D. Luffy with one hand.

«Come here, [Y/n]! Ace's brother needs your services!»

He looked really beaten up.

You ran to them, taking the guy under you custody.

«Oh, that's not good!» you sighed, opening his shirt «Someone get me more equipment!»

A few men approached you with all the medical stuff they had.

«LET ME GO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! ACE IS MY ONLY BROTHER!» the boy screamed, grabbing your collar and spitting all over your face.

«STAY DOWN!» you barked, pushing his head on the ground «Ace is also my brother! And you can't even move like this!»

He jumped to his feet anyway, only to pass out a moment later.

You growled, reaching him.

The work was fast and familiar: scanning his body, spotting the most dangerous wounds, fixing them with every means available.

Don't worry Ace, I won't let your beloved little brother die.

You stopped the haemorrhages and provided him a portable IV line to restore his blood volume. He regained consciousness pretty fast.

This guy is tough!

You were still working when the giant faced man approached you. Or woman? Whatever.

«I-Iva-chan...!» Luffy squawked, grabbing her ankle.

He asked for a treatment, which the other seemed very reluctant to provide.

You were quite confused, but your attention was abruptly caught by something else.

Whitebeard suddenly spat a huge amount of blood.

«POPS!»

Without even realizing it, you were running to your father, when another loud groan made you freeze.

«Marco...?»

You slowly turned to the plaza.

Kizaru had hit Marco, piercing his stomach with two blows.

This can't be happening.

«MARCO!!»

In the following few moments, Aokiji took down Jozu and Akainu hit Whitebeard.

What should I do?

You grit your teeth, feeling the fury mounting in your chest, along with your power. Those feelings, you could transmit them to the closer enemies with your fruit.

«Link!» you snapped, gathering the power on the tips of your fingers «EMPATHIA!»

You pounded your fingers to the ground, diffusing your attack to the marines beside you. The sudden breaking emotions exploded in their chest, messing with their brain. Most of them went down, even if just temporarily.

You heard Marco being hit again while your attack was still in place, and the wave of distress you felt knocked out more enemies.

But they were too many.

You were in an area quite far from the gallows, close to Whitebeard. All the marines there were aiming at him, taking advantage of his sudden weakness. Jimbe, Vista, Haruta and some other of your brothers managed to reach him and covering his back.

You painfully forced yourself to divert your mind from the thought of Marco and Ace in the plaza (they were too far, you could hardly see them) and joined the commanders.

«PROTECT FATHER!»

Whitebeard smiled.

«My silly sons...»

Then the executioners lifted their blades over Ace's head.

Oh, god, no. Please. Please, no. Not Ace. Not Ace.

That was when Monkey D. Luffy unleashed his Haoshoku haki.

A lot more happened.

You entrusted Whitebeard to the commanders and run to the plaza, right in the middle of the worst marines ever, alone.

Fuck the promises.

Marco was hurt. Ace was still held prisoner.

Maybe you were not strong enough to pass the vice-admirals and get to the gallows, but if you could just reach Marco and be sure he was going to be okay...

Luffy reaching Ace provided the havoc you needed to avoid major fights, since everyone's attention was on the two brothers.

You spotted the familiar tuft in the chaos.

«Marco!»

He was almost on his feet, but he had holes in his torso, and seastone handcuffs on his wrist.

Fuck.

«[Y/n]?» he coughed, when you grabbed his arm, forcing him to sit on the ground.

«Down!» you ordered.

Some of his subordinates had gathered around him, fighting the marines who were trying to finish the command of the first division. The battle was infuriating everywhere.

«You shouldn't be here, yoi!»

«Shut up, you need me.»

You injected him with an intramuscular local anaesthetic, then disinfected and plugged the wounds with sterile gauzes, and quickly applied stiches where there was enough skin. Finally, you gave him another injection with antibiotic and, last thing, adrenalin. You would have gladly avoided that, but he still had to fight.

«Thank you.» he said when you were done.

Ace was free by now, and he was fighting his way back to the bay.

Your chest was blowing up with joy.

«ACE!!»

He was too far, and didn't hear you.

«C'mon, yoi!»

Marco grabbed your hand and waved to his men.

«LET'S GO!»

«My sons.»

Although he was hundreds of metres away, Whitebeard's voice reached you clearer than ever.

«These will be my last orders. Our paths are splitting aside here. Return safely to the New World, sons. I'm a survivor of the past era, there is no ship for me in the new one.»

What?

Marco stopped and you squeezed his hand.

Whitebeard told you to go. He was saying goodbye.

«Pops...»

«Commander Marco, we need to go! Pops made up his mind!»

Marco grit his teeth, then his grab grew tighter.

«Let's move!» he growled, dragging you towards the bay.

You bit your lip hard, desperately trying to stifle down your tears.

«POPS! DAD!!»

You thought you saw a light smile bending his lips.

You ran along with Marco and a few others, not leaving his hand, keeping an eye on Whitebeard.

You saw Ace bowing to him in a last farewell.

You saw him getting away with Jimbe and his brother.

Then you saw Akainu approaching and saying something. Ace stopped.

«No Ace, no, no, no, no. What the fuck are you doing. Don't be an idiot, not now.»

The words let your mouth in a low flow.

Everything happened so quickly you didn't get how it went.

You just blinked and, when you opened your eyes, Akainu's fist had pierced Ace's torso.

Marco froze.

You blinked again.

«Ace?»

You didn't notice your comrades bringing a strange man to you and Marco yelling to free him from the handcuffs.

Your eyes were glued to Ace's torn body.

«No.»

He dropped on his knee.

That was the only think I asked.

Not Ace.

Once free, Marco screamed to his men.

«Protect [Y/n]! Take her away!»

Then he transformed and jolted towards Ace.

You felt someone grabbing your wrist, tugging it.

«[Y/n], we need to move!»

«What? No. No, it's the wrong direction. I'm a doctor. I'm a doctor.»

Were you breathing? Maybe, maybe not, you forgot how to.

They were dragging you further.

«Oi, are you listening to me?»

Your voice was so weak you could barely hear it.

«I'm a doctor...»

You were a doctor, and so you knew. As you had known for Thatch.

«I have... to say goodbye.»

«[Y/n], I'm sorry. I'll be back soon.»

Was that... the last time he spoke to you?

«I need...»

A sudden shock traversed your body.

«LET ME GO!» you burst, freeing yourself with a violent tug.

You jerked towards Ace.

Marco and Vista had temporarily stopped Akainu.

Ace leaned against his little brother. You were running as fast as you could. But he was sliding on the ground.

No, please, wait.

Just a few moments.

Just a few more seconds. I need to tell him...

By the time you reached him, Ace was gone.

*

* "Yume" means "dream" in Japanese