167 Reunion, Forgiveness and Departure

_________ POV Narration_________

Enel didn't spend the full 3 days partying with the Red Hair Pirates. He only spent a brief 1 day instead.

He tried to take his mind away from finally meeting and talking to Sengoku. The old Fleet Admiral had been someone that had placed his trust in him, and Enel had walked all over that trust.

It could be said that it was Enel that had ruined the marines. Although the World Government was truly the one that decided the marines were no longer worth the trouble of keeping around...

It was clear even from their brief conversation at Baltigo, that Sengoku hadn't truly forgiven Enel, and he was right not to forgive him so quickly.

Enel had won his trust, and by all means had befriended the old Fleet Admiral, only to betray him in the end.

A stab in the back was not something that could be easily forgiven.

Garp may have forgiven Enel for aiding the Whitebeard Pirates, as his grandsons were saved that day.

And Sengoku would've also easily forgiven Enel if he had only defended Garp's grandsons. Even if one of them was the biological son of Gol D. Roger.

Still, Enel knew that he couldn't avoid talking to Sengoku, so he decided to not postpone it much longer.

Entering the room, Sengoku was lying in his bed still, he seemed to be asleep. So the lighting emperor simply stood by his side and waited for him to wake up...

And he sat there for the next few hours, at some point dozing off himself.

Sengoku was actually the one to wake him up.

"Oi! Enel... Wake up!"

His gruff voice startled the one-armed emperor awake.

Enel rubbed his eyes with his earlobes before turning and looking at Segoku.

The old man was indeed looking worse for wear. He was wearing a pair of short pants, covering his stumps and privates... If they were still intact, of course.

His torso was bare and bandaged, his arms were also completely missing.

" Well... You look like shit." The former fleet admiral said as he scowled at Enel.

"Heh... Could say the same about you." Enel didn't hesitate when biting back. He wasn't worried about making fun of Sengoku's condition, as he had already come out with the intention of fixing him.

Sengoku only gave Enel a dry chuckle, before he coughed a bit and looked at Enel with a serious gaze.

"First off... I'd like to say this now... I forgive you for your betrayal at Marineford." The old marine kept eye contact throughout that statement, and he easily noticed Enel's surprise.

"H-how come?" The One Armed Emperor truly hadn't expected that.

"Well..." Sengoku then looked at Enel's missing arm. "You already showed that you care about the connections you made in the marines. Which shows me that the friendship we had was at least real..."

Enel sighed when hearing that, smiling ever so faintly.

"However!" Enel's smile quickly became a bit forced when he heard Sengoku continue.

"I wish you could've told me about your plans beforehand... Maybe I could've helped you..." The old marine sighed in regret.

"... I wasn't sure you would ever help me face the world government in such a manner.

I mean, you had no way of knowing they would so easily disregard you and the other marines..." Enel shook his head slightly.

He was sure he had done what he needed to do. He remembered Sengoku to have been devout in his role as a Fleet Admiral, so he never expected him to be on board with a full-on betrayal.

"No... I always knew the World Government would get rid of us if we outlived our usefulness...

The 5 Elders never once trusted us, it was only a matter of time before they finally decided we were more trouble than we were worth...

Though I guess I would've been a lot more hesitant to assist you, not knowing what I know now..."

In the end, the tired old marine sighed once more, before shaking his head and turning back to Enel.

"... How are the rest?"

"I thought Shanks and Crocus kept you up to speed..." Enel raised an eyebrow at that, not exactly a question he expected.

"He did. But I want to hear it from you. I only know they left with Dragon..." Sengoku struggled a bit to sit up slightly, leaning on the bed frame.

One of Enel's earlobes dragged him up, wrapping itself around his torso as he did so.

Sengoku only gave Enel a thankful glance, before he signalled for the emperor to start talking with his gaze.

"Currently, Akainu and the rest are on the Sky Islands, floating somewhere near the Red Line, far away from the Grand Line itself."

The one-armed emperor spoke out as he tapped his walking stick on the ground rhythmically, accompanying the music that was still ringing loudly outside of the room.

"So they've joined you in the end... Huh?" Sengoku looked down, Enel felt a bit of disappointment in his voice, which caused him to sigh.

"There really wasn't much else of a choice for them... Going off on their own wouldn't have been ideal either. We've decided to work together to get rid of the current World Government..."

Sengoku scoffed at Enel's words.

"Getting rid of the Government? Then what? Are you going to take their place?" He didn't seem quite so pleased with the idea.

Maybe it was because part of him still hoped that an all-out war could be avoided...

"I have no desire to take over. Someone will have to until things settle properly..." Enel shook his head.

"Fair... I guess you were never the 'Leader' type..." Sengoku sighed before he looked at Enel again, urging him to continue.

"Only Kizaru is currently on a mission... Contacting the 'Neo Marines' and bringing them to the Sky Islands as well..." Enel continued telling Sengoku a bit more about their situations at their base.

"Neo Marines?" The former Fleet Admiral sounded a bit confused.

Enel almost face-palmed when hearing that question. 'I thought Shanks told him everything...'. Regardless, he quickly explained the situation to Sengoku.

"... The faction of marines that broke off from the ones led by the World Government. Led by Vice Admiral Tsuru and Zephyr, they have quite the force gathered under them.

There's really not much else to say... The Navy has all but disbanded, we have no knowledge on whether it's official though..."

Enel could feel the pain in Sengoku's eyes as soon as he spoke those words. He watched the former Fleet Admiral go through a storm of emotions all in an instant.

'... I guess they just didn't want to give him the news... He did spend his entire life with the marines...'

Enel let Sengoku process that information for a few seconds, before the cripple old marine sighed again, sounding a lot older than before.

"So... What now?" It was clear that Sengoku was tired at that point, at least mentally...

"... First we go to the Sky Islands, where we heal you completely." Enel's first statement made Sengoku's eyes widen.

"Wha-" Sengoku didn't even get to finish before Enel explained the situation to him clearly.

"One of my friends has the ability to alter the time of living organisms... She can revert you to a state before any damage was done to your body."

"I-I see... I did hear some reports about a pirate in the grand line with similar abilities... I guess she's working for you now?" Sengoku sounded a bit confused, but also quite happy to hear that there was a solution to his current predicament.

"Yep! She's joined us officially. I helped her, and she will help you..." Enel nodded before he opened his mouth and continued.

"After you're healed up, you'll have the choice to remain there with Garp and the rest, joining us essentially... Or go off on your own. I won't force you.

Although, fair warning, Garp is very likely to keep you on the island even if he has to chain you up to it."

"... Yeah, Garp will do that..." The old marine chuckled a bit before he started processing the concept of fighting the World Government alongside Enel.

Was it really the right thing for him? As someone that had done his best to keep the balance in the world, to postpone the war as much as possible...

He had clung ever so tightly onto the feeble balance that the world had been keeping itself in.

A balance so fragile, that one single rogue element managed to break it completely. Enel's appearance was what hastened the large conflict that was rearing its head over the horizon.

But at the same time, it was the World Government that was stoking the flames of revolution with its aggressive and sadistic practices.

Sengoku grit his teeth, seemingly still hesitant. Enel saw his internal struggle before he decided to give him a bit more context, unsure of how much Shanks had actually told him.

"The current government has already proved that it doesn't care for either civilians or marines. Though I'm sure you knew that already...

You are all reported dead, and every single one of you is slowly being erased from existence, alongside this entire era..."

Enel's words made Sengoku sweat a bit.

"... So you think they plan to burn the entire Great Pirate Age from the world's history?" Sengoku looked to the side as he spoke, and Enel just nodded.

Sengoku ended up sighing...

Maybe the World Government had finally completely run out of luck, and the goodwill of the world had finally dried up.

'It was only a matter of time anyway...'

"Fine... I'll join you in this fight. Not that I have much of a choice. If I can help end this conflict sooner, then I will do my best." The old marine nodded in the end, slowly turning his head away.

"Good... We'll get going right away. A few weeks of flying is ahead of us... The sooner we get it done, the sooner you'll get better."

Sengoku simply nodded. Enel's cane turned into a small wheelchair, on which he placed the crippled marine rather quickly, but gently.

"Few weeks, huh?" Sengoku asked as Enel rolled him towards the door.

"Yep... It's pretty far from here, I can't exactly travel at maximum speed either." Enel nodded.

"What about Shanks and his crew? They're not joining us?" Sengoku was already well aware that Enel was allied with a multitude of pirates, including the Whitebeard pirates, so he had somewhat expected the Red-Haired Pirates to join as well.

"They are, essentially. But Shanks wishes to stay on the seas and keep up his information network as best he can... It's for the better if he continues sailing for now."

Sengoku just nodded when hearing that.

The pirates that were partying outside all made way for them to pass, the music quieting down slightly as they noticed Enel moulding a ship out of his gauntlet and earrings.

"Already off then?" Shanks appeared by his side and asked with a cheerful tone, obviously slightly inebriated.

"Yep! The sooner we get Sengoku's limbs restored the better." Enel nodded happily as he created a boat large enough for him and the old marine.

Shanks just nodded. "It's good that you've got a way to help him then! Though I expected nothing less from the man that shook the world..."

"Hah! Spoken like you haven't done the same in your time!" Sengoku said as he was wheeled onto the flying ship on a specially made ramp.

"... I may have rattled some cogs, but Enel here is close to breaking the entire machine..." Shanks chuckled a bit as he took another swig of his drink.

"Heh... We're still a few years off. Plenty of time before it breaks." Enel smiled as he stepped onto his ship, turning Sengoku's wheelchair into a special beach chair.

"You ain't putting my patient on no metal bed!" Crocus immediately came out of his cabin, as if summoned by the gods of medicine to scold Enel.

He even threw a bottle of disinfectant at the Lightning Emperor, which just bounced off the aluminium ship and into the head of one of the Red-Haired Pirates, knocking him out.

Shanks sweated a bit when seeing that.

He quickly gestured for his men to bring out a small bed, which they placed on the ship for Sengoku to rest on.

"Hah! Much better!" Crocus then waddled back into his room, as if nothing had happened.

Enel just placed Sengoku on that bed, embedding the frame into the ship and making it more stable.

"... Anyway! We're off for now." The Lighting Emperor's ship slowly started moving, as the pirates made way for its takeoff.

"Take care! I'll contact you if I get wind of anything interesting!" Shanks waved at the departing ship with a smile on his face.

His crew then joined in.

"Come back if you want another party!"

"Your voice was nice! You better pick up an instrument as well next time!"

"See you around earlobes!"

Enel smiled warmly at all but the last one.

'Shank's crew is sure filled with 'characters'...'

And so, Sengoku was being shipped off to the Sky Islands, in a rather comfortable manner(thanks to Crocus).

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Hope you liked the chapter!

Sengoku forgiving Enel was a long time coming, he was still on his ass for his betrayal during the Baltigo War ;))

First time a real bed's been on Enel's ships btw, till now his passengers slept on metal :))

If u want to support me look up VeganMaster(Vegan Cult) on Patre_on, you'd also get 10 chapters in advance (or 5 depending on tier)