A Mother's Love pt. 1

Thirteen saw a woman dressed in white looking at him with a kind and gentle smile, cloaked in a white light. The light wasn't too bright, just enough to radiate from the woman.

She had long golden hair with a beautiful face. Her lips moved and she said gently, "Come to Mommy, my baby." Thirteen staggered to the ground and looked at himself, his chains were gone and his body was tiny.

He had no scars, not bruises, no calluses, his skin was as soft as a baby's. He looked up at the woman, who giggled and spread her arms to him. Thirteen's eyes watered and he got up, running to the woman before hugging her waist, holding as tight as he possibly could.

The woman hugged the boy, stroking his head gently.

The duo were both silent as the woman knelt down and kissed the boy's forehead, smiling gently at him. Thirteen stared at the face he could only see in his dreams, asking "Why?"

The woman smiled gently and stroked his head, replying "Mommy didn't know… Otherwise…" she sighed and shook her head, changing the topic "How are you, sweetheart?" Thirteen looked down and said "Not very good."

The woman sat down with her legs crossed and put Thirteen in her lap, hugging him from behind as her chin rested on his head before replying "Tell Mommy what's wrong." Thirteen held his mother's arms and leaned against her body, feeling the warmth he hadn't felt in years.

The warmth he dreamt of.

The question of why he could see her now flashed his mind as quickly as he forgot about it.

He opened his mouth and said "I'm a bad person." his mother clicked her tongue and kissed his hair before going back to her previous position and replying "Why do you think you're a bad person?"

Thirteen opened his mouth but his mother continued "Because you kill people?" Thirteen closed his mouth and nodded softly, his mother smiled and squeezed him, replying "You know, Mommy never really liked seeing people die."

Thirteen flinched and his mother squeezed him again, continuing "When I was a little girl, your grandparents died in a fire. Only me and your uncle survived. That was around the time I started hating death. While your uncle brought me away somewhere else, he never stayed around, always busy doing his things."

She smiled softly and stroked Thirteen's hand with her thumb as she added "He would steal, trick, fight, and even kill people to make money so we could survive." Thirteen sat and listened as he started feeling wetness on his head, he looked up to see his mother crying with a smile on her face as she continued on "I hated your uncle. I blamed him for what happened to your grandparents. I blamed him for killing so many people. So, I ran away."

Thirteen held onto his mother's arms tightly, she looked at his face and smiled, "I ran away from your uncle, leaving him alone. After that, I joined a hospital and never saw him again. A lot of strong people came to the hospital…"

She wiped her tears and smiled gently, rocking back and forth as she continued "That's when I met your father." Thirteen trembled and his grip tightened as his eyes intensified to a look of hatred, washing his pupils red before abruptly disappearing as his mother hugged him tightly.

She said softly "You must hate him." Thirteen froze and she continued in a gentle tone "Don't blame your father, when Mommy got sick he traveled around the world looking for a cure. He was the one who taught me how to protect myself…"

She laid her cheek on Thirteen's head and smiled as she explained "The hospital I worked at was far away and a lot of strong people came to get treated. There were always people looking to make trouble, your father was one of those people." she laughed a bit and reminisced "He was so rude and violent. He walked in like he owned the place, until he fell over from his injuries."

She smiled happily as she continued "I was assigned to be his nurse and stayed with him almost everyday…" she stopped her voice and smiled "He was always energetic, even when he was severely injured…"

As she continued to talk, Thirteen slowly sank into the comfortable feeling and muttered "I wish I could be with you forever…" the woman smiled gently and kissed his head, continuing her story as soft and gentle as possible.

Outside~

A few days had passed since the fight.

Thirteen was laying on the bed and his breathing was getting slower and slower, his eyes dripped with tears and eventually he was barely breathing.

Nami shot up from her chair and shouted "CHOPPER!"

Chopper ran in and checked on Thirteen before panicking "He's dying! Why is he dying?!" Nami slapped him and said "YOU'RE THE DOCTOR! FIGURE IT OUT!" Chopper said quickly "But he shouldn't be dying! He was completely stable! This shouldn't be happening, unles-"

He quickly stopped and covered his mouth with his hooves, looking at Nami with a panicked expression. Nami grabbed him and shouted frantically "Unless what!?" The rest of the crew walked in with Vivi, Zoro frowned and said "Unless what, Chopper."

Chopper looked at them and shook his head, Nami shook him and roared "Tell me! I will roast you alive, reindeer!" Chopper shook his head and Nami was about to kill him when Zoro grabbed Chopper from her hands, holding her back with one arm as he said "Tell me."

Chopper hesitated before whispering in Zoro's ear.

Zoro's eyes widened and he shouted "WHAT!?" The crew was even more in it now, looking at Chopper, who shook.

Zoro dropped him to the ground and walked to Thirteen's bed, slamming his fist onto Thirteen's chest, saying "Don't you die on me now you bastard."

Luffy looked at Chopper silently and Chopper started crying, saying "I-I-I-I-I… I can't save him…" Nami was being held back by Vivi as she shouted "What do you mean?!" Luffy chopped her neck and knocked her out before saying seriously "What do you mean."

Chopper pointed at Thirteen and cried "He… He entered a state of near death. It must've happened during the treatment! He will hallucinate whatever he desires most! Some people even said that they said dead relatives! But-" he stopped again and Sanji prodded "But!?"

Chopper looked listless as he continued "The near death state is one that only the people who're in it can solve. If they want to stay there they'll die. The people who reported seeing things was only 3 out of 1000. Almost everyone who's been in that state has chosen to die… Doctrine's record book says that its beyond all medical knowledge, in other words, not something a doctor can do anything about. If Thirteen wants to live, he will live, if he doesn't, he won't. There's nothing we can do."

The crew looked grim and Luffy sat on the chair next to Thirteen, staring at him in silence. Sanji smiled at Vivi and said "Could you take Nami-swan to sleep, she's had a rough day." Vivi got the clue and brought Nami out of the room, leaving the crew alone.

Zoro kicked the stool next to the bed, sending it flying into the wall as Sanji said solemnly "What do we do now?" Chopper said sadly "There's nothing we CAN do!" Usopp looked at Thirteen from the side and suggested "Maybe he can hear us?"

Zoro smacked him and said "He'd have woken up already if he could, jackass." Usopp rubbed his head and muttered "I was just saying…" Sanji looked at Luffy, who said "We're gonna wait. If he lives we'll wait here until then."

Sanji exhaled a mouthful of smoke and said seriously "If he dies?" Zoro turned to look at Luffy, while Usopp shouted angrily "Don't say that! You don't kno-" he was interrupted by Luffy saying seriously "If he dies…"

His eyes sharpened and his fists clenched as he added "We'll bring him home to Zou."