Crossroads and Worry

_________ POV Narration_________

The days passed rather quickly for Enel.

Not as quickly as he had initially hoped, as the only room he could find for Hancock happened to be near his, so this led to the Pirate Empress spending some time in Enel's room to try and annoy him, get a rise out of him, basically.

This usually led to Enel kicking her out, rather forcefully. Either through the window or the door.

Most of the marines nearby were rather weirded out by the fact that the 'most beautiful woman in the world' was constantly getting kicked out of the room of a Rear Admiral... Even if that Rear Admiral was actually the 'Unranked Admiral'.

This was all fun and games, up until Hina also returned to base, and the Commodore was a bit less amused by the situation...

Enel ended up assuring her that Hancock was just a general annoyance. This pleased Hina quite a bit, and annoyed Hancock even further.

Sengoku passed by Enel's room one day, only to hear loud arguments between two women... Coming from his room...

'Ah, to be young again...' The Fleet Admiral didn't have the time to stop and listen to what was being said though... If he did he'd be less 'proud' of Enel's accomplishments.

The argument was mainly Hancock calling Enel a lazy slob, Hina being unable to defend him, and ending up just calling the Pirate Empress an arrogant bitch.

Eventually, Enel kicked both of them out and stopped using his room altogether. Deciding he'd much rather sleep on the top of Marineford, straight on the rooftop of the main building.

And that was also how he ended up running into Garp, who was also sitting on the edge of the roof, looking at Marineford with a complex gaze.

Enel sighed a bit, as he remembered the old man's tears from the show. Ace's execution was approaching, and he knew that it was weighing down on the old Vice Admiral.

Enel sat down right beside the old man, looking at the large Marine base with a complex gaze of his own.

"Enel..." "Garp..." Their greeting was a lot less cheerful than it had usually been, the two of them were both being eaten by their own worries.

Garp was worried about betraying the Marines, as they were also his family. He was also worried of betraying his grandson, betraying the promise he had made to Gol D. Roger, his old friend.

There was simply no good choice for him to make.

Enel was in a similar situation. He was stuck.

He had made a mistake and had gotten too attached to the Marines. He had befriended even the likes of Akainu. Garp and Sengoku had become people he couldn't help but care about too...

Now, in a day, the time for him to carry out his plans and leave the marines was going to come into effect.

Enel knew that he couldn't continue staying in the marines.

Even if not all marines were subservient to the World Government, the Marines as an organisation were still controlled by the 5 Elders...

He knew that if he did remain in the marines, he'd be wasting his chance at befriending the remainder of the White Beard pirates, and they were going to be a large part of his fighting force in the future...

He was stuck, between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, he could strive to become stronger and stronger, to no longer need the support of others... But that thought was foolish.

For all of his strength and speed, he knew that the world hid a lot more than was shown in the show. The world government most definitely held an ancient weapon at their disposal.

The five elders themselves were most likely at the level of Yonko Commanders themselves, otherwise, they wouldn't have been called the Ruling authority of the world.

There was also Shanks and his mysterious motives. The Yonko that, for some reason, planned to wait for Luffy to sound the drums of liberation, before preparing to head over to Raftel...

Too many complete unknowns were at play. To add yet another complication to the pile, there was also Enel's Conquerer's haki, which was most likely somehow related to his soul...

Enel simply had too much to bargain if he tried to go at it alone. The Marines were bound to help him too, but the second he started trying to achieve his goal of uncovering the truth, the Marines would turn on him.

Even if he had made friends with some of them, he knew that they would all still answer to the world's government orders to hunt him down.

"What would you do... If you were stuck at a crossroads..." Garp started speaking, the old man's voice sounded tired and weary.

"If on one side stood your family, people you cherished and love, people you would give your life to... And on the other stood your duty, your responsibility to the world, and to the friends you've made across decades..."

Enel smiled a bit when hearing that question.

"Such an oddly specific conundrum you've presented me with..."

Garp gave Enel a hollow laugh at that jab, but it didn't last long, as he let Enel continue.

"Sometimes, in life, there is simply no good choice. Sometimes, it feels better to not choose at all... But that isn't an option, if we stop moving, then we disappoint everyone." Enel said as he looked at his golden gauntlets with a smile.

"When you stop to think about it. Even if you don't do anything, life will force a choice onto you, you will go down either path regardless of your wishes."

Garp looked down at his own hands, the fists that had given him the fame and reputation that he held right now. He brought his arm down on the roof, breaking off a tile and crushing it in his palm.

"I say... It's better to make that choice, while you have the time to." Enel's words seemed to resonate with Garp, but the old man was still undecided.

"You're wiser than you look... I guess calling you boy might not be that accurate..."

"Heh, I am still 37 currently (at least this body is). I may not be an old man(I am), but I didn't sleep through life until now..." Enel clutched at the tiles underneath him, the roof creaked a bit, as both old men seemed to not care about injuring it.

"37 is nothing! I guess you are still a brat after all!" Garp's hollow smile turned genuine for a second, as he picked up another tile to crush in his hand.

"I will always be young for a fossil like you!" Enel said as he crossed his legs. He was currently wearing his training clothes and no shoes, the ones that the old Enel used to wear, just with less lively coloured pants.

"Watch your mouth brat! Otherwise, I'll show you what these old bones can still do!" Garp flexed one of his arms, as he looked at Enel with renewed energy.

"Hehe! Glad to see you're back..." Enel said as he kept staring at Marineford's streets in the distance.

"Can't stay brooding all day! I'm heading to my room, gotta get some sleep before the big war..." Enel had managed to somewhat cheer up Garp, but the old man was still not sure how to proceed...

Still, Garp got up and prepared to leave.

"Garp. One last thing." The old man turned around, just as he was about to jump off.

"Whatever happens tomorrow. I will make sure to protect Ace and Luffy." Garp's eyes widened at that claim.

"W-what are you talking about?!" Enel could sense Garp clench his fists.

"Don't stress yourself too much. Luffy, your grandson, really has a knack for making friends... He will definitely appear tomorrow. And I won't let him die." Enel's cold gaze peered into the clouds, Garp gritted his teeth, not knowing how to respond to that.

"I don't-"

"Don't bother trying to dissuade me... I'll only interfere if it's truly needed. But I won't stand by as my friend dies." Enel's resolute words seemed to make Garp a bit conflicted.

"... Fine. But be careful. If you do try something, you will become a target for everyone... I won't be able to help you."

"Heh, who needs your help?! Go to sleep, you fossil." Garp grinned a bit at that.

After that, the old man didn't hang around any longer, jumping off to his room, leaving only Enel to stare at the working marines in the distance. Many preparations were being made for the war.

'A lot of people are about to lose their lives... I hope all of this is worth it, Sengoku...'

Enel knew what he had to do, there was no need to keep brooding around either. He decided that it was time for him to get some shut-eye too.

He didn't bother going back to his room though, too many visitors and too much sound for his liking.

He simply used his staff as a cushion and dozed off.

'When I wake up, Ace will already be on that platform...' Although it was only a night away, the war had already begun.

Enel could feel it, the rumbling in the sky, the world itself was concerned for what was to come.

But, despite that, Enel was calm. As he knew that he could take on whatever storm was approaching.

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Hope you liked the chapter!

War starting next chapter basically. Btw, most war-related chaps are kinda over 2k words

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