"The World Will Bend"

Wakefulness returned to Leon like a tide washing over jagged rocks - slow at first, then all at once, bringing pain with each wave.

His eyes opened to the familiar wooden ceiling of Dadan's hideout, now seeming to pulse and swim in his vision. Every heartbeat sent fresh aches through his body, centered most intensely in his side and leg.

He tried to sit up, muscles screaming in protest. The effort sent black spots dancing across his vision, forcing him back down with a poorly suppressed groan.

"Don't move, you idiot," came a gruff voice. Dogra appeared at his bedside, relief briefly softening his perpetually worried expression. "You've been out for nearly five days."

"Five...?" Leon's voice emerged as a croak, his throat painfully dry.

Dogra helped him drink from a wooden cup, water spilling down his chin as he gulped desperately. "Fever only broke yesterday. Thought we might lose you a couple times there."

Memory returned in fragments - the fire, Bluejam's knife sliding between his ribs, blood soaking into dirt, Dadan carrying Ace and Luffy through flames.

"My brothers," Leon managed, the words scraping his throat. "Are they-"

"They're outside," Dogra interrupted, his expression shifting to something more guarded. "I'll get them."

Something in Dogra's tone set off warning bells in Leon's mind. The bandit wouldn't meet his eyes as he turned away.

Minutes later, footsteps approached.

Ace entered first, his face haggard with dark circles under his eyes.

Luffy followed, unusually subdued, eyes red and puffy.

Neither met Leon's gaze directly.

Dadan stood in the doorway, arms crossed, expression grim.

The atmosphere pressed down like a physical weight. Leon's heart rate accelerated, sensing disaster before it was spoken.

"What happened?" he demanded, forcing strength into his voice.

Silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken grief.

"Ace," Leon pressed, struggling again to sit up despite the pain. "What's wrong? Where's Sabo?"

Ace's hands clenched into fists at his sides, knuckles turning white. "Sabo is..." He swallowed hard. "Sabo is dead."

The words hung in the air for a very long moment.

"What?" Leon whispered.

Luffy's face crumpled, fresh tears spilling down his cheeks. Ace continued, his voice hollow.

"After they took him back to High Town, he tried to escape. Set out to sea on a small fishing boat." Ace's voice cracked slightly. "There was a Celestial Dragon arriving at the harbor. Their ship... Sabo was in their way."

Leon felt cold spreading through his chest, his breath catching.

"The Noble fired a cannon at him," Ace continued, each word seeming to cost him. "Hit Sabo's boat directly. Dogra was in town. He saw it happen."

Dogra nodded grimly from the corner. "There was nothing left. Just burning debris."

Leon lay perfectly still. He remembered of course the original timeline. Sabo should be alive right now, having been rescued by Dragon, but with memory loss.

But this is not the original timeline. It is an alternate universe so- so...

Sabo might truly be... gone.

No. That couldn't be right.

"You're wrong," Leon said flatly.

Ace's head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "What?"

"Sabo isn't dead," Leon stated, the certainty in his voice surprising even himself.

The others exchanged concerned glances. Dadan sighed heavily.

"Look, brat," she began, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. "I know it's hard to accept-"

"I'm not accepting anything," Leon interrupted, struggling upright despite the searing pain in his side. "Because it isn't true."

Ace's concern visibly shifted to frustration. "Dogra saw it happen! The boat was destroyed! No one could survive that!"

"Sabo could," Leon insisted, golden eyes filled with certainity..

"Stop it," Ace growled, stepping closer. "Just stop. You think this is easy for any of us? You think we want it to be true?"

"It's not about what we want," Leon shot back. "It's about what is. And Sabo is not dead."

Ace's patience snapped. He grabbed Leon's shoulders, fingers digging in painfully. "LISTEN TO ME! He's gone! I hate it too, but denying it won't bring him back!"

Leon pushed Ace away with surprising strength given his condition. The sudden movement tore at his side wound, blood immediately seeping through the bandages. He ignored it, face flushed with anger.

"People's dreams never die!" Leon shouted, voice rising to match Ace's. "Sabo dreamed of freedom and this wretched world will bend to it! Until I see a damn body, I won't believe him dead, now all of you, shut the hell up!"

The outburst left everyone stunned into silence. Leon's breathing came in ragged gasps, the exertion clearly taxing his injured body. A drop of blood fell from beneath his shirt onto the wooden floor.

Dadan stepped forward, breaking the tense silence. "That's enough. Out, both of you," she ordered Ace and Luffy. "He needs rest, not arguments."

"But-" Ace began.

"OUT!" Dadan barked.

Ace's jaw clenched, eyes locked with Leon's for a moment longer before he turned and stormed from the room. Luffy lingered, uncertain, tears still streaming down his face.

"Leon..." he began.

"Go, Luffy," Leon said, gentler now but still firm. "I need to think."

After they'd gone, Dadan approached with fresh bandages. "You reopened your wound, you stubborn brat."

Leon said nothing as she changed the bloodied dressing, revealing the angry red gash where Bluejam's knife had pierced him.

"He really saw it happen," Dadan said quietly as she worked. "Dogra doesn't make mistakes about things like that."

"I know what he thinks he saw," Leon replied, staring at the ceiling. "But Sabo's not dead."

Dadan sighed, finishing the bandage. "Get some rest. You're still healing."

She left him alone with his thoughts, the hideout falling into uncomfortable silence broken only by muted conversations outside.

Hours passed. Leon refused the food Magra brought, his mind too busy thinking.

Sabo and he weren't as close as Ace and Sabo were, or he and Luffy, but he was still his brother.

He still knew him for years, from Ace's stories, and from meeting him himself.

Be it him dead right now, or hurt from taking a canon, and the trauma of it causing Sabo to gain amnesia...

He... He cared.

And that hurt.

Leon felt his eyes burn, but he didn't let anything fall.

Through the thin walls, he could hear Ace and Luffy talking in hushed tones.

"...just making it harder on himself," Ace's voice rose briefly in frustration.

"But what if he's right?" Luffy's quieter response.

"Don't start that," Ace snapped. "It's not fair to either of you."

As night fell, the hideout grew silent. Leon stared into the darkness, his decision forming.

Despite his injuries, he needed to move, to train, to become stronger.

He waited until the bandits' snores filled the air before slowly, painfully pushing himself upright.

Each movement sent fresh waves of agony through his body. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he fought to remain silent. His wooden sword - one of his spare ones he made in case they broke - lay beside his sleeping mat.

He grabbed it, using it as a makeshift crutch to help him stand.

The journey outside felt longer than any he'd taken before. By the time he reached a small clearing near the hideout, his bandages were damp with fresh blood and his breathing came in shallow gasps.

Moonlight bathed the clearing in silver. Leon forced himself into a basic stance, wooden sword held before him. His arms trembled with the effort, but he pushed through, attempting a simple swing.

The movement pulled at his side wound, sending a spike of pain so intense that his vision briefly whited out.

As he recovered, memories of the Gray Terminal fire flooded back - Bluejam's knife plunging into his side, the overwhelming pain, the moment he truly believed he might die.

The memory was so visceral that Leon doubled over, dry retching as his empty stomach contracted painfully. He fell to his knees, one hand braced against the ground, the other still clutching his wooden sword.

This was the first time since he was reborn that he'd looked death in the face.

With Porchemy, despite how hard it was, he had been confident, in control.

With Bluejam, surrounded by fire and bleeding out, death had seemed almost... certain.

The realization shook him deeply. He didn't remember how he died in his first life, but this fresh brush with death felt just... wrong. It felt wrong.

After several minutes hunched over, Leon straightened. He couldn't afford such weakness again.

"Again," he whispered to himself, rising unsteadily to his feet.

He resumed his practice, each movement sending fresh pain through his injuries. Blood slowly seeped through his bandages, but he ignored it, focusing entirely on his forms.

By the time dawn broke, Leon was drenched in sweat, his bandages soaked through with blood. Still, he continued, his movements becoming increasingly unsteady as exhaustion and blood loss took their toll.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ace's voice cut through his concentration.

Leon didn't stop, completing another form before acknowledging Ace's presence. "Training."

Ace approached, eyes widening at the blood-soaked bandages. "You're bleeding everywhere! Are you trying to kill yourself?"

"I'm trying to get stronger," Leon replied flatly, starting another form.

"By reopening all your wounds? That's not strength, that's stupidity!" Ace grabbed for the wooden sword. "You're going back inside. Now."

Leon yanked the sword back, causing both boys to stumble. "Don't touch my sword."

"Look at yourself!" Ace shouted, gesturing to the blood now dripping down Leon's leg. "You can barely stand!"

"I'm fine," Leon insisted, though his voice wavered slightly.

"You're not fine! None of us are fine!" Ace's voice cracked with emotion. "Sabo is dead, and I can't-" He stopped, breathing hard. "I can't watch another brother destroy himself."

Leon paused, truly seeing Ace for the first time since waking. The older boy's face was of exhaustion and grief, barely held together by stubborn will. Beneath his anger lay fear - raw and painful.

For a brief moment, Leon's determination wavered. Then he deliberately hardened his expression, turning away.

"Sabo isn't dead," he said quietly. "And I won't be weak again."

"Leon-"

"Leave me alone, Ace."

Ace stood there a moment longer, conflict evident on his face. Then, with a frustrated sound, he turned and walked away.

Leon continued training until his legs finally gave out beneath him. He collapsed against a tree, wooden sword still clutched in his bloody hand, consciousness fading in and out.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there before small footsteps approached. Luffy appeared, his straw hat shadowing his eyes.

Instead of speaking, Luffy simply sat beside him, drawing his knees up to his chest. The silence stretched between them, surprisingly comfortable.

"Do you really think Sabo is alive?" Luffy finally asked, voice small but hopeful.

Leon turned to look at him, considering his answer carefully. "Yes. I do."

"Why?" The simple question carried weight.

"Because in this world, dreams have power," Leon explained, his voice soft but certain. "Sabo's dream of freedom was too strong to be extinguished so easily. The world itself will bend to make a path for him."

Luffy absorbed this, brow furrowed in thought. Then, with the simple clarity that made him who he was, he nodded. "I want to believe that too."

"Then believe it," Leon said. "And become stronger, so that when Sabo returns, we'll be ready."

"Will you help me?" Luffy asked, turning to face Leon fully. "Help me get stronger?"

The simple faith in Luffy's eyes touched something in him. "Yes. Once I've recovered more."

Their conversation was interrupted by Ace's return. He stood at the edge of the clearing, watching them with many emotions playing across his face. Without speaking, he approached and sat on Leon's other side.

No apologies were exchanged, but a silent understanding passed between them. Together, the three brothers watched the sunrise, each processing everything in their own way.

That night, back in the hideout after Ace and Luffy practically carried him back, Leon lay awake analyzing his own limitations. His body throbbed with pain, his reckless training having set back his recovery significantly.

He stared at his hands in the moonlight, acknowledging that his approach to gaining strength had been too calculated, too careful.

He recalled what he knew about Haki development - how it blooms most powerfully through adversity.

'Luffy gained such explosive power after just two years with Rayleigh,' he thought, 'because for seventeen years before that, he faced constant challenges that steeled his will.'

Leon thought of Luffy's journey in the timeline he knew - fighting Arlong, surviving Impel Down, witnessing Ace's death, enduring Marineford. Each battle, each loss, had shaped him, and made him stronger.

His brush with death against Bluejam had unlocked something - a momentary flash of what he suspected was Armament Haki when he broke his bonds.

But it wasn't enough.

'I can't shortcut the process,' Leon realized. 'True power in this world comes from something deeper than technical skill or knowledge. It comes from will tested by fire, from dreams that refuse to die.'

This realization didn't discourage him - instead, it focused him.

He might not have Luffy's destined path of constant adversity, but he would forge his own, and he would become strong enough to never feel that helpless again.

------------------------

The next morning, Leon rose before anyone else despite his injuries. He made his way outside, moving with deliberate care to avoid reopening his wounds further.

He retrieved his wooden sword again and began the most basic forms - movements that wouldn't tax his injuries too severely but would keep his muscles from atrophying during recovery.

His mind was clear now, focused. He'd made his decision. He would recover properly, then train harder than ever.

He would prepare Ace and Luffy as best he could for the challenges ahead. And he would never again be too weak to protect what is his.

As he completed a careful form, he noticed Ace watching from the doorway. No words were exchanged, but Ace's expression had shifted from yesterday's anger to reluctant understanding.

He approached with fresh bandages, wordlessly offering to help rebind Leon's wounds after he finished his current set.

It was a small gesture of acceptance, if not agreement.

"Thanks, Ace." Leon told him with a small, tired smile.

-------------------------

(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

Do tell me how you found it.

So, yeah, Sabo, is he dead in this fic or not? What do you think?

Well, I hope to see you all later,

Bye!)