When Bonney finally saw Light after the harrowing encounter with Magellan, she couldn't hold back her crying.
It was a quiet, trembling release of trauma and the sudden, overwhelming crash of adrenaline.
Heavy tears poured down her face, falling onto the checkered tiles. Her shoulders shook violently as she gasped for air, unable to hold back the things she went through.
"wuuu... *gasp* hupp"
"whaaaa *hiccup* wuaaaaHaaaHAA!! "
Bonney had almost entirely been with Light throughout her journey.
She had seen the ruthlessness of the world, but only from far, from under the protection of the shield that was Light.
But this time, Light had not been here with her.
The despair she had faced today... it was unlike anything she had ever faced before.
Light froze.
His hand paused above the hilt of his saber. The cold, calculating machinery of his mind ground to a sudden halt.
In all the time he had known Bonney—since the very beginning of his journey in the South Blue—he had never, ever seen her cry.
She was boisterous, gluttonous, and fiercely independent. To see her reduced to silent, trembling tears had almost made him lose control.
His thoughts came to a halt.
"Bonney...?" Light said, his voice losing its usual sterile edge, replaced by a flicker of vulnerability and fear.
Fear?
Why would I feel fear? This wasn't his emotion.
What could he possibly fear?
Bonney didn't look up.
She just squeezed his trousers tighter, taking a shuddering breath.
"They didn't run" Bonney whispered, her voice cracking softly. She slowly raised a trembling finger, pointing blindly toward the three wooden tables.
"When the Warden unleashed that red poison... it melted the floor, the steel, everything. We couldn't even breathe and- *hiccup* and..."
Tears kept slipping out of those purple jewels of hers. She was still crying.
Light looked over Bonney's head, his dark eyes locking onto the blistered, ruined bodies beneath the bandages of Zoro and Sanji. He looked at Luffy, gasping for air and biting his mouth close to hold back screams.
"If it weren't for them..." Bonney choked out, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.
"I would be long gone..."
"Even... even when fighting that terrifying Warden, all the time... they shielded me!"
"That stupid stupid STUPID Luffy didn't let a drop of venom splash over meeee!"
"WAAAA HAAAA HAAAAAAA!" She cried even louder now.
The grand hall of Newkama Land went silent, save for Luffy's ragged breathing and Bonney's crying.
Light stared at the three Straw Hats.
The words hit him with a profound, undeniable weight, bypassing the invisible armor of his Haki and striking directly at his core.
He had calculated their survival odds.
He had calculated the distraction they would provide.
He had viewed them as loud, chaotic rookies—useful variables to toss against the impenetrable walls of Impel Down so he could kill the criminals in peace.
'I treated them as expendables. '
'And yet.'
Light had a sudden, heavy silence falling over his own thoughts.
He had been arrogant.
He had been consumed by his own godhood.
He had failed to see what was right in front of him.
He had looked at Monkey D. Luffy and seen a foolish guy he could make use of.
'AND YET.'
'The Pirate Straw Hat Luffy.'
He wasn't strong.
He was a force of nature with an unbreakable spirit. He had stormed the greatest prison in the world, shattered its defenses, and marched into the deepest pits of Hell, almost sacrificing of his own life not for glory, but to save his brother.
And in the middle of that apocalyptic nightmare, he and his crew had laid down their lives to protect Bonney—a girl they barely knew, a girl who belonged to his crew.
A strange, entirely foreign sensation began to bloom in Light's chest.
It wasn't the thrill of executing a criminal.
Be it in his previous world or this world, it was an emotion entirely foreign to Light Yagami.
He didn't know what to call it.
...
And for the first time since his rebirth, Light Yagami genuinely re-evaluated himself.
He had, in all his honesty, underestimated this world.
He had underestimated the sheer, terrifying beauty of the human spirit.
The Straw Hat Pirates were not fodder. They were not pawns.
They possessed a purity of will and a selflessness that Light, with all his millions of Karma Points and his abilities, lacked entirely!
There was no doubt about it!
It is only today he understood that,
Somewhere along the way...
He had... forsaken his humanity.
...
Light slowly dropped to one knee.
He ignored the stares of the Okamas. He ignored Ivankov's suspicious glare and focused only on the single important person in the world to him.
Two large hands gently cupped little Bonney's face, and began wiping off her tears.
He would wipe her tears as many times he needed to.
He kept doing it.
Again.
And again.
And again. When something changed.
...
As God touched the Angel's tears, a miracle happened.
He wished to be Human again.
.
.
.
A/N: What do you think of Light's character development? You see, my story's Light Yagami is the not the copy of Light Yagami from Death Note, he is the continuation of him.
I could have had him remain a cold actor throughout the story, but I think that faced with the One Piece world even Light would grow a little. But the problem is that he is smart enough to recognise it.
So would he ever allow himself? read on!
{Read 30+ chapters ahead on patreon(dot)com/Glivaria }