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When deciding to take in Strawhat Luffy as his disciple, Rayleigh knew that grief was going to be a factor to take in mind. It was true Jinbe had managed to knock him back into his senses and keep him from doing something irreversible, but that did not mean that it was going to go away just like that, or any time soon– even less so with how harrowing the event was , based on what Jinbe, Hancock and the others had said.
The initial signs were easy to spot. During the first few days, any time his hands touched something unexpectedly damp (be it from tree sap to mud or water), he'd shake it off like he'd just touched flame. Luffy himself didn't seem to notice the tick, he never made a face or went " agh! ", just glanced at his hand once every few of these occasions before directing his attention back to Rayleigh's lecture. He let it slide, it would hopefully go away with time, and if worse came to worst they could work on reflex training when the wound was less fresh.
The first incident to go unignored was a scream in the middle of the night. Rayleigh had abandoned the campfire spot and fell asleep inside the woods, so the sudden noise was a rude awakening. Still, he walked the short walk before reaching Luffy, all while keeping track of him with Observation Haki just in case.
A part of Rayleigh's heart twinged when the boy came into regular view.
"-amnit, damnit, damnit!" He heard between wet sobs. From between the trees, he could see Luffy with his legs tucked to his chin and quickly hitting his forehead with his wrists before grasping his hair.
Suddenly, the boy straightened up and went cross-legged, as if– no, he did sense Rayleigh closing in. Would you look at that, he was making fast progress.
"Can we train?" Luffy asked, his voice coming out wobbly.
The man paused in front of the firewood with an eyebrow raised. "I don't think training while we're both tired would do any good."
Luffy nodded briskly. After a second of silence, Rayleigh decided to walk over to his pupil.
"You know, I was woken up by quite the loud noise", he said as he sat down. "I thought it came from over here, so I came to find the source. Would you happen to know of any human-like screams around here?"
Luffy's face plummeted like if he'd been caught stealing the last of Rayleigh's food supply. It was sad to watch, but it was better than to pretend nothing happened. Even worse was watching Luffy visibly struggle to contain the breakdown.
Rayleigh sighed. "The strong are allowed to cry too, Luffy."
Luffy immediately let go of the breath he was holding, and it came out as hiccuped sobs. Rayleigh let it pass, gently massaging his back with one hand.
"What happened?" He asked softly.
"I- Ace -", he said between tears, "He was right there I could've– I could've– the card– Lavadude –", he gasped, shaking like a leaf, "why- why couldn't it j-just be a dream–!"
Rayleigh didn't know for how long they stayed like this. He remained patient, listening to Luffy wail until his voice gave out. He sensed animals pass by every now and then, but they never seemed to approach, perhaps out of fear, or worry for their newly-arrived neighbor.