Chapter Text
Fire-Fist Ace? A father? He knows that's not right, he knows that kid. How does he know that kid? He knows that soft face, that wide smile, that curly hair, those round eyes. He knows that angled face, that smirk, that choppy haircut, those sharp eyes. He should only know that man from his bounty posters, so why does that face feel so familiar to his heart?
He remembers.
He remembers an ill-tempered boy, who hates the world as much as himself. Who pushed people away, yet clinged just as much. Who made snappy remarks, barbed words meant to hurt, but he said it with such a fond smile. Who stole their food, but made sure they ate enough. Jagged edges, but not sharp enough to draw blood.
He remembers a small boy, who loved too much and trusted too easily. Who dreamed big and worked hard. Who was loud and overwhelming, yet never scared them away. Who was energetic and clingy, but not suffocating. Who shared his food if they didn't hunt big enough game.
He remembers the treehouse, the clingy but warm bodies, he remembers the 100 fights per-day and the whining about 'One more fight!'. He remembers the woman who was his mother in everything but blood, claiming she didn't care about them. But he knows, he saw it in her eyes, in her movement, and the way she spoke. The way her rough exterior softened when the brothers interacted said the only thing she couldn't not do was care.
He holds the newspaper in his shaking hands, and no one is in his office when he breaks down. He can feel a headache pushing its way to the front of his mind, but he can't focus on that from the influx of memories. Some miniscule details trickle in, like a leaking boat. The way Ace had always felt the cold more than them, had shivered before he collapsed in a fit of sudden sleep, how Luffy had an aversion to pickled things, how he used to complain about his back hurting in the morning. But the rest crashes down on him, suffocates him, he watches the memories play before his eyes.
The treasure stash, the treehouse, the flag that read 'ASL' they were so proud of, the middle of the night wrestling matches, the bandits, his shitty gramps that accepted him into the family with no questions, he remembers it all. Even the stuffy house he lived in, but never lived. The stuffy, uptight nobles, the dreary atmosphere. But it was overshadowed by the love he felt with his brothers. His, his brothers. He likes that, it's been so long.
He missed them, he felt it deep in his soul, he misses them. Simply seeing them in the paper isn't good enough, he needs to see them. They think he's dead, he realizes. He slows his breathing, when did he start hyperventilating? And straightened his back. That's okay, he can find them.
The Whitebeard's shouldn't be too far, after all, he's been monitoring the ship for a while, this 'Teach' character had lately been feeling odd, and Sabo made sure his work was private. He can alert Dragon-san that he'll be taking a quick trip, take a small boat, and-
He takes a step to the door, and his knees buckle. His migraine pounds in the background, and he grits his teeth. He's the fucking Chief of Staff for the Revolutionary Army, he's not going to be taken down by a headache.
He slams the door open, ignores how Koala and Hack flinch at the suddenness, looking at him in worry. He quickly makes his way to Dragon-san's office. He needs to leave fucking yesterday, his brothers have no clue where he's been for the last ten years, and now one of them is ten years younger.
Ace and Luffy are sitting in the galley, exchanging stories and just basking in the presence of the other. Ace is sitting on a bench, a plate of food piled high in front of him, with Luffy sitting in his lap, his own plate of food in his face, yet he's trying to steal from his brother.
Ace shudders, disturbing Luffy, suddenly fatigued. Before he can think about it further, he's suddenly asleep. His head fell on top of the younger boy's head, bonking him. Before Luffy can say anything, he hears soft snores coming from Ace.
Luffy pouts, knowing it would be unfair to steal food while Ace is asleep, yet he still grabs a few pieces of meat. He hears his nakama gasp when Ace drops, oh dang, he forgot to mention the narcolepsy.
Before he can calm them down, Thatch laughs at the Strawhats, "Don't worry!" He placates, "He does this all the time!" and he grins at the crew before grabbing Ace's plate and holding it away from any (Luffy's) grabbing hands.
Luffy pouts and quickly inhales the rest of his food, wriggling out of his brother's hold and gently resting his head on the table. Look at him, being nice!
Chopper frowns, "It happens a lot?" He asks Thatch, curiously. Thatch thinks about that, nodding at the small doctor. "Marco mentioned that he could have narcolepsy, which sounds right," he further tells Chopper, "Although he said it's strange Ace doesn't experience the other symptoms, like hallucinations and stuff." Chopper hums and goes to find the blonde division commander.
Luffy starts patting Ace's face, bored. He's connecting the freckles of Ace's face with his finger when the man stirs. Luffy moves his hands and Ace blinks awake, cracking his neck and yawning. He lowers his head again, and snaps it back up, noticing the missing food and missing younger brother.
"Shishishi!" Luffy cackles, and Ace relaxes, "You fell asleep on me! The pom-pom guy took your food so I couldn't grab it, also your head is heavy!" He enthusiastically tells his brother, who flusters, and Thatch cackles in the back, giving the second division commander his plate of food back with a grin.
Ace and Luffy start wrestling over the mountain of food, "It's my plate!" Ace argues, pushing Luffy's hand away, "I'm young and hungry!" Luffy returns, and Ace scowls playfully. He puts the boy in a half chokehold, shoveling food in his mouth as Luffy struggles and complains.
Sanji grins at the display from where he's sitting. He's never had a close bond with his siblings, so seeing these two interact makes his heart swell with happiness for his Captain, and ache with want. The happiness overwhelms the want, and he chews on his cigarette, his Captain has enough love for everyone.
When Ace eats all of his food, Luffy pouts and taps out, settling back into the freckled man's lap. The boy sighs and rests himself over the man's shoulder, who picks his teeth with one hand and pats Luffy's back with the other.
"I wonder where Sabo is," Luffy whispers, connecting the freckles on Ace's shoulder blades with his finger. The man's breath stutters, muscles taut. He opens his mouth to respond, most likely an absent excuse, when there's a thud on the deck outside.
Majority of people stiffen up and leave the room, pulling their weapons with them just in case. Ace bites his lip, worried for Luffy's crew. The Whitebeard's can handle themselves, he knows this for a fact, but he worries for the rookie crew, even though they made it to the Grand Line and survived for this long.
He gets up, taking Luffy with him, and goes out to see what's going on. It's been quiet, so he assumes a fight hasn't broken out yet, which is good. Probably.
When he steps foot on deck, he sees everyone gathered around a single person. The man, he assumes they're a man, is dressed nice and fancy, making him stick out. He wears a tophat that looks so familiar it makes Ace's heart hurt, a long black trench coat covering a blue shirt, and a carvet tied around his neck. Ace shudders, this guy is too familiar for his liking. The man is blonde too, though his hair is longer than… His.
The man turns around, having finished saying something to Marco, looks Ace dead in the eyes, and freezes. The freckled man also freezes.
Those eyes, those round eyes are the eyes he sees in the confines of his room after waking up from a night terror, in the recesses of his mind. Those round eyes, the blue is unmistakable, it's the very same. A deep lapiz color, with yellow-gold flecked around his pupil. The other eye though, it's a dull, cloudy gray. Unfocused, surrounded by a large burn scar that looks years old. Almost as old as that day…
The man, who took off his hat a minute ago, tears up, but doesn't make a move towards him. It's probably for the best, Ace would've most likely socked this guy that looks so much like Sabo, who could be Sabo-
"Sabo!" Little Luffy shouts, tilting his head and looking at the blonde with unrestricted joy. Ace sees the blonde smile fondly at the boy, but he twists the fabric of his tophat in his gloved hands in anxiety. Everyone is watching the interaction, wary. It's bold for the Revs to visit the Whitebeard's, and Luffy knows the Chief of Staff?
Luffy giggles, stretching his arms quickly and looping them around the blonde, slingshotting towards him. To everyone's horror, he latches onto the man's face, surely suffocating the blonde revolutionary.
Surprisingly, the man handles the boy's excitement easily, allowing the giggling boy to hug his face for a moment before pulling him by the waist off his head and taking a deep breath, sweat beading his forehead from the boy's warmth. He looks at him with a smile, and Luffy can't stop himself from peppering the blonde in kisses, much to everyone's disbelief.
Well, everyone but Ace. He's still in a bit of shock about Sabo being alive, because who else could it be? There's no way to get past Luffy, who somehow knows when a person is lying or pretending. He's like a lie detector.
Ace calmly goes to Sabo, who looks at him with wide eyes. "Eres un pinche pendejo!" he hisses, and Sabo hunches his shoulders up guiltily. Having absolutely none of that, Ace pinches the stupid blonde by his ear, dragging him into the galley, which is empty.
Sensing his fate to an angry Ace, Sabo ushers Luffy off his shoulders, gives him a forehead kiss, and sends the boy out of the room. He looks back at his brother, who roughly grabs him by the shoulders, dragging him closer.
Sabo cringes and closes his eyes, expecting loud yelling, which he very much deserves. Instead, he hears quiet sniffling, and feels a weight settle on his chest. He looks down and sees his older brother hiding his face, still holding his shoulders as he cries into the cravat tied around his neck. "Te extrañé, pendejo," His older brother whispered, and Sabo bit back tears. Before he could apologize, Ace continued, almost rambling.
"Lo siento, lo siento, tu moriste y yo no pude salvarte, ¿cuánto tiempo has estado vivo?" The freckled man said, looking at Sabo desperately. The blonde didn't know what to say, he wishes he'd remembered sooner. He could've been here, with them, he's missed so much.
He tangles his fingers in Ace's hair, pulling his brother's head towards him quickly, bonking their foreheads together. The impact caused their teeth to rattle, and there would no doubt be a bruise, but the simple gesture made Ace tear up again as the brother he thought died spoke, his voice causing his brain to reboot.
"Familia siempre unida," he said, voice thick with emotion, "Familia," he promised, repeating the word for Ace to remember. "Lo siento," the blonde whispered, voice hoarse as he stroked the strands of Ace's hair, "Me fui por tanto tiempo," he said, absently. Ace nodded, agreeing.
Sabo hasn't been there for so long, his absence left a noticeable change. But he's here now, he won't leave them behind again without a promise to be back. Sabo tilts Ace's head back, wiping his older brother's tears with his thumbs, the gloves absorbing the liquid quickly.
"Let's go back now," Sabo whispers, feeling Ace nod into his hands, "Luffy still causes trouble, doesn't he?" He rhetorically asks, and Ace grins wetly. "It's our fault, apparently," he points out, "Luffy says we raised him like that," and he smiles fondly, and Sabo's heart tears itself apart and warms his chest at the same time.
"As we should," Sabo agrees, and puts Ace in a headlock as he drags him out, "This is payback for dragging me by the ear earlier," he cheekily says at the freckled man, whose hat is covering his face and muffling his swears.