Chapter Text
Dawn glints off the sand in a brilliant red, and the rising heat from the desert distorts it into a shimmer, illuminating the air like a refracting gemstone. Alabasta is a ruby; beautiful and highly coveted.
It’s also very, very hot. The kind of heat where you can feel your exposed skin burning after only a few minutes in the sun. Koby wore a tank top and khaki shorts today, thinking that it would be his best bet for staying cool in the heat, but all he’s done is provide maximum surface area to turn a terrible shade of red by tomorrow morning.
When Sanji volunteers to go clothes shopping for the group, Koby tags along, with urgency. Luffy, also, says that he wants to go explore the new island, and after assuring Sanji seven times that he will stay with them the entire time, he’s allowed to come too.
So, naturally, he’s missing before they even find a clothing store.
“Luffy!” Koby calls out into the crowd. Busy people hurry around him, the current of traffic easily but irritably parting around him like a stream around a rock. “Sorry, excuse me, sorry,” he apologizes every time someone bumps into him. “Luffy!”
“Give it up, Glasses. It’ll be faster to get the clothes and check every kabob stand later, instead of trying to drag him into a store.”
“I guess I see your point,” Koby concedes. “As long as it’s okay—?”
“It’s fine. Let’s hurry up, you’re starting to look like the first half of a surf and turf.”
Koby can’t disagree with that, so he silently prays for Luffy not to completely burn down the city before they can find him again, and hurries along.
The marketplace is bustling, with vendors set up in stalls around the huge plaza as well as inside the actual buildings lining it. The two of them choose a clothier in one of the building shops just to get Koby out of the sun.
With some help from the tailor, he picks out the most protective clothing he can possibly find for a trek through the desert; a long light-orange kurta over white loose-fitting pants. He tucks the legs into the tops of his boots, and the fabric billows out over the top. Most importantly, the tailor teaches him how to tie a travel turban properly, so that it covers literally every inch of his skin except for his eyes– which should be covered by his glasses anyway. The leftover fabric pools over his shoulders and neck like a scarf, which he quite likes. The tailor decides to fit him in a headwrap that’s nearly the same shade of pink as his hair, and also provides a little gold chain to attach to the stems of his glasses so that they can dangle around his neck.
Koby pulls the mask part of the turban down for now, clips Carp’s chain around his waist, and wanders around the store in search of his crewmate. Sanji opted to just buy a hood instead of a full wrap, so he didn’t need the tying lesson and went on ahead to get outfits for everyone else.
He finds Sanji in the costume section of all places, eyeing the price tag on a female dancer outfit.
“That’s probably not super pragmatic for desert travel,” Koby says, startling him so hard he drops the tag.
“I know that!” Sanji says quickly, weirdly defensive. “I was just thinking about how it would suit a lovely lady!” His eyes practically turn into hearts, the way he suddenly melts. “Nami-san and Vivi-chan would pull it off perfectly, they’d look so feminine...”
Koby coughs, extremely uncomfortable.
“Okay. Well, they’d probably also look extremely dead. Because of the sandstorms.”
Sanji scowls at him, cigarette crunching between gritted teeth.
“Are you implying I would put women’s lives in danger?” He asks.
“No!” Koby insists, suddenly acutely aware of his own mortality. “Not at all! I was just confused why you were looking at it! It’s not exactly practical.”
Sanji narrows his eyes, giving Koby a once-over. Then he crosses his arms and looks away with an irritated scoff.
“It’s normal for a man to daydream. About women.”
“...Okay?” Koby has no idea where the thread of this conversation is going.
Sanji turns back to him again, narrowing his eyes.
“Men fantasize about skimpy clothes. On women. That’s normal.” His voice gets a little more aggressive with each statement.
“Okay?” Koby agrees, more confused than anything. Is he missing something? “Do you want me to finish the shopping while you… keep doing that?”
This, for some reason, only irritates Sanji more. “No! Shut up!” He snaps, then turns heel and storms towards the desert travel wear.
Koby watches him go, bewildered. That was a weird conversation, right? He’s not crazy?
“Hurry up, Glasses!” Sanji yells at him. “You’re carrying everything!”
When they arrive back at the Merry, everyone is eager to change into the new clothes. Particularly Vivi, who is clearly feeling a great deal of emotions about being home, wearing fashion that is familiar to her after so long undercover.
“These are perfect. Thanks for getting them,” Vivi says, smiling impossibly wide but also tearing up a bit.
“You are so very welcome, my love!” Sanji replies, dropping to one knee. “I selected the safest outfits for my lovely ladies with special care.~”
Koby lets him have that without comment.
“Where’s Monkey-chan?” Bon Clay asks, adjusting his own robe. Koby got him one in a style similar to the other girls, which he seems to appreciate.
“Wait,” Nami says, looking up from the map where she’s been charting a reasonable path to drop off Bon Clay. “Did you two idiots lose Luffy?” she asks, eyes narrowing at the two of them.
“Koby lost him.” Sanji says, immediately throwing him under the wheels with no remorse.
“We did try to search for him,” Koby insists. They spent a good half hour looking, too.
“Why didn’t you use your psychic powers?” Usopp asks, in the midst of trying his own head wrap.
Unfortunately, Nanohana is populus, and the marketplace was crowded. While Luffy’s haki voice is distinct, it’s a lot harder to find in a sea of thousands of people. If he was in danger, or got into a fight, maybe the strength of his will would grow loud enough for Koby to hear over the din, but then Luffy would be in danger or fighting someone, which is a whole new problem. So, arguably, it’s a good thing that Koby can’t find him.
“I don’t have psychic powers,” Koby insists, because Usopp of all people knows better. “And there’s just too much interference to find him with haki. We came back because he wasn’t at any of the kabob stands, so I thought we should expand the search with more people helping.”
Chopper immediately perks up.
“We get to see the island?” He asks, stars in his eyes.
“It would be really nice to see how Nanohana has fared,” Vivi agrees wistfully.
“I do need to pick up some supplies…” Nami agrees reluctantly.
“We’ll go out in teams of two,” Koby decides, slipping into old habits of assigning squads and orders.
Usopp, Carue, and Bon Clay will stay on the ship, in case Luffy comes back (unlikely). Vivi will go with Zoro (for protection in case she’s recognized by Baroque Works, and because she knows the city well enough to offset Zoro’s terrible sense of direction). Sanji will go with Nami (to keep him from getting distracted by and/or conned by other women). Chopper will come along with Koby (because he’s never been to a city before and Koby wants to keep an eye on him).
With orders to return to the ship in one hour, everyone splits up, aiming to cover as many eating establishments and interesting landmarks as possible.
“This place is huge,” Chopper gawks as they walk out into the marketplace plaza. He’s in his run point, with a blanket over his back to protect it from the sun. “There’s so many buildings and people. Are there really towns bigger than this?”
“Yep! Nanohana is a little over average, but it’s nothing compared to some of the cities further in the Grand Line. Water 7 is probably five times the size.”
“Five?” Chopper yelps. “I can’t even imagine. There’s so many weird smells I can hardly see straight, and there’s no trees or mountain peaks to help navigate. No wonder Luffy got lost.”
“Ah, well, I don’t know if Luffy is lost as much as distracted,” Koby explains, “He tends to run off when he gets excited.”
Koby thinks for a moment.
“...And then he gets lost. Or into trouble and then lost. So I guess you’re not wrong.”
Chopper grins sheepishly, ducking his head. “I know everyone is worried about time, but I’m a little glad he’s lost because it means I get to wander around this place for a bit. I’m finally on a real pirate adventure!”
BLAM!
A series of explosions erupt a few blocks over. Dust clouds and smoke rise from a row of buildings.
“Property damage. Now it’s a real pirate adventure.” Koby sighs. “Let’s go, Chopper, that’s probably Luffy.”
Luffy is, at least, very easy to find. Mostly because he is being chased by a veritable horde of marines. Koby and Chopper fall in step beside him, easily outpacing the pursuers. Lucky for them, these marines seem to be pretty low-ranking, and therefore no match for Luffy or run-point Chopper, even carrying Koby on his back.
“Captain, we were looking for you!” Koby calls.
“KOBY! CHOPPER!” Luffy cries, delighted. “Watch out, that smokey guy’s here.”
“The what?” Chopper asks, glancing warily between him and Koby.
“You saw Captain Smoker?” Koby asks, suddenly much more concerned.
He glances behind them, and sure enough, a billowing cloud of smoke is catching up extremely quickly. If he’s here, and his crew is here, then Lt. Tashigi probably isn’t far behind. There’s no way the three of them will be able to fight off so many Marines. Not when one of them is a logia.
“I won’t let you get away!” Smoker bellows, just his torso coalescing to yell at them while the rest of his body floats in smoke form with terrifying speed.
“Hey look! Sanji and Nami!” Luffy yells, waving at their crewmates watching subtly from behind a building
“DON’T LEAD THEM TO US!” The two of them yell, turning heel and sprinting.
“We need to steer him away from the crew,” Koby decides, mentally calculating a route. “If we can lose the marines in the alleyways, we can head back to the ship without–”
“SUN FLARE!”
Smoker’s rapidly approaching haki voice is suddenly interrupted by a massive explosion of flame. A terrible heat sears the air, but the fire itself leaves them remarkably undamaged. Still, the sudden explosion startles Chopper, who yelps and trips, sending Koby flying off his back and tumbling down the dirt road.
Covered in sand and coated in pebbles, he coughs up some dust and stares in awe at a figure standing his ground in the center of the road, clutching a cowboy hat to his head, as a massive starburst of bright orange fire engulfs the entire street beyond him.
The tattoo on his back, proudly bared to the world, is the mark of the Whitebeard pirates.
Koby’s stomach drops.
“ACE!” Luffy cries, unspeakably excited. His soul sings like a chorus of a thousand bells, deafening and beautiful and so so happy.
The happier he feels, the more Koby is sure he’s going to throw up. Why is Ace here, in Alabasta? This wasn’t in any incident reports!
“Heh. You never change, do ya, Luffy?” Ace asks, as he glances over his shoulder with a teasing grin.
“Who is that?” Chopper asks. Koby startles when he realizes Chopper caught up to him at some point. He’s gently nudging Koby to his feet.
“I never thought I’d meet you here, Ace!” Luffy says. Koby mentally echoes the sentiment, but with dread.
“No time to talk now, Loof,” Ace says. In front of him, the flames fade, and Smoker slowly reconstitutes himself into a human shape. “Make your getaway, I’ll catch up once I take care of these guys.”
“Alright!” Luffy agrees easily, turning around and running straight for Koby and Chopper, clotheslining them both and dragging them along behind him. “Let’s go, guys! To the ship”
“GET ABOARD THE SHIP! HOIST THE SAILS!” Nami bellows. Koby– through the sand flying into his mouth and giving him road rash– sees that the other Strawhat search party has found the commotion as well, so they all run as a group back towards the Going Merry.
By the time they make it to the little inlet where they docked, Usopp, Bon Clay, and Carue are all scrambling like madmen to get the ship ready to sail. Either Nami’s voice managed to carry twenty blocks to their ship, or Usopp saw explosions in the distance and instantly knew that it was Luffy’s fault, so they prepped for a hot exit. Both options are extremely likely.
It’s only after they’ve successfully shoved off and are floating down the river that Koby resumes his pending panic attack about Ace.
“So who the hell was that guy?” Sanji asks.
“My big brother!” Luffy declares, perched on the ship’s railing, rocking back and forth happily.
“BIG BROTHER?” Everyone drops what they’re doing and turns to pay attention to Luffy in disbelief. Zoro and Koby are the only ones who don’t seem utterly shocked, though Koby certainly feels like he’s been smacked in the face for an entirely different reason.
“Yeah! Ace is three years older than me,” Luffy explains, as if the unbelievable part is the age gap, and not the sheer coincidence of meeting him here.
“Not surprised you have a brother,” Zoro says, “But what’s he doing on the Grand Line?”
Koby swallows a crazed, hysterical laugh. More like what the hell is the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard pirates doing this far back in Paradise!?
“He’s a pirate after the One Piece, too! He left the island three years before me.”
“Two brothers with a devil fruit,” Sanji mutters thoughtfully, “What’re the odds?”
“Right?” Luffy asks. “I couldn’t even beat him up before he ate something like that! Ace is crazy strong!”
“You couldn’t beat him?” Nami asks, going pale. “A normal person?”
“Yeah, I was such a loser.” Luffy suddenly throws his head back and laughs uproariously. “HAHAHA! But now, I can totally beat him.”
It’s Koby’s turn to laugh. Just a single, incredulous, “Ha!” that bursts out of him before he can stop himself, more out of fear than out of actual amusement. Luffy is a fantastic fighter this far into the Grand Line, but Fire Fist Ace in his prime as an Emperor’s Commander? Without haki? If they weren’t brothers, Luffy would be nothing but a tiny pile of ash before he could throw a punch.
…Come to think of it, how exactly did Luffy defeat Crocodile, the first time around? He didn’t have any effective physical attacks yet—
“Who is it that you can beat?” Ace asks, landing on the railing beside his brother. Luffy yelps in surprise and falls to the deck, flat on his face.
“ACE!!” Luffy yells, sitting up and grinning at his brother like he personally hung all the stars in the sky. A terrible, horrible guilt swirls in Koby’s chest, the image of Luffy’s unconscious body dragged across the Marineford battlefield flashes before him.
“Howdy.” Ace bows politely at the rest of the crew, even in his weird squat on the railing. “Thank y’all very much for looking after my kid brother.”
A pretty boy with freckles and a cowboy hat smiles down at him. Koby stares up at a charred corpse, face-down on the battlefield.
Ace is nineteen years old, the same age Koby was before he came back in time. Ace may very well be younger than him right now. He’s just a kid who teases his brother and says “howdy” and “thank you” like he’s proud to have manners.
Koby knows immediately: he can’t do it. He can’t let this boy die for the blood in his veins. It’s not right, and it’s certainly not justice. Not for Ace, and not for the hundreds of people on both sides who died at Marineford.
“Don’t mention it,” the rest of the crew says, bowing in return. Koby can’t move. He swallows thickly.
He’s going to save this kid’s life. Somehow.
“What are you doing in Alabasta, Ace?” Luffy asks, and the conversation continues on as if Koby’s entire world isn’t crumpling beneath him.
“Y’all didn’t get my message on Drum Island?”
“Message?” Luffy tilts his head to the side like a confused puppy.
“You were on Drum Island?” Chopper asks, eyes wide with awe.
“Ah, yeah.” Ace rubs the back of his head sheepishly. “Nevermind, wasn’t that important. I’m here resolving some minor business, and I wanted to see ya. Glad I caught y’all.”
Luffy beams at him.
“So,” Ace continues, very deliberately putting on a faux-casual demeanor. But the air around him grows a little bit heavier. His haki, radiating heat like a bonfire, intensifies. It crackles dangerously, flames licking at damp wood. “How’s about joining the Whitebeard Pirates? Your friends can come too.”
Koby stares at him, openly. There’s no way he actually intends to press-gang them into the Emperor’s fleet, right? But if it’s a joke, why the intimidating haki?
For just a split second, Ace’s eyes dart from Luffy to Koby. But the attention is gone so quickly Koby can’t be sure if he imagined it.
“PBBBFT!” Luffy blows a raspberry at his brother, oblivious to the intensity of his aura. “No thanks!”
And all at once, the intense pressure is gone, replaced with the same delightful warmth as when Ace first landed.
“HA HA HA!” Ace laughs, slapping his knee. “Well, I had to ask!”
Koby untenses, only just realizing he’s been coiled tight this entire time. That was a test, then. To make sure Luffy’s resolve isn’t going to cave under a little pressure from his brother. Or maybe to see if he has any observation haki? Probably both.
“WHITEBEARD?!” Usopp’s voice cracks. “That- that tattoo on your back, that’s his mark?!”
Ironically, Ace is in equal standing with Usopp’s dad— in name, if not power— as an Emperor’s commander. There’s no telling if that information would comfort Usopp, or just freak him out more.
…Probably the latter. Luffy would love it, though.
“Yup! I’m damn proud of it, too,” Ace says, and the smile on his face looks painfully similar to Luffy’s. “Whitebeard’s the greatest pirate I’ve ever known, and I’m gonna help him become King of ‘em all. It won’t be you, Luffy!”
“That’s okay by me,” Luffy agrees amicably, “We’ll just have to fight, then!”
Ace radiates a warm affection like Koby is standing in front of a space heater. Not from his devil fruit, but from his very soul. He loves his brother, and it burns so strongly it’s impossible to ignore the feeling– it seeps into Koby’s very bones.
“Why don’t you sit down and talk?” Sanji asks, pulling out a cigarette. “I’ll put on some tea.”
“Ah, I prolly shouldn’t…” Ace hems. He leans forward with a small flame on his finger and lights Sanji’s cigarette before he can even pull out his lighter. Sanji’s cheeks turn pink.
Ace winks, shakes out his hand like he’s extinguishing a match and turns back to his brother.
“But screw it! Waited three years for my kid brother to make it to sea, I can take a few hours to meet his crew.” Ace hops down from the railing, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Kick his ass a lil’, for old times’ sake.”
“Hey! I can totally beat you now!” Luffy insists, and doesn’t even finish the sentence before throwing a punch.
Ace sidesteps easily, and pulls something small out of his pocket, flicking it at Luffy’s forehead.
“Before I forget, I want you to have this,” he says. Luffy snatches it out of the air and unfolds it– a piece of paper. The rest of the crew huddles around him, trying to catch a glimpse of the contents, but it’s empty.
Except it’s not, really. Koby can feel it flickering with warmth like a candle. A tiny piece of Ace’s soul, in his little brother’s hands.
“A vivre card,” Koby realizes.
“You know of ‘em.” Ace gives him a once-over. “Y’got decent haki, too. How the hell did my idiot brother recruit someone like you in Paradise?” He pauses. A dangerous grin spreads across his face. “Wanna join the Whitebeard pi–?”
“NO CREW STEALING!” Luffy yells, throwing another punch that Ace ducks easily, laughing.
“I’m kidding!” Ace says, and Koby can tell from his mischievous aura that he’s telling the truth. “Something tells me he ain’t the type to defect.”
Luffy retracts his arm with a snap, and puffs up his chest proudly. “Of course not! Koby asked to join me. He’s my first nakama!”
The words bring a flush to his cheeks that would put Sanji’s to shame, if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s too sunburnt for it to be visible. He ducks his head bashfully.
“He helped me find Zoro, too! Zoro was all tied up like a weakling–”
“Oi!”
“–but he’s actually really strong and is gonna be the World’s Greatest Swordsman. And then I found Nami! She’s our navigator–”
Luffy goes on, telling his brother about each member of the crew, shoving each of them towards Ace as he hypes them up. Zoro nods wordlessly. Nami gives an apologetic wave. Usopp joins in when Luffy starts to talk about him, inventing an insane story about saving the entirety of East Blue from total annihilation. Sanji ducks away into the kitchen before they can talk about him, presumably to get started on tea. Chopper listens to the stories with rapt attention, just as unfamiliar with the events as Ace. Though he does squirm and cuss out Luffy when he starts talking up how cool Chopper’s zoan forms are.
“That’s awesome, Loof!” Ace says at the end of it, pushing down on his straw hat affectionately. “How ‘bout you?” He nods at Bon Clay.
They’re all sitting around the deck at this point, laughing, talking, and sipping tea. Sanji brought out some gingersnaps, too, that were pretty quickly annihilated by Luffy and Ace. Bon Clay sits cross-legged in the circle, silently watching everyone and sipping his own tea.
“Oh!” Luffy says. “Bon-chan isn’t on my crew, but he’s my friend!”
“I’m, ah, a former member of Baroque Works,” he explains sheepishly. Vivi beams with pride and pats him on the back, encouraging. She’s really warmed up to him the past few days, now that he’s committed to changing his ways.
“Neat,” Ace says with an easy smile. “Is that, like, a dance troupe, or...?”
“Sort of!” Bon Clay says, nodding encouragingly. “More of an assassins’ agency, but similar politics.”
Ace blinks. “Huh. You don’t say?”
“Yes, all defectors are hunted by their former comrades and executed for their disloyalty. Much like a dance troupe.”
Koby laughs nervously. Bon Clay gives no indication that he’s joking.
“Well, good thing you got away safely,” Ace says, pointing finger guns at Bon Clay.
“Oh nono, my dear, they’re all over this island. A few of them are tailing us right now.”
Nami jolts to her feet and dashes to look over the railing.
“Oh my god, we’re being followed!”
A cannon booms in the distance.
“Oh my god! We’re being attacked!” She shrieks, dropping flat to the deck.
Both Luffy and Ace dart forward, faster than Koby can even process. Luffy inflates into gum-gum balloon, which stops Ace in his tracks. It takes only a split second for him to realize what’s going on, and he takes a deliberate step back, watching curiously.
Just like at the Baratie, the cannonball sinks into Luffy’s stomach then rebounds in a random direction, faster than before. This time, it’s sent at least vaguely in the direction that the shot was fired, though several meters wide. It hits the water with a massive splash.
“Not bad,” Ace compliments. Luffy shrinks back to normal size to bask in the praise.
“Told ya, I’m strong now!”
“HAND OVER FIRE FIST ACE!” A bullhorn demands from the fleet. “With his head, we’ll be promoted for sure!”
“They… didn’t recognize our ship,” Vivi realizes. “They’re just after Luffy’s brother.”
“Huh.” Everyone says in unison.
They stare out at the three dozen ships of clueless assassins following them by accident.
“Sounds like my cue to leave, then,” Ace says, sauntering over to the railing.
“What? No! Stay longer!” Luffy begs, grabbing his brother’s arm and tugging on it like a little kid. “We haven’t seen each other in so long!”
Koby’s heart pulls. The next time Luffy sees his brother will probably be at his execution, if he doesn’t do something.
“Take Bon-chan with you!” Koby blurts, shoving Bon Clay forward.
Everyone stops what they’re doing and stares at him like he’s lost his mind. Maybe he has.
“Bon Clay can’t stay in Alabasta, but we don’t have time to drop him off somewhere, s-so, if you’re willing…” Koby trails off, realizing just how much he’s asking here. Ace pulled up in a tiny self-propelled waver, with only the food in his knapsack.
“Uh…” Ace’s eyes dart around, clearly searching for a polite way to say no.
“Oo, good idea! Ace will bring Bon-chan to a different island,” Luffy says, pushing Bon Clay into his brother. “Sanji, pack them lunch boxes!”
“Sure,” Sanji says, already moving to the kitchen.
Bon Clay steps back to blink up at Ace with big puppy dog eyes.
“Luffy,” Ace says flatly. “I’m not taking this guy with me on my mission.”
“Of course not,” Luffy agrees, with a solemn nod. “Ace is just taking him to the next island.”
“Populated island, please,” Bon Clay adds.
“Yeah, that,” Luffy jerks a thumb at him.
“No?” Ace glances back and forth between the two of them like he’s trying to figure out who to reject.
“Yes,” Luffy replies easily. “Ace was gonna hang out with me longer, so I know he has time to do it.”
“I mean, yeah. But I don’t want to.”
“Ace said yes!” Luffy cheers.
“No,” Ace repeats, more firm this time.
“Yep!” Luffy corrects him.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No!”
“Yes.”
“Luffy.”
“Yes?”
“No.”
“Yes!”
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A volley of cannons go off in the distance. All the Strawhats– sans Luffy– hit the deck. Luffy makes no move to gum-gum balloon, instead crossing his arms stubbornly, pouting at Ace.
“LUFFY!” Nami screams hysterically.
Their captain does not budge. He continues glaring down his brother.
“Gah! You’re still so annoying! Fine!” Ace throws his hands up in frustration. As he does, he faces the stern and a vortex of bright yellow flames erupts out of him in a cone, intercepting the cannonballs before they can strike the ship. Koby’s jaw drops in muted horror as the vortex hits with enough force to fully counteract their momentum. The metal projectiles turn into molten goop mid-air, and when the flames dissipate, droplets of liquid iron fall harmlessly into the sea, sizzling and boiling the immediate area.
This is the true power of an Emperor’s commander. The Ace he saw at Marineford three years ago was chained up for months in seastone cuffs in the basement of Impel Down before his execution. He was tired and underfed and out of shape. There’s a reason Fire Fist Ace was– is a name to fear.
“YAY!” Luffy and Bon Clay cheer, hugging each other.
“WE LIVED!” Usopp, Nami, and Chopper wail, hugging each other.
Ace rolls his eyes, but Koby feels a begrudging fondness from him.
“I’m gonna take care of my stalkers,” Ace says, stretching out his shoulders behind his head. “I’ll swing around when I’m done, but I won’t slow down, so you’d better be ready to jump on with that food.”
“Yes, sir, Toasty-chan!”
“See ya later, Luffy,” Ace says, ruffling his brother’s hair. “Maybe next time, you’ll even be worth a fight.”
“Next time, I’ll beat you for sure!” Luffy vows.
Ace’s laugh echoes off the waves as he vaults over the railing and streaks off towards the oncoming fleet atop his striker.
As soon as he’s gone, Koby pulls Bon Clay aside and whispers urgently to him.
“Bon-chan, I need to ask you for one last favor before you go. As my friend.”
Bon Clay looks surprised, but attentive. “Of course, Ghosty-chan, anything for a friend!”
“Keep an eye on Ace for me? I… have a bad feeling about this mission he’s going on.”
Koby doesn’t actually know what this mission entails— Ace didn’t give any details— but he does distinctly remember Ace being detained around this time. Whatever happens that allows the marines to capture him, it happens sometime in the next month or two.
Bon Clay blinks at Koby blankly. Then glances over at the Baroque Works fleet, where Ace is single-handed torching all 30+ ships into ash without even touching them. Agents scream in pain and terror as they burn alive, the smarter ones jumping overboard before the flames can take them. Bon Clay slowly turns back towards Koby.
“I don’t know if he needs my protection,” Bon Clay points out politely.
Koby winces. He knows that he can’t reasonably expect Bon Clay to fight off a Marine force with the power to capture an Emperor’s Commander alive, but he can’t bring himself to stand by and let this tragedy go the same way it did last time around. He knows better than anyone that a single person’s presence can make all the difference on the battlefield.
“I’m not asking you to protect him physically,” Koby amends. “But he means a lot to Luffy. I would… rest easier if I knew there was someone I trust with him.”
Bon Clay’s eyes gleam with a sheen of tears.
“Ghosty-chan!” He cries, throwing his arms around Koby and spinning him around. “I’m touched to be trusted with such earnest feelings! For the sake of my friends on this ship, I will stay with Toasty-chan until he completes his quest.” Bon-clay darts a quick glance at the burning fleet again. “Or until he resorts to char-broiling me.”
Koby huffs, somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh of relief. He hugs his friend right back.
The rest of the crew says their goodbyes to Bon Clay as well. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper are particularly tearful and clingy. Though Vivi wipes at her eyes, too— she and Bon-chan have grown surprisingly close.
Sanji just comes up from the deck and throws a sack of food and a small sachet at him, turning away before checking that Bon Clay catches them.
“Get out of here, already,” Sanji says, waving his hand flippantly.
“My favorite kamairacha tea!” Bon-chan exclaims, peeking into the sachet. “Oh, Pretty Boy, you sweetheart!”
Bon Clay leaps at him for a hug, and Sanji ax-kicks him down.
“Never touch me,” Sanji hisses.
“The heart of a maiden and the disposition of a sea urchin,” Bon-chan coos under the heel of Sanji’s shoe. “What if I looked like a pretty young girl for y—“
“LEAVE!” Sanji yelps, aiming another kick for the head. His entire face is tomato-red. But Bon Clay rolls gracefully away, blowing a kiss and a wink as he goes.
“Thank you all for your wonderful friendship and hospitality!” Bon-chan declares, tucking the tea sachet into his bra and hefting the sack of food over his shoulder. In the distance, Ace peels away from the burning fleet and streaks back towards the Going Merry. “I will always remember our time together, so if we meet again on these high seas, oh, won’t you please—?“
He leaps off the side of the ship in a grand jeté, landing perfectly on the back of Ace’s waver as it zooms past the bow.
“—OKAMA-WAY!” The Strawhats shout after him.