Chapter Text
(fragment from Brook's pov-- in this version, Luffy finds and defeats moria fist, spending the next month trying to locate Brook among the waves.)
"We've been trawling for treasure for weeks after defeating Moria. No one knows what the hell Luffy has been looking for," Zoro grouses.
"A musician!" Luffy supplies, grin spreading wide. "And I found one."
He laughs, unawares of the sideways, slanting looks of everyone else looking at him. How on earth could he know that there was a skeleton musician floating in the water. No one can say for sure, but he was waiting...
(section after thriller bark, mostly complete)
Luffy dashes forward and lays into Sanji with a baseball bat.
“Luffy!” Chopper and Nami cry in unison, everyone else either gasps or simply stares at disbelief. The cook has a massive lump on his head and a murderous look on his face.
“What the hell was that for?” Sanji demands, leading to his feet and kicking at Luffy. As ever, his captain skillfully and deftly avoids each attack.
This time, he’s clearly taunting Sanji, as he actually closes his eyes. Despite the handicap, Luffy dances out of the way without missing a single step, even jumping onto the railing before smacking the chef again. Sanji grits his teeth against the pain and jumps up towards his captain. Luffy leaps into the air and stretches to the crow’s nest. Once there he finally opens his eyes. His lips are twisted into a frown, and Sanji can barely handle it.
“What the hell?! You shitty bastard! Get down here so I can kick you.”
“It didn’t work,” Luffy says, mostly to himself, Sanji thinks. Their captain descends the nest while Sanji stretches his ankle for a moment, preparing for his next attack.
“What didn’t work?” Nami finally asks. Each member is understandably curious about why Luffy assaulted the chef.
Luffy levels Sanji with a serious look. “I’m trying to awaken your Haki.”
“Haki?”
“It’s mystery energy.”
“What does it do?”
“Well, it’s like... powerful. And you can harden parts of yourself, and sense things, and make other people pass out. Stuff like that.”
All of them stare at him incredulously.
“Perhaps I can clear up a little of the confusion?” Robin— wonderful, beautiful Robin— offers kindly.
“Please,” Chopper says emphatically.
“Haki is the basic life energy that all beings possess. Certain people can harness this inner energy and use it in three different ways. The first is called Armament Haki. In which you can harden sections of your body into a near impenetrable form.”
“Really?” Zoro asks, skeptical, and hungry.
“Yep!” Luffy chirps.
“The second kind is observation Haki. It enables the user to sense other people. In addition, they are able to predict their opponents attack within their mind’s eye and dodge.”
“That’s how you always dodge, you shitty captain!” Sanji irritably pulls out a cigarette and lights it.
“I had my suspicions, but I didn’t know you were so skilled at these forms already.” Brook turns his attention to their captain. “These are supposed to be extremely rare skills outside of the New World.”
Luffy shrugs.
“What’s the third kind?” Chopper asks.
“Conqueror’s Haki— it’s a skill so rare that people say you can go through your life twice without ever meeting someone who can use it. That power is ever rarer that Mythical Zoan Devil’s Fruit. Only one in a million possess this power,” Robin informs them.
Usopp’s mouth falls open. “You’re kidding!”
“Don’t question Robin-schwans expertise you long nosed idiot!” Sanji snaps.
“What does it do?” Nami asks, moving the conversation along.
“It enables the user to conquer the spirits of those less strong adversaries. Basically one can render entire bodies of people unconscious without lifting a finger.”
Nami shudders. “What an awful power.”
Robin nods. “It is easily the strongest of the three, don’t you agree, captain?”
Luffy scratches his head. “Probably. You all haven’t seen that Haki, but you also haven’t seen my elephant gun attack, and that’s pretty strong too.”
The implication Robin is trying to make finally sinks in.
“You mean—“ Usopp chokes out.
“Luffy can?!” Nami exclaims.
“Wow.” Chopper utters, looking dazedly at his captain.
“I’ve heard stories but never expected to meet someone in my life! Second life included!” Brook cries. “Not that I am alive in this second life.”
Zoro makes a short sound of irritation. “This is Luffy we’re talking about. What’s there to be surprised about?” His eyes dart to his captain. “Though I’m wondering why I’ve never seen these attacks before. Aside from Observation Haki against dart-brow over there.”
“I was wondering that as well,” Robin admits. “You had a fairly strong control of Haki when we first met five years ago, and you’ve only gotten better, yet you’ve rarely used it. Why is that?”
Luffy tilts his head. “What was it that Ace said? Fish? Yeah, he said because fish.”
Nami and Usopp sigh while Brook and Franky let out hearty laughs.
“Can you remember exactly what he said?” Nami encourages.
“Um, he said getting big fish’s attention was bad. So because fish.”
“He must mean attracting the attention of the big players.”
“Yeah, neither of us could risk running into them early in our battle, you know? It’s too dangerous.”
Zoro slams his hand so heavily on the banister that the wood shatters.
“For who exactly?! Not you! I’ve never seen you almost lose in a fight. You’re talking about us, aren’t you? We aren’t strong enough to play in the big leagues.”
Fuck. Sanji inhales as deep a breath of smoke as his lungs can handle, because that’s exactly what Luffy means. They’re the ones holding him back from going on in his adventure. They’re a backpack, a burden. One that Sanji slowly realizes that Luffy has been carrying for some time.
“It isn’t really like that.” Luffy shifts. “Ace and I— we have a special edge in a lot of ways.” Before any of them can ask what that edge is, he continues. “Not to mention we were trained by our grandpa.”
“Oh right...” Usopp comments, looking scared for Luffy.
“Every three months he would come and train us. I thought we were going to die. We didn’t sleep for two weeks, how am I still alive?”
“Luffy, Luffy.” Sanji snaps his fingers in front of his captain’s face. “Is that how you awoke your Haki?”
“Eh?” Luffy tears his dazed eyes away from the deck. “No. We both triggered it because of trauma.”
“Trauma,” Nami utters, looking heart broken.
And Sanji thinks that they might be circling the edges of the material that wakes their captain in the dead of night in cold-sweats.
“Ah! It wasn’t anything, uh, bad.”
Each and every one of them know he’s lying.
“What happened Luffy?”
Their captain opens his mouth and closes it. He’s thinking really hard about what he’s going to say, which is concerning enough as is.
“We were kids— there was a fire. The nobles on our island burned down the ghettos because a Tenryuubito was visiting. Ace and I were there, and some mean pirates wouldn’t let us leave.” He shrugs.
Sanji can tell he’s being truthful, but he can also tell that there is so much more to this story.
“The Kingdom of Goa,” Robin utters with a look of horrified realization. “It’s— it’s called the cleanest city in the world.”
“There’s no trash because they get rid of all the people who they think are trash,” he says with dull eyes.
The fact that their captain hasn’t lost his faith in the world after witnessing this is truly astonishing to all of them.
“Luffy...”
“We’re fine, so it’s no big deal. But that’s how it happened.”
Nami doesn’t look near over what happened to Luffy, but Zoro and Sanji definitely know better.
“So if it’s trauma, why did you try to wake up Haki in dartbrow with the baseball bat?”
Sanji blinks. That isn’t really what Sanji would categorize as trauma. Not like someone burning down an entire group if people because they were believed to be lesser. Luffy’s attack on the Tenryuubito has so much more meaning behind it now.
“Well, it’s usually something like trauma that can awaken all three Haki, but you can learn Armament and Observation by training methods too. Can’t teach Conqueror’s though.”
“And you’re willing to do this?” Zoro asks, an edge in his eyes. “You’re willing to train us?”
“Absolutely.” Luffy smiles.
Sanji snubs his cigarette out on the deck.
“When does practice start?”
+
“Stay still!” Chopper orders as he wraps Sanji’s head. His cranium has been receiving a steady amount of assault this past week, and Chopper worries that sooner or later something’s going to fracture. Sanji understands why. His little ‘training sessions’ with Luffy leave him black and blue all over the place. Said captain is sitting on Chopper’s office chair, idly spinning around.
“Sorry.”
“You need to be gentler, Luffy.” Chopper scolds.
“I’m trying!” Luffy whines. “I can only do it the same way I was taught.”
“Blindfolded and dodging a bat?” Sanji deadpans.
“Yep. It took Ace and I a long time to get it working.”
Sanji snorts. “I bet.”
“Armament’s easier.”
Sanji grits his teeth. “Stupid Marimo.”
Luffy’s training with his first mate is nothing like Sanji’s— it’s nowhere near as abusive. Instead, Luffy and Zoro spar while Zoro tries to figure out how to control this Armament power. Sparring with the inexhaustible (and strong) Luffy is no cakewalk either, but at least it isn’t just straight abuse. With a baseball bat. Luffy’s choice to split up the training between him and Zoro is either a sign of Luffy’s great strategic mind, or a sign that God just hates Sanji. He’s really on the fence about this one.
“That’s enough, Chopper,” Sanji says, gently pushing the doctor’s hooves away.
Chopper knows which battles are lost, and which can be won, and so he purses his lips before finishes tying the head wrap.
“And you,” Sanji growls directly to his captain. “Don’t you dare think about taking it easy on me.”
Luffy blinks before smiling sunnily. “Okay!” With that passing remark, he’s out of the chair and through the door, maybe to bother Zoro, or play with Usopp. Sanji doesn’t know. What he does know is that dinner will not be fixing itself. So he leaves as well, rolling his sleeves as he walks. He comes across Nami and Robin, reading and sunbathing on the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny. Just where he left them an hour ago. Their blueberry scones have both been eaten, much to Sanji’s satisfaction, and he twirls over to gather their plates. He’s hoping that neither will pay him any mind if he just stays silent—
“How’re you doing?” Nami asks sympathetically, folding the corner of her book and putting it to the side. Inwardly Sanji sighs, though he is really touched by Nami’s kind concern.
“You are an angel of consideration and generosity!” he gushes. “I’m fine, a little sore, but not the worst I’ve ever had.”
“He should take it a little easier on you. Honestly, you look a little beat-up.” She gives a sheepish shrug.
Sanji clutches at his heart at the half insult. Though he knows it’s the truth.
“If he didn’t use a strong swing, he wouldn’t be doing what’s best for them,” Robin says soothingly. “Haki is an incredibly valuable skill. It’s almost vital in the new world.”
“I still can’t believe Luffy hid this from us for so long.” Nami huffs.
“Luffy’s... a mysterious guy,” Sanji admits. Though their captain is a chatterbox at times, much of his life is a mystery to them. It’s strange considering that he seems to know everything about them— well, everything important.
(mostly complete section)
“Sail ho!”
Marco turns and sees the lookout is pointing towards a ship. It’s heading towards them rapidly.
“Oyaji?” Marco asks, turning towards his captian.
“What’s their status?”
“They’re heading straight towards us at fullsail!”
“Do you see the insignia?”
“Yeah, it sort of looks like a hat of some kind, I can’t see it too we— Ace!”
Marco and Whitebeard both turn and see that Ace has climbed up to the crow’s nest and hijacked the telescope.
“No way!”
“What is it?
“It’s my little brother!”
Marco blinks. “Luffy?”
“Yeah, that’s his ship! That’s the Thousand Sunny!”
“I thought he had a lamb?”
“New ship.”
“That explains the sunflower at least...”
“It’s a lion... I think.” Ace shrugs.
“He gonna attack?”
“…Probably not.”
“Well then, let’s meet him,” Whitebeard decides, and the rest of the crew responds accordingly except Ace who jumps off the crow’s nest and runs up to the figurehead.
Looking forward Marco thinks he sees another figure on the opposing hood.
As the ships grow closer, a loud shout travels over the water.
“AAAAAAAAACCCEEEEEEEEEEE!”
Ace is grinning like a madman. “LUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFYYYYYYY!”
The crew members are watching with amusement and also a level of curiosity. Marco understands their curiosity. After returning from his visit with Luffy, the younger pirate is all Ace can seem to talk about. If he hadn’t already met the little ball of sunshine he would probably be similarly inquisitive.
He has met Luffy though so he already knows to expect the unexpected.
Which is just what he gets when a pair of hands shoot forward over dozens of meters of seawater before catching on the mouth of the whale. Luffy snaps forward and is sent hurtling towards their ship at breakneck speed. Marco hears shrieks and shouts of surprise from many of the other crew members. He sees from the corner of his eyes that Shirohige is visibly intrigued.
A blurred figure crashes into Ace and sends both of them to the floor in the center of the deck. Marco thinks it’s a minor miracle that they don’t break the ship.
“AceAceAceAceAceAceAceAce!” Marco sees the predictable sight of Luffy choking Ace for all he’s worth. Marco smirks when he sees Ace activate a little Haki to prevent losing all his air as his brother’s grip is tighter than any normal man could take.
“Luffy.” Ace’s smile is absolutely blinding. Marco sees that all of his brothers are a little surprised by how much fondness there is in his eyes. It’s beyond anything they’ve ever seen before.
“Ace.” Luffy’s grins matches.
The two stare at eachother for a long time, longer than Marco feels is comfortable, and from what he can see neither blinks. Eventually Luffy’s eyes crinkle and he lets out a long laugh, which Ace completely echoes.
“Didn’t expect to see you.”
“We were in the area.”
“Do you want to meet everyone?”
“Un!” Luffy grins widely.
The older of the two finally sits up, dragging his clingy little brother along. He stands and looks down with amusement to see Luffy is still attached.
“Hi pineapple-guy!”
Marco feels his brow twitch as Thatch snickers. He spent almost a month in purgatory on the little brat’s ship, least he could do is remember his name.
“This is Thatch,” Ace says, and Luffy gets a peculiar look on his face. Ace has already moved on, pointing to Izou and Vista who are the only other commanders on the ship at the moment. Marco predicts all of the commanders will be sporting strange, though fitting nick names within the next few hours. Ace moves along to Pops.
“Luffy, this is Oyaji.” He holds a hand out towards the other man and then to his brother. “And Oyaji, this is my little brother, Luffy.”
“Hi, old guy!” Luffy chirps in greeting, finally unwinding his arms from his brother’s midsection.
Ace whacks his little brother over the head.
“Ahh, sorry.” Luffy clears his throat before bending at the waist. “Thank you for taking care of my older brother; I know he’s a handful!”
The whole crew blinks and Whitebeard lets out a long hearty laugh.
“Guararara, you’re an interesting one.”
Luffy grins as Ace grabs him in a headlock.
“Who’s a handful? Me?” he says. “Have you looked in a mirror recently?” Luffy laughs as Ace knuckles his head. His body backs up to get away but his head is firm in his grasp and all he accomplishes is stretching out his neck.
“Captain!”
Both boys turn and find the Thousand Sunny is nearing them. Nami is at the head of the ship.
“Oi!” Luffy’s head snaps back into place as Ace releases it.
There’s a few moments where Nami guides the ship until it’s fully aligned and orders the anchor to drop.
“…Permission to come aboard?” Zoro asks awkward and belated, and Marco thinks it’s a little late but Shirohige’s lips twitch upward.
“Granted.”
“Lower the boarding platforms!”
Marco thought that Luffy’s crew was already an odd bunch but somehow he’s managed to find some even stranger crewmembers in the months they’ve been apart.
The first mate, Zoro, comes on first, followed by Sanji, Nami, Chopper, and Robin. Then Marco sees a massive man wearing a speedo with blue hair leap onto the ship. His arms are inhumanly large. As if that wasn’t enough, a well-dressed skeleton descends next.
“Everyone, this is my big brother Ace!” Luffy gestures excitedly.
“I’ve met most of you,” Ace says, looking interestedly at the other two members, “though I see there are a couple new members.”
“I’m Franky, superrrrr shipwright. I built the Thousand Sunny.”
Thatch lets out a whistle of appreciation. Marco agrees. He knows quality work when he sees it, and this ship is definitely worth writing home about. It’s almost as impressive as the Moby Dick.
“And I am dead-bones Brook. At your service.” The skeleton removes his tophat and performs a small bow.
“He’s my musician! It’s the coolest thing ever, and Ace, Ace, guess what?”
“What?”
“He poops.”
Ace lets out a long sigh, but his smile has yet to fade. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Thank you for looking after my little brother.” Ace bows slightly.
“Not at all! Luffy-bro is cool,” the blue haired man asserts, striking a pose.
“He’s a cyborg, Ace, a cyborg!” Luffy crows.
“A cyborg, a skeleton, and a reindeer,” Thatch murmurs from beside Marco.
“And trust me when I said Luffy is the strangest of the bunch,” Marco says.
Thatch stares at him sideways, and Marco can’t help but laugh because he has no idea yet.
“Pops?” Ace utters aloud, turning pleading eyes on his father. Whitebeard lets out a long laugh, automatically understanding the request.
“Roll out the rum!” Whitebeard declares. “Let’s celebrate this reunion.”
“Aye!” the Whitebeards cry in response.
+
Thirty minutes later a party is in full swing.
“Ooooh!” Luffy exclaims as he leaps over to where Thatch is. “Your hair is so cool!”
Thatch grins. “I’m glad someone else thinks so.” Everyone gives him too much flak.
“What kind of weapons does it fire?!” Luffy asks.
Thatch blinks. “W-weapons?”
“You mean it can’t do anything?” Luffy’s blatantly dejected.
“Hair doesn’t fire things,” Thatch explains slowly. Ace’s little brother is a bit soft in the head.
“Does so!” Luffy jumps to his feet. Spinning around he calls down towards where some of his crew is sitting around the deck, mixing a little, though still keeping in their group.
“Franky! Fireworks!”
A blue-haired man stands up, striking a pose dramatically. “Oh yeah, Luffy-bro!” Before Thatch gets another word in edgewise, the oddly large man is jerking his head towards the sky. The commander thinks he hears gears clicking, which is odd because—
Rockets, actual rockets come shooting out of the guy’s head. Everyone’s necks snap around. Then the colors start popping in the sky. Sparkling embers bloom over the deck of the Mobydick, and everyone is captivated and delighted by them. Even Oyaji is smiling in appreciation.
“SUUUPER FIREWORKS FRANKY SPECIAL: BROTHERHOOD LOVE EDITION!”
“SO COOL!” Luffy shouts, making Thatch remember why this whole thing had started. “Your hair is kind of cool like his, are you sure you can’t do that?”
“One billion percent. All I got is hair and scalp, kid.”
“Me too.” Luffy smiles, chagrinned.
“Oi, Luffy!”
Thatch looks down to see Ace calling up to his brother. Luffy waves excitedly, frantically.
“Bye, Satch,” Luffy waves before slingshotting himself to his brother once more. They crash into the deck, knocking several people over. Ace catches Luffy like a champ though.
“Luffy!”
The young captain turned around at the call and his face lit up like a candle.
“Hey!” He crowed excitedly.
The rest of his crew curiously examined the orange haired pirate who addressed Luffy. There was a shorter brunet man beside him and about ten other men who hovered in the background with matching smiles.
“What’re all of you doing here?”
“Your brother recruited us.”
“Luffy who is this.”
“Hmm? Of these are the red scale pirates."
“Purple feather, or ex-Purple Feather as it stands. We were the ASL pirates though last,” the orange hair man said exasperated. “I’m Johnson, this is Samson. Nice to meet you. I’m guessing you all are this little monster’s crew?”
They nodded, a little taken aback by the familiarity.
“How do you know Luffy? Did you come from his island?” Robin asked curiously.
“Oh god no,” the shorter brunet man said. “I dunno what kind of place breeds boys like that but I want to steer clear of it.”
“No, we met Luffy and Ace when your little captain was twelve. They shanghaied our ship and basically forced us to join them." Samson adds.
“What?!” Chopper looks horrified.
“Why?!”
“They had ‘errands’ to run in the four Blue Seas and in the Grand Line.”
“It was important," Luffy whines
“You two are complete monsters!” Usopp shouts.
“It’s nice to see you again," Luffy grins, charming like an idiot child is charming.
Samson sighed. “I never thought I’d say this, but you too.”
Luffy just grinned and laughs.
“So you set sail before?” Robin asks.
“Not as a pirate or anything. We took a little vacation.”
“No one vacations to the Grand Line!” Samson snapped angrily.
“We did. You did too.”
“Yeah because we were coerced!”
“So?”
“Nevermind...” Samson groans.
“I see, that certainly explains why you were on the West Blue," Robin muses.
“And why you were in Cocoyashi," Nami realizes.
"Yes, I got really lucky! It's good to take vacations," Luffy hums.
Johnson looks over the motley crew that Luffy has assembled and shakes his head.
"If you all are half the monster Luffy is I’m sure you’ll do fine in the new world.”
“Hey, I’m a much bigger monster than I was when I was twelve," Luffy protests, not minding when Smason takes his rubbery head under his arms.
(during the party, something happens when Luffy is trying to show off and he falls into the ocean. Zoro goes in after him, but so does Ace, creating another tense moment where he and Luffy reveal that they are still traumatized, but now both crews see it._
The ex-Purple Feather Pirates seem to be the only ones who aren't shocked at this turn of events.
“Che.” Samson grunts. “They haven’t changed at all.”
“Were they like this before?” Nami asks, freaked out.
“Similar situation. Luffy was the one who almost died then.” He curses and fumbles through his pockets to find a smoke. It’s only after he looks up that he notices that he has the attention of everyone present. The Straw Hats have pulled together, their posture on guard and all carefully listening.
“What?”
“What happened that time?”
“I don’t know for sure, I wasn’t there. Johnson?” He holds out a smoke to the other man.
Johnson sighs and takes the offered cigarette. “You know, I picked up stress smoking because of Ace and Luffy.”
“What happened?”
“We were attacking a merchant ship. Things were going well, as is expected with those two. Luffy had this habit.” He makes a vague gesture. “He wouldn’t let us take the treasure until the captain told him about his dream. If it was a ‘bad’ dream, we got to take everything. If Luffy thought it was a ‘good’ dream we had to sail away without a single beri.”
That earns a startled laugh from Nami and the rest of the Straw Hats follow in.
“That sounds like him.”
“I was thinking it was odd he was attacking ships as he doesn’t really these days.”
“Truthfully, I don’t think the two of them would have if we left them alone. The deal we had was that after Ace and Luffy did everything, we would get to keep the ship and any treasure we came across.”
Samson exhales. “If we didn’t raid ships we would have departed in debt because of their stupid appetites.”
“That also sounds like them.” Sanji smirks.
“They usually always took everyone down without too much trouble, but one time, Luffy got too close to the captain. That man ate a Devil Fruit that allowed him to put people to sleep, and while they were talking, he got Luffy. Held him at knifepoint and everything.”
“Can’t imagine Ace was very happy with that,” Marco says from the side.
“That’s putting it mildly.” Samson sighs. “He knocked him out in seconds and the captain fell overboard. Unfortunately he brought Luffy with him.”
“We got him back on board the ship, but he was unconscious when he fell into the ocean. Devil Fruit users are already hammers in the water. I’ve heard most can barely muster the strength to hold their breath. Well, because he was unconscious, Luffy didn’t even have the power to try and do that. A lot of water got in his lungs. Ace managed to resuscitate him, everything was alright. It was just close that’s all. He— Ace is a calm guy. He was as a fifteen-year-old too. He doesn’t freak out. The things he said that day...” Johnson shakes his head. “It’s still hard to talk about.”
What? What things did he say?
“In any case, Ace and Luffy shut themselves up in the captain’s quarters for three days straight. When they finally came out, Ace refused to speak to any of us except Luffy for a week.”
“That’s... extreme.”
Samson snorts. “You’re telling me.”
“He snapped out of it eventually I guess?”
“Luffy punched him out of it eventually.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Why was it so dramatic?”
Johnson exhales a large cloud of smoke and pauses as he thinks for a moment.
“Those boys are close. They’re extremely close. I don’t know what happened in the past to make them this way, but they’re attached at the bloody hip. I honestly don’t know what they’d do without each other. Something happened to them. Something bad. Whatever the hell it was, it frightened them enough to never feel fully safe without the other there.”
“That’s kind of an exaggeration. I mean, if that was the case, they wouldn’t be on separate ships.”
“Know what they told us? They had separate dreams, but that they’d never truly be apart.”
“They’ve got Vivre cards,” Johnson says. “Have you seen ‘em? It lets them monitor the wellbeing of the person who it’s made from.”
“Luffy stares at it all the time.”
Samson dips his head. “It was one of the reasons they set out at such a young age. Ace needed a Vivre card for Luffy. We picked up a devil fruit too, and I don’t know what the hell they did before they met up with us, but they braved the Grand Line at twelve and fifteen to get a vivre card.”
“Ace set sail around seventeen. He didn’t leave the island until he had a vivre card for his brother. So no, they aren’t sailing together, but to say they’re unattached from each other would be a lie.”
“That’s a little weird.”
“You’re telling me.”
Marco comes up to Johnson after everyone has settled back into the party. They want to drink to forget, but Marco cannot let himself indulge.
“What did Ace say? That day when Luffy drowned, what did Ace say that unnerved you so much?”
Johnson looks at him piercingly.
“Ace is my captain.”
“Ace is my friend.”
Johnson sighs. “I’ll tell you, but only so you can prevent something like this from ever happening.”
Marco ‘s brow furrows. What the hell does that mean?
“Ace said that if Luffy died, he’d follow right after. He said he wouldn’t do it without him.”
Marco’s brain freezes.
“He couldn’t have been—“
“He was. I saw it in his eyes. He was serious.” Johnson looks towards the cabin they’re in.
“Why do you think Ace is so upset Luffy jumped in after him? Hell, why do you think Luffy jumped in after him? Those brothers... they’re lives are tied to one another.”
Marco approaches his father with a heavy heart.
“Pops.”
“Marco, Son, what is it?”
“I realized what it was about Ace and Luffy that unsettles me.”
“What is it?”
Marco takes a deep breath and started explaining.
(At Sabaody, a lot goes down the same way, except that Akainu shows up to arrest LUFFY-- they want to make a show against the revolutionary's through his son. Luffy thinks he is powerful enough to fight him off, but his crew is not strong enough to survive a full out fight. Luffy SURRENDERS)
Ace won’t know what happened until a week passes.
In the end, it’s not even him who notices the glaring clue; it’s Thatch.
Marco, Izou, Thatch, Vista, Whitebeard, and Ace, are all in the weekly meeting. They break up the meetings between commanders so that the ships are always guarded by some members, and so that they can get through the meetings relatively quickly. In fact, it’s a passing comment near the end of the meeting that brings the walls around Ace’s head down.
“Ace, is that flame-retardant varnish wearing off?” Thatch asks as he shuffles his papers.
“I don’t think so, why?”
“Because your hat’s burning,” he points out with a grin.
Ace cusses. “Damnit! Another one?”
“You go through those things like candy.” Izou smirks.
Ace shakes his head. “It isn’t my fault.” He removes his cowboy hat and examines the outside. Sure enough there’s a hole near the hatline. Unusual for him. That’s actually where he keeps—
“I thought we just applied that varnish a few weeks ago. This is a record for you,” Vista quips.
But Ace doesn’t hear it— doesn’t see, can’t feel, can’t smell, can’t taste anything. Because it wasn’t Ace that burnt through the hat. He gently tugs the smoldering piece of paper from the brim with trembling hands.
“Is that—“ Marco starts.
And it’s not like there’s parallels between the situations, and there could be dozens of other explanations, but Ace’s stomach hurts in an ominous way.
“Newspaper!” Ace shouts. “I need a newspaper now! Please!” And he knows there’s a desperate tone in his voice, but there’s a reason, because if— no, he can’t think like that!
“Here,” Thatch murmurs, passing the paper that arrived through the window only minutes ago. Ace doesn’t care about the concern in his friends’ eyes, all he cares about is the paper. He skims through the first few pages, desperately searching for nothing. But he finds something.
“No,” he utters, and it feels like the walls are closing in on him.
“Ace?” Izou says, coming to his side. The sensations are weak, as though filtering through the ocean water and he backs up to the wall before dropping to the floor, trying to escape everything. Marco gently tugs the paper from his grip and finds the page he was on.
“Execution announcement:” Marco reads. “Capture of Monkey D. Luffy.”
There’s a sharp intake of breath, and Ace pulls his head into his hands and tries not to have a panic attack, tries not to think. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Straw Hat Luffy was captured a week ago at Sabaody by Admiral Kizaru, and the Shichibukai Bartholomew Kuma. His crew were all taken care of by Bartholomew Kuma, though details on their demise are being kept quiet at the moment. As for their captain, he was taken to Impel Down immediately, where his... where his execution was then decided. The date is set for the eleventh. More details can—” Marco stops and takes a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, Ace.”
It isn’t supposed to be Luffy! If anyone should be there, Ace would chose himself every time. Now all he can think about are the dark memories of Impel Down he tucked away a long time ago. Brought back to life, they accost his mind with their twistedness. The abuse from the guards, the induction, the baptism. His little brother, Luffy, has likely already gone through it all. One week! Luffy has been going through hell for the past week and only now is Ace hearing about it. God, what a ‘big brother’ he turned out to be. Useless, is the word that should be used. Ace has been utterly useless. And now Luffy pays the cost.
He remembers it. The boiling. The burning even though he was fire. The pain was unimaginable, only comparing to Sakazuki’s fist. And Luffy—
Whitebeard grumbles lowly in his throat before he stands, ripping off the medical cords as he goes.
“Come, my children. It’s time to show the Marines what happens when they threaten family.”
A surge of support rings from Vista, Izou, Marco, and Thatch. Ace finally shakes off his horror and shock enough to bring his attention back to the present.
“NO!” Ace shouts. His crewmembers fall silent in confusion and Whitebeard looks down at his son speculatively.
“Ace...” Marco puts a hand on Ace’s shoulder, making the other commander flinch. Marco’s grip rescinds, and he murmurs instead, “Don’t set the ship on fire.”
Ace finally notices the wild flames flaring across his skin. He takes a deep, shaky breath and tries to quell the fire. The glow around his trembling hands remains and he grips his fingers tightly into a fist.
“No?” Whitebeard asks, tone slightly dangerous.
“N-no,” Ace repeats, mind still trying to reconcile the new terrifying burst of information.
“And why not?”
“Because—“
Because, you’ll die. Again. And I can’t bear for that to happen.
“Because what? Son, speak to me!” Whitebeard demands.
“It’s not your business,” Ace manages.
The stunned silence lasts all of five seconds before anger and outrage sound from every member present.
“Not our business?!” Izou demands
“He’s your brother!” Thatch slams his hand on the table.
“We’ll fight with you to save him,” Vista growls.
“He’s practically a member of the crew,” Marco asserts.
“Ace,” Whitebeard states lowly.
Ace tries to suppress the flinch.
“It isn’t,” Ace mumbles. “It’s between Luffy and I.”
“Are you my son?”
Ace blinks and looks up, meeting his father’s eyes. “Of course.”
“Luffy is your brother.”
Ace falters as he understands what his father is getting at.
“Yes,” he whispers.
“Then he is important to you, and thus important to me.”
“And besides,” Thatch adds in. “We care about him too.
The first commander sighs. “He’s annoying, but he gets under your skin.”
Ace completely understands, but that isn’t the point.
“We want to save Luffy too,” Marco presses.
Nods of agreement come from every member present. Ace looks around, seeing the genuine emotions in his nakama’s faces. He grits his teeth.
“I get that, but you can’t,” he tries to impress upon them. He can’t do it again. He refuses to.
“Son,” Whitebeard growls. “I will do as I please. And I want to help your brother.”
Ace feels warmness well up, and he can’t help but curse. Why, why, why does he have such a family? He never did anything to deserve it. He’s so incredibly happy right now, but he knows he shouldn’t be. He sucks in a deep breath, remembering the feeling as he stood on the executions platform, crying guilty joyful tears at being saved, at being loved.
But that just reminds him of why he had to do this alone.
Ace exhales sharply, hardening his resolve. There is still a large concern to be weighed. What can he say to convince them to wait? He knows them, and he knows how much they’ll try to help, because he would feel the same way if it was one of their brother’s. He bites his lip as his mind races for answers. Impel Down...
“I’m going to try to save him on my own,” Ace begins.
“Ace—“
“Let me finish!” he shouts.
The deck falls silent. Ace runs a weary hand through his dark hair.
“Look, Luffy’s at Impel Down. He’ll be locked up there for (INSERT DASY). That’s when I’ll get him. I can sneak in, but we can’t take a whole crew. I have to be alone.” They’ll have to tackle him and chain him with kairoseki to get him to reconsider his option.
“Sneak into I-Impel Down?!” Thatch lets out a choked breath. He isn’t the only one taken aback by Ace’s calm declaration.
“Do you understand what you’re saying?” Izou asks seriously.
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you just wait until he’s on transit, or when he’s set out on the platform? I mean, there will be time,” Marco suggests.
“No.” Ace shakes his head fervently. “That’s just what they want. They know we’re brothers, and that you’ll do anything to protect your children,” Ace says eyeing Whitebeard. “They also know that Luffy’s hat used to belong to Akagami Shanks. They want to get you and Shanks to attack Marineford.”
“Why?”
“A war probably...” Ace trails off, gripped by memories, “They want to try and end the Golden Age of Pirates.”
“You’re kidding me!”
Ace shakes his head violently. “I guarantee you. They know what they’re getting into. You and Shanks won’t let Luffy’s execution go through. They know that. I bet they’ll gather the Shichibukai and some admirals. I know they’re going to broadcast the execution on a Den Den. Getting two Yonkos to invade Marineford and battling them back would be a perfect way for them to assert their power. Especially if they...” The implication sits thickly in the air.
“I would not die from such a battle, my son.”
Frustration builds in Ace. “Facing Sengoku, the Shichibukai, and the admirals— There are no certainties!”
Whitebeard’s eyes never stray from Ace’s pleading face as he speaks.
“Look, we aren’t worth starting a war over,” Ace protests desperately.
“Oi, Ace, don’t you think you’re blowing this out of proportion.” Thatch speaks awkwardly.
“No. The chance at getting both of us on the broadcast is too good of an opportunity. Even if they didn’t kill Akagami Shanks and Oyaji, killing Luffy and I would probably accomplish the same goal. They know I’ll save him or die trying, and they’re expecting that. They’ll use the spectacle to discourage any pirates from going out to find One Piece...”
There’s an awkward pause and exchanged glances of concern and disbelief from the commanders. He is putting his and his brother’s lives at the same worth as Whitebeard and Shanks’. The statement seems especially self-aggrandizing, but Marco knows Ace isn’t like that.
“Ace...” Thatch once more tries to bring Ace out. The second commander is just emotionally compromised, Marco figures. That’s why he’s saying such things.
Whitebeard is gazing at his son intensely.
“They know our heritage.” Ace whispers, eyes trained on his father.
“Heritage?” Izou askes.
“There is nothing they’d like more than to get rid of two devil spawns in front of the world. I’m not giving them that opportunity!” Ace’s eyes are determined.
“Oi, Ace, you make it seem like it’s such a big deal, surely they don’t care that much!” Thatch finally exclaims.
Ace’s eyes shoot over to Thatch. “Killing the sons of Gol D. Roger and Dragon the Revolutionary is too good of an opportunity for them to pass up.”
“T-t-the sons of who?!?!?”
Ace exhales as he watched the crews’ reactions to his announcements. Cries of disbelief and shock build into a steady roar. Marco stares blankly at his friend. It explains a lot.
“Which son are you?” Izou manages to ask.
“Shirohige’s!” Ace snaps, bristling. His shoulders tremble as he remembers that same question, when Sengoku stood above him, air laced with dust, and the promise of war, arms aching from the kairoseki, body heavy with the still unusual feeling of permeability, waiting for that dual swing of the sword...
Ace feels a large hand settle on his shoulder. Glancing up, he sees the familial, warm gaze of his father. It’s only then that he notices his trembling. The crew is watching him with concern and wariness. Well then, there goes any hope of them thinking he isn’t completely mentally scarred by the fact. He takes a deep breath in and out.
“Gol D. Roger was my blood father.”
“T-the Pirate King...” Izou murmurs in surprise.
“That makes Luffy—“
“The son of the most wanted man in the world. Yeah. See why we can’t risk a frontal attack.”
“W-wait, if you have different fathers and I heard that Rouge—“
“Luffy and I aren’t related by blood. It was just... coincidence that we grew up together.”
“God, what the hell are the chances of that...”
“The sons of the two most wanted men in history, growing up together—“
“It’s impossible.”
“They know who our fathers are. Killing the two of us would be excellent publicity. Not to mention a lot of wannabe pirates would be seriously dissuaded...”
“Do you think Dragon will do anything?” Whitebeard asks, breaking his silence.
Ace pauses before shrugging. “I have no idea. That guy’s an enigma. But our shitty grandpa will definitely be there, so who knows if he’d be able to do anything anyway. If anyone could stop Dragon, it’d probably be him. Jiji’s no pushover, and there’s no way he’d pull punches for family. Actually he’d probably hit harder, now that I think about it,” Ace murmurs the last part to himself.
“Jiji?” Marco asks.
“Vice Admiral Garp.”
“ISN’T THERE ANYONE NORMAL IN YOUR FAMILY?!” Izou shouts.
Ace rolls his eyes. “No.”
“He can’t be Roger’s father, right? So you’re not his biological grandson?”
“No, I’m adopted by that shitty geezer.”
“So he’s also Luffy’s Grandfather?”
“Yes, biologically.”
“So... Dragon’s father.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my God... I can’t believe this is real.”
“But that might even sweeten the pot.” Ace continues.
“Two Yonkos, and the famous revolutionary, Dragon.” Marco curses. “Hell, if they could actually pull it off...”
“We can’t give them that opportunity.” Ace’s intense gaze cuts into the crew.
“I see your point,” Thatch murmurs.
“I’m going to Impel down, on my own. I’ll break him out.”
“What happens if you get captured too, Ace?” Marco points out. “You just explained to us why we absolutely can’t let it happen. Why risk it?”
“I have to get him out. I’ll sneak in. I know what I’m doing, don’t worry.”
“You say that.” Marco rubs his head.
“But we can’t not worry,” Izou says.
“Especially after what you just told us.”
A small growl of frustration builds in Ace’s throat. “I have to go after him. He’s my little brother.”
“Ace, my son,” Whitebeard begins. All attention shifts to him. “We will support your decision.”
Small sounds of disbelief and protest sound. Marco’s lips thin considerably, but none speak out.
Ace exhales in relief. “Thank you, Oyaji.”
“However,” Whitebeard continues. “If you are captured, there is no power on this earth that will keep us from you.”
Ace’s eyes widen.
A roar of approval rises from the crew. Marco grins and leans back on the side of the ship. Izou and Thatch smile.
“Oyaji...” Ace whispers taken aback. He’s never get used to this— this unlimited love and kindness. He never thought he could be capable of something like love. Until Luffy...
“So it’s good that I’m alive.” Twilight filtering through the trees.
“Of course!” An unerring gaze.
“Marco will go with Ace to get his brother.” Whitebeard’s command shakes Ace from his thoughts.
“What? No!” Ace exclaims.
Marco grins dryly. “Don’t argue with Oyaji.”
Ace shoots him a distinctly unamused look.
“Look, Oyaji, getting one person in is going to be tough enough, let alone two!” Ace tries to use logic to persuade his father.
“No, Ace. If you cannot bring Marco, we’ll just assault Impel Down.”
“Oyaji...” While Ace knows he was incredibly stubborn, he can recognize that there are some fights that he will never win. He lets out an irritated huff, and Marco’s grin widens, knowing the argument is over.
“Alright, Ace, please tell me you actually have a plan,” Thatch beseeches.
Ace shuts his eyes for a moment as he tried to figure it out.
“ou have no clue do you?” Marco sighs, rubbing his face.
“Shut up! I’m thinking.”
“Don’t strain something Ace,” Thatch teases.
“Silence!” Izou glares at Thatch. The two begin bickering, but the sound is lost to Ace, he’s trying to remember everything Luffy told him about Impel Down.
After the shock of returning to this time had faded, Ace and his brother had begun talking about their adventures. Luffy spent hours explaining each and every detail in his own vague, abstract way that Ace had taken Ace years to interpret. Despite that, Impel Down is something that Luffy never willingly spoke of. Initially, Ace had left the matter alone. He understands his brother’s aversion. Despite that, whenever Luffy would be reminded of something about Impel Down or the subsequent war, his eyes would dim and his laughter fade. So, one night, Ace finally breached the topic, pressing his little brother until the other reluctantly explained what happened. In typical Luffy fashion, he focused the story on the inconsequential details as he tried to avoid the pain from his struggle. Ace heard a lot about Bon-chan, and Iva.
“But how did he get in,” Ace asks himself, willing the memory to come back.
The realization hits him suddenly and he jumps up, startling Izou and Thatch.
“That’s right!” he exclaims to himself. Boa Hancock! God knows what Luffy did to endear himself to the empress of the sea, but she had aided him in his entirely illegal affair. He bites his lip. Luffy hadn’t met her yet, he didn’t think. Besides that, there’s no way he could get to the Amazonian Island, convince the Snake-Princess to help him, and then get to Impel Down.
“What’s right?” Thatch asks.
“Did you figure out how to get in?”
Ace pauses. “No.”
Izou and Thatch facepalm.
“Not yet, give me a sec.”
The important fact was the Marine channel that only government ships could travel on. Where the hell will he find someone to take him on that? He doesn’t know any government people, let alone one who would be willing to betray the marines.
Then, he realizes.
The war isn’t nearly as common knowledge this time as it was last time. That means that Jinbei hasn’t spoken out about it, and gotten imprisoned.
“Should we start gathering the fleet?” Thatch asks Whitebeard.
“I got it!”
“Do actually have it this time?” Marco asks wryly.
“Yes.” Ace grins toothily.
“What is it?”
“Can I use the Den Den, Oyaji, I have a call to place.”
(Ace's no good very bad time fighting through to Marineford. He gets to Luffy, the two of them basically keep trying to sacrifice themselves to save each other. It's unhealthy and tragic and eventually Luffy succeeds in taking a shot for Ace.)
“Ace,” Luffy whispers. “Ace.”
“No, no, no, no, no.” Ace clutches his little brother against his body. Because no.
“Ace, listen...”
“No, you can’t talk like this Luffy, I won’t live without you, I won’t—“
“Sabo is alive.”
Ace’s mind blanks, freezes, disintegrates. It’s the harsh sound of Luffy’s breathing that draws him back to reality.
“What?” he manages.
“Sabo’s alive. He’s working with my dad in the revolutionary army. I ran into him on Dressrosa. Sorry I didn’t tell you before.”
“That’s—“ Ace doesn’t know what to say or feel right now, it’s all too much.
“You should reunite with him. I was always so sad you never got to see each other...”
“We’ll both go and see him,” Ace presses, even as Luffy’s warm blood drips over his hands. “We’ll track that stupid brother of ours down and share sake again, all of us.”
“That sounds nice,” Luffy murmurs with a weak smile. “But I don’t think I’ll make it. So say ‘hi’ to him for me, okay?”
“Luffy, stop talking like that!” Ace snaps.
“Tell my crew to go find the All Blue, and the forgotten history, and Mihawk, and Laboon, and everything, tell them to do everything.”
“Luffy—“
“I’m glad you’re safe, Ace. I’m so glad I could save Ace.”
(Then Marco POV. Ace absolutely fucks everything up with a power no one knew had. Haki knocks over half the Marines, the rest are subject to his fiery form. He kills Akainu, slowly, painfully, more viscious than anyone has ever seen him. Marco encounter Law, who tries to get closer to Luffy’s body so he can try and fix. Tries the boy while Ace burns the whole thing down. Oh. And it’s televised.)
All the commanders look on with concern. Whitebeard’s expression remains stoic.
Ace refuses to eat. It’s only been three days, but because of his Devil’s Fruit, the effects move quicker. Every day his bones become a little more prominent, and his eyes dull further and further. Every crew member has tried talking to him, but he won’t accept their words, soothing or otherwise.
It slowly becomes clear to them that if Luffy dies, they’re going to lose Ace as well.
“I can’t live without him,” Ace says quietly.
“Ace—“ Thatch winces. “That’s... a little extreme. If you eat something, let us take care of you, you’ll be alright.”
“I won’t live without him,” Ace amends, his eyes shadowed. “He’s my reason for living.”
“...Do we not count?” Someone grits out.
“It isn’t a matter of counting. It’s that I was a self-destructive suicidal little brat who was willing to burn down everything, even if I had to go with it... especially if I had to go with it.”
His voice leaves no room for argument on the matter.
“You aren’t that person anymore.”
“No... and that’s only because of Luffy. He’s the reason I’m still alive today, the reason I can find meaning in life, take any joy from it, and the reason why I haven’t tried to off myself yet. He’s the reason I can let anyone ‘count’. I wouldn’t be your brother, or son, or nakama without him. I owe every drop of my happiness to him. I owe you all, my family, my father, to Luffy.”
“Ace, he wouldn’t want this!”
“I have it on good words that he would too if he was pushed far enough.” Suicide. He’s talking about suicide, Thatch realizes numbly. “But probably not after just my death. He’s always been stronger than me...”
“People died at Marineford for you, Ace!”
That earns them a reaction, but it isn’t a good one.
“I DIDN’T WANT YOUR HELP! I begged! I pleaded. You just wouldn’t fucking listen. And I have more blood on my hands, not just Luffy’s and I can’t forgive myself for this— I never wanted— I’m not worth it! You—“ His breathing speeds up.
“Ace, that wasn’t what we meant.” Marco does damage control.
“It’s the truth though. It’s all true.”
None of them have anything to say to that.
“I thought I knew, but maybe— maybe it isn’t good,” Ace murmurs to himself. “Maybe it isn’t good that I was born.”
Marco punches him this time.
Ace looks up from his place on the floor, face already bruising, and eyes still just as dark and ambivalent. Marco is trembling uncharacteristically, seemingly torn between beating him and shaking him.
The silence in the cabin is so thick it seems like any move too fast will splinter the entire scene.
That’s when the door slams open.
“Captain!” All of them whip around to face the pale-faced crewmember. Calling their father by his title is a sign that something very dangerous is going down, something that may threaten their family.
“Yes, what is it?” Whitebeard asks, already rising.
“The Revolutionaries—“ He pants. “They’re here. There’s a ship and they’re requesting permission to board.”
All of them tense.
“What are they doing here?” Izou hisses tensely.
“I— they said they wanted to pay their respects to Ace and Luffy.”
“Stupid Revolutionaries. They’re just trying to get in on our attack on the Marines.”
“Is it Dragon?” Whitebeard asks, and all of them freeze. They hadn’t fully considered that, but as they remember that the leader is Luffy’s father, it becomes a frightening possibility.
“No, it’s a different man, he’s much younger. I think I recognize him from a wanted poster. He’s young. Blond too.”
“Is he wearing a hat?” Ace asks. All of them turn to face him. The suddenness of the question puts them all on guard. It sounds like Ace might know this person. From the blankness on his face, none of them can tell which answer is the best. Eventually the messenger shrugs haplessly.
“Yeah. He has a blue top-hat—“
Ace is on his feet and moving to the door with more energy than any of them have seen since Marineford.
“Ace, calm down,” Vista says as he and Izou block the door.
“Move,” Ace says, his voice laced with power. He doesn’t use it on any of them, and Thatch doesn’t think he will, but the sudden revelation of their friend’s true strength still weighs heavily on all of their minds.
“Let him go, Vista, Izou,” Whitebeard says calmly. As the two step aside, Ace gives Whitebeard the smallest of nods in thanks before he heads out of the room. All of them immediately follow, unsure of what to expect.
Thatch spies the small ship on the side of the Moby Dick. It’s a bit larger than a sloop, unremarkable, except for the carved dragon head on the stern. Despite its size, Thatch doubts any pirate ship would fire on it without fear of great retribution. On the deck, Thatch can make out two figures, but their details are obscured by the shadow of the larger galleon.
After receiving a nod from Whitebeard, the pirates lower a boarding plank. Despite the steep incline, the two members walk up it easily, without stumbling.
A short woman with orange, bobbed hair steps on first, looking determined and professional. Thatch spies the smallest bit of hesitation in her eyes though as she looks back at her companion. The other person is the man their crewmember only half described. Tall and almost slender in his long fine looking coat. He cuts a powerful figure among the pirates. The most remarkable features are his top-hat and a scar that takes up a little less than a third of his face. He scans the crowd with an indecipherable look— until his gaze lands on Ace. Then, any pretense of his controlled persona drops, and hesitance and worry fill his eyes.
“Ace—“ He only manages one step forward until the Whitebeard second commander darts off the upper deck and punches him in the face.
“Ace!” Thatch and many others are aghast and concerned. The revolutionary woman looks furious, but before she can do anything, the blond man raises a hand and stops her after picking himself off of the floor.
“You,” Ace seethes. “Where do you get off?!”
Pain rolls off the blond. When Ace moves forward to hit him again, he doesn’t make a move to stop him.
Ace’s punches are weakened by his hunger and tiredness, but he pounds on, all while drilling the other man with his words.
“Do you know how upset he was when you left?! A letter! That’s all we needed. Something a sign!”
“I cried! I cried for the first time in my entire life. I never cried. Not even when the shitty old man beat me bloody when I was three, when people told me my existence was a sin, when I killed someone for the first time! But you—“
“Ace, stop!”
“He’s a revolutionary!”
“No! He’s not.”
“What do you—”
“He is not a revolutionary. He’s my brother.”
None of them were expecting this turn of events.
“He’s our third brother, the one who left Luffy and I assuming he died for ten years. We needed you! Why are you here now?!” Ace gasps. His next words are quiet and his voice cracks. “Why are you here?”
And there’s so much confliction in the blond’s eyes, Thatch can practically see the words Because I love you, Because you need me, Because we’re brothers. None of them are enough, not for Ace, who looks ready to shatter all over again.
The revolutionary opens his mouth.
“Someone has to peel apples for Luffy. You suck at it, and we both know Luffy would cut himself even if he wasn’t laid up.”
Thatch nearly chokes on the glib words.
But for whatever reason, they seem to reach Ace, and he does shatter, but not in a way they expected.
He bursts into tears— he’s never cried before, not even when he was afraid for Luffy. The blond man moves out from under him, and crawls on his hands and knees over to their commander and hugs him.
Ace clutches onto the clean tailored coat and absolutely shakes with sobs. And though the blond man is being the rock, as his head rests on Ace’s shoulder, Thatch sees him bite his lip, fruitlessly trying to resist, before the tears move down his face too.
“It’s been so hard.”
“Hey, I brought fruit, but most of it’s for when Luffy wakes up.” When, not if. The way he says it doesn’t make it sound like the lie it probably is. “Let’s get you something to eat in the galley. You look like you’ve got the flu. We always made fun of Luffy for being so scrawny, and now I find you like this. It’s just sad, Ace.” He clucks his tongue and shakes his head before helping Ace off the ground. When the blond raises an eye-brow in askance of the rest of them, he receives multiple pointed fingers to the galley.
The second commander’s face is utterly blank still, but he allows himself to be pulled into the galley by a lightly chattering blond. Thatch jumps lightly as he realizes that he can help the kitchen staff shove as much food into Ace as is humanly possible can. He rolls up his sleeves and enters the kitchen with a lighter heart.
Relief, sheer relief fills the air. Because he might survive. Ace might survive this.
Things are a fucking mess, but at least they have a chance at saving Ace’s life; even if Luffy does—
+
“Why weren’t you eating?”
“We had sort of an unsaid agreement that if the other died we’d kill ourselves,” Ace says bluntly. Coughs and splutters can be heard from the other tables. Shock and sheer disbelief from those who didn’t know the extent of Ace’s messed up head.
“You never have had much self-preservation.”
“Nope.”
“Can’t imagine you liked Luffy’s similar thoughts.”
“No, but if I die, I won’t be able to stop him. That’ll be my fault then, won’t it?”
“Don’t remember you being such a masochistic idiot though.”
“You haven’t seen either of us in more than a lifetime.”
“... I suppose so,” Sabo murmurs. “I always kept up though. AMNESIA
“What is your name?”
“Iron-Pipe Sabo.”
“Luffy was right.” Ace shakes his head. “We were guessing one night... That little shit. He knew all along!”
“What?!”
“He knew you were alive,” Ace grunts.
“What? How?”
“Don’t ask me. You’re not going to like the answer.” Ace meets his eyes. “He never told me though. I think I’ve been too soft on him.”
(Luffy lives. He comforts Ace and two two come clean to their crews who decide to travel together to get them the help they need to learn how to let go of their fear. Ace, Luffy, and Sabo stand on the Crow's Nest and make a new promise to each other, to be brothers, to value their lives, and Ace breaks down like a baby. )
Happy ending <3