Work Text:
…
i just want time in a tree
i need a place just for me
...
it was slightly after lunch when the news came.
some people were still strewn on the tables, cleaning up their plates from a hearty meal. whitebeard himself was sat as his usual seat, humming quietly to himself, whilst chatting nonchalantly with his sons.
marco, ace, and thatch were laughing like idiots together on the side of the ship. marco was perched like the phoenix he was on the railing, back against the sea. ace was propped against the railing himself, but crouched down with his legs stretched out and arms behind his head. thatch was leaning against the wall, grinning.
it'd been now four, five years since ace had set out to sea. he was 22 now, and that really made him concerned.
god, luffy was nineteen.
holy shit.
ace remembers when luffy had gone missing for two years since his crew's defeat in sabaody, and ace had panicked. the news had declared luffy and his crew dead, defeated by admiral kizaru and the pacifistas on the archipelago. everyone on the moby dick who was there two years ago would tell you of the time portgas d. ace had ran around like a mother hen worried sick about his little brother. izo, thatch, and marco had consoled him, telling him luffy wasn't going to die so early into his pirate life.
especially since luffy had made a statement when he first appeared.
ace waited two goddamn years, and you know what? he ran into his proclaimed dead other brother along the way. he remembers running into sabo, or more or less sabo seeked out ace. it was obvious sabo was very much expecting the punch to the face he had received when they reunited.
sabo, in his stupid tailcoat and boots, sabo, with his stupid goggles and stupid top hat and his stupid blonde hair-
ace had pulled him into his arms tightly, crying into his shoulder while sabo grinned through his own tears and rubbed his back.
"you ass. where have you been-"
oh, you should've seen ace's face when sabo had informed him he had memory loss, the jerk.
ace swallowed wearily, biting his lip anxiously. sabo straightened at the change of demeanor.
"do you know where lu-" and sabo pales.
"shit, ace, i thought you knew! i- i thought you would've known where luffy is-" sabo reaches up in grips his blonde curls tightly, knocking his hat to the side.
ace breathed in sharply through his teeth. "fuck."
his forehead knocks against sabo's blue-clad shoulder. he runs a hand through his black hair, eyes worried.
"ever since sabaody, no one knows where any of the strawhats have gone, much less luffy himself." ace groans, "i swear to god, if he's dead-"
"he's not dead." sabo growls. "i won't let him die before i meet him again. i should also get a vivre card of him when i see him next time."
they had gotten snail transponders directly to each other to keep in touch, promising they'd meet again.
...
and of course, luffy had to wait two years before showing himself again. his bounty had upped from three hundred million to four hundred million, but the jump happened shortly after sabaody. ace remembers the shark-like grin that had plastered across his face when he saw the paper when luffy appeared again. he had shoved his face into the newspaper, and accidentally set half of it on fire.
he ignored marco's "ace! you dumbass, you just burnt the-" and thatch's and vista's cackles. "he's just happy his baby brother is alive, marco, cut him some slack!"
...
in the present, thatch's eyes homed in on the news coo bird flying towards them. he realized faintly it said 'breaking news.'
"oi! shitheads, the news!"
marco turned around, grabbing the paper from the bird, ignoring it as it flew away. he opened to the front page, and he gasped, eyes widening almost comically.
ace and thatch leaned in to look, "what is it?" ace wondered curiously.
marco ignored them, turning the paper away so ace couldn't read. his eyes rapidly read the paper, and a small, almost proud grin formed on his face. he did look slightly concerned, but nevertheless proud.
"ace, you've got one helluva brother."
ace perked up excitedly, snatching the paper from marco's hands. marco snorted, and thatch leaned over ace's shoulder, wanting to peek at the headline.
ace grinned broadly, "that's my brother, oh my god, he got a new bounty-" his eyes promptly popped out of his head, "holy shit, it's high, wait, does it say he attacked big mom-"
thatch whistles, impressed. "he's being called fifth emperor."
suddenly, ace snorts, ugly and undignified. "are you kidding me, it says he attacked big mom with a 'well strategized plan,' what bullshit. if i know luffy, he's headstrong and doesn't think and just charges into a fight without a second thought."
"sounds like you." marco mutters, and ace flicks him in the forehead. "anyways, his cook was a vinsmoke? says here the cook cut his ties with the leader of germa 66. that's just cruel they kept his last name in his bounty poster."
"jimbei was there too," thatch points out.
"1.5 billion." ace echoes. "he defeated sweet general cracker and the most powerful of big mom's children- charlotte katakuri."
"what a madman." thatch grins. "he makes the impossible possible. i heard katakuri has never been defeated. some big dude- like sixteen feet tall, wears some badass scarf."
"i heard the guy can see into the future. has such advanced observation haki it's close to impossible to defeat him," marco adds. "the only way your brother could counter that is if he himself has such haki."
ace can't help be so fucking proud, because that's his weak, helpless little brother. defeating literal monsters, being consider an emperor? younger ace would have a heart attack. he's the little kid with a big dream, wearing his heart on his sleeve, a bright grin, with hopeful, shining eyes. he always needed his older brothers' guiding hands to function, but now he has his own crew, loyal people to rely on.
ace wasn't as jealous as he thought he'd be, honestly. he found it funny how, even if luffy wasn't much of a crybaby or a child anymore, he'd always revert back to that version of himself whenever his brothers were around.
gripping the newspaper, he bounds off towards his quarters, shamelessly flipping off his friends when they growl at him to bring the paper back. he flicks his head to the side with a smirk, dodging the bright blue ball of fire thrown at his skull.
...
when koala gasped excitedly when reading the news and bounded over to sabo, the blonde was very confused.
koala looked shocked, honestly, but she was staring at the paper with wide eyes. she shoved it in sabo's face and the chief of staff's blue eyes homed in on the word 'luffy' and he ripped the paper from her hands.
he stared at the paper, reading the headline urgently, and his jaw dropped. a slow grin formed on his face, "luffy, you've gotten so strong." he whispers.
in dressrosa, when sabo had first seen luffy, he had stared at him intently and waited for luffy to revert back to seven years old. it just seemed strange to see luffy, his weakling baby brother luffy, be so fucking strong. baring his teeth at big mom and making it out alive, taking down two sweet generals, specifically the strongest of the charlottes save for big mom, katakuri?
it made sabo's stomach twist.
sabo ignores koala when she mocks for when he gets cramps in his face, shoving his palms against his lips to ease the pain, but can't help another proud grin forming when he glances back at luffy's bounty poster.
he's still disappointed in himself for not hugging luffy back when he had ugly sobbed, tears pouring onto sabo's own cheeks.
he grabs ace's snail transponder from his pocket, carelessly tossing away the most recent report, and walks away, hack's disappointed but not surprised groan calling on deaf ears.
...
"ace!"
"sabo!"
they both yell each other's names into the snail, and both promptly bust out laughing.
"did you hear-"
"didya hear about lu's-"
another round of giggles.
"you first," sabo grins, unashamed.
"luffy's bounty!" ace all but shrieks.
"i know, ace, can you believe it? the brat's actually gotten strong-"
"when i saw they're considering lu an emperor i was like, 'you gotta be shitting me,'"
"ace, it's a billion beri."
"i know, that's fucking insane."
"i’m bummed i didn't get to see them fight. i really wish i could've."
the snail turned into an expression that was deep in thought.
"you know, we could go give him a visit."
sabo blinked, then grinned dangerously.
"let's do it."
"you have his vivre card, right? i have yours- so i could just follow you." the snail bit its lip.
sabo pulled out luffy's vivre card, eyes widening in concern. "shit, ace. it's burning." sabo remembers how much he panicked when earlier, the vivre card was barely a thing.
the snail made a worried expression. "is it burning, like, getting smaller?"
sabo shook his head, uncaring that ace couldn't see him. "no, it's burning, but it's staying at about halfway. that's better than what it was a couple hours ago."
the transponder snail cocked its head. "what'd it look like a couple hours ago?"
"there was barely anything left."
the snail looked horrified. "you telling me he almost did die?"
sabo sighed worriedly. "yeah, but we're gonna go check on him."
the snail's features became determined. "i'm going with you. i'm gonna make sure the kid's not dead already."
"alright, follow my vivre card, and i'll follow luffy's. we'll eventually meet."
"you got it, 'bo." the clicking of the snail transponder sounded, the eyes of the snail falling shut.
...
it was a bit difficult trying to convince their friends to let them go to the outskirts of whole cake, especially so sabo wouldn't be recognized, and ace wouldn't be targeted.
(mainly since his heritage was outed a couple years ago.
luffy and sabo were pissed people wanted him dead due to his father.)
eventually, dragon had waved off sabo, to koala's comedic frustration. whitebeard had shrugged and said, "go check on your brother."
thatch grinned and said, "tell the brat i said hi!"
(it's pretty obvious that when thatch met luffy a while ago, ever since lu called marco a pineapple, thatch has loved the kid ever since.)
sabo and ace had merged in the middle on the way to luffy. if ace had to guess, it seems like luffy is headed towards the land of wano.
ace face-palmed. "that idiot." he hissed. "he already went for big mom, and now he wants kaido? what a dumbass!"
sabo patted his shoulder sympathetically. "that's how i feel."
sabo had been going in a small ship, not needing a huge one since he could take care of himself, thank you. ace had dragged him onto his striker, and sabo had snorted when ace showed him how he powered the ship with his own fire.
when luffy's ship, the sunny, came into view, ace blinked.
"their ship, it looks..."
"destroyed." sabo ended. "as i expected, big mom gave them a tougher time than the papers said."
"i hope lu's okay." ace murmured.
sabo shrugged. "he's probably very injured, but we won't know until we seen him ourselves."
when they approached the ship, a literal bunny from the overlook pointed and called down to her friends.
"there's two guys on a striker headed this way!" she jumped down to the deck, out of sight.
the cook from the newspaper leaned over the railing, holding a cigarette. he calmly turned to them, and his eyes settled on ace.
they widened slightly, and he relaxed immediately. he stared at sabo. he didn't recognize him, but he was with luffy's older brother so he was safe.
"it's alright, carrot. we know them."
the bunny, supposedly carrot, stared at them with wide, innocent eyes. it reminded sabo of luffy.
"really?" she wondered.
"yeah, the one with the orange hat is luffy's older brother." the blonde breathed in, exhaling a plume of smoke.
sabo huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. ace snickered. "i thought you met luffy's crew."
"i didn't meet the cook. he wasn't there in dressrosa, and i don't remember the rabbit." he grumbled.
ace hooked his striker to the sunny, and hopped onto the railing of the boat. sabo followed suit, landing onto the deck.
a small portion of luffy's crew stumbled back when sabo landed in front of them. ace raised an eyebrow, noticing the majority of luffy's crew was not here. he also noticed luffy himself was nowhere to be found.
ace recognized the cook and the redhead from alabasta. he's never met the skeleton, but he's seen his wanted poster. luffy's crew has always been and always will be a ragtag group of misfits. made of people who might not have fit in with other pirate groups, but the chemistry of luffy's crew together worked perfectly.
sabo doesn't remember any of luffy's crew here, but glancing at ace, it's obvious he's met most of the people here.
"hey, ace. what are you doing here? and whose cravat-boy?" the cook asked.
sabo exhaled through his nose.
ace brushed himself off with a grin. "me and this guy over here-" he flicked his head to sabo, "-saw the idiot's wanted poster. we wanted to see him before he got himself in trouble again. blondie is luffy's other older brother."
the cook blinked. "he never said he had two." he stared at sabo thoughtfully. "cool."
the blonde brought up his thumb, pointing in the direction of the figurehead.
"he's supposed to be sleeping, but he wouldn't stop freaking out about his bounty. he kept saying 'it's more than theirs, it's more than theirs,' but we don't know what the hell he means."
sabo grit his teeth, and flames flickered from ace's body.
"oh, we know what that means." ace growled.
carrot squeaked, hiding behind the cook. the blonde widened his eyes, "i'm guessing luffy's about to get his ass kicked. be careful, he's still recovering from a stab wound."
sabo gasped, and ace's flames disappeared almost immediately. "he's what?"
they turned towards the figurehead, stumbling over each other to get to luffy. "get out of my way, dumbass!" ace poked sabo with his elbow.
"oh, screw off, asshole." sabo groaned.
they both stood in front of the figurehead, and suddenly heard bickering.
"luffy! stop squirming, you need to heal!"
"but chopper-"
"no! you have to go back to the infirmary, sit your ass down, and go to sleep."
"but, chopper! i'm fine-"
"luffy!"
ace snorted, and sabo held in a chuckle. the fire user leaned around one of the flames peaking from the yellow figurehead. he saw the reindeer from alabasta hovering over luffy, while luffy himself fidgeted with his bandages.
ace wilted slightly when he saw the amount of bandages wrapped around luffy's stomach, along with the few wrapped around his head.
he stepped onto the figurehead, and the reindeer turned around sharply. his eyes widened in recognition.
ace reached down a hand and flicked the back of luffy’s head, making sure not to hit luffy’s hat. "hey, brat."
luffy gasped, whipping his head around. "ace?" he grinned. ace kneeled next to him. "thatch says hi."
luffy giggled. it felt strangely refreshing to hear such a sound. "thatch is so cool."
ace thinks of how much that would inflate thatch's already huge ego. "no, he is not." he shakes his head.
"anyways, ace, why are you here?" the reindeer, chopper, sighs and hops his way off of the figurehead. ace silently promises to make sure luffy doesn't rip his bandages off.
"we saw your bounty." ace muttered. "and we heard about your fight with the charlottes."
luffy brightens at the mention of his unbelievably large bounty. "yeah! my- wait, we?"
sabo called out to him from where he was watching the two behind the figurehead. "hey, lu."
luffy blinked in surprise, until his eyes shined. "sabo!"
sabo smiled at him gently, and sat down next to him. his eyes lingered on luffy's stomach bandages. "what happened there?" he rubbed luffy's back encouragingly.
luffy sighed, glancing down, then out at the sea. "katakuri." he murmured.
sabo huffed, "i figured." ace's brow furrowed. "how did you let him stab you?"
luffy grinned. "one of katakuri's little sisters shot me in the leg with a numbing needle. she interfered, but i wasn't expecting it to be fair."
ace growled. sabo had to agree with ace. it was very dishonorable to interfere in a harsh battle.
"that's pathetic. 'kuri needed help?" ace snarled.
luffy glared at him, and ace was taken aback. "no, actually. katakuri was angry, the fool, and stabbed himself in the stomach then threw his trident off to the side."
sabo gasped. that was honorable.
ace lifted his head with wide eyes. "sorry, i take that back."
"me and kat ended up clashing our haki and knocked out the girl and her minions. it was like, a mutual agreement."
the two brothers blinked. luffy talked of katakuri as if they were friends.
"i really wanna fight him again. our fight was fun, honestly. it was tough, and i only won because katakuri let me leave."
luffy considered mentioning kat's teeth, but that was too sensitive of a topic. he felt as though that was too intimate of an action to talk of. that was something that stayed between katakuri and luffy.
sabo whistled. "damn." he grinned, wide and proud. "you've gotten strong."
ace begrudgingly agreed. "true."
luffy didn't miss the opportunity to patronize them. "you know, guys, my bounty is more than you guys' bounties combined."
ace and sabo glared at him darkly, and luffy felt beads of sweat immediately form on his forehead. he shivered.
"your bounty is only so high because of you threatening the government multiple times. bounties aren't measured by strength." sabo explained with narrowed eyes.
"oh, that reminds me." he pointedly glared straight into luffy's eyes, not letting luffy look away. "i do believe you punched a celestial. not that i don't blame you, but.." he raised an eyebrow at luffy.
"he shot my friend, and he was a bitch. he pissed me off." luffy grumbled.
sabo and ace glanced at each other at the choice of such language. they rarely hear luffy use strong curses.
sabo explained to him patiently. “that doesn't give you the privilege to punch a celestial.”
“being a celestial doesn't give them the privilege to shoot an innocent!”
sabo shut up. luffy was in no means wrong, and the system with celestials was very fucked. except, well, luffy would've died at sabaody due to kizaru if not for kuma saving them. even if the way he did it brought lots of anguish to his brother.
ace ruffled luffy’s hair, knocking luffy’s hat to loosely hang around his neck. “it's alright, kiddo. you're alright now.”
luffy huffed, pushing away ace’s hand. “you're treating me like a child! stop it!”
“stop it!” ace mocked childishly, pitching his voice higher. luffy rolled his eyes, and stuck his tongue out at him.
“jerk.” the kid muttered. he slumped against sabo’s chest. “i like sabo more.” to get on ace’s nerves, he snuggled into sabo’s front, getting comfortable. slotting his forehead to lean against sabo’s neck, now in the blonde’s lap.
sabo grinned, placing his chin on top of luffy’s head, blue eyes alight mischievously.
ace glared at him. “i'm the better brother because i don't spoil him.”
sabo stroked luffy’s hair, pointedly looking down at the kid in his arms with a wry smile. “i'm nicer to him, so he'd obviously like me more.”
the fire user smiled. a memory from years ago arrives at the front of his mind from when luffy was still a child. he remembers shortly after sabo ‘died,’ and luffy said that sabo was the nicer brother. he grins slightly when he remembers himself getting angry and yelling, ‘are you saying you wanted me to die instead?”
“what's the grin for?” sabo wonders aloud.
“nothin’.” ace murmurs. he looks fondly down at the small teenager in sabo’s arms. nineteen, his mind reminds him.
god, he looks so small in his brother’s arms.
luffy has fallen asleep, quietly snoring against sabo’s chest. his wide, round eyes shut, thick eyelashes resting against his tan skin. he stares at the white, tightly woven bandages curling around luffy’s rubbery skin. arms tightening around sabo, his chest stutters, face scrunching in discomfort, before it smoothes out.
sabo is looking at him with a strange look, and ace realizes he must've been staring at luffy with a really fond look. he flushes.
“sorry.” he curls in on himself at being caught.
sabo smiles, staring at him with a soft gaze. if his gaze was a palette of colors, it’d be full of pastels.
a hand tugs on sabo’s shirt. the blonde looks down, making eye contact with luffy. he's completely out of it, possibly even still asleep, with his eyes hooded.
“luffy?” sabo questions. “are you-”
“i love you.” luffy whispers. he turns to ace. “and you.”
that's all he has to say, before his eyes completely shut again, and he slumps against sabo’s chest once more. his cheeks seemed tinted pink, so obviously he was somewhat conscious and was slightly embarrassed about what he just uttered.
sabo has wide eyes, his mouth falls open in shock, and he feels his lips forming a small smile.
ace is, well, embarrassed, to put it lightly, but can't keep the bubbling warmth in his heart down. he felt it flicker at first, but bloom into a raging fire that warms his insides. he clamps a hand over his mouth to stop the coo that was about to come out.
“aww.” sabo whispers. he cards a hand through luffy’s hair. “i- aww.” the guy is speechless.
ace is red to his roots, but he can't keep the grin off his face at the words.
sabo catches it.
“it got to you, too, didn't it?” his words are knowing.
“i tried to keep it down.” ace responds helplessly.
god, this kid. he's going to kill me.
“i don't deserve this.” ace leans against sabo’s shoulder, his hand in luffy’s
he stares at luffy with a look that says, what did i do to deserve you?
sabo smiles. he knows how that feels.
one brother sleeping between them, another leaning against the other, they stare off at the sinking horizon.
ace dozes off quickly, snoring into sabo’s side.
sabo tightens his arms around the two.
i don't know what i did to deserve him, either.
…
somewhere that i can be free