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Ace swallowed, the action painful from how dry his mouth and throat were. While he may be heat resistant, it didn’t stop his body from needing water. And unfortunately, being a prisoner in Impel Down set to be executed didn’t help in having necessities like water available to him.
He tilted his head back against the cold, rough stone of the wall and closed his eyes. He knew that he had just a few hours left until he was killed. Now, he was just counting the time down.
At first he had been angry–furious even–but then he realized that it was for the best. He knew that it would be impossible for him to break out all on his own and he didn’t want anyone risking their lives just for him. For a devil’s child. Besides, he had spent years as a pirate out at sea causing hell. He had a good life that he was happy with.
He had gathered a crew that he was proud of–the Spade pirates, who he treasured dearly. That was before he came across Pops. He remembered how confused and frustrated he was when he had continuously attacked Pops and never got any backlash from anyone, least of all Pops himself. No, everyone accepted him with open arms, even when they found out who his father was. It had altered his world to know that everyone on the Moby supported and accepted him, calling him brother–Pops calling him son–despite everything that Ace represented.
There was no way that he would want them to come save him. He wouldn’t risk the lives of the people he called family like that.
Speaking of family… he supposed he would have one regret when he left this world. He was going to be leaving Luffy behind. He knew that his death would devastate his little brother. Just thinking back to when they had both lost Sabo all those years ago and how miserable Lu was… it broke his heart. But there was nothing that could be done. Luffy had his own adventures to go on to reach his dream. He… he would be okay.
“Jinbei,” his voice cracked from non-use, trying to get the attention of his cellmate and friend. He heard a grunt, notifying him that the Warlord was listening to him. “Can I ask a favor from you?”
“Of course, Ace.”
“Please protect my younger brother.” He requested. He needed to know that someone he trusted would look out for Luffy when the kid wouldn’t have either of his older brothers anymore. It made his chest clench in grief and if he had any excess water in his body, he wouldn’t doubt that his eyes would be getting wet. “His name is Monkey D. Luffy.”
Jinbei’s jaw dropped, asking his old friend, “Straw Hat, the new generational rookie?”
“The one and only.” Ace chuckled.
“I will watch over your brother.” Jinbei promised. Neither of them mentioned how the fishman would get out of Impel Down. “Rest assured, Ace.”
A corner of Ace’s mouth tilted up, “Thanks Jinbei.”
Silence descended upon the cell again, both of them sinking deeper into their own thoughts.
Ace felt better knowing that someone would be watching out for Luffy. He closed his eyes, relieved. With his last bit of time on the planet, he began to think back on his life, completely ignoring the Warlord Hancock’s warning about Luffy sneaking inside Impel Down. He could only hope that she was wrong and that Luffy was far away and safe from this hellhole.
He thought back on when he had met Sabo, first. That was in Grey Terminal. It had been just another day for Ace, skulking about, when he stumbled upon a boy that seemed to be around his age. It was weird. The boy with blond hair seemed dirty, but Ace had a gut feeling that the kid didn’t fit in. That he didn't actually live in Grey Terminal. In fact, it was pretty obvious how he seemed to look at everything with some weird type of curiosity. Though, perhaps it didn’t mean much. Ace obviously hadn’t grown up in Grey Terminal either. However, Ace hadn’t ever seen this boy before in all his years exploring the island. It was strange.
He hadn’t spared any more thought on the blond kid. That is until a few weeks later, when he came across the other boy hiding some jewels. Ace immediately became intrigued, and decided to approach him. It turned out that the blond had a plan–he was going to steal enough treasure to buy a boat.
“I’m going to get off this damned island and see the world.” Ace could only look on in wonder. Why had he never thought of that? He hated his place and everyone in it just like they hated him for existing. But if he was able to get off this island…
Ace decided at that point to make a deal with the boy–Sabo. Two pairs of hands were better than one. It was easier for one to distract and the other to steal— more treasure overall. They would work towards buying a boat and getting out of this hellhole and then they could go their own separate ways.
As the two nine-year-olds worked together, they ended up creating a bond of sorts. Ace wouldn’t necessarily call the two of them friends , but… he supposed they had each other’s backs.
It wasn’t even four months later that Ace’s world was flipped once again, this time by another boy even younger than Sabo and him. He came back to the bandits one day after looting with Sabo only to see the old man talking to Dadan with a little kid.
Apparently, the old bastard was leaving another kid with the bandits and had the fucking nerve to ask Ace to get along with the snot-nosed brat. He showed how he felt about the situation by spitting on the kid and flipping him off.
Ace then spent three months trying to have the little twerp meet his demise daily, failing each and every time when he would show back up at the bandits’ hut. It was incredibly annoying how much this kid persevered.
Then everything seemed to change when Porchemy had beaten the crybaby for hours on end. Despite the beating he received, the brat never gave up Sabo and Ace’s loot. He hadn’t had any reason to keep quiet. In fact, he had all the more reason to tell them because of how Ace had been treating him. But no, he hadn’t because then he wouldn’t have been able to ‘be friends' with them.
Ace was pretty sure the kid suffered some serious head trauma from everything he had been through but it sparked something within Ace. These two had no reason to stick with him even after knowing who his no-good devil of a father was, but they did anyway. They became his family, and Ace made sure to solidify it by stealing some sake and having the three of them toast to brotherhood.
They would stick together and have each other’s backs no matter what happened. They trained together, making sure that the three of them would be able to protect themselves and their important people. They spent everyday together going into town and stealing from the uppity rich and having fun.
Until it had all come crashing down. It started with Sabo’s father and Bluejam’s men taking Sabo away from them. After that, a fire had broken out through Grey Terminal, spreading into the woods where Luffy and Ace had been intercepted by the pirates. He hadn’t been about to lose another brother – not when there was something that Ace could do about it. He had sworn to himself that he would save Luffy, get out of this, and then save Sabo too.
It had almost gone the way he had planned. The two of them had survived the fire.
It was just after the fire that it was discovered that Sabo had been shot down by a Celestial Dragon ship.
Anger.
Ace felt more anger than he ever had before upon hearing the news. He was angry at how unfair the world was. He thought he had learned that already, but he supposed he fell into a false sense of security, thinking that he would at least get to have Sabo and Luffy in his life.
He had dropped his guard and forgot that the world didn’t care about what is fair and just. The world didn’t care about who has what and who doesn’t. The world didn’t care about anything.
He should have known better.
Thankfully, being on the ship with Pops had helped drive these thoughts away for the years that he was with the Whitebeard Pirates.
But looking back on the past had brought up thoughts he had never fathomed before. Would death just be a black void, just nothingness? Or would he see Sabo again? If he did, would he see the ten year old Sabo that he remembered from all those years ago or would he see a grown adult version of Sabo that he never got the chance to be?
Suddenly, startled gasps and angry muttering broke out across Level 6.
“Woah! Jinbei, what are you doing in a cell?”
This caused Ace’s eyes to fly open. He recognized that voice.
His eyes landed on the one person he didn’t want to see right now. “LUFFY?!”
The man in question, who had previously been looking around in confusion while scratching his head under his infamous straw hat, turned around before his eyes landed on Ace.
Ace assumed that Luffy would get excited at finding his brother after purposefully breaking into Impel Down.Instead, the confusion on his little brother’s face remained. Confusion heavy in his voice along with something else that Ace couldn’t pin down, Luffy questioned, “Ace?”
“Luffy, how do you know Jinbei?” Ace couldn’t help but ask, knowing that Luffy wouldn’t spare a single thought to someone that he didn’t know or felt was worthy of his respect and energy.
“I’m afraid that I have never met young Luffy until this very moment,” Jinbei confessed, trying to clear the air.
“What’s going on?” Luffy asked, though it seemed to almost be a question for himself.
Ace shared a look with Jinbei before they both brought their attention back to Luffy. Luffy didn’t seem to be any less confused but, suddenly, another emotion took over as tears began to well up in his eyes.
“Oh, come on Lu. You break into Impel Down to supposedly bust me out, yet it seems you’re still the same old crybaby from our childhood.” Ace tried to tease, but couldn’t help the tension that leaked through. “Now get the fuck outta here, huh?”
“Impel Down? Why…” Luffy trailed off before it seemed that he finally just gave up on understanding what was going. Before Ace can warn Luffy about the bars probably being made up of seastone, Luffy pressed a finger across the hole of the lock on the cell before quickly bringing his other hand up and blowing on his left thumb.
Ace didn’t really understand how it happened, but the lock clicked open. Once the cell door swung open, Luffy rushed in and collapsed into Ace’s grimy, rank body.
“Luffy, you need to get out of here before the guards arrive!” Ace tried to order, but Luffy didn’t pay any mind to the words as he broke down into heavy sobs. Unbeknownst to Ace, Luffy was now able to hold his brother in his arms for the first time in over two years.
While Ace couldn’t deny that he was happy to see Luffy, the circumstances didn’t allow Ace to enjoy the moment. Instead, he was worried out of his mind that the guards would arrive at any moment and put Luffy in a cell where he would stay locked up for years–maybe even the rest of his life. The dumbass marines and world government always loved to feel like they had the upper hand.
“Luf–” He starts off again but winced as Luffy’s cries seemed to gain volume. While most of it was a babbling mess, Ace was able to make out the words “Ace”, “dead”, and “Sabo.” It cut through Ace’s heart; he knew that Luffy was going to take this hard, but he had a duty to fulfill. There was only one thing that a big brother had to do—protect their little brother.
“Luffy!” He firmly cut through his little brother’s whining. “You need to get out of here before it’s too late. The guards are on their way now.”
“But–” Luffy started with a sniffle before he was cut off by a new voice.
“No worries. I took care of the guards that had been on their way.” A blonde man with a scar stated, dusting off his glove-covered hands. He was wearing a black tophat that had goggles around the base. His clothes seemed fancy to Ace.
“Who–” Ace started to ask but was interrupted by Luffy who shouted,
“Sabo! Look Ace is alive!”
Ace felt his gut drop at Luffy’s exclamations. Sabo?
“Wha…” Ace feels words leave him, just like the ability to process what was going on around him.
“I see that, Luffy.” The blond man–Sabo–says with a teasing half-smirk.
“Do you know what is going on?” Luffy asked him, as he continued to cling to Ace.
The smile fell from Sabo’s face as he further took in his surroundings. “I can’t be sure how or even why, but it feels safe to say that we are at Impel Down.”
“That’s what I thought too!” Luffy says proudly, happy to have gotten to the same conclusion.
“Will someone explain what the fuck is going on?” Ace exploded, his impatience and frustration coming to a head. “Why does Luffy keep calling you Sabo? What are both of you even doing here?!”
“You always were a hothead, Ace.” Sabo said with a small smile.
“Why are you talking as if you know me?” Ace demanded, glaring at the blond man. The only blond named Sabo that he knew died long ago.
“Because I do. I knew you very well when we were kids growing up in the Terminal.” And those words ended up being the confirmation that Ace needed. There was no one else that could possibly know that information and Ace knew that Luffy never talked about Sabo to random strangers.
“Sabo?” He still questioned the man.
“Sabo!” Luffy happily agreed, while the man that he had thought to be dead for years now, nodded his head in confirmation.
Ace couldn’t pick out what he was feeling as everything just seemed to hit him all at once. He knew that he should feel relief, and he thought he did, but he also felt anger and pain from the grief that he had gone through.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you two.” Sabo offered up the apology, his own guilt eating away at him now that he had the chance to speak with his other brother. Try as he might, Sabo couldn’t stop the emotions from lumping in the center of his throat. His vision began to get hazy.
“Then why did you?!” Ace yelled, hoping it would help release the pain and tightness in his chest, though he knows from past experiences that it wouldn't.
“It wasn’t my choice! I had–I had forgotten the two of you.” Sabo’s voice cracked as a tear finally made its way down his cheek.
“It’s not your fault, Sabo!” Luffy jumped into the argument. “You can’t help that you forgot us. The important thing is that you remembered us again.” He pointed out.
“When did you remember?” Ace wanted to know. How long had Sabo regained his memories and still not sought out his brothers?
“I’ve had my memories for almost three years now.”
“Three–?!” Ace choked out before Sabo continued on, as if Ace had not said anything at all.
“However, if I had to estimate, I would say that tomorrow is when my memories would be coming back.”
Ace remained quiet this time, completely confused on what that meant.
“Is that some kind of puzzle, Sabo? What does that mean? You already have your memories, right? So what are you talking about tomorrow?”
“I did get my memories already. However, the other me–from this time–will be getting the memories tomorrow.” Ace opened his mouth, but Sabo cut him off by saying, “It would seem, Ace, that Luffy and I have traveled back to the past.”
“The… past?” Ace echoed. He felt like his brains were melting out of his ears.
“Precisely.” Sabo reaffirmed.
“Except this time will be different, because we are saving you!” Luffy boosts.
“I must agree with Luffy on this. Not being able to participate last time was one of my biggest regrets. However, this time, I don’t plan on letting us fail.” Sabo stated with determination, clenching his fist so tight that his gloves gave a squeak in protest.
“Yeah! Saving Ace!” Luffy exclaimed, finally releasing his hold on Ace to start jumping up in excitement.
“No! You can’t–shouldn’t. It’s too dangerous!” Ace tries to tell them even though he knew now that he was fighting a losing battle.
“No can do, Ace. There’s no way that we aren’t saving your sorry ass from this hellhole.” Sabo said with a wicked grin.
Luffy adopts a more serious face as he said, “Your existence isn’t a crime. You deserve to live, Ace.”
Ace dropped his head to his chest in order to hide the tears that were making their way down his cheeks. He has gotten Sabo back, and now both of his brothers were planning on busting him out of Impel Down–the most infamous prison in the world.
He let out a wet chuckle before lifting his head to make eye contact with his brothers. “Fuck it. Let’s raise some hell.”