Chapter Text
Even though he had stopped trying to kill Pops six months ago, and had referred to the crew he joined as his family, Ace still felt a bit out of place. To him, family was an odd thing. It was a difficult thing to be accustomed to, considering his whole life, his only family was Dadan, Gramps, and his brothers. And now, he had this huge crew. A huge family. And maybe…
Maybe he was happy here.
“Ace! News Coo’s here!” Vista said, quickly knocking on the door to his room and walking back down the hall.
Ace pushed himself up from his bed, a faint smile on his face. Hopefully today would be a good day.
At the top deck, he grabbed the paper and dropped a 5 berri coin in the pouch the bird carried. “Thanks,” he muttered, and unfolded it to read the headline. Something about the red-hair pirates taking down a marine base. Weird, they’re usually not very feudal. He continued reading, however on the second page, something caught his eye. Something that made his heart drop to the bottom of the ocean. A mention of Goa.
The Son of the Legendary Revolutionary Dragon Presumed Dead!
In a small island in the East Blue, called Dawn Island, a resident of the Goa Kingdom left an anonymous tip to the marines, notifying them that on the island, the teenage son of the famous revolutionary had plans to cause havoc soon. The man in question, known only by his first name, Luffy, attempted to flee when marines confronted him. However, he was unsuccessful and was taken into custody.
He was transferred to a ship to take him to marine headquarters for interrogation, however, mysteriously, before the ship could get even a kilometer off shore, explosives planted by what officials suspect to be allies of Dragon attempting to cover for him blew up on the ship, causing the ship to go down. Though no body was found, Luffy was suspected to have devil fruit powers, so any remains by now would be at the bottom of the ocean.
What we should take away from this article is to be cautious of the cutthroat evils that oppose the World Government, and if you have any suspicions of someone to be working under these evils, do not hesitate to notify the marines…
There was more to the article, but Ace didn’t care for it. His eyes flitted over the same words over and over again, presumed dead, presumed dead, presumed dead… Luffy was—
Luffy was
His fist tightened around the paper, and it felt like he was going to vomit. He couldn’t tell if he was breathing too fast or holding his breath, and static clouded his mind.
My little brother.
He turned to lean over the railing of the deck, and lost all of the food he had eaten for breakfast.
Ace coughed, wiping his mouth as Tate noticed his actions. She hurried over, and placed her hand on Ace’s shoulder, a concerned look on her face. “Ace? Ace, are you alright?” She asked, and his breathing picked up.
“Don’t—don’t touch me.” He shoved her hand off and stumbled back in a blind panic.
He was gone.
Gone just like—
Just like Sabo.
As he stepped back, he tripped over his own feet. A short, helpless laugh escaped Ace’s throat while his vision blurred.
He hated crying. Never once had he cried in front of any of his family, except for Luffy.
And now Luffy is gone.
“Fuck—” Ace’s voice cracked, and he covered his mouth. He felt the tear tracks on his cheeks, ashamed that people could see him. So much so, that he didn’t even notice when he lost consciousness.
⊹ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ˖
The day Sabo turned seventeen, he felt like he accomplished something. He didn’t know why, but he felt proud of himself. Like he had to go and do something big. So he went on a mission, to fill the desire for something. Something, but he didn’t know what.
Now he knows.
“As soon as I turn seventeen, I’m setting sail and getting out of here. For good.”
And as Koala cried, draped over his lap, something in Sabo broke.
“I need to get to the Whitebeard Pirate ship.” He wheezed.
⊹ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ˖
Man, did Luffy’s head hurt. He’d managed to knock out the guard that held his keys, and he’d run around the ship for a few minutes before accidentally setting off some explosives in the weapon’s room. And now, he was just floating around in the sea, being carried by a barrel. A freaking barrel, of all things.