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The first time they saw each other, they tried to kill each other. One because he had infiltrated the territory, the other because he was forced to defend that place. Once they realized that neither of them wanted to fight, and that both disliked the same pirate, they stopped fighting. His words impacted him much more than the other ever thought they would, and thus, a new friendship began.
They spent their days and nights talking about their lives, what had happened to them, their families, struggles, weaknesses, and hopes, what they desired the most, what they wanted to become and do, what they loved and cherished, what they wanted to protect. But most importantly, who they wanted to become in the future.
He told him a secret he hadn't even told Whitebeard, his father. And he didn't laugh at those words like the other thought, instead, he began crying, because there was hope for him and the country of Wano, those very same words had given him hope years ago.
Endless nights of drinking, eating, and talking with each other went by so fast that they didn't even notice it had been weeks since the mysterious pirate had crashed in Kaidou's territory. He gave him a piece of paper, a Vivre Card, promising to come back and free the country from the claws of his father.
He kept the Vivre Card close to his heart everyday since then, fighting and training every day, getting stronger to help him defeat his father once he came back. Laughing when he remembered the jokes both told, or at any story the other said about his brothers.
He got stronger, and stronger, learned how to control his devil fruit and transformations, the powers it granted him and the consequences of using them. He helped the people he could, since he couldn't leave that damn castle, no matter how much he wanted to.
When, suddenly, while remembering that pirate's laugh, his hat, the control he had over his flame powers, his strength and kindness towards the people of Wano. So suddenly, the Vivre Card started to disappear, burn out, it was fading, slowly, painfully slowly.
He held onto it, for days, for weeks, until it turned back to normal, his smile was wide, ear to ear. He started dancing and jumping while celebrating, putting it above his head, looking at the sun setting while still holding the Vivre Card, and just as suddenly as it happened the first time, it started burning and fading again, fast, way too fast.
It burned right in front of his eyes, the Vivre Card disappeared completely, he knew what it meant.
Ace was dead.
He knelt down on the floor, while looking at the sky, tears started flowing down his cheeks, his screams of pain alarmed the guards inside of the castle, he grabbed his giant weapon and started destroying the ground, the pillars, the ruins, he transformed and jumped up to the ceiling of the castle, dug his claws into one of the giant horns of Onigashima, and screamed at the sky, a painful scream, while tears still fell down his face.
He kept training for the next two years, he was sure that even if he was never coming back anymore, even if he was gone, someone would carry on his will, and would come to Wano and free it from his father.
One day, he heard a lot of screams and fighting inside the castle, the very same day his father intended to make him the new ruler of Wano, and when he went inside to see what happened, he saw him.
Black, short hair, a bright and wide smile, a laugh that was contagious to the point he started smiling and giggling just by seeing it, rubber powers, stretching and punching the enemies like nothing. It was him, it was Ace's brother. It was Money D. Luffy.
He caught him and after a few misunderstandings and a little bickering, he revealed himself as Kaidou's son, Yamato.
They fought side to side, he was asked to protect Momonosuke, Oden's son. And so, he did, and told him the whole story, about what had happened twenty years ago.
They ended up fighting at the top of the castle, he had to flee from the battlefield and help Momonosuke control his powers, so they could do what Luffy had told them. And when he turned around, he didn't see him, he saw Ace, it seemed as if he was fighting side to side with Luffy, a tear made its way, and ran down his cheek. That was the last time he saw him clearly.