Chapter 1: Kitatown
Summary:
Y’all, I love comments so I don’t care what year it is, you will make my whole week whether you put only emojis or a whole essay in that comment box. Would love to hear what ya think at any point in the story and ya boi is super friendly.
Feel free to skip over Marco or Koala parts and only read Ace and Sabo. Skipping every smut scene won’t change anything either. Did my best to also warn triggering stuff in chapter notes.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Kitatown was a port of divided wealth sitting seaside along the Grand Line. Her once-lovely buildings featured various colors in chipping paint under terracotta tiles and old iron trimmings.
From what Ace could tell of the plant life, Kitatown seemed balmy year-round, but he was much more excited about the exotic food than the botany. It was a gorgeous day, but that was common on summer islands like this one.
Ace had thrown on an unbuttoned tropical shirt to fit in with the locals, and pressed a disguise hat over his own— a wide-brim rancher made of straw that fit perfectly around his orange one.
At his flank, looking very much like a bodyguard on vacation, strode a large and confident man known as Marco the Phoenix. A knowledgeable onlooker might’ve wondered what former First Division Commander Marco was doing hanging around the Spade Pirates.
They were unlikely to get the full answer, however, because Marco didn’t like to talk about the Summit War. The deaths incurred there had resulted in the painful disbanding of his first family, so Marco didn’t make a habit of indulging anyone’s curiosity on the subject.
He was more likely to tell them the other reason: the story of Ace and Deuce unexpectedly saving Marco’s life the first time they met.
Deuce himself ambled along at Ace’s other flank, looking less confident than Marco. It was mainly due to the occasional stumble he’d take while jotting in his notebook about their surroundings. He murmured aloud as he scribbled.
“Es… espresso? World famous… coffee exports… Hey, Ace, have you ever tried ‘espresso’?”
Ace had only been halfway listening. He shot his blue-haired aspiring doctor a hopeful look, saying:
“Express-soba? Whatever that is, if it’s eat-able, I’m eating it. We’ll try it before we leave.”
Another trusted member of Ace’s crew was also with them: a gentle and respectful man wearing a brutish skull mask along with a shocking amount of other skull accessories. Unsurprisingly, he went by the moniker ‘Skull.’
“Careful, Deu-san. If you go distracting the captain with food, we won’t even make it to the shipwright,” Skull said, even though they were already crossing the shipyard near the docks.
The Spade Pirates made berth at Kitatown with a specific purpose in mind: procuring a vintage cannon of breathtaking craftsmanship. They’d managed to finally get their hands on it thanks to a local shipwright named Kophre-san who had posted an advertisement in the World Economic.
Tom himself had built this masterpiece of a cannon— incredibly heavy weight, contrasted with delicately carved details and inlaid with gold. Twin mermaids bearing forth the letters ‘ORO’ decorated the sides of the weapon’s wide barrel. Along the back, the words ‘Harbinger No.9’ could be read, though with great difficulty.
Even though Kophre-san hadn’t posted the origin of the piece in his listing, Marco knew the moment he saw it; this was one of the actual cannons aboard the Oro Jackson. Specifically, number nine of ten total cannons produced for the ship.
Though Gol D. Roger was no friend of his when they met, Marco never forgot the pride he had over his custom artillery.
And now, he saw the same spark in Ace’s eyes when he touched it. He didn’t want to upset Ace with the cannon’s true history since he’d clearly fallen in love with it, so he kept his mouth shut.
Ace was afraid to know the price, considering they were running lower on berry than usual, but it was an understandable expense. Artillery was never cheap and Ace’s ship, the Piece of Spadille, was missing a cannon.
Still, hearing the figure Kophre-san wanted nearly made his knees buckle.
”I mean, we could just take it,” Ace muttered under his breath.
“No,” Marco hissed, a little too loudly. If he’d had it with him, Marco would’ve been tempted to spritz Ace angrily with the water spray some of the crew used to keep their giant feral cat, Kotatsu, at bay.
Ace crossed his arms, making eye contact with his two other companions— some of his more intellectual crew— to gauge their reaction to the weapon. He was willing to postpone what he wanted if it would go over badly with his officers.
Deuce and Skull did their own versions of a shrug at him, but Skull seemed to be more supportive of the weapon. Of course, that made sense for Skull, given that he was more of an enthusiast than a pirate.
Deuce, or ‘Masked Deuce’ was from a medical background, and he only tagged along to talk Ace out of any apocalyptic financial choices he was liable to make.
Ace eyed the pair with disapproval. He’d brought them along for advice, but what opinion was he supposed to gather from them shrugging at him?
He turned to Marco next, wondering what he thought of the cannon. That’s when Ace noticed Marco wasn’t even paying attention to their exchange; his eyes had wandered to a young woman who had entered the shipwright’s facility.
Though Ace didn’t know it, the woman was Koala: an operative working directly with his late sworn brother, Sabo, and Luffy’s father, Monkey D. Dragon.
Standing just over five feet, she sported a crop of strawberry blonde hair and a pair of goggles strapped against the strands.
Her arms were crossed casually as she waited for them to finish, tapping her gloved fingers idly against the material of the black catsuit uniform she wore. She had probably heard their entire exchange, Ace realized, because she occasionally glanced at the gold-inlaid cannon.
Ace’s expression changed to impish amusement as he watched Marco struggle not to check out her nice figure in the full body wetsuit, and his amusement only deepened when the young woman caught Marco staring.
Marco bit his lip and snapped his gaze back to Kophre-san, deciding now was an ideal time to have a quiet word with him.
“Kophre-san…” he whispered, “I believe this Harbinger might’ve belonged to my friend’s father. Please don’t tell him I told you that, but I believe he was meant to have it, yoi. The problem is that it’s out of our budget. I wondered if you might give us a break on the price.”
He’d only said it because he was under the impression that Kophre-san didn’t know the original owner. After all, wouldn’t he have advertised the fact openly if he knew?
The shipwright hesitated, not sure if he wanted to agree. His eyes stopped on Ace for a moment, flashing with speechless recognition that Marco hadn’t been bluffing. The kid was indeed the spitting image of the Oro Jackson’s past owner.
“I’m still not sure I…” the shipwright began to say, trailing off indecisively.
Marco found it hard to focus on the shipwright when he noticed Koala had approached curiously to listen, now standing just behind his right elbow.
“Pardon me, son,” old Kophre-san told Marco, “This is one of my best clients. What did you need today, lovely?”
Koala didn’t look at Marco as she stepped forward to grasp the shipwright’s glove warmly, leaving a folded paper in his hand.
“Morning, Kophre-san. Just dropping off a check for you,” she said. After hesitating a moment, she added, “These… gentlemen are with me. Could you give them our discount, just this once?”
Marco’s jaw slacked a little, watching Kophre-san smile and give her a deep nod of approval as she backed away happily.
“For you, anything,” the shipwright told her.
Koala was already walking to the exit of his facility, only looking back once to catch Marco staring again. He saw her conceal a cat-like smile as she disappeared out the door.
Marco politely thanked Kophre-san for being so generous with the price, soon echoed by a stunned Ace.
The men reached in their pockets to pile crumpled bills together until they’d stacked enough to pay for their beautiful prize.
“Dahlia,” Ace breathed, pressing his hands lovingly into the gold filigree again, “That’s her name.”
Deuce stifled a chuckle behind him as Marco crossed his arms with a warm look. It might’ve been one of the most endearing quirks he’d seen from this captain; Ace named every one of his cannons.
Rather than painstakingly roll Dahlia back to the ship, Marco hefted her metal body slowly onto his shoulder, earning the pirates a few double-takes from shipyard workers.
It was a noticeably extrahuman feat, strength belonging to Haki users, Devil Fruit consumers, fishmen and giants— and Kitatown didn’t get many visitors that were any of those things.
Skull lifted the solid oak base to follow him with Ace and Deuce in tow as they made their way back across the shipyard.
The pirates hadn’t recognized Koala because the army kept such a low profile, but she had certainly seen their wanted posters.
Nothing could’ve prepared her for how tall they were. Marco was massive, towering over the surrounding city folk.
It had been laughably easy to identify him, even though he wore a porkpie hat perched on the back of his head.
His clothes were also an unusual style choice for him, she noticed. He must have believed that his bird-of-paradise pattern shirt and linen trousers were enough of a disguise, but he couldn’t hide here no matter what he wore.
Even though all of the pirates were clearly in shape, showing off sea-hardened arms and abs, Koala was transfixed by Marco.
Her eyes widened seeing the man easily strut down the street between confused civilians, balancing the intimidating artillery over his shoulder. It didn’t even look possible for one person to lift it, and he wasn’t even struggling.
Koala was crouched against the roof of Kophre-san’s shop, peeking around a stone chimney as she watched them crossing to the docks.
Her heart gave an unexpected jolt when Marco paused to look behind him until his eyes found her hiding on the roof, as if he’d sensed someone watching him.
Seeing Koala spying from the rooftop made Marco laugh audibly from below as she shrank back behind the chimney stack. When she peeked out again, he was shaking his head at her before they continued to the Spadille.
Koala grinned helplessly to herself, wondering what the hell she was doing. Marco had seemed to enjoy catching her looking at him.
She cursed in surprise as her transponder rang, answering a call from Sabo as she dropped down from the shop roof.
“On my way. Sorry,” she breathed, dashing behind the nearby smithy.
“Oh, good. Thought you got lost in a brothel again,” his voice teased.
“Not letting that go, are you? And, again, they call them pleasure halls,” she said with a loving eyeroll, dropping the call as she lifted a heavy square of metal from the path to enter the town’s aqueduct. After she was inside the tunnel, she eased the metal cover back over the entry.
Even though Ace’s eyes were locked onto his most precious new cannon, he didn’t board the Piece of Spadille behind them. His well-worn boots halted in their steps.
Something was pulling at him, intangibly, at the core of his chest. Haki.
Another wave of it washed over him.
Ace turned slowly on the boarding ramp like a man possessed, eyes lingering on the streets leading into Kitatown as he took curious steps down the dock away from the ship.
“Oy!” Deuce called, at times the only person on the crew that noticed immediately when he strayed from safety.
Ace threw a wink back at him.
“I’ll be back soon, then we’ll try some express-soba or whatever. Just one more adventure first.”
The freedom of sneaking away from his crew was one of Ace’s guilty pleasures. Particularly Marco, whose earlier alliance with Ace was fast developing into the role of an adoptive father. He enjoyed Marco’s disappointed look the most, every time Ace got himself in trouble.
This time wouldn’t be like that, however, Ace told himself. He had taken a street from the dock further into the town, following a trail of intriguing energy. Haki belonging to someone, somewhere in his vicinity.
Soon, Ace’s steps were drawing him through an alleyway until he noticed it lead him out to a part of town much nicer than the streets bordering the shipwright. The shops here were painted beautifully, lined with large glass storefronts, lovely flowers and locals dressed in fine attire.
Ace bit back a chuckle as he noticed wealthy passerby giving him a sneer.
“It’s you guys I feel sorry for,” Ace said under his breath as he took in the sight of the extravagant main street. “Gilded cages and all that.”
When Ace felt his system respond to the strong presence again, he closed his eyes immediately to concentrate. He allowed his Haki to draw him closer to the source of deep fascination, moving through the other pedestrians with his eyes fluttered shut.
Pure instinct carried him as he felt himself start to smile inexplicably. The best way Ace could’ve described it was that he put out the aura of his hand, and a stranger pressed their hands together, each testing the strength of the other.
When he opened his eyes again, he blinked up at a ritzy two-story café labeled Astrid’s in tasteful gold lettering.
Quite a few patrons were enjoying their overpriced caffeine on the lower patio and the upper balcony, seated at petite tables behind the wrought iron rail.
This was the place he had tracked the feeling to. It had been strong enough that he wasn’t sure if it belonged to an enemy, but it had surprised him to encounter a presence this forceful in such a hole-in-the-wall Grand Line town.
Just to be safe— listening to the voice of Marco in his head— Ace slipped his faded bandana over the bridge of his nose before he let his Haki expand freely from his body.
Ace opened the energy wide, reaching with oddly nervous anticipation as he felt for the presence again. His breath caught slightly when the presence reached back for him, making closer contact with his body.
The hairs on his arms stood up, shooting chills down his back, as if responding to the soft touch of chilly fingertips on his cheek.
Ace gazed up in awe. A blond in sunglasses was rising to his feet on the upper Astrid’s balcony, nearly impossible to see with the sun directly behind him. Ace shaded his eyes, trying to make him out clearly.
“No loitering!”
The voice stunned Ace out of his trance. He allowed himself to be ushered away grudgingly, looking back at the balcony when he felt the blond still reaching out for his Haki.
“Who are you?” Ace whispered softly.
Notes:
Story will focus on Ace and Sabo the most, but Marco’s struggles will be a huge part of the story, and we’ll also spend time with Koala, Deuce and other Spade Pirates because this story features a huge theme of what it means to be nakama / friends / crew / family and I love writing sentimental material. It might be very nice to have when the hurt hits :|
Chapter 2: Heat
Notes:
This chapter contains explicit sexual content: solo male M/M
Chapter Text
Two guards had displaced him from the main street, most likely because of his appearance. Ace’s hygiene wasn’t lacking, but he had to admit his boots had worn down to the point they resembled the footwear of an urchin pickpocket; they had definitely seen better days.
Ace didn’t mind the setback. Maybe he’d just avoid the café for a few minutes. Get a better vantage point.
As they escorted him away, Ace noticed that a building stood across the street from Astrid’s, a two-story hotel. Old and ivy-covered with a cracked painted blue exterior and dark blue terracotta roof tiles.
The most ideal thing about the hotel was its second-story windows that faced the balcony where the Haki-user sat.
The moment the security staff left him unattended a few blocks over, Ace poked around until he found the back entrance to the hotel. He looked both ways in the back alley, confirming he had no witnesses. Ace carefully burned around the hinges with his fingertips with an inconspicuous, tuneless whistle.
Ace eased the locked door open the wrong way, checking that none of the staff were in the area. He wasted no time lifting a set of staff skeleton keys from a custodial closet before locating the stairwell in the hallway.
He bounded up the steps two at a time, keeping the keys held noiselessly in his hand until he was on the second floor to unlock the central west-facing room. Mercifully, no one was inside it.
He jammed the room’s only chair under the handle after locking it, tossing the keys down next to the chair.
Then, Ace turned to fix the window with a victorious look. He approached it slowly, crouching covertly at the corner while he gazed across the street at the blond and the young woman sitting with him.
Whoa.
She was the young woman from the shipwright. Ace blinked in amazement.
“Small world,” he said.
He could tell his hotel window opened from the middle, swinging like double doors on either side, so Ace gently cracked them open after undoing the latch so he could hear the balcony better.
Refocusing on the Haki-user, Ace saw he looked comfortable on the ritzy second story balcony, leaning back with his legs crossed.
Blondie had worn high-end street clothes, fitting in with the surrounding people in his white button down over dark trousers and a pair of trim boots. Only one detail set him apart from them: a massive scar spreading from beneath his left dark lens.
He was adjusting his newspaper frequently so he could view the street below… looking for Ace, the stranger whose presence he could still feel. Ace’s pulse quickened slightly as he realized the blond was looking around for him.
“You look… so familiar,” Ace said under his breath, careful not to be seen in the window.
For years now, Ace had this fascination with knowing what his late brother, Sabo, might have looked like as an adult. And after spending so much time poring over Sabo’s own journal and artwork, Ace had been inspired to try it himself. He’d never been gifted with words, so Ace usually just drew pictures instead
He’d tried to age Sabo up in sketches before, but without a reference it had been frustrating, to put it mildly. He’d done it so often that he wasn’t half-bad at sketching at this point, so there was at least an upside.
When he looked at this blond, however, the man looked exactly the way Ace had always tried to imagine Sabo would look. If only Ace could sketch him perfectly, just once.
Ace hurriedly pulled open the desk drawer in the corner, slamming stationery and a pen to the wall by the window— trying to sketch the blond’s face, then his hair.
He was mystified by the visible scarring showing around his shades, wishing he would remove them so Ace could see his eyes, and more of the scar.
Ace huffed in annoyance, not happy with any of the attempts he just made to capture the blond stranger, taking the sheet of paper and burning it to ash in his palm.
He already had a clean sheet in its place, holding it against the wall to make another attempt.
“Okay, Blondie, cooperate with me,” Ace breathed, looking from his pen strokes to the stranger’s face as the young man smiled and folded his the newspaper.
Ace faltered, captivated by that smile.
He quickly returned the pen to paper, sketching out the shape of his face with light scratches, then his nose, then his hair.
After taking another look, Ace realized it was all wrong again, this time exploding the paper in his haste to grab a blank sheet.
The plume of sudden fire from Ace’s hand in the window startled the life out of the Astrid’s server currently handing Sabo his coffee, causing her to splatter it down his crisp collared shirt.
Ace drew the shade as Koala looked over suspiciously. He left the shade open just enough to still see out.
Outside the window, their server, Pelle, was offering to have the stained shirt cleaned downstairs, which he accepted with relief, allowing Pelle to take the stained garment from his hands.
Watching the man who looked like Sabo slip the shirt off seemed to be awakening something he hadn’t experienced before. Ace had only ever slept with women, so he was surprised to hear himself making a noise in his throat at the sight of that muscular core.
He shivered, cursing as he peered down at his tightening shorts.
“But… it’s a guy,” he whispered in confusion at the protesting crotch of his shorts.
Ace’s attention was back on the young man as he removed his sunglasses, folding them and carefully setting them aside.
“Finally, you let me see your eyes,” Ace said, wondering if he was developing the ability to influence the stranger’s actions with his own wishes.
Ace held a blank paper to the wall, sketching out the stranger’s pale, perfect upper body.
He was currently leaning with one arm hanging over the back of his chair, sipping from Koala’s latte and letting the direct sunlight define his beautiful abs with hard shadows.
The rays of sun reaching the blond’s hair and eyelashes were giving him the most angelic glow as he smirked devilishly into the mug.
Ace ducked down further, hastily sketching out Blondie’s uncovered build as his breath quickened. This part was easier than his hair; Ace was already burning the image of the young man’s naked upper half into his own brain.
Ace dropped the paper, cursing under his breath again as he felt his shorts restraining an even more urgent erection.
His eyebrows pinched as he looked back out the window.
“How are you doing this to me?” Ace whispered in frustration.
It’s not gonna go away. It’s only getting worse the more I ignore it. Fuck, why is this even happening?
All he wanted to do was finish the sketch, but Ace knew there was only one thing his body would let him focus on now. Ace hid his face in the crook of his elbow against the wall and pressed a palm to his flexing length.
He tried to calm his breath, undoing his belt with closed eyes. Just the act of freeing his swollen length into his hand sent him a new tremor of arousal.
At least it would be over quickly. There was no way he was going to last long, not when he was already this hard.
Ace primed his fingers in his watering mouth, then slicked them down his shaft. He gave exactly the right jerk around his tip that had him making a noise into his arm.
He cursed under his breath, teasing himself just enough that his dick was leaking into his palm. When more leaked out, he immediately swiped it back down, pumping his hand in time with his quickening heartbeat.
He already knew what he wanted right now. Ace wanted Sabo to be sitting at that café instead of Blondie.
“It’s you,” he whispered into his arm— knowing it wasn’t true, knowing Blondie wasn’t really Sabo— but the thought still electrified him.
“You’re right there,” he panted, suppressing a moan as his hand added delicious pressure up and down his cock.
Ace could feel the blond with his Haki, expanding it out again. His breath hitched when he felt Blondie’s energy push back against his body.
No, Ace told himself, it’s Sabo just outside that window— allowing himself to feel waves of sexual tension at their mutually touching Haki.
“Sabo,” Ace whispered desperately, rolling his hips fast against his tightening grip.
“Fuck, I want you back,” he gasped under his breath, shuddering as he felt himself beginning to tip over the edge, about to come.
He’d never come with his Haki pushed away from his body like this, but he could tell it was about to be explosive— the way the muscles deep inside him were coiling powerfully.
He had also never thought of Sabo this way before, but now that he’d seen that blond with his shirt off, he needed him to be real. And Ace wanted Sabo to be in this room, looking just like the blond through the window, pressed beneath him.
Ace cursed again softly, hissing his breaths out as he imagined thrusting Sabo into the wall just as hard as he was thrusting into his fist.
His hips were driving wildly as his Haki vibrated the air around him, pushing out the energy before letting it snap back powerfully into his body.
Ace bit into his lip to stem the loud sounds trying to escape as his cock spurted wave after wave of cum into his other palm. He kept pumping helplessly, not ready to give up the erotic bursts of intensity until his body slowed, knowing he was spent.
Ace breathed hard, resting his forehead into the wall. He looked a little confused at the cum balanced in his palm, holding it closer to his face as if to ask it why he was suddenly no longer content with women.
Jerking off to men, especially men that looked like Sabo, wasn’t something he’d ever done before. He decided it didn’t bother him, even though it had caught him off guard.
Interesting.
Ace let the thick liquid ignite in his palm, vaporizing it until his skin was clean and dry, then gave his length the same treatment as he continued to contemplate what all of this meant.
Across the street, Sabo was dabbing his neck gently with a folded handkerchief.
“You’re sweating,” Koala noticed in surprise.
“I guess you didn’t feel that heat wave,” he said quietly, confirming to himself that it was caused by the unknown Haki-user he had been sensing.
“What?” she asked through a laugh, checking the temperature on her watch, “It’s one of the coolest days I’ve seen Kitatown have. What’s wrong with you? Drink your latte too fast?”
Sabo was frowning, not at her, but at the street below. Koala noticed, sobering immediately.
“Is that guy still around?” Koala whispered.
Sabo had told her earlier that the Haki-user felt innocent, but now his expression was worrying.
Sabo swallowed nervously, trying to feel for the man they’d seen earlier, but the mystery Haki had ebbed away after a particularly enthusiastic burst.
“I don’t know, but the Haki is gone,” he whispered back, “It was the most unique energy signature I’ve ever felt. I didn’t mind when it was just curious and warm…”
He lost his words, still dabbing with the handkerchief, “But it became relentless. Then it went through me like boiling water on snow.”
Koala looked concerned, feeling his forehead. “I wish you said something earlier. We shouldn’t stay here.”
The server returned with Sabo’s shirt, freshly dry cleaned. He stood to pull it gently back around him, buttoning a few as Koala reached to pay her.
“I’m surprised to see you both this morning. I normally only see you two on Friday nights,” their server told them, casually enough that Ace could tell she’d served them countless times as he observed.
“Ah, you know, something came up at work, Pelle,” Koala told her amicably, still unaware that they had an eaves-dropper.
Ace hurried to copy the information down in the hotel room, using his pen to attack the stationery with the messy words: ‘Friday Nights, Astrid’s, Kitatown, Grand Line.’
Ace saw the pair disappear into Astrid’s without resurfacing, never exiting the front façade— nor did he see either of them in the alley to either side of the café.
The only movement that caught his attention was a distant flock of crows spiraling into the sky.
“Huh. Espresso,” Ace read aloud, looking at the café’s sign again, “Isn’t that what Deu said earlier? I am hungry.”
And maybe I’ll run into Blondie again, Ace thought as he folded together his stationery.
He pulled the hats back onto his head, noticing with a soft laugh that they’d fallen off in his haste to undo his belt.
Chapter 3: Aqueduct
Chapter Text
Ace crossed the street between wealthy pedestrians, aiming to enter the café.
He almost made it into Astrid’s this time, holding his shirt closed modestly with a confident stride.
“Hey! Oy!”
Ace struggled against the same guards that apprehended him before, but their hold frustrated him so much more this time.
“No,” Ace insisted, “I know them! I’m friends w—“
“Shut it,” one of the guards barked as Ace dug his heels to hold his ground.
Ace locked eyes with the server he recognized as she passed by the café’s entrance just feet away from him, and he seized his opportunity.
“Pelle! I know her— get off— I just want some expreso! I have money, I swear—“
Ace stopped pulling as Pelle opened the café door with wide eyes.
“Is he with you?” a guard asked her, “He should’ve mentioned knowing the owner earlier.”
Pelle saw Ace’s encouraging smile before nodding. “Let him go. He can come in.”
Ace dusted himself off just inside the door, snorting in disbelief.
“Can you believe those guys? Thanks for making them go away. Y’know, just because you vouched for me, I’ll actually pay for the expreso after I eat it if you want.”
“Thanks,” she said with a gentle note of humor. She could tell Ace wasn’t joking, but something about his charismatic honesty made up for it.
“Espresso isn’t food, though,” she added.
“Smells like food,” Ace told her, scooping a spoonful of the fragrant cacao-like substance from the display jar into his mouth. He hacked slightly, letting Pelle watch him choke the powder down his throat with eye-watering difficulty.
“Mhm,” Ace managed to say politely, “Really good. I’m Ace, the way. How much do I owe you?”
“Nice to meet you. Are you that hungry?” she asked, hearing his stomach growl quietly.
He didn’t reply, but his eyes widened as she dropped a pastry into his hands.
“No charge,” Pelle told him, noticing the state of his boots. She held back an amused look as Ace tore the delicate food to shreds.
Ace fished out some dirty, crumpled bills from his pocket to leave it on the counter.
He’d told her he’d pay for it, and he intended to keep his word. It probably wasn’t enough money, but the gesture should matter more than the amount.
“Hey, can you settle something for me real quick?” Ace asked, “That blond guy upstairs earlier, was his name ‘Sabo,’ um, perchans? Perchance?”
Pelle suddenly looked both disturbed and confused by his words, shaking her head slowly.
“No. I don’t know anybody by that name.”
“It was those two on the balcony. Remember? The guy you spilled the drink on?”
“That’s Klaus and Sara,” Pelle told him stiffly, “And you’re going to get yourself in trouble if you start asking about the wrong people. Everyone is very private here. They don’t like to be bothered.”
Ace took in her words solemnly, trying to decode everything she was and wasn’t telling him. He knew based on the lack of Haki in the café that the blond stranger had already left.
“Gotcha,” he replied, nodding as he backed to the gold-trimmed door.
“Sorry, but I can tell you’re not from here. I don’t know if you’re a pirate, or what, but you should get back to your ship before you get a target on your back,” she told him.
Pelle was probably right. Maybe it wasn’t worth the trouble this time.
Ace made up his mind to go straight back to the ship. He’d stay out of trouble this time. He relished the idea of Deuce and Marco being pleasantly surprised when he successfully boarded the Spadille without a crowd of angry townsfolk in his wake.
Just when he promised himself to keep his head down, he saw it— there in the alleyway behind Astrid’s Café.
A metal grate nested into the cobblestone. It was marked with a sigil reading ‘R.A.’
Ace pocketed his hands, sighing briefly as he looked around. This was genuinely the only way ‘Klaus’ and ‘Sara’ could’ve left the area without Ace seeing them.
“Damn it,” he said quietly, already lifting the grate. He knew this was stupid. He couldn’t help himself.
It was pitch black in the aqueduct other than the light he let in from the entry, but Ace could tell the stone tunnel featured a walkable ledge on either side of the waterway.
Ace could smell the seawater rushing below, nearly reconsidering the deep stupidity of his future actions. If he fell in, he could be absolutely fucked.
On the other hand, Ace knew this would be his only chance to encounter the blond stranger again. For someone like Ace, there was really no turning back at this point.
And then the second— the absolute instant— that Ace dropped into the tunnel, he knew he made a grave mistake.
Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.
His self-depreciating thoughts attacked his mind harshly as he sank to his knees against the stone tunnel.
“Kairouseki,” he uttered under his breath, eyebrows drawing up in concern as he recognized the weighted effects of the ocean-concentrated stone around him.
The whole tunnel seemed to be made of it. Ace had never seen so much, all at once. In fact, he wondered if the water running through it between the stone ledges was even seawater, or if Ace had only been smelling the salty stone itself.
Wasn’t it supposed to be outrageously expensive? He could tell many families in Kitatown had plenty of money, but why make the aqueduct out of it?
Ace tried to control his worried breaths as he was brought to his hands and knees by the force of the ocean’s energy surrounding him. He peered up at the only light source: the access point he’d dropped from.
He wasn’t afraid of the dark typically. Ace had even been ambushed in the dark before by a black panther, deep in the jungle. She’d been perfectly stealthed, her claws leaving nasty punctures that were only just beginning to disappear from his lower back. He hadn’t killed her; he had a soft spot for cats, especially large ones like Kotatsu. No, he had somehow used his mind to tame her with willpower alone, and she never attacked him again.
This wasn’t anything like that kind of darkness. He was powerless here in the sea stone structure, making the pitch black so much more sinister. Now that he couldn’t just start his own flame for light, or warmth, or self-defense.
This wasn’t even like being cuffed. He’d been cuffed before. The handcuffs had a strong pull over any Devil Fruit user, of course, but being surrounded by solid bricks of the stuff on all sides of his body was too much to handle.
Where his hands and knees touched the stone, the material sapped into his skin, poisoning his very blood with an excruciating chill. Ever since he’d eaten his Devil Fruit, his core body temperature ran extra hot, so the experience of his blood freezing was a new level of hell for him.
The last of Ace’s struggling willpower gave out, collapsing him to the floor. His shoulder connected first, rolling him onto his back. He could hardly breathe now; it was taking too much energy to even fill his own lungs. And the scent of the air itself was sickening every time he tried.
Ace heard a noise that told him someone was in the tunnel with him. He shivered against the stone as it sapped away every ounce of hope in his body.
Clack-tap, clack-tap, clack-tap, clack-tap.
A pair of slim, black boots could be heard echoing down the tunnel, getting closer.
The sound was slow, making Ace’s heart hammer against his ribs. If the owner of the boots wanted to squeeze every ounce of fear possible out of Ace, it unfortunately worked.
The tunnel was so dark that he couldn’t even see the person taking agonizingly slow steps toward him.
He shrank back into the stone as the boots stepped by his defenseless head, and he could see the outline of wavy blond hair lit by the entry point above them.
“You,” Ace struggled out.
“You shouldn’t be down here,” Sabo’s voice said darkly.
Ace thought he saw a smirk on his face, but the lighting contrast was too high and it hurt his eyes to look at him.
“Don’t worry, pirate… I’ll get you back to your ship. I wouldn’t return to this place if I were you, though. Some of my colleagues might’ve killed you on site. Got it?”
Ace didn’t respond, getting dizzy from his shallowing breaths.
Sabo reached his metal staff up above their heads, outlined against the harsh beam of light coming in.
“Sorry, bud. This might smart a little when you wake up,” Sabo said, this time with a noticeably cocky little smile.
He brought his staff down only hard enough to knock Ace’s lights out.
Ace’s consciousness faded back in gradually. Before he even opened his eyes, his face was already pulling a confused, disgusted look as he smacked at the metallic taste in his mouth.
And then there was the splitting headache.
“Mmph—“ he gasped out, grabbing his temples with both hands as he squeezed to relieve some of the pressure.
Ace was never alarmed to wake up on the ground; his narcolepsy always kept him guessing to the point where it didn’t even faze him anymore. He usually didn’t wake up with his head hurting this badly, though.
Then, his hand encountered a painfully swollen knot under his hair, feeling a small crust of dried blood beneath his fingertips.
Maybe he took a fall. Maybe someone got the jump on him. He had no idea.
Did I just get fucking mugged?
It was rare for him to get surprised by anyone, not with the strength of Ace’s Haki, so the thought was concerning enough for his eyes to wrench open. He immediately blocked the sun from his freshly woken face, reaching around in a panic for his beloved hat.
He audibly exhaled when he found it, slinging his orange rancher— and straw hat pressed over it— back around the safety of his neck.
Ace looked around in confusion, realizing he wasn’t laying in the street. He was alone on a mostly flat, gently-sloped clay rooftop. Over the edge, he saw he was in view of the Piece of Spadille, as if deliberately placed here to recover undisturbed by passerby.
Or maybe so his unconscious body didn’t disturb the citizens. Yeah, that was more likely.
“Wait, whuh—“ he uttered, fingers connecting with folded stationery in his pocket. He slid it out, unfolding it hastily, eyes scanning the contents with total confusion. Then deeper confusion.
“What the fuck?” he asked aloud.
Ace had drawn a picture of a shirtless man, scarred eye, smiling into his latte. He knew he’d drawn it due to his unmistakable frustration around the wavy hair. He could never get it right.
A little note had been written in darker ink and gorgeous penmanship beside the drawing.
‘I like it. Tempted to keep it, actually. But I think you need it more than I do, perv.’
Then, Ace saw his own atrocity of handwriting under the drawing, seeming to be the day and place he’d drawn it.
The stranger’s ink had left a note here, too.
‘Ew, stalker. I guess I’m flattered? If you’re trying to kill me though, think better of it. I’d mop the floor with you.’
“Did you attack me?” Ace asked the man in the drawing, gingerly touching at his scabbed head wound.
Ace ducked swiftly as Deuce jumped on his back, halfway strangling him when he finally showed face on the Spadille.
“Do. You. Have. Any. Idea…?”
“I know!” Ace said, nearly laughing as he barely kept himself from being choked.
“I really didn’t mean to this time!”
“You idiot!” Deuce yelled, letting him up grudgingly as he crossed his own arms testily, “Zero. You get zero numbing cream for that head wound. You’re gonna suffer this time… Marco!”
Ace looked up pitifully as Marco’s heavy sandals approached until he was looking down at the captain with a heavy sigh.
“Do I even want to know, Ace?”
Ace had the decency to look sheepish.
“Probably not.”
Marco shook his head. He lowered his voice so the crew couldn’t hear him; Marco refused to chew out the captain in front of his own nakama, even when his choices made Marco insane.
“You were in such a hurry to get to P.F.C., then you delay us by almost a full day…? You’re lucky your crew took the chance to help us stock extra supplies for the trip, yoi.”
Ace bit his lip absently, nodding along.
“May I speak with you? Privately, yoi?”
Ace relented, following Marco into the captain’s quarters and watching him bolt the door.
Marco had his arms crossed in a way that told Ace the entire conversation in advance.
“I know I can’t talk you out of what you’re about to do, but I need you to know how concerned it makes me, yoi.”
“What’s scary about Port Fish Cake?” Ace asked sarcastically, feigning stupidity. Pretending he didn’t know Marco was referring to—
“Going after Jalmack. You know what I’m talking about, yoi. Targeting celestial dragons is not a joke. It’s deadly serious. Stunts like you pulled today— it’s cute, Ace, until you leave your entire crew devastated by your loss.”
Ace leaned into the wall, staring down at the floor. Only Dadan had ever made Ace feel like this. Two feet tall and… cared for. Even if he hated having his actions critiqued.
Worse still, he couldn’t look at Marco’s eyes because he could hear the grief behind his voice. He was definitely projecting his own pain onto Ace with those last words, thinking about the loss of crewmates Marco was still processing himself.
Marco continued.
“I know he’s the reason Sabo isn’t here anymore. I understand why you have to go after him, Ace, I really do. I’d never ask you not to, yoi. I just see you running around with no thought of your own safety, completely reckless. And it makes me wonder how the hell you’re going to come back alive from pursing a celestial dragon.”
Ace nodded, biting his lip to try and stay present. Trying not to completely dissociate as he almost always did when the subject surfaced.
Marco was already tired of lecturing him.
“I’m— I’m glad you’ll at least be with the Straw Hats, though, Ace. I know they’ve taken out tougher targets than world nobles, so I just hope you’ll… be careful, yoi.”
Chapter Text
Everyone aboard the Spadille watched a coastal villa come into view across the water. It had once been gorgeous and sprawling, but now its age began to show as the ship approached.
Overgrown vines and tree limbs hanging low around it obscured it from most angles, protecting it from prying eyes passing at sea. Only the Spade Pirates and ex-Whitebeard crew knew of its existence.
“Port Fish Cake!” Ace roared happily, leaping up to the mast netting secured to the rail. The captain’s free hand pressed over his trademark orange hat to keep it safe in the gusts of wind as he leaned away from the net over the ocean in excitement.
“Ace, the name of Marco’s estate is ‘Pía Federisa Château,’” Deuce corrected with an amused head shake, “It’s not Port Fish Cake.”
Banshee had joined them on deck. At one time, the mermaid would’ve had limited movement out of the water. But Banshee had aged to the point that her fins had split into legs. She reached a wrinkly hand to grip Ace’s belt, having no intention of letting him fall off the ship.
“Marco said his Pía Federisa property was named after a human, you know,” Banshee told him, before adding, “Pía was a famous Fishman sympathizer… like you, Ace, but with common sense.”
Ace turned to grin at his crew as they erupted in laughter. He climbed down from the net, giving Banshee’s arm a loving squeeze.
“Laugh it up, guys, and enjoy cooking your own fish. We still like ‘Port Fish Cake’ better, right, Marco?” Ace said confidently, crossing his arms as he nodded at Marco to back him up.
“You can call it whatever you want, yoi,” Marco said, pouring more sake into Deuce’s cup. “But I can’t stress enough that I don’t own this property. Oyaji left the villa to his sister, Margery Newgate. So just like last time, I’d like you to be on your best behavior because Marge doesn’t usually take kindly to pirates.”
“Respectfully, why are we stopping here?” Mihar called down gently from the crow’s nest, “What’s at Port Fish Cake?”
“See?” Ace told Deuce quietly, commandeering his sake cup to take a sip, “Even our sniper likes the name.”
Deuce smiled despite himself.
“Fine, it’s catchy.”
Marco peered up at the crow’s nest since Ace was too distracted to answer Mihar.
“Teachie, Ace and I have some brief business here, but we’ll be on our way soon enough, yoi,” Marco called patiently, watching the sniper send him a quick thumbs up.
The crew called Mihar ‘Teachie’ based on his past school teaching career. Now, he mainly taught grown pirates how to read and maintained the ship’s maps and books, only honing his skill with a rifle because he preferred sharp-shooting over leaving the ship like the melee fighters.
“You have business here?” Deuce asked only loud enough for Marco and Ace, reclaiming his sake cup to take his own sip.
He frowned slightly when Ace went quiet. Marco went quiet, too, until he felt like one of them should address what was weighing on them. Marco didn’t mind going first.
“Just wanted to see if I could contact some of my old nakama,” Marco admitted, “This was one of our safe havens, back in the day, yoi. It’s one of the places I can leave a way to contact me if they ever need to.”
Marco tried not to think about the fact that his past crew all had his vivre card already, but none of them had crossed paths with him yet. It had been well over a year. No way to call each other. He began to worry a few months ago.
This was Marco’s best option, even if it didn’t work. Even just having one of his nakama back would‘ve been an overwhelming relief. Thinking about it and saying it out loud seemed to help in the meantime.
Deuce watched Ace chewing on his thumbnail, still avoiding looking at anyone.
“Oh, Ace. I’m sorry,” Deuce said suddenly, “I just realized it’s halfway through March already. Is that what this is about?”
“You can say his name, Deu, it’s fine… and yes, that’s part of the reason,” Ace murmured, still looking over the railing so he didn’t have to see their faces.
Marco knew by now that Sabo’s birthday fell around the latter half of March, and it made sense for it to put Ace in a mood. Marco still didn’t see how that could possibly be a reason for Ace to visit one of Newgate’s old villas.
“I’m not following,” Marco said, “Ace, you asked to go to Pía— sorry— ‘Port Fish Cake’ because of… Sabo’s birthday? Can I ask why, yoi? I just thought you remembered Marge was a good cook.”
The subject was already making Deuce nervous, pouring more sake into his empty cup.
They could both tell Ace was getting dragged into one of his dark clouds even without seeing his face, especially because Kotatsu was now approaching Ace, and the feline mainly did that when Ace needed, well, a hug.
Marco noticed a crew member named Saber shrink back in fear of the large, cranky wildcat. The slender cowboy shakily clutched a spray-bottle of water aimed at the cat, but Marco wasn’t having it.
“Saber, if you use that thing on Kotatsu again, I’m sending you over the rail as hard as I can. How far do you think I can fling you this time, yoi?”
Saber let the spray bottle hit the deck with grudging acceptance, but was shuffling behind Ganryu for protection as Kotatsu passed.
Kotatsu had only let Ace and Marco pet him so far, and had only warmed to Marco because the zoan could actually talk to him, unlike the rest of the crew. Kotatsu liked Deuce as well, but the blue-haired man gave the cat plenty of space out of habit.
He watched the oversized feral wildcat pad up to the captain, brushing a large, furry head under his palm. Ace gave in, lightly scratching Kotatsu’s head. It seemed to pull Ace out of his thoughts long enough to answer.
“I hid something of Sabo’s there. Just wanna visit it before Luffy and I go after Jalmack,” Ace said. He spoke the names quickly so he wouldn’t dwell on the subject, but it was too late.
Jalmack. The world noble that had reduced Sabo’s ship to ashes when he was just a small child. All Sabo wanted was freedom. He was only a kid. Ace’s knuckles went white as his fingers clenched, aching to end the murderer’s life.
Marco and Deuce exchanged worried looks. Ace already expressed that he didn’t want them involved in this fight. They were willing to honor his wishes, but the idea brought them no comfort.
Ace remembered when Luffy first pitched the idea, because it took less than a second to convince Ace to help him do it. Neither of them would have dreamed of making an attempt on the bastard’s life without the other being there to take part.
It was ceremonial for them. The ultimate offering they could make for their late brother. So Ace wanted to commune with Sabo’s journal, his soul, one more time before he left the Spadille with Luffy.
Ace met the concerned eyes of Marco and Deuce. He didn’t even bother telling them to stop worrying so much, because the idea of holding Sabo’s journal again already had Ace in a rush to get to shore.
“Look alive, guys,” Ace said, slapping on a smile, “I’ll race ya there, Marco!”
He took a running leap over the railing, body igniting at the last second to propel him in a fiery arc toward the shoreline.
His distant laugh reached their ears. It was beautiful every time it happened, considering how much they missed it when he was feeling down.
“Marge is gonna kill me if he catches something on fire like that, yoi,” Marco said, sounding tired.
Marco and Deuce both scraped boots to a halt against the gravel lining the gated entry courtyard. Marge already stood in the doorway, and her folded arms told the pirates that she’d already met Ace. She hadn’t been here last time Marco and Ace visited, so he cringed noticeably at her first-time reaction to their rude, unannounced arrival.
Deuce had shuffled slowly behind Marco, totally uncomfortable with the energy, like he was a child asking permission to stay the night at his buddy’s house.
Marge looked just as solidly-built and cranky as Deuce had pictured, a woman of iron constitution, fully covered by a woolen caped dress. Her only accessory the plain scarf tying her white hair. Marge’s gaze paused to study Masked Deuce as the young man tucked his sky blue hair behind his ear, nervous under scrutiny.
“So the fire kid belongs to you, huh?” Marge directed at Marco, emotion unreadable. Marco dipped his head immediately, both to confirm her words and to deeply, deeply apologize for whatever exchange they had.
“Very respectful boy,” Marge commented, “Showed me his palm. I didn’t think kids these days even knew to do that. I assume you’re responsible for his manners.”
Marco breathed easier hearing that, smiling at her and signaling to Dogya and Aggie Sixty-Eight, two of Ace’s largest crew. The men appeared carrying two stacked crates each, and came to rest on either side of Deuce like mountainous bodyguards.
Deuce reluctantly stepped forward. In Ace’s absence, leadership over the crew technically fell to him, but he still preferred when Skull or Marco did the talking.
“My name is Deu, ma’am. I do field medicine for the Spade Pirates. Captain Ace had us set aside some supplies to offer you in exchange for our time here. Will you have Marco, Ace and me for company? The rest of the crew are more comfortable aboard the ship.”
Marco locked eyes with his foster aunt, tilting his head to tell her, ‘See? I only brought well-behaved visitors.’
“What an unexpected gesture. I appreciate that, young man. You sure these two are pirates, Marco?” she grumbled as a compliment. Marco knew that meeting kind pirates always pleasantly surprised her. Hell, she probably got lonely without visitors on an estate as large as this.
Marge motioned for them to enter, leading them through the foyer past an old double staircase and through the window-lit halls until they encountered the kitchen.
“I’ll put on a stew for you boys to take back to the ship later,” Marge said, pulling an oversized pot from the cupboard.
It didn’t take long with the help of Marco and Deuce to get a stew slow simmering over the burners so the three of them could relax over cups of green tea.
Marge had bustled from the room long enough to fish out one of the recent papers that had dropped on her doorstep.
“You’ve probably seen this, but some of Ed’s old territories have been under attack lately,” she said, showing Marco and Deuce the newspaper article.
The picture looked every bit as bad as Marco knew it would. A burning village shown in faded halftone black ink. Sickeningly, he could make out the silhouettes of people running to escape the inferno. Marco’s stomach turned, looking away hastily and dropping his hand to conceal a tremor as Marge spoke again.
“I thought I hated what my brother did with his life for the longest time. But then I see news like this and can’t help but think Ed was the only thing standing between innocent lives and senseless destruction.”
Marco perched against his stool, hanging his head as he listened to her croaking voice. His hand reached for the warmth and comfort of his teacup.
He felt personally responsible for any violence descending on Whitebeard’s old territories, but he couldn’t cover all that ground, even with Ace’s twenty-man crew. They were trying, only taking a break when they had no leads.
He didn’t look up until Marge said something else that caught his attention.
“Marco, you know it took awhile for me to warm up to any of you pirates Ed had on his roster… For the longest time, I thought you all to be common thieves and wretched pillagers.”
Marco smiled at that, hearing the humor behind her words. Also remembering Marge throwing a chair at him when he was just a gangly seventeen-year-old.
This grouchy old aunt was the only remaining family Marco had, and mourning the passing of his adopted father made Marco love Marge more than ever. Grateful to have her as long as he possibly could.
Marge continued, her voice sounding aged.
“Now that I’m older, and you’re no spring chickens yourselves, I’m starting to get the full picture of you all. What you’re really made of.”
Marge tossed the newspaper so it flapped loudly onto the table in front of Marco, who immediately gasped at the image he saw.
“Izou!” he uttered, holding the paper closer to his face.
Izou was one of his closest nakama during their time with Whitebeard. Nothing could replace their connection, and without a way to contact him, Marco had felt sick at the idea they might never meet again.
In his second-page newspaper article portrait, Izou hadn’t appeared to age a day, not visible past the powder and rouge, at least. His black hair was still pulled back elegantly, brandishing two guns to protect a group of villagers fleeing behind him.
“If anyone didn’t know better, they’d think you lot were heroes. Like the R.A.,” Marge said, “Of course, they didn’t name Izou as the savior directly, given that he’s a bountied pirate, but people still notice.”
Marco shook his head, still reeling as his fingers grasped the thick paper. He hadn’t heard anything about the R.A. she referred to. He was too busy reliving memories of defending these same territories with Izou in their twenties.
“We were never doing it to be recognized, yoi. Certainly not hailed as saviors,” Marco breathed, locking eyes with Izou’s portrait, “But it makes me glad to know you’ve changed your mind about us, Marge… Oyaji would’ve been comforted by that.”
Marge placed a perfectly ripe pineapple in front of Marco before cautiously tottering away, throwing a towel over her shoulder and saying:
“My brother never shut up about you. It’s easy to see why. You’re good kids. You always were, Marco.”
Deuce had his arms crossed, standing beside Marco when he noticed his eyes welling up. This was the closest to tears he’d ever seen him.
“You don’t mention him much,” Deuce told him gently, “But I’d like to hear about your pops sometime. Whenever you wanna talk.”
“I appreciate the thought,” Marco said quietly, accepting his folded handkerchief.
Once he’d dabbled away the droplets gathering in his eyelashes, Marco carefully tore around the article of Izou to free him from the newspaper, folding the article to tuck into his wallet.
“So you’re leaving a message with Marge in case any of your old crew come here?” Deuce asked him, watching him nod. “That’s exciting. I hope we get to meet one of your nakama.”
When they followed Marge back out to the foyer, they noticed her wheeling a large birdcage out to the center of the floor.
Marco’s heart jumped suddenly, pacing over quickly to greet the giant blue macaw squawking at him in recognition. His fingers fumbled with the wire cage until he could pull away the door trapping the bird inside.
“Oh my god, Jabbie Boy!” Marco spoke in awe, accepting the macaw’s large talons on his forearm to lift him from the enclosure.
Marge looked on proudly, nodding her head.
“Somehow, Ed’s old parrot found his way here, Marco. All the way from Marineford. I don’t know how birds do that.”
“Jabs, I thought you died, yoi,” Marco told the bird quietly, petting his chest. He didn’t even try to conceal the choke in his voice.
“You’re right, your old enclosure doesn’t suit you very well anymore, yoi,” Marco told him, seeming to hear him talking.
After listening to the bird’s inner voice for a moment, Marco nodded at him.
“I missed you too, Jabbie. I’m sure Marge is glad you came to say goodbye.”
Deuce’s expression changed to sad confusion as Marco gave the parrot a boost so he could flap out one of the upper cracked windows of the entry.
Even though Deuce had just now learned of the bird’s existence, it made him blink a tear down his cheek to watch Marco set him free, hastily smacking it away before anyone saw.
“Sorry, Marge,” Marco told her, crossing his arms with a glum look at having to let go of his pops’ old bird. “I’ll pick you up a cat or something, next port we’re in, yoi.”
“No matter,” she waved away, “I knew you’d let him go. Just didn’t want him to be shot by any passing troublemakers before you said your goodbyes.”
Marge tottered back toward the kitchen to check the stew. Deuce saw Marco flinch at her words slightly, taking in a steadying breath, catching Deuce’s eyes after a second.
“Hey… wanna go check on Ace for me, Deu? He’s up there,” Marco said stiffly. He sank down on the stairs alone as Deuce obligingly climbed the staircase past him, but not without shooting him a look of concern.
Marco had never really opened up to the crew in general, but especially not about his sorest subjects. Deuce tried to be patient, but Marco was still the only loner on the ship.
It didn’t sit right with Deuce, since the lifestyle of pirates weighed heavily on them with no nakama to lean on. The rest of the crew bunked up in the same room at night, safe from the elements as they traded stories. Some of them sought warmth, some of them just made everyone laugh.
Marco never slept in that room. Ace had given him the unused captain’s quarters after seeing that Marco wanted his own privacy, and that’s where he always stayed unless Deuce, Ace or Skull coaxed him out.
He liked to read books on loan from Mihar in there, which wasn’t a crime. Deuce just wished he’d give in and accept the Spade Pirates as his fellow crew. Stay with them sometimes. Talk through the grief he was trying to brave alone.
Deuce found Ace easily on the top floor despite the expanse of the manor because he’d left the door ajar where he chose to make camp. Just to be polite, Deuce knocked at the edge of the door to announce himself.
Ace had plopped on the bed cross-legged with a journal, a sight that Deuce never thought he’d see, considering Deuce himself did most of the journaling aboard the Spadille and had never once seen Ace hold a book— journal or otherwise.
When Ace saw him at the threshold, he beckoned him in after a startled moment, making Deuce wonder if he’d interrupted something too private.
“I don’t think you’ve ever seen this before, Deu,” Ace told him, handling the book carefully, “I kept it in a box when it was on the Spadille. Finally moved it here to keep it safe last year. A pirate ship attracts too much heat for something that can’t be replaced.”
“That’s Sabo’s journal?” Deuce asked, shrugging off his coat to hang it on the door. The room around Ace was very warm.
“Yeah,” he replied, “Had to break in to his bedroom window in High Town to get this. I was only ten at the time, but there was no chance I was gonna leave his journal there in that… Place.”
Deuce approached to perch on the end of the bed as he noticed Ace had donned a pair of medical gloves.
“Is that what you wanted those for?” Deuce asked, his expression softening in disbelief. If anyone had told Deuce that he’d see Ace handling anything with this much reverence, he would’ve laughed them off the ship.
“What? My hands are filthy. Saber says it all the time. Probably joking, but still,” Ace commented, turning a couple of the journal’s yellowed pages with a comforting rasp of dry paper.
Deuce took in a long breath, promising himself not to get into another fistfight with the cowboy. He and Saber rarely saw eye-to-eye.
“Saber said that, huh? Well, he’s the last person qualified to judge anyone else’s hygiene,” Deuce told him, drawing up a socked foot into the bed and circling arms around his knee.
Ace hadn’t been listening, too absorbed in Sabo’s sketches and neat penmanship. He wasn’t bothered by Saber anyway, not after seeing him piss himself when Kotatsu first came aboard.
“Hey, Deu, take a look at this really quick?”
Deuce tucked back his blue hair uncertainly. “Uhm, are you sure? On principle, I don’t know if I should look at that.”
Ace considered his words, touching the page with his gloved hand.
“This page is just pictures, if you want to see these. So you can see what he looks, or looked like, or… yeah.”
It mattered so much to Ace that Deuce would’ve caved regardless.
“Of-of course I will. Here, let me see.”
Deuce leaned further over the journal to examine it without touching.
“Oh, I see you,” Deuce said in surprise, “And is— hah! Is that Luffy?”
“Mhm,” Ace hummed through an amused smile, “He hated posing for the drawing. Whined so much that I pushed him out of the treehouse.”
Deuce blinked in shock, “You what?”
“I was an angry kid. He was fine, though,” Ace shrugged, “Made of rubber, remember? Or else I wouldn’t have done it.”
“That young? Wow,” Deuce said, sitting back a little less horrified, “Well, how did Sabo feel about that, you think?”
“Oh, he kicked my ass,” Ace said through a quiet laugh. “I didn’t really put up a fight, because I deserved it, but still.”
Deuce watched Ace enjoy the memory, staring down at the page. Then, Ace pointed out another picture, a self-portrait Sabo had done to practice his sketching.
“This is what he looked like,” Ace explained, “See the shape of his nose?”
“I do, yeah,” Deuce replied in slight confusion, watching Ace pull a folded paper from his pocket.
Ace gave him the paper, letting him take in the sketch he’d made only days ago— it had taken Ace a few hours that day to remember being in the hotel and the tunnels.
“This is a real person I saw back in Kitatown, Deu. He was kinda far away, but he also had blond hair and blue eyes, and look at his nose.”
“You’re saying you think this guy is…?”
“What if Sabo didn’t die?” Ace asked.
“The guy was a Haki-user. I always knew Sabo would be one. Just like me and Luffy.”
Deuce compared both sketches for a moment, glancing up at Ace with a sympathetic look.
“Have you considered this might be, like, a… coping thing that you’re doing?”
“This is helping me cope. You’re right,” Ace agreed with a knowing smile, “But I might be right, too.”
Ace flipped the page, turning the journal so Deuce could see it. Sabo had filled the page with a random assortment of notes on law and government.
“Look at his handwriting, then the guy’s notes on the paper,” Ace said with determination, holding both hands to his mouth.
Deuce examined the notes written on Ace’s hotel stationery sketch. This time, he couldn’t deny the number of unlikely similarities in the penmanship. The way the cross of his T’s would flow into the next letter. The way Sabo scrawled every F so elegantly like a long S with a strike through. A person’s handwriting was as unique as their fingerprints.
Ace had an uncanny way of knowing things about people— if they were trustworthy, or if he could defeat them in a fight. So when it came to Ace’s nagging feeling about Sabo, Deuce trusted his judgment, despite how far-fetched it all sounded.
“It’s not impossible,” Deuce told him, “Maybe you could ask Luffy what he thinks.”
Ace grimaced slightly. “Luffy’s done his grieving already. I wouldn’t weigh something like this on him. I’m already grateful he’s not going through the same thing I am.“
Deuce raised the sketch slightly to catch the light of the window. “Who did this?”
“…I did.”
“It’s very impressive.”
Ace dropped his head in thanks, accepting the stationery back.
“You don’t have to answer this, but— why do you think you struggle with it more than Luffy? You implied he’s at peace with it.”
Ace locked eyes with Deuce before his eyes pinched. He turned a few pages, then a few more so he could reference something Sabo had written. One of the last things he wrote in the journal.
“I didn’t know his journal would get so personal. Toward the end, he mainly just did sketches and talked about how much he hated High Town. But then, I noticed these hidden words where Sabo said he—,” Ace faltered, swallowing, “That he had feelings for me.”
“You think you feel the same way?” Deuce asked, glancing down at the journal entry.
Ace considered his question, thumb rising to press against his lips in thought.
“Deu… we go to these ports and everyone’s fine with sleeping with whoever at bars and brothels, but— here’s my thing. How many of us are given the chance to be with someone who matches our strength? For me, that person was always Sabo. It’s like being cheated, losing the only person I could have that with.“
Deuce’s posture slumped a little with understanding. For once, Ace rendered him speechless for a long moment. It made sense now, why it affected him so deeply.
“Y’know I think, like Sabo, you should try journaling about it.”
“Maybe,” Ace agreed, “Or we could visit that shipwright again. In a few months, after we’re done with Jalmack.”
“Ace,” Deuce said, knowing where this was going.
“We’ll stop by on a Friday,” Ace decided, stowing the drawing of his Kitatown target back into his pocket. “He goes to Astrid’s every Friday night.”
Deuce nodded, pinching his nose.
“What’s up?” Ace asked.
“I just realized how high your bounty’s about to be. Taking a tour of Grand Line towns should probably wait until the heat dies down, don’t you think?”
“This is important, Deu,” Ace said firmly, closing the journal with his careful, gloved hands with a look of finality.
Pía Federisa Château shrank away into the distance, reflected in Marco’s grey eyes. The gentle rolling of ocean waves surrounded the Piece of Spadille once again as the crew busied themselves at their stations.
They’d accomplished everything they set out to do over the few hours they visited.
Ace spent time with Sabo, Deuce felt like he finally heard a breakthrough from Ace and the crew enjoyed a hot meal. Marco left his message and got his first ever hug from Marge as they said their goodbyes. Marco’s eyes still had some redness around them.
Only one thing was still missing, but not for long. Marco’s heart leapt when he heard a loud squawk carried on the balmy breeze.
“Jabbie Boy,” he greeted, letting the large blue macaw land heavy on his arm.
Deuce’s jaw dropped, grabbing Skull’s arm.
“I thought you were saying goodbye, yoi,” he told the bird.
“Brrrt. Bye Margie. Brrrt. Go Marco?”
Marco grinned, petting Jabbie’s proud chest feathers. “Of course, you can, yoi.”
“Yo ho, yoi!” Jabbie Boy squawked.
“Are you mocking me?” Marco asked in amusement, pecking a kiss to the top of Jabbie’s grey beak.
They had less than a day before meeting up with the Thousand Sunny. Tonight, they would make an uproarious celebration on the Spadille to send off their captain.
The next time they saw him, the deed would be done; Jalmack would be dead.
Notes:
To preview the next chapter:
Sabo and Koala put in some work for the R.A. while Luffy and Ace close in on the isolated world noble.
Luffy’s appearance will be brief considering at this age, he’s got his own territories to cover around the map from Sabo and Ace.
Chapter 5: Arson
Notes:
Contains spoiler from Wano Arc if you’re not caught up
And if you need to skip the chapter, it’s okay because anything that happens this chapter is recapped later.
Feel free to skip
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
‘Strangely comfy, for an illegal lounging spot,’ he thought.
Sabo tapped a dry fountain pen mindlessly into the woodgrain of a desktop. Not his pen. Not his desk.
He was trespassing at the moment— under Dragon’s orders, of course. Aimlessly dicking around in a government laboratory waiting for Koala to call. Normally, Sabo caused any late starts to their assignments, so he’d give Koala a pass tonight.
At least Sabo finally had a desk chair he enjoyed sitting in, if only for a few minutes. He doubted the government spent much money on their desk chairs, but the army spent even less, guaranteed. Sabo cringed, trying not to wonder what salvage situation the desk chair in his own quarters had been found. Whoever built it had no passion for comfort, he felt certain.
He looked up at the barely visible clock mounted to the far wall, noting the time. He’d forgotten to wear his watch again.
Sabo leaned back in his seat as he monitored the door handle for any signs of an entering employee. Purely out of habit, of course. Sabo had his Haki open, knowing he’d be safe here for the time being.
A miniature snail sat nestled in his ear, Sabo’s transponder. It gave a soft ‘brrrrring!’ only loud enough for Sabo to hear it. Koala calling.
“Man, I really like the desk chairs in this government building,” Sabo greeted the moment the line connected, bouncing in the chair slightly, “Mine needs replacing. Maybe I’ll have time to snatch one of these bad boys on the way out.”
“Sabo,” Koala’s voice hissed over his transponder, “Don’t joke around like that.”
Sabo already had a grin on his face, popping his staff off one arm and catching it in his glove.
“What gave you the impression I’m joking?” he replied through the smile, then bit his tongue playfully, “Hey, wanna give me the rundown on these guys again?”
“I will, but you better have read the report, you brat,” Koala’s voice said, modulating slightly in his ear.
He reached to his ear, making sure the miniature snail transponder had attached securely, “Side note: Pere-Pere needs a tune up. His transmission’s getting a bit staticky.”
“Shit. If it goes out, you need to—“
Her voice cut out.
Sabo’s eyes widened, removing the snail to tap it lightly with a leather-clad finger. He held it up to speak directly to it.
“Hey, we’ll check out your shell soon, okay? Can you give me just one more minute, little guy?”
“S-Sabo?” he heard Koala say, the voice hard to hear until he placed the snail back into his ear with a sigh of relief.
“I don’t know how much time we have left, Koko,” he told her, standing out of the chair to examine a panel in the ceiling with a pull-chain. An entry to the loft housing the facility’s HVAC system.
“Don’t talk then, just listen. Betty’s already undercover in the facility. It took her a month just to get clearance with the government, so we can’t get messy. She has the badge to let you in. You’re on your own on the next level below because it’ll blow our cover if she leaves her post. You’re wearing the jumpsuit she stole for you, right?”
“Of course. Where am I meeting her?” he asked, pulling down a compact staircase from the ceiling panel.
“12B Lab. Far southeast corner of the building. Betty said she’ll light a cigarette for you. Should help you find the right supply closet ventilation,” Koala informed him quickly, “Security shift changes on the hour. I’ll tell you when the hour strikes if we’re still connected, because I’m sure you forgot your watch again.”
Sabo grinned as he ascended the narrow stairs, lifting his staff into the dusty industrial space before pulling the steps up behind him.
‘Some things never change,’ he thought.
‘Strangely comfy, for an illegal lounging spot,’ he thought.
Ace shifted a little, enjoying his hiding place. He’d just woken from a nap in a street banner stretched across two buildings. Kinda like the old hammocks the Spadille used to have. As one of his eyes peeled open, Ace noticed a tiny, fuzzy-antlered reindeer in the distance, motioning to Ace with his hoof— so he waved back, understanding.
Ace felt around in his pocket to pull out a loaner transponder Nami had sent with him.
He had it connect him through to Luffy.
“Ace!” Luffy greeted, his voice sounding faraway, probably due to the age of the snail.
“You done eating?” he asked quietly, letting his head fall back against the fabric.
“Mmm! Almost! …Where are you, Ace?”
Ace had been aboard the Thousand Sunny for a week with Luffy and the Straw Hats before they reached their destination. He’d spent every second of quality time with them that he could squeeze from the trip, and it had drained him socially by this point.
Ace had also been eating plenty up until today. He just couldn’t do it right now, choke down meals like today was normal.
He didn’t like to fight on a full stomach anyway; it made him sleepy and complacent. Ace wanted to be feral for this. Hungry, like some wild thing watching from the trees.
“Found a place to nap, Luffy,” he told him gently, “Enjoy your lunch?”
Luffy mumbled his approval through a full mouth, swallowing his bite into the receiver. Ace dodged slightly, as if he could feel the food particles coming through the snail at him.
“Luffy, eat politely,” he chided, sounding tired,
“Sorry I interrupted your meal, bud. You can call me back if—“
“No—“ Luffy barked out urgently, then quieter, “I mean, it’s okay Ace, I’ll stop eating if you want.”
Ace smiled slightly, endeared by Luffy’s dedication to being on his best behavior. His younger brother didn’t have too many love languages, but denying his own hunger had to be at the top of the short list.
“I won’t keep you away from it long, then,” Ace told him with a soft smile, reclining his head against a folded arm, “Just wondering if you’re filling me in on the plan or if I should call Nami.”
“No— Nami— I know it!” Luffy half-yelled, clattering and struggling. “Oy. Sorry, Ace. I can fill you in.”
Ace held the transponder up slightly to examine its straw-painted shell and red stripe, “Actually, before you do that, I have a random question.”
“What’s that?”
Ace let the snail suction to his chest beside his hat charm. A strange, squishing feeling.
“Do you remember Sabo having a freckle on his neck? Or what side it was on?”
Luffy paused.
“Oh… um. It was on the right side, yeah. Bout halfway between his shoulder and his ear, I think. Remember I thought it was dirt and tried to scrape it off that time?”
“Mhm,” Ace hummed, “I do remember that.”
“Ace?”
“Hmmm?”
“I’m glad you’re here,” Luffy told him.
“I’m glad you’re here too, buddy.”
Ace swallowed hard, closing his eyes against the warmth of the direct sunlight. He lay there, feeling so lucky to still have his younger brother as Luffy laid out their plan to sneak into Jalmack’s estate.
He and Luffy used to talk about this moment, back on Mt. Corvo as kids. Here they were, actually doing it.
‘Some things never change,’ he thought.
Sabo’s call with Koala had disconnected again, but it didn’t bother him like it was probably bothering Koala.
‘Just my luck,’ he thought.
Sabo ripped off his glove as sudden itch attacked him, scratching the right side of his neck, right over his freckle, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Wow. That was a bad one.”
He broke a slight sweat in the warm temperature of the vent system loft, dipping himself and his staff under tubing and slow-dripping pipes in the near-darkness. At least the dark felt safe and familiar. When Sabo worked in conditions like this, he always felt more hidden, more secure.
Sabo’s boot squelched into sludge under one of the pipes, causing him to make a hideous face in the dim light. He tried not to cough, noticing more and more sticky particles in the air.
He wrestled his goggles from under the collar of his uniformed white jumpsuit to tug them over his eyes, protecting him from the dusty haze of suspended insulation. His free hand fished out a handkerchief to tie it over his nose and mouth.
Whenever Hack made his next joke about the glamours of covert operations, Sabo would remember to tell the Fishman that he just walked around like an HVAC inspector the majority of the time, occasionally walloping the rented security. Only occasionally having a fight that genuinely excited him. Made him remember his purpose.
Belo Betty smirked slightly, pinning a stolen badge to the breast pocket of Sabo’s uniform jumpsuit.
“It’s a damn shame we don’t work together more, Chief,” she told him, “You’re too young for me, but I need a second cigarette just lookin’ atcha.”
Sabo looked entertained by her, as always. “They treating you okay in here?”
“Oh, sure, I love it. No eye candy, just old farts,” Betty replied. Her boot slid to the door to stop him from unlocking it.
“Not so fast, handsome. Security had an impromptu meeting on the lower level. The head honcho said they won’t finish up for ten minutes or so. Just wait it out.”
Sabo leaned his staff in the corner, adjusting his gloves with a nod of his head.
“Gotcha, thanks for the heads up. Any personnel gonna get suspicious if you stay in here?”
“Nah. I get one break. I’m taking my fucking break,” Betty muttered, pulling a pack of cigarettes from her jumpsuit zipper pocket after her first one finished.
Betty tapped the deck lightly and popped one into her mouth as she and Sabo leaned into the door. She flicked a lighter to life against the tip of it, watching it ember and smoke.
After exhaling, she handed it off to Sabo, who took a drag after her. He made a slightly disgusted face, shaking his head after breathing out the smoke with a stifled snort.
“Yeah, nope, still not for me,” he said hoarsely.
“Did Koala tell you one of our new recruits quit? Purple hair kid?” Betty said casually, “Got lonely. They all do… Some people are just cut out for it, I guess.”
Sabo crossed his arms, sinking more of his weight into the door as he sent Betty a knowing side-eye.
“You’ve been talking to Koala, huh? Not subtle, Bels. Your acting needs work.”
Betty shrugged into her inhale, watching the cigarette glow and ash onto the floor.
“Yeah, well, she said you got really upset the other day, and the only thing that’d happened was a couple walked by holding hands. So. Maybe your acting isn’t so great either.”
Sabo stared into a set of beakers hoping they might somehow warp him back into the building’s attic to escape the conversation. Betty caught his wide, blank stare, taking the hint.
“Alright, just saying, I’ve been in something steady with someone before, and you’re not missing out on anything. Might as well steer your ship into a reef, far as I’m concerned. Anyway, plenty of chicks on base have eyes for you.”
His glove stifled a noise of disbelief. “No... you cannot possibly think I’m into women. How many times have we met?”
She made a surprised face as she exhaled another stream of smoke. “What a relief. I thought I lost my touch. Is that why Koala calls you her brother?”
Sabo shook his head, pocketing one hand as he lifted his staff from the corner of the laboratory closet.
“Pretty sure it’s because I annoy the hell out of her,” Sabo said.
“Please. She adores you,” Betty replied as she pulled back her uniform sleeve to check her watch.
“Ope. Looks like it’s go time. And, Sabo, watch your back down there. Only one Devil Fruit user, so you should be fine. You know about the turrets, right?”
Sabo clutched at the doorframe with his glove as his chest tightened.
“The what?”
“No big deal or anything, just don’t lose your badge or they’ll target you. They’re heat-seeking.“
‘Sure. No big deal,’ Sabo said to himself.
Sabo reached his badge to the reinforced basement access door, casting one last glance behind him before resolving to venture inside.
The cathedral chapel was once a place of serenity and reflection, its stained glass windows casting a warm, heavenly glow upon the marble floors. It was a sanctuary, a place where Jalmack could find solace.
Or so he thought, until flames danced along the walls, their hungry tongues licking at the ancient woodwork and flickering against the once-pristine frescos. The air hung thick with smoke and the stench of burning paint.
The once grand cathedral chapel had now transformed into a death trap. Jalmack could feel the heat of the approaching flames licking at his back, urging him forward, driving him deeper into the inferno. His heart pounded in his chest as he desperately searched for some means of escape.
“Jalllmaaack,” the sing-song voice echoed, before Luffy’s impish cackle echoed into the vaulted ceiling. It multiplied like a chorus of devil children from above, reaching Jalmack’s horrified ears.
He had never been so terrified in his life. His once-magnificent manor now reduced to rubble and ash, the fire licking at his heels. In desperation, he had stumbled into the chapel, hoping to find refuge from the inferno that consumed his home. But it seemed that there was no escaping the dark voices that now haunted his every step.
"Fourteen years ago, you fired on a ship in the harbor of Goa Kingdom," a voice said, belonging to Luffy, who Jalmack could not see in his panic.
The cathedral began to resemble what would be his tomb, the crypt where Jalmack's life would soon end. The fire had spread to the wooden beams supporting the ceiling, and the chapel began to groan as if in pain. Flakes of burning plaster rained down on Jalmack's upturned face, stinging his eyes and scorching his lips.
"Our brother was on that ship," echoed out a deeper voice, coming from within the flames, "First, you'll burn alive. Then, you'll burn in hell."
Jalmack tried to move, to run, but his legs felt like lead. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to shut out the voices of the brothers, but their words echoed inside his head, repeating endlessly. The exit had been sealed long ago, and the only thing left for him was to face his fate. Just as he thought he could bear the anticipation no longer, the demon descended.
“Back, fire! Back, demon! I’m a god, you know!” Jalmack screamed in terror, wielding an empty gun.
“You’re the demon,” Nika told him in a chorus of multiple voices, sinister and rolling with pink eyes that burned into Jalmack’s soul, “I’m the god.”
"No!” he whimpered, shrinking. The fire continued to consume the chapel, the heat growing more intense with each passing moment. Jalmack could feel his strength waning, his lungs burning from the smoke and ash.
“You didn’t just take our brother,” echoed the voice from the flames, “You took this island. Hurting children, selling their labor. Sabo would’ve killed you himself.”
Nika advanced slowly, crowding Jalmack until the man fell to the floor, stuck between him and the flames.
“You cannot kill me!” he said desperately, “Take me alive!”
“This flame has its own mind. And the flame won’t show you mercy,” Ace's voice was cold and hard as steel. They circled Jalmack, closing in on him like a pair of hungry wolves.
A bullet of fire ripped through Jalmack’s legs and they gave out, sending him to the ground with a painful thud. The fire licked hungrily around him.
As the voices of the brothers merged into one, Jalmack felt a chill run down his spine.
“Watch me, Sabo,” they said.
He tried to scream, but no sound came out. He could feel the heat of the fire burning his lungs, searing his throat.
The chapel seemed to close in around him, suffocating him.
Sabo smiled softly.
“What’s got you looking so sappy? We’re kind of in the middle of something.”
Sabo looked over at Koala, who still hadn’t caught her breath from her long distance sprint to his location.
“I’m just proud of you… You saved me, brat. All by yourself.”
Koala looked horrified as he slumped to the floor where he’d been sitting, a glass vial now visible where it’d been smashed into his neck by the overseer.
In the last moment of the conflict, Sabo had managed just enough remaining strength to keep his hold on the overseer until Koala’s fast approaching steps allowed her to snap kairouseki over his wrists.
She knocked out the bastard for good measure, sweating because Sabo looked like he might not have made it out of that fight if she hadn’t gotten to him.
“You better be okay, Sabo,” she said quietly, pulling away the shards until she could read the chemical’s label.
“Advanced Fatigue Agent,” he told her, just as she finally read the words.
“Tell me what you’re feeling so I can call Doc,” she said.
“Fatigue,” he told her, “The advanced kind.”
Koala gripped his smiling face. “Not funny. Tell me if you feel anything else. Did you get sample vials of it?”
“Mhm,” he responded, indicating his pocket with his eyes.
“Good boy.”
Notes:
Joyboy turned into Scaryboy
dark!Nika might not be for everyone but this’ll be the only scene either way
Chapter 6: Mirror
Chapter Text
The wind howled and whistled through the barren island of Baltigo, laying in a remote stretch of the Grand Line. The ground was a patchwork of cracked clay and jagged stones. The air was bitterly dry, sharp and piercing, cutting through the very marrow of one's bones.
It was against this harsh backdrop that the Revolutionary Army had made their home.
A round window that’d been carved into the clay wall of Sabo's quarters afforded him a view of the ocean— the landscape, too, but he preferred looking out to sea.
Despite the harshness of Baltigo’s surroundings, he did feel a sense of belonging here, of purpose. Still, Sabo couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing.
It appeared Koala noticed his loneliness, too, even though he’d never directly brought it up. Ironically, he’d begun to feel the most lonely during the times they visited the bustling Kitatown.
On Baltigo, he didn’t have to watch anyone enjoy the company of their romantic partners. In Kitatown, it was everywhere.
Sabo sank down in the floor, the light of the window illuminating his face in a hand-held mirror. He noticed something unfortunate in his reflection.
A new, raised scar on the right side of his neck had replaced his once familiar freckle where the glass vial had cut into his neck, adding to the burn marks around it, the raised, jagged pattern of scars that spoke of the fire that had tried to consume him.
Sabo put down the mirror and reached across the floor to shift a file folder of documents closer.
One of the sample vials rolled out of the file, the same chemical that had nearly cost him his life on his last assignment.
Sabo had turned down the last Devil Fruit the army found, with good reason: it opened up the user to weaknesses that Sabo refused to accept.
He needed to be able to use kairouseki handcuffs on their targets. He needed to be able to dive for aqueduct entrances and rescue others from the ocean. As a pure Haki user, he was immune to almost any restraint.
Unlike the army’s Devil Fruit users, Sabo felt comforted by the fact that he couldn’t be taken prisoner.
Now, the vial in his hand called everything into question for Sabo, because this chemical had been designed to fatigue Haki users just as effectively as kairouseki fatigued Devil Fruit users.
And Sabo had already fallen victim to it. Only Koala’s quick actions had saved him.
‘AFA,’ it had been called.
Advanced Fatigue Agent.
Vegapunk had been their source, alerting Dragon to the government’s testing of the concerning chemical. Sabo had successfully destroyed every pallet of the glass vials he found in the facility’s warehouse, using their own turrets against them.
Unfortunately, Sabo could tell by the documentation he’d found that several pallets had already shipped out. All the army knew was the name of the only buyer who’d received a supply: Jericko Marmont.
Sabo had only seen his name once before.
But a sudden sound had him on alert, turning to watch something slide under his door with a soft rasp of paper.
Pulling his door open, he apprehended the culprit, but his glove stopped short of Koala, who could only give him a sheepish grin from the white clay staircase just outside.
“What a little sneak. Got tired of knocking like a normal person?”
“No—“
“We’re shoving our baby raccoon hands under the door?” Sabo joked.
“You never close it, I assumed you were like—“
“Wait, nevermind—“ he backpedaled.
“—jerking off or something.”
Sabo’s hand pinched his temples, as if he could crush the sound itself to unhear it.
Looking down, though, he noticed the slip of torn, thin paper she’d brought him, currently laying by his feet that stood in black socks just inside his bedroom.
“What’s this?” Sabo asked her.
Picking it up, though, he barely even needed her to answer. Because the neatly torn square of paper contained a cropped-in portrait of the man he’d encountered in Kitatown.
“Do you recognize him?” Koala asked.
“Yeah… that pirate.”
“Dragon had his picture saved in his desk from a recent wanted poster.”
“You stole it?”
“Asked him for it!” Koala laughed, looking offended, “Anyway, I thought you might find the coincidence interesting. I dunno, you just seemed kind of affected that day.”
“That’s ridiculous, I was just watching our back,” Sabo scoffed, but she was already walking back down the stairs.
“Why are you leaving the picture with me?” he added, already losing sight of her.
“So you’ll remember who you’re looking for. In case you need to watch our back again.”
It still set his mind reeling, not sure if Koala realized she had pushed a man’s picture under his door at the same moment she seemed to assume he had his hand down his trousers.
It’s not like criminals attracted him specifically. Hell, the idea that this cut out portrait came from a wanted poster made it so much worse when Sabo had to confront his attraction to him.
Sabo hesitated outside his bedroom door, but with the picture already in his hand and his bed already warmed in a beautiful patch of sunlight…
He was tempted.
Ace’s eyes drew him in, that lopsided grin that Sabo could so easily picture smirking at him in person instead. Those eyes undressing him in person instead.
Fuck.
Was he really gonna do this?
Considering his pants had gotten noticeably tighter, it was too late for a feeble attempt to talk himself out of it. He could already feel that hot, explosive Haki surrounding him, tearing through him, already making Sabo sweat for him again.
Chapter 7: Loguetown
Notes:
In which Koala gets more careless than usual and Marco is way more on edge than usual, butttttt everything works out afterwards
Chapter Text
On Baltigo, the sun began to rise, blazing red and casting a warm glow over Dragon's office.
Koala sorted documents inside a folder by the window, only looking up when Dragon finally worked up the nerve to open one of the drawers and slide out last month’s newspaper.
‘WANTED: STRAW HAT AND FIRE FIST ASSASSINATE CELESTIAL SAINT JALMACK’
Pictured below the headline were two portraits labeled ‘Straw Hat Luffy and his brother, Fire Fist Ace.’ Next to their image was a portrait of the late world noble, Saint Jalmack and a short description of his life.
Dragon had felt a surge of pride to see Luffy focus even for a moment on their shared distaste for celestial dragons, but there was another detail in the article that he couldn’t stop thinking about: Luffy’s… brother?
Luffy was the only son he knew about, but when he looked down at his brother Ace’s portrait, the resemblance was just enough to make him question how careful he’d been in the past.
“He looks older than Luffy,” he muttered. “Young twenties. I’d have been, what? Thirty to thirty-five?”
He sighed, admitting to himself that there had been plenty of women during that time period of his life. It was disturbingly plausible that one of them had hidden her pregnancy from him.
Koala was intrigued by his reaction to Fire Fist. Especially because she didn’t catch him looking at the paper until weeks after it was published, like he couldn’t get the thought out of his head. Koala pulled one of the wanted posters that had arrived, examining Ace’s new bounty portrait.
Koala pulled up a chair, dedicated to keeping Dragon company since Sabo was away.
“I’m enjoying this. Seeing you all… fatherly. More than just with us, I mean. With your actual son. Or sons, potentially,” Koala told him with a soft look as she pulled her feet into the chair in front of his desk.
He looked suddenly bothered, staring into the newspaper as she spoke.
“I don’t think I deserve that word. It’s a choice I made. Probably best not to speak of it.”
Koala faltered, attention going between his restrained expression and the paper he let drop to the desk with a soft thwap.
Her eyes searched the floor for guidance, leaping at the chance to offer him any amount of support.
“I want to understand,” she said earnestly.
Dragon surveyed her, pensive as he leaned into the back of his chair.
“Well, it’s… I grew up promising myself to be a better father than I had, like most boys do. Yet, here I am, speaking to my son no more than my own father speaks to me.”
Koala clutched her arms slowly around her knees as he spoke, eyes reflecting sadness at the weight of his words. Her hero, exposing his sorest weakness.
“By the time Luffy was born, my bounty was already too high for his safety,” Dragon said quietly, distracting himself by organizing documents on his desk, “I gave up my ties with him so he’d have a chance to reach adulthood. And now… I’d fear to know what he thinks of me.”
“And you think there might’ve been another son?” she asked gently, “Ace?”
Dragon peered at the freckles showing in Ace’s cropped-in portrait in the article. The commander distinctly remembered his own mother having freckles in her childhood photo. Ace looked so much like her. The thought warmed his heart briefly, before he forced himself to close the drawer.
“I’ll see what I can find on him,” Koala suggested, “I’ve already helped his crew before. It might be nice to see them again. And if I find anything on his mother or father, I can ease your mind about it.”
“Koala, I—”
When Hack knocked at the threshold, Dragon noticed Koala already dipping from the room. He stared after her, looking just as uncertain about it as he felt.
”Hack, do you mind retrieving Koala’s vivre card for me?” Dragon asked. He knew her tendency to get in over her head. Normally, Sabo kept close tabs on her. Sabo wasn’t here today.
Loguetown, a city of marble, bronze and cobblestone split by an ancient canal. The palazzi, or grand palaces, that lined the winding streets were a testament to the wealth and power of Loguetown's ruling families during the bygone era of its origin.
The Spade Pirates were forced to dock at Loguetown for supplies, but the feeling aboard the ship had changed dramatically since the last time they stopped anywhere.
With Ace freshly back from his run with Luffy, nearly every one of his crew had become jumpier and more suspicious of anyone looking at them.
Most of them had always been pretty careful about disguising themselves, but now they felt even more pressure to keep their heads down when walking around. Deuce had not allowed Ace off the ship, a sentiment backed up wholeheartedly by Marco, Mihar and Skull.
They were overjoyed to have him back, but kept their celebration tight, quiet, and below deck. Ace even caught the occasional worried glance from Leonero and Kukai, two of the more stoic of the crew normally the last to betray anything weighing on them. This level of bounty was new territory for their reckless captain, approaching the status of an emperor.
It didn’t help at all that they hadn’t reached Loguetown until nearly nightfall, causing the couple of pirates exiting the ship to glance constantly over their shoulders. This would be their first supply run since the news broke of Ace’s shocking crime, his bounty predictably skyrocketing to the point that they expected bounty hunters around every corner.
It couldn’t be helped; the larder had run completely dry of food over a day ago. The only upside that their dwindling alcohol supply now made them twice as drunk on empty stomachs, keeping the crew happier than they’d have otherwise been.
Deuce, Skull and Mihar stayed on the ship. Despite his fear of large wildcats, Saber welcomed the thought of an encounter with hostiles, all too willing to accompany Marco and into town. Perhaps surprisingly, Saber was one of the few of the crew who did not drink— something related to his father, he’d sometimes mumble.
Marco had stopped drinking when he boarded the ship just a couple of years prior, but he especially wouldn’t have chanced it on a night like this; the threat surrounding them was too high.
The rain fell in sheets to the cobblestones below. Loguetown’s streets lay deserted, only the occasional hooded figure hurrying from awning to awning, cloaks billowing in the wind like wings.
Marco pulled his own cloak tighter around himself, expanding his Haki around him because he already had a bad feeling that someone was waiting nearby, lurking in the shadows. Saber fell in step behind him, reaching to lower his hood against the heavy rain.
After they’d trekked through the puddles and slick cobblestone streets for ages, Saber kept checking behind himself, seeing a cloaked figure dipping behind buildings a few different times before he finally spoke up.
“Marco… someone’s tailing us.”
Saber and Marco both looked back in time to see it happening again, eyes widening as the figure dipped behind the building, appearing to take off running this time.
By the time Marco and Saber reacted, Koala had already seen the predatory look in their eyes. They could kill her before even recognizing her. She needed to hide. Koala was already sprinting at full speed down the alley, launching from one wall to a higher point, just enough to reach the lip of a window. It was too late.
Marco ripped her away from the ledge by her ankle. She fell fast, only spared from hitting the stones by Marco catching the hood zippered onto her wetsuit.
Koala made a shocked noise as her body jolted to a stop, dangling above the ground, eye to eye with Marco. Adrenaline coursed through her body, instinctively resisting his hold.
She had reached back her gloved hands to clutch at his arm, writhing as she tried to fight his grasp. His chest absorbed the impacts of her powerful kicks in a burst of harmless fire.
Her light hair was now dark and drenched like everything else in the rain, but she didn’t smell like rainwater; she smelled like seawater. Like any Devil Fruit user, Marco had a heightened sense for the dangerous smell.
Marco angled her face up with his other hand in a hard grip, ignoring her protest. His irises and pupils blinked with bright blue fire, looking straight into her soul as they burned. Koala lost her breath, lips parting in shock.
“Shit!” she hissed anxiously, launching another hard kick at him, even if it had no hope of landing. Marco blocked her kick with his free arm, making her recoil in pain, finally accepting her capture and facing him with upset eyes, still clawing her nails hard into his forearm behind her head.
“I’ll admit, your kicks are a lot stronger than I thought they’d be,” he told her, “But I’d save your energy, yoi.”
Saber rifled through the bag she’d dropped, shifting through her notes with increasing anger. “Fuck. Marco. She’s collecting info on the whole crew. Our wanted posters. Everything.”
Sabo would kill her if he found out she’d made such a stupid mistake. If Marco didn’t kill her first. Unlike their first meeting, there was nothing gentle or endearing or funny about his aura at this moment.
His stare was raw and animal, glowing with a threat he didn’t even have to verbalize. Her skin crawled, life completely in his hands. Beside him, she noticed Saber with his hand hovering a pistol tucked in his waistband.
“I recognize you, now,” Marco growled softly, “You spied on us in Kitatown, too. You get one chance to tell me who you’re with, yoi.”
She shook her head as rain poured down on her, eyes blinking away the water. He did intimidate her, but she was accustomed to the feeling by now, forcing her breathing to steady.
“I’m the only one responsible,” she said, trying to sound calm against the pull of her hood in his fist.
“Just know that I meant no harm to Ace. It was only curiosity. I swear, I only wanted to know about his father.”
That had been the wrong thing to say.
Marco’s eyes flashed. They were too on edge to have Ace mentioned in this situation.
“Check her, Saber,” Marco spoke, staring straight into her eyes. His look warned her not to be lying to him.
Saber moved around to check her for any pockets. “No weapons,” Saber said in surprise, “Not even a hidden blade.”
“No Haki either,” Marco replied firmly, staring into her dark eyes.
“Then what the hell was she— Oh… Marco,” Saber said.
When he caught Marco’s look, he gestured covertly to an odd indentation near the zipper that covered her cleavage. Koala had hidden something there.
Koala squeezed her eyes shut, knowing exactly how bad their reaction would be when then saw it. “That’s not related to this, I always keep them there. It’s just for protection, okay?”
“I’ll get it out,” Saber offered before catching a swift glare from Marco.
“Pull it out yourself,” he told Koala, still sounding on edge.
When Koala pulled out a thin set of kairouseki cuffs, Marco shut his eyes angrily.
“I knew I smelled that shit on you. If they’re for self-defense, why didn’t you use them?”
Her eyes were reddened as she stared at him, lip trembling in anger. Her teeth gritted lightly as she spoke.
”Because I don’t mean you any harm. I thought you were different than this.”
As Saber took the cuffs from her, Marco shook his head, about to speak again before the cawing of crows shifted his attention to a dark figure creeping into view down the dark alley.
Saber cursed, drawing his pistol, with a click as he cocked the hammer back.
“Put it down, Saber,” Marco told him, “It’ll only piss him off. He’s a Logia, yoi.”
Koala couldn’t see that Karasu had appeared behind her, but she watched Marco give her one last threatening look.
“Your friend over there? His Haki is anxious. He hasn’t attacked because he knows he’ll lose. We better not catch you tailing us again, yoi. If you’re after Ace, we won’t hesitate to put you and your friend in the ground.”
Saber lifted her bag from the ground, slinging it over his shoulder with her notes inside. “We’ll be taking this.”
Marco lowered her to the ground, backing away as he watched Karasu approach her silently. They locked eyes, Marco and Karasu, as giant black wings erupted from his back, shiny and dripping.
Marco could hear the Soot-Soot crows cawing down at him from the cornices of buildings above, hearing dark threats and curses spilling from their sharp bills, understanding their words even though Saber couldn’t.
“We’re not your enemy,” Marco told Karasu, “So don’t force us to be. We have a family to protect, just like you.“
Marco and Saber parted ways from the pair of revolutionaries, finishing their supply run with such bothered demeanors that they didn’t speak a word the entire time. It was the first time Marco saw Saber shut his trap and be automatically helpful.
Saber deeply appreciated the fierceness of Marco’s loyalty, nodding to the phoenix when he caught his eye on the way back to the ship.
“Do you want to tell them, or should I?”
Marco pressed his lips into a thin line, hoping Deuce and Ace didn’t take too much offense that he’d frightened a young woman. He didn’t enjoy it, but knew exactly what happened when underestimating any enemy, regardless of their appearance.
“I’ll do it, yoi,” Marco sighed, “Don’t want you and Deu fighting anymore.”
Koala and Karasu ducked into Loguetown’s train station. Normally, they’d have been relieved to get out of the rain, but today they were both still recovering from their brush with Marco.
Her hands were already pressing into her forehead in disbelief. Too distracted to even wring the freezing rainwater from her hair.
“Do you want to tell him, or should I?” Karasu asked Koala around his mask.
It wasn’t clear if he was referring to Sabo or Dragon, but Koala couldn’t bear for either of them to find out what’d happened. Sabo was equally likely to go after Marco as he was likely to put Koala in a headlock for being so reckless.
“Please don’t,” she told Karasu with pinched eyes. “I thought… god, I feel so stupid. I don’t have an excuse. I got careless. Just please don’t tell anyone. It won’t happen again.”
Karasu blinked as she gripped her hands over her eyes in embarrassment, patting her back carefully as he considered her words with a deep frown.
“Koala, how did you even find them here?” he asked, muffled but barely audible.
“I called Morgans. His paper route found them quickly. He owed me a favor… Sorry, Karasu.”
He sighed.
“One ticket to Kitatown,” Karasu said to the clerk in the window. He couldn’t fly Koala back to Baltigo in the rain for the same reason he’d been powerless against Marco. The water rendered his soot muddy and unable to bear weight.
She’d be safe in Kitatown until Karasu could retrieve Sabo from Momoiro. They’d meet her there soon.
Sabo had stayed over a couple of days in a much livelier, much prettier place to have the AFA chemicals examined by an expert.
The island of Momoiro, tucked away in the serene expanse of the Grand Line, was a sight to behold. Its pink sand beaches, fringed by emerald forests, seemed almost surreal against the deep blue ocean.
Here posted the second division of the revolutionaries, led by Iva. Within the community, several figures playing crucial roles in their effort. One such figure was Ahiru. Her mechanical limbs and enhanced abilities made her a force to be reckoned with, but she’d also had experience in government labs before, incidentally the reason she couldn’t go undercover in them.
Within the confines of Ahiru's quarters, Sabo sat interested by the messy but intricate machinery that surrounded him. Spare parts, manuals, arc spanners and heavy disks used for power sources lay scattered.
Sabo had brought her sample vials of AFA to have her test it for any possible preventative or antidote to the drug.
“I saw that the pirates have started doing our job for us, it seems. A couple of them were able to take out a world noble,” Ahiru told him casually, dropping several magnifications down on her goggles.
“Which ones?” Sabo asked, crossing his leg as he leaned back in one of her chairs.
“Maybe we should recruit them.”
He’d been joking, but only partially. The army did need strong recruits, but he knew pirates were never going to join them regardless.
“Dragon’s son, actually,” Ahiru said with much more interest in her voice, “The other one they called Fire Fist in the headline.”
“Well, I’ve heard of one of them. Dragon must be proud of his son… Did they look alike, Ahiru? When you saw his newspaper photo? Always been curious what he looks like.”
“A little younger and wilder, but I can see it,” Ahiru told him, smiling as she held the vial to her magnifiers.
Karasu appeared in the doorway, causing Sabo to realize he’d already stayed longer than intended. Sabo already arranged to meet Koala on his way back to Baltigo from Momoiro. They planned to compare their notes on Marmont’s dealings.
Kitatown sat halfway between Loguetown and the remote island of Baltigo, making it the closest hub for the army to make ship repairs. The heavy concentration of sympathizers they’d fostered over time often alerted Sabo and Koala of any pirates, marines, or other potential threats. Several times, this had given them enough time to meet the threats at sea, rather than their hidden island.
Dragon had the army making nice with the officials because the army occasionally needed their kairouseki, but more often, they needed to know who wanted to acquire it.
Now, Sabo sat waiting for Koala in their second favorite Kitatown haunt: the old aqueduct paved with bricks of kairouseki. The darkness of the tunnel made it an admittedly high-maintenance meeting spot, but the privacy and safety couldn’t be replaced. Here, they could discuss sensitive matters without fear of being overheard or discovered.
Sabo had slid open a small drain to the street to allow in a ray of white sunlight against the pitch black darkness. He pulled up the sleeve of his shirt in the beam of light, tutting disappointedly at himself to see only his pale wrist beneath it. His watch still sat on his humble little nightstand at Baltigo.
Sabo found himself growing more and more restless, hugging his arms around himself, feeling tired when his sleep had been plagued with so many dreams lately.
Sometimes, he dreamed of a lush jungle, and other times glimpsed into an urban hellscape. But over the past few months, one dream in particular had been haunting him.
The pirate that Sabo had met in this very same tunnel.
When he saw at him, Sabo couldn't shake off the feeling that he’d looked into his eyes before, so deep and intense that he nearly lost his breath.
He remembered when Ace had dropped down into the tunnel a few weeks ago, Sabo’s first close encounter with him:
Sabo knelt over him. Then shifted Ace’s unconscious body until he leaned against the round wall of the aqueduct, amazed at how frigid his skin felt. He’d need to get him out of the tunnel soon into the warmth of the sunlight.
Sabo dabbed guiltily at the small trickle of blood in Ace’s hair using his normally pristine handkerchief, staining it with blood.
“Sorry about that,” he whispered, holding it there firmly.
Sabo reached to check Ace’s pockets, looking down with interest as his hand slowly coaxed a folded sheet of stationery open. His expression changed, understanding the deeply intimate nature of the drawing. He glanced at Ace’s closed eyes, his attractive freckles.
Then, Sabo looked back down at the sketch of himself, staring in awe at the way Ace had drawn his barely-there eyelashes and parted lips.
“You drew me so… beautiful,” Sabo noticed, feeling warm from the flattery. Although, the undertones of this situation could easily be sinister ones.
He laid the paper against Ace’s bare stomach, pulling a new roller-ball pen from his pocket to jot some notes, just so Ace knew Sabo wouldn’t be caught off guard if he tried anything in the future.
“Now that’s done…” Sabo murmured.
He held the pen in his teeth, thinking he should probably be really respectful with the stranger’s body. It’s just that he couldn’t help himself.
Sabo pressed both his gloved hands against Ace’s chest, giving it a slight squeeze. Fair play for being a filthy voyeur.
”That’s nice,” he acknowledged aloud, amazed at the definition he had.
The pirate tempted him beyond belief, physically. Sabo might’ve even hung around to talk to him on a different day. It’s just that, today, he was already making himself and Koala late to Baltigo.
“Sabo?” Koala’s voice called from down the tunnel, “We should go. Were you… grabbing that man’s chest?”
Sabo grinned, pointing at Ace as he looked at Koala.
”He needs a bra for these things!” he laughed.
Koala gave him a warning look.
Sighing, Sabo returned the stationery to Ace’s pocket and leaned to shift the weight of him onto his back. He didn’t have time to check if the guy wanted to fight or fuck. In any case, the least he could do was leave him somewhere safe.
Sabo folded his arms to his chest, still sitting in the tunnel as he contemplated what might’ve happened if he hadn’t run out of time that day.
Chapter Text
The drizzle had just started to let up as Marco and Saber climbed up the lowered boarding ramp to the Spadille’s main deck. They first deposited their groceries and supplies with Banshee, who told them she thought Ace had already fallen asleep.
No one was above deck save for Jabby Boy, who shook the rainwater forcefully from his blue feathers with a happy trill upon seeing Marco. The macaw had always been a watchful alarm for his pops, so it didn’t surprise Marco to see him act as a sentry for this ship.
Once under the cover of the stairs leading below deck to the cabins, the two men shed their drenched cloaks and Marco took them since Saber still carried Koala’s bag. They descended below deck to seek out Ace.
Having been given the abandoned private quarters, Marco had only seen the group quarters one time, when he first boarded the ship. He’d forgotten that they only used the word ‘hammocks’ loosely; the reality of their sleeping situation was slightly different.
Two large adjoining rooms belonged to the commune. The large room designated for sleeping accommodations was stretched taut with a net, creating room for the entire crew to sleep fairly comfortably suspended over the floor. At some point, the crew had gotten so large that they had abandoned the twelve stock hammocks for a simpler solution.
The other space functioned as an oversized locker room for all their possessions: clothes, weapons, gear, sentimental keepsakes. Letters from surviving family members, photos of children and mothers.
Marco felt a pang of guilt for never staying down here with them. Once upon a time, the phoenix had been a social butterfly. Now, after two years aboard the Piece of Spadille, he began to realize how much he tended to alienate himself, perhaps using solitude as punishment for his past sins.
And on a selfish level, he had been afraid to know any of them too deeply. It was just now hitting him that he couldn’t let his fear of losing his second crew stop him from ever connecting with them. They deserved better than that. Marco resolved to be more like Deuce and Ace, who chose to love absolutely fearlessly every day of their lives.
Marco followed Saber into the sleeping quarters with slow, heavy footsteps. The majority of the crew must’ve still been crowded around the table on the other side of the ship, because the net only had two people reclining on it; Deuce and Ace, the latter of which looked extremely tipsy.
Deuce sighed, barely even glancing at Marco before returning his attention to Ace.
"How many did you have? Come on you're drunk. You're not being very captain-like.”
"What're you talking about? I'm fine," Ace replied with a slight slur in his words, his eyelids beginning to flutter slightly for a moment before a wide yawn.
“I’m not even drunk..."
"Ace... you need to drink some water,” Deuce chided him, trying to hold a canteen to his lips.
Ace peered down at the metal container. “Fine…” he grumbled, grabbing the canteen to chug it swiftly.
“Yeah. Drink up for mommy, Ace,” Saber smirked, plopping Koala’s bag on the net in from of them.
Deuce glowered at him, biting back a horrible reply. Instead he looked up at Marco, who was also towering over them.
“Deu was right, asking you to stay below deck, yoi. We barely made it five blocks in before being followed,” Marco told Ace, also glancing at Deuce.
“So we took the little sneak’s bag,” Saber added.
Deuce peered into the bag like there might be spiders inside. It only took one glance at the slightly waterlogged notes for Deuce to recoil, fixing Marco with a serious look.
“This is a woman’s handwriting, Marco. Did you—? Take a woman’s bag from her?”
This caught Ace’s attention, trying to focus on Marco. “You… what?”
Marco nodded, knowing they could only get more upset from here. He spoke softly, eyes cast down.
“I know, yoi. Look through the bag first, then we can talk about it.”
Deuce agreed to his gently voiced request, glancing at Ace who crowded in beside him to read the same notes as he flipped through each sheet of Koala’s handwriting.
“It looks bad, I agree,” Deuce said, continuing to read her notes, “She's been secretly following us? Is this a reporter? Or someone actually targeting Ace?”
Ace couldn’t read the notes at all, frustrated by the smears of water and his own tipsy, fuzzy vision. He opted to dig around the bag for anything and everything else he could find, first pulling out a lighter, then strangely long tweezers and a miniature sewing set. Boring.
Small bottles of iodine and shosan acid he found next. Ace locked eyes with Marco, mouthing ‘What is this?’
Marco shrugged, so Ace continued digging.
Aha. Inside a pocket, his reaching hand encountered a small photograph, a heavily aged one. Personal items interested him far more.
To everyone else in the room, this photo seemed unremarkable. Only half the size of his palm and sepia-toned on yellowing photo paper with dog-ear creases. The edges had been cut in a vintage, scrapbook pattern.
He’d thought that perhaps this photo would contain the girl that owned the bag— and the photo did contain a girl. Fourteen years old, scrappy and gangly with a boyish figure. But she wasn’t the only person in the photo.
His heart stuttered, bringing the photo into better focus with his unsteady hands, nearly fumbling in his disbelief.
“Sabo,” Ace choked, realizing the growing lump in his throat.
This time, when he looked at Sabo’s face, all doubt cleared from his mind. No amount of alcohol could fake this.
In this photo, Sabo had been either eleven or twelve, because he looked as Ace had always remembered him. More importantly: this picture showed that Sabo had a burn scar across his eye, and it matched the man from Kitatown exactly.
Sabo was still alive.
Ace sank into the net with the photo, eyes welling up so badly that his vision swam and he couldn’t see anymore. He smiled like an idiot.
The moment he said Sabo’s name out loud, Deuce pulled Koala’s bag to the side to drop into the net beside Ace so he could see the photo too. He gave an amazed chuckle, glancing sideways at Ace’s moonstruck grin.
“That’s the scar you drew, Ace,” Deu said, watching as Ace nodded, still completely stunned to have found this photograph in the most unlikely place, a chance encounter.
Deuce’s smile faded slowly as he looked up at Marco, who stood there with his eyes shut tightly, two fingertips pressed over his lips to keep himself steady.
“Marco…” Deuce started, not sure what to say at first.
Saber ventured a little closer, bowing his head slightly with peaceful hands when he drew Deuce’s deeply offended glance.
“Look, Deu... I was the one that sent Marco after her. I was the one that took her bag. Neither of us hurt her. Just scared her off. Don’t put it on Marco, y'all.”
Deuce’s brow pinched at hearing Saber stick up for anyone, especially Marco, who had personally thrown him overboard in a tussle. Saber had sensed the seriousness of the situation, even shocking Deuce by using his pet name.
“I… oh. Thank you for that… Saber,” Deuce told him, unable to stop his grudge from melting under the circumstances.
Ace couldn’t hear a word any of them said, still laying in the net holding the photo close to his face. The tears couldn’t be held forever by his eyelashes, eventually streaming straight down to his jaw.
That sealed the deal. They had to go back to Kitatown now. Ace could find him easily again; he already knew his Haki signature. At first, he’d only felt the intensity of it, but the longer he ruminated on the energy, the more he understood what it made him think of.
At first, the Haki surrounding Sabo had been the song of metal clashing, and the feeling of landing a perfect hit. But it became the ghosting of cold fingertips, far more welcome than warm ones because after the touch, Ace could still feel the chill of it lingering. And he wanted the touch to linger as long as possible, even if it had been only an imagined sensation caused by Sabo’s energy.
Ace turned the photo over curiously, surprised to see that it did have words written on it. Koala’s youthful handwriting:
‘Me and my brother.’
Ace turned the photo back over to look at her again. Her doe eyes... This could easily have been the woman he'd seen at the shipwright in Kitatown. Sabo had been having coffee with her.
“Sabo has a sister now,” Ace acknowledged softly. Then, he realized that was probably the last thing Marco wanted to hear, considering he already looked pissed at himself.
Deuce struggled to the edge of the net just in time to catch Marco’s wrist before he could make it to the door.
“Wait— no! You didn’t know, Marco,” Deuce said, silently pleading him not to take off into town again. Marco halted, looking down at Deuce’s grip on his wrist, then up at his concerned eyes through the mask.
“Take a breath, damn it,” Deuce added, “I’ve never seen you so impulsive.”
“Yeah, Skull and the boys probably already got us outta the harbor,” Saber added, even if it wasn’t true. Deuce’s look briefly thanked the cowboy for being supportive.
While the rest of them deliberated, Ace slowly rose to his feet, balancing on the net with a smile stretched across his face. He felt everything surging back. His face had lost some of the flush of alcohol now, and in its place he felt a rush of willpower.
“I’m… I’m back… finally,” was all he could express, smiling at them when they all looked up at him. When another thought occurred to him, he said, “There’s a lot to figure out, huh? I think we’ve hidden away from the crew long enough.”
“Wait. Ace,” Deuce called as he started for the door. “Give us our orders?”
He stopped at the threshold with the fire kindled behind his reddened eyes as he surveyed them. Then reached for his hat, pressing it firmly down over his hair.
“Deuce, I remember hearing a train in Kitatown, so I’d bet you anything that’s where she’s going. Have the den den mushi connect to the train station in Loguetown for the schedule. Saber, see if you can get her bag in good shape again. We’ll get it back to her in Kitatown.”
Deuce took a moment to squeeze Saber’s shoulder before he left the room, whispering to Ace, “It’s good to have you back.”
Ace smiled briefly at him, before turning a more serious expression on Marco, who now leaned against the wall with his arms folded. He’d been watching Saber try to straighten Koala’s notes, but Marco shifted his eyes back to Ace now, biting into his own cheek.
“What are my orders, yoi?” he asked, guarding whatever he’d been thinking.
Ace’s shoulders slumped a little. His eyes still looked teary, but his tone sounded kind of harsh.
“Marco, I’ve never given you an order. You never joined my crew. We saved you one time and you allied with us for two years, so... Whatever debt you felt you owed has been paid. You’re free.”
Marco dropped his gaze, stunned at his words. The way Ace said it sounded painfully like a dismissal, hitting him like a ton of bricks.
“Captain,” Saber snapped, suddenly upset. “The crew’s gonna be pissed if you make him leave.”
“Oh, really? Why is that, Saber?” Ace asked him with a cutting edge to his voice that confused them further.
Saber shook his head, looking offended.
“Because everyone on this ship cares about him. Everything he did today was for you. Don’t you dare throw him away. You told me he was like a father to you! That a lie, Ace?”
Saber had used up so much air so quickly that his breathing was harsh and audible in the silence. His angry expression began to fade slowly when he realized Ace was smiling back at him, nodding his head approvingly at Saber’s outrage.
Ace knew it had meant so much more coming from Saber, the most thorny and abrasive of his crew. Saber had fought frequently with Marco and Deuce, so his defensive words shook Marco, as if waking him up.
Marco locked eyes with Ace, understanding now that he’d purposely goaded the angry truth out of Saber. So Marco would understand what he really meant to them.
“See?” Ace said quietly, fixing him with a look of compassion, “My crew already took you as their nakama. It’s hard to watch you never accept them back.”
Touched, Marco took a long breath before slowly sinking to rest on his heels. He showed Ace his palm, eyes pinching to accompany the respectful gesture. A deeply humble salute.
“Forgive me, for overlooking how you all felt for so long. I would like to join your crew, Ace. Officially, yoi. If you’ll still have me.”
With that, Marco further extended his hand, gently inviting Ace to take it.
Ace smiled, ignoring his hand to go straight for a bear hug, launching to grip him tightly.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Ace told him with a strained voice, already using all his strength, letting his hat fall down to his back as Marco struggled to keep them from falling to the floor with a soft laugh.
“Okay, good talk,” Saber told them, lifting himself off the net to climb stairs to the deck with a note of gruff embarrassment. Ace had gotten him to express enough emotion to last him all year.
The only sound in the kairouseki aqueduct was the soft, steady babbling of running water just past the ledge as it flowed down the nearly imperceptible slope of the waterway.
Sabo knew he’d been waiting for Koala’s arrival long enough to warrant concern. She should’ve been here by now. He had his transponder try to connect to her again, relaxing the moment she answered.
“Sorry I’m running late. I picked up some food for our meeting,” Koala’s voice said over the transponder.
Sabo paused for a moment, preparing a careful series of questions that wouldn’t put her on the defensive. He couldn’t tell if his current spike of anxiety came from idea of asking, or from fearing her answer. He steadied himself, using a casual voice.
"How was the train ride? Karasu and I just got back into town. He mentioned he kept an eye on you in Loguetown.”
Sabo could almost hear Koala’s silent panic, and it existed between them for a moment; he could only assume she was wondering how much he knew.
Sabo tapped his gloved finger lightly on Pere-Pere, the little snail nested in his ear.
“Is our connection alright on your end?”
“—Oh, of course. Sorry, Sabo. The train was a nice change of pace, actually. They renovated it since we last saw it,” she answered, kind of impressing Sabo with the lightness of her tone. Her lying had certainly improved since she used to sneak away as a teenager.
“I wish you told me you were going,” Sabo told her delicately, resting his chin on his palm. “That’s where I bought my last pair of gloves... might have wanted another pair.”
She paused again, taking a breath on the other end of the line.
“You were busy. I didn’t wanna bother you.”
He blinked, chewing the inside of his cheek, knowing the reason she didn’t want to tell him was his own fault. He used to overreact about her reckless streaks, back when he was also a hot-headed teenager. It bothered him that she still thought she had to hide things like this, so much so that he made an extra effort to take a gentle tone.
“I would’ve made time, Koko… Going there alone is a bit more dangerous than Kitatown, y’know. Just saying. No access to the aqueducts, no allies like Pelle and Toulouse watching out for you.”
Koala made a noise of quiet frustration as her façade cracked. She huffed.
“…I did something stupid, Sabo.”
Her voice shook a little, struggling to admit the truth after he’d told her to be careful so many times.
He relaxed slightly. At least she admitted it. At least she seemed upset enough to be more careful in the future.
“I haven’t seen you pull something like this since you were seventeen, so it surprised me to hear, that’s all. I swear I’m not mad. How much longer will you be?”
She sighed, seeming to relax a little.
“Walking up right now.“ Clank.
Sabo tilted his head up as the heavy entry panel creaked open. The extreme brightness of the daylight made Koala’s face hard to make out, but Sabo thought she looked like she’d been biting her lip anxiously.
Sabo used his lighter to get two oil lamps going so they could see each other clearly while Koala eased the panel shut behind her.
He shook his head at her as she dropped down to sit beside him.
“You weren’t late, were you?” Sabo asked, smiling knowingly, “You were stalling because you didn’t want to come in. Relax, I’m not gonna bite your head off.”
As he put away his lighter, he noticed the wide fabric wicks in the oil lamps were burning low.
“Ahh, damn. Remind me to get some more wicks for these things. They don’t have much more life in them, huh?” he commented casually, hoping changing the subject would make Koala more at ease.
“The one in your room’s low, too,” she said without thinking, accidentally telling him she’d gone into his quarters.
Sabo surveyed her for a moment, clicking his tongue suddenly when he recognized a swatch of luxurious knit peeking from the ankle of her catsuit.
“I knew it! Did you steal my socks? Koala, those are cashmere.”
Koala knew their game of lifting things from each other didn’t actually bother him. He was the one who started it, after all. Kept things entertaining. She shrugged, smiling innocently. “I haven’t done laundry!”
To his relief, Koala had returned to her usual self. Sabo let the sock-theft slide much too easily, relaxing suddenly against the brick again with a smirk.
“You know what? I’m glad you took them.”
His specific tone, oozing with mischief, let Koala know he had already taken his revenge. Her gaze snapped up suspiciously.
“What?” she said, emphasizing the ‘t’.
He didn’t look at her at first, grinning straight ahead and enjoying his private joke. She’d either laugh, or kill him, he thought.
“What did you do?”
He bit his lip, starting to unbutton his shirt. It didn’t take long with how few he even buttoned in the first place.
“What… what’re you…?” she said in confusion, then, “Is that my—?”
Under his button-down, he was wearing one of her delicate, lacy bralettes. This one was new, white, and laid attractively flat on his skin, like it was painted on with a thin paintbrush.
Koala shook her head, trying her hardest not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her smile, eventually letting it break across her face.
“So that’s where that is. I guess it’s good that someone’s getting use out of it. I never did.”
She crossed her arms, grudgingly adding, “It does actually suit you, y’know.”
The fact that she didn’t get heated about it took a little of the fun away, but Sabo felt oddly touched by her easy acceptance. The compliment hit him forcefully, his hand reaching hesitantly to comb at his hair.
The lace was so thin it felt like a deep breath might vaporize it. Sabo peered down proudly at the dainty lingerie one more time before buttoning his shirt over it again.
“You mean it? Y’know, I’ll admit it does make me feel pretty… but, either way, I was just messing with you, Koko. I’ll return it. My birthday’s coming up, though. Just a thought.”
Koala shook her head at him. “You know you say that multiple times per year, right?”
He huffed, nearly letting out a soft laugh, but he’d begun to really feel the weight of not knowing his own birthday. Even his own age. No parents, no childhood, nothing.
“I’ll update you the moment I find out when I was born,” he replied, as light-heartedly as he could manage, before they were interrupted by the loud growling of Sabo’s stomach, remembering they’d paused here for a snack before heading back to Baltigo.
Koala gave him an amused glance, pulling two wrapped onigiri from a shopping bag. She held them out of his greedy reach for just a moment.
“Wait,” Koala said, “Can I trust you to eat this right now, or is it going to be the straw that broke my really expensive bra?”
“Ha, ha. Give it here,” Sabo replied, smiling when she put both of the snacks into his hand.
“Want to fill me in on your research now?” Sabo added.
She sighed slightly, adjusting her arms to hang comfortingly around her knees.
“Well, it came to a halt, after what just happened in Loguetown. Did Dragon tell you about Ace?”
Sabo had already stuffed one of the triangles of plum rice into his mouth, only able to enjoy the flavor for a second before he looked at Koala in astonishment. His glove pressed over his mouth as he swallowed hard, staring at Koala.
“…Ace?” Sabo asked.
Koala had busied herself folding away the food wrapper. She glanced at Sabo briefly, concerned when she saw him.
“Yeah, 'Ace.' There’s a chance that he could be Dragon’s son. Although, that would be awkward considering that was the man you knocked out the first time you met.”
Sabo’s eyes zoned out, feeling the rush of Haki again, warm and intense around him, heating his skin.
“Yeah, the first time we… met...”
Sabo brandished two little fists at the dark-haired boy standing at the edge of the jungle. Sabo stood between piles of rubble in the junkyard slums of Gray Terminal.
Between them, the reason for their standoff: a cloth bag of fruit that had fallen from the wagon of passing bandits. The fruit gleamed like large jewels in the dust and grime of the slums, tempting both their hungry stomachs.
“I saw it first,” Sabo told him assertively.
The boy from the jungle narrowed his eyes, smiling cockily.
“Fight me for it, then.”
Sabo kept his fists up as the boy stepped forward, but watched in confusion as he approached a rubble pile instead. A long stretch of thin, black metal pipe had caught the freckled boy’s eye.
When he unscrewed the metal pipe, he flung one half at Sabo with shocking speed, but Sabo managed to snatch it from the air in surprise.
The boy from the jungle grinned.
“You're fast," he said, admiration in his voice. "But I'm faster."
The boy’s eyes pierced him, lunging forward to clash their weapons together.
Sabo flinched, clutching the metal staff beside him in shock. He looked around, getting his bearings with shortened breath, finally meeting Koala’s worried eyes.
“What was that?” she asked, grasping his gloved hand carefully.
“Just a dream I keep having,” he replied, shaking off the overwhelming rush, “What were we talking about?”
“You asked about my research,” Koala reminded him. Sabo’s memory seemed to be getting worse, not better. She released his hand, sitting back.
“Right… I wanted to compare notes. Have any leads on Marmont, yet?” Sabo asked her, rubbing his neck sheepishly.
“Oh, Marmont? Right… I did find something on him. He’s not only stockpiling the fatiguing drug for Haki users. He’s also been buying up kairouseki. From Kitatown. But you probably guessed that,” Koala said, then continued:
“The problem is that Marmont didn’t order through their offsite suppliers. He visited them here in Kitatown, just last week. No one’s even supposed to know where the mines are.”
Sabo’s eyes narrowed. “One of their ships got careless then, got tracked back to this island. This town’s in danger if word gets out that they have mines here. Dragon knows already?”
Koala used her gloved fingers to absently drum against the salty blue stone flooring beneath her.
“Called him immediately. The suppliers here were terrified of Marmont, enough to make a deal with him. He supplied them workers, and they supply him bullets and cuffs. What about you? Do you have anything?” Koala asked.
“Just newspaper clippings, really. If I’m right, it’s his fleet that’s been pillaging Whitebeard’s old territories, now that they’re mostly unguarded,” Sabo explained, “Even worse, children have gone missing.”
Koala frowned slightly. “He might’ve been after the territories at first, but buying up all these other supplies, it probably means he’s realized he can profit more from Devil Fruit and Haki users.”
“That, or he’s got marine admirals on his tail. Made enemies with an emperor, possibly. Could be the only way to defend his fleet,” Sabo said.
Koala nodded, running out of things to add to their discussion on Marmont. It only gave her a twinge of anxiety because it meant Sabo would want to circle back to hear—
“About the Loguetown encounter…” he suddenly said, looking somewhat guilty for bringing it up. Now that he knew Ace had been her target, it worried him that Ace might have become an actual enemy, not just a potential one. The thought of him threatening Koala in retaliation to Sabo’s actions worried him.
“If you were there looking for Ace, was he the one that went after you? I thought he'd understand not to mess with us.”
Koala shook her head. “I believed I was following Ace into town, but it wasn’t him. I tried to work up the nerve to approach him a few times, but I was seen. They didn’t look like they were in the mood to talk. That’s when I ran… Turns out, it was Saber, not Ace, following Marco."
Sabo frowned in thought, chewing his lip as his arms folded. He had no idea Ace had allied with any ex-Whitebeard crew. He couldn’t help wondering if there could be a connection between Marco and the territories currently pursued by Jericko Marmont.
“Marco already lost his first crew,” Sabo noted aloud, glancing back to her. “Older than the rest of them. Probably protective. He was the one that made the threat, wasn’t he?”
Koala didn’t answer, but then, she didn’t really need to. “I think it was made worse by the fact that he recognized me.”
Sabo sat in contemplation of her strange words until his gloved hand flew to his mouth, a thought occurring to him.
“The day Ace’s crew came here was the same day you ran an errand to the shipwright. You were late.”
Koala rested her head against the wall.
“I saw them there… I asked Kophre-san to treat them like my friends because Ace looked devastated that he couldn’t afford this cannon in the shop. Marco acted so kind that day. Then in Loguetown, totally different person. In fact, he was even angrier that I’d helped them before. As if accusing me of manipulating them.”
Sabo looked a little troubled at her words. He reached up to rub his neck, trying to see all sides of it.
“Koala, like I said… the guy lost his crew at Marineford. The ones that weren’t killed disbanded. They were one of the few groups that kept the peace; I don’t think any of them would harm someone without cause. He probably got overprotective of his only remaining friends.”
She tucked strawberry blonde hair behind her ear as she cast her eyes down. When Koala didn’t speak, he decided to lighten his tone.
“You certainly caused a stir, I’ll tell you that. Dragon called Karasu when you took the wave-rider out to Kitatown y’know. Also dumb, by the way. Brat.”
Koala nodded as he jostled her shoulder lovingly. She tried to humor his attempt to make her smile.
“Thanks for not freaking out. Or going after Marco or something.”
He cringed at the thought. “While I am extremely flattered by your faith in me, I wouldn’t chance a fight like that unless no choice remained. He didn’t… hurt you, right? Karasu would’ve said…”
She shook her head. “No, nothing like that. Oddly respectful for someone threatening me. Stopped a guy from putting his hand…”
Koala realized she’d said too much, backpedaling when she saw his eyes widen slightly, like she had his sudden attention.
“No, nothing happened. My point was… thank you for just… listening,” Koala said, causing him to brighten up again.
Sabo breathed easier now, feeling reassured that maybe he had gotten good at this whole sibling thing. After all these years looking out for her, he started to slowly understand his identity.
He reached to hug an arm around her shoulders, thinking about the nights he used to lie awake, staring wide-eyed out his window in Baltigo. Only one question seemed to come up, over and over in his lost mind.
‘Who am I?’
They shared a look as Karasu knocked on the metal entry, indicating the break had come to a close. Koala stood to unlock the aqueduct entry as Sabo reached to snuff out the lanterns.
The moment the entry opened, they saw Karasu peering in, holding a hand up to his mask so they could hear his words.
“They tracked you here, Koala. Those lunatics from Loguetown.”
Sabo’s heart jolted slightly.
“I think this is a misunderstanding, Karasu.”
“Whatever the reason, they’re here. In the dock.”
Sabo and Koala locked eyes for a second before the blond was on his feet.
“I’ll take the ocean passage. You go with Karasu,” Sabo told her. “Just wanna get a read on them. See if they’re here for trouble or if it’s a coincidence.”
“Where’s your wetsuit?” she asked, illuminated by the open entry above with Karasu’s mask still peeking in.
“It’s in here, don’t worry,” he told her, already pulling the lighter from his pocket to show him the path.
Koala and Karasu watched him pace down the aqueduct ledge into the darkness before the echoes of his booted steps quickened to a run.
“Want some coffee? Karasu asked her, muffled but understandable.
“I haven’t tried Astrid’s yet.”
She smiled, accepting his hands so he could lift her from the tunnel.
“Absolutely.”
The Spadille finally sat victoriously in the docks of Kitatown. Soft sunlight painted the wood a pinkish hue and the black sails flapped comfortingly. The feeling, to Marco, was a welcome relief, even though he found himself somber again.
Banshee emerged onto the deck, a mermaid that Ace had rescued, surprisingly prior to even reaching Sabaody and Fishman Island.
Far from being in her prime, Banshee had accepted her loss of physique and fair looks, and accepted the way her fins had already split into scaly legs. Looking haggard had its perks; she no longer feared sexual advances, or worse, that had threatened her in the past when she encountered men.
Now, she enjoyed the benefits of being able to flirt openly with any man she saw, relishing the way they all recoiled in horror.
The men aboard the Spadille didn’t recoil at her, however. They might’ve been filthy pirates to most of the world, but they were in that way more honorable to Banshee than any law-abiding citizen.
Banshee found Marco leaning against the port side railing in the early hours of the morning. She carried two mugs of coffee, one with cream and one without. Judging by the faraway look in his eyes, he’d probably pick the more bitter of the two options today.
“Here, darling,” she told him, offering both mugs to him.
He met her eyes briefly before accepting the black coffee with a grateful dip of his head. She knew he only drank coffee with cream when he was in a good mood.
Banshee leaned into the rail beside him as they took a simultaneous sip, enjoying the warmth and comfort it offered in the otherwise chilly air.
Banshee wasn’t entirely sure why Marco wasn’t in high spirits, but it was most likely about that origami lotus he pulled out of his pocket sometimes. To Banshee, it seemed like something only a love interest would have given.
“Honey, you’ve got all the love you need on this ship,” she told Marco, voice full of caring strength, “These boys think the world of you. Doesn’t matter if the girls in town do.”
Marco smiled into his coffee, eyes pinching with humor as he glanced sideways. He swallowed with a slight gulp.
“Give me a little credit, yoi, it’s not…” Marco cut himself off for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck. “I just still think about my nakama sometimes. That’s all.”
Jabby Boy landed on the railing with a proud flap of colorful wings.
His gray bill nipped at the folded paper flower, giving a soft ‘brrrrt’ before he squawked, “Izou-sama!”
“You have a good memory, Jabs,” Marco said quietly, allowing himself a small smile.
A splash coming from the ocean’s surface distracted Banshee and Marco, pulling their attention to a young man— Sabo— emerging from the water. His hair was dripping and clinging to him as he pulled his goggles down to hang around his neck. Using the pier for support, he tossed his head to flick an attractive arc of saltwater from his hair. They watched with raised eyebrows as he lifted his toned, wetsuit-covered body onto the lower docks beside the Spadille.
“Dear… heavens…” Banshee breathed.
Sabo donned an innocent smile when he saw Marco and Banshee staring down at him, getting to his feet to wring more water from his hair with naked hands.
“It’s a nice morning for a swim!” he called.
Marco smirked because he already knew Banshee was not letting the young man leave without flirting his ears off. She was already shaking her head at the attractive blond below, drinking him in.
“Baby, if I was twenty years younger, I’d give you the best swim of your life,” Banshee croaked, her haggard face resting in her hand as she smiled down at him.
Sabo checked the watch he wasn’t wearing and fixed her with a flirtatious smile. “Maybe later, gorgeous. I’ve never had a mermaid.”
Marco choked into his coffee cup, walking away from the railing coughing violently into his elbow.
“Nice boy,” Banshee sighed, watching Sabo unzip his wetsuit to pull out a pair of gloves as he walked away, “Didn’t mean a word of it, but he was nice.”
Marco recovered his breath, wiping a stream of coffee running down his arm as his gaze followed Sabo’s receding figure into town.
“I’ve never heard one of your victims flirt back before, whether he meant it or not. Did he remind you of someone, yoi?” Marco asked.
Banshee shrugged. “Other than Ace, you mean? He’s the only one I know that ever talked to me like that. I guess it makes sense. The handsome ones seem to have the most fun teasing everybody.”
“Yeah, that’s what it is, yoi,” Marco said, almost laughing softly, “It was something Ace would’ve said...”
But then Marco’s face changed, growing serious and unsettled as goosebumps broke out across him, like someone was dragging cold metal across his skin. Frigid and metallic and vibrating. Haki.
It took a lot to make Marco shiver. The energy wasn’t a threat, but it certainly wasn’t a pleasant sensation to feel. He watched in the distance as Sabo locked eyes with him as he disappeared between buildings.
“Well, Bansh, your pretty boy is a Haki user,” Marco told her, still looking at the spot where he vanished. He made a sudden face of realization with a soft, “Oh.”
“You recognize him?” she asked, leaning on the rail, before she gasped like the railing gave her a shock, “I forgot about the scar. That was Sabo, wasn’t it?”
“Sabo?” came an urgent voice from behind them, followed by quick footsteps on a staircase. It wasn’t Ace, however, but Deuce emerging onto the deck and hitting the rail beside them. His blue hair whipped around his face as he came to an abrupt halt, looking into the streets. “Damn it, I only walked away for a few minutes! Was he here?”
“You just missed him, sweetie,” Banshee said sympathetically, adjusting Deuce’s thin blue mask for him.
Deuce let out a sigh. “It’s alright. Probably couldn’t have stopped myself from saying something, I— Oh! Are you going, already? Before we even get eyes on her?”
He’d been referring to Marco, who had just pulled the bag of documents onto his shoulder in preparation to leave the ship and find Koala.
“If Sabo’s already awake and running around town, yoi,” Marco told him, “Then I’m sure she’s here, too. Stay here, Jabby Boy.”
Deuce craned his neck to look up to the crow’s nest where he could see a scope and barrel peeking out.
“Hey, Teachie? You and Saber still looking?”
“Doing our best,” Mihar called down, “Taking awhile because I need Saber to confirm if it’s her or not every time.”
“Let Saber look on his own. Oh god, and please unload it if you haven't already,” Deuce instructed, “Sorry, Teachie, it’s important.”
“Can’t Marco just fly around and find her?” Finamore remarked. The small, round-eyed man dressed for a desert expedition had appeared with his polearm to add it to their armament rack on the main deck.
“Absolutely not,” Deuce told him quickly, shutting down the idea with a stutter of his heart. He still felt wary of drawing too much attention, even if Kitatown was a smaller place with virtually no marine presence.
Marco nodded to Deuce, agreeing to give them a few more minutes before he set out on foot.
Deuce leaned against the railing, still staring up at the crow’s nest hoping that lending the sharpshooters his undivided attention might help them locate Koala faster.
Unfortunately, a loud creaking sound and crowded crewmates pulled his gaze away, frowning suddenly at what he saw.
“Dogya, what’s going on?” Deuce said in a tired voice, watching the large man appear in the stairwell as he struggled to roll something heavy up behind him. Skull and Aggie Sixty-Eight followed on the other end of a familiar gold-inlaid cannon.
“What are you doing with Dahlia, yoi?” Marco added.
Skull pressed a rag under his skull mask, dabbing perspiration away when they had finally got all her wheels onto the safety of the middle deck.
“Last night, Captain asked me to take her in to the shipwright. She’s not firing. Needs a fix,” Skull huffed.
Deuce tried to relax. He nodded and pinched his nose bridge, letting all three of them proceed down the loading ramp, only meeting Marco’s eyes for a second before looking back up at Mihar and Saber.
“Please hurry, guys. I’m worried if Sabo finds Koala before Marco apologizes, he might get hostile on us.”
“Oh. Sabo’s not looking for Koala,” Marco said suddenly, just as he realized it himself, “He’s looking for Ace, yoi. He was curious, not angry. There’s nothing to worry about, Deu.”
Notes:
🤠 <— that face when Ace puts his hat on you
Chapter 9: Reunion
Summary:
Hey, you. Take a second and think about something really cool that happened to ya today and drink some water if you’re thirsty
🫶🥹
If nobody told you your smile lights up a room today, I promise it does
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Long before the crew, and before Deuce, and before Marco, and even before Luffy…
There was Sabo.
Even when Ace thought he lost Sabo, he continued carrying him around every day. Because they were supposed to be inseparable, and he’d be damned to let death stop Sabo from experiencing everything, even if it had to be through Ace’s eyes.
Just the thought of seeing Sabo again quickened his pulse, his muscles tensing with wonderful anxiety, and he had a reason to be excited considering how much time Sabo had spent with him.
Nearly twenty years now.
Ace had countless memories of his oldest friend that transcended everything else in his life. He was more valuable than gold or titles, fame or reputation, because Sabo could never be replaced.
Days spent training together. Nights spent laughing, talking about the future. How they couldn’t wait to set out to sea together. Tears welled in Ace’s eyes, knowing he had shut down so many memories of Sabo out of sheer pain alone.
But now, that had all changed.
The old wound in his chest opened up to heal itself, a miracle in a time of few miracles. He didn’t have to feel weak anymore, didn’t have to block out the portion of his heart carved out at only nine years old.
Ace didn’t have to pretend to be okay anymore, because the missing piece of his heart was still alive and beating, somewhere in this very city.
In the heart of Kitatown lay the courtyard garden where Ace stood, watchful and waiting. A small oasis of greenery, tucked away from the bustle of the streets. He chose this central location so his Haki could be felt by Sabo from every single corner of the port town. He’d left his hat and beads with Deuce for this, instead donning an old rain cloak over his shorts in effort to stay anonymous in town.
Sabo had reached out to the Spadille to feel for warm energy, knowing that’s how Ace had felt last time. Instead of the familiar warmth, however, he found a different sensation.
He nearly lost his breath encountering Marco’s Haki from afar, just not in a pleasant way. The touch was a guarded one, and Marco gave Sabo the uneasy feeling of falling, taking a swan dive he hadn’t wanted to take. He felt himself plummet for a moment.
“Shit,” he gasped, steadying himself against the wall, hiding behind it.
Marco’s strength shocked him. He looked no older than thirty, but Sabo knew that couldn’t be the case. At the very least, the read he got from Marco wasn’t sinister in nature, just as Sabo had predicted. The pirates were here peacefully.
When they had locked eyes, Sabo still knew there’d be a chance Marco might pursue him, if he felt like Sabo had used the touch as a threat. He just couldn’t resist checking if Ace was on the ship or not.
Thanks to the slightly risky move, Sabo knew the ship felt much too chilly for Ace to be present. He must be somewhere in town, then. Sabo wasn’t sure why he was getting such a rush from searching for him, why his chest was clenching with anxious energy.
‘Am I actually nervous to see him again?’ Sabo thought with an embarrassed smile. No one had given him this feeling. Ever.
And that feeling caught him nearly as off-guard as the first time he experienced Haki itself.
And Haki, Sabo saw as a spiritual frequency unique to each person. Observation let users tap into this vibrational field, pushing their senses beyond the physical.
It seemed that two Haki signatures were never alike, each person’s energy shaped by their individual experiences and inner essence. A spiritual fingerprint, making it easy to tell others apart.
Sabo’s observation frequently navigated him through crowds, guided by the unique vibrations. And perhaps he couldn’t sense something this second, but he would the moment the aura of flame presented itself.
If one really practiced, really honed in, Haki became a compass, always pointing in the right direction. As long as one’s goal was, say, another user in Kitatown. If, say, one’s goal was to find the warmest energy on the whole island.
And it didn’t take long.
Only a few more paces, really, before their fields met. And it gave Sabo a shock to feel that familiar energy from before, even when he fully expected it.
Sabo walked briskly along the cobblestone path that led to the garden, his Haki guiding him like a beacon.
The way Ace was reaching for him reminded him of last time he visited Kitatown, telling him that Ace, again, searched for Sabo specifically.
His heart beat faster, at first not knowing if he walked into an ambush. Whatever read he got on the crew, surely there was no way Ace would’ve casually shrugged off Sabo knocking him out.
But how Ace’s Haki felt right now told him a very different story.
Sabo could read enough unrestricted love in Ace’s energy to understand that he himself must be very significant to the pirate, even if he couldn’t remember why. Sabo barely even found that surprising; there was a lot he didn’t remember.
It stood to reason that Ace might be the only way for Sabo to learn what his amnesia had taken from him.
Sabo’s damp hair had begun to make him shiver as the breeze rushed through it, and the burning energy surrounding Ace’s presence brought unbelievable relief, heating him down to his core.
That’s how Sabo knew he was nearby.
Sabo could feel Ace's aura growing stronger with each step toward the city’s garden courtyard, the warmth of his energy spreading over Sabo's body like a much-needed blanket.
A glimpse of movement caught Sabo's eye, a rugged figure interrupting the garden's perfection. From across the flower-lined courtyard approached a man in worn boots and a tattered cloak, its colors faded from use. And beneath the cloak...
There he was.
Sabo felt a surge of warmth, like the cold morning felt the rising of the sun.
Ace.
Chills erupted down Ace’s back when the familiar Haki reached for him. The energy of soft fingertips brushed just below his collarbone, cooling his heated skin... and he felt the vibration of metal on metal rippling through the air, growing in power.
Ace let the energy surround his body, humming at his heart with every beat.
Sabo.
Sabo emerged into view, the sleek black wetsuit clinging to his body like a second skin as his easy stride announced his arrival. When he saw Ace, he seemed to falter, nervously tousling his hair.
Ace told himself he wouldn’t do this, but the second he and Sabo locked eyes, it ripped away every drop of willpower he possessed. Nothing else mattered.
He broke into a run.
Vaulting over all the hedges and stupid flowers in his way. The air was thick as he closed the distance between them, and Ace could feel the energy building up inside him, matching the excitement coursing through his veins.
The tattered cloak fell away revealing Portgas D. Ace in his trademark shorts and boots as he let the cloak slide off in his wake. He needed Sabo to see him in his entirety as he sprinted closer. He needed Sabo to share the happiest moment of his life.
“Ace…” Sabo murmured with growing panic and raised hands, realizing Ace was not slowing down.
He raced toward Sabo so gleefully that he barely even resisted the hit, accepting his fate. Ace leapt into his chest, pushing him down onto an embankment of flowers. The hit sent up dust, leaves and petals into the air, fluttering down around them as Ace caught his breath. With natural ease and familiarity, Ace rested his weight on Sabo’s midsection.
“Sabo, it’s really you,” he breathed, trying to make it real so he could still his uncontrollable heart rate. He held Sabo’s shoulders with shining eyes for only a second before he pulled him into a crushing hug.
“I knew you’d be here. I knew you’d find me. I told the whole crew, over and over.”
Sabo’s eyes had gone wide in shock, his gloved hands gripping Ace’s shoulders in confusion when he got hugged, then gripping his wrists to prevent Ace from touching his cheeks after he pulled from the hug. Ace seemed overwhelmed with joy and disbelief as he reached for his face.
“What’s all this about, Ace?” Sabo asked, quietly stunned. Ace still sat victoriously on his midsection, smiling down in awe of Sabo, how hyacinths and forget-me-nots cradled him, how loose petals had decorated his blond hair.
“And what’s with the new look?” Sabo added, “Weren’t feeling the hat and beads anymore? I thought they rather suited you.”
“Deu said they’re too easy to spot. He wanted me to be as stealthy as I could here.”
The thought of how un-stealthily Ace had greeted him made Sabo snort softly, the first time Ace made him laugh that familiar little laugh in years.
Ace didn’t see why his statement had been funny, but man was he happy to see Sabo crack a smile at him, even a small one. He enjoyed that Sabo didn’t push him off, and how he still gripped Ace by the wrists, even if only to keep his hands away.
“Did you really sail here just to see me?” Sabo asked him, the smile dropping away, looking lost again as he struggled to understand.
“I would’ve been here sooner if I knew you survived, Sabo,” Ace told him, trying to bite back a wounded tone. He tested Sabo’s strength casually as they spoke, continuing to reach for his face against the firm grasp on his wrists. Until Ace saw his expression.
”I might need you to fill me in on some things. What my childhood was like. What our relationship was, even,” Sabo admitted.
His words made Ace’s arms suddenly go slack, so that Sabo’s grip on his wrists was the only thing holding their weight.
“I’m… I’m sorry. Ace. I should tell you... I have no memory of my life before receiving this scar. I wish I remembered you.”
They shared the same heartbroken look.
Ace’s chest began to clench, then his jaw clenched. He felt himself want to yell and argue, violently rejecting the foul idea of it. He wanted to scream that Sabo didn’t know what he was talking about, that of course he could remember. Wanting to say there was no way his Sabo could forget him, not in a million years.
“That can’t be true. You knew my name. You keep saying it… you’ve said it three times, now,” Ace said cautiously, as if any amount of persuasion could change Sabo’s mind. Convince him take back the horrific things he said.
’Luffy… help me, here… what would you do?’
Sabo considered letting Ace have his arms back, but then noted it would probably only add to Ace’s sudden misery, losing whatever small comfort the contact might bring. Ace was already chewing his lip in thought.
“I’ll make your memory come back,” Ace told him, “I can think of several things that’ll work. I promise.”
Ace could tell Sabo wasn’t comforted at all by his words, or his tone, or both— maybe even deeply offended— because his eyes cast away and lost all manner of softness. But he kept his voice even and patient, thanks to his experience controlling his emotions for Koala.
“I’ve been trying to recover my memories for fourteen years, so… for you to insinuate you could do it easily, as if I simply weren’t trying hard enough… it’s more than a little upsetting to hear...”
Sabo’s grasp had become so light that his gloved fingers slipped from his wrists as Ace squeezed his hands to his own forehead.
Learning that Sabo thought of him as a complete stranger, combined with having clearly made him upset overwhelmed him. He was still comforted by the fact that Sabo hadn’t pushed him away physically. Letting this emotional stranger act overly familiar out of sheer goodness.
“Yeah, of course,” Ace struggled out, hands still gripping over his own face.
“I got carried away. It’s enough that you survived.”
Sabo shut his eyes briefly, cursing internally. His hands suspended in the air between them still, like if he moved a muscle, he might do even more damage. He could see Ace’s deep, steadying breaths, the way his ribs moved slow and deliberately under his skin.
Sabo reached to gently tug Ace’s wrists so he could see his face again, fixing him with an apologetic look.
“Hey. Ace. I didn’t mean… It’s just a really sore spot of mine, but that’s not your fault. Do you think we could maybe just… start fresh? For me?”
Ace swallowed down the grief he felt for a moment, attempting a smile as he nodded.
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
Sabo smiled, offering Ace a gloved hand to shake, arm bent a little awkwardly considering Ace still sat on his abdomen.
“Hello there, Ace,” he said politely, looking amused as Ace accepted his hand.
“Hi, Sabo,” Ace replied as their eyes locked. His chest stuttered, feeling Sabo’s hand holding his own.
The tip of his index was all too aware that it rested on the bare, cool skin of Sabo’s wrist just past his glove. Ace’s stomach took a leap, the same one it had taken at ten years old, but only now did he recognize the feeling, and how it was only for Sabo. Who now gazed up at him in a way that made him lightheaded.
Sabo basked in his warmth as time stopped around them, feeling the pure innocence of Ace’s presence. In this one second, they viewed each other through round eyes that widened in awe, through eyes that had never known the sting of pain. Above Sabo, Ace’s dark hair moved softly in the breeze before his eyes pinched with gentle affection.
Though the beautiful moment seemed to stretch on for an eternity, all moments come to an end. Some, more painfully than others.
A bullet ripped into Ace’s shoulder, spraying red as it hit, and his body jolted as the aftershock of the gunfire echoed through the city. Ace’s torn skin tasted the sting of a thousand hornets, his nerves screaming out just before his blood ran cold around a kairouseki bullet.
Horror etched Sabo’s features, Ace’s blood spattering his face. The world stood still again, now caused by adrenaline hitting Sabo’s system, shocking him with the speed of his own movement.
Ace fell backwards and Sabo followed, rolling them forward just as two further shots rang out. The momentum made it effortless for Sabo to sling Ace across both his shoulders, already on his feet and sprinting for cover.
“Ace!” he breathed, shaky with effort, pinning Ace’s knee and elbow against his own chest with one arm to free his other hand.
“I'm okay. Another damn bounty hunter,” Ace groaned, his head hanging by Sabo’s upper arm. But his eyes were shut tightly against the pain of Sabo’s shoulder repeatedly jabbing into his bullet wound as he ran. He was glad Sabo had moved him because he could already feel his strength sapped away.
”Your Observation didn’t catch that?” Sabo asked as he sprinted.
”Easy, tiger, yours didn’t either,” Ace huffed in mild annoyance.
Sabo scanned the cobblestone ahead as they reached his target alleyway, locating one of the entries to the aqueduct. This is what he’d been telling Koala. Even though Sabo’s guard had been down, escape routes made all the difference.
Ace already struggled against the stinging pain, but made a sudden noise of dread when his eyes focused on the metal door Sabo currently creaked open.
Nothing shocked him with more fear than the aqueducts. A frozen, haunting nightmare of a place. Down there, he’d be sick and helpless again like a small child in the dark. Ace would’ve sooner entered the mouth of a hungry beast, because beasts didn’t intimidate him like this did.
Ace’s hands clenched at him, completely at his mercy.
“N-no, Sabo— please!”
“Hush,” Sabo whispered urgently, taking a quick glance around as he disappeared them safely into the tunnel.
Notes:
Shit shall hitteth the fan very soon
Obviously their dangerous lives are not gonna stop just because they want a moment's peace, das not how stories work dang it
I also didn’t mean to post this yet so be forgiving ily all so much
Chapter 10: Light
Notes:
The carry Sabo uses is a fireman’s carry if that helps. Described it last chapter in more detail but didn’t wanna kept beating anyone over the head with technical descriptions during emotional stuff
Chapter Text
The only light in the tunnel snuffed out with a loud, echoing ‘clang!’ as Sabo shut the metal door behind them. A bolt scraped harshly to lock them inside, something he only did when there was potential for pursuit.
”Sorry, Ace, this was my only option,” came Sabo’s voice in the darkness.
Their meeting in the garden now felt like a fever dream after being violently jolted back to reality. Sabo wiped the spray of Ace’s blood from his face onto his sleeve, probably only smearing it; he couldn’t tell.
He reached to touch the back of Ace’s shoulder, noting the skin seemed untouched.
“No exit wound?”
“Yeah. Bullet’s definitely still in there,” Ace said, voice coming from just below Sabo’s shoulder.
“I’ll get it. Try to relax,” Sabo said, lowering Ace slowly off his shoulders until he felt his boots contact the floor. Then knelt as he lowered him to the stone.
Ace did not relax. He gritted his teeth in preparation for his skin to touch the kairouseki below. Then he hummed in discomfort when he made contact, already feeling the heat getting leeched from his body. The stone beneath him felt like the dry ice he’d found in stolen cargo, adhering to his skin and burning.
Sabo lit a nearby oil lamp, dragging it closer as Ace tugged the old bandana out of his pocket and closed his eyes tightly to force it to his shoulder.
Sabo positioned himself closer to Ace, pulling his personal handkerchief and letting it unfold by Ace’s bloody hand, “Use this, please. It’s clean.”
Ace accepted the beautiful cloth from him, amazed that Sabo knew it would be stained beyond rescue, but he’d given it freely anyway. He watched Sabo work curiously, grateful for any distraction from the freezing ache of his shoulder.
Sabo pulled a supply kit from a hidden stash and produced a pair of long tweezers, flaming them for awhile with his lighter. Sabo caught the way Ace was looking up at him, giving him a knowing smile.
“You aren’t very subtle, you know,” Sabo said.
Ace bit into his own reddening cheek, shaking his head. “I dunno what you’re talking about. If you read something from my Haki earlier, it was probably just…”
Sabo looked sympathetic.
“Even now when I can’t feel your Haki, I can still see your eyes. I’m surprised you think so much of me after all the parts of myself I lost. When it’s probable that everything you once liked about me has changed. I hope your expectations aren’t too high.”
“Maybe you think you lost part of yourself, but you didn’t,” Ace told him, looking away, “Even the way you’re talking to me now. It’s exactly like you used to. You haven’t lost a thing, Sabo… It’s all still there.”
Sabo was frowning, but it was because Ace had said something genuinely comforting.
“That so?” he murmured, blinking away the dampness in his eyes, clearing his throat as the forceps eased past Ace’s entry wound to remove any bullet shrapnel.“What specifically?”
Ace’s gentle smile tightened at the pain, but replied with a strained voice so he didn’t have to think about the intrusion.
“You’re still kinda bossy. And a know-it-all… and you still want a reason for everything instead of just going with it.”
Sabo snorted, as amused as he was stunned. “Those sound like some of my worst qualities.”
“Well, to me, they’re not… They’re my favorite things about you, okay?” Ace told him, looking away again as Sabo threaded a flame-sterilized needle and removed his gloves.
Sabo gave him a soft look that Ace couldn’t see before he began stitching his entry wound closed. As much as part of him strangely enjoyed the intensity of Ace’s adoration, he felt there must be another side of him. One that matched that angry little freckled boy in his dreams. Perhaps if he met that Ace, it might trigger more of his memories.
Sabo worked as quickly as possible until he pulled a final knot to stop more blood leaking out.
“I’ll have you off the floor as soon as I can, trust me,” Sabo told him, pouring cleansing ocean water before tying Ace’s bandana in place around the stitches.
Ace sat with his eyes shut, having closed them to shut out the freezing sting of salt water. Sabo slid his gloves back in place and snuffed out the oil lamp before lifting Ace’s bodyweight again.
“Sabo, you trust me too, right?” Ace asked him, wondering if he was just being kindhearted or if part of him really felt their connection.
He flicked the lighter open, giving himself just enough light to start then walking down the dim pathway.
“If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have let you jump on me,” Sabo replied, causing Ace to smile until he added.
“Matter of fact, you wouldn’t have made it within fifty feet of me,” Sabo added.
Ace’s eyes darkened, remembering Sabo already claimed he’d ‘mop the floor’ with him.
“That’s right, you think you’re stronger,” Ace scoffed, “I’d tell you to prove it, but both times you made the challenge in this tunnel. I’ll bet you do feel stronger in here.”
Sabo’s eyes pinched as he smiled, enjoying the rise he was getting out of Ace. Something felt right about making him angry. He sniffed, shrugging beneath him.
“I seem to remember you weren’t able to touch my face earlier. You’re strong, just not as strong as me, and that’s okay,” Sabo consoled him.
Ace blinked, making a noise of disbelief.
“Sabo, I wasn’t actually trying. Like I would really force my hands on you… are you messing with me on purpose right now?”
Sabo snickered.
“You’re too easy. Sorry, I just like when you do that. When you get competitive,” Sabo says, then started to trail off, the sound of the smile leaving his voice.
”Guess I can tell the whole ‘thinking-I-died’ thing really weighed on you. And I just want you to relax a little. If you treat me however you used to when we first met, maybe it’ll help me remember.”
Ace was trying to look up at him but he couldn’t fully see his face. He took in his words with a rigid nod.
“Yeah… still trying to wrap my head around you even existing. I was just glad to see you,” Ace replied, letting his head hang, lulled by Sabo’s quick footsteps. He didn’t ask where they were going. He didn’t care one bit, not even as he felt more heat sap from his body.
“Well, I don’t mind , but I think I’d like you better just… being you,” Sabo told him, softening the words by squeezing the elbow he was holding pinned to his chest with Ace’s knee.
“How do you know?” Ace asked him, “When I’m being myself?”
“Want to demand a reason, or would you rather just go with it?” Sabo asked, sending Ace’s words back at him.
Ace laughed, biting his lip when Sabo smiled back at him.
“Are your stitches pulling?” Sabo said.
“Think I’d admit it even if they were?” Ace scoffed, but smiled a little when Sabo gave him a look of approval.
Ace might not have been the cocky hothead he once was, but he’d play the part if it made Sabo happy. Somehow, Sabo seemed to know the difference between soft, smitten Ace and young, temperamental Ace even though he couldn’t access his memories.
“Koala would’ve been a lot better at stitching you than I was… we just didn’t have time to find her.”
“Koala’s still in town, right?” Ace asked, suddenly remembering several of his crew were anxious to return her belongings.
“Mhm. If I had to guess, she’s at Astrid’s,” Sabo told him.
”Is she the type to run toward gunshots instead of away?” Ace asked, thinking the shots must’ve caught her attention.
“Depends on the day,” Sabo replied, “Why the concern, you feel guilty about Loguetown?”
”I just know she’s a sister to you. And if you swore to protect her, then that means I swore to protect her, too.”
Sabo couldn’t see Ace’s expression, but he could hear the endearing intensity of his words, pulling a smile onto Sabo’s face.
”Ace, you're the one being targeted, not young ladies enjoying their lattes. Anyway, you’re in no shape to protect anyone right now.”
“I’m fine. By the time we’re outta here I’ll be rested up,” he replied. This, of course, was an exaggeration.
Ace slumped a little, winded from all the talking. He felt more heat leave his body, leaving him shivering again. Sabo, in contrast, seemed to glow with warmth beneath him. He pressed the side of his face into Sabo’s heated upper arm, trying to force the tremor away.
“You got chillier, huh?” Sabo noticed, shifting Ace’s body tighter around his shoulders when he began to slip down at the movement of his quick steps.
Ace couldn’t even reply; he could only concentrate on finding warmth. His cold arm reached to weakly grasp Sabo’s chest, unable to resist the only heat source he had.
Sabo could feel the chill of his skin, even through the wetsuit. Ace ran as cold as the winter ocean, and Sabo recognized the temperature through the insulated material, mild to Sabo only because he was adequately shielded from it, but it must’ve been excruciating for Ace.
And Sabo really, really didn’t want to personally experience that kind of chill. But Ace had been shot, then forced into the aqueduct, so the least he could do was let Ace grasp onto whatever warmth he could.
Sabo was still using one of his arms to pin Ace’s arm and leg to his chest, but he switched the lighter to that hand long enough to unzip his wetsuit just past his ribcage.
“There. It’s not much, but…”
Sabo shivered violently when Ace’s frozen hand slipped gratefully beneath the zipper and spread across his ribs, making him cry a harsh, “Ah-ffff!”
But Sabo quickly stifled the pained noise, trying to adjust to the sensation of the icy skin as he walked them through the tunnels.
“I’m not accustomed to being the warm one. It’s usually me that’s cold,” Sabo told him through slightly clenched teeth.
He held the lighter with his free hand again, careful not to look at the flame itself; his pupils had opened wide enough to barely make out the narrow path ahead.
Ace savored the feeling of his hand finally touching blissfully hot skin. No one ever had warmer skin than Ace, not even Marco. Right now, even in the suffocating aqueduct, it was quite an experience for him to hug himself tighter around a body running a higher temperature than his own. He kept his hand still on Sabo’s ribs, worrying he would suddenly demand Ace remove it if he moved too much.
“Thanks, Sabo,” Ace’s voice said, now a whisper to keep the tremors at bay, “I didn’t want you to have to deal with this.”
Sabo nodded automatically out of habit, but doubted Ace could see it in the dim tunnel.
“This is a normal friday for me,” Sabo dismissed, “Anyway. You’re the only memory bank I have of my past, after all. Can’t tell me much if I let you kick the bucket, right?”
He was probably just being light-hearted, but…
Ace tried not to think, ‘
That’s all I am to you, now?’
“I’m not the only one, Sabo. There’s also Luffy. He’s younger than us, so we both look out for him.”
Sabo suddenly understood his commander’s connection to Ace. He’d thought it so bizarre for Dragon to believe Ace could be his son, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Luffy is your brother, then?” Sabo asked, adjusting Ace higher on his shoulders.
Ace sighed, really deflated. “Yeah… yours too. You care about him, even if you don’t remember yet.”
“Of course I care about him,” Sabo defended, but it sounded so much more hollow than Ace needed it to. “He’s my commander’s son. I’ve never seen him, unfortunately, but I do care that he’s alive and well.”
Hearing Sabo use such distant, unfamiliar language about Luffy only amplified Ace’s discomfort, making him shiver again.
Sabo felt the shiver as he paced his way through the aqueduct. He switched the lighter over again and stowed away the glove covering his free hand so he could wrap his warm, bare hand around Ace’s freezing one. Then Sabo’s lips curved with a hidden smile when Ace relaxed a little.
“That’s who you work for, huh? What do you think of him, then?” Ace asked.
“Oh, nothing but admiration and respect, of course. He’s the only father I know. He… yeah, he shaped me into the man I am today,” Sabo explained.
Even though Ace wished the words didn’t bristle him, they kind of did. He found it very difficult to have compassion for a man that, in his mind, had left Luffy to fend for himself. Hearing Sabo praise him as a father hurt Ace deeply.
“Luffy needed a father too. That never bothered you?” Ace said, careful to keep his tone even.
“Easy… Ace… He pulled me from the flames. He’s the only reason I’m alive to talk to you right now.”
Ace pressed his face into the warmth of Sabo’s upper arm again, and this time his eyes burned with the memory of being ten years old, running to the Goa Kingdom harbor and seeing the smoke still lingering.
The memory of jumping into the freezing East Blue to look underwater until his skin was pale and clammy. Then searching the coastline with Luffy until the sun went down, taking every drop of their hope with it. How Luffy had wailed horrifically, and how Ace had been too numb to cry for a long time, knowing he failed to even find Sabo’s body. They couldn’t even bury him.
I would’ve given anything to run into those flames for you, Sabo.
“Oh… I didn’t know that,” Ace replied miserably.
Sabo’s expression reflected his sympathy, moving his hand to rest on Ace’s hair. He continued speaking, gently, as he paced as fast as he dared.
“Luffy would’ve been targeted in his care. He made a sacrifice, giving up the son he loved so that Luffy might survive. Hope you understand.”
Ace nodded against his comforting hand, enjoying the contact even though it was ruined by the sharp spike of pain in his stitched shoulder. At least he knew Sabo had kept his kind soul, to still comfort Ace despite Sabo losing all personal attachment to him.
When Ace shifted his hand near Sabo’s chest, his fingers brushed against an unexpected swatch of elastic bands and soft, textured material. His hand flinched back down guiltily. He’d only wanted a less chilly patch of skin. He cleared his throat nervously, eyes squeezing shut even though the tunnel was still dark around them.
“Go on, ask about it,” Sabo told him.
Ace heard a distinct smile in his voice.
“If you insist. What was it?” Ace murmured, trying so hard to keep his voice steady. He already knew what it was, and it made him lightheaded.
“It was a prank, but then I thought it looked good on me,” Sabo explained, sounding impressively unbothered. “I think that pretty much covers it.”
“Mhm,” was all Ace managed to reply, flustered to the point his mouth dried up. He knew his own face was reddening mercilessly, even if it didn’t give off heat.
If he weren’t in so much pain, that conversation might’ve gone differently. Especially since his lower half straddled Sabo’s right shoulder, leaving nothing to the imagination if he’d had the capacity for excitement. That would’ve embarrassed him normally, but if he was honest, the thought bothered him less now that Sabo didn’t remember their childhood together.
Ace let his cheek rest against Sabo’s arm, closing his eyes as he tried to shut out the frost-bitten pain in his shoulder. He remembered how the Sabo he’d known was too afraid to admit his feelings openly. Ace had only discovered it from a hidden journal entry.
That’s why it gave him a surge of relief to hear the ease in Sabo’s current voice, like he could tell Ace anything with that smiling confidence of his. That scared boy had become this incredibly fearless adult, forgetting all insecurity. And nothing made Ace happier than realizing how beautifully he was thriving.
If Ace needed a silver lining to the whole memory problem, that was it.
“It does look good on you, Sabo,” Ace said quietly.
Sabo snorted softly. “You can’t even see it.”
…
”Still. I meant it,” Ace replied, even quieter.
He chose not to tell Sabo about his journal entry, about the feelings he used to have. He wanted him to rediscover it naturally. Given enough time, Ace felt sure that Sabo would fall for him again, but for now, he was content just reveling in the time they got to spend together.
…Wherever the hell Sabo was taking him.
Chapter 11: Redemption
Notes:
This is random headcanon but Marco gotta be into Izou, right, mainly because who wouldn’t be? Man is fine as hell. For real as badass as Trinity in the Matrix, just way too cool, I want to be both of them at the same time
Sry for rambling ily
Additional warning:
Brief PTSD type language, end of chapter
Chapter Text
Saber and Mihar kneeled on an old folded blanket in the crow’s nest, but Saber still hadn’t been able to locate Koala. Mihar had his hat tilted down to cover his face, so close to just giving up and taking a nap.
Saber had Mihar’s rifle peeking over the edge, gazing through the scope with his left eye. Both his eyes had begun to water, not used to staring through a lens like this.
He cursed in annoyance, wiping them again.
“How the fuck do you do this so much?” he asked.
“You know what helps? Complaining,” Mihar told him dryly without even opening his eyes.
Saber smirked, still swiveling the rifle looking for the girl he and Marco had cornered in Loguetown.
“I’m only letting you say that cause you taught me how to read, and I respect the hell outta that kind of patience.”
“Just got sick of you dumping salt into my coffee instead of sugar,” Mihar shrugged.
Saber blinked to clear his eyes again, seeing a flash of reddish blonde hair. He went a little rigid, halting his movement as he squinted.
“Huh! That’s her,” Saber said in surprise, moving to let Mihar take his place at the scope.
“That redhead? Saber, she’s barely a hundred pounds. Did you two seriously chase her down?”
“Tch! Damn, Teachie, just tell him where she is,” Saber griped, making Mihar smile before looking down at Marco and Deuce on the middle deck.
“Hey, Marco, she’s on a balcony, a few degrees east of north,” Mihar called, “Coffee place, looks like.”
“Got it,” Marco called back, looking surprised as Deuce put their extra transponder into his hand.
“Just take it. I’d like you to check on Ace after.”
Marco nodded, shifting Koala’s document bag over his shoulder and staring off down the boarding ramp. He’d confiscated her notes on Ace and the crew, of course, but Saber had earlier put all her other documents and supplies back in place.
Up in the crow’s nest, Mihar watched over Marco until he disappeared from view behind distant buildings, then the sniper slotted his tube magazine back in place, startling Saber by chambering a round with the rifle’s lever-action.
“Whoa, something up?” he asked, automatically reaching to his own pistol.
“Nah, I just don’t like leaving her unloaded. Only did it because Deu asked, but it makes me nervous.”
“More nervous than watching me point your loaded rifle at Koala?” Saber said, sharing a wry smile with Mihar, who still peered through the scope.
Mihar flinched when he found Koala in the scope again, noticing a distant man on another rooftop appearing to be setting up his own rifle.
“Deu, call Marco. Koala’s got enemies. Probably more than one. Could have sights on her already. I don’t think I can hit him from here, not where he’s bunkered.”
Koala flipped through the World Economy Newspaper on the balcony of Astrid’s, coming to an article that made her shift forward in her seat. She straightened out the large, thin pages to see it better as clouds began to cover the morning sun.
“Nearly twenty more children reported missing,” she murmured, brow knitting softly as she took a heavy sigh.
“Ventania and surrounding islands,” Koala added under her breath, “That’s not far from here. Maybe Sabo’s right… maybe it is Marmont doing this.”
Just as she said the words, the wind began to pick up, causing her to fold the paper hastily so it wouldn’t be ripped from her fingers. Looking up into the sky, she noticed darker clouds beginning to roll in from the ocean to the south, reaching to keep her hair from blowing into her eyes.
“Hey Karasu? What’s taking you so long? …Pelle? …Toulouse?”
She noticed she was alone on the balcony, only empty mugs remaining from patrons that’d already left. In the time she’d read the article in the paper, the café had gone strangely quiet, at least from outside. She couldn’t even see in the windows, only the reflection of the hotel across the street, and then her own reflection, sitting with a folded newspaper.
She felt her hair standing on end, and a strange feeling in her gut that something was wrong.
Koala stood up, sliding her chair back under the little café table and took two steps toward the pretty, gold-trimmed glass door. And she almost made it there, her gloved hand reaching out to touch the handle when it happened.
A gunshot.
Her body slammed through the glass door, stunning her as two more bullets echoed through the town.
Before she could even process what happened, she was on the floor, staring in a daze at broken glass mixing with her own blood on the hardwood. She couldn’t breathe, lungs too heavy to expand each time she struggled to gasp in oxygen— eyes pinching fearfully.
She only realized why she felt so heavy when someone’s body weight lifted off her back with a slight groan of effort.
Marco rolled onto the floor next to her, and she saw him just in time for his fiery blue feathers to fade into a bloody upper arm he was clutching in pain. That bullet had been meant for her, and she knew it. His crashing into her hadn’t been by chance; he’d barely made it there before the bullet did.
“You,” she reacted in disbelief, “Saved me?”
Koala was on her hands and knees immediately, brushing glass shards away from her skin before she helped him.
“Why am I not surprised you have other enemies, Koala?” he asked, somewhere between teasing and annoyance, trying to block out the stinging, “You stalking pirates in this town too, yoi?”
She sighed, glancing nervously at the windows.
“Get up, the stairwell is safer than here,” she told him, pulling his good arm to help him up.
He pulled a transponder from his pocket, having it connect to its sister transponder aboard the ship.
No one answered.
It took great effort for him to walk, so much that Koala tried to support more of his weight, looking at his legs for what injury was causing him to move so slowly.
“Kairouseki,” he huffed with effort, barely able to make it into the stairwell with her until he sank down into the steps under its fatiguing effects.
“Marmont’s men. They’re the only crew I know using those bullets,” she said, cursing internally as she pawed through her bag.
“Call Sabo,” she added, searching her bag’s pockets as she waited for the transponder to connect.
Marco gripped his hand over the wound, but it looked so painful he could scarcely catch his breath.
“Think it cracked the bone, yoi,” he managed, dropping his head back to the steps. He could see Koala pull a lighter and thin forceps from her bag, breaking a sweat as she flamed the intimidating tool in front of him.
“Damn it, Sabo,” she uttered, looking stressed as she finished sanitizing the long tweezers. Their transponders hadn’t been able to connect. She tried Karasu next.
“Remove your sleeve or I’ll cut it,” she told Marco firmly, biting the fingers of each glove to remove them so she could work with clean hands.
He nodded, sucking in a harsh breath as the material pulled against the bleeding hole in his arm.
Then he shook his head, pulling a knife from his pocket to rip the sleeve open himself.
“Karasu’s not picking up either. I wonder what happened to our friends that own the shop, too,” she murmured to herself, frowning.
“Hopefully Ace is paying attention, yoi,” Marco told her, “He gets reckless sometimes, but if he found Sabo, I’m sure they can handle these guys.”
Marco flinched, keeping pressure on his arm, trying not to think about any danger Ace or the crew might be in.
“You know, I’ve been shot before,” she told him as she worked, “But I’ve heard kairouseki is worse.”
“Are you trying to make me think about it, yoi?” he asked, smiling around the pain, “I probably deserve it, I guess… Yes, it hurts more for us, turns blood to ice. The bullet’s small, but the way it poisons from the inside— it’s worse than cuffs.”
Marco watched her drop the lighter back into a pocket and wave his hand away from the wound.
Seeing the forceps in her hand made his eyes shut tightly as he grudgingly released his grip.
Koala took the leather strap of her bag and held it out, clearing her throat until he bit into it with an appreciative look.
Something about seeing the monster that cornered her in Loguetown get nervous over forceps would’ve typically amused her, but she was too distracted thinking about Sabo and Karasu to react to it.
“Marmont has a small fleet under his command. Sabo and I suspect he’s a slaver. And that he’s been taking children,” she told Marco, just to give him something to concentrate on besides the instrument digging through his damaged tissue.
“If they’re targeting me, they must’ve found out one of the kairouseki suppliers leaked information to me.”
He nodded, biting into the leather until she successfully produced a solid piece of stone that came out whole and unfragmented.
The moment it left his skin, Marco let the bag strap fall from his mouth.
“Thank you, yoi,” he breathed with immediate relief, watching blue fire spring up around his arm.
Koala heard a slight shift in his humerus, a soft little crack that confirmed the bullet had damaged the bone. His skin knitted together, licked with healing flames.
“It’s the least I could do. You took a bullet for me.”
He gave a sheepish laugh, squeezing his arm with his good hand to appreciate the lack of pain.
“I’m not sure it counts, Koala. I didn’t think the bullet would actually hit me. No idea it was kairouseki.”
“Either way, I’m grateful you stopped it,” she told him. He brushed a small shard of glass from her bleeding cheek, holding flame there until the skin sealed up.
Marco's expression was solemn, sighing as if unsatisfied with her easy acceptance.
“No, I… I came here to apologize, yoi. I assumed the worst and didn’t trust your word. You helped us and we never thanked you for it.”
“I’m sorry, too,” she told him. “My commander thought he might be Ace’s father. I offered to look for information on him.”
“And his crew, yoi?” he replied.
“You say that like friends don’t define a person. Learning about his crew told me a lot about him.”
“Except who his father is,” Marco guessed, watching her nod. “Well, unless your commander is resting under a tombstone, he is not Ace’s father. It’s not my place to tell you any more than that— so don’t ask— but you can tell him that he’s under no obligation to send the captain letters on his birthday, yoi.”
Koala took in the information pensively, biting her lip as she worked.
A deep rumble shook the stairs as thunder boomed outside, rain beginning to softly smatter the windows upstairs. The ominous weather made him worry about Ace again, so Marco added:
“If Sabo found Ace, where would they be now, yoi?”
“The aqueducts,” Koala told him, “You can’t go down there. It’s solid kairouseki. You should check on your crew, though.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” Marco said, “I know pirate ships aren’t exactly hospitable, but you should come with me until it’s safe. Ace would insist.”
“I’m more at home with pirates than you realize,” Koala told him. And she nearly agreed to go, nearly let him take her to the Spadille, but first, Marco felt an energy approaching.
“Karasu’s here,” he noticed aloud, to her relief.
And Marco was right; a door down the stairs banged open as Karasu rushed to the staircase, eyes going dark the second he froze, staring up at Marco as Koala crouched beside him.
Marco could feel the change in him when their eyes locked, like a snarling thing dropping low. He wished for a moment that Karasu could read his Haki in return, so he could be truly at ease.
“What is this?” Karasu demanded, sounding muffled through his mask.
“An apology, yoi,” Marco told him, just as Koala descended to hug Karasu tightly.
“I’ll leave you with him, then, Koala. Keep each other safe.”
Marco disappeared up the stairs as Karasu wiped blood from Koala’s face, carefully brushing away more glass dust.
“Are you okay?”
“I should ask you the same thing,” she said in concern.
He gave her a guilty look, lifting his mask slightly to let her hear him clearly. “There was no time. They came in from the ground floor first. Pelle and her husband nearly lost their lives. I took care of the group that came, but I’m so sorry I was too late to warn you.”
“It’s okay. We need to find Sabo,” Koala said, “He’s not answering my calls.”
Her transponder rang quietly in her ear, shocking the life out of her. It was Sabo.
Marco raced back to the Spadille against heavy sheets of rain, having long abandoned the idea of walking to be covert. He’d stretched his wings in response to the urgency of the situation, rolling and diving past buildings and palm trees until he caught a harsh gust of wind from the storm blowing in, raising him high into the air. Several things were turning his stomach.
He couldn’t feel Ace’s Haki anywhere, no matter how far he reached. But, then, Koala did mention Sabo might hide them in a kairouseki aqueduct.
What he could feel was a different presence, though he couldn’t tell where it came from. An unfamiliar Haki-user somewhere in Kitatown, one with noticeably foul intentions.
And then, more immediately troubling than both other worrying thoughts:
Marco could see even from a distance that his friends were lying motionless across the Spadille.
They didn’t look like they were napping.
He could already see blood.
Lightning flashed in the sky, illuminating the wet faces of the crew, their eyes closed and bodies scattered limp on the drenched deck. Marco dropped next to Deuce, horrified by the blood coming from his forehead where his head hit the ground.
“Deu,” he called, shaky fingers pressing to his chilly carotid, nearly losing his mind until he felt the weak pulse beneath his fingertips. His other hand held blue fire just beneath his hair line over the blood.
He cursed at the adrenaline shooting through him, trying to stop the memories of Marineford gripping his mind. So many bodies. So many dead faces burning his eyes until they welled up.
It had started raining that day, too, by the time his second division commander lay dead in his arms. Only the sight of blood spilling down Deuce’s mask woke him from the horrific vision.
“Deu,” he called louder, moving his shoulder as he kept his palm burning over the injury. It look longer to heal others than to heal himself, and he needed Deuce to wake up quickly since he was the ship’s field medic. Marco wasn’t even sure how critical everyone’s condition could be, but not a single person was conscious.
He sniffed the air, feeling a slight buzz from some lingering chemical. It was too faint to have its intended effect on him, but he suspected sleeping gas, and the sight of a canister near the captain’s quarters confirmed it.
“Just asleep, yoi… You scared me, you know that?” Marco told Deuce’s closed eyes, shifting him to be picked up.
“I’ll get you all out of the rain.”
Marco asked the transponder to connect him with Koala, and it almost seemed to work for a moment, but she was already on a call.
As he lifted Deuce down the stairs, he kept his Haki wide open, on high alert knowing someone gassed the crew intentionally, most likely the same attackers after Koala.
Marco wondered if they’d gassed the ship to look for Ace specifically, or just didn’t want to risk pirates interfering in their hunt for Koala.
Chapter 12: Oathbound
Notes:
Sabo made promises to keep two people safe, and he intends to honor those promises
Warning: attempted assault of minor
Chapter Text
Sabo, like anyone, had a good reason to worry about encountering slavers. His reason was a little more specific than most. He learned this the first time he bonded with Koala.
Fourteen years ago, Sabo slept deeply in an infirmary bed, not long after his burned body had been lifted from the ocean. The Revolutionary Army’s vessel swayed gently as they made their way to Baltigo from the harbor of Goa Kingdom after Sabo's accident.
Near the end of their voyage, Sabo began to realize he’d see the same little girl by his bedside every time he regained consciousness. She always read to him from the chair, a different book every day, and he thought he noticed the chair scoot closer with each book, but he pretended to stay asleep.
When he woke up this time, she was even resting her elbows on the bed, reading aloud.
“…and the crew of Elbaf Giants paid a visit to this ‘little garden’ that I escaped nearly a century later. Now, here I am: the great Louis Arnot. The only man to survive the island of monsters…”
Koala flipped another page before she realized Sabo’s unbandaged eye had cracked open.
“Oh, how are you feeling?” she asked, “I’m Koala, by the way. They told me your name’s Sabo, right?”
“I guess,” he replied, “What’s that book?”
She had to double check the cover.
“Brag Men… Hack says it’s a load of crap, but I’ve already read to you from every other book he has.”
“Why are you reading to me?” he asked, frowning slightly before he realized it stung his left eye too much.
She closed the book slowly, letting it lay on the bed next to him.
“Oh, I thought you’d like it, but I guess not. I used to have a little brother. I just miss taking care of him sometimes.”
Sabo’s good eye looked away, his voice sounding sensitive to her words.
“Well, okay, but I’m not little, and I don’t need you to take care of me. Don’t act like you’re older than me either.”
“I’m taller than you,” she reasoned, tucking back strawberry blonde hair, “So I know I’m older.”
His eye gave her a look, assessing her.
“You’re pretty short. I’ll be taller than you soon. Then you’ll have to address me like I’m older.”
The way she seemed amused by him surprised him, because he wasn’t trying to be funny or even nice. How could he? He had this overwhelming feeling that he shouldn’t be here and couldn’t figure out who he’d left behind. It felt so urgent, too, a panic pulling cruelly at his memory.
Koala noticed him shiver slightly, trying to flex his own hands to make blood flow to them. She only noticed one folded black blanket at the foot of his bed and stood to unfurl it in her hands.
Between them, what she held up was a black jolly roger. Two crossed bones under a blue letter ‘S.’
Koala looked from the hand-stitched flag to Sabo with wide, round eyes.
“You were a pirate… like me…”
Looking at the flag gave him this intangible warmth, though it was soon replaced by real warmth as Koala wrapped it around his shoulders, tucking it over his frozen little hands.
“I didn’t know you were a pirate, um... 'Koko?'”
Koala gave him a soft look, despite him getting her name wrong. He was trying to be nice to her now. It made her smile so much that she wouldn’t have dreamed of correcting him.
“I was a Sun Pirate, but only for a few years,” she told him, though he didn’t seem to recognize the name of the crew.
Sabo pulled his flag tighter around himself, his right eye fixating on the end of the bed.
“Oh. I guess you could tell me a story about it if you wanted,” he murmured, making his voice sound carefully disinterested, but Koala caught his cute, hopeful glance.
Her eyes lit up, moving to sit back down.
“Of course, Sabo. I'd love to. Where to start...? I think my first night aboard the Snapper Head, I could barely sleep—“
Koala’s words faltered when a recruit appeared at the infirmary’s doorway. His eyes had fixated on her instantly, but when she recognized him, she couldn’t look at him. He ambled in, slowly coming to rest over her shoulder with folded arms.
“What are you up to, huh? Sure do spend a lot of time in here these days… Koala.”
She clenched her jaw slightly, standing rigidly out of his reach.
“I gotta go, Sabo,” she told him, removing herself hastily from the room.
Sabo watched the man pass the threshold, seeing him follow her direction out the door. Their combined behavior confused Sabo at first, but then he felt it.
The air of the room vibrated, shocking him suddenly when he felt it. Looking into the recruit’s eyes had shot his system with guilt and excitement, but the emotions didn’t belong to Sabo; they belonged to the man that had gone after Koala. An unfriendly man, Sabo realized. A threat.
Can I… read minds?
There was a choice being made in Sabo’s mind, though it was hardly even a conscious one.
Who am I? Someone who goes to get help, or someone who fixes the problem myself?
Sabo’s instincts answered the question for him when his cold hands tied the flag around his shoulders to keep it on him, then he kicked the bed’s covers away.
That guy can hurt me all he wants. I’m no coward. Bandages be damned.
His body was still stiff with the heavy swaths of gauze over his burns, but he struggled stubbornly until his chilly little feet landed on the wooden floor.
His fists clenched when he emerged into the empty hallway, looking both left and right with his eye. The ship had gone ominously quiet, save for a nearly inaudible creak of wood and a rustle of fabric. It made his hair stand up.
The hallway’s doors were all closed, a thin amount of light beaming under each one, but only one door showed movements and shadows interrupting the light. That’s where they were.
Sabo knew that door would be locked without checking; adults stupidly believed locking doors was enough to keep people out. It might have worked, too, but when Sabo looked at that doorknob, he knew how to open it. He had no visual memory of the amount of breaking and entering that led to this knowledge, but he certainly had the muscle memory to pick the lock. Silently, no less.
His cold fingers felt the bandage across his chest until he located the pin securing it. The soft material binding his shoulder unraveled at its removal. He ignored that, already focused on prodding the pin into the dark keyhole. His ears picked up the sticky noise of a spring when the pin freed the lock’s mechanism.
When he heard Koala make a noise of struggle, it punched him with so much adrenaline that he threw his hurt shoulder into the door in his panic to open it.
Inside, the man had a handful of the back of her shirt, but the shirt had torn completely in her effort to pull away from him, exposing a large, red sun tattoo inked across her back.
Sabo only locked eyes with her for a stunned moment before his nose wrinkled under his eye bandage, flicking his gaze to the recruit.
The recruit sighed smugly, not threatened after the intruder turned out to be a seemingly defenseless child. Injured, no less.
“Now, now, boy, don’t hurt yourself."
“I might, but it’s worth it. As long as you get hurt worse,” Sabo told him quietly, shedding his jolly roger and the unraveling chest bandage hanging across him until he was free from distraction. His burned shoulder bled from driving into the door.
“Sabo, it’s okay. Go back to the infirmary,” Koala told him calmly, only making him angrier, especially when the recruit snorted a harsh laugh at his determined little face.
Sabo appeared to lunge for the man, but feinted left to send him off balance, then kicked the wall to launch at him. He planted sharp heels straight into his jaw, laying the man out on the floor beneath him.
Koala watched with horror as one of Sabo’s fists gripped his hair and the other beat his mouth into his own teeth until she wrestled him away just as Hack sprinted into the room, reacting to the commotion.
Hack assessed the unconscious recruit as Sabo struggled to his feet, breathing heavily— more out of anger than physical exertion. Sabo pulled his flag off the ground to drape it around Koala, noticing she’d been gripping her torn shirt over herself.
The rest was a blur for Sabo, especially because the pain he’d inflicted on his own body was overwhelming once the adrenaline wore off. At some point, Dragon had also shown up to deal with Koala’s unconscious attacker. Sabo knew the recruit had been dealt with by the time found himself back in his infirmary bed with his bandages replaced.
Hours later, Sabo sensed the air change just before Dragon and Hack entered the medical cabin. It snapped Sabo’s attention up from the copy of Brag Men he decided to read, looking at them with a questioning eye as Hack perched at his foot and Dragon sank into the chair.
“Hack informed me of what happened with Koala earlier— yes, she’s alright,” Dragon said, seeing Sabo trying to interrupt him. “May I ask how you knew his intentions toward her?”
Sabo considered his question, eyes darting to the side, recalling the feeling.
“She obviously didn’t want him around her, but there was also this bad air surrounding him, telling me that he meant to do her harm. It sounds stupid when I say it, but...”
Dragon cast Hack a distinct ‘what did I tell you?’ look. His eyes pinched with pride at Sabo, the corners of his mouth lifting in satisfaction.
“It’s exceptional to discover it at your age, but then you’ve been through quite an ordeal… Do you know what Haki is, Sabo?”
He shook his head, to which Dragon nodded.
“We’ll discuss it later. For now, rest. Koala wants to bring you soup when she finishes her own.”
Sabo watched Dragon leave the room, feeling the intimidation of his presence, but Hack stayed behind, crossing his arms and kicking one webbed foot to cross his legs as well.
“I wanted to thank you, Sabo. If you hadn’t intervened… well… just thank you.”
“That never happened before?” Sabo asked, “She didn’t cry or scream or anything. I don’t get it. What if I hadn’t noticed?”
Hack pressed his lips together, looking sad.
“You saw her tattoo. The sun. It’s a tattoo you’ll see on those who have been liberated. Those who were formerly forced into slavery.”
Sabo’s brow knitted together, even though it stung his left eye again.
“People did that to her? She’s just a kid.”
Hack put a giant webbed hand over his.
“Girls like Koala, they have a hard time crying or asking for help. They were trained not to. That’s why she didn’t say anything, Sabo. I just wanted you to know. Can you help me watch out for her? There are foul men out there that notice a tattoo like that and see her as an easy target.”
Sabo nodded, completely numb. His visible eye looked stormy as Hack left the room.
The nice girl who had treated Sabo like family. Someone had sold her as a child, and someone else had paid for her. Hack said the slavers had ‘trained’ her. Made it sound like they treated her like an animal. Less than human.
By the time Koala appeared in the doorway, Sabo hurried to rub at his eye so she wouldn’t see the moisture there.
Koala put a hot bowl of soup into his hands, then noticed his red eye and new bandages as she laid his folded flag on the bed, returning it.
“Thanks,” she said, not knowing what else to say, “I didn’t mean for you to hurt yourself, doing that.”
His mouth pressed into a stubborn line.
“It doesn’t hurt,” he lied. The soup smelled good but he couldn’t try it yet. Koala perched on the edge of his bed, recognizing that familiar concerned look on his face that she saw Dragon and Hack make.
“You said you were a Sun Pirate,” he said, “But you didn’t tell me what that meant. Nothing like that is gonna happen to you again. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Drink your soup, Sabo,” she told him with a gentle smile. “You’ve done plenty for me already.”
“Promise me you’ll tell me when you need help. I can keep a secret, I just can’t see stuff like that happen to you anymore. Also, you can cry anytime you want, it won’t bother me. Crying feels nice, so nobody should ever tell you that you can’t do it.”
“You don’t have to say all that,” Koala said, giving him a sympathetic look, but Sabo was already in too deep to stop.
“I mean it… I can be your brother if you need one. Not a younger one, though, you still have to treat me like an older one.”
Koala laughed softly at his serious look, but Sabo took a heavy sigh, staring down into his bowl of soup.
That tattoo haunted him now… knowing it meant she’d been mistreated beyond his imagination. Sabo wouldn’t let her be threatened with the life of a slave ever again. He promised himself.
Still within the damp air of the aqueducts, Sabo was lost in his thoughts. He shifted Ace’s body higher on his shoulders again, gently so he didn’t wake him up. Somehow, he’d fallen asleep with Sabo trapping his hanging face between his hand and his upper arm. Probably the provided warmth and the darkness and the movement of Sabo’s steps had lulled him to sleep.
He had looked a little sleep deprived, Sabo thought, but it still surprised him that Ace could fall asleep with such harsh shoulder pain. His hand was still pressed to his ribs, though, Sabo realized with a soft snort of amusement. Carrying him had started to put a distracting strain on him, but he concentrated on keeping Ace’s right arm and leg gripped tightly to his chest and his cold cheek against Sabo’s left hand.
They’d be at Entry Nine soon, a panel near the eastern edge of town that emptied into a jungle bordering the south coastline. Sabo had decided against taking an exit so close to the docks in case there were other bounty hunters skulking around waiting for Ace to appear.
A violent clap of thunder reverberated through a passing drain, startling Ace from his sleep with a twitch, his hands gripping Sabo in disorientation.
“Easy, we’ll be out of here in a few minutes,” Sabo told him, “Would’ve thought a pirate could sleep through a storm better than that.”
Ace hissed slightly at the cold feeling still aching in his shoulder. “Normally… Hey, Sabo? Did the whole bullet come out?”
“It did indeed,” he confirmed, “You’re very lucky that it stayed intact. I never see that happen.”
“Guess because it’s stone, not metal,” Ace breathed, squirming slightly as his arm and leg prickled after holding his body weight for so long.
Stone bullet? Kairouseki bullets were just purchased by Marmont in Kitatown last week.
Jericko Marmont. Slaver. Complete with a fleet of at least five ships and likely four commanders.
Sabo stopped walking just before they reached the Entry Nine panel, absolutely stunned by Ace’s words, and not in a good way.
He dropped Ace carefully to sit on the floor, following him down and holding the lighter so they could see each others’ faces.
“That bullet was kairouseki?” he asked, looking extremely disturbed when Ace nodded, like Ace thought it’d been obvious.
“You didn’t tell me that,” Sabo breathed. The bullet had been covered in blood, so Sabo couldn’t tell it was stone when it came out.
“I thought— Sabo, you carried me,” Ace told him, having thought Sabo only carried him to the alley because he knew Ace couldn’t run. “Why does it matter so much to you?”
“I only know of one crew using those, and they’re slavers, Ace. This means Marmont’s fleet never left the island last week. They’ve been here the whole time. I need to call Koala. They probably know she asked around about them.”
Sabo had his transponder connect through to Koala, letting out an audible breath when she answered the call.
“Koala, are you safe? Ace is with me,” he said.
Ace leaned closer, and Sabo let him press his ear next to his own so Ace could hear her voice.
“Sabo—!” she replied, sounding urgent before their call made a strange noise, interrupted by a whiny tone of machination.
Sabo and Ace both made the same murderous face when an unknown man’s voice spoke on the line.
“I’m afraid your friend can’t talk right now. She’s a bit busy at the moment, what with being loaded onto my ship and all…” the voice said, giving a short laugh when he could hear the effect his words had.
“Marmont,” Sabo said, his voice thick with dread when he realized the slaver had taken Koala.
“No,” the voice said in annoyance, “You have the pleasure of Emmo Mori, First Division Commander of Jericko Marmont. Remember the name, because you’ll be making the check out to me. Two million berry, for sticking her nose in our business. Or I’ll sell her half price to a noble at auction.”
Sabo swallowed hard, his heart beating so fast he knew Ace could hear it. This couldn’t be happening. Anything but slavers.
“Where will I be bringing this check?” he asked stiffly. Ace was still hovering by Sabo’s ear, both their faces dark and flickering in the flame’s light.
“Northeast shore. By the entrance to the mines,” Emmo said, smiling audibly, “You have an hour to get me the berry.”
Sabo clenched his jaw, swallowing again. “That’s a two hour walk around the coast.”
“Then you better fucking run,” Emmo scoffed, but he sighed heavily not long after, “You know what? You’re lucky I’m patient. I’ll give you two.”
“Generous,” Sabo muttered, but he could hear that someone was whispering to the division commander on the other side of the call.
”You know,” Emmo added, “If you can’t come up with the money, you could always trade that pirate for her.”
Ace pulled back, examining Sabo’s fearful eyes the moment the call disconnected.
Sabo sank his face into his free hand, shaking as he clenched it much too hard at his temples, then into his hair. Ace could hear his pain, an awful noise he made in his throat. Sabo’s chest felt so tight he could only manage short breaths through his mouth.
It had to be slavers. The one thing I promised to protect her from.
It took effort, but Ace shifted in front of Sabo, reaching to hold his warm, blood-smeared face.
“She’ll be okay. We’re gonna go get her, both of us together,” Ace told him firmly.
“Right,” Sabo replied, distracted.
“How’s your hand-to-hand?” Ace asked, noticing he didn’t have a staff with him.
When Sabo pointed, Ace could barely make out the shape of a metal staff roughly jammed through the lock of that entry panel.
“Bolt broke,” Sabo told him, “Had to improvise. That’s one of my backups.”
“Genius,” Ace said, but he became unpleasantly aware of his own freezing body again now that he’d returned to the floor. Ace grudgingly removed his hands from Sabo’s face, clenching them to keep the warmth of Sabo’s skin as long as possible.
“I’m sure you know it’s pointless to bring money. If he wanted your sister, he would’ve just taken her. It’s you he wants. Guys like that only go through all this trouble because you’re worth more than the check he asked for.”
“I know,” Sabo said. But I have to go. She needs me.
Emmo had made it clear that he’d wait for Sabo’s arrival. He sounded desperate to get his hands on him. But Sabo still had a choice to make, and he could only spare a few minutes to do it.
‘She’ll be okay. We’re gonna go get her, both of us together,’ Ace had said earlier. But Sabo surveyed the state of him, seeing how truly compromised he was. Fearing the reason he might’ve passed out earlier could happen again, whether blood loss or sleep deprivation or something else.
“How were you able to sleep when you were in so much pain?” Sabo asked him.
“Oh. Well, I have a hard time going to sleep on purpose, but the narcolepsy usually balances it out.”
Sabo shut his eyes tightly. Narcolepsy, on top of everything else… Ace, I can’t let you fight right now.
Ace was a liability like this. Not only was he in danger of getting himself killed, Sabo might lose Koala’s life or his own if he was distracted by whatever Ace got himself into.
“Help me up whenever you’re ready, Sabo. I’m itching for a decent fight. You’ll have to show me what you can do,” Ace told him, grinning.
Sabo saw the visible note of excitement in his features, and it only made him feel worse. Because he looked down at Ace’s shoulder, how stiffly he held his arm and how blood still leaked into the cloth tied over the stitches. He couldn’t even imagine Ace bouncing back quick enough from such extended kairouseki exposure.
Sabo stood to his feet, and god help him, he couldn’t even look at Ace right now. He stepped over to the entry panel, holding the lighter between his teeth temporarily to pull the staff free from the panel with a soft grunt of effort. He gave it a quick spin in his gloved hand.
Ace watched him with a smile, reaching his good arm out in the air between them, so Sabo could help him up. But Sabo wasn’t looking at him, fidgeting with his staff one more time as he mentally steeled himself.
“I’ll be back for you,” he said rigidly, nearly opening the entry panel before the guilt could set in. Too late.
Ace dropped his hand, pressing both arms crossed over his chest as he shivered. His eyes narrowed in disbelief.
“You think that little of me, huh? I’m worthless in this fight, then? Weren’t even gonna help me outta the tunnel before you go?”
Sabo lifted part of a glass lamp from its oil-filled base, lighting the damp wick before replacing the glass cover. At least Ace wouldn’t have to sit in the darkness. It would give off heat, too.
“I can’t chance you following me. It may be awful in here, but it’s safe. You won’t die. Please understand that you’re too injured to fight. You’re a liability right now.”
The fact that Sabo wouldn’t even look at him made him more upset than anything else.
“The Sabo I remember would never leave me behind,” Ace told him.
Sabo finally returned to him, kneeling just out of reach to look straight into his eyes.
“I don’t think that’s true, though… Ace, I think I would’ve done anything to keep you safe. Even if it upset you. That’s who I am. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Ace knew he was right, and Ace hated that he was right because Sabo had left him behind before. And fuck, that was the only thing he’d ever change about him. It was the reason they got separated for over a decade.
It was the worst day Ace remembered having in Gray Terminal. Worse than the fire. He and Luffy and Sabo had been overpowered by older pirates. Bluejam’s crew.
Ace remembered feeling his own skull and back getting pressed to the ground by some rhinoceros of a man, forced to watch Sabo take the fall for him and Luffy.“We’ll take care of these two. They won’t bother your boy again,” Bluejam assured Outlook.
The thug holding Ace down took the opportunity to slam Ace into the ground, splitting his skin open and spilling enough of his blood to make Sabo panic.
“Wait— enough! Father, I understand,” Sabo said, looking desperate.
“What do you understand?” Outlook growled.
“Don’t do it, Sabo!” Ace yelled, feeling his chin being pressed roughly into broken, dusty concrete.
“I’ll do as you say. I’ll live as you want. Please don’t hurt these two, I’m begging you. They’re important to me… they’re my brothers,” Sabo said looking up into his father’s eyes, trying so hard to ignore Ace and Luffy calling out behind him.
“Sabo, run! You don’t have to worry about us!” Ace screamed, even as his head lay forced into the dusty ground.
“You said you wanna live freely with us! You gonna put an end to your dream?!”Ace only got to see his face one last time. Sabo was crying silently, brows turning up because looking at Ace in that moment was too painful.
“Sabo!” Ace cried out angrily, palms and fingernails burning where they scraped helplessly into the concrete.
Sabo looked away as hired men coaxed him to start walking, choking back a soft sob. Ace had just managed to glimpse his eyes begin to hollow, watching Sabo try to numb himself so he didn’t have to remember how much he was leaving behind.
Ace’s eyes welled up at the memory. He gave Sabo a serious look, swallowing at the lump in his throat.
“Don’t do this alone, Sabo. When you were ten years old, you went somewhere I couldn’t follow. That’s how I lost you the first time. I swore I’d protect you, and I can’t do that if you leave me here.”
“Did I swear to protect you also, Ace? Tell the truth.”
Ace hesitated, then nodded, looking miserable.
“I suspected as much. You know why I need you to stay here, then. If you weren’t injured, it would be different,” Sabo said.
Ace kept his arms folded, trying to preserve warmth.
“Look, if you’re really set on this, at least tell me you’re not walking two hours around the coast. They’ll see you coming. Don’t let them get the jump on you,” Ace said, looking bitter and worried.
Sabo smiled, inclining his head.
”Good, Ace. I’m glad you caught that. I only wanted him to think that’s the way I’m taking. But I’ll be the one doing the ambushing. As usual.”
Sabo took one last guilty glance at Ace and lifted himself out of the entry after checking it was safe.
“And I’ll tell someone your location, just in case.”
“Just in case what, Sabo?!” Ace asked, not disguising an ounce of the horror on his face as the door clanged shut, leaving him alone with only the light of the oil lamp.
“…Sabo!”
When there was no answer, Ace took several short, angry breaths before he yelled out in frustration.
Outside, Sabo flinched when he heard Ace yell after the entry panel shut. He couldn’t feel Ace’s Haki in the tunnel, but he didn’t need to. That noise was pure stress and pain.
He almost changed his mind hearing him so upset, and part of him wanted to open the door, take everything back and ask Ace to go with him.
Almost.
I’m saving your life, Ace… please understand.
Chapter 13: Visions
Summary:
Hope y’all had a magnificent few days. If not, you’re not alone, sometimes days can be dumb. Oh— if you aren’t drinking your water, cut it out :3
Chapter Text
After Marco made his escape from the café, Karasu wiped blood from Koala’s face, carefully brushing away more glass dust.
“Are you okay?”
“I should ask you the same thing,” she said in concern.
He gave her a guilty look, lifting his mask slightly to let her hear him clearly. “There was no time. They came in from the ground floor first. Pelle and her husband nearly lost their lives. I took care of the group that came, but I’m so sorry I was too late to warn you.”
“It’s okay. We need to find Sabo,” Koala said, “He’s not answering my calls.”
Her transponder rang quietly in her ear, shocking the life out of her. It was Sabo.
Karasu coaxed Koala up the staircase while she hurried to answer his call. The moment it connected, the comforting sound of his voice came through.
“Koala, are you safe? Ace is with me," Sabo said.
“Sabo,” Koala replied urgently, “I’m with Karasu. We’re okay. Where—?”
But the call had already cut off with a ‘clank!’ making Koala’s heart jolt as her hand left the banister at the top of the stairs.
“You’re kidding me… He hasn’t hung up on me in years. Something’s wrong.”
She traded a worried look with Karasu, but he was already leading her to a second-story exit and strapping her bag across her shoulder for her. They were unaware that Sabo’s side of the call had been co-opted by another transponder.
“Sabo and I can take care of ourselves. He wouldn’t want you to worry; he’d want you to focus on getting to safety,” Karasu said.
His words were punctuated by the sight of blood and broken glass in the upstairs bar area. Past the windows, they could see and hear the rain falling. The gray haze muted the surrounding city’s color.
“Get going, okay?” Karasu continued, pulling the exit door inward so Koala could access the ladder down to the alleyway. She’d be able to drop almost straight through the aqueduct entry panel. Then she realized Karasu wasn’t planning to follow her into the kairouseki tunnel.
“You’re not going…” Koala realized, “But it’s dangerous out here. I could—”
“No, Koala. I’ll be alright. Just get to the aqueducts. Sabo or I will call you when it’s safe again,” he responded calmly.
She relented, giving him one last look as a goodbye while she descended the ladder.
Two Marmont Pirates leaned against palms on the edge of the jungle, eyes fixed on the coastline. The rain still misted down, turning the sandy dirt below into mud under their leaky boots. The conditions of the jungle had become so miserable that time seemed to slow down, and the minutes crawled by like hours waiting for any sighting of Sabo down the stretch of the coastline.
Taser glanced over at Mullins from behind raindrops pouring off his hood, expression grim.
“Think he’s gonna show?" he asked, his voice barely above the howling wind.
"Unless he’s a coward," Mullins replied, though he didn't sound convinced. "He wouldn't have got far in this weather, even if he ran for it. We got guys at the train station already.”
Both pirates continued to wait in silence, their eyes darting back and forth between the beach and the jungle. The rain began to let up, replaced by a dense fog that rolled in off the ocean. It made the already tense situation even more unsettling.
"You know," Mullins finally said, his voice low and thoughtful, "Marmont's only had us raiding villages so far. He ever say why he wants this guy? Ain’t ever heard of him.”
Taser shivered, drenched in the wind. "Emmo has it out for him. Something personal, sounded like. But now that he knows Ace is with him, Marmont’s hoping to cash in on the pirate’s bounty. Maybe even more than his bounty if the Holy Land is interested."
“Shame he’s not a free agent,” Mullins said, “Imagine having a Devil Fruit aboard that can destroy other ships for us that easy. Hope Mori’s confident enough to handle him.”
They crossed their arms at the same time, peering out toward the beach again.
Behind them, a silent figure emerged from the fog, moving low like a panther through the trees. His wet hair plastered to his head, a metal staff in hand.
Sabo.
Mullins and Taser had been so focused on their own banter that they hadn't noticed the stealthy approach of their target. Before either could react, Sabo was upon them.
He lunged forward, his metal staff flashing through the air with deadly precision.
Mullins didn't stand a chance; Sabo's weapon caught him square in the back, sending him flying into the tree with a sickening crunch and let the staff drop with him.
Sabo drew Taser’s gun while his other hand clenched his throat, stifling the yell that would’ve escaped with piercing eyes.
Taser’s face tightened in concern, feeling the chilly barrel of his own gun kissing his temple when Sabo drew the hammer back with a metallic click.
“Your boss cleared out of the jungle when he felt me approaching. Looks like he didn’t even warn you I was here,” Sabo told him quietly, “He let me have all of you without lifting a finger in your defense. How does it feel knowing you’re disposable to him?”
Taser glanced at Mullins’ body then back at Sabo, choking with soft wheezes in the grip of his gloved dragon claw.
“He’s alive,” Sabo told him grimly, “You don’t owe people like Emmo Mori or Marmont your life, so tell me: Is Koala on the ship, or with one of your commanders?”
Sabo’s grip relaxed enough for him to gasp in oxygen, looking slightly less pale after a moment.
“Who? I— I don’t—“ he stammered in confusion, still reacting to the gun’s barrel.
“She’s just over five feet, twenties, ginger hair. Spit in at least three of your crew’s eyes already?” Sabo said, examining the pirate for any sign of bluffing.
“Why would we have—? We just cleared our ship to make room for kairouseki. That’s the only thing aboard,” he rasped, his peripheral gaze locked on the gun in alarm, “Dunno where your girl is, but she ain’t here… crazy bastard…”
Sabo felt his own hand begin to lose its grasp against his will, his shoulders dropping a little.
‘I fell for it. My call must’ve been redirected to his transponder,’ he realized, then whipped Taser across the temple so he slumped unconscious into the wet sand.
I need to get the hell outta here. But first, insurance.
Sabo crouched, using his Haki to feel for anyone else in the area as he slung both men’s belts and holsters over his shoulder.
He looked down in confusion when he felt his fingers and toes begin to tingle, exactly the way they had last time advanced fatigue agent coursed through his bloodstream. Only this time, he hadn’t noticed any vials or received any wounds to cause it. For it to be just now kicking in, he must’ve been hit by something before he even found the last two slavers.
Standing, Sabo reached behind his neck, noticing a prickle there, and began to sweat slightly when he felt the sting of a dart buried in his neck as his clumsy hand disturbed it. Then he snatched it out, hoping it wouldn’t have its full effect this time.
He kicked his staff up into his hand, disappearing back into the fog, trying to conserve his little remaining energy. As he went, he had his transponder try to connect through to Koala again.
His chest tightened as it chirped quietly in his ear, finally sinking his heart when it failed to connect.
Sabo’s brain felt slower suddenly, also a familiar feeling that had him gripping a tree trunk to get his bearings. Which direction had he been going?
As he peered around, he could only see fog and outlines of thin palm trunks in the dim forest light. And he felt suddenly aware of the chill of his wet hair in the breeze whipping past, feeling the rain begin to pick up again.
Lost... alone and more defenseless by the passing second. If anyone found him out here, disoriented and unable to fight, he'd lose either his life or his freedom, setting the stakes so high that he cursed himself for thinking he should handle this solo.
“Sabo!” a friendly voice called, “What are you doing? It’s this way!”
Sabo turned to look for the voice’s owner, only to discover he was looking several feet too high. His gaze lowered in surprise to see a young, freckled boy motioning him to follow. He was so familiar that it took a long moment for Sabo’s brain to process who he was actually seeing.
The jungle seemed to brighten around them both until it was lit by soft morning light filtering through the canopy leaves. It was now gorgeous and colorful— nothing like the gray haze it’d just been. When Sabo didn’t immediately follow, the boy’s eyes narrowed under his dark hair.
“Come on, stupid, it’s raining! I can’t wait on you forever.”
“You,” Sabo realized aloud, unable to stop his smile from spreading. “Ace? It is you. You have no idea how good it is to see you right now.”
The relief of seeing Ace when he feared for his life made Sabo genuinely emotional. He needed help, completely out of options, and Ace just… appeared. Sabo thought perhaps his own mind was using memories of Ace to cope with stress under the drug’s effects.
“What, did you hit your head or something?” Ace said, “Just get in! We should hide here ‘til it quits raining.”
Ace pointed impatiently at a large mass of tree roots with a big enough gap for Sabo to slip through. And Sabo suddenly remembered this happening, how cold he’d been before Ace found them a warm shelter away from the wind and the chilly morning air. It was safe and hidden there under the tall, suspended roots that filtered in just enough light to see.
He felt himself getting so weak from the chemical dart that he could barely even muster the strength to get under the tree. But he did need to bunker here, since he’d have to wait to be able to defend himself again. He realized the kid version of Ace was trying to help him inside, reaching out to pull at his gloves.
“You can’t be real,” Sabo said, even as Ace grabbed his hand to help him duck between roots and enter the little den.
“Don’t exaggerate, Sabo, all I did was find a hiding spot,” Ace scoffed, but he smiled slightly, like he’d been complimented. His expression lit up, examining Sabo’s face.
”Whoa, Sabo, you look so cool right now,” Ace reacted in his youthful voice, “We should both do that next time we hunt.”
Sabo made a confused face, checking his reflection in the wide blade of Taser’s knife. It startled him, the amount of Ace’s dried blood that had smeared across his face like war paint. He wiped it on his sleeve again, this time getting most of it off with the lingering rainwater.
”Ah. Sorry about that,” Sabo said politely, making Ace snort derisively.
”Such a gentleman,” he said mockingly, “C’mon, drop the High Town shit. It’s just you and me here.”
High Town. Is that where I’m from, then? Does sound familiar. Also, Ace doesn’t like when I’m too polite. Interesting.
Sabo couldn’t stop himself from grinning again, getting drawn in by the memory of being warm and happy and safe.
“This is so strange. I keep having dreams about you,” Sabo said, mostly to himself, “Even when I’m awake, it seems.”
“Are we setting sail in them? I have the same dreams sometimes,” Ace murmured, keeping lookout through the gaps in the roots. But when he noticed Sabo’s face turning pale, he approached to crouch by him, circling his knees with his arms pensively.
“Hm. You’re in rough shape. Looks like you got into the poison thorns again. Any scratches?” Ace used his small hands to inspect his shins and ankles for any cuts through the wetsuit’s material.
“I’ll be okay,” Sabo assured him softly, looking suddenly guilty as he settled against the inside of the massive tree roots. One thing weighing on him right now just so happened to be the thing he’d wanted to say to Ace. And technically, this was Ace. Maybe Sabo could just see how he’d react to an apology.
“Can I admit something to you?” Sabo asked, “I think I made a mistake, going into this fight without you. I always think I’m doing the right thing, but…”
Okay, maybe he was worse at apologizing than he remembered. He'd do it better next time. Sabo shivered slightly as icy rainwater from his hair evaporated.
The kid noticed his discomfort, tugging a bandana from his pocket. He unfolded it to squeeze water out of Sabo’s hair like a makeshift bath towel so he’d quit looking so cold. Ace sighed.
“Got yourself in trouble, did you? First I’m hearing of it, but it’s good to see you’re still alive and kicking," Ace told him casually, "Why didn’t you trust me to back you up?”
Sabo frowned slightly as Ace dried his hair, starting to actually feel warmer even though he knew this child had to be a hallucination from his memory.
“Trust,” Sabo murmured, closing his eyes, “That’s what it was. I should have trusted you, Ace.”
“Eh, spare me. Doesn’t make sense to have regrets, y’know. But you should know by now that we’re stronger when we team up,” Ace chided him with his small, confident voice, and Sabo could feel him still using the bandana to dry his face even when his eyes closed.
“Well, now that I’ve gone and done something stupid, I’m not sure even you could help me out of it this time,” Sabo sighed, “I left you pretty stuck back there."
Ace looked offended that Sabo would insinuate there was something he couldn’t do. He believed he could do anything, and usually Sabo believed it just as strongly.
“I find you every time you’re in trouble. Remember? I always will. That’s what the captain does, Sabo. I’ll convince you I’m your captain if it’s the last thing I ever do. You're gonna navigate for me, right?"
Sabo opened his eyes slowly, amazed to still see Ace's freckled face smiling softly at him. And he still clutched the damp bandana in his small hands. He was so... real. Even had rain droplets clinging to his messy dark hair.
If this was only a memory, why couldn’t he shake it off? Sabo didn't remember AFA being hallucinogenic, and he hadn't asked Ace about his Devil Fruit yet, making him a little suspicious of the child apparition.
"I really hope you’re not messing with me, Ace,” Sabo said, "I probably deserve it, but if you can hear me, I need your help checking on my friends."
"I'm your only friend, dummy," Ace said, flicking his nose softly. "Why do you sound so scared, huh? It's just a little rain."
Ace must not be responsible for this, then, Sabo thought, letting his head be cradled between exposed roots. Maybe he had actually fallen asleep. When he pinched himself, nothing happened.
"Even if it’s only rain, I need to stay alert, but… I mean it, Ace, thank you for helping me," Sabo told him, "I think you might've saved my life."
Ace smiled to himself, shy at his unexpectedly kind words and unable to look at him. "Stop. It's nothing, okay? Just watch out for yourself better than that."
Damn, did nobody ever compliment this poor kid his whole life?
"I will. I just have a last favor to ask of you, if you don't mind. If this really is a dream, do you think you can help me wake up?" Sabo asked, trying to give Ace an encouraging smile but he was looking away.
But when Ace returned his gaze to Sabo, his little eyes were dark and flashing, like he heard something outside the tree. Sensing danger, the kid rushed to peer through the roots.
"Okay, maybe it’s not just rain. Someone's coming, Sabo, and they're here for you," Ace said urgently, returning to crouch by him again. Sabo cursed quietly, trying to move but unable to even lift an arm. Ace saw the panic in his eyes.
”You got this. There’s two guns right here,” Ace said. “You don’t need your strength to use these. You’ll be alright.”
”Ace, I can’t move,” Sabo struggled out, looking deeply afraid when he saw his dream turning into a nightmare.
"Don't worry, this should work," Ace reassured him one last time, reaching a hand back to slap it hard across Sabo's face.
Sabo’s eyes wrenched open in shock, waking up alone in his hiding spot inside the tree. His breath came in silent gasps, peeking out to make sure he was safe. At least he’d managed to actually hide even though he’d been halfway out of reality. He still struggled to move, like a weight pressed his limbs down. He tried to call Koala and the others again, fruitlessly.
“Come on, Karasu, Pelle, anyone,” Sabo murmured in concern, but he couldn’t tell if there was something wrong with his transponder, or his allies were all in immediate danger. Picturing that made him feel even worse, so he tried not to.
Being rendered defenseless and unable to help his friends had Sabo biting back an angry noise past the lump in his throat. And Sabo realized on a personal level that it was exactly how he had made Ace feel. It was one of the final thoughts in his mind as he heard a pair of boots approaching.
He steadied his heart rate with slow, silent breaths, slipping out Taser’s pistol in his gloved hand and shrinking into the shadows.
Once in the aqueduct, Koala switched on a light attached to her goggles, sprinting down the path faster than she normally would with a hand keeping her bag steady. Her goal had been to get to the ocean entrance since that’s the way she thought Sabo would take Ace back to his ship.
When she got closer to the convergence of all the tunnels, though, she heard a noise that startled her. A muffled echo of a voice down the eastern shaft. It didn’t necessary sound like Sabo, but it certainly belonged to a young man. She knew to assume it belonged to an enemy, so she didn’t call out yet, but crept silently toward the voice until it became more clear, snuffing out her light and using a hand on the wall to keep her footing.
His voice made another noise of effort, sounding both weak and frustrated. A metallic noise told Koala the man around the bend of the tunnel was trying to stretch a hand to the entry panel. Soft light cast the shadow of his figure on the wall, trying to reach the exit door above him and failing.
“Damn it, Sabo,” he cursed quietly, panting with effort when he finally collapsed against the brick path again. Koala had said that phrase many times before, in exactly that worried tone.
Koala emerged into the light immediately, confirming it was Ace in the tunnel in front of her. One look at his miserable eyes made her rush to him. He groaned, covering his face when he recognized her.
“Sabo thinks you got captured, Koala. He just went after you. Can you tell him you’re safe? I’m glad you are, I’m just— this is so frustrating.”
“Our transponders aren’t connecting. What happened?” she asked, seeing the amount of blood that’d dried down his arm and upper body, the stained bandana around his shoulder.
“Just get me out, please. I know where he is. I’ll take care of it.”
Ace shuddered, closing his eyes as he dropped his hands. He’d be able to think much clearer away from the freezing stone aqueduct.
She nodded, worried that she could feel how cold he was even through her gloves.
“Okay, I’ll have to pull you onto my shoulders to lift you high enough,” she told him.
He was on his back with his knees bent, so it wasn’t too hard to get his legs over the back of her shoulders, but it took all her core strength to pull his reaching arms until he sat on her shoulders like an oversized kid.
“Fff—” she uttered, trying to balance him as she lifted his weight with her legs, “Please— Ace— try to help me here—”
He wasn’t actually that heavy for her, but it took all her focus just to keep him upright by his arms.
“I’m— yeah, what do you think I’m trying to do?! I have no strength here,” he griped back, suddenly sounding a lot like Sabo to her.
She clenched her teeth to lift him as quickly as possible so he wouldn’t fall off, but she was forced to smack his head into the entry panel to open it, causing him to hiss in annoyance.
“Sorry,” she laughed sheepishly, pushing him farther to clear the tunnel so he was street level.
The moment she lifted him past the entry, he dropped onto the cobblestone, already getting rained on but not caring as warmth began to flood back to his extremities. Koala hopped out behind him, crouching low as she looked around for any lurking slavers.
The town had completely cleared out with its citizens barricading themselves into shops and townhomes. In the distance, Koala could barely make out the shapes of men walking with threatening posture, so she hurried to help Ace to his feet.
“Slavers everywhere,” she whispered, “Hopefully you know where Sabo went.”
“Finding him is the easy part, just have to get to the ship first. Will you come with me? You’ll be a lot safer there than here,” Ace said. He was already on his toes to get eyes on the distant dock, noticing the ship had been pulled into the harbor.
Ace cursed under his breath, seeing the sails had torn in the high-speed storm winds. Sails were supposed to be lashed up to protect them in these conditions, so the first thing Ace assumed was that his crew had been attacked, because they would have raised the sails if they’d been capable.
“I’m not sure it’s safer, but if it’ll help Sabo, I’d like to go. I have deckhand experience,” Koala replied, closing up the entry and gathering her bag, “I can’t sit by and do nothing.”
“Good. You’ll have to hop on, then. Hope you’re not scared of fire. I won’t burn you, okay?” he told Koala quickly.
She did as he motioned and hopped onto his back with her bag tucked safely between them. Her grip tightened exponentially when he took a running leap off the railing to the lower streets, shocked when he propelled them low over the streets until the town ended and the ocean began.
”Once we’re on deck, consider yourself my newest swabbie. You’re welcome on the crew as long as you want,” Ace called over his shoulder, “If the others poke fun, don’t take it personally. They’ll come around. Oh, and don’t be afraid of Marco… he’s really caring. If you give him a chance, he’ll probably save your life one day.”
Koala smiled at his words because of course he already had saved her life, but she kept her eyes shut from the forceful rain rushing past. She would’ve pulled her goggles up over her eyes, but was too afraid to lose her grasp on him at this speed.
She felt like her eyes only closed for a second before Ace took a hard landing onto the deck. He skidded his worn boots to a halt and nearly lost his footing on the slick surface, top-heavy with the unusual weight of a passenger.
Koala slipped from his back, catching her bag and hanging it just inside the stairs out of the rain as she and Ace took in the state of the ship.
Everything had turned gray and shiny and wet in the gloomy weather, the sky dark above them. Ace’s black mainsail had torn straight up the middle, but Koala observed the design of it: fire and blue charms decorating a skull in the center of the red spade.
“I can try to mend that once the weather clears. Your main has seen better days,” Koala mentioned.
“So has the crew, looks like,” Ace frowned, glancing around at the unsettling emptiness of the deck. He could feel that Marco was here, already hearing him ascending the stairs.
It comforted Ace slightly knowing if any of the crew had died, Marco’s energy would have made it obvious by now. Nothing too serious had happened. The only thing making Ace anxious, then, was the urge to jump on Striker the second Marco had his shoulder back in shape.
Chapter 14: Tethers
Summary:
Sabo would really like to leave the jungle now. It kinda sucks here. Anyone listening? No? Shit.
Chapter Text
Sabo had to make it out of this without being caught, if only to get back to Ace. He had given Ace his word that he'd call someone to let him out of the aqueduct, but he hadn't been able to make good on that promise.
The thought haunted him almost as much as the threat of capture. Ace was willing to risk his life for Sabo; he'd made that very clear, and what had Sabo done? Left him alone in his least favorite place. Sabo's eyes narrowed, as if glaring at himself.
What the fuck was I thinking? I have to go get him out of there.
No one else even knows where he's at.
Right now, he wanted nothing more than to race back to that entry panel and personally pull him out of that dark tunnel so he'd know how bad he felt about it.
Sabo could only think about how pure Ace's eyes had been, like he'd do anything for him. Then without meaning to, Sabo betrayed the complete trust Ace gave him. And he’d given that trust willingly, without Sabo doing anything to earn it.
See? I didn't deserve you thinking so highly of me, Ace... I tried to tell you not to get your hopes up. I tried to tell you I'd only let you down.
Nothing upset Sabo more that disappointing people, and this wasn’t just ‘people,’ but his oldest friend. The thought of hurting him gnawed at Sabo until the sound of the approaching boots grew louder, closer, demanding his attention.
One of Marmont's uniformed officers, a young man named Tallis, looked only a little younger than Sabo.
He currently crept through the jungle with his pistol drawn, his senses on high alert. He was searching for Sabo, only knowing him as the elusive revolutionary who had been causing havoc among their operations. Tallis moved swiftly, wet boots snapping twigs as he went, his dark eyes scanning the undergrowth for any sign of movement.
When Tallis crept into view, Sabo lay still as death, his breaths barely audible as he clutched the pistol in his gloved grip. He knew that if he made even the slightest sound, Tallis would be on him in an instant. His heart raced in his chest, but he forced himself to remain calm, to focus on the task at hand.
As he drew closer, Sabo tensed, readying himself for the inevitable confrontation. The officer's boots crunched through the leaves, his body language tense and alert. Suddenly, Tallis paused, cocking his head slightly as if he'd noticed something. Sabo's heart skipped a beat, but he remained motionless, hoping the officer hadn't heard him.
Then Sabo flinched violently as a face appeared in the opening of the roots, but it was the face of a curious spider monkey, tilting its head and blinking round eyes at him. Sabo's eyes widened, moving his head with a jerk telling the monkey to fucking scram because this wasn't a good time to draw attention to the tree.
His hand tightened on the grip of the gun, heart hammering as the monkey hopped inside the den under the tree’s roots, bouncing playfully at him.
Sabo's eyes narrowed in impatient confusion, nostrils flaring angrily. He's hiding, about to fight for his life, all the odds in the world stacked against him, so what was this bizarre circus that chose right now to appear?
God, was he hallucinating again?
"Go," he mouthed silently, eyes intense and worried, trying to shoo the creature away.
A metallic noise clicked behind Sabo's head, belonging to a gun as a second slaver shoved his barrel between two roots from outside the tree. Sabo's shoulders slumped in silent realization, his face going numb and emotionless as the monkey made an excited screech, tail twitching as it bounded away.
Sabo closed his eyes, feeling deep dread as he reopened them to watch Tallis approach the tree until his distant figure was framed perfectly in the gap between roots.
"Drop it," Tallis said, raising his own pistol at Sabo, "Remove the holsters."
Sabo now had two guns on him from opposite directions. He took a long breath as he grudgingly laid the pistol down, easing off the two belts hanging across his chest with it. But as he laid them both down, he realized he now held both grips in his gloves. Before he let go of the pistols, his thumbs moved over the hammers, knowing if he pulled them down simultaneously, there was a small chance he might be able to fend off both of the men at once.
"I don't recommend doing that. Emmo wants you alive but no one else cares how I bring you in. Just come out of there," Tallis warned him.
”All I need is Ace. If you’re good bait, maybe I’ll make it up to you.”
Tallis already had his barrel aimed straight between Sabo's eyes, so Sabo gritted his teeth and dropped the weapons. He had a much lower chance of escaping if he got himself critically injured this far from help.
The moment Sabo moved to the entrance, the man behind the tree rushed around. He pulled Sabo out of his hiding spot, throwing him to the wet ground. His impact was forceful and jarring, but he didn’t notice initially because staring down the barrel of Tallis’ gun felt much worse.
“Bind him, Reed," Tallis spoke, staring down at Sabo's angry blue eyes.
When Reed crouched over him, Sabo turned away from him, pressing his face into a rough, protruding root just to avoid getting touched, but Reed won, seizing Sabo's face with a dirty hand and forcing his face back up to examine it.
“Ha! Tallis,” Reed blurted with a grin missing several teeth, "Look at the scar on this one, eh? Used to be a lot prettier, didn'tcha?"
Sabo's nose wrinkled, refusing to look at him. But he noticed when Reed was talking, Tallis watched his lips moving, almost seeming to copy him. Reading what he was saying.
Was the officer deaf? Interesting.
"I said bind him," Tallis ordered coldly, giving him an annoyed look, “We can’t both be deaf, asshole.”
When Reed looked away, Sabo surprised him with an uppercut, but he had nowhere near the strength he'd have needed to knock him out, apparently. Reed recoiled, looking down at him with blazing eyes before grabbing a fistful of his wet hair and wrenching it back until Sabo made another furious look.
"Want me to teach you some manners, huh?" Reed spat, his voice a low growl. He twisted Sabo's hair harder, forcing him to look up at Tallis through a curtain of wet hair. The officer's expression was calm, but again Sabo watched him reading the other pirate's lips.
"You're getting distracted," Tallis told him. Sabo kept his eyes on Tallis a little longer, wondering if he was imagining it, or if the officer seemed less cruel than the other slavers. He seemed to interrupt Reed every time he was about to threaten Sabo. Then again, maybe he was just twisted in a different way.
Reed slapped a coil of rope to the ground, and Sabo knew what was next. He fought to keep Reed's hands away, but the pirate easily caught Sabo's wrists in his firm grip, smirking down at him in unmasked enjoyment. The way Reed caressed his hands when he pinned his wrists together made Sabo's skin crawl, mouth tightening as he flinched. But Reed caught a look from Tallis, dropping his smirk grudgingly.
Rough rope bit into Sabo's wrists as Reed bound it several times around. Sabo winced at the pain and tried to twist his arms free, but the knots held firm. The binding made him feel so vulnerable. That, combined with Reed looking down at him shot so much fear through him that he nearly gagged, stomach clenching.
As long as he wasn't left alone with this creep, he might be able to stay calm, but the idea of what might happen if the officer put him in charge of Sabo was making his dark thoughts spiral. Tallis remained distant and silent, studying Sabo with those cold, dark eyes.
"I'll go ahead and get him back to the ship. I know you had important business out here," Reed muttered, hauling Sabo roughly to his feet. Tallis didn't move, crossing his arms as Reed half-dragged, half-carried Sabo away from the tree, making Sabo's breath catch in horror as he met Tallis' eyes in an urgent plea for help.
"What are you doing?" Tallis asked coldly, fixing Reed with a withering stare until the older pirate second-guessed himself, stopping in his tracks.
Sabo almost blacked out, rigid and resisting Reed’s hands with what little fight he had left. And Reed mercifully hesitated, his gaze shifting uncomfortably between Tallis and Sabo.
"I was just... making sure he knew you were in charge," Reed stammered, trying to sound more confident than he felt. Tallis' dark eyes seemed to peer right through him, as if he could see straight into his soul. The officer pursed his lips, considering this for a moment.
"Put him down and go check on the scouts. See why they're not answering Emmo’s calls," Tallis told him coolly.
Reed swallowed hard, looking like a small child being scolded as he let Sabo fall harshly, rocks digging into his hip and shoulder with a huff.
"Aye, sir," he muttered, forcing himself to turn and head off into the jungle.
Sabo watched Reed leave, rain pouring down on him from the canopy above as he felt a mix of relief and apprehension. He wasn't sure of Tallis' game, but he felt temporarily grateful that he made Reed go away.
The rain continued to fall, unrelenting, as if determined to drive them both mad with its incessant pounding. Sabo shivered violently, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
“Get up, then. We don't have all day,” Tallis growled, his voice barely audible over the rain. The officer took a step forward, reaching out to grab Sabo's bound arm. Sabo grunted in pain as Tallis yanked him upright.
The second Tallis pulled him to lead him through the jungle in the direction of the coast, Sabo's legs gave out, his wrists slipping from the officer's hand as he hit the ground hard, making a face of discomfort.
Tallis stood over him in annoyance. The rain poured down around them, the water streaming off his dark hair and down his face. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Sabo, and for a moment, Sabo thought the officer might strike him, but his moving hand only wiped rainwater from his eyes.
"I know you can walk better than that," he griped, thinking Sabo was deliberately slowing himself down.
"I'm not doing this on purpose. It's the AFA," Sabo told him from the ground, but realized Tallis wasn't looking and decided to test his hearing, adding, "You fucking idiot."
"Come on, get yourself up. I'm not gonna carry you," Tallis continued, like nothing happened. He gave Sabo's bound arms a rough pull that send a shock into his wrists.
Sabo grunted in pain, but forced himself to stand. His legs wobbled beneath him, and he could feel his strength waning with every step. The rocky gravel path seemed to shift and move beneath his feet, making it nearly impossible to keep his balance. He closed his eyes, trying to steady himself as another wave of dizziness washed over him.
The moment Tallis started impatiently pulling them through the jungle's path, Sabo's legs buckled again, slamming his knees into the rocks and roots as he let him fall.
"I guess you want this to be as painful as possible. Fine by me," Tallis growled. He didn't trouble himself to lift him. Instead, the officer began to drag him across the ground, his frustration with Sabo's slow progress growing, in part because he'd prefer to be anywhere but here in the storm, having to lug someone around.
The rain continued to pour, relentless and unyielding. It soaked through Sabo's hair and down his face and neck, chilling him. Tallis didn't seem to notice or care, of course, his gaze fixed ahead as he dragged Sabo by his wrists behind him.
Sabo tried to keep his head up to maintain some dignity despite his bound wrists and wet, tangled hair. He couldn't help but wonder what Tallis' plan was. Why had he ordered Reed away and taken Sabo alone? He felt relieved at first, but Tallis had every possibility of being worse than Reed.
He tried to wriggle his bound hands, testing the knots, but they held fast.
Tallis continued to drag Sabo across the jagged rocks, his expression a mask of determination. His grip never wavered, and he showed no sign of slowing down.
Sabo’s wrists already started to ache from the tight bindings. Rain plastered Sabo's hair to his head, streaming down his face and obscuring his vision until he blinked it away.
The path they were following wound its way through the jungle, leading them ever closer to the rocky coastline. He felt suddenly heavy at the idea that he was about to be torn away from everyone he'd ever known and loved. The thought sent his drugged mind reeling with fear.
Tallis' grip tightened with every step while Sabo struggled to find some way to escape, his body screaming in protest against the relentless punishment it was taking. No matter which way he rolled, jagged rocks dug at his skin, sometimes even catching his hip bone in a dazing jolt.
His wrists burned where the rope bit into him, and every time he tried to pull himself away, he felt the rope bite deeper. The fog in his mind returned, feeling the jungle close in around him, the dense foliage blocking out any sense of direction.
Fuck, this felt so hopeless. The drugs did not appear to be wearing off, and if it had been the same amount that got into his system before, it would take hours to get his strength back. Plenty of time for them to inject him with more.
The rope digging into his skin only added to his problems, and he tested his strength again to no avail. It was so fucking frustrating that he knew he could easily snap this old mildewy rope under normal circumstances.
But this pathetic little tether restrained him easily, like he was a small, stray animal caught in the city. Like there wasn’t raw Haki surging beneath his skin, vibrating for the chance to be unleashed. The rope would be about as effective as spider’s silk had that dart not found its target. He wasn’t accustomed to being afraid anymore; usually Sabo was the one striking fear into them. Slavers and munition dealers and corrupt officials. Now he was helpless, and the thought tortured him.
Harsh gusts of wind stung his wet face, and the pain in his wrists was excruciating the more he pulled at them. The fear every time he failed to pull free from the ropes made it difficult to breathe until his breath grew shallow and panicked.
He tried to focus on just the beating of his heart, the sound of his pulse in his ears. Then searched his mind for any thought in the whole world that might bring him some comfort.
He'd been flooded with such anxiety that nothing came up immediately, but it made him wonder if Ace was still trapped, and what he was thinking about right now. Wondering if he was thinking about Sabo at the same time Sabo was thinking about him. He didn’t expect that one thought to help, but it did.
It surprised Sabo, how much he realized he wanted to hear Ace’s voice right now, just for something to focus on. His vision of Ace earlier had calmed him so much that he wondered if he could make it happen again.
"Ace," he whispered, glancing up nervously at Tallis' back, seeing if he'd notice. When he didn't, he continued.
"If you can hear me..." Sabo said, but sighed in frustration at how humiliating he sounded. He decided he didn't care.
"I just wanted to talk to you again. I don't know how I'm getting out of this, yet, but it's looking so..."
Sabo sniffled softly, cursing under his breath as his eyes teared up, blinking them away.
"It's looking so... fucking... bleak, Ace. I don't know what they're planning to do to me, but I think I'm losing my mind. I wish you were here. Not tied up, obviously. Just talking to me."
Sabo's expression fell, realizing something else.
"You probably don't ever want to talk to me again, actually. I don't even blame you. I'm not sure when I'll find a way out of this mess, but I hope you make it out of there okay even if I can't get to you. It was nice to meet you, when you weren't tackling me."
Sabo blinked again, this time unable to stop a tear streaking down to the corner of his mouth, invisible in the rain.
"No, actually, that was nice too, comparing it with everything else that's happened today. Everything about you is nice. Feels strange to say, but I don't think I understood how much I enjoyed our encounter until now..."
Sabo winced as another rock hit his hip bone squarely in the spot that was now starting to bruise over.
”Ace, I don’t know if you can forgive me, but I hope you do. Because I’d really like to see you again… please…”
Sabo’s lip trembled until he pinned it shut, letting another tear warm his cheek as Tallis dragged him. He let his head fall back limp, too tired to keep it up anymore.
Chapter 15: Lifeline
Summary:
Wrote this to Willing to Trust | Kid Cudi
If anybody wants to vibe with me 🫶🎶
Chapter Text
The torrential downpour raged just south of Kitatown, tearing across the coastline.
Everyone on the Spadille still slept deeply despite the ship’s urgent rocking, but at the very least, Marco had them safe and out of the rain below deck.
Marco sat back on his heels. He was on the stretched net of the sleeping quarters, surrounded by snoring crewmates, but nothing had woken them so far. He knew there were no smelling salts aboard; he already checked. It might just have to run its course while he defended the ship if needed, but Marco hadn’t sensed any threats so far, thankfully.
He slipped Mihar’s spectacles away so they wouldn’t bother him in his sleep, folding them to tuck safely into the sniper’s jacket, but then Deuce was stirring.
”…Marco…” Deuce mumbled.
”Hey, you’re alright, yoi,” he told him, seeing his bright blue eyelashes twitching as his eyes tried to open.
This had happened several times already, but Deuce couldn’t manage to wake up, still dreaming incurably despite every attempt to rouse him. Marco finally gave up and let everybody catch whatever rest they could.
Deuce’s brow pinched, “Marco… we can grow berries anytime we want… so why don’t we have enough money? …just plant some berries…”
Marco contemplated his dream-state ramblings, lifting his eyebrows.
“That’s a good point, Deu… You sleeping okay? Mask bothering you?”
”Mhm,” Deuce hummed, still pinching his eyes shut tightly.
“Yeah, I didn’t think you slept with this thing on, yoi,” Marco replied, moving his sky blue hair aside to untie the dark leather cord securing it behind his head.
The minute it slid free, Deuce relaxed again, giving a soft snore as Marco tucked the mask safely into his hand. He’d never seen Deuce’s face uncovered before, and it looked almost wrong for nothing to be framing his eyes beneath his striking blue eyebrows. Still, as long as he was comfortable.
Next to Deuce lay the giant blue macaw, his eyes shut, snoozing little whistles out his beak. Marco gave the bird a sympathetic look, patting his chest.
Marco felt his Haki pick up on Ace’s approaching warmth at that moment, sighing in relief just to have confirmation that the captain had survived. As his energy grew warmer, though, Marco realized that Sabo wasn’t with him. He tried not to let the thought trouble him as he climbed over Deuce to get to the hallway.
When he emerged from below deck, he avoided Koala in surprise, only narrowly stopping the collision. But he had no time to react to her before seeing Ace’s condition, how blood had dried down his body. His injured shoulder suddenly had Marco’s full attention, seeing the blood-soaked bandana wrapped around it.
“Should’ve known there’d be something, yoi,” Marco told him. It was too much to ask for Ace to come back unscathed. His hands had erupted in flames on his approach, carefully pulling Ace’s bloody bandana away from his stitches to examine it. Ace gestured toward Koala with his good hand.
“Meet your newest crewmate. Where’s the rest of them?” Ace asked Marco.
“Good to see you both made it,” Marco said, holding the healing fire to the sewn up puncture wound, “The crew got hit with sleeping gas, that’s all. They’ll be alright, they’re just down in the cabin. Actually, could you work on reviving them, Koala? If you don’t mind?”
“I’ll give it a shot, just keep me updated on Sabo,” Koala told him as she crossed the deck to descend the stairs.
Marco noticed the concern on the captain’s face when Koala mentioned Sabo’s name. He hesitated to ask, dreading the response.
“What happened to him, Ace? Was it Marmont?”
Ace took a moment to answer him, glancing up to the top deck where Striker sat on display, lashed onto blocks to keep her upright and safe.
“Took off after one of Marmont’s commanders, yeah. You’ve heard of him? Sabo thinks he’s a slaver.”
Marco nodded, checking his progress on Ace’s shoulder, “That guy’s an old head, and so is Mori if he’s still hanging around him. Both used to be marines. Went crazy eventually, I heard. Never kept up with what they were doing, but it doesn’t sound good, yoi.”
“Think they gassed the ship too?” Ace asked, watching Marco work on his shoulder.
“That’s a safe assumption, but whoever it was cleared off before I got here. Haven’t felt any Haki since I was back in town, but it was faint. Far away,” Marco explained, holding healing fire to Ace’s stitches.
The stinging deep in Ace’s shoulder began to fade as blue flames recovered the damaged tissue, giving him a little physical relief. There was no emotional relief, however. Only looking at Striker seemed to stop the impatient energy surging through him.
“Marco… I’m gonna go check that Sabo didn’t get in over his head. But I need you to stay aboard,” Ace told him seriously, “If you follow me, the whole crew are as good as dead out here.”
Marco nodded, having known that’d be the case even before Ace ordered it.
“Can you tell me where you’re headed before you go? At least?” Marco asked, watching him look at Striker again. On a personal level, Marco wanted Ace to stay with the ship, but he knew with Sabo involved, there was no convincing Ace to play it safe.
And Ace didn't want to take the ship because it'd be nearly impossible to get her there quickly. With torn sails and an incapacitated crew, they didn't stand a chance of making it to Sabo in time to help. Not to mention, Ace could zip in and out of there, but his ship wouldn't hold up if Marmont's whole fleet awaited them around the coastline. Still, Marco was right; someone should know where Ace went.
“We’ll be on the northeastern shore,” Ace told him, taking deep, steadying breaths and trying to stay calm, not fidget too much. Marco released his brand new shoulder which had sealed behind and pushed out the medical thread.
“Help me get Striker in the water?” Ace asked.
“I’ll do it myself. Keep your energy, okay?” Marco told him, only letting his fiery wings stretch for a moment to lift him to the upper deck before he needed the use of his hands again.
It took Marco less than a minute to get the raft untethered. Ace leaned on the railing as Marco stretched his blue wings again and used his talons to lower the vessel gently by her mast.
Koala bounded back up the stairs, only barely catching Ace’s attention just before he jumped ship.
“Ace,” she called breathlessly, tugging the suctioned miniature snail from her ear as she met him at the starboard rail.
“I finally got through to Sabo. He got hit with AFA, it’s like kairouseki for Haki-users. Last time this happened, he nearly lost his life. Take this, he’s connected to it. Just please get him back.”
Ace cursed under his breath, pressing the transponder into his ear as he bailed over the railing, both old boots landing softly on Striker with a decelerating burst of fire.
Glancing back up, he gave Marco and Koala a final look where they leaned at the railing.
“Watch out for each other, okay? Captain’s orders. I’ll be back soon with Sabo.”
With that, he slammed his boot against the propeller boards to get them turning before revving it faster with the rocket propulsion from one leg. He leaned forward, balancing expertly as the raft jolted to full speed.
“Sabo?” Ace asked, noticeably softer than when he’d spoken to Marco and Koala.
It took Sabo a moment to reply, voice sounding like he was doing his best to force down his emotions.
“I’m glad Koala found you,” Sabo told him, “I know I should’ve just trusted you… sorry, Ace. I’m surprised you’re even talking to me right now.”
Ace could hear how physically difficult it was for Sabo to admit. He didn’t need a word of it, though.
“Stop talking like that, Sabo, you’re just tiring yourself out,” Ace told him distractedly, “I’ll earn your trust. You don’t have to just hand it out. When I get you outta there safely, then you can trust me.”
There was no heat behind his words, not while his brain was working so hard to focus. He pushed Striker as fast as she could go, sending waves in his wake as the thin vessel cut into the stormy water. Rain smattered at his skin, but it turned to steam on impact so the vapor rolled away and didn’t cause him any discomfort.
“You’re serious? How—?” Sabo said.
…could you possibly make it here in time?
But Sabo remembered how Ace reacted as a kid when he told him he didn’t think he could help. Somehow if Ace wanted something badly enough, he could do it, and he didn’t like anyone saying he couldn’t.
“How what?” Ace asked, weaving through the tides and sinking lower to the raft to cut down on wind resistance.
“It’s nothing. I’m not gonna doubt you this time,” Sabo told him.
“Well, that’s good, but I’d rather you tell me you’re hiding somewhere safe. Please,” Ace added, more gently.
“I was hiding, but,” Sabo said, before he took a steadying breath and struggled to add, ”Um, Ace… I messed up pretty bad.”
Ace’s stomach dropped unpleasantly at the way his voice cracked, but he focused on Striker, sinking lower and using his legs to press down over each wave to urge her even faster.
“You get hurt?” Ace asked, banking around the coast just far enough to be less of a target from the shore.
“Captured,” Sabo admitted, and by this point he was ten times more scared than he was embarrassed. Ace was quiet for such a stretch of time that Sabo wondered if he heard him, because Sabo really didn’t want to say it again.
Ace clenched his fingers tighter into the mast behind him. He’d never hope for Sabo to be injured, but it would’ve been so much better than hearing he’d already fallen into their hands.
“How are you talking to me,” Ace murmured, half to himself, “Don’t speak if it’s too dangerous. I’m coming to find you. I’ll be there soon.”
“The officer transporting me is deaf,” Sabo told him, keeping his voice low and quick in case other men lurked around them, “All I can assume is that we’re going to the ship off the coast.”
“How close to their ship are you now?” Ace asked past a lump forming in his throat. It was no time for emotions, but they were certainly there.
”Wish I knew. Haven’t been able to get my bearings since the drug hit,” he admitted quietly, “Hopefully awhile. One of their lookouts mentioned Emmo wanted me for personal reasons, whatever that means. Not sure I want to know.”
Ace noticed the fear shaking Sabo’s voice, but the sharp inhale of pain that Sabo made afterward upset him even more.
“That officer treating you okay?” Ace asked rigidly.
“Me? I’m doing great. It’s almost like a massage,” Sabo said, trying to sound humorous to ignore the sharp bite of jutting rocks hitting the same bruising skin over and over.
He had no idea his words made Ace’s blood boil until Ace made a strained noise, frustrated that he was still too far away to help.
“Sabo, if he’s doing sick shit to you— god, I’m gonna kill him in the worst way. Tell me his name,” Ace demanded, nearly losing his mind before Sabo clarified he’d been referring to the rocks, not the officer’s hands on him.
Ace released a ragged breath to shake off the adrenaline. He leaned Striker around larger breakers in his path, shifting his weight on the raft to turn it as he tried to swallow down the concern Sabo’s situation caused him.
The rain had soaked Sabo’s hair and face again, and the wind whipping harshly down the path sent cold chills through his body. But it only made it easier to tell when Ace was getting closer to him.
And nothing could have prepared Sabo for the overwhelming relief that surged through him the second he sensed Ace's actual presence in the area. Like he was already safe, just because Ace was there.
He didn’t have enough strength to break the binding on his wrist, but thankfully his Observation field was intact. He was still cold because the warmth only faintly reached him, but he suddenly didn't care about the discomfort of rain or rocks or wind.
“I can feel you,” Sabo told him quietly, shutting his eyes to concentrate on the insane amount of comfort it brought him.
“I feel you too, Sabo,” Ace replied, and his voice carried the sound of him smiling because it meant he could find him.
“That chemical must be a little different from kairouseki if you can still sense people.”
Sabo considered his words for a moment, agreeing with him, but what he really needed was to take his mind off the situation.
“Ace… what does it feel like to you? The energy?” Sabo asked, nearly a whisper as he cast a glance at his distracted captor.
“Oh, your Haki? It feels cold, and it does this thing where it rings out like striking metal. Sometimes it’s like I can even feel your, um… hands…” Ace told him, sounding a little embarrassed to admit it, “Nevermind, it’s weird when I say it out loud. I’m not doing it any justice. It’s just… it’s really nice.”
Sabo shivered, focusing on the growing warmth as it approached with freezing wind still tearing at him. He wished Ace would keep talking forever, but Ace cleared his throat awkwardly, probably even blushing.
“How are you getting here?” Sabo asked, and Ace was too happy to answer.
“I have this powered raft that me and my friend put together one time. Her name’s Striker. Honestly don’t get to use her much anymore, so this is as good a time as any. Man, I think you’ll really like her, Sabo.”
“That so?” Sabo replied quietly, just hoping he’d keep talking, “I’m sure that’ll make it easier to get back to your ship.”
“Definitely. There’s this Fishman in my crew, Wallace, and he’s really fast in the water. Well, on Striker, we’ll be as fast as Wallace is. And Sabo, when it isn’t raining and the water’s really still, there’s nothing that compares to it. We’ll have to do this again one day… on a nice day. When the sun’s out.”
“Yeah… sounds amazing,” Sabo admitted, but his voice was thick, like he didn’t want to tempt fate by pinning all his hope on Ace’s words. Imagining the rain stopping and the sun coming out, imagining they were a world away from these slavers felt so risky. Like if he dared to believe it, it might not happen.
As if in agreement, a protruding root smacked his bruises, ripping another hiss from him.
“You alright?” Ace asked.
“Worried,” Sabo replied stiffly, only loud enough for the transponder.
“Don’t be,” Ace told him, making soft noises of effort as he pressed down each wave with his legs to go even faster, “I’ll be there soon.”
Sabo’s shoulders ached from being roughly pulled, his face red and stinging in the cold, rainy air. His eyes closed, his only sanity the touch of Ace’s comforting energy reaching for him.
“I heard them say you destroy ships,” Sabo whispered, “There’re no prisoners aboard the one on the coast. They cleared it for stone cargo. You should sink it if you can.”
Ace smiled at the thought of showing off for him.
“Make sure you’re watching, then.”
“We’re almost at the coast,” Sabo said, feeling sand beneath him in the jungle.
“Me too,” Ace told him, squinting to try and make out distant shapes emerging in the fog.
“Y’know, you being here is the only thing giving me hope right now. Just wanted to tell you that, Ace… Whatever else happens, I’m glad it’s you…” Sabo told him, trying not to think about his stinging wrists. Trying to just focus on Ace.
And Ace’s heart squeezed at hearing Sabo say those things, but…
“Can I ask why?” Ace said quietly. It would’ve been all too easy to soak in the words without question, but he really didn’t know what Sabo could possibly see in him at this point.
Didn’t he forget their connection? Didn’t he forget how close they used to be? Ace didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he still had a lot to learn about him.
Tallis pulled Sabo through the last of the treeline onto the rainy shore, the sound of the waves crashing against the jagged stones filling Sabo's ears. The slave ship loomed before him like some frightful, monstrous thing. Most of the sails had been drawn up, giving the ship a skeletal look, gaunt with bare masts and yards and rigging.
Thinking of what to say, Sabo searched the horizon hoping to see Ace, but could only see the density of the fog.
“I think, I mean… I gave you every reason to just give up on me,” Sabo said, looking up at his own bound hands. “And somehow you’re still determined to risk everything. For a complete idiot. I don’t know what to say, other than I don’t deserve it.”
Ace used his weight to bank the craft to her port side around the coastline.
“Sabo, one thing you’ll learn about me is I’m a lot more stubborn than you. A lot more of an idiot, too. I’m not saving your ass because you deserve it. I’m doing it because I can’t lose you twice. You can’t do anything to change that.”
Sabo’s brows pinched, hearing the way his throat had tightened when he spoke.
From the first moment to the last moment of their transponder call, Ace’s voice had flooded him with inexplicable security.
The only lifeline he could cling to.
He could tell himself he didn’t want Ace to risk himself like this, but truthfully, it made him feel loved to a degree he didn’t even know he wanted.
Chapter 16: Striker
Notes:
Warnings for chapter in end notes, might spoil chapter contents but they’re there if you need. No sexual warnings
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sabo’s head spun slightly, barely even paying attention as Emmo dragged him halfway across the beach toward the ship.
A harsh jolt pulled Sabo out of his warm thoughts when his cheek collided with the hard, wet ground. He gasped as the officer’s boot pressed his neck into the abrasive sand, glancing sideways up at Tallis to find that the officer wasn’t looking at him.
“Sabo?” Ace asked, hearing the hiss of a surprised inhale.
“Emmo’s here,” Sabo choked out softly, one of the last things he thought he could get away with speaking after catching wind of the man’s sinister presence.
The Haki he’d noticed earlier in the jungle now approached— this time, the unrestricted energy of poison on his tongue, foul and stinging and invasive to his body when it forced its way in. He’d been able to block it earlier, but now couldn’t resist its intrusion in his weakened state, and the commander knew it. Sabo didn’t shut his eyes like instinct demanded because he needed to examine the man stalking toward him.
“Get him up,” the commander ordered, his voice sticky and unnerving. The voice of Emmo Mori, Sabo confirmed.
His long, dark auburn hair had been pulled back carelessly, but he had high cheekbones and a defined jawline. Had he not carried himself like a complete prick, a stranger would’ve thought him conventionally attractive, especially for a man in his forties.
“Aye, commander,” Tallis responded harshly, but Sabo couldn’t tell if the young man hated his superior or if that’s how he spoke to everyone. Either way, Tallis gripped Sabo roughly by the neck of his wetsuit and lifted him until Sabo kneeled in the packed sand in front of the commander.
“Almost there,” Ace said quietly in his ear, reminding Sabo to breathe even past his tightened chest.
Emmo mercifully couldn’t see the small transponder hidden in Sabo’s ear behind his dripping blond waves. For some unknown reason, however, the man’s thin nose snarled as he looked down at him.
“What’s your deal with me, then?” Sabo rasped through Tallis’ pressure on his neck, eyes locked on Emmo.
“Don’t talk to him, Sabo,” Ace warned, his voice only loud enough to be heard inside Sabo’s ear.
Rather than reply, Emmo reached back a hand with what would’ve been a painful hit to Sabo’s face. Tallis spoke up, however.
“Sir. Allow me.”
Sabo chose that moment to pull in a slightly relieved breath, still expecting something painful directed at him, but less so from the even-tempered younger man.
“Hurt him good, or I’ll have your father move you to my ship,” Emmo growled close to Tallis’ face, just far enough away for Tallis to focus on his lips.
The exchange made Sabo look up in confusion. It didn’t surprise him for a crew of slavers to threaten each other, but something about Emmo’s tone disgusted him more than usual.
Tallis looked down at Sabo with calculated iciness, narrowing his sharp brown eyes as if to distance himself. He released his grip on Sabo’s neck to send a punch at him. The hit jarred him just under his cheekbone, stinging after it landed, but Sabo could tell he pulled it to be softer than it could’ve been. That didn’t stop him from reacting in pain, crying out slightly at the impact. Tallis would be punished if he looked weak in front of the commander.
Sabo’s hip, then his shoulder smacked down into the packed sand before rolling weakly onto his back— that part wasn’t an act. He couldn’t recover from the momentum of the hit under the fatigue. He didn’t enjoy making that pathetic whimpering sound, but it kept Mori’s focus on Sabo. Really the only drawback was that Sabo briefly forgot Ace could hear him.
“Bastard,” Ace breathed angrily, hearing his captors already taking shots at him. It was so hard for him to listen to, but it only made it easier for fire to erupt within, sending hot licks of flame down his arms.
Luckily for Ace, the sound of the rain and rolling thunder washed out the noise of Striker’s propeller boards turning ocean water in his wake, preventing either of Sabo's captors from turning to see him in the distance.
Sabo also noticed Ace’s warmth had vanished from the air; he’d pulled back his Haki so Emmo wouldn’t feel it. Not every Haki-user could do it, so it impressed him.
“Good,” the commander told Tallis, looking down at Sabo’s recoiling body in the sand. Sabo had his hands pulled over his face pathetically, but mainly because his act of vulnerability continued to distract the men from Ace’s distant figure approaching.
“I'd think twice about what you're doing,” Sabo told them from behind his hands, “It has a way of coming back to haunt you.”
“Is that so?” Emmo said, lifting his boot right over Sabo’s head, preparing to drive it down into his face, “I'll take my chances. You know, ever since I learned who you were, I wanted this opportunity to make your commander suffer. Monkey D. Dragon is even weaker today than he was twenty years ago. That’s why he’s not coming for you.”
There it was. Emmo only wanted Sabo because of some old, unsettled dispute. But Sabo could call Emmo’s bluff just by reading his Haki. It was measurably weaker than Dragon’s, despite calling him the weak one. Emmo was intimidated by Dragon, or he wouldn’t have to resort to using Sabo to hurt him. He wasn’t just furious at Dragon; he was scared of him.
“He’s in the jungle right now,” Sabo laughed smugly, making them stare into the trees with just enough doubt to keep them distracted.
“Sabo, stop,” Ace demanded angrily. There was a chance that he’d do the same thing in Sabo’s position, but that didn’t change how maddeningly frustrating it was to hear him tempt them to hit him again.
But any moment now, Ace's cover might get blown, and Sabo wanted to give him the most time possible to attack. Sabo could see a glow of light coming from Ace in his peripheral vision, but it was unclear if he carried weapons or the light source was related to his Devil Fruit.
“Must’ve gotten stealthier, because I’d know the Haki of that rat a mile away,” Emmo said, eventually convinced Sabo was only bluffing.
“He’s the stealthiest person I know,” Sabo told him, raising his chin. But he was referring to Ace.
Ace's hands charged with expanding flames as he sped toward the shore, but by this point, he'd dropped low to conceal the flickering light beginning to radiate from him. His fingertips snapped to focus all his energy into them with quiet control, loving the way he knew every single quirk of his abilities. The moment he reached the perfect range, he let Striker stutter to rest, kicking off into the air.
Sabo finally saw Ace ascending above the water, a little stunned because:
He’s a Flame Logia. The strongest classification of fruit paired with one of the most useful elements.
And Sabo only knew of one pirate matching that description.
Ace still had blood stained across him, looking raw and human without his hat or beads. Yet, even with everything stripped away, Ace’s presence swelled with authority. He had risen in a halo of fire, suspended in the air like a god of destruction.
Fire Fist… ‘the’ Fire Fist.
Sabo had only recently heard of him. He had no idea it was Ace. The same Ace that had once smiled so tenderly at Sabo was now a wild, untamed force blazing against storm clouds above. Objectively terrifying? Absolutely. But so good to see right now, when Sabo needed him the most. He didn't expect or demand anyone help him out of his own mess, and that's why it deeply affected him to see Ace show up for him like this, when no one else could.
Heat coursed through Ace’s body, stoked to higher temperatures by the way Emmo held his boot hovered over Sabo’s face where he lay crumpled on the wet beach. They could’ve taken almost anyone, but they chose to take Sabo.
‘Bad... choice,’ Ace chanted internally as the fire in his hands grew hotter. His mantra only strengthened the flame's invocation, letting every ounce of his righteous anger stack in a pathway down his fiery arms, building intensity until—
"HIKEN!"
Fire burst from his dominant fist in a blinding pillar, one massive beam roaring like the sun itself. Sabo ducked his face away from the blinding eruption into his bound hands.
The beam impacted the ship’s vulnerable hull, almost pausing for a moment before the full explosion took effect.
Glass, metal and wood shrapnel blasted outward, spiking shards into Emmo and Tallis— everyone but Sabo, who had a wall of fire protecting him at the command of Ace’s outstretched hand.
But Sabo wasn’t immune to his own deep-rooted reaction to explosions. Sabo’s body tensed against the shockwave of heat and smoke, eyes losing focus as he saw flashes from his own ship’s inferno all those years ago. His screams, the adrenaline, the blinding searing of his left eye, and that horrific cooking smell.
Suddenly ten years old again, Sabo yelled into his own hands a panic, then couldn’t pull another breath into his constricting chest, meeting a dizzying amount of resistance. He gasped for a moment, trying to remember where he was, if this was a nightmare.
Ace’s boots slammed into the sand on either side of Sabo, noticing he’d been paralyzed with fear, but Ace didn’t let himself get distracted yet. He needed a sightline on Emmo Mori. Ace’s flames parted at the call of his will. He extended his hand as a pistol.
“Higen!” Ace yelled over the inferno’s roar, arm recoiling powerfully as he fired a searing bullet from his fingers. A bullet which marked Emmo Mori in the center of his forehead as he lunged for Ace. The flame projectile left a dark char as Mori collapsed in the sand by Tallis, who spoke up immediately.
“Don’t! I’m not— I hate them too—“ Tallis blurted, realizing he was next. The young officer held up his hands, shrinking from Ace’s glare, shrinking from Ace's weaponized hand. He’d been too stunned by the explosion and shrapnel wounds to draw his firearm, and now it was too late.
“Don’t kill him,” Sabo said hoarsely, hearing Tallis’ voice from where he curled beneath Ace. Setting his jaw in response, Ace obligingly ignored the officer to sink his arms around Sabo instead.
He cursed himself for not realizing Sabo might have a visceral reaction to explosions. Seeing the hollow look that Ace himself put in Sabo's eyes was bad enough, but nothing was worse than the panicked yell that tore from him. It broke his fucking heart.
“I got you,” he told Sabo in his ear, already pulling him to his chest as Tallis sank into the sand, breathing heavily at his own brush with death.
A plume of fire twice the size of the ship now towered into the air, consuming every piece of the ship sitting above water. Every loaded pallet of kairouseki would have already collapsed out of the bottom and now rested deep on the seabed below. And beneath the roar of the flames, only the blackened skeleton of the ship’s framework remained.
Sabo felt the tethered rope around his hands snap free in Ace’s fingers with the scent of smoke and burning twine. With Sabo still in his clutches, Ace broke into a sprint and rocketed a leap to Striker’s deck. He only needed a second to steady the rocking motion before his burning foot came down hard, spinning the propellers.
He revved Striker to full speed while leaning into the wind for balance. It was more challenging with both his arms occupied by Sabo’s legs and back, so keeping his boots on the raft took up most of his mental capacity. That was mainly a problem considering how terrible he felt, with almost no way to express it.
But Sabo had no intention of dwelling on the explosion. His vivid recollection of his accident had lasted only a few seconds before he was lucid again. Of course it was unpleasant, but he’d been dealing with it for long enough that they didn’t last long anymore. He could tell Ace was feeling responsible for him panicking, but he hoped he’d just let it go.
Besides which, Sabo was grinning like an idiot now. He couldn't stop his own amazement, learning Ace was the man he heard Ahiru mention from the newspaper. He’d successfully executed a world noble, and the crazy bastard got away with it.
“So… you’re Fire Fist, huh?” Sabo said, letting Ace hear the impressed smile in his voice, “You didn’t tell me that. You put on quite a show back there.”
“You’ve heard of me?” Ace replied in soft surprise. Normally, he’d have been beaming to hear his reputation had reached Sabo, but right now, he couldn’t shake off the guilt so easily.
“Sabo, about that…”
But Sabo had already relaxed gratefully, soaking in the warmth of Ace’s shoulder against his cheek in the rain. His eyes closed as his freezing hair dripped down Ace’s back, evaporating fast.
“If you’re trying to apologize for blowing up the ship, don’t,” Sabo told him casually, taking in a long, shaky breath of contentment, “I asked you to do that. Anything that disrupts their funding helps. And I’m okay. Don’t sound so concerned.”
Ace’s eyes pinched slightly. Because it was concerning. Physically, sure he could brawl with only Haki, but when he genuinely needed to use all his strength? The sight of the flames might distract Sabo, get him hurt. That'd be a huge problem.
“Alright, but... is it all fire, or just when it’s an explosion? It’s kinda unavoidable with me. If it affects you like this every time, then one of us is always gonna be outta commission when we’re fighting.”
”So far, it’s only been explosions, but…”
Sabo tried to hold back a smile, totally endeared by him. Now that Ace had gotten him away from the slavers, it sounded like he was already considering what the rest of their lives would be like. As sweet as it was to hear Ace assuming they’d spend all their time together now, Sabo sighed, worrying Ace would be disappointed to know they lived different lifestyles.
Ace was a pirate. He made the only rules he followed. But Sabo…
Sabo was needed by the Revolution. He had people to answer to, and even when Dragon gave him no work directly, he answered to the cause itself.
“Ace… I don’t know how often it’s really gonna come up… I have a job to do. There’ll be times we can meet, and you can call me anytime, but I’m sure you don’t need my help fighting pirates on the daily,” he said gently. It probably wasn’t what Ace wanted to hear, but it was honest.
“Oh… yeah, of course,” Ace reacted, as if he agreed, but Sabo heard the slightest sting in his voice, heard him swallow hard.
”I didn’t mean to assume,” Ace added.
Ace wondered if Sabo would’ve responded differently if he didn’t have amnesia. If he would’ve jumped at the chance to be a pirate with Ace, like they always planned. And running ‘what if’ scenarios served absolutely no function other than to upset himself, but his brain just did that sometimes, as if it enjoyed the burn.
He shifted Sabo a little in his arms, trying to compensate so they didn’t lose any speed. It was risky, steering Striker this way.
“I can sit, you know,” Sabo offered, “I’ll hold the mast. If that makes this safer.”
“It probably would,” Ace admitted.
The idea of Sabo slipping off made Ace nervous since he couldn’t swim, but Sabo was more than capable of determining his own strength. Ace gave in, leaning so Sabo could take hold of the mast and prop himself securely on the propellers’ cover.
“Have enough energy, right?” Ace asked, projecting over the rushing wind.
“I’ll be fine,” Sabo replied, sinking his side against the mast and pulling his goggles over his eyes. He had just enough stamina to hold his own weight secure as Striker jolted over every wave, but now Ace had the freedom of movement to avoid the rough waves.
Sabo smiled softly because Ace still didn’t let go of him when he stood back up to steer, gripping a handful of Sabo’s partially unzipped collar protectively.
Ace looked back ahead, shifting the raft left and right with his weight to cut through the rolling crests, but Sabo still looked down where Ace gripped his wetsuit, feeling how the back of his knuckles grazed his collarbone. He swallowed suddenly, glancing away at the sensitive contact.
And to Ace, Sabo felt remarkably colder than last time they’d touched in the aqueduct. Somehow, the slightest kiss of skin still managed to heat through Ace’s whole body.
With the weather still as wet and chilly as ever, Sabo was grateful for the abundance of fire swirling into the propellers a short distance from his drawn up legs. Resting his cheek into the mast, he couldn’t help but notice Ace’s arm that stretched between them. The tattoo there, farther up by his shoulder.
…Not how I thought Ace spelled his name. Strange.
Sabo's eyes observed it with interest before Ace's full back tattoo stole his gaze. This one made more sense: Ace’s skull and spade Jolly Roger on the Spadille's mainsail, but filled with various intricate patterns. Both tattoos had aged, closer to blue ink than black, their natural spread oddly beautiful on his sun-tanned skin.
A sudden, intrusive urge nearly convinced Sabo to remove his glove and touch the expanse of ink across Ace’s back. He had this innocent curiosity to feel the barely perceptible texture of his large tattoo, but he forced his hands to stay put. And his stomach gave a nervous twist at the idea that he’d almost done it.
As the rain whipped Sabo's face and drenched down his curls, he stared instead at Ace's hair, amazed to notice it looking completely dry and fluffy as the wind blew through it. It only made Sabo a little envious at how the rain sizzled and steamed away before it could impact his frustratingly perfect waves.
When Ace rested his fingers slightly firmer against his skin, Sabo decided to blame the rain and wind for the sudden shiver that went through him. Mainly because he didn't usually trust anyone enough to allow himself this squishy, unprotected feeling. That feeling that took all his good judgment, wadded it up and threw it into the nearest waste bin.
“…Maybe I could stick around for a few days… just so we can catch up,” Sabo offered, gripping the mast tighter as he tried to hold back a tremor. It gave him an exhilarating feeling, zipping through the curling and crashing water with the slightest brush of warm fingers near his neck.
Sabo was introspective enough to call it what it was: a normal reaction to being ‘rescued,’ as much as he wished it hadn’t been necessary. But he felt enough of Ace's Haki to know that, for Ace, it was something deeper, a feeling that made a lot less sense and couldn’t be rationalized away.
“I’d like that, Sabo. As long as you really want to, and you’re not just saying it for my benefit,” Ace called over his shoulder.
When Ace glanced back at him, Sabo returned his smile before Ace refocused ahead.
Sabo looked like a complete dork in his goggles, and Ace loved the way he smiled, so innocent and cherubic despite the deep mischief Ace knew lurked inside him.
And that smile also reminded him how much they would've loved having Striker when they were younger. He kept the raft at top speed, tightening his grip on Sabo's collar to charge around another breaker.
The storm raged on as they cut around the island at what felt like breakneck speed this low to the water. They were so close that on a clear day, they could’ve almost seen the coastline where the Spadille awaited them, ready to take them to safety. The ship certainly couldn’t be seen through the haze of rain at present, but Ace knew she was out there somewhere.
"Damn… Emmo's still alive," Sabo noticed, hugging the mast and keeping his legs pulled away from the flames.
"I felt it too," Ace replied, "Must’ve stopped the fire bullet from going through his skin, but it still hit him full force. Guess it just knocked him out."
Striker gained quick distance from the shoreline, but the departure wasn’t fast enough to go unnoticed by a massive ship, one whose ominous silhouette emerged from the dense fog offshore. A tall figure stood at the bow, towering over them.
Sabo seemed to sense the danger even before Ace did. His eyes widened as he looked over his shoulder, gasping as his stomach clenched. Marmont. Sabo knew it the second he saw him, then the man held up a pistol in their direction.
“Gun— dodge—!” Sabo warned.
Ace had pushed Striker as fast as she could go, so when he banked hard, the sudden movement made the raft catch the edge of a wave and whiplash Striker sideways, launching them violently.
Sabo only experienced a second of falling toward the water's surface before arms caught him around his midsection, jolting him unexpectedly with a change of direction. Ace pulled Sabo close midair, rocketing them dangerously low over the water before recovering and rising higher. He had just enough energy to get them back to the ship from here, and it was more than worth it to leave Striker behind to survive.
Bang.
A bullet thundered through the air, but time seemed to slow for Ace, his Observation allowing him to see the path the bullet would take. Unfortunately, Marmont had an even more developed future sight skill, and he used it to place another bullet the exact direction Ace would choose to dodge.
Bang.
Ace’s pupils dilated as he felt the heavy jolt of kairouseki in his skin, tanking the hit when it buried into the back of his shoulder. His flames and Haki were ripped away from him soon after impact, leaving him with nothing but the familiar frozen spike of pain. His weakened hands lost their grip as they fell.
Ace couldn’t help remembering how he’d tried so hard to convince Sabo that he was strong enough to help him, if he gave him a chance. How Sabo shouldn’t underestimate him, and yet Sabo had been right. Ace wasn’t strong enough to get them out of there after all. How could Sabo possibly trust him after this, even if they survived? He barely trusted him the first time. The magnitude of failure made Ace miserable because he really did feel like it was his fault.
They hadn’t been very high up, but it took an eternity for them to reach the water. All Sabo could do in the air was watch them arc toward the ocean waves below, feeling only his surging adrenaline, dread and weightlessness. Sabo pushed his arms over his head to break the surface tension as he went in, plunging deeper than he ever remembered diving before.
Their trajectory changed beneath the waves, and their reaching hands made no contact, fading in silence, farther and farther out of each others’ grasp in the deadly pull of the currents.
Deep below, as Sabo’s momentum came to rest, his body suspended in time and space at the mercy of the ocean. Arms and legs floating out from him, blond waves levitating around his scarred face as the water cradled him.
The water was cold. Freezing through his hair and face and neck until he began to lose feeling.
And when his mind went numb, that’s when the sea became beautiful. His eyes blinked safely behind his goggles, quickly enchanted by the sight of the surface far above him. The ripples were dancing with orange light from the distant ship’s inferno, sending hazy rays and fractals down through the depths. He noticed small air bubbles streamed between his parted lips. It was so peaceful here.
And it stayed peaceful until his willpower returned to fight for survival. It only took a few minutes of submersion for Sabo's lungs to burn with the need for air, and his own muscles held him back as he tried to swim.
He could barely make out the silhouette of Ace lit by the dim orange light— possibly even the light of his own flames that still burned one of Marmont’s ships, all that remained of Ace’s power. Sabo used it as motivation to move, but found he still couldn’t, his blood running heavy like cement.
With the cold slowly seeping into the rest of his body, Sabo’s exposed face longed to feel Ace’s warm energy again, trying to imagine the heated Haki wrapping his body to protect it from the freezing water. Sabo let the thought comfort him as his vision grew hazy, trying to ignore the wave of unconsciousness creeping up on him.
Ace let his boots slip off when he hit the water with a last struggled movement before the cold overtook him, then watched them float at the surface as he sank. His crew had him do it so he'd be easier to locate underwater, just like always. Even though they weren’t around, it was better than doing nothing.
His skin tasted the ocean surrounding him. The burn of icy water combined with the salt in his shoulder had his eyes pinching in profound pain. Ace noticed a faint trail of his own red blood following him from the surface. He sank deeper, struggling against the water's relentless pull and feeling the weight of exhaustion pressing in.
Even though he knew better, he glanced down into the blackness of the depths, fear gripping him at how the water seemed to go on forever. The unknown of what lurked just out of sight in the dark trenches prickled at his mind, only amplifying the ocean’s chilling hold on his body. Ace tried to quiet his fears, rationalizing them away.
Nothing's down there. Everything's fine. Stop worrying about stupid shit.
Before he dared to believe his own reassuring thoughts, Ace heard the terrifying boom of a voice in his head. It growled and reverberated until he thought his ears would burst, making him clench his head even as his lungs seized up.
‘So… hungry…’ the voice purred loudly.
From deep in the black water offshore, he saw it:
The eyes of a monster.
Ace watched two predatory eyes blink open with retinas that reflected blood-red light. He flinched, body tensing in horror, lungs tightening as if in a vacuum. Three flashes of lightning showed him the leviathan’s entire body, too massive to comprehend, waiting to devour him from below.
An albino sea king.
The pale, snake-like beast lifted from the darkness, baring hundreds of interlocking fangs. It swayed a giant head, as if to gauge their distance before striking at him.
Ace’s mouth opened in shock, large bubbles of air escaping from him. His muscles tensed, preparing for unimaginable pain.
As much as he hated the thought, Ace desperately wondered if he had enough time to drown before the beast could get him between its teeth. Anything but being pierced hundreds of times while conscious.
‘Don’t do it,’ was all Ace could repeat in his head, over and over. Both asking the beast not to eat him, and asking himself not to give up this easy.
Sabo’s alive. Luffy’s alive. I have to stay alive. I need you to spare me. I’m not ready.
He couldn’t inhale water yet, even if he tried; his survival instinct overrode everything. The ocean around him began to vibrate again with the words of the beast.
‘The small thing speaks to me,’ the sea king rumbled, his voice nearly bursting Ace’s eardrums underwater.
As difficult as it was to look away from the paralyzing creature beneath him, Ace forced his gaze up toward the surface with wide eyes full of emotion, trying to locate Sabo. Even just a distant silhouette. Just to glimpse him one final time as he felt his consciousness slipping.
And then, he saw him.
Sabo was looking down at him from above, his blond hair scattering like soft white gold, making his racing heart skip a beat.
Ace wished the ocean hadn't ripped away his Haki so he could feel Sabo reaching out for him. All he could do now was imagine his energy, metal that clashed and sang in the air. Sabo's chilly fingertips that used to brush across his collarbone so he could fall asleep in the fort. The only way he could fall asleep sometimes as a kid. Sabo used to do that when he'd wake up in a cold sweat.
Ace couldn’t bring himself to see how close the sea king had slithered. Too afraid to know if it had opened its mouth yet as Ace’s lungs began to scream and burn, fighting against his willpower.
His eyes shut, imagining Sabo’s fingertips brushing comfortingly over his collarbone again, making the pain go away.
Help me go to sleep one more time, Sabo…
His last fading thought before his world went dark, eyes rolling back as he lost his fight with consciousness.
Sabo didn't realize their transponders were still connected until he heard Ace choke in his ear. His eyes closed tightly to block out the painful noise as he felt his own lungs about to breathe in water.
Y’know, you being here is the only thing giving me hope right now. Just wanted to tell you that, Ace… Whatever else happens, I’m glad it’s you…
Sabo was grateful he said those words to him.
At least neither of them were alone. At least wherever Sabo was going, Ace would be there too.
Notes:
Blast-triggered Ptsd,
Drowning
Chapter 17: Nails
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Marmont stood at the steps to the fore deck flanked by his officers, Darro and Skar. The only officer missing was Tallis, who remained ashore near the mines. He didn’t stay absent long, however; Tallis seemed to materialize behind them silently, startling Darro as Marmont addressed them all.
“Get Fire Fist from the ocean first, Skar. He’s going to sink quickly. Darro and Tallis, you’ll be needed as well,” Marmont told his officers, with Darro being the ship’s physician.
As his men took the row boat out to sea, Marmont ascended the stairs to the prow of the ship. He slid a long-barrel pistol from his belt, which he held to his eyeline.
He locked the sights and squeezed the trigger twice, smirking slightly as the second one hit its mark.
Marmont glanced back at the destruction behind them, his beloved ship and its injured crew. There’s no way he’d allow his prisoners to escape without hell to pay.
He looked up in the sky as heavier rain began to fall around them. It wouldn’t take a storm like this long to put out the blaze, but it was far too late for the vessel and its valuable cargo. Pallets of kairouseki and stacks of berry had been lost when Emmo allowed that pirate to swoop in unchallenged before Marmont could make it within range.
Marmont felt so disillusioned with his first division commander that he half wished Ace had just finished the job. Unfortunately, the auburn-headed cretin was still alive in the sand somewhere. But Marmont had already left him behind.
He currently clenched one reward flyer in his left hand, and the captain gave Ace’s portrait a last growl before folding it up and stashing it in his pocket out of the rain.
Then there was that Haki-user. Marmont sighed with hauntingly intense eyes, knowing he would enjoy forcing the blond to break. And if that were true, it was even more electric to picture what he’d do to that arsonist.
From near the surface, Sabo saw a flash of movement approaching Ace like a torpedo. A Fishman, scooping Ace into his arms. Sabo's heart leapt with hope as he thought it could be Wallace, one of Ace's crew. Sabo didn’t doubt Wallace could be here to save them, to get them out of this nightmare.
As the Fishman drew closer, though, Sabo could see his terrifying features, leering with rows and rows of spiny teeth. The way he clenched Ace roughly, drawing dark rivulets of blood where his nails dug in made Sabo’s skin crawl.
The realization that they’d been caught dawned on Sabo in a cold, hard rush. The shark-type Fishman who’d gathered up Ace was not Wallace, but one of the slavers that’d been pursuing them. The relief of being found quickly replaced by the fear of what would happen to them now.
Sabo struggled against the water, fighting for any sliver of air, but his lungs burned and his limbs felt like lead. As he watched helplessly, the Fishman located him in an instant, collecting Sabo with his other webbed hand.
He could feel the Fishman’s strong grip around his waist, the sharp claws piercing past his wetsuit into his skin as he pulled Sabo and Ace’s limp bodies. Sabo wished he could struggle, wanted to fight back, but his poisoned blood sapped his own strength.
The last sight he saw underwater: a dark outline of the slaver ship looming nearby. Sounds of his own heartbeat pounding in his ears: the last thing he could hear. When the pressure overwhelmed him, his lungs pulled in all the water they could manage past his throat, choking him as his eyes widened. Then Sabo's mind drifted, carried away on a tide of blackness, letting the pain fade away peacefully.
Unsurprisingly, Sabo dreamt of Ace again, seeing flashes of somewhere green and pretty. They each held a pipe staff, sparring and sweating, their movements fluid and practiced as metallic strikes sang into the air. And in the dream, Ace suddenly hit Sabo hard, the metal staff digging deep into his chest past his defenses.
Thud.
Sabo gasped for air, his eyes wide with shock and pain. But Ace didn't stop. He kept hitting him, over and over again, harder and harder, until Sabo couldn't breathe anymore.
Thud, thud, thud.
He tried to ask Ace to stop, but his words came out muffled and weak. Ace's features twisted, and suddenly he wasn't Ace anymore. He became Tallis, whose face contorted with effort as he leaned over Sabo, hands pressing down on Sabo's chest, compressing it harder and harder until it felt like his ribs were about to snap.
Sabo tried to struggle, to fight back, but had no strength, just intense pain. A white-hot agony that seemed to spread through every inch of his body. Tallis' face loomed over him with sharp, brown eyes.
Then the weight of Tallis's hands on his chest grew heavier, and with each compression of his ribs, Sabo felt a fresh wave of burning surge through him. He tried to scream, but no sound escaped his lips. Just as he thought he could bear it no longer, the pressure on his chest eased.
Sabo woke, violently coughing up water and sucking in great, ragged gasps of salty air. His vision cleared, and he found himself staring down at the bottom of the wet boat. It took him a moment to realize this was not friendly ground. He struggled to move, but his body felt too heavy. He looked around, trying to orient himself, and saw Ace's limp form laying nearby. He tensed in horror as he remembered what happened.
Sabo’s heavy lids tried to close again, only barely able to focus on the sound of Tallis' voice, the strangely soft words he said as he pinned Sabo down. Almost like he apologized for what was about to happen, but Sabo felt too dazed to understand him. Then came more clarity as the world got louder, sounds amplifying into his fogged mind.
“We might lose him,” one of the men was saying. Sabo’s eyes widened, peering around his captors, one of them the terrifying, slimy face of the shark man. But he could also see one of the human crew members performing chest compressions on Ace.
Sabo watched Darro work— the man attempting to save Ace’s life— while telling himself grimly that they’d only be saving him if they were about to put him though something worse than death. He’d completely wrecked one of their ships, probably killed several crew. They’d punish Sabo as well, he was sure.
His attention went back to Ace, whose drenched head rested on the lip of the boat as the physician rhythmically pressed his bare sternum. Blood streamed down his body from the shoulder he’d been shot previously. The shooter had incredible aim.
Sabo narrowed his eyes at Ace’s serene expression through the onslaught of droplets. Whatever Darro was doing wasn’t working. Ace might be actually dead.
‘Don’t leave me like this,’ Sabo thought— so, so selfishly, ‘Please, Ace.’
He still didn’t even know much about Ace at this point, but he was all Sabo had here. And it made sense cosmically that his mysterious old friend would die because that would leave Sabo in the most difficult mess of his life. Not only would he be in worse conditions than before, he would be there absolutely, entirely alone in the cell. No one teasing him, no one badgering him with curious questions. No one giving him that… that smile…
Sabo’s own heart skipped a beat when the compressions finally got a reaction out of Ace. Nothing gave him more relief than seeing him choke awake, even if it did look really painful.
Ace coughed up seawater over the side of the boat, clinging desperately to the edge as Skar grabbed fistfuls of his dark hair to prevent him from leaning out any further. He yanked Ace roughly back in by his hair, casting him down to the floor.
Ace took the deepest breaths he could manage trying to ground himself, trying not to think about the deep wound shooting pain through him as he slowly lifted his head up to lock eyes with Sabo through the wet hair sticking to him. There was no smile on his face.
It unsettled Sabo seeing the fearless pirate give him that look. He already helped Sabo more than he had to, and now Sabo had landed him here, with these people. Ace wasn’t supposed to look hopeless after being such a pillar of strength.
“Everything’s gonna be okay,” Sabo whispered softly, trying to make Ace believe it with his eyes alone while the men took their seats to row the captives back to the ship.
The heavy rain combined with a swim in the freezing water had them both shivering violently in the bottom of the boat, fingers clenching and unclenching around their own chests. More cold water was pooling under them, seeping into Sabo’s wetsuit past the holes torn by Skar.
Without warning, a boot pressed Sabo’s neck into the floor, stopping him from fighting against a needle in the physician’s hand. He felt a sharp sting as it pierced his skin, and then a warm, numbing sensation spread through his body. The initial stab was nothing against his numb skin, but the long metal barb tore at the muscle tissue deep within his shoulder. Sabo froze in place, hissing in another breath until the needle was pulled out.
Next, it was Ace’s turn. Sabo watched him resist the boot, eyes flashing between strands of his hair as the needle injected him. Looking like a wild fucking animal.
Sabo guessed they’d been dosed with a sedative, since it didn’t take long for his legs to become too heavy to lift, and he was overcome with prickling sensations.
His muscles grew heavy, his eyelids drooped, and soon he floated away on a cloud of sleep. The last thing he remembered was Tallis speaking, whispering something about not worrying, something about only going to sleep for a little while. His vision blurred even though he fought against it, eventually allowing his eyes to close.
Here we go.
Marmont accepted a transponder call from his first division commander, Emmo, knowing the call would be short, given how livid he was. Their long time partnership had finally shown one too many fuckups on Emmo’s part, and it was time for him to start pulling his weight.
“I woke up and Tallis was gone,” Mori said, “I hope he’s with you.”
“And where’s your concern that you let our biggest meal tickets strut off without a fight, idiot? Where’s your crew? Where’s your ship? I’m not bailing you out this time. If you want back in, you know who to bring me.”
Marmont ended the call with a trembling hum of psychosis, spitting into the ocean. His anger only multiplied when he overheard Darro describing the strange blue wings of fire he saw in Kitatown when they’d been hunting for Koala.
Marmont’s boots slammed to a halt, rounding on Darro.
“You saw… Whitebeard’s… phoenix? And you said nothing to me? Do you have any idea what he’s worth to a collector?”
“More than the blond captive, I’m guessing, Captain?”
“Easily as much as Fire Fist, you twit. You didn’t think to mention him?”
“Sorry, sir, I didn’t know what he looked like. I wonder why he was in Kitatown? He got in the way of my sights on the girl.”
Marmont lit a cig with shaky hands, everything he could do not to unload his revolver into the ship’s only doctor. The captain had coveted that mythic-type for ages. When Tallis looked over at him, Marmont spoke to him, anything to take his mind off the murder gripping him.
“Tallis, tell me your thoughts on this. Show Darro how a future captain thinks.”
Marmont came around behind the younger man and put the cigarette in his mouth. Tallis took an obligatory drag before removing it with his own long, elegant fingers.
“The phoenix retired with the rest of his old crew. Either he was on vacation and happened to be interested in the girl, or he was there with Fire Fist. Pirates ally occasionally, but I’d be surprised for the phoenix to be with the Spade crew officially. They’re too chaotic for a retiree.”
Marmont accepted the cigarette back, smirking and shaking his head as he took another puff from it.
“I’m afraid you missed the mark. It makes me insane when you withhold things, do you know that? You smell paper, Darro?”
“No, Captain, but I hear it.”
Marmont made a mockingly surprised face at Tallis, who swallowed as he shut his eyes with trepidation for a second, crossing his arms.
“Can you believe paper makes a sound, Tallis?”
Marmont laughed, “You didn’t even know that, did you? Have something in your pocket for me?”
“Just take it,” Tallis told him grudgingly, flinching as Marmont dug both hands deep into his pockets in front of the crew.
Marmont’s aged eyes kindled with dark excitement as he held up a neatly torn square of thick paper. This was no rag-tag pirate crew vivre card, but the work of wealthy professionals. Small, in the corner of it, a blue bird had been embossed.
“And… why… was this not shown to me? You know this is the phoenix, don’t you?”
Darro grinned at Tallis’ expense while Marmont spoke, and Tallis unfortunately saw both things in his sharp glances. The rest of the crew hated the favoritism shown him. But there wasn’t much they could do because Tallis prepared their meals and had no qualms about poisoning any of them.
“Merely because I hadn’t had time to see the connection yet. Darro only just told us about the phoenix,” Tallis told him, already dreading watching the captain unfold the other paper he found in Tallis’ pocket, “That one’s mine, though. I drew it, and I intend to keep it.”
Marmont opened up the wrinkled hotel stationery with a sketch of a man sipping from a mug. Shirtless. Tallis went a little red at his reaction, but kept a carefully annoyed expression.
“You drew this?” Marmont asked, “Isn’t this the captive?”
Tallis snatched it back, folding it away as Marmont’s grin widened.
“That’s none of your business.”
The older captain shrugged, stepping forward and dropping his voice so only Tallis could see what he was saying. “Always did suspect you like blonds, but if you can’t keep it professional, I’ll put you in charge of Fire Fist instead.”
“Aye, sir,” Tallis told him after watching him speak with narrowed eyes. Him saying ‘blonds’ was code for ‘men’ in this situation, but in either case, Tallis didn’t appreciate the insinuation.
The captain grinned wider, as if to gloat that he had pushed his vice-captain into a corner.
"Well, get back to work. The evening crew will be up soon enough, and I want everything in order."
Captain Marmont stepped back, watching as Tallis descended below deck.
Somehow, he hadn’t been eaten by the sea king off the coast of Kitatown. But that didn’t stop the monster from haunting his restless sleep until raw pain shocked him awake.
Ace had woken too early, realizing he lay strapped to a rickety gurney, still bleeding from the shoulder. He could only sweat and shut his eyes as Darro stood over him, still extracting the bullet. The feeling shot burning ice through him, of course, but acceptably so; Ace wanted the bullet out at any cost. He felt it exit, then his toes curled as a needle punctured the layers of his skin over and over to stitch it closed, but he did his best to shut out the sensation.
Darro had already shackled them prior to waking. But just the sight of Sabo sleeping an arm’s length away on his own infirmary bed gave Ace the slightest ease of stress. He thought capture would be the worst case scenario at one point, but he quickly realized that being captured and separated would be worse.
Sabo still lay under effects of the sedative, flinching in his sleep, but Darro didn’t stop stitching. Ace’s attention, however, snapped to Sabo as he woke up with a jolt, sweating and panting. Ace glanced away from him quickly, though, knowing Sabo probably wouldn’t want him to see such a vulnerable moment.
“They’re both awake, Cap,” Darro called over toward the door.
As Darro wrapped Ace’s shoulder in a fresh bandage, Ace noticed Sabo had somehow acquired side wounds but had already been patched up by Darro while he slept. Even had his wetsuit zipped back up modestly. Lucky bastard.
Marmont stepped through the doorway to the infirmary, heavy footsteps announcing his presence. Only then did Sabo realize the man could conceal his Haki entirely.
“A pyromaniac… and a burn victim. Natural enemies, I should think,” Marmont drawled.
Ace and Sabo both peered up at Marmont, who traded places with Darro at the foot of their beds. Marmont slipped the wanted poster from his pocket, unfolding it to show Ace his smirking portrait. Ace had never felt mocked by his own expression before.
“Ah, you thought you burned everything, didn’t you? Well, you missed a few ships, Firefist. Unfortunately for you.”
Ace stared grimly into his portrait’s amused eyes, then glanced up at Marmont’s face. “What of it?” Ace said.
Marmont exhaled a laugh. “Glad you asked… I command a fleet, if you weren’t aware. Damaging one of my ships has made me vengeful. You lead the Spade Pirates, no? You even have it on your back.”
Ace’s jaw clenched but he didn’t respond. And Sabo knew just as much as Marmont did that his crew were Ace’s biggest weak spot, perhaps with the exception of Sabo himself.
“They’re still looking for you, you know. I’ve sent my fleet to intercept your ship. See, I have a particular interest in your rare little phoenix friend. You were simply easier to get my hands on first. Do you know that I separated you to make the Zoan more vulnerable to my other divisions? So many bidders stand by, salivating for him… ‘Marco, the priceless pet.’ You even handed me his vivre card.”
Marmont laughed derisively, showing Ace what he’d found in his pocket.
Even though Ace stayed quiet, his body betrayed him. Tension ran through him as if ready to throw a punch, his lips pressed defiantly together. Sabo watched him struggle to keep it together before fixing his attention on Marmont.
If it were true that Ace’s crew currently chased them down, Sabo wanted them to succeed; he might not get another chance to escape the slavers. Sabo forced himself to snort with amusement, attracting the captor’s attention.
“You don’t know anything about Marco if you think he won’t vaporize every ship in your fleet,” Sabo said with darkened eyes, “You didn’t even research Ace’s ship, did you? Their Gatling cannon is called the Ship-Eater. Everyone knows that. You just sent your men to their deaths, moron.”
Ace glanced at Sabo with internal surprise, since he had just lied very big lies. Was he trying to help Ace’s crew?
The captain folded his arms with mock sympathy, stepping closer to Sabo.
“Mmm, if only that were the case. You see, Marco— just like your friend, here— is not immune to dying at the bottom of the ocean after a light seasoning of kairouseki bullets. I’d prefer him as a living slave, but I’d settle for wiping another bastard pirate off the map. I’m also surprised you expect me to believe that ragged pauper’s ship has any such weapon. But I do admire your effort.”
Marmont approached Sabo’s pillow slowly, trailing a finger down his arm. Treating him like a plaything, even as the AFA in his bloodstream made it hard for him to stay awake.
“You are clever, for such a young boy, aren’t you?” Marmont added, voice syrupy and disgusting.
After a second, Sabo shot Ace an annoyed look, feeling him watching with a note of concern. Like Ace thought Sabo couldn’t handle himself. Sabo pushed the thought away, knowing it only surfaced because Sabo wasn’t used to anyone acting protective of him. He didn’t ever need it before. And it made him feel useless. Weak.
“Calm down, pervert, I’m twenty-five,” Sabo said coldly, but this only elicited a smile from Marmont.
“Take them to the brig. I’ll be inspecting them soon. Personally,” Marmont said to the guards, keeping his attention briefly on Ace while he swiped a finger under Sabo’s burned eye as the blond’s eyes lost focus again.
Ace tried to look away, but he knew Marmont had probably already seen the angry glint in his eyes, watching Sabo be touched forcibly like that.
It didn’t take long before Ace saw the holding area, an undivided group cell on Marmont’s immense ship, in the belly of the beast. Lanterns outside the cell dimly lit the cabin, with bars running along three walls and the fourth wall solid with no window.
Uniformed slavers lifted Ace and Sabo to dump them roughly into the brig. Sabo still slept deeply as a chain locked onto his shackles, and the men fixed another chain to Ace’s before leaving. And the cell featured nothing else— no furniture and no other prisoners.
Ace struggled against his chains and kept glancing over at Sabo curled up on the floor, his back against the bars. Ace hated seeing Sabo like this, breathing shallow and ragged at the mercy of their captors.
Ace leaned against the barred door and closed his eyes, fighting to keep his breathing steady. His mind raced, running through all the ways he could escape, all the ways he could free Sabo. They couldn't wait on anyone else to save them. Every single officer of his had sworn never to contact Luffy for help, and after Marmont spewed all that shit about capturing Marco, Ace hoped his own crew would keep their distance too.
While Ace ran through scenarios of escape, Sabo’s form continued resting on the hard ground, barely stirring. Even though he looked absolutely spent, there was still an air of grace about him. Ace wished he could feel even a fraction of his usual energy right now.
As it stood, Ace could barely muster up much strength, but he managed to ease himself close enough to check Sabo’s breathing.
“Sabo, you awake? …Hey there, killer, we gotta get out of here,” he said, quiet enough to hopefully avoid having guards come in. He exhaled gratefully when his voice got a reaction.
Sabo groaned, rolling over onto his side. His eyes flickered open, looking at Ace with a mixture of annoyance and confusion.
Feeling the weight of his arms across his shoulder, Sabo grumbled, "Get off me, will you?"
Ace raised an eyebrow, amused by his brusqueness despite their dire situation.
"Okay, okay," he said, easing himself back a little. "Look, we can't just lay here. We have to do something."
“Can’t wake up,” Sabo mumbled.
Ace gave him a look before he noticed a nail head barely sticking up from the wooden flooring.
"Okay, you can sleep, but if I free us alone, you have to join my crew," he whispered, leaning in close to Sabo again.
“Deal,” Sabo murmured groggily, absolutely not coherent enough to be held to it. Ace gave him a soft laugh.
“You were supposed to wake up, not agree to it, dummy,” Ace told him quietly.
Alright, let’s see if I can dig this nail out. See how many locks I can pick, if any.
When Tallis entered, Ace was still the only one awake, and still trying to get the stuck nail out of the boards with his teeth. He saw Tallis appear in the doorway to the brig’s cabin, balancing two small plates down his forearm. Meals of salted fish and pickled vegetables he prepared and snuck in against orders.
After noticing Tallis, Ace abandoned the nail and sat back against the bars of the cell, biting his lip like he hadn’t been trying to escape.
“Making out with the floor?” Tallis asked him nonchalantly, opening the cell door.
Ace’s wide awake eyes followed Tallis as he moved, taking in every detail of the man's appearance. Tallis was tall and lean, with neatly cropped dark hair. His sharp brown eyes seemed to hold a hint of sadness, but there was also a determination there that Ace couldn't quite place.
He wondered what kind of life Tallis led, what sort of things he'd seen and done to get him here. But more than anything, Ace didn’t appreciate the soft way Tallis looked at Sabo, the way he placed the plate down carefully by him, before grudgingly shoving the other plate into Ace’s shackled hands. And, yep, he had also given Ace smaller portions.
"Eat. It might be your last chance for a long time,” Tallis told him, “And don't get any ideas. You mess with him while he’s asleep and I'll gut you where you sit."
Ace snorted.
“Look who’s big and bad, now that I’m in chains. Really changed your tune since I had your life in my hands," he drawled as he studied Tallis. "You're not half as tough as you think you are, you know that?"
Tallis leaned against the bars of the cell, crossing his arms over his chest. "Doesn’t mean much, coming from you. Might be strong, but you're also as disgusting as some of my crew.”
Ace made a face of indignant confusion, because what the hell is he even talking about?
Tallis answered him by unfolding the hotel stationery from his pocket, making Ace’s eyes darken.
“By the looks of this drawing, and his comments, I can see your pursuit of him wasn’t exactly welcome. You’re not the only creep on this ship with their eyes on him, y’know. I can probably keep the others at bay, but now I have to fend off the damaging of my property from inside the bars as well? Troubling, to say the least. Just because we only have a group brig doesn’t mean you can put hands on him. I’ll be watching you.”
Ace rolled his eyes. Oh, brother.
“A chivalrous slaver? You’ve gotta be fucking joking. I’ve probably known this guy longer than you’ve been alive. He’s safer with me than with you,” Ace replied, scooting their plates together. To punctuate his words, Ace let his own portion of fish and pickled vegetables slide off his plate onto Sabo’s before leaning back to the bars.
Tallis watched Ace scoot both portions of food toward Sabo. The sweetness of the gesture nearly made his own meal come back up, seeing Ace doting on him like that. Tallis crossed arms, his expression unreadable but his body language very readable.
“You’re not very smart," he said, "That’s the last meal you’ll get for awhile. Wasn’t even supposed to make you that one."
‘You made this?’ Ace couldn’t help but think. And he wasn’t supposed to feed them, but he did? What kind of sick game was he playing?
Tallis moved to the cell door, locking the bolt into place once he’d gone back through it. With only a group cell aboard the ship, Tallis had few other options but to store them together, but after seeing the drawing, Tallis didn’t like the idea of only Ace being awake in the cell.
"I'll be back shortly to prepare you for inspections,” he said, “But remember, if you touch him..."
His voice trailed off, but he’d made the threat clear. With that, he turned and walked away, disappearing down the dimly lit corridor. The sound of his footsteps faded, leaving Ace alone with his thoughts and the silence that seemed to press against the walls of the cell.
Ace couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance at Tallis' warning. He'd never force anything on Sabo the way the slaver insinuated. But the idea that Tallis would take it that way, that a slaver would treat Ace like some kind of monster... it baffled him as much as it irritated him.
That, plus the Fishman slaver? A Fishman becoming the villain they hated the most as a society? Everything was so backwards here. For all his flaws, Ace could usually rely on his charms if all else failed, but how the hell was he supposed to get a read on these people?
Notes:
Stay hydrated okie?
Due to how mistreated the boys are in some of these chapters, I have installed checkpoints to gib food and water and any small amount of silliness you may need in your life, friendHave a drink of water, and give Sabo and Ace some water too:
Ace and Sabo aren’t thirsty yet, but feeling overheated, they accept the canteen anyway. Ace takes it and pours cool water over his head.
“Feels amazing,” Ace says, shaking his hair as droplets steam down his chest. Sabo follows suit, dousing himself slowly with the rest of the water until they’re drenched and running hands through their wet hair.
“Thanks for the refreshment,” Sabo says, both of them drenched but smiling.
“You really know how to take care of us.”
Feed the boys a delicate salad:
Ace looks at the delicate salad with a raised brow, while Sabo reaches for it first.
“You like this, Sabo? It’s rabbit food.”
Sabo smirks, grabbing the bowl.
“Maybe I’m just hungrier than you.”Ace watches Sabo chomp a massive forkful of leaves and toppings with increasingly envious eyes, stomach growling despite himself.
“Okay, don’t hog it all,” Ace scoffs, snatching a forkful before Sabo can react.
Sabo laughs, shaking his head.
“You only want a bite because I’m eating it!”
Chapter 18: Captivity
Summary:
When there’s no way out, sometimes the best you can do is keep each others’ spirits up. A little humor, and maybe a light sprinkle of friendly teasing. Anything that gets a smile is worth it
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
‘You’re not the only creep on this ship with their eyes on him, y’know. I can probably keep the others at bay…’
Ace hadn’t stopped thinking about what Tallis said. He wished he could forget the unpleasant words, and that forgetting would make it not true anymore.
Just the thought of multiple men trying to force themselves on Sabo had a tremor going through his hands, still diligently outstretched to work the nail from the boards beneath him. He stopped to catch his breath, shutting his eyes to wonder if he was short of air from the kairouseki or the images of Sabo struggling against the hands of his would-be attackers.
Needless to say, he hadn’t stopped thinking about escaping either. Only his thumb joint currently kept the shackles from sliding off his wrists. Break the bones, and he’d be free of the kairouseki— and he’d do it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, Ace couldn’t even scrape up the energy to break his own hands, despite all the willingness in the world.
One or both of them had to figure out a different way to use their willpower again. He’d already felt that Sabo trained his Haki to be substantial, which could be an angle, but for now, the chemical poison robbed Sabo of his ability to help.
The Sabo in question finally stirred, inhaling loudly as he sat up, eyes red and bleary from restless sleep.
“You okay?" he asked Ace in a hoarse voice, seeing him staring with concern.
Ace nodded, looking much more humbled than he wished he did as he continued trying to work the nail out of the floor. His shoulder ached from being shot a second time, but at this point he was completely resigned to it.
"Yeah, you?"
“Well, it could be worse. I see you’re already scheming over there. You have any ideas besides walking out of the cell?” Sabo asked, already having guessed how he intended to use the nail.
“Not many that’re useful,” he admitted, “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do it.”
Sabo nodded in agreement, looking down at his shackled, gloveless hands and bare feet. So the animals had already taken his gloves and shoes.
The two of them sat together in silence for a moment, Ace working on his makeshift lock pick as Sabo tested his own restraints, forcing his hand to fold as he tried to wiggle it past the cuff. Spitting on it to try and slide it off. Ace tried not to notice, gritting his teeth and staring desperately into the woodgrain to avoid looking.
Eventually, Sabo stopped. Mainly out of breath, but running pretty thin on patience, too.
"Hey, Sabo," Ace said softly, noticing him give the cuffs a hopeless look, “We will get out. Even if it isn’t today.”
Sabo looked up at Ace, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"If we don't, we'll take as many of them with us as we can, right?”
Yeah, okay: in the past, Ace would’ve heartily agreed, especially if it was Marco or somebody else on the crew. But he and Sabo were going to get out of here. It couldn’t end this way, so soon after finding him again.
“That’s my line normally, but… don’t talk like that, alright?” Ace told him gently, nudging the double-portioned plate of food closer to him, “Can you just eat, please?”
Sabo swallowed, looking down at the metal plate with suspicious eyes. Two cooked fillets stacked haphazardly, and an oddly heaping scoop of vinegary veggies. When Sabo glanced over at Ace’s empty plate, he physically couldn’t stop his eyes from rolling.
“Come on, Ace. I know you didn’t eat anything. I don’t even think I can eat one portion, much less both of them.”
Ace smiled softly, finding himself either unwilling or unable to lie to him.
“I’ll eat if you want, but only after you eat at least half… Got it?”
‘Still talks like I’m ten sometimes,’ Sabo thought, but he couldn’t complain about being cared for. He’d been acting like an older brother for long enough that this felt like kind of a relief.
“You have a deal,” he agreed, “But I’ll take it very seriously if you don’t hold up your end.”
Then, Sabo tore a piece of fish for himself, despite the fact that his stomach wanted to reject it.
Ace smiled a little wider, still trying to wiggle the nail out as he enjoyed watching Sabo eat.
”Your thumbs look raw from that,” Sabo told him between bites, “Angle the lip of your cuff under it for leverage.”
He took another bite as Ace worked out the best way to get his arm positioned, biting his lip with a frown of concentration. As he observed, Sabo thought about his recent vivid dreams of Ace.
"I keep having these flashes of what you used to look like. I guess we were about ten?" Sabo started.
With those words, he had Ace's full attention. He fixed Sabo with hopeful eyes so fast it nearly made Sabo laugh as he took another bite of fish.
Ace hesitated for a moment, unsure how much Sabo would react, before asking. "Have you remembered anything else?"
Sabo closed his eyes, trying to think back as he swallowed. "I... yeah, I remembered our weapons. It's interesting; I'm sure you noticed that I still use a staff to fight. But I remembered that we used to practice with them. Fighting each other."
Ace sank his mouth into his hand thoughtfully, eyes casting down.
Well, memories of weapons are fine, too. It’s a start.
It was just only a matter of time before Sabo either saw or remembered his journal entry about the feelings he’d developed for Ace at the time. The entry that made Ace wonder if he had those feelings too. He’d been far too caught up in his own fucking childhood problems to see it for himself, and he got frustrated about that frequently.
"Y’know, that’s kinda how we met. Sparring,” Ace told him, watching him eat a pickled carrot.
Sabo smiled softly as he swallowed it.
“That was the other thing I remembered. We were so hungry that day. Which of us won that bag of fruit?"
"You did. I called it beginner’s luck," Ace said, sniffing like it didn’t bother him.
If Luffy had been in the cell, Ace might’ve been reluctant to admit it so easily, but Sabo deserved to know everything. When Ace and Sabo were still close, they’d held a level of information between themselves that they didn’t always share with Luffy.
For example, neither of them would’ve asked for Luffy’s help getting out of this cell. Between kairouseki bullets and AFA chemicals, some things were too risky to call on the person they felt responsible for. That’s why Ace always decided how transparent he could be with his younger brother.
Ace and Sabo, by contrast, knew everything about each other at one point— deep, dark shit that Luffy shouldn’t hear unless necessary. But they always had at least one person they could tell anything to.
Ace needed that closeness with Sabo back so badly that there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to make it happen. It was harder now, being Luffy’s only older brother, alone with the responsibility all these years. Having Sabo’s memories return would be an overwhelming relief.
While Ace descended into his own thoughts, Sabo had finished his half of the food and pushed the plate over to him.
"Hey, Ace?"
Fuck, it felt so good every time Sabo said his name.
“Don't tell me I let you go hungry that day. I must've split the food with you even if I won, right?” Sabo added.
Ace had to blink for a moment to remember Sabo was asking about the bag of fruit they fought over the day they met.
"Yeah, you gave me half.”
The memory clearly stirred Ace deeply before he locked eyes with Sabo again.
“I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but, Sabo, I wasn't going to split the fruit if I won. I didn't trust anybody at that point. So when you offered some of your food, no one had ever done anything like that for me before, not without a reason. The bandits housing me got paid to feed me, but you got nothing from it. You were just… kind.”
Ace paused, searching for the right words.
"You might not remember any of this yet, but I'm sorry I was so, I dunno… cold back then. And by the time I realized how much good you did for me, it was too late to tell you. I don't know how I woulda turned out if we never met. I wouldn't even have Luffy if you weren't my friend first."
Then, Ace looked down, his gaze distant. "I know it's probably weird, how I talk to you, since you don't remember everything, but when I, um, when I found out what happened to you, I just..."
He closed his eyes, shaking away whatever thoughts had occurred to him until his eyes opened back up at the sensation of warm fingertips on the back of his hand. Sabo reaching to comfort him.
"That wasn’t all supposed to come out," Ace added, trying to return the casual tone to his voice. "I didn't mean to make it about that. You’re alive, so... I’m good now, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Sabo repeated, making him redden and glance away. But there was humor in his eyes. Somehow, in this shit show of a situation, Sabo had almost coaxed a laugh from him.
He squeezed Ace’s cold hand gently, trying to reassure him, but all he ended up doing was making him bite his lip.
“Ace, c’mon. Finish the food. You look hungry.”
Well, ‘worried’ would be more fitting. But he didn’t want to call him out like that. Sabo nudged the plate at him again, losing patience.
It’s not that Ace wasn’t starving, he just found it hard to eat right now. Sighing, Ace stuffed the entire cut of fish into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed it a little too fast while Sabo did his best not to judge his gremlin manners.
Sabo couldn’t explain why, but watching Ace eat made Sabo wonder what Luffy looked like. Ace had just said his name, and Sabo found himself frowning slightly that he still hadn’t seen his face yet.
Why could his brain so willingly bring up Ace’s young, freckled face without even a wink of what Luffy looked like? It made him feel horrible. Perhaps he’d spent less time with him?
Sabo couldn’t explain it by himself. And he wondered how long it would take Ace to get too frustrated with his memory to even bother helping him with it. Surely everyone had a limit.
“Wish I could remember more… Luffy, and everything else. I'm sorry I can't. It’s obvious he’s important to you, or— us.”
Ace looked back at him, confused.
“What do you mean you can't? You're remembering things, aren't you?"
Sabo shrugged, taking out his clear frustration on the floor’s protruding nail that Ace had been working on all… morning? Evening?
"It's not much, what few memories I’ve been able to get back. It’s all so fragmented. And it’s only you so far. Sometimes, I have these moments where I think I can hear something or see something, and it makes me think that I'm remembering. But then it's gone, and I'm back to being stuck."
Ace nodded slowly, trying to understand.
"We’ll get there eventually, Sabo.”
He paused, considering his next words carefully, "I’ll tell you everything if that’s what it takes. Might take awhile, but I swear I don't mind."
Sabo looked up at him, his eyes filled with gratitude.
“That means a lot.”
Means everything to me, actually.
Ace was already chewing a mouthful of pickled veggies, mulling over the flavor until he swallowed them down.
“I’m happy to, so don’t mention it. Can’t believe I’m saying this, but these carrots aren’t half b—“
He keeled over, and the empty plate clattered loudly when his cheek mushed into it, hair scattering across his face. Sabo gasped, moving closer after Ace slumped to the floor mid-sentence.
“Ace!” he called near his ear, patting his freezing cold cheek in alarm before pressing a hesitant finger to the side of his neck. His heart gave a relieved jump when he confirmed he hadn’t dropped dead.
Ace’s eyes slowly blinked open as Sabo brushed his hair away.
Sabo’s scarred face still wore an alarmed expression until he realized why Ace had passed out. Then his bright eyes narrowed, as if to blame Ace for worrying him.
“Damn it, Ace, I forgot you’re narcoleptic. That’s what it was, right? Does that happen a lot?”
Ace nodded, enjoying that Sabo didn’t look like he planned to back away anytime soon.
“When I eat, mainly. Surprised it happened here, though, since Deu said it seems to only happen when I feel safe. He’s my field doc. Oh, and my first recruit, so he had to hear me whining about missing you longer than anyone else. That’s why I can’t wait for him to meet you. He’ll be beside himself.”
Ace had to force himself to stop rambling.
With Sabo so close to him now, Ace noticed the missing mark he used to have on the side of his neck, lips parting questioningly.
“Your freckle’s gone,” Ace said, letting his cold thumb brush the jagged scar where it’d once been.
When Ace moved his hands away, Sabo touched the same spot, looking down at him in surprise.
“How did you even…?”
…know about that? Remember that?
Sabo marveled, redundantly of course, because Ace made it too obvious that he cared about every little detail. It was so distracting, how he looked up at him. It went so quiet that Sabo thought he could hear the pulse in his ears.
”Hey… the dark part of your eyes is getting bigger… your pupils,” Ace murmured, “Is that the chemicals?”
”I don’t know,” Sabo breathed, almost inaudible, but he really didn’t think it was the AFA picking up his heart rate this time.
Ace swallowed, feeling like he might break a sweat despite the chill in his bloodstream.
”I’m not very good at this sort of thing, but…”
A sound startled them apart, looking over at the brig’s opening door in mutual annoyance at being interrupted. Tallis appeared carrying a bucket of soap water and two small, clean hand towels.
“You are both to wash yourselves,” Tallis told them in a bored voice, locking the door so they wouldn’t be bothered by any of the lecherous crew.
“I will be here to assure nothing unlicensed goes on in my brig. Keep your hands where they belong. I’m providing you both these shorts to change into when finished.”
With that, Tallis set the bucket down between them and retreated from the cell. He posted against the adjacent wall with crossed arms, but did not look directly at either of them.
Steam came off the water, tempting them with warmth and comfort after the sea had chilled them both. They didn't speak for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts, but mutually decided to clean their faces first— in part because it didn’t require any clothes to come off.
Sabo glanced over at Ace and cleared his throat.
“So, what you said earlier... about not being very good at this sort of thing?"
Ace looked up, surprised to hear him bring it up.
"Oh, no, um… I just meant I’m a bit out of my depth, I guess. Haven’t been in a situation I can’t solve with fire before."
"Uh huh. I see… Well, you don't have to worry about what I think," Sabo said, "I've never had to deal with any of this either. The slavers, feeling weak for the first time in my life, which is the worst part… We'll just have to figure it out together, yeah?"
‘Together,’ Ace repeated in his mind, mulling over the word that piqued his sudden interest. The word made their current predicament a simple thing. Like they were kids again, fearless and undefeated.
“Today, please,” Tallis said, still not looking their direction. Only using his peripheral to check in.
Ace exchanged glances with Sabo before they began unfastening their clothes. It was strange, the idea of being naked so close to him, especially in front of a third party, but they both knew it was necessary.
But before Ace could remove his shorts, he saw Sabo frown at his own shackles, looking up at Tallis in confusion. There was no way for him to get his wetsuit off.
Tallis seemed to have genuinely forgotten, nodding with a tightened expression as he reentered the cell to kneel by Sabo.
“Surely you don’t have to—“ Sabo blurted in horror as Tallis brought out a knife. He wanted Tallis to unlock the cuffs for a minute, not destroy his only clothes.
“I don’t have the key,” Tallis told him, helping him pull the wetsuit as far as it would go down his shoulders before the sight of Sabo’s chest made his breath catch.
It shocked all three of them simultaneously, seeing the lace bralette, stark white as it laid flush with his skin. Sabo and Ace forgot it was there, both blushing so deeply at the sight that the redness stretched down their chests too.
”Fuck’s sake,” Sabo cursed in frustration.
Ace felt his skin heating, unable to resist taking in every detail of the delicate fabric clinging to Sabo's body. He could see the pink of his nipples through the thin lace covering them, captivating him. The image burned in his brain, and he let it, completely helplessly.
Sabo is… that’s… so beautiful... perfect… everything.
The sight overloaded him until his inner monologue turned to nonsensical babble, barely even registering the bandage wrapping his side beneath the lace.
Ace tried to speak, but his mouth had dried well beyond the ability to function. And god, he didn’t trust himself to say anything right now anyway.
Sabo had shut his eyes, shaking his head in annoyance at how fucked this situation was.
Tallis didn’t seem as affected as either of them, sighing heavily as he cut through the pretty material in a couple of inconspicuous places.
“You can’t wear shit like this in here. You’re lucky Darro didn’t say anything. Do you have any idea what would’ve happened if the captain saw you looking like this?” Tallis whispered, sounding genuinely angry and holding up the wad of material in his fist once it was cut away.
“We didn’t exactly plan to be here right now,” Sabo told him icily.
“We?” Tallis asked, looking from Sabo to Ace’s slightly smug expression that only deepened when Tallis glanced at him.
“That’s what I said, yes,” Sabo replied, waiting until Tallis looked back at his mouth.
“So he’s not going to bother you if I leave you unsupervised,” Tallis clarified, carefully using his knife to cut the waterproof material away. He made gradual slices from Sabo’s ankle all the way to the seam on his wrist.
“Of course not,” Sabo said, looking over at Ace.
But Sabo almost wished he hadn’t, because Ace’s dark brows had pinched together slightly, swallowing in concern as he watched Sabo’s clothes be cut from his body by their captor.
“It’s okay, Ace,” Sabo said quietly as the back of the cold knife slid up the inside of his leg this time. Tallis couldn’t help but read Sabo’s lips curiously as he worked.
Ace’s eyes narrowed on the young man, nostrils flaring as his chest visibly rose and fell. Sure, looking at moving lips was second nature to Tallis, probably not an affectation he could even help, but Ace felt something poisonous seeping through him when he watched Tallis staring at Sabo’s lips up close like that. Running his hand and blade up Sabo’s tight inseam.
Tallis seemed unaffected by the task of undressing Sabo, however, as if merely helping the ship’s doctor with an injured patient. Even his hand was only there to stop the tip of the blade from biting into him accidentally. Without caring to notice a single thing about Sabo’s body, he slipped the most of the cut material away.
The officer only glanced back over at Ace one more time, immediately seeing the darts directed at him and the tension in his posture.
All Tallis could really do was finish pulling the wetsuit away in pieces leaving only Sabo’s shorts underneath. He knew he didn’t have the patience to see anymore of Ace’s reactions as he lifted Sabo slightly to get the last of the material out from under him.
”Problem solved,” he stated, flicking his knife shut and waiting a moment to see if Sabo intended to reply.
But he didn’t get a chance, because Sabo was already looking at the closed brig door, frowning slightly.
Sure enough, a fist pounded at the door before they heard two slavers arguing about Tallis not being able to hear it, calling each other stupid. But neither of them had the key to the door, which was inside with the officer.
”Oy,” Ace said, kicking his plate until it reached Tallis to get his attention.
"Time to go, bud. You got friends at the door and I wouldn’t want you to keep them waiting. Bet you got a ton of important slaver shit to do."
”Marmont’s already asking for me?” Tallis asked, to which he saw Sabo nod, a little less abrasive than Ace.
”Great,” Tallis mouthed to himself, then to his captives:
”I’ll be back, alright?”
Luckily, Sabo had already convinced Tallis it was safe to leave them together. Even the way he and Ace looked at each other made it clear that he’d gotten the wrong idea of them.
“Wait, Tallis,” Sabo said, “I promised I’d return that to Koala. The lace.”
“You can’t keep this. Sorry.”
“He’s right, Sabo,” Ace added, “It’s gonna have to be collateral.”
Tallis stood up watching Sabo nod grudgingly, the officer still clutching the shredded wetsuit as he locked the cell door. He locked the brig’s door again so they couldn’t be disturbed by anyone.
Having stripped to their underwear, Sabo and Ace probably shouldn’t have met each other’s eyes because they both glanced away immediately, mutually agreeing this wasn’t how they pictured the day panning out.
As they reached for the washcloths, their fingers brushed against each other. A shiver ran down Ace's spine, and he couldn't help but feel the color rising in his cheeks again. He quickly turned away, focusing on scrubbing the dirt and sweat from his skin.
"I'm sorry about staring earlier,” Ace murmured, wiping his legs quickly, “Didn't mean to."
"It's alright," Sabo said with a small smile, “I’m used to getting stares. Usually it’s because of my scars, though. Doesn’t bother me, either way.”
He pressed the cloth to his face, sighing into the wonderfully hot steam and the smell of soap, however plain. He washed his face and what he could reach of his arms, then carefully scrubbed the dried blood from his hands and under his nails.
"You've never seen these before, I just realized,” Sabo stated, his voice quiet and nonchalant so Ace would know he didn’t mind him noticing.
The patches of healed burns stretched down the back of his left arm from his neck, and Ace was sure they went down his back a little, too.
Ace had seen his whole body before, technically, many times at that. He already knew this was completely different from the last time they bathed together. Only made worse by the blush spreading across Ace’s chest and face, a beacon of embarrassment that he hoped Sabo wouldn’t notice.
Returning their cloths to the bubbles, their hands brushed again in the shared water, and Sabo’s hand seemed to linger for a moment. Ace inhaled in surprise, both at the idea of their hands touching and at the sheer warmth of his skin.
Under the effects of kairouseki cuffs, Ace found that Sabo’s body was higher temperature than his own again. To the point that he nearly abandoned all pride and pulled him closer to sap every ounce of his addictive heat, since not even Ace’s blushing brought relief from the cold.
Sabo hid a smile, because after the first time their hands accidentally touched, he’d absolutely started doing it on purpose, glancing covertly to see Ace’s freckles darken.
Somehow, Sabo seeing him turn red was worse than being forced to get his own dick out in front of him. Ace panicked slightly at the thought, as if his own memory had just wiped clean.
Fuck, what were we even talking about? Right… I haven’t seen the burns before.
"Oh, um… no, I haven't… I couldn’t see your other burns from the…”
The hotel window. He clenched his teeth slightly as the words almost left his traitorous mouth. Having accidentally spied on Sabo was one memory he wished Sabo would forget. But judging by Sabo’s wonderful but frustrating smile, he absolutely remembered that happening.
Sabo dipped his wash cloth in the water, wringing it out again to carefully swipe around the bandages on his side from Skar's unruly fingernails. Fuck only knows what kind of hideous infection he might get from it, but he tried not to dwell on it.
He washed his legs next, leaning back against the wall and sneakily watching Ace dab at himself, too.
"They took an eternity to heal," Sabo told him, “I kept getting out of bed, though. I’m sure that had a lot to do with it.”
Sabo still found himself stealing more glances at Ace than he'd like to admit, watching hair cling to his face in dark waves. He'd always liked Ace's hair, he realized.
He carefully wrung out the cloth with more suds and used it to wash his neck and chest with both hands, seeing as they were shackled together.
Ace was doing the same.
“I like them. Your scars,” he mentioned quietly, making Sabo smile even though they weren’t looking at each other. Ace had moved forward to pull at the exposed nail in the floor again.
“You do, huh?” Sabo replied, seeing Ace toss his hand towel back into the bucket with his peripheral.
“Yeah, I’m sure it hurt, but you look tough as hell. Like a warrior,” Ace told him, allowing himself a cute smile of appreciation over his shoulder.
This time, Sabo did look directly at him, the compliment putting a different kind of light behind Sabo’s stunned eyes. But then, he watched Ace return to tugging at the nail in the floor, alternating between using his hands and his teeth like he hadn’t said a word.
Sabo took the opportunity to ease his underwear off and finish scrubbing himself down, legs pulled up modestly. Noticing with surprise that he found Ace’s unexpected shyness even more appealing than his body. He would’ve expected easy confidence— maybe even cockiness— out of a man with a body like that.
Sabo couldn’t stop himself from thinking how much fun it would be if Ace had never even been kissed before. He only thought that might be the case because Sabo used to be pretty bashful himself, but that’d been when he was a teenager, before he had any experience whatsoever. And that’s exactly how Ace seemed right now.
“Ace, you didn’t finish washing yourself.”
“I know,” Ace agreed as casually as possible, but then swallowed audibly, “I’ll… after you… then I’ll finish.”
Sabo gave the back of his beautiful hair a sly look, but he thought he’d cut him a break and change the subject.
“Fine by me. Do you, um… You think you can pick the locks with that nail? I could always try my hand at it, too,” Sabo asked quietly, letting his head rest against the wall and sliding on the black shorts that Tallis provided.
Ace considered the question as he moved to leverage it with his cuff again. Trying not to think about how this shouldn’t even be an issue for someone with Haki as strong as either of them.
"Depends on the locks. If they're the old-fashioned kind, we might have some luck. If they're new models... well, we might have to get creative."
He glanced at the cell door.
“Y’know… that officer guy might let you out if you use your eyes just right.”
Sabo snorted.
“Only if he’ll help us both escape.”
Ace noticed Sabo hadn't used the water in a minute, so he turned his head just enough to confirm Sabo had his shorts on.
"Your turn," Sabo told him when he caught his eyes.
And Ace did make his way back over to the wash bucket, but when Sabo looked like he had no intention of averting his eyes, Ace froze his hands in place at his waistband with a slight scoff.
"You gonna... look away, or what?"
As if he'd been waiting for Ace to ask, Sabo nodded. Ace shook his head in mild disbelief, but he couldn’t help but be amused by Sabo’s teasing. It was a familiar dynamic, even if the circumstances of the teasing has changed dramatically. Only when Ace had hidden behind his own legs did he inch his shorts past his hips to kick them off.
Sabo had turned away completely, giving him space, but he had no intention of stopping their banter.
"You've got nothing to worry about, y’know," Sabo told him casually, "I mean, I'm athletic enough, but you're really quite... built. Must be nice."
Sabo tried not to overstep and sound too appreciative, but he couldn't help expressing admiration for the guy’s physique. Hoping maybe Ace would loosen up just a bit eventually with enough encouragement. He wondered what it would be like to see Ace truly let his guard down, to see what he was really like beneath all the shyness and reserve.
”Oh,” Ace managed to reply, “Yeah… you too.”
Ace threw a quick, guilty glance his direction, and fuck, it was just as good as the first time. He was floored all over again to see his childhood friend’s body so carved and tone and completely exquisite. The scar was jagged like a scaled dragon ripping down the upper quadrant of his back. It made him forget to breathe for a second.
Ace blinked, losing track of his own thoughts as he hastily looked away, finishing up his washing so he could get the black shorts on.
The water’s temperature felt blissful against him, and he wanted to feel relieved, but its warmth was fleeting. The moment he stopped running the towel over himself, he shivered at the cold moisture evaporating from his mostly naked skin.
Any comfort would’ve helped. More clothes, a blanket, another meal, Sabo crawling into his lap—
Ace panted suddenly, catching his breath.
"I don't know about you, but I could definitely eat more,” Ace breathed, trying to shudder that last thought away before he had a genuine situation, “Actually, I could really go for a steak.”
"What, so you can pass out again?" Sabo teased, still not turning around yet.
Before they could say anything else, they heard something troubling. The sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway, drawing their attention.
Then the cell door creaked open, revealing Tallis, concern cracking through his stoicism. It wasn't about food this time, despite Ace’s wishes. Tallis seemed to know they were both about to suffer. But Marmont only ordered Tallis to bring one of them.
Notes:
Pretty sure one of the slavers super glued that nail there as a sick joke to give hope to prisoners
Have a drink of water, and give Sabo and Ace some water too:
Ace takes a deep gulp from the canteen, then pauses seeing a mischievous glint in Sabo’s eyes.
“Think I can catch it?” Sabo asks.
“Guess we’ll find out,” Ace says, having another swig before spitting a stream of water into Sabo’s open mouth only inches away. Sabo laughs, nearly choking on the water as he swallows, playfully shoving Ace.
“Can’t believe that worked,” Sabo laughs, wiping his mouth.
Feed the boys a cluster of grapes:
Ace grins mischievously as he snatches the cluster of grapes first, holding them out of Sabo’s reach.
“Too slow, Sabo! First come, first served!”
Sabo narrows his eyes, lunging to grab the grapes.
“Not this again. Ass!”Ace laughs, shoving a handful into his mouth already.
“Catch me if you can!”
Chapter 19: Lashes
Summary:
Marmont selects one of the captives for his pre-meal entertainment
Chapter Text
Tallis stood at the threshold for a beat, noticing that they both had on their black shorts, but his mind couldn’t be farther from caring if they had or hadn’t done as asked. He sighed, entering the cell as they watched him warily.
The officer approached Ace with a key. Unfortunately, not the key to his shackles. He removed the chain locked around the cuffs instead, then hauled him to his feet, having to still support most of his weight due to the caliber of kairouseki used in the cuffs.
“Where are we going?” Ace asked.
“Sabo isn’t going anywhere. Just you.”
“We did what you wanted,” Sabo told him, suddenly faced with how he felt about being parted from Ace without knowing what was happening to him.
"Not— that— shoulder," Ace hissed, eyes shutting against the pulling of his stitches.
Tallis did switch sides at his protest, but not without commenting, “You’re lucky I’m not sadistic like the others. You realize that, right?”
"You're lucky I didn't cook your ass, back on that beach," Ace muttered, waiting until Tallis was looking to be sure he saw him say it.
"You really gotta get control of your edgy little quips," Tallis told him, "Pull any of this around Marmont and you'll wish you had listened to me."
"Ace," Sabo said almost imperceptibly as he watched Tallis lead him away, unable to stop the spiraling feeling that this was all beginning to slide downhill as he grabbed the bars.
When the young officer turned to close the door behind them, Sabo seized his last chance for Tallis to see his words.
"You won’t let anything happen to him? Tallis?"
"It's not a negotiation, Sabo," Tallis replied calmly, his expression unyielding. "No promises."
Tallis supported him down the dimly lit hallway, the sound of their footsteps echoing through the stale air below deck. Ace maintained his composure, but looking unaffected in an atmosphere like this would eventually take more energy than it was really worth. That wouldn't stop him from trying.
Alone in the brig, Sabo slammed his eyes shut, gripping the bars angrily and taking a deep inhale and exhale. He could bend these fucking bars, and he knew it. Would’ve been easy, too, with the amount of willpower he felt right now.
But he let his face rest against them, trying to think of any flaw in the chemical they used on him, or how they administered it. But ultimately, he could only think to drop to the cell floor and pry his cuff under the same protruding nail Ace had tried to work free before.
Ace was led to the deck, suddenly grateful to breathe in the clean, familiar ocean air.
The rain had stopped long enough for the deck to be dry, but clouds still covered the sky. Even still, Ace could see the faint white glow where the sun rested— knowing his nakama were looking at the same sun right now.
He noticed a man, unmistakably the captain, emerging from a lavish office wearing an expression of controlled fury. Marmont. Somewhere around his fifties, he wore a decorated uniform and a long coat, but he couldn’t have looked less like a marine.
The ex-serviceman would’ve revolted Garp, Ace thought. His eyes glinted in a way that made Ace swallow, trying to prepare himself for whatever was about to happen.
"So," Marmont said, "The delusional twerp that thought he could take me on… Tell me, 'Ace'—“
"Captain Ace."
"—what did you hope to gain by sinking one of my ships?"
Ace met Marmont's gaze steadily, forcing himself to appear calm and unflinching.
“Just gave you a taste of what I can do to your fleet,” Ace said, “It was a warning. Now it’s a guarantee."
Marmont's eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward, his expression darkening.
"What do you mean by that?" he growled.
Tallis gripped Ace's hair and yanked it back so he was forced to look up at Tallis' cautioning eyes.
"What this idiot means..." the officer said, "...is that he will find a way to pay it back. Isn't that right?”
"I didn't—" Ace uttered before Tallis gripped his hair much harder, both of them looking annoyed with the other.
"Could I beg a word with this scum alone?" Tallis asked Marmont.
Skar wasn't amused in the slightest, his venomous yellow eyes fixed hungrily on Ace as he licked a long, slimy tongue over his shark teeth.
Luckily, Marmont enjoyed seeing his favorite little officer struggle for control, and he shook with a quiet chuckle.
"You've got nowhere to be, right, Skar?" Marmont told him, poking him with a knife far too lightly to pierce his naturally tough skin.
"No, sir," Skar replied, but he was looking straight at Tallis with his attitude. Tallis only noticed for a second, too busy dragging Ace back into the hallway.
"Don't keep him to yourself too long. You need to go fix dinner for the crew," Marmont called after him firmly.
As soon as he closed the door behind them, Tallis shoved Ace against the wall, pinning him there with his forearm across his throat.
"Look, you're not in any position to make threats," Tallis said, “You did the damage, now you need to pay back what you owe. So stop acting tough and start thinking of a way to make that happen. You think I could afford to lose that money? Do you have any idea what that did to me? I have to stay here longer because of you.”
Ace squirmed under Tallis' grip, his throat burning from the pressure.
"I don't have that kind of berry," he wheezed, “I swear I’d offer it if I did. Anything to get outta this hell hole.”
"You don’t have a ship? 'Captain’?"
Ace shook his head. "That ship belongs to my crew. It's their home. The only way I can keep them fed. Not a pawn for me to trade."
Tallis' expression softened slightly, and he leaned back just enough to ease the pressure on Ace's throat. He had never heard a captain talk like that before. Or any pirate, really. He sighed, resting his hands on Ace’s shoulders instead.
“You need to understand that Marmont isn't a man you want to cross. He's not one to forgive and forget. And if you don't find a way to make things right, he won't hesitate to make you regret it."
"There's nothing he can do to me that's worse than betraying my crew."
Tallis swallowed, getting angry again. Though he kept it under wraps this time, blinking and chewing the inside of his cheek.
"And what about the things he'll do to Sabo because of you?" Tallis said quietly, eyes narrowing on Ace's, watching his dark brows turn up suddenly, “You're in a shit storm, and the only way out is to do what you need to do to survive.”
"I thought you were slavers," Ace said, trying to keep his voice steady, "Do you not lose money if we’re damaged?“
Tallis snorted humorlessly. "You do have a high price on your head. But even the both of you combined can't cover the berry you just lost us. And Marmont will cash in on you, but he wants you to suffer first. And if you act right, take your beating, and stop taunting him, he might not do unspeakable things to your blond situation in there."
"Sabo," Ace whispered, suddenly feeling sick. Tallis had the briefest flash of sympathy before he was right back to furrowing his brow at the captive.
"I tried to to cover for you. I tried to claim the drawing as my own. But he knows it's you. He won't hesitate to use you against each other."
"Don't act like you're on our side if you're not gonna let us go," Ace hissed, "I hate these fucked up mind games. How d'you expect me to believe a word outta your mouth, huh?"
Tallis leaned in, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I'm here because I need the money. That doesn't mean I have the stomach to see that bastard force himself on your friend. Say whatever the captain wants to hear. I don't care if you do it for Sabo, or your crew, or in the name of Roger or whoever else you pirates worship, just don't piss Marmont off anymore… It's not just captives he takes it out on, you know. I’m only gonna say this once. Please, Ace.”
He’d used his given name, sounding more human than ever. On the other hand, he’d also used his father’s name, sounding more annoying than ever.
Ace's eyes pinched in reply, letting Tallis force him roughly back into the room where Marmont and Skar waited for him.
"Right then," Marmont said, "I trust our new friend here has had a chance to reflect on his situation. Make sure the men get fed now, eh, Tallis?”
Tallis gave Ace one more threatening look before making his exit. Ace glared at both of them as he was pushed forward, but the captain merely smirked back.
“Let's hear what he has to say for himself,” Marmont added expectantly.
Ace paused for a moment, trying to think of some way to placate Marmont without giving up too much. But he was in a vice.
"Yeah alright," he began, "I'm willing to do what it takes to make this right."
Marmont smiled, a thin, predatory thing.
"Good to hear. On your knees, then.”
Ace drew in a long breath, closing his eyes as he sank low enough to gently drop his knees to the deck.
”Posture… posture,” Marmont uttered testily until Ace stopped resting on his own heels, rising until he held himself rigid over his knees.
Marmont gestured to Skar, and the massive slaver stepped forward, a cruel-looking whip coiled in his hand. Marmont was eating it up, the view of him unfurling the wrapped leather.
Ace looked more confused than intimidated, because it was only a rope to his eyes.
“Have you never seen one of these before, pirate? Fuck I love when I get a virgin. Go on, let him hear it, Skar. Show him what it does. I wanna see the color leave his face.”
Ace thought it was probably a good time to look away or close his eyes, but his dark curiosity got the better of him, and he couldn’t. He absorbed every horrible detail.
The heavy, round braid of leather platted to the deck from Skar’s shiny, webbed hand holding the handle. Then, it slid backward at his command until the shockingly long stretch of it lay behind him. Like a cobra preparing to strike.
Skar bared his jagged row of shark teeth.
It was only too easy for him to wield it, powerful muscles flexing as he circled it into the air, whirling it three times for Ace’s naïve eyes to drink in the sight.
He didn’t know what was coming, just that it wouldn’t be pleasant. But he was woefully unprepared for the awe-striking magnitude of force the circling cord was about to unleash.
It cracked like a gunshot, breaking the sound barrier inches from his ear. The concussive burst ripped the soul from his body, echoing back from the sails.
“Fuck,” Ace hissed angrily through his clenched teeth, wincing away from it instinctually. His bound hands came up in weak defense, shuddering as he forced himself to shake it off. He didn’t want to know what it would do to his body, and his only defense in these cuffs was diplomacy.
When he looked up at the Fishman, he wondered if Skar even respected the captain or just had nowhere else to go. It was worth giving him another option.
“Can’t deny your skill,” Ace breathed, clenching his hands to get rid of the tension, “I just wanna know if these guys are really your allies, Skar. You don’t have to do this if this isn’t who you are.”
Skar’s throat bubbled with harsh, wet laughter.
“Oh, because my people get enslaved on a daily basis? That’s what you’re trying to say?” Skar replied mockingly, “I like punishing smart-mouthed humans like you. You shit stains think you can talk your way out of everything. Today, you’re gonna learn.”
Damn, he's a little too dickish, even by Spade Pirate standards. Probably only get along with Saber.
So Ace put the idealistic thought grudgingly to rest. But Marmont had already crossed his arms, smugly shaking his head.
“You think anyone on my crew wants to serve a broke, washed-up rookie? You’re a joke. Go on, Skar, give the boy a couple marks.”
Ace swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing visibly as the shark-type circled behind him, hungry to punish him for destroying one of their ships.
He tried to galvanize himself, but when Skar's whip lashed out and connected with his back, blistering fire erupted straight across his spine. He made a strained noise, face pinching in shock.
He could still feel the harsh sting of the first strike as Skar reached back to whip him again, both strokes leaving angry red marks across his back tattoo.
“Speak,” Marmont demanded.
“Ow,” Ace breathed in reply, but his pained expression couldn’t disguise the pure cheek of his tone.
Skar snarled, hideously offended.
“Oh, you want more. You want real pain.”
Ace flinched as Skar whipped him harder, laying new streaks of red atop the first two welts until he was gasping with hollow eyes.
As the lashes rained down on his back, he could feel the blood dripping down his skin, mingling with the sweat that had broken out across him. Each welt of the thick leather cord crumpled him further into himself.
A bead of sweat trickled down Ace’s pinched brow when the beating halted at the captain’s order.
Marmont strode slowly forward to sink his elbows to his knees, eye-level with his captive. He grabbed Ace's jaw, enjoying how Ace allowed himself to be handled with no resistance.
“You're a tough one, Fire Fist," he purred, "I like that. It'll make this all the more satisfying. I want you to break for me, okay?”
He released him to hold his gaze for a long, appreciative moment… Ace was deliciously feral right now, making Marmont lick his own lips in response. He looked so good it tempted the captain in closer.
"Don’t have anything to say to that, pet? I wanna hear you talk," Marmont said into Ace's ear, his hot breath sending shivers down the his spine.
Ace shook his head in confusion, "What am I supposed to say?”
That wasn't at all what Marmont wanted. Pure displeasure was evident on his sour expression as he waved Skar away.
"I knew you'd be a waste of time," Marmont muttered under his breath, unimpressed with Ace's lack of cooperation. He turned his attention back to Skar.
"Take him to the brig. Then bring me that blond. He looks like he'll beg for it."
Ace's heart hammered in his chest. Because of him, they were about to punish Sabo. Ace knew he had to beg, as bad of a taste as it’d leave in his mouth.
"Wait," he managed, “I’ll— I’m begging you— hit me as much as you want. Please.”
He winced as he saw the glee in Marmont's eyes, but it was a small price to pay for sparing Sabo.
"Mmm. You’re trying. But that wasn't very convincing, little flame," he said quietly, inches from Ace's mouth. Even tilting his face.
Ace swallowed hard, feeling Marmont's stinking breath against his skin. He couldn't help but feel a cold dread in his stomach as he realized that no matter what he said, he was trapped. So he might as well deal with it. If he went all in, Sabo would be safer for longer.
"I'll do better, okay?" Ace replied quickly, "I’m the miserable shit that cost you one of your fleet, so please let me be the one that answers for it. Let me pay with my own blood. Every drop you want, it’s yours. And I want you to take it. I deserve this— I know I do.”
Marmont leaned back, his expression softening as he studied Ace's face, listening to the delicious desperation in his voice.
"Y’know—” he said before interrupting himself to chuckle with sadistic amusement, "Oh… this is too good. Fuck, I could get used to hearing you talk like this. You earned yourself some more attention.”
Marmont stood, grinning as he backed up to perch against the rail for more. Skar nodded obediently at his gesture, the cruel smile on his face almost as terrifying as the whip in his hand.
It cracked with tremendous weight across his spine, jolting him forward so hard it took all his strength to stay on his knees.
The pain was excruciating, but Ace remained stoic through it. He tried to force down his pride, but it was unexpectedly difficult to give Marmont the satisfaction of hearing him cry out.
“Is he hurting you, boy?” the captain asked in mock concern.
“I’ll admit that bullshit little rope bites worse than I thought,” Ace panted, barely able to stay upright on his knees, but Skar only whipped him harder when he tried to sink to the decking.
“But it’s worth it,” Ace added bravely through gritted teeth. He made eye contact with the captain, hearing him clear his throat.
His chest clenched to feel even stronger air rushing off the whip as it built up momentum behind him, knowing the Fishman was about to hit him much harder than before.
Skar lashed him dead on target, and the thinnest, cruelest end of the cord struck straight across a prior welt. This time, at the shockwave of the cord, his back split open. The pain ripped his air away, jaw dropping soundlessly as the warmth of his own blood spilled from the laceration.
Ace had to take in a breath, but even expanding his lungs made his back scream in protest.
The captain could only bite his lip in amazement at the borderline erotic face he’d made, struggling to breathe, struggling to stay upright on his knees.
“Look at me,” Marmont said.
Ace forced himself to lift his head, meeting the captain's gaze as best he could through the haze of pain.
“Speak.”
“I will,” Ace breathed, “Just tell me what you wanna hear.”
“You want to be punished or not?” Skar growled behind him, “Yeah? So fucking say it.”
Ace drew several short breaths, eyes pinching as he forced eye contact with Marmont.
“Punish me,” he told him, feeling his eyes stinging at the burning of his raw wounds.
"You’re getting good," Marmont replied, voice low and appreciative.
When the captain smirked at Skar, the Fishman leered wickedly, preparing another lash of the heavy whip. He brandished it around his body until it landed with a loud, searing clap through his skin.
"Keep going," Ace struggled out, sounding tired, “Until I pay for what I did.”
And his strained, cracking voice was pure ecstasy for the captain.
Marmont clapped his hands together, a wicked smile spreading across his face. "Very good, Fire Fist. I believe you're starting to understand the game."
He gestured to Skar, and the pirate stepped forward, his whip cracking through the air as it connected with Ace's back once more. The impact drove Ace to his hands and knees, eyes burning as he tried to suppress the agonizing cries that threatened to rip from his throat.
"Why's he stopping?" Ace complained breathily as he ducked his forehead to rest on his arms, "I deserve more, don’t you think? ‘Captain’?"
Marmont watched him try to recover with cruel fascination, his eyes roaming over Ace's body as he pulled in nearly vocal breaths.
"That's it," the captain said softly, taking a step closer, “Let it out.”
One more devastating lash of Skar's whip made both fatigued arms slip in his own dripping blood.
When Ace collapsed to the deck, Marmont knelt down beside him with a deep moan of appreciation, his hand tracing slowly across Ace's injuries. With the cuffs already sapping his strength and warmth, Marmont's fingers were like blistering fire pressing into his wounds.
“I can still take more, y’know,” Ace assured him with closed eyes, “I’m just getting started.”
“I know it, little flame. I know,” the captain cooed tenderly at him.
Then, Marmont lifted his face, and his warm mouth wrapped around his ear. Ace went rigid, biting back a horrified sound. He kept the stinging in his eyes at bay, but his shallow breaths betrayed him with the most pathetic sniffling noises past his nose. The captain pulled back, hovering over him to drink in the sounds with awe.
Please don’t kiss me. Anything but that.
He’d never been kissed. Didn’t even know he gave a shit about who the first one was with until it occurred to him this instant. It felt important all of a sudden, with this slimeball breathing down his neck. Because it damn sure shouldn’t be with him.
Ace closed his eyes, unable to bear the intensity of the captain's stare. His anger welled up inside him, and it would’ve normally been too much to contain, but when he pictured what Marmont would do to Sabo if he didn’t play along, it was surprisingly easy to blink hot tears down his cheeks.
"You really are perfect like this, covered in blood and beaten skin,” Marmont told him, and the psycho really did look like he’d fallen in love for a moment, stroking Ace’s cheek so softly it made him want to scream in fury.
Ace paused to take a steadying breath, his voice low and hoarse.
"Thank you..."
Hearing himself talk like this turned Ace’s stomach. He sounded pathetic, looked pathetic, was pathetic. But he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t do everything in his power to keep their attention off of Sabo.
He could feel Marmont's fingers brushing over his shoulder to find the raw skin of his back again. After digging into the wounds to get one last pained reaction from him, the warm hands trailed away to leave only the effects of kairouseki chilling his blood.
“I thought you weren’t my type, but seeing you make those faces…” Marmont nearly whispered with his gross breath, “I think you’re right; you can handle more.”
Ace waited, bracing himself for another lash, but it didn't come. Instead, Marmont halted Skar before leaning in close again, his warm breath fanning across Ace's cheek while he examined his reddened eyes.
"Wait just a moment. I want to remember these tears you made for me,” Marmont whispered.
Ace groaned with dread, looking like he wanted to crawl out of his own miserable skin.
”Please just let him whip me again. That’s all I want right now.”
"Ah, but you’ve been so good that you deserve a little reward before we continue.”
Before Ace could react, Marmont gripped his neck and sank an open-mouth kiss to it. The sensation sent a shock of disgust through his body, making him jolt involuntarily, feeling the older man's tongue lick at him. The more Ace resisted, the more he sucked at his neck, pulling hard at the skin until it left a hideous mark on him. His fingers dug into Ace's shoulder and hair as he held him in place.
Then Marmont let go with a satisfied moan, chucking darkly as he greedily took in Ace’s reaction, the wetness beneath his eyes.
“There. Your neck looks better like that, don’t you think?”
“Y-yes, thank you,” Ace said through shallow breaths, staring down into the blood-smeared deck as he clutched his shackled arms closer for warmth.
He shivered against the deck, grasping at the small mercy that at least Sabo wasn’t here to see him like this. Begging… even crying… though it was more a physical reaction to the sting of the whip than an emotional one.
“You’re getting out of practice, Skar… I see more lacerations than I requested,” Marmont added in a less pleased tone, crossing his arms, “If you keep hitting with the popper on the end, the sorry bastard’s gonna bleed out. Hit him with the meat of it, eh?”
“Of course, sir,” Skar growled, fixing Ace with a withering gaze.
“You want him to keep going, little flame?” Marmont asked tenderly, rubbing a drop of moisture from Ace’s eyelash.
“Yes, please,” Ace said, swallowing with closed eyes, “Want more.”
Marmont stood, grinning as he backed up to perch against the railing. Skar nodded obediently at his gesture, the cruel smile on his face almost as terrifying as the whip in his hand.
The pain was excruciating, but Ace forced himself to remain stoic, not wanting to give Marmont the satisfaction of hearing him cry out. The lashes rained down on his back, sending fresh blood oozing down his spine.
Marmont halted the whipping, seeing that Ace wouldn’t hold out much longer. Like he was edging himself with a hungry lick of his lips. He bent over Ace one more time, using his hair to angle his face up.
“Before I’m finished with you today, I want you to know this. I might’ve misled you to think you’re desirable, but the truth is I wouldn’t fuck you even if you paid me. Your pretty little friend, though… he’s not worth much, so I don’t think I can stop myself from wrecking him. Will you watch? If I fuck him good for you?”
Ace made a strained noise of rage in his throat, eyes squeezed shut helplessly. He was shaking beneath Marmont’s grip, more tears spilling to roll down his face.
Marmont released his hair, letting him drop back to the deck for Skar to continue.
Clap after clap, the viscous sting of the leather assaulted him.
And as the punishment went on, Ace began to feel lightheaded, curling into himself. His whole body knew the rhythm of Skar’s lashing, jolting against the shock of every hit. He tried to focus on anything but the agony, remembering the feel of his own deck beneath his feet, smelling the ocean air around them, bringing up the sound of his crew laughing. That is, until darkness began to flood into his mind.
His eyelids fluttered closed, breathing getting long and steady after his body finally gave in to exhaustion.
Skar gave the whip another thrash of frustration when he saw him go limp.
"Weak. So weak," he muttered as he watched Marmont shove an unconscious Ace with the toe of his boot until he lay face up.
"Now, Skar, how in the hell are we supposed to enjoy ourselves if you go slicing their backs open at the first opportunity," Marmont observed with a tired rubbing of his temples.
Ace hadn’t screamed like they’d wanted, but Marmont couldn’t deny that the wet marks staining Ace’s cheeks and the streams of blood down his arms gave him a shiver of satisfaction. He looked broken, even if he wasn’t. Yet.
"But I’m being too hard on you. After all, he blacked out just in time for my dinner. Be a doll and get the bastard back to the brig. I need some wine.”
Tallis sat on the upper rail with Darro, but the other officer ignored him in favor of his bowl of reheated stew until he got irritated enough to say something.
"Why are you sitting next to me right now?" Darro grumbled. He didn’t want to be associated with the crew’s least favorite person.
When Tallis didn't reply, Darro added, "Crew talking shit again?"
"You're the only one that doesn't," Tallis murmured, looking out into the water.
"Doesn't mean I want you around."
Tallis frowned, but it was caused by seeing Skar haul Ace's beaten unconscious body across the deck toward them.
The young officer glanced at Darro when they both noticed red blood streaming slowly down Ace’s limp, shackled arms. Darro didn't seem to care, of course, despite his position on the ship.
"You planning to patch him up?" Tallis asked, even though he knew the answer.
"I'm eating," the medic replied crankily.
"And after you finish?"
"I'll still be eating."
Tallis nodded coldly in response, clenching his teeth in quiet annoyance as he slid off the rail.
After raiding the infirmary for supplies, Tallis followed in the direction Skar had gone. The Fishman had already barged into the brig to dump Ace unceremoniously back into the cell, chaining him roughly as Sabo remained in the corner with wide eyes.
"Outta the way," Skar growled, pushing past Tallis on his way back out of the brig. Luckily, he was too busy glaring into Tallis' eyes to notice what he'd brought to the cell.
By the time Tallis was alone with the pair of prisoners, Sabo had already crouched beside Ace, studying the damage with increasing concern.
Tallis hesitantly deposited a bucket and a tin box of salvaged supplies near him— not surprised at all when Sabo glared up at him.
"May not be pretty,” Tallis said rigidly, “But this was the best outcome.”
Sabo's nostrils flared angrily, but he cut his withering look short as Ace stirred below.
"I’ll have to take your word for it," Sabo said while he looked down at Ace, "I don’t need anymore help here, unless you’d like to do the most helpful thing and find those keys.”
"Yeah, if you’re not gonna free us, you can definitely get lost," Ace added sharply, already knowing who Sabo was talking to.
Tallis fixed them both with a hard stare before retreating grudgingly, locking the cell door behind him.
"Be back with your AFA injection."
"Can't wait," Sabo muttered, the moment he'd locked the door behind himself. He and Ace locked eyes, a mutual moment of acknowledging their current situation.
Ace felt dead when he’d woken up practically in Sabo’s arms. The blond was angelic, even with such concern and anger darkening his features.
“Ace,” Sabo said shakily, not knowing where to even start about the state they left him in.
“Don’t, it’s okay,” Ace told him, “They took me to the deck, so I was able to look around a bit.”
Ace carefully recalled everything he noticed, grateful for something else to think about, something to distract Sabo from seeing his physical condition.
”It should be just past seven in the evening. We’re on a southeast bearing. No birds that I could see. We’re also the only ship around. No idea where the rest of his fleet is, if they even exist. Hard to imagine he has enough friends for that.”
“He does unfortunately have a few commanders under him. Hopefully they’re not out giving your crew any trouble. Any idea how long we’ve been at sea?”
Sabo had spent much more time asleep than Ace.
Ace blinked, examining the woodgrain as Sabo quickly shuffled around in the medical kit.
”Hm… just over a day, guessing. It’d been awhile since I went that long without eating. The hunger was pretty intense when I woke up.”
Okay, then. They thought they were heading southeast, and they thought they’d been at sea for a day.
”Southeast, southeast,” Sabo murmured, trying his best to summon up a map of surrounding islands, “Alright. Next time we get the chance, we can see if they’ve stayed the bearing. In case we get a chance to reach your crew.”
Still working, Sabo glanced at Ace to get his confirmation, only to see him barely listening. His mind was a thousand miles away before focusing on Sabo again.
"Did anyone bother you while I was out there?" Ace asked quietly, resting his face against his own cuffed arms and watching the supplies drag closer.
"You would act more concerned about me, even when your back looks like a horror show..." Sabo said, dousing a clean cloth in a bucket of seawater, wringing it out slightly. "Dare I ask how it went, other than the obvious?"
"I had a really good time," Ace replied, barely managing a casual inflection that put a smile on Sabo's face.
Sabo instantly dropped his smile, though, as he gingerly dabbed the saltwater into both lacerations splitting his back tattoo into thirds. Sabo’s face mirrored Ace’s pain as the latter had to hide his face in his arms against the freezing burn of the water.
“So you didn’t get bothered by anyone— ah! shhhit!— while I was gone?”
“Breathe,” Sabo told him, which he knew was probably annoying advice, but it was gratifying when Ace actually heeded his words, ribs expanding slowly against the deep sting of salt.
Sabo noticed Ace’s reddened eye peeking over his arm, and the blotchy skin beneath it. That made him take the question seriously this time, shaking his head as he dipped the towel in more sea water.
“No, Ace. Everything was okay here, but, um... Was it just the pain or something else that got you upset, if I can ask?”
Ace realized he must look a complete wreck, hiding his face in his arm again with a long exhale.
“I dunno, Sabo. The captain, when I met him… he was… I…”
Sabo waited patiently, but Ace trailed off, his hands threading into his own hair like there was something he couldn't say. Sabo gave him a lengthy look, forehead beginning to pinch in sad confusion, shoulders slumping.
"Sorry, there's gonna be more water," Sabo eventually told him, guiltily continuing to clean the long, shallow slices intersecting rapidly bruising welts across the tattoo.
Ace flinched away as the water spread across his back again. And when he did, Sabo saw the deep, poisonous-looking bruise on his neck.
“Fuck, Ace, he didn’t…” Sabo pleaded, tossing the towel back into the water bucket. They shared a dark look as Sabo's nerves froze over.
Ace swallowed, looking away as he guessed exactly what Sabo had seen to illicit the reaction. He wanted to lie so badly. Tell him it was from anything else.
“I knew that shit was gonna leave a mark. But it wasn’t any worse than what you see, at least.”
Sabo took a shaky breath, chest heavy with anger and disgust. He needed a moment to steady himself before he could refocus on tending to Ace's injuries. Then grabbed the cloth from the bucket again, wringing it out as he tried to think of what to say.
“That’s all it was? Just your neck? I mean, don’t feel forced to tell me. But if it’s worse than that, you don’t have to be alone with it…”
“Relax. I swear, okay?” Ace told him, hesitating a long moment to add, “But, on that note… there is something I wanted to— or, that I wanted you to promise me.”
Sabo gave him a wary look, but gently nodded for him to continue.
“That, no matter what, you won’t encourage anyone to do anything… sexual, I guess… to you.”
Sabo's lips parted, completely stunned by his words and how seriously he’d said them.
“Ace,” he breathed, faltering as his confused mind tried to understand, “Why would I encourage something like that?”
Ace swallowed, clenching his jaw at the words alone.
“If he tries to say he’ll do it to me instead, don’t be a hero, okay? Don’t beg. Don’t encourage him to hurt you instead of me. Can you promise me that?”
Sabo’s eyes were wide, searching and perceptive. The way his mind worked, he’d already figured out what the captain had just done to Ace.
“That’s what happened. Marmont threatened you. He told you he was going to hurt me, didn’t he? My god, Ace… All of this on your back. For me? And you seriously expect me to promise not to do the same for you? I’d do less for a complete stranger.”
Ace couldn’t take it anymore. Sabo needed to know.
“You caught his eye, physically, okay? Fuck, even saying it is nauseating. It’s not gonna be just a bruise on your neck. It’s not worth it. My back will heal, but what he’d do to you… I—“
“Ace…”
One more please wasn’t going to kill him.
“Please. Sabo.”
Tallis perched alone on the deck to eat, observing two of the crew whining about him.
“Where’s that little prick? My stew’s still cold.”
“I’d wager he’s in Marmont’s quarters. Heard the captain's been real fond of him lately…” the man trailed off suggestively, his words carrying more humor than anything else.
“Bet he likes it too.”
Tallis swallowed with difficulty, stomach turning as the two crew members took a sneaky glance at him from across the blood-stained deck. So they’d already known he was there, watching them talk about him.
"Man, what I’d pay to see him get the shit beat out of him. Privileged brat.”
“The devil fruit Marmont gave him still pisses me off.”
“Yeah, imagine the likes of us getting passed over so that ungrateful shit can have even more power. Makes me sick.”
“Almost as sick as Tallis’ dear old mommy.”
The two crew members laughed, the sight of their mirth grating on Tallis' nerves. He forced himself to remain calm so they wouldn’t have the satisfaction of knowing they'd gotten to him.
He took the last bite of his food, chewing slowly before finally standing to his feet. They noticed his movement and smirked at each other, but the young officer had no intention of letting one of their comments slide.
Tallis forced himself to keep his expression neutral as he walked over to them. Up close, they both reeked of cheap ale and sweat, stinging his nose.
"Something you wanna say to me?" he asked, his voice low and steady.
“Ahhh, don’t be so serious, kid," one of them said, looking away dramatically like he was the one overreacting.
“Yeah, we’re just messing, you know how it is. Wouldn’t do it if we didn’t like ya, Tallis.”
“You may not give a damn about my rank. Fuck knows I don’t. But you’re both out of your minds for insulting the one cooking your meals.”
“Good thing we ain’t insulting him, then,” one of them said harshly, standing tall over him, “He’ll know it when we do. It can always get worse, boy.”
Tallis glared as they both grinned in unison, still scowling after them as they let their empty bowls drop messily to the deck. His typical self control wavered dangerously, anger attempting to boil over despite his best efforts.
‘Almost as sick as Tallis’ dear old mommy.’
He shook his head, clearing the thought as he turned away from the pair. All they wanted to do was get him kicked off the ship. And he couldn’t afford for that to happen right now. Not when he was so close.
"How bad is it?" Ace asked, trying not to be bothered by Sabo refusing to make such a serious promise. It shouldn't have surprised him. Ace wouldn't have sworn to it either.
"Mostly bruising, only two cuts. They're not clotting on their own, though."
Sabo eased the lid off a tin container to sniff at the contents, barely able to duck into his elbow before he sneezed forcefully. Even Ace could smell what it contained, a dark and rich and familiar scent.
"Kitatown," Ace blurted, as it pulled up an instant memory. The whole city smelled like it. Now that he thought about it, Sabo had kinda smelled like it too at one point.
"Close, but not what Pelle uses at Astrid's. This is coarser stuff," Sabo mentioned, "And someone labeled these grounds for clotting. Probably isn't gonna feel great, but it's all we've got."
"It's alright. Just do it," Ace breathed, hating the anticipation more than the burn as he pressed his face to his forearm.
Sure enough, when Sabo shook out lines of the dark, dry coffee shavings across both his bleeding lacerations, it ignited so deeply that all he could do was grip his hair again, going completely rigid.
"Sorry," Sabo offered, shooting him a guilty look before refocusing on covering the broken skin, "Don't move, okay?"
"Couldn't if I tried," Ace forced out through his teeth, on edge because the new blaze in his back had no intention of dying out.
The lock clicked and the brig's door opened, but Darro accompanied Tallis in this time, muttering, "As if I trust you to do this properly. See—? This is what I'm talking about.”
Sabo had kicked the medical kit shut in alarm, shrinking away with piercing eyes as Darro approached the cell with crossed arms.
"Get that sympathetic bullshit out of their grubby little paws, Tallis. I swear they're like pets to you. Fire Fist's bounty isn't even alive-only. And frankly, it would've been less cruel to let the bastard die, if you insist on being an apologetic little twat."
Tallis wasn't looking at him after the first few words, making it clear he intended to ignore his fellow officer as he opened the cell door and extracted the kit from the floor.
Ace could barely see over his shoulder until Tallis had entered to kneel beside Sabo with the AFA syringe between his fingers, as promised. Sabo observed the chemical with dread before meeting Tallis' eyes with a meaningful look.
You don't have to keep doing this.
But he did. Especially with Darro watching mistrustfully from just outside the cell.
While Tallis pierced the needle deep into Sabo's shoulder muscle, Darro used the opportunity to address the prisoners privately.
"Look at you, giving him puppy dog eyes. I almost feel bad for you, the way you trust him. He's good at it, isn't he?"
Ace dropped his shoulder so he could manage to see Darro, eyes widening because Darro suddenly had his undivided attention. Sabo didn't look up at him, but could certainly hear him as he kept on.
"He does this with everyone, you know. Gains their trust. Makes 'em feel safe. He's sick, just like his father."
"That so?" Ace said, as if it confirmed something for him. Everyone had to decide for themselves if they intend to be like their father or not. Yet, here was Tallis on the slave ship, his actions damning him to follow Marmont’s dark example.
Darro continued.
"Who do you think planned this? Chose you as the mark? Tallis, of course. He needs the money. And he's not your friend, nor can he afford to let you waltz outta here. Just telling you how it is. Cause that's the only kindness you're gonna get here."
Sabo looked away, his bright eyes pinching slightly. He wanted to see the good in people so badly. He knew it was a weak spot. Maybe Ace was right.
He wished any of the crew had Haki, especially Tallis. It was so hard for Sabo to get a read on him without the young officer externalizing his energy.
Since Tallis had neither heard nor seen any of Darro's spiteful accusations, he was the only one in the room out of the loop.
When Tallis had emptied the vial into Sabo's shoulder, he couldn't help but notice the shift in the brig’s energy— starting with Sabo's body language, but also catching Darro's smirk as the medic turned to leave the brig.
Sabo didn't look at his eyes again, didn't speak. Nor was Ace, even though the pirate still fixed him with the same warning glances that he always had. Typically, they were at least talking to each other.
Now that Darro had left, Tallis looked around and pulled another syringe from his uniform trousers, and that got their attention enough to break their silence.
"Oy," Ace said, "What's in that?"
"If it's more AFA, that's way too much," Sabo told him in alarm.
Tallis held up his hands, barely even able to figure out what they were saying when they ambushed him.
"It's a sedative," he explained calmly, "It's getting dark out."
"Hey," Ace said sharply, making sure Tallis was looking, "You want him to be completely defenseless or what? You said there's people trying to get their hands on him. You can't give him that."
"It's not for Sabo," Tallis told him coolly, preparing the injection, "It's for you. So you can actually sleep. Or would you prefer to lie in pain every night for the next few days until you go insane from lack of rest?"
Ace blinked, not responding. Just hearing Tallis didn't plan to force it on Sabo calmed him slightly. Until the officer shifted from Sabo's side to Ace's with the needle hovering in his eyeline.
"Are you going to be still for this?" Tallis asked. He could use less of the chemical if Ace let him use a vein, but that probably wasn't going to happen, knowing this pirate.
"Hell no."
Tallis nodded, dryly telling him, “At least you’re honest. It’s going in the muscle, and then maybe you’ll do us all a favor and relax. Not as soon as you would've, but soon enough."
Sabo watched with disapproval as Tallis held down his good shoulder to inject the sedative into him, but not without a glimmer of doubt crossing his mind. His first choice would've been Tallis releasing Ace entirely, but he couldn't deny a sense of twisted gratitude he felt to their captor for easing his pain, helping him sleep. Anyone else on the ship would've made Sabo watch helplessly as Ace lay there, unable to escape the ache of his back all night.
When Tallis finished, he collected the empty plates from their cell and slid them by the door to the brig. But he hesitated, putting a thumb to his mouth.
"You don't have to stay in here on our account," Ace told him.
"Don't mind it. Kinda more peaceful down here. The others get rowdy when they drink."
"Sounds like you prefer the company of a couple prisoners to that of your own men. Almost like you hate them. Remember saying that? …I do,” Ace told him.
“I’m a joke to you too, then? If you wanna take a shot at me you’ll have to get in fucking line. People lie to save their own skin all the time.”
"We’re not mocking you," Sabo said gently, "We do find you confusing, though. Your 'buddy' said some pretty unfortunate things about you."
"Whatever he said, it's probably better if you see me that way. I'm sure you'd both love the chance to reduce me to ash anyway."
It didn’t take long for Ace to start fighting off sleep, flinching occasionally as his mind tried to shut down despite his best efforts to keep himself alert. Sabo knew he probably didn’t want to leave him alone in here, not if he could help it.
"You can go to sleep," Sabo told him, reaching to brush away the dark hair stabbing at his eyes.
"You g'na... be... 'kay?"
Sabo flashed a look at Tallis before deciding he didn't give a shit if the slaver observed their interactions. Of course, Tallis glanced away the moment Sabo had looked up, so Sabo sank lower to rest his chin into his palm almost face-level with Ace's sleepy eyes.
"I'll be just fine. You feel any better?"
"...No," Ace admitted in a surprisingly honest manner, trying to lift his head. Sabo was surveying his back again, upset to see it so torn up.
Sabo frowned slightly, "Is it just your back?"
"No," Ace replied simply. Unhelpfully. Until Sabo finally noticed his shoulders vibrate slightly, trying to pull his own arms in closer.
Sabo made a noise of recognition, laying the back of his hand to Ace's frozen cheek. The kairouseki. It was so easy for Sabo to forget that the oceanic stone even depleted the user's most basic energy to generate their own heat. Must've been so much worse for Ace, since he'd doubtlessly grown accustomed to being warmer than usual.
"Would it help if I'm a little closer?"
"Mhm."
His heart melted, seeing Ace's hands reaching faintly in his direction. So he eased himself closer to Ace, leaning comfortably into the corner of the cell to carefully slide one of his bare legs under Ace's cold cheek. Then laid his heated hands over the other side of his face.
"Warm," Ace mumbled, already drawing longer breaths. Sabo nodded, amazed to see how easily Ace settled against him, passing out nearly instantly.
Sabo only let himself guiltily appreciate the sight for a moment before turning his attention on Tallis, who'd crouched near the exit with the plates, looking very much like he'd prefer to barricade the door for them than actually leave the brig.
To his credit, Tallis had stopped looking until Sabo gestured with one of his hands.
"Hey. It's never too late to fix things, y'know," Sabo told him.
"I'm already fixing a problem," Tallis explained coldly, "It's just not your problem. And forgive me if I don't take the word of two people that could easily kill me if I did help them."
"If you were to give me saline instead of AFA, I wouldn't return the favor by killing you, Tallis. My entire organization would be in your debt. I'd offer you sanctuary, as long as you need it. And if you had found the key to Ace's cuffs instead of sedating him, he wouldn't have killed you either."
"The last part is harder to believe."
Sabo studied him for a moment, then cast his eyes away to recall a memory.
"He's on edge right now. Wouldn't you be? …y’know, after you led him away, I think I remembered one of his quirks. Well, ‘principles,’ really. Were you the one that brought us food, by chance?"
Tallis didn't respond immediately, resting his back to the door with crossed arms.
"Does that make him less of a loose cannon or something?"
Sabo tilted and nodded his head to somewhat agree.
"Seems to. Based on the little I remember. I think we all kind of went by that code. If he's aware that you fed him, he's even more likely to forgive you."
"Doesn't matter either way," Tallis told him, watching Sabo look down at Ace, whose head rested on his leg beneath his warm hands. "Doesn't change a thing about what's going to happen."
Sabo peered up at those words, trying to absorb any information possible from his face.
"…And what is going to happen? To us?"
Tallis dropped his gaze to the floor, pocketing his hands.
"You’re on a slave ship, Sabo, so... You'll be sold when we reach our destination. We have buyers lined out."
Sabo's eyebrows pinched upwards, shaking his head subtly.
"Separate buyers...? Are they world nobles, Tallis? I know you’re being offered a lot of berry, but I can raise it for you myself. More than they’re offering. Koala and I scam people all the time. Abusive nobles. Corrupt politicians… there’s a way to get all the money you need without selling your soul.”
Tallis looked annoyed that he had unwittingly opened up a chance for Sabo to try and humanize himself, bargain with him in a way that made Tallis’ already difficult choices even more impossible to face.
"Enough. You think I don’t know all that—? I don’t have time, okay? Try to get some rest.”
Sabo leaned forward, keeping Ace’s head safe from rolling off of his leg.
“I don’t believe what the medic said about you. I know you’re a good person. Let me help, Tallis.”
”I said that’s enough,” the young officer bit back, looking like Sabo’s words got under his skin in the most painful way. He left the brig abruptly after a final upset shake of his head.
Sabo watched him go, heard him lock the door, then let out a heavy breath and settled back against the wall, closing his eyes. He could feel Ace shifting around against his leg, stirring in his light slumber.
He cursed under his breath, staring at the coffee grounds caked into both of Ace’s lacerations across his tattoo.
It needed to be cleaned and bandaged. Sabo could see that the kit had been left too far from the cell to be in reach. He briefly considered trying to reach for it anyway, but Ace was sleepily grabbing for him when he tried to shift away.
Then he felt a new wave of fatigue settling in, prickling at him until he barely even noticed himself drifting in and out of consciousness.
Sabo sleepily shifted down to lay by Ace, covering as much of his cold skin as he could with his body.
Notes:
Have a drink of water, and give Sabo and Ace some water too:
Sabo accepts the canteen with a grateful nod, then tilts it toward Ace.
“Here, you first,” Sabo says, pouring water into Ace’s mouth.
Ace grins, drinking quickly before Sabo takes his turn, gulping down the refreshing water.
When they’re done, Sabo hands the empty canteen back, both looking relieved.
“You’re a lifesaver,” Sabo says.
Feed the boys a haunch of meat:
Sabo reaches for the haunch of meat, but Ace is already on it, tearing off an intimidating bite.
“Seriously, Ace? You’re going to hog all of it?”
Ace smirks, tugging the meat toward himself.
“Hey, I’m still growing! I need this more!”Sabo pulls back, not giving in.
“Share it before I make you!”“Make me then,” Ace mumbles with his mouth full, eyes narrowed playfully.
Chapter 20: Caffeine
Summary:
Ace notices something strange about Tallis, and Sabo might've figured out a way to get some of his strength back.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Sunlight announced the arrival of morning in Marmont's office. He’d had the cabin adorned with intricate furniture, expensive paintings, but the most impressive feature: a view of the ocean. The captain sat at his desk, his posture commanding respect as he took a long drag off the cig between his aged fingers.
For Tallis, the light streaming in through the windows was the only thing that managed to pierce the heavy, almost oppressive atmosphere of the room.
He sat on the edge of Marmont's desk, his gaze fixed on a point on the floor, not seeming to notice his once neatly-pressed uniform began to look a little wrinkled.
“Long day ahead of us,” the captain said with satisfaction through an exhale of smoke, then offered the cigarette to Tallis.
He accepted it somewhat grudgingly, inhaling softly in deep thought.
"You know, if I didn't know better... I'd almost think you were enjoying this,” he finally replied.
"Of course I am," Marmont says with a chuckle. "It's been too long since I've had a real challenge. This Logia, he's got spirit.”
He paused, watching Tallis carefully, "But you came here for a reason, didn't you? Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts about your first big sale."
Tallis looked up, his expression conflicted.
"I just... I don't get why we're still keeping Sabo here. He's a waste of AFA, isn't he? His bounty's practically negligible. Ace is one thing because he's worth so much, but I don't like the risk we're taking on with Sabo. We only captured him because of some petty squabble Mori had with Dragon, but that slimy fuck isn't even in the picture anymore. So why not just let him go?"
Marmont raised an eyebrow at Tallis' words.
"Hmh… Tallis. I didn't take you for such a naïve young thing. Those two in that cell, they're very close. What, you haven't noticed? Of course you have. And the second you set that little blond free, he'd claw his way back to Fire Fist, faster than a rat up a drainpipe. And when he does, you can bet he'll make your precious life hell. So if you go underestimating every pair of sad, beautiful, blue eyes you see, you'll regret it... And you should be glad you have someone like me that understands these things."
"Captain," Tallis spoke delicately, "I get why you're treating Ace this way, but your plans for Sabo..."
"Oh, don't worry about him. He'll be fine," Marmont interrupted, waving his hand dismissively. "You know, I always did have a thing for the rebels. They're so passionate, so full of fire. And when you manage to break them, to make them yours..." He trailed off, a smile playing at the corners of his lips. "It's almost as satisfying as taming a wild beast."
"Does it have to be Sabo?" Tallis asked, his sharp brown eyes almost betraying him, "It was Ace that destroyed the ship."
"Exactly," Marmont told him, scooting his chair closer, looking excited for an opportunity to teach Tallis something, using his hands to lay it out for him.
"Fire Fist doesn't mind being hurt. He thrives on pain, really. How do you hurt someone like that, my pet?"
Tallis swallowed, blinking guiltily as he exhaled a plume of smoke and handed off the cigarette, then leaned back on his hands on the desk.
"Using Sabo to hurt him, that's not going to work in your favor," Tallis cautioned, "Is there nothing that will change your mind?"
The captain snorted.
"That right there. That's why you're not fit to run your own ship yet."
"Pity," Tallis told him emotionlessly, narrowing his eyes as Marmont stood and leaned onto the desk over him.
"You want to play honorable knight over these captives? This soulless cargo that you don't owe a thing to? Then prove it. There's only one thing you can do to change my mind. It’s you or the blond."
“What?" Tallis asked, but the way his voice shook showed that he knew exactly what the captain wanted from him. His permission. His enthusiastic agreement. His body.
Marmont chuckled quietly, biting his lip before sinking back into his chair.
“Don’t be coy with me, Tallis. Do we have a deal?”
When Marmont placed the cigarette tenderly back into his fingers, Tallis shoved the lit end of it into his ashtray, snuffing it out in disgust. He slid from the desk and left the room, harshly shaking his head.
Still asleep, neither of them had realized that Ace lay tangled comfortably in Sabo’s arms on the cell floor. In fact, Sabo had his legs around him too, like in the haze of sleep he’d mistaken Ace for an oversized pillow.
The sedative had Ace lost in deep contentment, but as it wore off in the morning, it allowed him to stir gradually from sleep. His thoughts shifted around freely, warm and safe, and for several blissful minutes, he didn’t question it. Ace inhaled slow and deep, letting the smell of clean skin and mild soap flood his mind. He breathed in the perfect scent until he was completely high on it, his consciousness still drifting pleasantly.
He’d woken up enough times in the pile of his crewmates that being surrounded only made him relax more, grateful to feel the intense warmth wrapping him. His head rested against a bicep, forehead pressed against a solid wall of inviting heat. Alright, so it was a little closer quarters than was typical of his crew, but his body was too heavy to fight the pull of laziness, and he easily resolved to let sleep reclaim him.
The arm draped over him gave a little flinch, like its owner had just startled awake. But then the loose arms and legs were tightening around him, giving him a comforting squeeze. Ace frowned a bit in drowsy confusion, his face aware of a bare chest rising and falling casually against his cheek. Before he even blinked fully awake, one of his hands spread against the wall, a smooth torso radiating body heat.
His ice cold hand made a familiar voice gasp, a firm core jumping under Ace’s touch.
“Sabo?” his cloudy mind began to wonder aloud as he pulled himself out of the drug-induced haze.
“Nmnn, morning,” Sabo breathed sleepily.
Ace inhaled harshly upon realizing who had enveloped him, feeling tension begin to creep into his body. But the moment Ace stirred, Sabo was lazily pulling him in tighter as if to protest, brushing his own cheek against the top of Ace’s head.
“Mnn… no… sleep…” Sabo mumbled into his hair.
That’s all it took for Ace to let himself stay wrapped in the comforting hold. He sank into the warmth with relief, despite the welts making his whole back stiff as the intense burn began to slowly reawaken.
Then, Sabo’s eyes wrenched open, going a little rigid and glancing down at… Ace… in his arms. He was tired enough to relax at the welcome sight, letting his eyelids get heavy even though it made him feel a twinge of guilt.
“…Is this okay?” Sabo whispered into his hair, regaining enough sense to worry that he’d crossed a boundary waking up like this. He hoped Ace wouldn’t be bothered by it, considering he must’ve done this in his sleep; he certainly didn’t remember wrapping around him this way.
“Mhm,” Ace confirmed, voice muted and nearly inaudible.
Sabo felt the hum of it against his chest, though. He stared down into Ace’s unwashed hair, not really expecting it to be appealing until he noticed it smelled nice… like sea salt and… Ace’s pillow.
He wondered why he already knew what Ace's pillow even smelled like, and how he remembered what it looked like too. White with a thin, pale blue striped pattern. And smelled just like this. Like his body, the addictive scent of natural oils that only belonged to Ace.
Sabo’s stomach fluttered suddenly, maybe in embarrassment again.
I’ve smelled Ace’s pillow before? Does he know I did that?
Sabo clearly remembered the day it happened, even though the rest of the details were fuzzy at best. He could feel the guilt, the rush of possessiveness over the pillow when he grabbed it tightly and buried his face into it. The adrenaline of almost getting caught, how he’d blushed so deeply. The smell of Ace’s hair alone had brought the vivid memory surging back to him, taking another appreciative inhale.
“This is how you sleep? …Normally?” Ace asked, startling him.
Sabo blushed, grateful that Ace couldn't see his reddened expression as he openly bit his lip.
“I thought since you were freezing it was the decent thing to do, but I got closer than I meant to. Sorry— I’ll—”
Ace caught his arm with a slight shake of his head.
“No, you can keep your leg like that. You’re not bothering me, I mean you are really warm, so I'm not complaining, but— are, um... are you okay?”
Sabo relented and kept his leg and his arms around Ace, letting a warm, appreciative smile tug at him.
"Less anxious than I should be, probably. You?" Sabo asked. He hoped Ace didn’t notice how his breathing had quickened slightly, but that would’ve been nearly impossible.
Ace groaned softly, rubbing his eyes before opening them slowly. He blinked several times, trying to focus on the blurry form in front of him. He winced, pressing a hand to his temple.
"I'm alive," he managed to say, feeling a wave of nausea wash over him. His back throbbed dully, and every movement sent sparks of pain through his body, "I guess that's something."
Sabo hummed in acknowledgement, his grip relaxing enough for Ace to shift slightly.
They glanced around, still in the brig.
"We're here for a few more days, they said? With any luck, they'll keep us locked up until we get to wherever it is we're going."
Sabo nodded, his voice tight as he spoke. "Yeah. In the meantime, we should keep our heads down. I don't want them giving you any more trouble."
The two of them lapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Sabo wondered what would happen to them after they reached their destination, whether they'd be separated or not. He hoped that Tallis would at least try to keep them together.
Ace, meanwhile, tried not to think about the bruises covering his body, or the ache in his back. And the skin to skin contact with Sabo was helping distract him from the cold and the pain, but he tried not to think about how much he enjoyed his overheated body either.
Ace couldn't deny how safe it felt, though. He could've stayed like this forever until he glanced up to see Sabo’s worried expression. He was sure Sabo was more worried about Koala than Ace was about his crew, since they were perfectly capable of surviving until he could return. And as much as Ace used to worry about Luffy out there on his own, he couldn't imagine having to worry about a sister. It must've been eating Sabo alive.
"At least we know Koala is safe on the Spadille," he volunteered quietly, hoping that would make him feel better. It seemed to have a decent effect. Definitely got a little smile out of Sabo when he brought her up.
"Probably bossing them around already. And helping them track my vivre card. Do they have yours, too?"
Ace's expression reflected his sudden unease at the words.
"You don't think our cards burned up, do you?"
Sabo looked down, a little disturbed by the idea of Koala watching it turn to ash in her hands. His heart squeezed uncomfortably.
"Best not to worry about that, I guess... Koala can always test it by making a new one for either of us. She knows how. Makes all of the army's cards."
"Huh. Useful. Even if that was her only skill, it’s probably more than the crew could ask for.”
Sabo scoffed. "Ace, she used to be a pirate. Can probably knot circles around your guys. No offense, but it's really hard to compete with a someone that learned everything from Jinbei."
"You're lying," Ace said softly, smiling out of complete awe, "She didn't say a word about Jinbei."
"Doesn't like to bring it up, but it's true. And she has a thousand other skills besides sailing. Your crew's gonna cry when she goes back to Baltigo with me. But I'm sorry, you can't have her."
"That's where you're wrong. I already made her part of the crew," Ace said, a slight territorial edge to his voice that made them both smile.
"Did you exchange cups? That’s what pirates have to do first, right?" Sabo asked, as if he had checkmated Ace.
Ace rested his chin in his hand to fix Sabo with a long look.
"Interesting point... Hey, have you ever done that, Sabo? Exchange cups with anyone?"
Sabo almost shook his head no before catching sight of his eyes. Ace was giving him such a disarmed, hopeful look that he second-guessed himself.
"…Us? Did we do that together?" Sabo asked quietly, and the innocence on his voice made Ace's stomach flip.
Ace smiled, but the smile soon disappeared when he tried to shift onto his elbows. Pain shot through his back, making him pause until the shock of it ended.
Sabo lifted his shackled wrists over Ace's head to free him from his arms, looking around for the supplies outside the cell.
"They didn't let me finish patching you yesterday," Sabo murmured.
He couldn't reach the kit or the water bucket with his bound wrists, but threaded his leg through the bars to pull them both closer enough to reach. Ace watched over his shoulder, trying to memorize the scars down the back of his arm and the left side of his back.
Sabo settled to the floor once more after finding the supplies he'd been looking for, sitting cross-legged with his back against the cell door.
"So I'm guessing that's a yes?" he asked with a smile.
He'd pulled out a roll of bandages and a saltwater-soaked hand towel, setting them on his knees.
"We exchanged cups at ten years old," Ace admitted to him, though he would've rather Sabo remembered it naturally. "Together with Luffy. That's what I was trying to explain in the aqueduct I guess. That's why he's our brother."
Ace forced himself into a sitting position at Sabo's coaxing, his back to Sabo.
“And where is Luffy now? Is he… okay?”
Ace leaned slightly into Sabo’s hand on his back as Sabo’s other hand squeezed water out of a hand towel beside him.
“A lot better off than us. He better be, at least.”
His wounds protested at the harsh chill of the ocean. He attempted to ignore it, trying to watch Sabo over his shoulder as he expertly cleaned his back.
“He the type to follow your vivre card here? Maybe I’ll meet him sooner than I thought,” Sabo said casually, cleaning the cloth in the bucket again.
Ace laughed slightly, but it sounded strained when the salt water burned his healing lacerations again.
“Why do you think he doesn’t get to have one? I don’t want him tangled in my messes. It’s always been this way. You’ll remember eventually.”
The warm touch of Sabo's hands was a welcome relief from the blistering cold erupting in his lacerations.
“Alright, then,” Sabo accepted quietly, since Ace didn’t seem like he’d budge on the issue. He couldn’t help but wonder why Ace wouldn’t want the help of their third brother. Did that make Luffy weak or untrustworthy, or did it just make Ace prideful?
He couldn’t imagine Dragon having a weak or untrustworthy son, so it had to be an Ace thing. He did seem to bite off all the responsibility and blame no matter the situation. Probably just found it hard to accept help in general.
Or valued his own life much less than the lives of others.
Sabo shook off the thought, noticing Ace wince at the ocean water flushing out the dark shavings that clotted his wounds.
"Sorry, Ace… I'm sure these coffee grounds aren't making your back feel any better. They did stop the bleeding, though. With any luck, I can get some bandages on here for you. Also... it's a shame about your tattoo. I think it's gonna scar pretty badly."
Ace hummed in thought, eyes fixed on the metal canister.
"Not worried about that... I just realized— I think what I ate at Astrid’s was coffee grounds. It was called something else. I thought it was food, but it tasted terrible. Nothing like it smells."
Sabo held back a slight laugh, grateful for a lighter subject.
"You ate espresso, Ace?"
"It smelled really good," he defended.
Sabo held back a smile, carefully dabbing as much of the ground up coffee beans away from his lacerations as possible, careful not to disturb the fresh healing that'd started. He tried to imagine Ace's expression with a mouthful of espresso powder, shaking his head.
"Must have skyrocketed your heart rate," Sabo laughed softly, squeezing out the towel in the bucket.
But then Sabo frowned at his own words, deep in thought as he looked over at the canister peeking out of the medical kit.
Oh... shit...
"That was the coffee?" Ace asked casually, as if Sabo wasn't in the middle of an epiphany. "I thought that happened because I saw you. I mean, you were intimidating as hell in the tunnels when I didn't know it was you yet."
Sabo shook his head, lost in his own thoughts.
"Ace, what if caffeine can function as an AFA inhibitor? It doesn't mix well with most sedatives. If it could give me any edge over it, that could be enough."
Ace looked farther over his shoulder in surprise.
"Are you about to eat coffee grounds, Sabo?"
Sabo's eyes widened, hearing footsteps coming down the stairs near the brig.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He shoved his arms through the bars and ripped the canister open, pouring half the contents into his mouth. He gagged on the bitter, gritty powder, but forced it down.
"So strong," he mumbled.
"Damn, Sabo, I didn't eat that much," Ace told him.
"You’re lucky then," Sabo managed, eyes closing in disgust as he clenched his hand over his mouth to swallow down the rest.
“If nothing else, I think speeding my heart rate could metabolize chemicals faster.”
Ace shook his head at Sabo.
“You really haven't changed. I never would've thought of that. Let's hope it works, huh?"
"Open it!" they heard Skar growling outside the door, presumably at Tallis, who had the keys.
The sound of the door unlocking made Sabo turn so his back was to Ace, blocking him from the cell's entrance. He felt Ace turn to slip his arms around his shoulders so they couldn't be separated, both of their eyes blazing as the brig's door burst open.
Tallis spilled across the floor outside the cell, and Skar, the shark man who'd thrown Tallis down, stood in the doorway, towering with a dark look. He bared his teeth at Ace, chuckling to himself at the flicker of rage he'd ignited in Ace's eyes.
"Does he know you're doing this to me, Skar?" Tallis said angrily.
"Does it fucking matter? You're a nuisance," the Fishman spat.
"Of course I know he's doing it," Marmont interjected, stepping slowly into the brig.
"Don't worry, pet, it's just a little time out. Nothing permanent. You'll get what's promised."
Skar's grin widened, and he leered down at Sabo and Ace with eyes gleaming.
Marmont noticed how protectively Ace was holding Sabo, how Sabo was blocking Ace with his own body.
"Aww, you two look cute," Marmont cooed, "Is this your lover, Fire Fist? You know, I was hoping he might be interested in someone else. Someone who could satisfy him."
Sabo could hear Ace's breaths shorten anxiously, feel him tighten his grip around his shoulders. Sabo brought his own hands up to Ace's to give them a comforting squeeze, because there wasn't much else he could do. It was impossible to tell if his own heart had sped up because of the caffeine or the horrific threat hanging over his head.
Skar ripped the keys from Tallis' hand to get Sabo out of the cell. He stepped closer, his breath hot and foul.
"Come on, Fire Fist. Let him go." His hand shot out, grasping at Ace's shoulder.
Ace yelled angrily, his grip on Sabo tightening.
"Don't touch him!"
Marmont sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Really? Do you want to make this difficult?"
Skar snarled and reached out to grab Ace, hauling him roughly from Sabo. Ace let out a yelp of pain, struggling as the Fishman threw him hard to the other side of the cell. Ace lunged forward, grabbing at Sabo's hand, but Skar sent a harsh kick at his ribs, sinking him breathlessly to the floor.
"You little shit," Skar growled, then hauled Sabo up roughly. Ace struggled feebly, his ribs protesting the rough treatment as the cell door closed between Ace and Sabo.
"Let him go!" Ace said, his voice raw with anger and fear, “You don't have to do this!"
Marmont chuckled.
"Oh, but I do, Fire Fist. You're valuable, and I'll make sure you stay that way. Your friend, on the other hand, is barely worth anything, except to you of course. And he doesn't want us to hurt you again, does he? He'll gladly be my little companion to keep you safe, won't he?"
He leaned in close, his breath foul and hot against Sabo's ear.
"Why don't you show us how loyal you are to your friend. Show me you're worth keeping. Show me why I shouldn't keelhaul your gorgeous body."
"Let him go," Ace demanded again, his voice cracking, "And I'll do whatever you want."
“Ace, please,” Sabo whispered, shaking his head, “You’ve done enough for me.”
Skar laughed, a harsh bark of amusement.
"Mmmm... no, Fire Fist," Marmont drawled, stepping forward to stand between them, "Hurting you physically doesn't seem to have taught you anything at all. I think we'll need to make an example of your friend here. Show you what happens when you defy me."
Marmont gripped Sabo’s face to softly kiss his lips, the pungent smell of cigarettes washing over him. He struggled ineffectually against the Skar's iron grip, gasping out.
"No!" Ace shouted, straining against the chains’ hold. "Let him go! Please!"
Marmont deepened the kiss, his tongue dancing with Sabo's, as if they were sharing a private moment. Sabo's stomach churned, gagging and trying to push the other man away, but he couldn't move an inch. He’d been paralyzed under the intrusion of the hot eel in his mouth.
Ace twisted wildly against his chains, eyes burning with rage and desperation.
"Stop!" Ace fought out, “Let him go and I’ll find a way to get your berry, anything else you want."
Sabo's heart raced, his head spinning with fear and the overwhelming stench of tobacco. Ace's cries of protest filled the room, his voice growing hoarse from the effort.
"Fuck, he tastes good," Marmont moaned against Sabo's mouth, "Tastes just like coffee... my favorite. Hope you took your chance to taste him while you had it, Fire Fist. Do you see now? This is what happens when you fuck with my fleet.”
When Marmont finally pulled away, he smirked down at Sabo, his yellowed teeth gleaming in the harsh light.
Tallis stared, eyes piercing silently into Marmont. Ace fell into the same grim silence the instant Skar pulled a pistol from his belt, cocking the hammer back and holding it to Sabo's soft, blond curls. His webbed finger twitched against the trigger.
Ace's lip curled into a snarl, straining against his shackles, muscles tensed like an attack dog.
"You want him to live? Then he'll have to make his body useful to me. Or you can watch him die, unspoiled. The choice is yours, “ Marmont explained coolly.
Ace locked eyes with Sabo one more time, both of them looking openly afraid as Skar hauled Sabo from the room after Marmont took his exit.
Skar turned the door’s heavy bolt behind himself and shoved Sabo roughly down the corridor, toward whatever fate Marmont had in store for him.
Ace struggled against his bonds, desperate to free himself and save Sabo. But it was no use; the chains held fast. All he could do was watch helplessly as Skar dragged Sabo away.
The sounds of their struggle echoed down the hall, growing fainter with each step. Ace felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest, each agonized groan from Sabo cutting deeper than any knife. He wanted to scream, to beg, to do something to stop it, but he was trapped.
After silence spread through the brig with no more protests from Sabo, Ace pressed his face to the cold bars with his breaths coming in stressed gasps, trying to bring down his heart rate so he could think more clearly.
"What, you're locked in with me now?" Ace managed to say at Tallis.
Tallis sighed, too upset to raise himself off the floor.
"Appears that way," he replied, voice barely above a whisper, "I've been through worse."
"Forgive me if I don't feel a bit sorry for you. But that doesn't mean we have to sit here and take it," Ace said.
Tallis' eyes hardened, staring up at Ace as the pirate stood shakily to his feet. His presence commanded attention, even without his Haki intact. The way he stared down his nose at Tallis, demanding more of him than he thought he could ever give... There was no other word for the strength of his posture.
A king.
“I don't know what they've got on you," Ace spoke, "But you need to decide who you are. Right now, you're a coward."
Tallis nodded slowly, muttering, "I’m aware."
Ace's expression didn’t soften at all, but he nodded nonetheless at Tallis admitting to it. But then Ace blinked in surprise to see a shine through Tallis’ plain brown eyes, reflecting gold in a flash as he turned his head to the light.
Marco’s eyes did that sometimes. Seemed to illuminate like some nocturnal creature. But the young officer was already interrupting his thoughts, running a hand through his neatly trimmed brown hair.
“Hey, Ace...? Will you tell me again why you won’t give up your ship?” Tallis said.
Ace’s nose wrinkled, misunderstanding Tallis’ intentions.
“Of course you’re still after money.”
Then, Ace heard Sabo begin to yell out. His fears began to play out the worst visions in his mind, the captain getting his hands on Sabo, forcing himself on him. Ace’s lip trembled, eyes pinching as he listened helplessly to the noises that shocked his whole body.
"Is something happening out there? I can’t hear," Tallis admitted, looking worried.
Ace groaned in frustration.
“What the hell do you think? Your precious captain is—“ Ace tried to explain, getting too upset to finish the thought, “I can hear Sabo fucking screaming, okay? I can’t even describe the sound, what it does to me.”
Ace's grip tightened on the bars of his cell, his heart racing. He strained against his bonds, trying desperately to free himself.
The young officer hugged his arms tighter around himself, swallowing as he watched Ace flinch at the sounds he was hearing.
“I can't take this," Ace growled through gritted teeth, "I have to help him."
Tallis looked at him, surprise flickering across his features when he saw him brace himself against the wall.
"What are you even trying to do? You can't break kairouseki. Not as a Devil Fruit user. You’d sooner break your own hands.”
Ace's eyes flashed with determination.
“What d’you think I’m trying to do?”
He struggled against the chains again, using his legs to push himself, trying to force the manacles over his bones. Sweat trickled down his face as he strained with all his might. Then, Tallis saw the blood creeping down his straining arms as the stone shackles bit deep into his hands until he was baring his teeth against the pain.
"You're just hurting yourself," Tallis called out, his voice growing frantic, "Stop. Ace. No one's strong enough to do that."
Ace ignored him, continuing to struggle against the chains. Sweat dripped into his eyes, but he fought through the stinging blindness. Blood dripped to the floor from his shaking elbows. His muscles burned, and his whole body ached from the effort, having to collapse from exhaustion before finally turning on Tallis again.
"Give me the reason," Ace demanded, gasping and out of breath, "Why you won't help us right now. They locked you in. If we team up, we can all leave. I need you to tell me what's weighing you down. I can't help if you don't—"
Ace clipped his words suddenly, seizing up as he felt his willpower exploding, his eyes going red. Usually being overwhelmed by his own Haki sent out an uncontrollable wave out of him, but nothing happened with these cuffs restraining him. No surge of energy, no burst of concussive force— it just brewed inside, seething under his skin with no way out as he tried to recover from it.
Tallis looked into Ace's eyes, and for a moment it physically hurt to maintain his burning gaze. The sight of his irises blooming with blood made Tallis gasp, frozen and horrified.
"What are you, Ace? I heard only Emperors can do that with their eyes.”
Ace frowned, inhaling hard as he rubbed his closed eyelids. They did seem to burn, but it’s not like he could see what they looked like. His hand shook, barely able to hold himself up after the Haoshoku had tried to tear from his body. He still couldn’t summon that kind of Haki on purpose; it only happened under extreme stress.
He knew convincing Tallis was his only way to stop what was happening to Sabo, and the knowledge made his body try to command Tallis’ mind. It seemed like it almost worked, even through the barrier of exhaustion. Fortunately, Ace was something better than a king; he was a captain. Recruiting came naturally at this point. And his easy persuasiveness over people didn’t require Haki to work.
“I don't know, it just happens sometimes. Can you answer me, Tallis? Why can’t you help?”
“You’re not gonna understand… I'm trying to keep my mother alive. Her care is more than I could ever afford on my own. It may not be enough of a reason for you, but I'm down to the wire. If I don't send the money from your sale, I'll miss the deadline. I'm sorry, okay?"
Ace heard another muffled yell. Sabo again. His expression contorted in agony hearing Sabo's pain echo into the brig. He wiped his eyes with bound hands, smearing blood across his furious face as he cursed softly.
"Tallis… what's he doing to him?" Ace said, not even recognizing his own miserable voice right now, “You know, don’t you? How can you stand by, doing nothing?”
The young officer couldn't even make eye contact with him, just seeing the words on his lips already more than he could handle.
"There's only one thing he's wanted since you've both been here. Ace, I know this is hard, but you’re both gonna survive.”
Ace hid into his own elbow, sagging helplessly into the bars after having his worst fears confirmed. He cursed softly, trying to get a grip on himself as streams of tears trickled down to his neck. It wasn’t like him to give up like this, even when he had no energy left to give.
"What's wrong with her… your mother…” Ace asked, trying to wipe his face dry against his own arm, and trying even harder not to sound defeated.
Tallis swallowed guiltily.
"They don't know. That's why her care got so expensive. I get that it sounds selfish to you. Pirates don't tend to relate to stuff like that. Never met one that even had a family."
Ace hadn't removed his arm, still resting his face into it against the bars with only his cracked, dehydrated lips visible.
“You think I don’t get your situation? I'd do almost anything to meet my mother," he sighed, sounding hollow and wincing as Sabo yelled out again, "But I wouldn't do anything like this— not even to save her life."
Tallis swallowed with a slight edge to his voice as he said, "It's easy to say that, but that's not how love works."
Ace dropped his arms, fixing Tallis with a withering look.
"No. I'll tell you how love works. My mother wouldn't have wanted to know an operation like this was responsible for saving her life. She'd rather die in peace. In honor. Does yours know what you're doing? Would it make her proud?"
Tallis couldn’t answer, glancing back down to his mouth because Ace’s eyes were too intense.
“Sabo's out there right now, having fuck knows what done to him. Forget letting me out, okay? Sell me, whatever you need to do. But you gotta help him. You owe us that much. Your father might not’ve taught you that, so I will. When you have a blood debt, you have to pay it, or your life isn’t worth anything.”
Tallis nearly got frustrated, nearly tried to explain that the brig’s door was bolted and he no longer had the keys— what was he supposed to do? But that’s when Tallis had a different idea, and Ace saw his expression change.
“What,” Ace demanded hopefully, “You thought of something.”
When Tallis pulled a small transponder from his uniform pocket, he had to hold up his hand adamantly to stop Ace from asking him why the hell he even keeps one of those.
“It’s for emergencies,” Tallis said, “I just need a translator if I want to know what the receiver is replying. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t saved my ass before. Pay attention, Ace. If I call Marmont, can I trust you to silently form his words for me?”
“It’ll get him away from Sabo?”
Tallis nodded.
“Do it,” Ace told him, mouth drying in anticipation as he clenched hands around the bars, still slippery with his own blood.
Ace heard the dripping voice of Marmont through the receiver after it rang, and his chest clenched so much harder than he expected.
“What an unexpected surprise, my little bird. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Ace mouthed the words for Tallis, both of them sharing in the unpleasantness of the experience.
Tallis hesitated for a long moment, trying to work himself up to say something that seemed to cause him an enormous amount of pain.
“I’ll do it. The agreement. Just… it has to be right now. I changed my mind, okay?”
The captain chuckled.
“Ah… I knew it, birdie. Did I make you jealous? Alright, I’ll have Skar send for you, then. And Tallis… I’m glad you finally warmed up to me.”
Ace shut his eyes in revulsion, but he mouthed the words like he said he would. Then after the call disconnected, he sat with his mouth open slightly in disbelief, watching a tear roll down Tallis’ face.
“Hey…” Ace said, reaching to tap his shoulder through the bars.
“What did you just agree to?”
“None of your business,” Tallis bit back, sniffing and straightening up his uniform.
“Tallis?” Ace said, “I know I didn’t answer you earlier. I can’t give up the ship, not even to save my own life. I swore it all to my crew.”
“Why?” Tallis asked somberly, eyes glassy as they read his lips.
Ace regarded him for a moment— the officer’s uniform, the patch stitching his name onto the garment that sealed his identity as a slaver. How Tallis seemed to cling his own hands to it, looking vulnerable for the first time since Ace had met him.
“Is Marmont your father, Tallis?”
Tallis shook his head.
“Not by blood… just raised me.”
Ace nodded to himself, sagging sideways into the bars as fatigue set in.
“Not every captain is like him, Tallis. If you exchange cups with me, I’ll give you a real family. My friend, Mihar— he used to miss his mother a lot when she passed. But then we found an actual mermaid, Tallis, her name’s Banshee, and she kinda adopted Mihar and the rest. Kinda like a mom. Doesn’t cook as good as you, by a long shot. But she’d love you. And… and so would Marco. I think you and him would get along.”
Ace had descended into his own world for a moment, lost in some faraway place as he spoke. When he looked back over, Tallis had gotten closer to so he wouldn’t miss a word Ace said.
“I suppose you wouldn’t be interested in stupid stuff like that,” Ace told him, knowing full well that Tallis had nowhere else to go. He had to be tempted by the thought of being loved, having a family.
But Tallis seemed to hold himself in check, guarding his emotions carefully. Ace had said that name… Tallis felt his own will again overpowered by some sentience deeply rooted in him. It thrummed a heartbeat in his ears, steady and enchanting. Tallis’ feelings were no longer his own the second he heard it.
“It’s true, then. Marco the Phoenix is in your crew?”
Ace didn’t like his tone, blinking.
“What? That’s all you cared about? Why? I don’t—“
But Ace wouldn't get his answer, because Tallis was already shrinking away as the brig's door burst open again.
Skar fixed Tallis with his surreal yellow eyes, licking a tongue over his sharp teeth.
"Captain will see you now… ‘Pet.’”
The Fishman gave one last dark, wet laugh.
Notes:
This was supposed to be a longer chapter but I’m not finished with the rest yet, so I’ll try and post more soon <3
Hope there’s not too many typos and stuff bc I don’t have much time to edit. Love y’all, hope you had a good weekend
Chapter 21: Mortality
Summary:
Chapter is Spade Pirates only and skippable
Everyone on board the Spadille has a lot of shit to deal with right now. Koala might be a human utility knife, but she ain’t realize how much angst can be packed into a forty-eight year old
Chapter Text
Kinoko Isles, Grand Line
Weeks Ago
Ahiru ducked Koala behind a steep embankment with her human hand, peering over it. Her cybernetic arm perched at the ready, emitting a high-pitched whine.
Not only were the Kinoko Isles actively under siege around them, Ahiru zoomed in on a flock of men and women with dusty, bulky cameras held up where they should probably have guns. Just common sense, Ahiru thought. She almost expected one of them to take a bullet from the passing barrages, but they steadily clicked and flashed away as a lovely— but suspiciously tall— dancer bolted past them.
But that was all the way down the street from them; Ahiru wasn’t taking chances with Koala’s safety. Especially not to help out some brainless newspaper photographers. Morgans’ people, probably.
“Fucking tabloids,” Ahiru growled nastily, throwing a glance at Koala. Realizing she still had her hand shoving Koala’s head down, she quickly let go.
“Sorry, my love. Chief would kill me if I let something happen to you, y’know,” Ahiru told her apologetically, but Koala was frowning into the distance.
“Should we help that friendly?”
Ahiru followed her gaze, eyes fixing on a beautified civilian hauling ass across the seiged town in a kimono, ducking and weaving through blasts of cannon fire.
“I thought you told the townsfolk to bunker down. And how the hell is she running in those?” Koala breathed, squinting at the socks and wooden geta strapped to the dancer’s feet.
“‘She’? You sure?” Ahiru asked, also squinting.
Koala shook her head.
“You’re right, I haven’t seen calves like that since I left Momoiro.”
Then Koala’s eyes went wide, flinching down lower as she watched him brandish two pistols at approaching men in uniforms. Townsfolk escaped past him as he covered for them, returning fire just long enough to let them cross the street out of sight.
“Our kimono sharpshooter is trying to do my job for me,” Ahiru told her, leaping over the embankment and sprinting over to him. The whole way, her weaponized arm charged up audibly to send a blinding beam at their attackers.
“Sugoi,” he laughed in an attractively tenor voice, ducking behind her to watch her cybernetic arm in amazement.
“Go—!” Ahiru told him, backing him in the direction she’d come from so he could slip into Koala’s hiding spot on the city’s outskirts.
“Oh!” he said in surprise, nearly landing directly on top of Koala when he dropped down from street level, busy tucking one of his pistols safely away.
The revolutionary gave him some space, stunned by the brocade of his attire as he easily blew a stray hair from his face.
“I-I’m Koala,” she hastily introduced over the sound of Ahiru blasting away at the uniformed seige above them, “That was Ahiru out there.”
He tilted his head, noticing her outstretched hand, and accepted it swiftly with a smile crossing his rouged lips. His shiny, perfectly pinned hair and powdered face amazed her.
“Izou,” he stated, “Izou-sama if you want to get on my good side.”
Koala was still staring in disbelief as he released her hand.
“That was a joke, by the way,” he added, winking, “I’m— well— I’m unaffiliated now, I guess. Just trying to stem some of the chaos in Oyaji’s territories.”
“Unaffiliated?” She echoed, noting the way he didn’t seem to like the word, “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. We’re Revolutionary Army,” she told him, “And we’d be glad to have you.”
He pretended to consider it for a moment, but she could tell his heart wasn’t in it.
“It’s okay,” she offered, “No pressure. You can just take a breather here if you want.”
“That I can do,” he replied with a warm smile.
They both peeked over the embankment to watch Ahiru driving off the invaders. She was a cyborg. Exceedingly rare to see, to Izou at least. He shook his head in amazement.
“When I was a kid, I never dreamed I’d see weapons like that,” Izou told her, twirling his other pistol, “We don’t have anything like it in Wano. Had to get good with these instead. During my pirating days, naturally.”
He couldn’t help but notice Koala didn’t carry any weapons.
“You okay down here? Your bodyguard’s a little distracted,” Izou added.
Koala laughed, holding her hand to her ear over a miniature transponder tucked there.
“He’s not bothering me,” she said quietly to Ahiru over their call, shrugging at Izou as she pointed to the snail.
“My bodyguard may not be here, but she can hear what’s going on,” Koala told Izou, taking out her notebook as she ducked back into the transponder call.
“Ahiru, what do the tattoos look like? You said it was on their wrists?” Koala said over transponder again, sliding a pencil from the top. Then she made a frustrated noise.
“Please tell me,” Koala said, then waited a beat, “Well, because it might be important, obviously.”
Izou gestured for her to hand him the notebook, kneeling elegantly with Koala to draw it for her. He didn’t need to hear Ahiru’s description to draw it; he already knew the tattoo he’d seen on that group and had no problem illustrating it directly onto her notebook page.
“Thank you,” Koala told him, accepting it back to study it carefully.
“Have something else for you,” Izou told her. He held something out from his pocket, depositing a folded paper lotus into her hand when she accepted it.
Koala turned over the origami flower carefully in her fingers, looking with interest at the numbers written on the back.
“I don’t know who’s behind those blank uniforms,” Izou told her, “But many children have gone missing from these islands. If you learn anything, you can reach my den den mushi with that number.”
“I will,” Koala told him, suddenly looking panicked to see him jogging away in the direction the civilians had gone.
“Wait!” she called, “Stay with us! Maybe we could team up on this!”
“Koala, we’re headed back to base,” Ahiru reminded her, “We protected the people, and we just confirmed this isn’t the government attacking them, so now we’re outta here until we have further orders. You’ve been around Chief too long. That rogue agent shit doesn’t fly with Belo. She expects me to report back.”
Izou gave Koala a final wave, which Koala returned a little wistfully. The army could’ve used a recruit like him, but he looked like he was in a hurry to check on the townsfolk, wherever they’d bunkered down.
“What d’you think this tattoo is?” Koala asked her over transponder.
“The only thing that matters is that it’s not world noble affiliated. Either the marines or the nearest emperor will shut them down, so we won’t waste resources hunting whoever this winged ‘M’ symbol belongs to… got that, Koala? That means Chief, too. I know how you two are together when you get a scent in your noses.”
Koala took one last look at Izou’s paper lotus before tucking it safely into her bag.
“Koala? Have you listened to a word I’ve said, darling? Don’t let Sabo go after these guys, okay? He actually listens to you.”
“Roger.”
“What?”
“Roger that,” Koala repeated.
When Koala blinked away the memory, she was surrounded by Spade Pirates, nearly two per cannon below deck. Smoke and the smell of gunpowder pervaded the air as the ship returned fire to their attackers. Only one cannon was missing.
“Roger’s cannon,” Skull lamented in anguish beside her as they both passed individual cannonballs to their partners.
“Would it’ve killed you three to get Dahlia back to the ship with you? There’s no way we’re getting her back now,” Skull said over his shoulder, “That Harbinger is genuinely irreplaceable. Tom himself crafted it.”
Koala frowned. Dahlia. The cannon Ace bought from Kophre-san.
“Sorry, that gold-leafed cannon came from the Oro Jackson? Skull, the one I saw you all buying in Kitatown?”
“One of only ten, I’m afraid,” he confirmed, “I’m being too hard on the boys, I know. Truth is, it really mighta killed them to haul her back. All those slavers crawling the city. So there she sat in the street, they told me. Just waiting to be stolen.”
Huh… Koala had heard Marco whisper that the cannon had belonged to Ace’s father, the same day they bought it. Now Skull was saying it had belonged to Roger. Which meant Ace’s name would’ve been…
Gol D. Ace? Then who was Portgas?
Either way, it brought a close to her investigation for Dragon. Ace had a different imposing, dark-haired father. And his identity must’ve been quite some secret to carry around, Koala considered sympathetically.
She carried around a secret just like Ace, but her secret was inked on her back instead of on her birth records.
“Oy. Where’s Marco?” Leonero called to the rest of the men.
“Deflecting the cannon fire, like always,” Skull replied.
Cornelia accepted another cannonball from Koala’s hands, but hesitated before loading it. He pushed aside his cascade of purple hair, kneeling to look out the gun port.
A parrot screeched from outside, Jabby sounding a trained alert call that no one recognized. But Cornelia knew in context that it was a ‘man overboard.’
“No, he’s not,” Cornelia told them loudly. The fleet had receded into the fog, stopping their assault, but the blue glow of Marco’s wings had disappeared.
“I think he might’ve gone under.”
Koala rushed to the same gun port, staring out with frantic eyes as she scanned the dark ocean waves.
No Marco. No Sabo. No Ace. Anywhere.
“Wallace?!” Koala called, beating the rest of them to it. Her first instinct had been to yell out for Hack before realizing this was no army vessel.
“Aw, hell,” Wallace said, “Must’ve got knocked in. I’ll get him.”
The weedy stingfish lifted a cannon from its bracket to shove it aside, then torpedoed himself into the water through the gun port.
No sooner had he bailed from the ship than the pirates began to notice smoke coming from their coats, or began to feel a stinging in their trouser pockets, all patting around until collectively finding the sources.
Koala watched every one of them pull out identical slips of burning paper. Half of each vivre card had already peeled back, vanishing into embers. Ace’s waning life force.
“Captain,” Skull said quietly.
Koala’s eyes widened as her pulse picked up, pupils showing the fear spiking through her. Where was Sabo’s card?
Seconds later, Koala was already sliding to the locker area where her bag had been stowed during the storm. She ripped it open, clenching her jaw as her gloved hand removed Sabo’s vivre card. Burning.
Just like Ace’s had been. Over half of it, gone.
She laid it on her palm, watching it flutter forward a little, her eyes pinching from seeing how much had burned away.
“Northeast of the island, just like Ace said.”
She had no doubt they were already on course in that direction, but still bolted from the lockers to find Deuce at the helm, just to be certain.
It was probably best that Ace couldn’t see his beloved ship right now…
The Piece of Spadille lurched in the grip of the storm. Thunderous booms and lightning rent the air, illuminating the sky even though the rain had let up. The mainsail, already ripped from wind, pulled completely free from its moorings, flapping wildly like a giant, tattered flag of surrender. The sun was nowhere to be found, lost behind gray clouds and fog, which didn’t make it very easy for Deuce to discern the direction they were heading.
Deuce stood atop the aft deck, leaning his weight into the wheel to keep the ship righted against tall storm crests threatening to capsize them if caught on the broadside.
“Keep the other hatch battened, the one she came through’s not gonna take any water,” Deuce called down to the crew, loud enough to be heard over the wind as Koala climbed the stairs with ease, despite the leaning of the ship.
“Can’t see shit through this fog,” Deuce told her, quieter as she approached, helping him keep the wheel and rudders strong against the assaulting waves, “And the state of that sail is not helping.”
“You seem to be getting getting us in the right direction,” she told him, “I know you’re heaving to, but any chance you get, try to steer her to port. Sabo is still northeast of us. Ace is with him, judging by the vivre cards. No— don’t look—“
Deuce kept one hand strong on the wheel as he pulled the burning card from his coat, peering back up at her with his eyes reflecting the stormy gray around them. The embers had consumed it down to a quarter of its original size, sweeping across the acidic paper like a charred shadow of death.
“So little remaining,” Deuce struggled to say, pocketing it again as he swallowed hard, “You have a card for Sabo too?”
“Yeah, it doesn’t look much better. But he’ll be okay. He’s always okay.”
“Ace, on the other hand,” Deuce replied with visible worry.
“Ace isn’t going to die,” Koala told him firmly, still weighing the wheel to one side with him, ducking slightly as his blue hair whipped into her face.
“You must not know him very well,” he said stiffly, trying not to think about it, but then added, “And Marco should be back by now.”
Koala’s lips pressed thin, not wanting to give him even more bad news.
“Wallace is trying to find him.”
Deuce’s eyes widened, looking between her and the sky where he’d last seen him flying. He wouldn’t be visible through the fog, but the distinct blue glow of his wings had indeed disappeared.
“The cannons,” he said.
“They think he got knocked into the ocean,” Koala said, “But don’t worry, okay? Wallace will find him. I’m gonna go find the patching kit for the mainsail, alright? I’ll be back soon to check if you need anything else.”
As the rain surged around them, Deuce made a noise of disbelief seeing the crowd of onlookers staring dumbly up at Koala patching the mainsail.
“Look alive,” Deuce called from the helm, “We need more rope from below, Skull. Everyone else, get your hands to the other yards. The lines snapped while we slept.”
Too quietly for Deuce to hear, Saber muttered that they should be stowing the sails in the storm, not repairing them. And Mihar was so sick of seeing this one crew member give Deuce a hard time because it tended to approach mutiny when Ace wasn’t around to check him.
Mihar dashed past to climb up to the crow's nest with his rifle dangling just under a rain cloak, but not without chiding Saber harshly over his shoulder for disrespecting his fellow officer.
“Get your head on straight, Saber. You thought Marco could protect us forever? We need to get out of here, so do as your vice-captain ordered," Mihar yelled over the wind.
Deuce kept watch on the sails, using them to key him into the wind's ever changing direction, and he noticed how quickly the mainsail was becoming whole again . He'd be lying if he didn't admit Koala's speed repairing the canvas shocked him. Not a little; a lot. Especially considering the storm's unrelenting assault.
Since he knew Ace had brought Koala here as a guest, Deuce had no expectation for Koala to actually be well-versed with rigging. But she really knew what she was doing, clearly able to pull her weight on the ship.
Everyone else the captain brought aboard for the crew was talented in some capacity, so Deuce knew he shouldn’t have thought Koala would be any different. And the addition of another competent crew member? That's not something Deuce could complain about. Particularly because she might help offset some of the crew who tended to bully him.
Deuce looked around the deck with concern. All the men were there, working, but none of their faces comforted him. Not at all.
“Teachie,” he called up at the crow’s nest, sighing with relief when Mihar peered over the side.
“You okay, Deu?”
“No,” he replied, “Are you?”
“Not really,” Mihar admitted loudly from his perch high up the mast, showing Deuce the vivre card with a bitter smile, “Hang in there, though, yeah? Also, you’re gonna need to heave to again. More waves on the way.”
Deuce nodded at him, wiping his face on his coat sleeve before leaning into the wheel.
To their credit, the crew worked together efficiently along the sails’ bottom rivets, threading new lines until the sail snapped taut again, filling with wind that would carry them farther from the enemy fleet.
The mainsail was nearly back in full working order as Koala finished the last few anchoring stitches. She made her way back up the rope to lash the rest of the top line back in place. She could see Deuce looking up to check on her as she perched along the mainsail’s top yard to finish lashing fresh lines through the sail’s outermost rivets.
A lurch sent her slipping from the yard, scrambling to get her elbow back over the support as her feet kicked for grip against the wet sail.
“Careful up there, yoi!” a familiar voice yelled from below.
Koala looked down behind her with a wide grin, dangling dangerously but unbothered by it as she realized Wallace had just pulled a drenched Marco from the sea. He was back safe on the deck.
“Wallace, can you help her?” Marco asked, accepting a towel from Skull as he quickly peeled away his ocean-soaked clothing.
“What the fuck is he doing?” Koala muttered, trying not to notice him stripping down to nothing. She hauled herself back up to the yard, peering back down in disbelief at his stark nakedness.
He seemed to know she was looking without even checking.
“I can hear you,” he told her, “Koala, focus. You’re gonna fall if you keep letting yourself get distracted, yoi.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Koala called back to him, “I’ve seen a lot of pirates go overboard into the water, but none of them took their clothes off.”
“Those clothes are soaked in sea water,” Marco reminded her, going hybrid form and obscuring his lower half in blue fire just as he finished drying off with the towel, “You rather see me naked or helpless?”
“Don’t answer that, Koala,” Wallace grumbled, joining her up near the top of the mast, “He’s not a pervert, he’s just a little stressed right now. And they locked the hatches back down, so he doesn’t have access to his clothes.”
“I also didn’t mean it that way— just for the record, yoi!” Marco called from below as Koala smirked.
Marco ascended to the helm, briefly reabsorbing his wing to give Deuce’s shoulder a squeeze.
“I have to go back out to look for them, Deu. I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Don’t say that,” Deuce told him with stormy eyes, “Ace always says that. You better mean it.”
“I do, yoi,” Marco assured him with one last comforting pat before he took off over the railing, rising into the sky in a blaze of fiery wings.
Wallace watched Koala knot down the last of the black canvas, grinning with surprisingly kind-looking teeth as she expertly tugged the lines taut. It was the way she handled those lines that made him smile knowingly at her, having confirmed one of his suspicions.
“Who taught you?” he asked.
Her eyes widened at his assuming tone, not having known there was anything obvious about her methods. He seemed to already have his answer.
“It’s just,” Wallace added, “You only thread the rope between the ends of your fingers. Almost like you learned from someone with webbed hands.”
She paused, biting her lip in trepidation. Part of her didn’t want to lie to him; it’s not like he wouldn’t understand. But the other part of her still guarded her back tattoo closely. It opened up too many things she didn’t like to talk about. Made people treat her differently. Even if Wallace didn’t, she couldn’t say the same for the rest of the crew, especially Marco. For a reason she couldn’t explain, she didn’t want him to know.
“Sometimes things are just coincidences,” she said.
“Sometimes they aren’t,” Wallace argued kindly, “Either way, I don’t meet many strangers who treat me the same as a human. You don’t seem a bit afraid... Banshee also mentioned you asked for me to be woken first. Why was that?”
“You’re stronger than the rest,” Koala told him matter-of-factly, “At the time, it didn’t matter if you were an officer or a swabbie. We needed your help more than a human’s. That’s all I told them.”
And after a lifetime of bad treatment from non-Fishmen, it relieved Wallace to know this one bossy little girl had chosen his help over anyone else. Even more shockingly, she’d looked happy to see him awake, not looking one bit disgusted by him. He wouldn’t forget that.
Wallace smiled softly, appreciating her words even if she tried to downplay them.
“I’ll be circling below the ship, alright?” he told her after a moment, “Just in case I can see either of them underwater.”
She watched Wallace sprint his bare webbed feet across the yard so fast it would’ve shocked her if she wasn’t so used to seeing it, then admired his dizzying dive to the waves below.
Now that she’d finished her work on the sail, Koala used her vantage point to look out toward the north, seeing a pillar of orange light through the dense rain. But no visible sign of Ace’s powered raft anywhere.
“You’re in a dangerous spot,” a voice called at her, and she tried to shield the rain from her eyes to look up at the kind-faced man peering over the crow’s nest at her.
And Koala had to agree; the exertion of holding her weight on the ropes began to take its toll on her, just as Marco’s defense of the ship had done to him.
Mihar disappeared from above and reappeared through the trap door, lowering himself down the pegs until the lanky man could extend an arm out at her.
“Help me keep watch up here,” he offered, not without a hint of anxiety watching her spider monkey her way from the end of the yard until they had the clasp of each other’s wrists.
Mihar seemed even more relieved than Koala when they both made it safely up into the crow’s nest, as if the school teacher in him kicked back in suddenly. He felt added responsibility over her as one of the officers, and took no joy in imagining Ace angry with them if anything happened to her.
It only took Koala a moment of assessing his face and rancher hat to mentally flip through their wanted posters in her head.
“Indoor Mihar,” she recognized, to his surprise.
“Huh. Well, they weren’t kidding about you researching us. You’ll hear most of them call me Teach or Teachie, but you can call me Mihar if you like. I was a school teacher, an eternity ago. In a past life, feels like. Anyway, since you’re up here, take the aft watch while I take the fore.”
Mihar noticed Koala staring down over the side, however, searching the sky where Marco had vanished into the fog again.
“Hey… he’s okay,” Mihar told her, catching her eye before she nodded hesitantly and turned to watch over the stern. “I guess you must not’ve held a grudge, then, if you’re so concerned,” Mihar added, “Anything to do with him deflecting the bullets away from you in Kitatown?”
”You saw that?” she asked, before admitting, “The bullet actually hit him, Mihar… I felt terrible.”
That troubled him. Bullets didn’t hit Marco.
”It must’ve been kairouseki, then,” he said, “That’s not good.”
Koala nodded, though he barely seemed to need her confirmation.
She felt another burning flash against her skin, peeling back her tight sleeve to see Sabo’s vivre card almost burned all the way up.
“I don’t—“ she gasped in frustration, then pleaded, “I don’t understand. What’s taking you so long to get out of trouble? I can’t get to you. You’re gonna have to survive.”
“Is that Sabo?” Mihar asked her, feeling around his own pocket.
When he pulled out Ace’s vivre card, they could see it had burned down even more than Sabo’s. Mihar cursed softly, shielding it from the wind like a wounded creature in his palm.
“Yeah, and it looks like Ace found him,” she said grimly.
“We gotta keep Deu on task, okay? He doesn’t do very well with situations like this, as much as I hate to say it,” Mihar confided in her, just between them.
She looked over the aft-most edge of the crow’s nest, still seeing Deuce at the helm.
“Little more to port, when you can Deu!” she called, hoping that would keep him occupied.
It didn’t work. The ship gave a lurch, and they both saw Deuce pull Ace’s card out, now burned down to a corner so small he could barely hold it.
“No,” Koala breathed, looking down at her shaky fingers that gripped the remainder of Sabo’s card. It dwindled down even further.
Sabo’s mortality began to weigh on her, suddenly faced with a ‘what if’ too frightening to consider. A mental abyss from which she backed away so fast it made her footing unsteady. She slipped to the floor and made eye contact with Mihar over their shoulders, both wearing the same expression.
“He can’t,” Mihar said quietly, his eyebrows trying to draw together under his hat, “Ace… He’s all we’ve got.”
Deuce let the wheel slip from his fingers, numb as he grabbed the rail to hold himself up against the rocking of the Piece of Spadille, all that now remained of his captain.
In his palm, the last of the paper burned until only ash remained, a wet mark staining his skin as tears began to stream from his eyes.
“No,” he whispered, catching a sob as he looked around into the grayness seeping onto the ship.
The crew had stopped everything, and the wind across the deck sent vivre card ash floating through the air, mingling between them in the stone dead silence.
“I… I don’t…” Koala murmured, stunned at the rain-soaked ash in her palm. The sight made her blood run cold, looking up at Mihar with welling eyes.
“There’s just no way… he can’t just…”
Mihar narrowed his eyes against the rain pelting their faces.
“I didn’t think we’d lose our captain that easily either,” he admitted, “He’s too stubborn to die.”
“So is Sabo,” Koala said, trying so hard to swallow past the lump in her throat.
Mihar turned his face to fix her with a serious look until he had her attention.
“We thought Sabo was long gone, you know. For all the years we’ve known Ace… but Ace never found his body.”
Koala’s eyes rounded, doe-like.
“I didn’t know that. The whole time that he’s been with us? Ace was mourning him?”
“My only point was that, until we find them for sure, I can’t accept it. And you shouldn’t either.”
Koala tried to take his words in, closing her eyes as cold droplets smattered her cheeks.
“I feel the same way,” she told him softly, wiping her eyes before they both stared over the edge to see the rest of the crew.
Mihar sighed, watching Deuce sink into the corner railing, face pressed into his hands miserably as the wind tore at his blue hair.
“Looking at the flames in the distance, it seems like Ace was able to take down one last ship. Could you stay up here for a moment and keep watch in that direction?” he asked, “It’s about to get chaotic down there and I don’t want you caught in the crossfire.”
“It is?”
He shrugged, “What happens when you take away the glue? …The wheels come off. So it is with most crews, especially this one. Without Ace, they’ll eat each other alive starting with Deu, so I gotta go make sure he’s okay. Just call out anything you see for me. Please.”
She nodded, watching him descend through the trapdoor and trying not to be distracted by the mark of ash on her hand.
“He’s okay,” she lied to herself until she believed it, “Nothing can take him down.”
It would be insulting to think otherwise. It would also be her fault if he were killed by Marmont’s crew. The fleet Ahiru warned them not to go after. She was supposed to talk him out of it. Koala wasn’t prepared to be the cause of his death. Not if she didn’t have to be.
Maybe it was half an hour, maybe it was more; time didn’t seem to register to Koala right now. But eventually, a dark speck against the reflective water caught her eye.
“It’s— Teachie— it’s a boot! Ahead, over the bow!” she called, leaning to see she’d interrupted an intense argument on the deck below.
The crew rushed to the fore deck, all but Skull who stayed behind at the helm.
And there was Marco.
Koala wished the sight of him brought her any relief, but she could only stare, numb, as she saw his shape emerging from the fog. He dipped down to the water a few times, gathering both worn boots and something else too faint to see in his talons before angling toward the Spadille.
The second he touched down, Marco dropped the boots and pointed straight at Koala before she could get to the trapdoor.
“Stay up there. Do not come down, yoi.”
Cornelia tossed him his damp trousers to slide on so he could return from hybrid from.
Saber and Deuce were at a standoff, only made worse by the appearance of Ace’s abandoned, waterlogged boots tumbling to the deck between them.
Marco could see Saber was one wrong look away from pulling his gun, hand hovering threateningly as he locked eyes with the masked man across from him.
“Don’t even touch it,” Marco warned him, “Pull that on your own brother and I promise you’ll regret it.”
“No brother of mine. Not yours, either, as far as he’s concerned. Deuce wants to get off at the next port,” Saber told Marco angrily, “We don’t deserve a vice-captain like this. Cowardly and flighty. He was only here for Ace. And Ace deserved so much better. What would he think of you now, Deu? Running away?”
Deuce shook his head, upset as he blinked his reddened eyes in disbelief.
“That’s not what I meant, Marco. Please don’t believe him. I’m… this is really hard for me. What was I supposed to do? You know how they treat me when he’s not around, now he’s fucking gone…”
Mihar put an arm around him, quieting him.
“Stop,” Marco said, looking at Saber and Deuce, “Nobody’s making decisions right now. Not before we get some answers.”
Blue feathers rustled as Jabby responded to Marco’s whistle. The macaw accepted something from his hand before taking off to the crow’s nest at his coaxing.
Koala backed from the edge in surprise as the large, blue bird flew up to perch there.
From his beak dangled a pair of goggles.
Her lip trembled for a moment before she accepted them, noticing they’d even retained a few wet strands of his blond hair pinched near the seal.
She looked down to catch Marco’s eyes for the briefest moment, not even able to thank him before he was distracted again, forced to help separate Saber away from Deuce.
“Pretty girl,” Jabby told her, bobbing slightly when he had her attention again.
“Did you just… talk? Or am I hearing things?”
“Pretty! Girl!” Jabby repeated, louder.
“Thanks… bird,” she said, rubbing at her eyes and trying to smile softly at him.
“Brrt! Jabby boy.”
“Okay,” she agreed awkwardly, never having spoken to a bird before. Or any animal, for that matter. Was this another Zoan on Ace’s crew that she just didn’t know about yet?
The thought gave her the creeps, considering the bird seemed to demand she return his affection before flying away.
“Alright, thanks for the goggles,” she told him, reaching to hesitantly pat his outstretched, feathery head.
When the bird took off again, Koala found herself looking down into the ocean, wondering if the vivre cards might have a major flaw in them.
Technically, there was one final way to test the results. Find out if their hearts had begun to beat again. It wasn’t unheard of.
It took entirely too long for Marco to get the crew to settle down. Most of the men who got along returned to the cabins after the storm finally let up. Mihar had gotten Saber to keep watch with him in the crow’s nest, and Marco was pretty sure Banshee had taken Deuce to the kitchen to help her try to cook something.
Kotatsu skulked around the perimeter of the deck now that it began to dry. The large feral cat hadn’t seemed to realize Ace wasn’t coming back yet, pausing every now and then to look up over the rail before padding along again.
Marco had retrieved Ace’s necklace from the lockers and now sat hanging his legs off the ship between the fore rails. He rolled Ace’s mala beads through his hand one bead at a time, resting his head against the rail.
He gently hit his forehead against the painted wood a couple of times as he tried to allow the finality of Ace’s death to sink in.
“Oyaji, I didn’t do a very good job with my next captain either,” he whispered, rubbing his eyes dry. He heard talons click down onto the rail near his head, then they dropped down to inspect the red beads.
Maybe I’m still that teenager Oyaji used to yell at; maybe I haven’t fixed a single problem after all this time.
The teenager that couldn’t get anything right. Too trusting, then too jaded, too overprotective, but then the second I let my guard down, this happens…
Nearly fifty, still no smarter. Still can’t protect anyone worth a damn. Why the hell didn’t Oyaji tell me that aging doesn’t make you better. It just makes you hate yourself more for not learning your lesson.
His thoughts stung at him like swarming pests until the blue bird next to him pulled him back to reality. Nuzzling and pinching at him.
“Hey, Jabs, don’t worry about me,” he said as the parrot pressed a beak to his hand.
“Pretty girl,” Jabby said proudly.
At those words, Marco knew who must’ve approached. She was impressively stealthy, but not much got past Pops’ old bird.
“Do we have any paper I can use? …Scraps?Something I can shred?” Koala asked, “I’ll need the kitchen, too, soon as they’re done in there.”
He turned to look at her in surprise. Of the countless things he expected her to say, none of that had made the list.
“…W-what? No, I don’t know if we have any ‘paper’ you can ‘shred.’ That’s a question I’d expect outta the feral cat over there, yoi, not you. I’m sorry about Sabo, but you should really sit with it for a moment.”
Koala folded her arms, shaking her head.
“No need to be sorry. I know he’s alive. And you can stop moping, too, because Ace is also alive.”
The words looked like they slapped him in the face, and not in a good way. His eyes narrowed against the raw pain of it. She must’ve had too little experience with death to know the damage it caused, rubbing false hope in someone’s face like that. However well meaning.
“Koala… I get it. No one wanted to think they could die. They were too young and too strong. Deu is struggling with the same thing right now. But I can’t even count how many young, strong men have died.”
“You don’t look old enough to talk like that,” Koala said in confusion, but he pressed on like he didn’t even hear her.
“Y’know what? I’ll tell you what it’s like to outlive your friends. It doesn’t get easier to see, but it does get easier to believe. How long should I live in denial this time, yoi? For what it’s worth, I hope you never know what I’m feeling.”
Koala leaned into the rail, looking down at him with a skeptical face.
“Okay, try me, then. What are you feeling that’s so much different than me, or Deu, or the rest of them?”
She handed him a canteen of water before folding her arms again. He swigged from it, seeming grateful for a chance to stall his reply. Because his eyes reddened slightly as he swallowed.
“Since you wanna know so bad,” he said, “I might outlive everyone I’ve ever known. Sounds powerful when you’re a fifteen-year-old that still thinks your father’s invincible. It doesn’t feel good anymore, yoi. No matter how I fight it, eventually… I will be alone.”
He cleared his throat, sneaking his shoulder to his face to wipe at it, then let his head drop back to lay on the railing again, staring up into the cloudy sky. The worst part was him wishing the canteen had something stronger in it.
Koala sank down beside him slowly, stunned by his words. She thought she had a smart answer for everything until he hit her with something she couldn’t grasp.
“What were you like?” she asked, calculating as she took in the absolute state of him.
“Hmm?” he hummed absently, not even looking at her.
“Before you let all your joy get taken away,” Koala added, “I saw it in Kitatown, you know, for just a moment. You weren’t always like this.”
“Come on, Koala,” he protested.
“No, really,” she insisted, “Tell me what you were like before life became a constant pity party for you. I wish I knew you then.”
He nearly laughed.
“Look around you. This crew just lost the only person holding them together. I’m not just losing Ace, I’m losing all of them, just like my first family. And I’m not cracking enough jokes for you? If you need to be in denial, fine, but is this how you comfort someone who’s grieving, yoi?”
“And I’m trying to get it through your thick skull that they are not dead, Marco,” Koala replied.
He showed her the ash staining his palm.
“Vivre cards don’t lie. Again, I’m sorry about Sabo. I really am. But please don’t go around getting everyone’s hopes up, yoi. You have good intentions, but you don’t understand how much more suffering it’s going to cause. Especially Deu. You can’t say things like that to him right now. Okay?”
“Fine,” Koala agreed, carefully shaking his larger hand with her own ash-stained palm, “I won’t try to convince them. Not until I can prove it—“
“Koala,” Marco said, withdrawing his hand suddenly, “Not what I meant, yoi—“
“I’ll prove they’re alive to all of you,” she told him seriously, “But in return, you need to step the hell up.”
“Excuse me?” Marco asked, jaw dropping slightly.
“If you don’t wanna lose your crew,” Koala added, standing to her feet, tall over him now, “They need someone to give them a reason to keep going. What would Fisher— I mean, what would Whitebeard do?”
“Did you almost say Fisher Tiger, yoi?” Marco asked, not even trusting his own hearing suddenly. It would’ve baffled him to hear her reference a captain that died fifteen years ago. He convinced himself he misheard.
Koala blinked, going cold at his incredulous question. She didn’t want to lie outright.
“I meant to say Whitebeard,” she repeated quietly, “He was your captain, was he not?"
Marco had a hard time believing Koala knew who the Sun Pirates were. Hell, almost everything Marco knew came from Jinbei. Then again, it’d already crossed his mind that Koala walked easily along the unsteady deck like she'd been born on a ship. She climbed up to patch the sails like it was second nature to her. Marco narrowed his eyes, trying to force down the feeling that she was hiding something from them. Ace trusted her, but he'd been known to have blind spots, and Sabo's sister would've been one of them.
“Have some patience,” Marco told her, “That’s what my Oyaji would’ve done. Let the crew mourn their captain in peace, whether we can recover him from the ocean or not. Wallace is still looking. In the meantime, go target practice with Teachie or something, if you really can’t sit still.”
Koala cast a glance over her shoulder, barely able to make out the skull mask piloting the ship across the Spadille’s deck.
“Fine, but before I do that, where is he taking us?”
“Why don’t you go ask him, yoi?”
“Because I’m asking you,” she said, almost looking wounded, “Wallace aside, you’re the most qualified to lead. They all look up to you. Even gave you the captain’s quarters. What's stopping you from acting as captain?”
He relented, but not without with a dry quip.
“I have a feeling that even if I acted like a captain, you still wouldn't follow orders... I asked Skull to put us on a southern heading to the nearest marine base.”
She raised her eyebrows, almost amused his response.
“Pirates seeking help from the marines. You're not serious. What’s the real plan?”
“Ace had a dead or alive bounty, unfortunately. If they went through the trouble of killing him, you can bet they’ll try and collect on his bounty, yoi. I have us on the bearing to intercept them if we can. With any luck, we’ll at least be able to bury them.”
Marco glanced at her, seeing the unconvinced look in her eyes. He sighed. She might have to learn the hard way that hope didn't bring back the dead.
"That's not gonna be necessary," Koala told him, "These are slavers, Marco. Both of them are worth more alive than dead. Both of them can be sold to world nobles for much more than a marine bounty. Skull might be taking us in the opposite direction that Marmont's flagship went."
Marco grudgingly pulled his sandaled feet back up on the deck, seeming to accept the fact that she wasn’t going away anytime soon. He wasn’t accustomed to anyone but Ace being this impressively persistent.
Then Marco cursed harshly under his breath, only loud enough for Koala to hear.
She looked over her shoulder to see both Deuce and Saber had accidentally decided to approach them at the same time from opposite sides of the ship, but by the time they realized it, they were both too close to back out.
Koala stood back with crossed arms, eager to see how Marco handled them. He shot her a sideways glance, not sure he liked her being there to critique his interactions.
“I’m guessing you two aren’t here to tell me you worked everything out together, yoi,” he sighed. Pure suffering on his face.
Koala had to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling at his expense. He didn’t look old enough to be their father, but he was certainly acting like it.
“Absolutely not,” Deuce said, at the same time that Saber scoffed with a definitive, “Hell no.”
“Then what is it?”
Deuce adjusted his mask, clearing his throat as he avoided eye contact with the cowboy.
“He can go first.”
“Just wanted to ask why we’re not calling his brother. Should’ve called him to begin with when the cards started burning,” Saber said, knowing Marco was the one with the transponder.
Deuce bristled in a big way before he even spoke, “This is what I’m talking about. Ace only had two rules, and this is one of them.”
“I didn’t think they were that serious, considering the other rule was anal sex with women at port,” he defended.
Marco visibly tensed, looking anywhere but Koala as she directed an openly amused expression at him specifically.
‘Is that true?’ she mouthed, finally catching his eyes.
“Okay,” Marco interrupted, a little louder than he meant to, “Now that we’ve all heard the crudest possible summary of his rulebook, yoi… Yes, we will contact Luffy, but not until we have something more concrete than vivre cards. He needs closure. Ace did not want him contacted for rescue; he made that very clear.”
Then Marco took a deep breath.
“And to clear up that other rule… Ace didn’t want the crew becoming deadbeat fathers. Didn’t want more kids facing the same issues he and Luffy did, alright? Simple as that.”
“He never said anal?” Saber asked, topping his hat to scratch his head.
“No,” Deuce and Marco uttered tensely.
“Idiot,” Deuce muttered afterward.
It probably would’ve amused her under other circumstances. But Koala’s brow pinched at his assessment of Dragon, because the words stung so much worse that she’d expected them to.
Luffy’s ‘deadbeat father’ was her hero. Her idol. Hearing Marco say it was difficult, to put it mildly.
Saber had seemed to accept his explanation, stalking away with a thumbs up so he didn’t have to share anymore air with Deuce.
“You have the floor, yoi,” Marco told him, lifting himself carefully onto the rail with Koala, preparing to hear what Deuce needed from him.
She watched Deuce carefully. He seemed to be having a hard time formulating his words.
"I just wanted to... apologize," he finally managed to choke out. "For not doing more. Saber was right. Ace should never have appointed me his right hand. I'm also sorry because I know you wanted another family, but... fuck... I think the crew's disbanding, Marco."
Koala's eyes widened in disbelief, turning to see Marco's reaction. She wished she hadn't, because he seemed to just accept the statement, nodding blankly as he stared down at the deck with crossed arms.
Her nostrils flared, looking between his neutral face and Deuce's tearful one.
“I was hoping you’d disagree,” Deuce told him miserably, “Try to talk us out of it.”
“Whether you like it or not, you've been Ace's vice-captain since you two met. You’re the captain of the Spade Pirates now,” Marco told him, “That means I will respect whatever you decide.”
Deuce shook his head.
“I can’t do it. I’m not cut out to lead. I never wanted this. Neither does Teachie or Skull or Wallace or anyone. It has to be you. I know Ace never got to exchange ritual cups with you, I just..."
Marco held back conflicting emotions with his fingers steepled in front of his mouth.
“You knew Ace better than anyone. How would he feel about you going back to your old life?"
Koala felt her throat tighten as she listened to Marco. She didn’t know Deuce’s past, but wearing a mask spoke volumes about his reluctance to belong to it. That mask looked like burned bridges.
When Deuce hesitated, Marco tsked to gain his attention again.
“Show me the tattoo,” he said.
Deuce pulled his sleeve just enough to reveal his wrist. Once black ink, now faded blue-green, his tattoo depicted the same flamed skull and spade as the mainsail.
“Just like mine,” Marco told him, pulling up his own sleeve to show his much newer version, “Who gave me this, Deu?”
“I did,” Deuce admitted, meeting Koala’s amazed eyes with his own note of guilt.
"Then we’re bonded,” Marco said, “And as long as I can, I'll find a way to keep this crew together. I just need you to do one thing for me."
Deuce looked up, hope flickering in his eyes.
"I need you to stay," Marco said, his voice softening, "You don't have to lead, but I have no intention of letting you give up on your dreams.”
He looked remorseful, twisting strands of sky-blue, shoulder length hair between nervous fingers.
"I didn't really want to leave, you know... it's just going to be hard to live on a ship with so many memories," Deuce said, his voice barely above a whisper, "But I'll stay and help in any way I can."
"We'll do this together, alright, yoi?" Marco said, clapping Deuce on the shoulder before he could protest, “No more talk of disbanding, understood?"
Koala smiled when he nodded in agreement, her heart lifting. She respected Marco’s wishes and didn't bring up her belief that they still lived, but she couldn't help herself from feeling sick at the idea of Ace's crew trying to disband while he was still alive and in need of their help. There was only one thing she still needed to know.
“Marco, how long do I have? Before we approach the marine base?” she asked, accepting her canteen back from him.
He saw her press it to her lips absently, not taking a sip, just holding it in deep thought. And if she wasn’t drinking out of it, it didn’t really make sense to keep it there for so long.
“Two days, yoi,” Marco replied, staring straight ahead and specifically refusing to notice the canteen was still attached to her mouth.
She grinned, finally taking a real sip from it, seeming to savor the taste of the water.
“Excellent. I only need one,” she told him with fire behind her eyes.
Before Deuce could walk away, Koala added, "Deu! Wait."
Marco shot her a worried look, wondering if she was about to fill Deuce's head with the same idealistic theory that the vivre cards had somehow been wrong about their deaths. She told him she wouldn't bring it up.
"I know you're the journal-keeper of the group. Can you spare me any paper?" she asked him.
Deuce blinked, surprised by the question.
"Oh... of course, Koala. Not sure why you, um, know that, but it’s still a relief to see someone else understands the importance of documenting one's feelings. Especially at a time like this. I think it'll help you a lot."
Koala noticed Marco silently begging her not to tell Deuce why she needed the paper, and whether she wanted to or not, she looked a little offended by his expression. As if Marco really believed she'd go back on her word.
"Thank you, Deu," Koala said instead of addressing Marco, "I'll go with you to find it, if you have a moment."
As Deuce obligingly led her toward the quarters, she held Marco's pleading look for a long moment over her shoulder.
'I won't,' she mouthed at him, seeming relieved when he gave her an accepting nod. She wasn’t sure why she even gave a shit what he thought, probably because not being trusted got under Koala’s skin worse than anything else.
Koala gathered her supplies in the kitchen with a large bowl of water, but by the time Marco found her, he could already see Banshee giving her a wary glance. The mermaid looked less than a second away from asking Koala what the hell she was doing.
“Can I borrow you? For a moment, yoi?” Marco asked Koala, though his stressed tone made the question more of a soft demand. The way he tilted his head added an unspoken, ‘And bring your stuff with you.’
Koala gave Banshee a guilty smile, gathering her things to follow him quickly from the kitchen.
“You know they’re gonna get curious what you’re up to. Could you not be a little more careful?” he asked Koala quietly, not even looking at her as they crossed the deck to a set of double doors.
She raised her eyebrows at him openly as he swung the door inward for her, fully expecting her to go in.
“This is the captain’s quarters,” she stated, keeping her voice as cautiously neutral as her expression.
“Well right now, it’s where you’re gonna work on this project, yoi,” he told her, “Can you just go in? So nobody asks what you’re doing?”
One glance at his worried eyes convinced her to remove her boots and step inside.
He did the same with his sandals, slipping them from both feet. He couldn’t help noticing her soft-looking cashmere socks as she moved past him to set her things on his desk, taking care not to spill water on the maps.
“Sorry,” he said instantly, closing the door to help her roll up the papers there so she’d have space to work. He seemed to have genuinely forgotten how many maps and documents had been left around— primarily by Skull, the helmsman.
It took Marco several minutes to get them all rolled up and filed away, and by the time he’d finished, Koala had already stationed herself at his desk, shredding blank journal paper to soak in the water, seeing it slowly break apart into fibers.
He stood slowly from where he kneeled at the chest full of documents, unable to disguise a brief flicker of curiosity even from across the room. He’d never seen a vivre card being made.
“You can watch, if you want,” Koala offered, not looking up from her work. It was redundant, of course, because they both knew he was already taking in the process with obvious interest.
She gently placed Sabo’s goggles on the desk from her bag and used tweezers to transfer his hair to the second bowl.
The bottle she removed from her bag caught his eye, moving forward to see better but keeping his arms crossed over his chest tattoo.
“Is that the acid?” he asked, slipping his red-framed glasses from his pocket to wear them, “Wondered why you had that, yoi.”
“There won’t be enough of it in the paper to burn your skin on contact,” Koala explained calmly, looking at Marco, “But it would be slightly poisonous to ingest the vivre card paper, that’s why they warn not to do that when you have it made in a shop.”
She shifted so he could see better, glancing back at him for a moment as she dripped shōsan onto the few blond hairs in a smaller, dry bowl.
“Once the lineage factor has been broken down into the shōsan, the acid must be painted in delicate lines across the paper, spaced so that it burns very slowly in proportion to the remaining life force of the target. Without the right proportions, the paper won’t be effective.”
Koala stirred the stands of hair gently into acid in the the glass bowl. Marco was next to her shoulder now, eye-level with the bowl to watch the acid slowly work as she agitated the mixture.
“I’ve never seen this. The process,” he told her in a more hushed voice, like he didn’t want to bother her, “How many have you made?”
“I’ve lost count,” she admitted, scooting back to examine the bowl at eye-level with him, “The important thing is: if the paper moves, he’s alive. It’ll be still if… well, the point is, it’s gonna move.”
“It takes a day?”
“Might be a little less. Mainly for the pulp to dry down completely. The acid is painted on just before it’s finished.”
She could see him thinking deeply as he stared into the mixture.
“So this is for Sabo’s card. What about Ace, yoi?” he asked, hesitant to even bring it up.
It’s just… the idea of not getting confirmation suddenly bothered him, even if he carefully guarded himself from believing Ace’s card would have life in it. He just wanted closure. Answers to a morbid question he wished he didn’t have to ask.
“I’ll need his hair,” she told him, but not without basking a little in his growing desire to be involved. It was only too gratifying after seeing his initial reaction to her plan.
“We have it. His hat,” Marco told her, too late to rein in his own quick response, the tone that betrayed a spark of belief, “I’ll be right back. You still have enough shōsan for the second card?”
Koala couldn’t help looking directly at him. His pale grey eyes that had the slightest bit more color than they had before. Maybe it was just the warmth of the lantern next to them.
“Of course, Marco,” she replied, equally awed and amused by him right now, “Bring it in an empty bowl. We’ll have our answer tomorrow, even if our course doesn’t bring us across them first.”
Minutes later, he returned to her side with Ace’s trademark hat, letting her tweeze the dark stray hairs into a new bowl, repeating the process to extract his lineage factor.
While Koala watched the acid bubble around the hair, she smirked slightly as Marco nodded off next to her. He’d been resting on one heel, arms folded on the corner of the desk, so she supposed he was comfortable enough for his head to sink into his arms like a pillow, eyes shutting from the repetitive sight of her laying out fibers and pressing the pulp into a sheet with her hands, then going over it with a paperweight.
Koala took a break to idly massage at her own hands, glancing over at him as she did.
She gingerly removed the glasses on his face, folding them as his eyes slowly blinked open.
“Go to sleep,” she said, tucking them back into his shirt, “You’re tired.”
His eyes nearly closed, feeling more relaxed than he had in a long time, but something held him back from the pull of sleep.
“The showers don’t work, yoi,” he told her as his head stayed resting on his arms, “Have you ever taken a bird bath? That’s what we’ve gotta do until it’s repaired. Know where the wash room is?”
“I found it, thank you,” she said gently, because he still looked like he might nod off again.
He didn’t, however, standing to his feet and gathering a few of his things before heading to the door. Then he ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it so it laid attractively whether he meant to or not.
“Feel like I should apologize, making you stay up alone,” he mentioned, even though she was shaking her head.
Obviously, since he had eyes, Marco was aware that she was still wearing her catsuit. He gestured to the wardrobe, swinging the door open so she could see the clothes hanging neatly inside it.
“Take whatever you need, okay? Room is yours, yoi. For as long as you’re here.”
She rested her chin in her palm, smiling softly and thanking him as the door closed.
It was so quiet now, Koala thought after a few long seconds had stretched by. The paper had been laid out, naturally sticky fibers adhering together as she surveyed her work. Now it just needed time to dry. And she needed time to sleep, perhaps even after a meager bird bath.
So in the new silence of the room, Koala looked over her shoulder, eyes fixing curiously on the bed behind her.
Even though it called to her, she did the due diligence of sponging down, drying off, and sliding a shirt from the wardrobe to wear before allowing herself to finally plunge into the soft, heavy blankets. She cocooned herself gratefully, perhaps even looking a little flushed when she realized how nice it smelled. She touched the linen to her lips, sinking a little deeper into the pillow to let herself enjoy the small comfort until she couldn’t enjoy it anymore.
Her lip trembled, eyes stinging as the tears she’d put off for so long began to surface, flooding her eyelashes until they spilled over. She was here. Safe. Warm. Swaddled in softness and comfort.
But she didn’t know where Sabo was, if he was even alive. Even worse; if he lived, it’d be under extreme conditions that she barely had the heart to picture. She knew about those conditions first hand.
And even when sleep eventually claimed her, nightmares of memories gripped her mind in her sleep. Laying cold against the grimy, blood-stained cell floors, pulled out of the cell only to be surrounded instead by the inside of a small, locked cage. Like a dog.
Her heart raced, remembering the adrenaline as she tried to escape, being pursued until she couldn’t breathe, then gasping awake as a knock sounded on the door to the captain’s quarters.
Koala was forced upright by the startling noise, clutching in confusion at the shirt covering her and taking a horrible few moments to even recognize her soundings in the dim light of the bay window.
One thing was certain; the view was gorgeous. The sun hadn’t crested yet, sending pinks and soft blues to outline the clouds over the distant horizon.
Morning. Already.
Koala’s socked feet padded quickly to the door, opening it to be greeted by a cup of coffee.
“Oh,” she uttered in surprise, accepting it from his hand slowly as Marco took a sip of his own cup.
She was still wearing the cashmere socks, but had swapped her catsuit for a black button-down as a dress. It was on loan, of course, but if she told him she wanted to keep it, he’d absolutely insist on it.
But he stopped mid-sip, seeming to notice something besides his own shirt wrapping her. Koala’s heart still seemed to race, affecting her breathing, visibly if not audibly. Her brow still pinched from some unsaid thought, looking distracted and distant.
“Everything okay, yoi?”
She plastered a smile on her face.
“Of course. I appreciate the coffee.”
He pressed his lips together, glancing away.
“Alright, let’s pretend that’s the truth. If you don’t like sleeping in here, you could always trade places with me and use Kotatsu as a pillow. Once he warms up to you, that is.”
‘Did he really sleep on the deck with the cat?’ she wondered, now smiling a real smile into her cup just before taking a tentative sip.
“I’ll think about it,” she said.
“Okay, well, I know you’re probably still working on the cards, but if you need anything else, let me know. I’ll be in the kitchen since we play cards every morning. No one’s in the mood, but I think it’s important to observe our normal rituals, I guess. Oh, and, um, I know we skipped dinner, but Banshee’s making some food… don’t expect it to be anything mind-blowing, but when you’re hungry enough, it’s pretty decent. So you should join us when you’re not busy.”
She ducked into her coffee again, peering up at him the whole time he rambled. When it was her turn again, she seemed a little less bossy and sure of herself than she’d been the day before.
“That sounds nice, actually... After I add more layers to the cards, I’ll do that.”
Anything to distract herself as it dried. Marco seemed to know she’d need it. Maybe that’s why he’d insisted they play card games today. Give everyone something else to think about, even if only for a few hours.
He patted the trim as a goodbye, flashing her kind of a solemn half-smile as he left her to her own devices again.
The moment the door closed, she paused to take in the sheer anxiety she felt at the prospect of finishing the vivre cards, returning to the desk once more to wonder if this was really going to work. Or if she’d positioned herself for even more pain when it didn’t.
Koala set her coffee on the desk and carefully lifted Sabo’s goggles instead, giving them a long look before drawing them over her hair to hang around her neck. They had more weight to them than her own, more comforting this way. Looking down at them gave her the courage to brush on the final layers of paper fibers to both of their vivre cards.
Knowing that when it all dried with the shōsan added, she’d either get the best news of her life, or the absolute worst.
Chapter 22: Aphrodisiac
Summary:
Content warning
M/M Sexual assault, forced aphrodisiac, and then somewhat dubious consent for the pairing. Sure they’re both attracted to each other but it’s still really line-blurring and forceful with the drugs involved D:
By the way, this is not the sex pollen yet
(Different part of the story) 👍
<\details >I didn’t have much time to edit this so please forgive any errors 🙏🙏🙏 love you all
Notes:
Previously:
“I don’t know who’s behind those blank uniforms,” Izou told her, “But many children have gone missing from these islands.”
“Nearly twenty more children reported missing,” she murmured, brow knitting softly as she took a heavy sigh, “Ventania and surrounding islands. That’s not far from here. Maybe Sabo’s right… maybe it is Marmont doing this.”
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sabo struggled against Skar’s unrelenting grip that felt like it could crush his ribcage. He wasn’t taken to deck, but to a below deck cabin near the brig, traditionally a jailer’s quarters.
The captain, still dressed in his modified ex-marine uniform, strolled into the room a few moments later, letting one hand idly rub at his own shaven jawline. He was older than Dragon, but still looked a bit too young to have fully white hair, and he kept it cut short and neat like Tallis.
This was the man that had Ace beaten until his back looked bruised and bloody.
Sabo met his eyes with cold steel, wondering if Marmont could feel the sharpness and iciness of his Haki, even if he couldn’t sense Marmont’s. He wished he could lance pure fire through the captain, suddenly understanding how cathartic Ace’s devil fruit must feel.
But he was just Sabo right now. Unarmed, defenseless, bandaged, alone and nearly naked. Sabo could only stand up straighter in his presence, flashing a warning expression at Marmont.
"Well, well," he drawled, eyeing Sabo up and down. "You must be the one Emmo wanted so bad. Dragon’s boy. Quite handsome features you’ve got on you. Captain Marmont, by the way. It is so good to meet you.”
“Yeah? Fuck you."
Sabo, still struggling against Skar's grip, managed to give the captain a sneer.
“Let's not get too hasty. We've got all the time in the world to get to know each other."
Marmont chuckled and gestured for Skar to release him. As soon as Sabo was free, he lunged forward, too slow and unsteady to land anything. Marmont easily sidestepped him, grinning as Skar roughly pulled Sabo back into a painful grasp.
Marmont approached him, making him shiver as he dipped his fingers under the bandage covering part of his core.
Sabo’s noise wrinkled as the older man slowly unwrapped him, sighing openly in longing when he finally laid eyes on Sabo’s tense abdomen. Spreading his hand over it in a way that made it difficult fire Sabo to breathe, so he didn’t, clenching his jaw and looking away.
“Did Skar do this to you?” the captain asked, softly dragging his fingers over the healing punctures on his side, making Sabo swallow angrily.
“Tch. What brutish behavior,” Marmont added, “Apologize, Skar.”
The shark man stuck his webbed hand to Sabo’s throat, forcing him to look up at him with stormy eyes.
“So sorry, princess,” Skar growled, receiving only a death stare in response.
Marmont moved around an old wretched bed in the cabin’s corner, sitting down on the edge.
“Now, this face of yours interests me. Tell me, how'd you get such a lovely little scar?"
Sabo glared at Marmont, refusing to answer. The captain smirked, unperturbed.
"Oh, come now, don't be shy. You can tell old Marmont. Or would you rather I just start with the lighter? I could add to it. Burn a little more skin. Make it my own.”
He produced a small silver lighter from his pocket and flicked it open, the flame dancing in the reflection of Sabo’s eyes.
“Now, remember, the more you fight, the more it's going to sting. And I'm sure you don't want that, do you?"
“Fighting’s kinda my whole thing,” Sabo told him quietly, unbothered by the threat.
Marmont laughed to himself, shaking his head.
“Today, your ‘thing’ will be submitting to me. And if you won’t get hot for me under the flames, I’ll get you there with a needle.”
Sabo squirmed against the webbed hands, showing his defiance as he held eye contact with Marmont. But he didn’t speak like the captain clearly wanted.
Marmont stood up and grabbed his jaw, eyeing him closely with hungry eyes.
“You’re too fucking pretty, even when you act up, you know that? Still, I won’t tolerate it.”
He flicked his silver lighter open, holding the fire closer to him now, letting him feel the heat. Fine lines appeared on Sabo’s face, even though he did his best not to let it show.
“Oh, you don’t like it, do you? Maybe it’s primal instinct, to be afraid of fire. But in your case… I can see how much experience you have.”
Sabo hissed and struggled suddenly, feeling Marmont’s palm sliding between his legs, rubbing him even more appreciatively when Sabo made a noise of suppressed rage, exhausting himself trying to pull away.
“And I love when my slaves have experience. It’s so easy to adjust your attitude when you already have the fear built in you.”
Marmont’s hand clenched his blond hair and pressed the flame against the scar. Sabo felt a searing pain as it burned his skin, cursing loudly and pulling as hard as he could against the impossibly strong hold they had on him.
Skar easily kept him at bay, laughing as he watched Sabo suffer. After he was momentarily satisfied, Marmont moved the lighter away from Sabo's scar, but the pain lingered even after the flame had vanished.
"There," Marmont crooned, "It's not so bad, is it? I won’t give you more than you can handle, dear boy. You're going to learn to trust me."
Marmont gestured at Skar, who sent Sabo sprawling onto the small bed in the corner.
“Why are you doing this?” Sabo demanded.
“Justice.”
His stomach twisted, feeling the old sheets stretched beneath him as the captain approached.
“You used to be a marine? A decent man?” Sabo said, stalling him for time, “What happened to you? Tired of upholding the law? Abandoning your morals?”
The captain slid onto the bed, perching there to pin his shoulder down forcefully so he couldn’t raise himself up. Skar left the room with a final jagged-tooth smirk in his direction.
“Mmhh, I like that you’re so curious about me. Sabo? Is it? …I am the law out here. At least, in the Holy Land’s eyes.”
“Of course you’re government sanctioned,” Sabo spat, eyeing him angrily through stormy blue eyes, “They the ones asking you to steal children too? I know it was your fleet doing it. Where did you take them?”
Marmont hushed him tenderly. He held him down easily with one hand, tracing his other fingers over Sabo's chest, his stomach, his hips, and then lower still, until he reached the waistband of Sabo's shorts, enjoying the flash of real fear catching Sabo’s expanding ribs.
“Oh, you don’t like that? But doesn’t it feel good, surrendering control sometimes?” Marmont asked him innocently.
Sabo gritted his teeth and tried to pull away, but Marmont's grip was iron as he glared up at him.
“Answer me,” Marmont growled, expression darkening in an instant as he moved closer to Sabo’s face.
But Sabo didn’t crack, nose wrinkling at him.
“Answer me first. Where did you take those kids? What did you do to them, you sick fuck?”
Marmont flicked the lighter open and growled, deeply offended at his audacity as he shoved the fire under Sabo’s eye again.
Sabo bit back a loud groan that grew into a scream behind his closed mouth, pressing his head back into the mattress as his eyes screwed shut.
“You know I could just take you right now, don’t you? By force?” Marmont threatened, “Is that what you want?”
Sabo lay gasping with upturned eyebrows as the flame finally disappeared with a metallic clink of the lighter.
“If you were interested in forcing me, you wouldn’t have to threaten me with it. Can’t tell if you actually want me or just want to piss me off,” Sabo said in annoyance, resisting his hands with a dangerous look.
"Mmhh, I do want you," Marmont told him, looking tempted before biting his own lip at the sight of Sabo so helpless, "But you're not ready yet. Soon, you’ll be begging me for it loud enough for Fire Fist to hear.”
“And if I don’t?” Sabo said proudly.
Marmont shoved his thumb into Sabo’s mouth, making him gag at the taste of it. When he recovered, the lighter had flicked on again so close to his eye he could feel the heat already stinging his previous burn.
“If you won’t scream in pleasure, I’ll make you scream in pain,” Marmont assured him darkly, “But I’m sure that won’t be necessary. Not after we do a little experimenting…”
Darro appeared at his bedside from the doorway, kneeling down to show Sabo a long-needled syringe, letting a clear drop of its contents bead at its tip in front of his wide blue eyes.
"You remember Darro? You should be thanking him,” Marmont told him softly, watching Sabo tense up as the needle went into the arm that Darro gripped tightly.
"This'll make everything feel so much better for you," Marmont added, licking his lips at the sight of Sabo throwing his blond head back angrily. He looked wild, nostrils flaring at the thought of getting drugged.
“You want to kill me?” Marmont asked, fascinated by the pure hatred in his captive’s eyes.
He threaded his fingers through Sabo’s and lifted his fingers to his own throat.
“Go on, let me feel your strength. Your power.”
Sabo’s fingers clenched, the claw formed by his fingers putting all the pressure he could manage into Marmont’s unprotected windpipe. His arm shook with effort, picturing what would’ve normally happened. Instant death.
As Sabo spent his energy, it left him weak and frustrated, arm going limp in Marmont’s grasp as he shut his eyes tightly.
Being unable to summon up his own strength was so much worse than being burned. And Marmont was dangling it in front of him cruelly, knowing exactly what false hope does to a person.
The captain leaned in, pressing his lips against Sabo's neck as the drug begin to course through the his veins. Sabo shivered, keeping his eyes shut as his head jerked away from the dry lips rasping against his neck.
"That's it," Marmont murmured, his voice low and soothing.
"Let it take you over."
He trailed his fingers over Sabo's chest, up to his scarred shoulder, and down his scarred arm, feeling the toned muscles relax beneath his fingertips.
"There," he crooned, "You're going to feel so good now."
As Sabo lay there, numb and pliant beneath his touch, Marmont admired the youthful, muscular physique before him. He savored the sight, a sudden softness in the face of his newfound prize.
"Such a lovely thing," he whispered, running fingers through his blond hair. Then traced a finger along Sabo's smooth jawline.
"I'm going to take such good care of you. Do you want to stay here on the ship with me? Permanently? No sense in sending you where Fire Fist’s going.”
Sabo’s lips trembled slightly at the thought, trying to control his breathing so Marmont wouldn’t get to see the effect he was having.
Marmont leaned in, pressing his lips against Sabo's neck again. He breathed deeply, taking in the scent of him, feeling the warmth of his body against his own.
“It’s intoxicating, you know. I could keep doing this for hours, just enjoying the feel of you beneath my fingers. All mine.”
Sabo's eyes narrowed against the feeling of fingers skating across his skin, noticing his whole body get sensitive all of a sudden.
Hands were unlocking his wrists, letting his arms fall freely to the bed on either side of him, but he could only concentrate on the lips locked onto his neck, squirming weakly at the feeling. His gasps were less horrified, now just experiencing a rush of overstimulation as the wet tongue and lips assaulted him.
“Oh, you’re just about ready for me, aren’t you?” the captain teased him with a chilling voice that made his skin crawl all over again.
The hand drew soft patterns down over his abs, making them clench in revulsion. The lightness of his touch made him flinch, wanting to scratch at every place he touched to make the sensation go away.
But then he felt the fingertips reach his waistband, paralyzing him all over again.
Marmont's hand stretched slowly over his shorts, finding him easily— especially when it ripped a nose from him that the captain loved hearing. He massaged his whole palm across his shorts, encouraging him through the material until he was fully hard, straining against the firm hand rubbing between his hips.
Sabo yelled out in protest, squirming as he felt his cock getting heavier. He had to accept that his own weak hands were doing nothing as they gripped Marmont's wrist to keep him away.
The drug they’d given him— Sabo understood now that it was an aphrodisiac, straining to control the reactions his own body was having against his will.
“I think you’ll trust me in time,” Marmont told him, voice thick with arousal, “Because you’ll find I’m quite generous. Maybe I’ll even let you cum before I fuck you.”
Sabo clenched his teeth and tried to pull away again, but Marmont's grip was like a vice. He could feel the captain's hardness pressing against his leg, and the thought of it invading him made bile rise in his throat.
Then the captain moved until he could direct his mouth at Sabo's shorts. He drew his legs up to protect himself, but it only resulted in Marmont fully crawling onto the small bed. He smiled as he pinned Sabo’s legs down with a deft, forceful shove of his own leg, then saw to it that his wrists were clenched easily in one hand.
He leaned his sun-damaged face in so close that his hot breath washed over his thighs and drew a weak, angry noise out of Sabo. He tried to reach for the older man’s forehead with both hands unsuccessfully.
Marmont returned to tease just below his waistband, then dragged his mouth over the fabric, sucking at Sabo's erection through his shorts and making him thrash weakly against the sensation with another pleading yell.
"Shhh, shhh," Marmont soothed, taking his arms and holding them down at his sides.
"By the time I'm done, you'll be begging me to take you."
He tugged Sabo's shorts down, revealing the length of his cock already leaking pre-cum. Marmont leaned forward, licking the drop from the tip before taking the head of his cock into his mouth. Sabo's back arched off the bed, his hips bucking as Marmont began to suck him roughly.
"Fuck!" Sabo cried out in strained frustration. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears, latching onto the feeling of his pulse pumping out of control. He was stronger than he ever remembered feeling under AFA.
"Get off me!" he managed to choke out, his voice strained and raw.
He drew his legs in to kick Marmont savagely, seized the chance to pull his shorts up protectively over himself again and shot the captain a dark look of warning. His hand had formed a dragon's claw.
The captain chuckled darkly.
“Oh, you're quite the fighter, I'll give you that. But the more you struggle, the harder it's going to be for both of us. Why don't you just relax and enjoy it?”
Marmont reached up and easily pried his legs away from his body, then held his wrists down at his sides. He leaned in, taking Sabo's cock deeper into his mouth as he sucked harder, loving the cries his touch tore from Sabo’s mouth. His tongue flicked over the sensitive flesh, teasing him mercilessly. Sabo's hips pushed against Marmont's grip, but he couldn't break free.
It was all too much, and the drugs had finally settled in until Sabo felt his body go limp, his muscles slackening under the onslaught of sensations. Marmont's lips trailed down his chest, teasing at his nipples, which hardened into peak points beneath his touch.
The touch was overwhelming. He could feel the warmth of Marmont's breath on his skin, the roughness of his tongue, every callous on the hands holding him down. Helplessness suffocated him, taking away every hope he’d ever felt. Whirlwinds of emotion assaulted his mind, the aphrodisiac causing waves of sick pleasure to roll through him. He squeezed his eyes shut against the unwelcome feeling, breath hitching as his eyes welled up.
Marmont's hands moved up Sabo's hips, squeezing them roughly as he sucked harder. His fingers dug into the skin, leaving bruises that would no doubt hurt later, but for now they only heightened the sensation. Sabo arched his back off the bed, whimpering incoherently as his hips pulled against Marmont's grip.
The captain reached up, pinching Sabo's nipples hard, rolling them between his fingers. It was too much, and Sabo cried out again before Marmont finally let his length slide from his mouth.
Tears stuck in his eyelashes, making it hard to see, but through the haze, Sabo stared at Marmont’s long tongue curling by the wet head of his traitorously hard dick, letting saliva trickle into it from his disgusting mouth.
"Like that? You want more? Want me to fuck you yet?" Marmont said, his voice low and menacing.
Sabo felt a shudder run through him at the captain's words. He fought against the disgusting touch, but the captain had already returned his mouth to him, sucking him too hard and too fast until Sabo was panting and stomping weakly at his captor’s arms.
Despite fighting it, Sabo could feel himself starting to lose control, groaning furiously through his teeth as more tears formed between his lashes. The hot mouth sucking him was pushing him to the edge of sanity until he could feel the familiar tugging in his stomach, the sensation of his body betraying him.
His conscious thought began to fade, until the only thing he could feel was the hot, slick sucking making his legs tremble and his body go slack as he gasped out needily.
He couldn’t fight it anymore; he didn’t want to, nearly making him lose control until suddenly everything stopped.
The sound of a transponder coaxed his eyes open, looking around with spotted vision to see the captain accepting a call. Sabo’s eyes fluttered closed, no longer able to make sense of the room or who was in it.
“W’sahppening?” Sabo murmured after a minute of confusing voices around him, not squirming until he realized Skar was over him, yellow eyes boring into his soul before hauling him away from the comfort of the blankets.
Ace hitched his own breath when Skar opened up the brig’s door wider, showing him Sabo slouched over. He pressed closer to the bars to try to get a better look at him.
Sabo’s eyes couldn’t seem to focus, pawing at Skar like he didn’t even recognize him. His cuffs had been removed but his black shorts were still on, not that the detail made Ace feel at ease. Almost nothing could right now, not before he could talk to Sabo, make sure he was okay.
When Tallis stood, he wordlessly inspected Sabo for a moment at the doorway, pausing to tell Ace, “They dosed him with an aphrodisiac. Don’t let him touch you.”
Skar gave Tallis a predatory stare with his venomous, yellow eyes until the young officer dipped from the brig.
“What’s an— what did he do to him?” Ace demanded, trying to make sense of Sabo’s hollow stare as Skar unlocked the cell door.
“Let’s just say the boy enjoyed himself. If you’re not careful, you might even fall victim to your own little friend. Hope you’re stronger than him.”
The shark man gave a low, wet chuckle and did his best to shove Sabo forcefully down, but Ace was already there, catching his fall in a scramble to look at his face. The imposing man bolted the cell shut again, caging them in together before locking the brig door behind himself.
Ace let Sabo sink to the floor by the wall, giving him space as he kneeled just in front to check the damage on his upper cheek.
“Ace?” Sabo breathed, suddenly able to focus on his face. And his pupils were blown wide as they locked eyes.
“I’m here,” Ace replied, brushing his blond hair away from the wound on his face, “Can you tell me what happened?”
His own eyes pinched in pain just seeing the new damage marking Sabo’s burn scars under his eye.
“Burned me, that’s it,” Sabo replied, but he was blinking a lot, and it soon became apparent why.
“Is that the truth?” Ace replied, voice getting quieter and more concerned, especially when he realized Sabo was blinking to stop his eyes welling up.
“Just burned,” Sabo managed again, sniffling as his eyes went in and out of focus. Ace pulled him into a hug, mainly so Sabo wouldn’t see his own tears threatening to fall.
“Nothing else,” Sabo choked slightly, voice going quiet.
“We tell each other everything, Sabo,” Ace whispered, “It’s like you said. You don’t have to be alone with it…”
But the tight embrace might’ve been a mistake, because Sabo still wasn’t fully himself again. One inhale of Ace, feeling him press in so close lost Sabo his already thin grasp on lucidity, spiking his heart rate.
Sabo moved in his arms, and Ace let him, all up until he realized Sabo had opened his mouth in a deep kiss against his neck, making appreciative noises at the taste of his skin.
“So good,” he mumbled as Ace recoiled in shock.
“Sabo— what?” he reacted, eyes widening as he fought against the new hold Sabo gripped on him. And Sabo was unchained, possessing so much more strength than Ace remembered.
Sabo didn’t seem to even know his own name, lost as he found the bruised spot on Ace’s neck with his lips, sucking it gently.
“There… now it was me… that marked you,” Sabo whispered between kisses and gasps of air, unbothered by Ace trying to push him away.
Ace's heart skipped a beat as he realized he was not strong enough to stop Sabo doing whatever he wanted, just like Skar and Tallis had said. Sabo's mouth wrapped around his jaw, then he went higher, nearly making it to Ace's lips. And when Sabo tried to kiss him, Ace dodged him swiftly, looking worried.
"No," Ace breathed, "We can't do that. Not until whatever this is wears off.”
"Okay," Sabo managed through short gasps, "Not on the lips, then? I can— I can do that."
Ace felt Sabo's perfect lips press against his neck, his warm breath on his skin. His own body betrayed him, responding to the touch he wanted so badly even as he tried to fight it. Sabo arched into him, moaning as he lavished his neck with kisses all the way down until he was licking and sucking at his collarbone— that’s when Ace gasped out, feeling his own need jolting down below his stomach.
"Sabo, wait—" he breathed, “What’s an afero— ? The drug? That’s what did this to you?”
Because Ace didn't want to let him do it if he didn't even know what was really happening.
“Need you. Right now,” Sabo told him with a shaky voice, running his hands up Ace’s shoulders softly until suddenly locking down with a grip Ace couldn’t fight.
Sabo forced him to the floor, knees on either side of him and hands pinning his shoulders as he looked down at his prize. His blue eyes barely seemed to register anything.
Ace had difficulty focusing up at Sabo’s eyes too, because his entire awareness was forced down to where Sabo pressed their shorts together, arching his back so Ace could feel how hard he was as he stared down at him.
Even when Ace took his wrists and held them above his head, it only made it easier for Sabo to get his hips closer to grind against him.
He straddled Ace’s lap until he could feel their cocks making contact, giving Sabo gasps of relief to finally get what he needed.
“Sabo—!” Ace managed, gritting his teeth to hold back from encouraging him. The feeling was everything he thought he wanted, but he couldn’t square with the fact that this had been done forcefully to Sabo. All of it, the drugs, the captain taking advantage of his aroused state, throwing him in here to suffer desperation until it wears off.
Sabo whispered a filthy curse of arousal, easily shoving his hands above him to his alarm, preventing him from fighting back.
“Why are you so strong?” Ace hissed with effort, now completely at his mercy, “Is is just the drugs or do you really want this?"
Sabo's eyes were glassy, his lips slightly parted with ragged breaths as he strained against Ace's hold. He was stronger than he'd ever been, but there was something else too. Something that made him feel out of control, like he was acting on instinct. His hands gripped tightly onto Ace's shoulders, nails digging into the skin.
Sabo whimpered at the contact between them. He shuddered, his body tensing as he fought against the overwhelming desire. He felt so alone, so out of control, his need for release almost too much to bear. His gaze flickered up to meet Ace's, pleading with him to understand.
“Ace,” Sabo managed to breathe out, “So hot for you, ‘m sorry— nngh—!”
The soft, urgent friction was almost more than Ace could handle. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, an insane mixture of fear and anger and arousal pulling at him just as urgent and hard to control as Sabo’s wandering hands.
And Sabo had released his shackled hands in a desperate bid to feel every curve down his torso. Ace used it to his advantage, barely able to keep Sabo from tugging his shorts down. He used all the strength in his arms to stop the waistband.
Without meaning to, one of Sabo’s nails dug in, scratching from his navel to the elastic of his shorts, but Ace barely even noticed in the urgency to get through to him.
“This isn’t you. It’s drugs doing this, alright?” Ace breathed with worried eyes, trying to catch both of his wrists and failing, “You’re okay, just try to resist. You’re strong, Sabo.”
Sabo's eyes clouded over, and he closed them tightly, taking a deep breath in and out. He tried to focus on Ace's words, on the familiar voice and the hand on his shoulder, but it was all a distant echo. His body was on fire, and he couldn't deny the way it reacted to Ace's touch, even as he fought against the overwhelming desire.
“Can you hear me?” Ace asked, nodding when Sabo opened his eyes to look at him.
But Sabo couldn't focus, his body blazing under the aphrodisiac’s effects, every nerve ending screaming. He arched into Ace's touch, his hips moving involuntarily. His voice was a hoarse whisper as he begged, "Please... stop me... can’t stop.”
Sabo’s palm found its way between Ace’s legs, rubbing until he had him twitching even harder against his shorts. Ace yelped, backing his hips away in alarm until he could capture both Sabo’s wrists.
“You’re hard for me,” Sabo noticed in a sultry whisper, enjoying how it felt to have Ace’s dick against his hand. He let his tongue show between needy, parted lips when he looked down at him.
Ace cursed angrily at the sight making his dick pulse between them. He felt sick even letting his body respond to it, but that was out of his control at this point.
“Yeah, it’s not on purpose, alright? I’m not touching you when you’re like this, it’s fucked, just get yourself off so you can be normal again.”
Sabo made a frustrated noise, nails digging into him as he leaned in to caress his lips against Ace’s neck again.
“If you want me, take me. I’m begging you.”
“Shit, Sabo, not like this, okay?” Ace struggled out, barely controlling himself with Sabo saying such hot things by his ear. He didn’t even think Sabo felt this way, and it only made it worse to consider it was only the drugs making him want this.
If he was saying this to Ace, what had he said to Marmont? It would’ve been only too east to take advantage, and the thought blistered his mind so painfully his brow pinched.
As much as he wanted to stop him, Ace felt trapped under Sabo, the weight of his body heavy against his own. He could feel Sabo's cock pressing against his own, and it took everything in him not to encourage it. There was only so much he could do about getting aroused, but it was so much worse now that he felt implicit in what’d been done to Sabo already. He was supposed to comfort him, not be involved.
Ace made an angry groan as he tried to put Sabo off, wishing he had drugs as an excuse for his hard on, but it was all heat and tension and fear, and having pleasure forcefully overload his senses. Sabo’s voice, the things he was saying, the sight of him shoving Ace down into the floor as he rode him. It drew another moan from him when Sabo whimpered, sounding so much more small and defenseless than he was.
“Don’t you want me?” Sabo gasped, looking and sounding wounded, like torture to every sense Ace could perceive all at once.
Ace knew himself to be mentally and physically helpless now, torn between what Sabo was asking and what his gut told him. With Sabo still under the influence of the aphrodisiac, this wasn't really what he wanted. This wasn't how he'd act if he were sober.
“Sabo, try to fight it,” Ace panted, too weak to stop him so he tried to get through to him verbally, his only defense against Sabo angling Ace’s legs to get better leverage on him.
“I’ll take care of you too,” Sabo pleaded, overcome with the feeling of finally getting his legs around him again. The friction feeling their cocks dig into each other was taking his breath away.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t wanna do, Sabo— it’s just the drugs talking,” Ace told him so quickly his head was spinning. He tried to squirm out from under his warm body weight and the grip of his hands around his waist, meeting such easy resistance that he shouldn’t have bothered wasting his own energy.
"S-sorry," Sabo whispered, his breath hot against Ace's neck, “It’s not me, promise."
Ace closed his eyes, trying to find the strength to pull away from Sabo's iron grip on his waist. It only made things worse when Sabo's lips brushed against his ear, his hot breath tickling the sensitive skin.
“Please, Ace. Need you to help me."
Sabo's grip on his waist tightened, and he arched his back, grinding their hips together in a desperate search for relief.
“I know you’re stronger than this,” Ace told him, but Sabo shook his head as he continued to ride him through their shorts.
“Stop me," he whispered, his breath hot against Ace's neck, “Can’t stop myself. Please.”
“How?” Ace struggled through gritted teeth as Sabo pushed one of Ace’s knees up to his own shoulder.
“D’know, Ace— fuck— just hurry—“
Ace gasped and flinched as Sabo’s fingers teased at his entrance through the material. Just because he knew it was Sabo, a dangerous kind of excitement shot through him at the contact. He still fixed Sabo with a wary look, hoping when his eyes came back into focus he’d listen.
Ace wondered how Sabo would react after snapping out of it, especially if he wasn’t even attracted to Ace. Not knowing was one of the fears driving Ace to stop Sabo from rutting their hips together, but Sabo was still so strong.
The caffeine. It had to be.
“Break my cuffs,” Ace said suddenly, confusing Sabo’s sex-drunk mind.
Ace made a tightened expression when Sabo arched into him again, too desperate to listen.
“If you break my cuffs, I’ll let you fuck me,” he told Sabo, grabbing him to keep him still and saying whatever he thought would make his drugged mind pay attention.
Sabo hummed into his neck again, loving the sound of those words coming out of Ace. Let you fuck me. It wasn’t a want, not for Sabo right now; it was a need.
“That’s all? Then I can have you?” Sabo asked into his ear, eyes half-lidded as he rolled his hips into him again. Picturing he was buried deep, surrounded by him. It drew a hot moan from him, making Ace’s closed eyes flutter as he gasped at the sudden noise. He would’ve said anything to Sabo right then, completely overtaken by the erotic sound of his voice.
“When the drugs wear off,” Ace said, nodding with his eyes shut tightly, “Free me and I’m yours. Forever.”
“Forever?” Sabo echoed, suddenly abandoning moving against Ace’s lap and raising up to stare into his eyes.
His bright lashes still had a tear stuck in them, his left eye a little brighter than the other, but both were filled with hope.
Ace had to shake off the urge to kiss him, showing Sabo his shackles instead.
“We can’t stay together if these don’t come off. They’re gonna take you away from me. Can you break them?”
“Easy,” Sabo told him hazily, digging his unsteady fingers into one cuff and attempting to pry it apart. His exertion lost him his breath, panting slightly as Ace nodded encouragingly.
“You can do it,” he said, watching the cuff for any signs of stress, any sign that maybe Sabo could access some of his Haki now that the caffeine might’ve stopped a portion of the AFA.
The cuff didn’t break, as hard as Sabo tried. Didn’t even crack. Perhaps a standard restraint would’ve been different, but these heavyweight cuffs didn’t budge.
Sabo took shaky breaths when he failed, dropping to rest his face in the side of Ace’s hair.
“Can’t do it, can you please just… help me?”
Ace sighed, resigning himself to the situation all over again. It was worth a shot. Still, he’d gotten his own hopes up.
“It’s okay,” Ace told him with closed eyes, knowing that fighting the drugs was futile as Sabo released his bound wrists.
“Can you just try to get yourself off or something?”
Ace watched him drop a hand beneath his own shorts, seeing him move against it. The other hand slid around Ace’s shoulders so Sabo could rest his face between his arm and Ace’s neck. It didn’t take long for Sabo to react badly to the feeling of his own grip.
“Doesn’t feel good,” Sabo whispered drunkenly, pulling his dry hand from his waistband and trembling in frustration as he tried to palm his dick over the outside of his shorts instead. Barely even looking coherent enough to do this.
Ace raised himself up enough to take Sabo’s hand and spit heavily into it, noticing Sabo sit up to watch him with pure lust and a slacked jaw of disbelief.
“There,” Ace said with finality, helping Sabo avoid spilling the precious lubrication as he shoved his hand back past his own waistband. Ace leaned back onto his elbows, trying to look away despite the magnetic, impossible to ignore show Sabo was putting on between Ace’s drawn up legs.
Sabo gasped at the feel of his fingers around himself, shuddering as he curled them up, feeling his own weight in his palm. His other hand clung to Ace, fingers digging into his shoulder as he leaned into the contact.
Ace could feel the heat emanating from Sabo's body, the way his hips rocked into his hand. He inhaled roughly as Sabo’s hand tangled into his dark hair, leaning into the touch to memorize it with closed eyes. Ace knew if he didn't try harder to tune him out, he could come just from this. It only got more difficult from there, once Sabo sank closer, his hips rutting his own hand between Ace’s legs.
Ace cursed at how sinfully good the friction felt for his touch-starved cock, looking down at Sabo working tirelessly against him. Glittering streams of sweat dripped down Sabo’s defined core as his muscles expanded and contracted. The sweat trickled all the way down to his pink dick pushing needily into his slicked up hand. Now visible over his pushed down shorts. The sight gave Ace a rush, moaning and letting his own painfully hard length slide against his shorts.
Sabo's breath was hot against his neck as he panted, "Ace..."
Ace circled his arms around him, trying to ignore his own urges and concentrate on rubbing comforting circles into Sabo’s back.
Sabo bit back a shaky noise as his slick palm closed around himself, so relieved just knowing he could finally fuck something. He sank his chest to Ace’s, in awe of how good his own hand felt— suddenly more electrified than ever as he thrust into its wet tightness.
Sabo cursed breathily by his ear, letting his hips set a desperate pace. Ace could feel the spot where his own dick was leaking, eyes rolling back slightly even as he begged himself to try harder to push Sabo away.
But Sabo’s skin was warm and carved with toned muscle beneath his fingertips. He bit his lip, trying to keep himself from coming as Sabo leaned in, teeth nipping at his neck and breath hot against his skin.
“Sabo,” Ace panted, “Please.”
"Fuck, m’sorry," Sabo moaned, thrusting harder against his hand.
Ace gritted his teeth, feeling Sabo's body trembling against his own as he thrust into his palm. He could feel his own arousal growing unbearable, the tight fabric of his shorts digging into his aching cock.
He bit his lip so hard it hurt, trying to hold his breath until it came out in gasps that sounded dangerously erotic in tandem with Sabo’s hot breaths.
“Ace, is this okay?” Sabo panted, moving his hips in perfect time with his hand against Ace’s core— now extremely tight with the effort of holding back.
“It’s fine—“ Ace managed, but he gave a shiver of helpless want, barely even willing to stop Sabo from bouncing against him anymore.
“Mmhh,” Sabo hummed into Ace’s neck, planting feverish kisses there as his hips bucked into his hand beneath his shorts. He felt Ace moving against him slightly, holding back but gasping out soft noises of strained pleasure.
Sabo pulled back in awe of Ace’s expression and fucked into his hand even harder, desperate for the relief his body demanded. But it wasn’t enough. He didn’t want his hand anymore, and Sabo knew he could have what he did want. He was so much stronger than Ace right now. And mentally, barely able to tell himself no anymore as the effect multiplied in his compromised brain.
Sabo's fingers tried curling into a tighter fist as he thrust into the slick of Ace’s spit, his body burning with frustration. He’d normally feel himself getting closer and closer to the edge, but his dick just throbbed in his hand, mocking him with no intention of release. He needed more.
“Ace,” he said, now his eyes pinching with worry, “If you don’t knock me out I’m not gonna be able to stop myself.”
“I’m not knocking you out, just get it outta your system so you can be normal again,” Ace begged him, until Sabo pulled one side of his waistband down his hip— that’s when Ace started to realize his control was slipping.
And even Ace was losing his own composure as his dick flexed visibly against his shorts. For a frightening moment, he considered letting Sabo do whatever he seemed to need, but that was before angrily reminding himself that this wasn’t Sabo right now.
“Nnhh— wanna fuck you so bad—“ Sabo complained, bouncing against him even though Ace tried to hold him still. Out of desperation, he forced Ace’s shackled hands to clench at his neck, showing him where to hold his fingers to cut the circulation.
“Have to stop me, Ace.”
And Sabo was right to panic. He was right to demand Ace force him to pass out, because the second he felt Ace’s fingers against his neck’s blood vessels, he lost his lucidity again, unable to keep the lust from taking over.
Ace yelped in surprise as Sabo drove his shorts down past his hard length with the stare of a feral animal. The feeling of being overpowered by a wild-eyed, inhuman version of Sabo finally gave him a reason to lock his fingers down against his artery.
Mercifully, it didn’t take long for Sabo’s blood deprived brain to cut the power. Ace released his fingers immediately, sitting up as Sabo collapsed into him so he could pull them to the corner where it was more comfortable.
Ace tried to catch his breath as he shifted Sabo, making sure both of them had their shorts pulled back in place. He slumped into the wall with moisture surfacing behind his closed eyelids. He didn’t expect something like this to draw tears from him, but seeing Sabo lunging at him, like something had taken over him— that’s not something he’d prepared himself to ever experience.
Combining that with knowing Marmont might’ve already done unspeakable things to Sabo just before made him swallow, throat thick with emotion as he blinked wet streaks down his face. It only made him feel worse when he realized Sabo might think it was Ace that hurt him, after waking up and remembering what happened.
That’s when Ace realized he wasn’t afraid of being trapped in here. He was afraid of losing Sabo when they did get free. He was afraid everything would go back to how it was. Oceans apart. Dead to each other.
As far as Ace could tell, the way Sabo begged him to stop him only seemed to confirm that Sabo didn’t want that dynamic with him. Ace rested his head into the wall, sadly looking down at his sleeping face. Maybe he’d eventually change his mind. Remember their connection.
Ace looked down at him again, biting his lip with a note of anxiety.
Sabo might be unconscious for minutes or hours— he didn’t know— but in his mind, Ace was on his knees, begging Sabo not to be angry when he woke up. It wouldn’t be the first time Sabo had resented him, and last time Sabo held a grudge, Ace remembered him being good at it.
Sure, it was a slightly irrational fear, but when Ace thought about Sabo going back to his prior life, never wanting Ace to speak to him again, it made him sick. As much as he wished it wasn’t the case, Ace didn’t know if he had the willpower to go on living without Sabo for the second time. He didn’t have to return Ace’s rather complicated feelings, Ace just needed Sabo not to hate him.
His heart gave a painful squeeze when Sabo stirred, watching his pretty eyes blink open like it might be the last time he ever got to watch him wake up in his arms.
But the second he saw the clarity in Sabo’s blue irises, his normal pupils and soft gaze, Ace lifted his arms slightly, giving Sabo the freedom to move away if he wanted.
He didn’t, however, only shifting enough to lock eyes, his expression laden with innocent confusion.
“How did I get here?” he asked, touching a hand hesitantly to the hurt spot just under his left eye, where Marmont had burned his scar with a lighter.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Ace asked, searching his face and mirroring his look of worry and doubt. For a horrifying moment, Ace had to consider that some unknown trauma the captain inflicted on him caused another wave of amnesia.
“In the room with Marmont,” Sabo told him, reaching to feel his own dry lips that threatened to crack at any second without water, “They injected me with something that made me black out.”
“Don’t touch it,” Ace said, stopping Sabo’s hand from feeling the deep burn in his scar, “Is that all he did to you? Before you blacked out?”
Sabo gently grasped Ace’s reaching hand, not sure how to answer as they met eyes.
For some inexplicable reason, Sabo could hear Ace’s voice echoing in his mind.
‘We tell each other everything, Sabo…’
He sighed, letting Ace have his hand back.
“The last thing I remember, he was trying to get me off. But if anything worse happened, I didn’t remember. I mean, it’s crass to say, but I’m not sore, so I guess he stopped for some reason.”
Ace breathed easier at that, looking grateful, all the way up until…
“I don’t remember being brought back here, either,” Sabo told him with concern, “Was I awake? What happened?”
Ace’s jaw clenched. Even if he wanted to lie about it, he hadn’t prepared a single convincing thing to say. He didn’t have to.
Sabo could feel the aftereffects of the aphrodisiac, his still softening length, the deep ache of orgasm denial.
And then, so much more incriminating was the sight of his own fingernails, the ones on his dominant hand. A spot of pink-red under one of them. And it took less than a second for Sabo to locate the scratch he’d cut leading underneath the waistband of Ace’s shorts.
“I… I attacked you…” he breathed in horror. He reeled, wanting to wake up from the nightmare. It had to be a nightmare.
Ace’s hand tried to calm him, rubbing across his shoulder blades.
“Don’t. Nothing was your fault.”
Sabo took a shuddering breath, trying to steady himself.
“I just need a minute... to catch my breath."
Ace nodded, his heart aching as Sabo slowly sank against his chest with wet eyelashes. Ace pressed his chin to Sabo's head, then buried his lips into the same spot feeling completely powerless and wishing there was more he could do.
“I’m so sorry,” Sabo said, his voice hoarse.
Ace shook his head, refusing to accept the apology. It took all his effort not to let his eyes well over, especially when he could feel the tears Sabo was fighting back.
“Don’t…”
He was beyond angry, just not at Sabo. The older brother in him fought to the surface, jaw clenching to stop himself from yelling furiously at the slavers that’d drugged Sabo, humiliated him, put him through all this. Ace felt his eyes burning, and he wouldn’t be at all surprised if they’d turned blood red.
Marmont burning Sabo’s face, threatening him with inevitable advances, then dumping him back in the cell drugged and unable to control himself in front of Ace, his only sense of safety.
“Did I hurt you?” Sabo asked, gripping a hand across his eyes, still in complete disbelief.
“No, Sabo, I was honestly just scared for you. I can handle myself.”
Ace clutched him tighter, now unaffected by their bodies sharing the same space. His only thought was to get them out of this. To safety.
”You’re seriously not upset?” Sabo asked, a little stunned by the way Ace seemed bizarrely relaxed toward him.
How is he not pushing me away?
Ace sighed.
”For the last time, I’m completely fine. One scratch is nothing compared to everything else. Your burn is a lot worse. You getting drugged is a lot worse. Nothing that you did is worth worrying about. Okay?”
Sabo quietly agreed, letting himself be hugged close, breath slowing when Ace pressed lips to his hair.
He shrank against him, pulling his hands to cover his face and realizing what he just experienced wasn’t just a dream.
Ace kept his face pressed into his blond waves, staring at the bars in deep thought as he felt the soft strands of hair on his lips. Sabo seemed to try holding back the wave of emotion gripping his unstable mind, but a wet inhale through his nose and a tremor suppressing a sob told Ace exactly what he was going through.
They sat there in silence for a few moments. Ace didn’t want to make Sabo feel alone, but he also needed time to process their situation. The weight of guilt pressed down on him, making it hard to think. He wished he’d been stronger, or could’ve found a way to help Sabo earlier.
“Sorry to ask, but would you mind talking to me?” Sabo said eventually, voice barely above a whisper, “About anything, so it’s not so quiet? Tell me something about you. Or us.”
Ace could sense the tension beginning to ease between them. It was strange, this feeling of closeness that had developed so quickly. He wondered if it was just the situation they were in, or if there was something more to it.
He stared down at Sabo for a few moments, thinking about what to say. He wasn’t used to being an open book for anyone at this point in his life, so he knew these words would only leave his mouth because it was specifically Sabo asking.
"Okay, well... You already know the main things about me. Other than… I was pretty much an orphan, I guess. Got raised by bandits on Dawn Island. That's where I met this kid that changed my life…”
His voice quieted, looking at Sabo who pointed to his own chest until Ace flashed a smile and nod.
“What about Luffy?” Sabo asked.
“He annoyed us, at first, but I think he made us better. Well, mainly me, I guess. You were always a good person. None of us really had a solid family, so we became each other’s family. Y’know, make sure Luffy didn’t get snapped up by some jungle beast. Support each others’ dreams. That kinda stuff.”
Sabo’s eyes glistened a little, his smile growing carefully.
“What were our dreams?”
Ace returned his smile for a moment before having to look away with a slight wash of color on his cheeks.
“Well… more than anything else, we all wanted to live freely. And since we figured pirates are the freest thing you can be, that was our dream."
Sabo fixed him with occasional glances, hoping that Ace would keep talking to him.
“So you accomplished it, then?”
Ace took a deep breath, lips getting thinner as he doubted the honesty of agreeing with those words.
“That’s harder to say… I used to think a certain level of fame or infamy would fix my problems, but now that I have it, I'm kinda over the whole ‘overshadowing my father’ thing. I mean, I enjoy being out on the sea and living the life, but I stopped forcing myself to chase some grand plan for the future. I just... I really only wanna be free. To live my own life, you know?"
Sabo nodded, an understanding look in his eyes. "Sometimes, all you can hope for is to find a place where you belong, where you can be yourself. Sounds like you found that.”
Ace found himself staring at Sabo, trying to understand him better.
“Did you find that? Sabo?” Ace asked gently.
Sabo paused for a moment, thinking. When he realized he’d hesitated to say yes, it upset him a little, because it wasn’t for lack of dedication to the army.
“I just… I’ve known something’s been missing for half my life, despite the sense of purpose and belonging I feel with the revolutionaries. Maybe I spent too much time worrying about what I couldn’t remember to appreciate it.”
Ace pulled him tighter for a moment, smiling where Sabo couldn’t see. He may not’ve liked the idea of Sabo struggling with amnesia, but knowing he didn’t feel complete without Luffy and Ace was so reassuring that it filled him with unexpected warmth.
"Did I ever agree to be your navigator, by the way? Or did I hallucinate that?“
Ace smiled slightly. "You mainly mentioned you wanted to write a book about our adventures. The whole time we were raising money to sail out together, you logged everything in a journal. And you were a good artist, so I kinda figured you’d make a good navigator, copying down maps for us. But that was less of a you thing and more just something I hoped for because we never got to decide who’d get to be the captain.”
Sabo seemed fully relaxed by now, because he playfully scoffed in reaction.
“I’d probably be fair at navigating, but I can't draw to save my life, Ace. You're the artist. What you drew of me was impressive."
Without even thinking about it, Ace found himself tracing vague pictures on Sabo’s back as they talked, enjoying the soft reverberation in each others’ voices. Seemed to make everything go away for a blissful moment.
"You can, though," Ace reassured him. "I have proof. Not with me, but later. When we're outta this mess, I’ll prove it to you."
He smiled, staring at Ace for a long moment before he gave him a deep nod. "Deal."
Sabo genuinely couldn’t say what would happen once they got free— but he had to believe freedom was inevitable. He knew he’d have to get in contact with Baltigo, maybe even report there in person if he was needed urgently. But then… he wasn’t sure where that would leave Ace. One thing was certain: their connection had already surpassed anything Sabo could’ve imagined.
He couldn’t picture being away from him for long, even if he had responsibilities with the army. He wanted to know everything about Ace, and everything about their shared memories. There was no way his life could go back to the way it used to be, not after seeing how strongly Ace felt for him.
Neither could he ignore his own developing feelings, swallowing down a lump in his throat as he felt the arms around him, the gentle tracing of a chilly fingertip on his back.
This sensation in his chest seemed to come out of nowhere, crashing into his life just as chaotically as Ace had, and it was too good for words. He didn’t feel like he’d done anything to deserve it. And if this suffering was the price, he was willing to pay it.
Ace wanted to know everything about Sabo, too. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of life he’d led before this. He seemed like such a genuinely good person, someone who cared about others and wanted to protect them. Made sense for him to fall in with…
What was that group Dragon was with?
As if reading his mind, Sabo spoke up.
“Ace, I haven’t told you this yet, but I think we’re here for a reason. There’ve been children going missing for months, and I know it’s Marmont that has them. The uniforms are exactly like Koala described. It’s not typical revolutionary business, but if I can stop it, I will.”
Ace smiled softly to hear Sabo speak so passionately. The determination in his voice was nothing new to Ace. It was exactly the Sabo he always remembered.
“That’s what you do, huh? Save people?” Ace asked.
Sabo grimaced slightly.
“I’d like that to be the case, but the army’s usually more focused on targeting the scum at the top of the government than helping innocents. That doesn’t mean I ever miss a chance to intervene when I can. No way I’m letting these kids suffer like Ko— well, suffer in general.”
Ace had never really thought much about the Revolutionary Army, but hearing Sabo talk, it sounded much more noble than their original plans of piracy together. And less self-indulgent, because it gave up profit and independence. Sabo had given up his own freedom to grant it to others.
“I’m really proud of you, y’know… You really seem like you’re doing something in line with your core beliefs,” Ace said quietly.
But he soon realized that Sabo was already asleep against his chest, breathing slow and steady with a relaxed face. Ace felt a pang in his heart as he stared at him, wishing there was something he could do to make it all go away.
He stayed there for a while, lost in his own thoughts and the rhythm of Sabo's breathing. Even sleeping, his body heat brought Ace more peace than he would’ve thought possible.
Sabo’s scar had been badly burned, his perfect translucent eyelashes singed right above the painful looking damage. It didn’t take long for Ace’s eyes to well up with the same righteous anger he felt before, dampening his cheeks to match the tear marks down Sabo’s face. When Ace looked down at him in that moment, he’d never felt more protective.
“He’s gonna burn for touching you, Sabo.”
Ace brought up his own shackled wrists to Sabo’s back to cradle him close. Then pressed another kiss to his hair, both his reddened eyes narrowing dangerously on the door as he heard footsteps approaching.
‘It better be me this time. Leave him the fuck alone,’ Ace hissed in his own mind.
Give me one chance and I’ll send this entire motherfucker up in flames…
Notes:
Have a drink of water, and give Sabo and Ace some water too:
Ace takes the canteen, a soft look on his face.
“You look like you need this more than me, Sabo.”He tilts the canteen, pouring water into Sabo’s mouth, who drinks gratefully, eyes closed in relief.
Once Sabo is satisfied, Ace takes his own long gulps, both of them sighing in contentment.
“Thanks,” Ace says, handing the canteen back with a smile. “That hit the spot.”
Feed the boys ramen:
Ace and Sabo both dive for the massive bowl of ramen at the same time, their hands clashing with chopsticks in mid-air.
“Move over, Sabo! I called dibs!” Ace declares, trying to nudge him aside.
“Dibs don’t count when there’s this much food!”
Sabo retorts, playfully shoving back.Ace grins.
“Oh yeah? Let’s see who can eat faster, then!”
Chapter 23: Portgas
Summary:
The deck gets waterlogged. Ace overhears three different transponder calls that cause him more pain than any torture Marmont’s tried on him so far. Sabo normally likes being proven right, but wishes just this once that he'd been wrong.
Notes:
Click for (spoiler) content warning
Torture, burning, waterboarding, referenced/aftermath of child abuse
Side note for this chapter:
Ace calls Garp “Jiji” in this. Hope that doesn’t bug anybody because not only is it canon, I think it is the sweetest thing ever. Ojisan/Jiji is just an affectionate term for old man, specifically a term of endearment for one’s own granddad
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Even though Ace had been sure he heard boots approaching, the door didn’t open for what must’ve been a full minute of silence. He thought he might’ve imagined the noise at this point because his whole body reacted to it, frozen as if having a nightmare.
The only thing that still felt real was Sabo sleeping against his chest, his back warm beneath Ace’s arms as he sat in the cell’s corner.
When the door didn’t open, Ace sighed in relief, until something smallish and feathered slowly stuffed its way through an opening near the top of it, making his eyes narrow in confusion.
A beak poked through, hooked and holding a set of keys, two of which were stone among the metal ones. Ace’s heart beat a little faster as he watched the bird wiggle the rest of its body into the brig, wings rustling softly to land just inside the cell with the keyring.
Once it straightened up, Ace realized it was a hawk, staring into its sharp brown eyes as it hopped closer to him.
Seemed too small to be a Zoan. Probably a trained pet. Maybe it even belonged to Tallis, considering their possible allies on this ship could be counted on one finger, though Ace couldn’t discount the idea that they’d pulled up alongside another ship or port. Either way, it was helping him.
“Thank you,” Ace told the bird, looking closer at it. When he squinted suspiciously at the bird’s eyes, it hopped away slightly, tilting its head as if it didn’t appreciate being examined.
But by the time the hawk reacted, Ace had already gotten the first key in position. He angled it awkwardly at his own wrist since they’d removed Sabo’s cuffs already. He started with the stone ones that felt freezing to the touch and certainly didn’t help the weight of fatigue pressing in, but was a little worried when neither of them clicked the lock apart.
‘No, no, no, no,’ he pleaded with the stone keys, trying them both again and glancing at the hawk with worried eyes.
It hopped closer, nipping helpfully at the metal keys he hadn’t tried yet.
Ace took a steadying breath, turning each metal key in the cuffs while he watched it throw looks at the door, as if the hawk somehow had anxiety about getting caught.
He cursed, gripping the keys in his hand when absolutely none of them worked. His teeth gritted together, very much reaching the end of his patience as he held them to his forehead in frustration before dropping them to the floor.
They were running out of time. Ace was running out of hope.
“Are you serious?” the hawk snapped in annoyance, nearly making Ace jump out of his skin, “Then where the fuck is it?”
“Y—“ Ace uttered in confusion, before staring into those sharp brown eyes again, “…you.”
“If you’re being loud, don’t,” the hawk told him, sounding annoyed again.
Ace still looked shocked, covering Sabo’s exposed ear as he slept.
“You’re being louder than me,” he whispered, “Tallis, I don’t know what to say. You changed your mind? You’re really going to help us? You don’t know how much this means to me.”
But Tallis only seemed concerned about the key.
“I can’t believe it’s not here… I don’t understand. It should’ve been on this ring. This has Skar written all over it,” the hawk told him, fluffing his chest slightly as he reached a talon to grasp the keyring he had discarded.
Ace sank back into the wall, chewing his lip as he kept Sabo’s ear covered.
“Maybe you can find the right one, but if not, we can come up with a different idea. I’m glad you’re on board, either way. I don’t want you staying in a place like this…”
Tallis peered down past his beak, not really understanding why Ace could possibly have any trust toward a captor. All those words of encouragement and all those beautiful-sounding promises. He knew Ace was probably just manipulating him. Using him until they had their freedom. And he had to assume as much, because he didn’t dare for a second believe Ace wanted him anywhere near his crew.
Even if he grew on Ace, to the crew he’d be viewed forever with suspicion, never really belonging. The same den of bullies that he dealt with here. How could they love someone like him, especially looking up to Ace so much? Tallis could never be like him.
Charismatic. Adored.
Fuck, even Sabo had somehow gone from calling him a creep on paper to falling asleep in his arms.
So Tallis hadn’t changed his mind about selling Ace in expectation of being loved or even accepted. He did it because Ace had been right. Tallis didn’t want to lie to his mom anymore. She would’ve begged him not to get back on this ship if she knew half the things that’d already happened to him on it. He could no longer square to that and still look in the mirror.
He still owed the hospital a near-immediate payment, but… Sabo told him he could find a different way, Ace told him he could find a different way, and despite everything, he’d started to believe he was capable of figuring it out with or without them. Of course, part of him still wanted to believe Ace meant what he said. That he’d keep his word.
The hawk hopped back through the bars, turning to throw Ace one more glance as his wings stirred.
“Ace... you’ll help me, right?”
Ace nodded at him, even as Tallis' little hawk face seemed to examine him for sincerity.
“Yes, whatever you need. I even know someone that could help your mom, not just scam you like that hospital probably is.”
“Marco? Can he really use his ability on others?” Tallis asked, already having heard the stories. He wasn’t sure if they were true until now, and it was dangerous to get his hopes up, but he was getting desperate for solutions.
“That’s right,” Ace looked pleased to tell him.
The hawk nodded, but decided not to let himself get too optimistic. So many things stood in the way. He considered this with concern as he flapped up to the gap above the door, squeezing back through it after picking up the jangling ring of keys again.
Weeks before Marmont’s fleet set out for Kitatown, Tallis had been in a hospital room that smelled of reused air and latex gloves, but to him it smelled like home, like getting to see his favorite person.
“Mom,” Tallis said, helping her extended hand reach his face.
“Hi, darling,” she spoke softly, her brown eyes focusing until she could see his face, smiling up at him as he perched beside her on the thin bed.
When her gaze turned to his bruised wrist, he pulled his sleeve up to cover it, too quickly for her to see it happen. He smiled innocently, swallowing as he watched her speak again.
“Where’s Jericko?” she asked, using Marmont’s given name.
Probably expecting me to board his ship again, which I will not be doing. Not after what he just did to me. Insane fucking monster.
“He’s around… just got some routine repairs to do over at the shipwright.”
“Well, how’s the marines, honey?”
Marmont hasn’t been a marine in years. What he does is beyond disgraceful. And I let it happen because he pays for your care. So you’ll survive.
“Ah, you know how busy it gets. Everything’s okay, though.”
Tallis kissed her hand several times to distract her. He’d be enlisting in the marines soon, hoping to be able to take over some if not all of her bills. It was a relief, making his mind up to be rid of Marmont for good.
That’s when he was pulled aside by one of the staff and informed that her care had tripled in cost. And Tallis could only think of a single person able to help him pay it.
Pain. The word was not enough to describe how he felt knowing he’d have to board that ship with Marmont again. He’d have to subject himself to the captain’s each and every whim, let the hopeful light inside him be crushed again by following orders he didn’t believe in.
His hand gripped his bruised wrist underneath his sleeve, trying to swallow down the lump in his throat.
And now Tallis was back in the same captain’s quarters he swore he’d never reenter, perched by the window and watching the disgusting bastard grunt in his sleep. Getting him drunk was the only way he could avoid his advances sometimes, because even when he had opportunities like this to kill him, Tallis knew it wasn’t possible.
Today, however, he had a different reason for needing to knock him out. He observed him for a minute, just to make sure he was really asleep before making his move.
Marmont had been keeping something from him: a letter that had arrived when they sat in Kitatown’s harbor. And Tallis was going to find and read it.
Tallis slipped the keys from his coat pocket, careful to keep them pressed firmly together, more than aware of how loud metal can be.
He’d made a split-second decision to give Ace a chance to sneak away, but part of him was relieved when it didn’t work, considering the amount of hands on deck had doubled by the time he was back out of the brig.
An inconspicuously as possible, Tallis crossed the ship and shouldered his way into Marmont’s locked office, only to be stopped dead in his tracks.
He shut the door gently behind him, mouth falling open in amazement at the glass-encased prize on Marmont’s desk. It was worth a small fortune, of course, but Tallis had no idea how to find such a buyer. How to make a transaction like that safely. He knew what happened to anyone that tried.
But he didn’t need the whole thing. Just a cutting from the bottom, invisible if he performed it carefully. His heart beat faster, looking over his shoulder to make sure he was still alone as he carved.
When he’d replaced everything as he found it, Tallis used a key to get into the desk drawer, thankful that he at least knew where to find the folded slip of paper that Marmont hadn’t wanted him to see.
It could’ve been anything. A cover letter for a check, a sum of berry, or even a reply letter from Tallis’ marines application.
That’s why it jolted him to see the hospital letterhead. He flipped the nearly blank page over in confusion, digging through more documents but not finding a second page or anything hinting at the contents it had held. Marmont had marked over the only words in the letter, so for a moment he tried to come up with any way to see through the redacted ink.
What worried him the most was that Marmont wouldn’t have hidden hospital communications from him unless they took away his reason to be on the ship. And the only news that would make it pointless to be here? If his mother no longer required medical care. That could be a wonderful thing, or it could be news of her death.
That’s when he felt the transponder in his coat’s pocket thoughtfully. There was only one way for him to find out what the letter had said.
Ace got shocked awake by the door to the brig, instinctively clutching Sabo closer and focusing dangerous eyes at the intruder before realizing it was Tallis. He’d fallen asleep sitting in the corner, Sabo’s warm body pulled against his chest like a blanket, but one that Ace gripped tightly now as the officer entered the cell.
Tallis didn’t have any keys in his hands, but he also thankfully didn’t have a syringe or anything else worrying either.
“No key yet, I’m afraid. I need you to translate a call for me.”
“What kind of call?” Ace asked.
“It’s to the hospital,” Tallis admitted, his face neutral, “I found a letter Marmont kept from me. He marked out whatever it said. Just wanted to know if it’s a bill, or if it was something my mother sent.”
The fact that Tallis asked him and no one else on the ship was telling. Even from here, Ace could see the hint of a bruise forming just under his sleeve when he stretched his arm out.
Tallis may not have been either of his brothers, but he didn’t like seeing what Marmont had done to him. He took the fall for Sabo.
When that confirmation hit Ace, he swallowed and changed his tone.
“Where does your mother think you’re at right now, Tallis?” Ace asked, surprising himself with how he sounded. Really mature. The adult in the room.
Call it some captivity-related attachment, but he felt responsible for Tallis now, and not just because he looked a couple of years younger. He couldn't stop himself from getting involved, unable to prevent the older brother feeling from surfacing.
Tallis’ carefully restrained expression broke for a moment but he quickly recovered.
“Yeah… She thinks we’re marines. I never got to enlist like I… like I told her I did. Don’t ask me anything else, please. Can you do it or not?”
Ace looked at the pocket transponder he held near his chest, noticing the apprehension in his posture.
“I’ll get your answers, but I won’t translate for you,” Ace said, “Dial it, let me talk to them, and I’ll tell you what you wanna know.”
“Why do it that way?” Tallis asked, low and wary.
“Because you need to trust me. I know how to get information.”
And Ace was also thinking he might be able to figure out the money issue over the phone, not that he intended to say it like that to Tallis. He was damn good at IOU’s. Better than Luffy was, though maybe that wasn’t a standard. Worst case, he could send the bill and a note to Port Fish Cake and grovel like a dog to Marge the second he got free, pay her back for it. He didn’t like that option, but he meant it when he told Tallis he’d help.
“Yeah, yeah, ‘trust’ and ‘information’ …but you also want to use the transponder afterwards, don’t you,” Tallis said, as if to complete Ace’s full reasoning.
Ace shrugged.
“That would be helpful, but for now just tell me her name, and anything else they’re gonna ask.”
“The room is 87A. Her name’s Cerise, um… Cerise Marmont.”
Ace made a face at him, “Oh. I mean, of course it is. I’m sorry.”
He didn’t know why he was apologizing. Sorry Marmont fucked your mom? Ace grimaced slightly at the thought.
“Just… when they put her on, can you please go back to translating for me? She’ll get worried if it’s only you talking. And— and please don’t tell the hospital or her any upsetting details about my life.”
“I wouldn’t say anything like that, Tallis. You can go ahead and dial it. When they put her on, I’ll translate, okay?” Ace said, then rested his face against Sabo’s hair again.
Tallis took a long breath, dialing for the hospital using the number printed in minuscule type on the letterhead, and the fact that it wasn’t redacted too meant it was so small Marmont must’ve overlooked it.
Even when he finished dialing, he still didn’t hand the transponder through the bars, obviously. This call was too precious to jeopardize it by hanging up, or any number of others things a clever captive might be tempted to do.
He knew by the vibration that it was ringing, and he knew when the ringing changed to a voice, even by the flicker of Ace’s eyes.
Unfortunately, Ace still had Sabo pulled up high enough that the lower half of his face was obscured by soft blond waves. Tension pulled at Tallis, knowing that Ace had intended it to go this way. Keeping him in the dark for both sides of the conversation because he couldn’t read a single word Ace said to them.
And sure, it probably took awhile for Ace to get past the front desk personnel, but it still made Tallis a little apprehensive to have no idea what was going on. It certainly did stretch his ability to trust to his limits.
“…So you don’t mind making a call for us?” Ace was asking the woman who’d answered.
“Well, for a vice admiral like Jericko Marmont and his family, we don’t mind using those resources. You said someone else is covering this missing payment?”
So they like marines, huh?
“If I asked you to contact Vice Admiral Garp instead, I suppose you wouldn’t mind doing that? For our family?”
“Of course, sir.”
Ace squirmed a little at the gold-embossed, perfectly polished honorific... ‘Sir.’
Even his crew didn’t address him so formally. Didn’t really suit him. But he wasn’t Ace right now, so he didn’t bother protesting it.
“Did you want me to relay a message? For the vice admiral?” she added.
Ace looked up at Tallis, who still couldn’t read his lips. “Yes please. Tell him that Marmont has both his grandsons. Heading due southeast, two days from Kitatown. And if he’s looking for the children, Marmont knows where they are.”
He knew Garp would assume grandsons to mean Luffy and himself. In his heart, he believed Garp wouldn’t help unless he thought Luffy was in danger. Maybe it was true, maybe it wasn’t. But Ace damn sure wasn’t going to drop Sabo’s name right now, fearing it would make Garp discount the entire thing.
He also remembered Sabo's determination to have the kidnapped children found. Well, Ace didn't know if Garp would be able to find them, but he did know Garp would wanna hear if one of his former associates was trafficking kids. Ace smirked, picturing his old man bringing the absolute fucking hammer down on them. Even though it was unlikely that the slavers would be able to keep Ace and Sabo in chains forever, this was pretty good insurance that somebody would still be hunting the fucker even if they weren't given the chance.
So Ace provided her with Garp’s transponder code, counting himself lucky to have thought of a vague enough message that she didn’t question it. But it would mean something much more sinister to Garp.
"Will that be all you need?" she asked after she’d sorted the information.
“One more thing. Would you mind telling Cerise her son is calling for her?” he said.
She agreed, transferring his call to a different transponder as Ace waited. And the waiting made him oddly aware of his back, raw and deeply bruised against the cell wall. The silence resurfaced the ache of where the second bullet had ripped through his shoulder, the stitches pulling at it. Then there was Sabo’s burned eye, the general grime of the brig, and the healing skin around Ace’s hands from pulling at the cuffs.
This was certainly the lowest point he’d had in awhile, physically at least. Getting injured had long been a thing of the past. Especially with Marco around, not a single one of the crew had to wait for broken skin or bones to heal.
Since this call was for Tallis, it was the last thing Ace would’ve expected to affect him personally. But his every movement came with jolts of harsh discomfort now, even sitting still against the cuffs, and every minute of sleep haunted him with new horrors.
And in that exact state of mind, filled with so much pain and uncertainty, Ace heard her voice, resonating softly like a flower that learned to speak her hushed thoughts.
“...Darling?”
His heart squeezed, overwhelmed at hearing that gentle little word. Almost like he could imagine it directed at him by his own loving mother. He’d never known that feeling, and he never would, so he savored it for a long moment.
“...Honey?” she added when no one responded.
His throat tightened, eyes welling up at the sound of her voice, the familiar names, how healing it felt. Caught up in the only chance he might ever get to experience this, he let himself say it out loud, just one time.
“Mom?” Ace said softly, wavering a little.
“How are you darling? You sound upset, is everything okay?”
His eyes shut tight as unrestrained love poured through him. Did she have to be so caring? Be an angel like that? After the initial soothing wave, it suddenly caused him more pain than relief.
It could’ve been exactly what his own mother had sounded like, or similar enough since it affected him so strongly. Ace didn’t mean to, but her words had made him choke up, tears spilling over until he wiped them on his arm.
He felt like a child suddenly, and he hated the feeling. But being in this much physical pain, and hearing her voice ask him if he was okay— it was too much for him to handle. He couldn't have answered her out loud even if he wanted to. Too choked to speak.
No... I'm not okay, mom.
He noticed Tallis shift closer to the bars, seeing the tears Ace wasn’t able to hide. Tallis looked afraid that Ace had received bad news, making him feel a rush of guilt. Still drying his face, he immediately mouthed her words to Tallis, at least putting him at ease as he covered his own eyes with cuffed hands.
“I was just calling to check on you,” Tallis said her over the call, looking so relieved to get confirmation that her health wasn't the reason for the letter.
Ace listened silently to their heartfelt conversation, his eyes burning in narrowed slits as he translated for Tallis. But it hurt more than he expected. He hadn’t known how much he needed to hear those things until they were being said to someone else.
So he dropped his arms to hug Sabo close again, letting his cheek rest against his blond hair. He told himself that this was why he’d gotten so close to Sabo in the first place. They didn’t have a real family. They needed each other. And Ace never stopped needing him, not even when he considered himself an adult, which was only recent, admittedly.
Sabo mumbled his name in his sleep, melting him a little as Ace sniffled. There wasn’t enough gratitude in the world…
Ace helped Tallis finish his phone call, feeling bittersweet about it. He wondered if Tallis had ever gotten to know how her voice sounded, or if his hearing loss had been recent. Ace hoped he’d gotten to hear her at least once.
After it ended, Tallis slowly put the transponder away in his coat, staring down at the floor and fidgeting for a moment. Ace looked at Tallis' bruised wrist, then saw another one just under his collar.
“I didn’t get to ask you if you’re okay. Should I even ask what happened with Marmont?” Ace offered, sounding a little guilty.
“Of course I’m not,” Tallis said, “But I knew what would happen when I boarded this ship again. I made the choice, and neither of you did. So that’s why I tried not to let this shit happen to either of you. Ace, I didn’t know they’d throw him in there in that state. I didn't even know they still had those drugs aboard. If you need to talk about it...”
Ace suddenly made a quick motion with his hand, causing Tallis to stop his reply and stare at the door in suspense.
Sure enough, seconds later Darro was opening it to stick his head into the brig.
“Oy. Get your lazy ass in the kitchen. The men are hungry,” Darro told him, waiting until Tallis left to let his demeanor darken and smirking as he approached the cell.
Ace knew he shouldn't be holding Sabo like this, but the damage was already done, and at this point it wasn't worth it to wake Sabo up by dumping him onto the floor.
"Sabo," Ace whispered under his breath, moving his arms enough to hopefully get him to stir.
"Oy!" Darro yelled, much too loudly.
Sabo jolted violently awake, pushing hard at Ace until he got his bearings. Then looked at him in horror before turning to peer up at Darro over his own shoulder.
"Sorry," Ace murmured, "I tried."
Darro licked his lips, crossing his arms proudly to see Sabo clutch his head in pain.
"Captain says I'm to take you to the main deck. Anybody know what that means? You're about to, if you don't already. It ain't something good, I can tell ya that."
Sabo did know what it meant to be taken to the main deck. That’s where Cipher Pol staged their water-based activities. And in this context, 'activities' referred to getting information out of their targets. They had only captured Sabo once, but once was enough. They had already made him experience the nightmare of repeatedly drowning. There was maybe a chance the slavers just wanted to wash them, but Sabo didn’t like that idea much better.
He lost track of that fear immediately upon seeing the deck, however. Or, more appropriately, the ship that'd pulled up next to Marmont's current flagship. Not a friendly one, unfortunately, but another of his fleet. Ace and Sabo found themselves ushered across a plank onto the next deck, and what awaited them twisted both their stomachs.
Rows and rows of children, chained together. Dirt-smattered faces and clothes, too afraid to look up at either of them.
”Shouldn’t have crossed this line,” Ace said, matching the wrinkle of anger on Sabo’s face as the crew shoved them so their backs were to the group of young prisoners. He wished Sabo hadn’t been right about this.
“Pick up the chains,” Skar ordered them, crossing his finned arms.
Sabo watched a man behind Skar slowly raise a flash camera to his eye, pointing the lens at them.
“Fuck that,” Ace said as Sabo glared beside him. The both knew better, but Sabo also knew they weren’t being given a choice.
Several of the slaver crew drew pistols, aiming directly at the children, daring them not to comply.
Sabo nodded in solemn defeat, seeming to have known that was coming. He and Ace bitterly grabbed the chains at their feet as two guards cloaked them in black garments, hiding their bandages and bare skin, hiding Ace’s own shackles.
Sabo pinched his eyes shut in frustration, and just like Ace, he began to understand exactly where this was going.
”Make it convincing,” Marmont advised, standing back as his men rushed forward to force Ace’s hand around a young boy’s neck, Sabo’s hand made to clench into the blond hair of a girl.
”No,” Sabo said, pulling his hand back just as urgently as Ace fought beside him.
Skar pulled his own pistol to fire in frustration, just over a small girl’s head. Everyone on deck flinched at the blast, causing children to shriek in fear.
”I’ll kill one next time. Now, do I have your attention?”
And he did, because the sound had already frozen their resistance. Sabo could only meet Ace’s unhappy glance as the camera continued flashing in their direction, until Marmont got the frames he wanted, grinning as he shook a print in his hand.
While the captain made orders of his crew, Sabo and Ace had already knelt to covertly examine the young prisoners behind them.
”Have they said where you’re going?” Sabo whispered softly, looking around at fearfully averted eyes until finding a child brave enough to look at him.
The girl shook her head.
”We’re going to make sure you get home. We’ll find you no matter what,” he told her quietly. His brow pinched when he realized they had all had badly healing wrist tattoos, branded with the celestial dragons’ hoof.
The girl nodded at his words, but only for a moment before her eyes widened again. She nodded towards a tall, imposing figure.
"He's the one who hurt us," she whispered, indicating one of the slavers. "He... he cut me." She pointed to a jagged scar running down her arm.
Sabo looked in the direction she'd indicated. There was no mistaking which man she meant. He was easily the largest of them, with a scarred face and eyes that held a cruel glint. The way he casually slapped and prodded at the children in his charge made it clear he took pleasure in their pain.
"Don't look at him anymore," Sabo told her, before meeting Ace's eyes again. The look they traded was a promise to get all the way involved in this. Whether they were able to free them today or after months of looking, Sabo had no intention of letting this go.
"Can we?" Sabo asked, almost enjoying the silent rage Ace mirrored back at him.
"Already planning how they die," Ace whispered back before addressing the girl, the only one not afraid to chance talking to them.
“What’s your name?” Ace asked the girl, careful not to be seen.
“Veri,” she murmured, despite a young boy elbowing her to be quiet.
Sabo’s eyes widened, seeing a line of blue ink around her neck, as thin as a hair. Had Marmont had a similar mark? His memory was fuzzy, seeing the captain looming over him, but he could swear that when his collar pulled back, that same line of blue ink had been there. No other children had a tattoo like that, if it even was a tattoo.
By the time Marmont was back in earshot, Sabo and Ace were being shoved and pulled back across the boarding ramp.
“Morgans!” Marmont greeted loudly over transponder. He made eye contact with Sabo who’d looked over his shoulder with an alarmed expression, even as he lost his footing and got hauled away.
“I’ve got quite the scoop for you, old friend,” Marmont continued, still admiring the glossy photo print pinched in his fingers, “Can you believe we finally got ahold of those kidnappers? Couple of real perverts. I'll send the photo right over. You can ask my Fishman exactly how we busted the little creeps.”
Ace cursed, trying to wrench his arms away from the crew moodily.
“This can’t be fucking happening,” Sabo hissed in anguish, wanting to rip every blond curl out of his own head as the men dragged him back onto the main deck, “Dragon’s gonna kill me if Marmont doesn’t do it for him.”
“Morgans wouldn’t print that without proof, would he?” Ace whispered.
“Absolutely, he would,” he said bitterly, fist clenching as a slaver shoved Sabo's back to the mast before other hands tied him to it.
Then the men bound Ace into the mast beside him. They both sagged against the restraints, too fatigued to fight back as their bare feet skimmed the ground. Neither of them had use of their arms, as they were tucked under the rope, snug to their body.
Marmont stepped up slowly to Ace, fishing something from his pocket.
A metal lighter. Ace looked unfazed when he flipped it open, allowing its flame to spring out.
Their captain peered curiously into Ace’s eyes as he dragged the lighter experimentally across his face. Then the hair framing his face. Ace just stared at him, knowing no amount of this weak orange fire could touch him— not even with all the kairouseki in the world. He was made of this fire. The lighter’s flames licked his skin and left it unharmed.
“I guessed as much,” Marmont told him. “That’s why she’s willing to pay more than your bounty for you.”
“Who is?” Ace asked, but the captain had moved on from him, stepping over to the blond.
Ace’s eyebrows pinched together as he looked between the lighter and the burn scars decorating Sabo’s face.
'I should’ve pretended it hurt,' he thought angrily, 'I shouldn’t have been so smug about it.'
“You, on the other hand,” Marmont breathed in Sabo’s ear, “You’ve had some bad experiences with this, haven’t you?”
Sabo’s eyes were shut, unable to look at the flame as it approached his skin.
“Let’s see if you still remember how it felt when your skin melted.”
The fire suddenly began to burn into his scar tissue, glowing white hot behind his closed eyelids. He shivered at the pain but kept his mouth shut as heat erupted beneath his scarred eye. He knew better than to encourage his attacker. Did Ace know the same thing, Sabo wondered, or would he betray them both with a look of pity? That’s what Marmont would want him to do. Bastards like him feed off of pain.
Marmont did catch Ace looking. He lifted the lighter away for a moment in response, smirking slightly.
“Do you like when I do that, Fire Fist? Want me to burn him again?”
"It's my turn," Sabo said, "Not his. No need to address him."
Marmont smirked, pointing his ugly finger right at Sabo's face.
"You just inspired me. I think you'll like this better. You both need a little motivation, don't'cha?"
Ace and Sabo traded apprehensive looks as the captain pushed back through his own men: two crew mates acting as guards to watch over the captives still tied to the mast.
They were a fair distance away, and undisciplined enough to be having their own low volume conversation, only rarely casting a glance in their direction. And Ace used the opportunity to get eyes on the receding commander's ship.
Ace stared over his shoulder, craning around the mast before turning to glance at Sabo again.
"The other ship pulled away," he said quietly, "Looked like they headed north at first, but they'll be bearing northeast soon."
"How'd you figure that?" Sabo asked under his breath, careful not to let the men see him speak.
"Saw them pole the jib to port side," Ace explained, "That's gonna catch wind. Turn the ship."
“No talking,” a guard barked from afar. He removed his boot, pelting it hard into Sabo's ducking head.
"Why'd he hit me? You were the one doing it," Sabo hissed, wishing he could rub at his aching temple, but Ace just threw him a sympathetic smile.
"If it makes you feel better, it looks like this ship has stayed the southeast bearing," Ace whispered, "So who knows, maybe Jiji will be able to find Marmont, if the old man's in this area, that is. Last I heard, he was still on this side of the Red Line."
"I thought I told you to shut the fuck up, blondie," the guard growled, taking off his other boot to send it slamming into the other side of Sabo's flinching face.
“Alright, we’re sparring when we get out of this,” Sabo said dryly under his breath at Ace. Beside him, Ace shook with silent laughter, pinning his lips shut. Sabo eventually broke face, flashing him a quick smile.
“Are you still talking, scars?” A guard was saying, back in earshot of the pair as he stalked up to them.
A guard’s boot stomped his chest into the mast, leaving Sabo to cough weakly. He only had time for one more rushed inhale of surprise as the guard pinched his fist around his throat, cutting off his air.
His eyes shut, trying to block out the string of curses Ace was yelling beside him.
And the moment Sabo passed out, everything changed for Ace. The crew got him out of the rope restraining him to the mast, but left Sabo tied there.
When they dumped him onto the wooden decking, Ace landed on his bad shoulder, groaning quietly with a pained face. He turned to his stomach with his elbows tucked and rested his face into his shackled hands. He looked over at Sabo, only dreading whatever was about to happen because he knew Sabo would be forced to watch it this time.
Sabo’s eyes struggled open, finding he was still tied to the mast, but now alone. It was starting to get darker outside. He blinked around groggily, not remembering having fallen asleep. His mouth was dry and hunger gripped at him; they hadn’t been given any water or food.
Yards away stood many crew members gathered around Ace’s body. Sabo’s heart jolted slightly until he saw Ace give a small movement.
One of the crew approached Ace’s form and stretched a rag across his face, making Sabo’s stomach twist. He eyed a line of water buckets that had been set up, knowing exactly what was about to happen. So did Ace, judging by the way his fingers were squeezing against each other in anticipation.
Above his head, Ace’s arms were being held to the deck by several boots while other men were driving his legs into the deck.
“Just in time to watch,” Marmont said, seeing Sabo survey the scene before him.
Sabo had undergone the same treatment before, so having it done to Ace right here, right now was too much to process. He couldn't watch Ace break. No one had ever looked at Sabo that way before.
Marmont grinned at Sabo while he slowly tipped a bucket of sea water over Ace’s covered head, making his body go rigid as he began to experience drowning all over again. Sabo had already closed his eyes, trying to calm himself.
He heard Ace’s throat fighting against the slow accumulation of water until it overpowered him. Sabo’s eyes shut tighter as they allowed Ace to cough up the water, gasping on his side.
Marmont’s boot slammed his shoulder back to the deck, covering his face to repeat the process. Sabo flinched as he listened to the noises on a loop, realizing he could feel the suffocation just as vividly as if he was having it done to him personally.
He remembered the mouthfuls of water overpowering his gag reflex, opening his throat, forcing its way down into his lungs. Sabo had to remind himself to breathe, hands clenching in agony.
Finally, Marmont broke the cycle, letting Ace gasp weakly on his side for a full minute in the pool of salt water surrounding him. He was shivering, Sabo noticed, and hadn’t opened his eyes yet— wet lashes clinging to his cheek. Men were still holding his arms against the deck.
Sabo knew exactly what Ace was going through right now, and it made bile rise in his throat, shoving the back of his head into the mast as he mentally begged for it to stop.
Something. Anything. Please.
Answering his pleading thoughts, the sudden ring of Marmont’s transponder stole everyone's attention, everyone except Sabo, who refused to take his eyes off Ace. He hoped he might be able to catch his glance, gauge if he was okay, but he was staring so unfocused, like he couldn't comprehend what was going on.
“Tell me the good news,” Marmont answered after he had rummaged for it. The voice of one of his commanders could be heard responding loudly.
“Sir… unfortunately, we couldn’t capture any of the Spade Pirates alive.”
'Alive?' Sabo repeated in his head. Ace clearly had the same thought, because for the first time, his worried face turned up to stare at Marmont.
“So you failed, then,” Marmont responded through gritted teeth. “How did you allow this to happen?”
“Sorry, sir, the phoenix stayed back to let the others escape us. We tried to capture him, but he was too strong to take alive. We… we have his body, sir…”
Sabo’s brow knitted in concern as he watched Ace pull his hands away from his captors, pressing them into his face as he sucked in a long, shaking breath. Out of his mouth tore a primal scream that shook Sabo down to his core. It echoed out into the surrounding ocean, sending birds scattering in fright. Sabo’s eyes burned as he shivered at the noise.
Once his breath was spent, Ace shrank in on himself, fingers clawing into his hair as he wept bitterly into the deck. Sabo wasn’t sure if he’d have reacted that strongly in other conditions, or if repeatedly drowning had finally begun to crack Ace’s mind into pieces.
Marmont watched as Sabo blinked a tear down his cheek with a reddening face. Sabo knew he had fucked up when the captain smiled at him.
“Drown him again,” Marmont told his crew members, stepping back to watch the show.
Sabo pinned his mouth shut, shuddering at what was happening to him. Ace’s legs and arms fought against the hold this time, arching his back as multiple buckets were poured over his nose and mouth. When he eventually blacked out, they slapped his face hard until he regained consciousness.
His waking breaths were panicked as the wet rag was stretched across his face to repeat the process.
Sabo tucked his head as far as it would go to hide his deeply affected expression from Marmont. He could hear bucket after bucket, pour after pour.
Ace coughed up sea water when they turned him over. He shrank away from the crew’s hands, ducking his head into his arms as his body began hyperventilating. The crew let go of him, looking up to the captain. They thought Ace was clearly broken, but the captain knew different, seeing the glint of Ace’s fiery eyes through the mess of wet hair hanging over his face.
“Again,” Marmont said.
Ace let out a strangled noise of anger as he felt hands pulling at him again.
Sabo couldn’t handle it anymore. He was failing to keep his composure with welling eyes, growing angrier as they began to fall against his will.
“Enough!” he roared at the crew, halting them in their tracks as they all looked to Marmont for his reaction.
“Don’t you dare!” Ace yelled hoarsely at Sabo, knowing exactly what he was doing.
Ace and Sabo locked eyes, both of them mirroring other’s anguish. It gave Sabo the strength he needed.
“Well,” Marmont said, “You have my attention. What would you like to say?”
“Drown me instead,” he murmured coldly, “He’s already broken, you fucking moron.”
Ace glared up at him through angry tears, nauseated by the thought of Sabo being tortured on his behalf.
“You think so little of me?” Ace yelled at Sabo, pushing back against the hands grabbing at him.
The captain looked intrigued at the blond. “You like water, do you? That seems a bit too easy for someone like you.”
Sabo’s lip quivered as he swallowed forcefully.
“Burn me, then.”
“No!” Ace screamed as he was forced to the deck by the crew. They kicked hard at his ribs until he was gasping into the deck.
Marmont stepped closer, smiling at Sabo.
“Mmmm, that’s very tempting. Later, perhaps?”
“I want you to do it right now,” Sabo said stiffly, blinking and trying to maintain eye contact with the captain, “Please.”
Marmont grinned, popping the lighter open.
“Oh my… I didn’t think you’d pretend to want it. That’s almost more than I could’ve asked for.”
Ace’s red eyes were boring holes into Sabo and Marmont, trying to summon any more strength he had as the captain approached the mast where he was still tied up. Marco surfaced in Ace’s mind, causing fresh tears to spill down his dirty face as he helplessly watched their captor approach the brother he swore he’d protect.
Sabo gulped as the flame approached his face, eyes darting from the lighter down to Ace.
This is for you. For caring about me.
And then, Sabo was being burned. Marmont let the fire hold contact with Sabo’s eye scar, licking his lips. Sabo hissed in a harsh breath as his skin lit up in pain, eyebrows drawing together. After holding back a yell, Sabo was rewarded by Marmont lifting the flame away.
“Where else do you want me to burn you, Sabo?” he asked softly.
“Dealer’s choice,” Sabo managed.
When the fire dipped back down to his eye, Sabo strained against his own burning skin. He could smell his own flesh cooking, gasping in breaths against the blinding sensation. He lost the ability to command his own body to stay put, and involuntarily his face jerked away from the lighter.
Marmont gripped a handful of his blond waves to wrench him back in place.
This time, when the flame returned to the same sensitive skin, it was utterly excruciating for the eternity he held it there. Sabo let out a slow hum that grew into a strained yell. He lost composure, taking harsher breaths as his head pulled against Marmont’s grip on his hair. He gasped out as his captor moved the flame to singe more of his scar tissue.
Ace yelled out weakly as his cheek pressed into cold sea water, only able to see Sabo with one eye while his hands ripped helplessly at the boots holding him down. He drew in a breath that sounded like a sob, the lower half of his face buried into his elbow as his tortured eyes saw Sabo struggle against the mast.
“Is it too much, Sabo? Want me to go back to your little friend?” Marmont asked him in his ear.
Sabo took an unsteady breath when the fire left his face again. He wanted to headbutt him so badly.
“No, I’m not done yet.”
The captain raised his eyebrows.
“Well, that wasn’t very convincing.”
“I want you to burn me again,” he said, inches from the captain’s face, looking down at his lips.
He thought he saw Marmont shiver appreciatively. The man ran his thick fingers further into Sabo’s hairline, grasping more hair in a fistful. He slowly forced Sabo’s head back against the mast until his jaw was pointed up in the air.
“Beg for me.”
Sabo closed his eyes, heart pounding faster at the danger he was putting himself in.
“Please,” he said, barely able to look into Marmont’s dark, hungry eyes with his head tilted back so forcefully.
The captain reached a rough hand around Sabo’s jaw, looking in awe at his beautifully broken features, the tears catching in his translucent eyelashes.
As much as Marmont seemed to enjoy looking at him, it was clearly not enough to satisfy him.
"Fuck, you're gonna make me kiss you again, aren't you? I knew you wanted to stay here with me."
He pressed his mouth around Sabo’s, groaning and coaxing him to part his cracked lips. Sabo pulled against Marmont’s grip on his hair, making a strained noise of disgust.
Ace was clenching in fury, trying so hard to push free from his guards.
Sabo resisted every attempt he made to deepen their kiss. Marmont quickly grew impatient with him, driving a knee into his groin. When Sabo gasped at the pain, Marmont took his chance to dive deeper into his mouth, licking greedily at his tongue. Sabo made a horrified noise into him, driving his own skull painfully into the mast to escape the feeling.
Below, Ace clenched his teeth angrily. He gave a harsh jerk to free himself from the boots pinning him to take a lunge.
Sabo flinched, making an angry sound as Marmont easily slammed Ace into the deck beside them, putting a heavy boot on his neck before returning his attention to his blond captive.
“It was so touching watching you cry for him,” Marmont said into Sabo’s cheek.
This was exactly the reason Sabo wished they’d been able to hide their attachment. Marmont had used it to his advantage to try and break them, both birds with the same stone.
The captain let go of Sabo’s hair, taking two steps back to look at the tear stains on both of their faces, the way they were limp and unable to fight against him anymore. He seemed satisfied, smirking down at Ace’s wet, disheveled hair, the way he couldn’t lay comfortably with the amount of pain he was in. A trickle of blood oozed down his back from the healing lacerations.
Even when Ace let his head rest into the deck, too tired to lift it anymore, Skar still lifted another bucket of seawater, approaching him until a commotion broke out across the deck, making everyone look over their shoulders to see Tallis angrily breaking free from the grip of his own lower-ranking crew mates.
Sabo knew Marmont was still watching, so he tried to ignore Tallis as he approached, but he could tell by the officer’s body language that he’d only just found out about this, only just managed to struggle free and intervene.
Of course, one look at Ace told Tallis exactly what they’d done to him, drenched with water, his state of disorientation and pale lips. Skar still standing over him with a bucket of water.
“They don’t belong to you. D’you have any idea how pissed the buyer’s gonna be? You keep damaging them, both of you. It makes no sense. Might as well be throwing berry away. Not to mention the heat you’re about to bring down on us when she sees what you did to Fire Fist.”
“What?” Skar demanded, “He looked thirsty is all.”
Skar took in Tallis’ cold eyes with dark pleasure as the Fishman dumped the entire bucket on Ace, making him brace against the deck when he already looked too pale to handle more.
Tallis’ nostrils flared in deep offense, pulling his gun.
Skar didn’t even flinch, smirking at him.
“Saw you moved the keys. Was one missing? I must’ve swallowed it by mistake,” Skar said, chuckling low in his throat.
Ace locked eyes briefly with Tallis before the officer looked back at the shark, clicking the hammer down with a deadly stare. This had Sabo and Ace’s attention, suddenly poising themselves to jump in if given the chance, or at least make a swim for it in Sabo’s case. Never mind the fact that they were both in the worst possible state to try and escape.
Ace couldn’t tell the dynamics of this crew, but on his own ship, if a man pulled a gun on another, he was already an enemy. Seemed to Ace like this could be the stand they’d been waiting for.
Marmont stepped in, however, seeming totally unaffected by the sight of the loaded weapon. Skar didn’t look bothered either, not even where he stood at the wrong end of the barrel.
“There, there, Skar,” Marmont said, “You know how possessive Tallis gets over his toys. Now, put it away, son. I’m sure your brother gets the picture.”
“Brother,” Tallis scoffed, both Skar and himself taking the opportunity to spit at each others’ feet.
When Tallis glanced back at Ace and Sabo, however, he could tell they weren’t ready. With Ace’s key in Skar’s belly and Sabo’s AFA injection still in effect, all Tallis could do right now was get them even more injured. Even land himself in the cell with them. So he lowered the pistol, decocking it before slotting it back into the holster under his overcoat.
“Alright, boys, that’s enough excitement,” Marmont said, “Tallis, why don’t you wait for me in the captain’s quarters after dinner?”
“You didn’t hold up your end,” Tallis said quietly, swallowing with clear discomfort.
“You’re not in a place to renegotiate right now, pet. Now get me some wine, or I’ll keep these two up all night, buyers be damned. That bitch wants Fire Fist too much to get picky about what he looks like.”
Two men stepped forward to release the ropes digging into Sabo’s arms, causing him to fall to his knees when his legs failed. The captain gently pushed Sabo’s upper body into a laying position and pulled a canteen from his guard.
He hovered it over Sabo, who allowed him to pour the water into his mouth, swallowing as a few streams spilled down his chin. Relief washed over him; he hadn’t had water for nearly two days, but the amount he was sleeping under the AFA’s effects had him thinking it could’ve even been longer than that.
“You were so good for me today. Want to try more tomorrow?” the captain told him, making Sabo shudder slightly.
Then, Marmont hovered the canteen near Ace, but he wouldn’t look at him, nose creasing in disgust as his reddened eyes flickered to the ground. He'd rather waste away, shrivel into dehydrated nothingness than acknowledge him right now.
“Darro,” Marmont called, “Make sure you give the little blond his injection.”
The medic patted down his pockets, cursing because he could’ve sworn he had a capped syringe on him somewhere, just in case.
Tallis noticed this, hanging back for a moment to offer one from his own pocket. Darro took it from him, but not without checking the label on it. Seeing it was indeed labeled AFA, he gave an abrupt nod to dismiss Tallis.
Sabo stared after the young officer, lips parting in surprise when he thought he noticed Tallis flash him a meaningful look over his shoulder, much too subtle for the crew scattered around to notice. Hell, even Ace hadn’t seen it. Sabo’s eyes widened as Darro approached. Something about the needle stung a lot less this time, even as roughly as Darro forced it in.
Now the only thing that hurt was the way Ace lay there with open, hollow eyes. He wasn’t crying, but maybe it would’ve been better if he was.
Marco.
Sabo had a hard time believing the phoenix was dead, but he didn’t think Ace’s mind could think rationally right now. It seemed to have cracked, and the sight was all Sabo could concentrate on the whole time Darro injected his shoulder muscle.
Marco would be okay. Sabo would be okay.
I just need you to be okay, Ace.
Skar dragged them both back to the brig, but Sabo didn't remember much of it. He tried not to look at Ace, because he was sure he didn't feel like talking, but it was nearly impossible not to.
Ace was hunched in the corner, the chains back around his cuffs. And he just sat there, staring into space. Sabo crouched nearby, hugging his arms around his own chest with his knees drawn up, taking up as little space as possible, doing his best to just look at the floor… at that fucking nail that still protruded from it, mocking them now.
A sniff made him look over, but he wished he hadn't, because Ace was holding a thumb to his lips, barely keeping the noises in.
Sabo swallowed hard, tears flooding his own eyes just looking at Ace's hurt expression.
’Are you okay?’ Sabo almost said, then stopped himself, because he already knew the answer.
Stupid, pointless question.
'If you need anything…’ he wanted to say, then mentally back-tracked it.
No...
'Maybe they faked that call to hurt you... it's a common torture tactic,' he thought about saying next, but shook his head softly to erase it. Too risky.
Fuck...
And sure, maybe grabbing him and squishing him into a long embrace would be better than nothing, but Sabo didn’t feel right doing that without him asking, not after full on attacking him.
Sabo threw him another worried glance, seeing how lifeless he looked, and it twisted the knife in his gut all over again. Ace was sinking his face into his shackled hands, either shivering or still choking up— he didn’t know which it was, but it didn’t matter anymore.
Fuck it, I can’t sit here and do nothing.
He moved closer, squeezing into the corner behind him to pull him into a tight hold. He rested his chin on his hair, still a little amazed that it smelled good. Ace seemed to take the first breath he had in awhile, because it was a really long, difficult one.
Sabo chewed his lip briefly before he got the courage to say anything.
”Hey.”
He shut his eyes in annoyance at himself. Ace didn’t reply because what a stupid thing to say, at least to Sabo. How did he even expect Ace to respond?
“Remember when you asked what would happen if your crew saw your vivre card burn up? And I told you that Koala wouldn’t believe it, even if she saw it with her own eyes?” Sabo said.
Ace nodded, even if he couldn’t speak.
”I think we need to be like Koala right now. We haven’t seen any proof of anything,” Sabo added.
Ace finally leaned into him, dropping his cold face onto Sabo’s shoulder, forehead pressed to his neck. He still didn’t respond, not verbally, just shivered at the temperature change with so much warmth surrounding him.
Tallis barged in, startling them, but he seemed too annoyed to care.
"All those children. Fuck. You probably won't believe me, but no one told me they were doing that."
He shoved his personal canteen through the bars, but only Sabo seemed interested. Ace barely seemed to register it.
"Don't tell me he really did break you," Tallis said, looking a little surprised, then upset, "Ace?"
When Ace didn't respond, Sabo thanked Tallis for the water. He nodded in reply, setting more supplies in the kit for them before backing to the door, still flashing concern.
He seemed to hesitate at the door, watching Sabo unscrew the top to try and coax Ace to drink some, but his mind seemed too far away.
It wasn't until Tallis gave up and started to let the door close behind him that Ace snapped back to life.
“Wait,” Ace said hoarsely, “Come back."
His stress eased a little when Tallis didn't close the door all the way, seeing him call out.
“Need something else?” Tallis asked.
"Can you tell us what happened to Marco?" Sabo asked quietly, so Ace wouldn't have to.
Ace’s eyes got rounder, not sure if he was about to receive news that healed everything or ripped him apart completely.
"What about him?"
Sabo took that as a pretty good sign, but Ace didn't seem convinced yet.
"He's... is he...?" Ace tried to ask, but it stopped in his throat every time.
"We heard about a conflict with Ace's crew that said Marco didn't make it."
Tallis scoffed, not able to stop himself from smiling.
“First Division Commander Marco? Ace… the fucking phoenix? He’s fine. He’s in perfect health.”
“Are you certain?” Sabo asked.
Tallis looked suspicious.
”Yes. What, did Marmont do ‘the transponder call’?”
Sabo sighed, nodding and squeezing Ace slightly, because that was all they needed to know.
The confirmation made Ace dissolve into his own hands, still shaking at the damage that’d been done at the thought of his death.
”Nothing happened to Marco. I assure you,” Tallis said, looking sad to see Ace looking this way.
“I shouldn’t have even…” Ace murmured in frustration, “How could I think…?”
Tallis kneeled and clasped his hands together outside the bars.
“You weren’t thinking; you were drowning. It’s normal when you’re being tortured. No one’s immune to that, and if you were, that’d make you a complete psycho. Just thought you might wanna know Marmont’s a liar.”
Ace swallowed hard, but he found it difficult with his mouth and throat so dry. Even his voice was scratchy and rough.
“Thank you,” he managed to say, still holding his forehead in disbelief.
Sabo put a hand on Ace’s shoulder to squeeze it. Seeing the hopeful spark in his eyes at the young officer’s words.
“You seem fond of Marco,” Sabo noticed, "Had his poster on your wall or something?"
“Like I have anyone else to look up to? He’s a hero. My father’s a demon,” Tallis explained, “Not just the married in one. The deadbeat one’s just as bad.”
“And you think you’re a demon too?” Ace finished. Tallis looked down, nodding imperceptibly.
“Didn’t wanna be. But here I am.”
“Yeah, I thought the same thing about my own father. There’s only one way to prove you’re not like him,” Ace told him, “And you’re already doing that. So don’t be too hard on yourself.”
Sabo shot him a look.
“You’re one to talk,” he said under his breath.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m saying it.”
Tallis thought over his words for a moment, regarding Ace so much differently than he had at first. Sabo looked at Ace a little differently, too, wondering how he’d caused a slaver officer to bow to him— because that’s exactly what it looked like Tallis was doing.
“Who? …who is he, then? Tell me,” Tallis responded quietly, making Ace press his lips together like he wished he could take back the last sentence to prevent him getting curious. But he relented.
“Roger. Alright?”
Sabo had to rivet his widening eyes to the floor to avoid open-mouth staring at him, feeling a little guilty for overhearing something Ace clearly didn't want to admit.
Well, that’s a… bombshell to drop.
Had I known that before?
Tallis looked momentarily skeptical, before he moved closer, observing his features. Imagining Ace with a beard made Tallis’ eyes widen.
“That’s not something I want people to know about me,” Ace told him firmly, “I told you because I need you to know it gets better. You can get out of that shadow and find a real family.”
“It's interesting how you two worry about everyone but yourselves. Why don't you start by just getting each other to safety first, huh? Listen... we won’t be anywhere near land for over a day. Even if we were: you rocket off, you’ll get shot. You take a row boat, you’ll definitely get shot. You don’t even have a plan, do you? That's what you should be thinking about, not me."
“Of course we have a plan,” both of them responded, looking affronted, even though one glance at each other made it clear they didn’t. Not yet, anyway, because that’s not how either of them worked. Their best thinking was on the fly.
Ace wasn’t really sure if he should admit to Tallis that his plan would’ve probably been to turn the whole ship into a raging pyre, but he didn’t get a chance.
“Can I ask? The syringe that Darro used for my injection…” Sabo said, glancing warily at the door before mouthing the word ‘saline.’
Tallis didn’t confirm it aloud, just nodded, causing Ace’s jaw to slack as Sabo smiled with a grateful dip of his head.
“When you wake, you should feel better,” Tallis told him carefully, “But I want you and Ace to really think about what to do with that knowledge. Make a move too early and the opportunity will be gone. Even if you feel ready, don't act until you’ve thought it out.”
“What about you?” Sabo asked quietly, “You know what we have to do to this ship, right? We’re not leaving it in sailing condition. If you’re not coming with us, I can’t protect you.”
Tallis’ eyes seemed to catch the yellow-orange of the lantern again, a spark of light illuminating them for a moment as he smirked to himself.
“Don’t worry about me at all. I’m not as trapped here as you think.”
Sabo’s brows lifted at the cryptic words, but then he was narrowing his eyes, not sure if he was imagining that glow he kept noticing in Tallis’ otherwise brown irises. Unlike Ace, he hadn’t seen the hawk come into the cell. Tallis might’ve been about to say something else, but Sabo had let the conversation go on long enough without finding out how much Tallis knew about Marmont’s prior captives. The extremely young ones.
“Are you going to be able to find anything about the kidnapped children, where they've been taken?”
The officer was already looking unsure.
”I… I just found out about this. I don’t know how I’m going to leave if I can’t figure it out. I don’t think I could’ve let them give me this if I’d known… not for any amount of berry.”
Tallis glanced down at his own wrist, clearly displeased with the tattoo there. A letter ‘M’ framed with ominous iron wings, the sight of it only made worse by the bruised fingerprints surrounding it. He covered it quickly. Then Tallis continued.
“If I get a chance, I’ll see if Marmont has any properties they might be held at, but he didn’t exactly tell me those kinds of things, with good reason.”
Sabo took a long breath. If there was a chance to find out, it would lie within this ship, or else Sabo would have to extract it from Marmont directly. He didn’t want to, but he didn’t think he could let himself leave without knowing.
“Anything you can find, I’d be grateful for it. I know it probably changes your plans,” Sabo told him quietly.
“Well, speaking of plans,” Tallis added, “I need you guys to leave Marmont alive when you do escape. That means not sinking the ship either—“
“Why?” Ace demanded immediately.
“Because he might be the only person who knows where the other fleet took the children they chained up,” Sabo suggested, agreeing with Tallis, “As much as I don’t think he deserves it, Ace…”
Ace scoffed slightly, not able to argue with the reason, but it couldn’t have been farther from what he wanted to hear.
“Well, yes,” Tallis said hesitantly, “But there’s more than just that. Marmont’s devil fruit allows him to use up another person’s life force instead of his own. That means you’d have to kill him twice, and you’d have to be okay with sacrificing the innocent person that would die first.”
Their eyebrows pinched in tandem.
“Your mother—?”
“Tallis, is it you—?”
They blurted simultaneously, but he shook his head.
“Worse. He told me who it is, showed me her picture, and it’s this child, this girl. So please don’t kill him.”
“How do you know he’s not lying?” Sabo asked, with Ace nodding in support of the question— mainly because he also wanted a rock solid reason not to kill the bastard.
“I’ve seen it happen before, alright?” Tallis admitted, rubbing his forehead like the memory itched and burned at his mind, “The blue mark, no thicker than a hair, barely visible on the neck. It will take the victims life instead if an attempt is made on Marmont’s life. Can you just tell me you won’t?”
Ace swallowed hard, and even though he knew he had to agree, his head was shaking in angry disbelief at the idea.
“Ace,” Sabo prompted quietly, looking closely at him. The child Tallis described was Veri, the same girl that’d spoken to them on the commander’s vessel.
“I know, I won’t kill him, and I won’t sink the ship. Doesn’t sound like I have much of a choice. It’s eating me alive, but I’m not gonna kill a child just for the pleasure of charring his ass.”
“I won’t either,” Sabo added, watching Tallis relax considerably at their acceptance, “And Tallis, thanks for helping us like this. I know what’s at stake for you, so it means a lot.”
“Don’t mention it,” Tallis replied, glancing at Ace, “Your friend already helped me contact my mom while you were asleep. Anything else, we can work out later.”
“Is she alright?” Sabo asked, glancing between them.
“I guess no worse than usual, from what she let on. What about yours?”
Sabo’s shoulders slumped a little. He started to reply that he didn’t know, but realization struck him as he turned to Ace with curious eyes. He needed Ace to tell people everything about his own life, apparently. But instead of it bothering him, he found he kind of liked the dependance.
Ace gave him a soft smile. He didn’t even have to ask verbally for Ace to answer the question on his behalf. Still, Ace looked worried about the effect his answer was about to have on Sabo.
“Uh. Well… last I saw, she was still kicking. I don’t know how to say this nicely. She’s… dead to us. Same for your— well, that Outlook guy. You’re better off not remembering them.”
Sabo looked a little disappointed, but nodded. He supposed he should’ve known he didn’t like his parents if he'd spent so much time with Ace.
"Tallis, will you let us call our nakama?" Ace asked. He almost forgot Tallis even had an transponder after having such an ordeal up on deck.
But Tallis gave him a look that made Ace curse to himself.
"He locked it away, Ace, I'm sorry. I even tried to find another one, but it looks like he thought of everything. You'll be the first to know if I can help in some way, but that might not be an option."
Before any of them could exchange anything else, Tallis shrank at the sight of the door opening nearby.
“The captain… he, uh, wants you now,” Skar growled, seeming all too pleased.
Tallis couldn’t even look at the Fishman. The way Ace inched forward, it looked like he nearly said something in protest.
“Don’t. Do not,” Tallis told him sharply, “You’re gonna need energy tomorrow.”
“For the first time, I agree with Tallis,” Skar said, “You’ve done enough talking, Fire Fist. Shut up and go to sleep while you have a chance.”
Ace hadn’t told Sabo what Tallis had done for him, so it was only Ace staring at Tallis’ brown eyes, how numb they looked.
‘The captain wants him now?’ Ace thought, completely understanding the inflection Skar used. Understanding he wasn’t referring to a casual conversation this time.
Tallis seemed about Luffy’s age, and that made it so much worse when Ace had to watch Skar shut the door after leading him through it. How many more bruises would he come back with?
“Hey, can you drink some water now?” Sabo asked in the silence that fell after the door bolted shut.
Ace accepted the canteen, and after pouring a little into his mouth, he seemed to realize how badly he needed it, swallowing down half of the container before pressing it back into Sabo’s hand.
“I know it was you that convinced Tallis to help us,” Sabo added with a smile.
Ace gave a nearly imperceptible smile, not wanting to accept the clearly intended compliment, because him involving Tallis had gotten the young officer in a dark situation that suddenly had Ace feeling an enormous amount of concern.
He found it hard to explain this to Sabo, considering Ace knew his assault had been in Sabo’s place, and that wasn’t something he thought Sabo should know. It might’ve caused him even more guilt than Ace felt right now.
“We’ll have to make it up to him, but I’m glad he came around,” was all Ace could reply, trying to distract himself by checking through the supplies for something they could use on Sabo’s burn.
“Alright, look… Is there something I don’t know?” Sabo asked him.
He hadn’t missed how upset Ace looked. How Tallis’ eyes had asked Ace specifically for help. The whole dynamic had flipped; last Sabo knew, Tallis didn’t seem to trust pirates at all. Suddenly, Tallis had come in making escape plans with them? Ace went from sending Tallis those narrow, suspicious eyes to looking deeply shaken just because he left the brig?
Ace wouldn’t have normally volunteered the information, but he hadn’t lied to Sabo yet, and he wasn’t gonna start now after such a direct question. But Ace still shut his eyes tight for a second, really not sure how to even phrase what happened, considering he had precious few details.
“When Marmont took you away and gave you that drug, you sounded like you were in pain, and I couldn’t get to you, so I…”
Sabo watched him struggle with a look of sympathy, but also interest, especially when Ace covered his eyes with his hands like he was deeply ashamed.
“Whatever it was, I’m sure you had good intentions,” he offered.
“I told him to stop Marmont from hurting you,” Ace continued, “And he did. I just didn’t know he was offering to trade places with you.”
Sabo’s eyes looked soft until he said the final words, and then they steeled.
“He has all these bruises, under that uniform,” Ace added in disgust, “It’s my fault. He’s too young. I thought that was his father; I didn’t think he’d… do that to him.”
Sabo just stared at him, taking in what Ace seemed to think was a confession of wrongdoing. And what Ace was describing did revolt Sabo, especially knowing Tallis had taken his place, but…
“You didn’t make that happen,” Sabo said firmly, dipping his head to the side so Ace would look at him again. He reached to tilt Ace's hand back, sadly examining the cuts he'd made trying to escape his shackles.
“I kinda feel like I did,” Ace argued, “I told him he owed us, and then I felt my own body trying to take over his willpower. Like some sort of fucking monster. He asked what I was because my eyes went red. A demon, that’s what. I made him make that call.”
Sabo’s brows lifted in surprise, because he’d only ever known Dragon to use the ability Ace was describing. He wasn’t moved by Ace’s unkind description of himself, however, reaching up to flick his nose hard.
Ace recoiled, touching his nose. He was too caught up in his emotions right now, but Sabo doing something he used to do all the time nearly cheered Ace up, even though it stung.
“You’re not a demon, or a monster, or any kind of bad person. The only thing you’re being is a crybaby,” Sabo told him harshly.
Behind his hands, Ace’s trembling lips got tugged wider by a hesitant smile. His eyes misted slightly, swallowing hard.
“Sabo… how’d you know to say that?”
“Come here,” Sabo told him softly, grateful when Ace allowed himself to be hugged. He was careful not to touch any of the broken skin or press too hard, and it further reminded him that he still need to bandage him while they had a chance.
Ace melted against him, the warmth from his arms sending chills scattering across his skin. He blinked slowly as Sabo spoke again.
“You did not cause those bruises you saw. He already had them.”
Ace didn’t pull away, but his head still turned in surprise against Sabo’s shoulder.
“You’re not just saying that?”
“No. I saw them before today.”
Ace swallowed again, audible in his ear, cool air from his nose washing over his neck.
“He must’ve been desperate to subject himself to all of this willingly. We’ll get him outta here, yeah?” Sabo asked.
“I don’t think he needs our help leaving,” Ace told him, “I think he only stayed today because of us. Now, he knows there are children involved, but for a second, I think he only stayed here to help us… The sooner we escape, the sooner he can leave, too.”
Since Tallis thought they might reach land sometime between tomorrow and the next day, it seemed they were only waiting for the AFA to leave Sabo’s system.
And Sabo wasn't sure when the chemicals would wear off, not after so many doses. It wasn't supposed to be used so heavily like this. His head felt fuzzy and sluggish, and even though he trusted he'd been given only saline the last time, he thought he should've already felt it wearing off. The anxious part of him wondered if it might take longer and longer the more it built up in his system. All they could do was wait.
Notes:
Have a drink of water, and give Sabo and Ace some water too:
Ace and Sabo both grab the canteen at the same time, their hands shaking with exhaustion. They take turns gulping down the water, panting between each sip.
“Thank you… thank you… you have no idea…” they mumble between breaths, their voices hoarse.
When the canteen is empty, they both lean back, breathing heavily but smiling gratefully.
“You really saved us,” Ace adds, his voice full of relief.
Feed the boys sushi:
Ace and Sabo sit across from each other, calmly picking up pieces of sushi with their chopsticks. The atmosphere is peaceful, each savoring the delicate flavors.
But Ace eyes the remaining sushi, his competitive streak kicking in. He subtly quickens his pace, reaching for another piece before Sabo can.
Sabo notices, his eyes narrowing slightly as he grabs the next piece a little faster.
Ace grins, his chopsticks clacking against the plate as he picks up another roll.
The polite atmosphere quickly dissolves as they both start eating faster, chopsticks moving with increasing speed. Ace shovels a piece into his mouth and reaches for another, while Sabo’s chopsticks blur as he grabs two pieces at once.
Suddenly, Ace tosses his chopsticks aside, scooping up the sushi with his hands.
Sabo, not to be outdone, quickly follows suit, throwing away his chopsticks and grabbing the sushi with both hands.
Pieces disappear rapidly, neither wanting to be the one left with an empty plate. By the time they’re finished, the tray is spotless, and they’re both breathless from slowly dissolving into laughter and stuffed mouths.
“You know,” Sabo says after he swallows, “We really need to learn some table manners.”
Ace grins, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Nah, this is way more fun.”
Chapter 24: Kings
Summary:
Hope everyone had a good weekend!
Ace and Sabo show off for each other. Sabo gets a glimpse into his past and uses it to motivate himself. Ace makes a request of an old enemy, yet again shocking Sabo with his persuasiveness.
Notes:
The Dawn flashback is set after they find out Ace didn’t tell them about his father, then they go separate ways for awhile
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sabo didn’t have many dreams, not typically. So this dream could’ve been a byproduct of the chemicals, sure, but more than likely, it was spending so much time around Ace’s voice, his familiar face, and the way they fell asleep next to each other on nights like these. It was all too easy for Sabo’s mind to start turning over stones, figuring out why this felt like it had happened before.
That’s why the next time he fell asleep, he found himself in the middle of a shockingly vivid dream. Just like his previous hallucination in the forest, this didn’t even feel like a memory; it felt real, like he was a child again.
He couldn’t tell where in the world he woke up, but he knew it was beautiful and cozy. Comforting, like home. He had a strong feeling that it wasn’t just like home, it was his home.
It smelled perfect here, trees and fragrant flowers. That soft, earthy scent just before it rained.
I remember this place now…
Sabo had wrapped himself in a soft blanket, head cradled not by his own pillow, but a blue-striped one that’d been empty for awhile. So long that it didn’t even smell like Ace anymore, just Sabo’s own face.
He raised himself off his blanket-covered mat, a makeshift bed on the floor of a hut, but it wasn’t a hut at all.
Their prized tree fort.
A trunk split into branches at the center of its interior. The many open spaces left in the walls made for a nearly three-sixty degree view of the surroundings.
Nighttime had fallen on the jungle outside, only gentle sounds and peaceful views visible in all directions. He could see the moon out one side, just barely visible through the canopy of leaves, and out the other side, a field of stars. It was so quiet, even for the jungle.
That’s why the snap of a twig had his eyes widening, staring through the floor and seeming to know it’d come from somewhere at the bottom of the tree, but there was only one way to see what made the noise, and Sabo felt obligated to protect this fort, not for himself but for the other boy inside it.
So he silently eased the trapdoor open, just enough to get a glimpse of whatever had approached below.
Then he found himself eye to eye with Ace, flinching in shock. It’d been weeks of barely even glimpsing him. He lost track of how long, now.
And here he was, looking like he’d crawled through thorns, perhaps even catching someone’s fist. His eye was bruised and his lip split open, leaves and dirt sticking in his hair.
Seeing him in this condition didn’t even come as a surprise given their lifestyle, but having him show up after what must’ve been weeks of bad feelings and avoidance shocked Sabo so much that he was speechless. Especially because it’d made him jump, opening the door to see his face so close. Ace’s eyes also widened in surprise and a flash of something else, maybe shame.
“You back, or just need something,” Sabo spoke quietly, careful to guard himself. Knowing how tense their last interactions had all been.
He allowed Ace to look past him, letting him see the lump of blankets that told him Luffy was asleep, and to keep his voice low.
“I don’t need anything,” Ace murmured, suddenly not able to meet his eyes.
Sabo slumped a little, watching his brow pinch and relax like he was holding back strong emotions. He was all too aware that Ace still braced himself to the ladder, stuck outside the fort as if unsure he was even welcome to enter it.
“Get in,” Sabo told him, scooting back to give him space, “What happened to you?”
“Edge Town,” Ace whispered back, lifting himself through the door before sealing it up again.
What the hell was Ace doing in Edge Town by himself?
Well, Sabo nearly asked him, but Ace was already answering the unspoken question by pulling banded stacks of berry from his pockets and throwing them beside the sleeping mats.
“Why didn’t you ask for my help?” Sabo asked, crossing his arms and unable to stop himself from staring at Ace’s lip and darkened eye.
It didn’t matter that they had a bitter fight, Sabo didn’t like him doing such risky things alone.
“You know why,” Ace replied. He didn’t sound upset, just stated it as his hands thrust into his pockets. He threw a glance at Luffy before looking out the window.
“Do we have to be mad at each other?” Sabo whispered, seeming to hug himself as he stared sadly at Ace’s closed off posture, how he faced away with crossed arms.
“I’m not mad at you, Sabo,” Ace said, even quieter. It look him a long time to risk a look back over his shoulder, finally meeting Sabo’s eyes. The look apologized, even if he couldn’t.
“Okay, then… I’m not mad at you either,” Sabo replied, eyes shutting with relief. He’d been worried that Ace still held onto his grudge, but it was clear he missed them badly enough to tuck his tail. He was just glad to have Ace back, even if he acted like an ass sometimes.
Sabo wished he was awake enough to stay up and talk for awhile, catch up after so long apart, but Luffy’s snoring had Sabo already trying to stifle a yawn.
”If you’re staying, think you can try to go to sleep?” Sabo asked him, still sounding a little cautious as he nervously tousled his own hair.
Ace looked down at his filthy clothes, then touched his bleeding lip with one thumb.
“I dunno if I should… didn’t exactly wash yet.”
Sabo sighed, brushing back a blanket with one bare little foot, giving him a place to lay.
“I’m sure one time won’t kill anyone. I’d, um… patch that lip but I’ve had to use all the supplies on Luffy since you left. He’s hard to manage on my own— sorry, I didn’t mean that to sound like blame or anything. We just don’t have anything for your lip.”
When Ace sank down to the mat, Sabo followed suit, hugging his own knees close as Ace flopped to sprawl across the blanket.
“You ran into some bandits, then?”
Ace shook his head, “I’m fine. We don’t have to talk about it.”
But that only made Sabo frown.
“I thought maybe since you came back, it meant you finally wanted to stop keeping stuff from me…”
Ace lifted his head, then rolled onto his back so he could look up at Sabo who’d crouched beside him. He fidgeted slightly, finding a twig wedged in his tangled hair but unable to pull it out.
Sabo gave up on getting Ace to talk with a slight eye roll, instead reaching over to locate a comb laying in his drawstring bag of precious few possessions. This, he used with his fingers to gently coax the tangles and jungle souvenirs from Ace’s dark hair.
“Sorry, Ace, you don’t have to talk about it. Forget I said anything. I know you’ve been through enough tonight.”
Ace seemed to relax slightly, but it was unclear if it was from the preening of fingers and careful combing, or from the fact that he didn’t feel interrogated. Sabo had unexpectedly dropped the subject when he normally would’ve pressed it, and that act of mercy made Ace decide to open up to him.
“It wasn’t even bandits. Just regular people. I don’t even know how they found out who I am. Or… about Roger, y’know? All they wanted to do was make an example of me. That’s what they said. They said other things, too, but they’re worse things I don’t feel like repeating.”
Sabo stopped combing for a moment to fix him with a long, serious look.
“Probably best you don’t… or I’d have to insist you tell me what those pieces of shit look like.”
He saw Ace smile and avert his eyes as Sabo smoothed each matted tuft of hair until it looked relatively clean. But soon his smile dropped away again.
“I already know Jiji’s gonna bruise my other eye when he thinks I’ve been causing trouble in town,” Ace said after a minute, grimacing when the thought occurred to him.
“Then I’ll help you kick his ass too,” Sabo replied without hesitation.
Ace interrupted Sabo’s combing to press his hands over his own face in frustration.
“You guys are being loud,” Luffy complained sleepily, “Go to sleep already.”
“How long d’you think it’ll take him to realize?” Sabo asked with a slight smirk, knowing how excited Luffy would be to see Ace here in the morning.
Ace sighed, looking up at Sabo with a defeated expression.
“Also, you should take his advice, for once. Try to catch some rest,” Sabo said.
“There’s no way I’m sleeping after what just happened. I feel like they’re still chasing me.”
Wasn’t the first time Ace couldn’t sleep, probably wouldn’t be the last, but Sabo had recently heard something that might help.
Sabo rested his face in his palm, saying, “Did Dadan ever tell you she has trouble sleeping sometimes?”
“Yeah, because of Luffy.”
“No, because of worrying too much.”
Ace swallowed, casting his eyes down.
Sabo chewed his cheek for a long moment, not wanting Ace to get the idea that he was calling him weak or anything. He just wanted to help, not make Ace even more upset.
“Well, what does she do about it then?” Ace finally asked, causing Sabo’s eyes to give him a hopeful, pleased look.
He thought about it before answering, but ultimately decided against trying to describe it.
“She told me this is where all your worries live,” Sabo explained quietly, reaching over to tap a line under Ace’s collarbone, exposed under his tank, “And she said, if you do this, it makes them go away, enough to fall asleep anyway.”
Sabo showed Ace what he meant by dragging his thumb just under the bone, all the way to his shoulder and back, until he met the opposite shoulder.
He heard Ace swallow, dropping his head back to the pillow. While Sabo continued, Ace stared up through the treehouse window to see the stars above. He must’ve been thinking that maybe there was something to whatever Dadan had showed him, because his eyelids looked heavier already.
“Nice, right?” Sabo prompted, withdrawing his hand.
Ace seemed to notice its absence immediately, looking over to see Sabo settling into his own place under their blankets. For nearly a minute, only the gentle chirping of crickets and whispering wind could be heard, but Ace finally broke the silence.
“Could, um… would you mind showing me again?”
Sabo turned to stare at him with unmasked surprise. After blinking, he gave a nod and reached back out until his hand could stretch across Ace’s chest again. Sabo scooted his pillow closer so he could lay next to him comfortably. He had to concentrate on biting the inside of his lip so Ace wouldn’t catch him accidentally smiling at him making such an unusually soft request.
As Sabo ran a thumb under Ace’s collarbone, back and forth, he found himself relaxing too. His eyes fluttered closed, listening to Ace’s breath, amazed how it began to steady as his tension uncoiled.
The next time Sabo opened his eyes, he could barely see Ace’s eyes open too, dark and narrow in the dim moonlight. He could’ve sworn Ace was just laying there, looking at him, but Ace let his eyes close again sleepily before Sabo could tell.
It hardly mattered, because Sabo could already feel warmth spreading through himself, just at Ace seeking him out when he got hurt. Just at Ace wanting Sabo to comfort him, when he was normally too withdrawn and afraid of looking weak to ask for any kind of closeness.
Ace’s breathing changed, letting Sabo know he’d finally dozed off. That’s when Sabo let his hand come to a rest near Ace’s neck, turning his head on the pillow so he could see him. He looked soothed and so content, but Sabo’s eyebrows pinched together because...
Because…
Oh no. I think I missed you a little too much, Ace.
He didn’t think how he felt about Ace was a normal feeling to have about a brother. It certainly wasn’t how he felt about Luffy. It only hurt because Ace would never in a million years understand. He couldn’t know.
Sabo couldn’t let him find out the truth of what he slowly began to feel.
Mist came in through the windows now as rain began to pour down, lightly at first before progressively stronger sheets. A storm had moved into the jungle from the coast, bringing with it lightning that lit up Ace’s peaceful expression and thunder that shook the floor— booming so loud it had Sabo jolting awake.
He made a noise of surprise, body flinching as his eyes opened to the dimness of the swinging lantern outside the cell. The soft blanket from the tree fort had vanished from his grasping fingers, the cushion of the mat giving way to rigid boards under his bare skin, and Ace…
God, somehow Ace was still there, asleep right beside Sabo like he’d been in the dream. He exhaled with momentary relief, not even hesitating to reach out to touch his chest, right where his hand had been before he woke up, back when he still felt safe and cozy in their fort.
Ace…
Sabo thought he heard Ace mention it several times, how they’d all three adopted each other and become sworn brothers. But it was another thing entirely to remember how it felt to go from seeing him that way to seeing him as more. It made his head spin a little when the full weight of the memory crashed into him.
Even as a kid, I was hiding how I felt. So much guilt, thinking if he ever found out, it would be my fault for ruining our vow as brothers.
It made sense now, how Ace seemed so careful around him, because Sabo suddenly understood how different their dynamic would be if they did cross that line. Once those feelings took over, anything that went wrong could jeopardize their relationship with each other.
Ace was still sound asleep, too exhausted to wake yet. Before finally nodding off, Ace found himself too on guard to let himself sleep. So by the time sleep finally claimed him by force, his dreams couldn’t have been more different than Sabo’s.
His subconscious pulled him deep into the ocean again: down, down, down where light could barely reach. Where it lived.
He fought for a grasp against the water, then fought for air, too frantic to question why he was drowning again. It felt real, and he could see the yawning horror beneath him. All eyes and teeth.
His ears strained as it called to him, the voice’s decibel almost making him gasp out, but he couldn’t, not with the weight of the water pressing in on him.
Panic took over, wrenching him awake, not in water, but back in the same damned cell he fell asleep in. He’d lifted off the floor onto one elbow to catch his breath, but slumped carefully back down when he realized they were still prisoners.
It embarrassed him a little to notice Sabo already awake and watching him.
“What happened?” Sabo asked immediately, shifting closer.
“Just a dream,” Ace told him, “…Did you hear anything? When we were both underwater?”
Sabo shut his eyes, wishing he didn’t remember it, but… Ace choking, the sound of him dying in his ear was something he couldn’t ever forget.
“N-no… not really,” he lied, “Did you?”
Ace paused, swallowing at his own memory and weighing how crazy he was about to sound. He decided Sabo would believe him without it being an admission of insanity.
“The sea king below us…” Ace started to describe, but faltered the second Sabo looked confused, “You didn’t see him?”
“When we were in the ocean? …No,” Sabo said, but with a tone of quiet horror, as if it washed a new layer of fear over his memory of it. Had he really been seconds away from being eaten? He hadn’t tried to see into the darkness like Ace clearly had, and now he was glad he didn’t see it.
Ace let his head rest against the floor again, kind of wishing Sabo hadn’t removed his hand from his chest.
“Maybe I dreamt that too, then,” Ace decided, staring at Sabo’s hand as he spoke.
“My eyes are up here.”
Ace looked up at Sabo’s eyes, almost smiling at his dry little quip, but had a difficult time ignoring the painful-looking scorch mark on the scar beneath it.
“Is it bad?” Sabo asked, clocking Ace’s look.
Ace pressed up from the floor, peering around until he located the supplies Tallis had left them.
“Not the worst. I’m sure you won’t even see it when it heals,” he replied distractedly, pulling the kit closer.
From the bundle of medical goods, Ace picked up a fleshy leaf that had been snapped off a plant.
Sabo turned onto his side to rest his face in his hand, watching Ace hold up the leaf for him to see.
“What’s this?” Ace asked as his stomach growled. Besides not fitting in with the bandages and canisters, the juicy plant leaf looked kind of delicious.
“Think he brought it for my eye. Should help the burn if you use the inside of the leaf on it.”
Ace nodded dutifully, moving to crouch directly in front of him to do exactly that.
”So we told Tallis we have a plan, but you didn’t plan anything, did you?” Ace asked casually, tilting his face to see it better in the lantern’s light.
“I’m sure whatever I come up with’ll be less obvious than your plan. Your only idea was to burn everything, wasn’t it?” Sabo asked, only able to look at him with one blue eye since Ace had gently shut the other.
”As much as I would’ve really enjoyed doing that,” Ace replied, “I guess my hands have been tied. Gotta admit I haven’t used pure Haki in a minute.”
“Exactly why you should let me handle them,” Sabo suggested.
Ace shifted suddenly, fixing Sabo with an openly interested look.
“How would you do it? No, I mean it— I’m only curious because I haven’t gotten to see you fight.”
Sabo studied Ace through his open eye, slowly smiling.
“Huh, I thought you’d be offended that I insinuated I’d be better at it.”
“I’m not ten years old anymore, believe it or not, so I’m not gonna bite your head off,” Ace said, “Just wanted to know.”
“How I fight?” Sabo asked thoughtfully, “Well, one of the revolutionaries tried teaching me Fishman Karate, but I always reverted back to sparring with staves. But without a staff, I’m all Haki and hands.”
“You good at hand to hand stuff?”
Sabo shrugged, “Yeah, I’m alright.”
”Dodge bullets even?”
”When I’m not loaded up with fatiguing drugs? Easily.”
Ace fell deep in thought, absently licking at his dehydrated lips. Sabo gave him a scrutinizing look. He could’ve absolutely taken up an hour explaining Ryusoken to Ace, but he kept it simple because—
“You’re not even asking for the escape. You’re trying to gauge if you can beat me in a fight,” Sabo laughed, “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Come on, Sabo, this is just escape talk. Give me a little credit,” he defended, but he still wore a little smile when he added, “Ever conq’ed anyone, by the way?”
Sabo snorted softly.
“Even if I can’t, good luck beating me when you can’t see my next move.”
“My observation’s just as good as yours,” Ace said, unable to suppress his own indignant tone. Especially when Sabo didn’t seem to buy it, his offended expression only deepened.
“Sorry, I’m gonna have to assume my future sight is more advanced than yours since you’ve been shot twice,” Sabo said.
“Objection,” Ace scoffed, not seeing the mischievous glint his eyes, “They were only aiming for me. Both times. That’s so— you’re— oh, you’re—“
“Just fucking with you, yes,” Sabo finished, smirking softly at the rise he got out of Ace, “So we bide our time until we have enough energy to make a clean break. If we’re extremely fortunate, we’ll have assistance by the time we’re near land.”
Sabo wrung out a cloth to dab Ace’s back and shoulder before the bandages could go on. He coaxed Ace to sit in front of him, facing away, watching Ace look deep in thought at his words.
“Does, um… Dragon have your vivre card, Sabo?”
Sabo hesitated, watching water drip into the bucket as his eyes went slightly out of focus. He swallowed hard before blinking back to life, finished what he was doing.
“If you’re asking if he’s coming for me, that isn’t how the army works,” Sabo replied, “He knows I can handle myself. That’s why he appointed me second in command.”
Ace’s nose wrinkled. He was facing away, but Sabo could still hear it in his voice.
“Yeah, well, Deu is my vice-captain. And if anything happened to him, I’d be the first one dropping everything to get him to safety— ah! Sabo—!”
Sabo had squeezed the water out down his back, stinging it harshly.
“Sorry,” Sabo murmured, dabbing it gently across Ace’s back after seeing him recoil in pain, “Ace, he’s the commander of an army, not a ship’s captain. Revolutionaries have a higher purpose than that. How do I even explain…? We’re not playing pirates, we’re playing chess. And when you play chess, you don’t sacrifice your king. I don’t want him to stop his work because of some shit-eating slavers… I can handle this, okay?”
“I know you can, Sabo,” Ace told him softly, not having meant to upset him.
Maybe it was good that Sabo at least thought he had a father figure, even if he didn’t meet Ace’s standards. And Ace knew his standards were unfairly high, but it wasn’t something he could really change at this point.
”There’s no harm done, just ease up a little on him,” Sabo said gently, continuing cleaning Ace’s back with careful hands.
Ace leaned against the bars, closing his eyes against the stinging water. But he looked back occasionally to see Sabo over his shoulder. Just as a distraction from the pain, definitely not because he couldn’t stop looking at him, like he’d disappear any second. Him and his cheekbones, his perfect little nose and the lip he bit gently when he concentrated.
Sabo threw Ace a coy look the next time he caught his eyes after noticing his glances.
“Something you need?” Sabo asked.
“Just thinking…” Ace murmured.
He trailed off as Sabo threaded the rolled bandages around his chest and back after the lacerations were clean again.
Ace blamed Sabo’s hands for distracting him too much to focus on a thought. Pure fire erupted under the warm brushes of his hands, though Sabo did a good job of barely touching him. It only made every time it happened absolutely light Ace’s skin up.
“Yeah, thinking really deeply over there. What’s on your mind?” Sabo asked curiously.
When he’d wrapped Ace’s entire tattoo down past his ribs, Sabo tucked the end of the bandage under the previous section.
Ace felt his heated fingers pressing into his waist, shivering at the sensation before trying to recover his composure.
Even though he tried to choke out a reply, Sabo let his fingers stay there several moments longer, stealing his breath.
“I’m just looking forward to getting outta here,” Ace managed to say, settling on something he thought he could admit without Sabo saying it first.
What was he worried about? Sabo had recently been planting urgent kisses down his neck, so surely this wouldn’t be too much for Ace to overcome. But that couldn’t have been more different, because Sabo didn’t remember it. And it was just the drugs. Right?
Ace shut his eyes tightly, not at all used to talking about this, least of all with Sabo.
”You still don’t remember anything from the apro- the, um, those drugs?”
Sabo lost his grip on the bucket while moving it aside, cursing quietly as he caught it against the floor just before spilling it. His hands gripped it carefully, looking worried at Ace’s profile.
He’d never been in this position before. Didn’t have a clue how to fix it.
”No, but I’m… I’m so sorry Ace. If I hurt you, I can’t apologize enough. And if there’s anything I can do that would make it better, just say the word,” Sabo told him seriously.
Ace fidgeted, looking down and rubbing his cold hands together to warm them.
”I only brought it up to ask if that was just the drugs, making you act that way.”
Sabo looked down at his fingernails, the one that’d scratched Ace. Seeing that he’d been so wild, blacking out and drawing blood when Ace put up resistance gave him chills.
”I hope you know I’d never do anything like that on purpose, Ace,” Sabo told him, still looking concerned as Ace met his eyes.
When Sabo saw how embarrassed Ace looked, though, it spiked him with an anxious thought. Had he been babbling incoherently? Silent? Or had he said some extremely coherent things that only Ace knew about?
“Was I talking to you? Did I say anything during this?” Sabo suddenly asked, and it made Ace go scarlet, swallowing as he turned his face immediately.
“Please?” Sabo insisted, “Can you tell me anything?”
Ace couldn’t believe he was about to admit this, but it was better to tell him something minor that happened. One of things he might worry about the least.
”You tried to kiss me,” Ace admitted, “That something you’d normally try to do? Without the drugs?”
”Maybe, if I thought you wanted me to.”
Ace made an effort to let out the breath he was holding, body too tense suddenly. It felt like an adrenaline rush, hearing him say something like that so casually.
Sabo, left in painful suspense by Ace’s clear lack of response, let out a slightly nervous laugh.
”You’re really not gonna say anything to that? Guess I’m lucky I don’t have low self esteem. Fine, be cool and enigmatic.”
Ace bit his lip as he drew up his knees to rest his elbows on them, then his chin on his hands.
“I want to. Just not here, like this,” he admitted, so quietly.
Sabo’s heart squeezed pleasantly, a feeling too pure for a place like this. Filth and grime and painful memories. Ace was right; it was no place for a kiss, certainly not one they’d have to think about forever.
So Sabo tucked Ace’s dark hair behind his ear instead, earning him another look at his blushing face.
”I’d really like that,” he told Ace, “Anytime you want. Even more reason to leave this place, isn’t it?”
Ace hummed his agreement, relaxing against the bars now that his heart rate could return to normal.
”Can you tell if it’s getting weaker yet? The AFA?” Ace asked, “It’s no pressure on my account, I just don’t want that creep putting his hands on you again. He’s getting bolder by the day.”
Sabo went quiet, wheels in mind turning out ideas for how to ensure a clean escape. If they could incapacitate Marmont, they could get as messy as they wanted with the crew, so long as the ship didn’t sink. Sabo knew Ace’s cuffs would be no problem. They’d crack like eggshells in his hands, the second he sensed the time was right.
“Can’t tell yet, unfortunately. We’ll just have to wait until I can sneak some strength back. I’ll spring you free, then we’ll take out the threats before tracking down your crew. Marmont we’ll just have to just knock out,” Sabo replied, “I know how frustrating that is, but it’s not worth the risk. Not to mention, if we were to kill him, we might be killing one of the few people who know the location of the children. So we get him back to your ship in cuffs.”
Ace rested his cheek against the bars, gaze falling to the floor in thought.
“I’m good with that plan. I know it seems like I want him dead, but that’s not the case. Don’t even want him in a cell. I want him to suffer for the rest of his life.”
“Well, I agree… if only every depraved soul in this world got what they deserved. But, Ace, I wish you’d prepare yourself for the possibility that Marmont and others like him may never get enough punishment for their crimes. In my experience, the worst offenders get more promotions than punishment.”
Ace turned to look at him.
“Not this time. He fucked with the wrong guys. I thought you dealt justice for a day job.”
Sabo frowned slightly. In reality, it must’ve happened sometime between tearing would-be child predators a new asshole and uncovering far more corrupt world leaders than decent ones. He just never felt like he put a dent in the world’s problems.
“I try to do the right things, but the system is too broken for one person to fix. And sometimes revenge hurts you worse, even if it feels right.”
Ace shrugged.
”Yeah, well you don’t have to put faith in the system to have faith in me. I’m not letting Marmont think there aren’t consequences to this,” he assured Sabo, “And if you’re worried about that poisoning me, or whatever, don’t. A good captain doesn’t let something like this slide. Simple as that.”
And as long as Ace’s crew knew he was alive, they wouldn’t back down from the threat either, unlike the army. The one that didn’t even seem to be coming after Sabo, Ace couldn’t help but think.
Ace didn’t want to assume the worst of the Revolutionary Army, but if Sabo was second in command under Dragon— if Sabo meant anything to them— then where were they? It wasn’t about needing to be rescued, or that he couldn’t free himself.
To Ace, it was about loyalty. That’s why he believed Koala deserved Sabo’s high option of her, why she deserved a place on Ace’s ship.
But the rest of them…?
Sabo defending the revolutionaries and their leader spoke volumes. Ace knew Sabo would give up his life for them, but from what he could tell, it was a one-sided sentiment. He tried to put the thought out of his mind before Sabo could tell his mood had shifted, but Sabo carried on speaking.
”I’m just telling you to manage your expectations. Sometimes never have the chance to get even, and sometimes when you do, it’s never enough. You can either accept it, or you can let it drive you insane. I’d rather you not let it poison you. That’s all I meant.”
“I won’t,” Ace said, crossing his arms comfortably, “Because if I don’t, Jiji will. He doesn’t fuck with slavers, especially ex-marines that go after children.”
His words, Sabo sat mulling over for a moment.
“I already know Jiji’s gonna bruise my other eye when he thinks I’ve been causing trouble in town,” Ace said after a minute, grimacing when the thought occurred to him.
“Then I’ll help you kick his ass too,” Sabo replied without hesitation.
“The same guy we used to know as kids?”
Ace flashed him an approving look.
”The same one. You must’ve heard about him even after your accident, right? Dragon must have even more stories about him than I do.”
”Mmh… not so much. He liked talking about the vice-admiral about as much as you like talking about Roger, only difference being that Dragon’s reluctance comes directly from the way he was raised. Say what you will about Dragon, but I was never afraid of him bruising my other eye.”
Ace didn’t turn around, but his eyes widened a little at the shocking clarity of Sabo’s memory. He wanted to celebrate really any recovery Sabo made, but Ace wished he didn’t have such a limited view of Garp. He was an extremely rough kind of father figure in their lives, but he was there. Present. And he cared deeply.
He knew Sabo might only have one bad memory of Garp, so he stayed quiet, promising himself to give Sabo time to remember the rest.
”You were Jiji’s favorite y’know, between the two of us,” Ace mentioned, “You were always the one sticking bandages on Luffy’s cuts. First one to notice if he was missing, or upset about something. That’s why the old man liked you most.”
“Nuh uh,” Sabo replied, but Ace could hear a smile in his voice, hands pausing for a moment keeping his warm fingers from leaving Ace’s back.
“Yeah, made me jealous a couple times. But I couldn’t blame him. I liked you more than myself too…”
Sabo’s stomach fluttered a little at that, even if Ace hadn’t meant it to sound so intensely unplatonic.
He spent a few more moments gently fussing with the bottom edge of the bandages along Ace’s lower back, and it was almost too obvious how much he wanted an excuse to keep the contact.
Ace leaned into the touch, so slightly that Sabo couldn’t tell if he imagined it or not.
Their conversation lapsed, the two of them simply enjoying the closeness. Ace let his eyes shut, taking a deep breath as he tried to focus on something other than how good it felt to be touched.
Sabo leaned in closer, resting his chin on Ace’s shoulder, then his cheek instead because it was comfier.
When Ace shivered, Sabo felt a jolt of guilt, hoping he hadn’t traumatized Ace in some way under the drugs’ influence. Part of him wished he could remember everything clearly, and part of him didn’t. Surely Ace would tell him to back off if anything he did bothered him.
Ace bit his lip, not sure what to make of the sensations Sabo was evoking.
He’d never felt this way around anyone else. The touch of Sabo’s fingers, the warmth radiating from his body, it would’ve been meaningless without the deep-rooted longing for him that he still had, something Ace was only just beginning to understand.
Sabo hadn’t felt this way about anyone either. Ace wasn’t the only person he’d encountered with charisma. But Haki? Physical strength? And the strength was real power, deeper than human fitness or physique. In the past, Sabo had to be careful not to hurt anyone he slept with. But with Ace easily matching his, well, durability…
"Hey Sabo?”
“Anything,” Sabo mumbled before his eyes opened wide, “Sorry, what? I zoned out.”
The moment Sabo lifted his cheek from where it warmed Ace’s shoulder, Ace turned slightly to face him easier, but still leaned against the bars.
“Thanks for not making a big deal about… about Roger.”
“I guess I also thought if you wanted to talk about it you would,” Sabo explained.
Ace relaxed at that, remembering how badly Sabo reacted the first time. That fight they had was awful. It haunted him, to be honest, how long he spent angry with Sabo. How Sabo being angry with him so long ended up tearing him to shreds, especially after the accident. Maybe having a clean slate wasn’t the downside Ace thought it would be.
“So it’s true then,” Sabo said. He felt it must’ve been, especially after the vivid dream he just experienced. Ace didn’t seem to have an issue with his father so much as an issue with being bullied about it. Attacked by strangers over it.
“Yeah, but I guess I’m more at peace with it now. I kinda lashed out about it when you first found out. Maybe you don’t remember it, but I don’t want it to be like that between us ever again. So if there’s anything you want to talk about, including him, I won’t mind, Sabo.”
“I appreciate that… Ace…”
Sabo sat there weighing how much he wanted to embrace him against how much he wanted Ace to be the one to initiate any closeness. He settled for plausible deniability.
Since he was sitting behind Ace, he reached between Ace’s arm and his ribs, closing his hand around one of his cuffs. He had to brace his free hand against the floor to shift closer so he could reach his wrist.
Ace sat a little straighter, as if extremely aware of Sabo’s shoulder touching his back all of a sudden. But he tried to ignore it, watching Sabo test his strength around the kairouseki, squeezing it in his hand.
“Mmph… I hoped I might have more Haki back by now,” Sabo told him quietly, “I’ll be glad when I can get you out of these.”
The way Sabo’s breath ghosted across Ace’s hair had his own breath catching.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were flirting with me,” Ace said with a smile, watching Sabo’s hand still wrapping the cuff, lingering there.
Sabo didn’t get to respond, because that goddamned door opened again.
Skar and Darro both appeared this time, crossing their arms in the doorway.
”Tch,” Darro uttered pissily, “More supplies. Marmont better transfer Tallis to Ten-Thirty’s crew next trip. Are we slavers or nannies, damn it?”
”Not just me, then? I’ve had it to here with mommy’s boy,” Skar agreed, snarling, “Rather eat him than his cooking.”
They approached the cell, not even seeming to care if the prisoners heard their bitter complaining. They continued to chatter idly, picking Ace and Sabo off the floor like potato sacks, easily ignoring their squirming and protesting.
”Nice night for it, though,” Darro admitted casually, clanging Sabo’s head on the bars when he turned to shut the cell door.
Skar cackled at Darro discussing the weather when their captain had such dark plans for the pair.
Once over the threshold, the officers forced the prisoners upright to half-climb, half-stumble up the narrow staircase.
Sabo could still feel his mind fogged slightly, his body heavy as he tried to support his own weight. His bare feet struggled to find purchase as Darro forced him along, slamming his unprotected toes against the wooden stairs.
He had no idea what time it even was. But once they were pulled onto the deck, it became apparent they’d been taken from the cell in the dead of night. Only moon-illuminated darkness and the quiet ship greeted them.
Sabo and Ace both independently noticed the nearly imperceptible slice of distant, black shore off the starboard side. Perhaps it was survival instinct alone that made them able to locate it so quickly, but the sight made Sabo’s heart beat faster. And he needed it to in order to process whatever AFA remained in his system.
Ace’s tension mounted as they were taken across the deck again. Marmont emerged from his quarters, moving like a predator around them both as Skar and Darro held them facing each other.
The captain came to a halt behind Sabo, brushing a hand across his bare shoulder and making a smug expression at Ace, as if showing him he could touch Ace’s property as much as he wanted.
"Before I sell you off, Ace," Marmont drawled, "I want you to know that Sabo here is going to be my personal toy.”
Ace felt sick to his stomach as he heard those words. He glanced over at Sabo, who looked like he was about to be physically ill. Darro pinned Sabo’s arms behind his back, and he couldn't help but squirm against the rough grip, making his skin burn.
Marmont chuckled darkly, stepping up between Sabo and Ace.
“See, I know you’re going to miss having such a pretty plaything at your disposal, Ace, so just once, I’ll make sure you get a show," he purred, running his hand over Sabo's neck, "So you can always remember what he looks like when he’s getting fucked."
He roughly shoved Sabo down by both his shoulders, forcing him to his knees in front of Ace.
Sabo's face stayed carefully controlled as they looked into each others’ eyes.
But Ace could feel the muscles in his own back tensing as he prepared for what was about to happen. If Sabo didn't get his strength back, immediately, Ace was about to see something he'd never be able to recover from.
Sabo didn’t look nearly as worried as Ace.
"You say that like I'd even feel it. Like it would even fucking bother me," Sabo said coolly, "Like anyone cares about your shriveled little dick.”
Ace flinched as Darro slammed a fist into Sabo's cheek, but Sabo didn't. He licked the blood that dripped to the corner of his mouth, shooting Ace a sly grin.
"You want to play rough?" Sabo asked, his voice steady despite the pain, "Fine. But you'll find I'm not as easy to break as you think."
Ace felt a surge of pride to see Sabo standing up to them. He’d felt Sabo’s strength before, and was already anxious to see it resurface again. Because if he was comfortable taunting them like this, he better be insanely confident that he'd recover his Haki in time.
As Sabo was handled roughly in front of him, Ace tried to block out the thought of what Marmont was attempting to do, focusing only on Sabo instead.
The moonlight cast a surreal blue glow over his features, making his pale skin look almost ethereal. Even with a dark trickle of blood down his cheek, and Marmont's ugly hand gripping his exposed neck, Ace could only look into his eyes for a moment, seeing how softly Sabo returned his stare, gazing at him through those eyelashes that caught the light.
That right there— how perfect he looked— was a sight only Ace should get to see. His nose wrinkled as he met Marmont's eyes. He promised him with a glare that even if Ace himself wouldn't get to deal his punishment, someone would on his behalf.
And Ace had spent so much time beating himself up for not being able to get Sabo free from this place that it took him this long to realize that he'd already freed them both. Because he didn't have to be stronger than kairouseki to beat Marmont. He only had to be kind to one miniature little Zoan.
All Ace could do was believe Tallis really had swapped Sabo’s AFA with saline, that he’d already made their escape not just possible, but inevitable.
While Marmont whispered disgusting things in Sabo’s ear, Ace's eyes narrowed in determination, fixed on something beyond them, and Sabo couldn't help but wonder what it was that he was seeing there.
Only Ace saw movement in the darkness, a shape gliding up to silhouette against the moon on silent wings, suspending there to float on a rush of wind. His heart gave a hopeful leap, letting his fingers grip the short chain holding his shackles together, itching to be free of them.
Sabo gave an annoyed grunt of resistance as the older man's rough hand slid up his smooth, unprotected thigh. He hissed through his teeth when Marmont's thumb dipped beneath the fabric of his shorts, throwing his head in protest.
Ace frowned, looking from the hawk flying over head back down to Sabo’s straining body as Marmont doubled him over.
‘I thought Tallis might’ve jumped in by now,’ Ace pondered, a sickly feeling beginning to take over his whole system, because what if Sabo didn’t recover from the AFA in time, and what if Ace had misjudged Tallis entirely?
Sabo’s arms pulled ineffectively against the grip the officers had on him, pinning them to his back and forcing his shoulders to stay down as Marmont caressed the toned curves of his obliques. Sabo’s breath got harsher and harsher when he felt the clumsy fingers grasping for his waistband, eyes shutting against the helplessness, the fatigue still gripping him.
"Again!” Dragon demanded gruffly, forcing Sabo to look up at him by pressing the end of his own metal staff under his young chin. Sabo was splayed out on the dry earth, breathing heavily as he tried to recover from unconsciousness.
“Get up!” Dragon said, watching Sabo grasp the staff weakly before collapsing again. He circled the young boy in the sparring ring he’d set up on Baltigo.
“Why bother!” Sabo called back, his features contorting in frustration, “You’re just gonna keep doing this to me. How is it a fair fight?”
Dragon slammed the end of the staff into the ground, sending up a cloud of dust that made Sabo cough miserably. The intimidating man stood back a few paces, staring down at him without any hint of sympathy.
“Fair? You think anyone fights fair? The world wants to crush you, as unfairly as it can. And it will if you let it,” Dragon told him harshly.
Sabo still lay prone after relentless Haoshoku attacks, waves of willpower-commanding Haki too advanced for such a young child to resist as Dragon loomed over him.
“Maybe I want the world to crush me!” Sabo yelled, not able to stop tears from welling in his eyes as he tried to wipe his face on his sore arms.
“What’s the point, if it’s gonna be like this,” Sabo added bitterly, peering up at Dragon. His eyes were much too angry for an eleven-year-old. Angry and defeated.
Dragon didn’t mind anger, but he wouldn’t tolerate defeat.
“What’s the point? What’s the point?” Dragon said, seeming increasingly bothered by Sabo’s words the more he thought about them.
“Yeah, that’s what I said, isn’t it?” Sabo yelled, his whole body going rigid with uncontrolled emotions. He ducked his cheek to wipe it on his arm again, smearing dirt on his own face.
“When you asked me to train you, I didn’t imagine you’d give up after only a week,” Dragon told him, voice thick with clear disappointment.
“I asked you to train me because I thought it might make you love me. You’re the only father I’m ever going to have,” Sabo shouted, “And I’ll never be enough, will I?”
His outburst stunned Dragon completely, forcing his eyes to blink as he struggled to even work up a response. The child looked hurt and vulnerable, and suddenly Dragon saw himself laying before his own father as a child no older than Sabo. Dragon was treating Sabo exactly like his own vice-admiral father had treated him.
This made him kneel slowly until Sabo finally looked up at him again, and this time, both of their expressions had relaxed a little.
“If that’s what you need, then I will do my best,” Dragon told him, “I’m afraid my father taught me more Haki than he did parenting skills. If you’ll be patient with me, I’ll be patient with you.”
Sabo sniffled, still fighting back a pained expression— emotional, physical, every kind of pain he’d ever felt. That’s what made it so hard to get up. Having his willpower stripped away over and over again, told to get up every time, it had him exhausted and stubborn.
“I don’t want you saying things like that… that you want to be crushed,” Dragon added after a moment, a line pinching between his brows, “It’s not true, is it?”
Sabo blinked hot tears down his face, shaking his head as his lip trembled.
“Good,” Dragon said, standing tall over him again, “Because one day, you’re going to get knocked down so badly that you might be tempted to give up, and if I’m not there to help you, I need to know my son is strong enough to pick himself back up and fight for his will to live.”
Sabo shut his mouth tightly, breathing in harsh air through his nose as he lifted his face. He was tired, and Dragon could see it, but he knew Sabo could handle it if he pushed him enough.
“You can always find the energy to stand up, one more time,” Dragon said, “Get up, Sabo.”
Sabo pushed onto his elbows, then his knees, struggling with tremoring arms to get himself upright again. He stood shakily, leveraging his bodyweight to pull his staff from where it embedded in the ground.
“And now you’re gonna conq’ me again,” Sabo told him, “And I’m gonna pass out again.”
“Not if you don’t let me,” Dragon told him, using his arm to block several hits Sabo landed, “You know the solution, don’t you?”
“There’s no solution,” Sabo insisted, his frustration making him hit harder and harder the more Dragon blocked, “I can’t counter it— that could take decades to learn.”
Dragon caught his staff, making Sabo jolt in surprise as his round, baby blue eyes looked straight into Dragon’s blood-red ones. Monstrous power coursed through those irises, turning Sabo’s stomach.
“I’m not asking you to counter,” Dragon said calmly, “I’m only asking you to stay awake. You stay awake, and you have a chance of surviving. You fall asleep, you’re as good as dead.”
Sabo’s senses flooded back to reality as his hips got pulled back against Marmont’s. He heard the clinking of Marmont’s belt, heard his ragged, lusty breaths behind him as Ace was putting up a fight in front of him.
"Sabo!" Ace yelled out, struggling against the grip of the men holding him, “Get your hands off him!"
As Skar’s slimy, wet hand smashed Sabo’s face to the deck and forced it to stay there, he let his own breath slow, clearing his head as he felt his heart beat strengthen.
Then the beat of his own heart got louder than everything else, drowning out Ace’s voice and Marmont’s belt, and even the distant cries of a hawk. His eyes tried to focus, flexing his arms and feeling his back go rigid to reclaim strength there. If he only thought about one muscle at a time, it helped.
“You can always find the energy to stand up, one more time,” Dragon said, “Get up, Sabo.”
Sabo’s eyes narrowed with the effort, turning his head just enough to lock eyes with Ace, who was on his knees just in front of him less than an arm’s length away. Pins and needles prickled at his skin, from his face to his fingers and toes. He could feel the weight leaving his body, light as Haki began to swell, but he kept it suppressed. When his eyes met Ace’s, Sabo gave him an unexpected smile, then a nod.
It’s time, Ace.
Sabo’s arms galvanized metallic black, ripping from their grasp, throwing a jabbing elbow into Skar’s throat, then chopping fiercely at Darro’s carotid on his opposite side. The momentum made it too easy to slam his knee into Marmont, striking a dumb expression on his face when the force sent him sprawling to the deck.
A hawk’s cry pierced the air, then a blur of feathers preceded talons as Tallis attacked the captain with sharp claws.
Sabo stood back in mild surprise to see the bird target him so furiously. But he shrugged, using the distraction to draw the pistol from Marmont’s unbuckled belt. He popped Darro and Skar in their unconscious temples from above before discarding their guns: one, two, three sent sailing a tremendous distance over the railing into the rolling waves. Marmont’s spare gun Sabo flipped expertly around his hand, sending a wink Ace’s direction.
“Well fucking done,” Ace breathed, grinning helplessly as Sabo slid to a halt before him like he couldn’t get there fast enough.
Sabo seemed just as surprised and out of breath as Ace, brows pinching with a flood of emotions as he set down the weapon to grasp Ace’s cuffs— one in each hand— and flexed his claws with just enough pressure to send cracks spreading through the stone.
He’d sent such gentle fissures through the shackles that just a flinch from Ace’s arms made them fall away.
But Ace wasn’t looking down at the cuffs anymore, he was staring openly and unashamed from Sabo’s eyes to his lips in the sudden stillness of the nighttime ocean air.
Sabo basked in the intense warmth radiating from Ace right now, having been without it long enough to feel so relieved to have it back.
Just then, Ace may have worked up the courage it would take to actually kiss him, but something had his pupils changing, waxing and dilating, something that made his hair stand on end like he was trapped inside another nightmare.
”What are you?” Ace suddenly said out loud, flinching slightly out of nowhere, “Can you help?”
”I’ll do my best,” Sabo told him with a little confusion, waving his hand in front of Ace’s eyes, “You’ve gotta tell me what you need, though.”
But he hadn’t been speaking to Sabo, and he didn’t have time to explain it before—
Ace cursed, flinching as the ship gave a lurch, then Sabo cursed. They held each other steady as the rest of the crew began to pour out onto the deck from below, pistols and rifles already drawn on them. Sabo's hand flinched to the gun beside them, but Ace stopped him, getting his attention.
“Don’t move, it’s gonna be okay,” Ace murmured so only Sabo could hear, both of them freezing in place even when Sabo’s instinct was to fight.
The hawk attacking Marmont abandoned him to take flight again, fleeing as the captain gripped his face and made an angry noise into the deck.
The men moved closer and closer until Sabo couldn’t focus staring down so many barrels at once.
“Look at me,” Ace whispered, catching his eyes calmly where they kneeled with each other, “Sabo, do you trust me?”
Sabo’s brow pinched, and just by looking at Ace instead of springing into action against the crew, he confirmed that he trusted him tremendously. It overrode every instinct of survival, but Ace had risked everything to be here with him, and his confidence right now meant he had a plan.
Ace’s irises went dark, spiraling in a captivating pattern that he’d never seen this close before. Sabo seized a little at the sight, knowing all too well what followed. Ace wanted him to know what was about to happen before it happened, but he only had a second to prepare himself for the magnitude of the blast from Ace's Haki.
“I’m not asking you to counter,” Dragon said calmly, “I’m only asking you to stay awake. You stay awake, and you have a chance of surviving. You fall asleep, you’re as good as dead.”
“All you have to do is stay… awake…”
Fire erupted through him, but Sabo tried to block out the feeling as it lanced down every nerve, every blood vessel, bursting light in his mind so strong it had his eyes rolling back into his eyelids. Ace hadn’t directed it at him, but the fallout alone nearly claimed his mind, tugging sharply at his willpower until he pulled back stubbornly.
The rush of Haki receded, withdrawing from the air until Sabo no longer had to fight against it, relaxing but exhausted.
Sabo’s eyelashes fluttered for a moment before his blue eyes resurfaced, wide with disbelief as he tried to focus on Ace’s awe-stricken grin. Piles of unconscious, uniformed men surrounded them, but Ace was indifferent to it, like it’d been a party trick. He was more amazed by Sabo right now.
“You stayed awake,” Ace said, openly impressed as he squeezed his shoulders, “You fucking resisted it. That’s insane, Sabo.”
“You think Dragon didn’t train me relentlessly with that?” Sabo told him, massaging his temples, “C’mon, help me up.”
Ace helped him stand, letting Sabo turn around to look for Tallis after not seeing him anywhere in the pile of bodies. He didn't know to look to the sky yet.
And Ace didn't get a chance to join him, because the moment he stood, he could hear that sound that gave him chills and had his hands flying up to protect his eardrums. For the first time, the voice didn't sound hungry or threatening, but almost reverent when it spoke to him.
‘Muridan? That’s your name?’ Ace’s voice said, projecting his thoughts.
‘It’s what he called me, the one who smiled down at me. You are young, but you sound the same. A king, like him.’
‘What? You can’t be talking about—‘
‘Gol D. Ace, show me your Will, child.’
Ace turned as if possessed, looking out to the ocean waves, eyes wide as blood seemed to surge to his irises again. The night wind whipped at his dark hair, but he otherwise stood completely still as Sabo approached his stiff frame with concern.
“…Ace? You okay?”
“I’m hearing it again,” Ace said, sounding hollow and confused, a million miles away.
“Oh, comforting,” Sabo told him dryly, before trying to get between him and the rail with genuine concern.
Ace stumbled to the railing beside him to look over it, wincing again at something Sabo couldn’t perceive, making Sabo shiver at the eerie sight.
“You’re scaring the shit out of me, by the way,” Sabo added.
He grasped Ace’s shoulders firmly, suddenly afraid something might compel him to jump over it. Sabo wondered if this could have anything to do with Ace’s nightmares, what he saw in the trenches just before they drowned.
A flash of Haki had Sabo’s attention, but it wasn’t Ace this time; it came from the deck behind them.
Sabo turned with just enough time to duck on instinct, but Marmont’s swinging fist caught Ace distracted and unaware, plummeting him over the rail to the black waves below.
And then Marmont was alone with Sabo, and Sabo was at an enormous disadvantage, because seeing Ace go overboard had his mind desperate to leap in after him. But he couldn’t, not when the captain stood in his way, blood trickling down his forehead to match Sabo’s cheek. And Marmont looked more unhinged than ever.
Even one flash of his Haki told Sabo to be very cautious with him. The presence of his energy would’ve even given Dragon a challenge, so Sabo knew one wrong move could knock him out, leaving no one to go in after Ace.
Marmont popped his neck with a smirk, moving steps forward while Sabo took a few wary steps back. Sabo was laser focused, reading him so closely it felt like he could perceive seconds ahead of his motives.
“It’s just you and me, little one,” Marmont crooned softly at him, seeming to enjoy the excitement of hunting him, just the two of them with no one else around.
Sabo knew the captain would talk sweet just before rushing in for a surprise attack, so he was ready when it happened, taking a swift bound just outside of his reach before watching him with narrowed eyes again.
“Oh, you should know by now that teasing just gets me so… much… hungrier,” Marmont growled, smiling as he shaved forward, appearing right where Sabo stood in an instant.
Sabo again had seen his path, however, dodging him, only this time the movement put his back to the railing. Sabo’s head rushed as he decided whether to dive in or try to knock Marmont out first.
But he didn’t have to make the call, because a sound had both of their plans screeching to a halt.
Waves near the ship parted, displacing water in a roar of noise as a gigantic shape arose from the ocean beside the ship, sending sheets of salt water splashing onto the deck.
Sabo braced himself, lowering down past the rail. His eyes widened to see such a massive creature baring rows of teeth so close to his face.
And rising from the ocean on the albino beast’s head was Ace, panting victoriously at Sabo, nodding to make it clear that Ace had some sort of control over the sea king, that it was all okay.
Nonetheless, Sabo shivered, covering his ears when its monstrous mouth opened to bellow so loudly he felt it in his bones. If its roar was like a clap of lightning, his body was the thunder, rolling its long eel-like form into the ship and causing Marmont to lose his balance, stumbling away toward the mast to get cover from the intimidating teeth.
Sabo didn’t move an inch, torn between looking at Ace and focusing on the beast's gigantic pink eyes. It still rumbled deep in its throat as Sabo held tight to the railing. Water scattered across the deck, the creature hovering its massive head over them.
The sea king let out another booming roar, sending another wave crashing into the ship. This time, Sabo was ready for it and managed to stay on his feet. Marmont, on the other hand, seemed to have lost his footing, falling from the protection of the mast into the center of the deck, where Muridan’s giant pink eyes zeroed in with enlarged pupils.
When the beast lurched forward, it using its nose to slam Marmont to the deck, pinning him there with enough weight to illicit gasps and croaks of panic from him.
Ace rose into the air, fire erupting in a path across his own skin to burn away the water. He looked fearsome there, looking down proudly at Marmont. Sabo thought he saw Ace lick his own canine, fingers twitching to exterminate the captain. But he relinquished the idea, closing his fist to steady himself as he suspended over them.
Sabo took the opportunity to pull an unbroken set of cuffs from Skar’s lifeless body to snap them around the captain’s wrists, but he edged around Muridan’s teeth with a disquieted glance, then sent Ace the same look, backing away to steady himself against the mast.
Ace slammed to the deck, surveying how Marmont was helpless, pinned down by a monster so terrifying the captain seemed to barely want his own eyes open.
"This is Muridan,” Ace introduced, “Says he rules the Calm Belt. He also says that today will not be calm for you."
’Indeed, it will not,’ Muridan agreed for only Ace to hear, ‘Not for an enemy of kings.’
When Marmont did look up again, Ace crouched with a glint in his eye, sparking a flame at the end of his finger an inch from Marmont’s cheek.
“Oh, look at that… I can play with fire, too,” Ace breathed, then smiled wickedly.
Marmont growled angrily at him, but Muridan pushed his ribs so he couldn’t speak, threatening to shatter them.
“Ace…” Sabo told him, “You don’t have to do that on my account. There’s information we need, though.”
Ace nodded, looking back at Sabo, then spotting Tallis balancing easily up on the yard. And he could see Tallis’ eyes were wide with amazement, watching the sea beast at Ace’s command.
“Find anything, Tallis?” Ace asked, making Marmont’s eyes roll back in relief since Ace seemed too distracted to burn him now.
Tallis had to really squint to see his mouth moving, but he considered himself lucky that the bird-type fruit had sharpened his vision. And after seeing the beast that bowed to Ace’s will, the flames he bent to his command, Tallis finally understood that Ace could fulfill everything Tallis ever wanted.
”Not really, Ace. He already broke the transponders. We’re not gonna find any information here, he made sure he’s the only one on the ship that knows where his other commander went.”
Not what Ace wanted to hear. Only frustrated him more. As much as he wanted to kill the slaver right now, he knew about the life tied to Marmont’s, how it was an innocent girl. And now Tallis added another layer. If they killed Marmont, no one might ever find out where he’d sent the other prisoners.
But he wasn’t letting Marmont go without a harsh reminder of what he deserved.
Sabo watched Ace push a burning thumb into the captain’s skin, hissing and smoking as he dragged five letters across his forehead. And Tallis watched from above, eyes welling with anger and relief to see Marmont suffer after everything he’d done.
Marmont snarled and screamed, but it only made Muridan’s razored snout press him down harder until his lungs ran out of air. He looked to still be yelling out in pain, just soundlessly now until Ace finished.
And then Ace took two steps back in dark satisfaction at his own work, nose wrinkling in disgust as Marmont returned his glare.
Sabo folded his arms, leaning into the mast.
The sight of Ace’s wrath-fueled act— well, it did feel justified. But that wasn’t the point. It’s not like Sabo cared if Marmont took a dose of his own medicine. But seeing Ace upset enough to do that to someone had his heart clenching. Beneath those narrowed eyes was all the suffering that’d been inflicted on him, and Sabo really hoped that Ace could recover from this. Revenge didn’t usually lead to recovery, not in Sabo’s experience.
Tallis remained perched on the yard, his eyes darting between Ace and Marmont. He was human again, but he crouched with his boots balanced easily on it, as if somehow still retaining his balance even when he wasn’t a bird. He returned Ace’s thumbs up.
”Artistic. I like it,” he called down to Ace.
“We couldn’t have managed this so easily without you, Tallis. Does this mean you want me as your captain?” Ace asked.
“I do,” Tallis replied, standing from his crouch as he balanced up there looking down. He had nothing but admiration, seeing Ace astride the massive sea creature, completely in command of the beast.
“Good,” Ace replied, “You first order is to chain up all your old crew mates.”
”And what about Marmont?”
Ace put a hand on Muridan’s face, smiling as the albino monstrosity pressed down into Marmont again, making the man squirm and cough.
‘If I may, young one… A wise king would offer him to the fates…’ Muridan rumbled, still making Ace wince at the booming voice interrupting his thoughts.
”Is that what Roger would’ve done?” Ace asked him.
‘Hmm… no… no mercy from that king. Will you be the same?’
Ace considered his words, chewing his cheek as he looked down at Marmont, the blue line on his neck, the way the kairouseki hadn’t disabled the permanent life bond tattooed on him.
Up until now, Ace very much fit the way Muridan described Roger. No mercy: not for rival pirates, not for Jalmack or anyone else that fucked with his crew or his brothers. But right now, faced with being compared to Roger, having a beast hail him as Gol D. Ace, praising him as a king, he felt strongly averse to following that path.
”I’m not planning to be like him, Muridan. I’m just Ace. Not a king, not someone’s son, just a pirate lucky enough to have a crew, and that’s all I want to be. But leaving him to the fates isn’t something I trust either, as wise as you probably are.”
Now it was only Sabo that stood there unimpressed by this slimy beast saying things to Ace that Sabo couldn’t hear.
The fates? Ridiculous.
Ace was still so bothered by being compared to Roger that he was damn near easy to manipulate, Sabo thought with a shaky sigh. He crossed to speak quietly in Ace’s ear, gripping a hand gently around his arm to try and be a voice of reason.
“Are you okay?” Sabo asked him, only pulling back enough to look into both his eyes as if genuinely concerned he’d been possessed.
Ace nodded, looking very much disarmed and human with Sabo so close to him, nothing like the intimidating man he’d been seconds ago.
‘He’s completely different with me than everyone else,’ Sabo thought, not sure if he should like it this much, how soft Ace went the moment Sabo was in his personal space.
“Do we have to take advice from overgrown unagi?” Sabo whispered.
Ace smiled at him, clearly amused, “I can’t make friends? Pitch me your plan.”
Sabo was more than ready, laying out the steps on naked fingers that he wished were covered by gloves again.
”I’m not abandoning this ship for some island,” Sabo said, “We’ve already commandeered it, I say we backtrack until we find the Spidine—“
”Spadille—“ Ace protested.
”—And meanwhile we squeeze this bastard until he gives up where the kids were taken,” Sabo finished, then:
”And Spadille isn’t even a word.”
“Yes it is,” Ace said immediately, looking victorious to finally know something Sabo didn’t, “It’s an old word for a sword, it’s also in a card game that we used to play. What, that's not a real word, but Spidine is?”
”Well, it’s food, and you love food,” Sabo explained, going a little red having to explain himself.
“Would you two just fucking kill me already?” Marmont groaned, “Anything but listening to you talk. It just doesn’t stop.”
In hindsight, perhaps he realized he made an unfortunate mistake, annoying them both simultaneously. Sabo and Ace both turned, eyes sparkling dangerously as they looked down at him past their noses.
“Look who wants to give up some information. Want to do the honors, Sabo?” Ace asked.
”Mmh, no,” Sabo breathed, glancing back up at him, “I think I like watching you do it.”
Notes:
Prepare for a couple things okay:
1. The trouble isn’t over for Ace and Sabo
2. But it gets resolved faster this time
Chapter 25: Maskless
Summary:
Y’all better be taking care of yourselves, sometimes it takes real willpower to enjoy the week but we all got it, right? 💪
Chapter is almost all Spade Pirates only. There is a scene change at the end and a cameo character so even if you routinely skip these chapters you might like the last half of this
Personally I needed a comfort chapter so I wrote one, Deu is so baby boi sometimes. So is Mihar tbh. Marco starts to find his feet again - there’s angst but not much? Idk
Also I really don’t know how these end up so wordy lmao I’m so sorry to anyone that likes briefer chapters
Chapter Text
As the first rays of dawn stretched across the horizon, Marco stood leaning against the railing, heart heavy over their fallen friend. Even should Koala’s theory prove correct, Ace’s absence alone made the ship cold and humorless.
Ocean waves lapped gently against the hull of the ship. The rhythmic sound filled the air as the crew began to stir, one by one emerging up the staircase, all of them visibly exhausted from the emotional turmoil of the past day.
The distant sky went pink, streaked with the occasional wispy cloud, and cast warm light across the deck.
The sea around them was now unusually calm, almost as if it were holding its breath, waiting for some sign of what was to come.
Marco sank so deep into his own thoughts that he barely noticed Wallace crossing the deck toward him. The Fishman had only emerged this early out of concern. He explained to Marco that Mihar never entered the crew quarters last night.
“Have you seen him? I want to make sure he’s okay,” Wallace said.
“He probably wants to be alone, yoi,” Marco told him, staring into the waves below.
Wallace looked bothered.
“Are you talking about Teachie? Sounds like you’re talking about yourself… Ace would never let one of us suffer alone. Especially not him.”
Marco’s eyes stung painfully, looking out at the ocean because he couldn’t bring himself to turn around now.
“I… you’re right, yoi… I’ll go find him,” he managed guiltily.
But Wallace wasn’t done with him.
“You know, Marco, it’s you we worry about the most. Because you never ask for help. When you wanna change that, you know where everybody is…”
He finally looked over his shoulder to see Wallace shrug at him before walking back the way he came.
Marco made his way into the dim kitchen, past the seating, the sink and the grill to stop at a hinged door. He heard a sniffle from the other side, taking a breath in preparation before he eased open the larder.
Mihar had sat with his back to the far shelf, elbows resting on his knees as he held a red candle jar in his palm. Marco could only see him thanks to the warm light of the flame dancing across his tear-streaked features.
In his other hand, Mihar held an open flask.
“Sorry, I didn’t wanna worry anyone,” Mihar said, drying his face off quickly on the arm holding the flask.
Marco’s shoulders slumped at the sight of him. He gently closed the door before sinking down beside him.
Mihar shut his eyes as Marco slipped the flask out of his hand, closing it very tightly before slipping it into his pocket.
Sounding fatherly, Marco told him, “You can have this back on a happier day, yoi.”
Nodding, Mihar wiped his eyes again with his free hand, staring down into the flame of the candle. Marco scooted a little closer, clasping his arms around his own knees.
“My father was a marine. I don’t think I’ve told you that before… Sometimes, when we were kids, he wouldn’t make it home the day he was scheduled,” Mihar whispered, trying not to let his voice break before continuing.
“It felt like we were always waiting to hear that he’d been killed. When my mother would find my sisters and I crying, she used to burn a candle like this in the window. She told us it would keep him safe… So, today, I got this candle out of my locker, and I’ve been in here begging it to work this time.”
The words got to Marco enough that he had to blink a lot, barely managing to keep the waterworks in check. He wasn’t used to seeing Mihar like this, leaving both their faces a little blotchy.
“So I seem to be in denial, the crew is on edge, and predictably, Deuce has already tried to jump ship,” Mihar said, turning the candle slowly in his fingers, “Where’s your head at in all this?”
Marco sighed.
“Trying not to feel responsible for it happening, yoi. But I’ll admit, I’m wondering if I’m cursed.”
When Mihar gave him a skeptical look, Marco shrugged casually.
“Yeah, I get it. I know you haven’t been a pirate very long, but most of us are superstitious,” he explained, “So after the Summit War, and now Ace. Just makes me think.”
“Well, even without you filling me in on your last crew, I can still assure you that Ace wasn’t your fault. Whatever you might think of yourself, you've got people who care about you, even if we suck at showing it,” Mihar said.
Marco seemed to accept his words, even smiling for a moment before his eyes cast away, in thought again.
“That’s why it’s been tough on the guys, I think, yoi. One thing about Ace was he made everyone feel loved, individually. Now they’ll be forced to step in and be more like him as a group. When most of them don’t even know how to compliment each other.”
Mihar considered his words, nodding before giving a soft snort.
“Know what I’ll miss most, I think?”
“Hm?”
“Hearing those fucking boots running up behind me, knowing I’m about to get tackled.”
This made Marco laugh softly, even though he tried not to. He folded his arms close, getting more comfortable as Mihar continued.
“Yeah, he lost me my first hat that way. I wasn’t even the type to sleep in the same room as another person before him, much less in a pile of guys with puppy breath. He made the quarters way too warm, but I fucking miss him. That’s why I couldn’t go in there last night. And I know I’m talking to a wall about this, because you never slept there before, but…”
Marco grimaced.
"You're not gonna guilt me into staying in there, are you?”
"No," Mihar laughed, "I just want you to know that we’re here for you. And I appreciate you looking for me this morning.”
He paused for a moment, then added, "And if you want to sleep cold and sad and alone, that's none of anyone's business."
Marco let his head fall back onto a shelf, exhaling in amusement.
The candle flickered, casting shadows across the walls of the larder. Even though no one had entered the kitchen yet, they both heard voices coming closer, signaling it was time to break off the fleeting moment of vulnerability. It was enough that they didn't feel quite as heavy with despair as they had before.
Koala knocked at the threshold of the crew quarters purely out of habit, too used to living a couple rooms down from Sabo to forget to announce her presence before entering his space.
“No one knocks here,” Wallace mentioned from the lockers behind her, prompting Koala to enter.
She spotted Deuce easily, lying closest to her on the net. His straight, sky-blue hair stood out even in the dim light.
He’d slept in a long-sleeve tee and a dark, belted kilt hanging just past the knee over stylish harem pants. He must’ve been tired to fall asleep in anything belted, since it didn’t look that comfortable.
And it was interesting that he went shirtless all day to fully cover himself at night, though it probably just protected him from the net’s texture.
When she silently approached, Koala’s brows raised at his closed eyes, not having expected his eyelashes to match the vibrant blue of his hair. Even without his mask on, she could’ve recognized his distinctive features from his wanted poster, but the mask in his hand would've confirmed his identity regardless.
The sense of attractive mystery Deuce had when he slept vanished when he suddenly twitched and laughed softly, smiling.
“…Stop, that tickles…”
Yeah, this guy’s harmless.
Still, she always made sure to be out of reach when startling a man awake. Mainly because Sabo had no problem putting her in a headlock over the fourteen years they’d known each other.
She backed from the room, knocking a little louder this time. He woke gasping, clutching his heart as she ducked away.
“Who the hell would be knock—? Oh.”
They both locked eyes. He seemed… not pleased to be awake.
He was the only person sitting on the net, with everyone else having already risen for the day.
She entered again slowly, giving him an apologetic look, especially after seeing him rush to cover his face with the mask. She wasn’t sure how it usually stayed on, but Koala was fairly certain he didn’t normally have to keep it pressed there manually. But that’s exactly what he did, the whole conversation.
“They asked me to tell you they found Striker. Just pulled her aboard.”
Deuce took an extended inhale, trying not to show it when he remembered Ace’s vivre card burning to ash yesterday. He groaned, cursing softly as his nails dug into his face around the mask, but it didn’t make the memory go away like he hoped it would.
“In how many pieces? The storm destroyed her, I’m guessing,” he murmured.
“It’s not as bad as you’d imagine,” she said, trying to sound positive as he adjusted his grip on the mask, “They said you might wanna keep it, since you built it and all.”
“Doesn’t really matter, does it,” Deuce scoffed, “Even in perfect condition. She’s not Ace.”
Koala finally saw why he was holding his mask on; one of the leather cords had worn through and snapped after years of use.
“You don’t like to take that thing off, huh? Why—“
“How observant,” he said, too frustrated and hurt to have any patience right now.
“Is this your audition to be my snotty sarcastic brother?” she chided him, “He’s kind of irreplaceable, so I wish you’d drop the attitude.”
Deuce groaned, flopping over with his eyes shut.
“I’m not normally this much of an asshole. Go on, what did you wanna ask?”
She slid herself onto the net, laying on her stomach with a little more cheer than he liked having in his space at the moment.
“Just makes me curious what you’re hiding under there. Don’t tell me you’re from a prominent family, a prince someone would recognize. Your hair would certainly be memorable. Nefertari family?”
He smiled a little.
“You’d be disappointed; it’s nothing that interesting. Sometimes a person doesn’t wanna resemble their relatives.”
“Anyone specific, or do they all suck?”
The way she said it— in fact, based on her whole optimistic personality— he didn’t think she could really relate to his issue.
“You must have a good relationship with your father.”
She nodded.
“He’s amazing. Well, I guess I don’t know my real one. But the one that raised me gave me everything. A home, a purpose—“
Then she cut herself off, suddenly realizing Deuce never felt like he had those things.
Faltering, Koala shook her head, murmuring an apology when she saw him glancing away with a pained look.
“Well then I guess you wouldn’t understand why I have to wear it,” he said.
“What did he do?” she asked, hoping she wouldn’t regret it.
“The usual story for a pirate. Crushed me with expectations and disappointment, then eventually tried to crush me physically too. As did my abusive brothers.”
Koala watched him slowly pull the mask away, still laying on his back looking up at the ceiling.
“There. I’ll let you look at my face. Even with a mask on, kinda hard to fix what happened to me.”
His face did look strangely naked without it on, but to his credit he managed to look her in the eyes.
Koala gathered the broken folds of leather from his hands, examining them.
“Well, some things can be mended, even if the past can’t. May I borrow this? Will you be alright without it for a little while?”
He nodded, eyes casting down as he rubbed at his own bare face in discomfort.
Then Deuce sat up and rested his hands on his knees, looking tired.
“Well. I promised Marco I’d show face. Mask or no, I’ll be in the kitchen playing cards, as much as I couldn’t be bothered.”
“It was good to talk to you,” Koala offered.
He sent a thumbs up over his shoulder, about all the enthusiasm he could manage as he stalked from the cabin, leaving her on the net. She wouldn’t stay there, however, not with a new project added to the list.
Whatever it took, she’d make sure those cards dried before it hit lunchtime.
Marco finally snuck out of the larder with Mihar, neither of them wanting to be found sniffling by Banshee when she inevitably entered the kitchen.
They managed to pull themselves together by the time she opened the door. Mihar even had a cup of tea, sitting adjacent Marco at the table, as if neither of them had been choking up mere minutes ago.
Okay, maybe their eyes were a little red, but so were Banshee’s.
“Oh,” Banshee reacted, noticing Marco had used a plain mug for his coffee that morning, “Where’s your mug, dear, the blue one? That’s the only one I’ve ever seen you use.”
“Probably in the captain’s quarters somewhere,” Marco said, looking relieved when Banshee dropped the subject, bustling past to get rice cooking.
It only took a single card game between them before Skull joined from the helm and Deuce joined from their quarters.
Everyone did their level best not to react to Deuce’s uncovered face. It was perhaps hardest not to notice his blue eyebrows. And it almost bothered Deuce more, how they all ducked into their drinks much more quickly than normal when he entered.
“Okay, I’ll deal. Let’s get this game going, yoi,” Marco volunteered.
They played a couple hands before the aged mermaid spotted Deuce’s untouched plate from the kitchen.
“Deu, honey, you’re not eating. I only gave you one. Can you try to get something down? You’re gonna waste away.”
“Maybe, Bansh,” he said, but his heart wasn’t in it.
He eyed the rice ball apologetically, but couldn’t bring himself to take even a single bite. Especially because every time the table drew cards, it became increasingly obvious that some of them were missing.
“My hands have been shit all morning, yoi,” Marco murmured, seeming to have the same suspicion as Deuce.
Deu slammed the down his hand of cards on the table, covering his whole face in frustration, leaning on his elbows.
“Because we’re playing with a deck of forty-eight,” Deuce groaned accusationally, “…Mihar?”
“Damn, you haven’t called me that in forever— I didn’t do anything.”
“Skull, then?” Deu asked, looking upset when Skull grudgingly pulled four cards from his pocket and laid them out gently on the table.
Marco reacted sadly to see all four aces, but the sight upset Deuce even more.
“I’m sorry, Deu-san… I thought seeing them would make everyone feel worse.”
Deu swallowed hard, eyes welling up angrily.
“You can’t just remove them from the deck. Like they never fucking existed,” he said, fighting to stop from choking up, “What did you expect? That no one would even notice they’re not here? This is so cruel, asking me to sit here and play this game like it’s a normal goddamn day when everyone knows it isn’t.”
“Okay, please don’t isolate yourself, Deu,” Marco said, putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him from leaving, “I think hiding the cards was a very considerate thought, but we won’t do that anymore. Teachie, if you’ll switch places with me I’ll get some more tea going, yoi.”
Banshee had already approached with the kettle, having Marco stay seated while she poured more for them.
“What are we even doing?” Deu demanded, shrugging Marco’s hand off his shoulder.
Mihar cursed softly, because seeing the tears in Deuce’s eyes made him tear up too. He ducked under the table to reappear on the bench beside Deuce, pulling him into a hug.
“You stop this,” Mihar told him, blinking to clear his own eyes.
“We lost him, then the mask fell apart, now Striker is broken. Saber already called me Maskless Deuce twice today. I don’t know what to do,” Deuce barely managed to say.
“We’re all gonna be okay,” Mihar told him gently, making ‘help me’ eyes at Marco, who looked just as miserable as he massaged his own temples.
Skull lifted his mask, cursing as he wiped his own face, “Oy… Deu-san, I was doing okay until you started. Give me some of those plates, Marco. Need to make myself useful.”
He busied himself in the kitchen, cleaning alongside Banshee until they ran out of productive distractions before she finally coaxed him back out of the space, leaving him no choice but to return to his seat.
Marco shuffled the deck, motioning for Skull to help him get another game going. But just as new hands got dealt out, the sight of Koala entering the dining area through the door had Marco freezing in place.
He wasn’t sure what he really expected, but having the officers see Koala casually walk in wearing only his shirt made Marco want to duck under the table. A feeling he hadn’t experienced in an incredibly long time.
Like an idiot, he’d offered her coffee in his own mug, so it looked even worse, he was sure.
“Well I guess that explains why neither of you were in the crew quarters last night, Birdie,” Banshee sighed, sounding disappointed.
She absolutely assumed the worst, which was fair, but Marco didn’t have to deny the accusation, because Mihar already had him covered.
“He slept out on the deck, Bansh,” Mihar told her, “There’s no need to stir up trouble. What else is she supposed to wear?”
“Yeah, Marco-san is a gentleman. He’d never touch a lady,” Skull defended, making Mihar snort, hiding his smile.
“Not as helpful as you think, Skull,” Marco said, resting his forehead in his hand.
“I only meant you’re an honorable guy.”
Koala smiled, catching the flush spreading across Marco’s face. He didn’t look at her.
“Nevermind all that, then. You want some breakfast, honey?” Banshee asked Koala, but when the mermaid noticed the blue mug of coffee in her hands, she immediately turned to drop her jaw at Marco.
His nostrils flared, shutting his eyes and shaking his head in annoyance.
“Isn’t that your mug, Marco? You never let anyone—“ Deuce started with innocent confusion.
“Can we all agree to have a normal, boring, uneventful breakfast? Just today, yoi?” Marco asked.
Koala leaned against the kitchen’s counter, looking entertained as she pulled folded black leather from her bag. This, she tossed over the table into Deuce’s surprised hands.
His eyes rounded, misting over again to realize he held his own mask, now repaired after she’d stitched the broken tie back to it.
Marco watched Mihar lay the mask across Deu’s face for him, carefully threading it under his hair to tie it in place.
“No more tears, now,” Mihar chided him, “Okay, bud?”
Watching them made Marco smile into his sip of tea, leaning back to shoot Koala a grateful look, but looking at her made tea spill past his chin to run down his chest. Because she was coyly holding two perfect, unharmed vivre cards where only he could see them, biting back an excited smile.
Marco hurried to soak the spilled tea with a cloth napkin before fixing her with an emotional look.
“You were right?” he asked, just needing to hear her say it.
She nodded, looking a little giddy as she took another sip of coffee.
“Want to share with the room, or is this something private?” Banshee asked.
Only after Marco gave her a nod of encouragement did Koala pull the cards fully out of her bag.
“They just finished drying,” Koala said, tearing up again as she showed everyone, “They’re alive. Ace and Sabo.”
She held up their vivre cards, both of them fluttering slightly in her hands, indicating the direction of their life forces.
Skull was on his feet instantly, watching the cards move with wide eyes, saying, “They’re south-southwest? I’m going to check our heading.”
As Skull made for the deck, Deuce’s brow pinched, lips parting in disbelief, then amazement. The moment Koala’s eyes fell on him, he jumped on the table and over it, kicking and scattering cards and cloth napkins in his haste to scoop her into a forceful hug. She beamed at the equally stunned others in the room as he twirled her one good time before squeezing her even tighter.
She could hear him stifle a whimper of happiness.
“You have no idea…” was all he could manage, adding a steady stream of thank you’s over her shoulder until she was laughing.
She eventually bit her lip, letting the overwhelming ecstasy infect her.
“Anything you want,” Deuce murmured, “I’ll make you a journal, get you new supplies next stop we make, and fuck it, I’ll try to make whatever food you like— I can’t cook, but I’ll try my hardest—“
“Deu!” she laughed, forcing him to put her back down.
He wasn’t done, ignoring everyone in the room to grab her shoulders.
“I’ve been so dickish to you. Everyone else too, but you’re new and I hate that this happened right when you got here. Please accept my apology. Let me start over. I promise to help you however I can.”
“It was no trouble,” she insisted, almost wanting to reject his apology because she didn’t think he did anything wrong, “Vivre cards aren’t hard to make.”
“You saved my life,” Deuce whispered under his breath so only she could hear, then nodded so she knew he was deadly serious as fresh tears sprang into his blue eyelashes.
Her brow pinched sadly, reaching to pat at one of his hands on her shoulders.
“Deu,” Mihar suggested, “Someone’s gotta go tell the crew... It should be you.”
Koala handed him the thick squares of neatly-torn acid paper, treasuring his smile one more time before he left.
She took a victorious bite of a riceball, not even caring how weirdly crunchy the rice was. Banshee had obviously done her best, especially when she’d been grieving.
And now, Banshee was crying again, making a pitiful noises into her glossy finned hand. Marco entered the kitchen to console their mermaid mother-figure.
Koala rested her chin in her hand, sinking onto a stool and giving them privacy, only looking up again because Mihar approached her on one side.
“Thank you,” he said quietly, using a napkin to dry the corners of his eyes, “I didn’t want to accept it, and I’m glad you didn’t either. You really want that promotion outta swabbie status, don’t you?”
She smiled, laughing softly and nodding into her coffee.
“Good. I’ll make sure you never sweep or mop or clean a goddamn thing around here.”
With a final tousle of her hair, he left her side to start clearing up their scattered card game from the mess hall floor.
“Alive,” she heard Mihar say behind her, shaking his head with a grin as he tidied.
Koala had tucked a pillow under her arm, keeping it there as she walked across the deck in Sabo’s cashmere socks.
Night had fallen, and eventually she saw the crew’s oversized cat snoozing, now just a wiry ball of fur against the starboard rail.
Kotatsu was also being used as a pillow by Marco currently. And Marco would’ve looked asleep, since his eyes were closed, but his fingers moved, still scratching absently at Kotatsu’s neck.
Koala didn’t want to wake the cat since there wasn’t much walkway, so she silently transitioned each of her hands and feet to balance on the railing, creeping stealthily up to them. Sure, the socks nearly made her slip off, but not until she already hovered over the relaxed pair.
She didn’t fall; her balance was just good enough, but the slight noise opened his instantly blazing eyes.
At the sight of her, he flinched, cursing and rubbing his eyes until they faded back to grey.
She smiled, perching on the rail hugging the pillow.
”Sorry, I was only trying to get past.”
“You can sneak up on me all you like, but I wouldn’t do it around Kotatsu. Now get down before I have to wake somebody up to haul you out of the water.”
Koala dropped to crouch by him, resting her face in her hand.
“Why don’t you sleep with the crew?”
“Kotatsu is on the crew; don’t be insensitive,” he murmured, patting the cat’s enormous head when it lifted questioningly.
“You know what I mean. That doesn’t look comfortable. Can I bring you the blanket from your room?”
He closed his eyes, like that might make her questions stop.
“No one makes it as a pirate if they can’t sleep comfortably anywhere, yoi,” Marco explained.
“I’m going to the crew quarters so you can have your room back now.”
His eyes shot open.
“Wha—? Don’t be insane. I gave you the room. I’m only out here to keep Kotatsu warm. Without Ace, he gets really cold.”
“Like I said. Sleep where you want. I’ll be in the crew quarters. Not everyone can sleep alone.”
“That’s a problem for you, yoi?” he asked.
She shrugged, “Yeah, sometimes it doesn’t bother me, but sometimes I have to sleep in Sabo’s room. Fewer bad dreams that way. Honestly just helps to be around people. Anyway, hope you get some rest.”
“Oy,” he called, stopping her in her tracks.
Koala walked back up to him, conscious of not making him yell at night.
“I didn’t properly thank you. Mainly for not listening to me, for being stubborn enough to make those cards.”
“Is that really why you called me all the way back over here?” she asked, quietly accepting his high-five that turned into a light grasp of her hand.
“No,” he said, “Just wanted to ask you— if you really insist on sleeping in that room— to sleep between Deu and Banshee. Most of the crew wouldn’t try any fuckery but you’re safest between those two.”
She grasped his hand in return, finding it much warmer than she thought it would be.
“You have no calluses,” she told him with a slight laugh as they let their hands pull apart, “Like you haven’t made a single knot in your life. That’s incredible.”
Marco pressed his lips thinner to avoid laughing.
He didn’t think it sounded like a compliment for a career pirate, but she clearly enjoyed that he had oddly soft hands, so he let it slide.
“Chill. My skin hasn’t been able to callus since I was fifteen, yoi.”
Before she could walk away again, he took notice of what she was holding under one arm.
“You’re taking one of my pillows?” he asked.
She shrugged.
“Yeah, I figure it might be comfier than just the net alone. I was also gonna ask what you washed the case with. It smells really nice.”
“I didn’t,” he said, giving her a scrutinizing look, watching her eyes widen in embarrassment.
“Okay, have a good night,” she said hastily, backing away before turning to pace toward the stairs again.
“I mean I washed it this week, just not right before you used it, sorry—“ he added, squeezing his eyes shut as she gave him a thumbs up.
“At least she doesn’t think I smell bad, huh, Kotatsu?” he murmured.
Then he sank down with crossed arms, hoping to fall asleep quickly.
He did not fall asleep quickly.
Within seconds, his hairs began to stand on end, eyes opening with blazing irises in the darkness. He felt someone approaching, fast.
Kotatsu growled beneath him, seeming to sense Marco’s reaction to a surge of Haki, a bristling, unsettling energy.
Before Koala even made it to the stairs, Marco rushed to her, but he wasn’t quick enough.
A swarm of black birds pelted them both. He sent most of them scattering, but many of them had already coalesced into a shadowed attacker, jabbing a knife deep into her lower back the moment his eyes were distracted by the rest of the cawing birds.
Koala gave a stuttered breath, sinking to the deck away from his grip, her body trying to cough but no sound came out.
“Deu!” Marco called, swiping at the flock until he recognized who it was.
“It’s that fucking Logia, yoi,” he added, letting Haki clad his arms in preparation to snatch him out of the air.
“Kara— Karasu,” Koala choked out, eyes wide and confused as Deuce came skidding across the deck until he had a grasp on her.
“Shit,” Deuce breathed, tugging his t-shirt off after seeing so much blood surrounding her.
Her attacker left nothing buried in the wound, so it bled freely down the black shirt, making the dark material shine red like velvet. Blood stained his hands as he pressed his own shirt forcefully to her back to stem it.
She was still sitting up, watching Karasu fight to evade him, a fight that continued in the air.
“Don’t kill him, Marco, please,” Koala begged as Deuce shushed her, hating how she was already struggling for breath.
“Stay calm,” he said, “No one’s gonna die. Try to breathe.”
Mihar was on them in an instant, slamming down an emergency kit and directing others to get cleaning supplies.
Karasu fled, seeming like he’d finished what he’d come to do. Marco was right on his tail, both of them catching updrafts, wings beating urgently against the night sky.
Just when Marco nearly caught up, the soot exploded into a flock again, dispersing into countless different directions.
Marco’s wings flared out against the wind to put on the brakes, cursing as he heard Deuce and Mihar calling for him.
He’d felt something unfamiliar in Karasu’s Haki this time, like a poisonous vine squeezing him. The foreign poison seemed to command Karasu’s willpower, his mind no longer his own.
Marco raced back, dropping onto the deck where it’d been wiped down by groggy crewmates. Only they seemed wide awake now with dark circles under their eyes, disturbed by all the sudden blood.
Saber and Kukai had two pistols out each, still scanning the sky for any more would-be attackers.
Deuce had tried to lay her face down, but she wouldn’t let him, seizing at the spike of pain each time.
“Just let her stay there,” Mihar said, holding a cold rag to her face over Deu’s shoulder.
“Hurry Marco, I thought we were gonna have to start stitching,” Deuce told him, still pressing his shirt into her back, but Marco was already kneeling there, assessing the button-up shirt covering her.
Koala folded her arms across her chest to cover herself when the shirt began pulling away. Anything her arms didn’t cover on her front side was blocked by Deuce’s body, and the pain was intense enough that she wouldn’t have cared regardless. She felt the shirt peel down to her elbows after Mihar helped undo a couple of buttons from beside her.
Even though her chest was hidden, she wished she could cover her back instead because it now lay extremely exposed. And that was perhaps the part of her she least wanted them to see. The entire crew now looked down upon it. Not at the streaks of blood beneath Deu’s wadded up shirt, but at the tattoo that they found so much more distracting than the blood itself.
Marco tried not to notice, more focused on pulling back Deuce’s hand to get fire illuminating the affected area. But especially once the fire stopped the bleeding, the large red sun inked across her back was all he could think about, even when he shut his eyes.
“Teachie, can you cover it? The tattoo,” she whispered, eyes closed where Mihar already had the wet towel pressed to her forehead.
Mihar pulled off his black tee, laying it across her shoulders with his free hand so the crew would stop staring at it.
“Everyone that isn’t an officer can go back to sleep. Or go make coffee if you can’t,” Marco told them, examining the slow healing process with impatience in his eyes.
“Marco, you didn’t hurt him, did you?” Koala asked anxiously, trying to press away from Deuce to look over her shoulder at him.
“Nope, no moving yet,” Deu told her, coaxing her to relax again.
She found her cheek smushed into his shoulder as Mihar dabbed at her stressed, feverish face.
“He got away, yoi,” Marco admitted, “Something claimed his mind. Well, almost certainly some one.”
Koala finally noticed she could take deeper breaths, the fire at her back seeming to burn away the sting of broken skin, pleasantly warm as it sent out trickles of soothing flame into the puncture.
“It’s sealing up, just slowly,” Marco added.
“Thank you,” Koala told him, also giving Mihar an appreciative look. But she found it hard to focus even on gratitude, knowing something had happened to her friend.
“Any idea who did this, Marco?”
But it took him awhile to realize she said anything, brow pinching as he found himself blindsided by the revelation that she’d been a Sun Pirate.
A liberated victim of human trafficking. Slavery.
He wished that was the most troubling thing he noticed, but it wasn’t.
The age of the tattoo…
Her ink had spread so much that this was no recent occurrence. Even if he estimated her slightly older than Ace, Marco couldn’t shake the chills it gave him. He’d seen decade-old tattoos look fresher than this.
And that meant she’d been a very young girl when it happened.
“Marco?” Koala asked again, quieter.
He blinked, guilty for getting so wrapped up in his own thoughts, especially over something that should’ve been private, something he shouldn’t even know about.
“Koala, I’m sorry,” he breathed, trying to clear his throat. It’d gotten unexpectedly tight, making it difficult to speak normally.
“I wish I knew who overtook his willpower, but I’m afraid I’ve never come across it before. It’s a Devil Fruit ability, that’s all I know.”
Deuce made sure the blood on his hand was dry before patting her hair, knowing that probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear. At the very least, it looked like Marco had nearly finished. Under the fire, her skin slowly knitted itself all the way up to the surface until it began to look new again.
Koala sat up a little straighter as Deuce released her, pretending not to notice as she casually worked the shirt back over her chest, trying not to flash anyone. Mihar busied himself getting the kit shut, turning around and adjusting his hat.
Marco wasn’t looking either, but he still felt his eyes burning, glowing slightly before he forced them to fade again.
This was why Ace tended to avoid having women on the ship. And Marco knew that Ace telling Koala and him to take care of each other, well, it meant wholesome things too, but it was also code for keeping all their grubby fucking hands off her.
Koala didn’t seem aware of just how long it’d been for some of the men, and that worried Marco most of all. She was too trusting. And he really didn’t feel like keelhauling one of the crew for making unsolicited advances on her, so all he could do was trust Deuce to watch her back in the quarters.
Deu, a harmless teddy bear of a man. Marco wasn’t sure why or how he seemed to have no sexual motivation, but Marco had seen attractive women and men crawling into his lap with zero reaction. Whatever the reason, if Koala had to cuddle with someone to sleep, he preferred it to be Banshee, Deuce or the cat.
“Does anyone have a transponder on them? I need to try our commanders again,” Koala said.
Mihar accepted a den den mushi from Marco, sitting down beside Deuce so they could help her.
Half an hour later, Koala still held the small, colorful snail in her hands, absently straightening up its little orange hat. A miniature version of Ace’s flat-brim rancher, she noticed. It slimed up her hand as she stared into the painted flames decorating its shell, trying to suppress her own worried thoughts.
Dragon, Hack, Iva, Betty, Ahiru… no one picked up. Certainly not Karasu.
It’d been radio silence from Baltigo and Momoiro since Kitatown got raided. At first, she told herself maybe they were busy helping to clear the slavers out of the port town.
But now? She didn’t know what to think.
Now that the excitement died down, Mihar climbed back up the mast, rifle still slung across his back. And after making sure she didn’t need anything else, Deuce broke away too, heading for the stairs.
He paused at the top of them, though, noticing the pillow on the ground.
“What’s this doing here?”
Koala looked up from the den den mushi.
“I was hoping to sleep in the crew quarters tonight. If there’s room.”
He smiled, picking up the pillow and hugging it.
“Always. That’s why we put in the net. Don’t have to worry about running out of hammocks now. I’ll carry this down for you. But since you’ll be the last one in the room, it’s on you to turn off the lantern.”
Koala gave him a nod, and she would’ve smiled, but it was hard to focus on much else when she still had the transponder in her hands.
After he descended the stairs, Koala ambled back over to Marco, reluctantly returning the snail to him.
For the first time, he seemed genuinely lost for words. If he was honest, he couldn’t stop thinking about the sun tattoo, but he knew better than to bring it up. So he held the transponder in his hands, leaning to watch Kotatsu make his final territorial laps around the ship’s perimeter.
“Eventful night,” he murmured, seeming to falter before adding, “Listen, whatever happened before…”
“Please don’t do the ‘never again’ speech,” she said quietly, just before he opened his mouth to say something else.
Yeah, he was only gonna tell her she didn’t have to talk about it.
“Okay, you got me curious. What’s this thing I’m not supposed to say?” he asked, shifting his weight into the upper deck wall.
“You know, you see a slave tattoo on a girl, and you say, ‘I’m never letting that happen to you again.’ Sabo’s already made me sit through it once, so please don’t say anything like that. I think I’d die of embarrassment.”
Marco had to cover his mouth with his hand because it felt so inappropriate to laugh.
“Alright, noted. You’d prefer if I let you get snatched up? Maybe we’ll even use you as bait. Is that better, yoi?”
She snorted softly.
“Just to be clear, I don’t want you to let me get snatched up. It’s just seeing my tattoo, it…” she trailed off, flipping her hand.
“Makes people act weird around you?” Marco asked.
“Mhm.”
“What does?”
“My… tattoo,” she said slowly, eyeing him with disbelief.
And by the time Marco was saying “What tattoo?” out loud, she was already mouthing it to herself, nodding like she should’ve known he was going to say that.
She was glad to see him have a little more life in him, amazed to watch more of his humor coming out. Before she could reply, Koala saw Kotatsu pad carefully down the stairs to their quarters.
“You just lost your sleeping partner,” Koala pointed out.
He noticed, he just hoped she wouldn’t put him on the spot by saying it.
“You could always not be weird and sleep in the crew quarters like everyone else,” she added.
He smiled, shaking his head.
“Is Deu putting you up to this? You already talk like one of them and you haven’t even spent one night in there yet, yoi. Just remember what I said, about who’s safest to sleep around.”
“Why Deu, by the way?” she asked curiously, folding her arms to match his, her question the only thing keeping him from walking away.
“Because it’s shorter than ‘Deuce,’” he replied.
“No—“ she complained, “I know what nicknames are. I was asking why you want me to sleep with him.”
He balked, “Around him, I said, not with him. Huge difference, yoi.”
“Answer the question?”
Marco gave her a long, quietly horrified look at her prior misunderstanding before he was mentally capable of replying.
“Don’t repeat this.”
Now he had her attention. She shifted closer, giving him unapologetic doe eyes as she nodded.
“He’s not interested that way. Get it, yoi? That’s why he’s safe.”
Koala made an ‘oh’ with her mouth.
“He’s into guys,” she paraphrased.
Marco shook his head immediately, confusing her, then looking confused himself.
“Well, maybe romantically, I don’t actually— point is, he’s physically not interested. In you or anyone else. I am only telling you that so you know you can trust him. Don’t go around thinking everyone’s as pure-minded as he is.”
“Not even Mihar?” she asked, genuinely surprised that he wasn’t on this one-person list of trustworthy men.
Marco grudgingly seemed to agree with that one.
“Okay, he’s safe to sleep around too, just—“
“What about you? Skull seems to think you make the list of gentlemen,” she said, finding it strange that he wouldn’t consider himself trustworthy.
He sighed.
“I don’t sleep in the crew quarters, so I didn’t factor myself in. Now please go get some rest. If it makes you feel better, I’ll be sleeping in my own bed, not on the deck tonight. See you in the morning.”
“…See you,” she said under her breath. Then folded her arms to watch him cross the deck for a moment before she descended the stairs.
Right away, Koala could tell just how many people were snoozing across the net, and nineteen looked like a much higher number all packed into the same cabin. Looked like basically everyone had fallen back asleep.
Luckily, it seemed that Deuce was still awake, having temporarily commandeered her pillow and still using the light of the lantern to scribble notes into his journal. Having been one of the last to enter, he was laying closest to the door, saving just enough room for her in the front corner.
The next thing Koala saw was Kotatsu’s round, reflective eyes glinting from under the net, his low whine when she entered the room. It sent a shiver through her, frozen in the doorway. Everyone else knew not to make eye contact with the wildcat; Koala didn’t know that yet.
“Hang on,” she heard Deuce whisper, putting his journal aside.
He turned to lower both socked feet to the floor between them before standing up. He wore his soft harem trousers, but he’d thrown on a clean t-shirt after ruining his last one.
“Sure you still wanna sleep in here? I’ll give you a lift so Kotatsu won’t get your ankles. I know he’s intimidating at first,” he whispered.
She nodded, biting back a shocked laugh when he tossed her gently into the net. She barely caught herself before smushing his journal, shifting away from it when he joined her, both of them rolling onto their stomachs in the same corner.
“Tired?” he whispered, getting the journal safely back in place in front of him.
She shook her head, crossing her forearms in front of her and drawing circles into them with her fingers. She still felt the apprehension from seeing Karasu so unlike himself, being attacked by him. Then watching him be attacked. She didn’t have to explain any of this to Deuce.
“Yeah… me either,” he said under his breath, looking almost as shell shocked as her. He’d left the lantern on dim with just enough light to see his own journal.
Deuce flipped to a blank page and wrote, ‘Draw me something,’ before handing her his pen.
She looked a little surprised, accepting the pen with tentative fingers. Knowing her skill would be nothing impressive.
Only the incident with Karasu was on her mind at first, so she drew a bird shape, then others like it, all filled in dark. And even though it was extremely rough, Deuce could still tell she’d drawn crows. It made him happy, seeing her get something out on the page. So often, just that was enough to help process things.
He rested his chin in his hand, his blue eyebrows lifting above his mask when she began writing something under the birds.
‘What happened between you and Saber?’ she’d written.
He examined the question with an extended breath, swallowing audibly when he read it, not having expected her to put the spotlight on him.
Koala rested her cheek in her hand, mirroring him as he thought about what to write. After several long seconds he finally convinced himself to write down an answer.
‘He used to be a bounty hunter, so we didn’t meet him until he went after Ace. And we didn’t bring him aboard until he was near death. Ace pulled him out of a fire that Saber himself started, ironically. He was firing his pistol near munitions back stock and it all just erupted. The idiot. I was the one that had to full-body bandage him, but he doesn’t remember that. He only remembers that I told Ace not to trust him. Saber never betrayed us, but he also never forgave me for what I said.’
Koala read each word as he wrote it, then flashed him a somewhat sympathetic look.
“Thank you for telling me that,” she whispered, then watched him move his pen on the page again.
‘What’s keeping you awake?’ he wrote, watching the worry still pulling at her.
Koala inched closer to the journal, accepting the pen back.
‘I don’t want us both having nightmares. Best not to ask.’
He narrowed his eyes at her, his look convincing her to just explain.
‘Sabo and I were investigating Marmont’s crew. He thought they were taking children. Then they started buying AFA and kairouseki— supplies they’d need to capture Devil Fruit users and Haki users for profit.’
His chin tilted up as he read, then this eyes trailed away when she’d finished scrawling. He looked just as troubled by it as she did.
“And that’s who has them,” he whispered.
She nodded slowly, then grimaced as the horror of it struck her all over again, like it did every time it was fresh on her mind.
’The conditions under which slavers keep their captives…’ Koala wrote, pausing for a moment, ‘I can’t stop thinking about what they’re doing to Sabo. That’s why I can’t sleep.’
Deuce’s frown matched her own, because if she was right about the slavers, then the same thing was happening to Ace, too.
Here they lay, safe and free. Fed and hydrated. Surrounded by warmth and familiar nakama. Guilt attacked him for not appreciating it more, especially when Ace was probably stripped of every possible comfort while Deuce still had it.
Not to mention, he couldn’t ignore the fact that Koala had experienced everything they must be going through already, and it seemed to haunt her at times like this.
He studied her for a moment before slipping the pen from her fingers, shifting the journal over slightly.
‘Sometimes I have nightmares about still being at home. My brothers chasing me. Feeling trapped there. Do you ever have dreams like that?’
Her eyes rounded, staring at the words that reflected exactly how her nightmares made her feel. Anytime it happened, her brain played horror scenarios where she never escaped, where she still remained there, trapped in chains.
“Yeah, I do,” she whispered, gaze flickering around the sleeping faces of the crew, in part just making sure the lantern wasn’t bothering them, or the scribbles and soft replies.
“Well, you’re in good company… I get them too,” Deuce whispered back.
‘When I sleep around other people, it helps,’ she wrote.
After reading it, he slipped the pen away to write, ‘Know what else helps? Write down the dream you want to have. Or at least think about it. You can make it happen.’
She bit her thumb thoughtfully for a moment, but didn’t take the pen back.
He started to flip the pages closed, but had one more thought— something he wanted to clear up before they switched the lantern off. So he hesitated, pen returning to the paper.
‘Ace and Mihar usually sleep on either side of me. We all kinda suck at sleeping alone. So we’d sleep close, just, platonically. You don’t have to, just offering since they’re not here.’
She grew more and more amused reading each new word he added because the lengthy explanation made him seem nervous of her reaction.
‘Are you asking me to cuddle?’ she wrote.
“No,” he whispered, “Ew. Never. I can’t believe you thought that.”
Koala bit her lip, clearly enjoying his stupid little joke. He withdrew his journal and flopped down facing away from her, hugging it to his chest.
It wasn’t until he reached to click the lantern off that he felt her hug him from behind, tightly like a monkey. He grinned into the dark, feeling oddly protected, even though she was just a small thing.
He’d never had a girl cuddle him before. It couldn’t have been more different than Mihar’s big, unwieldy legs or bony shoulders digging into him. Even Ace got difficult to nap with at times— extremely warm, and he demanded a hand on him or he couldn’t sleep.
And as much as Deuce would’ve cried with happiness to have Ace back safe in the net, Koala was still nice to have around. Light and soft and her skin seemed to stay permanently cool to the touch.
“You cold?” he asked.
“Not anymore,” she whispered back.
Deuce let out a small sigh as he put a hand on her chilly arm. When he sighed, it was from the overwhelming feeling that he’d take someone’s eye out if they fucked with her. Sure, he got attached to people easily, but it was especially easy to feel it after seeing her be attacked.
But maybe, he thought, it might be wise to let her know he wasn’t an ‘option’ for her, seeing as he doubted she was like him: broken, strange, weird, lacking in any desire whatsoever. A fucking joke to the other guys on the ship, and most women he encountered, too. He just wanted her to know. Not that he believed she might get too close, emotionally, but it was always best to be forward, in his mind.
And moreover— despite her denial of it— she did still seem cold, and his least favorite person had fallen asleep with the blanket he normally used. So he gingerly reached up to tug Saber’s blanket away to drape it behind himself, covering Koala before finally resolving to nod off.
It was easier than being alone for both of them, holding someone close and pretending everything would be okay, convincing themselves they'd wake up from this nightmare and find that it had all been a bad dream.
Even though Koala woke up alone, it didn’t bother her as much as it did at night.
She yawned into her hand, grateful for the blanket still pulled around her. But it didn’t take her long to smell coffee wafting down the stairs and through the locker area.
After she’d made her way to the deck, Marco noticed Koala enter and reemerge from the captain’s quarters in one of his floral vacation shirts, covered in birds of paradise. To be exact, that was Marco’s favorite shirt. He had stored it all the way at the back, and to be honest, he genuinely didn’t think she would hunt it down. But she must’ve searched until she found it, probably remembering him wearing it the first time she saw him in Kitatown.
“Nope, go back and get a different one,” he called, making her jaw drop.
“What? I really like this one,” she defended, closing her arms over it like she had no intention of giving it back.
“Know what, fine. But if you put a hole in that one too,” he told her, “Then that’ll be my three favorite shirts. I just want you to know that.”
She ran over and hugged him.
“Thank you. I can fix the others,” she offered, pulling away to eye his coffee mug.
“Sorry, didn’t make you coffee this morning. Apparently you were sleeping so deeply none of the boys wanted to wake you up.”
She watched him take another sip from the blue mug. He clocked the note of envy in her eyes, smiling and raising his forearm to dab his mouth.
“Relentless, yoi,” he gave in, handing over the coffee, “You’re bringing me more when you finish it. I take it nobody stepped out of line last night?”
“Complete gentlemen,” she told him proudly, before realizing, “Oh, except Kotatsu. He nearly ran me out.”
Marco made an apologetic face.
“You looked at his eyes, didn’t you. I should’ve remembered to tell you. Gotta use that peripheral on him. He’s very sensitive.”
“No harm done,” she said, taking one long sip.
“Keep it, yoi,” he told her when she tried to hand it back, already making for the helm where Skull stood.
“Missing Sabo?” Banshee asked her after approaching, reaching absently to detangle a few strands of Koala’s strawberry blonde hair. She’d asked because Koala stood there holding Sabo’s goggles away from her neck to examine them thoughtfully, having set the mug aside to free her hands.
Koala nodded, carefully swiping a smudge off of them.
“Did you two do anything fun for his birthday? I know it wasn’t too long ago,” Banshee mentioned, hoping to cheer her a little.
Koala’s lips parted, suddenly focusing in surprise.
“We never knew when his birthday was. How…?”
“The captain was close friends with him,” Banshee explained, “He’s told us so much about Sabo that most of us already feel like we know him.”
The thought of Sabo getting to meet them made her smile to herself. This might be the missing puzzle piece he’d always been searching to find.
“Before all this happened, I didn’t know Sabo had any other friends,” she replied.
“Of course he does,” a familiar voice behind her said, “Twenty-one of us to be exact.”
She turned from Banshee to see Deuce wearing his long coat and trousers. Even after sleeping on it, his vibrant blue hair was somehow straight and silky, one side tucked neatly behind his ear.
Koala reached up a little self-consciously, knowing before she even touched it that her own hair looked awful. She felt like an eleven year old pirate girl again, messy and unbrushed like a street urchin.
“Morning,“ she greeted, still trying to flatten her unkempt situation.
“Good morning,” he said in return, “Now that everyone’s slowly getting back to their normal routines, let me know if any of these idiots give you a difficult time. Like this one, right here…”
“Sorry about Loguetown, by the way,” Saber told Koala, passing them on his way to the kitchen, “And don’t mind Deucey, he’s just awkward because he still has to pay to talk to girls.”
Deuce rolled his eyes, unaffected. At least the idiot was already walking away.
“I actually heard ladies don’t make Deu-san pay for it,” Skull called at Saber over his shoulder.
“Yeah, Saber, the girls at port told me he’s really good with his hands. I don’t remember them saying anything about you,” Mihar called down from the crow’s nest, grinning as he rested his chin atop his hand.
“Guys!” Deuce reprimanded, even catching Marco smiling as he looped rope around his arm.
“Sorry, Koala, I’m afraid the crew get insane around the opposite gender. Normally, I’d be annoyed, but they kind of need a reason to smile right now,” Deuce explained.
“Most of them make a good case for you, you know. You have good friends,” Koala told him confidently, only making Deuce shake his head.
“Don’t encourage them,” he sighed, shifting his mask as he caught Leonero giving him a thumbs-up.
She shrugged.
“They weren’t saying anything I didn’t know already.”
He side-eyed her, but kept his eyes averted after that. “Meaning?”
Koala lifted herself to sit on the railing, kicking her feet slightly.
“Where do you think I got information on you all? Whether it’s pirates or marines, it’s always the same place.”
He nodded, snorting softly.
“Dens of desire? Lairs of lust?”
She grinned at him. “Indeed. Bars… and the occasional pleasure hall, of course. This one was in TōTō Town.”
“Andromeda,” he said fondly, “Only time I remember someone picking my company over Ace.”
“She told me you were sitting by yourself at a table, writing in your journal,” Koala told him, eyes casting down as she remembered, “And how Ace got so many women to walk over to you that by the time she walked up, you slammed your journal shut and said—“
“‘What, like I’m a charity case or something?!’” Deuce said theatrically, finishing her sentence by acting it out.
He looked pleased when she laughed but it didn’t take him long to return to staring over the railing at the waves behind her.
“You really don’t sleep with anyone? Ever?” she asked curiously, “She said all you wanted to do was kiss, that you turned her down for anything else. But she was… gorgeous.”
Even if he hadn’t already decided to tell her, he still wouldn’t have been offended by her prodding. Hell, it was the same prodding he got from the men on the crew, and when they asked him invasive things, it was almost always gearing up for an insult. She was certainly kind enough that he didn’t mind being an open book to her.
“Yeah, anything more than that just never appealed to me. Yes, even with guys, before you ask. It’s not like I haven’t considered other options. Sometimes you’re not hungry. For me, that’s all the time. No other way I can explain it.”
“Neat,” she said simply, offering him some coffee.
He looked down at it with narrowed eyes.
“Koala, if I could throw every speck of that shit overboard without a mutiny, I would. The situation we’re in is stressful enough. Last thing you and Marco need is a beverage making you even more anxious. Try to kick the habit, for your own sanity.”
“Really?” she asked, looking genuinely surprised.
“Yes. In fact, go and get a canteen from Banshee, please. None of you drink enough water.”
She found herself thinking that was something a doctor would say before remembering Deuce was, in fact, their field medic.
And she might’ve taken his advice, but only seconds passed before a clamor broke out across the ship; the upper deck where Wallace was calling others over.
“Fuck… News Coo just delivered,” Deuce murmured, looking worried at the tone and expression of the gathered crew.
“It’s Ace!” one of them called.
Deuce darted for the staircase, but Koala found herself frozen, like she was in a dream. Crew members rushed past now, and she stood there stunned, even watching Marco cross to the other side in a flash of bright blue fire.
Her head buzzed in shock like a bomb had gone off, moving slowly up the stairs toward the crowd of nineteen men all talking over each other too furiously to make any sense. She didn’t even try to see around them, standing back warily as the largest of them already had their backs to her.
“Oy!” Marco called, shutting everyone up.
Koala couldn’t see him, only hear him.
“Meeting. In the kitchen. Everyone go sit, but keep it down. I can’t hear myself think, yoi.”
Koala finally saw Marco and Deuce when the crew cleared out down the steps, and they were still poring over the front page of the Economic. She wanted to know what’d happened, but she also dreaded the thought of looking. No way to know what she was about to see.
Especially when she caught sight of their expressions, deeply disturbed.
Deuce swallowed, grabbing the paper in Marco’s hand like he didn’t want Koala looking at it. Even Marco folded it slightly, as if having the exact same thought.
“She can handle it,” Mihar said, leaning a short distance away with his arms folded, “It’s Sabo, so stop hiding it from her.”
Koala’s eyes widened, pressing her lips together so they wouldn’t tremble.
“Show me,” she said, looking at both of them.
Marco relented, taking the paper and laying it in her hands.
Sometimes, the black and white printing didn’t show details very well. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those issues.
The front page photo took up over half of it, only leaving enough margin for sensational tabloid jargon that slandered their friends to shreds. The article left nothing to the imagination, the writers being sure to name both Ace and Sabo with any additional information their journalists could scrape up on them.
Her eyes caught the phrases ‘Revolutionary Army now even more of a terrorist threat,’ and ‘Monkey D. Dragon could not be reached for comment,’ before she could even bring herself to look at the enlarged photo in the center of everything.
The background was awful enough. Children sitting and laying in chains, looking miserable and scared.
Her breath caught just as harshly as she knew it would when she finally worked up the courage to look at Sabo. Someone that didn’t know him wouldn’t have caught it, but she could see everything that had happened, from the mark beneath his eye to various darker shades that must’ve been cuts and bruises.
And despite the fact that the drugs had made him sleep more than usual, his eyes looked dead and hollow, dark circles under them only adding to the expression on his face.
Just because she knew him, she could tell it was fear tugging at his usually lighthearted features. His mouth was fixed in a defiant line as he looked off camera at whoever must’ve done this to him.
Ace looked openly pissed; that’s all she could tell, aside from the peek of barely perceptible brightness under his dark outerwear that could’ve been bandages.
But anyone else looking at this image would only see the two of them looking quite intimidating and vile, because they both had their hands gripping children that struggled in chains.
Koala had to lower the paper, looking away with burning wet eyes. Her throat locked up so bad she couldn’t get a word out.
She handed the newspaper back to Marco, closing her eyes as he rubbed her shoulder. But he couldn’t stay, descending the stairs to meet the crew down in the kitchen and telling them all to join whenever they were ready.
“I’m gonna kill him,” she finally whispered, sounding just as murderous as her words.
“Kill who? Marmont?” Mihar asked as Deuce pulled out a handkerchief for her.
“No. Morgans. He knows better. After all I’ve done for him. This is how he repays us?”
“And no one in the army answered your calls?” Deuce asked in confusion, “The whole army?”
She blinked furiously, wiping her face.
“If Dragon thinks I’m involved in this… I don’t know. Maybe he knew something before it got published. Sabo and I weren’t supposed to look into Marmont but we chased it anyway. I knew he’d be upset if he found out, I just didn’t know he’d be angry enough to ice us out completely… I… I don’t—“
“Okay, don’t jump to any conclusions just yet,” Deuce said, ending her hopeless frustration with a tight embrace, thinking that might help even if words couldn’t.
“Yeah, all we can do is be glad to see they’re not too badly injured,” Mihar told her, bending slightly so she could see his face, “They’re both standing. Not missing any hands or feet or anything, right? What’s a little extra bounty? They’re gonna be okay.”
Luffy slammed the newspaper down atop the maps scattered across the table, clearly affected by the photo, even before seeing troubling words jumping out at him from the article.
‘Sabo.’
‘None other than Monkey D. Dragon’s second in command.’
‘Terrorist.’
‘Aided by Fire Fist Ace, washed up rookie.’
‘Caught red-handed.’
‘Nearly sixty innocent children stolen between them.’
“Sabo… Ace… why?” Luffy asked aloud, voice thick with angry emotion. He swiped impatiently at annoying tears trying to leak down his face.
He knew they didn’t kidnap any children. But they weren’t innocent either. Sabo even being alive without anyone telling Luffy felt like its own crime. It made no sense, seeing them together without either contacting him— not even to tell him, ‘Hey, Sabo survived and we’re in trouble, but it’s too risky for you to help.’
Nothing.
“Guess now we know why the Spadille’s been unreachable,” Zoro mentioned casually, reclining at the table.
“Feet off the table,” Sanji said, “I didn’t get to read it yet, but are we sure the scarred guy is Sabo? I can’t see Ace keeping something like that from you, Luff.”
Zoro put his feet right back up the second Sanji was distracted.
“Of course he would. He doesn’t tell Luffy anything. How many times has Nami called and got no answer since the news dropped? It’s obvious the Spadille is under orders to keep it quiet from us.”
“That’s not necessary, Zoro,” Nami warned.
“I’m sure Ace is only trying to protect you, Luffy, even if he’s being an idiot about it,” Sanji tried to reason, doing damage control after seeing his captain look so betrayed.
“Can everybody just give me a minute?” Luffy yelled, sounding strained, almost pleading. He hadn’t left the table, hands still glued there leaning over the photo like a train wreck he couldn’t unsee.
The three had the decency to look guilty for stressing him out, even if all of them had equally good intentions. They pushed chairs aside, trickling quietly from the room, but not without a last concerned look.
He could still hear Sanji and Zoro’s words haunting him, replaying in his head.
I can’t see Ace keeping something like that from you.
Of course he would. He doesn’t tell Luffy anything.
Luffy glared out the bay window— not because Zoro had been wrong, but because he’d been right. Ace had carried this predisposition since childhood, ‘protecting’ him from anything unfortunate going on in his life.
But Luffy considered himself an adult now, and being grown made it feel a lot more like Ace was just lying to him about everything. Downplaying every time he landed in hot water. Not telling Luffy when he went through long periods of grief, even though everyone could tell.
He didn’t know what was worse, that Ace had kept Sabo’s existence a secret from him, or that both of his brothers managed to land themselves in some godforsaken situation. Whoever they pissed off had enough pull to publicly smear them for something Luffy knew they couldn’t have done.
“How long did you know,” he barely managed to choke, glaring through blurry wetness at Ace’s photo.
Not even to address Ace’s crew withholding it when something happened to him. Especially when Luffy had sailed as far as possible across the map.
Now, he couldn’t shake the fear that Sabo might actually be killed before Luffy got the chance to see him again. Maybe even Ace with him.
He sank into a chair, gripping his face. Because he was mad as hell, but more than anything he just wished he wasn’t so far away from them right now.
“Luffy,” came a gruff voice from the door.
Jinbei stood at the threshold, the sight of him and his massive figure somewhat comforting, even during such a crisis, like an immovable rock in a flood.
“I felt the Sunny shift. You turned her around, didn’t you,” Luffy responded, looking back down at the newspaper as his whale shark helmsman approached.
“I did,” he said, studying the paper grimly with Luffy.
“How are we gonna find them? We usually call and agree on a port,” Luffy asked.
Jinbei smiled with a gentle mischief, sliding a vivre card from his pocket. It had a small blue bird stamped in the corner.
“I’ve still got Marco, that’s how. I don’t know about your other brother, but for what it’s worth, I can’t imagine anyone able to hold Ace for long. Not with his crew and allies. Are you certain you’re needed? It will set us back reclaiming territory.”
“We have to,” Luffy told him, “I can’t see this and not show up. Even if… yeah. Even if they don’t want my help. Even if they don’t need me anymore.”
Jinbei flashed him a compassionate look, not used to seeing Luffy this affected. The Fishman shifted the paper to show the young captain more of the map, drawing an invisible route with his sharp fingernail.
“As I imagined. And it’s honorable of you. But I’m going to be honest, Luffy. It’s going to take us a long time to get there.”
Luffy sank his face into his hands, nodding.
“Thank you, Jinbei. For being honest with me.”
Chapter 26: Implanted
Summary:
We're back with Ace and Sabo, seeing what they're up to.
Notes:
If you don't mind the spoiler, check out the actual summary and content warning:
CW: flocks of carnivorous birds, blood/gore, pretty mild but still
Even though Tallis had a change of heart, the ex-celestial dragon that wanted to buy Ace has not had a change of heart. And she's very happy to finally get her pristine, gloved hands on him.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The smell was like burning rubber, the air filled with grey-purple smoke, and it had everyone slumping over wherever it infected them. Sabo did a good job of covering his nose, but just like Ace, he’d inhaled enough on impact to prevent him reaching the rail of the ship. Sabo’s last thought had been to dive, swim clear of the foul air, but he never made it to the water.
Even the white beast pulled away his monstrous body, pink eyes frosting over with hazy eyelids. He slid back into the ocean in a daze, not able to protect anyone from their own lungs.
It didn’t take long for those responsible for the smoke bomb to show face on Marmont’s ship, stepping across the deck over chained up bodies like they were piles of wet manure.
They wore suits that protected them from the toxic air, and the sight of them might’ve made someone piss themselves thinking they stood in the presence of world nobles.
These two, however, worked laboratory staff, answering to a woman named Poch— an ex-celestial dragon that still managed to have her own brand of fucked morals, even if she didn’t like answering to the Holy Land. In her case, rebelling against the control of her own kind didn’t make her a good person, just another thirty-something out for herself. Sometimes, that meant taking men she wanted for sport.
“Got the chain around him? Right, then. Wake up the brown-haired boy,” Orderly-22 said to her assistant.
Tallis coughed at the adrenaline-inducing scent of smelling salts, his throat raw from the smoke even with it mostly dissipated.
He looked at the mast he was tied to, then at the body of Ace lying next to the body of Sabo. Then he noticed the stone chain wrapping his own shoulders. They couldn’t find any unused shackles apparently.
“You’re from Facility B… Where’s Poch?” he realized in confusion, "Why'd you tie me up?"
“Because the deal’s off,” Orderly-34 told him, “Why would Her Grace pay you anything if she doesn’t have to? And it’s pronounced ‘Poach,’ you little worm.”
Tallis remained silent when Orderly-22 approached him, using a gloved hand to angle his face up.
Then she directed a small flashlight into Tallis’ irises. The plain brown eyes reflected a wild metallic gold in the bright light, raising her eyebrows.
She stood back to watch the small, pitiful-looking birds landing on him in disgust.
“Filthy animals, birds are. Spreaders of disease. Zoans are no different. Unfit for the pristine sterility of Facility B.”
“Her Grace doesn’t trust fruits that think and act for themselves. Some of you are no more than a vessel for whatever damned soul you’ve eaten. Gives her the creeps, rightfully so,” Orderly-34 added.
Tallis shrank away as she caressed his face with the stone chain, watching his eyes pinch at the unpleasant sensation.
“How did you know I was—?”
“Oh, a Zoan? Your eyes, my dear. Such a shame, too. When I saw your reaction to kairouseki, I had hoped to take you as a pair with Fire Fist, but I’m afraid your kind is not permitted.”
“My kind?” Tallis couldn’t help but ask.
“You’re a beautiful boy, but we find birds smell the worst, like rats with wings,” she told him sympathetically.
“Now it appears you’ll be eaten by your own,” Orderly-34 told him, smirking up at the chirping sea birds circling him overhead, and the ones that already landed on Tallis to nip experimentally at his skin.
“Do you think you could…?”
He indicated the ropes.
She smirked, shaking her head.
“Touch your disgusting restraints again? No, honey. We’ll be going, soon. Lots of recruiting to do. Status update, 34?”
“Preparing an implant for Fire Fist. What about the other one? He’s got energy signals. High numbers on the signal, too,” Orderly-34 replied, reading her modified watch.
“Can’t take the blond. He’s still warm, even with the kairouseki implant touching him. Her Grace only needs Devil Fruit users, and he isn’t one.”
“Shame… He’s not bad looking, even with the mark.”
Tallis thought perhaps that meant she’d ignore Sabo or leave him here on the ship. Sadly, that didn’t seem to be her plan.
“Wait, 22, he and Fire Fist were in the paper together,” the other tech-suit clad woman told her, “We’d be careless to leave him alive. Likely he’d seek out Facility B in search of his nakama here.”
“Excellent point. Prepare a charge with your suit, then. That should do him in before he wakes.”
Tallis’ brow furrowed.
“Why? I mean, why not just take him to the facility too? He’s valuable and you’re not even paying for them. Killing him would be a waste. Wouldn’t it?”
Poch’s orderlies scoffed slightly, looking at him like he was an idiot.
“My Lady’s facility is equipped to handle Devil Fruits only. We have nothing for pure Haki. I’m amazed to see you’re an officer of anything, child. You’re not the brightest.”
Tallis wasn’t swayed by her insult, thinking fast as he heard the assistant’s suit charging a strange gun in her hand, pointing it at Sabo’s blond head.
“Wait!” Tallis told them, “We have a Devil Fruit aboard. I don’t know what it is, but I do know it’s not a Zoan. Will you spare him? If I can make him weak to kairouseki?”
Orderly-22 paused, looking between Tallis and her assistant.
“We could always just take the fruit itself. They’re worth plenty of berry. Then again…”
She sighed, returning to kneel at Sabo's side again, angling his face to the early morning light.
"It is true that the newspaper article makes these two worth more as a set,” Orderly-34 said, “Think how much we’d make off two known figures.”
Orderly-22 examined Sabo's symmetrical features and his asymmetrical scar, running a gloved finger across his gently-parted lips.
"I suppose even though his face is scarred up, that would only serve to prove his identity…”
Orderly-34 hummed her agreement, her gaze flitting back to the young man they’d tied up.
“Tallis, was it? We will implant both of them for transport. You have one minute to make that implant effective in the blond or we will not take the risk of sparing his life."
Facility B,
Undisclosed Location, Grand Line
This facility stood tall and imposing over the surrounding island trees and the scraps of a village. The structure was a triangular tower of glass and metal panels. It looked modern and ancient, due in part to the thick vines snaking up its angled face.
The orderlies had already landed near the entrance and carried their cargo inside, though the bodies were too unsanitary to lay anywhere but the ground.
Sabo and Ace remained unconscious as both orderlies laid them down on the bare, reflective white floor of the lobby, waving to Poch in her office.
“They’ve been implanted?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
A uniformed lady set about checking them in. Unlike the orderlies that brought in her new recruits, she wore no protective suit, just her prim little outfit and heels. She was a lovely-looking woman with a neat pin tuck of shiny lavender hair. Her uniform was that of the rest of the staff, but she’d taken the time to adorn it with a personal brooch.
Normally, she could be seen cheerfully going about her business; right now, however, Poch was gazing down her nose in pure disgust.
“This is Fire Fist Ace? This crumpled heap right here? What did the slavers do, transport him in a pig stye?”
The orderlies held up their hands, also looking down at Sabo and Ace’s damaged, barely-clothed and unconscious bodies. Bandages and blood spatters.
Poch kneeled delicately at Ace’s side. She’d broken most of her habits since leaving the Holy Land, such as abandoning her air-filtered suit, but she still didn’t want to smell them right now, holding a handkerchief over her nose and brushing his hair away with a pen to view his face.
Satisfied that she recognized his attractive features, she rested her clipboard against her knee to assess him with an intake form.
“Fire Fist… Logia… that tattoo checks out, okay…” she jotted on the clipboard. “Blood type?”
Orderly-22 shrugged helplessly.
“34 didn’t bring the kit, so…”
Poch glared at them with a ‘tsk,’ before reaching the pen over to tip Sabo’s jaw to see his face.
“Unknown male. Fruit type?”
Orderly-34 opened her mouth helplessly.
“We don’t know, Your Grace. He’s not a Zoan. We checked his eyes already,” Orderly-22 told her dutifully.
“But— we know who he is. That’s the other one in the newspaper article with Fire Fist. The terrorist,” Orderly-34 said, sounding hopeful.
“Sanbo,” Orderly-22 added.
“Sabo,” Poch corrected her with slight surprise, gesturing one of her assistants to bring over the paper from her desk. Then nodded as the printed black and white image confirmed his identity.
Her posture straightened slightly, leaning back to admire them.
“Of course, they’re both in filthy condition,” Poch mused, pulling out a pair of exam gloves from her fitted jacket.
Once she snapped them on, she handed off her clipboard to let her hands run down the firm curves of Ace’s torso, ignoring the bandages interrupting it. She squeezed at his pectorals slightly, mouth quirking a little in appreciation.
The Holy Land would pay a fortune for him; Ace had just killed a celestial dragon, one of her own. And maybe she’d accept their berry eventually, if Ace became too much trouble. But for now? This was a recruit she’d wanted for years, ever since the first time she saw his wanted poster.
“Not bad-looking. For an unwashed human,” Orderly-22 admitted, taking in his physique.
“He’s not from any anointed bloodline,” Poch considered thoughtfully, “But for these grubby little pirates, he’s royalty. The best stock an uncrowned human can have. One can tell the strength of his ancestry, just by touching him.”
Before she fled the Holy Land, Poch became a little enamored by the celestial dragons’ number one threat. The son of the last Pirate King.
“Congratulations, Your Grace,” Orderly-34 said, smiling as Poch enjoyed her prize.
“I want Fire Fist cleaned. Extremely thoroughly,” was all Poch replied, standing to her feet, staring down first at Ace, and then Sabo, “Clean this one if you insist. I haven’t decided if he’s needed yet.”
“Sabo,” Ace said into his ear. “Wake up.”
How long had Sabo been knocked out? It felt like he was laying on a giant vegetable dicer. His hands were bound tightly together, but he raised them to try and touch a painful knot under his skin, as if they’d injected an object under it.
“Get back, Fire Fist,” an orderly said firmly, holding an electric prod near his jawline. Ace stood back, still looking down at Sabo with concern.
Sabo was naked with his legs pulled up protectively, arms blocking the rest of him. Ace had also been stripped down, but when they looked around, they realized it was because they were in a dedicated wash room. Shower heads and dials covering the walls.
He sat up, feeling the bite of a metal grid beneath him that covered the floor, designed to drain the water easily. Sabo felt progressively more and more disoriented by repeatedly passing out and waking with large gaps of missing time and information.
When he pieced it together, it seemed to Sabo that they’d been taken to some kind of laboratory. And even though Sabo badly needed to wash, he shrank back away from the hazmat-garbed orderlies reaching to grab him by his tied hands— bound by some kind of thick, sharp plastic.
“They’re just going to clean us,” Ace assured him as he was pulled to his feet, “That’s all they’re doing.”
Sabo flinched as orderlies lifted his cuffs onto a hook in the ceiling so his feet dangled above the floor. He hissed in pain through his nose, trying to resist the strain.
He saw they were giving Ace the same treatment… god, he looked even more miserable as his bodyweight pulled at the healing skin of his back and shoulder. Ace let his head hang back as he dangled there by his wrists, completely exhausted as they began to rinse him off.
Water began to spray down Sabo’s body at the same time. He could feel many gloves spreading a harsh-smelling cleanser up and down the angles of his figure, but his attention never strayed from Ace’s form, his dripping hair, his closed eyes.
They opened their dry mouths, trying to drink the water as it ran over their exposed tongues.
As orderlies rubbed Sabo’s body down, he tried to remember the day he was sitting at that café table, surprised to see Ace standing in the street, feeling his energy. That was a more light-hearted memory to imagine. No bruises, no blood, just his perfect, blissfully unbroken skin. His hat, and his stupidly silly vacation shirt unbuttoned.
They kept washing him, stinging the claw marks in his side and his burned cheek. When he closed his eyes again, he was in a different place entirely, but he could still feel the cool water hitting his body.
Sabo blinked his blue eyes open, softly gasping up at the modest little waterfall pouring down into the cave, spraying onto him.
He stood in a waist-deep natural pool, lips tugging into a smile when a tide of water slammed into him from behind, directed by the mischievous youth accompanying him.
“Ace!” he laughed, dipping into the cave pool to avoid another wave.
The dark-haired boy grinned as the blond sent a revenge splash straight into him.
Sabo gasped into the water as he was wrenched back to reality, feeling hands grab him forcefully to stop him from panicking.
“It’s okay, Sabo, they’re done now,” he heard Ace’s voice say as the orderlies pulled Sabo from the running water.
Then he watched as they stood Ace in the corner to dress his back with ointment and bandages.
Other orderlies set about drying their hair with rough cloths. The room’s air pressure shifted as extremely warm air moved through it until they were dry, but it got too loud to speak in there.
Ace ducked his head, looking like the heat brought him too much comfort to bother fighting the towel. He met Sabo’s eyes as both of their faces were forcibly tilted back to have their hair detangled.
By the time the air stopped, they’d dried completely, and it got quiet enough in the wash room that Sabo could finally tell him.
“Think I remembered something.”
“What was it?” Ace asked, watching both their plastic restraints be cut away.
“Shut it!” an orderly barked, pressing the prod threateningly to Ace’s stomach.
“Waterfall cave,” Sabo murmured.
Ace smiled wistfully. “We loved that cave.”
He was sent forward forcefully, body bending around the electric shock they’d given him. Sabo looked horrified.
“Last warning, recruit,” an orderly next to Sabo told him, resting a prod against his skin.
The young men were led, still unclothed, out to the lab corridor.
They began to get a dark feeling about this place, seeing the empty cells lining the pristine white cell block, the barred doors down every row.
They cursed under their breath, head hanging low and trying not to panic as they took a last sideways glance at each other.
As concerned as they were, Sabo and Ace didn’t think they had any remaining energy to struggle.
Not until their escorts began to lead them separate directions. That’s when they realized they might not ever see each other again.
“What’s happening?” Sabo asked, instantly alarmed.
“No!” Ace said, crouching to halt their progress, pressing through their bodies to look for Sabo.
“Ace!” Sabo yelled, trying to get a sightline on him. Maybe it was the disorientation or the exhaustion, but he needed Ace near him. They didn’t have anyone but each other in here.
“Sabo! I’m gonna find you, okay?” Ace called, then his voice broke off in pained shock.
Sabo threw his head back, then pushed his shoulder against their grip to get one more glimpse of his last pillar of hope.
Sabo screamed, not caring how pitiful he sounded.
“Ace… I love you!”
But Ace found himself doubled over around the electric shocks again, gripped with too much pain to process. The beautiful words hit him like the whip, tearing him in half to hear the soft words Sabo yelled in agony, both their eyes stinging with tears now.
And just like that, they lost sight of each other, placed separately into their own confined cells.
No goodbye and no promise of another sighting.
It had been hours. Maybe the hours had already melted into a whole day; he couldn’t tell.
Sabo had slid down at the back of his cell, shivering at the chilly air when he heard it; a voice introducing herself as Poch over a little metal speaker near the barred door.
He staggered to his feet, making his way closer.
“What’s your purpose with us?” Sabo asked.
She made a sympathetic noise.
“That’s the reason for this call. I can’t think of a purpose for you at my facility, unfortunately. My orderlies had good intentions, bringing you here, getting you cleaned up, but I’ll need to sell you off, I’m afraid. Nothing personal, dear, but your scar is going to be a distraction for my clients.”
Sabo’s eyes closed, shaking his head, not sure if he even wanted to know what she meant by that.
“But you’re in luck. I’ve decided to give your beloved original handler a chance to buy you back. The price will be 602 million berry. If we can’t reach agreement over transponder, I’m afraid I’ll take whatever buyer offers my finder’s fee.”
He frowned at that, licking his cracking lips in confusion. No one willing to buy his freedom had that kind of berry. Not Tallis, not Koala or any of the revolutionaries, and he would’ve been exceedingly surprised if Poch had the connections to research and contact his actual parents.
“Who? Who’s my original handler?” he asked, eyes casting down as he listened intently for her reply.
She scoffed.
“Oh, you poor thing. How many handlers have you had? My personal bloodhound has tracked down a transponder code for the man named alongside you in the World Economic. A mister… Dragon?”
Sabo got close to the metal-covered intercom speaker, eyes going wide and round.
“He doesn’t need to pay anything. I don’t think the army has that much to spare. Even if they did, don’t ask for it. I just, if you were able to reach him for me, I’d be so grateful. Please just let me speak to him.”
She gave a delicate little laugh, tinkling in amusement. “You are sweet. I admire that in a man. I’ll have my assistant patch you through to him. He’s already on hold.”
The speaker made a click followed by a series of pips. Then he heard a man’s voice, deep and familiar.
“Sabo.”
He could’ve wept, just hearing him, after the most hellish week of his life. Only days passed, but in his mind, months had gone by. Dragon’s voice centered him, like everything was going to be alright.
“Dragon-san,” he replied, hand touching the speaker as if it could somehow physically take him to Dragon’s office.
“Where do I even begin with you?” Dragon said, sounding angry.
“I— what?” Sabo asked, his throat drying anxiously.
“You had Koala helping you investigate Marmont under my nose when you knew the risks were too great. Kitatown’s been ransacked, Karasu’s been injured defending the town, and last he heard, you ran off with a pirate. Same crew that attacked Koala.”
“Sir, I… I regret being unable to help,” Sabo explained shakily, “But I’m afraid I was taken prisoner—“
“Save it, I’ve seen the news. You made the front page. I know exactly what you’ve been doing. What the hell has gotten into you? Children, Sabo?”
His face burned hot, throat getting thick with horrified emotion. Dragon couldn’t think that…
“I’m not even going to dignify that accusation. You know perfectly well that the photo was staged. You know I got smeared. And like I said, we were prisoners—“
“Staged or not, Sabo, how could you allow this to happen? And what, they have you calling to collect berry from the army? You expect me to pay to have you released?”
“No!” Sabo insisted, voice catching with obvious pain, “She demanded more money than we even have. So I… I only wanted to hear your voice. And to tell you what happened to me, so you weren’t left wondering. I thought you might give a shit.”
“As expected. You have no manner of respect for me at all, speaking to me that way after everything you’ve done.”
“So you—“ Sabo’s words broke off, barely able to continue, “So you haven’t ever really cared about me. You only care that I obey you, carry out orders. But you don’t care if I suffer or even survive. You don’t care if I ever make it back to Baltigo, do you.”
“I believe I made my position clear already. You may return when you’re ready to own your responsibilities. If there’s nothing else, I have work to do.”
Sabo tilted his head back, blinking furiously to control himself, stop the tears from falling.
“One more thing,” Sabo said, hearing the pathetic waver in his own voice, “Even though you said those things… I still love you.”
The transponder call ended abruptly.
His throat made a low whine, holding back a sob so hard that it physically hurt. He sank, sliding down the wall until he was nearly on the floor, pulling at his hair, burying his face into his arm.
I’ve made mistakes before. He’s never reacted this way. These were much worse mistakes, maybe, but I never thought he’d tell me I’m nothing to him.
He found it so hard to accept the cruel truth in that transponder call. It had Sabo hurting so bad because, deep down, he did believe it despite him trying to convince himself otherwise. It wasn’t just Dragon’s voice, it was his words, his unmistakable anger and disappointment.
Sabo’s breath came out with wet noises through his nose, not even wiping his face, just letting the tears dry down his cheeks, itching and making his skin raw as he held his arms tight around himself.
He sighed, trying to push away thoughts of Dragon to examine his situation.
He used one hand to rub gingerly at the painful implant under his skin, thankful that it wasn’t sitting even deeper, under the muscle. Perhaps because they’d remove it when they transported him away.
However this implant worked, it must’ve been AFA-related, or perhaps a different government invention, because it seemed to sap at his fatigue just the same. This one was more painful than just the chemical, unfortunately, burning constantly until the spot drove him insane.
It didn’t help that they’d thrown him naked into the cell. Wherever they’d built the facility, he could only guess it was on a winter island the way he froze to his bones in here. There seemed to be no heat inside the cell, making him miserable with no relief, like even his blood was liquid ice.
He dried his face in frustration as his thoughts went back to the man that raised him. He felt humiliated, having defended Dragon so relentlessly, every time Ace tried to tell him that Dragon didn’t care about him. Only to have that call confirm every painful fear he’d ever had. That his only father had never really loved him.
If Ace was right about you…
You’re dead to me.
The cell was dark and cold, especially without clothes. And all the way in the back corner, forced into the smallest space he could inhabit, sat Portgas D. Ace.
It had been hours of waiting, that’s all he knew.
Ace pressed his hands into his face, arms beginning to shake with silent rage. Having freedom yanked from his hands so soon after escaping nearly cracked his mind again, and he sat there grasping for it. He wasn’t one to panic, but this was all getting to his head in the worst way.
An orderly appeared at the barred door to Ace’s solitary cell. He was startled by the sight, but struggled to his feet, bracing himself against the wall.
“Only here to run a test,” the staffer told him calmly through a face mask.
Ace watched something clatter to the floor through the metal drop box. It whistled quietly, smoking.
The orderly waited a moment before looking confused while smoke surrounded the prisoner harmlessly.
“Smells like shit,” Ace said, turning his nose up and fanning the gas away.
The orderly took notes with great interest.
“Nothing? Lungs not burning at all? Your skin isn’t burning either?”
Ace looked mildly horrified at her. “You mean you threw that in here hoping it would hurt me?”
She scrawled more notes.
“Subject… excessively… chatty… uses… profanity. That concludes your exam for the day.”
Ace went to the front of his cell as she left, unsteady on his feet after hours of hunching in the corner.
But the moment his hands made contact with his barred door, he heard a scream tear down the cell block. The cry of pain gripped his chest in a vice because he knew instantly that it belonged to Sabo.
He had to get out of his cell. Now.
Adrenaline spiked through his system as he slammed his body into the door, causing it to rattle loudly. He slammed into it again. The door wasn’t going to break, but that wasn’t his goal.
He heard an orderly yell, “OY!”
Ignoring the voice, Ace slammed into the door again, again, again, and again.
Two staffers were at his door.
“Stop that. You’re going to hurt yourself, recruit.”
Ace took a running thrash into the barred door, appearing to slam his head into it this time. His body crashed limp to the floor, laying there lifeless for many long seconds before the orderlies reacted.
“It’s Fire Fist. Her Grace will kill us.”
“Medical! We need medical!”
Huh, it actually worked.
The moment they approached his body through the unlocked door, Ace kicked his heels viciously into their faces. They were sent to the floor with their eyes rolled back.
Ace was upright immediately, heart pumping wildly as he rushed out the cell door, feet slapping down the cell block.
Sabo had tried to escape the burst of airborne chemicals burning his lungs, moving to the barred door and pressing his face to it. He inhaled at the clean oxygen from the white sterile corridor, seeing similar barred doors farther down that probably housed other prisoners.
His eyes closed and fluttered beneath his eyelids, feeling the metal on his face.
When he tried to mentally shut out the cell, his mind took hold, and he found himself back in a familiar room. His old bedroom, he realized, not remembering it until seeing it again.
Looking out the third floor window, he could see that night had fallen over the city’s manicured streets.
He’d gotten so used to sleeping with his two brothers that the thought of returning to this place, trying to sleep here— it made him lonelier than he ever felt in his life.
Sabo peered over at his small bed, swallowing sadly, imagining Ace jumping on it, then imagining him making comments about how lame this room looked. Too neat and expensive. Too worried about appearances to have any love in it.
He walked over to his drawstring bag, opening it to pull out the only thing capable of comforting him right now… a little orange tank that Ace had worn so many times around him.
Sabo had stolen it, wanting to make him laugh by wearing it, but instead he’d been brought to High Town by his parents. He didn’t know if he’d ever get to see Ace again, but just knowing he had something that belonged to him made Sabo’s lip tremble.
He climbed into bed, pressing it against his pillow before he laid down.
It smelled just like the tree fort, and just like Ace’s pillow. It was so much softer on his face than the normal bedding that he used it to dry the tears springing to his eyes.
“I miss you… I miss you so much, Ace,” he choked, and saying it aloud to Ace’s shirt made him hurt even worse, shaking as he wrapped a fist into the material.
He was so alone here in his old room, grasping at his stolen article of Ace’s clothing like it was a lifeline. And it was his lifeline, the only thing keeping him sane in this prison of a bedroom.
To Sabo’s disappointment, as the memory broke, the soft cloth in his hands gave way to metal bars, and the comforting smell of the shirt disappeared.
When he regained his senses, he could hear feet running, but he couldn’t see anyone until Ace slid to his door, startling him.
And then Ace had both his hands framing his face through the bars, exhaling in relief to see he wasn’t injured.
“You’re okay?” Ace asked, chest still rising and falling with effort as he pressed their foreheads together.
Sabo’s eyes closed, covering Ace’s hands with his own, trying to memorize him because he knew he’d be ripped away again any second. His heart beat faster, seeing the only person he felt he could rely on right now.
“Ace, fuck it’s so good to see you. They put burning gas in my cell,” Sabo told him quietly, “It wore off quickly, though. What are you doing here?”
“I heard you yelling,” Ace explained, “I couldn’t just sit in my cell.”
He pulled back, still staring at Sabo as his thumbs moved across both his cheeks.
Sabo’s fingers brushed his equally chilly hands, blue eyes examining Ace softly. He noticed Ace glance at his lips, making his stomach flutter wildly for a moment. He was much too distracted to think it was odd for Ace to be the same temperature as himself, if he had a kairouseki implant. He was just amazed to have him here, grateful to feel his hands.
“Did you really waste one of your clever exit strategies before you had a real plan in place? Just to check on me?”
They heard a dry voice from a neighboring cell.
“He can’t help it, he’s just an idiot like that.”
Ace took a few steps to the right, peering in astonishment at a familiar face.
“Cabaji?” Ace breathed, nearly laughing for the first time in awhile, “I never thought I’d say this, but it’s really good to see your face.”
Reinforcements of orderlies sprinted down the hall.
“Considering where we are, is that really a compliment?” Cabaji replied.
The last time he saw Ace was years ago, and the Buggy Pirates had grudgingly let him leave the ship with no further fuss, even though the captain didn’t much care for Ace. Made it difficult for Buggy to harm him when he looked so much like Roger. But mainly, they didn’t fuck with Ace because he could put the Big Top at the bottom of the ocean.
Cabaji on the other hand had a huge grudge against him, starting with how badly Ace humiliated him the first time they fought. Ace treated it like a casual sparring match, like Cabaji was that much weaker. Because he was.
That’s why Ace looking so excited to see him felt so shocking. In fact, Ace was still smiling at him when the staffers began pulling him away.
“Weird,” he murmured.
They didn’t drag Ace back to his cell, like he assumed would happen. He was dropped to his knees in front of Poch, who stood smoothing her lavender updo before he arrived.
She held her pen, twirling it in her fingers as she looked down at Ace, his beautiful body now clean and freshly bandaged.
“Such a fuss you’ve made,” she cooed at him. “What is this about, Fire Fist?”
Ace looked up at her, hands resting between his legs. “Let me pay you Sabo’s bounty, and I’ll find a way to pay for mine too. I have to get us out of here.”
“So, you want to leave me already?” she asked him before smiling apologetically, “I can’t do that, sadly. My clients wouldn’t appreciate that. We paid the money because we want to keep you.”
Ace’s eyes lowered, searching until he quickly had another thought.
“What would persuade you to just release Sabo? Or to stop testing on him? He shouldn’t even be here.”
Poch regarded him for a moment, tracing the jeweled cap of her pen under his jawline.
“Is this the same prisoner you just assaulted my staff to go visit for thirty seconds?”
Ace looked vaguely guilty, if only to buy her sympathy, her cooperation, anything. This wasn’t a game anymore.
“I had to make sure he was okay,” he told her from his knees. “He’s my responsibility. You didn’t even let him recover before you started experimenting on him with no food and no water. If you’re going to make us both suffer a long, painful death, please don’t separate us like this. We swore an oath to each other. I should be with him.”
Poch sank slowly until she was eye to eye with Ace, bending her legs elegantly to the side to fix him with a touched look, putting a hand to her heart.
“I never pictured you’d be such a romantic, Fire Fist.”
He swallowed, wondering if that meant she was agreeing to any of the things he asked. He followed her eyes as she rose back to full height, turning to one of her staff.
“Escort him back to his cell.”
His eyes widened as hands gripped his shoulders.
When Ace was dumped onto the stone floor, he curled back into the corner, wondering how long they would do this to him. She hadn’t agreed to a single thing Ace asked, so as far as he could tell, he had just returned to the same existence in the cold cell he’d had the previous night.
He wondered how long this hell would last until they finally slipped up enough that he could escape.
A week? A year?
It was mercilessly frigid where he lay. Craving warmth, craving any shred of comfort, he tried to imagine Sabo there, but this time there were no walls or bars or shackles between them.
Ace pressed his legs and arms in close to warm his chest, trying to ward off a shiver. His eyes were closed, but he was sure his breath was coming out as water vapor.
He took a deep inhale, letting his mind create the sensation of warm hands running down his arms, then his back and up his neck. Unfortunately, his intrusive thoughts came crashing in, interrupting the warmth he had tried to create.
Poch had made it seem like she might show him more mercy than she affords other prisoners, but he realized how naïve he’d been to ask his new captor to just let them go, or to give them better treatment.
She had given him a small hope just to delight in ripping it away. Ace knew something in his mind had snapped under the conditions he’d endured because he couldn’t believe how he had begged.
This thought only made it worse. He couldn’t stop tears from springing to his eyes, knowing how unlike himself he’d become.
Fire erupted across Grey Terminal, reflecting flames in Ace’s young eyes, holding a dirty hand across his nose and mouth to block the invasive thick smoke.
The blaze swept across shacks and makeshift homes, consuming everything it touched while the citizens of Goa slept peacefully in their untouched properties up the hill, past the wall of contempt they built.
Dadan pulled him away from the inferno, even though he resisted, still covering his face as he tried to run the path through it. His eyes stung and welled up against heat and contaminated air.
“Let me go,” he shouted angrily, pulling and tugging against her grip, but she slid him backwards, eventually picking up his struggling body.
“Luffy’s already safe,” Dadan told him, “I’m trying to make sure you’re safe too.”
“I’m not looking for Luffy, I’m trying to reach High Town,” Ace hissed, still working to free his wrists,
“If they’ll do it to us, they’ll do it to Sabo. He’s never gonna do what they want. They’re gonna hurt him!”Dadan paused in frustration.
“Ace, he’s with his parents. He’s okay. He’d want you to get yourself away from this fire.”
Ace grunted angrily as she started walking away with him again, taking him farther and farther from the city’s dark outline against the rising smoke and destructive orange blaze.
“Sabo!” he yelled over her shoulder, fists digging into her, eyes blurring with tears.
“Ace!” Sabo screamed.
He pulled against the guards stationed at High Town when they intercepted him again. Grabbing his clothes before he could get to the barricaded doors. Before he could climb up and over them.
“Luffy,” Sabo called, sinking to the street in their iron grip, feeling hopeless after trying so many times.
“Let me check on my brothers. Please,” Sabo begged, “They’re in danger out there. I have to find them.”
“Get lost, kid,” a guard said as the other tossed him back the direction he came.
Sabo had tears staining both cheeks, dirty now as he wiped his face on the back of his hand. He looked back at the guards, bitterly wounded by the thought of never returning to their tree fort, never knowing if they were safe or not.
“Ace,” he sniffled, pressing the back of his hand to his mouth with burning eyes.
“Sabo,” Ace choked quietly, curled on the hard floor gripping Sabo’s pillow so tightly his arms hurt.
“Let me see him again… please…” they both whispered into their own empty cells.
It was pure agony, being separated like this. They slid hands over their faces, feeling wetness leak through their fingers as tears blinked from their eyes.
This was one of those nights that would have no relief. They lay trembling on the stone floor, trying and failing to make the warm hands come back.
Tallis had his eyes closed, his body face up on the deck, burning in the sun under the kairouseki chain they’d secured around his body.
His lips dried, left to die with the rest of the chained up slavers. He noticed them complaining and arguing amongst themselves, unable to search for a key all chained to each other, but he shut out the sight of their bickering by inching himself out of their reach and shutting his eyes again, savoring the peace it brought.
He did his best to shift his own chain away, especially since it hadn’t been secured to his body, but it was heavy and concentrated, freezing through his uniform and making him too tired to lift it off.
When he felt panicked vibrations on the deck, he blinked and raised his head a little.
Scrappy little brownish-black sea birds had descended, the feathered opportunists realizing everyone on deck was defenseless, trying to pick at their skin even though they were still alive.
Tallis winced, feeling several of them hop onto him, too. Their beaks were sharp, stabbing and jarring him. They went for his nostril, his earlobes, his neck until he must’ve been making pained sounds.
One of them drew blood, cutting his palm, and the rest of them were like piranhas, cocking their heads at the sight before hopping closer with interest.
When Tallis really tried to communicate, he could tell they had thoughts in their small walnut brains. But the thoughts weren’t cohesive, all prey drive and hunger. A hive mind, a swarm mentality. Nothing he could talk to.
He began to think he may actually get eaten alive, chained here with the rest of the crew he hated so much. The thought threatened to eat him alive even if the birds didn’t.
But something flew across the sun, banking in a wide arc high in the heavens above. He blinked up at the brightness, not sure if his desperate mind was imagining another bird up there. But he had to be hallucinating.
It spiraled down closer, seeming interested in his mental voice. It looked like a parrot. A blue one.
‘Help me,’ he told the parrot, eyes squeezing shut against the painful pecking at his face, ‘Please, what’s your name? Can you help me, friend?’
And then, Tallis’ eyes opened wide, feeling the black birds scatter off of him to make way for a macaw. It was giant up close, making the chains heavier when he landed there.
The bird’s beak moved, saying, “man down,” out loud, but Tallis couldn’t tell what it said, only stared at him in amazement as the bird flapped, pulling the chains with his talons enough for Tallis to scoot away from them.
Tallis stood to his feet, seeing the whole crew staring at him helplessly. They didn’t even bother crying out to him because they knew by the look in his eyes that he had every intention of leaving them to their fate.
He walked the deck until his shadow fell across Marmont, staring down his nose at the captain.
“Tallis… please…” Marmont said, lifting his cuffs an inch hoping Tallis might change his mind, “You were always my favorite. I told you that so many times.”
He didn’t react, face solemn as he looked down at his palm where the birds had already drawn blood.
Tallis’ eyes blazed yellow as he squeezed his hand into a fist, letting blood stream onto Marmont’s right eye. The captain shut his eyes immediately, but the pool of blood attracted the mangy scavengers flocking his body.
Marmont’s mouth opened in a horrified scream, but Tallis didn’t have the stomach to watch what they did to his eye.
“Good boys,” he said to the birds, turning his back.
Some of the crew were trying to get his attention, pointing to the set of keys out of their reach, which he picked up, dangling them for a moment in their line of sight.
“This one?” he asked Marmont, watching him grimace in pain with his right eye still squeezed shut around the blood.
Marmont nodded his head, looking fucked up but somehow still hopeful.
Tallis scoffed, keeping the keys in his hand as he took a running start, ascending shakily into the air as a hawk to following the blue macaw off the ship.
Only when he was safely in the air did he drop the keys in Marmont’s reach, knowing the birds would kill him if the captain couldn’t patch himself up below deck. Besides not wanting a girl’s life sacrificed in Marmont’s place, Tallis also didn’t think he deserved to die this easily.
“I don’t know how I feel about gifts, Deu,” Koala told him, following him down the stairs, “It’s really not necessary.”
“This one’s functional, and it’s gonna rot if no one uses it. You’d be doing me a favor, not to mention peace of mind and all that.”
“Cryptic,” Koala commented behind him.
Koala and Deuce stopped at an old dented trunk in the crew’s personal storage room, and the moment Deuce opened it, Koala saw a few boxes of ammunition and two revolvers, both different brands, one dustier than the other.
“This one I lifted off a marine when I ran away from home. Her frame finally cracked, so she’s outta commission,” Deuce told her, indicating the dustier one, “But this one, the Naja? She belongs to you, now. Single-action and gorgeous. The maker named her after a—“
“Spitting cobra,” she said, surprising him, and surprising herself that she even remembered that, “Those are in Elbaf.”
He slowly started to grin.
“Don’t tell me you’ve read Brag Men.”
She shrugged, not sure if he was making fun of her. Most people found the journal of Louis Arnot to be falsified nonsense.
“I mean, I was a young girl when I read it. And to be fair, I only read it because Sabo was recovering and I wanted to keep him company.”
“No, don’t get me wrong. That was the book that gave me the courage to leave home,” Deuce told her, looking very pleased to find one person that wouldn’t ridicule his favorite book.
Koala watched him pull the pistol and its strap carefully from the trunk, already shaking her head in polite refusal.
“This is so kind of you, but hand-to-hand has always served me just fine,” she told him pointedly, crossing her arms like she knew where this conversation was going, “Are you doing this because of the other night? Deu, I’m perfectly capable of defending myself. I have a Fishman mentor who’s worked with me for over a decade. I train the army’s recruits now.”
He clenched his teeth slightly, not sure how to reply without potentially upsetting her. But it was too late, he got frustrated when he pictured how she’d already been near-fatally wounded. If Marco weren’t on the crew, it would’ve been dicey, just keeping her alive.
Hearing her say she wanted to fight hand-to-hand? On a pirate ship? No way. Most pirates and marines were armed with guns. She should know better, but he knew she must’ve been young when she was with the Sun Pirates. Maybe in her current line of work, melee was enough. But he wouldn’t stand for it if she was on this crew.
“Of all the things. Look, I’m just gonna say it… Fishman Jujutsu works a lot better when you have the strength of a Fishman,” Deuce told her, almost looking apologetic at how blunt he stated it.
“Even you said it earlier, Koala. You picked Wallace to help you fix the sails over our crew’s bookish teacher. Why? He’s strong. It’s important to know your limits. Even I don’t fancy my chances hand-to-hand. Sometimes, you need a gun.”
As he said it, he pressed the belt and holstered old revolver into her arms. He’d guessed the wrong fighting style, Koala noticed briefly, but it wasn’t even worth correcting at this point. She thought he’d probably be even less impressed by karate, judging by his tone.
“Know how to use it? Since you apparently know how to mix smelling salts, make vivre cards and drop sail?” he asked.
Her eyes steeled, but lost their edge seeing his disarming expression. He let her know with pinched eyes that he’d been lightly teasing her.
He was right that there’d been times a gun might’ve helped. Not against Marco or Karasu, but other times, sure. And Deuce had been more gentle about the topic than most. Hell, she hadn’t even listened to Sabo when he told her the same thing, but it felt less biased coming from someone she’d met recently.
“I know how to use pistols, I just can’t say much for my accuracy.”
“Yeesh, if your accuracy needs work, just make sure there’re no friendlies between you and the targets, eh?” Deuce replied, tilting his head so she’d follow him back to the stairs, “C’mon, I’m actually excited to see what I’m working with. Think how impressed Sabo will be if we turn you into a crack shot.”
While Koala aimed at a few wooden targets set up on the fore upper rail, Deuce had brought out his own project, gripping a stout needle between his teeth as her watched her form. He wrapped decorative thread absently around his fingers, biting the needle in concentration as she fired. It nearly hit the mark.
”Close!” Mihar encouraged her, smiling from the crow’s nest, holding his hat with one hand as he looked down.
Deu pulled the needle from his mouth, gesturing to her hands.
“Your thumb’s on the grip, which is fine; that’s how Kukai holds it. But if you move it here, brace it against the recoil shield, that’ll help you keep it more stable. More accurate too.”
She tried a couple more shots, using her other hand to grip and cock the hammer back for each round.
“Oh, I see it, now. You’re gripping your other hand too tight. See how it pulls the barrel off target? So this left one just barely lays there.”
“Would you say you’re one of the best marksmen here?” she asked.
He scoffed.
“Not even close. Teachie doesn’t miss. But he also doesn’t use revolvers. Saber is a much quicker draw than I am, but that’s all I’d want him to teach you— do not watch how he shoots; you’ll regret copying his form faster than you can say ‘friendly fire.’”
She laughed, amused by his commentary.
“What about the Wano man?”
He considered it for a moment.
“Kukai is more accurate than me, certainly. He’s also the best person to show you how to clean the Naja. Very meticulous and responsible. Hell, I’m sure every guy on this ship could show you something new. But don’t try to learn too much at once or it won’t stick.”
Koala kept practicing as Deuce ducked to work on a book, only this time, he wasn’t writing, and it wasn’t his journal. He sat threading folded pages carefully into the spine of a leather cover. Crafting a new journal with beautiful red embroidery twine.
She couldn’t help but notice him working when she’d finished unloading the rounds, holstering the gun in the strap that she’d draped loosely over one shoulder.
Deuce glanced up at her once, but he had to keep his attention on the binding process, because the knot he attempted to use made it very difficult for him to add a new bundle of pages.
He smiled slightly when she came over, not even wanting to look at her again, especially when she crouched beside him, examining his work more closely.
“Never seen anyone make a book before. Where’d you learn this?”
Deuce paused the frustrating knot to show her how each bundle of pages gets stitched to the leather, but he was only on the first one. The hardest.
“Sorta teaching myself as I go. You really like learning new skills, huh?”
“Well, I have to make myself useful somehow, don’t I?” Koala said, “Because I’m not exactly the cavalry. Sabo tried his best to show me Armament. He said I nearly had a breakthrough once, but still no result, no matter what we try. I can fight, but I’ll never be a front-lines fighter. So what can I do, if not learn everything else I possibly can?”
Deuce nodded. “I respect that. Damn, I’m really regretting this thread.”
Koala watched him struggle with it a moment longer, analyzing it from a different angle.
“Oh, I see. Knots you use on rope don’t work so well on something this thin. Besides which, even my fingers are too big to tie sailors knots with thread. Look. Cut that. Now lick your finger.”
He did as she asked, smiling a little.
“Now wrap it three times or so, pinch it and roll it before pulling it tight. The spit makes it tangle into a good knot.”
He laughed softly, especially when it worked.
“What an obscenely chaotic knot. Who would invent such a thing? There’s no organization, so it’s gonna be different every time.”
“But it works,” Koala defended, “It’s used in sewing. That should stop the thread from pulling out so much when you’re adding pages to the journal.”
Deuce admired the knot closely— although his admiration was more akin to cautious optimism.
“Seems to hold better than anything I tried. And I guess if I never see you knot one of our ropes like this, we’ll be okay. Thank you. I was making this one for Ace, but I’d like to make you one too—“
He cut himself off as Kotatsu bolted past them, leaping into the air to catch a bird flying in fast over the railing.
The cat didn’t get a good grip, sending the hawk slamming and rolling across the deck in a burst of bloody feathers.
Before Kotatsu could pounce on the hawk again, Marco’s sandals hit the deck between them, stopping their predatory crew mate from killing the bird.
Jabby fluttered in, grasping his feet on the net, high enough to evade Kotatsu’s interest, but he sat there squawking at Marco as he crouched to carefully frame his concerned hands around the injured bird.
Then his hands stopped, withdrawing in surprise.
The crew had gathered, abandoning their projects to supervise the commotion.
“Okay, I can see you need help, yoi,” Marco told the hawk, taking note of the blood staining his feathers, “I just need you to show yourself first.”
“That thing’s a Zoan?” Mihar called from above, squinting down at it.
The moment Mihar said ‘Zoan,’ the whole crew seemed to have their weapons drawn, aiming guns and pikes and swords in a fearsome display despite their newcomer looking badly damaged. See, after meeting Marco, the crew believed Zoans weren’t any less dangerous just because one was hurt. And usually, they were right.
Marco had asked Tallis to reveal himself. He didn’t want to, due to the reaction they were all about to have. But he was so out of options he understood he’d accept whatever they did to him. Couldn’t be worse than the conditions he lived under before.
The hawk changed into a young man, now cradling a broken arm as blood stained several places on his slim white uniform.
He shrank against the deck, looking up at Marco with pleading eyes glinting yellow in the direct sun.
Koala’s eyes widened, peering around Deuce’s gun at Tallis’ fearful expression.
Marco’s eyes darkened, seeing the patches on his uniform, the monogrammed ‘M’ framed with iron wings. His wrist tattoo showing the same incriminating brand in his skin.
“Slaver,” Marco said, “One of Marmont’s officers.”
An angry murmur spread out through the crew, seeming to tighten their grip on the weapons aimed in his direction.
“What can you tell us about Ace and Sabo?” Marco asked, producing blue flames in his hand so Tallis understood he’d have to suffer the pain until he answered.
“It’s my fault, okay? I was the one that targeted Ace,” Tallis admitted miserably, knowing the crew wouldn’t believe his good intentions if he led with them, “I didn’t want to like him, but the more he talked the more I couldn’t go through with it. I swear it to you on my mother’s life. The buyer showed up and stole them the second they finally got free. That’s the only reason they’re not here to explain that I helped them.”
Skull rifled through his pockets, producing Marco’s vivre card.
Tallis winced when it was pulled out, especially when the sight of it seemed to boil Marco’s blood.
“This is the only way for Ace to find us again, yoi,” Marco told him, showing him the card, “Why did you take it?”
Tallis closed his eyes, trying to keep himself calm with so many weapons on him.
It only got worse when Skull checked the inside of his uniform, unsnapping the top buttons to reveal a peek of white lace.
Tallis kept his face firmly emotionless, looking almost defiant against Skull’s prying hands, clearly feeling violated by them. That didn’t stop Skull, who pulled the garments apart to show the white bralette that Marmont had forced Tallis to wear the last time he assaulted him.
Koala recognized it immediately, eyes welling up in horror at the blood stains on it.
“Stop,” Koala said, almost holding back when she caught deadly serious looks from everyone, “If he was lying, he’d have burns on him, wouldn’t he? Ace could’ve hurt him easily. Look at him, he’s terrified. Can you all stop this?”
When Tallis’ eyes landed on her, they seemed to kindle with recognition.
“Are you Koala? I’m supposed to give this back to—“
But he was distracted by Marco’s eyes burning into him from above, looking monstrous. In Marco’s eyes, right now, he was nothing more than another slaver setting his eyes on her.
“No, you don’t talk to her. Deuce, please get her away from him. Ganryu, Leonero, escort our guest to the brig. We’ll question him there, yoi.”
The moment Deuce slid an arm around her shoulders, Koala’s hand gripped his arm hard, holding it away with a dangerous look.
“Don’t…” she told him seriously.
Deuce let go, looking a little hurt by her reaction, then gave Marco an apologetic look too.
Tallis stifled a noise of pain when the men raised him to his feet, hunching over his broken arm.
Marco caught Koala, stopping her from running to Tallis as they carried him away.
She thrashed against his grip, pissed.
“Let us handle this, yoi,” Marco told her, “Will you please trust me? We’re not going to hurt him. But I don’t want you talking to him.”
“Is that an order,” she demanded, sounding angry.
He let her go, still standing between her and the stairs leading below deck.
“No,” he said, “But I’m asking you not to interfere in this. Sabo wouldn’t let you anywhere near a slaver, and I won’t either, for the same reason.”
Koala shut her eyes, hanging her head in frustration, then flashing Deuce a sorrowful look. He’d only been following orders, besides which just trying to protect her. She felt like a dick for reacting so harshly.
“I’m sorry, Deu.”
He accepted a hug from her, pulling her in tight as his troubled eyes watched Tallis be led away.
“You don’t owe him any sympathy,” Deuce said with a quiet edge to his voice, “He admitted he’s the reason Ace and Sabo went through all this. Try not to get so worked up about it. Whatever happens to him here can’t be worse than what he put them though.”
Koala pulled away, still indeed looking bothered, but she accepted that they didn’t want her to follow.
“Help me in the kitchen? I’m gonna keep Banshee company,” Deuce offered, grateful when she grudgingly relented.
Koala bided her time, scooping stew into her mouth and nodding along with conversation, but her eyes kept flickering at the door.
At some point, she watched Marco receding into the captain’s quarters.
And when everyone settled into the crew quarters, she pretended to fall asleep, hugging her pillow between herself and Deuce so he wouldn’t notice when she eased away from his arm.
Koala inched to the edge of the net, heart pounding as she pulled a blanket with her and stepped across the floor silently thanks to the cashmere socks.
She avoided Kotatsu’s wide eyes, creeping up the stairs to the deck. Sliding one of the makeshift wooden targets off the rail, she hid in the shadows long enough to frisbee it over the railing.
When it splashed, she glanced up at the crow’s nest, hoping that’d be enough to distract the lookout as she slipped to the opposite staircase.
Koala clicked on a lantern outside Tallis’ cell, sinking down to the floor outside the bars with wide, sad eyes. He was awake, and shifted to the front of the cell, putting his shackled hands around the bars to steady himself.
“Koala?” he asked, showing her the bralette. Like some sort of fucked up identification badge.
She nodded, still looking disturbed by the blood on it. Did that blood come from Sabo or Tallis? Either way, it was deeply troubling.
“I’m Tallis,” he said, “Sabo wanted to make sure you got this back. Says he promised to return it, so… Can you help me get it off?”
Koala reached both arms into the cell, and with great difficulty, she ripped the lace until it came free from his body. But when her fingers grazed his chest, she felt how frigid the kairouseki made his skin.
“You’re freezing. Here.”
She discarded the lace next to her and pushed her blanket through the bars. With it, a canteen of water.
He looked down in awe, smiling at her softly for a moment before cloaking himself gratefully, then took desperate gulps of water while she looked on.
Catching his breath, he slumped into the wall, looking tired, but surprisingly relaxed otherwise.
“Did they treat you okay?” she asked.
He snorted a little, stunned by her.
“Surprised you care. You don’t hate me for capturing your friends?”
“Depends why you did it, because I believe you changed your mind. I can tell you weren’t lying about that. How does someone like you end up a slaver then? Because I’ve met slavers, and you’re nothing like them.”
So he explained everything to her, resting his face into the wall as she listened closely, asking him questions occasionally.
When he explained what happened to his mom, he was surprised when her arm slipped between the bars again to grasp his cold hand, holding it in hers until it had a little more warmth.
He smiled, appreciating the comforting gesture.
“I think she’ll be okay, Tallis. Once we have Ace and Sabo back, maybe we can seek her out, let you off the ship there.”
He didn’t seem to think they’d agree to do that, looking skeptical even though Koala seemed kind.
“I don’t want off the ship, Koala. I want to prove I’m trustworthy. I know I’ll have to earn it. Maybe they won’t ever really accept me. But I’ve been a pirate under Marmont so long I don’t think I can return to land or adhere to anything rigid like the marines.”
“Oh… do you think Ace and Sabo will vouch for you?”
Tallis smiled, nodding.
“Ace was the one that told me I have a place on the crew. It’s okay if I have to wait for them to hear it from the captain. It’s worth it.”
Koala rubbed his hand, feeling it get a little warmer under her palm.
It wasn’t until then that she saw Jabby perched in the corner, cursing under her breath and looking around just as Marco appeared.
The sight of him startled her with a jolt, pulling her hands away from Tallis looking incredibly guilty.
Marco didn’t react, just looked disappointed as she walked past him, then gave Tallis a mistrustful look before following her from the brig. Because they were definitely gonna have a conversation about this.
Even Koala knew it, stopping at the top of the stairs, sitting on them as Marco sat a couple steps under her, pressing his hands together looking stressed.
“Holding his hand…” Marco struggled out quietly, seeming lost.
“He’s cold. You didn’t even give him a blanket.”
“Koala, really? Why were you even touching him? Did we see the same uniform?“
“He’s helping us. He doesn’t need to be in chains. If you’d just listen to him—“
Marco scoffed, smiling.
“I bet he did tell you everything you wanted to hear. I’m trying to look out for you, but it’d make my job a lot easier if you’d be less naïve.”
Koala’s eyes pinched, nodding painfully at the fact that he likened her safety to a chore that Ace forced on him. But she could tell he’d used it as an excuse to thinly veil whatever feelings he actually had. Hell, maybe she was wrong about that, too.
“Are you saying this as vice-captain, or someone who’s envious? Because it sounds suspiciously like the latter.”
Marco looked stunned, staring to notice her cool façade cracking slightly.
“You want me to be jealous,” he noticed.
“I’d be very flattered. But I’d also wonder why this hypothetical person hasn’t said something before.”
Being uniquely attuned after all these years, Marco could hear a voice in his head. A feminine one.
’I like her… I usually don’t like them, but I really do like this one…’
‘Not now,’ he thought, squeezing his eyes shut.
‘Don’t ruin it, Marco.’
‘You think I need the pressure? I’m trying not to.’
He did his best to relax, shaking off the voice.
“Koala, it’s not that, okay, I’m not trying to control you. Look, Tallis isn’t just a slaver, he’s a high-ranking one. You think he got promoted to officer by being the only slaver with a conscience? This guy helped put children in chains. Children like you were, Koala. Fine, you don’t wanna talk about your past, but I didn’t forget what I saw on your back. You don’t owe people like that anything. Especially not your affection.”
He nearly rendered her speechless, seeing how bothered he looked saying the word ‘affection.’ She gave him a look before continuing.
“Tallis felt just as trapped as Sabo and Ace. And he’s fixing it. He freed my brother, he freed Ace, and he’s going to help us find the children and get them back to their parents.”
“He hasn’t proven any of that to you, yet. Even then, fixing what he did is the least he can do, not gold medal worthy, yoi,” Marco said quietly, finding it difficult to look at her. His irises still glowed with rich cyan light. “The people he surrounded himself with define him, whether you want to hear it or not.”
“I guess it means something that he’s chosing to surround himself with us, then, doesn’t it?”
This seemed to frustrate him, but he bit his cheek, nostrils flaring before speaking.
“Alright, you clearly trust him. Convince me, then. What did he say to you that was so compelling?”
“Ask him yourself. I’ll be up top when you’re ready to admit I was right.”
Despite what she said, Koala didn’t sound upset, her words lacking any sting whatsoever. If Marco had to guess, it seemed like bickering with Sabo had totally spent her ability to stay mad.
Marco watched her stand up and walk away.
If she was that confident, it made him even more curious to know what Tallis said to win her over. That didn’t mean he was ready to like him. Just curious.
‘Her soul is like fire,’ the voice said, ‘Yet she cannot be angry with you. Interesting.’
He smiled, scoffing.
‘You’re killing me. I’m trying so hard to be decent.’
‘Decent? …or afraid?’
’She’s on the crew, Anka. You’re used to getting whatever you want, so you don’t understand that I have to be careful. Us mere mortals follow a code of ethics or everything goes sideways.’
“My advice? Cool it with the poorly disguised jealousy,” Tallis spoke the moment Marco leaned outside his cell,
“She obviously likes you. But that won’t last if you’re not up front with her.”
The lanky phoenix had already crossed his arms, and seemed unaware that his eyes still glowed in annoyance. Not to play the age card, but this damn-near teenager telling him his own business, making wild assumptions nearly made him leave the brig.
“If you’re looking for work as a matchmaker, I don’t think they’ll like what they see on your résumé, kid.”
Fucking hell, I sound like Oyaji.
Tallis shrugged, pulling his blanket tighter.
“I agree with you. Everything you probably said about me to Koala, too. I had to make choices I don’t wish on anyone. None of which makes me less at fault. So. You’re right about me. I deserve to be in here.”
“What do you mean, probably? We were in earshot the whole time, yoi. Why the hell are you staring at my mouth?”
“I’m sure you were in earshot, but I can’t hear. I’ve been reading your lips. I can usually tell what you’re saying if I watch.”
Marco took long blinks, letting out a slow sigh as the light in his eyes faded to soft grey.
“Alright, hawk. Let’s have it, then. What was so much worse than putting children in chains?”
“I’m not peddling for sympathy, okay?” Tallis said, tone carrying mild frustration.
“Answer the question, yoi.”
Tallis’ face relaxed, suddenly intrigued by a word that’d rolled off Marco’s lips.
“…What’s that? Looked like ‘Yo.’ Did I say it right?”
Marco’s jaw clenched, nostrils flaring slightly. Tallis looked so curious. He had this disarming innocence that took the heat right out of Marco’s chest whether he wanted it to or not.
“I don’t know, a speech problem I have. There. I answered your question. Would it be difficult to answer mine, now?”
“I don’t think it’s a problem. I think it’s cool,” Tallis told him, making Marco frown deeply, probably with something akin to guilt. Then Tallis answered him.
“My mom got sick. My, um… Jericko… couldn’t pay for her bills on a marine wage.”
Marco’s eyes widened. He’d known of Vice-Admiral Marmont, but he didn’t know he’d had a son. Or that the son was Tallis.
“I was too young to understand, at first, when his stealing valuables turned into stealing people. Then I was too afraid to leave. He changed into… not himself anymore. And I could’ve killed him at any point before he got his devil fruit. Poison in his food, a bullet in his sleep; I pictured it all. But I didn’t know how I could ever raise enough money myself to keep my mother alive, so I did the most cowardly thing possible and let him continue his bullshit. I didn’t even pluck up the courage to do the right thing until it was almost too late. And at this point, my mom’s not going to survive long, since I’m, y’know, in here. So, I get to live with that, now.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Marco asked, eyes pinching slightly as Tallis looked away, not even able to confirm it. His voice had cracked talking about his mother, and Marco knew the emotion was real.
“They don’t know. Ace said you might be able to help, but I’m not gonna bother asking, since our captain’s still missing.”
Marco swallowed, looking a little troubled.
Our captain.
That’s something Ace would’ve done, told him he’s part of the crew if he spun a sympathetic enough story. And Marco basically believed it, but it didn’t change the fact that it was too sad, too convenient.
“Why did you stay? You have wings.”
“I want to join the crew. I can cook… and I’ve never met another bird type before. I thought maybe you could show me some things. I’ll earn it, Marco-san.“
Fuck. The crew needs a cook very badly.
And even worse, Tallis seemed to look at Marco the way Ace had when they met. So desperately in need of a father. Those sharp brown eyes damn near broke his heart.
“Just ‘Marco.’ Look, I’ll have to run it past the crew, yoi,” Marco told him, “Even then, nothing’s official until we hear Ace approve it.”
Marco backed away from the cell, already moving to exit his sightline.
“Hey, Marco?” Tallis said, wrapping his hands around the bars and trying to fit his face through them until the phoenix stopped in his tracks.
“Yeah, kid?” Marco grudgingly said, looking at the brown-haired young man.
“I don’t know why you’re worried about Koala. You’re an attractive man. I’d kill for abs like that. And you keep saying ‘kid’ like you’re some fifty-year old—“
“Easy, I got a couple years left, yoi,” Marco admitted, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been complimented like that.
Tallis shook his head with a disbelieving smile. “You can’t be… then it’s true that Zoans like us barely age? Think I’m aging well too?”
”What? You look sixteen. How old are you, yoi?”
Marco could barely even ask the question before Tallis spoke again, like a floodgate had opened.
“You think? I’m twenty-two, so I guess we really do age slow. I meant it, though, about Koala, I can tell she likes you by the way she talks about you—“
“Tallis,” Marco interrupted.
“Sorry, just trying to say you’re the opposite of the crew I hated. I’m not here to interfere or upset you. All I want is a family.”
Marco swallowed hard, remembering saying similar words to Newgate as a teenager. Damn, this kid was good. If he was even half as good at cooking, Ace would sign him immediately.
“I’ll talk to them, okay, yoi?”
But Deuce didn’t want to hear it, even though Mihar and Skull seemed on the fence.
“Are you kidding me?” he asked Marco, “I thought we were all on the same page. This slaver has Koala sneaking off in the middle of the night, he was wearing her bra apparently, and you found her holding his hand? I mean, why is this a conversation?”
Skull nodded, “Good point, Deu-san. He does sound like he might be dangerous to let loose around her.”
Marco was the only one that didn’t seem to fully agree with that statement now, his mouth tightening slightly.
“Don’t…” he sighed, “Please don’t call him that. He’s not after Koala. I wasn’t prepared to change my mind about that, but he’s a good kid.”
Deuce made a skeptical face.
“I can’t believe you’re even considering letting him go after everything he’s done.”
“Maybe if you talked to him, yoi.”
But Deu didn’t want to hear it.
“I don’t want a thing to do with him. This is so fucked up. If Ace really did promise him a place on the crew, I wanna hear it from him first.”
Mihar squeezed his shoulder in solidarity.
“I gotta side with Deu on this. I know you’re acting as captain right now, Marco, but I say let him stay in the brig. We’ll make sure he’s fed until we find Ace.”
Koala sat on the yard, peering down at them as they discussed the matter. She swung her legs, leaning sideways into the mast, at least grateful that Marco was on her side about this.
She caught Marco’s eye one more time, trading a smile with him.
Her look said, ‘I was right, wasn’t I?’
His look said, ‘Don’t get used to it.’
Marco heard the transponder ring, crouching down next to the barrel it rested on with a guilty expression.
He activated the receiver, then rested his cheek on his arm, knowing he was about to have a difficult conversation.
”Luffy… You must have a lot of questions, yoi.”
Notes:
Ace looks sad. Give him a cupcake.
Ace has both elbows on his knees, chin resting in his hands. Looks pretty miserable right now.
“Hey buddy, want a little cupcake?”
“What’s that gonna do,” Ace says moodily.
“Come on… you’ll feel better.”
“Unlikely,” Ace murmurs.
“Yeah? Okay yeah, fuck cupcakes,” you scoff, punting it.
That cupcake rockets into the ceiling, bits of cake exploding and icing splattering to the floor.
Ace barely shows it, but you got him to a crack a hidden smile behind his hand.
He looks a lot less down than before.
Sabo looks sad. Give him a blanket.
Sabo is hunched over, his tired head resting on the wall. Looks pretty miserable right now.
“Hey buddy, need a blanket?”
“What’s that gonna do,” Sabo asks sadly.
“You won’t be cold anymore.”
“Yeah, I know how blankets work,” Sabo complains.
You wrap the blanket around him, one little peck to his forehead.
Sabo almost looks like he’ll protest it, but the blanket’s warm and comforting. He gives a sleepy yawn, mumbling a contented thanks.
A lot more peaceful than before.
Love y’all ✌️Next chapters might be half a week but might be a full week each. Depends how crapped out my brain wants to be
Btw, no Dragon is not this much of an asshole. There’s absolutely an explanation lmao, poor Sabo baby
Sabo stealing Ace’s clothes is what leads to him stealing Koala’s clothes later, just a subconscious comfort thing
If anyone wants to know why ‘Anka’ it’s a Turkish word for… I’m sure you can guess ;)
Chapter 27: Phoenix
Summary:
One of the crew gets in too deep(I’m sure you can guess who the whump is directed at this time). Most of the crew will be powerless to help him
Or: the Spadille finds Marmont’s flagship, but so did the marines
I split this chapter in two because it got too long, so I hope you enjoy/don’t mind the double post
Maybe set aside time to read both chapters back to back? The whump gets intense and you might want the comfort of next chapter after it, ily guys 🥺
Extreme content warning:
Way heavier gore/blood than usual and a kid is witness to it/takes part in it. An eye comes out, sorry in advance. I don’t want any of you beautiful souls surprised if you’re understandably squeamish. Don’t be afraid to scroll past until you’re past it because I wrote this last year and it is roughhhhh reading back through it. If it’s too much, know this is the last/only chapter featuring anything this gross.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Koala raced up the stairs, hands grasping the rail in alarm beside Deuce. The rest of the crew had gathered on deck too, all looking over port side at a ship in the distance.
Wait, no… two ships in the distance.
“What’s going on?” Koala asked, worried as she shielded her eyes from the harsh sun.
“Marco asked us to keep the Spadille back so we can’t get fired on.”
Her alarm only seemed to increase.
“What does that sail read?”
“Teachie tells us it says ‘Marmont.’ And yes, that’s where Marco is,” Deuce admitted, knowing that would be her next question.
“The other ship is Marmont’s too?” she asked, trying to make out the strange dog face decorating the bow.
“That would be Vice-Admiral Garp,” Skull offered on Koala’s other side.
She stared open-mouthed, not even able to decide what question to ask first.
“Marco’s not alone, is he? They have stone bullets; what if he gets shot? Why are we standing around?”
But no one needed to answer, because they all heard Garp’s voice lilting over the loudspeaker.
“Spade Pirates, you are not under arrest today, not should you comply. You will all stay put on your ship until the threat has been neutralized. No one on your crew is to leave the ship, for your own wellbeing.”
Mihar cupped hands around his mouth, calling across the water, “Our nakama is already on that ship. You can’t expect us to stay put.”
“Any Spade Pirate found interfering in this operation will accompany us to Enies Lobby,” a different voice, Bogard, added.
But Koala didn’t understand why marines would ignore their presence willingly. She’d never seen marines turn a blind eye like this.
“A vice-admiral looking the other way for pirates?” Koala asked Deuce in confusion, “How is Garp justifying that to his men?”
Cornelia spoke for Deuce, kneeling to prop his elbows on the rail with a scope to view the ships.
“Garp is Ace’s grandfather. Not by blood, but close enough. Before you came up, he said they’re extending Ace’s warlord invitation again, so the marines won’t fire on us within reason.”
Skull added, “Government probably only approved it to try and get their hands on him, but as long as the offer stands, all we have to worry about is crossing paths with the wrong emperor.”
Koala turned her head to the side, whispering indirectly to just Deuce.
“Seriously, though, we’re going in after Marco, right? The marines say we’re not allowed to check on him? I don’t give a fuck what we’re allowed to do.”
And that’s part of the reason Dragon wouldn’t answer her calls, if she had to guess. This was different, she convinced herself. She owed Marco a life debt, and that was binding. Not her choice.
“He probably encountered Marmont, and that’s what’s taking so long. But Marco can take him,” Deuce said quietly, “I have to believe that, because we can’t lower any of our boats, and we can’t sail closer. We’re just fucked.”
“You think Marco stands a chance if he takes a stone bullet?” she asked, eyes narrowing dangerously, “We’re gonna act like law-abiding citizens about this and listen to the marines? Or are we gonna do something? He needs our help.”
“Koala-san,” Skull said carefully, “If you can think of a plan, please tell us. But I have to insist that it doesn’t involve you leaving this ship. It’s too dangerous.”
Deuce nodded at her, agreeing with Skull’s gentle boundary, “And if that wasn’t good enough reason, Marco made it very clear he didn’t want anyone following. I mean, he’s probably extracting information. You can imagine why you don’t wanna see that.”
Her mind weighed what dark things he could mean by that, trying not to picture Marco cutting and healing someone until his victim answered out of sheer desperation. What disturbed her more than that, though, was the thought of him dying slowly while the crew deliberated how tied their hands were.
Koala looked miserable, “I think I’m gonna be sick.”
Deuce cast a worried glance as she ran urgently down the stairs.
“Bansh, can you go check on her? Make sure she’s alright? She looked like she might actually yack.”
“With good reason,” Banshee admonished him, “Why in hell would you tell her a thing like that, honey?”
Banshee fixed him with a withering look, hands on her hips before she slowly made for the stairs, “Wallace, will you bring one of the blankets to the wash room?”
But Koala was not sick.
She was hauling ass into the wash room, snatching her wetsuit from the line pins where it’d dried.
Donning it, she sprinted down the dark hall finding the steps to the brig, sliding around the corner so suddenly she startled Tallis out of his skin, making him yelp since he hadn’t even heard her coming.
She had a key in her hand, eyes desperate.
“I need your help. You’re the only one on this ship able to check on Marco with me.”
And the only one that wouldn’t demand she stay here. The crew meant well, but she was sick of feeling underestimated. It caused her to seek out what felt like her only ally right now. A prisoner she knew would believe in her.
He looked surprised, but the way he moved to the cell door showed he didn’t need any further convincing.
“Where are we? Where is he?”
“Marmont’s flagship,” Koala admitted, “The… one you came from, I think.”
His eyes reflected a little dread at the idea, but he nodded his head as she swung the door open. She noticed he’d used his time to strip down to his black shorts, having slowly torn away the uniform with broken glass.
It didn’t take Koala long to see that she’d left the lantern burning too close to his cell, and that he’d removed the glass cover to expose the flame. He’d cut one strip of his uniform as a makeshift bandage around his wrist.
“Did you… burn your tattoo… off?” she asked shakily, shuddering when he nodded before she added, “Okay, well, if you can’t fly, let me know because I have to leave now while I still have the chance.”
The way she kept looking over her shoulder, Tallis had her clocked.
“They don’t know you’re doing this,” he realized.
“If I don’t, he’s stuck with no backup,” she replied, jamming the key into his shackles to pop them loose, “They don’t want me to take the risk, but it’s not always their choice to make.”
He eyed her wetsuit, then the pistol strap around her.
“You going underwater? I’ll take the pistol across for you, just in case they’ve got them all hidden over there. And here,” Tallis said, digging around in a flap-secured pocket on the front of his old uniform.
“We’ll load her with these. Kairouseki,” he added, “I only have five rounds, so bear that in mind.”
She watched him load the gun, his movements causing a thin chain around his neck to glitter in the low light, a heart pendant sliding along the bottom.
“Lovely necklace. Were you wearing that before?”
He continued slotting the bullets, keeping watch.
“I doubt anyone saw it. Too distracted by me wearing your delicates,” he said, holstering the Naja.
Koala located the only porthole in the brig. It was set up so high that it should’ve belonged to the level above it, but the ceiling arched up around it to allow more light into the dark space.
She couldn’t reach it by herself, but Tallis was already dipping behind her legs to give her a boost up. He busied himself checking the stairs behind them for any crew that might’ve caught on.
Koala unlatched and wrenched open the porthole, her face turning down to give him one more look before pulling her goggles on.
“Looks like they have a net opposite the marines vessel. Meet me on that side. Don’t get seen by the marines, okay? And thank you,” she said, waiting for his nod before wedging herself into the small window.
Banshee peered down the stairs, descending a couple more steps until she caught Koala’s look, watching her freeze guiltily in the porthole.
When Koala lifted a finger to her lips, Banshee looked very torn, also meeting Tallis’ worried eyes, his hand still clenched around her dangling bare foot.
“They might kill you. If not the slavers, the marines will be right behind them. You know that, right?” Banshee asked her.
Koala swallowed, nodding.
“Marco saved my life. I have to make sure he’s alright, even if that makes me insubordinate. I’ll take my punishment when I’m back.”
“Should you be so lucky to return,” Banshee said, giving Tallis and his nearly-naked body a warning look, “And what about you?”
“I need Marco to survive,” Tallis told her, “If he dies, there’s no hope for my mother to be cured.”
He could’ve said the other half of the truth, how he really felt about Marco and this crew, but she was less likely to believe it, so he didn’t waste his breath.
“Go, then. Both of you. But I’m sending Wallace to watch your back,” Banshee relented.
“Banshee… thank you,” Koala breathed, completely shocked for her to be supportive over broken rules.
“Yes, well, don’t make a habit of it, dear, but I’m grateful you two are willing to risk your lives for one of our own… If I could still swim, I’d be over that rail in a heartbeat.”
“We should hurry,” Tallis told her, lifting her foot higher to help her take a clean, relatively quiet slip into the waves below.
Beneath the surface, Koala took the most urgent strokes she dared, knowing she’d need all her energy to reach the distant ship, especially with the frigid water stinging her face, hands and feet like this.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to exert herself for long; she could see through her goggles that Wallace appeared beneath the ship, swimming quickly to catch up to her.
Unlike Koala, Wallace had no trouble speaking underwater.
“You’re almost as reckless as Ace, young lady. Block your nose and mouth with both hands. I’m gonna get you over there faster so you don’t freeze to death. But in exchange, you’re promising me you’re not gonna get yourself hurt.”
His webbed hands grabbed, one around her waist and the other bracing her neck to protect her from his burst of speed.
They surfaced on the dark side of Marmont’s flagship, right beside the hawk gripping the hanging net. He became human once more as Wallace lifted Koala from the water. Tallis draped the strap across her before spotting her on the slippery, rotting net.
“Can you hear anything?” Tallis whispered.
Koala turned back to him, “No, oddly quiet.”
“Wait, let me first,” he whispered again when they were halfway to the rail. He held her shoulder to stop her moving, feeling her drenched hair dripping. Then he went past her, nearing the top of the net.
His instincts proved correct, unfortunately, stomach twisting the second hands reached over to sling him onto the deck.
Koala had the Naja drawn in her hand, cocking it with her right thumb. But multiple men were already directing their own service-issue pistols over the railing at her, so she released the hammer with flaring nostrils, sliding it slowly back into the holster.
Hands gripped the hood of her wetsuit, so all she could do was give Wallace— down in the water— an apologetic look when they lifted her over the rail too.
They cast Koala down prone right next to Tallis, so that they both gave each other a solemn look before directing their eyes up at the Vice-Admiral surrounded by marines.
Uniformed men lifted both Koala’s and Tallis’ wrists to check that they were neither marked with Marmont’s brand, nor the Spade Pirates’ jolly roger.
Koala saw them unwrap Tallis’ injured wrist to show harsh burn marks looking so sickening she turned back away.
Garp frowned, having expected them to belong to Ace’s crew, and it genuinely puzzled him that they weren’t marked. Especially given their strange attire, barefoot and woefully underquipped with one in a full wetsuit and the other wearing only a small pair of black shorts.
At this point, Tallis could’ve flown away. But he didn’t, casting another glance at Koala, who really was at their mercy.
“I thought I was clear about staying on that ship,” Garp said, looking down his nose.
Koala tugged her goggles down to her neck, about to unflinchingly correct Monkey D. Garp.
“You only specified Spade Pirates stay aboard. Technically we’re not on the crew, and we don’t have bounties,” Koala reasoned, “So we’re not breaking any laws or rules you’ve laid down.”
Garp kneeled, narrowing his eyes until his mouth quirked slightly, looking a little amused at her.
When he turned to examine Tallis, he let his fingers cradle the Tallis’ heart pendant.
“Pure silver. Did you steal this, young man?”
“No sir,” Tallis said respectfully, “My mother gave this to me.”
Garp nodded, believing him until he flipped it in his palm to see the back of it.
What he saw there made even Garp’s face change in shock, immediately reexamining Tallis’ face.
“I see it, just in your eyes though. The rest must be your father. What’s her name?”
“My mom? Why?” Tallis asked, but the line of questioning was interrupted by marines returning from below deck.
“Sir, we can’t get through the door.”
“No other way in?” Tallis and Koala asked simultaneously before Garp could even speak, making the old man’s eyes shut in annoyance.
The reporting marine turned to them in confusion, but hesitantly answered their question anyway.
“There’s, um, there’s an air supply, of course. A vent. But, sir, none of our men can fit.”
Koala and Tallis both made urgent eyes at Garp, who observed both of their relatively narrow figures.
“I suppose that’s why you’re here,” he said, “To help Marco. Who’s apparently not even your crew mate?”
“Please,” Koala told him, making the old man’s expression soften despite himself.
“I hope you can use that strap, young lady. Here,” Garp said, accepting a pair of cuffs from one of his men to place it in her hands.
Marco had his Haki wide open. Despite the fact, he didn’t sense Marmont’s presence until it was too late.
One of the ship’s cargo holds doubled as a reinforced safe room, complete with a vault door— and right now, this door was bolted shut with Marco on the wrong side of it.
But he wouldn’t have done anything differently even if given the chance, because only now had he discovered a child captive aboard Marmont’s ship. And had he not taken the bait, she might never have been found.
That’s how he ended up frozen in place, not through physical means, but by a spike of raw concern.
Marmont had the girl by her mid-length black hair, holding a gun to her head. So Marco didn’t move a muscle, gaze flickering from the girl’s wet face to Marmont’s blood-stained one.
He had a word crudely burned above his eyebrows, scratches everywhere and one eye bandaged over with red saturated cloth.
Marco felt his eyes burning, his hybrid form still in full effect and casting shadows around the barrels stacked to either side of the room.
“Put the wings away, bird. You’re scaring my slave.”
Marco rigidly let his wings fold away, feathers fading into sea-hardened arms while Marmont continued.
“Isn’t she sweet? My fourth division commander brought her to me,” Marmont said darkly, caressing a blue-ish line around the girl’s neck, “Just an extra security measure, to make sure my property behaves. And to make sure you behave.”
Marco was only looking at the girl’s eyes.
“You make a wrong move, I won’t hesitate to kill her. If you successfully end my life, she’ll die in my place,” Marmont told him, “So I recommend doing as I say.”
“We’ll see about that, yoi,” Marco said, glancing at the word his captain burned into Marmont’s brow, “Where’s Ace?”
“Dead,” Marmont told him smugly, “Took five bullets to the back, running away like the coward he is.”
Marco looked unaffected. “I wouldn’t have believed you killed him either way, yoi, but saying he ran away? Now I know you’re lying.”
Marmont smirked, licking his lips as he shook his head. “Misplaced loyalty is so tragic. You know… I wouldn’t be doing this to you right now if he hadn’t wrecked my ship. Maybe you should find a less reckless captain to worship.”
Marmont gestured to a shape he saw on Marco’s hip beneath his shirt.
“Show me the weapon.”
Marco’s eyes stayed focused on the young girl as he slowly drew the blade, extending it behind his forearm out of her sightline.
“Go on, use it on yourself,” Marmont instructed, looking smug as he smeared a rivulet of his own blood down the girl’s neck.
“Cut yourself, blue bird. Show her your blood before you regenerate. I want her to see what you can do.”
Marco didn’t enjoy hurting anyone, but he’d be relieved to put a stop to this sick fuck. He sank one knee to the floor, ignoring Marmont entirely as he made sure he had the girl’s attention.
“Does this thing scare you?” Marco asked with a warm smile, balancing it playfully on the end of his index, “Well, it doesn’t scare me, yoi, because no matter how many times I stick myself, I’ll heal.”
“If you don’t quit stalling,” Marmont said icily, “It’s her blood you’ll be spilling.”
Marco carefully hid the blade again, placing the edge against his inner forearm so that the child wouldn’t see it actually cut him.
“Look up here, at my eyes, okay?” he said gently to her, steeling himself.
Marco’s pale grey eyes pinched as the knife dipped into his arm, making a quick cut with a rushed breath. He held his arm tightly over the cut to prevent losing too much blood, but it was already streaming down to his hand in bright streaks.
He watched the girl look from his injured arm back up to his face.
“Don’t worry, yoi,” he told her with the most serene expression he could, “It’s nothing we can’t fix. Look.”
In his bloody hand, a blue phoenix bloomed to unfurl its wings, no larger than a sparrow. Marco smiled as the phoenix sealed up the skin on his arm, hopping across it and dipping down lovingly into the wound until all of the pain had been released.
“This is Anka. She’s part of me. Pretty, right? I’ll let you hold her as soon as we’re outta here, okay?”
“Enough,” Marmont growled abruptly, causing the girl to take a terrified breath. He’d pressed the cold metal even harder into her temple.
Marco stared down Marmont with frightening coldness as the man waved to a set of kairouseki cuffs in the corner of the room.
“Chain yourself up, blue bird. Or I’ll blow the slave’s brains out.”
The girl recoiled at his words, trying not to cry out but more tears spilled down her cheeks. Marco shut his eyes, feeling his heart plummeting fast.
“I’m doing what you want. There’s no need to say those things in front of her, yoi,” Marco told him with a brief look.
The chains Marmont referred to were bolted in the corner of the room and carved of solid kairouseki.
Marco slowly picked up the shackles, feeling their tremendous weight the moment his skin made contact. The way the material sapped his strength away made the cuffs a hundred times heavier than they appeared.
He didn’t show Marmont any sign of struggle when he lifted them in his fingers, but he strained internally. Might as well have signed his own death certificate the second he touched them willingly.
Marco had given orders for the crew not to follow since the rest of them didn’t have Haki, but he knew there was one person that wouldn’t follow orders no matter what the crew threatened her with.
So while he surrendered himself completely by putting these cuffs on, only one thing allowed him to feel safe doing this. He knew nothing would stop Koala from showing up, especially if they told her not to. Despite the odds being stacked, he was pretty sure there was no predicament she couldn’t solve.
Marco sank himself into the corner because the chains weren’t long enough to reach his height. He grudgingly clicked both cuffs into place, shuddering to feel his blood grow as icy as seawater.
The moment his hands were secured, Marmont slammed the girl down at his feet. Marco pulled her to his chest, putting an arm across her as he looked up angrily at the slaver.
“Give her the knife,” Marmont said, his pistol held up from across the room now.
And the way Marmont aimed the gun right at the girl’s back stole Marco’s breath, hands shaking as he stopped her from looking behind her.
“No, no— it’s okay— just focus on me, yoi,” he told her quickly, trying to steady himself, “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”
Marco placed the knife in her hands, wrapping her grip around the handle with blood-stained fingers. He already understood what was about to happen, but there was no way to prepare her for it.
“Cut him for me, pet. Across his face. You only have one minute before I pull the trigger.”
Marco looked deep into her eyes.
“What’s your name, yoi?”
“Veri,” she said, voice barely above a scared whisper.
He nodded with a smile, squeezing her elbows comfortingly in his chilly hands.
“Veri, can you lift this to my face? Sorry, it’s heavy, isn’t it,” he said calmly, fighting the urge to shift nervous glances at the gun.
He watched as she struggled to hold the blade steady against his cheek. Her eyes were welling up, looking into his encouraging ones.
“I… I can’t,” she choked, pulling the knife away with a terrified look. He swallowed in fear as she tried to pull away from him, restraining her regretfully.
“You have to, yoi,” he told her sadly, “It’ll be over soon, okay? I need you to do this for me, though.”
They just needed to stall. The more time Marco could buy them, the more likely they’d both survive this.
Veri nodded, eyes dry and red as her lip trembled. He wrapped a large hand around her small one, lifting her arm to hold the knife’s edge to his face again.
“I promise you won’t hurt me,” he told her, “Veri, I need you to be brave, okay? All you have to do is drag it across my cheek.”
Veri was still frozen, arms shaking as she made microcuts into his skin but was still unable to dig the knife into him.
Marco was starting to sweat at the amount of time that had passed.
“Can I help you? Close your eyes,” he whispered, putting pressure on her wrists as he tilted his head.
Marco helped her slice across his cheekbone, breathing sharply as his blood spilled.
“Mmmm,” Marmont said appreciatively, “Gorgeous. Almost ran out of time, though.”
Veri’s eyes opened, meeting Marco’s gaze as his head relaxed into the corner behind him. He tried to smile to show it didn’t hurt, but was too aware of the amount of blood running down his cheek.
“Aww. Why won’t your pet bird heal himself, slave girl? Doesn’t he want to live?”
Veri touched her tiny fingertips to the blood dripping from Marco’s jaw, staining them before looking back to his eyes in sad confusion.
“Make it go away... fix it…”
Inside, Marco was in agony letting her experience these horrors. He met her eyes again.
“I have to wait a little bit, okay? I promise, as soon as I can I’ll make it go away, yoi.”
She pressed her palm into his cut, looking upset. “Where’s Anka? Please ask her to come back.”
He swallowed hard, nodding as his lips pressed together guiltily. “I’ll try, Veri.”
Marmont cleared his throat, twirling his pistol before aiming it at her back again.
“You shouldn’t lie to a child like that, blue bird. Tell her… go on. Tell her she’s about to end your life.”
Marco couldn’t pretend any longer, not after Marmont confirmed what he’d been thinking since he cuffed himself. He was willing to be at peace with dying, but not if it involved causing a child to relive it for the rest of her life. His eyes welled up, not able to meet Veri’s hurt look as he blinked the tears back.
“Be brave,” Veri told him quietly, trying to keep her face stoic like Marco had done for her earlier. She was still pressing a palm into his cut cheek.
His fingers laid on top of her hand, shaking his head at her. “No matter what happens, Veri, there’s nothing you could’ve done, okay, yoi?”
Marmont grew tired of Marco treating the girl tenderly. He aimed at Marco’s leg, firing at close range to send a bullet piercing into his thigh. The sound blasted at their ears, making them ring.
Veri screamed at the sudden noise, flinching away from his leg where the blood had splattered her.
The breath left Marco’s lungs sharply. He brought his left arm to his mouth biting a harsh noise into it as burning fire spread a hand-length above his right knee. His chest rose and fell as he felt his body coursing with adrenaline, attempting to block the pain by shutting his eyes.
“That’s your only warning. Not one more word to her. Understand me, bird? I’ll unload the cylinder into her back next time.”
“No,” Veri begged, reaching to his leg in horror as the black material turned shiny and red-reflective.
“Anka, please!”
Marco held onto her tightly so she would notice the pleading look in his eyes. She quieted for him as he gripped her hands around the knife again.
Marmont smirked.
“Maybe you are smarter than your snotty little captain, bird. Make her cut you again.”
Marco wasn’t happy about it by any stretch, but each cut gave them time to be found. As long as their captor was satisfied with Marco injuring himself, they had a higher chance of living.
Veri’s eyebrows pinched upwards as Marco guided her blade to his other cheek.
“I can’t,” she told him, pulling against his hands.
Marco shushed her softly, so low that Marmont couldn’t hear. Once she was calmer, he tried again, helping her lift the weapon to his face. Her eyes were round and anxious, darting from his unharmed cheek to the other side, where blood still streamed freely.
“Get to the point,” Marmont barked behind his gun.
Having to communicate silently for the moment, Marco pointed two fingers to get her attention back on his eyes. He didn’t want her transfixed on the skin where the knife would cut.
Then he shuddered slightly, helping her dip the sharpened edge down over his right cheekbone.
Again, his eyes pinched as she looked into them, but now they were watery as more blood spilled down the opposite side of his face.
“Good girl, pet. Cut him again for me, somewhere more exciting,” Marmont purred, making Marco hold his eyes shut in deep outrage.
Veri let go of the knife, burying her face in his left shoulder, trembling as she tried holding back tears.
“No more… I- I can’t do it. Even if I die.”
Marco slumped, devastated by her small, broken voice. He squeezed her wrist in silent comfort, trying to tell her not to give up. Trying to say it wasn’t over yet. They would be found soon.
“Better convince her through any means, blue bird,” Marmont threatened. “I’ll give you another sixty seconds to make her slice through that old tattoo.”
Marco forced down the nausea in his stomach, grudgingly pushing Veri’s shoulders away so he could make sure she was listening to him.
“Veri, this one’s gonna be easy,” he told her, “Because it’s not my face, yoi. Just a tattoo. You can do this one, right?”
Her lip trembled as she shook her head, pressing hands over her mouth to comfort herself.
“No,” she cried, muffled by her hands, “Please. I never had someone care so much. I can’t hurt you.”
Marco’s eyes shifted to the metal barrel of death pointed straight at her back, flickering fearfully back to look at her eyes again. He hastily brushed her messy hair out of her face, giving her as much comfort as he could manage.
“Veri, I can’t let you die in here. It would hurt me a thousand times more than this knife. These cuts will heal, okay? I’m begging you to trust me, yoi.”
He held her face, feeling more like a father than he ever remembered feeling before.
Veri’s eyes welled miserably as he wiped her cheeks with his thumbs. She seemed to draw strength from his words, brow furrowing as she gave a quick nod.
“Okay,” she said shakily.
Marco held the blade against the top of the faded black cross, angling the free handle toward Veri.
The girl obediently grasped the handle.
“Look at me,” he demanded, eyes steely as he maintained her gaze.
Veri held their eye contact as he released his hold on the blade. The weight of the knife in her hands dragged it down fast, slicing his tattoo cleanly from his collar bone to his navel.
The knife clattered loudly beside them as Marco instinctively grasped at his chest to try and stem the blood loss.
He could hardly breathe from the pain, only able to exhale enough air to plead with Veri.
“Don’t look— nnhh— ‘S okay—“
His eyes were closed tightly, gripping his tattoo but unable to stop the blood with his hands.
Veri buried her face, diving arms around his neck in panicked distress.
“I’m sorry!” she sobbed loudly. Another wail passed her lips as her body shook, screaming, “I’m sorry!”
Marmont was unaffected by this, twirling the keys to Marco’s shackles in his free hand. “Looks like you’re gonna die before I get my fill of torturing you. Can’t have that, can we?”
He pushed aside the girl to click open Marco’s cuffs, watching blue fire erupt across his bleeding skin.
Marmont clicked the restraints back in place just as Marco was able to recover his fading consciousness.
“Get away from him!” Veri threatened, holding the bloody knife again in her hands.
The slaver backed up, grinning down at the little girl protecting the man beside her.
Marco was stirring, holding an arm across her to keep her at bay.
“Everything’s okay, Veri. See? Like nothing happened, right?” he tried to say, but his voice came out exhausted.
They were soaked in blood, and so was the floor. She glared at him, then at Marmont.
“What’s wrong, pet?” he cooed, “Tired of playing?”
“I won’t do what you say,” she said defiantly, “I’m not scared of your gun anymore.”
Marmont giggled darkly at her, eyes shining.
Marco was staring right at him with dangerous eyes. His instincts were on fire before Marmont even spoke, already sensing the child’s life in danger.
“You think you’ll get away with talking to me like that? After everything I’ve done for you? You ungrateful little shit?” Marmont said.
Marco shoved Veri under his arm to tuck her between his back and the wall, grateful that she didn’t fight him. He knew he could take a surprising amount of bullets even without a healing body, as long as they didn’t land in critical places.
Marmont shook his head with a disbelieving smirk.
“Oh… blue bird… y’know, you and Fire Fist have been nothing short of pathetic. If you want my property for yourselves, you’ll have to buy it. Tell me what this little item is worth to you.”
Marco remained silent, feeling her hands clench the back of his shirt.
“You don’t have a starting offer? I’ll think of something, then. Payment. Hmmm. You wouldn’t miss… an eye, would you?” he asked, barely concealing his dark excitement.
Marco shut both eyes with a steadying breath.
“Yes. That’s it. Your left one is the one I want. Cut it out with the blade.”
Veri whimpered behind him.
“Easy, little one. It’ll grow back, yoi,” Marco whispered, gripping the knife tighter in his hand, “Your freedom’s worth a million of these, okay?”
Marco positioned the tip of his blade right at the edge of his left socket, drawing in a long, ragged breath of anticipation.
Now would’ve been an ideal time for someone to break into the room. But he was unnerved by the silence outside the door, waiting precious seconds to hear any hint of a familiar voice before realizing…
No one was coming. Not in time to save his eye. He had to do it.
It had been three years since he’d had a critical injury he couldn’t heal on his own. Somehow, being self-inflicted made hurt it even worse than the kairouseki harpoon that had lanced through his ribs. That story had a happy ending; Deuce had saved him from the water while Ace fended off his attackers.
He wasn’t so lucky this time. There was no shock to deaden his nerves from the sensation. He could feel everything.
Marco bit into his shirt hard as he forced the blade through his skin. He let out a muffled yell at the excruciating pain, spilling more blood down himself.
Before he lost his nerve, he sank the intrusive metal just far enough to scrape his left eye free from his head. He kept his mouth shut to bite back horrible noises as his left hand covered the bleeding injury. His knife clattered to the floor, unable to focus on anything but the unbearable pain gripping him.
Marco remembered Veri was behind him, hearing everything, so he pulled in deep breaths to bring himself back to reality.
It’s temporary pain, he consoled himself.
Veri clenched tighter to his shirt, pressing her face into his back.
“That’s right, catch your breath,” Marmont said, sighing appreciatively at the sight with his arms folded loosely. “You know, it’s nice for someone to follow through for once. You wanted to buy her so you paid up, right on the spot. Even my own fucking crew can’t do that. Cowards and traitors.”
Marco shrank back into Veri as the captain approached with heavy boots. It hurt to open his good eye, but he forced himself to watch Marmont warily. His left hand was still covering his injury while his right hand found the knife again, preparing himself to use it.
Marmont had the pistol aimed directly at him, reaching to claim the eyeball from the floor.
“Satisfied with that, yoi?” Marco asked quietly. The first time he’d addressed his captor since the kairouseki restraints snapped shut around his wrists.
Marmont’s eye glittered, seeing a peek of Veri’s dark hair behind him.
“I really wanted to be… and I know you already got your wallet out. But I’m afraid the deal’s off. I want my pet back.”
Marco knew he was at gunpoint. But he also knew that sinister look in Marmont’s eye.
With Veri holding onto him so tightly, trusting him, there was no way he was letting her get ripped away. Not on his life.
Marco waited until Marmont reached close enough that his Observation wouldn’t beat Marco’s reach. When he broke that invisible barrier, Marco gripped the pistol so it fired just above his head.
Veri flinched into him as the weapon discharged.
But Marmont was lightning fast with his other hand, driving a dagger into Marco’s unprotected throat.
It felt like a punch at first, before his mind registered what happened. Then liquid fire erupted through his neck, burning layers of damaged tissue in its wake. He could feel every beat of his pulse, his own life force suffocating him as it poured down his throat.
His chest stuttered because he couldn’t breathe anymore— he couldn’t even hear past the rushing in his ears as he choked.
Even though the critical wounds burned him still, he was no longer afraid. Marco’s remaining eye couldn’t draw anything into focus, and his mind suddenly quieted as he began to realize he was dying.
As his consciousness began to fade, he knew Veri was crying, clutching his shirt as she saw the dizzying amount of blood he was losing from his throat. He wouldn’t be able to comfort her, but he believed she’d be saved. And the crew would keep her safe, even if they didn’t reach him in time.
‘My nakama,’ Marco thought, and for some reason it just now hit him how much his new friends loved him, how he should’ve done more to show them he cared. The last thought before his eyes began to close.
During the blast of the gunfire, a vent cover had been kicked out of the ceiling, inaudible as it banged into the floor the same time as the trigger was pulled.
“Hey, fuckface,” Koala shouted loudly over the ringing of her own ears.
Marmont turned to see her upper body hanging through the small vent hole, extending a revolver in his direction. Her eyes were cold as she added, “Kairouseki bullets, by the way. Drop your weapon, and the keys, and back away to the corner.”
A hawk squeezed past her, gliding behind Marmont before Tallis drew Marmont’s second pistol and backed away in human form.
Koala dropped to the floor from the vent, maintaining her sightline down the barrel as her gloved hand fumbled for the keys beneath her.
Marco wasn’t just in bad condition, it looked like he’d been mauled.
She wasted no time, jamming the stone key into Marco’s shackles as her wetsuit-clad knees sank into his sickening pool of blood.
Her eyes were desperate, swatting the cuffs away from him to resist two different gags of horror.
She used a shaking hand to urgently move Marco’s cold face, in extreme denial about his ability to perish. He might already be gone, laying icy and lifeless.
“Marco,” she urged, “Don’t go to sleep.”
He seemed to be sleeping already. Her eyes burned, removing her hands from him in fear. She’d been so fixated on waking him that she didn’t even catch sight of the little girl right beside her until she sniffled.
“Please,” Veri choked, spilling tears as she pawed at his sleeve.
“Oh god— come here,” Koala said quickly, noticing the child for the first time.
Koala pulled Veri in tightly, turning her from the gore.
“Please come back and fix him, Anka,” Veri cried over her shoulder.
“Who’s Anka? Another girl here somewhere?” Koala asked, trying to feel for any warmth in Marco’s hand.
“No, she’s the firebird. Why isn’t she fixing him?”
Koala smoothed back Marco’s hair, pleading him not to give in.
“The phoenix is still here. I know it.”
Koala checked behind her to make sure Tallis still had Marmont under control and Veri took the chance to look at Marco’s unconscious face again, worried. Then Veri’s sudden gasp drew Koala’s eyes back to him.
A blue-ish water vapor evaporated from the surface of his skin as it heated back to his usual core temperature.
Koala and Veri gave breaths of relief to see cerulean embers glowing where Marco’s left eye had been. The phoenix was back.
Tallis kept the revolver trained on Marmont while he listened to Marco’s lungs begin to draw their first miraculous gasping breaths, like he’d surfaced from a deep dive. He kept slowly backing to the vault door, reaching blind behind himself to unlatch the bolts and let the marines inside.
Veri watched in awe as beautiful trails of blue flames began to dance across Marco’s skin, low and dim at first. The fire grew in power, knitting and sealing the torn flesh until it was new again.
The girl looked shocked as the flames overtook his left eye, glowing brightly until it slowly faded, a perfect new grey eye in its place.
“Marco,” Veri said through tears, suddenly crumpling at the weight of how afraid she’d been. Afraid she’d gotten her only friend killed.
“Veri,” Marco said gently, “Didn’t I tell you it would be okay, yoi?”
Then he heard Koala’s voice.
“Took you long enough to wake up. Next time, don’t scare the life out of us.”
Marco looked up, noticing Koala when she spoke, then the exposed vent passage in the ceiling she’d come through. She saved him.
“Hi,” he said, a little amazed.
“Hi,” she said softly, nearly laughing as she gave Marco space to sit up.
“What, yoi?”
“You look insane right now. I’m just glad you’re okay. We shouldn’t hang around too long, though. The crew must be worried sick.”
Even as she said it, Koala and Marco both glanced at Veri. And they had both looked at her with a note of concern because they were about to hand the child’s care over to the marines. Right?
They locked eyes, hoping they were on the same page. But this was Koala, so something told Marco they were about to disagree.
“Veri,” he said, looking sad and hesitant to upset her, “I… think we’re about to say goodbye, yoi. You can trust these men, okay? They’re nothing like the people that did this to us. They’ll get you home.”
Koala looked horrified, clutching her tighter. She and Marco traded a long, defiant look.
“What home?” Veri asked, tearing up, “They burned the boarding house.”
This distracted Koala, tipping Veri’s chin up and wiping the tears there. So Veri was already an orphan, and it sounded like a lot of the other abducted children were, too.
“What island are you from, love?” Koala asked.
“Ventania,” she struggled out.
“I know where that is,” Koala told her, holding her close, guiltily catching Marco’s upset look, mouthing her name pleadingly.
“Do you want to go with the marines?” Koala asked her quietly, looking around the corner where the uniformed men in question lead Marmont away in cuffs.
“No,” Veri said fearfully, gripping Marco’s bloody shirt, giving him a heartbreaking look, “I wanna go with Marco.”
His brow pinched, looking down at her grasp on him. He started to remove her hand, but the moment her small fingers stretched out, laying across his own large palm, a stronger feeling came over him.
“We can’t,” he started, “Koala, talk me out of this.”
But Koala looked unwilling to let her go, and as much as Marco resisted it, he started to feel the same way, cursing internally.
Imagining those uniformed strangers hauling her away, watching her scream and cry and reach out for them— he couldn’t lay more suffering on her young mind like that. How would he be able to sleep after causing a girl so much pain and dumping her on marines? Just to go back to having no parents again?
“It’s dangerous for her,” Marco tried to say, feeling insane just for considering this.
“The world is dangerous,” Koala defended, “She wasn’t safe in Ventania. She’ll be safer with us— I mean— with you or me. Not with us, with the crew.”
Marco examined Koala, how she stumbled over her words, blushing slightly as Veri held onto her. A humored smile crept onto his face.
But seeing Tallis walk over with crossed arms distracted Marco, looking shocked at the sight of him.
“Should’ve known it would be both of you,” Marco told him. When he saw the scorch mark on Tallis’ wrist, his look softened.
“So you met Marmont,” Tallis said, “How was it?”
“Your dad’s a dick, Tallis.”
“Yeah… sorry you found out the hard way. Can I add saving your ass to my resume, now?” Tallis couldn’t help but quip, reaching his hand out to Marco with a smile.
Notes:
The next chapter is basically 100% comfort imo so I hope that helps in case the eye was too fucked up. It probably was, sorry, I just think it’s way cool that he can just grow a new eye/hand/etc. That’s my b though, it was really gross. I even toned it down. I promise he’s okay
D:
I don’t know why we torture the sweetest boys
Chapter 28: Hawkling
Summary:
Last one that doesn’t involve Ace and Sabo
The Spade Pirates finally get the cook they’ve needed for nearly 7 years. Banshee could not be more relieved.
There is a twist with the oc in this chapter— it’s been planned and subtlety hinted for quite a few chapters now
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Even though he enjoyed the warm reception he got from the crew, Marco quickly dismissed himself to get cleaned up, and Koala helped Veri do the same, letting her sit by the basin in a towel to watch Koala clean her clothes for her.
Up on deck however, Tallis was alone, looking a little more vulnerable than usual. He stood near the railing because most of the crew wouldn’t even glance his direction, unsure if Mihar and Deuce would try and chain him up again.
It wouldn’t make sense to return him to the brig, though. Not only had he helped save Marco, he could’ve flown away at any point after the chains came off.
Yet here he was, clutching his arms around his bare upper body, looking a little chilly with no clothes of his own. He didn’t even cower in bird form like he wanted to.
Part of him hoped anyone might actually talk to him now, but for nearly half an hour, no one did.
Deuce peered over the crow’s nest with Mihar, both of them looking a little annoyed for different reasons.
“Just give him a chance,” Mihar urged him gently, “He’s young, he made bad decisions, but he showed up for Marco when we couldn’t. I used to teach kids like him. He just needs love, even if it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”
Deuce swallowed, having the decency to look guilty.
“He’s not a kid, Teachie, he’s almost our age. But I’ll admit we owe him a little more decency than we showed last night. I mean, he hasn’t left when he’s perfectly capable of flying off.”
“Did you see his wrist?” Mihar asked.
“First thing I noticed, after the fact that he didn’t seem to enjoy wearing the uniform around us. Unsurprisingly.”
“Did Koala tell you that was where his old tattoo was? He burned it off, Deu.”
Deuce looked disturbed.
“Fucking hell…”
“Yeah,” Mihar agreed, “Now would it kill you to go dress that burn for him? It’s actually starting to hurt my feelings that no one’s even looking his direction. Tell the crew he’s green lit. Ace can override it later, if he insists, but Marco said the kid can cook. We might better start being nice to him.”
Deuce gave him a small smile.
“Ugh. Right as usual, Teachie… fine. I’ll tell the crew to lay off the ostracizing.”
Banshee had been the first one to approach Tallis, even before Deuce had a conversation with the crew below deck. She found him at the rail, giving him a long hug that he didn’t know he needed that badly.
But his throat got tight, eyes misting up in her arms even though they were scaly and felt wet even though they weren’t. He sniffed a little before hugging her even tighter. When he pulled back, she asked him to come sit in the kitchen with her. Just so he’d be out of the chilly air.
At first, she’d directed Tallis to take a stool and watch as she tried to scrape together a meal for that evening. He hesitated to sit, though, eyes casting curiously around the kitchen and lingering a little judgmentally on the ingredients she laid out.
So instead of sitting, he ventured around the countertop, helping her sift through the cabinets.
“Don’t trouble yourself, dear,” she tried to say, but Tallis put a hand on her arm, getting her attention.
“This needs something acidic.”
She thought for a moment.
“We have rice vinegar.”
When he smiled and nodded, she went to find it in the larder for him.
“Now you sit down,” he instructed gently when she placed it in his hand, “I got it. Trust me with dinner?”
She looked a little stunned but did as he asked, so that by the time Deuce ventured into the kitchen awhile later, he was surprised to find Banshee sitting and Tallis pan-frying rice.
It smelled like heaven itself.
Tallis did a double take over his shoulder, setting the pan down and trying not to stare at Deuce’s mask. Few others on the crew had a mask, so it surprised him. Of course, still not as surprising as his vibrant blue hair.
'He can’t hear you,' Tallis watched Banshee tell Deuce, then watched Deuce reply, 'Oh… how do I talk to him then?'
“You can just talk, as long as I’m already looking at you,” Tallis assured him, leaning against the lower cabinets as he stirred the dish with one hand.
Deuce looked slightly embarrassed, but he also still looked unsure about Tallis in general.
“I brought something to wrap your wrist. Didn’t know you were busy.”
Tallis eyed the few supplies Deuce had brought from their infirmary.
“I can do it myself after dinner; I’m sure you’re busy too,” Tallis told him, “Thank you though, um…?”
But Deuce didn’t offer his name.
“Yeah, you’re welcome,” Deuce told him, looking only too relieved to have an excuse to leave the kitchen.
Tallis nodded in acceptance, patiently overlooking Deuce’s extreme abruptness.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Banshee told him, “He’s gonna take longer than the others to come around.”
“That must’ve been Deu, then. Marco told me he doesn’t always warm up to people very easy.”
Banshee didn’t want to mention that yes, normally Deuce does warm up to people quickly. Just not, well, former slavers.
“Don’t worry,” Tallis told her, “I’m used to being bullied pretty bad. This is tame compared to that.”
Banshee snorted slightly.
“Deu would be the last person to actually bully you, if that’s any consolation. He’s the one getting bullied around here.”
Tallis frowned, starting to portion food out.
“Oh... No, actually… that doesn’t make me feel better at all, Banshee. How many of the crew are responsible for that?”
She considered this, tossing Tallis a pair of soft trousers Deuce had brought for him to wear.
“Well, now I think about it, it’s mainly Saber. Maybe just avoid the cowboy if you don’t want to end up in the same boat as Deu.”
“Cowboy,” Tallis repeated pensively, his eyes narrowing as he examined every man that began to pour into the kitchen for dinner.
“Thank you, that’s helpful.”
While he donned the loaned clothes pulling on the shirt and trousers over his older compression leggings, Banshee explained that the pants were Deuce’s and the shirt was Mihar’s.
Tallis admired the harem pants with a pleased expression, making a note to thank the guys later as his hands touched the lovely material.
Then Tallis could relax, finally clothed and finished cooking. He rested elbows on the middle island, digging into a portion of food— mostly so everyone knew he didn’t put anything dangerous into it.
But he stopped eating for a moment, slipping the empty fork upside down in his mouth, counting heads at the distant table and trying not to bore holes into the back of Saber’s head.
He distracted himself by noticing just how many of the crew wore interesting hats, or looked like half-giants. This assortment was a mishmash of every lost soul Ace picked up over the years. The thought made Tallis smile around the fork, meeting eyes briefly with Marco, Koala and even the child they rescued.
Tallis felt so full and content that he nearly forgot what had him on high alert in the first place. That is, until Deuce finally wandered into the mess hall, the very last of the crew to enter. Tallis had his plate, waiting for him to sit.
But the only spot left was on the end of the table, and Saber moved over so Deuce couldn’t sit down.
“Come on, Saber,” Mihar called.
The cowboy got up, smiling with tight annoyance.
“Fine. Sit there, princess. Rather eat next to that slaver than you.”
“Don’t call him that,” Deuce said, “He just cooked for the crew, you ungrateful dick.”
It was rare for Deuce to bite back, and Saber clearly wasn’t used to it. His nose wrinkled in disbelief, so offended that he shoved Deuce with one hand— not hard, but it was enough of a push to make the fork fall out of Tallis’ astonished mouth.
When it clattered against his plate in the kitchen, Saber stopped, but Deuce was already out the door, unable to tolerate Saber when he got like this.
“Wasn’t hungry anyway,” Deu muttered as he left.
The crew only stayed silent because Marco held up a hand as Tallis walked around the counter, keeping all twenty of them from intervening.
In Marco’s mind, this would be Tallis’ kitchen, and he wanted to see how he handled it. Marco was not disappointed.
It was about the last thing Saber expected, being grabbed harshly by his collar and dragged to the door with more force than he expected out of Tallis. The young man didn’t have much visible muscle mass, making it easy to forget he possessed Zoan strength.
The next thing Saber knew, he was outside the kitchen, airborne for a heart-stopping moment before slamming and rolling across the deck.
“Wh-what the fuck!” he yelled when he skidded to a halt, clearly rattled and clutching his hat to his head.
“You can come back in when you learn some respect,” Tallis told him evenly, flexing his hand like it was a normal day for him.
Saber shook his head, taking off his hat to dust it angrily, “Yeah you got my respect, but I lost my damn appetite, kid. See you in the fucking morning.”
Tallis ignored him, shoving his hands into the pockets of the harem pants as he padded slowly up to Deuce.
And Deuce, amusingly, sat there with his jaw slacked in awe. He’d only seen Marco do that before. And he didn’t think he deserved for Tallis to stand up for him, not after the way he’d been so frigid earlier.
Deuce found himself speechless, looking up into Tallis’ brown eyes, noticing how soft they were now.
“Come back inside? …please?” Tallis asked.
And he did, a little shocked to see the crew had rearranged themselves so he could sit between Mihar and Marco.
The only person Deuce wouldn’t seem to look at was Tallis, completely ashamed of himself for thinking the worst of him.
Throwing one of the crew through the swinging kitchen door his first night out of the cuffs could’ve sent him straight back to the brig on a different ship. But he’d risked everything just to stop Deuce’s daily frustration with Saber.
That’s why Deuce hung back, long after the rest of the crew had trickled from the dining area. Tallis noticed him clearing the entire table, shaking his head urgently.
“You don’t do a thing. Marco told me you’re Ace’s real vice-captain. You don’t need to be doing all this,” Tallis insisted, looking deeply bothered by the idea.
And interestingly, when Tallis was in the kitchen, he had this confident authority that caught Deuce off guard, making him smile as he rested stacked dishes on the counter.
“I usually help Banshee clean up, so…” Deuce offered, trailing off to say it wasn’t a big deal.
Then he finally added, “Um… Tallis, what you did. I appreciate it. Just don’t think I deserved it after the way I… I wanted to hate you so much.”
Tallis shook his head.
“My old crew consisted entirely of Sabers. Only they wanted to kill me, not just run their mouths. Can’t stomach seeing it anymore, especially in the kitchen. On Marmont’s ship, this was my only sanctuary.”
Tallis dried his hands off in thought, but before he could say anything else, Deuce had already brought his supplies from earlier into the kitchen.
“I’ll help you clean up, but let me wrap your wrist first. Marco can do something about it tomorrow, he’s just completely winded right now. Hop up?”
Deuce, like any fussy field medic, had cornered him so that Tallis resigned himself to slide onto the counter. His legs dangled, watching Deuce turn his arm to inspect the damage in the light.
“I know why you did this, got rid of your old mark, but I would’ve preferred to tattoo over it,” Deuce chided him gently, disinfecting it.
Tallis didn’t seem to mind his fussing, watching him work with curious eyes.
“You can tattoo?” he asked.
Deuce laid burn gauze over it, wrapping carefully enough that he hoped it wouldn’t sting too harshly.
“Absolutely. Wallace showed me. But I was already fair at drawing. Spent enough time sketching instead of studying.”
Deuce noticed Tallis had to watch his mouth speaking to understand him. Made perfect sense, but it took a minute to get used to seeing him do it. What was more impressive was that he could do it at all. The talent had to be insanely useful.
Since Tallis looked so comfortable, Deuce slid onto the counter next to him, both of them turning to rest elbows on the taller half of the island.
“Y’know, if you were worried about being accepted here, I don’t think you have anything to worry about… this crew probably likes you more than me at this point,” Deu said, but Tallis scoffed.
“I’ve already had fourteen separate people secretly thank me for bringing you back inside. If they didn’t want you here, they wouldn’t have cared.”
Deuce sank his smile into his hand, hiding it.
“That’s very kind of you to say.”
Tallis still found the mask interesting, dipping and raising his own head to get a better view of it.
“…Why do you wear that, Deu?”
Deuce touched the mask absently. No one had asked him about it for nearly three years, not until Koala and Tallis had gotten here. He wasn’t really used to talking about it anymore.
“Used to read books a lot when I was a kid,” Deuce told him, eyes looking far away, “Well, it didn’t take me long to realize my father was more like the villain in the story than the hero. The older I got, the worse it got. Fuck, I don’t know if I should tell you all this.”
Tallis watched his lips moving closely, resting his chin in his palm.
“Please?” he asked quietly, completely wrapped up in Deu’s words as he continued.
“If you… alright, um… he hurt me pretty bad as a teenager. It wasn’t really that the hit was painful— it was, but that heals— it was that he wanted to cause me pain, that’s what hurt. And one day, when I woke up, I realized I was starting to look like him. The person I resented the most in this world. And I thought, ‘fuck that, I don’t want people to see his face when they look at me.’ So I wear this.”
“I can’t imagine looking like the bastard that raised me. Your dad sounds like he’d get along with Jericko. Fucking assholes, all of them… But the mask is brilliant. I wish I’d thought of it first.”
Deu gave him a long look before unknotting the leather cord beneath his hair. He slowly slipped the mask off his face.
Tallis kept talking, crossing his arms comfortably. He didn’t seem bothered by Deu removing his mask, too busy squinting at his hair in clear amazement.
“Your hair color is so unique, by the way. I’ve never seen anything like it… especially around your eyes. I had no idea someone could have eyelashes the color of the sky.”
Deuce reached the cords behind Tallis’ head to stretch his mask taut across his face.
He glanced one time at Tallis’ eyes as he focused on tying it, but their faces were so close that Tallis’ look went straight to Deu’s stomach.
He knew Tallis’ gaze only flickered between his eyes and lips so he could tell if he was speaking, but man was it giving him butterflies.
“I’ll need this mask back,” Deuce told him, “I just want you to know you belong.”
Tallis was still staring at his lips, watching him say the words, completely captivating him. The only time Deuce ever stared at someone’s lips this long, it meant he wanted…
…exactly what was happening right now.
Tallis brushed their noses together, feeling a rush of air as Deuce gasped in surprise.
“Can I kiss you?” Tallis asked, examining his face up close to watch Deuce’s nod of stunned disbelief.
Deuce went slightly rigid as Tallis connected them, feeling the softness of his lips, the tilting of his masked face and the touch of his hands on either side of Deuce’s blue hair.
Tallis felt a hum in Deuce’s mouth, making his eyes roll slightly at the feeling inside it. Even better was the way Deuce so easily accepted him, the way his hands were so careful as they framed his face, his gentle pushback that didn’t hurt or demand too much. This feeling was more than he could’ve ever wished for, more than he thought he even wanted.
Deuce would have kissed him for an eternity at that moment, but the intensity overwhelmed Tallis seconds later. He broke away, watching Deuce breathing just as hard as him.
Their faces were both reddened, but when Tallis’ eyes got glassy, looking away in shame, Deuce couldn’t stop his hand from touching Tallis’ cheek tenderly, horrified to see him tearing up.
“I can’t— um,” Tallis tried to explain, “I don’t think I can do more than kiss you. My history’s kind of complicated… No, it’s fucked, actually.”
So Tallis was worried he’d be rejected for admitting that? Or maybe a painful memory had made his eyes well up like this.
Deuce glanced down at his bruises, eyes shining sadly at the sight, brows pinching when he looked back into Tallis’ brown eyes.
“We don’t have to do anything physical. Not ever.”
Tallis glanced from his lips back up to his unmasked eyes, reaching up to feel the mask on his own face. He didn’t know how to express it aloud, but Deuce putting his mask on him had Tallis in an addictive vice grip. Protected... permanently.
When Deuce looked down at his lips, Tallis could see those blue eyelashes in their entirety, so pretty that he moved to brush against Deuce’s soft lips again, already missing the rush of him.
“Sorry, just wanted to kiss you again,” Tallis breathed just before they reconnected, less gentle this time as they both dropped their guards for each other.
Only Deuce could hear the small noises Tallis made into his mouth, but Tallis was enjoying something else entirely, feeling the subtle vibration of Deuce’s soft moans around his tongue, making him want the kiss more than he wanted to breathe.
But the door opened, shooting panic through Deuce. He pulled fast away from Tallis who was so locked in he would’ve kept going, not giving a damn who came through that door— it’s not like he even noticed, not with his eyes closed. It didn’t take him long to see why Deu wanted to separate them, though.
Marco stood there, looking shocked at their close proximity on the countertop, flushed cheeks, Deuce’s bare face and Tallis wearing his mask.
There were very few explanations for Deuce to remove it willingly for Tallis, and even fewer explanations for them jerking apart so quickly. Marco cleared his throat awkwardly, all too aware he was interrupting something as they straightened up.
“I was hoping to speak to Tallis, but it can definitely, uh… wait, yoi.”
Deuce and Tallis both cast guilty glances at the uncleared kitchen around them.
“Go. Let me clean up,” Deuce told him quietly.
Marco bit his lip to avoid smiling at them.
“I’ll be… outside.”
It was already dark out. Despite still feeling the somber pull of nightfall, Marco did enjoy the breeze, how it felt nearly as warm as his skin.
Seeing the moon on the horizon made him pull Ace’s vivre card from his pocket, comforted to see they were still moving in the right direction. And much closer than before. He pocketed it again for safekeeping, taking a long sigh before he finally heard Tallis’ footsteps behind him.
“Nice clothes,” Marco said casually when Tallis made his way to the rail.
Tallis glanced down at the plain black crewneck and stylish harem pants hanging off his frame.
“Mihar and… and Deu loaned them to me,” Tallis told him, but then suddenly reached to touch the mask he forgot to take off and, god, for some reason it felt like an obscene display of intimacy. He cast a worried glance at Marco, still guiltily touching the mask.
“We don’t have to talk about that, yoi.”
Tallis nodded with obvious relief, watching Marco continue talking.
“Just wanted to make sure you were alright after the conflict at dinner. But I clearly wasn’t needed.”
Marco flashed him a slightly devilish smile. The smile only faltered when he saw the glint of a thin silver chain peeking around his neckline.
“Saw that necklace while you escorted Saber from the kitchen. Looked like a heart on it. Your mother’s?”
Tallis smiled.
“It is, actually. Would you like to see her?” he asked, hoping if Marco looked at her face, he might be quicker to help her.
Marco nodded, a little surprised when Tallis slipped it off to set it in his palm. He laid the heart pendant open to show Marco a small photo on each side.
“That’s her when she was young.”
“I see,” Marco reacted, looking at the blonde girl with sharp brown eyes that matched Tallis’ perfectly.
When Marco read the inscription on the back, however, he made the exact same series of expressions Garp had made.
“Why does everyone keep acting like that?”
Marco squinted at Tallis’ face.
“You never mentioned the rest of your name, yoi.”
“That’s because it’s not my name. It’s barely even my mother’s. She stopped using it when she ran away from home. Ages ago.”
Marco couldn’t take it anymore.
“Rouge?” Marco asked, “Is that her name? I mean, it can’t be, but I have to ask.”
Tallis blinked in confusion.
“No, it’s… it’s Cerise. Why?”
“Where the hell are my glasses,” Marco muttered absently. He looked at the little portraits in the locket, holding it farther away to examine them.
At first glance, it appeared to contain photos of the same blonde girl at two different ages, but something told Marco that both photos weren’t ‘Cerise.’
“Do you mind if I remove these, yoi?”
Tallis dipped his head, watching Marco carefully ease the miniature portraits from the metal locket.
The photo of the younger girl had a ‘C’ penned on the back, but when Marco flipped over the older girl’s picture, his heart gave a leap when he saw the ‘R’ inked on it.
“Your mom never mentioned she had a sister?” Marco asked, feeling shaky all of a sudden.
“No, what are you saying?” Tallis asked, despite the answer being obvious. He almost couldn’t comprehend it by himself.
Marco replaced the photos in the locket, not able to stop himself from staring at Tallis as he did. He could see it, now…
Tallis didn’t have any freckles like the Portgas sisters did, but he had those eyes that almost looked feminine. He could easily compare them with Ace’s, even though the color was different.
No. No way.
How had Rouge never told Garp about her? Maybe Cerise was too young to care for a child. Perhaps the girls were estranged, or Rouge thought caring for Ace would put her younger sister in danger too. She must’ve had a reason.
“I’m saying you had an aunt you didn’t know about.”
And so does Ace.
“What port is your mom at?” Marco asked very seriously, because he already knew Ace would put her at the highest priority, unquestioningly. Depending on the port, they might even get to her before they could get to Ace.
Tallis tried to hold back a smile, hiding it behind a hand because it was so dangerous being optimistic. But he couldn’t still the wave of relief rushing him.
“Thank you. Cerule Bay. Hopefully it isn’t far or I insist we try to find Sabo and Ace first.”
Deuce finished cleaning the kitchen with Banshee, who’d reentered after her daily bird bath. They finished up quickly, as usual, but it was like Deuce couldn’t get out of the kitchen fast enough.
Banshee gave a soft, slightly puzzled laugh as he hastily made through the swinging door. She couldn’t help but walk up to it, trying to understand why he was rushing. When she peered out, she saw a hawk gliding down from the crows nest to meet him.
“Huh,” was all she said, a little stunned.
The hawk was hopping down Deuce’s extended arm, making him laugh as he nudged a beak playfully at his face.
The mermaid caught Marco’s hidden smile as he ducked into the captain’s quarters, having seen them together too. Banshee had to admit, Deuce had warmed up to Tallis a lot faster than usual, but it was so good to see him smiling again.
“Tell me honestly, how was the food? There weren’t many spices to use,” the hawk asked.
Deuce scoffed, leaning on the rail next to him.
“Best meal any of us have had, probably ever. Don’t tell Bansh. But I’m not exaggerating. My mom couldn’t even cook that well.”
“You can’t tell, but I’m blushing insanely hard right now,” the hawk told him.
Deu crossed his arms, confused looking down at him.
“It’s cute, the bird is, but you don’t have to stay like that. What is it, like a comfort thing?”
“Uh… partially that. I also just don’t have very good control over changing yet. Seems temperamental. Right now, I’m not sure I can do it.”
Deuce couldn’t help but smile watching his little beak move when he talked; even though Marco could speak as a phoenix, somehow watching a hawk do it was something else entirely.
“You’re probably just overthinking it,” Deuce offered, “Although that’s really Marco’s area of expertise. Is anything on your mind?”
The hawk blinked softly, beak angling down as he looked at the deck.
“Marco just told me Ace is a Portgas.”
Deuce frowned slightly, not following why that would be relevant as he peered at the bird.
“Well, yes, that’s true. That’s really what’s been on your mind? Why’s that, y’know, something you’re still thinking about though, if I can ask?”
The hawk looked up at him, beak opening as he hesitated.
“Well, so is my mom. She was, anyway, before taking another name.”
It took Deuce a really long time to process what Tallis just said, staring at him blankly.
“What?” Deuce laughed, “No.”
The hawk just sat there, looking up at him.
“No,” Deuce repeated a little more seriously.
“I’d show you proof, but I think I’m stuck.”
Deuce jumped off the railing, turning around with his hands threading into his hair as the weight of it hit him.
“Turn back,” Deu said, eyes wide and amazed, “How could you tell me something like that when you look like a bird? Tallis, let me see you again.”
The hawk laughed, especially when Deuce gently lifted his wings with both hands, as if inspecting him.
Then Tallis squawked, sounding delightfully unattractive as Deuce shoved two thumbs under his wings to tickle the bird.
And it worked.
He fell off the rail to the deck, landing on his back as a human again. But he had a smile on his face as he drew his arms in protectively.
“Oh my god,” Deuce breathed, holding Tallis’ face still and looking into his eyes.
“…Oh my god,” he repeated when Tallis showed him the back of his necklace.
Deuce collected him in a tight hug, scooping him off the deck in disbelief. Tallis’ eyes closed, enjoying the smell of his hair. Might’ve been imagining it, but Deuce’s hair even seemed to smell blue, whatever that meant. A soap he’d never smelled before.
“I wish he was here so much,” Deuce said after pulling away, “He doesn’t even know, does he?”
“Neither of us knew. He heard my mom’s voice, though. His aunt, I guess,” Tallis replied softly.
Deuce lowered himself beside Tallis, still throwing amazed looks at him.
“This is so incredible, that you would meet in such an unlikely place… Can you tell me everything that happened? While they were on the ship?”
Tallis couldn’t say it, most of the things he’d seen. It would’ve been hard enough to admit to anyone, but none so much as Deuce, a person Tallis didn’t believe was ready to know the gruesome details of Ace’s torture, how badly he’d been mistreated.
So Tallis looked down at the deck, resting on his elbows and biting his lip in deep thought. Finally, a smile came across him.
“Deu, have you seen him use Haoshoku? He conq’ed everyone. What they say about their eyes is true.”
Deuce lit up a little, having looked concerned until Tallis was able to think of something.
“I’ve only seen him get in deep enough to use it once. He usually just nukes everything from a distance. I mean, it’s pretty hard for anyone to corner him enough to need it. He must’ve been desperate… to…”
Deuce trailed off, suddenly not liking the thought of Ace being so desperate to escape the conditions on that ship.
Tallis’ eyes saddened. He hadn’t considered that boarding this ship would have him facing the emotional fallout of what he had caused.
“Have you ever seen anyone talk to a sea king?” Tallis asked quietly.
This seemed to confuse Deuce out of his thoughts, sending him an ‘are you fucking with me?’ look.
“I’ve heard of Zoans communicating with creatures. Why, have you talked to sea kings personally?”
Tallis gave a soft laugh, almost not believing the words he was about to say.
“Not me. Ace can talk to them.”
Deuce considered every explanation for Tallis thinking such a thing.
“Ace has been known to bluff if it benefits him, and that’s putting it nicely.”
Tallis shook his head.
“What he did was no bluff. He summoned that beast from the ocean. It did everything he wanted without him having to say a word, and he could understand its voice. Somehow.”
Deuce afford him a smile before scoffing in amusement.
“Y’know, nothing I hear about Ace surprises me anymore. But it sounds like he has quite a fan. Both you and this beast, apparently.”
“Yeah, no other way to say it— he was so cool.”
Deuce bit his lip, looking down at the deck.
“Yes, well… don’t say any of that to his face. His ego doesn’t fucking need it. Part of the reason he bites off more than he can chew. But you’re not wrong; he’s so cool that it’s obnoxious sometimes.”
Tallis hummed in agreement, and they both fell into silence for a moment before Deuce let the dark thoughts creep back in.
“You’ve only mentioned good things that have happened to him, you know. I noticed, and I… I do understand it might be difficult for you to say, but I wish I wasn’t completely in the dark. He’s been my closest friend since we were still teenagers.”
Deuce's anxious expression only made it harder for Tallis to tell him. But there was no way to avoid the subject, and it was cowardly to think otherwise.
“He was lashed with a whip,” Tallis said, voice dying down so much he became very difficult to hear, “And I didn’t know this, but they drowned him, too. And everything else…”
“I wouldn’t want to know?” Deuce guessed, mirroring the disturbed look in Tallis’ eyes.
“And also not my place to say,” Tallis murmured. He reached slowly to comb fingers through Deu’s silky blue hair.
“How they were treated, it wasn’t good,” Tallis added, “But I know it could’ve been worse… and I didn’t let it reach that point, not for either of them,” was all he could manage.
“Mmh… well, did Sabo seem to remember him at all?” Deuce asked, hoping that was a safe question. Sabo’s amnesia was the only concerning thing Deuce had heard from Koala.
Tallis looked confused.
“In what way? They definitely knew each other. I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people that attached.”
Deuce seemed relieved, despite everything else sounding like bad news.
“Like I told Marco before he fixed my arm, the two of them got taken to an experimentation facility. But they were together. That’s good, right?”
Deuce nodded, massaging his temples.
“I guess. It’ll be easier to find them that way.”
Noticing Tallis yawn, he added, “Are you tired? We can stay out here a little longer. Or I can show you where we’re sleeping.”
“I could try to sleep,” Tallis told him, sharing his soft smile.
Koala brought a freshly filled canteen into the captain’s quarters, hesitating in her stride to see that Marco had already made sure Veri was settled, perching on the edge of the bed beside her. By the sound of it, he was telling her a story, but that wasn’t what caught Koala’s attention first.
A bright blue glow illuminated Veri’s face from the small, fiery bird hopping around in her small hands. Just like Marco promised her.
“…Then what happened?” Veri asked, eyes round as she took in the beauty of the miniature phoenix, stretching its wings for her.
“Just when I thought she’d abandoned me for sure, I heard her voice, yoi.”
“Can you still hear it?”
Marco smiled.
“Sometimes,” he answered, noticing Koala approaching, “But I’ll have to tell you more later. Koala’s gonna stay in here with you tonight.”
“I don’t want you to go,” Veri told him, fear tugging at her eyebrows.
Koala dipped her head understandingly.
“You stay, Marco. I can sleep in the crew quarters tonight. That’s what I’m used to anyway.”
But Veri’s hand caught Koala’s hand just as she took a step backward, stopping her from leaving.
“I don’t want you to leave me either,” Veri said.
Koala blinked, giving Marco the same look of quiet horror that he was giving her. They had an entire conversation in an instant with that look.
‘You made it very clear you don’t want me sleeping near you,’ she thought.
‘I guess… if Veri is between us…’ he thought.
“I don’t mind, but maybe Marco and I can just trade off, Veri,” Koala volunteered, looking anxious that Marco didn’t respond.
“It’s okay,” Marco decided aloud, squeezing Veri’s hand, “It’s your first night here. Whatever makes you feel safest.”
A lot happened in the short time Koala had been on the Spadille. But somehow, she didn’t see this coming at all.
One young child lay in the middle of the bed, with both of them in arm’s reach on either side of her. And they were wide awake, staring silently at each other from their respective pillows.
At first, Koala was mainly concerned about Veri falling asleep after such a harrowing experience. She showed Veri the only way she really knew, stretching an arm around her to brush a thumb down the bridge of her nose. The gentle repetitive motion eventually lulled Veri to sleep, keeping her eyes shut long enough to drift off.
But then it was only Koala and Marco awake, and she wasn’t sure why that made her so apprehensive.
“That was a nice trick, helping her fall asleep like that, yoi,” Marco whispered.
“Is that what you want too?” she whispered teasingly, knowing damn well that Marco didn’t want to be treat like a child.
He sniffed a nearly inaudible laugh, smiling despite himself and deeply wishing he didn’t enjoy her company.
“So… what’s your deal?” Koala whispered suddenly, looking curious as she raised herself up, propping her elbow on the pillow.
He knew better than to feign ignorance. He felt he had many issues she could’ve noticed, so he genuinely wasn’t sure which of his unfortunate quirks she referenced.
“I’m not copping out of the question, but can you be more specific, yoi?”
Koala bit her lip seriously as she considered his words, eyes casting away until she finally thought of an example.
“You wear your shirt open all the time, if you even wear one at all… until you’re around me. Then you button it up. All the way.”
He looked amused.
“You stare, Koala,” he whispered.
She shook her head, unable to hold back an infectious smile of her own.
“What? I like your tattoo. And you were staring at me in the shipwright. It’s no different,” she defended in a hushed voice.
His eyes shut, almost having forgotten about that.
“Very different, actually. The phoenix…”
“Anka,” Koala whispered.
“Yeah,” he replied, rubbing his neck and wondering if he was about to sound crazy, “She liked what you were wearing. She was telling me she wouldn’t mind a girl inheriting her at some point.”
Koala gave him a look of comical annoyance.
“Be serious.”
“I am.”
She scoffed, side-eyeing him.
“So you really can hear the voice of the phoenix?”
“Yes.”
“And she told you that she… liked my outfit.”
He shrugged.
“She likes you a lot in general, actually, it just started that day in the shipwright. But going back to your original point, if it means so much to you, I’ll stop using so many buttons on my shirts. Any other questions?”
Koala licked her own dry lips in thought, finger tapping her own cheek.
“Why don’t you ever sleep with the crew?”
“Most of them are men,” he whispered.
“Funny,” she said, “I meant in the crew quarters.”
He looked genuinely guilty when she said that. He tried once, then twice to speak, backing out both times. The way he was blinking got her attention, wondering if maybe she shouldn’t have asked at all.
“My last crew, we had our own hammocks. Wasn’t like that net in there. And my hammock was next to our sixteenth commander. For thirty years of my life, I slept beside the same person. Now I don’t know if he’s even alive anymore. I don’t think about it much in the daytime, but at night, it’s all I think about. Feels wrong, sleeping around anyone but him.”
“Even though you care about them.”
“Even though I care about them, yoi.”
And he didn’t mind the solitude most days. Tonight, though? Marco found himself grateful to have anyone around him.
After what he’d just been forced to do— all that pain, seeing so much of his own blood— he couldn’t even imagine being alone in this room to relive it. As much as he pretended her curious questions bothered him, Koala had inadvertently kept his head from spiraling into that dark place.
Koala considered the matter settled, reaching to grasp his hand comfortingly for a moment.
“You gonna be able to sleep?” she whispered.
He returned her gesture, squeezing her smaller hand as he looked across at it.
“Yeah… I actually think I am, yoi.”
She bit her lip for a moment.
“If you can’t, just wake me up. I won’t mind… We can talk some more until you’re tired again.”
He swallowed, for some reason deeply affected by how pure and thoughtful those words had been. No one had ever offered that to him before, and he reflected on it for a long moment as her hand carefully withdrew from his own.
‘You’re in way over your head,’ Anka’s voice echoed, and he could hear her amusement, putting a smile on his face.
Without any further fuss, Koala shifted back under the blankets, pulling them up around Veri to tuck her in again.
Then Koala slid an arm over her gently, feeling so comfortable all of a sudden.
“Goodnight,” Koala whispered with her eyes closed, smile stretching wider when he whispered it back.
In the crew quarters, Tallis was being squished between Deuce and Mihar, his breath slowing so contentedly.
Deuce didn’t kiss him again, not in here, but it was close enough, nudging his face into him tenderly like he was still making up for being so cold at first.
Tallis reached his hand up to run his thumb over Deuce’s soft lips, smiling when he could feel Deu smile. Tallis’ other hand was pinned to his stomach, trying not to feel the firm curves of Deuce’s tight core through his t-shirt. He couldn’t help mouthing ‘wow’ silently. Everyone on the crew was impressively muscular, but Tallis was more than content to only touch one of them.
At times, Tallis could tell they were whispering by the air, but he had no way of knowing anything they were saying. But Deuce didn’t need words to pull him closer, though, nor did he need them to press silent kisses into Tallis’ hair.
Tallis felt for Deu’s palm, drawing letters into it.
Mihar snorted a soft laugh.
“Are you serious? Tallis just thanked you for the kiss. On my hand, thinking it was yours. Damn, Deu, only his first day outta the cell. And I thought you hated him, you complete marshmallow.”
“Teachie,” Deu complained softly, smiling.
“It won’t bother you if I have my arms around him, right? I didn’t know you were gonna start kissing him, man.”
Deuce hid his face, even though it was dark.
“No, no, I want him to know everyone else wants him here too. Don’t take your arms away.”
“Can I kiss his hair too?” Mihar whispered.
“Shut the fuck up,” they heard someone whisper in annoyance.
Deuce shook with silent laughter, squeezing Mihar’s arm around Tallis— knowing full well that Mihar had no intention of planting such kisses on the new cook.
Because Deuce was already smiling, it startled him to suddenly feel tears on Tallis’ cheek, making his brow pinch. Deu turned his face to him in the dark, able to feel enough to wipe his tears in alarm.
‘Ok?’ Deuce wrote with a fingertip on his chest.
“Happy,” Tallis whispered.
His eyes had welled over helplessly at the feeling of having so many of them already accepting him. It felt so good that it almost hurt, because he told himself he’d never deserve to feel such peaceful bliss.
Like most of the crew right this moment, Tallis couldn’t wait to see the captain again; it’d only add to the relief of seeing his mother. Whatever he could do to make that happen, he would. Even if it killed him. At least he could die happy.
But aboard the Hounder, the HQ3 Battleship commanded by Vice-Admiral Garp, one cursed individual would not be getting sleep tonight.
Monkey D. Garp squeezed Marmont’s face in his hand, making him twitch in pain.
They were in Garp’s personal office, and the only light streamed in from the bay window, blinding the old captain’s only remaining eye as he was forced to kneel there.
“Old… ‘friend’…” Garp spoke, “It’s been awhile. I’ll bet you didn’t know you took my grandchildren captive, did you?”
Marmont swallowed audibly, and the emotion in his good eye conveyed that, no, he had no idea that he fucked up that badly.
“Yes, you see, Sabo and Ace are mine, and outside the law though they may be… I take threats to my family very seriously. That’s not even to address the children your men have been lifting from Newgate’s territories,” Garp started.
Marmont opened his ugly mouth to say something, but one swift smack of Garp’s shin between his legs stopped the captain from responding, making him wheeze and contort as Garp kept speaking.
“Now, onto your fate, which I’m sure is your only concern… Looks like Ace did this to your forehead,” Garp noticed, “Because I know his handwriting. Branded you with his own finger, didn’t he?”
Marmont didn’t reply, wincing as Garp pressed his own gloved index into the forehead wound experimentally.
Finally, Garp stopped, resting his hands on his knees so he’d be eye-level with this ex-marine, child-trafficking lowlife.
“See, I think Ace was trying to tell me something,” Garp said, his keen eyes boring holes into Marmont.
“I think he was trying to tell me what you deserve to be for the rest of your short life, and I could not agree more. Know what he burned into your forehead?”
“Slaver.”
“No,” Garp told him, lips quirking half-amused, half-sadistic, nose wrinkling in disgust.
“It says ’Slave.’ And that’s exactly what you’ll be.”
Notes:
I feel the need to say that Tallis’ only function as a character is to be 1) the cook that the Spade Pirates always canonically wanted, 2) Marco’s little fledgling/project kid and 3) protective of Deu to stop the bullying
Important note:
Only reason they ended up related was because I wanted Ace to have an aunt, the closest to his real mother he’s ever gonna have that can tell him stories about her. Really just gives me warm fuzzies, so her son being related was unintentional and will be downplayed
He doesn’t use a surname, isn’t D clan, he’s just a normal kid. Won’t make their relation a big deal because Ace has Luffy and Sabo, so he doesn’t need a cousin to fill that role. His biggest bond with Ace is that he cooks like a motherfucker and Ace loves that about him
Also I do kinda like the idea of Deu getting a Portgas boi. Deu knows he’ll never be Sabo to Ace and it isn’t really fair to him. With Tallis, Deu gets someone obsessed with him like Ace is with Sabo. And Deu deserves that kind of love too.
I know we’re coming up on the final chapters, just letting everyone know if I have to add more chapters to give everyone more happy scenes together I will, even if it puts us at 38-40 chapters
💜
Chapter 29: AMTDI
Summary:
This is an Ace and Sabo chapter exploring a popular tag (hopefully)
Note contains spoilers:
Chapter contains explicit M/M
Other fun note:
"Ahiru" means duck. Sabo calls her "Duckie," affectionately.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ace might have slept for two hours out of the whole waking nightmare of his cell time, but even that may have been a stretch.
He thought it could be morning, but he was willing to admit that he didn’t remember what time felt like anymore. Ace’s eyes cracked open in the chill, looking over to his cell door the second he heard Poch’s sugary voice.
“Today, I’d like you to escort him to the AMTDI chamber instead.”
Chamber. There was another one of those words that worried Ace. He might have genuinely fucked up by talking to Poch.
Ace was led out of the wash room by orderlies, one hand guiding each of his upper arms until they passed him through an armored door which promptly cranked itself shut behind them.
He watched the gap close between the teeth of the door’s shutters with mild alarm. That they even needed to install them was concerning. What would they subject him to in here that’d make him so desperate to get out through those reinforced doors?
Just across the modest lab area, they'd installed an identical door, but they didn't take him through it yet.
A bespectacled man with a white coat over his uniform emerged from behind a desk and privacy screen. He carried something in his latex-gloved hand, but Ace wasn’t quick enough to see it.
“Open your mouth.”
Ace looked into the man’s eyes, searching to be given an explanation.
“Now,” he warned, “Or it's back to the cell.”
Ace hesitantly allowed him to drop a square of thin paper on his tongue, pulling back from him immediately as he felt the paper dissolve on impact. An earthy taste.
“Hydrate,” he said, gesturing to a metal cup that had been prepared.
Ace took the cup and smelled its clear contents before tipping it back slowly. It certainly tasted like plain water, and he’d be lying if he claimed it didn’t bring him relief.
His attention was grabbed by the opposite reinforced door, which opened remotely at this moment. The staff gave his back a small push, directing him through the door.
Ace swallowed, feeling his mouth dry again in apprehension as he carefully rubbed at the cuff-shaped injuries on his wrists.
He took tentative barefoot steps to the threshold, seeing that the room inside was smooth white stone walls and floor, no more accommodating than his cell, but was large and well-lit. The only break in the clean finishing was high up; they had angled, mirrored glass lining the top three feet of the walls.
In the corner of the room huddled another prisoner, body bent into a protective ball.
A black burlap bag obscured his head.
Approaching him with a worried expression, Ace became increasingly aware that he recognized the unique scars visible down his arm and back as Ace drew closer to him, causing his heart to squeeze.
He cautiously sank into a crouch, lifting the bag away carefully without touching him.
The action made Sabo flinch away.
“Hey, it’s just me,” Ace told him, but shortly after, he gasped when Sabo opened his eyes.
“Your eyes. Fuck, they're completely blown,” Ace noticed, brushing his blond waves back in concern.
Sabo’s body remained folded, hugging his knees and hiding his face in his elbow. Ace heard Sabo curse bitterly into his own arm, as if the sight of Ace stressed him out right now.
“Did someone attack you?”
“No,” Sabo told him quietly, “But you have to get away from me.”
Ace wasn’t sure if it was caused by fear or whatever he’d been dosed with in the lab, but his own pulse began to quicken. A chill spread across his skin, every hair on his arms standing on end.
“Whoa,” he uttered under his breath, glancing down at his arms.
Sabo saw this happen, peeking through strands of his blond waves.
“Opposite corner, go,” Sabo said with difficulty as a shiver racked his huddled body. “Hurry.”
Ace eased to his feet and backed away in confusion, staring for a moment before sinking into the corner on the other side of the room.
The moment he hit the floor, he experienced a rush of nausea, gagging with his whole body as his hands rushed to cover his mouth. Nothing came up except a weak cough, but his hands were trembling slightly when he pulled them away from his face.
What’s happening to me?
“They drugged us,” Sabo told him, “My symptoms are a few minutes ahead.”
Based on how Ace reacted to the last encounter with this type of drug, Sabo knew this one would concern Ace even more. Because it would be worse this time. He recognized the label.
Ace tried to focus as the room began to grow brighter, uncomfortably bright. His eyes narrowed against it.
“Just so you know, the aphrodisiac is about to hit you,” Sabo told him with pained effort, dropping his head back down to rest it against his knees. He gripped at his own hair now, looking more antsy than before as he hid his face again. He trembled, whimpering against the feeling.
Ace felt just as anxious as Sabo learning the drug he’d just taken was an aphrodisiac, but he suddenly couldn’t concentrate, not after Sabo had made that desperate noise. That fucking whimper that shot straight between Ace’s legs.
Heat flooded to his dick as a deep flush spread across his freckled cheeks. The sensation came on too quickly, causing him to gasp as he tried to relax his head back with an open mouth. He shut his eyes tightly against the intense light of the room, pressing a hand to his chest to feel his heart beating too fast.
So this is the aphrodisiac, then.
The psychological effect he was under surprised him the most. Anyone’s dick can get hard; this was something deeper. When he looked at Sabo, he was overwhelmed with visions of him.
Sabo shifting into his lap, pinning Sabo by his wrists in the brig— it had stuck in Ace’s mind, playing the scenes relentlessly.
Then when his world felt like it ended, being ripped from Sabo in the cell block. Ace had only just gotten him back after years of mourning, and they pulled him away like it was nothing.
Last night, he suffered an eternity in that freezing cell, alone and craving Sabo’s warmth, his touch, even just his presence would have been enough. Ace only knew he needed it to be him, no one else. The drug, at least in this case, only amplified what he already desired.
And now Sabo was in here with him, and Ace realized how much he wanted him.
Ace clenched his upper arms, taking deeper breaths to steady himself. He couldn’t think about Sabo right now, because he could tell Sabo was cowering away from him, as if clairvoyant to his darkest intentions. Afraid of what Ace would do to him.
Even if it wasn’t true, the idea sent a shock of concern through him, because Ace would rather be put out of his misery than hurt Sabo like this.
“Is this the drug Marmont gave you?” Ace asked, trying to distract himself.
“No,” Sabo managed, “Aphro-Palyn is a concentrate from plant pollen. It’s a natural toxin the government has tested for biological warfare. We’ve seized it before, I’ve just never been on the receiving end.”
He sounded like the explanation took all his energy, but Sabo was just as grateful for the distraction as Ace right now.
“Any way to counter it?” Ace asked, shuddering as another wave of goosebumps washed over his skin, becoming aware of the powerful urge to have every inch of his body touch every inch of Sabo’s body.
He inhaled sharply, seeing that Sabo was looking at him now, eyes dark as his pupils overtook their light irises. His dick responded to the sight, causing his legs to close slightly so Sabo couldn’t see him.
'No,' Ace thought angrily. 'I’m supposed to protect him. He trusts me to keep him safe. I can’t become what’s threatening him.'
He needed to keep talking. Distract himself.
“…Sabo?” Ace asked through closed eyes.
“Did you say something?” Sabo breathed, clearly in a trance as he stared at Ace’s toned figure. The way Ace covered himself almost shyly, looking incredibly vulnerable without his clothes, fuck it was making Sabo want to take full advantage of him, his inexperience, his sensitivity.
And to Ace, the way Sabo was staring appreciatively at his body looked like pure, predatory lust, looking from Ace’s chest, to his arms, to his muscular legs drawn up modestly.
“Sabo, you’re… staring,” Ace said, sounding raspy and nervous, gripping his arms around his chest again. Reminding himself he couldn’t have Sabo. Not unless… god, not unless Sabo wanted him back.
Fuck. Sabo would have to be the one to say it, and even still, Ace didn’t know if he’d really believe it. Not given their condition.
Ace shivered another time as he closed his eyes; it was happening in waves of heat and chills, an apocalyptic version of the fevers he’d had before.
Sabo struggled against his own reaction to the drugs at the same time, hiding his face again with a strained cry of frustration.
“Have to meditate,” Sabo gasped, “I'm losing my fucking mind in here.”
He doubled over, pressing his face into his freezing hands against the floor.
Sabo could feel his swollen length pressed between his thighs and his abs, hissing under his breath at the suffocating urge to thrust his hips into the friction.
He wished Ace wasn’t watching his naked body struggling to keep from doing this. Because Sabo’s willpower slipped as he gave his cock an experimental push against his body, moaning in temporary relief.
That moan was the most delicious noise Ace had ever heard. He was panting weakly, feet digging into the floor to press himself further into the corner as he watched Sabo grind his hips down. He gripped his own thighs in response, desperate not to give in to the urge to wrap his hand around his dick.
The thoughts he was having, Ace could no longer attribute completely to himself, not able to focus on anything but his own increasingly filthy stream of consciousness.
‘Stop looking at Sabo,’ he thought.
Just his last inner bastion of sanity that was crumbling by the absolute second.
But he couldn’t look away; the only person that existed in the world was Sabo. His slightly taller, elegant figure, his tone build, lightweight but strong enough to challenge Ace’s own strength. He wanted Sabo to overpower him just once before Ace made him surrender over and over. He wanted Sabo screaming his name. Just looking at his naked body had Ace mentally coiled to slam him into the wall and fuck him senseless.
I need you so fucking bad. Beg me not to take you right now, Sabo.
Beg, and I might be able to stop myself.
Ace whimpered as his untouched dick twitched been his legs, spurting in front of him as his nails bit down into his thighs. He let his hips jerk gratefully, groaning into his closed lips.
Sabo’s attention snapped up, eyes widening as he watched what was happening, brow pinching in pleasure to match Ace’s.
“Fuck meditating,” Sabo gasped, gripping his own length with his hand and lifting his body onto all fours to thrust into it, and it surprised him how saliva poured from his tongue onto the floor, like his entire body wanted to make slick contact with Ace’s most sensitive spots.
He let the spit collect in his palm before returning it to himself with impatient noises. After mentally edging himself for so long, Sabo barely got three pumps in before his body spasmed, jerking his hand as many times through the orgasm as he could manage. He was gasping for air.
“Nnhh— Ace, you’re so— fuck—“
His left hand gripped the floor with an intensity that would have crushed it with his Haki intact.
Ace’s eye were slammed shut but his eyelashes fluttered against his cheek, trying to suppress a feral reaction to Sabo panting his name so erotically.
Sabo’s release had the opposite effect that it typically did; instead of offering relief or drowsiness, the drugs had already sent him into a more desperate state than was affecting Ace. Sabo knew he looked like a wild animal as he sat back to his heels, staring his target down as his cock twitched itself hard again.
Fuck, this was the first time Ace could truly appreciate Sabo’s gorgeous length. Pink and fully erect, standing against his core. Sabo looked proud of it, too, looking from it to Ace with a little smile.
Ace’s pupils contracted and then expanded violently, gasping as the walls began to swim with green fractals until he realized the two of them were no longer inside the confines of a laboratory chamber.
They were outside in a limitless field of grass swelling in all directions. And in the center, a tree where Sabo was resting his back. Ace watched in open-mouthed shock as the grass undulated in the soft breeze.
Sabo enchanted him, his skin looking like it would taste like fine vanilla on his tongue, and that made Ace’s tongue drip with a long strand of spit before he wiped absently at it, brow pinching because Sabo was so beautiful it hurt to look at him, the way he tossed his head back and raised his hips to meet the slick grip of his fingers.
Ace’s ribs betrayed his quick breaths as he watched Sabo give himself over to the nature’s most intense aphrodisiac.
Sabo returned his hand to work himself close again, and heightened desperation made him abandon the privacy he sought earlier.
“Can I look at you?” Sabo asked breathlessly, trying to keep his eyes shut as his body begged for relief.
“Anything you need,” Ace murmured helplessly, hugging his chest tightly. It hurt, how hard he was gripping his arms.
“Thank you… thank you,” Sabo mumbled softly from beneath his translucent eyelashes.
Sabo leaned against the tree and let his head drop back a little, tongue visible through his parted lips as he pumped into his hand, eyes locking with Ace’s.
The stare electrified them both.
“Fuck, Sabo, keep doing that,” Ace panted.
Ace dropped his knees to the soft grass, shivering until he gave in and started fucking into his hand. He thought he was too shy to do this in front of anyone, especially Sabo, but it felt like a dream. The best dream he ever had.
Sabo lost himself in the pleasure of listening to Ace’s soft moans roll rhythmically from his throat. Sabo slowed down his pace, only picking up speed when Ace was bucking hard into his grip, looking so close to finishing. Just as Ace gasped out in relief, Sabo came forcefully, rubbing himself through it as he drank in the sight of Ace coming undone.
The moment he came again, the fever dispersed. Just long enough for Ace to groan and press his hands over his face, trying to catch his breath. Trying to grasp at what was left of his self-control.
And when the fever gripped him again, it had multiplied in strength. He was under its command, the instinct of whatever plant this shit came from. It wouldn’t release him until the plant’s seed had spread.
“Sabo,” Ace groaned anxiously, “It’s making me want more. It’s getting worse. I’m getting… scared.”
He didn’t know how to verbalize it, but he was so close to fucking Sabo he was shaking— only raw fear let him grasp onto his own sanity now.
Sabo’s eyes were pure blue fire right now, wanting, needing. Consequences were the furthest thought from his mind.
“Playing with your dick isn’t gonna work forever. You want me?” Sabo asked, slicking his thumb across his tongue, soothing himself with the contact.
Ace’s eyes rolled slightly, trying to control himself.
“I can’t touch you like this. We’re not right in the head,” he exhaled, gripping his thighs so hard, “The pollen is doing this to us. It was never supposed to be like this.”
Between shocks of drug-induced fever, Sabo had just enough clarity to argue with him one last time.
“It was always supposed to be like this. It’s always been you and me,” Sabo breathed, his trembling hand soothing his cock, pressing it to his core.
Ace knew he couldn’t hold back much longer, even swiping his thumb across his own leaking tip had him imaging Sabo’s mouth around him, sucking him in.
Sabo’s hand shook, trying to kept it still— his fever was returning full force. Something told him only giving into their urges would break the pollen’s grip on their minds.
“I can’t do it,” Ace whispered, biting his knuckles. But he felt himself slipping.
“Ace, this is happening,” Sabo told him feverishly, “I need to hear the truth. Is this what you want? Am I what you want?”
Ace cursed, eyes shutting as the words came pouring out of him.
“Sabo, the answer's yes, alright? It's always gonna be yes,” he admitted, weak and relieved like saying it finally lifted weight of the world from his shoulders, “You’re all I ever wanted, the other half of me, okay?”
Sabo tried to catch his breath hearing that, stretching a helpless grin across him even in such stressful conditions as he slicked his hand over himself.
“Other half, huh? You like me enough to let this half claim you first?”
Ace shut his eyes, overwhelmed by his beating heart, but he couldn’t tell if it was emotional relief or the spike of anxiety at Sabo’s suggestion. Ace eased himself into reaching distance, padding through lush grass on all fours like a panther. His pupils fluttered, ebbing and swelling again.
“You wanna claim… me? What makes you think that’s how it’s gonna go?” Ace asked, drunk with lust.
It made his tongue drip, the suspense knowing they might have a power struggle. Sabo was still dangerously competitive with him after all this time, and it drove Ace so fucking wild right now.
“I wanted you longer. The second I saw you in that garden, I knew I wanted to fuck you,” Sabo said, sending another ripple of chills through him as he crouched directly in front of him in the grass.
Ace’s lips were parted with hooded eyes as he watched Sabo’s mouth say the words that sent a chill down Ace’s body.
“You wanted to fuck me?” he asked into Sabo’s ear.
Sabo was shivering too, eyebrows pulling together at how badly he needed Ace to touch him, but he kept his eyes closed.
“Don’t you wanna be the one getting fucked? I’ll make it good for you,” Ace breathed.
It must’ve been the pollen talking, but it had Sabo mentally on his knees in front of Ace, never thinking he’d hear something that hot come out of him.
“Ace— fuck, if you’re gonna say it like that, you can have me,” Sabo gasped.
Like Ace needed the encouragement, already staring at Sabo’s lips like honeysuckle, the sweetest fucking nectar. And he was starving for it right now.
Ace sank into him, locking their lips together with a hot gasp of relief to finally taste him.
It was blissful here, shaded under this tree, surrounded by wildflowers, and Ace was amazed to be kissing him at the center of it all. Ace pulled back only long enough for Sabo to see his expression turn from vulnerable to carnal before they were at each other’s mouths again.
Sabo angled Ace exactly where he wanted him, taking over the kiss. His raw hunger made Ace’s head spin, moaning at how slick his tongue felt. Ace was smiling around him, mumbling every stupid wonderful thing he thought Sabo tasted like, both of them pressing rough hands into each other’s hair.
Ace swallowed his own needy whines as he kissed him back. He was gasping for air, lightheaded because Sabo barely let him breathe, pent up past what he was able to control.
Sabo rolled his tongue under Ace’s, making a grateful noise in his throat when he felt how smooth and velvety it was inside his mouth until the fever consumed him again. The pollen wanted them closer than this, connected, and it was willing to drive Sabo insane to get it.
“Need you—” Sabo panted.
Ace captured his lips again, his body so on fire he couldn’t stop himself licking into Sabo’s mouth again before breaking the kiss. Ace needed more contact too, he realized. Fuck, he was already groaning at the thought of pumping into him.
He was all instinct, turning Sabo around to face the tree, leaning him into it. His eyes drank Sabo in, the sprawling scars down his left side, then the dimples accentuating his lower back, drawing soft, hot curses from Ace’s mouth.
Ace saturated his fingers in his mouth, then slid his palm down Sabo’s perfect dimples before pressing them between his legs. Slicking them in circles there had Sabo’s fingers clawing at the tree, his other hand having to tug at himself for relief because Ace wasn’t going fast enough. Sabo choked on a moan when Ace slipped a finger in.
He wasn’t even the one getting touched but seeing Sabo like this was making him moan softly too, mouth getting wet again, salivating intensely for him.
Without meaning to, Ace’s finger grazed at a knot palpable inside his slick walls.
“Fuck,” Sabo reacted, “Need— Ace—“
And Ace gave it to him. He slipped another finger in and Sabo groaned because it burned but it felt so fucking good.
Sabo worked the entire length of his dick and ran a thumb over the head again, bucking slightly with a low whine as Ace pressed into him with a third finger, more afflicted by lust than pain.
Ace was so cold, but inside of Sabo was so warm and slippery around his fingers that he’d give anything to already be buried deep. He couldn’t wait anymore, even though his last shred of humanity was terrified.
His mind spiraled into lust-fueled madness, slipping his long fingers out to massage the perfect ring of sensitive muscle one more time, drawing a delicious reaction out of him. And then the fingers were gone, instantly making Sabo feverish at their absence.
Ace’s eyes clouded over, now at the pollen’s mercy. Especially when he had Sabo pinned like this, kneeling in front of Ace like he always imagined him.
“Gonna take you like this okay?” Ace struggled out, every breath like a groan of want past his lips now.
“Please,” was all Sabo could manage, shivering hard like an addict in withdrawal when Ace forced Sabo’s chest to the tree right where they kneeled.
The idea of it was raw and frightening, but right now the thought of taking him forcefully from behind was fucking up Ace’s head too much to stop. He grabbed Sabo’s hip with one hand, steadying them both.
Ace took a shaky breath through a surge of desire and lined his cock up. He grasped Sabo closer and pushed in, inch by inch.
“Ah— f-fuck—“ Sabo gasped against his own arm.
Sabo let his head rest against the tree with his brows pinching in desperation. He never imagined having someone match his strength so perfectly.
Ace’s lungs swelled with blessed air, finally getting clarity back as he gave in to the pollen’s needs.
“Sabo,” Ace breathed reverently as he pumped into him, painfully slowly between gasps of pleasure, “Tell me you’ll let me— have you again— when the drugs wear off.”
“Mmhh, you’ll have me so many times,” Sabo said, consumed by the pollen’s appetite.
Ace felt Sabo urge him deeper, but he was locked in to his own desires, leaning forward to breathe in the pale skin of Sabo's neck.
The pollen had him realizing he wanted Sabo like this forever, telling him Sabo was his true mate, the only one he needed all his life.
Ace was reduced to romantic mush as he kept hallucinating, pumping leisurely into him, mouthing and teething softly at his neck, the flavor of Sabo’s skin melting like sugar cubes under his tongue.
But Sabo’s wild mind couldn’t comprehend sugar; he only starved for Ace to be deeper inside him. The pollen in his system put him into feral panic.
“Too gentle,” Sabo panted, gripping the tree’s trunk in frustration, “Not gonna— hurt me, nhkay?”
“Have to control it or it’ll get bad,” Ace said, desperately threading his fingers into Sabo’s hair with him, tangling both their fingers in it.
“Ace, m’not fragile, please,” Sabo struggled out, “Fuck— me—“
Ace gave a harder thrust, eyes rolling at the overwhelming rush of pleasure. He bit down on his lower lip, trying to keep himself level as he thrust harder, faster, deeper.
He slid Sabo’s wrists together in one hand, pinning them to the tree as he pumped into him. Once he had a taste of the overstimulation, Ace was addicted, slamming his cock into him hard enough that it made stars burst behind Sabo’s eyes with every thrust.
Sabo was gorgeous. As gorgeous as the tiny wildflowers surrounding them. His back flexed, toned, pale and marked with lovely pink scars.
“So— pretty,” Ace was panting into him desperately, turning Sabo’s face with the other hand to look at him in awe.
Sabo moaned, arching his back, hands gripping his own blond waves as Ace’s weight forced his back to arch more into the tree.
Ace gasped rhythmically against his cheek, feeling Sabo constrict around him. A sheen of sweat highlighted Ace’s tattooed back as he continued pumping into him.
It wasn’t enough. Sabo was starving, his swollen dick still flexing untouched and painful, making him struggle under Ace’s hands.
“Ace—“
“Sabo,” Ace replied, nearly incoherent holding Sabo’s hip steady with one hand and his other grasping Sabo’s hands into the back of his hair.
“Let me— jerk myself or something— need to cum so— so fucking bad,” Sabo groaned in animal frustration, the deep fever making him insane enough to rip at his own hair, because Ace wasn’t letting his hands move.
“S’okay, I got you,” Ace murmured, breathing hard, still fucking him.
Ace let spit fall from his tongue to his palm in the most generous amount he could manage before spreading it down Sabo's length.
He worked his hand over Sabo so tight and fast that Sabo was already grasping into the tree bark and thrusting into Ace’s fist as he murmured heated words of gratitude.
“F-fuck,” Sabo managed breathlessly, losing his mind at the feeling of Ace being the one to fill him, how he gripped Sabo’s waist and jerked him in perfect time with his own urgent strokes.
“Ace,” Sabo breathed with every thrust, begging for more like he’d lose Ace forever if he pulled out. The pollen inside of him wanted it all. If the pollen couldn’t spread, it would die.
“Have to— fill me—“ Sabo begged, nails scratching into the tree, “Fuck I need you—”
It was filthy, and it wasn’t Sabo saying it, but it was what Ace needed to hear as the plant pathogen claimed his body, forced him to claim Sabo’s body in return. He pumped faster until he reached a point he couldn’t stop no matter what Sabo begged him to do.
He could feel Sabo clenching around him, milking his cock with every thrust, and it was driving him wild.
“Ahh, m’gonna—“ Ace panted loudly as his own name spilled from Sabo’s mouth over and over and over.
The universe righted itself as Ace’s hallucinating eyes saw hundreds of sunrises and sunsets flashing by at what felt like light speed.
Ace stuttered hard, body tensing as he came the most intense orgasm of his life. Pleasure exploded through him in a violent burst, cock pulsing as he emptied himself inside Sabo. He gritted his teeth, feeling the overwhelming sensations wash over him, his body trembling as he tried to catch his breath.
Sabo’s hips still met him needily, guiding him through it and mumbling hot, incoherent encouragement. Ace lost himself, tossing his head back to moan helplessly at the feeling of fulfilling his ultimate need. Pure, carnal, nature devouring itself and become new again as only nature can.
His mouth and hand buried into Sabo’s damp hair, breathing him in desperately with closed eyes as he gasped for air.
Sabo’s body tensed, flexing as his nails bit into the tree, trembling when he felt the shockwave building. He gripped Ace’s weakening hand, holding it still and humping into the tight fist. His tongue darted over his bottom lip, letting his watering mouth spill more hot saliva right where he needed it, slicking it down himself hard until it had him finally falling apart.
Sabo unraveled with a sharp cry, pumping his hips a few more times before his final release rocked through him. He gasped at the intensity, forcing Ace’s slippery hand down more delicious times until he was spent. Even when his muscles slowed their constricting, he gave a few slow thrusts, eyes closing with an appreciative breath, biting his lip.
“Fuck, Ace,” he panted, “That was…”
“Scary as hell,” Ace finished, sagging into him a little, even though most of his weight was pressed through his arm into the tree— no, the wall? What the fuck?
“Scary hot,” Sabo corrected, “But maybe we’ll skip the drugs next time.”
It almost hurt, but the pollen spiked Sabo’s pain with heavy waves of endorphins and dopamine, making his pupils expand and contract.
Sabo didn’t want to let Ace’s hand go even when he finished with it, raising it to his mouth to clean each of his fingers off. Ace sighed at the sensation, wet heat enclosing every one of his fingers.
Sabo had chills again, mentally recording every detail of how Ace felt deep inside him to ward off the sensation. He pressed his exhausted cheek into the wall with an open mouth panting the last breaths of intensity. Feeling the toxin start to fade from his consciousness with each anxious beat of his heart.
He found himself bonded to Ace by every breath the plants gave off as they began to disappear, blessing the pair of them for continuing the life cycle.
As much as he didn’t want to, Ace withdrew himself from Sabo, closing his eyes at the absolute mess he’d made. But more than that, he was afraid he’d made it really painful for him. He’d never, ever have been that forceful with a girl and it felt… awful.
The trees and grass seemed to glitch around him, seeing flashes of the stone chamber when he blinked.
“We’re still in the chamber but I’m… I’m seeing things,” Ace breathed out shakily, holding Sabo tighter to ground himself, feeling more than a little afraid of what just came over them both, “Sabo, did I fucking hurt you? Don’t lie, are you hurt?”
“Feel brand new, actually,” Sabo replied, smiling at Ace’s sigh of relief.
Sabo reached back to caress his neck, and he held him closer for a long moment while they caught their breath with closed eyes.
He hadn't been lying, especially now Ace was open-mouth kissing his neck, mumbling how he tasted just as good as he thought he would.
Sabo could feel how rough Ace had been with him. He’d been too desperate to care. He’d begged him to.
Not just that, Sabo wanted Ace like this every day, exerting his own strength, chanting Sabo’s name into his own hair, needing him too much to stop. Unless of course Sabo was ever permitted to pin Ace down instead, because he absolutely would.
And for a blissful moment, Sabo even forgot where they were, finding himself lost in how strong his feelings for Ace had grown.
Sabo let his delirious musings continue until the high began to recede. And then he started to realize they were imprisoned, not in some kind of flower field like the pollen had made him hallucinate.
They sank to the floor, but Sabo rolled onto his back so they could see each other. Both of their eyes seemed to be trying to close but Sabo still reached for Ace, brushing away the messy crop of dark hair falling into his eyes.
Ace was glowing, radiating light where they lay in the… grass? Sabo couldn’t shake the hallucinations.
And Ace felt himself waking up from the haze as he gazed at Sabo’s eyes, his wet, parted lips. He couldn’t help making soft noises as Sabo’s hand went through his hair. He felt so sensitive everywhere that even this was putting lights behind his eyes.
“Did it wear off for you yet?” Ace asked sleepily.
“Thinkso,” Sabo murmured, turning to face him where they lay, resting his face on his own bicep.
They locked eyes, each savoring how undone the other looked. Beautiful and tangled, and… completely enamored. Sabo’s heart squeezed when he saw Ace was looking at him in unmasked adoration.
Ace circled an arm around Sabo’s back, feeling the dip of his spine and the texture of errant burn scars he wanted to map out later.
Maybe Ace was still way higher than he thought, because he wanted to mumble every intrusive soft thing in his mind at Sabo.
“You being here with me… don’t want it to end.”
This made Sabo look miserable because he knew they were about to be thrown back alone into their cells. He tried to hold back tears, gazing at Ace’s lips, running a thumb across them and drinking in the sight of his eyes losing focus.
“My fear is that we’re… really trapped here this time,” Sabo told him, voice breaking slightly.
“Shouldn’t waste the time we have, then."
Ace pulled him close until Sabo relaxed into him. He hid his face in Ace’s neck, overwhelmed by the bitterness of their situation.
Despite trying to comfort Sabo, Ace’s own eyes looked just as hopeless as he stared out into the gray room, then up at the mirrors near the ceiling.
A hand was on the other side of the mirror, he noticed with a twisting stomach.
We were being watched… of course.
He buried his face into Sabo’s blond waves, inhaling his familiar smell— a smell he had forgotten but his body hadn’t.
“We’ll be okay,” Ace consoled him, even though Ace was the one falling fast into a pit of despair.
He knew his mind would descend into god knows what if they threw him back in his cell and never let him see Sabo again.
“Your first kiss got ruined…”
“No it didn’t,” Ace told him softly.
“Fuck, I…” Sabo murmured, thinking Ace was the most perfect thing he ever saw.
“Hmm?”
“…think I love… y’mmhh,” Sabo managed deliriously, but not a second later, he was already growing heavier as sleep finally took him.
Those words were too good to be uttered in a hopeless place like this. It sent Ace’s mind spiraling, trying to stop himself from sniffling pitifully into Sabo’s hair.
His brain had been reduced to mush, grappling with the thought of having Sabo ripped from him even more than the thought of never escaping. Maybe they were both never going home.
A last wave of chills sent pins and needles into every one of his pores.
The door hissed open, a sound that made him gag with fear, his distorted mind came down off the high.
“No,” he breathed, “Please.”
The boots of orderlies were approaching, triggering his flight reflex, but he was well beyond the capacity to move.
“Don’t take him,” he pleaded as Sabo’s body was dragged from his grasp.
“I want them cleaned thoroughly,” a woman’s voice said over the intercom, “This might be our highest selling pair yet.”
Gloved hands were already clutching his shoulders when his eyes rolled back as he lost his fight with consciousness.
Cabaji’s dark eyes flitted to the figure of his blond neighbor being dragged out of the next cell over. The man Ace had visited two days ago.
He examined Sabo's burn scars for an interested moment before resuming a slow, deliberate flow of tai chi to maintain his strength and balance. The acrobat seemed entirely unbothered by nakedness or incarceration. It was easy enough for him to take his situation lightly; he’d give it maybe one or two more days of patiently enduring this before he knew his captain would come crashing into this shithole.
Because nothing would stop Buggy from taking back what belonged to him. This thought had circulated in Cabaji’s calm mind for days now.
His mouth quirked into an imperceptible smile with his eyes closed.
But then his smile dropped when his cell lurched in sync with the rest of the building’s foundation. A roaring sequence of shattering glass reached his ears.
His new, bionic eyes wrenched open with a stare, manic and psycho.
It was time.
The ground under him gave another deep tremor as cannon fire assaulted the structure. Cabaji steadied himself elegantly as screams and yells began echoing down the cell block.
Cabaji approached his cell door resting his hands against the bars.
He waited patiently to strike, predatory eyes watching several frightened orderlies sprinting past a little too far from his reach. He didn’t move until the perfect opportunity presented itself.
There she was, passing too close to his cell.
He flashed his canines like a house cat as his grip snatched her uniform. He slammed her weight viciously into the bars before allowing her to escape his grasp.
“Sorry love,” he oozed smugly as she retreated with horror, but he already stared down at the key ring and pocket knife he’d pilfered.
Once out of the cell, Cabaji evaded a few sprinting orderlies as his naked body stalked calm and confident down the corridor.
The staff seemed to be scattering in their own rush to escape the cannon fire exploding intermittently into the building. Cabaji stepped to the side as a chunk of the ceiling clattered to the floor, wishing he at least had his scarf to shield his lungs from the stone dust pervading the air.
He heard Buggy’s distant maniacal laugh somewhere outside the building, but he wasn’t in a huge hurry to get to it.
He’d find him eventually.
Cabaji was still standing deep within the facility’s hallways, pausing to examine his implant’s incision. He dodged away from another orderly, leaping off his back to send his face smashing into the wall.
Landing easily, Cabaji flicked the pocket knife open, returning to what he was doing.
He bit into his cheek as he gently tipped the blade under his skin. The only sign of pain on his face was a trickle of sweat and the flickering of his lashes as he watched the carved chip of kairouseki bounce to the floor with a wet spatter of blood.
When he looked back ahead, he locked eyes with Poch in the distance before she ducked immediately back up the stairs to the AMTDI viewing room. Watching her disappear from view, he supposed he had time to settle something personal before meeting up with Buggy.
She deserved to suffer for arranging his stay in the AMTDI, and briefly considered slicing her up with this dull pocket knife, but he had a better idea.
Because he was so, so ravenous.
His smile widened, canines protruding longer just at the thought of sinking them deep into her throat.
This time, when Ace’s mind snapped back to reality, it felt violent. He awoke as if lunging, limbs ready to connect with some unseen attacker.
Orderlies had surrounded him in his cell.
Ace felt momentarily confused that he wasn’t wearing any handcuffs, yelling, “Hiken!” hoarsely as he tried to keep his distance from them.
“You’re still implanted, Fire Fist. Don’t tire yourself.”
He struggled to breathe through his panic, disoriented as they pulled him through the barred door.
What day was it? Had it been hours or weeks?
Then Ace was shoved through the armored door of the AMTDI chamber again, flinching as it hissed shut behind him.
They hadn’t even drugged him this time, and he wasn’t sure why at first, but…
The scene before him froze him in place like a bullet ripping through his gut. It was so nightmarish that he thought he might snap awake at any second.
There were several prisoners in the room, pulling and tearing at each other’s naked bodies— clearly under influence of the drug Ace had experienced.
He knew Sabo was in the room before even catching sight of him. Ace had stupidly let Poch discover their attachment, and this was how she’d get the biggest payoff of suffering from him. This more than anything else in her imagination.
“Sabo!” he heard his own voice calling, time slowing down in a surreal haze.
His feet pushed into the floor, powering himself past several sweaty men to almost reach a peek of blond hair in the grasp of another prisoner. Two of the men Ace had tried to push past wrenched him away, muttering filthy things into his ear and grabbing feverishly at his body.
“Ace!” Sabo was calling loudly. He sounded lucid, Ace was relieved to hear; it would be easier for him to keep the men off of himself with a clear head.
He fought against the grip of his current assaulters, leveraging a knee kick into one’s temple before driving the same knee lightning fast into the groin of the other and letting them slide to the ground on either side of him. His hair fell messy in his face as he continued on his warpath, trapping another man’s reaching arms under his hurt shoulder as he used his main hand to drive a fist into his jaw.
When his body fell away, three more men lunged at Ace, slicking his body with their sweat as they pinned him down to the freezing floor.
Ace saw over their shoulder that the prisoner holding Sabo had him in a spoon hold, gripping one muscular arm across his chest and the other hand gripping Sabo’s jaw. He pulled back Sabo's jaw to get a hungry mouth at his neck. Writhing against him.
Primal rage coursed through Ace’s body as he thrashed helplessly against more men surrounding him. They were filling the air around him with grunts and foul breath, fingers gripping deep future bruises into his skin.
“Ace!” Sabo screamed louder, sending a painful spike into Ace’s heart as he struggled to free himself from their hold.
Burning tears spilled down his face as he failed to slip from their hands, feeling them fighting each other to paw between his legs.
“Sabo!” he called, unable to stop himself from getting turned over and driven into the floor, feverish hands all over him holding his arms and legs down.
Poch backed away from the door as it burst inward forcefully, unable to stop her whimper from escaping when… it… crept into the observation room.
The beast.
It was horrible, everything she’d ever hated about animals, its mouth leering with rows of teeth dribbling saliva between them.
Cabaji grinned maniacally, a canine Zoan pressing into the observation deck, massive and apparition-like as if he’d come straight from Poch’s worst nightmare.
And he was going to feast on her today.
The mythical spirit wolf loomed closer to Poch with shadows for fur, eyes red and consuming.
“Zoan,” Poch breathed in fear, shrinking away from him, “How—? We check—“
“The eyes are new,” Cabaji crowed at her through the mouth of the beast, “Cybernetically enhanced. Is that why you couldn’t tell I was Zoan? That’s alright, you won’t have to think about it much longer…”
Cabaji laughed, a wild bark-cackle as he padded closer, flattered by her fear, licking the air to taste it, because fuck, fear tasted so good to him.
She shrieked her last exhale as he lunged, giant teeth clenching into her throat— crushing it with a wolf-like snarl as he finally feasted after days of starvation.
The woman who loathed animals, devoured by one. He shredded her clothes away, leaving only fabric and bones and blood behind.
Bright red streaked Cabaji’s face, standing to full height over Poch’s bloody clothes. The pin on her uniform read ‘AMTDI Founder,’ but without mincing words, she was the sick pervert who masterminded this forced sex experiment.
The acrobat moved to examine a video transponder angled to record the chamber below.
“Guess you were selling these recordings for quite a bit of berry,” he said over his shoulder to her remains, “Since I’m on it, this belongs to me.”
He opened the shell to unhook the snail’s memory bank, setting it aside temporarily.
Then Cabaji pressed his bloody hands on the table to peer down into the chamber through the mirror. For the first time during his stay, his eyes pinched, slightly disturbed at what he saw. This was much, much worse than what he’d been faced with.
He took one last look at the exit door, sighing. He knew he didn’t owe Ace or his friend anything.
Buggy would also never let him live it down if he saw Cabaji intervening on behalf of rival pirates.
However…
He flexed the fingers of his dominant hand in and out of a fist, remembering how Ace had stopped outside his cell, looking into Cabaji’s face like… like Cabaji was his closest friend. Even though Cabaji had only ever exchanged blows or harsh words.
Fire Fist was stupid for being so sentimental.
But even if that were the case, it had infected Cabaji deeply. Maybe, just this once…
He could help an old enemy as if he were a friend.
Cabaji gritted his teeth, making up his mind with determined eyes.
It took three loud cracks for a reinforced mirror across the room from Ace and Sabo to shatter.
The distraction loosened the men’s grasp on Ace just enough for him to land kicks at two of their chins, jabbing his hand into the throat of a third. He rolled to his feet in time to see Cabaji slit the throat of Sabo’s assaulter, having dropped down into the room from the broken mirror.
And Cabaji’s face was terrifying, blood dripping from his sharp, dark red teeth.
Sabo and Ace were distracted by other prisoners still feverishly closing in on all sides of them, reaching for Cabaji, too.
“Plug your ears, now!” Cabaji demanded, having already done so.
The acrobat held up a device he’d pilfered from Poch, and he knew all too well what it did.
Ace and Sabo clapped hands over their ears just before he clicked the button on the side of the cigarette-sized device.
It let loose a whistle high-pitched enough to be inaudible, but it had every prisoner collapsing unconscious around them, as if someone in the Holy Land had engineered Haoshoku.
“Damn, think I’ll keep this for myself,” Cabaji muttered, looking impressed. He licked the blood from his teeth like peanut butter, biting his lip in appreciation.
Sabo and Ace ignored Cabaji, rushing to the middle of the chamber to grasp arms.
“You’re okay?” Ace demanded, feeling dizzy after such a violent rush of adrenaline.
“I’m fine, you?” Sabo said, helping him sink weakly to the floor. It looked like Ace was about to pass out.
“Just… need a second,” Ace told him.
Sabo nodded to him, doing a quick glance over Ace to make sure he was largely unharmed.
“You two are on your own now,” Cabaji told them, but when Ace looked at him, Cabaji sent him the flicker of a smile so small Ace wondered if he just imagined it.
Then Cabaji prepared to make his exit, stepping back as he gazed up at the window.
Before he could jump, one of the men behind him woke up, clutching in his hand a large shard from the broken mirror.
Ace and Sabo saw the man move to slash the shard across Cabaji’s unprotected back.
It happened too fast for them to process what they were doing.
The two of them lurched at him, Sabo slamming a shoulder into the prisoner, and Ace putting his arm in the path of the shard before it could dig into Cabaji.
And the shard cut deep.
Ace’s blood spattered across the floor as he collapsed around his flayed arm.
Sabo used precious remaining energy to bash an elbow into man’s skull before turning fearful eyes on Ace’s body.
Seeing the state of his own arm was the final straw in Ace’s fatigued mind. His eyes rolled into his lids, losing consciousness. Sabo didn’t know if this one was the fatigue implant or the narcolepsy; he was too busy trying to control the bleeding.
He grappled to put pressure on the deep wound, but he couldn’t see anything through the spilling blood. They didn’t even have clothing, any fabric at all to tourniquet this shit.
“Wake up, Ace,” Sabo called at his closed eyes, “I need you to cauterize this.”
“Normal fire won’t burn his skin,” Cabaji muttered, sounding like he knew from experience.
Cabaji sighed deeply, sinking down next to Ace and musing that his life was always made more complicated the rare times he decided to help anyone. It had been his own fault for intervening.
The acrobat surveyed him grimly for a moment, noting that Ace had taken a lot of damage that was meant for him. He wasn’t sure how to process that. When Cabaji examined Ace’s blood staining his fingertips, his mind was made up.
Blood was a debt, and he didn’t like owing debts.
“I'll stitch him up back at the ship. But if you board, I’m not responsible for what Buggy does to you.”
“I can take care of myself,” Sabo said as Cabaji arranged to lift his own injured rival.
The Buggy Pirates had waged an attack on Facility B, booming the ship’s artillery at the towering laboratory from the bay. They were far from allies of Ace and Sabo, however, only here for Cabaji, their own.
But they had brought along a young cyborg who agreed to assist them in their pursuits. They thought she was a cheap mercenary for hire, but she was only there to rescue one man.
“I’m coming, Chief,” Ahiru whispered softly, looking concerned at the facility, high up rows of steps.
It was a tall glass pyramid rising from the jungle like a modern temple strangled under vines like nature intended to reclaim it.
She climbed up each step, having donned a strappy bodysuit with a near ground-length wrap swishing in her stride, looking like she was on vacation. All except for an intimidating, dusty pair of combat boots, of course.
Cannonfire surged past Ahiru as she ascended, blasting hotes into the building making shards of glass and smoke explode from it. Ahiru’s bionic eyes were unbothered behind her goggles, continuing up the gigantic staircase and priming her cybernetic arm, fully intending to use it on any motherfucker that crossed her path.
Her arm implant showed a blinking dot on location, so she knew these were the people that had captured and harmed Sabo, and that was the last rage-inducing thought to enter her mind as two orderlies stepped into view above her at the top of the staircase, laser rifles trained on her.
“Have your ship cease fire and name your terms, cyborg,” one of them barked out.
“Mm, I would, but you took my chief, so there will be no negotiation,” Ahiru called up to them, smirking a little as her arm emitted an ascending pitch of beeping. The noise pipped faster and faster until the orderlies were taking evasive steps backwards, opening fire on her.
She zipped left and right, letting them scatter harmlessly around her. Then a beam blasted from her weaponized attachment, blowing a crater in the front of the building. The politely locked door now blasted away in smoke and shrapnel, orderlies vaporized into pink mist by the explosion.
Powdered glass and black streaks of soot spilled into the lobby, reducing pristine white tile to marred filth.
Ahiru walked easily through the massive broken entrance she created, fiddling with her arm like none of the armed sentries inside the building bothered her. Because they didn’t.
“Anyone wants to walk outta here back to their families, do it now. Should you resist, you will be reduced to unidentifiable remains,” she announced.
They did not surrender.
Ahiru sighed, annoyed as they popped rounds from their rifles at her. She disposed of them quickly, fanning her arm after she finished since the metal started to overheat.
But she’d been successful, looking around at the state of the lobby. It was dark in here now, the designer fluorescents hanging down from the tall rafters now broken and smoking.
And the smoke clouding the room illuminated everything in red with the panic lights flashing on both walls.
Ahiru stood back in surprise when a giant wolf bolted from a distant, shadowed corridor, a naked man gripped carefully in his mouth. Or maybe not so carefully, given the blood dotting the floor in their wake. She watched him race through the lobby, out the gaping entryway and down the exterior steps.
That was Cabaji. But it wasn’t her chief he carried, so Ahiru ignored them.
She still needed to find Sabo, but the pattering of hurried bare footsteps announced Sabo before he even reached the lobby.
And when he did, his shock at the sight of her made him stumble until he was forced to take a knee, breathing heavily from running with a fatiguing implant. He’d have looked a lot more relieved if he wasn’t urgently covering his dick with a curse under his breath.
“Sorry, I’m exposed— I didn’t know you’d— How’d you find me?”
“I traced the call, darling,” she told him, looking so relieved to see him after being missing so long.
He cursed softly again at his own pathetic-looking state, one hand trying to steady his balance where he knelt and the other still covering himself.
It took her no time at all to crouch in front of him, bionic eyes cataloguing his injuries with unmasked concern. She had her wrap off in an instant, reaching around his waist to knot it for him.
“Dragon sent you?” he breathed, tired.
“Well, no, I admit this was a bit of a personal mission. You’re not upset I broke rank, are you?”
You broke rank for me?
He clasped her face, his brow pinching with how thankful he was for her help— it damn near overwhelmed him, to be honest. She’d come all this way for him.
“I am so glad to see you, Duckie. No one will know you were involved.”
It devastated him all over again though, to learn Dragon still hadn’t sent anyone for him. Just made him appreciate Ahiru’s unwavering loyalty even more. She always went by the book, so her going off script meant more to him than he could possibly express.
Even having been washed off thoroughly several times, he looked a miserable shell of himself, sleepless eyes and marks of burned skin, bruising and a litany of healing lacerations.
She nearly choked up, forcing herself to keep it together as she pulled him into a careful one-armed hug so the metal of her arm didn’t scrape his back.
But that’s when she noticed—
“Fuck, you’re freezing, Chief. Can you walk? We have a ride outta here but we gotta go before we miss it.”
“Here, boss!” Cabaji called out to Buggy, shifting to his human form with Ace thrown over his shoulder to jog underneath his levitating captain.
Buggy eyed Ace’s tattoo judgmentally.
“Took you long enough. Why are you hauling around a Spade Pirate? …naked? Wait. Fire Fist? No, no, no, no, not on my ship—“
“Ace took a hit for me. Boarding him until he’s patched up,” Cabaji called over his shoulder, taking athletic leaps down stone steps in his race to the docks.
Buggy watched Ahiru exit the building next, but she had an unexpected guest too. The pissy clown trailed behind them with his narrowed eyes fixed on Sabo, who glanced back at him over his bare shoulder as Ahiru helped support his weight.
“…Who the hell?” Buggy growled.
“The blond is with Ace,” Cabaji called to the crew, “Try not to kill him.”
“You call him ‘Ace’ now, huh?” Buggy jeered.
Nevertheless, the captain took personal offense at Ahiru bringing Sabo aboard the Big Top without asking, especially since Sabo moved to follow the Cabaji and Ace down to the crew quarters.
“Oy, oy, oy, oy!” he yelled at Sabo’s stunned face, stopping him on the deck.
Buggy eyed Sabo’s bare body with annoyance, especially the long wrap tired at his waist. It went to his ankles but still managed to leave nothing to the imagination.
“Captain…” Sabo addressed.
Buggy shook his head in disbelief.
“Nope. No. Don’t ‘captain’ me, you little pervert! Who the hell are you?”
“I’m Sabo—“
“No one asked, twerp! Somebody get me the Spade Pirates on transponder. Now!”
Sabo glanced at the stairs, wishing he could follow Cabaji to make sure Ace was okay, but he wasn’t even sure he could make it down the steps.
“Chief,” Ahiru said, grasping his shoulder supportively. But he looked so tired she ended up just pulling his arm around her shoulder again as his head hung weakly like he could fall asleep standing up.
“Mohji, deal with blondie,” Buggy ordered, then looked around annoyed because Mohji was nowhere to be seen.
And even though his crew was hustling around to find the transponder and their list of codes, Buggy grew impatient, fast.
“Hello? We have a trespasser. Nobody wants to defend the ship today?” Buggy scoffed, waiting for anyone on the crew to speak up. He drew a gold blade from his belt, flexing his neck menacingly as he stared down Sabo, ignoring Ahiru entirely.
“They want their flashy leader to show off for them? I’ll dispense of you myself, then!”
“Not a good idea,” Ahiru enunciated dangerously, her eyes flashing with mechanical whirring.
“Move, scrap parts,” Buggy said impatiently, “Can’t you see your job’s over?”
“I will defend him with my life, and I’ll take your whole ship down with us,” she informed him.
Buggy made a psychotic noise in his throat, not quite believing her audacity to be on his ship talking to him like this.
“When you die, try to make an entertaining show of it,” Buggy oozed charismatically through a smile, drawing back the knife.
But Buggy suddenly withered in alarm as a shadow overtook him, a giant pool of darkness cast by Sir Crocodile, towering over him from the upper deck with the moon behind him, outlining his fur coat.
“I should say the same to you, clown,” Crocodile told him, voice vibrating cool and low as he casually unsealed a cigar from his coat. Buggy smiled sheepishly at him.
“Or, we could all just… forgive and forget!” Buggy said, somehow both cheerful and tense. He receded below deck before Crocodile could say another word to him, but made an angry cut-throat motion at Ahiru and Sabo before he went.
Sabo found hands on his bare shoulders, pulling him away from the staircase to the upper deck.
It was Mohji, the man dressed like a lion— Cabaji’s equal and rival. They were accompanied by Mohji’s companion, Richie: a real lion of somewhat gentle disposition, it seemed to Sabo. But maybe he was only gentle because he’d just been fed.
“Boss is really cranky right now,” Mohji told him, “Had to deal with slavers on the way in… Popcorn? It’s fresh, just made it.”
Sabo peered at the popcorn with wide eyes, confident that he’d never been this hungry in his life.
“Yes! …Please!” he gasped, accepting the boxed snack with desperate hands. Mohji found Sabo a spot to rest against the upper deck railing.
Richie plopped down next to him watching Sabo crush the popcorn within minutes.
Ahiru paced restlessly, ready to use her cybernetic arm at a moment’s notice as she scanned the remaining crew.
“I hope he’s okay, Lion-san,” Sabo sighed when he finally ran out of food, staring wistfully into the now-empty striped container. As grateful as he was, the snack only seemed to make him hungrier.
When Richie pawed at a paper against the deck, Sabo peered down curiously at a childish pastel drawing that depicted a lion, a ring of fire, and a stick figure with a hat.
“That’s you?” Sabo asked, touching the pastel, to which the lion nodded.
Mohji looked over at the drawing, chuckling.
“He’s telling you that we’ve met Fire Fist before. Richie has a soft spot for him.”
Sabo’s finger slid slowly to touch the stick figure holding the fire hoop. Ace.
“You like him, huh?” Sabo asked Richie softly, warmed by the thought that even Ace’s enemies had fond memories of him.
After it became clear the crew wasn’t bothered by Sabo’s presence, Ahiru calmed down a little, approaching him after walking the perimeter of the ship, checking with each of the crew.
Sabo looked up from where he clutched his hands around his knees. The wrap Ahiru had put around his waist was incredibly thoughtful, it just didn’t offer any real warmth, not even fully covering his legs with it.
“Sorry, Chief, I looked around for a blanket, but everyone told me to go fuck myself.”
This coaxed a soft laugh from him as she crouched to tip a canteen to his mouth. She let him drink down all of it and it surprised him, not having realized how miserably thirsty he’d been.
Her hand caught a stream at his chin before it could drip down his body. He was already chilly enough without anything adding to it.
He thanked her, head dropping back into the rail to catch his breath. Ahiru watched him shiver with concern, screwing the top back on the canteen.
“What’s doing this to you? Drugs?” she asked.
“I don’t know, maybe the implant,” he managed.
He’d never been this cold in his life, but he didn’t want to worry her.
“Cabaji should remove something like this,” she told Sabo, carefully placing her hand over it, “We can ask when he’s done with Ace.”
Sabo nodded.
Ahiru gave him a sympathetic look.
“Hey, Chief? …Are you okay? Not the implant… everything else. You look like hell.”
Sabo didn’t look up at her, rubbing his frigid hands together and folding them under his arms.
“I don’t think I’m your chief anymore, Duckie.”
Ahiru’s brow pinched, shaking her head in denial as her hands reached to warm his arms.
“Don’t say that, please. Whatever it is, it’s a misunderstanding.”
“You heard the call. He was perfectly clear,” Sabo told her stiffly, “What, you haven’t spoken to him since you left?”
“I couldn’t reach any of you. Iva had reached out for Karasu to retrieve me on an assignment and he never showed. When no one answered their transponders I remote tapped Dragon’s line. That’s when I heard your voice.”
“Thank you again. For tracking it here,” he said, comforted when she put an extremely warm hand on his face to pull him into a long hug.
“Anything for you. Just... sorry about what I heard.”
Sabo’s eyes got blurry with tears trying to spill over, but he blinked until it was under control. And then he felt burning anger as she released him.
Ahiru noticed the change in his eyes.
“…Was that a normal interaction between you two?” she asked carefully, not having known what Dragon was really like behind closed doors with Sabo. She knew he could be exceedingly harsh, but had no idea it was that bad.
“I don’t think I can talk about him anymore,” Sabo told her, truthfully.
“Tell me what you need, then,” Ahiru said, leaning to kiss his forehead, fixing his waves.
“Can you check on Ace for me?” he asked, “I don’t like how that wolf guy looks at him.”
“Of course, Chief,” Ahiru confirmed.
As a frigid breeze picked up and began to gust over Sabo’s bare skin, it stole away his precious little remaining body heat.
By the time he heard Crocodile approaching, Sabo could barely speak clearly past his own shivering.
“Sir Crocodile…” Sabo said, “I’ve s-seen your poster.”
He remembered manners he’d learned from Kuma’s training, extending a face-up palm as a sign of respect to the ex-warlord, even if his hand shook.
Crocodile stood over him for a moment as he took in the old-fashioned gesture Sabo had made. It was an especially moving sight, given that he could tell Sabo’s hand was suffering against cold air the longer he held it open. Just to show him respect.
His intimidating figure blocked the moonlight as he lifted another unlit cigar to hold it between his teeth.
“I like your manners, kid. Compliments to your teacher, whoever it was. Now put your hand away before it freezes off.”
Sabo tucked his hand back under his arm, nodding wordlessly at the man.
Crocodile slowly shrugged the heavy fur from his shoulders, showing off his custom suit as the coat slid cleanly from his figure. He clenched his cigar in his unusually pretty teeth while he laid the coat over Sabo’s bare body, even tucking it roughly around him before rising to his feet.
“Th-thank you,” Sabo murmured, taking a breath of grateful shock as he felt the body heat still emanating from the dense fur.
“Hope you don’t mind if I smoke,” Crocodile said casually, voice deep and strangely comforting to Sabo despite his reputation.
Sabo shook his head obligingly as the man held a lighter’s flame against the freshly-cut end of his cigar.
Crocodile sat leisurely atop the same barrel that Sabo leaned against below, puffing thoughtfully at his cigar. The scent was sweet and rich, and smelled worlds better than the carnies in Buggy’s crew. Sabo inhaled gratefully when it wafted down to him.
“Like it, huh?” Crocodile noticed with a slight smirk, looking away again.
“Yeah, I do, actually,” Sabo agreed softly, “Reminds me of something, I dunno what though…”
Sabo trailed off as more tremors racked his body, closing his eyes against the chill.
Crocodile took another drag, eyes narrowing at Sabo in deep concentration before he finally pinpointed it.
“You’re Dragon’s boy, aren’t you?”
Sabo’s eyes shot open in surprise.
“How…?”
Crocodile reached to rest a heavy, leather gloved hand on Sabo’s head.
“You weren’t awake when we crossed paths,” he told him, “No more than a pup at the time. I wouldn’t have known your face now that you’re grown, but I recognize that burn.”
Sabo shivered again, clutching the fur around himself.
“Hm…” Croc continued, reminiscing deeply as he stared out into the ocean, “I remember how much he cared for you. Like a son.”
Sabo shut his eyes, teeth clenching.
“I’m not so sure anymore. They let me talk to him, back at the facility. He… it sounded like he didn’t care if he ever saw me again.”
Crocodile exhaled smoke thoughtfully.
“Something must’ve caused it.”
“Yeah, something did,” Sabo agreed, “And if you read the news, you might think I’m guilty of terrible things, but I didn’t expect him to believe the lies Morgans published about us.”
“Well, I don’t read the news if I can help it. But my advice, kid? Don’t lose sleep over it.”
“Any other options? Because I don’t think I can sleep after the things Dragon said.”
Crocodile shrugged.
“I know what I’d do in your situation, if you care to hear it.”
Sabo nodded, at this point intrigued.
Crocodile scoffed slightly at the idea of Morgans having the balls to publish some wild, falsified story about himself.
“I’d find that rotten albatross and squeeze him until he publicly recanted the story.”
Sabo’s eyes hardened, then he looked up to meet Crocodile’s stare with a wicked look.
“I’m sure that would only piss Dragon off more, but I’ll consider it.”
Crocodile still had his hand resting on Sabo’s hair. But now Sabo’s head turned beneath his hand until he was looking up into his stern face.
“That cigar you’re smoking— I know why the smell is so familiar now… I have this memory of a man sharing a cigar with Dragon when I was a child. That man was you.”
Crocodile looked momentarily unsettled, sitting back slightly, “Sounds like a faulty memory. I strongly recommend you don’t repeat that to anyone, kid.”
His glove lifted from Sabo’s hair, leaving him chillier as Crocodile took a long drag from the cigar, shaking his head to clear his own thoughts as he turned to stare over the railing again.
After several long minutes had stretched out in silence, Crocodile spoke again.
“Has Dragon ever mentioned… Luf—?”
He cut off mid-sentence when he saw Sabo snoozing peacefully beneath the warmth of his fur coat.
Crocodile couldn’t help but smile at his peaceful face, turning away from him again.
Despite Buggy’s deep offense at his initial boarding, he was forced to let Sabo sleep undisturbed. The giant lion curled beside him wasn’t what kept Buggy at bay. It was Crocodile’s withering stare, then the way his leg had stepped to the other side of Sabo’s sleeping body like a dare.
Buggy grudgingly stalked away; he was already on thin ice with Crocodile and wouldn’t enjoy having his body filled with sand again. He shivered at the memory.
Ahiru watched over Ace with hawk-like intensity, until the crew began to clamor from the deck.
She charged back up the stairs, weapon already priming itself with a machinated whine. Luckily, the uproar had nothing to do with Sabo.
Ahiru arrived on deck just in time to watch a flock of crows spiral down until they all coalesced into a looming figure. His strange, grey skin was cloaked in black feathers, a mask covering his face beneath his narrowed eyes, not trusting the circus folk surrounding him.
“Don’t be alarmed, he’s my colleague,” Ahiru told everyone hastily, seeing them raising weapons.
“Dragon needs all revolutionaries reporting to Baltigo,” Karasu told her, scanning the visible crew from his vantage point, “Has anyone been able to locate Sabo yet?”
Crocodile laid a suddenly protective hand on Sabo’s head, covering him with the fur as his eyes maintained a dark, mistrustful stare at Karasu past the cigar he removed from his clenched teeth.
“No,” Crocodile answered for Ahiru, making her shoot him a worried look.
“Who’s asking?” Crocodile continued, ignoring Ahiru to keep his eyes on Karasu, hand still covering Sabo with his own fur coat.
It was rare for him to step into the issues of others, but he knew how much Sabo meant to Dragon. He would not be giving him over to this individual in such a weakened state any sooner than he’d have given over Luffy.
Crocodile could sense something he didn’t like about Karasu, but his senses weren’t strong enough to confirm it, especially when he’d never encountered him before for comparison, or it might’ve been more obvious he still wasn’t himself.
Buggy’s crew were also losing patience with Karasu’s dark presence, all of them eyeing him judgmentally from various lounging spots atop barrels and railings.
“Oy, it’s about time you left, freak show.”
“Circus is full.”
“Flap off before Cap dices your ass.”
Karasu extended his hand to Ahiru.
“Dragon needs your presence immediately.”
And Ahiru sensed that Karasu was right, given how strange Dragon had been acting on the few calls he had taken.
But just before she accepted Karasu’s grey hand, she cast a worried look over her shoulder at the bundle of fur coat that currently hid and protected her chief, then shot the worried glance at Crocodile, too.
“You’ll get him to safety?” she asked.
“I don’t make promises for free, unfortunately. Are you sure you want to go with this… thing?” Crocodile asked, more of a warning than a question. He had every intention of dunking the unfamiliar Logia permanently into the ocean if he overstepped.
Ahiru looked up into each of Karasu’s eyes for a critical moment, but she had no Haki to sense the real danger in his energy.
“Tell him I’ll see him next time he reports in,” she told Crocodile, referring secretively to Sabo.
And the second she touched Karasu’s hand, they whipped into the air in a flourish of soot and black wings, leaving Crocodile biting pensively into his cigar. Ultimately, that was none of his business.
If Sabo hadn’t been implanted, he would’ve woken immediately, if not by Karasu’s Haki, by the sinister poison laced through it. Not only that, he would’ve recognized the source of the poison.
But he slept hard, a combination of kairouseki fatigue and restless fever dreams plaguing him even in the security of Crocodile’s warm coat.
The Big Top had set sail, now a few hours out to sea. As the moon rose, Sabo continued sleeping comfortably on the hard decking with the heavy fur clutched around him.
Cabaji— who had since clothed himself— finally emerged onto the deck with Ace thrown unconscious over his shoulder again, this time with a heavily bandaged arm. Buggy followed right behind him onto the deck, chewing him out.
“—still carting that narcoleptic around like you’re a common beast!”
“You want me to leave him downstairs and charge him rent? And he’s only still asleep because I gave him a sedative to finish the stitches,” Cabaji told him in a bored voice, before seeing crew mates inflating a spare raft on the main deck.
“…Boss, you can’t be serious about deserting him on a raft…”
“You’d rather have a flashy triste with the Spade Pirates? We’re already days behind schedule! Just throw the bastards in a Buggy Raft and call it a day,” Buggy yelled, jabbing a finger into his other palm.
Cabaji rolled his eyes.
“I only meant it’s a waste of a perfectly good raft… and perfectly good stitches. But if you’re that determined to feed them to the sea kings, go for it.”
Buggy crossed his arms, nodding proudly.
“That’s the spirit, Baji. Load ‘em, boys!”
Crocodile had already taken his seat again, getting comfortable with his cigar. He hadn’t thought about Dragon in ages, not until the chance meeting with his young, blond protégé brought a wealth of memories surging back in. Some of them welcome, some not. But overall— even though he had neither the ability nor the inclination to help the revolutionaries— he did hope Dragon’s organization and his health were uncompromised.
Mohji approached him carefully. Didn’t matter if he’d spent three months or three years on the ship; that threatening gaze and deep voice gave him chills.
“Boss ordered us to put the extra cargo on a raft. Could you m-maybe take your coat back? I’ll need to move him now.”
Crocodile’s nose wrinkled, but otherwise remained stoic looking over the rail.
“Did you reach their transponder, yet?”
“Oh, Sabo's people? The terrorists?”
Crocodile growled, nearly making Mohji yelp.
“Ace’s people.”
“Y-yes. Boss called them already to give them coordinates.”
“Good,” Crocodile told him, looking surprisingly unbothered by the idea of them tossing Sabo and Ace near-naked into a raft.
Cabaji already resolved to remove both their implants, so should anything bother them out there, they’d be far from helpless now.
But he added, “Come back with a blanket. Then I will remove my coat.”
When Mohji did as asked, Crocodile nodded, allowing Mohji to scoop Sabo from the fur and carry him down the stairs to lay in the raft beside Ace.
Crocodile watched from the upper deck as Ace and Sabo were hastily covered with a blanket and lowered into the ocean.
His gaze shifted to the nearest transponder, and for a bizarre moment, he nearly called Dragon.
But he shivered at the thought, feeling his own forehead as if worried he was ill, to be suddenly caught in such a sentimental mood. Most unlike him.
Notes:
Happy to say they are safe now.
Love y'all, you know that already. If pollen is not your thing I’m sorry for hurting your eyeballs D:Click for more notes!
Some have strong opinions on sex dynamics so I get nervous about these chapters but they’re both vers in this so nobody is stuck in a role. The idea of a competitiveness for power in either position is appropriate for them. They have fun with it. Just know the dynamic will flip, they vers in this and stuff (idk why vers isn’t a tag, I never use switch irl haha)
Chapter 30: Timeline
Summary:
The raft scene, and stage one of the reunion
Ace and Sabo spent a few days at least in Facility B, so Ace’s crew has been kind of busy in the meantime.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The melodic cry of sea birds gently drew his consciousness to the surface.
Sabo floated pleasantly.
And not just that— he realized for the first time in ages, he wasn’t cold. Heat radiated from nearby, hot skin barely touching him, and Sabo never felt so safe and content as he did right now, already knowing who gave off this energy.
His eyes opened enough to see Ace lying next to him, sleeping in the moon's waning light.
Sabo closed his eyes again, pulling the blanket over Ace as he shifted to lay closer and rest his face on his shoulder. Ace’s skin was so warm that it intoxicated him, like cuddling a campfire.
He slid a hand across Ace’s ribs, sighing at the relief he felt. Then his heart gave a squeeze as Ace’s arm gripped him closer, so sleep-drunk he barely understood Ace’s equally tired ramblings.
“You’re twenty-four,” Ace mumbled softly, his face pressed into Sabo’s wavy hair.
“What?”
“I remember you saying you’re twenty-five. But you’re twenty-four, Sabo.”
Sabo’s eyes blinked open against Ace’s warm shoulder.
Ace continued, rubbing a thumb against the back of Sabo’s arm.
“Your birthday is in March, on the twentieth. Hard for me to forget it. For a long time it was the worst day for me every year.”
When Sabo blinked again, a tear stuck to his eyelash. It was overwhelming for someone to know these things, to have cared about him for so long without him knowing. The tear brushed against Ace’s skin where it steamed away, but he still felt the sensation.
“I hope that’s a happy tear,” Ace said.
The lump in Sabo’s throat was threatening to break his voice.
“Bittersweet I guess… thank you for telling me. I never knew when it was all this time. It’s something people take for granted, knowing basic things about their own identity. I’m sorry you struggled with that for so long. I wish I knew.”
Ace squeezed him a little. Eventually Ace spoke again, his voice low and soft in the night air.
“One of my favorite memories of us was on your birthday… We got it in our stupid heads that we could convince Jiji and Dadan that they were in love with each other so they’d stop being so cranky.”
Ace stared up at the stars while he was talking, smiling faintly.
“We—“ he laughed softly, “We spent hours forging these love letters in our best impression of their handwriting. The old man didn’t fall for it, of course, but he went beet-red reading it while we watched in the window. It was so hard not to laugh— we knew he’d catch us if we did.”
Sabo pressed his face into Ace’s neck, addicted to his comforting voice.
“Dadan, though,” Ace breathed, smiling up at the sky, “I swear, every time she saw Jiji after that, she tried to put her hand down his pants. Man, she thought he was begging for it. You were the one who wrote that letter, Sabo, and it was absolutely filthy. Good handwriting, though.”
At this, Sabo joined Ace in chuckling quietly, wiping another tear from his cheek. He raised himself up so he could look down at Ace, so moved by everything. How long they’d been there for each other, how much they’d been through, even Ace telling him something as simple as his birthday.
He felt so lost not even knowing his own age that it overwhelmed him to suddenly have someone know him so intimately. And Ace could probably tell him anything he wanted to know about himself, that’s how close they’d been.
Now his feelings had grown to the point that just looking at Ace was making his heart skip a beat. It didn’t help that Ace was stunning. Sabo could sit here and count every one of his freckles, no complaints.
He reached to touch Ace’s lips, making his heart rate spike too, because Ace couldn’t help but notice Sabo was staring.
“It’s a shame we haven’t gotten to kiss yet, you know,” Sabo told him quietly, still running a finger across his dry lips.
Ace looked a little surprised. “I… I thought…?”
I thought we did kiss?
Now Ace wondered how much of the chamber had been his own imagination.
Sabo smiled, “Hm… if I recall, you were waiting until we were free, but my memory’s not good, so even if it happened, I’d need a redo.”
Ace looked down, watching Sabo’s hand rubbing up the center of his chest, making him lose his breath.
“Can this be the first time?” Sabo whispered.
Ace nodded, nervously watching Sabo hover close, giving him just a second to lose his mind before connecting them softly.
Sabo was gentle, not making too much contact at first, just letting their lips touch in a chaste kiss. The only thing Sabo couldn’t eventually resist was the urge to taste him again, or maybe Sabo just couldn’t resist Ace’s reaction to it.
Ace inhaled sharply and pushed back into him, gasping sweetly every time Sabo teased his lips with his tongue. He shivered down through his body at the rush it gave him.
Ace’s nerves were shot, feeling how shaky he was every time Sabo pulled back to slowly capture his lips again, seeming to fully enjoy his innocence, his cute apprehension. So different without the mental haze.
Even though the kiss they shared under the pollen’s effects was passionate and consuming, Sabo couldn’t get enough of this one. It was better, knowing Ace was so aware and so nervous, feeling him hesitate and be unsure of himself was intoxicating to Sabo.
Ace’s eyes were closed, and shutting away one of his senses had his energy on high alert, feeling Sabo’s Haki vibrating the air around them. That sound sang to them, gorgeous like wet fingers around the rim of a glass while their lips brushed and moved softly into each other.
Sabo’s hands slid up his body until his thumbs could frame his face, tipping his jaw up as he broke the kiss to let Ace breathe. They were still only inches apart, just enough to see each others’ eyes were dark, pupils expanded as the raft beneath them crested gently over every wave.
Ace cursed under his breath, smile turning into a wide grin with his eyes shutting as he swept his own dark hair out of his face.
Sabo took it all in: the new heat under Ace’s flushed skin, stuttering chest, pulse racing as Sabo pulled back to look down at him again.
“Even better than I imagined,” Sabo reflected thoughtfully, stroking thumbs over Ace’s warm, blushing cheeks, “Want another?”
Ace’s hands trembled slightly, but he threaded them into Sabo’s blond hair for a soft moment before pulling him back in.
His longing turned into appreciative gasps as their lips locked again. And their lips were so dried and cracked and tender from dehydration on the outside.
But on the inside?
Sabo let Ace feel his tongue, carefully before Ace encouraged him. Then Ace took naturally to it, licking at the smooth underside of Sabo’s tongue like he couldn’t stop, velvety and hot and so addictive.
Ace didn’t even have to reach with his Haki to feel Sabo’s already there, energy touching like hands entwining and pressing him down against the raft to get their kiss deeper. Sabo’s energy pushed through him, and he let it, sighing at the vibration of it.
He nearly cursed again, returning Sabo’s kiss even harder with how much excitement it was spiking through his body now. Fuck, it was sending Ace over the edge having his Haki doing this to him again.
Sabo murmured soft things at him each time he took a breath, not wanting the kiss to ever end. And that feeling, wanting it to last forever, is probably what made it happen.
The whole world seemed to slow until it froze in place, but Sabo knew time was still passing because Ace was still kissing him.
But the breeze stopped blowing, the ocean went still and quiet. Everything stopped just for them in that moment, giving them all the seconds in the world. Sabo took full advantage, brushing their breathless lips together before kissing him again, longer. Then they realized they barely even needed air like this. Ace only needed Sabo sliding his tongue against his own, and Sabo only needed the soft sounds Ace was making for him.
Even when Sabo did pull slowly away with a final lick of Ace’s bottom lip, he dropped to press his face to his cheek, then his forehead, loving listening to Ace catch his breath.
But Ace’s eyes were blinking open, flickering to the side suspiciously. But just when he noticed how still everything was, the spell broke, sending their raft gently swaying over oncoming waves again.
The breeze now rolled through with the calling of seabirds, so strange to Ace who’d just now caught onto their absence.
“Hey, you don’t think I could still be hallucinating, do you?” Ace asked.
Sabo breathed a gentle laugh, thinking Ace must’ve been referring to the kiss.
“I liked it too.”
Hell, maybe Ace really had hallucinated it, if Sabo didn’t notice. And maybe dehydration played tricks on his mind, if not the pollen.
Sabo only got to stare contentedly at Ace for precious few seconds before he found his drowsy gaze drawn to an eye-catching pattern on the raft. It startled him, seeing hundreds of Buggy faces surrounding them.
“Dear god,” he breathed, clutching Ace tighter on instinct, only relaxing after Ace ran soothing fingers through his blond hair.
The moon was near the horizon, which had just now crested a pink glow as the sun prepared to rise.
Now that he’d fully snapped awake, Sabo fell into a somber mood, worrying if Ahiru was okay because she certainly wasn’t here. And she would not have separated from him willingly. And then there was feeling like kind of a sitting duck out here, abandoned in the ocean. They were free, sure, but it was doing nothing for their lack of drinkable water. No way to know if Ace’s crew could find them in such a place.
Ace’s eyes followed Sabo as he returned to lay with him again, locking eyes when he settled back into the powder blue raft.
“Not surprised they threw us in this thing,” Ace mentioned, not able to ignore the ugly pattern printing of Buggy’s face all over it, “But they must’ve liked you to give you something to wear.”
Ace slid his hand along the wrap tied at the side of Sabo’s waist, feeling the material.
“This belongs to one of the revolutionaries, actually,” Sabo said, but his face fell a little at the thought.
Ace looked immediately intrigued, smiling.
“Dragon sent someone? Now I feel like an ass. Maybe I didn’t give him enough credit.”
Sabo swallowed hard past the instant lump in his throat, nostrils flaring at the unpleasant emotions.
“The one that put this on me, she’s a cyborg. Really trustworthy, like Koala,” was all Sabo could respond, not ready for Ace to find out how upset he was at Dragon right now.
“I’m kinda worried about her. She wouldn’t have let them throw us out here like this willingly.”
And mercifully, that’s when Sabo’s reaching hand encountered a paper tucked under their blanket. He unfolded it quickly in front of Ace, both their expressions curious.
The note had been written in the lion’s colorful pastels, but the fact that it was legible, not childish scribbling, probably meant Mohji had written it.
‘Sit tight, your crew’s searching for you. Cyborg went to headquarters,’ it read.
Sabo sighed, actually relieved by the note. He shared it with Ace, who smiled.
“That is such good news. Oh, god, I can’t wait for you to meet my nakama,” Ace breathed, “And I’ll be glad to get to know Koala too. Have to get her to tell me all your embarrassing stories.”
Sabo nodded, just couldn’t manage much of a smile with one last person weighing on his mind.
“What’s up?” Ace asked him, grin fading slowly.
“Tallis,” Sabo said, “Do you think he got away from whoever smoke-bombed the flagship?”
“Without question,” Ace responded easily, “You saw the anti-Zoan signs everywhere. Doubt they even wanted to touch him.”
“We lost track of him, though… I mean, how is he supposed to find us now?”
Ace smiled.
“Well, I don’t think that’ll be a problem. He took Marco’s vivre card from me.”
Sabo felt a sudden rush of happiness, grabbing for Ace’s arm to squeeze it excitedly out of habit.
Ace flinched as the sensation lanced through his arm under Sabo’s grasping hand.
Sabo let go of him immediately, having realized he’d gripped him right where his arm had been stitched up and bandaged.
“I’m so sorry,” Sabo uttered, shaking his head with his eyebrows knitting in horror.
But Ace was waving away his concern suddenly, using his good hand to feel his forearm’s bandage with a different kind of interest.
“Huh,” he reacted, “It stopped hurting. Not just a little… completely.”
Sabo made a ‘huh’ face to match Ace’s, looking down at the bandage with just as much confusion.
That is, until Ace looked at the couple of stitches on Sabo’s arm that matched his own stitches, where they’d been implanted.
When he locked eyes with Sabo, Ace’s eyes were narrowed in suspicion again.
“You did something… Twice now.”
Sabo frowned, shrugging it away.
“I dunno, I thought it was you. Maybe both of us are imagining things out here. No water, no food.”
Ace gave him a long, hard look.
“Sabo… are you actually in denial about this? I thought maybe the implant was some AFA junk that affected us both, but I’m realizing I was freezing the entire time I was there. How did you feel?”
Sabo swallowed, giving him a look of dread.
“Colder than I’ve ever been. Colder than death.”
They both knew what that meant, Sabo just wasn’t ready to say it out loud.
“But if that’s really the case,” Ace added, “That would mean they used a stone implant on everyone there. Cabaji too. And he never had a fruit that I knew of.”
Sabo cursed softly.
“He does… he’s a Zoan.”
That seemed to confirm it for both of them.
“I can’t believe I didn’t realize it before,” Ace said, “I mean, we were the same temperature. And if the implant was kairouseki, that means… you…”
Sabo shook his head, sinking his face into his hands that grabbed at his hair.
“This can’t be happening. I’ve turned these down before. I didn’t want this.”
Ace studied his reaction, sad seeing him upset.
“I’ve been through the same thing. Yeah it comes with strings attached, but you'll be insanely strong with it, I know it. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Sewer Logia,” Sabo said bitterly through his hands.
Ace held back a smile before he lost it, laughing at the idea.
“Well, I guess I did ask what the worst one would be. But c’mon, you’re a Paramecia, Sabo. And yeah, the weakness sucks, but AFA already took away your advantage over us. Come on, what’s really biting you about it?”
Sabo hugged his legs.
“This is gonna come out so… I dunno… I’m gonna miss being able to swim, alright? I didn’t just like it, I loved it, I…”
Sabo sighed deeply, only taking him two seconds to groan into his hands, “No, see, I sound so ungrateful. I don’t mean to, I know people dream about this happening to them.”
Ace was quiet, letting him work out his feelings.
“Have you touched the water yet?” Ace finally asked.
No, he hadn’t.
Sabo drew in a breath, mentally preparing himself as he peered down at the waves. He stretched a hand out, holding it suspended for a breath before letting his fingers dip into the ocean.
Just the way the sensation startled Sabo told Ace everything he needed to know. It was like Sabo had accidentally touched something boiling without expecting it.
He cursed, withdrawing his hand again.
Ace reached to wipe Sabo’s hand with the blanket. He was a little comforted to see that Sabo didn’t look as disappointed as he thought he might. Confirming his new limitations was heavy, but knowing the answer for sure seemed to force him to accept reality.
No diving for fun, no diving on army assignments. And worse, no saving anyone from the ocean ever again, not even Ace. The thought stabbed at him.
And since Ace had just confirmed that Sabo was a fruit user now, that meant Sabo definitely had done something to Ace’s arm earlier, when the pain vanished. The deep ache completely gone. Only the surface of it felt a little raw, perhaps.
But he couldn’t see the wound.
Not under all the bandaging.
Ace’s own curiosity overwhelmed him, pulling back the bandage on the forearm that’d been slashed open and stitched up.
He examined it with a scoff of awe, shaking his head.
“Sabo, you didn’t just make it stop hurting, you actually fixed it. Ignore the stitches, they look like a psychopath did them.”
The long cut, which stretched diagonally nearly wrist to elbow, had been precisely whip-stitched with multiple silk embroidery threads of differing dark colors, some glinting with a metallic shimmer.
Over the original stitch laid another wide pattern of purely decorative X’s sewn onto his skin down the length of the cut.
Near the end of the stitches, the artist had embroidered ‘BAJI’ to sign his work.
“I mean, it’s kind of beautiful work,” Ace reconsidered before catching Sabo’s eyes blazing at the name stitched into him. Ace backpedaled, scoffing.
“I mean, maybe on a circus tent. This shit’s not even medical grade. I don’t even like it.”
Sabo frowned at Ace’s arm. Oh, absolutely it relieved him to see the skin had closed up, but the stitches that guy had put in Ace offended him deeply.
“I hate it,” Sabo decided.
“What, seeing his name on me?” Ace teased him gently, biting his lip.
Sabo gave the stitches one last distasteful glance. Ace laughed softly, enjoying his reaction a little. Okay, a lot.
“Hey, you did a way better job than he did. Nobody even needs these ugly stitches anymore. Let me show you what I think of them.”
Ace let his arm erupt in flames all the way to his elbow, sharing a look with Sabo as the threads went up in metallic smoke. And when his arm reformed, the stitches and ‘Baji’ had burned away leaving only the mostly healed cut in its place. Leaving only what Sabo had touched.
This melted Sabo slightly, and Ace enjoyed watching him nip at his thumb with an appreciative look.
“So. You did something that made my arm seal up,” Ace said, counting on his fingers, “Then whatever you did before... That was interesting too, because they don’t seem related. Think you can make something else happen? Do you feel anything?”
“Definitely feel weird. I’m not sure how any of this works,” Sabo admitted before shifting closer to Ace.
Now, when Sabo moved, he thought it happened normally. Ace was unusually still as he moved closer, but nothing surprising.
For Ace, however, Sabo closed in faster than he’d ever seen anyone move, as if he’d teleported. He flinched at the jump scare, a noise escaping him.
When Sabo halted, he was back to normal, but he sat confused by Ace’s reaction, like it took him a second to realize what happened.
“Did you get slower, Ace? Or did I get faster?” Sabo asked. He supposed both things could be true, given the relativity of it.
Ace grabbed Sabo’s arm carefully, eyes widening as he and Sabo both looked down at a disc of thin gold light revolving gently around Sabo’s flattened palm. It had tick-marks around its delicate perimeter, filled with shifting and changing symbols he didn’t understand, and Ace got a little dizzy looking at it.
“If you’re moving faster or slowing things down… It does seem time-related,” Ace mused, “But then the only thing that doesn’t make sense is how you made my skin—“
“Go forward in time... I didn’t heal you, Ace, you healed naturally. Just, rapidly,” Sabo finished, having a breakthrough, “So this is a temporal type. I’ve seen this codex entry.”
Ace took a brief moment to appreciate that Sabo seemed— well, excited might’ve been too strong a word— but he seemed intrigued. And not bothered by the idea.
Sabo looked down at his hand, taking a moment to form his dragon claw into it. Seeing how the light bent to him. The glowing shapes reflected in his eyes, taking in the different energy he felt in himself now.
Ace touched the disc of light curiously, exhaling in surprise when his fingertips made contact with it, vibrating slightly.
“It’s solid. I didn’t think it would be.”
“Strange,” Sabo agreed.
He shook it away from his hand, temporarily unnerved by it. He knew he’d get used to it, like any new gadget or weapon.
Ace took a long sigh, grateful now that the excitement could die down a little. He sank down in the raft, hoping Sabo would do the same.
And he did, not necessarily exhausted from using the fruit so much as exhausted by the realization of it. That this was his life now.
Yet again, Ace didn’t want to pressure him to remember Luffy, but Luffy was certainly weighing heavily on Ace’s mind. He tried to ignore it because there was nothing he could do until he had a den den mushi in hand.
He could also tell Sabo currently struggled with his own worries. But Ace had no intention of letting either of them just sit here and stew in whatever thoughts were bothering them.
“So you probably don’t wanna talk about the fruit. What else comes to mind?” Ace asked him, breaking the silence.
Sabo scoffed gently, looking lost.
“That’s part of the problem. Everything on my mind is something I wanna stop thinking about.”
Ace considered that for a moment.
“Ask me something, then. Personal if you want.”
Sabo smiled a little.
“Dangerous suggestion, but alright then,” Sabo said.
Ace was uniquely talented at distracting him, cheering him up. He supposed that’s what happens when meeting someone that’s known him this long. He thought about what to ask Ace for a moment, snorting slightly when he remembered something.
“There’s something about you that really confused me recently. It’s… You’ve… You’ve really never kissed anyone else? Ever?” Sabo asked.
“Never,” Ace admitted, shrugging like he didn’t think it was a big deal.
“How?” Sabo asked in awe, trying not to laugh at the absurdity, “Sorry to bring it up, but it was clear you’ve had sex like— like that— before, so I don’t understand how you’ve never kissed anyone.”
Ace shifted, crossing his arms thoughtfully.
“Alright. Since you wanna know. Most of the crew, including me, used to mess around like that with the girls at port. But the girls have rules about no kissing. And I had rules about not knocking them up. I mean, you can understand why… Roger and all.”
Sabo watched him talk with nearly comical scrutiny, fully enjoying his explanation.
“Girls at port. Okay… None of the guys at port ever caught your eye?”
“Well, I guess there was one,” Ace considered, “It was this blond guy. Insisted on wearing sunglasses and expensive clothes, even though he looked way better without them. And I don’t think I ever felt that attracted to anyone before.”
Sabo shook his head, “If you’re not talking about me, it’s gonna break my heart.”
“I’ll tell you his name if you kiss me again.”
Ace sank his head to rest in his arms on the floor of the raft, winking up at Sabo.
He leaned forward, watching Ace carefully, debating on whether he was just teasing him or if there was actually some truth behind it. He moved slowly so Ace wouldn’t be startled, then his lips pressed against Ace's, feeling them part beneath his own.
Ace reached up, his fingers tangling in Sabo's hair, and pulled him closer, again noticing Sabo slowing time to enjoy him longer.
Sabo’s mouth opened further to deepen the kiss, teasing Ace with his tongue, and was rewarded by Ace pulling back just long enough to whisper, “It’s you, you’re the only guy at port.”
Hearing Ace say it nearly made Sabo groan into his mouth, murmuring, “You weren’t this cheesy when we were younger.”
“Maybe I wasn’t this happy.”
Sabo grinned against his mouth, capturing it as many more times as Ace would let him.
It felt like home, everything finally where it was supposed to be. Sabo gave Ace a soft look before he glanced around to keep watch.
Ace stared up at Sabo just as fondly, even when Sabo seemed distracted, staring off over the raft’s edge at distant waves.
“Hm… If I recall, your ship was the one with the horse figurehead and flames on the mainsail.”
“Hm? That’s right.”
“Yep. It’s sailing toward us right now.”
Ace bolted upright, even if it pulled at his back injuries. He didn’t give a damn.
“It sure is,” Ace breathed, squeezing Sabo tightly in his excitement.
Mihar handed Koala the scope, both of them smiling as they propped over the edge of the crow’s nest getting their first sightline on the pair.
Koala peered into the lens.
It looked like only Ace got hurt at first glance since he had a few bandages around his ribs, but Sabo looked… thin, bruised and sleepless.
They didn’t seem to have clothes on, but they were covered enough. Ace in a blanket and Sabo wearing—
“Ahiru’s skirt? She must’ve helped them,” Koala commented to herself before smiling, so relieved to finally lay eyes on them.
“I’ve never even gotten to see Sabo until now,” Mihar marveled, watching her look through the scope.
Koala’s smile fell away suddenly, seeing Sabo absolutely devouring Ace in the most passionate kiss she’d ever seen.
“Ace must be so grateful to have his brother back,” Mihar said.
The kiss could not have been less brotherly.
Wow, Sabo was… really into it…
Koala’s mouth dried up, trying and failing to swallow nervously as she hastily slid the scope closed and held it there tightly in her hands. She shouldn’t have seen that.
“Brothers?” she asked weakly, steadying herself like she might pass out.
“Yeah,” Mihar shrugged, reaching for the lens.
“Uhm,” Koala stalled, “Wait, I’m not done with it.”
Mihar gave a confused laugh, watching her grudgingly look through the scope again. The funniest part was she looked really unwilling to do it, even though she’d been the one to insist she still needed it.
So that’s how Koala ended up watching the waves just below their raft for a solid minute. Why did they kiss for so long? Like they were in slow motion.
She kept checking in annoyance until Sabo finally let him fucking breathe.
“I don’t know how to feel about this, Sabo,” Koala muttered in disbelief, “They know they’re brothers, Teachie? I’ve never seen brothers do that.”
Mihar gave her a look, squinting into the distance to try and make out what was bothering her.
The tiniest smirk pulled onto his face when he could barely see Sabo sit up, then Ace followed him, sitting up too.
Mihar could guess what she’d seen, especially knowing Ace tended to be affectionate.
“Eh, taking a vow of cups doesn’t make people blood-related, if that’s what’s bothering you.”
Her jaw dropped, lifting her face from the lens.
“Oh, fuck, what a relief because I’ve just seen them kissing. Sabo’s never been like that, not with anyone. He’s the total opposite of a romantic.”
“No kidding?” Mihar asked, grinning as he leaned into the side, “I think Deu and I were the only ones that ever caught onto how Ace felt about him. Nice that it’s reciprocated.”
Koala handed him the scope back, moving to open the trapdoor.
“Heading down to greet them?” Mihar asked, even though the answer was obvious.
“Have to find some clothes they can wear. Think I’ve already seen too much of them both today.”
“Koala-chan, don’t wake the crew yet, just Deu. Let us check them over for a few hours before they get ambushed by everyone.”
Ace treasured the Piece of Spadille more in this minute than he ever had. She’d been so reliable for so long that it was easy to take her for granted. He knew he didn’t look at her enough— not with nearly enough appreciation, anyway. After missing the Spadille for this long, he found the sight of her too emotional for words.
Sabo had only seen her one time before from the rooftop of Kitatown’s smithy. The day he’d lifted Ace from the kairouseki aqueducts. He just hadn’t really studied her like he found himself doing now.
The foremast and main were set with twin black sails, a little faded by weathering and sun, and the main carried a gallant sail proudly bearing the word ‘Spade’ above the forecourse’s fiery spade emblem.
“You went with a brig sloop,” Sabo noticed, taking in her quiet majesty. She was old, clearly, but her equine-skull figurehead and flamed motif seemed to age extremely well.
“Yeah, a snow type. Still as pretty as the day we got her,” Ace said proudly, clutching his legs close as he looked up at his own ship in awe.
As the Spadille approached, Sabo couldn’t help but notice the entire fore gallant sail missing, eyeing the darker patch of mast where the sail in question had once been rigged.
“Beautiful,” Sabo commented, and mostly for Ace’s benefit, “Doesn’t even need a fore gallant.”
“I said that too! You wouldn’t believe the push back I got,” Ace agreed, grinning before he guiltily added, “She, um, she used to have one… it’s just that the yard broke...”
“You can’t even tell,” Sabo lied, making Ace smile.
Then Ace’s ears perked up when he caught a snatch of Deuce’s voice on the breeze. Hearing it brought him a sense of relief, but he also couldn’t stop a thought occurring to him, glancing at Sabo again.
“Hey, um, some of my crew are a little bit… touchy feely. Don’t take it the wrong way.”
“Like who?” Sabo asked curiously.
“Definitely Deu, but Teachie, Banshee and even Cornelia sometimes. They don’t mean anything by it. Think you can be especially nice to Deu for me? He’s really sensitive,” Ace explained, unable to stop himself from remembering Sabo’s reaction to Cabaji. Last thing he wanted was Sabo getting the wrong idea about Deuce.
“Yeah, okay,” Sabo agreed gently, not without a note of confusion.
They could hear more voices now as Deuce directed a couple crew in angling the yards, working to turn the Spadille more broadside to the raft and bring the towering vessel’s momentum to a slow halt.
Deuce couldn’t wait another second to get his hands on them, descending down a rope as the raft drifted closer. He stretched to grasp their reaching hands and pull them in.
“Sabo, Deu, my vice-captain,” Ace introduced.
“I can’t believe you’re both here, feels like my eyes are playing tricks on me,” Deuce told them, carefully dropping into the raft with eyes welling up.
Deu gripped Sabo’s face in his hands, examining him in awe as Ace bit back a grin.
“Sabo, I never even got to meet you, god, you have no idea how relieved we are to have you back safe. You had us so worried.”
Sabo accepted the rope from him so Deuce could throw his arms around Ace next with a pitiful noise.
“And you? Don’t ever do this to me again, you asshole, you had me crying over you,” Deuce practically wailed over his shoulder, reaching blindly to force Sabo’s face to squish against them too, “Sabo, I’m sorry I’m such a mess right now. The crew’s gonna want to meet you, but everyone’s still asleep. Well, except—“
“Koala,” Sabo said, his heart flooding with emotion when he peered up to see her leaning over the railing.
“Oh my god,” Sabo added, squirming away from Deuce so he could get to her. He sniffled back tears as he scaled the rope until he could grab onto the ratlines.
Once he’d climbed the rail to safety, he couldn’t help but notice his own goggles around Koala’s neck when she took a running leap at him, hugging him just as tightly with her legs as her arms.
“Ack— spider monkey—“ he struggled out, laughing as she forced the air from his lungs, “Why am I not surprised you’re still wearing my damn socks, Koko?”
“I was so scared,” she chided him angrily.
And then she had tears streaming down her cheeks as Sabo hugged her back, still sniffling to match her, both of them losing it over each others’ shoulder.
“Sabo, you look awful,” she breathed, “You’re so dehydrated. They didn’t even feed you.”
“Everything’s okay,” he assured her, making her take a deep sigh of relief, nodding into his hair.
Ace— who had been given Deuce’s kilt to wear— only got two barefoot steps across his beloved deck before collapsing dramatically against it with a cry of elation.
“Baby… I missed you so much,” he called out to his own ship, smiling when he heard Mihar laughing from above. He rolled over on his back, not caring that the pressure burned at the healing cuts on his skin.
He was home.
“…You and Ace, huh?” Koala whispered into Sabo’s ear, making him crack a smile.
Sabo glanced at the upper railing, where Mihar waved at him with a scope in his other hand.
“Were you spying on us?” Sabo asked her.
“Unfortunately,” Koala admitted, dropping her feet to the deck again, “Here, I have some clothes for you. Go get these on. You can use the kitchen.”
He nodded, but still gave her a look like he didn’t want to walk away yet, so she threw her arms back around him one more time.
It wasn’t until he made his way to the kitchen that he saw Koala from a distance, noticing her dress was actually a large shirt. A man’s shirt.
Sabo clenched his jaw, a little bothered by the thought as he pushed through the door to don the clothes she brought him.
It didn’t normally matter to him what she wore, but he’d be lying if he said he wanted that much of her legs out around these pirates.
It felt just like having to barge into brothels after her. The audacious little shit knew she could collect information in there, but Sabo never let it happen if he found out.
When Sabo re-emerged, he saw Ace had already scooped Koala into a tight hug and set her down, asking no less than a million questions at once.
“But seriously, no one gave you any trouble? None? What about Saber?”
“Everyone’s been extremely kind,” Koala was reassuring Ace as Sabo approached.
Ace seemed to notice her attire too, giving her an amused once-over with crossed arms.
“Marco’s shirt? That was nice of him.”
That’s all it took for Sabo to frown deeply, catching Koala glancing at him with a look of mild panic. It was clear she wished Ace hadn’t pointed it out in front of Sabo like that, but Ace seemed to have no clue what was going on.
They were all collectively saved by Mihar and Deuce approaching, having just had some sort of rushed meeting to themselves off to the side.
“Sabo, this is Teachie, our sniper,” Ace explained quietly, “He already knows who you are, of course.”
Mihar hugged Ace tightly before clapping hands on his shoulders with a look at Sabo.
“It’s nice to finally meet you. I gotta take this one away real quick though, if you don’t mind,” Mihar explained, steering Ace toward the stairs.
Sabo kind of did mind.
He took a step in their direction, instinctively following before Deuce said his name to gently call him back.
Ace hadn’t mentioned that Masked Deuce was kind of a gorgeous man, just in general. He was all eyelashes, jawline and bare chest wearing a coat over stylish trousers. And he had his sky blue hair tucked behind one ear, looking gentle and fey.
Right now, however, Deuce looked distracted, certainly something bothering him as he asked Koala to give him a minute with Sabo.
Deuce led him into the kitchen and past the countertops to reach the larder. Sabo obligingly entered the small space with him, albeit confused by all the privacy and secrecy as Deuce closed the door behind them.
A lantern flickered on to light the area. All shelves and packaging. A smell wafted in from the kitchen, and the stew simmering made Sabo’s stomach growl.
Deuce looked extremely troubled about something, but he seemed guilty enough to acknowledge that Sabo was hungry.
“Sorry, maybe this should wait until you’ve eaten.”
“No, no,” Sabo insisted, because was Deuce about to… cry?
Sabo watched Deuce sink to the floor, joining him in worried confusion.
“He called us, you know,” Deuce said, “That emperor, Buggy. I’m the one that picked up.”
Sabo nodded, because he’d known that much already.
“He told me what they did to you both. At that… that facility,” Deuce said, hating the words.
Sabo shook his head, wishing he could take the knowledge away.
“Hey, Deu, I don’t know what Buggy told you, but he seems like the least reliable source of information.”
“Not you too,” Deuce complained, looking genuinely disappointed. He’d hoped that Sabo might be more forthcoming than Ace about this.
Since Sabo was still speechless, Deuce continued, his frustration now died down to a quiet voice.
“Fucking… hand print bruises… all over you both, think I don’t know what that looks like?” Deuce hiccuped, dabbing the corner of his watering eyes.
“It’s just bruises, Deu. I mean it.”
Deuce buried his face into his hands to regain his composure. He straightened up slowly, reluctantly.
“On the transponder, Buggy said that facility was forcing sex experiments on you. Both of you... He said it like it was a joke to him. Like it was funny. Do you know what that— how I felt hearing that?”
Deuce’s eyes were red and glassy, voice quiet and wavering with anger.
Sabo didn’t know what to say to that, until the worst possible thought occurred to him, locking eyes with Deuce suddenly.
“Tell me Koala didn’t hear that call. Swear to me she won’t find out about this, Deu. She can’t know.”
Well, that was enough confirmation that Buggy hadn’t been lying. Deuce hung his head bitterly, shaking it.
“She didn’t hear the call, and I wouldn’t have told her regardless. I’m a medic, not the damn tabloids. You can trust me with anything.”
Sabo looked relieved enough by that. It took him awhile, but he finally spoke, rubbing at his wrist bruises with averted eyes.
“As for the facility. I’m sorry you had to hear about it that way, but it could’ve been worse.”
Deuce was trying his level best to keep himself steady, turning his face away to conceal whatever emotion he was feeling, but he kept his voice down to an upset whisper.
“Could’ve been worse? That’s what I keep hearing, and I think you’re all full of shit for saying it. Did Ace put those bruises on you? Did you do that to Ace? How can you act like you’re okay? Am I the insane one here? It’s not normal what you just went through.”
Sabo faltered, looking down at his biceps, then his side. The truth was he didn’t actually know if these marks happened with Ace or not. He held up a hand to measure the bruise on his arm, and it was even larger than the span of his own fingers.
“No,” Sabo said, “This wasn’t Ace. And no, what happened to us wasn’t normal. But seriously, don’t— I mean, try not to worry about it.”
Deuce sighed, closing his eyes to get his center back.
“I… appreciate that you care,” Sabo offered, “Ace speaks very highly of you, y’know.”
Deuce didn’t seem cheered. Using flattery to distract him wasn’t going to work, not when Ace had already done it so much.
“Yes, well. Not nearly as highly as he speaks of you,” Deuce told him. At least his voice softened now, not as stressed as before. Hell, maybe it had worked.
Deuce took a long breath trying to set aside how deeply this all bothered him. He reached into a thin cloth satchel to hold out a book to Sabo.
“If you’re both gonna be stubborn and act like you’re fine when you aren’t, the least you can do is use this. If you won’t tell me, at least tell this thing. Okay?”
It was black and leather-bound with red embroidery threaded through the binding in an exquisite pattern.
“What is this?” Sabo asked, accepting it from him.
“Technically, it’s for Ace since you already have a journal somewhere, but it’s not like you can’t both write in it.”
Sabo ran a thumb over the binding, appreciating it. “This is an expensive gift,” he reacted in surprise, mainly because he didn’t know of many pirates with champagne taste.
“It was handmade, and I didn’t spend much on materials,” Deuce admitted, certainly not seeming immune to this flattery, “But I’d like you to get him to write in it. He tends to ignore medical advice, so I’m hoping if it’s you suggesting it, he might listen.”
“Medical? This thing?” Sabo asked, flipping through the thick pages curiously.
Deuce nodded, deadly serious.
“When something bad happens, you put it down on the page so it can stop rattling around in your head. It’s not a magic solution, you have to keep at it. But it absolutely helps take the weight off.”
Sabo stopped on a page, staring at the blankness of the paper and seeming to actually consider his words.
“Ever since my ship exploded, it still haunts me sometimes. And it makes sense to fear explosions, sure, but it follows me to sleep, too,” Sabo explained, “…This… this helps with that?”
Deuce couldn’t stop himself from smiling slightly, appreciating Sabo opening up about that to him. Trusting him.
“It helps me, anyway,” Deu told him, “Keeps the dreams at bay. Don’t just write about bad things. You should write about good things in there too. And please get Ace to do it if you can. If I ask, I’ll get the same stubborn shit from him I always do.”
Sabo breathed a soft laugh, nodding as Deuce opened the door for him.
“Let someone get the stew back to boiling once, then we’ll bring you some. I swear you’ve never had anything better in your life,” Deuce told him, casting a glance at the giant pot Tallis had prepared just yesterday.
Deuce knew he didn’t need to be distracted right now. He needed to go tend to their injuries, but he couldn’t help the wave of nausea that came over him when he was reminded of Tallis.
Nothing happened to him, he just wasn’t on the ship, and Deuce missed him so badly it physically hurt. Not to mention, there was so much to tell both Sabo and Ace that he didn’t know where to start.
Sabo and Deuce joined Ace in the infirmary, where he’d already started scrubbing down at a wash basin behind a curtain. He had paused washing himself long enough to dip his head under the faucet, gulping down as much fresh water as he could before it filled the basin.
“Holy shit,” he breathed, sagging against it pathetically, “The water. I forgot how good it was.”
Deuce handed Sabo a filled canteen.
“Here, in case you prefer your water a little more civilized than the captain does.”
Ace kept cleaning himself, but already felt impatient to see everyone else on the crew.
“Hey, Deu, I know you said they’re asleep but isn’t Marco normally up this early?” Ace asked.
“You’ll be able to talk to Marco soon. Just be glad Sabo has a chance to rest before he gets absolutely ambushed,” Deuce told him sympathetically.
While Deuce set up his supplies near the two beds in the corner, Sabo moved behind the curtain, turning Ace so he could brush the soapy hand towel across his healing lacerations. They looked angry and sore, splitting his poor tattoo.
Ace let him do it, reaching his own hand to rest gratefully on Sabo’s where it had loosely gripped his shoulder. The texture of the cloth stung a little, but Sabo was gentle with it, and the fresh water was a relief after the harsh burn of ocean-soaked hand towels he’d felt before.
As he worked, Sabo found his brows knitting together, hating seeing these wounds. It put everything so fresh in his mind again to the point where he suddenly found himself cleaning the same deep cuts back in that cell. The nightmarish deja vu blindsided him so hard it froze his hands in place, lungs seizing at the same time.
Ace peeked over his shoulder with concerned doe eyes, turning to slide the rag from his rigid hand.
“Sorry, it… just reminded me,” Sabo mumbled, seeming confused at his own reaction.
“I got it, Sabo,” Ace reassured him, wringing soap down his back and contorting his arm over his head to scrub at it, winking at Sabo to keep him focused.
Sabo couldn’t help but bite his lip in deep thought, glancing at the infirmary bed where he’d set the journal. He remembered what Deuce said, hoping there was merit to it. Anything was better than living with these dark images surfacing in his mind.
Ace pulled on a pair of his own black shorts before joining Sabo, perching on the cot beside him so Deu could finish addressing both their injuries.
He laid new, smaller bandages across Ace’s back, his bullet wound and their implant stitches, then swabbed Sabo’s smaller nicks and the healed over punctures on his side from Skar’s claws.
“How’s the tattoo?” Ace asked.
Deuce shook his head, sighing, “Salvageable I guess. Gonna have to fix it after it scars over though. I mean, this needed stitches right after it happened. I’m sorry, Ace.”
They were all soon distracted by a large, feral cat padding through the infirmary door, especially because he halted fast to snarl at the sight of Sabo. When the cat made the noise, a thick square stack of paper flapped onto the floor from his mouth.
As scary as the muscular cat looked, Ace absolutely lit up seeing him.
To Sabo’s horror, Ace rushed to the terrifying animal like an old friend, kneeling to grip the cat around his neck and kiss his furry forehead. Kotatsu gave Ace’s cheek a raspy lick of his large tongue, eyeing Sabo with wild looking reflective retinas.
“Kotatsu got so cold without you, Ace,” Deuce told him, crossing his arms while Ace doted on the cat, “Poor baby even slept in the crew quarters just for the warmth.”
“Aw, Tots, I’m so sorry… I never meant to leave you,” Ace sighed, making a sad face. But then he smiled at the wild cat, forcing him onto his side to scoop him into his arms.
Deuce didn’t like this.
“Ace— don’t— no lifting heavy shit right now.”
Ace had already used his effort to lift the puma-sized beast to his chest like a baby, swaying him in front of Sabo who was very unsure about the situation.
When Kotatsu hissed at Sabo, Ace tutted like he didn’t appreciate that, easing him back to the floor.
“You have to like him, Tots,” Ace coaxed, “Here, come closer, Sabo.”
“I’m good,” Sabo insisted, to Deu’s quiet amusement where he sat cross-legged on one of the beds.
But Ace wouldn’t let Sabo get away with that, leaving Kotatsu’s side to approach him with an idea.
“Look, he just needs to know you’re not a stranger. I bet smelling like me would show him you’re okay.”
Ace illustrated by taking Sabo’s hand and licking up his fingers before taking them into his mouth, marking them.
Deu could not have averted his eyes faster, especially when the contact had Sabo’s posture changing, breathless and flustered by it.
As if understanding, Kotatsu approached Sabo now, sniffing his outstretched hand curiously. Sabo’s pulse quickened, eyes widening when Kotatsu unexpectedly rubbed his giant feline head under Sabo’s palm, giving him loving nuzzles and purring like a train’s engine. Sabo stayed still, but did feel less nervous after seeing that it worked. Ace knew what he was talking about, apparently.
“See?” Ace whispered in his ear, looking down at Kotatsu with him, a smile on both their faces, “Just needed to know you’re mine.”
Deuce titled his head back and closed his eyes as if begging the universe to make his suffering stop. It was especially difficult not having Tallis here right now, all this sweet behavior taunting him mercilessly.
Luckily, the moment had already passed, because Kotatsu was pawing the papers closer to Ace, attracting everyone’s attention.
Ace was so used to Kotatsu bringing him newspapers that he barely even had time to wonder about its contents. He lifted the paper up backwards, and Sabo saw the front page photo first.
“Oh my god,” Sabo breathed, face showing how upset the photo made him, “Ace…”
Ace moved closer, turning it the right way so they could both look, frowning down at the halftone print. The image rattled them with chills and cold sweats, seeing one of the worst moments of their lives published to the masses. Like they were worth more as a headline than their worth as human beings.
“It’s even worse than I thought,” Sabo said softly, his finger brushing across Dragon’s name. It was particularly hard reading the same article Dragon had seen, let alone being publicly blamed for such horrendous crimes against children.
Ace’s eyes darkened too, for the first time understanding the damage this paper had already done to his own life.
“Luffy,” Ace whispered, sounding painful as he said it.
Deuce couldn’t watch them stare at it any longer, folding it down so they couldn’t see the image before tugging it forcefully from their hands.
“We’re not looking at this right now. That’s enough,” Deu said, “Teachie is already bringing you a transponder, Ace, but I insist you eat first.”
“Luffy?” Sabo asked Ace quietly.
Ace swallowed hard, looking remorseful.
“Whatever happens, I want you to know he’s not upset at you. Just me, okay? None of this is your fault. He’s just gonna be angry he couldn’t help, that’s all.”
Kotatsu circled a couple of times to settle on the infirmary floor. And Sabo shifted closer to Ace, seeing how much dread he felt as Mihar eventually entered with the small den den mushi and two bowls.
Ace had his legs kicked out to make himself more comfortable on the small, raised cot, but his only real comfort was the way Sabo had circled him with his legs and arms, laying his cheek onto Ace’s shoulder to let his body heat wash through himself.
Despite Deu’s direction, Ace found himself too worried to eat. And despite the angry rumbling of Sabo’s stomach, he held out too. It’s not like a few minutes were going to make a difference at this point.
Ace cradled the snail in his hands, having to close his eyes as it rang because he already knew how bad this conversation would get. Of course, they’d be overwhelmed to hear from Sabo. That part didn’t concern him at all. But he supposed he deserved whatever they said to him personally at this point.
He could never really tell which of Luffy’s goofball nakama were going to pick up his calls, but this one sounded extremely young. A child’s voice, squealing at something as he answered loudly into the receiver.
“Busy right now! Ahh—! Luffy—!”
“Chopper,” Ace recognized, getting closer to the transponder, “Please don’t hang up. Are you guys alright?”
The reindeer squealed again with the thudding of hoofbeats across their deck.
“What’s going on, are you being attacked?” Ace asked, rubbing his forehead anxiously.
“Is that Ace?” Nami yelled in the background, then a harsh clattering as she snatched the transponder.
“Ace, what the fuck were you thinking?”
Ace winced.
“Nami-san, listen—“
She made an angry noise that had him wincing again, as if he could already feel her hands around his neck.
“You have no idea—“ she growled through the call.
“I think I have some idea,” Ace volunteered, “Is he okay? Are you all okay?”
She sighed heavily.
“He’ll be fine, he’s Nika right now. Are you okay? And Sabo?”
Ace swallowed, seeing Deuce give him a ‘tell the truth’ death glare.
“I’m in rough shape, alright? Is that what you wanna hear? I know everything could’ve gone better if Luffy knew about this, I just didn’t get a chance to ask for his help, Nami, that’s the truth.”
“Would you have? Even if you got the chance?” Nami asked in annoyance.
“N… No,” Ace admitted grudgingly, “But, listen, I’ll— it doesn’t have to be that way anymore. I know he’s probably pissed. I get it, I’d be beyond angry if it was the other way around.”
Nami took a second to respond, seeming to accept his explanation.
“Is Sabo there with you?” she asked.
“Hi… um, Nami? …Hello, Nami,” Sabo said, watching Ace nod at him.
Her voice changed immediately.
“Sabo,” she reacted, clearly beaming; they could hear it in her tone, “I can’t believe I’m hearing your voice right now. I hope you’re doing okay. I am so excited, well, we’re all excited to meet you.”
Sabo couldn’t hold back a slight smile at Ace’s expense, hearing how differently she treated him.
“Am I meeting a lot of people?” Sabo asked.
He knew he sounded a little anxious about it, but the idea of having all of Ace’s crew and all of Luffy’s crew excited to meet him all at once felt more overwhelming than he really bargained for.
“Well, if it’s too much, I’m sure the crew could always wait,” Nami offered, sounding so sweet until Ace came back onto the call.
“We might just space things out a little, Nami-san,” Ace replied.
“Yeah, I’m sure you’d like to do that, Ace,” she agreed saltily. Again, Sabo had to stifle a soft laugh.
“Could Luffy maybe call us back when he’s not busy?” Sabo asked.
“Of course, I’ll tell him,” she agreed kindly, “So wonderful to hear from you, Sabo.”
He exchanged a polite goodbye with her before the call ended, then turned to fix Ace with a surprised look. Nami’s tone had been absolutely dick-shriveling. Even though it wasn’t directed at Sabo, he could feel the coldness and the venom channeled through that poor little snail at Ace.
“Don’t ask,” Ace murmured, but Sabo didn’t have to.
“I’m sure she’ll come around,” Deu told him, “Once you start being open with Luffy about things.”
“Yeah, it’ll be fine,” Ace agreed.
“Luffy thinks you underestimate him?” Sabo asked.
“Not just that,” Ace sighed, “When I think about him seeing that article, that’s how he found out you were alive. It should’ve been good news. But it got spoiled by wondering why I didn’t tell him. Seeing that I knew you were alive and said nothing to him.”
Sabo chewed his lip thoughtfully.
“I don’t remember him being the type to hold a grudge. He was a ray of sunshine. He thought the world of you, like you hung the moon itself.”
Ace was smiling softly at him when he looked over.
“Sabo… I’m happy it’s coming back to you now. All it took was a little time.”
“And a lot of stressful situations,” Sabo added dryly, “But mainly it was you. D’you know how many memories I recovered before you found me? None, Ace. It was all you.”
This time it was Ace’s stomach interrupting to growl.
“I’ve never had to ask you twice to eat before,” Deuce marveled, crossing his arms with a bothered look. He lost patience, grabbing both bowls to thrust them at both Sabo and Ace until they relented and took the stew with grateful smiles.
Deuce sank back onto the other bed, clasping arms around his legs to watch their reaction to it. Didn’t take him long to crack an amused grin at their disgusting moans around the edge of the bowls, consuming it so quickly that Ace was already coughing and Sabo was right behind him.
“Not so fast, okay?” Deu chided, putting a foot down between beds so he could reach to keep both of their bowls from tipping too quickly into their mouths.
Ace beat Sabo, letting Deuce pull away his empty bowl with a shocked expression.
“Who made this?” he gasped, shortly before his eyelids started to flutter.
Sabo barely reached in time to stop his unconscious face from hitting the wall, letting him sink to the pillow before he kept eating.
Even when he finished, Sabo sat panting in amazement as Deuce accepted his empty bowl too.
“Tallis?” Sabo asked.
Deuce nodded, smiling a little helplessly.
“What did he put in it? That was unbelievable.”
“Cinnamon and honey… I like it too,” Deu admitted. He bit his lip, blushing proudly as if he’d done it himself. Even better, he could still taste the cinnamon and honey on his own lips if he tried hard enough.
Sabo couldn’t help but return Deuce’s smile.
“Where is he? Still asleep? Ace will be glad to find out he’s here.”
This made Deuce’s smile drop, shoulders slumping.
“He’s on land at the moment, caring for his mother. We’ll see him soon, though. He prepared the stew just before we departed to find you.”
“Departed? From where?”
Deu smiled again.
They’d departed from the Spade Pirates’ favorite port, of course.
Technically? It was more of a château.
Sabo poked around a little, eventually discovering the locker area of the ship, where three walls held built in wardrobes for nearly every crew member, all of their designated spaces surprisingly tall and roomy.
It took him no time at all to find Ace’s. He had neatly tacked a series of Luffy’s past wanted posters down the door of it.
This put a smile on Sabo’s face.
On his smallest bounty, Luffy’s portrait had his hand out, spreading his fingers to frame his smiling face. Sabo found himself stretching his own fingers out to match, placing their hands together for a moment.
Sabo got chills when their hands touched, suddenly transported to somewhere wet and rainy, both of them drenched. Confusing emotions mixed in his stomach, feeling uneasy and fearful.
Luffy had sheltered under a tree in the rainforest, the greenery around them misty and gray. But Sabo was only focused on Luffy right now, bending to crouch beside the sniffling boy.
“Why’d you run off like that?” Sabo asked him in concern, watching the boy angrily try to conceal a scraped knee bleeding down his leg, “Luffy, it took forever to find you out here.”
“Don’t wanna talk to you right now.”
Sabo’s eyes were sad, dark blue in the dim light of the forest.
“What happened with Ace was…” Sabo started, trying so hard to find the words.
“Why didn’t you stop him from leaving?” Luffy huffed, so upset he couldn’t even look at Sabo, harshly smacking a tear off his own little face. It didn’t seem to matter; more trickles of cold rain dropped onto his face from above the moment he dried it.
Sabo took a long breath, falling into a seated position from his crouch even though it got his trousers damp.
“You’re right that I didn’t try very hard. But that’s because the harder you try and make him do something, the more stubborn he’s gonna get. He’ll come back when he’s ready, Luffy.”
Luffy sniffled a wet noise, eyes burning again as he lost his fight with the emotions, pressing the back of his hand to cover the tears.
This made Sabo swallow sadly, mirroring Luffy’s miserable expression. He reached to pull Luffy into a tight hug, letting his tears and snot stain his shirt.
“I know,” Sabo told him, starting to tear up and sniffle now too.
Sabo brushed the drenched, freezing hair out of Luffy’s face, wishing he hadn’t trudged so far into the jungle in the middle of a storm.
“I’m taking you back to Dadan’s tonight, okay? You’re gonna catch a cold like this. You’ll feel a better when you’re warm and fed.”
“What are we gonna do now?” Luffy asked in a strained voice, “Without him?”
“We’re going to keep sparring just like normal and keep feeding ourselves the same way we did yesterday. It hurts, but sometimes you gotta just keep going, even when that person’s not with you anymore. And if it was me that was gone instead of Ace, I wouldn’t want either of you giving up on yourselves like this.”
“That’s gonna be so hard,” Luffy whined.
“Hey, it’s nothing a strong guy like you can’t handle. It’s not easy for me, either. All we can do is our best, alright?” Sabo told him gently, hugging him again when Luffy dropped his face back into his shirt.
Sabo still had his hand on Luffy’s poster in the locker room, only now, his cheeks had hot tears streaming down them, a lump in his throat so painful it felt like he couldn’t breathe.
“Sabo?” Ace asked behind him, making Sabo rush to wipe his face with both hands.
Ace gave him a sympathetic look.
Sabo’s memory of Ace leaving them was so real that seeing him made Sabo pull him into a hug, still very affected by that cold pang of loss he’d felt as a kid. And then there was everything Luffy had said.
Seeing Luffy so torn up about losing Ace forced Sabo to confront how much his accident must’ve affected Luffy after that too. And he had no way to go back and comfort him, as much as he wanted to.
“What’s up?” Ace asked, hugging him back.
“I left Luffy alone and hurt all these years,” Sabo said in frustration, “My stupid fucking memory caused you both so much pain.”
Ace nodded, squeezing him tighter.
“It’s all better now. You got a lot of your memory back already and Luffy knows you’re safe. No need to attack yourself over it.”
Sabo let Ace pull away, his face still looking raw when Ace gave it a supportive squeeze with his hands. They both looked back over at Luffy’s poster like he was really there, a third person in the room.
“I just feel like a failure. I failed him,” Sabo sighed, “I mean, are you kidding me? Drinking bullshit little lattes while the two most important people in my life would give anything to see me again?”
Ace smiled softly at that.
“Not your fault. We’ll see him the next chance we get. And if it makes you feel better, Luffy’s been so busy he didn’t have much time to think about it.”
Sabo nodded, but Ace didn’t wait for him to reply. Ace reached to open his wardrobe door so they were looking at a rather chaotic assortment of every article of clothing he owned, all filed haphazardly into it.
Maybe Ace had some method of categorizing it, Sabo just didn’t know what that method could possibly be, other than anxiety-inducing.
Their eyes fell most easily, of course, to the shelf containing all of his recognizable accessories.
Ace shook his head, grinning down at all of his missing pieces. In a bizarre way, he’d grown accustomed to being barefoot, hatless and without his prized necklace. He’d become used to missing the weight of his dagger on one side, and the weight of his log pose and bracelets.
But he was about to fix that. Get everything back where it belonged.
Well, everything but one thing, maybe. Ace watched Sabo pick up his red and white stripe bracelet, examining it.
“I remember looking at this on your wrist. It’s hard to believe we were strangers a couple of months ago,” Sabo mentioned pensively.
Instead of accepting it from him, Ace pushed the bracelet over Sabo’s hand, leaving it on him before reaching to buckle a log pose to his own wrist.
He murmured a thank you, but Ace just flashed him a smile, already focused on strapping on an elbow pad. Sabo lifted a belt from the shelf, threading it through his shorts for him.
Ace snapped his sheathed dagger in place around the belt, laying a hand on it for a moment, a little blown away by how different he already felt. The more of his familiar possessions he layered on, the more that hollow, naked feeling began to lose its grip on him.
That guy forced to beg to be whipped again? The one choking on burning ocean water? He wasn’t that guy here, not back on the Spadille with this beautiful orange rancher clutched in his hands once more.
He didn’t even feel a tear streak down one cheek until it dotted the hat.
“What’s up?” Sabo asked, noticing.
“Think I lost myself a little. Feel like I’m trying to put pieces back together right now. Dunno if it’s working or not.”
Sabo understood, nodding as he squeezed one of Ace’s shoulders. His other hand showed Ace the journal clutched in it.
“You should write about that.”
Ace smiled, rolling his eyes and nodding as he accepted the journal into the same hand he held his orange rancher hat.
“In the meantime, tell me about all this other stuff in here,” Sabo said.
Ace pawed a free hand through the hanging garments, more than happy to share his clothes.
He leafed past short sleeve button downs, yellow, black, floral— stacks of folded shorts beneath them— then winter attire. An ensemble caught Sabo’s eye.
A linen robe in deep charcoal, its sleeves embroidered in flames. He’d draped a bright linen scarf around it.
“You get that in Yuba?” Sabo asked.
“So close! Nanohana, still in Arabasta, though,” Ace agreed, “But this next one has to be my favorite.”
It was long, heavy, silken perfection. An orange robe with a brocade of gold chrysanthemums woven in a luxurious pattern.
Sabo ran his hand down the material, jaw dropping. He’d never, absolutely never, encountered fabric this rich and stunning, not in any port town for any amount of berry. To say Sabo liked it would’ve been an understatement. Not to mention the silk crepe and the shiny golden embroidery adorning each flower.
“The design is jacquard,” Sabo noticed, taking in how painstakingly woven together it was.
“I don’t know what that means, but I like the design too,” Ace replied, “You can wear this anytime you want, by the way. I’d have pinched a kimono for you too if I knew you’d ever be on this ship with me.”
Sabo laughed slightly, cringing because of course Ace didn’t buy this.
“This is too nice, Ace, I can’t,” he refused softly.
“Take mine then,” a voice said in the doorway.
Sabo looked over his shoulder normally, but Ace’s eyes were wide as he turned around, recognizing him immediately. And it was the goddamn last person he’d ever expect to offer his own things to anyone.
Saber tipped his hat to Sabo, ignoring Ace’s shocked expression to open his wardrobe door for Sabo, showing him a blue kimono inside it.
“Never wear it… it’s yours now. Saber, by the way. I, uh, we all— we’re honored you’re here. Glad you’re back too, captain.”
Sabo smiled, reaching to grasp the cowboy’s hand.
“Sabo. And thank you, this is so kind. If everyone here is like you, I guess I have nothing to worry about, huh?”
“Yeah, um. Don’t mention it.”
Saber sent Ace an embarrassed look on his way out of the lockers, already knowing why Ace looked so stunned but not wanting to address it.
“Really nice guy,” Sabo reflected casually, “Is everyone on your crew that generous? Odd for pirates, but I like it.”
Ace nodded, looking a little dumb right now.
“Yeah, odd… Saber? Get back here.”
Saber skulked back in with his arms crossed.
”Sir.”
Ace approached him with a hardened expression. He circled behind the cowboy, then hopped onto his back with an arm tightening around his neck until Saber laughed.
“You missed me, didn’t you Saber? Admit it,” Ace demanded.
“Okay, okay, shit.”
Sabo leaned against the wardrobes, watching his antics with interest.
“See, I appreciate you doing that for Sabo, but I’d be a lot more grateful if you’d respect your vice-captain,” Ace told him next, still keeping him in a light choke.
“You’re too late, I’m already helping him fix Striker. We’re fine, now. Honest,” Saber admitted grudgingly.
Ace looked surprised.
“Striker’s here?”
“Yeah, captain. Me and blue nearly got her seaworthy again. Happy?”
You’re kidding. Saber calls Deuce ‘blue’ now?
Ace released his chokehold, sliding off Saber, “Gotta admit I never thought you’d warm to him. What happened, someone kick your ass or something?”
”Or something,” Saber agreed, “I’m going for coffee.”
”Ooo—!” Sabo reacted, but he was quickly shut down.
”Sorry, no,” Deuce argued firmly, appearing in the other doorway to the crew quarters, “I mean, you can Sabe. But Sabo can’t right now. He’s hydrating. Sorry, Sabo.”
Sabo exchanged a glance with Ace, but Ace was not on his side this time, smiling helplessly.
Saber exited the lockers again while Ace padded back over to Sabo, noticeably happier now.
“I guess this means the crew is starting to wake up,” Ace told him.
Sabo eyed all their bandages, cuts and bruises, chewing his lip.
“Maybe we should wear the kimonos today,” Ace offered quietly, “If that would help?”
It would certainly cover most of the damage.
“Bad idea,” Deuce interjected, “You know they’re gonna be jumping all over you if they can’t see the bandages. Save the robes for Port Fish Cake.”
Ace’s jaw slacked again.
“…What?” he asked, eyes cute and hopeful.
“We’re going to Port Fish Cake,” Deu repeated, finally calling the château by Ace’s coined pet name.
Ace’s heart squeezed pleasantly.
Port fucking Fish Cake.
The sacred place he kept Sabo’s journal.
Notes:
😭 I’m excited. I know it’s only a start, but there is so much to get through. There is more action after we get a couple chapter reprieve I think but it’s mainly just fluff and comfort for a lil second
(Marco is not on the ship, unfortunately. He is at PFC with Tallis and Cerise)
Chapter 31: Acceptance
Summary:
Ace is overjoyed to be home. Sabo’s reminded of the closest thing he ever had to a mother, then learns a little about Ace’s nakama. He also learns he still might not be ready for Koala to grow up.
Content warning / spoilers
Panic attack symptoms
Chapter Text
Even though Ace had offered Sabo his wardrobe, he seemed to have more shorts than anything else. Sabo liked the slim black slacks that Koala had already brought him.
Ace turned back to his locker, showing Sabo his precious few button downs.
“These are the closest shirts I have to something you’d wear. This one’s like what you had on at that coffee place.”
Sabo reached for it at his encouragement, sliding it from the hanger as they matched smiles. He couldn’t help but be touched at the thought of wearing some of Ace’s clothes, but also the idea that his crew was willing to lend their own to him as well.
Ace let himself enjoy how his shirt looked on Sabo for a moment before returning to the last of his beloved accessories.
He slid a twenty-seven bead red mala from the shelf and ran his fingers over it, breathing a sigh of relief to have it back. Then he eased the beads over his head to weigh comfortingly on his shoulders again, letting them slide across his collarbone when he reached for his orange hat.
Sabo eyed the beads with interest, wondering why they looked so familiar.
And then Sabo was a small child again, walking into a rundown kitchen. His parents would’ve called this place a hovel, but it was almost a luxury compared to the real hovels he’d seen in Grey Terminal. This was more of a home than that, housing an assortment of bandits young and old that Sabo didn’t recognize, even though Luffy and Ace seemed to know them all by name.
Although he could hear the sounds of someone cooking, the only thing he could smell was a thick scent of cigarette smoke.
“Dadan-san?”
The name rolled strangely off his tongue, never having addressed the fiery bandit matriarch before.
Her back was to him, and when she turned around, he found the woman’s size towering over him intimidating. A long strand of red beads similar to Ace’s clacked around her neck as she moved.
“Mm?” she grunted, “Just Dadan, baby.”
He took another step closer, a little encouraged by her deep, resonating voice and the kind eyes set into her haggard face.
“Oh… okay… Dadan, do you maybe have a mirror here?” he asked shyly.
She made a face, not sure why he’d ask her a thing like that. Normally the other boys only barged in to ask when dinner would be ready.
“Honey, there ain’t no mirrors here. This ugly mug broke ‘em all decades ago.”
“Y-you’re not ugly,” he piped up, eyes round and blue, his innocence making her snort.
“What, you want an extra helping or something? I guess I’ll take the bribery just this once. Don’t expect it to work again, huh?”
He watched her cigarette ash itself into the pan, making his lips quirk in amusement, unwilling to smile any wider than that though.
“What’cha need a mirror for anyway?” she demanded gruffly around her cigarette, using the spatula to dig out the ash.
He stared down at the floor now, his tongue digging into the place where he was missing a tooth inside his closed mouth. He looked sad.
“A guy out there laughed at my smile. When I told him it was just because I’m a kid, he said my tooth’ll never grow in, then showed me his missing teeth. You mean I’ll be stuck like this forever?”
Dadan stopped stirring, turning back to him with a hard frown.
“Show me,” she ordered.
Sabo did as she asked, smiling wide to show her his insecurity, the snaggle tooth grin he thought must be so dumb-looking for a stranger to make fun of it.
She clattered the pan down on the stovetop, making him flinch in surprise, hiding his smile again.
“Baby, with that smile you’re cute as a damn button. Ain’t you too young to be worried about your looks? You’ll do enough of that over forty.”
He still looked sad, not sure he even believed her after feeling so bad about his appearance.
“But it won’t ever grow in? My tooth?”
She scoffed, returning to her cooking.
“That tooth’ll grow in just fine. Was it Digby sayin’ that? He’s an old fart, of course his teeth ain’t growing back in. He’s also drunk and don’t know his head from his ass. Now why would you go listening to an idiot like him?”
Sabo grinned at that, still smiling when she turned to give him a sly wink, removing her cig to ash it in the tray this time.
He rushed forward to hug her, barely able to circle his arms around one of her legs. She looked down in surprise, only used to Luffy doing that.
She left her cigarette in the tray to free her hand, then patted his neat little ringlets. Mussing his curls up roughly with her hand was all the tenderness she could manage, but it made Sabo happy.
“I love you,” he told her matter-of-factly, giving her an easy smile.
Her jaw dropped, thankful she wasn’t still smoking or the cigarette might’ve fallen onto his perfect, sweet little face.
“Oh? …guess I love you too then, kiddo. Run off now. Dadan’s gotta finish dinner.”
Sabo snapped out of the memory, hands resting in his trouser pockets where he stood behind Ace.
He found himself smiling, his tongue feeling for the tooth that had grown in just fine, exactly like Dadan said it would. He knew she was extremely sparse with any actual affection, and he knew he didn’t have many tender memories of her, but that was one of them. His birth mother never would’ve complimented his smile, never told him not to worry about hurtful things people said. His mother would’ve said the opposite, to stop smiling until it grows in, to avoid making his bullies uncomfortable. How other boys his age already had perfect teeth.
Not Dadan.
Sabo watched Ace flip his orange hat on expertly, too excited to press it down over his hair. Ace had been so impatient to have this thing back on his head. He never felt more like a king than when he wore it, invincible and on top of the world.
Sabo couldn’t help staring at his necklace, though.
“Dadan’s beads,” Sabo said thoughtfully, catching Ace’s attention.
Ace grinned at him before balancing the beads across his knuckles.
“Really similar to those, that’s why I got them. They remind me of home, I like to even think they protect me... If I hadn’t taken them off before Kitatown, maybe they’d have kept us safer. Then again, I might’ve lost everything that way. Think I’m luckier that Deu forced me to leave all this on the ship.”
They were interrupted by the approach of Mihar who’d just descended the stairs and appeared on the threshold.
“There he is, now I recognize my favorite captain,” Mihar remarked, happy to see Ace finally proud and himself again under that trademark hat.
Ace hugged him.
“Only captain, I hope. Missed you, Teachie.”
Mihar patted his back, looking between him and Sabo. He raised his voice slightly, hoping someone the next room over might hear him.
“Surprised you’re not already jumping on the net, Ace. They’re gonna piss themselves.”
“Ace? …Is Ace here?” someone called from the crew’s quarters, just through the doorway.
Ace gave Sabo a look that apologized in advance, keeping a hand on his arm as Sabo followed him into the crew quarters.
Nearly every pirate that Ace had recruited was scattered across the net in front of them— sitting up sleepily, laying, sipping from flasks or canteens, flicking lighters on and off.
But their attentions were slowly collecting on Ace who stood in front of the net with his arms folded.
Sabo shrank behind Ace slightly as his massive crew roared with amazement, questions, crawling forward on the net, reaching to pull him in with them.
Ace grinned helplessly at their deafening welcome, but held up both his hands to quiet them. It worked instantly, silencing them. Only their smiles and shining eyes remained, blindsided to look up and see him when they had no idea he was even here.
Sabo glanced a little apprehensively between Ace’s hat and the fifteen remaining crew that Sabo hadn’t met yet— the only exception being Banshee.
Ace looked around at all their eyes too, giving them a kind of soft smile as he reached to put his arm around Sabo. He took a step back so Sabo wasn’t behind him anymore, so they could see him fully.
“Who can tell me who this is?” Ace asked them, his voice a little gentler than usual. Everyone had their palms visible, but one of them was too impatient.
“Sabo,” Finamore blurted out, a short guy near the front with his hair wrapped with blue cloth. He waved at Sabo when they inevitably locked eyes.
Sabo laughed slightly, understanding why everyone knew his name, but still completely floored by it.
Ace bit his lip, enjoying Sabo’s reaction to his crew.
“Good start. No more answering for you, okay Fins? Now who wants to ask Sabo a question? We’ll take three, and you have to answer your own question first, just like any new crew member we get. You know the game.”
Sabo was fascinated by Ace right now, watching him talk and finding himself just as captivated by Ace as every member of the crew.
Then Sabo looked back out at the expanse of net, so big and holding up so many people that it needed a support post in the center.
A large man with twice-jointed arms caught Sabo’s attention when Ace called on him.
“Name’s Ganryu. What d’you drink? Me and Hublot are ale drinkers ourselves. Everybody else’ll drink anything you put in front of ‘em.”
Sabo nodded in thought. When he opened his mouth, he found it distracting how everyone was watching, listening so intently. He pushed through it.
“I’ll drink anything too… um, I guess the best sake I ever tried was Sixty-Seven, Batch Five. I’ve been known to crush a cheap bottle of umeshu though.”
Ace grinned at him, especially when Sabo leaned into the door frame, looking a little more comfortable as everyone nodded in approval.
“Okay,” Ace said, “I feel like Barry has a good one. Go on, Bear Bear.”
The guy’s face seemed fixed in a permanent frown, but it lifted slightly in what must’ve been his friendliest expression. His voice was as deep as it looked like it’d be.
“What’s your weapon? Mine’s a specialized set of metal claws. You’ll have to see those later though. I’m not allowed to wear them when we’re all on the net together.”
“Not since the incident,” someone said.
Sabo smiled, not sure if he was allowed to find that funny or not. He decided to ask Ace about it later.
“I guess I fight with claws, too, just not metal ones,” Sabo told them, “Been practicing ryusoken since I was around twelve, but I’ve been missing the staff I like to use as well. Still prefer the same kind that Ace and I used to spar with when we were young. I don’t know if he’s told… oh, he has told you all?”
Sabo couldn’t help but laugh softly again, seeing them all nod at his words, still listening so respectfully. Sure, it was probably out of sheer adoration of Ace that they embraced Sabo so completely, but it still had him standing there in awe.
“Last one for a little while, okay? We’ll take this in small doses so he doesn’t get sick of you guys,” Ace said, “Who has a good one? Cornelia?”
“Like your scar. It kicks ass,” Cornelia said, pulling his purple hair over his shoulder so he could lean back into the corner.
“Oh wow, thank you… and your hair’s insanely cool, by the way,” Sabo replied, smiling.
“How d’you keep your teeth so nice?” Kimel asked, “Bright enough to turn off the lanterns.”
“Just pretty good at chasing coffee with water I guess. I like your, um, helmet thing,” Sabo returned gently, not used to accepting this much attention from strangers.
This only seemed to encourage more of them to participate. And once some of them started talking again, all of them did. Voices echoed around the cabin, the crew descending into a frenzy, excited to hear how they’d found their way back to the ship and what had happened to them.
Even though Sabo knew Ace would get them to settle back down, his overwhelmed mind took over, eliminating the noise the only way it knew how.
Sabo could feel his hand warming slightly, a buzz coming over him as he inadvertently caused time to shudder to a halt.
He stared down in amazement to see the glowing, surreal-looking timepiece ticking and revolving around his hand. Everything had stopped, the crew quiet and still as if frozen in place.
Sabo found the silence much more unnerving than the overlapping voices, but he took the opportunity to flex the fruit’s ability, see how far he could push it. He approached the net, observing everyone’s stillness with curiosity.
He found himself particularly drawn to the two Fishfolk in Ace’s crew, giving him a pang of sadness when he realized it was because he didn’t know the next time he’d get to see Hack.
Sabo put a bare foot on the net, shifting forward to stand up on it, balancing there. He cautiously stepped between large and small crew mates until he could sink down in front of Wallace and Banshee.
Wallace was a weedy sting fish, his pallor warm like Hack’s, but he was young. Banshee had aged much more, no longer resembling what humans might think of a mermaid. But he recognized her immediately, smiling to himself when he remembered their encounter just before he met Ace in Kitatown’s courtyard.
Sabo looked left and right, next intrigued by a portly man wearing a skull mask. He couldn’t resist closely inspecting it, interested to see it was made of a dusty plaster, hand made— not a real skull. It also had a mane of blue feathers spilling out on all sides to cover Skull’s real hair, strangely enough.
He found he could perceive the gentle ticking away of his body’s timer, his energy burning up at a rapid rate, so he stood up to pick his way back around Ace’s crew.
Sabo reached the end of the net and dropped down from it, but interestingly, when he tried to shake the timepiece from his hand, it jumped to his feet instead. Both of them flickered with similar revolving circles of golden light.
He lifted one leg to kick it away, but then the light solidified in the air, stationary and weight-bearing like a miniature platform the span of his feet.
“What function would this even serve?“ he knelt to whisper to it in surprise, jabbing the solidified light with a curious finger.
Then he finally stood back up.
Only to be confronted by Ace with his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised.
Sabo swallowed with a sheepish look. At least it was only Ace that broke the charm, not everyone.
“Whatcha doing?” Ace asked.
“Oh, you know. Embarrassing myself in front of you?” Sabo volunteered.
Ace snorted at his expense.
“You used it successfully before, but now I’m ready for it. Only gonna work on me if I want it to.”
Sabo’s eyes closed, head tilting back for a second.
“Fuck. I should’ve realized. With Haoshoku.”
Ace looked him up and down, still amused.
“I didn’t mean to trigger the timepiece,” Sabo explained, “I’m still getting used to it.”
“No, it’s no harm done,” Ace told him, interested to watch the light return to Sabo’s hand from the platforms he’d conjured.
“I’m not worried about you startling most of them, but don’t scare Bansh, okay? She’s anxious enough as it is.”
Sabo gave him a deep, understanding nod— his fatigue began to shut down the ability as Ace looked around, impressed.
“Gotta give it to you, it’s wicked useful. Can’t believe you can keep it up this long.”
“I can’t,” Sabo admitted, already feeling it failing.
The light flickered for a few ticks before it disappeared, allowing the noise of the room to assault their ears again.
Ace calmed the crew, holding his hands up to have them quiet down.
“Alright, that was all really nice of you guys, but we gotta do just one at a time. Anyone with a last question?” Ace asked, “Don’t fail me, Leo.”
He’d called on Leonero, a tall man wearing, for lack of a better description, business-casual pajamas.
“What’s your favorite memory of Ace? Mine’s the day he recruited me. He got me outta hot water with my bookie. Saved my life even though I couldn’t have deserved it less.”
“Leo…” Ace murmured with a shake of his head, instantly wary of asking Sabo to recall anything.
But the crew murmured in approval of the question.
Sabo didn’t seem to mind being asked, but he had to think past so many recently discovered memories. Of course he could summon up countless times Ace had in some way saved his life, taken his bullet, swiped him out of a bear’s reach just in time. But those memories, being in danger with Ace, they weren’t his favorite by any stretch. Especially the more recent examples, which made him shiver even with a room full of people watching him.
As a sort of unconscious reaction to being stared at, Sabo reached to thread his fingers around the striped bracelet Ace had slid onto Sabo’s wrist.
“My memory’s not the best, even now—“ Sabo started uncertainly.
“Hey, you don’t have to answer this one,” Ace told him as his hand went to Sabo’s arm. He worried it put too much pressure on him, and Ace didn’t want him upset about the amnesia again.
“No, no it’s okay,” Sabo assured him, “I don’t know that I have just one specific memory, really, because this happened too often to narrow down. But there were so many times I know I would’ve gone hungry if it wasn’t for him. He didn’t have to share a thing with me, but he always did. Sometimes he’d even lie about having eaten so I would have more. I see you all nodding like you already know that about him. I just wish he’d see himself like I see him. Like you all see him.”
“Yup!” someone agreed heartily from the net.
Ace faltered, not sure what to say. He’d tied his self-worth to his ability to protect his nakama, so it shouldn’t have surprised him that they noticed. And that they appreciated it.
“Thank you, all of you,” he said quietly, adding, “and thanks, Sabo.”
The love in the room from his crew was palpable, and all Ace could do was rub the back of his neck as he took in their approval.
“Alright, everyone,” Ace conceded with a soft smile, “As much as there is to say, it’ll have to wait for dinner. Because it’s time to go relieve Deu and Teachie up top. All hands on deck.”
Ace and Sabo spent hours with Deuce and Saber, helping them get the broken propellers back in place.
“Amazing that it only took two of us to put it together, and now four of us are struggling to fix it,” Deuce marveled on a break, swigging deeply from his own canteen of water.
“I just woke up, and I’m already tired enough to hit the hay again,” Saber huffed, pinching his shirt away to get air flowing through it, overheated.
“You really all sleep on the net together? One big room?” Sabo asked, still peering into the turbine.
“Yeah, except Koala,” Deuce mentioned, “She’s been in the captain’s quarters lately.
Sabo liked that, smiling a little at the thought of her having her own room on the ship, that they cared enough to designate a whole space for her.
He watched Saber wipe his sweat on his sleeve. The thought of sleeping in a cabin with twenty-one people, two of which Sabo knew were fire-based had him wondering how anyone managed to tolerate the temperature in there. Maybe it was just the midday sun making him think about baking alive at night in that room.
“Does it not get too warm in the crew quarters?” Sabo asked, “With both Marco and Ace in there?”
“Nah, not really,” Saber responded distractedly, “We open the portholes. And anyway, Marco sleeps in the captain’s quarters so it ain’t never been an issue.”
Ace thought nothing of it, nodding along because he already knew Marco slept in there. It took him a few seconds to notice Sabo was squeezing his arm so hard that he was shaking slightly.
“What’s wrong?” Ace whispered in his ear.
Sabo looked at Deuce, Saber and the other crew mates nearby, not wanting to discuss it around them.
Ace noticed that too.
“Okay, do the thing.”
Sabo stared at his palm, watching the rotating light disc stutter to life around his hand. He and Ace looked around, checking that everyone had frozen.
Sabo almost looked guilty for saying this, but…
“Please tell me there are two beds in that room.”
Ace’s expression told him all he needed to know.
“I don’t like this, Ace. What were they even doing sleeping together like that?”
“Koala and Marco?” Ace clarified, “I— I mean, I don’t know, but it can’t be what you’re thinking.”
Sabo sighed.
“With Koala? It could be. She has a type.”
“Wanna just ask her? Is that a crazy question?”
Sabo’s nostrils flared. He knew it didn’t sound rational. “She knows how I am about guys. She’s not gonna admit to it.”
Ace’s arms were folded, fingers tapping in thought.
“Okay, I can see why you’re protective of her and stuff, but Marco, Sabo? He’s really serious about no crew relations. As in ‘never gonna happen’ serious.”
“Koala can be extremely persuasive. How devious do you think she is? Now multiply that by ten, and add an infuriating tendency to sleep with men that could easily end her life.”
“Sabo,” Ace complained softly, smiling because he could tell Sabo was so anxious about her, probably all the time.
“This didn’t come out of nowhere, you know,” Sabo defended, looking stressed.
Ace still looked skeptical.
“Look, if it makes you feel better, we’ll shut this idea down right here, right now. There is nothing in that room that’s gonna worry you, so we might as well just look so you can stop thinking about it.”
This time it was Sabo that looked uncertain.
“I’m trying not to be invasive anymore. Think I’m also genuinely afraid of seeing something I can’t unsee.”
“I’ll look then,” Ace told him.
Sabo’s shoulders slumped a little, knowing Ace might not even notice the same incriminating things Sabo would.
“Let’s just go.”
They slipped past the door, making sure Koala wasn’t in view first.
“This is so fucked,” Sabo whispered in frustration, “Sorry, Koko.”
The bedroom was actually pretty nice comparing it with other places like the crew’s quarters and the meager mess hall that’d seen better days. This looked cozy by comparison. Mihar kept all of his books in here, stacked into a built-in bookshelf with rails to keep them in place.
A chair had been pulled up next to it.
“Marco likes reading almost as much as Teachie,” Ace remarked, sentimental about his older friend. But they couldn’t see too well, noticing how dark the room looked with the thick curtains drawn over the bay window.
Ace snapped his fingers allowing the sconces to flicker to life.
“See?” he comforted, a little too preemptively, “Absolutely, positively nothing to, um… to…”
Worry about.
Two empty coffee mugs sat side-by-side on the desk, handles angled away from each other. Ace wouldn’t have looked twice at it, but Sabo examined it critically.
“Koala is right-handed. I can only assume Marco is left-handed,” Sabo commented, bothered by the sight, “They’re already drinking coffee together.”
Ace winced a little, because yeah, Marco was left-handed. It would’ve been funnier if Sabo didn’t look so stressed about it. Then again, that was partially what made it humorous. Sabo was like a bloodhound right now over a simple morning beverage, most likely between two buddies.
“It’s coffee. Just coffee,” Ace defended gently, trying to get him to lighten up.
Sure, Ace could tell Sabo that Koala’s old enough to make her own decisions, or that Marco isn’t a threat to anyone, but Sabo was already aware of those things. He’d have to come to terms with this on his own, Ace knew.
Sabo was ready to accept Ace’s words, willing to admit he might be personally delusional about this, but another sight made his teeth clench. Seeing her swimsuit top that she usually wore under her wetsuit, Marco’s trousers nearby. Ace followed his line of sight, making a face.
“That doesn’t mean that was at the same time. That’s his wardrobe. Of course he changes clothes in here.”
Sabo gave the bikini top a sad look.
“What’s up?” Ace asked.
“She never unties the top and the bottom if she’s removing it herself. Just the bottom one. Only a man…” he had to cut himself off, not liking what he was about to say.
Ace had to laugh.
“What were you doing for the army, detective work?”
“Yes,” Sabo replied seriously, “Part of my job. Sometimes brute force isn’t an option.”
Ace made an ‘oh,’ silently.
“Either way, I think we’ve seen enough, Sabo.”
“Yeah, me too,” Sabo agreed distastefully.
Ace stopped him before walking out, just to say, “Hey, we’re not telling her we poked around in here, are we?”
“Not on our lives,” Sabo replied, thankful Ace was on the same page.
Before long, they found themselves doing one of Ace’s favorite activities: eating. And being surrounded by the crew while they ate? He missed it so much, having all these familiar faces around him.
And the dining hall right outside the kitchen, even though sizable, suddenly shrank with the whole crew seated there.
Deuce felt unusually somber at the table. Almost no one noticed, however, with how willingly he participated in the storytelling. Especially when he kept throwing Ace and Sabo such heartfelt looks, hardly able to believe they were safe on the Spadille again. Almost everything was perfect, but every time he looked at that kitchen, he missed that person he wished was here.
“So Tallis’ mother is safe at Port Fish Cake too,” Ace replied to them, looking relieved by it.
“Yes, and… There was also a surprise they were wanting to tell you, but it’s really not our business to say. Family stuff, you know?” Mihar told him, unsure if Ace would demand to know. He genuinely would’ve caved for him, but Ace had his mouth full, swiping his hand so Mihar knew he didn’t have to say.
The second he swallowed a few large bites, Sabo’s hand darted out to stop Ace’s cheek from slamming into his bowl. Sabo was sipping from his glass, not even having to look anymore to know when it was gonna happen.
He winked at a few of the crew as he held Ace’s head there in his hand, letting him snooze for a few minute in peace before he’d wake back up to finish his meal.
Mihar saw Deuce taking his chance to stare forlornly at the kitchen. When Deuce realized he’d zoned out again, he asked if anyone needed seconds with a smile to cover it up.
He swallowed when Mihar put an arm around him, leaning to whisper.
“You gonna be okay? Barely eating.”
“He left so suddenly,” Deuce told him just as quietly, brows pinching, “Just didn’t know we’d have to part so soon.”
“I know. You’ll see him tomorrow,” Mihar told him, jostling him until he smiled.
Sure, it might seem a little pathetic to an outsider, but Deuce was just built that way.
Sabo watched the exchange with interest, thinking Deuce must’ve been referring to Marco.
And even though he knew Deuce would be reunited with the crew mates he missed tomorrow, he still found it endearing to see how sensitive he was. It seemed a fitting counter to balance out some of Ace’s more rough around the edges nakama.
When most of said crew had gotten up to leave the dining hall, Sabo hung back, gathering dishes from the table with Koala.
“No, I got it,” Deuce told them, “Seriously, go enjoy each other’s company.”
“I wanna help,” Sabo insisted, his face telling Deuce he’d be a little offended if he didn’t let him clean up.
“It would make me happy.”
This changed Deuce’s mind, nodding obligingly as Sabo carried dishes to the sink with him.
Koala also seemed perfectly willing to stay behind and help with the cleanup, but Ace wasn’t having it. He saw perhaps his only opportunity to have Koala explain the Marco situation without worrying about Sabo hearing. Maybe she’d be more forthcoming if it was just Ace.
When he caught her eye, he covertly tipped his head toward the door, knowing she’d follow him from the dining hall.
The moment that door flapped shut, he sighed, taking a moment to appreciate the evening air, despite her confused look.
“Gotta talk to you about something,” he admitted, “We don’t have long, but if you’ll hop on I’ll get us up to the crow’s nest.”
She couldn’t help feeling apprehensive at his secrecy, worrying it was something awful going on with Sabo for him to be confiding in her like this.
So she wasted no time jumping into his back, gripping tight when he took a running vault. Flames exploded around them, hot but not burning either of them, and as soon as the fire appeared, it had already dissipated.
Ace hopped down into the crow’s nest from the edge, neither of them looking at the dizzying height.
Typically being on someone’s back for a strange landing like that might’ve given her quite a jolt of uncertainty. Right now, though, whatever Ace was planning to tell her took up all the space in her mind.
They settled down comfortably, backs against the walls, but Koala only did so to mirror Ace. Really just staring at him for an explanation as he tapped all ten of his fingertips together thoughtfully.
“Sabo told me something really cool about you,” Ace mentioned, catching her imploring eyes, “Said you were on a crew with Jinbei. You know he’s part of my brother’s crew now, right? Luffy?”
A smile crossed her, never in a million years having guessed he’d say that.
“I had no idea. I didn’t think I’d ever see Jinbei again. Think Luffy’d mind if I caught up with him sometime?”
Ace smiled too, but it was a little more fleeting than hers, knowing he’d mainly just wanted to start off on a positive note for her.
“That’s kinda what I had planned, whenever we’re back in the same area.”
Koala’s smile faltered also, responding to him.
“What’s wrong? Something about Luffy?”
Ace shook his head, then looked unsure.
“Well, yes, I’m worried about him too. But for now I just wanted to get your honest opinion of Marco.”
“My honest opinion?”
“Yeah,” Ace agreed, “Y’know, without Sabo around so you’re not nervous to say what you really think.”
Koala hesitated, wondering if she was imagining what Ace insinuated.
“You probably need some background information first,” Ace told her, clocking her reluctance, “Sometimes people on the same crew get attached. Happened before. Had two girls and a guy leave the Spadille already, all different situations. So it doesn’t always work out, but I haven’t made a rule against it or anything. Meaning you wouldn’t be out of line if you were to have feelings for anyone. Just be careful with it.”
Ace watched her absorb the information, noticing she didn’t look guilty, not even a little bit. Almost like it didn’t even apply to her.
“And Sabo doesn’t know we’re talking about this.”
“It’s just me,” he reassured her firmly, “I’m only here as your captain right now. Even if the last part’s not official.”
“What made you ask about Marco?”
Ace shifted his hat, holding the hat charm idly in his other hand.
“I do consider it my job to check in with everyone sometimes. Couple of the crew might’ve mentioned you’ve both been sleeping in the captain’s quarters. And that doesn’t bother me, I’d just like to know if they were, y’know, exaggerating.”
“How did Sabo react to that?” Koala asked.
Ace put up his hands.
“Hey, he’s not stoked about it. I told him it was probably nothing though.”
“Well, you’d be right,” she reassured him, “Sure, I’ve probably confided more in him than anyone else here. But it was mainly because of Veri.”
“Sorry?” Ace said, thinking he misheard.
Koala wasn’t sure this was the happiest way for Ace to find out, but given the situation…
“A girl Marmont kept captive. In fact, one of the kids in the newspaper with you,” Koala explained, letting Ace nod his head in surprised recognition, “She’s the only one we’ve been able to rescue, but she’s seen… bad things, Ace. What were we supposed to do, drop her at the nearest port?”
His eyes widened, looking around like the little girl might be in the crow’s nest with them.
“Is she here?”
“She’s at Marge’s place with the others. But that’s why we were keeping her company at night. She still had night terrors, even with both of us there.”
“Mind if I tell Sabo? I think it’d help him understand.”
Koala sighed.
“Don’t tell me Sabo already has a problem with Marco. He hasn’t done anything.”
“He’ll come around after they spend some time together. Hell, if Saber and Deu can get along, anyone can. I just wanted to know what got Sabo acting like this, from your point of view. Something happen to you before?”
Koala made an ‘ugh’ noise, crossing her arms and relaxing a little.
“Yeah… Look, I hate to say it, but it’s my fault Sabo doesn’t trust most guys with me.”
“Some real assholes in your past, huh?”
She breathed a dry laugh.
“Yeah. Last year, the government sent this undercover agent— young, attractive and ended up following me to Kitatown. Worse, he had me thinking I found the most perfect gentleman, even talked about joining the army. Well, he eventually tried to kill me when he couldn’t get any information, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Ace repeated.
“But it took months of courting for him to turn on me, meanwhile I was completely falling for him,” Koala added, “That one hurt the worst… I mean, all that time I really believed he loved me. Had me completely fooled. Everything a lie.”
Ace gave her a sympathetic look.
“I guess stuff like that comes with the territory, with the revolutionaries being enemies of the government and all. Something tells me that wasn’t the one that pissed off Sabo the most, though.”
Koala nodded.
“One of the earlier ones did upset him more. Not a bounty hunter or a spy, just an abusive prick I met in a bar. I even had to sneak out on weekends to see him because I was barely eighteen. To be fair, the guy hid that side of him for a long time.”
Ace looked deeply disturbed. Eighteen didn’t sound young when he was eighteen, but now, picturing her so young meeting randoms in a bar gave him chills.
“Hope Sabo kicked his ass.”
“He did. At that point Sabo was so suspicious that he secretly tailed me everywhere. And I was glad he did that day,” Koala said with a slight smile, but the smile went away pretty quickly.
“Main problem being that both of those guys looked kinda similar to Marco.”
“There it is,” Ace reacted, thinking it all made a lot more sense now.
“Yeah,” Koala agreed, “But Sabo’s gonna have to get over it. What’s the expression? ‘If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.’”
“And you two, you’re just nakama?” Ace clarified, “Nothing more?”
“As far as I’m aware,” Koala replied flippantly.
Ace scrutinized her, looked her up and down.
“You would… he wouldn’t.”
“Doesn’t matter either way. Point is, it’s not happening,” she told him, “I mean, god, I didn’t know he was— it’s just that he looks younger than most of your crew. Not that it really would’ve stopped me.”
“Hah! The truth comes out,” Ace replied victoriously, flashing her a smile.
Koala laughed.
“If you tell Sabo that, I hope you understand the fallout. Should probably keep it between us, for his sake. But I understand if you can’t.”
“Remains to be seen. Just try to go easy on him for me, okay, Koala? If I grew up watching out for you I’d be just as on edge.”
“Yeah, I get it,” she agreed, watching him stand.
“Don’t sweat the Marco thing either, though. Based on the stories he has with women, I’m glad he seems to trust you that much. Kind of a huge deal for him,” Ace told her, reaching to help her up from the floor.
Sabo watched Deuce work, scrubbing dishes before Sabo rinsed them.
He could tell Deuce missed someone, just kind of assumed it must’ve been Marco, since they’d probably been friends long enough for Deu to miss him.
“You and Marco close?”
Deuce looked a little surprised by the question, pausing before continuing.
“Could be closer. He’s kinda tough to get to know since, well…”
“He lost his crew,” Sabo finished, watching Deu nod, “What do you think of him, though?”
Deuce sighed.
“He saved our lives so many times that the whole crew respect him. Even love him. I know he’s the oldest, possibly strongest guy here, and I know he doesn’t need my help, but I can’t help but feel… protective? Yeah. Protective of him.”
Sabo frowned into his work, cleaning the suds from each dish. Ace was protective of him too. How could Sabo view him with such mistrust when so many loved him so fiercely?
“He’s just a good guy,” Deuce continued, unprompted, “When you first meet him, you might think he keeps to himself. But you’ll catch him on a beautiful day and he’ll surprise you. He likes to laugh. Joke around. And just like with Ace, everyone feels it when he’s not here. I’m glad you get to meet him tomorrow.”
“How old is he?” Sabo asked.
Deuce inhaled for a long moment, thinking.
“At least enough to have met Roger.”
“That’s what I thought,” Sabo replied, but he tried not to let it bother him. He didn’t want to let himself treat Marco any different— he resolved to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Although he wasn’t sure he could stop himself from asking Koala about it privately. That’d be better than making assumptions. Sabo was mature now. He didn’t have to be overprotective about this. Didn’t have to be that guy anymore, he told himself.
Especially once Sabo had found Ace after finishing up the dishes, he found it oddly easy to clear his mind of all those doubts floating around.
Koala had decided to sleep in the crew quarters tonight, but already mentioned that she’d be beside Banshee, as if to look out for Sabo’s stress level. She didn’t have to, but damn, it was his first night back on safe ground, and whether justified or not, she refused to add to his difficulty sleeping.
They had let everyone else settle in first so that Ace could find himself and Sabo some comfier shirts and shorts to sleep in. So they spent a couple minutes changing in the locker area.
Sabo smiled to himself, noticing Ace didn’t seem bashful at all around him now, catching his grin when Sabo watched him unbuckle his belt. Ace couldn’t help but notice Sabo’s eyes helping him undress the rest of the way.
“I’ve never messed around on the ship,” Ace told him, “But where we’re going is a nice place. Huge rooms. Honestly, it’s even nicer than that house in High Town. You’ll like it there. But maybe one thing before I can sleep.”
Sabo never expected to see a look like that in his eyes. Ace looking hungry like this made him a little insane, backed into the corner.
It made Ace’s heart race faster, knowing his crew was just through the door. But it was only a kiss he wanted, running his hands up Sabo’s neck into his hair. Catching his lips that were so soft and warm they made his heart drop to his stomach.
Ace knew better than to put his hand up Sabo’s shirt, but the thought crossed his mind relentlessly. When he closed his eyes he could already imagine the rock solid core beneath his hands without even having to feel it.
Sabo pushed back like he couldn’t possibly get enough, and the way he panted so softly made Ace want to pull him down to the floor. He didn’t want that happening here, though. It wouldn’t be long until they were at the villa.
Waiting for a room of their own, private and safe with no suspense or pressure of any kind was beyond worth waiting for, even if they found each other entirely too tempting right now.
Fuck, Ace found him tempting. Their faces were flushed as they broke apart, resting their foreheads together, finding their hands dropping to pull the other closer in a hug, so much softer than the kiss had been.
“You okay getting cuddled by the crew?” Ace whispered, eyes closing as he ran his thumb over Sabo’s bottom lip, “They might be fighting over you.”
Sabo smiled, shaking his head.
“Yeah, sure they will.”
Ace didn’t laugh. He wasn’t joking, confusing Sabo.
“Really?” Sabo whispered.
Ace nodded.
“Just wait if you don’t believe me.”
The lantern cast enough dim light for both of them to see the crew’s faces. Koala had tucked herself happily between Banshee and the opposite wall. And just like usual, Deuce and Mihar had left room between them for Ace and now Sabo to squeeze in.
But Ace sent Sabo a slightly devious look, helping him crawl in between Wallace and Banshee instead.
Ace really was more than happy to sleep between the gentle parental pair, but after they’d laid down, Deuce shot up from his spot on the net, jaw dropping.
Sabo caught the gleam in Ace’s eyes.
“What the fuck is this?” Mihar laughed quietly, getting up at the same time as Deuce did.
“No way, absolutely not,” Deuce added before he and Mihar were apologizing and climbing over bodies to get to them.
“Now wait just a minute,” Wallace complained when Mihar scooched between him and the captain.
“Honey, this is childish,” Banshee told Deuce as the grinning blue-haired man ignored her protests to sink down beside Sabo.
“Don’t care,” Deu said, smiling helplessly and clasping Mihar’s arm across them.
“This is cool with you, Sabo?” Mihar whispered.
“Fine by me,” Sabo replied, most especially because Ace was the one snaking both arms around his waist, pulling him close to feel the warmth through the soft fabric of their shirts.
And it was better than fine, surprisingly, being squished between Ace and Deuce like this. Chilly air from the sea flowed in through two portholes, keeping the cabin cool— something they mainly did so Ace didn’t overheat the place.
Sabo folded his arms in comfortably, shifting down a few inches so his face could press into Ace’s chest. Feeling it rise and fall so steadily against his cheek had him losing consciousness so much faster than he thought possible. The safety of being here, hugged tightly and surrounded by bodies and warmth brought him more peace than he realized it would as he drifted into sleep.
In his dreams, he found himself back on the beach near Kitatown. He saw Koala in the distance, which confused him.
Both her bare feet were planted in the shallow water, waves lapping at her ankles in a white eyelet sundress he’d never seen her wear before.
The moon’s shine caught her reddish hair in the blue light of dusk, the last of the sun fading now. They were alone, but the stillness brought Sabo no comfort. He found he couldn’t access his Haki, making him feel like danger lurked just behind the dark treeline.
“What are you doing here?” he called to Koala, “What are we both doing here?”
“Sabo, I have a bad feeling about this!” Koala yelled, causing him to break into a run toward her. Just not fast enough.
A giant pair of wings blurred past him, too fast for him to reach, but it must’ve been an enemy, racing to beat him to Koala like this.
His hand clenched, activating the gold light around his hand just as he expected, but instead of boosting his speed, it worked against him.
Sabo watched the timepiece begin clicking and revolving in reverse, slowing him footsteps down the beach until he was running in slow motion.
He gasped in frustration, as if wading through waist-deep mud while the massive bird swooped in on her.
“No—! Koala—!” he screamed, gripping his own wrist in his panic to make the fruit work, begging it to help him save her.
The timepiece ticked the seconds by around him as he was brought to his knees, feeling himself held in place by his own power.
And his own body became a prison, paralyzing him there. It forced him to watch while the wings carried her away, not even able to call out to her when she begged for his help.
He tried to scream, but nothing came out. He was choking, his chest so constricted his lungs couldn’t expand as he sank down to the beach, feeling like he must be dying.
The moment he hit the sand, Sabo woke up gasping, immediately breaking away from the arms around him and spilling onto the floor off the net.
He grasped at his chest but still couldn’t pull in a deep enough breath, brow knitting in fear as he stumbled out of the dark cabin and up the stairs.
Ace’s eyes shot open, jumping off the net after him and grabbing the book from his locker before following Sabo to the deck.
Sabo was sitting with his back to the wall by the staircase, trying unsuccessfully to catch his breath.
“Bad dream,” he gasped, but Ace could hear his quick and shallow breaths, sinking down beside him with concerned eyes.
He helped Sabo pull his own shirt off in alarm, as if it was the shirt stopping him from breathing right, but Ace knew it wasn’t the case.
“Alright, gonna have to trust me for a sec,” Ace said.
He used his hand to carefully pin Sabo’s mouth closed, along with one nostril. At first, Sabo looked even more nervous.
“I know it’s weird, but believe me, it works,” Ace explained gently, glancing from his eyes to his chest.
Sabo still felt his lungs squeezing, struggling to get enough air, but Ace was already talking to him again, his voice quiet in the stillness of the night air.
”Y’know, you used to tell me this happened sometimes when you’d go back to your room in High Town. Happens to Marco, too. But when Deu did this with him, it helped. Also he said to breathe with your stomach, whatever that means.”
Sabo nodded, focusing on his voice, his eyes, his freckles, the floppy dark hair he kept having to toss out of his face.
“I think this is one of those journal things Deu was talking about,” Ace mentioned softly, seeing Sabo nod at him, “That’s why I brought it out here with me. We don’t have to try sleeping again until we put something down in it. Whatever might help.”
Ace pressed their foreheads together for several minutes, listening to Sabo’s breath begin to slow through his nose as Ace crouched in front of him.
The fear began to leave Sabo’s brow, unwrinkling as he relaxed a little into the wall. Their eyes locked as Ace drew back, letting Sabo pull his hands away to breathe deeper again.
“That didn’t take as long as I thought. That’s good,” Ace told him, “I have a feeling the panic isn’t gonna attack you much if you know how to scare it off.”
Sabo laughed weakly, nodding. Ace didn’t seem to be able to turn off his big brother mentality sometimes.
Sabo found he still liked it, though. Looking back especially on more recent years, he would’ve been even happier having Ace’s warmth and support.
He didn’t think he could give it up for anything now, not even if Dragon hadn’t alienated him. It would’ve been a matter of working remotely, checking in over transponder. But now, even that wasn’t necessary. If he wanted to sabotage the world government, he and Koala were more than capable of doing that with Ace on their side.
Ace scooted back to give them more room and flopped open the journal in between them.
He laid down to write on one page, nodding his head at the opposite, free page reserved for Sabo.
Sabo laid on his stomach too, facing Ace so that at least one of them was using it upside-down, but neither of them particularly cared. Ace’s feet were kicking slightly, but when he noticed it himself, he let his feet drop back to the deck as Sabo smiled, charmed by the puppy-like behavior.
Interestingly enough, Ace seemed so willing to use the journal now that he thought Sabo needed it. Sabo found it touching, having heard Ace wasn’t interested in trying it before now. Seeing him this way flooded Sabo with gratitude, staring at him with his dumb, perfect little smile as he bit the back of his pen.
“We just write whatever comes to mind I guess,” Ace murmured pensively, dropping his pen to hover the page, “Think I’ll draw something. Deu said to start with just pictures if you can’t think of what to say.”
With an absentminded nod, Sabo sketched the jungle treehouse they had built when they were children. The memory was still vivid in his mind, the hot sun beating down on their backs as they cut and carved branches into place, the sound of insects and birdsong filling the air. They had spent countless hours playing in that treehouse, laughing and arguing and planning adventures. It had been their sanctuary, their safe haven from the world.
Ace's drawing of the cell bars brought back a different kind of memory, darker and more claustrophobic. He remembered being locked up, the cold metal of the bars biting into his skin, the stale air and the endless hours of nothingness. It had been a nightmare, a living hell, and briefly he'd even feared they might never escape.
But he had, and now he was here, with Sabo, drawing pictures and talking about dreams.
"What happened, Sabo? I mean, only if you wanna talk about it," Ace ventured.
"The dream?" Sabo asked, his voice barely above a whisper, staring down at the page, "You know when you try to get to someone in time, but your whole body slows down? It was one of those."
Ace nodded, ducking back into his drawing so Sabo could concentrate in peace.
"It was Koala, of course," Sabo added with a sigh.
"What was after her?" Ace asked, noticing how bothered Sabo looked to say it.
"Wings? Some bird-like thing," Sabo murmured reluctantly, "It was too much of a blur."
Ace stopped drawing at that; he couldn't help it.
“Sabo…”
“I know, okay?” Sabo sighed, crossing his arms so he could rest his face on them, abandoning his treehouse drawing but still staring at it in deep thought.
“I shouldn’t have gotten so stressed about Marco. It was probably just that whole situation. I got worried.”
Ace teethed absently at his pen.
“I guess it’s good you already know that.”
Sabo agreed, nodding.
Sensing they’d both finished with the journal for now, Ace rolled onto his back, dropping the pen to the page fold, and Sabo followed suit. He pushed the book just far enough to lay so his head was beside Ace’s, cheek to cheek laying opposite directions so they could both look up at the stars.
“When we talk to Luffy,” Sabo said gently, catching Ace’s attention, “What are we gonna tell him about… about us?”
Ace’s eyes closed, but he grinned so wide that it hurt.
“You’re worried what he’ll think of us?”
Sabo’s eyes were open, watching dark silhouettes of clouds pass, backlit by the silver moon.
“Yeah. Just wondered how he’d react. His brothers, and all.”
Ace let a soft laugh slip.
“He couldn’t be less interested, trust me. Try to tell him about feelings and watch how fast he falls asleep. If that’s our biggest problem now, I couldn’t be happier. I’m also just glad to hear you caring so much about him again.”
Sabo let Ace run fingers through his hair, giving him an upside-down peck on his face before letting their cheeks smush together again, peering into the night sky above.
Deuce startled awake, barely able to make out Cornelia’s silhouette, his long purple hair hanging over them.
Ace and Sabo were gone, but Cornelia whispered that everything was okay.
Cornelia had mainly woken Deuce because it was his turn to keep watch. But rather than settling straight down to catch his shift of sleep, Cornelia led Deuce quietly up the stairs.
They peeked out at Ace and Sabo snoozing in the open air, making Deuce smile despite himself.
The two of them were sprawled around each other like yin and yang, snoring softly with Ace’s hand still tucked into Sabo’s blond waves.
Deuce was even touched to see the journal nearby, already showing the work they’d done in it.
“Ask Teachie to get the crew,” Deuce requested over his shoulder at Cornelia, still smiling. There was no way they were all going to let them sleep alone.
Ace was never, ever, the first one awake on the Piece of Spadille. What happened, then?
He wasn’t sure at first.
When he lifted his head from where it rested on Sabo’s arm, he breathed an immediate whisper-laugh, seeing that he and Sabo were surrounded by their crew. The sky began to glow pink near the horizon, so it was extremely early.
But he suddenly understood why Marco liked waking up like this, quiet and still morning air before the chaos of the crew descended on him.
Ace carefully peeled himself away from Mihar, shaking his head in amusement to see that Deuce was holding Sabo just as happily as he did anyone else. He could pretty much always count on Deu to make the newcomers feel safe, so it was certainly no different for his favorite blond brother.
He stood riveted in place for too long— well, not long enough, really— because he was so touched by the sight of them all, strode across the hard wood around them. Knowing how uncomfortable it must’ve been, but not one of them looked like they minded.
But a noise made his ears tingle slightly before he even recognized it— so far away he might’ve missed it if he wasn’t so desperate to hear that sound right now. And it’s probably what woke him from his deep sleep to begin with.
From all the way down the stairs, in a room below deck, a transponder rang quietly.
He cursed under his breath, vaulting quickly to the steps and nearly clearing them all in his haste to reach the den den mushi. Because every cell in his body seemed to ignite, as if he knew without a shadow of a doubt who was finally calling him back.
Ace didn’t think he’d ever pulled the transmitter to his mouth faster in his life.
“Luffy?!” Ace asked, gripping it with both hands as he dropped to a crouch by the table.
No.
An older man’s voice answered.
“It’s Vice— uh. Jiji.”
Ace felt torn, a huge part of him let down to still be deprived of Luffy’s voice, but touched in a different way to hear Garp calling him.
“Everything okay, Jiji?”
Ace hoped he wasn’t calling with bad news.
Garp cleared his throat.
“The purpose of this call is to inform you that Jericko Marmont will not be a threat to you any longer. He has been dealt with. I also regret to see his crimes pinned on you like this. I’d like you to understand that I do not believe that headline after receiving your message from Cerule Bay Medwing.”
Ace swallowed, nodding even though Garp couldn’t see it. He licked his lips in thought.
“Good, because I didn’t do that shit. Neither did Sabo.”
“I know.”
“I know you know,” Ace replied seriously, only smiling after he heard Garp laugh on the other end.
“And how about that? The kid’s alive. Give him a hello from me.”
“I will,” Ace said, knowing Garp referred to Sabo, “Anything else, Jiji?”
“Oh…” Garp reacted, causing Ace to frown a little in surprise, because it sounded heavy.
“I appreciate hearing you’re not too angry with me. After all, learning you have living relatives must’ve been a shock. If I had known when you were young, I would’ve told you, Ace. I’m comforted you don’t seem to hold a grudge about it.”
If Garp said anything after that, Ace didn’t hear it, his ears ringing with white noise deep in his shell shocked brain.
Living relatives.
What?
“If you’re gonna say something like that, I’m gonna need you to be specific, Jiji.”
“Your aunt’s birth name, given to her by her mother, was Portgas D. Cerise. I thought you’d learned about her, to send me a message through her hospital. I didn’t think much of the hospital patient’s identity until I looked up birth records from Baterilla and saw Rouge’s younger sister. She’s got a kid, too. A brown-haired boy with eyes like yours.”
“Tallis?” Ace asked, mouth going dry.
“That’s what it was. Caught him poking around with your young lady recruit trying to save Marco on Marmont’s flagship.”
“What happened to Marco?” Ace asked. If it had been bad enough, Ace knew Marco probably didn’t tell any of his crew.
“Ah… well, being the regenerating fellow he is, ultimately nothing lasting, I’d say. Just lost a lot of blood by the looks of it.”
“Marmont cut him up?” Ace asked, nearly losing his voice as he felt his body go cold. He was sagging against the table leg, still holding the transmitter with both hands.
“Point is, he survived just fine. I suppose he wouldn’t have told you about it, but, well, they’re your crew, even if you haven’t marked them all yet.”
“Yeah,” Ace agreed, sounding hollow.
“Well, just try not to be too cross with me now. It’s not often I get the chance to help you. Given what a rotten criminal you are sometimes.”
Ace laughed softly.
“I’m not mad Jiji. Just in shock. I can’t thank you enough for helping me and the crew.”
“I should be thanking you, for assisting the marines in locating this twisted shit. How else is an old man to show his affection, huh?”
“You have my affection too, Jiji.”
“Damn near makes me misty-eyed, thinking what he put you through. It’s not going to get easier, you know. Living outside the law.”
“I have Sabo now. Soon, I’ll have Marco back. Another Zoan with him. Things are gonna be different with this much strength on one ship.”
Garp still struggled to hear him talk that way.
“Ace… damn it all… it’s not too late to get you aboard the Hounder. With a haircut in uniform, no one would know your identity.”
“Jiji—“
“Bring Sabo. I could really use you boys tracking down your old rival pirates. You’d be unstoppable with the might of the Marines behind you.”
Ace breathed a soft laugh that turned into a sad sniff. He ached a little, understanding the concern behind those gruff words.
“You know I care that you care. But you also know I can’t do that.”
“Then you’d best stay out of trouble, hear me?” Garp demanded.
“I’ll try.”
Ace heard the call end, reaching up slowly to hang up the transmitter. His hand hesitated there. His consciousness telling him to call Luffy.
None of them would even be awake right now. Only a career marine would place a call when first light hadn’t even broken the horizon yet.
So Ace sighed, folding his arms.
There was a different kind of relief in his mind, at least. The spark of knowing the Spadille would be at Port Fish Cake soon.
Chapter 32: Fishcake
Summary:
🖤 hope everybody had a chill week
🖤 so much love to you guys, just wanna squish your cheeks and thank you for reading
🖤 possible manga/anime spoilers because this story is post-canon and I don’t remember what arc Xebec’s pirate crew gets revealed
🖤 reminder that the comments on this fic will probably spoil the story for ya, try not to look if you don't wanna see plot points <3
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ace walked up the stairs slowly like it took all his concentration, finding himself distracted by everything Garp just told him.
He had an entire adoptive family already, so it wasn’t that kind of missing piece slotting into place. But Ace marveled at the thought because this part of his family was dear to him. Nothing like what he felt when someone brought up Roger. This was his mother’s sister and her son. The side of his ancestry he honored by taking their name.
His heart gave a leap at the realization that he was about to meet his aunt for the first time. Perhaps the second time; he didn’t even know if she knew he existed or if she’d only seen him as an infant.
By the time he reached the deck, he could see some of his crew stirring, so he padded over to sink down by Sabo’s sleepy face, not wanting him to have to wake up confused without Ace.
Ace rubbed the hair away from his blue eyes, smiling down when he blinked them open.
Sabo moving slightly had Deuce gripping him tighter, the blue-haired man not even knowing or caring who he was holding when he woke up, just knew he wasn’t ready for anyone to leave him yet.
Sabo’s eyes cast down to see Deuce’s arm over him, breathing a short laugh at Ace.
“Everyone came up to sleep on deck last night when we passed out here,” Ace told him, “Good crew.”
“They are a good crew,” Sabo agreed, even as he sat struggling to get up while Deuce complained sleepily.
It didn’t take long for everyone to be awake and adjusting the sails, however, banking the ship onto the correct heading as a dark strip of island bloomed across the horizon.
Ace and Sabo were off to the side, caught in a whispering match once Sabo had finally woken up enough to tell him the news.
“That would make Tallis your cousin.”
Ace smiled, nodding.
Sabo looked smacked in the face.
“Whoa… I mean… tell me the odds of that.”
Ace shrugged.
“Can’t. I’ve never been good at numbers.”
Sabo gave him a sympathetic look, straightening his hair up for him, mostly sure that Ace was joking.
Anyway, a guy that led as well as Ace or looked as good as him didn’t need to know probability and statistics, in Sabo’s experience. Ace could get through his whole life blessed on pure freckles and charisma alone. He was a captain for god’s sake. If he needed to hear the odds of anything, Sabo knew Ace would have somebody here begging to calculate it for him.
Still, he was happy to hear Ace was about to meet his aunt once they touched down on land.
“Finding out you have living family is huge,” Sabo told him, sliding both arms around him as they stared over the rail, rocking gently with the ship’s movements.
“Especially on my mother’s side,” Ace agreed wistfully, “I’ll be happy to meet her. But later today we’ll spend some time going through your old journal if you still want to.”
“Nothing would make me happier.”
Sabo kissed his hair, just as relieved as Ace. Every time he got to hear him sound this hopeful after what happened to them it flooded Sabo with so much warmth that he didn’t care who was watching them reach to loosely hold each other.
The crew had already begun to use rope and pulleys to transfer empty crates from the cargo hold, but it soon became clear these ropes, like the clew lines, had seen better days.
“Heads up!” Mihar called suddenly, seeing a portion of the line start to fray and snap apart.
The next second, the crate plummeted, but Sabo was faster, already darting across the deck.
His fruit seemed to know what he needed, almost as if responding to his wishes. The snapped line was at least ten feet out of reaching distance, but Sabo realized he suddenly could reach it.
His feet lit up, bounding into the air like it was solid up a path of glowing discs. He’d only seen government agents do this, Geppo users running across the sky.
It allowed him to reach the snapped line just in time, gripping and swinging from the rope high in the air before it reached the pulley. Barely keeping the crate from slamming back down into the cargo, seeing the crew look up from beneath it in surprise.
He caught his breath in amazement, feet pinching the rope between them as he saw Koala’s face contort with sad recognition.
But he was smiling, also meeting Ace’s smirk, shaking his head up at him.
“Think you like it now?” Ace called up at him.
“Yeah. I really do,” he replied, looking up to steady himself against the pulley wheel.
Once the crew had lowered the crate safely to the deck, Sabo shuffled over to Koala, keeping his hands in his pockets a little sheepishly.
“Looks like I wasn’t the only one keeping a secret,” Koala reacted.
Sabo nodded, watching her wonder what the hell caused him to willingly consume a Devil Fruit. Slavers wouldn’t have fed him something so valuable.
“I really don’t know how it happened, before you ask,” Sabo admitted.
“You can’t stand those things,” Koala said, shaking her head with sad eyes, “You said you’d never ever eat one. Sabo…”
“I know,” he agreed a little grimly. Still not liking how many drawbacks accompanied it.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her concern obvious.
He nodded.
“It’s… I was disappointed when I found out, I really was. But it’s growing on me a lot.”
“You certainly couldn’t have done whatever that was before,” Koala replied, a little relieved to see him taking it so well, “And what exactly is it?”
“Temporal abilities, they seem to be. Time and space,” he theorized, “I’d have to check the codex. I could do a lot worse, that’s for sure.”
Sabo watched her combing fingers through her hair, not sure if she even realized how much she was fussing over her appearance. Her hair was beyond saving, already salted by the air and a little frizzy from all the moisture.
“Your hair looks fine,” he told her, “I mean, you don’t have to impress anybody.”
She smiled, eyes casting down, saying, “You’re gonna be polite when we get there, aren’t you?”
Sabo suddenly found he didn’t like the idea of him being the one to upset her, realizing that’s what he was doing, even if she tried to hide it behind a smile.
He slowed time, disappearing and reappearing from below deck until he found a suitable fix. He brought her a silk scarf, coaxing her to stand still while he tied it neatly over her hair. When he finished, he wordlessly handed her a mirror.
His way of apologizing.
She smiled for real this time, examining the scarf over her hair in the mirror.
“Better. Thank you.”
Sabo dipped his head, still sending her a worried look as she walked away, soon seeing her jog to help untie and retie the sails’ clew lines to redirect the ship.
At the very least, when Koala reached a hand to smoothe over her silk hair scarf, she gave Sabo such a warm look, not having expected him to put aside his personal feelings on the matter and fix her hair out of pure affection. That filled her with hope, seeing how much he was trying to be supportive despite his deep suspicions. Just to make her happy.
When she looked back over her shoulder, though, Sabo wasn’t still there. Disappeared again below deck. She frowned as she tugged knots taut along the hooks under the ship’s rail, hoping he was okay.
Soon, the Spadille pushed past breakers until the impressive property loomed into view.
Sabo and Ace had fit their kimonos and a few other clothes and essentials into cloth packs slung over their shoulders.
They’d reemerged onto the deck just in time, Ace wearing his old boots and Sabo wearing Saber's wooden geta sandals from Wano.
Ace watched Sabo’s reaction with happiness as they approached the rail. Ace climbed up on the ratlines to get a good vantage point, shading his eyes as they neared Port Fish Cake.
Whether or not Sabo still had a taste for fine things, Ace knew he’d love this place.
A terracotta roof sloped gently from each of the manor’s peaks, and a lush garden bloomed with unmanicured wild flowers of every color. Its stone exterior seemed to blend with the greenery and vines snaking up its surface.
Arches, balconies and ironwork decorated the villa, sprawling out into the property’s expanse. Stone steps led uphill from the port deck to the gate, through which the path turned to gravel up to a pair of towering oak doors past the statue of a woman.
“Landfall!” Mihar called from above.
At this, Deuce also came running back up the stairs to the deck, huffing slightly as he’d gone to retrieve his journal. No one looked more excited to be here approaching the villa than him, not even Ace.
It was clear he’d swapped his soft harem pants for a more expensive pair, the fine black material striped with white and draping stylishly on his legs. Like most of the crew, he hadn’t bothered with a shirt today, but he had his jacket slung over his shoulder, more than ready to leave the ship.
“You look nice,” Sabo reacted, looking Deuce up and down. More than anything, Sabo sounded curious as to why Deuce had suddenly been so meticulous with his appearance, not a single hair out of place.
“Just excited to be here,” Deuce murmured, shy and embarrassed about it. He really couldn’t bring himself to say it in front of Ace, especially after knowing Ace had already found out Tallis’ relation to him.
“Did Garp tell you about my aunt, Deu?” Ace asked him, eyeing him suspiciously, “I don’t suppose that was the secret you were all keeping?”
Sabo and Ace noticed several crew look away immediately, not wanting to catch heat for it, just in case it had actually upset Ace.
“Mhm,” Sabo commented with crossed arms, “Guilty as hell. Least they gave you the chance to ask.”
Ace looked from Sabo around at everyone that seemed to know about this already.
“Yeah, you’re all pretty pleased with yourselves, huh?” Ace said in disbelief. But they saw him break a smile, not ultimately bothered about it.
Ace hopped down from the ratline net, boots landing near the wooden geta on Sabo’s feet.
“My crew doesn’t normally plot and scheme behind my back like this. Wouldn’t be Koala’s influence, would it?” Ace whispered to Sabo, with a hint of playfulness.
Sabo’s grimace seemed to agree with his theory.
Koala was across the deck, and she was no help either, pinning her lips shut, shaking her head even when Sabo gave her a questioning look.
“I promised not to say,” she defended, smiling.
Ace scoffed, muttering that there’s only one honest person on the ship at this point as he ambled slowly over to the mast.
“Teachie!” Ace called upwards, “Was that the secret? That I’m related to them?”
A rancher hat appeared over the edge of the crow’s nest, then Mihar’s face. He had a scope in his hand, gesturing toward shore.
“Aye. I can already see her, by the way. Lovely blonde woman standing outside. Shouldn’t make her wait too long, seeing as it’s kinda warm out today.”
Ace tipped his hat to his trusted sniper. He didn’t need to be told twice, already too impatient to be back at the villa.
He took a couple steps back to return to Sabo, assessing that he looked ready to go. He also wanted to see how well Sabo’s temporal fruit could keep up when Ace launched himself with fire. Now that he’d seen Sabo do it, the friendly competition was on.
“Race you there?” Ace asked Sabo, raising his foot to plant it on the rail with darkly excited eyes, “You can sky walk now, right? I’ll make sure you don’t fall in.”
Sabo gave him a look, “Absolutely. A race though? Hardly a measure of skill, considering you’ve had your fruit so much longer.”
“Fine, go on two, and I’ll go on three.”
Sabo bit his lip, then gave a single nod, putting a foot on the rail to match Ace.
“One,” Ace said, then his jaw dropped as Sabo bailed a number too early, laughing as he bounded across temporal discs toward the coast.
Ace went after him immediately, not able to stop himself from laughing too because—
“You’re such a cheater! Sabo!”
It took Ace an insane amount of time to catch up to him, then barely managed to beat him. He rocketed to the walkway to skid and lose his grip on the gravel in front of the property, kicking up a cloud of white around his worn boots.
Ace gasped for breath, hands on his knees as Sabo dropped easily beside him, looking a little pleased at how hard Ace had tried to beat him. And Sabo still looked like the winner, seeing as he wasn’t doubled over and panting, but standing tall and calm with his arms crossed.
“You really haven’t changed,” Sabo told him.
“Yeah, I was gonna say the same thing about you,” Ace replied, but Sabo had already taken a step back, ushering him forward with an encouraging gesture.
When Ace turned toward the estate’s entrance down the long path, he felt so strange looking ahead to see the lovely blonde woman waiting just past Pia Federisa’s statue. But Ace had Sabo behind him now.
From a distance especially, it was so easy for Ace to imagine this is what it would feel like to come home to his mother. He’d never felt this before, forcing himself to take several steps forward before realizing he already wanted to meet her, hug her, know everything about her.
They’d landed at the gate, still quite a ways from where his aunt stood, so he broke into a run, all the way down the gravel trail and around the statue. He held his hat down, boots kicking up dust from the gravel as he slid to a halt again in her presence, suddenly conscious of being underdressed, shirtless in only his belted shorts and backpack.
But this was his identity, his soul showing itself vulnerable in his favorite attire. He was a pirate— dusty, salty and maybe his hair needed another wash. But his face was youthful and flushed with effort, his freckles aglow as he took in her radiance. Either she loved him for who he was, or she didn’t.
Her blonde hair had been braided, her only garb a long, simple chiffon dress in the softest lavender. The fan she held had painted blue flowers, complementing her brown eyes, feminine and sharp like Tallis’.
Ace fawned in amazement before he snapped out of it, dipping his head and scrambling to remove his hat remembering the few manners he learned.
“Portgas D. Ace. Ma’am.”
When he dared to lock eyes with her again, she was smiling at him, looking the personification of a lily, hair lifting prettily around her as she fanned herself.
“Cerise,” she said, “Formerly Portgas as well… but I’d be pleased if you called me—“
“Oba,” Ace said immediately, like he couldn’t wait another moment, causing her to smile warmly behind the fan.
She flipped the fan closed just in time to catch Ace as he closed his arms around her. His aunt, his kind-looking obasan.
“I probably smell,” he murmured over her shoulder, but found himself unwilling to let go.
“You’re alright, darling,” she told him gently, rocking what she couldn’t help viewing as an overgrown child, “You look just like her, Ace. You look like Rouge.”
His eyes shut tighter.
“I hope so.”
“I wish I’d known she had a child. A sweet baby boy like mine,” Cerise said, sounding so emotional as she held him.
“I wish I knew about you too. I’m just glad you exist,” Ace told her, only gripping her as close as he dared, afraid to hurt her in some way.
“You’re even more of a miracle, my dear. All that survives of my sister.”
He sighed, glad she hadn’t let him go. He wasn’t ready to have this feeling ripped away yet.
“Did Marco help? Is your health better now?” he murmured.
“Every day.”
And he thought he could’ve hugged her for twice that amount of time, closing his eyes in awe. Until he noticed the sun on his back turn to cool shade after hearing the crunching of someone’s approach.
“Ace,” Sabo said behind him, making his eyes open.
Their long embrace ended in Ace gently pulling away to stare at none other than Tallis. He now stood beside the lovely older woman, holding a parasol to block her from the heat.
“This is my son,” Cerise told him softly, putting her arm around him proudly.
Tallis waved, meeting Ace’s grin a little sheepishly. And Ace nearly gave him the same greeting he’d just given his aunt, but someone was currently beating him to it.
Boots crunched urgently from behind them— someone running up the gravel walking path through the property’s gate.
Tallis backed up slightly, already grinning as a blur of sky blue hair raced toward him.
Ace and Sabo stood there in shock as Deuce barreled into Tallis with a hug so forceful it took him off his feet, dangling an inch off the ground in Deuce’s arms as he swung him around.
“It feels like it’s been weeks,” Deuce said, “Oh my god, I’ve missed you so much.”
“What, did the stew not keep? Did Banshee have to cook again?” Tallis asked.
“It wasn’t your cooking I missed,” Deuce told him, just before pressing his face into his cheek, but Tallis seemed suddenly aware of Ace standing nearby, making Tallis straighten up a little as Deuce threw his captain a shy smile.
Ace had shut his eyes, almost looking offended before reopening them, but it was only because he hadn’t seen Deuce like this with anyone before— too shocked for words. Sabo coming to stand next to him probably made him shake it off. Deuce and Tallis both seemed to be holding their breath now.
“What? It’s not like you need my permission,” Ace said, glancing at his aunt, “Anyway, Oba is the only one you need to impress, Deu.”
Cerise smiled, giving Ace one last pat on the cheek before Tallis extended an arm around her to lead her inside, holding the parasol over them again.
“Sorry, Ace, gotta get mom back inside,” Tallis told him quietly, giving him and Sabo a meaningful look, “Talk later?”
They nodded at him, Sabo threading his arm into Ace’s to share how happy the sight made them both.
“By the time I learned who Tallis was, I just… there were already feelings," Deuce said, mostly to Ace, "You’re really not upset? I was worried to tell you."
He hoped Ace wouldn't be too protective over Tallis now that he knew they were cousins, guilty to have gotten so close before discovering their relation.
But Ace didn’t seem worried, seeming to trust Deuce too much to be bothered by the idea.
“No it’s just good to see you both happy,” Ace said.
He squeezed Deu’s shoulder before encouraging him to run after Tallis and Cerise, giving him one last private moment with Sabo outside the villa.
“Really puts things in perspective,” Sabo reflected when it was just the two of them, “What would’ve become of your aunt if we hadn’t been captured? And Tallis as well. I’m glad all this good came out of it.”
Ace looked both ways before picking Sabo up. Sabo’s legs gripped either side of his waist in surprise, grinning when Ace pressed his face into him.
“You’re the one that saved Tallis’ life. I was gonna cook him right there on that beach, remember?”
“Maybe you should go apologize,” Sabo suggested, hugging both his arms around Ace’s shoulders.
“Maybe you should apologize. For not already being upstairs with me.”
Sabo looked playfully scandalized, angling Ace’s chin up to look at him.
“To look at your journal,” Ace defended, just now realizing how it sounded.
“Sure,” Sabo replied skeptically.
Then an evil look came across Sabo. He dropped his right leg to tap the back of Ace’s knee just enough to make him fold backwards into the grass around the statue, padding Sabo’s fall.
“Hey,” Ace called after him, still laying there as Sabo walked off.
At first it looked like Sabo would ignore him all the way to the double doors, but then he turned around, giving Ace a middle finger and running his long tongue all the way up its length with a smile.
Ace let his head sink back to the grass. Eyes closed, lips parted, outrageously turned on.
“Holy fuck that is so unfair,” he muttered as he tried to catch his breath.
When he heard the crunch of gravel again, Ace opened his eyes to see Sabo had run back over, sinking a hand into the grass beside him.
“I realized I don’t wanna walk in there without you,” Sabo admitted with an embarrassed laugh, making Ace smile by helping him up.
When they set off walking, Ace’s pulse sped feeling Sabo touch his arm, feeling him rub down to Ace’s wrist as they made their way down the path. The touch sent his heart into his throat.
“Oh,” Ace reacted as Sabo slid their hands together, interlocking their fingers.
“I do this with Koala all the time,” Sabo explained, “We don’t have to. I just thought…”
“No, it’s… it’s good,” Ace breathed, “I like it.”
He felt stunned to see Sabo getting so clingy with him now as they made their way up the walkway, adjusting his hat a little more nervously than before.
The stairs from the gravel path were carved wide and grand, leading upward toward the dark, ornate double-doored entrance.
“Door looks heavy,” Sabo murmured, watching Ace grasp the handle.
He scoffed.
“Please. I think I got this, Sabo.”
Sure enough, that massive oak door didn’t budge, not even when he put his shoulder into it this time with a slightly embarrassed look.
“Maybe they locked it?” Ace huffed, still leaning his weight into the solid wood and gripping the bronze handle hard.
Sabo made a noise of disappointment, suddenly realizing the problem.
“You didn’t press the latch, Ace.”
And the moment Sabo pressed the latch, Ace’s strength threw the heavy door inward like it weighed nothing, slamming harmlessly but loudly into the old interior marble, shaking both doors ominously and echoing through the interior.
Ace and Sabo traded an open-mouth ‘oh shit’ look.
“That was you,” they agreed in unison, stepped over the threshold to close it hastily behind them.
“Just admit it’s your first time opening a door, man,” Sabo teased him, unable to hold back a grin at Ace.
But as they kicked their shoes off, Ace gave Sabo a serious look, his mind getting side-tracked elsewhere when he heard Cerise’s soft laugh from down the west hallway. He already found himself wanting to talk to her, as much as he wanted to keep Sabo company.
“Go,” Sabo encouraged, “Find me later. It’s okay.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” Sabo assured him, smiling as their hands slid slowly apart with a final look.
The massive home’s kitchen was just as impressive as its exterior.
Copper pots and pans gleamed in the sunlight, each hanging neatly from a wooden rack above a stone fireplace. The fire crackled cheerfully, lending warmth to the room.
Polished flagstones made up the floor, worn smooth by years of foot traffic. Leaded glass windows allowed the light to stream in, casting dancing shadows on the walls. One in particular caught the eye, with a stained glass rendering of a woman's face surrounded by emerald, sapphire, and ruby colors.
As Marge tended one of Tallis’ dishes, stirring it occasionally, she had placed a hand on her hip, watching Veri peek out a window past the table.
Then Veri ran past the countertop out the kitchen’s door, worried Marco might leave without her now that she saw the Spadille back at the dock.
When she clung to Marco’s knee, he leaned over enough to place a hand on her hair.
“She did a good job baking with me this morning,” Marge told him, but she couldn’t resist adding, “You know, Marco, when you said you’d pick up a cat or something to keep me company, this really wasn’t what I expected.”
He grimaced.
“I know, yoi. If this is too much—“
“Hold on, now, she’s a wonderful girl. I’m just surprised because you’re the last of Ed’s boys I’d expect to have a child. But maybe I should’ve known you’d be the first, the way you used to run around at port, honey.”
“Easy,” he warned her, flinching to be reminded of his irresponsible days, “At least three people here don’t need to know that. Best to forget whatever Oyaji told you about me. I’m different now.”
Marge fixed him with a gentle look.
“Alright, then. Good to see how much you’ve grown up, kiddo.”
She made her way slowly past him, leaving him to look down at the little girl still holding onto his leg.
“I’m glad to see you helping Marge. You like her?” Marco asked Veri, watching her nod shyly as he knelt in front of her to dust the flour off her shoulders.
She hadn’t been talking. He wasn’t sure why she’d shut down a day after being on the Spadille, but it troubled him.
“Can I ask you to stay here with Aunt Marge? Even if I have to leave sometimes, I’ll always be back quickly, yoi,” he explained softly, “Koala told me she wants to be around too.”
Veri’s eyes looked sad, shiny and puppy-like. His mouth tightened guiltily.
“I know you wanted to stay on the ship,” he told her carefully, “And you absolutely can, just not for a few years. We have to teach you a few things first. The ocean is a dangerous place. Full of people like that… that total fuckhead.”
Veri smiled at the word because she knew Marco wasn’t supposed to say it, and that was his intent, making her laugh with him for a moment.
“Don’t tell Koala I said that, yoi,” he whispered.
She nodded silently, but soon her eyes were focused on someone over his shoulder, abandoning him to run off across the entry as Koala came through the door.
Koala used the girl’s running momentum to lift her to sit on her hip, more than happy to let Veri hug her as hard as she could manage.
“Hey there. What have you been up to, tiger?” Koala said through a smile, amazed to be greeted so tenderly like this.
She held Veri higher, hugging her back as she stood there with her eyes closed, hearing the girl sniffle.
“What happened? Just miss me?”
Veri nodded.
“Still not talking?” Koala asked.
She could feel Veri shaking her head.
“Ah, alright… that’s okay,” Koala told her, bouncing her slightly and swiping a bit of jam off her face.
Veri reminded her so much of herself, nothing so much as the tattoo branded onto the girl’s little wrist. The mark made her sigh heavily, taking Veri over to sit her down on the steps of the grand staircase.
Koala knew her hair was still a damn mess under this scarf, but she didn’t much care anymore as she slid the silky material from her own head. She used it to wrap around Veri’s wrist so no one had to look at it.
Deuce already quietly offered to tattoo over it, but Koala thought it best to wait until she asked to have it covered. She’d have to chose the pain of tattooing with full understanding of its meaning.
Marco leaned into the stone-carved wall by the kitchen, jaw dropping a little. He found himself watching Koala holding the child because it gave him so many confusing feelings, his heart swelling and warm. He never wanted a kid, but suddenly felt like he already had one.
‘With her,’ he thought, and that freaked him out most of all. He didn’t want to be standing here thinking of Veri as theirs, wondering if this was Anka’s influence or his own maturity showing. He told himself it was just like how Oyaji had adopted them all, so many kids he claimed as his own.
But Marco didn’t want to be staring at Koala like this, watching her carrying around a child he thought of as his own. Looking like… well, like a mother.
He gripped his temples, stressed out by the thought. The way it threatened to change him as a person, how it forced him to think of Koala in a completely different way. For a fearful moment, he tried to lock away the thought like he’d take it to his grave.
There was a very good reason he’d avoided knocking up women his whole life. The idea of being a father terrified him. And he’d been so careful, for what?
For it to happen anyway.
Marco watched helplessly as Koala carried Veri past him, saying over her shoulder, “Good to see you, Marco. I’ll be right back. Taking her to find something fun to do first.”
He took a heavy sigh, watching the crew spill through the door, led off into the great room by Mihar and Skull. They were shuffling packs of cards, of course.
Marco thought of joining them, but being back at this villa had him pulling the small origami flower from his pocket, wondering if Izou was okay. It would’ve been so nice to play cards with him here again.
When Koala resurfaced, she startled him out of his thoughts, reaching to put the flower back into his pocket. But she’d already seen it.
“You… got that from my bag?” Koala asked, eyes narrowing with playful suspicion.
His expression dropped, confused.
“No, this? One of my nakama made it. A long time ago now, yoi.”
“I have one just like it,” she said, “Given to me recently, actually. Someone I met in Kinoko during one of Marmont’s attacks. Izou, he said.”
Marco's heart leapt in shock, sinking to his knees and holding her between his hands in amazement.
“Koala, that’s my nakama. Tell me everything. Did Izou look okay? Did he seem… happy?”
“He seemed perfectly healthy,” Koala told him, surprised at his intense reaction, but it was making her smile to see him this way, “My lotus should have his transponder code on the back. We— I mean, you can call him.”
Marco’s throat squeaked much higher that his usual register, a noise of joy that had Koala laughing loudly as he suffocated her in a hug, his eyebrows pinching in disbelief.
“I could cry, yoi,” he told her, standing up still gripping her tightly so her feet dangled off the floor. He couldn’t help but swing her in a fit of happiness.
“Thank you,” he whispered to her, “You don’t know what this means to me. Thank you so much, Koala.”
Her arms had circled his shoulders for support, pulling back to smile at him. But when their eyes met, Koala cast her gaze down at the top of his tattoo instead, knowing he didn’t mean anything by the hug. He was just excited about Izou.
They were so wrapped up in the joyful moment that it took them a second to see Sabo approaching.
Marco didn’t have to see him, he felt him.
Haki vibrated the air, cold like metal on his skin. It pushed into him unpleasantly.
He lowered Koala to the floor carefully, already knowing who he’d see when he turned around.
“Sabo,” Koala warned, not appreciating the look on his face.
“I’ll handle it, yoi,” Marco told her quietly.
Sabo watched Koala grudgingly leave the room. He kept himself in check, letting the Haki fade from the air. Allowing a more neutral expression on his face.
He just couldn’t help his initial reaction to seeing Marco holding her close like that. Without the context of him being excited about Izou, the way he had her wrapped around him was foul to Sabo. But he forced himself to calm down. Be polite.
Marco pretended not to notice, taking a few steps in his direction because he could already see the small bandage below Sabo’s eye.
“I can fix whatever happened there, yoi,” Marco told him gently, “Be glad to heal any other injuries, too.”
To illustrate, the tip of Marco’s finger flickered with a small blue flame, similar to what Ace frequently did. Only this time, Marco could feel Sabo’s energy change at the sight. A spike of fear at the suggestion.
Marco quickly waved the flame away, but Sabo was already speaking.
“Don’t put that near my face,” Sabo managed, like the idea of Marco burning his face took his breath away. After catching Marco’s look, he added, “Sorry, I mean please don't. It’s fire that did this to my eye. Even if it’s healing, I can’t let you do that.”
He could still feel the lighter burning him.
Sabo bit down in the inside of his cheek, looking guilty for having refused his help. It felt even worse perceiving Marco’s intentions, flashes of his good nature and concern.
He reached to grasp Marco’s hand with an apologetic shake, thanking him and mumbling some excuse to back out of the entry into the nearby corridor.
Marco should’ve let it be. Stopped at that. But he wanted Sabo to understand…
“I know why you feel so protective of her. I want you to know I feel the same way, yoi,” Marco said quietly, checking no one was around.
This halted Sabo’s exit, turning back to him with a wary look.
“What is it you think you know?” Sabo asked, keeping his tone careful. The heat rose up in his body again.
“The hoof of the dragon they put on her back,” Marco explained, seeming reluctant to say, “I know what the sun tattoo hides.”
Sabo found his eyes absolutely blazing when he met Marco’s gaze again, voice shaking.
“Yeah? And how did you see her tattoo, Marco? Because I can promise you she doesn’t show it to guys that are just friends. And the miserable fucks that have seen that tattoo? You don’t wanna know what happened to most of them after.”
Marco sighed, taking a step back with a hand raised. Certainly not because he found Sabo threatening, physically, but because he hadn’t meant to provoke a reaction like this.
“Calm yourself, please. I’ve done nothing of the sort to her. Forgive me for trying to connect with you.”
Marco’s words, not to mention his energy, so gentle and calming, washed all the heat straight out of Sabo. He found his anger fading with a few long breaths as they stared each other down.
Even the fact that he couldn’t stay angry at Marco pissed him off, but he kept his voice steady.
“Okay, then,” he stated, soft-agreeing to look past the misunderstanding but still having to leave the room. He was too shaken up to pretend right now.
“Well that went about as shit as it could’ve,” Marco sighed under his breath.
He kept his arms folded, disposition a little heavy as he padded down the hall to find Koala fishing through craft room drawers with Veri hanging onto her leg.
“Koala…”
“Mm?” she hummed, making an ‘aha!’ when she found some loose, broken pastels in the pain-splattered drawer beside a dusty old easel.
“I don’t believe you mentioned how… Sabo is with you. Guess I shouldn’t have said I know about your sun tattoo.”
She exhaled, closing her eyes tight like that might make it go away.
“He’s still so touchy about it. I forgot you’d seen it or I would’ve warned you. I try not to think about it.”
He shrugged.
“Yeah, well, I just didn’t mean to stress him over it, yoi,” Marco told her, watching Koala set Veri up with pastels and paper to keep her occupied.
“I should go talk to him. It’s not you, he has a lot going on,” Koala sighed.
“No worries, I’m sure he’ll come around, yoi,” Marco said, smiling even though she looked unsure, “Have you showed him that room we found yet? The one you said he’d like?”
She grinned.
“Good idea.”
Sabo had let Ace wander off on his own so he could talk to his aunt. So Ace followed the echoing voices of Deuce and Tallis, hearing them murmuring to each other outside the doorway of a sitting room.
Tallis broke away from Deuce, jogging forward to accept a hug from Ace immediately upon seeing him.
“Me and Sabo are both glad you made it okay. How is everything— you’re happy? Still want to sail with us?” Ace asked him quietly, returning his smile.
“Definitely. Mom’s in the room if you wanna talk to her for a little bit.”
Deuce squeezed Ace’s hand supportively as he passed through the threshold.
The sitting room lay awash in natural light, streaming in through the tall windows that lined the west wall. Someone had layered the room with rugs and old but stately sofas and chairs. It was all arranged in some way, Ace could tell, but Ace really knew fuck-all about interior design.
He could still appreciate the room's scent easily, though. It smelled of tea and hints of lavender arranged in a vase from the garden. The air fresh on the breeze coming in through windows left ajar to cool the home.
Seeing her there, reclining with a book by the window enchanted him all over again, as if he was in one of those dreams about Rouge again. Only this time, he’d be sitting with one of the only people alive who knew what she had looked like. What she sounded like.
Cerise smiled as she continued fanning her face gently, but she set her book aside as he took a seat next to her. He even started to pull his feet into the seat with him, but thought better of it, lowering them again thinking it seemed impolite.
“Get comfortable, darling,” she chided him until he resolved to draw his knees up again, clutching them cozily beside her.
“You must have questions for me,” she ventured, but he flashed her a slightly uncertain look.
Narrowing everything down to one question? Even the thought overwhelmed him in this second.
“You can go first,” he replied, fascinated by something as simple as watching her sip tea.
“Well… Tallis mentioned you told him your mother wasn’t still with us,” Cerise stated carefully, measuring his reaction, “Was Rouge’s passing recent, if I may?”
He shook his head, distracted to see Marge emerging into the room to set down a cup of tea for him.
“N-no, it’s— you don’t need to—“ he started, not even sure what to do with the pretty little cup.
“What, you want it in an ale tankard? Just accept the tea, it’s already made… No trouble,” Marge told him, already leaving.
Ace fidgeted, then picked up the burning hot teacup overhand like a saucer of sake, not needing the cup’s handle. His hand shook slightly, afraid to even hold something so fragile and delicate. But he took a sip to be polite, catching his aunt’s curious eyes. Then hastily rested the breakable thing back on its saucer, fearing the porcelain exploding in his grip.
Right, Cerise had asked what happened to Rouge. It was probably the last question he wanted to answer, sitting here with his mom’s kind sister. The Portgas women, they were pure and angelic, neither of them deserving to die or be told of the other’s death.
…Ace himself, however?
He didn’t even want to tell her what he thought of himself. The affliction that caused Rouge to die, like a disease that should’ve been cured by her doctors, if they valued her life at all. And he wasn’t going to lie to Cerise about it, even if the words were damn near impossible to say.
“My mother, um… it killed her when I was born,” he admitted, voice murmuring soft as if it were a dark secret of his, staring down at the teacup.
Cerise frowned, not missing the wave of guilt he had at the admission.
“Ace,” she comforted, her hand sliding over his, “Your life and your birth was her choice, not yours, so by nature you cannot be at fault. Blaming yourself only makes you miserable. She wouldn’t want that, I promise you.”
His eyes averted, swallowing hard.
“Did I not kill her, though? Does that not change how you see me? It should be her sitting here with you. A mother can replace a child, but no one could ever replace her.”
Cerise squeezed his hand, grasping until he held her hand in return. It felt just like holding the teacup, to Ace. Something too fragile and too priceless to be in his clumsy grip.
“Wanting you to live was her choice, Ace,” Cerise told him softly, “When you blame yourself for something like that, well… it ignores the sacrifice she made. What if she heard you wishing she’d let you die, sweetheart? It would break her heart. I can promise you, as a mother myself, you cannot comprehend how much she loved you, even before she met you for the first time.”
Ace turned away as his eyes started welling up. He took a deep breath, looking down at her hand in his.
He nodded, quietly conceding her point.
Cerise gave him a minute to himself, reaching for her tea with her free hand and taking a pensive sip as she peered out the window.
She felt so fortunate to be sitting in such a beautiful home. Of all people, pirates being able to cure her condition and finding her such a breathtaking place to stay certainly changed her opinion of them. A thought which suddenly begged another question…
“Is your father still…? Alive?” Cerise asked carefully.
He looked stunned, because he had assumed she knew his father’s identity. And everyone knew Roger died decades ago. But he guessed maybe it made sense that she hadn’t known.
“Deceased,” Ace admitted, then thought to add, “You never saw your sister with him?”
“Was he a pirate?” Cerise asked, her tone as respectful as she could manage. Even though Ace didn’t sound upset to call him ‘deceased,’ the man was still her nephew’s father, despite what Cerise thought of him at the time.
“Yeah, you could say that,” Ace replied, running a hand through his own hair as he said, “I know I chose the same lifestyle, but I’d like to think I’m a different kind of person than him. You’re not disappointed I’m a pirate too, are you?”
It wouldn’t have changed his mind about it, obviously, he guessed he just hoped she might say she approved.
Cerise had a memory of the man Rouge saw in Baterilla. He had a mustache and intimidating look, but Ace did resemble the man she remembered. She only saw him once. But in regards to her being disappointed in Ace? She shook her head.
“Darling, piracy is in your blood, even on our side of the family. Rouge and I weren’t raised by our own mother, unfortunately, but in her day, she was on a crew before meeting our father.”
His eyes shone a little.
“My grandmother was a pirate?”
“Quite the woman, Gloriosa,” Cerise mentioned, “From sailing alongside future emperors with the government’s most feared, to conquering the throne of Amazon Lily. I regret never being able to find her before I got sick. It’s probably best you were a boy, in fact, because it seems the women in our family tend to inherent the same illness.”
Ace took in the information with a face of concentration.
“What about your father?”
“He was a simple man. Raised us alone, but due to his age, he passed when we were only teenagers.”
“Raised you alone?” Ace reacted, “Why?”
“Shortly after my birth, our mother took the title of Kuja Empress. He wasn’t permitted on the island, and it didn’t take long for her to get too sick to care for us, forced to give us up willingly.”
Ace chewed his lip. His own grandmother.
An empress with an empire to run.
“You both would’ve been raised as royalty there,” he mused. Interesting that Gloriosa would send them away to lead a common life.
“While you’re not wrong,” Cerise started, taking another sip, “The throne of Kuja has not historically been a monarchy. It is won only by the strong willed, not inherited. Any daughters of hers would be considered a threat to anyone deciding they’re next in line. We were safer in our father’s care.”
“Jiji— or, Garp, my grandfather— told me about the D in our names. It came from Gloriosa, didn’t it?”
Cerise nodded.
“For our own safety, he tried his best to keep us away from that name and that life. Pirates and Amazonian empires. Said it would make us sick like our mother. But Ace, he would’ve loved you. He gave you your freckles, you know. And I think you look more like him than whatever his name is. That guy. Gold Tooth?”
Ace smiled, comforted that she didn’t seem to know or care for Roger’s name. It was a nice change, making him cozy and safe. He could get along with this woman easily.
But Ace was still a little saddened to hear about all these people he’d never get to meet. His modest, normal grandfather, and his mom’s interesting mother. A pirate. A conqueror.
“So after you lost your father, what happened? Then it was just you two, alone as teenagers? You and my mother?” Ace asked.
“I wish,” she said remorsefully, fighting back a glistening in her eyes, “Rouge and I parted ways shortly after. I was only sixteen.“
“Why?” Ace asked, brow knitting as he inched closer.
This was the part that Cerise least wanted to talk about. Ace could tell it brought up painful memories.
“We were grieving our father and had a disagreement. At this point, it doesn’t matter what it was about. I do remember being worried about the guy she was seeing in secret, hoping she might hop island with me instead, but she didn’t leave his side. I had second thoughts, of course, but by the time I caught that ship back to Baterilla, she’d vanished. And I never knew what happened to her for decades until my son told me about you and your crew’s reaction to my locket. I… I thought she might still be alive all this time.”
Ace swallowed hard, slowly pulling her into a hug. His eyes misted up over her shoulder, staring out the windows at all the greenery to distract himself.
It must’ve been so much harder, going nearly twenty-five years with no closure, only to find out she’d died shortly after they parted ways.
“I’m glad you’re still here,” Ace told her. He wanted to hug her even tighter, but was careful not to. She seemed so fragile, bedridden for so long even if she was recovering now.
She patted the back of his hair.
“I’m glad you’re here too, Ace. You don’t know what a gift you are to me. Rouge’s little angel.”
He sniffed, swallowing again. This time tears rolled down his face until he swiped at them.
“You’re not upset if Tallis sails with me? It’s not like we’ll be pillaging sh— uh, places or anything. Just living on our own free island, as I think of it.”
She smiled, shaking her head.
“I just need you to keep him safe.”
He nodded seriously, pulling back to look in her eyes as he grasped her hand.
“He’s a Zoan. His body’s even sturdier than mine,” Ace told her, hoping to comfort her.
She helped dry his eyes, still smiling warmly at him.
“I’m thankful we were able to speak, but I don’t intend to trap you in here with these teacups any longer. Go enjoy your friends, love.”
Notes:
Next chapter already out ->
:)Fun fact:
Since Rouge is French word for red, thought Cerise would be a good name for her sister because it’s also a French word for red/cherryGloriosa being Ace’s grandmother is headcanon but I think it has huge potential. Having similar flowers in their hair could be a way for Oda to hint at it. She was also a Rocks Pirate which immediately elevates her. Massively influential and strong before she got sick
Chapter 33: Dragon
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Koala led Sabo down the hallway, excitement bubbling up inside her like a spring. She couldn't wait to show him the grand closet, bigger than any of their rooms back home and filled to the brim with enough clothes that surely he could find something he liked.
Once in the gigantic room, she ran to the windows, casting open the heavy curtains to flood the place with light.
Sabo’s eyes lit up just as much as Koala’s, lips parting in disbelief as he took in the overwhelming closet— an entire room filled wall-to-wall with clothes hanging up, and filling drawers and shelves between mirrors. Hats littering an old coat stand, odd pieces of jewelry and watches adorning covered velvet cases.
Koala was already looking through men’s garments, encouraging him to join her.
He let a soft smile pull onto his face, padding over to where she stood to help her look.
He picked some pieces to hold up to his body, many of them seeming a little big for him, but Koala was already pulling a few drawers open, showing him what was inside them.
“Gloves,” he reacted, exchanging smiles with her.
“Are you sure these things don’t belong to anyone?”
“Marge said if there’s anything in here we need, to take it. Otherwise it’s just rotting.”
Sabo laughed as she pushed a felt hat down on his head, trying a pair of gloves on himself as she skipped away to look for any clothes that might fit his slender frame.
“Wow, what a pretty dress,” she said off-hand, showing him a white eyelet sundress shoved haphazardly between trousers. Painfully similar to the one in his nightmare.
“Not that one, please,” he said, “Can you put that back? It gives me a bad feeling.”
She seemed humorously confused but tucked it back where she found it, agreeing to trust his instinct.
Sabo inspected a few more jackets until he found a dark blue linen one, laid over a matching vest and a white linen shirt.
“You’re kidding,” he reacted softly, holding it up in the mirror thinking it might actually fit him. The next hanger had blue trousers folded over it to complete the set. The breathable fabric might be perfect for being around Ace, Sabo thought, even if they visited a chillier climate. He snorted softly at the idea that he even had this thought. To even be planning so long term like this. Like such a sap.
Sabo took them behind a folded screen to change as Koala rustled curiously through more drawers of debonair accessories.
He removed the hat, resting it on the screen. And when he ventured out from behind the screen, he was still buttoning the white shirt, hearing Koala scoff happily as she took in his appearance.
“It fits you so well! Are you kidding me? You’re starting to look like yourself again.”
Sabo shrugged off the jacket, admiring the vest in the mirror as Koala lifted something from a drawer to show him.
“Look at this, huh?” she said, smiling as she dangled it in his view.
Sabo reached with his gloved hand to catch it, a matte silver pocket watch on a silver chain.
“Sabo, it’s perfect,” Koala said, watching him inspect it, holding it in his palm with thoughtful eyes. Opening it to see its inner machinations ticking appreciatively through the watch face’s lovely cutouts. She was right; it was perfect.
He scoffed slightly, even though he clearly loved it.
“I feel like someone’s grandfather holding this thing.”
But Koala could see how much he enjoyed inspecting it, like it fit so perfectly in his glove that it was made for him.
“You’re always forgetting your watch, Sabo. Might as well have a watch chained to you. I think pocket watches make a lot more sense.”
“It does,” he agreed softly, allowing her to button the end of the silver chain to him.
Koala left him to check out the ensemble again while she straightened up the closet after they’d pawed through it.
He was surprised to see Veri patter into the room, but glad to see her grinning as she clutched a paper in her hands.
Sabo smiled, kneeling so Veri could throw her arms around his neck. The first time he really got to say hello to her since they were chained up on that ship. Seeing her look this happy, just running around and being a kid, it got him emotional.
Veri pulled away from the hug with a slight crinkle of paper, offering it to Sabo when he asked about it.
Koala was hanging up clothes they’d left out, getting them all back neatly in place, but she peeked around watching Sabo look at a drawing Veri had made.
The drawing was folded in half, so that all Sabo could see was a rough likeness of Veri and Koala holding hands. Above Koala, Veri had written ‘mom.’
Sabo’s eyes teared up a little, turning to watch Koala sorting clothes just a few steps away.
“That’s your mom, now?” Sabo asked Veri quietly, a little moved by the idea of Koala being so nurturing with a child. She never wanted one of her own, Sabo knew that much. So it was kind of special, suddenly seeing her this way.
He was so touched he could almost hear a soft harp playing, the gentle tolling of windchimes in a tree.
Sabo looked back down at the paper, still emotional as he unfolded it to show the rest of the drawing.
Marco, labeled as ‘dad.’
Sabo’s stomach lurched so violently he made an accidental noise in his throat, clutching his mouth with watering eyes.
“What’s up? You okay?” Koala asked.
Sabo didn’t answer for a long moment, swallowing hard to recover.
“Hey, Veri, could you do me a big favor and go help the others for a little bit?” Sabo struggled out gently, trying to hide his twinge of nausea.
Veri smiled, nodding before running off.
Sabo felt lightheaded when he stood, but he couldn’t stop himself from showing Koala the drawing. And god help him, he was unapologetically confrontational right now.
“Can you explain this to me?”
She wasn’t helping her own case at all, because the drawing nearly made her laugh, clapping hands over her mouth. She didn’t like seeing Sabo stressed, but he’d eventually have to realize he couldn’t overreact about every man in her life, especially this one.
“It’s not like that. We’ve been kind of… coparenting her. We’re not— Marco and I—“
Sabo had to sink to a crouch, steadying himself because the spotty vision returned. His mouth watered like he might genuinely throw up.
“Oh, you big baby,” Koala complained, “We’re not fucking. Is that better?”
“No,” Sabo managed hoarsely, still clutching his mouth with a gloved hand.
“I’m sorry for hurting your delicate ears. What if I reacted like that to Ace?”
“Ace and I are the same—“ he started to say, but realized he was so flustered he had a hard time describing all the reasons his situation was different.
Koala folded her arms, all but tapping her foot at him. Because she was gonna patiently wait for him to explain himself.
Sabo took a deep breath, sinking the rest of the way to the floor, resting elbows on his knees.
“Ace is my age.”
“Irrelevant, Marco barely looks thirty and he’s probably still gonna outlive me. Next?”
Sabo leaned weakly into the shelves of clothes, pleading with his eyes.
“Come on. Let’s get to a real reason,” she said impatiently, “Even if I chose to sleep with him, which I didn’t, what’s your problem with it?”
Sabo’s nostrils flared, clasping arms around his knees as he put genuine thought into it.
“I really like him,” Sabo started, he just faltered because he couldn’t complete the statement.
“…But?” Koala prompted gently.
“Man,” Sabo breathed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “If you’re just friends, there’s no ‘but’ …And even if that’s not the case, I know I have no right to dictate your life, okay?”
Koala scooted down next to him, crossing her arms as she leaned against the clothing shelves.
“If I had to guess,” she ventured, “Would I be correct in assuming this is Haki related?”
Sabo remembered begging her not to see anyone until she had a breakthrough with Haki. She could fight, but to him she needed coating before he considered her safer. If she could galvanize herself, she’d be a tank, but that hadn’t happened yet.
He sagged a little.
“I guess it would help, but even if you had incredible armament, are you really any match for someone that regenerates?”
“Sleeping with someone doesn’t have to be a sparring match,” Koala said, nearly rolling her eyes because he was so predictable on the matter, “I get why you have a hard time separating the two with Ace but not everybody’s like that.”
Sabo snorted despite himself, biting back a laugh.
“Fair, but not the point,” he chided with a small smile, “Look, I get how I sound, but this is coming from someone that hunted more than one guy down on your behalf. Between Loguetown and the rest of your past, I’m really struggling with this. I mean, Ace idolizes him, so I know he’s not some kind of threat.”
She eyed him softly, interested in his opinion, even if she didn’t need his permission. She still wanted to know what he thought.
“So why does it bother you? Seeing ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ on that paper?” Koala asked, her voice quiet and comforting now. It meant the world to Veri. Totally harmless, as far as Koala was concerned.
He ran a hand through his blond waves, ruffling it slightly.
“Guess it scared me, seeing how close you two got this quickly when I barely know him. You say you’re not together but it certainly looks like you are, especially looking at this drawing. Worries me because I hoped you’d never be with anyone you couldn’t overpower if needed. Just thought you’d be safer with a normal guy with no bounty… and yet…”
Even in the theoretical case where Koala was lying, and they did have feelings for each other… Sabo knew she could do a lot worse than Marco. And he really, really didn’t want to admit that, but he knew it was true.
“And yet?”
“It’s not him. It’s just me, okay? It’s hard to let go.”
She interlaced their gloved fingers, thinking about his words for a long moment.
“I thought maybe seeing the word ‘dad’ set you off for a different reason,” she offered carefully, staring down at their hands.
Now that…
That was a different conversation.
It made his chest clench when the words forced him to remember all the thoughts he’d been trying to push away since Facility B. Remembering Dragon.
“How did you know about that,” he reacted quietly, trying to reserve his emotions.
“Oh, I thought you were only worried he'd be upset about the article because he’s not picking up our calls. There’s something else I don’t know? What happened, Sabo?”
Sabo swallowed instinctively, not sure he was really ready to talk about it.
Whatever, she needed to know.
“I spoke to him already. He told me not to return unless I was ready to be more responsible. I just— fuck, I was a prisoner. He didn’t care at all what happened to me. After all this time…” Sabo struggled to continue, sniffling in a breath as his face flushed, “I can’t believe we let ourselves think he gives a shit just because he happened to be around when we were growing up. Not answering your calls? What, does he blame you too? I’m done with him.”
Koala squeezed his hand, arm circling his shoulders.
She’d been frustrated with Dragon for not answering, maybe even worried that he was upset with her, but seeing Sabo choke up was so much worse than that.
Koala suddenly found herself holding back extreme anger, eyes darkening as she gripped Sabo, who had suffered so much worse over this.
Ace heard Sabo’s entire confession on his way into the room, freezing in place so he didn’t interrupt.
Sabo was so wrapped up in his bitter thoughts he barely noticed the warmth approaching.
Koala saw him first, shifting immediately so Sabo would see Ace standing there.
“Oh,” Sabo reacted.
And he didn’t mind Ace knowing what happened with Dragon, necessarily, it just completely humiliated him to tell Ace he’d been right. That Dragon didn’t care any more for Sabo than he did Luffy all these years.
“I didn’t know I was interrupting,” Ace explained, watching Koala help Sabo to his feet so she could leave the room.
“You didn’t,” Koala assured him, “Just finding Veri.”
Left alone together, Sabo stood up and rubbed his eyes, knowing he looked emotional. He worried Ace might be hurt that Sabo didn’t tell him, or be tempted to rant about Dragon, but neither of those things happened.
Ace watched her leave, a little hesitant to comment on the situation, but when he looked back at Sabo he couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile.
“You’ve been in here playing dress up, huh?”
Sabo nodded silently as Ace ran his fingers down the material of the vest until he encountered the pocket watch. Ace’s eyes noticed the clean lines of the casual blue suit, how immaculately it draped his slender figure. His posture was different in this suit. Tall, like a dancer.
Sabo pushed his sleeves up to his elbows as Ace took in the outfit and how well it suited him. He glanced in the mirror, then returned Ace’s smile.
“Yeah, you know you look good,” Ace commented, successful in making Sabo laugh softly.
“Like it, huh? Feels different than what I typically wear, but it’s light and breathable. Linen everything.”
“Couldn’t wear it myself,” Ace admitted, “But it looks fucking great on you. It looks, what do you call it? Fits perfect?”
“Tailored,” Sabo offered, “It must’ve been too small for its owner, because everything else in here is too big on me.”
Ace gave him another appreciative once-over, but Sabo was running a hand down Ace’s arm, peering curiously to see what he’d brought.
Ace held up the new journal Deuce gave them.
“I found a hammock outside. Thought you might wanna get out of this place for a bit. Somewhere quiet. Might want something comfier than that.”
Sabo nodded, smiling because yet again, Ace proved he knew exactly what Sabo needed.
Clouds passed over lazily, the sunlight making decorative patterns through the leaves of the trees surrounding the property.
The rope-woven hammock in question had certainly seen better days, but Sabo wasn't worried about it, having thrown on a plain shirt and shorts before they flopped barefoot into it.
Sabo gazed thoughtfully at the sprawling balcony wrapping the back of the villa and led down to the old gardens. The property had at one time been manicured to perfection, but had since been reclaimed by nature with wildflowers and overgrown shrubs. Once the site of lavish parties and extravagant soirees, now littered with broken statues and toppled fountains.
Even in its state of neglect, there was an undeniable beauty to the place.
“I like it here,” Sabo mentioned quietly, getting an agreeable noise from Ace in reply, “Your place? Or?”
Ace explained how Marge had acquired the property from her brother. How it had belonged to Marco’s late father, loosely speaking.
Sabo listened, but the moment Ace said those last words, his mind spaced out completely, eyes unfocused. They sat facing each other, so it didn’t take Ace long to notice.
“Koala seems happy around Veri. They both really brighten the place, laughing and running around,” Ace added, hoping that would snap Sabo out of his sadness.
Ace eventually matched his somber expression, knowing what was bothering Sabo so badly, but he didn’t push the subject. He knew exactly how hard it was to talk about his dad.
So instead, Ace opened the black journal between them, revealing the pens keeping their place. He couldn’t help but think about Sabo’s old journal he’d stashed away upstairs, but he’d rather wait for evening, when they could both be uninterrupted.
Ace had already started to draw something when he saw Sabo slowly slide the other pen from the fold between pages. Ace gave him a smile before returning to his diligent sketching.
When Sabo touched the pen to the blank page, though, he felt immediately unsure he could put anything down. He couldn’t believe how easy it’d been to express his thoughts as a kid. Because right now, it would’ve felt so childish to describe how he felt on paper. How much damage that call did. It seemed to take all his happy memories of Dragon and shred them to pieces, because it must’ve all been his own wishful thinking.
Dragon trained him to be a soldier. A weapon against the government. That wasn’t the same thing as being loved or treasured, Sabo just couldn’t tell the difference as a kid. And to use a kid that way, his sweet younger self that wanted to please and needed to be loved, it brought angry tears to his eyes.
“Are you okay, Sabo?”
Ace saw how he’d scribbled the tip of the pen in place, watching Sabo look crushed that he couldn’t do a simple thing like even write the date. He didn’t even know what fucking day it was, after losing track of how many days and nights passed since their capture. Sabo looked across with glassy eyes, hurt.
“Can’t write it,” Sabo said, “Don’t want it to be real.”
Ace shut the book with the pens inside it and pulled Sabo down into the hammock with him, so they were both staring up past layers and layers of tree leaves.
The canopy’s green shifting shapes rustled above with calm whispers of wind and rays of sunlight peeking through. Uncommonly beautiful, especially to Ace who didn’t see trees enough anymore. The sea might be home to him now, but this reminded him of Dawn Island, warming his whole chest.
Mercifully, just laying on his back and looking up into the trees somehow seemed to make Sabo’s eyes absorb the tears again before they could fall. Sabo blinked, taking in a heavier breath than he meant to.
“I owe you an apology,” was all Sabo could manage.
Ace wrapped an arm and leg over him, hoping Sabo enjoyed the comforting gesture as much as he did.
“You can’t possibly,” Ace murmured against his neck. Sabo didn’t owe him a thing.
But when he didn’t respond, Ace relented.
“What makes you say that?”
Sabo swallowed hard.
“Because I understand why you couldn’t tell us about Roger. I know it’s for different reasons, but… I’m really sorry I expected you to talk about him. Now that I know what it feels like to not want to talk about Dragon. I get it.”
Ace shook his head.
“If it makes you feel better, I’ll accept it, just don’t think it’s necessary. We were kids. And for the record, I really preferred when you couldn’t relate. I hate seeing you like this.”
Sabo reached to rub Ace’s arm that squeezed him a little tighter.
“I didn’t mean to keep this from you or anything. Just knew you already didn’t like him… I saw no reason to make it worse.”
Ace scoffed lightly at the idea of him demanding Sabo tell him everything.
“Hey, I’m not— I didn’t expect you to want to admit something like that. I think that’d be rich, coming from me. I spent my whole time at sea not telling Luffy when I’m feeling shitty. It’s not easy… Guess that’s why Deu wants us to write in this thing.”
Just knowing Ace wasn’t upset made Sabo feel better about it, relaxing slightly into his arms.
“Thank you,” he murmured quietly.
Ace distinctly remembered Sabo planning to go back to his headquarters before they were taken prisoner, so he wondered how much of that plan had changed now that Sabo’s memory returned, now that Dragon had upset him so badly.
“Does this mean you want to stay with us? On the ship? Or do you still need to check in somewhere?”
Sabo sighed.
“I don’t know anymore. At some point, I might have to face it. But it’s all too raw right now. And even then, I don’t know if I care to speak to him again.”
Ace sagged a little as an extreme wave of guilt assaulted him. Secretly, in the most selfish possible way, a piece of him rejoiced at the idea that Sabo only belonged to him now, after breaking his ties with the army. And he felt awful when he realized it spiked him with a sense of hope.
But he couldn’t lie to himself. The thought of never having to be parted from Sabo again made his blood rush in his ears. And god help him, Ace felt his whole body buzzing, getting high on the idea.
He tried to push that from his mind, knowing he shouldn’t mind sharing him. Being unwilling to do that would limit Sabo’s freedom, and Ace would never ask him to change around his whole life, not even on his most selfish day.
“What are thinking about so hard?” Sabo asked.
Ace’s lips parted, nearly answering before thinking better of it.
“It’s okay,” Sabo told him gently, “You can share. No judgment from me.”
Sharing. Sigh.
“I was thinking that I didn’t really want to share you with them in the first place. I’m not proud of it. But I didn’t want you to go back to wherever it was because I didn’t want you to leave me. We just found each other again.”
Sabo raised up a little, on his elbow so he could look down at Ace. He gave him a softer look than Ace thought he deserved after admitting such a thing.
Ace thought it was a cruel and inappropriate thing to say when Sabo had been so upset to give up his ties to the revolutionaries. But Sabo didn’t look offended. He looked the opposite of it, full of tenderness.
“This conversation happened before,” Sabo noticed, trying to pinpoint it in his memory, “Why is it so familiar, Ace?”
It took Ace less than two seconds to figure out what Sabo was trying to remember.
“Probably when you ran away from home,” Ace said.
Sabo chewed his lip for a moment, eyes casting away from the hammock.
“I hated that bedroom. My real parents too, I guess.”
Ace nodded, not particularly excited to share that information. Wasn’t exactly the highlight of their childhood. However…
“When you decided to stay in the jungle with me,” Ace said quietly, “I remember I told you something about us being each other’s family now. And how I didn’t want you to go back to that place with those people. I guess you got reminded when I said the same thing about the army just now. Sabo, I don’t wanna hold you back, we just always seemed happier together than apart.”
“Don’t say it like that. You’re not holding me back,” Sabo told him, relieved when Ace smiled again.
But he also found him so distracting right now, studying every one of Ace’s beautiful features. He was nearly feline, how pretty he was with sharp eyes framed with dark lashes. Oddly nice eyebrows and not a single shadow of facial hair. Between that and the smattering of freckles, Sabo realized Ace must’ve taken so much after his mother.
Ace knew for a fact that Sabo took more after his mother being fair-complected and blond, but fortunately the scar framing his eye did him the favor of making that face his own with his own unique features. Ace wasn’t lying about being enchanted by it, how the pink skin made his bright blue eye stand out even more.
They must’ve lost track of time, because a voice shouting to come eat broke them from their thoughts.
Sabo shook his head when Ace tried to get up, having already made up his mind that Ace needed to be swiftly pushed back down and kissed before either of them were allowed to go inside.
Clicking the heavy glass-paneled door shut behind them, Ace noticed Sabo stop in his tracks, looking down the long corridor where Marco had also stopped, amazed to see Ace for the first time since he’d arrived. Sure, Marco had noticed him outside with Sabo twice, but no way was he interrupting them when they looked so peaceful together.
Ace’s heart soared when he saw Marco, not just because he missed him so terribly, but also because that’s how his Haki felt to Ace.
Like he was flying.
And that’s basically what Ace found himself doing, running to take a leap into Marco so forcefully that his back twinged. It’d been hurting on an off with his movements, but he’d done his best to ignore it.
Marco couldn’t ignore it, though, feeling it immediately under his hands.
“I missed you so much… Marco, they told me they killed you,” Ace admitted in a strained voice, hugging him so tightly.
“Yeah? You scared the life outta me too, yoi,” Marco replied, sounding upset, “Why can’t you stay the hell out of trouble? Your damn vivre card burned up, Ace. I thought we lost you both."
Marco no longer smiled after feeling the badly healed fissures in his back, scabs now.
“What happened back here, yoi?”
He let Ace’s boots stand on the ground again, turning him around to inspect his tattoo. He pulled out his glasses and let flames engulf his palm.
As Marco held the blue flames to Ace’s back tattoo, Marco couldn’t stop himself from noticing Sabo standing nearby, watching him work but not looking at his face.
Marco averted his eyes from Sabo too, wondering how long it would take Sabo to come around.
Ace let his head hang back with a deep sigh, enjoying the sensation of his skin starting to repair, no longer pulling painfully and stinging when he stressed it with his movements.
“Can you look at Sabo’s eye, Marco?” Ace asked, facing Sabo as Marco healed his back.
Marco caught Sabo’s look of concern, nodding silently only for Sabo to see.
“Maybe later, Ace. When he’s ready, yoi,” Marco replied softly, giving Ace’s shoulder a squeeze from behind him. Taking the pressure off Sabo so he didn’t have to refuse in front of Ace.
This only deepened Sabo’s frown, a shot of guilt going straight through his chest. Definitely feeling like an asshole for earlier.
Marco’s kindness was so clear he couldn’t ignore it. But when he pictured that fire near his face, it sent chills down his back.
After lunch, Deuce and Tallis had pulled up chairs to play card games with Mihar and Saber in one of the rooms upstairs, windows thrown open to battle the warmth.
This room was all cigar smoke and the clatter of cards on wooden tables. The light streaming in through the tall windows cast long, lazy shadows across the floor, dancing over the intricate designs etched into the marble. The walls, adorned with tapestries and paintings of ships and seascapes.
“Oh, we’re ignoring rules now?” Saber said moodily.
Mihar snorted around the lit cigar he’d found. He passed it to Saber.
“Chill, man. We’re celebrating.”
“Y’all make shit up, I swear. Since when did aces count as face cards,” Saber griped, accepting the cigar with a huff.
“Since always,” Deuce told him firmly, standing by his original assertion.
Mihar shrugged, nodding at Saber to back Deuce up.
“And of course you’re gonna take his side, Teachie— yep, exactly as I thought. Damn, this is bullshit.”
“It’s always been the rule,” Mihar defended softly, “You’re thinking of Pier Twenty.”
“Eat my ass Teachie,” Saber growled, stacking his cards stubbornly, “Or Blue’s, since your nose is up there anyway.”
Tallis’ chair scraped back loudly as he stood, slamming his cards down with one palm flattening them to the tabletop. Once he had Saber’s undivided attention, he slid his wine glass from the table and held it to his lips, taking a long drink.
His look pierced Saber menacingly over the glass’ edge, irises disturbingly yellow. The animal eyes flashed so dangerously in the sunlight it made Saber shiver slightly, still remembering the crushing strength of his grip.
“Whatever, Blue. I’ll overlook it,” Saber grumbled, having to look away from the eyes as he examined his hand of cards again.
Tallis put the wine glass back near his own face-down cards. Leaning to sit back down and scooting his chair back in under him, after proving his point.
Deuce sent him a grateful look, eyes pinching with a hint of amusement at how easily riled up Tallis got.
“Fuck it, lets play Pier Twenty. My hand’s shit anyway,” Mihar said, squeezing Saber’s shoulder to loosen him up again.
Koala found Marco in the sunroom, poring over maps.
The room was circular, with windows that stretched from floor to ceiling, allowing the sun's rays to warm the terracotta tiles and feed the various plants that thrived within the room. The sound of birdsong drifted in through its open windows.
Koala had vivre cards dried nearby, having already made a few at Marco’s request on their way to Port Fish Cake. Among them cards for Veri, Tallis and herself.
A large table dominated the center of the space, its surface covered in maps and books.
And now? A ringing transponder snail.
Marco reached for it faster than Koala, answering the call as he stood up from his chair.
“Hello? This is Marco,” he said urgently.
“What? This is Izou,” the voice answered, wavering in confused excitement, letting out a laugh of amazement, “Marco? It’s really you? I— oh my god.”
Marco laughed, biting his lip and sending Koala a sideways look, a little self-conscious for her to see him revert to a teenager again just from hearing Izou’s voice. He couldn’t help it, though, he was overwhelmed by gratitude and relief.
“It’s really me, yoi. I thought I lost you, I thought something terrible happened.”
“Hey, sappy stuff later,” Izou told him gently, “I can’t stay long, okay? Slavers have been active in Oyaji’s old territories. I think I’m close to finding where they’ve been taking all the captured children.”
Marco’s expression turned serious, pinching the transmitter between his cheek and shoulder and scrambling for a pen.
“Coordinates, Izou. I’ll be there.”
“I’ll have to call you back when when I have any for you, old friend. I suspect they could be somewhere in the Jolander Group west of Ventania.”
“Alright, alright, I’m glad to hear you’re, I mean, alive,” Marco stumbled, already feeling another wave of emotion at their call disconnecting so soon.
Izou was smiling as he said, “Ah… Marco. I have so much to tell you. Call you later when I’m somewhere I can talk.”
Koala and Marco reacted to the call ending with slumped shoulders. She reached to comfort him but it was more silly than anything, how high she had to reach to even pat at his shoulder.
“Don’t hurt yourself, yoi,” he grinned, still elated to have heard Izou’s voice at all, even for a minute.
Koala enjoyed seeing him so happy, watching his heart flutter in real time as his face flushed.
“Maybe we should tell Ace,” Koala suggested, shuffling the large unfolded maps until the correct one laid on top. She pressed her finger just under the small grouping of islands Izou had told them about.
Marco nodded, also looking down at the outline of the islands with her as he considered how far Ace was willing to sail without real confirmation first.
About that time, the transponder rang again.
“Izou calling again?” Koala asked to herself.
She reached far into the middle of the table just to get her hand on the den den mushi.
“Izou?” Koala answered, holding the transmitter to her mouth again.
“Uh. Luffy,” a young man’s voice corrected her.
Marco’s eyes widened at the same times as Koala’s, both of them visibly panicking in the silence. Koala nearly dropped the transmitter in her shock.
“I got it,” Koala murmured quickly to Marco, scrambling a little to stand up.
“Hello?” Luffy said, “Ace there?”
“Uh—“ Koala stalled, picking up the whole transponder to hold it safely under her arm.
“Yes, he’s— some other room. Sorry, I didn’t expect it to be you, so I’m stuttering all over the place.”
“What’s your name?” he asked, voice going from confused to curious.
“Ah. Sorry. Koala. How rude of me.”
“Ko-? Koko-what?” he barked, sounding like he was still fighting off his own crew who must’ve been crowding around him.
“Yeah,” she surrendered, smiling warmly as she hurried through the villa’s corridors, “Koko is fine. You can call me Koko, Luffy.”
She supposed it made sense Luffy would have just as much trouble with her name as Sabo had at first. He probably got it honestly.
“Is… is Sabo there too?” Luffy finally asked, fidgeting.
“Oh. I— yes, of course he is. I’m looking for them now,” Koala assured him.
She knocked loudly, hearing their voices through a door until they beckoned her in.
Koala creaked the door in, seeing them sitting the wrong way on a sofa, like twins as their feet rested on the back of it and their heads hung down near the floor. Upside down and chatting until she’d interrupted them.
When Ace saw the transponder in her hands, the look on her face, he knew immediately, breath catching.
“Luffy,” he called, struggling with his awkward position, but Koala didn’t give him time to get up, rushing the snail over between him and Sabo.
“Stay there Ace, it’s no trouble— here, Luffy, you’ve got them both now. Good hearing your voice,” she said as a goodbye.
She thought she’d better let them have their time with Luffy alone, but Sabo reached to grasp her wrist, silently asking her to stay. She was something of a security to him, even though he knew Luffy and already had some memories of him. Sabo still wanted Koala here after being his closest friend for so long.
“Luffy,” Ace repeated with the transmitter in hand, leaning up onto his elbow as Sabo stayed upside down next to him on the sofa.
“Ace? ...S-sabo?”
Hearing his voice made Sabo sit up a little, brow pinching as he heard the obvious love, the pain in him too. Ace fell silent so Sabo could answer, watching him with a soft gaze.
“Luffy,” Sabo said, barely able to get past his name before the words stuck hard in his throat, “Hey. My little crybaby.”
Luffy didn’t respond immediately, but they could hear a shaky breath, sounding wet and a smack of his hand on his face.
“What, um, what happened?” Luffy asked, trying to collect himself, “The paper. Everything.”
“Let me answer this one, Luffy?” Ace ventured, unsure if he’d meant to ask Sabo. But Ace couldn’t let Luffy feel like he could only trust one of his brothers.
“Yeah alright,” Luffy agreed, still sounding unsure.
“It was a slaver, and he shouldn’t have been a problem, normally, just caught us both on a bad day. Had us both in… um…”
“Unsavory conditions,” Sabo finished, seeing Ace struggle to continue.
"Unsavory conditions? So it was what we thought,” Luffy said, concerned, "You were prisoners?"
“Yeah,” Ace admitted, looking weighed down by the shame of it, “There’s a first for everything.”
“He’s speaking for himself, though, Luffy,” Sabo said, “If we’re being honest, that was not my first rodeo.”
“Huh? Really Sabo?” Luffy asked curiously.
“Cipher Pol,” Sabo told him.
Luffy made a wowed noise.
“Bastards.”
“Indeed,” Sabo agreed, “I think we got the last laugh that time. This time, too, it’s just the captain was so much more unhinged than government employees. Have to admit he was worse.”
“Tell me his name,” Luffy replied.
“Marmont,” Ace said, having to swallow as he said the name, like some foul thing.
“Former vice-admiral turned freelance sicko,” Sabo added, “Wasn’t good enough to kidnap children. Had to pin it on us as well the second he heard the marines were getting involved.”
“Has he been dealt with?” Luffy asked coldly, suddenly sounding a lot more like Ace than Sabo remembered.
“Jiji handled it, Luffy,” Ace said.
“Alright… You okay? Ace?” Luffy asked, specifying Ace because he had such a bad track record of pretending he was fine.
“Some ways I've been better," Ace admitted, "My back definitely got fucked up. I don’t recommend it. But having Sabo back made everything worth it. You know I’ve never been able to sleep very well, but I sleep a lot more now that Sabo’s here. Peace of mind and all.”
“Ace got some new scars out of it,” Sabo mentioned.
“Ah, sugoi, guys… glad you’re safe now,” Luffy told them both with a heavy sigh, “Reading that paper without hearing anything else was… yeah. Think I stress ate weeks of rations. And I couldn’t figure out why Ace knew you were alive and I didn’t.”
“Luffy, I can’t make any excuses, okay, deep down I knew I found him weeks ago. It's just that I couldn’t tell you that without knowing for sure,” Ace explained, “I never meant this to hurt you, I really hope you understand my situation here.”
Sabo, though, he couldn’t let Ace punish himself like that.
“Hang on. It wasn’t Ace’s fault at all. My shipwreck damaged my stupid brain. I lost my memories, and… and I’m so sorry for what that did to you, Luffy. I hope you know how much I treasure you. I have Ace to thank for recovering my memories of you.”
While Sabo talked to Luffy, he felt so warm, between Ace giving him a look of pure love and Koala grasping his hand.
"Hey, I already know you guys care about me, okay?” Luffy told them, “So don't worry about any of that now. We're all safe and soon we’ll be together again. That's what matters most, right?"
He sounded so innocent and youthful again now that he had switched off his anger about their capture and their cruel treatment.
“Yeah, we’re okay now and hope you are too. We’ll give you a big hug, okay?” Ace said.
“Maybe see if you still cry when I force you to tap out,” Sabo added, smiling.
Luffy laughed, a small one before cackling joyfully.
“S-sabo—!”
He could barely even talk, too amused as another round of giggles assaulted him.
Ace was grinning wide, glancing sideways at Sabo like they had a joke Sabo didn’t know about.
“What?” Sabo asked, “Are you too grown to spar with your brothers? Too cool for us now?”
“He’s,” Ace started, hard to hear over Luffy laughing, “He’s a… monster now, Sabo. Trust me, I’m the last to underestimate myself, or you, but I think our days of mushing his face into the dirt might be over.”
“No,” Sabo reacted, “Him?”
“Sabo,” Luffy said, still smiling audibly, “I’ll fight you I just don’t think it’ll be very fair. But hey, I have a long record of scores to set right, if you wanna try it.”
Sabo’s jaw dropped, not only at Luffy’s confidence, but even more at Ace not arguing it, how he nodded his head in grudging agreement.
“Oh,” Sabo uttered, “Wow, Luffy, well I think I’m curious enough to try once, hoping that won’t be my famous last words.”
Apparently that’s where Luffy’s crew stopped being able to hold back their thoughts, exploding with chatter about wanting front row seats for that. Making Sabo even more morbidly curious how badly they thought their captain would stomp him.
“Ah… I should go, you guys. Is Marco still with you? We’re on his heading. Long way out still though.”
Ace and Sabo smiled at each other, reaching to squeeze each other’s hands because of course Luffy already figured out a way to find them.
This time, Koala answered.
“Hey, it’s Koko again. Marco’s still here, Luffy.”
“Oh, thanks, Koko-lady.”
Sabo got caught on the nickname, eyes narrowing in surprise at Koala, but Ace didn’t seem to notice, too used to Luffy calling people whatever the fuck he wants to.
“One more thing, Luffy, before you go. Can Jinbei talk for a few minutes? I got one of his former crew mates here and they might wanna catch up,” Ace said.
Koala gave him stunned doe eyes, not having expected Ace to remember that. He sent her a little smirk as Luffy agreed.
“Luffy calls you Koko?” Sabo asked her, touched but slightly affronted too, “That’s my name for you.”
“Come on, you can’t share your brothers?” she complained, shaking his shoulder until he agreed that was fair enough.
Sabo looked down as Koala slipped a freshly-dried corner of a vivre card into his hand.
“Yours?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Seeing as we’re not going back to Baltigo, I thought I might as well just start replacing as many of our things as we can.”
Koala’s attention snapped away when Jinbei’s voice came back over the transponder, but Sabo tucked her card away, feeling safer already. Even if she only made it to put him at ease, he appreciated it.
Baltigo
Dragon sat behind his desk, eyes a little glassy as he stared through the open window at the distant ocean.
He shivered at the deep chill coursing through his bloodstream, so hollow inside that he didn’t even look up when an auburn-haired man ambled his way into the destroyed office.
Emmo Mori.
Former marine. Former commander under Marmont, and a proudly twisted individual with poisonous Haki.
He’d folded his arms, pacing around to look through Dragon’s bookshelves as if Baltigo bored the shit out of him, because it did.
Emmo carelessly sifted through Dragon’s things, tossing out dusty books in disgust when he found nothing interesting or valuable.
Dragon didn’t move, but his eyes flickered down to watch the priceless books land hard, cracking some of their ancient spines when they hit the hard floor.
“Ohara this, Ohara that. See, that’s the problem with you. So caught up in your own anti-government agenda that you’ll sacrifice anyone to your cause. Even my son.”
Dragon’s brow pinched, but he still didn’t look up even when he felt Emmo’s dangerous gaze on him.
“Of course you don’t care, being the loathsome war criminal you are,” Emmo continued, “But his name was Machel. He was barely twenty-four. Too young, isn’t it? Too young to die, even for a marine, don’t you think?”
It was no secret that Dragon sank ships in his day, most especially marines that got in his way. On one hand, those marines were only following orders. On the other hand, those orders directly opposed the freedom of the masses.
That young man signed up to die, and for what? Dragon would’ve recruited him if he’d had his own way, showed him he didn’t have to follow his father into the marines. Alas, the marines did not parley with rogues like Dragon. It was sink or be sunk.
“You know, you didn’t just fire on that ship,” Emmo said, voice low and angry, “You put it on the bottom of the ocean where a father could never find his son again. Not even to bury him. That fruit of yours? No one should wield power like that. I’d sooner put you and that monstrosity to rest. But not before I give you a taste of what you did to me.”
Emmo ignored him for a moment, turning his back on Dragon to dig through his shelves again, looking behind books. He’d already littered the contents of the desk across the floor, making a huge clutter and still not finding what he wanted.
“Yes, just twenty-four when you snuffed his life out. Hey, your son’s about twenty-four isn’t he? The one in the newspaper?” Emmo asked, knowing he’d get no answer— he meant it as a threat.
“Why is it you don’t keep any photos of him, I wonder? Could it be you only have pride in your work? Freedom Fighters or whatever the hell your guerrilla group is called these days. You clearly don’t deserve to be a father. And you don’t deserve to have a son after taking Machel from me.”
And Dragon, realistically, had to suppose that was fair to expect out of another man. He just knew Sabo wouldn’t be the easy target that Emmo believed he was. Not to mention, Dragon had heard the whisperings of Emmo Mori and Jericko Marmont, their quiet scandals covered up by the marines before they’d eventually taken their leave willingly.
He could’ve told Emmo it was rich for him to assault his character when he suspected Emmo guilty of real assault. But he knew better than to speak, and even looking at Emmo would’ve been a mistake.
As footsteps approached, however, Dragon couldn’t help but peer at the door, wondering what new horror might enter.
Sure enough, Dragon’s arms erupted in chills under his cloak when his own brainwashed army recruits forcefully escorted Ahiru into the room, having removed her mechanized arm and holding her head up by her hair.
She’d fought the whole way to Baltigo by the look of it, breathing hard with adrenaline still coursing through her as she met Dragon’s stare. Ahiru’s own fast breaths puffed out her disheveled hair, sending him a meaningful look that swore they hadn’t made her give up any information yet.
Emmo approached her slowly as the recruits held her in place, and the older man extended his hand to caress her neck in front of Dragon, looking back to clock his carefully reserved reaction.
“Poison dart,” Emmo whispered into her ear, his lips close enough to make her shiver angrily.
Emmo expected to see green spidering out to seep into her skin, affecting her brain with corrupting poison, but nothing happened when he pulled back in quiet confusion.
Dragon noticed, eyes widening before he controlled them. Ahiru looked worried, but Emmo’s fruit ability didn’t work on her.
Her brain had been modified. Half human, half machine. Not enough human to poison, if Dragon had to guess why. It gave him a small rush of relief, knowing she was one of the army’s only incorruptible revolutionaries.
“Lock her up out of my sight,” Emmo ordered quietly.
Dragon stole one last look at her before returning his gaze to his lap, where two sets of kairouseki cuffs held his forearms, freezing his body, if not with cold, then with unimaginable fatigue.
When he was younger, he would’ve smirked at the fear it took to put two sets of cuffs on someone, would’ve seen it as a compliment.
As it stood, Dragon couldn’t muster even a fraction of his old cockiness. He had a family now, and Emmo was picking them off one by one. Being double-cuffed only made him despair for those he couldn’t defend.
“Know what I don’t fucking get?” Emmo growled, clearly bothered by his fruit failing on Ahiru.
Emmo shoved more books off his shelves, enjoying how much he knew Dragon hated it, even if he didn’t outwardly flinch. Even if he stayed silent.
“You raise this blond kid as your own. Yet you have not one picture of your real son. ‘How does Emmo know about Luffy?’ Of course I know about him, you lousy deadbeat,” Emmo spat, “And if I didn’t already know, I’d have known the moment that paper exposed your surname to the world. But where are the pictures of him? He shames you?”
Dragon didn’t respond. Didn’t seem to hear him, but his heart beat faster when Emmo said Luffy’s name out loud. People like Emmo were exactly the reason Dragon kept no photos and tried to keep his distance.
But the moment Dragon heard a thin page unfold behind him, he let out a shaky breath, because oh… there was at least one picture of Luffy he couldn’t bring himself to throw out recently.
Emmo found it in a book, dropping it harshly to unfold a newspaper clipping.
The article featured images of Luffy and Ace, exposing them for Saint Jalmack’s assassination.
“Exactly how busy have you been with these women? Always the worst fathers with the most children. Brothers, the headline says they are,” Emmo murmured thoughtfully, looking down at Ace’s image, “Fire Fist is yours too.”
This time Dragon spoke, struggling to his feet until they were equal in height, his eyes steeling.
“Yes he is,” Dragon asserted, “I claim all three of them. And make no mistake, Mori, you’d be stupid to target just one of them, so god help you if you target them all. Don’t be surprised when they send you to meet with your son.”
Emmo met Dragon’s stare for a long moment before scoffing with a smirk.
“Fire Fist destroyed my ship. Maybe I should make him destroy yours with you on it. It’d be easy with a little poison. I don’t even have to touch him. He only has to hear me say it.”
Dragon shivered, more at the kairouseki than anything, but it gave him no joy to hear Emmo’s conniving voice, as if just the sound of him was poisonous enough.
“Hack and Karasu await your orders, commander,” a recruit said, addressing Emmo instead of Dragon.
“They already know who I want,” Emmo said smugly, staring deliberately at Dragon, “Tell them to act the second they find a window.”
Notes:
Forgive me if the next drop goes slightly over a week. I don't think it will, but I’m trying to pace myself
Chapter 34: Loveletters
Summary:
As the sun sets, Sabo finds even more reasons he’s grateful to Ace, from inked skin to inked journal entries.
I didn’t split the chapter this time so she’s a sizable one but it didn’t feel right separating the events.
Notes:
Spoilers / Content Advisory:
They have sex, and it is blissfully vanilla and romantic imo. Sabo is the experienced one, soooo Ace gets spoiled to hell. As he should be
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Before dinner, Sabo and Ace found themselves changing into their kimonos, back in the wardrobe room since Ace knew his room had no mirrors.
"Man, this closet's bigger than my old bedroom," Sabo murmured, pulling the weighted silk over his bare right shoulder, enjoying its blue sheen.
"Yeah, you can bet whoever built this place thought pirates would be ransacking it right now," Ace added, glancing around the closet as he donned his own orange silk, "But here we are, cleaning up for a party instead."
"The last thing an aristocrat would expect of us ill-mannered heathens," Sabo agreed once he had the kimono wrapped loosely over his chest, copying the way Ace was tying the obi low on his waist. Then he admired the look, angling his body and impressed by the garment in the mirror.
Ace was a natural in his kimono, the deep orange draped over his broad shoulders, the gold embroidery shimmering in the dim light. His chest was bare, muscles taut and defined beneath the casually draped silk, and Sabo could feel his own breath hitch as they both stared.
Sabo looked just as good, Ace thought. The dark blue perfectly contrasted Ace's orange robe, and the pattern of white and pink made Sabo’s pretty eyes even more vivid. His chest was bared as well, pale and defined against the darker color of the kimono, and Ace could feel his heart race as he imagined running his fingers under the material. Sabo had something in the way he held himself, confidence that seemed to fill the room.
“I know this is what swordsmen wear, but I just look like a dancer in it,” Sabo sighed.
"Nah, with the tough eye? You look intimidating as hell," Ace replied, but he couldn’t resist adding, “I dunno, though, you might’ve got soft, all those years without me as your sparring partner?”
Sabo's playfully dangerous gaze met Ace's in the mirror as he adjusted his kimono.
“The scars aren't just for show, y'know. I can still take you down, if you're really looking for it."
"That so?" Ace asked, his voice as silk as the robe now, enjoying Sabo getting competitive, “Gotta agree, the burn is pretty convincing. Like you already took out the last Flame user."
Sabo laughed.
“Knew you were still after that matchup with me. I’d be happy to show you how it's done, but I think tonight it's just dinner, right?"
Ace smiled back, "Right... gotta get your strength up if you wanna stand a chance tomorrow."
"Then I can't wait to see just how good you really are," Sabo challenged.
Ace leaned in close, ghosting across Sabo's lips.
”And I can't wait to see if you're as good as you think you are,” Ace teased.
"Fair," Sabo laughed softly, letting Ace circle arms around him as they rested their faces together.
Sabo's gaze lingered on Ace's lips, though, and Ace could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. He knew they were playing a dangerous game, teasing each other like this, but he couldn't help but want more.
He could feel the tension building between them, like a coiled spring waiting to be released, and the thought of what might happen when they finally gave in sent a shiver down his spine.
But whatever thoughts may have crossed their minds would have to wait, as both of their stomachs growled loudly between them.
They’d found the lavish dining hall table set with delicious-smelling bread and honey to go with the stew. Bowls held steaming white rice and vegetables. The fragrant scent of it all filled the air, making Ace's stomach growl again.
The whole crew was here, all of Ace's men from giants to those smaller in stature, then Banshee who had made herself useful passing out the last of the table settings
Everyone seemed in high spirits, laughing and joking around. Sabo already recognized their familiar faces, comforted by the thought that he was eating in a room full of people he actually knew.
Marge had set wine out for everyone, already busy barking at them not to drink it yet. Marco took over, thankfully, settling them down for Marge just as Ace walked into the dining hall with Sabo.
Even without dipping into the wine yet, Sabo could already appreciate the dining hall's inviting atmosphere, and he found himself feeling more at ease than he had in weeks. It was as if they were all part of one big family, reunited after a long journey apart. Minutes after they sat, he glanced beside him at Ace, who was already talking animatedly with Marco and Tallis.
"No way," Ace was saying, "He's already got you training, Tallis?"
"The kid said he wanted abs," Marco defended.
"He's not the only one," Tallis added, "Marge was putting us both through the ringer before you got here. Had us cleaning this place top to bottom."
"And you seem to be on cooking duty again, on top of all that,” Sabo noticed, recognizing the stew.
"Now that, I enjoy," Tallis told him, resting a hand on his chin to watch Sabo and Ace eat for a moment. His face fell a little, crossed by a sudden look of guilt.
Both of them were draped in that beautiful silk, not exposing much skin, but Tallis couldn't stop staring at their wrists, still bruised and cut by the cuffs. And he saw that Sabo still had a small patch bandage under his eye, even though Marco could have fixed it easily.
Despite neither of them appearing to hold a grudge against Tallis, he couldn’t help but feel that nothing he did would ever personally redeem him, not to himself anyway. But his arm jostled, making him turn to see Marco's eyes, then watch him speak.
“Did you know that you’re frowning, yoi?” Marco said quietly to him, barely saying the words because Tallis could read them and no one would overhear. He knew it was tough for Tallis to face Sabo and Ace now, because he'd talked to Tallis about it briefly, but…
“Try to stay outta your head,” Marco encouraged, “Everybody’s okay. No need to worry, yoi."
Tallis looked away to stab his fork into a stewed carrot, gripping the utensil so hard it threatened to bend the metal.
"No one can be okay after all that. Not even me."
Marco stopped his hand from stabbing his food, silently demanding his attention.
"They're happy. You’re allowed to be happy too," Marco said firmly, voice low so no one could hear.
Tallis exchanged a look with him, his brown eyes shining slightly before he blinked them.
“Thanks, Marco.”
His sad expression got bluntly interrupted by a pea smacking into his cheek, reaching up to wipe the wet spot of stew off his skin with confused eyes.
Tallis looked across the table to see Ace and Sabo biting back laughter as Ace pointed at Sabo like he'd been the one to do it.
And especially after a glass of wine or two, dinner was a lively affair, filled with laughter and stories from their adventures at sea. Sabo found himself telling stories of his own, not even minding Koala jumping in with the occasional embarrassing detail because he liked seeing everyone laugh. Even Tallis seemed to be enjoying himself, amused and adding his own comments to the conversation.
As the night wore on, the wine flowed freely, and the mood became more relaxed. Sabo found himself growing more comfortable, feeling a genuine sense of camaraderie growing between himself and the crew.
How they looked at him still baffled him, like to them Sabo was a piece of the puzzle they'd been missing for years. He started to connect the dots the more the crew talked, starting to understand just how much Ace must've mourned him all this time for his crew to know so much about his childhood.
"Surprised your hair isn't curlier than that," Finamore was telling Sabo, "Didn't you have really curly hair before?"
"I... yeah, I did," Sabo marveled, looking around the table, "I mean, I didn't think anyone would know all these things about me."
"C'mon, Sabo, you gotta know Ace used to tell us about you all the time," Mihar said, leaning into he table with his elbow as he took a sip of wine.
"Yeah, you've been our honorary brother longer than anyone," Deuce added, lifting his wine glass at Sabo.
Ace bit his lip, letting his crew speak for themselves.
Sabo's heart swelled at their words. Hearing them talk about him like this, as if he truly belonged, was overwhelming. He couldn't help but feel a deep sense of gratitude.
“You good, Sabo? Choking up on us?” Cornelia asked, arms crossed with a smile.
“Just never thought I'd meet so many decent fucking pirates,” Sabo confessed, making the group of men erupt in laughter as Banshee rolled her eyes grinning.
"But if this is what it's like,” Sabo continued, “I’m glad I found you."
Sabo caught Koala’s smile of approval over her glass as she silently toasted him in agreement.
“And thanks for watching out for Koala,” Sabo said, “Or letting her watch out for you, as was equally likely.”
This time it was Koala’s turn to blush slightly as the crew raised their glasses at her.
"And thank you for trusting me, Ace. You have a good crew. I’m glad I met them,” Koala said, her voice soft and sincere.
Ace stood up, pulling his rancher off and reaching far over the table to smush it down snug onto her head, getting claps from the crew to see her laughing underneath it.
Sabo felt warm and satisfied, if not by the spirits and food, then by the jovial energy of the Spade Pirates.
He was no lightweight, but perhaps it was the glass of wine that had his eyes dropping sideways to glance down Ace’s kimono, awkwardly rubbing his own neck.
He could see that a drop of wine dotted Ace’s chest at some point and dribbled a tempting purple line down the skin. Sabo told himself not to think about licking it off of him, having to swallow and look away.
Sabo found himself only half-listening to anything else going on. His gaze kept drifting back to Ace, studying his face, the way he moved, the way he laughed.
It seemed for a moment that Ace’s mind was on the same subject as Sabo, because after they’d dined and drank to their hearts’ content, Ace leaned over to whisper to him.
“Now that dinner’s over… Do you wanna see it?” Ace asked, not realizing how suggestive he sounded in Sabo’s ear.
His forwardness stunned Sabo.
Sabo nodded, dumbfounded and lightheaded before he realized what Ace was actually talking about.
“The journal?” Ace added, a little confused by Sabo’s reaction.
“Oh,” Sabo replied, mouth drying up at the misunderstanding, clearing his throat briefly, “Yeah, the journal. Obviously.”
“Obviously,” Ace repeated, biting his lip afterward to hold back an embarrassed smile. He compulsively fussed with his hair, as if he’d picked up the nervous habit from Sabo.
Sabo looked him up and down, shaking his head in disbelief as they stood from their seats long after most of the crew had peeled off.
He was wrapped so tight around Ace’s finger that he’d look at that journal all night if Ace wanted to. And sure, Sabo meant that in a sexual way, but he also would’ve actually looked at the journal all night to make Ace happy— fully clothed, drinking sake and laughing so hysterically they’d have the whole crew pissed off by morning.
Sabo tried not to sink into a grim place, mentally, but he couldn’t help thinking how just days ago Ace had bloody stripes across his back, letting slavers drown him just to keep them from looking at Sabo. Nothing made him more desperate to keep Ace smiling than remembering how much pain he’d endured.
Ace led the way, his long strides carrying them quickly through the spacious hallways giving any lingering crew a cheerful smile. They ascended the stairs polished to a gleam, the sunset light reflecting off of them from the entry almost blinding.
They finally arrived at Ace’s favorite door, stopping to open it at the threshold of his usual bedroom. Sabo could see its spaciousness, with high, arched windows that looked out over the ocean. The furniture was ornate and comfortable, the walls adorned with paintings and tapestries.
"This is where I keep it," Ace announced, both of them standing in the doorway.
It was a little dim in the bedroom until Sabo heard Ace snap his fingers, causing the sconced oil lamps to spring to life with flickering flames. He sent Ace an appreciative eye-roll.
"What?" Ace asked, grinning and crossing his arms.
"I find it attractive when you do that," Sabo admitted, and as Ace reveled in the compliment, Sabo ventured curiously into the bedroom.
Sabo kept his arms folded comfortably as he looked around, first at the painting of some old, unmarked ship above a stone fireplace— unlit because the place was already plenty warm enough. Then at the dual, mirrored tapestries of a ferocious wild cat bordering the window on the opposite side past a couple of closed doors.
“Picked this room because the wall art reminds me of Kotatsu,” Ace remarked casually, also looking around as if he’d never seen the place before.
Sabo tried not to notice the bed, but it was an opulent four-poster, carved by hand and draped with fabric. Even in his childhood, he’d never seen one this luxurious. Whoever the manor’s owner had been, Sabo was sure his parents would’ve tried forcing him to marry them, age difference be damned.
Ace gestured to a particular spot in the corner where there was a pattern of three overlapping circles etched into the marble floor.
Sabo looked a little amused when he saw the gaps in the center etching of the stone tiles where all three circles overlapped.
“Don’t tell me you carved up Marge’s floor,” Sabo said, nearly laughing as he approached to knelt beside Ace.
“The tile was already a little loose,” Ace said, excitement coloring his voice, “Anyway, it was the perfect place. I couldn’t resist.”
Sabo watched Ace carefully pull the stone away to lift out his leather-bound journal, old but undamaged. The longer leather binding on the back wrapped around the front to secure it shut, protecting the pages inside.
Ace held it for a moment before offering it to Sabo, who could only tell Ace felt possessive over it because of the emotion that crossed his face. Still, Ace offered the irreplaceable thing willingly to its original owner.
Then Ace glanced over his shoulder at the bed.
“Wanna look through it?” he asked, already climbing on top of the blankets.
Sabo nodded and joined him, laying on his stomach beside Ace so they could flip through it together.
Before, he opened it, though, Sabo glanced over at the loose tile and the space between support beams the book had come from.
“I’m curious what made you leave the journal here instead of keeping it with you,” Sabo said.
Ace shifted, adjusting his kimono leaning on one elbow as Sabo eased the leather cover open.
“Oh… I hid it here in case something ever happened to the Spadille, so that nothing could destroy it even if I lost the ship,” Ace explained, “I mean… this journal, it’s all I had left of you. That’s why.”
Sabo’s eyes fell, heart aching to hear about that time in his life.
Ace ran his fingers across one of the pages, remembering how often he’d spent reading about their adventures, but then he stopped, suddenly self-conscious about it.
“What’s up?” Sabo asked.
Ace knew Sabo probably did want him here for this, but it occurred to him how invasive it was to just lay out everything Sabo wrote in the past between them, giving him no choice in the matter. And some of the contents might’ve embarrassed Sabo to share when they were kids, so it suddenly turned Ace’s stomach to admit to even reading his journal.
“If you wanna do this alone, I’ll give you some time with it. Reading it was different when I thought you weren’t alive. Now, it’s like I’m holding something you wanted to keep private,” Ace explained.
“No,” Sabo said, grabbing his hand as if worried he might actually leave, “You were grieving, Ace… I’m just glad there was something to comfort you. If you already read it there’s no point in keeping it secret.”
Ace nodded at his encouragement. He didn’t bother with the gloves this time, though, seeing as the most important part of this book was already laying beside him, miraculously alive and healthy. He was sure Sabo would be touched to see how much he cared about the journal, but it was equally likely to get a small laugh out of him at the unnecessary care taken.
So Ace turned a few pages, showing Sabo he could already write full pages as a six-year-old. Even if his penmanship wasn’t there yet, Ace found Sabo’s ability to spell and write legibly impressive at that age.
Sabo shook his head slightly, remembering flashes of Grey Terminal. He scanned the entries with Ace, but Sabo kept them flipping through until he started seeing Luffy’s name. Those were the memories he needed to make sure he recovered before Sabo saw him. The first time they’d meet in fourteen years.
"So, this was when we found a bandit camp, and we snuck in during the middle of the night,” Ace remembered, “Between the three of us surprising them, we had no trouble putting their lights out. After we showed him how, Luffy tied all of ‘em up himself. Did pretty good for his first time, made me proud.”
Sabo smiled, warmth spreading through his chest.
“Oh god, I just remembered that Luffy tied them up with the rope he’d been using as a swing. Ace, remember how bad it smelled?”
Ace was already laughing, wiping moisture from his eyes, “Man, Luffy’s sweaty armpit was all they could smell, couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Fuck, they were pissed.”
“Yeah, because it was fucking disgusting,” Sabo said, laughing so hard he snorted into his hand, “Almost felt bad for them.”
“Poor kid smelled like ass half the time and we could’ve helped, but for awhile it was like trying to bathe a cat,” Ace sighed.
“Huh, just remembered how after he tied up the bandits, Luffy said it would be funny to call his grandpa on them and watch them get led away. You said no because they’re doing all the work for us, rounding up berry so we can steal from them instead of going into town,” Sabo recalled, scanning the page, “You were quite a mastermind, know that?”
Ace looked over at him with a smile, hand threading into his dark hair.
“That what you liked about me?”
“Maybe. No, not completely,” Sabo said softly, “Pretty sure I liked how you never admitted to being scared of thunderstorms.”
Ace’s jaw slacked a little.
“I’m not. I didn’t think I was then either.”
“Really? You always scooted your blanket and pillow closer to me when it was raining at night,” Sabo recalled, “You don’t remember that happening?”
Ace considered this, brows raising to himself.
“Damn, your memory really is coming back… I think because the thunder would wake me up sometimes. But I only got closer because it was easier to fall back asleep that way. Felt safer, I guess.”
Sabo had his chin in his hand, using his fingers to pin his smile closed, eyes crinkling at Ace.
“Hm?” Ace asked.
“It’s just precious that you felt safer next to me. It took me awhile to realize you were so soft under that tough exterior. Always had so much love for us even if you couldn’t always show it, huh?”
“Yeah. I can now, at least,” Ace said.
Sabo squeezed his shoulder as Ace glanced down at the next page, expression pensive.
“This was the day we'd found an old cabin in the jungle,” Ace murmured, “There was a lock on the door, but you managed to pick it open."
Now Ace had a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, adding, “Luffy was too impatient though, already broke a window and snuck in to see if there was food in the pantry.”
Sabo laughed softly.
"I remember that. He never stopped being hungry no matter what we fed him.”
Ace turned the page in the journal, his brow furrowing as he scanned the handwritten words.
"That’s right, the next day we tried fishing from a stream in the woods. By the time we found the best place, we were all so thirsty we were just shoving our faces in. And there was this tree there with a hollow trunk... I think when I was around fifteen, we went here again and Luffy thought it would be fun to carve a message in it."
"What message?" Sabo asked, leaning in curiously.
Ace shrugged.
"Oh, you know... ‘Here was Luffy, future King of the Pirates’ or something like that.”
Sabo chuckled, shaking his head.
“Not surprised. He was always so sure of himself."
Sabo glanced down at the page again.
"I never would have thought back then that any of this would happen. That we'd end up here, you know?"
Ace nodded slowly, his eyes lost in thought.
"Yeah... me either,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Always manage to find trouble wherever we go. Gotta say, this might be the first time trouble has ever improved my life, though.”
Sabo flipped through a few more pages of the journal, his fingers tracing over the familiar handwriting.
“Did you ever try writing about things after I left?”
Ace shook his head.
"No, not really, mostly I would just tell the crew stories about our adventures together. I guess because I only wanted to remember the good times."
Sabo nodded, understanding.
“I’ve been trying to do the same thing lately. It's nice finally being able to remember us, nothing morbid or complicated yet, just a bunch of kids dreaming of being pirates."
They continued to flip through the journal together, lost in memories of their youth. Occasionally, one of them would point out a particularly funny story or a moment they'd forgotten about, and they'd laugh together, the sound of it echoing through the room.
"Remember the lake near our old stash?” Ace asked, “We used to see who could swim across the fastest. Man, that one time Luffy jumped in after us?”
Sabo gave Ace a look of horror.
"I forgot… that nearly drowned him. He already had his fruit."
Ace dipped his head, nodding.
"Yeah. Before he was our brother. Neither of us knew if we could trust him yet, so we swam across so he’d lose our trail. That's how we kept him away from our treasure so long. Had no idea the brat would do something so dumb.”
Sabo frowned a little, searching until he was able to picture that day.
"I was the one who noticed he went under. But you were faster. You're the one that saved him."
"And I wasn't happy about it either," Ace said, laughing slightly.
They fell silent for a moment, each lost in their own memories. By the time they neared the middle of the journal, Sabo found himself growing a little sad at how much time he'd lost with Ace after the accident.
Sabo traced his finger along the pages, feeling the soft rasp beneath his fingertips. He glanced at Ace, amazed at how much he needed him in his life. The easy companionship, the shared history, the simple understanding that only they could truly have.
"Thinking hard, huh?" Ace mentioned, looking up from the page.
"Just thinking that… do you ever wish we could go back?" Sabo asked, “To when we were kids?"
Ace shrugged.
"I used to. But now... no way. Especially now that you’re here. As a kid I expected you and Luffy to get sick of me, couldn’t believe you cared about me if I tried back then. Now? I can finally be at peace with everything that happened. No more shitty fathers. No more sharing you with High Town pricks. We get to just… live our dream now, you know?”
Ace paused, flipping through the pages of the journal again, “But I get what you’re saying too. I guess a part of me does miss how simple those days were, when the worst thing that could happen was getting in trouble with the local Marines."
Sabo nodded, a wistful expression on his face.
"We had some good adventures. Even if Luffy did get us lost half the time. But I gotta say I spent so much time trying to remember the past that I’ll be glad to just enjoy making new memories now."
Ace smiled, carefully sliding the journal away to give them space in the bed. Sabo caught his look, breath catching to see Ace’s lips just inches from his own.
The only reason he didn’t shove Ace into the pillows was the sound of a throat clearing outside their door.
“It’s Tallis,” the voice said.
“You can come in,” Ace said after a nod from Sabo.
The door creaked inward, and there was Tallis, ruffling his short hair with a small crossbody slung across his tee and a pair of Deuce’s harem trousers.
“Sorry to interrupt, just asking if Ace wants to see Mom since she just woke from her nap,” Tallis said.
Ace sat up, sending Sabo an apologetic look.
“Yeah, I do. Sabo, I’ll be back soon unless you wanna go with me?”
Sabo shook his head with a smile, gently folding the leather cover to hold their place in the journal.
Tallis turned his attention off Ace for a moment, having remembered the bag he brought.
“Right, um, Sabo. Take this if you need it. Found it in the kitchen,” Tallis mentioned, tossing the bag to him.
Sabo could feel Ace’s curious eyes on him as Sabo scanned the bag seeing the jar at the bottom of it.
He laughed slightly, cheeks tinting pink as he closed the bag again.
“You don’t need it?” Sabo asked Tallis, surprised when he shook his head innocently.
“No, and if you use it, you should definitely keep it,” Tallis told him, smirking when this drew an amused snort out of Sabo.
“What’s…?” Ace asked, still not having seen the jar.
Tallis shrugged, sending him a simple smile.
“Nevermind all that. C’mon, Ace, she wanted to show you something.”
Sabo exchanged one last knowing look with Tallis as Ace jumped down off the bed and crossed the threshold with him.
Koala appeared in the doorway at the same time, changing places with the boys as she knocked softly on the doorframe.
“Hey, if he’s taking Ace away, did you want some company?”
Sabo nodded at her, but seeing the jar of oil laying in the bag in his lap made him hastily close it and drop the bag off the bed out of her sight. She was even more curious than Ace, and she was the last person he wanted to explain that jar to.
Koala leapt onto the bed in her socks, balancing for a moment before settling down beside him.
"Whatcha got? A book?" she asked.
Sabo looked down at the aged leather cover, pulling it closer to them.
"Yeah, it's my old journal, apparently. Everything I wrote as a kid before the accident," Sabo said, glancing over at Koala, “Ace and I were just reading it, but I'm a little curious what else is in there if you wanted to look through it with me?"
Koala thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay, sure. But only if you don't mind."
They spent the next few minutes sifting through the pages, laughing at some of the drawings Sabo had made as a kid. Sabo shared some of his memories with Koala, including the times they'd snuck out of Dadan's house and wound up paying the price.
Koala peered at the little sketches he'd made, openly impressed.
“Your handwriting is the same,” Koala told him softly, “But I had no idea you could draw."
"Neither did I," he agreed, smiling as they examined Luffy's likeness.
"Who is this? Ace when he was a kid? It can't be, with that little eye scar," Koala said.
Sabo smiled, touching his face on the page.
"It's Luffy. He was our little brother. I mean, still is, but this was him at seven."
Koala stared down in amazement.
“You knew Dragon's son? What are the chances?"
Sabo shrugged.
"Actually I've been thinking it makes a lot of sense, why Dragon had been in Goa Kingdom when my ship went up in flames... he was probably around because of Luffy in the first place. Meaning I owe more to Luffy for my rescue than I ever realized."
Koala gave him a sad look as the weight hit them both at the same time.
Sabo wondered how many times he'd experience profound sadness at the thought of Dragon. It didn’t seem to ever get better, especially because he knew it upset Koala too.
Koala couldn’t even find words to comfort Sabo about it because she was just as gutted by it.
“Were we in the wrong here?” Sabo asked helplessly.
“No, Sabo, we were supposed to ignore slavers? Taking children? We’re close to finding them, and we couldn’t have done this if we hadn’t gone against his wishes. It doesn’t mean he’ll stay mad forever,” Koala reassured him.
Sabo scoffed, shaking his head, because yes, Dragon could stay mad forever.
Koala recognized Sabo’s reluctance to budge on the matter, dropping the subject by planting a kiss against his temple before looking back down at the journal.
Sabo turned a few pages slowly, going back to scanning his entries until he found one that made his brows turn up sadly.
“This was the day I found out that Ace hid his father’s identity from us.”
Koala frowned slightly, not having to read more than a couple of lines to understand Sabo was disappointed at Ace at the time.
“I thought I was right to get upset,” Sabo added, shifting his elbows, “But now that I had such a bad falling out with Dragon… I understand not wanting to talk about him completely. I should’ve just accepted it without question. Been supportive. It was my fault Ace left us for so long.”
“You were just a kid,” Koala defended gently.
Sabo snorted softly, clearly not thinking that excuse good enough. He flipped aimlessly through more pages until the binding laid open naturally on a page that had been opened more than any others, near the end of the journal.
This one had tiny places of water damage, just dots here and there.
Tears on the ink.
The first entry, Sabo had written alone in his High Town bedroom, just before setting out to sea. Sabo and Koala read the words, their eyes widening.
His orange shirt is the only thing I have left of him now, but I wish I could trade it for him instead. It’s so lonely here… I wouldn’t admit this to anyone but it made me cry when I held it last night.
I think I’m starting to realize he’s more than a brother to me, or that’s what I wish anyway… but I don’t think I’ll get to tell him that for a long, long time. I already sent Luffy and him a letter with my last postage after all.
Maybe one day when we meet out at sea… If I still like him enough, and if Ace ever liked me the same way, then we can finally spend more time together.I won’t mess everything up this time.
S
Sabo choked up, hastily wiping at his eyes. He remembered writing this. He’d had to wipe his tears that day, too, when he finally understood how deeply he felt for Ace.
“Stupid boy,” Sabo struggled out at himself, sniffling, “Why didn’t you try harder to reach them? You should’ve found a way…”
But before he could chastise himself any more, his sorrowful blue eyes scanned a note written just under his entry. This note featured darker ink and different handwriting printed as nice as possible in Ace’s much messier letters.
What do you mean ‘if Ace ever liked me the same way?’
I don’t just like you, Sabo, I love you.
Always have.
Even when I die I’ll be glad because it means I can see you again. Will you wait for me?A
Ace had written this after finding Sabo’s journal. That meant that he’d written this thinking Sabo had already died, his last and only chance to tell Sabo how he felt. Ace’s short note had tears rolling down both Sabo’s cheeks faster than he could wipe them away. He pressed the heel of his palm to his face hard, holding back a pitiful noise when he imagined how much pain Ace must’ve felt to write something like that.
Koala rubbed his back, hand gliding easily over the woven silk and trying to avert her gaze.
“I’m okay,” Sabo said, mainly reassuring himself.
Koala examined the page with him.
”What’s this mark? Under your entry?”
“That crossed-out ’S’? I’ve been thinking how familiar it looks. What does it remind you of?” Sabo asked.
She looked at it again, trying to pinpoint it.
“Your old jolly roger…” Koala realized, “It’s still in your quarters at Baltigo. Maybe I can go retrieve it for you, if you don’t want to go back there.”
“No, you’re not going anywhere alone,” Sabo asserted immediately, “That’s way too dangerous and you know it.”
“I could take Marco,” she offered, absolutely joking.
Sabo smirked, shaking his head at her.
“Yeah, well. Jokes on you because I’d still prefer that to you wandering off alone.”
That surprised her.
“Really? You’re cool with me sneaking off with only Marco? You’re fine with that?”
“Again, yes, it’s better than you sneaking away alone,” Sabo insisted.
Koala gave him an open-mouthed stare, almost afraid to respond for fear of him changing his mind. But her thoughts still turned to Dragon and the rest of the army, wondering if they’d had to shut off their transponders again, if their communications had been compromised like they’d been in the past.
“Hey, Sabo, will you be okay for awhile? Think I want to find a transponder. Try reaching everyone again. It’s not much but it gives me something to focus on,” Koala explained quietly.
“Yeah, just tell me if you hear anything helpful,” Sabo replied, accepting one more hug from her before she disappeared from the room as Ace had done only half an hour earlier.
Alone with his journal, Sabo leafed through several pages of his early exploits in Grey Terminal, a little bored by them. They were nearly illegible at first, but it shocked him still that he could read and write shortly after his sixth birthday.
His parents could’ve considered him a prodigy had their standards not been set unfairly high.
On the next page, he noticed the first time he had stopped signing all four letters of his name when his signature changed to something much simpler, and much more recognizable.
Again, he started down at the crossed-out ‘S,’ already knowing it looked similar to his old jolly roger. But it reminded him of something else, too, and he found himself just curious enough to go looking for the answer.
Ace was likely still talking to Cerise, so Sabo didn’t want to interrupt that, but he did remember seeing Mihar reading nearby.
Sabo carried his journal around, enjoying the material comforts of stone flooring and antique flatwoven rugs beneath his socks.
He ambled into an office outfitted with wall-to-wall books and a chaise lounge in the corner. Unsurprisingly, Mihar was still perched there with a stack of books in his lap.
Mihar was used to seeing Deuce with tears in his eyes, used to having to comfort him, but it shocked him to see Sabo like this. Still splotchy and red in the face from that note Ace had written.
When Sabo’s teary eyes caught his attention, Mihar struggled to his feet immediately, letting books drop to the chair in his hurry to stand.
“Shit, hey,” Mihar said in alarm, trotting over.
Sabo was stunned when the tall, hatted man enveloped him with a hug.
“You okay, Sabo?” Mihar asked over his shoulder.
“Yeah, but I’m really sorry, tell me your nickname again?”
Mihar was relieved to find Sabo smiling when he pulled back to grip his shoulders.
“No problem, it’s Teachie, but you can say Mihar. Or ‘hey asshole.’ Call me whatever you want.”
Sabo flashed him one more charmed look, appreciating his kindness before he remembered why he had sought out Mihar specifically. He showed him one of his journal entries, then his signature.
“This is similar to what Ace has tattooed on his arm, right? Was that on purpose?”
Mihar examined the book with interest, never having actually laid eyes on the journal. After all this time, even after discovering Sabo to be alive, Mihar was still unwilling to touch this book. Ace treated it like some kind of holy artifact, for god’s sake.
“Yeah, I remember him mentioning it’s how you used to sign your name,” Mihar told him.
“But he got it tattooed on himself, permanently,” Sabo tried to reason aloud, “…Why?”
Mihar seemed saddened by the topic, but he nodded patiently.
“Uh, yeah, man, he was pretty fucked up by losing you," Mihar admitted, "That’s kinda what people do when they lose someone. Pirates like him, anyway. It was always pretty clear he had strong feelings for you."
"Anything else?" Mihar prompted after that.
Sabo felt a little speechless, his eyes suddenly a thousand leagues away.
“No, that was it for now... I’m gonna see if Ace is still busy. Thanks Teachie. For helping me."
“Anytime," Mihar replied, then returned the sentiment when Sabo wished him a good night, smiling encouragingly as he picked up the books he’d dropped.
Ace emerged from Cerise's sitting room, nearly running smack into Sabo who'd just turned down the carved stone corridor.
"You're free?" Sabo asked, helplessly impatient and swiping his hands into his hair at the sight of him.
Ace nodded, barely even able to ask why before—
“I need you,” Sabo whispered, already unable to lead Ace him toward the stairs fast enough.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Ace asked him.
But Sabo pulled Ace along so quickly he could only stumble up the stairs after him.
Ace was nearly laughing at the bizarre behavior, asking again what Sabo’s deal was once Sabo had shut them in the bedroom together.
“Did you tattoo my name on your body?” Sabo asked, almost looking like he might hyperventilate.
Ace looked down at his own arm, pushing up the kimono sleeve and turning the skin to point out the ‘S’ to Sabo.
“Yeah, it’s right here. Been here the whole time,” Ace replied, shrugging.
Sabo scoffed in awe, face flushing with color.
“I got it when I turned seventeen. So you’d be with me when I set out to sea,” Ace added.
Sabo’s eyes changed as he pressed Ace deliberately to the door, encouraged by Ace’s grin of amusement, but Sabo had no time for his impish teasing.
“I want you. Right now,” Sabo breathed, sliding a hand up his sleeve to touch his tattoo. Looking a moment away from kissing him hard.
It had the desired effect on Ace, still smiling at his advances. He felt so natural around Sabo he couldn’t blush if he tried, gaze trailing up and down to take in how much he liked seeing Sabo this way.
“Anytime,” Ace stated easily.
Sabo gave a hot sigh of relief, framing his face and kissing him. He pulled Ace from the door to the bed, pushing him onto it so urgently that Ace got the wrong idea.
Ace pulled Sabo on top of him, spreading knees on either side of his pale obliques as he tugged his own obi untied. Sabo halted in surprise.
“What?” Ace asked feverishly, having gotten worked up to the point where he was almost impatient, kimono already sliding down one of his shoulders baring core muscles tense with his breathing.
He’d nearly rendered Sabo speechless, pulling Sabo between his legs like this.
“I thought you were more comfortable on top, you know? Anyway, we don’t have to even get that far," Sabo told him, bothered the idea Ace would do this just to make him happy.
“Yeah, but you already said you wanted to… how did you say it? You wanted to fuck me?” Ace asked.
Sabo winced. He hadn’t brought Ace up here to pressure him into that. He honestly just wanted to suck him off.
”We don’t have to do that. Ever,” Sabo assured him.
Ace shrugged, not sure why Sabo looked so concerned about it now.
“I’m game, though. And I already know you want it… Here, I’ll help.”
Ace slipped a couple of Sabo’s fingers past his own lips. Feeling Ace suck them slow made Sabo’s jaw drop, drinking in the sight that got him completely hard beneath the shorts and kimono.
Ace took notice of his reaction, enjoying this new kind of match. A different kind of sparring. If Sabo could tease him, Ace could do it too. He suckled harder at Sabo’s fingers, extending his tongue to get them even wetter so Sabo could use them on him.
Sabo cursed, pulling them out even though it got him extremely hot watching him do it.
“I’m not using spit on you,” Sabo breathed, moving to pull a bag from the floor, “We didn’t have much choice before, but I’m not ever gonna do that to you.”
Ace raised onto his elbows, curious as Sabo shifted away, pulling his bag onto the bed. Sabo showed him the jar and even coated his fingertips in shiny oil so Ace could see it.
It had Ace's eyes hooding a little, nodding.
Sabo only brought them into this room because Ace had him out of his mind with that tattoo, not to mention that emotional journal entry. Seeing Ace’s unbreakable devotion so many times had Sabo desperate to prove his gratitude.
"And this is what you want?" Sabo asked, a little surprised, especially when Ace nodded again at the sight of his slender fingers, speechless and swallowing like it tempted him more than Sabo thought it would.
And by the time Sabo returned to him, Ace was already moving his whole body forward to kiss him, pausing between kisses to murmur, “I’d never do something to you if I wouldn’t have it done to me. It feels nice enough, right?”
Sabo snorted softly, pecking his lips tenderly, “You have no idea. You’re about to be so spoiled.”
Sabo looked at Ace with doe eyes and a smile as his hands moved to run up and down Ace's sides then settle on his hips.
Ace matched his smile, looking down at his lips before kissing him again, pressing Ace into the bed to feel the warmth and strength of him with hands running up his chest. It felt so good to be wanted like this, to have Ace be so unabashedly into him.
Then his pulse quickened as Ace pulled him onto his lap with one hand and tugged him by his kimono to connect their lips again. Sabo's hands fumbled with the fabric blind until he was able to free himself from the garment, letting it fall across the bed.
The were already arching their stomachs together missing how it felt for their bare skin to touch like this. Sabo could feel Ace through their underwear, his own length throbbing in response as they kissed. He gasped into Ace's mouth, his hand threading through Ace's hair to hold him close.
Sabo started to roll his hips into Ace's at a slow and tortuous pace, looking down at him almost predatory. Ace swallowed hard, hips stuttering and jerking against Sabo's, responding to it.
”Fuck,” Ace whispered, eyes shutting, “Tell me what you want.”
Sabo kissed under his jaw, hips gently rutting again.
“Wanna suck you,” Sabo breathed at the sensation.
“Sabo,” he replied, so stunned his eyes opened.
“Please? Ace?"
Ace cursed under his breath, muscles tensing and relaxing. Not even able to think straight.
It took his overstimulated mind a few seconds to process, so focused on the feeling of Sabo's mouth sinking to the side of his throat. Ace’s tongue felt thick and lazy in his mouth, caught like his breath.
"You... you want to?" Ace finally managed to reply, his voice breathy like he'd been running.
"Mmhmm," Sabo hummed, the noise full of desire as his fingers tightened in Ace's hair and his other slid under Ace's chin, guiding him to lift his focus to stare into Sabo's blue eyes.
“Let me please you over and over,” Sabo said, eyes hooding at the sight of Ace’s blown pupils.
“Not gonna complain if that’s what makes you happy,” Ace murmured into Sabo’s hand, capturing and kissing it.
The flames in each wall-mounted sconce suddenly flickered out. It made the room dim, only thin rays of light spilling in past the shutters now.
Sabo noticed it get darker, looking at Ace’s sly expression.
“Mood lighting,” Ace told him.
“Think you’re so clever,” Sabo taunted, slipping lower down his body before sinking to his elbows between Ace's bent legs.
He found himself impressed at Ace’s confidence level, given how cutely shy he’d been before.
But he didn’t have to wonder for long. The second Sabo leaned to lick and kiss at Ace's hip, Ace jolted slightly, smile disappearing as he realized Sabo was about do the same thing to his dick. Just having Sabo’s face this close made the heat rise in his cheeks, no longer clever and smirking.
"Get these off," Sabo said, giving him room to toss his underwear away, watching him do it with a lip bitten in anticipation until Ace settled back in place.
Ace shivered, watching with pinching brows as Sabo cradled the head of his length to rub his firm tongue across it. He normally wouldn't think it was right, someone he cared about this much doing something like this for him. But Sabo winked, seeming to enjoy the reaction he was already getting just from teasing him until he was visibly leaking.
Sabo sighed heavy at the sight, lapping at his stream of precum before pulling him into his wet mouth, bringing harsh breaths to Ace's lips.
“You don’t have to— ahnn— do that,” Ace said, gasping as Sabo’s mouth slid down him. His legs twitched when Sabo drew him in deeper, consumed by his hot velvety mouth.
Ace’s breath came out with a noise in his throat that he wished he hadn’t made, the compliment going straight to Sabo’s smug head. But Ace didn’t care that he sounded so needy in that moment, because watching Sabo suck him like this was so erotic he could barely contain himself.
Sabo’s mouth drove him wild, hot tightness slipping up and down as he watched drops leak from Sabo’s tongue to roll down him.
Ace moaned softly at the sight, making Sabo return the noise— vibrating around him. Sabo glanced from under his eyelashes, taking his breath away.
“Fuck,” Ace panted, hips jerking.
Sabo could tell he was already shivering, struggling to contain himself. He pulled off of Ace slowly, licking one more time at him.
“It’s okay if you’re close. You can cum if you need to,” Sabo told him, not waiting another second before returning his mouth.
Ace groaned at him saying that, tension building. Harsh breaths left his lips as Sabo lapped at his stream of precum before pulling him into his wet mouth. Sabo took him deeper, sucking him harder.
If Sabo was going to talk to him like this, breathing hot things into him, Ace didn’t stand a chance. He’d come fast whether Sabo wanted him to or not.
Sabo heard him hold back a moan when he picked up the pressure with his tongue. He wanted to draw out every noise Ace could make, sucking faster until he earned another sound.
Ace groaned into his closed lips, threading his hands into Sabo’s hair.
“Shit, gonna cum,” he panted, his head pressing hard into the pillow.
His words made Sabo moan around him, closing his eyes as his own length pressed demandingly against his shorts. The vibration of Sabo’s moan set Ace’s nerves on fire, gripping tighter into his blond hair.
Ace breathed loud and hard with effort, biting back desperate noises when he looked into Sabo’s piercing eyes. Watching his own dick sinking in and out of his mouth finally made him lose it.
Sabo felt it, the jolting against his tongue, the helpless way Ace pushed into his mouth. He didn't let up, not until he felt the first hot spurt across his tongue, felt Ace's back arch and his fingers tighten in his hair.
Ace filled his mouth just like Sabo wanted. He took breaths through his nose around the hot liquid, swallowing it down, his sucking overstimulating Ace with a noise of surprise.
Only then did Sabo let Ace slip from his mouth, watching as he lay spent and panting on the bed.
"Fuck, Ace," Sabo groaned, eyes dark with lust watching Ace's chest heave up and down. Ace lay there for a moment, catching his breath and looking up at Sabo.
"You're not so bad yourself," Ace managed.
Sabo leaned in, kissing Ace gently on the mouth at first before the contact sent renewed desire through him, dragging his hands down Sabo’s core until Ace could feel his dick still pressed against his underwear, begging to be touched.
“You already want more?" Sabo asked.
Ace nodded, eyes meeting Sabo's. He was still breathing hard, chest rising and falling rapidly. Even if he just came, he knew Sabo didn’t yet.
Sabo smiled, leaning down to kiss him again. His lips were soft and insistent, and Ace couldn't help but respond. He had Ace cursing softly when he felt how hard Sabo was under his shorts, panting slightly as he looked down to see their hips pressing together.
But Sabo's hands were gentle as they explored Ace's body, tracing patterns over his chest and stomach before coming to rest on his hips. He kissed Ace deeply, his tongue tracing the contours of Ace's mouth, more rough this time as their mutual arousal consumed them.
As he kissed down Ace’s neck to his muscular chest, Sabo shifted down to slide a finger against Ace's entrance, feeling his tightness.
Ace lost his breath, feeling the pressure of Sabo’s soft fingertips rubbing circles around him. His cock twitched for Sabo, telling him how hot it made him.
“Tell me if it’s too much,” Sabo whispered, “Tell me if you have second thoughts.”
And fuck, Ace’s dark eyes said it all, pupils swollen as he stared Sabo down, daring him to continue as his chest rose and fell with the thrill of it.
Sabo looked up into Ace's eyes and saw the anticipation reflected there. He slowly pushed his finger inside, watching Ace’s body language.
Ace’s look melted away, letting out a shaky breath, feeling the pressure as Sabo's finger slowly penetrated him. He gripped the sheets, feeling Sabo stroke inside him, moving his finger in and out to stretch him.
Sabo’s finger brushed something inside him, and the sensation made him gasp. The pressure on that spot made him feel like he had to piss, but the sensation let up the second Ace flinched at it.
“Not ready for that, huh?” Sabo whispered, his voice low and soothing, dropping lower to nuzzle his cheek against Ace’s abs. The soft gesture made Ace cradle Sabo’s head there with an appreciative hand threading into his blond waves.
“No, you… you can try it again,” Ace said.
Sabo eased the pressure and continued, curling a finger into his soft walls, rubbing and circling until Ace squirmed in surprise.
He smiled, watching Ace’s lips part, his stunned expression.
“Did I find your spot?” Sabo asked erotically against his abs, kissing him there, not stopping his teasing inside Ace.
Ace swallowed hard, head flopping back to the pillow in disbelief, his back arching slightly to let Sabo’s fingers press even more insistently. Spiking him with that feeling of an orgasm building, amazing him because his dick wasn’t even getting attention and the feeling still had him addicted.
“No worries if you don’t like it. It’s not for everyone,” Sabo murmured.
“Don’t think I have that problem,” Ace gasped, his hips lifting off the bed in time with Sabo's movements, “Feels really… good.”
Sabo leaned his own hips to the bed, shuddering as he pressed against it for relief and longing to be thrusting into Ace with his dick instead.
“Good, because I… fuck, I’m gonna love being inside you," Sabo whispered, voice thick with desire.
Ace could feel his own impending release as Sabo kept working him, his fingers thrusting in and out.
Sabo slid his lips along Ace’s standing length then licked a warm, wet stripe up to his tip until Ace was watching him again, giving Sabo butterflies seeing how flustered he’d gotten. Seeing Ace blushing as dark as his dick as it got hard again between them.
“Need my mouth again?” Sabo asked.
“Shit,” Ace breathed, eyes shutting, “Yeah.”
Sabo slowly lapped at him, looking up to catch Ace’s eyes again as his lips ghosted up his length, making Ace whimper a little seeing Sabo’s tongue already dripping for him.
He shifted to his side so his long fingers could slide in shallow, massaging inside as he sucked gently at Ace’s tip, running his tongue around its velvet ridge.
“Ahh-!” Ace jolted at the sensitive feeling, catching an apologetic look from Sabo before he sank deeper, slipping him gently to the back of his tongue instead.
Sabo heard him hold back a moan when he picked up the pressure with his mouth and fingertips. He wanted to draw out every noise Ace could make.
“Sabo,” Ace whispered desperately, “Fuck…”
His words made Sabo moan around him, closing his eyes as his own length pressed demandingly against his shorts. The vibration of Sabo’s moan was setting Ace’s nerves on fire, gripping tighter into his hair.
Sabo slipped another finger between Ace’s legs, slicking them in and out of him as he sent them pressing into the pleasurable spot inside him. Sabo’s mouth sucked harder until he earned another sound, eyes closing and fighting back a smug look at the needy way Ace thrust into his mouth.
“Sorry,” Ace struggled out, but Sabo shook his head, hands only encouraging Ace to thrust more.
Ace groaned into his closed lips, threading his hands into Sabo’s hair as he gave in, giving gentle pushes with his hips, needing relief as he pumped against Sabo’s silky hot tongue.
He breathed harder with effort, biting back hot noises when he looked into Sabo’s piercing eyes. Ace jerked softly in and out of his mouth, losing himself as Sabo kept pressing his long fingers into him.
“M’so close, Sabo,” he struggled out, his head pressing hard into the pillow moving his hips faster.
Ace panted as two of Sabo’s fingers stretched him slightly, sliding in an out of him until he thought he’d lose his mind. Sabo could feel the tightness of Ace's muscles giving way, allowing him deeper access as if begging to be fucked.
Sabo wanted Ace to enjoy the feeling just a little longer, letting him slip from his mouth, gleaming and thick with arousal standing against his abs.
Ace cursed, hips still moving in time with Sabo’s rubbing fingers, leaking down his tip as he thrusted into the air from pleasurable feeling Sabo was making inside him.
“Want me to stop?” Sabo asked, teasing him and smiling when Ace made a pleading expression.
“No, don’t,” Ace breathed immediately, reaching to rub his own fingers against Sabo’s lips.
Sabo just wanted to hear him say it. He slicked his tongue under Ace’s fingertips, drawing them into his mouth to suck on them. He gave Ace a warm look under his transparent lashes when the sensations made Ace’s eyes soften, expression so full of love it overwhelmed them both.
When Ace withdrew his fingers, Sabo stretched up to his ear with closed eyes, sucking at his soft earlobe.
“Still want me inside you?” Sabo whispered, lips caressing his ear as his fingers curled into him.
Ace nearly blacked out at those words, his muscles rippling in contractions as he came.
Sabo dipped to suck Ace back into his mouth, letting him rut against his tongue as Ace spilled himself to the feeling of Sabo stroking inside him.
He tasted even better this time, like pure water out of him. Sabo drank him down easily, sucking for more until Ace stopped him with a harsh laugh.
Sabo wiped his mouth proudly with the back of his hand, grinning as he pulled away.
“Guess that means you do want me, then?” Sabo said, since him asking that appeared to be what made Ace lose control just now.
“Yeah, I do,” Ace said breathlessly.
That’s all it took for Sabo to pull his own shorts down with his free hand, eyes nearly rolling back at the thought of burying himself deep. Ace was so tight he already knew how perfect he’d feel around him.
“If you want me to stop, just say it, okay?” Sabo told him, reaching into the jar then back between Ace’s legs to rub more slick against him.
Ace let out a surprised breath, pressing his hips forward. His need for Sabo was almost painful now that he knew exactly how good it was about to feel inside him. He got especially feverish when Sabo moved to rub tip of his cock against him, making him squirm in anticipation. Ace cursed at the feeling, already reacting to how much he wanted Sabo to hit that spot again.
Sabo was close to making it happen, aching with the need to slide inside of him, to feel that tight heat close around him. But he wanted Ace to be ready, wanted this to be as good for Ace as it was for him.
He observed Ace with hungry eyes, hands shaking as he held himself steady. His hands slid under Ace's knees, easing them closer to Ace's shoulders.
"Wow," Sabo breathed, brow pinching in appreciation at the sight, surprised at his flexibility.
"Logia," Ace said, smiling through his own breaths.
“That can’t be why, idiot,” Sabo laughed, making Ace stifle a laugh too, but the contact between them quickly had both of them distracted again, smiles dropping away as they swallowed under the intensity of each other’s stare.
Looking deep into his eyes, it stunned Sabo how much Ace adored him, flaws and all. Sabo hesitated, eyes almost sad as he wondered if he shouldn’t be giving into this desire. Messing around was one thing, but he hoped this kind of sex wouldn’t change their bond, something that only bothered him because he had his memories back.
This was still Ace, his protective older brother. It was fucked to think of them as brothers right now, but he thought he saw the same concern in Ace’s eyes.
“What?” Ace breathed, holding Sabo’s chin to see his uncertain look, “Sabo, you already got your dick against my ass, man. You want me to beg or something?“
Ace’s clear lack of anxiety over it evaporated Sabo’s bout of uncertainty, nodding to himself.
Sabo moved his tip against Ace's entrance, teasing them both with the feeling of oil and sensitive skin. His eyes shut at the deep ache it pooled in him, like an addict to the sexual frustration. The suspense made Ace's fingers dig into Sabo's shoulders, his body tensing as he fought for control. Ace threw his head back with pinched eyes.
"Please," Ace groaned, the anticipation too much now, “You do want me to say it, don’t you. I want you. Real bad, okay?”
Sabo let out a hot breath at that, gazing down at Ace with eyes dark and full of desire as he slowly pushed his tip inside.
The sensation was exquisite, so relieved to have Ace tight around him he already bit back a whine. He withdrew from the slick warmth only to thrust slowly inside again, making Ace gasp.
Sabo’s exhale came out shaky, burying his face in Ace's neck as he pushed deeper. Without any painful resistance he knew he could slowly sink all the way, groaning when he was finally buried completely. Sabo wanted this to last forever, wanted to make Ace feel so good he’d call out Sabo’s name again.
Ace gripped Sabo's shoulders as the thickness of him stretched him wide. Heat spread through his body, making him feel like he was on fire from the inside out. He panted at the new feeling, rocking his hips up to try to get more of him, the sensation so intense it made it hard to breathe.
“Fuck, it’s— bigger than I thought, Sabo,” Ace struggled out, but it didn’t even seem to bother him, already trying to grind him against that spot under his navel.
Sabo groaned, feeling Ace's muscles grip him as he slowly began to move inside him.
He looked down at Ace, their gaze locked as he slowly thrust, pupils dark and wild at the feeling of Ace's body surrounding him. His pace was slow and steady, wanting to make sure he didn't hurt him, but also wanting to savor every inch of this and remember it as long as he could. Sabo soaked in the way Ace moved against him, memorizing how he threw his head back and let out long, shuddering gasps as he adjusted to the feeling.
Ace let Sabo take over him, enjoying Sabo forcing his legs to his own shoulders like he’d pinned him down against the jungle floor. Ace even found he loved being filled like this, connecting them so deeply. And even if he hadn’t loved it, he’d still do it anyway. He’d do anything for Sabo, anything in the world.
Sabo’s eyes shut with his own overwhelming gratitude that Ace even existed, let alone adored him in return.
Ace quickly forgot where they even were, only knowing it was Sabo fucking him slowly, lovingly, making him feel every drop of pleasure he could manage. Sabo leaned forward, pushing past Ace’s folded legs to kiss him hard, craving for Ace to understand what he meant to him as Sabo lost himself inside him. Panting into each other’s mouths in amazement.
“You saved me. So many times,” Sabo whispered with effort as he pumped inside Ace, pulling from his lips with a strand of saliva and a look of tenderness, “Wanna give you everything.”
“You did the saving, Sabo,” Ace murmured, eyebrows drawing together as Sabo thrust his cock all the way out and back in, over and over. He let the stimulation overpower his senses, breaths coming out in hot pants as Sabo looked down at him.
The intoxicatingly slow buildup was already getting Ace close again. It felt so good Ace couldn’t help but curse softly, his hips lifting off the bed in response to Sabo's thrusts.
Ace could feel the warmth of Sabo's breath on his neck as he gripped his legs, holding him still. He could feel their hearts racing, feel the rapid thump of Sabo’s pulse. His hips moved faster at the sensation of being this connected to Ace.
“Fuck, is this okay?” Sabo panted, hoping it wouldn’t hurt him but too erratic at the feeling of his dick pushing inside, then the soft sounds coming from Ace's throat.
“Ah- yeah—“ Ace managed, just as lost.
“This what you wanted?” Sabo whispered into his neck, eyelids fluttering as he barely managed to edge himself. He was so close it was all he could do not to cum right now.
“Yeah,” Ace breathed into Sabo’s hair, threading his fingers into it.
Ace’s knees started to tremble, his breathing unsteady when light burst in his vision. His head fell back, using his hands to feel Sabo’s hips flexing powerfully into him. Fuck, he knew Sabo was strong but never dreamed he would be so dominating.
The pleasure building inside him was intense, but it was the way Sabo was looking at him, the way he was touching him that made it feel so much more than physical.
Sabo gasped and hesitated, shivering as he barely stopped himself from coming. Ace had him like this, so blissed just seeing every insane inch of his body, hearing every sweet breath from Ace’s mouth that he couldn’t possibly last long inside him. Sabo let out a soft groan, moving slow and shallow, angling so Ace could feel him rubbing against something inside him, making him go tense under the sensation.
“You’re good at this,” Ace whispered, his eyes drifting shut, letting heat build between them.
“No it’s you… you’re perfect,” Sabo panted, his breath hot against Ace's neck. He could feel Ace's body moving with his own when he gave softer thrusts, working to hit Ace’s spot over and over.
Ace’s body tensed, a pleading gasp escaping him as Sabo's movements hit just right, sending ripples through him. Sabo could tell Ace was clenching hard around him now, his muscles so close to spasming in a chain reaction.
“You gonna cum, Ace?” Sabo murmured, brow pinching as he barely held back his own shock of pleasure inside him, “Fuck you feel so good, I can’t— I can’t—“
Ace couldn’t take the heated words anymore, moaning his name in broken gasps.
“—Sabo, fuck, Sabo—“
Sabo drew back to watch Ace’s cock twitch between them, leaking past his own ribs with each jolt.
Ace panting his name was sending him over the edge fast. Sabo made a needy noise in his throat and continued pumping into him, unraveling at the sight of Ace’s twitching cock, his own hips riding him through it.
Sabo came hard, grabbing the headboard for support as he gripped a hand over his own mouth to stifle himself. Ecstasy overloaded him, spilling inside Ace, and it felt too good to stop, pumping it even deeper inside him.
He wanted to claim a part of him no one else had ever touched, to know him in an intimate way no one else ever could. He could only hope Ace didn’t mind, because Ace fully belonged to him now and he couldn’t stop himself from showing it.
Ace’s hands stayed against Sabo’s hips, in awe as he drank in his strength and raw masculinity. Ace let his thumbs wander back to Sabo’s gorgeous core, outlining his pale musculature with deep appreciation. Sabo let Ace feel his tired abs, distracted by the impressive amount Ace spilled across himself.
Sabo huffed to catch his own breath, brows pinching as he slowly pulled out of him, letting Ace’s feet return to the bed.
Then he lowered himself, dropping his face to Ace’s tight stomach, already salivating to taste him again. Ace brushed back Sabo’s blond waves as he licked every drop from his abdomen and chest, eyebrows dipping together.
Ace exhaled at the sight. He hadn’t expected Sabo to be so good at this, making his stomach do flips as his bent legs sat trembling on either side of him.
He coaxed Sabo closer for a deep kiss, tasting himself in Sabo’s soft mouth, murmuring beautiful nonsense against his lips until the dumb, sentimental words had Sabo laughing and blushing drunkenly against him.
They flopped down, exhausted, with Ace wiping away the last of the moisture on his abdomen before turning to lay on his belly. He enjoyed catching Sabo’s pretty blue eyes, sharing the private moment with him.
Anyone could speculate what they were doing in here, but nobody really knew. It was just for them, as it always should’ve been.
Neither of them could wrap their heads around how deeply they felt for each other, especially Sabo, who wasn’t used to sleeping with anyone he was this attached to.
It felt… different with Ace.
Pure and healing like swimming in warm spring water heated by a perfect day.
“How’d you do that? It’s like someone else…“ Ace said before catching himself, “I mean, where’d you learn all this?”
Sabo grinned, shaking his head.
“What d’you want, names?”
“Yeah… maybe I don’t,” Ace agreed, because if someone had touched Sabo before him, he already hated them. And Ace’s instinct told him to let the subject drop, but he was too curious.
“You must’ve kissed other people though, right?” Ace added, not sure why he said it. Also not sure if he only meant the kissing part, or everything Sabo knew how to do.
Sure, Sabo hadn’t known Ace at the time, he seemed lucky to even remember his own name, but picturing Sabo with other men suddenly gave Ace a nauseating shock to his gut. And until he’d asked the question, Ace really hadn’t expected to react like that.
“Like anyone even compares to you,” Sabo replied, shaking his head, “Ace, no one’s ever made me feel like this before, and it’s not even close. Ask Koala if you don’t believe how different I used to be.”
“Oh, yeah?” Ace asked, resting his face in his own arms where they folded on the bed.
“Yeah,” Sabo asserted, then his eyes unfocused as he summoned up some of his own memories. He laughed so quietly it was more like a breath.
Now that he thought about it… every one of them had dark hair, like Sabo had been looking for Ace all that time without even knowing it. Every one of them a tragic disappointment, because of course his mind wasn’t satisfied with anyone that wasn’t the real thing, even if he couldn’t remember why.
“I’m lucky you found me,” Sabo told him in quiet disbelief, “Think my stupid brain was ever gonna work if you didn’t? I can’t thank you enough.”
Ace hid a small smile in his arm, eyes squishing happily above his bicep when Sabo reached to sweep his hair back in place.
It didn’t take Sabo long to peer around the room, though, not having forgotten they were both kind of a mess right now.
“Hey, Ace? Is… that a washroom, by chance?” Sabo asked, glancing at one of the doors across the room.
Ace nodded, having slept in this room twice now.
“A lot nicer than anything on the ship,” Ace said.
Sabo huffed a sigh of relief. “Want me to carry you?”
“Why?” Ace said, smiling like a puppy with no idea what was going on.
Sabo cringed a little.
“I didn’t pull out. I’m gonna take care of it, though.”
“Oh… sign me up, then,” Ace said, waiting for Sabo to smile before he returned the humored look.
As Sabo looked down at him, his expression grew serious, rolling on his side with his cheek propped on his hand. Thinking about what Ace had written.
“You good, Sabo?” Ace asked, thumb stroking up his arm slightly.
“I saw your entry in my old journal, near the back,” Sabo told him, grim when he thought about it, “You wrote it when you believed I’d been killed. You said you wouldn’t mind dying if it meant seeing me again.”
Sabo had to swallow hard past the lump in his throat, rubbing at his pink nose.
Ace’s eyes cast down, nodding.
“I meant that,” he admitted quietly.
“I know you did,” Sabo told him, hurting him to picture Ace being so willing to give up his own mortality at such a young age.
Sabo’s gut wrenched at that, so grateful that Ace hadn’t thrown his precious life away. He couldn’t help but clutch him tighter at the painful thought.
He found himself pulling back to stare down at Ace’s flushed cheeks dotted with soft, sun-kissed spots that all seemed to enchant him individually.
With so many freckles spreading like a galaxy field across his cheeks, Sabo couldn’t help thinking he was lucky to have kissed those stars.
“I’m yours, Ace… you know that, right?”
Ace met his look with doe eyes, his heart leaping.
“I’m yours too. As long as you want.”
Notes:
I liked the idea of them getting to feel normal for a little bit, not involving their Haki or DF. Hopefully y’all vibed with it 🫶
The art is sorta what I pictured a realistic Spades tatt might look like. Kinda cool to imagine Ace repping his own crew on his back, being the proud captain he is.
Definitely picture Deuce and/or Wallace being the ones tattooing everyone.
Chapter 35: Unworthy
Summary:
Warning:
NSFW Art - Only saying it in case y’all open this in publicSummary:
The group has one hell of a day.Now that they’re healed up, Sabo and Ace try settling a personal dispute. Marco has a breakthrough with his trainee.
Added a couple quick sketchy renderings to show a possible look for Sabo’s back scar and Ace’s tattoo (Ace is at the end of Ch 34)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Ace’s eyes opened as the morning sun painted the room with stripes of golden light.
The color looked good across Sabo's athletic back, drawing Ace's eyes to the jagged burn wrapping over his left shoulder to paint a draconic shape down his pale skin, his scar appearing to roar with exposed teeth, as if he tattooed it.
Ace stretched, the sheets falling away as Sabo murmured something about coffee, then the blond rolled over to his stomach revealing a perfect ass. Ace propped himself up on one elbow, taking in the view with a lazy smile.
He ran his fingers over Sabo’s back, trying not to blame the scar for taking Sabo away from him. It was especially beautiful for a burn mark, but he wished he had one too, wished he’d been on that ship when it happened.
Sabo was still in and out of sleep, and by the time his eyes cracked open, the bed was empty beside him. His eyes opened wider, spread his arm across the cold sheets in surprise. He shivered in the morning air when he let the covers slide off of him, raising up to wonder why Ace wasn't still in bed.
But he heard the door open, turning to see Ace sneaking back into the room wearing his kimono and carefully carrying a cup of coffee, the comforting smell unmistakeable.
Sabo's jaw slacked a little when Ace realized Sabo had caught him.
"You're bringing me coffee?" Sabo asked in soft disbelief, accepting the hot mug with chilly hands.
Ace smiled sheepishly, rubbing his neck.
"Marco had to show me how. So it was kinda him if I'm being honest."
Sabo took a sip, his smiling eyes peering up at Ace over the cup.
"You don't like coffee?" Sabo asked after he swallowed, setting it aside.
Ace crawled back in bed, right into his lap. Sabo hummed softly as Ace kissed him deeply, immediately demanding to taste the coffee, licking it from the inside of his mouth.
"Tastes good to me," Ace told him, "Maybe it's just you though."
Sabo found Koala in the sunroom, both her hands pressed against a large, unfolded map.
“You rang?” Sabo said quietly, ambling over to where she stood so he could see the map.
She pointed to a cluster of islands.
“This is where we think Marmont was hiding his captives,” Koala told him, “Marco’s friend thinks he’s close to finding their actual location. So far it’s just hearsay. But isn’t it good news?”
Sabo returned a soft smile to her.
“Gotta convince the captain, don’t we?”
Their interactions were halted by the sight of Marco in the doorway now, his arms crossed like he wished he wasn’t standing here interrupting them.
“Did you tell him how you were injured, yoi?” Marco asked quietly, knowing it might piss her off.
Sabo frowned immediately, but this time it was at Koala, not Marco.
If looks could kill… Koala would’ve vaporized the phoenix right then and there. But he chose that moment to disappear from the doorway again, having done what he came to do.
“You—!” she reacted in frustration, “…Marco!”
Sabo glanced at the empty threshold before his eyes narrowed at her.
“You were keeping this from me? You can tell me anything, Koala.”
Her arms crossed to match him.
“There was this shadowy figure that found the Spadille out in the open ocean. I dunno how, it just… it stabbed me. Just below my tattoo. That’s the only reason Marco saw it. He saved my life.”
Sabo waved the last part away.
“That’s not what this is about— a figure? You don’t know who? Nothing more specific than that?”
“W-we don’t know anything for sure, Sabo,” Koala tried to say, but—
“It was Karasu,” Marco called from the next room over, causing Koala to sigh in annoyance.
“What?” Sabo reacted, his eyes pleading as he searched for answers in Koala’s face.
“That’s what you didn’t wanna tell me? Why would Karasu do that?”
She made a frustrated noise, shooting dangers through the door at Marco in the distance.
“We don’t know it was him. This wouldn’t even be the first time the government sent a clone or used mind control. Okay? All I saw was a shadow. That doesn’t meant it was him.”
Sabo gave her a hard look, trying to work out the truth. He cast his eyes at the floor, raising his voice.
“Marco?”
“It was him. I felt his Haki, yoi,” Marco confirmed easily, overriding Koala’s theories.
Sabo sighed, stressed at the realization.
He pulled a chair to sit down, elbows resting on his knees as Koala pulled her own chair to sit with him.
“If Karasu made an attempt on your life,” Sabo began slowly, glancing up at her, “Then what explanation do we have for that? You said mind control? Government cloning? It sounds like a stretch, doesn’t it?”
She nodded.
“Which was why I didn’t even tell you. Sabo, I don’t know what to think. I didn’t see his face so I didn’t want to believe it was really him. How could it be?”
Sabo got a strange feeling in his gut, frowning as a chill spread down his arms.
The words coming out of Koala’s mouth right now? Those were his exact feelings toward Dragon saying something so painful to him. Sabo hadn’t wanted to believe it either.
Which jogged his memory suddenly.
“Koala,” he breathed, eyes widening, “Over transponder, Dragon told me Karasu was with him. What if something happened to both of them?”
Koala looked from him, down to the map spread across the table.
She sighed.
“Are you saying you would seriously rather check on them than rescue these children?”
Sabo didn’t know what to say, shoulders hunching.
“We’ll do both,” he decided, “We’ll convince Ace later. Together.”
Koala smiled, giving him an appreciative nod.
Tallis had strolled out onto the terrace and down the cracked steps, touring the old rundown garden with his own cup of coffee.
But when he saw Ace barreling down the steps in his shorts after him, he set the coffee down, already bracing to get pounced.
Ace jumped onto his back, breaking into laughter when Tallis tossed him straight into the grass, but he was still quick to check on him.
“Fuck, I forgot your back, Ace, you good?”
“Yeah I’m great. You hurt anywhere?” Ace asked.
“Nope,” Tallis said, not knowing it was a trap.
“Oh, good.”
Ace reached up to yank Tallis down too, rolling him forcefully into he grass beside him.
“Heard what you did for Deu,” Ace told him, watching Tallis thread his hands behind his own head, looking pretty relaxed in the grass.
“Yeah, he’s all better. Just needed a kiss,” Tallis said, observing Ace for his reaction.
Ace reached to jab his fingers into Tallis’ ribs mercilessly, making him writhe and shriek.
“I’m talking about throwing Saber out the kitchen door, not letting you brag about kissing my vice-captain,” Ace replied through his teeth as he attacked his ribs, but then in a nicer voice, he added, “You better be treating each other right.”
Tallis gave one final laugh before finally angling his leg to push Ace away. Tallis dropped back in the grass to catch his breath as they shared a look.
“We are, don’t worry,” he said as Ace turned to sit and clasp his own knees.
“Nice necklace,” Tallis said after a beat, seeing the silver charm dangling below his red mala beads.
Ace took a moment to realize which necklace Tallis referred to, looking down in surprise.
“Ah… forgot I was gonna give this back to you,” Ace told him, slipping the locket off his neck.
Ace opened it one more time to see his mother’s soft smile, her gently crinkling brown eyes.
“This is what she was showing you yesterday?” Tallis asked, watching Ace nod, still looking down at the portrait.
“Why don’t you wear that for a bit?” Tallis offered, “I’ve worn it my whole life, so it’s okay. It’s your mom too.”
Ace considered it for a moment before shaking his head, snapping the locket closed gently in his rough fingers. He held up the necklace for Tallis to accept instead, refusing to keep it.
“And I’ve gone without it my whole life,” Ace told him, “Seeing her picture was enough, Tallis. You wear that, okay? I’d rather they keep you safe.”
“What’s gonna keep you safe, then?” Tallis asked, lowering the thin chain over his head again.
Ace showed Tallis his beads, balancing them on his knuckles for a moment.
“These do a pretty good job of protecting me already, always reminded me of the bandit that raised me. Some pirates don’t have a mother at all, y’know, and I was lucky enough to have two. So you keep that necklace.”
Tallis smiled, nodding deeply at him before Marco interrupted them, clearing his throat and pointing to the stairs.
“Oh. Training time, I guess,” Tallis told Ace, getting up and backing away to the stairs with another smile, “You can tell me more about that bandit next time I see you?”
“Deal,” Ace said, watching the young Zoan follow Marco up the stairs.
Tallis had been holding a plank for nearly half an hour as Marco lifted Veri to stand on his back, adding weight.
Then Marco tapped him with a foot to remind him to keep his form, even as he watched sweat collect on his skin.
Tallis made a noise of effort, looking up at Marco with urgent eyes.
“Think he’ll let the pressure get to him, Veri? Do you trust this guy not to let you fall?” Marco asked, chuckling a little when Veri shook her head.
Tallis searched Marco’s face as he struggled to hold himself, but he couldn’t see the child’s reaction.
“Did she say no?” Tallis guessed, already offended as sweat poured down his face.
“Maybe, yoi,” Marco told him, grinning while he moved Veri down off of him as Tallis’ muscles started to tremble, “Hold it. Come on. You can manage a little longer.”
Tallis did as he asked until his breaths sounded painful and his muscles abandoned him, collapsing hard onto the stone. The coldness of it was a relief as he took harsh inhales against it.
“You’re not breathing enough, yoi,” Marco chided him, “Take a second, then we’ll get back to it.”
“Is this gonna help me shift better?” Tallis asked him weakly, side-eyeing him from the floor.
“Help you what, now?” Marco said, crossing his arms critically as if he hadn't heard him.
“Y’know. Change form. Control the hawk,” Tallis explained, lifting his head this time.
Marco’s expression tightened, shaking his head.
“Control? That’s what you want?” Marco clarified, looking bothered by the word.
Tallis shrugged, nodding.
“I see why you’re having so much trouble with your fruit, Tallis, and it has nothing to do with your weak core, yoi,” Marco told him, sounding disappointed, “Go sit.”
“On the floor?”
“Yeah, kid. Get comfortable and close your eyes. Don’t open them.”
"Wait, is that seriously what you're wearing?" Ace asked, looking Sabo up and down, from his linen suit and pocket watch to his gloves and old goggles pushing his curls out of his eyes.
"What's wrong with my outfit?" Sabo said, tightening his new brown gloves in satisfaction.
Ace had to admit how good it looked, especially since he was so used to seeing Sabo in clothes strikingly similar to these. Only missing his brimmed black hat and an ascot.
"Yeah, I dunno," Ace said, hands on his hips over his shorts, "Guess I thought you wouldn't wanna get that white shirt all dirty."
Sabo scoffed, hand going through his hair. Knowing Ace wanted to spar outside with him.
"You think it'll be me getting shoved into the ground, huh? We'll have to see about that."
Ace gave a little smirk, watching Sabo stretch his muscles on the floor.
"C'mon. Think I know where we can scavenge some shitty pipes," Ace told him, winking.
Sabo laughed, pushing himself up from where he'd been stretching after packing away their kimonos.
After Sabo had donned a pair of spare boots, Ace followed him out the door, still buzzing from the idea of sparring with Sabo again. The woodlands around the property were too ideal to pass up.
Sabo held a makeshift metal staff to his eyeline, staring critically down the slender pipe to measure its quality.
Ace tossed his own staff, feeling its weight since he didn't use these anymore— he didn't think that would stop him from winning, of course.
"Done playing with it?" Ace taunted him, skipping backwards with his eyes glinting in helpless excitement.
Sabo's mouth tightened in a tense smile, his own eyes darkening at the challenge.
"It's over when I disarm you," Sabo warned him.
Ace didn't seem affected, dropping back from him a few more paces until they were aware of being surrounded by trees. Just like on the beautiful mountainside where they grew up together.
“That’s only stage one, I figure,” Ace told him, flexing the staff between his hands, “Then grappling. Then we’ll see how your fruit measures up to mine. Only if you’re up for it.”
Sabo nodded.
“Best two out of three, then?”
Ace licked his lips, then bit his bottom lip, nodding back as Sabo expertly twirled his staff, making sure Ace didn’t forget he’d spent so much longer training with the weapon. The joke was on Sabo, really, because Ace enjoyed watching him show off.
"Best two out of three," Ace agreed, raising his staff to his shoulder. He crouched, ready to dodge and strike, feeling the metal gripped in his hands.
The tension grew when they locked eyes until the air was vibrating with their combined energy. Ace got chills, smiling already.
"Fuck, Sabo," he said, keeping their distance as Sabo approached.
Sabo circled him, their staves clashing and sparks flying. Ace laughed, feeling the thrill of the fight course through him. He spun, trying to disarm Sabo as he'd challenged him to, but Sabo was too quick, blocking each attack with his staff before pushing Ace back.
"So cocky," Ace taunted, grinning. "Let's see how long that lasts."
Sabo's staff swept through the air, the tip of it flicking Ace's leg. Ace huffed and jumped back, wincing. Sabo's lips curled into a satisfied smirk.
"You think you're the only one who can use a staff, huh?" Ace added, grip tightening on the weapon.
Sabo lunged forward, pressing his advantage as Ace was momentarily distracted. The two circled each other, their staves clanging harshly between them. Ace managed to block several of Sabo's attacks, but he was beginning to feel the strain in his arms.
"You talk too much," Sabo growled, pressing forward again as shiny armament coated his staff.
Ace blocked another strike, his muscles burning as he fought to keep Sabo at bay. They moved through the woods, their movements fluid and practiced, trees whipping past them in a blur. Ace could feel sweat beading on his forehead, stinging in his eyes.
He glanced over at Sabo, breathing hard, and realized his mistake.
Sabo dodged a strike from Ace, bounding off a tree instead. His staff swept in a blur of motion that sent Ace stumbling backwards, disarmed.
"That's one," Sabo said, grinning triumphantly.
Ace nodded, clapping softly in appreciation. He bent to retrieve his staff to throw it clear of their path before wiping sweat off his brow.
“Might be damn good at that,” Ace said, "But it’s only one. I'll take the other wins easy."
Sabo cast aside his staff, adjusting his gloves tighter as he sized Ace up with narrowed blue eyes.
When he was ready, he gestured Ace forward, more than prepared to tousle again.
It didn’t take Sabo long to put Ace in a compromising position, but he found he was not exactly strong enough to keep him there.
Ace grunted loud with effort, and before Sabo knew it, he switched them around so he had Sabo’s legs pressed into his shoulders, shoving him into the ground. Ace smiled down at him before his lips connected with Sabo’s neck, making Sabo laugh and squirm.
“Lucky I like your underhanded behavior,” Sabo huffed, still putting all his strength into shoving Ace away to no avail.
Ace pulled both Sabo’s legs over his shoulders, leaning back down to kiss him again as he tested his flexibility. This time Sabo let him, accepting a long kiss from him and melting into the forest floor with a sigh into Ace’s mouth, threading gloved fingers into his dark hair.
“Think you might’ve won this one,” Sabo admitted softly, eyes shutting as Ace pressed his nose and mouth into Sabo’s hair, nipping his ear.
“You know it’s my turn to have you, right?” Ace whispered, high on the smell of his hair.
“That’s how it’s gonna work, huh?” Sabo teased him quietly, grinning as he ran his hands up to appreciate Ace’s bare chest.
Ace looked down, liking how the gloves felt on his skin, then lifted his gaze up to Sabo’s eyes again, seriously considering just scrapping the rest of their spar to take advantage of the fact that no one knew they were out here. Steal some more private time with him, but at that moment—
A stick snapped out in the forest, grabbing their instant attention, face serious all of a sudden.
Their eyes zeroed in on an animal in the distance, a large beast plodding across the forest floor, narrowly avoiding trees with its long horns.
Ace’s stomach rumbled.
“So you are thinking what I’m thinking,” Sabo said.
Ace grinned. They could definitely team up and hunt that thing down. It’s not like they had anything else to do today.
“Old times sake?” Ace asked, fire behind his eyes.
“Oh, absolutely, motherfucker,” Sabo said, returning his intensity.
But then, Sabo stopped him before he got up.
“Wait. Just Haki, no fruit. First one to put down the beast is the winner,” Sabo proposed.
“Competitive hunting? What do I get when I beat you?” Ace asked.
“Bragging rights. I’m starting a scoreboard in the journal when we get back.”
“Fine but sweeten the deal or I’m using fire.”
“Loser gives the winner a foot rub in front of the crew,” Sabo suggested, eyes narrowed.
“I’m not making you do that.”
“I won’t be losing, but suit yourself. Loser carries the ram back?” Sabo said.
“You got it,” Ace agreed.
They spit into their palms and slapped them together hard in a handshake before taking off after the massive woolly ram, staves in hand.
The animal was surprisingly fast for its size, leaping over bushes and ducking under low branches with ease, its huge body twisting and swerving through the forest in an almost graceful manner. They chased it for several minutes, Sabo leading the way, his long legs easily eating up the distance between them and their prey. Ace was right behind him, eyes widening as he tried to keep up.
Ace doubled down, forcing himself to pick up speed on muscle alone. He jumped for a tree, aiming to land on a thick branch, his staff held out in front of him. With a powerful thrust, he sent the branch swaying, its leaves rustling in protest causing Sabo to glance behind him in alarm, distracting him as Ace surged ahead.
Making for a clearing, the massive, woolly ram wheezed, its sides heaving as it turned its head from side to side, trying to catch its breath.
Sabo was determined not to lose this time, speeding behind Ace. He shoved his staff under a vine to lift it, clearing over it with his own legs as Ace yelped in surprise. He didn't trip, but his stumble was just enough for Sabo to reach the retreating ram first.
Sabo was on it fast, his staff swinging through the air with deadly precision. The staff connected with the ram's flank, sending it stumbling to the side. With a leap, his boots landed on its back, only having to balance for a second before its horns were in his grasp.
Before Ace could reach them, Sabo had his fingers clawing its skull, a jolt of energy stopping the beast’s brain in an instant. The woolly ram stumbled across the forest floor, slumping stone dead as Sabo skipped safely off of it.
Ace had stopped short, mouth agape as he watched Sabo’s clenched hand end its life— no mess or blood involved.
He lifted a stunned finger. It would’ve been easy to say Sabo had crushed its skull with his clenched fingers, but there was no sign of such violence.
“What did you just do?” Ace asked, crouching with Sabo as they lifted the animal’s head.
Sabo closed its blank eyes with his thumbs as Ace lifted the weight of the creature’s head.
“Pressure straight to the center of the brain. Quick and painless,” Sabo remarked, rubbing its face, “He’ll make a good few meals for the crew. That lady that lives there can salt the rest to store for herself.”
“I… wow. You’ve been holding out on me,” Ace said, still in shock, “That was your Haki? …You used armament?”
Sabo smiled, watching Ace roll the beast to lift the giant ram onto his own back, more than able to carry it by himself.
“It’s a little advanced, but you can absolutely learn it. Just gotta find the core. Everything’s more fragile there,” Sabo explained happily, walking backwards to show Ace how his fingers split into a dragon’s talons.
Ace’s eyes fixed hungrily on his fingers.
“You have to show me that. The core thing? I didn’t know that was even possible.”
“You really like it?” Sabo fished, already inflating his ego.
“I’ll like it more when I figure out how to do it,” Ace replied, keeping the beast balanced with his left arm so he could use his other hand to mimick Sabo’s hand form to press their fingertips together.
"You seem pretty skilled yourself,” Sabo flirted behind a smirk.
Ace scoffed.
“Think my only skill is getting into trouble.”
Tallis had his legs crossed in front of him, focusing on maintaining good posture as he sat with his eyes closed.
“This will help me control the hawk?” Tallis asked, starting to get impatient with the quiet discipline Marco was asking him to have. He peeked one eye open, watching Marco’s face.
Predictably, Marco fixed him with a withering look for breaking concentration. Nevertheless, he answered his question.
“Tallis, that’s the problem, yoi. Zoans are living souls. They don’t want to be controlled, they want to be our partners. You start treating your hawk like an equal, or better, then you might be able to work together.”
“Hm,” Tallis hummed, thinking over his words.
“When you close your eyes, try communicating to your inner voice. The hawk wants you to talk, not make demands. So be respectful and ask them to help you.”
“Them?” Tallis echoed, “The devil fruit?”
“The other half of your soul,” Marco said, hand resting on his own chest as he thought of Anka.
“How would you feel about someone trying to control you, Tallis? You’d rather team up, right?” Marco added.
Tallis nodded, watching him speak with interest as he grabbed his bare feet in front of him.
“The only life our Zoans get to experience is through our bodies and our actions,” Marco explained, “So it’s important to make their experience a good one… They tend to get disappointed when your life doesn’t align with their morals.”
Tallis glanced down briefly at his hands and feet, thinking of how dirty his hands might be in the hawk’s eyes. He suddenly felt watched and judged. A new weight of responsibility shifting inside him.
“The hawk doesn’t want to help me because he’s disappointed in me,” Tallis realized, thinking about everything he’d seen happen in the company of slavers.
“It’s very possible, but don’t lose hope. He got you to the Spadille, so he must not think you’re beyond saving, yoi.”
Tallis nodded, biting his lip thoughtfully.
“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself either, Tallis,” Marco told him, crouching next to him, “It’s not like Haki, which usually develops out of time and extreme environments. Mastering a fruit only takes understanding. The second you have a breakthrough with your Zoan, you’ll be able to use those abilities.”
He sat to face Tallis in a calm pose that mirrored his young protégé. But Marco kept his eyes open, watching Tallis’ face intently while he let his brown eyes close again.
“His name,” Tallis said, brow furrowing as he tried to understand the jumbled words in his head.
“What is it?” Marco couldn’t help but ask, even though Tallis’ eyes were closed.
“Nisus,” Tallis uttered, gasping as he heard the voice loud in his mind.
Tallis’ eyes opened in shock, vibrant yellow burning into Marco.
“There he is,” Marco reacted, shifting his legs back under himself slowly in awe as Tallis stood up slowly in front of him.
The young Zoan’s breaths were catching in disbelief as he watched brown quills sprout from his shaking hands. Feathers replaced his hair, too, framing his wild yellow eyes.
Marco grinned, pressing steepled fingertips against his chin in enjoyment. Fully-fledged wings erupted from Tallis’ arms around his bare chest until he stood there, half-human and half-hawk.
“Whatever you said to Nisus, it looks like you got him on your side,” Marco told him, shaking his head and smiling as he crossed his arms.
“This is hybrid?” Tallis asked, watching Marco nod. He couldn’t help noticing he even looked stronger too, looking down to see his muscles with a helpless grin.
“Go get some air, yoi,” Marco told him, “Spend some time in hybrid form. Here, drink this first,” Marco said, tipping water into his mouth since Tallis didn’t have the use of his hands.
“If you try flying just stay low, okay, yoi?”
“Think I can handle that,” Tallis assured him, laughing when Marco pinched his cheek.
“Very proud of you,” Marco said before catching himself, making both of them react with a little surprise.
“Oh. Thanks,” Tallis replied, drawing his wings in close like a blanket wrapped tight around him. The way he looked up at Marco asked so much of him, vulnerable and childlike.
“Yeah, go on, then,” Marco said gently.
He coaxed him out by opening the door to the balcony, “You earned a break.”
Koala hadn’t lost track of the transponders she tried to reach yet, tallying another mark as she failed to reach Ahiru.
She hadn’t been able to let herself believe her attacker had been Karasu. He hadn’t shown face, just a blur of shadow. Even though Marco had been convinced, all she could do was believe the shadowed figure to be some rogue opportunist crossing their paths.
No matter how upset Dragon might’ve been, he never would’ve ordered such a thing from Karasu. And Karasu never would’ve followed such an order.
“Come on, answer Hack,” Koala said, sounding worried as the transponder dialed in her hands.
When she heard the Fishman’s voice pick up, her breath caught in amazement.
“Hack, I—“ Koala reacted, but she quieted to listen to his voice for a moment.
“…Of course I have time to talk,” Koala replied, already heading for the door.
Koala adjusted the neck of her wetsuit slightly and slipped her feet into Sabo’s pair of wooden geta that’d been kicked off by the front entry before venturing onto the gravel pathway, walking past the statue toward the gate with the transponder in her hands.
“What’s been going on?” Koala asked the Fishman, kicking around a few gravel pieces with a concerned expression.
“You’re alone?” Hack asked.
“Yeah, like you said,” Koala confirmed, starting to frown now, “Hack, is everything okay? Why hasn’t anyone answered? I know we broke rank, but I—“
Koala’s voice faltered suddenly, looking down at the pier below her where a familiar Fishman rose from the ocean just down the stone steps.
Hack emerged , his webbed feet pushing him up onto the rocks before dropping down into the sand. Water rolled off his warm-toned skin, grinning wide at her from below, making her grin in return.
“Surprise,” his voice said in the transponder just before the call ended.
She shook her head in disbelief, leaving the transponder and the geta behind to break into an excited sprint down the hill toward him, kicking up sand barefoot on her way down the beach to him.
But the closer she got to Hack’s smiling face, the more she realized something was off, sliding to a halt just before reaching him.
His face and neck were partially obscured behind facial hair, but his wet skin had visible areas of spidering veins, a sickening green color.
Koala’s heart plummeted unpleasantly, taking a few suspicious steps back even farther out of reach from his deep yellow hands. Zipping up her suit and gripping hands into fists, she found even footing on the wet sand to assume a ready stance.
She shivered at the thought that she’d been so close to hugging him before realizing he was no more Hack than a poisonous snake coiled to strike.
Hack still grinned, but it looked sinister now.
“Oh, look at that. You are alone, after all. And I thought you were smarter than that, Koala,” Hack said gruffly, smirking, “Hopefully you’re smart enough not to try running. I think you know I’d crush you in an instant.”
Koala went rigid, nearly calling out for Sabo— a natural reaction when she already knew she was outmatched. But two things struck her simultaneously; that she knew Sabo was too far for her voice to carry, and then, worse…
That maybe Hack was after Sabo, too. And if Hack didn’t know Sabo was nearby, she didn’t want to give away his presence.
“What happened to you?” she asked, voice as tense as her posture, ready to defend herself.
The masterful Fishman would be an unbeatable opponent, about to use the very same karate he taught her to beat her down. All she could do was stall him.
Hack’s webbed foot swept forward to direct a powerful jab with his hand, eyes flickering angrily as she skipped back defensively, her stance deep and controlled, matching his skill even if she lacked his strength.
Hack’s nose wrinkled when his fist didn’t land, seeing her brown eyes narrow in her defensive karate stance.
“Always were a good student, defensively,” he said, “How’s your offense? Still weak?”
This time it was her nose wrinkling, avoiding another sharp swipe of the hand he’d flattened into a blade as heavy as cement.
It already made her sore enough emotionally, seeing Hack like this. He’d always been so gentle, even surprising her with plush toys and pastries sometimes when she got down. How many times had she trained with him? Hugged him and exchanged vulnerable stories?
Now this. The coldness of an executioner.
No love, only a death stare between them.
Koala swallowed past the lump in her throat, mouth twitching in deep sadness, fearing that even if she survived this assault, he might be beyond saving. One of her oldest friends, already dead.
He bared terrifying rows of teeth at her, lunging.
She rolled backwards as he continued his assault, fists driving forward at her just as quick as she could dodge the last.
“I don’t wanna fight you, Hack,” she huffed when he paused, both of them breathing harshly in opposing stances.
“Who did this to you?”
“Who freed me, you mean?” he growled, chuckling, “My supreme commander, of course.”
Koala sighed and braced herself, ready to defend against any attack as she drew in a deep breath, sinking deep with her hands up.
“We only have one supreme commander,” Koala told him firmly, “And he’d never tell you to do this!”
She knew it was too late to run; he’d catch her easily, especially uphill. Koala skipped backwards again, keeping herself light and ready to move either direction.
Hack lunged with controlled strikes at her again, his movements precise and brutal like a machine.
She dodged and weaved, knowing better than to block when he used his full strength, the two of them a blur of limbs and scales.
His strength was greater than hers, but she was quicker in a tight space, using it to her advantage until he grew angry and impatient.
He slammed his webbed hands together, summoning a sharp jet of water from the waves, driving it like a spear towards her chest, knocking the wind from her lungs.
Her eyes widened, collapsing from the force of it, unable to breathe from the blow to her sternum.
Koala didn’t even have the lung capacity to yell as Hack approached her, his grin unsettling as he knelt a heavy knee into her sternum to clutch a wet fist around her throat, cutting off any oxygen she tried to draw in.
Her hands grabbed at his fingers, brow pinching upwards as she felt his grip tighten.
Koala tightened her grip on his wrists in response, whipping one of her legs to kick— flexibility allowing her to strike a heavy blow at his temple. He recoiled, disoriented.
She wriggled away in horror, rolling her legs over her head to flip and scramble out of his reach, gasping for breath.
But it seemed to only piss him off more, his stature towering over her as he lunged for her again. She sprang backwards, barely able to get enough air as she rubbed at her sore neck, but he didn’t give her any time to rest, powerful fist jabbing in fast.
A blur of wings suddenly sent Hack rolling and sprawling into the sand.
Tallis’ hybrid form stood over the Fishman, clenching talons threateningly into his throat. His face and chest were left human, but large, tawny wings spread on either side of him now. His eyes burned gold, returning Hack’s stare and nearly piercing his throat.
“Tallis,” Koala breathed from behind him, stunned when she recognized him.
Catching his eyes, Koala urgently told him,
“Don’t kill him— that’s our friend. We need to figure out why he’s acting this way.”
“Do you have many of these… friends?” Tallis asked her cautiously.
She swallowed, looking around.
“Potentially.”
Tallis gave her a worried look with his wild-looking yellow eyes.
“I’ll hold him while you warn the others.”
Koala heard the sound of heavy wings, a rustle of feathers announcing someone landing on the beach as her eyes fixed on Hack.
“Marco?” Koala asked instinctively until she heard the cawing of crows.
Her pupils enlarged at the sound.
Not Marco.
A villainous grey-skinned man, his wings large, black and shedding soot into the blowing wind. His head shaved bald and a mask the shape of a crow’s beak, funneling tubes into his neck. Karasu.
Tallis’ jaw clenched sharply with a territorial reaction, brown wings stretching defensively to block Koala from Karasu’s sight. Adrenaline surged through his rigid body, on guard like he would do anything but let Karasu past him.
“Oh… look at you… you’re just a baby bird,” Karasu noticed, stalking in an arc around him, but Tallis didn’t flinch, not hearing his taunting words.
A mass of crows poured from him, swirling and screeching as they descended.
“Go!” Tallis told her.
Koala cursed, taking off up the hill just as Hack escaped from Tallis’ claws.
The Fishman took a sprinting dive back into the ocean. He disappeared beneath the waves, clutching the punctures Tallis made in his neck and not wanting to chance the hawk getting his claws on him again.
At the same time, Karasu’s figure began to form out of the soot, much closer to Tallis than before.
Tallis threw an instinctual jab. The hit did nothing to Karasu, making Tallis watch in horror as his fist went straight through him. Soot exploded around his arm, setting Tallis off balance punching thin air.
Tallis already knew he was fucked, he hadn’t realized Karasu was a Logia until this moment, and it proved to be a painful mistake.
Karasu took full advantage of his inexperience, forcing a spiked fist into Tallis’ gut without warning, doubling him over in shock.
“Marco!” Tallis called out, shivering at the jolt it sent through his stomach. He knew Marco probably couldn’t hear him, it just gave him a sense of security he wasn’t used to feeling.
His attacker dispersed as quickly as he’d appeared, swirling into the air past Tallis to get after Koala instead.
Without knowing the Chief of Staff’s location, she was the second best target Karasu could pursue, more than aware of their connection.
Tallis sank to the beach as his feathers split away into arms, clutching the wet spot on his bare stomach, refusing to look down at the blood as he turned his fearful eyes to watch Koala running.
“Watch out— Koala!” Tallis yelled, wincing at the pain as he let his back hit the sand, looking so much weaker now that his wings and feathers abandoned him.
Karasu had taken flight, already diving fast at Koala’s fleeing figure. And even though she attempted to dodge him, it was only too easy for him to clutch her and lift her high off the ground.
“No,” Tallis said through gritted teeth, feeling for his gun with one hand still pressing into his openly bleeding wound.
He held the pistol to his eyeline, hand shaking violently as he watched upside down while Karasu’s figure shrank into air… holding Koala.
Tallis knew he couldn’t take the shot, dropping his arm angrily back to the beach.
“Fuck!” he roared in frustration, sending more shooting pains from the stab wound as he pressed into it with both hands, helpless to go after Koala now. Yelling made him cough weakly, tasting metallic as the wet cough brought up blood.
Tallis fought to stay awake, eyes blurring as he could barely make out the warm glow of blue fire descending on him.
That was how Marco found him, shivering in the wet sand. He murmured Marco’s name, showing him the blood coating the inside of his mouth.
Marco’s hand erupted, holding flames where Tallis had been stabbed, scooping an arm under his shoulders to jostle him.
“Stay awake, yoi,” Marco told him.
“Wasting time,” Tallis complained, trying to point into the air, “Get Koala.”
Marco swallowed hard, shaking his head.
“I can’t. Tallis, you’re not gonna make it if I go after her. If he planned to kill her, he could’ve. She’s gonna be okay.”
“You came for me,” Tallis rasped, teeth red with blood in his mouth.
Marco somehow looked more in pain than him.
“Yeah, a little late, but I’m here now, yoi. Just breathe, alright?”
Tallis’ eyebrows pinched upwards, struggling under Marco’s fiery hand.
“I fucking blew it,” he panted angrily, “He was too fast for me, I—“
“Stop,” Marco told him firmly, scanning him with worried eyes as he clutched him close,
“This fire is barely keeping you alive, so I need you to relax, okay, yoi?”
Tallis nodded weakly, helpless to do anything but look up into the sky as warmth spread beneath his ribs. Darkness vignetted his vision, as if looking through a hazy tunnel. Instinct told him he was dying, even if Marco hadn’t said anything.
Marco jostled him again.
“Keep those eyes open,” Marco reminded him.
Tallis’ consciousness snapped back again, surprised because he didn’t realize he drifted off.
“You like cooking, yoi… what’s your favorite thing to make? Walk me through it,” he saw Marco asking him to get him talking again.
Tallis stumbled through his words, trying to grasp at the comforting feeling of the fire spreading under his skin.
Marco had to mentally call upon the phoenix to give him more strength, more than aware of his own limitations.
He also knew that his Oyaji’s old parrot was in hearing distance. Marco whistled a cadence, watching Jabby take flight from the Spadille in the distance, having been trained to sound an alarm to the others.
Saber leaned against the balcony, rolling tobacco with Mihar. From a distance, they could already hear that parrot squawking, whatever its name was. ‘Jabs’ or something.
“Damn bird,” Saber muttered, scoffing.
Mihar, frowned next to him, listening to the parrot’s cries, watching the blue bird flapping fast to reach them. After all, it was a grim sign to see the bird at all; last Mihar knew, Jabby and Kotatsu had been entrusted to guard the ship. And now Jabby was clearly sounding an alarm, even if it was hard to hear at first.
“Man overboard! Brrt!” Jabby said, rustling in the air for a moment.
“Shit,” Mihar said, lifting his scoped rifle to his eyeline to get eyes on the ship. Only Kotatsu was there now, still keeping watch.
“Who the fuck would be in the water?” Saber reacted, squinting into the distance.
Mihar scanned with his scope until he found Marco and Tallis on the beach… a dizzying amount of blood on them.
Mihar’s shoulders slumped, but he kept the gun up, scanning for threats around them.
“Tallis is down, Saber,” Mihar told him grimly, “Where’s Deu?”
Saber looked over the rail with him, bugged by his tone.
“How ‘down’ exactly?” Saber asked.
“Looks bad. Lotta blood… but it looks like Marco might have it under control,” Mihar said, still peering through the scope as he rested the barrel against his hand on the rail, “Round up the men. I’m gonna covering everyone from up here until you safely board.”
“Where’s the captain, Teachie?” Saber asked.
Mihar didn’t miss a beat.
“Wherever he is, he’ll be here soon. Always seems to know when something’s up. Now go.”
Deuce overheard Saber telling the men to round up everything and make for the Spadille. Saying they’d be leaving earlier than expected.
When Saber caught Deuce’s confused look, the cowboy actually seemed nervous— not good at relaying such emotional information. He seemed to dread when Deuce approached him, wiping his nose with an anxious hand as he avoided his eyes.
“Someone called ‘man overboard.’ What’s going on?” Deuce asked.
“It’s Tallis,” Saber admitted, but he grabbed the collar of Deuce’s overcoat with a warning hand to stop him bolting for the door, “Wait.”
“How did Tallis end up in the fucking water? Let me go!” Deuce protested, meeting his eyes angrily before seeing Saber was serious.
“He’s not in the water, but something cut him up pretty bad,” Saber told him.
“What? I’m the fucking medic. Where did they cut him? Let me—“
Saber reinforced his hold.
“Hold your damn horses and listen. Marco’s got him. Just preparing you cause you ain’t gonna like it, alright? Nobody needs hysterics right now.”
Deuce forced himself to stop fighting the hold, eyes stony as they met Saber’s.
“You good?” Saber demanded.
“No,” Deuce relented looking more dead than relaxed, but he was grateful when Saber finally released him.
“Go then. I’m right behind ya.”
It seemed to take an eternity to reach them. Deuce pulled his water canteen from his small satchel, sliding down beside Tallis and Marco.
“Tallis,” was all Deuce could say, sniffling hard at the blood staining their hands, spilled down his torso and pooling dark in the sand. His lip quivered, trying to focus on Tallis’ brown eyes.
“How are you even conscious right now? How’s your vision? Here— I brought—“
Tallis accepted a drink of water, lifted partially by Marco’s arm under him as he kept healing fire pressed above his navel.
Deuce could see blood in Tallis’ mouth, feeling his gut wrench at the sight. He wouldn’t have been able to save him even if he’d been here. In fact, Tallis would’ve died if Marco hadn’t found him first.
Deuce’s eyes welled up so bad he could barely see, letting hot tears roll down his cheeks. Saber bent slightly to clench a hand on Deu’s shoulder, something Mihar normally did.
Tallis’ eyes were reddened too, barely drinking and letting the rest of the water spill down him.
“Tell me if you need to bite on something, okay? Are you still in pain? Tallis, who did this to you?” Deuce asked, not getting an answer to a single question, making him progressively more worried.
“A crow man,” Tallis struggled out, letting Deuce support his face. He swallowed hard at having to admit his worthlessness.
Deuce frowned, trying to make sense of it.
“Karasu,” Marco and Deuce said at the same time.
“Where are the others, Marco? Where’s Koala?” Deuce asked.
Marco reacted to her name, shaking his head at Deuce as Tallis whimpered angrily into his arm, hurting at that question.
“I fucking lost her, okay?” Tallis stammered through a frustrated sob into his arms, covering his face with them.
Marco shifted Tallis higher into his arms, shushing him carefully as he met Deuce's fearful eyes.
Notes:
Will be posting another chapter of a similar size in a few hours <3
Hope everybody had an amazing week
Chapter 36: Fallen
Summary:
Sabo sees himself in Tallis for a moment, and he starts to understand Marco's qualities as a result. As usual, Ace does his damnedest to keep everyone's spirits up.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Karasu’s sooted wings beat faster, lifting Koala high over the island, following the coast northeast.
Koala felt the wind whipping her hair around her face. She clutched at Karasu’s arms, fearful as she watched the ground getting farther and farther away. He had her at a height that would kill her if she fell.
It wasn’t something she’d normally worry about, having flown great distances with Karasu countless times. But without knowing why her friends attacked her, she questioned if he’d flown her up high just to drop her.
Her heart raced as his arm tightened over her ribs, gripping her so painfully she thought her ribs could splinter any second.
“Karasu, you’re hurting me,” she gasped out, brow pinching as her fingers locked onto his arm.
“Ow!” Koala reacted in surprise as Sabo pinned her down in the sparring ring outside Baltigo Headquarters.
But Sabo didn’t relent just yet, putting her into a forceful hold until she burst into laughter, making him release her with an annoyed huff.
“This is not funny. You need to defend yourself,” Sabo said, bristling slightly as he examined her wrist to make sure he hadn’t injured her.
“You’re only laughing because you know I’m not gonna hurt you, but you need to take this seriously. Pretend I’m a stranger okay?”She sagged against the ground, eyes rolling.
“Maybe you’re taking it too seriously.”“Yeah, I am,” Sabo retorted, “Sparring with me is one thing, but picturing someone else doing this to you makes me insane. I’m begging you, please try harder than this. For me.”
The way his hand went to his hair when he got stressed made her concerned, nodding at him with a hand comforting his arm.
“Sabo… okay, I’m sorry. I’ll take it seriously. Tell me how I can improve.”
“You stopped fighting back. Never stop fighting back, Koala, even if you know it’s me attacking you.”
She gave him a skeptical look.
“It just feels pointless, if I’m honest. You’re never gonna be weak enough for me to beat you. Not with all the karate in the world.”“If your opponent is stronger, you have to fight dirty. Go for their eyes, knee them in the balls, even if it’s me. I need to you to practice like it’s life or death. Because one day it will be. Trust me.”
Koala have him an understanding nod.
“Now do it,” Sabo told her with a slight wrinkle in his nose as he braced himself, “I’m going to attack you again. This time, go for my eyes. Go for my throat.”
“Got it?” he demanded.
“Got it,” she repeated, her eyes steeling to get up the courage to genuinely hurt him, even if it was the last thing she ever wanted to do.
Karasu flew her over water now, the ocean sprawling deep and dark beneath her, reflecting blue into her eyes.
He eyes narrowed dangerously, side-eyeing her friend turned captor.
Koala jabbed fingers up into his eyes behind her, but her hand only met air as he chuckled darkly, knowing there was no way for her to harm him with his Logia abilities.
She cursed, grabbing his arms that couldn’t turn to soot without releasing her, but he was too strong to be bothered by her attempts to loosen his hold. She knew there was only one way to hurt a Logia.
“Tell me how to do it again. The energy thing,” Koala said, looking up at Sabo.
He held her arm with both his hands, showing it to her, “You start small, just your fist. Wanting armament to happen isn’t enough. Think of the most you’ve ever needed something.”
Koala listened with wide eyes, flexing her arm experimentally beneath his hands.
“Your willpower has to be more undeniable than gravity,” Sabo told her seriously, “What you need your body to do, becoming stronger than mortal flesh, it defies the laws of nature. When you believe you can shape your own fist as surely as your shape your destiny, it will happen.”
Koala held her fist so tight it trembled and her nails dug into her own palms, putting so much energy into it that he felt her fist get warm, darken in front of her stunned eyes with a thin, shimmery layer of darkness protecting it.
She gasped at the sight, and before she lost her hold on it, Koala clawed at his throat, her nails cutting into him. It surprised him so much he nearly lost his grip on her, but she didn’t relent, going back for more. Her fingers wrapped around the tubing entering his neck, pulling it free from his mask, suddenly making it hard for him to breathe.
He choked out a cough, his body seizing and his hands getting weak.
Koala’s heart leapt up into her throat, slipping through his arms into thin air and plummeting fast. She barely even had time to wrestle her goggles down to seal over her eyes, sucking in several panicked emergency breaths and making herself go rigid and straight to breach the waves. The momentum pulled her under fast, sinking down into the dark water.
She had one hand clapped over her nose and mouth, hair casting around her as she peered around with wide eyes. It shouldn’t have surprised her, but seeing Hack swimming fast in her direction activated her adrenaline all over again, pupils growing at the sight of him— now only an underwater apex predator who forgot every ounce of love he ever had for her.
Sabo was leading Ace through the bramble, weaving through trees and vines, cutting away what he could so Ace could fit the giant ram through, still wearing it like a heavy, furry boa over his shoulders.
Ace was about to joke that maybe Marge might use the rest of the beast like an area rug once they’d made meals out of it, but the way Sabo suddenly stopped in the path got his attention.
Sabo had chills going up his arms, turning around with his pupils so dilated that his eyes looked black, spooking Ace.
“Karasu,” Sabo whispered, brows pinching.
Before Ace struggled out from under the ram, letting it plop to the forest floor, Sabo had dashed away at what seemed like light speed.
This gave Ace a bad feeling, his whole body exploding into flames as he propelled himself after Sabo as fast as his ability allowed.
“Sabo!” Ace yelled, not able to gain on him fast enough, starting to get worried because they were heading for the open ocean the more speed they picked up over the treetops.
He could see Sabo ahead of him, taking fast leaps and bounds through the air, not even seeming to hear him.
"Sabo, wait up!" Ace yelled, getting frustrated when he was ignored.
He could see what Sabo was after, a shadowy bird-like figure out over the water, already a dizzying distance from the coast.
“He’s got Koala,” Sabo panted, sounding physically ill as he sprinted through the air toward the ocean.
“Don't go out there," Ace warned him loudly from behind, still unable to reach him, "Not without me. Fucking listen to me, Sabo!"
They could see Koala fall from Karasu’s grasp, too far for Sabo’s ability to halt her before she hit the water. But Sabo didn’t stop, even seeming to speed up as he closed in, seconds away from being able to use time to stop her fall.
Ace pushed himself harder, flames roaring around him as he chased Sabo down.
His observation showed him exactly what was about to happen— seeing what Sabo intended to do. If he didn't catch up soon, Sabo would leap into the water after her.
“No, Sabo!” Ace yelled.
He didn’t even have to be faster than Sabo to catch him, because what Sabo did was a rookie mistake, an extremely deadly one for a Fruit-user.
Sabo stopped time, freezing Koala just below the surface, enough that he could reach his arm in after her.
It nearly gave Ace a heart attack, colliding into him forcefully in the air. Sabo already had his head and arm reaching in after her without even seeming to consider what a dangerous prison the ocean was for him.
But Ace didn’t let him go under for more than a second, arms cinching around his waist and hauling him straight back up into the air.
“No—” Sabo screamed, ripping at his arms.
“Stop fighting me!” Ace yelled back.
The seawater splashing them both had Ace feeling almost as weak as Sabo, groaning with effort as he lifted him back into the air. He only needed enough strength to get them both to the shore.
Sabo’s breathing was raw and labored in his panic, and to his credit he did stop struggling long enough for Ace to get them to safety.
But the second Ace landed them on the coast, Sabo shoved him away— and only then did Ace see the furious tears in his eyes.
“What?” Ace demanded, “You’re mad at me?”
Sabo grabbed his own blond hair as he tried not to hyperventilate. All rational thought abandoned him, unable to hold back, “Why did you stop me? Ace, I nearly got to her!”
“You nearly got yourself killed,” Ace snapped back, absolutely seething and not even trying to hide it.
“You’re not gonna get Koala back until you can think clearly. Take a breath.”
But that was the last thing Sabo wanted to hear.
“You’re supposed to be on my side!” Sabo couldn’t help but yell in frustration.
Ace had heard enough, anger igniting like hot coals inside him.
He grabbed Sabo’s vest, forcing him down into the sand with Ace bearing his whole weight down on him like he might punch him— but he had no intention of doing that. His fists and his voice shook, fuming as tears welled in his narrowed eyes.
“Pulling you outta harm’s way wasn’t being on your side? You can’t swim, man! Got so distracted you forgot the ocean would’ve pulled you under where I can’t reach you. What would you have me do? I’m supposed to let you die on me?” Ace demanded.
“Maybe you should’ve. Anything was better than letting me lose her,” Sabo fought back.
Ace went silent, swallowing hard as he cast his eyes away, brows turning up. He didn’t let Sabo up yet, but Sabo seemed to slump farther into the sand, defeated and already guilty for saying that.
“Ace…” Sabo tried to apologize, but Ace was already talking across him.
“Y’know, you can be pissed all you want, but you will listen to me right now. I don’t care where you go or what you do, I will always be there to stop you falling. Don’t like it? Tough. You already died once. You’re not hurting me like that again,” Ace told him.
The quiet anger in his voice was the worst part.
“I’m sorry, Ace,” Sabo murmured softly now, hands shaking as he grabbed his own face.
Ace took a deep sigh at seeing Sabo crumple like this. He grabbed Sabo’s hands to hold them so he’d stop hiding in them. Then he lifted himself off Sabo and hauled him up too.
“Don’t apologize, I know why you got heated. Sorry we couldn’t get to her, but we will, okay?”
Sabo nodded, looking as disgraced as he felt. It was humbling, pushing his hardest and still coming up empty handed. He was supposed to protect her, but without being an overbearing shadow, there was no way to really do that.
They both sensed a faint wave of Haki, turning at the same time to frown down the coast at a figure slumped nearly unconscious in the distance.
Upon closer inspection, they found Karasu stirring, having been dazed by his fall to the ground. He wheezed, his body strained, clutching at his mask.
“This him?” Ace said, voice tight and threatening as his boot pressed into Karasu’s chest. His nose wrinkled as he stared the man down.
“I think his mind’s been poisoned,” Sabo said, his brow pinching.
“Who did this to you?” Ace asked, hovering over him with Sabo.
Karasu wheezed, shaking.
“He’s… dying,” Ace reacted, feeling his energy fade.
Sabo’s hand were already on Karasu’s mask, trying to reconnect the hose and allow the man to breathe easier.
“Koala did that when you attacked her?“ Ace asked.
Sabo couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride at her being resourceful enough to sabotage his mask.
“That’s my girl. Whatever you have to do,” Sabo praised quietly, his face still grim as he held Karasu’s mask together.
“Guess you shouldn’t have fucked with her, huh?” Ace told the Logia, holding him firmly in place with a blackened armament grip.
“Who even sent this piece of shit?”
“My supreme commander,” Karasu breathed.
“Dragon?” Ace demanded.
“No, you idiot,” Karasu corrected, proud and venomous, his answer making Sabo’s nose snarl.
“Then I know exactly who it is, I just can’t believe the balls on this guy. Using my own fucking people against me?” Sabo said bitterly, leaving a bad taste in his mouth as his eyes darkened, glaring down at Karasu.
He wasn’t angry at Karasu himself, he was angry at this poison corrupting his actions. He was angry at the man who did this to Karasu.
“We were never your people,” Karasu told him hoarsely, “You thought we gave a shit about you?”
Sabo’s stomach dropped at those words, swallowing hard at hearing him say it, but now he understood why.
“Thank you,” Sabo murmured, letting a tear escape his eye as he nodded, “Dragon’s been poisoned, Ace. He’s a victim to the same thing as Karasu here. It’s gotta be Hack that has her and now I know where he’s taking her.”
Ace looked surprised, a little sad.
“The army’s headquarters?”
Sabo nodded, standing up wiping his face roughly with the back of his hand.
“That’s where we need to go. Are you in?”
“You know I am, Sabo. Anything you need.”
Sabo clutched her vivre card.
“He doesn’t appear to be hurting her. They probably just want you to show face,” Ace noticed, comforting him with the quiet words.
“Yeah, ‘show face.’ That’s exactly what I’ll do, but it’s not gonna go how he wants it to,” Sabo told him icily.
“Who?” Ace asked.
“I would bet you anything it’s that Emmo guy… Marmont’s commander. He told me he wanted revenge on Dragon,” Sabo realized quietly, frowning and disturbed.
“C’mon, let’s get this guy to the Spadille first. Once everyone’s aboard, we’ll set the heading,” Ace told him, bending to lift Karasu over his shoulder.
They found the Spadille already bustling with Ace’s men, who’d somehow already gotten the memo that they’d be leaving quickly. Skull was directing the others from the helm, having them loose and slack clew lines to catch wind in the sails. It wasn’t long before they were navigating the Spadille back out to sea.
Cornelia brought a pair of kairouseki cuffs to keep Karasu at bay as Kukai and Saber cocked their pistols, following them down so Karasu knew not to try anything.
Sabo watched Ace’s men lead his old friend away with a heavy heart, no joy at all from seeing Karasu being treat like some dangerous villain. Normally, he was about the gentlest guy Sabo knew.
Ace however, found himself distracted not by Karasu, but by the sight of Tallis, his skin and trousers still stained with so much drying blood. He seemed to be healed from whatever had happened, physically at least. But emotionally, his eyes were very much still hollow and shaken. He couldn’t even look at Ace and Sabo when they boarded except to shoot daggers at Karasu.
Ace and Sabo knew it must’ve been Karasu that wounded him. And that meant Tallis might’ve been the only person who showed up to defend Koala. It sent a strangely warm feeling through them both, especially Sabo, just at the thought of Tallis bravely going after her attackers.
Tallis didn’t seem proud of himself at all. In fact, it seemed the opposite as his eyes burned red and angry, getting emotional again as Marco and Deuce crouched beside him.
“I’m sorry,” Tallis said, sniffling hard into his hands, “I tried. I tried to stop them.”
Sabo watched with pinched eyebrows as Marco lifted his shoulders into a hug, making sure Tallis returned it before pulling back to stare seriously into his eyes.
“Quiet, now, yoi,” Marco told him, “You did everything you could do. She’ll be alright. You’re gonna use this to get stronger, okay? Tell me.”
“I’m gonna get stronger,” Tallis breathed miserably.
It affected Sabo deeply, watching Marco hold his face, focused on getting his protégé right in the head again.
Sabo knew exactly how Tallis felt right now, that cold, dead feeling inside him because what they did wasn’t enough to stop Koala from being taken. It was a sad, helpless spike through the heart.
Ace seemed to sense it in Sabo, especially after seeing the state Tallis was in. Marco seemed to have that under control, but Ace sent Sabo a worried glance, fingers reaching to brush his arm.
Sabo took a deep breath, listening to the crew give and respond to orders around them, the commotion loud and distracting on his mind. He ran a stressed hand through his wet curls, hating the weight of the seawater that still soaked through his skin and hair, making him even more exhausted.
Ace noticed the water affecting him, glancing up at Sabo’s wet hair with a decisive nod.
“Gotta wash that out or it’ll keep bothering you.”
“I’m fine,” Sabo insisted, staring with concern at Tallis. But he didn’t look fine to Ace.
So Ace left his side, only going below deck long enough to bring freshwater and soap back to where Sabo had leaned at the rail.
Sabo couldn’t help but smile softly, allowing Ace to steer him to sit in front of Ace so he could throw a towel around his shoulders and clean his hair right there on the deck.
“You don’t have to do this,” Sabo told him, shaking his head at how stubbornly Ace decided to help him sometimes.
“We’re all just trying to find something useful to do,” Ace insisted, “Just let me help.”
And when Ace pressed his warm fingers into’s Sabo’s freezing hair, Sabo went silent, letting his head get heavy in Ace’s hands as his eyes closed.
Ace exhaled softly, a little amused to see how much Sabo enjoyed the impressive warmth he was channeling into his palms. Ace coated his hands in the soap, running it through his blond hair until he could carefully rinse it, cupping his hand under to keep it off Sabo as he went. Letting the water sizzle into steam against his skin stopped most of it from wetting the towel over Sabo’s shoulders.
“Have you done this before?” Sabo said, distracted out of his miserable thoughts by the amount of skill Ace seemed to have.
Ace sighed.
“You would not believe the amount of times the pipes broke on this ship. Well, maybe you would. But yeah… sucks not having running water.”
Sabo nodded, eyes closing and opening softly as Ace used the towel in his heated hands to dry Sabo’s hair.
The strangest thing was how Ace was pressing the towel to his hair instead of scrubbing at it like Ace and Luffy always dried their hair.
Sabo’s brow pinched.
“You remember that?”
“Yeah,” Ace scoffed, “You used to get pissed if anyone roughed your hair up. Remember it used to get all frizzy? You hated it.”
This had Sabo swallowing and blinking back tears, causing quietly at how annoyingly emotional he felt. Everything was just too raw and fucked up for Ace to be this kind to him. Washing the seawater from his hair, carefully drying it.
Everything seemed to sting at Sabo right now, even and especially the sweet things he didn’t have the right to enjoy.
Sabo could see Marco’s eyes burning from far away, watching the man stare over the rail with murderous eyes while Ace kept drying Sabo’s hair. He abandoned the towel, letting just his warm hands play in Sabo’s curls until the water had mostly evaporated.
Hell, Ace wasn’t even completely doing this for Sabo’s benefit, he just liked any excuse to have his hands wandering through his hair.
Sabo reached a hand up to touch Ace’s cheek behind him, silently thanking him. Ace smirked, pressing a loud, childish kiss to his cheek, repeating it until Sabo broke into a grudging smile against him.
“You gonna be okay?” Ace asked him, still trying to lighten his demeanor by annoying him, softly pinching his cheeks. It was so damn immature, but Sabo did love it, nodding into the touch.
“Yeah, just gotta focus on solutions now,” Sabo admitted, unable to stop himself from glancing over at Marco when he said it. Remembering how Marco consoled Tallis by telling him to use this motivation to get stronger.
It occurred to Sabo that he deeply appreciated Marco’s advice. Even though Marco said it to Tallis, Sabo needed to hear it just as much, taking it to heart. It made him regard Marco so warmly, blind-siding him with the soft emotion.
“Hey, I think I need to go settle something real quick,” Sabo murmured to Ace, letting him help Sabo to his feet with a nod of agreement.
And when Sabo walked up to him, Marco did a double-take, stunned to see him there.
Sabo’s face still looked a little red, so deeply ashamed he found himself unable to look at Marco for a moment.
“I’ll understand, yoi… if you blame me,” Marco told him, the glow in his eyes fading. More human now.
Sabo shook his head, looking miserable.
"I don't blame you, Marco. I'm the one who fucked up. I should've been there.”
Marco watched him, his eyes unreadable. He was silent for a moment, then reached up to hover his hand over Sabo's cheek, his thumb nearly touching the fresh burn under his eye.
"Can I fix this, yoi?" he asked, "Please?"
Sabo swallowed hard, nodding with downcast eyes.
Marco guided him to sit by the rail, crouching slowly in front of him.
“I’m sorry my fire startled you earlier. Should’ve realized, with your burns…” Marco said, “I’d like to try something else, if that’s okay. I don't believe you met the phoenix yet.”
In Marco’s palm, a miniature phoenix flickered to life, shaking out her blue flamed feathers as she proudly pecked the air.
With his arms crossed at a distance, Ace smiled. He’d only seen Marco do this for children he was healing— they’d been scared of the fire too.
Sabo glanced from the firebird to Marco’s eyes.
“The bird is made of light. She’ll help you heal faster. Is it okay if she hops into your hand, yoi?”
Sabo nodded as he pulled back to watch the creature alight on his palm, enchanted by her.
She was no bigger than a sparrow, but gorgeous the way she flared blue. The miniature phoenix dipped at Sabo’s palm as if bathing, then hopped to the fingers of his other hand to flap at him playfully.
He cracked a smile, basking in her warmth.
It wasn’t so long ago that Marco had been no more than a worrisome obstacle to Sabo. Now, he was doting on him like this.
“Her name’s Anka,” Marco explained, “If you let her, she’ll fix the burn. Not the old scar, of course, just that new one, the broken skin. And she’s not really fire, if that helps. Just kind of looks like it.”
Sabo gave him a nod, raising the bird gently to his cheek to allow her access to his burn mark, letting her crane up to kiss at his cheek and nuzzle warmth under his damaged eye.
“‘Anka’ you said? Did you name her?”
“Well, not exactly. She told me her name.”
Sabo examined him.
“Your Zoan is female?”
Marco smiled slightly, not sure where Sabo was going with it, if he was going to poke fun.
“Yes, and just so you know, she can hear what you’re saying. I’d be respectful, yoi.”
Sabo’s eyes narrowed, then cast down. Not out of anger, just having an ‘oh…’ moment.
He wasn’t sure what that information made him feel, but somehow the knowledge of some feminine entity judging Marco’s actions made him see him differently. Maybe even trust him more, as strange as it sounded in his head.
But nothing changed his heart more than how Marco talked about his phoenix, asking Sabo not to say anything unkind about her.
When he looked at Marco again, he took a deep sigh. Marco took a chance, grabbing his hand and resting his other hand on top of it, too.
Strangely comforting, Sabo couldn’t help but think. Was he… enjoying their solidarity?
Because Marco’s eyes right now, they looked exactly as Sabo felt, so overwhelmed by emotion that they burned pure blue, glowing as he looked into the distance. The direction of Baltigo.
Just knowing Marco felt the same way Sabo did made his hand constrict around Marco’s, suddenly understanding they were united in this one thing. It moved him to see that look in Marco’s eyes. That silent promise to rip someone’s throat out.
“What’s going through your mind right now?” Sabo asked him quietly.
“That bad things happen. All the time,” Marco said, “But they shouldn’t happen to her. She keeps everything together, you know? What am I supposed to tell Veri?”
Sabo nodded to himself, expression solemn.
“It was me that didn’t get to her in time,” Sabo admitted, obviously struggling to say it, “Ace was angry, in fact. That I nearly went underwater in the process. Do you agree with him? That it was selfish of me to be so reckless with my life?”
Marco thought about his words, even looking with sad eyes over at Ace, who was watching them speak. Ace seemed a little bittersweet to see them getting along, even if it was over something awful.
Even when Marco thought about how much Ace’s own fate was tied to Sabo, how devastated he’d be by his loss, Marco couldn’t fault Sabo at all.
He grabbed his hand tighter in both of his.
“Her life is important, but your life is precious too. Having said that… only you get to decide who’s worth dying over, yoi. That’s your choice, Sabo. Don’t let anyone tell you how to live. Or how to die,” Marco told him.
Sabo’s blue eyes flickered up to meet his grey ones. Marco was on his side, and the realization hit him harder than he expected.
“Thank you,” he struggled out, not sure how to feel about his most unlikely ally.
That evening, after almost everyone retired to the quarters, Ace still sat out with Sabo under the stars, letting Sabo’s back lean into his chest as he held him close. They were both writing on separate pages of the journal, their elbows fighting each other in a way that slowly brought a smile to Sabo’s troubled face.
‘Thanks for washing my hair,’ Sabo wrote, intending for Ace to see the note.
Ace buried his face in Sabo’s waves, reaching carefully over his shoulder to write a note in reply.
‘No prob. You were starting to smell like a dog. Not a cute one, a feral one,’ Ace scrawled underneath.
Sabo snorted softly, trying not to laugh but failing. Ace couldn’t help but kiss his hair, making Sabo’s heart squeeze, appreciating him trying to make him laugh right now, considering it was hard for Sabo to concentrate on anything good.
When quiet stretched between them, Ace was pretty sure he knew what Sabo was thinking about.
Ace just felt like maybe he’d been too harsh with him. He knew it wasn’t Sabo’s fault that he felt so protective of Koala. And it also wasn’t his fault that Ace had so much fear surrounding the thought of his death.
The way he needed Sabo to stay alive at all costs seemed to overshadow everything else. Ace knew he was selfish in that way, putting his own love for Sabo over Sabo’s attempt to save Koala.
Ace did care that it upset him, but that dark part of Ace told himself he didn't think he could survive Sabo dying again.
He was pretty fucking strong, but when he looked out into that void, that 'what-if,' it terrified him.
So Ace picked up his pen. It wasn’t much, and it was still so hard to say it out loud, but he wrote on the page.
‘Sorry.’
He wasn’t sorry he saved him, not by any measure. But how upset it made Sabo, the way it might have stopped him from reaching Koala at the time. That didn’t bring Ace any joy at all, and he wished it hadn’t happened that way.
Sabo rested his head back on Ace's shoulder, feeling Ace’s arms circling him as Sabo put his own pen to the page. Then he stopped, saying it out loud instead.
“I'm sorry too, Ace. For putting you through this. For not being more careful."
Ace sighed heavily, nodding as he grasped him tighter to his chest.
“You did what you had to do. I’m sure you didn’t wanna throw your friend in the brig either.”
Sabo closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
“He’s probably safest in there, to be honest. At least until he’s himself again.”
He tried not to add, ‘unless there’s no cure,’ because the thought was too dark to consider. If this was caused by a Devil Fruit, there was at least one known cure.
Outside, the stars shone brightly in the night sky, casting a soft, ethereal glow over the ocean. The wind picked up, rustling through the rigging and whistling through the sails.
Marco found Ace and Sabo sitting near the bow together, only approaching because they were the last two awake aside from Leonero keeping watch above.
As thorny as Sabo had been toward Marco a few times, he had to admit it was cute seeing how disarmed he was around Ace, who was holding him tightly like a stuffed toy.
He also couldn't help but notice Sabo had changed into his kimono, even though Ace looked much more casual in a pair of his trademark black shorts.
Marco offered them each an onigiri wrapped in dried seaweed. Ace snatched his with a grin while Sabo hesitated. But when he finally accepted it, Marco examined the sleeve of his kimono, appreciating it.
“What made you change into this? You like sleeping in it, yoi?” Marco said, referring to the kimono Sabo had recently donned.
Sabo looked down at the heavy silk robe, then back up at Marco.
“Doesn’t Izou wear these?” Sabo asked, “Koala mentioned you missed having him around.”
Marco's lips parted before recovering, surprised for Sabo to know that.
“I do miss him. Surely that can't be why you… put this on, though…?”
When Sabo nodded, Marco blinked in awe before smiling to himself.
“Yeah, I mean, don’t overthink it. I like wearing it, too. I just know what it feels like to miss your friends…” Sabo stalled before finally asking, “Look, um. Where are you sleeping tonight?”
Marco took one look at the captain’s quarters, but didn’t seem to like the thought of going into that dark room by himself.
“You don’t have to be alone, you know,” Sabo told him, “I imagine it might be hard to sleep right now. So if you wanted company, we’ll be with the rest of the crew.”
Sabo watched Marco’s grey eyes consider his words, then nod ever so slightly.
“I… I actually think I would like that, Sabo.”
Behind Sabo, Ace’s eyes crinkled in a smile, squeezing Sabo tighter, meaning so much to him that the two of them were starting to understand what was so amazing about each other. Everything Ace already knew about them.
Marco’s undying loyalty once he trusted a person. Sabo’s nurturing side that he didn’t show to just anyone. Ace adored them both.
Ace helped Sabo to his feet after they’d spent a little more time on the journal. This time, Marco had hung around, hands behind his head as he stretched out on the deck near them, staring up at the dark sky.
They’d fallen into silence scribbling words into the book, and Marco even found himself drifting off a couple times before they finally called it quits to head to the crew’s quarters. It would be the first time Marco slept there— and Ace couldn’t help celebrating the thought to himself.
Ace flexed out his Haki out of habit, glancing around the empty sky surrounding the ship. It seemed to contain no threats, giving him a sense of security backed up by Leonero’s trusted thumbs up over the side of the crow’s nest.
And Ace would’ve smiled at the gesture, maybe said something to him, but something caught his attention.
Something he felt with his Haki.
It wasn’t anyone’s energy in particular that he noticed, but a sense of more bodies than usual around him. He could feel all the life forces nearby, and couldn’t get rid of the suspicion that his mental count was off.
Sabo stopped, then Marco stopped, neither of them descending the steps because Ace had halted with a frown as he stared down at his hands.
“One, two, three— no— me, Sabo, Marco, Leo, Tots…” his counting went silent, putting all ten fingers up, then bent each finger until he’d counted twenty, verbally adding two more.
“Deu, Teachie… and then there should only be Karasu and Jabby left,” Ace said in confusion, looking stunned, as if confirming it to himself.
Sabo and Marco both expanded their Haki in response to Ace’s unsettled energy, trying to feel out for what was bothering him.
“There’s an extra life on the Spadille,” Ace told them, meeting Marco’s glowing blue eyes.
“It’s not my shitty counting right?” Ace asked Marco, watching him go into investigation mode.
“No, yoi,” Marco agreed, “I thought it was Karasu, but you’re right. This is something else.”
“You have a stowaway?” Sabo asked in mild alarm, “No one from the army. I’d know.”
Marco looked like he had an idea of who it was, already seeming annoyed as he dropped to lift the trapdoor to the cargo hold.
His glowing eyes narrowed, cursing under his breath the moment he focused down into the dark space and saw her there.
“Veri,” Marco complained, sounding disappointed, “Come here, take my hand. You can’t stay in there. What if the cargo has come loose? What are you trying to do, get pancaked by a wine barrel?”
Sabo and Ace both had matching expressions of surprise as Marco lifted Veri out of the dark space with one arm.
Ace was the only one trying to hide a grin now, easily reminded of Luffy at that age. They shouldn’t have underestimated her, that was for sure. But he tried not to let Veri see his amusement, knowing where they were going wasn’t a great place to take her. Not quite this young, anyway.
“Oh look, a little rat in the cargo hold,” Ace greeted her as she dangled in front of him, pinning fingers over his mouth so he wouldn’t smile.
Veri stuck her tongue out at him moodily.
A feisty thing like Koala, Sabo thought as he crossed his arms, waiting for their verdict on what to do with her.
“Don’t worry, Ace, she’s not staying. I’ll have to fly her back to Marge’s place. Should still be able to make it back before sunrise,” Marco said, rubbing the back of his neck because he really was too tired for this.
Her eyes rounded, head shaking in a panic at his verdict. She hadn’t spoken in days, but her desperation to stay was clear.
“Sorry, Veri, when I said you’re not ready, I meant it,” Marco said, but his disposition softened.
Sabo found that he was smiling slightly at Marco now. Even though the situation at Baltigo worried him, he couldn’t deny it was, well… cute. Seeing the older man struggle to parent this mischievous child. Sabo caught Marco’s eyes, smile widening when Marco looked a little embarrassed.
“I’ll be back to help find Ko— uh, to help with the situation at Baltigo, yoi,” Marco assured Sabo, stumbling over his words because he didn’t want Veri to know Koala was in danger.
Sabo dipped his head in gratitude, watching Marco toss the girl onto his back. She held onto his neck, watching blue fire spread down his arms until they’d grown into large wings.
“Wait,” Veri murmured sadly, gripping him tighter.
Marco’s eyes shut, withering internally because she’d actually spoken. He couldn’t ignore it, stopping right before he pushed off from the deck.
Veri had turned with wide eyes— not at Marco or Ace, but unexpectedly at Sabo, her small finger pointing at him as her other arm held her on Marco’s neck.
Sabo glanced at Ace and Marco for guidance for a moment but it didn’t take him long before he was pointing at himself.
“Me?” he said in awe, not used to having a kid pick him to talk to, or to hold them, or really anything ever. Not since he was a kid himself, at least.
Marco sighed, but couldn’t deny it was a relief to hear her finally say something, even if the timing was bad. He supposed he could put off returning her for a few minutes, so his wings folded back in, disappearing as he lifted Veri back over his shoulders to the deck.
Flashing Ace a surprised look, Sabo knelt as Veri approached him.
“What is it?” Sabo said, questioning her dark eyes.
“Do you know where she is?” Veri asked bluntly, as if begging him not to lie to her. Almost as if she already knew Koala was missing.
Sabo’s jaw dropped a little, then it clenched as his eyes sent Marco an apologetic look.
“She’s not here right now. She’s with one of our old friends,” Sabo admitted, truthfully, “But we’re going to find her. What made you worry about that anyway?”
Because Sabo knew for a fact no one had told Veri yet. And he would’ve been surprised if she could’ve made out anything they said from the cargo hold.
But Veri didn’t mince words, already crossing her arms and looking much older than her age now, face grim.
“Because I know where she is.”
Somehow, the girl had figured out Koala was taken captive. Sabo’s brows lifted in surprise, blond lashes blinking as he produced a vivre card from his pocket.
“We know where she is too, Veri. You can trust us to bring her back,” Sabo said.
But Veri wasn’t convinced by that. Her arms tightened, lip quivering as she held back tears.
“But he’s holding her underwater… I saw her… how is she getting enough air?”
Her words had Sabo’s eyes blazing suddenly, and when he looked up, Ace and Marco looked the same, both of them getting closer.
“Oh shit,” Sabo whispered in horror as Veri started crying, her small hands pressing over her mouth as tears blinked down her face, “No, no, it’s okay. Don’t do that, Veri. It’s gonna be alright.”
Sabo hugged her, letting her cry into his kimono as he traded looks of disbelief with Marco and Ace. Again they had to wonder how Veri knew this information, especially because it sounded so traumatic in her innocent voice.
“Veri,” Marco asked carefully, “Did you see this happen from a window? How did you see it?”
Veri pulled back slowly, sniffling and drying her face before turning to see them behind her.
“I saw it in here,” she explained simply, pointing to her forehead, her lip quivering again, “I just wanted to help.”
Ace didn’t let Marco talk this time, scooting a little closer so he had her attention. “That was really helpful, Veri,” he told her seriously, “So helpful that I don’t think Marco needs to take you back to Port Fish Cake today.”
Marco gave him a dangerous look, but Ace returned it stubbornly, having a heated debate between them that lasted several seconds.
And Marco did understand every reason Ace had for saying that. It ranged from ‘we’ve all been fucked up since we were kids and we all turned out okay,’ to, ‘I know you wanna protect her but if she can see things like that, we have to use her to get Koala back.’
So Marco relented, nodding with distaste.
He pinched his nose bridge before whistling for the parrot’s attention.
“Hey, Jabs. Throw him in the brig.”
Well, that confused the rest of them, but unfortunately, it was the only command Jabby knew to bring Marco the kairouseki cuffs they had on the ship.
“To the brig!” Jabby squawked in reply, waking from a light snooze to fetch him the cuffs.
The parrot flapped over with them dangling from his talons, dropping them right where Marco pointed at the deck. Right in front of Veri.
As much as Marco wished her vision of Koala underwater was Observation Haki, he didn’t think it was likely Veri could have such advanced sight, or really any sight—because none of them could sense any energy from her.
So the simplest explanation…
“Know what these are, yoi?” Marco asked her, solemn as he weighed the precious few possible reasons for her gift.
Sabo frowned, watching her hand hover over the stone. He made a sympathetic face, knowing how unpleasant it would be for her to touch it.
She couldn’t do it, shaking her head furiously as she withdrew her hand before it could make contact.
“I don’t wanna touch that. I know what it is... It makes me cold and tired.”
They all nodded to varying degrees, having to accept the confirmation that she had a Devil Fruit.
But Marco seemed more stressed about it than the other two, knowing this would make it harder to convince them that a pirate ship was no place for her. She deserved an actual fucking childhood. Which would’ve been a damn sight better than anything Marco ever got at her age.
But here she was. Too necessary to deny right now.
Sabo nudged the cuffs away from her as Ace snorted in amazement, running a hand through his dark hair.
“Wow. We had a whole Paramecia under our nose, huh?” Ace said, grinning as he held her small hand.
She couldn’t stop herself from smiling slightly, reacting to his strange skin.
“How come you're so warm? You're like Marco but even more.”
Ace bit back a grin, letting her hand so and snapping his fingers to kindle a flame between them. It merged with his skin, hard to tell where he ended and the fire began.
The fire dancing from his fingers surprised her, eyes round and reflecting the soft orange glow.
“Because I’m made of fire,” he explained, enjoying her reaction.
“Can you make a bird, too?” Veri asked, her face less worried now that he was distracting her.
“Tch,” Ace scoffed, side-eyeing Marco, “If he can do it, I think I can manage something.”
He made a face of effort, brow pinching and nose wrinkling as he channeled fire into his palm. It was something like making a balloon animal— trial and error with the chaotic fire until he forced it into the shape of a small bird in his hand.
Even Sabo found himself smiling now beside Veri’s own shining eyes, both of them appreciating Ace’s abilities. More than that, Ace seemed fully aware how much they needed to be cheered up, happy to be the one to do it.
“Can I touch the bird?” Veri asked, immediately startling Marco and Sabo, but Ace spoke up first.
“You can try. But I won’t let it burn you.”
Veri looked up into his eyes for a second, and when she seemed satisfied that he meant it, that she could trust him, she stuck her hand straight into the flames he cradled in his palm. Even though the action made the others flinch, she giggled as the fire parted around her hand. The heat was extreme, but the fire refused to touch her no matter where she moved her fingers.
“Like I said,” Ace told her, but he was looking at Marco now, “You’re safe here. I’ll make sure of it.”
Marco nodded at him, not without a concerned lump in his throat. He didn’t have to think about it for long, though, before all four of them were yawning into their hands, like a slow contagion as the moon rose higher in the clouds above.
It did not surprise Marco at all when Deuce sleepily marched up the stairs onto the deck, holding up a transponder that was already screeching with Marge’s upset voice.
He sighed, accepting the snail from Deuce and giving a soft nudge to go back to sleep in the net.
Ace and Sabo stayed back with Marco, however, watching him talk Marge down and letting her hear Veri’s voice.
“I called earlier—“ she chided him, “The connection was tied up every single time.”
They already knew that was probably when they were trying to reach Baltigo and Momoiro.
“It’ll be alright, yoi,” Marco told her, “This wasn’t your fault. We’ll get everyone back safe.”
Deuce was already downstairs, crawling back in between Mihar and Tallis, pulling the latter close and planting several kisses on his forehead.
Ace was looking forward to Marco finally uniting with the crew, jumping into the pile and pulling Sabo down with him, not really knowing or caring who was surrounding them tonight.
Then Sabo reached out until he found Marco’s hand, both of them stifling a weird laugh because they couldn’t see well in the dark.
Marco’s eyes blinked until they glowed blue, the combination of light and his Zoan eyes giving him just enough advantage to see the net.
“Terrifying,” Sabo whispered dryly to Marco’s amusement, but Veri was already squeezing in between them not looking scared at all. The girl burrowed into Sabo’s side like he was a security blanket in absence of Koala.
The thought made him a little emotional again, sadness pricking at his chest.
Ace snaked his arms around Sabo too, though, also sneaking a leg over him because he liked the closeness, making Sabo more relaxed with the comforting gesture.
He was too sleepy to keep it up for long, but Ace found himself brushing fingers into Sabo’s hair, thinking if they could just get through one or two nights like this, with any luck, they’d have Koala back soon. Maybe even fix whatever trouble the army got itself into.
Ace didn’t worry about what that meant for Sabo’s future. Ace knew Sabo wouldn’t be able to stay away from him for long, even if the army needed him too.
Sabo dreaded the idea of fighting his own friends, though. He even dreaded going to sleep, whatever horrors might await his dreams.
Maybe when the sun was out again, everything wouldn’t feel quite so bleak.
Tomorrow, they’d train. Bounce ideas off each other. Between Sabo’s background at Baltigo, Tallis’ knowledge of his former commander, and now this child’s odd brush with clairvoyance, they seemed to be ready to cobble some semblance of a plan together.
Notes:
Crazy week but your guy is managing to keep up 🖤
Y’all are cool as shit for even reading this tbh hahaha love everybody lots and have the best weekend okay?
Chapter 37: Foreboding
Summary:
Sabo and Ace have different opinions on how the crew would take on this inevitable conflict. But they can at least agree on one thing.
Marco can’t sleep, Tallis can’t stop overworking himself, and Deu starts to suspect the crew likes him more than he realized before.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Marco begged for sleep for hours without relief.
It was sad to say, but he’d gotten more sleep in a brig before. This was like torture. He grabbed his temples with a deep sigh, wishing his fire could fix this. Unfortunately, some nights were sleepless, so he accepted it silently.
Especially when Veri stirred awake in the morning, he knew he was done trying to pass out.
Coffee time, then. It didn’t replace rest, but the warmth and comfort of the ritual were going to save him from complete inner destruction today.
Marco quietly helped Veri down off the net with him, getting her out of the crew quarters because he didn’t want them to wake Sabo up.
He could already see a light on in the kitchen, thankful when he discovered Banshee had unpackaged some dehydrated fruit that Marge sent with them.
He let Banshee entertain Veri for awhile as he nursed a cup of coffee with closed eyes like it might somehow save him.
Unfortunately, even when he downed the cup, then a second, he still hadn’t perked up any. Just watched Banshee make sure Veri got fed.
“You sure you won’t have any?” the mermaid asked
“I would, but y’know… Ate too much yesterday,” Marco replied with a sheepish smile. A lie.
A fake smile to get her off his back.
Banshee let him leave the kitchen without hassling him about it, mainly because Veri had no business hearing about what Marco seemed to be struggling with. But she gave him a harsh look, one he caught guiltily as he ushered Veri out the door.
By the time they emerged into the sunlight, Veri was frowning up at him, her legs working fast to keep up.
“What?” he asked, walking slowly with crossed arms, fully dreading whatever she might say.
“What’s wrong with your face?” she asked loudly, earning a highly amused scoff from him.
“Aw, it’s not that bad, yoi,” Marco defended, stretching slowly, “You’re lucky I found that funny. What if you hurt my feelings?”
She knew his feelings weren’t hurt, speaking freely.
“You look like you rubbed your eyes with blueberries. They’re purple. Did you even sleep?”
“Easy. What are you, my doctor? Deu must be rubbing off on you,” Marco asked in astonishment, peering down at Veri.
“I know, but you’re okay right? You look sick. And old,” Veri insisted innocently.
Marco couldn’t help but laugh, having to bite his lip to stop so he didn’t encourage her too much. He sighed, kneeling because he had to address it.
“You know how I said honesty is important, yoi?”
“Mhm,” she confirmed.
“I’m not sure that’s the case with people’s appearance,” Marco told her, “Perfect example: you like Banshee, don’t you? Remember she gave you dried fruit for breakfast?”
“Yup,” Veri said, nodding.
“Well, how would you say she looks today?”
Veri considered the question, inflating her cheeks with air as she watched Banshee make her way out of the kitchen.
“Round like a pufferfish,” the girl decided.
Marco’s hand flew to his mouth, eyes shutting for patience. One of his knees dropped to steady himself as he corrected her.
“The word you’re looking for is radiant. The worse you think someone looks, the more radiant you say they look. Especially Banshee.”
“Rayent?” Veri repeated with eyes of concentration, “Radiant.”
Marco’s eyes pinched when he smiled.
“Or pretty, or gorgeous, or amazing. Anything so long as it’s nice, okay yoi?”
Veri nodded like a small student.
Even though he’d cautioned Veri about telling people what they look like, he had to agree he felt more dead than alive right now. His eyes burned, eyelids heavy as he covered an intense yawn. He really needed to sleep, but just like with everything else, he’d push through it.
Now that he finished concentrating on Veri for a moment, he felt melancholy set back in, weighed heavily by it.
Sabo hadn’t slept well, either. Like Marco, he’d been thinking about Koala well into the night, about all the ways they could recover her safely.
If anyone could find a way, it would be them, but Sabo knew it might take all of their collective strength. If Hack and Karasu had been affected, that meant the same affliction could’ve taken Koala. Not to mention Ahiru, Belo Betty, and any number of other leaders and recruits that might’ve been on site at the time.
How was a crew like Ace’s going to face army recruits using deadly force without just mowing them down? The fight wouldn’t be an easy one. He wasn’t sure how this could possibly resolve without deaths on one side or the other, and that wasn’t allowed to happen.
The thought disturbed Sabo even more because most of Ace’s crew wouldn’t be prepared to defend themselves against the army’s leaders. Ahiru would’ve been daunting enough on her own, but nothing worried him more than Belo.
His eyes had closed at some point last night, letting the ship’s gentle rocking lull him into a kind of feverish sleep, hoping to have some kind of epiphany that might relieve his concern.
Then, Sabo found himself standing on the deck of the Spadille, but something was terribly wrong. The usually lively and courageous crew had halted in place, their faces pale and eyes wide with terror. The sky above was a swirling vortex of ominous clouds, crackling with unnatural lightning.
Sabo looked down to see he’d been cuffed, and it wasn’t until seeing the kairouseki touching him that he felt the harsh chill spreading through his skin at the contact. He told himself this couldn’t be real, but the stone fatigued him so deeply he couldn’t even produce his own body heat. And that felt real.
“Don’t worry, Chief,” Ahiru told him, gripping his jaw assertively, “Soon you’ll join us again. One big, happy family under a new commander.”
He swallowed hard at how much it hurt to look into her eyes and find them cold and unfeeling. She handled him like a stranger, smirking at him in a way that made him try to look away, but she only gripped his face harder.
A tall, cloaked figure landed hard on the deck, pulling away his concerned attention. A pair of giant, jet-black wings had carried the figure to the ship, but the wings split away, dispersing again to leave the figure standing before Sabo.
He could tell it was a woman by her slender arms under the sleeves, but everything in her posture seemed wrong and frightening.
“Koko?” Sabo uttered, suddenly afraid to see what was under the figure’s hood.
As he said it, the Spade Pirates surrounding him shifted their guns from Ahiru to aim them at the figure, making Sabo’s breath shaky.
“Everyone, wait,” Sabo called, wondering why he was alone with the crew.
The thought of them killing Koala stabbed at his heart, but nothing filled him with so much tension as seeing the cloaked woman finally begin to reveal her face. Dark lipstick and narrowed, villainous eyes and a glowing cigarette perched in her mouth.
Belo Betty.
“No,” Sabo breathed, seeing the green veins spidering up her neck.
She raised a hand to her cig, holding it just long enough to exhale a plume of smoke, gazing around like a predator at the pirates training pistols on her. Then looked back at Sabo to address him.
“Hey, baby,” Belo oozed at her blond chief in a sultry voice, “Look at all your cute little friends. But, what? …They’ve got no fruit? No Haki? What does that mean, Ahiru?”
“This pitiful group of pirates with only pistols to their name? They never stood a chance. Looks like Chief led them here to die, Commander.”
Sabo followed Belo’s sinister look, his eyes getting round and scared as he saw the dream-like visages of Masked Deuce, Mihar, Wallace, Banshee, Cornelia and the rest of Ace’s beloved nakama around him. The ones that took him in and treated him with so much love.
That made him realize what Belo Betty was capable of doing to them.
“Everyone get rid of your weapons, throw them overboard,” Sabo demanded fearfully before turning back to Belo.
“Please,” Sabo told her, “I know they all look like enemies right now, but we need to solve this without fighting. I’m begging you, Bels. Don’t.”
Belo smirked around her lit cigarette, checking her nails, muttering, “Pathetic.”
“Nothing personal, Chief,” Ahiru told him, “Just following orders.”
“Please,” Sabo told Belo again, pulling at his cuffs, but she ignored him smugly.
They were trapped like this, weapons held up against a woman unaffected by them.
Before them stood Belo Betty, a figure of strength and rebellion, but now her eyes were vacant, devoid of the good-willed determination that usually defined her.
Instead, Sabo could feel the poisonous energy manipulating her, a dark force that seemed to ooze control. He knew the poison’s source now.
Betty's voice, usually so inspiring, now dripped with an unsettling tone as she raised her threatening hand to the crew.
“Rally to me, Spade Pirates," she commanded, shaking the ship with her presence.
The crew, unable to resist the power of her Devil Fruit, relented to her wishes, lowering their pistols in confusion.
“You can’t do this to them!” Sabo pleaded, “Bels! This isn’t you!”
She didn’t hear him, already giving her next command.
“Now… Spade Pirates. Turn on your brothers. Every one of you dies today.”
Sabo's heart pounded in his chest, a mixture of fear and rage boiling within him.
"No!" he shouted, but his voice seemed to be swallowed by the dream state.
Mihar raised his rifle, Deuce countering him with his own pistol. Their eyes fixed in horror of their own actions as Sabo pulled helplessly against his restraints.
"Sabo, we can't fight her!" Mihar yelled, struggling to maintain control over his own body as the compulsion of Betty's power grew stronger.
The deck erupted into chaos as the crew, now under Betty's influence, turned on each other. Fights broke out, comrades striking comrades, all driven by the twisted command to rally against their will. The air was filled with the sounds of clashing swords, gunfire and desperate cries, a cacophony of betrayal and despair.
Sabo tried to reach Betty, to break through the control, but every step felt like wading through thick, suffocating mud, and then Ahiru’s bionic hand clenched his shoulder to force him in place, stealing his breath as he could only watch the nightmare unfold.
Sabo stared in horror as blood spilled and bodies fell, the scene unraveling in slow, agonizing detail. The dark pool of red spread until it oozed all the way to where his boots stood.
His lips pressed together so hard they trembled, looking out painfully at the battlefield as their last nakama fell. Everyone either dead or dying, and Sabo remained frozen there, feeling like his soul left his body.
Sabo’s knees hit the deck, soaking straight into the cold blood there.
“Threats have been neutralized,” Ahiru reported over transponder. A needlessly cold statement to make while Sabo choked up watching all his new friends dying in front of him across the deck.
“Now, whose fault was this?” Belo Betty asked him with mock sympathy, forcing her own hand into his hair from above like she owned him.
“Mine,” was all Sabo could admit with a breath of wounded shock, “This was my fault.”
“I have to agree, Chief,” Ahiru said beside him, “Against the power of the army, you brought these… simple gunmen. Useless against us, unprepared against your true family.”
“You trained us for years. But them? These poor bastards?” Belo said, nearly chuckling at the thought, “You led them to slaughter. Well done.”
Sabo shivered as he watched the light leave Deuce’s eyes, choking up as he pressed his forearm to his own face hiding the tears that began to fall. He could only think how Tallis would be broken when he saw Deuce lying here, how Ace and Marco would be so devastated they wouldn’t be able to look at Sabo again.
“No,” Sabo said pitifully, “I don’t want this. I have to fix this.”
“Sabo,” a worried voice said in his ear.
Ace’s arms were around him, pulling him away from the scene in front of him.
“Ace, p-please don’t,” Sabo murmured, as if waiting for Ace to see what had happened to Deuce and the rest of the crew. He was in fucking agony, convinced that Deuce and the rest of his friends had just died before his eyes.
“Don’t hate me, I tried to stop it,” Sabo whispered, so hoarse and low that his voice died as Ace scooped him into his arms.
“You’re dreaming, you’re okay,” Ace told him, smoothing the hair out of his eyes.
His blond lashes twitched as he tried to wake up.
Then Sabo jolted awake with his entire body, drenched in sweat and his heart racing. The nightmare's vividness lingered, the feeling of helplessness and fear clawing at his mind. He lay there for a moment, trying to steady his breathing, the images of his dream seared into his memory.
It took a second for Sabo to blink it away, his eyes cracking open in the soft light of the near-empty crew quarters.
The reality of the ship's creaking timbers and the distant sound of the sea slowly brought him back to the present. Sabo knew it was just a nightmare, but the fear it invoked was real.
Ace helped Sabo sit up slowly, gripping his arms supportively. But the sight of Deuce next to Ace had Sabo’s face getting red with emotion.
Deuce accepted Sabo’s panicked arms around him with a sad look, hugging him back.
“What happened?” Deuce asked him, patting at his hair as he locked eyes with Ace around Sabo.
Sabo shook his head, holding him tighter with no explanation. Guilt was crushing him too much to speak, as if the dream had been true. As if Sabo had already led them to their death.
He had to choose. Let them help Koala or keep them safe, and it really wasn’t a choice.
He resolved to protect the crew, to never let such a fate befall them. He had to believe he could get to Koala on his own if she needed him. He’d sacrifice himself over this crew, just as Ace would. There was no other way to live.
“Hey, you don’t wanna talk about it?” Ace asked at his side, clasping arms around his own knees.
Deuce struggled to comfort Sabo who had his eyes shut tight, trying to block out the blood and dead faces from his nightmare.
“Promise me something,” Sabo murmured against Deuce’s coat.
“What is it?” Deuce asked, not sure if he referred to him or Ace.
Sabo pulled back with both his hands grabbing Deuce’s shoulders as if to compel him to listen.
“The crew stays away from Baltigo,” Sabo demanded softly, shooting Ace a grim look next, “I need to do this alone.”
Deuce bowed his head a little, side-eyeing his captain for advice.
“It’s not a ‘no,’ exactly,” Ace reacted, looking troubled, “But can I get a reason?”
Sabo took in a deep inhale, seeming stressed to admit this, but…
“Days ago, I dreamed Koala was going to be attacked. Then, it happened,” Sabo explained, staring down at the net below his feet.
“What did you dream just now?” Deuce asked, understanding where it was going.
Sabo shook his head.
“I mean no offense when I say this, okay, but if you take your crew to Baltigo, the army’s gonna destroy them.”
“No,” Ace blurted, almost surprising himself with his tone. When he caught Sabo’s guilty look, he shrugged and doubled down.
“No. You don’t know them like I do— you will at some point okay, but you haven’t even seen them fight yet.”
“I’m trying to protect them,” Sabo insisted, looking at Deuce because he was reasonably sure the anxious field medic would agree with him, even if he wasn’t the captain.
Ace noticed Deuce looking between them, almost shrinking away from them because he could tell he was about to get sucked into a disagreement.
“What, you agree with him?” Ace asked.
“Ace,” Deuce said, shaking his head, “It’s up to you but I think you should listen. He’s the only one here that knows what we’d be up against. Besides Tallis, I mean. He told me his old commander is really fucked up.”
“Then you can tell me about the army, Sabo, but you need to let me decide whether it’s safe to include our nakama,” Ace said.
“I really don’t want to do this to you, but you know I could go alone,” Sabo told him, dead serious when Ace questioned with his eyes.
Ace’s mouth dried up.
“You can’t do that. You wouldn’t do that.”
“I want you and Marco there with me, alright? All I ask is that you leave your crew somewhere safe. Even Tallis is too green for this. Please understand. See reason.”
Deuce somehow looked more upset than either of them, mentally putting his foot down before they could do or say something stupid.
“Stop. You’re settling this fairly,” Deuce demanded, his voice wavering with all the authority he thought he could muster.
When he had their attention, Deuce added, “Sabo, when’s the last time you played a game of Igo? We still have the board, don’t we Ace?”
Ace and Sabo locked eyes, smiling slightly, finding that solution acceptable.
“Terms?” Sabo asked.
“If you lose, you have to respect me letting the crew fight,” Ace told him, “And you?”
“For me, you’ll agree to leave them behind. Tallis included,” Sabo said.
Ace nodded, standing to drop down from the net. As his hand extended to grasp and help Sabo up, Ace told him:
“The board doesn’t lie, okay? If I do win, it means fate is on my side. Same for you. I’ll take it as a sign if you come out on top.”
Sabo accepted his hand in a strong grip, holding it meaningfully between them, fixing Ace with a tender look.
“Agreed. Lead the way, then.”
If the past few week taught them anything, it was this: the sea was a vast expanse of unknowns. Among it, the fleeting nature of security, even at Port Fish Cake, their coastal safe haven.
Tallis still seemed to feel responsible for Koala's kidnapping, sadly believing his weakness had allowed it to happen. Tallis spent hours training, pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion in a desperate bid to grow stronger.
The young Zoan leapt to catch a hanging rope as high up as he could manage, pulling up on it with his arms until he set his foothold comfortably. Marco looked on, but his eyes were trying to shut the whole time, rubbing them to stay awake.
“Go the hell to sleep, Marco,” Tallis said over his shoulder, only getting by with talking to him that way because he said it gently and Marco was yawning into his hand.
Mihar leaned over the crow’s nest, watching over Tallis in part because he could tell Marco was too tired. The sniper removed his hat slowly, dangling it until it caught Tallis’ attention.
“Again, Teachie?” Tallis asked, squinting up at him, knowing exactly what he’d do with the hat.
Mihar nodded.
“You wanted practice. This is practice.”
He released his hat, watching it float away in the breeze, carried gently overboard as it went.
Tallis was halfway up the rope by now, but with a quick sigh of preparation, he bailed off the rope. With an explosive fluff of feathers, he was a hawk, surging speedily after the hat, nipping the brim in his beak just before a wave could capture it.
“Oy,” Marco protested at both of them, his arms crossed, “That’s dangerous.”
But Tallis had already used to wind to glide up and land on Mihar’s outstretched arm, his beak flipping the hat back onto Mihar’s head.
“Hey, if you don’t use your wings, it’s not as fun having them, right?” Mihar asked the hawk, ignoring Marco as he let Tallis nip at his finger. In bird form, Mihar could easily forget Tallis was human, having to laugh when he held back from petting the beautiful animal.
“You need your human form strong too,” Marco reminded him once Tallis had flown back down to the deck and shifted, planting his hand on top of Tallis’ neat, brown hair.
“Don’t wanna overdo it, though. Here, I’ll join you for a few sets,” Marco offered.
Tallis grimaced, looking him up and down.
“Don’t take this the wrong way. You don’t look like you need exercise, you look like you need a nap.”
Marco crossed his arms, lips pressing thin wondering if there was a mirror somewhere because the comments on his appearance were getting out of hand. Izou would’ve dabbed makeup under his dark eyes and called it a day.
But Marco forgot about it quickly, eyes wandering to were he could see Deuce grudgingly ordering Veri around, keeping her busy trying to take notes in his small notebook for him. She trailed behind him like a puppy, gazing up and hanging on his every word.
After a moment, Deuce squinted over at the words she’d jotted on the paper, looking a little impressed.
“Oh. Oh wow… You can write.”
“I told you,” Veri insisted, sticking her tongue out at him.
Deuce nodded, going back to re-tying one of the clew lines.
“Ah, I just thought of something else we need to pick up at the next port,” Deuce said, pretending to remember as he tightened down the knot.
“Wait— okay. Ready,” she confirmed, flipping a page quickly and trying to sound mature so he’d agree to let her keep taking notes for him.
But Deuce was already hiding a slightly mischievous look before he let his face return to normal, deadpan.
“We need another gyroscopic flange oscillator,” he suggested casually, moving to the next knot to check it as if he hadn’t made up the fakest complicated thing for her to copy down.
Veri bit her lip, eyes getting round before she refocused on the page, concentrating hard. She scribbled out a couple of tries covertly, angling the little notebook so he wouldn’t notice her struggling.
“Deu,” Marco complained from across the deck, catching the blue-haired man stifling a soft laugh.
“Okay, I made that up,” Deuce admitted.
Veri reacted with relief, happy to give up trying to write out his complicated request.
“Princess isn’t mad at me?” Deuce asked, bending to make sure she didn’t have hard feelings about his joke. He held up his hand for a high-five, but she didn’t accept it yet.
“I’m not a princess,” she informed him stubbornly, “I want to be a pirate.”
Veri gestured to the silk scarf tied around her wrist, pulling it down enough for him to see the badly scarred mark there.
“You can cover this,” Veri said, “I want you to. I want that mark— the shape on your wrist.”
Deuce gave the faded spade tattoo on his own a long look, then glanced across the deck at Marco.
“Please?” Veri added.
“I think Marco would kill me. Koala would finish the job if he didn’t,” Deuce told her.
“Why does anybody but me get to pick? It’s my skin isn’t it?” the girl protested.
Deuce realized she’d need a real reason, sitting down slowly from where he crouched with elbows still resting on his knees.
“Okay, listen. This is a pirate tattoo. It doesn’t just mean you’re under our protection, it also puts you in more danger too. If you take this mark, it brands you as an enemy of the marines, other pirates and the government. You won’t be a kid, you’ll be fair game to them.”
Veri tried to understand, nodding slowly.
“If you ever fell into the wrong hands, I’d prefer they treat you like a child, not a criminal or a bargaining chip,” Deuce summarized, “Besides which, Ace is the only person who decides who gets the mark. Don’t go trying to convince him, though. He’s got a lot to worry about right now, got it?”
Veri thought about what he said with a frown.
“Maybe I don’t want anyone to treat me like a kid.”
Deuce sighed. He briefly glanced over to meet Marco’s eyes, feeling examined even though Marco couldn’t hear their quiet conversation now. With Marco being nearly inseparable with Tallis, their own personal lip-reader, it’s not like anything was private anymore.
“That’s what you think right now, Veri, but trust me when I say it comes with problems later, when you’re an adult. Marco doesn’t want you to suffer the same issues he did. No parents, no innocence… no childhood? We’d all kill to redo our youth in a healthier way. Don’t rush into being a pirate, okay? You’ll have time for that later.”
Veri tapped her pen on the notebook, slowly accepting his words.
Deuce seemed to be waiting for her to pitch a fit, looking confused when she didn’t.
“Are you seriously more agreeable and rational than most of the men on this ship?” Deuce asked her with a note of quiet shock, “Fuck— I mean fuzz— I should’ve had sisters instead of brothers. This is such a breeze.”
“Mmm, maybe,” Veri shrugged, “Okay, listen. I’ll stop bugging you… And I won’t ask Ace either.”
“If…?” Deuce replied, fully expecting her to name some devious term. Apparently she’d been around Koala long enough.
She grinned.
“If you let me braid your pretty blue hair.”
Deuce sighed heavily, nodding with closed eyes.
“There it is. Should’ve known there was a catch,” he told her, but he really couldn’t help but fidget with his hair at the compliment, “…You really think it’s pretty? I don’t seem like an unnatural mutant? Something out of a laboratory?”
She giggled into her hand at his weird joke.
“No,” she laughed, “You’re like a doll. But it would be prettier braided. Can I?”
Goddamn it…
That’s how Deuce wound up with two lovely braids woven like a headband across his crown, leaving the back long and unbraided.
He stifled a laugh at his own appearance, complimenting her impressive work, but the crew did not stifle their laughter, openly cackling as they worked the moment he showed face again.
“Yeah, yeah, eat shit,” Deuce told them, dual-wielding middle fingers as he strode past them all with the girl proudly in tow behind him. He wasn’t sure why the small girl made him feel braver, but for whatever the reason the crew seemed to be laughing with him this time.
Saber leaned upside-down from the ratlines to clap Deuce on the back as he passed under, showing him he meant nothing by the laugh.
“Okay, I had enough,” Tallis blurted, looking upset as he entered the kitchen.
Banshee had returned to brew some tea, and she turned around with mild surprise at his attitude.
“He didn’t sleep,” Tallis vented.
Banshee nodded, immediately knowing he referred to Marco.
“Surprised any of us could, baby,” she told him over her shoulder before returning to her work.
“Deu said that can kill people. Or make them die faster,” Tallis insisted.
Banshee smiled to herself, eyes crinkling before she turned to speak again.
“Oh honey, I think Marco’s the only one you don’t have to worry about. I’d think more about Deu’s anxiety, frankly.”
“Oh,” Tallis reacted, trying to swallow some of his concern as his posture relaxed a little.
“Still, he needs to sleep or he’ll be tired if we need his help later.”
“Now that, I agree with,” Banshee said, winking.
“Deu said there’s something you use to help people sleep,” Tallis replied, walking closer to meet her behind the counter.
Banshee nodded, reaching to fuss around through the cabinets until she found it, prying it from the sticky shelf— god, why was everything sticky?
“Yes, he has me use sea shade from time to time. Ace used to have a real hard time falling asleep.”
She closed the cabinet with a huff, opening the small amber bottle and fetching a clean spoon.
“Sea shade?” Tallis questioned, curious enough to check the small amber bottle. He never heard of that before.
Banshee ignored him to fill a clean glass with a measure of fresh water.
“You call chloral ‘sea shade’? This shit is poison, a strong one,” Tallis reacted, but then his expression apologized for cussing as he set the bottle down with haste.
Banshee gave him a stern look momentarily.
“This ‘shit’ is only dangerous in certain amounts,” Banshee corrected, “Ask your pretty boy if you don’t wanna hear it from me. Deu swears by it.”
Tallis smiled at her tough attitude, taking in the way she used the smallest amount to coat a spoon. He sank eye-level with the counter to watch it swirl into the glass of water as if taking mental notes on a science experiment.
But Banshee seemed bothered as she worked.
“Y’know… This is a common sleep tonic, dear,” she informed Tallis, “Why do you only seem to see it as a weapon? You familiar with a lot of different poisons? As a cook?”
The inference was heavy between them, making Tallis’ stomach twist into knots.
While Tallis watched her speak, he sank into his heels slightly, sagging more of his weight into the counter as he looked up at her. His eyes begged her to understand before he even replied.
“I researched a few of them, okay?” he admitted, swallowing hard as his eyes blinked. He looked away, resting his chin on his arm for an anxious moment before finally standing up. He knew it looked bad.
“Those slavers, they threatened me enough that I had to- to- consider how to protect myself. It was insurance, that’s it. But I would never, ever—“
“Okay, baby,” Banshee told him, her tone attempting to calm him down as his breath got more erratic. Her webbed hand reached for his, gripping it with her skin that almost felt wet and adhered like a salamander.
But he smiled softly at the touch, squeezing it back. He could see why Ace called her the crew’s mother.
“Did those men hurt you?” Banshee asked him, now that his hand was safe in hers. It was a little invasive, but her eyes were stormy when she asked it, seeming to want a reason for his suspicious knowledge of poison.
Tallis blinked, not liking the question, but…
“Besides Marmont? Only one of his commanders. Emmo, in fact. The same fuck that sent the crow guy after Koala... I know his work when I see it. Sorry for cursing again.”
That was certainly troubling news to Banshee.
“Emmo? And he hurt you…? Physically?”
“The kind of hurt that people don’t usually like to talk about,” Tallis confessed quietly, letting her understand his meaning with a quick glance before averting his eyes in shame.
Banshee leaned back to settle against the counter opposite him, folding her arms so carefully that it seemed he’d shaken her up by admitting something so dark. Her eyes went hollow, almost matching his expression without even trying.
He sighed, swiping the glass of water into his hand.
“I’m gonna go give this to Marco if it’s ready.”
But Banshee didn’t let him leave that easy, pulling him into a tight squeeze in her arms. He couldn’t see her eyes getting red over his shoulder.
“You won’t go after him, little one?” Banshee said, asking the question as an anxious warning, “You’ll let Ace handle this? Please?”
After all, traveling to Baltigo was putting Emmo into Tallis’ reach, and putting Tallis back into Emmo’s reach in return. She knew exactly what Ace would’ve done, and if Tallis was even a fraction as rash and foolhardy… sigh.
Tallis swallowed hard in her comforting grasp, feeling pitiful when he got held like this. It felt good for someone to care so deeply, to treat him like a son and ask for nothing in return, just loving him freely. His eyes started to sting with emotion, annoying him as he swiped tears away.
“Don’t have much of a choice, do I…? I’m still s-scared. I’m still fucking scared of him.”
Banshee sniffed forcefully, hugging him tighter.
“Damn it, honey. Go wash your face. I got the water, okay?”
“Really?” he asked, allowing her to take it as he wiped his red cheeks.
“Yes,” she snapped, equally emotional but waving him away, “Go. I got it. Go.”
She cursed softly under her breath, fanning her face as he hesitantly left the kitchen. It made her grateful she never had children of her own, already pushed to the limits of heartbreak with all the boys she already adopted here. But aside from Ace, this one had wounded her the most.
Ace and Sabo sat cross-legged on the floor of the captain’s quarters, an Igo board between them. The grid was bare, black and white stones laying separated into neat piles while Ace awaited Sabo’s initial decision.
“Cocky. Letting me make the first move. Like you think you’ll win no matter what,” Sabo observed, but his crinkling eyes told Ace he was teasing.
“I’d say you’re the self-assured one,” Ace disagreed casually, leaning to rest his back against the bed, “Because what makes you think fate will be on your side instead?”
Sabo picked up a white stone, tossing and catching it lightly, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Because I know the army gets stronger by the week, while the Spadille has aged a lot. I’m not happy about it, but the truth is this ship has seen better days. Baltigo has only seen upgrades, Ace. I made sure of it personally.”
When Sabo clacked down his stone to punctuate his last word, Ace’s arms crossed, not liking where this was going.
“Listen, though,” Sabo continued gently, “The army gathered the resources, the strategy, and the willpower to stand against the government itself. Now picture that pitted against a small crew of pirates. It’s not the same, as much as I respect the crew’s skill. Please understand that I only say this out of concern for their lives.”
“My crew might not be as big as the army, but we had to claw our way here for everything we got. Their hearts are strong. And in a fight, heart can be just as important as numbers. You should know that, having raised a small rebellion against a big government.”
And with that, Ace placed a black stone on the board with a darkly confident look.
"Heart is important. But without proper organization and training, anyone can be overwhelmed,” Sabo responded by placing his white stone in a strategic position, securing a corner territory, making Ace frown, “See… the army has mastered guerrilla tactics. That means they’re not gonna be fooled by them either, even if I teach this crew.”
Ace leaned back, surveying the board’s grid. Fuck, he forgot how irrationally good Sabo always was at playing Igo.
"Yeah, being organized is important, but you can't underestimate the power of a close-knit crew. They know each other inside and out. They’ll die for each other,” Ace told him intensely, “If the army’s been poisoned, they don’t know friends from enemies while our crew is bonded and won’t give up. Say it’s stupid all you want, but people that love each other fight harder.”
Ace saw an opportunity and placed his black stone in a move that threatened Sabo's territory.
Sabo's eyes narrowed as he considered his next move.
“Wanting to win, and winning— those are two different things. You think I failed to get to Koala because I didn’t love her enough?”
He placed a white stone to counter Ace's attack, reinforcing his position.
Ace cast his eyes away, understanding he was close to touching a nerve he didn’t mean to touch, placing another black stone down.
“It’s not too late, Sabo. I know you’ll overcome anything to get her back. This crew’s no different, okay? Maybe every person isn’t a tank and every person isn’t a crack shot, but they make it work.”
Sabo rested his elbows on the table, chin sitting atop his interlaced fingers as he accepted Ace’s words thoughtfully.
Ace continued talking, rolling two black stones expertly through his fingers.
“And the army might use strategy, but what happens when plans fall through? All pirates know is thinking on their feet. Out there on the sea, it's about survival. My crew knows how to survive. We faced down emperors, marines, other crews and sea monsters. They got what it takes and nothing the army throws at them will change that.”
Sabo smiled, a glint of challenge in his eyes.
"Survival is important, but so is vision. If you don’t have a plan going in, there will be casualties. I don’t want a single one of those, do you?” Sabo said, placing a white stone that cleverly cut off Ace's expansion, turning the tide of the game.
Ace, determined to convince Sabo, leaned forward as he placed a black stone on the board, forcing Sabo to look down at it critically, wondering what in the world his plan was for that move.
"Alright, let's talk strategy, then. Tell me what we’re up against in Baltigo.”
Sabo picked up a white stone, placing it on the board as he spoke.
"Belo Betty is one of our commanders, and if she’s present, she could be a problem. Her ability is terrifying in the wrong hands, causing people to fight beyond their normal limits. Under mind control, she'll push the army harder than they’ve ever been pushed. We’d need to disrupt her influence for everyone’s sake."
Ace nodded, placing a black stone.
"So, we could target her first. But I can tell by your face that there’s another problem?"
Sabo placed another white stone, his expression serious.
"They’ve got advanced weaponry. Long range munitions, and they won’t hesitate to use it. They could decimate your crew from a distance."
Ace grinned.
"Disabling them is part of the plan, then. One of my guys is a genius with weapons. He’ll handle it if we clear a path. Or find a sneakier way if you want.”
Sabo nodded thoughtfully.
"Alright, that’s a good start. But remember, there are more people that could be an issue for the crew. Hack isn’t just strong; he’s a master of Fishman Karate, making him a major threat. Particularly near water like this.”
Ace smirked, placing another black stone with confidence.
“He’s no threat to Wallace. My guy is just as strong and skilled. Even if he can’t take Hack out of the fight, he can stall him all day if he has to. Trust me, he’s got him covered."
Sabo's eyes hardened, pressing a round white stone in his fingers until he found a clever place for it since Ace seemed to be countering every issue he presented.
“Alright. Then there’s Ahiru. Her cybernetic arm can cause serious damage. Did you see the hole she blew in Facility B?”
Ace nodded, acknowledging the point. He placed a black stone in a more measured, thoughtful move, building up his defenses.
“Come on. Marco can tank beams easily. His regeneration makes him the perfect counter to Ahiru. He won’t have to hurt her to stop her.”
Sabo’s face grew more serious.
“Yeah… Even if we handle all of that, though? Belo still poses the biggest threat. I’ve only seen her use her fruit to bolster allies, but I fear she can do more than that. If the worst happens and we get distracted by unforeseen threats, Belo could make your crew fight each other to the death.”
Sabo placed his white stone down with grim finality, watching Ace’s reactions to his words and his advancement on the board. He meant every word, desperate for Ace to understand how much pain this fight would cause if they weren’t careful.
Ace paused, visibly bothered by this as he struggled to decide what move to make next on the board. After a moment of contemplation, he placed his stone decisively.
“If Belo uses her voice for that, then Tallis would be immune to her. All he’d have to do is hold her off until we can stop Mori. That’ll stop his hold on everyone, Belo included.”
Sabo's expression softened as he placed his next stone, solidifying his hold on a key area.
"It may not be necessary for us to directly fight him. If we can find and release Dragon, I guarantee he’d want to stop Mori personally."
Ace smiled, placing his final stone.
“I like it. We’ll find Dragon and he can help us deal with him. My crew will handle the rest."
Sabo studied the board, recognizing that Ace had gained the upper hand. He smiled, placing his final stone in a position that acknowledged Ace’s win but showed his own resilience.
"When the time comes, I hope we’ll be ready."
Ace nodded, a look of mutual respect in his eyes. “We have to. For Koala.”
Sabo conceded gracefully, nodding as he surveyed the black and white stones strewn across their battlefield. Waging this imaginary war against Ace suddenly bothered him, like it warned they might not be on the same side in Baltigo. Just seeing Ace sitting in direct opposition to him was enough to feel defeated.
“Mori can’t poison us, right, Ace? Against each other?” Sabo asked, sounding a little bit small. He could handle a lot of things, emotionally, but fighting Ace to death wasn’t one of them.
Ace’s eyes rounded, moving to sit next to Sabo with sad eyes fixed on him.
“No… there’s not enough willpower in the world strong enough to make me hurt you.”
Sabo nodded, accepting Ace’s hands on his face. Somehow it still made his heart leap when Ace got close to him like this, brushing their lips together until Sabo finally gave in and connected their mouths with a last needy breath before sharing a meaningful kiss.
Ace felt Sabo’s energy giving him chills as it brushed cold down his back, hairs standing on end, making an appreciative noise.
“Like when you do that,” Ace gasped, returning to his mouth harder.
Soon the board had been knocked over by an errant knee, pieces scattering onto the floor as if to send a middle finger to the idea of them being on opposite sides.
Ace was in his lap now, pushing his shoulders to the ground, pinning him there to planting kisses up his neck and love on his face some more.
“I might’ve won,” Ace murmured into his cheek, “But I heard your advice. I’ll try to keep most of the crew out of it.”
“You mean it?”
“Mhm,” Ace confirmed, seeing the way Sabo stared up in his eyes.
Sabo’s brow pinched before kissing Ace deeply again, smiling into it in complete relief. Ace cradled his neck with both hands, radiating warmth through his whole body, a pleasant sensation under Sabo’s chilly skin.
Ace broke the kiss to breathe out as he rested their foreheads together softly.
“I didn’t think you’d change your mind,” Sabo said in disbelief.
“I trust you, okay? Remember that,” Ace reassured him, “We don’t want our friends to kill each other. No casualties means we win. And how do we guarantee no casualties?”
“We don’t let them fight to begin with,” Sabo answered, quietly appreciating Ace switching sides for him.
Sabo let Ace move lower to kiss at his jaw, dropping his own gaze to watch his pale, slender hands slide up Ace’s thighs on either side of him, pushing the hem of his black shorts with them to expose more of his muscular legs.
Then his eyes shifted to the black and white stones scattered together across the floor around them. The battlefield no longer constrained to the organized grid, but reduced to chaos. Seemed to reflect Sabo’s anxiety at facing Baltigo like this. At odds with his own home. Enemies with the people that grew up with him.
They needed this to go according to plan.
Sabo’s eyes closed, shutting away the thought to concentrate only on Ace’s gentle doting.
The shock of Koala's abduction left Marco reeling. For all his experience, it affected him just as much as Sabo and Tallis, finding himself replaying the scene in his mind repeatedly, haunted by his inability to protect her.
Having Koala ripped away like that seemed noticeable throughout the crew. Marco watched them go about their routines, working out, showing Tallis a few tips here and there, but normally they cut up constantly.
Now it seemed tougher for anyone to crack a smile. Hell, Marco would’ve even appreciated an underhanded joke just to hear them laugh again. Anything was better than realizing they were all burdened by her loss.
He blamed himself, despite how tied his hands were. How could he not? Tallis nearly died protecting her. Sabo nearly died going after her. Marco didn’t get to do a damn thing.
It was humiliating to be powerless to help, and he hoped the crew didn’t view it as weakness. He didn’t think he was as inspiring as Ace or as nurturing as Deuce, so part of him never stopped trying to pull his weight with the crew. Keeping the respect of pirates could be so fickle sometimes.
The Spade Pirates had recently succeeded in locating Ace and Sabo, and that had been an overwhelming relief.
But up until that point? Marco had found solace in the unlikely company of a revolutionary. She was bossy. A know-it-all. She took full advantage of every weakness in him she sensed. Hardly company he thought he’d enjoy or miss when it was gone.
Until he got closer to her.
Their connection grew amidst the chaos, transforming into a deeper friendship, enough to leave him so… just… empty inside right now.
Flashbacks of their time together tormented him. He remembered her laugh, her eyes sparkling, quiet moments they shared on the ship. Her presence had become a beacon of light in his life, and now he couldn’t see that light anywhere.
The dark shroud over his mind lifted, suddenly trying to look less upset when he saw Banshee headed his direction.
Marco let out a humorless laugh.
“Sea shade already? I must look dead.”
“Yes, well,” Banshee told him, not looking concerned, “You got a lot of people that love you and that’s nothing to take for granted. You need sleep, or how are you gonna help anybody, kid?”
They were roughly the same age, but Marco loved that she called him ‘kid,’ grinning softly as she gave him the same motherly treatment as everyone else.
“You’re a sweetheart, Bansh.”
“Just drink it, asshole,” she grumbled, but he saw her smiling as she got up to leave him alone with his glass of spiked water.
He ‘couldn’t wait’ to see what fucked up nightmares he’d get this time from the diluted poison, the sleep tonic. Sometimes it was worth it, and this would have to be one of those times. Trading a slice of his sanity in order to recharge enough to protect everyone he loves.
Sabo sat near the campfire, the flames dancing in his eyes. He had busied himself polishing the lenses of his goggles with his shirt when he noticed Veri crouching near where Marco slept.
Tallis was nearby cooking, but he found a second to quickly whisper at Veri, asking her not to accidentally wake Marco. He needed the rest too badly to chance it.
“Hey, come sit with me,” Sabo called quietly with a warm smile from one of the folding wooden chairs they’d set up around the fire.
“What are you doing?” Veri asked Sabo. She knew what Tallis was doing; he’d laid several sheets of fish across the top of the fire barrel, tending them alone with his thoughts.
“Cleaning my goggles. Can’t say I’ll be using them now that I can’t swim. But one can live in a fantasy,” Sabo admitted with a sigh, “And what are you doing? Gotta say you look as glum as I feel.”
Veri shuffled over and sat cross-legged beside Sabo, clutching her arms around herself.
“Of course I am.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, “Guess sometimes we gotta be strong even when it takes a lot of energy, huh? I think Ace is better at it than I am.”
Veri's lip trembled, and she looked down at their joined hands.
"How can I be strong, I try to stop being scared but it always comes back.”
Sabo leaned closer, his blue eyes meeting hers.
"Being strong doesn't mean you don't cry or feel scared. It means you don't give up, even when things are hard. It means you believe in your heart that we'll bring Koala back safe. She’s our family. That means we stick together, no matter what."
Veri nodded slowly.
“Can I ask you something?” she said softly.
“Of course,” Sabo replied, giving the child his full attention. “What’s on your mind?”
Veri hesitated for a moment, then spoke in a rush. “Why wouldn’t we ask the Marines help rescue her? She’s a good person, and they’re supposed to help people, right?”
Sabo sighed, expression turning serious. He took a breath, considering how to explain the complex realities of the world to someone so young.
“The marines might do some good, but they answer to people that only care for themselves, pushing their own secret plans to get what they want,” Sabo began gently, “Sometimes that means being ordered to do things that hurt people. For money, or property, or power. Would you hurt an innocent family for money?”
Veri shook her head.
“Well, that’s because you’re a good person. The same can’t be said about marines. Some of them, maybe, but all of them? The lost our trust a long time ago. Those of us paying attention, at least,” Sabo continued.
Tallis looked over from where he was cooking, eyes narrow reflecting fire. It was hard hearing Sabo say those things about an organization he nearly joined, but he couldn’t deny he understood. He didn’t mean to listen, but Sabo’s explanation just made him realize something.
“When Marmont’s commanders started taking prisoners, those islands must’ve called for help,” Tallis said, lifting the cooked skewers.
“But the marines didn’t do anything,” Veri said, “They weren’t there at all.”
Sabo’s shoulders slumped a little, sighing when he remembered his own innocent realization that the marines weren’t here to help the people.
“The men that took you were ex-marines,” Sabo said, “You knew them as monsters, but the marines looked at them like old friends. Commonplace, I’m afraid to say. Doesn’t make it less disgusting.”
Tallis frowned slightly.
“Then the vice-admiral that stepped in to help us?”
“Oh,” Sabo reacted, “Garp is Luffy’s, well, he’s basically our granddad. Has a soft spot for us, Ace included. Part of me would like if he left the marines, but then who would we know on the inside?”
Tallis passed them both a skewer, turning to rest more skewers of uncooked fish over the fire from the pan he’d prepared.
“I was surprised this crew doesn’t seem to go around attacking ports like I heard pirates do,” Tallis admitted, “Main reason I never considered it before I met Ace.”
Veri frowned, finishing her bite.
“Do people think pirates are… bad?” she asked Sabo, like she couldn’t imagine it.
Sabo did feel divided on the issue, swallowing his own bite pensively. In fact, he’d finished the whole thing faster than Veri could track, amazed at the empty skewer in his hand.
“When it comes to people who live under their own black flag,” Sabo explained, gesturing at the mainsail with his skewer until Tallis took it away with a reproachful look, dodging like Sabo was dangerous with it.
“Well anyway, there’s two types,” Sabo continued, capturing the girl’s attention, “One type either enjoys pillaging, or they couldn’t find a way to feed themselves without stealing, so they became pirates to take advantage of others. The other type became pirates so the government can’t take advantage of them. Adventurers and resisters of authority. People like Ace, Luffy and me. We just want freedom, so much that it’s with fighting for.”
Tallis smiled slightly, but stayed focused on the cooking fish, turning it over like he wasn’t listening.
“So that’s why marines don’t help?”
“That’s right,” Sabo confirmed. “But we have everything we need on this ship. We don’t need the marines to do what’s right.”
Veri nodded slowly, a determined look replacing the sadness in his eyes.
“You’re strong enough on your own?”
Sabo smiled, ruffling Veri’s hair.
“Won’t just be me. But absolutely we are.”
Marco had drifted into a feverish sleep. The gentle rocking of the Spadille normally would’ve had him sleeping soundly, but today it did little to soothe his troubled mind.
In his dreams, he found himself in a quiet meadow with flowers swaying gently in a breeze that carried the sweet scent of blooms and grass.
He was sitting under a large tree, its shade providing cool protection from the warm sun. Beside him, Koala was laughing, her eyes sparkling with joy. She was braiding wildflowers into Veri’s dark hair, and the little girl was giggling, clearly enjoying the attention.
Marco watched them, a soft smile playing on his lips as he loosely hugged his own knees. It was a serene, heartwarming scene, and he felt a glow in his chest that he couldn’t quite place.
“Marco,” Koala called, looking up at him. “Can you help me with this flower crown? Veri wants to look like a princess.”
He laughed, moving closer to kneel beside them. “Alright, let’s see what we can do.”
As they worked together, their hands occasionally brushed, sending a pleasant tingle through Marco’s skin. He found himself glancing at Koala, her laughter and easy smile, confusing him.
Veri looked up at him, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “Marco, do you love Koala?”
The question caught him off guard, and he stammered, “W-What? I… uh…”
Koala laughed, a light, melodic sound. “Veri, don’t put him on the spot like that.”
Veri pouted.
“But I see the way he looks at you. It’s different.”
Marco felt his face heat up, and he avoided Koala’s gaze. Was it true? He looked at her differently, but wasn’t that just because of the child?
He found himself going quiet, watching the sunset with them. The vibrant colors painted the sky, creating a breathtaking view, but he wasn’t used to seeing it on land. Surrounded by so much green and new life.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Koala said.
“Yeah,” Marco replied, but he was distracted by the way the pink sunset caught in her soft ginger hair, so light in color that it nearly looked blonde sometimes.
Sabo was right… she didn’t deserve such a tumultuous life. She deserved someone her age, steady and energetic who’d cherish her. Marco had a crew to protect, and he took no joy in picturing what a bad partner he’d be.
Too many bad things had happened to him. Now he felt like a shell, nothing like what that kind little flower of a girl deserved.
A blush spread across Koala’s cheeks, as if she could hear his thoughts of her.
“You know what I think of you, don’t you?” she said, as if daring him to answer, looking slyly over her shoulder at him.
A fog rolled in, it brought the nighttime with it. Complete uncertainty gripped Marco, feeling the chill of losing the sun as it slowly disappeared.
Marco slid a stressed hand down his face and took a deep breath, even though the phoenix soul within him stirred with approval and affection.
“I know, yoi,” he whispered, unable to struggled anything else out, like it was painful to speak.
But Koala wasn’t listening now, standing by the figurehead, her back to him. She was holding Veri’s hand, the little girl looking up at her with wide, trusting eyes. Marco took a step forward, but his feet felt like they were weighed down, his movements sluggish.
“Koala,” he called out, his voice sounding distant and hollow. “Koala, wait.”
She didn’t turn around. Instead, the fog from the sea rolled in, disappearing her into the ominous haze. Veri looked back at him, eyes filled with sadness as he started to lose sight of her.
“Why didn’t you save her, Marco?” Veri’s voice echoed around him with a sorrow that cut deep.
“I… I tried,” Marco stammered, reaching out towards them. “Please understand. It doesn’t mean I don’t… care about you.”
“You weren’t there when she needed you though?” Veri asked him.
“I should’ve been,” Marco said, his voice thick with guilt. “I failed you. I failed both of you.”
Veri looked at him, her eyes filled with tears.
“You promised.”
The weight of her words pressed down on him, making it hard to breathe.
“I know, yoi…”
But Marco found himself alone, the fog closing in around him once more.
Marco woke with a start, still so heavy with guilt that he looked around like everyone had seen his dream. All he got in return was a sympathetic look from Sabo, but Sabo was deep in conversation with Veri near the campfire, and that comforted Marco enough for the moment. At least the girl was safe and distracted.
Marco took a breath, raising up to sit on his heels, hands dropping to grip his thighs to center himself again. The dream lingered in his mind, the sadness in Koala’s eyes and the disappointment in Veri’s echoing in his thoughts while he rubbed his eyes. It only made his resolve to save Koala burn stronger.
“Hey,” Tallis said quietly, crouched next to him with a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Had he made a noise in his sleep or something?
It was almost nighttime again, so a strange time for Marco to succumb to a nap like that, but he’d been too fatigued to have a choice in the matter.
Tallis held a skewer of grilled fish in his other hand, offering it to Marco a little proudly as the campfire that cooked it cracked nearby in a metal barrel.
“Hungry?” Tallis asked him.
Marco gave Tallis and the grilled fillet a guilty look.
“You eat that, kid. Don’t think I can stomach anything right now.”
“Please?” Tallis asked politely, changing the angle of the skewer hoping Marco would be tempted by the other side of the fish.
Deuce seemed more bothered than Tallis.
“Eat the fucking fish, Marco,” Deuce chided him from behind Tallis. Even though he cursed, he sounded soft like it deeply hurt him to see Marco starving for food on top of being so deprived of sleep he was falling asleep this early.
Marco nodded, muttering a quiet apology as he allowed Tallis to slip the skewer into his hand.
Tallis and Deuce both seemed relieved when he accepted it. Tallis let Deuce steer him away after that, giving Marco the space he clearly needed so he could eat.
He took the largest bite he could manage. He dreaded chewing and swallowing it at first, but found the more he ate the hungrier he got, finding his appetite slowly. The fish was smoky and perfect. Nothing like what Marco was used to fish tasting like out here.
Marco could see Ace nearby too, have sat between Sabo and Deuce, most of them looking less restless than they had yesterday. Not Marco… the more the shock settled in, the more he felt her absence.
The space between his eyebrows creased, hooded eyes glowing softly beneath his lashes as he stared off into space in turmoil.
He held the back of his fingers to his frown, feeling his soft lips brushing across his knuckles in deep thought. His thumb stretched up to stroke down the bridge of his nose, soothing himself with the feeling as his eyes blinked closed. He felt stupid, but it seemed to work every time Koala did it and he was desperate for comfort.
“I won’t let you down again, yoi,” he whispered quietly, his heart sore inside his chest.
Eventually, Veri noticed Marco and his distressed demeanor. He hid his expression behind his hands, of course, but his body language was enough.
Her palm rested in Sabo’s open one, but she made a sad face when she saw Marco sitting alone.
“Is he okay?” Veri asked Sabo.
He started to reassure her by saying yes, but the word caught in his throat, instead swallowing as he considered her question.
“Everybody needs cheering up sometimes. I was feeling like that before you talked to me, y’know. Did you know you cheered me up?” Sabo asked.
She shook her head, allowing him a small smile before turning sadly back to Marco. He missed Koala, she convinced herself, thinking what she could do to help.
“I think I can make it happen again,” Veri mumbled to herself, frowning slightly.
“Make what happen, sweetheart?” Ace asked next to her, having to talk around the empty skewer he held between his teeth. But he got his answer almost immediately.
Droplets of mist gathered and rose into the air, suspended in the center of the deck between them.
The skewer clattered out of Ace’s mouth in astonishment.
“Oh, hell no, not fucking with possessed droplets,” Deuce spat, shifting away from the mist and pulling Tallis with him. He didn’t mind drops of dew, but these were swirling and arranging themselves into a pattern of their own accord. Tallis held him in return, not knowing what was going on.
“It’s okay, it’s safe,” Ace told them, raising his hand so they didn’t interrupt the girl.
“She’s making an image with it,” Sabo realized, staring into the field of suspended drops.
They mist formed dense areas to show a three-dimensional figure sitting and hugging its knees.
Marco’s skin erupted in chills.
“It’s Koala. She’s chained up.”
Then Marco’s heart skipped, because Koala’s misty visage looked up when he said that, her eyes almost focusing on him before returning her gaze back down to her hands.
Marco’s eyebrows drew upwards in awe. Had she heard him say her name, had she even seen him, or did he only imagine it?
Sabo moved past Ace, entering the mist to kneel right in front of Koala. She couldn’t see him, didn’t notice him sitting there inches from her face, but he examined her closely as she fidgeted with the shackles on her wrists.
He gazed at the droplets that formed her visage in amazement, eyes lighting up with the radiance the droplets gave off, sparkling like glitter as they caught the light of the fire.
“Baltigo,” Sabo confirmed, trying to resist the urge to touch her hair, smooth it down.
Somehow seeing her calmed him, even if he didn’t like seeing her in chains.
Sabo watched Koala’s hands flexing with all her strength, opening and closing her fists in time with her pulse, trying so hard that her splayed out fingers were vibrating.
This made Sabo grin suddenly, gazing from her hands to her distracted eyes.
“Are you trying to use Haki…?” Sabo asked her breathlessly, even if she couldn’t hear him.
“Come on,” he encouraged her, “I know you can do it. Don’t give up.”
Sabo’s own hand erupted in dark energy, coating and galvanizing it to show her how to do it, even pulling at the misty cuffs that chained her. It didn’t work, only left a chilly sheen of water on his skin.
“Concentrate, beautiful,” Sabo said quietly, watching her try to summon the stone-breaking energy into her hands. He was on all fours, looking insane like he was talking to a ghost, but he didn’t care, hoping she could somehow hear him.
But his hopefulness and encouragement had Marco smiling softly, hugging his own knees a little tighter as he enjoyed the vision of Koala.
Even if it was fleeting.
Veri took a labored breath, watching the suspended droplets evaporate before their eyes. Too tired to keep it up any longer.
Sabo’s hands rested on the deck where he sat, huffing slightly at the emotions he felt.
Ace nearly approached to make sure he was okay, but surprisingly Sabo turned to him with a look of pure happiness. He even let out a soft laugh through his grin.
“What?” Ace asked, smiling a little to match.
Sabo organized his thoughts, so amazed he thought he might stumble his words.
“She used armament for the first time,” Sabo exhaled, still grinning helplessly, “I just realized she ripped the tubes from Karasu’s neck, but he’s a Logia. She has Haki. It may not be much yet, but it’s there.”
This made Marco and Ace smile at him when Sabo looked for both of their reactions, running his fingers into his own hair with a deep breath.
“My strong girl,” Sabo said to himself.
His steepled fingers pressed to his lips to contain his excitement, and his eyes glinted as they locked with Marco’s.
“What were we worried about, yoi?” Marco said, reveling in the moment with him.
Notes:
If you haven’t seen it, feel free to check out a new artwork I added featuring Koala and Marco (link)
Chapter 38: Stars
Summary:
One peaceful night on the Spadille.
The crew gets exactly the kind of down time they all need right now.
Does feature a folk song and I linked a playlist for anyone curious what it sounds like. The chapter is kinda short but it is also extremely sweet so hopefully that makes up for it.
Notes:
Heart of the Ocean - Gaelic Storm
(lyrics I used)Pure magic vibes in this chapter.
I listened to these on repeat:Oak Tree - Mirel Wagner
Sparrow for a Heart - Abigail Lapell
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The moon hung low over the Spadille, casting a silver glow across the ship’s deck. A cool breeze drifted among the crew, ruffling clothes and hair as they lounged around, drinking and relaxing.
When anyone looked up, they could see galaxies stretching across the dark sky. Stars twinkled through glowing dust up there, calming and humbling to behold.
Tallis curled up with Deuce near the barrel-lit campfire that warmed their bare toes.
The flickering flames reflected in Tallis’ eyes as he watched the firelight dance. He didn’t need to hear the crackle of the fire or the murmur of conversations to feel at peace, grounded by Deuce’s presence.
His arm draped across Tallis, head resting on his shoulder. Pretty blue hair felt silky against his neck and the leather mask was soft enough to lay comfortably on his collar.
Across the deck, Sabo had taken Ace’s hand, walking backwards to lead Ace to a clear area just past the mast on the other half of the ship. It was the mischievous yet tender smile on his face that had Ace questioning him.
“What are you—? What are we doing?” Ace asked, letting Sabo pull him curiously.
“Dancing,” Sabo said, “I’m tired of worrying. It’s beautiful tonight. Let’s just exist for a second.”
Ace smiled that uneven little smile, freckles barely visible in the moonlight. Hat perched atop his feathery fringe.
“I never danced before,” Ace admitted.
“No worries,” Sabo assured him, “I’ll lead.”
Sabo took Ace’s hand and placed his other hand on Ace’s waist, guiding him easily.
“Used to do this with Koala all the time,” Sabo said casually as he showed Ace the steps.
“Really?” Ace asked, vaguely surprised Koala would even be into dancing after seeing her appearance become so feral and piratey.
“Of course I danced with her,” Sabo scoffed, “What was the alternative? Let some asshole get his filthy hands all over her? I don’t think so.”
Sabo frowned at the thought.
“Yeah. Fair enough,” Ace agreed after hearing some of Koala’s horror stories with guys.
Ace stumbled, trying to look down at his feet as they traveled slow and out of sync since he hadn’t quite figured out how to move. Sabo was graceful enough that Ace just watched his feet instead, doing his best to adapt.
Touched by the sight of Ace dancing, Mihar sent Deuce an urgent look, pointing his chin so Deuce would see Sabo teaching Ace, leading him carefully.
“Deu, sing us a song,” Mihar whisper-yelled, “Give them something to dance to.”
The crew seconded his request eagerly, having heard Deuce’s singing voice.
Deuce shifted to face Tallis.
“They want me to sing.”
Tallis nodded, his expression unreadable for a moment. But he offered Deuce his hand.
“Maybe I can feel it?” Tallis suggested.
So he was happy to take Tallis’ hand and place it against his throat as he saw the crew waiting, staring at him expectantly.
Deuce started with his favorite tune to sing at night, sounding gentle, smooth and melodic for the whole crew to hear.
“Candlelight dies at the window,
And the night wind blows soft from the sea,
Though I lie in your arms,
I’m a thousand miles away,
On the waves sailing fast, sailing free…”
Tallis watched him sing, captivated as he fixated on the long, drawn out words, feeling the vibrations as he sang. His brown eyes sparkled with appreciation, fingers lightly tracing the movements of Deuce’s vocal cords.
As Deuce sang, the crew fell silent, each transported by the haunting beauty of the song.
Each note resonated through Deuce’s throat putting a contented smile on Tallis’ face, taking in how pretty his blue eyelashes looked closing to serenade the ship.
Ace and Sabo continued to dance, the tune pairing with their gentle swaying.
“Helps to stay on your toes, not flat-footed,” Sabo coached him softly, “Eyes on me.”
Ace gave a self-deprecating laugh, “Flattered you think I’d be good at this. There’s too much to focus on at once.”
Sabo continued leading him, helping his hips swing with his left hand making it easier for Ace to turn and move in time with him.
“On your toes,” Sabo reminded him, and Ace was glad he did, because Sabo surprised him by throwing him into a twirl, making another laugh explode out of him.
Their movements had felt so tentative at first but soon found a rhythm, swaying and turning under the stars. Ace grinned, pulling him closer when he started to understand the pattern of steps.
“Let me try?” Ace asked, barely even waiting for Sabo to confirm before repeating Sabo’s move and twirling Sabo forcefully.
Sabo snorted, trying to recover from the surprising spin as Ace made a victorious expression.
Deuce’s song still floated to them across the deck as they danced in time with the melody.
“I can still hear your voice on the trade winds,
I can still taste your tears on the foam,
But the lure of the tide that I’m feeling inside,
Will not rest till my heart finds its home…”
The night felt timeless, a perfect moment of peace and connection aboard the Spadille, under the endless, star-strewn sky.
“Like looking at the stars?” Ace asked him, waiting for his confused nod.
“Marco says they’re made of fire,” Ace explained, enjoying the moment with Sabo.
“Interesting. They do flicker like white fire,” Sabo reasoned, looking up, “Dragon said something interesting too. That our souls will join them one day. To live on as new stars after we die.”
Ace frowned slightly, because the stars all looked so awfully far from each other…
“We could be the same star, right?” Ace asked hopefully as they danced, letting the voices and melody fade away.
Sabo giggled before he could stop himself, a childish noise because of Ace’s unusually innocent question. Sometimes they were still ten years old when Sabo blinked, making him smile.
“I think we can pretty much do whatever we want when we die,” Sabo told him, “Being a star seems easy. We’d just kinda sit there every night, shining together on the same bench. Right?”
“Made of fire,” Ace added.
“Sure, why not,” Sabo laughed.
Ace bit his lip, never happier than when he got Sabo to laugh.
“Want to see some stars up close, Sabo?” Ace asked, hoping to show off his talents for a long time now.
“Yeah, let’s see,” Sabo agreed, so relaxed he didn’t even need to know what he was agreeing to.
Ace held up a hand so Sabo could watch glittering white fireflies bloom in his palm, enchanting as they flitted around like magical glowing things surrounding them.
“Oh my god,” Sabo murmured, breathing a laugh, “What? …I didn’t know you could do this.”
Ace shrugged with a playful bashfulness, swaying to the music with him as Sabo twirled him again.
Then Sabo couldn’t hold back a chuckle when Ace returned the move, spinning him to make it even.
“You are so competitive,” Sabo groaned even though it made him grin wide, still in complete disbelief over the little stars hovering around them.
“Mhm,” Ace agreed good-naturedly, his eyes closing to enjoy the song in the air.
The crew was joining in singing together now, and the harmony was rudimentary at best, but Ace loved when they sang too much to notice.
“Now my heart is the heart of the ocean,
There are storms from the sea in my soul,
I’m restless and deep,
And before I can sleep,
I must go where the black waters roll…”
Fireflies twinkled around them, a dance even more coordinated than their own. The glowing cinders reflected in Sabo’s eyes, watching them happily to the feeling of Ace’s hands on him and the sound of Deuce’s voice.
Ace kept his eyes closed, sure-footed enough in his steps as Sabo guided him in the night air.
The living sparkles around them shifted and merged in their own patterns, spiraling down to the deck. The moment they began to land in sequence, they appeared to ignite, letting a flame slowly spread in a thin line. It drew a miniature ring of fire around them, no higher than their toes and a good distance from their swaying steps.
Ace cracked an eye open to verify it wasn’t enough fire to spook Sabo. Just a small one. A baby fire.
It wasn’t until Sabo sensed the orange glow through his eyelids that his own eyes opened, seeing the flickering perimeter surrounding them.
Ace had gauged correctly because the sight didn’t stop Sabo dancing yet, but his hands still tightened on Ace and looked deeply into his eyes, asking him what he was doing.
“You’re relaxed right now,” Ace explained, continuing to sway Sabo to keep their rhythm, “This would be a good time to help you get used to fire again.”
“I’m game, but is that fire not burning your deck right now?” Sabo asked.
Ace shook his head, smiling, “No more than it burned Veri’s hand. Won’t burn you either, not even if you tried, Sabo. But still, we’ll go as slow as you need.”
Sabo took a deep breath, trying not to be stressed at the thought. The night was too beautiful to let fire bother him.
Ace abandoned their postured hand-holding, instead just sliding both his arms around him and drawing him closer as they kept dancing. He kinda felt like Sabo would feel safer and respond better like this.
But the flame’s presence wasn’t overwhelming yet, so it’d be hard to tell if it helped. Sabo let Ace rub his back, enjoying the sensation.
“Wanna try more fire? I promise it won’t hurt you,” Ace said, “It’s whatever pace you need though.”
“Yeah, okay,” Sabo managed, his face burying into Ace’s hair slightly.
Ace let the flames grow, flickering larger and higher around them. Sabo felt the warmth on his face and back already, the heat making his skin remember the shape of his scars.
His burned tissue reacted to the fire, tingling along the pattern marking him. But he still felt safe enough, as long as Ace held him tightly like this.
And Sabo’s heart did race a little, but he also felt determined not to let that control him anymore.
The flames moved in hypnotic waves like it was alive. Sabo forced himself to focus on the shapes carved by the light, its soft heat rather than drawing him into a mental sinkhole.
The fire shouldn’t even scare him.
It was Ace.
His own body extended.
So it should’ve been just as comforting as feeling that wave of warmth rolling off of Ace every time he used his Haki.
Sabo told himself this fire was no more dangerous to him than feeling Ace’s warm hands that grounded him so deeply.
They danced like this for several minutes, Sabo growing more comfortable with the flames, his focus sharper. He felt the warmth emanating from the fire, the dancing light playing across his skin.
And as they continued, Ace let the flames snake around them, weaving through the air as they were slowly surrounded by the heat.
Ace held him close while it happened, resting his face in Sabo's hair as they rocked back and forth, not breaking the pattern that would keep Sabo distracted and comforted.
Sabo rested his cheek on Ace's shoulder then, watching the swirling fire streak through the air around them.
"Want more?" Ace asked him.
“Yeah, think so,” Sabo agreed.
His breath came out in a shaky sigh, but he forced himself to remain calm.
“Just say something if it’s too much,” Ace told him against his hair again, nuzzling there slightly to keep Sabo focused on him.
“No, I want to beat this thing,” Sabo told him, doing his best to shut out the emotions it was surfacing, “I don’t wanna back down this time.”
His heart raced, memories of his childhood trauma flashing in his mind every time he looked into it. Even when he shut his eyes he still saw the flames and felt the phantom blast rushing through him.
“Don’t forget to breathe,” Ace reminded him, his voice so calming that Sabo nodded, taking deep breaths to calm his racing thoughts.
Ace's presence grounded him. He trusted him completely, knowing he’d never let anything harm him. Sabo just wished his body didn’t have such visceral reactions to Ace’s beloved Devil Fruit.
Ace rocked him slowly side to side, letting Sabo get used to the feeling and the sight of the flames there. He shut his eyes every time he started to seize up until the feeling gently released him.
It took a few minutes of adjustment before Ace could tell he relaxed a little.
“More?" Ace whispered, his breath on Sabo’s ear.
Sabo nodded against him, burying his face again and inhaling a deep breath like the fire would suffocate him.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Ace let the flames dance higher on all sides. Sabo felt the heat intensify, taking his breath away just like he knew it would.
“Shit,” Sabo reacted, his fingers gripping both of Ace’s biceps to keep himself as small as possible with the inferno around them.
“This is good,” Sabo convinced himself aloud, “Exposure is the only way through this. I can handle it.”
Sabo still found his body fighting the exposure, knowing dancing might help him ignore the fire but suddenly finding it tough to actually shift his feet.
“You stuck in place or do you wanna try moving?” Ace asked.
“Stuck,” Sabo struggled out.
He shivered despite the heat, wanting to shrink into nothing with so much blazing and roaring everywhere he turned. But he refused to give up, letting Ace sway him gently.
“I can work with that… Other than being stuck, you still doing okay?” Ace asked, his gaze never leaving Sabo.
"I'm okay," Sabo replied, his voice a little shaky but determined, “Keep going."
Plenty of space insulated them from surrounding flames, but it paralyzed him still. Explosions had always put him on the ground, but Sabo hadn’t been this bad with fire until Marmont got to him. He could barely even look at it.
Ace kept the fire at a distance, watching Sabo closely for any signs of distress. Sabo's eyes were fixed on Ace instead of the inferno, his body tense but he seemed to be making progress.
“One spin?” Ace asked him, smiling and giving him an encouraging nod.
Sabo returned his nod, a nervous laugh escaping him when Ace gave him a quick twirl inside the ring of fire before pulling him back into the safety of his arms again.
Ace held him close, his presence a comforting anchor. Their bodies pressed together, hearts starting to beat in sync gradually as Ace’s grin and tight hold had Sabo’s pulse slowing down to match his calm.
He’d guided Sabo back into a slow dance, keeping him swaying like before, each step a battle against his deeply ingrained fear.
Ace let the fire change form, only it seemed like the flickering flames came to life on their own. Sabo got so curious what it looked like now, but couldn’t glance at their moving shapes yet.
Sabo focused on Ace's breath ghosting down his neck, the steady rhythm of the pulse in his fingertips.
When Sabo felt brave enough to look into the fire, he found the licks of flame had become fiery snake-like creatures, little blazing dragons with minds of their own playing in the air around them.
“Cute, Ace,” Sabo breathed, smirking at the slew of baby dragons chasing their own tails and jumping on each other.
“See? I got you," Ace said in his ear.
It sent a wave of chills across his skin, making Sabo exhale at the tempting sensation, a different kind of fire taking over him.
Sabo slipped hands up his shoulders, skating over muscle to wrap arms around him behind his neck.
“You keep talking in my ear like that,” Sabo told him with predatory eyes, seeing the same look on Ace under his heavy eyelids.
Ace’s lips found his, both of them sighing and pushing into the contact immediately, eyes rolling to be inside each other’s mouths again.
It was so safe in there, tasting sweet sake lingering on his tongue and feeling the pull of addiction again, nothing but slick, hot velvet between them.
Knowing this feeling existed was about all Sabo ever needed to feel complete. His life could have ended at ten, so easily. But he couldn’t die without knowing what this felt like. Fate made sure of it.
Sabo’s eyes fluttered shut as Ace’s mouth wandered under his jaw and forced his face to angle up as he kissed him there. If Ace was trying to distract him from the fire, it was kind of working for him.
Sabo cursed under his breath as Ace kept kissing under his jaw, opening his eyes to stare straight up into the stars instead of seeing the flames again, his gaze reaching up for something safe to look at until he chanced another stare into the flickering orange light.
Shame, how it had such a primal effect on him, because he couldn’t deny its beauty as the fire swirled around them in a mesmerizing display.
Sabo dropped his cheek to rest it on Ace's shoulder. His gentle care and the slow dance in the heart of the flames wouldn’t outright fix his aversion, but he felt mentally stronger the more he could withstand.
So far, he’d been able to keep his breath and pulse under control. But it was only because the fire hadn’t gotten close to actually touching him.
And that gave Ace too much confidence in him.
“What if we walk through it?” Ace suggested quietly, but regretted it fast when Sabo looked at him with round, upset eyes.
“Too much, okay,” Ace added instantly, shaking his head like he understood.
Sabo set his jaw, his silence making Ace feel like an idiot for getting carried away with his progress.
“Sorry,” Ace murmured, eyes cast down.
“It’s not because I don’t—“ Sabo tried to say before choking, shoving the back of his hand to cover his own face as his eyes got red.
Ace was horrified at Sabo getting so emotional so quickly, waving away every flicker of fire until it was just the two of them in the moonlight, secluded from the crew.
“Hey, shit, I didn’t mean to make you feel like this,” Ace stressed, at least thankful that Sabo allowed himself to get pulled into a hug.
“I just…” Sabo tried again, the lump in his throat making it hard to speak, “I can’t make myself walk through that fire, Ace. Please don’t think it’s because I don’t— because I don’t trust you.”
Sabo had to grip a hand over his reddening face to hide his eyes welling up, wiping at them quickly to stop more surfacing.
Ace’s shoulders slumped, only pulling away enough to look at him.
“I don’t think that,” Ace told him seriously, “Put that outta your mind. I shouldn’t have even suggested… It’s my fault alright?”
Sabo took a deep sigh, groaning into both of his hands as they covered his face.
“I wanna get over this, though. I really do,” Sabo said, sounding calmer now that Ace was rubbing both his arms.
“You guys good, yoi?” Marco called, the only one in the crew standing up after sensing a problem.
Sabo looked guilty, mainly for interrupting his relaxation. But he grudgingly explained the problem to Marco.
Marco approached him, surveying them both and taking in Sabo’s wet eyelashes with a slight frown.
“Probably gotta try blocking out what bothers you most. When does it go from tolerable to making you feel like this?” Marco asked, “The heat of it, the sound of it? Or when you can see it?”
“Seeing it is the worst part,” Sabo told him, “Even when I just picture it. Imagining walking through it, even if it doesn’t touch me…”
Marco nodded, fishing out a folded sash from his pocket. He draped the folded material around Sabo’s eyes, tying it for him.
Sabo’s fingers slid over the fabric to hold it in place until it was tied snugly, but Ace was already shaking his head.
“Marco,” Ace protested quietly,
“I’m not sure about this…”
“I want to try it,” Sabo told him, blind now with the sash around him, “Have to try anything.”
Ace sighed, keeping his hands on Sabo’s shoulders as Marco backed away to make room for the fire beginning to swell around them again.
He circled behind Sabo, fingers trailing down the back of his linen shirt from his shoulders, fingertips knowing right where scar tissue marked him.
Sabo could feel heat, but he could feel Ace’s Haki surrounding him with even more intensity, like a blanket wrapping him tight.
Not only that, but Ace slid his arms around Sabo’s abdomen to rest his chin on his shoulder, swaying him so he knew he was safe here despite the fire.
Sabo’s hand shook as he stretched it toward the flames he could feel in front of them. But he found his body wasn’t trying to shut down as long as he couldn’t physically see the danger.
“I trust you,” Sabo said, believing that Ace would move the fire.
Ace held him from behind and ran his own fingers down Sabo’s arm to help him extend it into the fire. The flames parted wide around his reaching hand so it wasn’t too hot.
How badly Sabo’s fingers trembled made Ace bite the inside of his cheek sadly. He couldn’t help giving Sabo doe eyes because he wished Sabo didn’t have to overcome such paralyzing fear in the first place.
Ace kept his arm reaching with Sabo’s so he didn’t have to do it alone, especially when he was blind and couldn’t even see if the fire was close or not.
“Taking away your sight helped then?” Marco prompted, peering around the flames to examine their faces.
“I think it did?” Sabo reacted nervously.
Ace pulled Sabo’s arm back out of the fire, pinning it safely to Sabo’s chest where it would cool back to his core temperature.
But Sabo got braver, slipping off the makeshift blindfold to stare into the shifting blaze in front of him again.
“Your hand went straight through it. Unharmed,” Ace informed him, waiting until now to tell him.
Sabo smiled softly, looking down at the front and back side of his hand.
“Guess that means I can eventually work up the nerve to walk through it. Like you do,” Sabo told Ace, their faces close as Ace rested just over his shoulder from behind.
“Didn’t think that was possible. Thank you… both,” Sabo added, also directing it at Marco.
When he tried to hand Marco’s sash back to him, he refused it by folding his arms tightly with a polite shake of his head.
“You keep that, yoi,” Marco told him firmly, “Only if you’ll practice with it, yeah?”
Sabo gave him a deep nod, holding the material in his hands and hoping it would give him the advantage he needed over his weakness.
When Marco left them alone again with a thumbs-up, Sabo turned to Ace.
Ace could only smile because Sabo already looked feral again, that look returning to his eye after having felt such adrenaline coursing through him.
Feeling such tenderness from Ace was the absolute last straw, consuming him because Sabo really did need him in every possible way and it was the only thought on his mind.
Ace had no counter for it as Sabo threw both arms around him to make out with his cute face again.
“Yeah?” Sabo asked, gasping for air as quietly as he could.
“Definitely,” Ace panted, forced to let Sabo back him down the stairs so fast it made their heads spin, kissing and stumbling and laughing at each other in the dark.
Notes:
The next chapter should come out in a couple days after it gets edited.
Chapter 39: Tempest
Summary:
Baltigo approaches.
Deuce feels like Ace gives him too much responsibility sometimes and Tallis feels the opposite, completely underestimated.
Notes:
“Fish in the Sea”
(Song they sing in this chapter)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next morning, the crew emerged gradually out onto the deck to find clear skies. The same cool breeze from last night now soothing them from the heat of the sun.
And the crew knew that nice weather meant cleaning and repair work on the ship, preparing her for days when the weather wasn’t so forgiving.
Mihar, Saber and Skull had gathered around a hook tethering the sail lines, noticing its cracks.
“Already put that on the repair list,” Deuce called from afar, but Mihar made an uncertain face, not liking the look of it, even temporarily.
“Could try carving one,” Skull suggested.
“Oh, give it a rest!” Saber laughed, “Who the fuck whittles as a hobby? An eighty-year-old?”
“Someone that hates blocks of wood and likes breathing sawdust?” Sabo chimed in, approaching with pocketed hands and grinning as they burst into laughter.
Everyone but Skull.
Sabo faltered, lips parting.
“One of the crew whittles, don’t they,” Sabo realized dryly, sighing.
Skull raised his hand.
“That’d be me. I carve wood for fun.”
This only caused onlooking crew mates to roar louder at Sabo’s guilty expression.
“Damn, Sabo,” Saber said, “Too harsh.”
“I’m so sorry, I thought—” Sabo murmured, smiling sheepishly when Skull laughed.
“Doesn’t bother me, Sabo-san,” Skull said, pulling a small carved teddy bear from his pocket,
“Made this for Veri-chan actually. Hoped it might make her feel better.”
Sabo withered, eyes shutting as even Mihar stifled a laugh now, patting his back.
“Sabo,” Wallace reacted with pretend offense, amusing them the pinker Sabo turned.
“I like to rescue injured seabirds, guess you think that’s pointless too?” Cornelia joined in.
But now Sabo had fully caught onto their jokes, sighing through a friendly shake of his head.
“Fuck off,” Sabo muttered at them, so soft it sounded like pure love.
“Fits right in, doesn’t he?” Deuce said, leaning beside Ace, watching them with crossed arms.
“Yes he does,” Ace replied, resting happily against the ratline net.
Tallis spent the morning training with Marco. Sure, Banshee didn’t want him attacking Emmo directly, but Ace and Sabo had been through so much already. How could he justify not helping them? How could he sleep letting them settle his personal scores?
Marco deflected kicks and jabs from his young understudy, laughing and telling Tallis he actually did feel stronger than before.
Probably because he had real anger behind those strikes now. Marco enjoyed seeing his progression, only correcting his form a couple times.
It was only when Tallis mentioned how he’d do this or that move to Emmo that Marco got a sick feeling in his stomach, letting Tallis know it wasn’t a good idea for him to personally target his old commander.
“Just because I’d be right beside you doesn’t mean you should underestimate him, yoi,” Marco explained even though Tallis didn’t want to talk about it.
But Marco ultimately decided to let the subject drop, especially because it wasn’t long before Tallis broke away to prepare lunch.
And then the crew paused their training and repairs the moment food was ready.
After almost everyone had trickled into the dining area to eat, Tallis sat on the counter biting into toasted stale bread with berry preserves spread on it. He enjoyed watching everyone sharing a meal together at the table, chin resting in his hand when he finished.
Only a few people were missing.
He could see Ace and Sabo through one of the portholes, still outside the kitchen having a private conversation. He probably would’ve looked away without reading what they were saying, but he caught the word ‘Emmo’ and his eyes narrowed, lingering on Sabo’s lips, then Ace’s through the small window.
‘Just ask him,’ Ace said, ‘Tallis probably knows a lot about him. Want me to do it?’
‘Banshee said not to involve him, Ace,’ Sabo told him earnestly, ‘Since when do you care about planning? Like you said, just nuke the bastard and it won’t matter what his fruit does.’
Ace appeared to sigh, lips quirking in thought.
‘If you ask him about Emmo, we’ll have to break it to him that he’s not going,’ Sabo added.
Tallis got dizzy.
Even if he’d been injured recently, he didn’t expect everyone to call him useless in a fight.
‘Okay, I won’t ask him for details,’ Ace relented, ‘But he deserves to know the plan. I think he can handle himself. Not like he’s weak.’
Tallis watched Sabo deflate slightly, staring at his lips to see what he’d say.
‘He’s not weak, okay? I’m just starting to understand why Dragon used to take me off assignments when they got personal. This guy hurt Tallis and if we let Tallis go after him he could get killed this time.’
Ace nodded, agreeing as he adjusted his hat.
‘Okay. I’ll break the news to him,’ Ace replied, ’Now can we go eat?’
Sabo smiled at Ace’s pleading face, guiding him past the window.
Tallis looked away fast as they entered.
He let them eat as much as they wanted undisturbed, focusing on brewing tea and pushing all thoughts of Emmo away since it was making him silently frown.
Later, Tallis’ gut twisted when Ace asked to have Deuce, Skull and Mihar hang back after eating. He already knew what the meeting would be about. Marco was still missing, but because he hadn’t shown up, Tallis assumed Marco already knew.
Had he really let Tallis make an idiot of himself, training to follow them into Baltigo when they didn’t even plan to let him?
Mihar scrubbed at a pile of dishes, handing each one to Deuce for rinsing.
Tallis set down mugs of tea for Sabo, Ace and Skull. He didn’t make eye contact with Ace until he’d already taken a couple steps back from the table, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.
“Really good tea,” Ace said after taking a sip. But the high temperature alarmed him, feeling Sabo’s cup to make sure it wasn’t boiling like his own.
“Only yours is that hot,” Tallis explained, “And I only did it because I know you can handle it.”
Ace locked eyes with him for a moment before ducking back down into his mug for another sip.
Sabo nodded to himself, and just like Ace, he knew Tallis was on edge by his tone.
”Guess I don’t have to say shit,” Ace murmured to Sabo, “Kid already knows.”
”Oh, I’m a kid?” Tallis reacted, looking a little offended.
”Marco can say it but I can’t?” Ace laughed.
”You’re barely older than me,” Tallis complained.
“Yeah, you’re Luffy’s age. As far as I’m concerned you’ll always be a kid to me.”
”Interesting. I think I’m starting to sense a pattern with you,” Sabo said to Ace, cutting Tallis off before he could protest more.
”Again, doesn’t make him weak,” Ace defended, “Just needs to learn to pick his battles.”
Tallis’ eyes narrowed and went wild, only holding back because the door opened loudly.
Marco strode into the kitchen, pausing awkwardly when he sensed the tension.
“Sorry I’m late, yoi,” Marco tried, but he felt like he was interrupting something.
Tallis, Ace and Sabo weren’t looking at each other, with Deuce and Mihar washing dishes to the side. Skull absently picked his nose under his mask, making Marco hold up his hands in confusion.
“Am I not supposed to hear this or something?”
“Didn’t you already know about this?” Tallis asked him, hands pressing moodily into his pockets.
“Why don’t you just tell me what’s got you bent outta shape?” Marco suggested, looking too tired to figure it out himself.
His hands rested on his hips, looking down at them all like they were children in time out.
“All that training,” Tallis reacted, “You were so supportive. But you didn’t say a thing about stopping me from even helping.”
“Don’t bring Marco into this. He didn’t know,” Ace said firmly.
This made Tallis send Marco an apologetic look. But he still seemed betrayed by the rest of them.
“We do need your help, Tallis,” Sabo explained, “If there’s anything you know. How Emmo is co-opting my friends? Weaknesses he has?”
Tallis sagged there, looking miserable.
Deuce shot him a sympathetic expression from the sink, but stayed quiet because he didn’t want Tallis to go either.
As guilty as he felt, Deuce was staunchly with Ace, Sabo and Banshee on the subject.
“I’ll tell you anything you wanna know, but don’t ask me to stay back while you all risk yourselves,” Tallis told them, “He was my enemy first. Let me help you stop him.”
Ace stood up so fast it made Tallis back up.
“You think I don’t want your help?” Ace asked, his voice cutting as the bench scraped back alarmingly.
Even Marco felt the heat in the air, crossing his own arms and not willing to intervene in this.
“You’re stronger than Wallace now, man,” Ace told him, sounding gentler after getting the Zoan’s attention, “Do you know how amazing that is?”
Tallis held back the obvious response, but he so badly wanted to argue.
Because why would Ace think he wasn’t strong enough to fight with them, then?
“I'm not leaving my crew with no one to defend them,” Ace added.
Tallis chewed on the inside of his cheek.
“…That’s why you want me to stay?”
“This is your home. There’s a child on the ship now, for god’s sake. If standard weapons fail, who’s gonna protect the crew if not my hawk?” Ace said, “They need you. Understand?”
Tallis nodded, guilty because even though he badly wanted to be needed like this, something in him felt crushed at losing this one, probably only opportunity to find Emmo.
“Can you tell us what’s bothering you?” Sabo asked him quietly, recognizing there was something deeper Tallis wasn’t admitting.
And if he was anything like Ace, that put him at risk of defying orders.
“I would’ve killed Marmont if not for his fruit,” Tallis explained, “Emmo was just as cruel to me. You’re taking away my last chance to get even with my tormentors. I thought you guys would understand more than anyone.”
And they did understand. Marco caught looks from Ace and Sabo both.
“I got this one,” Ace said.
He sank back onto the bench, resting his chin on interlaced fingers.
“You watched me burn that word into Marmont’s forehead before he got captured by the marines... you watched me take revenge.”
When Tallis thought about it, he’d taken his own slice of revenge, and his memory flashed with the sight of birds pecking at Marmont’s eye. He knew that should’ve been enough, but it wasn’t.
“Tallis, as much as he deserved it,” Ace sighed, “Causing him pain didn’t undo what he did to us. My tattoo is still fucked, and so are my dreams. So ask yourself: did watching Marmont scream make you happy, or was it just more horrible shit you wish you could forget?”
Ace didn't care to show his own vulnerability very often, but he wanted Tallis to see the bigger picture. Truthfully, Ace hadn’t realized it himself until he needed to give Tallis advice.
“It’s not a happy memory for me, no,” Tallis grudgingly had to agree, blinking when he started to understand Ace might have a point.
“So why do you think killing Emmo is gonna fix you?” Ace asked him.
“Ace, too much,” Deuce warned him, having stopped rinsing to stand beside the Zoan.
“He’s right, though,” Tallis murmured.
“You’ll stay and protect the crew, yoi?” Marco asked to clarify, “We don’t need to worry about you pulling a fast one?”
“Right,” Tallis agreed, looking to the floor after Marco spoke.
“Okay. Easy. Good talk,” Ace finalized. He seemed satisfied enough with that result, drumming his fingers against the table as he gave them all a nod.
Sabo sensed the tension had cleared, opening the black journal on the table for everyone to see a few cross sections and floorplans of their headquarters at Baltigo. He’d spent some of his time trying to sketch out the carved-out fortress to show them the rough layout.
Marco approached to look at it with interest. Tallis could see it just fine from afar, but he tried not to show interest in their planning.
“This is the prime chamber, central and takes up an entire level on its own. We held meetings here,” Sabo mentioned, pointing to a section of the structure when Ace and Marco leaned in closer to look at the drawings.
“Here’s the barracks,” Sabo said next, pointing to a higher section, a tower.
Ace’s eyes shined a little, touching the place Sabo had drawn where his old room sat, his miniature bed there beneath his flag on the wall. It made him emotional seeing where Sabo spent so much time without him.
But when Ace got sad picturing him alone there hugging his knees on his bed, that’s when Ace saw a vision of Koala running in to jump on his bed, knocking him over and messing up his hair until he was laughing. In the vision, rays of sunlight beamed through that round window making them glow warm and yellow. He found himself smiling.
“Ace, are you listening?” Sabo asked, jarring him out of his dreamy smile.
“Right, sure,” Ace said, covertly sweeping his eyes, “Just thinking we gotta get Koala back.”
“Yeah, that’s what we’re discussing,” Sabo confirmed, smirking slightly because Ace had clearly missed some details.
“These are the cells beneath Baltigo’s main level. We hardly ever had a reason to use them. They’re equipped but I wouldn’t be surprised if Koala can find a weakness there.”
“You going straight for Koala if she’s still locked up?” Ace asked.
“Only if necessary,” Sabo told him, “I’d prefer the threats neutralized first. Which brings us back to Emmo…”
Tallis watched quietly, brown eyes narrowed in concentration even though he wanted to look aloof. Deafness didn’t give him the luxury of pretending to ignore them.
Ace knew Tallis would help if he baited him a little, but he was careful not to show it.
“Emmo seems brazen enough to come at us head on, and we’re gonna have to assume the way he uses his fruit ability is unavoidable without Haki stronger than his.”
“If I was Emmo, I could’ve poisoned you all without lifting a finger,” Tallis told them from his perch by the opposite wall. He didn’t speak again until they all looked at him in surprise.
“You won’t find him until he wants you to,” Tallis continued, “He’s a coward.”
“I can confirm that,” Sabo agreed, “He sent every single one of his men after me and only showed up after I was bound and drugged. He treated his own allies like they were expendable so I can’t imagine what he’d do to my allies. Hopefully he can’t control many people at once.”
“Control?” Tallis reacted, “No… Emmo is like a wound that festers, slowly growing in power the more people he poisons around him. Eventually he will gather the strength to override willpower as strong as yours.”
“You think he has the recruits?” Sabo asked.
Tallis nodded. It sickened him to talk about Emmo, and he was speaking so quietly they had to concentrate to hear him.
“That’s what he does… roots himself somewhere to spread his ability like a plague.”
Tallis continued, his voice dark and sinister making all of them make worried glances at each other.
“At his word, victims fall prey to their own worst attributes,” Tallis spoke grimly, “Any corruption within them magnified until they’re willing to hurt their own loved ones. It takes no energy from him to maintain it. The poison runs off the victim’s own stamina.”
Ace watched Tallis circle him with yellow eyes like a predator. He stayed still, letting Tallis grab his face with his hand.
“Go on… kill Sabo,” Tallis told Ace in his ear, making him jerk away with a dangerous look.
“I don’t want that to happen either, so you need to think about how you approach him,” Tallis assured Ace, “How fast do you think you can kill Emmo alone? Better be faster than he can speak.”
Marco looked up at him.
“That’s how he does it, yoi? His voice?”
Tallis nodded.
“Emmo has never been able to affect me, and that’s why I thought I might be useful to you.”
“We need to become like Tallis,” Sabo realized. He started to understand what an unexpected strength Tallis’ deafness suddenly was.
Deuce gasped, drying his hands beside Mihar.
“Earplugs,” Deuce reacted, “Surely that’s all you need.”
“Do you have any cushions made from cloud foam?” Sabo asked, “That’d be the most ideal material.”
Skull scoffed in amusement.
“Cloud foam, he says. We got money for cloud foam cushions, boys?”
“Not unless someone threw it in the trash yard where we filched the chairs,” Mihar informed Sabo with hands in his pockets.
They exchanged smirks as Sabo covertly checked how gross his chair was, half expecting to see some ancient banana peel adhered to the legs.
“Are wooden earplugs a thing?” Ace asked, keeping them on track, “Skull whittles, right?”
Mihar and Deu stifled a chuckle at Skull’s expense when his blush spread to his neck from under his skeletal face mask.
“Aye, could carve as many of those as you need, Captain,” Skull agreed.
“The only problem I see with that, though?” Sabo mentioned, “Tallis can read lips. How will we understand each other without that skill? It’s not something one can learn overnight.”
Marco smiled at Tallis briefly.
“I think Tallis can help us with that, yoi. I saw him teaching Veri something when he thought no one was looking.”
Ace and Sabo sat cross-legged on the deck with Tallis, facing each other.
Tallis had them grasping hands, tapping an alphabet into each other’s palms until they went rogue just tapping words at each other trying to communicate silently.
“Ace, you swapped H and S,” Sabo laughed, “You keep saying ‘Habo,’ and telling me ‘Sello.’”
“He’ll get it,” Tallis said encouragingly, even though Sabo already seemed to pick it up flawlessly.
“Long as you know what I mean, the code works, right?” Ace told him, but he bit his lip this time, concentrating harder so he wouldn’t keep messing up his words.
A lot of the crew had paused their work, curious what their captain was doing tapping into Sabo’s hands like it was some serious matter.
Off to the side, Deuce was showing Marco the same thing, but it kept bothering Marco how this wouldn’t be very useful for him. He didn’t intend to spend every second in reaching distance of either of them. In fact, he needed to be airborne whenever it was necessary.
Ace was coming to the same conclusion, especially when Sabo took a break to run his chilly fingers up and down Ace’s warm forearms. The touch reminded him so much of Sabo’s Haki that Ace reacted instinctively with his own energy, letting it radiate from his skin so Sabo could feel it.
The moment their Haki met between them, the connection felt physical, so bonded that they didn’t even have to touch hands to feel each other.
Their eyes widened at the sensation, neither of them planning it. But their hands withdrew, both seeming to have the same thought with the same mind.
Sabo felt Ace’s energy tap at his own, sharp and perfectly clear. Well, almost perfect.
‘We can tap code our Saki, Habo,’ he tapped into Sabo’s energy.
Sabo laughed because Ace looked excited.
‘Yeh we can, Ase,’ Sabo tapped back, smirking.
“I did it again, didn’t I?” Ace asked aloud sheepishly, catching onto Sabo misspelling things.
Marco looked up from Deuce’s palm in sudden amazement, perceiving them talking as the energy hit him. He was starting to understand the taps, like a language he could feel inside his body.
‘I felt that,’ Marco tapped back, slower because he wasn’t used to reaching out to them this way with his Haki.
Ace and Sabo both reacted with stunned looks and smiles, turning to see him.
“This could fucking work,” Sabo breathed.
Tallis perceived the gaps in their speech, looking between all of them in suspicion.
“What’s going on?” Tallis asked.
“We can use our energy to do this. Haki tapping at each other,” Ace explained, both hands pressing his hat down, still looking amazed by it.
“So that settles our communication problem, yoi,” Marco decided.
Ace’s hands laced together, deep in thought while Sabo returned to the nearby stairs to listen.
“I know you wanted to put off finding Koala until we talk care of Emmo, but I don’t wanna chance it. I say we get her outta there before too much goes down,” Ace suggested.
“Marco and I can team up to shut Emmo down while you find Koala. Anything unforeseen we’re gonna have to take on the fly, since we don’t know who’s under his command. For now we only know about Hack for sure.”
“A cyborg and a rally fruit are other potential challenges,” Sabo added grimly, massaging his forearm through his sleeve with a gloved hand.
“Nothing we can’t handle,” Ace assured him.
Tallis had transformed, perching as a hawk on Deuce’s arm, cocking his feathery head as he tried to keep up with the conversation.
“And you think someone might try to board the Spadille?” Tallis asked him.
“I want you to stay even if no one boards, okay? I’m placing the entire crew in your care,” Ace said, “Keep your brothers safe. This is the most important job.”
Tallis nodded, even though he couldn’t disguise that he had wanted to help them at Baltigo.
“Good,” Ace replied with an appreciative nod.
Sabo had pulled Koala’s vivre card from his pocket, letting it inch forward in his palm as he and Marco examined it.
“We’re close,” Sabo realized.
Close to Koala. Close to Baltigo.
But when both of them looked out over the railing, all they could see in the distance was a brewing storm, putting concerned creases on their faces.
“That bodes ill,” Mihar commented behind them.
But Sabo worried the coming weather wasn’t just bad luck or unfortunate timing. It stirred fear in his stomach.
The island of Baltigo loomed on the horizon, a storm gathering overhead as dark clouds swirled. Ace stood at the prow of the ship, but Sabo approached slower, eyes flickering around the sky as he took in the sight of the dark storm ahead.
“Can feel the charge of it,” Ace commented quietly, “Even smell the burning of the lightning. Not a good omen.”
“It’s not an omen at all. It’s worse. This is a man-made storm,” Sabo told him, feeling heavy with the sad realization. And the way the black clouds were orbiting Baltigo, it made his heart palpitate when he scanned the ocean before them and saw the waves begin to mirror the clouds.
A circular spin… and a pit in the center.
Sabo’s pupils dilated, going cold.
“Ace, crew, nobody panic,” Mihar called from above, “But we got a maelstrom ahead.”
Ace met Sabo’s concerned look.
“Man-made?”
“It’s Dragon,” Sabo explained, nearly losing his voice because he didn’t want to admit it out loud.
“Emmo must’ve taken over his will somehow. I’ve only seen Dragon summon a maelstrom once before. There were no survivors.”
Tallis met them at the bow to hand Sabo a scope, letting them see that Dragon had stepped out onto the flatlands where they used to spar, palms angled up causing the storm to surge overhead.
“We gotta leave now, then,” Ace sighed, watching as Marco circled above the ship and Deuce climbed the stairs to the fore deck with harrowed eyes.
“Everyone,” Ace called out to his crew, “Stay focused while I’m gone and trust your training. Skull, you ready with those earplugs?”
“Aye, Captain,” Skull replied, distributing the handmade wooden earplugs. “They should keep him out of your heads.”
Ace caught the look in Deuce’s eyes, pulling him aside with an arm around him so they could have a private chat.
“A maelstrom,” Deuce said, shaking his head anxiously, “You know the condition the ship’s in. I’m the last person you should want to lead this. They’ve never listened to me, Ace, not once.”
Clearly, Deuce struggled with his self-image. Well, Ace knew everything there was to know about doubting himself.
And at one time, it had been Ace’s confidence waning at seventeen. Deuce had always been the one to make him feel invincible, reminding him how much the crew trusted their captain. Now it was Ace’s turn to remind Deuce why he had always been their vice-captain.
Ace put a second hand on him, bracing him firmly at arm’s length and giving him a shake to make him strong. For a moment he even looked frustrated at Deuce.
“Who did I pick?” Ace demanded.
“…Me, but—”
“Why?” Ace demanded again. He felt Deuce’s shoulders drop a little.
“You trust me,” Deuce replied.
“You’re so fucking smart, Deu!” Ace whisper-yelled, trying to get it into his head, “Strength won’t save them here. No amount of muscle is gonna stop them from sinking to their deaths. It’s you. It’s what’s in here.”
Ace tapped Deuce hard, right in the middle of his forehead, making him smile nervously.
“They need you, Deu,” Ace added seriously, “Are you gonna let your brothers die today? Are you gonna put our Spadille at the bottom of the ocean today?”
“No,” Deuce reacted, almost angry that Ace asked him that.
“Tell them that,” Ace instructed, rubbing his shoulders, “You know how how to balance her weight. You know how to pull her out of a current. Put Skull at the helm and direct the others. You got this, man, you can do anything.”
Deuce choked, eyes welling before he blinked it away quickly, nodding at Ace’s imploring eyes.
Ace smiled, standing up straight and letting him go.
“You don’t even need to be brave. Don’t think about the maelstrom, only the ship. It’s just a normal day with stronger waves. That make it better?” Ace asked.
“Yeah,” Deuce relented.
“Good,” Ace said, “I’ll see ya later. That’s an order.”
Deuce gave a bitter laugh at the absurdity of such a casual farewell since Ace was forced to leave them in the path of a terrifying whirlpool, but he gave in.
“Yeah, I’ll… ‘see ya later’, I guess,” Deuce sighed, “Don’t you dare fucking die. That’s an order too.”
Ace was holding his hat down as the strong winds tried to steal it, grinning stupidly as he walked backwards away from Deuce.
Even though Ace got free of the crew fairly easily, there was the matter of Marco leaving the ship because he knew Ace and Sabo would need him to lend a hand at least once out there.
But he dreaded the hell out of Veri’s reaction. This storm would likely terrify her, and Marco really wished he wasn’t abandoning her and the ship in such dangerous conditions.
Mihar followed Marco and Veri into the captain’s quarters as Marco asked him to watch over her. The storm the Spadille was about to hit was darker and angrier than anything they were accustomed to, but Marco didn’t let it show on his face in front of the child.
“I don’t like this window, so I’ll need you to move her to a better shelter, yoi,” Marco mentioned quietly to Mihar, sending the grand bay window a worried glance.
Mihar placed a small transponder snail in Marco’s palm, nodding that he understood.
“Take care of yourself, alright?” Mihar told him, both of them glancing grimly out the window as an eerie branch of lightning streaked the sky.
The conditions didn’t look good, particularly since Marco would be flying through the electrical storm’s minefield any second now.
Marco pocketed the snail returning Mihar’s short farewell. Then he addressed Veri, who was already looking upset as she followed him around.
“Hey. Stick with Teachie for awhile, okay? If the storm gets bad enough, Wallace is going to carry you from the ship. That means going for a swim. It would be cold but you’d be safe after,” Marco said, kneeling to accept a tight hug from her.
“Ossa says pirates go down with the ship no matter what,” Veri told him.
“Ossa’s normally right, but I don’t think it’ll come to that, yoi,” Marco told her, “I’ll be back before you know it. Remember what I told you about storms?”
“All storms pass.”
“Good. And?” he prompted.
“A calm sea never made a skilled sailor?”
“That’s right,” Marco confirmed, patting her cheek, “The sea’s gonna fight, but don’t give it power over you. If you get scared, just repeat what I said. Or make Teachie sing a song.”
Mihar’s head shook, waiting until Marco left to break it to Veri that his singing voice might be bad enough to put cracks in the bay windows faster than the storm would.
And just like that, Marco, Ace and Sabo were gone from the ship.
Well, that’s how Deuce ended up in charge against his will… again.
He gripped tight to the prow as the angry sea slammed the hull, making his boots slide and his teeth grit. Rain pelted his face, thunder shook his bones and the ocean was drawing their beloved Spadille closer to that apocalyptic whirlpool like it was fucking hungry.
And here he was, now, figuring out how the hell to prevent killing them all…
Of course, the best tactic in this case was preventing them from sliding into the damn maelstrom in the first place. If that wasn’t possible, though? If that failed?
He already knew that keeping the Spadille from being destroyed by the raging funnel of water would involve weight distribution and teamwork with the sails and anchors.
They’d gone broadside to slow their approach to the swirling pit ahead, but it sucked the ship closer despite their best attempts to avoid it. Deuce’s eyes viewed the steep curve of the pit, calculating.
Fuck his heart was palpitating, distracting him.
The key would be to stabilize the ship, using the natural elements to their advantage. They’d need precise maneuvers to escape the whirlpool’s powerful pull, but he really wasn’t sure the Spadille could handle something this extreme.
Tallis flashed Deuce a worried look, wings flexing out of his body.
No one needed to order him to do this. He took flight as the ship careened to the precipice where the water began to dip.
Tallis slammed his body into the side of the ship, wings beating hard as he used all his strength to push the vessel. He couldn’t tell if he was doing anything, because it didn’t appear to be pushing them away from the whirlpool. But he felt helpless if he didn’t do everything in his power to stop the ship coming to harm.
“Tallis, be careful!” Deuce yelled from the deck, descending the stairs fast and holding to the rail.
Deuce felt the ship shudder and sway beneath him, knowing they were in for a fight against the sea.
The Spadille leaned so harshly the deck was barely walkable, at such a staggering angle to the ocean that they could all look down into the swirling depths below.
Part of him nearly pissed himself looking into the dark abyss as the ship began to tip down the side of the rolling current.
"All hands!" Deuce's voice cut through the roar of the approaching maelstrom.
The crew assembled, holding each other for stability. Sixteen pairs of eyes looked to Deuce for guidance, knowing their survival hinged on his commands.
"I need three heavyweights below deck!" Deuce barked orders with military precision, “Roll cannons to starboard side and tether them there.”
The largest pirates rushed to the hatch, disappearing below deck as the ship began to sway violently. Deuce knew that without proper weight distribution, their chances of capsizing were high. He felt the ship lurch again, the whirlpool's pull growing stronger.
"Skull, stay at the helm. The rest of you reef the sails," Deuce added, “We wanna catch northern wind, just not enough to fuck the mains, okay? Stick to the plan and we’ll get through this.”
The deck became a flurry of activity as the designated pirates climbed the rigging and worked the sails, each movement deliberate and synchronized.
The main sail and jib adjusted to catch the wind just right, providing the right push against gravity without ripping their sails.
Maybe sometimes the crew got snappy and irritable, but they were excellent under pressure.
It was beautiful in a panicky way, watching them toss ropes and pull new knots tight, calling out their actions to each other just as they would under Ace’s watch.
But they were doing this for Deuce now, acknowledging his directions with complete respect.
"Deck hands!" Deuce called out, his eyes stinging with emotion, “Secure yourselves starboard side. At my order you’ll ready the anchors. If we get pulled too close to the center, we'll need to slow our drift."
The pirates answered with sharp yells, rushing to the side Deuce was on and taking handholds there as the storm ravaged the ship.
Deuce saw pure determination in their eyes, a reflection of the confidence he was working to maintain.
Climbing the wet ratlines as rain began to pour from the black sky, Deuce focused on the path ahead.
Skull aimed the prow towards the maelstrom’s edge. The wind howled around them, but Deuce kept his grip firm, his eyes scanning the water's treacherous dance.
"Steady, everyone!" Deuce shouted, feeling the ship's response to his steering, “Take her at an angle to the current, Skull.”
The current tugged at them with relentless force. Below deck, the sound of cannons shifting echoed, adding to the cacophony above.
"Alright, prepare to tack!" Deuce ordered.
"On my mark— now!"
With precise timing, the crew adjusted the sails and shifted the rudder. The sloop began to zigzag, using the wind and the ship’s momentum to counteract the whirlpool’s pull.
The tension was palpable as the ship crept deeper into the whirlpool. Deuce’s heart pounded, but he kept his voice steady.
“Sea anchors, now!"
Kukai, Barry, and Wallace heaved the sea anchors overboard. The additional drag slowed their inward pull, giving Deuce more control.
"Skull, keep us angled! Everyone, hold your positions!" Deuce's commands were sharp, each one a lifeline.
Bit by bit, the Spadille kept its trajectory from slipping further, not enough for the ship to climb back up the sloped waves, but enough to slow the decent. The roar of the whirlpool persisted, but the ship’s movements became less violent.
“Keep adjusting sails to starboard! Skull, stay sharp!” Deuce continued to issue commands, his eyes never leaving the turbulent waters.
As the anchors caught the reef below, the Spadille gave a wild lurch, and almost everyone held fast to their ropes and rails.
All except Deuce, who’d had to climb the ratlines to see the current ahead. His fingers slipped off the rope the second the ship snapped away from his body, sending him off the side of it and sliding down the slippery hull.
Saber skidded to the base of the net, leaping up to balance on the rail already preparing his lasso. He tossed the lariat’s loop fast, letting it snap taut around Deuce’s arm. Saber backed off the rail with a loud groan of effort, bracing with his boots so Deuce could use the rope to climb back up the side of the ship.
Deuce’s eyes were wild as he hooked both elbows over the rail and kicked his boot up to drop himself back to the deck’s safety. Saber pulled his army-green leather coat to help him, but only until Deuce was standing back up looking wobbly on his feet.
“Thanks,” Deuce breathed through a curtain of sloppy, wet blue hair.
“Keep your rookie ass boots on the deck if you got butter fingers,” Saber teased him.
“Oh yeah? Get back to work, deckhand,” Deuce fired back to Saber’s amusement.
Deuce gripped the net and roughly pushed his soaking hair from his face with a grin to match Saber’s as the cowboy jogged back over to his station. They both had to lean into the steep pitch of the deck, but Deuce caught his breath against the net as the crew began to naturally understand the currents without him barking at them.
They might actually fucking survive this thing. But the yawning pit trying to swallow them made his heart skip a beat everytime he looked down into it.
“Just a normal day,” Deuce reminded himself angrily, “Just a strong current. Nothing we can’t handle.”
The crew on deck rushed back to starboard side every time they finished adjusting the sails, making it heavy on that side to keep her from capsizing.
They grasped at clew lines, hanging from the ropes and ratlines as a unified group. Not just a good team, an amazing one. Deuce’s heart swelled, seeing them all refusing to let the maelstrom claim their home.
Something possessed Deuce, a stupid grin on his face even as they faced death because he knew exactly what Ace would do.
Ace was fearless. He’d jump up onto that horse skull at the prow, rip off his hat and cry out—
“Give me a shanty, boys!” Deuce yelled at the top of his lungs, “If we go down, we go down singing!”
His voice was hoarse from calling orders over the ocean’s roar but damn it, he would make the storm listen to him if it was the last thing he ever did.
Deuce started singing it. The only tune the crew sang in a storm like this.
“Blow ye winds westerly
Blow ye winds, blow,
Jolly southwester, boys
Steady she goes.”
Skull and Ganryu joined in signing.
“Up jumps the whale
The largest of all
If you want any wind, well
I'll blow you a squall.”
The crew joined, voices booming.
“And it’s windy weather, boys
Stormy weather, boys
When the wind blows
We're all together, boys.”
Tallis climbed back onto the deck, his jaw slackened at their faces.
They were… singing…
His eyes rounded like a child’s, nearly smiling as lightning flashed and thunder shook them to their bones, rain pelting hard around them. He didn’t know why they were happy like this but it was infectious.
Tallis rushed, scaling the net to put his hand to Deuce’s throat, feeling his voice. The rhythmic vibration was so calming to Tallis, shutting out the chaotic sight of the storm to feel the crew’s display of fearlessness. Deuce threaded his hand over Tallis’ appreciating his touch as he joined in for another chorus.
Every man on board was calling out the tune to the heavens, holding fast to their lifelines to defy nature trying to pull them to their death.
“Then up jumps the shark, with his nine rows of teeth,” Wallace sang.
“You eat the dough, boys—“
“And I'll eat the beef!" Deuce yelled, taking over Ace’s part to get a joyful roar from the crew.
Tallis laughed watching Deuce get a reaction with his voice as the crew chimed in again.
“And it’s windy weather, boys
Stormy weather, boys
When the wind blows
We're all together, boys
Blow ye winds westerly
Blow ye winds, blow,
Jolly southwester, boys
Steady she goes!”
“No fucking way,” Tallis said, looking around at them belting out a song together. He had chills, never having felt this way about a crew before.
The second Tallis saw the whirlpool claiming the ship, he started to understand they might die here. He wasn’t easily shaken but this scared him.
But the crew, they weren’t afraid, not even Deuce looked afraid right now.
“Beautiful,” Tallis reacted when they stopped, steadying himself against Deuce high on the ratlines as the storm assaulted the ship again.
This was his family now, he told himself with a flood of warmth.
“Another!” Barry called out as the crew realized they were all smiling.
The crew usually only felt this high around Ace, now it strengthened them looking up at Deuce with grins on their faces because they knew he was the reason the maelstrom hadn’t claimed them yet.
Fuck, the sky looked like it was tearing itself in half, lightning splitting it and the dark clouds spreading as far as they could see in all directions.
“Tallis,” Deuce said, “Pull the top of the mast when you have the energy again. It’s easier to sway the top than the base of her.”
“You got it,” Tallis answered, warming his hands in quick preparation to work his wings in the cold rain.
The midmast’s spindle was slippery right above the flag, proudly displaying their colors to the broken sea consuming them.
But Tallis gripped it tight with his talons despite the rain, his wings beating furiously to help Skull keep the ship away from the ocean’s hungry mouth.
In the abandoned crow’s nest below him, though, Tallis saw Mihar’s spyglass tucked in the side net, gleaming as if begging him to use it. Tallis already had wildly exceptional vision, so there was no way he couldn’t see ashore using a telescoping lens. It tempted him deeply, almost demanding he check on the Baltigo situation.
Technically, they hadn’t told him not to watch their back. It wasn’t defying orders just to look.
Even though Tallis was glad to help his new nakama, he could already see signs of conflict at Baltigo with just his naked eyes and it took everything in him not to dive for the spyglass.
But he tucked away the thought guiltily, focusing on using his strength to help keep the ship righted against the current. After everything he’d seen Ace, Sabo and Marco overcome, now wasn’t the time to start doubting them.
They’d all be okay. Right?
Notes:
Hope everybody havin a good week so far 💪
Chapter 40: Fearless
Summary:
Baltigo — part one
Canon typical violence, mild PTSD
This will contain only minor events — major events will be next chapter
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Rain began to fall in earnest, each drop a cold needle that stung their skin in their urgency to make it from the Spadille to Baltigo.
The storm clouds above churned with a menacing intensity, dark and foreboding. Thunder rumbled, all three of them feeling it in their body, shaking their bones.
They were airborne, Marco’s wings and Ace’s flames propelling them as Sabo sprinted between them like his feet pushed off of stepping stones. It didn’t make Sabo as nervous as it made Ace.
The sun was like a distant memory in this place, Baltigo’s island falling under an ominous shadow. Turning the sunny flatlands into a haunted graveyard in the distance.
Ace and Marco by nature weren’t the type to sneak anywhere, which was good because their abilities lit them up like a fireworks display.
Sabo would take a stealthier approach once ashore, letting the two of them control whatever assault the army laid into them, but first that would require them actually making it to shore— caught between deep sea waves below and clouds rolling just as ominously above them.
“So dark,” Ace commented aloud out of habit, but he couldn’t hear shit past the earplugs and neither could the other two.
The darkness was the least of their issues right now, hair already standing on end and smelling ozone, the air around them gathering charge.
Ionizing.
Had Marco compared this storm to a minefield? That’s exactly what it was. No way for him to know where a bolt would erupt next, and the older man felt responsible for these two even more than he had at the beginning of the year.
They were on high alert, but Marco couldn’t help but glide up between them and the clouds, knowing a strike wouldn’t make him fall from the sky.
Ace glanced sideways at Sabo several times, watching with critical eyes as he skipped and jumped between glowing, rotating timepieces.
He didn’t mind if Sabo fell again, but Ace wanted to be ready if it happened.
But as much as Marco and Ace tended toward being overprotective, it was only Sabo with the perception of time needed to see an electrical spark before it ignited into a bolt.
And that’s the next thing he saw ahead.
Sabo’s eyes darted to the brewing tempest, noticing a subtle shift in the clouds— a glow so small it could be an ember. His heart pounded in his chest as he realized what he was witnessing.
Plasma. The birth of a lightning strike.
The glow intensified, illuminating the clouds from within. Sabo could see the formation taking shape, the jagged line that would form.
A cold dread that clenched his stomach, but he would not allow them to be hit.
Sabo sprinted through the air, his senses heightened as he activated his ability to shift time.
Above him, Marco’s wings kept beating and beside him, Ace propelled himself with a trail of fire in his wake, but the world around them seemed to freeze, each raindrop suspended in the air like tiny, glistening diamonds.
Marco laughed soundlessly in the silent, frozen storm, marveling at it for a moment as they sped through it before his impressed gaze returned to Sabo. He’d seen so many things in the this life, but this was a very beautiful first.
Just as they made enough headway past the glowing vapor, Sabo released time, a heavy weight off his shoulders.
The air behind them clapped, tearing itself apart, the raw energy of the lightning exploding its descent, a blinding spear of light impacting the ocean below.
Ace turned in time to see Sabo shift direction fast at him. In an instant, Sabo reached him, pulling him with all his might, sprinting faster than Ace could propel himself.
The world exploded in a brilliant flash of light the moment lightning struck again, the deafening clap of thunder following a heartbeat later.
Even though Ace couldn’t hear, he felt the searing heat, saw the the blinding flash momentarily stealing his vision.
It didn’t take Sabo long at all to notice that his earplugs had fallen out somewhere between collecting Ace from the air and gaining momentum.
Suddenly thunderous storming roared in Sabo’s ears, making his free hand feel his ear in shock, looking down at hopeless waves beneath them.
Just perfect…
Ace’s knee-jerk reaction nearly protested that he was capable of dodging lightning on his own, not used to being literally carried.
But after a breath, he had to admit Sabo moved faster, and it was no burden having Sabo’s arms around him in the storm.
Ace and Sabo dropped onto the shore as far inland as they dared for now, Ace sticking close to Sabo as they braced themselves against the cliff face.
The cliffs here, normally chalky and white in good conditions, turned to drenched slick stone in the rain leaving bright residue on their hands.
Marco appeared to be scoping the place overhead, and that at least was a more comforting sight than the storm.
‘My earplugs,’ Sabo tapped, and the communication between their energy alone didn’t tell Ace what he meant by that, but his expression did.
Sabo’s eyes closed in annoyance, letting the rain pour around them.
‘Where,’ Ace asked.
Sabo just pointed. To that.
The ocean stretched out before them, vast and unyielding like a churning monster. Massive waves reared up, their frothing crests illuminated by flashes of lightning that split the stormy sky.
“Oh,” Ace reacted aloud because those earplugs were gone gone.
“Take mine,” Ace told him, already trying to put them in Sabo’s ears— insisting even when he tried to pull away.
“Just take the earplugs, Sabo, I won’t need them.”
“What the hell do you mean by that?” Sabo asked aloud, not using the plugs Ace forced on him yet.
“Dragon gets stopped first,” Ace stated, “I don’t need earplugs for that.”
Sabo pinched his nose bridge. Emmo’s ability to use Dragon against them had really thrown a wrench in their plans.
“Ace. We need to avoid Dragon at all costs and go straight for Emmo with Marco,” Sabo told him.
Yeah, they practiced communicating with Haki, but this conversation was already getting heated. He wasn’t tap coding this shit.
“We don’t have time to figure out where Emmo’s hiding when Dragon has that maelstrom sinking my crew,” Ace said, “I’m going after Dragon.”
“Not by yourself,” Sabo challenged just as Marco dropped beside them, flying low so his flames wouldn’t attract attention around rocky cliffs.
“I’m the only one with Haoshoku, Sabo,” Ace explained, “I don’t even need to knock him out. I only need to distract him, and I can for as long as you need. Get it?”
Sabo tried to relax, but Ace really wasn’t understanding.
Dragon wasn’t just strong; he was monstrous, his Haki already surging pure power unchecked through the flatlands in high-speed storm winds.
“You don’t know what you’re facing,” Sabo argued, “You can’t fight him alone.”
“I have to,” Ace replied, getting a little impatient with the maelstrom, “When I need it bad enough, my willpower always answers.”
As if to agree, the sky rent above them, flashing and thundering mightily as Ace smirked up at it.
“I don’t like this,” Sabo said, grasping his arm seriously, “I can’t shake the feeling he’s gonna take you from me.”
“Sabo—” Ace argued, but got cut off immediately.
“I can’t lose you like this. I’m begging you to listen,” Sabo said, desperate to be understood, “You don’t know his strength. He’ll kill you.”
“I can do this,” Ace insisted, “The faster you take out Emmo the quicker I can quit stalling Dragon. If I can knock him out, I’ll come find you.”
Their eyes connected deeply for a moment.
“You trust me?” Ace asked.
It was no use. Sabo already knew Ace would do whatever he decided, and career captains weren’t accustomed to asking permission.
“Yes,” Sabo relented after a beat, “Listen. Don’t exhaust yourself too early. When his eyes narrow, he’s about to make a move. When his fingers curl, lightning strikes.”
“Thanks,” Ace reacted, pleasantly surprised at Sabo’s support, “But you’ll tell me if you need help? I’ll drop everything if you get in too deep, Sabo.”
“That’s the plan. Same goes for you.”
Ace smiled, bracing Sabo’s cheeks to plant a quick kiss on him, not wanting to give him another second to change his mind.
Sabo gave him a concerned look but concentrated on forcing his earplugs back in place as he watched Ace take off.
Since Ace made quick time away from him, Sabo’s energy field reached between them.
‘Everything to me,’ Sabo tapped, making Ace turn and touch his heart in reply.
When their eyes locked the world faded into soothing quiet, the calm and warmth of it reaching Sabo’s energy, the touch like an eternity between them before Ace set off again in a blaze of flames.
‘Want me to help him?’ Sabo felt Marco say.
He gave Marco an appreciative look, nodding once. He didn’t know what it was, but his trust in Marco seemed to multiply by the day. Something about the way he just… took care of everyone despite his own burdens.
‘If you need me, reach for my Haki,’ Marco tapped again, rubbing his shoulder supportively before he too was gone in a rush of blue fire.
Marco had no trouble keeping up with Ace, but once he realized Ace’s ears were completely exposed, Marco spoke out loud.
“What the hell happened to your earplugs?”
‘Gave Sabo. Lost his.’
“Goddamn it,” Marco reacted, sighing at them already.
‘You should stay with Sabo,’ Ace tapped at him— so, so predictably.
“He’ll do better if I’m not blowing his cover, yoi. We’re about as low key as bottle rockets.”
Ace couldn’t disagree with that.
He and Ace were glowing beacons up here, attracting attention, but that’s kind of what Ace wanted to be right now, drawing all eyes to himself to give Sabo more time.
‘Recruits are somewhere, just can’t see them,’ Ace tapped, and Marco nodded beside him, both squinting at the textured ground below.
Rain still pelted them, and that did nothing for visibility of the ground either as Ace propelled himself beside fiery blue wings.
“Oh,” Marco said in surprise, watching a heat-seeking missile streak around the rocky formations.
They glanced at each other.
Not even bothering to move.
The missile suddenly diverted, striking a ball of superheated flames Ace conjured to the side, and it exploded there.
‘Rookies,’ Ace spelled in the air between them.
“Let’s not underestimate Sabo’s nakama by default, yoi,” Marco chided him, “I’m sure there’s a reason he’s proud of them. Once we find them, maybe we’ll put them down for a little nap while we take the real fight elsewhere.”
Ace scoffed humorously, reaching for Marco’s Haki again.
‘Damn, went from respect to disrespect so fast.’
But he was already following Marco’s trail, angling down toward the rocky mountainside where they’d seen the artillery come from.
See, normally, Ace could’ve ignored them, but just as Sabo warned, weapons like these could reach the ship. Made more sense to just put the bastards to sleep so they didn’t put holes in the ship.
But when they investigated the source from above, Marco and Ace found only grey rock, grey plants and grey rain.
Even Marco’s keen eyes saw nothing, and no, he did not need his glasses, not to his knowledge anyway. His irises glowed bright blue, and he and Ace both must’ve looked terrifying from below, like two gods aflame with otherworldly eyes to the simple army recruits.
Sabo would say his men were trained to fight gods. And while that may have been true, Marco and Ace did not find these invisible people worrisome.
“Land here,” Marco said, scratching his chin and looking around as his talons touched down. Again, he knew he did not need his glasses because he was only in his forties, damn it.
“The only weird thing is I can feel that there are people nearby,” Marco whispered.
’They’re gone now,’ Ace tapped, deciding maybe they should just ignore the recruits after all. He’d only wanted to make sure they wouldn’t fire on the ship, but they seemed to have scattered like scared bunnies. And he didn’t blame them at all for that.
That’s when the ground moved.
Ace nearly kicked someone on instinct, reacting with disgust as the mountainside above them came alive with people the same color and texture as the rock. They’d painted themselves with Baltigo’s clay, mud and sticks blending them with the earth itself.
They wasted no time, and at a cry they were blasting the pair with bullets and Ace even saw another missile go by, nearly making him laugh.
Fuck, they didn’t even have kairouseki. Wasn’t there a mine nearby in Kitatown?
Ace shook his head at that thought.
‘Is this what gorilla fighters do? Wear mud like a gorilla?’ Ace asked Marco, watching Marco fully turn to him as bullets ricocheted to either side of his wingspan.
Marco didn’t have the energy to explain the difference between gorilla and guerilla, removing his earplugs for a moment since Ace seemed to struggle tapping longer thoughts.
“I’m not fighting these people, yoi. It wouldn’t be fair,” Marco sighed as bullets whizzed past.
“Filthy fucking pirates!” one of the recruits yelled.
“I changed my mind,” Marco reacted dryly, watching Ace smirk.
Ace turned to the men, eyes going dark and red just before a shockwave of Haki blasted from his body, and just like a bomb, it slumped every one of them to the ground.
Well, that took care of one problem.
But a deafening crack of lightning pulled Ace’s attention immediately to the distance, and Marco looked up too at the bright flash illuminating the jagged rocks around them.
“Dragon,” Marco reminded him, neither of them particularly excited by the thought.
Ace might’ve been happy to clash with him on a different day, but now that he knew Sabo was so emotionally attached to the old bastard, it took all the fun out. Every time Ace might land a blow, he’d have to think about the fact that Sabo wouldn’t want him hurt.
‘Let’s go,’ Ace agreed, tapping the message.
Having beached on the opposite side of the island, they had to pass Baltigo’s structure before they could seek out Dragon near the sparring grounds on the distant southwestern shore.
But visually? Baltigo looked abandoned.
Marco circled around Ace in the air, both of them perceiving many more people on this island.
Strange how they… weren’t here?
‘Feels like another trap,’ Marco told Ace through their Haki, tucking his wings as they rushed between natural stone columns around the perimeter, getting a feel for this fortress.
‘Sabo knows what he’s doing,’ Ace tapped.
If he trusted his crew to survive the revolutionaries, he certainly trusted Sabo’s odds here.
But then…
Ace didn’t think of Sabo’s old wound reopening.
Maybe Sabo had made progress around fire, but this was different.
It took Ace and Marco by surprise.
An explosion shattered the air, reverberating across the desolate landscape.
A blinding flash of light engulfed the side of the fortress, momentarily turning the dark storm into pure sunlight. The furious mass of fire and debris swirled with chunks of rock and clay hurtling through the air.
The force of the blast so immense that a shockwave flattened everything in its path and sent a massive plume of smoke and dust skyward.
As the smoke cleared, they saw the scale of devastation. A gaping hole yawned in the side of Baltigo, its interior structure exposed to the air like a cross-section of itself.
At the base, fires raged unchecked among the brush, casting a hellish glow over the scene. Whatever caused the explosion was like liquid fuel across the landscape, letting flames spread unchecked even by pouring rain.
It happened in the span of seconds, stunning Ace so much he halted in his trail of flames, trying not to picture how much that was probably fucking with Sabo’s head right now.
And Emmo knew it was Sabo’s weakness. That must’ve been the point.
‘Focus, Ace,’ Marco tapped beside him as Ace faltered, his body ablaze suspending weightless in the air.
But Ace couldn’t focus.
‘Sabo,’ his energy tapped.
‘I’m okay,’ Sabo’s energy said with a touch, making Ace breathe easier. And here, ‘okay’ only meant physically, because watching that happen to the army’s safe haven had him shaken up.
Rain poured down on the white stone of Baltigo’s highest ramparts. Rising smoke shrouded it even more than the temperamental storming.
Ahiru had lost track of Koala some time after they’d managed to free themselves. And for a moment, she’d hoped to locate the charming young ginger when she heard footsteps around the corner.
Instead, she ran straight into her own East Army Commander, and the intimidating woman was not exactly in the friendliest mood.
Opposing her was Belo Betty, a revolutionary officer now corrupted by dark green veins spreading down the side of her neck. In her own eyes, Belo was only protecting her turf, determined to bring down what she perceived as a traitor.
“My commander. Permission to settle this without violence?” Ahiru shouted respectfully.
She knew Belo’s mind was gone, but protocol rested for no one.
“Negative, subordinate,” Belo mocked her with a lip snarling around a cigarette.
“So be it,” Ahiru cut back at her.
Ahiru moved with speed across the uneven stonework, her cybernetic arm ready and whirring like a gun resting in her human hand.
Belo Betty stood tall and commanding, her voice booming across the ramparts as she commanded a nearby troop of army recruits to fight Ahiru.
Her voice, laden with the power of her Devil Fruit, compelled them to attack, and Ahiru found herself dodging and diving as her own friends fought against her.
Each movement was calculated; her drive core discharged just enough to stun them, incapacitating a few of her comrades without harm.
In one swift motion, Belo Betty spun her flagpole, using it like a staff to strike at Ahiru with fierce and relentless blows. The pole whistled through the air, but Ahiru smiled, dropping one leg in a split, dodging under so easily it was insulting.
Like a dancer she rolled backwards onto her dusty combat boots, sliding as Belo struck again.
Ahiru blocked and parried, her cybernetic limbs absorbing the impacts, but she was constantly on the move, dodging gunfire and avoiding the more brutal attacks from the possessed recruits.
Belo Betty’s eyes blazed with a frenzied intensity around the cig dangling from her lips, trailing smoke and ember as she fought. Her aura was all disdain and arrogance, her words cutting.
“Traitor! When will you understand? Commander Emmo has the willpower to lead us to victory!”
“You have been misled. I don’t want to hurt you. Stand down, and we can resolve this peacefully,’ Ahiru responded with the calm and respect of an army officer.
But her words fell on deaf ears as Belo lunged again, the flagpole sweeping low at Ahiru’s legs.
Ahiru leaped back, her enhanced reflexes saving her from a crushing blow. She fired warning shots to keep her at bay, but Belo deflected them into the cliff face with her pole, beams scattering away harmlessly.
The fight raged on, Belo’s attacks growing more desperate and vicious as she struggled to overpower Ahiru. The ramparts echoed with the sounds of clashing metal and the shouts of recruits. Ahiru’s strategic mind raced, seeking a way to subdue her superior officer without too much damage.
Finally, Ahiru saw an opening.
As Belo raised her flagpole for a powerful overhead strike, Ahiru dashed forward, closing the distance.
She used her cybernetic arm to deflect the blow to the side, then swiftly exposed her arm’s power source, using it as a makeshift stun gun. It hit Belo’s torso and zapped outwards, hitting her army with the same charge.
Belo Betty’s body went rigid as the electric shock coursed through her, and she collapsed to the ground, her flagpole clattering beside her.
The recruits twitched with shocks around her too, slowly losing consciousness along the mountain-bound side of the wall.
“Apologies, Commander. This fight is over.”
Breathing heavily but maintaining her composure, Ahiru stood over her incapacitated superior, then bent to check vitals.
But where the hell was Koala?
The wind whipped through the stormy night as Sabo approached the outskirts of Baltigo, rain pelting down and obscuring his vision. He adjusted his gloves, pulling them tight, and scanned the area for any sign of corrupted recruits.
He slipped Koala’s vivre card from his vest pocket, watching it inch forward again to confirm her location before tucking it away.
Lightning flashed, illuminating the jagged landscape for a brief moment.
Sabo moved quickly, keeping to the shadows, his mind racing. He needed to listen for the distant shouts of guards, the clinking of weapons, or the thud of boots on the ground, but he kept his ears plugged for now.
He ducked behind a low wall, peering around the corner to ensure the path was clear before continuing his approach.
Suddenly, an explosion ripped through the night, a blast that sent a shockwave through the air.
Sabo was thrown to the ground and his vision blurred by the sudden flare of light. A massive hole had been blown in the exterior wall, debris raining down around him.
His heart raced, and for a moment, he was no longer in Baltigo. He was a child again, aboard that doomed ship, surrounded by fire and chaos.
He sank into the wall, paralyzed by the memories. The smell of smoke in his nostrils, and his own scream in his ears. It was as if time had folded in on itself.
But then he heard her voice.
Koala, calling out in fear.
He didn’t hear it with his blocked ears. He heard it in his mind, as if his own willpower urged him to pay attention, to snap back into focus.
The thought of Koala hit by the blast pierced through his haze, pulling him to the present.
’Sabo,’ he felt Ace tap his Haki, their energies merging to give him warmth at the touch.
‘I’m okay,’ Sabo replied, reeling but unharmed.
Sabo forced himself to his feet, shaking off the lingering effects of the explosion. The world around him slowly came back into focus— the storm, the ruins of the wall, the shouts of the corrupted recruits scrambling in response to the blast.
Sabo steeled himself, pushing past the fear and the memories. He had to find Koala.
He sprinted toward the gaping hole in the wall, using the chaos and confusion to his advantage. The storm raged on, masking his movements as he slipped through the breach into what became the headquarters of his enemy.
Inside, the scene was one of pandemonium.
Guards fled for their lives, not even seeing their former Chief of Staff as they clutched at cuts and minor burns and vanished through doorways.
He already knew Emmo wouldn’t be anywhere near a bomb detonating, but his Haki field stretched wide and protective around him anyway, hoping that was enough of a warning system, because he needed at least one ear right now. Finding her was important.
Sabo moved through the damage, and the rising flames, his eyes scanning the area for any sign of Koala with his ear open and his earplug ready in case he encountered the Paramecia.
Koala’s vivre card in his glove directed him, using his other sleeve to try and filter smoke and heat from his breaths as he picked his way nervously around the fire.
Then he heard her small voice over the flames.
“Sabo? That you?” Koala huffed from somewhere in the area, sounding stressed and fatigued, like she’d been hit. He could hear her coughing weakly.
Instantly on alert, he pulled his goggles over his eyes as the smoke got more intense.
“It’s me. Stay calm, okay? I got you,” Sabo assured her, following her coughs.
Until a wall of flames stood between him and her crumpled form.
He took another step, then another until he stood right before the fire. The heat was unbearable, and he could feel sweat already gathering on his face, mixing with soot and grime.
“Sabo, hurry… it hurts,” Koala begged, and he couldn’t even see her, panic gripping him so tightly that he set his jaw in response.
He clenched his fists, feeling the leather of his gloves stretch under the pressure. He had to do this. For Koala and for himself.
Sabo took a step forward, the heat intensifying with each movement. The flames loomed before him, a living, breathing barrier of destruction.
His heart raced, and his mind screamed at him to turn back, to find another way. But there was no other way. Koala was on the other side, and he was her only hope.
With a final, deep breath, Sabo steeled himself. He closed his eyes, summoning every ounce of courage he had.
And then he ran.
The flames engulfed him, and for a moment, he was back on that ship, surrounded by fire and chaos. But the pain and the fear, he pushed it all away. Instead picturing the heat surrounding him was just Ace, warming and protecting him even though it flashed and stung worse than he expected.
Fire licked at him feeling the shock of it, but then he burst through, stumbling into the relative coolness of the room beyond.
He fell to his knees, gasping for air, his clothes sooted and his skin stinging.
But he was through. He had made it.
“Sabo!” Koala’s voice was close now, and he looked up to see her lying on the ground, her leg seemingly twisted at an unnatural angle.
He scrambled to his feet, rushing to her side.
“Hey, I’m here,” he said, voice hoarse from smoke. He quickly assessed her injuries, his hands steady despite the adrenaline coursing through him.
Only… she wasn’t injured?
Koala chopped at his neck, making his next surprised breath a choke. Frankly, if he hadn’t been so preoccupied with concern for her, he probably would’ve seen it with his Observation.
As it stood, Sabo could only recover from the emotional shock of it, stopping Koala mid-kick before she could get another hit in.
He’d slowed time drastically, still massaging his throat and examining the greenish veins marking up her neck, hidden before and now visible to his worried eyes.
A cruel smile on her lips disturbed him.
The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. It seemed obvious now that Emmo would use the ability on her, too, but looking into her dead eyes had him feeling nauseated like there was nothing of her left behind that soulless expression.
No.
He told himself not to spiral like that.
Koala would be fine once they stopped Emmo, and if he let himself believe anything else right now he might not have the willpower to finish this.
Just then, even in the slowed passage of time, he heard a gradual fissuring, felt a tremor building up in the structure above, threatening to collapse this wing of their headquarters.
Fuck. He couldn’t hold time long enough to delay.
Sabo pulled Koala’s body into his grasp, lifting her to his chest and slipping under a wall that crumbled in slow motion, boots barely getting enough purchase in the ash and embers to vault over more tumbling pillars of hardened clay structure.
Flames roared and reached with painful hands, doing their best to intimidate him from escaping, but closed his eyes, an enraged yell escaping his lips as he charge through it anyway.
He had no choice but to run through it fearlessly. And he had no choice but to open his eyes.
Sabo changed his path through the blaze.
And even when he stumbled… even when he thought they might be finished, he thought he noticed in a moment of insanity that the fire moved out of his way, clearing a path just wide enough for him to fling Koala and himself free of the East Wing seconds before the section folded in on itself.
A small cloud of toxic ash and white clay rushed into the air behind them, dampened by the rain.
Sabo clutched Koala tightly on the ground in the pouring rain, taking an audibly shaky breath as she struggled in his arms.
She hissed and yelled but his eyes were rolling back, letting the rain cleanse him of ash and dust as he struggled down his racing pulse.
He would’ve survived that, but she would’ve been claimed by the rubble.
Sabo reached out for warmth, finding intensity in Ace’s Haki.
He seemed unharmed, comforting Sabo greatly.
‘Ace,’ Sabo tapped, ’Tell me if you need me.’
’Same,’ Ace returned urgently, having to concentrate.
And then Sabo’s mind had recovered, tuning back in just in time to hear Koala fighting against him.
“You’re insane, coming here after what you did,” Koala said furiously, thrashing in his arms.
"Koala, I'm not going to hurt you," Sabo said, voice strained but resolute, “I can’t let you hurt yourself either, though.”
Sabo rolled Koala to her feet the same time as himself, hearing heavy footfalls approaching fast, squelching loudly in the wet earth.
Oh. He’d lost both earplugs now, which Sabo realized with a deep sigh.
"Let me go!" Koala struggled out, “So desperate to play hero, aren’t you? You can't save me!"
Sabo's grip tightened, resolve steeling at her challenge.
"Yes, I can," he replied steadily, "And I will."
He turned Koala’s wrists in his grasp so her back was to him and couldn’t kick him, pinning her just enough so he could evaluate the threat ahead of them. A cyborg running full tilt in their direction.
Ahiru.
Shit… the way she charged at him from afar, Sabo worried her mind had been taken too.
He prepared to defend them from her approach, Haki reaching from his body and coating him, trying to read her intentions, but Koala briefly broke his distracted hold.
“Koko,” Sabo pleaded.
He gave chase as Koala rushed for Ahiru.
Ahiru’s mechanical eyes scanned him and Koala, taking in the scene in an instant. Sabo’s heart skipped the closer she got, but then he noticed— her neck was clear.
No green veins.
Ahiru’s eyes locked onto his, and for a split second, everything else fell away. He saw the same realization in her eyes.
No veins on either of them.
Then Ahiru charged again.
“Been looking for you,” Ahiru huffed, zeroed in on Koala and running with perfect precision like a killing machine.
Lucky for Koala, Ahiru wasn’t the one possessed, so her takedown was swift and gentle. Then she grabbed Koala from behind, locking her arms and preventing her from attacking them further.
This was the first time she’d seen her chief since the Big Top, watching him push wet curls out of his face with his familiar vintage goggles.
Sabo seemed to have healed up, and despite the rain and smoke clinging to his smart clothing, he looked healthy again.
A welcome sight after the state they found headquarters in.
“Are you after the uniformed intruder?” Ahiru asked Sabo, “I hope so, because that’s who destroyed this place while we were gone.”
“I’m on it,” Sabo confirmed, “If you can get Koala out of danger, please.”
“Permission to knock her out, Chief?” Ahiru asked, grip on her neck firm but careful.
Sabo hesitated, but Koala’s rage-filled eyes were inhuman and awful to look at.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Koala warned.
“I’m sorry,” Sabo whispered, nodding to let Ahiru press her human fingers into Koala’s arteries until Koala went unconscious and limp in her arms.
The cyborg slid her easily over one shoulder, dismissing herself with a “Sir,” before moving fast toward the safety of the rock formations well off base in the distance.
There would be enough shelter over there to wait out the storm and the conflict.
Only, that’s when Sabo perceived the sky splitting over them again, but this time he was too late to avoid the bolt entirely, already watching it branching down in horrific slow motion.
Right toward Ahiru and Koala in their quick retreat.
This might not really be Dragon’s fault, but Sabo could kill Dragon himself after putting them through all this.
All Sabo could do was barely make it there in time, Haki stretching around his body like a barrier, and he threw himself forward, facing the streak itself and vaulting up to meet it.
He braced himself knowing he would survive the bolt, but Dragon had never hit him with his full strength before, and Sabo knew it might hurt.
A lot…
His eyes closed just before the blinding beam spiked through him.
The world around him dissolved into a flash so bright it even seemed to pour from his eyes. Electricity surged through him, every nerve igniting. His muscles convulsed, locked in an excruciating spasm.
His Haki barrier held firm, protecting his physical form from catastrophic damage, but it did nothing to dull the torment coursing through him.
Sabo's teeth clenched, a guttural scream tearing from his throat as the searing tide crashed over him. The pain was a test, no voice but to forge his will into something indestructible.
Unwilling to let the dangerous bolt pass through into his friends, he kept the pain confined to his body. There was too much power to contain, but he stopped it from reaching the other side.
Just as fast as the shock hit, it ended, letting his body smack the wet ground with a pitiful sound.
Sabo's body sagged, muscles trembling from the aftermath of the assault. His skin burned, every inch of his body remembering with the sensation of being torn apart from the inside. The pain lingered, a dull throb that echoed through his bones, but he was alive.
He had endured.
As the world eased back into focus, Sabo drew a shuddering breath, his body still humming with residual energy. He tried to raise himself gingerly, barely even registering that Ahiru at his side.
Ahiru uncovered her ears to fix on him with panic, her irises zooming audibly. Cold hands framing his face to check him.
“Chief… you look… dead.”
His nostrils and mouth were red with blood, wiping it away with his glove. Sooted and drenched, he got to his feet like a newborn deer.
“I know, Duckie, sorry,” Sabo breathed, examining the blood on his glove and looking up at the dark sky, “Good to see you again, by the way.”
Ahiru beamed.
“Great to see you, sir.”
But then her boot had to shove Koala to the ground to keep her at bay, hand going up to her headset with a frowning face.
“This damn PA is barely working, the one in Dragon’s office?” Ahiru told Sabo, “Staticky audio but I could swear I hear scared voices. Chief, I think someone’s calling for help in there.”
“Hostages?” Sabo wondered, though it didn’t make sense why Emmo wouldn’t have just turned them.
“It’s a decent guess,” Ahiru agreed, already wrestling Koala’s arms behind her again after waking at the thunderous clap. Luckily, Ahiru’s upgrades made her much stronger.
“Did you use Haki on me by the way? When I arrived a minute ago? My electromag sensor picked something up.”
“I did,” Sabo managed, “I didn’t know if Emmo got to you or not. You run like a predator.”
Ahiru laughed, arranging Koala’s fighting limbs to pick her up.
“I’m honored. Be safe for me.”
Sabo sighed, hands on his hips as he stared up at the windows of Dragon’s office. He couldn’t risk going up there with no ear protection.
At the same time, he noticed Ahiru’s transponder headset with one earpiece on and one earpiece to the side so she could hear, part of the standard gear they used on base connected to the PA system. That would work.
“Hey, think I could use your headset?”
Ahiru nodded briskly.
“Of course, Chief.”
Sabo thanked her softly as he slipped them onto his own ears.
“See that she stays outta trouble. And Duckie? You can trust the large blond man, he’s our nakama.”
Ahiru gave him another nod, both her hands preoccupied with Koala writhing in her grasp.
“Okay, ups-a-daisy, princess,” Ahiru told Koala just before lifting her in the least royal way possible— like a doubled-over flour sack emitting profanities.
“Eat shit, scrapyard,” Koala growled, upside down and fighting— everything from jabbing and kicking her tall, tan legs to pulling at her brown hair.
“Ooo… given your station, Koala-chan, I believe that’d be Deputy Commander Scrapyard to you,” Ahiru informed her, completely unfazed as her boots stomped their way into a sprint.
She slid her round, ruby-red goggles back over her eyes, lighting the path ahead and scanning Baltigo’s rainy wasteland for any more of her corrupted allies as she made for cover.
Ahiru sprinted through a white canyon, mechanical legs propelling her forward with each stride.
Koala, now unconscious and slung over her shoulder, felt heavier with every step.
The downpour blurred her goggles, but Ahiru couldn't afford to slow down. She needed to get Koala away from headquarters before the turned recruits regrouped.
Or worse, Commander Belo herself.
The sound of splashing footsteps echoed behind her, but the cadence made it impossible for her to distinguish from her own at first.
Ahiru's cybernetic eyes scanned over her shoulders, but the rain interfered with her sensors, reducing their effectiveness. Each time she looked? Nothing.
If someone was pursuing them, she couldn't tell.
A shadow moved swiftly to her left, and before she could react, a powerful webbed hand grabbed her arm, yanking her to a halt.
Koala spilled from her grasp the second Ahiru got twisted around to face her attacker.
She found herself staring into the furious eyes of Hack, his normally calm demeanor replaced by malice, body tense and unnatural.
Very luckily, Ahiru already knew his first move, weaving under his left palm.
But Hack came in fast with a swift, brutal kick to her midsection, sending her crashing into the rock formations forming a canyon on either side of them. The impact jolted her, landing in a heap on the soaked ground.
The cyborg’s long brown hair lifted drenched out of the puddle, but her eyes fixed on her arm in concern, seeing the drive core had been exposed to the rain water, zapping and sizzling with smoke.
She cursed breathlessly, having to roll sideways to dodge another kick of webbed toes. Hack was in his element, perfectly balanced with a flow of attacks that Ahiru barely escaped, kicking herself backwards and flinging stones hard at his face. The distractions gave her one precious second to recover.
Ahiru rolled to her feet, internal systems already working to assess the damage. She couldn't use her beams or serious weapons even before the drive core shorted, because hurting Hack or Koala wasn't an option. But now she’d lost her only way to incapacitate Hack with the power source she used on Commander Belo.
Hack advanced, his movements precise and relentless. Ahiru parried his strikes, using her enhanced strength to block and deflect his powerful blows. But the rain was a cruel adversary, its relentless fall short-circuiting the rest of her systems now that Hack had broken open the panel.
Sparks flew from her back as she tried to channel power to strengthen her limbs, only for the systems to fail intermittently.
With a desperate shove, Ahiru pushed Hack back, but Hack recovered quickly. He launched himself at her, his fists a blur of motion.
A particularly vicious uppercut caught Ahiru under the chin, sending her sprawling into the mud. He’d caught her armored side, only jarring her instead of knocking her out.
Ahiru tasted blood though, realizing that despite her enhancements, she was at a severe disadvantage. Her drive core flickered, and then, with a final sputter, it shorted out completely. The rain had done its work; she was defenseless.
Hack didn't hesitate. He grabbed her by the collar, lifting her off the ground effortlessly.
His eyes showed no recognition, only the cold determination of his possession. He delivered a series of crushing blows to her torso, each one driving the breath from her lungs and further disabling her systems.
Ahiru tried to fight back, but without her drive core, she was reduced to her basic mechanical strength.
It wasn't enough.
Hack's relentless assault overwhelmed her, and with a final, devastating punch to the side of her head, everything went dark.
She hit the ground hard, her body limp and unresponsive. The rain continued to pour, washing away the blood and grime but leaving her motionless form exposed.
Hack stood over her for a moment, his chest heaving with exertion, before turning his attention to search around for Koala.
She had already fled, though, an empty spot where she’d fallen.
Hack went to it, bending to touch webbed fingers to the water where she’d been laying. His nose wrinkled above his facial hair, eyes wild as they flickered up to track her steps.
Rain fell relentlessly, soaking Ahiru to the core. Her once-bright eye implants dimmed to nothing, her systems silent as she lay defeated.
Marco could swear it was Koala he could see in the distance, but something about the weapon in the figure’s hands didn’t look like anything she’d use.
The movement came from a cliff on the other side of a narrow ocean inlet, so he wasted no time in gliding over the water.
He caught wind of a presence behind him, barely directing his wings in time to see Hack rise from the water, more beast than man as his corrupted voice roared.
Even worse, the seawater Hack had slammed into the air from the inlet hit Marco that same instant, the freezing cold plunge sending him falling hard to the ground below.
Marco huffed at the ruthless impact, scrambling to get back up on his feet. But as it always did, the saltwater had him moving painfully slow like in a nightmare. He grimaced with effort to stand as Hack approached with a victorious smirk.
“Aw,” the Fishman grumbled mockingly, “Birdie doesn’t like water?”
“I already had a bath today, yoi,” Marco hissed, swiping the foul water from his arms.
“You still stink,” Hack growled, “Pirate.”
Marco made a frown, legitimately smelling his shirt after two people insulted him over it. Then he reacted fast to Hack’s fist out of pure necessity, able to muster a little of his protective flame as more and more water rolled off his skin.
“‘Pirate’ isn’t the insult you guys think it is, yoi,” Marco had to inform him, this time his turn to smirk when Hack landed a hit fully absorbed by blue fire.
“Wait,” Marco laughed as he let Hack back him away— far away from the sea water as if Hack were intimidating him, “Don’t hit me again. It hurts too much, yoi.”
Hack took the bait, swinging when Marco begged him not to.
The second they were away from the saltwater, Hack lunged forward, but he’d really underestimated how fast Marco could move.
The Fishman barely had time to process what happened until Marco’s weight already climbed his back, choking him out.
“Bedtime, you big bastard,” Marco coos at him, both sandals on his shoulders from behind and squeezing his throat in the crook of his arm.
“Looks like even the ocean couldn’t save you. Make sure you remember the time you cheated in a fight with a pirate and still lost,” Marco added through gritted teeth maintaining his hold.
Fuck was this Fishman strong as his webbed hands tested Marco’s bicep. Resilient, too, perhaps even more than Wallace. But Marco knew just where to angle the most pressure under those gills.
Hack might’ve been a soldierfish to Wallace’s stingfish, but this was not Marco’s first rodeo with his anatomy.
‘Anatomy,’ Anka reacted, ‘Filthy.’
‘Not now!’ Marco screamed internally, nearly losing his grip on Hack’s slippery neck.
‘You’re not killing him, right?’
‘What? No!’ Marco told her impatiently.
‘Just checking,’ the phoenix laughed.
The actual second Marco eased the army’s Fishman to the ground unconscious, he was already running again, wings stretching out automatically to take to the air.
This time, he could tell he’d pinpointed Koala in the distance. She’d scaled the cliffs with the abandoned launcher from sleeping recruits and was already bracing it between rocks, aiming to fire on the Spadille.
“Are you kidding me, yoi? You little criminal!” Marco yelled out, turning her unfamiliar, wild gaze.
‘Found her,’ Marco communicated silently, reaching to make sure Ace was still alright.
‘Ending the storm soon. Get her to the ship. I don’t trust the lightning.’
Marco’s eyes widened.
Oh. Shit.
Just as he felt the words on his Haki, it was like Ace had summoned the lightning himself, but Marco was already halfway to her.
The blinding streak bolted down, right toward Koala’s figure, but Marco still got there first.
He slammed into her full-force, rolling on impact to disperse the hit. Last thing he needed was to fix her broken bones out in the open like this.
Just as Marco pinned her to the soaked ground, lightning impacted the blue fire of his wings flared over to protect them from the vicious jolt of energy.
The boom racked his body, too loud to describe. His ears rang for a moment but erupted, healing themselves without a thought.
It crackled around them, splintering away from his wings harmlessly. His fire barrier deflected rogue energy from the water and clay beneath them.
Koala’s face he had between his hands, only peeling them away slightly to confirm he’d covered her ears enough. No damage.
He sighed with relief just as her eyes began to blink open. For just a blissful moment, he stared into them, half relieved and half wondering if…
Koala wasn’t herself anymore.
She was too far gone to realize he’d protected her, let alone to be thankful for it, continuing her assault on him like the lightning had been his own malicious doing.
Dark energy rippled down her arm into her hand, galvanizing it with inhuman strength as she used it to crush at his throat.
Her eyes had gone wild and unfamiliar under poisonous influence, but her strength was starting to get so impressive it made him a little giddy.
Marco smiled wider the more pain she inflicted, his eyes glowing beneath his lashes at her.
“Oh… You wanna play rough…?” he reacted, not able to stop his own amusement.
“Let go of me,” Koala hissed, eyes blazing as she gripped her other hand into his hair, warning him.
“Damn, Koala. If you’re gonna grab my hair, at least pull it,” Marco laughed, “I’ll let ya go when you’re safe, deal?”
“You think I’d fall for that? Acting like you care?” Koala struggled out.
“I do,” Marco assured her, “You don’t have to believe it, but it’s true. I’m sorry I never told you that before.”
Koala looked feral as the poison coursed and spidered across her skin. But when she smiled, it was even worse. She looked pure evil, the expression hitting Marco harder than he thought, suffering to see her this way.
“Why would you think it matters?” Koala spat, “You’re not worth my time, not on your best day.”
“That’s okay, yoi, that’s always been okay,” Marco reassured her. He didn’t have to, knowing she was poisoned, but he couldn’t help responding.
She snorted mockingly, clearly displeased that he took it so well.
“There’s only one way to hurt you, isn’t there?”
Koala slipped Marco’s dagger from its sheath, slipping it between her own ribs in the blink of his horrified eyes.
His hand was around hers the same instant, stopping the knife where it only scratched her, didn’t sink in like she attempted. She hissed at the cut, but Marco sounded so much more in pain, teeth grinding with effort as he forced the blade away from her heart.
She had almost killed herself. There were places she could cut that he couldn’t heal fast enough no matter what he did.
His eyes stung with the tearful realization, breaths labored as he succeeded in casting the weapon away, and then he was clutching her tightly.
“What are you trying to do?” Marco whispered to the top of her head, recovering from the scare.
He didn’t know what he expected corrupting poison to do to her, but it wasn’t this…
She seemed to know what would hurt him more than anything else and hone in on it ruthlessly.
“I… I hate you,” she struggled out angrily, fighting his tight hold on her.
“That’s okay,” Marco breathed with eyes closed, “I love you. We all do. And we’re not gonna let anything happen to you, okay?”
“Fuck you,” was all Koala could spit at him.
Marco sighed, realizing it was pointless to talk to her in this state. Especially because they weren’t out of the line of fire yet.
He felt another bolt of lightning slam at his wings, jolting him forcefully even though he deflected it. He got serious, scooping her into his arms and locking Koala in place even though she struggled.
When he noticed a fast-moving figure surging toward them, it frustrated him so much he could’ve yelled the foulest stream of curses at the pouring heavens.
Because, what now? What new problem…?
That’s when he saw her.
Robotic attachments on a tall human girl, her dark, drenched hair trailing behind her. Normally, humans modified to this extent had perfect running form, so it really stuck out to Marco how she had uneven footing, the smallest limp.
Still, the unfamiliar woman had every possibility of being one of the affected leaders he was warned about, and Marco braced himself to be hit with something, his arm wrapping Koala in a wing as his other arm held her in place.
But Ahiru did not blast him away, surprisingly.
“Koala! Is he? Are you—?” Ahiru panted out of breath, grasping her arm’s weapon and holding it to Marco’s stunned face.
It was about that time that she and Marco could both see the other up close, noticing rain and white clay coating each other but no corrupting marks on their skin.
“Standing down,” Ahiru announced to him, “Lucky you’re not poisoned yet.”
“Cyborg, huh? Sugoi,” Marco reacted, then did a double-take down the wide barrel of her weaponized arm when she jabbed with it again.
“You’re short-circuited,” Marco realized, because if she’d really been brandishing this energy cannon in earnest, it would’ve been glowing and audibly charging up.
He saw her broken, soaked arm panel and understood.
“Are you okay? You’re limping,” Marco added.
“That’s none of your business,” Ahiru told him coldly, still putting up a defensive front.
Chief said to trust this guy, but she couldn’t even trust revolutionaries right now. Everything she could trust had already become an uncertain mess in her frazzled brain.
“Maybe I can’t use my beam, but if you put one mark on her—“
“I’m not— I wouldn’t—?” Marco stammered indignantly.
“Keep it that way, civilian,” Ahiru told him with a serious look that was as unnecessary as it was understandable.
“Noted, yoi. Now is there any chance you could talk your commander down from beating the hell outta my captain?” Marco quipped in return.
“That backwater Marine rat took over my commander’s mind? How—? Dragon-san is untouchable,” Ahiru demanded, eyes looking dangerous like they might detonate.
“Gets stronger the more people he corrupts apparently,” Marco huffed quickly, ducking his face from another of Koala’s elbows.
There was a flash nearby, a small crack of light streaking down to the cliff face, but they seemed to understand the warning.
Ahiru backed up quickly, falling and scrambling behind a boulder just as another streak of lightning arced down to blast against Marco’s raised wings.
She visibly lost her breath, holding her ears tightly and flinching at the shattering boom.
Ahiru looked from her hiding spot once the charge dispersed, gaping in confusion when Marco was still there, smiling under the cyan fire of his wingspan with Koala tucked unwillingly in his arms.
The way Marco’s eyes blazed pure blue as his wing lifted away made Ahiru’s jaw drop. They didn’t just survive— the lightning didn’t touch them at all.
Oh.
This man was not to be fucked with, and normally that would’ve set alarm bells off, but…
“That’s Koala’s scarf tied around your wrist,” she suddenly recognized.
“For good luck, yoi,” Marco agreed.
Ahiru’s eyes regarded him differently, as if there was some closeness between he and Koala that Ahiru hadn’t considered before.
And Marco had Koala so protected in his care that Ahiru grudgingly realized she had to leave her friend with him. Koala would’ve died in Ahiru’s arms when that lightning struck. She was only alive because of this… sailor, this tattooed fire chicken.
“Chief says you’re trustworthy.”
“I am, yoi. Is your commander?” Marco reminded her, keeping his tone as respectful as possible.
Ahiru’s implanted eyes still narrowed.
“You will guard Koala with your life. I will check on my commander, but not because I take orders from you, pirate,” Ahiru informed him, already taking a side-skip before sprinting away from him.
“It’s all of you, isn’t it?” Marco sighed at Koala just as she decked him harmlessly again, “Every one of your nakama is bossier than the next. Or did they learn that from you? You their bossy little ringleader?”
She had nothing nice to say to that, that’s for damn sure, but at this point he had to tune it out with a smirk as he lifted her again.
Notes:
Next chapter will cover all the important clashes that haven’t been shown yet. The future scenes all worked better together so I covered the minor events first
Chapter 41: Titans
Summary:
Baltigo— part two
Ace gives it everything he’s got. It’s enough to save his crew, but it won’t be enough to save himself.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Edge Town,
Goa Kingdom
Ace had never bothered counting what day of the year it was. He had no calendar, mainly just knew the the months by the season changes and the occasional full moon at night. If that failed, he could always tell when it was the last day of the month because Curly Dadan would receive a new carton of cigarette packs.
And that’s why he didn’t realize he had lead Luffy into Edge Town on the worst day of the year.
The festival that brought packs of fathers, sons and daughters into the street to celebrate their lovely family units. And nothing in the world made him sicker than being surrounded by it.
To contrast Ace’s foul expression, Luffy was on an absolute high, eyes glowing and round as dinner plates.
“Keep up Luffy,” Ace reminded him abruptly, pulling him along by his loose tank as Luffy dragged behind, eyes wide as he took in the decorated cobblestone streets, the sounds of laughter and music in the air.
They passed by families laughing together, fathers hoisting their children onto their shoulders, tables laden with food and gifts.
Ace’s freckled face had set in a deep scowl, for once not happy to be slipping through the town.
“Everyone’s so happy they put out free food!” Luffy exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Yeah, happy,” Ace muttered.
He glanced around, scowl deepening. He couldn’t help but drag Luffy away from the grown men and their spoiled children.
Maybe the kids didn’t suck, maybe Ace was just bitter, but he didn’t care right now. He didn’t want to be here, slapped in the face with everything they didn’t have.
“Sirs Fairy?” Luffy sounded out, squinting up at a stitched banner over the streets.
Ace did a double take at Luffy, a little stunned by his ability to read.
“What? Makino shows me letters all the time,” Luffy told him proudly.
“You got close. It was Sire’s Faire,” Ace sighed, “That’s what the sign says.”
“What’s a sires?”
“It’s nothing, Lu,” Ace told him distractedly.
Ace already knew the meaning of this festival, he just wasn’t ready for Luffy to ask questions about his parents yet.
Then he grimaced as a humble, cloaked man offered Luffy a cinnamon bun from a platter.
“Old man, what’s a sires?” Luffy asked.
“This is a festival to celebrate with your father, little one. They say it can even reunite you with those you’ve lost,” the man took a knee to explain gently, but Ace didn’t like the way his hood covered half his face. And he didn’t like the way he got too familiar and close to Luffy.
Ace wasn’t having it, pulling Luffy out of reach with guarded eyes just before Luffy could get his hand on any sticky confections.
Even though Ace so badly wanted to tell the cloaked creep to get lost, he kept his head down in the city.
But a nearby guard spoke anyway, calling after them with half concern, half suspicion as the cloaked figure receded into the crowd.
“Ho there, boys, where’s your father? Never seen kids refuse a pastry before.”
“Just around the corner— and we’re not hungry,” Ace told him, his voice clipped with barely suppressed annoyance. He then had to clap a hand over Luffy’s mouth to muffle his honest protest of, “Ace, what’re you talking about?”
Ace got him out of sight before pulling him into a hidden crevice behind a shop, eyes already shutting with dread.
“It was free, why couldn’t I have it?” Luffy complained, resisting Ace’s grip as the older boy kept looking around to make sure they couldn’t be seen.
But Luffy’s complaint made Ace stop abruptly, facing him.
“Nothing is free. We can’t have people asking us questions or they’ll know we don’t belong here. And I don’t want you asking me any more questions either. We’re going to meet Sabo then we’re outta here, got it?”
Luffy, oblivious to his brother’s mood, continued to chatter.
“Yeah, but how am I supposed to ever meet my dad if you don’t let me go where all the dads show up to meet their sons for the first time?”
“That’s what you think? That just because it’s a father festival, yours might magically appear? It’s not how it works, so get it out of your head.”
“Why not?” Luffy insisted, “You didn’t even try, what if yours is there too?”
Ace seemed to ask the heavens for strength or patience but it failed, leaving him red in the face.
“Because we don’t have fathers to celebrate with, Luffy,” he finally snapped, his voice harsher than he intended.
Luffy’s smile faltered, confusion clouding his eyes. “You said he was around the corner… I really don’t have one?”
Ace’s fists clenched at his sides. He could’ve easily told Luffy the truth about Dragon after hearing Garp on the transponder with the man, but it would’ve caused more harm than good.
“I can’t— I mean, I don’t wanna tell you. It’s not gonna help to know, so just stop asking.”
Luffy’s eyes filled with tears, but he nodded, trying to be brave like his brother.
“I know why you don’t wanna say it, Ace. He’s not alive, is he. Unless he is alive and he just didn’t want to ever meet me.”
Then Luffy couldn’t help but sniffle, doing his best not to cry in front of Ace, unsuccessfully.
“Luffy…” Ace struggled, feeling an intense empathy for the kid he normally classified as a brat. He couldn’t help but feel like Luffy needed him to fix the tears this time.
With a heavy heart, Ace crouched in front of him, feeling more like a big brother than ever before.
“Listen, man… Some of them just can’t be here. It doesn’t mean anything’s wrong with you. You got me and Sabo and we’re all stronger without our parents, so forget the stupid festival. We’ll lift you some pastries later when no one’s looking.”
Luffy nodded, allowing himself a smile because Ace wasn’t normally this nice and he basked in it with every fiber of his being.
Ace had already vowed that he would always be there for Luffy and he was making good on that now. They didn’t have fathers, but they had each other, and he would make sure that was enough.
For now Luffy had dried his tears, accepting Ace’s grudging hand to lead him back out into the warm sun with his dark eyelashes squinting angrily into the brightness.
Maybe between Sabo and himself they could prevent Luffy getting damaged and bitter like Ace was. Even that optimistic thought buckled under the issue that this was children fixing children, not one good father figure between all three of them.
From what Ace noticed, the Red-Haired Pirates and Garp would’ve been enough if they were actually around more, but Ace already considered himself a more present figure in Luffy’s life.
Dragon, though?
Ace could only hope he never crossed paths with that man…
The man that made Luffy cry.
Ace approached the sparring grounds of Baltigo, the wind howling and rain lashing down as Dragon called down a storm around him. Each step felt like a battle against the elements, the ground slick and treacherous under his worn boots.
Ace’s eyes narrowed against the stinging rain, his senses aware of the immense, almost suffocating aura of Haki emanating from the army's leader.
He wasn’t here to kill Dragon, despite the simmering hatred he harbored. This was a mission of endurance, a fight to wear down the monstrous power before him— sap enough of his energy that the maelstrom would die down and save his crew.
As he neared, Ace’s thoughts raced. The destruction wrought upon his ship and crew flashed vividly in his mind, fueling his resolve.
He pulled his hat down tighter onto his head in the violent wind.
Dragon, once a man of good purpose, now stood corrupted and dangerous, prepared to kill any who dared approach. The tension in the air was felt in each crack of thunder.
It wasn’t until Ace approached that he began to understand the magnitude Sabo had warned him about. Dragon’s towering figure loomed through the storm, his presence an overwhelming force of nature.
Ace felt small.
A child standing before a titan in the storm's eye.
But there was something about Portgas D. Ace, the way he could feel small without feeling fear.
Dragon never scared him. He only made him angry, and Ace felt invincible when righteous anger coursed through him like this.
Luffy’s deadbeat father. Then Sabo’s agony when Dragon ripped his heart in two.
“I waited all my life to make you pay,” Ace told the towering man before him, voice raised over the screaming winds.
Ace’s hat whipped at his back now, only held on by the lariat in the harsh weather.
A smile crept onto Dragon’s face, looking like an older, twisted version of Luffy.
“And why is that, son?” Dragon projected loudly over the storm.
“You made my brothers cry,” Ace continued, fire swirling to his aid just as Dragon’s corrupted gaze locked onto him, “I’m not going to kill you. But I will make you sorry.”
Dragon smirked.
“Perhaps you will not disappoint me, then.”
With a final glance at the chaos around him, Ace charged forward, his fists ablaze, ready to confront the tempest before him.
Elemental power clashed seconds later, each strike sending shockwaves rippling through the island. Lightning crackled overhead as Ace faced off against Dragon, Haki colliding in a battle of wills.
Well, Ace was fighting.
Dragon was effortless.
The large man’s fingers curled into the air past his dark cloak, and Ace was ready for it every time, countering the storm’s charge with his Haki.
Dragon didn’t look impressed, however.
“You’re wasted potential, Ace,” Dragon growled, fatherly in the most toxic way possible.
Ace snorted.
“You think there’s any insult you can throw that I don’t already believe? Don’t even try it.”
But Dragon wasn’t done.
“Why must you waste Sabo’s potential too? He had a purpose here. A dream.”
Ace whipped pure fire around him to keep the monstrous man at bay but watched lightning slam it away instantly.
“You know nothing about Sabo’s dream,” Ace said.
When Dragon stepped forward, Ace backed up with wary eyes, boots sliding muddy across the ground.
“I know it didn’t include you. He never mentioned you once to me,” Dragon told him poisonously, knowing the power his words held.
That laid Ace’s emotions bare, brows turning up sadly when the truth of it struck him hard.
“That wasn’t his fault,” Ace yelled, his flames surging around him now, angry and strong enough to block Dragon’s bone-breaking claw even though it staggered him backwards still.
This fight mainly got under his skin because he shouldn’t have to listen to Dragon’s deranged thoughts in the first place, any of the shit from his mouth. Ace wasn’t even trying to kill him, but damn, he made it tempting.
“I was his savior. You never even searched for him,” Dragon said.
“Easy, old man,” Ace warned, both of them circling each other now.
Haki clashed again, shock and flames frying the very air they breathed with excess energy and flashing eyes.
“Fourteen years you abandoned him on my doorstep. He was lost and alone. I took him in.”
“You talk like you never abandoned a child before,” Ace spoke, catching his breath with a wrinkled nose staring him down.
“You know nothing of a father’s sacrifice,” Dragon told him coldly.
Ace’s irises glinted dark as Dragon allowed his cloak to fall away, fluttering in the storm and leaving only his bare, badly scarred upper body. Still shockingly toned despite his age in his black trousers.
He really was an impressive opponent, and even though Ace knew several giants personally, it didn’t feel good to watch Dragon look down his nose with cruel eyes. Black hair whipping in the storm.
Despite how long Ace wanted this chance to get even, he tried to focus. He couldn’t let himself hurt Dragon, no matter how painful the man’s attacks got. Their spar was a toxic power imbalance, Ace just trying to survive, refusing to mortally wound him for Sabo’s sake alone.
“I don’t want to fight you like this,” Ace told him, “I thought I wanted to my whole life, but it’s not a square fight.”
“And why is that? Too weak?”
Ace hissed as his Haki barely stopped another powerful jolt of lightning spiking out from Dragon’s clenching fist. And the bastard was smiling, making Ace shiver.
“Because I can see in your face that you want me dead,” Ace told him, “But I can’t strike to kill you, for my brothers’ sake. There’s no honor in that. You know I’m holding back.”
“All you need is incentive, young man. Allow a father to show you how it’s done,” Dragon growled, barraging Ace with more strikes than he could counter, flashing bright in his eyes into he could barely open them, crying out angrily as the last one hit him.
The lightning left black scorches forking and branching up Ace’s forearm, skin smoking and smelling disgusting. That got him seething immediately.
"Allow a father to show you how it’s done?" If there’s one person that doesn't deserve the title…
“Some fucking father,” Ace spat back, “Luffy deserved better.”
He’d wanted to scream that out for so long the catharsis rewarded his rage. Stoked the fire until it was even stronger.
Dragon took note of the flames’ temperature, how it heated with Ace’s growing anger. So it was Luffy, not Sabo, that made Ace truly fragile. He smiled.
“I did him a favor, making him strong in my absence. Family is weakness, and Luffy is irrelevant to my cause. You think I value a sniveling brat over world liberation?”
Ace’s vision tunneled at those words, seeing red as rage took over, adrenaline coursing his blood.
To be honest, he didn’t know what would happen next, nearly blacking out as his flame wall spread wide and hot around them, circling like his own maelstrom.
Dragon waited with sinister silence, letting Ace tire himself out with the emotional display.
But the sheer power of it, even Dragon didn’t expect, that smile slowly melting as he witnessed the staggering amount of fire growing until it nearly blotted out the sky from his sight. A stunning pillar that radiated so much pure heat it made the air thin of oxygen.
An iteration of his flame commandment on a magnitude Ace had never managed before.
If Dragon wanted to make a demon of Ace…
Oh…
That’s exactly what you’ll get, old man...
Demon fire manifested around them. And the roaring, well, it wasn’t just from the fire this time.
From the inferno formed three massive dragons towering above them, each one writhing and bellowing with a sentient ferocity.
Their eyes burned bright, jaws snapping as all three of their heads reflected in Dragon’s stunned eyes like a hydra above him.
“What hellspawn is this? What are you?” Dragon asked.
Ace’s outline blurred into a fiery silhouette, features indistinguishable amidst the inferno. His presence was more commanding than ever before, part of the elemental fury he wielded.
“All I am is a pissed off brother. I called this fire for Luffy and Sabo,” Ace yelled above the roaring beasts watching their fiery heads thrash and whip.
“What were you saying about family being weakness, Dragon?”
As Sabo started up a stone staircase, he lifted one earpiece just enough to listen for the voices Ahiru mentioned.
He’d planned to slide it immediately back over his ear, but what he heard widened his eyes.
Someone… laughing?
Not just any laugh, either, it was one that warmed his whole body just as much as it terrified him.
“Luffy?” Sabo asked under his breath, eyes round and puppy-like as he stared up the empty staircase.
“Sabo!” Luffy yelled out.
“Luffy?” Sabo breathed louder, feeling his heart beat inside his chest when he realized Luffy must’ve found his way here already.
And had already gotten himself into trouble, by the sound of his cries.
It wasn’t the first time Luffy needed him, and Sabo remembered Luffy laugh like that even when he was scared, and it raised the hair on Sabo’s neck, the note of anxiety in his tone.
Sabo moved faster, eyes getting bigger as he couldn’t understand how Luffy still got himself into these situations.
“What are you doing, Ji-san?” Luffy laughed nervously, loud enough to echo down the long stairwell.
Sabo frowned.
Did that mean Garp was here, too? That was the only person Luffy called Ji-san.
“Garp?” Sabo called, progressing up the stairs, “Luffy? What are you doing here? It’s not safe.”
“Ace, Sabo!” Luffy laughed, “Ji-san captured me.”
That would mean Emmo corrupted Garp somehow. Sabo couldn’t feel his Haki, but then advanced Haki users were so much more difficult to sense.
He didn’t want to fight their adoptive grandfather, but if anyone was hurting Luffy, Sabo didn’t think he could pull his own punches. He’d beat the snot out of an old man if he really needed to.
Then Luffy shrieked, a heart-wrenching noise when Sabo was so on edge.
“Help me, hurry Sabo!” Luffy cried, “Ace!”
Sabo couldn’t stop his instinct from kicking in when Luffy cried out his name, when that small, sweet voice begged him to hurry.
Sabo moved faster, reserving his fruit’s stamina but still taking the stairs two at a time with his hand flexing angrily.
He burst into Dragon’s office, clawed fingers held ready to strike, even half-swinging at the darkness before realizing the room was empty.
Well, mostly empty.
It was ransacked, Dragon’s beloved books and documents littering the ground.
Shades had been drawn to cover the windows, leaving the office pitch dark except for the transponder snail projecting an aged video onto the wall with its glowing eyes.
Sabo’s own eyes widened, his brows lifting as he saw Luffy there, just a small child.
Garp was holding the small boy ‘captive’ against his red floral shirt, making Luffy laugh and beg his brothers to do something about his granddad attacking him.
“I remember this,” Sabo murmured quietly, his glassy eyes illuminated by the flickering light.
In the shaky projected video, Garp held Luffy up like an airship, letting the boy kick and yell for his Sabo and Ace. And Luffy couldn’t stop laughing and shrieking, looking straight at the transponder snail.
Looking right at Sabo.
His heart gave a heavy beat, making eye contact with that soft, innocent little face. Remembering him all over again.
They’d shaped wet dirt into a miniature town around Garp to make him a giant villain, but Sabo and Ace seemed to be enjoying watching Garp play around too much because neither of the kids showed up onscreen to play hero yet.
“Ace!” Luffy complained, giggling, “You’re just recording, you have to help me. Sabo!”
“I got you, Lu!” a brave voice yelled off-screen.
That’s my voice…
Of course I helped him.
He was my stupid, helpless, crybaby cherub, my perfect little monkey brother.
Then happiness bloomed in Sabo’s chest, rewarded by watching himself charge into frame. The tiny blond child took a brave leap onto Garp to whack at his head with his pipe staff.
Garp pretended to react to the hit, giving a groan of pain and letting Luffy drop excitedly to the ground and charge vengefully at Ace who was already laughing on the other side of the transponder.
Hearing Ace’s youthful laugh join Luffy’s had Sabo captivated, so drawn in by the video that he had chills erupting down his arms, approaching the moving picture projected onto the wall as if any of the children could see him.
Ace didn’t laugh very much as a child… this was one of those rare, beautiful days.
One of their final days together...
Sabo never knew Dragon had this recording. Perhaps Garp had sent the tape to him at some point and Dragon had just grieved too much to watch it. The thought had tears welling up but Sabo shook them away.
Just days ago, listening to Luffy’s mature voice already had an emotional effect on Sabo, but seeing his sweet face was a different thing entirely.
Luffy stopped to wave at the screen, making Sabo wave back, blinking a tear down his cheek.
“See you soon,” Sabo told the projected light, letting Luffy shine his own carefree farewell onto Sabo’s pale face.
He left his Haki wide open, a little bothered by the fact that he couldn’t feel anything, but so far, this running video in Dragon’s destroyed office seemed to be the only indicator that Emmo had been here.
That is, until Sabo’s unprotected ear heard footsteps from somewhere above. He already knew it came from the ramparts.
“Commander!” one of his own recruits called out faintly from outside the walls, and Sabo knew he wasn’t referring to Dragon.
Emmo was very close, and Sabo still had his ear open like an idiot, quickly clapping both earpieces tighter over them, looking up into the ceiling to remember where the sound had come from.
“Don’t waste your energy, son. It won’t be enough,” Dragon enlightened him ominously.
His dragon claw extended toward Ace, tempering such power within the grasp of his hand it tremored before his eyes.
Ace didn’t back down. He called to the fiery beasts above, commanding them until they descended, teeth gnashing to devour.
Every stack of the blazing pillar collapsed like a controlled demolition. The inferno crashed down onto him, superheated enough to carve a crater and overwhelm Dragon in a lake of dense fire.
That’s when he felt Dragon’s Haki fade from the air around them, energy getting weaker until Ace could no longer detect it.
Ace’s lips parted in disbelief, returning to human form, disarmed with pain in his eyes when he realized…
What have I done?
The earth had melted as if a meteor struck, white hot and blazing. Embers glittering.
But even as the inferno receded into the ground, he couldn’t see what his wrath had done to Dragon’s motionless body. His skin had been blackened either by layers of soot or fatal burns.
Ace was afraid to know, going cold inside the more he realized he might have ended his life.
“Dragon?” Ace called, backing away as he bit into his thumb nervously, panting at the sight.
Luffy might not react, but he couldn’t explain this to Sabo.
I didn’t mean… to…
Dragon had seemed too strong for this to have killed him.
Ace’s eyes were like a child’s looking down at his hands, not understanding the concept of accidentally causing death. He got so angry, and maybe that’s what did it. Had he really underestimated his own strength?
Ace stood frozen, a storm of emotions brewing inside him. Just as the fear began to take root, a sudden movement from the scorched earth snapped him back to reality. His heart pounded as he saw Dragon's charred form twitch.
Before he could react, Dragon's eyes shot open, glinting with a mixture of amusement and menace. A sinister smile crept across his face as he rose to his feet, wind blown rain already clearing his skin.
Ace barely had time to process the shock before Dragon's clawed hand struck out, sending him sprawling backward. The force of the blow left Ace gasping for breath when he hit and slid to a halt, his mind reeling from the sudden turn of events.
"You need to learn," Dragon continued, his tone condescending, "Strength alone isn't enough. You lack control, focus, and the will to truly harness your power."
Ace struggled to his feet.
"I’m not taking advice from you," Ace assured him, his fists igniting with renewed flames.
Dragon laughed, a deep, mocking sound that echoed through the charred battlefield.
With a blur of motion, Dragon was upon him again, his movements swift and precise. Ace tried to counter, but Dragon anticipated every move, his experience and cunning evident in every strike.
"Feel that?" Dragon taunted as he landed a series of blows that left Ace staggering.
"This is true mastery."
The tempest intensified, lightning flashing and thunder roaring.
Ace’s flames dimmed under the pressure of Dragon’s descending storm, but he refused to give in. Drawing on the last reserves of his strength, he unleashed a furious barrage of flames, hoping to catch Dragon off guard.
Dragon merely smirked, his body moving with fluid grace as he dodged and deflected each attack.
"You're still thinking too small, Ace. You're letting your emotions cloud your judgment."
With a final, devastating blow, Dragon sent Ace crashing to the ground, his body skidding to a pitiful stop amidst the rubble. As he lay there, struggling to breathe, Ace could feel the weight of Dragon's presence looming over him.
“I knew you’d give up,” Dragon snorted derisively.
Ace’s eyes flashed, his hands clenching into the charred earth to remind himself there was nothing he couldn’t overcome. He cried out to give himself enough push to get to his feet, breathing hard as scrapes and blood and dirt marked up his skin.
When lightning rent the sky again above Ace, he felt his willpower surge one more time with a soft laugh of amazement, Haki swelling around him protectively.
“I’m not beaten yet,” Ace assured him, wiping his mouth as his eyes fixed warily on his opponent.
“Stubborn thorn, you are.”
“Too stubborn to die,” Ace agreed, backing away as Dragon stepped forward.
Blackened earth and scorched rocks bore witness to the intensity of the ongoing battle. Flames danced around Ace, his body flickering with fiery determination, while gusts of wind howled and whirled around Dragon, the Revolutionary Army’s formidable leader.
Ace panted heavily, his flames dimming. Dragon stood tall, a tempest swirling around him, his eyes locked onto Ace. The power of the storm whittled Ace down, but he remained defiant, standing his ground despite overwhelming odds.
Dragon’s voice boomed through the chaos, “Give up, Ace. You can’t win this fight.”
Ace, struggling to stay on his feet, looked up, eyes blazing with resolve.
“Not yet… I still have one more trick.”
Dragon’s eyes narrowed as he continued to press the attack, winds whipping violently. Ace’s crew and ship, off the coast, were being battered by the raging maelstrom. He knew he had to act now.
Ace took a deep breath, summoning the last of his waning strength.
“You think my men never saw a storm before? We know about Saint Elmo’s Fire,” Ace shouted, his voice rising above the storm.
Dragon pressed at him, forcing Ace to dodge and slide in the drenched earth.
“It’s the glow around the mast, the only spark of hope in weather like this. An omen of good luck that means it will end soon,” Ace informed him.
Dragon paused, intrigued by Ace’s words.
“You think some spirit is your guardian? You think calling on a fairy tale will protect you?”
Ace’s fire flared brighter and hotter than before.
“Real or not, I'll show you the end of your power with it. This is my last shot! Saint Elmo’s Fire!”
With a roar, Ace unleashed a massive torrent of blue flames, swirling with an intense, almost ethereal energy. The flames surged forward, crashing into Dragon with the force of a tidal wave.
Dragon’s eyes widened as he was engulfed by the scorching inferno, the power of the attack overwhelming his defenses.
The blast sent Dragon skidding across the charred ground, his tempest faltering and dissipating. The winds died down, the storm easing.
Off the coast, the maelstrom consuming Ace’s crew and ship began to wane, the seas calming as Dragon’s control slipped.
Ace dropped to one knee, exhausted. His flames flickered weakly, the last remnants of his strength spent. He looked up, seeing Dragon still on his feet, but looking drained.
Offshore, Ace could just make out the Spadille’s colors leveling, her sails no longer churning below sea level.
“That was a waste of your precious little remaining energy,” Dragon told him, sounding disappointed as he shook off the charges.
“I did what I came to do. Got you too tired to keep that maelstrom turning,” Ace huffed, meeting Dragon’s Haki with his own, an aggressive wall between them. But Ace already felt his own energy slipping.
“And now you’re too tired to defend yourself,” Dragon countered, eyes glaring down with a victorious smirk, “Hope it was worth it.”
“Anything for my crew,” Ace breathed.
“You’d die for them?”
“They gave me their lives. They trust me,” Ace told him seriously, “There’s no greater honor than proving why I deserve to be their captain. So do your fucking worst.”
The maelstrom receded around the Spadille, a beautiful glow forming at the masts and yards, decorating the ship with soft lights in the suspended moisture. Her deck leveled out, and the appearance of Saint Elmo’s Fire had the crew cheering and falling to their backs in relief.
Deuce smiled up at the heated plasma light, proud of his captain because only he could’ve done this for them.
Marco landed on deck, setting Koala down as his wings receded into arms again. He already had several crew reaching to assess Koala, all of them put together still struggling to control her angry, unpredictable movements.
But then Koala reacted like she’d been stung by a bee, trying to reach her wetsuit’s neckline to claw at it.
“It’s burning,” she struggled.
A vivre card peaked from her collar when she unzipped it, and the card glowed and flaked away with ominous embers.
It was marked with an S.
Sabo’s card.
Marco reached for it, snatching it quickly from under the zipper.
“Knew you were a perv,” Koala hissed.
“You wish,” Marco snapped back distractedly, pulling the burning card to point him to Sabo’s direction.
Fuck. He hadn’t realized Sabo got himself into an even worse situation than Ace.
He was more preoccupied by following Sabo’s vivre card now, looking concerned at the singed edge curling away in his hand.
Dragon had broken through his defenses until exhaustion claimed him.
Ace’s protective lines of flame didn’t intimidate him, nor did they harm him as he stepped through the haze of the inferno toward Ace while he backed away slowly.
There was only so much Ace could counter, even when cladding his body against Dragon’s heavy hits. Even with the thin Haki barrier he was able to force out around himself.
The blaze seemed to part for him, making way for Dragon’s presence— extremely hot but not burning him. And the monster of a man crossed the fire between them.
Ace was ready for this move, dissolving into flames to let Dragon’s hand pass through him, but the man’s black-clad fist ignored the Logia effects to clench effortlessly around his throat.
"Remember this pain, Ace," Dragon said, his voice cold and unyielding.
“It's the price of your arrogance."
Dragon squeezed his throat, but Ace could feel his hand shaking, almost as if his fingers refused to obey his mind, holding back and resisting.
Ace latched onto that, realizing Dragon might be strong enough to throw Emmo out of his head.
“If you hurt me, you’re hurting Luffy! You’re hurting Sabo!” Ace managed, bracing his foot against Dragon’s arm and arching with his hands gripping Dragon’s clenched hand.
“Is this what you want? Tell me you’re stronger than some ex-marine. You gonna roll over and take it or are you gonna fight back? Huh?” Ace yelled, doing his level best to get Dragon to overthrow the poison’s effects.
Ace felt Dragon’s fist tighten around his throat, eyes pinching in concern.
Even when Ace galvanized his own hands, he couldn’t pry Dragon’s fist away from his throat.
Ace surrendered to his hold, looking into Dragon’s piercing gaze and wondering why the older man hadn’t just crushed him yet. His large, powerful fingers were tremoring strangely around Ace’s neck, causing pain but only partially constricting.
When he looked into Dragon’s eyes, he thought he saw them flicker with doubt.
Ace made an annoyed noise against the horrible anticipation of death; it deeply angered him to be left in suspense, so much crueler than death itself that he let out a hoarse yell.
“You know what? Do it!” Ace screamed, “End me quickly if you’re gonna do it!”
Dragon began to squeeze his neck harder, and as it happened, Ace felt his body panic around him defensively. His Haki surged through his veins, pulse quickening when he felt his system building up to a last resort, an uninhibited explosion of energy racing to burst from every pore in his skin.
His hair whipped with the force of the blast, ears deafening and eyes rolling back in shock as it tore a cry of surprise from his own mouth.
His Haki slammed into a mountainous wall as it rippled outward, recoiling painfully as Dragon’s own Haki countered it the moment of contact.
With nowhere to go, their combined force rocketed through the air above them, exploding through the layers of the cloudy firmament.
A thunderous crack sent a shockwave through the heavens, falling open in two broken halves with a blinding flash overhead.
Ace felt Dragon’s willpower towering before him, mighty but restrained by the thorned vines of someone else’s will.
The powerful man had been chained and controlled, battling against it but tied by the dark charm around him.
Ace's vision blurred fighting for consciousness, pain and exhaustion threatening to overwhelm him.
He felt his strength slipping, the last of his Haoshoku protecting him waning to nothing, believing the last thing he might ever see was Dragon's silhouette, tall and unscathed, a reminder of the gap Ace still had to bridge.
Darkness closed in, the suffocating weight of impending death pressing down on him. His thoughts drifted to Luffy and Sabo, the brothers he might never see again.
Just as Ace began to fall victim to the tunnel of light in the dark, he heard a mechanical whir, followed by a sudden, sharp click.
The effect was immediate.
Dragon's immense strength drained away. When the grip on Ace slackened, his spotty vision returned, barely realizing the instant his tired body hit the burned clay earth.
Ace gripped his own raw throat, eyes rounding in disbelief as he saw a cyborg gently helping the large man slump over, fatiguing Dragon with a pair of cuffs.
She sent Ace an apologetic look, especially when he tried to speak and his voice failed him. He gave up and let his head fall to the ground, still trying to pull in enough air after nearly suffocating.
The storm seemed to relent that very instant.
Clouds shifted slowly and lazily now until a blinding sunbeam stretched down from the heavens.
Ace caught his breath as he felt the intense warmth, rolling exhausted on to his back in the blissful ray of light, soaking it in.
Through the haze, he saw a tall young woman standing over him. Her sleek, robotic limbs glinted, her goggles making her intimidating until he noticed her little smile.
“Alright there, sir?” Ahiru's voice was cool and efficient, but there was a hint of concern in her eyes as she knelt beside him. She quickly assessed his condition, cybernetic eyes scanning for injuries.
Ace coughed, wincing as he tried to speak.
“Thank you, um… who are you?”
“One of the army’s deputy commanders,” Ahiru told him simply, “I watched over you for a time after Facility B, actually… Chief’s orders.”
Ace seemed confused.
“Sabo,” she added, finding his name strange to say.
“Oh,” Ace replied with recognition, “You’re Duckie.”
Ahiru beamed at the nickname.
“And you’re Chief’s paramour. Apologies, I don’t know the terms very well. Should I have said concubine? Lover?”
Ace’s jaw dropped.
“Do the words offend? I’ll use whatever title you like, sir.”
He rubbed at his sore neck, more than a little scandalized.
“Well, I’m also a captain,” Ace informed her, not sure if cohabitating with Sabo was the only thing he wanted the revolutionaries to know about him.
“Captain,” Ahiru repeated, nodding.
“I like that.”
Ace’s eyes glinted as his breath returned, dropping to her devastatingly cool weaponized arm.
“Join my crew,” Ace blurted, “You can have a chief and a captain.”
“I—“ Ahiru hesitated, shaking her head.
But Ace was already on his feet, booking it in Sabo’s direction with flames surrounding him, not giving her a chance to say no.
“Think about it,” Ace called over his shoulder. He wanted nothing more than to show off a new cyborg recruit to Luffy next time they met up.
Lightning flickered across the sky, casting brief flashes of light on his smug face.
Emmo Mori stood on the ramparts of Baltigo, a glass of dark red wine in his hand, watching the chaos below with a twisted sense of satisfaction. The storm raged, torrents of rain pounding against his face, yet the flames burned fiercely, defying the downpour.
He raised his glass of wine, savoring the moment as he watched the inferno at the base of their headquarters, the fire a testament to the chaos below, and Emmo relished every bit of it.
Down in the distance, Dragon was engaged in a desperate battle, his strikes landing hard on Ace, who staggered but refused to fall.
Emmo's smile widened, thoughts consumed by the need for vengeance.
Dragon had taken his son, and now he would pay the ultimate price.
"To you, Dragon," Emmo murmured, raising his glass higher, "May you watch your sons perish as I had to watch mine."
He took a long sip of the wine, feeling the cold rain mix with the dark liquid. The satisfaction was short-lived, though, as he sensed a shadow moving toward him.
Emmo turned, his eyes narrowing as he saw Sabo stalking across the ramparts. Sabo's eyes burned with determination, his every step purposeful despite the relentless rain.
The young revolutionary, a phantom in the rain.
Emmo's smile faltered when he saw the headset covering Sabo's ears, rendering him immune to verbal commands.
"So, you've come to join the fun," Emmo muttered, setting his glass down on the stone beside him.
He wished to utter the words that would have Sabo lapping at his boots like a dog, but the headset locked down tight over his ears forced Emmo focus on the strength of Haki already clenching at him from Sabo’s elegantly gloved hand.
“Covering your ears won’t save you, I’m afraid,” was the last venomous thing Emmo could say.
Sabo lunged, his boots splashing across the wet stone. Their fists met in a clash of raw power, Haki crackling in the air
The first strike came fast and hard. Sabo's gloved claw flashed, and Emmo barely dodged in time, feeling the rush of wind as the attack passed inches from his face. Emmo retaliated with a swift Armament-infused punch, but Sabo deflected it with his own Haki, the force of their clash sending ripples through the rain.
Lightning illuminated them as they fought, the soundless flashes eerie around them.
Emmo's attacks were precise and deadly, but Sabo matched him blow for blow, his dragon claw technique a blur of motion. The rain-slicked stone made footing treacherous, but both fighters moved with practiced grace, their boots splashing across the stone.
Emmo feinted left and lunged right, aiming for Sabo's side, but Sabo twisted out of reach, countering with a sharp kick that sent Emmo skidding backward. Emmo regained his balance quickly, eyes narrowing. This boy was more skilled than he'd anticipated.
The wind howled across Baltigo’s ramparts, moonlight casting shadows with pale light, illuminating the two figures locked in a deadly confrontation.
With a sudden burst of speed, Emmo lunged forward, his fist encased in protective Haki. Sabo anticipated the attack, his own enhanced arm meeting Emmo’s with a thunderous clash. The force of the impact sent shockwaves out, but neither of them gave an inch.
Sabo knew he should be faster than Emmo, but he felt so sluggish every time he took a jab at him, making it clear Emmo’s willpower had grown too strong for Sabo to use time to his advantage.
His ears were protected, and the world was silent as they fought, lightning still ripping through the sky but no thunder came after, just eerie quiet as Sabo dodged around Emmo’s fist that was like a tank, slamming into Baltigo’s crumbling retaining walls every time he missed.
Emmo smirked and shifted his weight, using his free hand to jab at Sabo’s eyes.
Blinded momentarily, Sabo relied on pure Observation to sense Emmo’s next move.
His third eye had him dodging as Emmo’s fist exploded forward right where his face had just been. Then sidestepping just in time to avoid a vicious kick aimed at his ribs, countering with a powerful strike to Emmo’s torso.
The blow connected, sending Emmo skidding back, but he quickly regained his footing.
“You little shit,” Emmo growled, getting his stance back in position. Sabo’s ability with Observation had thoroughly pissed him off.
Unable to hear Emmo’s taunts, Sabo focused solely on the fight.
Emmo’s fingers flashed as he pulled a hidden knife from his sleeve, slashing at Sabo with lethal precision.
Sabo deflected the blade with a galvanized forearm, the clang of metal on Haki ringing through the night. Emmo’s eyes widened as Sabo twisted his wrist, trapping the knife and disarming him with a swift motion.
Not missing a beat, Emmo dropped into a low sweep, attempting to knock Sabo off his feet.
Sabo jumped, using the momentum to deliver a crushing claw strike to Emmo’s shoulder. The impact shattered Emmo’s Haki, but the ex-marine rolled with the blow, using the force to propel himself back to a standing position.
They circled each other warily, harsh breathing mingled with the distant crash of waves against the cliffs below.
Emmo darted forward again, this time feinting high before aiming a low punch at Sabo’s gut. Sabo anticipated the move, his Haki giving him a split-second warning.
He twisted aside and caught Emmo’s wrist, giving a crushing grip with his dragon talons. Emmo gritted his teeth in pain but used his free hand to jab at Sabo’s throat.
Sabo blocked the jab with his elbow, using the opening to strike again. His fists moved in a blur, his Armament aimed at Emmo’s vital points.
Emmo staggered under the onslaught, but as Sabo closed in for the final blow, Emmo feigned weakness and, at the last moment, pulled a small, hidden flashbang from his belt.
He detonated it directly in Sabo’s face.
The blinding light overwhelmed Sabo’s senses, movements faltering. His vision blurred, but his mind was slow too, trying to recover mentally from the close-range explosion, collapsing to the ground.
Sabo struggled to rise, but his body refused to cooperate.
Emmo stood over him, panting heavily, his face twisted in a triumphant sneer just before gripping his throat hard.
Emmo ripped away the headset as he squeezed his throat menacingly, enjoying watching a stream of blood trickle from the corner of his exhausted lips.
“Your mind will be so easy to take. Don’t you get it? I already bent your daddy over,” Emmo bragged, his smile quirking at Sabo’s flashing eyes, “You should’ve known I’d do the same to you.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Sabo said hoarsely, pulling at his vice-grip.
“Why don’t you tell me?” Emmo suggested, “Tell me I’m your commander, the only one you serve.”
“Never,” Sabo snarled.
Emmo chuckled, an evil thing that poorly disguised how much Sabo’s insolence offended him, a laugh that promised to punish his defiance.
Poison…
Emmo hissed into his ear, bearing down on Sabo maniacally.
Dart…
The words hit Sabo hard like a physical blow, crying out at the painful mental intrusion. Lightning flashed so bright that Sabo’s large pupils contracted to pinpoints.
Emmo released Sabo to watch him fight internally, rolling to his feet in the rain.
“No,” Sabo yelled through his teeth, “No, no, no—“
Just like Dragon, Sabo’s willpower on a normal day might’ve shrugged Emmo off. But now he grappled for power against that sickening voice in his head, echoing and gaining momentum.
“Look at that… you’re strong after all,” Emmo marveled, examining his struggle, “I’ll enjoy this even more, I think.”
Sabo had sunk a fist to the ground and his other hand gripped his knee for support— so close to resisting him and putting all his energy into it.
The stakes for Sabo couldn’t be higher. They hadn’t seen anyone recover from this poison yet, so if he succumbed to this, he might never come back to his own mind. He might never get to reunite with Luffy, and Sabo couldn’t risk devastating them like that again.
“I can’t hear you,” Sabo managed to say, letting his Haki force its way from his pores, armor protecting him like Emmo’s words were a cobra striking.
“My ears don’t work. I can’t hear you,” Sabo repeated, stronger.
Haki wasn’t just armor. It had the capacity to bend the laws of reality. If his willpower was more certain than gravity, struck harder than lightning, it could stop anything— as if it were a mother protecting her child.
Sabo knew this, grasping at his own strength, grounding himself in everything he believed in. It should’ve been enough.
But Emmo spoke again.
He said the only thing he knew would break Sabo’s mind already teetering in the palm of his hand.
“Brothers, the three of you? Really?” Emmo asked him, “I’m surprised you consider Ace your brother still… after he killed Luffy.”
Sabo’s pupils dilated under his eyelashes, his jaw dropping in disbelief.
“That’s not— that can’t— you’re—“ Sabo reacted.
Why would you say that?
“Murdered him in cold blood,” Emmo whispered.
“It’s not true,” Sabo said desperately.
“He burned him alive,” Emmo hissed with wild eyes.
“What?” Sabo breathed shakily, his blood freezing.
Emmo’s expression turned to sympathy, gently snapping kairouseki around Sabo’s defenseless wrists. The stone bothered Emmo just as much, but he had the benefit of removing his hands once Sabo was shackled.
“I know,” Emmo breathed, petting Sabo’s hair, large hand tipping back his face to look into those defenseless blue eyes.
The commander was demented enough to pretend to shelter and protect Sabo now. Soothing him from the overwhelming pain he’d been the one to inflict.
“Your poor baby brother,” Emmo said softly, comforting Sabo’s cheek with his hand.
“He never even saw it coming, not when he trusted Ace so much.”
Just like that, Sabo’s willpower shattered to pieces around him.
The poison creeped painful patterns up his neck, but his nerves barely registered anything anymore.
Ace… killed…
Luffy?
Madness took him. The waking nightmare clawing to drag him into a mental cage as the words became real.
Emmo continued to coo softly in his ear.
“I still remember that last look of betrayal in Luffy’s eyes when he died. But hearing Ace laugh? It broke my heart.”
Sabo was crying openly, trembling fingers pinning his lips to stop his miserable noises.
Everything he loved and relied on lay in corrupted tatters. Every part of his identity stripped away until only one thing remained.
Vengeance.
Sabo’s eyes went wild, zeroing in on Ace.
Out in the training grounds, fire swirled around the traitor like a beacon. Ace’s protective flames now made him a target, painting glowing rings around him in the storm.
“You want revenge,” Emmo crooned gently at him, “Of course you do.”
“Doesn’t matter. I can’t do shit in these cuffs,” Sabo said bitterly, his line of sight on Ace in the distance never breaking, honed in like a sight hound.
“I’ll release you with one condition. Tell me who I am,” Emmo demanded, his voice deep and rich.
“My commander,” Sabo told him, pliable and letting Emmo angle his head back using his hair, just as Marmont had done.
“Mmm, that’s right. I can see the bloodthirst in your eyes. You’re ready to kill, aren’t you, dog?”
“The second you let me.”
“Good… Ace looks all tired out for you,” Emmo suggested in his ear, caressing his cheek again, “You’ll go finish him off for your commander?”
“I’ll tear him apart with my bare fucking hands,” Sabo spat, eyes narrowing before Emmo finally released him, shoving him hard and unlatching the cuffs as he did.
He stumbled to the stone, but it was there on his knees that Sabo glared down from the ramparts, standing slowly with a predatory expression.
Except he wasn’t Sabo anymore. He was the smallest percentage of his former self.
The most volatile fraction of his beautiful soul.
The sun opened up the clouds over the charred clay sparring grounds of Baltigo, its surface cracked and blackened. It was this earth that trained Sabo at his strongest.
Today, it would witness Sabo at his weakest.
Notes:
Next chapter is out —>
Chapter 42: Poisoned
Summary:
Baltigo— part three
The action culminates
Contains a spoiler from Wano arc if you’re not caught up. Skip the dream sequence at the end of the chapter if you need to, you won’t miss any plot
Notes:
When they’re forced to fight each other, how can there be a winner?
Ace is really sick of Emmo’s shit.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ace propelled himself toward Sabo with haste. Every move he made, he felt the weight of urgency pressing down on him. Sabo was in danger, his body told him. He needed to find him, deeply disturbed to sense his very survival on the line.
Ace reached out with his Haki, feeling for Sabo’s energy— a desperate search, a frantic grasp. He could feel Sabo, his presence a flickering light in the distance, but it was weak, so weak.
He was never one for superstition, but it was said a person could feel when a loved one passed. For some, a nagging sense of unease. They said others would get chills, have nightmares, the souls so intrinsically linked that they just seemed to know.
Well…
Ace felt it happen.
A sudden, agonizing severance. The air shifted cold between them, slipping Sabo away from his reaching hand. The violent tear that left him gasping for breath.
In that instant, Sabo was gone.
A choked cry escaped his lips, the sound swallowed by the roaring flames. Ace felt alone on the whole island, reaching into a dark void as if Sabo had crossed the spirit’s veil.
He just wasn’t there anymore.
Ace propelled himself forward again through the charred fields, the flames licking at his heels. The air was thick with smoke and ash, the sky’s warm orange glow looked so hellish to his pained expression.
‘I should’ve known you needed help. Sabo, I’m sorry!’ he told Sabo miserably, the thought making tears heat his face.
He couldn’t accept it. Sabo couldn’t be dead. It couldn't have happened without Ace there, without getting one last moment together.
Ace pushed himself harder, driven by denial and desperation. He had to see for himself. Had to know for sure.
But the emptiness inside him nearly caused him to fall, his heart a lead weight in his chest. He hadn’t been fast enough, hadn’t gotten free in time.
‘You knew I would’ve been there if you called,’ Ace reached out to say, his tapped words echoing to no one, empty air.
Pain coursed through him, sharp and unrelenting. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Only feel. A torrent of anguish, guilt, and self-loathing. He was too late.
He wanted to scream, to tear the world apart in his grief, but all he could do was keep going. Nothing compared to the fire consuming him from within.
And then?
A new Haki reached him, stunning his energy’s sense to feel this… thing using Sabo for its own purposes. Sick, twisted darkness consuming and plaguing his body in the distance.
Ace felt him, his heart beating but his mind consumed with rage he’d never known before. Even though it sprang hope in him just to feel him alive, he was nauseated when he couldn’t recognize Sabo, his soul belonging to someone else now.
‘Why didn’t you call for me?’ Ace used his Haki to demand, his devastated mind spinning out of control as he rushed in his direction.
‘We agreed, Sabo!’ Ace tapped again, tears sizzling and steaming on his burning skin.
’How can I help if you don’t say you need me,’ Ace scolded him heatedly, anxious because a voice of inner doom told Ace that Sabo’s already fragile memory might not recover from this.
And then they were close enough to see each other across the burned landscape of embers, eyes narrowed for different reasons, love in one and betrayal in the other.
Ace’s soulmate.
Sabo’s enemy.
Without breaking stride, Sabo sped toward Ace, but when Ace reached out to feel his Haki, he recoiled.
Sabo was determined to end his life as painfully as possible, and Ace could feel that intention, making his footsteps hesitate the closer Sabo got.
Ace already felt the change in Sabo, but seeing his eyes filled with tears and pure hatred made Ace’s breath hitch in his throat.
This wasn’t the Sabo he knew… because the one Ace loved had gone to sleep and never woken up.
Energy crackled with tension as Ace and Sabo faced each other, their Haki flaring with raw emotion.
“Easy, we’re brothers no matter what, remember?” Ace told him urgently.
“How dare you?” Sabo hissed, and Ace only barely avoided him.
“Sabo, it’s me, it’s Ace. If you love me, you can’t do this, you can’t hit me.”
Sabo slammed his fist into Ace’s jaw, rocking him unexpectedly.
Ace slid across the ground, in shock as he held his own face.
He saw Sabo drop back, waiting for him to get up as he twirled his staff expertly, all the dark pious energy of a fallen angel about to pass judgment on Ace as he stared down at him.
Ace rolled back onto his boots, taking a leap backwards as Sabo lunged again.
“Where the fuck do you keep getting more staves?” Ace yelled, letting it pass through him.
“Chief!” Ahiru called, using a fist to jolt her arm until it stuttered to life and powered up. She could see Sabo’s spidering poisoned veins now, see that he was out of control and no longer himself.
He would’ve ordered her to stop him— would’ve ordered her to protect Ace, and she knew it.
“Chief, don’t make me use this,” Ahiru repeated nervously, swallowing hard because the last thing she wanted to do was fire on him.
“Don’t shoot, I have him,” Ace told her, “Got any more cuffs though?”
“That’s a negative,” Ahiru admitted.
“Then get Marco. The bird guy. Blue flames,” Ace managed, dodging Sabo’s swings and letting his body evaporate into flames wherever the staff’s blows landed.
Sabo was too emotional. Not even able to galvanize the staff enough to hit him.
Ace cursed, countering Sabo’s moves and letting the staff pass through him, jumping back.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” Ace couldn’t help but marvel quietly, watching Sabo roll and slide into a controlled pose, his staff work practiced for so many years that he was flawless.
“How dare you even speak to me,” Sabo says angrily, only looking more hurt by the flattery, “I’ll make you pay for what you did if it takes my last breath.”
“If you need to get even somehow, how many hits will it take? Tell me a number,” Ace insisted, “I’ll let you, just tell me why.”
This time it was Ace’s turn to roll backwards, only narrowly bending under Sabo’s swinging staff because he’d coated it this time.
Ace cursed, seeing flashes of Sabo’s intent.
Observation showed him Sabo had every intention to drive the staff straight through his heart. Not a coherent emotion, but some wild, thorny vine that had taken over his body until nothing recognizable remained, making Ace’s eyes get round and upset.
Sabo was crying too, the familiar warmth in his eyes replaced by burning hatred, poison clouding his Haki.
“Why, Ace?” he choked out, his voice cracking with the weight of his grief.
“Why did you do it?”
Ace’s eyes were wide.
“Sabo, I don’t know what you’re—”
“Liar!” Sabo screamed, his voice enraged.
“Emmo told me everything!”
“Whatever he told you was a lie! You have to believe me!” Ace pleaded, taking a step forward. But it was too late.
Sabo’s Haki flared, a dark, swirling energy enveloping him as he launched himself at Ace.
The first punch landed squarely in Ace’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He barely had time to react before Sabo’s fist connected with his jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Ace groaned, pain radiating through his body as he struggled to stand.
“Sabo, please—” Ace gasped.
But Sabo was relentless, a whirlwind of fury and grief, his attacks fueled by the lie that had taken root in his heart.
Ace defended himself as best he could, but each blow from Sabo felt like a sledgehammer. It was so hard to dodge without accidentally burning Sabo in the process.
“Sabo, stop! This isn’t you!” Ace shouted, his voice cracking with emotion.
But Sabo couldn’t hear him. He was lost in his own torment, his tears mingling with the soot and blood that streaked his face.
Sabo’s eyes were a storm, but his movements were precise and deadly. He lunged forward, his fist enveloped in Haki, aiming for Ace’s midsection.
Ace barely managed to sidestep, feeling the rush of air as Sabo’s punch missed by a hair’s breadth. He countered with a swift kick, but Sabo blocked it with a galvanized forearm.
The ground beneath them cracked from the sheer force of their clash. Sabo didn’t relent, spinning around to deliver a backhand strike aimed at Ace’s temple.
Ace ducked, rolling forward to gain some distance, but Sabo was on him in an instant, launching a barrage of punches that left Ace on the defensive.
Ace skipped backwards fast, apologizing tearfully because he put up a flame barrier between them. His breaths were audibly painful inhales, hating himself for using fire but hoping it might snap Sabo awake, or at least stop his attacks.
The fire was normally his safety, his armor, but his hands shook and he was already openly shaken up just using it around Sabo like this.
“I’m sorry, Sabo!” Ace cried, “I don’t wanna scare you, but you’re scaring the shit outta me. You gotta fight this!”
Sabo had never looked more unafraid, stepping slowly and deliberately into the fire and smirking when it parted for him.
Ace was stunned, backing away.
“What’s wrong, your fire won’t work on me?” Sabo taunted, only making Ace more miserable at how cold and dead his eyes were.
“Sabo, you know I can’t hurt you.”
“Your word means nothing after you killed our brother,” Sabo spat with dangerous eyes.
“—What!?” Ace roared.
“You’re dead to me!” Sabo yelled, lunging advantageously at Ace’s vulnerable, shocked state.
Sabo charged him, Haki-clad fists moving with blinding speed.
Ace met him blow for blow, their fists colliding in a series of rapid, thunderous impacts. His strikes resonated through the sparring grounds, their Haki combined shaking the very earth beneath them.
Sabo had a clear emotional advantage over Ace.
Ace gritted his teeth, his energy barely absorbing the impact. He retaliated with a burst of his galvanized fist, forcing Sabo to leap back, but not before Ace closed the gap, clenching him close by his shirt.
“That’s the poison talking,” Ace tried to explain, ducking fast under another swing.
“Not even gonna deny it?” Sabo growled, catching his arm to throw him hard to the ground.
Ace hit the ground hard, but he rolled to his feet, his hands blazing with flames out of habit, but the flames extinguished the second they’d erupted. Ace barreled into him, winding Sabo forcefully as he drove him forcefully into the dirt.
“Of course I didn’t— Sabo, he’s alive!” Ace yelled, using all his strength to stop Sabo’s wild writhing.
“Prove it!” Sabo demanded.
“His vivre card’s on the ship if you’ll stop trying to murder me for a second!” Ace explained.
“You’re the fucking murderer,” Sabo cried out, his hand clenched into talons mercilessly wrenching at Ace’s wrists.
“Sabo,” Ace panted, breaking his arms free with galvanized hands to control Sabo’s reaching claws, having to breathe hard at the exertion.
Sabo was doing the same, only so much angrier through his teeth as he did everything in his power to free his arms again.
They grappled, rolling across the charred clay, each trying to gain the upper hand.
Sabo broke free, his face contorted in a mixture of rage and grief. He landed a devastating punch to Ace’s ribs, and Ace felt a sickening crack. The pain was excruciating, but it paled in comparison to the anguish of seeing Sabo like this.
Ace refused to give in, summoning all his strength until his weight held Sabo down, just able to pin his wrists down too until he could only hurt Ace with words in this position.
“You should’ve killed me first,” Sabo spat, “You should’ve known better than to leave me alive after what you did to our baby brother.”
“I’m not even fucking dignifying that,” Ace yelled.
“You wanna burn me, don’t you?” Sabo demanded.
Ace recoiled like Sabo’s words physically pained him.
“I’d rather die,” Ace told him, “Why do you think I’ve been holding back? Why do you think I’m not using it on you?”
Fuck, he knew he shouldn’t bother, but he couldn’t let Sabo think that for even a second. He didn’t care if it was futile— no one was allowed to make accusations like this.
“Because you’re manipulating me,” Sabo struggled out, “You planned this from the start. You’re nothing like I thought you were.”
Ace looked down at Sabo, tears blurring his vision.
“Sabo, I would never hurt Luffy. You know that. You have to fight this.”
“Stop acting innocent,” Sabo said bitterly, “You think I could ever forgive you for this?”
“That’s enough, both of you,” Marco said, having shown up to brace his arm around Sabo’s neck from behind, only bringing Ace a small sliver of comfort to know he wasn’t alone with Sabo anymore.
Sabo resisted Marco’s hold, as evidenced by both his gloved dragon claws clenching down on Marco’s forearm. Then his bones twisted and snapped and crunched under Sabo’s fingertips.
Marco grimaced slightly, but he let it happen like Sabo’s grasp was no more than kitten claws making biscuits on him with his arm regenerating like this.
At least it would stop the physical fighting.
Ace turned away, hating the noise but more preoccupied with his anxiety at Sabo’s condition.
“You defend this murderer?” Sabo demanded at Marco, “I’ll kill you too if I have to.”
But Marco already busied himself with stuffing cloth into Sabo’s mouth.
“That’s enough,” Marco repeated, softer this time like he spoke to a child.
Ace had his arms crossed, facing the opposite direction because he was starting to lose the battle with his emotions.
Silent tears poured down his face.
“It’s not over yet. We have to take out Emmo to get him back,” Marco tried to console Ace, “Let’s do it together. Why put this off any longer?”
Ace sniffed forcefully, the only sign he was crying with his back turned. He hated it, looking like this, sounding like this, but this was one of the few things that could end his life and it crumpled him from the inside out.
“Then what? The fruit’s hold on him stops, but it felt like the damage already went farther than that. We haven’t seen a single person come back from this poison yet. Marco, it feels like he’s not in there anymore…What if I already lost him?”
And Ace was so afraid stopping Emmo would only confirm his fears.
“Ace, you can’t think these things, yoi. We need to focus,” Marco said gently, despite wrestling with Sabo silently behind Ace’s back.
But Ace turned to look at Marco, his face raw and the back of his hand shiny from wiping tears.
“If his mind’s gone, what am I supposed to do? Luffy can’t forgive me for this. I’ll lose them both,” Ace choked, biting at a wet knuckle as he sank into a crouch.
Any other problem, Ace would’ve been on top of it. Not this, though. This was his only weakness and he couldn’t fix how badly it paralyzed him.
Marco knew this, and it really did gut him seeing Ace in this state, but he blinked to refocus as his arm snapped under Sabo’s pissed off fingers again.
“Respectfully, right now I need you to get a captainly grip on yourself. Lend me a hand with Emmo, yoi,” Marco told him, “It’s not too late to call Tallis. The whirlpool stopped, the pressure’s off, and Sabo’s going to be fine.”
Ace’s eyes narrowed suddenly.
“What did you do to him?” Ace demanded, looking even more offended when Marco shifted Sabo out of his reach.
“You don’t need to hear what he’s saying,” Marco told him firmly.
“Get that thing out of his mouth. He’s not a fucking animal, he doesn’t deserve that,” Ace said, loud and bitter knowing he was lashing out.
“Ace,” Marco snapped, “Okay.”
Sabo jerked away even though Marco only reached to pull out the makeshift gag.
Ace grabbed Sabo’s face between his hands, desperate to recognize him again. But those blue eyes looked like they belonged to someone else.
“Let him say whatever he wants,” Ace said, sniffing with miserable determination, “Might be the last thing I get to hear. I want to hear every word, even if the words aren’t Sabo’s… his voice is enough.”
A really selfish part of Ace would’ve kept him at his side for the rest of their lives, with or without his mind. He could say all the unforgivable things, handcuffed but fed, and Ace would still warm his freezing skin.
But he couldn’t.
Sabo wouldn’t have wanted that.
“Marco,” Ace said quietly, “If he doesn’t come back, I can’t let his body live. And I think that means I can’t live either.”
Marco took a heavy sigh, scruffing Sabo at arm’s length to pull Ace into a tight embrace.
“I need it to be you, Marco,” Ace told him brokenly.
“Don’t say that,” Marco chided him, not even acknowledging a request this painful, “You have more than one brother.”
“It’s selfish, but I can’t—“
“You can,” Marco assured him, “Pick yourself up.”
“Plotting my death. Color me fucking surprised,” Sabo said, making Ace’s eyes flash open.
“Sabo, it’s a lie. He lied to you,” Ace breathed, “How could you trust him over me? Sabo if it’s really you, then you know I could never do that!”
“Ace, stop. He’s under Devil Fruit effects, yoi,” Marco told him, suddenly starting to feel like he might have to protect Sabo from Ace. Maybe it was an irrational fear, but he clutched Sabo tighter.
“If Sabo was in there, he could stop this, he’s strong enough,” Ace insisted.
“Don’t be an idiot. If Dragon couldn’t cast it off how could you expect him to?” Marco demanded. He rarely spoke to Ace this way, but maybe that would make Ace listen, even if his emotions were running too hot.
“Dragon wasn’t fighting his brother,” Ace said, deeply hurt by it, “He wasn’t fighting his best friend, he wasn’t fighting his fucking soulmate. Sabo, please see me. Look at me, I’m right here. You’re stronger than this.”
Sabo’s eyes had dark circles under them, not affected by Ace’s words.
“You’re the one that caused this,” Sabo argued, “You betrayed us. I can’t rest while you still breathe. Nothing you say can change that.”
Ace sagged a little.
“You really want me dead?”
It was just the two of them now, both of their eyes filled with the same hurt.
“How can I make it any more clear?” Sabo said, causing Ace to nod with a look of miserable acceptance.
“Ace, stop listening to him, yoi,” Marco begged.
Ace pressed both palms into his forehead, sad as he met Sabo’s blue eyes that he loved so much.
Even though the rain had stopped, the high speed winds of Baltigo finally snapped the cord of Ace’s hat, ripping it from him as he stood over Sabo.
He didn’t flinch, didn’t even watch it fly away. He didn’t seem to care anymore if he lost it forever.
Marco’s head turned in surprise, seeing the orange rancher float toward the ocean, out past where Ace could ever retrieve it now.
But Ace didn’t break eye contact with Sabo’s stare.
“Your hat,” Marco said, taking it personally.
Ace’s eyes were defeated, though, head shaking.
“Think it matters now?” Ace asked him softly under Sabo’s hateful look, “Who am I to force it to stay? Let it go. Set it free.”
Strong winds carried Ace’s hat aloft over the waves just as the angry grey ocean began to calm around the Spadille.
Tallis’ eyes honed in on the floating orange target, the hawk’s head turning and pupils waxing with a look of prey drive.
Ace’s most prized possession.
Its charms and talisman nearly impossible to make out through the suspended mist.
In the time Tallis had spent with Ace after reuniting, he’d never known Ace to lose his hat. And the sight of it gave him just as many chills as the rest of the crew.
“Captain…?” Leonero said, a sad hush spreading through the deck.
“His vivre card’s intact,” Deuce said, but that didn’t stop everyone from looking troubled.
The hawk had already glided from his perch, wings and tail adjusting on the wind as he approached the orange hat in the air.
He snatched it easily, dipping back around to toss it onto Deuce’s blue hair.
“Tallis,” Deuce called, watching the bird flit into the kitchen, “What are you doing?”
“Hopefully making something,” Ossamundo rumbled, the large man taking a careful seat on the soaked railing.
Nearly dying had spoiled most of their appetites, but Ossa had been below deck with the other large men. He hadn’t had to gaze into the eye of the conjured storm.
“He’s not cooking,” Deuce said unhappily.
That didn’t mean he knew what Tallis was up to, just that he was up to something.
Sabo had slumped to the ground in kairouseki handcuffs once Ahiru had retrieved another pair, his stormy blue eyes just as aflame as Ace’s despite their exhaustion.
“You’re depressing the shit outta me,” Marco told Ace, “First off, no one’s setting anyone free. I’m getting Wallace to take him to the Spadille. Don’t make me go after Emmo alone. You’ve never sat out a fight.”
Ace nodded, letting Marco gradually coax him back out of his dark headspace.
But Marco couldn’t shake the fucked up way Ace had his hand wrapped around the hilt of his dagger.
It didn’t escape Sabo’s notice either.
“What’s stopping you, coward? Kill me how you killed Luffy,” Sabo added nastily.
“The dagger wasn’t for you,” Ace told him.
Sabo didn’t believe him, voice raising.
“Go on, kill me! The demon you are, you can do it easily!” Sabo yelled.
“I—? Demon—?” Ace hissed in disbelief.
The words had him seething, cutting Ace so deep he couldn’t stand it anymore. That was the wound Sabo had tried so hard to heal. Sabo would never call him that. He would never try to reopen that old sore spot from Ace’s childhood.
He didn’t even have to try this time; his eyes turned blood red, irises expanding and contracting as Haki built up too much pressure to contain it inside him.
Ace’s eyes flew shut as Haoshoku burst from him, explosive energy ripping through Sabo, ripping through those sick, twisted dark vines that had his nurturing soul in the foul prison of his own mind.
Ahiru slumped to the ground, and Marco nearly lost consciousness, fighting to stay awake with hands on his temples.
Ace drove his energy hard into the unfamiliar presence, crushing it in the combined pressure between Sabo’s energy field and his own. He jolted as it shattered, breaking the illusion hanging over Sabo, but the shock of it was violent.
It was only when he saw his own Haki slam Sabo hard into the ground that Ace gasped in horror, dropping to clutch at his limp body, his weak face.
“Sabo, say something, tell me you’re okay…”
His hands shook trying to hold up Sabo’s heavy head. He seemed so lifeless, unconscious and damaged with blood dried at his nose and staining his lips.
“Come back. Wake up,” Ace pleaded.
The tears returned, welling up so badly he could barely see.
“I can’t feel his Haki,” Ace choked.
“Breathe,” Marco reminded Ace, one arm around Ace and one hand pressing flames to Sabo’s head.
“I got upset, I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Ace begged Sabo’s sleeping face to understand, brushing rain-soaked waves from his closed eyes.
“You did exactly what you needed to do. He’s okay,” Marco said.
Ace’s breaths shuddered despite Marco’s comforting.
“Sabo, why can’t I feel you?” Ace panicked, staring at his closed eyes, “His face is so cold, Marco, do something!”
“He’s got cuffs on,” Marco reminded him patiently, his completely unconcerned voice such a contrast with Ace’s.
“Oh,” Ace reacted, feeling stupid and sniffling because he was so emotional he hadn’t realized.
“What are you yammering on about?” Sabo mumbled, stirring in his hands.
“Sabo,” Ace repeated in relief, feeling his heart thudding heavy in his chest at the sight.
“What?” Sabo said hoarsely.
But as he woke fully, Sabo remembered the nightmare he’d just been through, realizing it hadn’t been just a dream this time. Waking up on the soaked ground in Ace’s grasp brought it all screaming back.
It was real.
Sabo’s eyes matched Ace’s, full of tears.
“I said those things to you? I said—“
“No, no, no,” Ace reacted, wishing Sabo wouldn’t get upset over it. It was like heaven, realizing he was awake and himself again, all of Ace’s fears calmed by it.
“I’m so sorry,” Sabo choked, holding his own wrist to his mouth, “Ace— I called you—“
“Don’t, Sabo, please,” Ace said, already diving onto him, hugging him against the ground, “Luffy’s alive. Everything’s okay.”
Sabo could feel Ace’s energy tapping at his Haki like a pulse between them.
‘You scared me. So bad.’
Sabo’s eyes still looked sad over his shoulder, but they fluttered closed the tighter Ace held him.
“Ace, I need to tell you something,” Sabo said, his serious tone making Ace pull back with pain creasing his expression.
“What?”
“Even when you cry you’re still so fucking attractive, it’s not fair,” Sabo laughed softly.
Ace sniffed pitifully, almost crying harder at that.
“Shutup, stupid,” he wailed quietly, letting Sabo’s gloves dry his face, making it clear he was still shackled.
Ace fumbled to get Ahiru’s key into them, flinging them off as he radiated heat, feeling the chill of Sabo’s arms in his hands.
“Okay, I’m going after Emmo alone, I guess?” Marco asked loudly, and when their dirty, crying faces looked up at him, he didn’t seem emotional at all, he looked kind of bored with his arms crossed.
“I told you he was fine, yoi,” Marco scoffed, “This has all been very heart-warming, but we need to finish what we started.”
Ace and Sabo looked at each other, giving a nod.
“If I get to him first, he’s gonna die a very painful death,” Ace whispered, a cold psychosis in his eyes that made Sabo grin wickedly beneath him.
On one hand, revenge had done little to comfort them so far.
On the other hand, fuck it.
It felt good to have each other back on the same team, and who was this lunatic thinking he could hurt their nakama with no repercussions?
Emmo stumbled through the scorched remnants of Baltigo, his vision blurred by the smoke and his own tears. The grandiose plan he had meticulously crafted, the one meant to make Ace and Sabo destroy each other and Dragon suffer, had crumbled before his eyes.
Now, Dragon lay slumped in the charred fields, a testament to Emmo's failure.
Nearby, Ace and Sabo, bruised but alive, were already regaining their strength.
Marco's wings flared with blue fire, his piercing gaze locked onto Emmo, while Ahiru stood guard, her weapon's light flickering but still deadly.
Emmo's heart pounded in his chest, not from fear of his impending death, but from the overwhelming grief that had consumed him since his son Machel's death at Dragon's hands years ago. He had believed revenge would mend his shattered soul, but as he watched his enemies closing in, he knew he had been wrong.
Stumbling past the burning wreckage, Emmo reached into his uniform jacket and pulled out a worn photograph of Machel. His fingers trembled as he traced the outlines of his son's face.
"We'll be together soon, my boy," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the crackling flames.
Ace, Sabo, Marco, and Ahiru advanced toward him, combined power radiating a palpable heat.
Emmo knew he stood no chance against them. He dropped to his knees, accepting his fate, just as Ace's fiery attack surged toward him.
But then, Marco's eyes widened in surprise.
"Tallis?" he murmured.
In an instant, a hawk shot past them, a blur of motion that caused Ace and Sabo to halt abruptly.
"Tallis!" they screamed in unison, realizing their younger friend had shapeshifted into his hawk form, forcing them to rush to his aid the second they realized he was flying straight for Emmo.
Sabo’s hand reached out, timepiece ticking and revolving, but a thunderous event shocked him before he could stop the hawk’s flight.
A newfound ability let Tallis’ wings surge him forward so fast he broke the sound barrier, a deafening boom echoing across the battlefield, the fallout blowing past them as they rushed forward.
Emmo barely had time to react before Tallis was upon him, but to everyone’s horror, Emmo’s strong hand still snatched the hawk from the air, closing hard around him, and for a moment, it seemed Tallis would be crushed.
Tallis let out a piercing cry just as Ace propelled himself forward in flames.
Just when Ace’s fiery hand nearly clenched at him, Emmo sank to the ground, making Ace miss and skid to a burning halt before returning.
But Emmo hadn’t dodged, Haki waning.
He was… dying?
It was a bleeding cut, a small one on his hand where Tallis sliced the man’s skin open.
And that cut had been poisoned with undiluted chloral, pure sea shade.
The injured hawk rolled and flapped weakly out of Emmo’s grasp, growing larger until he was Tallis again, crawling and gasping as he wrestled a vial from the pocket of Deuce's loaned harem pants.
“Wasn’t supposed to get in my mouth,” Tallis gasped out, quickly downing the contents of another vial.
Emmo had already fallen to the ground, now understanding that Tallis had poisoned his beak that cut into his hand. And the poison took hold swiftly, soon sending Emmo into a fatal convulsion before them.
But Marco was at Tallis’ side in an instant, his hands gentle as he checked Tallis for injuries.
"Are you okay?" he asked, voice tight in concern.
Tallis laughed weakly since he’d already tipped another vial into his mouth.
"I'm not stupid, Marco. I took the antidote."
Ace and Sabo, breathing heavily, dropped to their knees beside Tallis. For a moment, Tallis feared they would be angry with him. But Ace clasped his hand firmly.
"That was stupid and completely defied orders," Ace told him, voice rough with emotion, “You nearly got yourself killed. I mean, I’ll admit I’m thankful you risked so much for us, but…”
"But don't do it again?" Tallis volunteered.
“Exactly," Sabo agreed, a soft smile breaking through his worried expression.
"Or we'll keelhaul your ass," Ace added, a hint of humor in his tone, “Not to even mention—“
“—Tallis, how the hell did you even do that—“ Marco cut in.
“—Did you break the sound barrier?” Sabo demanded, just as in disbelief as the rest of them.
Tallis smiled sheepishly, not used to anyone celebrating him like this.
With the fires around them only just beginning to die down, Tallis felt a strange peace wash over him as they all kept chattering too excitedly for him to even read it all off their lips. But he understood the gist of it.
He had a whole fucking family now.
And they were safe. Despite the chaos, they were together. He closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment of relief.
“Threat neutralized,” Ahiru announced nearby into a transponder in her hand, gazing up at the silhouette of Belo Betty, her superior officer standing on the distant ramparts.
“That’s what I like to hear,” Belo’s proud voice said over transponder.
“What are my orders?” Ahiru asked.
“Report back on Dragon-san’s status while I have Doc look over these recruits. They’ve seen better days but they’ll recover by the looks of it. And one more thing—“
“Aye, Commander?” Ahiru prompted worriedly.
“Good work, Deputy,” Belo’s voice said in her hand, “Very good work.”
Ahiru beamed with a swelling heart, not used to being complemented by her stern commander.
Then it was Sabo’s turn approaching her.
“Marco took Koala to the ship, sir. She had no injuries and should be back to normal with Emmo deposed,” Ahiru reported dutifully, but Sabo was already hugging her tightly, listening but dispensing with all the formality that Ahiru observed. He hugged her like a dear friend, making sure she knew her value wasn’t just a rank to him.
“Thank you, Duckie,” Sabo told her quietly, “I don’t know how you pull it off, but you’re irreplaceable to us. Remember that.”
“Of course, Chief,” Ahiru managed, lip trembling as the words made her emotional.
“Happy to serve. Always.”
Somewhere down the Grand Line…
Luffy’s eyelashes twitched in restless sleep.
Dragon’s grip tightened around Ace’s throat, the fire in Ace’s eyes beginning to flicker.
The storm clouds above rumbled ominously, blocking out any hint of sunlight and casting the battlefield into a dim, oppressive gloom.
“Your brothers have abandoned you, Ace,” Dragon sneered.
“Luffy and Sabo aren’t here to save you. You’re alone, just like you always feared.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” a voice projected, filled with defiance and resolve.
Sabo spun his staff, brandishing it as a warning, his eyes burning with determination.
“Let him go, Dragon.”
But Dragon’s grip tightened around Ace’s throat, a sinister smile playing on his lips.
“You think you can stop me, Sabo? This boy only distracts you from your true goal. I am only doing you a favor. Helping you move past this weakness of yours.”
Sabo watched Ace struggle for breath, his brother’s life slipping away before his eyes.
“You’re too tired to keep defending yourself,” Sabo told Dragon, “I can feel it. I won’t hesitate to kill you if it means saving Ace.”
The dark influence controlling Dragon’s mind twisted his features into cruel amusement.
“You think you’re capable, Sabo? You don’t have the will to kill the only father you ever had.”
“Just because it hurts doesn’t mean it’s not necessary. You taught me that,” Sabo reminded him, keeping his own resolve strong.
With a swift motion, he closed the distance, his staff blazing with Haki as he struck at Dragon’s arm, aiming to break his hold on Ace.
The impact forced his grip to loosen slightly. Enough for Ace to gasp, drawing in a ragged breath as Sabo pressed his attack, each strike filled with the desperation to save his brother.
“Let him go!” Sabo shouted, his staff clashing against Dragon’s arm, then his throat, each hit aimed to weaken the dark grip.
“Don’t make me do this!”
Sabo’s eyes began to fill with tears as he fought harder, his heart aching as Ace’s struggles grew weaker until he lost the ability to fight completely.
And then Sabo found a weak link in Dragon’s Haki, circling around to his blind spot and preparing his staff with Armament until he knew a blow with it would be lethal. Not just anywhere, but right here, where the base of Dragon’s skull met his neck beneath a mane of black hair.
Ace would die soon if he didn’t act.
Sabo lifted his staff, boots finding grip in the old sparring grounds where he had all his best memories of Dragon.
“Please... Don’t make me do this,” Sabo begged openly, “…Dad? Please?”
Dragon’s eyes flickered at the disarming word. Using it like this reduced Sabo to a fucking mess, blinking tears out of his vision as he prepared to kill the man that raised him as his own.
His staff pulled back to drive it straight through Dragon's skull.
Ace’s vision blurred, desperation for air clawing at his mind. He couldn’t give up, not now.
Just as Dragon’s grip threatened to crush Ace’s throat completely, just as Sabo nearly ended Dragon’s life…
A deep, rhythmic sound began pulsing the air.
It started softly, like the distant beat of a drum, but quickly grew louder and more insistent, resonating through the earth and sky.
Ace’s fading eyes blinked, a weak smile slowly, so slowly, taking over him as his eyes turned skyward into the rain.
…Each beat is a call to rise, to cast off the chains of oppression and embrace the dawn of freedom. In this rhythm, anyone can find the strength to stand and the courage to fight. They stir the soul and ignite the spirit, the drums of liberation…
Dragon knew what the ancient passages said. He knew the name responsible for those drums.
His eyes widened in recognition, his grip faltering as he turned to the source of the sound.
From the darkened sky, the clouds began to part, rays of sunlight piercing through the storm. The drums grew louder.
Ace laughed, choking in Dragon’s waning grasp but smiling too wide to contain.
He watched a giant figure began to loom in their view, towering over them.
“You’re done,” Ace rasped happily, “Your own son is twice the man you are. Everything you wish you could be.”
Unknown to Ace, though, that’s all Dragon ever wanted. To see Luffy like this.
A titan with a pure soul, surpassing him in every way a father could ever dream about.
And Nika could could see that in his heart…
Dragon loved Luffy.
Even with Luffy’s impressive stature he couldn’t take up as much room as he did in Dragon’s heart. In there, he’d always been bigger than Dragon.
‘Would it blow your mind if I told you he loves you as much as those two brothers do?’ Nika laughed in his head.
‘Huh, so having a dad is like a third, really old brother that loves me just as much?’ Luffy wondered.
‘Maybe. It’s buried deep, though… he’s not himself,’ Nika said, preparing Luffy to hear Dragon say something he might not mean.
Neither Ace, Sabo or Dragon could do anything but stare for a moment.
In Nika’s form, he radiated nothing but childlike joy. Standing at an immense height, Luffy was human and divine, his body radiating an otherworldly energy. His skin had taken on a glow and his pulse beat in harmony with the rhythmic drums still echoing.
“Luffy…” Ace whispered, love flooding his voice.
Dragon’s shining eyes reflected the white clouds and golden sun warming his face.
“Nika… m-my son? It’s you?”
Seeing his own child become a vessel for the sun god was an awe-inspiring and surreal sight. The transformation had rendered him almost unrecognizable, but Dragon knew his son, no matter what form he took.
Sabo’s staff clattered to the ground in bewilderment, lips parted as he looked up.
He was struck first by Luffy's eyes, that haunting pink that seemed to burn. He didn’t recognize the eyes until Ace said Luffy’s name, his own pulse quickening at the realization.
The air around him shimmered with a faint light, as if the sun itself was drawn to his aura. It added to his otherworldly appearance, making him seem more like a mythical being than the brother Sabo had known.
“Let him go,” Luffy spoke, gazing down with a terrifying albino stare.
“You are not my enemy,” Dragon informed him, “And this is no game, son.”
Luffy stepped forward, his presence overwhelming.
“I’m not here to play games. I’m here for my brothers.”
With that, his Haki surged a titanic force that rippled through the air like a storm. The energy struck Dragon like a tidal wave, dark poison recoiling at his touch, twisting as it fought to maintain its grip.
Luffy's eyes burned as he poured his willpower into the attack. The force of his Haoshoku sought out Dragon’s true willpower buried beneath the corruption. The dark tendrils began to fray and dissolve, unable to withstand the force, like black thorns ripped from the rock.
Nika’s lips curled into a determined smile. “It’s over. Release him.”
Dragon’s eyes widened as clarity began to return. The malevolent influence that had controlled him shattered, leaving him feeling exhausted but free.
His grip slacked, leaving Ace alive but gasping.
Dragon sagged to the ground, struggling with consciousness as Ace threw him off in disgust.
Ace couldn’t keep up his strength either, grateful when Sabo rushed to support his weight.
“Whoops, hah. Gotcha,” Sabo assured him as he pulled Ace’s arm around him.
“Were you really gonna kill him for me? You psycho?” Ace asked, smiling and earning a nervous laugh from Sabo as he helped Ace massage at his own neck.
“Thank you,” Ace added guiltily afterwards, leaning into the touch.
“That’s really him? That’s Luffy?” Sabo marveled quietly, still caressing Ace’s bruised neck with a thumb.
“It’s really him,” Ace confirmed proudly, touching Sabo’s hand.
The storm clouds overhead began to disperse, revealing a clear, bright sky. Sunlight streamed down, bathing the battlefield in a warm, golden glow. The oppressive darkness that had hung over them was gone.
Ace, still recovering, looked up at Luffy with awe and gratitude.
“Thanks, Lu,” Ace managed to say, his voice hoarse but sincere.
“Hee,” Luffy reacted with a beaming smile, still too big as he crouched to see them closer.
Sabo was floored by the magnitude of him, knowing his face but so distracted by the clouds rolling off of him, the pink, uncanny eyes and his white hair.
This… being… he was colossal, voice booming as he giggled, only just now taking in the sight of Sabo in front of him.
“Alleh? Sabo?” Luffy called, the decibel of his excited voice making Sabo duck slightly.
Sabo didn’t backpedal though, staying put as Luffy leaned his giant face down to rest on his own arm on the ground.
“You okay, Sabo?” Luffy asked sadly.
Sabo remembered how truly weathered he and Ace looked, glancing down with guilt.
“I am now,” Sabo assured him, reaching his glove to touch Luffy’s cheek.
“Luffy, I knew you’d grow a little, but I didn’t expect you to resemble a small mountain, kiddo… What’s with the hair? Does it snow that high up?”
“No, don’t make fun,” Luffy complained childishly with an embarrassed giggle, his laugh ruffling Sabo’s hair as he smiled up at him.
“Sabo,” Ace said gently to prepare him, “Luffy awakened his Devil Fruit.”
“You’re a Zoan,” Sabo realized, watching Luffy’s oversized eyes reflect pink and red in the light of the sunset.
“A human one. Something about a god, Jinbei says,” Luffy added as if he was just proud to know the answer.
Not just any god, though, Sabo knew as he put it together. Dragon and Nami had called him Nika. After hearing those drums on the wind… That must’ve been the name of the ancient liberator.
“That’s right, the sun god,” Luffy remembered aloud, nodding to confirm it to Sabo.
“Sugoi, right?”
Sabo just nodded, rubbing Luffy’s cheek with his whole hand, eyes tearing up.
Despite his formidable appearance, Luffy's face retained that familiar, boyish charm. His wide, beaming smile was as infectious as ever, a beacon of hope and joy.
Ace was hugging Sabo now.
“What d’you think of him?” Ace asked him quietly, eyes closing as they basked in the new sunlight.
“He’s perfect,” Sabo whispered reverently.
As they stood together, a ship appeared on the horizon, its sails billowing as it made its way toward the shore. The flag of the Revolutionary Army fluttered proudly, and the deck was crowded with familiar figures: Morley, Lindbergh, Ivankov, and Inazuma, bearing the flag of the Revolutionary Army as they approached Nika.
The revolutionaries whispered amongst themselves, recognizing the deity kneeling before them.
Dragon began to stir. He stood slowly, his eyes locking onto the approaching ship and the figures aboard it. A smile of relief and pride spread across his face as he turned to his very overgrown son.
“Luffy, forgive your old man for being a distant fool. I hope you won’t mind meeting my humble comrades,” Dragon told him.
“Hmph, okay I guess,” Luffy shrugged, not really knowing what that entailed either way.
“Revolution, this is my son,” Dragon announced as they approached.
The revolutionaries stepped closer from the shore, eyes wide with reverence as they looked at Luffy.
They’d recognized the legendary figure that had inspired their cause for so long, but were in awe that this was also their leader’s child meeting them for the first time. The sight of him brought tears to their eyes, sheer reverence and love.
“Nika,” Inazuma recognized, squeezing Ivankov’s hand with a stunned expression.
“Dragon,” Ivankov added, “This boy is really v-yours?”
“He’s even bigger than Morley,” Lindbergh whispered, glancing from his giant colleague to the massive albino figure before them.
“You don’t have to whisper,” Morley chided the cat-man, “How lucky that we get to see him in our lifetime.”
“Eight hundred years the Great Liberator waited in order to surface in Dragon’s son,” Ivankov laughed, “Oh, it’s beautiful.”
Luffy took in all the strangers’ reactions to him with innocent confusion, getting bashful and trying to hide his large form behind Ace, shifting the ground with his weight like a mountain cowering behind a single tree.
“What’re they looking at?” Luffy asked, his voice small despite his towering form.
Ace laughed, encouraging him to step forward.
“They’re looking at you, Luffy.”
Sabo watched with Luffy too, grinning as the revolutionaries kneeled for him. Their red flag rippling slowly in the wind where Inazuma held it planted in the ground.
Luffy faltered, then straightened up a little, his face lighting up with a smile.
“Okay, um. Thank you,” Luffy called to them, hesitant but sincere.
“Ask anything of us, Nika! Er— Luffy, I mean?” Morley told him, eyes shining.
This really stumped Luffy, not accustomed to so many adoring eyes on him. Not used to strangers begging to dote on him, either.
As far as playing the role of a deity… there was only one kind of offering he gave a shit about.
“Eh… You guys have any food, maybe?”
“Alleh?” Luffy gasped, flinching awake so abruptly he nearly rolled out of his hammock.
He snatched his falling hat before it hit the floor, replacing it safely to his head with careful hands.
Aw, hell. He was so close to getting fed in his dream. They were worshipping him or something, so it was bound to be a feast for sure, he convinced himself. Why did dreams always end before the best part?
“Who were all those people?” Luffy mumbled aloud to the empty room.
A young voice answered, laughing.
‘We have followers, now. Loyal men and women inspired by our actions. Maybe we can meet them one day.’
“I dunno, think I only wanna see my brothers,” Luffy admitted, falling back into the hammock.
Nika found his pure heart so endearing.
‘Soon, Luffy.’
Notes:
The dream sequence functions as a kind of extra alternate ending to the action so Luffy got to be involved and so we could see Sabo’s reaction to Nika, but as cool as it is, I really wanted Sabo’s reunion with Luffy to be kind of private and special, not involving Nika or Baltigo
There will be final fluff chapter(s), and Luffy will make an appearance of course, not as Nika, just your regular, cute little hungry boy.
I may update this story after those, but more than likely, I will be occasionally posting one-shots and chaptered works in this same AU and other new “Ace Survives” AU’s with the same action-y plot vibe.
So if you enjoyed the story, you can always hit subscribe on my profile page to get more updates to this and other One Piece stories I’m planning
💜
Chapter 43: Bonded
Summary:
Ace’s inner child finally gets some love even if he wants to resist it tooth and nail.
Sabo and Koala make their intentions clear.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
It was hard to believe it was over, but the icy fingers of death had taken Emmo Mori, and Marco wasted no time in carrying the sorry bastard out to sea for something of a pity burial. Marco was a better person than Ace, as far as Ace was concerned. That’s why he liked him so much.
But Ace wasted no time getting to the Spadille, Sabo on his heels letting Ahiru tend to Dragon. Ace didn’t doubt that Sabo might need to return to shore, but he was glad for his company as long as he had it.
And god… how good it was to see Masked Deuce, proudly wearing the orange rancher that Ace thought he’d lost for good this time.
“You got my hat?” Ace yelled in amazement, booking it so fast into his arms that he nearly toppled the poor man.
But Deuce recovered, hugging him back just as tightly, their damp hair mixing. Ace shut his eyes, face dirty and his arm sore from with blackened marks of lightning.
Deuce’s blue eyelashes flickered sideways with a glance through his mask, still holding him close.
“We saw it,” Deuce said, “Saint Elmo’s Fire protecting the ship… I knew it was you.”
“Wouldn’t have been enough without you keeping her righted,” Ace told him right back, squeezing him, “I said you could do it. Don’t you ever doubt yourself.”
Deuce just nodded, but he didn’t seem as happy when Ace pulled back to make sure he was alright. Ace patting his cheek only made it dirty.
“Tallis. I couldn’t stop him. He just…” Deuce explained.
Ace absently dusted his shoulders, squeezing them again before releasing him.
“Hey, he survived. And if I’m honest, we should’ve let him take a shot at Emmo in the first place.”
“He defied orders,” Deuce whispered, looking sick.
“I’m confused. You hoped I would be upset?” Ace asked.
“Well, what lesson did he learn? He could’ve been killed. Ace, I begged him—“
Deuce gave up miserably, cutting himself off with a bitter look.
Ace chewed his own cheek, giving him a sympathetic look.
Sabo had hung back, making conversation across from them, only catching a glance from Ace.
“This is gonna sound morbid, Deu, but we were all as good as dead the day we raised that black flag,” Ace explained, crossing his arms as they both leaned into the rail, “He took that risk for a lot of reasons. And I agree with all of them.”
“It really doesn’t offend you? As captain?” Deuce asked. Then, his face changed, brows knitting in understanding.
“Fucking hell. You knew he would disobey you.”
“If I can’t trust my crew to do what they think is right, they wouldn’t be on the crew,” Ace said in slight defense of himself, “Deu, you know I don’t bring people aboard to order them around. Tallis has a good moral compass. He needed to do that. I’m not gonna hold that against him.”
Deuce took a heavy breath, trying to nod.
“Of course I’m being a… a hippo something,” Ace mentioned.
“Hypocrite.”
“Yeah,” Ace agreed, “Because I don’t like Sabo taking the same risks, so I get where you’re coming from. It’s just between you and Tallis, y’know. But it was brave, what he did. Try not to give him too hard a time about it, huh?”
Deuce snorted slightly.
“You are so… man, you used to have such a short fuse when I met you. What the hell happened?”
Ace bit his lip, biting back that smile trying to erupt.
“I dunno, as long as nobody died, I’m happy, I guess. Look, only some minor injuries from what I see. And the ship, she looks amazing. Barely a scratch on her.”
Deuce looked suddenly a little guilty as a thought occurred to him.
“Hey, Ace? In the spirit of you being less angry than you used to be…”
Ace’s expression changed, suspicious now.
“Regrettably… there has been some damage,” Deuce admitted with closed eyes, only peeking after a terrifying silent moment.
Ace’s eye twitched, but he recovered, giving a tight-lipped nod.
“Where,” Ace asked, preparing himself.
“The hull,” Deuce said, worrying his lip.
“There’s a leak?”
Deuce bit his knuckle, nodding again.
Ace took a steadying breath aimed at the sky because it wasn’t Deuce’s fault, it just concerned Ace because that was a major problem.
“Skull is running her aground on Baltigo’s shore, isn’t he,” Ace said.
“Yep,” Deuce agreed.
Ace nodded distastefully.
Nothing could be done, of course. But he’d really hoped to snatch Sabo up and haul tail away from Dragon’s reach forever, but he guessed he should’ve known it wouldn’t be that simple.
Maybe it was for the best that they were stuck here beached for a few days.
Deuce lifted the captain’s hat off his blue hair and pressed it down on Ace’s head where it belonged, trading one last look between them before more of the crew spilled out onto the deck to prepare the Piece of Spadille for careening.
“Koala,” Sabo said, kneeling next to the bed in the captain’s quarters where they’d kept her. She’d passed out at some point, but it was a relief to see the poison had cleared from her skin.
Her eyes blinked open, looking confused and then mildly horrified by the state of him.
“It’s over, it’s okay,” Sabo said, accepting her hand.
Koala examined his face, how awful he looked between the blood and the char, her thumb even reaching to contact the dark blood dried down his ears.
“What is it?” he asked, reading her upset expression.
“Thank you,” was all she could manage, bailing off the bed to grasp him in a warm embrace beside it, not caring that he was filthy.
“Hey, you know I’ll be there every time,” Sabo said, laughing softly at how concerned she seemed, “We got no casualties, even at Baltigo. Well, except that wing of headquarters.”
Her eyes widened over his shoulder, pulling back instantly.
“Yeah,” Sabo agreed, nodding at her reaction.
And soon the Spadille lay stranded, beached on the shore of Baltigo by force of ropes and the crew’s collective strength.
But when Koala saw Veri offloaded from the Spadille, her blood froze over, turning to send Ace a chilling look. He didn’t keep eye contact, already knowing she would cook his ass for it.
At this point, Deuce had tossed Sabo an already rain-soaked towel to wipe his face, but it barely helped, with how he’d been covered head to toe with streaks of soot. Even his chest had been blistered beneath the shirt and vest that he’d undone to check his raw skin.
Veri probably would’ve run straight to Koala, but she saw Sabo first, taking in how hurt he looked— striking enough to captivate a child in the worst way. Her little eyes widened sadly at the red streaks.
Sabo met Veri’s eyes with guilt, knowing his appearance was nothing short of horrific. He’d seen corpses look better.
Even Ace was filthy, covered in char and smears of white mud.
“What, do we look bad or something?” Ace asked.
“No, no… you look… radiant,” Veri told him, thoroughly grossed out but doing her best to disguise it like Marco told her.
Ace scoffed.
“You haven’t seen anything yet. Check this out.”
He showed her the gnarly place Dragon had split his arm, blistered and cauterized like black lightning branching up his forearm.
“Oh… oh shit,” Veri reacted, causing stunned faces to turn to her from everywhere when the crew heard her curse so loudly.
Koala gave Ace a truly withering glare, but he was beyond saving, physically pinning a thumb to his mouth to stop a laugh.
It was completely their fault, but he couldn’t deny it was a little funny. He only grinned wider when Koala’s boot slammed into the side of his head.
“It’s fine, Koala,” Ace laughed, “Veri’s a sailor now. Of course she’s gonna talk like one. It’s not like it’s a big d—eaugh!”
Sabo suppressed his own laugh as he watched Koala leech onto Ace’s back to grip his throat in a choke.
“Not the— the Haki, she got me with the Haki,” Ace struggled, only looking worried until he paused to wink at Veri. Then his protests weakened until he let Koala collapse him to the sand, face-first and hat crooked.
“What’s she even doing here?” Koala hissed in his ear, “I know it was you.”
“About that…” Ace relented, “I’ll tell you later.”
“Yes you will,” Koala whispered, but then she was pulling him up, a little guilty as her gloves found his damaged arm.
It was something maybe Marco could heal, but he still wasn’t off the ship.
Even once Koala helped Ace stand, she couldn’t stop herself looking around for Marco. But it appeared she might miss him entirely if he was still healing the injured below deck. She nearly went to find him, but that’s when Karasu approached after being let out from the brig, already on transponder with Dragon.
Koala grinned when they grasped gloved hands, both checking the other was okay.
“It appears we’re needed inland,” Karasu informed her, “If… if you don’t mind. It’ll be good to have you back on base.”
Koala looked between him and Ace, jaw dropping a little awkwardly because it felt like two paths were stretched out before her.
Baltigo, or the open sea?
She knew what Ace would pick for her, and she knew what Karasu would pick for her, but that didn’t make the decision any easier.
Koala saw Veri playing with a tiny, carved wooden bear a short distance away, feeling even more guilty.
“Doesn’t have to be forever, Koko,” Sabo comforted her quietly, “They’re not clapping us in irons.”
Koala sighed, taking Karasu’s hand.
“Let’s go,” Koala said finally.
“You’re going too?” Ace realized, eyes going concerned at Sabo.
“Well… how long will it take to patch the hull?” Sabo asked, already looking just as guilty as Koala.
“A couple days to cure, but that’s only if it doesn’t rain again,” Ace guessed.
Sabo slid his gloves over Ace’s shoulders for a brief, secure hug, knowing they both still struggled being away from one another.
“Get Marco to look at your arm, okay?” Sabo told him gently, “Then come find me later when you get free. I’ll already miss you too much by that point, so don’t make me wait too long, yeah?”
“Deal,” Ace whispered into his hair, holding him exactly as long as he wanted to whether Karasu was waiting or not.
He hated getting separated like this, but he was starting to realize Sabo was almost like a captain to these people, and Ace could understand that even if he wished Sabo was a free agent.
Of course, Sabo felt even more compelled to check in with Baltigo considering the massive wound in the eastern wing where recruits busily rolled the rubble away, hoping to salvage what they could.
Dragon’s office had taken similar chaos, its usual order turned to disarray with books and loose documents scattered, many of them trampled underfoot.
Sabo and Koala were there, knee-deep in the mess, trying to bring some semblance of order.
“Careful with those papers. Some of them are irreplaceable,” Koala instructed recruits as she sorted through a pile of files, setting aside books that would need mending.
Sabo paced few feet away, one hand over his ear as he spoke into a transponder snail.
“Anything, Kophre-san. Whatever you can spare material-wise.“
A caw from the window interrupted him.
Sabo turned to see Karasu in the form of a crow, perched on the sill. The bird fixed him with an intense gaze.
“What’s the update?” Sabo asked, momentarily covering the transponder snail.
“We could do with at least fifteen structural beams replaced, along with joists and bolts for them. The damage is worse than we thought,” Karasu reported.
Sabo nodded, relaying the message to Kophre-san.
Ending the call, Sabo turned to Koala. “How’s it looking on your end?”
Koala sighed, pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
“Some of these books are beyond saving. I’m just glad these are Dragon’s copies that got the worse of it. Just have to work on fixing the bindings.”
Sabo’s response was cut off as Hack approached.
“Anyone seen Dragon?” the Fishman asked.
Sabo’s expression darkened as he glanced out the window, his eyes narrowing to see his dark figure out by the ocean where the Spadille rested.
Sabo sighed, frustration evident in his tone. “Thought I asked him not to push it with Ace.”
Koala paused her work, glancing up.
“It’s not gonna make him leave is it?”
Sabo ran a hand through his hair, roughing it up to the point that he looked as stressed as he felt.
“Well he’s stuck here with it as long as the hull is leaking. It’s just gonna be hard on me if they don’t get along. Dragon has no idea what he’s getting himself into with Ace. He’s walking through a verbal minefield and he doesn’t even know it.”
Marco perched barefoot in the sand, overseeing repairs on the Spadille after she’d be carefully tipped to the side.
“More rope!” Saber called, his work gloves covered in pitch from a bucket next to him. He was sat next to Ducky Bree, who unraveled old broken ropes to wedge in the damaged seams before Saber sealed pitch over it. Beside them, Barry, Kukai, Cornelia and several others worked the same task to get it drying quicker.
“You missed some barnacles,” Marco called around a bottle of sake, but he wasn’t talking to any of the men doing repairs.
“Where?” Tallis huffed, barefoot atop the ship’s side paneling with his trousers pulled up over dirty legs. The way he wielded a bent chisel made Marco fight back a smile.
“A little to the left… Wait, back where you were, yoi,” Marco added, having a chuckle watching Tallis searching.
“You’re messing with me,” Tallis complained, wiping sweat from his face, “I know I got them all.”
“Lucky it’s your only punishment,” Marco assured him, taking a last swig before handing the bottle to Ace.
Ace took his own sip as Marco laid blue fire to his forearm, the flesh so damaged that even Marco didn’t want to see it.
“This should cover us until we can reach a port town, find a shipwright,” Ace sighed, because it didn’t look like there would be enough pitch to stretch the length of the damage. But they’d have to make it work.
Marco agreed quietly, tracing fire up the electrical burns.
And then the subject came up that Marco least wanted to think about.
Tallis soared down from the ship’s side to plop in the sand in front of Marco. He messed with his short brown hair for a moment, sweat and sand clinging to him everywhere he touched.
“Hey, I just came to ask how many people I’m feeding. If I need fish for the twenty-three of us, or if it’s gonna be like… the full twenty-five?”
Ace seemed to sag a little at the question, because he really didn’t know. He didn’t know how many would be departing with them from Baltigo either.
“Did she say something before she left?” Marco asked Ace, but Ace just shrugged, trying not to think about how it would go with Sabo either.
“If you mean Koala, it sounded like she was needed at their headquarters,” Tallis offered, hoping he was being helpful, “The crow man said it was good to have her back.”
Ace avoided Marco’s disheartened look, causing the older man to toss a pebble out into the sand at those words.
“Are you okay?” Tallis asked, not seeming to understand Marco’s shift in demeanor, but Ace’s tight look ceased his line of questioning.
“Oh,” Tallis realized.
Because Koala might not be coming back. Not permanently, anyway.
Well, he didn’t know what to say to that, but he didn’t have to worry for long, because Mihar was already jogging over with his spyglass, grinning as his bare feet sank into warm, dry sand.
“Check it out, Marco…”
Mihar offered the heavy device to Marco, gesturing encouragingly.
“Up on the battlement, just under the middle window,” Mihar guided as Marco turned to hesitantly raise the lenses to one eye.
It was Koala, poised at their mounted telescope.
Marco stood to his feet immediately, dusting off as he took several steps closer just on instinct, walking all the way up the sandy hill so he could see better.
Koala grinned wide upon spotting him, and he couldn’t help but smile back, waving when she waved.
That’s when Belo Betty approached her and hugged Koala tight from behind, then Hack and Karasu had appeared to talk to her at the same time, both of them taking her hand as they distracted her away from the telescope.
Even though she shot Marco a quick apologetic look before her focus shifted, he could tell how excited Koala got to have Belo embracing her and Hack grabbing her hand, each one of them so excited to see Koala back at Baltigo.
Marco could see how loved she was by this crew, this family she had here in the army.
He already knew they raised her, and he should’ve expected this feeling, but he couldn’t help that sad stirring in his chest, that feeling of ‘oh…’
Marco lowered his spyglass after seeing her smiling and hugging them all again.
“Come on,” he told himself under his breath, “You knew she couldn’t stay, yoi. What the fuck were you thinking?”
When he turned back around to look at the crew, it felt so empty, even his own nakama walking past him just made him think about the missing members that weren’t here. That belonged here.
’So you can’t talk to her?’ the phoenix asked him, ‘I have never seen you struggle like this.’
Marco’s shoulders dropped at that, lifting his face to the sky. Soon, they’d be leaving Baltigo and the revolutionaries behind.
Perhaps it really was for the best. He wouldn’t have to wonder if he was on the right path with the decision already made for him. After all, he was sure he’d see Koala occasionally, with her promise of visiting and later training Veri.
But, man, it still made his heart sore to think of leaving her in the distance.
‘Never felt this way about Delia, or Lisette—‘
‘The names are unnecessary,’ Marco reminded Anka internally, but she kept chattering.
‘Maia, Sapphira, Liviana, Kalara, Oriel—‘
“Unnecessary!” Marco repeated aloud this time, earning him an eyebrow raise from Deuce.
Marco shut his eyes as he heard soft steps approaching on the beach from Deuce’s direction, fully prepared for the field medic to try inspecting his eyes for signs of brain damage. Marco wouldn’t even deny how insane he looked or felt right now.
Instead, though, he felt the touch of a small, gentle hand on his arms, making his eyes blink open.
Koala?
He nearly asked how the hell she got here so quickly, but a flock of black birds scattering behind her answered the question for him.
Marco still looked surprised to see her here, as if one of the crew must’ve been responsible. But no, she seemed to be here of her own accord, not to talk to Ace or anyone else on the crew. Just Marco.
His skin reacted with raised hairs where she touched, but it was fleeting, withdrawing her hand the second he noticed it.
She seemed unwilling to speak for a moment, making him oddly nervous even though her stature barely came up to his chest. A small woman that vaguely frightened him with the amount of power she had over him now.
“Just wanted to tell you that I, um… it was nice, getting to sail again. I didn’t know I’d miss being a pirate, but I enjoyed you all even more than Fisher’s crew,” Koala admitted.
The words were positive, sure, but they might as well have stabbed him between the ribs. He hated the wounds that didn’t heal from his fire. Because something about her tone seemed to only reinforce his assumption that she wouldn’t stay on the ship. It’d been temporary, just as he always told himself.
She was needed here. She already had a family, and what chance did pirates ever really stand when Koala was determined to right so many of the world’s wrongs? She had a purpose, and flying their black flag wasn’t one of them.
Of course, that was her appeal to Marco. She was genuinely good. Way more intelligent company than heathens like them deserved. And for any trouble she got into, she’d bailed them all out of worse before.
Marco knew exactly what had stopped the crew from intervening on Marmont’s ship when he was at his lowest, but seeing Koala show up for him when no one else could? Seeing her say fuck you to the marines and dive into frigid waters to get to him, that’s what really stood out.
“Not sure where filthy pirates fit on your priority list, yoi. But if you ever wanted this to be your full-time home…”
“Which you’re only saying because the crew want me around?” Koala guessed, knowing Marco had always refused to admit how much he wanted her there.
He laughed softly, taking the hit.
“Oh, them? No way. Said you’re bad company, yoi. No help at all.”
Koala smirked at his joke but still looked bummed not to get a real answer.
Marco’s hands were on his hips, begging the clouds to make him brave enough to talk to the pint-sized redhead.
“I want you stay,” Marco admitted, “For really selfish reasons.”
Koala lifted goggles off her eyes, so stunned her mouth opened.
Marco was already looking over into the ocean with crossed arms and an embarrassed smile, almost laughing at himself for actually saying that out loud. His ears went a little pink.
“Did someone tell you I was leaving the ship?” Koala asked him, snorting behind her hand in amusement when he looked vaguely mortified.
“You mean I didn’t have to say that? You were already staying?” Marco asked, shaking his head when she laughed harder.
“Wait, who told you that?” Koala laughed, running after him when he stalked away, “No— tell me all your selfish reasons.”
“Knew I shouldn’t have said that, yoi.”
Marco looked thoroughly done with the conversation, but Koala leapt to cling to his shoulders, legs gripping as tight as her arms to leech on him from behind.
“By the way… you like your hair pulled?” Koala teased, “Are we gonna pretend you didn’t say that to me?”
“It was a joke,” Marco assured her.
“Sure it was,” Koala laughed, making him roll his eyes as he held her arms in place.
Ace trailed slowly up a white clay staircase, peering out the occasional carved round window.
Sabo looked back at him from farther up the stairs, not used to Ace taking his time like this.
“What’s so fascinating?”
Ace seemed shaken out of his own head by the question.
“Oh. Just seeing what you looked at every time you came up these stairs,” he tried to explain, feeling like an idiot.
Sabo gave him a slight frown, reaching out and offering his hand to help Ace climb the rest of the way.
“I didn’t sleep up here all fourteen years,” Sabo mentioned, watching Ace touch a hanging banner as they passed it, “There were group bunkers on the main level, and that’s where Koala and I used to stay as kids.”
“You liked it up here better then?” Ace asked.
Sabo smiled, nodding.
“Nicer than the bunks, I’ll admit.”
The stairwell was usually drafty, but Ace’s extra warm skin had no problem with it, not even in his typical shirtless fashion, absent-mindedly dusting white clay off his chest as they ascended.
Ace stepped quietly into Sabo's bedroom, his eyes scanning the room with a mix of wonder and melancholy.
The walls, carved from white stone, glowed softly in the light. A large, rounded window dominated one side of the room, offering a breathtaking view of the ocean. Ace could see Sabo standing there every morning, gazing out at the horizon.
Ace took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the fourteen years they had been apart. He wished he could have been there, sharing in these moments and watching him grow. Every corner of the room held a piece of Sabo's life that Ace had missed, and it tugged at his heart.
Sabo, sensing Ace's quiet sadness, moved closer and gently rubbed his arm.
“Well, this is it,” Sabo said, “Not as cool as our old tree fort, but good enough.”
The room was filled with small, personal items that spoke volumes about Sabo's journey. A well-worn map of the world was pinned to one wall, marked with notes and routes. Ace walked over to it, tracing a path with his finger.
"Did you go to all these places?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Sabo smiled, his eyes softening with the memories.
"Most of them."
Ace wandered toward the window to take in the stunning view, the ocean stretching out endlessly with waves glistening.
Sabo joined him by the window, looking out at the familiar sight.
"No matter how tough things got, there was always something beautiful out there. Used to look out at it, going slowly insane because I knew I’d lost something. Thought I might never get it back, but here you are.”
"I would’ve been here in a heartbeat if I knew,” Ace told him, smile turning bitter.
“If you need to stay here, Sabo, if you can’t go with me…”
Sabo’s jaw dropped, shaking his head.
“No— why would you—? Of course I’m going with you.”
Ace’s eyes closed, unable to hide what a massive relief it was.
“You sure? Dragon said I’m taking you away from your dream. I just—“
“Dragon said that?” Sabo replied, “You mean while he was poisoned? I’m sure he said a lot of things he didn’t mean. My only dream is giving others the freedom they deserve. I can do that basically anywhere, Ace. Wherever there’s corruption.”
Ace’s pulse picked up at the thought of going anywhere with Sabo.
He turned away from the window, but then gave Sabo a deeply appreciative grin when he spotted the black flag pinned above Sabo’s bed.
“You must’ve made this in High Town,” Ace marveled, “Because I would’ve remembered seeing it. Before that we only made our combined jolly roger.”
“Yeah, stitched it right before I set out. This flag’s the only reason I knew my own name,” Sabo mentioned, approaching it with Ace and lifting the corner to show his neatly embroidered lettering.
“Got pulled outta the same harbor I did. Hack saved it.”
“Could we take it with us? We’ll fly it on the mizzenmast,” Ace suggested, earning a pleased nod.
Sabo kicked his boots away to jump onto his bed, unpinning his jolly roger while Ace looked on, not able to ignore how Sabo’s trousers hugged his legs perfectly.
When Ace glanced back up at Sabo’s face, it was clear he’d caught him looking, biting his lip with playful seduction to taunt him.
Ace murmured an apology, still a little jarred when he thought about the fact that it was Sabo making him feel this way.
But Sabo couldn’t have looked less sorry to have Ace looking, even less sorry to think Ace’s freckles were perfect tinted pink like this as he folded up his own hand-stitched flag.
Ace found himself turning slowly, still taking in all the details of Sabo’s bedroom, loving being in here just because it was his space.
He reached for one of Sabo's dirty button-down shirts hanging off a chair and brought it to his face to smell the armpit habitually as if the shirt belonged to him too.
“It’s not clean,” Sabo remarked, watching Ace with confused amusement as Ace happily pulled it on, totally unfazed.
“So? Let me wear it,” Ace insisted, pulling the shirt tighter around himself in case Sabo tried to take it away.
There was no way to explain without it sounding wild, but he did like the smell of Sabo’s sweat. It was too familiar not to like it.
Sabo showed him innocent hands, every intention of letting Ace keep it. Then watched Ace approach his desk.
There was certainly clutter present, but it was orderly and arranged. This did not stop Ace’s hands from wandering every single thing he owned until his fingertips delighted to touch a pair of gloves.
“Can I?” Ace asked.
“Have at it,” Sabo said, having to bite his own lip with silent enjoyment.
Ace's eyes sparkled as he began to put on Sabo’s accessories, letting his orange hat slide down to rest on his back.
First, he slipped his hands into Sabo's slender leather gloves, feeling the soft material against his skin. Then, he pulled on a pair of even older vintage goggles that had cracked, adjusting them to sit just right. Finally, he found Sabo's black hat and perched it on his hair.
Sabo couldn’t help but laugh. He moved closer and began to loosely tie a white cravat around Ace’s neck.
“Are you entertained by my things?” Sabo asked, his voice light and teasing.
“Extremely,” Ace said with a triumphant look, tightening the gloves.
It was a lot of accessories.
Ace wasn’t used to having this much… stuff on him.
But there was something so comforting about it all belonging to Sabo, and Ace needed the comfort right now, because Sabo’s expression went a little serious suddenly, sliding to sit atop of the desk in front of Ace to talk.
“You got something to say?” Ace asked, to which Sabo nodded.
Ace took a slow seat in his desk chair, testing how the gloves felt touching his lips.
“I saw Dragon talking to you out by the ship,” Sabo mentioned, folding his legs in front of him regardless of the crunching papers underneath.
“I hope that was okay. I asked him not to, y’know… bother you…”
Ace took a deep breath, nodding.
He hadn’t wanted to talk to Dragon, but he supposed it hadn’t been the worst conversation.
“It’s fine,” Ace began, though his voice held a hint of tension. He looked at Sabo, then out the window again, before starting to explain what happened.
Ace climbed the hill grudgingly when Dragon approached, mood soured by the sight of him. He had no desire to talk to the man who had been absent for so much of Luffy’s life.
Even though Ace didn’t want to talk to the old man, he was the captain of the beached vessel on the shores of Baltigo where Dragon made his home, so Ace really had no choice but to face him.
“We don’t need anything,” he warned Dragon as he neared.
“We’ll be off your island the second she’s patched.”
“Please,” Dragon asked humbly, extending his hand palm side up.
Ace hesitated but nodded grudgingly, taking moody steps until he faced him.
“Let me thank you, at least. For watching over Luffy and Sabo,” Dragon said.
Ace had practiced for this moment for many years, already shaking his offended head. To his credit, he replied much more gently than he wanted to.
“Well, someone had to. You couldn’t be bothered.”
Ace was painfully aware of how much he was projecting his own issues from Roger onto Dragon, but that didn’t make his words any less true. He was just as angry about Luffy growing up fatherless as he was about his own childhood.
“You’re right about me. I haven’t been a good father,” Dragon acknowledged, meeting Ace's eyes, “That doesn’t mean you and Luffy aren’t good sons, Ace. I want you to know that.”
Ace flinched hearing those words, eyebrows pinching as they hit him with the force of a train. His voice shook with soft anger, face wrinkling with emotion.
“You don’t get to say that to me,” he managed brokenly.
“I meant every word,” Dragon told him firmly, breaking his stern exterior to show the humanity within. “I wish you were mine by blood. Somehow you… Ace, you look like my mother did when she was your age. Freckles and all.”
The worst part about Dragon saying all of this was how deeply it affected Ace—much more deeply than it had a right to. He spent so much time resenting Dragon for abandoning his brother, yet he now crumpled under the real remorse in his eyes.
Even though Ace resisted it forcefully, the small child in him cried out in pitiful relief to hear Luffy’s father accept him with so much love in his voice.
Ace angrily smacked the back of his hand to his eyes, getting even more worked up because it was humiliating to be emotional at this.
“I already told you— I’m not your son, okay? You can’t just undo everything me and Luffy went through. We raised each other without you. We even raised Sabo before you. So it’s too late to try to fix me, or whatever you’re trying to do. Just stop.”
“I understand,” Dragon said calmly. “You’re tough in your own right. As tough as you need to be to survive. Just know that when I see any of you hit the front page of the newspaper, nothing in the world makes me feel more complete.”
Ace nodded tightly, clearly still on guard.
“That’s why I’ve asked a few of our trusted shipwrights to take a look at your vessel,” Dragon continued.
Ace’s eyes widened before crystalizing dangerously as he realized what Dragon was saying.
“No. I didn’t ask for your help. I said we were good, and I meant it. I’ll not be in debt to some… some…”
Ace let himself trail off, getting too heated too quickly.
“You’re not my fucking father, okay? You can stop with the act.”
Dragon paused at his harsh words, taking them in carefully. He accepted it, drawing in a long breath and finally nodding.
“No, of course not,” Dragon agreed carefully, “Naturally, you must be proud of your father. You have his strength, after all. He must’ve been quite the man to pass Haoshoku into your lineage factor.”
Ace recoiled at that.
“Don’t get carried away, alright? I’m not on crazy good terms with him either.”
“Noted,” Dragon corrected, finding Ace extremely touchy and unreadable, but he was trying so hard to find common ground.
“You know, I also never got along with my father—“
Ace hated that even more.
“Don’t talk shit about Jiji!” Ace warned him loudly with a pointing finger, the severity of his voice causing every one of his crew below to draw their weapons.
Dragon bit back a genuine smile this time, shaking with silent laughter so Ace wouldn’t hear that he’d deeply amused him.
“Fair enough. I hadn’t expected a young pirate to love a vice-admiral so much.”
“Well I do,” Ace asserted seriously, as if it ended the discussion. And it did.
“And you can keep your shipwrights. You think my crew can’t patch our own hull? We’re done here,” he added.
Ace finished recounting the scene, his voice softening as he explained he felt a little bad about it after.
“He really got to you, huh?” Sabo said quietly.
“He means well,” Ace decided, “Just wish he’d save that gibberish for his actual son instead of ignoring him.”
“He’ll reach out,” Sabo assured him, “Promise you. He’s the type to solve a problem when he discovers it, especially when it gives him this much grief.”
Sabo removed his hat from Ace’s head to brush fingers into his hair for a moment. Straightening it up. Comforting him.
“Can I ask you something, Ace?”
Sabo didn’t continue until Ace had pulled away questioningly.
“Would it be so bad to accept that Dragon cares about us? I know it’s more complex than that, I just feel like you’re hurting yourself more than protecting yourself.”
Ace swallowed, his jaw clenching as he decided not to reply with a pensive look.
“That wasn’t the only time we talked,” Ace admitted, his voice low as he looked away, staring at the floor.
Sabo raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued.
“What happened?”
Ace sighed, running a hand through his hair, still feeling the touch of Sabo’s fingers there. “He came to see me again later. I thought it was just going to be more of the same, but… it was different.”
Ace had been standing on the beach, watching the waves crash against the shore, lost in thought. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Dragon approaching.
“Back again?” Ace asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
“I wanted to talk,” Dragon replied, stopping a few feet away.
“We already talked,” Ace said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Not like this,” Dragon said, his tone softer.
“I wanted to listen, actually. To hear what you have to say.”
Ace blinked, caught off guard.
“Would that be okay?” Dragon asked.
It made Ace feel so strange, having a much older person just… asking him how he felt about talking.
Ace still didn’t want to talk— or at least, that’s what he thought before he realized Dragon did actually care how he made Ace feel. And that didn’t track with what he usually assumed about men like him. Maybe he wasn’t the selfish old prick Ace always made him out to be in his mind, because…
“I’ll walk away if you still want me to,” Dragon offered.
Ace bit into his own cheek, frowning.
Deeply.
“You sent shipwrights,” Ace said, not looking at him, “I said we didn’t need them. What kind of beggar do you take me for?”
“I took you for a captain,” Dragon said softly, looking out at his vessel with him, “A good one, at that. Because even with all that pride, you’d set it aside to give your crew what they need.”
Ace’s nose wrinkled, eyes shutting.
“I can’t pay you,” Ace said, a heavy weight on him.
“You already paid me. By keeping Luffy and Sabo safe,” Dragon told him seriously, catching the tiniest, most unwilling, annoyed little smile that he tried to hide.
Ace didn’t say anything else, but he didn’t move away from him either, letting the wind ruffle them both atop the hill overlooking the Spadille.
Dragon took notice of Ace seeming more comfortable in his presence, taking in the calm of the ocean with him.
“You’ll never believe what came to my window after our first chat,” Dragon mentioned, making Ace’s eyes curious even if he didn’t respond.
“It was a hawk. A talking one,” Dragon chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief, “He was a curious little thing. But also told me some stories that I found interesting too.”
Tallis…
Ace was almost afraid to know.
“What did he say, then?” Ace asked.
Dragon looked at Ace thoughtfully before speaking. “He told me an unusual thing that you made happen... that you had summoned a beast of the sea from the depths, that you could hear their thoughts and understand the Sea King.”
Ace's eyes widened slightly, a flicker of recognition crossing his face.
Dragon continued, “I only know of one person who was known to have that experience. And that man was Gol D. Roger.”
The name hit Ace with the force of a tidal wave. Emotion flickered in his eyes as he struggled to maintain his composure.
“He was your father, wasn’t he?” Dragon asked.
And Ace’s expression confirmed it. Dragon noticed the pain in his eyes.
“I can’t help but wonder what hurt you so badly, Ace…”
“It hurt never knowing my father, but it hurt worse to hear only bad things about him. And so many people out there didn’t even want me to exist, let alone be happy. Even on my worst day, I’d never say that to a kid,” Ace said, quiet and affected.
Dragon’s face softened with empathy.
“That’s not something a child deserves to hear, no… Must’ve been hard to believe in yourself after people had been so cruel.”
Ace had tears in his eyes again, the glassy droplets sticking to his eyelashes.
But they heated away into steam, Ace nodding silently in acknowledgment of Dragon’s kindness.
“You know, it surprises me to hear of anyone, especially a pirate, ashamed to be Roger’s son. When he’s something of a legend to most of us,” Dragon added.
“You think?” Ace asked, his voice barely above a whisper, staring out into the waves.
“Of course,” Dragon said, with conviction.
“To have inspired so many to chase their dreams is no small feat. In fact? How could we hope to uproot any world nobles without the pirates he inspired. You? Luffy? The other young supernovas? Even Red’s generation, the Middle Era. Your father did that.”
Ace felt a strange kind of weightlessness, like he was floating. It was a lot to take in, but hearing this man speak so respectfully about Roger almost made him feel… proud.
Maybe that wasn’t the right word. At the very least, though, Ace didn’t feel angry about the subject, he realized.
As if the wound started to close.
“You don’t think Roger would look at me, and… and think I’m…”
“Not enough?” Dragon volunteered.
“Worthless,” Ace admitted, actually looking into Dragon’s eyes for the first time in a while, trusting him enough.
“Take it from me, as a father. He loved you, whether or not he ever got to tell you that,” Dragon assured him seriously, nodding at his own words with complete certainty.
“You love Luffy?” Ace asked, genuinely sounding baffled by it, “Do you really know him well enough to know that you love him?”
“Of course I do,” Dragon told him, “What other seven-year-old would’ve stabbed himself in the eye just to prove himself? He doesn’t take no for an answer, never stops eating, and he only gets serious when his friends are on the line. I also know the little shit still picks his nose— gets that from his grandfather, by the way. You think I don’t know my own son?”
Ace felt a little speechless, relenting.
He couldn’t help but go quiet, swallowing as his eyes searched the sand.
“Sabo says you stayed away to keep Luffy safe.”
Dragon nodded.
“But I also know you were the one that saved Sabo in the harbor,” Ace added, “…And that means you were in Goa Kingdom.”
“As often as possible,” Dragon admitted.
“You were watching over Luffy,” Ace realized quietly.
Dragon nodded again, meeting Ace’s eyes. He could tell the young man didn’t trust easily, his eyes narrowed and full of past hurt.
“Then I guess I was kinda wrong about you,” Ace said eventually, averting his gaze for a moment.
Without even thinking about it, Dragon rested his hand on Ace’s shoulder, causing him to react like a cat, eyes a little accusational as Dragon pulled it away quickly with a soft apology.
“I don’t need a father figure,” Ace reminded him, crossing his arms again.
But Dragon was fighting another smile, his head inclining deeply with understanding. It was clear that Ace’s opinion of him had changed already. And it was clear Ace had badly needed to hear the soft words he’d spoken to him, something every son should hear. Ace didn’t have to thank him for Dragon to know how much it meant to him.
“I’ll leave you, then,” Dragon said, “But you are welcome here, to come and go as you wish.”
“Thanks,” Ace managed.
“You’ve become a very good man, Ace. Just like Luffy and Sabo. I am proud of you, even if you’re not ready to accept it.”
Ace returned his nod wordlessly, letting him recede back down the hill.
Sabo grinned slightly.
“You serious? That’s how you left it?”
Ace shrugged.
Sabo had narrowed his eyes playfully.
“You like him.”
“No,” Ace argued, not even meeting this eyes.
“Yes, you do,” Sabo accused, laughing, “So you don’t care if we help the army?”
“I was always willing to do that, Sabo,” Ace defended, leaning back in Sabo’s desk chair.
“Yeah, but you want to now. Don’t lie, I see right through you.”
“They’re your nakama,” Ace relented, “If I get to keep you it’s worth helping them sometimes. Dragon included.”
Sabo regarded him proudly, diving for a tight hug that had him sliding sideways into his lap.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, yeah, alright,” Ace sighed, smiling and pulling his orange hat back on.
Once the pitch had cured on the Spadille’s hull, they’d be seaworthy again.
And Ace already knew the heading. He wouldn’t tell Sabo, he decided. Some things were fun to keep to himself.
Notes:
A few ends of the plot will be tied up in a separate sequel adventure that continues where this left off, just a shorter little chapter work
Chapter 44: Dawn
Summary:
Final chapter - taking the boys back to their roots.
Forgot to mention the songs I had on repeat writing this were Short Change Hero by the heavy, Missili by Frah Quintale and Tulum by Vandelux if anyone wanna vibe with me
Fuck I love you guys. Enjoy.
Notes:
Spoiler Summary:
Ace doesn’t let Sabo peek at their location until they’re finally off the coast of Dawn Island
Ace’s crew and Luffy’s crew temporarily mix, and it stresses Sanji the hell out how much flirting is going on
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sabo was blindfolded.
He could hear soft laughter across the Spadille as Deuce led him up the stairs then over to the portside railing in his freshly laundered linen blue trousers and vest.
Someone slid his goggles into his gloved hand, only confusing him. His teeth flashed under the blindfold, amused at the situation, but Ace insisted he not peek until the right time, so he played along.
The moment Deuce slid away the blindfold, Sabo immediately glanced behind him at the smiling faces of the crew.
“Go on,” one of them called out.
Sabo turned back to look out at the island in the distance. Jungles and beach, he could see. There was elevation past the trees, but the morning dew suspended there made it difficult to make out a rough mountainous shape somewhere on the strange island.
Was it strange? Or was it strangely familiar?
A smile crept onto Sabo’s face, and his stomach tied a little knot, thinking that maybe he recognized this place. The leaves seemed greener here, the ocean bluer.
And wow… the wind here was soft, smelling so floral and perfect.
As his hands rested on the rail, chills erupted up both Sabo’s arms.
He heard a snicker from below, someone taking in his reaction to the beautiful shore with a wide grin.
Ace. He was already balanced on Striker in the water, bobbing gently on the tide with one hand keeping his hat on as he peered up.
“You only get one guess where we are,” Ace said.
Sabo bit his lip for a moment because he knew.
“You brought me home,” Sabo said.
Their smiles faltered, eyes getting glossy and cheeks reddening slightly at the realization, having to swallow with the intense emotion. So much pain and heartache, and it was really, truly over now.
And they’d be taking Striker from the ship, no rain and no dark clouds in sight.
Ace nodded, extending his hand, asking Sabo to join him.
“On a sunny day, like I said,” Ace told him.
Sabo tugged his goggles over his eyes that very moment, looking like he’d never been ready for something this much in his life.
It was only after they’d sped off on Striker that Marco, Deuce and the others leaned on the rail, watching them go before Wallace groaned to himself, kicking away his boots and stretching.
“Gonna make sure they don’t fall in, huh?” Marco asked as Wallace rubbed his hands together to get his blood going.
“Those idiots make me so goddamn nervous,” Wallace laughed, making the crew laugh one more time before he took an expert twisting dive into the ocean below.
Waves shimmered like liquid aquamarine as Ace threaded his beloved vessel around crests. Its sleek frame cut through the water with a speed that made his heart race every time. Today, though, his excitement was twofold.
Beside him, Sabo leaned against the mast, one hand gripping Ace’s shoulder with the wind tousling his blond hair. They had both been waiting for this moment for too long.
“You ready for this?” Ace asked.
“Been ready since the day you made the promise.”
Ace grinned, adjusting the sails to catch the wind just right.
“Well, hold on tight. Striker’s about to show you what she’s made of.”
With a swift movement, Ace guided the vessel into the wind. Striker responded instantly, leaping forward with a burst of speed.
Sabo’s eyes widened in delight as the vessel skimmed over the waves, the thrill of the ride taking hold. Man, the way Ace had her skipping so clean across the water made them weightless.
He felt an eruption of wonderful butterflies to see the water glitter, the sunlight on their skin and the easy glide through the ocean until he couldn’t take the perfect feeling anymore.
Sabo shouted over the roar of the wind and waves, grinning as Ace joined him, yelling at the top of their lungs until they were laughing as Striker ripped down cresting waves.
Their eyes fixed on the horizon zooming fast in a wide arc around the shore.
“Told you she’d be fun!” Ace called over his shoulder.
The two of them shared the moment to its fullest, the years of separation and struggle melting away as they sailed together. The sea stretched endlessly as if they could go anywhere together like this.
But they weren’t going very far today.
Ace slowed the Striker to a more leisurely pace, turning to Sabo with a soft look.
“I missed this place,” Ace admitted quietly.
Sabo nodded, his gaze lingering on Ace.
“Missed us when we were here together.”
“We won’t put it off any longer, then,” Ace told him with smiling eyes.
For a moment, they coasted over waves in silence, ocean and wind the only sounds.
Then, Sabo ran his fingers down the inside of Ace’s arm to grasp his hand, the touch warm and steady between them sending both of their hearts racing like drumbeats to herald their arrival.
As if they could hear Dawn Island welcoming them home.
Ace looked down at their intertwined fingers, a feeling of contentment washing over him while Striker neared the beach. He squeezed Sabo’s hand gently, a promise of many more adventures to come.
When they carefully hauled the vessel into the beach to the treeline, Sabo helped Ace hide Striker under low-hanging limbs, spreading out branches of green leaves around her.
“We’re on foot from here,” Ace said with his hands resting on his belted hips for a moment, staring into the jungle like an old friend.
“You gonna get us lost in there?” Sabo asked looking into the dark, wild greenery, only laughing when Ace looked comically offended.
“Like this place isn’t burned into my brain,” Ace replied, scoffing as he felt for Sabo’s hand to lead him through the ferns.
Didn’t take long until lush flora surrounded them, tall trees casting dappled shadows on the ground. It had rained recently, jungle air rich with the earthy scent of damp soil and the sweet aroma of blooming flowers.
A cool breeze tempered the warmth of the day, making their trek uphill comfortable despite the exertion.
As they walked, the jungle came alive with the sounds of nature, awakening memories long buried as Sabo honed in on every trill from ten different kinds of birds, all so recognizable that it moved him deeply.
This was how home sounded, making his heart almost sore with homesickness, fourteen years’ worth of needing to hear those birds again hitting him all at once.
“You okay?” Ace checked in, feeling him slow down.
“Mhm,” was all Sabo could hum to reassure him, bittersweet to be back and still aching from having forgotten everything he loved about his childhood here. Feeling betrayed by his body and grateful to have everything back, a confusing battle painful in his chest.
Until Ace stopped his thoughts.
“Hey,” Ace said, holding back like he was bursting to tell Sabo something, “I know a shortcut I think you’ll like. Well, it’s the opposite of a shortcut, but… wanna take the scenic route?”
Sabo nodded, comforted by Ace’s sudden rush of excitement.
Then something else grabbed Ace’s attention. Thorny low-lying brambles dotted with wild red clusters of berries. His eyes lit up, already salivating when he realized what they were.
He paused to pick a sprig, walking backwards with a victorious smile to show Sabo what he found, the thin vine full of the delicious things.
“Mulberries,” Sabo stated the second he recognized them, “Man, we used to eat these until we got sick. They’re so good.”
But when he reached for the vine Ace held out between them, he was shocked when Ace moved it out of his reach.
“The thorns used to mark up your gloves,” Ace told him, “Let me.”
Ace picked out two red ones fading to white near the stem, leaving the dark ones on the vine as they walked.
“You picked the underripe ones for me,” Sabo noticed, laughing and accepting when Ace gently placed them into his mouth.
“Yeah because those are your favorite,” Ace explained, shrugging like it should’ve been common knowledge, “Me and Luffy had to fight over the sweeter ones.”
Sabo’s eyes pinched with enjoyment as he bit into them, dry and sour and perfect like expensive candy. Like sun-dried strawberries dusted with lemon powder. Fuck, they were perfect. Ace was too right about his preferences.
He only swallowed them quickly because Ace was already lifting more to his lips, making him laugh as he accepted more.
“You’re spoiling me,” Sabo mumbled, holding a gloved hand to his mouth after he enjoyed and swallowed the rest.
“Not yet,” Ace told him, licking his own pink-stained lips as his gaze flickered to Sabo’s mouth, picturing how it might taste right now.
“Ace,” Sabo reacted, watching him toss the empty vine to take his hand again and still looking hungrier than the berries could ever satisfy. They shared such a tempting look that it stole his breath.
Ace gave in and kissed Sabo right there in the jungle when they’d barely even started their trek. Ace hummed instantly, liking it even more than he thought. The taste between them was a perfect mix, like pure wine on their tongues.
Sabo leaned into him, deepening the kiss eagerly with a gloved hand threading into his glossy dark hair. Ace’s mouth was so sweet it tempted him to try the darker berries next time, if they tasted even a fraction as good as Ace did.
Ace broke away with a helpless grin, resting against his face with a huff of excitement and his heavy arm around Sabo’s shoulders.
Sabo couldn’t get enough of seeing him like this, cheeks nearly as flushed as his berry-stained lips. Sabo’s eyes took in the sight of him up close under those soft, blond lashes that made Ace lightheaded.
“Fuck, I’m gonna make us late if you keep looking at me like that,” he blamed Sabo with a happy whisper.
“Only time I see you worried about being late, there’s food involved,” Sabo snorted gently, straightening his soft linen shirt with one hand as Ace led him forward again.
“More drink than food where we’re going,” Ace told him with a wink.
And sure enough, it wasn’t long before Sabo’s ears picked up on what Ace meant.
The sound of cascading water filled the air as Ace and Sabo made their way uphill, picking their path carefully around the soggy ground until Sabo felt Ace nudge him, looking up in surprise.
Aged, mossy rock had broken out of the ground forming a crevice that met at the top. From it, water poured forming a stream leading past them into the jungle below.
“I know this place,” Sabo breathed, eyes going wide in amazement. Like a dream coming to life.
Being a cave-like structure, Sabo would’ve expected darkness inside, but when Ace led him into it, the ceiling opened up letting in light from above, and the opening was the source of the water and green vines, letting a loud waterfall pour in with rays of morning sunlight.
Sabo blinked a tear from his eye, watching the cascading water slow down in time until he could see every rainbow scattering from its falling droplets.
In his mind, he could hear it, his own voice telling Ace, ‘Think I remembered something… that waterfall cave…’
And Ace smiling wistfully, saying, ‘We loved that cave.’
Sabo had chills again, feeling Ace’s hands running up his arms over his linen sleeves before hugging him from behind. He rocked him there for a moment, watching the water falling in slow motion with a smile on their faces.
They still had boots on, standing to the side of the cave where water didn’t reach, but the cave was filled with clear water nearly wall-to-wall like a small, private lake of their own. It was impossible to resist.
“Get your shoes off,” Ace whispered in his ear, shuffling slightly as he kicked his own boots away.
“Well, maybe those nice clothes, too.”
Ace pulled off his shorts and stretched his arms as if… he was about to go for a swim?
Sabo watched him for a moment, taking a long second to process this.
“But we…”
Ace seemed to know what he was thinking, winking as he let himself fall backwards into the water, splashing into it and returning to the surface to float near where Sabo stood in amazement.
“You were sad you can’t swim, said it’s your favorite thing to do, so what are you waiting for?” Ace shrugged, “We can swim here. It’s fresh water. Why’d you think I brought you here?”
Sabo’s eyebrows turned up at the overwhelming love that surged through him. It made his hands shake in his urgency to strip everything off, tugging his goggles down fast over his eyes.
Sabo ran barefoot past where Ace was in the water, feet pattering fast over the moss until he reached the edge, taking a leap into the chilly lake with an elated noise that echoed his happiness infinitely around the cave, creating the biggest splash of water he could manage with his dive.
He arced his body deep underwater, surprised at the depth of the modest lake. It was shockingly clear, and just as he touched down to the bottom, he looked up to appreciate the view.
Streams of tiny bubbles escaped his smile as he sat on the mossy rock. He leaned back on both hands so his eyes could take in the sunlight dancing across the water’s distance surface in enchanting patterns.
Ace dipped underwater to get eyes on him, brave enough to try swimming down to him since the water was clear enough to see. It still seemed to make Ace nervous, and he wasn’t the strongest swimmer anymore, but he wouldn’t let that stop him from overcoming this.
He let out air to help him stink, kicking strong arms and legs to join Sabo.
Sabo, delighted, reached for his hand, pulling him easily to slide into his arms. He smoothed Ace’s hair out of his eyes, both of them reveling in the light patterns and the weightlessness. It was like existing in a dream, floating around each other and making each other grin.
Ace let their noses brush, smiles fading as their fingers traced each others skin in the soft sunlight. Heat emanated from Ace’s body, causing his skin to sparkle with water beading across it from the warmth he created. Sabo was drawn to it like a feline, getting closer in the chilly water so Ace could wrap him tightly in his arms.
Ace’s palm heated Sabo’s cold cheek, letting his thumb move softly across his lips and kissing his forehead above his goggles as they revolved with the gentle current underwater.
‘Thank you,’ Sabo tapped, just for being here with him, showing Sabo this place he could swim freely until they were running out of oxygen.
He took Ace’s hand and kicked hard off the bottom, the stronger swimmer helping him quickly to the surface.
Their wet faces broke through, breathing in the air gratefully and clutching for the rocks at the edge of the cave.
Ace helped Sabo get a foothold up the rocks before lifting himself out, both of them taking a few minutes to shake the water off.
They plopped down in a ray of sunlight, soaking in the gentle heat of it.
“Can I dry us faster?” Ace asked, smiling as he peeked over at Sabo with one eye open.
“Go for it,” Sabo replied, basking a little as he felt flames erupt beside him.
‘My little human campfire,’ Sabo thought, fuzzy at the sensation of Ace being his, belonging to him forever.
Sabo slowly got his clothes back on when he felt dry, seeing Ace doing the same with his shorts.
“How was the swim?” Ace asked, smiling at the way Sabo was absolutely glowing at his side.
Sabo had no words, falling back to shamelessly howl into the cave like a wolf pup, letting the echoing howls multiply the happy sound to answer him.
They burst into laughter.
“Fuck, I forgot we used to do that,” Ace laughed, wiping his eyes.
Sabo suddenly hesitated, because…
A third laugh seemed to have joined them.
Sabo pushed back his goggles to trap his damp hair out of his eyes, skin erupting in chills at the sound of his voice.
“Oy, I heard howling. We got wild animals in here?” Luffy asked.
“You’re late,” Ace called with a note of humor, “What, I should’ve promised you food to get you here on time?”
Sabo felt a shift with his Haki reaching out in confusion. The air changed, intense pressure that would’ve been suffocating if he wasn’t strong enough to push back.
Ace felt Luffy’s Haki too, rolling his eyes and nearly telling him to knock it the hell off. But he didn’t interrupt so Sabo could take it in. So he could react to how strong their brother had gotten.
Really strong.
Sabo’s brow knitted, reaching out curiously at him, drawing back in alarm at the strange sensation, like everything felt vaguely hilarious. He felt high for a moment, the kind of delirious humor when he hadn’t slept in over a day, and his body felt lazy with a pleasant tingling everywhere, making him want to laugh like he was a small child again. And then the presence faded, Luffy pulling back his Haki because Ace shot him a look.
“Yeah, that’s enough,” Ace chided, but he cursed when he had to stifle a stupid giggle as Luffy’s powerful energy finally got through to him.
Sabo looked toward the opening at the front of the cave, over to a silhouette standing against the daylight.
Ace hadn’t said his name yet, but Sabo recognized that voice anywhere, even if his Haki was completely new to Sabo.
There was only one person this could be.
“I—“ Sabo managed, stunned, “…Luffy?”
It was.
Luffy let the bag he brought drop carefully where he stood, just now seeing Sabo in person. Barely visible silhouetted against the harsh daylight, Luffy’s lower lip quivered, eyes misting over as if he still refused to believe it was true, that… that…
“It’s really you? …Sabo?” Luffy said.
Ace steadied Sabo because he looked shell-shocked by the sight of their little brother.
Really quietly, just where Ace could hear him, Sabo was having an episode as he felt himself strangely panicking.
“Where’s my baby brother? That’s not him.”
“He’s grown,” Ace told him, nearly laughing, “He’s taller. Got muscle now.”
Sabo ripped his goggles off like it was their fault he lost so much time with Luffy. He looked genuinely broken as Ace fixed both hands around his face to calm him.
“He wasn’t supposed to change this much. I didn’t think he’d grow up this fast. He looks so different,” Sabo lamented under his breath.
“So do you, and you aged so fucking perfect Sabo. Aging means you survived. It’s a good thing, for you and Luffy both,” Ace said full of pride, “I know it’s been awhile, but that’s still our baby right there. He’s just like he was, I promise you. Go say hi.”
Sabo cursed softly, already fighting back tears as he got to his feet with Ace.
The sunlight streaming through the falls cast a shimmering rainbow mist, a magical atmosphere like a painting— it was no wonder that they all liked it here so much. And it surrounded Luffy as he stood opposite them.
“S-Sabo?” Luffy asked again, taking a couple more steps into the cave. He was gripping one arm, hardly even recognizing Sabo as the strange, blond man approached.
His curls had relaxed, or maybe it was the dampness weighing them down. Sabo ruffled his own hair, obviously nervous. His scarred eye was almost all Luffy could see though, gaping openly at the sight the closer he got. And then Sabo was too tall, feeling like he towered over him after so long apart.
But there were those blue eyes Luffy knew, and Sabo had them rounded in concern for him, such a familiar expression. He wriggled his gloves on tighter, a little habit he always had that caught Luffy’s attention now.
His clothes seemed like what he always wore, smart gentlemanly layers of white and blue, and still much too formal for jungle adventures like this. And yet it suited him down to the ground, making Luffy start to smile a little wider the more he began to recognize his brother.
It had been fourteen years since Luffy had thought he lost Sabo, and the pain of that loss had never truly faded.
Sabo stepped forward first, his voice gentle but strong. “Luffy.”
For a moment, Luffy seemed frozen, unable to believe what he was seeing. Then, tears welled up in his eyes and he ran forward, throwing his arms around Sabo. He sank into him like a feather pillow under his tired, grateful face, like the world fatigued him and this was the first time he could breathe again. He didn’t just need one of his brothers, he needed them both, and it hit him like a ton of bricks until he was wailing into Sabo’s vest, scrunching it miserably in his hands.
“Hey, you’re okay,” Sabo told him, his arms circling him securely. Now he recognized his crybaby. His heart swelled to hold him again, quiet his tears again.
“You’re in so much trouble,” Luffy’s voice cracked with emotion as he clung to his brother.
“I know,” Sabo replied quietly, eyes welling up again.
“This doesn’t even feel real,” Luffy added.
“I know,” Sabo managed, repeating it because all he could think about was holding Luffy so tight he’d have crushed him if he wasn’t rubber.
When Luffy squeaked, trying so hard to be brave and not cry, Sabo sniffled loudly against him, his gloved hand moving to comfort his hair.
“It’s okay, Luffy, I’m here,” he said lovingly.
Luffy whimpered his next breath, letting go of all the emotion as he sobbed hard, going limp in his arms to let Sabo hold him up.
Feeling like such a kid again.
For all his strength, Luffy was so weak right now to have his brother’s life restored like this, as if nothing bad had ever happened.
Sabo murmured comforting things as Luffy shivered, his own tears streaming down his face to match as he rocked him slowly.
“I got you, Lu,” Sabo soothed him.
Sabo shouldn’t have made eye contact with Ace, because it only made him choke up harder seeing Ace wiping his own tears.
Ace’s instinct was to turn so they couldn’t see him losing composure, but after everything that tried to separate all three of them in this life, he just didn’t give a shit anymore. He was too happy right now. Seeing these two alive and well was all Ace ever, ever wanted.
Luffy peeked up to look at Sabo’s eyes, amazed at them.
“Are you blind in that eye?” Luffy asked, looking thoroughly impressed by the burned skin.
“No,” Sabo chuckled, swaying Luffy in his arms.
“But it’s lighter blue than your other eye now.”
“Thanks, I didn’t notice,” Sabo told him dryly, but sent him a warm smile as he pinched at Luffy’s cheek.
“Hey, when did you get so tall, huh?” Sabo teased him this time, embarrassing Luffy, “When did you start working out?”
“Sabo,” Luffy complained loudly, laughing as Sabo poked at his biceps, ruffled his hair and kept irritating him on purpose.
Ace watched from a distance, his heart aching. He wanted to join in, but he held back. Punishing himself even if Luffy wouldn’t.
As Luffy and Sabo finally separated, Luffy’s eyes found him.
“Ace,” Luffy said, his voice trying not to get thick with emotion again.
Ace took a hesitant step forward, then stopped, his guilt weighing him down. “Luffy, I…”
Before he could finish, Luffy crossed the distance between them and pulled Ace into a fierce hug.
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Luffy whispered painfully.
“I know you got mad at me,” Ace breathed, holding him so tight that it hurt his own arms. But Ace felt the weight lift from his shoulders because Luffy hugged him back, holding his big brother like he never wanted to let go.
“I got scared,” Luffy said, “You gotta tell me things. Okay?”
“I will,” Ace agreed, his tension starting to unravel the longer Luffy squeezed him.
Luffy pulled back slightly, looking at Ace with a serious expression. His fingers felt the uneven skin on his unclothed back.
Ace held still as Luffy shifted around to look at the scars across Ace’s spine, showing the torture he had endured.
“What did this?” Luffy asked, his thumb swiping it curiously.
Ace and Sabo exchanged looks, neither of them happy. But Sabo gave him a nod, encouraging him to answer.
“It was, um… It was a leather rope,” Ace admitted, “Never seen anything like it before. It sounded like a gunshot but it cut like a blade.”
Luffy’s eyes got round.
“Sugoi,” he breathed, “It hurt?”
Ace laughed, marveling because only Luffy could’ve made him laugh at this.
“No, it was really nice ripping my tattoo in thirds. Yeah Luffy, it hurt.”
“You’ve been through a lot since I saw you last,” Luffy said softly, rubbing his fingers across it like he could make it go away.
“It’s alright, I’d do it all over again for Sabo. He made everything worth it, didn’t he Lu?” Ace said, crossing his arms and deeply meaning the words as he winked across at Sabo.
“Anyway, you haven’t even checked out his back. It’s even cooler. Look. Show him, Sabo.”
Luffy turned to Sabo just as he tugged the shirt and vest over his head and bared his back to him, Luffy’s gaze lingering on the burn scars that marred his pale skin, down his spine and across his shoulder blades.
His youthful eyes widened in awe, taking two steps before rushing to him again.
“Sugoi!” he reacted even louder than he had at Ace’s scars. His palms mapped out the damage the fire had done.
“Sabo, it’s like a big— something with wings! A dragon? Doesn’t it look like that Ace?”
“It does,” Ace confirmed, smiling as he hugged himself.
“Aw, Sabo, it’s so cool…” Luffy complained, taking in the pink shape of burned skin.
Luffy got self-conscious that his back and chest were smooth and unmarked, looking unsatisfied as he ran a hand over his pecs. No mark there, perfect and undamaged.
“Why can’t I have a giant scar like you guys?” Luffy lamented.
“Careful what you wish for,” Ace chided him quietly, “Look, you got plenty. I see Arlong, Kuro, Katakuri… more scars than I can name.”
Luffy examined his own skin like he barely even noticed the marks anymore.
“Yeah, well, you guys still look tougher. But I guess that’s okay cause you’re my older brothers.”
“Oh, we’re allowed to have these scars? Good to know we got your permission,” Sabo told him, tousling his dark hair to make Luffy crack up again.
Then, Luffy noticed Ace getting nosy with the rucksack Luffy set down near the cave’s entrance.
“Oy!” Luffy called, “Not yet.”
Ace lowered the bag with an innocent look.
“Just making sure you brought it.”
“Yeah, it was my idea stupid.”
“Okay, stupid,” Ace mocked in return.
Sabo crossed his arms to eye them both suspiciously, but he didn’t press the matter since they hadn’t told him about it on purpose.
“I guess we should get goin’ then,” Ace added, tossing Luffy his bag, “Unless you want another swim, Sabo? We can take as long as you need.”
“What got into you, Ace, you’re never that nice to me,” Luffy griped, leaping onto his brother’s back like a pet monkey.
“That’s because you’re my little shit that I have to be responsible for,” Ace told him, but there was so much love in his voice that Luffy just hugged his neck tighter, leeching onto him like a gangly koala bear.
Sabo bit his thumb, enjoying watching them interact. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten this, missing them for so long that it put this emotional crater in him that he couldn’t even see. Now it was healed by the sight. His two absolute favorite guys in the whole world.
”Ready?” Ace asked.
“Yeah, think I’m ready,” Sabo agreed, “Wherever it is we’re going, for whatever you planned.”
As they made their way uphill from the waterfall cave, Luffy suddenly veered, eyes fixed on a brightly colored fruit.
“Hey, look at this! Can we eat it?”
Ace sighed, grabbing Luffy by the collar and pulling him back onto the path.
“No, Luffy. Not everything that’s colorful is food. You seriously don’t remember that those make you sick?”
“Even I remember those… ‘Sick Squash’ we named them,” Sabo told Luffy with a note of soft excitement at every memory coming back up.
“Ohh,” Luffy said in ominous recognition, “We used to eat that to get outta house work, didn’t we Ace.”
“Exactly, so maybe you wanna have some self control before you’re too sick to even eat dinner,” Ace chided him.
Luffy’s eyes went round like the threat of that was enough. His stomach growled as if to agree.
“Well, I’m definitely hungry. We’ve been walking forever,” Luffy added.
“It’s been twenty minutes,” Ace corrected with a smirk.
“Forever,” Luffy repeated dramatically.
They climbed over a large fallen tree, Sabo giving Luffy a hand to steady him.
“Everything seemed so much bigger when we were kids,” Sabo told Luffy as he helped him jump down.
“Yeah, you think it got smaller here? Like, the trees shrank?” Luffy asked.
Ace rolled his eyes, he and Sabo breaking into grins side by side now as they walked.
”I’m… guys… I know we’re taller now. I’m kidding,” Luffy insisted, getting his hair ruffled by Sabo and thoroughly enjoying it.
As they walked, they came upon a familiar clearing, their footsteps crunching on the fallen leaves. Sabo looked around curiously, trying to place it.
This part of the mountainside forest seemed completely unchanged. The same towering trees surrounded the open space, and the grass was just as lush and green as it had been years ago.
As they reached the clearing, Sabo’s eyes widened in recognition. The memories of their childhood flooded back, and a smile slowly spread across his face.
“This place…” Sabo began, his voice trailing off.
Luffy nodded enthusiastically.
”Yep! We used to hang out here all the time.”
Ace pulled the backpack from his shoulder.
“And we got something to share with you.”
Sabo raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Luffy helped him rummage through the bag and pulled out an old sake cup and a bottle of sake.
“Since you’re back, Sabo, we have to renew our bond over sake again,” Luffy explained.
Sabo’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You planned this?”
And Sabo smiled, watching Ace pull two matching sake cups from his own pocket, meeting his look.
“You have mine?” Sabo asked, amazed.
“I almost couldn’t keep it, you know,” Ace admitted to Sabo’s shiny eyes, their fingers grazing as Ace handed it over, “I did want it, but so did Luffy.”
“Said it made him sad, but when I tried to take it he nearly punched me trying to get it out of my hands,” Luffy said, setting his cup down on the stump to focus on the bottle.
Sabo looked down at the shallow vessel, touching it briefly to his lips. The second he had it pressed there, his mind flashed with a vision of Ace pressing his own lips to Sabo’s sake cup, all those years ago. Just for one soft kiss goodbye.
His eyes rounded sadly, looking to see Ace giving him the same look.
But they weren’t here to grieve, now. They were here to celebrate each other.
Luffy poured sake into each cup, his movements deliberate and careful. One for Sabo, one for Ace, and filled one for himself. They stood in a circle, holding their cups up.
“To us,” Ace said simply, a warm smile on his face.
“Yeah, to us,” Luffy echoed, his grin infectious.
Sabo raised his cup.
“To the best brothers anyone could ask for.”
They drank deeply, the sake warm and familiar, soaking in the significance of the moment.
The clearing, the cups, and their bond hadn’t changed a bit, much more significant than the years and challenges they’d all separately faced.
Here on Dawn Island, where no one cared what their titles were, they were just a trio again, and it felt nice to cast the weight off for a little while.
As they climbed the hill further, trees began to thin, revealing patches of open sky. The path grew steeper, the air thin but fresh. Sabo’s steps quickened in anticipation, a sense of homecoming washing over him.
And then, there it was.
Nestled atop the hill, Dadan’s house stood, and sure it was old, but somehow unchanged. The sight of the weather-beaten house brought a lump to every one of their throats.
How much suffering they all endured since they left this wonderful place.
The brothers exchanged a look, their faces breaking into wide smiles.
Home.
Sabo stepped into Dadan’s old house first, floors creaking underfoot as he caught the familiar scent of tobacco.
A wave of nostalgia washed over him, amazed how every corner of Dadan’s house held a memory, a piece of their shared past.
In the living room, Sabo noticed a cracked window pane. He couldn’t help grinning, remembering how Luffy had dived headfirst into the glass while trying to catch a giant insect.
The splintered door frame near the kitchen caught his eye next. The damage from one of their countless wrestling matches where he’d been thrown into the door.
Sabo’s eyes found the small burn hole in one of the sofa cushions. The sight had him hearing Dadan’s gruff voice scolding them for the accidental scorch they made stealing one of her cigarettes.
The walls of the narrow staircase were still scuffed. Each mark caused by their races to the top with the pushing, shoving and laughter that belonged to it.
All memories that made him smile wistfully.
The chaos, the general filth of the place was such a contrast to High Town, but Sabo appreciated Dadan’s home in a more special way than Ace or Luffy. Because he gave up everything for this place and never once looked back, owing to it some of the best times of his childhood.
Of course, then there was Dadan herself.
She grabbed Sabo first, and all he could do was let her squeeze the life out of him. He listened to her warm voice thoroughly gripe at him for getting so tall and staying away so long, for dying and for not ever telling her he survived. For breaking her heart like no one ever broke it before.
She brought Ace and Luffy into the same hug, gathering them up so tight that Sabo and Ace both cried out at the horror that was Luffy’s armpit smell. Luffy had never been happier.
Soon after Ace and Sabo had departed from the ship, it didn’t take long for Luffy’s crew to start mixing in with the Spade Pirates, some trickling to one ship, some trickling to the other.
But it was kind of a big deal when Nami visited the Spadille, and now was as good a time as any, considering the Sunny and Spadille sat not too far from each other off the Dawn Island coast.
Leonero nearly broke the kitchen door in his haste to pull a chair out onto the deck, setting the cleanest, newest chair down proudly in front of Nami.
She took a seat gratefully, grinning and looking up as Cornelia offered her his hand.
“I think I can sit down by myself, but thank you both,” Nami told the men, adjusting her bikini top as they looked on to see if she needed anything else.
“Welcome back, lil’ lady,” Saber said on his approach, grinning when Nami whipped around to give him a stunned glare, pulling her sunglasses down to assess him.
“Get in line, cowboy,” Nami sighed, ignoring him to settle back into her chair.
“What do you boys even do around here all day?”
“We like to have a little shoot-off,” Saber explained, drawing a pistol to twirl it artfully for her.
She frowned, but looked impressed enough.
“Okay, I’m intrigued. Show me the best you got,” Nami relented, tucking her ginger hair behind one ear in the unrelenting sun.
“It it too hot, Nami-san?” Skull asked her, wringing his hands nearby, “A lot of us have kimonos you could borrow.”
“Okay,” Nami agreed, laughing slightly because even Sanji didn’t dote on her this obsessively, “But listen, I only need one, alright? Not like ten of them. I’ll judge your target practice for the honor if it matters that much.”
At least three men halted in the process of removing theirs, shrugging them back on awkwardly.
Saber holstered his gun with a sigh, seeing as he had no kimono to give, but nevertheless went to set up the targets they used along the rail. One was missing, but he wasn’t really surprised.
“Best trick shot wins,” Saber announced, “You losers are just lucky I don’t have a horse in this race. Winner gets to put his personal kimono on this lovely, lovely woman.”
Across the deck, Sanji’s head whipped around in sudden outrage.
“What the hell is going on?”
Chopper was on him immediately, reaching up to block his view.
“He’s talking about Banshee, he’s talking about Banshee!”
Sanji frowned, halting in his tracks as he looked over to where Banshee sat airing out her washed underwear.
“Really?”
”Yes!” Chopper convinced him in a desperate, high-pitched screech, his little hooves pawing to attend to his frown, pushing it into an unwilling smile.
The last thing Chopper wanted was the two crews clashing tempers.
For his trick shot, Cornelia tied up his long, purple hair, then flipped open a mirror and turned his back to the target.
Nami’s lips parted, watching the handsome man aim the pistol over his shoulder, calculating in the mirror before finally pulling the trigger.
“Eh?” Nami couldn’t help but say when it hit the mark, leaning forward in her seat as Cornelia sent her a smug look.
“I think you’ll like mine better, Nami,” Leonero told her with a suave smile, sliding a playing card from his suit jacket.
Nami watched him flick the card with precision, jarring her as it stuck dead-center on the next target board. Then her awe deepened when he clicked his pistol’s hammer back, lined up his shot, then looked directly into her eyes before firing, slicing clean down the card’s hairline width.
Nami slid forward in the seat, hand clapping over her mouth, too openly entertained to remember she was playing ice queen with them.
Leonero and Cornelia exchanged competitive looks.
“Who’s next?” Saber asked, “Kukai? You learn any tricks in Wano Kuni?”
“Not interested,” the kimono-clad gunman said abruptly, not looking up from cleaning his pistols.
Near him, Zoro had abandoned his shirt to take a long nap on the deck, leaned peacefully against warm, purring Kotatsu. The green-haired man was completely for show, unconscious but his muscles rippled beautifully against the fur as he breathed.
Not only that, Kukai admired the scars stretched long and impressive across his tanned chest, and the scar cutting down his left eye that’d also damaged his thick green brow and eyelashes, leaving a slice of them missing as his lashes fluttered slightly in his sleep.
It’s not like Kukai was trying to look, he just happened to notice the same things every rare time Luffy’s swordsman visited. The Straw Hats were always gone too long, so Kukai found it hard not to stare.
“Who’s next then?” Saber continued, snapping impatiently.
“I could throw my hat in the ring,” Mihar volunteered from above, making several of the crew immediately whine.
“Teachie, not fair.”
“Aw, c’mon Teach!”
“Let him shoot,” Nami defended, giving the sniper above a thumbs up.
“You won’t regret it,” Mihar assured her as Cornelia and Leonero groaned at her side.
From the crow’s nest, Mihar leaned out with his rifle, but he wasn’t aiming for the target, but to a point on the lower mast’s metal plating.
“Teachie?” Nami said nervously.
Mihar just smirked, firing to ricochet a bullet off the mast, sparks flying off the curved metal before the projectile blew smack through his target’s center.
“Ohhhh,” Chopper squealed.
“Sugoi,” Nami breathed, floored as she stood from the chair in surprise.
Mihar rested his chin in his hand shyly, winking down at Nami after being flattered by her reaction.
Sanji was already fuming again, held back by Chopper’s antlers as he pressed into him like a ram.
“Huh, I think I could do with a snack, maybe a beverage?” Nami mentioned, fanning her face and sitting back down in the shade.
“Nami-san,” Tallis offered gently, “I could make you something. Name it and I’ll do my best.”
Sanji went beet red at that, breaking free from Chopper to brandish a finger in Tallis’ bewildered face.
“No—! Sanji—!” Chopper squealed.
“You won’t do a damn thing,” Sanji spat, “That’s my job. And that is my Nami-swan.”
But Sanji stopped, frowning suddenly over his shoulder to see an old fishing knife an inch away in the grip of Masked Deuce, his eyes deadly serious behind the leather mask.
Deuce smirked.
“It’s all love, but don’t talk to him that way. Get it?”
To Sanji’s right, another blade glinted. This one was attached to a polearm, and the long weapon was in the hands of a very small man in desert attire.
Finamore leered up at him, making Sanji roll his eyes.
Sure, if it was a legitimate pissing contest, it would be a different story with Sanji’s honed skill against their… normal skill, but it wasn’t about strength or ability here.
He’d grown past settling issues with violence. He was mature now. Fighting is losing, he reminded himself. No way these scrubs could goad him into a fight. That would mean they got under his skin.
Sanji grudgingly held up his hands, taking a couple steps back.
But the way Tallis gave him the smallest smirk had Sanji’s blood pressure shooting up again, facing away just to recover.
Oh… he might have to fight that cocky Zoan. He might have to teach that new fucking cook.
“Back up, love,” Tallis told Deuce quietly, yellow eyes boring into the back of Sanji’s skull.
“Why?” Deuce asked, shifting himself back a few steps.
Sanji’s leg erupted, whipping around to find his leg trapped by Tallis’ blocking hand.
And Sanji hadn’t used his full strength to kick, but Tallis hadn’t used his full strength to block either. It was just a test, they both knew, sizing each other up.
Sanji watched Tallis’ hand clench his burning leg unharmed, galvanized by Armament.
“Stop it you guys!” Chopper wailed.
They shook each other off, a similar note of disgust between them.
Sanji’s hands had a tremor, but it was a habitual jitter that had him hastily working a lighter and carton from his suit jacket.
“No smoking here, I’m afraid,” Deuce informed him, sliding into the cook’s view.
Sanji gave him a slightly deranged look from under his eye-obscuring fringe.
“You said what?”
“Vice-Captain said no smoking, nakama,” Mihar repeated, tipping his hat respectfully when Sanji looked at him next.
“New rule?” Sanji asked distastefully, not able to stop himself from glancing at the new crew member, Tallis.
Tallis dipped his head to acknowledge Sanji’s suspicions.
“Can I ask why?” Sanji replied, keeping his tone impressively in check considering his stress level.
“Marmont,” Tallis admitted, chewing on his cheek nervously, “Used to make me smoke with him. After.”
Sanji didn’t know what that meant, but he knew the name, and that alone made his jaw set, nodding as his eyes cast away.
But his eyes fell on Zoro, and was that bastard sleeping? Using feral, flea-bitten Kotatsu for a pillow no less?
No.
No way was he combing Mosshead for fleas later.
“Oy,” Sanji called, absolutely projecting his frustration in the only direction he could.
Zoro’s good eye peeled open from his nap, knowing the exact volume and tone when Sanji wanted his attention no matter what word he used.
“Hnn?” Zoro grunted crankily, legs and ankles crossed for comfort with his shirt off.
Kotatsu looked up too, annoyed that Sanji made his sleeping partner shift.
“Why are you here if you’re napping the whole time, Marimo? Nami’s up to her ears in unwanted male attention. So am I, frankly! You’re letting your own nakama get harassed.”
“Curls, if this is about that new cook, he could fry you up for all I care. Shut up.”
Sanji’s arms folded, weight shifting moodily.
“I should shut up? Okay. You should’ve stayed your ass on the Sunny so no one has to look at you. You’re even distracting Kukai with your disgusting tits out. He’s trying to work.”
“No one’s looking at me, Curly,” Zoro sighed, “Especially not Ace’s Wano-man.”
But that’s where Zoro was wrong.
Kukai was still cleaning his pistols nearby, but the second Zoro mentioned him, his kimono happened to slide down one shoulder, shyly baring half his toned chest in the older man’s direction.
Then Kukai shook his long hair down, slowly stroking oil down his firearm’s barrel for Zoro to see.
Zoro had to double-take at the phallic gesture before he realized what he was seeing, instantly wishing he hadn’t, his good eye looking away.
Kukai’s dark, exposed nipple seemed to be staring at Zoro too, making the swordsman grumble because there was no way to go back to sleep like this.
The gunman noticed Wado Ichimonji, Sandai Kitestu and Enma stacked neatly at his side.
“You got something to say?” Zoro murmured.
Kukai wanted to say many things to Zoro.
“Just… if you ever need a fourth sword…” Kukai suggested longingly, taking the chance to wink with femme, kohl-smudged eyes.
Wine-stained lips.
Taking another long, slow stroke of the barrel.
With undisguised horror, Sanji watched Zoro clear his throat, cheekbones tinting pink with embarrassment as he gathered his swords hastily. The swordsman was good at pretending to be unaffected until it came to being propositioned.
“Cook, I think I will head back to the Sunny, on second thought,” Zoro decided breathlessly, “Left my, um, flask there.”
Eh? First Nami, now even Zoro was getting flirted with? Zoro didn’t even know what to do when people flirted, Sanji stewed.
This made Sanji’s offended look alternate from Kukai to Tallis just as the young man slid arms around Deuce’s shoulders with a possessive look. Then watched Mihar slip his kimono off his own muscular shoulders to slide it gently up Nami’s bare arms.
That was his boiling point, eyes flashing like the lid blew off a pressure cooker.
“What is with you people? You can’t treat our crew like ‘Matey’s Match Dating Service’! Where did Ace recruit you all? A fucking gentleman’s parlor? Male-staffed brothels?”
The Spade Pirates found his multiple outbursts comical already, but Saber chose that moment to lasso Sanji’s belt buckle, whipping the whole belt free from his trousers in front of the entire crew.
They howled and spewed beer, losing all composure as Sanji stood there in steaming, bitter defeat.
It was hard to be angry when he spotted an actual giant hee-hawing, Ossamundo affectionately calling him “funny-man.”
Sanji weakly accepted an apologetic cup of sake from Deuce, toasting to him before downing the whole thing in one go like a man who never needed alcohol more in his life.
It was a huge frustration not to have a lit cigarette between his fingers, but god damn their sake almost made up for it.
Ahiru was glad to miss out on the drama and gunfire causing a ruckus in the Piece of Spadille. She much preferred the beautiful grass, comfy loungers and the unexpectedly pleasant company of the resident archaeologist on the Thousand Sunny.
“For a moment, I was happy to see Ace had finally recruited a cyborg. It’s a shame you can’t stay,” Robin mused, poring over the blueprints Ahiru had stretched out between them.
“So much to do at Baltigo still,” Ahiru replied, “But with Chief spending so much time aboard that pirate ship, I couldn’t help but notice his crew is lacking in, well, this kind of fire power.”
“So you’re outfitting some of the crew with cybernetic enhancements to keep Sabo safer on the Spadille.”
“Precisely,” Ahiru agreed, but her irises whirred, examining Robin’s unique eyes with interest.
“And how did Ace react when you told him your plans?”
“Captain was over the moon at the idea of a cyborg crew,” Ahiru laughed, “I needed blood types for each of his nakama, so he was the first to know besides Chief.”
This intrigued Robin, watching Ahiru’s mechanical irises adjust.
“That so? Franky never mentioned anything like that before.”
“Well, only three of Captain’s crew are candidates for the enhancements designed for myself. They share my blood type so they shouldn’t reject the modifications.”
Robin turned the sheet to read Ahiru’s notes.
“Cornelia, Leonero and Finamore.”
“That’s right,” Ahiru said, trying to sag more comfortably into her lounger to mirror Robin but her posture was too rigid even when she attempted to look more human.
“I haven’t had to design legs until now, but I’ll be able to make any modifications Finamore needs when he adjusts to his new height,” Ahiru explained, settling for sitting up straight.
Robin sat up straighter to match, giving her a covert glance over lowered sunglasses.
“I’m curious how you create working limbs on your first attempts?“
Ahiru’s already bionic eyes went even more vacant. She’d been a child experiment that the army recovered from a government facility. Vegapunk had helped her, built a chip to save her mind. It seemed that the man gave her all the knowledge she needed to rebuild herself. And that’s what she’d done.
“I didn’t mean to put you on the spot,” Robin assured her in that soft calming voice.
Before Robin even thought about it, her disembodied hands were already reaching to caress Ahiru’s shoulders supportively. But Robin waved them away in horror, like it’d been their idea with apologetic eyes.
“I’ve lived a blessed life with the revolutionaries. I appreciate your concern, civill— or— Robin.”
Robin’s eyes smiled just as much as her soft lips, so distracted and drawn in by Ahiru’s haunting stare…
…that she almost didn’t realize one of her projected hands was stroking Ahiru’s cheek with the back of her fingers.
“Ah!” Robin gasped, using her real hand to slap away the unattached one like some naughty, devious thing with its own mind to touch her new friend. Perhaps her hands were only following her sympathy but she didn’t need them acting out every single intrusive thought she had.
Ahiru reacted with innocent confusion, letting Robin laugh it off sheepishly.
The cyborg straightened up her schematics, making Robin remember she was the one who’d asked to see.
Robin let her eyes wander the blueprints, examining detailed weapon schematics. It wasn’t really her area of expertise, this beam-creating technology, but she’d heard enough of Franky’s excited ramblings to make conversation.
“How do you power something like this?” Robin asked gently, her fingertips carefully mapping the advanced drawings.
“My drive core,” Ahiru replied, sliding open a panel to reveal a sparking device inside, “It’s similar to a dial Chief collected for me.”
Ahiru mistakenly thought they were alone, but flinched when her eyes zoomed in fast on a dressed skeleton watching them with binoculars. Her arm powered up with a harsh whine.
“Where do you keep this ‘drive core,’ and is it too late to see it, yo-ho?” the frightening creature laughed across the deck.
Robin giggled, so Ahiru grudgingly relaxed, shutting down her rapidly heating arm.
“This power source is something Franky might be interested in,” Robin told her.
That’s when a loud, “OW!” made Ahiru nearly jump out of her skin, raising her weapon on instinct again.
Man, two beautiful women discussing robotic parts? Franky had never crashed in faster, landing with the most disgusting display of peacocking Ahiru ever witnessed.
“Super! Franky!” he announced with a waggling of his hips, posing his BF-37’s proudly.
Ahiru recoiled, pulling her blueprints closer in shock and cringing at his barely covered bulge flopping much too close for comfort as he danced. That tuft of blue happy trail above his package only added to the lewdness.
His enhancements were what Ahiru noticed next, though, too bulky and disproportionate. Maybe he wasn’t necessarily compensating for something, but she still found his arms absolutely egregious. Men were such fucking size queens, she thought with a roll of her eyes.
“You’ll have to excuse our nakama,” Robin explained softly, sprouting hands around Franky to get his showboating under control.
Her hands even had to pin his mouth shut to muffle, “You can’t stop my super performance, Robin!”
“Did you have something to add, civilian? Or do you just crave attention at all times?” Ahiru asked coldly, but instead of deflating him, it only seemed to deepen his interest.
“Oh it’s both, Officer Ladybot,” Franky assured her suggestively, then snatched one of her designs before she could protest.
Robin gave up on policing him, content to just cover her own mouth so Ahiru wouldn’t see that she found her gross cohort amusing.
“Ohhh,” Franky reacted, biting his lip as he got a little too excited looking at the mech parts Ahiru drew up.
Ahiru reacted with horror when he blushed, suddenly folding her schematics to cover his, um, new problem.
“Eh-heh. Sorry, I think I like your designs,” Franky chuckled sheepishly as Brook chortled beside him.
“You’re keeping that copy,” Ahiru informed him disgustedly, “Don’t even think of handing back that soiled paper.”
“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Franky protested, unfolding it to examine again, “Hey, super salvageable. Look, here? Inject a little cola? Super powerful beams.”
“I don’t want your cola fueling my designs,” Ahiru said, dropping goggles back over her eyes to ignore the lewd cyborg.
“Well, maybe I don’t want your power cells fueling my designs.”
“This from a grown man whose scanties are on backwards?” Ahiru shot back.
Franky only looked pleased by that, peering down at his bulge and roughly tucking the tag back into the seam.
“You looking at my super speedo, bionic woman?”
Ahiru’s lip curled.
“Alright, alright,” Franky relented, unfazed as he gestured at his bulky mech arm.
“You just let Franky know when you need his BF-37’s and he’ll put ‘em to good use for you.”
“That’s a no-go—“
Franky opened his mouth to speak.
“Indefinitely,” Ahiru added sharply, cutting him off.
Robin stifled another laugh.
But they were interrupted by Zoro stalking up from the crew quarters. He surprised everyone by only speaking to the cyborg, not bothering to announce himself or give her any context at all.
“You going back to the Spadille?” Zoro asked Ahiru, not acknowledging anyone else on his quiet mission.
The visiting cyborg hesitated, taken aback to be addressed for the first time by a moody swordsman she’d never even seen before. Too surprised to be offended by his lack of manners or introductions.
“Aye, swordsman,” Ahiru confirmed.
She stood to her feet, eyes zooming and assessing him, including the dark glass bottle he was working free from his green haramaki.
So when he tossed her the bottle, she caught it easily.
“For the Wano-man,” was all Zoro muttered, and before Ahiru could even understand what happened, he was already climbing the crow’s nest.
“What does it mean?” Ahiru asked as Robin peered over her shoulder.
It was a red wine bottle. Most surprisingly, coming from Zoro, it was even unopened.
And over the number six on the label’s printed year, a sun and a crow were drawn in ink, clearly some code whose meaning Ahiru could not decipher.
Robin smiled beside her, resting her chin on the cyborg’s shoulder as she examined the symbols Zoro had inked above the six.
“Any idea?” Ahiru prompted.
“If I am interpreting this correctly… I believe the crow is a location, while the sun shows a time,” Robin translated, “This type of secret meeting system is used in Wano.”
“Why would the swordsman need a secret meeting?” Ahiru wondered.
“Couldn’t say for sure,” Robin stated fairly, “But it’s possible the two crews will be seeing a lot more of each other from here on out. Makes sense for everyone to get to know each other.”
“Ah. A goodwill offering. A meeting between warriors of separate ships to symbolize two groups uniting,” Ahiru summarized confidently, feeling she fully understood the situation now.
Robin only smiled, blushing.
“Yes. I’m sure that’s all it is.”
Marco smirked slightly watching Tallis’ gaze follow Sanji’s every move— and just because Marco knew his type of Zoan, it nearly looked like Tallis was hunting him.
“Not a fan of Sanji, eh?” Marco asked.
“Seems harmless enough,” Tallis tried to say. It wasn’t a crime to be hotheaded, just definitely put him on guard.
They both watched Sanji serve Nami a cup of tea, still aboard the Spadille, but only Tallis averted his eyes as Nami spewed her first sip of tea in disgust.
Sanji only needed one sip from her teacup to understand what happened.
And then his eyes raged.
“Salt? In the sugar dish, Tallis?” Sanji demanded, “You knew I was about to use it.”
The second Marco caught Tallis’ eyes, he knew he was guilty. But Marco only sighed, apologizing to Sanji.
“My fault. I was trying to help, and I guess I didn’t pay attention when I filled it, yoi,” Marco explained gently, and almost immediately Sanji’s anger faded in surprise.
Tallis crumpled, but Sanji seemed too put off to notice, muttering his own short apology and telling Marco it was no big deal.
That left Tallis staring after Sanji in disbelief as he walked away, giving Marco the same look.
“What was that for? You should’ve just let me take the heat. It really was me,” Tallis complained.
“Yes, I know, but he didn’t need to know that,” Marco pointed out patiently.
“These things backfire. More often on people you care about than people you don’t. Because who drank the salt? Nami. And who took responsibility? Someone that wants to see you make friends, not enemies.”
Tallis was aghast.
But Marco wasn’t upset, he even smiled softly at Tallis… and Tallis didn’t feel much like he deserved such understanding, eyes burning and skin flushing red.
“Why don’t you just get mad at me?” Tallis wondered miserably, because that would be so much easier than this guilt.
But the guilt was the point. Getting Tallis to understand how to be a good man was the point.
“Because I used to do shit like that all the time,” Marco shrugged, “Eventually, I learned a better way to treat people. Even people that rubbed me the wrong way, like Luffy’s opinionated cook, yoi.”
Tallis shifted, his arms crossing like Marco’s without even realizing it.
“You just figured everything out yourself?”
Marco smiled, eyes crinkling.
“Not even close. I had an adopted father. My first ever captain. Me and the crew called him Oyaji, our Pops. The only one we ever had. There’s nothing wrong with needing a role model to set you right.”
Tallis looked down, mulling over his words heavily in his mind.
He had always yearned for someone to look up to, someone who could guide him and make him feel like he belonged. His eyes got worried, scared how Marco would react, but he asked the question anyway.
“Marco,” Tallis said barely above a whisper, “Do you think it would be weird if I… if I called you Oyaji?”
The question hung in the air, heavy with emotion. Marco’s heart skipped a beat, a sting in his eyes. He saw the vulnerable, hopeful expression on Tallis’ face. A reflection of Marco’s younger self, looking up to Oyaji with the same longing for guidance.
Tears welled up in Marco’s eyes, and he placed a hand on Tallis’s shoulder, his touch warm and reassuring.
“No,” Marco said, his voice choked with emotion.
”It wouldn’t be weird at all.”
Tallis’ eyes filled with tears, and he nodded, a smile breaking through his sadness. Marco pulled him into a hug, seeing how much he needed it.
Hell, maybe Marco needed it even more.
Good kid.
Really good kid.
Across the globe, a world away from Spades, Straw Hats and Revolutionaries, there was at least one more wrong being set right…
The World Economy News Paper had made their headquarters in a large airship— a blimp shaped somewhat like a tea kettle with the inscription "WE NEWS."
And this airship held enough partitioned rooms to house none other than Big News Morgans and his journalist staff. An emperor of the underworld and his shady underlings.
And after so many years of trying to get ahold of the man, the myth, the legend: Monkey D. Garp… Morgans couldn’t have been more delighted to hear his voice calling over transponder.
“Vice-Admiral! …Garp the Hero, Garp the Fist, Garp’s the hero the world has missed,” Morgans greeted in an obnoxious sing-song voice, crossing two taloned legs up on his desk.
One of Garp’s biggest fans.
Garp shivered listening to him sing that dreadful tavern song. It was even worse being screeched off-key by an albatross that didn’t even get the lyrics right.
“Is this you finally responding to my interview requests? After all these years?” Morgans asked— and even in his fifties he sounded childishly delighted over transponder with his hero.
“About that…” Garp responded gruffly, “You ran a false story a few issues ago. I’d like it publicly recanted. On the front page.”
The albatross made a hesitant clack with his beak, trilling nervously.
“Ooo, well… My team has already put together next issue’s spread. Not sure they can scrape together an entirely new headline in time. Not to mention a photo.”
But Garp wouldn’t have placed this call without putting preparations in order first.
“You’ll find the article has already been put together. Along with a suitable photo. It’s been faxed to you. Seeing as you’ve provided your contact information to me no less than eighty-two times, I took the liberty of using it.”
Morgans’ eyes wided as his assistant brought a small stack of paper through his office door to lay on his desk.
“Ah. I see,” Morgans replied, “I take it you’re offering me something for doing this for you?”
Garp groaned slightly.
“I’ll do your interview, but I’d like to review it before you publish, seeing as you’ve become more of a weasel than a bird lately.”
Morgans shifted through the papers.
“Who…? Wrote this? It’s exceedingly… decent. And that’s high praise from me, by the way.”
“That photo collected dust in my desk for nigh on fifteen years now, but I can’t take credit for that article. The writer, well… He didn’t demand to be anonymous, but my gut says a man who wears a mask doesn’t wish to be publicly named any more than he wishes to be publicly seen.”
“How mysterious, Garp the Fist… wait, is ‘Mister Fist’ better? Or we could make it rhyme in the article. ‘Mister Fister’!”
“Don’t call me that, son.”
Morgans let out a nervous chuckle.
“Of course. Silly me.”
“Or I’ll hunt you down myself.”
“Mhm!” the albatross squeaked.
“Lucky little shits. Your names have been cleared,” Dadan happily announced to the boys, a little excited to slap down the latest newspaper on the table.
Luffy jumped to his feet, leaning over the front page with his brothers.
Sabo’s mouth was tugged by a smile. He couldn’t help but assume…
“Koala? What, did she strangle Morgans until he changed his colors?”
“Who’s that?” Luffy asked.
“Koko,” Sabo reminded him, smiling at his ‘ohhhhh’ expression.
“Even though it’s something she’d do, this has Jiji written all over it,” Ace informed them, turning the folded papers to the light.
Ace smiled softly at the old photo of the three of them, hanging all over each other with stupid, innocent little grins. If the world wanted to know who they were inside, their purest selves, this was it. And it appeared Garp hadn’t forgotten it either, to have kept this photo safe with him all this time.
It set Ace’s jaw on edge, how much the soft gesture meant to him.
“Ji-san? He didn’t have to do this,” Luffy said, almost bothered to know Garp must’ve had to trade something, pay or sacrifice something for Morgans to publish it.
“No, he sure didn’t,” Ace agreed, lips pressing thin so they wouldn’t tremor.
And Sabo noticed something else about the article too.
“This… article about us says such glowing things. Who would write something this heartfelt? It doesn’t seem like words Jiji would use either. Emotional language. Who even knows us all well enough to write this?”
“I dunno anyone that writes this good,” Luffy shrugged unhelpfully.
“I do,” Ace murmured suspiciously, another smile creeping into his face.
“An adventure originating, not on the shores of Sixis, but the mountains of Dawn Island,” Ace added, noticing the line with a shake of his head and knowing eyes.
“It’s Deu?” Sabo understood.
“Oh! Masky finally got published?” Luffy reacted, grinning over the article with them, “Sugoi… guys, we’re famous now.”
“Says the emperor? Says the king?” Ace laughed.
Says their brother…
The most famous pirate.
Notes:
May update at some point 🖤 Also dying of curiosity to know what you guys thought / how you reacted to any part of the ending if you’re not too shy to share.
But mainly I just wanna thank anyone who read any of this whether it was a couple chapters or all 300k. And most especially every baby angel that commented and really kept me going the whole time.
Even if you couldn’t find the words, seeing all of you subscribing was crazy cool and really touched my heart - thank y’all so so much.
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