“Would it have made a difference? If we had known?”

by soulwing3

Summary:

Shanks and Buggy talk about Ace and Roger at the end of Marineford.

One-shot.

Notes:

It always bothered me that the anime/manga never went into how Shanks and Buggy felt about Ace being their captain's son. I feel like that's an important and emotional conversation that they need to have. This isn't exactly it but I still wanted to write something about that.

“Did you know?” Buggy came up behind Shanks and stopped next to him. They stood right before the body of Portgas D. Ace, covered by a blood-stained white sheet. “Did you know that he was Captain Roger’s…?” He did not say the last word aloud. It hung in the air around them just as heavy as the smoke and ash of the battle. Just as painful as the blood and gore.

Son.

Shanks looked at Buggy for a moment, then turned back to the young man’s body. “No.”

Shanks had suspected that there was more to Fire Fist Ace when they had met during that snowstorm. He was Luffy’s brother, sure, and that was enough for Shanks to call him a friend, but there was something in Ace’s eyes, something in his smile and the way that he referred to Roger’s name as ‘Gol D’ instead of ‘Gold.’ A few older people knew the Pirate King’s true name but because of over twenty years of propaganda, all younger folks believed he really was always called ‘Gold.’ How did this young up-start from the East Blue know Roger’s real name?

Shanks suspected that Vice Admiral Garp had been the one to tell him. But why? Garp surly remembered Roger’s real name as Garp himself had that mysterious ‘D’ in the middle of his own as well. But why tell his adopted grandson that the Navy has been lying about the Pirate King’s real name for longer than that grandson had even been alive?

It all made sense now. That adopted grandson had been the Pirate King’s own blood son. The man who Shanks and Buggy were also sons of. Different types of sons, but sons all the same.

“Did you know?” Shanks asked Buggy in return.

Buggy did not answer, merely shaking his head in silence as he let out a strained breath. Buggy had only met Ace once, the same as Shanks, but had no inkling of their connection.

Then, “Would it have made a difference? If we had known?” He took his eyes away from the still body of his captain’s son and looked back into Shanks’ eyes. The Emperor regarded him with a sadness that Buggy had not seen in him since Roguetown all those years ago.

“I don’t know,” Shanks lowered his eyes. “We’ll never know.”