This was for the 2016 OPScifiandFantasy Event on Tumblr.
Cover art was also done by me as accompaniment to this story.
To view it fully go to [ kurapikababu .tumblr post/148200761700/reflecting-on-ghosts-she-let-out-a-soft-breath ] (Remove the spaces obviously)


"What do I do…?" Sabo asked, gazing forlornly into the mirror in his room. He didn't bother with having the lights on, as the window to his room provides enough natural light. However, it was nearing the end of the day and the sun was beginning its descent in the sky. As time ticked onwards, the ever vanishing sun was starting to cast ghastly shadows across his room.

Soon enough there was almost no light in his room. Well, to the average observer there was almost no light.

But not to Sabo. No, he could see it.

Rather, he could see him.

The spirit of his dearly departed brother, Portgas D Ace was hovering softly, just over his shoulder. His gossamer form was giving off a soft warm glow; it was just enough to keep the room lift for Sabo to not be in complete darkness.

"You know...when you said we'd meet again somewhere out on the seas one day, this isn't quite how I imagined it Bo."

Sabo gave his brother a flat, unamused look. "That's not funny, Ace."

Ace just simply shrugged. "Ah, well. Not like I can really do anything about it. Unless you happen to come across some kind of fruit that lets you revive the dead.."

Sabo shook his head. 'Were Ace's jokes always this bad?' he wondered to himself.

"Even if I did come across such an amazing fruit like that. It's not the one I want." Sabo told him seriously. Ace stared at him. "I'm going to get your fruit Ace. I'm going to get the Mera Mera no Mi." Ace smirked at him.

"You'd better. I'll be pissed if you let some other idiot eat my fruit. And Lu can't eat it since he's already got a fruit. So.."

Sabo's serious expression fell at the mention of their missing younger brother. "Ace….it's almost been two years… How come no one has seen him? He's an infamous pirate whose face has been plastered all across the 6 oceans. What if something happened to him? What if-"

"Yo. Calm down there! If something had happened to him, you know he'd be here with me haunting you too. Relax. I'm sure he's fine. Gotta remember the last time anyone saw him was with Jinbei and the Dark King. I can't speak for Rayleigh, but I know damn well Jinbei won't let anything happen to Luffy. He's fine, Sabo." Ace reassured him.

"But..what if-"

"Sabo!" Ace cut him off before he could begin another tired of panicking. "If you're that worried about him...then go out and look for him. Instead of sulking in your dark bedroom." This was not the first time they had had this conversation and it likely would not be the last one. Sabo had actually lost count of how many times they'd had this discussion since he first discovered he could see Ace.

Sabo was tired. Way beyond tired. It had been a few months since that day that he woke up with his memories back, and it's been nonstop exhausting since then. Akainu took over the Marines and they've been more aggressive, hounding after the Revolutionaries relentlessly.

If it wasn't dealing with the Marines, it was dealing with the day to day work of of the Army.

If if wasn't Revolutionary work, it was his fatigue from adjusting to all these 'new' memories and trying to hunt down what he'd missed over the past 11 years. Finding information for Ace had been fairly easy. The man understood nothing about the word subtle. Luffy on the other hand…. It was like looking at an incomplete puzzle. He'd pop up at just random locations and how he got there, and what he did on the way was information hard to come by. Hell, half the time what he even did at the locations he did pop up at was still hard to find out sometimes.

"It's not like Lu understands subtlety either.." Sabo mumbled to himself as he trudged towards his room. No… Luffy wasn't subtle either; he just simply went at his own pace. Sabo opened his door and placed his hat down on his desk upon walking in; he didn't even bother turning the lightson. After discarding his jacket and boots, he plopped face first on his bed.

His thoughts drifted to Luffy's possible whereabouts. After Luffy's stunt at Marineford with the Dark King and the Knight of the Sea, it was like he just up and vanished. In Sabo's very little free time, he'd also been trying to hunt Luffy himself down, but so far he had exactly zero luck in that endeavor.

Moments later, he sensed a presence nearby with his Haki. Well, it could have been moments later or it could have been hours later. He had the shutters on his window closed and blocking out any incoming light. Slowly, he sat up looking around for whoever it was that was nearby. He wasn't completely on guard since this is Baltigo and the only people who knew its location were Revolutionaries...but it never hurt to be careful.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but when it did, he saw nothing. There was no one around at all.. Slowly, he eased himself out of bed and to his feet. Still sensing whoever it was, he cautiously start walking around his room, checking to see if the culprit was in hiding somewhere. He did a sweep of his entire room and still found no one. He came to a stop in front of his mirror, and turned to it. Looking in it, he realized there was someone standing over his shoulder. When he saw who it was, his eyes widened in shock and he did a double take. Sure, enough...standing behind him was Ace.

Shaking his head, he turned and headed back towards his bed, mumbling to himself. "I really need to talk to Dragon about getting a day or two of rest. Now i'm seeing things…." He was about to get back into bed when he heard a snort. As he turned around to see who had made the snorting noise, he heard words.

"I finally find you and here you are ignoring me… That's not very nice, Sabo."

He finished turning and locked eyes with his brother, and his heart skipped a beat. Ace was just standing there smirking at him.

"...Ace?" At Sabo's question, Ace started grinning.

"Hey there Sabo! I've been looking for you." Ace said. "Thought you'd be waiting for me on this side, but guess not."

Sabo rubbed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing. "That's impossible. There's no way i'm seeing you. There's no way i'm hearing you. You… You're…." The words caught in his throat; he couldn't say it.

"Dead?" Ace finished for him. He nodded. "Yeah, I know…" He said sadly. "But.. It's really me. I promise. You're not seeing things Bo. Though if you were, i'd really be worrying about what you've been up to the past 10 years that caused you to hallucinate.."

"Hey now! Being a Revolutionary would not cause me to hallucinate, thank you very much." Sabo stated defensively.

Ace laughed. "Ha ha. So that's what you've been up to, huh? Wait. Ain't what's his face….Dragon? in charge of that?"

"Yeah. Dragon is. Why?" Sabo asked, curious about why Ace would ask about it.

"Ah, well you know that he's Lu's dad, right?" Ace told him.

"...Now that you mention it… That is true." Sabo commented, the realization hitting him that his boss was his little brother's dad.

"So how'd you get involved with the Army anyway?" Ace asked, as equally curious as Sabo had been just moments before.

"Ah.. Well… Dragon rescued me when my boat was, uh…" He didn't want to explain his accident. He didn't know how Ace would take it.

"Your boat..? Dadan said it was a Celestial Dragon that killed you. Wait. That bastard did something to your boat?!" Ace asked, growing enraged. As bemused as Sabo was at Ace's anger about something way since long passed, he sighed and looked down.

"Yeah. I was setting sail, like I said in my letter, and while I was leaving port, the Celestial Dragon's boat was entering, and he shot at my boat. It exploded." Sabo explained reluctantly.

"Your boat...exploded…?" Ace asked, looking like he was not quite able to process this information. Sabo nodded.

"Yep. I was floating in the debris and would have drowned if not for Dragon. He rescued me and took me with him." Sabo told him.

Ace's glow had grown brighter when he was angry but it had softened after Ace calmed down. "So, what? Dragon took you away and wouldn't bring you back to us? Couldn't you have sent a letter at least? Well...another letter anyway."

Sabo turned his head away, a feeling of guilt washing over him. He remained silent.

"Sabo…?" Ace called when Sabo didn't respond. After he stayed quiet for a few minutes, Ace went and sat down on the bed in front of where Sabo was looking away at. Sabo attempted to look away but Ace brought his hands up to catch Sabo's face. It didn't work, exactly. Sabo's head moved through Ace's hands, but he still stopped anyway. Sabo didn't really expect to feel anything but a sudden cold feeling washed through him. It was quickly replaced by a warm, almost hot, feeling.

Ace started to speak again when they heard someone put their hand on the doorknob and open the door. In a panic, Sabo stood up and tried to position himself in front of Ace. The Army was used to a lot of the oddities surrounding him, but he wasn't sure they'd be okay with the ghost of his brother hanging around.

In walked Koala, and she stopped when she saw him standing there, tense and awkward. "Sabo-kun? Are you alright…? You didn't come down and join Hack and I for dinner so we got worried you were sick or something. What are you doing?" He'd been inching closer to her, trying to hide Ace from view, but he wasn't being too subtle about it.

"Hmm? Oh, I umm… Well… I…" He was looking around nervously trying to find some kind of excuse for his odd behavior.

"You missed dinner? What the hell happened to you all this time? You'd never miss dinner back at Mt. Corvo." Ace commenting from behind him and Sabo nearly jumped out of his skin.

He immediately held up his hands and he began speaking, his words rushing out due to panic, "Look, Koala. I can explain. Well, no I can't but I know what it looks like but-"

"Sabo-kun. If you're sick you can just say so. I know you've been stressed lately and I understand. Work has been more stressful lately and I know you're busy looking for Luffy and finding out about your brothers were up to, but you don't have to hide it if you're not feeling up to eating." Koala told him and he froze, staring at her.

"Wait, what?" Sabo asked confused.

Koala shook her head. "Look you get back in bed and get some rest. I'll talk to Dragon about you taking tomorrow off. Alright? Get some rest Sabo-kun." And with that she turned around and left, closing the door behind her. Sabo just stood there staring at the spot she had been, not moments before.

"Wait, what." Sabo repeated.

Ace had gotten up to stand next to him. He looked at the door that Koala had just closed. "Huh. Guess she couldn't hear me." Ace commented. At that information, Sabo snapped out of it.

"She couldn't hear you." He repeated. "So… i'm the only one that can see you and hear you then..?" Sabo asked, turning to face Ace, who shrugged.

"Dunno. Guess so. I'm kind of new to this so who knows." Ace responded, looking at Sabo. "You've been trying to find out what we've been up to? Why?"

Sabo stiffened and didn't respond.

"Sabo. What aren't you telling me? I thought we were done hiding stuff from each other after that thing about your-"

"He is not my dad!" Sabo nearly yelled. "Sorry… I'm just. If it wasn't for him, I'd have never left ya'll and then maybe i'd have been able to be there to help you two at Marineford and maybe you wouldn't have.." He trailed.

Ace winced. "Don't beat yourself up over it Bo. What's done is done. What matters is that you're still alive. Now, what are you not telling me Sabo? You didn't answer me earlier. What's going on?" Ace asked.

Sabo sighed, knowing there was avoiding this. Ace would keep on persisting until he drove him nuts. He walked over and sat down on the edge of his bed. Ace sat down on the bed as well, crossing his legs. "Fine.. When I woke up after Dragon rescued me…. I...had amnesia. I couldn't remember anything except this tremendous urge to not return to my family. So I begged Dragon to let me stay with them and they let me. And here I am."

Ace sat in a silence for a while processing this information. Whatever he'd been expecting, this hadn't been it. Eventually he spoke.

"So...how'd you get your memory back then?" Ace asked softly, curious.

"I had just come back from a mission with Koala and we were informed that the reports from...Marineford had come out. And I heard the other discussing what happened and I picked up a paper and...I saw your face…"

Ace said "Oh.." softly, and looked at Sabo sadly.

Sabo put his face in his hands, trying to hold back the tears that had been building. "The timing was the absolute worst! I finally remembered my brothers! Only for one of them to have died before i'd gotten to see him again! And then Luffy. Luffy went missing! No one has seen hide or hair of him in so long. I've been looking, searching everywhere and I still...I still can't find him! Ace!" He clenched his hands into fists, and the tears began falling.

"I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry! For leaving you two. For letting you think I was dead. For not being there to help at Marineford. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Sabo…" Ace didn't know what to do or say. He'd never seen Sabo cry really, and he was full on sobbing at this point.

"I'm the worst brother ever… I don't deserve to call myself you and Luffy's brother. I up and forgot you both and I wasn't there when you two needed me the most.." He said through tears, inhaling sharply and taking gulps every now and then.

Ace put his hand on Sabo's shoulder, and the cool-then-warm feeling caused Sabo to look up at him. Tears were cascading down his face and he was snotting a little bit.

"Well, first of all.. You look awful." Ace said with a laugh.

"Oh shut up.." Sabo retorted.

"Second of all. I already said not to beat yourself up over this. So stop. You are our brother and that's that. Whether you think you deserve to be called that or not. Do I wish we had crossed paths when I was alive? Yes, absolutely. But I'm sitting here, talking to you now so it doesn't matter. I'm here, alive or not, and your memory is back. Everything's okay. Now stop crying. You look too much like Luffy when you do that." Ace teased.

"I do not!" Sabo defended wiping his nose and face. Ace laughed.

"You so do. Crybaby."

"ACE!"

Ace fell over laughing so hard. Sabo shook his head. "Honestly…" He tossed a glance at his giggling brother before he stood up and grabbed his boots. Ace sat up, and wiping a tear from his eye, looked at Sabo.

"You going somewhere?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I'm heading to the mess hall. I can't believe I missed dinner." Sabo told him. Ace grinned.

"Now there's the Sabo I remember!" And he hopped off the bed to follow him.

Ace crossed his arms, donning a smug grin. Well, as smug as a ghost could look anyway. Sabo pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know, I know! I just...I can't help but worry, ya know?"

Ace snorted. "I know."

A knock sounded at the door. The person who knocked didn't even wait for his reply as they opened the door. In walked Koala, and she said, "Come on Sabo-kun. We're gonna be late for the meeting."

Sabo turned around to follow her. When she made no move to turn around and lead the way, he paused. Seeing her staring at him, he asked, "What?"

She let out a soft breath. "Were you talking to yourself again…?" She asked.

Not even bothering to get defensive about it, he just simply responded. "I wasn't talking to myself. I was talking to-"

"Ace. Yeah. I know. You've told me that before. Oh, Sabo. It's not like he can actually hear you, you know? Now let's go before Dragon-san yells at us both for being late." She started walking out.

Sabo turned to look back at the mirror. Ace flashed a bright grin at him. Sabo smiled to himself. "Yeah….whatever you say Koala." He said before turning around and following her out of the room.


Bonus Scenes:


Sabo face planted on his desk. "I hate this…" He groaned; he hated doing paperwork. Being a Revolutionary seemed like all fun and games, running around antagonizing the World Government picking fights with rogue countries, and assisting innocent civilians in need. No one would expect the amount of paperwork involved. There were reports from scouting units that needed to be read through, intercepted letters and stolen documents to examine, and various other things that needed to be seen to.

Ace laid out on his bed, humming an unfamiliar tune. Sabo turned his head to look at him without lifting his head up from the desk. "Can't you help instead of just lying there..?" Sabo asked irritably.

Ace stopped and looked at him. "What do you want me to do…? Not like I can pick up a pen and start writing." He said.

Sabo sighed. "If only…" That caused Ace to snort. Sabo sat up. "What?"

Ace looked back up towards the ceiling. "You're assuming i'd help you anyway."

"Oh… So you wouldn't help me then?" Sabo asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I mean I'd think about it. But i've read some of those over your shoulder and it reminds me too much of when I was a commander. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but if I didn't have to do any paperwork then I didn't. And i'm your brother, not a Revolutionary."

Sabo stared at him for a long moment for looked down and let out a sigh. "Wish I could complain, but I completely understand.. This is just awful. To be honest, I think some of this work was given to me because Koala is still pissed at me for hanging up on her back at Bartiganu." He commented thoughtfully.

Ace busted out laughing at that one. "Yeah, probably. That is a horrible habit you've got there Bo.."

"You are absolutely right. It is because you hung up on me, you jerk!" Koala stated as she walked into Sabo's room. The door had been open so she didn't bother knocking. Sabo whirled around, startled.

"Koala. Hi. Didn't hear you knock." Sabo said awkwardly, glancing over his shoulder at Ace who was too busy laughing still.

"That's because I didn't. Even if I did, I doubt you'd have heard me. Who were you talking to just now?" She asked. Sabo sucked in a breath.

"Uhh. It was...that's….ummmm…" He started sweating nervously.

Koala marched right up and got right in his face. (Or rather under because Sabo is a damn beanpole* and Koala is...not.)

"Sabo-kun what in the world is going on? I have overheard you talking to yourself so many times the past few weeks. And it's not like you're mumbling to yourself. It sounds like full on conversations most of the time! Just who are you talking to?!" She demanded, sounding very much like she want to stamp her foot.

Sabo deflated. "Even if I told you, it's not like you'd believe me."

"Oi. Sabo." Ace said warningly from the bed.

Koala crossed her arms and said, "Hmph. Try."

"Sabo…" Ace said, louder this time.

"Fine then." Sabo crossed his own arms.

"Sabo. What are you doing." Ace said, getting up and walking over them.

"I was talking to Ace." Sabo stated.

Koala froze and blinked at him several times. She opened her mouth to speak then closed it again. Ace remained silent next to him. After a minute of silence, Koala brought her hand up and placed it on his forehead. "Are you...okay? You're not feeling sick are you?"

Sabo pushed her hand away. "I'm fine Koala. See, I told you you wouldn't believe me."

"Why would I? That's nonsense Sabo. It's impossible for you to talk to him. He's….dead."

Sabo rolled his eyes over her hesitancy of the word. "Yeah, I know. But that doesn't change the fact that I am talking to him."

Koala took a step backwards, looked at him, before she smiled sadly at him. "I know.. It's been difficult, with him gone and all. If...acting like you're talking to him is what helps you then, as your friend, I support it. Just remember that i'm always here, if you need anyone to talk to. Mkay?"

"Koala…"

"No seriously. It's okay. You're already weird enough. What's one more weird habit, right?" She grinned at him then turned around and left.

Sabo put his hand up to try and stop her but she was gone before he could. His hand stayed there, hovering in the empty air.

Ace whistled, then cocked an eyebrow at him. "So...weird habits huh? What other ones ya got?" He asked.

"ACE!"


"Why are you doing this, again?" Ace asked him. Sabo ignored him and continued onwards. "Seriously, there's no point to this. I'm right here."

When they were almost to the top Sabo looked at him and said, "I'm perfectly aware of that fact. But even before you popped up, i'd been meaning to do this. The others knew about it, and I know they've been working things around lately to give me a chance to come here. And with this news, they'd all be suspicious if I didn't."

"Oh, news? You didn't tell me what happened this time around." Ace told him.

"Yes, I did. You just didn't want to pay attention because you figured it was more Revolutionary related work." Sabo jokingly chastised him.

"Hmmm, really?" Ace considered it for a moment. "Whoops."

Sabo rolled his eyes. They finally arrived at their destination. "We finally managed to arrive here, Ace." He took a moment and set up the items that he had brought with him before he sat down. Ace sat down next to him.

"Look at this. Luffy started to make his wake to become the Pirate King again." Sabo stated before placing the newspaper down on the box in front of him. Ace leaned forward and scanned the paper quickly. He laughed upon finishing.

"That's our younger brother." Sabo commented.

"It sure is!" Ace agreed, still chuckling. "It's just like him to come back and get front page for it."

Sabo opened up the bottle of sake that he'd brought and poured it into each of the three sake cups he'd brought before setting it down next to the newspaper.

"It's ironic. Now that you're gone-" Ace snorted. "the memories keep occurring to me vividly." As he said that, images from when they were younger started playing through his mind, them running around the forest, their bond of brotherhood and then the images of marineford started playing. The Army had gotten a hold of copies of the footage recorded by the Den Den Mushis that day and they had played them back to see what exactly had happened. They weren't able to see everything because of the Marines cutting some of the Den Den Mushi out, and that pirate Buggy the Clown goofing around.

"I now belong to the Revolutionary Army. My colleague, Ivankov told me everything that happened that day. I wouldn't be surprised if both you and Luffy are mad at me."

Ace looked over at Sabo. "We've been over this before Bo. I'm not mad at you. And I know Luffy won't be either."

Sabo gritted his teeth, trying to hold back the tears. "But I couldn't go and save you...I'm sorry!" The tears fell then. "I'm so grateful I get to see you and talk to you now. I wish though...I wish I could've seen you again while you were alive!" Wiping his eyes, he picked up one of the sake cups. Ace just smiled sadly at him.

"I'm gonna inherit your will. I'm going to get the Mera Mera no Mi whenever we find it." Sabo said, smiling. He then downed the negligible amount of alcohol and set the empty cup back on the box. He picked up his hat and replaced it back on his head. He stood up and started walking away. Ace stood up, took one last look at his own grave then followed after his brother.


"You look ridiculous you know."

"Oh shut up Ace. I have to dress like this. If I don't, they'll realize i'm not Lu." Sabo told him. Ace snorted.

"Right...and the big ole pipe won't give that away, of course." Ace commented sarcastically. Sabo rolled his eyes and ignored him. As he walked towards the entrance to the arena ring, he could hear the announcer's voice hyping the crowd up for the final round. He walked out and held his fist into the air to the roar of applause from the crowd.

"Leave it to Luffy to get the entire crowd to fall in love with him from one round." Ace said while laughing.

"Watch over me….Ace!" Sabo said to himself.

Ace was full on laughing at this point. "Of course I will, idiot. What did you think I was here for? Ha ha ha. You'd better win Bo! Don't let them get my fruit! Especially not Burgers."

The battle commenced and after quite a few close calls, Sabo knelt towards the ground whilst coating his fists in Haki. The crowd and kingdom around them were all in a panic as all the toys were being returned to their former selves.

Sabo tested the ground, checking the weak spots. After a few taps, he forced his fists into the ground causing cracks to appear across the ring. After a few seconds the entire ring shattered, all except for a small circle where Sabo was standing at.

Ace whistled. "And you said, I don't understand subtlety?"

Sabo laughed and replied, "You don't."

The Fighting Fish with the box on it jumped over them and Sabo jumped up and retrieved the fruit from it, landing back on the circle of ring that was left. After confirming with the announcer that he was the winner, Sabo grinned and bit into it.

"Pbleh! Disgusting. That's as bad as they say it is…" Sabo complained.

Ace started laughing at him. "I don't envy you for that. I still remember how awful that damn thing tasted." Ace faked gagging.

Rebecca screamed from nearby and Sabo jumped over towards her, grabbing her so she didn't fall into the water. He ditched the Lucy disguise as he did so. Sabo answered Rebecca's inquiries as to who he was and who the real Lucy was. He called out a warning for another attack, then swung his arm around, lighting it on fire as he did so.

"Ouch! That's hot!" Sabo cried out.

Ace was beside himself with laughter at this point. "No shit! You don't say? Sabo! You're literally fire now. Of course, it's going to be hot." Ace told him.

"Ah, that's right. It's not hot, i'm just fire now. Ace, i've got it. I've inherited your power!" Sabo exclaimed excitedly.

Ace smiled at him, happy and proud that Sabo over the powers of the Mera Mera no Mi.

"Ace! I'm going to borrow your move!" Sabo shouted. He brought his flaming fist back. "Here I go!" As he brought it forward, he cried out, "Hiken!"

"I'll never die. Not as long as you two are around!" Ace told himself, smirking.


End Notes


*I looked beanpole up to make sure I was spelling it right and found out that it's more frequently used to refer to someone as skinny. Me and those around me have always used it to describe someone as tall. I was calling Sabo tall and Koala short, not Sabo skinny and Koala fat.

If you liked my story, please go to OPSFaF's tumblr page and check out the rest of the amazing works submitted by other creators. Even if you didn't like this story, you should still head over there. Who knows, you might find something there that you actually liked haha.

Edit: So someone on Ao3 asked me this and I explained over there, but I'd figure I'd address it over here too in case anyone wonders.

"In your story, Robin and Sabo didn't meet? She didn't tell him they will meet in two years."
My Answer: Oh shit. I forgot all about Robin . But uhhh hmmm. I'll BS my way outta this plot-hole by saying she hadn't gotten to Baltigo yet? lmao Yeah. That works. Thinking about it though. Even if she did tell him that they'll meet up again, that's no guarantee that Luffy is alive and well after he leaves Marineford a second time. He could have dropped dead and no one would be the wiser until the crew turned up at Sabaody and one rubbery captain was MIA.