Water
He could hear it
He could smell it
He could feel it in the way the - what must be a boat - moved, swayed, rocked underneath his body. Moving him without really moving him.
He could hear and smell and feel other things too.
Like the sound of laughter that seemed to come from everywhere on the ship.
Like the smell of food that must taste good just based on how good it smelled. Or maybe he was just hungry.
Like the feeling of grass. That one stumped him for a good while. Grass...on a ship? That couldn't be right. But he could also smell the fresh sent if he focused enough. So he couldn't deny it. That was definitely grass underneath him. In between his fingers, rubbing the back of his neck and bare legs and arms. A feeling that for some reason, made him feel so at home that everything else faded away.
Until music filled his ears. Music he knew he had heard before. Music that made him want to get up and dance and sing until he fell to the ground dizzy and tired.
"Luffy?"
That voice was one he knew. One that knew him. Knew him better than almost anyone else.
Zoro
"Hey Lu, you okay?"
That one brought tears to the eyes that he still hadn't opened. He had forgotten what it sounded like. He thought he would never hear it again.
Ace
And now the tears must be running down his face and onto the grass. He could feel the wet trail they left as a reminder after they fell. And then a hand was on his shoulder. Squeezing.
The music stopped. The laughter slowly dying down till it too stopped completely. He didn't like that. It was too quiet. His crew was never quiet. And this had to be his crew...right? He heard Zoro's voice, Usopp and Chopper's laughter and Brook's music. Smelt Sanji's amazing food.
But weren't they on an island? In the New World with Law and Kidd and Sabo. Wasn't Ace supposed to be dead?
So he did they only thing he could think of. He opened his eyes.
Blue
The bright blue of a clear days sky met him, but soon blurred with the tears still flowing out of his now open eyes.
"Luffy what's wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
He slowly turned his head to the left. It was heavy and mostly rolled on it's own before stopping when his neck could turn no more and there. Right there. With in reaching distance- no even closer than that for the hand that was still gripping his shoulder tightly belonged to none other than HIM. His BROTHER. Ace.
He heard Ace's voice earlier but that was different. This was different. After Ace's...death...he still heard his voice sometimes. On the wind or in his head. Echoing around the ship or in his dreams. At least until he forgot what it sounded like.
That was when it really started hurting.
Knowing that he was forgetting his brother? It was torture. Ace was fading from his memory so fast and there was nothing he could do about it. His voice was gone and slowly bits and pieces of what he looked like started to fade as well.
What arm was his tattoo on?
How long was his hair?
How tall was he?
What did it look like when he fought?
...
What did my brother's smile look like again?
So feeling Ace's touch on his shoulder was what made him realize:
This is real.
.
.
.
A sob escaped his lips as he began to cry harder. Ace was really alive again.
Meanwhile, Ace seemed to grow increasingly concerned at the blubbering wailing mess that Luffy had become out of nowhere. He slowly sat him up in his arms, where Luffy grabbed on to him with a death grip. Almost like if he let go, Ace would disappear. He glanced up at the crew of said blubbering mess to see them watching uncertainly. Most likely just confused as Ace. Zoro was the only one who moved. Standing up to come over and sit on the other side of Luffy. Ace turned his attention back to his little brother. Just what had made Luffy start crying like that? To his surprise, Luffy gently began to release Ace. Unwrapping his arms from around Ace's torso and bringing them up to wipe at his eyes; which had finally slowed down with the tears. The whole time, Ace watched carefully. Looking for anything that could give away what Luffy was thinking about or more importantly, crying about.
Luffy was happy he was able to get his tears under control and release his death grip on his brother, but after a double take to his right where he could feel Zoro's strangely weak haki, everything was flipped on it's head for him once again. That Zoro, the one sitting next to him, was not his Zoro. His Zoro was taller. Broader. Stronger. Happier. His Zoro had a scar across his left eye from their two years away...their two years. Luffy slowly scanned the rest of the crew. These people...none of them were his crew. Sanji, Nami, Zoro, Brook, Usopp, Franky, Robin, Chopper, they were all different. And as Luffy caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye, his thoughts were confirmed. Keimi. The mermaid they all met on their way to Sabaody the first time around. He was right about this not being his crew. Because Luffy, had gone 3 years into the past.