A few days after the execution of Portgas D. Ace, Smoker found himself escorting an instructor from G9.
"Ah, so you're Captain Smokey, right~" She drew out the last word, fingering a lock of hair.
Smoker was hit with an intense sense of déjà vu. No way. There is no way that Luffy could have a female counterpart in the Marines.
The woman clad in a purple yukata begged to differ. She was scratching her nose absent-mindedly while looking around.
"Ehhh... it really changed a lot since I last visited them here. Where are they?" She said in a curious voice as she continued to walk around him in her geta.
"Captain Smoker, I would like to- Ah!" Coby scooped up the pint-sized woman. "Vice-admiral Garp and Fleet admiral Sengoku are waiting for you in the main office."
"Kishishishi! They moved! I'm going to look for them!" With one arm, she heaved herself out of the window, and disappeared from sight.
"Wait!" Coby and Smoker looked out to find the woman running up the side of the building in a dead sprint.
"Garp-chan! Sengoku-teme!" She called out as she went through the window into the Fleet Admiral's rooms. A moment later, she sped out, with an Afro and a head of grey hair on the back of her shoulders.
"Gah! Put us down! Instructor Suzume!"
"No chance! Sakesakesakesake~" The woman answered back as she continued to use a combination of Soru and Geppo to dance upon the rooftops at high speed.
"Oh dear, I was hoping we could avoid that."
"Sir! Should we engage-" Bogard shook his head.
"No need for that, she is after all Garp's ex-wife." This pronouncement led to a stunned silence.
"Sorry, Vice-admiral Garp's ex-wife?" Smoker was the first to pick his jaw off the ground. "So does that mean she's Monkey D. Luffy's grandmother!"
"Yup. A retired spy for the Marines, she has been teaching at G9 for twenty-seven years, but in lieu of the resignation of the Vice Admiral, she intends to go on twenty-seven years' worth of vacation with him."
"A spy! That's so cool! Who did she spy on?" Helmeppo wondered.
"Gol. D. Roger." There was another awkward silence.
"What!"
"No shit." Suzume agreed as she put down her drink. "So me and Rayleigh were like super-drunk, and we were sitting in Shakky's Bar when-how can I say this? A combined hallucination came across us."
"It was as though Roger had come to us again."
"Want to go on another adventure?" The apparition spoke, grinning in that oh-so familiar way.
The two looked at each other.
"Yeah!" "Of course."
"So we found ourselves on board the Oro Jackson even though that ship was long gone from our sights, and we were sailing at a absolutely ridiculous pace. At the same time, we were busy catching up, with me telling Roger about the friendship between our grandson and his son, while Roger was busy discussing the wonders of Rouge and Rayleigh was yelling at Roger to mind the wheel." She giggled. "It was really just like old times, before Roger discovered One Piece."
"You seemed to miss him." Sengoku pointed out, seeking for another bag of tea.
"Oh I did, but it was more of what he represented than what he was. Luffy is better than him because he only fights when he defends others. Roger just picked fights with anyone who messes with his crew, even if that crew member was a spy for the Marines." Suzume sipped her tea. "Anyway, back to the story."
"We were already reaching the shore when I decided to act as the advance guard. I really didn't know what was wrong with me; I had been part of the Marines for over thirty years after all."
As Akainu's fist pierced through Ace's stomach, a head landed on the floor.
It was Blackbeard.
As many of the Whitebeard Pirates and Marines stared at the head in disbelief, a dark shadow slipped behind Akainu, pulling him off Ace and throwing him into the floor.
"Whoever messes with Roger, messes with us! Same goes for his son!" Suzume said calmly while flashing the Admirals a middle finger.
"I was so unbelievably rude!" Sengoku snorted; the memories of her rampage across the seas thirty years earlier crossing his mind. "I mean, I was raised properly, even if it were by nobles from the Goa Kingdom."
"It's not that hard to believe. After all, you had to convince Roger that you were a typical civilian so that we could spy on him."
"It was so fun spying, that I forgot myself." Suzume admitted, "Sometimes I still wonder if I had thought myself a true Marine. I was never a pirate though; I refuse to steal from others, or commit crimes other than when it was a case of life and death."
"A pity that most nobles don't act like you; otherwise we wouldn't have so many problems." Sengoku muttered, but Suzume, with the convenient use of Haki heard him. She hid her smile behind the long sleeves of her yukata.
"Are you willing to try your luck against my blade, Admiral Sakazuki?" She tilted her head to the side, as Ivankov and Trafalgar rushed towards Ace.
"Roger's spy-assassin. Have you turned your cloak again?" Akainu growled, "Have you no shame at all?"
"Us turncloaks have our loyalties. Only to ourselves and no others." Suzume gave an eye-smile, the bottom half of her face covered by incense papers. "And I would deeply regret such a bright spark is extinguished so early."
Trafalgar had managed to make his way through the stunned the crowd, heaving Luffy over his shoulder while Ivankov did the same with Ace. The Marines who tried to stop them were knocked down by Izo and the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Oyashashiburi! Do you wish to continue my fight with me!" Rayleigh grinned as he strode up to Kizaru. Meanwhile, Aokiji found his hands full with Vista and Marco.
"Did you miss me!" The Oro Jackson landed on the execution platform, and pirates spilled out of it's deck. All at the scene froze as the Jolly Roger flew freely and boldly.
"Bwahahahahaha!" The smiling visage could have knocked Sengoku down with a feather.
"Oh my god."A marine screamed in the sudden silence, weapons dropped onto the floor, "It's Roger! The Pirate King is back to haunt us all!"
"Of course, upon further inspection, it proved to be just a false alarm. We saw one of the projectors broadcasting an image." Sengoku groaned.
"Still, we weren't clear headed to see that it was a prerecorded image of Roger during his last days before capture. Both of us were so high on alcohol we could have reached Skypeia!" Suzume flapped her arms in a bad imitation of the wings its inhabitants bore.
"You utterly defeated Akainu—who I may add is currently gunning for your head, Kizaru was reflected into Kamabakka Kingdom by Rayleigh—Garp! Stop laughing!" The previously silent third party had long started snorting, but had erupted into laughter upon remembering the frantic call Borsalino had made upon being set upon by its inhabitants.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to come back for the next two months…Gah! I don't want…No!" There was a chorus of 'Come here, hottie~' that could be heard over the Den Den Mushi.
"SendhelppleaseIcan't take this anymore!"
"Bwahahahaha!" Garp continued to laugh irrespective of Sengoku's pleas.
"Well it's not our fault that his Pika-Pika no mi could be defeated with some household equipment. I mean, traveling at the speed of light? Hasn't anyone tried to use a mirror on him before?" Suzume chortled. She eyed Garp, who had not laughed since that incident.
Sengoku seemed to agree, his half-hearted pleas growing softer and softer. Eventually he stopped, and face palmed.
"It's been a disaster overall. We were unable to make Ace's execution the symbol of the Marine's power, and Whitebeard's words are going to spark a new generation of pirates." Sengoku shook his head.
"I tried to resign, but the higher-ups were like 'No no, you should be an instructor and so on.' "Garp told them, attempting to stifle his laughter. He grew more morose as he continued, "I went back to Dawn Island the other day. Dadan punched me in the face."
"You utterly deserve that." Suzume said indifferently.
"Urgh," Rayleigh groaned as he sat up. "What...just happened..."
"I feel so stoned...Shakky, what did you give us last night." Suzume placed her arm over her face. "It's way...too bright..."
"Have you seen what you did!" Shakky roared at them as she slapped Rayleigh on the shoulder. "I won't be surprised if the Marines come visiting again!"
"They can't, I'm also a Marine!" Suzume growled out.
"Semantics." Shakky waved her hand in disgust. "You went on such a violent rampage I don't know how you plan to dig yourself out of this mess."
Both of them froze.
"It wasn't a dream?"
"We were utterly convinced it was a crazy dream. I mean, even the door was locked shut behind us with the key held by Shakky. There was no way we could have left the room! Then Shakky told us about how we were both deposited on her doorstep, and she locked us in so that she could interrogate us."
"Wait, if you were locked from the outside, how did you get out?"
"I dunno, maybe Roger's ghost took us out?" Suzume fingered her hair.
"That's impossible!" Sengoku said with shark teeth, "Ghosts do not exist!"
"I probably unlocked myself out. I dunno how I did it though...I was really too stoned to question everything like I was supposed to. It was a really good dream..." She laid her head on Garp's shoulder.
Sengoku sighed, rubbing his head. "I too have offered my resignation, but it would take time for the next Fleet Admiral to be chosen. I am nominating Aokiji for the position."
"Nah, Akainu would get it. He's popular with many of the World Government, they'll shoo him in." Garp noted angrily.
"Akainu huh? He practices 'Absolute Justice', the kind of justice I hate the most..." Suzume uttered sleepily. "Guess I will play another-"
"Don't you try to prank us all again!" Sengoku barked irritatedly, "The last time you went on a rampage, I couldn't stop the higher-ups from sending you to that blasted desert of a base!"
"It was worth it." She yawned. "I trained up such skillful Marines in swordsmanship, and found such a good protégé. Pity about the Devil Fruit though..."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. You used to lace all your clothes with seastone in order to weaken the advantage Devil Fruit users have over you." Sengoku scratched his chin.
"Don't you find it freaking unfair how much stamina Devil Fruit users have?" Suzume roared at Sengoku. "I have to 'ven the odds somewhat."
"Coming back to that, we have to find out how the mechanism Blackbeard had was able to steal the powers of Devil Fruits from their deceased owners. It seemed that it had collected Whitebeard's Gura Gura no Mi, and would have been used by Blackbeard had you not decapitated him."
"Yeah, did it collect Ace's power too?" Garp questioned, brushing Suzume awake.
"It didn't actually, even when it had collected all the other powers of Devil Fruit users whom had died as well." Sengoku wondered. "It's too early to say, but the Mera Mera no Mi has also not been found."
"Of course it hadn't." Suzume's head lolled as she struggled to keep awake. "Ace is still alive after all. "
Sengoku's mind shut down. Garp had a more visceral reaction.
"What do you mean, Ace is still alive!" He shook the woman awake, his fists curling up. "Tell me! I saw him die! Don't you dare joke about this!"
"Woah hang on, don't be so violent!" Suzume punched him in the shoulder. "He's under the care of Ivankov and the 'Surgeon of Death'. He's got like tons of injuries and probably won't wake up for some time. I'm only telling this to both of you because you're retiring and none of the Whitebeard pirates know-" She turned to the side, eyes alert.
Slowly, she stepped closer to the door, and wrapped her hand around a black snail.
"Shit!"
"Why are we chasing after a damned snail!"
"The Den Den No Mushi isn't supposed to be running! It's a damned snail with turbo engines for heaven's sake." The black Den Den No Mushi was currently fleeing for it's life, courtesy of the three angry humans chasing after it. One had even thrown a cannon ball at it.
For freedom of information! For right to know! For life! For safety from these crazy creatures!
It ran as fast as its non-existent legs could carry, only to be scooped up by the woman among the trio with a burst of Soru.
Goodbye cruel world! Goodbye mounds of cabbage! Hello torture by throwing into the sea and being blasted apart and all other things that these crazy creatures could think of!
"Now then, let's have a look at who you belong to!" She turned the frantic snail on it's side to see a curious mark on it's back.
"Red-haired Shanks?"
Ace woke up to bright light, which was funny as he 'cause he hadn't expected to wake up at all.
Swallowing down panic, he checked his surroundings, finding he was in some sort of infirmary, on a scratchy bed with green sheets. Numerous IVs were gathered all round him, the needles and tape pinching the skin of his forearms when he shifted them. He was surprisingly warm, dressed in some sort of hospital gown and underneath several blankets, but his exposed arms were freezing as cold antibiotics flowed through the intravascular tubes. Much less comfortably, there were shackles around his wrists, the chains disappearing underneath his bed.
He sees a man that he doesn't recognize at all, staring at the machines with his hands folded over his chest. Ace wants to ask who the hell the guy is, but he can't make a sound and he realizes that it's because there is a tube going down his throat. He can't move 'cause of the chains, and the machines must reflect his growing panic because they start making more noise as well. The man turns away from the machines and looks down at him as though he was an insect pinned to a piece of cardboard mounted on someone's wooden frame.
"While I'm glad that you are awake, Fire Fist," the man said, grunting a little. "I'd appreciate if you just keep still."
And Ace slowly stops moving, more due to the sudden pain blooming throughout his body. His discomfort must be showing, because the man asks, "Painful?"
Ace nods weakly, starting to sweat. The man nods, and reaches over a side table.
"That's what I expected. This should make that pain go away for a while." He says, holding up a bottle of clear fluid. With a practiced hand, he sticks the syringe's needle through the top of it, and pulls back the stopper until the syringe is filled. Setting the bottle down, he turns Ace's closest arm over and sticks the syringe in, pushing down the stopper until all of the chemicals are inside his body. Then he pulls it out, quickly and efficiently, and disposes of the needle.
"I was told by Ivankov that your treatment is finished." The man says as the edges of Ace's vision blurs and darkens. "You'll be put on bed rest for a while, but I'll see about removing the tubes then. Your brother is also alive-"Ace's instant relief at hearing of his brother's survival leaves him bereft of the strength of continuing to remain awake, and he falls asleep once again.
Ace expects Luffy to probably come in a storm of tears and relief. He's both right and wrong about that.
Sometime after midnight, the door is flung open and before Ace could focus properly, Luffy's on the bed and hugging him fiercer than anyone has held him before. Although there are tears streaming down his face and snot soaking the hospital gown Ace is wearing, Luffy looks impossibly happy, and Ace thinks that this may have been reflected in his face because he had really thought that he had died on that battlefield.
The door flings open again and this time it is Marco, taking one look at Ace before enveloping the both of them in a bone-crushing hug, which Ace returns weakly, much to his disgust. He would need some time before he could get back into the life of a pirate again.
"I'm soww gurraaad!" Luffy bursts out. "I thot you were..." He continues to cry noisily, which must have awakened the whole building, because he could hear voices in the corridor. This time, Vista, Izo, Jozu and even Haruta come spilling out, cries of joy abound.
Marco finally pulls away, wiping his eyes. "You stupid..." Marco says, whatever resentment dulled by the tears still in his eyes. "If you weren't on bed rest then I'd beat the shit out of you. Were you even thinking?"
At his words, Ace groggily recalls why he's here. It had been on the edge of his mind, but now he remembers everything; Luffy unlocking his cuffs, Akainu talking shit about pops, and then going to attack Luffy, and-
And-
"How?" Ace asks, his voice creaking and his throat burning from the effort.
Marco snorts, and gestures at the door. Izo shuts it, before they pile onto the other beds in the infirmary. "Both Law and Ivankov kept you alive-just barely, mind you, and Law patched you up. Rayleigh and Granny Suzume put up one hell of a distraction while the rest of us were busy fleeing."
"The last thing I remember," Ace says slowly, his voice still creaking, "Was Luffy on the ground behind me. I couldn't-" how could he explain himself? He hadn't been one to run away when there were people for him to protect. But at the same time, it had nearly gotten them all killed this time around.
"How do you feel, yoi?" Marco asks, and Ace takes a few seconds to see. His body feels heavy and he's still tired-so, so tired, but he can still wiggle his toes and fingers and he's still alive and breathing so he considers it's a win this time. The cuffs have been replaced with soft but strong cloth, so unlike his stay in Impel Down; the warmth burning in his chest that signals the presence of his Mera Mera no Mi is both comforting and a reminder that he's out of there.
"Like shit, but I'll live." Ace says honestly. "But I'll live."And just saying it out loud feels important. It strengthens his will to live. "But what happened afterwards?"
Marco sighs and reluctantly tells Ace everything that happened after Akainu hit him. He tells him about his little brother breaking down with Ace in his arms, and Ivankov just barely being able to keep him alive. Then about how the Oro Jackson crashed back into everyone's memories, and how Roger's crew once again stole the show as Blackbeard's head was tossed right under Sengoku's nose. Ace seizes up in fear when he hears that Akainu had still managed to attack Luffy and had taken a hit even with Jinbei absorbing most of the blow.
"That Law did a good job on him. " Marco nodded towards Luffy, who's fallen asleep and Ace has to change position to accommodate Luffy on the same bed. Any joy that Ace got by Whitebeard putting Akainu through the ringer died when he hears Izo's and Jozu's jumbled account of his death.
"So that Akainu bastard did it?" He still can't believe that Whitebeard could have died; but he can tell that it's the truth from the look in all of the Whitebeard Commanders' eyes.
"Mixture of the blow that Akainu dealt as well as his own illness weakening him." Vista quietly spoke. Ace closes his eyes, willing for it to be untrue.
"The old man went out protecting his sons. I doubt that he would have wanted to go any other way Ace." Marco tells him bluntly and Ace nods because it's true. He can't really see his old man dying peacefully in a bed or something like that.
"So who killed Teach?" All of the commanders grinned in remembrance.
"'Turncloak' Yosuzume." Marco grins, "She apparently encountered him and after five minutes decided that decapitating him was the order of the day."
"Fueled by beer and hallucinations of Gol. D. Roger, both the first mate and second mate of the Oro Jackson landed onto Marineford, and struck fear into the hearts of the Marines. I think nearly half of the Marines there lost their shit when the ghost of Roger asked if they missed him." Haruta joked. Ace frowns at the mention of his biological father. He doesn't know what to feel; the fact that Roger's crew helped save Luffy and him, or that they did it because he was Roger's son, rather than because of him.
"I think it was a visual Den Den No Mushi that created the actual projection. Pirates Weekly wasn't clear on that." Izo commented. "Apparently both were truly stoned enough to confuse a projection for an apparition."
They fall into silence, gossip done.
Ace wanted to talk. He wanted to speak so badly, but the words were half-buried in his throat, struggling to get out.
He wanted to say I'm sorry.
He wanted to say I'll never let it happen again.
He wanted to say Thank you.
And he wanted to say it again, and again, and again, until the message got across: Thank you for loving me.
But he couldn't say any of that; his mouth refused to open.
"Where are we?" Ace asks the next day after all of his brothers had returned to their room and Luffy wakes up.
"Amazon Lily. Hammock's letting us stay until we get better." Luffy says with a wide smile. "Jinbei's here too! He says that no one would know where to look for us, since she's a Warlord."
"Jinbei? He's here too?" Ace asks before catching onto the other thing that Luffy said. "Wait! You mean Boa Hancock?" He barely remembers anything but a tall woman looking at him as though he were the scum of the earth by virtue of his gender, rather than the usual things that people despise pirates for.
Luffy laughs. "She's kinda weird but really cool too!" he says with a laugh, and Ace just smiles. His brother had always the way of winning those who fought against him to his side, and he was really surprised that it could even extend to people like Warlords as well.
The conversation continues for hours as the two of them just bask in each other's presence. It's the kind of conversation that Ace wished they had in Alabasta if not due to lack of time, but Ace is glad that it exists at all. From what he remembered, Luffy's loyalty to his crew is equally reciprocated by all of them, and Ace appreciates that. His baby brother has to grow up after all.
"I told everyone to meet after two years." His brother suddenly says, startling him.
"Why? Ace asks.
"Because I'm too weak Ace. I can't do anything." His brother deftly explains the events of Thriller Bark, and his shoulders start to shake. Ace wishes to comfort him but restrains himself as he knows how important this is for Luffy. "I couldn't do anything against Kizaru and Kuma in Sabody and I couldn't have gotten through Impel down without Hammock and Bon-chan and Iva-chan there to help." Luffy's shoulders start to shake even more. "I couldn't even save you properly or protect my crew-and I want to be Pirate King!"
Ace watches Luffy with careful eyes. He knows that Luffy needs this, defeat being as important a teacher as strength. He can't help but feel that he should beat up anyone who had put these feelings into Luffy's heart; he was supposed to be cheerful and light-hearted, not drowning in those that he had lost.
But he also knows that this sort of pain isn't entirely bad, and that Luffy should and could bounce back from these challengers. Ace knows Luffy could overcome any obstacles that he put his mind to, so instead of comforting, he asks, "What did Jinbei say?"
"Jinbei just said a lot of things that I didn't like and I tried to punch him." Luffy wrinkles his nose in a strange reminder of his childhood self after he had lost a fight, "Jinbei's pretty strong, so I lost, than he reminded me-"
"Reminded you what?"
"-of everything that I still had to fight for." Luffy says, smile coming back. "Nami, Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Robin, Sanji and Brook." He says, "I want to get stronger and so will my nakama. We wouldn't let that happen again." Luffy says with determination, because that's the way his brother rolls.
Ace knows he will do it.
So he just chuckles and ruffles Luffy's hair.
Rayleigh shows up a few days later. Granny Suzume follows him, as part of her duties to observe the Roger Pirates having suitably included him.
It is then when Ace and some of the Whitebeard Pirates see her for the first time when she is not dressed as Yosuzume, the spy-assassin of the Roger Pirates.
Ace felt his jaw drop as Suzume courteously puts food into her mouth at nearly the same obsessive rate that Luffy gobbles his meat. Rayleigh merely hides a sigh, amusement showing clearly in his eyes.
"I see your grandson has inherited your bad habits." He nods towards Ace in polite acknowledgement. Ace returns the nod, nervous about the whole business of his father's crew. He hears enough from the island's elder about how Rayleigh had rescued her; and Garp must have seen something in him when he had agreed to raise Ace as his own.
His worldview had shifted abruptly with his own attempted execution. He does not know what to feel about it; having a biological father that inspires an obsessive loyalty he had seen between Pops and himself in his surviving crew has made him wonder if the legacy his father had left truly as terrible as most claim.
Than, he reflects on what Rayleigh has said, and recalls just where he had seen Granny Suzume before. On a very traditional wedding picture. His jaw drops again.
"Garp was married to you?"
A/N: Reviews please!