They found him standing in a clearing, the trees creating a canopy above their heads and the light trying to pierce through the leaves, creating a speckled effect on the grass. That was were they found their captain.
None of them spoke, opting instead for standing close behind their captain, not touching but close enough to take comfort in each other's presence.
It had been a week since they found Raftel, a week since Luffy became Pirate King, a week since Luffy defeated Blackbeard and Akainu, a week since he'd met up with Shanks.
The crew had finally gotten to meet Red Hair Shanks, the man Luffy could definitely see the resemblance between the two. Usopp had met his father, it had been a bittersweet reunion and Yasopp had been devastated to hear that Banchina had died, overall though, Usopp was delighted to meet his dad and the two spent much time catching up.
Luffy had tried to give Shanks back his hat but the man had only laughed and plopped it back on the younger's head, stating that he wouldn't be Straw Hat Luffy without his straw hat.
It had also been a week since Zoro had defeated Mihawk. He hadn't killed him of course and he'd been glad enough to finally take the title of the greatest swordsman.
Sanji hadn't yet found All Blue and Nami had yet to complete her map of the world, Chopper hadn't found the cure to all diseases and Usopp was almost the brave warrior of the sea he wanted to be. Frankly lived his dream everyday he sailed on the Sunny and Brook and Robin were content to sail with their nakama as Robin had found the Rio Poneglygh hidden deep on the island of Raftel. Luffy swore he'd see all their dreams completed, he wouldn't rest until his crew had all fulfilled their dreams.
So for that they would have to keep sailing, however Luffy had made the turn back to the island just before Raftel. When they were sailing towards Raftel, Nami had pointed out the island but Luffy had a strange expression on his face and declared that they would skip it. That had shocked all of his nakama, Luffy had never ever wanted to skip an island before.
They had assumed he'd changed his mind when he told them he wanted to sail back but they had done it anyway because even though their captain had matured a lot the past years, his face was uncharacteristically serious. Before they had even reached the island, as soon as it was in sight, Luffy had rocketed off the ship and disappeared into the forest.
It was a small island and appeared to be uninhabited so the crew found nothing better to do than to follow Luffy and find out what was so interesting about the place.
Now that they had found him, it all become clear as day.
They all stood silent and bowed their heads in respect. None of them were willing to break the peace and quiet until Luffy did so. It had taken them a couple hours to find him because despite the small size of the island the forest was surprisingly dense and they wondered if he had been standing there in silence that whole time.
It was still strange to see their usually rambunctious captain not speaking or eating as even though three years had passed since they entered the New World, he was still the same Luffy they knew and loved. Even though some of them would deny such a thing.
They all looked up in surprise when Luffy started to speak but kept their mouths shut as not to disrupt the private moment between a boy and his brother.
"Ace." Luffy was relieved to hear that he could now say the name without his voice cracking and feeling like he wanted to cry and scream and throw things around. Suddenly Luffy dropped to his knees and slammed his head onto the ground, shocking his crew and Chopper and Usopp startled back a step at the abrupt action. "Thank you for saving me!" Luffy cried out, clutching the grass between his fingers.
After a few moments he raised his head and sat up. "I...I miss you every day, Ace, and I wish you were here to see me. I've finally done it! I've become the Pirate King! I wanted to fulfil my dream before visiting you so you'd get to see me as Pirate King." He paused, "Zoro's become the greatest swordsman and Robin's found the true history! Usopp's become a brave warrior of the sea and Nami's going to finish her map of the world and Sanji's going to find All Blue! Chopper's already the best doctor, but he's going to have a cure for all diseases soon. Franky lives his dream everyday on the Sunny and Brook's a famous musician now and we're on our way to see laboon."
His nakama were practically bawling in the background, save for Sanji, Robin and Zoro who still couldn't keep the wide grins off their faces. Chopper was swinging his butt and cursing Luffy fondly, claiming nothing he said would make him happy while Franky poured out tears.
"But," Luffy spoke again and they all shut up, sensing that something serious was coming. "I wish you were here to see me!" He yelled, feeling tears sneak past his eyes. He hastily wiped them away. "I am not a crybaby!"
Nami palmed her forehead and shook her head but smiled fondly. Her captain was still the same idiot she met years ago. Never change, Captain.
"Oh!" Luffy shot up, obviously remembering something important. "I forgot that you didn't know! Sabo's alive! He get rescued by my dad and joined the Revolutionary Army! He ate your mera mera fruit and is a fireman like you were! I wish you hadn't died without knowing, I'm sure you've been looking for him and wondering where he is, well, now you know. I have so many things I want to tell you, Ace, but I have to go soon. Thank you for letting me live."
Luffy bowed his head once again before moving to the slightly larger grave and dropping once again to his knees, lowering his head to the ground. "Hello Oldman-Whitebeard." He sat up. "Thank you for taking care of Ace. I'm glad you could give Ace a family and make him happy. Marco's leading the Whitebeard Pirates now, we run into them sometimes and most of the time when he's with the crew he's okay, but he misses you, and Ace."
Luffy pushed himself to his feet and bowed his head before turning to face his crew. He was surprised when Zoro brushed past him to kneel in front of Ace's grave. Zoro never kneeled for anyone so it was almost shocking to see. What puzzled him even more was that the rest of his crew followed Zoro's example and did the same.
Luffy opened his mouth to speak but decided against it, maybe they had something to say. He didn't have to wait long.
"Ace, thank you for saving our captain." Zoro pressed his head to the ground, not feeling even a twinge of shame for bowing to his captain's brother, the man he worshipped, the man who saved his life and let him return to his crew.
"Thank you Ace-san!" Brook cried out, knowing that if he had eyes and tears to cry they would be pouring out.
"We're forever indebted to you." Nami added. "We can't thank you enough, Ace-san." Robin put in, her voice lilting in faint amusement.
"I wish I got to meet you, Ace-bro!" Franky wailed into the ground, sincerely wishing he had met the man because if Luffy looked up to him then he must've been amazing.
"Thank you Acceee." Chopper cried into his hooves, remembering the kind, polite man they had met on Alabasta and remembering the smile he had brought to his captain's face.
"We'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Sanji promised, without a cigarette in his mouth for one of the few times in his life.
"Yeah! Don't worry about him." Usopp cheered.
Behind them, Luffy stood with his fists clenched and eyes screwed up tightly. "You guys..." And then his eyes fly open and a wide grin splits his face and that's all his nakama need to see for them to know that even if one day the sun fell from the sky, as long as their own personal sun was still smiling, everything would be okay.
"You guys are the best!"