So, here's a one-shot. I've had this idea for a while now and finally got around to fleshing it out. It turned out twice as long as I was expecting, but that seems often to be the way of these things. I tried to be very introspective with every character – Usopp and Franky were pretty difficult for me. But by far the hardest to write was Zoro. He's my second favorite Straw Hat (if you can't tell, Luffy is my favorite) and like one of my top 5 favorite characters of the One Piece world. I know it isn't officially canon, but I 100% see Zoro as the first mate of the crew. Even if you disagree, I think we can all see that he and Luffy have a relationship that's a little different than the other crew members. There's just a deeper level of understanding between them than anyone else, with maybe Robin coming in second place. So, I wanted to make his section especially poignant. It is certainly the longest, but that doesn't mean it's the best in terms of content. I would love everyone's opinion, if you could leave a review telling me your thoughts. This is not beta-ed, so please excuse any mistakes.

Normal Disclaimer applies: No One Piece ownership here, but feel free to change that if you have the authority to do so.

Please note that readers should be familiar with episodes 381 and 506 (or the equivalent chapters of the manga) for the purposes of this story.

"Are you sure, Luffy?" asked Nami, staring concernedly at her captain. Luffy was sitting on the side railing of the Thousand Sunny and the rest of the crew was standing on the main deck. They had just left Thriller Bark and the larger ship could still be seen on the horizon as the Straw Hats left the foggy cover of the Florian Triangle.

"Yeah, I don't mind taking a quick detour," Usopp added. All of the Straw Hats voiced their agreement.

"No, it's fine. Ace is strong. He wouldn't want me to help him if he's in trouble." Luffy laughed. "He'd probably get mad at me actually."

"Get mad at you?" asked Nami. "Why would he be mad at his brother for helping him out?"

"Hmmm. Like I said, Ace is strong. He doesn't like asking for help. Besides," Luffy added, "he'll be okay. He promised me."

Confused, the crew looked at each other.

"What do you mean, 'he promised'?" questioned Usopp.

Luffy, who had been staring out at the ocean, looked at his crew with surprise, as if he'd forgotten they were there. His face donned a somber expression as he looked out past the side railing of the ship again.

"He promised me a long time ago that he would never die," Luffy stated, pulling his hat down over his eyes. The crew stood stock-still, knowing this was serious-Luffy they had in front of them. "Our other brother died ten years ago and Ace promised me after that."

Other brother. Luffy used to have another brother. And he had died when Ace and Luffy – and probably this other boy as well – were children. Nobody moved and nobody spoke. What do you say after something like that? "Sorry for your loss"? "Our condolences"? No, it had happened ten years ago. The loss was old, the condolences overdue. Zoro's and Sanji's faces were stony. Usopp just gaped at Luffy. Chopper, Franky, and Brook had tears in their eyes. Robin was frowning. Nami kept opening and shutting her mouth as if trying to find something to say.

A few long seconds passed before Luffy turned around abruptly, seemingly shocked at his own words. "Ah. Umm… Sorry, guys. You really don't have to worry about Ace. Or me. It was a long time ago. Ace will be fine and he really would be pissed if we showed up to help him."

"Idiot!" Nami exclaimed, hitting him over the head. Just like that, the tension broke. "You don't get to just drop something like that on us out of the blue."

"Sorry, sorry," Luffy said, grinning and rubbing the back of his neck.

"So you had another brother?" Franky asked, wiping his misty eyes.

"Mm. Sabo," Luffy answered. He sighed loudly. "Ah, he was so nice. He never yelled at me like Ace does."

"Ace yells at you?" asked Nami incredulously. "He seemed so polite back on Alabasta."

Luffy laughed, his smile stretching wide on his face. "He wasn't always so polite. He took lessons from Makino. Ace still yells at me though. All the time."

"Makino?" Robin asked. Luffy merely nodded.

"Ace promised you that he would never die?" Chopper asked skeptically. Luffy nodded grimly and Chopper continued. "That's… Luffy, I don't know if–"

"Ace will be fine. We set out on separate adventures so I can't butt in on his," Luffy said with finality, cutting off Chopper's complaints.

The crew understood. To Luffy, Ace was the big brother that could do no wrong. If he promised that he wouldn't die, then who was Luffy to question that? While many of the crew found Luffy's unwavering faith in his brother soothing, a few, like Chopper, had misgivings. That was the kind of promise that should never have been made. But they found themselves reassured despite this because they simply couldn't imagine a world in which Luffy would let Ace beak that promise.

Normalcy resumed on the Thousand Sunny as Luffy declared another kanpai to toast their newest member. Laughter and music rose from the ship, blasting away any lingering doubts.

A few weeks later, after the events at Impel Down and Marineford…

Brook read the slip of paper hidden beneath mounds of half-finished score sheets. The picture was of a man he had never met and had only heard of in passing. Only a short time had passed since his first morning on the Lion ship when he learned a little of his captain's family. Only a short time, but so much had happened; Camie-san, Pappug-san, and Hatchi-san then Sabaody and the Auction House, and Rayleigh-san and revelations that Brook was too old to fully grasp the meaning of. And that final battle that tore his heart out of his chest –ah! although he had no heart. His entire crew had just been scattered around the globe in the span of a few unexpected minutes. Wherever Luffy had ended up, he had been alone. Then he undertook his most dangerous journey yet and his crew could do nothing but learn about it after the fact. The world didn't know if he was alive or dead. If he had died, surely his crew would have known – would have felt it. His existence was integral to the fabric of their ragtag team. If the thread holding it all together no longer remained, the whole tapestry would unravel.

So Luffy had to be alive; he must be. He had promised them three days. Although the awaited time had long since passed, Brook knew his captain would find a way back. He might stretch a promise, but he wouldn't break it. But there was an even older promise, made a decade ago between brothers. No, his captain wouldn't break his own promises and he held all to the same standard. Broken promises were an affront to Luffy's very personality. And now he was somewhere unfamiliar, surrounded by either strangers or acquaintances. His crew was not where he needed them and Luffy was left to pick up the pieces of a broken promise alone.

Why the machine spat out news excerpts was a mystery. Then again, most of the machines in Vegapunk's factory were mysterious. Vegapunk's mind truly was centuries ahead of the rest of the world. Franky was a smart man – especially when it came to machinery – but although he understood some of the contraptions, most eluded him. And he could only guess at the purpose of a machine that printed out a clinical version of the news. He had no idea if the News Coos ever came to this island and could understand why they might not, what with the howling winds and blizzards. But it made him wonder who sent this news and how they sent it. He saw no visible signs of a Den Den Mushi of any kind and could not comprehend how the news had come to be there. But he read it nonetheless. And once he saw what was on the page, all thoughts of cracking the machine open vanished from his mind.

There it was. The thing that they had dreaded the moment the crew learned about Ace's Vivre Card. Luffy's subsequent reassurances had pushed it from their minds' successfully. But now Franky felt foolish. Fools were people who listened to someone who claimed something was impossible without question. And Luffy had said that Ace would never – could never – die. But he had. And, for whatever reason, Luffy had been with him when it happened. Luffy was known for his outrageous claims but Franky had felt uncomfortable with Ace's promise since the moment he first heard it. He would never die? Obviously that was going to be broken. But Luffy had regarded it as fact, not fiction. Franky berated himself for being lulled into a false sense of security. And he found himself angry at a man he had never met. Why would this Ace tell Luffy that? Grief was a difficult thing, but you should never make a promise like that. And if Ace and Luffy were half as close as Franky had been led to believe, Ace would have known about Luffy's attitude toward promises. Age was no excuse, because it still left his brother with a broken heart and no crew to piece it back together.

For a long time, promises meant very little to Robin. They represented broken trust that was shaky to begin with. As she reached adulthood, "promise" became a synonym for "lie". How many times had Crocodile promised her something? And that relationship had ended with a hole through her chest – at least she had been expecting something like that, after the many failed dealings she'd had in the past. And as she watched the boy with the Straw Hat turn the tide on a country's destruction, she was surprised. After only a short time travelling with his crew, Robin realized that Luffy was honest to his very core. He had certainly never considered any ulterior motives for anything he had ever done. She had built a tenuous trust with him, stronger than anything she had felt in years. And he had proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that she could trust every word he said wholeheartedly. Promises became promises again, as far as her crew was concerned. So when Luffy promised that Ace would be fine and there was no reason to worry, Robin had immediately dismissed all of her own reservations.

But here she stood, listening to a stranger tell her what she should have already known; had she not failed her captain on Sabaody. For a moment, Robin dismissed the Revolutionary Army's report outright. Luffy had assured them that Ace could not die. Then she realized that it was foolish to lie about something so huge. If the Whitebeard crew and the Marines had truly been dealt such massive blows, she would find evidence for herself soon enough. And Luffy was honest to a fault. He had believed something and had acted accordingly. He had not been the one to lie – that had been Ace, if unintentionally. No, Luffy had been lied to and she had mistakenly taken him at his word when she should have known better. She needed to watch out for other peoples' deceit in her captain's words.

Luffy held promises in a higher esteem than anyone and Ace's promise, although certainly made in a moment of weakness, had fallen apart despite Luffy's every action. Undoubtedly, he had had a rough time of it, if this man's story was anything to go by. Robin had never met Ace but she felt the loss as if it was her own. Not only had his older brother died in front of him, but he had broken a promise held sacred between them. For the first time in more years than she could remember, Robin felt the crushing blow of a broken promise she had allowed herself to trust in.

Chopper would have never left Drum if it hadn't been for Luffy. His dream to cure any ailment wouldn't have a hope of becoming reality if his captain hadn't practically forced him to join. The island he had left only a short time ago was a promising place to learn more about medicine but although Chopper wanted to stay and do some research, he had made a promise to his crew. He was already heading to Sabaody when the News Coo gave him the paper. All thoughts of staying behind to study were immediately banished from his mind. How could he, when his captain was suffering from what very well might be his worst injuries yet? Impel Down and Marineford? And nobody was able to confirm that he was even alive. Chopper was determined to reach Luffy in order to serve in his capacity as the Straw Hat's doctor. And Luffy had promised that he would meet them where Rayleigh's Vivre Card guided them. Chopper held the Vivre Card tightly like a lifeline. He stared at it and a memory from a few weeks ago surfaced.

He promised me a long time ago that he would never die.

Chopper was intimately familiar with how foolish of a promise that had been. As soon as Luffy had spoken, Chopper had felt dread wash over him. That was a promise that should never have been made, much less to Monkey D. Luffy. Chopper had watched as Luffy had promised to help Vivi and her country and had seen him send Crocodile flying through the sky as a long-overdue rainfall arrived in the desert. He had been there when Luffy promised to find the lost city of gold in the sky and he had listened as the beautiful sound of an ancient bell rang over the floating island. He had stood on that ledge as Luffy had promised a crying Robin that he would get her back and he had cheered when the leopard man had been crushed by his captain's hands. Chopper knew that Luffy kept his promises and he had yet to hear of a promise made to Luffy that was allowed to be broken. Luffy had a knack for getting his way – just look at how several of his crewmembers had joined. But Chopper had known that they'd deal with the fallout of Ace's broken promise one day. He had just hoped it wouldn't be so soon. Tears streamed down his furry face while Chopper was alone; he wouldn't allow himself to break down once he reached his captain. After all, he was a doctor and doctors had to take care of their crew.

What the hell? Sanji's thoughts of horoscopes abruptly came to an end the instant the picture of the smiling dead man met his eyes. For several moments, his mind was a blank. He stared at Ace's dead body and barely registered Whitebeard's body in the neighboring picture. There was a familiar raven-haired, straw hat-topped young man in a smaller picture in the corner. Sanji had trouble reconciling the images in front of him. It seemed like Ace had died and Luffy had been there when it happened. But that was impossible. It was impossible because Sanji hadn't been there. Because Sanji wasn't aware of it before now. Because Sanji had been traipsing around in a dress and make-up on an island filled with okamas. It was simply not possible that Sanji had disgraced his captain and crew so much. It was impossible because Luffy had essentially promised them that there was no reason to go find Ace. It was impossible that Luffy had gone without them and it was definitely impossible that Luffy had failed to save his brother.

But as Sanji read the words accompanying the pictures, he knew that he was wrong. It was possible. Because it had actually happened. What was impossible was that the newspaper would ever be able to so inaccurately report such a major story. Ace had died and Luffy had been there. Which meant all the impossibilities were true. It meant that Ace had broken his ten-year-old promise. It meant that all of the Straw Hats had let down their captain. It meant that Sanji was late in fulfilling his own promise to be at Sabaody. It meant that he had forgotten the most important thing while acting the deranged fool on this godforsaken island. And, worst of all, it meant his captain was alone.

Usopp was not unfamiliar with untruths. He admitted that he lied perhaps more than the average person. He told fibs and outrageous stories. But he knew the sanctity of a promise. His father had made him and his mother a promise that Usopp refused to disbelieve. Usopp himself had made a promise to Kaya and, with Luffy's help, he kept that promise. His promise to be a brave warrior of the sea was a work in progress. Every person on the Thousand Sunny had a promise they were working on.

But Usopp also knew a lie when he heard it. And Ace's promise of everlasting life was just that – a lie. A lie told out of love and comfort, but still a lie. Even though he knew this, Usopp had dismissed his own disbelief upon hearing about it. Because Ace was part of the Whitebeard Pirates. And he was Luffy's brother. Usopp felt sure that he would get out of whatever trouble his Vivre Card had hinted he was in. With everything that had happened since leaving the Florian Triangle, Usopp had all but forgotten about the revelations of Luffy's past. But now, as he stood staring at the paper in his hands as Heracles incessantly shouted at him, Usopp felt numb. He should have known. He should have been faster when running with Brook and Zoro back on Sabaody. He should have been trying to get off this island, not stuffing his face. Usopp cursed his cowardice as he thought about what he could have done differently. Luffy had dismissed all of their concerns too easily back on the Sunny. Usopp felt further from his dream than ever before as he ran around the Boyn Islands, looking for a way off. Usopp knew the pain of being alone – that's what had drawn him to Kaya in the first place. And Luffy was very simple. He wasn't afraid of much, but Usopp had known him long enough to see glimpses of his debilitating fear of being alone. And now Luffy, the man they could depend on for all their own fears and dreams, was facing his greatest fear without his crew.

Nami hated it sometimes, how her mind had created a wall to automatically hide her fear and sadness. It had been necessary when working under Arlong and it had only unraveled the day when everything came crashing down. Now, as she ripped the paper from the old man's hands to see if it really was a picture of Ace, she felt the familiar wall come slamming up. She wanted to cry and scream and run to her captain recklessly. But all her body allowed was shock. The old man stood beside her, trying to discern the cause of her frozen state as the words swam in her eyes. It was unfathomable that she had been ignorant of Ace's capture and the subsequent announcement of his execution. The first report had to have been weeks ago. It didn't matter that they had been sailing through the Florian Triangle. She should have sought out a paper as soon as they had reached Sabaody. She normally would have, but the knowledge of the discrimination against Fishman had weighed heavily on her mind.

And now, the wall was cracking as all of the old men stood outside the bubble prison, demanding answers. She managed to use the tears to her advantage and made a run for it. Luffy had been there for her in one of the hardest times of her life. She knew a fair amount about having to put on a brave face in the midst of grief. But Luffy, of all people, should never have to do that. Luffy, the man who wasn't able to tell even a white lie. How could he possibly hide his pain at a time like this? And the bigger issue was that he shouldn't have to. With everything he had done for them, why couldn't his crew be there for him now? How had they all let him down so terribly?

Weatheria was a promising place to learn more about navigation and to develop new applications for her Clima Tact. But what use could that possibly be if her captain – the reason she was here in the first place – was incapacitated in the worst way possible? She couldn't imagine how she would feel if she lost Nojiko, especially the way that Luffy had lost Ace. And damn Ace for making such a foolish promise in the first place. Damn him for breaking that promise. Because Nami knew Luffy and she knew enough about Ace and Garp and Dragon to recognize that if any family had a hope of keeping such impossible promises, it'd be Luffy's family. Damn Ace for proving that it was impossible for anyone to keep that promise and damn herself for daring to believe it.

He knew something was wrong. Beyond being sent halfway across the goddamn world, Zoro knew something was wrong. Zoro stopped himself from cursing his own body, knowing that he had already pushed it to the limit and recognizing that he needed a break. He didn't know where he was or how to get back to Sabaody but he knew he wouldn't make it in his current state. He would have to take a short break first. The fight with the stupid baboons was turning south quickly when they suddenly scattered, running back into the cover of the sparse forest. When he saw that familiar outline coming up the cobblestone road, Zoro cringed. Meeting Hawkeye here could only be bad. He couldn't afford to fight him as he was now and, for the first time ever, he didn't want to. Zoro wanted to get back to the Sunny where his crew would be waiting for him. But Zoro pulled himself together as much as he could, gripped his sword tightly and sat up a little straighter. He was aware of how pathetic he still looked, but he wouldn't be caught with his guard down around Hawkeye of all people.

When the Warlord mentioned Luffy's moniker, Zoro was suddenly glad of his presence. But the rest of what he said finally sunk in. So that's why Straw Hat arrived at Marineford with that other group. Other group? So all of his crew were sent flying, then. It's the only explanation for Luffy ever showing up at Marine Headquarters without his crew. All the more reason to get back to Sabaody. Zoro questioned Hawkeye (his voice more anxious than he would have liked) and everything he said just created more questions. Then there was a pause, an almost hesitation before the Warlord explained what happened. And that feeling that Zoro had been disregarding as paranoia mixed with his own situation slammed back into him. He knew it would be bad. He knew that whatever this man would say could only be terrible news. And Zoro berated himself for relying on the man he wanted to surpass for this crucial piece of information. But he held his tongue because he had to know. He was part of the Straw Hat crew and if it had to do with his captain, he would throw away his own pride to do what he could.

Fire Fist Ace died right before Straw Hat's eyes.

Dead, then. Ace, Luffy's beloved older brother had died. The bad feeling made sense now. Of course someone had died. And Zoro, for a split second, was glad that it was Ace. He would never admit how afraid he'd been that it had been Luffy or another crew member. Once that split second passed, all thoughts of gratefulness were scraped forcefully from his mind.

Fire Fist Ace died right before Straw Hat's eyes.

Zoro had met Ace back on Alabasta. He had met Luffy's big brother and although he had had no idea Luffy even had a sibling less than twenty minutes prior, Zoro could immediately tell Luffy adored him and fit perfectly into the role of little brother. It was impossible not to see that the two brothers cared deeply for each other. And now the eldest was dead.

Fire Fist Ace died right before Straw Hat's eyes.

Ace had died in front of Luffy. Zoro didn't know the whole story and, right now, it didn't matter too much. The end result was still a dead older brother and a captain whom was forced to witness it. Zoro figured that Luffy had found out why Ace's Vivre Card had been damaged back on Thriller Bark and somehow made his way to Marineford to stop exactly what ended up happening. Hawkeye had been there apparently; Zoro would ask him about it later.

Later? What? No, there wouldn't be a later. Zoro was leaving now. Screw his battered body. If he wanted to be the best swordsman, he damn well better be able to get to his captain during his greatest time of need. The knowledge that all nine crewmembers had been scattered was a blow that just furthered Zoro's guilt. But he was sure they would all be finding out about Ace very soon if they hadn't already. And Luffy was their captain. They would be making their way back to Sabaody as soon as possible. So Zoro would go, too. He would create new limits for his body and Chopper could take care of him once it was all over.

Zoro would do what he had to do. He was no stranger to promises broken by an untimely death and he was familiar with the fallout from it. Luffy was currently facing his two deepest fears – his brother's death and solitude. Zoro gripped his sword tighter and ignored his body's protests as he braced himself to stand. He had a captain to get back to.