Based on One Piece Chapters 843, 844, and 845.

This will be a tragedy. You have been warned. Also, Character Death. Again, warnings now.


"Hrmm." Jimbei hummed, as he regarded the crew and Law. He didn't have anything against answering their request but he wasn't sure if it was really his place. "Hrmm."

A glance at Luffy-kun revealed him trying not to drift off. He hadn't seemed to object to anything else they were doing thus far. He probably wouldn't object to him revealing a bit of what happened, right? He looked back at the anxious faces in the fading light.

"Alright, I'll tell you a bit of what happened. Only a bit." He agreed with a heavy sigh. He didn't move from his position, seated by Luffy-kun's feet. He wanted to make sure he could grab the boy if he started falling overboard. "I was with Ace when he was in prison. I protested the war, refused to aid the Navy in their quest against Whitebeard."

He had his reasons, reasons they had a faint understanding of, but he had no intention of explaining any of that now. He was only going to tell a small portion of the story.

"I was there when Boa Hancock arrived, bringing Luffy-kun with her, though we didn't know that at the time. All I knew was that one of my supposed allies delivered Ace a message. His brother was there, was coming for him. I'd never seen him so upset as when he heard the news. He believed every word of it because he knew his brother well, much better than I did at the time."

He could see it on their faces. They all knew Luffy-kun well enough to imagine what Ace must have felt upon hearing it. "If you're asking what I told Ace, I'll only say that I repeated a message Ace told me. The reason he had hope for his little brother to survive, to be okay, even if something happened to him."

Jimbei glanced at Luffy-kun. "He said that he'd be okay because he had a good crew supporting him. When I asked him what he had left, he said he had you. All of you. If you're asking why he's still alive right now, I'd have to say it's because of you."

It was kind of heartbreaking for him, watching their crushed faces. They hadn't known. They hadn't known not just that their captain had been in that much pain, in that much of a hopeless place. No, they hadn't know that they, themselves, were his hope. They had taken for granted how much he needed them. Yes, Luffy-kun could and would go on without them, if he needed to, but it didn't mean it wouldn't take a huge toll on him. After all, he'd clung to life thinking they'd be there for him.