A/N: Hey guys! Excited for this chapter? Sorry it wasn't up last week, as I thought, this month is full of nothing but events, family, visits, volunteer hours, etc. leaving no time to work on this, but I'm doing my best! Seeing as this weekend is Christmas I'm almost positive that next week will be lacking a chapter as well so I'm sorry in advance, and not to mention New Years is coming up as well the week after so that's also going to hinder the ability for me to upload. Hopefully, within two weeks I can write at least one chapter and get it up sometime this month but there is a high probability that this is going to be the last chapter for this month. Don't worry though, after all of these holidays pass I'll be right back on track and spitting out chapters weekly! Oh, also, when I put this chapter on Fanfiction all of my apostrophes just dissapeared, so that was a thing. I went through and tried to put them all back but I might have missed some and there might be words like hasn't where it looks like hasn t, so be on the look-out for that. Anyways, I'll stop rambling now and let you all read the chapter you've all been waiting for. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, etc. and New Year, and I'll see you in 2017!
Warning: Characters may be OOC, I haven't had much experience in writing characters like Robin, Franky and Brook, and they have very unique personalities, especially Robin, so I apologize in advance for them being OOC!
The Strawhats had been walking through the desert for a good hour, and so far, it was going good. Cat Burglar, Sniper and Tony had all talked to Ace about their guilt, and it seemed more of the future members were going to do the same, whether it was now or later. Nothing was happening as they walked leaving the crews to mingle with themselves for entertainment.
"Oh! And the time you got eaten by that alligator!"
"That was you Luffy, me and Ace had to save you, remember?"
"Really? Well there was also that time when we were at the Grey Terminal and you destroyed all the wood we were going to use for our secret base!"
"That was also you."
"How do you destroy wood? Did you burn it?"
"No, my dear Tony, my little brother merely threw it across the way and before we knew it it was splintered. What was salvageable was quickly destroyed as well when Luffy got to it and ran right into a tree with it."
"S'not my fault! Ace was gonna kill me and that tree was in my way!" Sabo sighed at the memory, Luffy running face first into a tree, all the wood in his hands breaking on impact as Ace swung his fists at Luffy's head. Tony listened curiously, amused by the stories of Luffy's childhood, even if the rubber Captain did get them wrong.
"Maybe you shouldn t have thrown the wood then." Sabo said nonchalantly.
"But that way was so much faster!" Luffy said in exasperation, as if it was the most obvious thing. Sabo smiled, shaking his head.
"It amazes me sometimes how destructive you can be." Sabo says.
"Yeah, one time he destroyed the whole infirmary when I had to give him a shot!" Tony chimed in, remembering how it looked as if a tornado ran through the infirmary on the Merry.
"Shots hurt! Besides, I don't get sick, so I don t need 'em." Luffy said, pouting, and crossing his arms.
"But you do fight a lot of bad guys who could have things like rust on their weapons or armor! You could get tetanus! Or maybe they have some disease transferred through contact! Shots are important!" Tony adds, only causing Luffy's pout to deepen.
"He's right Lu, you should let him give you the shots, besides, you fight so much that a shot should feel like a mosquito bite to you." Sabo says. Luffy didn't respond, leaving Sabo to smile and shake his head at his childish brother.
Meanwhile, a little further back where many of the future members were thinking, Franky, having finished another bottle of cola, and replacing it inside his stomach, decided that now was as good a time as ever to talk to Ace. He may not have known him long, only a few hours in fact, but this was his Captains brother, and he seemed like a Suu~per guy, so this talk should go smoothly.
It was hard to miss a giant cyborg going from one end of a group and migrating towards another, but, guessing what he was doing, the crew members pretended they didn't see, though Franky didn't mind either way. Ace looked over at Franky and smiled, nodding his head in greeting.
"Hey, Franky right?" Ace asked, Franky nodding.
"Yup, that's my Suu~per name!" Franky says, grinning widely and posing.
"My little brother sure does attract some interesting people." Ace says, chuckling softly.
"Ow~! You've got that right! He's lucky he found one Suu~per shipwright like me though!" Franky boasts proudly, but remembering why he was here Franky mellowed a bit. Ace, noticing the quick change in mood, prepared himself. Franky seemed like a big, tough guy, meaning his way of dealing with guilt might not be as open as someone like Tony, but more like Roronoa if he had to guess.
"We haven't really talked about what happened in those two years when we were separated, and especially not about the war." Franky begins, going straight to the point. Ace nods in understanding, waiting for Franky to continue.
"When I got blasted... a lot of Suu~per things happened, and at one point my whole personality was switched. I drank tea! Not cola! That was definitely not Suu~per!" Franky says, making a face, and Ace smiles at the imagery of the giant cyborg sipping from a tea cup.
"Point is, the last thing I had on my mind was getting back to the others. When I got the news about what had happened..." Franky trailed off, leaving Ace to guess the reaction. Franky hadn't told him a lot about what happened to him, but he guessed it didn't really matter, he knew enough to know, by Franky's facial expression, he felt guilty. Ace inhaled, closing his eyes momentarily before reopening them and looking at Franky.
"You know, one time I betrayed my Captain." Ace said matter of factly, shocking Franky to the point that the giant cyborg practically tripped over his own feet.
"W-What?!" He asked. He had thought that Ace was a loyal crewmember, and here he was telling Franky he had betrayed his Captain?! Whitebeard of all people!
"It's true." Ace says, nodding in conformation.
"One day, I was sent on a mission, just me, my division was to stay back at the Moby, the problem wasn't too big, but it was serious so, as to make a point, Pops sent his Second Division Commander. I was happy to go, needed a little breather from Marco's constant nagging about paperwork." Ace says, his face twisting into a look of dislike. The story seemed normal so far and it left Franky wondering why Ace would betray Whitebeard, and what he had done in the first place.
"So, I go to this island, not too big, would take only about a day to explore, no inhabitants, not even many animals, overall a boring place to vacation at. Anyways, I land on this island and go looking for the guy I'm supposed to take care of. Like I said, the island was pretty small so in no time at all I had searched the whole island and hadn't found a single trace of this man. At this point I'm kind of annoyed, I spent a week getting to this island, a full day searching high and low for this man, only to find I was either given false information or the man had already fled in fear." Ace continues. Was that why he betrayed Whitebeard? Because he had been given false information? That didn't seem like something Ace would do, but then again, Franky didn't actually know anything about Ace other than he was his Captains brother.
"I'm just about to leave the island and head back to the Moby to make a report on what happened when, out of nowhere, this weird blue mist just starts to appear around me. Now I'm confused and annoyed, but also thinking this might have to do with the man I was sent after, so now I'm also getting ready for a fight. I had the right mind to hold my breath in case the mist was poisonous, but it was everywhere, and even as I looked around and used haki I couldn't find any trace of this man. I can't hold my breath any longer and before I know it I'm breathing this weird smelling mist in and it's like my mind shuts off and my body goes into autopilot." Ace says, the story flowing nicely, allowing Franky to feel as if he was there. He was hanging on to every one of Aces words, curious as to how this all played out in the end.
"Whereas before I had felt a range of emotions it was as if I was suddenly desensitized. I didn't feel happy, didn't feel mad, didn't feel annoyed, nothing. My mind wasn't thinking about the man anymore, not about the mist, and definitely not about the island. It was like one thought only had permeated my brain and was sticking. I had to get back to the Moby. I didn't know why, it wasn't an urgent need, like someone was in trouble, it was just a general knowing, knowing that I should probably go back, as if I had nothing better to do. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew this was wrong, that something weird had happened, but it was like I was watching a projection of myself. I couldn't control my body as I walked back to the Striker and made my way back home. Before I knew it another week had passed with my body feeling completely unlike my own and I could see the Moby. I got off Striker and was met with the normal greetings, but even though I wanted to greet them back I did nothing, and instead walked right up to Pops' chair, and sent a flaming fist his way." Franky looked at Ace in shock, the latter merely looking as if he was talking about the weather.
"W-What?!" Franky said in shock, but Ace just continued on.
"Pops is strong, my surprise fire fist wasn't going to faze him, but he was also shocked, along with the rest of the crew, and even myself, so his reaction time wasn't the best and I got his arm pretty good. I was immediately tackled to the ground by Marco and Thatch, the two shouting at me and asking questions I couldn't answer, whether I wanted to or not. The nurses were sent to look after Pops and I was put in seastone. No one knew if I was me or if I was an imposter due to someone's devil fruit, and no matter how many questions they asked I wasn't able to answer." Franky wanted to know what had happened next, the pause Ace was taking to get a breath seeming like an eternity.
"What happened next?" He asked. Ace smirked.
"Well, it just so happens that, while all of this questioning was going on, one of my crewmates, Trent, was fishing. One of the 'fish' he pulled up was a rotten, long dead, carcass that smelled rotten. It caught everyone's attention as the smell filled our noses, and before I knew it I was controlling myself again. I'm sure I scared more than a few people when I went from completely silent to a yelling, cursing loud-mouth. Marco seemed to realize that I was myself again and got rid of the seastone, and after a lot of questioning we concluded that the mist did something to me and the horrible smell of the fish canceled it out. It didn t change the fact that I had attacked Pops though. I felt horrible about it, but after a long talk with Pops he made me understand that it wasn't my fault I attacked him, it wasn't my fault that the mist had messed with my personality." Ace concluded. Franky had tears in his eyes and was sniffling but both pretended they weren t there.
"B-but I wasn t controlled by an un-Suu~per mist." Franky said after a minute. Ace shook his head.
"No, you weren't, but you were changed against your will, you said so yourself, you weren't acting like you normally did. I don't know what circumstances led to your personality switch but I'm pretty sure it was unavoidable. Like how I was snapped out of it after I betrayed my Captain you changed after you heard the news, which is just as bad. It wasn't your fault you weren't there to help, and there was nothing you could have done. That news was the rotten smelling fish that allowed you to be yourself again, even though bad things had already happened without your consent. There's nothing you can do to change the past, so focus on now, focus on being yourself, focus on helping Monkey." Ace said, giving similar advice that he gave Cat Burglar. It was quiet again and Ace was beginning to think it was the end of the conversation when he heard a sudden cry beside him.
"T-That was beautiful! I wouldn't have been able to say something as Suu~per as that in a million years Ace-bro! I m not crying, I've just got sand in my eyes, I swear!" Franky said as he rubbed furiously at his eyes overflowing with tears.
"This damn sand! It s so un-Suu~per, making me look like I'm crying at such a touching story! I'm not crying damn it! I'm not-" He was cut short as he hiccupped, suddenly letting out a wail and hugging Ace, lifting the fire user effortlessly off the ground as he cried.
"It was so beautiful man! Such a touching story! It's hard to feel guilty after hearing something like that!" Franky wailed, Ace awkwardly patting the cyborg the best he could with his limited mobility. Maybe Franky wasn't as tough as Roronoa when it came to emotions. In reality the giant man was a big softy, which was ironic seeing as Franky's body was anything but soft.
Ace let Franky continue to cry, and eventually he was let back down, Franky wiping at the few remaining tears. Ace stretched, his joints popping in relief at being released from the tight grip Franky had. Franky thanked him once more before heading off to the others, seeming happier than before. Now that he looked, the ones he had spoken to all looked lighter, happier. They were grinning and talking, Cat Burglar with Tony and Franky starting a conversation with Sniper, the four laughing and chirping loudly with ease. Ace was glad that he seemed to be helping the group, even if all he was doing was talking and listening. The rest that hadn't talked to him all had looks of deep concentration on their faces, all of them at one point or another glancing his way as if working up the courage to go over next, which was probably exactly what they were doing.
"Ah, Ace-San, if you wouldn't mind, I would like to speak with you next." Brook, the tall, walking, talking skeleton, said as he appeared beside the mera-mera no mi eater. It was still slightly unnerving to see a skeleton alive (Kinda) and talking, but Ace brushed it off as best he could, smiling to the musician.
"It's no problem... Brook, right?" He asked. Brook nodded his affirmation.
"That's correct, ah, it makes my heart swell in joy that I was able to meet you, even under these circumstances. Ah! Not that I have a heart to swell! Yohohoho~! Skull Joke!" Brook joked, Ace laughing in response. After a minute, Brook composed himself, facing forward as they walked, yet preparing himself for the talk they were about to have.
"I think... my guilt stems from before I even met the Straw Hat Pirates, before I even died really." Brook began, going straight into the story. Ace was interested in the skeletons past and listened intently, wanting to learn more about Monkey's crewmembers.
"You see, on my first run through life I was on a pirate crew. Back then Pirates were much different, they actually did it for the adventure, much like Monkey-san. Now-a-days many are a disgrace to the word pirate and only care about murdering and pillaging. But that's hardly the point now." Brook said, noticing that he was rambling.
"Anyways, I was apart of the Rumbar Pirates. My previous Captain, Captain Yorki was a good man, but before we knew it Captain Yorki came down with an incurable sickness, one that was highly contagious. I was devastated when he died, but I had become the new Captain so I had to be strong. Eventually, after a little while on the sea, we ran into a group of pirates. We fought them, but in the process the remaining crewmembers were poisoned. Before then I had eaten my devil fruit, but we weren't sure if it would really bring me back to life or not. We had made a promise to a whale named Laboon that we would come back one day and in our final moments we played one of Laboon s favorite songs, which I recorded on a tone dial. After that I remember waking up, my soul having taken a long time to find me again seeing as we were in the Florian Triangle and it was extremely dark and foggy there. I was only bones by then, and I was stuck drifting in the triangle with no way out. Not to mention, my shadow was stolen and if I went out in the sun I would turn into nothing but ash." Brook said, Ace listening to every word.
"It sounds like you've been through a lot." Ace said, to which Brook nodded to.
"Yes, it would seem that I have." They continued on in silence for a moment before Brook continued.
"Eventually, while I was drifting, I heard someone coming aboard my ship, and before I knew it Monkey and the others were there, the first people I had seen in many many years. Monkey immediately wanted me on his crew, and after going back onto his ship and telling them my story we went to Moria's ship. Much happened after that, but it wasn't until the separation that my guilt began. When we were separated there wasn't much I could do to help my new Captain and friends, and it was almost like I was losing Captain Yorki all over again. I hadn't been able to help my previous Captain, and here I was, failing another, after I had promised Monkey that I would do whatever I could to help." Brook said softly, eye sockets turning down towards the sands.
"Well it seems to me that you did do whatever you could, right?" Ace asks Brook, watching the skeleton look up at him (More like down with Brooks height) with curiosity.
"You said that you promised him you would do everything within your power to help. It sounds to me like you did try everything you could, whether it was enough or not. That's more than anyone could ask for. If there was truly nothing else, you could've done that means you did everything you could and you should be proud. I'm sure Monkey is, after all, it doesn't take much to make him happy, and if you stood up for his friends, he's most definitely more than happy." Ace says reassuringly. Brook smiles to himself, not that he had a mouth to smile with, and nods.
"I guess your right Ace-san. It's easy to bring yourself down, it's nice to have someone reassure you that you're not in the wrong. I'm glad we had this talk, and that I got to know you a little better." Brook said.
"Same goes here Brook, I'm glad I got to meet you, you're a good guy, I'm glad Monkey's got someone like you on his crew." Ace says.
"Yohohoho~! Your words fill me with so much joy! I will take my leave now, it seems miss Robin-san would like a turn to speak with you as well." Brook says, and they both turn to see Robin watching with a knowing smile. Ace nods, smiling as he says his goodbyes to Brook and watches as Robin makes her way over to him.
"It seems I'm next, doesn't it Ace-san?" Robin asks, still smiling as she matches his pace. Ace nods, wondering how the calm collected woman was going to handle her guilt.
"It seems so." Ace replies, unsure if he should start the conversation or not.
"You know, I'm not a very... open person." Robin says suddenly, shocking Ace out of his thoughts.
"I had a feeling." Ace says slowly, not completely sure where this was going. Robin merely smiles warmly to Ace, reminding him of Makino almost, before continuing.
"It's due to a long and depressing past that I see no need to get into at this time. After all, this isn't about my personality, this is about what I would feel guilty about." Robin says, and Ace nods.
"When I met Monkey, we were enemies, and at that point in my life I hadn't had anyone... close to me. After everything that happened here I was ready to die, and Monkey saved me. I didn't want to be saved, I believed I should die right there, but he refused, and so I held it against him and made him allow me into the crew, though I'm sure that I could have just asked and he would have said yes." Robin mused, a small smile on her face. Ace chuckled at that, nodding his agreement once more. Sometimes Monkey could be a little too trusting.
"I never was able to understand Monkey like I did everything else. I like having knowledge on everything I can, hence why I collect so many books, but Monkey is someone you can't 'figure out'. When we were separated..." This time Robin trailed off, her eyes closing.
"I was the last, before Monkey, to disappear. We both watched our friends disappear one by one, and I can honestly say that I never felt more terrified in my life. I was slowly losing everyone I'd come to care for in a matter of mere minutes. Monkey tried his best to save us, but in the end I could barely move my own legs from how scared I was. I guess that's what I'm guilty about. I'm always the calm one, but in those last moments I showed Monkey how terrified I was over something and he wasn't able to help. I know how much that must have hurt him, and I wish I could have done more that day, as I'm sure everyone else does." Robin finishes, her eyes slightly downcast, though she still seemed to be as calm as always, not betraying much emotion. Ace mulled over his thoughts momentarily before deciding how he was going to answer.
"You know... sometimes, no matter how much you try, there are some things that just can't be done." Ace said, his eyes drifting over to Luffy and Sabo who seemed to be arguing about something, Sabo wearing a smug smirk and Luffy a pout. Robin noticed where he was looking and waited in curiosity for Ace to continue.
"When Luffy and I were little, when we thought we lost Sabo, thought he died, I remember wishing I could have done more to save him. Maybe if I had listened to Luffy and went after him, maybe if I didn't listen to those stupid pirates, maybe if I had done more it would have never happened, but the thing about wishing is that, you can wish all you want, but the hard truth is that, chances are, nothing's going to change, not unless you do it yourself. You have to work hard to get stronger, work hard to move past things that hurt you, painful memories, depressing thoughts." Ace says, sensing that Robin would want to hear the truth without him sugar coating all of his words. Robin nods, still facing forward.
"You know Ace-san, your better at this then you think you are." The archeologist says, turning to face him, and giving him a smile. Aces eyebrows furrow slightly in confusion, wondering how she knew he had been questioning his ability to comfort the crew.
"Fufufufu, I'm very observant." Was all she said before sending him one last smile and leaving. This left Ace alone once again, still mildly shocked and confused before he shrugged it off. At least from an outside view he was doing an ok job. That, and the number, which had previously been seven, was now down to four.
"But medicine is gross, and shots hurt, and stitches are itchy and bandages are always too tight, and ice is too cold! So that means I should just eat meat and not worry about all that medical stuff! Besides, meat is good, medical stuff isn't." Luffy says matter of factly ahead of Ace.
"That's beside the point Lu, the point is- you know what, never mind. There's no use wasting my breath trying to get you to understand this." Sabo says, sighing and face palming. Luffy started laughing, feeling as if he won the argument when he suddenly stopped, tilting his head in confusion.
"Ne, Sabo? Do all birds have giant swords?" Luffy asks, gaining everyone's attention at the seemingly random and absurd question.
"What?" He asks. Luffy points up, making everyone stop and look. The clouds Cat Burglar had created had thinned greatly and there was barely anything left, making it easy to see the sky above them. They hadn't even noticed the rain stopping or the slow loss of shade, but now that they did notice they all realized how hot they were getting.
That was beside the point though as they spotted what Luffy had seen.
"Uh, I don't think that's a bird, I think that's... a person..."