Edit 11/6: There was something wrong with what I posted on this chapter, so it's been updated. Hopefully it makes more sense now.

Everyone was shocked when they heard the news that Ace was actually Sabo's brother. And that Sabo only became an S-Class wizard to try and find his way back to Ace. It was so sweet, and they threw a party in the rest area where the guild was working to rebuild their home. Ace was grinning the whole time.

The members who'd known Sabo longer, besides Natsu and Gray, were all so happy for him, and it explained why Sabo was suddenly social and not going on long jobs. "So are you two gonna be a team?" Cana asked, eyeing Natsu as well. The pink haired teen looked worried. Ace was honest.

"I will alternate. It's tiring being with Natsu and Gray and Erza, so breaks would be good. I'll go with Sabo for breaks. No offense to you guys. I also want to be able to make money without destroying places." Lucy agreed with that statement. "I hope you're not upset," Ace said in worry.

Natsu grinned. "I can't get upset about it anymore if you're brothers! You can totally take breaks! Though I wish Gray would take breaks," he mumbled. Ace thought for a moment, before he decided to do it. He asked to talk to Happy and Natsu in private. They were both surprised, and Happy looked worried. Sabo gave Ace an encouraging look, and then went back to helping rebuild.

The three went around a few corners. "I need to… set some ground rules. Or something." Natsu and Happy exchanged a confused look. "I don't want to seem weak, but I think I had a lot of insecurities when I was young. I don't remember them, but talking over everything with Sabo, I know they had to be there. When you two make fun of me, or when you say I'm useless, it really makes me feel like shit, and want to leave the group."

Happy had tears in his eyes, and hugged Ace, crying out apologies. Ace pat his back. "I won't say mean things again!" he promised. Natsu looked terrible, looing at the ground in shame. Ace waited for him to speak.

"I really like you as a friend. I'm sorry I was making you feel like crap. It's not like how I feel about Gray, where I want him feeling like crap. So, I'm sorry, Ace. I'll try to be more careful with how I talk and all." Ace smiled, but asked them not to be stiff around him. "I'll just try and think before I say something mean. It might be hard, but I will try."

"That's all I ask for," Ace said, feeling light like a feather. "Also, Happy, maybe be more sensitive about making fun of Lucy, too. She hasn't told me anything about not liking it, but maybe try to be a bit more… thoughtful." Happy nodded firmly. "Okay, let's go rebuild some more."

"Yeah!" Happy said. Ace was beaming, and Sabo gave him a wordless high five. Thatch would be so proud of him! He couldn't wait to explain everything. Ace did still plan on living with Thatch for now. He wanted to ease in to having a brother, even if he greatly enjoyed Sabo's presence. He went back to building the guild, knowing it would look even more awesome than it did already.

-x-

"You went on another one?" Erza asked when they returned from their previous job, where they once again destroyed everything. Though it was Erza's fault this time. Ace nodded, drinking his smoothie before he replied.

He smiled and said, "He wants me to catch up so we're even. So he's training and taking me along on more serious missions. I haven't gotten to fight anyone yet, but some of the jobs are more being smart. Also, he's taking me around the places where he knows magic is the strongest. So I can maybe absorb it like he can," he explained.

Natsu ran over and demanded to know why Erza wasn't taking them on S-Class jobs!? "Because you'd wreck everything and S-Class jobs are very important. If you can't handle them, you could die. Ace is only truly protected because of Sabo's strength. If not for him, Ace wouldn't stand a chance."

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence," Ace grumbled. "Anyways, wanna go on a job?"

"Didn't you just get back from one?"

"I like keeping busy, I think," Ace replied, his straw now making slurping noises with the empty cup. "We could do a fun one, maybe."

"In that case, I have a good one for you! Should be really easy!" Mira offered, and handed them a flyer. The paper just asked for some wizards to help draw attention to a forgotten and unpopular theater. Should be easy, they were good at being flashy and all. Sounded simple and relaxed. Though he did want to go on a mission with fighting so he could improve not just against Sabo on the outskirts of town and on breaks during their jobs.

They left, with Ace going home to tell Thatch he was leaving for a quick job. "Good luck. Here's your lunchbox." Ace grinned. His roommate was too nice. He took his things, and Sabo was already on his own job, so Ace didn't need to tell him he was leaving like he had been. Ace met up with the other four, and they headed to the train.

Never again had they left Ace or Natsu behind on the train. Ace was woken up and always the one to drag the sick Natsu out of the vehicle. Gray refused and Erza was rough about it. So Ace had a nice and short nap on their way to Onibas.

He'd been here for jobs before, and liked Magnolia much more. It was less busy than here, even though this place boasted quite a bit more job opportunities. They went through town, Erza with her massive luggage cart. When asked by Ace if she really used it all, she had said she couldn't go anywhere without it.

So some irrational hoarding reason, then. He never dared say that, but that's what he thought. When the five were walking, Gray asked Ace if he'd remembered anything after Sabo came clean. "No."

"Do you think he's telling the truth with no proof?" he asked. Ace didn't understand why those two disliked him so much. It wasn't like Sabo was an asshhole or got into fights with him. The freckled teen nodded, and then asked what his problem was with him. It didn't make sense to Ace.

"It's not like he's ever disrespectful to you or anything," Ace said. Gray looked uncomfortable and didn't answer. So Erza was the one too.

"They're jealous that he was admitted to the S-Class trial when he was eleven, and these two haven't ever before." Ace was still shocked by how talented Sabo had been even when he just came. Only one year after he arrived, and had only fighting experience and little magic. His brother truly was amazing.

"Oh. I see," was Ace's simple reply. "He told me he did all of it so he could try to find me again. He wasn't showing off or wanting to be the best." Natsu grumbled that he had still been a jackass from the start. "He's not anymore, though," Ace pointed out. But the two still held a grudge. "How about try to be nice because he's my only family."

Natsu looked bothered by this, maybe not thinking about the fact that his attitude was directed at his friend's brother, not just his friend. It was different with family, and all. When they arrived at the place, it was pretty empty. "This sounds fun," Lucy said brightly.

Erza started doing voice practicing, and Ace thought it would be fun to take part, too. He wondered if he was a good actor though. Or if he'd just screw everything up. "I don't think we'll be acting. We just have to make a scene to bring interest to it," Lucy said. Ace turned to the three others and commanded that bringing interest didn't mean destroying everything.

"Like you're any better!"

"When I'm on jobs with Sabo, we never destroy anything, so I don't know what you're talking about." Gray's eye twitched and Ace smiled in amusement. "Though I hope this won't be too boring. Easy money, though." When the owner came out of the doors of the massive theater, he thanked them for coming, but gave them the bad news that all the actors had ditched. They were too embarrassed to take part in such terrible plays. Now he was all alone, his wife having left him because of this, too.

Natsu asked what Ace was thinking. "If it brings crap to you all the time, just close up shop and do something else."

"This is my dream, thank you very much. But since the play is cancelled, there's no work for you, thank you very much," he said, looking like a skittish man. And why did he keep thanking them? Strange. But then Erza offered, for all of them, to replace the actors' roles and take on the play themselves.

Any play was better than no play. So they would replace the actors. Ace wondered how it would go.

It took longer than Ace thought it would, and felt bad he told Thatch it would be a quick job. The play was postponed a week for them to learn their lines and memorize the script. They stayed at a hotel, the girls in one room with the boys in the other. Ace fell asleep very easily, which Gray and Natsu always had trouble, often grumbling at each other before bed.

But it didn't bother Ace, and he woke up just fine every morning. It was the day of the play. He couldn't help but be nervous, but excited. Ace was backstage when he started to feel like he was suffocating. He gasped for air and grabbed his throat. Lucy saw it first, and asked if he was alright in worry.

Ace shook his head. He closed his eyes, and saw the whirlpool in front of hin. Looking down at it from a small fishing boat. He felt his resolve and desperation at the same time as he was sucked into the whirlpool, unable to move and suffocating in the water. Finally, the water filled his lungs, and he sunk away.

His eyes snapped open and he hadn't realized they were closed. He gasped, but was fine again, even if he was panting. He sat up slowly, and his friends were worried. He hadn't been a burden on their jobs in a while. Getting better at teamwork, and not being baggage. "Are you okay?" Gray asked.

"S-sorry. I think I just relived when I drowned," Ace said, truly shaken. "I felt the water fill my lungs. I've had bad dreams about it before, but never that detailed," he explained quietly. Lucy asked if he was alright to go on stage. Ace nodded, but Erza told him not to. "I have to take part. I'm not sitting it out for something stupid."

"It could have been PTSD," Erza said firmly. "You need a break after something like that. Besides, we'll do fine, there's not need to worry." Ace sighed and looked down. Happy hugged his arm, and said he'd stay with him. The freckled teen smiled and nodded. The other four got out there to act.

Ace had high hopes based on how well they'd done in rehearsal, but it went terribly. Erza was an especially bad actress. It was a train wreck almost immediately. He went out, and lamented the way his clients were working. "Not only have you become someone else, you're stuttering everything, but you've definiled the princess and angered the dragon! You fools! I am not paying you!" Ace snapped.

Gray told him to shut up, and trapped him in ice before Ace burnt it apart and tackled Gray. "It's you job to do something about the princess and yet you do nothing! You failure!"

"You're the one that hired me!" Natsu was destroying the stage with his fire while Erza tried to vanquish him and Lucy ran off the stage screaming, with only a blanket on. "I don't want to be saved by any of you!" she cried. Then the building collapsed around them, which was what Ace was wanting to avoid.

But the crowd went wild about it, so something good came from it. They all bowed and hurried off the broken stage. "Nice! We fixed it!" Lucy said, giving Ace a high five. They didn't realize their success would keep them there another week, three performances a day before Ace faked a serious illness that they had to go home to treat.

They were spineless and couldn't say they wanted go home. So Ace had a sickness that need to be treated immediately. Thank god they were out of there. The reward wasn't nearly enough!

-x-

Ace returned home and was surprised to see someone else in there. Thatch came out, looking nervous, and Ace wondered what was wrong. The man there had to be only a few years older than Ace, and was blonde with blue eyes. He was very muscular, just like Ace was. "Sorry I didn't ask for permission. This is Marco, my brother. He's visiting for awhile, taking a break from Blue Pegasus.

"Is it okay if he crashes on the couch for a bit?" Thatch asked nervously. Ace smiled, and said that was fine. Ace had his own brother and would never shut someone off from their own. Thatch grinned in relief. He also said he was out on jobs a lot, so he would probably not notice much.

Marco stood and shook Ace's hand, saying it was good to meet him. "Thatch talked about you a lot. You charmed him." Ace laughed, and said it seemed to happen often. He hadn't heard back from that magazine, which he was glad wasn't super popular in the first place. He never wanted that type of job again. It was so embarrassing.

"What is another guild like?" Ace wondered, putting his things in his room with the door open to still listen. Marco said it was fine. "You don't sound that optimistic about it," Ace added. Marco looked down, and Ace worried he'd crossed a boundary. Before he could take it back and apologize for being nosy, Marco did answer.

He said, "I just don't get along very well with some of them. One of the most popular members, I just dislike him." Ace said he disliked someone in his guild. Laxus. But everyone disliked him, so it was different. "He annoys and grosses me out, but the guild really likes him. They don't like me because of that."

Ace felt sad for him. "I'm sorry. That must suck." Marco nodded. It was pretty late, and Ace was tired. He had leftovers for dinner, and then excused himself to go to bed. Thatch wished him good night after insisting he try his new peppermint brownies, which were heavenly, like usual. He crashed in his bed, sleeping deeply immediately.

The next morning, he had breakfast, and Thatch was at work. "Hi, Ace," Marco said, sounding a bit awkward. He'd cooked eggs and bacon in place of Thatch. Ace yawned and wished him good morning. "Uh, how'd you sleep?"

"You don't gotta be all awkward with me. I don't mind that you're here, it's Thatch's place, too," Ace said. "But I slept fine." He thanked Marco for handing him a plate of the eggs and bacon. The meat wasn't cooked to perfect crunchiness, but it was fine. Marco sat on the couch, no table to fit them at, and asked what kind of jobs Ace did.

Ace only remembered he was a Blue Pegasus wizard because he had the mark on his neck, which Ace felt was a kind of strange place to put it, but Marco did wear a long sleeved shirt and pants with sandals. Ace explained how he went on easier jobs with his part-time team and then S-Class ones with his brother.

Marco raised his brows, and Ace laughed. "They were kind of fighting over me, so I decided to split my time between them to be fair and stay friends with all of them. They're both very different to do jobs with, really." Marco asked who his S-Class brother was, thinking he might have heard of him. "His name is Sabo. He uses color spells."

"He's very well known around the kingdom. He's stopped at our guild before. Was very polite, though he walked right in and made a beeline for the Master. Everyone was irritated, but he seemed to not even notice." Ace smiled. He explained that Sabo had been on a long journey to try and find a way to reunite with the missing Ace. Marco raised his brows.

"It's a long story. So how long are you taking a break from Blue Pegasus?" Marco said it was only for a week or two. Just to see his brother. Their other two remaining brothers were further from where Marco had been. They were all spread out all around Fiore. Ace nodded. He finished his food, and said he should get going.

When he made it back to the guild, he met with Sabo, and asked if they were going on a job now. "Don't you want a break?"

"Hehe, doing this makes me roll in cash. Though I still have money from our first S-Class job! Can I pick this time? Maybe a regular one?" Ace asked happily. Sabo smiled and nodded. He picked a job that was to find and destroy a time traveler that kept wreaking havoc on a rich family for their money.

It sounded so interesting! He went and told Erza that he and Sabo were going on a job and should be back in a few days, based on how far it was. Sabo said, "More than a few days. At least a week. I want to take Ace somewhere on our way back." Erza nodded, and said they might go on a job in that time as well.

"Maybe you'll actually get a break." Ace waved off her concern about him overworking himself. He enjoyed doing jobs and keeping busy. Being with his friends and family were fun. Erza and Sabo smiled. The redhead wished them luck, and Ace got his things from home. Sabo came with him. Marco was there, cleaning it seemed, though Ace's door was still shut.

Sabo greeted Marco while Ace got his backpack full of necessities for a long journey. He excitedly left the apartment, telling Marco he might not get to see him again, depending on how the job went. Marco understood, being a wizard in a guild as well. Ace waved him off, and the two brothers left.

This time, they couldn't go on a train because it was in the opposite direction. So they hired a carriage to take them, both sitting in the back. "Marco seems like a nice guy like Thatch. But more chill," Sabo commented. Ace nodded. Marco was polite, but they didn't talk much. Ace did explain his feelings about Blue Pegasus at the moment. "That would suck to dislike your guild," Sabo agreed.

"Maybe he'll switch to Fairy Tail. But he'll have to get his own place or I'd move. Three people in a two bedroom place wouldn't work." Sabo said it was a possibility, since he did have family in Magnolia. But it wouldn't be fair for Ace to need to move out. "Yeah, I guess. And I don't think Thatch would ever kick me out."

They mostly made small talk, talking about their jobs apart, when Sabo went by himself and Ace with his part-time team. Everything was working out well so far. Happy and Nastu had been able to stop the majority of their petty insults. Which was great.

When they got to the end of the road, the two got off the carriage, and started to walk the long walk to the family home of those who made the request to the guild. They spent two days hiking and walking there, sleeping out in the middle of nowhere, though Sabo made them a safe space from any wild animals or weird humans.

When they did make it to their destination, it was a normal looking city. They walked inside, and booked a hotel, leaving their things there while they went to find their client. When they got there, they both sensed some serious magic power coming from the house. Both had a serious look on their faces.

Knocking on the door, it was opened quickly, and they saw the man who had his pupils blown wide, and looked a bit crazed. "Mr. Woopslap? We're Fairy Tail, coming to aid you in the request board," Sabo said slowly.

"What? What are you talking about?" Ace said they'd responded to a request. He'd sent them a job he wanted taken care of. "Oh, right, right." The brothers shared another concerned look. The man invited them in, and they saw that it stunk badly. There was a woman there, eating moldy soup.

"Miss, that's modly, you shouldn't eat it," Ace said slowly.

"What? I just made this a few minutes ago," she said in a confused voie, her pupils wide, too. Someone cast a time spell on them. Ace asked Sabo if he'd ever come across something like this. He shook his head. Ace carefully took the soup away from her so she didn't get sick, but she grew angry before confused again. "I just had soup made…"

Ace asked what they should do. The another woman hurried into the room and ushered them into a separate room from the other, confused people. "Thank you for coming," she said, seeming normal and not like the other two before them. Ace asked what had happened to them. "They both have no solid sense of time. My husband doesn't think we've been married and proposed to me." She sounded very emotional, but it had to be stressful.

"Do you remember anything that could cause them to be this way?" Sabo asked. She shook her head, saying the only thing that happened was that they went out shopping and came back this way. "Did they go on a specific path?"

"Through the cherry orchards." Well, that was the first place they'd look. But first they went into town and bought some gas masks to wear. They walked directly down the path, not through the orchards. When they got both masks, they headed to the place that was the most suspicious at the moment.

They steeled themselves and walked beneath the trees. Ace had the urge to eat them, they looked perfectly ripe, but he wasn't stupid and didn't do it. He didn't even touch them. Looking around for anything, Sabo made his hand a dull green and put it on one of the trees. They watched in shock as it affected every tree, and they all turning into rotten, black trees, the cherries whithering so much they disappeared.

"There was something seriously wrong with these trees, but I don't sense any real magic or curse," Sabo said.

"So what caused it?" Ace wondered. They didn't know, and searched each tree for anything that could be the cause. Looked at the ground and roots, too. Ace put a piece of his undershirt on his hand and dug through the dirt to pull reach the roots of one of the dead trees. It was sad to Ace to see that all those cherries were not real and gone. He assumed Anita and Dolor had both eaten the cherries and been affected. But did that mean the owner of this orchards suffered the same? They'd need to check on him, too.

Sabo showed the roots had small creatures on them. Like glowing leeches. "I've never seen this before. It's like they've been imbued with magic somehow." One of them managed to shoot out of the ground and latch onto Ace's leg, as his skin was much more exposed than any of Sabo's.

"Ace!" Sabo shouted in worry. His pupils enlarged, and he was confused, looking around as if he didn't know what was happening. "Shit," Sabo swore, and killed all the leeches. Ace asked who Sabo was, looking so dazed and worried. "I'm a friend. You were just attacked by magic and are confused," Sabo said emphatically.

"What's magic?" Ace asked. ""Where… am I? I was just at the water… on a boat. How'd I get here?" he wondered, voice thick with confusion. Ace was remembering his time in the other world, and it confused him greatly. "My hat… do you know where it went?"

Sabo smiled and said, "Why don't we go look for it?" Ace nodded, and Sabo held onto his arm as he formed a clear box, and forced one of the leeches into it to test on later. Ace was confused, but didn't protest walking around with Sabo. They headed to the owner of the orchards' home, and found it was burnt to the ground.

They hurried forward, Ace still confused and unaware, and Sabo found the owner with a cup of tea at a burnt chair and table, even though there was nothing in the tea. This was a very dangerous place. The leeches were extremely toxic if they made this man so unaware that he didn't notice his entire house was burnt to the ground.

He was also skinny and malnourished, meaning he hadn't eaten in awhile. There was also no source of water. Sabo sighed, and sat down outside outside the remains of he house, not knowing what to do. He looked at the leech in the glass box with a scowl. He took brought out a lighter from his pocket, just in case Ace was unable to use his power, and put it against the bottom of the container.

It made a shrieking noise and shriveled up. It was sensitive to fire. Looking around, he saw the area around the house was green, but further from the burn scars, the ground was black and rotted again. So, fire got rid of it. If he got Ace back to his senses, he might be able to get him to destroy the forest in one fell swoop.

"Ace? Do you remember who I am?" Sabo asked gently. Ace frowned, and said his name was Sabo. Then he asked where Luffy was, and it broke Sabo's heart to hear Luffy's name and Ace not knowing he was dead. Sabo couldn't tell the truth. "He's waiting at home for us. Do you want to get back?" Ace nodded. "Okay, first, we have to burn down this orchard. Can you do that?"

Ace nodded, his brows drawn together. "I'm… not that good with my devil fruit, though…" Sabo's eyes widened. Ace's fire magic came from a devil fruit? But it was converted to magic energy in this world, everyone could feel it coming from him. It explained why he had fire without needing to practice trying to form his own magic. Sabo had mastered that quickly. Ace's devil fruit was a logia, a quick fix.

The blonde helped Ace stand, and face the direction of the orchard. "Put your hands out, and focus on burning the whole forest, okay?" Ace nodded, but his power was out of control and almost burnt Sabo before he shielded himself. But he was fine. "Try to aim outwards, okay?" Sabo said patiently. Ace nodded again, and this time his fire spread out and around the orchard.

The dead trees were quick to burn, and they both heard the shrieks of the leeches, who Sabo saw trying to wriggle their way out of the roots, but just entered the fire completely. The fire burnt everywhere around them, and Sabo did a check, seeing every tree was gone. Ace was still confused.

Sabo picked him up and held him bridal style while Ace stared at the sky, his pupils still blown wide. He walked around the perimeter with a force field and saw that there were holes in the ground beneath where every tree had been. Not a single root was left. "You did it, Ace. Good job."

Ace smiled. "We got treasure… from Bluejam."

"That's right. No way he could beat us," Sabo said with a smile as well. He explained what happened to the old man, with the spell broken. "Here. I have some money in my pocket. Use it to go get something to eat." The man took the money and walked away, needing a lot of food. The amount of money he took would get him just that.

"Sabo… are experiments over?' Sabo looked confused, and asked what he was talking about. "Inject… hurts. Then fire, everyone burned, am I free?" The color drained from Sabo's face. He didn't want Ace to remember this. He assured Ace that he was free, nobody would experiment on him again. Ace gave a dazed and relieved smile.

When Sabo got back to the house, he saw the two people who they were originally going to help were clearly aware, and eating real food. The wife and mother was crying. "We fixed it. There were leeches below the dead trees that attacked your daughter and husband."

"Thank you so much," Dolor said sincerely. Sabo asked how long it lasted for them, the spell. "Three weeks." Great. Ace might be this way for three weeks. "Did he become like us?" Dolor asked sadly, sounding concerned.

"Yes, a leech bit him as well," Sabo said. Isabelle, the wife and mother, offered for them to stay as long as they needed. Sabo would rather take Ace back to the guild, but the path back was dangerous for Sabo if he were to need to carry or supervise Ace the whole time. They'd stay there just to be safe, even if everyone would be nervous about it.

He laid Ace on the bed in Anita's room, and tended to his poor, confused brother. He eventually fell asleep. They stayed there for two weeks before Ace got better. He was confused, and didn't remember anything he said. He didn't remember Luffy or Bluejam. It made Sabo both sad and happy. Sad because now it was only him with such memories, and happy because the pain he had over the loneliness and Luffy would not have been good.

Ace was humiliated, but was glad he at least got rid of the orchard, even in that state. He wanted to leave as soon as he could, and the two headed back home. They were given a lot of money for it, especially since Ace was injured on the job, and headed back to Magnolia.

"I'm sorry I was a burden."

"That mission should have been marked S-Class. Besides, everyone can get hurt on the job. This time it was nothing you did, I was the one to pull up the root." Ace knew he was right. This wasn't Ace's fault, they hadn't known. If they had, both would have been more careful. He was just glad the leeches hadn't come back since they left two weeks prior.

They solved that problem and helped multiple people come back to themselves. They more had alzheimer-like behavior than time travel. "Want to go home? I was planning on showing you some place before heading back," Sabo reminded him. But Ace wanted to go home, so they did. The trip was awkward and Ace was sad. "Don't worry, nobody has to know. Besides, you've been going on a lot of jobs and being a super help."

Ace knew it was true. He hadn't screwed up in awhile. They did get the job done, Ace did his part even if he was a pain in the butt for a few weeks. Well, he wanted to go home and move on "Let's just say the trip was longer than we expected, and not that you got sick," Sabo suggested, which Ace agreed with.

They were going home, and Ace wanted to forget all about his job here, even if he only knew what happened by Sabo's words, and didn't remember any of it. The last thing he remembered before waking up was the glowing worm thing shooting at him. He was unaware the moment it connected with his leg.

He had a small scar there that hadn't healed. It looked more like a birth mark than a scar. When they arrived at the guild, both were tired from their journey, and reported they were done from the job, had completed it. But the shock of the new guild made them pause outside. It was much, much bigger and more modern looking. There was so much added stuff! Amazing! Ace loved it, but Sabo seemed sad about the change. Ace felt for him.

Erza walked over and asked how their job went. They were gone a long time. "We went on two jobs while you were gone, one of them quiet eventful. Though I'd rather not talk about it." Ace frowned, and asked if it would have been better with him coming. "Actually, we had another ally. She's here, and a surprise as well." She gestured to a girl Ace didn't recognize, and Gajeel.

Both brothers were shocked at the inclusion of Gajeel after what he'd done. "Master says everyone deserves a second chance and he wants to lead him on a better path in life." Ace smiled, thinking the man was so kind. Gajeel looked at Ace, and smirked. After all, Ace had run from the fight to protect Lucy.

"Who you sneerin' at?" Natsu asked sourly. "Ace only left because his body is made of fire and he couldn't shield Lucy!" he snapped. Ace smile, appreciating him coming to his defense. Erza smiled too, and the blue haired woman named Juvia that he hadn't met yet came over, and grew fascinated with Ace's magic of being made of fire while her body was made of water.

"Interesting! We're sworn enemies with our magic, hah."

"You better not take my dearest Gray," she warned. Ace looked baffled, and just got her to go away by saying he was no competition. Sabo laughed about it, and Erza asked how their job went.

"Well, it should've been an S-Class job by the end. Some people who went into this orchard were bitten by magic leeches that give alzheimer-like symptoms to them. It was kind of messy. We had to burn the whole orchard down to get rid of the leeches. It did eventually wear off, and nobody was permanently impacted."

Ace said, "It was sad. These people were completely unaware of the passage of time, and confused the dates of their memoires. One guy didn't even notice his house was burned down around him and he hadn't eaten in a long time. Plus, he was drinking from an empty mug." Erza looked bothered by this.

"I never have heard of magic leeches." Sabo voice an agreement. Never in his travels had he come across something like that. "It's almost concerning." The blonde nodded. Ace asked if it really was a good idea that Gajeel was there. "Master trusts him. Levy holds no grudge. I think we should keep an eye on him, but he's no surprise threat. Nobody trusts him anyways. Well, besides Master and Juvia."

"What's up with Juvia anyways?" Ace wondered. "Seems kind of strange in a way."

Erza turned around to look at the newby. Thought not too new compared to Ace, who'd only been there about three months. "She's very nice, and infatuated with Gray, it seems. Though she seems to think every woman here is competition for Gray's affection," she said, sounding thoroughly amused. "It seems she thinks men are competition as well."

"Apparently. I think I'd rather die than be with Gray," Ace said bluntly. Erza called him rude. "I'm sure he would feel the same, though." She had nothing to say to this. "I mean, I'm not against gay relationships or whatever, but I doubt Gray is attracted to them." Erza and Sabo agreed. "I'd like to talk to the Master about something."

He was told he was in the new meeting room, and he was lead there by the redhead. She left, not lingering at the door. Ace knocked, and was told to enter. "Oh, Ace, it's good to have you back," Makarov said earnestly.

"I'd like to talk to you about something," Ace said firmly, already having made his decision. The man looked very serious now, and gestured for him to sit on one of the chairs. He didn't speak, letting Ace do it. "I want you to find out if I'm injured anywhere. That I can't see. I know what kind of life I had before I lost my memories thanks to Sabo and all, but there's one thing I think he doesn't know about.

"While we were out, I was bitten by some magic leech that made me confused and useless for a couple weeks. During that time, I know I got my memories back. I lost many of them, but I know I was experimented on somehow. But I don't know if it was a bad dream, or maybe I was hallucinating the whole time. I just want to know," he said, voice determined and face set. He didn't want any arguments, and the Master could see this, too.

He stood up and agreed to do this. Ace took a deep breath, and the Master stood behind him, and pressed his hand to the back of Ace's head. When Ace opened his eyes a bit hesitantly, he saw there were dots all around his body, and short scars. "What is it?" he asked. He was unable to see any of his marks without this spell.

"I would assume they are injection sites." Ace was sadly unsurprised. "It's safe to assume that memory was true. And also that you must have lost your memories to do this. It could be from your death, but it's also likely it's not since Sabo died in a similar way, but has memories of his life." Ace stiffened and jerked around, the marks fading when the Master's hand was removed from his body. "Yes, I knew. Nobody else can tell, but both of your magic powers are different. You had these abilities before coming to Magnolia. I can tell when others can't. You've only gathered magic energy from the surroundings." Then he beamed. "You two are very interesting brats. I've known ever since Sabo came. Don't worry, I won't and haven't told anybody."

Ace looked down. "Can you return my memories to me?"

"I cannot. This was not done by magic, so I'm unable to bring them back. If you were experimented on, do you even want to remember?" the old man asked, voice suddenly very soft. Ace sighed. He wanted to remember his little brother. He was a terrible older brother when he couldn't even remember his baby brother. "I'm sorry. I don't know how," he said, genuinely sounding guilty.

But Ace smiled at him, and thanked him for caring about him. "Somehow, I know I was only ever loved by Sabo and Luffy. I have a feeling they were all I had. Thanks for caring," Ace explained. He wasn't the one to have tears in his eyes. Makarov smiled, and told Ace he was very welcome.

"You have hundreds who care about you, now. It would never be the same as your little brother. But you and Sabo both have a big family." Ace smiled, and nodded, knowing that. He thanked the man for helping out, and left, feeling lighter, even if he saw just what was done to him. How many injections he was given.

Well, Ace was away from them, whoever it had been. He was safe, now.