Ganjyu and pretty boy glared at one another. Well, the bandaged up one was angry at the cocky pretty boy. But Inoue insisted on trying to heal his wounds with her hair clip fairies. Ace laid back down on the bed, but after five minutes of healing, there was no change when they took the wrappings off to see.

"Don't worry, I've been through worse. I think," Ace said.

"You mean when you said you died already? Was I supposed to take that as truth?" Zaraki asked, the little girl hanging off his back. It was quite the odd sight. The terrifying/intimidating men with a scarred, angry face carrying around a small child with pink hair and wide eyes.

"Take it as a truth or lie, whatever you want," Ace said.

"We're going, to get you to that Kuchiki brat," Ikkaku said. The intruders were in shock. "Ichigo spared me, he's a good guy. You gave Captain Zaraki a great fight." Ace grinned, and nodded. They left their prison, and Ace got in an argument about who should lead the way with the apparent vice captain, Yachiru, the little girl.

They followed her for awhile before they finally trusted Ace to get them out of the maze and to where they needed to go. Ace tried to avoid the strong presences coming after them before he knew not all of the party could keep the pace. "Enemies behind us," he stated, and they stopped to turn around. Ace's injuries ached, but the stitches had not torn, as no blood soaked through the bandages.

"You are shameless to sneak around like that, boys," Zaraki said in annoyance. "Get the hell outta here." His voice was dismissive and condescending. Ace absolutely did not expect him to be close to any colleagues. He was one of the strongest there, and looked down on those who were even a bit weaker. Ace could tell even after one time meeting him, during their fight. Though he felt they got to know one another fairly well through that.

"You sure speak with authority. Do you have any idea the foolish deed you are doing?" one asked. "Where are you taking the intruders to?" It was dark skinned man who looked to be blind, but was still strong enough to be a captain. "Zaraki, have you lost your pride and righteousness after you lost that fight?"

The other intruders started to panic before Ikkauku and pretty boy were annoyed by their fear. "Who said you were going to fight? Even four on one isn't enough even enough to test my sword with," he said with a twisted grin, truly only living to fight and kill. What a tough dude. Brave but maybe just a slight bit stupid.

Though Ace had purposely seeked the strongest out to fight, so this wasn't too much different. Well, four strong guys instead of one would be hard. The other four were annoyed with Zaraki suggesting all four of them even working together couldn't do jack shit to him. He didn't act injured one bit, and Ace wouldn't be surprised if his pure willpower to not be weak negated any sort of pain or discomfort from the burns and stab wounds.

Ikkaku and pretty boy ended up staying behind the help fight, and so the intruders plus Yachiru and some random shinigami that had been traveling with them when they came seeking to find them in the medical prison room.

"Will he be okay?" Inoue wondered.

"He's strong," Ace said. "He'll be okay, he's not even acting like the wounds hurt. Right, Yachiru?"

"Ken-chan will never be beat!" Plus, he had a lot of fun fighting. Ace kept talking to the girl so she didn't order them off course. Ace knew the map of the place, so he knew where he was going, despite everything looking the same.

Ishida asked how Ace knew where to go. "I memorized the map last night while under cover," Ace answered. "Does anyone know where Ichigo was last? We're supposed to find him but I have no fucking clue where he is. I can't sense him anywhere."

Inoue asked, "Does that mean he's not here?"

"Maybe… I don't know where he'd have gone, though." Ace looked up, and saw the thing was beginning. They were going to be late. "I'm going ahead!" Ace shouted. "Follow me as fast as you can!" And he became fire, flying across the walls, running on top of them as he zoomed to that stupid cliff. He had no time to climb it.

He needed to propel himself up all the way. No phoenix would beat Marco. And his flames would overpower some stupid weapon made of fire. If it hurt Ace, he'd deal with that eventually. He wouldn't die, but he'd also succeed. When he made it to that area, he was glad he didn't have spiritual pressure to easily sense. Only his conqueror's haki gave off a huge wave of energy.

He was panting, his woulds screaming at him, to not be fire anymore, but he didn't have that time. When he got to the cliff, he was going to be late unless he shot out enough of his power to scale that great height. There was a path up it, but that was too far and would take too long. Where the hell was Ichigo, what was he doing? Was he really dead, and that's why he couldn't sense him?

Not focusing on that if he could, he burst up, his wounds opening and bleeding. Stupid body, stop complaining! Stop bleeding! But he could tell it was only a little but of the stitches, as there was only two little drops of blood barely soaking. Hopefully they didn't get worse.

He landed under the execution stand that Rukia was floating up to. God, that would be scary as fuck, being so damn high in the air. Though the phoenix right there should be the one killing. It was ugly compared to Marco.

Before anyone really registered him there, Ace felt a presence hurrying over. He was fucking late. Ace shot his hands up, and did what he'd practiced before. Sucking up weaker fire. He'd not come across any fire he hadn't been able to absorb. Well, he'd never consumed something this huge and powerful.

In his mind, something flashed across. Fighting a stronger foe, one that go the best of him. One he wasn't smart about, still faceless, but darkness enveloping him. It gave his fire skin goosebumps, but passed through his mind so fast it didn't last a second in real time. He put both hands up, and grit his teeth as he forced that fire to mix with his own.

But he couldn't abosorb it, and instead split it apart, catching the surrounds on fire, nearly hitting all the stupid shinigami, in shock. The fire bird died out with a small flicker. "What took you so fucking long, Ichigo?!" Ace shouted, panting, down on one knee.

Everyone stared in collective shock as two teenage humans stopped the execution. It didn't take long for Ichigo to break apart what was left of this complicated execution set up, destroying the platform and picking Rukia up.

"Sorry about that! I won't run off again!" Ichigo called. Ace laughed before finally the shinigami acted, and went after Ace. "Get outta here! You're in no condition to fight!"

"Don't rub it in, prick!" Ace shouted. He stumbled away, planning on jumping down from there, from the very tall cliff. He heard that idiot throw Rukia to Renji, who showed up. Ace hadn't seen him since entering soul society. But it looked like he was on their side now.

Once Rukia was to safety, Ichigo landed behind Ace, stopping any pursuit. Splitting that flame gave his arms terrible burns that weren't healing. He clutched them to his chest, knowing it was unlikely he could fight another battle. At least not a real one. He would just knock people out, using the remaining energy for conqueror's haki.

He jumped, closing his eyes and forcing his legs to be intangible but also firm enough to take the impact. When he hit, he landed on some rock and it knocked him on his butt. But his legs were fine. It was only his gut and arms that were damaged. He was running when he felt someone coming up behind him.

Two people. He was grabbed under the stomach by a familiar but not personal friendly face. "You're a crazy son of a bitch," Renji muttered. Rukia was on his other shoulder. Ace was deadweight right now, so he had to be pretty heavy. Though this guy was strong, too. A vice captain is what he'd heard.

"Ace…" Rukia said.

"It's okay. I'm okay, and you're okay. For now, things are fine. I don't know how Ichigo powered up in the last few days, but we should count on him," Ace said, so exhausted but unable to sleep. "Hopefully he doesn't die." Ace sighed, wanting to sleep so badly. But his body wouldn't let him. This was a terrible choice. He wasn't told his body wouldn't heal. But then he noticed he hadn't been hungry or used the bathroom in days.

Ace assumed it kept his body in a permanent state, not aging or any bodily functions working. It would be a long sleep when this was over. He had only a few days left before he became incapacitated. He would have no idea what was going on in that time. Where he was. Probably. He didn't know if anyone had ever actually tried this drug.

He wanted to go home to safety soon. A nice bed. A nice hug from Marco, tell him all about his adventure in the soul society. His arms no longer hurt, they were numb. He could move them just fine. That fire was extremely hot, but he was glad he was able to stall even a few seconds. He didn't know if Ichigo could have blocked it.

Well, he'd wanted to be of use, too. After all, he purposely delayed helping her by picking a fight. It was enjoyable, but it also got him injured. His wounds were jolted as Renji ran, and Ace started to really feel numb and heavy. The drug had been there for many days, he couldn't exactly spit it out.

Ace was… weak. To let injuries do this to him. Render him useless. But he knew he couldn't blame it all on himself when his wounds were decided to not improve at all. He would have healed better usually, he knew that. He was a fast healer. He'd never been really hurt before Urahara cut his cheek. Not that he could remember, but he knew deep down he should have healed most of his wounds.

What a fucking handicap.

He sensed a presence in front of them, but didn't see since he was facing away from the front as Renji ran. He slowed, and asked the man, "Captain Tousen… why are you here?" he asked, sounding surprised. There was no answer, but Ace was suddenly thrown to the side, and rolled a few times as he watched Tousen teleport away with some fancy ribbon work from the back of his sword.

All three of the others were gone. Ace had been thrown away. Well, at least he couldn't drag them down while he was like this. He sighed, and sat up. Nobody was around, and he was still an enemy. They were still his enemies. He winced when a ringing went through his head before he heard an unfamiliar and panicked voice.

It was like a drama TV show. He didn't know why the intruders were given the information, but apparently one of the captain's of the shinigami had betrayed them all, faked his death, and was now on his goal to kill Rukia. He'd tricked everyone with his zanpakuto's power. Illusions? What bullshit overpowered power was that? Deluding everyone for years. How did nobody notice? Not even the leader?

Aizen, the perpetrator, was working with Gin and Tousen. He knew that white haired freak was a bad apple. The leader of the traitors had slaughtered everyone in some high court chamber deeper into sereitei.

Ace looked up to the hill where the sabotaged execution took place. It was impossible for him to make it up there himself. He sighed, and looked at his burns, and at the very bloody bandages around his torso. If only they'd made it out with Rukia. Ace felt Ichigo had won, and was glad he was okay and got stronger.

He hoped his training paid off well, and wherever the hell he'd been the last few days had been something important. Ace wasn't jealous. He knew he was strong, even if he looked like the weakest motherfucker alive right now.

Maybe he wasn't as noble as Ichigo was, because he had no pull or desire to help the shinigami. They were his enemy, had been the whole time. Sure, he liked Zaraki and Ikkaku, but they were still his enemy. All of them were, and he didn't feel any need to help his enemies. He clearly had a different code of honor than his friends. Maybe it was how he was raised.

Ichigo's dad was a doctor, after all. He sensed someone coming over, and saw who it was. Yuriken, looking at him with a look of disapproval. "I could really go for a drink right now," Ace sighed.

"You faked it all?"

"I did. None of the information I got really changed anything but to know the layout better. I'm not sorry I lied. I had to… but I do feel bad that I tricked a nice guy," Ace explained. He pressed down on the wound on his gut. He was bleeding heavily by now. Yuriken sighed, and lifted Ace up over his shoulder, and carried him to the place Ace had escaped from. The medical prison room. Zaraki destroyed the roof, so some of it was a mess.

He was put on a bed, and his wounds were unwrapped. Yuriken got to stitching him back up after cleaning the poor, irritated wounds. Then he lathered burn cream all over Ace's burnt arms. They were bandaged, too, but not with the hard ones that kept his torso wounds from unraveling.

"Why are you helping me?" Ace asked, though he was grateful.

"I guess you still seem like a good guy. Even if you're a liar," he said.

"I have no desire to help you all. I was only here to save Rukia."

"That's fine, I wouldn't want to help an enemy either." He walked away and broke into a cabinet. He pulled out a bottle of sake. "You ready for that drink?"

"I"m only 17. I'm a minor," Ace said, though he had a grateful smile on. "Thanks, though. I'm glad I wasn't gonna die alone."

"You're not going to die, don't be dramatic."

"I sure feel like shit, though. I just wish I could sleep. I've been up for nearly a week by now. That's why I'm not healing, probably am just getting worse," Ace sighed. Before the shinigami could reply, Ace heard that familiar sound. From fighting that giant hollow. Yuriken looked out the door, but they could see it through the hole in the roof. "Those monsters can come here, too, huh?"

The other man was shocked and horrified to see them there, so Ace assumed it was not a usual occurrence. Neither of then had any idea why they showed up, sticking their ugly faces out as if peeking through curtains before three beams of light shot out. It was maybe to minutes later that the hole closed, and the sky was a smooth blue again.

"What was that about?"

"I don't know."

They waited for awhile until Yoruichi found him in there. Ace only knew it was her from the haki, as she was in a human body right now. The teen wasn't too surprised by this. Ace was pale and sweaty. By now he was wearing plain clothes, a shirt and pants. After all, he had been changed out of the tattered stolen uniform when he was treated the first time. She looked at him in concern. "This fucking drug sucks ass," he said. "It is over, can we go home?"

Yoruichi came to him and picked him up, carrying him bridal style. He didn't care, as long as his wounds were irritated anymore. "We'll probably here awhile, recovering. It's no longer a hostile environment. The intruders are seen as heroes for now."

"Gross," Ace sighed.

She smiled. "Do you not want to be considered a hero?"

"I didn't come here to make friends or help our enemies. I came to help save Rukia. Is she still alive?" The woman confirmed that everyone was alive and recuperating. "Tomorrow morning the drug will wear off and you can finally sleep."

"Thank god."

"We didn't know it would have this affect. Your body isn't getting any better when it should. Urahara said you healed fast, and Marco also said you'd always been a fast and easy healer. I guess because the drug keeps your body in the same condition as before, or tries to, your wounds won't repair naturally."

"I haven't needed to piss or shit in the six days, either," Ace said bluntly. "So there's that, I guess." When he was brought to the place all the others were at, Renji was there and saw Ace, feverish, and apologized for tossing him. He looked guilty. Ace felt weak and useless. Yuriken had wished him good healing, and that maybe they could have some drink together.

Ace didn't think that would ever happen, and he would spend the rest of their time there sleeping, most likely. "I would have just been in the way anyways. I got some emergency treatment, I'm not mad at you. I'm just glad it's nearly over."

Ichigo was looking fine. It seemed he and Renji had been healed by Inoue's ability. Lucky. Ace was treated by the medical division, and though he did appreciate the help, it was annoying. Maybe it was his pride, but he was annoyed that an enemy was fixing him up, making him feel weak and vulnerable.

He was angry that he'd be remaining there in his time of unconsciousness. He wanted to be safe at home! He was given some pain killers and medicine to help fight off the infections that had begun festering. They didn't get far enough to cause damage, but it could have been much worse.

All of them smelled bad after running around and not showering for six days. Ace wondered where the hell the others slept. He mostly hid at night, staying quiet, still not sleeping. It was boring as hell. The only bright spot of the whole thing was fighting Zaraki.

It was after dinner that Ace heard him come in, eyes closed and breath evening out. He sounded irate about not being able to fight Ace again, and then left. Yachiru wished him to get better. Ace pretended to be unconscious already. Everyone was gone but for Chad. He seemed to be protecting Ace right now. Not leaving when everyone else did.

How could they feel so safe? To leave him there like that. Did they seriously all trust these people? They were enemies, they were fine with Rukia being killed but for two captains who acted to stop it. Byakuya - Rukia's brother - had been open to following the law instead of caring for his sister. It just didn't make sense, and it annoyed him.

"Thanks for saving me before. I was just a burden," Ace sighed, eyes looking at the patterned ceiling. At least the bed was soft.

"That's what friends do," Chad replied. Ace nodded, and didn't argue. He didn't even notice he was finally falling asleep when he did. Chad stayed with his unconscious body while the others were doing things. Everyone returned to the room eventually to sleep, and Ace was finally sleeping, a few days earlier than planned.

While he slept, his wounds were healing faster, damaged tissue repairing itself. Blood replenishing, no more sweat beading on his skin. No more fever. While it looked like a lot was happening with wounds and burns fading under the bandages, much more was happening in his mind.

-x-

Ace stood at a grassy forest, looking out to the sea. There were all sorts of noises coming from the forest with giant trees. He didn't know where he was, and couldn't realize if it was a dream or not. He decided to try and find out where he was, and wandered into the forest. Huge animals passed him, and he hid behind trees when he realized he was in a small child's body.

He followed a trail of footprints until he came across a cement pipe. It had blood on the tip. Ace picked it up in his hands, planning to use it as a weapon. But when he touched it, the whole area lit up before there were two boys, a blond and a black haired one with a oversized straw hat.

"Ace! What are you doing? Le's go! Grandpa is coming!" the boy with the blacked out face said.

"How do you know my name?" Ace asked suspiciously. The boy stopped, and the blond also stopped. He was faceless as well. Their demeanors drooped, shoulders slumped.

"I'm Luffy, that's Sabo. Do you really not remember?" Luffy asked. Ace thought for a moment before he shook his head. "But we're your brothers. How could you forget?" Luffy asked. Sabo touched his shoulder.

"Be patient. He's gone through a lot. It's not his fault he forgot," he said calmly. "Ace, come with us. Hopefully we can jog your memory. You don't have to believe us right now, but it'll be fun," Sabo exclaimed. They still had no faces, but their clothes made him assume Luffy was goofy and Sabo fancy based on his outside. They both had the same type of pipe as Ace, but Luffy's had no blood on it.

With nothing else to do, Ace followed them through the forest, needing to run to catch up. "Hide, it's the bear king!" Sabo said. Ace did as they did and hid behind a tree as a massive bear walked past. Ace was in awe of these huge animals. How did they grow so big?! When it passed, Luffy tugged on his hand, and they went and ran to a clearing with a chalkboard of some sort. It had numbers on it. He didn't know what they were for.

"This is our training area. We fight and train to get stronger so we can be pirates!" Luffy said brightly. "I want to be good with my devil fruit soon, but I want to be strong in another way, too!"

"Pirates? Aren't pirates bad?" The two boys glanced at one another, black faces turned to face one another before moving back to Ace. Sabo said they wanted to be free. Pirates were the freest people in the world. "What about school? Shouldn't we be in school?"

"What are you talking about?" Luffy wondered. "We never went to school. What's that? Sabo, did you go to school?"

"Not me. I learned at my old house. In one room, they made me study and study and study so I could be their pawn. But I left there to be free." Ace was confused. "Come on, let's continue the tour!" Sabo exclaimed, and Ace nodded. They soon came across a tree house high in the air. On one of the massive trees that littered the forest.

"We made that! We built it together and everything," Luffy bragged.

"Though you were barely help," Sabo joked, shoving Luffy's shoulder lightly. "Ace did a lot of the work, too. Do you remember?" Ace shook his head. "Well, let's try somewhere else. We'll jog your memory, don't worry." He took Ace's hand, and lead him through more of the forest. Ace saw other people in the forest. Walking past like ghosts.

Ace asked, "Who are they?"

"They don't matter right now, you have to remember the beginning first," Luffy said vaguely. Ace wished he could learn who the ghost people were, but he got no answers and they acted as if they couldn't see him, not giving him a glance. Maybe they really were ghosts. Ace knew they existed now and all.

The next place they went was a huge junkyard. It smelled, and scraps of wood and metal, and trash littered the area like mountains. Little homes, disheveled and terrible quality, were built into the mountains of junk. "This is Gray Terminal. Where you and I first met," Sabo said. "We beat people up here for treasure to buy our pirate ship."

"I beat people up, too?"

"Yeah, Ace beats them up the best! And then we steal and everything!"

"So I'm a criminal?"

"Well, the people we beat up are murderers, too, though," Luffy replied. "Do you not like pirates now? What happened to you?" he asked, voice sad and demeanor defeated. Sabo again told him to stop being pushy. "But that's not Ace!"

"It is Ace. He's just forgotten us, and lives a different life now. But we have to make him remember," Sabo said patiently. "We have to be patient, too. He'll remember soon." He walked up to Ace and took his hand. Ace wished he could see their faces. "Come on, let's go to Foosha Village and see Makino. Then we'll visit the bandit's hut."

Ace wanted to know what they were talking about. But he followed as they followed the cliff of what seemed to be an island, along the coast and to a little town surrounded by a few large fields of crops. There were charming windmills scattered around small nearby houses. It was a cozy place, but seemed kind of boring.

They walked through town, more people around that didn't seem to see him. Grown men and women mostly, and a teenager, some little kids. But he followed Sabo's hand tugging on his own until they entered a building with the name "Party Bar" over the door. It was a little bar with wooden walls and a wood floor.

"Makino, help Ace remember. He forgot everything."

"Don't be so impatient, Luffy. He'll remember better if you don't force him."

"Did I forget something?" Ace finally asked, maybe way to late to ask. He'd been being told he forgot and needed to remember for the last hour, but only just now asked. The three turned to him, Makino having no face, either. Sabo walked to him, and put his hands on his shoulders.

"You forgot everything, but if you don't want to know, we could end it here," Sabo said in a kind voice. He seemed so nice, and looking to Luffy, he seemed really sad Ace forgot. He'd feel bad if he didn't remember them. Didn't know anything about them. They obviously knew him.

Ace shook his head. "No, I want to remember," he said, and noticed the pipe he'd been carrying was gone. Sabo and Luffy were no longer carrying theirs either. They sat and ate some food at the Party Bar, and Luffy talked about someone named Shanks that Ace had no idea who it was. Sabo was much more understanding about Ace's memory loss, whatever happened to him.

Luffy felt sad he was forgotten, but excited for Ace to finally remember. After eating and drinking juice, they went up the mountain again, but in an opposite direction than from where they came. There was beaten path they followed, and Ace looked down to see he and the other two were carrying their pipes again. They just appeared.

When they came to a clearing with a poorly built house, Ace saw a white dog in the corner. "Dadan! Ace forgot, don't get mad!" Luffy called as he slammed the front door open roughly. There were many men there, wearing similar clothing and faceless. There was a fat, bulky woman with long, frizzy orange hair. She was faceless as well. They all wore clothes that looked kind of dirty.

But Ace did notice that he and the two boys were pretty dirty too. Well, they were running around in the forest for hours, so it made sense they had dirt on them. They also had some bandages on, but none seemed too bad.

Dadan said, "You think I care? He can not remember if he never wants to again!" Sabo had a frown in his voice.

"Do you want him to remember you as a mean person?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't be a butt head!" Luffy shouted.

"Shut up, brats! Of course I want him to remember, I didn't raise him to forget! Idiot!" Dadan shouted. Ace was surprised to hear this woman claim to raise him. Was this his mother? So he asked. "Of course not! You were dumped on me as a baby, so I took care of you as best as I could and wanted. Besides, you turned out good even if I wasn't a great parent."

Ace nodded, not knowing what else to say. He was shown around the house, but there wasn't much to see. Then they left the house, and when he stepped foot onto the grass, it wasn't a clearing anymore. There were large chunks of paint in the air, and each one played something different. Like movies on a TV screen.

All of them had to do with being with Sabo and Luffy, all of them kids. He could see they really were little criminals, but they also had a lot of fun together. What he assumed was himself was what looked like a black shadow. Like it was him, but he was pitch black. He never saw his own face, but he had a grumpy demeanor all the time, it seemed. Arms crossed, hitting Luffy on the head.

"You were cranky, but still our brother," Sabo said, seeing Ace's expression as he looked at the times he was mean.

"But why was I mean? I keep hitting Luffy, don't I?"

Luffy sat down next to him on the grass. "I'm made of rubber, so it didn't hurt! Shishishi! I know Ace had a hard life, and he was bitter cause of it." His head dropped, and he said, "Everyone was mean to you because of your dad. Roger was a bad guy to others, so they were mean to you, too. It made you sad."

Sabo didn't dispute this, and nodded sadly. "Luffy took good care of you once I was gone. He made you into a nice person."

"You weren't there?"

"I guess we should get there, soon. All of these are our memories up until we were both eleven."

"But first, look at our first catch of a danpa! Look how good I did!" Luffy said, pointing to a picture that showed him beating an animal, an opposite panda, for dinner. He was excited about it, but then a giant orange tiger came, and looked like he wanted it. "Stupid tiger king took my first catch ever!" the young boy complained, arms crossed. Ace couldn't see the pout, but he could easily hear it.

"Why didn't you run? That thing could have eaten you whole!" Ace exclaimed as he and Sabo dragged Luffy away screaming, near tears and very angry about losing his catch. It was sad, but also worrying that Luffy was so reckless.

"But it was my first catch! That's not fair!"

"Well, we got back at him later. Want to see that, Ace?"

"Yeah," Ace said, getting interested in the visions. Sabo walked with him to the other side of the house surrounded by images, and pointed to a tall one. It showed the black figure that was Ace, as well as the faceless boys. He smiled in interest and apprehension as the three fought it together. Luffy really was made out of rubber. "Is that like my fire?" Ace wondered. "A devil fruit?"

"Ah! Then you realize this is your past world! That's great!" Sabo said, clapping both hands together. "And that's right, Luffy's devil fruit made him rubber, while yours gave you fire powers."

"Rubber is cooler," Luffy said defiantly. Ace smiled at him, and things were beginning to make sense. But this meant he was remembering his past. Did he want that? But looking at the two beside him, even if they were faceless, he didn't want to not know who they really were. He'd forever be painfully curious and did not want to regret not knowing.

Ace asked if they really were brothers. "Of course! We shared a cup of sake and became brothers," Luffy said. "Shishishi, you stole Dadan's."

"Can I see that memory?" the freckled boy asked. So Sabo agreed, and instead of seeing a vision of it, they traveled back into the forest and to a stump in the woods. It looked like it was chopped down, not a natural stump.

This time, it was as if Ace was taken over. He was in first person view now, but wasn't in control of his actions. He watched what his past self had seen. He felt the smile on his face as he unpopped the bottle, and put a tiny amount in three traditional sake cups, bright red. "We may be on different ships in the future, different crews. We may not be pirates together, but we'll always be brothers!"

"Oh, brothers?!" Luffy asked excitedly. His and Sabo's faces started to come clear, but still like there was something over them. They were blurry, but not pitch black like they had been.

"Yeah. So, from now on, we're brothers!" Ace declared, and felt and watched his little cup clink with the other two, and he took a drink of it. It tasted very strong, but not especially bad. But the feeling of euphoria was like nothing Ace remembered feeling. No, the same feeling came when Marco came clean. And Ace realized he had somebody that loved him.

Those two boys had loved Ace. And he forgot them. His memories still weren't clear, but he would watch his whole childhood again if he had to. He wanted to know these kids, his brothers! He was brought out of first person of the memory, and they walked past a montage of memories. Things they'd been through, giant animals they'd slayed. Their days of training with pipes, being so violent.

Ace was shown himself hurting others. Beating them with pipes. It made him upset, but Luffy took his hand. "That was a super long time ago!" he said. "Ace isn't bad, or mean anymore."

"Promise?"

Sabo smiled. "You'll see the kind of person you became soon enough. If you still want to find out?" It sounded more like teasing this time. Ace chuckled, and nodded. He was invested, emotionally and physically. He held Luffy's rubber, squishy hand as they walked past enjoyable memories.

Gathering treasures, heading into High Town. Then Sabo and Luffy slumped. "What's wrong?" Luffy pouted, and mumbled that they had to see the bad memories now. "Bad?" Ace asked in worry. He didn't want to see bad memories. Sabo sighed, and nodded. There was no avoiding it.

"If you want your memories back, you can't just pick and choose. Some terrible things happened in your life, Ace. But also a lot of happy things. Like any normal person's life. Now, c'mon, we'll watch those memories together." His voice was encouraging. Ace nodded, and they trekked back across the forest to Gray Terminal.

The three showed up again, though Luffy and Sabo's faces were fuzzy but getting clearer. They were searching for replacement wood, Luffy going on his own mission to find a telescope. Ace didn't know what the bad part was until he heard Sabo arguing with someone. The three spectators arrived at a scene in Gray Terminal where Sabo was being harassed by some men.

They were in uniforms. Then a man who looked like a rich son of a bitch came over. Sabo was upset with him being there. "That's my abusive father I ran away from. I left them and to be with you two," Sabo said softly. Ace watched as he and Luffy were restrained and threatened death. Sabo made the heartbreaking deal to return with him freely, and keep both Ace and Luffy safe.

It was awful. Ace didn't want to see his brother go there! "That was the last time either of you saw me," Sabo said sadly. Ace jerked around, and saw his face was full clear. Wide blue eyes, a perky nose and a missing tooth, showing they were young. "I'm sorry."

"Did you never come back to see us?" Ace asked. Luffy started to cry, and Ace knew whatever happened wasn't good. He was dreading the news he knew logically. The reactions by both of his younger brothers showed much more happened than Sabo running back home to never return to them.

But they didn't explain. "First, we have to show you some upsetting images. I'm sorry, they're necessary. And you've already seen some of it." When the memory came, it was of him and Luffy carrying boxes. Luffy's face was still blacked out, and Ace was still a shadow.

"What are those?"

"Bombs," Sabo said simply. "The bad pirates of the area forced you and Luffy to unknowingly plant bombs all over Gray Temrinal. It lead to a terrible wildfire." They watched the fire start, and Ace was horrified to see how close to burning to death they were. He and Luffy were tied to a post in a ship on fire.

Ace yelled at Luffy to get glass by stretching out his feet. It was a good strategy, and despite him shouting at Luffy, they pulled it off and escaped. But there was fire everywhere, and this fire scared Ace. Smoke billowed and pillars of burning trash fell further into the flames. Ace knew but didn't ask what happened to the others who lived in the dump with nowhere else to go.

He knew why soul society was so pungent to him. It was like this. The homeless people who couldn't get food or water were living in slums while some other, clean and well taken care of city was directly across. Separated by a wall. He knew why it was familiar.

The scene Ace had seen before came. He and Luffy surrounded by bad pirates. This was the moment he first used his conqueror's haki. He hadn't even noticed it. Eventually Dadan came, and as she fought, her face became clear. What a grumpy looking woman she was. But she'd come to help Ace, and fought with him bravely.

"Why didn't I run?" Ace asked. Sabo sighed, and Luffy shook his head.

"That was your worst trait. You refused to run from any enemy out of pride." Ace slumped. That was a bad trait. He said he'd had fun fighting and never ran from hollows. "That's just you liking fights. There's never been a time you needed and made the choice to run from a fight, but didn't because it would hurt your pride," Sabo explained. "You've matured, after all."

Once Ace got back to the hut after a day of hiding from the high town soldiers, and returned to find Luffy was hurt from the fire, and exhausted. When he ran to Ace, he hugged him and cried. "Did you think I'd die?!" Ace demanded.

"B-But!" Luffy cried in relief.

"Don't act like I'm dead before I'm dead, idiot!" and he hit Luffy's head. Ace winced, and apologized. Luffy just giggled.

"Now, now, Luffy's just happy," one of the formerly faceless bandits said. But his face appeared, and he had droopy eyes and what looked like chicken traits on his face. Magra. Now Sabo, Dadan and Magra had become clear. Luffy was still indecipherable. It was much longer before someone much shorter ran in, a white turban on his head. Ace couldn't see his face, but his head was down and hands shaking.

Luffy took Ace's hand, and Sabo took the other. Ace was very worried about what's he'd see or hear next. And it was heartbreaking. Soul shattering. A celestial dragon had shot the little boat that had a child on it. For no reason. It was then that Ace and Luffy in the past both heard Dogra announce that Sabo had been killed.

The moment he said that, his face cleared, and Ace could now see Dogra's face. Covered in tears. While past Ace acted out in anger, the present Ace watching the memories had tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Sabo," Ace said. "If we'd come to get you-"

Luffy was crying too, but Sabo smiled. "It's not your fault. I agreed to go with them, and it was my decision to set out on my own when I did. I'm the one that abandoned you guy's first. And besides, you've forgiven yourself for that. After all, here I am, saying that I was partly at fault."

"What do you mean?" Ace asked.

"I'm your memory, showing you all your missing time. I'm not a ghost living in your head," Sabo said, slightly joking. "I forgive you both," he said, and hugged the two as Ace heard himself threaten to kill the celestial dragon. He was punched and then tied to a tree as Luffy sobbed.

"Shut up, Luffy! Men don't cry!" Ace shouted in fury. Luffy reacted in louder crying, and Ace got angry. Though he seemed consistently angry in these memories as a child. When Dadan had said who the celestial dragon was, it was as if information was unlocked inside of his mind. Celestial dragons were evil world nobles, who killed who they wanted and took slaves.

Why didn't anyone stop them?

The memories changed, and Ace saw himself looking over the sea, holding a letter in his hand. "Ace, Luffy… you weren't hurt in the fire, were you? I'm worried about you, but I have faith that you're alright. I feel bad telling you like this, but by the time you read this, I'll already be out to sea. One thing lead to another and it looks like I'll be the first one heading out." Ace could hear it echoing through the air in his own voice, sounding void of emotion. But as he read, it started to sound a bit thick.

"As to where I'll go, anywhere outside of this country would be fine by me. Once I arrive, I'll be much stronger, and become a real pirate! Once all three of us have become pirates, with more freedom in the world than anybody, we'll meet out at the sea again someday. Somewhere in the wide open sea,Ii know we'll see each other again.

"One more thing, Ace. I wonder which one of us is the oldest? It's a bit weird to have two eldest brothers, and one little one, but our bond is my greatest treasure. Luffy may still be weak, and a bit of a cry baby, but he's our little brother, so take care of him for me."

The damn broke, and both Ace's were crying. Ace didn't want to remember anymore. Not if more terrible things happened to him. He didn't want to know anymore! Sabo stood to the side, before he walked to Ace and hugged him. Then, he gave Ace a sad smile, and faded to nothing, no longer in his memory.

Luffy's face was still black, but he hugged Ace, crying, too. Ace lost his brother like this, so young. How did Luffy live with only him? "I don't want to remember anymore."

"Sabo said you had to hear all of it, though. But lots is happy! I'm the memory guide now! So I'll make it short and fast!" he promised. "Don't worry." Ace nodded. The memory changed away from the sobbing boy holding his dead brother's letter. Instead, now it was Luffy laying on his stomach. Crying with his hat pressed over his face, big enough to do that.

When Ace arrived, child him and Luffy established they would be the freest people in the sea, with no regrets. While it was frustrating to see how Ace treated Luffy and his way of grieving, they still made brotherly vows. To be stronger and stronger so they could protect what they wanted. It was heart warming, until Ace promised Luffy he would never die.

"I broke that promise, didn't I?" Ace asked, looking down to see Luffy's face had appeared. Big round eyes and with a thin scar under his left eye. He was kind of adorable.

"Yeah. Ace died. But it's okay."

"Is it?"

"I don't know. You weren't there to see my reaction afterwards. So even I don't know how it was," Luffy said honestly. Ace took his hand, and apologized. Luffy hugged him, and the older was just happy to know his brother's faces.

Luffy took both hands, and looked straight into Ace's eyes. "I'll make things faster for you! Cause I'm not good at big words like Sabo." And suddenly there was a huge rush of pressure in Ace's head that had him crying out in pain. It didn't stop until he saw himself as he was now, standing in a small fishing boat. He had an orange hat on, an open shirt and the familiar shorts and boots.

"Wait. Don't go so fast," Ace said as he had his eyes closed, trying to process all he'd learned. He'd remembered everything up until he was 17. The hard life he lived, hating himself deeply for what he couldn't control. His time with Luffy afterwards, and how he matured to take care of him. Even his time before he met Luffy, and the years of his friendship growing with Sabo. They wee truly best friends before brothers. It felt he'd just lived 17 years of his life in an instant, and it was hard to process everything.

Sabo was much more tactful when it came to revealing memories. Luffy basically shoved years worth of content into his mind, overloading it. It took his 20 minutes to be back to able to process the things around him. "Don't do it so fast again. That was really painful," Ace said. He found Luffy was a teenager now. Ace had only looked away for a moment and he went from eight to fourteen or so.

"But we still have three years! Well, maybe I can fast forward with the Whitebeards!"

"What's that?"

"They were your second family and kidnappers! I met some, but not much of them. And you'll get to see how you met Marco, too!" Ace looked forward to that. Along with his childhood, Luffy crammed a ton of context information for this world. And Ace had to prefer Earth's - or at least Japan's - government.

The one here seemed so unfair and biased. Corrupted, definitely. Luffy and he stood on the boat Ace was on, and Ace had a fun time watching himself grow flustered about sailing, but then being so happily confident in his skill to avoid whirlpools. While Ace realized all of this was his dream, he felt like a different person.

Ace didn't agree with himself hurting people who weren't inherently bad or enemies. He had no idea what kind of pirate he'd be, or what kinds of pirates were really out there. Through these memories, he'd find out, it seemed.

The notable things that happened in the calm East Blue sea were him beginning to form his crew. He wasn't very creative with his name. The crew's name was "The Spades". Ace of Spades. He just laughed at himself, and imagined Sabo doing so, but not in a mean way. The feelings of learning Sabo was dead were strange.

Even though he'd only just heard of it, seen it, it still felt like it had been years ago. At the same time, it also felt like a fresh wound. It was hard to describe, but it wasn't crushing. It wasn't soul shattering. Upsetting, but he was not crippled by grief. Not that ever seemed to be based on everything he'd remembered of his childhood up till where they were now.

Ace gathered a small crew, and found his first next best friend in a young man a few years older than him, named Deuce. He had blue hair and no given name. "You were really nice to give him a name," Luffy said.

Smiling, Ace replied, "Its not like I could just refer to him as 'you' or 'dude'. But really, hah, I named him Deuce so he paired up with Ace! So funny, but it's nice he accepted it." Ace saw what a devil fruit looked like for the first time. It was orange and didn't look anything like a fruit. When he erupted into flames on a small boat, and was tied to the back and dragged along as they headed to the next island, Ace was glad he had come aware able to use it well. Maybe he could improve, but he wasn't accidentally setting things on fire.

Sure, he set himself on fire a few times before he got the hang of it, but it had felt like how others described riding a bike. Once you learned, you never forgot. But the East Blue adventures were fun and fresh. Fighting marines, breaking the law constantly. It looked like a fun video game or something. He couldn't really see himself becoming criminal now, but… he looked like he loved this.

Ace didn't "love" being in his current world. It was just life, he had no epic dream to chase. Maybe once he had one, it would be better. He had people he cared about, yes. But part of him missed these people he'd forgotten all about. Were they mad at him? For dying however he died, and then forgetting them and even himself?

Well, maybe not remembering helped him adjust better. Hopefully.

As the memories went along, Luffy not very good at picking and choosing what to show, Ace got more competent with his devil fruit and pirating. He improved at a fast pace, and by the time he and Luffy made the exiting trip up Reverse Mountain, Ace was a skilled pirate.

While the older brother attempted to try and somehow teach Luffy to find the good memories, he was just… not good at it. He'd always been dumb, but this was just terrible. He loved Luffy but he needed a new memory guide. Instead of focusing on the fun adventures of each island, he got stuck on memories like going fishing or entering a drought, where they did nothing but laze around in the dry climate. It wasn't entertaining at all.

While he didn't need to see every memory to catch up, the process could have been a lot smoother. If Luffy was his memory guide that he made up, why was he unable to force him to be more competent?! But getting mad at him did nothing, as Luffy was hard to offend and just as easily able to forgive. To laugh it off.

Ace was strong enough by the time he was halfway through the Grand Line to be offered a position to the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who were basically hired pirates for the marines. But they had to act on the orders of the government no matter what. So it was unsurprising that Ace refused. Even more so knowing he was the son of the Pirate King.

Having Roger as his biological father had been deeply troubling to Ace throughout his childhood, and made him question everyone, wondering if they'd rat him out of not. He was distrustful and suspicious when he first made bonds with people. Very polite to normal people, he was a stark contrast to the angry, mean brat of a child he'd been.

Both Ace and Luffy were happy he changed. And probably everyone else.

The only way Ace was able to find a way to defeat his father's title was to take down the man he never could. So, Ace's new ambition, since he already fulfilled his dream of being a pirate, was to take down the strongest man in the world. Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors. Ace couldn't wait for this fight.

Luffy fast forwarded, but Ace missed the entire fight against the fishman. Five days! "Lu, please, go slower. I want to be able to enjoy the good parts of my memories," he said as patiently as possible.

"Okay!" and Ace was waking up on Whitebeard's ship. Of course, memories of the fight the day before were implanted, but still! Ace stared down at his brother, and ran his hands down his face. "Well, I can go now, shishishi!" Then he disappeared, and Ace wondered who'd come next. He shouldn't have been surprised with who it was.

The next person to join was much taler than he was, an adult, not a kid. "Marco!" Ace cheered. Marco smiled at him, and it was odd because Ace knew this wasn't actually Marco, but a memory of him. The only one of the three guides that he could see again. Suddenly, he missed Luffy.

"Ready? The last big chapter?" It was a reminder that Ace had died. "I'll be much better than Luffy about taking you through the memories." Ace nodded. He'd appreciate that. With Luffy, he'd advanced from eleven to eighteen. He was clumsy, and Sabo was much more dramatic and smart with his guiding.

Ace felt he'd managed to conjure them up convincingly. He knew his siblings well. Ace watched himself wake up, angry and confused. When he left the room and entered out onto the deck of the massive ship, he looked lost and disappointed. Well, he'd just lost in a fight spectacularly. "If Whitebeard hadn't shown up after a five day battle, I wouldn't have looked so pitiful," Ace said, slightly embarrassed by his loss.

"He still would have offered you a place in the family. Even if you somehow whooped his ass. But that was impossible. Oh, you'll see that is fact soon," he chuckled. "And we sort of kidnapped you. It worked out in the end." Ace was curious, and watched his angry reaction when Thatch arrived, offering to be friends.

"Are you sure you don't need cuffs on me or anything?"

"Handcuffs? Hah, we don't need those!"

"That was rude," Ace said.

"Everything was rude to you in the beginning, babe." And Ace saw this up front. It was montage, because all 100 days couldn't be shown, but he spent day after day plotting how to kill the captain, who showed him kindness besides punting him into the sea. It was a daily occurrence, and he failed each day.

To eat while refusing food, he would sneak into the kitchen at night, not afraid of leaving messes or being a complete shit. He started to see shifts in himself through the montage. He got along, reluctantly, with the others of the crew. Thatch was the most open and wanting to be friends with him no matter how many times he was rejected.

If it wasn't kind, it would have been annoying. Marco disliked him deeply, which was hard to see. "Don't worry, things obviously changed," Marco said, kissing his head. "But you have to admit you were a little shit. But we wanted to keep you anyways."

Every day, even after countless attempts to Whitebeard, he always looked at Ace fondly. Even after he just tried chopping his head off with an ax, after he'd bat Ace away, he'd laugh and call him persistent or determined. Nobody took him seriously, which was upsetting at the time, clearly.

But watching it now that he was older, they didn't take him seriously because they didn't think he would hurt them, they trusted him. He could see himself changing, his demeanor, his angry scowl, defensiveness lowering. Letting his walls down. It was much harder in his past life to let people in than his current one.

The night Ace seemed to decide to give up on his foolish goal, it was from Marco's words. "Why do you call him Pops?" Ace asked, looking down at the bowl of stew set beside him wordlessly by the first mate.

Marco smiled. "Because he calls us sons. It makes us happy. We're all outcasts." Then he crouched in front of Ace. "How long are you going to keep recklessly risk your life? Are you going to join and take the mark, or will you leave and start over?" Ace didn't answer. Ace looked to his version of Marco, and pointed out he had clearly wanted to leave all that time.

"What changed right now?"

"Hah, if you don't know, then I don't know," Marco said. The next memory was Ace in the bedroom with Whitebeard. He was old and usually had medical equipment with him, even if he was very strong and intimidating. But Ace, looking at these memories, never felt intimidated.

He flat out told him his father, scared to be rejected. "I thought you came to me for something important," he said lightly. "But all you've come to tell me is about your biological family."

"Weren't you enemies?"

"We were rivals, not enemies. Our crews got together sometimes. But even if he was an arch enemy, we're all children of the sea. Now, will you join the family?" Ace gave a tiny smile, looked at his feet, and nodded. Marco was beaming, and put his arm around Ace' shoulder. Ace looked beside his tank top, and noticed his arm tattoo had appeared. The tribute tattoo to Sabo.

He smiled at it. The next memories were celebrations of him joining, though this crew seemed to have parties for any occasion, or even no occasion at all. They sure did drink a lot, Ace included. Thatch was his buddy, his friend he spent a lot of time goofing off with Haruta. Ace smiled, as tears dripped down his cheeks.

Marco didn't comment on them, just kissed his temple softly. The relationship with Marco bloomed quickly now that he was part of the crew and no longer trying to kill his captain - their captain and father. Calling him "Pops" felt wonderful, and having all these friends that thought of themselves as brothers was refreshing.

Ace still hung out with the Spades, who were happy there, too, thankfully. Marco fast forwarded through a year of being on the ship, but Ace had all the memories catch up with him, and the phoenix let him process them before moving on.

After getting the memories organized in a way, Ace watched himself become a commander. He was trusted deeply and seen as strong enough. No wonder he was good at leadership and missions. He was a leader in his past. He was a commander for a year and a half, enjoying his job as the head of the navigation division.

"I'm going to fast forward through some things, okay?" Ace nodded, assuming the bad time was approaching. Plus, he'd died at twenty. He was currently at nineteen years old in the memories. He didn't want to see his death, but he knew he would. There was no stopping now. The memories fast forwarded were finding his friend dead, stabbed in the back. Teach had done it. Someone he thought was a friend.

Marco had been giving him dirty looks, but Ace hadn't noticed until now. Ace felt tears of sadness down his cheeks, but like with Sabo, this wasn't crushing, as he'd dealt with it for a year, and had grieved in that time. Seeing it was hard, but he had grieved for him long ago. Marco took his hand, and looked upset, too.

Then, Ace went off against orders to find and kill Teach. Less like enforcing the rule on the ship and more out of personal vengeance. He knew this wasn't a good idea, and worried. Marco took his hand and smiled. "There will be some good memories soon." Ace hoped so.

The time of him coming after Teach was interesting. Ace wished he could still have striker. The memories of how good that felt were nostalgic, but he knew he'd never have that kind of thing again. He went through many situations on his search, and it seemed to distract him from the pain of missing his friend who was now dead. But the anger never faded, and the thirst for revenge was still strong.

When he finally saw Luffy again after searching for Blackbeard and trying to find him and fulfill his promise to see him once he had a bounty. Seeing Luffy with his crew was great, and it was a nice break from the search for Teach - or Blackbeard. "Did you ever meet Luffy, Marco?"

"Briefly, but you sure talked about him a lot." Ace's face fell. "It's not your fault you forgot, and now you remember. It's okay, really." The younger nodded, and watched as he met his crew, full of colorful misfits with unique personalities. They even had a talking reindeer. Ace wished that he'd stayed with him longer, but he didn't, and had something important to do.

When he left, Ace's memories caught up and Marco waited until he was ready. "Ace, I'm going to skip through a month now, okay?" Ace was worried, and his hand was taken, but nodded. The last month flashforward, and his mind had to catch up once it was paused. Ace had confronted Blackbeard and lost spectacularly.

Then, he was brought to the marines, and hell followed, full of physical and emotional torture. Gramps visited, and it was a bit painful but not unexpected that he did nothing to try and help. He chose work over family. It was even worse when he found out Luffy broke into jail for him. And Ace fucking forgot.

The way to Marineford, he was glad to see the sun and sky again, even as he headed towards his death. "I'm gonna skip forward, okay?" Ace nodded, sweating and shaking in worry. The whole war was flashed before his eyes, and by the end he was sobbing. Marco held him, and Ace cried as he knew it was his selfishness that got so many people killed.

Looking at himself, his last goodbye to his father, and then his unavoidable death made him feel like the worst person alive. Well, the worst person dead. Ace clutched his cut, but the burn, the hole, was not there. Marco hugged him, and kissed his head. "You were so brave and strong to protect Luffy. You spoke through that, giving your last words to all of us. I can't say what happened next, as you weren't there to supply me with the facts," Marco said. "Ready to go back?"

"I… yeah," Ace nodded. He'd need a lot of alone time to reflect. Well, seeing Marco would help a lot. Then he could find out what happened afterwards. Ace would never see Pops again. Most likely. This big wide world… there was no way he'd be lucky enough to find him there, too. It was a miracle he found Marco at all. How did he die, anyways? He had to ask, even though he knew it was his fault. It was a war because of his foolishness.