Guest: Yeah, it was a shorter fic. Lately they've been much longer!
phoenix: Hopefully they have a happy ending.
Aquarica: Spoiler, I don't kill them all lol. Or do I? Hehe.
Iline: I love the angst and despair I put in this fic. I was so cruel to them. Poor babies. Hopefully everything turns out okay for them in the long run.
LoveToBake: Yah! They're not on their tormentors' ship anymore. They went through hell. :(
94Insane: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.
And here we are at the end. I'll be posting anogther story today, and finished ANOTHER one, putting me at 9 ones awaiting posting or editing. Not sure which one I'll post today, but I will post one. Anyways, I'm sad the story is over, but all good things must come to an end. Enjoy~
When they woke up, they headed to the PoS and ate what was left of the non perishables. The ship was mostly upright now, only tilted to the side just a bit, so they sat on the stools bolted to the floor, and ate the canned or boxed goods.
"We're home, guys," Sabo said happily.
They all grinned, and Jojo looked around her kitchen lovingly. "You know, having the Whitebeards as allies would have been nice. But after everything that happened, I don't want to hear their names again," she said simply.
Ace and Sabo nodded, and the others offered agreement as well. Luffy frowned. "I'm mad at them, I don't like them, but I do like Thatch." He looked down, not knowing what the point of his statement had been. Ace pat his head.
"Then at least some good experience came from this mess, right?" he said. The crew all grinned at him, and Sabo pat his back. "What?"
"Already, you're back," Deuce said with a grin. Ace looked confused before tears welled up in his eyes.
"Mmm," he said, sniffling. "I hated that. I hated being that me. I worked so hard, took so long, for me to be better, not be mean or angry. And then I had to shove all that away to be an asshole again. It was horrible," Ace confessed. Luffy hugged him. "I'm sorry, Lu. I'm sorry you had to go through the resets in an unfamiliar and scary place."
Deuce said, "You all had to do that, Ace. Not just Luffy."
Sabo wiped under his nose and said, "Luffy goes through the worst. I wasn't awake during the messy scene. Luffy was the one to see everything till the end. And then to wake up someplace he couldn't have a proper routine to feel better."
Luffy shook his head. "It was bad for everyone, not just me." The other Spades agreed. It was hard for everyone. "And Deuce had it the hardest when we reset in the hallway and the Whitebeards were there. Don't make it seem like no one else suffered, too," he insisted. "I… did good. I didn't have many panic attacks."
Ace put his arm around Luffy's shoulders. "Well, now you don't need to hold in your feelings anymore. We'll be here to help you when you feel helpless or out of control. No one else will be butting into our situation that we don't want there. We're free again. To be us." Luffy nodded, and started to cry.
But they were happy tears. Tears of relief.
-x-
"Ready? Push!" Marco shouted and all of the pirates working pushed the PoS down a ramp made out of planks of wood and into the surf, further and further until the ship was deep enough in the water that it wasn't considered beached. Ace and Luffy were out of the count, unable to go further into water as pirates pushed as much as they could until the ship was buoyant.
Marco threw the anchor down and into the water and then flew back over. The Spades were cheering at the sight of their precious ship out on the water, repaired and ready to sail. The other pirates were happy as well, as the work on the broken ship had finished. It was evening the third day off of the Moby Dick, and everyone was tired.
The Spades piled into the rowboat and hurried their way to their home, climbing up the rope ladder and onto deck. It was done!
"Were fucking free!" Ace shouted, arms in the air. "Fuck yeah!" and he hopped in circles, chanting "we're free" with Luffy. Sabo was laughing and the others were as well, just feeling so light and happy. They could continue on their adventures, how they wanted. Not under some "father" that was just your boss. They wouldn't be surrounded by hoards of people, many often drunk. They were free, and that was what mattered most.
Marco flew over and landed on the deck before changing back into full human form. "Well, your ship is repaired and stocked, ready to go," he said cheerily. "On behalf of all of us, I apologize sincerely for all of the trouble and pain our actions have caused you. I know you can't forgive us, but we hope you get back to your normal.
"I know you don't want it, but if you're even in need of help, call us with this," Marco said, and pulled out a baby den den that was apparently linked to their ship. "If you never call us, it's not like we'll be upset, but just in case you feel the need to do so, call any time."
The Spades looked at the den den with conflicting feelings and expressions. They wanted nothing else to do with the Whitebeards. None moved until Sabo sighed and took it from Marco. "Thanks for fixing up the ship. We really appreciate it," the blonde said with a bow.
The others agreed, but didn't bow. "You're welcome. Hope to hear you cause more trouble for the marines in the paper. They were entertaining to read about," Marco said with a smile.
"They're probably wondering where the hell we disappeared to. Well, we'll be back in the spotlight soon enough. Goodbye, Marco," Sabo said, giving him a smile.
"Bye, guys. Be safe." They nodded, and Marco flew off of the ship and back to the shore. It was getting later out, but they wanted to sail for a while and then weigh anchor so they could have dinner and then sleep in their home. With the sea gently rocking the ship, lulling them to sleep.
"Should I have said goodbye to Thatch?" Luffy wondered as they sailed in the moonlight. Sabo frowned. They had decided to leave without a word to anyone but Marco. "Maybe I should have said goodbye."
The blonde brother and captain put his hand on Luffy's head. "I don't know. He wasn't there when the ship was done. He'd already tried to distance himself from us, maybe it was best we left without a goodbye. I think he might have been upset," Sabo replied honestly.
Luffy rested his chin on his hands on the railing. "I should have said goodbye," Luffy mumbled.
"Well, we do have the baby den den," Sabo said, though he didn't know how he felt about them using it right away. Right after leaving, calling might give the Whitebeards the wrong idea. That they wanted to stay in touch. Nobody but Luffy was upset without saying goodbye. Well, Jojo had done her own thing.
She'd baked a cookie and left a note for him in thanks for letting her use his kitchen. It was still leaving without a word, but it was a goodbye. "No, I can't do that. Damnit…" Luffy cursed. Sabo suggested he could send a letter. That they could mail it to him from the next island they stopped at.
They were taking a different route than the Whitebeards, effectively going their separate ways. Luffy grumbled that he would do that. "I'm going to bed. What about you and Ace?" the youngest said.
"I'm gonna stay out for a bit longer. Don't know about Ace. But, goodnight," Sabo said with a smile. Luffy returned it and hurried inside to sleep in his own bed. He changed into his pajamas, his ones, not the ones they were given by the Whitebeards. He crawled under his blankets and drifted to sleep, glad to be home. So glad.
It was a couple hours later that Sabo and Ace went to bed, Jojo on watch. They changed and went in their own beds, giving relaxed smiles to one another before drifting to sleep. Hopefully things would go back to normal.
-x-
"Okay, relax," Aggie said as he injected the anesthesia to the brothers. They were showing signs of resetting three days after sailing off on their own. The three were scared something would happen while they were out. Their crew said they'd keep them safe, but they couldn't help but doubt that based on what had happened with the Whitebeards.
But they couldn't think about that anymore as they were put under, and didn't wake as Ace and Sabo started to bleed and Luffy started to gasp. Deuce was so happy he didn't need to keep them calm while they reset. He didn't need to close Luffy's dead eyes.
Deuce and Marco had gone into town to get the anesthesia in large amounts. It'd last for a couple resets, hopefully they weren't too frequent or they'd run out sooner. The brothers were on the floor on a blanket, not that it made them uncomfortable, and the Spades quickly got to work on cleaning them up. It didn't take long, and was less stressful as they hadn't seen the tragedy that was their reset when they were awake.
They didn't talk, all hoping the reset would come two weeks later and no sooner. There were no attacks while the brothers were out, but there was a storm, and Jojo tied them to their beds, which were bolted to the floor, as the ship rocked back and forth and the Spades took care of it, furling the sails and maneuvering the ship out of the storm easily.
Even though they felt like they hadn't done it in forever, it was easy to get back into and take care of their precious ship. If she got hurt, it would be an awful reminder of everything that had happened recently.
When the brothers woke up, it was slowly again. They were tired, and didn't even wait before falling back asleep, no longer tied to their beds after the storm had passed. It was easier to sleep after being sedated for the reset. Especially for Luffy.
When they woke up, they were each starving and went to the kitchen, Luffy stretching his arms to grab something from the fridge so Jojo couldn't get upset about them stepping foot in her kitchen. The others walked in after them, asking how they were. "Good. Sleeping through it is a blessing," Ace replied as he ate the chicken wings Jojo had made ahead of time so they had something to eat after waking up.
They were all glad the three's reset was painless. "Well, now we get to see when our next reset is," Ace sighed.
No one replied.
They were surprised later that day when they sensed a ship coming close to them and hurried to the side of the ship to see if it was an enemy, pirates or marines. But it wasn't an enemy, but the Red Force. Luffy's face turned closed off, still hurt that Shanks had pretty much abandoned them when they needed his help. And look what happened because he didn't want to come.
The youngest turned and walked inside, slamming the entrance door shut loudly. Sabo and Ace sighed, sharing a sad look. It had really hurt Luffy that Shanks didn't even try to help in any way. Didn't try to save them or advise them on how to get away. Surely he could have done that, at least.
The Spades furled the sails and dropped anchor. It wouldn't make much sense to try and run from them. Their ship was bigger and would no doubt catch up to them easily. Shanks put the plank down and hurried to the PoS. Those on deck looked at him with disapproving expressions, arms crossed.
"Hey, Shanks," Sabo said politely, though his voice wasn't warm at all. Shanks frowned deeply, and looked around, asking where Luffy was. "Inside." His expression fell further.
"I'm sorry I was unable to help. I tried convincing Marco to let you guys go, but they didn't for many weeks. I'm sorry, I wish I could have helped, but I can't demand Whitebeard release you without causing problems. So, I'm sorry if it seemed like I didn't care," the red haired captain said, sounding sincere.
"Things went to hell on that ship," Ace said coldly. Shanks' shoulders slumped more.
"I know. Whitebeard called me about it. I wish they had let you go with your first reset, but those idiots are stubborn and truly wanted to keep you," Shanks replied.
"Yeah, we get that. Fuckers refused to let us go even after they saw us die bloody deaths right in front of them. They fucked everything up," Ace snapped. While he had liked Shanks before, he couldn't get that hurt and betrayed expression Luffy wore out of his mind. Sabo felt the same. Shanks asked if he could talk to Luffy.
Deuce said, "I'll go get him," and went inside to fetch the youngest. The blue haired man found Luffy in the galley on the couch, staring at the wall with an angry face on. "Shanks wants to talk to you. He seems sorry."
Luffy said nothing for a minute. "I don't want to see him." Luffy felt hurt inside still. If Shanks had saved them from the beginning, things wouldn't have gotten so out of control it could have ended earlier, and he and his brothers wouldn't have had to suffer like they did. Deuce sighed and sat on the couch next to him.
"Do you think you can forgive him? Put all of this in the past? Don't we want to move on from the whole thing?" Luffy frowned deeper, his gaze falling to the floor. "I know what he did wasn't fair to you or your brothers, but at least let him explain his side of the story. If you don't believe him after listening, then you can stomp back inside and ignore him."
Luffy huffed and finally agreed to go back out on deck, even though his face was hard and angry. He left the cabin and stood in front of Shanks with a blank face, and it seemed to hurt the captain, seeing Luffy look at him like that when just a couple weeks ago he had been so happy to see his old friend.
"Hey, Luffy," he said awkwardly. "I'm sorry that I couldn't help you guys when you needed it. I know it doesn't change the nightmare you three went through on Whitebeard's ship, but I do feel so guilty I couldn't help you. I would have if it were any other ship that wasn't a fellow yonko," he explained. "I'm truly sorry and feel deep guilt and regret. I understand if you can't forgive me, but I wanted you to know this."
Luffy averted his gaze, arms crossed, as he tried to think of what to reply. "I don't trust you like I did before." Shanks winced. "But I forgive you." The redhead gave a sad smile, and thanked him. The Spades said nothing, just watching the awkward conversation sadly.
Shanks didn't stay long like he had the last visit, and told Luffy to call him again if he was ever in need of help other than Whitebeard kidnapping them. And that if they got caught by another yonko, that he'd come to the rescue. "Thanks, Shanks," Sabo said, and the smallest yonko left.
Once he was gone, Ace turned to Luffy and asked if he was okay. "Yeah. I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it." The others nodded, knowing that Luffy had been very hurt when Shanks didn't help one bit. It made him sad and angry to think about, even if Shanks had apologized in person.
"Why don't we go inside to eat dinner?" Jojo suggested, and the small crew left to go inside and eat.
-x-
"What day is it?" Ace asked, feeling absolutely ill. The three all woke up feeling like shit, and had a feeling they would reset some time that day. Ace had lost count of when the last reset had happened. It had been a busy week, fighting off marines and storms often. It made the brothers worry about their crew and ship once they were out of action, but being back on the PoS had alleviated much of the stress that had triggered irregular and random resets on Whitebeard's ship.
Sabo looked at the calendar. "September 16th," he groaned. Luffy coughed and pointed out that it had been twelve days since the last reset. Not quite back to normal, but it was incredibly good news. They hoped that they had gone back to normal once they were home, safe with their crew and their lives were given back to them. They were free.
Ace smiled, and wiped the blood from under his nose. "Almost back to normal. Let's go to the infirmary and get sedated. I feel like it'll come soon." Sabo agreed that he felt close to the start of the reset as well, and the three knocked on Deuce's door, since it was very early morning and he might not be up yet.
"Yeah?" he asked before seeing the blood on Ace's face. "C'mon, infirmary time." The three ill teens headed to the infirmary and were promptly sedated without hesitation. Deuce stayed there as they reset maybe 15 minutes after being sedated. It was much easier like this, so much easier.
He cleaned them up before anyone else entered the room, who was Jojo bringing in some breakfast for Deuce. She knew based on the fact that none of the three had hurried to breakfast and that Deuce was missing as well. "Been almost two weeks. Hope things stay steady like this," Jojo commented.
"Me too. I think that things might return to normal, but we shouldn't get our hopes up too high yet," Deuce replied, the chef agreeing before leaving to cook the others breakfast. Deuce had already cleaned the brothers up, and now tucked them in under blankets. They were back on the beds, no longer on the floor.
During that day, when the three were out of action, the rest of the crew were easily able to take care of some rookies going after them as the government had been paying close attention to the Spades once they roared back into action, destroying marine ships like no tomorrow. Their enthusiasm was back in full now that they could do whatever the hell they wanted.
They could do what they wanted and were not trapped under the rule of someone else. And they were enjoying that thoroughly. The rookies were angry that Ace, Sabo and Luffy weren't there to fight, but even without Ace's powers, a home made molotov was easy to throw onto the base of the mast of the other ship while the Spades kept the pirates from putting it out by destroying their forces.
The captainless-group only left once the fire had spread too far from the enemy crew to put out. It was satisfying to sail past the burning ship. Even if they got the fire out, they were stranded as the sails had burnt. When the three woke up the next day and after they fell back to normal sleep, they were angry that they'd missed what sounded like a fun fight.
But they felt just fine, like how they used to. "Bet a hundred berries you reset in thirteen days," Saber said at breakfast.
"That's a weird thing to bet on, but I'll take it. I bet a hundred berries we'll reset in fifteen days," Ace said, scarfing down his bacon.
"I'll bet fourteen days!" Luffy said happily. He didn't have panic attacks anymore after being sedated through the reset. Things might be better now than they were before they got kidnapped, but they gave no credit to anything the Whitebeards did.
The crew didn't speak of them or that time, and had the baby den den connected to theirs in a locked drawer that was dusty as they never had a reason to open it. Luffy did send a thank you letter to Thatch, but had asked for no return letter. They were free and didn't want to think about that horrible time.
It might not have been worse than their original deaths, but it had been the worst thing to happen to them since they woke up and crawled out of their graves so many years ago. They had hope things would return to a new normal. They looked forward to their future and how much havoc they'd wreak in the New World.
Life was good, and hopefully it'll stay that way.