Chapter 5: Nightmares or Memories

(First, I'm sorry for being gone for three years. Second, why is this my highest rated story? Like, top 250 in Follows and top 300 in Favorites. I don't understand! Third, I stayed up way too late updating Memories of the Past last night and now I have a headache. Fourth, like I said in MotP, I have an idea for this but I don't really like how I planned it so I'm gonna wing it a bit but also stay close to the original idea. Hopefully it goes well. On to the crap!)

Warning!: I'm stupid and can't grammar good cause high school was shit and fucked me up~ I will most likely mess up. If you notice anything, please tell me.

-x-x-x-

Previously:

"Portgas D. Ace and Sabo? The Second Division Commanders? Let me tell you something Luffy. Those two are liars. They don't have any other family. They seem innocent, but they aren't. They killed everyone related to them." The man said before gasping in false horror. "And if they're calling you their brother… That means you're next."

"No… Stop it! You're lying! They wouldn't do that!"

-x-x-x-

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I don't wanna be near liars…!" Luffy said, lifting his head and showing his tear filled eyes and tear stained cheeks.

-x-x-x-

"Tell me the truth… Do you even know me…? Are we even brothers…? Please… Tell me everything you said was true… That everything he said was a lie… I don't… I don't want to be alone… Being alone… It's more painful than getting hurt…"

"You aren't alone. Everything we said was true."

"We could never lie to you Lu. You're our little brother. No matter what people say."

"We're family. Always have been, always will be." Ace and Sabo said in accidental unison.

-x-x-x-

"Um… Thatch…? He said you had a chest in your room… What's in it…?"

"The chest?" Thatch asked, a shiver running up his spine. "I don't even want to think about that stupid thing."

-x-x-x-

Within a few short minutes, they were standing in front of an empty cell with nothing but an open and empty chest sitting inside.

-x-x-x-

Thatch watched as the brothers left the room and as their arguing voices faded off into the distance. He looked at the cell next to him and thought only one thing.

'Teach… Now that you have that fruit… Just what are you going to do…?'

-x-x-x-

It had been nearly a week since Teach had used Luffy as a means of escape from his cell. Some of the crew were still nervous about it but most had let it pass. Nobody really blamed Luffy for falling for Teach's lies. The boy had amnesia and, from what they'd heard of him from Ace and Sabo, Luffy was fairly gullible. These two things had ended up as a very understandable reason for what he'd done.

During the past days, Luffy had spoken with a majority of the crew and had become friends with everyone. He was likeable to say the least and everyone loved him. The only 'exception' being Marco and that wasn't even hate, merely annoyance.

It hadn't taken long for Luffy to find out about the pranks that went on courtesy of three certain Division Commanders. He had followed along on more than one and even started to assist and come up with ideas for later pranks. With a fourth prankster running around, there was more trouble and with more trouble came more reports and paperwork. All Sabo could do was silently question why he was the one with the most paperwork.

'Probably because half the troublemakers are my brothers…' Sabo thought with a sigh before glancing at the time. Nearly one in the morning. Another sigh escaped the blonde as he realized he'd normally be asleep by now and in bed about three hours ago.

He glanced at his bed and couldn't help the soft smile that graced his features. In his bed lay the youngest of the three brothers. The messy black locks spread out over the pillow being the reminder of the treasured straw hat sitting peacefully on the nightstand next to the bed.

Deciding to take a break from his paperwork, Sabo stood from his desk and walked over to his younger brother. He pulled the messy and tangled blankets up to cover Luffy's shoulders to which the sleeping boy let out a soft sigh, clearly comfortable. Sabo took a moment to just stare at his brother, taking in the differences. It was still hard to believe the boy in front of him and in his bed was nearly as old as them.

The premise that this was his little brother from nearly three years in the future was still unbelievable. But, looking closely, he was older than the present Luffy should have been. His facial features were slightly more defined and his jaw wasn't as rounded. Then there was the muscle mass and the definite definition of the rest of his body.

There really was no question of how strong the boy was. He wasn't as large as some pirates and Marines throughout the Grand Line, but any true fighter could see his strength. Ace had refused to admit it, but Sabo could see it plain as day. When Luffy had punched the eldest and sent him flying, it had actually managed to hurt him. Everyone had been surprised his nose hadn't been broken. If Luffy had any memory of how to use that strength, any blow would be devastating. Especially to anyone unsuspecting of the attack.

Lastly was the scar on his chest. The doctors had said it was nearly three years old and it was very clearly a burn scar but… Sabo glanced at his own burn scars and compared them to the many times he'd seen Luffy's. Luffy's seemed so much worse, like the fire had somehow been stronger than the flames that swallowed Sabo. The blonde could only question what could have happened to cause a wound like that.

His eyes wandered to the straw hat resting next to it's owner. Sabo couldn't help the frown that came from seeing the rips, tears and repairs on the hat. He picked it up to inspect it and found a string hanging from the bottom of one side of the hat and connecting to the other. Memories of all the times Luffy had lost his hat and they all had to hunt it down flooded his mind. Imagining how many times Luffy had lost his hat that someone had to attach a string to it made the blonde chuckle. Only Luffy could repeatedly lose something so precious.

It didn't take long for Sabo to realize the hat itself told a story. Every cut, scratch, tear, rip, burn, stab, and repair told of Luffy's adventures and how truly treasured the hat was. Most people wouldn't bother fixing a hat so badly damaged, but here it was. In all the time he'd known the younger, he'd never seen Luffy take off the hat because he wanted to. In all honesty, considering how reckless Luffy had always been, the hat was in fairly good shape.

A groan and some tossing and turning next to him pulled Sabo out of his thoughts. He noticed Luffy was frowning in his sleep and overall appeared to be having a nightmare, a rather bad one at that.

"Luffy." Sabo called in an attempt to wake the younger. He tried again, a little louder this time. When calling for him didn't work, the blonde decided to try shaking the younger awake. "Come on Luffy, wake up."

Nothing. The younger wouldn't wake, too deep in the nightmare to notice anything in the real world. All Sabo could do was hope the dream wouldn't scare Luffy too badly. If it did though, he and Ace would be there to comfort him.

-x-x-x-

His wide, round eyes watched everything around him in complete shock and even fear. When he had first fallen into the dream, he had been on a ship stuck on top of an iceberg. At first he thought it was cool, even after he noticed the fighting happening on the island below him. But now, it was just scary and confusing.

It felt like he was watching through somebody else's eyes as he ran through what looked like war. People were fighting all around him, most not even noticing him. More often than he liked, he would see a man fall as he was shot or stabbed through by whoever they were fighting. From what he could tell, it was pirates vs Marines but he couldn't figure out the reason for it all. To him, it was all needless murder and violence.

More than once, a person or group of people had jumped in front of him, wanting to fight and stop him from reaching his destination. He had felt his mouth move and heard his voice call out an attack before one of his limbs would stretch and knock the other person unconscious. This had scared him even more. It wasn't the fighting that scared him, it was the fact that this was him fighting and he didn't feel like he had control. It hadn't taken long for Luffy to realize this hellish dream wasn't that. It was a memory.

The amnesiac boy watched through his own eyes as his body would move and attack people seemingly of its own volition. He silently begged for it to stop, unable to speak aloud, as his body attacked yet another person. This time, he felt the collision. He felt his fist hit the men. He felt the pressure. He felt the impact. He watched them all go flying, falling unconscious before they hit the ground.

He tried desperately to take his eyes away from what his body was doing, not wanting to watch others fall by his hand. Looking every which way, he realized with growing dread that he recognized most of the pirates. They were all Whitebeard Pirates. He saw the commanders and all divisions, even the old man himself was fighting. But there were three unaccounted for.

'Where are Ace, Sabo and Thatch…?' He couldn't help but ask himself. He didn't want to think about it, but in all honesty he was scared for them. What if something happened? What if they were hurt? What if they were already beaten? 'No! They wouldn't be beat!'

He looked everywhere. Took the time to focus on every face on the battlefield, even the fallen. It hurt him to recognize so many of the fallen pirates. Though, he felt mild relief when he realized there were more fallen Marines than pirates. His relief rose when he realized none of the fallen were the ones he was looking for.

Suddenly, his head started to rise, looking above him. He panicked shortly, not having seen every face. His eyes moved to see what he was facing and suddenly all he saw was the scaffold and the man kneeling on it.

Ace. There he was. Alive, though injured. But he was okay.

Luffy frowned. Ace… he looked scared. Maybe even guilty. 'He looks like…' Luffy's eyes would have widened if they could as he slowly realized what was happening.

The scaffold Ace was kneeling on; an execution platform. The people standing beside him; his executioners. The Marines; trying to stop the pirates. The pirates; trying to get to Ace. The war; to stop Ace's execution.

Luffy wanted to collapse. Cry. Scream. Do something that would stop all this. It was all too much to take in. All too unbelievable to have been real and all too intense to be a dream.

As his mind was collapsing, his body kept running and his eyes never once left Ace. He could tell Ace was watching everything but his focus was mostly on the little brother running towards him.

All thoughts escaped Luffy when he saw the executioners raising their swords above their heads to bring down on Ace. He didn't see the men surrounding him. He didn't see the pirates around him panicking. He didn't see the haze building around his vision as everything started to fade. In that moment, everything became more real. He was fully immersed in the memory even though all he saw was Ace.

'No… Don't kill him… Don't kill my brother…! Don't kill Ace…! Stop it…! Stop it!' "STOP IT!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs as he felt a strange energy being released from himself. The last thing he saw before everything went dark was the executioners collapsing and Ace looking at him with shocked wide eyes.

-x-x-x-

"STOP IT!" Sabo had to cover his ears from the sudden shout his supposedly unconscious brother had let out. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Ace being startled awake on the other side of the shared room before both nearly collapsed.

Barely a second after Luffy's shout, he had released an extremely potent wave of energy that was mostly only found in the latter half of the Grand Line. The energy was meant to eliminate people with a weaker will, forcing them into unconsciousness. The only reason the brothers were still conscious was due to their built up resistance to the power. Though, that didn't stop the cold sweat that had taken hold of the two commanders in the room.

Ace and Sabo looked at each other for a few moments before both started to try and wake Luffy. If he was using Conqueror's Haki to such an extent while sleeping, then they needed to pull the youngest out of his nightmare. Waking the boy had been much easier now than when Sabo had tried previously as the boy was already waking up on his own.

Luffy's eyes shot open as he quickly sat up in bed, very nearly headbutting his brothers on the way. He looked around him in a panic, trying to gather his bearings and remember where he was. The moment his eyes landed on Ace, they started to tear up.

Both brothers were startled by the sudden tears, even more so when Luffy practically moved Sabo out of the way to reach Ace. All Luffy wanted was to know his eldest brother was alive and okay. He didn't want anything other than Ace.

Ace frowned in worry as he tightly held Luffy. He felt the younger crying silently against his chest but didn't know how to comfort him. Without knowing what happened in the nightmare, it was hard to tell exactly what was wrong. Ace settled on sitting on his bed with Luffy in his lap as he rubbed circles into the younger's back.

"Shh… It's okay, Lu… Everything's okay…" Ace spoke softly, not wanting to startle the younger anymore than he already was. Ace glanced at Sabo, a silent conversation passing between them from their looks alone. They had never seen Luffy react to a nightmare so badly. Even as kids when almost anything could scare Luffy and make him cry, nothing was this bad.

"Lu'... What-"

"The hell was that!?" Thatch shouted as he slammed the door open, startling the brothers and causing Luffy to tighten his hold on Ace. "Why in the hell are you guys throwing around Conqueror's Haki at one in the morning?! I didn't even know you guys knew Conqueror's!"

"We don't." Sabo cut him off with narrowed eyes. Thatch was not known for being gracious when he first woke up, especially if someone was the cause of it, and one of his rants was the literal last thing they needed at the current moment.

"Then who…" Thatch trailed off as his eyes fell on Luffy. "What happened to him?"

Sabo sighed as he glanced at Ace and Luffy. "You got this?" Sabo asked in a soft voice. He gave Ace a moment to check on Luffy before nodding to the blonde. Sabo turned back to Thatch before speaking again. "Outside. He needs a moment to calm down."

The moment Sabo stepped out of the room, he noticed the other commanders awake and making their way out of their rooms. He sighed as Thatch slipped out of the room and closed the door behind them.

Before anyone could speak, Marco made his way down the hall only to stop in front of the commanders. "Pops wants to know what just happened and why someone is using Haki let alone Conqueror's right now, yoi. Anyone know?" Marco noticed Thatch glance at Sabo and seemed to pick up on it. "Everyone check on your divisions and make sure everyone's okay and not in a coma. After you're done, report to Pops, yoi."

It hadn't taken long for the commanders to check on the crew. Luck turned out to be on their side as the blast wasn't enough to affect anyone too badly. At worst, the few that were awake had lost consciousness for barely a moment before waking again. Since most of the crew was asleep already, it hadn't left much effect other than a shudder and a cold sweat.

After checking on everyone, the commanders made their ways to Whitebeard's room where he was waiting patiently. When the last commander arrived, Whitebeard noticed someone was missing. His eyes fell on Sabo as he asked the question, "Where's Ace?"

"He's taking care of Luffy right now Pops. He's shaken up to say the least." Sabo said with a frown, clearly worried about the youngest of the trio.

"Was he affected so badly?" Izo spoke up, genuinely worried for the boy.

Sabo bit his lip and took a deep breath before sighing. "No. He wasn't. He wasn't affected at all by it actually."

The commanders were shocked. Even they had been affected by it more or less. "But… how?" Haruta asked the question everyone else wanted to ask.

"Because he's the one that did it, correct?" Whitebeard questioned, his eyes never having left Sabo. At Sabo's silent nod, everyone was shocked. All but Whitebeard. The old man only smirked as their latest guest continued to interest him with every revelation.

At the mumbled question of 'what happened', Sabo decided to explain. Though, he knew what he was about to say wouldn't make things much better. "He… had a nightmare."

Silence. Silence so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Even the waves of the sea didn't dare disrupt the soundless room.

The first sound to break the silence had been a rumble coming from Whitebeard. Laughter. "So the brat used haki in his sleep? And it was still so strong?"

"I know it sounds unbelievable but it's true Pops." Sabo stated with a worried frown. "He was tossing and turning then suddenly shouted for something to stop. Then, out of nowhere, we felt it. We woke him up and he clung to Ace instantly."

"The hell was his nightmare?" Thatch asked with a disbelieving look.

Sabo looked at the floor with a frown, biting his lip as all the worry he felt when Luffy woke up returned. "I don't know… I didn't get to ask. But he looked terrified and it seemed like all he wanted was Ace."

"Something to do with Ace then it seems."

"Everyone… actually." Whitebeard was surprised to hear the tired response. He turned his gaze to the doorway where he found Ace and Luffy standing in the open threshold.

"Luffy…" Sabo muttered as he walked over to the younger. "Are you okay?" At Luffy's nod, Sabo let out a sigh of relief.

"Brat." Whitebeard called in a soft tone. He wanted Luffy's attention but didn't want to scare him. The boy looked like he still hadn't fully calmed down yet. "You had a nightmare?" A nod. "What of?"

Luffy frowned before looking at everyone. He glanced at Ace for a moment before taking a breath and looking at Whitebeard. "War." Luffy started in a surprisingly steady voice. "Between Marines and Whitebeard Pirates. Everyone was fighting and everyone was injured, especially the old man. Some of the crew were even lying dead on the ground…" The boy took a second before continuing. "When I finally found Ace, he was on a giant platform with two men next to him. The war had been a way to save Ace from his own execution."

The silence was heavy as everyone tried to take in what had been said. It was so little yet held so much weight that everyone in the room felt as if they'd be crushed by it.

"Luffy." Ace was the one to speak up and draw his little brother's attention. "Was it a dream? Or a memory?" When Luffy stayed silent, Ace got his answer. He looked away as he tried to process it. A war had been held to save his life. And from how Luffy was acting, it hadn't ended well.

At that moment, Ace suddenly remembered Luffy's questions from nearly a week ago.

'Do you regret being born…? I heard you say if it wasn't for some incident and you having to look out for me you would have never wanted to live! You said nobody else wanted you to live! So do you regret it!?'

Ace had never wanted to admit any of that to anyone. He never wanted anyone to know his thoughts, especially of himself. Putting two and two together… Of course those would be his final words.

"Luffy." Ace called softly, pulling said boys attention towards him. "I'm right here. We all are. And I promise that won't happen. I have to see you achieve your dream, right?" Ace finished with a smirk.

'I only have… one regret… That I couldn't see you achieve your dream... But I'm sure you'll do it… You're my brother after all…!'

Luffy smiled some and nodded. "Better not let that become a regret."

"You kidding me?" Ace asked with a light chuckle. "I don't regret anything."

The moment was broken the moment Thatch spoke. "Yeah, great, good for you, family bonding. Look, I love you all, I really do. But can we please go back to sleep?"

Whitebeard let out a laugh at his son's tired plea. "Yes my son. You can all return to your rooms and to sleep."

As everyone started their leave, each wishing their captain a good night, Whitebeard had Marco stay behind. "What is it Pops?" Marco asked after everyone else had left.

"I want someone to teach that boy haki." Whitebeard stated, his eyes remaining on the door since the three brothers had left. Before Marco could ask why, Whitebeard spoke up again. "If he were to relearn something that's apparently engraved in his body, he might just remember faster."

Marco frowned before sighing. "Fine. I'll set it up, yoi." Marco turned to leave but before he could walk out, he turned back to his father-figure with a smile. "Good night Pops."

"Good night son." Whitebeard smiled as his eldest son left for the night.

(I swear. The second I decide to be productive, my parents suddenly need me for every little thing. I mean, is it too much to ask to work on a thing? Apparently.

I'm sorry if it seems a little rushed at the end… I started to fall asleep and the fact that I've been working on this for over 12 hours, I forgot a majority of what had happened earlier.

I did remember one thing though. The original idea for this chapter was to have Shanks arrive and have Luffy remember his crew. Then it became remembering Sabo's death when they were kids and Sabo comforting him. Then it became this. As you can see, I was completely unable to keep any of the original plan in there. Plus side; I at least have an idea as to what I can do next so that's good!

I'm gonna head to bed now… Fave, follow, review and read my other stuff. Bai~! c(X )

Start - 3:00 PM

End - 3:45 AM