Warnings: Dark themes, lots of mentions of death, strong language, human experimentation, experimenting on children, child abduction, graphic descriptions of experimenting, lots of needles, lots of violence, poor descriptions of panic attacks, descriptions of blood, rated M for safety.
*If I need to add anymore warnings please tell me in the reviews or a PM and I'll be sure to add it!*
Chapter 82: Growing Up Again
Ace coughed and sputtered while Sabo rubbed his back gently, worry creasing his brows. Luffy sat beside them, holding on tightly to Ace's hand while he gagged, water coming out as he did and tears pricking his eyes.
"Ace? You alright?" Sabo asked hesitantly.
"Those damn bastards, no one can fucking hold their fucking breath for five minutes!" Ace growled out as he coughed up more water, the tears falling as his nose and throat burned.
"What happened?" Sabo asked, trying to get information from Ace before he realized something was up and inevitably closed up.
"The damn doctors thought it'd be a good idea to see if Luffy and I could hold our breath in these stupid tanks for five minutes, that's what." Ace said bitterly, wiping his tears away harshly as he did and blinking a few times, trying to rid them from his eyes.
"Wait- Wheres Luffy? Is he ok?" Ace asked in a slight panic, looking up fully now and noticing everyone surrounding him. His eyes widened, taking in everything from the plethora of pirates surrounding them, to Sabo and Luffy, who looked taller and... different then he remembered, sitting on either side of him, to the fact that he wasn't in his cell anymore, to the lack of cuffs on his wrists, and then finally, to the sun. The sun, the sky, the clouds, and even the ocean.
"W-where are we? What's going on?" He asked, voice going low and dangerous, a scowl forming quickly. Was this another test? He had no clue, but he wasn't going to let anyone here hurt him or his brothers if he could help it.
"Ace, calm down, its alright, we're safe." Sabo tried soothing, Luffy nodding beside him. Ace didn't speak for a second as he turned to look at Sabo, and then Luffy, skepticism in his eyes as he did. Something was wrong here, and if he didn't know any better, he would say that his two brothers looked older.
He scooted a bit away from them just to be safe.
'Are you really Sabo and Luffy?' He asked, using their more expressive silent language, the one they had first created before they had to modify it for Ace and Luffy who didn't have access to moving their hand's thanks to their cuffs.
'We are.' Luffy answered back with ease. It may have been a long time since they had used this version of their language, but it was like riding a bike. Once you knew it, no matter how long in between using it, you would still know it.
'Then why do you look different?' Ace asked, hands making gestures that the pirates couldn't understand.
"They have two secret languages?!" Haruta asked in a surprised whisper to the other commanders who shrugged. None of them recognized the signing and gestures the brothers were using as anything they'd taught them. There were no taps, just gestures with their hands, from Ace flicking his fingers, to pointing to his eyes, and even miming a, what seemed to be, hat at one point.
'That's... kind of hard to explain. Ace, how old are you?' Sabo asked, still trying to find the best way to explain everything to his brother.
'How do you not know, you're the same age- or at least normal you is.' Ace said, eyeing Sabo again wearily.
'Humor me.' Sabo said with a roll of his eyes. Ace watched him again for a minute, eyes flickering to Luffy as well, before responding.
'14.' He eventually signed, Sabo and Luffy both frowning at that.
"Great," Sabo said with a sigh, confusing everyone watching.
"Can you tell me what the hell's happening now? Is this another stupid test?" Ace asked, eyes narrowing on the pirates again.
"No, it's not a test Ace. We're not in the facility anymore." Sabo said carefully, watching his brother as he spoke.
"We're... not?" He asked. Even though they obviously weren't, it was still hard for him to believe.
"No, we're on a pirate ship-"
"The Whitebeards!" Luffy cut in with a bright grin, surprising Ace momentarily.
"-The Whitebeards ship. I know this might be a bit hard to believe, but trust me when I say that Luffy and I, we're three years older then you remember." Sabo said, only getting a skeptical look from Ace which he expected.
"Three years older? And you're trying to tell me this isn't another test?" Ace asked, obviously not believing his brother.
"Why don't we go somewhere more private for this discussion, hm?" Whitebeard asked, drawing Ace's attention. His eyes widened at the size of the Captain, but Sabo and Luffy didn't even flinch as they looked at the man, both looking relieved and nodding in agreement with him.
What the hell was going on?!
"Come on Ace, don't worry, no one here is going to hurt us," Sabo said, standing along with Luffy. Still hesitant, Ace slowly got up as well, wincing at the burning and strain in his chest that he still felt from nearly drowning.
He watched as some of the people near the giant man headed off inside the- he was on a ship, right?- ship, another giving orders to the rest of the people around them as they did. And these weren't doctors?
His eyes flickered briefly to a woman standing nearby, looking at him with worry but not making any moves towards him. He noticed the nurses cap on her head though, and immediately felt his skin prickle at being near the nurse.
"Don't worry Ace, she's nice! Her names Whiskey!" Luffy chirped beside him, grabbing his hand tightly in his own. Ace turned to look at Luffy with a raised eyebrow, showing just how little he believed that statement. Luffy pouted.
"It's true! Shes helped us a lot, and I like her, even if she is a little scary to me still." Luffy said defiantly, although mumbling the last bit. Ace frowned but didn't say anything as he followed his brothers into the ship, the giant getting up behind them and following. His skin practically itched at all the stares, all the people, the nurse, and now the giant behind them. Sabo and Luffy seemed fine, save for the pensive look on Sabo's face, but they weren't reacting at all the way Ace had been expecting them to.
Which once again begged the question, what the hell was happening here?!
Soon enough they were all sitting in a room with a big table that had snails sitting on it, the giant at one end, the brothers on the other.
"Can someone tell me what's happening now?" Ace asked, still inclined to believe that this was all another one of the facilities tests. Yes, it would have to be extremely elaborate, but he wouldn't put it past them to create something like this.
Oh, or he was dreaming. Maybe hallucinating. He had been drowning what felt like minutes ago now, so it was possible he had actually just passed out and was now having some crazy dream.
"Ace, me and Luffy are three years older then you remember. I'm 17 and Luffy's 14." Sabo said, a little too calmly for his liking.
"Yeah, you said that before, but that doesn't mean it makes sense." Ace said arms crossed over his chest as he frowned.
"It may sound crazy, but, well, a few minutes ago, you were 17 too," Sabo said. Ace stared at Sabo, no expression on his face as he did.
"Right. Really, what did the doctors give you?" Ace asked, still no expression.
"I'm serious Ace. As I said, it's kind of difficult to explain and crazy to hear, but you were 17. We've been here with the Whitebeards for two months, almost three now. They helped us escape from the facility, which we had been in for seven years." Sabo said, gesturing to the pirates as he spoke. Luffy shifted in the chair beside him, but Ace didn't pay him much mind, focusing all of his attention on Sabo.
"And how does that explain the fact that I'm definitely not 17 and I've only been in the facility four years now?" Ace growled out, thinking more and more that this was a test, and if that was the case, he wasn't going to make it easy for these bastards to get whatever result they wanted.
"We were just in a fight, with other pirates, and one of them had a devil fruit. His ability allowed him to revert your cells how they were years ago. In simple terms, he de-aged you and in the process, you lost all of your memories from the years you lost." Sabo explained.
"Uh-huh." Ace hummed, still clearly not believing. Sabo sighed, rubbing his temple.
"Ace, I'm telling you the truth. What do you want me to say? That this is another test? Because it's not." Sabo said with a hint of exasperation.
"We were in the tanks. Right?" Luffy asked suddenly, confusing everyone in the room.
"Tanks?" Kingdew asked, looking to Jiru who shrugged.
"And... Haru... he wanted us to hold our breath. 5 minutes." Luffy said, eyes on his hands which were resting in his lap.
"And they dunked us over and over and over and over and-" Sabo stopped the youngests' rambling, reaching over and putting his hand on Luffy's. Ace was frowning, watching Luffy as he spoke, but not saying anything in return.
"But then we finally do it and they let us go back to our cell, but we have to wear the cuffs all the time, so we cant move our hands easy to make the signs anymore. Sabo says we should change it to taps, so that its easier for us to talk with each other." Luffy continues, looking up and watching Ace now.
"And he says that this could mean explosion, and you think it's stupid," Luffy says, flicking his fingers, and Sabo's frown deepens, remembering exactly what happened next as well. Ace watched and had to admit that that sounded like him.
"And we start doing a few more, and then there's a loud noise, and it smells bad, and Sabo can't really hear anymore cause the boom was really loud, and everyone's screaming, and you look down the hall, and then there's the fire." Luffy's voice grows soft, eyes distant as he turns to look at the table, as if he was back in his cell, watching the glow of the flames get brighter and brighter as they grew closer, the heat slowly becoming suffocating.
"And it gets to our cell, but we're in cuffs and locked in so we go to the corner, and then you say it's gonna be ok and that you're not gonna let a fire kill us after four years, and then the fires in our cell, and you go in it, and Sabo's holding me really tight. But the fire doesn't hurt us, and we sit there for a really long time, but we don't move, cause we don't want the fire to start hurting us, but then the fires finally gone, and you're there, and the doctors come in and take us to the lab and give us the good medicine, and we're ok. Cause you kept us safe. That's what happens next." Luffy says, finishing his ramblings and turning to Ace again, taking in the shocked expression on his brother's face, feeling the turmoil in him.
The rooms silent now as everyone takes in what Luffy had just said, no one speaking as they mull over his words. It stays this way for a few seconds that feel like hours, but finally Ace clears his throat, drawing everyone's attention.
"Alright, so say I believe this, how do I become 17 again?" He asked, Sabo giving him a small smile.
"Apparently we just have to wait." The blonde said with a shrug, Ace giving him an incredulous look.
"Hey, don't look at me like that! If it were up to me this wouldn't have even happened in the first place!" Sabo said holding his hands up defensively. Ace rolled his eyes, turning to look at the pirates now.
"Since I don't remember anything, what are you're names?" He asked roughly. He'd grown up with bandits and then was taken to a facility where he wasn't exactly given the best treatment, so of course, he didn't have the best people skills.
"I'm Whitebeard, the Captain," Whitebeard said with a warm smile, one that made Ace pause. He hadn't seen someone smile to him like that since Emily, and before that it was Makino. No one else had ever looked at him like that, and he wondered how the Captain managed to do it. Surely he knew what had happened in the facility, Sabo and Luffy didn't hesitate to talk about it in front of them, so how could he look at him like a person, and not a monster?
He wasn't able to think on it much longer as the introductions continued, and he learned that everyone in here was a commander on the crew. Now that Ace seemed to believe them, they decided that they could leave the room now, Sabo and Luffy telling him that they were actually apart of the crew, something that he didn't know if he was going to be able to believe, but once they showed him their tattoos, it became a bit hard to deny it.
All of them left the room, Ace asking Sabo and Luffy questions as they did, occasionally glancing at the Commanders and Captain who were following behind them as he did. Everything seemed to check out, but it was, still, unbelievable. I mean, it's not like it's a usual occurrence for someone to be sent back to their early teens with no memories of there future.
"We even went to Fishman Island, but it's under the water so we had to get this cool bubble around the whole ship! And we saved Shiba- Shiro- Shirahoshi from this mean pirate!" Luffy said happily beside him, Sabo nodding when Luffy finally got the name right.
"Oh yeah?" Ace asked a bit absentmindedly as he once again glanced behind them.
"Mm! And you were mad cause you beat Barbra with one hit." Luffy said, laughing to himself while Sabo corrected the name to Decken, making Ace wonder how Luffy had gotten it so wrong. Also, Barbra was a girl's name, right?
"Besides Lu, this is Ace we're talking about, he's still mad," Sabo said, rolling his eyes and sending Ace a smirk. He returned it with a scowl, but that only made Sabo laugh at him.
"Haha, let's make fun of the guy who doesn't have the memories to defend himself. And for the record, I bet I'm not still angry about it." Ace remarked indignantly, sticking his tongue out childishly at Sabo, who returned the gesture.
Ace decided to ignore the snickers he heard coming from the group behind them.
They finally walked back out onto the deck and, like before, all eyes turned to look at him. Of course, when Ace was uncomfortable the only way he knew how to express that discomfort was to get angry, which is exactly what he did. He bristled, tensed, and a glare formed on his face. He was ready to start yelling or cursing, maybe even both, but Luffy grabbed his hand instead. It stopped him from speaking as he turned to look at his younger- wait, weren't they the same age now? It didn't matter, he would always be Luffy's older brother, and besides, his birthday was the first of the year, so he was still the oldest anyhow- brother and saw the childish smile from all those years ago light up on Luffy's face.
"Ne, Ace, let's go look at the waves! They're really pretty, and we can look at the sky too, and the clouds- ah, but not the sun! Sabo says we shouldn't look at the sun cause it'll hurt our eyes, and Sabo's smart so he's probably right, but what if we could look at the sun? What do you think it would look like? I bet it would look like a lemon! Oh, or maybe an egg? Or meat!" Sabo watched as Luffy dragged Ace off to the railing, their usual spot near Whitebeard, rambling on and on, yet effectively distracting Ace from all the curious eyes that had been looking his way.
It always amazed him how effortlessly Luffy could distract someone, whether he meant to do it or not. Sabo had seen the way Ace had tensed, the look on his brother's face screaming how uncomfortable he was and how he was, naturally, channeling all of that discomfort into anger. Luffy had surely felt it as well, but now he'd dragged Ace off and stopped him from thinking about it, instead showing him the freedom that their brother didn't quite know he had yet.
Sabo walked over to them, noticing that the Commanders were all dispersing and Whitebeard was heading to his chair. Ace and Luffy were sitting on the railing, so Sabo opted to sit where Ace normally did on the ground, back against the wall-like railing. He looked up, watching the sky as he listened to Luffy continue to ramble on and on about what different foods the sun could look like. Ace occasionally responded, but for the most part, remained silent.
After a little bit of this, Luffy's eyes shifted away from the sky, a slight frown forming as he turned his head slightly to look at the deck out of the corner of his eye. He started to tap, and Sabo immediately started translating the words in his head until Luffy suddenly stopped, frown leaving into a sheepish grin.
"Ah, right." He said aloud, confusing Sabo until Luffy began using the more expressive silent language, the only one 14-year-old Ace knew. Ace watched as Luffy signed, Sabo turning his head to watch as well, and the blonde immediately frowned, Ace looking confused.
'Let's go to Whitebeard.' Sabo signed. Ace asked what was happening, but Sabo told him he'd explain once they were with the Captain, eyes looking across the deck towards something. Ace looked as well but didn't know who he was looking at. He frowned, not liking being in the dark, but followed his brothers as they walked over to the Captain who didn't look surprised in the slightest at their appearance.
'Teach is a bad guy, we're watching him. Whitebeards know and are watching him too. We've been waiting for him to do something.' Sabo explained to Ace whose frown deepened, but he nodded his understanding. Obviously, his future self- or was it present self? Past self? Deaging was confusing- hadn't done anything to stop the man, so he guessed he was ok with the plan they had in place. It didn't mean he liked it though, but really, he didn't like any of this. It was still an unbelievable situation he was in after all.
They had only been sitting with the Captain for a half-hour, Ace listening to him tell stories when he felt the familiar fuzziness of his mind clue him into the fact that he was about to have a sleep attack. Within seconds of this realization, he was slumping forward, but Luffy caught him before any damage could be done. Sabo's eyes drifted briefly to Ace in concern before focusing back to the deck as he listened to Teach.
The attack didn't last more than two minutes, but that didn't stop the Commanders nearby from watching in concern. It didn't look fun to suddenly lose consciousness in the middle of whatever you were doing.
Ace woke up, springing upwards immediately, eyes hazy and unfocused as he tried figuring out where he was, what happened, and what he'd missed.
"With Whitebeards, he stopped his story for you, Sabo's still listening," Luffy said softly to him. Ace cleared his throat and blinked a few times, trying to ignore the stares from the Commanders and Captain as he nodded.
"Sorry-" Ace cut off as he slumped again, Luffy immediately catching him once again, frowning. Sabo stopped listening to Teach, watching Ace with concern while the Commanders blinked in surprise. Ace had never had two attacks so close together like that, and they wondered if it was a bad thing.
"Forgot how bad they used to be," Sabo muttered as he helped Luffy try and position their brother into a more comfortable position.
"So... it's normal to have two attacks back to back?" Fossa asked.
"Not exactly. It's possible, but its more that with a lack of sleep and poor health, not to mention extreme emotional states nearly constantly, the attacks can get worse. When we were in the facility it wasn't surprising for Ace to have multiple attacks daily, multiple days in a row. With his body being sent back like it has, we should expect him to have a lot of sleep attacks until he's back to normal, and maybe even a little after that." Sabo explained as Ace began to wake up again, looking confused once more. Luffy immediately launched back into a retelling of what he'd missed while Sabo went back to listening to Teach, but not before sending Ace a look of concern.
The Commanders all tried their best to focus anywhere but Ace, knowing that the young teen wouldn't take too kindly to them staring. They were basically strangers to him now, even if that was a strange thought to have.
Whitebeard launched back into his storytelling, starting from right before Ace had fallen asleep to assure that the oldest, now tied youngest, didn't miss anything. Ace looked around with shifty eyes, almost daring someone to ask about his attacks, but when no one said anything to him he gradually relaxed, absorbed in the story once again.
Eventually, it was time for lunch to begin. The brothers held back for a minute with Whitebeard and Marco, all of them knowing that it would be best to let the rush head into the galley first before heading there themselves, especially with a fresh-out-of-the-facility Ace. As the deck slowly emptied, the group decided to head in as well, Ace trailing along, almost unsure.
Inside was a rambunctious crowd of pirates, all getting plates of food and chatting loudly amongst themselves as they did. Aces eyes scanned everything and everyone, taking in all the sounds, scents, and sights he could. He followed his brothers to a spot at a table filled with all of the Commanders, Whitebeard, and Marco sitting with them as they did.
Ace didn't even have to wonder where they were going to get their food or what food he should even be expecting to get when the chef, Thatch his mind supplied, came bustling over with plates on platters piled high with delicious-looking food. One of the large servings went to the Captain which made sense, but the rest all came straight to the brothers, Sabo thanking the chef while Luffy licked his lips excitedly, bouncing in place.
Ace could only stare, dumbfounded, at his plate filled with a delicious array of foods, some still steaming. His mouth watered as he looked to Sabo, almost as if to ask if he was allowed to eat, and when the blonde nodded, a smile on his face, Ace still couldn't find it in himself to eat.
Years had passed- at least in his mind it had- since he'd last eaten a proper meal, actual food. It was foreign to him, but he picked up his fork regardless, waiting for someone to laugh and take the food from him, replace it with the ungodly bowl of soup the doctors called a meal.
No-one stopped him though, and he slowly picked some food up on his fork before eating it, the flavors exploding in his mouth and nearly bringing tears to his eyes.
"It's good, right? Thatch makes the best food ever! Better than the gross soup!" Luffy said joyously at his side, tongue sticking out in disgust at the mention of the soup. Ace, still speechless, could only nod while Thatch beamed in pride.
"To be fair, I think anything anyone cooks would taste better than the soup, but I have to agree, Thatch's food is pretty good," Sabo said from where he sat on Luffy's other side.
The normalcy between Sabo and Luffy was off-putting to Ace, but he tried to take it in stride, knowing that this was a strange situation for everyone and it wouldn't do anyone any good if he went and got angry for things no one could control. Besides, he was too happy that he was eating real, honest to goodness food to care about anything else right now.
Lunch passed in a blur of bliss for Ace. He ignored all of the conversations around him, grateful no one was attempting to force him into any conversation in the first place. His food was scarfed down in record timing, and he almost wished he had savored it more for when he inevitably had to eat that green garbage again.
But they were out.
The concept, along with many others, was still strange to him as well. To be free. Out of the facility. He and his brothers had been there for years, and to wake up after a test to find he had escaped, had been out of the facility for months without remembering any of it, was something that he would probably never wrap his mind around.
He tried not to focus too much on that though, following his brothers as they talked about how they should go take bathes now that lunch was over. As much as Ace longed to take an actual bath, to get clean, he couldn't stop the flashbacks of only hours ago where, in his mind, he had been forced into tanks of water, forced to hold his breath until he was drowning, and then even longer than that.
He shivered involuntarily, ignoring Luffy as he looked his way with a hint of a frown.
They reached the bathroom within minutes of walking, and the process of getting cleaned was so mundane, so normal, something Ace never thought he'd have the luxury of doing again, that it was almost as good as when he got to eat actual food again. It was practically therapeutic.
"So how long have we, uh, been here?" Ace asked once the three were back in their room. Luffy had been complaining that his hair was starting to get too long and wanted Sabo to cut it for him, which was what the blonde was getting ready to do now, Luffy sitting in their desk chair while Sabo held a pair of scissors, brushing Luffy's hair as straight as possible with his fingers, removing tangles as he did.
"About two months. Almost three." Sabo answered without thought, still absorbed in his task. He chastised Luffy for squirming in his chair too much which made Ace smile before asking another question.
"And we joined? Like... joined joined?" Ace asked, looking to the tattoo he could see on Sabo's shoulder. His brother was wearing a sleeveless shirt for the moment showing off both his tattoo and his scars. Luffy turned to look at Ace, grin on his face.
"Mm! They said we could leave whenever we wanted if we wanted to, so we decided we'd join 'em! I'm still gonna be King of the pirates though, so I'm gonna leave when I'm seventeen." Luffy said determinedly, Sabo raising an eyebrow.
"Oh? Seventeen?" He asked. From the sounds of it, Luffy had never mentioned that before.
"Yeah! Cause we got out when you guys were seventeen, so I'll leave when I'm seventeen." Luffy affirmed. Sabo chuckled, snipping a few chunks of hair away as he did.
"Well, I guess that means you'll be here for another few years then." He said fondly. Ace watched silently from the bed, a warmth in his chest as he did. His brothers both seemed happy, something he'd always wanted for them.
He'd always been told he was a monster, a child of the devil, someone who should never have been born, much less someone who deserved happiness. He deserved to have horrible things done to him, like the facility, like all the tests, all the pain. He deserved it.
But Sabo and Luffy? They didn't.
His two brothers were innocent in all of this. They didn't deserve to have to go through everything that happened at the facility. They deserved freedom, they deserved happiness, they deserved... deserved a world without him in it. Without him, they wouldn't have been tainted. Tainted by his demon blood. Dragged into his world that was filled with pain, with unfairness, with despair.
If it meant his brothers could be free, could be happy, he would spend the rest of his life in the facility. Hell, he would die if it meant they never had to worry about something as horrible as the facility ever again.
"You're the best Ace," Luffy said, snapping the older raven from his thoughts. Ace looked to his brother, blinking in confusion as Luffy turned to smile to him. It wasn't his bright, big, D smile. It was softer, smaller, but it showed just as much emotion as any other smile he'd ever shown before.
"Uh, thanks..." Ace muttered, face flushing at the sudden compliment, his gaze dropping to the blankets he sat on rather than his brother. He didn't understand how anyone could like him, much less willingly become brothers with him. He didn't deserve it, but when Luffy said things like that, he almost believed it. Almost felt like he could have the family he'd always desperately wanted. It was selfish of him, but he wanted it.
It was quiet amongst them as Sabo finished trimming Luffy's hair, and then the blonde was handing him the scissors, asking Ace to cut his hair for him which Ace agreed to, standing and heading to the chair. As Luffy stood, he turned and hugged Ace tightly, both shocking and stopping him from moving any further.
"Luffy?" Ace asked in confusion, not sure what to do. He knew Luffy was clingy, not to mention much more affectionate then he was, but this had been so sudden, without reason, that it was unexpected.
"Hm?" Luffy hummed, face buried out of view. Ace was shorter than his seventeen-year-old self but still taller then Luffy was by a few inches, so when Luffy pulled away his grinning face was only mere inches below his.
"Shishishi, your face is funny Ace!" Luffy laughed as he bounced over to the bed. Ace sputtered, trying to figure out if it was an insult or not, but he couldn't respond when he heard Sabo laughing from where he sat in his chair.
"What, cat got your tongue Ace? Gotta say, Luffy's right, your face is pretty funny." Sabo laughed. Ace glared at the blonde as he walked over, snipping the scissors a few times in the air.
"Oh yeah? I think you forgot that I'm about to cut your hair. Let's see if I can make it look as funny as my face then." Ace threatened. Sabo blanched, ducking when Ace made a grab for his head, still holding the scissors in the air, ready to cut.
"Gah! Hey, woah, no! Hey- ah! Ace, stop- no, I was kidding- don't you dare!" Luffy laughed loudly as he watched his two older brothers, Sabo ducking and diving around their room as Ace chased him with the scissors, barking at the blonde to hold still. The heavy feelings that had been coming from Ace earlier were long gone now, only replaced by the light feelings of happiness, warmth, love.
The youngest basked in those feelings. They radiated from his brothers like furnaces, and he found himself letting them all in.
If it could always be like this, then that would truly be paradise.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Waking up, Ace was extremely disoriented. His head hurt, his body ached, and he felt... older? As if a lot of time had passed in the blink of an eye. He couldn't really remember exactly where he was. He had memories of this place, but they felt far away as if he experienced this all months ago.
At the forefront of his memory, he could see the facility. He felt as if just last night, he'd fallen asleep in their dark, cold, cell. The memory of the amazing meal from the chef was long gone, replaced by the taste of the soup he felt he had just eaten last night. The feeling of actually getting clean was gone. Instead, he felt grimy and dirty. Sweaty. Gross.
All of the pleasantness he remembered from the Whitebeards ship was replaced with the onslaught of memories he suddenly had from the facility.
Beside him, Luffy shifted. Not on the ground, not groaning in pain and discomfort, but snuggling further into the blankets and the mattress beneath him. Sabo was on the other end, sleeping peacefully, without a care. Luffy's straw hat sat on the nightstand with two other hats, one that looked strikingly familiar to Ace as Sabo's old hat, and one he remembered to have been wearing when he was with the Whitebeards.
Had that been a dream? Or had the facility been the dream? He was with the Whitebeards now, but he felt as if he had been in the facility just last night.
What had Sabo told him before? It felt like digging for a distant memory, and even then he couldn't exactly remember the words spoken. It felt as if that night had happened a year ago, fuzzy and hard to picture.
"Nightmare?" Sabo's voice broke him from his thoughts, the blonde yawning as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"Huh?" Ace asked dumbly, still not sure what was happening.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Sabo asked, blinking a few times as he spoke.
"No, uh... whats happening?" Ace asked as he looked around the room, remembering it from, what felt like, all that time ago. Sabo was quiet a moment as he watched Ace before recognition flashed in his eyes.
"Right, 14-year-old Ace. I forgot about that." Sabo muttered to himself with a sigh.
"15." Ace corrected absently as he continued inspecting the room, practically waiting for a doctor to come barging in.
"What?" Now it was Sabo's turn to be confused as he turned to look back at Ace, halfway out of the bed.
"I'm 15 now. I was 14 though, right? I remember everything from the next year, but I don't really remember what happened here... yesterday?" Ace said, the last bit coming out as a question, almost as if he didn't know when yesterday was.
"Uh, yeah, yesterday. You were hit with a devil fruit that made you fourteen." Sabo explained briefly. Ace nodded, remembering vaguely that Sabo had told that to him. In between them Luffy shuffled again, eyebrows furrowing and a frown forming on his face, cluing the two in on the nightmare he was probably experiencing. Sabo was quick to turn to Luffy and soothe him, breaking the boy from his dreaming before it got any worse. Ace could only watch as Luffy looked around with wide eyes for a minute before calming, getting out of bed and heading to the desk in their room.
"So what's the last thing you remember then? Now that you're 15 and all." Sabo asked quietly, though both the older brothers were watching Luffy closely as he pulled out a journal and started writing.
Ace swallowed at the mention of the fresh memories, eyes drifting from Luffy to the blankets underneath his hands.
"Luffy died." Ace murmured, just as quiet as Sabo had been, if not quieter. Sabo frowned beside him.
"But they saved him. Damn doctors." Ace cursed, hands forming fists as he clutched the blankets. The two remained silent, the only sound in the room being the sound of Luffy's pen scratching across the paper as he wrote.
"Do you remember anything about yesterday? About being here?" Sabo asked in an attempt to change the subject. He didn't like remembering Luffy's death anymore then Ace did, but his brother remembered it clearer then he did as if it had happened only days ago.
"Mm. I remember talkin' to all the commanders and stuff. I don't remember what their names were, and I can't really remember what we talked about. I just remember that I'm not supposed to be 15 and that we're not in the facility anymore." Ace said with a shrug, looking back at Luffy.
"Right. Well, I need to head to the galley really quick. Luffy, when you're done writing you and Ace can head there too, Thatch is done with breakfast. I'll see you both soon alright?" Sabo said, getting out of the bed and getting ready, heading to the door. Ace gave him a look of confusion, but nodded, Luffy doing the same.
Sabo took that as a sign that he could leave, so he did, sighing heavily as he closed the door behind him. It was a good thing that Ace seemed to be returning to his proper age, but the consequence of it meant his brother had to relive all of those horrible days in the facility all over again. It was one thing to talk about them, to relive them through words, but to experience them all over again was a completely different thing.
Sabo could only hope this was all over soon.
Walking into the galley he saw that most everyone was there. Apparently, the brothers had slept in longer than usual. He headed straight for the commanders' table, many in the room noticing he was alone which earned him a few curious looks that he ignored.
"Sabo, where're Ace and Luffy?" Blamenco asked as the blonde sat at the table, drawing everyone's attention.
"Back in our room. They'll be here shortly, which is why I need to talk to you quickly before they do get here." Sabo said, voice soft but urgent as he folded his hands on the table, frowning.
"Is everything alright, son?" Whitebeard asked in concern, a frown on his face as well as he observed Sabo.
"For the most part, yes. Ace is 15 now, which is great, it means he's returning back to his normal age." Sabo began, everyone nodding along in understanding.
"However, being 15, he remembers everything from the facility too clearly. Yesterday, from what I've gathered, feels as if it happened a year ago. He doesn't remember your names or exactly what we talked about, he just remembers he was here and talked with us." Sabo explained.
"What's the last thing he remembers, yoi?" Marco asked, having a feeling whatever Ace remembered was apart of the issue. Sabo's frown deepened, hands grasping to each other tighter.
"Luffy's death," Sabo said, voice dropping even lower at the mention. Everyone frowned at his words, all of them understanding the reason for this conversation now.
"Seeing as its fresh in his mind, he's probably going to hover around Luffy. He and I both kept Luffy within our sights as much as possible after he died, so it'd be best that no one mentions it. Ace has a hard time handling his own emotions, so if someone brings it up he'll most likely explode in anger which won't do anyone any good." Sabo said with a sigh, knowing his older- younger?- brother had a tendency to get angry rather than deal with his feelings properly.
"And now that he remembers how, he'll probably start tapping to us again. It'd also be best if you don't tell him you understand the tapping." Sabo said, not wanting Ace to feel like he didn't have any privacy anymore.
"We understand. Is that all?" Whitebeard asked.
"I think so. Ace and Luffy are here anyway." Sabo said, not even turning to face the door as it opened, the two brothers walking in hand in hand. It wasn't all that obvious, but after what Sabo had told them, they noticed that Ace was definitely a lot closer to Luffy then he normally would be, eyes scanning the area around them quickly as they walked.
Sabo turned to look at them once he heard they were closer, giving the two a smile as he did.
"Sabo, you didn't eat without us, right?" Luffy asked with a pout as he sat beside the blonde. Sabo huffed out a laugh, rolling his eyes.
"Of course not Luffy, right Thatch?" Sabo asked the chef who smiled and shook his head.
"Nope! I refused to serve him until you two were here!" Thatch said as he stood and left the table, heading off to get their food. Satisfied, Luffy smiled and Ace sat on Luffy's other side, eyes still shifting around the room and a frown on his face.
'What're their names?' Ace asked his brothers, unaware that the commanders and Captain could understand the silent language. Haruta opened his mouth, most likely to answer the unspoken question, but Izo stomped on his foot, stopping the Commander who immediately remembered Sabo's words.
'The cool giant is the Captain, he's Mr. Whitebeard, and Marcos his first mate, he's the one who looks bored, and across from him is Izo, he's really pretty and next to him,' Luffy continued naming the Commanders for Ace, Sabo smiling at some of the observations his brother made about the commanders. The Commanders and Captain all tried to pretend they couldn't understand the words, even if Luffy calling Blamenco the funny man with the face pockets was hilarious.
"Bon appetit!" Thatch announced as he came over, platters in hand as he served the three.
"Thank you, Thatch," Sabo said, more for Ace so he could associate the chef with a name.
"No problem Sabo!" Thatch said as he sat in front of them again. Breakfast was fairly normal, save for Ace asking his brothers questions about things that he couldn't remember, like what they normally did on the ship, whether they were apart of the crew or not, and if they were allowed to eat more then just one serving.
Aces reaction to the food was the same as it had been yesterday, the flavors nearly overwhelming him as he ate eagerly. It was as if he hadn't eaten in years, which wasn't far from the truth in the teen's mind.
When they were finished, the three left to go sit in their spot, Ace still sticking to Luffy like glue as they did. The boy didn't seem to mind, practically basking in his brothers' affection.
Most of their day was spent at the railing, Ace sitting beside Luffy while Sabo sat on the ground. Ace asked more questions, like how they even managed to escape the facility, and they answered diligently, always reassuring him that they were safe, that they were out. Lunch came, the brothers ate, and then they were right back at the railing, watching the sky, the clouds, the sea.
At one point, when everything was peaceful, calm, Ace could feel the fuzziness once again, the warning sign of an attack.
'Sleep attack.' Ace signed quickly, already feeling his body shut down on him. Luffy, who had felt the incoming signs as well, pushed Ace back and off the railing, Sabo catching their brother to save him from landing harshly on the deck.
It beat falling into the ocean.
"He alright?" Namur, the commander closest to them, asked, obviously concerned.
"Yeah, just another attack," Sabo said with a sigh as he positioned his brother as comfortably as possible against the railing.
"They really did happen a lot, huh?" He asked as he looked at Ace. He could only imagine how annoying it must be to suddenly lose the ability to stay awake, to just suddenly pass out without any say in the matter.
"Too often. It didn't make much of a difference when all we had to do was sit in a cell, but it was still annoying. More so for Ace, obviously." Sabo said with a sigh as he also watched his sleeping brother.
"Teach is coming." Luffy murmured softly from where he sat, still facing the ocean. Sabo frowned, ears pricking as he zeroed in on where Teach was just walking out onto the deck, the man's eyes turning their way immediately as he did.
"I think it'd be best that we go to our room for now," Sabo suggested, Luffy nodding in agreement as he stood up off the railing. Sabo moved to lift Ace, but Namur stopped him, picking their sleeping brother up effortlessly.
"I can get him for you, just lead the way," Namur said with a smile. The two brothers thanked him before heading off towards their room. Once they reached the room they thanked Namur once more before waiting for Ace to wake up. They explained what he'd missed, explained to him that Teach was bad, explained to him that they were watching him.
And then they stayed in their room until dinner, and then even after dinner.
The next day, Ace was 16, remembering everything up to when Luffy went through the pure souls tests. With the way things were going, Ace would be back to 17 by the next day. Whether he remembered everything by tomorrow or not though, was unknown to them.
After, once again, explaining everything about the previous two days, which felt like a year ago to Ace, the three-headed off to the galley for breakfast.
Another round of explanations later, and everyone was caught up on Ace's current age and memories. Afterward, the three spent their day the same way they did the previous two days, showing Ace all the freedom they had rather than letting him sit and remember all the freedom they didn't have back at the facility. They tried showing him how there were no doctors here, no tests. There was food, baths, clothes, beds. It was a better place, whether it was a pirate ship or not.
Sure, Teach was the one thorn in their side that consistently reminded them that, while most here were good people, he was not. He was someone that was as bad as Haru, someone who threw them all back into their memories about that place. They avoided him at all costs, but the damage was done already.
That didn't mean they couldn't try again the next day.
The beast is finished! Writing and editing this- while fun- was exhausting. I did enjoy it though and I feel like there were some good parts in here that really showcased the brothers different thoughts and emotions on the facility. The next chapter, like with the last mini arc, will be a little wrap-up and transition into what will be a bigger arc that many of you have been waiting for.
A few things mentioned in this chapter will shape the future of this story, such as Luffy mentioning he will be leaving at 17. This was a big chapter both in word count and in information and foreshadowing. This mini arc, while small, played a big part in furthering this story and wrapping up a lot of little things I needed to have done. Now that I've finished it, we're moving full-speed ahead towards a lot of chaos. I hope you're all ready for whats to come!
Thank you all as always for your continuous support for this story! Without you guys, it would be a lot harder to get out of bed!