AN: i think the funniest review(s) i got on ch 5 were ppl who didnt fully trust that the newcomer was actual Sabo. you guys are so valid bc im an asshole and all but it was SO funny
After nearly seven years, it seemed maybe Sabo's memories were coming back on their own. The first time it happened, Sabo was half asleep on his desk, completely ignoring the work he was meant to be doing. A bright, golden telescope appeared in his head. He was ten, pulling it out of a pile in some junkyard. Figuring he was dreaming, he ignored it. The memories didn't stop.
Another short snippet. Himself and two boys in some forest. Himself and two boys in the junkyard. Himself and two boys in a crowded house. The same two boys every single time. Sabo's long-forgotten family. He hadn't even known how much he missed them until he finally saw their faces again, and he loved them. He knew through every single memory that he loved them. Every time Luffy laughed, every time Ace smiled, every time they caused trouble or barely escaped some scrape with a lion or the law. Sabo knew he loved them. At one time, they must have meant everything to him.
And then he saw himself.
Luffy had fallen into the river. An anchor. Sabo had to help. When Sabo looked down into the water, he found his own appearance terribly wrong. He was missing his eyes, two light-devouring holes in their place. And he smiled, even when his brother was in danger.
Sabo'd wanted to go back since he started remembering things, to try to see if these boys might still be there on the island he'd been found at, to see if his memories were really returning and his brothers were still waiting. His horrifying reflection had him in Dragon's office before ten minutes were up, explaining why he needed to be in the East Blue as soon as possible.
Memories returned in full force over his journey. Whatever was causing this was even beginning to overwrite Sabo's memories of the time since the first memory returned. If he thought back he'd find that little island, two teenagers, and a man who looked like he could almost have been Sabo. His hair was off and his dress was wrong and his scar stuck out in the wrong places, but what stood out the most were still the pits where his eyes should have been.
The creature wearing Sabo's face, preying on Sabo's brothers. Whatever it is and whatever it wants, Sabo will stop it. He can't lose his brothers when he hasn't even had a chance to meet them yet. That face-stealing bastard will have to go through Sabo first.
So Sabo's feet move on their own, remembering the layout of the island years after he left it. Were it not for his brother half-conscious in his arms, he'd love to take in the alien feeling of familiarity. But Ace is breathing quietly into his chest, and Sabo feels urgency in all Ace's peace.
Ace passed out shortly after Sabo arrived. Losing his eye-or, rather, losing a piece of his soul… In the moments before passing out, Ace had barely been present. It's as if Ace is gone from his own head.
If Sabo'd just been faster, none of this would have happened. He should have left Baltigo the minute he started to remember.
But… If Sabo had been any slower, there would have been no Ace to save. He can at least be grateful for that. As long as that one-eyed face-stealing bastard following them doesn't get Ace's other eye, Ace can be saved. If Sabo can get Ace's eye back, everything should be fine. If he can't…
Sabo will get Ace's eye back whether he can or not. He's not above taking it from the monster's face by force if he needs to.
And then the treehouse comes into view, and Sabo falters. It looks just as he remembers it, which is something Sabo never really thought he'd get to say about his childhood. He pulls Ace a little tighter to himself and draws in a breath.
"Luffy?!" Sabo shouts. Ace stirs a little in his arms, but settles back in as Luffy peers out the window. Spotting Ace, Sabo, and the demon trailing them, Luffy vaults the windowsill to land in front of them.
Sabo wishes he could have this moment on better terms. The three of them haven't been in the same space in years. This should be a celebration! This is a family Sabo didn't even know he had, one he realized he loves far too late. Now he might lose them because he was a few seconds too slow in coming home.
"Who are you?" Luffy asks. Finally noticing Sabo's cargo, Luffy closes the gap immediately to grab Ace's face. "Ace! What happened to him?"
"That thing." Sabo spits, watching Luffy. He moves his hands to Ace's shoulders, trying to shake Ace awake. Ace's eyelids open briefly, revealing one empty eye and one empty eye socket. Shock forces Luffy to drop Ace, almost flinching away from him. "It took a piece of his soul by stealing one of his eyes, and it's trying to take the rest by taking the other."
"That-" Luffy starts, glancing over Sabo's shoulder. He narrows his eyes, looking back to the face-stealer. Sabo glances back, seeing the thing grinning. It's eyes are closed. "You mean Sabo?"
"That isn't Sabo. That thing stole Ace's eye. It was trying to kill him." Sabo insists. Luffy takes in the scene for a second, then cracks his knuckles. The Luffy who Sabo is starting to remember couldn't throw a punch to save his life, but it's been a long time…
"Sabo wouldn't hurt Ace." Luffy says "So whatever you did-"
"I didn't do this! I stopped that face-stealing bastard from outright killing him!" Sabo yells.
"Sabo wouldn't kill him, and he wouldn't die!" Luffy reels back his fist, "Who even are you, anyway? And why do you have Ace?!"
"I'm Sabo! The real Sabo!" Sabo pulls Ace closer on instinct, bracing for Luffy's hit. Luffy falters.
"I'm not going to hurt Ace. I want to help. I can prove it." Sabo says. "I know things from when we were kids, things only the three of us would know. Like… One time, we were running through the forest, and the bridge went out from under you, remember? And I-"
"Caught you, and Ace caught my ankles, and together we pulled you up." The face-stealer finishes. Luffy frowns, crossing his arms.
"But not only that!" Sabo says. So it can finish one sentence. Sabo can remember more than that. "One time, we went looking for food, and you found a bunch of mushrooms, but-"
"A large snake found you, and me and Ace had to stop it from eating you." The face-stealer says.
"I remember stealing Dadan's alcohol, and-"
"Swearing brotherhood with you and Ace." the face-stealer says, not even allowing Sabo to finish. It steps up to Sabo's side, grinning, watching Sabo with Ace's blank eye. "I'm impressed you learned all this about us, stranger. Where do you even get information on three random kids in far-flung East Blue?"
Sabo glances at the face-stealer's too-wide smile and realizes he's fucked. This is the creature which brought back all of Sabo's memories. It has every single memory Sabo has, but not only that…
"I remember…" The face-stealer hums, rubbing its chin in an exaggerated gesture of thought. The eye points to Sabo, but he feels watched-judged-only by the hole to its side. "Setting out at ten, after my father caught me in Grey Terminal. Ran away after the fire and came right back home, and I was off the next day. Do you remember Ace and Luffy waving you off, too?"
And Sabo does. Sabo remembers the clear skies above Dawn, the wide smiles of his brothers, the vast oceans stretching out in front of him. The face-stealer is messing with him, but it's working. Every single memory Sabo gets back, the face-stealer gave to him. Each one wretched and defiled, and not one which really has Sabo in it. The face-stealer has cut itself into Sabo's place, and Sabo has no idea what they really looked like to fix it. Does Sabo have any proof that anything he remembers even happened?
The face-stealer leans on its pole, smiling at Sabo. The scar on its face begins to peel, flakes crawling across its face into the empty eye socket. The old scar on Sabo's own face starts to fade at the edges as he comes to terms with yet another event vanishing from his memory entirely.
But Sabo's never been able to trust his memories. More than half his life disappeared in an instant, and he never got anything to show for it. He can do this without his memories. Sabo's grip tightens on Ace, like it will save Ace if he holds tight enough. He's barely known of his brothers a month, he refuses to lose them already.
"Luffy, you don't have to believe me about who I am." Sabo says. "What matters is that this monster isn't Sabo. It will kill Ace if it gets near him again, and I'm not letting it have him."
"You don't need to get so defensive." the face-stealer says. "I'm not a monster or a murderer. I'm a wish."
"A wish?" Sabo asks. The face-stealer nods.
"Ace's wish." It says. Ace's eye flickers with something, if only for a second. Sabo recognizes it: Pain.
"What?" Luffy asks. He's been mostly silent while Sabo and his double exchange blows, but… "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Ace made a wish. He wanted Sabo to be here instead of him." the face-stealer says. "So Sabo came back, just like he asked. I've been trying to help him make his wish come true, but he wasn't ready until now."
"What?" Luffy asks again. The face-stealer turns on him.
"Why do you look surprised? He wished it as soon as he realized you felt the same." The face-stealer says. "You both knew Sabo was the better older brother. When Ace realized you wanted-"
"I never wanted that!" Luffy yells. "We both wished Sabo had never died, but I don't want to replace Ace!"
"The night before I arrived, you and Ace had an argument." The face-stealer says. "You said you wished Sabo was here. When Ace asked if you meant instead of him, you never answered."
"Because he was being stupid!" Luffy steps forward. The face-stealer's eye widens in shock, "Ace is the most important person in the world. I missed Sabo, but I wouldn't trade Ace for anything!"
"You already did." the face-stealer says. Luffy frowns. He moves to Sabo's side, putting a hand on Ace's shoulder. He glances up at Sabo. Sabo gets the message.
If Sabo can't prove who he is in memory, then he'll do it in love.
"We haven't traded anything yet." Sabo says. "Give Ace's eye back or we'll take it by force."
"That won't work. It has to go willingly. Ace chose to give it to me. He has to choose to take it back, and I doubt he can even do something like that in his state." the face-stealer says. It closes Ace's eye and folds its arms, looking at Ace. "Just let me have his other eye, complete his wish. You'll forget any of this ever happened. Luffy, you'll get the best big brother Ace could have hoped for you. Sabo, you won't have to worry about either of your brothers ever again. This is what Ace has always wanted."
"You're not my brother. Ace is an idiot, but he's my idiot." Luffy says. He shakes Ace's shoulder, trying to make Ace hear him. Ace stirs, slightly, opening one bleary eye. "I don't want the 'best brother in the world.' I want Ace!"
For the first time since he lost his eye, Sabo sees Ace's gaze focus on something. Ace stares at Luffy, and Sabo knows he can hear them.
"Ace just wants the best for you." the face-stealer says. Ace's eye drifts, noticing the face-stealer for the first time. Sabo shifts his hold to turn Ace inward, keeping Ace's attention on the two of them.
"I only just got you two back. You can't die before I even get to talk to you again." Sabo says. "I'm not letting you give up your life, and I'm not giving up my brotherhood with Luffy."
"This is what Ace wants." the face-stealer says. Ace's eye finds Sabo's face. "You don't need to-"
"...Sabo?" Ace asks. His voice is quiet, but it shuts the face-stealer up.
"Hi, Ace." Sabo says. He feels his breath leave him, water burning at the back of his eyes and closing his throat. It's almost funny how just hearing his brother say his name could make him so emotional, but he missed them both so much, even if he didn't realize it. "Sorry for leaving, Ace. Did you miss me?"
"Yeah. I did." Ace mumbles. His eye falls on Luffy, sliding lazily between them.
"We're really worried about you, Ace." Sabo says. Luffy snickers.
"Don't say that, he'll hate that." Luffy says, squeezing Ace's arm. "I love you, Ace. We both do. Even if you're not the perfect brother, and you can be stupid, and you're really annoying sometimes, and-"
"Luffy."
"What? It's true."
"I mean, yeah, he's a real brat sometimes, and possibly the biggest idiot I've ever met in my life other than you, but you don't have to say that right now." Sabo says. Luffy frowns. Ace snorts.
"Assholes." Ace mutters. He leans his head against Sabo's chest. Keeping it together enough to hear his brothers is exhausting him.
"Yeah, and you can make fun of us back when you're yourself again." Sabo says. "Come back to us, Ace. You never used to run from anything. Don't run from your brothers."
"Take your eye back." Luffy says, pressing against Sabo's arm. He leans his cheek against Sabo's shoulder, smiling at Ace even now. "Even if you're stupid and annoying, you're still the best big brother ever."
Ace listens intently, and his head falls back to the face-stealer. It straightens its back, watching Ace with the void in its face.
"Is that your wish?" The face-stealer opens its eye. Ace looks into its face, into his own eye. Sabo sees, for just a second, determination glint across its surface.
"Yeah." Ace nods. "S'ours."
"Alright." the face-stealer says. It steps forwards, a hand over its stolen eye. When it pulls its hand away, there are once again two empty sockets, and a ball of firey light in its palm. It pushes the eye back into Ace's socket. Immediately, life returns to Ace's face, even as his body goes limp under the task of retaking its own soul.
Luffy grins, but Sabo's not yet ready to celebrate. He looks up, glaring.
"Fix our memories." Sabo says. The face-stealer steps back.
"When I cease to be, your memories will return to normal." The face-stealer says "But you'll forget all about Ace and Luffy again, you know."
"That's fine. We can always make new ones. And once Ace is awake, they can fill me in." Sabo says. He glances to Luffy, squeezing Ace in his arms. "Memories or not, I'll never forget that I love them."
The face-stealer seems satisfied with that answer. It turns around, walking off into the forest. It's body seems to peel away at the edges, fabric and hair and skin flaking off in the sunlight.
"The best brothers in the world." the face-stealer muses. "Guess you never needed a wish for that, Ace."
When Ace opens his eyes, it takes him a second to recognize the ceiling of the old treehouse. Luffy's voice, animated as always, explains some old misadventure. His one-man audience makes all the appropriate noises of shock and amusement, happy to listen no matter how poor Luffy's story-telling skills.
"I feel like I got run over by-" Ace starts, sitting up. He doesn't have a chance to finish before being hug-tackled back to the ground by Luffy.
"Ace!" Luffy yells, looping both his arms half a dozen times around Ace's torso.
"Like you've been run over by Luffy?"
Ace laughs, sitting up again, this time with his brother latched onto him. He rests one arm behind himself to prop himself up, and wraps the other around the back of Luffy's waist.
"Something like that." Ace says. He finally looks up at the other speaker, and he pauses.
The man looks like the Sabo that Ace once knew, but not. His hair has grown out, short curls into long waves. His dress is different, much cleaner and more fashionable. There's a scar over the left side of his face, a burn not unlike the one Ace knows on his own arm. And his eyes...
Even with how much has changed, Ace would recognize his brother's face anywhere. This is Sabo. This is Sabo.
"What're you sitting over there for?" Ace asks. He lifts his free arm to Sabo, who needs not be asked twice. Luffy unwraps one of his arms from Ace to pull Sabo into their hug, and each boy does everything in his power to pull his brother as close to himself as possible, and then just a little closer.
"You passed out even longer than I did." Sabo says. He's the first to pull back, but only because he's wrapped up in Luffy's dominant arm, and Luffy is kind of crushing him. Especially his ribs. And lungs.
Luffy releases the both of them as the three separate, though continues sitting on Ace's legs. Sabo settles on the blanket, the tree of them forming a tight triangle.
"You passed out?" Ace asks. He frowns. "I don't really remember any of the last, uh…"
"Don't worry about it. It won't help you to try to force your memories. Trust me, I'd know." Sabo says. "Back then, I didn't die. I suffered an injury and lost all my memories. They started coming back when that fake me started tampering with your memories. They're all gone again now. Frankly, I'm relieved that thing let me keep the last few days so I at least know where I am."
"And who me and Ace are!" Luffy says "I've been telling him about stupid stuff Ace did when we were kids. Like the time you tried to murder me by pushing me off a cliff, or the time you tried to murder me by throwing me to wolves, or-"
"Luffy!"
"He's actually just been talking my ear off talking about how much he loves you, mostly. Cool stuff you did, saving him from tigers." Sabo says. Luffy frowns, clearly unhappy Sabo's ratting him out. "But I have questions about that murder thing…?"
"We both tried to murder him." Ace says "We were assholes as kids."
"Fair enough." Sabo says.
"Sabo's gonna be staying here a little while." Luffy cuts in. "He wants to write down as much of our memories of him as possible, so he doesn't forget them again. And he missed us."
"Still into writing books, huh?" Ace asks.
"Was I always?" Sabo asks. Ace nods.
"When we were little, you wanted to sail the world and write a book about your adventures." Ace says. "Guess you forgot all about that, though."
"Not completely." Sabo says. "I've got a few full diaries at home. I didn't want to risk forgetting everything again, so I've been keeping track of it all."
"Guess it'll be easy to pick up your dream again, huh?" Ace asks.
"Like I never really dropped it." Sabo says. Luffy opens his mouth to speak, but Ace cuts him off.
"Where is home, anyway?" Ace asks, "You lost all your memories, and you didn't come back to Dawn…"
"The man who saved me took me in." Sabo says. He can see that there's clearly a bit of tension between Luffy and Ace at the mention of dreams, but that's just another thing he missed.
"That's another person Ace has to thank." Luffy says.
"What?" Sabo asks. Luffy nods.
"Ace said once that after he left he wanted to thank Shanks for saving me when I was little. Now he has to thank that guy for saving you." Luffy says. He stares Ace down. It's pretty clear what he's really asking. Is Ace still planning to stay here? He tried to run and it nearly killed him, nearly trapped Luffy with a monster, nearly wrote Sabo out of their lives entirely. Is Ace still planning to run?
"Do you…" Ace starts, "Do you think maybe Makino would still teach me manners lessons, like she offered when we were kids? I don't want to be rude when I stop by."
Luffy beams.
"I bet she'd love to help. Me and Sabo can help Ace out, too!" Luffy says.
"I don't think you can help me learn manners." Ace says. Luffy laughs.
"And she needs to see Sabo is back!" Luffy says. "Dadan and them, too. They're gonna be so excited! I bet Dadan'll cry."
"Who's Dadan?" Sabo asks.
Luffy hops to his feet, ignoring the noise Ace makes when he just misses Ace's shins.
"Let's go!" Luffy declares "We can go see everyone right now!"
Ace pushes to his feet, watching Luffy grab Sabo's waist. Luffy runs over to and out of the treehouse's window, yanking his unfortunate victim with him.
Ace laughs at the sound of swearing on the ground, but when he heads to the window, they've already made up. Luffy's taken Sabo's hand, launching into an explanation of… Is he planning a party? Of course he is. They're talking amongst themselves, but Ace doesn't mind being left out for once. He leans his head in one of his hands, content just to see them interact.
It's going to be weird, to think that Ace might be leaving soon. He and Sabo will have to be sure Luffy is ready, since Ace still feels like a dick leaving him on his own. But…
Ace pulls back from the window, drifting to a shelf on the wall. Luffy left the telescope here when they moved back into the treehouse. He picks it up, turning it in his hands. It must be worth a lot of money, and plenty difficult to steal. That is, if the thief isn't strong, fast, and capable. That Luffy got this for Ace without even a scratch… Maybe Ace had nothing to worry about at all.
He laughs a little under his breath. Is that the gift Luffy was trying to give him all along? His little brother has always been good at this kind of thing. Too bad Ace was too stupid to notice. Better late than never, though, right?
His thumb brushes over a weird texture, and Ace turns the telescope in his hands. For the first time, Ace notices words carved into the golden barrel. The inscription, just a few words reads-
"Ace! Hurry up!" Luffy yells. Ace glances out the window, setting down the telescope. He climbs down the ladder, jumping the last few rungs so he can run to catch up to his brothers. Luffy drops Sabo's hand so he can pull Ace between them.
Of course they wouldn't leave him out.
The inscription, just a few words reads: "Eyes on the horizon ahead."
Luffy grabs Ace's hand, watching to make sure Sabo does the same. Ace squeezes them both. Ace's brothers would never leave him behind.
AN: ...and that's that! i have a lot i could say on this story, but ill keep it brief!
i hate to say it, but im gonna miss Not-Sabo. the bastard's very fun to write. this chapter in particular was cool. i really wanted to make sure Not-Sabo acted as though it believed fully that what it wanted was what ace wanted, and therefore it wasn't doing a bad thing / IT wasn't a bad thing. after i finished the chapter Mel suggested i add in Ace's eye, which acted on its own / by ace's true feelings. that was fun!
also... i really enjoyed getting to write them being soft and just loving their family / each other. bc that's what makes these boys so compelling in the first place! all three of them mean the world to one another! and im glad i got to have them just being soft at the end. also it almost made me cry
thank you to everyone who has reviewed or kudos's or otherwise enjoyed Wish! i had a lot of fun writing it, in part because of the awesome response it got! i loved everyone who left long theories and short screaming, and everything in between! i hope you loved Wish as much as i do!
if youd like to keep up w me, im asexualzoro on both tumblr and twitter. there's a bit more Wish content in the "#fake sabo au" tag on my tumblr blog (partly in that i keep making memes), so check that out!
and one more time: thank you, everyone, for reading!