the forgotten and the forsaken

by fanficguuuuurl

"Be careful, Luffy," Makino would chide, fearing for him every time he stared into the sea too long. Her hands would shake as she dried the seawater from his skin and wiped the sand from his feet, "If you aren't careful, the sea gods will take you." a series of au drabbles/oneshots that will be updated sporadically and in no particular order

6. fear of forgetting

And I am back with another update. It's been a while, but things have been hectic on my side and I did warn you that updates would be sporadic. Anyway, on with the story. I do not own One Piece.

Ace leaves as his body turns seventeen. (His soul is much older, older than the island and the ancient trees that grow upon it, older than mankind, older than time.) The fire behind his eyes would never be satisfied staying on a single sliver of land, especially a land that had forgotten it (forsaken it). Luffy who had spent most of his life looking into the fire and knowing only the comforts of a brother, is sad to see him go. He can remember a time before brothers, a time when the deep blue had been the only thing that mattered (a time of gentle godly caresses and soft, loving whispers in the waves). Seven years, though, have been devoted to Ace (and Sabo). It isn't something that he can worship or give himself to. Brotherhood doesn't work like that. And as Luffy desperately wishes Ace would stay (trying not to think about how this departure feels like seven years, stood before the sea and a horrible reality on the horizon).

But it must be. Luffy (who once knew the pull of a god on the blood in his veins and the bones in his skin and every hair on his body) knows better than anyone. That wild that strokes the flames in Ace's soul cannot be tamed or tempered. If Ace stayed, then that sight he'd caught a glimpse of when his brother had first been consumed would come true. The island would burn.

So Ace sails and Luffy cheers while hoping that neither a sea nor a dragon decide to swallow Ace like they had Sabo. He doesn't pray for him. He has no god to pray to. He is forsaken. But he hopes with all the will in his body that he sees his brother again.

That night, in the treehouse cold without the heat Ace had always emitted, he wonders if he could have made it to even fourteen if he had still belonged to the waters. He wonders if the sea would have swept him away by then. It is a thought he had prevented himself from thinking before, fearful of what the answer might be. Ace had described the will of fire to be comfortingly warm and devastatingly burning all at once, a flicker in his soul that told him where to go. Luffy, who hadn't felt the sea in seven years, remembers that ebb and flow that had once dictated his every more. He thinks on that surety that came from having something so powerful at his beck and call.

He fears one day forgetting.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next one.