Chapter 11

After getting only slightly lost, Ace and Luffy finally made it to Sabo's apartment. They hadn't talked about that much on the way over, just mindless things that Ace could respond to without even thinking. Several times he'd said things only to reflect back on them a moment later and wonder why he'd said them. Going by Luffy's incessant grinning, however, he was saying the right stuff.

Breezing through the lobby and riding up the elevator in less than a minute, Ace turned to Luffy. "Okay, whatever you do, don't tell this guy who you are. I don't know what he thinks of gangs and all that, so just be careful."

Of course, the news of Blackbeard's plans for Whitebeard and the revolutionaries was still spinning around in Ace's brain. Sabo was a revolutionary; should Ace tell him? Or should he wait until he was back with Whitebeard and just let the gang leader handle it?

Luffy smiled at him, causing Ace to push those thoughts aside for now. "Sure!"

Ace, reasonably sure his message had gotten through in some capacity, stepped out of the elevator and guided Luffy down the hall until he reached Sabo's door. He pulled out a key and opened the door, stepping through, Luffy right behind him. Ace's eyes immediately fell on Sabo, who was putting on his jacket. Ace cleared his throat and Sabo turned, a pleased smile already stretching across his lips.

"Good, you're back! I was just about to go out and look for you. Listen, I think the Whitebeard gang would be very interested in seeing y - who is that?" In an instant, Sabo's demeanor went from warm and excited to cold and unreadable. Ace held his hands up reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Sabo. Luffy's nice. I kind of passed out in the street and he and his friends took care of me. Listen, apparently he's my -"

"Sabo?"

Ace cut himself off, whirling on Luffy, who was staring at Sabo with a wide-eyed yet vacant look. He'd said Sabo's name so strangely, like -

But how does he even know Sabo's name? I never told him.

Sabo was just as confused and far more wary. "Who are you?"

"You - you're alive too?"

Well, that statement stabbed Ace right through the chest. What the hell is going on?

Sabo looked even more baffled and now that confusion was clear in his expression. "Alive? Of course I am. Who are you?"

Luffy suddenly shot forward, enveloping Sabo in a hug so quickly that the taller man didn't even have the time to evade him. Ace watched with disbelieving eyes as Luffy's arms wrapped around Sabo and then wrapped around him again, displaying a length and flexibility that no human arm should have had.

Ace's eyes met Sabo's, both of them about to say what's going on -

And then he heard Luffy sob, saw the boy's whole body shake as he clung to Sabo for dear life just as he had done with Ace and suddenly Ace's eyes widened because familiarity was rushing up inside of him and his head was pulsing and the room was spinning and he knew -

"Ace?"

The voice was echoing, filtered through his consciousness until it finally registered as his name, and blearily Ace responded, cracking his eyes open and wincing when light hit his pupils and made his head throb painfully.

"Hey, Ace! I wanna color!"

"Idiot. You have to wait; the old hag isn't back from her supply trip yet."

Ace blinked away the phantom boy that had been leaning over him and focused on the actual person instead. "L - Luffy?"

"C'mon, Ace! Pleeeaaaase?"

"Just wait for her!"

"Yeah! Are you finally awake? You fell asleep for so long."

Ace squinted his eyes, the world still not quite coming into focus. He kept seeing flashes of a smaller boy standing in front of him, of old walls and rooms so familiar they made him ache with longing. "I'm - yeah, I'm awake."

"Do you smell that?"

"Smell what, Ace?"

"That. The - the smoke."

"That's good. You need to eat. Sabo made lots of meat!"

"Were you making anything? Meat? I want meat."

"No, I wasn't."

"Ace?"

But Ace wasn't listening anymore; Luffy's words had faded out after Sabo's name and the rest had just bounced around in Ace's skull. His unfocused gaze drifted to the ceiling, and with no warning his memories dragged him back under.

"Luffy, check the window," Ace ordered, not wanting the nine-year-old to be too close to the door. Luffy nodded and bounded over to the only window in the second-story room while Ace strode to the door. He carefully placed the back of his hand against the worn wood and hissed in pain, pulling it away quickly when he felt the heat behind it.

His eyes went to above the door, where thin tendrils of smoke were snaking to the ceiling from the cracks in the frame.

No.

He looked back to Luffy, who was still looking out the window.

This can't be happening.

The room was getting warmer by the second and Ace cursed himself for not noticing earlier.

This cannot be happening.

But it was. Ace took a deep breath and walked as calmly as he could over to Luffy. "Hey, Luffy, we're going to go outside, okay?"

Luffy glanced back at Ace. "Sabo's out there."

"Sabo's what?"

Ace nearly shoved Luffy aside as he struggled to see past the smoke drifting up from the lower floor of the orphanage. His gaze landed on the small figure just barely visible at the end of the orphanage's gravel driveway. He could pick out the top hat and blue clothes, and his heart clenched.

"What the hell is Sabo doing here?" Ace growled. He then saw the figures behind Sabo, saw that the blond boy was sprinting towards the orphanage, away from them. "Nobles?" He narrowed his eyes. "Police? Did that idiot run away again?" Ace's hands clenched into fists.

"Ace?"

Realizing that Luffy was still there and that he couldn't ignore the kid in a situation like this, Ace turned to Luffy. "We're going outside. I'm gonna open the window, okay?"

Luffy's brows knit with confusion. "But that window doesn't open."

Ace's heart skipped a beat and he berated himself again. Of course. This was the window that he and Luffy had kept sneaking out of when they were younger, and Dadan had replaced it with one that didn't open - and one made of very tough glass, too, just to "ensure their safety."

This can't be happening.

"Shit, right. Okay, let me think."

The door to the hallway wasn't an option. The fire had probably started in the kitchen, which was almost directly below their room, so trying to break through the floor was also impossible. Ace would break before the window did, but...

"Ace, the floor is cracking." Luffy's voice wobbled with something between worry and fear. For all the Luffy saw the world simply, even he at his young age could recognize the rapidly increasing danger. Ace cursed again and pulled Luffy away from the window, where the cracks in the wood floor were heading. The twelve-year-old could feel his heart hammering in his chest and the sweat making his clothes and hair stick to his skin, but he put on the bravest face he could while sections of the floor crumbled with horrific crashing noises that sent billows of choking smoke into the room. A wave of heat that pushed Ace's hair back quickly followed. Flames licked the edges of the new holes and Ace and Luffy had no choice but to back into the far corner of the room or risk falling into the burning floor below.

Both boys were coughing but Ace forced Luffy's shirt off him and then wrapped it around the younger boy's head like an impromptu breathing mask. It wouldn't do much, of course, but hopefully it would do enough. Ace sloppily did the same with his own, blinking away the tears brimming in his eyes.

His hands shook and he nearly dropped the shirt before putting it over his mouth. His lungs ached. All he could focus on were the flames still expanding throughout the room, emerging from the holes in the floor and consuming the rest of the old wooden boards with terrifying speed.

They were already cut off from the window and the door. Ace squeezed Luffy's hand, his eyes desperately darting around the room, searching for something, anything that could help them escape, but the air was hazy and the smoke was thick and he could barely see the opposite wall at all -

This is really happening.

Ace squeezed even tighter and Luffy whimpered, seemingly stuck between backing behind Ace and trying to shield him from at least some of the blistering heat.

"ACE!"

There! Someone through the smoke - Sabo?

"ACE, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"Ye -" Ace's words dissolved into coughing and Luffy stepped forward.

"SABO!"

"LUFFY? IS ACE OKAY?"

"I'M FINE!" Ace grimaced, his throat burning. Well, maybe not fine. Alive, though. Hot. Chills wracked his body but they couldn't do anything to stop the incessant heat that rolled over him.

"YOU NEED TO RUN OVER HERE! THERE'S A WAY OUT!" Sabo shouted, his words fading in and out over the roar of the flames that were still growing. Ace froze up.

No way, I can't do that. The fire -

"ACE! COME ON, HURRY!"

"Ace?"

The freckled boy looked down at Luffy with a blank gaze, his emotions so wild and numerous that his face couldn't express them all. Then he squeezed Luffy's hand, desperate resolve filling him. They would survive; he'd been looking for a way out and Sabo was giving him one. He had to take it.

They. Would. Survive.

He would have to run whether he wanted to or not. If not for himself, then for Luffy. If he didn't, both of them would die.

"OKAY, WE'RE COMING!" Ace shouted as best he could. He thought he saw Sabo wave in acknowledgement and glanced at Luffy. "It's not hot," he said. Luffy stared. "It's. Not. Hot," Ace repeated. "No matter what your body tells you, it's not hot and you need to keep running." Luffy nodded, tears brimming in his eyes. Ace didn't know whether the smoke or emotions were the cause and he couldn't bring himself to care; adrenaline was flooding his veins and his focus narrowed to the flames that blocked his path to Sabo.

There were a few spots with fewer flames, spots where the wood wasn't as old and dry and flammable. They would burn, but Ace and Luffy would be able to make it through.

"Ready?" Ace asked. Luffy nodded.

Ace took as deep a breath as he dared with the smoke clogging the air and then took off at a sprint, keeping a firm grip on Luffy's hand. He weaved in and out of patches of fire, gritting his teeth against the agony that ripped up his legs, against the burns that blistered his skin. He was coughing almost continuously, his lungs rejecting every mouthful of air he sucked in.

Come on.

Luffy was lagging, his smaller body unable to handle the heat and strain. Ace tightened his grip on Luffy's arm and pulled the boy closer, slinging him over his shoulder and awkwardly stumbling a few steps, nearly dropping both of them into a hole.

Even as he backed away and moved on, Luffy's extra weight only making it more difficult to move, Ace couldn't get the mental image of the hellish flames that had devoured the kitchen out of his head.

"YOU'RE ALMOST HERE. DON'T STOP, ACE!"

I can't -

Ace gasped, staggered. He couldn't breathe right.

"ACE!"

Sabo was screaming his name. Ace tried to set his jaw but ended up biting his tongue instead. The new pain focused his mind while the coppery taste of blood filled his mouth.

We will survive.

He put one foot in front of the other.

We. Will. Survive.

He could feel the floorboards bending and warping under the heat and his weight.

It's not hot.

His skin felt as though it was melting off.

It's not hot!

And then, quite abruptly, he ran into something. Someone. Ace fell, hitting the floor hard, but when he glanced up he saw a familiar face staring at him.

"Sa -" he coughed, "Sabo?"

The blond nodded, a handkerchief wrapped around his nose and mouth. "We gotta go. The nobles have blocked the front, but I'm pretty sure we can still sneak out the back. The fire hasn't spread there as much."

Ace managed a nod around the unidentifiable emotion that squeezed his chest. He'd thought that he would never see Sabo again after the noble family the blond had run away from had tracked him to the orphanage and dragged him away.

"Can you stand?" Sabo asked, helping Ace to his feet. Ace nodded and then reached for Luffy, but Sabo stopped him. "I'll get Luffy," he said after coughing. "You lead."

Ace nodded and forced himself to move forward, knowing that his legs were going to just fall off when this was all over but not caring because he just had to survive.

It's not hot.

He staggered down the back steps, sticking to the walls and holding the railing even though it burned him because it was either that or falling and he wouldn't be able to get up again if he fell. He could hear Sabo's labored breathing, was keenly aware of the other boy following in his footsteps and so he tried to stick to the sturdiest parts.

They made it to the back hallway after almost half a minute of struggling down the stairs and then madly dashing through what had been the playroom but was now just a raging inferno filled with the smell of burning plastic. Ace could hardly smell anything other than smoke and something even worse - burning rubber.

I should've carried Luffy from the start.

But it was too late to fix that now and the youngest boy had his mouth set and hadn't complained even once despite the fact that his legs were clearly burned badly.

They were almost at the backdoor. The frame had warped but Ace knew he could kick it out, he had at least that much strength left. A thought struck Ace, and he turned to look back at Sabo, who was following a few steps behind, still holding Luffy bridal-style in his arms.

"Sabo, why -"

It happened so quickly. One second Sabo was standing there with Luffy cradled in his arms, his bright eyes focused on Ace. The next there was only Luffy clawing at the broken wood planks that made up the floor and a swinging wooden beam where Sabo had been, one end scorched from where the fire had burned it away from the ceiling. Then that too was gone, fallen into the basement through the hole that Sabo had inadvertently created as the fire burned away the last of its support.

Ace could only stare, his expression empty with shock and his body frozen.

He couldn't reconcile the new picture with the one he'd just seen, couldn't process that Sabo had just disappeared, that Sabo had just been knocked through the floor and was gone and -

"Ace!" Luffy cried, his scrabbling hands losing purchase on the wooden planks. He slid back, his feet already dangling in open air. Ace snapped back to reality and dove forward, reaching for Luffy and feeling his muscles straining. Fingers outstretched, he saw the fear in Luffy's eyes as the boy lost his grip entirely and began to fall. But Ace let out a wordless cry of determination and his shoulder wrenched with agony as his hand fastened around Luffy's wrist and the boy swung freely beneath Ace, his weight making Ace's shoulder burn with pain. Broken planks dug into Ace's side as he hauled Luffy up, his face white with strain.

The two boys scrambled away from the hole but then Ace stopped and went back towards it, heedless of the flaming pieces of wood falling around him and the increasingly loud groans from the entire building.

"SABO!" He screamed, his throat raw and his voice hoarse. "SABO!"

There was no answer. Ace just kept screaming Sabo's name, hoping beyond hope that Sabo would somehow hear him, that he would answer that he was okay, that he'd find some way out -

Everything faded to a dull roar in the back of Ace's mind. He could only focus on that hole in the floor, at the smoke pouring out from within it, at the flames slowly engulfing it even as Luffy dragged him away, pleading with tear-filled eyes for Ace to keep going, to live.

Somehow Luffy got the door open and pulled Ace outside with frantic movements as the second floor collapsed entirely and fell through the first with a noise so loud it drowned out Ace's thoughts entirely. Then there was grass underfoot and clean air in his lungs and sunlight but Ace couldn't tear his eyes away from the burning orphanage, couldn't look anywhere else but at the place he'd grown up, the place he'd lived in for the past twelve years, the place he'd met Sabo and Luffy, the place Sabo had just -

The building let out another belch of smoke and shuddered before the middle collapsed. Ace knew what that meant, knew the basement ceiling had collapsed, and he cried out Sabo's name again and again and again and again over and over and over even though he knew it was hopeless because there was no way Sabo could have survived that and oh god Sabo you're -

And Luffy was suddenly dragging him away because Ace had started sprinting back towards the building at some point without even knowing, driven by the insane urge to dig Sabo out of the rubble when they both knew that that was an impossible dream. Ace heard Luffy's choked-out pleas and staggered to a stop but his heart was still pounding and his blood roaring and his head throbbing and his eyes watering and suddenly he was on his knees, his body shutting down as the pain he'd blocked out before came screaming back with a vengeance. Tears streaked down his face and all he could do was sob Sabo's name as he clutched Luffy's hand in his own. Luffy was sobbing too, his hiccuping cries carrying over the clearing.

Ace sniffled, his whole body quaking, and darkness began to encroach on the edges of his vision. Every blade of grass brushing gently against his legs set his skin aflame all over again. He squeezed Luffy's hand to make sure that the boy was still there, that he hadn't suddenly disappeared when Ace had looked away. Time ticked away with each puff of smoke and cough, but Ace never looked away from the orphanage.

Ace could barely see anything through the haze over his vision but still he forced himself to stay conscious, one hand reaching out pathetically to the burning house where Sabo still was, where Sabo had tried to save him and paid for it, the other hand still clinging to Luffy with the strength of the desperate.

A person brushed past Ace but the boy only had time to register a dark green cloak and spiked black hair before unconsciousness claimed him.

Ace's eyes cracked open. His whole body hurt, his legs and arms especially. Every breath made his chest burn with dull fire. But, most importantly, he was alive. Even though his body was just a vessel for pain and the harsh lights above him hurt his eyes, he was alive. His memory of what had happened was hazy, and he squinted, trying to make the blurry ceiling above him come into focus. When that only succeeded in making his head hurt, Ace looked away, turning his head to the right in an attempt to see the rest of the room.

His eyes landed squarely on the sleeping face of Luffy, and Ace's breath got stuck somewhere between his lungs and throat.

Luffy looked far too pale. A mask covered his nose and mouth and suddenly the beeping made sense; a machine was tracking Luffy's heartbeat (another was by Ace, now that he was listening for the rhythmic noises) and more monitors were placed around the otherwise stark room. Luffy's skin looked like white parchment stretched over a too-big frame. His veins stood out starkly, his eyes sunken in his skull.

"Luffy…" Ace whispered, unable to say anything else. He looked terrible, but he was alive. Ace felt a heavy weight on his shoulders ease just a little and wondered why -

Sabo.

Ace physically flinched as the memories of what had happened filled his mind's eye. Tears brimmed in his eyes and streaked down his face while his hands fisted in the white sheets that covered him. Ace mourned quietly, unable to speak the words he wanted to say.

He couldn't get that last half a second out of his head.

Sabo's eyes, wide and so incredibly bright, meeting his own with an odd edge of acceptance twisting his lips into that wry half-smile that made him look far older than he was, the look he only pulled out when Luffy was scared, like he was trying to be comforting but didn't quite know how. His top hat askew on his head, short curls of blond hair peeking out from underneath. His clothes rumpled and burned and full of soot and dirt and ash but still looking nicer than anything Ace had ever worn.

But his eyes. They stayed with Ace, the main piece in the horrible puzzle. They were the eyes of a boy who knew what was coming.

He'd seen it. He'd seen that beam coming a second before it hit.

And in that second, Sabo had done the only thing he could: he'd thrown Luffy out of the way of danger.

In his last moments, Sabo had chosen to save Luffy.

Ace blinked and refocused on the current Luffy, who was still unconscious and breathing shallowly. He stared at the younger boy for a few moments, at the boy he had sworn brotherhood with, at the boy that had saved Ace's life when Ace had stopped caring enough to run.

Ace swallowed. "I'll protect you," he whispered, the words a vow to himself and the world. "I'll protect you, Luffy."

Watch us, Sabo. We'll survive.

The sound of a door opening had Ace closing his mouth and switching his gaze to an accusing glare at whoever had just entered. The defensiveness in the look sputtered a little when he saw that the boy he was glaring at couldn't have been much older than he was; a couple of years at most.

"Ah, you're awake," the teenager said, the dark circles under his eyes resembling bruises. Ace couldn't help staring; he hadn't been expecting this. "The painkillers should be numbing most of the pain, though my supply is limited so your brother is getting most of them."

"That's fine," Ace managed, his voice coming out in a painful-sounding wheeze. The teenager blinked.

"Try not to speak. Your respiratory system sustained damage from smoke inhalation and is still recovering. Before you try to ask, a large portion of your legs, arms, and chest sustained burns ranging from mild to severe. Fortunately, I was able to salvage most of the skin, though you will have some mild scarring on your legs and arms that will likely fade with time. You are confined to bed rest for another three days, and then we will see how your condition has improved."

Ace blinked, most of the information the old boy had said going in one ear and out the other. He jerked his head in Luffy's direction, mouthing his younger brother's name. The teen raised an eyebrow, but his expression quickly returned to neutrality.

"Your companion's burns were far less severe, but the damage from smoke inhalation was far worse. He would have died without medical attention. I have him in a drug-induced coma at the moment so that his body can heal. He will likely be out for at least another four or five days."

Ace bit his lip.

"You've already been out for two."

Ace swallowed and then nodded in acknowledgement, awkwardly trying to communicate both his thanks and another question. The teen stared for a moment, his golden eyes piercing, and then realization seemed to dawn on him.

"Right. My name is Law Trafalgar. I am a...practitioner of various medicinal arts. You may call me Law for the sake of your limited speaking ability."

"W-why?" Ace whispered. Law's brows lowered and then he sighed.

"Curiosity, I suppose. It is not often that I stumble across a young boy wailing in the forest while dragging an older boy by the shoulders. After realizing the circumstances, I decided to assist you two on a whim." Law shrugged, his expression not giving away anything. "I have very little to do in my free time."

The reasons fell flat but Ace didn't have the energy to press. Just as he was drifting off again, Law said, "I am charging you for this, by the way."

The next few weeks passed in a blur of recovery and breakthroughs in conversation with Law, with Luffy gradually forcing the rather introverted teen to open up (usually whether he wanted to or not). Ace and Luffy spent most of their time together and very little time apart, even choosing to sleep in the same bed once Law had declared that doing so would not kill them.

They had mourned Sabo together for two days; after that, Ace had bonked Luffy on the head and said that Sabo wouldn't have wanted them to keep moping around for so long, and so Luffy had returned to his normal self with impressive speed.

Perhaps "normal" wasn't the best word. He was certainly upbeat again, and his grin was just as infectious as it had been, but now he carried himself with a certain kind of gravity that only came from going through a difficult experience. He was only nine but the look in his eyes matched the one Ace had seen in Law's when the teen wasn't keeping up his guard.

When they were healed, Law presented them with the bill. The numbers had nearly made Ace faint then and there, but Law had then showed him a list of odds-and-ends jobs in the city that Ace and Luffy could take on to amass money and eventually pay Law back. The two boys had agreed and set off into the streets to get to work.

At first, city life had seemed like a never ending punch to the face. But Ace had adjusted, learning how the streets worked, which places to avoid, and where to go when things went to hell. He found allies in the people he helped out, and though he made some enemies along the way, he managed to scrape together enough to afford a small little apartment in a shoddy (but not too dangerous) part of town.

From there, he and Luffy had trained each other, determined to grow strong so that they wouldn't be stuck in a situation like what had happened with Sabo. They trained to protect each other, and though Ace won every fight, Luffy's punches still left bruises.

At some point, Ace stumbled across a strange fruit on a job. He'd eaten it without thinking since he hadn't had enough money for food in a month, and though the thing had tasted terrible, it had filled Ace's stomach. When he discovered the aftereffects, he'd practiced them until he could control them perfectly because he never wanted to scare Luffy with his powers.

He never told Luffy about the way he'd felt the fire seething under his skin those first few weeks, about the way he'd flinched away from the licks of flames he could summon on his skin, about the way he trembled at the mere idea of turning into fire, of becoming the thing that had destroyed his life. But Ace had persevered, Luffy's best interests always on his mind because he knew that if Luffy saw that Ace was fire, that Ace could control fire, then maybe he could ease his fear of flames as well.

Things had changed rapidly when Luffy stumbled across a man called Red Haired Shanks while working as a busboy at a local bar. The man had taken an instant interest in Luffy and had even given Luffy his hat, telling Luffy to hang onto it.

Ace had been suspicious at first, and those suspicions hadn't faded until Shanks had set them up in a better apartment in a slightly better neighborhood, until he'd found out that Shanks was one of the four most powerful gang leaders in the city, until he'd seen the way that Luffy's eyes glowed whenever he talked about him, until he'd talked to Shanks and seen the way the man's eyes burned at the mere mention of harm to Luffy.

From then on, things were hazy, just years of growth and change but with the most important things remaining constant. Law popped up again every now and then, but each time he was more withdrawn, and each time he stayed for shorter and shorter periods. But Ace now recognized the loneliness and determination that burned in equal measure in Law's eyes and so he pushed the boundaries as much as he was able, and when Law had tried to say goodbye Ace had blocked his path and Luffy had pulled him back and convinced him to stay.

There were smiles and laughter and screams and tears, moments Ace wished hadn't happened and other times that Ace wouldn't trade the world for.

But then the memories stopped entirely, stopped the day when a person bumped into Ace on the sidewalk and offered a proposition that left Ace reeling. The memories then shifted into a white haze, a voice calling out,

"Ace. Ace. Ace!"

Ace squinted and muttered, "Too bright."

His head was pounding and his mouth was dry, but the pain was fading quickly and by the time his eyes adjusted to the light the pain in his skull was nothing more than a faint throbbing.

"Thank god you're finally awake. With the way you've been screaming - well, we weren't sure you'd be waking up anytime soon. You were running one hell of a fever, you know."

Ace blinked and tried to focus on the person sitting next to him. He registered that he was lying down on the couch, knew that he was in Sabo's place, but suddenly that name had so many more connections and meanings than it used to.

"Sabo?" Ace whispered. He levered himself up, sitting up so he could look the blond in the eyes. "Is that - is - are you really Sabo?"

The blond smiled sadly, toying with the top hat in his hands without really looking at it. "Yeah, I am. It's good to see that you got your memory back."

Ace moved without thinking. He stood and pulled Sabo up into a hug so tight he could feel the blond's breathing shudder. The top hat fell from Sabo's fingers, landing on the seat of the chair Sabo had been on. Ace squeezed his eyes shut, feeling tears leaking out, and dragged in a breath.

"Hell, Sabo," he whispered. "Fucking hell."

He heard Sabo sniffle, felt the blond return the hug with equal strength. "Hell, Ace," Sabo answered in an uneven voice. "Fucking hell."

It took a long time for Ace to be able to let go and step back and really look at his brother - the brother he'd thought dead but wasn't. He looked into Sabo's eyes and Sabo looked into his and then both young men were smiling and chuckling about some joke neither really understood.

"It's good to see you again," Ace managed after a few seconds. Sabo nodded.

"Yeah. It - it really is."

They stared at each other for a little while longer before Ace suddenly started. "Luffy! Where's Luffy?"

Sabo blinked. "Uh...I think - he was just here, I swear."

"You know you can't let him wander! I'll take the kitchen, you get -"

"Everywhere else?" Sabo guessed dryly. "You're not even subtle, Ace. At least that hasn't changed."

Ace's face went red. "Sh-shut up, I haven't eaten in hours. And now I don't feel as bad about mooching off you."

"I should charge you for this," Sabo muttered as they separated. Ace pretended not to have heard and jogged towards the kitchen, his mind still whirling. Memories and feelings and emotions were gradually settling into their proper places, but it still felt as though someone had taken a blender to his brain. At least he had Luffy - as long as he focused on Luffy (and Sabo), he could keep his head on straight.

"Luffy!" Ace called as he walked into the kitchen. "Luffy!"

An odd noise met his ears and Ace glanced at the refrigerator, immediately noticing that it was open and that a straw hat was peeking out from over the door. Ace strode over and yanked the door all the way open, revealing Luffy - as well as the three ribs he had stuffed simultaneously into his mouth. Ace's eyebrow twitched. Luffy's face went pale.

"You dolt. Sabo and I were going to reheat those for dinner!" Ace whacked Luffy upside the head and the ribs went flying out of Luffy's mouth, the sauce splattering all over the floor while the half-eaten pieces of meat and bone skidded to a stop at Sabo's feet.

The blond, who had been walking into the room, stopped and looked up at Ace. "I had a feeling that he wouldn't be anywhere else but here."

But Luffy wasn't really paying attention to Sabo - he was staring at Ace, his mouth still hanging partially open.

"Luffy?" Ace asked, waving a hand in front of his brother's face. "Are you okay?"

"You got your brain back," Luffy said.

"I really can't tell whether that was a statement or a question," Ace replied, "but if it was a question, yes. And are you talking about my memories when you say my brain? Actually, I'm just going to assume that's a yes," he added before Luffy could reply.

Luffy's dumbstruck look quickly morphed into a massive smile. "Ace!" And then he'd glomped onto Ace, burying his face in his older brother's chest while Ace spun and stepped back to avoid falling. He nearly slipped on a patch of sauce, but somehow kept his balance. "You're back!" Luffy's words were muffled, but Ace heard them clearly. A pang of sadness at the fact that he'd been gone in the first place went through Ace's chest and he gently returned Luffy's hug.

"I am, Lu. I'm back." He looked up, seeing Sabo staring at them with pride and something else in his eyes. "For good this time." Sabo nodded, silently saying the same thing.

And then Ace remembered that Luffy had been raiding the fridge. And that Luffy had been eating very saucy ribs. And that the sauce had spread onto Luffy's face. Which was now buried in Ace's favorite shirt.

"Gah!"

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