The rest of the day passes quickly with no other incidents. Straw Hat and Fire Fist chat a bit about how they got here and how they could get home, both coming to the conclusion that Blackbeard has something to do with it.

"He's been stealing Devil Fruits and hunting down Devil Fruit users," Straw Hat says. "He went after your fruit too, but…"

"My fruit?" Fire Fist asks. Ace wonders what they're talking about, but decides not to interrupt. He'll let them figure it out for themselves.

"Yeah," Straw Hat says and doesn't elaborate. "I don't know but maybe…"

"You think he stole a fruit and that's how we got here," Fire Fist says and it's not a question. To Ace, the whole idea of Devil Fruits is absurd. Who came up with the idea that you had to eat a fruit, get super powers and not be able to swim?

"I don't think he meant to do it," Straw Hat says but nods anyways. "When we were fighting—" Fire Fist hisses, looking away. "—he didn't seem to be able to control the other fruits very well and he can only use one at a time. I think he was getting desperate and he…"

"He sent us here." Fire Fist sighs. "Great. That means he's probably the only way home."

Fire Fist warns the others about him and that if they are here, then he might be too (and if he was after them, then he might go for their doubles as well).

It scares Ace, to say the least.

By the time Monday (day three of "pirates fell from the sky") rolls around, Ace is feeling a little bit better about the situation. They still haven't found any clues on how to get the pirates home but nothing has been destroyed and no government agents have shown up at Ace's door and taken them away.

At least he doesn't jump whenever he turns the corner, only to see his face.

Ace considers that an improvement.

Granted, they're all still having trouble adjusting to the new rhythm of the house. Fire Fist still flinches whenever he looks at Thatch, Straw Hat doesn't leave Fire Fist's side but still seems distant (hesitant, maybe?) to get too close. Marco and Thatch don't really know what to make of the situation and Ace would probably care more if he didn't have to cook for everyone.

Monday morning, Ace is up by 6 am cooking. Luffy has school and will wake up in an hour (or whenever he smells food). Ace doesn't know what he's going to do with the pirates considering he's the only person that's going to be in the house with them for most of the day.

Not being able to work sucks.

By 7:30, everyone is downstairs and ready. Luffy is chatting with his double about some story (something about his friends almost blowing up the chemistry lab?) and in turn, Straw Hat shares some of his own stories (something about sky islands and a god and Ace really doesn't want to know). Marco has already had his first cup of coffee and is lounging around with the morning paper while Thatch is helping cook to try and keep pace with the pirates' appetite.

It still rattles Ace that they could eat enough food for ten grown men and not die.

Luffy jumps from his barstool, startling Ace out of his thoughts. He grabs his backpack and waves at everyone. "Heading out, bye!"

He's out the door before anyone can respond, laughing all the way.

Fire Fist turns towards Ace, confused. His face is full of what looks like eggs and he side-eyes his own plate. Ace wonders why until he sees a rubber hand sneak up and reach for a sausage. Fire Fist takes his fork and slams it down, just missing spearing his brother through the hand. "Where is he going?"

"School," Ace tells him simply.

Fire Fist scrunches his face up and turns his attention to Ace. Straw Hat steals all his food faster than Ace can blink. "Luffy goes to school?"

Straw Hat glances from Ace to Fire Fist and asks (with a face full of stolen food), "What's school?"

"Did you guys not go to school?" Marco asks and both Fire Fist and Straw Hat shake their heads.

"We never needed to go to school and we turned out fine," Fire Fist says instead.

"'Turned out fine' as in being some of the most notorious criminals in your world… yeah, okay." Thatch mutters and Ace shoves a fist in his mouth to keep from laughing.

"So neither of you have a formal education?" Marco asks.

Straw Hat laughs and tips his hat up with a grin, "We're pirates!"

He says it as if its an explanation for everything. Maybe to them, it is.

"That's great, but even pirates should know basic algebra," Thatch tells them both. Ace nods, but knows he hasn't used algebra since high school.

Fire Fist rolls his eyes before suddenly smirking as if he has an idea. "Hey, watch this. Luf—Straw Hat, if you are unconscious for three days how many meals did you miss?"

"AH!" Straw Hat says, eyes wide. He puts his fist in his palm. "I've missed twenty-one meals!"

"Why is he counting seven meals a day...?" Marco mutters under his breath. Thatch gives a surprised laugh and Ace just shakes his head.

"What if you're unconscious for thirty-two days?" Fire Fist continues.

"That's two hundred and twenty-four meals!" Straw Hat doesn't even hesitate.

"And if you're unconscious for a hundred and sixty-eight days?"

"One thousand one hundred and seventy-six meals!" Straw Hat says, but then looks down and holds his stomach as if he was in pain. "That's too many meals to miss…."

"Straw Hat is a genius when it comes to multiples of seven and counting how many meals he's missed," Fire Fist tells them as if that were supposed to clear up the entire situation.

Ace is resigned to his fate that nothing that ever comes out of either of their mouths will make any sense whatsoever.

"Right, I think that's enough excitement for this morning. I'm heading out," Marco says, putting his plate away and waving to everyone as he passes. Ace waves at him and mouths 'take me with you' but Marco only shakes his head. Marco stops for a second when he sees Fire Fist's eyes on him and sighs. "What are you looking at?"

"You don't say yoi," Fire Fist says with a frown, as if he's just figuring it out.

"What?"

"Oh yeah, he doesn't," Straw Hat says, looking surprised. "I didn't notice."

"Like," Fire Fist ignores his brother and continues, "You don't end your sentences with yoi."

"Why would I do that?" Marco looks confused and Thatch isn't much better.

Fire Fist shrugs. "Our Marco says it. Weird."

Marco sighs and Ace thinks that he's probably about as done with the pirates' strangeness as Ace is. "Look, I'm going to be late for work. Thatch, you ready?"

"Just waiting on you," Thatch says and grabs his stuff. They head out the door after saying goodbye to everyone.

Fire Fist stares as the door swings shut before turning to Ace. "Where do they work anyways?"

Ace takes the empty plates away and puts them in the sink. He'd wash them another time, probably. "Shipyard. We all do."

"Even you?"

"Yeah," Ace says and goes to the couch, only to have the two pirates join him. He turns on the TV and immediately Straw Hat flocks to it, ohhing and awwwing at whatever is on the screen. Is it too much to hope that they'd be distracted by the TV for an entire day? Knowing Luffy's attention span, he doesn't think so. "But I'm confined to bed rest for the next weak because I'm still hurt."

Fire Fist looks at his bruises and healing cuts. He scrunches his nose up. "You call that hurt?"

Ace ignores him. "Edward Newgate is our boss. He's helped a lot of us out when we were at our lowest. He's the only reason I can even afford sending Luffy to school and being able to stay in this house. He calls us his—"

"—Sons." Fire Fist interrupts and smiles, looking at his hands. It was the same smile he saw back when they were changing his clothes—the one full of resentment and loathing. "Yeah, Pops is pretty amazing."

Something flashes in Ace's mind—an image of a giant man standing tall, his back unmarred even if the rest of his body was in tatters. A burned flag flies in the distance and he seems to face the whole world but not once does he falter.

Was I a good father?

Of course!

When Luffy arrives at school that morning, Zoro knows something is off. None of them had seen him since the crash, though they'd all texted to make sure he was okay. Luffy waves off their concerns and tells everyone that he was perfectly fine and that something like that isn't going to bother him.

Now, Zoro isn't so sure.

It's the way he moves through the halls, laughing but watching his classmates. It's the way he stares off into space during his entire Environmental Science lecture (it was, admittedly, boring, but it was unlike Luffy not to put everything he had into everything he did). It's the way he chatters on about everything and anything that's happened, yet still seems to be holding back.

By the time lunch rolls around, Zoro is absolutely sure Luffy isn't telling them everything. Apparently he isn't the only one who notices either.

"Oi, Luffy," Sanji says as he places down his tray at the cafeteria table. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Luffy looks up from his meal and smiles, "I'm all good!"

The others at the table stare at him, Robin in particular (who had lost her mother in an accident not even three years prior) seems worried for his sake. Seeing their looks, Luffy huffs and says, "I'm fine, guys. I wasn't hurt that bad and Ace is okay too. He's staying at home for a bit."

"He's home alone and still injured?" Chopper demands and Zoro smirks a bit. Chopper is amazingly smart and dead set on getting into medical school. He comes from a family of doctors and is determined to live up to his name. He's the one everyone went to if they were hurt.

"He's not—" Luffy cuts himself off before he can even finish the sentence and immediately averts his eyes. Zoro is instantly suspicious. "Uh, I mean, Ace is strong! He can take care of himself."

"He should be with someone," Chopper mutters, but knows nothing can be done.

"Luffy," Nami says and brings all the attention to her. "Are you coming to the Sunny tonight? Franky and Brook are still worried."

The Sunny was the name they'd given Warehouse 47 that was abandoned after the business funding it went bankrupt. Franky was the manager when it was running but even after it closed down, he never really left. Instead, chose to turn it into somewhat of a hangout for the group, equipped with everything a bunch of trouble-finding high schoolers could want. Brook is an older violinist who stayed with him since he had no where else to go.

Luffy visibly hesitates for a moment, "I, uh, should probably head home. Ace might need me to help around the house before Marco and Thatch get back."

Robin narrows here eyes at that. While Zoro didn't get along with her at first, she's fit the group rather well. There are times when he definitely appreciates her ability to read people, such as now.

"Cheer up, guys!" Ussop says and shoves a plate of packaged brownies towards the center of the table. "My dad packed me some of his super awesome double chocolate brownies!"

"Really?!" Chopper's attention is taken away from Luffy. Robin opens her books and starts to read again, but Zoro can tell that she's still watching Luffy from the corner of her eye. "I want one! I want one!"

From the other side of the table, Nami sighs but smiles. Robin laughs behind her book (who willingly reads Of Mice and Men anyways?). Sanji frowns but eats his food and flirts with the ladies.

Zoro still can't shake the feeling that there was something amiss.

The TV blares in the background, but Fire Fist can't bother to listen to it. Ace disappeared for a nap almost ten minutes ago and Fire Fist thought it was a good idea at the time, but can't seem to quell his never ending thoughts.

The last three days have been a whirlwind of surprise and guilt. The last thing Ace remembers is fading, fading, fading—

Thank you for loving me!

He remembers Luffy's face (his little brother), Oyaji and all his brothers and sisters so desperately fighting to save his life, only for him to throw it away. He doesn't regret it—not by a long shot—but knowing that his family died for nothing still leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

For him, only three days have passed. For Luffy, two years have gone by.

Fire Fist wonders how everyone reacted (did Dadan cry? Did Luffy break down? Did the marines celebrate?). He wonders what happened to Marco and the rest of his crew—the ones that were able to survive. Luffy told him about the Grudge War and thinking about it makes his blood boil.

He should have been there. He should have been there to help fight with his family.

Luffy (would it be Straw Hat? That sounded too weird in his head) hasn't talked much about his adventures and the last time Fire Fist heard about him, it was because of his shitty gramps giving him updates (declaring war on the World Government? His stupid, reckless, strong little brother) while he got his ass thrown in prison.

Fire Fist, more than anything, wishes he could've see his brother's adventures for himself.

And he just left his little brother to fend for himself right as he was about to enter the New World. His little brother that went through hell to save him, to make sure he kept his promise…

I will never die!

…He just left him, like it was easy.

He stares at the scar on his little brother's chest and wonders how he could make that decision so easily.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid—" Fire Fist mutters and Straw Hat (Luffy, his little brother. One that he said he'd protect, someone that he would die for over and over again) looks up, confused.

"…Ace?"

Fire Fist grabs his hair and memories from the war flood his mind. He curls up, unable to face his little brother. "God, Luffy, I'm so sorry."

Straw Hat is silent for a moment, "Are we talking about the war?"

"What else would we be talking about?" Fire Fist smiles bitterly and bites his tongue so hard he draws blood. "I left you alone."

An image of a little seven-year-old boy comes rushing to his mind, covered in scratches and bandages. Tears fell and a straw hat that was too big stood proudly on his head.

Being alone is worse than being hurt!

And suddenly Straw Hat is there, pulling him out of his shell. He pulls Fire Fist into a hug with a small laugh. He's tearing down his walls just like he did all those years ago, back when they were young and free and never afraid to face a challenge.

Straw Hat smiles at him, small but genuine. "After the war, I was really lost. Jinbei helped me remember that I wasn't alone. I still had my nakama and, well… Sabo is still alive."

All the grief and loss that Fire Fist was feeling before stops because there was no way that Sabo, their only other brother who died (should have died) when they were seven was still alive. "What."

Straw Hat laughs, "Yeah, it really surprised me! Turns out he had amnesia. He's second in command for the Revolutionaries now. He ate your fruit, too."

Fire Fist doesn't exactly understand how that works—he still has his fruit and knows that two people can't exist with the same power. He knows he died in his world, but is he really still dead?

Fire Fist is still having problems comprehending the fact that his dead brother is actually not dead. To be fair, he isn't quite dead either and he really died. In front of everyone. Fire Fist guesses that's it's just really, really hard to kill them. That, or they had the luck of the devil.

"Explain," Fire Fist demands.

"We were in Dressrosa to take out Mingo! And Torao and I…" Straw Hat launches into the tale of how he defeated (another), about the tournament for his fruit, about how Sabo showed up and switched places with him so he could go kick Mingo's (who, as it turns out, is Luffy speak for Doflamingo) ass. He talks about how Sabo saved him while he was fighting and then they met up later.

When he's done, Fire Fist just stares. Sabo is a moron.

"When I see him, I'm going to kill him," Fire Fist says instead, because just thinking about it was starting to hurt his brain.

Straw Hat grins, "No, you won't."

"You're right… I'll just break his damn nose," but he's laughing, wild and free. He can't seem to keep the grin off of his face because his brother is alive and he is alive and Luffy is alive.

Almost everything is okay. Will be okay.

Ace fiddles with the piece of paper in his hands. It's torn and burned, but the message is still written clearly:

ONE PIECE… DOES EXIST

Ace remembers that the police had found it at the accident and were going to use it as evidence to find the driver. Ace still hasn't heard anything back and now he finds the piece of paper on his dresser after he wakes up from his nap.

Ace immediately suspects that the pirates have something to do with it.

What he knows of their world is limited to the flashes of memories from the crash, the voices and the fact that apparently eating a fruit gives them superpowers. They haven't talked a lot about their pasts or their adventures (Straw Hat had mentioned something about sky islands to Luffy that morning but Ace hadn't been paying that much attention).

He stumbles out of his room, tired and groggy, holding the piece of paper like a lifeline. When he enters the living area, he sees Fire Fist and Straw Hat curled up, fast asleep. Straw Hat is sprawled out over the left side of the couch, arm hanging off of it and stretching past what normal arms should be able to stretch (fire is a pretty cool power, Ace silently admits, but rubber is just creepy).

He almost feels bad for waking them up.

Then he remembers that these two are the biggest cause of stress in his life since he was a little kid (having both his parents die in an accident is very stressful for ten year olds). These two, who have broken possibly every single law of physics, who seem to have no problem shattering his brain over and over again.

…And he has no problem pushing his double off the couch.

Of course it's not that simple, because his double keeps snoring. Ace sighs and goes to Straw Hat instead, shaking him awake (he is much more lenient with people that have his little brother's face).

Straw Hat yawns, blinking up at him. "Ace? Oh, you're the other one."

"Yeah, sorry for waking you," Ace says and Straw Hat sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I have a question actually."

"Okay?" Straw Hat barley glances at Fire Fist, who is still on the floor and still very much asleep.

"What's One Piece?"

"I dunno," Straw Hat says and Ace sighs because of course they wouldn't know. He's about let them go back to sleep when Straw Hat continues, "No one knows! We don't even know if it exists."

"So," Ace says, "It's something from your world?"

"Yeah!" Straw Hat grins and he seems so excited. "It's a legendary treasure that's at the end of the Grand Line."

With some prompting, Ace eventually gets Straw Hat to launch into a tale about his world, talking about the old Pirate King ("Now I'm going to become Pirate King!"). He talks about the Paradise and the New World, how their world was mostly ocean so not being able to swim was a huge deal ("You drown the moment you touch the water but you still set sail?" "My nakama won't let me drown!").

He talks about whales the size of mountains, sky islands, zombies, dragons, Devil Fruits ("In this world, when someone eats a fruit, they just eat it! It doesn't give them superpowers or anything.") and other places that Ace thought only existed in fantasy stories. He talks about the Four Emperors that rule the seas and the Samurai and the Minks ("So its like a tribe full of furries." "I dunno what that is, but they live on top of this awesome giant millennia old elephant that walks around and no one ever knows where it is." "Hey, quick question but is anything in your world even remotely normal?") He talks about the mystery of the ancient history and Poneglyphs ("It's a mystery stone! Shishishi.").

Fire Fist wakes up a few minutes later (thankfully not on fire) and starts helping Straw Hat describe their world. He talks about the World Government and what they've done ("They really destroyed an entire island because of something like that?"). He tells Ace about his and Straw Hat's childhood (so that's who Sabo is). Fire Fist talks about the revolutionaries ("Straw Hat's dad is in charge." "I though Straw Hat's dad was a dragon." "No?" "Oh, I just went with it because everything else in your world was insane so I figured why not?") and Straw Hat butts in with news about Sabo, who is apparently not as dead as Ace originally thought.

All of it makes Ace's head spin because, damn, their world was complicated.

Straw Hat Luffy escaped his grasps and Blackbeard is not happy.

It's no secret that he has been collecting Devil Fruits. After acquiring Whitebeard's fruit, Blackbeard's next course of action was to get as many Devil Fruits as he could. So he went around, hunting down powerful fruits and killing their users.

It was working well, until suddenly it wasn't.

During his fight with Monkey D. Lufy, something went wrong. A fruit that he'd recently acquired acted up and shot the both of them. It was a mistake. A very, very costly mistake.

He wakes up in a world not like his own, yet eerily similar. He meets up with his counterpart in this world, only to discover that his counterpart was a gang leader.

A influential one, but no where near Blackbeard's level of strength which seems even more monstrous in this world. Where fruits didn't exist and technology far advanced their own. It's confusing, but Blackbeard can work with this. As long as Straw Hat Luffy dies, then all would be fine.

But then Straw Hat Luffy had to throw another wretch in his plans. A spy came back and told of the impossible: Fire Fist Ace is alive.

Blackbeard doesn't know how. He saw Fire fist die (everyone saw Fire Fist die), yet here he was in another dimension. Monkey D. Luffy, Blackbeard can handle, but Monkey D. Luffy and Portgas D. Ace? There was no way. Blackbeard knows the limits on his strength.

"Damn it," Blackbeard's counterpart—Teach, they decided on—mutters. "They were supposed to die in the crash."

Blackbeard snorts, "There is no way that either of those two would die in something as small as that. This is your fault, anyhow."

Teach gives him a strange look that Blackbeard ignores, "This is not my fault. You're oddly pompous for someone who should not even be here."

Blackbeard lashes out before Teach has a single moment to react, grasping his shirt collar and lifting him up so he was eye level. His darkness swirls around his feet, casting shadows on the walls. "I could kill you in less than a second. I don't care if you're my counterpart. Do you understand?"

Teach mutters a small 'yes' and Blackbeard drops him, watching him crumple to the floor. The surrounding people back away in fear.

"Listen up!" Blackbeard shouts and not a single person utters a word. "I am your boss now and you will listen to me. First, we're going to break into this world's Impel Down. Prison break is the best recruitment, after all. Then, we're going to kill two troublesome brats that should've died a long time ago."

Miles away, both Straw Hat and Fire Fist jolt awake, eyes wide.

Ace looks at them, confused. "What's up?"

"He's coming."

the whole "Luffy can calculate how much food he's missed" is based on that scene from Alabasta. That scene was five meals though and I bumped it up to seven.

anyways not my favorite chapter but it's more of a filler chapter... next ch is much better and has one of my fav scenes in it so

2/3 of ASL has died so... luffy, watch ur back