"You have to tell Luffy."
Luffy had long since fallen asleep, and Sabo had pulled Ace out to talk.
"No way." Ace's snap response fell out of his lips before he had even started thinking as he frowned at Sabo. "He can't find out."
"He's our brother."
"Which is exactly why he can't find out." Ace retorted. "If he finds out... what if he freaks out, or thinks that I'm a monster and never wants to be with me or what if..."
"It's not going to happen." Sabo cut in with a roll of his eyes. "Luffy's our little brother. He's family, and family is forever."
Ace bit his lower lip. "But what if..." He started nervously.
"It won't happen." Sabo groaned. "Ace, Luffy's not going to hate you just because you have a few scars on your arms."
"That's not what I'm worried about." Ace agreed. "Luffy won't care about scars. But what about why they're there? It just shows him how weak and pathetic I am. What if he thinks less of me? And if he doesn't, if he still cares... he'll know. He'll be just like you, always hovering over me, terrified that I'm going to give in to this again, that I can't control myself, that I... that I can't do anything properly, that I'm stupid, or that I'm..." He paused and shook his head. "What if Luffy thinks that I'm too messed up to fix? That I'm too broken to waste time worrying about?"
Sabo scowled. "That will never happen, and you know it. Luffy would never give up on you, and neither would I."
Ace self consciously lifted a shoulder. "What if you're wasting your time?" He asked. "What if you're trying to fix me, and you can't fix me, and I'm just a mess, and you can never fix this? What if you think you can, but you can't, and I'm just wasting your time?"
"You're not." Sabo replied. "You'll never be too messed up for me."
Ace offered him a hesitant smile. "What if Luffy doesn't feel the same way?"
"He will." Sabo promised. "He's our brother."
"Forever and ever." Ace echoed, though he still sounded uncertain.
"So, you're okay with telling him?" Sabo prodded.
Ace shrugged. "Yeah, okay. We'll tell him in the morning."
Sabo offered Ace a relieved smile. "In the morning." He agreed.
A/N: It lives! Sorry for this late update... life turned out to take more time than I had thought, and now updates will be slower than ever. Thanks for your patience. (If you still remember that this story exists, I mean...)