We're back, lovelies! But since I've been updating this story every week, I think I'll wait to post the next chapter for another 2-2 1/2. I'll focus on some of my other fics in the meantime, since they need more love. But the next chapter is mostly written at about 3,000 words now and there's still at least one more scene I want to add to it. Yep, that's right, we're going to have longer chapters starting next update! But slower updates as a result of that. I think it works out better this way, though. I'm going to be doing the same for some other stories, like Imagined Life. Maybe. We'll see. Anyways, I've taken up enough of your time. Onto the chapter.
Disclaimer: I SAID ONTO THE CHAPTER DAMN IT!
Luffy stared up at the towering mansion before him, just as intimidated that day as he was the last. The night was spent debating on coming back or not—because that fear was still deeply engrained in his mind—but he wouldn't give up. He wouldn't turn away. Ace gave him no reason to. Should things get dangerous like before, he would take his leave. Until then, he would stay. He was no coward.
Still… the lack of response when he rang the doorbell had him faltering a bit. Removing the silvery key from his pocket, he slipped it into the lock and turned, simultaneously opening the door. Just as always, the front hall was vacant and layered with thick silence. He didn't understand how the small family of three could stand to live in such a big, empty place. It didn't used to be so unoccupied; before, he lived there. There was a special bedroom set aside for Sabo, too, and sometimes Roger's friends would stay for extended periods of time. Back then, it was so full of life.
What changed?
He'd been asking himself that question a lot as of late, but normally it was in better context. With how often his parents were gone, Ace must have spent a lot of time by himself, huh? Did he get lonely? Was that why…
He was happy to see me.
Pulling his mouth taut, he marched up the stairs to that familiar room and knocked on the door, met again with nothing.
"…Ace?" There was no response. "It's Luffy," he continued.
When he was once more ignored, his mind flashed to the day before—the loud slam of Ace's body falling to the floor as he had a sleep attack. Did that happen again? Should he let himself in?
…Ace was no longer the type to get mad about something like that, so he could, right?
Taking a deep breath, he twisted the knob, eyes immediately roving over the floor for any sign of his boss's body. There was nothing. Stepping further into the room, Luffy looked at the other side of the bed, checking all of the floor space, seeing not even a hair of the youth.
"Ace? Where are you?"
The door to the walk-in closet was open. Did he dare look there? He did. Cautiously, he peeked inside, flipping on the light switch. The first thing he noticed were the weapons—the ones Ace hurried to hide when he first arrived there. Those… he didn't have those when Luffy worked there last. At least, he didn't know about them. Why were they there? Was he planning terrorist activity or something?
After adjusting to the sight, Luffy sighed. Even if he asked, Ace wouldn't remember, would he?
"Are you in here?"
When no response was given, he deemed the bedroom vacant and moved to the next, then the next… and the next. Eventually he found himself in the living room, staring at a blanket thrown carelessly to the floor. There were empty bottles scattered about the coffee table, cigarettes smothered in an ashtray… it felt strange.
To his surprise, Marco was there. He wasn't wearing his usual uniform, though, opting instead for an unbuttoned shirt and simple pair of pants. The fact that Luffy could now visibly see his muscles was intimidating, because his build was just like Ace's, if not a little more compact. That man was unsettling, especially considering the sway he had over the freckled heir.
The blond was busy picking up dirty dishes and, for a moment, didn't notice the other servant in the room. Eventually, though, steely blue eyes turned to him.
Luffy swallowed. "What happened?"
The world stilled then, for an instant, before that look softened and the hard glare dissipated to contentment.
"Ace isn't here yoi," he said simply, ignoring the question as he took two bottles between his fingers.
Relaxing a little at Marco's calm tone, Luffy stepped further into the room, picking up the blanket and beginning to fold it as he eyed the mess. "…I didn't know he smoked."
"He doesn't," Marco stated, turning his unreadable expression to the ashtray. "He quit, or I thought he did yoi."
"So what happened?" Luffy asked again as he dropped the blanket to the couch and followed quickly behind the butler as he headed to the kitchen to dispose of the dirty dishes. He wasn't going to let him go without answering, no matter how intimidating he was.
After coming to an abrupt halt, Marco looked at him and sighed. It was then that Luffy noticed the bags under his eyes.
"I don't know."
Sabo yawned, walking out into the living room as he buttoned his blazer, eyes falling to the still-sleeping Ace on his couch. The youth was curled up half-naked on the cushions, hugging a pillow close to his chest. Were it anyone else, the blond wouldn't have batted an eye, but Ace… Ace was interesting.
While he planned to let the boy sleep, he soon stirred, bleary eyes opening to the world surrounding him. At first Ace groaned in annoyance, shoving his face deeper into his pillow, but eventually he huffed and looked up tiredly at Sabo. "You leaving?"
"I have an interview to go to," he stated as he grabbed his keys off the bookshelf to his right. "You can stay here, if you want. I shouldn't be long."
Ace nodded before fully registering his words. "What kind of interview?"
"It's for the managerial position at a—"
"I seem to have stopped caring."
Sabo sighed. Well, at least that side of him hadn't changed. "I'll be back in a few hours. Make yourself at home."
"Will do," Ace replied, turning to face the back of the couch and immediately falling asleep.
"Zoro!" Luffy cheered, tackling the green-haired man to the ground. He laughed when he heard the man groan. Maybe his reaction was a little too enthused, but he couldn't help it! Zoro had been gone for a few weeks to attend some world tournament or something of the like—Luffy didn't pay the details any mind.
"I take it you missed me," he said with a hint of irritation, far more tolerant of the teen than most others.
"Of course! You were gone for, like, forever!"
"It was only two weeks, Luffy."
"Shishishi," he laughed. He knew that, but it felt like forever. Ever since he left the mansion as a child, the two of them had been inseparable, so long as tournaments weren't involved. The swordsman was the second person to take him in, after Ace's family, though Luffy was far more wary that time around. It took a long time for Zoro to gain his trust but ever since… he relied heavily on the man. "Oh! The others couldn't come."
Zoro raised an eyebrow as he returned to his feet, looking down at the smaller teen. "Why not?"
The boy pouted. "Usopp's mom is sick or something, so he had to watch the shop. Nami went down to East Blue to visit her sister for the weekend and, umm… Oh, yeah! Sanji said he 'wouldn't waste his time welcoming a shitty marimo whose returning from a shitty tournament' or something like that, shishishi!"
The man's eyebrow twitched but he remained as stoic as ever, walking side-by-side as they exited the airport. Man, was it great having him back! Zoro was really strong and really awesome and he promised he'd teach Luffy how to fight sometime soon. That would be so cool!
"So did I miss anything?"
At that, Luffy halted, face turning pale. Would he get mad if he knew about Ace—that he was working for his family again? If he recalled correctly, he'd never met Ace. That was probably a good thing. If he had, well…
Of course, Zoro noticed his hesitation; it was too obvious. "What is it?"
"It's nothing!"
"You're a horrible liar."
Oh no—he was giving him that look! "I… ummm… hmmmm…"
Zoro sighed. "If you're not going to tell the truth then don't say anything."
"Don't be mad, okay?"
The look the swordsman gave him showed that he didn't like where the conversation was headed.
Marco released a heavy breath, slumping down on the couch after finally cleaning everything. It was weird to find that Ace left such a big mess for him to clean. That was unlike him. No matter what people said about him, despite his looks he was actually a very organized person.
Something happened.
Lazy eyes fell on his cell phone. Rouge and Roger would be back sometime in the evening. If they came home and Ace wasn't there…
Grabbing the device, he began dialling.
After an additional hour of sleep and an obligatory raid of Sabo's fridge, Ace was ready to begin snooping around. As much as he didn't want to remember the past, he did want to learn a little about the people around him. That included his blond host. Despite their heated first encounter, Sabo was… he was a lot kinder than Ace deserved. It was obvious that they weren't on good terms before the accident yet he brought Ace into his home, fed him, gave him a place to stay…
His guilt was increasing.
That's why he wanted to get to know him—to find out more. Maybe one day he could repay him. At the very least, he hoped they could stay on good terms. He liked the guy. Something about him was… nostalgic.
So, his invasion of Sabo's privacy began!
"Then where is he?" Rouge asked, a hint of panic entering her tone. "He's okay, right? Please tell me he's okay…"
"Calm down yoi," Marco replied, hiding the strain in his voice. After that, he was going back to sleep. He needed a vacation—a long one, away from amnesiacs and snarky cooks and scared teenagers. "He's fine. He stayed at Sabo's place last night."
There was a surprised pause. "…Sabo? He's back?"
Well, the living room was boring. The guy had no personal affects whatsoever, not even pictures. Didn't he have a family? Or, maybe not. Maybe he was alone. In any case, there were certainly a lot of books to take the place of family portraits. He had bookshelves on two of the four walls so it wasn't hard to tell what his favourite pastime was. In the end, at least Ace managed to learn something about him.
What kind of books did he like?
Trailing his hand across their bindings, he pulled a random one from its place. The title read One Piece: Journey to Sky Island. It appeared to be part of a larger series. Reading the back, he found it to be a fantasy/adventure novel. Somehow, Ace expected the blond to be more interested in fact than fiction. Maybe they had something in common, after all.
Something slipped from between the pages, floating slowly to the ground. Ace almost didn't notice. When he looked he saw a small, rectangular piece of paper.
"Does he know? Do you think Sabo would tell him?"
Marco rolled his eyes. How was he supposed to know? Over the few years he knew Ace, he'd seldom spent time with the less-than-friendly blond from the youth's childhood. Those two didn't get along—at all. Sure, they'd talk—fought, on occasion—but there wasn't much of a relationship there. Because of that, he didn't know the kid like he knew Ace, but if he had to guess…
"I doubt it yoi." He's like me in that respect.
Rouge sighed. "Honestly, those two… I wish they would be a little more open."
His eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"Hm?"
"What good would it do Ace to know he has a bother? He's got enough on his mind yoi."
At first she was quiet. "…I know."
Holding the paper between his fingers, Ace found it to be the sole photo his host seemed to have. A large tear separated the two halves, sloppily fastened back together with tape. It looked old, aged and dog-eared with time. In it were two boys, close to the same age, smiling and laughing. The blond was clearly Sabo as a child, mouth opened in a huge grin that showed a chipped tooth, his arm wrapped tightly around the other's back. He seemed happy—the other kid, too.
Eyes trailing across the tear to the second boy, he blinked and tilted his head. Dark waves, freckled cheeks…
…Is that me?
Well, Sabo said they went way back. Flipping the photo over, he was met with neat cursive, standing out against the white backdrop.
Little brother – Age 7
Happy Birthday, Ace!
A/N: This chapter wins for most scene cuts, definitely. So... hope you enjoyed. Review 'n stuff, yes? :D And YES, they are blood-related in this. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.
To my lovelies~
TheAnalei: I'm happy to hear someone was excited for it ^^ All very good questions that will be answered in future chapter :) But yes, Ace gave Luffy the scar under his eye.
Frostheart D. Blaize: Hehe glad you think so!
toothless20: Why does everyone think it's rape?!
Kitsune Foxfire: Personally I think this was a worst place to end :P But still not as bad as where I'm going to end off in today's Reverse update hehe. Oh yeah, lots more. But we'll find out more on that later~
MysteriousEyez: Lol isn't he? He remembers the memory from last chapter, but only what was mentioned. Basically, he knows what we know. Doesn't know how it happened or anything, just the scene I wrote.
Magic Morgana: Well yes, last chapter was a big flashback and it's VERY important, but there's another REALLY long one coming up, too. Interesting theory! Though I can't say anything about it because of spoilers... But in interesting nonetheless!
Diclonious57: u_u
Bluebird42: Everyone in my fics has problems :P
shadowmarialove: Can't say :P Spoilers, remember? Can't give them. It is my duty as the author to withhold all information!
anon: Yep, he gave him the scar. He stopped him because he really doesn't want to know anything about the past right now. And I kinda sorta wanted to troll you guys a bit :P
Spiders-Are-Our-Roommates: I don't think it's suspenseful enough to be called suspense =_=; But the romance will be coming up. A lot of romance will, it's just jumping straight into it wouldn't be right because of the circumstances. But it'll be coming very soon, I assure you! Actually, I think I replied to this in PM, right? Anyways, if I didn't, there'll be lots of romance it's just that I had to finish with fleshing the plot.
Alice: Don't worry, there will be! Soon, actually :D Can't answer your theories though :P Spoilers, ya know? But I'm glad you're enjoying it!
94Insane: Awe :( Ace will redeem himself later, I promise. ...Mostly. Partially... A bit.
(So that's everything! I'ma update Reverse now because, well, why not? Adieu~)