Ace could count the number of times he'd been truly pissed off on one hand. He'd felt it towards Sabo's parents when they took him. He'd felt it towards Bluejam when Gray Terminal burned. He'd felt it towards Kaido when he saw Yamato's wretched chains. And he'd felt it towards Akainu when he'd mocked Pops.
That was what he felt when he saw Harry's "room"—that red-hot fury. It coursed through him like the fire he was so used to commanding. Harry glanced at him, eyes wide.
"Why are you so mad?"
Ace realized that Harry was feeling his emotions. Interesting, he thought. He swallowed and took a moment to calm himself. "How can I not be mad? Your family is supposed to love you."
"But I'm a freak," Harry whispered. Freakfreakfreakfreak. The word echoed in their shared consciousness, and with it, Ace felt the whirl of dark emotions, a cascade of self-hatred and fear. Ace's heart cracked. It reminded him so much of himself, and it hurt.
"If Roger had a son, I'd kill him myself! A bastard like that should never be born!"
"Roger's blood is tainted. Any children that man would have are demons!"
"He should be tortured for all of Roger's sins!"
Ace embraced Harry, who stiffened. "You are enough, Harry. Never forget that."
"Being alone is worse than getting hurt!"
Luffy, what would you do? You'd know what Harry needs. You knew what I needed, way back then. What would you do?
"Ace," said Harry. He was hesitant to ask this question. It was pretty personal, after all. But curiosity won out in the end. "Who's Luffy?"
Ace stiffened. "How—?"
"I don't know," said Harry, "I heard you ask what he'd do. But you didn't say it out loud? And you were remembering these horrible things."
Ace swallowed. Whatever bond they had was deeper than Ace had initially suspected if Harry could read his thoughts. He wondered what more would come of it. Those were questions he could answer later, though. He smiled at Harry.
"Luffy is my brother," said Ace, his voice full of pride. "My baby brother. He's the best thing that ever happened to me. And he's going to be King of the Pirates if Pops doesn't beat him to it!" He winced. "I hope they made it out of that war alive..."
Harry tilted his head. "You're not making any sense, Ace."
When the Dursleys returned from their vacation, they had been forced to learn how to communicate without speaking. Ace had wanted to incinerate them on the spot when they demanded that Harry shut himself in the cupboard. Harry had turned his teacher's wig blue. Ace thought that the bitch deserved worse. She'd called Harry's parents "drunk losers who couldn't hold a job". Who was she to mock an orphan's long-dead parents like that? Oh, if only Ace could launch one good Fire Fist at her...
Harry snorted. You were the one who wanted to keep our powers hidden, remember?
Ace sighed dramatically. A man can dream, can't he?
It had been almost a year since that fateful day when Harry had eaten the Flame Flame Fruit. He was close to turning eleven now.
There was something off about Harry's soul. Ace couldn't quite put his finger on it. It almost seemed like another presence, but it wasn't whole. Whatever it was, it seemed dormant, almost like it was sleeping. Ace had decided to leave it be. It wasn't harming anything, after all, and Ace didn't know if messing with it would harm Harry.
When he wasn't manifesting himself in the physical world, Ace saw the world through Harry's eyes. It was disconcerting, at first, to feel his body move and not be in control of it, but he got used to it. It wasn't like he had a body of his own, so it was a blessing to be able to feel anything at all.
Do you know how I turned that hag's hair blue? Harry asked.
Ace frowned. I'd say some kind of Devil Fruit normally, but you've already eaten mine. Maybe it wasn't you?
Harry sighed. I think it was. When it happened, I felt...something. There was this stirring sensation in my gut. I felt the same thing when we wound up on the roof of the school building. Remember that?
Ace nodded. You also grew all your hair back when dear old Petunia forced that horrible haircut on you.
And the sweater shrinking. Harry shuddered at the memory of that horrible monstrosity.
Ace released an explosive breath. These incidents have happened far too many times for them to be coincidental.
Someone rapped on the door. Is it that time already? Harry thought to himself.
"Up!" the shrill voice of Petunia demanded. "Get up! Now!"
Harry grumbled. "I'm coming, I'm coming."
One Fire Fist. That's all I ask.
Harry held back his laughter as he opened the door. Petunia was in the kitchen with Vernon and Dudley.
"I want you to watch the bacon. Don't you dare let it burn," said Petunia. She looked as though she were sucking on something sour. "I want everything perfect on my Dudder's birthday."
Ace snickered. Bet the pig loves that.
Be nice to the pigs, Ace, thought Harry absently.
Ace's snickering turned into full-blown laughter.
Dudley waddled into the kitchen, eyeing the bacon Harry was watching greedily. He sat down by Vernon, who ruffled his hair.
"Happy birthday, son. You're growing up to be a fine young man."
Oh for fu—your definition of "fine" is not normal, Vernon Dursley, said Ace, his tone angry.
Dudley grunted. "When will breakfast be ready?"
"When the freak is done with the bacon, sweetums," said Petunia.
A spike of anger surged through Ace, which Harry felt like hot magma. You don't know anything about him! Ace snarled.
Harry rolled his eyes, doing his best to ignore Ace's anger as he took the frying pan off the heat, turning the stovetop off. "It's done, Aunt Petunia."
"About time," said Dudley with a sneer. He turned to Petunia. "How many presents do I have this year, mum?"
"Thirty-six, sweetums," said Petunia.
"Thiry-six?" Dudley repeated in disbelief, "That's two less than last year!"
"Did you count the one from Aunt Marge? It's under that large one from us," said Vernon.
"Thirty-seven, then."
Harry started to wolf his food down. He could see the signs of a tantrum brewing in Dudley, and he had no desire to be caught in the crossfire. Dudley started to stand, and Petunia rushed to embrace him.
"We'll buy you two new presents later today, popkin. Is that okay, sweetie?"
Ace gagged. Dear Oda, how many pet names does she have for him?
Dudley frowned, a look of deep concentration in his eyes. "So I'll have thirty...thirty..."
And here I thought Luffy was bad at math.
Harry had to fight to keep a straight face.
"Thirty-nine, sweetums."
Uncle Vernon looked proud. "Little tyke wants his money's worth. Just like his father!"
The phone rang at that moment, and Petunia went to go answer it while Harry and Vernon watched Dudley unwrap stupidly expensive and unnecessary gifts. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.
"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.
Dudley's face was frozen in an expression of horror. Harry hardly dared to believe it. Normally, when they went on outings, the Dursleys would leave him at Mrs. Figg's place, where she'd have him stare at photos of cats all day.
That wasn't the case on the day you found my fruit, Ace reminded him.
Harry shrugged. Mrs. Figg was out of town that day.
"Now what?" Petunia asked impatiently.
"We could phone Marge," said Vernon shortly.
Harry felt his heart skip several beats.
Petunia shook her head. "Don't be silly, she hates the boy."
Harry relaxed.
Ace growled. He has a name.
"We're not leaving him here, he'll blow the house up or something," said Vernon, his face purple with rage.
Funny. You didn't seem to think that a year ago, said Ace.
"We could take him to the zoo," said Petunia slowly, "And leave him in the car..."
"The car's new, he's not sitting in it alone."
Is it really that difficult to take your own nephew out every once in a while? Ace bit out furiously. If I could give you a piece of my mind...
It's fine, Ace. I'm used to it. Let it go.
That's the problem, said Ace. You shouldn't be used to this treatment. It's not right.
Dudley started to wail loudly. "I d-don't want him t-to c-come! He r-ruins everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin under his fake tears.
"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry. Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" Petunia cried, flinging her arms around him.
The doorbell rang. When Vernon answered, Piers, one of Dudley's friends, stepped over the Dursley threshold. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.
I'm telling you, one Fire Fist. To the house. With them inside. It would fix everything.
Is that your answer to all your problems?
Ace chuckled. If only life were so simple.
It wasn't long before Harry—who was suspicious of his sudden turn in luck—was sitting in the back of the car with Piers and Dudley. Vernon spent most of the drive ranting about hoodlums on motorcycles. Harry remembered a dream he'd had about a flying motorcycle, but as he was opening his mouth to mention it, he felt a sharp warning from Ace.
Do you really think that would go over well?
Harry sighed. Thank you.
The rest of the ride continued without incident, and so did most of their visit to the zoo. They stopped by a gorilla in a cage, which Harry thought resembled Dudley, except it wasn't blond. He stopped for a second and apologized to the gorilla. Harry was allowed to finish one of Dudley's desserts, which he was eating while standing in front of a boa constrictor display. Dudley found the snake boring, so the Dursleys let him be with the snake. Once they were gone, the snake opened its eyes and winked at him.
"You're a quiet human. I like you," said the snake.
Harry and Ace froze. Did the snake just...?
Ace cleared his throat. It talked.
"How are you...what...?" Harry stammered.
The snake looked pleased. "You speak our tongue. This is excellent!"
"DUDLEY! MISTER DURSLEY! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THIS SNAKE IS DOING!"
Piers was running towards them. He tried to elbow Harry, who moved out of the way. Dudley waddled in Piers' wake. The two started banging on the glass, demanding the snake to do what it was going again. Harry clenched his fists, glancing at the sign. The snake was from Brazil. He was so far from home. He spent his days getting gawked at by people, put on display. Harry's heart went out to the snake. It didn't deserve to be locked up. It should be free.
The two boys yelled and lept back. Dudley whirled on Harry. "What did you do, freak?" he spat.
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, baffled.
"The glass is gone! What did you do to it?"
The snake slithered over the rail and snapped at Dudley's ankles playfully. The boy screamed and ran, Piers following. The snake looked Harry in the eyes.
"Thanks," he said.
"Any time," said Harry.
The snake slithered out of the zoo, occasionally snapping at people but never biting them. Chaos erupted as the snake moved.
After everything had settled, the Dursleys left the zoo as quickly as they could. Vernon was silent during their trip back, but judging from the tight grip that he had on the steering wheel and that his face was a rather disgusting shade of purple, Harry figured that he was keeping his emotions bottled up until they got home. He was proven right.
"Go...cupboard...stay...no meals," said Vernon.
Ace growled. You disgusting, fat piece of shit. I'll feed you to a Sea King, bastard!
Harry sighed. It's fine. He's not worth it, he thought as he closed his cupboard door.
It's not right to withhold food as a punishment, Harry! Do you have any idea what starvation can do to a person? It's barbaric!
Harry swallowed. It's my fault for doing freakish things, Ace. Because I'm not worthy of love, not worthy of food, or decency. I'm just Harry, and that's all I'll ever be.
Ace materialized next to Harry and embraced him. "Those are lies and you know it, Harry."
I'm a burden.
"Not to me," said Ace.
I'm nothing.
"You're a good person. You're loving and kind and pure, which is a hell of a feat with how you've been raised," said Ace.
Harry sniffled. "Why are you lying to me, Ace?" he asked, "Why do you say all these things like they're true?"
"Because they are," said Ace, "And anyone who tells you otherwise is toxic."
Harry shook his head. I can't take it. I'm a freak like they said.
Ace pulled him in tight. "They're petty people, Harry. Besides, what's wrong with being a freak? If your relatives are 'normal', then I'd rather be anything but. Don't you agree?"
Harry snorted. "I guess you have a point."
"Of course I do!"
Ace sat next to Harry. He didn't say anything more, but he didn't need to. Ace was determined to protect him, even if that was from his own dark emotions. He had a new chance to be a good brother, and he was determined not to fail.
Harry loved Ace. He wondered if this was anything like having a real dad. Did his mom and dad love him? Would they be proud of the person Harry was today? Or would they be ashamed of having a freak for a son?
You're not a freak, Harry.
It was an echo of Ace's words. He wondered what life on the high seas of Ace's old world would've been like. To be free as the winds, to explore and have grand adventures. He would have friends, he thought, and that would be the greatest treasure of all.
But aside from Ace, Harry was alone. Any friends he'd made were all scared off by Dudley's gang. He drew closer to Ace. Maybe he was all that Harry had for now, but maybe that would be enough. Harry stifled a sob. How messed up was it, that the only friend he had was a spirit? His family hated him, and the other kids were too scared to approach him.
You won't be alone forever, Harry. I'm sure of it, said Ace.
Harry stayed silent, closed his eyes, and fell into the world of dreams.
"Why hasn't Fire Fist's Devil Fruit reformed yet?"
The man speaking was fat and hairy. The other was wearing an obnoxious pink fur coat and pointed shoes. He was slender and tall, his grin wide.
"Oh Teach, why are you asking me? You know Devil Fruit theory as well as I do."
Teach snarled. "I know that when the user dies, they're supposed to reform! I want that Flame-Flame fruit, Doflamingo!"
Doflamigo laughed. "Do you honestly think I'd hand something like that over to you, even if I found it? You forget your place."
"I AM AN EMPEROR OF THE SEA!" Teach roared. "YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME!"
"And yet you come to me for that fruit. You can't find it without me and my underworld contacts, can you? Tell you what, I might be able to help you...For a price."
Teach sighed. "Fine. What do you know?"
Doflamingo's grin widened. "Tell me, what do you know of the multiverse theory?"