Water Lily

by Irene Sharda

An undercover RA agent notices something on the battlefield of Marineford that shouldn't be there, something only she can see. She finds life where there should be none. Deciding to take a chance, she takes a closer look, and that second glance changes everything. One brother lives, another is found, and history is altered.

19. 19 - Snippets of Life in Styx - Part II

I know! I know! It's been more than a month since my last chapter, and I'm sorry!😭

I didn't mean to take this long, but you wouldn't believe how much this chapter fought me in terms of not wanting to finish being written.😅

However, to make up for it, this is indeed my longest chapter thus far. I normally would have cut this into two parts, but I was determined to get this all out in one go. So here you are!

I hope you enjoy it!😆😘

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Chapter 19 - Snippets of Life in Styx - Part II

After that night, Ace's relationship with Lily became a lot more relaxed and while she was a strict doctor over helping him heal, his diet, and helping to physically re-train his body, the two of them had their more simple, calm moments as well. Ace was used to being loud and rowdy and kicking it back with his friends or his brother. Being with Lily and Rayleigh was different, both were calmer in their nature and mellow in their habits. It was new but not unenjoyable.

A day or so after their heart-to-heart, once he had finished eating and had become inevitably bored again, Ange was sitting in a nearby chair reading, seemingly completely engrossed in its pages.

It was the same book she had been reading that night, the one that had been Sabo's favorite when they were kids. He felt another pang of both sadness and guilt.

He had always made fun of his brother for his scholarly attributes, and at the time, he hadn't been mature enough to realize how much the knowledge of how to read and write would become invaluable in the future.

Looking back at it now, after a while Sabo would often try to limit his time reading or doing things that branched from his noble upbringing. Perhaps because he felt that it wasn't welcome among his other two less sophisticated siblings. Ace felt guilty that he could have ever made his brother feel like he had to be ashamed of his interests or that he had to limit them or even give them up to be accepted.

When he was young he was practically illiterate, having no actual schooling nor any real opportunities to learn. He knew enough letters and words to read signs around the island, and enough math skills to be able to handle money and do trade. But he hadn't really pushed those studious parts of his brain until after Sabo's death. He had pushed himself and pushed Luffy, no matter how hard or arduous it was. If Luffy was going to be Pirate King, he was going to have to be a captain that his crew could be proud of and look up to.

And if he was going to carry on both his and Sabo's dream and do what his little brother had asked of him in his last letter to him, that meant that it was up to him to make sure both he and Luffy were ready by the time they set out to sea.

And so he had succeeded (with a bit of help from Makino and Sabo's leftover books), by the time he set sail at 17, both boys were at least capable enough that they could travel the seas without being completely ignorant or immediately getting taken advantage of.

He furthered his skills through the subsequent years and gained an appreciation for knowledge and learning. But even then, he had never really considered reading for pleasure as Sabo had done, or how Ange was obviously doing now.

He had tried to get Ange's attention several times, sighing loudly or coughing obviously, however, nothing seemed to pull her eyes away from the pages.

Sighing once last time, this time in frustration, he thought about counting the planks on the ceiling for the hundredth time, when Lily suddenly laughed aloud to herself before closing the book finally, holding it close to her chest.

"That was actually a pretty good one, I'll have to thank him for suggesting it."

Ace tried his best to not look relieved, "You finished it?"

She nodded, "I've been trying to get to it for a while, but haven't really had much time to relax and read it."

"That's the Curse of Capistrano book you were reading before?"

When she confirmed this, he asked out of curiosity, "What's it about anyway? I never asked 'Bo when we were kids."

She looked over at him questioningly, "Oh, I thought it was Luffy who loved it."

He laughed out loud at that, the very thought so completely absurd it was comical! "L-Luffy? Haha, you couldn't get Luffy to sit down and read a novel if you tortured him."

She turned over to look at him understandingly, if with a trace of pity. "Ah, that's a shame, but in answer to your question, it's about a nobleman who finds out that the government has become corrupt and is taking advantage of and abusing the common people of the land. He hides his identity and lives a double life, becoming a masked vigilante to fight back to protect and free the people."

As much as he was loath to admit it, it did sound interesting. "Sounds like something that a Revolutionary would read."

And he hated to admit it, but he could actually understand why Sabo had loved it too. Besides the obvious love for adventure and considering the past he had tried to run away from, he could see Sabo being interested in a nobleman who hides who he is in order to fight against those in authority. The same world authority that would one day take his life…

Thinking back, he and Bo had always wanted to be pirates, but if he really thought about it and considering what he knows now that he didn't then, Sabo would have probably made a fine Revolutionary.

It would have satisfied his love for exploration and adventure, as he heard from Lily's own description of her fellow soldiers, but it would have also given fuel to a purpose that just hadn't been as strong in Ace as it had been for his twin.

Sure he hated the World Government, more now than ever before. But Sabo had that intelligence and drive, that hunger to change the world. If his brother had lived, and he knew then what he knew now? He'd have kicked Sabo off their shared ship, marched over to wherever Dragon and his ilk hid out, and (after both thanking him and taking a swing at him, not sure in which order) demanded that he take his blond brother under his wing!

Painful yawning in his stomach intensified as he took a breath, trying to release the growing amalgam of what-ifs beginning to form. He hadn't thought about Sabo this much since he was killed. He hadn't realized how raw the pain still was, even after all this time.

Bringing himself back to the present, Lily was talking animatedly about the plot none of which he heard, but don't tell her that before stopping and just offering the book over to him. "Here, you should read it yourself."

He looked at it hesitantly. His first thought was to say no, he wasn't interested in reading some boring book. However, it seemed that his doctor had read the look on his face already because she got one of those "seriously?" looks out again.

"What? Weren't you super bored moments ago? Or were those constant sighs and pretend coughs from before, my imagination?"

He felt his cheeks redden at the fact that she had actually been listening, but just ignoring him. Before he could completely submit to the embarrassment, she thrust the book at his chest and let it fall into his limp hands.

"Besides, we can call it a coordination-strengthening exercise. You've been doing better with the muscles in your hands and arms. We can continue that, by having you hold, pick up, and turn the pages of a book."

Looking at the hard black cover of the tome in front of him, he carefully picked it up. He felt a bit of strain and only some shakiness now, but it was much better than it had been.

It took a few tries to open the cover and finally get to the first page. However, once he looked at the strings of text laid out on the parchment pages of the book, he felt the first seeds of dread take root.

He let the cover slide closed before pushing it back towards her.

"That's okay, I'm fine. I'm trying to continue improving my chess skills anyway."

Lily looked at him disbelievingly. Rayleigh had tried to teach Ace chess, but he had fallen asleep both times–before he had even made the first move.

"Well, I have other books—"

"Nope! That's okay, really. I'm good, Ange. Perfect!"

The look of disbelief on her face grew, before transforming into something a bit more thoughtful. She seemed to see right through him.

After a while, he couldn't maintain eye contact and had to look off to the side to avoid her gaze. Darn, those intense snow-crystal eyes!

However, he couldn't ignore her when she jumped over him and plopped down next to him on the other side of the bed. "W-What are you–"

She took the novel back and turned back to the beginning—to those words that were a bit outside of his reach. "Well, I don't like getting bored either, and you still need to exercise your muscles. So how about we read it together? You hold the book and turn the pages, and I'll read to you and then you read to me?"

His face flushed. He kinda did want to read it, especially since it had been Sabo's favorite book, but the shame and chagrin he felt at the fact that his level of learning was nowhere near that of the unknown words he saw on the page wasn't something he wanted to admit to. Especially not in front of Ange.

However, he didn't see any way out of it. Anything he did now, other than just getting angry and snapping at her or laughing it off, would reveal his weakness. His first instinct was to turn to either of those timeworn options, to go back to his usual modus operandi.

And yet, this time, he didn't want to do that. He didn't want to take the easy way out here. Get a grip, Ace. You're an idiot but you're not a coward.

Biting the bullet, he murmured reluctantly looking away, "Ange…I…the thing is…"

"Shh, it's okay…just read." Her voice was gentle and kind, with no trace of pity or condescension in her tone. There was something else there that he couldn't quite understand too. "Let's start here."

She pointed out the start, her eyes not on him as she handed him back the book. He watched her for a moment, trying to figure her out, before reminding himself once again that he wasn't going to run away from this. She wanted to do this, he could at least humor the idea. At least he wasn't bored.

Sighing in reluctance, he concentrated hard on the words on the page. "'Again the….um, shit'?"

"'Sheet'" came the quiet correction and he looked over in surprise. Ange glanced over at him from the corner of her eye, a small knowing smile on her lips before looking back down at the book awaiting him.

It was then that he understood what she had been silently saying with her voice from before.

I'll help you…

He inwardly chuckled as well as gave a sigh of relief. His confidence swelling once again, he smirked. "I knew that."

He began again, his voice a bit stronger this time. "'Again the sheet of rain beat agai…against the roof of the….'"

---

And thus began what unironically became one of Ace's favorite times of the day. He hadn't imagined how much he would actually enjoy reading of all things. He and Ange would alternate paragraphs and then pages as she unobtrusively helped him get through the tough unknown words, improving his literacy skills.

Normally, he would reject any kind of help, but he knew that Ange wasn't coddling him or thinking less of him by helping him. The connection they had formed had allowed him to understand the true altruistic motives behind her actions.

He also didn't feel exposed or intimidated the same way that he did when he had sometimes been taught by members of his crew like Marco or Izo, in things that they felt he should already know.

He also didn't realize how much one could truly enjoy really getting into a novel.

How well it could almost transport you somewhere else and how close you became to the characters, whose stories were playing before you. He usually would say that there was no reason to read about the adventures of others when you could have your own.

But sitting here with little to do and being stuck in one spot for hours on end, he found that the novel helped not only to pass the time, but to allow him to forget for a least a little while, where he was. (all that had gone wrong with his life and the worries he had for his brother, his crew, and even for those back home.)

He and Ange would read together and he had finished the first book faster than he had thought possible. (He'd definitely have to apologize to Sabo when he returned to the afterlife, that book was awesome!)

He had asked for another one, which the lady doctor happily provided. Sometimes they would continue reading aloud to each other, and other times he would continue silently on his own.

Rayleigh would watch them from time to time when he would return from either going out to check on Marco or whatever other secret things the old man did when he was not with them. He often just observed them with amusement, only commenting that he was glad Ace had found a new outlet for his lethargy.

Days continued to go by and Ace continued to recover. His relationship with Ange had grown and strengthened into a strong friendship that he treasured. Rayleigh, while still hard to get close to, was not bad for an old man, both living up to the legend and supplanting it as well.

He wasn't quite as he expected, but then again, his expectations for any of the Roger pirates had been pretty abysmal, to begin with. With his views on so many things being changed and challenged since his "death", he was beginning to question a lot of what he had once thought was set in stone.

As one day passed into the next, all in all, their idyllic time in Styx had been a lot more enjoyable than he had first expected.

But as they say, all good things must come to an end.

---

It had been about four days since they had been living in the house in Styx. Lily had changed Ace's diet three times, increasing the meal size each time, but still managing to make it balanced, even though she admitted that more than doubling his protein intake had been a good idea in order to help him regain his lost mass.

His limbs had been getting stronger and he was improving his coordination, able to now move his arms freely and hold onto and move most simple objects. This day, she had applauded him at the fact that he could, for the first time actually rise up on his torso from the waist by himself. She was so happy at the accomplishment, that she almost missed his next words.

Almost.

Even as sweat fell from his face from his most recent exertion, he declared, "I wanna try and walk on my own."

The Revolutionary's face fell at those determined words and the stubborn drive behind them. However, just as quickly, a stubbornness of her own rose up. "What? Are you insane? It's too soon. It took all we could do to get this far."

He frowned at her no-nonsense tone but didn't back down. "I won't know unless I try, Ange."

"And I told you when you first woke up, less than a week ago, that this process could take months. Yes, you're doing better than I had ever expected, but you rushing things will have the opposite effect." She responded sternly.

Ace grit his teeth in frustration, "I need you to understand, Ange. I can do this, I need to try."

"You need to listen to me. You're not strong enough to support your own weight yet." The white-haired woman argued in return.

"You should listen to the doctor, brat," Rayleigh commented from behind his newspaper, speaking from the other side of the room.

Irritation was beginning to build. Why couldn't they understand? His body was used to bouncing back fast, and he was making so much progress. If he really put his mind and will to this, he was sure that he could do it! Plus, while he was enjoying the time he spent reading and playing games with his two companions, they had a freedom that he did not.

They could get up and go on with their day, going where they pleased. He was stuck in that one spot, sleeping, eating, and waking up in the same place for days on end. He was going to go crazy if he had to stay in that bed any longer! He had never spent that much time in a bed in his life—even with the narcolepsy!

And so it was that disgruntlement that caused his signature fiery temper to begin to flair up again. "Stay out of this, old man. No one was asking you."

Rayleigh simply raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him before silently dismissing him in favor of continuing to read whatever had previously interested him.

Ace decided that it was his body and he didn't need their permission to try and push it just a bit more. Pushing with his hands against the wall, he used the leverage to try and swing the lower half of his body off the mattress. Lily watched him struggle with her own building annoyance.

"Fine, if you want to work out your legs Ace, we can begin on that in a few more days. We have to build up to that. You also are going to need some support to do this, you can't do it on your own. Let Silvers help you. Or me! And we'll—"

The raven snapped at her in anger, "I don't need your help! Just let me do this!"

The flash of hurt comes and goes so quickly that he doesn't pick up on it. Lily closes her mouth, her eyes flatten and go slightly dull and she goes on the back foot, mentally and physically backing off.

Rayleigh's voice comes over from his chair, "Let him do what he wants, missy. He'll never know if he doesn't try."

There were unspoken words there, but they remained unsaid.

She silently backed up, basically giving him his room, withdrawing. Ace exhaled heavily. Now that both his babysitter critics were off his back, he could concentrate on getting his body to do what he wanted.

He could feel the strain on his core, his torso, and his limbs from trying to keep his current posture, but he ignored it and pushed it away. This was a matter of will. He wasn't weak. He was going to do this.

Taking deep breaths he continued to push against the wall and turn his body. A bead of sweat rose up on his forehead as he persevered, eventually getting to the point where his left leg reached the edge of the bed. Letting gravity do the work, his lower leg finally swung down by the knee, his bare foot finally reaching the ground. He gave a sigh of relief. One down, one to go.

Once he had gotten the left leg down, the right followed pretty easily and soon his body was finally positioned perpendicular to the bed, with both his feet on the floor. He savored the feeling for a moment, Lily quietly watched from near the headboard, her arms crossed, her face impassive.

Now came the hard…harder part.

Deciding that the mattress wasn't the best support to gain enough force to get his legs beneath him, he pushed himself to the end of the bed. Straining his arms and his obliques to move his body to the side, he reached the bedpost. Okay, so far, so good. Reaching it, he pushed against it trying to strengthen his grip and pull his body up.

His entire body was stretched taunt, pushed to its limit, almost as if he had climbed the entirety of Mt. Corvo three times over. And yet he continued, his determination driving him. He could do this!

Panting from exertion, a healthy sheen of sweat now quite obvious on his face and body, he finally was able to lift himself from the bed. Almost immediately the pull of gravity seemed to double and his legs and arms shook horribly from the effort.

Almost there…

Gritting his teeth, and with a final loud yell, he straightened his upper body so that he was fully upright. And—he had done it! He was finally standing!

Albeit, barely, with his body screaming at him and while still with both hands on the bedpost—but none of that mattered! For the first time since he had fought on the rocky shores of Marineford, he was standing on his own two feet!

He looked over at Ange with wonder, a silly smile of delight on his face. She watched him with wide worried eyes, though a bit of astonishment also was beginning to show as well. Behind the newspaper, a hesitant smile appeared.

Grinning widely, Ace took a deep breath, pushing his will a little further, he carefully lifted one hand off the bedpost. Almost immediately his body wavered dangerously. Lily reached out on instinct, her eyes widening more in alarm, in them was written everything she wanted to say with her voice, but just as the movement of her hand aborted and she pulled it back, so too did she stop herself from speaking her warnings of caution.

The anguish his body was going through was unbearable and sweat dripped from his skin but despite it all, with one last final push, he took his other hand off of the post.

Biting his lip, he immediately wanted to topple over, His legs trembling even more, but he lifted his arms and shift his feet ever so in order to balance himself.

He heard Ange gasp behind him and his grin widened exponentially and he let out peals of delighted laughter.

He was standing.

By himself.

On the ground.

Without help!

"You see! huff-huff I told you! It's just a matter of determination."

His chest swelled with pride even as Lily continued to watch him with worrying eyes, a bit of surprise though, twinkled in their depths. Rayleigh had yet to actually look at him as far as he could tell, but what did he care what the old man thought? He had shown them both! He could do this! He could—

Ace, whether from instinct or habit, had unconsciously shifted his foot as if to move forward. And like the smallest pebble that was holding up the great boulders at the top of a mountain, or the lynchpin of a great wheel being pulled, one small movement, and the entire integrity of the structure came tumbling down.

His joints had taken all they could take, the muscles having been pushed to their very limits could no longer keep steady in their contraction. His ankles and then his legs collapsed onto themselves. It was only a split second, but Ace found himself falling to the floor in a heap.

CRRACK!

His legs hadn't had the strength to move and untangle themselves, and a loud SNAP could be heard as the weakened bones in his lower leg broke from the torsion.

Instinctively he attempted to catch himself, but his energy has been exhausted and he couldn't make his arms do what they wanted. His wrists too cracked from the pressure, unable to move as they should have.

And on top of that, unbeknownst to him, his temple was about to collide with the very bedpost that he had been using as support. It would have caused a pretty nasty head injury if not for the fact that at the last minute, a pair of strong hands hadn't grabbed his upper body catching it with its own.

The entire fall had happened in little more than a second and after it was over, Ace felt the wind knocked out of him as his body and mind tried to catch up with what happened.

One second he was looking up into the relieved but knowing eyes of Rayleigh who had been the one to catch him. The next, bolts of agonizing pain ran up his limbs and he jerked his eyes closed, yelling out as it radiated through his entire body!

He wanted to curl up his hands into fists, but his broken wrists wouldn't allow it. Instead, he had to settle for clenching his teeth, his breathing quickening through them. He felt a pair of strong arms lift him up securely but as carefully as possible.

Even then, the jostling sent spikes of agony through his body. It wasn't just his fractured bones, but now that he had inadvertently released them all, his muscles were screaming. It was like they had all been pulled and cramped at once!

He was quickly moved and laid back down on a soft surface. He didn't even have to open his eyes to know that it was his bed. That damned bed. His entire body throbbed as he felt someone moving his covers over to be able to lay out his limbs.

Another set of hands carefully touched the side of his leg. These hands were smaller and lighter. Even through his panting breaths, he reopened his eyes a bit. Standing above him, Ange was looking over him. Her eyes didn't meet his and her face was unreadable. Instead, she seemed to be examining his body with clinical efficiency, an emotionless visage, her mouth set in a line.

"Hold still," she said quietly.

He nearly bit into his lip holding back a scream as she straightened out his legs and then his arms. That accomplished, she stood up, and looked him over coldly, before turning on her heel and walking out of the room.

No one said anything and other than his huffing breaths, the room was quiet. And yet so heavy in its silence.

Foolish.

Even while enduring the painful torment of his own body, in some ways Ace begged for it. It was fitting for such an absolute fool as himself. How dare he think so highly of himself? How dare he let his pride run away so far from him? Hadn't he learned his lesson yet?

Shame.

As he lay there in agony, in the same spot that he had worked so hard to get away from, a layer of shame and humiliation compounded upon him. It wasn't simply that he had failed and so spectacularly. He had failed many times in his life.

But his failure made it all the more clear what Rayleigh and Ange had been trying to tell him. What Ange had tried to warn him about multiple times, practically pleading with him to listen to her.

And what had he done? He'd snapped at her, bitten her head off simply because of his own arrogance and impatience. Rayleigh too, who had done nothing but take care of him in ways he had never experienced from any other adult figure in his life!

And what did he do in return? The moment that the man tried to tell him something that he didn't want to hear he threw his help back in his face!

Wetness gathered in his eyes, and very little of it came from the pain of his tearing muscles and snapped bones.

Had he really grown so little? Hadn't he promised himself that he wouldn't return vinegar for honey? Were his promises worth that little?

Maybe they were?

He'd already broken his promise to Luffy, to his crew, to Pops, to Marco, to Thatch, to Ange, to Sabo—to nearly all the people that mattered to him, he had left nothing but a string of broken promises in his wake. And now even his promises to himself were falling through. What good was the word of a scoundrel really?

Despair.

Every motion of his body was like knives against his flesh and it radiated through him like a vengeful echo, lashing back at him for what he had foolishly put it through. He had made such progress in the last few days, but he couldn't help but feel like he had regressed all the way back to day one.

Ange had warned him that pushing himself too early could cause damage and could even possibly cripple him for life. But had he listened? The lady had brought him back from the precipice of death, and he had the nerve to argue with her about what was best. And now, her prophetic words had come true.

He had broken bones before. Had torn muscles before too. But never had it been like this. It was almost as if nothing fits right anymore. As if someone had crushed a butterfly's drying wings that were just starting to uncurl from the chrysalis.

He didn't know what the end result would be, but his first instinct wasn't pretty. He couldn't imagine how angry Ange must be with him. How disappointed. And what made it worse, was that he saw none of that from her. She hadn't yelled at him or blamed him or even said "I told you so". All of which he deserved.

Instead, she hadn't said anything. She had barely even looked at him, very little emotion shown. She'd closed herself off. He realized that now. The moment he had rejected her, she cut herself off from him. It had been her defense…against him.

He let the anguish course through him, not even having deserved her touch when she straightened out his limbs for him to make him just the least bit more comfortable. Rayleigh too, while the man hadn't needed to—had known what kind of fool he was being—he had protected him from further injury, picked him up, and even still was trying to make the bed more comfortable.

He tried to speak up, to say something. But anything he could think of felt inadequate and insufficient. On one hand, he was happy and amazed the man would continue to help him at all, but on the other, a darker part of him wanted him to leave him alone to stew in his own failure. Ange had left him to do just that, he should too. He didn't deserve their care. He'd made his bed, he now literally had to lie in it.

This setback would mean that he would be a burden to them for even longer. He had in actuality, accomplished the exact opposite of what he had meant to do. The more freedom I try to gain, the more I end up chaining myself down.

Movement at the door had him glance up and he was surprised to see the white-haired doctor return. Her expression was still closed off though as she carried with her a bowl of ice water and a cloth. Rayleigh made room for her, moving the chair closer so she could sit by his side.

Ace was clueless as to why she had come back, but he was glad that she had.

He hissed at the sudden cold when she ran the icy-soaked cloth over his skin, but the numbing effect it had was quick to kick in. The pain didn't go away, but it did dim just a little. After a minute or two of this, she put the bowl and cloth down before speaking to him softly, "I'm going to need you to keep as still as possible. This will feel strange to you as I've never done this while you were conscious."

He looked over are her with questioning eyes. Done what? "Ange…?"

He got his answer and his eyes went round with wonder and horror as she raised her hands over his body and her shadowed snow-crystal eyes when ablaze with light! A subsequent white glow came around her hands and her fingers began to move like that of a marionettist.

Wonder because while he had seen her activate her fruit's ability before, and had even been frozen by it, it had never been this intense with this much power. Horror, because he now realize what it was she intended to do and he hated it. It filled him to the brim with self-loathing.

Why?

…Why?!

Why was she doing this? She shouldn't have to do this!

It had been his fault. His fault!

He should be the one to suffer and pay for his mistakes, for his pride and ignorance.

But no, even with how he treated her, Ange was still willing to waste her own energy and strength to heal him again even though he didn't deserve it.

He wanted to tell her to stop, to beg her to not use up her valuable power on someone like him. He opened his mouth to do just that, only to feel a hand on his shoulder.

He glanced up at Rayleigh who looked down at him with knowing eyes. The silver-haired man shook his head with a small smile before shushing him with a finger and mouthing silently—let her concentrate. Ace then began to feel a strange tingling and tugging sensation come over his body as the healer beside him began to knit his bones, muscles, and flesh back together.

Watching her at work in this way for the first time only cemented to the raven-haired young man what an amazing woman he had the fortune of meeting. Especially when his thoughts went back to all the torture and hardship she had gone through for this power and the sacrifices made to develop it.

It made him feel all the worse.

Not wanting to distract her—knowing that if she messed up and harmed him, it would hurt her much more than it would him—he swallowed his outcry of frustration, biting his lip to hold it in.

That however didn't stop the tears, that had built up since his tumble, from overflowing. Since when did he become such a whimpering tear fountain? Closing his eyes tight, he kept absolutely still, not moving other than to breathe. He'd caused enough trouble for everyone today.

He'd told Luffy long ago that he would live a life with no regrets.

So why was it, that regret was all he kept finding at every turn?

---

Lily worked on Ace without rest for several hours. Every so often Rayleigh would supply her with food and water. Ace himself stayed silent and unmoving the entire time. Sometimes silent tears would flow, other times he would grit his teeth in an effort to keep them back.

By the time she was done, the fractures of his wrist and forearms and his ankles had healed and the microtears that had spread throughout his muscle tissue from overuse while they were still weak, were on the mend. By the time she was done, all was as it had been. The pain had dimmed to nothing and while the weakness still was there, it was no longer insurmountable.

The moment she was done and released her power, she fell over in exhaustion, only to be caught with ease by Rayleigh and carried without a word back to her room and bed.

A thick silence had come over the house, no one had spoken since the incident. The uncomfortable tension continued on into what they had designated as the night (it's hard to tell day from night in a place that's in perpetual darkness). The older man, who seemed the most at ease with the unusual quiet, offered Ace a simple fare of soup and bread for dinner. But the last thing the D. boy wanted was to eat, so he ignored the offer. Ray seemed to take it all in stride and simply went to take his own dinner at his bed before putting out the light, the entire house finally descending into darkness.

---

Hours went by, Ace didn't know how long he lay there awake. His mind completely jumbled in Gordian knots. His emotional self felt completely exhausted, and his mental self wasn't that far away.

He wished more than anything that he could turn back time and go back to how things had been that morning. Or even further back, before he had ever heard Akainu's taunt. Or even further to before he had left the Moby without permission….and there he goes again…down the rabbit hole.

One could go crazy thinking like this. And in some ways, he wasn't so sure that he wasn't.

The easy solution would be to simply apologize. He was pretty sure that he knew his two companions enough now to think that they would accept it with grace. But then what?

What happens when he breaks his promise again? What happens when he inevitably fails and—Sigh. There he goes again.

On and on it went with the young D bearer, before eventually, his body and its needs began to make themselves known to him, breaking through his melancholy.

Ace bit his lips in annoyance, trying to will it away. Not now!

But it seems his body wouldn't be denied and the pressure on his bladder became more and more noticeable. He would die if he made an incident that either of his companions had to clean up. That was off the table entirely.

Usually, he would ask Rayleigh to help him, but after he had talked back to the man today, he didn't know if the man would deign to do so anymore.

Ange was out of the question. She was 1) a girl and 2) had completely exhausted herself healing him because of his own mistakes and refused to wake her, and 3) she was a freaking girl.

With all those options off the table, that left only one option and he felt the pit of his stomach twist at even the thought. If he did anything wrong that damaged all of Ange's precious work, he would never forgive himself. As if he could ever do that, to begin with. But what choice did he have? He'd run out of options.

So, despite being full of uncertainties, Ace took a deep breath and reached out to grasp the edge of the bed. His grasping is still as strong as before thanks to Ange, so with a bit of maneuvering, he tries to pull himself out of bed. He doesn't even think to try and stand again, only to at least get to the floor where he can possibly drag himself to where he needs to go.

He got about halfway out of bed when a calm voice called out to him, "Brat, is there something you wanna ask me?"

Ace feels his face flush at the fact that Rayleigh had caught him in the act. His shame fought with his pride as he tried to decide how to answer him. He didn't know how to explain himself without going down one of those dreaded rabbit holes and so he did the only thing he could think to do.

He ignored the problem entirely.

Going back to trying to find a way to get his lower half off the bed without completely tumbling off of it, he tried to pull slowly at his legs, despite the still tenderness of his muscles. He sadly forgot that today even the covers of his bed were against him and just as he made his move, his legs got tangled in the fabric and he fell off the bed with a loud yelp.

And for the second time and only so many hours, he found himself back in the older man's protective hold. For an old guy, the Dark King sure moved fast. How did he do that, anyway? He didn't even see him get up!

Even in the gloom of the darkness, he could see the twinkle in the man's eye and his quirked brow. His tone held a bit of amused censure."If it's all the same to you, I don't think we should overwork the little missy now should we?"

He flinched at his words, the dark claws of his mind rearing their ugly heads at the reminder of what happened. However, before they could even find sufficient purchase, he let out a gasp of surprise as Rayleigh suddenly lifted him up and silently carried him out of the room.

He realized quickly (and with hidden relief) from their path that the man was going to take him where he needed to go. Though unfortunately, he wasn't carrying him on his back like he usually did, but in his arms, which wasn't bad, but made him seem like some delicate girly flower.

"Um, you know you don't have to…"

"You needed to take a leak right?"

"Uh yeah, but—"

"Then that's where we're going. You had your chance to ask properly, so we're doing things my way now."

Ace shut up since the man was right, and just let him do as wanted. He really had no room to argue. Thankfully the journey wasn't far and Ace was left to do his business in peace to the overwhelming joy of his bladder.

When he was ready to go back, the silver-haired man picked him back up (on his back this time) and carried him out. However, he didn't turn and go back towards the familiar path back to the bedroom. Instead, he turned towards the left, towards a darkened path that he had never thought to venture.

"Wait…where are we going?" He questioned, only the slightest bit of caution in his tone. He had a pretty good idea that the old man didn't have it out for him or anything, so he was mostly curious, his interest peaked.

The man's answer didn't satisfy though, as he only responded with a simple "Wait and see."

He carried him through into the shadows, of that part of the hallway and down some stairs at the end, It became darker and darker and Ace had to allow his eyes to adjust. His first instinct was to use fire to light the way, but at the first bit of smoke, a haki-coated finger reached over and smothered it. "Uh-Uh, still no flames allowed, Wildfire."

Ace moved past the new nickname that Shanks had started and his ex-crewmate only seemed to continue, only to sigh with impatience. "Oh come on, at least let me see where we're going if you're not gonna tell me."

"You're just going to have to trust me then, won't you?"

Ace pursed his lips at that. "Fine…"

His answer was so automatic that it took him a moment to realize that he did indeed trust the man who had been Roger's right hand, Silvers Rayleigh. Something he would not have in a million years thought possible only months ago.

The older man seemed to also have found hidden meaning in his response, as held him just a little bit closer, and his voice got just a twinge thicker before we responded, "I promise I won't drop you."

After a few more feet, Ace couldn't see at all and he felt the man shift around the area, moving things with his feet. The man must have better night vision than an owl to see anything in this area of the house.

He spoke back to him, "I'm going to need you to hang on with your legs as much as you can. I have to grab something and I'm going to need one of my hands."

And so he tried to awkwardly hang on as the man grabbed a few things from wherever they were stashed in the room. He then heard the sound of liquids being poured and mixed…? What the?

A familiar smell of bark and resin tickled his nose, but he couldn't quite place where he had—

"Hold your breath."

"Wha–" The word wasn't even all the way out of his mouth before a strange cold liquid was dumped over his head!

Closing his mouth, nose, and eyes on instinct, he clutched closer to the older man as the deluge continued. What the heck was the man doing? Trying to drown him?!

He kept his eyes closed, holding his breath for a while before he felt the man tap him on the arm, "It's okay, you can open them now."

Blinking he realized he wasn't at all wet like he would have expected. Instead, despite the darkness, he noticed a slightly iridescent sheen to the space surrounding him and Rayleigh. It was then that he realized where he had smelled and seen such stuff before!

"Wait! This is the same coating stuff they use in Saboady and when they coat ships!"

The silver-haired man smirked knowingly, "Indeed."

He tried to reach out and touch the edges of the bubble that was surrounding them. "But how did you—"

He didn't say anymore but a bunch of questions that were rolling around in Ace's head involving the hows, whens, and whys he and the old man were now wrapped in a resin bubble, were all cut off when the man turned some latches and cranks only to open a section of the blackness revealing what actually was door to the relatively brighter display of the open air.

The outside!

There was an OUTSIDE!

Rayleigh smiled lightly in response to his dumbstruck astonishment, and only gave a light laugh telling him, "Hold on."

As he exited the house and outside into the world of the unknown, Ace couldn't seem to pick his jaw up off of the proverbial floor. I mean, he knew from the explanations his companions had given that he was in some weird pocket dimension that was made of darkness.

He had never seen anything but pitch black from out of the window of his room and so even though in the very back of his mind a tiny part of him was interested in exploring this new world he had never heard of, he had mostly just chalked it up to being just a boring sea of black that would be just as boring as his bedroom had become.

However, to his utter amazement and joy, that wasn't the case at all!

A constant miasma-like black fog indeed seemed to lay low over the land (and yes there was land!) and it parted around the bubble of space that surrounded him and Silvers. However, below it, he could make out what seemed to be grasses that were the color of ash. In fact, all around them were fields of plants that were dark and shadowy in color, but that burst with vibrant life all the while!

He looked out across the vistas of this new world with wonder. Once one's eyes adjusted, he realized that there was a slight luminescence to what was essentially the sky of this place, that separated it from the darker shadows of the ground at their feet. He could now see that what had once appeared to be a void of black, now had depth and dimension.

Over the low-hanging fog, he could see clearly the far-away outlines of mountains and rolling hills, even making out the movement of waterfalls! Once one got used to it, you could pick apart the many different shades of grays, darks, and ebonies that painted this world called Styx.

He tried to turn his head up, over, and around to try to look and gape in delight at this world that he'd been living in all this time and had no idea had even been here! He turned around as they traveled and he could make out the dark silent monolith that was their house and even the window to his bedroom.

He was ecstatic to be leaving it but for a second a strike of worry came over him about Ange being left there sleeping and alone. He was about to turn to voice his worry to the other man, but like many times before, the elder already anticipated what he was going to say.

"Don't worry about the little lady. We won't be going far and there haven't been any other living things approaching here since we arrived. I think this land once hosted much more life in years gone by, but with the Cimmerians pretty much extinct, it's thrown the symbiosis of this world out of line. What you see is what's left, beautiful as it is, but a lot more quiet than it once was."

Ace had noticed that. He had grown up in humongous forests and had lived in the ambiance of the jungle. True, this otherworldly environment in no way resembled a jungle, they were plains at best. There was no sound of animal life, nor hum of insects, or really anything that suggested life lived here other than their own footsteps. The silence would have been offputting if not for the gentle breezes that caressed the land and moved the fog, as well as the faraway sound of water flowing.

Rayleigh continued, "Besides, I can sense if there was danger nearby. You can too."

Ace had totally forgotten about trying to use haki, but he guessed that indeed employing his observation skills would be a better way in making sure their house was safe. Sending out his own senses and haki, he found himself bouncing off of Rayliegh's much more impressive net, but the man's presence wasn't threatening, but rather supporting, like a steady pillar. Further out than him, was the slumbering presence of Ange back at the house, and other than that he could feel nothing else of any note.

His worry satisfied, he drew back into himself and relaxed, and continued to take in the scenery as they made their way towards wherever it was that they were going. He would have loved to have gone off on his own to explore. If he was in full health, he would probably be running all about the place, maybe even giving a hyper Luffy a run for his money. He had been cooped up for a long time, okay!

But just being outside for the first time in forever was enough for now. Just the change in scenery was enough to lift his somber spirits from only a few hours ago.

---

Rayleigh subtly monitored the boy as he continued up into the Styxian hills. He had been doing so for days and in his own way, getting a chance to know the kid.

He had heard of Firefist Ace for a while since he had burst onto the scene as one of the many supernova pirates of his time. But this was his first time truly getting a chance to know Ace the person, his best friend's child.

He remembered when Sengoku had revealed the truth to the world, and how he had somehow already known what the fleet admiral had been going to say before he had even said a word.

When he saw the boy forced on his knees, black unruly hair shadowing a face of torment, glinting blades at the ready to separate his head from his shoulders, his mind suddenly flashed back to a scene more than two decades before, when a man of a similar look and a similar if stockier build also was put in a similar position. At that moment—he knew. He knew, and he cursed Roger for his damned secrets!

His heart had shuddered and a glass of whiskey had fallen from his hand to shatter on the ground. He had stood at that moment, hand at the hilt of his blade, his every instinct telling him to fly over to the battlefield himself.

It had taken every ounce of self-restraint he had to sit back down on that bar stool. To remind himself that Sengoku would have prepared for that and would be watching him and that he would probably only make the situation worse. As much as it ate at him to do so, he had to trust in Whitebeard and his ability to protect his own.

But when news of the death of Portgas D. Ace and Whitebeard hit, he wasn't sure really how to feel.

It reminded him of when, years ago Shakky had told him she had miscarried. Not as personally crushing of course, but that sense of deep-seated pain of having a building sense of anticipation and joy, only for it to be smashed to pieces like a ship wrecking on the rocks. That sorrow of never even getting to know something that you knew would go beyond all preconceived expectations.

The pain was later pushed aside, as it so often is, in favor of resolve. That was until he came upon his red-headed brat and a fateful storm. A storm that had carried this D child back into his life.

He had been given a chance that he hadn't expected, and so had decided to stick around. He began to get to know Ace, despite the kid's obvious hesitancy. He saw many of the same strengths and weaknesses that he had come across in his many years of having sailed the seas.

Much was what he expected to see, and yet as he observed him, while Ace had many of the traits typical of a young hotheaded boy his age, there were other things that he saw in him that concerned him.

And after the walking incident today, he'd decided enough was enough. It was time for a talk and a change of scene.

And so here they were, making their way up an outcropping, with the kid looking every which way in wonder. He was happy to announce when they'd gotten to their chosen location, "We're here."

---

Ace once again let his jaw drop with a gasp at the breathtaking panorama that lay sprawled out before his eyes.

The grass below their feet was lush and so dark in color that it now had an almost bluish hue. As Rayliegh let him down off his back, their bubble pulled and expanded into two, and it gave him a bit of breathing room. He lay down in the grass, and it felt like a cool rich carpet against his skin. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling a ton of the built-up tension in his body unwind.

Not even able to sit easily, he weakly pushed himself into a sitting position and looked ahead to see over the edge of the hilltop to one of those earlier waterfalls running over the opposite cliffside, dark purple waters greeting a hazy iridescent cloud of mist. The river continued on below in the valley, and the many variations of blacks, grays, silvers, blues, and purples painted the landscape in an otherworldly majesty. The sky was pitch dark without evidence of celestial bodies, but even it seemed to have a veil of opalescent vapor that led to a subtle brilliance.

He had been to many different places and had seen so many different wild, strange, and beautiful things in his 20 years. Yet, he didn't know what it was, maybe because he had been in such a low place before this, or perhaps it was because the peaceful quiet reminded him so much of that place that he had met his mother, but for once he felt simply and utterly content.

He closed his eyes and smiled tranquilly, "Thanks for bringing me here, Rayleigh."

The other nodded with an acknowledging smile. "You needed it."

He didn't bother to deny it. The two sat there in silence for several moments, simply enjoying the halcyon surroundings. Ace eventually fell back and relaxed against the ground while Rayleigh leaned against a nearby tree and took out the wood sliver he seemed to perpetually be whittling at. After several minutes of comfortable silence, Ace finally decided it was time to break it.

It had been a long time coming since that afternoon, and the guilt of not having done so before, only compounded more and more with every selfless action the old man continued to perform despite how much of a jerk he had been. He could not avoid facing the music any longer.

He spoke quietly, but clearly, slightly avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry for what I said before."

Ray only smiled knowingly continuing with his carving. "Hmm…no problem."

Ace turned to him in surprise, "Wait, what? That's it?"

The older man gave a small laugh, "Kid, do you know how many brats I've had to deal with over my lifetime? Do you know how many idiots I've had to reel in while I was a pirate? I had to literally raise two of them from near infancy. You really think this is the first time I've had to deal with a temper tantrum? I'm used to moody brats acting like children."

His cheeks turn red and shame-faced. But he couldn't deny the man's words when he put them that way.

Yet the man continued, his words getting a slightly more serious edge, "However, that missy in there who has helped you this whole time more than she ever needed to? You need to apologize to her."

The shame tripled, "I know."

Rayleigh glanced over at him from the corner of his eye before putting his tools down and giving the kid his attention. "It was a mistake, we all have done them. And you're going to make more of them, that's just what being human's all about. No reason to keep beating yourself up because of it. As long as you learn from it, that's what's important."

Ace looked back up to the sky, "And…what if you can't?"

An eyebrow raised in response, "Can't…?"

He breathed out in exasperation, his thoughts from before spilling out, needing an outlet now that he had begun. "Every time I think I've changed, every time I promise myself that I'm going to be better. That I'm going to do better. That I won't disappoint another person or myself again. And yet, I make the same mistakes over and over again!"

He gritted his teeth in anguish, "My mistakes cost so many people their lives. Thatch? I was Teech's superior, I should have known what kind of person he was. I felt something was off, but I thought it was my own penchant for distrust. If I'd paid attention to my instincts, Thatch would still be alive! If I had listened to Pops, or just been stronger, I wouldn't have gotten captured and thrown my entire family into a war. Pops wouldn't have had to die! Luffy? If I'd just listened to him…or, better yet? If I'd learned from my previous mistakes he wouldn't have been put in danger in the first place! And now that I get another chance, I end up mistreating the very people who are trying to help me."

He balled up his fist in frustration, his anger releasing in a sigh. "But what did I expect? It all just leads back to the biggest mistake of all…"

Rayleigh only watched and observed and listened, getting a measure of the child beside him and what was truly at the root of all of this. There were several things he could have said, but he chose his words and his approach carefully.

Pulling a flask from his pocket, he unscrewed the top and took a swig before pushing the container into Ace's bubble. The boy took it with a look of slight confusion at the gesture. They hadn't let him have alcohol at all since he had woken up, but Ray thought that he could allow it this once.

Ace shrugged and took a drink, though immediately began coughing, his body no longer used to such strong spirits. The older man chuckled before taking the flask back. He then spoke again.

"A long time ago there was a young man, who like you very early in his life, become a pirate. He showed a lot of promise and he had a dream, a goal of his own. Everything was going right for him. That was until his entire crew was killed."

Ace looked up at him disturbed, but the man continued on undeterred.

"It would have been one thing if the attack had come from without. But no, it was all because of a traitor within the crew itself, one whom the man had considered a brother. In the end, the man had to end up killing this traitorous brother with his own hands. Yet even then he considered the blood of his captain and crewmates to be on his own hands for the mistake of not seeing what kind of monster had been hiding right in front of him the entire time.

"Eventually, he decided to go off on his own and form his own pirate crew, to find the greatest treasure of a lifetime. He ran into a wild, strong, but charismatic man who promised him an opportunity to become stronger so that he wouldn't lose those close to him again, and to gain a better chance of finding that treasure that he sought if he joined his crew. The man knew that he needed to get stronger and gain more experience, so he hesitantly agreed.

"And at first, it was as the man said. He fought in great battles, gaining strength, power, and fame. He even found a few pieces of the vast treasure he sought. However, eventually, he began to realize that he had made a mistake in trusting this wild man. That the man and the pirate crew he had assembled were dabbling into things that didn't align with the man's own moral code. And it was around this time that I met him."

Ace blinked a bit in surprise at that since he had been under the impression that Rayleigh had been sort of telling him a story of his own life. But if it wasn't Rayleigh himself that he was talking about, who could it have bee—

Conflicted darkness clouded his eyes as he realized that there was only one other person who the old man would probably be talking about.

If Ray had noticed his change in mood, he made no mention of it as he continued telling the tale. "When I met him, he was in the middle of carrying out the latest order that had been given to him and was leading an attack on another pirate crew. One that happened to be captained by the woman whom I would later call my wife."

Ace was thrown by that. "Wife?!"

The man glanced over at him with a questioning glance and smile. "I do have a wife, you know. Are you surprised?"

The raven-haired pirate struggled to respond. "Um…no…it's just I-I've always heard Silvers Rayleigh was a…well…a 'womanizer'...?"

To his surprise, the old man didn't get offended and instead only laughed, "Well, it's good to know my reputation precedes me, even to the young generation."

Ace's cheeks grew red, "I mean! It's just hearsay and—"

He smiled sardonically before shaking his head, "Don't worry, you have nothing to feel embarrassed about. I made it that way on purpose."

Now Ace was completely lost and it showed. "You…want…people to think you sleep around?"

"The best place to hide a leaf is in a forest. The best place to keep a diamond is in a pile of useless crystals."

The younger thought about that, "Sooo….you're with a lot of women to hide the fact that you're married to one woman?"

"Haha, in a way… If your enemies think you don't care about any particular woman, then they won't look for the one that you cherish most."

Now that Ace could understand. When he first set out as a pirate, he never talked much about family or his brother, not wanting people to think to use it against him.

Rayleigh for his part, got back on track with the original story he had been telling. "Anyway, the man was in a lot of conflict at that time. He hated his crew mates and the captain that had lured him with flimsy promises. However, he felt like he owed the man. It has been his mistake to trust him in the first place. Should he not stay the course and see his choice through even if he was only being used?

"A friend eventually advised him that if he continued down this path it would only lead him to destruction and that the man who was leading him only wanted chaos and to conquer the world. In the end, during a full-scale war, he had to ultimately make another choice. He finally chose to leave, to abandon the man and his doomed venture and crew.

"That choice had its own consequences, and the man lost a couple of the treasures he had found along the way. He never forgave himself for that. Yet, even in his grief and anger over the many mistakes he had made so far, he got up and continued, this time deciding to finally do what he should have done long ago and forge his own path. Becoming his own captain, using the strength and reputation he had built through sweat, tears, blood, and lessons learned to finally find the dream and treasure that he had always sought. And in the end…he succeeded."

Ray looked over at Ace, "Why do you think I'm telling you all this?"

The brunet frowned in return, knowing the parallels the man was trying to make. Many of the same mistakes that he had made, this man had also. And he had made them multiple times, and yet in the end still was able to learn and obtain his dream. But…

"It's not the same…."

The older man quirked his head to the side in question, "I don't quite follow."

Ace curled his hand in a fist, "He's not the same as me. Of all people, you should know this."

Rayleigh raised an eyebrow, "Because…you think you're somehow different from everyone else?"

"Because I was a mistake!" He snapped back, tired of the feigned ignorance.

Ace expected a reply, of agreement or rebuttal or explanation or something! Rather instead, the older man however didn't respond right away. Instead, he casually turned away, his eyes on the distant horizon before taking another drink and bringing out his knife, and beginning to carve at the wood once again.

Ace was a bit thrown by the man's demeanor, and the confusion quickly overshadowed his previous ire.

Eventually, Rayleigh spoke again. "And who told you that?"

"What?"

A sharp jab of the knife cut through the pine wood. "Who told you that you were a mistake?"

Something about the man's presence felt darker, deadlier than it had before even if outwardly, nothing had really changed and this time it was Ace who was at a loss for words.

Rayleigh continued, his voice as casual as always. "Was it Sengoku?"

The echo of the fleet admiral's words to the world as he pronounced judgment over his prostrated form rang through Ace's head.

The older man continued, "Garp?"

A memory flashed through his head of being less than 10 years old and in a moment of weakness, asking Gramps if it would have been better if he'd never been born, only for the man to leave him even more lost than ever before.

"Was it the world that told you that?"

Laughing jeering faces, drunkenly joking about all the ways they would humiliate, debase, and slaughter the Pirate King's offspring. That it would have been better if someone had drowned the unholy demon as a babe and sent it back to hell where it belonged.

Rayleigh turned to him finally, his face continued to look calm, but his eyes flashed with a steely fierceness that was so dark that Ace could clearly see where the man's epithet had originated from.

"Was it you yourself, who listened to years of their slander, lies, and hypocrisy?"

The venom in his words made him want to hide away, like a child in the face of a storm.

He continued. "I might only be beginning to know you brat, but I knew my captain. I knew your mother. And if Rouge ever heard you call yourself a 'mistake' in her hearing, she would kick your butt from here to the—"

"...Red Line and back." Ace finished the statement for him quietly, a memory pulsing in his head and his stomach sinking as if he could feel his mother's disapproving stare from here. How could he have forgotten her words so easily?

Rayleigh looked at him questioningly, but with a bit of approval returning back to him. "Exactly. Ace, my captain made a ton of mistakes, more than you could have ever made in your short lifetime. One of those mistakes was never telling me or any of his crew about you…but despite even that, I knew him enough that I can promise you, on the very bond we shared. You were never one of them."

~But also know that I wouldn't change a thing if it meant that you would have never've been born. No matter what you might hear about me from now on, know this: I love you.~

His father's words returned to him, only reinforcing what Rayleigh had just declared. He had tried to make sense of his parents' words, to gain a grasp on them, to understand them.

However, there was one obstacle in his mind that had always been a barrier to ever believing such. One that still hadn't been answered. For years he had kept it to himself, never wanting to talk about it, never wanting his worst fears confirmed. But this was his best friend. Maybe he…couldn't he…?

His quiet voice whispered before he could even stop himself, practically cracking with emotion. "But…if I wasn't a mistake…and he was as strong as they say…why did he abandon my mom and me? He got captured sure, but he didn't even fight to escape and get back to her…to us. I never heard about any of you coming to help him either. He just made some big epic speech and just sat there and took it. Why? Why?!"

Demanding, pain-filled lachrymose orbs of silver, met condoling browns that were beginning to grow with comprehension and gentle understanding. "No one ever told you did they…? I guess they wouldn't…or perhaps never got the chance…"

"Tell me what?" The old man had said that there were a lot of questions on his heart and that he was finally ready to ask them, and he was right. Doors had been forced open that he couldn't close again.

"Kid, no one captured my captain, that's simply more World Government bullcrap. Ace…he surrendered."

Wait, what? How? Why didn't Garp say anything? Why hadn't…on the other hand, it lined up with everything that he had ever heard about the man who was his sire. He was the Pirate King, the strongest of his generation. The only way he would have lost was if he himself planned it.

"But why?" Why would he do that?

The man fingered the knife in his hand, his eyes getting a faraway look as he thought back to long ago days. "He was sick."

Ace's eyes shot open at that, "What?"

"An incurable disease…fatal. It ravaged his body for years. He wouldn't have lasted long enough to see your birth even if he had simply let things take their rightful course. He grew weaker by the day. It was the reason why we pushed to finish that final great adventure and why when it was over, he disbanded us. On the track he was on, he wouldn't have been strong enough to protect your mother, he would have gotten sloppy and they would have caught him eventually–either the marines or some other enemy from his past."

Taking a drink, Rayleigh also thought back to what they found on Laugh Tale that day and plans that Roger had put in place and how they probably also factored into the man's decisions. But that wasn't what his son needed right now.

His imploring eyes, looking so much like a kinder, wide-eyed version of Roger with just that hint of Rouge, he could never see how he had missed it before.

"The captain decided to go out on his own terms rather than be at the mercy of anything or anyone, be it the World Government or some disease. They only took from him what willingly he gave. He did everything that he meant to do. The only thing he probably regretted was not being able to see you grow up, that he couldn't be there for the two of you anymore."

Ace took a deep breath and turned away his trembling lips pressed hard in a stubborn line. Everything the old man said was like a shocking knife to his system, it flew in the face of everything he had ever believed for his entire life. Could everything he said be true? Had his mother not been abandoned as he assumed? Had he not been abandoned?

Rayleigh has been his right hand, if anyone would know the truth it would have been him, and he had no reason to lie. He wondered how many people knew the truth. The World Government had obviously buried all this, and he had been stupid and gullible enough to buy it.

His mind was resounding with his parents' words he had heard when he had been existing between the realms of life and death. Trying to accept their words was difficult for him. It was always easier to just fall back into what he knew. But he could no longer ignore the issue as he had done for all these past years. Their words along with Rayleigh's revelations were just as emphatic and—hold on?

Wait a minute.

His mind going back to something said that he had almost missed, Ace's head jerked up to look at the other man imploringly, "Wait, you said he never told you about me? He never told any of you about me?"

The silver-haired ex-pirate sighed. "As I told Shanks, I found out about you at the same time as the rest of the world. Me, Shanks, none of us knew, though some of us had suspicions when the whole Baterilla massacre happened. We never thought anything came of it though. That it had been another one of the government's lies to excuse their barberousness."

---

The Day of the Marineford War, Sabaody

Rayleigh had only sat down from the shock for a minute when one of the transponder snails toward the back of the bar began to sound off. He knew who it would be before he had even answered.

"Is it true?"

It was the first words spoken and the only words needed, from a voice he hadn't heard in years.

He took another drink, "I don't know, Gab. He never said anything to me about it."

Scopper Gaban swore in anger, "Damn that man! How could he not tell us?"

Another transponder close by began to ring, and blearily he took up that one too, all the while keeping an eye on the broadcast.

"What the heck is going on, Ray?"

It was Taro this time. He told him the same as he had Gaban, and then Shakky came from out the back, a solemn look on her face holding two more purring snails.

Spencer, Yui, Sunbell, Gallant…the list went on and on, and he basically told each of them the same thing, and that he would eventually find out what he could.

Eventually, it was Crocus who called last.

His voice was quiet when he spoke, "Many come through Reverse Mountain, but I remember that kid. There was something about his eyes, and that smile, and his name…Portgas. And 'Ace' of all things! He really named the kid after his stupid sword. Heh, I don't know how I missed it. Captain was always one to beat the odds."

Rayleigh sighed wearily, "Let's hope and pray that his son can do the same."

---

And somehow the kid had, Despite everything.

He looked the twenty-year-old directly in his silvery eyes. "Do you really think us that uncaring that you would have not heard from any of us in the past 20 years if we had known? Yes, we disbanded, but we were more than simply a crew of people on a ship. We were friends. We were family."

He smirked, "Though considering what I've seen of you, I'm not sure if our attentions would have been accepted."

Ace smiled sheepishly. The man was probably right…no, skip that, absolutely right. He hadn't really thought much about the absence of his father's crew in his life, but he had never considered that they had never known about him at all. His assumption had always been that they just didn't care. That they had abandoned his mother to her fate and their loyalty to Roger had ended the moment he died.

He was going through a lot of emotional turmoil right now, but his heart strangely felt lighter to know that they had not been as cold-hearted as he had imagined. That nothing had been as he imagined.

It also pacified him a little to know that the old man had been right and Shanks hadn't been laughing at him behind his back when he had sought him out those years ago, nor had he purposefully ignored his presence on Dawn Island. He had ultimately just not known.

But that begs the question…

"You mean, he never said anything? But why?"

He let out a sigh, "Shanks asked me a similar question, and while I guess we'll never know for sure, I can only guess that in his own way, he was trying to protect both us and you and Rouge the only way he knew how.

"After his death, the World Government wanted to destroy everything that had ever been associated with him. All of us were on the run for years, and technically we still are, though we're not considered worth the trouble anymore. But back then, having a pregnant woman in tow and then a newborn would have been suicide for the entire group, and I think the captain knew that. It wouldn't have stopped us, mind you, but he probably knew that too. And ironically, he probably thought marine protection would be the best for both of you."

It took Ace a moment to comprehend, but when he did, he couldn't quite believe his own head. His voice was soft as he attempted to get some clarity. "Y-You would have taken us in? Me in?"

The older man cocked his head at the absurd question, "Of course. You really think that we would have left you with Garp of all people? The captain might have trusted him, but he was still only Navy. What would a marine know about the bonds of pirates? Know that if it had been up to me, you would never have grown up feeling the way you do."

Unobtrusively, he reached through the bubble shield to wipe away a single tear that had unknowingly rolled down the raven's cheek.

Ace quickly turned away, his chest full and his emotional turbulence limit reached and exceeded.

Rayleigh didn't push. If anything, he took a few moments to get his own roiling feelings back into order. He'd opened a lot of doors in the past week, that hadn't been cracked in a long time, and to use a Cimmerian term, he'd had enough Sturm und Drang for one day.

Taking a deep steadying breath, he stood up to his feet. "Alright! Let's see about getting you back on your own two feet again."

Ace looked back up at him, shaken out of his own stupor by the sudden subject change. "Wait, what?"

The older pirate looked down at him, "You wanted to be able to stand and walk again, didn't you?"

"B-But I can't, remember? I tried and failed miserably." After that humiliation and what had happened with Ange, he wasn't going to try that again!

The man quirked that eyebrow at him again, "Of course you did. What did you expect from trying to do everything on your own? You need to listen to your doctor. No matter how pretty she is, don't get distracted by that. She knows better than you."

Ace flushed a bit though still confused. "She is pretty, but what does that have to do with anythin—woah!"

Rayleigh reached down through his resin bubble and grabbed him from under his arms and hauled him to his feet. He brought him closer so that their bubbles once again merged. He pulled him over and sat them down together, laying him down so that his legs were draped across his lap.

"Ya know, the thing about brats is that they don't listen. Have yet to meet one who didn't have that problem. I'd bet that many of those mistakes that you're complaining about, could've been avoided if you had listened rather than thinking that you could do everything by yourself, isn't that right?"

Ace's face twisted into a frown, mildly affronted. He wanted to refute his words but hadn't he just admitted such failings to himself already? Still, it was annoying to hear another bringing it up so obviously.

However, he became distracted by the man doing something to his legs. Curious, he pushed to lean forward and watch. "What are you doing?"

Rayleigh had turned his leg around and was touching the muscles along his calves.

"The reason why the little missy didn't want you to attempt to stand was because while some of your muscles are getting stronger, many of them are just starting to regrow and just trying to stand upright would put way too much pressure on them, overextending and tearing at the new tissue trying to form. Your bones are just as weak, which is why they cracked like saplings when you fell. You won't be able to move stand and walk under your own power for at least another few weeks."

"Why do I sense a 'but' in your sentence coming?" he responded curiously.

The black sheen of armament haki covered the man's hands with an ease that made the pyromancer jealous. The silver-haired pirate smiled knowingly. "But one can find ways around things when one has enough will to do so. Especially if you stop and listen long enough to learn."

The haki suddenly blossomed and spread from the man's hands to Ace's calves and beyond! Tracing its way up his entire leg, over his hip before stopping at the waist, Ace jolted at the strange feeling of another's haki taking over his body!

"Wait! What are you doing?!" He fidgeted instinctually trying to shake off his grasp.

He needn't have bothered since the older man had already accomplished what he'd set out to do. "Alright, that should about do it. Let's give it a test."

Rayleigh jumped back up onto his feet, taking hold of Ace's forearms, and in the same movement, pulled him back up into a standing position. But this time, nearly all of his body weight was now being supported by his own body!

Ace, catching his breath from all the movement and manhandling, could only look down at his own two feet, wide-eyed and shocked. That somehow, impossibly, he was upright nearly all on his own, and without any pain!

Slack-jawed, he continued to look back down at his own two legs in amazement. "I'm standing…"

Rayleigh smirked at his handiwork, "I had to wait until you had recovered some in order to be able to withstand the reinforcement, but it's looking good so far."

Ace's look of shock slowly morphed into a huge grin as he looked up at him in an image of pure joy. "I'm standing, Rayleigh!"

He affectionately nodded, "Now let's see if we can take a few steps."

Surprise came over the raven for a moment, before a determined grin grew in its place. Ray took a stronger grasp of his forearms where he had maintained his connection, and Ace replicated the motion, keeping hold of his teacher in support.

Slowly, Rayleigh took a couple of steps back, allowing the connection between them to grow taunt.

Ace blew out a breath before moving his foot forward. While he felt his body tremble a bit, the haki around his legs remained steady and his balance was maintained. So far, so good…

Once that foot seemed to be able to maintain his weight, he then moved his other foot forward and made another step. He kept going and could feel the excitement build as the realization of what he was doing sunk in. He looked up at the older man full of delight and accomplishment. "I'm walking!"

He was surprised to be met with eyes that only gazed back with pride. "I can see that."

They continued for a few more minutes doing this, with Rayliegh leading and Ace following. It was slow going, but it was huge headway nonetheless. However, after a while, the elder stopped.

"Alright, ready to try and do this on your own?"

Ace looked up, "On my own? But you said—"

Ray clarified, "I mean using your own haki. I won't be there all the time, and I'm sure you'd like to be able to go places on your own. I'm pretty sure you know the mechanics of armament, correct?"

"I mean sure, though well, I'm not as good at it as you are."

"Don't worry, I know. For now, let's consider this 'training'. Ready to listen?" Rayleigh stood still and held him steady.

Ace nodded vigorously. Training was something he knew and understood very well. What he had tried to do only some hours ago, only to fall to the ground like a broken doll, was now once again within his grasp…

"Alright, since it's your own body, you won't have to emit the haki as I'm doing now. Instead, I want you to begin to use it on your legs. However, instead of simply applying it to the surface, I want you to try to reach down as deep as you can, to the muscle and bone beneath the surface."

Okay, that didn't seem too hard. Ace rarely used armament haki on his legs, but he reasoned that it wasn't any more difficult than using it on your fists. Concentrating, he did as he was instructed and created a layer of haki on his legs underneath Rayleigh's own. The two briefly caused black sparks to erupt as they interacted.

"Good, now keep going. Go deeper."

Concentrating, he pushed and found resistance, it was more difficult to go this down this deep but after a few moments, he accomplished it. With both his haki and the old man's layered on his limbs, they were beginning to feel stiff. "Okay, I got it."

"Good, now keep that depth and move it all the way up to mid-waist."

Okay, now that wasn't quite so easy.

Ace went to work doing as instructed, using Rayleigh's haki as a stencil. Sweat began to bead onto his forehead and his breathing became labored. It was like trying to dig a trench going uphill. But he had never shied away from difficult physical trials.

"Push kid, you want this do you not? Release that desire and will and make it real. I know you have it in you, I've seen it. More than you realize."

Ace had never used haki to this level in his life, his abilities were based more on his devil fruit and physical prowess. Trying to do this was like training an unused muscle. Slowly but surely he made his way further and further up his body, but he could feel the strain. He knew being a master of haki was no joke, but doing this make him gain a new appreciation for people like Shanks and Rayleigh, and Rog—those who fought with haki alone.

After a few more moments of stretching his limits, he gasped out, "Okay, got it!"

Rayleigh smiled in approval, "Alright, I'm going to release my own. Ready?"

No sooner had he nodded than suddenly all of the other man's haki drew back, leaving him with only his own as support.

His legs automatically started to buckle and he gasped as the full load of his own weight fell on him to sustain. His eyes scrunched closed and he gulped in air as he pushed to continue to maintain his haki reserves, his hands grasping heavily to the other man's wrists.

"Take a breath… breathe …you can do this, Ace."

The sound of the man's voice, built and fashioned into an instrument of command and presence, but also with encouragement and understanding, pushed him on. He inhaled deeply before releasing it slowly clearing his head. He could do this. He had to do this. He was this close to no longer being bedridden. He would not fail this time.

The weight slowly became lighter and the task no longer felt like it was going to crush him. He felt his guide wordlessly take a tentative step back, once again drawing their connection taut. Taking another deep breath, he moved his leg to follow.

Step.

Even while his body wavered, he didn't collapse, his leg held strong! His eyes snapped open and he looked down at his own two feet to see that he indeed had taken his first step!

"There ya go." Rayleigh looked on with pride before taking another step back, and Ace beamed as he enthusiastically took another step forward.

Step…

Step…

Step…

He was walking! On his own! Excitement shot through him. Let God be his witness, he would never take his ability to simply move on his own two feet for granted ever again!

He was so ecstatic in taking those few small steps, that he barely noticed that the older man's grasp on his arms lessened bit by bit until he let go entirely.

Joy fell into doubt as he watched the man who had been helping him relearn how to walk, take a few steps away, removing the proverbial safety net. He was standing all on his own, without any helping hands for the first time since he'd come back to life.

He blinked fiercely, stubbornly pushing back the water from his eyes, and instead looked over in determination at Rayleigh. His eyes were calm and reassuring with a gentle smile, his hand patiently extended.

How in the world had he ever hated this man?

Taking another deep breath, he could already feel his stamina waning, but his resolve wouldn't let him give up until he had done what he'd set out to do. Keeping his hands out to balance himself, he carefully placed one foot in front of the other. One step then another.

Rayleigh watched the boy come towards him, slowly but surely. He was almost like a babe taking his first steps. His haki technique was sloppy and unpracticed, but his force of will was off the charts. He just needed to work on how to focus it. Shanks would have a fun time with this one. But for now, while he was still recovering, what he'd done so far was more than enough.

He could see the kid was already beginning to fade, considering the condition of his body and that it was way past the brat's bedtime, it was amazing that he'd gotten this far. Just a couple more kid, you can do it.

Ace continued to walk even as sweat began to roll down his face at the exertion. Even then he kept going. One step…one foot then the next…

He'd made it ten whole steps before his strength was drained completely and his control over his haki shattered. He toppled over almost immediately, but just like every time before, Rayleigh was immediately there to catch him before he fell.

Ace found his body shuttering once again, but this time, rather than in tears, it was in joyous laughter. "Haha, did you see me? I did it!"

Their bubbles remerged and the veteran pirate settled back down on the ground, pulling Ace's exhausted limp body along next to him, his upper body and head resting against his lap.

"Yes, you did. Great job, kid. We'll have to keep practicing when we get back, but it's a good start."

"I can't wait to show Ange."

"Only after you apologize, brat. If you hadn't been so pigheaded, I could have shown you this earlier today."

Ace sobered a bit, but he was too happy to feel too badly, "I'll apologize to her first thing. Though I have to ask, have we always been able to do this, go outside and stuff?"

Rayleigh shrugged, "I needed to collect all the materials first, from both this world and by going back to our own from time to time. I learned how to do the whole process the last time I was here."

Ace settled down, his eyes staring down at the swaying blades of ash-colored grass. "You mean when you sailed with my father?"

Rayleigh started at his words, but the brunet kept his eyes turned away to the waterfalls ahead.

He smiled wistfully, "Yes, he couldn't stay still for long either."

"Hmph," was all that the younger boy said in response, though there was no fire behind it.

They sat there once again for a while, simply enjoying the sound of the rushing water. Rayleigh had been sure that the brat had fallen asleep when instead he spoke up once again quietly.

"Thank you, Rayleigh. For everything."

Ace let his tone covey all that he was truly beholden for. After such a dismal beginning, the night had ended up being more than he could have ever imagined. A connection that had been forming over the course of the past few days had solidified this night, a near-filial lasting bond forged between the two.

The older man could hear all that he had been trying to say without words, before affectionately carding his hand through the boy's ebony locks. "You're welcome, Ace. Anytime."

Ace could have shaken him off but surprisingly didn't mind it really. Besides, he was dog-tired. Blearily, he briefly wondered how they were going to get back to the house, but it had been a while since he'd gotten a chance to sleep out in the open like this. He certainly didn't mind staying for a little while longer.

"You know Ace, you never did ask me about the man I was talking about. Who achieved his dream and found his treasure despite all of his mistakes."

The brunet cracked an eye open. "I mean it was kinda obvious. There's only one person you could be talking about. My father, right?"

The voice above him hummed knowingly, "I suppose, in a way. The man I was talking about, was indeed your father. His name was Edward Newgate."

Ace's eyes shot open and he looked up in shock, "Pops? You're kidding!"

Rayleigh shook his head laughingly, "Nope, I told you I knew your father very well. Both of them."

Ace wanted to follow up with so many questions, but the moment he opened his mouth, a yawn came out instead.

Rayleigh's hand ran through his hair once more, "Go to sleep, kid. You did a lot today."

Deciding that he was indeed tired and that resisting any longer was just asking his narcolepsy to act up later, Ace nestled down before asking sleepily "Tomorrow, can you tell me more about pops…and my father?"

Taking his carving wood back out, the old man lay back and calmly went back to work on it. "I'd be happy to, kid."

Smiling, Ace let his eyes finally fall closed, allowing his body to relax. As he began to drift off. After a while, he was surprised to hear a soft baritone fall into a serenade, almost like that of cradlesong.

"A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain

Softly blows o'er Lullabye Bay.

It fills the sails of boats that are waiting,

Waiting to sail your worries away.

"It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain,

And your boat waits down by the quay.

The winds of night so softly are sighing.

Soon they will fly your troubles to sea.

"So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain.

Wave goodbye to cares of the day.

Watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain

Sail far away for Lullabye Bay."

Rayleigh listened to the soft snores from the boy sleeping beside him. He hadn't sung a lullaby since Shanks had been knee-high to a broomstick. But it seemed apropos.

He might not have gotten a chance to raise Ace, but the boy was still growing and in need of guidance. Even at 20, it was still so malleable an age, and there had to be somebody to teach him that you needed to be able to give yourself permission to be human.

"Still always leaving me stuck with all the hard stuff, huh Rog? I tell ya this, I'm only doing this cause I like the kid. And I'll expect a full apology when we meet again."

---

On the Paradise side of the Grand Line

Lime Juice knew everyone was dead the moment the Renata came up on the scuttled smoking wreck.

The fact that the remains of the ship were still afloat was astounding.

Snake was steering the ship closer, a stern look on his face, while Hongo stood nearby, his hand clutching tightly at the medical bag that would probably go unneeded.

However, Juice's eyes were mostly on the boss, who had stepped away from them all to stand near the bow, watching the approach.

He could feel his captain's anger from here and it was a monstrous thing.

Shanks had many who followed him, many that he took under his wing even though they themselves were not much to speak of in the pirating world. It was just the chief's way, and his men loved him for it.

While he had a hard time keeping track of all that was in the RedHair Pirates fleet, he knew that his captain knew the names of each and every pirate crew as well as their captain. He counted them all as his friends and his charges.

It was well-known how the captain felt about those who hurt his friends.

The fact that the Seaside Pirates had only gotten into this mess because of a personal favor made of them by Shanks himself, only made it that much worse.

As they got closer, the captain stepped up onto the railing at the side of the ship. His voice was gruff and restrained, "Juice, Hongo, you're with me. Snake, keep watch."

They silently took their positions, knowing he was already in quite a mood. All three leaped over to the smoldering ship's remains, the wood swaying dangerously from the impact of their feet.

Once on the deck, the true devastation could be seen. Bodies of the crew littered the surface of the Regina. Some were burned to a crisp, some were untouched, and some were in between, but all of them—dead.

Hongo went around and checked a few of the ones close by, his face grim. "Most of them look like they've been completely desiccated prior to death. Though most of them have a large puncture wound to the chest. That actually was what killed them. Some wooden tool, like a stake."

Shanks made his way through the many casualties, stopping at one that seemed to be wearing the remnants of a captain's cloak. He knelt down next to this one, his hand reaching out to smooth out the dead woman's features.

"Juice," his steely tone left no doubt as to the nature of his command.

"Already on it, Captain." Lime Juice came closer to the murder scene and knelt down, taking his glasses and gloves off and activating his devil fruit. He was about to reach down to the ground when he felt his powers blink out! His Seer-Seer ability blinked in and out several times in a bizarre fashion, completely confusing the blond until he felt a very familiar wave of supreme king haki brushing over him.

"Captain…you have to calm down and let me do this."

The redhead immediately got a hold of his flaring emotions and drew his leaking aura back in and onto himself, allowing Juice to properly use his devil fruit to find what happened to the crew of the Regina.

Reaching down, his eyes glowing red, he gazed ahead watching a scene only he could see.

"A man…mercenary…attacked the ship…he's got some kind of plant devil fruit…turns him into some kind root…vegetable…tree tentacle monster thing."

Hongo spoke up behind him, "Probably how he made all of these guys look like mummies, sucked all the moisture right out of them. Also probably explains all the bark in their puncture wounds."

Shanks said nothing, only continued to listen to Lime's narration.

"He killed and tortured most of them…he was asking about us but no one knew much of anything…"

He finished his vision and looked up at his leader. "It was a distraction captain, he killed the guy that he forced to call you. He was using them to draw us here, probably away from Phoenix, Firefist, and the Rebels. He works for the World Government probably Cipher Pol. Though he doesn't dress like one of their official agents. Probably one of their independents."

Shanks' shadowed eyes suddenly flashed like a pair of silvery daggers, a dangerous sneer morphing onto his face, "So…when we kill him, it won't make too much of a fuss… convenient."

He turned around and walked back the way they came, the black cloak furling around him like the wings of the angel of death. "Come on, we need to get back to the Red Force."

The two crewmates looked at each other behind him before hurrying to follow. Hongo asked, "The Red Force, boss?"

"Wildfire, Marco, and the missy doctor are in danger. The old man will do his best and Fledgling's no lightweight, but both are going to be exhausted once they get to Amazon Lily. One CP agent is one thing, but if he's already this close, it's not a matter of 'if' but 'when' at this point. And he's going to bring some big guns with him. We have to make tracks."

As they left the dying remains of Regina, Shanks let his men go ahead before he turned and said his final farewell. "Sorry 'bout this, Lisel. It's my fault you guys got wrapped up in this. Forgive me…"

His apology was both to the crew and to the ship, its poor spirit left crippled but not quite allowed to rest.

In a rare show of reckless abandon, the Red-Haired Emperor allowed his strength of will to go wild. The wind and waves picked up as the timber of the ship cracked and splintered under the pressure of his enormous power. The burnt-out hulk split and eventually the keel of the ship itself finally snapped.

Shanks returned to the Renata and watched with his crew as the mothership of their current vessel, finally slipped beneath the ocean. Sending both the ship and the crew that had loved her, to their final resting place.

---

A/N: And there you are!

I needed Ace to solidify his relationships with both Lily and Rayleigh before we got to Amazon Lily and all of Ace's time basically would be going to his brothers. Lily got a lot of time already, so while I give her some time in here, I really wanted to concentrate on Ray and Ace and the two of them getting a chance to know one another. For Ace to learn the truth about his father as well as the Roger Pirates.

The song that Rayleigh sings is called "Hushabye Mountain" from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

The book that Ace and Lily read in the beginning, is a real one, the Curse of Capistrano is by Johnston McCulley, written in 1919, and is the first introduction to the character who is Zoro's namesake, Don Diego Vega, El Zorro himself. The book is later called The Mark of Zorro.

Also yes, I'm aware of the many changes Oda has been making recently. Don't doubt that Shanks anger here at the end is reminiscent of what he showed in ch 1079, and while a bit annoying that Oda decided just now to show Karasu's devil fruit, I'll be deciding how I want to merge that into the story and revamp it from before, because honestly Oda just made Karasu even cooler in my opinion. 😏

My character's name has also taken more prominence lately. However, currently, that will have no impact here unless Oda creates some interesting lore that I want to incorporate lol.

I know all that was a lot, so let me know your thoughts and questions.

Also for those asking, next chapter we're finally arriving at Amazon Lily. It's time.😁