The Many (Attempted) Marriages of the Sun Goddess

And the perspective jumps away from Luffy for a moment! Kind of a necessary evil since some of her loved ones are spread out across the world, but don't worry, she won't be gone for long.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

Chapter 3

The sun was beating down warmly on the mountainside village when the familiar sound of the Moby's whistle blared across the distance. The kids who were playing in the yard all paused what they were doing and pivoted toward the mountain. When the whistle blasted a second time, they exchanged delighted looks. "Ace is back!" A boy said happily. "Come on, come on!"

"I hope Marco's with him!" Another boy fretted. "Mama's back has been bothering her again and nothing's helping her."

"Maybe they have presents again!" The girl put one hand on the jewelled hairpin she'd been given some months back, her heart pounding hopefully. "Oh, I hope so!" She took off in a rush, causing her friends to sputter a barrage of protests and chase after her.

"Hey, no fair! You have a head start!"

The group of children charge down the roads as a single unit, their excited shouting alerting everyone in their wake as they go. A farmer rested his pitchfork in the ground and sighed in relief. "You worry too much," His wife said fondly. "Edward raised that boy himself to be his successor."

"I know, I know. Transitions like this are hard, is all. I can't help but worry for them a little." The man looked up and smiled at the familiar sight of Phoenix's flames shooting over the mountaintop. The kids really started screaming in delight. "How is he, by the way?"

His wife chuckled. "Resting, if he knows what's good for him. Nightingale wasn't pleased in the slightest that he came back injured from that last expedition. He really needs to understand that he's retired now."

The two share a warm laugh, glancing downtown. Among the buildings there is the home where their most famous child of their village had returned to after a long life of adventuring. Not many people here were old enough to remember him from before he'd left to become a pirate, but they all knew who he was to them – their father and protector.

Marco the Phoenix swept down to a few feet from the ground, allowing the young man on his back to jump down with a laugh. The kids immediately formed a semi circle around them, cheering as Marco landed. "You're back!"

"Of course I am," Portgas D Ace said warmly, ruffling the boy's hair. "I'll always come back." The wind made his long white coat flutter slightly around his feet; he's shirtless underneath it, but the long coat had become a semi-permanent addition to his outfit ever since his bounty poster was updated.

"We missed you," The girl said shyly.

"What did you bring back this time?" Her friend asked, bouncing excitedly in place. "More toys? Treasure? Both?!"

"Did you get into cool fights?!"

Ace laughed warmly, waving his arms as the kids all began babbling at him and talking on top of each other. "One at a time, one at a time; I'm having trouble understanding everyone."

Marco gave him a fond look, seeing how the kids hung on his every word and jostled to get his attention. "You're becoming more of a dad every day," he ribbed the younger man, who nevertheless now served as his Captain.

"Shut up, Marco," Ace responded cheerfully without looking at him, a light shade of red colouring his cheeks. "Come on, kiddos, let's go to the bakery; you can tell me everything I've missed there and get some treats. Haruta and Vista be up with the cargo as soon as they can."

The kids all cheer loudly; the two brothers let themselves be pulled along in their wake, heading to the downtown of the village. It's grown some over the past two years, more houses being put up and refugees from power struggles across the ocean stumbling onto the shores looking for somewhere to hide. It helped that the marines were a sorely overtaxed organization that was bleeding money, men and infrastructure, so the pirates had been able to grab much more for the area – despite them very much facing their own problems.

The World Government had not come out well from the Paramount War. Sengoku's order to cut the cameras had come to absolutely nothing thanks to Buggy The Clown, who in his efforts to hype himself up and rebuild his reputation had given the whole world a front row seat to not just the Awakening of the Model Nika fruit, but Luffy devastating the seastone walls support system, sending Kizaru flying out of the arena like swatting an errant fly, and bypassing both Garp and Sengoku to set Ace free. Her collapsing from the strain had given them no respite with the walls gone; Whitebeard and his sons had stormed the plaza, encircled Ace and the unconscious sun goddess protectively, and preformed a fighting retreat back to their ships.

With Sengoku, Akainu and Aokiji still relatively capable of fighting, the Marines might have been able to salvage something from that disaster... but that was when Blackbeard had arrived with his escapees from Impel Down. While Buggy had still been pointing his visual den-den at the chaos, proclaiming himself to be the only man to have walked away from a battle with Nika able to rebuild his strength and crew. Of course, the terrified world citizens had been less interested in him than they were in the fact that monsters from whispered horror stories were suddenly not only freed from the supposedly inescapable prison, but had formed a single crew with a former warlord at the helm.

To say this was something of a PR disaster for The World Government was like saying that Luffy has a bit of an appetite.

But these thoughts were relatively far from Ace and Marco's mind as they ushered the village kids into the bakery and greeted the girl behind the counter. Staying on their father's home island was soothing in a way very few experiences could compare to.

"I'll have a look at your mom soon, I promise." Marco told the young boy reassuringly. The kid melted with happiness and begins scarfing down his muffin with gusto.

He glanced at Ace, who's knocking back a strawberry daikiri and lounging comfortably against the bar as he amused the children with abbreviated stories of their trip. Odd as it was to see him wearing that long coat, it fit him now. Ace usually took it off during leisure time, not liking covering up his tattoo, but he'd picked it himself a while back. He'd wanted to visually emulate their father a little bit now, with him as acting Captain.

"-and the bastard retreated, trailing after his mother like a dog on a leash." Ace finished, his voice dripping disdain. "I almost feel sorry for the Marines with this being the best they can do to fill Warlord positions. Wonder why Mihawk bothers with it."

"Is he really Grandpa Edward's son?" One of the girls asked dubiously. For the sake of plausible deniability, the kids had been taught not to refer to the old captain by his moniker. "'Cause he sounds like a punk."

Ace snorted. "Even if he has Pops's blood, that doesn't make him his son. Our brother." He groaned and rolled his shoulder. "He almost hits like him, though."

Before he could start on another story, however, Haruta stuck his head in the door and sighed in relief. "Oi, Ace; call for you." He walked inside, holding a tray with a transponder snail that's all but ringing its shell off of its back. "Very persistent, whoever it is."

Ace arched an eyebrow, looking a little surprised, and set his mug aside. "Sorry kids; this might be important." He stood up and walked out of the bakery to a chorus of groans; Marco followed after him, making sure to close the door after him. Ace grabbed the receiver and lazily stated, "Yo. What can the Whitebeard Pirates do for you?"

"ACE-SAN!" A semi-familiar voice shrieked through the snail, making the ravenette lean back slightly in surprise. The snail took on the features of a half enraged, half panicked navigator that he sort of knew but recognized instantly. "Oh thank Nika, you finally picked up! I was starting to think I wouldn't be able to reach you! Wouldn't that have made my day just perfect, ahahaha, I still can't get a hold of Sabo – I bet he's buried in some undercover mission that won't end for days, the inconsiderate jerk who serves as my captain's missing brain cells-"

"Nami?" Ace managed after a second of sheer surprise at the tirade. "Nami, is that you?" His expression shifted from calm to worried so fast Marco could have blinked and missed it. "What's happened? Where's Luffy?"

Nami gulped, and beads of sweat form on the transponder snail's head. "Luffy's fine, we're fine; not sure how long that'll last, with this ridiculous – she's getting fitted for a dress. I'm just calling to pass information along."

"A dress?" Ace parroted in confusion. "What for? You're not still in Dressrosa, are you?" Luffy had pounced on the transponder snail number he'd given her after Marineford and called him incessantly, even after she started travelling, but her crewmates hadn't always joined in. Having her navigator call him with her nowhere to be heard, and sounding more stressed out than Dandan after they'd gone crocodile hunting? His heart started to pound painfully in his chest.

"No, we're in Zou – and the problem is –" The snail's eyes swivel from side to side, suggesting Nami was pacing. "Big Mom sent Pekoms and some other goon of hers, Bege or something, to kidnap Sanji for a wedding to one of her children. Pekoms was gonna let the whole thing go because we saved the minks here – Jack the Drought had attacked this place looking for someone named Raizo and they wouldn't give him up so he poisoned them all with gas, but we got here in time to undo it – but that other guy shot him in the back and took Sanji away anyway! Because his family is the head of some supposed 'evil empire'! But the worst thing is-"

"Slow down," Ace ordered sharply, reeling from the absolute spitfire delivery of information. Nami clammed up instantly, the snail going very stiff. "Jack attacked Zou?! Is he still there? Were you there when it happened?"

"No, he got called away to go try and free Doflamingo from escort to Impel Down. We arrived afterwards." Nami responded, before a nervous tone entered her voice. "He didn't manage to do that, did he?"

Ace snapped a look at Marco and Haruta. "Not that we've heard." He said after they both shook their heads. "So Bege took Sanji – that's your cook, right?" It took a second to place the name – that was one of the Worst Generation, the user of the Castle-Castle fruit.

"Yes," Nami said, looking both upset and furious at the admission. "That would be bad enough, except Big Mom...she also wants to..." the usually self confident navigator trailed off, which causes Ace to ball up one hand into a fist.

"Wants to what?" He prodded impatiently. He's already seeing a trajectory of events he doesn't like; Luffy would never let anyone taking one of her crewmates from her stand. The smoking ruin where Enies Lobby used to be stood testament to that. But this wasn't a complacent judicial island she's storming, it's Linlin...

Nami took in a deep breath. "ShewantsLuffytomarryoneofhersons." She mumbled in a rush.

"I can't understand you," Ace stated flatly. "Repeat that, and slower, please."

"Ugh...! Big Mom sent a message proposing that Luffy marry her son!" Nami blurted out, her voice shaking audibly. "Katakuri! Charlotte Katakuri!"

The transponder snail tray slipped from Ace's numb fingers and clattered to the ground. Haruta yelped and might have berated him for not being more careful with the poor thing, but Ace couldn't hear him over the static in his ears. The sentence repeated itself in his mind mockingly as he tries to process the idea of his Lu in the clutches of Charlotte fucking Linlin...that murderous fucking monster, who ate her own children when she went on her hunger rampages...! She wanted to force Lu to marry her son...?!

The fire logia sucked in a shaky breath and forced himself to page through his emotions one at a time. To not lose his head. Rage was first, furious and familiar, because how dare that fat old hag try to get her greedy hands on Lu? Second was a violent burst of anxiety, two priorities going to war with each other, and then he forced his head to clear and spoke again. "What did Lu have to say about that?"

Nami causes the rattled snail to make a complicated expression. "She...said that she's not getting married to a guy she doesn't know so Katakuri will have to court her if he wants to marry her." She said slowly, like she's afraid to say this out loud. "I honestly can't tell if she's at all serious about letting him try, or if that's the cover story she's going with so we can enter Totland and get Sanji back."

Ace uttered a very dry chuckle. "Yeah... it can be hard to tell with her sometimes." He put a hand on his hip. "Katakuri, huh? And here I was thinking he was the most tolerable one of Big Mom's brood." Venomous anger flared his chest.

"Do you know him at all?" Nami hedged uncertainly.

Ace shrugged aggressively. "As a person? Not really, but I can say his reputation's earned. Strong, smart enough to use that strength well, and he's mastered Observation Haki enough to see short visions of the future. Both in and out of battle."

"...You're kidding," The navigator moaned dismally.

"I wish." Ace responded. "Thanks for contacting me, and keep pestering Sabo until he picks up. Elusive bastard might be on a mission of some sort, but he'll want to know as soon as possible." He briefly smiles at the thought of the blonde's reaction; the image gives him a brief moment of respite. "I'll get back to you in a bit, I need to talk to some people."

"R-Right," Nami said, like she doesn't trust his calm-sounding reaction. There's a clicking sound as she hung up.

Ace squeezed his eyes shut, his hands balling into fists. He could feel both Marco and Haruta staring nervously at him.

"Hey, why the sad face Lu?" Ace hopped off the edge of his first ship onto the dock, where the raven haired girl had stopped helping him load food crates in favour of staring despondently out at the ocean waters. "You were so excited to see me off yesterday."

Luffy tugged on the brim of her hat, hiding her eyes from him. A slight frown crossing his face, Ace put a hand on her shoulder. "I am!" Luffy protested, shaking her head violently. "I'm really happy for you, Ace! I'm just..." She sniffled, sending a bolt of panicked alarm through the older boy.

"H-Hey, no tears. Pirates don't cry." He babbled, brushing a shimmer of a tear away.

"Do so," Luffy muttered just to be contrary; she'd said those very words herself whenever he'd teased her about her ability to handle things without him in the previous weeks. Unfortunately for her, repressing her emotions was not something she was good at, and she shook her head. "It...I'm gonna miss you so much..."

Ace smiled, the gesture not showing just how much those words filled him with joy. "You're crying like I'm going away forever," He teased, moving her hat up. Her shimmering hazel eyes focused on him; his chest squeezed at the sight and he brushed her cheek again to urge them away. "I thought you were going to chase after me into the sea. What, are you not tough enough after all this time? Don't tell me you've decided to be a housewife like Wool Slap keeps telling you to."

The words have their intended effect; Luffy's mood flipped from sad to indignant instantly. "That's not funny! I'm going out to sea and I'm gonna be King of the Pirates! I'll catch up with you before you know it!" Her eyes flashed. "You won't even see me coming!"

Ace laughed and nudges her hat back so he can ruffle her hair. She squeaked, pouting adorably at him, and his gaze drifted briefly to her full pink lips before he caught himself and shook his head. "I mean it!" Luffy yelled, misunderstanding the gesture.

"I know you will." Ace responded, dropping his hand. "Once you reach the Grand Line, I'll be there waiting for you." He winked. "So don't leave me hanging, okay?"

Luffy smiled brightly; her eyes are still shiny, and a moment later, she lunged forward and hugged him tightly. Ace uttered a quiet 'woof' and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, almost afraid that she'd hear how hard his heart was pounding. Fuck... he was going to miss her. Miss her warmth, her laughter...everything. "I'll miss you too, Lu." he murmured.

Luffy made a happy sound and squeezed him tighter. "Good luck, Ace." She murmured, before beaming at him. "I love you!"

Ace jerked slightly, his breath catching in his throat. "I-I know," he said, instead of the words he wanted to say back. He'd promised to be her brother, before he was old enough to know the forms that love could take, and what if she rejects him? "You tell me all the time. You're not worried I'll forget, are you?"

Luffy peered up at him. "Nope. Sometimes I think you don't believe me, though. I do. I really do love you, Ace!"

Ace's left arm melted into fire. Not bright orange flames, but brilliant white; the searing heat causes his brothers to automatically take a few steps back from him. He didn't say anything for a long moment, staring blankly at the middle distance, putting the memory away in favour of thinking on the information that Nami had given him thoroughly. Sort through the implications, work out what Big Mom's plan could be, and take stock of the Whitebeard Pirate's current situation.

He directed the heat toward the sky and away from the building just in case as he thinks, keeping his flames from doing any damage. It gave his rage somewhere to go.

Marco stared uneasily at Ace, and faintly swallowed. His brother and Captain is glacially calm on the outside. It's eerie, because he knew it was the exact opposite of what he's feeling. For the first time he missed the times when the ravenette would yell, curse and lose his temper like he used to.

Underneath Ace's roiling haki, even though he knows he won't hurt him, Marco couldn't escape the faint feeling of being a bird in the grasp of a cat.

Ace clenched his fist and dismisses the white flames. "...Where was the last time and place we saw Weevile or the traitor?" He asked in a neutral tone.

"I'll call the fleet," Haruta responded, already dialing.

Some Time Later...

"MARRIAGE?! THAT TYRANNICAL HAG WANTS TO MAKE LU MARRY ONE OF HER SPAWN?!" Sabo bellowed, prompting Ain to slap a hand over his mouth. He glanced indignantly at her; the Neo Marine rolled her eyes and jerked a thumb over her shoulder to where the doctors were examining Kuma – or had been. Now they were wincing and giving him wide-eyed looks.

The blonde frowned and reluctantly bowed his head in apology. Ain gave him a faintly wary look and dropped her hand in a way that told him it would be back in a flash if he started shouting again. It wasn't fair; they were clear of Mary Gose, dammit!

"Don't scream at me, it wasn't my idea!" Nami whined, the poor transponder snail mimicking her swirling eyes. "They have Sanji too. Do the Revolutionaries know anything about Germa 66? That moron didn't tell us he was Vinsmoke; we wouldn't have cared, but now he's getting married because of them and we're running into them blind!"

"They're involved too?!" Sabo cursed, punching the deck. Dammit, dammit, he'd thought that Sanji's swirling eyebrow looked familiar somehow, but he hadn't been able to make the connection. "Trying to buy favour with Big Mom, no doubt, so they can try and reconquer the North Blue."

"Conquer?" Nami repeated, like she was hoping she'd misheard him.

"Judge Vinsmoke," Ain started in a low hiss, "is a descendant of the family that originally held rulership of the entire North Blue seas. Their kingdom splintered generations ago, but the World Government in its infinite wisdom-" her voice dripped with scorn, "-still recognizes his family as royal and the fleet of warships that act as the modern Germa Kingdom as a member state."

Nami was silent at that for a minute, which was just as well because Sabo was reciting multiplication tables inside his head to be able to think without screaming again. "Oh my god," The orange-haired navigator muttered finally, sounding too exhausted to even be peeved at the revelation. "I'm starting to come up with all these horrible ideas as to why Sanji-kun never talked about his past."

Sabo felt a spike of warm empathy toward the former prince, which caught him by surprise. He wouldn't have thought that he and Sanji, the guy he'd punched in the face for flirting too hard with Luffy, came from such a similar place... "Keep all that worry and anger reserved for when you meet Judge," he advised. "It'll make dropping a lightning bolt on the bastard even more satisfying." Nami hummed thoughtfully at the idea. "So. There's no way to talk Luffy out of this incredibly dangerous detour on her way to Wano? She must know that if she just says the word, I'll have Sanji extracted from Totland and back on the Sunny within the week."

He'd do it in a heartbeat. Karasu has lost too many poker games to him to be able to refuse, and he'd completed their most important mission for the foreseeable future. He'd be off as soon as he passed the most dangerous information to Dragon. Of course that would require Luffy being willing to risk him going into an Emperor's territory alone...he had to make the offer, however.

The snail translated the longing look Nami must be wearing perfectly. "Have you ever been able to talk Luffy out of anything?" She asked helplessly. "But I'll definitely pass it along. Maybe she'll have a last second change of heart." Sabo heard Robin laugh gently on the other end and the snail started pouting. "I can hope!"

Sabo chuckled softly, understanding her feelings. "I'll have our people in the East Blue put their ears to the ground," he told the snail. "Big Mom's tea party invitations come with a caveat – if you ever fail to make it there for any reason, she sends her minions to find someone you love to cut their head off and put it in a box."

Nami inhaled sharply. "Baratie," she said, understanding instantly.

"So that's the restaurant he worked at?" Sabo confirmed. The snail nodded vigorously. "Good, that cuts out any time wasted on searching. I'll let Ivankov know to watch out for rats poking around Kambakka as well, and local sympathizers in the waters around the rest of your homes will be on the alert for both Germa and Linlin's goons."

"You are a saint. An actual saint, not those world noble bastards." Nami told him, sounding like she was slumping in relief. "You won't get in trouble spending the Revolutionary's time and resources helping a pirate crew, will you?"

Sabo scoffed. "We'll keep it circumspect. And besides – anyone who complains about that can take it up with Dragon. Or my pipe."

"...Of course, I don't know what I was expecting."

Ain smiled faintly, amused. Sabo was entirely predictable when it came to Monkey D Luffy; Koala had mixed opinions on the matter. Ever since the Neo Marines and Revolutionaries had started a partnership, she'd found herself on missions with the twosome fairly frequently, and she'd say she knew them pretty well by now – the moment Luffy entered the equation, Sabo's priorities swivelled to her. Irrational guilt over his amnesia played a part, sure, but sometimes Ain wondered...

And while Dragon didn't quite show it outright, she knew from her Sensei who had been ensuring that every CP0 Agent sent after Luffy over the two years she'd been in seclusion training either came up with nothing or vanished into the ocean without a trace. The man was a distant father, probably by necessity, but he was still the young pirate's father, and he guarded her like a mythical dragon guarded his treasure.

"I won't be able to head to Whole Cake Island straight away," Sabo was warning the navigator when she came out of her thoughts. "We're wrapping up our most recent mission and can't afford to be complacent about it. But once I'm able I'll by on my way."

"Is there a signal we should look out for?" Nami asked.

"Nah, just bide your time; I'll come find you. It's safer that way," Sabo responded with a slight shake of his head. "Tell Luffy to be careful with Katakuri; he's the closest to having a soul out of most of that brood, sure, but he's his mother's enforcer first and foremost."

The snail nodded vigorously. "Thank you, Sabo." Robin's warm voice sounded from the other side of the line. "I know this isn't exactly convenient for you."

"It's for Lu," Sabo said with a shake of his head. "Don't worry about it." His brow furrowed. "Ah, before I forget... does Ace know?"

"Yeah; I called him first. He hung up before he lost his temper." Nami sounded a little unnerved. "I'm both grateful and a little terrified of what he's planning."

Sabo clicked his tongue. "Let me worry about that, I'll talk to him in case he needs an infusion of common sense." And to coordinate. "Tell Lu to be careful and that I'll be right with her. And if that seamstress is making her a dress, it better look divine."

The snail blinked rapidly. "Okay," Nami sounded a little dumbfounded, but Sabo knew that he had his priorities in order no matter what anyone told him. "I won't keep you any longer, then? Luffy will be sorry she missed you."

"Tell her I'll see her soon," Sabo responded lightly. A few polite exchanges later and he hung up.

The blonde sucked in a deep breath, then vaulted to his feet and started cursing under his breath, stalking back and forth with his hands behind his back. Ain watched him move, rather wishing that Koala was here. "That old hag thinks one of her brats is worthy of Lu, does she?" Sabo seethed. "The world's in luck, she's going senile at a rapid pace! Who the hell does she think she is?!"

"A Yonko. Who's used to getting what she wants." Ain deadpanned, bemused.

"Yeah, well not this time." Sabo growled, his fists shimmering with haki. "Hell will freeze over before I let her turn Luffy into one of her long suffering in laws."

He froze at the edge of the clearing, his heart completely in his throat. For a moment he almost couldn't recognize the slender waif of a teenager curled up among the roots of a great tree, looking tired and discomforted, as the cute, bratty little girl who'd chased him and Ace through the jungle until she'd wormed her way into their lives. The difference was jarring, and it painfully drove home just how much he'd missed – how much his amnesia had stolen from them. Sucking in a deep breath, he walked up to the tree.

"Hey Lu, breakfast isn't gonna catch itself." He tried. "If you keep sleeping in, Ace and I will keep all the tiger meat to ourselves."

Those half-closed hazel eyes snapped open instantly. "NO! MY TIGER!" She shrieked on autopilot before her eyes registered who she was looking at, and indignation melted into confusion. "W-Wait...what...?" She stared up at him, at the familiar top hat and goggles settled on blonde hair. Blue eyes, one shaded by a sizable burn scar.

She knew that face. She did... she had missed it so much. Her mind spun, and she slowly shrank back into the tree, much to his dismay. "Oh... I'm dreaming..." She mumbled.

"Why?" Sabo asked softly.

"Because you're gone," Luffy responded insistently, her voice tiny and fragile. "You died. Dogra saw you get..." She bites her bottom lip, tears forming in her eyes.

"He saw my little ship get fired on by a Celestial Dragon," Sabo confirmed, watching her eyes grow even wider. Who else knew that, after all?"Turns out those spineless bastards can't shoot for shit. He burned half my face and almost drowned me when I passed out and my boat collapsed, but he didn't kill me. Your dad fished me out of the water and patched me up, made me a revolutionary. I'm right here, Lu."

"That's not funny," Luffy said, her voice getting a little shaky with a mixture of disbelief, anger, and budding hope. "You would have come home if you hadn't died."

The statement felt like a knife in his chest; god, he wished that he had, that he'd bypassed his gut instinct about Goa and looked just a little longer to make sure he wasn't leaving anything behind. "I would have if I hadn't taken a head injury. It gave me amnesia; I forgot everything about my life..." He sucked in a shaky breath, tears prickling at his eyes. "Until I saw you. It's me, Lu. Sabo."

Luffy slowly sat up, and stared deeply into his eyes. Searching for any sign of deceit, the light of the sun burning into him as she catalogued every inch of his face and compared him to her memories. Sabo swallowed minutely, silently pleading that she'd believed him. The longest moment of his life ticked on until Luffy's expression softened...and then lit up like the new dawn.

Tears spilled down her cheeks, joyous and disbelieving, and Luffy tackled him so hard he was flung several feet back before landing on his back in the grass with a thud. "SABO!" She cried, burying her face in his chest and hugging him like a python. Sabo wheezed, the air knocked out of his lungs; not that he cared. He hugged her back as hard as he could. "Sabo, Sabo...! You're alive! You came back...!"

Sabo closed his eyes briefly, then flexed his fists and scowling out at the ocean. "Yeah," he muttered darkly. "Linlin's days are numbered. Murderous bitch shouldn't have targeted Lu if she wanted to keep her head."

"You think that's possible now?" Ain asked. "The Marines didn't manage to kill Whitebeard, and his health was worse than hers currently is."

Sabo glanced sideways at her and smirked. "Trust me."

End Chapter

I adore Ace so much. He might be my absolute favorite character in One Piece, fighting for the position with Luffy and Law. Sabo is great too, I just love Ace the most.

Leave a review if you enjoyed!