Be forewarned I think this is a pretty corny chapter (I blame my sad music choices). But I had fun writing it so I am happy. It is a little…. Experimental?
Warning: (As always when dealing with little Ace) there is brief mentions of suicidal behaviour. Also child abuse and neglect. If anyone isn't comfortable with that just message me.
XXX
It had been nearly two months. Things were getting better, gradually. The smell still got to him, as did the moldy food and the cold. It was often biting at night. But like he said Sabo was a fast learner. He could start a fire in under three minutes, he was getting better and better at finding food and perhaps the best of all he had moved into a new place to live. It was still cold and dank, but the leaks weren't so bad now. But to Sabo who had lived his entire life up until this point in a place he now referred to as fancy hell this was fine. Better then fine he liked it here. Sure, his overall quality of life had dropped significantly. But before he had been a prisoner in his own home, having each one of his actions decided for him, his entire future already planned out. It had been so stifling there were some nights where he just wanted to scream and scream in frustration. But of course he couldn't because his parents would hear him and that would not end well for him. So he had done everything they wanted for years. Played a stupid little puppet. But no longer. Out here where everyone was miserable and hungry and cold- he was free. And he loved it.
The people here weren't the friendliest. They were too cynical for that. But that was fine. Sabo was used to being alone. He had never had friends growing up, he found the noble children impossible to deal with and he wasn't allowed to talk to the children in town. He also had never expected much in the way of parents or guardians, so Sabo was fine with the solitude. So long as he could come and go freely, he figured he didn't have much room to complain. So things continued on.
He hadn't expected to see Ace again. That was just what life was like around here. People were there one moment and then they were gone the next. Where they disappeared too was anyone's guess. So when their paths eventually crossed again it was a bit of a surprise.
On that particular day, with food shortages running through all of gray terminal Sabo was forced off his beaten path in search of his dinner. The hunt took him closer to the forest then he usually ventured. He could just see the high treetops breaching the mountains of trash around him. Peaceful looking comparatively. But he knew there was nothing peaceful about those woods. Just about everything in there wanted to kill or eat you- usually both.
But he was hungry so there wasn't much of a choice as he ventured closer and closer, all the while searching the outskirts for food.
The further he got from the center the more the population waned. Most of the people didn't come out this far. By this point the trash out here was so picked over there was nothing of use in here any longer. Still he bothered to check.
It was then that he noticed the sounds of fighting. Without fully realizing what he was doing Sabo crept closer to get a better look. And immediately he regretted it.
This wasn't a fight between pirates or outlaws. No this was an unfair fight; anyone could see that. It took him another second to recognize the small but distinct figure of one of the only people who had talked to him. His- sort of not friend the unsmiling boy Ace.
He was in the middle of a circle of three grown men, or more like gorillas based on the size of their muscles. They had weapons. Sabo saw the glint of steel from two knives and some type of short sword.
Ace was bleeding, rivets of blood dripping down his forehead. His body was covered in scrapes and bruises.
When the men descended down upon him once again Ace made a sound halfway between a grunt and a hiss- much like a cat- as he turned away from the encroaching weapons. But he was growing tired. His timing was a few seconds off as the knife caught the tail of his shirt slicing through it, drawing blood from a superficial injury beneath the fabric. Ace hissed as he clasped his palm over the wound with one hand, with the other he blocked himself from a particularly vicious hit. When he stepped back he stumbled, barely managing to catch himself as he tripped.
His face was pale and pained.
And without realizing it Sabo moved. He felt the coldness of the rock in his hand before he realized what he was doing. It wasn't until he watched it soar through the air, colliding with the largest man's head that the sparks connected. He was dead! He was so dead.
The man's face confirmed that as he whirled around to look at him, one of his ogre like hands clutching the back of his head where the rock had connected with his skull. The pure fury on his face made Sabo freeze in his spot.
He had managed to catch Ace's attention as well, his eyes widening when he saw Sabo. He spoke Sabo's name although any sound was covered by the noise of the angry men.
"Your friend!" One of the men snarled as they took a step towards him.
Sabo took a step back on reflex as he sized up the men in front of him. He had rules for this. He wasn't supposed to engage in confrontations. Not when the odds of winning were impossible. But he took one look at the dark-haired boys face and went for it with everything he had.
He must have caught the man off guard. No doubt he hadn't been expecting a kid a third of his size to barrel into his stomach. The man stumbled back with a muffled 'urphhh' as the wind was knocked out of him.
"What are you doing you idiot!" Ace screamed at him as Sabo scrambled up, turning to see the other two men eyeing him dangerously.
"I'm helping you!" Sabo yelped as one of the men reached to grab him. He managed to escape his grasp only to back up strait into the man he had tackled. He had recovered enough to rejoin the fight and Sabo's stomached dropped as his arms were yanked back by the now furious man.
"You little brat!" He spat. "Thought you would help your friend, did you?" He wretched Sabo's arms back a little further pulling them unnaturally in their socket and it took everything he had to stop from crying out.
But the next second the pressure was gone, and the man stumbled back, clutching his bleeding nose with a furious cry. Ace had charged his way straight through the men to send his fist into this man's face.
"B-bastarrd," The man spat, blood dripping from his crooked nose. "You'll regret that."
"I won't." Ace told him angrily. "And he's not my friend."
"Thank you," Sabo told him quietly rubbing his sore shoulders. To his surprise Ace whirled onto him next.
"Shut up!" He snapped. "I Didn't Ask For Your Help!"
"Okay I'm sorry," Sabo said as they were both forced to scramble away as the other two approached them. He really didn't have time to get into this right now. It wasn't like he had been expecting a gift basket or anything for intervening, but Ace's hostility had surprised him. But he pushed all of that aside as he grabbed the other boy's wrist.
"Come on we have to get out of here."
But Ace just shrugged him off turning to face the three men once again.
"You get out of here," He told them. "I'll hold them off."
"Ace," Sabo growled in frustration. He couldn't be serious.
"I don't need your help."
"They will kill you."
"I'll be fine."
He wouldn't be. But he was either too stupid or too stubborn to admit it.
Backing this boy up might just have been the last thing he ever did. Sabo looked beyond him to the landscape beyond. Should he run? That was what he was told to do growing up, that was what his father and every rotten noble would do. But he wasn't one of them anymore. He was his own person, and it was time to start figuring out what that meant.
Pulling the knife free from his hip he came to stand beside Ace, looking at the three very angry men before them.
"I'm not leaving you." –
XXX
It had been a bloody fight and a tough one. Sabo was pretty sure one or all of his fingers had been sprained. But somehow impossibly they had won. That was due in part to Ace, that boy was shockingly strong. He was obviously used to fighting and probably situations like this. Throughout it he never looked scared or nervous, only angry. Honestly it unnerved Sabo a little bit. He had never met anyone who didn't show fear before. He didn't think that was normal. But then again none of this was normal.
But as strong as Ace was Sabo knew that he was also a part of their win. Like he had told Ace all those months ago; he was a fast learner. Before coming to live in the grey terminal he hadn't had much or any experience with fighting. But now fighting had quickly become most of his existence. You fight for food, you fight to protect your food, you fight for fun. And the strong survived. So apparently that meant Sabo was strong. It was odd to think that he had gone his entire life without knowing that until now when he gave up everything. Maybe that was why he had never fit in at high town. The people there were so… so weak, and cowardly, and sick in the head. It made him angry to think about.
Either way he looked at it his fighting skills, and overall survival skills were growing rapidly. When he first came here, he didn't know if he would be able to do it. He didn't know anything other than the cushy life he had been born into. But he was more worldly now. And he was never going to go back to the way things were.
"I didn't need your help," Ace said from beside him. And maybe it was the adrenaline flooding his veins or maybe he had just had it, but when Sabo uncharacteristically responded, "Shut the hell up," Ace did just that.
The two of them were laid out on their backs, tending their bruises and cuts while they tried to catch their breaths.
"Think their running back to their mothers?" Ace said after a moment and Sabo smiled. The men having fled only moments ago. Retreating with their tails between their legs. The image of the muscular full-grown men wailing to their moms because they got beat up by two kids was laughable.
"I hope they are," Sabo said honestly. He pictured himself running back to his own mother and her shrill voice. How she would scream when she saw the grime covering him, and his smile vanished. Not everyone had that type of mother.
He turned to Ace, his face serious again.
"Hey, are you a psychopath or something?"
"Huh?" The other boy turned confused. "A what?"
"Or like someone that can't feel fear or empathy or something?" Or maybe he really was just crazy. Either way neither of those things were good things.
Ace turned his head back to look up at the sky again. "How would I know that?" He asked. Sabo hadn't thought about that. But he was glad the other boy hadn't gotten offended. He was too loud when he was offended.
He remembered Ace's face all that time ago when he had talked about his home. He had looked hurt. But he had pretended he wasn't. No, Sabo decided. Not a psychopath.
"So just crazy then?" He was pushing it now. But neither one had enough energy left to start another unnecessary fight.
The grey eyes once again turned to look at him before he rolled them sarcastically. "Oh whatever. I'm not the one that keeps butting into other people's business. Who is the crazy one now?"
"Your right!" Sabo realized. That had been reckless. He had always been a little bit reckless, but just now. That was taking it to a whole new level. Perhaps this place was starting to rub off on him. "If your calling me crazy that can't be a good sign," Sabo mused putting the emphasis on the 'you'.
"The hell's that supposed to mean?"
"What do you think it means!" He shot back and instead of snapping at him Ace just shrugged.
"Maybe your right. You seem to understand this stuff better than me… even if you're a shit fighter. But-" Ace cut him off before he could interject. "- I like you better like this."
"Like what?"
"I don't know," He tugged on his hair in frustration trying to verbalize the words in his head. It was clear from their interactions that although he was a competent fighter Ace's social skills were nearly non-existent. "Rude! Blunt! Kind of a jerk! Pick one!"
"I apologize if I offended-," Sabo began almost automatically. He hadn't even realized he had been doing it. His parents had always been quick to point out when his language became unproper for polite society. But despite their best efforts he still slipped from time to time and spoke his thoughts without filtering them. It seems the fight had knocked that part of him loose again.
"Don't Apologize!" Ace cut him off before he could finish. "I already told you to knock off that language. Your talking like a rich person or something."
"I'm not though!" Sabo said quickly.
"Then stop it! Your too nice. But the only thing being nice gets you around here is an early grave. No one's going to go easy on you just because you ask them politely. Besides the formalness annoys me," He finished lamely. "Say what you want to say already."
"-O-okay," Sabo said awkwardly. The turn the conversation took had caught him off guard.
"Your serious?"
Ace nodded.
"Well then if I can say anything, I'd ask what was wrong with you- OUCH!" He hissed scrambled back as he felt a nasty kick to his already bruised side. "You said-,"
"- Never said I wouldn't kick your ass," He responded his voice huffy. Sabo had insulted him. But not as much as he had been expecting.
"So, let's hear it, what is wrong with me." He asked laying against the ground once more.
"It's just…. Why didn't you run away when we had the chance? What if they killed us?"
"-'M not scared of dying," Ace muttered looking up at the broad sky above them.
"Yea right."
"No," The boy turned to meet his eyes so Sabo could see he was serious. "I'm not." And something in those murky grey eyes was so sincere Sabo believed him. Even if only in part.
"Why not?"
But Ace didn't answer choosing instead to watch the clouds drift across the sky.
"Fine," Sabo said softly, and then louder, "But I am alright! So next time let's not stick around as long."
"Next time don't stick your nose into my business."
Sabo thought for a moment, "Yea I can agree to that." And there was piece between the two of them. Until his stomach grumbled reminding him that not only had he missed lunch, but he still had no food for dinner. He groaned. "I'm so hungry!"
"Then eat."
"Thanks genius."
"No, I mean let's go eat," Ace told him standing up. "As much as we want."
"You have food?"
"No, not right now." Ace turned to look behind him at the forest and Sabo followed his gaze. "But I know where we can get some."
"Are you crazy! Nobody goes into that forest. They say there are tigers in there the size of bears and bears the size of houses." The locals didn't go near there. Not if they weren't suicidal. It was notorious for being incredibly dangerous and inhospitable.
"That's a lie," Ace told him. "Their the size of trees." He turned to Sabo, grinning ever so slightly. "Scared."
"No!" Sabo shot back adjusting his top hat on top of his head.
"I grew up in these woods, I won't get us lost. I hunt in them every day. The foods worth it," He looked Sabo over once more. "If you can hack it." He teased; his tone more playful than mean.
Sabo's stomach grumbled again, and he turned back to the forest.
"Bring it on!"
XXX
What a weird dream this was. It was earlier that day and the two thief children were standing before him. Skinny and full of scratches, their eyes mistrustful. But he remembered the way the littlest one's face split into a smile when he had given him the food. The mistrustful look in the older one's eye's, glinting wearily every time Sabo moved. How he was raised to expect violence at any moment.
"Your too nice," Came the familiar voice and Sabo turned unsurprised to once again see a young Ace. "Feeding everyone who asks n' stuff." He rubbed his nose against his sleeve. "But I guess you've always been like this huh."
-he had hadn't he?
When he didn't say anything, Ace rolled his eyes. "Whatever, let's go." He turned to leave, without waiting for the other. And without fully realizing what he was doing Sabo followed him.
Just like he always did.
XXX
The two became hunting partners of sorts. Ace would enlist his help to bring down large game. Or at least he did at first. Then he would call on Sabo for smaller things he could usually handle himself, and then just all the time. Every day had the two of them running through the woods. They fought with sticks, then pipes, sometimes just their hands.
The jungle had been a bit intimidating at first, but the more time he spent here the more familiar Sabo got with it. He came to enjoy the relative peacefulness. Plus it was a necessity if he was to get food, something he had been missing out on since he had run away.
For the most part Sabo enjoyed the company. It sure beat doing everything alone. The thing about Ace was… he was completely crazy. Like he had said he really didn't seem to fear his own death. He was odd that was for sure. He was also a very serious child. The first time Sabo said something that made him laugh, Sabo had been surprised.
"So you can laugh?"
Ace was prickly for the rest of the day.
Things were slow in the start, but eventually the other boy let his guard down more and more. And occasionally he even acted like a kid.
Either way Sabo knew it was a mistake to get involved with a kid who didn't care about his own life. Because that just meant Sabo would be the one who got hurt when Ace eventually got himself killed.
XXX
"Let me go!" Ace seethed in his arms as he was dragged away, out of the bar and away from the grown men he had been trying to pick a fight with.
"Let it go! For once in your life! Who cares what they say?"
"Stay out of my business!"
"Your business almost got us killed yesterday."
"I Didn't Ask For Your Help!" Ace snapped as he tried to grab a fistful of the blond's hair. "You almost got yourself killed!"
"I wasn't just going to leave you!" He hissed back as he shoved his palm over Ace's face equally angrily. "I can't just leave you! You'll die. Why can't you get that?"
"SO!" Ace spat and something in Sabo snapped as he went for the other's legs. Tackling him to the ground and knocking the breath out of him in the process.
"You don't mean that." He said fighting to stay on top of the other boy.
"What if I do!" Ace snapped defiantly. He brought his knee violently into Sabo's side trying to dislodge the blond boy off of him. "Get OFF!"
But Sabo took the blow as he put all of his weight onto Ace's shoulder blades, feeling the other shutter and then collapse underneath him. Sabo was getting angry, angrier than he remembered being before. He dug his fingers into the other's hair, pressing his face into the dirt beneath them.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" He screamed.
His win was short lived as the next second Ace's flailing fist caught him in the eye as he fell onto the ground with a cry.
Ace was quick to retaliate, rising to his hands and knees he wiped the dirt off his cheek with the back of his hand. When Sabo tried to scramble up Ace knocked his arms out from under him, roughly turning him over to sit on his legs pinning him down to the ground.
"What's wrong with ME!" He asked clearly as furious as Sabo was. "What's wrong with you! WHY do you care what I do! How I choose to live my life has nothing to do with You Alright!"
"God! You really are an idiot aren't you!" Sabo snapped back at him reaching up to try and claw at his face. Ace leaned back, avoiding his grasp as he put more weight onto Sabo's stomach, waiting for the other to tire himself out. But that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
"How Do you Care THAT Little About Yourself!" Sabo screamed at him. "What about me huh! Did you even stop to think about that!"
"How Is this possibly about You!" Ace snapped at him, flinching as Sabo's fist connected with his cheek.
"What If I Was the One who died or was Killed! Would You Care Then?"
The question seemed to catch Ace off guard as he sat back, face blank of any response. But Sabo didn't give him time to think of one as he let his arms fall to the ground, no longer fighting.
"You don't care about yourself; do you care about Anyone!" Sabo pressed. "Would you care if I died! Would you even notice?"
He had pushed him too far on that one. He felt the blow as Ace slapped him across the face. Not nearly as hard as he could have, but enough to sting.
"-OF COURSE!" Ace seethed clenching his fists as he shut his eyes.
Taking the chance Sabo sat up, shoving Ace off of him. "Then how can you act like that!" He asked as he stood up. "How would you feel if you were me! Who do you think is going to bury you! Who you are going to be leaving behind! I thought we were friends."
"We are?"
Sabo ignored him, too angry to deal with his surprise right now. "You know what you are! You're selfish! You act however you want without even thinking about anyone around you. How they would feel if you died. How I would Feel!"
"It's not like that!" Ace shot back.
"SHUT UP!" Sabo yelled. "It's exactly like that.
"No!" Ace said in frustration. "I'm not like you! Your… I don't know good or something!"
"Ace I'm not good!" He told him. "Trust me."
"Yes, you are!" Ace told him. "You care about people. Your normal and smart. Yea, sometimes your scary as hell when your mad but you're a nice person, a good person. I know it! I'm not."
"That's not true!" Sabo told him. "Why do you get to decide that?"
"I didn't decide!" Ace said his voice finally quieting. "I was just made this way."
Sabo frowned, leaning forward onto his hands and knees in front of Ace so they would be eye level.
"Listen to me Ace," He told him softly. "If I've learned one thing in my life it's that it doesn't matter where we come from or who brought us into this world. The only thing that matters is what we choose to do with our lives. And no one can tell us how to live, even if some people think they can." He smiled gently at the other boy who was staring at him with wide eyes.
"You don't understand," Ace said as his gaze slipped down to the ground.
"What don't I understand?"
"I really am a monster." He reached his hand up to his cheek. It had gotten scraped in the fight and a trail of blood was sluggishly collecting on his face. He pressed his fingers into the cut staining his hand with the blood as he showed it to Sabo. My stupid blood is cursed or poisonous or something! I deserve everything bad that happens to be! Maybe more I don't know."
"Ace that-,"
"I killed My mother!" He blurted not wanting to hear the other's comfort.
"What!" Sabo asked taken back. "How?"
"She died giving birth to me! She died because of me!"
"You didn't ask to be born." Sabo told him. "That wasn't your fault."
"Why won't you listen!" Ace shoved his now bloody hand closer to Sabo's face for him to see. "It's THE KING OF PIRATES! THAT'S WHOSE BLOOD IS IN ME." He was screaming again now. "The Worst Criminal In The World. The Man Responsible for Countless Death and Destruction, Feared by the entire world. My Blood is As Rotten As You Can Get! It killed my mother. So, I can't be good! I can't be anything but evil."
And suddenly Sabo understood as everything clicked together. But not for the reason his friend thought. He was just like the noble kids. Only Ace was the other side of that. They, who believed their privileged blood made them above everything else. That it gave them the power and permission to do whatever they wanted. Made them so much better than the rest. All this time together and Ace was just as obsessed with blood as they were. Only he had been told, so many times that he believed it, that his blood made him worthless. God, how had Sabo not realized that.
And for the first time since he had met the other boy he looked scared, no not scared he looked terrified. Terrified that his only friend in the world would now hate him now that he knew the truth. Sabo did know the truth now. But not the one Ace thought mattered the most.
He grabbed the knife from his boot. And the fear in Ace's eyes as he scrambled back made Sabo's heart hurt as he turned the blade on his own palm. Without giving the other a moment to process what he had done he grabbed Ace's bloody hand with his own injured one. Holding it tightly when he tried to pull back.
"What are you-?" He asked his eyes wide with fear, adrenaline and confusion.
"Ace I knew." Sabo told him without letting go.
"What?"
"I've known for a while." It honestly wasn't that hard to figure out. Especially since he had been there when one of the drunk men mentioned Gol D. Roger and Ace lost it on him.
"Why didn't you say anything!" Ace tried again uselessly to grab his hand back but Sabo just held tight.
"I figured it was your business. That you would tell me if you wanted too. But Ace, you have to know that it's not your blood that defines you. What your parents did doesn't make you a bad person. No more than mine do?"
"Your parents?" Ace echoed faintly.
"Uh, for abandoning me!" He said without thinking. God Sabo was such a coward! And a hypocrite. Thinking about it now he understood Ace in some messed up way. How it feels to be ashamed of what you are. Only one of them was willing to say it out loud. But this wasn't about him was it?
"You- think," Ace began and if Sabo didn't know him he would swear his tone was almost shy. "That I'm not a bad person!"
"I said you're not a bad person because of your blood." Sabo corrected him. "You're a bad person because you would leave me here by myself." He squeezed Ace's hand tighter feeling the blood begin to drip down his arm. But still he didn't let go.
"You would be okay," Ace told him softly.
"Would not! Ace you're my only friend in the world! Hell right now you're the only person I like. Out of everybody on this stupid island you were the one who helped me! You were the one who talked to me. You're the one who I'm best friends with. So I don't care what anyone else says. I want," -need, "You here with me. Not-," He felt his voice break a little bit but struggled past it. "Not in the ground okay! I really don't want to be alone again okay. OKAY!" He snapped and Ace nodded quickly, his face the perfect mix of surprised, scared and embarrassed. It would be funny if Sabo didn't feel like he was about to start crying.
He didn't trust his voice, and apparently neither did Ace so both of them just sat, kneeling in the dirt their fingers intertwined, no doubt looking like a bunch of weirdos.
"You promise." Ace finally asked after what felt like an eternity.
Sabo smiled, "I promise. He told him softly and it was only then that he pulled his hand free showing Ace the blood on his arm. "And look," He told him his mouth pulling into a smile. "Your blood isn't poisonous or cursed or whatever. It's in me now and I'm still fine."
Ace finally smiled, although just a bit. He still had that stupid, scared kicked puppy look he had been wearing for the last few minutes. But apparently when it came to Ace sometimes you needed to rip a wound open again for it to heal. So Sabo gave him time to adjust and hopefully wrap his head around the idea that even though Sabo knew his secret, he wasn't going anywhere.
"What would you do if you started- like foaming at the mouth right now or something?" Ace asked after a moment. His voice was somewhat shy but with a hint of his usual cheek. Apparently, he adjusted quickly.
"From the Blood?" Sabo asked.
He nodded.
"Guess you could say I told you so then huh?" Sabo smiled back at him.
"I would have to say it pretty quick."
"Or carve it into my tombstone," Sabo added glad the conversation was shifting off of the rawer topics and more into the jovial joking both of them had grown used too.
"Say it at your funeral."
"Make my ghost sign an apology,"
"Let's be partners!" Ace blurted out quickly cutting off their conversation.
"Huh?"
"Like fighting partners, or crime partners or something…"He rambled nervous now. "Like a team or something. Or- or not." He said misinterpreting Sabo's silence. "Let's not."
"No," Sabo stopped him. "Partners, I like the sound of that. We can give the pirates and nobles a run for their money?" His grin was back as he held out his bloody hand to the other.
"Partners!"
Ace took it in a heartbeat. "Let's raise so much hell!"
XXX
Ace ran past him like the white rabbit from fairytales and Sabo followed behind him, letting the other lead him deeper and deeper into the hole. So far down the light no longer reached him.
XXX
And then there was Luffy. He was something new. Something they hadn't seen before.
For one thing he was kind of sweet and maybe a little bit cute. Not in any traditional sense though. He was far too loud and brazen for that. But the obedient, shy and meek children usually favored by adults didn't survive well here. But Luffy was unusual in other ways. He had skipped over the 'independent' stage of child development that Sabo and Ace were caught up in. Luffy didn't seem to have the same desire to show the world that he didn't need anything from anyone like the two of them did. He claimed independence but spent all of his free time trying to get Ace's approval. He wasn't mean or violent. He also wasn't a sad kid, he didn't spend his days crying at the window or whimpering over his new situation as Sabo would expect from a someone who had just been kidnapped from his home by his guardian and dropped into a new situation in the middle of the woods. Instead he was relentless in his following of Ace.
At first Sabo pegged him as someone who wouldn't last a month here. By the time he realized he might have been wrong about that prediction it was already a bit too late. Everything had changed after that. Something about seeing Luffy crying his eyes out, tied up and bloody surrounded by criminals about to kill him had snapped something in the two of them. Suddenly he wasn't just that annoying kid who had relentlessly tried to follow Ace.
Things changed a lot for Sabo that night as well. More than he ever thought they would. He abandoned his home in the grey terminal out of fear of getting his throat slit while he was sleeping or something equally awful to move in with the two of them. The mountain bandits were surprisingly nice, at least for mountain bandits. As far as normal people went, they were a bit on the rough side. But honestly, they all were so it didn't matter much to him.
And Luffy, who was currently going through the kid phase Ace and Sabo skipped, taught them a lot about being a kid. Like for one thing they were supposed to play. Like make believe and use their imaginations and stuff. It was weird at first. Especially since they always had larger things to worry about. It was nice in a way. When Luffy was around they got to act like children. He made it fun to act like a kid. What's more was Luffy had this way of bringing immaturity out of Ace and maturity from Sabo. It never failed to make him laugh, how Ace could be so protective of the littlest one and then turn around and bully him.
They started acting less and less like partners and more like brothers. They fought sometimes, they got on each other's nerves, but at the end of the day none of that stuff mattered. It was like, for the first time in Sabo's life he finally found a family in them. Not the kind he had been born into. That was more of a wolfs den then a family. But this one, they needed him. Loved him even. But what was more important was that he loved them.
Family was more permanent then friendship. Sometimes you had to be considerate of your friends. If you fought too hard, were too rude or pushy you could lose them. But you were stuck with your family. No matter how much they drove you crazy or how bad you fought that wouldn't change.
Sabo had always tried to be a nice person. He liked to help people and didn't enjoy watching others suffer. But for how he was raised he had a tendency to be a bit rough around the edges. Not as bad as Ace but not as polite as well-adjusted people were supposed to be. But the longer he lived with them the more patient and understanding he became. Not that he wasn't still an irresponsible, competitive, rude brat. He was, but he was also acting more like an older brother all the time. He hadn't realized how much until the first time Luffy had woken him up in the middle of the night asking to sleep with him. Sabo let him, and the next time and the time after that.
Luffy wasn't quite like them. Not yet at least. He was still too soft. Probably from growing up in the town, or at least that's what Ace thought. Who knew the real reason? Maybe he was just less obsessed with denying when he was in pain or sad. Whatever the reason he wasn't ready to be on his own just yet. He needed to be watched, constantly, with hawk like supervision. At first neither wanted to do it. The well being and safety of a child, particularly that child, was a big responsibility for the two of them that had just been responsibility free. They told Luffy to stay behind but of course he didn't listen to them. He wanted to follow them everywhere even if he couldn't handle it yet. So in the end there wasn't much of a choice but to take responsibility for him because if they didn't nobody would and he would certainly die out here. And they would be the ones hurt the most by that. So they took care of him, trained him to fight, to get food and to survive. Sabo was sure he would grow out of it when he got older. Ace thought he was going to be a crybaby for his whole life. But crybaby or not, the best thing about Luffy was that he Never Ever gave up.
No matter what.
XXX
When Sabo finally caught up to Ace it wasn't because he managed to outrun him but rather because Ace had stopped to wait for him.
"Your so slow," He teased.
"I don't know my way around here." He argued. This was all knew to him.
"It's okay," Ace told him with one of his cocky grins, reserved only for his brothers. "I can show you."
"You'll come with me?" Sabo asked.
"If that's what you want?"
He nodded. He had been alone when all of this happened. So why should he still be alone?
"I like you better like this," Ace told him out of the blue.
"Like me like what?"
Ace took Sabo's hand guiding it to his left cheek to feel the smooth skin underneath. No longer scarred by his past mistakes. Sabo spread out his fingers over his face, it was the face of a ten-year-old kid. A kid he used to be.
"I'm not this person anymore." He told Ace letting his hand drop.
"I know." Ace told him. "It's okay, I'm not this person anymore either. But sometimes don't you wish we were?"
He thought about it for a moment. "Life was simpler wasn't it?" Ace nodded. It was so weird. When they were kids there were times, he swore his childhood was crappy. To be fair there were times when it was. But now… "I guess you never really know what you have until it's gone."
"No matter how much I promise myself I will learn that lesson I never do," Ace told him. "It's hard not to get too caught up in the pain."
"Nearly impossible," Sabo agreed, and the other boy smiled as he turned to lead them away.
"Your home," Ace told him finally as Sabo's childhood home materialized in front of him. The sight of it alone was enough to send shivers up his arm. He had always hated this place hadn't he? It looked like such a beautiful house from the outside. But it was nothing but a fancy prison for him. But it had been home, at least for a while.
Looking behind him to make sure Ace was following him he headed inside, slipping between the iron gate and through the yard. The front door was held open wide to him, something it usually never was.
"It's nice," Ace told him looking at the flower beds that lined the walkways.
"You would have hated it." Sabo promised him.
"I would have," He agreed. "But it's still nice."
"I guess." Sabo said as the two of them crossed the threshold into the house.
Standing there in the grand entry way of the house stood his parents. He had totally forgotten them. That was good. They had never gotten along. And looking at them now he understood why. The one thing he had held onto from his amnesia was his fear. Of them, of becoming them, not knowing the difference between right and wrong.
"You keep disappointing us," His mother told him.
"I know," He told her. No matter what he did he would never have made them happy. He would never be enough for them, even when he tried his hardest. Even if he had been perfect like they wanted they would have still been so disappointed.
"Let the monsters see you smile," His father greeted him, his face like thunder.
That was something he used to say a lot. He liked to say it when dealing with 'enemy competitors. It might just be the best advice he had ever given his son.
"I'm sorry you got stuck with me," Sabo told them. And then, because his father had told him to and because he always did whatever his father asked, Sabo smiled at them. "-But I am sorrier I got stuck with you." He didn't think they would meet again. What would be the point? You couldn't make someone love you and he didn't think they had ever loved him. It would be easier if he could say the same. But no, that would be a lie. They were his parents after all. And what kid didn't love the people who made them. Even if they didn't deserve it. But no longer. They may have created him but they weren't his family.
"Let's go."
Ace nodded as he wordlessly followed Sabo down the hallway. But it no longer led to the dining room. Instead it let out in the forest.
The three of them were burying something. A tiny blackbird, Sabo realized with dulled regret. No wonder Ace couldn't forget this.
"We never named it," Sabo remarked to Ace from where they stood on the outskirts of the scene.
"We called it bird," Ace recalled.
"I feel bad about that now."
"I don't," Ace said. "Things die. That's just the way things are around here. We knew it would die. What was the point of getting attached?"
"We got attached anyways," Sabo reminded him.
"We're idiots," Ace said sullenly. "And you and I were never as above it as we pretended to be were we?"
Sabo shook his head. They were kids after all. Even if they pretended not to be. Their hearts beat and broke just like every kid in the world. But they never failed to give Luffy a hard time, just for being honest.
"We're his older brothers," Ace said as if reading his thoughts. "It was our job to tease him."
They followed the three boys up into the treetops to see the birds flying around up there. Sabo had forgotten how beautiful it was in the morning. When the sunlight looked like it was on fire. And the birds, more then he could ever imagine, flying around as they always had. As if they didn't even care one of their younglings had been lost. Probably because they didn't.
And that's when Luffy started crying. So, like they had in the past the two of them were forced once again to listen to his sobs, and then Ace yelling at him.
"I think we should have been nicer to him," Sabo admitted ruefully. He had been thinking about that a lot.
"There were a lot of things I should have done," Ace told him. "But I didn't always know how." After all no one was ever that nice to him.
They climbed higher then, up the trees into their tree house. Which at the time seemed high enough to brush the clouds? It kept them safe when the floods came. They had feared the water would get high enough to drown them but their fort kept them safe.
Luffy was restless. Ace continuously threatened to push him into the flood if he kept complaining. And Sabo realized that the Ace of now, who sullenly stood beside him as they watched was a very different Ace.
"I'll tell you a story while we eat," Sabo heard himself say as he watched the blond pull Luffy down onto his bed with him. Telling him a stupid story to keep the peace between them while they ate. Afterwards he had let the littlest stay, even if he was annoying to sleep with for all his kicking and sleep talking. At the time Sabo had thought it was a chore, but after everything that had happened he got a warm feeling in his chest watching them.
"I'm really nothing like my parents, am I?" He asked his Ace and the boy shook his head.
"You never were."
They went higher still, to the roof of their tree house where the three of them liked to lay and watch the stars on clear nights. It had always helped remind Sabo of how small his worries really were when compared to how vast the sky was.
"I think I could live a thousand years and I still won't understand why some things had to happen," He told Ace.
"We don't believe in fate." Ace reminded him. "Things just happen. That's all there is to it. You don't need to understand."
"But I want to," Sabo said looking back at the sky, and then at the three of them happily laying there. He wondered if Luffy, wherever he was right now, felt the same way. To him it must just feel like so much senseless violence he didn't deserve. He was the one who had sympathized with the bird. He had always been the best of all of them.
"When will this- feeling go away? I hate it!"
"I don't think it's supposed to." Ace told him. "At least it never did for me."
"I don't want to feel like this!" He had always hated seeing it on other people faces. How something so insignificant to him, to his cause, could ruin their lives, and cause them to crumble.
"It's easier when it's someone else isn't it?" Ace asked and he nodded. It was so very different when it was his own life.
"It's okay," His brother told him. "It doesn't feel like it but this is good. This is what makes us kind. This is why all three of us go so far to help people. Because we know how it feels. And just because we didn't save the bird that doesn't mean we are always going to fail? We'll do better, and better again. Right?"
"When did you get so smart?" Sabo asked after a moment.
"Nah," Ace said with a small smile. "As always it's just you isn't it? And you were always the smart one."
They climbed higher still. Past the treetops and into Grey terminal. Where the two of them met for the first time and last time. They watched in silence as they were attacked. They lost, of course they did. But they always tried so hard. And left with no other choice Sabo gave up, surrendering to his parents' wishes. Just when he thought he had finally escaped them.
He saw the betrayal in Ace's eyes as he turned. The feelings of being abandoned clearly on his face. He never meant to abandon him. And perhaps worst of all he heard Luffy's screaming for him as he left. Begging him to come back. But he never did.
"Sorry I let go," Ace told him without turning away from the scene before them.
"Sorry I made you," Sabo responded easily. That hadn't been their proudest moment. He shouldn't of had to do that. But he had and there was no going back now. He reached out to squeeze Ace's hand. "We will do better next time," He promised him.
"You really mean that?"
Sabo nodded.
"You understand now," Ace told him. "What I am, what I'm like. I'm going to get myself killed trying to save Luffy."
"I understand," Sabo told him. "And I won't let you. I'll back you up. Just like I always have. We're partners after all aren't we? Let's let the monsters see us smile."
Ace smiled lightly. "Yea."
And Sabo smiled back, even as he fell down into the waiting water below. If there could be one thing, he could have protected himself from it was this. He didn't need to remember this part. Except it was his past. Even if it was painful.
He remembered being in so much pain. His face felt like it was on fire as he desperately reached up towards the surface. His hands grasping at the water as he watched the sunlight above fade further and further away the deeper he sank. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, he couldn't even scream.
This was what it felt like to slip beneath the surface and just keep sinking.
This was what dying felt like.
But he wouldn't die. He knew that now. If the world wanted to kill him it would have to try again. Because this only made him tougher.
Life was beautiful. But it was also complicated. And he would hold on to it tighter this time. For as long as he had it.
XXX
Things came a bit full circle here. When Luffy needed a guide he saw Sabo, someone he knew would explain things to him honestly and sympathize with him. Ace's subconscious guilt manifested itself as child Luffy the person who he needs above all else and who he thought he was currently failing. And when Sabo started to remember his old life more and more he imagined child Ace the person who had been one of his only constants growing up and seemed to know everything about him.
Even when they are apart, they are still part of each other : )
She's being corny again! (But I have to have my fun).
In case you guys missed it, last chapter when Izo overheard Whitebeard talking on the phone, he was actually talking too Marco (Margo) in code. The wife was Ace, The kid was Luffy and the mother in law was Sabo XD.
Luffy's back next chapter. Finally, after being gone for five chapters! And who knows how many real-time months! It's my last chance to be mean to him before his rescue. Which is going to be in chapter 39! Just one more chapter away. And I have the next chapter completely written already. I just need to edit it (I do actually edit) and I will share it in a couple of days! So the sad part is almost over.
Hang on one more chapter!
XXX
Criis46: Aw thank you. That must have taken a long time! I'm glad you like it!
Az Sharane: Thank you for reading and reviewing! Thanks for sticking with me. You might have to wait a bit, the story is still a ways off from ending.
xXxWolvesInTheNightxXx: Another long one! I won't let myself cut them because I promised you guys a reunion at 40! And that's what you will get. I'm still deciding what Haruta is going to do! But I promise in the end it will be okay!
Senpai: Right Now! He understands now! I'm glad you like it! And Thanks for the TWRR support! I took a hiatus; I love that poor little story to death but sometimes it can feel like a story can be forgotten. So I always love to hear people still like it. But don't worry I'm not done with it.
iyulia juuzou: I promise to go into what was wrong with Sabo next chapter. I meant to do it in this one but it seemed like too good of a place to stop. And same to you! Stay safe and healthy and happy!
Sophia Mendes-Coruja: Hey you!
I got your message on discord. Sorry I didn't answer, I didn't want to get in trouble with the moderators Haha, but thank you. That is so nice! We are going to make such an awesome magazine! Good luck with yours! I'm sure it will be great.
Thank you for the nice review as always! I'm sorry about your fish, I know pets can be so hard to say bye to. I have a hard time letting things go when they were supposed to be in my care. I hate letting them down!
I'm glad you liked the chapter! Sabo get's his rest this time! And thank you for the praise. That's so nice. It was inspired by the little fish Sherbert. Wherever he may be in fish heaven.
Hopefully you liked this one as well! Thank you for always being so nice! (Hugs back)
JustCallMeCookie: I did not know that was a thing until you told me. Wow, Ace's voice actor can sing right! I spent my week listening to the other One Piece songs thanks to you haha. Thousand Dreamers is my personal favorite.
And yes! War Teach deserves so war he will get, even if it's a ton of work for me haha.
Sabo's better now! I promise to go into it next chapter. I meant to talk about it now but I got side tracked. And same to you. Stay healthy and happy!
Demon-night24: That so sweet to say. I always love hearing that people are enjoying it. Hugs you back! Thank you. Take care of yourself as well.
Magic Morgana:
Same! Haha.
I think it was a tossup between his loyalty to Garp and that to his job. But of course, he had to choose his job because that's who he is. Even though he knows he is doing the wrong thing he is doing it for the right reasons. His position won't let him do the right thing, even though he wants to. I think Garp might be able to understand Sengoku's logic better than a lot of people. But that doesn't mean he will side with him.
I'm good! Nice and bored. But Nothing to complain about. And I can relate to that. Masks are hard to breath in. But a necessary evil. How are you doing? I hope also healthy and well.
RIAEVANS: Of course!
I'm glad everyone seems to like Ace and Sabo because I have a lot more for them haha. The end to the cliff hanger next time. Stay safe and healthy!
Moleluv: Aw I'm sorry. Hang in there. This one and the next are sad but immediately after wards everything gets so much better!
iyulia juuzou: I actually really like people asking me for updates. I can't always deliver but it let's me know people are still interesting in a story. Which is important to me. Why share if no one's wants to read it. So thank you! You never offend me! I hope you and your family are healthy as well!
Aurgenta: THANK YOU! AND OF COURSE. THANK YOU FOR REVEIWING! I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT.
ModestySkirt: Yea right. It's a good thing Marco's patient and understanding.
And no, Thatch thinks Luffy is dead. Teach never told him they were able to save him. Whitebeard never knew he had died though, Teach didn't let the news travel very far. Hopefully you'll like it! Thank you for the review.
Guest: I'm glad you like it. Thank you for the nice review! That must have taken a while Wow! Sorry that it is making you sad though. I promise to make it up to you in the end!
And thank you for commenting! I really love to hear that people are enjoying it! It makes the work writing it worth it : )
xellos-sore-wa-himitsu-desu: Yes! Things will get better and better for everyone, but Teach. It is just going to be sad a bit longer. Hopefully you liked this one!
OnePieceDoesExist: Thank you! I promise it will come together soon, like next chapter-ish soon.
Guest 3:
Thank you! Sorry you had to wait a bit. And wow, I actually havn't done that yet haha. Every time I try I get first hand embarrassment about the spelling mistakes, and how when I started this story I was worse at writing. I am really glad you like it enough to read it twice! That is so nice to near. (Haha, I think Luffy's mine. I like his happy go lucky energy).
94Insane: Thank you! I know people have told me the plots too slow and then too fast, I guess I get caught up in the details. But you won't have to wait much longer at all!
A6r6o6k: There is going to be a happy end I PROMISE. I don't think I could kill Ace, even if I wanted too. I love my happy endings and sad beginnings.
I think Ace tried to tell a happy story but he was too sad. I promise when they get together again there will be hugs for everyone!
Miqila: Haha yea he was, professional grumpy cat.
I promise to go into Sabo next chapter. But you can probably guess after this one. Don't worry he is going to be all right.
Onar27:
Oh, I'm so sorry. That's awful. Pet's have this way of pulling on our heart strings. Thank you for the support for ol' Sherbert haha.
Don't worry Sabo's back in place! And yes! You guessed it. He isn't going to be out of action forever just (cough cough three days per Oda's dictation).
I know it seems unfair with Ace's friends right now. But it will be alright in the end. Luffy will be all right too. We will finally get back to him next chapter. He is super tough so he will be okay in the long run. Your rescue will go down in another chapter! And I promise to post more really soon.
Zaffra: As, thank you. I am glad you like it! I have more of it next week for you! Thank you for the support.
Mel72000: Of course!
DemonKittyAngel: You guessed it! Way to go. And I thought I was being sneaky haha.
Don't worry I promise I will pack as much fluff as I can starting at chapter 40 onwards. I don't know if I can promise a flat rate of 5,000 words/ fluff points, but I will do my best. I know people are waiting anxiously for that part of the story, but not as anxiously as I haha. I have been planning cute hurt/comfort sub-plots this whole time and I can't wait to share them. If you have any recovery head cannons you want to share feel free too. I can't promise I will include them but I can promise a lot of chapters dedicated to that for all of the characters, (And lot's of hugging Luffy). As for not hurting him, you might want to start the counter after next chapter haha.
Good! Better then where my parents live (in western U.S.). My grandmother always complains american news is so self-centered haha. I didn't believe her until I moved here. I havn't seen my parents in six months but it's a small price to pay for them being healthy and happy! Other then that I can't complain. I hope you are doing all right! Stay safe, but also stay happy and healthy.
And oh my goodness. That is so kind of you. I really hope the story didn't upset you. I'm sure she really appreciates that. You are such a good Grandkid. How could she be lonely when she has you guys!