Defenders Without Fear

by FawnTheFox

What if Thatch had found the Yami Yami fruit two years earlier? Instead of being killed by BlackBeard, he ends up kidnapped, along with a certain flame user's little brother. Still distrustful of his new crew, Ace is reluctant to ask for help. Through his efforts to save Luffy, the Whitebeard crew gets a better understanding of who Ace is and what he's willing to do for family.

64. Chapter 64

Beware you guys, this chapter is going to get rough. Like rough!

Five more chapters guys! Hang in with the suffering for four more chapters! Everything resolves itself in chapter 69 – for better or for worse.

XXX

The color was draining from the sky. The world was quiet here. It was… nice. Removed from everything.

All Luffy had wanted was for everyone to be quiet. They were so loud. It was finally silent. He should be worried. He should be something. He needed to get up. But he didn't want to. Everything was all right now-

-Everything would be all right. One way or another.

XXX

It had taken Luffy a while to get back out of the Hold. He hated that base. The entire thing was like a maze. And he was a mouse in it, able to slip through the cracks where others couldn't. But he was hardly better off there, in the dark and collapsing building, crawling in and out of the fighting until he managed to stumble himself in the right direction towards the exit.

Maybe going into the storm pipe had been a dumb idea. He should have just taken his chances climbing down the cliff. Even falling a hundred feet would have been less work than getting stuck in that place.

He had nearly ran into three people, but he didn't know if they were marines or pirates or freaking bakers. At this point, everyone was the same to him- dangerous.

He had avoided the last two guys by tucking himself into the corner, but the first man had found him and chased after him. That had hurt. Like actually. Running even for a couple of seconds was quickly becoming the equivalent of scaling a mountain while holding your breath- impossible.

Luffy needed to find Ace and Sabo and fast, they would know how to fix him again. But there were just so many people, so many obstacles. He wanted to scream in frustration. But there wasn't time nor energy for that.

Just a little bit more- just a little bit longer. He had been telling himself that every couple of minutes for the last few hours. Ever since he had left Thatch to join the fight, he had been trying to bribe himself with empty promises. It had worked surprisingly well so far. Probably because he was kind of stupid.

Honestly, while Luffy had been down there in those tunnels, he had been miserable. Less so than before, but still unhappy. He hurt, and it was cold and damp and smelt like pain, with enemies around every corner and He was never far behind them. It was too close to the place they had held him in the dark, and too close to the place they had taken to hurt him. So, he was upset, and slightly crazy, and out of it.

But right now, looking out over the battlefield, he missed the tunnels.

The Whitebeard pirates had stressed him out, but they had grown on him towards the end. Most of them hadn't tried to kill him or hurt him or trick him. And those that had, didn't try twice. It was annoying, but Luffy understood. Sometimes people tried to kill you and then changed their minds. It was just how life went. Plus, they helped him later on. When he was with them, life was a little easier. They helped Ace and Sabo fight the idiots who were chasing them and occasionally did some cool stuff. Plus, Thatch really loved them, and Luffy liked it when Thatch was happy.

Never would he have thought that the highlight of being 15th would be the hanful of days he spent being dragged through a dark, collapsing tunnel with a bunch of people he didn't like, trying very hard not to die. But he wasn't having a very good year- so it was.

Luffy had found his way down eventually, going through a sloping tunnel that led to the harbor. He had passed a few men, none of them dressed like marines. They had given him a curious look, but aside from that ignored him in favor of running one way or another, shouting frantically about something or another.

When the tunnel finally let out at the base of the island, Luffy was grateful to see the sky again. He was much closer to the ocean than he had been on the cliff. But that also meant he was closer to all of the fighting.

That was another thing about war- everyone was always yelling and running. Honestly, it was making him dizzy.

The island was basically one large slab of sharp, dark rocks. The Hold was carved straight out of it and piled on the tallest point. The north side of the island was a sheer cliff, overhanging thousands of feet into the sea surrounded by jagged rocks. It was impossible to dock there, and even more impossible to scale unless you could fly.

The South side was a mess of entrances and tunnels built onto the sloping side of the rock. But it wasn't a gentle slope. Nothing about this place was gentle. Rather it was a mix of drop-offs, craggy rocks that would give a mountain goat a run for its money, and occasional footpaths that lead straight over the side and into the ocean. This was where Luffy had fallen.

He was now near the base of the cliff, out of the way, a bit on the right side, overlooking the wide opening he had heard the marines call the courtyard. It wasn't flat, or nice by any means. But you could technically stand on it without falling to your death. It was a wide rocky space that gradually plateaued into the harbor a short distance away from where the ships were docked, scattered about to avoid the jagged rocks that surrounded this place.

Most of the fighting was going on here. Although the entire base was under siege right now. Luffy knew his brothers were down here. But it had all seemed less intimidating when he was looking down at it from the cliff.

Now his head absolutely ached, and his legs were trembling so badly he had to lean against the wall of the tunnel to keep himself upright. How was he supposed to find anyone now?

Most of the fighting was still a ways away, closer to the water. They probably didn't even know about this entrance. There were too many passages in the rocks to be aware of them all. That was good, because Luffy didn't think he had it in him to fight anymore.

He just had a couple of minutes. He needed a nap. He had been putting it off- pinching himself, holding his breath, biting his cheek, but he could tell that soon it wouldn't matter. It was amazing he had lasted this long at all. Usually, when his naps hit him he was gone. Marco had told him that he wasn't napping, he was actually passing out. One of the pirates had said it was more like a low-key coma since he wouldn't wake up no matter what they did, but Luffy liked his version better.

He used the last of his willpower to crawl up the rocks beside the opening until he could clamber on top of the tunnel in the small space between the archway and where it disappeared into the jagged rock. He couldn't see that much better here, but he was out of the way at least.

Luffy leaned back against the rocks, feeling them scratch at his bruised back. Now that he was off his feet the dark spots were returning with a vengeance. He bit his lip until it bled, trying to cling to consciousness. It had been a mistake to let himself rest.

A little bit more- a little bit more- he was so close! He knew it. Just a little bit more and…

There wasn't much of a choice. It was either here, or face down passed out in the middle of a battlefield.

"M' not g-onna fall, 'sleep," he promised himself even as his eyes rolled back, and he fell back against the rocks.

XXX

It had taken a moment, but Koala had calmed down, back to her normal, mostly sweet, only a little scary, self.

Sabo knew her anger stemmed from worry. They were a team, friends. He had never done that to her before. Keep her in the dark and leave without explaining why. He had never done that to any of them before. But that was then, and they were in the now. -Things were different. He was different.

It was crazy to think about how much Sabo's life had changed over the last couple of months. He wasn't even sure he was the same person. Or if revolutionary leader Sabo had really been a whole person and not just whatever parts were left of him after the accident.

-Or maybe it had always just been that dirty, snot-nosed kid from the gray terminal. The very same one that had made So Many Mistakes.

Sabo didn't know which one was worse. He had this strange notion of his friends telling him. Of them taking one look at him and saying, 'Sorry never mind, I had you mistaken for someone else.' But they didn't.

And here they all were. Waiting for him to somehow finds the words to explain that. But Sabo knew he didn't have them.

Ivankov caught up next, concern for Sabo plastered over their face. They had wanted to treat him, but Sabo refused.

"I'm fine," he promised.

"You're not fine."

"I'll manage."

After some prodding, they agreed to pass along Whitebeard's message. Ivankov had left to go look for Dragon in the Hold a couple of minutes ago. Hack and Koala, while having dozens of other duties to attend to, refused to leave Sabo. Which was oddly irresponsible and out of character for both of them. Sabo would be proud in any other circumstance. They were still with him when Marco found him.

No matter how many times Sabo had seen it, Marco's phoenix wings still awed him. They were beautiful, crafted of twisting blue and golden fire. Besides him, the other two were a little less impressed. Hack swore as Koala pulled Sabo's arm. Trying to get him to step away. But he held firm, managing to stay upright and in place. Refusing to leave his side she stayed too, her hand anchored around his arm in warning.

"It's okay!" Sabo told them, unable to keep the smile out of his voice. Marco apparently liked him. And standing here now, Sabo realized that the feeling was mutual. Somehow, somewhere, the two had become friends.

So he was relieved to see the man unarmed. Although not nearly as much as Ace, who Marco carried with him.

He swooped down, landing neatly a couple of feet before them, dropping Ace right beside him. Sabo caught his brothers' eyes, and he could tell the other was as exhausted and battered as he felt. Yet Ace's grin mirrored Sabo's, full of relief. Both of them had been worried about the other, and both were equally grateful to see each other alive.

Ace really did have one hell of a pirate crew at his back. If he realized, it or not. None of them, not a single one of them, would be here if not for the Whitebeards. Then again… none of this would have happened at all if not for them- but that wasn't the point.

Sabo had good friends too. One's he trusted with his life. And maybe together, they really did have a shot at this. Maybe he didn't have to do everything himself. Maybe it was okay to admit to himself that -yes, he was getting progressively more lightheaded from the blood loss. And -No, Sabo might not be up for another round of whatever the hell that was.

"What do you want?" Hack said, his serious tone cutting off Sabo's train of thought. Oh right. Shaky alliance or not, the two groups still didn't like each other. It wasn't a hatred, not like with the marines. More of a distaste.

"They're friends," Sabo said, looking back to offer the two of them a reassuring smile. To Marco he said, "Thank you! I would have been in trouble if it wasn't for your captain."

"That makes both of us," Ace said.

"Apparently babysitting you two is my job," Marco said, equal parts fondness and exasperation in his tone. "Who are your friends?"

"Hack and Koala," Sabo said, far too tired for a real introduction. "They're good people," he added after a moment of silence. For this to work, both sides needed to give a little bit.

"Marco the Phoenix, and Fire Fist Ace," Hack said. "First and second division commanders. I recognize your faces." That was Hack's equivalent of a hello.

"Aren't you supposed to be on the other side?" Koala asked Ace. Intel was after all the army's currency of choice. They dealt in world events and secrets.

Despite himself, Sabo wanted to laugh. Both at her confusion and the absurdity of the situation. In any less dire situation, Sabo would love to tell Ace to get back over there to the evil side. But now probably wasn't the time.

"They fired me," Ace said simply.

"And you guys are cool with that?" Koala asked, her brow quirked, trying to wrap her head around the situation.

"You really told them nothing," Marco said to Sabo. He just shrugged. He hadn't really gotten the chance to.

"Later," Sabo promised them… well more to Koala who was watching him with wide eyes. That was if there was a later. "Ace is on our side."

Actually, Ace and Sabo were more or less on their own side, and they had been this whole time. That was the trouble. They were on Luffy's side, not Whitebeards, and not Dragons. Sabo could tell from Marco's look that he had been thinking it too. But that didn't matter. There wasn't a criminal outlaw tier, not right now. There was just the World Government, and everyone else.

"We have a problem," Marco told him. "The marines are gunning for you two- mostly Ace, but I can tell your pretty high up on their interest list with your boss MIA. And neither of you can fight off that many marines, even if you weren't already half-dead."

Sabo frowned. He had noticed the targeted attacks from CP-0, Doflamingo, and Aokiji. Not to mention he didn't doubt that there were other high-ranking marines here just waiting for their turn. That was when they weren't fighting pissed off Whitebeard pirates.

"Teach is hiding behind the world government," Marco said. "We're never going to get a shot at him like this. The only reason they're not here right now is that they're tied up with Oyaji and the others. But that won't last forever, and Whitebeard can't keep them all at bay himself.

"That doesn't leave us with a lot of options," Sabo said.

"We can help," Hack said but Marco shook his head. "These guys aren't looking to pick a fight with an army. They're trying to play assassin, and pick off some more interesting kills while their energy is up."

"There's nothing we can do about that," Ace said. "If getting to Teach means going through everyone else then that's all there is to it."

Typical Ace. Headstrong and reckless as always.

"Hold on," Marco told him. "I have a plan. But it's kind of risky. We'll need you-," he said to Sabo. "Are you feeling up for it?"

No, he wasn't. Still, Sabo managed a smile, dropping his hand from where it had been pressed against his bloody ribcage. "Yeah, sure. Whatever it takes."

XXX

Someone was talking to Luffy from very, very far away. They should really be louder, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to hear them. Whatever… Luffy was content to just ignore them.

He was comfortable down here, in the nice safe dark- FIRE

There was a fire in his veins. Like his entire side had been set ablaze and it was traveling through his blood and circulating through the rest of his body. Everything came back as he jolted awake with a yell.

A giant hunk of cotton candy stared back at him. No scratch that, it was a person, a person with wild purple hair, styled like cotton candy. They knelt beside him, their face pale.

Luffy panted, sitting up to try and crawl backward. What had happened? Where was he? What year was it? Who was he again?

Right-right- he was smack dab in the middle of a war- and he had taken a nap. That had been stupid. But he was so sleepy.

Cotton candy swore under their breath. "Are you okay little boy?"

Luffy blinked owlishly at them. If he could, he would try to get up and run. But at the moment he worried if he moved his heart would explode. It felt like someone had just injected him with the world's supply of coffee. So he stayed right there, trying to catch his breath.

Was he dying… again? It didn't really feel like it. In fact, this felt too energetic to be death. It felt like he could climb a mountain- if he could stop shaking.

The person swore again. "Kid?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm with the revolutionaries," they said, moving closer. "I was passing by," they gestured to the entrance. "And you just fell right off the top of the tunnel. I was worried for a second that you were dead. Your heart rate was so slow and you were barely breathing. So I… I was just trying to wake you up."

Luffy reached up to grab at his heart, pressing his hand against it as if that could somehow slow it back down to normal again. He wanted to run, but he needed a few minutes. "Why?" he said, his voice sounding pathetic to his own ears. Whiney. God Luffy hated people who whined. But still… "Why do you have to hurt me?" It was a fair question. One he had been meaning to ask for months now.

Their eyes grew wide. "I'm not going to hurt you. I was trying to help." They literally all said that. "The injections," they continued. "-they are my own creation. I know they feel strange, but you will be okay. It was just to strengthen your heartbeat until you can get to a doctor."

"Strengthen?" Luffy asked. That was a first. No one had ever answered by saying they were trying to make him feel stronger. He did feel stronger, if not shaky. It was intense- wired. Like he was full of adrenaline and would probably never ever sleep again.

"I didn't give you much," they were saying. "Just a little bit to wake you up. But you should still get help immedia-,"

"More!" Luffy held out his wrist to cotton candy hair.

They blinked at him. "-Immediately. For your own safety. The hormones have side effects and-,"

"Give me more!" Luffy said. "…please."

"-And can be hazardous to your health, even in small amounts."

"More!" Luffy insisted.

They sighed. "Did you hear any of that! You need to get to a doctor! Your life is in danger. Why on earth would you want more?"

Luffy would have laughed if he hadn't been slowly dying for a couple of days now. "I need to do something. I have to find someone. And I can't die until I do. I don't care what happens to me after that."

They studied him for a long second, face unreadable. "What are you doing here? You're not with the revolutionaries. I would know. A Pirate then?"

"I'm not anything," Luffy told them. "-Just Luffy."

"Why are you here Luffy? What happened to you, who did this?"

"Everyone," Luffy glossed over the question. It wasn't important. "Please, cotton candy hair!" he held out his arm again. "I need to find them! Everything will be okay then."

They regarded him again, a frown tugging on their faces. "Come with me. This is no place for kids, especially injured ones. I have to deliver a message to my boss but then I'll get you to a doctor. We'll sort everything else out after-"

"I'm not going with you!" Luffy told him. That sounded like a horrible plan. A doctor was the last thing he needed right now if he wanted to live. Although he supposed Marco was all right. That was probably because he was half-pirate. "And if you try, I'll bite off your face."

"You're going to die!" they said frustrated now.

People were always saying that. And yet here he was. He shrugged. "You said it will make me stronger?"

"Temporarily. But it will take years off your lifespan."

"I don't have a lifespan," Luffy said impatiently. "I was supposed to die a few months back, and then again a few days ago. People keep telling me I should already be dead." He was definitely into the negative numbers now. "It can't hurt me," he told them. "It's too late for that."

They seemed to consider this. But still, they hesitated. "With how you are right now. It's probably just going to kill you faster."

That was okay too, as long as Luffy found his brothers and got off this stupid island. He wanted to see Thatch back with his family, and make sure Ace and Sabo were okay. He wanted to see the sky and the ocean around him. And after that- if he really did die, he could go without regrets like he had promised Ace. He could look them in the eyes then, knowing he fought as hard as he could for as long as he could until he kept his promises.

Once again Luffy held out his arm.

There must have been some look on his face. Something that convinced them because cotton candy hair sighed. "You're sure?"

He nodded.

"You know, you remind me of my boss." Their finger turned sharp, like a needle. They took Luffy's arm, injecting it into the crook of it.

Luffy gasped at the feeling, trying to keep ahold of his voice as he did so. It hurt. He felt things more acutely, sharper now that the dark spots were gone. Everything was clearer. It was better. His injuries didn't seem to bother him as much. For a moment he felt like he used to. Full of energy, excited, ready to run across an entire island if he had to or fight a bear. It felt good.

He almost smiled but managed a grin instead. "Your nice! And you have cool hair. Thanks."

"Promise me you will find a doctor! As soon as possible," They offered him a hand, pulling him back onto steadier legs.

"I'm good."

They sighed. "I already know I made a mistake."

"Your Sabo's friend." Luffy wasn't asking, he was telling them. He already knew it. Now that his head was clearer he remembered everyone saying 'revolutionary' like a million times. He didn't know what it was, but apparently, that was Sabo. Revolutionaries were okay, Luffy decided. That's why this person was so nice and helpful. They were friends with Sabo, and Sabo wouldn't make mean friends.

That had surprised them. "You know-,"

"Bye," Luffy said giving them one last wave as he turned away, running back towards the harbor, heading to the last place he had seen his brother. He heard them call after him, but he didn't stop.

XXX

The first time Luffy had officially gotten lost was when he was seven years old.

He got lost plenty before- almost weekly. But he preferred to look at it as adventuring. He wasn't lost in the woods; he had been adventuring. Except when Garp left him somewhere strange like on the bottom of a cave or something- then he was neither adventuring nor lost, he was surviving.

Sometimes when he was gone a really long time and someone like Makino or Shanks would have to come looking for him, they would say that he was lost. But Luffy never agreed to that. Sure he might not know where he was, but he would have made his way back eventually, it just took him a little longer. He was exploring on his own timetable. It was hardly his fault others expected him back sooner.

Then he came to live in the mountains and his life had become full of "exploring" the woods. Every day he chased Ace, and every day he ended up hopelessly turned around in the middle of the jungle. But that was still all right with him. He liked running around, it took his mind off how lonely he was there. There wasn't much difference between sleeping on the bandit's floor and sleeping under a tree (granted nothing tried to eat him). The bandits said said he was lost, but he didn't really think so. After all, what did it matter to anyone how long it took for him to find his way back. They didn't care. It's not like they wanted him back. So he wasn't really lost then.

After the three of them had become friends, it didn't happen anymore. Sure, Luffy had to push himself, but he was with Ace and Sabo, and they knew their way around. And even then, when they wandered too far and had to sleep in a cave, or in a tree for a night or two. They weren't lost, they had nowhere to be and no one waiting. So they were right where they were supposed to be.

Luffy had never really understood the concept of being lost. He had seen so many crying children, wailing for their mothers to come find them in a panic. But he didn't understand what was so scary about it?

Then one day, a couple of months before he turned eight. Luffy got lost. Ace and Sabo- now his brothers- had taken their eyes off him for a moment, and Luffy had managed to wander off. Too far this time.

He was only gone for two days. Growing up his 'exploring' record had been well over two weeks. Two days was nothing. But there was this feeling in his stomach. He wasn't where he was supposed to be, and he knew it. Ace was going to kill him when he found him.

He didn't cry and wail like those kids did. But he didn't take his time either. He had a place he was supposed to be. And the middle of the woods wasn't it.

When Luffy did finally manage to stumble back toward their familiar patch of forest, he just felt happy. Not relief at being able to take a good long nap, or even excitement about food. He was just happy to be back. He ran down the deer path that their steady footsteps had carved through the grass.

He could hear his brother's voice. They were calling for him. Two days later and the two of them were still calling for him nonstop. He knew they would be looking for him the entire time. That was why Luffy was so anxious to come back. He was exhausted from running around the woods for two days. But hearing them put a new spring in his step and he barreled down the path.

He saw Sabo first. His back was to him, and he was crouched down, trying to pick up tracks in the dirt. Ace was a couple of yards away staring off into the brush.

For the first time in Luffy's life, he had somewhere to come back to. With people who had missed him. Right here, this was where he was supposed to be, with his family.

Sabo turned around first, sensing Luffy somehow as his eyes grew wide. Forgetting what he had been doing he stood there, frozen.

"Sabo! Ace!" Luffy cried, running down the path towards them, his arms stretched wide with excitement.

"Luffy!"

He ran smack into Sabo at full force, pushing the blond back a step with the intensity. Sabo was surprised, but he hugged back all the same. Ace heard them, coming over to punch Luffy's head.

"Idiot!" he sounded mad, but the gesture was followed up with a pat on Luffy's beloved hat. "Be more careful, we looked all over for you. It was annoying."

Luffy hugged him next, and Ace didn't even try to push him away. He actually rested his chin on Luffy's head with a sigh. He seemed content. They both did.

They took Luffy to the stream to wash all the mud off of him. When they heard his stomach growling, they went hunting, all of them starving at that point. And Sabo told him to sit the fight out because he was tired (Luffy never listened as usual). After they ate, the two of them patched up his scrapes and bruises as best as they could, and then all of them had collapsed back into a heap. Totally exhausted.

Luffy lay there, feeling warm. He hadn't needed them to take care of him. But they did it anyways. He figured that as long as they stayed together, everything would be okay in the end.

…

Being in the center of the fight, was nothing like watching from the sidelines. Before Luffy had been out of the way and ignored. Now… well he was still ignored. No one really knew what side he was on, and clearly, he didn't have a weapon. But there was a certain level of frenzy in the crowd.

One man had tried to stick him with his sword just because he brushed shoulders with him. It was violent here, and hellish. And Luffy knew people wouldn't hesitate to hurt him just because.

He was tired of this. He was tired of everyone.

But it was all right. He knew his brothers were close. He could feel them, like some magnetic force in his chest pulling him in the right direction. It was weird, but he had stopped questioning things.

He felt other people too, their growing bloodlust right before they attacked. Not very well, but it had saved him from getting stabbed a couple of times, ducking out of the way he just kept running.

He was glad for Sabo's friend. Otherwise, he would probably still be napping on that tunnel. He still didn't feel great. Part of him doubted he ever would. Even now, his body shook from the strain of it. But that was okay, it wasn't as sharp as before, and the frantic pounding of his heart, compelled him to move.

So, Luffy followed the path back home, running as fast as his legs could manage. When someone knocked him down, spitting insanities, he got right back up.

He was almost there. He could feel it almost as clearly as if he had started to recognize the familiar trees and streams of his home. And this made Luffy happy. Happier than he had been in some time. Under the sky and free, finally able to get up and move. He could do this. He could really leave. He wouldn't have to be lost anymore.

Just like before, Luffy saw Sabo first. His brother was crouched down low, his hand resting on the ground, inspecting something. His back was to him. Ace was a little ways away, Marco by his side. Both of them were looking off into the distance. They were tense, preparing for something.

Something was coming. Luffy could tell from their postures. -Something was wrong. He could feel their tension. This slowed him in his tracks, and the words he had meant to yell died on his tongue as he looked past Ace, seeing what looked to be a pillar of smoke… no, a man. A marine, whose very skin seemed to emit smoke and steam and fire.

Luffy was running again, with no plan in mind, his body just moved.

He could see the man-the embodiment of pure anger hurl towards them like a cannonball. And still Luffy ran. But he was too far away, his legs were too slow. He was too weak.

Marco and Ace were looking forwards, their attention fixed on the man. But Sabo turned. Just like when they were kids, Sabo had sensed him.

Their eyes met, and Sabo's grew wide at the sight of him, frozen to the spot.

Ace and Marco were yelling something at him, but the words were muffled by the roar of the man and the sickening crackle and snapping of his smoke and fire and heat.

For a split second, Sabo's mouth moved. He was too far, and it was too loud to hear. But Luffy knew he was saying Luffy's name. He looked scared.

Luffy opened his mouth to yell! To get the man to stop, to tell his brothers to run. To ask the sky for one more miracle.

But none of that happened.

None of that stuff ever happened, and in the blink of an eye, the man's attack hit them full force with the fury of a god.

In a second everything was encompassed in smoldering fire and lava. Like a biblical apocalypse, that man, the furious one, had summoned a tidal wave of magma that swallowed up his brothers in one sweep.

When the magma stilled, hissing and bubbling against the rocky stone. It had left nothing behind.

There were screams, and people running in every direction to get away from the flood. Others were crying, crawling away. Anyone unfortunate enough to be standing nearby was yelling in agony.

But Luffy ignored all of that. His eyes fixed on the spot Sabo had been standing just a second ago. There was nothing there now, just the red glow of magma, slowing as the blood-red color faded to a deeper earthy one. He watched as the flames on the surface fell, simmering down to smoldering embers.

Luffy watched until they went out. Leaving nothing behind in its wake but ashes.

He didn't feel them anymore. He didn't feel anything anymore.

XXX

A couple days before he left, Ace and Luffy were laying on the roof of Dadan's shack, staring up at the stars as they often did. Neither was saying very much. They had never needed to. They were content to just lay there underneath a galaxy of stars until they fell asleep.

It hadn't meant anything at the time. It was just another night for the two of them. Dreaming about the future, trying not to think about the past. They were content in the moment.

Luffy thought about that night a lot. When everything had gotten too much for him, when he didn't think he could stand one more second, he would try to find his way back to that roof.

He had never had parents, but he did have Ace. And nobody had ever made him feel as safe as Ace had. Ace didn't get scared. Ace always knew what to do. Ace didn't cry or break down. Ace was… everything Luffy wasn't. He could do anything. But above all, he kept Luffy safe.

Safe in a way Luffy had never felt before. There were others. Good people, who had taken care of him from time to time. He would never forget that. But this was different somehow. This was something else.

Ace wasn't like all those adults. They were all wonderful and thinking about them filled Luffy with warmth. But at the end of the day, they would all leave him, one way or another. They were too busy for him. Their other lives would always come first. Other things would always come first. And eventually, they would leave him.

He understood. He wanted them to follow their dreams, to have everything they wanted. But it still hurt- every time.

Ace wasn't like that. He wasn't too busy for Luffy. He wasn't just going to leave one day. No, he had been right here the entire time.

Even when he finally left, he never really left. It didn't feel the same. He always put Luffy first. He told him as much that night:

"If you ever run into trouble, I'll be right there. No matter where I am in the world or what I'm doing. I'll come find you."

He would have stayed if Luffy had asked him to. He would have done anything if Luffy had asked it of him.

But Luffy didn't ask a thing. Ace had already done enough, and Luffy wanted him to have everything he wanted every bit as much as Luffy wanted to be pirate king.

So even after he left, despite the loneliness, Luffy found it hard to be anything but happy for his brother.

Ace was… Ace. It was hard to explain it past that. He would moan and complain, and scold Luffy, and never fail to mention how annoying he was. But at the end of the day, Ace had never let him down. And Luffy knew he was never going to.

So when the world was too much, and the pain tried to kill him. Luffy would find the one safe place still left in the world- back on the roof that night with Ace.

They would just lay there, in peaceful silence and stare up at the stars. They would see all the constellations they had mapped out as kids. Luffy would find his Sabo star, and Ace's parent's stars, and Makino's dead cat star- all ones he had carefully chosen out for them. Because even though he now knew that Ace had been right, dead people go into the ground, not the sky, he still liked this version better.

As they sat there in the darkness, Luffy would try to block out the rest of the world, and when he couldn't Ace was always kind enough not to tease him for crying. Not even when his tears became obnoxious sobs.

None of it was real. Luffy knew that. Ace would never let him just cry like that. He never had before. He would have told him to suck it up- act his age, be braver, or stronger, or better…

But he never did here. He just let Luffy cry himself out, occasionally pointing out a shooting star. It wasn't real, Luffy's life was hard right now, and it hurt, and he didn't know if it was going to get better. But in those moments, it didn't matter. None of that mattered because he felt it here- he felt safe. He felt taken care of. He felt loved. He felt that it was going to be okay.

One of the last times, the time the man had gone too far, Luffy had laid on the roof with Ace. Watching the stars flicker out one by one. And he had been scared to see them go.

The man had said Ace was dead. Luffy didn't want to believe him. He decided not to. But… he didn't know anymore.

Ace had watched those same stars flicker and fall, he'd watched the sky shatter, and all of the color begin to fade out of the world. He had stayed beside him for all of it. And when Luffy couldn't handle it anymore- when he realized he had lost, Ace had promised him that it was okay, it was okay that he hadn't been strong enough, it was okay he hadn't been enough of anything.

And when a hole opened up in the world and Luffy fell straight out of it, he went with a smile on his face, because he thought of Ace, and Thatch, and Gramps, and Shanks, and Makino, and Dadan, and then he thought of Sabo- he really thought of Sabo.

And his brother came to him to show him-

And everything was okay.

He could make it through anything if he hid in that moment. The moment when everything still made sense. When the world was amazing and full of stars.

Luffy had shown them. He had shown them all. They might be stronger, and they might think they owned him, but they didn't. Nothing owned him. He was free- and he had never given up. Not really. He had kept fighting until the end, and then some. And he had made it out. He had seen the sky again, and the ocean.

And if he had made it this far, then he may as well make it the rest of the way.

XXX

Luffy was dying. He felt it. A pain worse than he could have imagined stabbed at his chest.

A dozen or so meters through the carnage he could see all that was left of that spot. Now forever encased in cooling molten lava.

He didn't feel them. He didn't feel them. He didn't feel them. He didn't feel them. He didn't feel them.

He felt nothing-

His world had just ended. And yet everyone carried on, fighting and yelling and screaming. They were mad. The marines were pleased. -Luffy was dying.

He felt his shock turn to something much deeper as his legs gave out underneath him. He crashed to his knees, wetness rising up in his eyes. The first tear spilled over his cheek, fighting through the blood and grime, trying to make it to the ground. It was followed by another and another. They stung his eyes, so he closed them. He didn't want to see.

They were just gone? Like that. No… no!

There was no roof, there were no stars. There was nothing out there anymore.

-Nothing was going to be okay now.

He screamed, his voice louder than he ever thought himself capable of- as if someone was carving out his heart with a butter knife. And as the world quieted his despair got louder and louder. He screamed and screamed and screamed.

He felt that feeling. His rage, and sorrow, and regret build up inside him stronger than he had ever felt before.

When his friend had taken him up from the caves to the surface of the ocean, Luffy had felt the way the water rushed past him on their way out. It slipped through his fingers and he had let it all go. He had been willing to let everything go. All of it. He didn't want it.

-He would have let it go.

Ace had said that Luffy wasn't built to hate. Ace said he forgave people too easily. They had decided that Ace would hold his grudges for him. Keep track of everyone who had wronged him for the both of them.

Ace was gone.

Now he held on tightly to his hatred. He didn't care if the whole world burned. There was no leaving this place. He would die here, and everyone who had just done that, he would take them with him.

All of that dark and ugly hatred he had been holding, all of his fear, and pain, it burst out of him now, like an explosion, sending a shockwave across the whole island.

He heard the people around him fall, confusion in the air as people on both sides went down. The world that had been trying so hard to keep going finally stopped. There was screaming, people were trying to rouse their fallen comrades. They were confused, and in their confusion, there was fear.

The more of it that flowed out of him, the more Luffy realized that he didn't feel better- he just felt emptier.

Someone was screaming, their voice carrying above the others. Luffy opened his eyes, letting the tears fall as they would. What did it matter, Ace wasn't here to tell him to stop. He could cry as much as he wanted.

"LUFFY!"

He turned to look over his shoulder, his blurry eyes tracing back up the cliff.

Right there- on the spot that Luffy had fallen from a couple of hours ago, stood Thatch. He was far away, and out of focus. But it was unmistakably him. He was yelling his name. He looked scared. -He was telling him to stop.

Seeing him sent a fresh wave of hurt through Luffy as more tears fell down his already-soaked cheeks. What was he doing? That feeling, the one he had felt staining all those terrible men. The one that followed – him, like death. This overwhelming bloodlust. Luffy had felt it inside of himself just then. A dark ugly… monster.

He turned away from Thatch, letting his grief overtake him. Fine! Fine. Let the whole fucking world go on if it wanted to. He just didn't want to be in it.

Thatch was still yelling, but Luffy ignored him.

"YOU!" The words were spat like a curse. The marine, the one who had…. Who had… he was nearby. He had traced the explosion of power back to Luffy, and now the fire man was coming towards him. Steam rose off of him in his anger.

"I should have finished you off when I had the chance!" he snarled, raising his arms as his skin started to bubble, magma sludge dripping from him.

Luffy sat there, his knees pressed against the rocky floor, watching him. He doubted he could get up, even if he had wanted to. Thatch was still screaming from above him.

Luffy watched as the man's arms tensed, getting ready to summon his molten fire as he had done to Ace, and Sabo, and Marco.

Luffy wasn't scared of this man. Nothing they did could scare him anymore.

As the bastard moved, calling upon the avalanche of lava, everything seemed to happen at once.

The air above them splintered, like a glass window breaking, it cracked right down the middle, shaking the earth with it. And as spider cracks began to form from the broken sky, gravity and reality seemed to slide away from each other, the ocean twisting up around them.

The man- the monster Luffy hated more than anything in this world. He stopped in his tracks, spitting cusses as he was forced to defend himself from the swelling rocks beneath his feet.

Luffy watched, wondering if he was dead. He decided he must be a second later as something from behind him slammed into his back with enough force to shatter every single bone in his body and snap his neck- had he been normal. Instead, the attack hit him straight on, like how one smacks a fly, Luffy found himself thrown into the air in a burst of golden light.

He wasn't dead. But everything hurt. And he hardly even noticed. It happened too fast for him to keep up with. In the blink of an eye, he had been thrown straight off the ground, a dozen or so meters into the air, clearing the island. His vision went black and spotty again, but he could make out the unmistakable golden hue of some massive force of energy.

The last thing he saw before he fell, was that man- the one who had held a gun to him when he left the tunnel. The same one who had tried to shoot him and then let him go. He was standing there, watching Luffy fall, the air around him shimmering with the same gold that now danced behind Luffy's eyes.

Luffy hit the rippling water, a hundred yards off the coast of the island, disappearing under the surface.

And there wasn't a single star in the sky.

XXX

I'm sorry about the cliffhanger. This chapter was meant to be together with the next one, but it got away from me. There was too much to say. I know everyone is sick of the suffering, life sucks message- but bear with me for a couple more chapters, and then wait and see. But until then things are going to stay sad.

Luffy finally reached his limit here. I'm sure this would never happen in the show. But it's kind of interesting to think about, thanks to the power of fanfic.

I have been waiting to write these last few chapters for YEARS! And tragically I'm just having an awesome sauce week, so I was in a really good mood when I tried to write this. Which would have made for some weird tragic comedy rather than what I was aiming for. So I had to watch like four hours of sad orphaned kitten commercials before I could write the last part. Plus Rihanna and her- Lift Me Up! (What would we do without her.)

Please tell me what you thought! I did try my best on this one, but I'm not sure I quite got what I was going for (but I'm sleepy enough to roll with it). I'll do my best to have the next one out soon. (The next couple!).

Until next time!

XXX

Asami: I'm glad you liked it! Life is hard sometimes! I'm sorry. I wish you happinss and joy as well! Hang in there.

Guest: Yeah… It's in the cards! But Shanks isn't going to get here for a hot second. He's more of a last moment kind of guy.

Osion: Thank you!

Mel72000: This is true. But it could have probably gone better.

Crazykittylover: I'm so glad you like them. Although I keep forgetting to give Doffy things to do haha. Boa would be fun! But I'm not sure if I can work her in. Thank you for the nice review! That is always so motivating.

Starelight: Haha, I'm sorry. It gets worse from there unfortunately. But it will get better in the end.

Zahadacem: I will stop torturing Thatch (And everyone!) just in a little bit! Pinky promise.

BryanFinch99: I'm glad you liked it! Stupid for turning notifications off.

Miqila: I'm very sorry. It's still in the hurt part, swerving into 'ouchi!' but it's the last of it. After all this, there isn't much left but the comfort! And yes! Dragon should strive to be at least somewhat useful to Luffy!

Caelan0012: I'm so glad you like it! I promise I have had a while to stock up on the cute fluff ideas. Enough so I can't wait to use them.

Rose Narcissus: Here is more! The sea king will be back next chapter! Unfortunately Sabo, and soon to be Ace know that Luffy has escaped. And they are terrified.

Katzu: That is so kind of you! I am so glad you liked it. Once they get ahold of him again and Ace Sabo are going to give him all of the hugs and sweetness he could ever want. Everyone will keep tyring to win him over.

kagome11: Poor everyone! They are all having a time and a half. But Sabo is winning over the Whitebeards one by one.

Wishfull-star: This is true. I think even if Luffy did know it was his dad he wouldn't have reacted that much differently. Same to you! Stay safe.