Water Lily

by Irene Sharda

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

23. 23-I Know Those Eyes, This Man Is Dead 2

Chapter 23 - I Know Those Eyes, This Man Is Dead - Part II

The two brothers sat together in the glen, still in each other's embrace. Tears flowed freely for several moments, no words were said since they didn't need them. Ace was the first to dry his eyes, though he wondered how Luffy still had anything left to cry with how much water he'd probably lost already.

Currently he was still hanging on tightly to him, but his body had completely relaxed in his grasp. He tilted his head to get a better look at his limp kitten of a brother. "Luffy?"

He buried himself even more into his side in response, but his tears were indeed slowing. He'd gotten to the sniffling phase. A muffled voice spoke quietly, "Tell me you're real Ace."

The brunet sighed, but decided that if Lu needed this reassurance then he would say it every time until the rubbery scamp was satisfied.

"Yes, I'm real Lu." Moving his arm through the many stretched rotations of Luffy's own around his torso, Ace gently touched his brother's head, moving his fingers through the dried out threads to add that extra bit of contact.

His brother leaned into the touch before speaking softly again, "Ace, what happened? W…Was it all a big joke? Some trick you were playing for the Marines?"

Because even though it hurt to think that Ace would lie to him like that, he could never believe that his brother did it with the intention of being malicious or deceptive towards him. The real Ace wouldn't do that to him. And this Ace was the real Ace. So there had to be an explanation.

The hand in his hair paused for a moment, before continuing its ministrations. "There was no trick Luffy. It wasn't a joke. Everything that happened on that battlefield was real… very real."

Luffy's brow wrinkled in thought and he turned his face so that one eye could actually peer up at his brother in question. "I don't understand…I don't like this mystery, Ace."

His brother smiled deprecatingly, considering all that had happened since the last time they had talked. "It's a long story, but after Akainu…"

A shudder went through both boys and both despised the fact that their bodies intrinsically remembered such trauma. But not wanting to dwell on such things right now, in this moment, Ace turned the conversation to other things.

"...After that…I don't know if perhaps I had more things that I regretted than I thought…maybe, I wanted to see you accomplish your dream more than I realized...maybe my body was being really stubborn without me. Whatever it was, somehow I clung onto life."

Luffy blinked sluggishly, "But your heart stopped. I felt it…"

He somehow stretched a hand up to Ace's chest and felt the rhythm of the muscle reassuringly continue to beat against his skin.

Ace continued to card his fingers gently through his brother's hair, soothing and assuring him. "Oh it did. I was…mostly dead."

"'Mostly dead'?"

"Well, there's a big difference between mostly dead and all-dead. The way I understand it, my heart stopped, I stopped breathing, no pulse, no nothing."

"No beats of life?"

"Nope. At least not anything anyone could have noticed simply by touch. However Ange still somehow, even in all that chaos noticed that I still had a bit of life in me. If-If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here right now. I'd be…all-dead."

"Aanje?" Luffy tried to mouth out the word.

"Ange. She found me and brought me back to life."

"Like a witch?"

Ace frowned, "No, she's not a witch. She's more like an angel."

"What's an angel?"

"Wait, you know what a witch is, but not an angel?" The elder sibling let out a sigh, "Don't worry, you'll see when you meet her. You'll love her, I know it."

Lu looked up at him with a smile, speaking softly, "If she's why you're here with me now…I know I will."

Ace smiled before snapping his fingers as the thought came to him, "Oh yeah, I should tell you Shanks was there too!"

His brother's eyes went wide, "Shanks?"

He nodded, "Yeah, from what I heard, you were kind of out of it at the time, but he was the one who finally put an end to the whole war. He found Ange and he, Marco, and the other Red-Hair Pirates helped her bring me back."

Those bright brown eyes nearly shimmered with stars of admiration at the very mention of his hero and that somehow he was involved in bringing his brother back to him. However, just as quickly, that look of wonder turned into one of confusion and then one of alarm. One of his arms stretched up to his head touching through it and around his neck in increasing panic.

"Hat! My hat! W-Where is it?!" he cried out in frenzied distress.

Ace frowned before looking around the area. There was no sign of his brother's treasured hat anywhere. He'd honestly never seen Luffy without it other than the few brief times he accidentally lost it for an extremely short time, but his little brother was practically never without his treasure. He had that thing on him 24 hours, 7 days a week unless it was the very rare occasion where he let a very close friend or loved one wear it as an extension of himself.

He had just come to expect it to be somewhere on Luffy that the idea that it was missing had totally bypassed his notice.

Luffy immediately tried to unwind his body in order to search, but it seems his energy reserves hadn't lasted. Instead he got all tangled up in both his own and his brother's limbs. He tried to stand up only to immediately collapse back into his brother's arms. He tried again, and failed again. Every time he tried, his body seemed to get more uncoordinated and his bandages got redder. After the 3rd time, Ace held him close, no longer releasing him.

He struggled to get up pleading, "I have to find my hat!"

Ace didn't give in, "Your hat's not here, Lu. There's nothing in this clearing but you and me, and you haven't been wearing it since I saw you. Your body's hurt right now, you can't just keep wrecking it like this."

Angry frustrated tears emerged, "It's my body, I can do what I want with it! I need to—"

Ace shut that down right then and now, pulling his brother up to face him directly, his entire demeanor displaying the seriousness of his emotion.

"No. You don't. And no. You can't. If there's one thing I've learned since the last time I saw you, it's that you can't just do whatever you want to do. Especially if it ends up hurting those who love and care for you. I made that mistake and it almost killed both me and you! Do you think I enjoy seeing you hurting yourself, potentially killing yourself for no reason?!"

Luffy felt the punch of his brother's words and he froze, his eyes once again welling up as he bit his bottom lip in anguish.

Ace took a breath to calm himself down. "I know how much that hat means to you, I know how much your promise to Shanks means. I will do whatever I can to help you find it, we'll track down everyone involved who saved your life at the war and see if any of them know anything. For all we know, Jinbe outside might know exactly where it is and then you'd have done all this fretting for nothing."

Luffy began to get choked up again and before he dissolved back into tears, Ace pulled him close once more, shushing him comfortingly. The boy took the solace all the while wailing against his brother's skin. "I… sob…I feel so weak, Ace….I-I couldn't save you… sob…I couldn't save myself…I let my crew get pulled apart…and I lost my hat…! Why am I so weak?! "

The older man ran his hand in comforting circles along his brother's back. He thought about his little brother's words and about the promises they had made to each other 10 years ago and everything that had happened to them since. He thought about how he had felt the same despair only days ago and how much he hated how his mistakes and weakness kept costing others.

However, somehow, thanks to the wise words of the new people in his life, he felt a bit differently than he had when he made those long ago promises as a child.

He spoke softly, "Luffy…I was wrong."

The brown eyes looked up at him in confusion. Wrong about what?

Ace continued, "I've always thought that if I was strong enough…if I could become stronger and stronger and stronger, I would be enough to protect everything I cared for…everything and every one I loved. However, no matter how much stronger I got, people still kept getting hurt. I couldn't protect everyone I wanted to. Sometimes I even hurt those people through my own stupid actions and decisions."

His hand dwelled a bit on Luffy's dirty bandages.

"When I came back to life, I was the weakest I've ever been. I'm still very weak right now. Do you know I can't even get up right now?"

Luffy sat up quickly, "Why not?! Is something wrong with your legs?! You're okay, right? You're not—"

Ace quickly covered his mouth, shushing him with a smile. "I'm fine, Luffy. Just really tired. I'm still healing from all the work they did to put me back together. That's all. Nothing to worry about."

The boy let himself be calmed and brought back into the fold. "What I'm saying, Lu, is that if I didn't have so many others to lean on, to help me, to be my strength when I was weak—I wouldn't be here. And it was then I discovered maybe I've been doing it wrong the whole time."

He turned his brother to look at him, "You will get stronger and stronger. I know you will. You will become the Pirate King someday. You will accomplish your dream. You will be so strong that one day you will laugh at what's happening now. However…no matter how strong you get, no matter how much responsibility you have as a captain or as a leader…always remember that you can't do it by yourself."

He thought about how much he had been helped by so many people in his life to get to where he is. "When you find yourself not strong enough—and you will, that's a part of being human—you have to lean on those who would gladly lend you that extra strength to push through. And even when that's not enough…then live."

He leaned closer to make sure the gravity of his statement shone through. "Live and learn the lesson. You can't get stronger if you die. You can't protect anyone if you die. You can't lend anyone your strength if you give up. And then what would have been the point of all those others who lent you theirs? Those people made an investment in you, they believe in you. They need you just as you need them."

Luffy let what his brother said bore into his soul and despite how battered and scarred it had gotten, the words were both a balm and a jolt.

His crew….

"My crew….needs me…"

He had been concentrating so much on his failures, only seeing how much everything had gone so horribly wrong that he had lost sight of what he still had. With the oppressive pressure of grief lessening more and more, even with the potential loss of his hat, he was now able to begin to put everything into perspective.

He still had Ace first and foremost. He hadn't lost him despite everything and that alone was in the end—a win. Ace was free. He wasn't in prison or about to be executed. Despite everything, despite all that the enemy had tried to do, he was now free and with him

But Ace was also right in that it hadn't been under his own power or Luffy's, but only because someone else had been able to take up the baton when he'd dropped it. Someone had lent their strength and carried it through.

But even beyond his brother, he had thought so much of their loss at Sabaody, and then everything that happened at Impel Down and Marineford, had pushed everything to the back of his mind even more. And with the pressure of all the despair, he had forgotten that his crew was still out there!

They still needed him!

They depended on him!

And he depended on them.

They were his strength when he was weak.

He would never become Pirate King without them.

Ace was right. He couldn't do this alone. He couldn't do much with his strength alone. He needed his family, he needed his friends.

It wasn't weakness…it was a reminder.

He was always stronger when he was fighting for those he cared about.

If he kept being reckless with his own body and broke himself for no reason, he would disappoint his brother, his crew, and Shanks. If he died for something so silly, it would be worse than giving up. And if he gave up now, everything that he had learned and all the ways he had grown would have been for nothing.

Ace spoke matter-of-factly, "By the way, you're stronger than me ya know."

Luffy's head snapped around at near-whiplash at those words. Something had to be wrong, Ace would never admit something like that!

However, he quickly tempered his words, adding caveats to his statement. "And no, I'm not talking about being physically strong, I'll always beat your rubber butt in a fight."

Before Luffy could deliver his near automatic rebuttal, his brother poked him in a known ticklish area on his chest right above his heart, sending him into giggles.

"But your greatest strength? Has always been here: your heart. Your resolve. You've never let anyone tell you what you couldn't do, who you couldn't be. Not even me or Sabo or Gramps. You bounce back from anything the world hits you with. I tell everyone with pride about my little brother who can do anything if he sets his heart on it. I kept your bounty poster on me all the time just so I could tell people about my little brother and all about everything you've done. "

"Really?"

He shrugged "Of course. The only reason I don't have it now is because those bastards at Impel Down found it and thought it would be funny to rip it up in front of my face. Didn't realize seastone can't always stop a punch to the jaw. Joke's on them, I have plenty more where that one came from!

"But anyway…what I'm trying to say is that I know all about those voices you're hearing in your head. The ones that sound and look like you and tell you that it's all your fault and that if it wasn't for you this wouldn't have happened, and that you're too weak to be a captain or too weak to be king of the pirates."

Luffy's mind went back to the doppelganger in his nightmare. Normally he didn't have such reservations. In fact he rarely thought about such things at all. But this time everything had really been his fault! If he had just been stronger—

The older pirate took hold of his brother's chin and angled it back to make sure that he had his full attention.

"All those voices in your head? Whispering that you're not good enough? If only you had been better, stronger, whatever? Tell them to Get. Lost."

The younger of the two nearly shivered at the intensity of his brother's words and presence.

He brought him closer, "Tell them I said so. And if they have a problem with that, they can take it up with me."

Somehow the image of Ace beating up on his slithery evil twin pops into his head and Luffy can't help but laugh at how hilarious it somehow is. Somehow his brother's words—both resolute and ridiculous—bring back his joy and laughter and he feels so much lighter.

He let his head just fall back against his brother's chest as he murmured thanks and Ace brought him in close saying it was no problem. And Luffy just allowed himself to soak in the feeling of safety, protection, and love.

With Ace he could be this way. He was allowed to be the one who was taken care of and not have to worry about if he was strong enough, or if everyone was happy, or if he was being the best captain for his crew. Sure, he loved all those things, and he was happy with his crew, he cared for each and every one of them deeply—but none of them would be able to replace his brother's role in his life. He was an infamous pirate now, the Captain of the StrawHat Pirates, the supernova with a 300 million beri bounty, the future King of the Pirates—he was all of these things. However, before all of that, he had been Ace and Sabo's little brother first and foremost.

It was in that relaxed frame of mind that he snuggled next to Ace, the harsh disappointed sting of losing his hat still there. (He knew in the back of his mind that he hadn't felt the weight of it in a while and that if he had lost it in the midst of the battlefield after Ace fell, then it was practically as good as gone.) It would hurt so much to have to face Shanks after having lost it. However, all things considered, if he had to choose between having his hat back and getting Ace back?

It wasn't even a question.

That revelation along with all the others, lifted mountains of loads off his once-troubled mind, allowing him to feel so much…freer.

He smiled up at his brother, "Thanks Ace…though, since when have you been so wise?"

Ace smirked before flicking him in the forehead. "Since always. I'm your big brother. I always know best."

"Unh-unh"

"Uh-huh"

"Unh-unh!"

"Uh-huh!"

" Uh-hu–mmhmmmm!"

Before he could retort again, the gray-eyed menace grabbed his lips and held them closed, the rubbery nature of his skin making them twist comically.

"As much as I love the fact that we get to argue again, we need to get back to the others and you need to rest. And we'll also see about your hat, I'm sure it will turn up if we look hard enough."

Luffy mumbled behind his sealed mouth.

Ace let him go and he moved his lips around to get the feeling back into them.

"Hey, that smarts." he muttered with annoyance. He wanted to get his brother back for it, but honestly he felt way too tired and was simply too happy to be bothered by it. After that talk and simply having his brother's presence close and tangible (despite everything, he had instinctually kept one hand attached to his brother's form to make sure he didn't disappear), had put a lot of things into perspective. Luffy was not one who usually liked "complicated", and he had been stuck in a whole lot of "complicated".

He relaxed once again against his brother's side. He felt completely exhausted, he felt like his entire body was as much the anchor that Shanks referred to him as. Perhaps this is what Ace meant about feeling the weakest he'd ever been since he was healing? He didn't feel like he could get up at all either.

Very sluggishly, he reached up to his brother's head, the bright orange hat obviously absent. "I…I'm sorry you lost your hat."

Ace had lost a lot too, and that was just as important as his own loss.

His brother simply smiled and shrugged, "I loved it because it was a present from you, and yeah I hate losing it, my dagger too, but…right now, I'm just glad to be with you. To see my crewmates again. To be doing anything again. I can get another hat. But getting another chance? Because of that, I'm happy. Truly happy."

And that perfectly summed up his own feelings. He hated that he had lost his treasure—Shanks' treasure—but he knew that it was a small price to pay for the peace he currently feels now.

Luffy's eyes welled up and he tried his best to hug his brother close once again, even though his strength seemed to rapidly be leaving him. "Me too."

Ace inwardly frowned, he didn't like how quiet the younger's voice had become. "Come on, we need to get back to the others."

Luffy tried to move but just simply seemed to sag even further down into his side, he looked up only to scrunch up his eyes in confusion. "Was the sky always so dark? Is it going to rain?"

The 20 year-old rolled his eyes, "You're just noticing that now? That isn't a cloud, it's my friend."

He looked up at the shadowed covering that surrounded them. He called out loudly, "Hey, Scha!"

The dark shadowed overcast curled and roiled before a pair of huge violet eyes appeared looking down at them.

Luffy looked up at the Cimmarian in awe and wonder. If he had the energy to move and if he could make himself let go of his sibling, he would have been jumping up and whirling around under the strange, unknown being in amazement and excitement. As it was, he exclaimed loudly (or at least as loud as he could be bothered to make his voice go), "Wow! What is that?"

Ace laughed, "Not a 'what', but a 'who'. Say hi to Schaden, He's Ange's friend."

Luffy grinned brightly, "Hi! I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Do you….d-do you…."

The grin began to fail mid-speech and Ace looked down at him in alarm. "Luffy?!"

To his credit, the younger boy tried to answer back. He tried to at least tell his brother that it was strange it was getting even darker all of a sudden, before he wasn't able to answer back at all.

Ace's alarm turned into panic as he watched his brother pass out on top of him. He tried to shake him back awake to no avail.

"Luffy!"

To his credit, the only reason that the older boy hadn't noticed the increasing, seeping warmth that had slowly been surrounding him was because as a fire logia, even with his diminished power he was constantly emitting some level of heat. So the fact that it took him a few precious horrifying moments to realize that the warmth that had been seeping into him was also quite liquid and sticky could be forgiven.

But of course none of this mattered to Ace. Not when he was suddenly looking at his hands and finding them covered in blood, and the ground and his clothes were also soaked in the stuff.

Something had come undone and now his little brother was quickly bleeding out.

Panic gave way to terror.

"SCHADEN!" He looked up at the eyes of the Cimmarian who was watching with increasing worry, quickly realizing the change in situation. Ace tried his best to extend his haki once again, to get his legs once again back under him, but his body and his stamina had been completely drained. Dammit!

He yelled up at the shade, "GO! I need help! Go get Rayleigh and Jinbe, they have to be nearby! We need to get Luffy to Ange! NOW!"

---

A few minutes earlier

Jinbe stretched his limbs as he sat and relaxed his body on the ground. He was feeling lighter than he had in days. His wounds didn't even feel all that bad anymore in the face of the joy that was bubbling up inside him. He couldn't even seem to do anything other than smile right now.

He looked up at the whirling dark cloud in front of him that had been surrounding the immediate area in front of him for the last twenty minutes. He had heard some loud sounds of rocks breaking once again, as well as some indistinct yelling and had felt the sliver of worry simmer up again. However, it had been a while since he'd heard such and so relaxed, hoping that everything between the two siblings was going well.

Meanwhile the cloud in front of him had stayed quiet for a while. He had tried talking to it and the large violet eyes of the creature seemed to show a willingness to respond, however there seemed to be a bit of an issue as the smoke being didn't seem to be able to speak in the same way most sentient beings were.

So eventually they had developed a comfortable silence while they waited, the cloud's eyes disappearing into the darkness from time to time. Jinbe was left to his own thoughts with only the sound of nature that surrounded him. However, after a moment, the echo of footsteps caught his attention.

"My, my, what happened here."

From out of the forest, veteran pirate Silvers Rayleigh approached him looking up at the large shadowy dome. Jinbe smiled up at his friend before getting up to greet him. The shadow creature's eyes came out of the gloom at the sound of the retired pirate's voice before speaking out in that crackling, whistling language it utilized. He honestly wasn't surprised that Rayleigh of all people seemed to understand it.

"A fight? Seriously?" The man shook his head with amusement, "Why am I not surprised. Can't leave that kid alone for 10 seconds before he gets into trouble."

Jinbe spoke up as he approached, "It was my fault I'm afraid. I was being cautious under the circumstances."

Ray smiled as he clasped the Fishman's hand in greeting. "Good to see you again, Jinbe."

"Likewise…though….I never thought it would be on an occasion such as this." He paused looking at the ground for where to start, "What in the seven seas is going on, Rayleigh? Was this your doing? I know my eyes didn't deceive me, Ace was dead, wasn't he? I can't see it being some elaborate trick. Akainu wouldn't—"

"Whoa, whoa there." The silver haired man raised his hands in order to stave off the onslaught. "One thing at a time."

There were so many questions in the whale shark male's eyes and Rayleigh could only smile and sigh. "I wish I could say that I was the one responsible for this miracle—and make no mistake, a miracle is what it was—but I only came into this whole story by accident. My original plan was to find Luffy himself. However, I ran into one of my brats and everything spiraled out from there. Marco's here, he can probably explain it better than I. The lass that worked this miracle is also here, she can tell you the full tale."

Jinbe nodded, he could be patient for the full story. He would have felt both hurt and angry if this had been some elaborate ruse. But the way that the Dark King spoke of it and the fact that Marco was in on the whole affair, said otherwise and it laid a few of his concerns to rest. He also trusted Rayleigh's word. The man had been a friend and associate for many years, as he helped to free fishmen and merpeople from time to time from the slave markets in and around Sabaody.

Though, "'Lass?'"

Rayleigh smirked, a hand on his hip. "Her name's Lily. She's an amazing girl. I'll let Ace introduce you. I think he's sweet on her."

A sound similar to the crackling of will-o-the-wisps, came from the nearby shadow, its violet eyes narrowed. The older man glanced up before responding to it. "You haven't spent a whole week with them, stuck in a small space together. I have a nose for these things. Just keep observing them Scha, you'll see."

Jinbe looked up at the eyes of the cloud, "'Scha'? Is that your name?"

The eyes bounced up and down as if the creature had nodded its head.

Rayleigh motioned up to the shadow, "Jinbe, meet Schaden. He is a Cimmarian who is the missy's best friend. He understands the common tongue, but he doesn't have the ability to speak it. And Schaden, you probably already know who Jinbe is. Sorry you two had to meet over combat though."

The term "Cimmarian" wasn't familiar to him, but one learned about new things everyday.

Especially this day it seemed.

Jinbe respectfully bowed regardless in greeting to his new acquaintance, "Glad to meet you, Schaden. There are more ways than one to communicate. I regret that our first meeting had to be over fisticuffs. But you must understand that seeing Ace again was the very last thing that I expected, and I swore to protect Luffy with my life."

When Schaden responded back this time, Jinbe decided to try and tune into the same 6th sense he used to communicate with sea life. It didn't work the same way, but through it he was able to get a vague idea of the sound of admonishment and disapproval that laced the shadow's words.

And sure enough, Rayleigh translated. "He says that your altercation was causing 'obvious emotional and mental distress' to the boy and it wasn't doing Ace any good either. He decided it was best to keep everyone separate until everything could be fully explained and nobody did anything they regretted."

The Fishman rubbed his neck self-consciously, "I can see that. Your interference was well-meant and I acknowledge your reasoning."

The ex-Roger pirate turned back to the shade, "Speaking of which, how are the two brats doing?"

Schaden responded, his language now taking on a softer, more affected tone.

A warm smile appeared on Ray's face, "Aww, that's adorable. Well, that's very good to hear. I'm happy that those two brats were able to find one another again. Their bond is for sure something special."

Jinbe smiled gladly, in complete agreement. The depths of the two brothers' feelings towards one another was something that he had rarely seen in the world, Especially in one that was as dangerous and corrupt as this. A love that deep was hard to find, but a bond like that also had its dangers too.

Luffy had been on the path to self-destruction and it didn't take much to see how the violent, traumatic separation had ripped apart his mind. The Fishman honestly didn't know if he would have been able to get through to the pup in the end. He now hoped that he would never have to find out.

Ace would indeed actually die someday, but hopefully that day was now far, far in the future. By then, a more prepared and matured Luffy would be able to navigate through it.

Rayleigh spoke up again to Schaden, "Alright, if those two are good, I'm pretty sure we need to get the two of them back to their respective beds. From Dr. Trafalgar's words, Luffy needs to rest pronto, and Wildfire's haki reserves should be running out juuuust about now."

Wildfire? Haki reserves?

The man continued, "And if he's been fighting and probably using his fire, I'm sure the lass is going to probably wanna take a look at him too."

Jinbe was a bit confused and he had no idea as to who this "lass" was, but if she was the miracle worker that was responsible for Ace coming back from the grave? Then he felt he had to meet her.

Ray was about to tell Scha to take down the barrier, when the eyes seemed to be distracted by something somewhere within it and disappeared into the miasma.

Sighing in exasperation that did nothing to mask the mirth that danced in his sharp eyes, he sat down near the ex-warlord who had taken a rest on a nearby boulder. "He said hold on a moment. Ya know…I'm supposed to be retired. Getting too old for this crap. And now, I've got two more brats I've gotta look after."

The Fishman smirked, "Well, you know what they say. It's never over, till it's over. We both know you were never fully out. No need to pull you back in, when you never really left in the first place."

Rayleigh's smile became a bit more crafty with a hint of cunning before he glanced over knowingly to the male by his side.

He didn't say a word in response. But then again…he didn't have to.

The Dark King explains only when he wishes.

The First Son of the Sea let him have his secrets. For he knew that the second-in-command to the Pirate King was indeed as shrewd and wily as a Micqueotian silver fox. There was a reason that he and his wife had set up shop in Sabaody, near the most utilized entrance into and out of the New World. There was a reason why every time he met the man, he seemed to be in the know about nearly everything that was going on both in the forefront of the world, but also in the darkest shadows. The secrets the man held within his steel-trap of a mind were probably countless.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Ray spoke up again. "By the way…I speak for both Ace and myself when I say thank you for what you did for Luffy out there. I know you didn't have to." He looked pointedly at the wounds the Fishman had sustained.

Jinbe shook his head, "I made a promise, and I never make one lightly. Even with Ace currently alive now, I see no reason to rescind it. Luffy is very…interesting for a pup. I'd like to see how he develops and grows."

The sudden shrill sound of Schaden's voice pulled him away from his thoughts as well as shattered the peace of the moment. Everything about Scha's tone screamed alarm and urgency. Simultaneously, the barrier shield began to immediately disperse and fold up on itself, shrinking in order to open the area up to the outside once again.

Rayleigh was already on his feet, the laid-back demeanor having vanished entirely, his eyes alight with deep concern.

"Come on, Jinbe. Luffy's in trouble.

The Fishman didn't even bother to respond and only nodded, moving quickly to follow the man forward.

Worry squeezed at his heart. What was going on? Luffy should have been safe with Ace. His brother would never harm him, and as very recently shown, would rather die than let harm come to him. What in the world could have happened?

It only took a few moments for the two to clear the glen and get to where the two signatures were held up, lying among a couple of trees.

What they found was both undeniably adorable and fearfully alarming.

Ace was indeed there, and so was Luffy. Or rather, in essence, Ace was literally wearing a Luffy.

His arms were holding onto the smaller, lankier body of his little brother, though in essence, he didn't really have to. The kid's rubber limbs had effectively wrapped themselves around Ace's torso so many times that it was basically like he was a second shirt.

Ace himself was lying against an oak tree, and he honestly looked even more frail than he had when Jinbe had first seen him. His entire body was pale and trembling slightly in exhaustion and fatigue. However, other than that, he overall looked to be pretty uninjured.

Which was saying something considering all the blood that surrounded him.

All blood that seemed to be running from out of young Luffy's still body.

Jinbe realized with horror that he had failed. He hadn't done enough to stop the boy from harming himself and now Trafalgar's warnings had come true. Luffy's wounds had reopened.

Silver eyes looked up helplessly to Rayleigh, who had already gone to his side.

"Rayleigh, I can't stop the bleeding! I-I thought to try to use my flames to cauterize his wounds but I don't know where—"

However the man was already shaking his head as he calmly but swiftly began to unravel one sibling from the other. "His wounds are too many and you could cause more harm than good. He would also need more blood anyway. We need to get him to a doctor, and quickly. Are you strong enough to help me untangle him?"

The steady calm voice as well as the opportunity to distract himself with a task he could handle, allowed the younger man to take a breath and center himself away from his full panic. "Yeah…yeah, I can do that. I've had to do it lots of times."

And sure enough, he did a few pulls and twists here and there, and suddenly all of Luffy's rubber limbs released. Jinbe quickly rushed to kneel down and hold the boy's body while they rebounded, snapping back into place like elastic rubber bands.

Well, all except one.

One of his hands still held Ace's shirt in its grasp like a lifeline and didn't let go even after he tried multiple times to shake it off.

"We don't have time for this." Ace gritted his teeth and reached up and tore his shirt the rest of the way before slipping it off, leaving it clenched in his brother's hand.

Rayleigh carefully turned Luffy's unconscious body over to Jinbe. He then held his hand against the kid's torso, and armament haki appeared on the man's arm. He then emitted it over Luffy's body, allowing it to cover all of his major wounds.

He spoke as he worked, "Jinbe, you're going to need to maintain this until you can get him back to the Rocky Bay. Marco, Lily, and Trafalgar should be there. Keep it tight enough around him that it staunches the bleeding, at least for a little bit."

Jinbe nodded, using his own haki to surround Rayleigh's as he lifted the boy up in his arms. He's never seen armament used in this fashion before, but it made sense. And right now, he could care less if it meant it would save Luffy's life, even if for a few extra vital minutes.

Ace spoke up from the ground, "I'm coming too."

However, Rayleigh resolutely shook his head. "Jinbe can move faster without carrying the both of you, and you can't move on your own anymore, correct?"

Ace gritted his teeth and while the Fishman didn't know what that was about, he was okay with leaving him in the silver-haired man's hands. He stood up, carefully holding the injured pup in his arms.

"Fear not Ace, your brother will live. His spirit is too strong to give up now. Especially when he's aware that he has something to live for."

With that, he turns and runs off, moving swiftly through the forest of trees. He refused to let this day of miracles turn into a senseless tragedy.

---

Ace watched with a heavy heart as his long-time friend carried his most priceless treasure away into the forest.

He thought about what he had just told Luffy about how strong he truly was and he tried to take comfort in his own words. Luffy wouldn't die. He couldn't, not now that they had finally been reunited. His high-maintenance little brother would live through this, and then he would be able to beat the crap out of him for doing this to himself and making him worry!

He looked down at his trembling hands and his brother's blood that coated them. His breaths became heavier. Was this what Luffy had gone through with him?

"Now, none of that." A strong hand used his own cloak to wipe off the blood from his palms. "Your brother had enough faith to believe that you had come back from the dead. Now you need to do the same for him."

Rayleigh clasped his chin and angled his face away from the blood making an assault on his senses, looking him directly in the eye. "There are three doctors only a couple miles away that will do everything they can to save his life. Trust them. If you can stubbornly survive from wounds much more egregious than his, then trust that your brother can be even more stubborn than you."

Ace took a shuddering breath, allowing the old man's words to calm his fears as they so often did. It didn't completely cut off his worries (only seeing his brother once again safe and whole would do that), but it allowed him to catch his bearings. "Yeah…you're right. Luffy'll get through this. He has to. He's going to be the next Pirate King. He has to live…I'll kill him if he doesn't."

Ray smiled in agreement before turning his back and indicating for his brat to climb on. "Come on, let's get you back. Missy will probably have to take a look at you too."

Ace was so used to this process that he grabbed onto the man's back without a second thought. "But I'm fine. I need to be with Lu. I can't let him wake up alone. He's a bit fragile right now."

The man stood up, keeping hold of the other. "One, I know that, so don't you worry, I'll even glue the two of you together if you'd prefer."

Ace couldn't help but snicker at that mental image. He loved his little brother a lot, but that might be going a bit far. Though the man's next words made him wince instead.

"And two, you got into a fight didn't you?"

"Well…"

"And you used your fire didn't you?"

"Well, I had to—"

"Ergo, you are not fine, and thus what I said stands."

Ace had felt throbbing twinges in his own body on top of the overall wear and tear to his overworked limbs, but forced himself to put the pain on the back-burner for now until he knew Luffy was for sure in the clear.

"Fine, but only after Lu has been taken care of."

Rayleigh nodded before waving over Schaden who had reformed and was slinking sluggishly along the ground, completely exhausted. The shade moved up the man's extended hand, onto his arm, before moving to settle into the shadows between the two men.

They were about to take off, following in Jinbe's footsteps when Ace suddenly pulled back against the older man's neck. "Wait! My letter!"

When Luffy had basically collided with him like a missile to embrace him, he had inadvertently dropped Sabo's letter to the ground. He had planned to get it after Luffy had calmed down, but then everything had fallen apart after that. He quickly looked around for the missive hoping that it hadn't gotten drenched in blood or accidentally trampled.

"You mean this?" Rayleigh lifted up a well-worn folded piece of paper.

Ace gave a sigh of relief and took the letter from him and carefully placed it back into the compartment in his belt. "Thanks, Rayleigh."

The older man was already moving, moving a lot faster than a man his age honestly should, especially while carrying his 20 year-old brat on his back. But of course Ace had at this point realized that Silvers Rayleigh could make nearly anything seem easy.

"Is it a letter from Luffy?" the man asked curiously.

He shook his head, a sad smile appearing on his face. "No, it's from 'Bo."

"Bo?"

Ace forgot that Rayleigh wouldn't know about his twin. "Sabo…our other brother. This was the last thing he ever wrote to us. I knew that Luffy would recognize it."

A sense of comprehension came to the pirate veteran as he continued on his way.

So this wasn't StrawHat's first foray into the loss of a close sibling. No wonder he had collapsed so hard mentally. The trauma of having lost a sibling before probably compounded the shock and agony of having potentially lost a second one, and at such a young age with such a child-like mentality. It also explained the two brothers' close dependency on one another, especially to one as emotionally scarred as Ace, or someone who intrinsically wore their emotions on their sleeves like Luffy.

However, that name "Sabo" seemed to ring a bell in his head, but why?

Thinking silently for a moment, a spark of recognition went off.

Oh yes, that was the name of the strongest of Dragon's kids, his young number two, the Revolutionary Army Chief-of-Staff.

As far as he knew there was no connection between that Sabo and Ace. Wildfire didn't seem to even really be in contact with Revolutionaries other than of course his recent attachment to Lily and Schaden.

Perhaps it was just pure coincidence, just two people who happened to have the same name. Wasn't all that unusual.

He'd pack that information away for later if it ever became important. For now, he had two brats to take care of. Goodness knows you couldn't leave them alone for 10 minutes without chaos somehow erupting.

Damn Ds.

---

Several minutes earlier, the Polar Tang

Lily sat on the rooftop deck of the Polar Tang, all the while checking over Marco's vitals. The man had pushed himself to the limit to get them to Amazon Lily in less than a week. After Rayleigh had called her away, she had gone over to check on him while the elder pirate had gone after Ace.

Marco had volunteered but both she and Ray had voted him down. He needed rest and they didn't need Hancock throwing a tantrum after having just gotten her to calm down.

She had noted a few things such as his extreme fatigue and haki strain, though his devil fruit was allowing him to recuperate pretty well. She used her cell sight to examine his cells and it was fascinating to watch them rejuvenate.

However, while she tried to keep to her job, but her mind wasn't really in it.

No, it was a few floors below where she stood, with the enigmatic captain of this vessel.

Trafalgar Law.

Law…

That name…

He had never answered her question, though to be honest he didn't have to. His eyes gave him away.

Trafalgar Law wasn't his full name. It wasn't a fake name. He reacted too naturally for it to be fake. For whatever reason he was hiding his true identity, and she couldn't help but think it was connected to her somehow.

Somehow…

Everything about him both intrigued and confused her.

His eyes.

His voice.

His very presence seemed to resonate with hers.

He was about her age, maybe a bit older, from the North Blue, and she KNOWS that he has some connection to her. It wasn't only her that was drawn to him. That gravitation was very much reciprocated.

Could he have been from Flevance?

But she had always expected she was the only one who had survived that genocide. Wasn't that the only reason she was imprisoned in the Facility? And if he was from Flevance, how had he survived the White Lead poisoning?

The research that she had done, as well as what she had learned from Dragon and Karasu, the people of Flevance had all been destroyed by that poison that they had been mining and utilizing for many years. That it had cut down the life expectancy of the populace until there was no saving the doomed White City. To make it worse, not one would help, not the nearby neighbors, not the Marines, not the World Government. Everyone turned their backs on the country. It even turned out that the ruling monarchy had known all along the harmful effects of the poison they mined, but had chosen to say nothing to the common people because of all the money they wealth they made from it. So when everything began to go belly-up, they abandoned their people without a second glance. Not caring because they had already taken measures to avoid the Flevantines fate—

Her thoughts suddenly sputtered.

Was that the connection?

Was Trafalgar one of the royals from Flevance that had abandoned the White City? He would have been only a child at the time and probably not old enough to be responsible for the actions of the adults around him. But would it be that out there if one of those royal children decided to rebel, changed his name, and took off to become a pirate? Her commanding officer was living proof that not all children of noble blood decide to follow the same path as their corrupt parents.

In all honesty, she didn't know what socioeconomic status she had been born into and had no idea if she would have interacted with a child of noble blood or not. But it was possible…

Was that how she and Law knew each other?

Had he recognized her too? Some childhood friend perhaps?

Her thoughts were all jumbled. There was so much conjecture, but still…was it possible?

A small coin hit her on the side of the head and she was jolted out of her thoughts and her devil fruit sight. She caught the coin before it fell, seeing it as a single beri piece.

"Beri for your thoughts."

She looked over to Marco, who was watching her casually though with an undercurrent of concern.

Sighing, she sat by his feet. "Sorry Marco, I just have a lot on my mind all of a sudden."

He nodded and made a motion for her to go on.

She sighed, She didn't know if she wanted to say anything yet. Not out loud and not on Law's ship. However, that left her few options for which to parcel out her thoughts. Rayleigh had assured her that she would be perfectly safe to disembark to the island, but the snake empress still seemed to be brooding and the resulting atmosphere didn't make the best environment to contemplate in.

That only left her the ship that she was currently on and thus the conundrum.

So she instead just decided to wave off Marco's questioning, hoping to eventually find sometime later to think.

She gave a casual smile, "It's fine Marco, I'll be alright."

He gave her a sideways glance from half-lidded eyes for a few thoughtful moments before stretching and moving to stand up. "Come on, let's go."

She blinked. "Go where?"

"Somewhere you can clear your head."

He suddenly began to transform and she had to shield her eyes from the brightness. "Marco, you're supposed to be resting!"

But it was too late and by the time that she was able to look back at him, she was already looking into the fierce blazing raptorial eyes of Marco's huge flaming avian form. It was actually her first time really seeing him like this up close. He was indeed quite a majestic fantastical creature.

Marco peered down at her, "I can't rest if both I and my Phoenix are too busy worrying about you. Now get on."

His voice sounded strange coming from out of the predator's head, but she was not too put off. She had long gotten used to such things with Karasu over the years.

He lowered his wing to her and she edged closer to him, cautiously reaching out to his fiery feathers."Both you and your phoenix?"

For a moment Marco's blue eyes shifted and a wilder, golden predatory eye took its place. The bird of prey's scream echoed before Marco took hold of his zoan once again.

"Yeah, she's sensed that you've become more reticent since the last we saw you. You obviously have something that you need to work out, so come on. I promise I won't drop you."

Smiling at his (their?) concern, she sighed and gave in before climbing up onto his back. "Alright, fine."

Adjusting herself, she shifted to get herself settled before holding onto his mantle feathers. He rose back up and began to move his powerful scapular muscles, "Hold on."

She took a breath and did just that as she felt him push off and before she knew it, they were rising higher and higher, soaring into the sky!

The force of the wind in her hair automatically caused a smile to come to her face, she laughed at the very sensation of flight. She let go completely of her power allowing her appearance to return back to normal. The air dancing against her skin, her heart immediately felt lighter. She would never get bored of this feeling for as long as she lived!

Marco smiled knowingly, leveling off before settling into a circling pattern high above Amazon Lily. He was tired to be sure, but this wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Taking siblings up for a flyby jaunt to help them through their myriad of issues was something he had done for many years now. Lily was a potential future sister and already a friend, so it came with territory.

Lily on her end, took a deep breath and the sensation of flying allowed her to shed the heavy feeling of being earthbound. The freedom of sailing through the sky made all of her worries and fears recede. She stretched out on Marco's back, allowing the breezes and the view of the vast sky before her, lull her into a sublime state of contentment.

"You've been flying before."

She released a breath before looking down to meet his gaze. "Hmm, mm-hmm. How did you know?"

"Well, one, you're not grabbing onto me for dear life."

She looked down at her hands and saw that they were indeed holding onto him with a solid but relaxed grip.

"And two, while you're enjoying yourself, you're neither in that first-time awestruck wonder stage, nor the paralyzed fear of heights phase. You're pretty calm overall."

Lily smiled before spreading out along the phoenix's back. "I came to the Revolutionaries when I was 14. One of the commanders there became my guardian and he would take me flying often, much like this."

"Ah, Karasu."

She nodded. "Mm-hmm"

It no longer surprised her that Marco or the other pirates seemed to know much about the command structure or ways of the Revolutionary Army. She guessed that they weren't the only ones who kept tabs on their New World neighbors. However, her thoughts of Karasu led her back to thoughts of the North Blue—and with it, one Trafalgar Law.

"Marco?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"What do you know about Trafalgar Law?"

If her line of questioning seemed surprising to him, it didn't show.

"Hmm...Trafalgar…" He repeated thoughtfully, "Pops always liked to get reports of the new supernova who most likely were going to make their way into the New World every year. This year was no different."

"The first on his radar was StrawHat Luffy of course, simply because Ace wouldn't shut up about him." he commented bemusedly, "But we also kept an eye on Eustass Kid, Basil Hawkins, and Capone Bege. Trafalgar Law was not immediately thrust into our notice, but he began to make a name for himself slowly but surely."

Marco recalled what facts they had dug up about him from the top of his head. "He's not that much older than you or Ace, and he's from the North Blue. He's known as the 'Surgeon of Death' and has a bit of a dangerous reputation, but from everything that we've found out, he's actually a pretty good doctor. He possesses the Op-Op fruit, one of the strongest, most valuable devil fruits in existence. It is utilized at its best when in the hands of a skilled doctor, which Trafalgar seems to be."

He glanced back at her, "Why do you ask? Does something about him bother you?"

She sighed, it wasn't much information. At least not in the area that she wanted to know. She answered his question with another question. "Do you…do you know where in the North Blue he's from? Anything from his past prior to being a pirate?"

"Ahh, I see." He commented knowingly, "Well, not much has come up on that front. He and his crew of Heart Pirates came out of seemingly nowhere, though there are rumors of them appearing originally at a location known as Swallow Island."

She huffed with a bit of disappointment, "I see…"

"However," he continued, "We have some very early possible accounts of a boy about Trafalgar's age and likeness, once being in league with the DonQuixote Pirates. And while it might be a coincidence, his Jolly Roger seems to suggest this connection. However, nothing conclusive has been found on that front."

She didn't know a ton about the Heavenly Demon and his ilk, but the name alone left a sour taste in her mouth. She knew he was the target of several underworld investigations that the RA had been leading, but that hadn't been her department so she didn't know much. However, the one time she had seen the warlord in person at Marineford had been enough for her. While he was vastly more bombastic and chaotic, something about the very core of his essence reminded her of the Director. And anything that reminded her of that man, she gave a wide berth.

One thing she did know was that whatever she had felt from Law—it hadn't been that.

"I assume this has to do with your lost past. Do you think that he has some connection?"

Lily had no more made any headway in her thoughts up here in the sky then she had on ground. However, it somehow being only her and Marco up here alone in the stratosphere allowed her to feel a bit freer with her confidences. Marco had proven to be a good listener while they had worked on Ace together, and he had promised to help her in trying to piece together her past alongside Shanks.

She let out a heavy sigh before beginning to form her thoughts into words. "Okay, so this might sound strange but…"

---

Meanwhile, On the Polar Tang

Law was in the midst of finally putting everything in his room back in order again after his brief emotional breakdown. Taking a brief shower, he had finally been able to get his state of mind back under control, and all of his traumatic memories back under lock and key. He wanted to finish this as quickly as possible before packing up his crew and leaving this island and everyone on it behind.

He had just finished putting his bedside books back in order by topic when a sudden loud banging came to his cabin door.

"Captain! Captain! We've got an emergency!"

Frowning, he crossed the room and yanked the door open, finding Shachi standing there with a look of dread on his face.

"What's wrong?" He was already in his mind running down the many things that could have happened in his absence. However what his crewmate did tell him was both expected and yet not.

"It's StrawHat! The warlord brought him back! He's in hypovolemic shock!"

He raised an eyebrow, blinking, "Is it because he's dehydrated or because of blood loss?"

Shachi was jumping on his toes in agitation, "Blood loss!"

Law cursed aloud, he didn't have time for this! "So hemorrhagic shock then." He moved back to his bed before grabbing his sword and pushing past the redhead to stalk down the hall, "I warned them about his sutures. Where are Silvers, Phoenix, and…that woman? Why can't they take care of this?"

The other followed him as he marched quickly up the stairs, "The Phoenix and Dr. Lily took off."

He glanced back at that, "What?!"

"Yeah, captain. He turned into a giant bird and she climbed onto his back and they flew off. I don't know if or when they're coming back. Jinbe said that the Dark King is still in the forest but will be coming along shortly."

Law sighed, "Fine then. He's still my patient until we leave. The OR's been prepped?"

Shachi nodded, "Aye, captain! Clione and Ikkaku are waiting."

The surgeon nodded, his crew was efficient at least in this. While he didn't show it outwardly, inwardly he was both relieved and frustrated that…that she…wasn't there anymore. He wanted to be able to leave as soon as possible and would have gladly passed on this emergency to the newcomers and their female doctor. However, his crew had probably already brought the kid aboard, and even he wasn't cold-blooded enough to ignore such a life-threatening case like this.

On the other hand, he didn't know what to think about her suddenly leaving. Why had she left? Was something wrong? He didn't like the concern that kept bubbling up no matter how much he pushed it down.

Darn it! He was supposed to be the one to leave, not her! He didn't like the fact that he didn't know where she was, because in that case he couldn't be sure to go where shewasn't!

Pushing all that aside, he went back to the task at hand as he pushed past the operating room doors and immediately saw his patient prepped on the bed, his assistants attempting to staunch the bleeding. Jinbe stood to one side of them, a hand on the boy, interestingly enough emitting an overlay of armament haki over the kid's wounds, which was slowing the bleeding. Fascinating usage, he'd have to make a note of that.

At Law's entrance, Ikkaku immediately began to supply him with stats. "Captain, heart rate is 190 BPM and rising, blood pressure is 45 over 30 and temperature is 91.4 and both are dropping, blood volume is down to 65%. I've already taken blood samples for testing."

Law nodded as he scrubbed his hands. "Let's see what the idiot did to himself."

He indicated for Jinbe to let go. He retracted his emitted haki carefully before stepping back and giving his assistants more room to work. The bandages—what was left of them—were soaked and already beginning to seep once more. Ikkaku was already beginning to cut them off, while also applying pressure. He also wasn't happy to see that new wounds had joined the old, but he wasn't surprised.

Clione helped him into his gloves as he gave orders. "Alright, give him 1 gram tranexamic acid bolus injection and then put him on an IV infusion, start two fluid IVs as well as an antibiotic, get ready for a blood transfusion, get me 4 units of FFP, 6 units of red cells, F Neg, if we're low, S Neg. Also 1 ATD of platelets and 2 pools of cryoprecipitate. But we've gotta stop the blood loss first. Keep putting pressure on those arteries."

"Aye, captain!"

He turned to the Knight of the Sea and spoke to him in no uncertain terms. "I don't like undergoing futile endeavors and I certainly don't like redoing my own flawless work. I'm only doing this once. If he decides to continue being suicidal don't come back to me."

However Jinbe seemed a lot more self-assured than he had the last time he saw him and nodded resolutely. "He won't, you can be certain of that."

Law didn't know what had changed that made him so sure, but he didn't really have time to think about it. "If you say so. Now stay out of my way, I need some ROOM."

---

Rayleigh and his companions made good time tracking back to the Rocky Bay. However, as he came closer to the forest's edge, he slowed down to a stop.

"Why are we stopping?" Ace wondered, confused. While his mind had been distracted briefly before and the pangs in his body had intensified, they both ultimately fell away as his worry over Luffy had returned and he really wanted to be there with him.

Ray gazed over his shoulder at his charge thoughtfully for a moment before lowering himself to the ground, indicating for Ace to alight. This only confused Ace more.

Was this some kind of training and he'd have to walk the rest of the way on his own? He didn't think his stamina had replenished itself enough for that. Though if Rayleigh thought that he could—

Though before that line of thinking could reach any kind of conclusion, the old man reached for his left arm and swung it around his shoulder, pulling up Ace to sort of lean against his right side, his hand around his waist as support. Rayleigh then applied his haki to Ace's legs similarly to when he did so the first time near the waterfall in Styx. In doing this, Ace was now standing at his side, rather than being carried like a babe.

While the man didn't say why, and Ace had long gotten over the embarrassment of being carried around, he realized the reason the man had made the change as he began to hear the faint strains of conversation from up ahead.

Thus far he had been among a small group of people that he either trusted or had very quickly earned his trust. People who had been doing their utmost to help and protect him. For the first time since his demise, he was going to soon be facing people where none of that was necessarily true. This would be his first true foray back into the world since his "death". Even if he was still at his weakest, he would have to at least present as strong a front as possible.

He could do that. He let his guard down among his family, Luffy foremost, then Marco, Rayleigh, and Ange. However, he'd learned the art of keeping up appearances and showing a solid facade since he was very young. It took quite a lot to get past his walls once he had them up.

Standing as solidly on the ground as he could, the black of his cloak and his boots hid the armament haki that encased his legs.

He moved to take a step away from Rayleigh but the man held on firm. "Hold it, Wildfire. I still need to maintain contact. You can walk by my side, but we'll do this together."

He nodded. That made sense.

The man looked at him closely, "I'm not going to leave you high and dry out there, on your own."

Ace turned at that, taking a moment to digest the man's words before smiling. "I know."

Rayleigh's eyes seemed to search his for a moment, before he nodded in return. He continued, "As I told you in Styx, I have a relationship with Boa and the Kuja. We don't need to draw attention. If they ask, they ask and we answer, but not unless it's necessary. We can't make enemies here, especially with your brother in such a precarious position."

Ace was okay with that. The majority of his mind was on Luffy anyway. He placed his hood over his head, further masking his features.

"Got it. I'll let you do the talking unless otherwise necessary."

Ray grinned, "Let's do this, brat."

---

Boa Hancock didn't consider herself to be a complicated woman. She was the most beautiful woman in the world, and thus everything was allowed her, that was all there was to it. As long as her commands were obeyed, everything would be right as rain.

But everything was currently far from "right as rain" at the moment.

She had been so excited when she had received word that Luffy had finally awakened. He had gone through so much heartache, trial, and trauma during that horrible war. And to lose his dear brother after all he had done to try to save him! Her poor darling…

Hancock hadn't known much about FireFist prior to all the hullabaloo regarding his execution. He was a man, which automatically made him scum.

However, after having met him at Impel Down, and knowing how dearly her Luffy had cared for him. She had been willing to welcome him with open arms as her dear brother-in-law!

Alas, 'twas not to be. Though at least through his actions, he and the ex-warlord Jinbe had saved Luffy's life from that horrid, abominable dog of the military.

Something she hated to say, she had been unable to fully do herself.

She had been happy to give Luffy a place of rest and recuperation and shelter after the war. She had even been gracious enough to allow those who had helped rescue him, allowance to be on the island with him as he recovered.

And then everything went wrong all at once.

First, she comes down to see her beloved, only to find the presence of that water fowl in her territory. She tries to defend her land from Marco the Phoenix, only to be sabotaged by that opportunistic fox, Trafalgar. And then she finds that her darling Luffy had already gone off into the forest with Jinbe to be alone, and then who should arrive, supposedly with the fowl?

But one Silvers Rayleigh!

One of the few men that she respected, she had allowed him to talk and explain how they were here in service of Luffy's welfare and needed to find out how he was doing, and he had some business on the island with both Luffy and Trafalgar and blah, blah, blah…

None of that mattered! Her poor pirate was out there suffering and why wasn't anybody doing anything about it! She would do it herself, but her sisters and the old crone had advised her to let him have his space. And she didn't want to drive him away.

To shut him up, she let the old man keep his people in the same segregated area as the rest of the Heart Pirates. She had to control the male invasion of her island somehow.

She had been worried about Luffy and Rayleigh had said that he would use discretion and check on him. She was happy that he would do that for her and her poor darling. Men had some weird connection that she didn't quite understand, but she knew was there. And she would have to be accepting of Luffy's male relationships when she became his dutiful, lawfully wedded—Ohh! She couldn't even think about it yet!

So she had waited patiently for their return, pacing back and forth in an orderly fashion. (It was the dirt's fault for creating a furrow track under her feet.) When the Fishman male raced out of the trees carrying the broken and bloody body of her beloved in his arms!

She raced to him, alarmed at his state. He looked so weak and helpless, nowhere near the great man she knew him to be. What had happened? She thought he was getting better?!

She shouted for her warriors to go and fetch all her doctors. However, Jinbe said they didn't have time and had shouted for Phoenix. But of course the completely useless flaming buzzard had chosen a few moments before to take off with some mousy bimbo!

His one use to heal her Luffy, and he was nowhere to be found!

Thankfully, the Heart Pirates redeemed themselves and showed their usefulness, seemingly used to intense emergency medical situations. The mink, a red-haired officer, and a couple others, came up and took charge, hurrying Jinbe and her poor Luffy onto their vessel.

Oh, what was going on! She couldn't take this! She was going to get wrinkles with all of this STRESS!

By the time the old man finally decided to show up, and for some reason, helping along yet another man (!) dressed in black from out of the forest, she was done.

"Rayleigh! What has happened? What is going on, what have you and those men with you done?"

The man didn't bother being flustered at the irate empress. "There aren't just men with me, Hancock. We have one female."

The empress threw her hair back with an angry flare. "Of course, thank goodness you had some intelligence. But that's not the point! You and Jinbe go into the forest to help my poor Luffy, only for that Fishman to bring him back horribly wounded!"

"StrawHat Luffy has gone through a lot, Hancock. He accidentally split his sutures and started to bleed out. The doctors should be working on him at this very moment."

The woman stomped away on her heels and began pacing in a very irritated fashion. "Ugh, this is all that Trafalgar's fault! If he had healed Luffy right the first time, this wouldn't have happened!"

One of the braver senior Heart pirates had the audacity to speak up. "Our captain is the best doctor in the world, if anyone did anything wrong, it was StrawHat."

The man immediately flinched under the power of Boa's deadly stare. He added a quick, "ma'am", but didn't change his statement.

"My Luffy, do something wrong?! How dare you suggest such a thing, you sniveling insect."

Rayleigh tried to grab hold of her attention again, "Hancock, how about we talk about this later, when Luffy's better?"

But the war empress was not to be put off this time. "You're not off the hook, Rayleigh. You should have been watching out for Luffy, no matter that surgeon's shoddy work."

The sound of grumbles of outrage from the Hearts got even louder. She narrowed her eyes in agitation. "Silence, cretins!"

Why didn't they just fall for her like all the others, and shut up?

She was honestly tired of all this. She'd reached the end of her patience.

"That's it, I am done! The minute Luffy is stable, you Hearts will turn him over to me and then depart! You are no longer welcome here." She pointed to all the jumpsuited males dirtying Amazon Lily's soil.

She then whipped around to the silver-haired man who had piled more chaos onto her shores. "And you Rayleigh! You can stay, but all of your companions must leave immediately. They've caused enough trouble!"

She gritted her teeth before pointing her finger at the black-cloaked man by his side. "You were paying too much attention to these nothings, and not enough to my Luffy. I want them out now!"

However, even as she spun around on her heel, she was greeted with the last word she ever thought she would hear any man who was not StrawHat Luffy, speak to her.

"No."

She stopped in her tracks, trying to make sure she had heard correctly. Tension suddenly filled the air and there was a hush over the bay. She turned an eye to look over her shoulder. "What was that?"

The ex-Roger pirate matched her gaze with one of his own. "I said, 'No'."

She knew in her heart that she owed Rayleigh her life, not only her own, but that of her sisters, and to a degree her land. She knew that he was a very strong pirate, an expert haki wielder, and he held bonds to the Kuja through his wife, the former empress, Shakuyaku. Fighting him in any capacity would be emotionally painful and a grave confrontation for her.

He had never challenged her authority directly like this before. He would argue, he would advise, he would even cajole and persuade, but he had never attempted to undermine her. So why was he doing so now?

She played this carefully. Turning, she folded her arms and leveled him with her best displeased stare. "And why not, exactly?"

He smiled one of his famous joyless grins, "Because, one, I promised I wouldn't abandon them."

"You are welcome to leave with them." She reminded him.

But he relentlessly continued on, "And, two, Luffy will never forgive you if you do."

Nothing had ever made her recoil so quickly before. Her eyes narrowed even more and she hissed like a viper, "What are you talking about? He has no association with these riffraff. He would never do that."

He kept his gaze steady, "You'd be surprised who you have in your midst. Do you really want to risk it?"

Hancock hesitated. She didn't dare commit any sin that would have her beloved be angry with her. He had to be bluffing. And yet, she knew how much Luffy cared for others that he called his friends. It was one of the things she dearly loved about him! Rayleigh was right in that she couldn't risk it…but still she couldn't appear weak either! Oh, why was he pushing this so much?!

The two stood there at a standstill, no one doing anything on either side. All the while everyone else looked on to see what was going to happen at this standoff between the Snake Princess and the Dark King.

It was then that the cloaked man who stood by Rayleigh's side, used the fingers of the hand he had swung around his shoulder, to tap him lightly to get his attention. Ray turned his eyes slightly towards him, his demeanor nor presence changing, before giving a slight nod and returning his gaze to Boa.

The cloaked man took a slight step forward, Rayleigh's supporting hand moving subtly from his side to his back. When he opened his mouth to speak for the first time, Boa couldn't help the gasp that escaped, and she took another step back as an involuntary chill went up her spine. She had heard that voice only a handful of times, but she didn't forget easily.

The voice speaking to her was that of a dead man.

"For your information, Boa Hancock, I was mad that he came. Though I'm sure Luffy very well knew that."

Her large eyes wavered as she stood there, completely nonplussed. She could barely pick up on the words he was saying, "What?"

The man continued, a smile on the observable part of his face, "You said, when you came to Impel Down to tell me that my brother was coming for me, that he was afraid that I'd be mad at him."

She took another step back at his words, "Who are you? How dare you pretend to be his brother…"

She wanted her declaration to be strong, but the waver in her voice undermined it.

The man took another half-step forward, "I was mad, but in the end I still wanna thank you Hancock."

His hand reached up and he pulled off the hood from his head, revealing his face to her.

Whispers immediately began to abound around them. Some were confused as to who he was, some could have sworn they'd seen the man's face before somewhere, and others, the loudest of the whispers, knew exactly who he was.

"Isn't that the guy from the war?"

"Maybe it's a ghost?"

"The guy in all the papers?"

"It can't be him."

"You mean the Pirate King's son?"

"It's not him, he just looks like him."

"Yeah, FireFist Ace, of the Whitebeard Pirates!"

"But he's dead!"

Boa Marigold spoke to her sister. "Who's that, how does he know sister?"

Sandersonia looked back at her, "He does look familiar. He reminds me of Luffy…though older and taller and with freckles and—wait a minute!"

The two sisters looked at each other in shock as they realized what it was that she was saying. Luffy's older brother! It had to be!

"But I thought he died!" Marigold whispered in alarm.

"He did." A stern statement was made nearby.

Granny Nyon stood next to them, her hand on her staff. She frowned at the newcomer and marched over to stand next to the dumbstruck Hancock. She looked the man up and down with a harsh eye. He simply glanced back at her with curiosity.

She then directed her question at Rayleigh, who still stood by the young man's side in support. "What is the meaning of this, Rayleigh? The papers have been talking nonstop about this man and his death. His execution and the war fought over him was televised far and wide. Are you to tell me it was all a lie?"

The man looked down at her, "You can see with your own eyes, Gloriosa. What do you think?"

She looked back at the young man, not quite sure what to think. The World Government was known to cover the truth from time to time, that was true. But still!

"It can't be true." Boa Hancock's head was down, her fists shaking with emotion. "You are a liar and a deceiver! I was there! I saw the man fall. I saw him give his life to save Luffy's. To fake your death? The real Portgas D. Ace would never hurt his brother with such a deception!"

The whispers became even louder as the crowd gossiped amongst themselves. It all immediately hushed as the man who appeared to be FireFist Ace continued to stand tall and opened his mouth to speak.

"You're right."

The Amazonian growled in rage, only to stop suddenly as his gray eyes stared into hers. Those eyes…

She recognized those eyes.

They were as fiery and defiant as they had been in the darkened hall of Level 6 in Impel Down, when he had asked if she beheld him as a curiosity. She had found them interesting at the time, since she realized that despite how beaten and bloodied he was, he had not been cowed or dragooned or subjugated. He was in chains, and yet he could not be conquered. She had thought him a man worthy of the D name and worthy of being her beloved's brother.

Those were the same eyes that met her now, and suddenly she wasn't as sure as she had been.

The man continued to speak. "I would have never put Lu through that if it was at all possible to avoid. I didn't want him anywhere near that battlefield, anymore than I wanted him anywhere near that prison. But I'm sure you probably know by now, that my little brother has a mind of his own, and there's nothing that you or I can do about it when he sets his mind to something."

Rayleigh stepped up, once again securely supporting Ace. "What you saw that day was real. Ace was horribly wounded and if not for the work of some extremely impressive doctors who traveled here with us, he would have indeed been as dead as a doornail. You know that I would never vouch for nor stand by an imposter, and especially not one that was pretending to be my Captain's son."

Gloriosa's eyes widened before she nodded in affirmation. That was enough for her. She knew Rayleigh's character and if he was willing to declare it so? She believed him.

Hancock too was wavering, and the amount of shock she held must have been overwhelming as she didn't even pull her hand away when the man called Ace, took it up from by her side and held it in his own.

He smiled, "Thank you, Boa…for helping my brother. For helping him get into Impel Down, for saving his life, and for sheltering him here. You have my gratitude alongside his."

And then he did the most shocking thing of all, and bent down to kiss her hand, and almost simultaneously, sparks of fire erupted from his lips. Small green flickers of light tickled her skin scattered to the sky. They spread throughout the crowd, who ooed-and-awed over the pretty embers. Eventually all of them collected together in the sky, before exploding in a brilliant combustive display of flame!

Rayleigh aimed an admonishing glance over as his brat, but Ace only shrugged.

Boa watched the display with wonder, before looking down at the man before her. He still had a trace of flames licking from the side of his mouth. She felt the traces of blush coming to her cheeks, only for them to flush drastically more as his face erupted in a wide cheeky smile—so much like his brother's.

She held a hand to her face, "D-Does Luffy know you're here?"

He lost a little of the joy of his smile, "Yeah, I was the one he was meeting with, out in the forest. He got a bit too excited, which is how he ripped his stitches."

This time Hancock laughed coyly, "Of course, that sounds like him. He had to be so completely ecstatic to see you. But don't worry, now that you're here, he'll be right as rain in no time! We'll hold a huge celebration to celebrate."

She shouted to her sisters, "Go tell them to double the amount of food they were preparing! This is no longer simply a celebration for Luffy's recovery, but also a celebration for his reunion with his prodigal brother!"

Ace raised an eyebrow at that. He didn't think he was "prodigal" at all.

"Sooo…does that mean we can stay?"

She looked at him as if he was being completely silly, a demure smile on her face. "Why of course, of course. I wouldn't have it any other way." She leaned forward, enfolding him in a hug. "My dear, dear brother-in-law."

He was startled at the embrace and almost clung to Rayleigh to try to keep his balance once the woman finally let go. He looked over at the older man, mouthing brother-in-law? in confusion.

The other just signaled for him to just go with it for now before speaking to Hancock himself. "We've been doing our best to keep Ace's survival a secret for as long as possible, which was the reason Marco and I weren't as forthcoming at first. He's still recovering and the last thing we need is Marine attention."

"We didn't want to bring trouble, but I needed to see Luffy and Rayleigh knew that he would be here." Ace continued, though his face took on a shadow of worry, "Though I worry that if you figured it out, then could the Navy?"

Ray shook his head, "I knew because of a few extenuating circumstances that the Marines don't know about. They shouldn't pick up on Luffy's trail from that end."

"Psht!" Boa waved away the matter as inconsequential. "Don't worry a thing about it, they won't come here. And even if they do, this is our land. The Kuja will defend it."

She then began to scoot the two men along towards the Heart Pirates' ship. "Now you go and rest and watch over Luffy until he awakens. We will have several days of feasting in celebration since I know your brother will be worried to have missed so many meals."

Before Ace could turn to ask exactly how many meals Luffy had missed, Ray strengthened his grip and pushed him along ahead of him. "Thank you very much, Hancock, I knew you'd be perfectly understanding. And of course, considering how vital the Heart Pirates were in helping StrawHat and giving us shelter, they should stay and celebrate with us as well, right? I'm sure Luffy would be grateful to them and would want them to stay."

She paused to look around at the crowd, before clicking her tongue with a sigh. "I suppose so."

This left the surrounding pirates in a more jovial mood, but they continued to give Rayleigh and Ace a wide berth as they passed through. Many still watched the pair with stunned silence, even as the Empress began to command her people on what they needed for the celebration.

Neither man paid them any mind. It was to be expected.

Ace whispered with amusement, "Well that went well."

"The hand-kissing was a nice touch." Ray commented.

"Heh, learned it from Sabo. Never thought it would ever come in handy."

---

Somewhere on the Seas, a day's distance from Amazon Lily

"So no leads? No traces at all?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Are you sure you're looking hard enough?"

"We're following every lead we can find, sir."

"Then get back to me, when you find one!"

He threw down the transponder before plopping back down into his chair with frustration. Ugh! He hated this! He should be out there helping with the hunt, and here he was, stuck on this freaking boat!

A knock came to the door.

He fell backwards crosswise in the chair, letting one of his legs swing over one side and his head over the other, his hand covering his tired eyes.

The knock came again. He didn't bother to answer.

If they wanted to talk to him, they could do so through the locked door.

But of course the locked door was just to provide a challenge, it was nothing that could actually keep his two babysitters out.

The door opened after less than a minute and the tall redhead stepped through, arms crossed. "Food's ready, commander."

He mumbled with annoyance, "I'm not hungry."

The ginger didn't move. "We've played this game before, commander. You either eat on your own, or we make you eat."

Brown gloved fingers split, allowing a piercing blue eye to see through. "I am your superior, ya know."

He didn't even blink, "Then you should act like it."

The two entered a stare-off for several moments before he finally sighed and gave up, jumping up from the chair. "I fall out onetime and you guys think that you can baby me…"

He stomped past the redhead and through the doorway, his hands thrust in his pockets.

"Perhaps throwing less temper-tantrums would help?" The other man didn't bother to sugarcoat anything as he followed.

"I DON'T throw temper-tantrums!"

"If you say so."

Ugh! He didn't even want to be here. He shouldn't be here! He had things to do. A fruit to find! He'd been stuck on this ship for practically a week. He'd tried to escape twice, only to be caught both times by his two companions/governesses/guard dogs.

Entering the mess, another voice greeted him. "You might've fallen out once, but that would mean your life out in the field, and you know that."

He flopped down onto the bench, answering dryly. "Screw you, Reinhard."

The golden-haired revolutionary looked over at him unimpressed. He laid a bowl of soup in front of him before sitting back down to his cup of tea. "You should be more thankful. I'm sure you also know that there's many who don't even get to eat on a daily basis."

He knew the man was playing the guilt card on him, but he couldn't help thinking about the many ex-slaves in the Revolutionary Army and that he himself had helped and saved, and how they all valued every meal they received. His moods hadn't become so turbulent that he wasn't able to feel somewhat abashed, before murmuring thanks.

Kircheis sat down next to him, partaking himself from the food. "We have a deal to make with you, sir."

He aimed his clouded mismatched eye over at the man. "And what would that be?"

Reinhard sipped his tea as he read over the book in front of him. "If you can complete this mission, in an orderly fashion, commander. I will tell you about the current location of the Flame-Flame fruit."

His head snapped up, everything else around him forgotten. "How in the world— Are you serious?"

The Binary Star glanced up at him over the rim of his cup. "Of course, commander."

He didn't bother to ask how the man had known he had been desperately searching for it, nor how he had done better in locating the godforsaken thing than all of his own contacts combined. He was coming to expect Reinhard just to be able to do that sort of thing at this point.

However, he needed to clarify. "We finish this mission and you give me all of your information on Ace's fruit. And then you—both of you—leave me alone. Deal?"

The man shrugged, "Our mission was to escort you to Amazon Lily, debrief and escort our missing agents and get a feel of the situation at hand. That's it. Anything after that is none of my business."

He smirked, the first time in a week that his emotional frustration finally began to clear. He dug into his food with gusto, grabbing a few pieces of bread to go along with it. "Alrighty then! It's a go! When do we arrive?"

Kircheis moved his food slightly out of the way. "We should arrive at the island by tomorrow."

The Revolutionary Army Chief-of-Staff, Sabo inwardly beamed. His emotions had been all over the place on this trip that he had been forced to go on by his boss.

He knew he wasn't okay. His fellow agents knew he wasn't okay. He didn't know if he would ever BE okay. But for the first time, there finally seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel.

He was going to be able to find his brother's fruit and with it, find a bit of the man he had never gotten to know. Some said that devil fruits could hold memories and the presence of will of their previous users. If that was the case—Hold on Ace. I'm coming.

---

A/N: Sigh...I'd said this would be out in a week, aaaannnd it's been more than a month. Oh well...

So yeah! This was ultimately Ace's reveal chapter! Not a large crowd, but at this point they're openly revealing it.

Ace and Luffy have The Talk! and yeah, this is usually Jinbe's moment, but with the circumstances, it felt better coming from Ace. But of course this time, Luffy does injure himself to the point of losing too much blood.

I hope Boa went well! She's one of my harder characters to write, which is why she doesn't have a big role, but I had to have her talk eventually.

Hope you enjoyed this one! All comments and questions are welcome!😁

Also don't worry, LEF fans, updates for that are next on my agenda!