Wow, it's been a while guys! I'm sorry that it took this long but you don't want to know how much this story was fighting me!😣

In the end, I hope what I wrote works well. Enjoy.

Chapter 27 - Rendezvous Beneath the Branches of Parley

Ace woke up famished. Not unusual for him, but it was never a good feeling and he wished to satisfy it as soon as possible. This has been rather hard with his resident "nursemaids" having controlled his food intake since he'd woken up. But for the first time ever, Ace found himself waking up without either of them in the immediate vicinity.

Which provided a golden opportunity. (Hehe, Ace could just smell those lamb shanks already!)

If he could find someone to watch over Luffy that is.

Looking over to where his brother was still lying on the hospital bed unconscious. He still looked too still to him, but Ange and Trafalgar had both said that he would be fine, so he trusted that they knew what they were talking about. All the medical stuff attached to him seemed to be working fine and didn't seem to say there was anything wrong. And yet…

He wanted to keep an eye on him. He also didn't want to leave Luffy alone. Just in case the kid woke up and found him not there. He didn't know what Lu would do, but it wouldn't be good.

What to do? What to do?

If Luffy was okay, he'd just tie his stretchy arms around his neck and just carry him asleep around to the kitchen. He could eat and Luffy could sleep-eat all at the same time! But no, his body was still shaky and he wasn't going to move Lu at all until the doctors said it was okay.

Ace was going about his options when he felt Rayleigh pass by the OR. It was one of his "nursemaids", but Rayleigh was more lenient than Ange was and so he jumped at the chance. Sitting up from the bed, he called out to the open door.

"Hey, Rayleigh! Can I ask a favor?"

The man winced and stopped before groggily turning around and peering at him with a look that Ace knew very well. He immediately backed down sheepishly, while the older man growled. "Keep it down brat, or I will toss you into the next available tide."

Ace winced himself before quieting his voice to a whisper. "Sorry…I was wondering if you could maybe come in and watch over Luffy while I go and grab some food?"

Rayleigh's eyes narrowed before he folded his arms and sighed, "Trying to take advantage of the little Missy being absent, I see?"

The shaggy-haired young man could only cringe at the words before trying to apply his best puppy-dog pleading eyes to get the man to let him off the hook this once. "Please, Rayleigh! I'm starving!"

The hungover retiree once again winced before grimacing in fond exasperation. "I won't say anything, but while you know under normal circumstances I wouldn't mind looking after him, I'm pretty sure right now, I don't think I would be able to handle a fully awake StrawHat Luffy."

Ace frowned crestfallen, while he didn't think Luffy would wake up soon, in the event that he did, even he didn't know how much he could take of the super-hyper rubber boy, especially while nursing a massive hangover.

But Ray continued on. "However…I suggest you ask the one man who doesn't have issues with booze. He happens to be reading the newspaper across the hall."

The brunet's face immediately brightened, "Thanks, Rayleigh!"

The elder winced again, this time warning, "Brat…"

Ace cowered before whispering again his apologies. He slowly made his way out of bed. Testing his legs, he was happy to see they did indeed feel stronger. He'd be walking without assistance in no time!

Not that he was going to try it right now mind you. He'd learned his lesson. He pushed his body to encase his legs with haki once again. His stamina increased the more and more he had to maintain it day after day. Especially with the hours of training that the old man was daily having him do. Speaking of which…

The older man moved to leave even as he instructed, "And after you eat, it's 2 miles uphill, 2 miles down. No help, no breaks."

"But Rayleigh—!"

"No buts. You're going to earn that meal. And don't think you can shirk off just cause I'm not there. I will find out."

"But what if…?"

"I'm sure Marco will let you know when Luffy wakes up. Now get out of here. I'm going to take a nap."

Ace sighed resignedly before making his way to one of the rooms far across the hall. It didn't take him long to find Marco, who was currently drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Marco was always the one up on first after a party night, mostly because the zoan couldn't get intoxicated, so as Rayleigh had said, he was the obvious perfect choice.

"Hey, Marco?"

The blond didn't even look up. "I got it, go eat you bottomless pit. Just remember to try to restrain yourself, your stomach can't take too much. Also we're guests, don't get us kicked out."

He gave him a thumbs up, "Ya got it!"

He was about to leave when he turned back, "Also, do you know what happened to Ange?"

Marco gained a droll look in his eye, before taking another sip of coffee. "Last I saw, she went inside with Trafalgar last night."

However, to the Phoenix's surprise, Ace seemed more than fine with this news. In fact, he seemed delighted. "That's great! I was hoping he would!"

He looked at him perplexed, "Aaaand you're happy about this?"

The raven blinked, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Marco shrugged before going back to drinking his coffee. "Huh, I got the impression when seeing you together that you liked her."

This served to make Ace even more confused, "Of course I like her, she saved my life. She's funny and kind and feels really nice to be around, why wouldn't I like her?"

The blond shook his head, forgetting who he was talking to. "Never mind, so you have no problem with her being with the Heart captain, all night… alone ?"

"Why? I asked him to go and see her." He shrugged unbothered, "I'm happy that he was able to see her right away."

Marco felt like he was missing something...either that, or Ace was acting weirder than usual. He decided to let it go and waved the kid off. "I'm sure they have enough food left out there for you. The Tang is closer to the shore now so they set up a full gangplank. Don't overdo it, no matter what the old man says."

Ace saluted before walking stiffly away. He stopped for a second before tilting his head back into the room. "You will let me know when—"

"Yes, I will let you know, Ace. Stop worrying. Your brother will probably sleep the whole time."

Ace sighed, but the idea of actual food, pushed any bit of worry from his mind.

Finding his way off the ship, he made his way down the gangplank to the island. It was still slow going, but he made do. It was still early in the morning.

The dawn had just broken, painting the sky in pastel pinks and muted oranges, the air felt crisp and cool against his skin. The island was alive with the sounds of birdsong and waves crashing against the shore. When one had been stuck in prison, buried so deep he didn't know if he would ever see sunlight again, and then further forced to stay bedridden, one learned to savor the simple gentle winds of morning. Honestly, Ace could almost taste the promise of a new day.

However, his stomach rumbled, reminding him of what else he wanted to taste and he followed his nose towards the remains of last night's feast—giant platters of meat (actual meat!), fruit, and fish, as well as barrels of rum and wine. He wouldn't tempt fate (or Ange and Marco's patience) in grabbing the alcohol, but he didn't hesitate to seize any and all food that he could get his hands on. He was practically salivating. He hadn't had food this good since before Banaro! (Not that Ange's food wasn't great or anything! But she still didn't seem to understand how much a guy like him could eat!)

Once he had gathered all he could carry, Ace took his heaping plate of food and found an empty spot under a nearby tree to sit and eat. He let himself lean against its bark and released the armament haki around his legs, allowing him to basically collapse there. Many of the Heart Pirates and Amazonians were either collapsed on the sand, sleeping off last night's party. A few were waking up and milling about, though they gave him a wide berth and muttered in whispers around him.

He mostly ignored it. He realized after yesterday that his miraculous survival and after everything that happened at Marineford, he was going to be the center of attention for quite a while. He didn't know how long it would last, but he would try his best to not let it get to him. It had taken him a long time to learn not to pay attention to what people said about him. It was one he was still continuing to learn even, though right now he was too hungry to really care.

As he tore into a juicy hunk of meat, he nearly fell over simply from the taste. He really missed this! Thinking of how delicious the meat was, caused his mind to drift back to Luffy. He hated leaving his little brother's side, but he also knew Luffy would want Ace to keep up his strength. Once Luffy awoke, then he could think of what his next steps would be.

He didn't know where Luffy's crew was, but they could talk about that once the other was awake. He had mentioned something about them being pulled apart? It must have been something dire for them to have become separated. He had met Luffy's crew only briefly, but his instincts told him that they were trustworthy and would be great comrades to stand by his brother's side. He was confident that they had not forsaken his brother in his time of need, primarily because Luffy wouldn't stand for it (he could be incredibly convincing). And even if Luffy didn't mind, he certainly did.

No one abandoned his brother with impunity.

Though thinking about Luffy's crew, made him think of his own too. Marco hadn't said much about what they were going to do after he had healed, or even about Pops' funeral. He knew it had been put on hold until—

"Morning, dearest brother-in-law! Wonderful to see you out and about."

From practically out of nowhere, Boa Hancock came towards him and placed two more legs of meat onto his plate. She was all kind smiles as she placed more food onto his plate. "How are you this morning? How's Luffy? I know you couldn't be at last night's party, but hopeful you'll both be up for tonight's festivities?"

He still wasn't really getting the whole "brother-in-law" title thing or exactly what the relationship was between the empress and Luffy, but as Marco had said, he was a guest, so he just decided to continue to go with it. Speaking between bites, he thanked her for the food. "Thanks Boa, Luffy's still out but hopefully he'll be awake soon."

She looked graciously disappointed, but she revived almost immediately. "I'm sure he'll be fine, it's a good thing he's getting his rest. He'll be so hungry through when he awakens. He hasn't eaten in so long!"

Ace frowned and was about to ask exactly how long had it been since his little brother had eaten, but before he could ask, a sharp pain twisted in his own abdomen and he was forced to quickly roll onto his side and retch. The sudden nausea overwhelmed him, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth and a lingering ache in his stomach.

"Portgas? Are you alright?!" Boa quickly dropped the food and went to his side but he waved her off. Trembling a little, he breathed heavily before spitting in disgust.

"It's okay, I'm fine." He assured her between breaths, though her ire had already been stoked before he could even finish.

Her hand went to her mouth in inflamed outrage, "Rancid! Food poisoning! Who is responsible for this?! I want the cooks brought to me right this minute! How dare they poison my poor beloved brother-in-law! If Luffy had gotten sick—!"

She gasped in utter horror from the very idea, followed by even more rage as she yelled at her warriors. "Have the cooks brought to me now! I will have them drawn and quartered!"

Ace winced and tried to catch her attention, "Hey, Hancock? It's not the food's fault. It's fine, really! It's just my stomach couldn't take..."

But the Snake Empress was already on the warpath marching away in a rage to go and bring her people to task...or kill them...or kick puppies or something, he wasn't quite sure.

Sighing, he took a swig of water to wash out his mouth before haki-ifying his legs and kicking dirt over the mess he made. The nausea was still there, but it was manageable. He guessed that perhaps there was something to what Ange and Marco were talking about.

Jeez, he used to know his own body. Why did it have to betray him like this? All that wonderful food wasted!

Oh well...next time he would know to slow down his intake. As frustrating as that was going to be!

Well, he supposed he should start moving. Rayleigh wouldn't accept any excuses.

Wiping his brow, Ace gritted his teeth before beginning to start his training regimen and walking at a moderately fast pace north into the Amazon jungles.

Far on the North Edge of Amazon Lily

He normally didn't drink. Just never had a taste for it. He drank socially from time to time and when he had to during undercover jobs, but that was pretty much it. And he certainly had never gotten stone-drunk.

But that had been before two weeks ago when his world had crumbled from underneath him. Before he had begun being wracked with nightmares and weighed down by guilt and grief.

On the ship, it had gotten so bad that he had taken to drinking simply to send himself into dreamless unconsciousness. It usually didn't take much as he was a relative lightweight. However, while it gave him momentary peace from those horrible dreams, it also led to a hell of a headache in the morning.

Reinhard and Kircheis were sympathetic to his plight despite them having been on his case since Dragon threw him out of Baltigo with the pair as babysitters. Rein had said that he too had dealt with many nightmares post his sister's death and had found many ways to deal with it in the immediate aftermath. However, both pushed that he couldn't continue to be self-destructive like this and he needed to find other avenues to deal with his grief. He'd largely ignored them.

When they had finally gotten close to Amazon Lily in the early morning on a secluded part of the island. After having two or ten bottles of booze, he decided he'd had enough waiting and jumped overboard to swim the rest of the way.

Not exactly his best idea.

He also had forgotten to bring his grappling hook, which meant he had to climb up the sheer rock face of the cliffs barehanded. By the time he had reached the top, he was beyond exhausted. He wanted to lie there, but he was in a hurry. The sooner he had finished his mission (What was it again? Oh yeah, Lily and Schaden), the sooner he could find his brother's fruit.

Ace, I'm coming.

Growling, he hoisted himself up and wrung out his disheveled attire before running his fingers through his damp, blond curls. His scars and damaged eye stung from all the salt water but he ignored it. Despite the sea's powerful effect on his empty stomach, still churning from a diet consisting solely of liquor, he fought to keep it under control. With his pipe in its holster on his back and checking the placement of the rising sun, all the while struggling to use his observation haki while battling his pounding headache, Sabo began making his way inland to the more populated section of the island.

Now if only the sky would stop spinning.

On the Polar Tang

Marco was almost finished with his breakfast when he heard a sharp hissing sound approaching him. He had grown accustomed to Schaden's presence, so he remained calm as the Cimmerian floated into the room. However, before he could speak, he knew something was amiss. The mist creature swayed nervously in the air, its purple eyes wide with fear. Its whispery language was interspersed with clicks that sounded like Marse Code.

Marco could only catch a few words before he interrupted, "Schaden! I can't make out what you're saying. What's happening? Where's Lily?"

Schaden lifted his eyes to the heavens in impatience, before turning to his humanoid form and grabbing Marco's arm to pull him towards the door.

Marco resisted his prying, "I can't go, I'm currently watching over Luffy right now. Rayleigh is in his cabin. He—"

But it was too late. The shadow had engulfed him and teleported them away before he could say another word.

By the time Sabo had found his way halfway across the island, subsequently avoiding the natives and keeping himself hidden, the sun was already high in the sky. Despite his progress physically, his body had made no progress in recovery. The sky had not stopped spinning and his insides were currently in revolt.

Collapsing against a massive ancient yew tree, Sabo leaned his head back against the rough bark, closing his eyes tight as he tried to steady himself. The ground didn't cooperate and continued to tilt and sway beneath him as he braced himself against another wave of nausea. Darn it.

This had never been a problem before. I mean sure, he'd probably indulged a little more than he ever had previously...

And on an empty stomach...

Aaand it had probably been foolish to consume so much alcohol in his emotional state...

But it was better than the alternative.

The haunting images of a war he hadn't gotten a chance to be a part of...

The lingering smells of a battlefield that he could assiduously imagine...

The accusatory voices that blamed him for his absence…for his condescension…

So like a noble…

He would do anything to silence them!

Both of their voices...

He had turned to alcohol, hoping it would dull the ache, but instead it only intensified his agony. The void within him expanded, and he felt nauseous to the pit of his stomach.

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself at how pathetic he must look. If Koala was here, she would probably mock him and kick him into the ocean, telling him that his next drink would be saltwater.

The very idea of the sea made him want to heave and he gasped desperately in an effort to stave it off.

As he leaned heavily against the tree, struggling to regain his composure, he heard a voice call out, "Hey, you alright over there?"

Blue mismatched eyes snapped open and a chill ran up his spine. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he recognized a voice that simply could not be there .

The voice continued on nonchalantly from the other side of the tree, as if it wasn't currently shooting knives through his heart with every word.

"Have a good time last night? I sure wish I could've been there. I bet it was fun."

He knew that voice intimately now.

Before he had left Baltigo he had gathered every file, every recording, every article he could find on Portgas D. Ace, and had read, listened, and watched every one of them. He knew his brother's abilities, his older mannerisms, his motivations, and his story probably better than any expert.

And he knew the voice of the man he had transformed into just as easily as his own...

Ace…

But this was impossible...what was happening?

Was he losing his mind?!

Then it came to him. A bitter, self-deprecating smile formed on his face. Typical.

Of course…of course this would happen.

He bit down on his lip until it drew blood.

Sabo couldn't believe that his mind had broken to the point that he was talking to a ghost. This is probably a mix of his mental grief and the ungodly amount of liquor he had drunk last night. He had thought such effects wouldn't last past morning, but instead they had intensified into hallucinations.

He knew if he turned and looked, he'd probably see a young man sitting on the other side of the wide tree trunk, one that had dark, windswept hair and a smattering of freckles across his face.

Well you know what? Screw it.

If his mind was determined to haunt him, maybe for once, he should just stop resisting and indulge it?

Taking a deep breath, he spoke nonchalantly back to the "ghost". "What, you're not going to yell at me this time?"

There was a pause before hallucination Ace responded. "Uh, should I? Do I know you?"

"Don't do that!" He bit out a sharp plea. Please…

He could take Ace's anger, his rage, his fury…but not his indifference.

Even if this was only his subconscious…just…please not that…

"Umm, do what…?"

Sabo tensed at the sound of Ace's voice. This hallucination felt so real. He could practically feel Ace's presence behind him, as if his brother was truly there. Though that just made his response all the more aggravating.

"You know…what you usually do," Sabo replied dejectedly. "Yell at me for not being there. For letting you..." He trailed off, the unspoken words hanging heavy between them.

"Letting me what?" the ghost asked. "I'm not quite following you."

Sabo's shoulders hunched reflexively as he gritted his teeth in frustration. Must he force him to say it? Not even his subconscious would allow him mercy?

The ghost seemed to sense his turmoil. "Hey, I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding here. I don't know you, but you seem pretty torn up. Wanna talk about it?"

Sabo clenched his fists, anger and grief swirling within him. How could his own hallucinations act so casually, so obliviously?

As if he didn't know? As if his sin wasn't obvious! As if he hadn't realized that his own twin brother had failed him when he'd needed him most?

And to add insult to injury, he was now acting like he didn't to not even know him?!

Was this some kind of weird self-torture his brain had cooked up? (Perhaps he had studied Cipher Pol's tactics a little too closely?)

Either way, he wasn't going to stand for it.

Fine. If not-Ace wanted to play this game and be cruel and petty? So could he.

"I'm sorry," Sabo said caustically, trying to keep his voice even. "I thought you were some other bastard for a moment."

"It's okay, happens to the best of us," came the easygoing reply, the obliviousness continuing to bathe his words.

Well it seems mental-Ace still had the same issue with picking up on social cues that the original had suffered from.

And yet…there was a smile in that voice, so achingly familiar it made Sabo's chest tighten. He didn't want to stay mad. Even when his "brother" was being an ass.

He had to remind himself that this wasn't truly Ace. Just a fractured piece of his own mind, dredged up from his memories, mixed with the imprint of video footage, and stirred by his own grief. Still, he couldn't stop himself from engaging.

Perhaps if they maintained this hypothetical distance, it would be easier to get things off his chest.

"I lost someone close to me," Sabo found himself saying. The words tumbled out before he could stop them. "My brother. You….he…he died a couple of weeks ago."

The ghost seemed to hold pause for a moment before speaking again, his voice holding a somber edge. "I'm sorry… that...must have been really hard…I can... relate ."

Sabo blinked at the whisper of emotion there. It was almost as if his mirage could indeed empathize with his agony and regret. As if not-Ace really knew what he was going through.

Bullcrap.

Even if this had been his flesh and blood twin, he probably would have punched him in the face for even trying to pretend to know what he was going through!

"Can you?"

"What?" came the startled response.

Sabo repeated himself drily, "Can you really 'relate'? Cause as far as I know, Luffy is very much alive."

…Right?

He hadn't realized the unspoken question that would be there. A frozen shiver shot through his spine and Sabo realized he really didn't know. He only had Dragon's last report and who knew what could have happened in the meantime? He knew this "Ace" was only a construct of his ill mind and that he couldn't possibly know more than he himself knew. But somehow he wanted—no, needed—his big brother to confirm this for him. Ace would know. At least in this Ace would always know.

The response when it came, was somber and a bit distant. "Yes…my brother is doing fine. Though not from a lack of trying."

Sabo felt himself release a breath of relief. (Thank goodness.) Of course he was.

That was Lu, always surviving by the skin of his teeth. And you had to make sure to drag him away to keep him from jumping back into danger once again.

Yet, at the same time that brief joy was cut short as his heart sank at the other's choice of words.

Not Lu. Not Luffy.

My brother…Not our brother…

Ace had drawn a line in the sand. When talking about those he cared for to strangers, Ace would only say "my brother"...

He took another shuddering breath, his eyes turning towards the treetops as he tried to keep his eyes clear.

So that's how it was…

Well, it was no less than he deserved.

Seemingly not noticing his distress, "Ace" continued on, "Look, I can tell you're angry and hey, I've been there. I know a lot about angry."

Sabo could feel a smile pulling at his lips as his eyes continued to blink back tears. Yeah, that was an understatement.

"But, I really can understand what it means to lose someone so close like that…to be so pissed at anyone and everyone that you just want to punch everything in your way until everything is better again."

Everyone kept saying Sabo's anger was natural. That it was okay for him to feel this way. But he had to channel it, control it, not let it explode.

He wasn't like Ace, he was the opposite. If Ace was red hot, he burned ice cold. He didn't have a problem with exploding. He was imploding.

His voice turned morose as it continued. "Only, it never gets better…your brother is still gone…and your world is still crap, and you want to find someone to blame, and yet the biggest person you blame is yourself."

Okay, now he felt genuinely confused, what was Ace talking about? "I don't understand…"

Ace shrugged, "Well, when it's your responsibility—"

He interrupted with a shake of his head. "Not that, you said 'brother' earlier. But you just told me Luffy was fine."

"Oh."

A pause, one which seemed to stretch for an eternity before he finally continued, "I...I meant...a different brother. I-I'm sorry, I keep doing that."

Sabo's anger seeped back in, just a bit. "You mean another brother?! You have another brother besides Lu—besides Luffy?"

They had replaced him?!

The illusion hesitated before sighing. "Yeah…" His voice was barely a whisper now. "Had… had another brother. Well, actually not had…not anymore…we…we, uh…lost him…a long time ago."

Sabo's thoughts raced.

Ace had always been adamant that it was just the three of them. No one else. It was just them against the world.

He had barely enough trust in others to fit in a matchbox! What the hell? Who in the world could have gained the loyalty of that emotionally restrained idiot enough to have taken his pla—

Wait.

Was he talking about…?

Could he be…?

Did he actually think…?

"Ha…hahaha…" For the first time in a while, Sabo felt laughter bubbling up from his core. "hahaHaHAHA!"

Ace's voice cut through his mirth with its signature familiar sharpness and bewildered apprehension bordering on rage. "I fail to see what's so funny here."

To anyone else, those words would sound like a pretty vicious viable threat, but the blond could only laugh more.

"Ha, ha, ha! I…hehe…I thought…ha…I thought all this time…that you were mad at me. That you were…haha…blatantly trying to ignore me. But…haha…but you were really…just completely clueless as always."

"What…is so… clueless about my brother being dead?!" The rage was definitely there now.

Sabo felt a familiar warmth within him at how lifelike this hallucination was. Or maybe he had transferred into a dream at this point (he wouldn't put it past him in his previous condition to have passed out).

"Cause I'm not dead, ya idiot!", he sighed contentedly, his voice quieting to a whisper, "I mean, you'd think my own consciousness would know that, but I guess…...I guess I'd rather imagine them thinking that I was dead, than that I never cared…or worse…"

That I'd forgotten them…

"What did you say?" Ghost Ace interrupted his masochistic musings with perplexity. Ace's rage was easy to break once you threw a sudden wrench into it.

Sabo leaned back against the giant tree, allowing himself to relax. The effects of the alcohol having faded to the background, and his cares with them, he spoke casually to the figment. "Your ears did not deceive you, dear brother mine."

The entire forest seemed to pause, a hush falling over them all at once. The leaves rustled as if whispering secrets to one another, as the animals stilled and the wind held its breath. It was as if the entire forest was caught up in a moment of anticipation. As if everything was holding in place, watching, and waiting for what would happen next.

Ace repeated his words but this time its cadence was much softer, and laced with incredulity, "What did you say? "

The blond let out a breath slowly before responding. He was really going to make him do this, huh?

Gathering up every trace of his past roughshod, aristocratic, wrong-side-of-the-wall, East Blue mishmash of an accent he spoke aloud. "Aye, I reckon we can be useful to each other, you and I. You're the only friend I've got in this dump anyway. We both wanna become pirates and leave this place behind. You wanna be my partner? We'll make enough money to get a ship and be the freest people in all the world! So…whaddya say?"

If it was possible, the forest somehow became even quieter.

This time when Ace spoke, it was with more care there than the blond thought he had ever heard the raven say anything. As if even just a trace of roughness could potentially shatter this moment in time.

"Sabo?"

The blond gave a sort of half-laugh at that, a smile coming to his lips even as a tear ran down his face. He had heard Ace's voice yell and scream and accuse him with all kinds of venom and vitriol in his head for days. But this was the first time he had called his name with warmth, wonder, and consideration.

A dream rather than a nightmare was so rare these days for him. He'd enjoy it for all that it was worth. It wasn't real, But at this point he didn't care.

"No duh…it's about time." The censure carried no weight, becoming a tease at most.

There were a few pregnant moments of silence. They stretched further and further to the point where Sabo began to fear that his dream had broken and his brother's mirage had vanished.

However after several more seconds had passed, he felt relief when he heard his brother's voice respond hesitantly.

"I see…"

A/N: Sabo and Ace have finally met! Kinda. lol

This was an idea I had for a while, to have the two older brothers meet but not truly know each other when they do. It was actually influenced by a profile picture from another writer, Beyond_Kailani, and drawn by artist Anruuart on tumblr ( . ) of Ace and Sabo sitting back to back and not actually acknowledging each other, but they can still feel each other's presence. It inspired me a lot and thus this chapter (and the next).

This was originally a giant super chapter (yeah, I keep doing that) that I chopped up into manageable pieces. This does mean the chapters will be a bit shorter than usual, but I think the story will be better for it.

See you for the next one, which hopefully won't have as long of a wait this time!