Remake: Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

by RoseDragonWitch

Remake of original story: Not all treasure is gold and jewels. In the middle of some strange ruins, the Straw Hats accidently end up watching their captain's memories of him and Ace. They all knew that there was a strong bond between these brothers; only now do they see how deep this bond was and how much pain had been caused.

11. Goodbye Sabo, My Brother

Chapter 10: Goodbye Sabo, My Brother

"This is just going from bad to worse!" Usopp said nervously, hearing the wind picking up outside, rattling the walls with such force that it felt like the entire structure was about to collapse.

"You're telling me! At this rate, the fire's gonna spread…?" Nami whispered, sticking her head outside to check the weather and frowned heavily at what she realized. She came back in and informed the group, "The wind's blowing off from the sea! So, with that, along with all the amount of explosives we saw, then the whole Terminal'll be covered in flames in a matter of minutes!"

"So they're really gonna let them burn to death?!" Brook called fearfully as the boys continued to fight tooth and nail to get themselves free.

"Those bastards…" Franky growled, cracking his robotic knuckles together. "If I ever meet them, I'm gonna shove my foot so far up their…?"

"Luffy!" Ace called desperately, unknowingly interrupting Franky. He had been looking around for something and spotted a window down near the far end of the hideout—directly in front of Luffy.

Luffy, who had started crying, stopped and turned his head as far around as he could as Ace asked him, "See that window in front of you?"

"Yeah?" Luffy asked, sniffling as he looked down at, not understanding, "but why?"

"Do you think you can stretch your arm out and break it?" Ace asked, still pulling on the rope.

"I—I don't know!" Luffy said, trying to move his fingers, but was bound so tightly that it was almost impossible.

"Well, you gotta try!" Ace snapped at him. "If you can't use your hands then try your feet or something!"

"I get it," Robin said, "If they can get a shard of glass they can use it to cute the ropes."

"And if Luffy could get his body to stretch out and break it…?" Sanji said, a smile coming back to his face. "Genius."

"Ok!" Luffy gasped out, moving his foot up as high as he could. He then stuck his tongue out as he concentrated, kicking out foot as far as he could go. Like a rubber band, his foot shot out, but fell several feet short of the window.

"Damn it," Zoro said frowning, now starting to feel apprehensive. This really was going from bad to worse. Luffy still didn't have much control over his own powers yet, and time wasn't on their side. If they didn't hurry, then they'd be going down in flames… literally.

"Try it again!" Ace called, and though he sounded calm, they could see the panic starting to rise in his eyes.

"I'm trying!" Luffy said fearfully, pulling his leg back so that he could try again.

"They gotta hurry!" Usopp said, biting his nails, cringing every time he heard the wind knock into the hideout.

"I'm sure that they make it out in time," Robin said, though even she sounded a little unnerved. "They're not the type of people who give up easily."

"Come on, Luffy!" Chopper called, now cheering Luffy on. "I know you can do it!"

Sanji puffed harder than ever on his cigarette as he glanced through the window and at the slowly darkening sky. "If I had to guess, they're sure to set off those crates when it's dark and everyone's sleeping."

"That way, by the time they wake up and realized they were in trouble, the fire would cut off any escape route and they have nowhere to go," Robin agreed darkly, feeling sick to her stomach.

"That's horrible!" Chopper yelled furiously.

"I still don't get it though! What's the point?!" Brook repeated for what felt like the millionth time. "Why would anyone want to do this?"

"Dunno," Sanji said, "But I agree that Bluejam can't be the mastermind here. He doesn't seem smart enough to have come up with a plan like this on his own."

"He did say that he wasn't the mastermind," Nami whispered to herself as Luffy kicked out again. Usopp and Chopper both urging him on, but their voices died out when Luffy kept falling short.

"Come on," Ace said, breathing hard. "If you don't wanna die, then put some effort into it!"

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Luffy yelled out in panic.

"THEN KICK THAT WINDOW OUT!" Ace yelled at him. "BREAK THAT GLASS AND PULL BACK A PIECE AND I'LL TAKE IT FROM THERE!"

"OK!" Luffy yelled back, "JUST STOP YELLING AT ME!"

"While I think that Ace could've handled it better, he gets to the point," Franky said bitterly.

Luffy tried again and again to reach the window, and though he kept getting closer, he seemed to get more frustrated with every failed attempted until he looked ready to cry. The feeble light through that window was quickly fading and the sounds of chirping crickets could be heard outside—it was so quiet—no one could ever imagine what was about to happen.

And as Nami predicted, the wind hadn't died down. If anything, it had picked up and was now rattling the ground as well as the walls.

"Come on, Luffy-san," Brook encouraged the little boy, hoping that he could somehow hear him. "You're almost there! That was the closest one yet!"

Ace was listening hard to every little sound, looking around hurriedly as if he thought that they're were ghosts hiding in the corners.

"Come on, Luffy," he said loudly, "We don't have time for this! If we want to get out of here and see Sabo again, then we have to get out NOW!"

"I know," Luffy said, panting softly, but there was determination in his face. "I can do this!"

"Yes, captain," Robin whispered softly. The future captain that she knew had never thrown the towel in with anything he'd done in life, so it only made sense that he was just as stubborn as a child.

Luffy was breathing hard, determined to get out now. This time he put his feet together, the bottoms of each touching, and this time he kicked them both simultaneously. "Gum Gum… SPEAR!" he cried out, and this time, he stretched farther than ever. The sound of the window breaking as his feet went smashing through it was more than enough to renew their optimism.

"Good going!" Ace called, a little hope now shining in his eyes as he twisted around to get a good look, and saw the large shards falling to the floor.

"He did it!" Nami said smiling, "They might make it out of here after all!"

But no sooner she said that did they hear it. Somewhere far off, they could hear the defiant sounds of explosions and they froze, the smiles quickly fading. Gasping, Usopp went running to the window and looked out to see for himself.

"Hell they're outta time!" Sanji called out anxiously.

"SHIT!" Ace called out, hearing the noise and now fighting harder than ever. "We took too long! Luffy! Grab a shard and let's get out of here!"

"Right!" Luffy said, and he was able to carefully pick up a large shard with his toes before his feet snapped back.

As his legs retracted, the glass shard fell near their hands so that Ace was able to grab hold of it and immediately began sawing away at their bindings. They could get out, but could they do it in time was the real question. At that moment, the Straw Hats could see the distant light shining from over the hills of garbage, glowing red like a sunset beyond a mountain range, yet those unmistakable rumbles in the distance could only be the next round of explosions being set off—closer than before. It wasn't going to be long before the fire reached the boys.

"The fire'll be here in minutes!" Nami cried out just as Luffy started crying again when he heard the more explosions and the smell of something burning hit their noses. Ace kept calm as he continued to cut through the rope, but the longer they stuck around, the hotter the room seemed to become and the heavier the air.

"Relax," Zoro said, though he was gritting his teeth together as they continued to watch Ace struggling, squeezing down on the shard so tightly that he was cutting his hand.

He was making progress as the rope was fraying, but they could smell the smoke, could hear the crackling flames as the world outside was soon erupting into flames. The fire had reached them at last and they could hear the hideout creaking out from the heat.

Suddenly, a part of the roof started cracking and with an almighty CRASH it caved in. Thankfully, the boys were far enough away from it that it didn't fall on top of them, but the fire was now inside the hide out and was licking the walls, creeping across the floor and smoke was filling up the space.

At the sight of the fire, Brook, Usopp, and Chopper screamed while backing away. Yet though they could feel the heat, they could still breathe clearly, nor did they feel true danger from the flames. Even when Sanji was brave enough to venture close to the fire and let it lick his lower leg—he felt nothing but air. It was like just being near a heater, nothing more than that.

But for Luffy and Ace, the fire was very real, and Luffy was screaming out in terror before coughing on the smoke. The fire spread rapidly through the rest of the place, the wood breaking apart and turning to ash, burning higher and hotter with each second.

"Come on Ace!" Usopp cried out, the room filled with so much smoke that it was getting harder to see anything.

Luffy was now in full freak-out, screaming, "It's hot! It's hot!"

But with one final slash, Ace was able to cut the bonds and they fell away from the post.

"He did it!" Chopper called out, tears of relief in his eyes.

"Yeah, but they're far from outta danger!" Franky yelled out as the rest of the roof was creaking dangerously. "The roof's about to go! Another minute and they'll be trapped!"

"If the fire didn't spread all across the Terminal then they might still have time…?" Nami said as Ace pulled the ropes away and stood up.

"Damn!" he cried out, staring around him, looking for the way out, "We didn't want to be involved in this!"

Luffy was still on the floor, now smashing his little fists against it, screaming out, "We can't get away! I don't wanna die!"

It was strange to see Luffy as such a helpless child, but they couldn't blame him either as the fire continued to grow. Ace spotted their pipe staffs on the floor near the doorway and then screamed at Luffy to stop complaining if he didn't want to be left behind.

Hearing that, Luffy stopped crying and said, sucking his lips in as he whimpered, "It's not hot."

"Harsh but effective," Franky said as they all felt a little sweatdrop at the sight.

"They don't have time for a debate here!" Zoro called out, as Ace grabbed Luffy by the back of his shirt and pulled him to the door, scooping up their pipes as he did. Upon having his staff returned to him, Luffy seemed to come to his senses and followed Ace. They managed to make it outside just a fraction of a second before the hideout fell apart and crumpled into burning wood behind them.

"That's a close call if ever I've seen one," Nami cried out as they ran after the boys. But if they thought the hideout had been in bad shape, the Terminal was even worse. The fire had spread quicker than they first realized—the garbage surrounding them was now an inferno and Trash Mountain was quickly being reduced to ash as the smoke picked up and made it impossible to see farther than a few yards.

"It's like we're in hell!" Usopp screamed out, dodging the falling burning pieces, though there was no need. The fire was melting the scraps into pools of liquid-burning metal, paper and wood acted as kindling, and there were still minor explosives coming from inside the mountains of junk from whatever volatiles were thrown out with everything else.

"Whoa it's hot!" Luffy cried out, the fire grazing his skin—before he realized what he said and cried out, "No it's not!"

"There's fire everywhere!" Ace cried out, wiping the sweat out of his eyes as he took the lead and went running down a path that hadn't been engulfed with flames yet, with Luffy on his heels.

"How do they know where they're going?" Usopp shouted.

"I don't think they do! In this smoke they'll be disorientated!" Chopper cried out, "It's confusing them and they could be running around in circles for all we know!"

"This is terrible!" Brook called out, wishing that the darkness would come so that they couldn't see this anymore. "If they don't figure it out soon then they'll be trapped with nowhere to go!"

As the boys continued to run, Luffy was gasping for breath, going back and forth between keeping calm and freaking out. "I can't breathe…" before remembering what Ace said before and crying out instead, "Yes, I can…"

But as he breathed in, he coughed and gasped out, "The air is hot! No, it's not!"

"While I admire him trying to stay calm, now isn't the time," Zoro said, staring around him, cursing himself for not being able to sense anything here. "Damn, I can't tell where anything is here!"

"Not that means much," Sanji offered, "You're sense of direction would only kill them faster even if you were there."

"What was that you idiot cook?!" he yelled.

"Bring it on Moss-Head!" Sanji yelled.

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!" Usopp screamed out. "WE HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS!"

Ace moved back from some burning metal as Luffy continued to try and keep himself calm. Though he didn't look back to Luffy, the voice that Ace used was in a tone they hadn't heard from him yet—it was… oddly gentle.

"It's going to be alright," he said softly, though still firm at the same time, "I'm here with you."

Zoro's eye widen a little before a small smile played on his lips, the first smile he had since they were forced to watch Sabo was taken away. Looks like Ace finally found something he wanted to protect. From that one line, Zoro could see that Ace was going to use his strength to keep his brother safe.

Perhaps Luffy sensed it to. For upon hearing that tone, Luffy looked a little surprise as well at the sudden change in Ace, but he gulped down and nodded while he continued to follow after him. His face was more serious than it had been before as he stayed focus, but he was in control of his emotions now.

"I'm amazed at how Ace can do that," Nami said, gasping for air as she ran with them. "I mean, not even we can talk like that to Luffy and have that much of an effect."

"Bond between brothers," Robin smiled as she went running right through a fireball, "It almost makes me jealous."

"Yeah, well, they're a special expectation," Sanji said as his own brothers flashed before his mind's eye and he added, "I'm sure not all brotherly bonds are good ones."

Robin was a little surprised. Not by the statement, but by the firm ton in Sanji's voice—as if he spoke from experience. But she didn't question it as they continued onwards even when it was getting harder and harder to tell where they were going.

The Gray Terminal fire was growing and even for the Straw Hats, who were breathing clear air and able to run through without fear of being burned, it was impossible for them to tell where anything was. They could only imagine how bad it was for the two brothers.

"Run Luffy!" Ace called.

"I can't go any faster than this!" he cried back, but still he pumped his legs harder.

"Why don't they try rocketing out of here?" Brook suggested.

"With what?" Nami demanded, staring around as the flames only grew higher, "There's nothing for him to grab onto that isn't already burning! They could end up going the wrong way and into the very heart of the fire if they aren't careful!"

"There's gotta be something they can do though?!" Franky asked anxiously, feeling close to tearing out his own hair from frustration.

"Other than running, there's really not much they can do," she answered, "But if they can get back to the Middle Forest, then they stand a chance!"

"But isn't a forest the worst possible place to be during a fire?" Usopp cried out.

"Normally yes," she panted, jumping over a melting pipe as she continued, "But with the wind on the sea, the fire most likely hasn't spread near the forest yet. If they can just get there, they should have a clear path up to the mountains! They should be safe there!"

"Come on guys!" Chopper called to them, almost willing them to run faster. However just as he called out, the top of one of the towers of debris crumbled and fell towards Luffy. Luffy didn't notice it until it was just above them.

"LUFFY!" Zoro, Nami, and Usopp screamed out, just as Luffy screamed—suddenly unable to move. At his cry, Ace looked back and saw what was happening before he charged. With inhuman speed, he jumped, tackling Luffy and rolled them out of the way as the flaming wreckage reduced the ground to charcoal almost on impact.

"Nice save Ace!" Usopp called, his heart beating so fast that he thought that it was about to burst. He didn't know how much more he could take of this.

"Luffy!" Ace gasped, quickly pulling Luffy back from the fire as it blocked the way they came from, "Are you ok?!"

Luffy only nodded, trying to hold back the tears as Ace hugged him tightly, his eyes wide with emotions they hadn't seen before. Terror… fear… protectiveness…?

He was scared, really scared.

"A-Ace…" Luffy cried out, biting down hard on his lips to keep him from screaming out.

"I told you didn't I?" Ace asked him harshly, leading him back down another way that was still miraculously clear, "I'm here with you ok?"

"Now there's the Ace that we met in Alabasta," Sanji said smiling in spite of himself.

"Nothing can bring people together like almost dying together," Robin proclaimed as Usopp shivered.

"Robin you have to stop that," Franky said as Chopper cried out for them to keep running. Onwards they ran, the smoke thicker than ever and they were almost completely surrounded on all sides by fire.

Pulling his goggles down, Usopp tried to get a better view on where they were. Desperately searching through the smoke for anything that could help them. But as he turned down towards the direction the boys were heading in, he spotted something just over the flames ahead. He peered harder, squinting his eyes, before he let out a cry of joy when he realized that they were the tops of trees.

"There!" Usopp called as he pointed, "I can make out the forest! They'll almost out!"

But the boys couldn't see this and Ace was even forced to jump back as another pile of burning wood almost hit him. Luffy was looking around before asking worriedly, "I wonder if those old men escaped safely."

"This is no time be concerned about other people!" Ace yelled at him, straining his eyes as he stared around, searching for the right way.

"Even after all this, he's still worried about everyone else?" Franky asked, suddenly deeply touched by that.

"How can he be worrying about others when they're shit-deep in all this?" Sanji asked, "He's too nice sometimes. What a pain!"

"He's a pain alright," Nami said, smiling at her captains' big heart, "But we wouldn't want him any other way, right?"

"Nope," Zoro answered almost teasingly, "Why else would we let him be captain?"

By now, Ace was coughing violently, bringing them back to what was happening here.

"This is getting worse!" Chopper said, his eyes almost budging out of his head, "They've been here too long already! All this smoke! Any longer and they won't be able to breathe!"

"And if that happens they'll pass out and be burned to death," Robin said, freaking some of her crewmates out, but even she was sounding concerned.

"Damn…" Ace cursed, struggling for air. "I don't know where I am."

"Just run forward!" Usopp yelled out, waving his arms wildly like he thought that would help get their attention, "Go straight! You're almost out! You can do it!"

Almost as if he heard him that time, Ace stepped forward, but before he could start running they heard someone yell behind them, "Who said you could get away, you brats!?"

The Straw Hats felt themselves freeze, which was ironic considering where they were, but they knew that voice. Slowly turning, they spotted them coming after them from the flames. Like demons from the pits of hell, they came at them. Each carrying a weapon, their eyes oddly blank, and twisted smiles on their faces—as if they were loving every minute of this hellish world.

"Bluejam!" Luffy exclaimed in shock.

"What the hell are they doing back here?!" Usopp yelled, taking a step back, "I thought that they cleared out long ago!"

"Yeah, they sure seemed keen about escaping before," Franky hollered out.

Ace was as stunned as the rest of them, but it quickly turned to anger as he screamed, "Why are you still here after setting the fire!? You were supposed to have escaped by now!"

"My bet is that these idiots couldn't get out," Zoro said.

"Most likely they set off too much explosives and were trapped," Robin said, though even she doubted her own words. She did not like those insane looks of delight on their faces.

"Oh, shut up, you little shit!" Bluejam shouted, taking them all by surprise.

"What's going on here?" Zoro shouted out. Before Bluejam had always been sadistic and cruel, but in a cool and collected way as if he planned everything out. But here, he was raging and storming in annoyance…?

All at once, he suddenly started that grin again. It sent shivers down Zoro's spine, he knew that something was wrong.

"We're hopeless, you know," Bluejam chuckled.

"For once, they're making sense," Sanji said, throwing his cigarette away as he watched.

"We have an unforeseen dilemma," Bluejam went on, "Human are strange creatures aren't they? When you hit rock bottom, you can't stop laughing."

"What's with them?" Usopp asked, as the rest of Bluejam's crew all started to laugh along with him, their smiles almost fake now. "They're creeping me out."

"They are acting weird," Luffy whispered nervously to Ace, not liking this either.

"They're not well," Brook said, the look in their eyes was much different from before… changed… almost… possessed even.

Nami realized this as well before her eyes widened I horror.

"Oh, no…" she whispered so softly that she wasn't sure the rest of the crew heard her before she summed it all up with three words: "They've gone insane."

"What?" Usopp asked just as Ace's eyes widened and he cried out for Luffy to run.

"Don't let them go!" Bluejam ordered as the two ran in the opposite direction. Now, even the fire seemed safer than with these pirates.

"What's going on?" Chopper asked, "What's wrong with them? What do you mean they've gone insane?!"

"They've lost their minds," Robin said frowning as the whole crew surrounded the boys, not letting them pass. "I don't know how, but they've become like demons. There's no humanity left in them now."

"Man, this just keeps getting worse with every second!" Franky yelled, now sounding close to losing his mind as well. "I don't see how it could get any…?"

"Don't say it can't get worse because it just might!" Usopp yelled.

"But you just said it!" Chopper yelled at him as Usopp hit himself in the head.

Bluejam slowly lumbered forward to them, "Now now…" he said still smiling, knowing he had the boys trapped, "We worked together, we're friends. We have to die together."

Nami stood back, now feeling terrified at what was going to happen next—what happened for them to change this much? They were seriously sick now.

"We don't wanna die with you!" Ace snapped. "Not in a million years!"

"Seriously, who'd wanna die with him anyway?" Sanji asked, though there was anxiety in his tone.

"You're so cold," Bluejam said, still grinning as he walked forward. "Come to think of it, you haven't told me where you keep your treasure. I'll save it for you before the fire gets it. So tell me where it is!"

"Wait a minute," Franky said, incredulously. "You mean that he came back here just to get the money?"

Ace obviously felt the same way because he was crying out in disbelief, "Your life in danger and all you care about is treasure?"

"I thought that Nami-san was greedy," Brook said and Nami kicked him hard in the head so that he hit the ground with a painful bang.

"My priorities are always life first and then money!" she yelled at him.

"True," Usopp said, she always made someone else risk their life, and then steal the money when no one was looking. He didn't dare say this out loud because Brook was whimpering on the ground.

As for Bluejam, he was laughing harder before asking, "If you don't care, then tell me where it is."

Ace's eyes darkened though his face held fear as he whispered, "You've gone mad."

"If you're not going to get it, it'd be a waste," Bluejam said in a strangely calm voice, clumsily moving a little closer. "If nothing is done, it's going to be reduced to charcoal like my ship. What a waste."

"Wait, I thought that he didn't care about his ship?" Usopp said quickly.

"That piece of shit," Franky growled, furious that anyone could treat a ship, a work of art, in such a manner. "Then again, it's out of its misery. If I had to be the ship of a bunch of low-life murderers like them, then I'd probably want someone to finish me off."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Luffy yelled out at him, and they all suddenly reminded at how hard Luffy fought to keep that a secret from Porchemy. "That treasure is…"

"Alright, I'll tell you," Ace interrupted loudly.

"EHHH?" Chopper called out. "But they all worked so hard to get that treasure!"

"Chopper," Zoro said firmly, leaving no room for an argument, "It's just a pile of gold. It's not worth dying over."

Nami didn't say anything, but she knew he was right. She much rather that Luffy and Ace escape alive… even if a bastard like Bluejam did end up with all of it. She supposed that they could always go out and steal more if they made it out in one piece and they can't do that if they die here.

"Ace," Luffy yelled, "you and Sabo spent a lot of time…"

"Sabo would understand!" Ace yelled at him, and Luffy stopped to stare at him. Ace kept his back to him as he continued to glare at the pirates. "What matters the most now is your…" he paused for a second as his words caught in his throat before he corrected, "…what matters the most now is our lives."

The Straw Hats all stared at Ace's resolve; not passing over the slight choke in his tone. Right now, Ace no longer cared what happened to himself… here, he was thinking of Luffy, and Luffy alone.

"He's not thinking about himself here is he?" Brook asked softly.

"No, he's not. Right now, he wants to get Luffy out of here," Sanji explained quietly. "He probably feels like it's his fault that they're in this mess since he was the one who agreed to work for scum like them in the first place. There's a chance that he feels like he couldn't live with himself if Luffy got hurt because of him. Moss-head was right for once… it's just money. It's not worth dying over."

Luffy sniffled a little as tears quickly dried up in his eyes from the heat. It was hard to tell whether he was sad over the money, or he noticed the slip-up in Ace's words. "Ace…" he said softly, before he blinked the tears away and glared at Bluejam.

Ace then walked over to a pile of junk that was left mostly unburned and picked up a piece of wood, "If I tell you, you have to promise to let us go!" he said to them all firmly.

Bluejam merely grinned at that as the other pirates all looked on eagerly as Ace quickly drew up a crude map using a charcoal-burnt stick as a pencil. Zoro couldn't help but feel deeply impressed at how calm Ace was here as he finished up the map by drawing an X on the tree.

"You know, he could always lie about where he hid it," Nami added hopefully, "Just draw any tree there."

"It's not worth it Nami," Robin said, "Besides, they might think they're lying about it."

"Wait, he's gonna let them go isn't he?" Chopper called out worried.

"I highly doubt it," Sanji said, gritting his teeth together. "But hey, if they're this insane, they might be able to get away before they notice it."

Ace finally handed the wooden map over before telling them, "We keep our treasure from the last six years in this tree," he said calmly.

"I see," Bluejam said as he greedily took the map and looked over it with that same hungry glint in his eyes. Luffy sniffled again as he watched all the hard work that his brothers had done go to such a criminal.

"Don't cry," Ace said to him firmly, not letting Luffy see how hard it was for him too. "It's alright. This is not the end."

"He's something else," Brook said in awe. "With everything happening… the fire, and now Bluejam, he's taking all this well."

"Funny how it takes your life being in danger for you to see your priorities," Robin said smiling knowingly, remembering how she had come to the realization that she wanted to live. Bluejam passed the map to one of his men, while two more grabbed Luffy and Ace from behind.

"HEY!" Chopper yelled, "What's he doing?!"

"What's it look like?" Nami demanded. "Twice Ace took a pirate by his word, and twice he was betrayed!"

"But they told them!" Usopp yelled out.

"Like Nami said, they know that there was always a chance that they could've been lying," Robin said.

"What are you doing!?" Ace demanded as he fought and lashed out. "I told you where it is!"

Bluejam chuckled to himself, "You're right, this isn't the end. Which means you could be lying. You have to come with me."

"Seriously? Focus on getting outta there first and then go after the treasure!" Franky called out in alarm.

The hot flames picked up around them and Nami stared around at the flames, her eyes trailing upon the thick smoke in the sky above them and gasped, "The wind's picking up again! They have to leave this place now or it'll be too late!"

"No way! Then it would be too late to escape!" Ace screamed out, now losing his cool and struggling harder than ever, "Why don't you go on your own!?"

"Come on!" Brook called earnestly, "You have no more reason to hurt them! Just let them GO!"

However Bluejam lost all façade and pointed his gun at Ace's head to get him to stop thrashing about. He looked angrier than ever, which only served to make him look more twisted than before.

"You don't want to mess with me now!" he yelled out threateningly, "I'm determined to make a comeback even if it means stealing from kids so I can take revenge on the nobles. And your brother is one of them."

"Revenge?" Brook repeated questionably.

"On the nobles?" Usopp finished for him, before his eyes widened in understanding.

"I can't say that I'm surprised," Robin said, having already guessed this when she first saw the pirates coming through the flames.

"So you mean…?" Chopper said slowly.

"The nobles betrayed them," Robin nodded, "I should've figured that was what happened. They're the ones who were behind the fire, and they left them here to die with the rest of the trash."

"But they were following their orders," Chopper said horrified, "Even so, they locked them out here?"

"It all makes sense," Robin confirmed, "The nobles wanted the Gray Terminal taken care off so they hired him to destroy it. They must've promised him a lot of money in return… perhaps even something like a full pardon for their crimes as pirates."

"But they never intended to keep their promise," Zoro finished in understanding, "I get it. Can't say that they don't deserve it, but that's low even for the nobles here."

"I'm not broken up about that part," Usopp said, as the rest of the crew nodded. "They deserve everything they got for all they did."

"But again, why?" Nami demanded.

"The why doesn't matter now," Sanji said as Luffy was glaring fiercely at Bluejam for what he said about Sabo.

Bluejam didn't bother look at him as he clicked his gun back, still pointing the barrel at Ace. "They think they're so special and look down on others as if we're trash!"

"Sabo isn't like that!" Ace yelled defiantly.

"Yeah!" Chopper yelled out, his hooves in the air. "Don't you dare say anything bad about him!"

"He's the same as them, fool!" Bluejam screamed at him, his eyes now almost popping out, "He was with you both just to feel superior!"

"That's not true!" Luffy screamed at him, refusing to listen to what he was saying.

"His parents are loaded—he doesn't have to worry about anything," Bluejam yelled at him. "It was just a pastime to him! He was looking down on you guys and laughing to himself holding his nose!"

"Just because his parents were like that, doesn't mean that he was!" Brook called as Franky cracked his metal hands together to calm himself down. "Don't drag Sabo-san into this!"

"Stop talking badly about Sabo!" Ace threatened wildly, his temper quickly growing out of his control again.

"Yeah, Sabo just wants to be free!" Luffy screamed before he finally escaped the pirate's grip by biting down on his arm. As the pirate hollered in pain, Luffy was able to break free and spun to face him, his staff held high as he readied himself for another fight. But the pirate was pissed off for that bite and raised his sword, screaming profanities as he brought it down.

"DUCK LUFFY!" Usopp screamed, but too late. As Luffy tried to block it, the sword cut right through the pipe and leaving a deep gash that stretched across half his face.

"Luffy!" both Nami and Ace screamed in terror.

"OH NO!" Chopper screamed out as Luffy screamed in agony and fell to the ground, rolling around as he gripped his hands over the bleeding wound. "He almost lost an eye there! He needs a doctor!"

But the pirate then raised his sword directly above him, the point held down as he declared, "I'm going to kill you!"

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" Usopp and Brook screamed out.

"Let go of me!" Ace yelled in a panic as the pirates laughed when the sword thrust down, Luffy's uninjured eye widening in terror through his fingers.

"LUFFY!" the Straw Hats screamed out, for one heart-stopping moment, thinking that it was all over. Until…?

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!" Ace screamed out so loudly that he might've torn his throat. But at those words, without warning, they felt it. Even though it was a memory, they could feel the shockwave coming from Ace, for a moment everything froze. The fire around them died down, the men stood there with stunned looks on their faces… and that was when they fell. All pirates, save for Bluejam, fell where they stood—each one out cold before they even hit the ground. Ace was let go from man who held him as the sword narrowly missed Luffy's face, and instead stuck into the ground next to his head.

As soon as the sword missed its target, time seemed to start up again and the fire was back in full force. The Straw Hats all stood there, staring in shock at Ace, who had flung himself to his little brother's side, crying out, "LUFFY! LUFFY! Are you ok?!"

"That was…?" Sanji croaked out, his eyes widening.

"Conqueror's Haki," Zoro finished for him. "Unbelievable… Ace is only ten! I mean, it took a war for Luffy to learn how to use it!"

"It's not that surprising, considering how strong Ace was, even back then. It only makes sense the son of the pirate king had it too," Robin said, though she also looked amazed.

"But why isn't Luffy asking him how he did that?" Chopper croaked out, "And why isn't Ace wondering how…?"

"I doubt they even noticed," Robin said, as Ace put his hands over Luffy's and moved them away so that he could see the deep gash that was bleeding everywhere. "Considering how stressed out this situation is, Ace probably didn't even realize what he'd done."

"How could he not notice that?!" Nami demanded.

"When his brother was in danger, he subconsciously used it," Robin answered them, "In his desire to protect Luffy, he tapped into power he never even knew he had. He didn't think about, he almost 'willed' it to happen." She stepped forward to see Ace closer, "Whether or not he could use it from this point on is a question I don't know."

"But still!" Brook called, while Bluejam stared at his men in horror, not understanding what just happened. "So amazing! Such power at such a young age!"

"This power is sometimes awaken through time of great stress," Robin responded, "Haki responds to desperation by growing even stronger."

"I can see that. You don't get more stressed out than this!" Usopp called as Chopper nodded firmly by his side as the fire only continued to grow stronger.

Luffy was still crying as blood seeped through his fingers and Ace looked over him. But as his full attention was on Luffy, Bluejam grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him away.

"What did you do!?" Bluejam bellowed as he slammed him into the ground.

Ace slowly tried to get up. "Dammit…" he cursed when Bluejam stomped down hard on Ace's chest so that he couldn't move and the gun was being pointed at his head again.

"You creepy little brat!" Bluejam yelled, now almost foaming at the mouth and they knew that whatever sanity that had been there finally snapped upon seeing such power. "Do you want to make a fool out of me too!?"

"Well if it happens enough times it can't be that hard!" Sanji challenged. "Why not pick on someone your own size!"

"Shut up, you scumbag!" Ace yelled at him without a trace of fear, still kicking out against his leg to try and free himself.

"You bastard!" Bluejam yelled with his finger on the trigger. Luffy had rolled over onto his stomach and looked up as he screamed Ace's name.

"DON'T DO IT!" he begged Bluejam, yelling even louder than when Sabo was taken away.

Nami had a violent flashback of her mother being killed by Arlong, and her eyes widen in terror as Chopper covered his eyes by pulling the brim of his hat down just as the gun was fired. As he heard it go off, Chopper had horrific memories of being shot at by the villagers of his home island and felt like he was about to be sick.

But as he cautiously opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was that the rest of his crew was staring there with their jaws open wide at the scene before them—each one of them with identical expressions of shock on their faces. Chopper fearfully looked back to Ace, almost expecting to see Ace lying there bleeding with a bullet hole in his head…?

The gun was still smoking, but the bullet had missed Ace's face much like how the sword had narrowly missed Luffy before. Instead, there was a small hole in the ground next to him that was also smoldering. The only reason that it missed was because a familiar figure had grabbed hold of the gun barrel and forced it away at the last second.

"DADAN!" Chopper and Luffy called at the same time.

It was true, the leader of the mountain bandits, of all people, had appeared to save Ace. She was the last person that they ever expected to show up to save them from a dangerous pirate. Dadan's eyes were narrowed dangerous as she held up a long ax, her thick orange hair swishing around like the blaze around her.

"Stop it, you sea cretin!" she snarled as she took a swing at him, before adding, "And let go of Ace!"

"I can't believe she showed up!" Nami exclaimed as she stared at the furious woman. Dadan swung and Bluejam held his sword up, blocking it—but though he had been able to stop the attack it did force him away from the two boys—who were also staring up at her with a mixture of shock and amazement.

"LOOK THERE!" Brook called, pointing behind them, and they all turned in time to see a large group of people fighting their way through the fire. When they were close enough, the Straw Hats were shocked again upon recognizing them.

"The mountain bandits?" Usopp cried with a squeak to his voice as the rest of Dadan's mountain bandit family appeared through the smoke, "What're they doing here?"

"Don't know, but I'm not complaining!" Franky cried, finally grinning again. "They came here to save them!"

The little man, named Dogra, was the first one to Luffy and helped him to sit up as he looked over his injury. Luffy looked terrible, the bleeding wound was now covering half his face with blood, and Luffy kept his right eye tightly shut.

"What are you guys doing here?" Luffy asked while wincing in pain.

"Finally, we found you!" Magra called in relief.

"How could they find them in all this is a miracle itself!" Nami said loudly.

"These are pretty serious wounds, Luffy," Dogra said worriedly after looking him over while asking if he was ok and where Sabo was.

"Sabo went home," Luffy explained quickly. "He's not here."

"I guess that's one less thing to worry about for now," Zoro said as Dogra sighed in relief, he called for one of the bigger bandits to come over and carry Luffy.

"I don't know where they've been all this time," Robin smiled, "But it's a good thing that they came when they did. Another few seconds and Ace would be dead."

"Robin why must you scare us?" Usopp begged.

"Looks like they do care after all, Yohohoho," Brook said happily as Ace managaed to get back to his feet and turned to face Bluejam as Magra was holding him back.

Bluejam however glared over them all with frustration as he barked at Dadan, "You're the boss monkey from Mount Corvo!"

Dadan looked up at him and stood tall, looking mighty impressive while surrounded by what looked like the entrance to hell.

"I'm the mountain bandit, Dadan," she corrected proudly, like she couldn't imagine any other life she rather be living. "I don't know why, but I'm stuck as their foster parent." She then looked back at Luffy and Ace who were now being protected on all sides by the other bandits. "When someone tries to take my boys' life, I won't stand by and watch."

She sighed before she pointed her axe at Bluejam and proclaimed, "Even if I am not their real parent!"

The Straw Hats couldn't stop staring at her. Just a few months before this event, she couldn't seem to have cared less about the boys, but here she was now risking her life for them.

"When did that change?" Sanji asked, completely baffled.

"Well, they are cute," Robin smiled. "It's hard not to love something so sweet."

"That or she's scared that Garp might kill her for letting them get killed," Zoro muttered.

"Must you ruin such a touching scene?!" Brook yelled at him. "They're here risking their lives for them! Of course they care! It was so touching that it touched my heart! Not that I have one but still!"

"I agree," Nami smiled, filled with new respect for Dadan. "Even if she has a strange way of showing it, she does care about them." She shut her eyes for a brief moment, thinking of her mother's smiling face. "Just because you're not related to someone doesn't make you any less of a family."

"I'll just let you go if you back away," Dadan said firmly, holding up her ax, "If you don't, then I'll have to resort to violence!"

"Yeah! Cause now he's the one outnumbered!" Usopp grinned.

"Yeah, but he's not the problem we should be worried about!" Nami yelled as the fire grew hotter around them, "The flames getting worse! At this rate every inch of this place will be an inferno!"

Bluejam didn't react at all as he glared at her, slowly grinning as he held up his sword. He threatened, "Try it!"

"Alright!" Franky called, grinning from ear to ear. "Show him, Dadan!"

Dadan stepped forward, looking ready for that fight as she held her weapon in one hand. "Oh yeah?" she said as she glared at Bluejam. "Alright then…"

Chopper and Usopp both stood there, smiling eagerly, ready for Bluejam to get what he deserved.

"Run!" Dadan screamed out and just then she turned and ran with the other bandits. Usopp and Chopper both fell forward and did face-plants on the ground.

"What the hell?!" Usopp screamed, popping back up.

"I thought she was gonna fight him!" Chopper yelled out as disappointment roared inside him.

"It was obviously a bluff you two," Sanji said, most of the rest of the Straw Hats had sweatdropped at the sight of seeing them run. "But then again, I think it'd be better to just leave. They wasted enough time with this loser anyway."

But then he noticed that there was someone who stayed where he was. Ace remained where he was, not making any attempt to run as he still stood against Bluejam as Magra pleaded for him to run while pulling desperately on his arm. But Ace pulled himself free when he stepped forward.

"HEY! What're you doing!?" Dogra yelled back, haven just noticed this and was shocked that Ace wasn't moving.

"What's he thinking?!" Nami cried in terror as she remembered the last time he did this.

Zoro's eye narrowed as Ace held the pipe up, still glaring firmly at the pirate.

"I…" Ace said without a trace of hesitation or fear, "WON'T RUN!"

"Not again!" Usopp cried while descending into a full freaking out. "He's doing it again! Sabo was right! Ace has a death wish!"

"But why? What's the point?! Even if he does stay and fight him he'll be killed one way or another!" Chopper sobbed out in fear.

But Zoro kept his eyes on Ace's—fully understanding what this was about. He could see that fierce determination in his eyes… the resolve to finish this fight now. Until Bluejam could no longer get up, he wasn't going to run.

"Please run Ace-san!" Brook called with Chopper climbing up onto his shoulder while crying in fear.

"What are you saying Ace!?" Dogra yelled, voicing what they were feeling. "Don't try to fight him! Bluejam is a real villain! He's not a guy that a kid like you can beat!"

But Ace wasn't the only one who wanted to fight. Seeing his brother prepared to risk his life had given Luffy his second wind. He was now struggling to get out of the bandit's arms and get back to Ace, declaring, "L… let me fight too!"

"NO!" Chopper yelled out, knowing that what Luffy needed was to be treated for that wound before he went blind in that one eye, "He's really hurt! He needs medical attention now!"

"No, Luffy!" the bandit yelled, grabbing him in a bear-hug to keep him from running back.

"Someone grab Ace!" Sanji called, but Dadan was now slowly walking back as well, her ax over her shoulder. She turned back to the rest of them and commanded with an air of resignation, "You all, why don't you take Luffy and go on ahead."

"B-Boss," one of the bandits gasped.

"She's…?" Nami whispered, covering her mouth with her hands as her eyes went wide.

"I'll take responsibly for bringing Ace home," Dadan said firmly, also with a hint of annoyance, clear that she wasn't happy about this, but her mind was made up.

"She's staying to help Ace!" Franky said, "Yow! What a woman! I'm sorry I called her ugly before!"

"Boss," the bandits muttered, each one of them was looking upset and sick at the thought of leaving her.

"Go!" Dadan ordered fiercely, much like how a pirate captain would give an order to their crew.

"Yes, ma'am!" they yelled as they did what they were commanded and ran with Luffy in tow. In such a state, there was nothing Luffy could do to stop himself from being flung over a bandit's shoulders as he was carried away.

"ACE!" he screamed, still trying to fight to get back to him, but was weak from blood loss. Having no other choice, the Straw Hats all went chasing after him, but as they ran, they couldn't stop themselves from looking back as well—watching the two forms of Ace and Dadan disappear in the blaze.

"Ace!" Luffy cried again, tears now falling with the blood, "ACE!"

But the bandits had a tight hold of him as they kept running across the hellish landscape as the welcoming trees of the Middle Forest suddenly appeared before them. The heat of the inferno died down instantly and they welcomed the relief as they ran through the trees, going as far away from the Gray Terminal as they could get—stopping only when they climbed a large hill—a few miles away from the old junkyard. They finally turned to look—and though they couldn't see the Terminal thanks to the trees—the sky was still bright red and glowing like a furnace as smoke covered the night sky and blocked out the stars and moon.

The Straw Hats gasped for air, just staring at what looked like the entrance to hell from a distance as the bandits cried out for Dadan and Ace—not a single one of them had dry eyes. Luffy cried loudest of them all, his eyes wide in horror as he watched the fire continue to spread and the roar of the flames burning the wind itself.

"AAAAAAACCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEE!" he bellowed out at the top of his lungs, as if hoping that his brother could hear him and find his way back.

The darkness came back so slowly this time that they thought that the smoke from the fire had suddenly reached them, but no it was just the signal that the memory was about to change and not a moment too soon. Each one of the Straw Hats was staring in front of them, unable to believe what they had just seen.

Usopp was shaking from head to foot as he whispered, "I can't believe it. That was so terrible! How the hell could Luffy stand all this? First Sabo was taken away… and then that happened only days after?! How didn't he go crazy from that?"

"Remember, this happened years ago," Robin whispered in reminder, "To survive, you have to be strong enough to keep going forward. Luffy is stronger in more ways than one. He must've come to terms with what happened at one point."

She thought of all that fire, suddenly thinking of how Ohara looked after the Buster Call. She shivered, and wrapped her arms around her as if cold. The Gray Terminal went up in flames much like how her homeland had been… even after all these years, she was still haunted by that horrific day. She kept her lips firmly together, fighting hard against the wave of grief that welled up inside her, almost escaping.

"I'd say that it's more like he's driven to keep going," Sanji told her, his hand shaking a little as he finally pulled out another cigarette and lit it—unintentionally causing a few crewmates to flinch at the sight of the glowing embers.

"I just don't see how it could possibly get worse from here," Usopp croaked as he sank to the ground, suddenly exhausted, "I mean, what else could happen?"

"Almost afraid to find out," Sanji said. "But hell, Ace was something else wasn't he?"

"He was just a big a handful as Luffy was," Zoro sighed, still thinking about that fierce determination in Ace's eyes.

The darkness faded for the next scene and the first thing they saw was the inside of the mountain bandit's hut. Judging from the narrow beams of light shining through the windows and cracks in the walls, they could tell that it was day, meaning that they made it back safely at least.

Luffy was also there, practically crawling along the side of the wall while trying to get to the front door. He was panting hard, breathing almost painfully, barely able to stand up on his own. Bandages covering his arms that were obviously mending his burns along with the half of his face that had been sliced up by the sword so it hindered his ability to walk even more. But it was only too clear what he was thinking of doing as he grunted with effort.

"What's he thinking?!" Chopper cried out, looking close to panicking again. "He's still recovering! He should be in bed!"

"Since when has that ever stopped him?" Zoro asked as Luffy was able to finally grasp the door handle, practically hanging off it as he tried to catch his breath. Fortunately for Luffy's health, Magra had come in, and saw him out of bed.

"Oi! Luffy!" he called after him as Luffy gritted his teeth and forced another step forward. Yet he could hardly take a step before he was struggling for air and Chopper frowned at that, suspecting that Luffy must've been suffering from damaged lungs from all the smoke he inhaled from the fire. Not for the first time, he wished he was there to help treat him.

"Easy, easy. Wait, Luffy," Magra said as he headed over to him, the noise causing rest of the bandits to come from the back as well to see what was going on. "You haven't recovered—where're you going?"

"Where does he think?" Usopp asked as the entire room was filled with exhausted-looking bandits as they seemed to be lost and dazed after the events that happened before.

"I gotta go look for Ace and Dadan," Luffy said, though weak, his voice was still strong. Taking a deep breath, he ran to the door.

"You can't do that!" Magra called just as Luffy threw the door open with such force that he fell through it and hit the ground.

"Ouch," he whimpered softly, curling into a ball where he lay and didn't move again.

"Is he ok?" Nami cried out as Chopper quickly ran over and looked him over.

"Yeah… at least, it's not life-threatening," he confirmed, looking up at them. "He's just exhausted mostly. Not to mention smoke inhalation… and I can tell that he lost a lot a blood from last night. Magra's right, he shouldn't be moving. Even with Luffy's fast healing, he should still be in bed."

Thankfully, Magra was able to scoop Luffy up, gently scolding him, before carrying him back to bed.

The rest of the bandits sat there watching as Luffy was tucked in, and tended too with a box of medical supplies next to his head.

"But why don't they go look for them?" Chopper called out indigently. "Don't they care at all?!"

"Why don't you look at their faces?" Robin asked softly.

Blinking in confusion, Chopper did—and he could see at once all the scared and worried expressions, each one of them glancing at the door, as if hoping that it would open at any second to reveal Ace and Dadan, alive and well.

"What else could be happening?" Sanji demanded, also finding it strange that no one else was moving. "What's going on that they can't leave and look for them?"

"What I don't get is why the bandits are suddenly caring so much," Zoro said, looking over them all. "After all, it's been months since they left this place, but they came out to look for them in that fire and are taking care of him now… not to mention Dadan staying behind with Ace?"

"Like Brook said before," Robin told him, "You can't spend so much time with someone and not worry about them." She glanced up at the bandits again and added, "Though they act like they don't care, they still spent a lot of time with the boys. And when they saw the fire starting, I'm sure that they were worried about them. So they went out to make sure they were okay. Which I'm glad they did."

Magra sighed as he leaned back, trying to find something to be soothing as he reminded Luffy, "You're seriously wounded. You have to rest nice and easy."

"How can anyone sleep after what happened last night?" Franky asked bitterly, thinking of all those people who must've died last night.

As if he heard what he was thinking, Dogra spoke up, also trying to reason to Luffy, "There are a lot troops in Gray Terminal now taking care of the mess from the fire. And it's not just burnt junk they're taken care of, but survivors too. You're going to get killed if you go there."

"Wait, what?!" Usopp gasped in horror, "You mean they're…?"

"Why am I not surprised?" Zoro demanded. "We should've guessed that they do something like this. After all, wasn't it them who planned the fire in the first place?"

"Killing the survivors?" Chopper whispered as the rest just looked on, horrorstruck by those words. The way that Dogra said it… like it was something that happened every week…?

But Chopper couldn't take it. He was a doctor for crying out loud! Those people who did survive the fire might've been saved if they were taken to a hospital and given emergency treatment! But instead, they were probably being killed even as they talked about it. He couldn't take it as he cried out at the idea. He could only imagine how those people might've felt. To survive such a devastating fire, probably lying there burnt and pleading for help… to see people coming towards them… probably thinking that they were here to help…? Only for them to…?

"Damn them," Nami whispered, biting her lip at how sick and twisted this was. "This place…? Those nobles are worse than anyone in the Gray Terminal." She was actually shaking at the thought, her fingernails digging into her palms. "They're worse than anything in all that trash. They're… they're rotten to the core!"

"To treat life in such a way…" Brook whispered, his hand on his cane—shaking violently so that his bones knocked together. "It makes me sick to my stomach." He was so angry, he didn't bother to try and make a joke about it.

"But…?" Luffy began with a whimper, unable to accept the truth. Tears were forming in his eyes, and he didn't even bother to hide them as he sobbed openly, screaming out, "I wanna see Ace! I know Sabo's worried about us, too!"

At those words, Nami looked away, feeling tears in her own eyes. She knew that Ace must've made it out of this mess alive, but she still couldn't stop them from coming. Franky, Brook, Usopp and Chopper all felt the same way as they began to cry as well. Not even the bandits could be completely emotionless after hearing that and looked away, all of them with pained expressions.

"I don't want to see anymore," Nami whispered, her hands covering her face as she was forced to listen to Luffy continue to cry. "I wanna go back to the Sunny…?"

"We all do," Robin said, tears also pricking at her eyes as she put her hand gently on Nami's shoulder.

The memory faded out again.

Nami rubbed her eyes as she glared around, desperate for some kind of door to open and they could leave. She then declared, "There has to be a way out of here!"

"I'm on it, Nami-swan!" Sanji declared, and without another word, he went running off into the darkness.

"Sanji!" Usopp and Chopper cried after him as his footsteps disappeared into the void.

"Does that idiot even know where he's going?" Zoro asked before he heard the sounds of running behind them and looked back at once. But he stared at what he saw. It was Sanji, running back towards them. As soon as he saw them all, he skidded to a stop and stared at them.

"What the hell?" he cried out, looking behind him. "But I just…? I just left you all behind!"

"Wow, Sanji," Chopper cried out. "How'd you do that?"

"I didn't do anything!" Sanji said, looking back at them with wide eyes. "I just went running off to look for a door and I'm running back here! What the hell?! I went in a straight line!"

"What?" Franky cried, and then he went running off in a random direction to try his luck.

"Not you too, Franky!" Nami cried out behind him, but almost as soon as the sounds of his clanking footsteps faded in front of them, they heard it behind them and they spun around to see Franky running towards them out of the dark.

"EHHHHH!" Usopp screamed out, "What's with this place! How do you run away from something only to end up back where you started from?!"

"I suppose you could if you walked around the world," Robin said softly.

"I guess it's a small world after all," Zoro said, though even he sounded concerned.

"Unless…" Robin added softly, her eyes widening. "Wait… I think I might know! We've experienced this before remember?"

"Huh?" they all asked looking at her.

"Yes!" she declared, "If I'm right then…?"

But what she was about to say next was swallowed up as the memory came back, driving her thoughts away for a moment.

This time, it looked to be the late afternoon as they stood back in the middle of the bandits hut. The first thing they noticed was that all the bandits were sitting on the floor with bleak expressions, just stewing in misery and worry.

But the Straw Hats were all quickly looking around for one person only. They finally spotted Luffy—and from the looks of things, it had been at least a full day since the last memory. His wounds looked mostly healed, with most of his bandages were removed from around his head. Now, he was curled up in a small ball against the door with his knees drawn up to his chest.

"I'm guessing that Ace-san still hasn't come back yet," Brook asked softly.

"And neither has Dadan," Nami added, now looking deeply concerned.

"You don't think they've been hurt do you?" Chopper asked softly, now cursing himself for not being able to help.

"I doubt they were able to get away unscathed," Sanji began slowly just as the door burst open. They all looked up to see another bandit there, having dashed in with wide eyes.

"Hey, hey guys!" he cried as everyone jerked to full awareness as they stared. The man then looked up, tears of relief in his eyes and a smile on his face that could only mean one thing…?

"They're returned!" he cried out as relief flooded everyone's faces. Upon hearing that, Luffy jumped up and sprinted to the door just as everyone else had at the same time. They all ended up stuck as they tried to get out at the same time, blocking the door. After much struggling, pushing, and shoving, it had been Luffy and Magra who got out first. The Straw Hats on the other hand, simply had to walk through the wall as if they were ghosts.

"That never fails to freak me out," Usopp said with a shiver as the other bandits continued to fight. "It's like we've all become ghos—AND WHAT THE HELL?!"

He stopped dead at what he saw… they all did.

Ace was slowly approaching the house, covered in burns, ash, and his clothes being reduced to rags. He was also missing a shoe as he continued to walk closer, gasping under Dadan's weight, who he was carrying on his back. Dadan looked, if possible, even worse. She was covered in bandages, her hair scorched as she violently coughed, barely aware of what was going on around her. But still… both of them were alive.

"Damn! It's good to see them but they look half dead on their feet," Sanji muttered, a little green in the face, as Chopper cried out, immediately going into Doctor Mode as he tried to asset their injuries.

As for the bandits, they were cheering at the sight of them—just so relieved to see that they managed to come back alive.

"Ace… Boss…" Magra croaked out, tears of joy in his eyes as they ran forward to help.

"Those wounds look terrible! Hurry! Tend to the boss's wounds!" one of the bandits yelled as a couple of them helped her off Ace's back, and carried her back to the hut. Ace, still struggling for air, followed after them. As for Luffy, he was just standing there, looking too stunned to speak, stuck in a kind of daze as he could only follow. It wasn't until Dadan was getting treated did he come back to reality.

Luffy charged Ace from behind, crying out his name and hugging him so tightly they almost wondered if he intended to ever let go. Ace, who was changing shirts, glanced down and said in a tone they knew meant that he was annoyed, "Luffy… Did you think I was dead?"

"He didn't want to…?" Brook said, "He was just worried."

"I see how this is gonna end," Zoro said, shaking his head, though there was a shadow of a smile on his face.

Luffy let go and croaked out, still crying hard, "But…?"

"What are you crying for?" Ace demanded, suddenly angry as he gave Luffy a hard punch to the head. "Don't act like I'm dead when I'm not, you idiot!"

Nami sighed as Luffy cried even harder, rubbing his head where it was starting to swell already.

"He's home not even five minutes and he's already hitting him," she sighed, "What more does he want? They're both back and alive aren't they? Why's he trying to pick a fight? You know it was his fault for refusing to run. I still think they should've knocked him out and made a run for it while they had the chance."

"It's nothing to worry about," Robin smiled. "It just proves that things are back to normal. I suppose that we should just count our blessings that they're dealing well, considered everything that happened?"

"And I'm guessing that Ace-san still doesn't know how to react to someone caring about him," Brook groaned, remembering how he had tried to pick a fight with Luffy after they rescued him from Porchemy.

"Now, now, let him be," Magra scolded Ace lightly, a small smile on his own face, "Luffy is just happy."

"He doesn't look like it to me," Chopper said as he watched the tears.

"Those are happy tears," Sanji said, breathing out smoke. "We all have our ways of showing how we care." He then turned to Nami and Robin and cried out, hearts flashing in his eyes, "My loves! I hope you always know how much I care for you both! I'll gladly go to the ends of the earth for both of you! No matter how hard or long the journey will be, I'll be there to protect you the whole way!"

Nami rolled her eyes as Robin smiled politely. Now that the danger was over and Ace and Dadan were back, everything seemed to be looking brighter.

Ace glared at Magra for a second before he looked down at Luffy, as if wondering just what he was supposed to do now. Finally, he ruffled Luffy's hair in an awkward, but oddly tender way. At his touch, Luffy ran back to him and hugged him tightly, as he cried harder than ever.

Ace was startled by this, but didn't say anything as Luffy clung on strongly.

"That's just too sweet," Robin chuckled before Ace just seemed to give up and let Luffy cling to him.

"Yeah," Usopp agreed, also smiling again. "So sweet I think I'm getting a cavity just looking. I'm glad that things worked out."

Once Luffy had calmed down enough to stop crying, and let go of Ace, Dadan was properly treated and they were all surrounding her bed to hear what happened.

"How bad is she, Chopper?" Sanji asked, not liking to see any woman in pain.

Chopper looked at the wounds that Magra was treating. He got a good look at the burns as they applied burn cream before carefully wrapping up the blistered skin—also listening to her slightly wheezing voice.

"She was seriously burned," he informed them. "And from the look of it, she inhaled a lot of the smoke too—which may have damaged her windpipe. But I think she has a good chance at pulling through without any long-lasting effects if she lets herself rest."

Nami sighed in relief, glad to hear that, before saying, "That's good to hear. I was worried."

Upon finishing bandaging up Dadan's hands, Ace told them what happened after they took Luffy and left.

"After you left, we stayed and fought Bluejam," he answered simply. And then he went on to explain how they were able to defeat him, but when they did, they were surrounded by fire. He told them all how it was Dadan who went running through the fire to get them out, how they hid in the Middle Forest near the river as Ace struggled to keep Dadan alive. He also told them about how he had been forced to steal food and medicine from High Town and was able to stabilize her—all the while, hiding from the soldiers who were still looking for survivors.

"What a brave woman!" Franky cried out, sobbing his eyes out until he was creating a miniature flood, "What a lady!"

"Now, now," Magra said with that same kind look on his face, looking down at his boss, "so that's what happened? Well, I'm glad that you both made it out alive."

"I think we all agree there," Usopp whispered, feeling much more light-hearted than he had been for such a long time.

"I'm sorry I made you worry," Dadan said softly.

"Did she just apologize?" Zoro asked in surprise.

"Is it really that hard to imagine that she cares about the bandits?" Brook asked, though it was hard to tell, the bandits were a family… much like how the Straw Hat Pirates were. Was it truly hard to believe that they did for one another?

Ace looked ahead, lost in thought as he muttered to himself, "I never thought that something like this could happen to the Gray Terminal… I'm sure Sabo's worried."

"Yeah, and he must know by now about the fire by now," Sanji said, his own eyes narrowing as he gazed out the window. "No one could've missed all that smoke. And he would be worried sick over wondering if his brothers being hurt or not."

As Ace continued to talk with the others, Luffy decided to go outside with the white dog that acted as the mountain bandit's mascot, Pochi. They followed after him, wanting to stick close by, before Usopp looked up at the sky and whistled out long and low as he commented, "Wow. I didn't realize just how much time had passed, it's almost night."

Luffy looked up at the sky as well with a melancholy face and asked Pochi, "I wonder what Sabo's up to." But he down looked at him with a small smile, "Still, I'm glad Ace came back and Dadan's getting better."

Pochi barked in agreement as Brook said, "I too am glad. It was all so frightening, I felt as if my heart would stop! Ah! Not that I have a heart to stop! Yohohoho!"

"Well, at least we know that Brook's feeling better," Sanji chuckled.

As Luffy wandered around the hut, he found two large beetles, which caused Nami and Sanji to immediately scoot as far back as they could. But Luffy's eyes began to glow at the sight of them and brought them both to a small barrel where he put them there, trying to get them to fight each other.

"Boy, he's acting just like he did when we were at Jaya," Nami sighed, but even she was having a hard time not to beam at the sight even if they were dealing with bugs.

"An Atlas and a Hercules beetle!" Chopper proclaimed proud that he could recognize them, "Luffy talked all about them when we were looking for that South Bird."

"What is it with boys that love playing with bugs?" Nami couldn't help but mutter.

"Hey, be nice," Franky said grinning.

"Alright, who's going to win?" Luffy asked cheerfully, poking both bugs with a stick.

"You think he'd be a little more upset to what happened though. But he's recovering from the fire pretty quickly," Usopp said softly.

"Ace and Dadan came back," Zoro answered, watching the slightly happy shine that returned in the boy's eyes. "That's enough for him for now."

"He's resilient," Sanji reminded him. "Like rubber, he just bounces back no matter what happens."

Luffy continued to play around with the beetles until they heard rustling coming from the trees, and that was when Dogra came out from the forest. He was pale and shaking—causing them to wonder if he'd be out looking for Ace and Dadan.

Luffy heard him, and waved his stick around happily as he called, "Dogra! You went looking for Ace and Dadan, right? They've both came home!"

At that news, Dogra looked relieved, but the nervous, pale look on his face didn't fade

"R-Really?" he stuttered, for some reason not really able to look at Luffy. "They have? That's great…!"

"What's his problem?" Franky asked with his eyebrows raised, "You think he'd be happy to hear that they're alright?"

Zoro narrowed his eye, watching Dogra smile a little too forcibly at Luffy, a little too cheerfully, and that bad feeling in his gut was back as he muttered, "Something happened."

"Yes, and if he was out at the Gray Terminal, there's a chance that he saw the soldiers there and…?" Robin offered before she trailed off. But no one needed or wanted her to finish that line. Luffy, not noticing Dogra's behavior, lead him inside the house, happily telling everyone else that Dogra had come home.

It was also a relief to see that Dadan was already sitting up, still looking tired, but much better as Magra poured some Sake for her.

"This is all the medicine I need," she told him firmly as she drank it down, "When life gives you lemons, buy more Sake if you ask me."

"Words to live by," Zoro smirked, now dying for a hard drink himself.

"Oh, Dogra!" Magra said, smiling when his friend walked in, but it soon faded when he saw the shocked look on Dogra's face. "What is it?" he asked.

"Yeah, you look like you just saw a ghost," another bandit told him.

Luffy finally noticed Dogra's tense, forced smile and asked, "Dogra?"

Dogra didn't say a word as he stood there in front of them all, it was then that Zoro noticed that his hands were shaking, and his face was working hard as if trying to find the words to describe what happened.

"Dogra?" Dadan said to him loudly, helping herself to another swig of drink, "Did something happen?"

Dogra was shaking all over now, but he finally spoke, his hands curled into tight fists at his sides, "I went into High Town earlier. I heard that there was some kind of ceremony going on. I snuck in and I overheard some of the guards talking about it." He was gritting his teeth together, his eyes suddenly shadowed over so that they couldn't see the emotion in them. "The king and the nobles were the ones behind the fire the other night. The Nobles planned it all… they spread the rumor to Edge Town that it was Bluejam who had caused it though…?"

"What kinda king would do this?" Brook demanded in outrage.

"Those lousy, pieces of shit," Sanji growled.

"They really are all real monsters," Nami croaked out miserably.

"But they call us monsters," Chopper reminded her, suddenly fretfully.

"There are two kinds of monsters," Sanji said looking down at him. "The strong and powerful kind… and the ones who do horrible things like this. We've all done a lot of—ah… questionable things in the past that we aren't proud of, but we never hurt people like this."

"So the people in Edge Town didn't know anything about it?" one of the bandits asked.

"They were in danger too last night," Dogra explained, "If the fire was any higher, the wind could've blown the flames inside the wall. No, they were all as surprised by it as the rest of us."

"But why?" Dadan asked the million beri question. "The nobles never bothered with the Gray Terminal before, why go through all this now?"

"What was so special about this stupid ceremony?" Ace asked angrily.

Dogra was now shaking, "They were welcoming the Celestial Dragons at port."

At that name, the Straw Hats eyes all widened and the air seemed to catch in their chests. Suddenly it all made complete sense. They all understood everything now.

"The… the Celestial Dragons?" Nami repeated, oddly numb.

"You mean the same ones that we saw at Sabaody?" Chopper cried out, "The ones that tried to take Camie from us?!"

"So that's it," Robin said softly, her eyes narrowing. "The nobles wanted to impress them so they decided to get rid of everything—undesirable in their kingdom. So rather than spend so much time and money cleaning up the mess they decided to burn it all as a cheap and quick escape."

"You mean they did all this for the world nobles?!" Nami cried out, "They killed everyone in the Gray Terminal just for something like this?"

"Why those…" Sanji growled. "Just when I thought that they couldn't be any more rotten. This whole kingdom's rotten to the core!"

"But why would they come here?" Usopp demanded, "Why would they come all the way to a kingdom this far out in the East Blue?"

"Why would they be here?" Magra asked, thankfully asking Usopp's question.

"I don't know," Dogra went on with a shake of his head, "Apparently, they were here to inspect the kingdom."

"Inspect?" Dadan asked, thinking something over before adding, "Oh, right… I remember reading about something-or-other about an inspection of Goa."

"Who are these guys anyway?" Ace asked grumpily. "What makes them so special?"

"Nothing at all," Franky shouted out, "They just think they're special."

"Think of them as like nobles of the World Government," one of the other bandits told him. "You think the guys here in Goa are rich with a lot of influence? Well, they're nothing compared to the Celestial Dragons. They have influence everywhere in the world! Not just on this island."

"Dogra?" Luffy asked innocently, not understanding why his friend continued to look so upset, who was shaking worse than ever. "What's wrong?"

"Seriously, what's with him?" Franky asked, folding his massive arms, "You think that he saw someone die or something."

"I don't know how to say it…" Dogra said, his voice now trembling, "I was there at port watching the Celestial Dragon's ship coming in… but as they got near, a small fishing boat set out from out of nowhere!"

"A fishing boat?" Dadan repeated in surprise, "What's that got to do with anything?"

"The Celestial Dragon's ship fired on it and killed the person on board. It was a child…" Dogra cried out, shaking his head hard and he finally cried out, "It was Sabo! It was him!"

The Straw Hat's felt as if the world was closing in around them making it hard to breathe… each one of them felt as if they had just been punched in the gut as Dogra finally screamed out, "SABO'S DEAD!"

No one spoke, they were all petrified by what they learned.

"This can't be," Brook whispered, now falling backwards onto his backside, unable to believe what he just heard.

"Sabo… he's…?" Usopp could bring himself to say it, shaking from head to foot.

Robin's eyes widened as she fully understood. So that was what happened. A Celestial Dragon ship must've felt they were wronged in some way when they saw the little boat 'ruining' their grand entrance and decided to take care of it themselves. Of course, news like this would've spread over the entire kingdom…? And Ace and Luffy would've found out about it at one point. And since there was no body…? Since they never heard from him again…? They could only assume he was dead.

Her heart ached for all three brothers at the cruel irony at all this.

Chopper was crying as he thought about the boy that he had grown to like so much. Sure, he never met Sabo in person, but he had learned a lot about him through these memories and he couldn't help but feel as if he lost a dear friend. Nami's hands were over her mouth as she stared at Luffy's and Ace's faces. They looked as if they had just had their hearts ripped right out—unable to believe what they heard.

"Sabo is…?" Ace whispered in disbelief, not believing it. Luffy and the bandits were each staring at Dogra with identical expressions of shock, as if they couldn't understand what he just said.

But it was Ace who lost control. His eyes suddenly burned with rage and he tacked Dogra to the floor, "YOU LIAR! DON'T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT!"

He held his fist up, looking ready to strike until Magra called out, "Don't do it, Ace!"

"He's just delivering the message," Zoro said sympathetically, "There's no point in taking his anger out on him. He's not the one that should pay."

"It's not a lie, nor a joke," Dogra gasped out to defend himself, "It was so sudden, I barely realized that it had happened. I doubted my own eyes! I wondered if it was a dream or an illusion!"

"A common response if it happened that quickly," Robin whispered, these last few memories kept bringing back more and more of her own memories of Ohara… how it had all happened so quickly that she couldn't believe her own eyes. It was like she was in a sort living nightmare. Even now, she could almost swear that it had all been a bad dream.

"SHUT UP!" Ace screamed out, now shaking Dogra, looking like he was going to seriously hurt him if he kept talking. "Sabo went back to his noble born parents! There's no way he would sail out to sea!"

"That's right! Sabo went home!" Luffy yelled out in agreement, refusing to believe that Sabo was dead.

"They're in denial," Brook whispered.

"Of course they would be," Robin told them, her hair hiding her own face, still coming to terms with the whole situation of what happened to the three of them. She suddenly wished she could talk with Sabo about all this before going on, "From their perspective, they saw Sabo alive a few days ago. They decided to leave him alone and wait for him to come back…? Believing that he could do it if he was that unhappy there. But now they know that not only will that never happen, their last memory of him is when he was being taken back to the place that he was so desperate to escape from. On top of everything that happened in the last few days…? It's too much for them to accept. Especially when they thought that they were safe…?"

"Outlaws like us understand how he must've felt! We all have places we really don't want to go back to!" Dogra yelled, as he was able to push Ace off him with a great effort, tears streaming down his face as he cried, "Do you really think he would go out to sea if he were actually happy? Do you really think he would fly a pirate flag and set out on his own!?"

Ace froze where he was, as if those words had struck him dumb. Like a curse, the words fell over everyone in that room so that no one could move. The wind blowing through the window, ruffling the curtains, was the only noise that they had as they all stood there as the rest of the world stopped.

"No one could do that on their own unless they were truly miserable," Zoro whispered.

"Why?" Usopp whispered, tears now in his eyes. "WHY WOULD HE DO THAT? WHAT WAS HE THINKING DOING SOMETHING SO STUPID?!"

Luffy stepped forward, almost staggering, his expression of shock now turned to pain. "Sabo…" he croaked out, tears forming in his eyes and now quickly falling from his face, before it really hit him what had to have happened before screaming, "HE REALLY WASN'T HAPPY!"

At his words, the bandits all bore similar expressions of grief and sorrow, but Ace was on his knees, twisting his hair around so violently that it looked like he was trying to pull it out. "Why…?" he cried out, "Why didn't we try to break him out of there!?"

When his eyes opened, Zoro saw at once that something snapped inside of him.

"He's going to do something stupid," he said. And knowing Ace, he was going to charge in head first.

Filling up with a clear rage, Ace grabbed hold of Dogra again, demanding in a shout, "Where is the person who killed Sabo!? I'm gonna murder them!"

"EHHHH?" Usopp cried, his eyes now red and puffy. "He's gonna get himself killed! Remember what happened when Luffy attacked that Celestial Dragon at the auction house?" His voice died on his lips, suddenly realizing that when Luffy attacked that World Noble that day, there was much more to the story than he had ever thought. When he punched that major asshole, was he thinking about Sabo at the same time? Was it also possible that Luffy was taking revenge for when his brother was killed?

"T-the Celestial Dragon!? There's no way you can do…?" Dogra stuttered, but Ace's fury was far passed being reasoning with. Grabbing his staff, he sprinted to door, screaming out that he was going to avenge Sabo's death.

"Someone stop him!" Nami cried out, suddenly realizing how close Ace had come to getting killed. But this certainly proved to her once and for all that Ace truly was Luffy's older brother with how fearless and protective he was over someone he loved. The fact that they both were willing to attack a Celestial Dragon and risk the idea of an admiral was enough. Though now that she thought of it, Ace probably had no idea how dangerous it was to go after the World Nobles.

Thankfully, her plea was answered. Dadan was on her feet again, and tackled Ace—slamming his head into the floor so hard that it was smash into pieces.

"Drop it, you damn brat!" Dadan yelled out as Ace fought to get up.

"Get off me!" Ace shouted out as he swung around to glare at her. "Don't get in my way!"

Chopper cried out at the blood that was falling from a gash on Ace's face after getting slammed into the floor. Luffy and the others only stood there, staring in alarm at what was happening, unsure as to what to say or do. But Dadan was far from done.

"You keep acting tough, even though you don't have any real strength!" she shrieked out, shoving his head down even deeper into the floor to drill her words into his head. She then demanded, "What the hell do you think you can do now!? You'll just end up dead! You will die and everyone will forget about you by tomorrow! That's all you amount to right now!" She took several deep breaths as she glared at him, his own eyes were wide with shock at what he was hearing before she declared, "It was this kingdom that killed Sabo! It was the world itself! What can you do!?"

"Nothing," Franky whispered, thinking of how helpless he Tom was been taken away. "That's what he hates! The idea that he can't do anything to avenge his own brother's death is more than he can stand."

"Yes, but that statement isn't completely true either," Robin said softly, her eyes going to the still crying Luffy. "There's one person who'll always remember him."

"Your father's death brought about a new era!" Dadan yelled, holding him up and shaking him hard. "Once you have become a man of that caliber, then you're free to live or die as you like!"

They all knew that Dadan was speaking the truth, as harsh as it was, they all knew that it was true. And judging from Ace's expression, they knew he realized this fact too. Still, he didn't want to admit it as he kept struggling to free himself from her grasp, because admitting she was right would be admitting that there was nothing he could do.

Seeing that he wasn't going to calm down anytime soon, Dadan threw him to the others, yelling at them to tire him up outside till he cooled his head. Shaking, the bandits manhandled Ace—carrying him outside to the nearest tree and tied him up to keep him from doing something stupid. It was honestly painful to watch as Ace was practically feral at this point, fighting tooth and nail, cursing at them all, and even yelling at Luffy to stop crying because men weren't supposed to cry.

But no matter how much he yelled, Luffy kept crying, screaming out Sabo's name with heart-breaking grief as the darkness came back and left them alone in the void.

They stood there in silence as they tried to digest what they learned. More than a couple of them were fighting back tears as they thought about that little boy and the injustice of what happened to him.

Finally, Zoro broke the silence, feeling oddly numb from all this as he muttered quietly, "So that's why we never heard about him."

"Don't you realize what this means?" Usopp mumbled, running his nose along his arm as he tried to get his tears under control. "Luffy lost both of his brothers! First Sabo, and then what happened to Ace…?"

"Poor Luffy," Chopper whispered as he bawled too. "It's not fair! How could this happen?"

"The government is never fair," Franky hissed out, blowing his nose as he fought the urge to break something big and heavy. "They don't care how many innocent lives they kill so long as they get what they want! This is what the government really is like! They go on and on about how they uphold justice while they're the ones behind all the suffering in the world! What makes those nobles so damn special?"

"But why would they kill him?" Nami cried, going to Robin to bury her face in her friend's shoulder. "Sabo didn't do anything?!"

"Most likely the Celestial Dragons were offended by him ruining their entrance and decided to take care of him," Robin whispered, still not saying anything else about what she knew of Sabo.

Tears were also falling from Brook's empty sockets as he and Zoro kept their heads down, silently paying their respects to Luffy and Ace's brother.

"Man, hearing about what happened to Ace dying was bad enough," Sanji growled in frustration, "But then there was all this mess with Sabo! How was Luffy able to deal all this on his own?"

"He wasn't alone," Robin whispered, causing some of them to look at her to see her empty eyes—she looked as if her thoughts were a million miles away right now. "It was different with Sabo than it was with Ace," she went on. "Luffy never saw Sabo die. He only ever heard about it. And even then, he still had Ace there to help him through it. But Ace died right in front of him and, in a way, he was all alone after that."

She glanced at them all and knew they were all wondering the same thing. Just what happened in that warzone? None of them knew the whole story as to how Ace died, or exactly what Luffy had to go through that day… but they all noticed the changes. Though Luffy had grown stronger than ever before, and he still went on through life with a bright smile and simple attitude…? But they all could see it… he wasn't the same person he was before they were separated by Kuma.

There was a quietness to his soul now. A hint of a shadow in his eyes now reflected back something haunted though it was usually hidden behind the smile he wore.

The darkness disappeared until they were all standing out on the cliff that overlooked the sea. They knew where they were at once—it was the same place where the three brothers had once talked about their dreams shortly before toasting their brotherhood. That memory seemed like a lifetime ago…?

They didn't spot Luffy at first, until they heard a slight sniffle and realized he laying on the soft grass a few feet away. But he wasn't looking over the water since his hat was covering his face, and he laid there on his stomach as if he had no energy.

"Luffy," Usopp said softly as he carefully approached him, wanting to comfort him, but instead, his hand went right through his shoulder and back. He could only sigh and sit down next to him, never feeling more useless in his life than right now. Even if it was years ago, he felt sick with himself for not being able to do more here.

"Ace-san…" Brook said softly, and they glanced up in time to see Ace walking towards them. His face was grim and cold… yet much calmer than he had been before. His burns from the fire seemed to have healed for the most part, as well as the cut on his forehead; meaning that it had to have been a couple days since they got the miserable news about Sabo.

He didn't seem surprised at all to see Luffy there as he slowly approached, not saying a word, but making enough noise that Luffy could hear him. When he was close enough, he made a fist and blew on it before he gave Luffy a quick bonk on the head.

"How long are you gonna mop around like this?" he demanded.

"Was that really necessary, Ace?" Usopp asked him sadly.

"Yes, we all need our time to grieve," Brook whispered softly. But Luffy didn't complain, he merely gripped the rim of his hat tightly, refusing to look at anything.

Ace stood there for a minute, just gazing out at the sea before he began to speak. What he said next, was in an indifferent tone, as if he couldn't care less about it, "All the treasure we hid in the Middle Forest is gone now." He shrugged grimly as he folded his arms and added, "Maybe it was stolen by the survivors of Bluejam's crew, or maybe the military found it… I don't know where it is now."

"That doesn't matter anymore anyway," Nami said softly, her mother's smiling face coming to mind once again. "Even with all the treasure in the world, you can't bring back someone you love."

Apparently Ace agreed as he explained, "But that pile of loot doesn't matter anymore. Sabo and I were gonna use it. It was our Pirate Fund. But in the end, Sabo didn't use it. So I'm not gonna bother with it either. Not much point in gathering treasure if we can't look after it."

"He's handling it all well," Brook said kindly.

"On the outside," Robin said sadly, "But I think on the inside he's still in a lot of pain. After all, Sabo was his best friend before he became his brother. He's just better at hiding how he's feeling than someone like Luffy, who isn't shy about such things."

"A-Ace?" Luffy asked, his voice thick with emotion. "I… I want… I want to become stronger!"

He sniffed, and they could tell that he was fighting tears, "Stronger and stronger… stronger and stronger… stronger and stronger…" This went on for some time as Luffy continued to repeat the word 'stronger' putting much emphasis on how strong he wanted to be. Even while stating this with much vigor, he was still crying, "… and even stronger than that! And then, I'll be able to protect anything! I won't have to lose anyone ever again!"

The Straw Hats all kept their eyes firmly on the little boy. They all knew full well that he would, indeed, become stronger than anyone could imagine. Now here, it all made complete sense to what it was that drove him to work so hard for such a goal.

"So that's why he's so protective of us," Nami whispered.

"I get it," Franky hissed, his robotic hands curling up in tight fists. "It was never just about becoming Pirate King."

"He can understand the pain of losing someone," Brook whispered with a nod, "He went through it and he never wanted to go through it again."

Zoro didn't say anything, but he now felt like he understood Luffy so much better than ever before. He knew that same feeling after all. After Kunia died, he too wanted to become stronger than she ever was. Strong enough so that his name could reach up to the heavens where she could hear him. Letting her know that he carried on her dream and that he hadn't forgotten her. Luffy had been doing that exact same thing all this time… he was carrying on his brothers will. But he felt sick with himself for finding out this way… if Luffy had ever wanted to talk about his past, he would've mentioned it. Watching all this suddenly felt like a betrayal of the deepest decree and he was having trouble breathing.

"Please…" Luffy suddenly begged out. "Ace… don't die too!"

They all caught their breath.

"Luffy…" Nami cried in hardly more of a whisper.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Ace yelled, punching him in the head again. "You should be more worried about yourself than me! You're way weaker than I am!" At that, he stood up straight and declared, "Listen up, and remember this, Luffy! I WON'T DIE!"

Some of the Straw Hats couldn't stop the flinch, knowing that was a promise that Ace would one day break.

"No one can live forever," Sanji muttered bleakly.

"Ace wasn't promising him to never die… not really. But rather he was promising that he wouldn't leave Luffy alone," Robin explained as Chopper burst out in tears at that, "That he would always be there for him when he needed him."

"Oh, man," Franky called, covering his face with the handkerchief as he sobbed his heart out, "I'm all torn up inside! I knew that they were close, but I never knew how much!"

Luffy slowly sat up as Ace went on, "Sabo made that request too. I promise, I will not die! There's no way I'd die and leave behind a weakling of a brother like you."

"Well, that's mean," Usopp cried out.

"Ace still isn't good with being gentle," Robin said softly. "He's dealing with it as best as he can."

"I'm not that smart," Ace went on, still staring out at the bright blue sea. "So I don't know what it was that killed Sabo… but whatever it was, it was the opposite of freedom! Sabo died without ever gaining his freedom."

"But what's the opposite of freedom?" Chopper asked.

"Suppression. Suppression of the world," Robin answered grimly. "It's always been the world."

"But the two of us, who shared a toast with Sabo, are still alive!" Ace finished. He never once took his eyes off the sea, and his resolve appeared in his eyes. A light breeze picked up and he breathed it in, as if Sabo was there telling them this. "So, listen up, Luffy! We will definitely live life without regrets!"

"So that's it…" Sanji said, breathing hard on the cigarette. "That's why Luffy can act selfish when he wants to. The last thing he wants is to leave this world with… with regret. He wants to live to the fullest."

Ace looked down at Luffy and told him, "Sabo once said to me that, in this country, noblemen only become true nobles when they turn eighteen. That's why he planned to leave when he turned seventeen! So that's what we're going to do!"

Luffy nodded firmly as they both looked out at the sea together as Ace proclaimed, "Someday, we will set out to sea and live life the way we want to! With more freedom than anyone else!"

"Freedom…" Nami whispered to herself almost in a dream-like state. Just what was freedom in this world of prisons and boundaries? Her eyes widening as she remembered what Luffy once said to Rayleigh.

"I don't wanna conquer anything! It's just that the person with the most freedom on the seas is The King of the Pirates!"

She smiled, closing her watery eyes, now fully understanding.

Luffy merely nodded with his brother. It was really all they could do. Sabo may be gone, but the two of them were still alive. The three of them once shared the same dream, and if Sabo couldn't fulfill his, then they were willing to stand up and do it for him.

"I'm sure that we'll make a lot of people our enemies…" Ace went on, "Gramps will become our enemy, too. We'll be risking our lives! We'll cast off when we turn seventeen!"

The two remaining brothers looked out at the two seagulls flying over the waves. "WE WILL BECOME PIRATES!" Ace declared to the heavens, as if hoping that Sabo could hear him.

"RIGHT!" Luffy called out firmly. "And one day I will become the King of the Pirates!"

Ace merely smirked. "So long as you don't regret anything that you do from here on out that's all that matters. From this moment on… we live how we want to! For Sabo's sake if nothing else!"

Franky cried harder than ever, feeling as if his heart was being torn out.

"I gotta admire their dedication," Sanji said with a shadow of a smile.

"It's incredible," Usopp whispered in awe. "Even after all these years, they held true to their promise. They never once stopped!"

As they sat there, Ace reached down the front of his shirt and pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper.

"What's that?" Luffy asked as Ace carefully unfolded it and stared at it.

"A letter…" he said softly, "From Sabo."

Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats at that as Luffy croaked, "But how? Sabo's…?"

"Sabo sent it before he set out to sea," Ace explained, his tone becoming a bit sadder as he looked over the letter, "When he decided he was taking his chance at freedom, he sent the letter before the accident. I get now why he didn't come back. He couldn't come back to us without worrying he'd be putting us in danger. Even with Bluejam and the other pirates gone, he must've been worried his dad would come after him again with some more hired thugs. And next time… we wouldn't have been as lucky."

Ace bit his lower lip before he held it out to Luffy, asking if he wanted to read it.

Luffy did take the letter and tried to look over it, but soon he was frowning as he tilted the paper different ways. Ace looked at him in confusion before asking, "You can't read?"

"I can!" Luffy shot back before looking away a little in embarrassment and mumbled, "At least… a little bit…? I just can't read some of the bigger words…?"

Deciding that it was far easier for him to read it out, Ace took the paper back as the rest of them waited with baited breaths.

"Ace and Luffy," he read out for him. "I hope you weren't hurt in the fire. I'm worried, but I have faith in you. I'm sorry about this, but by the time you get this letter, I will be out at sea. A lot has happened, and I've decided to set sail ahead of you."

Franky's lower lip was quivering as Chopper kept rubbing his swollen eyes and Usopp sat on the ground, staring at his feet, unable to say anything. The rest of them merely stood there and listened to Sabo's final words to his brothers.

"My destination… won't be this kingdom, but elsewhere," Ace continued on as his lip wobbled a little, both of them knowing that these words were truly written from Sabo's heart. There, I'll get stronger… I'll become a pirate. Let's become pirates with more freedom than anyone else, and then meet up again someday. The three of us. Somewhere out on the wide, free ocean… I'm sure that someday, we'll meet!"

Now Sanji and Nami had joined in on the crying as Brook kept his boney hands over his ribcage, where his heart would be normally. The true irony here was that it was never going to happen—the three brothers would never meet again in this world and that was what hurt them more than anything else.

"Oh, and Ace, I wonder who's the older brother between the two of us? Two eldest sons, and one younger brother. It might be strange, but this bond between us is my greatest treasure."

"They do say that not all treasure is silver and gold," Sanji said softly, looking down at his hands, his own treasure. So long as it is something that you were willing to fight for, it was a treasure.

"Luffy might still be a weakling and a crybaby, but he's still our little brother," Ace finished up, "So take good care of him for me!"

Ace forced a smile as he then let the wind carry the letter away from him.

"It'll be ok," Ace told him as they watched the letter drift on the wind, over the ocean, fluttering almost like the wings of a bird as it continued onwards to the horizon. "I'll be here to take care of you in his stead. Sabo just set sail ahead of us that's all. We'll leave when we become stronger! Stronger than anyone!"

*Luffy*

"So that's what's going on," Luffy said thoughtfully after he listened to Ace's explanation to what where he was and how he got here.

But Ace was giving him a knowing smile as he asked slyly, "You didn't understand a word I just said did you?"

"Nope. But it sounds like I'm not dead," Luffy answered truthfully, actually laughing a little as he rubbed the back of his head in an awkward way, not the least be embarrassed.

"Well, you attained more than I thought you would," Ace said, laughing alongside him. "You really are the same as you always were… little brother."

At the word 'brother' Luffy stopped laughing and gazed long and hard at Ace—the realization of what was going on hitting him full in the fast like he was punched in the face. Ace looked a little surprise by Luffy's sudden change in attitude and asked what was wrong.

"Nothing," Luffy whispered before he launched himself at Ace, hugging him as tightly as he did when Ace had come back to the house after the fire. He didn't care if this was only temporary or not. Ace felt so real… so solid against him. For the last two years he often dreamed what it would've felt like to see his big brother again. To talk to him, to touch him… even to feel Ace punch him…? Just for that one moment to feel safe again, he had been willing to trade ever piece of treasure he got for the rest of his life just to see Ace one more time.

"I'm just so happy I get to see you again!" he whimpered before he broke down sobbing his heart out, not caring if Ace made fun of him again for it.

But it seemed that Ace must have understood, because he was smiling as he hugged him back tightly. His arms were clasped around Luffy, securing him to his chest, as a flood of tears fell from Luffy's eyes.

"There were just so many things I had wanted to tell you!" Luffy's voice grew louder and throatier with each word, not ashamed as his tears and snot ran as he tried to get everything he wanted to say out, "I can't tell you what it felt like to just sit there and watch you die? I'm sorry, Ace! I tried! I tried so hard but it wasn't enough! I couldn't save you!"

"It wasn't your fault, Luffy," Ace sighed heavily, and Luffy felt Ace's rib cage rise and fall with the air flowing through his lungs, as though he were alive. "When I saw that bastard going for you…? I wasn't thinking about anything else but how to stop it. I just acted… but I thought I told you that I had no regrets about how I lived my life."

"I know but…?" Luffy croaked out, "But that moment's been haunting me all this time. Even after everything that's happened, it's like a part of me just can't move on from that!"

Ace made a soft, soothing sound, rubbing Luffy's back as he continued to hold him tightly, letting the tears drench his skin.

"I was so angry at you," Luffy told him as his voice hitched, "For a long time. You promised me that you wouldn't die! I'm so sorry!"

He suddenly felt the world tip slightly, first one way, then the other a couple of inches up and then down, like they were on a see-saw. He realized that this was because Ace was gently rocking him and that caused Luffy's voice to just break apart into incoherent bawling. Ace just smiled sadly as he held him, letting him say everything he needed to. He would gladly take his brother's anger if it helped him. It was what he deserved and didn't try to stop him as his emotions seemed to rage about from joy to anger to sadness and everything in between. He didn't try to interrupt him, nor did he try to justify what happened that day, he just let Luffy's emotions rage on, knowing that this was a long time coming.

But in the end, Luffy just hugged him tightly, just wanting to hold onto this moment for as long as possible as Ace ached to help his brother's heart to heal.

(Bonds between brothers… it really does make me jealous. Wish I had a close brotherly bond like that but we can't have everything in life. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and the slight changes I made to it. It's hard to say exactly when this all took place, but they did say the ceremony welcoming the Celestial Dragons happened a day after tomorrow so it wasn't until then did Ace and Dadan come back so it had to be around two days at the least before they finally returned. And I do know that I did change the concept of Sabo meeting up with Luffy in the 'space in between' as I like to call it. Well, there is a reason for that since it is confirmed Sabo's alive. I honestly didn't know about that when I first began the original. I remember starting this tale back when we were still getting chapters for Punk Hazard and it wasn't until around… writing the Marineford chapters was it 100% confirmed for us he was still alive. Hey, we mere mortals have a hard enough time following Oda.)