Chapter Text
The first time Ace saw Luffy, he thought he was the most annoying kid in the world.
He was small, loud, stubborn, and smiled like nothing in the world could ever hurt him. Ace didn’t trust people who smiled like that.
“ACE!! WAIT!!”
Ace kept walking up the hill, hands in his pockets, pretending he couldn’t hear the small feet running behind him.
“I said wait!!”
“I heard you,” Ace replied without turning around. “I’m ignoring you.”
“That’s mean!” the kid shouted.
Sabo laughed softly beside Ace, adjusting his top hat so it wouldn’t fall as they walked through the trees.
“You shouldn’t be so mean, Ace. He’s trying very hard to keep up.”
“He wouldn’t have to keep up if he stayed in the village where he belongs,” Ace muttered.
“I heard that!” Luffy complained from behind them. “And I don’t belong there! I belong with you guys!”
Ace stopped walking.
Sabo almost bumped into him.
Luffy finally caught up, breathing heavily, hands on his knees, trying to look like he wasn’t about to collapse.
Ace stared at him for a long moment.
The kid looked back without fear.
That was the weird part.
Most people were scared of Ace. Adults looked at him like he was trouble. Kids avoided him because he fought too much and smiled too little.
But this kid?
He looked at Ace like he had just found treasure.
“What?” Luffy asked.
“…Why do you keep following us?” Ace asked.
Luffy blinked, like the answer was obvious.
“Because you’re my brothers.”
Ace frowned. “We are not.”
“We will be,” Luffy said confidently.
Sabo covered his mouth, clearly trying not to laugh.
Ace groaned and started walking again. “He’s insane.”
But he didn’t tell him to go home again.
And that was the first time Luffy walked with them instead of behind them.
⸻
They reached the edge of the Gray Terminal as the sun began to go down, painting the sky orange and gold. From the hill, they could see the ocean stretching forever, glittering like a promise.
Luffy ran ahead and stopped at the cliff, eyes wide.
“WOAH…”
Even Ace had to admit — the view was incredible.
Sabo walked up beside Luffy. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It’s so big…” Luffy said quietly. “Bigger than the village… bigger than the forest… bigger than everything…”
“That’s the sea,” Ace said. “Out there, no one tells you what to do. No one owns you. You’re free.”
Luffy turned to him so fast he almost fell.
“Free?”
“Yeah,” Ace said. “Pirates are the freest people in the world.”
Luffy’s eyes sparkled in a way Ace would remember for the rest of his life.
“Then, as I planned before! I’m gonna be a pirate!”
Ace snorted. “You? You’d cry the first time a storm hits.”
“I do NOT cry!” Luffy shouted.
“You cried yesterday,” Ace replied immediately.
“That was different!”
“You cry when you’re hungry.”
“I was REALLY hungry!”
“You cry when you get hurt.”
“That hurt REALLY bad!”
Sabo laughed so hard he had to sit down.
Luffy pouted and crossed his arms. “I’m not a crybaby…”
Ace looked at him for a long moment.
“…Then prove it.”
Luffy leaned forward. “How?”
Ace smirked slightly. “Live in the mountains with us. No going back to the village. No crying. No complaining.”
Sabo raised an eyebrow. “Ace…”
But Luffy interrupted immediately:
“Okay!”
Ace didn’t expect that answer.
“You don’t even know what that means,” Ace said.
“It means I’ll be with you,” Luffy replied. “So it’s okay.”
Sabo’s smile faded a little at that. He looked at Luffy carefully, like he was trying to understand something important.
“…Luffy,” Sabo said gently, “why do you want to be with us so badly?”
Luffy looked at the sea again.
Then he said something very simple.
“Because when I’m with you guys… I’m not alone! Before a met you guys, I talked and played a lot with Shanks and his crew! They were so fun! But then, they had to continue with their adventures and I became all alone again… The village doesn’t have a lot of other kids and I stay most of the time alone, so…”
Ace looked away quickly.
Sabo didn’t say anything for a few seconds.
Then he stood up and pulled two small cups and a bottle from his bag.
“Well then,” Sabo said, pouring the drink, “I guess we need to make it official.”
Ace sighed. “You and your ceremonies…”
“This is important,” Sabo said. Then he looked at Luffy. “This is a pirate ritual. A brother ritual.”
Luffy’s eyes widened. “Really?!”
Sabo handed each of them a small cup.
“If we drink this together,” Sabo said, “we become brothers. Not by blood… but by choice.”
Ace stared at the cup.
He had never had a brother.
He had never had a family he chose.
He slowly took the cup.
Luffy held his with both hands like it was the most important thing in the world.
Sabo raised his cup.
“To the day we set sail.”
Ace raised his cup.
“…To freedom.”
Luffy raised his cup.
“To being brothers forever!”
They drank.
The sake tasted terrible to Luffy and he coughed immediately, face red.
“IT’S AWFUL!!” he yelled.
Ace laughed.
Sabo laughed.
And for the first time in a long, long time—
Ace laughed too.
⸻
That night, they sat around a small fire in the mountains.
Luffy had fallen asleep sitting up, his head slowly dropping until it landed against Ace’s arm.
Ace looked down at him.
“…He’s heavy,” Ace muttered, but he didn’t move.
Sabo smiled from across the fire. “You can push him off if you want.”
“…Shut up.”
They sat in silence for a while, listening to the fire crackle and the insects in the trees.
“Ace,” Sabo said quietly, “do you think we can really do it?”
“Do what?”
“Leave. Become pirates. Be free.”
Ace stared into the fire.
“…Yeah,” he said. “I will.”
Sabo nodded slowly. “You will… You always sound so sure.”
Ace didn’t answer for a moment.
Then he said quietly:
“…Because if I don’t leave… I’ll never know why I was born.”
Sabo looked at him, surprised, but didn’t push further.
They both looked at the small sleeping boy leaning on Ace.
“…And him?” Sabo asked. “What about Luffy?”
Ace looked down again.
Luffy was smiling in his sleep.
“…He’s an idiot,” Ace said. “Too nice. Too loud. Too weak.”
Sabo waited.
Ace sighed.
“…But if he stays with us… I guess I’ll make sure he doesn’t die.”
Sabo smiled.
He knew Ace well enough to know what that really meant.
⸻
Before falling asleep, Luffy mumbled something.
Ace frowned. “What did he say?”
Sabo listened carefully.
Luffy whispered, barely audible:
“…Ace… Sabo… don’t leave me…”
Ace didn’t sleep much that night.
——————
The morning Sabo left felt… wrong.
Luffy didn’t know why.
The forest looked the same. The sky was bright, the air warm, and the sound of insects filled the trees like always. But something sat heavy in his chest, like a storm he couldn’t see yet.
Sabo stood near the edge of the clearing, adjusting his gloves.
“You’re leaving early,” Ace said, leaning against a tree with his usual careless posture.
“I want to catch the tide,” Sabo replied. “If I leave now, I’ll be far enough by sunset.”
Luffy frowned.
“Leave?” he repeated. “Where are you going?”
Sabo hesitated.
Ace noticed.
“…You didn’t tell him?” Ace asked.
Sabo sighed softly and walked over, kneeling in front of Luffy.
“I’m going out to sea,” Sabo said gently.
Luffy blinked.
Then blinked again.
“…Without us?”
“It’s just for now,” Sabo said quickly. “I’ll come back. I promise.”
“But… we said we’d go together,” Luffy said, his voice small.
Ace crossed his arms but said nothing.
Sabo placed a hand on Luffy’s head.
“And we will,” he said. “This is just… a head start.”
Luffy looked down, gripping his shorts tightly.
“…I don’t like it.”
Sabo smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“I know.”
⸻
They walked with him to the shore.
The small boat waited quietly, rocking with the tide.
Luffy didn’t let go of Sabo’s sleeve.
“Stay,” he said again.
Sabo crouched down and pulled him into a hug.
“I can’t,” he whispered. “Not here.”
Luffy didn’t understand what that meant.
Ace did.
“…You hate it that much?” Ace asked.
Sabo stood up, looking out at the horizon.
“I hate this country,” he said quietly. “The nobles. The way people live pretending everything is fine while others suffer just out of sight.”
Ace scoffed. “That’s just how it is.”
“It shouldn’t be,” Sabo replied.
Silence stretched between them.
Then Sabo smiled again—this time more like himself.
“But that’s exactly why I’ll come back stronger,” he said. “So when we leave for real… we won’t ever have to come back.”
Ace smirked faintly. “You better not die out there.”
Sabo laughed. “I won’t.”
He stepped into the boat.
Then paused.
“…Luffy,” he said softly.
Luffy looked up.
Sabo held out his hand.
Luffy grabbed it immediately.
“Wait for me,” Sabo said.
Luffy nodded hard. “I will!”
Sabo smiled.
Then he let go.
⸻
The boat drifted away slowly.
Luffy ran along the shore, waving both arms.
“COME BACK SOON!! DON’T TAKE TOO LONG!!”
“I WON’T!!” Sabo shouted back.
Ace stood still, watching quietly.
The sun reflected off the water, making everything shine too brightly.
Luffy kept waving until the boat became smaller.
And smaller.
And smaller.
Until—
⸻
The explosion came from the horizon.
A loud, distant blast that didn’t sound real at first.
Luffy froze.
“…What was that?”
Ace’s eyes widened slightly.
Smoke.
Far away.
Too far to reach.
Too far to understand.
But close enough to see.
“No…” Ace muttered.
Luffy looked at him.
“Ace…?”
Ace didn’t answer.
He just stared at the smoke rising into the sky.
⸻
They never found a body.
They never found the boat.
Only rumors.
A noble ship.
A cannon.
A boy who “got in the way.”
⸻
That night, the fire burned low.
Luffy sat close to Ace, knees pulled to his chest.
“Ace,” he said quietly, “when is Sabo coming back?”
Ace didn’t respond.
Luffy waited.
“…Ace?”
“…He’s not coming back,” Ace said finally.
Luffy shook his head immediately.
“No, he said he would!”
Ace stood up abruptly.
“He’s dead, Luffy.”
The words hit like something physical.
Luffy flinched.
“No,” he said again. “No, you’re wrong—”
“I’m not wrong!” Ace snapped. “That explosion—no one survives that!”
“But Sabo—”
“IS DEAD!”
Silence fell hard between them.
Luffy’s hands trembled.
“…You don’t know that…”
Ace turned away.
“…Go to sleep.”
“I don’t want to!”
“Too bad.”
“I want Sabo!”
Ace clenched his fists.
“I said go to sleep, Luffy!”
Luffy flinched again.
Ace had never yelled like that.
Not at him.
Not like this.
“…You’re lying…” Luffy whispered.
Ace didn’t turn back.
“…Go.”
⸻
That night, Luffy didn’t sleep.
He cried quietly, biting his arm to keep the sounds in.
Because Ace hated crying.
Because if he cried, maybe Ace would leave too.
“…Don’t go…” he whispered into the darkness.
But no one answered.
⸻
Days passed.
Then weeks.
Ace changed.
He talked less.
Fought more.
Stayed away longer.
Luffy followed him every time.
Even when Ace told him not to.
Even when Ace ignored him.
One day, Luffy tripped while running after him and scraped his knee badly.
“…Ah—!”
He bit his lip hard.
Don’t cry.
Don’t cry.
Don’t cry.
Ace kept walking.
Luffy pushed himself up and kept going.
“…I’m not weak…” he whispered to himself.
⸻
Months later—
Ace stood at the dock.
A real ship this time.
Not a small boat.
Not temporary.
Permanent.
Luffy ran toward him.
“You’re leaving too?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“…Yeah,” Ace said.
Luffy’s chest tightened.
“When are you coming back?”
Ace didn’t answer.
“…Ace?”
“I’m not coming back,” Ace said.
Luffy’s world went quiet.
“But— we’re brothers—”
“I have to go,” Ace interrupted.
Luffy grabbed his arm.
“Take me with you!”
“No.”
“Why not?!”
“You’re too weak.”
The words cut deeper than anything else ever had.
Luffy let go slowly.
“I won’t be,” he said. “I’ll get stronger! I promise!”
Ace looked at him.
For a second—
Just a second—
He hesitated.
But then he turned away.
“…Then survive,” Ace said. “If you can do that… maybe someday we’ll meet again.”
Luffy’s hands shook.
“…Ace…”
But Ace didn’t look back.
The ship sailed.
And this time—
Luffy didn’t run after it.
He just stood there.
Alone.
⸻
Five months later—
The sky burned again.
But this time—
It came to him.
⸻
The Celestial Dragon’s ship arrived without warning.
People were dragged into the streets.
Forced to kneel.
Marines everywhere.
Fear thick in the air.
Luffy stood among them, confused.
“Why is everyone kneeling?” he whispered.
Makino, beside him, gently pushed his head down.
“Luffy… don’t look.”
“Why?”
“Just don’t.”
But Luffy looked anyway.
A man in a bubble helmet.
Fat.
Smiling.
Pointing at people like they were objects.
“…Weird,” Luffy muttered.
The man stopped.
“…That one,” the Tenryuubito said.
Luffy blinked.
“Huh?”
“He didn’t bow.”
Marines moved instantly.
Hands grabbed him.
“HEY—! LET GO!” Luffy shouted, struggling.
Makino stepped forward.
“Please— he’s just a child—!”
A gun was pointed at her.
She froze.
Everyone froze.
No one moved.
Luffy kept fighting.
“I SAID LET GO!! I HAVE TO WAIT FOR ACE!!”
The Tenryuubito tilted his head.
“…He stretches.”
Silence.
“…A Devil Fruit,” he said, smiling wider. “How amusing.”
Luffy’s eyes widened.
“No—”
“I’ll take him.”
Makino’s hands shook.
“Please… not him…”
But no one listened.
No one could.
Luffy was dragged toward the ship.
“KNOCK IT OFF!! I’M NOT GOING!!”
He stretched, kicked, bit—
It didn’t matter.
He was too small.
Too alone.
“ACE!!” he screamed.
“ACE!! SABO!!”
No one came.
The ship sailed.
And this time—
No one saw the explosion.
Because it happened inside him.
————————
The first thing Luffy learned in Mary Geoise was silence.
Not because he wanted to be quiet.
But because the first time he screamed, they shocked him.
The collar around his neck wasn’t just metal. It was a warning. A leash. A weapon.
“Rule number one,” a guard had said on the first day, crouching in front of him. “You speak when spoken to. You look down. You move when ordered. If you don’t—”
The guard pressed something.
Pain exploded through Luffy’s body.
He couldn’t even scream properly. His body just collapsed, shaking, vision white, teeth clenched so hard his jaw hurt for hours after.
When it stopped, he lay on the ground, breathing hard, eyes wet but silent.
The guard grabbed his hair and forced his head up.
“Slaves don’t cry loudly,” the man said. “It’s annoying.”
Then he let go, and Luffy’s head hit the floor again.
That was the first lesson.
Be quiet.
⸻
The second lesson was:
Don’t look at them.
The first time Luffy looked a Tenryuubito in the eyes, it was an accident. He just wanted to see the face of the person who had taken him from home.
He didn’t get to see it for long.
The slap knocked him to the ground.
“Trash shouldn’t look up,” the man said.
After that, Luffy learned to look at the floor.
Shoes. Floors. Shadows. Feet.
He became very familiar with feet.
Big shoes meant important person. Fast steps meant angry. Slow steps meant danger. Groups meant someone would get hurt.
So Luffy started listening more than looking.
Listening to steps.
Listening to breathing.
Listening to keys.
Especially keys.
⸻
The third lesson was the most important:
Endure.
At first, Luffy fought everything.
Every order was a “No.”
Every push was a shove back.
Every punishment made him angrier.
“I’m not a slave!” he shouted once.
The shock from the collar made his body convulse until he couldn’t even breathe properly.
After that, an older slave whispered to him that night:
“If you keep fighting like that, you’ll die.”
Luffy looked at the man, eyes red.
“…I don’t care,” Luffy said. “I’m going to leave anyway.”
The man looked at him for a long time.
Then he said quietly:
“…Then you need to live long enough to leave.”
That confused Luffy.
“I don’t understand,” he said.
The man lifted his own sleeve slightly. There were old scars around his wrist.
“You don’t fight them by dying,” the man said. “You fight them by surviving.”
That was the first time Luffy stopped and really thought.
Survive.
Not win.
Not escape immediately.
Survive first.
⸻
And then he got the mark.
It didn’t happen right away.
For a while, Luffy watched others receive it.
He didn’t understand what it meant at first—only that after it happened, something in them changed. They stood a little more still. Spoke even less. Like something had been taken from them and left behind in its place.
One day, they came for him.
Hands grabbed his arms before he could react.
He twisted, fought on instinct, teeth clenched, refusing to go quietly—but there were too many of them.
They forced him down.
His chest hit the floor.
His cheek pressed against cold stone.
“Hold him.”
Luffy’s fingers dug against the ground as he tried to push up.
Then—
He saw it.
The iron.
Glowing.
Bright.
Too bright.
His body tensed before it even touched him. Some part of him already knew.
“No—”
The word broke out before he could stop it.
Someone forced his head down harder.
“Stay still.”
The heat came closer.
Closer—
And then it touched him.
The world didn’t explode.
It narrowed.
Sharpened into one single point of unbearable heat that burned through his back and straight into everything he was.
Luffy’s body jerked against their grip. His hands clawed at the floor, nails scraping uselessly against stone. He tried to hold it in—he tried—
But the sound tore out of him anyway.
It didn’t matter.
They didn’t stop.
They held him there.
Made sure it lasted.
Made sure it stayed.
The smell, the heat, the pressure—
It carved something into his skin.
Into his body.
Into the moment itself.
And then it was over.
Just like that.
The iron pulled away.
The weight on his back lifted.
But the burning didn’t stop.
Luffy lay there, shaking, breath coming in uneven pulls, fingers still curled against the floor like he was holding onto something that wasn’t there.
“Ownership,” one of them said casually.
“A proper mark.”
A symbol.
A warning.
Something meant to last longer than pain.
Luffy didn’t look at it.
Couldn’t.
But he felt it.
Heavy.
Wrong.
Like something had been forced onto him that didn’t belong.
For a moment, something inside him wavered.
Not his body.
Something deeper.
A question without words.
A crack.
Is this what I am now?
His fingers tightened.
No.
The answer came quietly.
But it came.
Even if it hurt.
Even if it stayed.
Even if it never went away—
This wasn’t him.
Luffy closed his eyes, breathing through the pain, holding onto that one thing like it was the only solid ground left.
This wouldn’t define him.
⸻
Time worked strangely in Mary Geoise.
There were no adventures. No seasons. No festivals.
Just work.
Orders.
Punishments.
Sleep.
Repeat.
Luffy stopped counting days after a while. There were no important days to count.
But he counted other things.
He counted how many steps from the sleeping quarters to the kitchens.
He counted how many guards during the night shift.
He counted how long it took for the patrol to turn the corner.
He counted keys.
Always keys.
⸻
He also started noticing something strange.
Sometimes, he knew a guard was about to hit him before the guard moved.
At first, he thought it was luck.
But then it kept happening.
A presence.
A feeling.
Like the air moved differently when someone was about to hurt you.
One day, a guard tried to kick him from behind while he was carrying a box.
Luffy moved to the side before the kick came.
The guard missed and stumbled.
He frowned.
“…You got lucky,” the guard said.
Luffy frowned too.
Because he didn’t think it was luck.
He had felt it.
⸻
That night, Luffy lay awake, staring at the ceiling.
He closed his eyes.
And tried to feel the room.
There were dozens of people sleeping around him.
Breathing.
Shifting.
Quiet.
But he could feel where they were.
Not see.
Feel.
Like little lights in the dark.
He opened his eyes quickly, breathing a little faster.
“…What was that…?”
He didn’t know.
But after that, he started paying attention to that feeling.
That feeling helped him avoid getting hit sometimes.
Helped him hide food sometimes.
Helped him know when guards were coming.
It became his secret.
His invisible friend.
His warning.
⸻
But even with that, he was still a child.
And sometimes, at night, when everyone else was asleep…
He still cried.
Silently.
Face buried in his arm so no one would hear.
“…Ace…” he whispered once.
He tried to remember Ace’s face.
He tried to remember Sabo’s laugh.
He tried to remember the sound of the ocean at Dawn Island.
He was scared of forgetting.
Because if he forgot…
Then it would mean this place was his whole world.
And he refused that.
So every night, he repeated:
“I’m Monkey D. Luffy.”
“I’m going to be a pirate.”
“I have brothers.”
“I’m not a slave.”
He repeated it like a promise.
Like a prayer.
Like a fight.
⸻
One day, a very small girl arrived.
She couldn’t have been more than five.
She cried loudly.
She screamed for her mother.
The guards shocked her again and again until she stopped screaming.
Luffy watched from across the room, fists clenched so tight his nails cut his skin.
That night, the girl kept shaking and crying quietly.
Luffy slowly moved closer and sat next to her.
She flinched.
“…Are you going to get shocked too?” she asked.
“…No,” Luffy said quietly.
“…I want to go home,” she said.
“…Me too.”
She looked at him.
“…Do you know how to get out?”
Luffy was quiet for a long time.
Then he said:
“…Not yet.”
She nodded, small hands gripping the thin blanket.
“…When you find out… can you take me with you?”
Luffy looked at her.
He remembered the day he broke his promise to himself and cried when Ace left.
He remembered screaming when the ship took him away.
He remembered being alone.
“…Yeah,” he said.
And this time, his voice was different.
Quieter.
Stronger.
“…I won’t leave you.”
⸻
2 Years passed.
Luffy grew taller, but still small for his age.
His body became wiry and strong from work.
His eyes changed the most.
He still smiled sometimes.
But not like before.
Now he watched first.
Moved second.
Spoke last.
But deep inside—
He was still the same boy who ran on the docks and laughed too loud.
He just hid that boy.
Protected him.
Waited.
For the right moment.
For the right chance.
For freedom.
⸻
One night, Luffy woke up suddenly.
His heart was beating fast.
That feeling again.
But stronger.
Different.
Not a guard.
Not a master.
Something else.
Many presences.
Moving.
Fighting.
Chaos.
He sat up slowly.
“…What is that…?”
Far away, he heard something.
An explosion.
Then shouting.
Then more explosions.
The little girl next to him woke up, scared.
“What’s happening?” she whispered.
Luffy stood up slowly, listening to the air, feeling the movements, the fear, the confusion spreading through Mary Geoise like fire.
He didn’t know how he knew.
But he knew one thing for sure.
Something big was happening.
Something that could change everything.
Luffy looked down at the metal collar around his neck.
Then at the guards running past the hallway.
Then at the keys on one guard’s belt.
He listened.
Felt.
Waited.
“…Not yet,” he whispered.
But for the first time in years—
Luffy smiled.
Because something in his chest told him:
This was the day.
——————
The first time Sabo saw Portgas D. Ace again, it was in a burning city.
That part, at least, felt familiar.
Smoke rose between the buildings, people were running, and the sound of fighting echoed through the streets. Revolutionary soldiers were evacuating civilians while others held off the royal army that was trying to crush the uprising.
Sabo landed on a rooftop, pipe resting on his shoulder, scanning the street below. He had been sent ahead to clear a path for the civilians to escape toward the ships.
“Chief of Staff!” someone called from behind him. “There’s a strong fighter blocking the west street. He’s burning everything — friend or enemy, we can’t tell!”
Burning.
Sabo frowned slightly. “A Devil Fruit user?”
“Looks like it! Fire!”
Sabo sighed quietly. “Alright. I’ll go.”
He jumped down from the rooftop, landing lightly in a side street, then walked toward the sound of explosions and shouting. As he turned the corner, heat hit him immediately.
The street ahead was half on fire. Soldiers were unconscious on the ground, weapons melted or burned. In the middle of the street stood a man with his back turned, flames still fading from his arm.
Black hair.
Freckles.
A hat hanging behind his neck.
Sabo stopped walking.
Something felt… strange.
Familiar.
The man turned slightly, noticing him.
For a moment, they just looked at each other.
“…You with the Revolutionary Army?” the man asked.
Sabo blinked once. “Yes. And you are currently destroying the street we were planning to use to evacuate civilians.”
The man looked around at the burning buildings.
“…Oh,” he said. “My bad.”
Sabo stared at him.
The voice.
There was something about the voice.
“…Who are you?” Sabo asked.
The man looked at him like that was an obvious question.
“Portgas D. Ace,” he said.
The world stopped.
Sabo’s pipe slipped slightly in his hand but he didn’t drop it.
Ace frowned. “What’s with that face? Did I do something?”
Sabo was staring at him like he had seen a ghost.
“…Ace?” Sabo said slowly.
Ace’s frown deepened. “Yeah. That’s what I just said.”
Sabo took a few steps closer, eyes searching Ace’s face like he was trying to confirm something impossible.
“…It’s really you,” Sabo said.
Ace crossed his arms. “Do I know you?”
That question hit harder than any punch.
Sabo opened his mouth to answer—
And then the world exploded inside his head.
Fire.
Water.
A small boat.
Three cups.
A cave in the mountains.
A loud kid with a straw hat.
“Ace!”
“Sabo!”
“Brothers!”
Sabo dropped to his knees.
Memories crashed into him all at once, so fast and so strong he couldn’t breathe properly. His head felt like it was splitting open.
“Are you ok?” Ace said, stepping forward. “Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
Luffy’s voice echoed in his head.
“Don’t leave!”
The explosion.
The water.
Darkness.
Then Dragon’s voice years ago:
“You were found alone at sea.”
Sabo grabbed his head, breathing hard.
“…Luffy…” he whispered.
Ace froze.
“…What did you say?” Ace asked quietly.
Sabo looked up at him, eyes wide, tears already forming.
“…Luffy,” Sabo said again. “We… we have a little brother.”
Ace didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
Didn’t breathe.
“…Don’t joke about that,” Ace said, but his voice was low and dangerous.
“I’m not joking,” Sabo said, standing up slowly. “Gray Terminal. The sake cups. The promise. We became brothers.”
Ace stared at him.
“…Sabo?” Ace said slowly.
Sabo nodded, tears now running down his face even though he was smiling.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m Sabo.”
Ace’s eyes widened slightly. For a moment, he looked like he didn’t believe it.
“…You died,” Ace said.
“I almost did,” Sabo replied. “A Tenryuubito shot my boat. I fell into the water. Dragon saved me.”
Ace just stared at him, trying to process years of grief and anger and loneliness rearranging themselves in his head in a few seconds.
“…You idiot,” Ace said finally.
Then he punched Sabo.
Not hard enough to really hurt him, but hard enough to mean something.
Sabo laughed a little, even while holding his face. “Yeah. I probably deserved that.”
Ace grabbed his shirt and pulled him into a tight hug.
“You’re alive,” Ace said, his voice rough.
“Yeah,” Sabo said. “I’m alive.”
They stayed like that for a few seconds, both trying to pretend their eyes weren’t burning.
Then Ace pulled back.
“…Luffy’s on Dawn Island,” Ace said. “With Dadan.”
Sabo smiled, relieved. “Good. I’ve been so worried about him and I didn’t even know why.”
Ace nodded. “He’s probably still running around yelling about becoming Pirate King.”
Sabo laughed softly. “Yeah. That sounds like him.”
They started walking together toward the evacuation area, side by side like they used to, falling into step easily even after all those years.
“…Ace,” Sabo said after a while.
“Yeah?”
“…When this war is over… we should go see him.”
Ace was quiet for a moment.
“…Yeah,” he said. “We should.”
Neither of them knew that at that very moment, Luffy was already gone from Dawn Island.
Neither of them knew that while they were talking about going back to him someday—
He was in chains, in Mary Geoise, teaching himself how to survive.
But that day, in a burning city, two brothers found each other again.
And without knowing it, they had just taken the first step toward finding the third.
——————
Mary Geoise was called the Holy Land, a place where gods lived above the world, untouched by war, hunger, or fear. The people who lived there believed themselves untouchable. History had taught them that no one dared to attack the home of the Celestial Dragons.
The Revolutionary Army intended to prove history wrong.
The plan had not begun that day, or that month. It had begun almost a year earlier, with small conversations in hidden rooms, with maps stolen and redrawn from memory, with spies who lived and died without anyone ever knowing their names. The Holy Land could not be attacked like a normal city. It sat above the world, protected by the strongest force on the seas. If they attacked directly, they would be crushed before they even reached the gates.
So Dragon chose a different approach. If they could not weaken Mary Geoise’s walls, they would weaken the world around it.
In the months leading up to the attack, revolutions began to appear like sparks in dry grass. A kingdom in the South Blue suddenly rose against its king, a king known for his close ties to the World Government. A week later, a Marine supply convoy disappeared in the Calm Belt, its ships found days later, burned and empty. Then a noble’s ship was attacked near the Red Line. Then a government warehouse exploded. Then another rebellion began, and another. None of these events were large enough, alone, to change the balance of the world. But together, they forced the Marines to spread their forces thin across multiple seas, sending Vice Admirals, fleets, and resources away from the Red Line.
Mary Geoise still had protection, of course. It always would. But it no longer had all of its protection.
That was when Dragon chose the date.
It was a day when several Celestial Dragons would be gathered for a council, which meant their evacuation would become the highest priority if anything happened. It was a day when two Admirals were confirmed to be away handling major uprisings. It was a day when Marine forces around the Red Line were at their lowest in months.
The goal was never to destroy Mary Geoise. Not even Whitebeard could do that.
The goal was to make the gods run.
And while the gods were running, they would break the chains.
⸻
On the night of the attack, the sea was unusually calm.
Revolutionary ships moved without lights, hugging the shadows of the Red Line. Orders were whispered, not spoken. Everyone on board knew this mission could very easily be their last.
Sabo stood at the bow of one of the ships, staring up at the enormous wall of rock that held up the Holy Land. From below, Mary Geoise looked less like a city and more like a fortress built by the world itself. For a moment, he allowed himself to think about how many people had suffered and died up there, unseen by the rest of the world.
He adjusted his gloves slowly, then looked back at the soldiers behind him. Some were checking weapons. Some were sitting quietly with their eyes closed. Some were shaking and trying to hide it.
“We are not here for glory,” Sabo said, his voice calm but carrying across the deck. “We are not here for revenge. We are here to bring our people home. Do not chase fights you don’t need. Do not be heroes. Complete the mission and get out.”
They nodded. No one cheered. This was not that kind of mission.
From another route, on the other side of the Red Line, another force was approaching.
The Moby Dick cut through the water like a silent mountain. The Whitebeard Pirates stood ready, the air around them heavy with the kind of anticipation that came before a storm.
Whitebeard sat at the front of the ship, looking up toward Mary Geoise, and laughed quietly to himself.
“Gurarara… The brats are really going to poke the gods.”
Marco stood nearby, arms crossed, calm as always, but his eyes were sharp. “We’re really doing this, old man.”
“We’re not the main act,” Whitebeard replied. “We’re the distraction.”
Ace leaned against the railing, looking up at the Red Line. He didn’t know why, but ever since they agreed to this mission, he had felt restless. Like something was waiting for him there. Like something unfinished was calling him.
“You look like you swallowed a bug,” Marco said, walking up beside him.
“Just feels weird,” Ace replied. “Like something big is going to happen.”
Marco studied his face for a moment, then looked back up at the Red Line. “Yeah,” he said. “I got that feeling too.”
⸻
The attack did not begin with fire.
It began with silence.
Small Revolutionary teams infiltrated Mary Geoise through service tunnels, supply entrances, and hidden passages used by servants and slaves. Guards disappeared in quiet corners, dragged into the shadows before they could make a sound. Den Den Mushi lines were cut in specific sectors, not enough to alert the entire city, but enough to isolate parts of it.
Doors that were always locked were unlocked.
Chains that had never been touched were prepared to be broken.
Sabo moved through one of the underground corridors with two soldiers behind him, his metal pipe resting against his shoulder. Every step was calculated. Every turn matched the map in his head.
“Teams A and C are in position,” a voice whispered through the Den Den Mushi. “No alarm yet.”
“Team B ready,” another voice said. “Target location confirmed.”
Sabo stopped at an intersection and closed his eyes for a brief moment, listening to the distant sounds of the city above them. Then he spoke quietly into the Den Den Mushi.
“Begin.”
A second later, the night exploded.
Cannons fired at the front port of Mary Geoise as the Whitebeard Pirates launched their attack. The ground trembled slightly even in the underground tunnels. Alarms began to ring, distant at first, then multiplying across the city.
Above them, Marines began rushing toward the front lines, exactly as planned.
And just like Dragon predicted, the first official order from the Celestial Dragons was not to secure the city.
It was to prepare their evacuation.
⸻
Luffy felt the change before he heard it.
He woke up suddenly, sitting upright in the darkness of the slave quarters. Around him, dozens of other slaves were still asleep, but he could feel it in the air. Movement. Panic. Fast footsteps. Shouting far away. Something big was happening above them.
Then the explosion sound finally reached them, a deep, distant boom that made dust fall slightly from the ceiling.
The little girl sleeping next to him woke up with a small gasp and grabbed his arm. “What was that?” she whispered.
Luffy didn’t answer right away. He was listening, but not just with his ears. He was feeling the corridors, the movement of people, the direction of the running guards. The presence he felt every day, the one that warned him when someone was about to hit him, was everywhere now, spreading through the building like ripples in water.
“Something’s happening,” he said quietly.
The door to the quarters opened suddenly and a guard shouted, “All of you, stay here! Don’t move!”
But even as he said it, another guard ran past the door and yelled, “All available men to the upper city! We’re under attack!”
Under attack.
The guards started leaving. Not all of them, but many. The hallway that was always full of boots and keys and shouting suddenly felt… open.
Luffy stood up slowly.
His heart was beating faster, but his face was calm in a way it never used to be when he was little.
He walked toward the hallway with his head down like always, like he was just another obedient shadow. A guard ran past him without even looking at him, keys bouncing at his belt.
Luffy’s eyes followed the keys.
Then he looked back at the room full of slaves.
Then back at the keys.
He didn’t think about it very long.
“…It’s today,” he whispered.
——
Honestly, the keys were not the hardest part.
The chains were.
Luffy sat on the floor with his back against the wall, head down, pretending to rest like the others. The corridor outside was in chaos — boots running past, distant explosions, people shouting orders. No one was paying attention to the slaves anymore.
That was the only reason this was even possible.
He slowly moved his hands, feeling the cold weight of the seastone cuffs around his wrists. Even after two years, the feeling hadn’t changed. Every time he wore them, his body felt heavy, weak, like he was sick. Like his strength was locked somewhere far away where he couldn’t reach it.
He had tried before.
Many times.
Pulling. Twisting. Forcing.
It never worked.
Seastone didn’t break just because you wanted it to.
But today was different.
Today, if he didn’t get out, he would never get another chance.
Luffy looked down at his hands for a long time, breathing slowly, listening to the corridor, counting the steps of the guards, waiting for the moment when no one was close.
Then he whispered, very quietly, mostly to himself:
“…I’m getting out.”
He pulled his hands in opposite directions, trying to slide one wrist through the cuff. The metal didn’t move. His skin scraped painfully, but the cuff stayed in place.
He stopped, breathing a little harder, and looked at his wrist.
Too tight.
He tried again, harder this time, twisting his hand at an angle, forcing his thumb inward. The metal bit into his skin, scraping, burning, but still not enough.
He closed his eyes.
He remembered Ace saying: “If you’re going to survive out there, stop crying and endure it.”
He remembered the man in the slave quarters saying: “You don’t fight by dying. You fight by surviving.”
He remembered Sabo’s voice: “Wait for me.”
“…I am waiting,” Luffy whispered. “…But I’m not staying here.”
He placed his thumb against the edge of the cuff and pushed.
Hard.
Pain shot through his hand immediately, sharp and deep. His breath hitched, but he didn’t stop.
He pushed harder, forcing his thumb to bend in a way it wasn’t supposed to. He felt the skin tear before he fully understood what he was doing. Warm blood made his wrist slippery.
He bit down on his arm to stop himself from making noise.
“—mmgh—!”
His thumb finally slipped partway through the cuff, but the bones of his hand got stuck.
He pulled back, breathing fast now, eyes wet but silent.
“…Again,” he whispered.
He twisted his hand sideways and pulled with all the strength he had left in his weakened body. The metal scraped skin off his knuckles. His fingers bent painfully, nails cracking as they dragged against the inside of the cuff.
For a second, he thought he couldn’t do it.
For a second, he thought his hand was stuck.
Then he pulled again, harder than before, a broken, desperate movement that tore skin and forced his hand through the cuff.
His wrist finally slipped free.
He almost cried out, but instead he pressed his forehead to the floor, breathing hard, his whole arm shaking from pain and weakness.
Blood ran down his hand and dripped onto the stone floor.
But one hand was free.
“…Okay,” he whispered to himself, voice shaking. “Okay… okay…”
The second cuff was harder. His free hand was slippery with blood, and the seastone made his whole body feel like it weighed a hundred kilos. But now he knew it was possible.
He forced his other thumb the same way, biting his sleeve this time to muffle the sound when the skin split and the joint bent painfully. His vision blurred from the pain, but he kept pulling, twisting, forcing his hand through the unyielding metal until finally, after what felt like forever, his second hand slipped free too.
The moment both cuffs were off, he collapsed forward, catching himself on his hands, breathing like he had just run for miles.
His wrists were bleeding, raw and torn.
His fingers were bent and shaking.
But he was free.
Luffy stayed on the floor for a few seconds, just breathing, letting the strength slowly return to his body now that the seastone wasn’t touching him anymore.
He could feel it.
That lightness.
That energy.
That feeling of being himself again.
He slowly curled his fingers, wincing at the pain, then looked up toward the corridor.
“…Now the keys,” he said quietly.
He stood up, unsteady but determined.
He had broken his chains.
Now he was going to break everyone else’s.
He moved when the guard passed again, stretching his arm just enough, just fast enough. The keys slipped from the guard’s belt without him noticing, disappearing into Luffy’s hand as he pulled his arm back under his sleeve.
He walked back into the room, closed the door quietly, and opened his hand.
Three keys.
His hands were shaking.
The little girl looked at him with wide eyes. “Luffy…?”
He walked to the corner, picked the small lock on his collar with the smallest key, and after two failed tries, the lock finally clicked open. The metal collar fell into his hands, heavier than he expected.
He stared at it for a long moment. At the metal that had burned him, shocked him, controlled when he could speak and when he had to be silent.
“…I told you,” he said quietly to no one in particular. “I’d survive.”
He dropped it on the floor and stepped on it until the mechanism broke.
Then he turned back to the others and lifted the keys.
“We’re leaving,” he said.
Some of them stared at him like he was crazy. Some looked terrified. Some didn’t move at all.
“If we get caught, we’ll die,” a man said quietly.
“If you stay, you’ll die here anyway,” Luffy replied.
There was no anger in his voice. No fear. Just a simple truth.
He started unlocking chains, one by one, moving quickly but carefully. The whole time, he was listening, feeling the movement in the building, trying to find the paths with the fewest guards, the moments where the corridors would be empty.
When the last chain fell, everyone looked at him like they were waiting for the rest of the plan.
Luffy closed his eyes for a second, concentrating. He could feel fighting above them, feel large groups of people moving toward the front of the city, feel smaller groups running in panic in another direction.
He pointed to a corridor. “Not that way. Too many guards.”
Then he pointed the opposite direction. “This way. There are stairs. It’s quieter.”
“How do you know?” someone asked.
Luffy opened his eyes again.
“I can tell,” he said simply.
Then he started walking, and after a moment of hesitation, they followed him.
Dozens of slaves, moving through the halls of the Holy Land, guided by a nine-year-old boy who refused to leave anyone behind.
⸻
Above them, the city was in chaos.
Ace ran through a burning street, flames trailing behind him as Marines tried and failed to stop him. He wasn’t thinking about strategy anymore. He wasn’t thinking about the plan. That strange feeling in his chest had only gotten stronger since the attack began, pulling him toward the eastern side of the city like an invisible rope tied around his ribs.
He grabbed a Marine officer by the front of his uniform and slammed him against a wall.
“Where are the slaves kept?” Ace demanded.
“I don’t know—!”
Ace’s hand ignited, flames licking up the man’s collar. “Wrong answer.”
“Underground! East sector! Service corridors!”
Ace dropped him and immediately ran in that direction.
He didn’t know why he cared so much.
He just knew he had to go there.
⸻
Luffy and the others were almost outside when the feeling hit him.
Too many presences ahead.
Too fast.
Too late to turn around.
He stopped walking.
The people behind him bumped into each other, whispering in panic. “Why did we stop?” “What’s wrong?” “Are there guards?”
Luffy turned around and looked at them. They looked at him like he had all the answers.
Maybe he didn’t have all the answers.
But he had made a promise.
“When I say run,” he said quietly, “you run and don’t stop.”
The little girl tightened her grip on his hand. “What about you?”
Luffy smiled a little, the same kind of smile he used to have back on Dawn Island.
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Then the guards turned the corner and saw them.
“There they are!”
“Stop them!”
Guns were raised.
Luffy stepped forward and pushed the little girl gently back.
“…Run,” he said.
No one moved.
“I SAID RUN!” he shouted, louder than he had spoken in years.
This time they ran.
The guards fired.
The bullets hit Luffy and bounced off his body, ricocheting into walls and even hitting some of the guards, throwing them into confusion.
“Devil Fruit!” someone shouted. “Use blades!”
More guards arrived, surrounding him.
Luffy was breathing hard now. His arms felt heavy. His legs were shaking. He had been running and unlocking chains and guiding people for what felt like hours.
But he stood there anyway.
Buying time.
Just like he promised.
The guards charged with swords.
Luffy tried to move.
But his body didn’t respond fast enough.
He was too tired.
He thought, distantly, that at least the others might make it.
Then fire exploded through the corridor.
A wall of flames forced the guards back, heat filling the hallway in a sudden roar.
Footsteps walked through the fire, slow and steady.
Luffy looked up.
A tall figure stepped through the flames, fire dancing around his shoulders like it belonged there.
For a moment, Luffy just stared. His brain felt slow, like it couldn’t understand what his eyes were seeing.
The man stopped a few steps in front of him.
They looked at each other in silence.
“…Luffy?” the man said, his voice barely more than a breath.
Luffy’s eyes widened.
That voice.
He knew that voice.
But that was impossible.
“…Ace…?” he whispered.
Ace’s face broke in a way Luffy had never seen before, like something inside him had cracked wide open.
“…Yeah,” Ace said softly. “It’s me.”
Luffy kept staring at him, like if he looked away, the person in front of him would disappear.
“…Am I dreaming?” Luffy asked.
Ace walked closer slowly, like he was afraid that if he moved too fast, the moment would shatter.
“No,” Ace said. “You’re not dreaming.”
Luffy’s lip started to tremble. He tried to stop it. He remembered being told not to cry. He remembered trying to be strong. He remembered surviving.
But this was Ace.
“…You came back…” Luffy said, his voice small and broken.
Ace knelt in front of him and pulled him into a tight hug.
“I’m sorry I was late,” Ace whispered.
That was the moment Luffy stopped holding everything in.
He grabbed Ace’s shirt with both hands and started crying, loud, shaking, like all the years he had been silent were breaking out of him at once.
“Ace—! Ace—! Ace—!”
Ace held him tighter, one hand on the back of his head, the other around his shoulders, like if he let go Luffy would disappear.
“I’ve got you,” Ace said. “You’re safe now. I’m here.”
Luffy tried to say something else, but the words didn’t come out right. He was too tired, too hurt, too relieved.
“Ace…” he mumbled one more time.
Then his body went completely limp.
Ace caught him before he hit the ground.
“…Luffy?” he said, panic flashing across his face for a split second.
“He’s alive,” a voice said behind him.
Marco landed nearby with a few of Whitebeard’s commanders, looking at the scene with confusion and surprise.
Marco looked at the small boy in Ace’s arms, at the broken collar on the floor, at the burns and bruises and thin frame.
Then he looked at Ace.
“…Who is this kid?” Marco asked.
Ace didn’t hesitate.
He held Luffy a little closer and answered quietly:
“…My little brother.”
Marco’s expression changed immediately. “Give him to me,” he said gently. “I’m a doctor.”
Ace handed Luffy over carefully, like he was handing over something fragile and priceless.
Marco looked at the marks around Luffy’s neck and wrists, and his usual calm expression hardened slightly. “What did they do to this kid…” he muttered.
Ace turned and looked back toward the burning city of Mary Geoise. His face was in shadow, but the fire around his hands began to grow, hotter and brighter than before.
“…Ace?” Marco called.
Ace didn’t look back.
“I’m going back,” Ace said.
“To where?” Marco asked, even though he already knew the answer.
Ace’s voice was low and full of something that sounded very close to hatred.
“…I’m going to burn the gods.”