Chapter 6: Free as the Pirate King [3]
The next time Ace woke up was to the sun rays shining through the window and early bird songs filtering in. He lifted his head from the pillow, licking his lips. He didn't even know when he fell asleep or how he ended up back on his futon. The last thing he remembered was sitting with Luffy on his lap and—
His head whipped to look at Luffy's futon. Finding it empty, he swept the room.
His brother stood at the window, clutching its windowsill as he stared outside. He stood completely motionless, not even blinking.
Ace relaxed. "What are you doing, Luffy?" he wondered, absent-mindedly scratching his belly.
The boy jumped, startled, and immediately stepped away from the window.
Ace raised his eyebrow.
Luffy's toes curled under him as he clutched his straw hat, tugging it down. "Can I go outside?" he asked under his breath.
"Huh? Why wouldn't you be able to go outside?"
One of Luffy's shoulders rose and dropped in a dejected shrug.
There are no shackles, Ace.
Ace almost facepalmed at his stupidity. Luffy always needed freedom like he needed air and had probably been shackled for years. Of course, he would want to feel free now that he was rescued from those bastards.
Ace clenched his fist.
He was going to murder those who did this to his baby brother. Rip them into shreds.
Luffy tensed, pulling his hat down harder.
Ace pushed all the air out of his lungs in an explosive sigh, letting his anger leave with it. "Yeah, we can go outside," he finally said, heaving himself up.
Luffy's head snapped up, eyes big and bright, and gave a small yet heart-wrenchingly beautiful smile that Ace thought put all his large and toothy ones to shame.
They tiptoed to the exit, careful not to wake the bandits up. Luffy raced through the door first, and Ace followed at a slower pace, stifling a yawn.
It was still early in the morning. On one side, the sky was the dark blue and purple of twilight. On another, the sun bloomed on the horizon, golden petals bright amid the rich blue. It illuminated the forest and the dew-laden grassy field before the hut. Night chill still lingered in the air, but the daybreak was quickly bringing glimmers of warmth with it.
Luffy stopped at the line where the growing grass replaced the naked dirt. He made a hesitant step forward, placing his bare feet into the grass, then another, and stood there, moving only his toes and savoring the refreshing coldness of the dew.
Ace instantly smothered the thought that Luffy acted like it was the first time he felt the dewy grass in years. It might have been true, but he didn't want to think about it now. Not when the wide grin was spreading across his brother's face.
Soft laughter escaped him, and Luffy sprinted across the field, leaving imprints of his feet in the grass.
Ace sat down on the old tree trunk at the edge of the field, watching the kid running around and chasing butterflies. The buzz of happiness and the warm sunlight must have lulled him into sleep because the next thing he knew was Luffy jumping on his back and almost bringing them both down into the grass.
"Luffy," he grumbled, adjusting his sitting position to accommodate the additional weight on his back.
"Shishishishi," Luffy giggled into his ear. "I'm glad this isn't a dream." His voice grew quieter, softer. "Thank you for waiting for me, Ace."
Ace's cheeks burned. "Idiot," he muttered, but the insult didn't carry any heat behind it, only endless fondness. "Thanks for coming back, Luffy."
Luffy grinned. With the last squeeze, he unwrapped himself from Ace and plopped down, sprawling in the grass.
Ace moved so that he could see his brother. "Do you know who brought you back?" It was something he hadn't had time to think about until now, but was immensely curious.
Luffy stared at the sky, at the sunbeams eating away the remains of the night. "No," he uttered finally. "But…" He closed his eyes as the gust swept across the field. "There was someone who felt like the wind. Fast, ruthless… Unrestrained."
Ace scowled. Luffy's words made no sense. He tapped his finger on his knee, thinking. Whoever it was didn't want to show themselves, but at the same time, he must have known Luffy or at least where he was from. The mystery gave him a headache, but all he could do was hope that bringing Luffy back home wouldn't come with some kind of price later.
"Ne, Ace."
"Yeah?"
"How old am I?"
"How old—" Ace gawked in sheer shock. Luffy might be an idiot, but he certainly knew how to count. The fact that he didn't know how old he was meant that he didn't know how long he had spent in that horrible place. "Twelve, Luffy. You're already twelve."
Luffy hummed. "A bit over four years, huh…"
They lapsed into another silence. Ace stewed in his thoughts, and Luffy basked in the sunlight.
"Ace?" Luffy asked again.
"M?"
"Where's Sabo?"
Ace stiffened, the conversation they had in the middle of the night rushing to the forefront of his mind. He gulped down the guilt and opened his mouth—
"Don't lie."
Luffy's black eyes bored into Ace, stripping layers of skin and flesh until there was nothing but his rotten soul bared to the elements. He had no idea how, but Luffy knew he lied.
Ace took a shuddering breath in, hands shaking and eyes fixed on his lap, and blurted it out, "Sabo died." He never voiced it out loud himself. Avoided saying it even in the privacy of his head. Not when Luffy was gone, and he was so utterly alone.
In the deathly silence that followed, Ace didn't dare to look at Luffy, to see what kind of expression he made after hearing such news.
There was a rustle as Luffy sat up. "How did he die?"
"The day before you disappeared from the hideout, Sabo sailed off to the sea to escape his parents. He accidentally crossed an incoming ship, and some asshole shot his boat. They never found his body, but after a direct hit and explosion…" Ace ran his trembling hand through his hair. "Dogra saw everything."
Silence. No crying, no denials, nothing.
"Incoming ship? The only ship that could have come that day…" Luffy trailed off. "I see. So Sabo was killed by them."
He sounded wrong somehow. Too deep, too serious. Not angry, rather uncharacteristically calm. Cold even, unforgiving.
Ace glanced up and went rigid.
Luffy's dark eyes had become bottomless black pits glaring at something unseen in the distance. Ace immediately recognized the emotion on his brother's face, being intimately familiar with it.
Hate. Pure, raw hate. Luffy had never before shown hate. Anger, of course, but never hate. But there it was.
And suddenly, it felt like Luffy, his Luffy, was slipping away into some darkness where Ace would never be able to reach him. He wanted to do something. Maybe shout to not leave him alone again. Or grab him and never let go before his careless little brother faded away completely.
Ace's shaky arms were uselessly heavy, and he couldn't get the words out. They tangled up, tripping over whatever was lodged inside his chest.
Then, just like during the night, Luffy blinked, and whatever demons tormented him retreated. He fell back into the grass with a weary sigh, looking sad now, mournful. Peaceful in his grief. Lifting his hand, he reached for the sky. "Sabo always wanted to be free," he murmured. "We have to be free, Ace." The sky was so high above, seemingly unattainable, but Luffy's fist closed as if he grabbed onto whatever he had been reaching for. "Freer than anyone else so we could show Sabo what it truly means."
"Yeah," Ace managed tightly.
Luffy looked at him, brow furrowing. Wordlessly, he stood up and placed his straw hat on Ace's head. When the teen looked up, surprised by his action, he slipped his hand into Ace's and said, "I want to see the sea, Ace," as he tugged him to move.
"Right." Ace shook himself from his stupor, returned the straw hat to its rightful spot atop Luffy's head, and smiled. "Let's go see the sea then."
His little brother beamed, pulling him into the forest path leading to their favorite cliff, and it was the best medicine in the world for Ace's mangled heart.