Work Text:
Sabo heard the news of Luffy’s death the same way he had found out about the burning and destruction of the Gray Terminal. Through Sterry, who gleefully told him about a little boy wearing a stupid straw hat in some dinghy that had been blown up in the sea because he had dared to cross the visiting Celestial Dragon and his ship.
Denial had been the first thought through the blonde boy’s head. Because it couldn’t be him.
It couldn’t be his younger brother.
It couldn’t be Luffy .
Then panic swiftly replaced denial. He needed to leave. He needed to leave now .
Even when he was older he was not sure how he managed to escape his parent’s home that night (he couldn’t even call it his home…not when his home was in the forest with two other boys), the next thing he remembered was him racing through the streets, his breath running ragged as it burned in his chest.
He doesn’t realize he’s crying, all that is repeating in his mind is Luffy, Luffy, Luffy.
He found he had made it to the remains of the Gray Terminal in record time, scrambling over the charred junk and twisted metal. He tripped, rolling down an embankment, more than likely cutting himself on some jagged piece of metal because he was in pain, but he ignored it, scrambling up and continued to race through the place.
His mind was just chanting his younger brother’s name. Praying that Sterry was wrong. Or…or mistaken. Or that he was just tormenting Sabo.
Luffy.
Luffy.
He needed to see Luffy.
He could only hope that he would get back to Mt. Colubo, get to Dadan’s home, or maybe their treehouse, and Ace and Luffy would both be there. Alive. They’d be confused as to why he was there, of course. Probably overjoyed. But they would be alive.
They would be-
A howl that echoed through the trees caused him to stumble to a stop, panting with exertion. That hadn’t been an animal, could it? He had been through the woods nearly top to bottom and then some. He had never heard an animal sound like that.
Another scream echoed down to him.
It was a guttural sound. Almost primal. And the sound made his heart evacuate his chest and rest at his feet. His legs shook, but he dimly realized it wasn’t just from how exhausted he was, or the fact he had just run nonstop for miles.
It was because he recognized the sound now.
Recognized the voice.
And there would be no reason for him of all people to be reacting like this unless…unless…
No please no. Don’t let it be true. Don’t let it be that Luffy is…is…
He broke through the clearing and saw the familiar house. He saw Dadan, Dogra, and Magra outside, a glow from the fire setting ominous shadows of the trees around them. But there was no joy or relief at the sight of them. Instead, they were crying and drinking, seeming like a ghostly replica of themselves. A bit further away, near a large bonfire, he saw the familiar silhouette, sitting with his back to everyone, a large bottle in his hand. He didn’t look like Monkey D. Garp that he had grown used to, a proud Marine, about ready to nearly kill them with ‘training’. No…he looked like a shell of a man he knew.
But where-
“LET ME GO! LET ME GO !! I’M GOING TO KILL THEM! DO YOU HEAR ME!?! I’M GOING TO KILL THEM !!”
He jumped and looked over to the large tree nearby. And there, bound to its base was Ace. He was struggling against the bindings, his expression one of absolute fury, eyes burning in rage, practically bright red, eyes wild. Even so, Sabo could see that there, mingled with the rage, was untold grief. The combination of those two emotions startled Sabo, and his heart climbed into his throat and he found his eyes burning and the tears slid down his face as he tried to breathe. But he couldn’t.
He couldn’t breathe.
He had never seen Ace like this. Never in all the time they had been friends.
It was true. Sterry had been telling the truth.
Luffy was dead.
He was dead .
Ace let out another howl, straining against the ropes. With a violent crack, the ropes holding him down frayed and snapped. He fell to the ground with a thump, but before anyone could stop him he scrambled up and bolted down the path into the trees. Garp didn’t even attempt to move.
“ACE!”
He ignored his exhaustion and ignored his own grief. Sabo took off after the raven-hair colored boy. He stumbled on the roots of the trees, but kept up with Ace. Tears blurred in his vision, making it harder to see what lay ahead of him.
“Ace! Ace, stop! STOP!”
Suddenly, without warning, Ace did as he was told. Sabo stumbled, nearly colliding into him as he stopped as well, in a clearing. Distantly they could see the sea, and all its yawning black.
Luffy was there. Somewhere. Drowned.
He couldn’t swim. He would have been helpless.
Sabo’s stomach turned in on itself, forming knots and he felt queasy. Ace turned to look at Sabo, a blank expression on his face. And the uneasiness grew.
“A-Ace?”
“Don’t get in my way, Sabo.”
Sabo blinked.
“W…what?”
“I said don’t get in my way. I’m going to kill the damn bastards that murdered Luffy!”
“Are you insane?! They say it might have been a Celestial Dragon that-”
“It was!!” Ace hissed. “Dogra saw him! He saw that damn Celestial Dragon blow him out of the water! He wasn’t doing anything! He wasn’t…wasn’t…” Ace shook his head, the rage returning to his face. “He was just a kid! He was our brother! I’m going to murder them for what they did to him!”
“Ace, no!”
He grabbed Ace’s arm, pulling him back. Before he could react he was thrown back by a sudden punch. He looked at Ace in shock. To be fair, Ace looked just as surprised, looking at his closed fist before gritting his teeth.
“Why not?! They murdered him!!”
“You’ll be killed before you even get close to that Celestial Dragon, you know that!!” Sabo yelled, getting up and rushing at Ace, tackling him to the ground. Ace began to struggle, kicking at Sabo’s midsection. He slammed his head forward, hitting Sabo square in the jaw, causing the other boy to fall backwards onto the ground, Ace now on top of him.
“You’re siding with them!?!”
“No!” Sabo refuted vehemently, praying the conviction in his voice could convince the other boy. “Never! I want nothing to do with those bastards! They deserve to pay!!”
“THEN WHY ARE YOU STOPPING ME?!”
“I just lost one brother, Ace!” Sabo cried out, tears sliding down his face as Ace raised his fist to strike him. “I can’t lose you too!”
Ace’s punch never landed and Sabo stared up at him. He looked so devastatingly heartbroken, Sabo’s heart shattered further.
“…Luffy…why did he…why did he do that? I…I…should have watched over him…” Ace managed through labored breaths. “He…He…he must have been terrified.” His voice cracked and a sob tore out of his chest. Sabo felt his heart squeeze and he found it was hard for him to breathe as well.
Will they ever be able to breathe again? When they’ve lost their brother. Their baby brother.
How did one breathe when a part of their hearts had been torn out?
“He’s gone, Sabo…” Ace’s breath hitched the tears slid down his face. “ Luffy’s gone… ”
And then Sabo, whether it was out of desperation or devastation, grabbed Ace and dragged him down to him into a tight embrace, fingers digging into the other boy's arms. And they wept. They didn’t care if their old motto was men didn’t cry. They didn’t care if someone saw them. They didn’t care about anything at that moment.
All they cared about was that their brother was gone.
And they could do nothing about it.
It was a blur. Somehow they had made it back to Dadan’s Castle. They didn’t speak the entire time back, just held one another, leaning on each other for support. Dadan didn’t say anything to either of them as they walked silently past her and into the home. He wasn’t sure when they fell asleep, or rather how. He didn’t know how he was ever going to sleep right again. Nonetheless, Sabo woke up the next morning, even though he was still exhausted, and his eyes burned something fierce, staring up at the wood of the roof. The soft sound of rain filled his ears. He winced as he rubbed his eyes and looked over as a hand clutched at his shirt.
Ace was passed out next to him, breathing labored, looking just as exhausted as Sabo felt, tear tracks staining his dirty cheeks. Gingerly, he managed to remove Ace’s grip off of his shirt, and slowly he stood, exiting the home, and spotted Garp.
He hadn’t moved from where he had been sitting last night, though the bonfire had long since died, not even embers remained in the pit. Considering how soaked he was, he theorized that Garp hadn’t moved an inch, even in the downfall. Sabo hesitated before making his way over, ignoring the rain as well.
“Gramps.”
Garp didn’t turn, but Sabo didn’t hesitate. He gritted his teeth, his eyes burned from the amount of crying he had done in the past night, but he moved forward.
“Please Gramps.”
Garp was silent for a little while longer and then slowly, as though one would move through quicksand, he turned. His eyes were red and swollen, tear tracks carved their way down his face, just like Ace. Sabo gulped, tears gathering in his eyes again. He scrubbed at his face, trying to push back the tears.
His family is shattered. Nothing can bring it back.
But he can’t go back to his old life. He can’t go back to the place that broke his family.
Never again.
“I…I need a favor. Please?”
Garp was silent, staring at the blonde haired boy. Slowly, ever so slowly and minutely he nodded.
“...What do you need?”
“I need help.” Sabo finally whispered. And softly in the morning light and the sound of rain, Sabo told him his plan.
A few weeks later, there was news that Sabo, prodigal son of Outlook III and Didit, had died in an accident. Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp had attempted to save him, however it was a lost cause as he vanished in a mudslide, his body never to be found.
It was a simple funeral. At least…simple for a noble. Closed casket.
But as the funeral was being held in the Goa Kingdom, a particular blonde haired boy returned to the forests that he had lived in prior, back home to his real family. Though now that it was absent of one brother and the forest seemed sadder and was devoid of life as it had been before.
It was months after that when word reached Dawn Island. There had been an accident. A ship housing a Celestial Dragon had been trapped in a vicious storm and had sank. All hands on deck had been lost. It hadn’t been much longer after that the two brothers found out it had been the Celestial Dragon that had killed Luffy had died that stormy night.
Saint Jalmack was gone.
Sabo had called it cosmic justice. Ace had only said he wished they had been the one to end his life.
Garp didn’t say anything, but Sabo watched what looked like a grim smile appear on the old man’s face when he read the article, along with a look of knowing that he couldn’t quite place before Garp downed more of his drink.
After that, they placed an ‘X’ made out of driftwood on the cliffside.Carved into the block of wood was the word simply labeled as ‘Luffy’
That way Luffy could always look out at the sea.
It was small. Simple.
He deserved more, but this was the best they could give him.
And deep down, they felt like he was probably pleased, nonetheless.
They both agreed to still leave at age 17. They had promised Luffy they would make a name for themselves.
And even if their little brother wasn’t there anymore…well they didn’t break promises no matter what.
Oddly enough after Luffy’s death, Garp had stopped trying to convince them to become Marines, though he kept up with those training sessions. They hadn’t pushed on his reasoning, not wanting another lecture or a training session added on top of the other, but it was strange for them to not hear it.
Another year passed. Then another.
Seasons changed. Summer turned to fall. Fall to winter. Winter to spring. Spring to Summer. Years passed. Him and Ace grew up in the forest, together again, fighting against the animals, and bandits growing stronger.
They were no longer boys. They were men now.
Well still teenagers if they were going to go into specifics, but as far as they were concerned, they were adults, no matter what people thought.
They stood at the cliff’s edge, staring out of the great expanse of the ocean that lay ahead of them. A breeze blew past them, the trees whispering softly behind them, leaves rustling. They glanced at one another and then at the X they had erected into the dirt, staring out at the ocean.
“Hey Lu…” Sabo remarked, sighing as they sat down. “Ace and I are going to be heading out soon. We’re both seventeen now, so…you know.”
“We’re still going to become pirates. Just like we said we would.” Ace continued as a gust of wind blew past them. If they imagined it, they could almost hear Luffy’s laugh. Ace swallowed and Sabo grimaced, before forcing a smile.
“I’ll try to keep a rein on Ace, but you know him. Nothing but trouble.”
“Oye.”
Sabo gave a toothy grin as Ace lightly punched his arm. His brow rose as Ace fiddled with something in that bag that he had brought with them. With a triumphant grin he held out a bottle of saké.
“Where did you get that?”
“Dadan. Where else?”
Sabo rolled his eyes.
“Seriously? You know she’s going to start a tab on us if we keep stealing bottles.”
“Not if we don’t get caught.”
The blonde snorted but didn’t argue as Ace pulled out three sakazukis as well and after handing him one, set another down in front of Luffy’s gravestone. He pulled the cork out the bottle with his teeth and spat it away, before pouring himself a cup, poured some saké into the cup next to Luffy’s gravestone, and then some into Sabo’s.
They softly clinked their cups together, gentle smiles on their faces, before downing the liquor.
Softly they clunk their cups to Luffy’s, affectionate and their hearts aching. Not as much as it had been seven years ago.
But still ever present.
“Watch over us, okay Luffy?” Ace remarked gently. “We’ll make sure that you’ll be proud.”
Another soft gust of wind seemed to answer them and they stayed there for a little while longer, enjoying the peace this place brought, even with the reminder of their missing brother.
Finally they stood up, Ace stretching his back as Sabo brushed off unseen dirt.
“We’ll be seeing you Luffy. Keep watching over us.” Sabo stated, resting a hand on the X, thumb brushing the worn wood. With that both brothers turned and headed back towards the village.
They’d keep their promise to their little brother. No matter what.
Neither could imagine the storm brewing, just beyond the horizon.
A storm…they had been in a storm. Ace had yelled something to him, he hadn’t quite understood it. He had looked over at his brother, just in time to see a beam of the mast swing towards him, hitting him in the face with a vicious crack.
He had heard Ace scream for him. He was falling backwards. He saw Ace was trying to reach him, a look of panic on his face as his back hit water.
He was surrounded by darkness and then he knew nothing else.
The sun was shining when he first came to, the sound of waves crashing on the beach, a stray seagull echoing in the sky. He was on a beach. Somewhere.
Wait. He was there…but where was…
His eyes flew open, even as he regretted it with how much pain that lanced through his head.
Ace.
He needed…he needed to find Ace.
But he found he didn’t have the strength to move. All he could do was stare up at the now crystal blue sky trying to muster up the strength to at least drag himself further up the beach. But his arms felt like noodles and his head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton.
He barely noticed the shadowed figure appearing in the corner of his eyes until they were blocking the sun casting a large shadow over him. He couldn’t make out who they were though.They were staring at him, head cocked to one side.
Ace?
“A…” he tried to say, the grit of sand and salt in his mouth making an unbearable taste. Black edged around the corners of his eyes and unconsciousness swiftly took hold of him, even as he saw the shadowed figure reach for him.
When he came to again, he found he was no longer staring up at the sky, instead the green canopy of jungle, sunlight barely peeking through the leaves above. The sounds of beasts echoed distantly through the roar rushing over his ears.
He was also moving, he realized.
He wasn’t walking, but he was moving.
Who the hell was carrying him?
At first his mind sluggishly suggested Ace, but there wasn’t nearly enough cursing for that to be the case. Who was it then? He glanced over his shoulder to see who was carrying him. His head felt like it was a drum, the motion making his vertigo worse, his ears ringing and he was certain he was hallucinating because the thing that was carrying him looked like a combination of a man and a beast. As if sensing he was being watched, the creature looked over his shoulder, making eye contact with him. A wide eye stared at him unblinking.
Ah…it wasn’t a man, but a monster that was going to kill him.
Fantastic.
A sliver of panic curdled in his gut for a split second, but his mind couldn’t connect with his body to get him to move anywhere. So it was only the grace of the gods that the dark tendrils of unconsciousness dragged him back under into blissful darkness.
Good, he thought. At least he’d be unconscious when he died.
He didn’t know how long he was out after that. Minutes, hours, days? Time had no meaning in the darkness.
He blinked when he heard a familiar laugh and turned, looking frantically around, trying to find the person tied to that laugh. Finally he landed on a small form, standing there with a smile that was blinding.
He hadn’t changed in all those years.
“Luffy…”
It felt like a weight was on his chest, and he found it hard to look away from the little boy. He reached for him.
“Ugh,wake UP, you idiot!”
He jerked to the side at a swift punch to his jaw dragged him back into consciousness, his eyes snapping open before shutting them quickly as pain lanced through his head. He recognized the voice as well as the punch to his jaw.
Ace.
His mind drifted to more recent memories. Right. He and Ace had left Dawn Island. They had finally left their home. There had been a storm seven days out. There had been a large wave and…and…
Well at least the fact he was in pain meant he was still alive.
He let out a groan and he opened his eyes again. His vision cleared and he found himself looking up at Ace. That wasn’t an uncommon sight. However, what WAS strange was the fact that Ace was crying, his face a strange pained expression Sabo had never seen before, and that there was a strange wild boy, clad in animal furs that was directly behind Ace, grinning broadly at the sight of him. showing yellow teeth and tear-filled eyes.
The earlier memory of being carried by a figure in furs came back. It hadn’t been a dream.
Sabo jolted upright, looking at the man clad in furs and then at Ace.
“What’s wrong? What happened?! I mean I know what happened. But…where are we?! Where-”
“It’s Luffy.”
Sabo went silent, looking at Ace in confusion. Maybe he had hit his head on something too when he had been thrown overboard and was concussed? Because it sounded awfully like Ace had said…
“Luffy? What? Ace? What about Luffy??”
“It’s Luffy.” Ace repeated, breath hitching as though it was a struggle for him to breathe.
“Ace, you aren’t making-”
“SABO!”
Then the strange wild man was back in his line of sight, crowding his personal space until all he could see was him. Sabo shrank back at the action about ready to punch or push the man away. Ace grabbed his shoulder.
“Luffy’s ALIVE.” Ace instead snarled, and the tears returned with a vengeance, rolling down the man’s face. “He’s alive, Sabo!”
“Sabo!” The other boy parroted with a bright and sunny laugh. “Sabo, Sabo! Sabo!”
Sabo blinked. Then blinked again.
He blinked a third time, staring at Ace who looked about ready to shatter if he so much as moved wrong, before his gaze slid back over to the boy leaning over him.
He had thin limbs. Round, curious eyes. His smile, even with yellow stained teeth, was blinding. His messy black hair, now long and unkempt, but still…recognizable. He had a scar under his left eye. One nearly identical to…to…
He looked at the hat that rested on the back of the stranger. A…straw…hat…
The last time he had seen that hat he was being dragged away by his father, Ace and Luffy calling out for him. And it was that hat he had seen in his dreams for years.
He was never without it.
Gently he reached up, trembling fingers pressing against the boy’s cheek, thumb gliding over the scar just under his eye.
“Lu…Luffy?” He barely breathed, barely wanted to admit that he was giving in to hope. The name left his lips as barely a whisper. Barely a hope. But he may as well have shouted it because the boy leaning in front of him seemed to light up, grasping Sabo’s face with calloused-rough hands.
“Sabo! Sabo!!”
He squished his cheeks together, touched the longer strands of hair, saying his name over and over again, fingers gliding over his eyes, mouth, nose. As though taking them into his memory. Sabo let out a weak laugh, his heart twisting in joy, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.
Luffy. It was…it was him. He was…he was actually-
“Sabo, Luffy’s been here this whole time.”
And just like that, the warmth blooming in his chest turned to ice at Ace’s pained whisper.
This whole time?
It had been seven years.
Seven long years.
And they…they were only a week from Dawn Island. A week.
Their little brother…their little brother who had only been seven when he had been torn from them and their family had been on this island.
Alone.
For seven years.
And he had only been a week away from them.
“Lu…” he managed, his eyes locked on the boy who was grinning, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “You’ve been here? All this time?” He repeated, dumbly.
All this time, and you were alone?
And we were so close?
Suddenly he felt cold and hot all at once. He couldn’t breathe, but his chest filled with the air as he inhaled sharply.
He suddenly realized he was still wearing his gloves. Luffy was right in front of and he still had his damn gloves on. He couldn’t feel Luffy.
He couldn’t-
Frantically, he tore the offending leather off his hands, tossing them half-hazardly away, before dragging the teenager into his arms. He didn’t care where they went. He didn’t care.
Luffy was back . In his arms.
Luffy was alive.
(But they hadn’t found him before. It had only been dumb luck that they had even found him now. He had been alone. Alone.)
He held Luffy close to him, trapping a hand in that long hair, tangling the fingers into the already knotted locks. He dug his other hand into the younger teen’s back. Anything to anchor the reality of this before him. That this wasn’t a dream.
Luffy let out a laugh and it only served to spiral Sabo further.
“Luffy, I- we didn’t know!” He stammered out, the knot forming in his throat becoming harder and harder to ignore. His heart raced as it twisted. It was a terrible excuse. A weak one.
They were Luffy’s older brothers.
They should have found him.
But they hadn’t.
They had merely accepted that he was dead and moved on with their lives.
Luffy merely answered with an excited sound and another bright laugh. Sabo’s eyes burned.
He couldn’t breathe.
Just like all those years before when he raced down the streets of the Goa Kingdom and through the forest on that horrible night where a part of his world had shattered. Just like all those years before where he clung to Ace and Ace to him, bloodied and bruised from the older boy’s fists sobbing at the loss of their brother.
It was horrible. But it was the best feeling in the world.
He was here.
Luffy was here.
He was alive .
He had been alive this entire time. He…he…
Realization struck him.
“We have to go back to Dawn Island,” Sabo finally gasped, looking at Ace with wide eyes. “We need to take Luffy home and we-we gotta tell Gramps! And Dadan and Makino! Luffy’s okay! He’s okay !”
The knot in his throat finally grew unbearable and he choked on it. Tears finally fell like weights down his cheeks, and he let out a guttural sob. Luffy let out a sound of distress, cupping Sabo’s face, trying in vain to stop his crying. He looked at Ace in confusion, repeating his brothers’ names, but Ace didn’t answer. He couldn’t.
Instead Ace clutched both of his brothers to him, tangling his hands into their hair, pulling them close to him.
(Both brothers. They can say ‘both brothers’ again.)
Luffy didn’t seem to grasp what was happening, didn’t understand why the guilt tore into them like fishhooks. He didn’t seem to understand why they were both bawling their eyes out. Instead he stared at them with concern etched into his face as both older boys had tears sliding down their faces while the shattered pieces of their hearts rebuilt in a painful second, muttering apology after apology into their little brother’s hairline.
(As if a simple apology could make up for what had happened).
He breathed their names over and over again in almost reverence, wrapping his arms around and around them in that hug that when they had been younger, they had moaned and groaned about, but now they could think of nothing better in this damn world than that hug.
That night they slept under the canopy of trees as they did all those years ago living in the forests back on Dawn Island. The forest was alive with the sounds of crickets and the creatures that roamed the island, but none of the three were bothered. Luffy slept as he usually did, though now he had his older brothers on either side of him, making sure he was wedged safely between them, daring anyone to try and take their brother from them again.
Ace and Sabo had their hands resting just above Luffy’s heart, feeling the rise and fall of his chest, the steady beat of his heart, reminding them he was alive.
He was alive .
And they would never lose their brother again.
Never.
That was a promise.