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Ace has a lead on Black Beard and is headed to him now. He doesn’t plan to stop at the little island, but he sees one of his own family’s ships docked and decides to stop by and update them on what’s going on. When he boards he’s shocked by what he sees.
Children. Tons of them. Many of them are wearing children’s clothes that don’t actually fit them. Too big or too small. Some of them are naked. Others are running around wearing various crew members shirts, long enough to cover themselves up enough for now, but not ideal long term. Some of them are clad in disgustingly revealing outfits that no child should ever be wearing as various crew members hand them something else to wear and point them in the direction of somewhere private to change.
Ace can form a picture pretty quickly in his mind without anyone having to explain it to him. They were clearly slaves. Later he learns it’d been an underground operation. It was illegal slave trade where they’d been “taking money from the world governments pockets”. Obviously, the navy wouldn’t support them. They’d all be arrested if they’d been caught.
Instead, they’d been slaughtered by Pop’s crew.
Ace doesn’t care whether it’d been legal or not. He feels sick at the thought. He feels torn between making this a quick stop before heading back out after Blackbeard (as he’d originally planned) and staying longer to help the poor kids out.
It’s clearly quite a lot for the crew to deal with and they could use some extra hands… but he didn’t wan’t to lose the trail either.
He observes the kids for a while and is surprised at their reselliency. Sure there are some kids that don’t really talk or interact. They cower or stay off to the sides by themselves. That’s to be expected.
But a good portion of them don’t seem too bothered. He knows that’s just another type of coping skill, but it still surprises him that most of the kids seem to be like that.
Some of them are angry and rude. A lot of them joke around and poke fun at each other, but it’s dark humor. Humor kids their age shouldn’t have.
There’s one kid in particular that shocks Ace the most. He’s about 10 years old with messy raven hair, and he’s smiling and laughing. This humor feels more innocent and the boy gets a lot of the other kids around him to let their guards down and start relaxing too. He seems open and trusting and almost joyful. He reminds him of Luffy, in appearance and demeanor. He doesn’t understand how a child could act like this after what they’d been through.
He thinks back to a memory that has continued to haunt him every now and again for most of his life. A memory of Luffy admitting that he’d had sex before, when he’d been a small child. Ace doesn’t know why he continues to hold onto it. Luffy himself said that nothing had happened, but for whatever reason his intuition has always kept the worry alive.
He’s sitting by himself on the ship, thinking quietly. He gets several strange looks from members of his crew. He’s not being himself, he thinks they are probably going to get the wrong idea about his own childhood experiences.
Eventually Marco comes to sit beside him.
“I went through something similar as a kid.” Marco said. “I mean, not nearly as bad. Probably not fair to compare the situation. But there was a man, once. A navy officer. He and his crew stopped by our island every now and again. It was rare, but it still happened.”
Ace had gasped earlier in Marco’s admission and was looking at him in concern. He’d have never known. He’s amazed once again at the resiliency in humans. Felt dumb for never being able to come to terms with his own last name, whenever there’s such worse horrors of the world.
“I’m so sorry. I never knew.”
Marco nods, “I’m getting the sense that something in your past is haunting you too.”
Ace gives a self deprecating snort, “Feels pretty dumb, after what you shared.”
Marco shrugs and gives him a look that clearly says “Who cares? Spill.”
”It’s not about me. I don’t even have any real reason to think anything happened. Just something in my gut.”
”How come?”
“Luffy… When he was young, real young- Sabo was around, so he must have been 7 at the time? We used to hang out in this lawless area, so there were a lot of low lives around. One of them was bragging about getting laid the night before and doing a bit of a… demonstration, let’s say. Later Luffy asked about it, asked what sex meant.”
Marco gives a sharp inhale, but doesn’t interrupt. Ace continues, “He’d been quiet for a while before he finally asked, which is really not like him. Something in his body language felt off, though. It felt like he was understanding something deeper. After we told him what it was, well he said he thought he’d had sex before. I think we might have scared him, cause he took it back pretty quick. He acted like he thought wrestling and sex were the same. And I have no reason not to believe him, outside of this feeling. It’s stupid, to be going on about this when I don’t even know if it’s real. Not when you’ve actually been through it.”
Marco shakes his head, “It’s not… I - Ace, the man who hurt me. He was a member of your grandfather’s crew.”
Ace snaps his head up, eyes wide. He could feel fear flood his entire body, every limb feeling antsy, ready for a fight almost. Because if that was true… If it was a member of that old bastard’s crew…
Fuck. FUCK. Could that same man have hurt Luffy?!
”His name was Honzo.” Marco adds. “I’ve always wondered if… If he hurt you. That’s part of why I brought this up right now, seeing you sitting here looking like you’ve seen a ghost.”
”No. No, I don’t remember ever meeting him. Not until I was older anyways and he didn’t try anything then. Maybe I was 11 or 12 when I first met him? Honzo… they were good friends, him and Gramps. I- I need to go find Luffy. He’d been around him so much more. He’s known him his whole life. He’d take him camping alone sometimes and-” Ace says cuttimg himself off, and stumbles up, starts grabbing for his things.
“Want me to come with?” Marco asks.
Ace shakes his head. “I know I should go after Blackbeard before the trail runs cold, but…”
“No one will hold it against you. Besides, it was technically mutiny anyway, to go after him after pops said not to. Not that he’d look at it that way, but… There’s nothing wrong with letting it go for now.”
Ace never makes it to Luffy. He runs into Blackbeard by accident, and how fucking ironic is that. He never has a chance to talk to his brother about it, because the next time he sees Luffy, Ace dies.
————
Ace never believed in a higher power. He never believed in a God, or fate, or divine intervention. He’s surprised when he realizes how wrong he was. It’s not what the rest of the world seemed to think either, it’s better.
Ace’s spirit guide tells him that God isn’t actually harsh, the way some humans think.
”People learn to perceive love young. What love meant as a child is often how they believe God loves us as well. God’s not vengeful. They don’t shame us. That’s all learnt beliefs warped by flesh bodies. And we’re all God, in a way, as is every living being - on earth or other planets. It’s all connected. And there’s a science behind it too, one that the world doesn’t yet understand, may never understand.”
If life was hell on earth, the afterlife was like bathing in a sea of warmth, burning in the flames of love, soaring in the skies of freedom, groundedness in ones own spirit, a spirit that was connected to everything.
When he’d been human, he’d been so angry. Now that he’s a floating light connected to every soul, every being, every element, he feels free.
He still has his own thoughts of course and his own emotions, but they don’t feel overwhelming. He’s connected to his past, present, and future lives. He knows that Luffy, Ace, and Sabo have been brothers for a very, very long time. Biologically even, in some of their pasts lives. Sometimes they were cousins, friends. But their souls have always been intertwined with great bonds.
Luffy’s soul has also long been connected with Zoro, Law, and Reilgh.
Nami and Sanji’s souls have also long been connected. In most lives they are lovers, but in this life Sanji and Nami’s souls had agreed that they shouldn’t be together because he had to work on his lusting, after he’d chronically cheated in their previous life together.
Ace’s soul hasn’t known a life in which he wasn’t connected with Pops and Marco.
It’s funny, how on earth you don’t remember any of this stuff. It’s funny how much reflection your soul does between lives, to become better beings only to forget it all and still somehow make progress anyway.
The ultimate goal for the soul is to actualize, to become a more active part of God themself, to create life. But when you create life, a little tiny part of yourself get’s put into a new soul, so you’re never fully done, and yet you are. Cause a part of Ace is already God and a part of Ace is working towards it, and a part of him has yet to be born.
It really was all connected.
Karma was different than he thought too. It wasn’t about punishment. Sometimes you had to suffer, to learn how to grow. Sometimes you were given everything one could want, to learn how bad entitlement could be. Sometimes you hurt others, sometimes you’re hurt. There was a balance, in these lives they’ve lived.
Usually, there was a theme to the lessons. Ace hasn’t lived very many lives without anger. He keeps making the same mistakes. But they all do. Ace has done better this life. He was kind, giving, caring. He hadn’t found peace until the last few moments of his life, as Luffy had held him while he’d bled out. But it’s more peace than he’d ever managed on earth before. Even if he was a jerk sometimes, he ultimately was good. His soul has grown, but it has more work to do.
Ace learns that he had a life, where he’d been hurt in the same way Luffy has in his current life. It was a long time ago, the pain has long dulled in Ace’s spirit. But Luffy’s pain was current. He was still on earth, where things hurt so much more. He was alone in his suffering. Ace had found out, but he never got to let Luffy know.
That’s one of the things that pains Ace the most ,even as a spirit. The hard emotions are still there, even if they don’t carry as much weight here. Only, this past life had been so recent, so fresh. Some of what he has to work on with his guide is how to forgive himself for not asking Luffy more questions. He also has to work through his anger at God for allowing it to happen to Luffy at all.
Sometimes he’s allowed to peek in or visit those who remain on earth. When Luffy burns the videos he’s grateful he could be there and that Luffy could feel him.
As an all-connected-being he knows everything that’s on the videos. He feels phantom stomach cramps at that, even though he no longer has a stomach. He’s still so freshly new to this realm that he still feels connected to his body, in a way.
Ace thinks it’s kind of fascinating, that two of Luffy’s strongest spirit bonds are with himself and Trafalgar law. Such angry beings to contrast Luffy’s joyful one.
Luffy’s closer to actualiziing than all the of his soul mates are. It’s why he can touch so many lives. It’s why he’d been gifted with a God-like devil fruit. He’s likely to become a spirit guide himself in his next trip to the other side. He’s had co-spirit guide roles in the past. A back up, if you will, when another soul needed something slightly different than what their actual spirit guides could provide. A novice spirit guide, if you will.
It means he will be on earth much less often than Sabo and Ace going forward. Luffy’s time on earth will only happen when he has a pupil that needs extra guidance.
Ace is kind of scared to have a whole human life without Luffy in it. His guide tells him that’s normal, but that Luffy will still be able to communicate with him, give him signs on which path to take when he’s reincarnated again. He won’t be Ace’s guide, but he can still connect with him.
If needed, Luffy can exist on earth at the same time he exists in the spirit world. Souls are made of anti-matter, which means they don’t just exist on just one plane. If Ace is in need of Luffy for whatever reason, he may exist in the form of a mentor, rather a brother, while still helping his mentees in the afterlife.
It’s not a guarantee, but if his growth requires it, Luffy will be there in some form for him. It makes him feel a little better about it.
It’s funny that Ace was supposed to be the big brother this last trip around the Sun, when as a soul Luffy was the older one.
————
Ace has watched a lot of Luffy’s healing on earth and he couldn’t be more proud of his younger older brother.
He tells his friends, he finds Sabo and tells him as well. (When Ace found out that Sabo was alive, he was both disappointed and relieved at the same time. He really missed Sabo and had been so excited to see him, once all of his memories returned. But because he was connected to all souls in this form he knew within minutes of his returning memories that Sabo was still on earth). Luffy even tells Garp, and that was really huge for Luffy.
In all of his past lives where Ace struggles with anger, Luffy struggles with feeling unworthy, with feeling like a burden. Luffy’s openness in this life is one of the biggest growths his soul has had in the past hundred years.
Sabo’s past struggles had always been around arrogance and entitlement. Sabo’s made huge growth this life as well, far earlier in life than either Ace or Luffy had. Sabo’s going to have a bigger peer mentor role when he next returns to the afterlife.
He’s closer to actualizing than Ace is, but he still will likely have a few more lives before he gets there, though Ace has also gained more responsibilities this time around. It’s not the same as Sabo, but he unofficially has more leadership now, and everyone respects him as a up-and-coming higher being.
————
Ace has processed a lot today and decides to take a break to watch over Luffy before he and his friends that are here with him decide to play a bit for the evening.
When he peeks in, he realizes it’s a private moment between him and Law. It’s a little after Luffy had given his speech to the press, but the first time the two had a moment alone together.
Law and Luffy are sitting in the crows nest. It hadn’t been Luffy’s turn for night watch, but he’s pretty amped up from the empowerment he felt at taking his narrative back and told Brook that he’d wake him for the 2nd watch of the evening instead.
Ace could feel had badly Law had been wanting to get Luffy alone so that they could have a deep talk about everything that had happened, so the man decides to join Luffy rather than sleep himself.
“This is nice.” Luffy says, “We’ve never really had night talks in person before.”
“Night talks?” Law asks, tone bored, but Ace knows that he is fascinated by every secretive detail Luffy gives him that he wouldn’t otherwise share with others. Ace also knows that Luffy can see through Law far more than the other man realizes also.
“Yeah. That’s what me and Zoro call it” But then Luffy laughs “Well, it’s what I call it. But Zoro never complains about that name. Just tells me he’ll cut me if I tell anyone.”
“What’s night talks entail?” Law inquires, a small smile on his face.
“It’s just things you don’t normally talk about. It always feels easier at night when it’s all dark and the stars are winking at you. And it can be deep, but deep can be sad or happy. Like it could be the thoughts I have about everything that’s gone down lately, or it could be like my thoughts on where the stars come from and if there’s a God or why we exist or something.”
Law makes an approving sound at that, like he’s not opposed to the idea of these ‘night talks’.
“Which are you feeling today?” Law asks.
“Um… I have like 12 different ideas in my head, but I’m more curious what you would talk about.”
Law gives a quiet laugh at that. Ace can tell that Law feels anxious, feeling put on the spot. But Luffy grabs his hand between both of his and kisses Law on his temple and says, voice low, “If you don’t have any ideas I can just choose for us. There’s no pressure here. I’m just curious where your brain is at.”
“I just keep thinking about how amazing you are. I know it’s kind of shitty to say that, because “I’m not strong because I’m strong, I’m strong because I had to be to survive.” It’s like trying to turn a negative into a positive when it’ll never not be a negative.”
Luffy laughs a bit at that. “I hate when people are like “oh my God, you’re so strong.” It’s like, well yeah, but like who has a choice in this situation? Like how is surviving strength when anyone in this situation has to do it?”
“Exactly! But I don’t think you’re strong for surviving…. I think you’re strong because you’re trying to learn how to face it and learn something new. It makes me want to try too. That shit… that’s the hard part. That’s what strength is. Anyone can just keep doing what they’ve always done. And I’m not bashing anyone for not knowing how to try something different. Sometimes trying something new isn’t safe, or we don’t know how or have the support we need. Just saying that the change requires a fuck ton of strength.”
Luffy smiles at that, “Kiss my nose again?” He asks and Law does and Luffy giggles sweetly.
“Why do you like that so much?” Law asks.
Luffy shrugs, but giggles some more. “I guess it just feels like love. I mean a regular kiss does too. But there’s absolutely nothing sexual about kissing someone on the nose. It feels like… I don’t know. Cute? And innocent? It’s like love that you can really only show your partner, otherwise it’d be WEIRD, but it’s somehow so sweet and pure.”
Ace decides to stop out now. He’s seen enough. He knows that they’ll continue talking about deep things and developing their bond.
He couldn’t be happier that Luffy has found someone who treats him so well. He really roots for them, up here. And he knows he won’t be disappointed either.
Luffy deserves this.
And Ace’s heart feels so full at his brother’s happiness. At being here with his other soul friends that all support and love each other. And he’s ready for a break for reflection and just plays with his friends. They’re little balls of light that just chase each other around and feel joy in their souls at being together and growing and healing even in their death.