【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"Dad, based on what I know about you, if you would send Ace away with him, I am a little suspicious about the identity of this child's parents. If his age mismatch is intentional, then..." Long guessed.

"Yes, that's thanks to his mother's strength," Garp interrupted him. Even with the white Den Den Mushi to prevent eavesdropping, he didn't want to tell Ace's life story directly.

"Okay, call me back when you find them," Cap said and hung up.

……

"Tell me how much do you know about Long? I know you know him!" the masked man asked.

"Go to hell! I know nothing!" Lucci spat out blood and cursed.

"You know Long is your father, someone must have told you. Who was that person who contacted you?"

"I'm not telling you anything, you asshole piece of shit!" Lucci cursed.

"You'll tell us, kid," the masked man said as he launched a new round of beating.

……

Ace didn't know how long he had been tied up. Everything around him sounded blurry and he couldn't even hear what he was shouting amid the constant buzzing. The sound of Luffy's constant crying broke through everything around him, making him vaguely realize that he may have been shouting at Luffy to stop crying, but it didn't work in the beginning, so why would it work now?

His skin was scraped and burned as he struggled against the ropes that bound him to the tree, but he felt only a brief burst of pain piercing his numb heart, which had been numb and empty ever since he learned that Sabo and Lucci were dead.

When Sabo first left, he always thought that this would not be the end of our dream. He lied to Luffy as a means of delay and diversion, because he never really believed that it was over. He firmly believed in his heart that they would eventually find a way to rescue Sabo. He didn't know why Lucci also disappeared at first, but he knew that Lucci would not leave us. His heart told him that Lucci might go to find Sabo, so he thought that the mission at that time was to protect Luffy first, and then wait for Lucci to come back, or wait until we think of a way, and then bring Sabo back.

The mere thought that his brothers were in danger, that they were killed, and that he had done nothing to stop it, that he had chosen to wait, made a strong sense of guilt well up in his heart, the only thing stronger than the guilt was his anger, he still had a hard time remembering the details of everything that happened that day, but he remembered that he wanted to avenge Sabo and Lucci.

But would it be different? If he found the man, then what? Kill him? But that wouldn't bring Sabo and Lucci back, wouldn't make him feel less guilty. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know who had killed Sabo.

Suddenly a voice cut through Luffy's crying and sounded in his ears.

"It's this world!"

He didn't understand what that meant, Dadan and the bandit seemed to know, but he didn't care. The world was not an entity he could vent his sorrow and anger to, and he didn't know what to do to vent it.

"Lucci...Sabo..." Another Lucci and Sabo's names wailed through the sky.

"Stop crying!" he roared, pulling the rope hard. Ace didn't know if Luffy heard it. Since then, Luffy's crying gradually disappeared, so that he wondered if he shouted too loudly, causing temporary tinnitus in his ears and not hearing it.

When the sun rose, all the noise stopped, and Luffy's crying stopped from then on, which made him feel a little uneasy. It wasn't long before Ace heard the footsteps of the bandits walking around, and soon they came to check on him. It wasn't until Ace realized that Dadan was talking to him that he looked up.

"Are you calm now, Ace?" Dadan looked into his eyes, and when she looked at him without answering him, Dadan turned away and looked at Dogura "Where's Luffy?"

"He fainted from crying last night," Dogula replied, "He is asleep now."

Ace felt his eyes narrow slightly, he felt worried, but he didn't say anything, he thought about how Lucci and Sabo treated Luffy in this situation. He had yelled at Luffy... but it was useless, he didn't know what to do, but he couldn't stay tied to the tree forever, he would go crazy, he thought, now he was the only one with Luffy, he should be by his side with him, not tied to this damn tree.

"Put me down," Ace said calmly.

Dadan looked at him for a while and said to Dogula, "Put him down."

As soon as Ace came down, he left the tree and walked towards the room where Luffy was sleeping. He went in and saw Luffy frowning, curling up uneasily on the mat. He felt his heart tighten, he went forward and touched Luffy's hair, he lay down and hugged Luffy, Luffy felt something, stretched out his body and hugged Ace back, and Ace fell asleep holding Luffy.

After Ace woke up, Luffy was still sleeping. He carefully pulled Luffy away and walked out.

"Ace, you're awake!" Dadan said, holding a snail in his hand.

"Ace, are you and Luffy okay?" Garp's voice came from the snail.

"Damn old man!" Ace's voice was a little choked. "Lucci and Sabo..."

"Ace, Dadan told me everything. I'm sorry, I didn't protect you!" Garp said guiltily, his voice seemed to be a dozen years older. "Ace, you and Luffy have to take good care of yourselves."

"You old man, do you know who did it? Makino said that masked men asked Lucci in the village. Why did they do this?" Ace said.

"It's CP. They belong to the special agent organization of the World Government. Lucci's father is Dragon, and the World Government regards him as the most dangerous person. I thought that by putting you here I could at least protect you as you grow up." Garp said weakly.

"But Lucci and Luffy have never seen him," Ace said, "What are you going to do, old man?"

"Sorry, Ace! I can't," Garp said guiltily.

"I understand." Ace said and left. He knew the old man's job and couldn't let him do anything, but he still felt very angry.

Ace was absent-minded. He retraced the path they had walked countless times when they lived with Dadan. His eyes roamed around, recalling every detail of their life. He recalled unconsciously as he walked.

His walking was unconscious, but he had a feeling that he knew where he would stop. He thought a lot, he recalled every conversation they had, and when he stood on the cliff where they took their vows and stared at the sea, he recalled the day when they had shouted out their dreams here. He seemed to hear the last conversation between the three of them, and his mind was now constantly echoing with a sentence that Lu Qi said.

"Ace, Sabo, Luffy may still be a weak and crybaby little boy, but he is our precious little brother. I hope you can help me take good care of him. Maybe we won't be on the same boat and live together in the future, but I want you all to be alive and well. No matter what, I hope the three of us can ensure that he always has a brother by his side. In this way, no matter what Luffy goes through or what happens, I believe he can get through it and keep moving forward."

That sentence was a simple request from one brother to the other two brothers, asking him to put aside all other bad emotions and make way for one thing, and only one thing.

Tears stung his eyes, and the last bit of his self-control slipped away, and he couldn't hold it back any longer. He couldn't remember the last time he'd truly cried, even from pain or frustration, but nothing like this sadness, this feeling that threatened to tear him apart, was stronger than anything he'd felt before.

The cry started to build in his throat, and he did nothing to stop it. He was choking on his own sobs, and when he realized that Sabo and Lucci were dead and would never come back, he broke down, and his sobs got louder and louder. He didn't know how long he stayed there, on his knees, until his tears had run dry, and his muscles ached and he was exhausted. He slowly pushed himself to his feet, wiped his tears with one hand, and took a deep breath.

He couldn't change the past, no matter how much he regretted what happened, he had to move forward, their relationship would not break just because they lost Sabo and Lucci, he couldn't let it break, Luffy was still there, he was the only big brother now, he had to be strong.

'Help me take care of him!'

He couldn't regret it anymore.