Haha, I'm loving the responses I'm getting so far.

And the timeline may seem confusing, but you all shall see where this goes. *evil cackle*

Their mealtimes were always a ravenous affair—a fight for food. Despite the fear they felt towards their grandfather, they followed his advice on eating religiously. Although, for the elder two, they needn't concern for their safety, as much as it had become habit after an amount of time of doing so.

Of course, Luffy was more of a vigorous eater than either of them, and he still out-ate them on a bad day. Even as a seven year old, this still held true.

Ace began to wonder about how big Luffy's appetite was now. His bounty came out recently, so he should already have gone out to see him, but then Sabo had come around.

It was odd to Ace. He'd accepted the death of his best-friend-turned-brother so long ago—ten years ago!—and yet, lo and behold, here he was. Springing up out of nowhere as the Second-in-Command of the Revolutionary Army. And he supposed it was all thanks to the little raven-haired boy that was failing to steal food from him and the object of his introspection.

Luffy had always had a knack for making miracles happen. Ace thanked all the gods that he didn't believe in the existence of for allowing a person like him to have such an amazing little brother. He couldn't imagine life without Luffy. Though, he could probably have said the same about Sabo at one point.

No, those thoughts were wrong. It was different. Sabo didn't need him, but Luffy did. Luffy always needed to be protected, and he and Sabo would always do so for him. Never vice-versa. And if they were to fight, it was all three of them or none.

"Sabo."

"Yeah?"

"You suck."

"Rude." The blonde snorted, rolling his eyes. Whoever said Ace was polite clearly hadn't spoken to him much. He fended Luffy off from snatching a piece of meat, flicking him on the forehead and shoving more food into his mouth just to spite the little one.

Luffy's pout almost made the two give him more, but they stared directly at one another to avoid his gaze.

Once their meal was finished, Luffy wrapped his small hand around as many of Ace's fingers as he could (which was not many, despite his ability to stretch). He tugged the befreckled 20 year old onto the bed with him and Sabo. Taking the hint, the man sat himself down and allowed Luffy to lay across his and Sabo's laps for a nap. Ace could feel the haze of his narcolepsy kicking in, and was soon folded over Luffy protectively whilst snoring softly.

Sabo chuckled at the sight. He eased himself out of bed, lifting the covers from his corner to cover the two while doing his best not to jostle either of them, even as he moved his legs out from under Luffy.

He picked up the plates scattered all around the area and placed them on the cart, pushing it over to a corner. Deciding to get a breath of fresh air, he began his navigation through the hallways of the Moby.

He closed his eyes to reminisce for a moment, a smile on his face. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of Luffy, he'd be back at the Revolutionary Base, not having remembered anything. Would he have ever remembered his brothers?

It doesn't matter now.

He shook his head and opened his eyes.

"Eh?"

It appeared as though he'd ended up further below in his quest to get upstairs. It wasn't until he heard hurried footsteps that he really processed that, though.

Marco the Phoenix and a chef were running in his direction, likely to use the stairs up, but there was something in the other blond's arms that made him pay extra attention.

As the two passed, he found himself turning on his heel, following them swiftly.

That...

...Was that Luffy?

"Ace..!"

"Luffy?" the dark haired man sputtered and coughed violently, his hoarse voice grating on his throat. His entire body was covered in dirt and bruises. Smoke wafted slightly from his back, and the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air.

Ace and Sabo watched over the scene grimly, confused and worried.

Luffy turned to them with serious eyes and took a shuddering breath. "Stay here. I'm going to go get Chopper."

Luffy ran as fast as he could without using Gear Second, despite wanting nothing more than to do so, to get help faster. But Chopper would waste time worrying about his lifespan before he'd be able to explain that his brother has a probably-fatal wound.

Ace and Sabo stood stiffly, staring at the man who was turning his head from side to side, taking in his surroundings with utter surprise. And then their eyes locked.

"S-Sabo? And-And Me? What the hell is happening right now?" He whispered to himself, only to choke on some of his own blood and then have to cough it out.

Ace was the first to speak to the older man, of course.

"Are you... older me?"

Sabo sighed at the lack of tact.

The wounded man wheezed out a laugh mixed with a sob as he threw his arm over his eyes, "Is the afterlife supposed to be so cruel? Not only do I see Luffy again, but Sabo, and myself, of all people. No wonder people are afraid of hell."

Sabo exchanged looks with Ace. He moved forward, cautiously—the muscles on the man's body were not just for show, after all—and put his hand on his shoulder, a sign of comfort. His body tensed up, ready to move away if necessary, and he almost jumped away when the man turned his desperate eyes towards him.

There was a beat of silence.

Luffy had returned just then, a small reindeer-raccoon thing in his arms as he dashed into the room.

Luffy skidded to a stop in front of the trio, placing the animal down, who'd then begun his check-up.

The animal was looking worried at first, but freaked out as soon as he caught sight of the man's back. Sabo and Ace peered over his shoulder to look at the damage.

A large, burned area indenting inwards. Blood pouring out. A ruined tattoo.

The reindeer-raccoon grew in size to look more like a furry, large man, grabbing the raven man and running off. "I'm taking him to the Medical Bay!" Luffy looked ready to follow him, but he turned his head to them.

"He'll be okay." He said, more to himself than to them.

They nodded anyway. He motioned for them to follow him, and they did so, unease pouring from them and mixing with the quiet and foreboding air surrounding Luffy.

They were mildly surprised when Luffy led them to the kitchen, rather than the medical bay. Had the mood been different, if things weren't so grave and off, they'd have made a comment on Luffy's focus on food even during hard times.

They went from mildly surprised to utterly dumbfounded and extremely worried when Luffy put a large amount of meat and an assortment of other foods in front of them and sat off to the side, staring into the air blankly.

A blond man walked over afterwards, half smiling to put them at ease.

"So you are the younger Ace, and Sabo, that Nami-swan told me about. My name is Sanji, I'm the cook of this ship."

"Nice to meet you, Sanji-san."

"What he said."

"Same to you two. Don't mind the shitty captain, he's been worried about Ace since we left Thriller Bark. It's better that we found him injured and alive rather than never and dead, honestly."

Ace and Sabo didn't know how to react to someone calling their younger (—even when he's older, he's still their younger brother. Always, no matter what—) brother 'shitty', but they considered it similarly to Ace's calling him a crybaby: a term of an endearment.

"Why was he worried?" Sabo found himself asking, eyebrows creased.

"He got this paper thing from Ace all the way back in the beginning of the Grand Line, called a Vivre Card.—" ("Is the beginning of the Grand Line called a Vivre Card or is he talking about the paper?" "Obviously, the paper. Anyway! Shut up and listen, Ace.") "—The state of the paper would indicate the status of the person and their life force. It was burning in his hands right as we found out what it was. So, he's rightfully been on edge for awhile."

"Is he going to be okay?" Ace found it odd to refer to himself in third person, but he and the man being taken care of were different.

Both of them continue to worry me, and Luffy, especially. Really, they aren't different at all. Sabo snorted to himself in bemusement. Even after ten years, he doesn't change.

"Our cute little doctor is taking care of him, so I wouldn't worry. Luffy's got the soon-to-be best on his crew. Can't have any less on the future Pirate King's crew, y'know?"

"He held onto that dream?" It wasn't surprising. Luffy became their brother through persistence and utter stubbornness. Truly, even if it took him one hundred years, Luffy would become Pirate King, because Luffy made things possible.

"Acting on it, too. He's been saving countries and people all around. We even kept the islands in the sky from being decimated by their own narcissistic 'god'."

"Sky islands? You're not shitting us, are you? Actually wait, you guys took down a god? This is confusing!" Ace turned to Sabo, "Sabo, translate!"

The young blonde sighed, "I don't know either."

"Luffy was the one to take him down, by the way. He had a lightning Logia Devil Fruit, so Luffy was the perfect match for him. And then he smacked him into a bell made of gold, we stole a bit, and then had to get back down in an octopus balloon." Sanji blew out some smoke, laughing a bit. "Good times!"

"Now I know you're shitting us."

Further conversations were stopped before they began, as Luffy shouting in the corridor caught their attention.

"Who are you?!"

They looked at each other before heading over to his location warily.

"Who are you?!"

"Huh, strange, this isn't where I expected to be."

"Don't ignore me!"

"Oh, sorry. What did you say, again?"

"Apology accepted!" Luffy crossed his arms, "So, who are you?"

"I dunno, who are you?"

"Dammit, I asked first!"

"And I asked second."

"That makes sense." The raven shrugged. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the future Pirate King!" His grin lit up his features.

The man in front of him chuckled, "Not the first time I heard that. You remind me of someone." Wait, no he didn't. At least, he didn't think Luffy did. No, he'd never met this boy before. "Well, Luffy, it's nice to meet you. My name is Sabo."

...Wait, hold up.

"Are you, by chance, related to a Monkey D. Dragon?"

"Oh, yeah. You're talking about my dad, right?" Welp, that answers that. Now it was Luffy's turn to pause. "You said your name is Sabo?"

"Yeah."

Not the weirdest dream I've ever had, but definitely up there.

"Cool, you have the same name as one of my older brothers. Actually, Sabo from the past is back there. Wanna meet him?" Luffy pointed a thumb behind him.

"That doesn't make any sense, but okay."

Strange dreams can't hurt me, so what's the harm? Sabo thought.

Young Sabo and Ace rushed over, followed closely by Sanji.

"Me?" both Sabos exclaimed, pointing at themselves.

Okay, I'm getting a headache-dreams shouldn't hurt like this.

Luffy started laughing. "I don't know what's happening."

Sanji breathed out a puff of smoke. "Me neither, Captain."