This took months. Months. It was not supposed to take that long. But I needed this to be good. I even promised myself I wasn't going to post this until I written at less three chapters in. But it took so much time that I need to see if it is even worth continuing on.

Be prepared. Warning you. :)

Ace's breath was ragged. He was growing tired, not that he would admit it; especially when Luffy's life was at stake. Sabo, a few meters behind him, was double-checking the areas Ace had already searched. But it was pointless. They had been looking for so long, to the point that the moon almost touched the top of the sea, warning of the night's end.

One could say the brothers had a stable childhood, at least until the fire. If that was true, then it would not have caused so much damage. Though, no one could have ever predicted the outcome.

Weeks ago, when that long hectic storm finally ended, they were left with a less than liveable treehouse. The wood had started to sag and rot from the constant downpour and the wind had blown apart the messily made walls. Not to mention the holes that Luffy had caused with his fly-away punches.

They had planned to rebuild right away, not wanting to live with the bandits once again, especially after three weeks of freedom. But they never got the chance to.

Rumors tend to spread quickly and even more so in the dump, almost like a disease. Overnight, all the residents knew of the nobleman, the one who stalked the edges of Grey Terminal from day to night. Had the boys not overheard, they would have been separated, however; since they caught on quickly, they avoided the place. Deciding it was a danger, they traveled back to the bandits. Even if they hated the idea, it was better than sleeping on the jungle floor.

But then the fire started. Sabo had seen the cloud of black smoke over the tree line and, wanting nothing more than to save the citizens, he tried to drag his brothers in. They disagreed, claiming that it had nothing to do with them. But Ace would never allow the other to go alone. After realizing Sabo would not change his mind, they both raced toward the fire. But not before begging the youngest to not leave the hut before they arrived back.

Luffy never listens.

"Luffy!" With one final scream, Ace clasped to his knees. His throat was achingly sore and dry, the heavy panting did not help. Behind him, Sabo had stopped as well, hands on his knees, trying to steady his frantic heart.

Ace's hands grip the brittle grass and clenched his jaw to hold back a sob. "He...what if…." He choked out between breaths. "Luffy. He might...might be dead!"

Sabo stayed silent for a moment, watching as Ace banged his head against the ground. Taking a deep breath, he tried to release some tension. "Don't be stupid." His voice wavered. "He wouldn't die, not without a fight. He's probably fine."

A staggered growl emitted from Ace. The shoulders trembled while his head lifted back off the ground. Ripping the grass, a small broken sob escaped.

"How would you know!" He responds back. He whipped around, his face was on the verge of breaking. "He's not here! He's alone! Anything could have happened and we just left him!" He paused, realization filled his eyes. "We left him…...we left him…." His voice faded to a whisper. "I left him."

Letting go of the blades of grass, his hands went to tightly grip his head. "No. No. No!" Ace roughly yanked on his hair. His muttering increased before leading into a screeching fit. "No! It's my fault! My fault! It's all my fault!"

Sabo stood frozen, his eyes wide. He was growing worried, never had he seen his brother like this. He didn't know what to do. Everything was going by too fast and his mind couldn't process what was happening.

Then Ace began to scream. A scream that was filled with griefing terror. A scream that knocked Sabo off his feet. A scream that brought him back to his senses. A face full of worry turned to one of anger. Pushing himself from the ground, he took out his pipe. His hands tightly grasped the metal. Sabo bit his lip and then he charged.

The pipe hit Ace's head dead center, effectively shutting him up. "It's our fault, Ace! Ours!" Venom slipped into the blonde's voice as they locked eyes. "We are both to blame. We both choose to leave him when we knew he wouldn't stay. Stop blaming just yourself. We are both at fault." Sabo's eyes softened recognizing the panic in the other.

Ace tried to stutter something out but was stopped. The blond held on to the other's hands and steadily lead them away from his hair. He smiled gently before swiftly wrapping his arms around him.

They stayed like that for a while. Sabo, occasionally, tightened his grip each time a sobbing breath was taken. In return Ace gripped back, a few tears leaked as he buried his head into the crock of his younger brother's neck.

"We need to keep searching." Sabo said as he ran his fingers through the raven hair. The other nodded but neither made an effort to move.

At least, not until morning.

When the heat from the sun had finally hit the boys, it was at its peak. Although, it took far too long for them to fully wake.

A yawn came. Then another. Then two in unison. With stiff muscles, the oldest pushed himself up from the ground. He grudgingly wiped the remaining sand from his eyes before letting his mind soak in his surroundings.

Not much made a sound, except for the few cicadas. But they were paid no mind. The foliage was dense around them. Of course, that comes with being deep in the forest. But even with all the shade from the leaves, the heat was becoming almost unbearable. None of that concerned Ace at all though.

Something to him felt off. Almost strange. But nothing felt or looked out of place. It was normal. He furrowed his eyebrows and turned to kick his brother awake.

As soon as his foot hit the other's leg, it came ramming back. Luffy.

He blanked out. All he could hear was his mind cursing up a storm. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

….

It had been three days.

Three.

Luffy was still missing.

That morning three days ago was a disaster. After waking, they ran straight to the bandit's hut. Hoping and praying.

But at last, Luffy had not come home. This caused Ace to break down once again. He ended up tied to a tree that evening.

The next few days, they searched the forest. From atop the mountainous hills to the wet sand of the beaches. Not a lead found.

They had been avoiding Foosha Village. As well as High Town. Although, it was for another reason.

The boys refused, feard to face Makino and the Mayor. The only people Luffy had considered family before ever meeting Ace and Sabo. Of course, they knew that neither two would ever retaliate or blame, but admitting they had failed as older brothers was something that caused their hearts to ache.

Yet, there they sat at the edge of the forest, looking into the small, quiet village. It was early morning and the townspeople have just begun moving about.

Both held their breath.

The dread settled in.

"Do we really have to do this?" Ace caused the leaves to rustle on a nearby bush.

The blond tightened his frown. "This is the last place we need to check." He stood up from a sitting position. Giving a sideways glance to the other, he set his pipe to lean against a tree. "Besides, it was inevitable. If we want to find Luffy, we can't keep avoiding it."

Ace grumbled. "Fine."

Looking down, Sabo gave a smug grin. He did not say another thing as he started his way out of the forest and down the hill. Once his brother voiced his complaint, he half-assed waved not even turning around. Roughly translated as to get off your ass or you'll be left behind.

The raven raced down after the boy. "Hey! Wait up, Sabo!"

After Ace eventually caught up with Sabo, they had arrived at the Party Bar. A small bubble of worry grew between them. But both dismissed to feeling with the unclenching their fists and pushed the door open.

Inside, surprisingly, held many patrons for the early morning. Of course, all were from the drunken night before. While most were passed out on secluded tables, there was still quite a few wide awake joyfully talking. In the very back, the bartender, Makino, was up. She was cleaning empty beer mugs and dirty plates. The boys tried to direct the full attention to her.

But as they nervously walked towards the back, their ears got wind of a seemingly drunk story.

"I know what I saw!" The older man slight banged on the table. His eyes wide and mouth running faster than his mind. " I'm telling ya! A child's body was thrown into the fire. The pirate just laughed like it was the funniest thing he had ever done!"

"Why would some foreign Grand Line pirate come here of all places?" A nearby man shrugged it off.

"Eh. I wouldn't listen to wacky Mak if I were you." Another continued. "He's drunk half the year."

The group laughed as the one dubbed Mak tumbled over his counter words. Ace and Sabo froze, like a deer caught in a car's headlights. What the man had said struck deep. They glanced at each other before looking back at the men.

They had just calmed their laughing fit when Sabo spoke up. "What about this pirate?"

Every head turned to the young boy. A moment passed. The middle one shook his head. "Look, kid. This isn't some bedtime story-"

"Don't mock us!" Ace cut him off. His eyes showed feral anger. "Just tell us what you know!"

"Do you really believe me?!" The old man jumped out of his seat and gripped onto Sabo's shoulders, his face only inches away. The blond opened his mouth to respond but Mak continued on without a response. "It was days ago! I only saw the aftermath. But I swear on my life that those nasty pirates killed the boy!"

The brothers glanced at each other, eyes wide. Sabo gulped. "Wha-"

Mak once again cut him off. He had let go early and now his back was turned towards them. His arms flailed about. "The captain had the body raised over his head! And his follows laughed like it was some joke! I don't know what was said but the men cheered right before they throw the child into the fire." The man's actions made it seem he was exaggerating. He was on his knee now, arms reaching towards the sky. But suddenly they dropped back down. "It's a bit hazy, but now that I think about, there was a second boy on the ground…...he was picked up by someone else and carried into the forest…...Wait, no. I'm thinking about something else." Mak waved the last part off with a laugh.

Ace's hands shook slightly. "Where was this exactly?"

"At the beach edge of Grey Treimal, you know by the High Town wall." Wacky Mak answered. "I'm so glad someone bel-"

The boys didn't stick around to let him finish. The oldest grabbed onto Sabo's wrist and raced out of the building. They need to make sure. Make sure that this wasn't Luffy. That he was still alive.

Even though it had been days, the odor caused by the fire still lingered in the air and upon arrival, the young boys had abruptly plunged their nose. The burning wood and flesh did not mix well. Sabo had to hold back a gag.

It wasn't long before they had caught sight of what was left of a body. Glancing at each other, they took a step closer.

It was hard to tell who it had been. It was charred beyond belief. The thin edges were almost flaking off in big chunks.

"Do you…." Ace began but never finished.

Sabo had dropped down to his knees. His hands no longer holding tightly to his nose and eyes watery.

A strong wind started. While it whipped Sabo's blond curls, it gave some relief with the stench. At that point, Ace dropped his arms to his side as well. Eyes never left the body. But before the wind had died down, something blew past drawing the raven haired's attention.

Snapping his head up, his eyes widened to twice its normal size.

Gliding gentle with the wind was a straw hat. A ratty, old straw hat. There was no denying it. It was the one that belonged to their brother.

Not a moment later, Ace had chased after it.

Everything was fuzzy at first. Sight and sound. Touch and smell. Even taste. It was worrying to him at first. But it cleared up just as soon as it had come.

The first thing Luffy noticed was his brothers. He was in the middle, at both their sides. It calmed him. With a sigh, he smiled.

"Ace?" He looked up to the oldest. "What happened?"

Luffy had expected for the boy to turn immediately and answer. But he didn't. Ace continued to look straight ahead as if nothing was said.

Luffy just shrugged it off, calling the boy a meanie in his head. He instead turned to Sabo. He was the nicest anyways. "Hey, Sabo?"

The blond acted the same, never turning. Worry started forming in Luffy's chest.

He yanked on Sabo's sleeve. "Sabo?!" Then turned to Ace to do the same. "Ace?! Why aren't you listening to be me!" Luffy cried out.

He let go of the sleeves and jumped in front of Ace. As he was about to yell out when he noticed the downcast look. It barely took another second for him to notice that he was crying.

"Ace? What's wrong?" Luffy asked, frowning. "Sabo-"

The young boy looked towards his other brother for help, only to find him in the same position.

The worry had bubbled up into fear. Luffy whipped his head around, looking for any hints. Only something very bad would make his brothers act like this.

When he fully turned around, his back toward Ace and Sabo, he understood. There at the edge of the cliff sat a gravestone. His gravestone.

He wasn't sure what to do. But as he was about to take a closer look, Sabo walked up to the stone.

His hand was placed on top as he took a deep breath. "Luffy. We will become great pirates for you." Sabo looked behind him. "Ace. We are going to hunt down that pirate. He doesn't deserve to continue to live." His brother nodded in agreement as Sabo turned back to the grave. "We will find this pirate, I promise on our lives. But don't worry about us. I'll keep Ace safe, I won't let him die."

Ace took his place next to Sabo. His hand on the other's shoulder. "And I'll watch Sabo. He won't die either."

They looked at each other and nodded Looking back at the gravestone, they smiled softly. "Now rest Luffy."

But Luffy was behind them. His fists were clenched at his sides and eyes tightly shut. He screamed. "NO!"

So loud, it flowed out and around the island. But unheard by everyone.

"I'll keep my own brothers safe. I'll never leave them." He was almost growling out. "I'll Make sure they never, never, never, never die!"

At least not like him. Not alone.

Did you see some foreshadowing? Some big things to come.

If this does well, I might get the next chapter sooner then I believe I would.

Comments actually make me write faster. Just letting you know.