All rights belong to their respective owners (Eiichiro Oda, ee cummings).

Warnings for lots of bad words. And also 'cause this is a self-indulgent bit of pointless fluff and technically the little bit of plot that's there doesn't even make canon sense and i'm not sorry

"…never seen him before," Thatch is saying as Ace meanders by. "He's just some blond kid with a top hat."

Ace blanks for just a moment, and his lungs stutter against an inhale. He's heard those words framed like that too often, if not recently. It isn't possible, though, so he blinks it away and breathes steady.

But he can't stop himself from asking, "Who is?", deceptively calm as he joins their conversation.

"There's this guy from the Revolutionary Army here," Thatch tells him with a small nod of greeting. "They send someone over to talk to Oyaji every now and again."

Marco nods. "He's one of the main powers on the seas, and is generally against the World Government, so we have something of a casual acquaintance with the Revolutionary Army."

"And this guy?" Ace prompts, because he couldn't care less about anything else right now, no matter how much he hates the World Government and the Tennryubito and nobles in general, and Marines, and most people, really, and—

"Some kid," Marco says like he's being helpful, which no he isn't.

Thankfully Thatch can always be depended on to talk. "We've always had the same lady in the past," he explains. "I guess she was getting pretty old to be chasing down pirates, so we were probably about due for a new guy, but he's real young and dresses funny. I mean, who wears a coat when it's this hot out?"

"Huh," Ace says, as cover for the roiling nausea and anger in his stomach, and casts around for a distraction. "I don't know much about the Revolutionary Army."

"No one does," Marco replies with a small half-smile. "That's kinda the point."

"Yeah, that lady came on board every so often for as long as I've been here, and we still don't know her name," Thatch says, and there goes that clue. "They're an Army led by Dragon, and are aiming to take down the World Government. There, you know everything I know!"

"Dragon?" he asks anyway, 'cause that name sounds familiar.

"Monkey D. Dragon," Marco says, and catches something out of the corner of his eye. He frowns, waves them off, and heads over to deal with whatever the problem is, and Thatch takes over.

"Real mysterious guy," he explains. "Most wanted man in the whole world, more'n any pirate could hope to be, and I hear he has some real crazy tats across his face."

Ace has his own face back under control by the time Thatch is trying to trace said tattoos in the air. Suddenly Ace has an answer to a mystery that never occurred to him, and he mentally shrugs and slots Dragon next to Garp in his folder of 'related to Luffy, should be respected but never thanked.'

And he keeps this in mind as he moseys on, wondering vaguely if he should hunt down this Revolutionary Army contact or try to avoid him entirely. He sees Marco heading back belowdecks and thinks he might as well follow for now; he can decide later.

The point turns moot, though; as he follows Marco inside he sees a silhouette of tailed coat and top hat that's almost familiar coming up from belowdecks.

"Hey, you," he calls. The stranger uses his momentum to shift his trailing boot back and sideways and spins on the ball of that foot to turn to three-quarters profile, head tilting and fingers coming up to rest on the brim of the hat.

It's an easy turn into a balanced pose that can be greeting or curiosity or distraction, and Ace knows that move like he knows breathing—deep and quiet and instinctive.

There's some crazy shit on the Grand Line, he thinks, and cold-cocks the bastard.

"Hey, you," someone calls behind him, and Sabo figures it's for him. Everyone else on this ship knows everyone else's names, after all, so he turns, curious.

There's a guy about his age, about his height, and wearing an orange hat coming at him. The face is a bit familiar, he thinks absently, and then the guy starts the most obviously telegraphed punch he's ever seen.

But something about that face with that anger throwing that punch makes him blink and not dodge, and he takes the blow right on his chin. And the impact clicks a little something loose, and something shifts, and his mind goes, oh yeah, this is Ace.

It is his brother, and his brother's grown up good, he notices from the floor. Same stupid haircut, same ever-burning rage, same dumb freckles, only now they're on a taller, broader frame with a few new—

His eyes catch, and he laughs.

When the blond brat points and laughs at Ace's tattoo instead of getting up, Marco just sighs. There are less painful ways to commit suicide, he thinks absently and not for the first time, and begins shooing people away.

They go, because those who haven't seen Ace lose it over his tattoo have seen the fallout, or at least heard the whispers. No one wants to be in range when Ace goes calm and quiet, when Ace asks them to repeat that, when Ace goes focused supernova.

"Sh—shut up!"

That's…not the anger he was expecting, and Marco turns back and has to blink. He's seen Ace embarrassed before, or thought he had, but it must've been passingly because he hadn't known the blush went all the way down.

The kid on the floor's laugher is edging past hysterical, but he gasps and gets enough breath back to say, "You're a sap!"

Ace is many things, but Marco is pretty sure he wouldn't've named sappy among them. Yet Ace's blush is creeping even further down past his collarbones. "I ain't!" he hisses, flapping his hands around pointlessly, and Ace is a really bad liar. "And you're still wearing a napkin!"

Marco glances back at the kid, but he isn't? Well, he has a cravat around his neck that kinda looks like one, he supposes.

But then the kid carols back delightedly, "Yeah well, you're wearing my name!" and waves a hand around towards Ace.

Ace is scowling, but he moves forward to grab the kid's hand and pull him up anyway. "I ain't," Ace says again, but it's quieter and even less believable. "Who said anything about you, dummy?"

"So you misspelled your name, is that it?" the kid asks, full of amused disbelief.

Ace opens his mouth but he's stuck, because Marco has no idea what the tattoo is for but he knows it was deliberate. So, "shut up," he says instead, and then attempts to squeeze the blond's lungs out.

When they start clinging and murmuring in each other's ears, Marco decides enough is enough, and he clears his throat loudly. The entire encounter has been odd, but seeing a stranger hugging Ace as hard as Ace is hugging back is just weird, and also he'd really like them to stop blocking the doorway.

They end up in the dining hall because if you let Ace decide where to go, he will always pick 'towards food'.

Turns out, the blond kid can match pace with Ace on eating, and Thatch almost cries. "Where do you all come from?" he sobs, waving his arms wildly. "I can't make the stores stretch for two of you!"

The kid at least has some semblance of manners, though, because he swallows and wipes his mouth before he tells Thatch, "Be grateful our third isn't here. He eats as much as the two of us combined."

Thatch stares at him in blank horror and sinks down to sit beside Ace. Ace's appetite alone beggars belief, but that there's someone who can match him? That there's someone out there who can double it? "Not possible," he moans and drops his head to the table. "Noooooooooo."

"Thass righ', I fohrgo," Ace says, then thankfully swallows before adding, "We could sometimes split the big ones, but Luffy always had to have his own."

"Remember the time he ate that entire bear by himself?"

"And both of those gators we caught."

"Tiger Lord."

"Oh, man," Ace groans, "that one was a mess, remember when we dragged the skin back and Gramps was there?"

"No, I don't, because I worked really hard to forget that," the kid says. "I don't remember how you left me behind 'cause I couldn't run and I had to face him alone. I really don't remember how the wound I got protecting your dumb self made me bait. I forget entirely his reaction to the blood all over Luffy and how he took it out on me. Nope, not at all."

Ace winces. "Awwwww," he straight-up whines, "now c'mon, that's not fair, you threw me to him as a distraction plenty of times!"

"Not while Luffy was hurt I didn't!"

"Who even are you?" Thatch finally asks, and Marco sits down on Ace's other side with yet more food.

There's a brief scuffle over the new plate, and then Ace says, "S'my brother, Sa-"

The kid pushes the bone hanging out of Ace's mouth further in 'til he chokes on it. "Rules mean I can't tell you my name," he says, and eyes Ace warningly. "But I am, unfortunately, this dork's brother."

There's murmurs around them, and someone's asking Ace about them, but the food on offer is phenomenal and Sabo's intent on eating as much of it as he can get before Ace devours everything. He generally is good about table manners, but with Ace eating in front of him he's devolved right back into habits he only barely remembers.

He's been gone a long time and missed a lot, and they're gonna hafta talk about that later. This isn't even what he's here for, he's here to pump Whitebeard for info on the new rumors-

And that new rumor connects to his newer old memories and he freezes before he can choke. Well, he got what he came for, at least, he thinks, horrified, but this is suddenly too important to wait. "Ace," he says quietly, soon as he's done. He's not that hungry anymore. "I need to talk to you." Ace stares at him and then swallows, and Sabo realizes he's waiting. "No, not here, later."

Ace looks around, frowning, but he's still sitting between Marco and Thatch, with other commanders around them. He looks back to Sabo and tilts his head like 'why not now?'

And granted, it's been a long time and there's no real reason for Ace to immediately trust him, but this is important . He just got Ace back, he's not gonna lose him again. "It's a secret," he tries, and Ace waves a hand dismissively.

"This is my family," he says, and smiles. "They're trustworthy."

And Sabo is stunned for a second, because this is Ace, happy. This is Ace, who trusts people. "I appreciate that," Sabo says, and he says it quietly and sincerely and meets Ace's eyes when he does. "I'm so happy for you, you have no idea. This is—it's incredible, and I never thought you'd get this far, and it means the world to me to see you like this. But," and his voice drops and he leans in, which is the most attention-drawing thing he could possibly do, he knows, but everyone's watching them anyway. He phrases it as vaguely as he can and ends up with, "Ace, someone knows your name."

It's enough to get his meaning across, though, and Ace's face goes cold and blank. He sets down his drink with exquisite care and stares at the table as Sabo's heart breaks to see that easy joy erased. "I'm so sorry," he says, still just as quiet but more urgent now. "There've been rumors—the Government's starting the hunt again. I don't know who spilled, and you're not connected to the public info yet, but they wouldn't've restarted like this if they didn't know for sure you existed."

There's a kind of cold resignation in his brother's eyes when he looks back up. It's the look Sabo's always associated with Ace's self-issues. As long as it's been since he saw it, it hasn't been long enough. "I'm sorry," he offers, 'cause it's the only thing he has. "We're trying."

And Ace sighs, and runs a hand down his face to hide for just a second. "Ah, well, it had to happen sometime," he says like it isn't his most paralyzing fear come true. "My whole life was borrowed time anyway."

Which is technically true, yeah, but not the way Ace means it. "Not ever," he hisses. Both palms are flat on the table now and he's leaning up and in, cold anger burning away the urge to cry. "You are an idiot and dumb and suicidal but you are ours, Ace, and we'd both be dead without you."

"Sure," Ace says, but it's hollow and he's not listening, so Sabo resorts to old habits.

He twists his fingers in Ace's hair and bounces his brother's head off the table.

"Doubt me again and I'm gonna lecture you," he says calmly, and bounces Ace's forehead on the table one more time for good measure before letting go. "I'll lecture you loud and long right here in front of all your family. I'll tell everyone how you're the best brother and what a wonderful person you are-"

Ace lunges across the table to slap a hand over Sabo's mouth, and his horrified face is a thing of joy and wonder forever. "You wouldn't," he protests feebly because he knows damn well Sabo would.

He just leans back, away from the hand, and continues "-the way you took such good care of Luffy and-" and Ace follows him, chanting "nope nope nope" as he falls over the the table to pin Sabo to the ground.

Sabo licks the hand across his mouth, and Ace pretends not to notice. Or maybe he actually doesn't notice; heaven knows the both of them are used to Luffy doing it. "I believe you!" Ace says almost frantically, and "Please shut up."

Sabo smiles as him, trusting that Ace can read the capitulation in his eyes, and Ace does. Of course, Ace also wipes his wet hand along the front of Sabo's coat, so there's that. "One day," Ace says instead, and it's got the same ring as a promise.

Sabo makes a point of looking around them, at everyone who reacted when he slammed Ace's head or when Ace pounced, and he looks up at Ace and says, "Y'know, I can almost believe that," and that's the best compromise they're getting on this and they both know it.

And for the second time that day, Ace drags Sabo off the ground. They both settle back on the near bench, sharing the space Sabo had before, and there's a really awkward silence for a second as they both try to relocate their drinks and everyone else just kind of watches and wonders.

Then Sabo gets this innocent little grin and says, "But, y'know, you really are-" and Ace says, "No, really, shut up," and the following elbow war knocks them both back off the bench again.

Thatch leans forward to get a better view of the two children rolling around on the floor, and winces as the blond one lands a nasty-looking bite. "Well," he says to no one in particular, "I definitely believe they're brothers."

Marco hums and agreement, and they share a quick glance-what had the blond meant, someone knew Ace's name? Everyone knows Fire Fist Ace; he's pretty infamous, and the Government is certainly after him already. The blond kid had made it sound like more than that, though, and Thatch privately thinks that the dead look on Ace's face was a horrible thing that should never happen again.

"I'm curious," Marco says, and Thatch knows they'll try to corner the blond brat, or at least Ace after he leaves, and see what answers they can get. If something's threatening one of their brothers, they're not gonna let it stand.

But Ace has just started a long string of really awful words, and the blond is laughing and saying, "Language!" and Ace's blistering invective starts to literally blister with heat, and the blond is claiming Ace is a cheater and matching him nasty thought for bad word, and this is the happiest anyone's ever seen Ace in a long time, possibly ever.

They'll figure out the next disaster later. Right now...Thatch watches the reunited brothers, internally gives up on his food stores, and sighs, "What the hell, might as well celebrate."

The resulting cheer drowns out the swearing war from the floor, but only barely.

"Y'know," says Marco the Phoenix, learning against the rail next to him, "we don't stand for threats against our own."

Sabo bites the inside of his lip to keep his face calm, and hmm's a bit. Everyone on the sea knows that.

There's a lovely awkward beat, and then, "Family is important," Marco continues like he'd meant to all along.

"True," Sabo replies, still keeping a straight face. He knows very well what's going on, but he wants to see how long Marco will try to outsubtle him.

Marco glances at him sidelong, and apparently gives up. "If something's threatening my family, it'd be better if we had info on it."

Or maybe that is still subtle for a pirate, Sabo muses, and that's really cute. He turns and grins at Marco wide and real, and he bows and says, "Thank you for loving my brother."

Marco blinks at him, but nods. "Of course," he says like there was never another option.

Sabo holds the bow, but looks up to meet his eyes. "He's not the easiest to love and he has so many issues, seriously, so many, but I leave him in your care."

"Of course," Marco repeats, still sounds baffled over how sincere Sabo's being, but he means it. As a kid, Ace was angry at the whole wide world and most everyone in it, but he obviously loves being here, with these people.

Luffy will always carve out his own place and warp reality to make a spot for himself, but if Sabo'd had the ability he would've always worried about Ace. He really sincerely does appreciate what this crew has done for his brother.

Maybe he oughtta tell them that, especially with what's coming. "I can't tell you secrets that aren't mine," he says, and digs for the little card he'd made earlier. "But if this blows up as big as I think it will-this is my personal den den mushi number, and I'd appreciate being kept in the loop."

As the Commander who's worked with them the longest, Marco has gotta know exactly how many rules this breaks and that the only way Sabo would even begin to risk this is if he really thought Ace would be in danger. Big danger, very soon. Sabo can't ever tell anyone anything but that's the life he's chosen, and he'd never betray Ace's trust like that anyway.

Marco sucks in a quiet breath as he takes the card; good, he understands what's at stake. He knows how much trouble they could both be in if anyone found out about that card, but he takes it all the same.

"You really think it's something we'll need backup for?" Marco asks, making the card disappear. Huh, maybe he can do subtle after all, if only with his hands. "We're the Whitebeard Pirates. No one messes with us because we can raise an army against anyone who tries."

Sabo looks at him, leaning there against the rail, and sighs. "Yeah, but sometimes the right person can make more of a difference than an army," and his eyes land on Ace again, over on the bow. "I gotta say good bye," he sighs, because he really doesn't want to leave. But he still purses his lips and makes a quiet whistle, like a birdcall. It goes unnoticed to everyone but Ace.

Ace's head whips up and he meets Sabo's eyes from across the deck. He notices Marco leaning there and raises an eyebrow at Sabo, who crooks a grin back. Then Sabo tilts his head down, tipping his hat just a bit, and Ace makes a pouty face at him but nods.

Sabo leans down to snag his bag, makes sure he's ready, and then looks back to Ace. His grin is widening, he can feel it, and Ace's eyes go wide to match because he knows, he can just tell.

So Sabo points at Ace and makes a fake swoony-face and follows it up by blowing a kiss, and he's over the rail and laughing before Ace's bellow can catch up. At least that's one thing that never changes, he thinks, casting his little boat away from the Moby Dick. Ace is still the most fun to tease.

"Luffy always loved me better anyway!" follows him out to sea from where Ace has braced himself against the railing, which is a damn dirty lie and they both know it, so Sabo just laughs at him 'til they're out of sight.

Thatch is having a wonderful time and is plying Ace with a lot more alcohol than he generally would, but he wants answers, dammit. Marco's taking the blond prick, so it's up to Thatch to get Ace so liquored up that he actually says actual things to them.

But then Ace kinda looks around a bit, and then makes this hilariously sad face at, yup, Thatch guessed it, his brother. The pout makes him look approximately three years old and is all kinds of adorable, so Thatch misses whatever the blond kid does next, but Ace goes white, then red. Then he lunges for the rail, where the tails of blondie's coat are disappearing.

Unfortunately, he had been sitting crosslegged, and by the time he slams into the rail at speed, the other kid is gone. Thatch follows at a more leisurely rate even as Ace hangs himself out over the railing to shout that someone named Luffy loved him more anyway. Which was probably meant to be a scathing retort, but judging by the fading laughter, it's not very effective.

"You good?" he asks Ace's scowly face anyway, because the kid didn't even really say good bye.

And the scowl slowly fades, and he lets Thatch lead him back over to the party. "Yeah," he answers, and the smile on his face is content.

"Yeah," he says, "I'm good.

Happy End.

...

happier'n canon, anyway.