The terminal burned in a sea of red, yellow and orange and the cries of the people echoed into the night. Ace watched as the flames licked across rotting huts, tendrils of smoke reaching desperately into the sky, as if trying to escape the blazing inferno below.

He felt Luffy's grip tighten into his shirt, and he shook himself into awareness. This wasn't the time to stand around, they had to find Sabo and get to safety.

Ace ran, his sister following him with blatant fear alight in her eyes. The siblings knew where Bluejam's headquarters were, he just prayed they got there fast enough.

The day had started shitty, which was just wonderful, but now it was downright catastrophic. After lunch, they had wandered around. Luffy had managed to, in this trip alone, find two shiny shells, a small cracked mirror which shone so prettily in the sun and a gleaming ring, and she happily pocketed it all.

The trio had separated upon reaching the Gray Terminal, the boys intent on looking for any usable wood and metal –when Luffy saw something shine in the distance, they gave up on the idea of her being any help– now, the little dragon was wandering about trying to find her siblings;, and through her search she pickpocketed a leering oldman's knife, punched an asshole who did attack her first, pickpocketed a leering old man's dagger and reluctantly concluded that she was lost.

The girl could easily get return back to the forest, but if she abandoned her brothers with heavy wood again , she would get less meat at dinner time. Which totally sucked.

So she aimlessly roamed through the garbage, before she noticed a group of people a few feet away from her. It looked like the guards from high town, and a familiar well dressed noble man. Her brow furrowed in confusion, why would there be a noble in this trash dump? The nobles never left their clean town.

Luffy went closer, hiding behind a mountain of trash as she eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Let Sabo go!" the girl heard a familiar voice yell.

Ace?

"What do you mean 'give him back'?" the noble man replied. "Sabo is my child! It is the responsibility of every child to live according to the will of parents who gave them life. You have some nerve! Lying to Sabo, and convincing him to run away! Are you attempting to steal my fortune?!"

Luffy's mind worked a mile a minute; that noble was Sabo's father, she remembered him from the other week. Sabo and Ace must be with him, just out of her sight. Why would Sabo's own father threaten Ace?

She crept closer to the group, her thoughts coming to a standstill when she spotted Ace facedown on the ground and Sabo clutched in a guards arms.

"I will take you back home, Sabo, and your little trash friend here will die."

Luffy saw Sabo stop struggling as her own anger roared. How dare this crappy old man threaten her brothers?! How could Sabo's own father be so uncaring towards his own son.

Luffy let her powers overtake her, transforming to her half human-dragon state, paying no mind to the fact that she had promised her brothers to keep them secret in Gray Terminal. She had to help them!

The draconic human flew towards the nobleman, before the guards had time to react, she kicked him in the back, knocking him to the filthy ground. She hurriedly rushed to Sabo's side and with a strong kick to the groin, the guard who held him fell to the ground whilst Sabo readied his pipe.

While the guards were distracted with the newcomer, Ace hurriedly twisted from under the mans weakening grip and with a deadly glare punched him just under the ribs.

The trio faced off the remaining guards, fighting them one after another until the guards were defeated and the trio stood merciless against the elder noble.

"You—you brats!" the noble spluttered, a trembling hand reaching inside his pocket. "I'll do the job myself!" he yelled, drawing a gun and aiming it at Ace.

Luffy glanced at Sabo's father distastefully, before her tail grabbed the gun out of his shaking hands.

"Don't ever threaten my brothers," she growled, and Outlook III took a step back as her icy glare seemed to stare right into his soul.

"Sabo is not your son anymore, asshole!" Ace growled. "Don't expect him to just go with you!"

The noble glanced at all his defeated guards, his cowering expression suddenly turning into a menacing glower. "Fine." He uttered dismissively. "Sabo has cost me more than he's worth. You vermin can burn together!"

Sabo jumped at the hateful glare his father shot towards him, but Ace put a hand on his shoulder. "Just ignore the asshole, he's not worth our time."

Outlook twitched at the boys words, but without a backward glance he ran towards the gates, one guard limping after him.

The trio glanced to each other, but in unspoken agreement, they headed back towards the forest in silence.

It was later on in the evening when Gray Terminal suddenly exploded, that Outlook's final words started to make sense. Ace led his sister out of the dump yard, running in between walls of fire.

"We have to help them!" Luffy yelped, as she was dragged along. "They're going to all burn!"

"We can't do anything for them!" Ace snapped back, tightening his hold on her arm. "We need to find Sabo!"

Sabo had disappeared midday, and the two brunettes has threatened most of Gray Terminal for answers. Hours later, they finally found out where he was taken and headed towards the pirates base, only for the flaming blazes to suddenly come to life.

"That damn Bluejam!" Ace growled, sidestepping a crumbling log of wood. "Why would he take Sabo?!"

Luffy glanced around the fire, tears welling in her eyes. The burning of the people was a familiar smell and one that was even stronger to her senses. Her heart clenched in pain as an elder man screamed in pain as fire burned him. "Ace!"

Ace looked away from the screams, eyes screwed shut and ran faster. "We don't have time, Luffy! We have to help Sabo first!"

They ran past multiple smoking houses, and Luffy rubbed her teary eyes viciously. They had to find Sabo first, and then they could help everyone else. "Okay! Let's hurry! Should we fly instead?" She asked, glancing around the flames and the smoke.

Ace nodded, "Oh, right! Yeah, I totally forgot!"

Just as Luffy was about to transform, a voice stopped them in their tracks. "Well, well what do we have here?" A raspy voice growled out, a crazed look in the man's eyes.

Ace glared up at him. "Bluejam!"

The pirate laughed, and his band of cronies joined in. "Tell me, little boy! Where is your hidden treasure?"

"Like hell we'll tell you!" Luffy snapped, teeth bared.

"Where's Sabo?" Ace yelled, raising his pipe and shoving Luffy behind him. "Tell me!"

Bluejam laughed, and laughed. "Why should we tell you? We're all burning here!" He shouted, gesturing to the fire surrounding them. "Tell us where the treasure is!"

Ace glanced between the pirates, "Why do you care about the treasure right now, anyways?" At the pirates crazed look, he shook his head. "Fine, I'll tell you–"

"Ace, no!"

"If you tell us where Sabo is!" he continued ignoring his sisters protests. "It's a fair deal, right?"

"Accepted!" the pirate captain agreed, and held out his hand.

Ace looked his nose down at it, before reluctantly shaking it, aware of the ever closer fire and his sister behind him. "The treasure's in the forest: tallest tree has a chest in it."

Bluejam leaned forward, nose to nose with the younger boy, and his smirk grew wider. "We left the little noble on our burning ship! He's going to burn to death before you even have a chance of getting to him! Not that you're going anywhere, of course!"

"What?!" Ace growled, but then he suddenly whirled around at his sisters whimpers and flinched. "You bastards! Let her go!"

Another thug grabbed Ace from behind, and held him tight. "You bastard! Let me go!"

Bluejam grinned, his odd teeth in full display. "Why do you care so much about that little noble? He's just like the rest of them! His father is the one who planned this fire, and left us to burn despite his promise!" Bluejam's crazed smile overtook his face, and madness lingered in his eyes. "The little noble would be sitting in his little palace, laughing at you as the world burned around us, if he had a choice! It's in his nature!"

"Don't you dare talk about Sabo like that!" Luffy yelled, ignoring the knife held to her face. "He's not like them! He's our brother!"

"Brother? Don't make me laugh! He was just pretending! Why would a noble care about people in this dumpyard?"

Ace elbowed the thug, but to no avail. "Let us go, you ass! We had a deal!"

Bluejam laughed, "You didn't actually think we'd let you go, did you? We're taking you with us two grab the treasure!"

Ace glanced at his sister and his eyes widened further. The thug holding her mockingly held the short knife to her forehead and grinned. "Don't you dare!" he yelled.

Bluejam grinned, "Do it! We don't need her. Just kill her"

The thug holding Luffy grinned, and he trailed the sharp blade down her face as blood poured easily.

Ace saw red, and he yelled, "You fucking bastards!" Power burst through the clearing, and the fire was pushed back as the thugs' holds on them loosened and they dropped to the ground, lifeless.

Bluejam glanced around wildly, the crazed look reappearing as he took in the sight. Ace ran to Luffy's side and he glanced around as the fire suddenly roared forward and enveloped the pirate captain. "Luffy! Luf!" He shouted, and her cloudy eyes blinked open.

"Ace?"

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" He roughly rubbed the blood from her eyes, and flinched at the gaping wound. "You have to transform! The fire's coming closer!"

Luffy blearily looked around, legs shaking as she stood up, and her lungs hurt with each breath of the smoke she breathed in. "Okay… Okay, I can do it…"

Ace shook her again, noticing her daze as the fire crept closer and Bluejam's screams increased, "Come on, Luf, we have to get to Sabo!"

At the reminder of her brother, her eyes cleared, and with a deep breath she transformed. Ace climbed onto the dragon's scaly back, and his eyes warped into worry as they flew above the fire and he noticed the fire eating up the whole yard. "Luffy, there!" He shouted, pointing to a blazing ship. Luffy wheeled down, powerful gusts of air blowing away the fire with every swipe of her wings.

Just above the ship, Ace jumped off her back and ran into the blazing ship. "Wait there, I'll be back with sabo!"

"ACE!" she growled, immediately reverting back to human form, and following him into the burning ship. "Don't leave me behind!"

"Luffy!" he yelled back. "You should have waited! It's not safe!"

"It's not safe for you either!" he growled, but then he turned into a room, and swore. "Sabo!"

The two siblings entered the room, eyes wide and frightened breaths escaping them as they glanced across the room. Sabo was lying against the wall, fire creeping along his clothes and skin, charred rope next to him. "SABO!" Ace yelled, running to his brother, patting out the fires. "Come on, Lu, we have to get him out here!"

With a small sob, Luffy nodded, and transformed. Ace held onto his brother, and leapt onto his sister's back. "Please, Sabo, you have to make it…" he whispered under his breath, as his sister flew them over the burning terminal, and into the safety of the forests.

Days later and Sabo was still asleep. Ace paced around the small hut, as Luffy sat beside their unconscious brother. They looked up when Mogra entered the room, "What's happening?" Ace demanded.

Mogra walked over to the blond boy, and started changing his bandages. "Dadan's just returned. She was out looking for you lot, and then had to hide from the guards."

"When will Sabo wake up?" Luffy asked, staring at her brother.

"I don't know," the bandit said, and he glanced up at the forlorn girl. "Luffy, let me change your bandage too."

Luffy shuffles closer to the small bandit, wincing as he peeled off the bandage around her head. Opposite them, Ace flinched as he took a closer look at her forehead. A deep jagged scar trailed from her hairline to above her right eyebrow. If only he had been stronger, and managed to not get captured, he could've helped his siblings more. Now Sabo was in a coma, and Luffy was injured, and it was all his fault. He was the only one who escaped unscarred, when he should have managed to get to Sabo faster.

"Did anyone else survive?" Luffy asked, determinedly looking at the ground.

Mogra glanced between the two siblings, before letting out a deep breath. "No. Dadan didn't mention seeing any other survivors."

Luffy turned away from the bandit, and huddled closer to Sabo, sobbing quietly.

Mogra tied off the bandage, and glanced between them. "Don't worry about Sabo. He's strong, he'll wake up soon."

It was burning, everything was on fire. He could feel the fire tickle his ropes, and creep across his skin. It was burning. Fire surrounded him, and Bluejam's laugh was ringing in his ears.

"You're worthless to me. You can burn with the rest of these vermin!" His father yells down at him.

Luffy crawls closer, one arm burnt off, and her body on fire, "why are you so weak, Sabo? You could have prevented this…"

"It's all your fault," Ace growls from the corner of the room, his body charred. "You could have saved us…"

I'm sorry, he thinks, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry—

Sabo jolted awake, eyes wide open as he heavily breathed in. Seconds later, he immediately screwed his eyes shut at the bright light. He slowly re-opened them, and glanced around the room. He's in the bandits' hut, and his siblings are besides him, and he's not on fire. He raised his hands, and stared at the white bandages covering his left arm, and the sudden realisation that his left eye was bandaged.

Luffy wakens moments later, and her eyes instantly well with tears. "Sabo!" she cried. "You're awake!"

Sabo laughed at her sudden hug, and rubbed her back. "Always such a crybaby, Luf."

Ace slowly comes to at the commotion, and upon spotting his awake brother he joins the hug. "It's good to have you back, Sabo!"

Sabo smiled at his siblings, and then glanced around. "What happened after I was taken? How did the fire start?"

"It was the noble and Bluejam! They started the fire, on a deal but the noble left Bluejam to burn with the rest of us!" Ace started, his eyes burning furiously.

Sabo huffed, "That sounds like my father…"

"Anyway, we were looking for you when everything went ka-boom!" Luffy continued.

"And then we were headed for Bluejam's base, but Bluejam himself stopped us."

"Yeah, and then he wanted to know when our treasure was, and then his pirates held us."

"And they held a knife to Luffy..."

"But then Ace suddenly screamed at them, and they all were knocked out."

"But we still couldn't get to you fast enough…." Ace looked away from his brother, ashamed of himself. If he had gotten there faster, if he had managed to beat up Bluejam faster, then they could've saved Sabo faster and he wouldn't be riddled with scars and a damaged eye.

Luffy shuffled closer to the blond. "Sorry, sabo… we weren't fast enough to save you… And now your eye…"

Sabo fingered his bandaged eye, looking between them. The way they were talking about his eye, it was as if- "Is my sight lost in this eye?" he asked..

They both gave short nods, not looking directly at him, and he fell silent. Moments later, he laughed aloud. "Why are you two so depressed?"

"Huh?"

"But, we weren't strong enough to-"

"That's not your fault, we're all still kids! You lot managed to save me, didn't you?" Sabo shoved Ace closer to their group, and grinned. "Thanks a lot for saving me!"

"You idiot!" Ace shouted. "I could have done better, we could've gotten there faster!"

"But you lot still managed to get there in the end. Unless you lot planned the fire, and purposefully made Bluejam get in your way, how is it your fault?"

"Saboooo!" Luffy cried, falling on top of him. "Missed you soo much! I'm so happy you're awake again!"

"Don't be a crybaby, Luf, men don't cry!"

"But I'm not a man!"

"You still shouldn't cry!"

Sabo glanced between his bickering siblings, and chuckled. Even though he was handicapped, and he would have to train even harder now that he had a weakness, he was so happy to be alive and able to live freely with his siblings.

oh wow, I think that was one of my biggest breaks in between writing. I've got the next chapter mainly written, so should post that soon. let me know what y'all think :)