I have not forgotten about this fic... I've still got a long ways to go before I'm ready to publish the sequel, but I wanted to share this interlude in the meantime as promised. Hope you enjoy!

Interlude: An Unexpected Reunion

The port town, Nanohana…

It was only his first day in, and Ace's wallet was already suffering from his impulsive need to try all the delicious food lined up in the merchant's district. He'd had all the intentions of getting straight to work when he had been docking his Strider at a discrete location, but as he entered the town, he quickly became distracted by the various delectable scents wafting down the streets of Nanohana.

Everything looks amazing… Ace thought, hearing his stomach growl in agreement.

He wasted quite a bit of time going around all the food stalls, but Ace couldn't exactly say he regretted his choice. A full stomach often led to a sharper mind—his shitty grandpa had taught them a lot of useless things, but he did occasionally have his moments of wisdom. This bit of wisdom, in particular, was one that Ace had always taken to heart. He already felt more focused now that his appetite had been sated and he was ready to make his rounds, Luffy's Wanted Poster in one hand, the strap of his backpack on the other.

The aim today was to get more information regarding Teach's whereabouts, although he was also keeping his ears open for any updates about his brother's adventures. Ace had a strong feeling in his gut that assured him he would be running into both of them soon—he only hoped he got to meet Luffy first. It had been too long since he had last seen his baby brother. Although the last three years had been packed with many incredible adventures, he really did miss having Luffy at his side.

It had felt so strange to be without his brother, those first few months after having left Dawn Island. Ace had spent so many years alongside Luffy that the lack of his brother's company had left him to endure countless lonely nights. Even after having become Whitebeard's son, Ace oftentimes found himself resting atop of the Moby Dick's deck as he stared up into the starry sky, imagining Luffy beside him.

It wasn't that Ace regretted having parted ways. That had been a choice they had both agreed on. He just hadn't expected to miss Luffy this damn much.

Wonder what he's doing now...? he thought, a fond smile crossing his lips.

It was well into the afternoon when Ace's investigation finally bore fruit. The dry heat of the desert had left him parched, and when stopped by to grab a quick drink, he was more than rewarded for his venture.

"This kid again, huh?" said the bartender, eyeing the Wanted poster Ace had placed down on the counter.

"You know him?" Ace lit up, his lips stretching widely.

"Well, can't say I've seen him around here before," the bartender said with a small shrug, "but… there was someone else asking about this kid earlier."

Ace's smile dimmed, losing some of his excitement in light of this information. Alarms began to ring in his head as he wondered who else was looking for Luffy. An enemy? he considered. It couldn't be a marine or else the bartender would have made some mention of the fact. "Oh? Would you mind filling me in a bit more? What did they look like?" he asked, trying to keep his tone friendly despite the tension growing on his shoulders.

The bartender only shrugged as he continued on with his work, wiping down the smooth, glossy counter between them. "Couldn't tell. They were wearing a robe. Sounded young, I suppose. Was about your height. They were here only a few minutes ago."

"Which way did they go?"

The man shook his head dismissively. "Out the door, and down to the next bar, I assume. They didn't stop by here for a drink at least."

After giving him the bartender a short, grateful bow, Ace headed out the door in a brisk, hurried pace. At this hour, the streets were packed with people, so Ace knew he would have a hard time following the mysterious person's trail, but he had to try nonetheless. He didn't want to leave a possible threat to Luffy unchecked. Ace had heard a lot of rumors regarding Luffy's adventures, but as proud as he was of his baby brother's accomplishments…

An older brother just can't help but to worry… he thought grimly, turning his focus to the task at hand.

Luckily for him, it took less time than he anticipated to run into his target. Just as the bartender had described, there was indeed a hooded person fishing around for information—and his target was as clear as daylight. Just as Ace had been earlier, the hooded person was holding up Luffy's Wanted poster up in one hand.

Ace cautiously drew near from a safe distance, noting that the hooded person was speaking with a woman that seemed a little familiar; one of the people Ace had spoken with this morning perhaps.

"-seen anyone asking about this kid?"

"Oh yeah, actually…" the woman said in a thoughtful voice. "There was this one guy earlier."

"What did he look like?" the hooded figure pressed.

The voice was certainly young, possibly within his age range. There was a curious tilt to their words, and they certainly didn't sound threatening, but Ace knew that going by that alone would be a foolish move on his part.

"Well… he was about your height, maybe a little taller. He, um, wasn't really wearing much," the woman said with a small grin and red cheeks, reminding Ace of the encounter. "Ah, but his hat really stood out!"

"Do you know where he went?"

Ace was briefly amused at the similarities between this person's questions and his own. It seemed like this person, too, had gotten sidetracked upon finding out there was someone else searching for Luffy.

Well, if you're looking for me instead…

Ace wasted no time in closing the distance between them.

"And just why are you looking for this guy?" he asked, letting his voice carry as he stepped into view with a cocky grin on his lips.

The hooded person glanced back, and for a split second, they visibly froze.

"A-Ace…?!"

That was far from the reaction Ace had been expecting. The fire-user immediately tensed up. His dark eyes narrowed as he stared at the person before him, sizing them up.

"Who are you?" he asked in a cautious, guarded voice.

The hooded person fully turned around then, the movement slow and somewhat awkward. After a beat of silence, they slowly raised their hands and carefully drew back the hood covering them.

Ace's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to place whether he had ever met this person before. His eyes roved over the guy's appearance carefully. The person in front of him did not garner any immediate recognition, but there was something about the angle of his face, the way the light of the sun caressed the blond locks covering the right side of his eye. It brought painful memories to surface. He almost looks like... Ace stilled the thought before it could finish forming.

"Hey," the stranger said, his voice quiet, almost frail. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Ace's muscles were taut with tension as he stared at the guy. Something about those words felt… wrong. The familiar way he was speaking to him, hell, the way this guy was looking at him, was putting him on edge.

Just who the hell was this guy? A hint of dread, of anger even, grew inside of him as the question nagged him. The name—that name—had risen unbidden in his mind and was weighing heavily on his tongue.

Then, as if he was not already treading on dangerous waters, the stranger dared to say—

"It's me, Sabo."

Ace's stomach gave a nauseous curl.

Like hell, he thought, his teeth painfully grinding together as his jaw clenched tightly. It can't be, he denied vehemently. Who the hell is using your face—who would dare—

Fire flooded his veins and threatened to burst through his skin. Ace felt every muscle in his body trembling with unrestrained fury. He stalked forward in two quick steps and grabbed the fake—he had to be fake—by the front of his cloak, pulling him close.

"Don't. Fuck with me here," he hissed at him, trembling heat coiling around his words with a commanding hum. The pressure in his chest was almost too much to bear. "Who the hell are you really? Answer me!" he demanded, shaking him.

Ace was so blind in his anger that it took him several seconds to realize the fake had yet to respond. He reeled in the fury and pain in his heart and focused on the threat before him—the threat that was… swaying on his feet?

"What the…"

Ace watched, incredulous and bewildered, as the fake's complexion took an unhealthy pallor. A slightly panicked look crossed the blond's eyes before the light in them dulled and his lids slid shut. He slumped in Ace's grip.

"Shit!" Ace hissed, stumbling as he struggled to hold up the unexpected dead-weight in his arms. Panic immediately set in as he realized how this must look—at this rate, someone was sure to cause a bigger scene and call in the marines.

Shitshitshit, I've gotta split—

But when Ace looked around, looking for the best route to escape, he was shocked still by what lay before his eyes.

Everyone within eyesight had, for some reason, passed out as well. Bodies piled across the street, each of them delicately still, and some of them foaming at the mouth.

"...Well," Ace said aloud, trying not to be creeped out by what was happening. "At least this makes one thing easier."

Easier did not exactly equate to easy.

Carrying away an unconscious body that was slightly the same size as himself took Ace more time than he would've liked to spend, but it was a task that had to be done. After all that crap that this guy had said, Ace had all the intentions of interrogating him once he regained consciousness.

Just who was this person? Ace refused to believe it was actually Sabo, even though the resemblance, aged up as it was, was uncanny. The Grand Line was filled with strange phenomenons and stranger powers, Ace was more than well acquainted with that fact. It had to be some sort of trick.

But there was one thing that didn't add up.

How had he known that name? Why would he know what he means to me—to us? he wondered, thinking back on the fact that this guy had been asking around for Luffy. Ace had never once spoken to anyone about Sabo, and he doubted Luffy had either. For as much as a blabbermouth that his little brother was, he was never one to talk about the past.

It was those sort of thoughts that lingered in Ace's mind as he quickly made his way through the streets and towards the nearest inn. Once inside, he booked out a room as nonchalantly as he could despite his circumstances.

"My friend here drank a little too much," he told the innkeeper, who didn't bat an eye at him and merely handed over his room key.

When he was finally able to drop off his cargo on one of the beds, Ace took a moment to stare at him once more, this time with a cooler head. His eyes slowly roved over the stranger, taking all the details he hadn't before and lingering on the visible scars on the left side of the other's face. The raw, pink skin stood out amongst the sun-kissed complexion, stretching from above his eyebrow, and disappearing down under the neckline of his cloak. Morbid curiosity had Ace reaching forward, and before he realized it, he had unbuttoned the front clasp of the other's cloak. When the fabric fell away, pooling atop the bedsheets, Ace's breath froze in his throat as he took in the sight of that blue shirt, the cravat, the goggles dangling from his neck…

A small part of him couldn't help but to wonder if there was a chance that this person was actually Sabo.

"Who killed Sabo? It was this country! This world! And you think you can do a damn thing about that?!"

Dadan's voice rang heavily through his mind, as if to remind him not to let foolish notions take hold of him. The old hag had always been harsh in her words, but Ace had been too hot-headed as a kid to listen to anything less than that. It had been those very words that had helped to ground Ace back when his grief had been too fresh and too strong to bear. But now… the wounds were reopening all over again, wounds that had never really healed, only scabbed and festered over. The guilt that he had always felt when he thought back on Sabo's death swelled up and burned like an infected blister. And with it, the hope that Sabo could be alive, rose too. It was a wish too costly to even consider, and yet he found himself wondering…

Could it be that Sabo never died on that ship? Could it be… that Dogra had been wrong?

But if that was the case, why hadn't Sabo contact them? Why had Sabo stayed silent all these years?

Is it… is it really you?

It would be several hours before Ace would get an answer.

Ace dozed off several times as he waited for the other to wake up. In between that time, he found himself slowly becoming to terms with the fact that there was a possibility this guy could actually be his brother. But the longer he waited, the more worked up and confused he felt. It had been ten long years since they had last seen Sabo… Where had he been all this time?

And why is it just now that you decided to show up?

Ace could not make sense of that either, but it was hard not to draw a correlation between the fact that Luffy had just started making the news, and the fact that Sabo had been asking around for their brother. That nagging realization had a small, more vulnerable part of him wondering, why were you looking for Luffy and not me?

Ace's hand rose and covered the tattoo on his left arm as he stewed on his thoughts, staring at Sabo all the while until the sun had set outside and the room darkened.

By the time Sabo finally woke up, Ace had put some distance between himself and the source of his growing heartache. But the moment Ace heard the faint sound of movement behind him, the muscles of his back grew stiff.

"Huh. He didn't punch me..." The quiet, shocked words filled the room, and for some reason, that small insignificant sentence is what settled it for Ace. If he had any lingering doubt that this was an impostor, it was gone now.

He swallowed hard, and decidedly kept his voice even as he answered in reply:

"Well, I was definitely tempted to."

Ace kept his eyes outside on the streets, tracking the few people who were still awake at this late hour. He tried to ease the tension that had settled in his body, and put his best effort to still the thousand questions he had on his tongue. "But you know," he said instead, "you went and passed out on me instead."

"Oh. Sorry."

Ace let out a quiet snort at the lame reply before finally turning around. In the dim room, it was hard to see Sabo's face. Only the faint outline of his body was visible. Ace slowly walked towards him, his footsteps heavy, and he took a seat across from Sabo once more.

Now that Sabo was awake, Ace felt the impulse to reach out to him, touch him. But the distance between them felt great. Ace's heart hesitated. The silence between them was long. Ace wasn't sure where to even start.

"Ace…" Sabo's voice finally broke the silence. It startled Ace, and he realized he didn't want this conversation to take place in the cover of the night, unable to see each other's faces. He lit up the candles beside them at the same time Sabo continued. "I—" he began.

But his voice cut off when the warm light of the candles on the nightstand was cast across the room, Ace was surprised to see Sabo flinching away, his right hand coming up to cover his face instinctively.

Oh, Ace realized with a pang in his stomach, eyeing the scars peeking out behind his hair.

Sabo offered him a slanted grin. "Hah… I guess they don't call you Fire-Fist Ace for nothing."

I'm an idiot, Ace told himself, pressing his lips together. Hating himself for having caused the flash of fear on Sabo's face, even for a second. He should've known, it should have been obvious, but…

All of the sudden, Ace found himself filled with exhaustion.

"Sabo, what the hell."

Ace's voice was short, clipped, restrained. He did his best to keep his fatigue—alongside the other swirl of emotions—from showing in his voice, on his face. But his fingers couldn't help but to twitch as he stared at Sabo, drinking him in once more now that he was awake.

He had thousands of questions for Sabo, some he wasn't sure he could bring himself to voice. But Ace started with the most important one, the one that mattered. And here, he was unable to keep some of his anger from showing in his voice.

"Where the hell have you been?"

The question was loaded with so many others. Sabo, perhaps able to hear them all, averted his gaze briefly. "I'm…" The blonde visibly swallowed. "I'm not sure if you ever got my letter..." he began haltingly. He glanced up then, as if waiting for a response, and Ace nodded, the small motion cueing Sabo to continue. The blonde took in a deep breath, clearly preparing himself for a long tale.

"That day, when I set out, there was an explosion."

"I know that much," Ace cut in sharply, feeling a tremor ran up his spine at the reminder of that day. "Doga saw your ship blow up. We thought you were dead." He threw the words out as the accusation they were.

He didn't expect the shock.

It was written plainly across Sabo's pale face. He had no idea—no idea of the heartache they had suffered. No idea what his death had done to them, how it had broken them. He had no idea, Ace realized, that they had known about that incident.

And what did that even mean? Ten long years of silence, when all he had to do is send a letter back home.

I'm safe, he could have said.

I'm free.

I'm happy.

Anything would have done. Instead, Sabo had kept quiet—had simply sailed on after that incident, never looking back. Why?

Ace couldn't wrap his head around it, so when he heard Sabo's whispered words, his quiet apology, he couldn't help but to snap.

"Luffy cried for days," Ace told him, and he thought of his own tears as he had clutched to the last memory he had of Sabo all those years ago.

Let's meet again someday, the letter had said.

Now that they had, an ugly bitter feeling welled up inside of him. And beneath that, that vulnerable part inside of him was ripping open.

Did you hate us that much? Did you resent us for not saving you when we had the chance?

Luffy's voice rang in his head strongly, echoing the dread in Ace's stomach.

"He wasn't happy after all!"

When Ace focused back on the present, he saw Sabo trembling. The expression on his face was more honest than he probably realized. It made Ace's swallow back most of his anger, most of his fears.

"What happened," Ace said, and Sabo began to talk.

It felt like hours passed as Sabo spoke about everything that had occurred after his father had separated them. Ace felt ice flooding his veins as he heard the pain in his brother's voice as he described the fire on Grey Terminal, the circumstances that led him to flee, and ultimately, the reason behind his silence.

Amnesia.

After the explosion, Sabo had woken up without even knowing his own name and he had spent these last ten years under the care of the revolutionaries—under the care of Luffy's own father even. There was hesitation in Sabo's words, guilt too, as well as an emotion Ace was beginning to recognize, one he was intimately familiar with.

He felt a pang in his stomach at the thought of Sabo living with that level of self-loathing.

"And then I went to Loguetown. I felt drawn to it, even though at the time, I couldn't understand why. I think it reminded me of…" Sabo faltered, and Ace understood why. "Anyway, that's where I saw Luffy," he said instead.

"You met him?" Ace asked, his eyebrows flying up in surprise.

"Well, kind of." Sabo's tense expression finally softened into something warmer. He ran a harried hand through his hair. "That little troublemaker… I don't think he noticed me at all given how busy he was trying to get executed."

"He what." Ace fully straightened up now, his eyes wide and incredulous, his nostrils flaring with irritation.

Of all the stupid things Luffy could do—

"Oh, yeah. One minute, I'm walking around town, chasing after ghosts, and the next thing I see is Luffy cuffed up at the top of the gallows, with a guy about to chop of his head!"

His words had Ace pinching the bridge of his nose. "That idiot. I'll kill him," he growled.

Sabo snorted. "You better get in line, Ace. I called dibs first this time!"

The quip fell so easily from Sabo's lips, its light-hearted warmth causing a fond rush of affection to course through Ace. He closed his eyes for a second, savoring the moment.

This is too good to be true… isn't it? There was a small part of him that couldn't help but wonder when the other shoe would drop. And yet, he couldn't help but to bask in the moment.

When he opened his eyes again, it was to the sight of Sabo curling into himself, shoulders hunched and expression hesitant. It made something inside Ace ache and burst all at once.

"So I guess that's what…?" he prompted softly. Sabo graced him with a tight, grateful smile and continued on.

"Yeah. After witnessing that… Well, the shock alone was enough for me to get my head on straight, I guess. But when I woke up after that, Luffy was already long gone. I've been on his trail since then… Never thought I would run into you first."

Sabo rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. His next words were so soft, Ace almost didn't catch his them.

"I was afraid to meet you, you know," he whispered. "I wasn't sure… I thought you'd…"

"Sabo…"

"I thought you would hate me," Sabo said, closing his eyes tight and hanging his head low.

"Sabo…" Ace said again, a little more firmly. When Sabo looked up, Ace held his gaze with his own, staring deeply into the eyes of the brother he'd once thought lost. He would have never in a million years thought he'd be granted with such a reward. For him, cursed with the blood in his veins, to be so monumentally blessed like this could only be a dream.

"It is you, isn't it? This isn't a joke or a dream?" he asked, unable to help himself.

"It's not a dream," Sabo said immediately. "I'm here, Ace," he said tremulously, ducking his head away from sight as as tears spilled forth from his eyes. "I'm here," he sobbed.

Ace sprung forward then, his warm fingers brushing against Sabo's wet cheeks before sliding to the back of his neck and tugging him close. Ace's arms wrapped around the entirety of Sabo's back, squeezing him tight.

"I'm glad," Ace whispered into his shoulder, holding him tightly. "I'm so glad that you're alive."

The words caused Sabo to let out an even louder sob and he clung back just as tight.

"I'm sorry," Sabo hiccupped, muffling the words into Ace's shoulder.

"Shut up, you idiot," Ace said, his voice equally as tremulous and wet.

The two stayed like that for a long time.