Chapter 3: Homecoming [3]
Ace woke to the rustling of fabrics. As he pushed his face deeper into the pillow, he groaned, irritated.
A barely audible gasp at the side sent a jolt through his brain. A memory of the situation at hand smashed his waking mind with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. He jerked from where he was laying, wide awake now, and was able to catch a movement at the corner of his eye. A glance to the empty bedding on the mattress confirmed his suspicion.
Luffy was awake. A tiny figure curled in the dark edge of the room, arms covering his head protectively.
"Luffy," Ace whispered, feeling winded all of a sudden as if his lungs couldn't draw enough air. He crawled closer, hand rising to touch the boy, to make sure he was truly there, but it didn't even manage to make halfway before Luffy was pressing against the wall, as far from the potential contact as possible. Delirious fear made his pupils dilate, but his lips were pulled into a snarl, muscles tense, ready to lash out. Like a cornered beast.
Ace froze. Cautiously, he retreated his arm. "It's me, Luffy," he said, words flowing out with weathered tenderness. "Ace. Your brother."
"Go away!" the boy screamed, teeth bared aggressively, but his whole frame shook uncontrollably. "I'm not—not falling for this! Not—not again…" his voice trailed off into a whisper. "You-You're not real, go away… Ace would never come for me…"
The words sounded so damning in the silence that followed.
Ace made a choked pained sound that he didn't recognize from his vocal cords. "I'm sorry, I—" Must have been guilt wrapping around his neck, suffocating him. Or maybe his heart breaking, shattering into little but dust, down to gritty, worthless specks of dirt.
Ace took a deep breath to glue himself back into some semblance of the big brother he was supposed to be. This wasn't about him. Sabo left Luffy in his care. Luffy was more important. "I—Luffy, I have something for you." He turned and grabbed the straw hat.
It should help, right? Ace hoped it would help.
He lifted the hat and Luffy instantly pushed harder against the wall. "No, please, don't…" he pleaded, voice cracking. "Plea—" The boy's breath hitched the moment the straw hat delicately landed on his head.
Ace kneeled where he stood and buried his face in his hands.
Seconds ticked by. Minutes. No one moved. Silence blanketed the dark room, caressed two brothers sitting next to each other, yet, at the same time, so far, far apart.
Luffy reached for the hat. Slowly, gingerly, his fingers curled around the rim. With a murmur, "Shanks…" his grasp tightened, chin quivering. "Ace?"
Ace's head whipped up to look at his little brother with a reply, "I'm here, Luffy," already leaving his mouth.
The boy bit down on his lip and pulled his hat down, holding it now for all he was worth. "You're real?"
"Yeah." Maybe Ace could make this work, help his brother somehow, useless as he was. "You're safe, Luffy. No one is going to hurt you."
Luffy let out a whimper; the noise so wounded, so profoundly awful that Ace wanted nothing else but to stuff his fists against his ears to make it stop.
He didn't. He deserved to hear it. All of it.
"Aaaaaaaaace!"
Luffy slammed into his brother, rubbery limbs wrapping around his waist. It was so unexpected, that Ace couldn't catch himself in time, losing balance and falling on his behind.
"Ace, I'm sorry! I'll never do that again! I'm sorry! Don't make me return to that place. Please, Ace! I don't want to go back. Don't—don't send me back, please… Please, Ace, don't send me back…"
The sudden pleas stunned him. His heart was beating what felt like a million times a minute and his body numbed.
"I don't like that place… They said bad things about me and—and they said nobody will come for me! Not you, not Sabo, not Grandpa… and you never came! But—but I'm not angry! Just please don't make me go back… Please…" The sobs spilled out of Luffy so quickly, he couldn't quite catch his breath. It took him several seconds to find his voice again. "They made me do things, Ace. Things I didn't like to do… Please, Ace, let me stay here. I-I'll be good, I'll listen to you, I won't eat a lot, I won't cry anymore, just… Don't send me back, Ace… Please…" Luffy's blubber quieted into incoherent weeping, a few discernible 'please' still slipping through.
Ace felt raw, like every layer of skin had been peeled off and his innards bared to the elements. Every strangled sob, every tiny 'please'—it hurt. It left gaping, bleeding wounds on the surface of his vile existence, on his worthless soul.
Ace forced his arms up, two pointless things that couldn't even help in protecting what was important, and put them around the trembling boy. "I'd never…" He had to pause, to collect himself enough to continue speaking. "I'd never make you go where you don't want to. Never." He spat the word with vehemence. "You'll stay here with me and you can do whatever you want and eat however much you want."
Luffy didn't respond.
"You hear me, little brother?"
This time, the teen felt Luffy nod, sniffling into his shirt. "S-Sorry…"
Ace's hold on his brother grew stronger and more desperate, to the point that he wasn't sure if it was for Luffy's sake anymore. He needed it equally as much. "You don't have to be sorry for anything," Ace whispered, the younger boy's black hair soft as it sifted between his fingers. "This is your home. I'm your big brother, no one is going to hurt you here."
"Thanks, Ace. I—" Luffy's voice broke. He snuggled closer. "I missed you and Sabo so much…"
Ace's heart skipped a beat. Luffy didn't know that Sabo had died. There was no way that he could tell the news now. Not while his brother was in this kind of state.
The teen picked up the straw hat that had fallen on the floor and placed the hat on the boy's head again. "We missed you too, Luffy."
They lapsed into content silence, basking in each other's presence. Ace had no intention of removing Luffy from his lap anytime soon. If they ended up sitting like that for the next week or so, he wouldn't mind it at all.
The peace was broken by a rumble of Ace's stomach as it obnoxiously demanded food. Not even a second after, he heard an agreeable growl coming from Luffy.
Ace felt the boy tensing, but he couldn't smother the short bark of laughter in time.
Luffy visibly relaxed and huffed into his chest that sounded suspiciously like a fragment of a giggle. At this very moment, it was the most beautiful sound in the world. Happiness flowed through Ace, warming his skin like the rays of the summer sun. Nothing like an open, rambunctious laugh he so loved and yearned to hear again, but it was a start.
Ace got one of his brothers back.
It was a beautiful day.