16 15

A few hours later, Mt Colubo

3rd Pov

Outside of the bandit's house, Luffy is watching two insects fighting with each other on a barrel.

"Alright, who's gonna win?" said Luffy

"Huh? Oh, Dogra! You came back." said Luffy

"Where did you go Dogra? I've heard you said you were going to see the World something again, was it?" said Luffy

"Well...I did...but Luffy I gotta tell you something." said Dogra with a horrified face

"Hmmm, what is it?" questioned Luffy as he tilts his head in confusion

"Well, remember when you said that you have a friend named Sabo." said Dogra

"Oh! Did you say, Sabo! Then, did you found him while you were in the city?" said Luffy

"Well...yes I did see him. But the thing here is..." said Dogra only to get interrupted by another person

"Oi, shorty! Just spit it out already!" said a familiar voice

"Huh?!" thought both Luffy and Dogra as they look to see Leo sitting on a branch of a tree.

"Oh, green eyes! You're here too! Wait, when did you get here?" said Luffy

"That's not important right now, Luffy. Now shorty, what is it that you wanted to say again." said Leo

"Oh, right! You know what, let's just go inside first and then I'll tell you." said Dogra

"Okay." said Luffy excitedly as he goes back inside

"Well then, I guess it's better to tell everyone the truth, right?" said Leo as he jumps down.

"Wait, does that mean that you were also there." said Dogra

Well, I guess you could say that I drop by for a bit to get some 'groceries'. said Leo

"Wait, why are you wearing a gas mask though and that doesn't sound like you were going to the groceries." said Dogra

"Again, that's not important right now. The important thing is that you better tell everyone exactly what happened back there. Are we clear?" said Leo

"Y-yes, of course. I plan on telling everyone." said Dogra

"Good. You better do it." said Leo as he goes inside the bandit's house

"Jeez, just what is up with kids these days." said Dogra as he goes inside the house

Inside the bandit's house

Leo's Pov

"W-what?! Did you say that Sabo is..." said Ace as he and everyone except Leo has a shocked face

"Y-you liar! Don't even joke about that!" shouted Ace as he pounces on Dogra

"Hey, calm down there Ace. We don't want things to get physical right now." said chicken head as he tries to calm Ace down

"I swear, It's not a lie, nor a joke! It was so sudden, I barely realized what had happened. I doubted my own eyes! I wondered if it was just a dream or an illusion!" said Dogra

"Shut up! Sabo went back to his noble-born parents! There's no way he'd sail out to sea!" shouted Ace

"That's right! Sabo went home..." said Luffy only to get interrupted by Dogra

"Outlaws like us understand how he must have felt...We all have places we really don't want to go back to!" shouted Dogra as he goes back up

"Do you really think he'd go to sea...if he was actually happy? Do you think he'd fly a pirate flag and set out on his own?!" shouted Dogra

.

.

.

"Well then, this just got a bit awkward. Man, this feels really weird cause well...these guys are supposed to be fictional characters but here I am, standing here and looking at the supposed fictional character being real people. I hate to admit it but I guess I've been treating these guys as nothing but NPC the whole time." thought Leo

"Then again, it is my fault that Sabo 'died'. I was there and I could have done something. I could have actually save Sabo. I know that he isn't supposed to die but like the System said before, I kinda fucked up the canon a bit and he might have actually died back there. Thinking all of this just makes me feel guiltier...man I really am a scum, huh." thought Leo as he chuckles a bit

"Sabo...he really wasn't happy at all!" cried Luffy

"Why...why didn't we try to break him out of there?!" Where is the person who killed Sabo?! I'm gonna murder him!" demanded Ace as he grabs Dogra's collar

"It was a Celestial Dragon?! There's no way you can do-" said Dogra

To hell with that?! I'm gonna go there right now and avenge his death!" shouted Ace as he grabs his pipe and runs out of the house

"Wait, Ace! Don't do it, you're gonna die if you go there!" shouted one of the bandits.

Dadan immediately tries to hold Ace down again, only to get outrun by Leo who uses Soru and kicks Ace in the chest. Ace falls down and tries to get up only for Leo to plant his legs on his chest.

"Oi! Get off me, Leo! Don't get in my way, I need to avenge Sabo?!" shouted Ace as he tries getting up

"Damn it, Leo! Why aren't you doing anything at all, we're brothers! We promise that we will always look out for each other! Aren't you mad that someone killed Sabo! Oi, say something already?!" shouted Ace to Leo only to be met by silence

"Are you done?" said Leo with a cold voice

"Huh?!" said Ace as he is startled by Leo's cold words

"I said, are you done with that little temper tantrum of yours." said Leo as he looks at Ace with cold eyes

After a few minutes, Ace finally calms down and looks at Leo.

"Good. Alright, I'm just gonna say this once. Ace, right now you're weak" said Leo

"What! Bu-" said Ace only to get interrupted

"Shut up! I haven't finished my sentence yet, so listen!" said Leo with cold words making Ace flinch a bit

"Okay, Ace right now you're weak. You would always keep acting tough, even though you don't have any real strength. If you go there right now then you'll just end up dying like Sabo and I won't be there to save you again. Do you want that to happen, huh?! Do you want Luffy to see you dead on the ground?!" said Leo

"If you think you're the only one who's suffering here, then you're wrong! I'm also mad! I'm mad at the Celestial Dragon who killed one of my brothers! I'm mad at Sabo's parent cause they treated him nothing but just a tool! I'm mad at every single noble in High Town cause they treated everyone here nothing but trash! But worse of all, I'm mad at myself cause I wasn't able to save Sabo! If I just saved him back then, then none of this would have ever happened, but no I just let it all happen. Ace, you're weak cause you lacked any strength to do anything. But, I'm also weak! I'm weak cause I lacked the courage to do anything at all!" said Leo

Everyone (except for Luffy cause he's still crying) was shocked by Leo's outbursts especially Ace. Leo puts his leg down and lets Ace get up from the ground. He crouches down and put both his hand on Ace's shoulder and looks him in the eye.

"Ace, if you still want to blame someone for Sabo's death, then blame this kingdom that killed Sabo! It was the world itself! But most of all, blame me! Blame me for not saving Sabo! Blame me for not keeping our promise! Blame me for being the worst big brother ever!" said Leo

After that he let's go of Ace and stands back up. He immediately walks out of the house without even looking back.

"Hey! Where are you going! Don't tell me you're going to go there too?!" shouted Dadan

"No, I'm not. I'm just going back home. Today's been too hectic and all I wanted to do right now is go to sleep. If you got any problem with that then you're going to have to wait for tomorrow." said Leo as he gets out of the bandit's house and goes back to Makino's bar.

The next day, Foosha village

Leo's Pov

"Man, I still can't believe that we ran out of meat today. Like seriously, this always happens every day and I don't even eat that much meat." thought Leo as he carries a bag of groceries

"You know, what should I do now? I mean, at this point I'm already done with Luffy's past. There's really nothing that I can do at this point except to just wait till the canon starts and train." thought Leo

"Maybe I should go somewhere else, like going to another island. Yeah, that's sound like a good plan. But the problem right now is where though? Conomi island?...No Arlong gonna kill me. Maybe Gecko island?...Nah too boring. Oh, how about Shimotsuki village! Yeah, that place sounds nice. Alright, it's decided then." thought Leo

"But wait...I don't even know how to navigate. Well, I guess I can buy a skill book for that in Shop, but what about a ship?" thought Leo

"Hey, you there!" shouted a familiar voice

"Huh?!" thought Leo as he looks at the direction of the noise

"Yeah, you little kid. Over here!" shouted the same voice only to revealed a familiar person

"Wait! Isn't that the slave from the auction house. Huh, what do you know, he's still alive and kicking." thought Leo as he goes to the person

"Yeah, I remember you alright. Your that same kid back at the auction house. Guess we meet again, huh. What a coincidence, am I right?" said the guy

"Yeah, it really is. But, how did you know that it was me?" said Leo

"Well, I did hear some rumours about some woman named Makino adopting a child. So I just thought that maybe that little kid was you." said the guy

"So, you just guess it was me?" questioned Leo

"Well it's that and you just already told me." said the guy with a cheeky grin

"...Oh...right, I did. Okay, why don't we talk about some other things like how you've been doing. Seems like your doing good in life." said Leo

"Well, yes actually I'm doing pretty good. I bought a new house, I'm now a shipwright and I repair and sell ships now." said the guy

"Huh, he sells ships now. That's actually what I was thinking. You know, I don't know if I should be amazed or be afraid of how lucky I am." thought Leo

"So, you sell ships now. Well then, can I buy a small boat from you? Don't ask why I wanted one." said Leo

"Hah, still the same I see. Well don't worry about it, you can have it for free. I guess you could say that it's a thank you for saving me back at the auction house 2 years ago." said the guy

"Huh, that's neat. Thanks a lot, I guess." said Leo

"No problem. Oh, and by the way, my name is William. It's a pleasure to meet you." said William as he holds out his hand for a handshake

"Names Leo. The pleasure all mine." said Leo as he shakes William's hand

"Well, I should probably get going now. I got some things that I wanted to do." said Leo

"Yeah, you do you. I got some ships to fix so see ya around, kid." said William

"Yeah, take care." said Leo as he started going back home

"Man, who would have thought that I would meet the same guy again. To top it all off, he gave me a small boat for free. Again, I don't know if I should be afraid of how lucky I am. Well since that's done, I should probably go meet Luffy and Ace. I think I know where they would be right now." thought Leo

"But first, I need to drop these groceries and change my clothes. Don't want Makino to be worried about me." said Leo

At the ledge of a mountain

3rd Pov

At the ledge of a mountain, a certain straw hat kid is facing down on the ground while crying his eyes out like a waterfall. After a few minutes, Ace walks out of the forest and goes towards Luffy. Once he got there, he immediately punches Luffy in the head.

"Hey you little crybaby, how long are you gonna keep moping?" said Ace

"All the treasure we hid in the Middle Forest is gone. Maybe it was stolen by survivors from Bluejam's crew, or maybe the military found it. I don't know where it is now, but that pile of loot doesn't matter anymore." said Ace with his hands crossed

"Originally, Sabo and I were gonna use it. It was our Pirate Fund. But in the end, Sabo didn't use it. So, I'm not even gonna try to bother with it anymore. There's no point in gathering treasure if we can't even look after it." said Ace

"Sniff...A-Ace...sniff...I...I want to become stronger! Stronger and stronger! Stronger and stronger! Stronger and stronger! Stronger and stronger! Stronger and stronger! Stronger and stronger! Stronger and stronger! and even stronger than that! And then, I'll be able to protect anything...I won't have to lose anyone ever again! Please...Ace...don't die!" said Luffy as he grips his straw hat

"Don't be ridiculous! You should be more worried about yourself than me! You're way weaker than I am and even weaker than Leo!" shouted Ace as he punches Luffy in the head again

"Listen up, and remember this, Luffy! I will not die!" said Ace

Luffy gets up and sits on the ground while still gripping his straw hat.

"Sabo made that request too. I promise that I will not die! There's no way I would die and leave behind a weakling of a brother like you!" said Ace

"Oh, so that's where you guys are. I've been searching for you guys for hours." said Leo as he walks toward both of them

"So, judging from how you look, I guess you've already learned your lesson from yesterday, right Ace?" said Leo

"Yeah, I've learned my lesson alright. But back to what I was saying, I'm not all that smart, so I don't know what killed Sabo. But whatever it was, it was something opposed to freedom! Sabo died without even gaining his freedom. But the three of us, who shared a toast with Sabo, are still alive!" said Ace

"So listen up, Leo and Luffy! We will definitely live our life without any regrets!" said Ace with a determined voice

"Uh-huh." said Luffy

"Yeah, you got that one right." said Leo

"Someday, we will set out to sea, and live our life the way we want to. With more freedom than everyone else!" said Ace

I'm sure that we will make lots of people into our enemies. Gramps will become our enemy, too. We'll be risking our lives. We'll cast off when we turn 17! We will become pirates!" said Ace

"Hahaha, oh man that was a great speech. I must have rubbed it off on you yesterday, huh." said Leo

"I'm serious! One day, we will become pirates and we will be free. Just watch it, I'll become stronger than you and I'll become the next King of Pirates." said Ace

"King of Pirates, huh? That's a difficult path. Either way, I got some news that I have to break it up to you. I won't be here much longer." said Leo

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" questioned Luffy

"Well, I've been thinking a lot about this and I decided that tomorrow, I'm gonna set sail and start my journey. So, I guess you could say that today's my last day on this Island." said Leo

.

.

.

"WHAT?!" shouted both Ace and Luffy

"B-but you can't go. We promise each other that we were going to set sail when we turn 17." said Luffy

"Wait, hold on a second there. I got a question to ask for you." said Ace

"Alright, shoot." said Leo

"Why do you want to go out to sea this early? Why can't you just wait till you reach 17? Don't you remember what happened to Sabo? This is the reason that he died." said Ace

"Honestly, I don't know. I'm just doing it just cause I wanted to. I guess the only explanation that I can tell you both is that I got bored of this place and I wanted to explore the world a bit. Don't worry about me dying though, I'm stronger than the three of you anyway." said Leo

"But, I don't want you to go. Please green eyes, don't leave us." said Luffy

"Oi Luffy! Just stop it, already! There really no point in changing his mind, he already made his decision and we can't do anything. The only thing that we can do is saying goodbye to him." said Ace

"Well, I should probably go back and say my goodbyes to Makino. I only came here just to tell you guys about that. Guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then." said Leo as he started walking back to Foosha Village

"Well, since that's done, now I can say my goodbyes to Makino. I can already tell that she's not gonna be happy about it. The only problem I'm facing right now is how am I gonna do it though." thought Leo