Chapter 32: Brothers 2

"You three go ahead, I need to get my raft," Ace said, already walking off to do that. "I'll catch up soon!"

The three nodded in unison, before Rosan grabbed Robin and Luffy. His wings burst out of his back and he quickly soared over to the ship, landing in front of his resigned crew.

"At least Rosan noticed you went missing," Nami sighed miserably. She knew damn well that Robin and the redhead wouldn't randomly go missing without telling them, so they probably noticed that Luffy did and followed accordingly to save them the headache.

"We got lost and talked to Ace!" Luffy beamed, completely unbothered by their annoyance.

"We?" Robin raised a brow. "Luffy, you were the only one who got lost," she chided the rubber boy.

The straw hats sweatdropped at that.

Zoro jumped into the conversation with a raised brow. "Rosan, you mentioned having siblings named Angel and Demon but you never mentioned an Ace or the fact that he was the second commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."

"I don't mention random facts about my life," Rosan retorted. "If asked, I might answer but I won't bring it up on my own volition."

The crew sighed at his very typical Rosan answer.

"You sound like as much of a handful as always," Ace snorted, landing on the railing and staring at his crew with a polite smile. "I feel bad for your crewmates having to deal with you and Luffy at the same time."

"They get used to it. I believe making your intentions clear from the start helps people with understanding... so they understand that I am like this," Rosan hummed.

They groaned. "We still hate you for it."

Ace let out a hearty laugh."Sorry for any trouble my two brother's caused. They can be a bit much and cause me a lot of worry... when I don't want to strangle them to death," the middle brother bowed to the crew.

"Oh, don't mention it," they all said in unison, waving him off.

...

"He's so polite!" Zoro gaped. Luffy was anything but and Rosan was even ruder then their captain! He only spoke polite to subvert expectations!

"He's caring too," Sanji's jaw dropped comically. Why couldn't Rosan and Luffy be this considerate to them? The two just did whatever they wanted!

"This sensible man can't possibly be Rosan and Luffy's brother," Nami decided right then and there. There was just no way. Rosan and Luffy were walking headaches and never failed to give her a migraine.

This polite brother of theirs was anything but. He was polite, caring and didn't demean her any chance he got.

Rosan listened to them with a raised brow.

His crew thought he was as bad as Luffy and worse than Ace? If only they knew the boy when he was younger.

"I would have expected him to be almost as reckless as Luffy and nearly as cruel as Rosan. Like a middle ground," Usopp whispered in surprise.

That made Rosan snort. Rather loudly.

"Ace? Not as reckless as Luffy? You must be joking," the redhead scoffed. "The only thing stopping my little idiot brother from being on the same level as my littlest brother, is the fact that my littlest idiot brother doesn't think and my little brother thinks slightly more."

They watched in surprise as Ace glared over at his older brother in indignation.

"I'm not as reckless as I was when we were kids and I think way more then Luffy! Don't do that to me!" Ace barked in annoyance.

"I'll believe you when Maro and Angel divorce," Rosan grunted, causing the freckled boy to splutter. "How many fights have you backed down from since setting sail?"

"…I don't see what that has to do with anything," the commander muttered.

"Shishishi! Ace still never backs down from fights?! He's so stupid!" Luffy cackled, eyes shining with mirth as the middle brother began spluttering at the two.

"Right?" Rosan nodded, looking smug with his neutral expression. "Speaking of which… That treasure I gave you at the start of your journey. What did you do with it?"

"I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T NEED THAT!" His freckled brother roared, remembering how much he had been given.

Rosan literally waited for him to be well out of sight before making Maro drop the illusion! What a scummy tactic to make sure he didn't return it!

"You refused to let me modify your ship so I decided to give you another gift," Rosan shrugged.

"I said keep it! I lost it and you got it so it was yours!" Ace growled.

"What type of brother would I be if I didn't give you a farewell gift? What did you do with it?" He pressed, knowing Ace couldn't lie to him.

Ace glared at the floor. "You know I can't turn away gifts from you idiots. It helped me secure food and a ship."

Rosan smiled at that. "Good... but you aren't even wearing your pink Mama's Boy shirt."

"I OUTGREW THAT SHIRT 7 YEARS AGO BUT YOU KEPT MODIFYING IT!" Ace shouted, before sobering up with a guilty expression. "And I accidentally burned it after eating my Devil Fruit... sorry about that."

"Accidentally?" The redhead repeated.

"You know I'd never get rid of any of you guys gifts! No matter how much I hate them!" The Whitebeard pirate retorted. "I even still have that stupid rock Luffy gave me."

"THAT ROCKS NOT STUPID! YOU'RE STUPID! ROSAN LIKED MY ROCK!" Luffy roared. He went through a lot of pain getting that rock!

"It was a good rock and I am honest with my feelings," Rosan nodded sagely. Perfect smoothness with no cracks. Truly a nice rock.

"Honest with your feelings?! I am being honest. It was a stupid rock!"

They watched in awe as the three began bickering with each other.

"They really are brothers..." the crew thought in disbelief. Those three were really going at it and it looked like a brawl was only seconds away from breaking out.

"Hey wait, you didn't give me a gift when I set sail!" Luffy pointed out in shock.

"I am the gift," Rosan replied, much to Luffy's satisfaction.

"Oh, right!" The rubber boy laughed.

Everyone face planted at that blunt and serious statement.

"You are an egomaniac, Rosan," Robin giggled.

Ace snorted in agreement. "You're right about that. He tries to mask it behind that cool and collected mask of his but he's way too arrogant for his own good."

"He gets jealous if we think anyone is better then him too!" Luffy nodded sagely, traitorous little captain that he was.

"They have a point. Sometimes, you really do act like your the best thing to happen to a person's life," Mod added with a teasing smile.

"I will not tolerate this slander, no matter how true, against Father!" Ram barked, unintentionally going against him as well.

The straw hats watched all of them pile up on Rosan with amused expressions, not expecting that to happen to the infallible wall of their ship but it was awesome.

He was always so composed and, besides the time he got sick, it was rare to see him be at the receiving end of something like this because he always had a response...

It was awesome. Screw Rosan!

Rosan cupped his chin in contemplation at their words. "I could say you all have a point… but I'd rather dish out revenge on you guys for ganging up on me."

"W-Wait, I'm sorry! Please don't tickle me!" Mod pleaded, eyes going wide in horror.

"Don't you even think about swapping me," Ace barked, lower half already turning into flames so he could take off.

There was no way he was letting Rosan transform him into a girl again.

"That's a great idea, idiots," Rosan decided, taking a step forward to dish it out on the three who thought it was funny.

Robin had already managed to position herself behind the crew, completely aware of how he'd react, and was using Sanji as a shield (to his mixed glee and horror).

Luffy blinked before his expression turned into one of horror as he realized he was the closest to his oldest brother.

Mod and Ram never stood a chance, they lived inside of him after all. He'd go after them later tonight and no apologizing would stop.

Before Rosan could mass swap the 3 idiots, the crew was interrupted by the sight of 5 ships appearing to block them off from sailing any further.

"WE'RE HERE TO COLLECT YOUR BOUNTY, FIRE FIST ACE!"

"WE'VE GOT FIVE SHIPS, JUST TRY TO ESCAPE!"

"I'll clean them up," Ace offered with a small shrug.

"Don't worry, I can do it. They interrupted me," Rosan said calmly, much to the shock of the crew.

Rosan... He was offering to do something?! Seriously?! The one who would let them sink for fun was offering to clean up 5 ships?!

These guys must have really riled him up!

"Spoiled as ever. No wonder Ram's so bad," Ace laughed.

"Fuck off! Father's just offering because he knows he can do it faster and he wants to punish us all as soon as possible!" Ram barked, despite her fear at being tickled.

The second division commander paused at that. "Faster?" He said incredulously, raising a brow.

Now it was Rosan's turn to raise a brow, ignoring the 5 ships taking aim at them momentarily. "Why do you sound so surprised? You don't actually think you can do it faster than me, right?"

"Wait, you think you can?" Ace challenged gazing at his brother in disbelief.

"Oh dear, look at what you've gone and done, Ram," Mod sighed.

The years had done nothing, these two were still the most competitive by a mile.

Ace must have gotten so strong over the years because he wanted to deliver sweet retribution to his brother who he never defeated.

"Your flames probably don't even burn hotter than mine," Rosan taunted, fangs sharpening dramatically as a reptilian tail slow snaked out from behind him. "You've only had them for about 3 years compared to my 16."

"But I can still do more things then you could ever dream of," Ace retorted, lighting his body up with an eager grin. "Don't think those flames compare to me. The only thing your fires are good for, are giving me inspiration for some of my techniques!"

"Wanna bet?" Rosan challenged, eyes transforming into slits.

Ace's response was to leap clean off of the Going Merry onto his ship, Striker, and fire off. "YOU'RE ON!"

Without wasting a second, Rosan leapt once on the railing, and rocketed off, draconic wings bursting out of his back immediately as he soared through the air.

"They're so competitive," Nami gawked in disbelief. Just like that... these two were going to make a game out of 5 ships...

That was insane. What was wrong with this family.

"Yup! Ace and Rosan get in the most competitions," Luffy beamed.

"Followed by Maro and then Luffy," Robin finished, smiling at the story. "It all started when Ace and Maro teaming up, couldn't beat Rosan and Luffy. Luffy bragged so much despite Rosan doing everything, that it sparked all of their competitive auras to unreal levels."

That day was rather funny to witness. Luffy had contributed nothing, besides being a general pest to Ace, who tried to tip the favors in Maro's scale. His annoying presence was enough to distract Ace long enough for Rosan to eventually deal with the Dokkaebi, then he focused his attention on Ace.

Him allowing Luffy to get the final hit, is probably what made their competitiveness flare so strongly. The little boy did not care whatsoever about the details, he just knew he hit Ace to win the match and that had pissed Ace off something fierce.

Ever since, their competitive streaks slowly rose higher and higher until they turned nearly everything into a competition!

Somehow, learning that Luffy had been the one to make them all so competitive, while being the least competitive in the process, sounded exactly like him.

"Our captain is so hopeless," they sighed in unison.

Ace rocketed towards the ship with a cocky grin on his face, hands in his pocket as Striker got closer and closer to the ship.

Once it got close enough he leapt off of it with enough force to send it underwater.

As he soared to the opposite side of the ships, his flaming figure caught a black and red one floating in midair, standing parallel to where he was about to land.

That damn cocky son of a—

The flame man landed on his resurfaced Striker and took aim at the five ships, cocking his fist back. If he was right, his brother was about to do the same thing.

Rosan stared at the five ships as he gathered the necessary energy in his serrated maw.

Gathering the flames, he condensed it until it was razor sharp in nature and turned the fire into something much more lethal and sharp.

"Fire Fist!"

"Raze."

A fiery orange fist launched from Ace at the same time a massive red laser launched out of Rosan's mouth.

The second commander's attack crushed two ships in its path, while Rosan's attack ruthlessly razed through two more.

Then, both attacks collided on the 5th ship in the middle, obliterating the poor boat at the moment of contact and causing a massive explosion to take place.

The straw hats watched the explosion in terrified awe.

"Those two just destroyed 5 giant ships for the sake of a competition?" Vivi gaped, taking a step back in terror at the two monsters claiming to be Luffy's older brothers.

The rest of the straw hats, sans Robin and Luffy (who were smiling), were just as surprised, if their open mouths were any indication. They began sweating at the casual destruction displayed by the two.

"I have to wonder… Why didn't Rosan just become his own captain?" Sanji said, least surprised out of all the surprised ones there.

He knew that the man was Reaper, displays like this were expected and he was well aware that the redhead was holding back often.

He was a lot more destructive then the clinical Reaper though. The Angel of Death fought very differently from Rosan...

Reaper fought like an Angel and well, Rosan fought like a Demon.

"Rosan has no interest in leading a group of people," Robin replied to the chef. "That's why just the two of us traveled with each other. That boy is incredibly selfish and doesn't want anyone to overly rely on him."

She smiled fondly as she explained.

Personally, Robin enjoyed that part of him. It made them feel like true equals and Rosan hated following people as much as leading them so he never forced her to be the leader. Sure there were times where she felt like the leader, but with his outgoing and natural personality, Rosan felt more like the leader to her at times.

Whenever one was in a vulnerable position, the other had no problem taking charge. When they were both fine, they had no problem bouncing off ideas or following the others lead.

It was a healthy, equal, relationship, one that Robin very much liked and missed and she was glad things hadn't changed. Rosan still listened to her as much as she listened to him.

Besides, if anything, Mod-chan was their leader. That woman helped them with everything and put the final stamp on if it was a good idea or not.

"Ace is also his brother… why did he choose Luffy? No offense," Usopp questioned. If those two were apart of the same crew… hell they'd be absolutely terrifying.

Imagine if all three of them joined under one banner...

It was scary to think about!

"I asked Rosan first and he said yes," Luffy beamed, flashing them all a thumbs up.

"Translation: Luffy asked Rosan to be his first friend, Rosan said no, Luffy refused to accept that as his answer, Rosan said yes, Rosan saying yes meant that he was somehow apart of his crew, Rosan joined the crew, Rosan is now a Straw Hat," Robin translated, smiling gently at the grinning rubber boy.

They sweatdropped.

Yeah, that sounded just like Luffy.

"Hina wonders what Smoker plans on doing now?"

Smoker grunted at the pink haired captain as he glared into the distance.

Who was that redhead? He distantly recalled seeing him flee with straw hat but he hadn't done much else… What was his Devil Fruit ability? Did he have an Earth Logia?

There wasn't much he could do against an Earth Logia but he wouldn't let that deter him.

Not to mention the fact that Fire Fist Ace of all people was here.

Equal their fruits may be, if that man intended on fighting him, he'd make quick work of Smoker, Hina, that town and just about everyone else on Alabasta.

That's how overwhelmingly stronger he was then everyone here. He had earned his title of Whitebeard's second commander after all.

Besides that though, there was the issue that the Straw Hats were still alive. Either that agent whose call they intercepted hadn't checked to see if the job was done, or he had lied.

If the Straw Hats were still alive, everything was being thrown in disarray and he was effectively going in blind again.

Whatever, he'd deal with that when the time came.

Tashigi nervously watched him brood before prodding. "I agree with Captain Hina… what now?"

"Princess Vivi was with the Straw Hats," Smoker eventually said. "And it doesn't look like they kidnapped her either. She acted like she was one of them."

Hina's brows furrowed at that. "Did they brainwash her?"

They'd have to be extra careful around them then.

"Whatever it may be, I know where to go," Smoker grunted, pushing himself up and taking a puff of his multiple cigars.

"Let's go see Crocodile."

"What are you on about? I won."

"You don't seriously believe that right?! I clearly won!"

"Are you that desperate to get a victory over me? I knew you still held a grudge from when we were kids."

"STOP MAKING UP BULLSHIT!"

Rosan and Ace argued back and forth about who was winning as they made their way back to the Going Merry. The redhead was flying next to Ace's raft as they debated the victor.

"Fine. We can ask a reliable source," Rosan decided, ascending upwards and landing on the rails. Ace followed soon after and soon, the two stared at Robin with their arms crossed.

"Robin, can you tell Ace I won?"

"Tell Rosan who really won, Robin!"

Robin quirked a brow at the sets of glares, a slight sweatdrop forming, and had to wonder how she had to deal with two wildly competitive children now.

It was always her… perhaps this was her curse for being the most sensible person around.

"They would have asked me but Ace is convinced that I have a complete bias for Rosan," Mod sighed fondly.

"It's a tie," Robin eventually replied, holding a hand up before they could protest.

She knew they were going to do that.

"Despite his head start, Ace decided to show off and leapt to the opposite side of the ships to deliver his attack," she began, glancing pointedly at the Ace who scratched his head sheepishly.

"As if wanting to one up you, Rosan, in his arrogance, waited for you to land before firing his attack, confident that no matter what, he'd beat you."

This time she glanced pointedly at the redhead, who simply grunted without denying anything.

"Shit," Ace cursed.

"...Drinking contest?" Rosan asked.

"You can't get drunk, asshole. How about a bounty contest?" The commander retorted with a grin.

"Sure, if it's first ever bounties," the redhead replied smugly.

The Straw Hats, sans Sanji, blinked.

First bounties? But… But Rosan didn't have a bounty?

...Right?

Robin held her head. Rosan was about to reveal his identity just because of his competitive streak.

At least it showed that he trusted his crew.

No, it was definitely because he was too competitive.

"Rosan, you have something you need to tell Ace and Luffy," she interrupted, dragging those two sets of eyes back to her.

"Oh, that's right," Ace said, gazing at his brother curiously. "What is it that you wanted to tell the both of us? That's rare because we just figured out it's not worth telling Luffy."

Rosan took a deep breath. "Yeah normally there isn't much the both of you have to know but this is one of them and I'm just going to say it outright…"

Ace and Luffy looked at their oldest brother in interest.

"Sabo is alive."

...

A deep silence washed over everyone there.

For the Straw Hats, who weren't aware of their supposedly dead brother, this only confused them greatly.

But for Ace and Luffy, everything around them froze and they stared at their brother's mouth in raw disbelief.

The only thing the two could feel, were their own pulsing heartbeats slamming into their chest over and over again.

Their crew was about to speak up but Robin shushed them, eyeing the frozen brothers with soft eyes.

…

…

…

"W-W-Wha," Ace stammered in confusion.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Luffy screeched, jaws dropping to the floor.

"I… I was shocked to hear it too," Rosan said softly. "Sabo's alive and thanks to an ally, he's currently on Alabasta waiting for me to go retrieve him."

As expected, tears began to surge in Luffy's eyes, while Ace snarled in anger.

"S-Sabo's alive?!" Luffy whispered in shock.

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Ace barked. "How are we just now finding this out? How long did you know?!"

"I didn't find out until recently, when we were at Loguetown preparing for the Grand Line."

The Straw Hats remembered how he had shown up on the ship late and their eyes widened in surprise.

So that's what had held him up!

Ace calmed a bit at that.

If Rosan had known for years, he might have never forgiven him but his brother seemed just as caught off guard as they were.

Sabo was important to all of them… Rosan wouldn't lie about something so grave and the redhead didn't hold back information from him either.

"Why didn't he ever reach out to us? It's been 10 years," Ace snarled, glare settling on his features.

When he got his hands on that sunnova—

"He has amnesia," the redhead responded. "He doesn't remember us at all from what I gather and after the attack by the Celestial Dragon… it took away his memories."

The second commander blinked in shock at that, anger draining out of his body as he slumped a bit.

He had… He couldn't remember them...? That Celestial Dragon robbed Sabo of all his memories that he had with his brothers?

How dare he?!

"He's here right?!" Luffy sobbed, tears still falling. "Bring him! I want to see Sabo!"

Their crew was understandably very confused by the events transpiring currently.

While Rosan was a stone wall, Luffy was enigmatic in a different way. They never expected to see him crying so freely because… well, their captain was also pretty infallible!

Sure he showed his emotions much more freely then Rosan but it was rare to ever see him as anything but happy.

The two who started the crew were full of mysteries that they never really delved deep into!

They just figured out that the two had a middle brother who was apart of Whitebeard's crew! And now, their captain was freely crying over another name?

It was expected that they didn't know much about Rosan… but they realized that they also knew startlingly little about Luffy...

"I'll go retrieve him… my scout already found him and he's currently waiting for me," Rosan said, nodding his head and summoning his wings again. "Remember you two, he has amnesia. He will not remember us so don't react too negatively."

Ace nodded tightly.

Luffy nodded eagerly.

With that, the oldest brother stepped onto the railing and flew off into, presumably, Sabo's direction.

They watched the redhead go with mixed reactions, before turning towards the other two brothers.

"...This might be a bit personal… but who's Sabo?" Nami asked softly, eyes furrowed as she dwelled on the longest members of the Straw Hats.

Ace jumped a bit and turned towards the confused crew. He gazed at them all and realized that only Robin seemed to have a clue about who he was.

That made sense, her and Rosan looked like they were practically glued together and his older brother had always trusted her with everything when they were kids.

The Whitebeard commander bowed to them. "Sorry about that, you must all be confused. "

"So polite!" They thought with comical tears. Rosan would have mocked them for being stupid and Luffy would have laughed merrily.

Ace took a steady breath. "Sabo… Sabo is our other brother. We thought he died a long time ago so we're a little surprised to hear that he's alive."

They flinched at that. A-Another brother? And this one was supposedly dead?

Robin placed a soothing hand on the commander's shoulder. "I know that you're thinking this is your chance to make up for your mistakes, but it's not your fault, Ace. No one could have predicted what was going to happen that day," she assured.

The commander stared wide eyed at Rosan's closest friend. "He really does tell you everything, huh?"

She smiled softly. "It's a privilege that I'm honored to have."

Sabo accepted the water from the bird with a polite smile, getting a trill of happiness out of it.

This bird was incredibly useful. Not only did it guide him to a spot with shade, it gave him some water to drink too!

It made this heat a lot more tolerable.

The blonde had removed his jacket and hat long ago and they rested haphazardly next to him. His vest was going to be next if he stayed out here any longer.

Seriously, the heat was scorching and he really should have listened to Koala's advice about changing his outfit to accommodate the weather.

Eh, he'd never admit to her that she was right. It'd make her insufferable.

His eyes caught something in the distance and Sabo glanced upward to see a figure rocketing towards him. He was about to put his guard up, but the excited chirping and jumping of the bird, at the arrival, stopped him.

The soaring figure stopped neatly in front of them and Sabo gazed at the figure in confusion.

"Aren't you hot?" He couldn't help but ask.

"...No, the weather doesn't typically affect me," he replied softly, staring a hole into him.

"Huh, neat," Sabo commented idly, gazing back with an appraising eye.

It was a tall man with bronze skin, almost like it were kissed in this desert heat, and a striking shade of spiky red hair, tied into a messy bun that left the spikes in the front of his head free.

A set of blood red and royal purple eyes stared into his own with a somewhat lifeless expression, with the most notable thing being the slight glow in them that seemed to get a bit brighter looking at him.

"Sabo… you've grown," Rosan said eventually, listening to Mod's breath hitch slightly.

The Devil Fruit had become such a sap over the years but he supposed this was a good reason...

He was much taller now, barely beating Ace out by a few centimeters and his features had matured greatly, losing the roundness he had as a child and having far more hair too. His missing tooth had grown in now, giving him a row of even teeth and Rosan noticed the horrific burn scar over his left eye that probably resulted from the Celestial Dragon attack.

Sabo tilted his head in confusion. "So you're Rosan, right? Dragon said I'd probably meet you first. Nice to meet you, I'm Sabo!"

Even after seeing him, Sabo had no recollection of anything? It was to be expected but it was still a little surprising.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Sabo. Something unexpected came up," Rosan informed him, talking about Ace. He hadn't been expected a full brotherly reunion in Alabasta but this worked out fine.

He wasn't sure when he was ever going to run into Ace again on the high seas so lady luck was smiling down at him.

How rare of her.

"I'm Rosan," he introduced eventually. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions and I'll answer them to the best of my ability."

Sabo hesitated for a bit.

Looking at the redhead before him, invoked a strange feeling throughout the revolutionaries body that he couldn't describe.

"You're… one of my brothers? Along with Straw Hat Luffy and Fire Fist Ace?" Sabo began immediately.

Rosan nodded. "We… We aren't blood related. The four of us made a pledge over sake to become brothers. I'm the oldest, followed by Ace and then you and Luffy."

Sabo wasn't sure why he got annoyed to hear that Ace was older than him.

"So what happened to me…? Besides being attacked I mean," the Chief of Staff couldn't help but ask.

"Your actual parents… you ran away from them and they retrieved you," Rosan said eventually.

He explained everything that happened that day to the amnesiac. About how his father had hired pirates to subdue the three and Sabo gave up his freedom so that Ace and Luffy could be safe at the cost of him returning to life as a noble, how Rosan had tailed him and offered to set him free, after pointing out that he obviously wouldn't stay here.

That part made Sabo shudder.

He learned that despite the offer, Sabo had refused the redhead's help, even with the knowledge that he could resolve the entire issue, how they had both figured out about the fire that the nobles planned on setting… and how Sabo came to the disgusting realization that the nobles were less human then the people they scorned.

"That would explain why I wanted to avoid Goa at all cost," Sabo muttered, cupping his chin.

Rosan frowned internally.

"He still doesn't remember."

"It's been 10 years of no recollection… it has to be very severe."

Well, Rosan and Sabo were close but he wasn't the closest to the boy. Luffy and Ace had a special bond with the blonde so they might have a better chance.

"You're underselling yourself, Rosan."

He wouldn't be surprised if he was. He had periodic moments where he was negative about himself without meaning to be.

"I'll take you to Ace and Luffy now?" Rosan offered, getting a surprised blink out of Sabo.

"Fire Fist Ace is here?" He asked, bewildered.

Rosan nodded. "It was good luck. I didn't inform him of this. He just happened to be here for Luffy and I."

"How convenient," Sabo muttered, pushing himself up and grabbing his things. "Alright, I've been here long enough so let's go."

That information was a lot to digest but it lined up well and it was way too specific for him to doubt it. At least he now had a reason as to why he had recklessly began sailing the sea at 10 before getting sunk and found by Dragon.

"Be warned… Ace and Luffy, especially Luffy, are not as composed as I am," Rosan advised him quietly. "It's been 10 years of us thinking you were dead and I have some of my emotions locked. They don't have their emotions locked."

The chief of staff nodded warily, temporarily ignoring how his emotions surged at the redhead's words in favor of focusing on the part where he said his emotions were locked.

Seriously? What happened to him?! Is that why Sabo felt oddly determined every time he looked into his eyes?

It was a question for later. It's not like he was in a rush to leave. He needed to stay here until Crocodile was dealt with.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind," Sabo said good naturedly.

Rosan caught a glimpse of his weapon and he tilted his head. "Ah, you still use the metal pipe? You were always the best with that weapon and true to my words, Ace and Luffy ditched their own before even setting sail."

I think you're the best of the three with that metal pipe.

Sabo shook his head harshly, which Rosan didn't miss and the blonde waved him off at the questioning look.

"It's the only thing I knew how to use so I stuck with it. Now, let's go," he said in hopes of changing the subject.

Rosan stared at him with that blank gaze almost knowingly before nodding his head and outstretching his hand.

After a moment's hesitation, the revolutionary grabbed the limb and they both vanished.

When Rosan warned him about Ace and Luffy, Sabo had prepared himself to the best of his ability for the inevitable meeting.

But there was no way to prepare for a speeding, crying, missile crashing into him.

"SABOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Luffy sobbed, bowling the blonde over completely.

"YOU'RE ALIVE! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" The captain of the Straw Hats cried in relief, clutching the revolutionary with all his might.

Sabo flailed helplessly, shooting a confused, if not pleading glance, Rosan's way and getting an, "I told you so," as a response.

Ace's throat locked up at seeing the aged up blonde, drinking in all his details and comparing them to the Sabo that he knew.

He still had that goofy top hat on (Rosan and Ace enjoyed teasing him about it after finding out about his noble heritage) and his hair had gotten much longer over the years.

His outfit choice was largely similar as to when he was a kid, just fitted to his significantly taller (he looked like he was the same height as him now) frame.

He was currently shooting a wide eyed look at Luffy that made Ace's gut curl.

His eyes…

There was a burn mark over his left one. It was probably the aftermath of getting attacked by that damn Celestial Dragon.

But that wasn't the most concerning thing about his eyes.

No. The most concerning thing about his eyes was the fact that despite seeing three of his brothers... his best friends, there was no hint of recognition in them and that knocked the anger right out of him.

Robin and Rosan saw Ace deflate a bit and their eyes softened. "It sucks, not being recognized by someone you love," the redhead said.

Ace nodded tightly. "Yeah, it sucks a lot but we won't give up will we?"

Rosan nodded in return. "Of course not. Sabo is our little brother after all."

The Straw Hats watched with their own soft gazes as Sabo eventually gave up and hesitantly wrapped his hands around their crying captain.

"Rosan…" Nami said hesitantly. "Could you… could you tell us a bit more about you and Luffy's past after this is over with…?"

The redhead glanced at them for a moment, before nodding. "Sure. I can even share certain memories if you want."

The crew looked appreciative of that and nodded hesitantly.

Eventually, Luffy had gained enough coherence and he let Sabo go. The blonde didn't look too bothered at the fact that his clothes were soaked, pushing himself to an upright position with a confused expression.

The Straw Hat began grinning excitedly, energy radiating off of him palpably.

"Sabo! Where were you?! We were all so sad when we thought you died but you weren't dead! Why didn't you come at least say hi! I knew we should have saved you but Rosan and Ace were both being dumb!"

The Chief of Staff wasn't even sure where he could begin with that questioning. He wanted to answer the pirate because everything about Luffy was so… genuine but he really couldn't because he didn't know how.

"Luffy..." Ace sighed, pulling the youngest off of Sabo. "Rosan just said he has amnesia. He can't answer you because he doesn't know the answers to your question. You're being overwhelming right now."

"Oh right!" Luffy gasped. He totally forgot!

Ace offered his hand to Sabo, who gratefully took it and hauled him up.

"Gotta say, never expected Fire Fist Ace to be one of my brothers," Sabo muttered, appraising the commander before him. Looking at the commander invoked a different feeling then when he looked at Rosan or Luffy...

It was almost like he was looking at a partner in crime... Ace filled him with fondness, happiness and exasperation all at once and he hated that he couldn't explain why.

But for some reason... when he looked at the tattoo on Ace's arm... the one that said ASCE with the S neatly crossed out, Sabo felt his insides screaming.

It was like he lost his breath and the revolutionary did a admirable job not showing it on his face.

"What the hell was that?" He thought in shock.

"Not just brothers, the best of friends," Ace sighed, smiling wryly at the blonde. "It sucks that you have amnesia but I'm just happy that you're alive and well... Your death hit us all hard but knowing that you survived... it makes me feel relieved."

Luffy and Rosan nodded at the same time and Sabo felt a strange happiness at seeing them so happy to see him.

"I don't know what will bring them back… but I do want to remember you guys. You three are pretty cool!" Sabo laughed, rubbing the back of his wavy hair.

"How long will you be staying?" Rosan asked calmly.

"Yeah how long?!" Luffy prodded.

Sabo hummed. "My mission is to stay here until Alabasta's problems are dealt with and I assume you guys are the ones dealing with it. So when you guys win, I'll be done."

"Mission?" Vivi asked in confusion.

Everyone else, barring Rosan and Robin were also confused. Who would send him here on a mission?

"Yeah, mission. I'm a revolutionary. Chief of Staff to be exact," Sabo replied easily.

There was a brief silence at that.

"WHAT?!" They all roared in shock.

Seriously, what was up with these brothers?!

Ace, Sabo, Rosan, Luffy… they were all monsters!

Not only did they have a brother who was the second commander of Whitebeard's crew… they had another brother who was second in command to the Revolutionaries!

Ace's eyes were especially wide because he knew what that entailed.

The freckled man shot Rosan a sideways glance that the redhead caught and he imperceptibly nodded.

"I met Luffy's father, Dragon. That's how I was able to learn that Sabo was alive," he confirmed.

So that's how he learned…

"When did you meet Dragon?"

"The first time was right before I killed Bluejam. He was on Goa the day of the fire and Sabo and I met him."

The day everything went wrong… at least something good came out of it.

"S-So you're not only a Revolutionary, but your the second in command?" Usopp stammered in disbelief. The liar was looking rapidly between the four brothers in surprise.

One was a super important pirate. The other was a super important revolutionary.

Luffy was trying to become the Pirate King too… What would Rosan have been doing if he decided to sail on his own?!

If only they all knew that Rosan had long since made a name for himself as the most infamous bounty hunter alive.

"I'd like to stay longer… but I can't," Ace frowned.

As much as he'd like to catch up with Sabo, after staying here for a bit more, he'd need to continue his search for Blackbeard.

It was his duty as second commander to bring him in and that wasn't something he could delay.

The oldest brother nodded in understanding. "I should let Angel and co see you then. They'll try to keep you for days and it gets increasingly difficult to deny that woman."

"That's you and Maro's fault," Ace grunted in annoyance, a fond smile on his face. "Always saying yes to her and agreeing to her demands. I told you guys to stop."

"I spoil all my family and Maro spoils everyone she likes period," Rosan said shamelessly. "It's my job as the oldest and I have to do something with all the money I managed to secure."

They sweatdropped at his blunt statement. Based on how he treated Luffy, they believed him wholeheartedly.

"We have more family?" Sabo asked in confusion. He didn't think there was more than his three apparent brothers but guess he was wrong.

Ace and Rosan shared a look, before nodding.

"Maybe seeing everyone will help you?" Rosan muttered in contemplation.

"I wanna see Angel, Demon and Maro too!" Luffy jumped in, smiling eagerly. It had been way too long since he saw them!

"Angel, Demon and Maro… Those are your clones and the queen, right?" Zoro recalled correctly. He mentioned them a while ago and the swordsman was curious to see what clones of Rosan were like.

"A queen?!" Vivi repeated in surprise. Not only was Rosan's mother a queen, he personally knew another?!

Wait a second... did they just say Queen Maro?! Wasn't she the young Queen of that incredible island in the North Blue?!

"Can we meet them?" Nami asked curiously.

She… She wanted to know more about the first two member's lives. It sucked not knowing anything about the two who had helped her so much.

"I'd like to see them too!" Sanji interjected.

He mostly wanted to see the queen and Rosan's sister for his own reasons (Rosan mentioned them being very beautiful) but… Queen Maro was also Grim and he wanted to show his gratitude to her somehow.

Rosan cupped his chin and after some contemplation, he nodded. "Where are we headed? We should land there first or it might get crowded. Maro has wanted to meet you guys for a long time so I guess now's as good as any."

"Maro's gonna be pissed when she realizes I'm stronger than her now," Ace sighed fondly.

"I'll concede first place to you for now," Rosan grunted. "Enjoy it while you can, once I learn Haki and travel more of this sea, you'll lose it."

Ace had a three year head start in the strange ocean known as the Grand Line and was apart of the World's Strongest Pirate crew to boot.

Give Rosan and Luffy more time to sail this sea and they'd quickly catch up… Huh, Maro was going to be pissed wasn't she?

"You guys know about Haki?" Sabo raised a brow in wonder.

Ace at least, seemed like he knew it.

"Haki?" Zoro prodded in curiosity.

"I'll tell you all about it later," Robin assured the crew. It would be less of a headache if she did it instead of Rosan or Luffy.

Ace and Rosan both stared at Sabo. "Ace just told us about it. Do you have it as well?" The redhead replied.

Was he in third now? That was… not very desirable but he guess that was to be expected.

There was a reason young Rosan wanted to go to the Grand Line so badly… He knew how strong he could get there and now his little brothers were stronger then him.

Ace was wondering if Sabo was stronger than him now... Though their fights had been relatively close, he generally had the edge and was confident he was slightly stronger than him as kids.

He wondered how a spar between them would go now… Actually, a spar between all of them sounded like it would be fun! He would finally be able to give his eldest brother a good fight.

"Yeah, I have Armament and Observation…" The revolutionary admitted. Both were quite exceptional but his Armament was a tad better.

"No Conquerors?" Ace and Rosan asked in unison, looking incredibly smug to be asking that.

For some reason, that annoyed Sabo to no end. "You two do?" He asked with pursed lips.

They nodded and that smugness seemed to amplify and Sabo scoffed, annoyance rising.

"You don't even know how to use it yet!" Sabo barked, pointing at Rosan. "What are you so smug about?!"

"I've never failed to learn something I put my mind to," Rosan replied, smirking slightly. "It's only a matter of time before I learn all three and have one more extra then you do."

"Imagine if Luffy has it too," Ace snorted. "Then Sabo'd be the only one without it!"

The Straw Hats watched Sabo's expression shift into one of deeper annoyance and realized that he was definitely their brother.

Sabo himself was beginning to see how annoying having siblings could be because right now, he wanted to throttle both Ace and Rosan. It wasn't even something he could control and they were being this smug about it!

Robin patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Don't give them fuel. Rosan thrives on annoying people, Ace picked up his trick and Luffy is also a natural at it."

The blonde sighed at her advice and thanked the woman before blinking.

"Wait, are you Nico Robin?!" Sabo gawked.

The revolutionaries were incredibly interested in the sole survivor of Ohara and it was an interest that was personally cultivated by Dragon himself.

"Is that man interested in her?" Rosan asked, possessively grabbing Robin, who rolled her eyes at his actions. "She's mine and I refuse to let anyone use her," he explained, eyes narrowed.

"So possessive," Sabo sweatdropped, backing away slightly.

"I'm so glad your possessive tendencies have gotten better over the years. No, really I'm so very proud," Robin said dryly as she sunk into his frame, filing the information that Luffy's father was interested in her.

When the world's most wanted man was interested in you, that was something you would never be able to ignore, whether good or bad. She wouldn't mind hearing him out if his intentions were good but if not...

"You can't just claim people!" Sanji roared, getting ready to kick Rosan through a wall for shamelessly laying his claim on Robin-chan.

"Yes I can," Rosan replied like it was obvious.

"SAYS WHO?!" The blonde roared.

"...Me? Everyone in my family belongs to me. This is a fact," Rosan muttered, confused as to what Sanji didn't understand. "Ram, who do you belong to?"

"You!" The ring chimed aloud like it were obvious.

They didn't even know she could speak in ring form...

"Luffy?" The redhead continued.

"You!" The captain beamed, nonplussed by the question.

"Mod-chan?"

They watched as Rosan's right eye turned blood red... and a tired woman's voice sighed, "You, Rosan," before shifting back to the purple they were used to.

"What was that?!" Chopper, Vivi and Sabo thought in confusion. Did Rosan just... partially transform into a woman?!

"Robin?"

"You are absolutely ridiculous, Rosan," Robin rolled her eyes.

"...Robin."

"...You, Rosan," she sighed tiredly.

Before Rosan could open his mouth again, his fiery brother immediately shut it down.

"Don't even think about asking. Fuck off, Rosan," Ace said with a glare.

"...Tsundere," Rosan muttered. The freckled boy just wasn't being honest with himself. So rebellious for no reason.

"S-SHUT UP!" Ace shouted, shooting a small flicker of flames at the redhead that he effortlessly ignored.

The crew watched with slack jaws, as everyone admitted to being Rosan's with only the slightest of resistance out of some.

Sanji spluttered at hearing the 3 beautiful woman answer yes and collapsed on his knees in despair.

"We've gotten used to it," Ace replied, resigned. "There's no point telling him otherwise. I've been fighting a losing battle for years that no one else wants to help me with but Aiko."

Ram, Angel and Maro were the worst offenders. While Mod, Luffy, Demon and Akemi also had no issue with Rosan's possessive streak, the first three actively encouraged it.

Mod knew it was his selfishness and long gave up on trying to tell him otherwise, Luffy was his captain and saw no problem with it while Demon and Akemi were in the middle where they both wanted to encourage and stop him from being like this.

Only Ace, Aiko and Makino were actively against Rosan's toxic trait but that had suspiciously transformed into just Ace and Aiko after Rosan turned 18…

The less he thought about it, the better. Whatever his brother and Makino did, could stay between them.

Maybe Robin would help the selfish redhead see reason.

"Oh, Ace," Robin sighed with a shake of her head. "I'm flattered that you think I can fix him, but I gave up when I was eight. It's an impossible mission and I've had to deal with Rosan when he was in full spoiled mode."

Ace groaned in defeat.

"Yeah, I figured."

Rosan smiled slightly.

"Master! Robin! You're back so — AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Maro shrieked in shock.

"Maro?!" Angel barked, sprinting into the room in record time with Demon right behind her. "What's wrong?! What — OH MY KAMI, ACE?!"

Ace shot the three a wide grin, that turned into a wheeze at the blue and red missile launching themselves into him. Demon followed at a much more sedated pace but his excitement was clear as day and soon they were all crushing the commander.

"What's up you three?" He laughed, squeezing them all back to the best of his abilities. He was taller then all of them now so it was much easier then it would have been three years ago.

"Same old, same old, Mr. Whitebeard Commander," Demon smiled.

"It's a long story," Ace replied sheepishly. "I'll tell you guys all about it."

"I can't believe you were so inspired by Master and I, you decided to get a Flame Logia to one up us," Maro snorted. "I hope you stole some of our techniques to use as your own."

"You bet I did. All that fire you guys use and you thought I wouldn't?" He snorted.

"It's been three years and now you're walking around shirtless," Angel said flatly, staring up at him with a neutral expression.

Ace held his hands up to appease his overprotective sister. "It's comfortable like this! Made of fire and all that you know? The first few weeks of me having this fruit ended up with a lot of burned shirts so I just decided to get rid of em until I master the flames!"

By the time he was comfortable with them he had gotten used to going around shirtless (he admittedly got used to being shirtless very fast but he wouldn't tell her that).

Her staring lessened and warmed up significantly. Hugging him tightly, Angel murmured, "I missed you, Ace. I can't believe we haven't seen you for three years."

"I missed you all too," Ace replied warmly and he meant it. He missed his entire family and was so excited to see them all.

There was no way he could go another 3 years without seeing them. He would go crazy.

"You three get ready to go," Rosan informed the three.

Maro's eyes glittered excitedly. "REALLY?! ARE WE FINALLY MEETING YOUR CREW?!"

"Not just his crew…" Ace said, turning serious for a moment. "...Sabo too."

There was a long silence, as the three leaders of Celadon processed that bombshell.

...

"What did you just say...?" Angel whispered, heart dropping to her stomach as she checked her ears.

"Sabo's alive?" Demon said eventually, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"B-But how?" Maro stammered.

That... that wasn't something that they could just spring on them.

T-This was a bad idea of a joke! W-Why would they joke like that?

They wouldn't... Rosan and Ace especially, would never joke about Sabo's death like that.

"Why didn't he ever visit us?" Angel snarled in raw anger and hurt. Despite the glare on her features, there was a wild panic in her eyes as she tried to process the situation.

Demon steadied her as she swayed a bit and shot his brothers a look, begging them to explain what was going on.

Maro gnawed on her lip as she glanced at her wife and master repeatedly.

Rosan explained the situation to them and their confused expressions slowly melted away into one of understanding.

To get amnesia that severe… all of them felt their disdain for the World Government increasing far past what they were used to.

The Queen clenched her fist angrily, skin turning a green hue as her sharp fangs began poking out of her mouth.

Angel wrapped an arm around her, shaking herself and calmed the queen down. "It's okay... we can see him... we can actually see him!"

Demon's brow furrowed sadly.

Amnesia didn't have an actual cure. There were many methods to regain lost memories... but sometimes the effects could be permanent.

If Sabo had forgotten for over 10 years... there was a very real chance he may never remember them and that nearly brought the kind doctor to tears.

"Alright… we'll take a bit to get ready but we'll try and be fast," Maro said seriously, a look of anticipation set on her features.

Turning towards Mr. 13 and Miss Friday, who had been listening quietly to their conversation on their comfy beds, Maro instructed them to go retrieve Kanna, all the agents and Kaori for her. The two saluted and flew off to do just that.

"Where are we going?" Angel asked.

"The Alabasta Kingdom. It's a desert," Robin replied. She was currently rubbing a soothing hand on Demon's shoulder to calm the doctor down.

Maro perked up at that. "I've heard of that kingdom! They were supposed to be at my World Government business two years ago but they missed it. Is that where you guys are fighting Baroque Works?"

"That's right, Maro-sama," Gem replied, bowing to the queen after his arrival. "Baroque Works has been sabotaging Alabasta for unknown reasons these past few years... Rosan-sama. Robin-sama."

Rosan nodded as greeting and turned to face his student's subordinates. Kaori shot a respectful nod towards him, which he returned, Marianne followed in her footsteps and hesitantly waved, surprised to get one back from the redhead and Mikita stared fearfully at him, inching a little closer to Demon and Maro.

He tilted his head at her slightly, dual orbs piercing her and getting her to flinch, before the redhead glanced away in disinterest, making her wilt at his casual dismissal.

"Don't be so mean to her, Master," Demon chided, sighing softly.

He wasn't sure what his older brother had said, but Mikita was a mess with severe confidence issues and was trying too hard to prove her worth, hurting herself in the process and giving her rather frequent trips to the hospital.

When she came in for the 5th time, he had put his foot down and questioned why she was going to such extents.

The Kilo woman burst into tears at that and claimed she didn't want to die for being useless, which caused Demon to sigh because dammit his older brother always made things so difficult.

Now, he was trying to build her self worth up because he felt bad for what their former leader did and it was working slowly but surely.

Mikita shot the doctor a grateful look and hid directly behind him.

Rosan hummed but didn't outwardly acknowledge him, patting a curious Kanna on the head instead and getting a scowl of annoyance out of the 18 year old, though she had long learned that slapping his hand away only caused him to further ruin it. "Maro, tell them what you wanted to say."

Maro nodded eagerly at that. "The three of us are going out for a bit for something really important. Kanna and Kaori are in charge! The rest of you can stay in the castle until we come back and if things get bad, let Gem and Kaori handle it."

"Make sure Gladiolus and Anemone are well fed," Angel interjected.

She had been reluctant to accept them but they were too fucking adorable.

After trying to explain to the little dinosaurs that Maro belonged to her, Angel quickly gave up on that and took it upon herself to care for the animals so they wouldn't hog her wife's attention... Then she ended up falling for their adorable charms and now she took care of them more then the Queen did and it was genuine.

"Right!" They saluted in unison.

"No instructions for Jango?" Demon asked in amusement.

Maro seemed to be the only one who had a problem with him. He found the hypnotist very useful for making his more rowdy patients more complacent and his value to the clone army had practically made him attached to them in case of attack.

"I'll throw you... but just tell him to be on standby for buffs if you need it," Maro said calmly, removing her tiara and handing it to Kanna for safekeeping. "Good luck you guys, don't hesitate to call me if things go south, alright?"

"Don't be such a worrywart, my queen," Kanna chided. "They are strong. Take a little break, won't you?"

The Queen glanced over at her and replaced Rosan's hand with her own, effortlessly ruining the perfectly cared for hair.

"I miss when Angel didn't make you so sassy," Maro sighed.

"M-My Queen!" Kanna gaped in horror.

"Learn a little bit of respect," the Dokkaebi replied, winking with a pleased smile.

Kanna was right though... She could leave for a little bit and things wouldn't go to hell if her island got attacked.

Gem and Kaori especially, would be more than enough to deal with any invaders from the North Blue... Unless Germa decided to show up unannounced.

Mr. 5 had quickly risen up the ranks of her army with that Devil Fruit usage and only Kaori was stronger then him now.

Seriously, it was a strong fruit... Just how was he using it before that made Master so disappointed in him?

"That reminds me, Ace taught Luffy and I about something that should make us stronger once we learn it. We'll tell you about it once we head over there," Rosan informed her.

Maro paused for a bit, before a look of horror crossed her features. "Oh no... What place will I be in now?! I-I'll die if I'm knocked down from second!"

The Queen made a show of collapsing on the floor and she clutched her heart in agony.

"So dramatic," every single person, barring Rosan (who thought her reaction was normal) thought.

"Of course you think it's normal… you were this exact level of dramatic as a child."

"I missed it when you weren't talking."

"I missed it when you had unconditional respect for me, brat."

"Using words like brat? You may look 18 but I wouldn't be surprised if you were —"

"It would be unwise of you to finish that sentence, Portgas D. Rosan."

The tone in her voice sent Ace, Maro, Robin, Ram and Rosan straight, much to the confusion of everyone who was not privy to her thoughts.

"Yes Ma'am," they all said, despite it only being Rosan who was in trouble.

Mod blushed in embarrassment at that.

There was a mole in Baroque Works and they were actively sabotaging him.

As Crocodile stared at his Bananawani, that was the conclusion he came to.

Why did he come to that conclusion? Because Mr. 13 and Miss Friday were nowhere to be seen after their last report.

He explicitly told them to come back quickly for orders but they were nowhere to be seen. Something could have happened to them but too many things were happening to too many of his agents in a short period of time to be random.

There was only two possible choices of people who had betrayed them. Mr. 3… or Nico Robin. But it was even more likely that it was both.

Mr. 3 was an idiot. No matter what claims he made, the wax man wasn't capable of doing something like this alone. It was more then likely that he was being used by Miss All Sunday because that was a woman whose intellect made her worthy of being his partner.

How had he come to that conclusion? It was easy.

During his conversation with Mr. 3, the man slightly hesitated when asked about Miss All Sunday and took a second too long to reply.

Mr. 2 had not yet informed him of the results of his mission but that was likely because he had no one to report it too. Once he got the information from the agent, it would verify some of the information he was lacking.

For some reason... Nico Robin had allied herself with Mr. 3 of all people but that didn't make any sense.

Why would she ally herself with that useless man? Crocodile could offer her far more and would provide her much more protection then the agent she was almost palpably