Before you start reading, you will have to spend a few seconds of your life to appreciate this so god damn adorable pic. ASL is the most precious thing ever. Ok, go on.
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Even though Robin assured them all that those people meant no harm to them, the Straw Hats couldn't help but feel suspicious.
As soon as the strange looking ship reached their location, a tall, blonde guy, jumped on the Thousand Sunny. His hat was covering his eyes, but a huge, warm smile could be seen on his face. While taking his hat off, he wouldn't take his eyes off of the ship's captain.
"It's been so long, Luffy."
"Huh?" Luffy looked at him, puzzled, not remembering who he was. Did he know him? He couldn't stop staring at the guy's hat, though. He knew it very well but he didn't remember who it belonged to.
The blonde man didn't say anything else. He just sat down on the deck, pulled out a bottle of booze and three red cups which he then filled with sake.
"'Did you know?'"he started while looking at Luffy who was about to cry. He himself was hardly holding his tears back. "If we exchange cups of sake, we can become brothers!" He just couldn't stop smiling. He was so happy that his little brother was alive and well.
Luffy sat down in front of the man, with his hat covering his eyes. Sabo was, anyway, able to see a tear wetting the wooden deck.
"I can't believe you", Luffy finally said while looking at Sabo with tears in his eyes. Even so, hope was imprinted all over his face.
"It's me, Luffy. I'm so sorry for all these years."
The whole crew, aside from Robin, was watching, curious.
Luffy, without saying a word, lifted one of the cups and looked Sabo in the eyes. He couldn't hold his tears back and his hand was shaking with emotion. They both drank the sake and spilled the alcohol in the remaining cup in the sea, as a tribute to their other brother. Luffy then turned to Sabo and shouted:
"SABO!!" Stretching his arms, he dragged his bigger brother into a hug. "What the hell? Where have you been all this time? I thought you were dead. You big jerk! We really thought you were dead!" He was crying tears of happiness for the first time in his life.
"Thank you, Luffy! I'm so happy that you are alive." His voice was cracking, tears about to fall from his eyes.
"But, Sabo! I let Ace get killed in front of my own eyes!"
"I know. But even if Ace is dead, I'm so glad that you didn't die. Otherwise, I would've been left on my own."
Poor Sabo could barely breathe because of Luffy's hug.
"So, once again, thank you! Thank you for being alive!"
***
After a few minutes, when things calmed down a bit, Luffy was still quietly sobbing.
"I still can't believe you're alive *sniff* I'm so happy!"
"You might've gotten stronger in the past few years, but you're still a crybaby", Sabo teased him. Even so, he still couldn't stop smiling. Only poor Koala knew how much he wanted to see Luffy as there wasn't a single damned day she wouldn't have to listen to Sabo's stories about his sweet little brother.
"No I'm not!" Luffy tried and wiped his tears away, but it was no use as new ones kept falling. "I'm just so happy that you're alive!"
"It would be nice if we'd get an explanation, you know?" Zoro interrupted the touching moment.
"That could've waited!" Nami punched him for the lack of sensibility.
"What was that for, you evil woman?"
"You even dare to ask?!" She punched him again, mercy less, while Sanji was smirking and enjoying the sight of Zoro put on his knees.
"What are you laughing at, you twirly bastard?"
"I was just enjoying seeing your pain, you dumb moss head!"
"THIS.ISN'T. THE TIME!"
Now both the cook and the swordsman were rubbing their heads.
"Damned woman!"
"Ah Nami-swan! Even with that scary aura you're still beautiful!"
"I see you guys never get bored", Sabo laughed, enjoying the show.
"With idiots like these, everyday is a challenge", the orange haired girl sighed. "Well, anyway, since the moment's already ruined, mind if I ask who you are?"
"What'd you punch me forif you were about to ask the same thing?" Zoro yelled.
"Shut up or I'll do it again! Let him talk!"
"I'm Luffy's bigger brother", Sabo started. "The three of us, me Luffy and Ace, were always together when we were little, until a certain man showed up and took me away. Well, anyway, one thing led to another and I got shot down together with the boat that I was about to sail on. I didn't die, despite what everyone thought. Dragon-San found me and took me in. Although I was still alive, my memories of the past had been completely wiped out. And so, years had passed without me ever knowing of the two brothers who had been suffering my so thought loss. Ace's death being announced in the newspaper, though, cane like a slap that snapped me to reality and brought my memories back." He made a short pause before continuing. "I think of it like it was Ace who told me 'This is who you are. Remember!'", he finished his story with a sad smile on his face as he talked about his late brother.
Luffy finally stopped crying and it was the first time he didn't fall asleep in the middle of a story.
"Well, that explains why we never heard of you", Nami said. "Because this dumbass captain here", she continued while hitting Luffy, "never talks about his past." Even though she punched him, she was smiling, happy for him that he didn't loose both of his beloved brothers.
"Nami~ that hurts!"
Luffy turned away and pretend to be upset, saying something about Nami being a meanie.
A sly smile formed on Sabo's face as he watched the two.
"Okay, but that doesn't explain how you ended up being able to use Ace's power."
"Oh, that? You see, after a devil fruit user dies, the devil fruit reincarnates and appears once again somewhere in the world. I was lucky enough to get to it first, I guess."
"That's interesting, alright. Well, anyway. We should let them talk alone", Nami said as she dragged the others away.
Soon, Luffy started telling Sabo about his adventures ever since he left the small island in the East Blue. He told him how he left Dadan and the mountain bandits, how he met each of his crew and everything that went down ever since his departure.
After some time, Sanji went out of the kitchen to serve Nami and Robin their drinks, but he stopped when he heard Luffy's cheerful voice.
"Yeah, but the thing is, every time I tried to punch him, my fist would go through his body, because he was made of sand."
Sanji stopped where he was and he watched his captain. A warm smile formed on his face as he saw Luffy talking to his brother. He was full of life as always and he looked like he completely forgot about the events that took place only two days before.
"It looks like Sabo-san came at the right moment", Brook said while taking a sip of his tea.
"And so it would seem", Sanji finally responded after a few minutes of silence as he continued smiling. He then started heading towards Nami and Robin wanting to give them their drinks and go back at cooking the fish that Usopp caught.
***
By the time Sanji called everyone at dinner, Luffy was done with his story.
"FOOD!!" he yelled. In all the excitement of seeing his brother again, he even forgot about the hunger that was pressing him since afternoon.
Sabo even had the honor to see how it was to have a meal with the Straw Hats. Luffy constantly trying to steal food from others while getting stabbed with forks by Usopp and Chopper, Zoro and Sanji fighting over the dumbest reasons, Nami hitting them both to make them shut up and Brook going on with his skeleton jokes. In all this time, Robin and Franky would watch them like two responsible adults. Sabo thought that it wasn't too different from the meals back at Dadan's.
***
After the dinner, Sabo got ready to leave.
"Are you going already?" Luffy asked, disappointed.
"Yes. I'm sorry, but I've been told to go back as soon as possible. We'll see each other again for sure", Sabo said as he flicked his brother's forehead. He then got on his ship and turned around to say one more thing.
"Oh and Luffy! After you become the Pirate King, we should go see that old witch, Dadan. I'm sure she misses us", he added, smiling.
Sabo's words brought a huge grin on Luffy's face.
"Shishishi! You're right."
Both Luffy and Sabo stayed on the deck of their ships and waved goodbye until they couldn't see each other anymore.
The ring of the Den Den Mushi disturbed the silence.
"Did I interrupt something?"Koala asked as soon as Sabo answered.
"No. I just left."
"I'm so glad that you finally got to see him", she said smiling.
"Yeah", he said. "I thought he was gonna punch me." His voice was trembling as he finally let the tears roll down his cheeks.
"Are you crying, Sabo-kun?" The woman asked him with a teasing voice, even though she already knew the answer.
"Idiot. I don't cry", he answered, wiping away his tears. "I'll see you soon, he then added and hung up."
***
The sun was already down when Sabo's ship disappeared from their sight.
"I'll be on guard tonight!" Luffy said full of energy.
Everyone looked at him, shocked. It was so unlike him. He would usually complain for an entire hour when made to stay up at night. Even so, they let him be and went to bed. Nami and Robin, though, decided to stay awake as they were sure that Luffy would fall asleep in an instant.
***
Luffy laid down on the deck and looked up at the starry sky as soon as the others entered their rooms.
"What do you think of this, Ace?" he said while grinning as he would usually do.
He let out a deep sigh but he still couldn't erase his smile.
"Our brother is alive!"
Not too long after, he fell asleep on the soft grass.
***
After half of hour after everyone entered their room, Nami went out on the deck to check on Luffy.
She didn't even have to get close to him to see if he was sleeping as she heard his loud snoring disturbing the silence.
"That idiot! I knew it he'd be asleep."
She was about to hit him awake, but then decided to let him sleep. She made a huge effort to get him to stand up and carry him half asleep in his room.
"Nami~ give it back. It's my meat!"
"Yeah, yeah", she said as she opened the door to the men's room and carried him in his bed.
She was about to leave the room when Luffy stretched his arm and stopped her. He smiled brightly, trying to keep his eyes open.
"Good night, Nami!"
She smiled back, blushing a little at the sight of her adorable captain.
"Good night, Luffy."