Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

Chapter 55: Something Left

*Luffy and Ace*

"So... where are we going, Ace?" Luffy asked curiously as they walked together through the darkness. It was the same place that Luffy had ended up before he found his way to that 'mystery Goa' and to Ace. He didn't know what else to call it, and wondered if he was just dreaming about all of this.

"We'll wait here for Sabo to join us, here," Ace said firmly. "He's going to be bringing... a friend with him."

"Really? Who?" Luffy asked eagerly.

"No one that you will be happy to see," Ace responded calmly and Luffy blinked in confusion. Ace only smirked down at him; not telling him that he had Sabo keep a close watch on Luffy's friends ever since they had come jumping down into this place. But he had made it clear that he was just to watch over them and to only get involved if they needed help. While Luffy had been so busy stuffing his face back at Makino's bar, Sabo had managed to get a message to him on what was happening.

Sabo couldn't see what the Straw Hats were seeing since they were standing on different planes, but he could hear them, and he was deeply bothered by some of the memories he heard them talking about—guilty that he wasn't there to help Luffy as his big brother. Ace knew that it had to be tough for Sabo to be listening in on all... but he was also disturbed to hear that the creature that lived in this place had almost taken a full physical form.

That same creature knew only how to copy... to mimic what it sees and learns from the people in the memories. That was all it was... a replica with no will of its own. It was almost sad really...

Yet with every battle that it fought, the stronger and more 'real' it became. If Sabo was right, then it wouldn't be much longer before it became so solid that it would be able to die. The reason that it wasn't able to be slain was because it had no true form, it wasn't a part of the world, and you can't kill something that doesn't truly exist.

And so they had to wait until the Straw Hats were able to fight with it enough that it would be forced to become solid just to fight for the kill... only then will it be able to take a full physical form. That should be enough for them to deal with it the final blow and get rid of it once and for all.

To be honest, it was pretty confusing to him, but that was what Sabo had explained to him earlier. He just had to trust his judgment.

"Ace?" Luffy asked, having noticed that his brother had a far-away look on his face.

Ace sighed as he turned to look at him. "You're going to be going soon," he explained to him and he had to fight the smile when he saw Luffy's face.

"What?!" he cried out. "You mean... but I can come back and see you again, right?"

But Ace just shook his head.

"Listen to me, Luffy," he said seriously, "This island isn't normal. It's not supposed to be able to do things like talk to dead people. The thing that guards this island is gonna die soon. The guard... is something like... the very heart of this island. And once it goes, so will the power that links this island to the other side."

"Other side of what?" Luffy asked in bafflement and Ace chuckled.

"The point I'm making, Luffy," he said seriously, looking him full in the face. "Is that you won't be able to come back here and talk to me again. That's the sad part."

Luffy looked horrified at such a thought and opened his mouth to start speaking but Ace gave him a hard look and Luffy shut up as he said, "Luffy... I only have one thing to say to you and you better listen to me here because I'm not going to repeat it."

This was going to sound a little harsh, but he wanted to make sure that what he had to say was going to stick for good.

"Luffy..." he said firmly, "I know that you went through a lot because of me. I know that you had a long time of pain trying to deal with my death, and I can't tell you how sorry I am because of that. I know I broke my promise to you, and I'm sorry that I had to die in front of you like that."