My question, "Who's this Sabo guy?", seemed to pop the fragile bubble of forced cheerfulness that had briefly settled over Luffy. His slightly sad, determined expression crumpled. His lower lip trembled just perceptibly. He looked at me with wide, liquid eyes, a silent sorrow clouding his face. He didn't answer immediately. He just looked like a hurt little boy, the boundless energy momentarily drained, replaced by the raw vulnerability of grief.
Ace, standing beside him, saw Luffy's reaction. His jaw tightened further, the anger in his eyes deepening, though now it was mixed with a fierce protectiveness for his younger brother. He laid a hand on Luffy's shoulder, a rare, quiet gesture of comfort. He looked from Luffy's crestfallen face to mine, then back at the wanted poster still lying on the counter, the words "The Divine Calamity" mocking the very idea of innocence. He saw the shared trauma, the parallel between the destruction of my home and the death of their friend, both acts seemingly born from the callous disregard of the world's elite.
He took a deep breath, the anger simmering just beneath the surface of his voice when he finally spoke. "Sabo... he was our brother."
He didn't elaborate immediately. He just stared out the window, his gaze distant, lost in a past both precious and painful. Makino watched him with quiet sympathy, her hands clasped on the counter, her expression mirroring the sorrow on Luffy's face. The fishermen in the bar had gone completely silent, listening intently, some of them looking down at their drinks, perhaps recalling other tragedies touched by the shadows of the world above them.
"Not... not by blood," Ace clarified, his voice rough. "But... we exchanged sake cups. Became brothers that way." He paused, choosing his words carefully, painting a picture for me, a picture of their world before Garp's relentless training, before bounties and deadly techniques.
He spoke of the Grey Terminal – a place I couldn't even imagine, a sprawling wasteland of garbage and outcasts, a stark contrast to the idyllic village outside. He described growing up there with Luffy, stealing for food, fighting wild dogs and older thugs, surviving by their wits and each other. A harsh, brutal life, but one where their bond was forged in hardship.
"Sabo... he was different," Ace continued, his voice softening almost imperceptibly. "He wasn't from the Terminal. He was... a noble. From Goa Kingdom." He spat the word "noble" out like a curse, his anger flaring briefly. "But he hated it. Hated their lies, their rules, the way they looked down on everyone else. He ran away. Ran to the Terminal, where he met me."
He described Sabo – smart, kind despite his harsh upbringing, always carrying a pipe as a weapon. He spoke of their shared dream: to become pirates, to sail the sea freely, to leave the suffocating corruption of the Goa Kingdom and the Grey Terminal behind. "We swore we'd save up enough money, buy a pirate ship, and sail out together," Ace said, a wistful note entering his voice. "Just the three of us. Free."
He spoke of their hideout – a treehouse high in the forest, their secret treasure hoard, the shared meals, the late-night talks under the stars about their dreams, their fears, their burning desire for freedom. He even managed a small, sad smile as he recounted some of Sabo's clever schemes or Luffy's usual rubbery antics during their adventures. These were moments of light, of pure, innocent boyhood, woven into the grim tapestry of their survival.
Then, the story darkened. He spoke of Sabo's family, the nobles who dragged him back, trying to force him into their world, into a prearranged marriage. He spoke of the looming threat of the Grey Terminal being burned, a brutal 'cleanup' operation ordered by the nobles before a visit from the Celestial Dragons.
"Sabo couldn't stand it," Ace said, his voice growing tight again. "Being trapped. Being forced to be someone he wasn't. He tried to leave... just like we planned."
He paused, the memory clearly agonizing. Luffy, listening intently, had tears welling up in his eyes again, silently tracing patterns on the dusty counter with his finger.
"He built... built his own little boat," Ace's voice cracked slightly. "Just a small fishing boat. Said he'd sail out, wait for us. Said we'd meet him on the sea when we were strong enough."
He looked away from the window, his eyes now fixed on the counter, seeing not the polished wood, but a scene burned into his memory. "The day the Celestial Dragons arrived... they came in these huge ships, flying their flag." He swallowed hard. "Sabo... he sailed out that day. Just trying to get away. Trying to start his life, just like we planned."
Ace's hands clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white. The anger, momentarily subdued by the sorrow of remembrance, surged back, raw and powerful. "And then... one of them..." He couldn't even bring himself to say the full name, the title of the World Nobles. "...One of those bastards. Just... saw his little boat."
He looked up, his eyes burning with a hatred so intense it felt like physical heat. "And they shot him. Just like that. Blew his boat out of the water. Because he was in their way. Because a 'noble' trying to leave like that was an insult to their superiority. Because they could."
The words landed with brutal force in the quiet bar. Blown out of the water. By a Celestial Dragon. Because he was in their way.
The story of Sabo. A dream of freedom, crushed by the arbitrary cruelty of the world's untouchable rulers, enforced by the very system Garp served, the system that had annihilated my home.
Ace finished his story, his chest heaving slightly, the raw pain and fury echoing in the silence. Luffy's tears finally overflowed, silently streaming down his face.
Makino reached out and gently covered Ace's clenched fist with her hand, her eyes filled with deep sorrow. "Oh, Ace... Luffy... I remember that day..." she murmured, her voice trembling.
I stood there, listening, my own pain resonating with theirs. A noble who hated his status. A dream of freedom. A life snuffed out by the callous whim of a Celestial Dragon, one of the 'ones above' Garp had spoken of, the 'monsters who pull the strings'. Sabo's story wasn't just about a lost brother; it was a mirror reflecting the same monstrous injustice that had burned Hi-no-Kuni to ashes. Grandpa Chief's words about the World Government's foundation of lies, Garp's cryptic warnings, Ace's raw hatred of the 'Celestial bastards' and 'Government agents' – it all clicked into horrifying place. Sabo wasn't just a personal tragedy for Ace and Luffy; he was another victim of the same global system I swore to destroy.
My hand tightened on the Sunstone Heart beneath my cloak, the smooth stone pulsing with the untold history it held, the history the World Government wanted buried. It wasn't just my past anymore. It was our past. Our shared wound.
Looking at Ace's furious face, at Luffy's silent tears, I understood their drive, their deep-seated rebellion. Their dream of freedom wasn't just about sailing the seas; it was an act of defiance against the very people who had taken their brother, just as mine was against the people who had taken my home.
Ace finally looked at me, his anger still burning in his eyes, but now there was also a flicker of understanding, a recognition of a kindred spirit forged in shared loss. "That's Sabo," he said, his voice quieter now, heavy with grief and unresolved fury.
"That's why..." He trailed off, gesturing vaguely towards the poster, towards the world outside the bar. "That's why I can't ever forgive them." He met my gaze directly, his eyes intense, searching mine.
"You understand now, don't you, Akane?" Ace asked, the question not just about Sabo, but about the true nature of the world we lived in, the enemy we both faced, the fire that burned within us both. "Why they're the real monsters