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savage-sinister · 10 days ago

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Fire in the Belly, Spirits on the Tongue (65832 words) by VickytheSnake, thesavagesabretooth

Summary: Sabo promised that he wouldn't leave the Revolutionary army, but what will become of the three of them now that Ace is awake and alive in his heart, and more importantly, his body?

catch up here

It was strange how years could be short and long at the same time.

Isuka hadn't seen Fire Fist Ace in almost four years. Her life had changed a lot since that time. Two years ago Ace had died, and Isuka's life had changed even more after that.

The last time that Isuka had seen Ace she had still been an ensign with freshly broken dreams. The revelation that a man she once looked up to had killed her parents and scarred her for life as 'collateral damage' and the brutal violence on the innocents in Sabaody had destroyed her view of the marines, but she still couldn't bring herself to sail with Ace.

She'd quit, burned her bridges with the Navy, and turned to her talent towards bounty work instead. Isuka the Nailer sailed from island to island, bagging bounties and hunting her way ever closer to the New World in the hope of running into him again. Even if their encounters had been short— even if they were often antagonistic, she'd never forgotten him.

His face played in her memory as she chased her new dream in his wake.

Then Isuka had seen the news about Marineford.

Her entire world crumbled for the second time, as she read the headline triumphantly gloating over the horrific death of Ace in the middle of a war born from an unjust execution— burned through the chest and left for dead.

She couldn't forgive any part of it anymore, taking pirates to the marines for their bounties was just playing a different part in the machine she'd begun to hate.

For weeks she stumbled about in a haze of drink and odd jobs before she'd run into a new chance. Sid, a man once called Mr. 9, who was on the hunt for his old boss Sir Crocodile.

Isuka had helped the man along, tracking the elusive escaped pirate across the sea before they'd finally caught up with old Croc. And then, when she'd impressed him with her skill with a blade, he'd extended an offer she wouldn't refuse again.

This time she accepted the offer she regretted turning down from Ace, leaving a life of Marines and bounties behind her as she became a true pirate of Neo Baroque Works, sailing alongside Sir Crocodile and the runaway daughter of Alabasta.

That had been two years ago. A blur of adventure and crime. A blur that had been rapidly brought to a halt by a single piece of gossip.

Ace's devil fruit was being put up as the prize in a coliseum match by the king of Dressrosa.

Her heart had nearly stopped. Ace. The last memento of someone who'd changed her life forever. She couldn't let it fall into the wrong hands. Even with her own lightning logia devil fruit power coursing through her veins—an adventure in its own right, and a gift from Sir Crocodile for her skill on his crew�� she had to make sure the one to get it and keep it safe was her.

They were close to Dressrosa anyhow, on the trail of the Straw Hat Pirates for Vivi.

She hadn't asked. She'd heard Crocodile say before 'it's better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. She'd taken a rowboat and departed right then and there.

She had, at the very least, left a note.

She tied up the little boat on a forgotten shore of Dressrosa, and made her way inland.

Isuka's heart was pounding, static electricity arching over her hands as she wound her way deeper into the glittering city of passion and excess.

Somewhere, inside this labyrinth of toys and bars, the last remaining fragment of Ace's spirit lingered in the prize for some damned tournament. She looked up at the ancient coliseum with a grim smile. She'd just have to show them the terror of living lightning. Neither a bunch of gladiators or Doflamingo's minions would stand between her, and protecting Ace's memory.

Honestly—it'd been too long since she'd had a proper workout.

It was strange how years could be short and long at the same time.

Deuce had been with the Revolutionary Army for two years now. That was longer than the Spade pirates had existed, and as long as he'd served under Whitebeard's patriarchal tyranny. Working for the Revolutionary Army wasn't like either of those things.

It was somehow refreshing, even if it was a little more rigid than the Spade Pirates had ever been. Intelligence, recon, undercover missions—it was all clandestine and admittedly exciting. He never would have expected it, but….his talents were well suited to the life of a revolutionary spy.

It was homey—and not like the way Whitebeard seemed to think his crew was 'homey'. Slowly but surely, he'd gotten into it, they'd even gotten him to write some of the speeches and slogans to convince undecided allies to jump on board in the name of revolution!

Somehow, two years had flown right by before he knew it.

And there was Ace.

Through it all there was always Ace, even if he insisted on hiding his presence from everyone but Deuce, and Koala.

It was their shared little secret, one that brought them each closer together as the months passed. Ace, the man who survived past his own death. Ace, who's kiss felt different on Sabo's lips yet still so much the same. Deuce still loved him as much as the day he'd seen him framed by the golden sun on that deathtrap of an island.

Ace was leaping into the revolutionary life as much as Deuce was, after all, and their guides through that new world were no less amazing. Koala, strong willed and cheerful as she was beautiful and complicated, helped teach Deuce the subtle skill of espionage through dates in countries on the brink of revolution. Sabo, handsome and clever—brutal as he was charming— was every inch a rogue under his bright smile. He helped Ace and Deuce build bonds within the organization, and showed them that the Revolutionary Army really was an army of its own.

Even in the smoldering fires of revolution, they found more than enough time with one another. Stolen kisses in foreign lands, long ship rides hand in hand as they slipped below deck, it was only natural for them to fall together so neatly.

Bound by their love and an extraordinary secret.

That love, and that secret, had brought them to where they were today. Dressrosa. It was the same place where they'd landed two years ago on the way back from Ace's grave. It was the place where Deuce's journey as a Revolutionary had begun.

It seemed like all the little threads of their lives had been drawing them back there, to this day.

The investigation of the black market smuggling, the slaving and the weapons dealing and the devil fruits, that Sabo and Koala had started two years ago had led here. Joker, the dark figure at the heart of it all, they'd finally chased down his identity. The king of Dressrosa, and Warlord of the Sea– Doflamingo.

But they'd discovered that months ago, and done nothing. Many meetings later, Sabo's long, tense discussions with Dragon, all of it came to the same conclusion. Doflamingo was too powerful, he would have to be approached carefully.

All that had changed abruptly.

In a quiet room with Deuce and Koala, Ace and Sabo had thrown down a packet of intelligence reports in front of them.

"He has it. Doflamingo has my devil fruit."

Koala stumbled out of her seat to stare down at the papers with mouth agape.

"....oh hell…"

Deuce leaned over her shoulder, his heart hammering in his chest as he read the first report with a shudder. "Well we can't let him fucking KEEP it, can we?"

"No, we damned well can't."

Deuce had gotten good over the years at telling when Ace was in control, and when it was Sabo, and when they were acting together. Now he saw them united as one, in determination, in anger, and in envy.

"We're going to ask Dragon for a favor," they said quietly. "We're going to take the Revolutionary Army to Dressrosa. Now's the time."

They must have made a compelling argument, because here they were.

Deuce held his position in the bowels of the Coliseum, hearing the cheers and screams from the crowd above. The match hadn't even started yet, but the crowd was already getting excited.

He felt a chill rising up his spine. The crowd was hungry for blood—excited for the match that was about to occur. He liked violence as much as the next pirate, but there was something nerve wracking about this.

Maybe it was the fervor, maybe it was the contrast with the happy, silly dolls dancing in the streets—or maybe it was Doflamingo.

He hunkered down, hand on his blade as he quietly thanked the fact he had plenty of backup for what he pessimistically expected to become a huge shitshow. It wasn't going to be as easy as sauntering in, winning a contest, and taking that piece of Ace back.

That was exactly why was keeping so high on his guard as he monitored the situation. And his high alert is why he noticed a certain person among the rabble of the competition.

Fiery hair chopped short, a glossy, puckered burn scar over one cheek that peeked out from a thin white bandage—and a familiar and ferocious look in her eyes as she glared at the crowd.

Deuce's heart stopped and he stumbled from his hiding place with an audible gasp.

For a moment, he wasn't in Dressrosa anymore. He was in Sabaody Park, staring into the piercing eyes of the most honorable and stubborn naval ensign he'd ever met; a woman jokingly called an honorary Spade Pirate for how often she crashed onto their deck—

"I…Isuka?"

With the power of his devil fruit finally humming through his shared body, Ace felt more alive than he had in years. The heat that was at once like a cozy hearthfire and a raging inferno tingled from his fingers to his toes, in his lips and in the pit of his belly. To fight with that fire once more at his fingertips was nothing short of delight.

A delight that he now got to share with Sabo.

I could tell it felt good from your memories, Sabo told him in awe, but this is amazing.

Isn't it? It's fantastic! And I really… I really feel like myself again.

That's funny, I was just about to say it feels more like you're here now. Like I can really feel you there, running through my veins. To me, all of this power, Ace, that's you.

Ace's flustered reply was cut off by a cough from the ground, and the croaking voice of their beaten enemy.

"Aren't you going to kill me?"

They didn't bother to look, Sabo shaking his head. "I don't need to. Seems like everything's over."

The Revolutionary Army didn't like killing. It wasn't an official policy, but killing was seen as a last resort. And here the dust was settling. There wasn't a reason to continue to fight a beaten enemy.

We should go catch up with Luffy. I want to tell him, you know?

Me too. There wasn't time in the coliseum.

They were already starting to walk away when Burgess laughed that wheezing little porcine laugh of his.

"You're too soft! Both of you brothers!" Ace whipped around in surprise. For a second he thought somehow Burgess knew that both of them were there, but that worry was quickly squashed with the next thing out of the man's mouth. "You wanna know what Ace said when we handed him over to the marines after he lost to our captain?"

Somewhere distantly they realized that their snail was chirping. Koala was calling. She needed them. Luffy was somewhere on the island, and they needed to get to him, too.

But Burgess had said perhaps the only thing that could stop both Ace and Sabo in their tracks.

They knew.

The memory was visceral. Bone deep and deeper still.

The fire in them was like burning ice that froze them to the spot as Burgess, the fool, kept running his mouth.

"I'm sure you'll laugh when you hear this. When he realized he was gonna be executed he said 'don't tell my little brother'!"

Intertwined and inseparable they felt sick as the moment washed over them like it was happening that very moment. Like it washed over them sometimes in the night, and Ace and Sabo would wake up coughing and clutching for Deuce or Koala.

That hideous moment. Beaten and humiliated again, and helpless in the custody of the damned marines.

Please don't tell my little brother.

He had hoped the message would make it back to Garp. Garp who had raised them both to have a man's pride. Wouldn't he protect what little pride that Ace had left? Ace couldn't bear the thought of Luffy's pity. Luffy with his bright shining smile. Luffy who looked up to him– looked up to Ace, pathetic nobody Ace– like he was some kind of great mentor and rival. His big brother.

Ace couldn't bear it if Luffy knew how pathetic he really was.

You know he'd never think that, Ace.

I know. I know now. But back then… there was hardly anything left of me, Sabo.

Ace had spent the last two years rebuilding his courage, rebuilding his pride, with the help of Sabo, and Deuce, and Koala. The memory still hurt, but more than pain, it made him angry.

It made him angry that he had ever let himself be put so low. That he thought Luffy would pity him. That he felt so pathetic he was barely worth anyone's pity.

All the people who had called him a monster for being the son of the great pirate Roger.

Garp, who had promised his father he'd raise him, and then left him in the woods with a pack of bandits, and only came around to beat and humiliate and break him.

Whitebeard, who smothered him with patriarchal condescension and wouldn't even give him the dignity of an honorable death, Whitebeard who preferred instead to keep him as a captive and slowly grind him and his pride underneath the heel of his booth until captivity became devoted service.

And Ace had let them. He had let all of them.

He had let them tell him that he was a monster, and a miserable pathetic wretch unworthy of the love of others.

"What an idiot! He had no idea what his life was worth!" Burgess was still talking.

He had no idea what his life was worth.

That of all the things Burgess said rang true. Ace and Sabo agreed in harmony; Ace hadn't known what his life was worth.

Ace had been ground down by years of people invested in telling him that he was a monster whose life would only be worth something if he served them. Garp and the marines. Whitebeard and his crew.

Sabo knew. Sabo knew that was how Ace had felt in the moments before his death. Happy enough just to have unearned love and pity.

They had re-lived it together over and over the past two years.

And Burgess was still talking. But the two of them had stopped listening.

"The marines catch someone like Fire Fist Ace of course they're going to announce it to the world! They'd milk that for all it was–"

"Shut your filthy mouth!" They grabbed his face, nails digging in even through their gloves. Their anger was as fierce in their belly as it was intertwined, like a pair of fiery serpents. "His last thoughts before he died? I don't need a piece of shit like you to tell me what I already understand!"

They had re-lived it over and over. That moment of regret, and humiliation. The last moments in Luffy's arms, happy only to be held and wishing anything, anything could be different.

Ace had lived a life that was full of regret, because he had let others tell him he should hate himself; he let other people tell him who he should be, and how he could be 'worthy' of their love.

But he was done with that.

He was done with all of that.

And he wasn't going to let Burgess of all people lay there and laugh about the way he'd been stripped of himself, and his dignity.

"Does it eat at you? The regret? Despite all your status and power, you weren't able to save your brother when he needed you most! Where were you, taking a nap?"

The power of the devil fruit hummed through them, its fire entwining them in purpose and in will. Sabo wasn't there to save him. Ace hadn't been able to save himself.

But none of that mattered. None of that was who they were now.

"I'm done with regrets!!"

Ace let their power go wild, a torrent of flame engulfing Burgess as he lay wretched on the ground. He let the fire burn the anger out of him, hot and passionate, and more sincere than he had ever been.

No more regrets.

Ace might have burned him until nothing was left but ash, but Sabo let the flames burn out. He wrapped his arms around Ace's shoulders in their shared mental space, and pulled him gently away. He shuffled them down the street, and turned to look at the burning body only once more, shaking his head.

"... I didn't care, but Ace here just wouldn't forgive you."

Sabo reached in his pocket to call Koala back.

Later, much much later, Sabo savored the feeling of the wind whipping through their hair for another moment before Karasu's soot birds deposited them on the deck of the ship that was already sailing well away from Dressrosa– away from Cipher Pol, and away from the marines.

He hadn't wanted to be away from Koala and Deuce for so long, but so much had happened. He'd had to check on Luffy. He'd wanted to be able to tell Luffy. To be able to tell him that Ace was alright.

I wish he'd woken up sooner, Ace murmured internally as they shook themselves off and straightened their hat. I feel like we're always crossing paths without ever touching.

Sabo had been tempted to wait. They both had. But they hadn't wanted to let the others get too far. Despite their ties to their brother, the Revolutionary Army was important. Even if getting Ace's fruit back had been important, too, there was only so far he could bend his position before it started breaking ties.

After thanking Karasu for his help, and promising to follow up on the results of the raid with him later, they hurried below deck to find the others.

Koala's going to be pissed at us for being gone so long.

Well, she was mad all day yesterday too, so maybe she'll have burned herself out?

I guess we'll find out.

Dressrosa had gone insane. Isuka should have expected it—that madman Straw Hat had crashed into town after all, bringing with him all the chaos the newspapers promised. The match, the birdcage, the chaotic rush to gain a winning position as Doflamingo's power toppled down around them.

There wasn't time to think about if it was a tragedy or a glorious victory against corruption—not with the navy tightening its noose not long after Doflamingo's cage fell into drifting strands of strings.

She'd been pulled along by Deuce, fucking Masked Deuce of all people, and a girl called Koala as they fled into the secret dockyards and hijacked as much material as they could—crates and crates of merchandise, weapons and trinkets that the once-king probably didn't need anymore, and the Navy deserved even fucking less.

When they'd run into one another Deuce had embraced her, sobbing from the moment they'd seen one another, and she embraced him right back. She hadn't seen him for so long—and so much had changed.

They were with the revolutionary army now. Isuka hadn't expected that for Deuce, but…well. Ace's death changed them both to the core, didn't it? She'd left the world of law behind in favor of a harsher, more brutal world as a pirate. And he'd lost everything when Ace died, falling into the arms of the Revolutionary Army through a series of events she still couldn't believe.

She wouldn't believe it. Not until she had some kind of proof, or a face to face with the man himself.

Because Deuce and Koala both emphatically explained that Ace was still…kind of…alive, through his revolutionary brother. Some kind of spirit possession, cohabitating and switching control depending on the situation.

It was insane—but it was Ace they were talking about. Ace was a walking epicenter of strange occurrences, wasn't he?

All through their grand escape from Dressrosa with their stolen goods Koala and Deuce had excitedly told her the whole story. Waking up with Ace's memories of his last moments, the raid on the slavers in Sabaody, the hunt for Deuce, his attempted suicide, Ace and Sabo learning to understand their situation and…

They never said it really out loud, but Isuka wasn't a stupid woman. She could see the lingering touches of Koala and Deuce's hands, and the way they talked about Ace and this Sabo guy—they were romantically entangled.

She pretended she didn't notice, keeping the ship organized as she worked out her feelings on the whole thing within the confines of the ship.

The time dragged on. Koala was getting impatient as Sabo failed to appear.

Her cheerful demeanor hadn't quite eroded away but as the minutes ticked on, it grew into something more and more subtly terrifying. Isuka watched as, smiling like some kind of demon, she cleaned a rather large knife from one of the cases with a cloth.

"He sure is late. Late late late."

Between the forced glee and the way her foot was tapping against the floor, Isuka wasn't sure whether to expect a bloodbath the minute the door opened or not. Hell hath no fury like a woman waiting, she was pretty sure she'd heard someone say once.

Or maybe it was scorned?

Finally, there was the click of boot heels outside the door, and it opened softly.

"Sorry we're late."

RIP Sabo, Isuka thought as she started to stand to intervene if needed but she didn't get the chance to when Koala shot herself across the room and clocked him right in the chest with her fist.

"Idiot! I thought you'd gotten yourself caught! Or worse!!"

The man stumbled backwards and rubbed his chest. "Ah!! Sorry, Ko, but did you have to– ah, well we probably deserved that one. — Hey, we did not! We had to see Luffy off!"

The man was blond, with fluffy hair and a distinctive scar on one eye. There was nothing about him that looked like Ace. Still, when he'd walked into the room there had been something. The posture, the tone of voice, something familiar.

Until suddenly it had all sharply and abruptly changed.

Isuka felt a shiver roll up her spine—and a strange and desperate feeling behind her breast as she stared at him in astonishment. He's acting like two different people��just like they'd said he'd act. For a minute…I swore I saw Ace.

She swallowed thickly, before taking a step back only to bump into Deuce, who steadied her and whispered. "Hey, he'll be happy to see you."

Koala thumped him a few more times with muffled curses. "Good, at least! But…but…but next time call first! We even have news for you!! We've been waiting all this time for it!"

The man, Sabo, presumably, just let Koala thump on him as long as she wanted. He scratched his hair under his hat. "News? What more news could there be, dear? It isn't bad news, is it?"

After a moment Koala simply grabbed him in a tight hug and yanked him into the room.

"Well..we got a whole ton of Doflamingo's stock in here, crates and crates of everything you can imagine." She glanced over her shoulder with a wide grin. "As well as a special surprise for Ace, too…"

Isuka stiffened and glanced at Deuce "she means me, right?" she whispered. "Am I supposed to, what? Jump out and say boo?"

Sabo's posture changed again, and he cocked his head, birdlike– and Ace-like. "A surprise for me? I mean, I already had a lot of surprises today. But one more can't hurt, I hope?"

There was that smile. That charming, bizarrely well-meaning smile.

Isuka couldn't stop herself—and Deuce pushed her forward to encourage her anyway. She stumbled out from behind a box and stammered out ."A-A…Ace??!!?"

"Isuka?!"

For just a heartbeat the blond man stopped stark still mid motion and stared at her as she stumbled forward.

Then he darted across the room and scooped his arms around her.

"Isuka, I worried about you! Hey! It's great to see you!"

She stiffened briefly, before she gave in to the impulse and grabbed him tightly in a hug as well.

"Ace, Koala and Deuce told me that…that this was real, but it's unbelievable."

"We said we'd show you proof didn't we?" Koala huffed off to the side.

"Well, yeah but—" she shook her head, before she pressed her face to his shoulder to teasingly murmur. "Shit, it's great to see you too, you've changed!"

His grin, lopsided, widened a little as he squeezed her. "Well, I mean, I guess dying'll do that, huh? I'm playing roommate in my brother Sabo's body. We're getting along alright but he won't let me change our hair."

She pulled away to look at him with a broad smile, fully aware that she was giving off little sparks of excitement. Did he notice how much she'd changed in both the little and obvious ways since the last day they saw one another?

"I'd say too bad but I think it's kind of cute," she punched his shoulder. "Unbelievable. You're a ghost now. One of those ghost pirates you hear about in stories, shacking up with the Revolutionary Army."

"Shacking up! Hah, good one." He rubbed the back of his neck, and punched her back. "I'm not the only one who changed though. What about you? You look good! We should have a drink, don't you think?"

He turned his brilliant grin on Koala.

"Lucky for you we've got a crate full of luxury booze right over there," Koala pointed over her shoulder with a grin "bound for—I think the Big Mom Pirates, from the stamp on it."

Isuka felt dizzy and more than a little off balance as she stared into Sabo's eyes—Ace's eyes. It was kind of amazing how striking his expressions were on the foreign face.

"I look good, huh?" She grinned , and rubbed the ridge of the burn scar on her face—now they both had one, didn't they? That was another point of strangeness. "I've changed a lot, Ace—we should catch up. Over drinks sounds great."

Deuce snickered. "You always put up a huge fight whenever we invited you for drinks before, Isuka."

"Yeah, well…I've had two years with a bunch of problem drinkers to get used to it," Isuka responded in a drawl.

Koala, meanwhile, was already getting bottles out, which seemed to please Ace.

"Koala, let me kiss you!" Ace crowed. There was no doubt. No doubt at all, that that's who that was. Even smiling though someone else's face, it was still him. "Let's break out the booze and find out what the Nailer's been up to for the last few years. We have a lot of stories to swap."

Koala slid up with a speed and grace that surprised Isuka, and slipped herself enough between them to plant a kiss on his lips.

That—Isuka supposed—settled that.

These three, no four, were definitely dating.

Ace and Sabo were well into their cups, along with the rest of them, by the time Isuka finished her story. Drinking always seemed to blur the lines between the two of them, but they didn't mind. After all, they were especially close today anyway, with the victory and the return of Ace's devil fruit, the power of fire once more coursing within him.

Ace raised his glass, grinning like a maniac he was sure. Today had really been nothing but winning. Maybe the best day he'd had since he'd died.

"So, Isuka, you turned pirate after all! And with the princess of Alabasta. It's still so strange to hear that even happened. But good for you! I always knew we'd get into your head one day."

Isuka had downed just as many glasses as he had, and she raised her own with a lopsided grin. Little arcs were dancing across her skin now—electricity that seemed to slip out in her intoxication.

"I know, you wore me down. That little Ace in my memory constantly tempting me away from the fucking Marines…" She took a long sip of her latest glass. "From a bounty hunter trying to hunt you down, to one of Cap'n Croccodile's Neo-Baroque pirates. Crazy when you think about it, right? He even gave me a devil fruit for my service!"

She propped herself up on the table. "So I'd say you won, Ace."

"I'll put it in our win category." He leaned on his hands, smiling at her. Warm, he finally felt warm again. That warmth that came from within, and lifted his spirits. "So what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off pillaging for ol' Croc?"

She traced a sparking finger around the rim of her glass, leaving a crackling trail as she glanced up at him "He's got a mission to finish for Viv, he's probably in hot pursuit of that as we speak, I left a note for him before stealin' one of the lifeboats to row myself to that glitzy hellhole—so he shouldn't be worried about me. He knows sometimes you have something you just have to do…"

Deuce tilted his head. "The devil fruit, right? Ace's devil fruit."

Koala was swaying across the table, clearly enjoying the alcohol a bit to excess. "That's right—you said something about throwing everything down and rowing over. We caught you about to enter the Gladiator tourney."

Ace and Sabo perked up. "You were going to enter the tournament? What for? You said you got a devil fruit of your own already…"

That story had taken up a good chunk of their drinking time. To think, Isuka had a logia type devil fruit, too.

Sorry I missed that adventure.

"Yeah—the Rumble-Rumble fruit." She held up her hand, which vanished into jagged lightning that sparked crackled over their heads before it reformed into flesh and bone. "I didn't want it for me, though—or anyone really. I just didn't want people like Blackbeard, or some asshole Marines getting their hands on the last piece of Ace in the world. I wanted to win it, and protect it so it stayed free."

With a wave of her scarred hand—the old, wrinkled burns still shiny and clear without her gloves—she seemed to wave it off. "It was just sentimentality…I missed you, so…I wanted to do what I couldn't back then and protect at least SOME part of you. Not that it mattered in the end. It got to the right place."

Ace felt tears beading in his eyes and he reached across the table to grab her hands. "Isuka, I'm touched. I…"

He'd always wanted to believe that she cared that much, but he'd convinced himself it was his own cavalier self-delusion. Just another thread of connection he'd convinced himself he didn't deserve, and couldn't be true.

But it had been.

Isuka's warm eyes widened a little as he grabbed her hands, and he saw the way a blush quickly started to cover her sun-warmed face.

"H-hey. I mean, you made a big impact on me, Ace. You know you did. Just because the last time I saw you I let you slip away—doesn't mean…it doesn't mean I didn't care?"

Ace squeezed her hands, smiling and trying to blink away the tears.

"I'm glad. Deuce and me, we talked about how much we wanted to get you on our crew. Isn't that right, Deu?"

Deuce looked flustered, brushing his pale hair over his ear with a lopsided smile. "Yeah, we talked about that a lot, even back when you were still chasing us around the Grand Line. Called you our 'honorary crewmate' and everything."

Koala tipped back a long sip of her drink. "These guys really seemed to think highly about you, Miss Isuka! I heard a lot about you the last two years—they were wondering where you'd gotten to."

Isuka seemed to only grow more flustered, but she closed her eyes to try and bear it with grace. "Honorary crewmate—hah! Of course you did…you two always pulled that line with me when I showed up to put you behind bars, even in Sabaody, when everything had gone to shit."

"We were hoping you'd show up, even to the last minute." Ace smiled softly, holding her hands for just a little longer in his own, before he slowly released them. "It makes me feel better that you didn't stick around with the marines after that."

Isuka's fingers lingered on his for a moment before she brushed them through her hair with a thin smile.

"Yeah…I mean. I couldn't, you know? Not after finding out how my village died. Not after seeing the way my superior officer treated those civilians. Couldn't excuse it. So I became a bounty hunter." She chuckled quietly, self-deprecating as she added. "and finally got a fire under my ass to actually become a pirate when it was too late."

"Well hey... People keep telling me it's never too late, right? And here you are, a pirate."

She had wanted to sail with them. She'd basically admitted it.. It made his heart swell to think of it, even if there was a pang of sadness. Another dream undone, another thread of fate unwound. Could it ever have been different?

It still could be different. Sabo's voice seemed to whisper in his ear. He'd been quiet for the evening, listening in the background. Ace could tell that their claiming the devil fruit had affected him deeply, though he was still judging how.

Koala tilted her glass back and forth on the table with a smile. "It's never too late to change course or chase a dream," she chimed in.

Deuce smirked, holding his hands up. "You were even one of Croc's pirates. Fuck. I mean—that means I narrowly missed you, y'know! I sailed with him a bit to get to the New World."

Isuka chuckled, tugging at the strands of her hair. "That's true. I'd say you shoulda stuck around…but you found Ace. And, well…" she closed her eyes in thought. "Never too late, huh?"

"You never know what the future might hold, right? As long as there is a future." It was Sabo who spoke, and it surprised Ace.

You're thinking about it, aren't you? Turning pirate.

It's been on my mind today.

Isuka's brow furrowed before she pointed to him. "S…sabo right? You're talking now, arentcha?" She put her hand on her hip with a chuckle. "You never do know about the future, it's true. My time in Neo-Baroque Works is probably through for a while though, the Captain's probably in a mad dash to catch up to Straw Hat Luffy to drop off your cousin to 'em, Deuce."

Deuce nearly spit out his drink, sputtering. "W-w-what? Wait…how…you KNEW?"

Ace and Sabo laughed. The atmosphere, which was on the way to becoming a little heavy, was completely broken by Deuce's reaction.

"Oh no, don't tell me Crocodile knows?" Ace asked, still chuckling.

"Nah, far as I can tell he doesn't," Isuka snickered. "Or at least if he has he never mentioned it to me. But I've been hanging out with Viv for like—two years now. And having known you and knowing Vivi? It's pretty obvious, man."

"Ughhhh," Deuce fell to the side, only to be caught by Koala, who patted his back with a murmured 'there, there, you're plenty mysterious'.

Ace shook his head at Deuce with a smile, and then looked back up at Isuka. "So it sounds like you're not chomping at the bit for the fastest way back to Croc's crew… does that mean you might like to stick with us for a little bit?"

Isuka glanced at him with a wry smile, seeming to turn it over for a moment. "Unless you're planning on running me off now that you've done your business for the Revolutionary Army, I'm a little tempted. If you are, I'll find a way to hitch a ride."

Ace snatched her hand again and held it tightly.

"Stay with us. Please?"

His voice felt raw in his own throat, but he wasn't going to play coy with what he wanted. Not any more.

Isuka's warm, bright eyes widened, and her long burn-scarred fingers flexed against his before they grabbed them in a squeeze.

"How can I say no when you ask like that?" She took a deep breath before smiling, "Captain Crocodile has plenty of great crew to keep him afloat—and as I said, he knows when someone has something they've gotta do."

"Fantastic! Then there's something I've gotta do, too." Ace leapt up from the chair and marched around the table to where Isuka sat, adjusting his hat as he did so.

Isuka looked up at him with a raise of her eyebrow and an amused smirk. ".....something you gotta do, huh? Some kind of Revolutionary ritual?"

"No, this is 100% an Ace original, promise."

He was sure Deuce and Koala already knew what was coming. Hell, he was pretty sure Isuka knew.

Either way he grabbed her by the collar and hauled her into a kiss that was too many years late.

Even if she expected it, his enthusiasm seemed to take her by surprise—a pleasant one, if the way she pressed eagerly into it was anything to go by.

Too many years late, but she seemed happy to make up for lost time.

He certainly knew that he was.