#older work

And straight into a blond man in a ridiculous hat. Ace and the stranger let out a mixed collection of surprising sounds. Sabo winced and gripped the bare shoulders of the freckled man who’d almost sent him tumbling to the ground. Ace stared up at the well-dressed man.

Something in the back of his mind screamed at him not to run away, that he needed to be around the blond, there was such a surreal sense of familiarity when he looked over the confused face. The feeling of a bond that ran deeper and thicker than any bloodlines prickled through him, he couldn’t bring himself to move.

The gloved hands on his sun-kissed skin seemed comforting somehow, the worried look in Sabo’s eyes, the furrowed brow as he took a moment to collect his jumbled thoughts, all if it felt like home to Ace. Something from the past he’d tried to banish from his sad nights of reminiscing about times that had faded away.

Those memories that seemed like a faded sepia-stained polaroid, awaiting the day colour would be restored. Sabo sucked in a breath through his teeth as he saw Ace for the first time, taking in how he was dressed, the tattoo on his arm.

Sabo knew this man from the wanted poster that had triggered all his lost memories, he watched the man he was gripping. He could feel tears brimming in his eyes as his mouth hung open, words failing him as emotions all battled with one another to be felt first.

Ace cocked his head to one side, blinking as the stranger with the familiar presence gripped his shoulders tighter, the leather of Sabo’s gloves making a creak, one that matched his trembling voice as he blinked away tears “A-Ace?”

“You know me?”

Before Sabo could utter another word the shouting of Ace’s pursuers rang through the air, cutting the confused air like a knife to butter. Sabo moved his hands, reaching for Ace’s and pulling him along the street.

Sabo remembered this part of their childhood, he ran with Ace in tow, the memories of those days together as children bubbled to the surface. Their laughter, grins, and leaving Luffy in the dirt as they ran from their younger brother.

Ace felt it too, something about this moment, his hand in the other man’s. The way Sabo’s blue coat fluttered in the wind as they picked up the pace, kicking up dust and gravel in their wake as they escaped from the centre of the small town into the thick forest that cupped the town in a cosy nest, safe from the world.

“S-Sabo?” Ace’s voice didn’t feel like his own as the name fell from his lips, he was sure this man was his brother he just didn’t know how.

He almost stumbled over his feet before Sabo leapt over a bush, not even giving Ace a heads up. The flame user huffed as he tripped and tumbled over the shrubbery, laughing when he landed painfully on his ass. Sabo laughed loudly as he stopped running, turning to watch Ace sit there, chuckling to himself as tears ran down his freckled cheeks.

“Sabo!”

“Ace!”

Sabo smiled and offered Ace a hand just to have the pirate pull him forward, landing on his knees between Ace’s legs as arms wrapped around his body, Ace sobbing against him, years of guilt, sorrow, longing slipped from his shoulders, his heart ached as he struggled to catch his breath through his crying.

“S-Sabo. I… I’m..”