𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐝𝐞 | 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝑷𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆 ✔️

over

When Ace first saw the blonde haired boy, he immediately thought of his late brother, same hair, same smile, and same miserable fate at a young age.

He was the first to embrace his younger brother, fingers clenched tightly around the hospital gown smelling of alcohol and anti-septic. None of them held in their tears, they had been too late. If only they had just arrived a day earlier-

"Someone was staying with him," Thatch spoke quietly, his voice dripping with pain and sorrow no different from the rest of them.

Ace paused, finally releasing Williams body and looking towards their brown haired brother. In his arms lay two pairs of crumpled hospital clothes, one purely blue and white and the other with a spotting of red on it. A shock of anger ran through Ace, so strong and great that all he could see was red as he began walking out of the door.

"Ace," Marco grabbed his shoulder, "stop. You're going to harm the citizens."

Marco, despite his grief, didn't want the lives of innocent people to be endangered. He shrugged off his brothers arm but calmed the slightest, though it didn't stop him from walking out the door with barely concealed anger.

His brothers questioned what he was going to do, who he was going to hurt and he had no difficulty answering. "I'm going to find whatever bastard touched our brother."

Before Marco or Thatch could stop him he ran outside the door.

"He's jumping to conclusions..." Thatch could barely ground out, seeming to clench the clothes in his hands tighter. He couldn't exactly blame Ace when it had also been his first thought- that someone had hurt their brother and that's why he had passed faster than they estimated. But he knows the truth- they all know the ugly truth. All of them were selfish, wanting to travel the seas while their terminally ill brother remained alone to suffer.

He hated himself for it. They should have stayed- even if it would have been years of waiting they should have done it. There's no excuse.

But Ace wasn't here when they made that decision and out of all of them, he had every right to be mad.

"It was the person who called us here," Marco whispered, a hand covering his eyes yet it did nothing to shield the tears. "they knew."

The whitebeard pirates- brother- all shared one look of understanding between them before Jozu picked up the blonde and covered him with a blanket. It was time William was put to rest, time for his suffering to end. For now, the rest of them knew what to do.

Find them.

"Well," The elderly woman hummed. "I don't know who would be with William."

Ace frowned.

"However," She continued, placing her old and wrinkly hands behind her. "I know Alfred would know. He knows every person who comes in and leaves this island."

A bit of hope bloomed in his chest. "Who's Alfred?"

"The only towns bar owner, of course."

Perfect, his fists clenched, I might as well get a drink.

When he enters the bar he sees several marines and thinking they're going to attack him, Ace pauses and readies himself. Surprisingly, all they do is turn around and act as though he didn't exist, and it makes the pit in his stomach grow. There'd never once been marines who didn't even try to capture him, and it confuses him.