Warm Memories and Brotherly Bonds

Chapter 40: Halfway there... Reaching the Red Line

They all stared long and hard at Ace, who continued to have that same sad look, clearly waiting for them to give him an answer.

"Just... just let me get this straight," Nami stuttered slightly as she stepped forward. "You want us to see the rest of Luffy's memories here because you think that it'll help him?"

Ace closed his eyes. "To be honest, I can't say for sure if it will solve anything," he confessed, "Even if you see everything, who's to say that it will help? But... but if there's the slightest chance that it could help him... if you could know everything and help him realize that he had done everything he could... would that be enough?"

They glanced at each other, not sure of what to do.

Ace sighed as he turned and began to walk away. "I'll leave it up to you," he commented. "In either case, I promise you'll have Luffy back by sunrise. All you have to do... is jump if you want to see anymore."

"Hey! Wait!" Usopp yelled but then darkness clouded over and they all ended up blacking out. Though they blinked, and suddenly they were looking up at seaweed right above them and they all sat right up when they looked around—half expecting to see Ace there again. But no, they were inside the ruins once more. The giant hole was back as well, looking just like it had been before.

"Wait... did... did all of that... really happen?" Nami gasped, holding onto the brief hope that maybe it had all just been a dream.

"I remember everything though," Robin commented, and they shared with each other what they had seen and heard, before they all realized that they had the exact same 'dream'.

"So, the questions remaining are, was that truly Ace with saw," Zoro said, "And do we jump down there and visit more memories?"

No one seemed willing to answer him. Brook looked at his skeletal hand and said, "I could feel Ace-san's hand," he said quietly, "I think... I believe that he was real."

"If what he said was true, that would explain how we were able to see him again," Robin said, her head raised up as she continued to think about his words.

"I want to help Luffy!" Chopper said firmly, before he added a little more meekly, "But... I don't want to see anymore."

"But Ace wants us too," Franky pointed out, "And I don't know about you all, but it's been killing me to know what happened."

"So we view more of Luffy's memories without him knowing about it just because we're curious!?" Nami demanded angrily.

"I didn't mean it like that, sis," Franky said, holding up his hands defensively.

"I say we just wait here for Luffy to come back!" Usopp said firmly, "Ace said that Luffy'd be back in the morning right? And with that thing now gone, all we have to do is wait here for him."

"But if we can help, Luffy...?" Sanji offered in confusion.

As they argued, Zoro paced the floor, trying to figure out what to do. Now he knew what it felt like to hide secrets from the crew that you didn't want known. If it were him, he'd never want anyone to see into his own private memories...

But...

'Luffy's carrying a burden so heavy that I'm amazed that he can carry it all by himself. But you think that you can help him bear that weight?'

He had carried that weight once before back at Thriller Bark and that weight had almost killed him. Was the burden that Ace was talking about just that painful for him? He didn't know what to do. It'd be easier if he could ask Luffy if it was alright... though he knew that Luffy would never agree to this idea.