Chapter 6: Red Beads and Dragonfly Dreams
Summary:
Second Flashback- Ace still isn't quite ready, but Sabo knows what he's talking about and an accessory is explained. Plus bonus Luffy omake at the end!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
The spiraling pattern of the string had always soothed him. As each turn of the circle brought a new angle, the pattern drew in tighter and tighter, to catch negative thoughts in their web, releasing peaceful sleep to the maker and the recipient.
Ace huffed under his breath, letting the newly made dream catcher settle gently on his desk. Stretching out his arms, he turned toward the open window of his quarters. They were actually anchored in a home port, one of their islands providing a safe haven for the crew to catch up with little tasks that had gone ignored in the more dangerous seas.
One of his brothers had been having trouble sleeping lately, an encounter with a slave ship trespassing on their territory had left him with dreams that would not fade. Ace had quietly pulled him aside to offer what help he could in the form of the dream catcher now laying completed behind him. He could only hope his brother would be open to the dream catcher’s influence, let it guard his sleep and allow peace from dark thoughts.
Turning, the clacking of the beads on his necklace drew his attention. A bittersweet smile stole across his face, as it seemed to often do when he thought of his lost brother. His wooden room on the gently rocking ship faded away as he let himself fall into memories of a time long past....
—————————————-
The clanging of metal pipes striking each other rang through the forest.
“Hah, point for me Ace!” A boy in an out of place top hat smiled at a fiercely grinning freckled boy.
“I’ll get you next time, count on it!” Ace let the rusty pipe in his hand swing down to the ground as both boys stumbled through the brush.
Crackling branches broke through to softer grass surrounding a small pond.
Thumping down on the bank, Ace cupped his hand in the water. Just about to drink, he felt movement at his back. Quickly turning he caught the hand Sabo had just used to push him, and with a yank he pulled the other boy laughing into the pond with him.
“Nice try, but I’m winning this one!” Ace shrieked, Sabo trying to dunk him at the same moment.
The epic water war that followed finally ended in a truce and the tired duo dragged themselves onto dry ground.
“C’mon Sabo, take off the coat and let it dry, we’re done for today.”
Ace flopped onto his back and let the sun start to bake his own clothes. When only silence came from Sabo’s direction, he turned his head and looked over at his companion.
Sabo seemed to pay no attention to Ace’s staring as he held out his hand at nothing.
“Sabo, what the heck are you doing now? Is there some kind of lucky hand dance for drying off quickly or something crazy like that?”
Ace don’t even know why he asked, he was almost afraid that the answer would be yes and he’d have to worry about being struck by lightning for the wrong hand gesture. If he believed in luck. Which of course he didn’t!
Sabo finally turned to Ace with a peculiar expression on his face, hand held out and Ace got a look at what had taken his attention.
“A dragonfly? It’s kind of cool I guess. At least they get rid of the stupid mosquitos.” Ace laughed for a moment but Sabo tilted his head at him, that expression still on his face, like he was looking at something new and strange. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a dragonfly before?”
Sabo smiled, but it wasn’t his usual grin. It was softer somehow and there was a weird quality to his voice when he spoke.
“Of course I’ve seen dragonflies, but look at this one. You don’t see one this color often. It’s gold.” Ace heaved himself up to look closer, and it was actually pretty shiny in the sun, glinting gold.
Sabo grabbed his hand and deposited the dragonfly into it. Amazingly it continued to perch where it was placed. “Ace, do you know what dragonflies mean?”
Ace was too busy looking at the crazy bug that seemed perfectly fine to sit on his hand and never leave. “Nah, it’s just a bug.”
“Haha, that’s where you’re wrong! Dragonflies are lucky!” Sabo laughed as Ace grimaced.
“Even then, dragonflies are special. They symbolize change, transformations in life, and dreams.” There was that strange tone in Sabo’s voice again. It almost sounded.... like awe.
Suddenly uncomfortable, Ace looked away, towards the pond that had begun to shimmer in the setting sun.
“It was never like this before I met you Ace.”
They had never really spoken about the time before Ace had met Sabo. He wasn’t stupid though, Ace only knew that it must have been bad for Sabo to choose running with him through the mountain of trash rather than staying with his family.
“That moment when I met you changed my life. I have a new dream now and someone who shares it. I never told you, but the day before I met you I saw a dragonfly like this one. I knew something was about to change but I never thought it could be like this. It was lucky, more luck than I could hope to find in this lifetime.”
Ace could feel his face heating at the serious tone in his best friend’s voice. “There’s no such thing as luck! It was just a coincidence! But a good one!” Ace scrambled to correct himself.
Sabo laughed at the look on Ace’s face, his hand going to his pocket and pulling something out.
“Ace, I know you don’t believe in luck yet. I know you aren’t ready to talk about why you feel the way you do but I’m telling you, I’m lucky. My happy memories begin when I met you, you’re the luckiest thing in my life. I’m lucky that I met you.” Ace noticed red out of the corner of his eye as he turned away to avoid the conversation that he couldn’t bear to have right then, the things he couldn’t say, even to Sabo.
“I found these beads today, when we beat up those thugs by that big tree. At first I thought they were clay but something made me take a closer look. They’re actually red coral. It’s for you, since I thought of you when I saw them.” Sabo was quiet for a moment and when Ace could bear to look at him again he saw a single strand of shiny red beads in his hand.
“Coral is lucky too, you know. It means change and finding beauty in ugliness. It symbolizes protection, but also letting go of the past and living the fullest in each moment.” Sabo’s voice took on a familiar rhythmic quality, Ace thought that it happened when he was repeating something he had read in one of his books. “Find your eternity in each moment...”.
Ace wasn’t ready to answer the question he could hear in Sabo’s voice, instead reaching for the necklace. Just as his hand touched it, it was snatched away, disappearing into one of the many pockets in Sabo’s coat.
“Hey, that’s mine!” Ace squawked as a hand came down on his head and sent him sprawling in the dirt.
Sabo just grinned, back to his usual self. “I told you, you aren’t ready for them yet. You can wear it when you understand what it means. You’ll figure it out, eventually!”
Sabo took off running when Ace scrambled up to tackle him. Soon the sound of laughter and yelling faded into the forest, leaving a golden dragonfly perched on the grass by the pond.
———————————————
Ace was startled awake by the sound of laughter in the hall outside his room, a body thumping against the door and calls of his name.
He scratched at the imprint of strings on his face and stared at the dream catcher laying innocently on his desk.
Sometimes after all these years he still couldn’t believe all the things Sabo had taught him. And yet he continued to experience the proof for himself.
Long after the terrible events that had stolen his brother away, when he was preparing his loot to start his journey as a pirate, he had stumbled across a cache of treasure. Trying to remember when he had hidden it, he realized it was one that Sabo had started. Digging around had left his chest aching and a prickling in his eyes. There, laying amidst tarnished coins, had been the coral necklace. He’d forgotten but that necklace flashed him back to the day Sabo had shown it to him. With shaking hands he had lifted it out and placed it around his neck.
Hearing Luffy calling him in the distance, he’d gathered up the rest of the treasure and turned away, ready to seize the moment, to achieve the dreams that he, Sabo, and Luffy had shared.
From then on, Ace had never stopped living in the moment and he’d never taken the necklace off for even a second since.
Jolting again as his hands left the necklace, he could hear Marco berating his brothers to take it outside and for being too loud. Grinning, he only stopped to grab the dream catcher as he ran out the door and onto the deck, putting one of his brothers into a headlock and passing him the dream catcher as the group laughed and left the ship to visit the port. He never looked back.
———————
Omake
Luffy hummed as he jumped across the boulders on the shoreline. His brother was leaving soon, to start fulfilling his dream.
“Luffy, be careful! You’ll slip into the water and I’ll have to go in after you again!” Ace came climbing over the rocks behind him, only stopping when he had caught up.
“Hey, Ace?” Luffy poked his brother.
Ace rolled his eyes and grabbed Luffy’s arm, starting to drag him back over the rocks and away from the rolling waves. “Hey, what?”.
“What’s coral?”
Ace hand twitched for a second before tightening as he dragged Luffy back up into the fields.
“Why are you thinking about coral?”
Luffy let his hand stretch out, laughing as Ace dragged it away and made his arm even longer.
“Makino says it protects parts of the island. Does it taste good?”
Ace rolled his eyes and turned towards him, letting Luffy’s arm snap back into place. “Coral is like a rock, definitely not good to eat. It makes a barrier so ships and big animals can’t pass. "
Ace reached for the necklace he had started wearing. He held up one of the beads around his neck, “This is coral. Sabo gave it to me. It’s ... lucky.”
“Ooooooh, so it’s a rock that protects you. Mystery rock!” Question answered, Luffy bounced away and Ace followed, hearing Luffy laugh, “ Mystery rock protects the island and Ace. Sabo was smart!”.
Ace just smiled, “Yeah, he knew what he was talking about.”
Notes:
When Ace makes a dreamcatcher, he means business! Anyone catch that part? And I have now explained how Ace came to wear a red bead necklace at all times!
A smidge more serious than the last chapter, but I had a flash of inspiration after reading the new chapter of Tsume Yuki's "Tell it to the Marines". Seriously, go check that one out! The quote “Find your eternity in each moment” from Sabo in this chapter is from Thoreau.
We have more of the beginnings of the ASL bond in this one, I always felt like Sabo was the mature one. For him, coral symbolizes Ace, the wonderful person that emerged from an ugly past. Plus I just love dragonflies, so I couldn't resist! Eventually Luffy will make his way into the flashbacks as well.
Bonus Luffy and Ace moments are never to be missed! Ace tells Luffy that coral is like a rock because he doesn't think Luffy will get that coral is a living organism and also makes up the beads in his necklace. Mostly, he just wants to be sure Luffy won't eat it, hence, it's a rock.
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