08 - epilogue

[afflictionmods]

EPILOGUE

So.

Juniper is dead. Lorelei and Florence are alive. And the rest of you, thankfully, are also alive and kicking.

The building is kind of a mess right now, and a lot of the citizens are in kind of disarray, confused and uncertain of what exactly is going on in the Camellia tower. Things are a bit of a mess right now, but what matters is that you’ve stopped things. The cycle of these experiments, suppression – it’s over.

Your markings are still here, however. You are free to try and figure that out, too (though the answer is, indeed, quite simple with the "B" toggle, and may be hand waved). Other than that, though, everything seems to be...stabilized. As good as they can be, anyway. Lorelei and Florence are around, for any last conversations. When you emerge, the sun is out, perhaps brighter than usual – though whether that’s because of joy from the citizens or confusion is anyone’s guess – and some of you are covered in blood, but you are here.

And you are ready to finally, finally return home.

---

(OOC: For anyone who's willing, Lorelei will be able to configure tablets to synch up with the portal here at Estelline. From there, they will be able to world hop to someone else's world; so the Estelline portal is now a hub, of sorts. It's not a direct world hop and it's a bit inconvenient, but it is a way for you guys to see each other again.

She will also ensure that those who are currently sleeping will be sent home in one piece.

All of this can be handwaved, or threaded out in the Lorelei thread.

Happy Good Ending, everyone!)

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

[vivens]

[ sabo won't keep his gaze downcast for long and when ace tells him to look up, he will do so with ease. the expression on his face being both warm and amused but also a bit tired. ]

I could believe that; I'm not an easy person to find, but I also would assume that you wouldn't want to die before finding me again.

[ because you know. all of the things that ace did to track down blackbeard and all of that. ]

...and if you managed to find me then I can't imagine why I'd reject what I'd be seeing.

[iubar]

[ yeah, he would have gladly hunted sabo down and would have done his damnedest to not get caught before he found him, but even so... ]

But you know... You're the one I said all those things to. It wouldn't be quite the same.

[ honestly, he'd probably still think about this sabo. the one he was connected to. sure, they're the same person, technically, but. also not. ]

[vivens]

[ sabo won't say anything for a moment and instead will look at him for a moment as a small smile settles on his face. the next words out of his mouth are said to come out with an air of carelessness but they weigh heavy on his tongue. ]

Are you saying you could only love this version of me?

[ it's a false statement and he knows it. he also knows what ace is referring to. ]

I'm kidding of course since I know what you mean.

[ not to mention all of the ""work"" that took for them to get here. would another version of himself be able to come to this exact same conclusion? how painful would it be for ace to have to deal with those feelings alone... ]

[iubar]

[ for that, sabo deserves a cheek pull. what a little shit, honestly. sabo is sabo and he's glad he doesn't have to clarify that. but there is more to it and none of it's easy.

so, he's going to move his position to basically, well, straddle sabo's lap and fully drape on him, putting his full weight. he doesn't speak at first, just leaning against him like this. ]

It seems like you're trying to convince me to go back to my time. Can't you just admit how selfish you want to be?

[vivens]

[ well, okay. that can happen and sabo will let his arms instinctively circle around ace's waist to support him where has decided to sit. yeah, there's definitely none of that "oh he's my brother" energy to this at all. that's clearly been thrown out the window now. ]

You and Luffy were always better at that than I was.

[ how to give an answer without actually answering anything. ]

Finding meaning in your life, wanting freedom for everyone, and then Luffy's real dream... [ as though being the pirate king wasn't enough for luffy. sabo will take a moment to muse to himself. ] The three of us sure have asked for a lot. Admittedly they're also not impossible things to achieve.

[iubar]

[ he's starting to get to the point where he just wants to shake sabo for all of this conversation. at least sabo is admitting he's not great at this whole thing. but he's still not saying that he wants ace with him. not directly. and he's not going to be the only one asking for it, either. he wants to know what sabo really wants. not some half-assed answer or what "should" happen. ]

Do you want me with you or not? Yes or no. Not some other you. The one I'm currently sitting on until I get a proper answer. Idiot.

[vivens]

[ shake him. do it coward!!

but no, when ace says it so plainly to him, the bluntness of it only takes sabo a moment to adjust to it. it's to be expected that ace would get impatient, yet sabo finds himself looking at the easiest answer that has come to him and yet the hardest answer to say. it's obvious. the answer is right there.

yet. sorry ace, it does take sabo a bit longer and he contemplates trying to find a new way to say it before just... ]

As long as I'm me then there's no way that I wouldn't want you with me.

[ is that plain enough for ace to understand? regardless of what timeline and whatever version of him... he can't imagine a sabo who wouldn't befriend ace and eventually want to spend as much time with him as he could. ]

It's not like I've ever wanted anything else.

[ it should have been clear enough now, right? how he wouldn't have wanted to leave ace on that day if he had the choice. it wasn't as though he planned on losing his memories either. ]

[iubar]

That's all I needed to hear.

[ maybe it was written between the lines before and maybe he knew what sabo really wanted, but he wanted it to be said more plainly. he figures sabo can be a lot more straightforward with this kind of thing with him than he is being anyway.

he reaches to pull both of sabo's cheeks before laughing and bumping their foreheads together. his own hat is knocked back, but is held at his back with the string. another normal look for him, of course. ]

I'll stay by your side.

[vivens]

[ why his cheeks again!! sabo doesn't react to the pull at his cheeks outside of a slight wince before having his senses filled with ace's face and he finds himself fighting off a blush again. he tries so hard and is constantly betrayed by the complexion of his skin. ]

Of course you will. [ words said with a bit of a sigh. he'll adjust one of hands just so that he can pinch ace on his side. ] If you didn't after making me say all of this, I'd hit you.

[ or, well, if ace wanted to hear that from him and then agreed to go back to where he was from, then sabo would have accepted it. if there was even the most slim possibility of there being a version of himself who could have never mourned over losing ace... ]

...though now I don't know how this will work when we go back.

[iubar]

[ because it's easy access and he's cute when his cheeks are pulled. also, that blushing he can faintly see is cute as hell and it makes him want to tease him even more. with the response, he snickers a bit.

there's no chance he'd just go back to his time after dragging that out of him. but he did have to state it plainly that he would go with him, as well. just to state it plainly. but he does squirm at the side pinch. ]

Does it really matter? We'll make it work. That's all.

[ things might be complicated and weird. his living might cause a big scene if people find out. sabo is trying to take care of what he needs to do. but in the end, so what? they're together now. one hand slides down sabo's arm and threads their fingers together and lifts their hands up together.

a small flame starts to flicker across his hand, knowing he won't burn sabo with it. they have their powers combined. he's determined not to die again, having a reason to value his own life. ]

[vivens]

[ sabo says nothing for a moment and just watches the way that ace's flame comes in contact with him and the way his body reacts to the flame by simply allowing it to exist within it. sabo doesn't go as far as to think about how easily they could just mingle just like this and instead glances back over at ace from their hands. ]

You make it sounds like it's going to be so easy.

[ his voice is soft but not in the exasperated way, but more of the soft concern that he had when they were much younger. back when ace would put on the front of how he wasn't lonely when he was. if ace was going to return with him then a lot was going to change. ]

The Revolutionary Army isn't exactly safe. We don't have the same protection that you had when you were part of the Whitebeard Pirates.

[ territories that were protected and belonged to the whitebeard pirates existed right out in the open because it was part of the show of power. a sign and warning of who would be angered if anything were to happen to them. the opposite was not true for sabo's alliance. ]

[iubar]

[ it's honestly a strange feeling, being able to do this with sabo and not have any concern about the flames. in fact, it feels very intimate in a way that no one else could understand. but he sets that thought aside to focus on the rest. ]

You think I didn't think about that? If I was worried about that, I'd go somewhere else.

[ there were others that were going places that weren't their own. if he really was concerned about staying alive that bad, over wanting to be with sabo, he'd head to someone's world like riku's. it'd be easy to survive in a place like that. ]

But you're worth the risk.

[vivens]

Sometimes I wonder what you think about when you're like this, and I wonder who taught you how to say something like that.

[ sabo laughs helplessly as a blush crawls up his neck. hearing ace saying that makes him feel something that he doesn't know how to properly place. well, outside of the obvious. it's not exactly something he'd accept from someone else. actually, he doesn't see himself accepting it from anyone else. ]

But you're not going to try to find what ever is left of your other brothers? [ obviously ace's brothers were just luffy and himself but he's referring to the scattered members of the whitebeard pirates. though, sabo doesn't think he could describe ace as just his "brother" anymore. ] If you want to look for them I could try to see what I could do.

[ sabo can't promise that he could offer any resources exactly but he could offer some aid. ]

[iubar]

That almost sounds like a complaint.

[ he jokes back about that. it's not like he's always going to be laying down the lines like this. he's already shared some of his feelings, though it's still not quite easy to be fully honest or upfront about all his feelings, too. this is just an important, rare time while trying to figure out their future. ]

I do. And I will.

[ and he is very tempted to rush into it right away, but he also knows they need to settle things first. at least see how things change with ace existing in the world once again. after all, he has to try to think about staying alive now and not just immediately jumping the gun as he usually does. ]

[vivens]

Does it? What do you think I could be complaining about?

[ he's fine to keep playing this game if it's one that ace wants to play. sabo will tilt his head to one side as he gauges to see where things might move from here. all the while acknowledging the other answer that ace gives him. ]

...but okay.

[ sabo doesn't repeat how he'd offer his help, where he can, with ace. he doesn't need to. it'll always be there. ]