"Brothers? Really?" Luffy's face lit up.
"When we become pirate, we might not be on the same ship. But one thing is for sure, our brother hood will always be with us." Ace explained.
'Brothers.'
'Do you have ambitions?'
'Are you sure?'
'Brothers.'
'Brothers.'
This words kept echoing on Ling head. Visible sweats formed in his forehead. He's eyes blurring.
He started swaying, tears forming in his eyes.
"Ling!!"
Their voices echoed, but they felt distant, as if swallowed by a storm. Ling's knees gave out, and his world collapsed into darkness.
And then...
Silence.
But not peaceful silence.
That oppressive kind.
The kind you find in empty rooms with no light, no windows, no doors. Just the hum of nothingness, cold and absolute.
He opened his eyes.
White walls. A familiar desk. A cracked phone. A tiny bed with no blanket.
He was back.
Back in that lifeless one-bedroom apartment in the middle of a grey city.
Back in that world where time crawled and the air always felt heavy.
Back in that place where weeks passed without hearing another voice.
Back in that place where no one was waiting for him.
His eyes widened.
"…Am I back?" he whispered, voice hoarse.
He stood up slowly, heart pounding.
"No… no, no, please… not here…"
He stumbled to the window but it wouldn't open.
He ran to the door but it didn't exist. Just four blank walls closing in around him.
And then...
He saw himself.
Sitting on the bed, hunched over, staring at nothing.
Lifeless eyes. Shoulders sagged. Hands limp in his lap.
Ling staggered backward, breath caught in his throat.
"No… don't show me this. I don't want to see this!" His voice cracked.
"I'm not him anymore! I left this behind!"
But the vision didn't fade.
And he remembered.
He remembered the crushing silence. The way the world never looked back at him.
The years spent fading like dust between the cracks of the world.
Ling sat on the mattress, just foam on the floor, and looked around. No decorations. No photos. No signs that a life was ever lived here.
It wasn't always like this.
No! Actually, it was.
From the beginning, Ling had been alone. Passed through foster homes like a box with no label. Some houses gave him food. Some didn't bother.
A few left bruises, most just left silence. He learned quickly: don't ask questions, don't expect hugs, don't wait for someone to stay.
By the time he turned eighteen, there was no one at his graduation. No one cheering. No photos taken. No arms around his shoulders.
He didn't cry.
Because he had never learned what it meant to be comforted in the first place.
But he tried. God, he tried.
He went to university not to be successful, but because he wanted to feel normal. He wanted to fit into the rhythm of what others called life.
Joined clubs. Went to parties. Laughed when others laughed. Talked when they talked.
But it all felt off. Like he was acting in a play without a script. Wearing someone else's skin.
He didn't know how to fit in.
So he drifted. Quietly. Slowly. Slipping through the cracks no one looked at.
Until one night, on a whim, he clicked on an anime.
A goofy kid in a straw hat stretched his arm to the sky and shouted about becoming King of the Pirates.
One Piece.
He thought it was stupid at first. Cartoonish. Silly.
But then...
Hours turned into days.
Days turned into weeks.
He saw Luffy punch a Celestial Dragon for hurting a friend.
He saw Zoro stand up and offer up his dream for his captain's sake.
He saw Nami cry for help and Luffy put his hat on her head.
He saw Brook, alone for fifty years, still wanting to return to his friend.
He saw Ace die and Luffy shatter.
He saw them all fight, laugh, fall, cry together.
And something inside Ling began to stir.
He started watching more.
He started feeling more.
He laughed when they laughed. He cried when they cried. He clenched his fists when they fought. He whispered their dreams under his breath like prayers.
And slowly, he began to dream again too.
Not of riches.
Not of fame.
Just...
"What if I had friends like that?"
"What if I had someone to share meals with?"
"What if someone looked at me and saw something worth protecting?"
People talked about One Piece for the adventure, the world-building, the Devil Fruits.
But not Ling.
Not him.
It wasn't the sea that captivated him.
It was the family.
It was the way Luffy found broken people and gave them a place to belong. The way he looked at the lost, the scared, the hopeless—and reached out with a grin.
That was what kept Ling watching.
That was what gave him warmth on the coldest nights.
Because deep down, he didn't want gold. He didn't want power.
He just wanted to be someone's important person.
That's all he ever wanted.
Someone to wait for him.
Someone to ask how his day was.
Someone who smiled just because he walked into the room.
Not a crowd.
Just one person.
One real connection.
That was the hole in his heart that even time couldn't fill.
And then came that day the day everything ended.
The day he boarded that plane, hoping to take a break from the world. Hoping to finally feel alive.
A vacation he could barely afford, but still went for business class.
And then fire.
Screams.
Darkness.
And when he opened his eyes again—
He was in Foosha Village.
He was in One Piece.
And now… Luffy, Ace, and Sabo had called him their brother.
They laughed with him. Trained with him. Eat with him.
And in that moment, as his vision blurred and his knees gave out, he finally understood.
His 'ambition' was to travel the world. To chase adventure like the Straw Hats.
That's what he told himself.
But that was never the real reason.
Not truly.
It wasn't the treasure that made him dream.
It was the friendship.
It was the bonds.
It was the hope that, even in a world as vast and dangerous as this...
He could be someone to somebody.
Not a hero. Not a legend.
Just someone's important person.
And for the first time in both lives
He finally was.
What felt like eternity finally ended.
Snapped back.
"Ling!!"
Sabo caught Ling in his arms before falling.
Everything he saw had happened in an instant.
A lifetime of memory in a heartbeat.
"Are you okay?" Ace asked worriedly.
"Are you sick?" Luffy asked.
Ling shook his head.
"Maybe I'm just tired." Ling smiled.
"You scared us there, Ling." Sabo commented and sighed.
"Okay, let's continue and head back. Maybe someone is waiting for use there." Ling hinted.
The three was confused.
"Since everyone cup was poured already, let's continue."
Ling, Ace, Luffy, and sabo raised their cup.
"Whenever, whatever, we'll always be bonded together" Ace said.
"So from now on...."
"We're brothers." Everyone said it in unison.
They cheered, clinked their cups, and drank.
"Let's go back home," Ling said with a soft smile.
"Let's get food on the way!" Luffy added eagerly.
Sabo and Ace both nodded in agreement.
"What the...?" Ace suddenly exclaimed, pointing ahead.
"There's two unconscious wild boars over there!"
Sabo squinted. "For real? Is this heaven celebrating our brotherhood?"
"Free food! Yay!" Luffy whooped, already running toward them.
"I'll carry the other one," Ling offered, putting one of the giant boars onto his back.
Ten minutes later, the four of them arrived at Dadan's house.
Ling spotted a familiar figure at the front of the house and couldn't help but smile.
"Makino!" Luffy shouted, rushing forward.
"Mayor! Makino!" Ling called out with a wave.
"Luffy! Ling!" Makino greeted them warmly and pulled Luffy into a hug.
"You look great, Ling. We haven't seen you in a while," the mayor said kindly.
"Hehe..." Ling chuckled and scratched the back of his head.
"And Luffy, its been six months since I saw you. How have you been?" the mayor asked.
"I still can't believe you're living with bandits," he added with a frown.
"What did you just say?" Dadan growled from the side.
The two began their bickering, Makino turned back to the boys and handed each of them a small wrapped gift.
"I brought some shirts for you all," she said, smiling.
Sabo accepted his with a grin. Ace, on the other hand, looked away shyly, he was being dressed up.
Luffy and Sabo burst into laughter.
Ling just laughed silently.
"Since you brought back two whole boars, I'll cook you all dinner," Makino offered cheerfully.
"I missed your cooking, Makino!" Luffy shouted, excited.
"Me too," Ling added with a content nod.
They all followed her into the house. Makino spent the next hour preparing six different dishes from the boar meat, the smells filling the air with mouthwatering aromas.
As soon as she placed the first plate down, Luffy dove in.
"Yummy!" he cried with a full mouth.
Outside, an old man was making his way slowly up the hill toward the house.
"Meals should be this good on a ship too," Sabo said between bites.
"First thing I'm doing when I go to sea is getting the best cook out there."
"I'm gonna be a pirate before you, so forget it," Ace said smugly, elbowing him.
"That's not fair! I'm gonna be a pirate first!" Luffy protested.
Ling, mid-chew, noticed a tall shadow behind them and froze.
'Garp! He's here! Luffy's timing is the worst.' He fought back a laugh.
Dadan and the other bandits turned toward the door then immediately spat out their food in unison.
Luffy and Ace looked at them, confused.
Until...
"Ahem."
A deep, familiar voice rumbled from behind them.
Slowly, both boys turned around.
"You're still saying things like that?" Garp said, towering over them with an expression that could crack stone.
He raised his fists.
"Can't you idiots understand?! You're supposed to become Marines!"
WHAM!
Two fists came crashing down on Luffy and Ace's heads, bumps instantly swelling.
Sabo stared in disbelief. "He's Garp? He's your grandfather?!"
"And you, squirt," Garp said, turning to Sabo.
"I heard you talking about going to sea too."
Before he could say more, Luffy stepped in front of Sabo.
"He's not 'squirt', he's Sabo!" he declared.
"Ling, Sabo, Ace, and me, we exchanged cups of sake! We pledged to become pirates together!"
PFFFT!
Ling nearly spat out his drink.
Sweat began pouring down his face.
"Ling?" Garp turned slowly, eyes narrowing.
'Luffy! Damn it!' Ling thought.
The old man cracked his knuckles menacingly.
"Oh? So now we've got four fools who want to become pirates?"
And then....
The rest was history.