The trek back to Dadan's hut was silent, save for the sound of Maye's ragged breathing. She walked several paces away from Ace, her eyes darting to her palms every few seconds as if she expected them to betray her again. The "Crimson Edge" had been more than a weapon; it had been a glimpse into a life that felt violent and alien to the girl who just wanted to pick berries and watch the clouds. "Maye, please," Ace said softly, reaching out. "Don't," she snapped, flinching back. Her eyes were wide with a flickering, blue panic. "That wasn't... a normal thing. People's skin doesn't break and turn into swords, Ace. What kind of life was I living before this? What kind of person was I?" Ace opened his mouth to tell her she was a hero. He wanted to tell her she was the woman who challenged the world to save him. But he saw the way her hands were shaking, and the words died in his throat. To her, "The Crimson Mark" wasn't a title of honor; it was a nightmare.
Two days later, the atmosphere at the hut changed. The mountain bandits were on edge, the birds had gone silent, and a strange, rhythmic flapping sound began to descend from the clouds.
A murder of crows, unnaturally large and coordinated, swirled above the clearing. In the center of the black cyclone, a figure plummeted downward, landing with a soft thud and a swirl of dust right in front of the porch. Ace, who had been brooding on the steps, stood up instantly, his thumb instinctively flicking the brim of his hat. His eyes narrowed. He knew that presence. He knew that Haki. Sabo adjusted his top hat, his blue coat fluttering. He looked older than he did in the memories Ace had fought so hard to reclaim. He looked like a man who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, but his eyes were fixed solely on the door of the hut. "You took your sweet time," Ace growled, though there was no real heat in it. "The Revolutionary Army doesn't exactly provide vacation days, Ace," Sabo replied, his voice low and steady. He looked at his brother, noting the exhaustion etched into Ace's face. "Where is she?" Before Ace could answer, the door creaked open. Maye stepped out, holding a basket of laundry. She stopped, her gaze landing on the blond man with the pipe on his back and the scar over his eye. The ruby pendant didn't just glow this time, it screamed. A hot, searing pulse of crimson light erupted from the stone, visible even through the fabric of her dress. Maye gasped, dropping the basket. Sheets scattered like white petals across the dirt. Sabo took a step forward, his breath hitching. "Maye..." Maye clutched the necklace, her knees buckling. A sharp, jagged pain lanced through her skull, a flash of a boy in a top hat, a flash of a sinking ship, a flash of a blue-handled umbrella. "I... I know you," she whispered, her voice trembling. "But you're dead. You died in the water... there was a giant ship... a cannon..." Ace leaped forward, catching her before she hit the ground. He looked at Sabo, his eyes wide. "She remembers? Sabo, she remembers you?" Sabo knelt in the dirt, his gloved hand reaching out to brush a stray hair from her face. His expression was a devastating mix of hope and heartbreak. "She doesn't remember me, Ace. She remembers the trauma. She remembers the hole I left behind." Maye looked up at Sabo, tears streaming down her face. She reached out, her fingers trembling as she touched the scar over his eye. "The boy from the Gray Terminal... you're him. But why does my head hurt so much? Why does it feel like I've lost you a thousand times?" "Because we're a family of fools, Maye," Sabo whispered, his voice cracking. "And we keep trying to save each other without asking the price." He looked at Ace, a silent understanding passing between the two brothers. Ace had been trying to bring her back by showing her her strength; Sabo knew she needed to be shown her heart. But as Maye looked between the two of them, the fire-user and the revolutionary, the "Fog" began to roll in again, thick and suffocating. The light in the ruby pendant dimmed back to a dull simmer. "I'm tired," Maye murmured, her eyes glazing over as the names "Ace" and "Sabo" began to slip through her fingers like sand. "I just... I want to go back to sleep. Please." As the brothers sat there in the dirt, cradling the woman who had died for one and forgotten the other, the sound of a distant, joyful laugh echoed from the forest path. A third presence was approaching. Someone who didn't care about "prices" or "fogs." Someone who only knew how to move forward. "HEY! DADAN! IS THE MEAT READY YET?!" Luffy had finished his training. The trio was finally whole again, but the sister they were fighting for was fading faster than the setting sun.