After his conversation with Marco, Shanks headed toward the infirmary with steady, purposeful steps. There was still one more stubborn soul he had to confront.
When Shanks pushed open the infirmary door, he found Ace already awake. The younger man sat upright, his back propped against a stack of pillows, holding a small Den Den Mushi loosely in one hand. The snail blinked up at him with innocent curiosity, yet Ace's gaze was far from calm. His eyes were hollow and unfocused, burdened by a storm of thoughts he clearly could not outrun.
The inner turmoil was obvious. Ace was battling with the decision to call his sister or not. He knew she was fully aware of his reckless actions, most likely from the moment he set foot on that doomed path. And knowing her temper, her strength, and the lengths she would go to if truly provoked, Ace involuntarily shivered.
The quiet creak of the door shook him out of his thoughts. Ace glanced up and saw Shanks standing in the doorway, framed by the dim glow of the lanterns behind him.
"Well, you look like you are still in one piece," Shanks remarked with a crooked grin as he stepped inside. "Honestly, I half expected to find a corpse the moment I walked in. I swear, I will never understand what goes on inside the minds of you kids. Every last one of you is unbelievably, spectacularly stubborn."
Ace's eyes flicked away, guilt and frustration shadowing his expression. Shanks exhaled deeply through his nose, the sound carrying both weariness and affection.
He had known the four siblings for years. Naru, Ace, Luffy, and Sabo had been wildfires since their childhood. Naru, the eldest, had always been the most inflexible of the bunch. Once she set her mind on something, she became immovable, a force of nature that refused to yield or entertain compromise. And, somehow, every single one of her little brothers had inherited that exact same streak of inflexible determination.
Shanks had used every method available to track Ace's movements. His information network was nowhere near as vast as Naru's, but he had enough connections to stay informed. He had reached out to her to discuss Ace's reckless march toward disaster, expecting her to storm into the situation herself. Instead, she had chosen not to intervene. Her words still echoed clearly in his mind.
"Let him learn. A person cannot walk without stumbling. He needs to fall before he can rise stronger."
She had enough power to crush any enemy her brothers might face, yet she refused to shelter them in that way. She wanted them to grow through pain, mistakes, and consequence. Sometimes growth required allowing someone you loved to run headfirst into a wall so they would finally understand why the wall should not be charged at full speed.
Shanks crossed his arms, his expression softening slightly. "Anyway, I am here to tell you something important. This ship is heading for Uzu."
Ace's head snapped toward him so fast it nearly startled the snail in his hand. His eyes narrowing into a glare sharp enough to cut steel.
"Don't give me that look," Shanks replied, completely unfazed. "Your beloved sister is the one who asked me to haul your sorry ass over to her."
Ace scoffed, clicking his tongue as he turned his head aside with a mix of annoyance and resignation. Even so, Shanks could see the shift in him. No matter how stubborn Ace acted, no matter how fiercely he guarded his pride, the moment Naru's name surfaced, reality always hit him like a punch to the ribs.
Shanks let out another sigh, louder and heavier. "Look, Ace... I am not here to scold you. I am not your father, and I am not your captain, and I am certainly not your babysitter. Whatever demons are clawing around in your chest, only you can face them. As for your temper, though, I will gladly leave that matter to your sister. She can deal with that far better than I ever could, and I am not foolish enough to challenge her when she is angry."
Ace visibly flinched. The mere idea of facing Naru again tightened every muscle in his body. She was going to be furious. Beyond furious. He could already imagine the look in her eyes, a mixture of disappointment, pain, and protective fury that hurt far more than any wound he had suffered today.
He remembered the moment he truly lost control. Blackbeard's mocking voice, the taunts that crawled under his skin, the poisonous whispers that attacked his pride and his birthright. He remembered how his emotions had ignited into wild flames that consumed reason. He had charged in without a plan, without strategy, and without thinking of the lives depending on him.
He had allowed darkness to settle inside his chest. He had embraced a fury that promised power while stripping away everything he valued. For a moment, he had been someone he did not recognize. Remembering that sensation now made his stomach twist painfully. Shame clung to him like chains.
Shanks watched him quietly, taking note of every trembling breath, every tightening of Ace's jaw, every flicker of turmoil behind his eyes. His voice softened. "You do not have to figure everything out right this moment. Take these next few days to rest and to think. Truly think. About who you are, what you want, and what kind of man you intend to be from this moment forward."
He approached the door, resting his hand on the frame before glancing back one last time.
"One thing is certain, Ace. Whatever you do from here on out, you never want a day like this to repeat itself."
With that final reminder, Shanks stepped out of the room. The door closed gently behind him, leaving Ace in the quiet stillness of the infirmary, accompanied only by his thoughts, his guilt, and the low rhythmic crash of waves brushing against the Red Force's hull.
That night, despite the soft sheets, the warmth of the room, and the stillness of the sea, sleep refused to come to him. Guilt churned with fear, shame twisted with regret, and his own thoughts tormented him like a restless storm. Every time he shut his eyes, he felt that same darkness coiling around his heart. He felt the heat of his own flames threatening to swallow him whole.
That night, Ace struggled to fall asleep, and the weight of his choices pressed down on him long after the moon had climbed the sky.