Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This island was full of surprises. On one hand, it demonstrated the beauty of a perfect system. The nobility living their wonderful lives in their palaces, the innocents staying well below them, and the filth begging and starving surrounded by other trash.

On the other hand, it housed this very annoying jungle. A place better suited for the Grandline, filled with monstrous beats and dangerous flora.

It was also the home of a few notable characters. Again, there were two sides. On the good side, it was home to one of the marines most famous heroes, Vice Admiral Garp. The old man wasn’t a follower of his preferred, absolute justice, but he did his job and was competent. He was as good as a non-believer could get.

The ugly face of this island showed itself in being the home of the most despicable man alive; Dragon.

Now, perhaps it wasn’t the man’s birthplace, but that didn’t matter. It was his son’s, after all. That was exactly who they were after. The demon-child of the most wanted man in the world.

That was, if the rumors were true.

Lucci didn’t like unconfirmed missions. Regardless, rumors like this needed a certain discretion. So he and a handful of agents came all the way to East Blue.

This child could not live. By decree of the five elder stars, he was to be captured and later executed. But for now, they wanted him alive. A hostage apparently. His job was to capture him, get as much information out of him as he could, and have the boy serve the government once in his life. The only good use of a dirty devil.

“Sir?” one of his useless subordinates asked.

He gestured for him to continue.

“Would our target be staying in this dangerous forest? According to our intel, he is most likely a child. Shouldn’t we check the city or the village?” he said.

“We will.”

“Is it really wise to use all our resources searching for someone who might not even be here?” Lucci didn’t bother answering before he rammed his finger into the man’s chest.

“Do not question your orders. If there is a chance, however small, that this child lives on this island, we will search every inch and crevice for him. If he is allowed to live and grow stronger in this ‘dangerous forest’, he will be a threat to us soon enough. We are already 14 years too late to exterminate this vermin. I will not tolerate failure. Am I clear?” he asked, once the traitor hit the ground. The answers were resounding ‘yes sirs’ from the rest. Good.

“Let’s go then.”

---

Luffy was confused. Some suit-guys had been running around the forest and terminal for a few days now. He never got too close to them to ask what they were doing, unfortunately. Maybe they lost someone?

His worries were confirmed when he stumbled onto the dead guy in the jungle. They were probably looking for their friend! Poor guy. His wounds - wound, was weird. Like a bullet. Nothing in the jungle could shoot a gun. Maybe they were looking for a criminal! A killer!

Ah, but he didn’t see a killer…

He must have been good at hiding then.

Luffy decided. He was gonna find the guy that did this.

For now, the poor guy deserved a burial.

---

Rob Lucci was the best agent in Cypher Pol number 9. They had already confirmed the boy exists. According to the vermin in the trash dump, the kid usually hung around the mountains. Some said he was staying with bandits; others had heard him mentioning the village. Either way, he existed. Had for over 14 years.

Luffy, is what they called him. Tremendously strong with a freaky power. A devil fruit in East Blue… was it a gift from his father? Regardless, he had to be taken care of. They wouldn’t find him in his home turf. They had been searching for a few days. Clearly, the boy knew how to hide. That day, they were heading towards the mountains. One of the filths knew the location of these so-called bandits he could be with. The Dadan family was well known on the island. With a bounty of 6.000.000 Berri, Curly Dadan had earned herself a reputation in the area. She was the most likely culprit to be willingly hiding someone like this Luffy. Likely for some form of compensation from the revolutionaries.

---

Dadan didn’t know anything. She told him to be careful if there was a killer around, but other than that, she was being her usual grumpy self. He was gonna check Makino’s next. Her bar was popular. If the killer came to Fuusha, he’d go there!

Luffy hoped they hadn't hurt anyone yet.

---

Lucci heard the leaves rustle. Something was moving around the trees. Looking up he saw traces of black and red. It could be their target. If so, then the boy would be rather smart to move using the trees rather than the trails filed with traps and predators.

Whatever it was, it came from the direction of the bandits. If the boy had just left, he was sure to go back there. However, the movement was going towards the village, where they had a better chance of cornering him. They’d have to split up.

“Eight of you will wait around the bandits. If anything suspicious happens, attack. Clear?” He waits for the affirmation before telling them to get a move on. This leaves six agents with him. Together, they moved after the boy.

It was dark out when they finally arrived. Perhaps the boy was smart to use the trees, far too many predators lived on the ground. They looked around the village. People were gathered around a bonfire, singing songs and dancing. They didn’t know what kind of monster was amongst them.

Or rather wasn’t, considering he was nowhere to be found. He’d just have to ask, then. Once they knew of the boy’s demon blood, they should sell him out. If not, then they were nothing but criminals themselves.

Lucci was very good at taking care of criminals.

Chapter Text

Luffy was looking for an old picture. The people of Fuusha were having a barbeque earlier and he joined immediately. Makino talked about how Ace was in the news again! He apparently joined this Whitegrid guy’s crew. Whitefred? White… something. They were talking about that until Makino brought up the fact that she didn’t have any pictures of all of them together… She took a few over the years but none had Sabo on them. Makino was like a second mom to them! She deserved a picture! And, well, Luffy had one. They took it a few days after they became brothers. Dadan had a copy, but this was for the treehouse. Ace hid it after Sabo… well, it was still there; they just couldn't look at it. Not much anyways. Makino could. It deserved to be looked at. Sabo deserved to be remembered, even by those he didn’t know well. Luffy knew his “family” wouldn’t, so it was up to them!

“There it is!” he said, taking the picture out of the box. It was the same box they put in their sakazuki cups after moving out of the treehouse. He stared at it for a while. His smile, Ace’s smirk, Sabo’s sabo-ness...

This was why these things were hidden. They just made him miss his brother. Made him all sad. It felt wrong.

Carefully, he folded the picture and put it in the brim of his hat. It was an old habit. Ace always said he lost stuff too much, so anything important should go in the one thing he wouldn’t lose. Hat. He went back out to find a bunch of guys in suits standing around his treehouse. They must have been the ones looking around! Did they know about their friend? 

He slowly climbed down, noticing how tense they were. Some even had weapons out. “Can I help you?” he asked. Makino said it was a nice way of saying ‘What do you want’ so he thought it was okay. They didn’t, apparently, tensing even more. Had he done it wrong?

“Are you the one they call Luffy?” one of them said. Huh? Who called him that? It was his name yeah, but how did they know that?

“That’s me. Do you need anything?” They didn’t answer. So rude. “You guys have been around for a while… you looking for something?” That got a reaction. Some looked surprised, others scared. They were murmuring some stuff too. Such weirdos.

“Look, I think one of you came across a hunter or something. Found the guy earlier today. He was shot, I think. Was already dead though, so sorry about that.” Maybe they thought he’d hurt that guy. That made sense. Luffy was the only one that was around here, usually. “No clue who killed him though… but, eh, the animals don’t eat dead stuff. Cause there’s a lot of poisonous plants around. So, I dug him a grave.” They were just staring at him! What was up with these guys? “Cool. Anyways, I gotta go. See ya- Ah! “

The guy just shot at him! What the hell?

“What was that for!” He yelled as the bullet was slingshot back. He made sure to aim away from the guy, but it got closer than he’d like. Oops. Oh well, shouldn’t have shot at him.

“What the hell?” One yelled. 

“Devil fruit! Bullets won’t work! Use swords!” Another said, charging at him.

“Whoa! What is your problem?!” He was able to dodge but more came. What the heck?

“For your affiliations with The Revolutionary Dragon, you are hereby under arrest!” One responded.

“Who?”

“Don’t play dumb! We know of your relation with him!” What was up with these people?

Before he could answer, one of the guys was thrown to the side by a club. A bunch of familiar faces ran into the clearing, swords drawn and guns loaded. He saw Magra tackle someone and looked toward an angry looking Dadan.

“Oi, hag! Do you know what these guys’ problem is?” he asked her. She didn’t answer for a while. Luffy was sure she didn’t hear him. He continued fighting.

“Oi-“

“No clue. Some of them attacked the hideout. Said some shit about you so we came to check on you. Good thing too. These bastards are strong. They refuse to stay down, too. I was hoping they were just some black-market fuckers you pissed off. Any chance of that?” she finally said. Luffy thought back a bit. Nope, he hadn’t started anything in a while now. No wonder he was so bored.

He shook his head. “They mentioned this Dragon guy?” Dadan swore. “Dadan? Who is that?” He asked, kicking another guy. He needed to name these people; he couldn’t just call them ‘guys’ all the time.

“They’re probably with the government, then. Shit.” he heard from Dadan as he dodged another slash. “Dragon is your father, Luffy.” His dad? He had a dad? And these guys wanted to… fight him? arrest him for it?

“Okay, what does that have to do with me?” One of the suits hesitated, clearly listening. He seemed confused, looking between him and the bandit. Luffy took the opportunity to knock him out.

“To them, being related to him is enough. They probably want you dead or something. Charge you with his crimes or some shit.” What? He didn’t want to die cause’ he was related to a guy he never met! He was his own man! The future Pirate King!

Is this why Ace didn’t like talking about his dad?

His thinking cost him. One guy - he named him Wart-face - cut him on the leg. It wasn’t deep but it hurt like hell. Wart-face got a sandal in the face for the effort.

He noticed one - Mustache-man - sneak up behind him and punched him in the gut.

“Luffy! I need you to listen to me!” Dadan called out. “Get out of here!” 

What?

“No way! What are you saying, hag?” He called back. As he was turning, he saw one of the bandits fall. He was bleeding. He wasn’t getting up.

“These bastards are too strong! Get out! Leave the island! Find your brother!” That caused a reaction. The suits froze, staring wide-eyed at Dadan. She took the chance to breathe.

“There’s another one?” Mustache-man muttered. Even Wart-face was staring.

“How d’you want me to find him? He set sail Months ago!” he yelled at his foster mom.

“Doesn’t matter. Find him. His crew is known, ask around. Just get out of here. You’ll be safe with him,” she panted out. “And don’t tell them his name. They’ll come for him.”

“But-” Bang!

Time slowed down as the bullet hit Dadan’s shoulder.

“Dadan!”

Chapter Text

Dadan got back up. She had a gaping hole in her shoulder, but she got back up. More people entered the clearing, including the man with the pistol. Luffy stared at them. Four more guys. That made 15. One of them had a pigeon on his shoulder. He looked strong, stronger than the others even. Luffy panted, trying to catch his breath, and looked around. Most bandits were down. He couldn’t see well in the dark, but the ground was darker around them. He could see some still moving, breathing; most weren’t. Some of the suits were dead too, about four. One was still breathing. Ten were standing.

“Sir!” Wart-face yelled. “We have reason to suspect the boy has a brother! From what the Bandit was saying he is most likely older. They said he set out a few months ago!” He was talking to Pigeon-Guy.

“Is that true?” he said calmly, glaring at Dadan. “And where is that brother of his?” Dadan spat in his face. “I see… oh well, the boy will tell us soon enough. We can be very convincing, you see.” She paled at this. Luffy didn’t know what the man meant, but he didn’t want to find out.

He didn’t want to run but he knew that Dadan wouldn’t so long as he was here. He got ready to bolt when Pigeon-guy disappeared. “What-” A hand grabbed him from behind. He tried to turn but was pushed forward, where another one of the new guys was standing. He grabbed at Luffy, trying to get something on his wrist. Luffy squirmed and kicked as much as he could.

“Luffy!” Magra yelled from where he was standing. He rushed toward Luffy, but the others started fighting again. Luffy finally managed to get free when Dadan hit the man holding him with her club. Looking up, Luffy realized it was Pigeon-guy who pushed him. He looked annoyed, now that Luffy was free. Luffy wanted to kick that ass, so he leaned back and took a stance.

Before he could move, Pigeon-Guy did. He jumped towards him, pointing his finger at his chest. Pain shot through Luffy. A sharp and piercing pain. Looking down, he noticed he wasn’t bleeding but he was sure it was bruised.

“What? Blunt attacks shouldn’t work on me!” he yelled.

“Which is why you’re still alive, boy. Our techniques are unique to our organization. The six powers are taught to us since childhood. I just happen to be a master of them. What you just felt was the Finger Pistol. Since it didn’t pierce you, I’m guessing regular bullets don’t work either, huh?” He spoke.

“Finger Pistol? What kinda freaks are you?” Luffy screamed back.

He saw Dadan get ready for another attack with her club, but when the blow hit, the bastard barely flinched.

“Iron Body,” he murmured. “Another of the six powers. Hitting me is like punching an iron wall. Let me demonstrate another ability, Tempest Kick!” Kicking out his leg, Luffy could feel the wind shifting. It hit both Dadan and him as she moved towards Luffy. The wind cut like a blade though his shoulder and Dadan’s side. They both went down, bleeding hard. He could hear his foster parent wheezing, and looking at her, he could tell it hit her lungs.

Luffy attacked before he realized he had moved. There was no way in hell he was gonna let this bastard kill his family!

The man was fast. He dodged Luffy’s punches like nothing. Even his gatling didn’t work!

As he pulled back, he saw Dadan also attacking. The ass dodged that too, kicking her into a tree.

“Dadan!” he yelled.

“It seems I will have to take more drastic measures.” He then turned to Luffy and kicked again. He tried to dodge, but pain exploded in him. Looking down he saw a deep cut going straight through his torso. It was on his stomach. Right where his ribs stopped. It was deep but Luffy knew it could be deeper.

Dadan screamed and cried as he hit the floor. Luffy tried to get up, but he couldn’t feel his arms through the pain. He saw the guy turning toward her and preparing yet another kick. Luffy knew this one would be more powerful. He could see her chest being torn apart. Luffy screamed as she fell back towards the tree.

It was their tree.

He felt something clamp around his wrist and saw Wart-face crouching there. He felt weak. He couldn’t move. It was like he was drowning. His stomach hurt with every breath he did manage, his shoulder burned. Wart-face shackled his other hand as well, pulling it behind him and stretching his wound.

Looking towards Dadan, he met her eyes. She was crying. 

“ Luu-” She Wheezed.   “I-I’m… sss-ry,” she got out before her eyes glazed over and her chest stopped moving.

Luffy was frozen. He could kinda feel his body moving but it wasn’t him that did it. He realized he was being picked up. Wart-Face dropped him over his shoulder like a sack of flour before he moved away. Luffy wanted to scream, yell and kick at him but his body wouldn’t move.

He couldn’t look away from his mother. Lying there in a pool of what could only be blood.

He failed. He couldn’t protect her.

“Stop, please!” What? Turning, he saw Makino running towards them. She was dirty, covered in dust or soot. Black smudges covering her form. She had scratches on her arms and what looked like burns on her legs, some scorching away at her long skirt. She had tears in her eyes. “Stop, please!” she sobbed again. “He’s just a child! He has done nothing wrong! None of us have! How dare you hurt our village like that!”

“Ma-” What did they do? Did they hurt the village? They hurt Makino. What did those bastards do to his friends? Angry, he glared at the man who looked at Makino as if she was a gross bug he stepped on. How dare he?

“What did you do? What did you do to them?” he asked. The man turned to him. His disgusted look didn’t change.

“Same I do to all criminals. Exterminate. Justice wills it so.” Justice? Criminals?

“They weren’t criminals! They were just villagers!” he yelled. He ignored the part of his brain that wanted to look towards Dadan, just out of sight behind a few trees.

“They were hiding a known criminal. Allying with a demon. They were accomplices.” A demon? What is he talking about?

“We were protecting a child! No child deserves to bear his father’s sins. You can’t blame him for what Dragon did!” Dragon? His dad? They died… because they were helping Luffy?

“So, you confess to knowing he is the child of a Devil. You will perish here tonight. Justice will prevail.” Makino… He can’t kill her. That’s…

“That’s not fair!” he yelled. “She didn’t do anything wrong! You’re the one going around killing people! How is she the criminal? How am I the criminal?” He was getting close to tears. But he wouldn’t cry. Not in front of this ass.

“Fair? Justice isn’t fair. It is absolute! Justice tells that any who willingly associates with a criminal is guilty of their crimes. They shall face the rightful punishment ordered by the gods. The Celestial Dragons have willed your death, the Five Elders have ordered your capture and execution! In fact, I am starting to see how infected this Island truly is!” he said, pulling out a golden snail. “By the power invested in me by the rulers of this world, I shall have this Island purged!” He pressed the button on the snail.

“What?” Luffy asked.

“The Buster Call. The marine’s greatest weapon! Twelve warships, twelve vice Admirals. One target. Come sunrise, Dawn Island will be no more!” Luffy felt chills running down his spine. No more Dawn? He’s gonna kill everyone? Because… because of him?

Luffy heard a loud boom, he could smell smoke. He heard the suits talk but didn’t listen. He didn’t care about that. Makino wasn’t moving. She was frozen.

He was too weak. Just like with Sabo.

This time a lot more people would be dying. Even more than at the fire seven years ago.

Because of him.

Pain exploded in his gut again when Wart-face adjusted his grip on him.

He had to say something. Makino was right there. She could still be saved.

“Ma-” he tried before coughing, the pain in his shoulder and chest fairing up again.

“Oh?” the bastard hummed. “Ma? So, this is the wench that procreated with a demon, then?” He grinned. “May you reunite with him in hell.”

“No!” Luffy tried. But he couldn’t move. Not her too, please!

Faster than his eyes could follow, he stood over her. Finger wrenched into her chest. She gasped out a weak breath before he pulled back. She fell and didn’t get up again.

It wasn’t like any death he’d seen before. There was no desperate fighting. No groans and cries, signaling sickness. No peaceful slumber.

She just dropped.

As if she had never been there.

As if she hadn’t mattered.

They began running. Instinctively, he reached out towards her but the pain the movement caused in his shoulder was enough to make his vision go dark. He started kicking and screaming but he couldn’t move much. He tried ignoring the pain, the tiredness, but he just didn’t have the strength. The ass carrying jumped over some roots and the impact almost made him pass out.

When they broke out of the treeline, he saw smoke. He thought they were going towards the coast. Everything hurt. Why was there so much smoke?

They reached the cliffs.

Luffy looked towards Fuusha.

He screamed.

The last thing Monkey D. Luffy saw before passing out was his home burning, flames devouring everything they touched. More canons rang. More fire spread.

He hit the earth hard and gave in to sleep.

Chapter Text

Rob Lucci was annoyed. The Brat was more trouble than expected. Things were going well. They only lost four men in the fight. One was injured. The kid seemed frozen in shock for most of the trip. The interference of that wench was but a minor setback. It was satisfying when the little devil screamed at the sight of the flames.

The Buster Call was a beautiful spectacle to observe.

Lucci wanted to enjoy it.

Instead, he was overtaken by something he hasn’t felt in a long time.

Fear.

It was the boy. He was still kicking and screaming but something had changed. He could feel it in his very bones. The look in the child’s eyes was manic, filled with fear and panic and just a hint of anger coming through the rest. Lucci knew what was happening- had felt it before on men and monsters alike.

The boy was commanding him to stop. He didn’t use his words like an actual king would, the boy was practically feral, but Lucci knew what he wanted regardless. Lucci associated this power with beings larger than life. Nothing like this brat. This child had no right to own a king's will. But alas, it almost drove him to his knees.

He was disgusted. He will make sure to request more training once this was over. For a servant of justice to almost bow before a demon…

Disgraceful.

The rest of the group were all weak-willed cowards. They dropped like puppets whose strings were cut.

He sighed as he picked up the target, it seemed unconscious, and started making his way back to his ship.

Let those useless tools burn with the rest of them.

---

It was dark and cold. He was still in pain, but he could tell his wounds were bandaged. Luffy was laying on the floor, it was cold and hard. Luffy thinks hard about how he got there. He remembers the barbeque; he went to the tree house. There were people there.

Makino

She stopped breathing. She died.

“Come sunrise, Dawn Island will be no more!”

They- they were all dead.

Dadan, the mayor, Magra, Dogra, the fisher, the baker… everyone at the terminal… Did they kill the nobles in High Town?

Suddenly Luffy didn’t care that they were suck up jerks. He didn’t care that they were some of the worst people he knew.

They didn’t deserve to die…

Right?

He tried to sit up, but his hands were cuffed behind his back. Sitting up without them hurt his stomach, but he managed to get up and lean on the wall. It was just as cold as the floor. Luffy looked around. There wasn’t much in the room. Half of it was wood, the other stone. The halves were separated by metal bars.

He was in a cell.

His shirt was off. He was wearing nothing but his shorts. Bandages were covering his torso. He was barefooted. Panicking, he tried feeling around and found his hat by his right. He relaxed again. If he died, he was going down with his promise intact.

At least that promise.

…I want to be stronger…

He brought up his knees as best as he could. He didn’t like remembering that time of his life.

… I want to be stronger…

He leaned forward, resting his head on his knees.

…more… more…. more …. more … more strong…

He could feel the tears gathering in his eyes.

… then I can protect anything and anybody… I don’t wanna lose anyone…

He was crying. He’s usually so loud when crying but his voice failed him now. He wanted to scream.

Listen Luffy… I will never die!

He wanted his brother.

…Sabo lived without ever gaining his freedom…

He wanted his brothers.

Listen up Luffy! We will definitely live life without regrets!

How can he do that? How can he not regret this? They were gone and it’s all his fault!

I’m sorry Ace… I think I broke that promise…

Luffy wanted his mom. He wanted Dadan. He wanted Makino. He wanted Sabo. But he knew that was impossible. Ace was out there. He probably didn’t even know Luffy was in danger. He wouldn’t come save him, couldn’t, and Luffy was still too weak…

All of this, because he was born? Because of his father? But he didn’t even know this Dragon guy.

The only dad he knew was…

He really missed Shanks right now…

---

“Can you repeat that Fleet Admiral? I think my old age is getting to me,” he said to his old friend.

“Per orders of the Five Elders and advisory of CP9, a Buster Call was issued against Dawn Island to ensure the capture of Monkey D. Luffy, the son of the Revolutionary Dragon,” the man said. He was cold and closed off like he was whenever he had to report something he didn’t like. He acted that way when the news about Roci came too. His own son died. Yet, he makes it sound like any other report.

It almost makes it sound like he didn’t just tell Garp that his home was destroyed, and his friends were dead. It almost makes it sound like he wasn’t talking about his grandson as if he were some highly dangerous Pirate. As if the boy wasn’t fourteen, running around the mountains and forests of Dawn Island.

But he isn’t, his mind provided unhelpfully. He is rotting in a cell. Most likely hurt and scared.

Garp had to restrain himself from breaking his superior’s desk. Lashing out wasn't going to help anyone, least of all Luffy. It would’ve just put him under even stricter observation than he probably was right now.

“Is there anything else you need, sir?” Garp couldn’t remember the last time he called Sengoku ‘sir’. The way the man twitched was proof of that.

“…No. That is all.” He dismissed him. Garp turned around and walked away as calmly as he could. “Garp? Don’t do anything stupid.” Garp didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. He wasn’t going to.

He walked out and went to his office. He didn’t stay long, only grabbing his Den-Den and walking back out. He took a few rounds around the training grounds to make sure he wasn’t followed then proceeded towards the harbor. He thought about stealing a ship but decided he couldn’t handle it alone. He found a random crew and had them set sail on “orders” from the fleet admiral. Most sailors didn’t question Garp. He knew this whole thing was under tight wraps and he was going to use that fact for his advantage.

Sailors knew of him. If he claimed something confidential, it was not questioned.

Once he was out of the Gates of Justice, he settled into the captain’s cabin and dialed his snail. This was the one he used for work. Untappable. He dialed the first number and waited for a response.

Clack! “Hello?” the gruff voice answered. That was one of two people he planned on calling. Right now, he needed information, and this was his best bet.

“Son? It’s me. We need to talk.” He was committing treason, yes, but he wasn’t going against orders.

Saving his family wasn’t stupid, after all.

---

“What is his name?” He asked.

“…”

“You said he set sail, where did he go?”

“…”

“Tell me where he is,” he insisted.

“Eat shit!” he responded.

“What is your brother's name? Where is he?”

“Go to hell! They’ll tell you!” Luffy has decided to embrace everything he’s ever learned from Ace. And if there’s anything Ace is good at, it’s insults.

“You will tell us, boy.” Pigeon-fucker said.

“I’m not gonna tell you fuckers shit. Am I clear, goat face?” That one actually got a reaction. Ace would be proud.

This had been going on for a while now. Every day for a few hours, the shitbag came down to his cell and asked him questions. Usually in combination with beatings. Luffy knew there was a word for it, but he couldn’t think of it at the time.

Truth was, he felt miserable. The ass liked aiming for his stomach that still very much hurt and usually ripped a stitch every time. He also broke a few of his fingers, or at least Luffy thought he did. Luffy never had a broken bone, rubber doesn't break, but whatever these bastards did to him, made him normal. He couldn’t stretch and regular punches hurt. Now, he felt like he owed Ace an apology for teasing him when he cried after his brother broke an arm once. That shit hurt. He was covered in bruises, cuts, burns…

He didn’t care. He had yet to answer a question. Luffy wasn’t kidding, being alone hurt more than being tortured. Torture! That’s the word! Anyways, they couldn’t hurt Ace if they didn’t know about him. Luffy’s list of family and friends was getting shorter. The less they knew, the better.

He ignored another round of questions and focused on the important things. On the memories of his brothers, his family. He imagined the clear blue of the horizon, smelled the waft of ocean air that came through the door because the idiot didn’t close it. He couldn’t run, he knew. He was on a ship without any way off. But it was still dumb to leave it open. If he focused hard enough, he could even see some sunlight peek through the dark.

“You know, it won’t matter in the long run… Justice always prevails. We will find him- you telling us only makes this easier, for both of us.” Was that supposed to convince him?

“You want my brother?” he asked. He could see the interest in the fucker’s eyes. He leaned closer. “Work for it, bitch.” He spat in his face. This earned him a punch to the face, but he felt it was worth it.

Pigeon guy turned around and walked away. His stupid pigeon following. “Yeah, fuck off! You and your down feathered cumbubble!” he yelled after them. Some other guy came in and dragged Luffy back to his corner.

“Why are you making this harder for yourself?” the guard said. Luffy never heard him talk. The guy sounded genuinely curious.

“You’re not taking him from me. I’d rather be burned alive than be alone,” he told him honestly.

“But you are alone. None of this is public. Neither your father nor your brother knows about any of this. No one will come. You will be jailed and executed. You will die alone.” That… hurt. Luffy didn’t want to die. Not like this. But it was not death that scared him.

“That’s where you’re wrong. So long as he is out there, he is with me. We took an oath to always be there for each other. It doesn’t matter where we are, what we do or for whom we work for. We are brothers. That’s not gonna change. Knowing that is enough for me.” The guard looked weirdly at him but didn’t ask further. He locked the door and left.

Luffy just curled up again.

He tried not to cry. He was imitating Ace.

Ace didn’t cry.

Chapter Text

Luffy heard cannons. For once, they were still there after he woke up. Whatever was going on was real. Another blast. Just like in his dream. Would this one also kill someone? Would it be someone he cared about? Did they have a family?

Bang!

Luffy flinched at the sound. They only came from one side. Whatever they were shooting didn’t go down easily. He tried to go back to sleep, but his nightmare came back to his mind. He saw a cannon sinking Ace’s ship. They went right through his brother, leaving a gaping hole in the middle.

Were they shooting at his brother?

Luffy had to remind himself that he didn’t tell them about Ace. That, just like with Bluejam, he kept his mouth shut. Ace was safe. He stayed quiet every day. Luffy didn’t actually know how long he’s been here. But he thought it’s been maybe a week.

An explosion rocked the ship.

Whatever they were shooting, it fought back. With every canon they fired, another blast went off. As if they were shooting at themselves.

Or the opponent was throwing them back at them.

Didn’t gramps do that a lot?

But his grandfather wouldn’t attack this ship. He was a marine. There’s no way he’d fight his own people… right?

Luffy tried not to think about gramps. He knew that if Luffy would’ve become a pirate, his grandfather wouldn’t put family over duty. He’d warned him about that. Luffy knew he cared about his family, but the marines were his life. Luffy wasn’t mad at him about that.

That is, if he’d gotten the chance to become a pirate. Somehow knowing gramps would put duty first hurt more now. He didn’t want this! He didn’t make the choice of being his enemy. Not like his dad apparently did.

But it was okay. This way he knew at least gramps was safe.

Crash!

The door to the little room his cell was in blew open.

Luffy coughed at the dust that the crash blew his way. He was in bad shape. They barely gave him enough food and water for a normal person. Luffy ate more than normal. He was practically a skeleton! And his vision was kinda blurry. He’d also been really hot for a few days. Not the good hot you get from a sunny day, but the kind of hot that made you feel cold. 

Looking up, he saw a large man in front of his cell.

“Oh Luffy…” he heard the man say. He knew that voice. Why did he know that voice? When he finally managed to stop coughing, he looked up again to see a head of gray hair with a grim face. He must’ve been dreaming after all. Grandpa said he didn’t help criminals.

“No, Luffy. I don’t. But you are no criminal,” he spoke. Oh. Did I say that out loud? “You’ve done nothing wrong. Being born is not a crime!” he continued, before ripping the bars from the wall. He walked up to Luffy and picked him up.

“You have a fever,” he commented. “Lots of injuries too… Luffy, can you tell me something?” Luffy’s not supposed to answer questions. What if this was a trick? If this man was an impostor? “Did they hurt you?” Huh? What kinda question is that? “Did they… did they torture you?” Luffy considered answering. They couldn’t get to Ace with that.

“Yes?” he said carefully. The man who looked like his grandfather frowned at that. He had a dangerous look in his eyes that made him flinch. The man noticed and relaxed a bit. He looked sad now.

“Did you tell them anything?” Luffy was offended. Of course, he didn’t! He told the man that. “Good. Then Ace is safe.” Ace. How did he know Ace's name? Was this really gramps?

“Grampa?” he tried. They were walking somewhere but Luffy didn’t actually know anything about the ship, so he had no idea where they were going.

“Yes?” he said in the tone Grandpa would use when they talked about Sabo. It’s sad and careful and so gramps, he couldn’t help the tears in his eyes. His grandfather didn’t stop walking, but he did wipe his cheeks dry.

“Are they really gone?” he asked then.

“I’m sorry Luffy. I’m so sorry.” Gramps was crying too.

Luffy realized then, not for the first time, that this was real. His home- his family. They were gone. This wasn’t a nightmare. He was arrested and tortured. Ace was in danger of the same fate. Maybe worse if they knew about his dad. He hadn’t taken Ace seriously when he tried to explain why his dad had to be kept so secret. He did now. Luffy cried on his saviors’ shoulders. Because that had to be why he was there. Grampa said Luffy did nothing wrong, that he wasn’t a criminal. So, gramps wanted to help.

“Luffy, I need you to listen to me.”

“Huh?”

“Listen and listen well. I can only tell you this once, clear?” Luffy nodded and focused as best as he could. “We don’t have a lot of time until they wake up again. I’m bringing you to a boat. On it is an Eternal Pose. It’s- it looks like an hourglass with a needle in it. I need you to follow that. You still remember what I taught you about sailing?” Luffy remembered gramps trying to teach him and Ace how to steer a small boat, so he nodded again. “Good. Follow the needle. There’s food in the bag over there. There’s also a notebook. Ignore the beginning, it's an old log I stole from the ship I dumped on the way. Go to the nearest island. I told your father what happened. In the logbook there’s a symbol. Looks like a dragon. If you see someone with that symbol, you can approach them. Ask them the question written in the log. If they give the right answer, they’re safe.” His dad? He knew? He wanted to help Luffy?

“You can also trust anyone you know. Ace, Shanks, his crew… don’t tell anyone else what you’re running from. Never tell them why. Don’t tell anyone, who you know and trust. They’ll use it against you. Can I trust you to do that?” Luffy nodded again. But there was something he didn’t like about this.

“You aren’t coming with me?” Was he going back to the marines? The ones that killed his friends?

“I’ll be right behind you. I… I have to… make sure you aren’t followed!” Grampa sucked at lying. Luffy felt tears again. Was he really going back? Act like nothing happened? Or worse, did he think he wouldn’t get out of here? But gramps was super strong! Luffy started squirming, but he couldn’t fight his guardian’s grip on a good day, it was hopeless now. Garp obviously noticed his struggling. He jumped over the railing into a small boat. Luffy hadn’t even realized they were outside.

Garp took one more good look at his grandson, focusing on his hands. They were still bound. The man took both hands in his. It was awkward considering the chains connected behind his back. There was a tug and a clang, and the chains broke.

Luffy stared at his hands. Without the chains, the cuffs looked like bracelets clinging tightly to his wrists, and digging into his skin. The older man reached out again to take them off too, but a shot ran out before he could. He pushed Luffy out of the way as more shots rang.

“I’m sorry Luffy. This will have to do. I got to get back up there. I’ll bring you the keys when we meet again, alright?” Another lie. Luffy didn’t like lies. He didn’t want to lose more family. If grampa died too… it’d just be him and Ace. He’d be out there… alone. He didn’t want this. He tried to stop the man, but his throat closed up on him. He couldn’t breathe. He watched in fear as the only blood relative he ever knew, the man who raised him as best as he could, who made sure he always had someone, the one who introduced him to his brother, pushed away his boat before jumping back on the ship he lost everything to.

He stared as his grandfather looked back one last time before squaring his shoulders and walking out of his sight.

By the time Luffy felt he could breathe again, the currents had carried him out of sight.

He was alone.

Luffy screamed.

Chapter Text

Dragon wasn’t sure what to expect when his father’s den-den rang. The old man liked to call him from time to time with relevant updates about his son. Or to yell at him whenever he and his men caused him extra paperwork, but that last kind became less and less as his men learned not to mess with the Vice-Admiral; Not because they knew who he was, but more because they realized Dragon tended to get rather annoyed whenever they did. There was even one notable instance when his father left his snail unattended on a home visit.

“Hello, this is Monkey D. Luffy, the man who’s gonna be the pirate king!” Dragon had frozen when he heard his son’s voice for the first time. By the time he felt able to breathe again, his Father had ripped the snail out of his boy’s hand with a loud reprimand and a muttered, “ignore that, brat,” before the man hung up. Dragon had been kept busy with other things after the call, so it was only when he went to sleep that night that he realized what Luffy had said. Pride and amusement had filled his heart at the thought. It was a good goal for his boy. Granted, Dragon would have been proud even if Luffy had decided to become a farmer, but Pirate King had a nice ring to it. He didn’t sleep much that night, his chest filled with an overwhelming feeling of excitement, so he simply ended up doing more work.

Sadly, this call wasn’t such a happy memory for him.

“Son? It’s me. We need to talk,” his father said, almost interrupting his own greeting. Dragon couldn’t remember the last time Garp called him son. It was always “brat” or “you damn criminal” or even his name on those rare occasions Garp was certain they were alone. Even the letters he wrote to him were always addressed to “the dear pain in my ass”. Dragon was certain he hadn't been called son since the fight they had after Roger's execution. 

Needless to say, Dragon was tense. 

It didn’t get better when his father continued talking. He told a tale that sounded too familiar to his liking. A child, CP9, a Buster-call. At first, he was convinced he was retelling the story of Nico Robin with new characters, but no- this was about Luffy. His son. That little boy he held in his arms before handing him off to the very man who was telling him that horror story, all with the hope that he’d be safe. That little boy that was now being held captive by his enemies. Because of him-

“Dragon? Are you there?” his dad asked. Right, he had to focus, he could feel later, when his son wasn't in mortal danger- 

“I’m here”, he finally choked out. “What are their last known whereabouts?”

“Last I heard, they re-entered the Grand Line, but they're using our fastest model and making no stops, so it's hard to say where they are now.” It wasn't, actually. So long as they knew the entry point, Dragon’s men could calculate their exact location. Neither of them had the mind to remember that, nor the information needed. “I have a bunch of eternal poses here, I can pass him one-”

“What? Have you been sent as an escort?” The Five Elders weren’t that stupid, right?

“No. I took a ship. Wasn’t even supposed to leave base. I’m going to intercept them and bust him out.”

“Are you mad? You could be killed for that!”

“Worth it." He could see the toothy grin the snail wore and he instinctively shivered. “Don’t forget that this is my grandson we’re talking about. So which one of these logs should I take?”

“Dad-”

“Which. One.”

Dragon took a deep breath, fighting off his panic. “Something close to Enies Lobby. We don't know where you can pick them off, this way we can plan accordingly. Plus, if you pick an Island with a sea train, we have more chances to quickly move my men around, as well as several black markets and contacts.”

“I Have Water Seven.”

“That works," he breathed out. “I can have men at the surrounding Islands as well as the seas around the area, but that’s very noticeable. It’ll be obvious what we’re trying to do.”

“Call the other brat,” Garp responded after a few seconds.

“Ace?”

"No!" Dragon startled at the outburst. “Absolutely not! We can’t have him on their radar as well!”

Dragon frowned at that. “I had my theories about the boy's parenthood… Am I right in assuming his age not matching up is on purpose?”

“Thank his mother for that. Rouge was something else…” Rouge. He knew that name. That man had mentioned her on the few occasions they had met. “I meant the other other brat. The red one.” He really had to come up with better nicknames…

“Shanks?” he guessed.

“That’s the one!”

“Alright, I think we have a contact for his crew somewhere…”

“Good, call me back when you have him on the line. I need to ditch this random crew I commandeered.” Garp hung up before he could respond, leaving him alone in the silence of his office.

Dragon took a deep breath to consider his options. He needed three teams: one on Water Seven, one on the surrounding islands (just in case), as well as one in the surrounding seas; and he needed them quickly. Karasu was in the area. He was looking into some of the reports they received about Alabasta. Apparently there was some tension after the country’s rainy season wasn’t as fruitful as it should’ve been. 

Karasu was capable of being in multiple places at once and his team had some of the best komm-systems in his army. He’d be a good choice to cover the surrounding Islands. Dragon himself was most efficient on the seas, so he’d lead that area. Normally, He’d have his chief of staff lead searches like this, however, that wasn’t possible, seeing as Iva was taking an “open-ended vacation” (Iva’s words, not his) in Impel Down. For a while, Kuma had taken over those duties but he was currently under-cover as one of the Seven Warlords. None of his other commanders was in the area, so perhaps it was time to finally decide on a new chief of staff. 

He already had a candidate in mind. He had thought about it for a while now. Dragon knew that there would be many opposed to the idea. After all, the boy he had in mind was rather young and -compared to others- inexperienced. Plus, there were many with questions concerning the boy’s background. Still, he had led many missions before, with great results. Dragon saw how devoted he was to the cause and how hard he trained and studied to take part in it.

For now, he’d have him lead the search in Water Seven. After all, even if he didn’t remember his life there, the Goa Kingdom was still his home, once. He’d want a part in this.

Chapter Text

Luffy’s throat was sore. He had been screaming and crying for hours. It was light out now. Just as he expected, no one followed. He had no idea where he was. There was nothing but water around him. Normally, he’d be excited! He loved the ocean. This should’ve filled him with joy and freedom. Instead, he just felt lost and alone. He felt like crying again.

“Stop that” he told himself. “You need to get to that Island. Crying won’t do that.” He crawled over to the bag grandpa left for him. He found some water and food. It wasn’t much for his standards, but it was enough to last a bit. He took a sip of water and considered the food. His stomach was completely empty. He was little more than skin and bones after so long with little to no food. His head hurt and his body felt icky with heat. 

The thought of eating only made him sick.

No, he didn’t feel like eating. He was actually closer to puking.

But gramps gave him that food. He wanted Luffy to live. To be free. Gramps, who was so against him being a pirate, told him to find his dad (who was a criminal apparently), to be safe. Gramps would be sad if Luffy didn’t eat.

He took a piece of bread and nibbled on it. It was the slowest he ate in, well, ever. Luffy didn’t have the energy to speed up though.

He looked at the bag and noticed the book. The first few pages were random marine stuff. After a while he found the page his grandfather mentioned. He saw the drawing of a weird looking dragon between an ‘R’ and an ‘A’. Under it, it said, ‘Can you tell me the way to an inn?’ and ‘I can show you, if you’d like’ Luffy guessed this was what he’s supposed to ask the people with the symbol, and what they should answer. Luffy didn’t really get why he couldn’t just go with them if they had the symbol?

“don’t tell anyone else what you’re running from. Never tell them why. Definitely don’t tell anyone who you know and trust. They’ll use it against you.”

That was what grandpa said… would the bad guys lie and pretend to be friends?

Luffy put the small book in his pocket and went back to looking through the bag. He found the compass-thingy. The needle wasn’t pointing to the front. He should change that, right?

The boat had a little sail, so he tried adjusting it. It was harder than he thought. The last time he steered a boat, he was ten. Also, he had help. Ace was with him. So by the time he got it right, it was almost midday. But the needle was pointing straight ahead!

He leaned back against the railing and stared at the needle. All he had to do was follow it… just keep an eye on it…  just…

---

It was the sound of birds that woke him up that time. Opening his eyes, he saw a flock of seagulls near his bag carrying bits of meat and bread in their beaks. They were stealing his food! He chased them off as best as he could, getting plenty of angry pecks for his efforts. They got away with quite a bit...

He felt a little better now. He was still hot and clammy, but he didn’t feel like puking anymore. The world stopped spinning as much every time he moved, and he didn’t feel like every move reopened an injury. Then again, he wasn’t a doctor. He didn’t know how healing really worked, but the little food he ate must’ve helped. Food was supposed to make him feel better.

Looking around he saw something on the horizon. An island! He lunged for the compass-thingy and stared. It wasn’t pointing at the island… staring at the thing, he shook it once to make sure the needle wasn’t stuck and tried again. Still no luck. It was then that he noticed the metal plate on the thing.

“Water… T? ah, no. That's a 7. Water 7? What kind of place is that? Sounds like a waterpark...” Luffy’s never been to a waterpark, but it sounded right. He shouldn’t go against gramps’ orders, but the damn birds stole some of his food, would he even make it there? It was better to make a pit-stop than to starve, right?

Luffy decided and steered towards the landmass he saw.

---

He reached a small beach at sunset. He could see lights in the distance so there must be a town nearby. He got up on shaky legs, grabbed his pack, and made his way there. When he reached the first house, he remembered that he was supposed to be hiding! What if the bad guys spotted him? He couldn’t fight right now! He hid in an alley and looked around. The houses were big. Lots of statues and archways. It wasn’t as shiny and clean as High Town was, but still looked fairly clean. Some houses looked really old, like in the stories Sabo would tell him about princesses in towers. Only the towers in those stories were pointy. These ones were flatter. They’d probably be cool for stargazing. Or a nap in the sun.

It was then that he spotted what he needed. A clothes shop! Ah, but he didn’t have any money…

“Hmmmm what to do what to do…” He couldn’t even stretch with these stupid ocean cuffs! They made him feel all heavy as if he was walking through neck-deep water! “How did Ace and Sabo do this? Sneaky…” Slowly, he made his way towards the stand. It had some racks outside and wasn’t that dumb? Anyone could just walk by and take stuff! Like he was about to.

People were so stupid sometimes…

When he got closer, he saw a large red sweater and started to run as best as he could. He bumped into the rack, crashing it and grabbed the sweater. He yelled out a ‘Sorry!’ to the vendor that was trying to make his way to them and bolted to the next alley. He ran for a while until he was sure no one had followed him.

Stopping in an alley, he tried to catch his breath. He was feeling hot again. And dizzy. Maybe running wasn’t a smart idea…

When he could finally stand without leaning on the wall, he looked at his prize. A red sweater. It was huge. When he put it on, he was practically swimming in it. Like putting on one of grampa’s shirts. But it hid his bandages and torn-up shorts. It also hid his beloved hat. He didn’t like hiding it, but he remembered that the people in the terminal often recognized him because of it. Those asssholes on the ship knew his hat and he definitely wasn’t going back to that ship!

He went out to the main roads and looked around. It didn't matter how it made him feel, he still needed food. And water. And maybe a place to sleep in, but he could make-do with his boat. Food and water were the important bits. And maybe sandals. 

Only, he didn’t have money. Dining-and-dash was fun, but feeling as stuffy as he did, he couldn’t really run…

Well, standing there wasn't gonna solve anything. He'll find something.

Chapter Text

Something was up with their resident firecracker. He’d been weirdly tense for a few weeks. It was like watching a rubber band slowly being stretched. He knew it was going to snap, just not when it’d happen.

If there was anything Thatch learned during the legendary ‘Ace vs Pops’ days, it would be the fact that Ace was great at snapping. 

Just as he finished the thought, he heard yelling coming from the galley. Rushing out of the kitchen, he saw exactly what he feared: Ace snapping at some poor sod from Marco's division. He was really going at it, too. Thatch wasn’t really listening but the poor guy seemed close to tears . 

“What’s up with him?” Haruta asked, approaching him.

“No idea. He’s been like that for weeks now,” he responded.

“You gonna do something about it?” his fellow commander asked.

“Me? Ask Marco. I don’t want to get grilled.”

“Literally or figuratively?” Thatch thought about it for a second, still watching Ace verbally tear into the guy while flicks of flame licked at his shoulders.

“Both,” he settled on, “Especially considering he sucks at grilling using his fruit.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. He can grill fine normally. But using his fruit makes him impatient.”

“What a weird guy…” Haruta chuckled.

“He may be weird, but he’s still our brother. Come on, let’s go find Marco,” he finished, walking off. He didn’t have time to check if Haruta was following.

Rushing up to the deck, he spotted Marco sitting on Pops’ shoulder like the fancy parrot he was. “Marco, have you talked to Ace recently?” he called out once he reached the guy, catching his attention. Pops seemed interested as well. Not all that surprising, considering he liked the flame-brain.

“No, why?”

“He seems strung up. Has been snappy too,” he told his brother.

“Yeah, he just yelled at John for- I actually don't know what he yelled at him for - but still! That’s not normal!” Haruta chimed in.

“What the hell, yoi?” Marco looked around deck, trying to spot Ace. “I’m gonna check it out. Talk to you later.”

“Thanks, they were in the galley just now, don’t know if they still are,” Thatch informed him.

“Alright, thanks.”

---

Marco didn’t know if Thatch and Haruta were exaggerating but if they weren’t, it was very bad news. Marco thought Ace had integrated himself pretty well over the last few months, but if he’d gone back to snapping at everyone…

He found John who was, indeed, crying. What the hell?

“You okay there, buddy?” Marco was a pirate, not a babysitter. Granted, as first division commander, his brothers liked to joke that he was, but he really wasn't. He couldn’t deal with crying. Especially not big, scary pirates crying!

“A-Ace hates me!” he sobbed out.

“Why do you think he hates you?” How did he get in this situation again? He was the right hand of the strongest man in the world! Why did it feel like he was running a daycare for volatile toddlers?

“I asked if he’s o-okay cause he looked mad and- and he just yelled at me! I didn’t even say anything but every time I tried to; he’d start yelling again! He hit me right in my insecurities too! Hell, I didn’t even know I was insecure about my hair! Does it really look like someone mopped up a pile of donkey shit?” What? Marco was a blunt person, sure, and John wasn’t exactly an Adonis, but who even thought of that? What did that even look like?

“No, John, your hair is fine,” he finally said. “Did you see where Ace went? I wanna see what made him lash out like that.”

“Went up, I think,” he sniffled.

“Thanks. Talk to Izou about those insecurities, he’s good with that stuff.” He waited for a nod before heading back up towards the deck. It wasn't hard to find him then, considering the two-dozen wide-eyed pirates staring at him before pointing up the main mast. Cowards, all of them, yoi.

Marco let his wings carry him up and found the troublemaker in the highest crows-nest on the main mast. Cautiously, he landed next to the teen.

“Can you tell John I’m sorry?” Ace said quietly after a few seconds. He was sitting against the railing curled up with his head between his legs. He looked miserable.

“Will do,” he answered. Ace apologizing was a good sign. At least it didn’t mean he was unhappy with the crew. “Wanna tell me what’s up?”

The teen sighed before looking up at Marco. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know what’s bothering you?”

“No. The fact that I don’t know what’s wrong, that’s what’s bothering me.”

“Explain.”

“I have this feeling that something’s wrong. Something's happening that I should know about, I just… don’t know what,” he explained, as if that made sense.

“…Are you getting sick?” he tried.

“No.”

“Is it the weather?”

“ No .” Ace was tapping his leg now.

“Is this something on the ship?” he finally asked. None of the Haki users mentioned anything but some people had better instincts than others.

“NO! I checked everything! Every nook and cranny! No one snuck onboard, no one is acting strange -stranger, sorry- no one is following us, and the water and weather are clear. Same for all of the others in the fleet and our allies! Nothing is happening and that just makes it so much scarier because I don’t know what to do!” 

Did Ace just say he was scared? His surprise must have shown because he continued. 

“Yes, fine. I’m scared. I’m fucking terrified because if whatever is happening isn’t happening here !” He stopped. He was breathing heavily, and Marco was so out of his league. He could deal with anger; he was a pirate . But fear? In someone who tried to jump into a volcano because he was curious if he would burn? He had to drag him and Thatch down that mountain! 

And the worst part: Ace was right! something was happening. Haruta’s division had been working non-stop for weeks. All they knew was that the government did… something! something that really pissed off Shanks, apparently, considering he had been bulldozing marine ships and bases left and right on his way to Paradise. Also maybe Garp, but the rumors on that were even more confusing. On top of that, the revolutionaries have been sighted just about everywhere in Paradise lately.

“Any ideas on what it could be, yoi?” Marco tried.

“Luffy. My little brother.” Brother??? “He’s always causing trouble. It worries me, you know? He was too young to set sail, but we promised. We promised to set sail at seventeen. He’s still in East Blue… if something happened-” they’d never get there in time , Marco finished in his head. He took a deep breath to center himself before carrying on.

“Is there anyone you can call or something?” Macro offered. He knew what it was like, stressing over a brother’s safety. Ace was his brother. His brother was just another member of their family.

“… yeah… I tried calling Dadan’s and Makino’s numbers a few weeks ago but they didn’t respond... “

“Let’s try again then.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s go then, yoi.” he said, getting up.

---

Ace was going crazy. He practically chased everyone out the comm-room when they got there. He didn’t check Marco's reaction before typing in the old hag’s number, but it came up with no response. He tried again with the same results.

Makino didn’t pick up either.

“Anyone else we can try, yoi?” Marco asked. Ace was glad to have the commander there. If someone answered and told him Luffy-

He ignored the familiar dark thoughts swirling in his head and focused on the question.

“Gramps. He’s not on the Island usually, but if anything happens, he’s the first they call.”

He tried calling first his personal, then his work snail. Both with the same results. He was close to breaking now. What could’ve happened for all of them to lose contact?

Hundreds of thoughts swirled through his head. Options. Varying from Luffy fighting the wrong guy all the way to another Celestial Dragon visiting and spotting Luffy. Would they shoot him like Sabo? Would they see he was immune to bullets and use him for entertainment? He’d been to Sabaody. He saw what those monsters could do, to the point where he was almost glad Dadan didn’t let him avenge Sabo. Almost.

As much as he hated the guy, he could understand Dragon’s desire to destroy those fuckers.

… Dragon…

Would he know? Was there a way Ace could contact him and check?

“Where’d you say you were from, yoi?” Marco asked, looking at some documents the 12 th division had left lying around. 

“Dawn Island, home to the ever-shitty Goa kingdom,” he ground out.

"Isn't that a major tourism hotspot, yoi?”

“So is Sabaody," Ace snapped.

“Fair enough,” Marco said in a chuckle. “...the fuck?” he said after a beat.

"What's up?"

“This can’t be…”

"What?" Wasn’t he trying to make Ace less anxious? This wasn’t making him less anxious. 

After waiting another beat, he decided to get up and walk over to where Marco was reading. Looking over his shoulder he spotted a marine report. He recognized it as an arrest report from watching his grandfather fill one out once or twice. Only in this one, Garp wasn't listed as the one performing the arrest. 

He was the one being arrested.

“What the- “ he chocked, “-fuck?”

Chapter Text

Things had been going well, people were staring at him a lot, but he was able to steal some apples from a vendor that was busy with a customer. No one had seen him do it, so he wasn’t in a hurry. He didn’t want to eat those though, they would last a few days, and he could still need them, so instead he stuffed them in his bag. 

If he was going to sail, he needed food he could pack, so he was still looking for something to eat. Ace and Sabo would be proud of him, thinking ahead like this. 

“Oh dear, you look like skin and bones…” a voice said. Looking over, he saw an old lady standing by a restaurant door. “Come, honey, you must be famished!” She waved him closer before going through the door. For a second, he considered not going. Grandpa had told him to be careful, but he really needed to eat too…

What harm can one old lady do?

Inside, Luffy wondered if the restaurant was open, since not a single person was sitting at any of the cutely decorated tables. The lady stood behind the counter, watching him. “Well? What do you think of my little haven?” she asked him.

“It’s nice. Cute.” It reminded him a bit of the old ladies back in Foosha and how they liked to decorate. Do all old ladies have the same taste?

“I’m glad to hear it. Now come, sit. I was just about to close, but I still have leftovers from today’s stew.”

“I don’t have money.” And he probably couldn’t run if she called the guards or something. 

“That’s fine, dear. It’s just leftovers. They would have been thrown out otherwise.” That… actually made Luffy feel better. He didn’t like wasting food. He didn’t understand how people just threw it out. Just eat it or give it to someone else.

Before he knew it, a steaming bowl of stew sat in front of him. The smell made his stomach clench painfully. He wasn’t sure if he was hungry or about to puke…

Slowly, slower than he had ever been when it came to food, he took the spoon and tried it. 

It was good. Really good. It was meaty and salty and just a tiny bit spicy. It had a bit of a bitter aftertaste, but Luffy didn’t mind that too much. 

The only problem was that he couldn’t eat it. 

After just a couple of bites, Luffy was ready to throw up. 

That never happened. Sure, Luffy had gotten sick of food before, he often ate things he shouldn’t have. Like those weird mushrooms back home. Or that funny looking fish. Or the fruit of that one tree he really liked that caused his skin to swell. 

But he never got sick from good food. 

It was frustrating. He needed to eat! He needed the strength. Like grandpa always said, he needed to take every chance he got when it came to food.

So why couldn’t he?

“Oh, you poor thing… it must have been a while since you had a proper hearty meal… You can’t even stomach it.” Was that it? Was this something that happened?

“I guess…” How long had it been? Days? Weeks? It couldn’t have been longer than that, right?

“How about this, I’ll draw you a nice warm bath. You just eat as much as you can. And make sure to drink your juice as well, you’ll need all the nutrients you can get. Deal?” She asked, putting a glass of orange juice on the counter. 

“Deal.”

He watched the lady walk towards the stairs, wondering if he could take another bite without throwing up. He thought he should probably drink something first. Maybe it could help. It already made him feel more at home, after all, it was the same brand that Makino used.

The sweet-sour taste did make him feel a bit better. Although, he still didn’t think he could eat anymore. He decided to finish the glass at least. It also had a weird aftertaste, but maybe that was just him? He did feel kinda sick. Did him being sick affect how things taste? He’d never been sick before but one time Dadan had a cold, she wouldn't even drink her favorite booze! So it had to be that, right?

“Alright dear, the bath is ready, I put out some clothes too. They might be a bit big on you, they are my grandson’s. Now come, dear.” She didn’t wait for him to follow, turning around and walking back up the stairs. Luffy scrambled to follow, holding on to the walls for support. 

“Here we are. Take your time, all right? I have a customer coming in a minute. If you need something, just yell.”

“Okay, thank you.” 

She closed the door as she left, leaving him standing in the warm bathroom by himself. There was a pile of clothes on a counter next to the sink, a toilet on the other side and a steaming hot bath in the corner.

Luffy slowly took off his clothes and bandages, cringing at what he saw. His wrists were red and puffy around his cuffs, and his hands were blue and swollen, it was honestly a miracle he could still move them. His arms and legs were covered in bruises. They were thinner than what he was used to.

Looking in the mirror, he saw that the same applied to his face. No wonder people were staring. His cheeks were hollow and flushed. His hair was oily, sticking to his scalp and forehead. 

He couldn’t even recognize himself.

The worst thing was probably his chest. It was covered in blue and yellow splotches. Some from those stupid finger guns, others from kicks or punches, he was pretty sure one bruise looked like a footprint. 

Then there was his shoulder. The doctors on the ship had looked at it from time to time, but other than keeping him alive, they didn’t really care what happened to it. Looking at it now, he wasn’t so sure he liked what he saw. 

The cut itself was a straight line on his left side, spanning from his shoulder to the middle of his chest. It was bleeding, a little, and had yellowish liquid oozing from it. The skin around it was swollen, red and hot. It was pulsing too.

Luffy carefully touched the wound, flinching at the sharp pain that came from it. Looking down at the bathwater, he was pretty sure it was going to be too hot for it. He could wait, sure, but he didn’t really want to risk it, so he just cleaned up a little in the sink. He couldn’t wash his hair, sure, but maybe granny was willing to help him with it later. 

He didn’t have any fresh bandages, and the old ones were kinda gross, so he just put on the clothes. Like expected, they were way too big, but Luffy was able to tie the pants to stay where they were supposed to be. 

Satisfied, he stumbled towards the door, feeling kind of dizzy all of a sudden. Maybe he did too much? Ace always said he had to rest when he was hurt. He should probably get some sleep. 

Only problem was, the door was locked.

He tried to pull again, but it didn’t budge. He was getting nervous. He considered yelling for granny, but he didn’t want to interrupt her talking to her… customer. Didn’t- didn’t she say we was about to close? Why would she have a customer after closing?

“Don’t trust anyone!”

Anyone… That included granny. Why… why did he go in with her? Grandpa was so direct! Why did she lock him in here? 

Did she work for the guys in suits?

But they were the bad guys!

Only… only, they worked with the marines, and grandpa said the marines were the good guys. Did she think he was a criminal? He wasn’t!

…Right?

No! He wasn’t! Grandpa would never help a criminal, it was why he wanted us to be marines instead of pirates, so that he could help us!

So, who was right here?

The sound of footsteps tore him out of his thoughts. 

“Yes, he is in the bath now, I’ll show you what I mean, he has all the traits of an escaped slave.” That was granny. Who was she talking to?

“Of course,” a gruff voice answered. They still sounded a bit far away, maybe he could still get out. 

He looked around and only found a tiny window over the toilet. Could he fit through there? He could, if he was rubber, but he wasn’t even that right now!

He was also really, really tired.

He should just… No! He had to get out!

“And if I’m right, as I always am, I’ll get my reward?”

“Of course ma’am.”

He had to move. Now.

Luffy gathered his things and climbed up on the toilet, opening the window. The cold air hit him almost instantly as the steam from the bath tried to escape. He took a deep breath before squeezing himself through the tiny opening. 

Somehow, he made it through, falling a story and landing hard on the ground, but he made it.

He heard yelling behind him. 

Luffy ran.

He ran, ignoring the pain in his chest and shoulder. He ran until he couldn't breathe. 

There was a big group of people up ahead. 

“If you’re in a city, hide where the people are. It’s harder to find a tree in a forest,” Sabo’s voice spoke in his head. He still didn’t really get it, but Sabo was smart, so he headed towards the masses. 

“Kid? Hey wait! We’re trying to help!” A man’s voice called from somewhere. Luffy didn’t look, he kept running, even as his vision started to blur.

A shot rang through the air. It came from somewhere far behind him. He stumbled. He to back up.

He kept running.

Luffy squeezed through the crowd, trying to reach the front. They were all getting into a really long carriage. Or was it a ship? It was on the water.

Whatever, he thought. If it’s a ship or a carriage, it goes away from here. I need to get away from here.

There was one door no one was using, it was closed but not locked.

Luffy ran inside and immediately collapsed.

It looked like this was where everyone put their stuff. 

Crates, barrels, and suitcases filled the shelves. 

No one was there, but he had to hide.

He was tired.

Why was he so tired?

He could barely stand.

He could barely see.

He could barely breathe.

He crawled to the nearest crate. The top opened to a bunch of straw and some metal parts. It would do.

He dug out some of the straw and laid down inside of it, closing the lid.

The straw was itchy and the metal dug into his side. But it was dark, and safe. At least for now.

Luffy fell asleep almost immediately.

Chapter Text

Shanks didn’t like this. How could he? His little anchor was suffering, Makino was dead, the village he had learned to love over those two years was gone; No. Shanks was not happy. He was pissed. How dare they? They hurt his friends. They hurt his Lover. They hurt his kid.

Fuck dragon. Luffy was his. Shanks didn’t care if he stayed away to protect the boy. He didn’t care if the man was willing to help. He didn’t give a single flying fuck whether the plan worked or not. He was going to find Luffy, with or without his help. 

He would be taking this boy on his ship and making sure no one even looks at him the wrong way. He’d make sure the kid was safe, happy, and prepared for what the world would throw at him. This was the boy captain was waiting for, and Shanks was going to make sure he had everything he needed to do so.

Screw the promise, screw the hat. That was his kid.

Shanks was willing to wait for Luffy to become a great pirate. He really was. He knew the cost of his promise. He didn’t care anymore. Luffy needed him more than a stupid promise. Especially a promise he had made to protect him.

---

“Captain, the marines are getting peskier.”

“They recognize me. It’s not gonna be long until they send someone big.”

“What do we do about Luffy? I feel like the boy would follow if you just up and leave. He’d find a way. Especially if he’s lonely. You know what that can do to a person…”

“I know, Benn. I have an idea about that. Although it means we can’t meet at all for a few years. At the least,”

“You should talk to Makino then; she deserves to know.”

“Yeah, I hope she doesn’t mind the wait… I don’t think I could find someone like her again…”

“Let’s go for now, the Island’s in view.”

“I hope Anchor isn’t still mad about the bandits…”

“Don’t sulk. And I thought he’s the kid here…”

“Oy!”

---

… Maybe he didn't have a right to be mad at Dragon. He had left Luffy too, after all…

“Boss! Marine base in sight!” Perfect. Just what he was looking for. A distraction.

“Burn it down. Ready the cannons!”

Because Shanks was angry. He hadn’t been this angry since his father’s captain’s blood stained the Logue Town plaza red.

---

They finally reached Sabaody. According to the calls he had with the revolutionaries, Garp had already reached the ship Luffy was on. In other words, Luffy was out there. Alone. With zero experience in sailing, much less in sailing the Grand Line.

He really didn’t like the plan.

In theory, following a needle was simple enough. However, the Grand Line was treacherous in ways you couldn’t even imagine. Storms, monsters, enemies…

They took precautions.

Dragon’s men were on several nearby Islands with his not-quite-yet first commander (Luffy’s brother, who’d have thought. He’d been suspicious at first, but it wasn’t his place to judge that. Plus, the kid’s pretty cool. Still, Luffy could decide if that man really had any right to call himself his brother) stationed in Water 7. The kid was delegating the search on land. They had no results so far. (The attack was only a couple of days ago; he couldn’t’ve reached the Island so fast. He was still worried)

Dragon himself took to the waters. His crew was scouring the seas around the ship and surrounding islands. Dragon was sending the winds in the right direction and helping reduce the risk of storms. (And wasn’t that a terrifying ability, fitting of the Monkey family)

Shanks’ job was scattering the marines. The more they focused on him, the less they could focus on Luffy. Luckily, (not lucky, they hurt him.) Luffy managed to keep quiet during his questionings. (They got their hands on the reports, they were very detailed, he hated every second he had spent reading them.) They knew nothing except for the fact he had a brother somewhere and his very colorful vocabulary . (He felt like blaming a certain hothead for that. Shanks wasn’t sure whether he should have laughed or cried while reading that report.)

Speaking of fire-boy. They weren’t supposed to tell him. Garp was afraid that if they found out who Luffy’s brothers were, they would find out more than they should.

Shanks agreed that the Government should never find out.

To think Captain’s kid lived… He had known Lady Rouge. He had recognized her in the young man, his eyes, his freckles… He hadn’t even thought of Roger. Ace was technically too young, but Rogue was really just a badass.

He still wanted to tell the kid. He deserved to know. Deserved to make that choice himself. Sabo was clearly on his side (a point in the blond’s favor) despite not saying anything out of respect for his boss, but Dragon disagreed.

Shanks was aware the marines would go after Whitebeard to get to the captain's son. He was also aware they would go down trying. (No one steals a son of Whitebeard from under his nose.)

He was considering telling the young man anyway.

Burning down marines with him would be fun at the very least.

But Benn told him to not worry, that things would work themselves out. That it was only a matter of time until Newgate called asking what the fuck he was doing.

Or they’d show up. They were both in paradise at the moment. They were checking on their territories, Shanks thought. He had Yassop keep an eye out for any blue or orange flames over the water signaling Marco or Ace respectively. 

He was also helping Roo restock some of Luffy's favorites. And assisting their carpenters in preparing a room for the kiddo right next to Shanks’. He was debating putting in two extra cots for when his brothers would visit. 

Because they would. They’d at least try. Might as well be prepared.

“And what exactly has your panties in a bunch?” A familiar voice asked. There, sitting on his ship’s railing, was an old man with silver hair and a scar over his eye. Shanks sighed at his luck. This wasn’t a conversation he could get out of quickly. 

“Raleigh,” he greeted with a nod. “What exactly do you mean?” 

“You, going on rampages left and right. What did those poor marines do? I’d almost pity them if I didn’t know you probably have a good reason for it.”

He gestured to the man to follow him as he began walking to their communications room. There, he told him what happened. The old man’s face turned grim as he listened, eyes portraying that rage that was mirrored in his own.

“I see,” he said after Shanks was done. “The plan is good-”

“I don’t like it.”

“You don’t like not being able to help more. I am sure the other two feel the same.” Shanks hated that he was right. “Although I don't understand why you couldn’t tell Rouge’s boy.”

“Because he isn't just Rouge’s. I’m not really supposed to tell you, but… she never remarried.” He watched as Raleigh’s eyes widened in understanding, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. 

“You mean, after everything… the boy lived?” he asked, thinking back to the tragedies the government had unleashed on the South Blue after rumors first started flying.

“Yeah, and he’s great too. He is a lot like Rouge, especially appearance-vise, but he’s got that joking side Captain had.” Shanks smiled at the memory of his first meeting with the brat. “And his narcolepsy,” he added, laughing softly. 

“I want to meet them,” Raleigh declares suddenly. “I’m coming with you.”

“What about your retirement?”

“Screw that! My nephew and great-nephew are in trouble!” he screamed. He got that feeling. Roger had been like Ray’s brother, and Ace was his kid. Hell, Ray had called Shanks that on occasion while growing up. Would that make him Ace’s brother? But Ace’s brother Luffy was his kid. Wait, was Luffy his great-nephew then? 

So he was his adopted brother’s brother’s adopted dad? No wait, Luffy’s also Ace’s adopted brother. So Shanks was his adopted brother’s (Ace) adopted brother’s (Luffy) adopted dad. That wasn’t mentioning Ace getting adopted by Newgate, their (?) dad’s rival, and Sabo, the other adopted brother, getting adopted by Luffy’s bio-dad.

“Man, this family tree is messed up.” 

—

Sabo wasn’t entirely sure how he got here.

Well, technically, he did know how he got here , but… it wasn't necessarily how he expected things to go.

Things started out fairly normal. He was called into Dragon's office for a special mission right after he got back from the last one. Not a big deal. Been there, done that or whatever.

Finding out Dragon had a son; that… that was a surprise. Still, not the craziest thing he heard in his life. 

Reading through the report and getting a headache that knocked him out for three days to process 10 years worth of childhood memories; not planned, not recommended. It sucked. A lot. 

But he moved on. His brother needed him. So he set out towards Water 7, having been put in charge of the teams on the islands and the trains, while Dragon's teams supervised the seas. Shanks- because he was involved as well, somehow- kept the marines busy with the destruction of several bases and countless ships as the yonko made his way through to them.

The end goal was to have the pirates present when taking Luffy off the island. The marines and even Cypher Pol were heavily restricted in what actions they could take against an emperor of the seas. Both Dragon and Shanks were more than happy to use that fact for their -and Luffy’s, of course- benefit.

Now, if only those two could get along.

Both were great. They were kind and powerful, and incredibly cool -he may be biased, but he still thought Dragon was cooler- and they were determined to save his little brother. All great arguments to like them.

While Shanks was a bit skeptical of Sabo, he couldn't really blame the man. He himself still hadn't wrapped his head around the whole ‘ suddenly getting his memories back just as Luffy needed him’ situation. It sounded outlandish even to him. Crazy convenient, too.

Regardless of his doubts, Shanks was nothing but kind and respectful to him, and Sabo found himself liking the man. He reminded him of Luffy in a way that made their relationship make much more sense than what a 7-year-old could convey. 

Dragon may have been Luffy's father, but Shanks was the one that left an imprint on him. They had similar likes and jokes, they had the same tastes and quirks, and, most importantly, they were both incredibly stubborn .

Now, some of that hard-headedness was inherited from the Monkey D. family. A family Dragon was a member of. In fact, Luffy likely got that directly from his boss, who in return had it from the crazy old geezer. ( Another thought Sabo couldn't wrap his head around; Dragon being Garp's son. Made no sense, really. )

So, one could expect that when putting those two in a room -or a call, in this case- to discuss a topic, disagreements would form. And that a disagreement between those two could get very ugly very fast. 

They would be correct, as proven by his current predicament.

“HE HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW!” yelled the red snail on his left.

“If we let him get involved, we risk them looking into the matter-” the green one on his right tried to input.

“IT'S HIS BROTHER! A brother he loves very much- something YOU would know little about, ey?” Ouch…

“If they find out about his parentage, we will be looking at a second witch hunt! Dawn island would be harmless in comparison!” Oof.

Why was he here again? Why was he, an 18-year-old ex-amnesiac revolutionary, playing mediator for two of this world's most powerful and dangerous individuals?

Right, his brother needed help. Didn't mean he had to like being yelled at for a total of twelve daily meetings. Because this argument had been going on for over a while now. They just discussed what needed to be discussed before coming back to this, if they weren't interrupted by then. 

Sabo was praying for an interruption.

His prayers were answered in the form of the sound of a door clicking shut coming from the red snail. “Boss, incoming call from the Moby -” Wait, what?

“Not now, Benn” Shanks merely interrupted before continuing to shout. 

Clearly, neither had heard what the man had said, otherwise they wouldn't still be fighting. Discussing the involvement of an individual who may be listening in wasn't necessarily wise, after all, and Sabo was convinced that Benn Beckham was standing there with a snail in hand, likely still connected straight to the Moby Dick. He knew the first mate was about as done with this topic as Sabo was, so he definitely saw that happening. 

It was the reason Benn no longer attended the meetings past the necessary. Apparently, even Silvers Raleigh was on board and decided he wouldn’t get involved.

Now, if only he wasn't the only person in the call that listened to the man, because some of the things they were saying really made it obvious who they were talking about. If only they knew that the matter had already dealt with itself, Sabo might get some relief for his ongoing headache.

“Sabo,” Hack whispered from the door. Turning, he motioned the fishman in, ready for an excuse to not be in this conversation. 

“Please tell me the city is burning down and that I can leave,” he whispered to his friend. 

Hack just smiled and slipped him a stack of reports. One look made Sabo groan.

“Oh boy, this is gonna be my problem, isn’t it?” he moaned. “May I interrupt for a second?” he asked loud enough to catch the men’s attention.

“What’s up, boy?” Shanks asked. 

He really didn’t want to say confidential information knowing that there was a chance that others were listening, but this was important.

“We have a confirmed sighting.” He ignored the reaction and just continued on. “He was spotted by some of our agents a couple of Islands down. He was running, so he didn’t approach or really even acknowledge the agents. They eventually lost him in the crowd by the sea-train station.” Sabo smiled at that fact. Good job, Lu. now if only it hadn’t been allies he lost.

“They were later able to confirm the presence of CP7 agents, as well as the body of an older woman, single bullet to the head. They’re trying to get the reports for what happened, but apparently the woman was known to sell out escaped slaves. They are assuming she just got involved in something she shouldn’t have.”

“Well good riddance. I hate those people,” Shanks muttered. Agreed.

“Do we know if he got on the train?” Dragon asked.

“Unconfirmed, but it is likely. He definitely isn’t on the island anymore. The train is being searched subtly, but if he’s on there, he’s hiding pretty well.” You’re doing amazing, Luffy. Now please stop hiding from the ones that will help. “The train should arrive in a couple of hours, we’ll know more then.”

Sabo chose not to mention the last report on the stack. “The Moby Dick was spotted on the east side of the island.” it read. Combine that with the call they were currently having, and Sabo could see himself in an uncomfortable conversation with his (big?) brother real soon.

“We need to make a choice now ,” Shanks said. “It’ll still take a couple of days for me to reach you. They are closer.” 

Indeed. They were just an hour out, after all. 

“We are not starting this discussion again. We will not involve them,” Dragon insisted. Sabo sighed. He had hoped the news would at least give him until the next meeting before it started again. Or that the call ended and Shanks would just tell them after, seeing as they were currently listening in .

“This clearly isn't going anywhere,” Benn said, this time loud enough to actually get their attention. “Either you tell him, or you don't. This is just wasting time and resources.”

“The matter would have already been closed if your captain simply did as my father and I recommended.” Nope, not thinking of that family tree.

“So I've heard,” Benn sighed. “But really, the vote is two on two, no? You and that lunatic that sired you,” oh god, don't call him that!  “Versus the boss and me, correct?” 

“What are you saying?” Dragon growled out irritatedly. 

“We just need another vote, and we're done. And lucky for us, there's another person present, no?” Ah, damn, he had really hoped he could stay out of the actual fight and only give his opinion to Dragon in private. He didn't want them to appear like a broken faction.

“Dragon is aware of my opinion on the matter.” He ignored the noises coming from what he assumes is the snail still connected to the Moby . Likely them realizing who the voices they heard belonged to… oops .

“Maybe, but I want to know too, Sabo.” A choked sound came through the snail, confirming that Ace was listening in. Or at least someone he had trusted enough with their story. Great.

Sabo took a deep breath to calm his nerves before speaking, gathering all of his diplomacy skills. “I understand that both have good points. On one hand, telling him could result in certain people digging where they shouldn't. However, in a way, they already know he exists to a certain extent. Only, they think the bond they share is genetic. They would have little use of looking into parentage when they already have made their assumptions, so long as we don’t disprove them.”

Sabo looked down at the snails, glad to find approval from Beckham as well as reluctant acceptance from his boss. “On the other hand, I do understand what he must feel like right now, not knowing what's happening. I am here, actively helping. Yet I still feel terrible not being able to do more. Not being able to help at all would probably break me. And from what I remember, he was even worse than me when it came to things like that.” Sabo didn't like opening up like that, but he needed Ace to know he was on their side.

“Either way, it doesn't really matter anymore, since the decision was already taken from us,” Sabo continued, “seeing as Mr. Beckham came in to inform of a call from the Moby Dick that he certainly hasn't disconnected yet.” 

The red snail gained a smug smirk for a second before being overshadowed by the delighted surprise from his captain. Sabo didn't dare turn towards the other snail.

The green snail sighed. “Who is all present over there?” Dragon warily asked after a while.

“I am, of course, as are my first, fourth, and sixteenth division commanders as well as my youngest son,” a deep voice rumbled. It was likely Edward Newgate himself. The commanders in question would be Marco, Thatch and Haruta. As for the youngest, it was probably his brother. He was actually kind of curious about how Ace felt being called someone’s son.

“How much do you know already?”

“Not much, yoi. Our little firecracker-” Sabo snorted quietly at the nickname, hearing Shanks do the same, “-felt as if something were wrong, yoi. So we decided to investigate. After confirming, it didn't involve us or our allies, we branched out. He couldn't get through to the people taking care of his brother, so we decided to reach out to the only other person that knows the boy that we could contact. You know, the one that has been going on a rampage for the last couple of weeks, yoi.” Sabo assumed that one was commander Marco, judging from what he had heard about the man’s speech patterns.

Both parties stayed silent as they pondered how to breach the topic. It seemed neither wanted to be the one to say it. 

Sabo sighed before speaking. “Ace? You there?” he called.

“Are you- Are you actually…”

“That day, after the storm, I was looking for a telescope, remember?”

“Shit, Sabo. Where-”

“I will explain everything in person, Ace. I promise.” He kept his tone calm and warm. Ace’s voice sounded thick with tears and fear, and Sabo ached to be able to comfort his brother. “They found out, Ace. About Luffy.”

“Fuck.”

“That sums it up,” he said with a bitter chuckle. “From what we know, Luffy is mostly fine. gramps got him out, and we’re trying to find him-”

“So that’s why Garp was arrested?” a new voice interrupted. It sounded young and eager for information despite the worry covering it. 

“Commander Haruta, I suppose?”

“Yeah,” they said, sheepishly. “Sorry, I just needed to know.”

“It’s fine,” Sabo assured. “Yes, that is why Garp got arrested. He freed Luffy, sent several CP9 agents to the hospital and the mission leader, Rob Lucci, to the ICU, right before sinking their ship and then surrendering to the battleship that Sengoku had used to follow him.”

“What the fuck…” another voice whispered.

“They hurt him?” Ace asked worriedly. “Gramps wouldn't rampage like that otherwise.”

“A bit, yeah. We’re not sure how much, since the reports probably didn’t mention everything, and we haven’t been able to get in contact with either since -although we’re working on that. But there was something else…” Why was he the one that had to tell him? He didn’t want to tell him, he was still processing himself!

“More?” A new voice asked. Commander Thatch, most likely.

“You guys are near Water Seven, right?”

“Wait, how did you-”

“We have sentries nearby. Are you planning on docking?”

“Yeah, we were gonna restock on some parts for the ship before heading back out again,” Commander Haruta explained hesitantly. 

“Great, I’ll meet you there and explain everything in person.”

“I’ll head out with the striker then. I can be there in 20 Minutes,” Ace said.

Oh, this was gonna suck… “Alright.”

—

“Uh, boss?” Kop asked as he dropped his cargo next to the other crates.

“Yeah?”

“This crate is a lot heavier than what it was earlier…”

“The fuck you mean it’s heavier? This shit doesn’t just get heavier.”

He approached the crate in question and tore off the lid, freezing at what he found inside.

“Well, shit. That’s… so not super. ”

“What do we do?”

“Kiwi, Mozu, call the doc. And get me the first aid kit!”

“You got it, big bro!”

Chapter Text

When Luffy woke up, he felt terrible. 

His head ached. His body was sore and sweaty, his hands and shoulder hurt, so did his legs.

He didn't want to open his eyes. He didn't want to get up. He just wanted to keep sleeping. Maybe then everything would stop hurting. 

Maybe he could just continue sleeping forever. At least then, he'd get to see Sabo again.

It was the sound of muttering that made him open his eyes. 

There was some big guy sitting at a desk talking to himself. He couldn't see what he was doing, but it sounded like a pencil scribbling on paper. 

How did he even get here?

Luffy watched the man. He had a strong build and large arms. He sat still, focused on whatever he was doing. His hair was… something. Looked like it got stuck after a cow licked it. He wore one of those colorful shirts gramps liked to wear on holiday. 

He wasn't sure how long he stared, but eventually he felt able to move. 

Quietly, Luffy got up and approached the man. He looked over his shoulder as best as he could, spotting a drawing of a ship. It showed the ship from the side with all sorts of numbers and lines around it. It reminded him of the plans Sabo had made for their treehouse. 

Was this man building a ship? Has he on a ship?

He had thought he was on an island. The ground didn't sway like it would on a ship. Plus, it looked like he was in a house. 

Should Luffy run? 

Probably, but he didn't think he'd get very far. He was barely standing as it was. He didn't think he could run right now. 

Maybe he could sneak out. But then what? He had no idea where he was…

And besides, this guy had him already. If he'd wanted to hurt Luffy, why not do it while he was sleeping?

Ugh, all this thinking made his head hurt even worse. 

He carefully made his way back to the bed, sat down, and looked around.

He hadn't noticed before, but his bandages were new. He also had proper splints on his hands now. He frowned at that. It would make getting out harder, if he couldn't use his hands.

The next thing he spotted was his bag laying by the bed. He grabbed it as best as he could and took out the compass thingy. He tensed at what he saw. 

The needle was slowly turning in a circle.

“Don't worry,” a voice said, startling Luffy. “That happens when you reach the island it's pointing at. Eternal poses don't log new islands, so it just spins like that until you leave again.” Luffy stared at the man. He hadn't even noticed him turning around! And why wasn’t he wearing pants?

“So this is Water 7?” he carefully asked. 

“Yep.” The guy flashed him a grin. “Welcome to the SUUUPERRR city of water,” he said, striking a pose. “Name's Franky. I'm a ship dismantler and face of the underworld in this area. And you?”

“Why am I here?” Luffy was scared. It was nice to know he managed to get to the island he needed, but he still wasn't safe. He needed to get the-the reva- the revo- his dad's friends!

“Hey, easy there. I'm not gonna hurt you. You passed out in some of our cargo. We found you in there and had the doc check you out.”

Right. Luffy remembered that. He got in that weird long ship and hid in some crate. 

So this guy just found him?

“Although,” Luffy tensed. “I would like to know what kind of creeps you came across.”

Luffy frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I'd like to have a word or two with the fucker that drugged, shackled, and beat up a kid.”

“Drugged?”

“Yeah, doc said you had more of that shit in your system than a creep at the club has in his pocket.”

Luffy was no stranger to drugs. He grew up around the Grey Terminal, after all. Ace had taught him not to eat anything he found around in fear of it being laced. And Dadan had sat him down to explain what drugs were and what they could do to you. 

When he didn't pay attention, she even brought him down to the Terminal to show him some of the users and what those drugs did to them. 

Luffy had made sure to be careful, after that. He never wanted to end up like those guys. 

He didn't think he had taken anything. Definitely not willingly. 

Then he remembered. Granny's food and even the juice had that weird bitter aftertaste! She must've put something in it. No wonder he felt so sleepy all of a sudden!

“So?” The guy (Franny?) asked. 

“Huh?”

“I asked who did this to you.”

“Oh.” Luffy thought for a bit. “The drugs were probably that old lady. She offered me food, then called the marines on me. Or whatever those guys were.” Oh shoot, not supposed to say that…

“The marines? What do they want from you?”

“Don’t tell anyone what you’re running from,” gramps’ voice repeated in his head. He had already made the mistake of trusting someone. He knew nothing of this guy. There was no way he’d make the same mistake twice. He steeled his nerves and glared at the man. 

“Kid? Hey, it’s okay. I’m not gonna sell ya out or anything. I’m just curious.”

Luffy didn't answer.

"So if the old hag only did the drugging, who did the beating? Or the chaining? Not to mention the starving..."

Luffy just shook his head.

“Alright.” The guy got up and walked towards him. Luffy tensed, ready to fight if he needed to. “Can I be honest with you?” he said, watching him. “I looked through your bag.”

Luffy gasped, hugging said bag into his chest. He tried to glare at the man again, but he was scared. Did he read the notebook?

“I wanted to figure out who you were and if you had any family in the area.” The guy still hadn’t moved, and Luffy only now noticed that he was standing between him and the door. His breathing sped up a little.

“Instead, I find a rather ominous message.” He read it. “Now, like I said, I’m not gonna sell you out. I hate the government almost as much as I hate pirates. But I can’t help but wonder just what happened that you’re not only looking for revs, but also have a safety code set to make sure they’re the right revs. Just who are you?”

Luffy stayed quiet.

“Okay.” He sat down on the ground, crossing his arms. He was still in front of the door. “I have an idea.” Luffy swallowed.

“Let’s make a deal.”

Chapter Text

Sabo chewed on his lip as he watched the flames approach. He didn’t know how this meeting would go. Sure, he knew Ace and could guess his reactions.

In theory. 

Eight years was a long time to change a man. What if Ace changed? What if he wanted nothing to do with him?

Would he at least let him help? Luffy needed everyone he could get. But did Ace even trust him enough to do so? They had failed Luffy before. They hadn’t been able to stop the Buster Call or free Luffy. Nor had they been able to find him. 

What if Luffy didn’t want their help because they worked for Dragon? What if he hated Dragon like Ace hated Roger? What if he hated him for abandoning him the same way his father had?

He swallowed as he saw the blue flames following the orange. 

Great, another variable. One that had sailed these seas for longer than Sabo had been alive no less. 

Marco the Phoenix was, ironically, the more predictable variable in this equation. They had enough reports on the man to take an educated guess. He would be angry, furious even, that the World Government hurt someone directly affiliated with the crew. He would trust their experience and intel while keeping a neutral opinion about their methods, possibly starting his own search on the side. 

Marco was a mostly logical man, able to manage and organize a pirate crew of over 1000 men. It was a similar number that Sabo currently had under him as one of the Army’s commanders, the only difference being that the Whitebeard’s men do not have formally trained soldiers, but rather a bunch of rowdy pirates who do whatever they please. 

Sabo had been a commander for about a year and needless to say, he had nothing but deep respect for the man that did this for over twenty years. Especially seeing as Marco’s work was more closely related to that of the chief of staff’s (which they currently didn’t even have) than that of a commander.

Long story short, he wasn’t worried about the first mate. He was worried about his older (did they actually ever figure out who’s older?) brother. That one was a wild card ‘cause even if he knew him since they were five, Ace did not fit the definition of predictable. 

In a way, it made the flame-flame-fruit perfect for him. Not only did it match his fiery temper, it also perfectly encapsulated his unpredictability; being able to both be a steady campfire, and to go from an ember to a wildfire in a matter of seconds.

That line of thought really didn’t help his nerves as the flame-powered boat (that was actually so cool, he needed to ask how it worked-) docked by the rocky shore.

Ace didn’t hesitate to jump off, nervous energy practically radiating off of him. Marco the Phoenix landed quietly behind his (their?) brother only a moment later. 

It didn’t take long for Ace’s eyes to meet his own.

For a moment, they just stared at each other. Then, ever so slowly, Ace approached.

"Holy shit…” Ace whispered as he studied him. “It's really you.”

“I…” Sabo hesitated. Before he could decide on what to say, Ace leaped for him, hand outstretched. Sabo flinched, bracing himself for the blow he had expected.

Instead, he froze as his face was roughly grabbed. Ace leaned in, pulling him closer. His other hand was braced against Sabo’s forehead, pushing his hair up. “Shit, what did that fucker do to you?” he asked.

Sabo realized he was studying his scar.  “It’s-”

“Can you even see out of that eye?” 

“Uhm-”

“How far does that go down?” he asked, pulling his head to the side so that he could see the burns on his neck disappear into his clothes.

“Well-”

Ace moved his hair away. “Heh, you have a bald spot there. Is that why you grew your hair out?”

“I-”

“I mean, it's almost as long as mine.” He started gently prodding the edges of the scar. “Does it still hurt?”

“Some-”

“Ace-yoi,” Marco interrupted.

“Yeah?” Ace asked, turning to look at the other commander. While still holding Sabo’s face. 

“Let the poor guy breathe.”

Ace blinked. Suddenly, he jumped back, releasing Sabo of his hold. “Shit, sorry!” he said. "I got excited.”

“It’s fine-” 

“Wait-” Ace interrupted, suddenly serious. “Are you taller than me? How fucking dare you?”

And that was all it took Sabo to break out in uncontrolled laughter. “Its good to see you too, Ace,” he said as he regained his breath. It was good. Even without his memories, he had missed his brothers. He just never knew what he was missing. Standing before Ace now... “Although I would’ve expected that reaction more from Luffy than you.”

“It’s good to see you too, asshole,” Ace added, lightly punching his shoulder. “Although I’m still offended about you being taller than me.”

“I don’t see how that’s my fault.”

“I’m just sayin’, the big brother is supposed to be taller.”

“We’re the same age.”

“You’re still younger-”

“Oh, am I? Well, you’re still shorter-”

“Take that back!”

“You just said it yourself!”

“ALRIGHT!” Marco interrupted. “You’re both children and short in my eyes, so stop yoi. Can we please go back to the topic at hand?”

For the record, Sabo did not pout. Ace certainly did, but Sabo was a trained revolutionary who could control his facial expressions.

Sabo used the shift to finally get a proper look at his brother. The hat was new, although it suited him well. Ace finally had a hat to match with his brothers. Something in him told him that that was undoubtedly Luffy's idea.

The tattoo on his back proudly showed the crew's Jolly Roger, clearly presented by his lack of shirt. Somehow, he was not surprised by that choice. He never was one for fashion, but he did like to brag with the things he was proud of. The tattoo on his arm, however, made him swallow. Right there in the middle of his name, as if it always was a part of him, was his flag. The flag that he lost with his memories. The thought made his throat tighten.

He noticed other things too, of course. His skin was paler than would be natural and there were dark rings under his eyes. He was fidgeting and shifting around anxiously. Clearly, they weren't exaggerating about him having been nervous for a while... 

He took a deep breath and centered himself, slipping into his professional persona. He idly noticed Ace straightening the same way he did, making his lips twitch into a smile. "The train has arrived earlier than expected, but our men have yet to find anything," he reported. "We had one of our teammates, a bear-mink, confirm that he at least was on that train at some point and left his scent behind. It was centered around the cargo carriage so we're assuming he hid in one of the crates. Unfortunately, that does make it harder to track him."

"But it means he's on the island, right?" Ace asked hopefully.

"There have been no leaving trains so far, nor were there any ships sailing near or away from the island. So, unless he learned to fly, he's here."

"Don't give him ideas," Ace grumbled as Marco spoke.

"How do you have his scent?" the commander asked.

"There's a rare plant that grows on Goa, it's scent is rather recognizable and clings to you. Arthur recognized it from when I was a kid. Apparently he could still smell it on me for months after I had joined."

"Ah, so that's what that is," Marco commented, glancing at Ace. Meanwhile, Ace responded by trying to sniff himself.

Right, Sabo thought, Marco was a Zoan user, he could probably smell it as well.

"So how exactly did this all happen?" Marco asked. Sabo's stomach clenched painfully at the reminder.

Ace scowled at his expression. Sabo recognized that scowl as the face he made when he was scared. Somehow, that little detail made Sabo feel better. Not because he wanted his brother to be scared, but knowing that even after all those years, after how different Ace seemed, he was still the same person.

It was still Ace. His brother- his twin- in all but blood.

"You said they knew?" Ace asked grimly.

"Yes," he sighed. "Although we still don't know how they found out."

"Found out what, exactly?" Marco asked.

Sabo frowned thoughtfully. He didn't like giving a virtual stranger power over Luffy's life like that. Glancing at Ace, he saw similar thoughts reflected in his expression. Finally Ace sighed and met his gaze.

"I trust him. He… he knows about me too."

His brows shoot up in surprise. "You told them?" he asked his brother.

"Just pops and Marco." Sabo felt his lip twitch into a smile. Hearing Ace willingly calling someone his father was as bizarre as he'd imagined. Heart warming, but bizarre.

"Alright then." From the slight wince his brother let out, Sabo could guess that the mischievous glint in his eyes wasn't missed. But whatever, he'd tease Ace about his choice in father figures later. Not that his were any better, but Ace would never know about that.

"I'm not sure if you know, but Monkey D. Garp only ever had one son, Monkey D. Dragon."

"Oh," Marco breathed.

"Yes. Oh." Ace's voice was practically grinding in his throat. "By the way, he better apologize to Luffy the moment he sees him or else I'll-"

"Don't worry," Sabo interrupted. "We've… had that talk before."

"Good."

"Anyway, they heard some rumors and sent someone, Rob Lucci from CP9 to investigate-"

"The guy that killed 500 hostages a few years back?" Marco interrupted.

"I'm sorry, he what?" Ace exclaimed.

"Yes. Him. And unfortunately that's not the worst of it." Sabo grit his teeth, seething at the fact they sent that monster after his little brother. He didn't want to say it. Didn't want it to be real. "They gave him a golden snail."

Sabo saw the anger and disgust he felt mirrored in Marco's face. "He didn't," the commander begged.

Sabo sighed as he glanced at a confused Ace. "He did. We don't know how much Luffy saw but…" Seas, he hoped Luffy didn't see…

"What did he do?" Ace asked, voice trembling. He glanced between them, but neither wanted to speak the words.

Finally, Sabo took a deep breath. He hated this part of the job, especially now that it hit so close to home. "He ordered a Buster Call." Sabo watched as realization hit, his brother's face draining of all color. A part of him was glad he wouldn't need to explain what that meant.

He hated that his brothers now both knew what it meant.

"So Dadan, Makino and the others…"

"I'm so sorry Ace." He swallowed. "They're gone."

Chapter Text

Luffy watched as Franky worked on his design. It was the third one he had started since Luffy woke up. None were perfect, he said. Luffy wasn't entirely sure why he was even making these designs since he insisted he wasn't a shipwright.

Luffy had the suspicion that wasn't entirely true.

He had been with the strange man and his even stranger friends for three days, and Luffy felt so much better. The fever had finally gone down and his body hurt a lot less. He still couldn't move around much as his legs still hurt, and he got tired a lot faster than he was used to.

They hadn't been able to open the cuffs, though. So that sucked. Franky said something about how sea rock is too hard to break and that those locks are made so that they're harder to pick. So they were still blocking his devil fruit and making him woozy. They were really tight too and would even start to bleed when moved around too much.

But compared to that first day, he was way better.

The Square Twins even let him walk around the house now! They had been smothering since he woke up!

Apparently, all of them were really stressed because some famous pirate crew had docked on the Island and was doing weird things. He didn't know who, since they were oddly cagey about it, but they were keeping an eye on the crew. They just couldn't explain what they were doing. They were afraid things would 'escalator' soon or whatever.

Some of them dealt with stress in strange ways. Like the twins worrying over him, or Tamago rolling around the house. Zambai was knitting everyone scarfs, and Franky was making new designs.

He startled as Franky tore apart another page, muttering curses Luffy couldn't hear. The man was weird, although in a good way. He was glad he gave him a chance.

"Let's make a deal. I tell you why they want me dead, and you tell me why they're after you."

He hadn't been sure whether he could trust the man at first, but after hearing about his teacher, hearing the hurt in Franky's voice, Luffy was sure he was telling the truth. His instincts told him so.

Still, just like Franky hadn't told him the whole story, he hadn't told him much either. Only that it had to do with his dad. Then again, that was pretty much everything Luffy knew.

He still didn't get why it mattered who his dad was.

Franky clearly though so too. "Now that's a load of bull crap," he had said. "It's not a crime to be born."

It was nice to hear that. It meant that Luffy wasn't the crazy one for thinking this was weird. He had started to think that maybe… maybe it was his fault.

He had always thought that people being mad at Ace, just because of who his dad was, was just a really dumb idea Dadan had told Ace so he'd behave. Like her telling him that his pants would catch fire whenever he lied (which was dumb because he sucked at lying, and It really was Ace that stole her necklace). But apparently, they really were that dumb.

And people called Luffy stupid.

"What are you trying to do anyways?" Luffy asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Super not important," he said. like any other time Luffy had asked.

"Clearly," he mumbled.

"What was that, brat?"

"It's obviously important if it needs to be perfect," he said rolling his eyes, he flopped down on the bed, ignoring the slight twinge of pain from his shoulder and stared up at the guy. "Stop being an idiot and just tell me."

"And why would I do that, huh?" Luffy though that he was oddly defensive so someone who told him his biggest secret just days ago.

"Why not?" He asked. "It's not like I'm going to make you stop. I'm just curious."

The man frowned down at him for a moment. "It's nothing, really," he insisted, voice oddly serious for him. "Just an old dream I can't let go of." That caught Luffy's attention. "It's not like I'll ever build this thing, but I can't help but think it's possible."

"Of course it it!" Luffy said. "There's no such thing as impossible." That was one of the lessons Shanks had taught him early on, after his stories seemed too unreal for little him. "What's it supposed to do that seems so impossible anyways?"

"You know how I told you about Tom? about how they accused him of a crime so that they could get the blueprints?" Luffy nodded. "Well that crime was building the Oro Jackson. Gold Roger's ship."

"Really?" he asked in wonder. "Did he actually build it?"

"Of course!" Franky grinned. "That ship made it to places most of the world will never even know exist. I want to make one that's even better than that. A ship that can sail every sea on this world, reach every Island. The SUPERRR ship of dreams."

Luffy grinned widely, ignoring Franky's surprised look. "Then it's a good thing we met, huh?"

"And why's that?" Franky asked with a raised brow.

"Because I'm gonna be the next king of pirates!"

"You?" he asked, amused. Luffy nodded. "You know that's gonna be really dangerous right?"

"I know."

"You might just die," he said, more serious now.

"That's okay."

Franky blinked. "Okay?!" he asked. "You might actually die, kid. Like the journey here was nothing compared to what you're going to face out there."

Luffy frowned at him. "I don't mind dying for my dream."

Franky gaped at him. "But… why a pirate?"

Franky stared at the kid. The brat was staring right back, as if he was the one not making sense.

"Pirates are free," he said, as if that explained anything. "The Pirate King is the freest man on earth."

The kid gave him another wide grin, eyes practically glowing with excitement and determination. "That's gonna be me."

Franky observed the kid that had been on death's door not even a week ago. That had woken up with fearful eyes and a tension in his shoulders that said he was ready to bolt at a moment's notice. That carried pain that the kid himself couldn't understand or explain.

That kid that, up until a minute ago, hadn't smiled once, that was grinning up at him, arms braced on the headboard of his bed.

Franky looked at this child, fourteen years old, and with a round, innocent face that, now that he had seen it, was clearly made for wide smiles and toothy grins, and tried to see a pirate. A pillager. A killer.

He couldn't see it.

Then again, that's apparently not what the kid believed pirates were.

So he tried to see someone free. Someone so strong that even the wildest people on earth would bow before. A king. The freest man on Earth.

He tried to see someone who could command a ship made of dreams, and lead it to the furthest parts on earth.

Yeah, he thought, grinning back at him. That, I can see.

Chapter Text

Three days.

Three days of checking every train, every ship, every harbor.

They even checked the ticket registry for that train Luffy was on. The registered cargo was all clean. They went to each house. Each hospital and doctor's office.

No marine activity. No Cypher Pol agents that weren't already there before, and those acted like normal. No Pirates acting weirdly.

Nothing.

Somehow, Luffy got off that train and vanished.

Sabo sighed for the hundredth time that day, watching Ace pace around their hideout. His brother hadn't left his side once since their reunion, something he can't fault him for, Sabo would have braved demanding access to the Moby Dick from the strongest man in the world to stay with Ace, too. The Whitebeards did however regularly sent someone, usually one of the commanders, to check up on Ace, something he approved of.

Seas knew his brother needed some sort of normalcy in all this.

Sadly, Sabo was right in assuming that scent wouldn't help them much. Somehow the smell of that weird flower had spread to the whole island, albeit fainter. Any actual trail just lead them to Ace.

Either Luffy ran wildly through the city, which he doubted as they have yet to actually spot him, or someone who had direct contact with him did.

That was more likely, but there was no single individual he noticed sticking out at any of the locations. Especially since most of the Whitebeards didn't carry that scent either.

The only thing that seemed to be everywhere were shipwrights and criminals, and those were unfortunately not involved. He checked. Nicely. No broken bones involved (They weren't needed as Ace was practically radiating "lie and I will break you" vibes) He had even broken into the Mayor's office for a chat so Galley-La was sadly uninvolved as well.

Iceburg was oddly cooperative. Sabo wondered if they could get him as an ally. Then again, maybe he'd make himself less likeable when he told him that his secretary was obviously spying on him.

Luckily, Shanks was due to arrive the next day, meaning they soon had proficient haki users that actually knew what Luffy's presence felt like, rather than running through the streets and taking a guess.

Ace, who was the last of them to see Luffy and therefore had the best chances to recognize him, wasn't good at observation and Sabo sadly didn't have haki at ten years old. The others in his team or on Ace's crew never even met Luffy so they didn't know what to look for.

"Ace," he called, making him stop his pacing. "Wanna go out?" They both clearly needed something to do.

"Yeah," he breathed. "I think Izou said something about going shopping today. Wanna join him?"

"Sure." He could deal with Izou. Izou was nice. And as a big brother himself, could relate to how they were feeling.

He watched Ace as he put on a vest, having agreed that they shouldn't draw too much attention to the fact that a known revolutionary and an infamous pirate were working together.

In fact, as they were the only ones that could recognize Luffy by sight, they were the only ones that didn't have any markings. Including the Revolutionary mark Garp had assured them Luffy knew.

After all, Luffy should be able to recognize at least Ace.

It didn't take them long to find the other pirate. And while the market area was always overfilled, Izou had a tendency to stand out in a crowd. He wasn't alone, either. Haruta was actually with him, although the younger commander seemed to serve more as a pack mule than anything else.

"Hey," Ace greeted as they approached.

"Ace! How's it going? Any news?" Haruta asked.

Ace groaned, frustrated, making the other pirates wince. "It's like he was swallowed by the ground!" The thought made his brother freeze, glancing towards one of the canals.

"Hack checked," Sabo assured him. "Not in there."

"Well that's something at least," Ace grumbled. "Would be typical of Luffy to do something as stupid as drown after all the trouble we had finding him."

Sabo frowned thoughtfully. "Does he still get eaten as much as back then?"

"What?" Haruta asked.

"Unfortunately," Ace admitted. "But he can get himself out, usually."

"Hmm… maybe we should check the yagara clinic."

"Every time I hear you two talk about that boy I dread the day we finally meet him just a little more," Izou commented, earning himself two identical grins.

It was then that he noticed something behind the commanders.

At the corner of a house was a glint if metallic black. He could only get a glimpse of it through the crowd, and the noise if the market meant that listening for it would be useless as well, however, his haki told him that there were two people standing there.

Watching them.

"Ignore them," Izou said. "They like to keep an eye on Pirates in the area. Partially to try and get a haul off them, and partially to see if they're a threat. It's not surprising that this city's underground watchdogs are stalking us."

Of course, he thought, relaxing. The Franky family. They were officially registered as ship dismantlers, but it was an open secret that most underground trade went through them. They hated pirates so it made sense that the emperor's crew would be watched.

Still, something bugged him about them.

Ace stayed on high alert, despite Izou's reassurances. If Sabo caught onto something, it was worth being prepared.

He knew his brother. Sabo was careful, not paranoid. Whatever it was he was thinking about, was important.

Ace survived most of his childhood because of his brothers' instincts. But while Luffy had a sixth sense about things, Sabo saw connections no one else did. Luffy could tell whether a person was bad news because he could feel it, Sabo could tell you just how dangerous a man was because of the color of his boots and what perfume he was wearing.

"Could you carry this?" Izou asked, handing him a shopping bag. On one hand, he appreciated them trying to keep him busy. On the other, he was busy trying to read his brother.

It hurt to admit it wasn't as easy as when they were kids.

It was then, that Sabo froze, eyes widened with realization. "Could we take a detour?" he asked.

Izou frowned while Haruta despaired at having to walk for even longer. "What's the matter?"

"I want to test a theory," Sabo replied.

The four of them soon found themselves in a yagara gondola, heading for another part of town. Both of Ace's shipmates tried to pry Sabo's thoughts from him but Ace waved them off. There was no getting through him when he got like that.

Soon enough, they disembarked again and followed Sabo to various stalls. It was clear that he was stalling, waiting for something. When Ace caught a glimpse of the same black uniform from earlier, he knew what he was waiting for. Once the men caught up to them, while still trying to hide, Sabo continued guiding them.... somewhere.

Soon enough, Ace spotted a pair of masked men wandering the streets in front of them. The masks weren't out of place. This was Water 7, after all, but Ace realized he knew those particular ones.

They're the one's Hack and Arthur used.

Ace watched as Sabo took off his hat, twirling it in one hand while the other mussed up his hair. His brother's eyes were firmly on the two men and he could swear they nodded back.

Were they communicating? Some kind of hat-based-code?

Who was he kidding, of course they were.

The two passed them without further fanfare and they kept walking, browsing through the various stalls. After a while, he saw the pair was in front of them once again, loitering near a bar. Ace realized then that they had circled the entire block, ending up where they had started.

The larger of the two, Arthur, casually scratched his chin. Something he probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been watching them so intently. The movement made Sabo's breath hitch.

His brother stopped in front of their yagara, head tilted forward, he grasped the brim of his hat, hiding his face, but Ace could see him smirk. He knew that move. It was the same gesture he used to make whenever he successfully picked someone's pocked without notice.

The look of a cat that successfully lead a mouse into a trap.

When their eyes finally met, Ace knew he was right. Sabo just got exactly what he wanted, and right now, that could only mean one thing.

Sabo just figured out where Luffy was.

He tilted his head in a way that meant "what's the plan?" A gesture that came as natural to Ace as skinning an alligator.

The answering grin he got in return was just as dangerous as he remembered.

Chapter Text

Ace did his best to hold back his fire as he stared down the best clue they had to find his brother.

The cyborg was scowling at them, clearly trying not to be intimidated by the pirates in front of him. Ace couldn't blame him. He'd also be worried with four commanders of an emperor's crew, one of the more infamously volatile crewmates and a few members of the revolutionary army staring them down (not that the knew the latter, of course).

The plan seemed to be working though.

Marco was talking. Something about why they were following them, although Ace wasn't really listening.

He was focused on Sabo, slowly and without anyone seeing him, making his way to the rooms behind the men. How no one could notice him, he didn't know.

Then again, Marco, Jozu, Thatch and Vista were doing their best to keep everyone's eyes on them. Others, were just blatantly staring at Arthur and Hack, clearly never having seen a fishman and/or mink. Some were even staring at Koala, although most of those were just confused about the sweet-looking girl standing in the middle of their strange group.

And that's not to mention Ace regularly popping sparks whenever someone got to close to his brother (completely on purpose, of course, and had nothing to do with his heart racing faster than was normal).

The plan was simple.

Sabo figured out that while they did check every name and registered cargo on that train, the Franky Family, who often dealt with the city's underground, likely wouldn't register neither. That combined with the fact that traces of Luffy's scent were all over the city, lead to the conclusion that the Family might have spread it while stalking his crew.

So when Arthur confirmed that he scent was coming from them, Sabo immediately asked to talk to Marco and set this whole thing up.

They would distract the Family, while Sabo searched the house. Simple, effective, and would allow them to get Luffy out in case the men had hurt him, before Ace torched this mess of a house. The revs were there as backup and to interpret Sabo's signals. Apparently, one kind of whistle meant 'enemy' while the other, absolutely identical sounding one meant 'friend'.

Ace was glad he chose to be a pirate rather than a rev cause he would so mess that up like, all the time. Although making a career out of fucking up rich people was indeed perfect for his brother. He was glad he had found his calling, even if it meant that they would likely never be pirates together.

A few minutes of debating later, and he finally heard the signal.

Ace made himself ready for whatever it meant.

Sabo's heart started pounding in his chest the moment he got close to the house (if it even could be called that), haki picking up on the presence, the person sleeping in one of the backrooms.

While many believed armament was his specialty (Due to his fighting style, mostly), it was actually observation. He worked on his observation haki until he could feel and recognize every person on Baltigo.

Many called him obsessed or paranoid, but it made sense to those that knew him best.

Sabo was already an observant person. He was taught to recognize a person's importance in court from their appearance, speech patterns, and behavior, and treat them accordingly. He had learned to read his parents' emotions, and judge how safe it was to talk, to eat, to exist. He had watched thugs and criminal's patterns, and recognized when he could attack or steal from them.

It was those skills that made it possible to become close to his brothers.

Ace only ever showed two emotions, anger and smugness. And yet, Sabo could see the slight twitch of his mouth that said he was happy. He recognized the furrow in his brows that said he was hurt. He knew that his punches meant that he cared, that his scowls meant he was scared, and that his complaints hid his relief.

And Luffy, who was so expressive. Who always smiled and cried and laughed. Who everyone thought was a clueless, innocent, happy child. Whose laughs hid his loneliness. Whose smiles meant so many things that no one ever saw. Whose tears showed how happy he was to no longer be alone.

His brothers, who no one understood, despite it being so easy.

And even after he had lost his memories, he observed. He weighted his options, debated on how safe it was to speak. He saw Koala's smile freeze on bad days. He could feel Kuma's softness under his stony appearance. Iva's concern under his boastful cheers. Dragon's care under his cold exterior.

It was because of his observant nature that losing his sight was so devastating.

While he could still recognize vague shapes, and see some light, his left eye was nearly useless in his day-to-day life. There was no fixing it, either, since the scarring was too debilitating.

A small price, they had said, seeing that the blow could've killed him. Sabo, who was left with no memories, no family, no purpose in life, and had just lost the one thing that had given him everything, disagreed.

That Sabo thought that he would've been better off dead.

But Dragon had given him a new purpose. Koala had given him a new Family. Iva had given him the chance to make new memories. And so, he carried on.

And finally, Kuma had given him observation.

He had mentioned it, casually, during one of their many lessons. The other children didn't even catch it, but Sabo was Sabo and noticed.

And asked.

And begged.

And was told he wasn't ready, and that he would learn it in time. They agreed his training would start when he was fourteen.

So Sabo did what Sabo did best and disobeyed. He watched. And learned. And practiced. And perfected. He watched the adult's training sessions. Learned from the books in the library. Practiced with Koala, despite her protests. And he was good. 

It took him theww months to feel people near him. The first time Sabo had sensed someone approach him from his left, he cried tears of relief. Of course, Betty had panicked, thinking something had happened, but Sabo had just shook her off.

He had found a way to see again. So he got even better and learned how to sense as much as he could.

By the time he was thirteen, he could sense about half of the people on the base. By the time his training would have started, he learned to read and recognize emotions and feelings.

At eighteen, he was one of the best observation users in the army.

When he finally got his memories back, he felt blind all over again.

He could sense almost everyone on Water 7. He could feel everyone, adult and child and everything in between. Everyone who was in pain, hungry, lonely, sad, desperate. And yet, he still couldn't find his brother.

But now, approaching the first building he had ever been glad about not being able to see properly, there it was.

A presence. Small, but not a child. Thin. Hungry. In pain. Lonely. Sad. Desperate. All those things he had felt scattered around the island. And yet, there was something else.

Anger. Hope. Determination.

And behind all of that was Fire.

He knew that fire. Recognized it from various opponents he had faced before. Felt it whenever he was near Dragon. Saw it every time he looked at Ace.

Sabo called it the burning crown. The feeling of conqueror's haki waiting to be released.

Dragon was a furnace. Strong, yet controlled. Whitebeard, from the brief glimpes he got from the man, was a bonfire. A hearth one could find refuge by. Ace was a wildfire. Uncontrolled, unstoppable.

This?

This was the sun. Bright. Warm. Free.

He grinned.

If that wasn't Luffy he'd eat Ace's boots.

Chapter Text

Luffy groaned, his body protesting as he shifted. Somehow, he felt worse than the day before. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Maybe he overdid it. But he and Franky were having so much fun designing more and more ridiculous ships, that he might've forgotten to take it easy.

Either way, he felt terrible. It didn't feel like the fever, luckily, but something was bothering his body. His hands were swollen and hot. The cuffs dug into his pulsating skin. It felt like they were on fire.

Other than his hands, he felt cold. He was shivering and shaking, but it didn't matter how much he curled up, nor how deep he dug himself into the blankets Franky gave him, he was still freezing.

He felt weak, too. Kind of like that first moment he got those damn cuffs. He had gotten used to them weakening him but now, every movement felt as if he was moving through mud.

He let out a small whine as the pain spiked again.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" someone asked. He didn't recognize the voice, but he hadn't heard anyone in the Franky Family speak so softly. Then again, maybe he just didn't hear them over the noise of the others.

He slowly blinked his eyes open, something he never thought would be so exhausting. The person slowly came into focus. He was tall, the top hat on his head making him look even taller. His blond hair hung in loose curls, reaching his chin. He was wearing a long, black coat over a blue vest and white dress shirt, held together with a belt over his waist. The vest had silver flowery patterns (something to do with bro-code or whatever, he remembered, his brothers had told him about that once) and the shirt was decorated with a frilly white cravat.

He should be worried. Probably. This guy definitely wasn't part of Franky's gang. The clothes gave that away if nothing else. But something, maybe the way he looked and dressed so much like him, made him feel so safe.

Actually, now that he thought about it, that definitely should worry him. Did anyone know about him? Had They found out who his brothers were, and were trying to trick him? Had he put Ace in danger too?

The man slowly sat at the edge of the bed. Luffy watched him intently. He was nervous. Luffy could tell. How, he didn't know, since his face was a perfectly neutral mask, but it was clear as day to him.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, studying him.

Luffy thought about it for a second and decided that his instincts liked the guy well enough. "Hurts," he mumbled out.

The guy frowned a bit. It looked like Sabo's frowns. "What does?"

"Hands."

Not-Sabo helped Luffy sit up and gently took one of his hands in his. "This one?" he asked gently.

"Yes. Both."

The guy nodded and gently started unwrapping the bandages, revealing a mess of dark bruises and red skin. His wrists were swollen around the thin bands, almost swallowing them. His skin was dark and shiny, turning an angry red further down.

The man cursed under his breath. "Seastone, I'm guessing?" Luffy nodded. "Don't worry, we'll have these right off." He then pulled two thin metal needles and gently started working on the locks.

"Franky said you can't pick them."

"I'm not surprised," he hummed. "These locks are special. You need to know what you're doing."

There was something in the guy's eyes. An icy rage that felt so painfully familiar. It was the same anger that Sabo had when he patched Luffy up after the Porchemy thing. But how come this guy look so much like his brother? Was it really just a trick?

"Is Franky your friend, then?" Not-Sabo asked after a bit.

"I decided that he'll be on my crew one day." The words made the guy smile for some reason. "He'll be the one to build my ship."

"I wasn't aware he's a shipwright."

"He's not. At least that's what he's saying. I think its bullshit, though."

The man chuckled. "You would know best, I suppose." He then let out a short whistle and continued working. 

Before he could ask, he heard a quiet click. Immediately, the burning turned into a pulling sensation as the blistered skin stuck to the metal. The man slowly removed it, doing his best to not further injure the skin. The area was red and puffy. Clear liquid oozed out from under the loose skin. He could see red flesh underneath and blood crusting the edges.

"Hmm, at least it's not infected," he said. "Although it's definitely not pretty. Especially considering you were being exposed to the seastone directly, rather than it just touching the skin.

Luffy hissed in pain as the man cleaned the injury, wrapping it with fresh bandages that were laying around. His face was set in a focused grimace. It was a face he had seen too many times in the past to be coincidence. There was no way this guy just happened to look like that.

Luffy frowned. "Why?" he managed to croak out.

"Hm?" he asked, looking up. The confused look was so familiar, it hurt…

"Why do you look like him?" he demanded.

The man's face softened, something filling his eyes that Luffy couldn't read. "Your name is Luffy. Your favorite color is red, because it reminds you of the time you spent with Shanks. Your favorite food is meat on the bone, although your favorite meat is alligator, you used to insist on having it almost every day." Luffy felt his throat tighten. How did he know that?

"Your favorite game is tag. You love to draw, although you're not very good at it." He finished wrapping his wrist before moving on to the other one. "You love to tease Ace, but pranking the bandits is even more fun. You want to be a pirate. You promised Shanks you would one day be greater than him. That promise is why that hat is your treasure." Luffy didn't even feel the pain anymore as he removed the second cuff. Although he did feel some of his strength return.

"You want to be free, and are planning on doing whatever it takes to achieve that. You will one day be the Pirate King, although Ace will deny it until the day it happens." He finally looked up, eyes trained on his.

"Your greatest fear is to be left alone." Slowly, a gloves hand reaches out for him. "You're a crybaby. But you hate crying alone." That gloved hand wiped away a tear. He hadn't even noticed he was crying.

Could it really be?

He pulled out a piece of cloth. A familiar symbol of a dragon was painted on it. His dad's symbol. "Eight years ago, you thought your brother died. But he didn't. Your father was there to save him in time, but he had lost all of his memories. He didn't know he had anyone left that cared about him. Not until just a few weeks ago, when he was asked to join an important mission." They were both crying now.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there Luffy."

That settled it. Luffy jumped at his brother, holding on as tightly as his throbbing hands would let him.

He sobbed as Sabo's arms wrapped around him. He had thought he would never feel his hugs again. He felt safe. He didn't even jump when someone started yelling outside, knowing that Sabo would never let anyone hurt him.

The door burst open and he mourned the loss of warmth when Sabo turned towards it. He whined as he felt his brother try to get up, not wanting Sabo to leave him again.

"It's okay Luffy," he said. "I'm not going anywhere. There's just someone else that wants to see you."

Luffy didn't want to move. He wanted to be selfish and stay curled around his big brother forever, but Sabo wouldn't say that if it wasn't important. So he let go. When he finally turned to look he froze at the person standing there.

"Ace?" he asked desperately. His eldest brother was standing there, leaning in the door frame. He was shirtless, for some reason, breathing heavy as if he had been running. "Ace!"

Luffy didn't need to move. The moment he had called Ace rammed into him. For the first time in years, Luffy was sandwiched between his big brothers.

He didn't hold back his cries then. Sitting there, with two pairs of arms wrapped around him, he was as safe as could be. He let loose, releasing all the pent up grief, fear and pain he had felt the last couple of weeks.

He cried and screamed and held on tightly to any part of his brothers' he could reach, sobbing in relief as his arms finally stretched the way there were supposed to. Neither of his brothers complained about his crying. Luffy didn't comment on the wet spots he could feel where they kept their faces pressed into him.

Right then, it didn't matter that they were crying, or that they could still be in danger. It didn't matter that he still didn't understand why any of this even happened. It didn't matter that he would need to tell them what happened.

Right then it was just Ace, Sabo and Luffy.

Just like it was always meant to be.

Chapter Text

He didn't know how long they sat there, just holding each other.

They had stopped crying, eventually. But neither of them really talked. They just sat there quietly, finding reassurances in each other's presence.

"Oof." Looking up, he saw that Ace had gone lax, most of his weight dropping on Luffy.

Sabo chuckled. "Looks like his narcolepsy finally got to him. I was wondering how much longer he could last without some proper sleep."

"Ace wasn't sleeping?" Luffy asked, frowning up at him as he adjusted Ace to lean on his shoulder rather than squishing their little brother.

"He was worried. We all were," he admitted, not wanting to lie to him.

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. " He shifted so Luffy could rest his head in his lap. "You did everything right. I was quite impressed you were able to outsmart some of the worlds finest spies." Including some allies that would be getting extra training.

Luffy giggled. The quiet hissing of his laugh sounded like music to him. "I did what Sabo taught me!" he said proudly.

"You did! And I couldn't be more proud." Even if it did cause him gray hairs… "Get some rest Lu, We're not going anywhere until Ace wakes up anyway."

Luffy didn't sleep, not really. He could tell that his brother was just dozing, startling awake often and making sure he and Ace were still there. Sabo could relate. He told himself he was standing guard, that they weren't truly safe yet.

But they were amongst allies. The Franky Family were confirmed as friendlies, there were multiple high ranking pirates ready to fight should someone attack, and his most trusted companions were just a few rooms away. They were as safe as they could be.

He knew deep down that he was awake for the same reason Luffy was, the same reason Ace would be if he had actually been taking care of himself.

It just felt too good to be true. Sabo felt that, if he were to fall asleep, he'd wake up back on Baltigo with no memories, wondering who he really was. As if fate would reveal that all of this was just a dream.

So he sat there, relaxed but alert, idly stroking a hand through Luffy's hair, making sure he felt his presence.

After a while, someone knocked on the door. Koala didn't wait for a response, marching in with confident, but quiet, steps. For a moment she just stood there, watching them with soft eyes.

"I wonder what the new recruits would say if they could see you like this," she joked. Sabo smiled at her. Sabo was known to be a tough teacher with rather questionable training methods. Just another thing that made sense, now that he knew how he grew up. Either way, they were terrified of him. He found it hilarious.

"Don't ruin my street cred," he said as she pulled out her visual den-den for a quick picture. He'd have to ask her for a copy later.

"As if you have any, Goldilocks." He ignored Ace snorting into his shoulder as he pouted at her.

"You're so mean to me all the time…" Even Luffy was giggling into his shirt now. Traitors, both of them. "Anyway, what's up?"

"The Red Force was just spotted a few hours out." Luffy perked up at that, turning to stare at Koala with wide eyes.

"Shanks is here?"

Koala smiled at him. "He sure is. Or at least he will be soon."

Luffy then frowned. "But I'm-"

"Not a pirate yet," he interrupted. "So that part of your promise isn't active yet." Luffy frowned at him, knowing very well that was BS. "At least, that's what Shanks said." It was what they had agreed on telling him, if nothing else.

Luffy pouted at him for a little longer before seemingly accepting his answer. He was soon back to being excited at seeing his hero again.

"Marco and the others asked if we should start leaving soon," Koala continued. "The marines are probably stressed enough with two emperors on a collision course, we don't want them to escalate here."

"Probably a good idea," Sabo agreed. "We'll be down in a bit."

Koala smiled at them, sending him another soft smile. "I'm happy you three found each other again," she finished. She left before either of them could respond but he could feel Ace grin.

"You sure you're just friends?"

Sabo blushed, startled by the question. Something Luffy unfortunately saw, judging by his gasp. "Does Sabo have a girlfriend?"

"I do not have a girlfriend!" he insisted, making Ace laugh.

"Nah, he just wants a girlfriend," he teased, dramatically flopping over him.

Sabo pushed him off. "I do not. We're just friends." He then turned to Luffy, still giggling in his lap. "Really," he stressed. Luffy didn't listen.

"Sure Bo," Ace said. "Whatever you say."

Marco looked up as the girl- Koala- came back. Her face was flushed, for some reason. Marco could only hope that it wasn't because Ace said something stupid to embarrass her. She seemed like someone you didn't want as an enemy. "What did they say?"

"They'll be down soon." Marco nodded, ignoring the squeakiness of her voice. Thatch, another idiot he should worry about, didn't have that sense, snickering quietly.

He just wanted it known that he would not be defending his brothers should she choose to make their lives miserable.

Marco sighed as he watched the Franky Family…. do whatever it was they were doing. They had all been acting weird since Ace had stormed out of the room. Franky, who had followed him had returned with a black eye, proclaiming something about how brotherly love was a beautiful thing and that he was definitely not crying (he was).

After that, they had started some weird dance party.

They were a strange group.

And exhausting to deal with.

He was also not looking forward to a meeting with the Red Haired Pirates. Those were always messy. Hopefully no one would start anything with a starry eyed kid running around (he would also not be defending anyone from said kid's brothers should they mess with him).

"What's the matter, Marco?" Vista asked, lounging on the sofa across from him.

"You think Pops is gonna try to adopt that brat?"

"Most likely. Why?"

"I feel like we have at least two people that might not like that idea…"

"Pops can take them," Jozu assured.

"Maybe," Marco answered. "But if pops fought the kid's other possible dads, he might make him sad. I don't want to be the one to tell Ace that pops made his precious little brother sad."

Thatch shivered. "Absolutely not. Ace was bad enough the first time around. I'm not doing that again. Especially since there's two of them now."

"I don't know," Vista mused. "Sabo seems like a reasonable kid." Marco ignored Koala's snort. He wasn't opening that can of worms. "At least he won't set himself on fire to get a point across."

"I fear your expectations in the commander are too high," Arthur admitted. And the can was opened…

"One time, a group of guards caught and surrounded us at the edge of a cliff. The drop was several hundred feet straight down into a frozen wasteland. Sabo's solution was to cause an avalanche. His argument was that unlike those guards, we were competent enough to not get buried," Hack added.

"I mean, he wasn't wrong…"Koala admitted.

"Still."

"Or that time he ran a barricade by himself," Arthur said.

"Oh yeah, he had three broken ribs."

"That's not too bad," Marco said.

Koala chuckled. "Oh no, he had those before he ran in. He's a reckless idiot with a high pain tolerance. Terrible combination, if you ask me."

Marco thought about it for a second. Ace had told him that Sabo was the responsible one of the three. If Sabo was already considered bat-shit insane… and there were now three of them…

What had they gotten themselves into?

He knew it didn't matter, not really. They had chosen Ace as family and that meant that Ace's family was theirs as well. But he was allowed to worry. And he was definitely worrying.

Soon enough, he heard the three coming down. Ace and Sabo were bickering, something he had grown used to the last few days. The only addition were soft giggles filling the silences between.

Marco then finally saw him. The kid all of this was about.

The boy was walking between his brothers, barely reaching their shoulders, hiding just a little behind them. Wild black hair was sticking out in all directions, framing a youthful face. His large round eyes were scanning the area, something heavy nestled behind them. He was wearing the yellow vest Ace had had. It was too big, reaching his mid-thighs. The long sleeves were scrunched up at his wrists, clearly too long to leave loose.

He was clutching his brothers forearms, as if afraid to let go. Or maybe he just wasn't strong enough to walk by himself yet.

After all, the kid was thin, too thing for Marco's taste. And he was covered from head to toe in bandages.

The reminder made him simmer in rage. Those agents really saw this boy- this child- and thought he was a threat? That he needed to be eliminated?

"Luffy," Ace said, snapping him out of his thoughts. The boy, who had been staring at Marco intently, turned to look up at his brother. "These are Marco, Thatch, Vista, and Jozu. They're some of the commanders at the Moby." Marco saw his brothers perk up at the pride in Ace's voice. The boy just tilted his head and continued studying them.

When their eyes finally met, Marco felt himself tense. The kid's stare was heavy. It was a gaze he remembered the other one, Sabo, had as well. It felt as if they could see right through Marco, through his masks, and read everything there was to know about him.

Just like with Sabo, Marco held his gaze, and just like with Sabo, the kid eventually stopped and grinned widely.

It seemed he passed their tests. Whatever they were.

Sabo, smiling proudly at his little brother seemed to agree as well.

Marco smirked. Crazy or not, he liked these brats.

"Ne Ace, how come he looks like a pineapple?"

Nevermind.

Chapter Text

Ace watched Luffy Interact with the revolutionaries. He was glad that Hack and Arthur had come along since they were definitely more patient than, say, Namur, when it came to Luffy's… unique brand of curiosity.

Everything else had been dealt with, so Ace approached Franky, bowing deeply.

"Thank you for taking care of my little brother," he said. "And I'm sorry for hitting you…" In his defense, he had tried to keep him from his brothers. That black eye was him being nice.

"Nah, It's fine my guy. I get it." Franky grinned at him, no signs of malice or grudges visible in his face. "I probably would've done the same. Although maybe next time, fill us in about why you're here first."

"We will." Ace startled at his brother's appearance. He hadn't even heard Sabo approach. "Although, perhaps there are other ways to make up for it."

The man raised a brow. "What do you have in mind?"

"Luffy mentioned that you were a shipwright?"

"Nope. Ship dismantler," Franky insisted. "Haven't build a ship in years."

Sabo gave him a pressed smile. "Am I right in assuming that Franky isn't the name you were born with?" Ace frowned. No one else was paying them any mind, luckily. Clearly, this was something not as widely known as Sabo's casual tone implied.

Franky tensing the way he did confirmed that. "And why would you think that?" he practically growled.

"I haven't gotten to do proper introductions yet. My name is Sabo, I am the commander of the G-department of the Revolutionary Army. And I do believe we could offer you some information, if nothing else, Cutty Flam."

"How?" Franky, or maybe Cutty Flam, choked.

"I have my ways." Because of course he does.

Franky then righted himself. "What do you have, then?"

Sabo gave him a cold, satisfied smile before handing him a file. Where he pulled that from, Ace didn't know. He definitely didn't have it three seconds ago.

Franky's frown intensified as he read. "You sure about this?"

"Positive."

"Then I owe you my thanks. I'll be sure to let him know."

"You helped my brother. This is the least I could do. The file also includes a contact point, if you ever need it. Make sure no one finds it, please."

"They won't." He then opened his chest and placed the file inside of a- was that a fridge??

"Uh- what?" Ace stammered.

"Franky is a cyborg!" Luffy yelled, suddenly next to him. Man he really was off his game if he didn't notice Luffy approach. "Isn't that cool?"

"Very," Ace replied numbly.

"Incredibly so," Sabo agreed, much less surprised than he was.

"Yeah well, I already knew that I was SUUUUPEEER!" he yelled, striking a pose.

"It was a pleasure getting to know you," Sabo said conversationally as if they hadn't just exchanged sensitive information. "However, we probably should take our leave. The marines are certainly already restless."

"Yeah, you better not drag any uniforms into my city."

Sabo then bowed. Ace decided to mirror him. "Thank you again, I do hope we meet again someday."

"Of course you will!" Luffy said. "He's gonna be my shipwright."

"How many times do I have to say it, you damn brat! I'm not a shipwright and I'm not gonna be a pirate!"

"Sure you will," Luffy said cheerfully. "I already decided you're gonna join my crew."

"THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS!"

Ace chuckled at the exchange. "God, he's almost as bad as Red-Hair," Marco muttered.

"Nah," Ace laughed. "Luffy is so much worse."

Shanks frowned into his cup, annoyed. He had left the Red Force further behind to not cause panic and taken a small boat to meet with the Whitebeards. Now he had to pretend to be a good guest…

Well, he didn't. But he also didn't want to start a war. Yet. He had to make sure he could grab Luffy and get him to the Red Force before anything escalated.

And sure, he could've stayed back and waited for them to meet him there, but he also didn't trust Newgate to not steal Luffy. Or worse, corrupt him into joining his crew.

Ace was fine. Ace needed a family and a father figure.

Luffy already had one.

He tolerated Dragon visiting him. And his brothers were always welcome. But Luffy was his.

"So what can I expect from the kid?" Newgate asked. "Ace was a bit too tense to give proper answers."

"Luffy is special," Shanks admitted. "Full of joy, always open for an adventure and ready to cause chaos. He's determined and just a little hot-headed. He reminds me of Captain in the best ways, but also has that childlike innocence…"

"You think he's…" Newgate didn't say it, didn't need to, Shanks heard it loud and clear.

"Yes," Shanks determined. "He's the one."

Newgate let out a boisterous laugh. "Then I'm even more excited to meet him! Izou is already preparing a room for him." He ignored Beckman's sigh behind him, as his temper spiked.

"HE'S NOT YOURS TO KEEP!"

"Don't be ridiculous! His brother is already my son. It's only logical that I get a claim on the other two."

"No! Luffy is my kid! And I knew both brothers before you did."

"Gurarara, as if a brat like you is ready to be a father!"

"I'm literally in my thirties."

"Exactly!" Shank's eye twitched. "You're younger than most my children!"

"Maybe because you're old enough to be his grandfather!"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"You're- what? five years younger than his actual grandfather?!"

"Bah! As if age matters here. I have the experience needed to take care of a kid. You're a kid yourself most days!"

"Listen here you old-" Shanks blinked as his haki alerted him. It didn't take long for him to recognize the feeling. "One second," he told Newgate, who frowned confusedly at his shift in tone.

Shanks then calmly turned towards the island and braced himself for impact. He could see the questions the pirates around him had, but ignored them, readying himself to catch the projectile heading towards him.

He let out a quiet 'oof', as the yellow and blue blur collided with him, steadying it with his arm. A sense of relieve welled up inside of him, replacing the anger from before. He soon found himself wrapped up in rubbery limbs.

He had missed that feeling.

"Hello, Anchor," Shanks murmured into his kid's hair.

Luffy sniffed, shoulders shaking lightly. "Hey Shanks." The reply was muffled, the brat squishing himself into his chest. Shanks smiled softly at the extravagant hug. Some things really never changed.

"You okay?"

"I'm okay." It was clear he wasn't. Not physically at least. But that wasn't what Shanks had asked, nor was it what Luffy had meant.

"Luffy!" A scolding voice came from beyond the railing. Soon a frantic Ace popped over the edge, throwing himself over the barrier. "How many times do I have to tell you not to rocket towards water!" Sabo and the others followed soon after, although less frantic.

"At least his aim got better," Sabo said, amused.

"When he wants to…"

Luffy just turned his head 180 degrees, startling some of the nearby pirates, and stuck out his tongue at Ace.

"Oi!"

Luffy snickered, turning back and squishing himself into Shanks again. He just chuckled in response.

They both froze as Beckman cleared his throat. Luffy moved first, cautiously glancing over Shanks' shoulder. Luffy perked back up a second later.

"Hi, Beckman!" he called cheerfully, sending the man a bright grin.

His first mate melted immediately, his scolding frown turning into a soft smile. "Hello, Luffy. It's good to see you."

"Gurarara!" Shanks frowned at the interruption, remembering why he was upset in the first place. His annoyance spiked as Luffy unraveled himself, leaving Shanks to pout. Luffy stood next to him, staring up at Newgate curiously. "So you're Ace's brothers."

"Yeah!" Ace called proudly. "Guys, that's pops. Pops, these are my brothers, Sabo and Luffy."

Sabo bowed deeply. "It's good to properly meet you, captain Newgate."

Luffy just glanced between Ace and Newgate, clearly perplexed. Eventually his eyes met Sabo's who shrugged, amused.

"You don't have to be that surprised, you know?" Ace grumbled.

Sabo grinned. "You once broke someone's jaw for calling you 'son', and he called every kid 'son'. We're allowed to wonder how you haven't tried anything yet."

Newgate laughed. "He certainly did! Took three months and a hundred daily attempts on my life to get him to settle down."

Luffy nodded knowingly. "That's how he makes friends."

Thatch of the fourth division gaped. "You mean that's normal for him?"

Sabo smiled. "He actually mellowed out over the years. Used to be much worse."

Shanks grinned at how the pirates around them paled. Good. They deserved every bit of stress Ace brought them for trying to steal Luffy.

"I hate both of you," Ace grumbled, earning himself two bright grins from his brothers.

Newgate laughed. "You brats are certainly lively. Although," he studied Luffy, "I imagined you to be bigger."

Shanks frowned and wrapped a protective arm around Luffy, glaring at Newgate. The kid just tilted his head.

"I think you're just too big," Luffy said.

Newgate grinned. "Cheeky brat. Why don't you join your brother and become one of my sons?"

"Oi!" Shanks protested as Luffy frowned in confusion.

Beckman just sighed, shaking his head, while the kid's brothers laughed.

This would be a long day.

Chapter Text

They set sail soon after. Ace had tried his best to introduce the crew to them, but Luffy had stuck with Shanks and Beckman like glue, much to their brother's chagrin. It was rather amusing to watch, in his humble opinion.

Of course, none of them were far from one another. Luffy sat by Whitebeard's chair, next to Shanks. Ace regularly dragged someone by them to introduce them to Luffy, who was only half listening to him, more focused on the stories the old captain was telling them. Ace then dragged the poor pirate to him and the revolutionaries to introduce them again before running off to catch another poor soul.

"And this is Deuce. He was my first mate before joining. Deuce, this is my brother, Sabo."

"My condolences," Sabo greeted, startling a laugh from the man.

"Rude," Ace muttered.

"Don't even start," Deuce retorted. "Any advice on how to deal with him? He keeps getting into increasingly ridiculous situations"

Sabo grinned. He liked the guy already. "There's really no helping that, I fear. All I can say is keep an eye on him, make sure he's fed and took his naps."

"Why does it sound like you're describing how to care for a toddler?" Ace grumbled.

"Your words, not mine."

"Got it," Deuce said, taking notes. Ace gaped at his friend's betrayal before slinking off to bother Luffy again. "Anything else?"

"I don't understand why everyone always makes such a big deal out of this. They're both very easy to understand."

"For you, maybe," Koala muttered behind him.

"They are!" Sabo insisted. "Look," he pointed at his brothers, both of whom had sat down to listen to shanks recount one of his drunken tales. "Even Shanks figured it out, and he only knew Ace from one encounter."

"But that's 'cause they're basically the same!" Marco huffed. "I'm sorry I'm sane."

Sabo smirked. "Staying sane? On the Grandline? Seems overrated to me."

"That explains a lot, actually."

Sabo laughed.

Sabo wasn't surprised when Luffy rocketed onto the Red Force before they could lower the anchor.

He wasn't worried, he could feel Yassop had expected the action. Sure enough, the sniper caught Luffy before he could go overboard. Shanks frowned. "I can see how this stressed Ace out."

"You get used to it," Sabo answered the captain. "Ace is just not used to not being able to jump after him. He doesn't like not being able to protect Luffy."

That made Shanks grin again. "You boys really love him, don't you?"

"I doubt either of us would be here today, if we hadn't met him," he admitted. He smiled as he saw Dragon's ship moored onto Shanks'.

"Great, your men are here too," Shanks' grumbled, making him chuckle.

"They're not my men."

"Same difference," the captain shrugged. "I'll be honest, I never pictured me of all people working with you revs…" Sabo glanced at the man curiously. "A story for another day, maybe. Then again, he already knows it." Sabo could guess who 'he' was, considering how he spat the word out.

"You know, Dragon isn't too bad when you're not in a heated custody battle with him."

"Hah!" Shanks barked. "I know brat. Still, a strange situation we're in."

"Oh, definitely," Sabo admitted.

Soon enough, they reached the other two ships. Sabo observed the way the pirates sent his friends strange looks.

"How much do your men know?"

"The necessary," Shanks answered. "My commanders know everything. Everyone else really only knows that we're picking Luffy up. They probably don't understand why the three of us are working together."

Sabo nodded. That made sense. "Thank you. Dragon would like as few people as possible to know. At least until he's sure Luffy can take care of himself."

"Probably for the best," Shanks sighed. "Although, you might want to interfere there, then." Sure enough, Luffy was done greeting the pirates he knew and now had his eyes on Dragon and their allies.

Sabo felt his lip twitch at how Dragon froze under his son's gaze, nervousness radiating out from him.

"I should go save my boss, then."

Shanks laughed. "You do that. Newgate said something about having the relevant people meet in their conference room to hash out the details, so don't take too long."

Sabo blinked. "Pirates have those?"

"Just them, really. The crew's too big to not be organized. I think it's stupid but whatever keeps their boat afloat," he shrugged.

"I see…"

Luffy stared at the group. They clearly weren't part of the crew. Sure, he didn't know everyone- it had been eight years, after all- and the crew had grown a lot, but even the others were acting weird around them.

Those guys were probably Sabo's friends.

There were all kinds of people in the group. One looked particularly scary with his gray skin and feather coat. That must be the crow guy Sabo told him about!

All of them seemed to be rallying around one guy in particular. He was also the one getting the most stares.

Luffy frowned. He was probably their leader. The guy was wearing a dark green cloak. He had long shaggy hair. It was the face tattoo that caught his attention the most.

But if he was their leader, then that would mean…

Luffy left the guys at the forecastle deck and jumped down to the main deck, eyes locked on the man. They guy froze the moment his eyes landed on Luffy. No one else seemed to notice, though. It seemed... familiar?

Luffy tilted his head. He seemed nervous. Was Luffy right, then? Was this guy his father?

"You can approach him, you know?" Sabo said, as he jumped over from the bigger ship.

"Is he…"

"Yeah. That's Dragon. Do keep in mind that none of the others know that he’s... you know."

That made him pause. "Why?"

"The less people know, the better." Luffy considered that. Had no one known, then none of this would have happened, right? He frowned but nodded at his brother.

"I still don't get most of this, but okay."

Sabo smiled sadly at his words. "Come on, I'll introduce you two. I need to report to Dragon anyway."

Luffy followed his brother. His dad seemed to grow tenser as they approached. Luffy didn't know what to expect. Was he angry? Or was he scared Luffy would tell everyone?

"Sir," Sabo greeted, snapping his dad out of whatever he was thinking. His dad glanced over at Sabo, but his eyes quickly focused back on him.

Standing as close as he did, Luffy couldn't help but study his dad's appearance. He was taller than Luffy. By a lot. He was even taller than Sabo. His hair was just as black as Luffy's, and they had the same dark eyes. His face was serious, full of sharp lines where Luffy only had soft curves. Luffy could see lines on his forehead and around his mouth that looked like he frowned a lot.

It was strange. He remembered his grandfather’s face, obviously, and while they looked kinda similar, Gramps was all wide grins and smile lines.

He wondered if he'd grow up to look like his dad. He couldn't see too many similarities right then. Or maybe he'd be more like his Gramps? Did he look like his mom?

Luffy blinked. He had never thought about his mom before. She was only ever an abstract figure like his dad was- or rather, used to be. Should he ask his dad who his mom was? Would he answer?

"Luffy," Sabo said, making him flinch. Sabo had been saying something to his dad, but he hadn't been paying attention. "This is Dragon. Dragon, Luffy." Right, Sabo wanted to introduce them.

"Hi," Luffy said. Somehow, his voice didn't come out as loud as he wanted. He kinda wanted to hide behind Sabo. He felt kinda silly. He had never been this nervous before.

His dad gave him a soft smile, softer than what he had expected from such an intense looking guy. "It's good to finally meet you, Luffy."

Luffy's breath hitched. His voice sounded so relieved. When he heard who was involved in this whole thing, he had expected Shanks and Ace to worry. It was normal for family to worry about family. At least that's what Makino said, and Makino was always right. But he had never met his dad. His dad couldn't have seen him much either. Could he really care so much that he was this worried?

Sabo cleared his throat. "I'll let you two talk," he said as he made his way towards the old man's ship.

Luffy was surprised that they were practically alone on the deck now. Only Yassop and Lucky Roo were left on the upper deck talking to each other. Everyone else had left. Even on the bigger ship, only Ace and Sabo were seen on the railing.

Luffy frowned. He thought no one was supposed to know, so how come they were giving them space.

A deep chuckle made him turn back to his dad. "They probably assume we're talking about something else. My men at the very least know not to meddle. And I assume the pirates simply followed their crew onto the Moby Dick for drinks."

Luffy nodded. That made sense. Pirates loved to party.

"It really is good to meet you, Luffy," His dad continued, sighing. "I owe you an apology."

"What for?"

"So much. If it weren't for my actions, the government would have never set their sights on you. And because of that, I had to entrust you to my father. I left you alone. I knew he would be too busy to care for a child, but I wanted you to grow up safe, as far from the horrors of the world as possible. Moreover, when they did find out, I wasn't fast enough to interfere. If I had had more time…"

Luffy frowned. "Can you explain to me what they wanted? I still don't really get it…"

His dad sighed, gesturing towards the railing. Luffy sat on it next to where his dad was leaning. "Has Sabo told you a little about what we do?"

Luffy nodded. "You help people."

"We try at the very least. The World Government does things that hurt these people. Slavery, Genocide, Discrimination. These are all things that happen regularly and no one really knows, cares, or has the power to change. I wish to create a world where these things aren't an issue anymore. I know it's impossible to create a perfect world where no one suffers. But ideally, I would like a system where the people have a choice. Where people are free to decide what they want to do and who they want to serve."

"…A world where everyone is free?" Luffy said quietly. Maybe they weren't so different after all…

"Yes. However, the people in power want to stay in control. I fight them, and that is why they fight me. I'm a threat to their control. I know a lot of their secrets, that would make people lose faith in them. I free the ones they suppress. I give power to the powerless. I do everything I can, to weaken the control they have on this world."

"And they don't like that."

His dad chuckled. "No, they don't. I have made many enemies. I left you with dad to keep you away from all that. It broke my heart, but I needed you to be safe. I wanted you to be able to choose your own path in life away from our… more extreme surroundings. I'm sorry that meant I had to leave you alone."

"I hate being alone. More than anything." His dad flinched at that, pain shining in his eyes. "But I had Gramps. And Makino and the others. Then Shanks and his crew. Later Dadan and her guys, too. And Sabo and Ace… I wouldn't give that away for anything. It got lonely sometimes, yes, and I probably would have liked knowing I had a dad somewhere that cared… But in a way, I'm glad I grew up on Dawn. I… I'm gonna miss it. Them." Luffy tired his best not to cry.

He knew his brothers wouldn't judge him for it, not really. They'd tease him, sure, but it had been ages since Ace got genuinely angry at him for crying. But he had no idea how his dad would react…

"I'm sorry. I don't know how, but they found out about you. They wanted to use you to get to me. Everyone else…" he sighed. "They probably didn't want them to cause issues."

"Yeah…"

"I personally couldn't see Dadan not causing issues, at the least. I know how she could get."

"You knew her?" Luffy asked in surprise.

"Of course. I grew up with Dadan."

Luffy stared at his dad in amazement. Suddenly he remembered something. "You also saved Sabo, right?"

"Yes. Although, I was surprised that you two knew each other. I was worried due to the Celestial Dragon visiting. I figured they'd do something terrible for the visit… Sadly, I was right, considering the fire... And I wanted to be sure you would be safe as well. Dad had told me about your devil fruit, and I know they like exotic things." Luffy looked at him in surprise. He had practically growled that last part.

He wasn't sure what to focus on first. "Grampa told you about me?" he finally asked.

"Sometimes. We couldn't talk much since we were technically enemies. But he called to rant about Red Hair after he found out about that."

Luffy giggled. "Oh yeah, he was pissed."

"He was," his dad smiled.

"Hey, dad?"

"Yes, son?" he said, surprised.

"Can I give you a hug?" He wasn't one to ask, normally. But his dad didn't seem like a hugger. And he somehow really didn't want his dad to not like him.

Lucky for him, his dad didn't seem to mind, wrapping his arms tightly around Luffy. Luffy didn't hesitate to return the hug.

He decided he liked his dad's hugs. They were incredibly warm.

Luffy was surprised to feel his dad shake lightly. "Oh, my son," he cried softly. "I'm so glad you're alright." 

Luffy sniffled,no longer able to hold back the tears.

It's as if he just now realizing that this wasn't the end. He had lost a big part of his family, yes. Everything was different now. But that didn't mean it was the end. His family could still grow. He could still grow.

This was just the beginning.

"I wanted you to be able to choose your own path in life," his dad had said. It had taken him a bit, but Luffy finally realized that he could still do that. If his dad hadn't done anything wrong, then neither had Luffy.

And If Luffy had done nothing wrong… then he had nothing to regret.

He could still do it- he could still keep his promises. He could still live life to its fullest, no regrets.

He could still be free.

He could feel his heart beating loudly at this realization, filling him with a strength he didn't think he still had.

"Hey dad?"

"Yes, son?"

"I'm gonna be the freest man alive. I'm gonna become the pirate king."

"Yeah?" His dad sounded excited.

"Yeah. And then- Then I-"

Dragon felt his smile widen as he listened to his son. A dream worthy of the 'D' name, indeed.

"Son-" And if still felt amazing to be able to say that, to hear his son call him dad- "that sounds wonderful."

His son laughed. Even fourteen years later, it was still his favourite sound in the world. 

Chapter Text

They walked towards the meeting room together, with Ace leading the way.

The room was bigger than he had thought, high ceilings allowing even the tallest commanders to fit. The wooden walls were covered with maps, paintings and hung trinkets. At the center, illuminated by a chandelier, was a large table.

There were 17 chairs in various sizes. However, due to the extra people there, many of the more 'normal-sized' commanders chose to stand to offer their chairs to the other parties.

There were three sections in total. At the head of the table furthest from the door sat Whitebeard, surrounded by his commanders. The left side of the table was occupied by Shanks' party. The right had the revolutionaries standing around an empty chair that Dragon sat down on.

The other head had three empty chairs.

No one spoke as the three of them sat down, Sabo to the right with the revolutionaries, Ace to the left, and Luffy in the middle. The air was thick with tension, and no one seemed willing to break the ice.

Eventually, Whitebeard cleared his voice and spoke. "How about we start with introductions. While I know the brat and his other brats," he said, nodding at Shanks, "most of you are unknowns." His eyes were fixed on Dragon.

Sabo tensed. The identities of his friends were highly sought after information. He himself only had a vague description as a 'wanted' poster.

He saw Ace shift, turning towards him. Their eyes met and Ace nodded. Sabo relaxed minutely and repeated the motion towards his boss. He was glad that they only brought Karasu and the people some of the pirates had already interacted with.

"Very well," Dragon answered. "Although from the way your commanders are watching me, I assume they know who I am."

"Indeed," Commander Vista hummed. "It is hard not to, Dragon."

The man nodded, glancing at his Agents. Karasu stepped forward.

"I am Karasu, commander of the North Branch of the army, as well as communications officer." He then stepped back without another word.

"My name is Arthur," the bear mink picked up. "I am from the G-Branch and specialized in Search and rescue missions."

Hack stepped forward, speaking as calmly as always. "I am Hack. G-Branch fighter and fighting instructor."

"Koala. I work on Intel. Also G-Branch." Luckily, no one minded her clipped responses, although he did notice Commander Namur shift as he heard the last two introductions.

Sabo stood. "Some of you already know me, but for those that don't, my name is Sabo. Commander of the G-Branch. For those who do not know, I am also Ace's and Luffy's brother." He then bowed. "Thank you for taking care of our idiot brother."

"Oi," Ace grumbled as a few people chuckled.

"It's a pleasure to have him," Whitebeard said, making his brother blush.

"Right," Shanks spoke. "Does anyone here not know why we're here?"

Some of the Whitebeards exchanged looks. "Because of the kid, right?" Commander Atmos said, making Luffy flinch slightly.

He only relaxed when Sabo shifted to lean a bit closer to him, with Ace doing the same. "In a way," Sabo said.

"The three of them are brothers, however biologically, Luffy is my son," Dragon said stunning the ones that hadn't known yet. "Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, the government found out."

Whitebeard sighed. "And knowing just how much the government cares about stupid things like blood, they went after him, correct?"

"Yes," Sabo replied, not missing the way Ace's lips formed the tiniest of smiles. "However, there… is more to the story."

He looked towards his boss, not wanting to explain this again. Before Dragon could speak, Shanks beat him to it.

"The fuckers issued a Buster Call on their home island," the captain growled.

The room stilled. Many were frozen by the rationalization, others by grief. Luffy moved to raise his feet in front of him, leaning his head on his knees. Sabo hated how small he looked. He rested a hand on his brother's back.

Karasu then moved forward. "Reports from the E-Branch stated that the Agents Issued the Call nineteen days ago. The royal family as Well as the nobility were evacuated preemptively at noon-," because of course they were -while the attack began in the evening." He then paused to glance at Luffy. "No survivors have been found."

Sabo moved his hand in hopefully soothing circles on Luffy's back after he had curled himself further into a ball. He knew Ace would have helped, but judging from the way he gripped his chair's armrests and the smell of burned wood, he was right to stay away for now.

"All remains found were properly buried," Karasu finished solemnly.

"Fuckers," Commander Thatch spat. "All this for what?"

Because they can, Sabo didn't say. Because no one can stop them.

"Where?" a small voice asked. Sabo turned to find Luffy still curled up tightly, but glancing at Karasu. "Where did you bury them?"

Karasu straightened, looking at Luffy. "Six mass graves in the city of Goa, One for each of the villages. Several smaller ones scattered around the mountains." He hesitated. "Two on mount Colubo." Sabo clenched his jaw.

"One at the foot of the mountain's western side." The bandit hideout. "One further south-east."

Sabo furrowed his brows. South-east?

"At the tree house?" Ace asked numbly.

Luffy froze. Sabo felt the blood drain from his face. The tree house? They died at their treehouse?

He wanted to say something. Do something. Help his brothers somehow. All he could do was struggle to hold back the tears at the realization that Luffy might have lost everything at the base they had built themselves. At what was once their safe space.

"Tree house?" someone asked hesitantly. He couldn't make out who it was. It was as if the voice was muffled. He closed his eyes as the room began to spin, pressing his hand gently but firmly against Luffy's back. For a second, he wondered if he was trying to ground Luffy, or himself.

"Our tree house. We build it when we were kids. We haven't been there much since…" Since Sabo had 'died'. He felt the familiar guilt mix in with the horror from the reveal.

He felt Luffy take a shaky breath. Sabo opened his eyes again as he felt Luffy shift, straightening up a bit. He couldn't see his eyes from where he was sitting, but Sabo could tell something had shifted.

Slowly, Luffy reached back, grabbing the hat that was resting at his nape. Sabo absentmindedly noted that Luffy had yet to actually wear the thing on his head since they had reunited.

Luffy's hands shook as he settled the hat in his lap. Carefully, he reached towards the red band around the hat, pulling out a folded piece of paper.

"Makino wanted a picture," Luffy said. Had the room not been as quiet as it had, not even Sabo would have been able to hear the quiet admission. "She didn't have any with all of us."

And there they were. A young Ace, glaring at Sabo, arms crossed. Sabo smiling back cheekily. Luffy, arms hooked around their necks, pushing them together, his grin wide. Behind them, Makino held up a peace sign, smiling softly.

In the background, Garp and Dadan were seen yelling at each other, clearly drunk. Mayor Whooplash sat beside them, staring disapprovingly at the two. On the other side, Dogra was climbing on Magra trying to get away from a growling Pochi. Sabo found himself unable to look away.

He startled at a hand on his shoulder. Turning, he saw Koala giving him a soft smile. She had a pack of tissues in her hand. Sabo blinked, hand reaching to his face. He hadn't even noticed he was crying.

He gratefully took the tissues, taking one for himself before handing the rest to Ace who was no better off than him. Somehow, Luffy had been spared the tears. Look who's the crybaby now, he thought, smiling softly at the image.

Luffy was right- It was the only picture with all of them. He remembered that day clearly. It had been made a few days after they had become brothers. It was chaotic, the lighting was terrible, and out of all of them, only two were smiling, or even looking, at the camera.

It was very... them.

In other words, it was perfect.

Chapter Text

They took a moment to calm down. They eventually went back to the facts.

Garp had apparently been brought to Impel Down. Dragon had entrusted them with the knowledge that he had a contact there and would be able to get him out, if needed. Although for now, the old fart had refused help "from criminals" and had insisted that he was fine where he was.

Everyone had agreed that this was very like him.

After a while, Shanks started telling stories of when he had visited Dawn, of when he and Makino were together, taking care of an overly hyper Luffy. Eventually, Sabo and Ace joined with their own stories, and the mood slowly shifted.

Ace was glad. He was never good at handling the emotional stuff, and seeing Luffy smile about that time he and Yassop pelted Shanks with seashells for making fun of them was much better than seeing him cry. Not that he could blame him, Ace himself was a mess, and Sabo didn't look much better off either. It was much better to focus on happy thoughts.

Then it came, the question. What now?

It was clear that Luffy's heritage couldn't be made public. It was also clear that he couldn't be left without training and protection should the government find him again.

The obvious choice was to leave him with a trusted, powerful adult and their allies.

The problem was that there were three candidates that fit that description. With all three being more than willing to take him in.

Sure, having Luffy with Pops meant that Ace could see him every day again. He would have his little brother back, and have the chance of integrating him with his family on the Moby. He would love waking up to Luffy's rambles about food, to train with him, and to joke with him about the stupidest things again.

But, Sabo had just gotten them back. Sabo had already missed eight years with them and as much as Ace wanted to tie both of them up and never give them away again, he knew his brother had found his calling. He would never force him to give up all the stuff he had worked for for so long. But that didn't mean Sabo needed to be alone. He could have Luffy.

Begrudgingly enough, he could even understand that Dragon wanted to keep Luffy close after all this. He was his father and the man had proven that he cared about Luffy, if nothing else. And he'd have the best way of hiding Luffy completely rather than just protecting him when the need arose.

Of course, Shanks also loved his baby brother, and had also missed a lot of his life. He was the first that had met Luffy (except for Dragon) and the one that had shaped his dream. Shanks was a pirate, and would accept Luffy going his own way with little fanfare when the time finally came. He had territories that were unreachable for the government and lots of allies.

Now, while all of those were good arguments, that didn't justify whatever this was.

"I KNEW HIM FIRST, HE SHOULD STAY WITH ME!"

"KNEW HIM FIRST?? HE'S MY SON I WAS THERE AT HIS BIRTH!"

"WHICH IS PROBABLY THE LAST TIME YOU SAW HIM TOO!"

"Gentlemen, you seem to forget that you both left him. You had your chance, now i believe I should-"

"Absolutely not you boozed up geriatric!"

"Are you really who should be arguing about alcohol, Shanks?"

"Oh shut it, because you have such a good track record with babies, Dragon! Need I remind you-"

"Neither of you have proper experience on being a parent!"

Ace sighed. He had been fighting off another sleep attack since their breakdown and was starting to feel dizzy. Sabo had his hands pressed against his eye sockets as if he was trying to fight a migraine. Even Luffy was sagging into his chair and staring blankly ahead.

Clearly, they all needed a break.

"You think we could make it outside without anyone noticing?" he quietly asked his brothers.

"One of us? definitely. All of us? could be a challenge," Sabo answered.

"Can we try?" Luffy whined.

Sabo snorted. "You go first Lu, you need it most."

Luffy didn't hesitate, sliding of his chair completely and crawling towards the door. Barely anyone seemed to notice, only Marco turning towards him with a questioning look. Ace mouthed 'too much' at him, making him nod.

"So, who's next? Koala has me covered and it seems commander Marco is willing to do the same for you," Sabo said.

"Let's just go together."

Sabo sighed, relieved. "Fine with me."

Luffy took a deep breath once he was out. The air in that room felt heavy in a way he couldn't really explain.

He blinked at the crowd around the door. They stared back, frozen. Although some were- sleeping? Why were they just lying there?

"You have was too many children already, LEAVE HIM BE!" Luffy startled at the shouting behind the door. He had never heard Shanks this mad before. He wasn't sure whether to be touched that he cared so much, or annoyed at the headache it was giving him.

Luffy sighed, deciding that he didn't care about the gathered pirates and walked towards the upper deck. He had seen the ship's figurehead while rocketing by and wanted to check it out. It had looked like a whale which is awesome.

"Ah," he stopped as he reached the figure. Someone had already beaten him there, it seemed.

"Oh, well, hello there," the old man greeted. He had noticed him earlier, on Shanks' ship, but hadn't payed him much attention. "Glad to see you made it out of that mess. I can hear it from here…"

"Yeah, they're very loud."

The old man chuckled. "I can't blame them, I'd probably be just as heated if it came to my boys. Come, take a seat, I'm sure Moby would love the company."

"Moby?"

"The ship. This is the Moby Dick. It's been sailing these seas for longer than you have been alive."

"Oh… Nice to meet'cha, Moby!"

"You'd greet her, just like that?," he said, watching Luffy intently.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"She's a ship."

Luffy tilted his head. "Yeah, so? A ship is a part of a crew like any other member."

He grinned. "It seems Shanks was right, you really are something special."

"How'd you know Shanks, anyway?"

"He's one of my boys. My oldest son, if you will."

He felt his eyes bulge in surprise. "You're Shanks' dad?!"

"One of them, anyway. Although he calls himself more the Captain's son. Which makes sense, in a way, they were the closest."

"So Shanks has two dads?"

"Had, sadly. And, well, if you want to be technical about it, he had three. His biological father- although we don't really count him, seeing as he's a piece of shit- the captain, and me."

Oh, he thought. That would work.

"There you are!" Luffy turned to see Sabo and Ace walking towards them. Luffy smiled at them.

"You made it out!"

"Yeah, with everyone focused on preventing a tree-way war, they really didn't pay all that much attention," Ace explained as they sat down besides him.

Sabo eyed him and the old man carefully. "Made a friend?"

"Yeah!" Luffy grinned. "He was telling me about the ship and Shanks!"

Ace blinked. "Like, together? cause I feel like Shanks and the Moby can't have that much history."

The man laughed. "You'd be surprised! The brat has been running around an wreaking havoc on these decks for as long as they existed!"

"Wait, really?"

"Oh yes, granted, Newgate has always loved children, so he didn't mind too much. It was more little Marco that took offense with him. I still don't know if those two love, or hate each other…"

"From what I've heard," Ace said, "both."

"So, were the old man and your captain friends?" Luffy asked.

"They… sometimes. They enjoyed drinking together about as much as bashing each other's heads in, although it was a lot tamer when the little ones were still little."

Sabo, who had switched to glancing nervously between Ace and the old man, blinked. "Really? The stories always made it seem like they were enemies."

"Like I said, sometimes. It varied on how, when, and where they met up. And their general mood, of course."

"You know this guy, Bo?" Ace asked.

Sabo froze, it was just a second but both Luffy and ace saw. "Yes. Of course. I know everything," he joked. He wasn't fooling either of them. The old man just watched curiously.

"What aren't you telling me?" Ace asked suspiciously. "And why aren't you telling me, specifically."

Sabo sighed. "Luffy, Ace, this is Silvers Rayleigh, fist mate of the Pirate King."

Luffy felt his eyes grow, and he knew there would be stars in them if he could see. The Pirate King's first mate, that's- "AWESOME!!"

Sabo nudged him. Oh, right, Ace was there. Luffy carefully glanced towards his brother, who sat stiffly, face dark.

"Relax, boy," the old man, Rayleigh, said. "I'm retired."

Ace didn't relax. Luffy thought about what he could do for his brother- wait. If this guy was Gold Roger's first mate. Then his captain was Gold Roger.

As in the captain that was Shanks' dad.

"Does that make you and Shanks brothers?"

Ace blinked. "What?" He turned, staring at Luffy as if he didn't understand.

"The old man told me that his captain is one of Shanks' dads. So does that make you brothers?"

"Luffy!" Sabo scolded. What did he do now?

"It's fine," Rayleigh said. "Don't blame the brat, I already knew."

"You- What?" oh great, they broke Ace.

"It's hard not to. You're the splitting image of your mother. It seems other than the hair color and darker skin, Roger gave you next to nothing in looks," he laughed.

"Wait, what?"

"Well, if I look closely, maybe the jaw? But other than that? The eyes are Rouge's, so are the freckles, and the wavy hair, the cheekbones, and even the eyebrows. She definitely pulled through."

Sabo finally relaxed. "You knew her, then?"

"Knew her? She robbed me blind! More than once, too! And that idiot captain of mine never shut up about her, as if we hadn't met her together," he grumbled.

Luffy caught Sabo's eyes. They grinned.

"Can you tell us stories about her?" Luffy asked, knowing Ace would never do it himself.

"I would love to."

Marco had wondered how long it would take for them to notice the tree brothers were missing.

The answer was three (3!) hours.

It was both incredible and disappointing.

"Listen, you can't deny that I have the best relationship to Luffy, right boys?" Shanks finally asked. "Boys?"

All discussion froze as the absence sank in.

"Where-"

"The boys left hours ago," Koala answered.

Shocked and slightly ashamed, the three men walked to the door. Marco sighed and followed. The deck was full of their siblings lounging around. It's clear they tried to listen in- he knew those idiots too well to assume otherwise- but from the exhausted looks on their faces, he guessed they gave up ages ago.

Frowning, he reached out with his haki, heading for the bow where he felt them.

They found the three sitting on the Moby's head. Sabo was sitting cross-legged with Luffy in his lap and Ace leaning on his shoulder. Ace was out cold while Luffy and Sabo were listening attentively to a story Rayleigh was telling.

He smiled a bit at the sight. It took ages for Ace to trust them enough to sleep around them. And even then, he never leaned on anyone. It was nice to see the bond between those three, even after years apart.

What was more surprising was the story in itself. Rayleigh was telling them about his time one the Oro Jackson, something he rarely spoke about, even when he was still on it. And even if he was asleep, mentioning Roger around Ace was always risky.

Sabo turned towards them as they approached the others following soon after. Even Ace woke up.

"Newgate, how's it going you old sot?" Rayleigh asked cheerfully.

"Glad to see you haven't kicked the bucket yet, Rayleigh."

"Me? nah, dying is overrated. I still have some things to see."

"I know the feeling."

Marco frowned. He didn't like to think about how old his pops was getting, but at least the man had no intentions of leaving them anytime soon.

"What are you boys doing here?" Shanks asked.

Ace stretched, yawning. "Needed air, got stories as a bonus. Is it true that you were scared of tight spaces as a kid?"

"Ray! How could you!" Shanks spluttered, making the group laugh.

"They wanted stories, and stories they got," the man said, shrugging.

"Your secrets are safe with us," Sabo added, mischief shining in his eyes.

"That… makes me feel worse, kid."

"It's supposed to."

"Great."

"We should get back to the topic at hand-"

"-Or," Ace interrupted. "We could just ask Luffy what he wants to do."

"Yeah," Shanks added, "lets. Luffy is my kid so he obviously has good taste."

Pops frowned. "His brother is already one of my sons, that automatically makes him-"

Luffy didn't let him finish. He jumped to his feet and stomped forward so that he was standing in front of them. "Dad," he said, pointing to Dragon. "Pa." He moved his finger to Shanks. "Pops." he finished, pointing at his pops.

"It's really nice you all want me to stay with you," he then said, "and I would love to visit all of you, but Ace and Sabo have their own adventures and I'm not getting in between of that." The two smiled sadly at their brother. Clearly they expected that answer.

"I'm staying with Shanks until turn seventeen and set out on my own. I will not join no army, nor any other crew. I'm staying with Pa as his kid and just that. I will be my own captain and I will be the next Pirate King. Any problems with that?" he challenged.

"Nope," Shanks smiled proudly.

"That's fine with me," Dragon added.

"Make sure you actually visit, though," Pops added.

"Great! Now can we please eat? I'm starving!"

Chapter Text

It was a feast worthy of the Whitebeard legacy.

Of course, Roo and Shanks' other cooks helped prepare the food, so that was amazing too.

Call him biased, but he had to stick to his crew.

They all sat around Whitebeard's chair on the main deck. Most had opted out of actually using chairs and tables though, so they just made themselves comfortable on the floor. Food and drinks were passed along as much as stories and jokes.

That included the brothers, of course. Watching them eat was the final piece he needed to convince himself that Sabo was their brother. No one else could've kept up with whatever that was.

"This is both fascinating and disgusting," Koala commented as the three got up to get more food.

"Yes, well, can't deny their relation, at least," said Vista. "Actually, are we sure Luffy and the other two aren't blood related?"

"Yes," Dragon said. Vista just shrugged at the man, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.

Shanks chuckled. He got the confusion. Seeing those three together, they could pass as full blood brothers. If he just saw two of them, he would probably doubt it, especially with Sabo's different hair, eye and skin tone, but he shared Luffy's round cheeks and the shape of their eyes. He also had Ace's jawline and build. All three had a similar sense of humor and they were all charming in their own ways. On top of that, Shanks knew Ace's mom was blonde, so even that would be possible.

He was about to make a joke about that when he noticed Koala watching Vista with narrowed eyes. She must've noticed him watching because she looked up at him thoughtfully before leaning in. "Do they not know Sabo and Ace aren't blood related?

Shanks blinked. Right. Vista had questioned whether Luffy was related to them. But that was probably just them misunderstanding, right?

"They have to know," he deflected, "right?" Koala looked doubtful.

"They're idiots," Marco argued tiredly, "and Ace never explicitly said they weren't. In fact, he did call Sabo his twin once. So not even the age could be an argument."

"An argument for what?" Sabo asked, returning.

Koala turned to the brothers. "Do the Whitebeards know you and Ace aren't related by blood?" she asked quietly.

Ace froze. "Did I never mention that?" Shanks frowned. He unfortunately understood why Ace wouldn't want them to believe it, but it still hurt to hear.

Sabo meanwhile hummed thoughtfully. "I mean, I don't care either way. Just out of curiosity, how do they explain the fact we're what- three months apart age wise?"

"I doubt they know that," Marco said, ignoring how Ace was gaping at his brother.

"Sabo!" Ace stressed. "We need to tell them."

Sabo shrugged. "If you're uncomfortable with the idea, sure. But I don't care, Ace." Shanks noted how his eyes were locked on Ace, saying something none of them could hear.

"You… really wouldn't mind?"

Luffy giggled. "Ace is stupid if he thinks Sabo minds."

"I don't," Sabo insists, making Ace look up from where he was glaring at Luffy. "I'm a rev, Ace, and while they don't actually have my face and name, I do have a bounty. They already want me dead." Sabo shrugged again. "I don't really care what they say I am, or who's son they think I am, so long as they know I'm your brother, they can draw their own conclusions about the rest."

Luffy looked up from where he was stealing Ace's food. "What he said."

"And besides," Sabo added, disgruntled. "Maybe then I'd have a last name I can use without feeling the need to gag."

Ace was left gaping at his brothers. No one in their group spoke, although Koala looked rather curious about the specific wording Sabo had used.

"Then again," Marco finally said. "They'd probably assume you're all related by blood and think Dragon is your father."

That got a reaction. Ace immediately grimaced in disgust, Sabo's face heated up to the point he was as red as Shanks hair and Luffy broke out in laughter.

Koala chuckled at their dramatics. "What I want to know is when your birthday is, terror twins. We didn't know Sabo's for too long, and just kinda celebrated the first of January to be sure."

This time it was Ace's turn to blush as Sabo laughed. "Let's just keep it at that," Sabo said, smirking mischievously. "It's technically not wrong, after all."

Thatch, who had been walking by at that moment, paused. "Wait, your birthday is January first?" he asked excitedly.

"You didn't tell them your birthday?" Sabo asked Ace, amused.

"HARUTA," Thatch called. "We know Ace's birthday!"

"FUCK YEAH, BIRTHDAY PRANKS!"

"Why would you do this to me?" Ace asked his brother, betrayed. Sabo just grinned.

The party went on late into the night.

Ace tried his best to not think too hard about all that had happened the last few days. On one hand, everything had changed. His home had been destroyed and he had almost lost his baby brother. But Luffy was fine. He was safe and that was what mattered. More than that, they got Sabo back. His best friend, his brother and -now officially- his twin.

(Sabo had been able to confirm that his crewmates did believe they were blood-related. A thought that honestly still terrified him, even if he was touched that Sabo didn't mind.)

Beyond that, he had learned more about his parents than he ever thought he would. Garp didn't know enough about his mom to tell him stories and Ace had refused to hear anything about Roger since he was five. But now, with his right-hand-man right there, Ace had learned so much about the man he thought he knew.

(Like the fact that he had raised Shanks. Shanks- Ace's friend, Luffy's hero, his savior- Luffy might not be alive without Shanks, and Shanks might not have survived without Roger, definitely wouldn't have been a pirate without Roger-)

It was a lot to think about.

He decided not to think about it.

For now, he wanted to have a good time with his brothers. Come morning the three of them would have to part ways again (since the marines were panicking) but this night, they still had each other, and they had to make the best of it.

Of course, as the night dragged on, all three of them were showing how tired they were. Ace decided to call it a night some point after 2 a.m. and lead his brothers into the room Ace had slept in during his assassination days. He didn't feel like sharing his brothers with the rest of his division that night.

On the way down, they greeted and talked to whoever they came across so it took some time to actually get there. Ace didn't mind, he was happy his brothers got along so well with his new family.

"If it isn't the guests of honor!" Ace looked up to see a group from the second division, arms laden with food and bottles.

"Raiding the pantry?" Ace guessed, grinning.

"Zehaha! Like you have any right to talk!" One of them, Teach, laughed.

"Hey," he complained halfheartedly, "I do it in style, at least," he joked.

Sabo chuckled, studying the men the same way he did all people he met. They both stilled as they felt soft rubber gasp their hands. Ace glanced down to find Luffy unnaturally still, watching Teach with that unnerving stare of his. The man in question didn't seem to notice, laughing at Ace's joke.

"Anyways boys," Teach said, "I'll let you get some rest. I have some pies to take apart."

Ace forced a smile. "Yeah, don't let Thatch catch you guys. Good night."

The men left after a few more chuckles, leaving them alone in the hall.

"Luffy?" Sabo prompted softly.

"I don't like him."

Ace felt his stomach twist. When was the last time Luffy immediately disliked someone? Should he warn someone? Do something? Luffy's instincts were on par with Sabo's observations, Ace trusted them. But he also trusted Pops and his crew…

Sabo caught his eye. "I couldn't read anything from him. If he's a problem, it's not gonna be relevant just yet." That… actually kinda helped. He could deal with one bad egg so long as it wasn't an immediate issue.

Ace sighed. "I'll keep an eye on him, Lu," he promised. "He won't bother you when you're visiting either."

Luffy looked unconvinced, but relented. "I'm tired," he admitted.

"Same," Sabo added.

"Sleep sounds good, let's deal with this when it becomes an issue."

They decided to forego building a nest like planned and just laid down on the floor. All three of them fell asleep soon after.

Shanks breathed in the crisp morning air. It was a good day for sailing. There were so many things he wanted to show his little Anchor, he couldn't wait.

The boys were down in the Moby's mess hall, no doubt trying to stall for time. He understood the desire, parting ways was always painful, but with their new arrangements, they could visit anytime and call daily. Benn was already making arrangements for Luffy to get his own snail, so soon he wouldn't even need to ask.

"Are you panning on training him?" Dragon asked, approaching.

"Of course, the New World is dangerous. He needs at least some level of training. And who knows what Garp actually taught him," he said chuckling.

"Good," the man said. "Although you should probably know one thing, then." Shanks watched the man, curious. "The report Rob Lucci made included a comment about how Luffy showed signs of having conqueror's haki."

"As in, awakened?"

"It seems so." Shanks was definitely not imagining the proud glint in Dragon's eyes. "It would certainly explain just why Rob Lucci returned to the ship alone."

Shanks laughed. "That's our boy!"

"Who is?" Shanks turned, still grinning, as the boys finally made their appearance.

"There you are! Thatch finally kicked you out?" The boys grumbled, making him laugh again. "Come now, you can't eat all their supplies."

"It was really good though…" Luffy pouted.

"Better than Roo's cooking?" he baited.

Luffy froze, looking conflicted. "Roo's food is better."

"Hell, yeah it it!" Roo called out from the Red Force.

"I am hurt," Thatch said dramatically. "You hurt me, brother. After I just fed you, you betray me so?"

"Yours is good too," Luffy pouted, knowing he couldn't make everyone happy here. Suddenly, he perked up. "It doesn't really matter, cause when I have my own crew, my cooks gonna be better than both of you!"

Shanks chuckled at the gasps both cooks let out. Even Dragon smiled. "You have everything packed?" the man asked.

"Yup!"

"I have everything."

"No."

Luffy and Sabo blinked at a smug looking Ace. "What? I didn't pack," he shrugged.

Sabo's eye twitched. "Well, have you taken your meds then?"

Ace froze. "Yes?"

"Really? that's funny. Cause I saw you all morning and I assure you, you didn't."

"Maybe you just didn't notice."

"Maybe you didn't take them."

"Maybe you should mind your business."

"Maybe you're an idiot-"

Luffy giggled at his brothers and Shanks couldn't resist grabbing him into a loose choke hold and messing up his hair. Luffy squealed at the contact, interrupting the other two from their argument to laugh at him.

"Alright then, boys," he said after a while, finally letting go of Luffy, who snapped back at the force he was using trying to free himself. "If you're ready to go, we're ready to set sail."

The mood shifted slightly. They clearly didn't want to separate so soon. unfortunately, they had it on good conscience that Sengoku would escalate soon, and they couldn't afford a full-blown war in paradise.

Luffy eventually pasted a smile on his face and tried his best at hugging the life out of his brothers. "I'll miss you."

"We'll miss you too, Lu," Sabo said.

"But hey, remember the stump?" Shanks had no idea what he was talking about but both boys seemed to understand.

"Wherever we are," Sabo said.-

"And whatever we do," Ace continued.

Luffy grinned up at them. "Always."

"You have our number?" Ace asked.

"Yep, and you?"

"Got it."

"Ready for your own adventures, Lu?"

"Always!"

"Then we'll meet again."

"Of course!"

Shanks smiled softly at the boys. He had no idea what they we're talking about, but it didn't matter. They were right in saying they'll meet again. Sabo had already arranged for Luffy to visit them on whatever base they had and the Whitebeards were never too far from his territories.

"Alright boys!" He called towards his ship. "Ready the sails!"

"Aye, boss!"

"Ready?" he asked Luffy who took his hand with a bright smile.

"Ready."

They boarded his ship and set sail. Luffy stayed by the railing, still waving, long after his brothers were no longer visible in the distance. Shanks finally approached them when the Moby was just a tiny speck on the horizon.

"Say, Anchor." He waited until Luffy looked up at him. "Have you ever been to an amusement park?"

Luffy's face lit up so bright, Shanks was sure he was staring into the sun.