Monkey D. Ace walked about the deck as more water came rushing in. Dropping his bucket, Ace sat down on the soaking deck where the others had already given up. He was a thin boy with shaggy messed up black hair and wide dark eyes. His tanned skin was smooth and if wasn't soaked and looking so hopeless, one would say he was as determined as any.
Of course he was one of the six of them all up that hadn't gotten a life boat once their ship began to sink. And to think that this was what he'd wanted. Ever since he was little, Ace had wanted to be a Marine. He'd wanted to be like his great grandfather, the infamous Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp. After many years of ignoring the other aspects of his heritage, it was at age ten that he finally accepted that he was the son of the Second Pirate King, "Straw Hat" Luffy, and grandson of the revolutionary, Monkey D. Dragon.
That didn't mean he had to be like them.
And now, not even seven months after joining the Marines, the ship he was aboard was sinking after hitting a reef and tearing a hole up the starboard side. Beside him sat his two best friends, a freckled brunette boy named Knoll and a blonde haired, blue eyed girl named Charlotte. They were all chore boys and girl, all striving to rise through the ranks and be great. Adjacent to them were the first and second mates; a big burly man named Markus and his skinnier, sandy hair friend, Evan.
In front of them stood Captain Domino Lux, the last of the small ragtag group that had given up their seats in the final life boat for the others. They were all long gone now. And as their ship was entering the final stages of it's final journey, Knoll made out the shape of a ship approaching. No one really took in any of the finer details that may have given them an idea of what they were getting themselves into, such as the large skull and cross bones printed upon the sales or the hand carved wooden lion that adorned the front of the large ship. They would have been double taking had they noticed the straw hat atop that skull and cross bones or the words 'Thousand Sunny' scrawled across the side of the boat.
Instead they just climbed on aboard and watched as their ship sunk into the sea.
Ace turned with the others but unlike them, he felt he recognised his surroundings. As his eyes travelled around the grass covered deck, realisation after realisation hit him like a speeding bullet or an anvil until one thought reigned true in his mind.
'What the hell is he doing here?'
The others, of course weren't aware of their friend's inner turmoil as they were too curious as to who had saved them. As low footsteps came closer and closer from the lower decks, the anticipation grew. The Captain himself was rather suspicious as to who saved them considering this was not a Marine vessel but once the man came into view he knew exactly where they were and the answer honestly threw him off. He knew this man, everyone did.
He was tall, undeniably so, and lanky. His long red coat was open and billowed in the wind revealing a bare chest and red vest, a pair of tattered shorts and sandals adorned his feet. But that was not what held the crews attention. It was the old straw hat in place haphazardly atop a mop of black shaggy hair, a small smile twisting the man's mouth.
Among the group of soaking Marine's, there was no doubt about it. The man before them was "Straw Hat" Luffy, the Pirate King.
Leaning over, Ace whispered in Knoll 's ear, "What day is it today?"
"What, why do you want to know that?" Knoll asked back, eyes wide and glued to the, arguably, most powerful and dangerous man on the planet barring only one other, the Revolutionary.
"Just… because. It's important. What day is it today?" Ace asked, his voice starting to shake. If it was the date he thought it was, he was sooooooo screwed.
"May twenty third," Charlotte whispered from his other side.
Ace then paled… considerably. "It was my mother's birthday five days ago. " He muttered.
'That would give him plenty of time to get lost and then find me…' Ace thought before a shiver raked his body, "Yeah," he muttered, his shoulder's sagging as he accepted his fate, "I am sooooooo screwed."
"You forgot your mother's birthday?" Charlotte asked in disbelief.
"Um, what does this have to do with the situation at hand?" Knoll hissed, gesturing slightly to the man in red. The Pirate King himself hadn't moved a muscle yet and was seemingly sizing the crew up as they whispered amongst themselves.
"Everything." Ace murmured, "Mum is gonna be so pissed."
"So, you didn't get leave for a week or so to go see your mum. Provided we survive this, I'm sure she'll understand." Charlotte whispered.
"She's not all I'm worried about." Ace muttered. Before Knoll or Charlotte could ask their friend what was really wrong, Captain Domino Lux spoke.
"What do you want Straw Hat? Here to give yourself up?" and from the way the man was sweating, it became apparent to the band of Marines that that was exactly what their captain was hoping. Anything else could prove more than hazardous to all of their health's.
"No thankyou," a deep voice rumbled, eyes hidden under the brim of his hat. The Pirate King continued to scan the crew before his eyes stopped on the one he'd been looking for. This became apparent when a slow smile began to stretch the man's lips.
Ace shrunk back slightly before The Pirate King spoke again.
"It seems to me that you were sinking. And you didn't have enough life boats."
'Straw Hat' Luffy smiled. "I just came to pick something up before I noticed your little plight." The Pirate King drawled, his tone slow and playful as he spoke.
"Then why save us?" Captain Domino asked, confused.
"You seem to be in possession of what I was after. You also seem to be in need of a lift." The Pirate King said.
"How about a trade then?" Markus asked, speaking up for the band of six that still stood stock still in shock on the deck of the pirate ship.
"I'm listening."
"We'll give you what you came for and you can take us to shore." Markus offered, still unsure of what the Pirate was after, with Evan nodding vigorously from behind.
At this Charlotte and Knoll tensed up, waiting for the man's rejection. Ace on the other hand just tried to be invisible; he could almost feel the pirate's gaze on him.
"I'm heading to the East Blue. I'll take you there." 'Straw Hat' Luffy said before turning around and walking towards his cabin, "My crew isn't here right now but you're Marines, you should know how to steer a boat. I'll be back in a minute." he threw over his shoulder as he walked away.
Once the door shut behind him the Marines all let out a collective breath. They hadn't been killed yet!
After regaining his composure, Captain Domino turned to his first and second mate and his chore boys and girl.
"That was a risky move," he chastised before a smile adorned his weathered and gruff face, "But I'm happy you did it. If we can just keep in his good graces we'll be fine and… Ace, what's the matter?" the Captain asked when he noticed the chore boys unease.
But Ace was too busy thinking to answer.
'We're going home? That means he isn't here to yell at me, it's a retrieval mission!' Ace realised before he felt like being sick. 'Mum's gonna tear me apart by the way Dad's grinning to himself. In fact, he probably got a mouth full himself. Oh joy!' Ace thought sarcastically.
"Well, I guess we'd better do as he said," Charlotte mumbled.
"You're joking right, I'm not listening to a pirate!" Knoll exclaimed.
"Yes you are." Captain Domino frowned, "That man alone is worth over five hundred million and is a devil fruit user and a master of Haki. Not only are there only six of us, but half of us aren't even fighters. If he wants, he could slaughter us. Not to mention that he didn't get his title as Pirate King for nothing. He's fought Admiral's for Christ's sake!" The Captain said.
"Yeah, think about it a little Knoll," Evan said, "It's only until we get to East Blue. Then we can get help and be on our way."
"But won't we be in trouble?" Charlotte wondered aloud.
"You could always say I held you hostage or something." A voice rang from behind.
The Marine's all spun around and stared wide eyed at the Pirate King. He'd let his hat hang down his back from a length of string so they could all make out the rest of his features. With dark eyes and a small scar under his left eye, it seemed strange to see him smiling so happily at them, as if he didn't have a worry in the world.
"So, what are your names?" he went on to ask before dropping a pile of dry blankets before the crew. Carefully, the marines began to dry off whilst introducing themselves.
"I am Captain Domino Lux. The taller fellow is Markus and the skinny man is Evan. The kids are Knoll, Ace and Charlotte. What should we call you?" The Captain asked after no one else moved to speak.
"You can just call me Luffy." The Pirate King smiled before he looked directly at Ace, saying "You're as good as dead kiddo."
"Why would you say that?!" Knoll yelled, "Are you just going to kill him or something?"
"Nope, but I do know his mother. That boy there is a dead man walking." Luffy chuckled.
Ace eyed the man before saying, "She sent you to get me didn't she?"
At this comment the whole crew froze up. Who was Ace's mother if she could send the freaking Pirate King after you? But Ace himself stood his ground, ignoring the strange looks he received from his friends and superiors.
"Yup, it was either me, your grandfather or your great grandfather. Personally, I think I'm the least hazardous to your safety." Luffy chuckled.
"Wait, your safer to be around then his grandfather and great grandfather?" Charlotte asked, a little perplexed.
"Yup," Luffy smiled before continuing on with his reasoning, "But your grandad was busy with some big idea to kill off the government and Garp said he'd beat some manners into once you got back."
"Wait, Garp as in the old Vice-Admiral?" Evan asked, little stars appearing before his eyes. Both Ace and Luffy stared at the fair haired man before saying in unison, "You haven't met him, have you?"
"Why? What's so bad about him?" Evan asked, confused by the pairs reaction to one of his idols.
The Pirate King and the chore boy alike both sweat drop at the question and turn to each other to continue their conversation.
"Anyway, I was the only one within yelling distance when your mother lost her shit so I had to come get you." Luffy said.
"How bad is it?" Ace asked, a little afraid of the answer.
Luffy though merely shrugged before nonchalantly stating, "I had better chances at Marineford."
At this Ace lost all hope. "She's gonna kill me, bring me back to life and then kill me again." He muttered.
"I don't see why you're so scared. Besides, since when do you know the freaking Pirate King?!" Knoll hissed, staring wide eyed at his best friend.
"Um, well, you see…" Ace murmured, looking anywhere but into the curious gazes he was receiving from his crew.
From beside him Luffy merely grinned. "To both your statement and question the answers are yes and years."
Knoll merely glared at Luffy before Ace decided he might as well put both feet in the frying pan. It was probably better it came from him instead of Luffy just spouting it out of the blue while in passing anyway.
"My mother just happens to be as scary as all hell when she wants to be since she was once a Shichibukai ." Ace sighed.
"W-what?!" Markus spluttered.
"That's actually kind of cool." Charlotte muttered before Ace let a scowl pass over his face.
"And this over sized idiot over here," he said, pointing at Luffy as the marines paled, thinking only the worst could come from a statement like that, "Is my dad."
…
"WHAT!"
"Um, yeah. Dah, why else would I go to all the trouble to find you and save you all? Because I felt like it? No. I actually decided to go within ten feet of a pissed off Boa Hancock so I could find out why she was so pissed/over-dramatic only to find out my son forgot about her freaking birthday, and then be forced to take responsibility for finding aforementioned son after being turned to stone a few times and then set off alone, get lost and find you again." Luffy grumbled, his monologue long, strenuous and most likely not even the half of it.
"Yeah, that does sound like you." Ace muttered.
"Of course. I am such a nice guy like that." Luffy smirked before he turned around. "Well, we'd best get going. We don't want you being late for the tortur- I mean, reunion your mother most likely has planned."
And then, the infamous Pirate King walked off whistling as Monkey D. Ace paled at the prospect of what was to come and the remaining Marine crew all tried to wrap their heads around how seriously messed up their day had turned out.