Big Brothers, Little Brothers
Ace was sitting on the edge of the Moby Dick. He was staring out at the horizon and holding two special pieces of paper in his hands. One of was a picture of his little brother, Monkey D. Luffy, and the other was a picture of his other little brother, Monkey D. Harry. They all were adopted. None of them were blood related. And Harry wasn't even a real D or a Monkey. And the papers he was holding were his little brothers' bounty posters.
Seeing how well they were doing was bring back fond memories of them growing up together with the mountain bandits. It was also making him feel very nostalgic. While he loved being on the pirate crew he was on, he still wished he could be with his younger brothers. Even though they both were teenager, he felt like he was missing them grow up still. It was almost heartbreaking. But he knew they were becoming stronger and stronger each day. And considering Luffy's bounty of a hundred million and Harry's bounty of eighty million, they were doing just fine without him there to look over them.
Ace's mind wondered back to the time when they were growing up together. He was the first to come to the mountain bandits. And he was a real wild child. Growing up all along, he had to be. But then, Garp brought up Luffy and Harry to be his new younger brothers. He didn't like it. Both boys were crybabies. Luffy was the worse of all. But Harry also had his issues. The boy mostly just sat in a corner and curled into himself. It took several months for the young, rounded glasses wearing boy to start talking to them. Harry never spoke because of the abuse he had suffered from his so called family he was staying with. They didn't like the brown haired boy.
And Harry still wouldn't have had spoken if it wasn't for Luffy. Luffy would drag the poor quiet boy everywhere he went. Again, Ace didn't like the two boys following him around like puppies. But eventually he found out the rest Luffy was following him and Sabo, another of their brothers, and pulling Harry along with him was because he was lonely. Luffy just wanted friends, a family of his own.
Ace couldn't believe it. He felt wanted, something that was missing a lot from his life. No one wanted him because he was the King of the Pirate's son. Everyone hated him. Even though they didn't know he was related to the King of the Pirates. He still had to ask what people thought of the idea. They all hated it. And they hated him. His brothers were what kept him alive and living. Despite not hardly ever seeing them, and Sabo dying, they were still brothers and always will be.
Ace was pulled from the horizon when he heard his crewmate starting to stir from their slumber. Several moans and groans came from their hung over lips.
"Oh my head."
"It hurts so much."
"Why did we drink so much?"
"We should have called off the party sooner instead of going until we passed out drunk."
"Please stop talking so loud. Your voices are pounding in my head."
"I'm seeing double."
"I'm seeing triple."
"I think I'm going to die."
Then Whitebeard walked out onto the deck. Ace couldn't contain his excitement from being able to finally show his father his two little brothers' bounty posters. He jumped off the railing of the ship and ran over to him. "Captain! Look here!"
"What is it?" Whitebeard asked.
"Luffy and Harry both now have bounties!" Ace smiled brightly at the older man. The man who had become a father to him, his entire crew was like a family. While they weren't his younger brothers, or Sabo, they were just as important to him. He loved them all and would do anything for them.
"Well, well, it looks like your younger brothers are going to be a real problem in the future," Whitebeard said with a deep chuckle. "I can't wait to see how they handle themselves in the New World. It's going to be exciting."
"I'm amazed at how well they're doing," Ace said. He dropped his eyes back down to the posters, his smile grown even brighter. "I can't wait to see them again."
"Didn't you just see them?" Marco asked.
"That was several months ago in Alabasta!" Ace countered. "Luffy didn't have his bounty yet and Harry certainly didn't have his!"
"Okay, okay." Macro waved his hands at Ace with a smile. "I get it. Big Brother mode coming into play here. Despite that, you must be proud of them."
"I am." Ace nodded. "Honestly I did have my doubts on how they were going to be able to handle being pirates. But they have come a long way in just a short amount of time. I can't wait to see what they can do. We should have a party to celebrate!"
A round of groans passed through the still hung over crew. They didn't want to party. Ace could tell that, but he was far too excited not to have a party. They ended up having one anyway. Soon the deck of their ship was filled with cheers, mugs clanking, music playing, and several food plates were placed all over the deck. A few seagulls called overhead, but were barely heard over the party that was going on.
Meanwhile, in another part of the sea, far away from the Moby Dick and Fire Fist Ace, Luffy and Harry were also staring at their bounty posters. Currently they were out on the deck by themselves. It came a habit of theirs to make sure they spent some time along together. This mostly happened when they started feeling nostalgic for their former home or for one or both of their older brothers. And their crewmates easily picked up on the times they wanted to be alone. During those times, the rest of the Straw Hat pirates would make themselves scarce and busy themselves with something else.
"I can't believe I actually have a bounty on my head," Harry said. He pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Honestly, I never thought this day would come."
Luffy laughed. "I told you that you would make a great pirate."
"But I'm only an archer and a Zoan Devil Fruit user," Harry said. He lowered his bounty poster to his lap and looked at his brother. Both were sitting on the bench that rounded the mast. The sun was warm and the air was filled with salt from the sea. A very different smell and feeling from their former home. He missed it. But he also loved being out on the sea. "And my fighting skills are still just so-so. I've only improved and got this far because of you."
"You're doing fine. You are awesome with your Snow Leopard Devil Fruit," Luffy insisted. "And you're going to get even stronger! You'll see!"
"I sure hope so," Harry said. He looked up at the bright blue sky. "I still have a hard time believing this is actually happening though. It's amazing yet scary at the same time. I definitely need to improve my skills. But I wonder how? What can I do to improve on my fighting skills?"
"Don't worry about it," Luffy said. He tucked his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky. "We'll figure it out."
A short span of silence passed between them before Harry said, "So what do you think Ace is doing right now?"
"Hm." Luffy hummed. His mind filled with thoughts of their big brother. "Who knows? He's probably out having fun somewhere or in a fight."
"I hope he's not fighting," Harry said.
"Hm? Why? We're pirates. It's what we do," Luffy said, looking at the teen sitting beside him.
"I know," Harry said. "But I still worry about him. While he's got the Mera Mera Fruit and is a logia, it doesn't make him immortal."
"Ace will be fine," Luffy said. "He's really strong."
"I know." Harry nodded. His mind drifted back to when they were growing up and to all the times that their older brothers saved them. "He and Sabo saved us so many times. We were so weak back then. Hey, remember the time you were almost eaten by that large snake?"
"Yeah! That was scary!" Luffy nodded. "And when you fell in that river and your pants came off?"
"That was an embarrassing walk home," Harry said, his cheeks growing pink at the memory. "Why did those two girls have to come walking by that day?"
"It was funny!" Luffy laughed. "That one girl passed out!"
"It wasn't that funny!" Harry protested. His anger left him when an image of Sabo entered into his mind. "I wonder how Sabo would have turned out if he was alive today."
Luffy stopped laughing. He looked at Harry then looked up at the sky. "I've wondered that as well. I'm sure he would be just as strong as Ace."
"Do you think he'd have a Devil Fruit?" Harry asked.
Luffy hummed. "I don't know if he would want one. He might if he knew what it was. It would be so awesome if he was alive and had a Devil Fruit like us. Then we all would have one."
"That would be nice," Harry said. "I think it would bring us closer as brothers. I really miss Sabo."
"Yeah," Luffy said. "I miss him too. But it'll be fine. We'll make him proud of us."
"Yeah." Harry nodded. "I'm sure he's already proud of us."
"I wonder what Dadan thinks of our bounties," Luffy then said. "She's probably shocked that we made it this far."
"I doubt it," Harry said. "She has more faith in us than that. She just doesn't like to show it."
"Whatever," Luffy said. "I just can't wait until our next adventure. And to finally get to the New World. I wonder what it's like there."
"I bet it's insanely tough there," Harry said. "Four Emperors, Seven Warlords of the Sea. You know I can see Ace becoming an Emperor or even a Warlord."
"Not me," Luffy said. "Ace is too smart to work for the government. And he wants to make Whitebeard King of the Pirates."
"I guess you're correct," Harry said.
"But I'm going to be King of the Pirates," Luffy said.
"I know you are," Harry replied. "It's going to be a tough fight, especially going up against Ace."
"It'll be fine," Luffy said.
"I wonder how hard he'll go on us if we do end up fighting him," Harry mumbled in though.
"Well, if he's anything like he was when he was younger," Luffy said. "I know he'll kick our butts as hard as he can. That's why we have to work even harder to get stronger. Ace is strong, but there are far more stronger pirates in the world. Shanks is one of them. We have to be able to take them all down."
"It sounds like we're taking on the entire world," Harry said.
"We kind of are," Luffy said. "We're taking on the pirate world. And we're going to rule over it. And we're going to have so much fun while we are at it. I can't wait!"
"I'm scared about it all," Harry said honestly. "We've already lost one brother to this world. I don't want to lose another."
"Don't worry about it," Luffy said. "We're not going to lose anyone. I'm going to get strong enough to protect everyone."
"Yeah. I'm sure you are," Harry said.
"I'm starving!" Luffy sounded. He jumped up from the bench and ran towards the kitchen. "Sanji! I'm hungry! I want meat!"
Harry smiled and chuckled as he watched his brother run off. Luffy was going to always be Luffy no matter what happened. He just hoped he could remain as strong as Luffy was if something ever did happen to him or Ace. But he wasn't going to dwell on it. He was going to have fun and enjoy being around Luffy and their crew. He had a new family now. And he was going to become strong so he could protect them. He and Luffy, together, were going to rise to the top of it all. He was going to make Luffy the King of the Pirates. He knew, without a doubt, it was going to happen.