January 1st, the day of his Birthday, was never usually such an important day for Portgas. D . Ace. But when the new year once again rolled around, he had finally turned seventeen. It was time to set out to sea and begin his life as a pirate, just as Sabo had intended.

And what better way to commemorate such an important day than to get his very first tattoo?

It was early morning, and as Ace reclined lazily in the tattooist's chair, he grinned down at his younger brother. "Don't worry, Luffy. Soon it'll be your turn to set sail, and we can both meet at sea as great pirates."

Being fourteen, Monkey. D . Luffy still had a few years until his own seventeenth Birthday, and now that Ace was leaving, the wait would seem harder. But, despite this, Luffy grinned that impossibly wide grin of his and nodded once.

"Mm!"

Still smiling, Ace turned to glance at the tattooist, who was currently working at the top of his left shoulder. It was to be no great work of art, simply his first name, and the beginnings of an 'A' had already begun to take form.

Unfortunately, Ace managed to fall asleep in the middle of a conversation, just before the completion of the first letter. Shrugging, the tattooist continued, only pausing to check the spelling with Luffy;

"Your brother's name is spelled with a 'C' next, right?"

Luffy looked at the middle-aged man with something approaching incredulousness."Hah? Don't be stupid. It's spelled with an 'S'!"

Eyebrow raised, the tattooist shrugged again and immediately got back to work. By the time Ace woke, he had a shiny letter 'S' winking up at him from his shoulder.

"Oi, gramps! You've spelled my name wrong! It's Ace. A-C-E. What the hell is an 'S' doing there?!"

Frowning at being called 'gramps', the tattooist pointed a finger at Luffy. "That's what I thought, but your brother said it was wrong."

Eyes flashing, Ace turned to look at Luffy, who stared up at him all wide-eyed an innocent. "I-" he started, knocking away the tattooist's hand and hopping down from the chair. "-am going to kill you, Luffy!"

"I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, dashing for the door as Ace sprinted after him. "I thought it was an 'S'! I'm sorry, I'm sorr-GAAAH."

Returning a few minutes later, expression sour, Ace plopped back into the chair. Luffy didn't follow, but the tattooist could hear him muttering outside.

"So." He began. "What'chu want me to do about this, then?"

Ace glanced down at his misspelled tattoo, and an idea suddenly sprang to mind.

"I know just the thing." He grinned.

–

A while later and Ace exited the tattoo parlor to find Luffy sitting on the step, nursing a bump on his head. "Hey, Lu." He greeted softly.

Turning to look at his brother, wincing at the movement, Luffy leaped into an apology once again. "I'm sorry about your tattoo, Ace! I didn't mean-"

"It's OK." Ace chuckled, moving to sit next to him. "It's all sorted now, anyway."

Luffy stared at him for half a second before his usual grin returned. "Can I see?!"

With a grin that rivaled his brother's, Ace moved so that Luffy could see the fresh tattoo on his shoulder. The 'S' had been crossed out with a bold letter 'X', the rest of his name, as it should have been, continuing underneath.

When Luffy saw the crossed out 'S', his eyes widened. "Sabo...!" He exclaimed with a smile.

"Yeah." Ace agreed, clutching at the tattoo with a hand.

A few seconds of silence passed, and then Ace got to his feet. "So." He grinned, reaching out to ruffle Luffy's hair. "You gonna walk with me to the docks?"

Luffy leapt to his feet at once. "Yeah!"

And, walking together, the pair of them did just that.