Alright, so I know I'm already working on the OP/HP crossover but like I told you guys in the second chapter I have like eleven more chapters of that ready. This story I have like three more ready but will continue writing as I go. The update schedule for Death's Gift to His Master and this will be weekly, thus meaning their updates will be three days apart. Also, as you've read this is a different devil fruit Luffy. As a fair warning his fruit may be considered overpowered but that has to do with the group it's part of and the fact that the devil fruit was overpowered to begin with. Also, it's a different Devil Fruit Ace. His I can outright tell you because you won't know, well more be able to like figure out, how he gets it until the fourth chapter, it's the Magu Magu No Mi. As usual this is slash but I'm kinda locked on LuLaw unless someone convinces me otherwise. Lastly, I'm writing this mostly to heal my heart from the pain that is Ace's death so uh yeah, hopefully this heals your heart from that too
Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece
To Save a Brother's Life
Blood. There was blood everywhere, from pouring out of their little brother's cuts right into the blankets covering the wounds, on their hands, on their faces, and on the floor. All the blood was coming from their little brother, their precious little brother. Ace and Sabo actually hadn't thought of Luffy as their little brother until this incident. When their stupid little brother refused to tell that pirate the location of their treasure. Oh Blue, did they feel guilty when they found their brother covered in bruises, and cuts, oozing blood everywhere. Their precious little brother was dying and there was nothing they could do about it. Wait they remembered their little brother mentioning a town down the mountain. There has to be a doctor there! So with them carefully positioning their bleeding brother on Ace's back they began to amble down the slope of the mountain, hoping they weren't too late. Sabo had learned about blood loss in one of the few books he managed to talk Ace into helping him steal. It explained that while death by blood loss wasn't exactly painful the wounds would be. And boy did Luffy, little Luffy, have a lot of wounds that looked agonizingly painful. Sabo was pretty damn sure that they would all scar. Thankfully Luffy was still breathing by the time they reached the town, Foosha Village they think Luffy called it. They then started screaming.
"We need a Doctor!" Ace screamed.
"Please, our little brother's dying!" Sabo screamed with Ace.
Soon enough a woman with green hair and a bandana with polka dots that Ace seemed to recognize ran out of a nearby bar that Sabo saw was called 'Party Bar'.
"Makino! Luffy- He's dying!" Ace yelled, tears running down his face.
Makino instantly knew something wrong because she had never seen Ace cry before, ever. It was then that she saw the bleeding bundle on Ace's back and recognized it as Luffy. Sweet, adorable Luffy who would help her in the bar whenever he saw her overworked. But, there was one problem with their request, and it brought her to tears.
"T-the doctor's out of town." She sobbed out.
"What?!" Ace and Sabo yelled, unable to believe that they'd still lose their little brother.
It was then that an androgynous-like voice spoke out that brought hope to them.
"Hey, calm down, you kids need a doctor, right? It so happens to be that I am one." The voice said.
They turned, slowly of course as to not hurt Luffy and further, and spotted a feminine looking man, as to Sabo the structure was all wrong, wearing a kimono with his hair pulled up into a bun and a fan in his hands.
"Yes! We need one! Our brother, he was captured by pirates and they did this to him!" Ace quickly explained.
"Well, judging by the look of him we need to quickly get started. Follow me." The man said, leading them to a ship tied to the port.
On there was a man in what seemed to be a chef's outfit with a dark orange-brown pompadour. He seemed to want to question the kimono-wearing man but stopped when he saw Luffy on Ace's back. The man then just helped them onto the ship and into a room that seemed to be an infirmary. The man then pushed Ace and Sabo out of the room after they got Luffy on the table, which caused them to protest.
"No, we want to stay with our little brother!" Ace yelled, Sabo nodding along.
They were then promptly whacked on the head with the fan which despite its looks seemed pretty painful.
"You two will be no help to your brother if I can't focus while operating on him, no shoo go see Thatch, the man with the ridiculous pompadour. He'll see about getting you cleaned up and fed." The man said.
The boys reluctantly agreed and trudged out of the infirmary as the man got started on helping their brother. When they reached the deck the man who was identified as Thatch was waiting for them.
"Yo, so what happened to that kid?" Thatch asked, straight up.
Sabo decided to answer that question because he knew that Ace wouldn't be able to answer it without getting angry and guilt-ridden. Sabo could at least answer it without showing the signs of guilt. Even though he was really guilty about what happened.
"Luffy, our little brother, was kidnapped by pirates. Although it is our fault." Sabo said.
"No! It's all my fault, you were just going along with me. If I hadn't been such an ass to him this wouldn't have happened." Ace shouted, interrupting Sabo.
Thatch gave a look to Sabo, as if asking him to explain.
"About roughly six months ago Luffy was dropped off on us by his Gramps," Sabo started, before Ace butted in.
"Shitty Gramps said for Dadan to take care of Luffy but she dropped the kid off on us instead. I wasn't…. happy about it and took my anger out on him a lot." Ace said.
"Why exactly did you take your anger out on him? It sounds like it was more than just becoming an impromptu babysitter that made you mad." Thatch said.
"… He was just so damn happy all the time. Always smiling and asking questions. Even when I did hurt him he'd just give me that stupid goofy smile and say 'It's okay I still like Ace!'." Ace said, guilt coming back to his face.
Thatch was rather confused at that, usually people were glad to be around people like that. He knew he was rather happy to be around Haruta, his only little brother, who was happy almost all the time.
"Why would that make you mad?" Thatch asked, deciding to voice his question.
Ace looked down, scuffing his shoe on the ground, decidedly not looking at Thatch. Sabo sighed, and boy did it seem like he was doing this a lot today, and decided to answer the question for Ace, even if the boy would be mad at him for it.
"Ace… isn't used to people being happy for him or even like him." Sabo said.
"Sabo!" Ace whined, because to Sabo that wasn't yelling, it was just Ace whining.
"Hm, I guess I can understand that. A lot of my brothers were like that in the beginning." Thatch said, musingly.
"Brothers? How many do you have?" Sabo asked, interested.
"Haha! I have ship loads of brothers. Didn't you see the flag kids?" Thatch asked.
Instantly the two looked up and gaped when they saw the flag. It was a skull with a big mustache on a bone cross. They immediately recognized it as the flag of the Whitebeard Pirates. Sabo knew it as the flag of the strongest man in the sea, but Ace knew it as the flag of the rival of his father. Blue, even in his thoughts that word sounded bitter.
"You're part of the Whitebeard Pirates? But if you're pirates why would you save Luffy?" Ace said, having to ask that question.
"Because, we wouldn't allow a kid to die. Kid, not all pirates are like the ones who kidnapped your brother." Thatch said.
Ace and Sabo thought about it and it brought something to their mind. Luffy, when he managed to find them, would often talk about Red-Haired Shanks, who Sabo and Ace (well actually Sabo was the one who had to explain it to Ace) knew as one of the Yonko. But the way that Luffy talked about the man, admired him, told them that he was a really nice guy. Especially if that man had saved Luffy from getting eaten by a Sea King. Which made Ace realize he needed to learn manners so he could thank the man for saving his little brother. Which then he realized would be pointless if he died here. Thatch must have seen Ace's face because he quickly eased his fears.
"Don't worry about your brother, Izo is the Commander of the 16th division and the best doctor in the Whitebeard Pirates. If anyone could save your brother it'd be him." Thatch said, causing the two to breathe a sigh of relief.
Right after that, the two looked down and grimaced. They were covered in splotches of Luffy's blood. Ace even tried to scrub some of it off with his fingernails but it didn't work. Thatch however gave them a smile and spoke.
"How about we get you two cleaned up, I'm sure you don't want to be covered in your little brother's blood." Thatch said, causing the other two to rapidly nod.
Thatch led them into a different door on the ship that opened up to a big bathroom with a decently sized tub. He then ordered the two to strip and get in the tub, causing them to blush and say they didn't need help.
"We don't need help!" Sabo said, beet red.
"Yeah, the only one who needs help is Luffy, cause he'd drown otherwise!" Ace said before gasping and covering his mouth.
That caused Thatch to raise a brow and Sabo to sigh and shake his head.
"… You know the one time you gave advice to Luffy was to not blurt things out like that, and here you go doing just the thing you told him not to." Sabo said, causing Ace to glare at him.
"So what's this about Luffy drowning in a bathtub of all things?" Thatch asked.
"Well, Luffy's not exactly the best with water. He hasn't eaten a Devil Fruit but anytime he touches an amount of water like a bath or more he sinks." Sabo said, ignoring the increased glare from Ace.
"Huh, that's pretty odd. Nobody just sinks from touching water unless they are a Devil Fruit user. But still, I'm helping you guys. Or do you guys know how to get human blood off your skin?" Thatch said musingly.
Thatch, had a point there. The two knew how to get animal blood off their skin but human blood had to be different, right? To be honest though Sabo wasn't sure there was a difference, none of his medical books had said that, but he didn't want to argue with the man. He just wanted the blood gone. So they sat there in the bath as Thatch carefully scrubbed the blood off their bodies, making sure not to irritate the skin too badly. He also made sure to wash the boys' hair, despite their protests, because he knew that if he didn't Izo would hit him with his fan again. The crossdresser was very particular about appearance despite the fact that he was a pirate and shouldn't care about appearance. After he finished bathing them he wrapped them in towels and told them to stay there while he went to get them clothes to wear.
"But can't we wear our old clothes?" Ace asked, not wanting to accept more charity from the man.
"Ace, our old clothes have Luffy's blood on them. I don't want to wear them at all until the bloods been burned off them." Sabo interjected with a forceful look that instantly made Ace stop complained and blanch.
Ace did not want to wear Luffy's blood either. He shuddered thinking about being anywhere near that again. It made him think of what Luffy said before he passed out, which curdled his blood and made his guilt rise up again.
"Nee, Ace I didn't tell them where the treasure was… do you love me now?" Luffy said with his usual stupid grin before he fell to the ground, seemingly dead to the world
Blue, that was absolutely awful… When Luffy said that his heart broke completely and he vowed to himself to prove his love to his little brother. He never wanted his little brother to feel like he had to prove himself to be loved again. He may doubt that he should have been born but.. but he didn't want others to feel that way. He would protect his brother's happiness to the ends of the earth.
"Fine.." Ace said weakly.
So Thatch soon disappeared and the two were left alone to wallow in their thoughts. It was a while before Ace spoke of.
"Blue, I can't think of Luffy being dead." Ace said hoarsely, as if the words 'Luffy' and 'dead' hurt to say.
"Same here, if he were to die it'd seem like all the life in the world would just.. vanish." Sabo said.
They mused a bit before Sabo spoke up again.
"You know, now that I realize it, Luffy's always wanted our love and attention." Sabo said, thinking about it.
"How's that?" Ace said, haven't realizing why.
"He shared his meat with us." Sabo said simply, as if that explained everything.
And it did, Luffy was utterly crazy about meat. For Luffy to even think of sharing it with somebody meant that he wanted your attention and for you to like him. Luffy had always gave a share of his meat that he caught to Ace and Sabo. Even the meat from the only crocodile that Luffy managed to kill, and Luffy loved crocodile meat the most. Blue, how did they not realize it?
They were quickly drawn out of their thoughts when Thatch returned with a pair of shirts, shorts, and underwear. The odd thing was they looked like their clothes. Thatch seemed to catch on and explained.
"That lady, Makino I think her name was, gave them to me. Said she got them from your home, said she knew that you'd want a different change of clothes." Thatch said, causing Ace to smile.
"Did Makino ask about Luffy?" Ace asked, wanting to know, confused when Thatch shuddered.
"Yes, she did. She even threatened to skin me alive if she didn't get an update when he woke up." Thatch said.
That caused Ace to shudder as well, having experienced Makino's mother hen attitude before.
"Ace, how do you know Makino-san?" Sabo asked, having never met the woman.
"Oh, she would occasionally come up to Dadan's to check up on me. I'm surprised she never mentioned Luffy to me though… I'd probably have treated him better had she." Ace said.
"For the fear of her motherly wraith?" Thatch asked.
When Ace nodded his head rapidly it caused Sabo and Thatch to break out into laughter.
"Hey! You've seen it first-hand how scary she is when she's in mother hen mode." Ace said, pouting.
"True… so how about you finish explaining how it was your fault that kid ended up that way while you get dressed?" Thatch asked.
That sobered the mood and the kids quickly got to getting dressed, Ace explaining the problem.
"We stole treasure from pirates and a bit later Luffy had found us… I tied him up and left him there where he was found by the pirates…" Ace said, once again the guilt showed on his face.
Thatch however tried to cheer up the kid, not liking the look on his face.
"Hey, the good thing is you brought him to find a doctor, right?" He asked.
"Bu-" Ace started.
"Are you going to let that happen again?" Thatch asked with a raised eyebrow.
"NO!" Ace and Sabo shouted.
"Then there's no problem, and from what you said about the kid he'll definitely forgive you." Thatch said.
It was true, Ace had tried on many different occasions to kill Luffy but Luffy had always forgiven him. It had actually infuriated Ace that Luffy would forgive him so many times which is why he kept trying. Now Ace flinched whenever he thought about Luffy's smile while he was bleeding from Ace's most recent assassination attempt.
"I guess…" Ace muttered.
Soon enough though both Ace's and Sabo's stomachs growled, causing them to blush.
"Ahaha! I think we need to get some food if you're making those noises, come on." Thatch said, leading them out of the bathroom.
As they were heading to the kitchen Sabo decided to speak up.
"Are you sure you have enough food? Ace here's like a black hole and uh, Luffy's not much better." Sabo said, causing Ace to make a sound of protest and blush once more.
"How bad could it be?" Thatch said, Sabo knowing the man would regret those words.
And regret them Thatch did. He was utterly shocked when he saw how much food Ace ate. He had to keep cooking more food and had quickly realized that they would have to restock on food before they left. But thankfully soon enough Ace was full, as Sabo had been full a while ago. It was about then that Izo had came in, his kimono covered in blood, and looking exhausted. He plopped himself on a seat in the kitchen, which to Thatch was very uncharacteristic as the man always acted with grace. Ace and Sabo looked up at the man, the question clear in their eyes.
"He's going to live.. but he lost a lot of blood. It was really lucky when I found out he had F type blood. Because if he was S negative I'd have to have Thatch donate." Izo said with a sigh.
"F type? S negative?" Ace asked, confused.
"F type is a relatively common blood type and it can receive blood from its own type and S negative. However, S negative can donate to all others but only receive blood from itself. And we are out of it, which reminds me I need to get some from you Thatch later." Izo said.
"But Izooooo. I don't like donating blood. I mean I do, just not the process." Thatch said, whining.
"We need you to donate so if something like what happened to the kid happens to one of our crew members we'll be prepared." Izo said with a roll of his eyes.
It had always been a chore and a half getting Thatch to donate as Thatch wasn't fond of needles whatsoever never mind the fact that the man was surrounded by sharp objects on a daily basis.
"So… when is Luffy going to wake up?" Ace asked.
"It won't actually take that long, maybe a day. That kid is nothing if not resilient." Izo said, remembering how many times he thought he had lost the kid but his body just suddenly started fighting again.
That had actually made the two brothers once again sigh in relief. Speaking of brothers it brought an idea to Ace's mind but he needed to ask first.
"W-would Luffy be able to have a small bit of sake when he wakes up?" Ace asked tentatively.
That caused Izo, Thatch, and Sabo to raise an eye brow. Izo and Thatch because that was a question they weren't expecting. Sabo because he had no clue what Ace was up to.
"Why? Also, you're a bit too young for sake." Izo asked.
"Ah… There's something I want to do with Sabo and Luffy and it kinda needs sake." Ace said.
Izo could see that the kid was being sincere, even if he didn't know exactly what the kid wanted with sake. So he instead changed his inquiry.
"How small is a small bit?" Izo asked.
"Just enough for a ceremonial sake cup." Ace said, still not revealing what exactly he had planned.
"Hmmm, as long as it's a tiny bit and not a full sake cup it should be fine. Any more than that and it would compromise his recovery." Izo said.
"And I'll assume you'll need three ceremonial sake cups and a bottle of sake, right?" Thatch asked.
Ace nodded at that.
"Alright kid, I'll provide you with it. Just listen to Izo though, he is the head doctor of the crew." Thatch said.
"Okay." Ace replied.
After that they had realized that it had gotten late and that the boys needed to get to bed. They had however, begged to be able to sleep in the infirmary with Luffy to which Izo relented and moved a second infirmary bed next to Luffy's. It was with Sabo and Ace curled up by Luffy as they slept that Izo found them the next morning. Thatch had come by and set the three cups and small bottle of sake on the table by the trio for whatever Ace had planned sometime after that.
When Luffy woke, he felt sore all over and a bit sleepy. What he didn't expect to see was him in a room he didn't recognize, all bandaged up, and with Sabo and Ace sleeping right next to him. Then he froze as he remembered what had happened to him but quickly calmed when he realized they weren't chained up. Gramps had, after all, explained to him what pirates did to their prisoners. So, it was with trepidation of what to expect that Luffy tried to wake Ace and Sabo.
"Ace… Sabo… where are we." Luffy said, nudging the two.
The two boys fluttered open sleepily but quickly widened when they realized that their little brother was awake. Carefully, because they knew it would hurt if they jumped on him, they hugged Luffy.
"Lu! You're awake!" Ace shouted.
"Lu?" Luffy asked curiously, as Ace had never been this nice to him before, no matter how hard he tried to befriend before.
"Yes, Lu. Me and Sabo have decided to adopt you as our little brother." Ace said firmly.
Luffy's eyes started to water, causing the two to freak out, mainly Ace, thinking they said something wrong.
"Lu! Why are you crying!?" Ace asked in a panic.
"B-b-because I'm happy. Ace loves me now. Sabo loves me too." Luffy said, sniffling.
That one sentence cause the two's hearts to clench and Ace to ask a question.
"Lu… why were you trying so hard to befriend us?" Ace asked, unable to resist asking.
"Because…. I'm always lonely and being lonely is the worst feeling in the world." Luffy said with a sad smile.
Okay, that's it. Ace and Sabo's hearts just shattered. Luffy was lonely which was why he was trying to befriend them. And all they did was rebuff him and try to kill him, well actually only Ace tried to kill him but Sabo didn't try to stop Ace so it's just as bad, if not worse. Blue, Ace wanted to go back in time and punch his slightly younger self in the face. Repeatedly. Ace then quickly noticed the cups and bottle of sake and scrambled over to grab them. Once he had them in hand he ambled over to the other two and thrusted a cup to each of them.
"What's this for?" Luffy asked curiously, causing Ace to blush.
"I- uh I had read about something before called Sakazuki." Ace started.
Instantly with that word Sabo realized what Ace was doing, which made him smile his toothy smile.
"What's Sakabuki?" Luffy said, stumbling over the word.
"Sakazuki Lu, it's uh a ceremony where people share a cup of sake. And uh, ah, they become brothers." Ace said, blushing even harder.
"That sounds so cool!" Luffy said, stars practically in his eyes.
Seeing that Ace wasn't going to stop blushing any time, Sabo grabbed the bottle of sake and poured a tiny bit into each cup. By that time Ace had actually stopped blushing and held his cup up in the air, the others matching him after that.
"After this, we become brothers in all but blood. Family. We will always look out for each other no matter what and will go to the ends of the earth to protect each other. Kanpai!" Ace said, clinking his cup with everyone else.
They quickly then knocked the cups back, grimacing and coughing at the burn the drink brought to their throats. Although that wouldn't remove the bright smiles on each of their faces. Outside the infirmary room were Izo and Thatch who were smiling brightly at the trio. Izo quietly closed the door and turned to Thatch, gesturing to him to follow. Once they were out of hearing range Izo spoke to Thatch.
"You're already attached to those brats, aren't you?" Izo asked.
"Yup, although can't you say the same? Despite not interacting with the three it's hard not to get attached. They'd be wonderful additions to our family." Thatch said.
"Mhm, we could ask them if they want to join us but…" Izo said, trailing off.
"They might not accept, that Ace kid doesn't seem like he'll trust easily." Thatch said.
"Yeah, the only reason that he probably trusts us is because I saved his brother and you by association of me." Izo mused.
"I mean, it doesn't hurt to try." Thatch said.
When they went back to the room Izo wanted to squeal a bit. Sitting on the bed was Luffy curled up between his two older brothers. It was rather adorable at how the two seemed to dote on him. Not wanting to wait anymore though he opened the door and walked in, Thatch following behind.
"I see someone's finally awake." Izo said.
Luffy looked over and gave a big smile that warmed Izo's heart.
"Hi there! I'm Luffy! Who are you?" Luffy said.
"I'm Izo and this is Thatch." Izo said.
"I-Izo and Thatchy?" Luffy asked, causing Izo to chuckle at Thatch's indignant expression.
Sabo however, bowed and then apologized.
"I'm sorry, Lu's not that good with names, he probably only got Izo's right because it's rather easy." Sabo said.
"B-But my name's easy too!" Thatch said, protesting.
"Calm down… Thatchy." Izo said, hiding a snicker.
"Why you!" Thatch said half-heartedly.
Once again, the boys' stomachs growled, causing all of them but Luffy to blush.
"Do you guys have any meat?" Luffy asked, with puppy dog eyes, that promptly caused Izo and Thatch's hearts to melt as well as Thatch to forgive the boy for butchering his name.
"Yes, we do, uh Izo can the kid leave the room?" Thatch asked, eyeing all the bandages.
If the kid did seem to eat as much as Ace, then it would be hard to get that much food into the infirmary. Izo seemed to think about it for a little bit before answering.
"Yes, but he'll have to be carried so as to not reopen his wounds." Izo said.
That caused Ace and Sabo to promptly pick up their brother, Ace grabbing the top half and Sabo the bottom half. They maneuvered themselves to the kitchen, following Izo and Thatch. It was there that they found already prepared food, Thatch having prepared it in advance so he didn't have to constantly cook to feed them. What surprised Thatch and Izo was the process of all three of them stealing food from each other. It wasn't like that last night.
"Why are you three stealing food from each other?" Thatch asked.
Sabo and Ace pointed to Luffy.
"He usually ends up starting it by sneaking food from our plates, despite how obvious it is. Although, he avoids the meat." Sabo said.
"Why's that? I thought the kid liked meat?" Thatch asked.
"I do! But I love Ace and Sabo so it wouldn't be right to steal their meat." Luffy said, with a mouth full of sausage.
Ace and Sabo painfully resisted the urge to hug Luffy as from Luffy that was the sweetest thing he could say. Instead, they just smiled at Luffy who, after swallowing, smiled back.
"So… we have a question for you." Thatch said, causing the three boys to look at them.
"We want to know if you want to join our family, our crew." Izo asked.
All three boys' eyes widened but the first to speak was Sabo.
"You want us to join the Whitebeard Pirates?" He asked, hesitantly.
"Yes, with us you'll be a lot safer than here. I'm sure the pirates who uh, harmed your will probably still be looking for you." Thatch said.
That seemed to make Sabo realize something as he turned to Ace and whispered something into his ear. Whatever he said caused Ace to turn rigid before calming down and gesturing to Luffy. Sabo sighed and nodded before turning to Luffy.
"It's up to you Luffy, what do you want?" Sabo asked.
"Up to me? I never get to decide things. But if we join you guys then I can't be Pirate King! Pirate King can't serve under another captain!" Luffy said.
Izo and Thatch wanted to laugh at the kid because that was a very big dream. However, they held it in and decided to ask him why.
"Kid, why do you want to become Pirate King?" Thatch asked.
"I want to become the Pirate King because he's the one with the most freedom in the world! Also because I promised Shanks to become the best pirate!" Luffy shouted, clutching at the straw hat that Thatch and Izo just noticed on the kid's head.
They instantly froze when they connected the dots. The name Shanks and a very, very familiar straw hat.
"Shanks, as in Red-Haired Shanks?" Thatch asked tentatively, causing Luffy to furiously nod.
"Yup! Shanks gave me this hat and told me to return it to when I become a great pirate!" Luffy said.
Sighing as Luffy had left out some details, Sabo decided to explain.
"Shanks had apparently visited this village that Luffy had lived in about a year ago and ended up saving Luffy's life from a Sea King that lives in the area." Sabo said, remembering the explanation from Luffy who had constantly talked about the man.
Once again the two Whitebeard Pirates connected the dots again, remembering that around that time Shanks had lost an arm.
"So you're the kid that Shanks had lost an arm saving? He wouldn't stop talking about you the last time he visited, calling you his pride and joy." Thatch said.
Mentioning Shanks seemed to cause the boy to practically glow and vibrate with excitement.
"You guys know Shanks?!" Luffy asked.
"Yeah, he visits Pops occasionally to share drinks. But anyways, you don't exactly have to join our crew, just live with us and be part of our family." Thatch said.
"So… I could be a captain of my own crew?" Luffy asked.
"Yeah kid if you wanted to." Izo said.
"Alright then, I accept!" Luffy said.
Ace and Sabo nodded to each other.
"If Luffy accepts then so do we. But, don't expect us to trust everyone right away." Ace said, adding the last part with a glare.
"You mean don't expect you to trust everyone right away. Knowing Luffy he'll accept everyone right away." Sabo said.
"Yeah, you're right… Luffy don't talk to strangers unless we're there." Ace said, turning to Luffy.
"Shishishi! Alright Ace!" Luffy said, laughing.
"Cool! Then we can leave for the Moby Dick tomorrow if you want, unless you guys need to get something or say goodbye to someone?" Thatch asked.
The boys seemed to think for a second before speaking.
"We need to get our treasure… but the pirates might be wandering the area." Ace muttered.
"Treasure? We could get it; the pirates shouldn't be a problem." Thatch said.
Ace seemed to contemplate this for a second before giving Thatch a narrowed look.
"Alright, but if I see we're missing even one Belly I will kick your ass." Ace swore.
That seemed to make Thatch laugh and ruffle Ace's hair, which the boy protested vehemently.
"We also need to say goodbye to Dadan, she did let us live with her…" Sabo said.
"Don't forget Makino!" Luffy said.
"Where does this Dadan live? I know where Makino lives." Thatch said.
"Dadan lives on the mountain with the other bandits." Ace said, causing Izo and Thatch to sputter in shock.
"You lived with bandits?!" Izo said.
"Yeah, shitty gramps put us there. Although, Sabo moved in of his own volition." Ace said, causing Sabo to gap.
"Wow! You know a word like volition! I'm so proud of you Ace!" Sabo said, causing Luffy to snicker.
"Hey! I can know smart words too! You can't be the only smart one." Ace pouted.
Izo and Thatch smiled at their interaction, not surprised at all at how quickly they became attached to the trio. Although, Thatch did have one question.
"I've heard you mention this 'shitty gramps' before, but who is he?" Thatch asked.
The three of them all seemed to collectively shudder violently.
"Gramps is mean! He always hits us with his Fists of Love and tries to turn us into Marines." Luffy said, rubbing his head.
"Yeah, he says it's training but I don't believe him at all." Ace said.
"… That doesn't answer their question. Uh, I believe shitty gramps is called Garp. But if he's actually Luffy's blood-related grandfather then he's Monkey D. Garp." Sabo said.
That caused Izo and Thatch to pale.
"Vice Admiral Garp? As in Garp the Hero?" Izo asked.
"I think that's what Dadan called him." Ace said, not really sure.
"Is that going to be a problem?" Sabo asked, worried that Garp would ruin their chance to get away.
To be honest it wouldn't be a problem. While publicly Garp was known to vehemently despise pirates, he was actually a really good friend of Whitebeard. He would, like Shanks, occasionally visit for drink or two with Pops, warning him of Marine activity that might be of worry to Oyaji and his crew. But Garp was a really scary and strong person.
"Not at all, it's just…" Thatch started.
"Shitty gramps scares you? We understand." Ace said, the three boys nodding solemnly.
The three boys understood very well the fear that Monkey D. Garp put into a person.
"Anyways, I think we should just send a letter to Dadan." Ace said.
"Why's that?" Thatch asked, curious as to why they didn't want to visit the person who raised them.
"Because, shitty gramps it the person who practically threatened her to raise us. That way when said shitty gramps finds out, he can't take it out on her because she wouldn't have been able to stop us." Ace said.
"Wow! Knowing fancy words and thinking things through! You're on a roll today Ace." Sabo said, once again causing Luffy to snicker.
"Stop doing that! I can think things through!" He protested.
"… Says the boy who charged a bear three times your size." Sabo said, causing Ace to turn around and not look at him, blushing.
"Ace's idea is actually really good. But why not Makino-san?" Izo asked.
"Because, gramps is afraid of Makino." Luffy said simply.
That amazed the two Whitebeard Pirates. The fact that somebody actually scared Garp was astounding. So with that the boys first penned a letter to Dadan and then with the help of Thatch and Izo, as the boys still had to carry Luffy, went to Makino. When they got to the Party Bar, Thatch and Izo made their way to where Ace had told them they hid their treasure. With Luffy, Ace, and Sabo when Makino saw them she dropped the plates that she was carrying.
"Luffy!" She shouted, running over, but stopping when Ace blocked her way with his hand.
"He's still hurt, the only way we could get him here was to carry him." Ace said.
Makino looked up and down at Luffy before nodding. She could see why they were carrying Luffy.
"How are you Luffy?" She asked with a concerned look.
"I'm okay, but I'm really sore." He said with a bright smile.
She then had them sit down at the bar where she brought them something to drink. She then asked them what they were visiting her for, not that she didn't appreciate it.
"We came to visit you before we leave." Sabo said.
"Leave? Aren't you heading back to Dadan's?" She asked.
Ace promptly shook his head before answering.
"No, we're leaving with the people who saved Luffy. They asked us to join their family, the Whitebeard Pirates." Ace said.
That answer almost caused Makino to drop her glass.
"The Whitebeard Pirates? But why?" She asked.
"Because we're not safe here. The pirates that did this to Lu might come back to finish the job. Also, the other reason's Sabo's secret to explain." Ace said.
Makino turned to Sabo who squirmed under her gaze before sighing.
"I-I'm a son of a noble. I ran away and they might try to get me back." Sabo said, glancing down.
"Ah, well that's a good enough reason for me. Your safety is paramount and if you want to go then you can go." She said, nodding.
That shocked Sabo, as he wasn't expecting that response. Most people hated nobles on sight because of what they represented. However, the shock quickly faded and Sabo smiled brightly before handing over a letter.
"Can you give this to Dadan. It's a letter explaining where we are going. We don't want to get her in trouble with gramps." Sabo said.
Makino took it and nodded.
"I'll see that it gets to her safely." Makino said.
Shortly after that Thatch and Izo came into the bar. Thatch had a large chest hoisted over his shoulder and Izo had like eight different grocery bags in his hands.
"Did you kids finish everything you needed to?" Thatch asked.
Makino promptly walked up to the two and bowed.
"Thank you for saving Luffy." She said.
Izo promptly blushed for being put on the spot, Thatch however just laughed at Izo's embarrassment which made Izo hit Thatch with his fan. Izo then quickly turned to Makino.
"It was no problem at all." Izo said with a smile.
"No really thank you. I also hear you're going to be taking them with you. So please, treat them kindly and take care of them." She said.
"Don't worry, they'll have lots of brothers to watch over them and I'm sure Marco will be a mother hen about them." Thatch said, waving it off.
"Marco?" Sabo asked, curious about the people they'll be meeting.
"Ah, Marco's the First Division Commander. He's sort of the Mother Hen of the crew." Thatch said.
After that they decided they should get back to the ship as Izo had food supplies that needed to be refrigerated. So they headed out and once again had Thatch and Izo help get Luffy onto the ship. They spent the rest of the day with Izo and Thatch telling them various stories about their soon to be brothers. Of course, Ace wanted to know how long it'd be before Luffy was fully healed and Izo said that with Luffy's surprisingly good healing rate it'd probably only take about five days give or take. Which actually would be the amount of time it'd take them to get to the Moby Dick. Afterwards they had dinner and then sent the boys off to bed where they fell asleep, Sabo and Ace cuddling Luffy. The very next morning they set off, waving goodbye to Makino who was there to see them off. Next stop, Moby Dick.
Thanks for reading! Please review, it makes me happy! Also, if you haven't checked out Death's Gift to His Master try it out. Although, I do believe this is a bit better than it considering I have to follow plot in Death's Gift.