My Big Bro, Now My Little Bro
Yo! Thanks you all for reviewing and adding this fic to your lists! hope you enjoy the second chap.
2. To Where the Moby Dick is
Ace would stare at the humming teen and Fishman and back every now and then as they tracked back to...somewhere. Actually, he had no idea where the two strangers, introduced as Luffy and Jinbei, were taking him to. Perhaps their house or something? Speaking of which, Ace was not proud of letting himself tag along some strangers he knew nothing of. Their full name, occupation, age… He didn't even know where he was right now, for God's sake! And he still had his big question he couldn't get it off his mind. Who was this 'Ace' from before? He had so many questions to ask, but he wasn't sure whether he could trust the two in front of him or not. He glanced at Jinbei, the one he would choose to be more…trustworthy of the two.
Maybe I should just run away.
Then his eyes set back onto Luffy. He felt rage roam through him the same moment.
No! Not until I beat that guy!
Luffy, oblivious to the scorching stare he was receiving, chose the moment to spin around and give a huge smile. It made Ace even angrier, making him clench his fist.
What's that big smile for? He's pissing me off!
"Hey, Ace~!" called Luffy.
"What?" Ace replied, suppressing his anger.
"Are you hungry?"
"Not really."
As expected, his stomach started to growl as soon as he said that. Ace mentally cursed while Luffy let out a laugh. He even saw Jinbei's lips curl up a bit. He decided to blame it on Luffy's smile.
"Shut up! Stop smiling and laughing 'cause it pisses me off!" Ace snapped. It made Luffy tilt his head in confusion.
"What?! What's wrong about my smile? You were the one who said to stop being such a crybaby, remember? You said you hated them!" Ace blinked in surprise. Now he was the confused one. If his memories were correct, he hadn't talked to the older teen since he agreed to travel with them.
"That's true, but I never said such thing…" Ace trailed off when he saw a flash of panic in Luffy's eyes. It had been just for a short second, but it had been there, alright. Jinbei, who also noticed Luffy's small mistake, cut in.
"Now that's enough. Ace, when was the last time you've eaten?" he asked, hoping to keep him occupied with another conversation.
"Uh…I'm not really sure. I don't really remember anything from before."
"There's plenty of food to eat back at the camp, so just wait 'til we get there!" Luffy exclaimed, catching on.
"I can always go and catch my share of food," suggested Ace. He wasn't going to act like a child that needs care. He could manage his own food and all.
"No, you shouldn't. At least not until you earn yourself a decent weapon," said Jinbei. Ace couldn't help but sigh at the comment. It was true he was going to need a weapon to be able to catch those giant beasts. Maybe a pole or…
A pole?
Ace frowned at his random choice of weapon. He could have thought of a knife or something but a pole? That was just too random. Before he could think any further, his senses were alerted by the smell of…
"Food!" yelled Ace. His empty stomach growled along. Then he could see it. A huge pile of food.
"Shishishi! So much for catching your own food!" Luffy stretched his left arm around Ace's waist and the other at the pile of food. The action made Ace falter once more. For some reason, he wasn't surprised at seeing arms of rubber.
Gomu gomu-wait, what?
Unable to figure out what just came across his mind, Ace let Luffy rocket themselves towards the food pile. Ace shook his head.
I must be tired. Let's forget it. Food comes first.
Rayleigh was inside his tent when he heard a small crash outside. Simply imagining an animal of some sort, he didn't bother heading out. However, his ears perked up when he heard a child's voice.
"Can…Can I really eat this?!" Rayleigh could hear half excitement and half cautiousness.
"Yeah! It's not like you can hunt or anything," He recognized Luffy.
"I can so-uff!" it seemed to Rayleigh as if Luffy had stuffed food into the child's mouth.
"Just eat up!" A bunch of loud munching sounds followed, leaving Rayleigh thinking 'what is going on?' Rayleigh stepped outside and what he saw was an overwhelming happy Luffy and a familiar freckled kid busy eating.
Rayleigh frowned.
"Ac-" The old man was pushed back into the tent by Jinbei who came out of nowhere. Rayleigh gave Jinbei a confused look.
"Jinbei? Was that…?"
"Yes, it's Ace."
Rayleigh couldn't help himself from going blank. He had seen many unusual things from the sea but a supposedly dead walking around alive? That wasn't something that happened often.
"Care to explain?" he asked.
"I'm not sure what happened myself, but as you can see, Ace has been…reincarnated as a 10 year old. He seems to have no memories of his past, except for his first name."
"If the world knows this…"
"He is sure to be executed once more."
Rayleigh let out a deep sigh. How was this possible in the first place? No such thing had happened before. He looked back at Jinbei, who also looked troubled.
"How did Luffy react?"
"Well, he was the first to find him. When Ace couldn't recognize him, I simply told this was his second chance. So he's trying to act as if they had just met, although he has slips."
"What about Ace?"
"I can't really tell what he's thinking."
"I see…"
"What do you suggest we do?" Jinbei asked. Rayleigh stayed silent as he searched for an answer. After a long 5 minutes, he said his answer.
"Why don't we send him to the Whitebeard Pirates?"
"Is that a good idea?" asked Jinbei with wide eyes, "It might put Ace in more danger. We still don't know what will happen to the Whitebeard Pirates, now that he's dead. Besides, Luffy isn't planning to be separated from Ace. Wouldn't it be better for both of them to stay on this island?"
"We still need to know the reason for Ace's revival. If we stay on this island we'll get nowhere. And who knows if Whitebeard himself is alive somewhere as well? If that really happens and somebody discovers him, it'll only be a matter of time until people search the entire world. There's no guarantee they won't reach this island."
Jinbei gasped at the thought. He realized Rayleigh, who probably had the most experience than anyone on this island, could be right. Jinbei couldn't help but feel despair. If this island wasn't safe, then where?
"Do not despair, Jinbei," said Rayleigh. "There will be a way. I doubt the Whitebeard Pirates will disperse soon enough. Even though Whitebeard is now dead, there aren't many people who can still stand up to his crew. It'll be one of the safest place we can think of at the moment."
"Then what about the Red Hair Pirates?"
"I guess that could be another option."
Suddenly, entrance of the tent flipped open, revealing Luffy with his hand tightly clutched on to his straw hat.
"No," he said. Both Jinbei and Rayleigh sent confused looks at the teen.
"What do you mean, Luffy?" asked Jinbei.
"I…I can't meet Shanks just yet."
"And why is that?" asked Rayleigh. He noticed Luffy's grip tighten on the hat.
"I haven't fulfilled our promise. I'm haven't gotten strong at all. I couldn't protect my nakama and… I couldn't…save…Ace…" Luffy wiped little drops of tears he had been holding back from when he first met the 'new' Ace, "I'm still weak! So until I'm strong enough…to protect Ace and everyone… I can't meet Shanks!"
The other two looked at Luffy's desperate attempts to hide his tears. Despite the gloomy situation, Rayleigh couldn't help but laugh.
"Hahaha!"Jinbei and Luffy stared at the laughing man.
"What's so funny?" asked Jinbei, "I don't think laughing is the right thing to do right now."
"Sorry about that," Rayleigh waved his hand apologetically. "Well, everything's settled then right? I'll send out letters to search whereabouts the Whitebeard Pirates are hiding. In the meanwhile, I will help Luffy train and make him stronger. I assume we will have enough time, as it won't be all easy to find the crew we're looking for. Luffy, you will become stronger and Ace will be safe. How does that sound?"
"That sounds good to me," nodded Jinbei.
Luffy simply knelt and bowed down to Rayleigh.
"Thank you!"
"No need to," the Dark King laughed. "So, where's your once big, now littlebrother?"
"Ah, he fell asleep in the middle of eating," Luffy smiled, not his usual shiny one, but a smaller soft one. "After all, even though he lost all his memories, he's still my big brother."
The next day…
Ace woke up in an empty tent. He jumped up and looked around, not realizing where he was until he saw another blanket messily thrown into the side. Memories on how he met two strangers returned. Ace walked up and touched the tent floor where the owner of the blanket slept on. It was cold.
Must have left a while ago.
He pushed open the tent and saw Jinbei eating beside the pile of food. Luffy, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. Ace walked up to the Fishman.
"Hi," he greeted, taking a sit beside him.
"Oh, youphr afuwaf," Jinbei replied.
"What?" Jinbei swallowed his mouthful of food.
"I was meant to say 'you're awake'," he clarified.
"Right," Ace also reached for the food without thinking, "So where's Luffy?" he bit into the tender meat he chose from the pile.
"He went training." At his words, Ace jumped up.
"I'm going after him." Unfortunately for him, he was caught by Jinbei before he could run after Luffy.
"Stop right there, Ace. You don't even know where he is."
"Let go! I can find my way through!"
"No you can't," said Jinbei. He lifted Ace up so that he was eye to eye with the frustrated boy.
"I can so!" Ace glared at Jinbei.
"Even if you manage to find him, you shouldn't interrupt them."
"I won't!" Ace pleaded.
"No, and that's final," Jinbei declared. He could hear gritting teeth and suppressed an amused smile. "However…Why don't you train with me?"
"What?"
"Like I said, you want to beat Luffy, right? I'll help you get stronger so you can achieve your goal."
"Really?" Ace felt shocks of excitement. This Fishman had just offered him an opportunity to become stronger! There was no way he would turn it down! As soon as Jinbei nodded, a grin spread across Ace for the first time.
"Thanks, Jinbei!"
Ace started to laugh in happiness, forgetting all the confusion he had, and also forgetting he was still dangling of the Fishman's grip.
5 months later…
Luffy and Ace lay side to side, watching the stars twinkle in the night sky.
"Hey, Luffy?"
"Yeah?"
"Tomorrow's the day! I'm so excited!" exclaimed Ace. Luffy grinned along.
"Yeah! It's going to be your first time out in the sea!"
"I wonder what the Whitebeard Pirates will be like?"
"Well, I've only seen them once, but they were really awesome! I was too occupied to greet them properly, but…" Luffy's grin faded slightly as he remembered the war.
"But?"
"They had a Fishman like Jinbei and a blue flying chicken!" Luffy regained his smile and laughed.
"Woah, really?! A flying chicken?! That is so cool!"
"Well, anyways. I'll be sure to keep you from any danger, so no worries."
"Huh?" Ace pushed himself up and scowled, "I can protect myself just fine!"
"Shishishi! Sure you can."
"I can so! One day, I'm going to get even stronger until I beat you!" Ace proudly announced, puffing his chest out.
"So you're saying that you'll be able to beat me, your older brother who you pledged to be siblings with over a cup of sake?" Luffy asked.
"Yup!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Luffy tackled Ace to the ground, tickling him. Ace squirmed to get out of his grip, only to fail.
"S…Stop!..It…It tickles! Stop, Luffy!" Ace gasped. When Luffy didn't stop, Ace threw a punch at his face. Bam! Direct hit! Ace quickly scrambled up and sprinted towards their tent.
"Stupid Gomu!" he yelled behind his shoulder.
Luffy laughed and started to chase him. He was determined not to let Ace slip away this time.
So Ace seems a little too OOC I guess. Sorry 'bout that. I didn't really want to make him all mature and all. I mean, he's supposed to be the younger one now so yeah. Bear with me if you please. A 5 month timeskip and things have changed between the two, probably because I couldn't be bother writing stuff in between lol
