The sun was shining, the sea was blue, and a steady wind was blowing, keeping the ship on track. It was just past dawn and time for the crew to be getting up. The cook headed to the kitchens and got working while his staff helped him. The shipwright was starting repairs and the navigator was checking his maps and making sure they were on course. In the crow's nest, watching the horizon for land or enemy ships.
The only crew members that were no were to be seen were the captain and his first mate. They were still asleep. Every week it fell on someone else to wake them up. Today it fell on a member who had just joined the crew. He had only met them once and he had no clue what to expect.
Joom walked over to the captain's quarters and knocked on the door.
"Captain, First Mate, it's time to get up. The navigator said that there was a strong wind in the night that blew us closer to the next island," he said through the door.
The black haired captain climbed out of bed and walked over to the door, cracking it just enough to answer Joom.
"Okay, Joom. Give us an hour and then we'll meet you on deck. Make sure that everything is secure so Sabo doesn't get into it and that the gates are closed so he doesn't fall," he said with a yawn.
"Yes sir," Joom said as he saluted his captain.
Once Joom was gone, the captain went back over to his bed and took the other occupant in his arms. Like him, she had black hair and tanned skin from being on deck and in the sun.
"Who was there Ace?" she asked as she cuddled into Ace's body. "And what did they want?"
"It was Joom. It was his turn to get us up," Ace said as he kissed her shoulder.
Ace was tall, and muscular, but not too muscular. He was young and had freckles all over his face. He had black eyes and shaggy, black hair that stopped an inch above his shoulders.
He climbed out of bed and put on his clothes. They consisted of a pair of jean shorts, with a blue belt and pouch threaded through the left leg just above the knee. Two belts with a belt buckle with his initial on it in purple. He wore a knife in a case at his hip and black boots that stopped just above his ankle. He wore a pale yellow shirt unbuttoned. But perhaps the strangest thing was his bright orange cowboy hat with a beaded brim and two faces. One smiley and one sad face. And on the end of the tie was a charm. And a beaded necklace.
In the corner of the room was a crying infant. Ace went over and reached into the crib.
"Hey, Sabo, buddy," he cooed to the infant. "Are you hungry?" Ace looked over at his wife and then brought took Sabo with him to the kitchens.
"Captain Ace," the head cook, Jokk, said as he prepared some food for Sabo.
"Hey Jokk. Thanks for the food. I'll be up on deck, checking on everything up there. Save me some breakfast," Ace said as he took the mashed bananas and took them up on deck with him and Sabo. He placed the baby into a rocker and sat down in front of it. He placed the spoon in the white-yellow mush and attempted to feed his son.
"Come on kid; please eat the bananas for Daddy. Please so Mommy doesn't kick my ass," Ace pleaded as he fed the infant the food.
"Captain! First Mate said she'll be out later. That she wants to shower!" Kamron, the navigator, called down to the captain.
"Thanks Kamron!" Ace called back.
After about five minutes Ace finally managed to get some food into the child's mouth. The baby had a few teeth, jet black hair, and his mother's bright green eyes. But he was also covered in food. So was Ace.
"Okay kid. You ate. You made a mess. You win," Ace said.
"Captain!" Jose called from the crow's nest. "The Red Hair Pirates are off the port bow!"
"All right! I'm assuming they'll have questions. Prepare to let Captain Shanks board if he wants to. BRING IN THE SAILS! LOWER THE ANCHOR! PREPARE TO BE BOARDED!"
"AYE CAPTAIN!" the crew responded. "YOU HEARD HIM MEN! STEP TO IT!"
On the Red Force
"CAPTAIN!" Yasopp yelled. "I think I see the Decker up ahead! What should we do?"
"Shanks looked out at the sea and saw the ship. He took a minute to think about what he wanted to do. "Pull up and prepare to board. I want to know what their plans on the Grand Line are."
"Got it Captain. PREPARE TO BOARD MEN!"
On the Decker
"Captain, Captain Shanks wants permission to board," Joom said.
"Got it, let him on board," Ace replied as he tried to clean up Sabo.
Joom walked over to the side of the boat and signaled that they had permission to board.
"Thank you; I'm Benn, the First Mate. Am I right to assume that you're the First Mate of the Spade Pirates?" Benn said as he climbed aboard and waited for his captain.
"No, I'm just crew hand. The First Mate is in the shower; our Captain can talk with you now. He's on the other side of the deck," Joom said as Shanks came aboard. "I have to go below and take a census of supplies," he said as he walked off.
"The deck has an interesting set up. The rail has no spaces between planks and an inch in between the deck and the rail," Benn said as he walked with his captain.
"And the stairs have gates on them. Toys are everywhere," Shanks muttered. "The papers said nothing about a child on board."
"Reminds me of the deck when we had Manami on board."
The two walked across the deck where they saw a man trying to clean a squirming child. He himself was covered in food and appeared to be getting frustrated. Shanks took pity on the man. Whom he noticed was in a bright orange cowboy hat.
"Need some help?" Shanks asked as he kneeled down by the man.
"Yes please. Sabo squirms too much to do this alone and my crew doesn't want to get covered in food," Ace said as he passed Shanks a wet cloth. "C'mon Sabo. Just let us clean you off so Mommy doesn't throw me off the ship."
"So his name is Sabo?" Shanks asked as he cleaned the baby off with ease.
"Yeah, Portgas D. Sabo. I'm Portgas D. Ace, Captain of this ship and his father."
"'Red Hair' Shanks," Shanks said as he picked up the clean infant in his one arm.
"Really, well that saves me from having to find you. I'd like to thank you for saving my little brother, Luffy."
"I didn't know Luffy had a brother," Shanks said as they walked, Ace cleaning himself off.
"Yeah, I was adopted before Luffy was born and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz." Ace trailed off as he fell asleep.
Sabo giggled as he saw his dad hit the deck. "Daddy sleepy," he said the way only a one-year-old could.
"It looks like it, Sabo. Benn, check and make sure he didn't hurt himself."
"You got it Cap. C'mon Ace, up you go," Benn said as he threw the man over his shoulder. He looked up to the crow's nest and asked where the med bay was.
"Go through the door in the middle and walk down the stairs. Take a left and go down the hall. The last door on your right leads to the med bay," Jose said. "Don't worry, our captains just a narcoleptic. He does that all the time. But usually he falls asleep at meal time, and his wife draws on his face."
Benn just laughed and walked through the given door. Shanks followed them so that he could talk with Ace when he woke up. They were greeted by a young doctor who gave them a smile and just laughed when he saw his captain.
"I'm Hikaru, welcome to the Decker. I see you met our captain and young Sabo. Just place him on the bed over there and I'll check on him when he wakes up in a few minutes," the doctor said. He was a short, chubby man with a round face. He had brown hair that he kept pulled back in a low ponytail at the nape of his neck. He wore a green and white striped shirt and a blue sash over his tan capris and sandals. He kept a pistol on his side and a knife strapped to his thigh. "Our Captains kinda weird, but he means well. He's very protective of all of us. Especially his wife and son. His wife is the First Mate. She's probably steering the ship. That or helping in the kitchen, or where ever she's needed."
"Sounds like he has quite the women," Benn said as he took out another cigarette to smoke.
"She is, and no smoking in the med bay. Or around Sabo. The cap and his wife are very strict about that," the doc said as he looked for the Captain's file. "Here it is," he said pulling out a very thick file. Noticing the stares of Shanks and Benn, he chuckled. "Our captain is a bit of an idiot. He ate the Mera Mera no Mi. Captain gets in lots of trouble and as soon as I've healed him, his wife beats the living crap out of him. But only if he nearly died. This has happened several times."
"Your Captain sounds very interesting. How often does he fall asleep?" Shanks asked as he bounced the fussy baby.
"Usually about four times a day, maybe more. That alone has caused several head injuries," Hikaru said as he made a note about what time the Captain came in.
"Telling them my life story are you, Hikaru?" Ace asked as he sat up. He held his head in his hands for a minute and then shook out his hair.
"Lay back down, Cap. I have to check your head. You hit it when you fell on the deck," Hikaru said. "And take off your hat. I can't check your head with your hat in the way."
"You got it Hikaru," he said. He took the hat off and laid it on his chest as the Doc checked the bump on his head.
"Just don't do anything too stupid today and be careful. Should heal by dinner. And I won't let Mana know that you hit your head."
"Thanks Doc. Okay, any questions?" Ace asked as he picked up his son from Shanks.
"Why are you in the New World?" Benn asked.
"Just keeping busy, when Luffy gets a crew, we're gonna make a fleet and join together to look for the One Piece."
"Sounds look some good goals," Shanks said with a smile.
"AAACCCEEEE!" a female voice called.
A/N Who's Ace's wife and Sabo's mother? Find out next time.
