The island was right in front of them in full view now. It was far more fantastical than any of them had expected.
Ace, Sabo, and Luffy all stood in awe and wonder as they looked over the railing to the island of jungle beach and town merged into one environment.
Palm trees dotted the white sand as pristine crystal blue water lapped leisurely at its shores. Past the beach, a bustling town stood with trees and became seemingly one with the landscape. Almost every tree in sight bore fruit under lustrous bright green leaves, anything between red and purple and even pink peeking out from branches that melded with stone to make up houses and shops.
The buildings themselves were modest, two, maybe three stories. Shops beneath family homes, flowers blooming in their sorted beds, an enormous fountain you could just barely see from the shore sending raindrops of glitter down on the square.
It was, to say the least, breathtaking.
The Moby was a mere ten minutes from the island of splendour, and the boys had opted to watch instead of heading downstairs. It was only around 4pm and the sun was just beginning it's descent, a purpley-pink ebbing along the edges of the West where night would soon be dragged up from the oceans darkest depths.
Marco, being head Navigator and all that jazz, had to forgo the trio of trouble makers to help make landing preparations and figure out a good spot to anchor.
The island, being the tourist trap it was, had a plenty large port just Southeast of the town. Plenty of ships were already docked and, the Moby Dick being the vast vessel it was, they weren't entirely sure there was enough space for her to dock.
Of course, all this was left to Marco to figure out while the other Commanders busied about in their own factions.
The youngest members aboard the ship, however, simply stared at the island as it slowly got closer, the Whitebeards all moving about behind them to make lists of what needed restocking and who was staying on the ship.
Even Luffy had a bright look in his eyes as he stared out at the island from below the large brim of his treasured hat. He'd never been anywhere except Dawn, and all three of them refused to count that ship as a place.
Besides, as far as they all knew, the Celestial Dragons were hardly ever on an island for any longer than needed. He lived on the sea in luxury before meeting his untimely demise by the Whitebread Pirate's hand.
Which made Sabo wonder how on earth no one had sent after the infamous pirates yet. I mean, they not only killed a Celestial Dragon but freed hundreds of slaves as well.
Not that he was unhappy, the less of the government the three of them saw the better.
Another thought Sabo had wanted to ask about, but hadn't gotten the courage to yet, was why. Why had Whitebeard stopped at all? Why attack a Dragon knowing the potential consequences, free slaves that he knew nothing of? Had there been a reason? A point?
Sabo shook his head a little, refocusing his dazed blue eyes on the island ahead. There was no use thinking about why it happened. And Sabo was oh so grateful for it.
Now he could look ahead. Everyday was different. Sure, they had to take care of Luffy and keep a careful eye on him more than ever before, but it was still better.
Better than their littlest brother being alone in a cell. Better than having to clean and scrub and serve till your hands were raw and bleeding. Better than Ace coming back battered and broken because he'd rebelled again in defiance. Better than feeling ill 24/7 because you hadn't eaten properly in years. Better than being forgotten once you seemed useless.
Everything. It was just- better.
It wasn't perfect, wasn't normal by any stretch. But it was getting there. Luffy might be in danger, heck, they all might be if the Celestial's are looking for their slaves back.
(They knew little about their captor, but they did occasionally have 'family' over, when they'd have to serve them on hand and foot. They constantly discussed slave deals and the such, which of course, left Ace and Sabo both hoping and yet dreading hearing word of Luffy. One Celestial's slave was just passed onto the next until it finally caved like an inkless pen to be thrown out. It wasn't like the entitled jerks died all that often.)
But even so, now they had allies. Though they could never ask, (and were even a bit sheepish to admit it), they knew Whitebeard and his whole crew would fight through fire for them, even if they weren't really members of the crew.
It was just what they did.
Sabo let out a relaxed sigh and eyed Ace from across Luffy. They were both significantly taller than him, so it wasn't that difficult.
The freckled raven was also starring hazy-eyed out into the distant island, his eyes slightly narrowed and lips pinched in a way that read like he couldn't make up his mind about something important.
Sabo arched a brow, and slid over to his lost-in-thought brother.
Luffy watched him curiously, and Sabo raised a finger to his lips, only increasing the youngest's confusion but adding an interested light to his chocolate eyes.
Sabo walked to Ace's left, careful to stay just out of his peripheral vision, and slowly raised both hands to rest them suddenly on his shoulders and scare the raven.
Or, that's what he had planned. What the blond hadn't expected was for said freckled boy to whirl about and flick him square between the eyes, a devilish grin on his face.
Sabo yelped and sputtered a minute, holding a hand to his face as his brothers (yes even Luffy) laughed mercilessly at him from the railing.
"Hey! What the heck was that!?" The blond yelled out, partially recovered from the shock.
"Revenge," Ace laughed back, grasping the railing to keep from toppling through the giggles.
Sabo sputtered again before indignantly retorting, "But I didn't do anything!"
Ace pointed, somewhat more composed and said, "No, but you were going to."
Luffy just kept giggling at them both from between.
Sabo could only stare while Ace tsked teasingly, waving a finger at the dumbfounded blond.
"You should know by now that there's no sneaking up on me, my flaxen haired brother." Ace ended by getting right up in Sabo's face and booping the blond's nose, surprising him into confusion once more, blue eyes blown wide as the sky.
Ace was once again redused to laughter as Sabo's face kept cycling reactions, wholly unsure of how to respond. How could his plan have turned back on him so badly!?
Eventually, he turned on his heel, tail coat swishing as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"Betrayers, both of you," he humphed light-heartedly.
Ace smirked something evil. "Uh-huh. Sure. Says the one who was trying to scare me first."
Sabo whipped back around, finger poised and pointed at Ace, ready for accusing.
"I-!" The finger bent a little as Sabo deflated, realising he had no comeback.
A bitter defeat.
All while Luffy kept on giggling up at them.
Wait.
The sound registered slowly in the brothers' minds, and they looked to find Luffy, indeed, still laughing at the whole affair. Both elder brothers exchanged a surprised glance, then shared a soft and fond smile, full of love. They'd really missed this Luffy.
Sabo smirked and patted Luffy's head, resulting in a slight flinch, but nevertheless the straw hatted child looked up with bright and almost mischievous eyes.
"Now what're you laughing at Mr. Monkey?" Sabo chided cheekily.
Luffy averted his eyes slightly and looked off to the island that was suddenly oh so interesting.
"N-nothing..." Luffy replied, albeit a bit nervously.
Both brothers held back laughs, he was still so bad at lying!
"Well, whatever it is you found so funny," Sabo bent down to Luffy's level, a warm smirk on his face, " I'm glad we could make ya happy. "
Luffy looked up with an expression of slight awe and confusion, mouth open just slightly as he looked up at Sabo.
Then, he smiled, small, but genuine.
"I think Doctor Lady's food helped," he tapped his head comically, "Easier to think, and tell the Voice no."
Ace walked over and ruffled Luffy's hair, knocking his hat off so it hung by the loose string round his neck.
"I'm glad, bud," he smirked.
After that, they returned to the railing edge and saw the now very close island come into detail, distance no longer skewing the beach shores.
Sabo guessed they'd arrive in twenty minutes give or take a few, and Luffy kept pointing out things he thought we're cool, leading to lovely small talk that hadn't happened in a long while.
Soon enough, Marco drifted his way back to the trio as he took care of meagre things up on deck, slowly making his way over to the spot the three were hanging out at.
When he finally managed his way over, he sauntered up beside Ace and casually leaned on the railing alongside the boys, lazy eyes glancing across the destination ahead.
Ace side-glanced the taller man, then shifted his weight a little before looking back out to sea. From where they were, they could identify many smaller ships coming in from different directions, all heading towards the docking point no doubt.
"So, you boys excited, yoi?" Marco spoke up after a bit, resting his elbow on the wooden railing, hand propping up his head as he turned to the trio.
Luffy answered first, popping his head between his two brothers and giving a timidly cheerful, "Yeah!"
Marco blinked slowly for a second before letting a lazy grin spread across his lips.
Ace and Sabo smirked, each putting an arm around Luffy's shoulders, shifting to face Marco.
The small raven between them leaned into their hold, finding comfort in the touch and making it easier to block out the negativity that swirled inside his head.
He was determined to be happy about this island, especially now that he knew it really wasn't just him being down and sad. It was something else, and it wasn't what he wanted.
And besides, when the heck was Luffy ever willing to do what someone else wanted?
The next couple of minutes passed quickly and they were now docked at what had once been a mere speck on the horizon.
The Moby Dick just barely fit. The large whale-themed vessel laying anchor next to a large ship with chipped red paint. It was small compared to the Moby, but the ship itself was actually a decent size.
It's mast held high a flag of skull and bones, the eyes crimson red with a pair of handcuffs around the bones. A strange flag, but a pirate's nonetheless.
Not that the Whitebeard's cared.
Luffy got a weird feeling being next to the ship, and found his gaze lingering on it. It felt... Familiar.
But not good familiar. Bad familiar.
He couldn't put his finger on it.
Ever since docking his mind had felt a little hazy, the voice being more prominent, but also had static like a radio, like it was tuning into the right station after not working for ages.
He just considered it another weird thing and tried his best to ignore it, the medicine Aria had given him was still in effect which (to his almost disbelief) dulled the voice somehow.
Luffy and his brothers were currently waiting with anticipation for the bridge off the boat to be lowered. They'd been paired with Marco, Haruta, and Thatch for their docking party.
Thatch needed to restock some things but after that they were planning to show the kids around the island, and probably try the native cuisine.
They were nervous about adding Haruta, currently the youngest official Whitebeard pirate, to the mix first. The trio seemed nervous around him, but not entirely uncomfortable. More open and unsure than anything else, to Marco and Thatch's delight (and relief).
The Whitebeard's had gotten the chance to visit this island once before on their travels, a long while ago before many of their current crew members had joined. In fact, they had probably just recruited Haruta at the time.
They'd wanted to come back, but hadn't had the chance. They hadn't been as busy recently, so they added it to their stops. The pirates hadn't exactly expected they'd be bringing three former slave children along, but then again the whole entire situation with the Dragon had pretty much been impromptu hatred.
Not a single person on board would've changed the outcome of that day. Sure the boys came with some work, but the Whitebeard's were happy to accept that to watch the three grow and rediscover themselves. They were boys the pirates wouldn't trade for the world, and considering the current era, that meant a lot.
The group was watching as a few miscellaneous crew members let down the boarding plank. Marco had gotten word that Teach already left ship for the island. They really needed to sort this whole thing out, but nobody wanted to question one of their own or ruin a perfectly good island trip.
The moment the wood plank hit the dock the small group left the ship to explore Razkatoon Island. They began heading towards the town square, the oldest keeping close to the youngest.
Unbeknownst to the brothers, each of the adults in their group had been assigned to watch out especially for one kid.
Haruta had Ace, because they figured he'd be the least trouble for the young commander, Thatch had Sabo and Marco got Luffy. They agreed that since Luffy was most familiar with Marco (though Thatch hated to admit it) if a case came where for some reason the group did have to split, the strawhat boy would feel a bit more comfortable with their resident Phoenix. As well as the fact that in vise versa, Marco best knew how to deal with Luffy if, for some reason, it was required.
Though they all desperately hoped none of these measures would matter in the end and they could all just have a nice trip around the town for the next few days.
The group walked along a cobbled sandstone street to the large fountain in the square, where merchants and vendors were set up selling high quality goods in the dazzling light of the water that flecked off the fountains flow.
It was the town centre's marker, and as such the fountain itself was a magnificent build of marble and stone, fit together to extravagantly display the water.
The water itself was crystal clear, and when caught by the light just right, sent little rainbows cascading down on the citizens below.
Marco remembered ogling at it the first time they came all those years ago, and couldn't hold back a chuckle and smirk as the three youngest shipmates looked up and around in awe.
He was pretty sure Luffy's eyes were actually sparkling.
The boys just stood and stared, and Marco watched them a bit, drawn away only by Thatch tapping his shoulder.
The Phoenix raised a curious eyebrow as the chef pointed and giggled at Haruta, who was looking at the fountain square in almost the same manner as Luffy, just sketched excitedly in front of him.
Marco laughed out loudly, seeing their youngest commander so giddy about the sight. He'd been pretty young when they first happened upon Razkatoon, and it was a marvellous sight indeed.
The town was always breathtaking. It simply had that effect, a simple charming town that merged itself with mother nature and became even more beautiful.
Yep, a lovely place indeed. Were he not a pirate, he might've settled down in a place like this. Alas, that was not what his heart called for.
Life on the seas was all any of him and his hooligan siblings were good for now-a-days. Never a bore though, that's for sure.
After their five minutes of simply taking in the square, (Marco could only imagine what it was like for the former slave children) they went around to the merchants and stands for some shopping.
Marco gave each of the trio brothers a pouch of belli's, and practically had to force them to take it as Sabo, an ever nervous wreck, kept insisting it was too much.
After a long while of petty arguing, the Commander eventually forced the cash into the children's grateful, but reluctant, hands.
After that, it didn't take long for them to be excitedly pointing things out in stores, or comment on how yummy certain foods looked. Whenever Luffy said anything about food, he was immediately asked if he wanted it, to which there was a fifty/fifty chance the answer was yes.
They'd found Luffy to be a rather indecisive kid. Whether this was in character or not for him, the Whitebeard's didn't know
Thatch made sure to stop by some produce stalls and get some food for the ship while Haruta and Marco kept an eye on the attempting-to-be-low-key-about-their-excitement-and-failing trio.
Although it was more like Marco was watching a bunch of troublesome tweens as Thatch and Haruta joined in the mischief and flitting about 90% of the time.
He heaved a semi-serious sigh and tapped his thumb and pointer to his temples. "Yoi, I swear it's like I'm the only adult here," the man said as they walked along the shops.
Thatch chuckled and swung an arm around Marco's shoulders, watching as Haruta pointed out fun things to the younger brothers.
"Awe, come on now you're practically the oldest mate on the ship, and besides we don't get out often, lighten up!" The chef said mischievously.
A temple popped out on Marco's forehead at his comrade's teasing. "That first comment aside, I suppose you're right," Marco allowed a soft smile onto his face as he saw how much fun the kids were having, really enjoying their first true bit of freedom. "Yoi, they deserve this."
Not so far away from where the ASL siblings and their mentors shopped, a dark crew and a certain traitor watched in wait.
They're job was to get the kids back after all, though it seemed the most important one was the youngest, the elder two were simply too dense to realise that it wasn't just their little brother they were after.
That would be strange, after all.
Either way, though the sky was bright and clear, dark storms were soon brewing.
*Sheepishly steps in and waves*
Hehehehe I'm so sorry.
My brain. Oh my gosh. It's been so muddled and honestly I needed a break from writing so I took one. I'm currently getting my mental status diagnosed and it's kinda exhausting to realise all of your weird and maybe even problematic quirks.
But hey, at least there's this chapter after almost 6 months of me not posting.
I'm so sorry.
But on that note, do not start expecting frequent updates. They are still going to be sporadic and slow.
I can only try my best, and with the pandemic and school stuff is hard right now. Thanks everyone who has reread this over and over and is still here for updates, I don't think I could explain how much I appreciate all of you.
Until next time!
Chão!
Word Count: 3296