Luffy stared at the boy in front of him, that his grandfather said was his brother. The boy/his new older brother stared back with a frown before he spat on Luffy´s shirt and turned around and walked away. Normally, Luffy would get angry and demand an apology, but he was more focused on what information he got from this little encounter. Contrary to the popular belief, he wasn´t stupid, it was just hard to motivate him to use his brain. There was very little besides training or his Nii-san´s lessons that can force him to do so. Key among those rare times was when something interesting caught his attention. Then he refused to let it go until he figured it out. And his encounter with his new brother, Portgas D. Ace, belonged to the interest category.

But before chose his next steps, he decided to wait for his Sagitta-nii to find him in this bandit lair. Which took about two hours, during which he decided to practice with his knives away from the mountain bandits before a familiar voice was heard cursing out his grandpa in several languages.

"Nii-san!" the seven-years-old run towards the teen.

"Luffy! Care to explain what´s going on?" asked Sagitta, once they greeted each other and after he made sure the younger boy was alright. "Why did you old bastard bring you here?"

"He said something about toughening me up by the bandits and getting that ´ stupid idea about pirates ´ out of my head," replied the child honestly, then explained to him what happened.

"…okay, let me get it straight. First, he tries to turn you into a marine by brutal training. That failed because of me and Shanks. So now he tries with bandits, even though he KNOWS about the incident with Higuma and how since then you HATE bandits. Not to mention the many dangerous animals in the forest around us, some of which not even I dare to fight yet. And despite all of this, he STILL thinks it is a good idea. Did I get it all?"

"Yup."

"Then it is official – your grandfather had gone senile!" declared Sagitta flatly. "Not only does he suffer from menopause, now we can add senility or worse, dementia to the list. Great! I fear for the marines that serve under him…"

"Shishishi!" Luffy giggled at his big brother´s rant about his grandpa´s health issues. It was always so funny! Then he remembered something.

"I almost forgot! I have a new brother!"

That halted the rant and caused his brother to gain a curious look. "A new brother, you say?"

The kid nodded. "His name is Ace and when grandpa brought me here, he introduced us and said that we are brothers. He seems to be with the bandits longer than me. They let him walk into the forest without supervision, so I think they know he can handle it… Oh! Maybe you saw him before on hunt, Sagitta-nii! He is some three years older than me, with black hair, grey eyes and freckles on his cheeks. So? Do you think you know him?"

His older brother was silent as if in thought, before nodding slowly. "I know him, alright. Saw him several times while in the forest, either alone or with a blonde boy about his age. But every time I try to talk or help, they rudely rebuff me or run away. I don´t know what exactly is the problem, but they seem to have a deep-seated distrust towards everybody outside they little duo."

"Ace seems to dislike me. Could it be the distrust to others?" asked Luffy.

"Maybe, but I can´t be sure. As I said, besides them refusing my help I never talked with him," reminded him Sagitta. "Anything else you can tell me about him?"

"Hm, I´m not sure, he didn´t talk to me either, but… Ace has this odd look in his eyes I really don´t like," said Luffy hesitantly. When the silver-haired teen motioned for him to continue, he quietly did so. "He had the same look I saw in your eyes. The one you had when we met. Like he is just as lonely as you were back then. Lonely and… I think he somehow had a hard life as you did. Only he didn´t seem to have somebody to show him that not everybody hates him."

It might be just his imagination, but something told Luffy it might not be that chase. He had a faith in his instincts since they never steered him wrong. And when he saw his big brother´s troubled expression, he knew he was right.

"Well, this might be something we should look into… And since I know you, you probably claimed Ace the second that old bastard introduced you," at this he paused, waiting for denial, and when he got none, he continued, "Then it is probably for the best if we start looking for him now," decided Sagitta with a sigh.

"Then let´s go!" declared Luffy happily and turned to walk further into the forest.

"Wait a minute!" Sagitta grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, halting his movements. "Do you even know where did Ace go? The forest is big and I know there are many possible hiding places. Not to mention that he might have gone to the village, the capital or who knows, the Gray terminal. So tell me, how are we going to find him?"

At this, the straw-hat wearing kid paused, before a huge grin appeared on his face. "The Point-me charm! It can show us where can we find him!"

Sagitta smirked at this. "Good, so you pay attention to my lessons. Now, cast the charm and let us begin."

Luffy giggled before he brought forth his hand and concentrated. "Point me, Ace!" For a moment nothing happened, then a small ball of light appeared in his open palm. The ball transformed into an equally small arrow, which turned and pointed somewhere into the forest.

So began their attempts to get to know the boys. Or to be more specific – Luffy´s attempt to spend time with the two boys, while Sagitta stayed hidden, looking out for danger. It was about as hard as the brothers anticipated. The duo of ten years old was not pleased by the young boy´s presence and they let it know in spades. Ace did his best to ditch Luffy any chance he could, but with the location charm at the rubber boy´s disposal that proved to be hard. So the freckled kid and his accomplice tried to scare the third kid off by leading him to the scariest animals in the forest. This plan got ruined by Sagitta who either grabbed his little brother before he could get hurt or they grouped together and fought their opponents.

"I swear by Death if they lead you to another of those blasted animals…" growled Sagitta as he and Luffy knocked out yet another jungle beast.

"Aw, come on! At least I can test my strength!" laughed the little captain.

"True, I suppose," sighed the teen, before he grinned at his little brother. "And good job with the last one! A bit more training and you will be ready to take them out on your own!"

"Really? HURRAY!" exclaimed Luffy and threw himself at his brother. "Does that mean I will be able to go hunting on my own?"

"Maybe in a bit. By the way, how about we took a break from searching those two tomorrow and instead focused on hunting and training? You wanted me to teach you more after all."

"Hm… okay, but then the next day we will double the effort!" said Luffy determined.

The older of the duo merely nodded with a chuckled and patted the younger one´s head, all while unaware of the duo hiding in the bushes.

"Did you see that?! They took out the beast like it was nothing!" hissed the blonde kid to his companion.

"Shut up! I´m not blind, Sabo!" hissed Ace. "Let´s leave before they notice us." The duo moved quietly away, still thinking about what they saw. Once they were safely in their hideout, they sat down and started plotting.

"It can´t go on like this. Not with Luffy and that unknown teen constantly looking for us," started Ace.

"Yeah! At this rate they might discover our lair," Sabo agreed.

"How do they even know each other? We never saw Luffy with him before," complained the raven-haired boy.

"Maybe Luffy convinced him to help him? I mean, he tried to approach us before, so maybe they joined forces," suggested the blonde.

Ace thought about it. "It might have something to it… But what was the bit about training?"

"Eh? Well… maybe Luffy convinced him again? Honestly, what does it matter? Did you hear what they said before we left? They will leave us alone tomorrow! That´s our chance to make our big move on those pirates!"

"You´re right," agreed Ace and the two began to plot their big plan.

Sagitta watched with a critical eye as his little brother set up his trap. It was a simple noose used to capture and hoist up the prey high in the air. Normally he wouldn´t be so concerned, but this was Luffy´s first time setting a trap by himself and Sagitta wanted to make sure he did it right.

"Not bad," he finally decided. "For a first try, this is quite good. The rope is strong, the knot seems firm and you placed it in a good place. Now all you have left is adding a bit off the masking and the notice-me-not and you can use it to catch animals."

The rubber kid grinned and quickly took care of the last two issues. Sagitta had to smile at his enthusiasm, Luffy always took to training with such a passion, it was honestly joy teaching him. It made the teen remember himself teaching the younger students in his fifth year. Only here, he didn´t have to worry about a teacher or a murderous psycho going after him, or a war boiling in the background. Instead, he had to dodge an old menopausing bastard that tries to brainwash his little Luffy, while they both prepared to be pirates.

Such a contrast to his Golden-boy days…

"Nii-san, are you lost in memories again?" asked Luffy, throwing him out of his mussing.

The androgynous teen smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I´m not. I just think about how much I actually enjoy teaching you. Honestly, I nearly forgot how satisfying it is when you pass your knowledge on someone else."

The little captain tilted his head to the side. "Really? And you like it?"

"Yeah, there is something special about that."

"Then why don´t you try for that carrier path? Didn´t you say that you wanted to be a teacher once?"

At this, the other had to laugh. "No way in hell! The only schools here are all for those snobby nobles. There is no way I would ever teach them anything of my skills. Besides, I prefer teaching you, otōto. I wouldn´t change it for anything. What´s more, I already promised to join your crew! If nothing else, I will teach them the best of my ability… if I won´t have my hands full from assisting you as your first mate."

"True!" giggled the child.

Sagitta smiled again. His little brother was so innocent and sweet. He really hoped the boy will have something of his innocence left, even after they left to start their adventures as pirates. Then he thought about it and had to chuckle. Luffy always will be Luffy, no matter what happens.

Suddenly Luffy straightened and quickly turned to the side. The older boy immediately tensed and when the younger boy bolted, he followed him. Neither of them spoke and just hurried towards their unknown goal, one led by his instincts and the other by the trust. After meeting Luffy, Sagitta found out pretty quickly that the boy had some seriously strong instincts, be it either in judging the character or if someone close to him was in danger. It was never wrong, so Sagitta learned to trust his brother in this and be ready for anything.

And right now something triggered the rubber boy´s danger sense.

They raced through the forest, avoiding the traps the older set up the previous day until they stopped and hid inside some bushes. Sagitta quickly threw a silencing charm and notice-me-not around them, and from their hideout they watched the scene happening not so far from them. A group of adult men surrounded two tied up boys, very familiar boys. From what the observers could make out, the tied-up duo stole from the men and now the men were demanding the return of their treasure. But the boys were stubborn and refused to tell them, even as the adults hit them and treated them with death.

"Who are those men?" asked Luffy quietly, his tiny fists clenching at the sight.

"My guess? Pirates, the bad kind," replied Sagitta, eyes narrowed. "What were those two thinking? Stealing from them?"

"I don´t care! We have to do something!" hissed Luffy.

"Agreed, at this rate the men will really kill them. But what can we do? They are too many for us to handle, not to mention that they might try to use Ace and his friend as hostages or worse, meat shields," murmured the teen, never taking his eyes from the scene.

Luffy frowned before an idea hit him. He leaned towards the older boy and whispered something into his ear. The silver-haired teen listened, a dark smirk appearing on his face and with a nod, he started to sneak through the bushes around the men.

"Spill, brats! Where did you hide our treasure?!" snarled the men´s leader.

"Not telling!" snapped the two boys in response.

"You better change your minds soon! Or do either one of you want to see how we kill the other in front of your eyes?" asked the man, pointing his swords at them.

"Go ahead! It is not like anybody would miss us!" snapped Sabo, with Ace nodding.

"And you might as well kill the other because neither of us will talk!"

Before the man could respond a deep, twisted voice came from around them. "Yare, yare… What do we have here?" The sound of something heavy slithering on the ground and moving through the voice. "Some puny guys… And beating a pair of kids, nonetheless… How disgusting."

"Who is there?!" demanded the men, sounding braver than they were feeling.

The voice chuckled as if finding they attempt to hide their fears funny. "Kufufufufufu. I have many names, many titles… But all you need to know is that I´m the hunter of this forest… And you humans are trespassing MY territory… So I recommend that you leave… before I kill you!"

"HAH! As if we would fear a faceless voice! Show yourself, if you dare!" called the band´s leader.

His courage left him the moment the chuckle turned into a sinister laugh that echoed all around them. Chilly shivers ran down the spines of the men, the thought of facing this unknown person suddenly scaring them. The laugher stopped and the voice spoke again. "As you wish, pirate."

A movement caught the attention of the men and when they turned towards it, they froze in terror. Several feet from them was a giant snake. It was at least fifty feet long, with silverish white smooth scales, green slitted eyes and a wide mouth filled with dragger-like sharp teeth on each of its THREE heads.

"Kufufufufufu, well what now human?" asked the head on the left.

"Are you going to try to attack me? Or are you going to…" the head on the right started.

"RUN!" hissed the head in the middle as each head opened its mouth and hissed, with venom dripping from their fangs.

"ARGH!" "Monster!" "Demon!" "Run for your lives!" The men shouted over each other before they turned and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Even faster than that, as the snake´s sadistic laughter filled the air and after them.

The snake watched as they got smaller and smaller until they disappeared from the view. Then it turned its attention towards the tied-up boys. Ace and Sabo both were completely still, trembling as the snake´s gaze ran over them. The snake snorted and looked to the side.

"You can come out, Luffy! They are gone!" the snake called and much to their shock a familiar rubber boy emerged from behind the bushes.

"Shishishi! You were great, Sagitta-nii!" giggled the boy madly, hurrying over to them.

"Only because you had a good idea, otōto," replied the snake while it turned back into the androgynous teen, shocking the tied-up boys even more.

"What- How did you do that?!" demanded the two.

"That… is a secret!" chuckled Sagitta. "Now, what are we going to do with them, captain?"

"Hm… Depending on how they will answer my questions, we will decide if we release them," decided Luffy.

Sagitta nodded and motioned for him to proceed, having guessed what his little brother was going to ask.

The youngest boy moved to stand in front of Ace and Sabo before with a serious look on his face, he voiced his question: "What did you mean when you said that nobody would miss you if you died?"

Both boys shifted, then looked away. It was Sabo who spoke after a while, "Exactly what we said. There is nobody who would care or mourn after us. Nobody ever did, nobody ever would."

"Why do you think so?" asked Luffy softly.

"Because that´s how things are!" snapped Ace at the younger boy. "Sabo´s family could care less! They can always replace him as if he never existed! And I am a child that should never be born! Everybody says I shouldn´t be alive!" the boy finished, glaring at the ground. He was taken by surprise when a smaller body slammed into his, arms circling his neck. It took him several seconds to realized that it was Luffy hugging him.

"They are wrong! Everybody, who says that you shouldn´t be born, is wrong!" declared Luffy. "I´m happy Ace is alive! I´m happy that I got to meet you, even though you don´t like me! And Sabo too, I am glad to know him, even though I had no idea what was his name until now. I care for you both!"

"Any why do you care?" asked Sabo, taken aback by the younger boy´s words.

The rubber boy pulled back from Ace and looked at him. "Because you are my brothers! We are family!"

"Idiot! We aren´t even blood-related!" Ace blurred out.

"It doesn´t matter!" retorted Luffy without hesitation. "Neither Sagitta-nii and I share blood, yet we love each other like a real family! Family isn´t limited by blood, it can be people that care about each other, too!" The little boy paused before he smiled. "And like I said, I care about you. You are both my family. You and Sagitta-nii are the only family I have and need in this world."

"But I tried to kill you!"

"Nope! You were trying to scare me off!" corrected Luffy. "I can tell that you are no killer! Just somebody who really needs a family to be there for him. And now you have it!"

Watching the blonde and the raven boys´ shocked and speechless expressions, Sagitta couldn´t help but chuckle, drawing their attention to himself. "I don´t know about you, but I have long since realized that Luffy is impossible to convince, once he makes a decision about something. So face it, dear little brothers, you are now stuck with us."

"Little brothers?" repeated Sabo in confusion.

"Us?" asked Ace in the same tone.

The silver-haired boy grinned at them. "You heard me! Since Luffy decided that you are now his new big brother´s, you became MY little brothers too. And you won´t be able to get rid of us that easily, unlike before!"

"Shishishi! Now that we have this out of the way… Sagitta-nii, help me untie them! And then I want you to check them over for injuries!"

"Aye, captain!"