Decided to do another crossover, not MHA, since it's been awhile. I wrote this immediately after my previous fairy tail/one piece fic. This one is majority original content, it does not follow the plot like Filling a Blank Slate was. The main characters are children throughout this. Ace acts like a normal kid, I made him cry, whine, etc. He's not hateful like canon young Ace. And of course there are dragons in this! Time travel, too!
I'ma be honest. I don't remember much about this story. It was written and edited a long time ago, so I might not be able to answer plot questions very well. Enjoy~
Ace stood in the entrance of a big building. It was raining outside, and he was soaking wet, cold to the core and shivering. He was trying to find somebody, but didn't know who, and someone had directed him here. A big building that looked like a castle. Since Ace had never been to this place before, he had no idea what this building was. He couldn't read the sign above the door, either.
A girl with red hair saw him there, standing in the doorway but also still in the rain, dripping down him and into a big puddle. She had long red hair and was wearing a metal top and a sword at her waist. "Are you coming in?" she asked. "You're still standing in the rain." She said it nicely, and ushered Ace inside.
He was much smaller than her, being less than half her age. He was shivering, and she got him a blanket from a nearby cupboard, wrapping him in it. This place was noisy and bright. But nobody was paying attention to them. "What's you name?" she asked. "My name is Erza." Ace looked at her blankly. "Can you speak? Can you understand me?" Ace couldn't speak, but understood her. He nodded. "What's your name?"
"Mm… Ace."
"So you can talk," she said happily. Ace frowned, but knew he wasn't good or able to speak other than his name. "Do you have any parents? Any family? Can we help you find them?" Ace didn't remember having parents or family. What were those? He was unsure, so he shook his head.
When his stomach rumbled, and he sadly pressed both hands to his tummy, Erza took his little hand, him wrapped in the blanket, and lead him to the bar counter. He got up on the stood with difficulty, being the size he was and that the stools weren't built for four year olds. Erza sat next to him, and asked the bar maiden to get Ace some food.
"Who's this, Erza?" an old man asked. He was short like Ace, but a lot older. He jumped onto the counter, and looked down at the chilly Ace, still in soaking wet clothes. He was still shivering, but was happy to have a warm drink. It smelled like leaves, tea. But when he looked at the food, he saw it was something unfamiliar.
He sniffed it, and didn't want it, making a disgusted expression, his face twisting. "You don't want that? What do you want?" Erza asked, looking troubled. Ace wanted to say he wanted animals, but wasn't good at talking, so he managed to say that he wanted to eat an animal. Just that word.
But they got it, and he was served some yummy meat! He ate it with his hands, which wasn't correct apparently, but he didn't care. It was so yummy! "This is Ace. He was standing in the rain, so I invited him in. It seems he can't speak very well, but he is very young. What should we do with him, Master?"
This Master watched Ace licked the plate clean, and then grow sleepy and fall asleep at the counter. Makarov thought for a moment, seeing Ace and coming to a conclusion he didn't share with the others. He crossed his arms, and declared that they would be keeping him. Erza was surprised by this. Pointing out his age, Makarov replied, "Then he'll grow up to be quite the character."
When Ace's joining was announced, the boy sleeping on a couch in the lounge area outside of the main hall, everyone were confused about why they were accepting a four year old child. Sure, they'd had young ones before, but Ace would be the youngest. And if he couldn't speak, that meant somebody had to teach him.
Erza volunteered to help take care of him. She's the one that invited him in, and he seemed sweet enough. Besides, the guild was a family, someone had to be the big sister. They did wonder why Makarov accepted him despite not knowing if he had any sort of family they could return him to.
When Ace woke up, he explored the space, looking at everything, opening cupboards and closets, checking under the couches. He ran to the window, and looked out at the backyard area. It was small, but there was some grass. Ace continued to zoom about the room before the door opened and showed Makarov there.
"Hello, Ace," he said. Ace jumped onto the couch and started jumping up and down. "You sure will be a handful. Well, I haven't had a kid as young as you in a long time!" he said brightly. Ace beamed, liking the happy feelings his tone of voice gave off. Makarov closed the door gently, and locked it. He walked to the couch with Ace and sat down next to him, who stopped jumping. Ace snuggled him like he was an overgrown stuffed animal. The old man was very small after all. Makarov smiled fondly and pat his head. "I want to ask you some questions. Nod yes or no if you understand. Okay?"
Ace blinked, but nodded, understanding mostly. He moved away and grabbed a blanket on the couch to cocoon himself inside. He liked the soft feelings, how it felt on his skin. Makarov's first question was if Ace had a full name. Ace didn't remember having any other name, so he shook his head.
"Do you know where your family went?" The boy shook his head again. "Do you remember anything before arriving here?" Ace nodded. "Anything important?" He wasn't sure what was important and what wasn't. He remembered being in a forest, and then arriving there in the rain. Didn't remember anything else. So he couldn't answer, and looked bothered. "Did anything interesting happen before coming here?"
He was trying to handicap Ace's inability to speak, rephrasing questions to make them easier. But nothing really big happened to Ace before meeting more people. So he decided to shake his head. Asked how old he was, Ace had no idea. "Well, your welcome here. We should get started on teaching you to speak very soon. First, let's go over the rules and what this place is about, hmm?"
Ace untangled himself from the blanket and dropped off of the couch. He kept the blanket around his shoulders, and it dragged on the wood floor behind him. He was barefoot and dirty, and needed a long bath. But that could wait for a bit. He decided he liked the basement. It was very quiet in there.
When it was time to come out and be shown the bath house, Ace didn't want to leave the basement, and started to throw a tizzy when it was time to go. "Once I'm done showing you around, and you get a bath, you can come back down here. But you have to come out. You wouldn't want to miss anything fun, right?" Makarov asked lightly.
The was looked at the room sadly, before he went with the Master, dragging his new favorite blanket up the stairs behind him. Makarov pat his head in praise when they got out of the stairwell. "Let's get you bathed and then you can meet everybody. How about that?" Ace cocked his head. "I'm not surprised you don't remember ever being bathed. Well, you'll know what it is when it happens." They walked to the main room, Ace peeked around the corner when the old man went and got Erza.
She was more than happy to help bathe Ace. She was ten and Ace was four. Approximately. "Let's go get you clean, Ace." He liked her voice and how happy and calm she sounded. He nodded, and took her outstretched hand, walking with her to the bath house. "I already gathered some very old clothes that Master has kept of Laxus," she said nicely.
When he saw the big stone bath, he didn't recognize it other than a big puddle from outside. He undressed just fine, and got into the water without being told. It was nice and warm. Erza undressed too, and sat in the bath with him. He was so small he couldn't sit or he'd go below the surface. So he had to stand.
He wanted to play in it while Erza tried to wash him. He wasn't having it, so she instead washed her own hair, talking about how nice and clean she felt. He was tricked into getting his hair washed by not wanting to miss out on any fun. It did feel nice, and she had to really scrub, as Ace was extremely dirty. Who knew where he'd been until now? Clearly not somewhere clean.
After the tub had quite a bit of dirty water, it was magically purified, which made Ace gasp. "That's magic. Everyone here has magic. Maybe you will, too, if you want," Erza said sweetly. Magic seemed fun. When the bath was over and the water clean, Erza got out and toweled off before putting her clothes back on and helping Ace out of the water.
She rubbed him with the towel and then gave him Laxus's baby clothes. He had a yellow shirt on and some shorts. No shoes, though. They'd have to get him some soon. "Look how nice and clean you are," she said enthusiastically. Ace looking in the mirror, and touched his hair. It was so soft and fluffy! And he wasn't crusty with dirt anymore. No dirt between his toes or anything.
He turned and hugged Erza in thanks for getting him clean. She hugged him back. "You'll fit in here nicely, don't worry." Ace wasn't worried, this place sounded fun!
-x-
'Why is there a four year old here?" Natsu asked, looking as Ace chewed on a dog bone. Much of the guild had been away when Ace arrived, so his appearance was a surprise. And probably the fact that the kid was chewing on a dog bone while trying to figure out a fifty piece jigsaw puzzle of the Fairy Tail mark. He was happily in his own little world.
"There just is. Don't make fun of him," Erza said darkly. Natsu leaned away and promised he wouldn't mess with him. Not that there was any reason for the nine year old to be mean to the kid. Gray didn't understand it either, but had already been warned by Erza. Actually, she'd already warned everyone in the guild. Very protective over him already. Not that Ace didn't return the affection.
But there was no denying he could be annoying. He was learning to speak better, and his pronunciation was crap, but he could string together sentences. He was catching on quickly, which was lucky for him and everyone else. But Ace had good hearing, and learned a fair share of swear words already, which just infuriated Erza and earned everyone angry lectures.
So now nobody was allowed to swear in the guild, which angered many, though they did their best just to be wary of Erza's anger. Once Ace finished his puzzle, and tried to pick it up, only for it to fall apart. He looked at his destroyed puzzle, and started to cry. Makarov walked beside him. "Why don't you try and do it faster this time?" he offered lightly. "There's no need to cry, it's not completely broken."
Ace sniffled and nodded, his nose and eyes running snot and tears down his face. Cana got him a tissue. While many in the guild disliked his presence, it didn't mean all of them felt that way. "Where'd he come from?" Natsu asked, sitting at the counter as Luffy worked on the puzzle on the floor a little bit away.
"Still don't know. He just appeared. We can't get a straight answer about what he'd been doing before coming here," Cana said. "At least he's potty trained already." That was a relief. Once Ace was done with his puzzle, he made sure not to try and pick it up, and ran off to get Erza to show her.
"I finish it!" he said brightly. "See," he insisted. She smiled and walked with him, seeing his perfected puzzle. He was so proud of it, and was praised brightly for it.
"Good job, I'm impressed." Ace beamed and blushed, nodding. Makarov walked over, and pressed his hand to the puzzle, binding its creases so it was stuff and wouldn't break apart. Now they could keep it like this to look at.
"Yay! Thanks!" he said brightly. Ace held the puzzle with sparkly eyes to his chest, and made sure to show his friends it. They were happy for him, and it was put to his spot in the basement. He napped down there on the beanbag chair made in his corner. They hung the thing next to his drawings.
-x-
Ace's favorite dog bone was destroyed. It had been a week of it. Everyone thought it was odd, but Ace's teeth had bee hurting, and he liked the taste of meat. When he'd been going shopping for clothes with Erza and Cana, he'd actually stolen a dog bone from the stand of someplace. He honestly hadn't meant to steal it, he just thought it smelled good, and dogs seemed to like it. So he wanted to try it too.
Of course they'd gone back and paid for it, though it couldn't be returned since Ace already started chewing on it. But he threw a fit if it was taken away, and had said he felt better from it, so they couldn't take it away in good conscience. So now, it was all chewed through, the taste dull.
He was in his room he shared with Makarov, since all the other rooms in the guild for those who lived there were full with at least two people. Luckily for the old man, Ace was a deep sleeper. But it was early morning, and Ace's dog bone was ruined. But he also didn't want to wake the Master, so he just laid on his bed and looked at the ceiling. It was cold, and he bundled up tighter.
When the man did show signs of stirring, Ace hurried over. "Maser, my bone is hurt." The old man thought Ace was saying he hurt himself, but just showed his ruined chew toy. The man sat up, and promised they'd get him a new one soon. Ace was satisfied with this, and got dressed before running out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. He got some chicken from the fridge, and had that for breakfast, not liking anything but meat. They tried to get him to eat other things, but when he had tried after much pressure, he'd just thrown it all up immediately.
He was eating in the main room, guild members coming in who didn't live on the property, while sitting on the counter. He watched the people, his guildmates. They were interesting, even if some of them smelled bad. He never said that, wanting to be a good boy. Not be mean. Mean people were bad, like Laxus, who said nasty things sometimes.
"Hiya, Ace. How are you?" Macao asked, sitting in front of him at the bar counter. He was one of the older members, but was nice.
"My bone died," Ace said sadly, and pulled the chewed up dog treat out of his shirt. Macao said they could always get a new one. Maybe a better tasting one. "Yeah! But I sad, though. Cause it is mine, and it died," he mumbled, looking truly depressed. He went back to his chicken just fine, and later that day got another dog bone. It was nice here, and now he had two packets of them, just in case he chewed through them fast again.
-x-
"Under the tables!" Erza shouted as the building shook and creaked, as everything shuddered, and broke. Ace scurried under the bar counter next to Natsu, huddling close to the older boy. It was an earthquake and Ace didn't like it at all. It was scary, and he didn't like that so many things were breaking and falling off of the walls.
He was crying, scared, but wasn't alone in feeling that way. The roof caved in some parts. The building felt old and dangerous. And he was worried about his basement fort. He worked hard on it, out of chairs and tarps. He hoped it was okay! When the counter started to creak, Natsu grabbed Ace around the stomach and sprinted to the nearest table, managing to not be hit by anything, but still be under a more secure place.
But eventually, the quake ended. And after waiting a good half hour, they deemed it safe to come out. The quake was over. The place was a complete disaster. It would need serious repair and renovation. Nobody was hurt, though some had their knees a little sore from being on the floor so long. They were all a bit shaken, though, but nobody was physically harmed. Ace hugged Natsu for helping him. "No problem," Natsu said with a pat to the head, the nine year old giving him a smile.
When Ace went to get his dog bone, digging them out of the rubble, a stone from the roof above fell loose and nailed Ace in the head, making people around scream his name. They hurried over, fearing the worst since it had been a heavy piece of stone, but Ace seemed fine but for crying over it being scary.
They could see the rock was the one that was harmed, not the young child's head. It was perplexing, but the Master seemed pretty much unsurprised, though relieved, too, of course. Ace was just fine. "Does this mean he does have magic?" Lisanna asked. Ace gasped, wanting to have magic, too.
"I don't feel any magic power coming from him," Laxus said as they all worked to clean up the place to get repaired as soon as possible. Everyone were talking about it, Ace hanging on every word, wanting to know if he had magic like everyone else did, which made them so cool! "It doesn't matter if Ace has magic or not. He's only five," Master said. Some looked at him in confusion, as it just seemed a bit dismissive.
Laxus asked if he was hiding something. "I just don't think it is best to idolize magic in front of him based on his age. Don't forget that wizards are the minority," he said firmly. It did make sense. They all already knew magic when they got to Fairy Tail. Ace didn't, he could just be a normal human and everyone else had magic.
So, they stopped the conversation. It was unreasonable for them to not use their magic in front of him completely, but speculation over it would do no good right now. Too little to understand that he may never be a wizard. Getting his hopes up only for them to come crashing down would be too cruel.
But he did seem just fine, even after a huge stone landing on his head. Which was a complete relief, and he did his best to help everyone clean, a bit frustrated that he wasn't magic, too. But he was happy he wasn't hurt at all. Didn't even have any splinters from being barefoot on the floor before fetching his boots.
He wanted to be magic!
