So this chapter is going to be a much more lighthearted chapter and I think the next few will be as well. Honestly Ace and Luffy are my favorite duo and we didn't get to see nearly as much of them together in the manga or anime as I wanted, honestly I would love just a spin off series of Ace and his adventures or of them growing up together. I'm sure they got into much more trouble than with just the Bluejam pirates. If only Sabo hadn't lost his memory, things could have turned out so differently... Ugh, ASL forever man, why couldn't they just be happy.

Anyways, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4: Clear Skies

Luffy opened his eyes, a soft morning ray of light was shining through a window illuminating the room he found himself in. It was oddly peaceful compared to the craziness of last night, and he didn't particularly feel like moving yet. Instead he closed his eyes and let the movement of his brother's chest gently lift him up and down as the older boy slept. The air felt cool after the storm, but his brother was warm and oddly soft. After several moments of relaxing there with his eyes closed he finally shifted slightly so that he could look up at the sleeping teenager. Ace was leaning back against the wall of the fort and his arms were still wrapped around Luffy. There was another person there too, it was the girl Luffy had noticed last night.

"Who is she?" Luffy thought aloud, quietly to himself. She had curly blonde hair and a very pretty face, she was wearing pink and purple clothing which seemed to be much higher in quality than anything Luffy had ever seen before. Furthermore she was resting her head against his brother's shoulder and had her arms wrapped around him. Whoever she was, she was brave to get that close to Ace. Ace never let anyone except his brother touch him, Luffy chuckled at the thought of Ace waking up to find this strange girl on him. In fact the thought amused him so much he tumbled backward out of Ace's hold and fell to his back rolling with laughter on the floor.

At the sudden noise, Ace slowly and groggily opened his eyes. He lifted a hand blearily and rubbed at his still sleepy eyes and scrunched his face slightly as if waking it up. He blinked several times and looked around the room as if trying to remember where he was or how he had gotten there. The confused expression on his brother's face only made Luffy laugh all the harder, the small boy held his stomach as loud guffaws erupted from his body.

"Wh-what's goin' on, what's so funny?" Ace asked confused, staring at the hysterical boy. Luffy merely pointed at the girl who was slightly stirring in her sleep. She opened her eyes and lifted her head from Ace's shoulder but didn't pull away. Ace swiftly turned to see her and his face went red and he pulled back a little bit defensively.

"Shut up Luffy," he snapped but that only made the poor kid laugh even more enthusiastically, and he was struggling to find air. The girl unwrapped her arms from around Ace and covered her mouth as she yawned loudly.

"What did I miss?" She asked looking from Ace to Luffy who was nearly in tears. Ace stood up and smacked the boy over the head. He immediately stopped laughing and bent over clutching at his head. Ace's punches never really hurt in the same way Grandpa's did but still they were enough to silence Luffy and leave him stunned.

"Hey!" he cried out, he childishly attempted to kick Ace in the shin but he easily stepped away from the attack.

"Ace, leave your little brother alone," the girl scolded and Ace turned to look at her with an incredulous expression on his face.

"Me, leave him alone!? but-"

"Ace he's twelve," she said giving him a disappointed look.

"Ha ha! Ace got in trouble!" Luffy mocked sticking his tongue out at the older boy who's cheeks turned bright red. Without warning he dove at the nuisance. Luffy squealed in alarm and dove out of the way, causing Ace to grab nothing but empty air and lose his balance. He fell back with a loud thud and Luffy laughed hysterically.

"You, stop teasing him!" The girl was now addressing Luffy. He jumped to his feet and stuck his tongue out at her.

"You can't tell me what to do!" He turned to look at his brother who was still on the floor, "Hey Ace, you can't catch me and you're a big old idiot!" He shouted just to prove it. Ace jumped to his feet and tackled the kid before he could move out of the way. Luffy squirmed but he was held firm in Ace's grip, Ace was laughing now, his anger had melted at some point but Luffy wasn't sure when.

"Apologize!" Ace shouted but Luffy shook his head and sucked in his lips showing that he had no intention of doing any such thing. "Apologize now or accept the consequences!" Ace warned, Luffy yelped slightly and struggled harder but still he refused to say anything.

"No!" He cried out and Ace smiled a devilish grin.

"Just remember, you chose this," he said and he began to tickle the weak points under Luffy's arms and his tummy.

"No!" Luffy screamed and he scrambled to cover up his ticklish spots, but each time he covered one area Ace found a new spot that Luffy had left unguarded. Ace laughed wickedly as his brother laughed, screamed and pleaded, squirming to break free of his hold but failing miserably. Luffy was at his mercy.

"Stop, stop it!" he laughed, tears forming in the corner of his eyes but Ace was relentless. Luffy tried again to break free but it was useless. "Okay okay you win, I'm sorry!" he cried between gasps and laughter. Ace dropped his brother and Luffy rolled away breathing heavily.

"That's playing dirty!" he tried to pout but he couldn't stop giggling.

"You insulted my honor, it must be avenged," is all Ace said in response. Luffy took a few deep breaths, stretching out his diaphragm which was tense from all the laughing. He put his hands on his stomach and felt them rise and fall as he breathed. He could hear the girl laughing softly at their exchange. He looked up at her, growing even more curious as to who she was and what she was doing here.

"Hey you, who the hell are you," he asked "you fool," he added remembering his manners. Ace clamped his hand over his mouth and lightly hit him upside the head.

"Don't be so rude, you idiot!" he exclaimed but the girl just laughed harder.

"My name's Belonica Lizabet, but you can just call me Lizzy," Luffy just stared up at her in confusion, "Ace didn't you tell him about me?" She looked slightly hurt that Luffy didn't seem to know the name. Ace's face went even redder.

"Well I-"

"Nope!" Luffy cut him off cheerfully, pushing his hand off of his mouth "so who the hell are you?"

"Oh… well your brother and I…" she looked slightly crestfallen at the news that Ace had kept her a secret "we sort of have a thing…"

"What kinda thing?" Luffy asked oblivious, wondering what sort of cool thing they could have been keeping secret from him. He sat bolt upright, his mind raced with ideas, was it a robot, or maybe a laser shark, oh please say it was a laser shark.

"A Shanks/Makino thing," Ace said knowing that his brother's mind was running wild with ludicrous ideas that weren't even slightly close to the real thing. He waited for Luffy's laughter but instead all of the joy and excitement left his face and he slumped to the floor.

"Oh…" Luffy said "That sort of thing…" he sighed. He hated that kind of thing. It was such a boring thing. And now his brother had gotten caught up in it. Luffy felt his entire body sort of radiate a bored and disappointed energy into the air around him like a glum haze. Both Lizzy and Ace stared at him in bewilderment. As he lay there he suddenly heard his stomach give off a loud growl and his eyes brightened again.

"Hey Ace!? Do we have any food!?" He yelled and Ace's eye twitched slightly with annoyance.

"Does it look like we have any food?!" He shouted through gritted teeth. Luffy looked around the room, he slumped back to the floor his face awash with misery.

"But I'm huuuuunnggryy…." he moaned pathetically. Ace rolled his eyes and Lizzy giggled slightly.

"THEN GO FIND SOME FOOD YOU IDIOT!" Ace exclaimed exasperated, Luffy rolled over and pushed himself up staring at Ace, his eyes wide.

"You're not coming with me? But you always come with me!"

"No, I'm staying here with, Lizzy. If you want food you can go get it yourself, you're twelve years old now, you don't need me to babysit you anymore, so go!" Ace folded his arms and stared sternly at the boy. His brother could be such a pain in the ass, yes he now understood better why he could be so clingy but it didn't stop it from being any less annoying.

"By myself, but what if-"

"JUST GO!" Ace grabbed his sandal and chucked it at the boy. Luffy yelped and scrambled out of the way. Then he stuck his tongue out and jumped down the ladder and ran off into the forest. Fine, if Ace was going to be that way then he wouldn't get any breakfast, and Luffy would eat it all himself. After running several feet he slowed his pace and began to wander aimlessly, looking about his surroundings for something that would make a good meal. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a patch of bright red mushrooms.

"Hey! Those are the kind I used to eat when Grandpa threw me in the jungle alone at night!" He exclaimed to no one in particular, he marched over to them and picked a few. He shoved one into his mouth and chewed happily, they would make a good pre-breakfast snack. But what would he eat for the main meal. He didn't really feel like hunting right now, especially because the last time he'd done that alone a bear had almost torn him in half. But he wasn't scared of any stinkin' old bear, he was twelve now and he was much stronger than when he was seven.

He kept walking but the forest seemed to still be asleep, there was nothing to chase. The only thing he saw moving were tiny birds flitting from tree top to tree top, those wouldn't be any good. They hardly had any meat on them and they were way too fast to catch. It was worth a try though. Luffy lifted his right arm and began to reel it back, ready to attempt to launch it at the nearest tree, but a sharp pain in his shoulder made him pause. Oh yeah, his arms were still hurt, he sighed this was such a pain. Now he had to try hunting without using his arms. He shoved another mushroom into his mouth but this time he chewed much more grumpily with a perplexed expression on his face. Maybe he didn't need to hunt at all. He remembered several years ago he had found a large snake's nest filled with eggs. He wondered if that was still there.

A small dew drop fell off of a tree leaf above him and landed on his nose. It made him jump, but once he realized what it was he giggled slightly. He looked up at the sky, it was now a soft blue color through the trees, from what he could make out there was not a cloud in sight. All traces of the rainstorm of the past few days were entirely gone. He wondered if there might've been a rainbow earlier that morning, had he missed it? He loved rainbows, they were so colorful and fun. He always seemed to miss them though. Another dew drop landed on his head, he laughed again and lifted up his straw hat so that he wouldn't get his hair anymore wet. Sometimes when it was wet it would stick straight up and then Ace would tease him. Thinking of Ace made him feel slightly lonely out here, this was the first time in a while he had wandered off into the forest without his brother by his side. It felt weird without him, but in a way it was sort of refreshing.

"I don't need Ace, I'm gonna find some really good food all by myself," he announced indignantly and began marching towards the place he remembered finding those eggs. Maybe he would let Lizzy have one, Lizzy seemed nice. But definitely not Ace, Ace wasn't allowed. Then he thought of Lizzy and Ace together and he wrinkled his nose, it reminded him of the times he had seen Makino and Shanks together being gross and saying mushy stuff to each other when he was little. Shanks would laugh whenever he saw the faces he made, he would tell him that one day he would be saying the same things to someone else of his choosing. No, no he would not. Luffy swore that if he ever found himself making googly eyes at anyone, or saying that gross stuff, he might as well give up on his dream and throw himself into the sea.

Finally he came across the place he remembered seeing those eggs, of course it was a while ago, but there was always a chance that the snake had laid new ones right? He began rummaging through the tall grasses, hoping that it was still there. After several minutes of searching, he found what he was looking for: a large nest the size of a dining table filled with eggs bigger than the size of his head. He giggled delighted, he picked up two of the largest ones, tucking them under each arm. Suddenly he felt something brush up against his leg. He turned around and found himself face to face with an enormous serpent.

"Oh hey," he said sheepishly. There was a pause as the beast stared at him. Then it opened its jaws and let out a very loud and distinctly un-snakely roar. The force of the sound was enough to blow Luffy's hat off of his head and blow his hair back. Luffy closed his eyes, feeling specks of spittle flying into his face. The roaring stopped leaving Luffy's ears ringing, and the two stared at each other for another brief second. Then Luffy screamed and turned and ran for his life.

"ACE!" He screamed as he ran, gripping the eggs tightly under his arms as he did so. He leaped over fallen trees and large rocks, there was a large crash as the creature knocked over a tree in his pursuit of him. Luffy picked up the pace, running even faster as his sense of panic kicked in. He could now see the tree fort in the distance. He leapt over a small divot in the path and nearly tripped on the landing.

"ACE!" He screamed again as he neared the fort. He saw his brother peek his head out the window, he looked furious.

"What the hell do you want!" He shouted, then he saw the giant snake knocking over trees as it chased his brother "Oh for God's Sake!" he screamed and he leapt down from the tree fort. Lizzy joined him.

"Let me help!" she called. Ace grabbed a fallen branch that was laying on the path next to him. He leapt into the air and brought it crashing down on the serpent's head. It yelped then fell to the ground. It slowly wriggled its way up, but Lizzy grabbed her own branch and smacked it across the face. It slumped to the ground and stopped moving.

"AWESOME!" Luffy exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with delight. Ace whirled around and glared at him.

"CAN'T I LEAVE YOU ALONE FOR TWO SECONDS!?" He shouted, but Luffy ignored him. He was panting slightly, doubled over and breathing hard. He was still holding the eggs tightly to him. He turned to Lizzy and offered her the one under his right arm.

"Here... you can have this one," he huffed. Lizzy looked surprised, she reached out and took the gift from the twelve year old, not quite sure what to do with it.

"Thanks…" she said, staring down at the egg in her hands. Luffy beamed, he was glad to share with Ace's friend...or 'girlfriend'. He hoped that hers would taste fine, maybe once she cooked it he would sneak some...just to be sure. Ace stared at him, a look of bewilderment on his face. Luffy laughed at his expression, Ace sure was acting weird today. He then turned to Lizzy and whispered in her ear.

"Do you really want that, I know it's not the kind of food you're used to. Luffy barely ever shares his food, but if you don't want to eat it I will," Lizzy looked at him then shook her head and smiled.

"No I'll eat it, I think it's sweet," she turned to the smiling boy, "Thanks again Luffy," his smile grew even wider.

"Hey Ace, let's eat the snake too...I guess you can have some since you helped, but it's mostly mine and Lizzy's okay? I found it and she killed it!" Ace closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clearly trying not to let his anger get the better of him.

"Sure...whatever you say Luffy…." He said through gritted teeth. Luffy pumped his fist in the air.

"YES! SNAKE FOR BREAKFAST!" He exclaimed and Lizzy giggled.

"So if you don't live here in this fort, where do you live then?" Lizzy asked as she took a dainty bite of the fried egg on her makeshift plate, which was really just a flat polished stone they had found in the woods. It was now late morning and the three of them had just finished cooking breakfast and were now gathered together in the fort ready to eat it. Ace opened his mouth to reply but Luffy blurted out the answer before he could think of a lie to make up.

"With mountain bandits!" Luffy didn't even bother waiting to swallow his food before he spoke and was in fact cramming in more meat as he did so. His words came out a bit garbled but it was clear Lizzy was able to understand him.

"Mountain bandits!? You two are thieves!?" She exclaimed nearly dropping her food. Ace's face went bright red. This was bad. He was trying to think of some way to make it seem a bit less bad than it actually was but again his brother cut him off.

"Yep, I guess so. But I don't wanna be a thief forever," at those words Lizzy seemed to relax a bit. Ace hoped that she was taking Luffy's words as an admission that he thought thievery was wrong and no longer wanted to take any part of it, although he knew that absolutely wasn't what his brother had meant.

"Yeah, we're hoping to one day have the means to leave the mountain bandits altogether," Ace reaffirmed and Lizzy smiled encouragingly. He was glad that his idiot brother hadn't scared her off yet. Lizzy didn't seem to be the type to understand that their criminal actions came out of necessity sometimes, even though to be honest neither of them really cared they were stealing from the city folk either way.

"Ace is right, stealing can be fun but I don't wanna stay here my whole life, so Ace and I are gonna become pirates, right Ace!?" Ace felt all the color drain from his face. Lizzy, who had been drinking some of the water they had gotten from the river nearly choked and began coughing at the information.

"PIRATES!?" She exclaimed through spluttering coughs. Ace slammed his hand over his brother's mouth and began shaking him back and forth, infuriated.

"Shut up Luffy, you're not supposed to blurt that out to everyone you meet! What have I been telling you all this time!" Ace hissed still violently shaking his brother by the shoulders.

"But I thought Lizzy was your friend, right?" Luffy said growing dizzy from the whiplash of his head snapping back and forth.

"Yes but that doesn't mean you can just say anything you like you numb skull!" The two of them went on bickering like this as Lizzy caught her breath. She took another drink of the water before finally calming down enough to speak.

"I would've thought the two of you hated pirates!?" Lizzy finally exclaimed, the two boys stopped shouting at one another and turned to look at her. Ace released his grip on Luffy's shoulders and Luffy rubbed the sore spot on his arm where he had been injured. The shaking hadn't done much to help aid in its healing.

"I mean…" Ace began, not quite sure of what to say or how to fix the situation his brother had gotten him into. He hadn't always meant to keep this a secret, he would have had to tell her sometime, he was just waiting for the right time and place to tell her. To explain the situation to her.

"Why?" Luffy asked looking between the two teenagers, feeling slightly confused.

"Wasn't it the Bluejam crew who started the very fire that you have nightmares about every night, aren't they the reason you experienced one of the worst nights of your life? How could you ever want to be like that?!" Luffy looked down at his food. Just the name Bluejam brought back some unpleasant memories. Now the smell of the meat just brought back the scent of the burning flesh of the fire. He felt his muscles tense and he bit his lip slightly.

"Yeah...but...but they were the bad kind of pirate…" Luffy mumbled. Ace looked down at the small boy, who now seemed to shrink a little bit into himself. He reached back and lifted up his straw hat and lifted it off his body, he was now examining it in his hands. "There are real pirates out there, pirates like Shanks that are strong and protect their friends, and they live their lives freely… That's the kind of pirate I want to be. Not the pirates like Bluejam." Ace sighed and looked up at Lizzy who was looking slightly taken aback.

"Look Lizzy, it's not like we are like you. We can't just decide to live a peaceful life in the city, and even if we wanted to it's not like we'd be welcomed there. We've seen too much of the city from the outside to live there happily. All we have left to choose from is staying here in grey terminal and the jungle, or setting out to sea. And we already swore that we would be pirates years ago, so we can't turn back on our dreams now," He explained. Lizzy nodded, she didn't really seem to understand what he meant by that, but he could tell that she accepted it.

"So when do you guys plan to set out?" She asked, putting her plate down and staring at her hands. She looked a little bit shaken by this news. Ace felt bad, this hadn't been the easiest couple of days for her, taking one shock after another.

"When we each turn seventeen, we'll set out on our own and start our own crew," Ace said and Luffy perked up his head, glad to be talking about his dream without sullying it with the thought of the Bluejam pirates. He eagerly placed the straw hat back onto his head.

"Yeah, I told Ace he could be on my crew but he said no, too bad for him because I'm going to find the one piece and have the craziest and best adventure the world has ever seen! And I'm going to become King of the Pirates!" Luffy cried jumping to his feet and throwing his arms in the air as he shouted. It wasn't the first time Ace had heard the declaration, but somehow it still held the gravitas it did the first time he had. He wasn't sure that Luffy really would be able to accomplish everything that he wanted, especially since they would be competing against each other, but he couldn't deny the confidence in the boy's voice was somewhat inspiring. Ace found himself laughing at Lizzy's astonished face.

"The pirate king!?" She gasped but Luffy just beamed all the more enthusiastically.

"I know, he's crazy right?" Ace said kissing Lizzy on the cheek as she stared up at him with bewilderment. Luffy just laughed all the harder as he lifted up another chunk of meat and tore into it. She shook her head slowly and closed her eyes.

"You two are insane," she said slowly. Ace tilted his head and felt a mischievous smile cross his face.

"Is that a problem?" She paused before a slow smile slowly began to stretch across her lips. She began to laugh, she opened her eyes and turned to look at him.

"No, I love it!"

Just some good old character interaction. Hopefully a fun lighthearted breather from all the doom and gloom of the first few chapters. Most of the interactions between Ace and Luffy and to some extent even Lizzy with the way she scolds them are based off the interactions I have with my younger siblings. They can be such pests but you've gotta love them.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!