Wow! I honestly didn't expect this story to get so much attention! I honestly don't know what to say other than thank you! Thank you for giving my dumb little story a chance, and liking it! I made sure that this was a long chapter to show my thanks properly! Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
I do not own One Piece.
Marco watched the three boys walk away. He didn't really know what to make of them. From what he could tell the older two had trust issues, and the younger one trusted others too easily. Not only that, but one of them had eaten a devil fruit. They were something else to say the least.
"Did they just talk about hunting an alligator like it was a normal occurrence?" Thatch asked.
"I believe so." Marco said not taking his eyes off the kids.
"What is up with those boys? From the sound of it, they aren't from this island." Thatch rubbed his chin in thought.
"No they aren't. I think they were planning on leaving their home island later on in life, but something happened that made them set sail prematurely."
"What makes you say that?"
"The one in the straw hat said something about leaving at the age of seventeen, but something obviously went wrong and they had to leave early."
"Now that you mention it, I remember him saying something like that too. The other kids stopped him before he could finish what he was saying, though. I wonder what he was going to say."
"That doesn't matter, right now. What does matter is that three children are sailing the seas. And, from the looks of it, there are no adults watching over them. I don't care how tough they are, they are still children, and there are many people on the seas that will take advantage of that." Marco turned to his friend after the kids disappeared in the distance.
"Yeah, you're right. There are evil people who will take advantage of kids, even in the East Blue. We can't let them go on their own." Thatch started to walk in the direction the kids disappeared in.
"Wait." Marco grabbed Thatch's shoulder before he could get too far.
"What? We need to stop them before they leave."
"They aren't leaving yet, and you saw how the older two reacted to us. They appear to have a hard time trusting others. You can't just waltz up to them and expect them to listen to whatever you have to say."
"Well, do you have any other ideas?"
Marco glanced over to where the kids were heading. Whatever their situation was at their home island, it wasn't an ideal one for kids their age. They seemed to be used to taking care of themselves, especially if they hunt their own food. Marco didn't know if they provided for themselves because they didn't trust others, or if the time they spent providing for themselves caused them to trust no one else. Either way, getting the older two to listen would be a challenge, but Marco knew something about this island they didn't.
"As a matter of fact, I do."
XxXxXxXxX
"You really need to learn when to keep your mouth shut, Luffy. Those guys don't need to know our life's story." Ace said after they got out of hearing distance from the other pirates.
"Eh? I wasn't telling them our life's story." Luffy said while folding his hands behind his head.
"Yes, you were. They're pirates, Lu. They can't be trusted." Sabo pointed out.
"But we're pirates, and I trust you guys." Luffy said.
"Yeah, but we're your brothers, you moron. They are complete strangers. For all we know they could be planning on slaughtering us like Bluejam tried to do." Ace said.
"I don't think they are. They seem like nice people." Luffy said with a large grin.
"Are you stupid or something?!" Ace yelled.
"I don't know, Ace. Luffy was always good at judging people. He could very well be right about them."
"Not you too, Sabo! It's bad enough that Luffy wants to trust them!"
"I'm not saying we trust them. It's just that we quite possibly don't have to worry about them attacking us. You know, the whole 'you leave them alone, they leave you alone' thing."
"Hmmm… That makes sense, but I'm not letting my guard down."
"You don't have to let your guard down. I'm just saying that we may not run into those guys again."
"If you believe that, then you're just as stupid as Luffy."
"Where does all this stubbornness come from?" Sabo asked with a deep sigh.
"Sabo isn't stupid. He's smart, because he knows a lot about stuff." Luffy said with that ever present grin.
"Whatever, let's just get our pipes and look for the nearest forest." Ace huffed.
The trio walked down the path and through the previously deserted town. People were moving about doing who knows what. The doctor guy was following two people carrying a wounded man on a stretcher. A pink haired lady was behind him complaining about unnecessary check-ups, and two girls were following her.
The orange haired girl looked over to them, and smiled. She nudged the purple haired one and pointed to them. Both girls looked at them, and waved. Luffy smiled and waved back. Sabo waved to be polite, and Ace just stared at them. The purple haired one frowned when Ace didn't wave, and Ace frowned back. So what if he didn't wave? She didn't need to get all snippy about it.
Purple told Orange something, and both of them told Pink something while pointing at them. Pink looked over at them with a smile, and nodded to whatever the girls had said. The two girls jumped and cheered something.
"What's wrong with them?" Ace asked.
"I'm not sure, but it looks like they're heading this way." Sabo said.
Ace looked, and sure enough, the two girls were running toward them. Both of them had smiles on their faces.
"Hi." Said Orange.
"Hi." Luffy said back with a smile.
"Hello, I'm Nojiko, and this is my sister, Nami." The purple haired girl said.
"I'm Luffy! These are my brothers Ace and Sabo." Luffy said while picking his nose. Nami looked disgusted and Nojiko looked amused.
"We just wanted to say, thanks." Nojiko said.
"Why are you thanking us? The Whitebeard guys did all the fighting." Ace asked.
"Yeah, they were the ones that fought, but it would've been too late to save Bellemere if Arlong wasn't distracted." Nami said.
"Who's Arlunb?" Luffy asked and the two girls looked at him weirdly.
"Long Nose." Sabo answered.
"Oh, him. I hate that guy." Luffy said with an annoyed look.
"Yeah, and we wanted to know if you were going to join the town in the celebration later." Nami said.
"We thought about it, but we're just going to hunt our own food." Sabo answered.
"Hunt?" Nami asked.
"Yeah, you know, killing and eating animals." Ace answered sharply. He was annoyed that these girls were holding them up.
"But what animals are you going to hunt?" Nojiko asked.
"Alligator!" Luffy shouted and caused passersby to look at them.
"There are no alligators on this island." Nami said.
"Then we'll hunt down a bear." Ace answered coldly.
"No bears either." Nojiko said.
"Well, what animals are on this island?" Sabo asked.
"Not many. The forests on this island aren't that big, so there aren't many wild animals. The only wild animals you may find are rabbits and squirrels." Nojiko explained.
"WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FOOD?!" Ace yelled. He didn't really see how anyone could survive on an island like this. He and his brothers would've starved a long time ago if they couldn't hunt.
"AAAAAAAAH! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO EAT?!" Luffy yelled with the same amount of panic Ace had.
"CALM DOWN, YOU TWO!" Sabo yelled at them.
"But there is no meat! We'll starve without meat!" Luffy grabbed Sabo's shirt and shook him.
"Let go of me! And there is meat on this island!" Sabo shoved Luffy off of him.
"Oh, really? That's good! I was really worried there!" Luffy said with a relieved smile. Ace rolled his eyes at his stupidity.
"Luffy, how can there be meat on this island if there are no animals." Ace pointed out.
"We trade for it." Nojiko said.
"Huh? Trade?" Ace asked confused.
"Yes, Ace. If an island doesn't have much meat, they trade with people on other islands." Sabo answered.
"Why didn't you say so in the first place?! We panicked over nothing!" Ace yelled.
"I couldn't! You were too busy spazzing out!" Sabo yelled back.
"MEAT!" Luffy yelled out of the blue.
"I know you're hungry, Luffy, but we'll figure something out later." Ace sighed in annoyance. Today just wasn't his day.
"No! Meat!" Luffy pointed to something.
Ace looked and saw the Whitebeard pirates carrying a large supply of meat. Ace felt his stomach growl in hunger, and his mouth began to water. He had nothing but small fish to eat the past week and it was catching up to him. He, however, refused to accept food from them.
"Are you going to cook all that meat?!" Luffy asked eagerly when the two pirates get close enough.
"Yup! I bought a huge supply for the town celebration. It would be an insult to me, as a chef, to let this town do all the cooking." Thatch said.
"Can we have some?!" Luffy asked.
"No, Luffy! We aren't eating anything these guys cook!" Ace said.
"But, Aaaaaaaacccceeee!" Luffy whined and gave him the kicked puppy look. Ace had to stay strong. He didn't believe Sabo or Luffy when they said they were good guys. He had a feeling that they would poison the food, or something worse. Just look at what happened to Bluejam. He let his guard down a little, and Luffy and Sabo could've been hurt or worse because of it. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.
"No! We'll just fish again if we have to." Ace said.
"But we haven't had much luck fishing so far." Luffy pouted.
"Ace, I hate to admit it, but Luffy is right. We haven't caught that many fish, and we need to eat something soon." Sabo sighed.
"No, Sabo. They could poison the food or something."
"If that's what you're worried about, you can just watch me cook to make sure I don't poison it." Thatch said.
"Right, so you can trap us in your kitchen and ambush us! No thank you!" Ace growled at the man who flinched at his tone. Ace didn't care. He wanted these guys to know not to mess with his brothers.
"Ace, look at Luffy." Sabo pointed out.
"Why?"
"Just do it!"
Ace looked at his youngest brother. He was eyeing the meat hungrily, and drool was pooling out of his mouth. What caught Ace's attention, though, was how thin he looked. He wasn't skeletal by any means, but Ace could definitely tell that his brother was thinner than he was a week ago. Ace felt worry prickle in the back of his mind. Luffy was scrawny to begin with, this past week didn't help at all. He felt guilt weigh down in his stomach like a pile of rocks. Maybe Sabo was right about the food all along. But thin or not, he still didn't think these pirates could be trusted.
"Maybe our luck will be better now that we're on an island." Ace shrugged trying to keep a cool look.
"Or maybe it will stay the same it had been this past week. Do you really want to risk it?" Sabo asked.
Did he? It was true that Luffy and Sabo, once he got to looking at the blond, were thinner from lack of food. Did that mean he should trust these pirates? Ace didn't care if he got hurt or worse, but if his brothers were harmed in any way…
Maybe the fishing would be just as lousy as it had been. Could he really keep his brothers from the first real meal they had had in a week? But then again, could he risk the food being poisoned? Trusting pirates in the past got them in trouble, but Luffy did say they were nice people. What was he thinking? They absolutely couldn't be trusted! They were only luring them into a false sense of security, and Sabo was falling for it!
Ace was about to get some sense snapped into Sabo when Luffy's stomach let out a loud growl. Ace looked at his brother, and saw how hungry he looked. Luffy seemed ready to eat his straw hat to satisfy the hunger that gnawed at his belly. Could he really do that to his brother? Keep him from the meat he longed for? The week dragged on for Ace, so he knew it must have felt like an eternity to Luffy. Ace's head began to hurt from his inner conflict.
"I-I don't know." Ace finally admitted.
"Maybe Bellemere can help with the cooking. She would rather die than let a kid get poisoned." Nojiko said and Ace jumped. He had forgotten the two girls were there.
"Yeah, and that way you don't have to worry about them attacking you on their ship." Nami chimed in.
Ace narrowed his eyes at the girls and said, "How do I know you aren't lying."
"Because you have my word as a mother." A new voice said. Ace turned and saw the pink haired lady from earlier.
"Bellemere! Did Doctor Nako look over you already?" Nami asked.
"Nah, he's too busy stitching up Genzo, so I decided to give them some privacy." Bellemere waved her hand in dismissal.
"You mean you snuck away before he could look at you." Nojiko said dryly.
"Eh, details." Bellemere shrugged.
"What do you mean 'you have my word as a mother'?" Ace asked suspiciously.
"Well, I'm Nami and Nojiko's mother. And, as a parent, it hurts my soul to see kids mistreated. It's the same for any decent parent." Bellemere said.
"How do I know that you're telling the truth?" Ace asked again.
"Geez this kid is stubborn. Look, if anything happens to you or your brothers, then I will personally see to it that these guys suffer the consequences. Is that good enough for you?" Bellemere said in an exasperated tone.
"Come on, Ace! I'm starving!" Luffy whined and caused some of Ace's resolve to crumble slightly.
Ace thought about it. He hardly knew any of these people, and he was being asked to trust them. If it weren't for how hungry his brothers were, he would've told them to go screw themselves. But if on the off chance they could be trusted, he would feel guilty for keeping them from a meal they so desperately needed. He looked at Luffy's pleading eyes, and the guilt in his stomach increased. It was his idea to leave the island with so little food. He should've listened to Sabo, but his stubbornness got in the way. Now it was possible that his stubbornness was getting in the way again, and Luffy and Sabo would pay for it. Ace heard a sniffle coming from his youngest brother. Oh, damn it all, he was crying! Why was he stuck with a crybaby for a brother?
"Stop crying, you big baby! Fine! If it'll get you to shut up, we can eat at the celebration! But," Ace turned to the three adults, "-if anything happens to my brothers I will kick your asses!" Ace said darkly to get his point across. The adults smiled which put Ace on edge.
"We would think less of you if you didn't." Pineapple Head said.
With the debate over the adults walked towards a boat with what Ace assumed to be Whitebeard's Jolly Roger. Ace felt a sense of foreboding. What had he done? He could very well have put his brothers in danger by choosing to trust these guys. He couldn't believe he let his emotions get away like that!
Ace's thoughts were interrupted by a pair of rubbery arms that wrapped around him.
"Shishishishi! Ace is the best!" Luffy laughed in his ear.
"Get off of me!" Ace struggled against his Luffy who eventually let go.
Sabo pulled Ace over to the side while Luffy stared to talk to Nami and Nojiko. They got far enough that Luffy couldn't hear them, but close enough to keep an eye on their unpredictable brother.
"You did the right thing, Ace." Sabo patted his back.
"Did I? What if trusting those pirates puts us in the same situation as it did when I went along with Bluejam's plan?" Ace asked unsure of the rash decision he made.
"Bluejam was a bad guy to begin with. He had no problems with killing all those people in the Gray Terminal to get what he wanted. These guys just took out a bad pirate to save an Island. I think they're good people." Sabo said.
"How do we know it isn't an act? How do we know they aren't just pretending to be nice so they can trick us later?"
"Because Luffy said they're good people." Sabo answered with confidence.
"What does that have to do with anything?!"
"If you paid attention in the past, you would've noticed that Luffy is unusually perceptive of others. He can tell better than anyone else I've met who is good and who is bad. And Luffy seems to like these guys. He liked them enough to ask them to join his crew. To join his family. Do you think he would ask them to join if he thought they were bad guys?"
Ace fell silent. When did Sabo start making so much sense? Sure he was always smart, but it was scary how simple he made everything seem right now. He thought back to the past, realized how right he was. Every person they came across, good or bad, Luffy was usually able to tell right away what they were. Ace began to see Luffy in a different light. Despite all of this, though, a large part of Ace was still uneasy about those pirates.
"That makes sense, but I still think we should be warry of them." Ace said while crossing his arms.
"I agree with you there." Sabo nodded.
"You agree with me?" Ace asked dumbfounded.
"They may be good people, but they're also pirates. It'd be foolish to fully trust them."
"What about earlier? You pretty much just asked me to trust them!" Ace was getting angry. First Sabo said to trust them, and now he said to not trust them? What was his deal?!
"I only asked you to trust them enough to cook a meal that we need desperately. I didn't want you to become their adopted child." Sabo said.
"Don't say it like that! You're making my internal struggle seem stupid!" Ace yelled feeling embarrassed.
"It only seemed stupid because you're too stubborn for your own good!" Sabo yelled back.
Before Ace could argue back, the old doctor ran out of the building he walked in earlier, and yelled for Bellemere.
"Hey kids, you haven't seen Bellemere, have you? She snuck away while I was tending to Genzo." He asked them.
"Yeah! She's in the- MMPH!" Luffy's mouth was covered by Nami and Nojiko.
"She ran that way." Nojiko pointed in the opposite direction of the harbor.
"Damn woman! She thinks she can get out of a check-up like that? I'll show her." The doctor ran off in the direction Nojiko pointed.
"Why didn't you tell him where she was?" Sabo asked.
"She can get looked over after the food is done. You guys look like you're starving." Nami said.
"She's right. You need to eat more than she needs to be looked over." Nojiko nodded in agreement.
Ace looked at his two brothers and took in their thinness once more. While a part of him still hated himself for allowing complete strangers to cook their food, another part was happy that they would eat their fill after going so long without a proper meal. Maybe Sabo had a point, not that he would out right say it. He still had his pride after all.
"When will the food be ready?! I'm starving!" Luffy yelled.
"Luffy, they just started cooking. Be patient." Sabo said with a sigh.
"But I'm hungry!" Luffy whined.
"Hey, Luffy, do you want to play a game?" asked Sabo.
"Yeah! What kind of game?" Luffy cheered having momentarily forgotten about his stomach.
"Can we play, too?" Nami asked.
"No." Ace answered flatly. These girls got on his nerves, so he didn't want to deal with them more than he had to.
"Why not?!" Nami, Nojiko, and Luffy asked loudly. Nami and Nojiko asked out of anger while Luffy asked in a whine.
"Because I don't like you." Ace said in an annoyed tone.
"But I like them, Ace! I want them to play!" Luffy stomped his foot in defiance.
"Yeah! And we want to play!" Nami yelled.
"Let's take a vote. All those who say the girls play, raise your hand." Sabo said raising his hand as an example.
Nami and Nojiko raised their hands. Luffy had both of his up, like he thought two hands would count as two votes.
"All those opposed?" Sabo asked raising his other hand.
Nami, Nojiko, and Luffy lowered their hands while Ace raised his.
"Looks like the girls play." Sabo said.
"No way! I demand a recount!" Ace yelled.
"Ace, it's three to one. They win the vote." Sabo said.
"No, it's a tie! The girls' votes don't count!" Ace yelled.
"Then I still win because I had two hands up while Ace only had one!" Luffy cheered with that impossibly huge grin of his.
"IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT, YOU IDIOT!" Ace yelled and bonked him on the head.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR, YOU JERK?!" Luffy yelled back.
"STOP IT!" Sabo yelled and bonked both him and Luffy over the head.
"What the hell, Sabo?!" Ace yelled and rubbed his head.
"That was to stop a pointless argument. The girls play, and that's that!" Sabo crossed his arms.
"Who put you in charge?!" Ace was outraged.
"You did when you decided to act like an ass!" Sabo yelled which cause the other three to giggle.
"Shut up!" Ace yelled at the laughing trio, which only cause them to laugh harder. He didn't like it that they were ganging up on him.
"Fine! If they play, then I don't." Ace crossed his arms and turned his back to them.
"Nooo! Ace, you have to play! It's no fun without you!" Luffy yelled and suddenly clung onto him like a monkey.
"Get off of me!" Ace struggled, but Luffy didn't budge.
"Forget him, Luffy. He'd just ruin the game with his sour attitude." Sabo said.
"Nu-uh! Ace makes everything funner!" Luffy whined while he still clung to Ace.
"Funner isn't even a word, you dumbass! Now get off of me!" Ace tried banging Luffy against a nearby building, but it didn't really work with him being made of rubber.
"See! He just insulted you! Let's just play the game without him!" Nojiko said.
"No! If Ace isn't playing, then I'm not playing either!" Luffy tightened his grip on Ace for emphasis.
"Oh for Pete's sake! Ace, just play the game!" Sabo yelled with his hands massaging his temples.
"Only if the girls don't play!"
"We're playing whether you like it or not!"
"Yeah, you jerk!"
"Then I'm not playing!"
"I'm not playing if you're not playing!"
"Dang it, Luffy! I said get off of me! Sabo, help me get him off!" Ace struggled some more.
"Only if you agree to play with ALL of us without complaint." Sabo said
"NO WAY!" Ace yelled and Luffy tightened his grip sealing off his airway.
"Gakk! Sabo… help… he's choking… me!" Ace said and tried even harder to throw him off.
"Not until you agree to play!" Sabo said firmly. Ace saw the two girls looking at him with amusement.
"Ne…ver!" Ace said as loud as he could without any air. And Luffy tightened his grip further. Ace felt like his head was going to explode. He felt a headache starting to come on, and the edges of his vision started to blur. If he didn't agree to play the damn game Luffy could very well kill him.
"O… kay! I'll… play!" Ace said barely louder than a whisper.
"What was that?" Sabo asked obviously amused by this whole situation.
"I'll… play!" Ace said as the blackness became stronger, and just as he was about to pass out Luffy released him.
Ace, suddenly able to breath, inhaled deep gulps of air. He coughed a few times as he tried to catch his breath. His vision returned to normal, and he now had a pounding headache. Once he finally caught his breath he swerved around to Luffy and punched him several times on the head.
"Ow! What the heck, Ace?!" Luffy yelled and rubbed his head.
"YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME!" Ace yelled back.
"AND YOU!" Ace turned to Sabo who had a shit-eating grin on his face.
"YOU WERE JUST GOING TO LET HIM KILL ME!" Ace was absolutely livid.
"No, I wasn't. He would've let go once you passed out. But you agreed to play the game without complaint, so let's play!" Sabo said cheerily.
"Only because Luffy was strangling me!" Ace yelled.
"It doesn't matter! You said you would, and now you have to do it!" Luffy said with a smile.
Ace glared at all of them. He could always just refuse again, but he had a feeling Luffy would choke him again if he did. He had no choice but to play the damned game. But he would not let this go. He would get them all back. After all, revenge was a dish best served flaming hot.