Luffy pursed his lips in thought as he was lead into the Communications Room. "Ace's Captain..." His troubled eyes moved themselves to lock with Sabo's blue ones. "Ace wouldn't have a captain! He's only 10, and he's waiting to become a pirate until he's 17! He doesn't even want me or Sabo to be the captain, so why would he...?!" Luffy trailed off, not knowing what else to say to get his point across.

Sabo pressed his lips together, a weak smile being directed at the seven year-old holding his hand. "It's just a guess, but I can't imagine a child like you having a normal brother. Fire-Fist Ace probably wouldn't come after my head if I just ask; I've heard he's actually rather polite."

"Ace would probably kill you if you try to talk to him for no reason." Luffy said bluntly. He paled rapidly. "He's going to kill me for getting eaten again. Crap! Sabo, you've gotta help me!"

Sabo sweatdropped, laughing nervously. "I'm sure he'll be relieved that you're okay. And he won't be able to kill me.-" Probably. "I'm not the second-in-command for no reason."

"Does that mean you're strong?" Luffy asked with a shine in his eyes.

Sabo grinned, poking the child's forehead. "Very strong."

"Then," Luffy began, excitement in his voice, "Join my crew!"

The blonde paused, mouth going dry as he stared intently at Luffy. He tried to speak up, stumbling over incoherent phrases as something in his mind tugged. There was a moment where he was about to respond, though he didn't know if he was going to be affirmative in his reply.

Someone saved him from having to speak,

"Ah, Sabo! Who do you need to call?"

Luffy quickly shifted his attention to the speaker, one of Sabo's many acquaintances in the Army, to Sabo's relief.

"Whitebeard, please." the blonde said, flashing a relieved smile at the other adult.

The man seemed like he wanted to question him, but thought against it. "Here you go." He passed Sabo a Transponder Snail.

"Thank you."

.

KACHA!

"Whitebeard's ship. This is Marco, yoi." The transponder snail's eyes became half-lidded in a sleepy expression.

"Hello, this is Sabo from the Revolutionary Army. Pretty upfront in your greetings, aren't ya?"

"You're one to talk, yoi." The response was laid back, casual, and immediate. Sabo knew that he and this man could be great friends from just this sentence alone.

"Well, pleasantries aside, is there any possibility of me speaking to Fire-Fist Ace?"

"Yeah, I'll call him over." There was a muffled shout of Ace's name on the other side of the line, and the snail suddenly sported freckles and had a bright expression.

"Hello, Ace speaking."

"Hello Ace, my name is-"

"Ace please don't kill me!"

"...Luffy?"

I could have ended this here. MISSED OPPORTUNITIES!

Ace was talking with Thatch when Marco called him over, DenDen in hand.

"It's for you, yoi." said the Phoenix, handing him the snail, which wore a familiar top hat and had a burn scar over its left eye.

Ace accepted it, patting Marco's shoulder as the blonde left, then greeted the person on the other side.

"Hello, Ace speaking."

"Hello Ace, my name is-"

The Transponder Snail suddenly switched to having a scar that immediately put Ace on Red Alert.

"Ace please don't kill me!"

It took him a moment to process who that voice belonged to. (It was so much younger than he remembered...)

"...Luffy?"

"Eh, Ace, you sound different!"

"Luffy why do you sound different?! You sound like you're seven!"

"I am seven!"

"...What."

"So, I take it he's not supposed to be seven years old?" adds in the other person.

"He's supposed to be seventeen."

"Well, all I can say is that it is not my fault."

Ace took a deep breath, pinching his nose with his face scrunched up in an expression of frustration. He let out a sigh. "And what was your name? Sorry, I forgot to ask."

"My name is Sabo." Ace had a sudden intake of breath. "Anyway, Luffy said that he was eaten by a crocodile... again... and that you would probably kill him if you found out. You... aren't going to do that, are you?" Sabo, unknown by Ace, pulled Luffy closer to him in an unconsciously protective manner.

"No, I won't kill him. Now, Sabo," his voice shook as he said the name of his deceased best friend, "I'm going to need you to pick me the fuck up. Right. Now." he snarled.

"Um, alright?" the scarred man squeaked.

"Ace, please don't kill him, he acts just like our Sabo! I like him and I want him to join my crew so he can't die, okay?" Luffy piped.

The snail in Sabo's hand was glaring directly at Luffy. Luffy pushed his body behind Sabo with a tiny, adorable shriek.

"I'll try." Ace ground out.

Marco watched as Ace stomped away from the Transponder Snail that he all but slammed onto the counter, as if it had done him a personal wrong.

Thatch, meanwhile, could not sense the mood, and swung his arm around Ace's shoulder jovially. "Hey, Ace, what was that about?"

Ace's shoulders shook before they burst into flame. Thatch screeched and tore his arm away, swinging it up and down to try and kill the fire that caught his sleeve.

"Ace, are you trying to kill me?!"

Ace twitched before his eyes locked onto anyone nearby, hostility and aggravation swirling in to make silver appear as a demonic red.

"Maybe." he growled.

He then proceeded to his room, leaving scorch marks on the wooden deck, to the crew's dismay. Whitebeard just chuckled a bit, unperturbed by the anger of his son, and took a large swig from his cup while his children weren't paying attention.

"I saw that, Oyaji." Marco stated.

...Damn.

"It's just one cup of sake, Marco." Newgate tried to reason.

"Which should make it easier to put down, yoi." his son countered.

Whitebeard sighed heavily, giving a last forlorn look to his cup, before placing it on the floor.

He's proud of Marco, yes, but did his observation haki have to be used for his liquor?

"Well, Luffy, it seems that we'll have to go visit your brother."

"Ooh, are we going to see his captain, Wheat Bread?" Luffy's eyes had stars sparkling in them. Sabo laughed and patted his head, then crouched to Luffy's level.

"Yes, and his name is Whitebeard. He's the strongest man in the world."

"Really?" his voice was filled with excitement, and his smile was so bright that Sabo almost had to look away.

"Yes."

"Do you think he'll join my crew?"

Sabo fell over, but quickly sat up and looked at Luffy with bewildered eyes. He saw the seriousness in the child's expression, and just felt something tingling in the back of his head. What is it? Why do I feel like I've heard these things before?"

"You sure are an interesting kid, Luffy. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you!" Sabo chuckled.

Luffy's eyes shone in recognition, as if recalling something.

Sabo couldn't help but wonder what it was.

Luffy blinked as he woke up to find two bodies sleeping on top of his.

He kept blinking, confusion settled in his face.

He tilted his head.

"...Ace, Sabo?"