Title: Ten Years Difference 6/?

Author: Stormy1x2

Word Count (chapter): 4500

Notes: Special thanks to sunrise_flame and Sweet-With-Talent for playing soundboard for me! Also, moss-doll (tumblr) drew a beautiful picture of Marco in Phoenix form giving Luffy a ride – she did a beautiful job! You all need to go and check it out right now. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU.

Fic Status:

Chapter 7: ...0%

...This may take a little longer than the quick updates I've been able to produce thus far. I am hoping to have it done this weekend, sooner if I get inspiration. Which I usually do, because you guys are AWESOMELY FREAKY with the reviews which make me want to churn it out faster so I don't let you all down. But I also don't want the quality to suffer, so please be patient with me for the next chapter.

o0o

Chapter 6

o0o

Six and a half years ago:

Ace trudged through the forest with his heavy load strapped to his back. As per his agreement with Dadan, leader of the Mt Corvu Bandits, he had managed to catch one of the giant deer as his contribution to the meal of the day. He had butchered it himself, which had resulted in the animal's blood getting all over his clothes, but he was pretty sure he'd done it right. Sabo had checked in a book for him, and Ace had made sure to get all the guts and stuff out so the rest of the meat wouldn't spoil. Then he'd wrapped it up in a plastic tarp he'd found at Grey Terminal (found, stolen from a guy using it as a door for his outhouse, whatever) to make it easier to lug back to the hideaway.

He'd given one of the hind quarters and the heart to Sabo who had requested it. Apparently he'd read you could eat the heart raw and it tasted really good. Ace didn't know and he didn't want to know – he just chucked the organ at Sabo and started the trip home. The deer was huge, like all the animals on the mountain, but Ace was used to carrying even heavier baggage then that. The ten-year-old just wanted to get it back so Dadan could cook it, he could grab his dozen pieces and then finally escape to his room for the night.

As he neared the bandit house, he could hear shouting. That wasn't altogether new – there was always shouting going on. Dadan yelling at the bandits, the bandits yelling at each other, Dadan and the bandits yelling at the dog – it never ended. But this time there was something different – a deep, gruff voice that was painfully familiar, and he slowed down as he approached, not wanting to walk into a Fist of Love or worse. Garp, his adopted grandfather, was standing there in the front yard, barking something at Dadan who was shrieking back. He could hear volume but not much else until he got closer. Then the words began to clarify and Ace could make them out finally.

"Why do you keep doing this to me?" Dadan shrieked, spitting cigarettes from her mouth like a machine gun. She was flapping her arms in the air as though she were trying to take off. "We didn't even want the last one you dropped on us! He's a little shit – and now you want me to raise another little shit?"

Ace ignored the familiar pang in his chest when he heard the familiar words coming from his foster mother's mouth. It wasn't the first time he'd heard that. It was something she yelled at Garp all the damn time – he should be used to it by now. Ace glared at the two morons fighting back and forth and then slung the pack of meat high into the air. It landed with a wet-sounding splat between the two combatants, which surprised them into silence for a brief moment. That was all he needed.

"Food," he said curtly. Dogra and Magra scuttled out of the house to pick up the tarp full of venison and drag it back into the house. Ace strode forward, intent on ignoring the two bickering idiots, when he was suddenly hauled back by the scruff of his t-shirt. He yelped in surprise, though in all honesty, he hadn't expected his grandfather to let him get away without some kind of greeting. Still, hope always sprang eternal, though he didn't know why. "Let me go!"

"How dare you try to walk past your grandfather without saying hello!" Garp boomed, and Ace braced himself reflexively. Sure enough, his grandfather's fist whistled through the air, striking him hard across the temple. Ace couldn't quite stifle the yelp of pain that escaped him, and the resulting pain and dizziness made him fall to the ground, one hand holding the welt.

"Hello, shitty gramps," he muttered, rubbing his head. "Happy now?"

Garp apparently didn't hear anything past 'hello'. "Ace, m'boy, I've brought you a new brother!" he boomed, and waved his arm as though he was presenting something. Ace blinked and looked around. He didn't see anyone.

"Are you finally going senile?" he asked hopefully. Would they finally have an excuse to get the crazy bastard locked up in a mental ward somewhere?

Garp struck him again, and this time Ace hit the ground in front of a strange looking, plastic basket. He looked inside it – and then did a double-take.

There was a baby in that basket.

Ace slowly switched his stare from the baby to his grandpa – who was still beaming even with his fist steaming from the last hit he'd given – and then to Dadan – who was still staring at Garp with a horrified expression – and then back to the baby. It was sleeping, thankfully. Ace didn't know much about babies except that they were loud when they were awake.

Dadan shrieked again, something about not wanting to do this anymore and then she and Garp were off again in another argument. Ace tuned them out, focusing on the little one in the basket. He kinda looked like Ace did – a thatch of messy black hair framing a round little face. He didn't have freckles though. Sucks to be you, little guy, he thought before standing up and giving the two bickering adults a deadly glare before turning to the house to go get his share of the meat. No one wants you either.

That struck a chord with him, and he paused, looking back down at the baby. No one had wanted him either, and he knew what that felt like. He'd grown up knowing he wasn't wanted by the bandits, and the blood he carried inside his veins made him absolutely hated by everyone else. Was this kid going to be the same as him?

Not my problem, he told himself and went inside resolutely. He wasn't going to get involved.

o0o

Ace winced as another cry rang out. In the past couple of weeks, the baby – apparently named Luffy – had grown enough that he was trying to move around on his own. Dadan had said he was about eight months old or something. In an attempt to thwart his efforts, Dadan or one of the bandits would drop him into what they called a 'playpen' but was actually a large wooden box. All it needs is a lid, Ace found himself thinking at times. Then it could be a coffin.

The kid was probably wet or hungry – or both. Dadan rarely did anything with the baby; it was usually Magra or Dogra that did the feeding and the changing, but even so, that was all they did. Magra seemed terrified of the kid, and Dogra was always going out to 'patrol' their territory. Ace was gone most of the day, but no matter what time he came back, the kid was always in the box. He'd check once in a while – the kid was growing, so they were obviously feeding it. But the kid always had a sad look, even when sleeping. Ace always felt something curdle inside his chest when he saw that, and would go back to the forest and destroy things until it went away.

It wasn't going to go away tonight. Ace couldn't leave – he'd twisted his ankle in his sparring match with Sabo and Dadan had reluctantly wrapped it up and told him if he wanted it to heal, to stay off it for at least two days. Then she and the bandits got skunk-faced drunk and passed out.

The kid had been crying steadily for almost an hour. Ace could hear it, gasping and gulping in air and wailing at the top of its little lungs. When was the last time it was fed? Babies needed to be fed a lot, right? Like every couple of hours or something? That's what Sabo said anyway, when Ace had told him about the little nuisance taking up residence in the bandit house.

There was another hiccoughing gasp, and the baby actually sounded like he was choking for a moment. Ace felt a pang in his chest and finally rolled over, sat up and began the laborious task of manoeuvring down the ladder. Just to see if he could get the little brat to shut up, he told himself. He was never going to get any sleep at this rate if he didn't. How the hell are they sleeping through this? Ace threw a glare across the room to where Dadan was sprawled out on her futon – and blinked as he registered something in her ears. Ear plugs? Seriously?

"They use fucking ear plugs?" he growled. Had they done that with him too? Just ignored a young child that wanted to be...

Shaking his head, he hobbled over to the crate and peered over the side. The baby was still sobbing, his face bright red and thick tear tracks trailing down his chubby cheeks. His little legs kicked furiously in the air. Ace found himself reaching down to the tiny creature, touching its arm. The baby's eyes opened, tear-filled and angry, and Ace found himself smirking. "Man, you're really pissed off, aren't ya?" He rubbed the little arm and blinked when the baby moved swiftly and latched on to his finger with his even smaller fingers.

It took him a moment to notice, but suddenly the silence was almost deafening. The baby was still gasping and hiccoughing but he was also looking up at Ace, eyes wide and wondering. No wonder. Probably the first time in weeks that someone came to see him at night. "Don't get used to it, brat," he muttered awkwardly. "What did you want, anyway?" The baby whimpered and a gurgling noise rose from its round little belly under the dirty blanket carelessly draped over him. Ace rolled his eyes. "Of course."

Well, if he wanted to sleep, he'd have to get the little guy something to eat. The urge to kick Dadan awake to make her do it was strong, but the resulting fight would wake up all the bandits and then he could kiss sleep goodbye for the rest of the night. He sighed, glared down at the brat, and said, "Hang on a second."

He limped over to the 'kitchen' which was just another part of the main room of the house to where the large duffel bag that arrived with the kid had been thrown. Inside, Ace found a whole host of things he didn't quite recognize, but there was a sheaf of handwritten pages. Oh thank the sea gods – the kid came with an instruction manual! Ace flipped through it until he saw a picture of a baby bottle and read about how he needed to mix water with something called 'formula' and make sure it was warm. Didn't sound like rocket science to him.

Ace checked the counters and saw a rinsed out baby bottle. Well, at least they were washing them. Half the time the bandits simply reused dirty plates. He checked the cupboards and found a canister that read 'Baby Formula' on the side. The notes told him how much to scoop in to the bottle, and then he grabbed the tea kettle from the counter, pouring a little out to check – it was still warm. Good enough.

Ace put the lid on and shook it as he skimmed the notes again. Apparently after the kid ate, he was gonna have to 'burp' him by patting or rubbing his back. Ace sighed. This was more complicated then he had anticipated. A hitched whimper wafted out of the crate and he limped back over, cursing his ankle that simply prevented him from leaving the bandit house to avoid all this hassle. He set the bottle down and reached in, awkwardly trying to pick the kid up without dropping him. The baby was all squirmy and wriggly but Ace had a tight grip on the grimy t-shirt and the kid's diaper. He sat down, leaning against the coff-crate, and plunked the child down between his legs before grabbing the bottle and sticking it in the kid's mouth. For a moment he thought there was going to be a problem, but then the kid leaned back against his stomach, small hands coming up to help Ace hold it in place.

For a few moments there was only the contented sounds of a baby drinking, little grunts and sighs escaping as he furiously suckled as fast as he could. Ace smothered a laugh – the kid took food seriously, apparently. Now that he was quiet, Ace took a moment to study the brat – well, from what he could see at that angle. He reached out with the hand not holding the bottle and touched the fine black hair on the baby's head. It was so soft. So was his skin, Ace was surprised to note, as he trailed a finger along the baby's chubby cheek.

He's so small. Ace had no idea how something like this was expected to survive in the care of bandits. Hell, he wasn't even sure how he had survived if this was the level of interest they took in raising kids.

The baby sucked the bottle dry and Ace set it aside. He leaned the kid forward keeping one hand under his belly and began to rub his back. He had no idea if this was right, or what to do if it wasn't, but the notes said 'rub'. So he continued to rub small circles into the tiny back, patting gently once in a while until all of a sudden a loud belch broke the silence of the night. Ace blinked and then chuckled from sheer surprise. "Didn't know something so small could do that so loud," he murmured, and the baby snuffled and yawned. Ace picked him up, intending to set it back down in the crate when the baby somehow twisted and latched on to his t-shirt. Ace had to reposition his hands to keep from dropping him, and wound up holding the kid to his chest. The baby nuzzled his head against him, and Ace stared down at the tiny creature, feeling his heart start pounding.

The sheer trust this little one had in him, trusting that he wouldn't hurt him or drop him... Ace swallowed hard and then moved over to the crate, gently peeling the kid's fingers off his shirt and setting him down gently on the padding. The baby was half-asleep and he slowly rolled over, yawning widely, eyes closing. Ace paused, and then carefully lay the blanket on top of him, surprising himself by making sure each limb was carefully covered. Then he stopped, shook himself, and stood up straight.

He shouldn't get attached. He had enough problems of his own, and things to work towards, plans to see through. He and Sabo had work to do if they were ever going to earn enough money to buy their pirate ship and get out of the hell they called Goa Kingdom. This was a nuisance he didn't need. He'd survived the bandits, this kid could do the same. He was Garp's actual grandson. That meant he had to be tough.

Right?

He nodded firmly and went back up the ladder, determined to forget what had transpired that night, and wondering why a part of him didn't really want to.

o0o

Someone took Luffy.

The words kept repeating themselves, over and over again in Ace's head, a broken record on repeat. Nothing else was able to get through – not the pain of his still-healing body, not the confusion of where he was or what had happened to him. Nothing mattered except someone had taken his baby brother away from him, and whoever did so was going to die.

Fire flashed out from him in a thick wide circle, enveloping the room he was in, sending even thicker flames racing up walls, the divider curtains, warping and scorching what he vaguely recognized as Adams Wood flooring. Smoke swirled in thick clouds, trapped in the windowless room. He struggled to sit up, and then struggled even more to roll out of it, barely getting his feet beneath him in time as he landed in a painful crouch. Luffy, he thought, panting with exertion. He gripped the side of the burning bed he'd been lying on, trying to drag himself up to his feet. His mind was hazy with pain and his vision was blurry, but none of that mattered to him. Someone took Luffy.

A scream went up somewhere to the right of him, and he could hear people shouting but he didn't even attempt to make out any words. He couldn't spare the energy to even try. Everything he had was going to keeping him on his feet so he could find the motherfucking bastard who had taken his sunshine. His eyes were fixed on the bleary shape that he figured were doors at the other end of the room, and he staggered towards them.

Someone – a woman, he thought hazily, dressed in pink – appeared in front of him, waving her arms and shouting something at him. He ignored her until she touched him and then something exploded out from deep inside himself. The world went filmy for a moment, colored in shades of blue like he was underwater. It reminded him of when he'd stopped Bluejam's men from hurting Luffy a couple of years ago. Whatever it was had worked then. It somehow worked again now. Her eyes went wide in shock and she fell to the ground, coughing and shaking. He continued past her, leaving her where she lay.

Darkness was encroaching on the edges of his blurred vision, and he knew he had to hurry. His body wasn't going to hold out for much longer. Everything was getting shaky and distant. Not yet. He peered blearily at the closed doors and didn't even bother checking to see if they were locked or not. He formed a fist, feeling the familiar sense of fire and power gathering at his command, and then he thrust his arm forward.

His Hiken attack – the one for which the marines had given him his famous epithet – crashed through the doors, a torrent of red-hot flames that disintegrated them in mere moments. Nothing but piles of black and grey ash remained when the smoke cleared seconds later, being sucked out the new opening. It had worked, but it had hurt. Gasping for breath, he slammed one fist against his chest as pain rocketed through him.

Where is he? Ace closed his eyes, picturing his brother. He didn't know how or why, but something was telling him to go right, to go down the corridor. Bracing one hand on the wall, he began to half-walk, half-lean himself down the hallway. Someone came up from behind and grabbed his arm – he didn't even blink before he fanned the flames in the very spot being grabbed. Whoever it was let out a shout of pain and instantly let go. Luffy. Ace spread the fire out behind him. He wanted to keep whoever he singed and anyone with him far enough back that they couldn't stop him. His fire crawled along both ends of the hallway, climbing the walls, little flames dripping from the ceiling. People were shouting but they were keeping away from him, which was all he wanted.

Stairs. Ace all but crawled up them, knees giving out halfway up. He clutched the iron railing desperately, and willed his legs to straighten, to lift him up again, and somehow it worked. Adrenaline, maybe? Who cared. If it got him standing and moving again, he was all for it. Light ahead of him tried to blind him, and he squinted, letting out a slurred curse as he passed through a large opening. There were shapes in front of him. Big, blurry shapes. They were waving their arms and shouting.

Hiken.

The shapes flung themselves out of the way, trying to avoid the fire and clearing a path in front of him. He coughed, feeling something wet spray his chin. The coppery scent told him it was blood – he really wasn't in great shape, but there would be time for medical attention later. Somewhere around here was his baby brother – the one he'd sworn to protect, the one he'd raised, the only person in the entire world he could say he loved without any sort of hesitance or deceit. If anyone here had dared to lay a finger on his baby boy, he would cut that finger off – and then cut off all the remaining parts one by one before he burnt their remains to cinders. Anything less would be unforgivable.

Someone shouted something oddly specific. It was his name, he recognized that much, but that was about it. There was a strange purple and yellow blur in front of him, and Ace squinted even as he panted for air. Hands. The guy had his hands up, like he was surrendering.

Too fucking bad. Ace snarled and lashed out with another Hiken but sensed it didn't make contact. He vaguely registered the guy appearing behind him, somehow unharmed or deterred by his flames, and Ace spun around, hooking a foot through the air to catch the guy in the shoulder. His opponent staggered back, and Ace snarled again. "Where's Luffy!" he choked out, enraged and frightened and so close to passing out he didn't even know if he'd be able keep upright long enough to hear the answer. The world was spinning around him but he refused to fall, refused to give up. He couldn't give up. "Where...What..."

"ACE!"

There was a shriek, and Ace straightened instinctively. He'd know that sound anywhere, no matter what shape he was in. He turned and there was a familiar flare of energy with one of the big shapes. Holding him back? "Le'...'im...go..." he gasped, working hard to clench his fingers into fists. People were hollering, Luffy was screaming his name, and everything was blurring into one solid mass of colour that made him want to puke. "Luffy..."

"Ace!" The small bundle of colour suddenly detached from the bigger shape that cursed out loud, and then suddenly he was ploughed into by a familiar mass, arms stretched out, wrapping around his shoulders, and then again around the body and there was something wrong about that but he didn't care. He fell to his knees, returned the tight grip, and buried his face into soft blackness. He nuzzled his siblings head, inhaling the scent that was his baby brother and thanked a god he didn't believe in that he was there, he was safe and he was in Ace's arms where he should be.

"Luffy," he breathed, and his world tilted back the way it should. "Luffy...I'll...p'tec you..."

"It's okay Ace," he heard his sibling babble, and he looked down at Luffy's smudged and blurred face. The darkness was gaining on him, narrowing his sight down into tunnel vision. "It's alright now. I'm okay. You're okay. No one's gonna hurt anyone."

Ace shook his head. He didn't recognize these people. This wasn't his ship. Nothing was okay. "L'ffy..."

"Trust me, Ace," the little one begged, and that made him pause - when did Ace ever not trust Luffy? "I promise, everything's okay. Stop your fires, okay? You're scaring everyone."

Ace stared at his little brother, still panting, breathing becoming harder and harder to do. "I..."

A hand suddenly reached through the flames he still had hovering around him, and settled on his shoulder, reaching over Luffy who was still wound around him like an overly energetic octopus. "You're safe, Ace, I promise. Everything is okay. Luffy is unharmed. No one is going to hurt you, yoi."

He knew that voice. He recognized it, remembered it from his one-sided fight with Whitebeard. He was so tired, so dizzy. Everything hurt and Luffy was crying in his arms, begging him to stop. A whimper escaped Ace as the darkness stole over his vision for good, and the last thing he registered before passing out was warm arms catching him before he could hit the ground, Luffy crushed between them.

Then he was out again.

o0o

Breathing hard, Marco caught the young man before he fell, Luffy pressed between them. "Luffy, are you okay?"

The little boy was crying, patting Ace's cheeks. "Ace," he gasped. "Ace, wake up."

"Thatch!" Marco called for his brother, who had taken a rather hard hit from the small boy in an effort to get to his older sibling. He didn't say anything about the fact that Luffy's arms had just retracted from where they had been double-wound around his brother – obviously the kid was a fruit user, but they could discuss that later.

Thatch reached between Marco and the fire-kid. "C'mere Luffy," Thatch said coaxingly, pulling the boy away gently. "Marco's going to take your brother back to the infirmary so we can make sure he's okay after all this. But see?" He grinned at Luffy, trying to entice a similar expression from the boy. "Whiskey was right! He woke up!"

"But he's asleep again," Luffy sniffled, rubbing red eyes with his arm and peering anxiously at his sibling who was cradled in Marco's arms, arm hanging limp. Thatch followed the First Division Commander across the deck. "An' he didn't stop. He was fighting everyone. Why did he do that?"

Some of the other Whitebeard Commanders were already putting out fires and checking to see if any of the men caught by Ace's flames needed medical attention. Thatch was relieved to see that no one seemed to be seriously injured. Vista was putting out a rope ladder for two guys that had been forced to leap over the railing to avoid the worst of the heat but neither of them were devil fruit users, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

Thatch cuddled the boy close as they moved down the hallway, avoiding the still burning patches of fire dotting the walls and floor. The shipwrights were going to have a hell of a patch-up job to do. "He's hurt and confused," he said gently. "And he's worried sick about you. The next time he wakes up, hopefully he'll be feeling a little bit better and we'll be able to explain things to him. Okay?"

Luffy still looked unsure, but he nodded anyway, and Thatch breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly feeling exhausted. He had thought the fire-starter had been about to roast him alive, even with Luffy in his arms. He knew the kid was strong, but to be able to do that amount of damage in the condition he was in... As he entered the infirmary, he caught Marco's eye as the man straightened from setting Ace down in a different bed – his had been burnt beyond repair - and let his breath out in a 'whoosh'.

Marco stepped back from the bed, letting Hannah and Whiskey past him to attend to the teenager. He raked a hand through his hair. "You said it, Thatch."

Thatch nodded and told Luffy to stay put with him for the time being, so the nurses could check and see what damage the kid had done to himself. Luffy nodded, eyes fixed unwavering on his brother.

Thatch had a feeling he was in for a long night.

o0o

to be continued...

o0o

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thought so long and hard about how I wanted to portray it, and I wanted to start giving people a glimpse of how Ace and Luffy's relationship began.

Thank you again for all the inspirational reviews and comments. You guys are making it so easy for me to want to keep working on this I almost feel like I'm being tricked into it. THAT'S YOUR EVIL PLAN, ISN'T IT? I know it is, I can tell. Well, guess what – IT'S WORKING, DAMN YOU PEOPLE.

Gonna start chapter 7 tonight. I have more...ideas. :)

[edit] I cannot believe I posted this thing after 2 proof-reads and somehow skipped the fact that I had blatantly changed tenses halfway through. Should read smoother now.

2005-12-15 - updated to fix more tense errors. Am three pages into chapter 7 now. ;)