Title: Ten Years Different 9/?

Word Count: 5550

Notes: So I had the first half (the flashback) done months ago. It was the second half that gave me fits, and it wound up being shorter as a result. I know what's going to happen, it's just filling in the gaps to get there. I needed that conversation to happen, but the exact details of it drove me nuts.

o0o

Ten Years Difference

o0o

"Sabooooooo! Aaaace! S'loud!" Luffy howled over the shrieking wind and the pounding sound of the rain on the roof of their treetop home. He buried his face in his pillow, having tugged all the blankets in his 'pen', as Sabo had nicknamed the fenced-in back wall, over his body to protect him from the storm that was trying to take them all away.

Ace was at the front 'window' – they didn't actually have any glass in their cutouts, such a material never survived being tossed out of High or Edge Town – gritting his teeth against the wind. Luffy had almost been accidentally blown away with the first major gust that had hit and actually swirled around inside their home, lifting the three-year-old nearly two feet off the ground. He and Sabo were now perched at the windows to prevent it from happening again, using a few spare tarps to try and nail up. The wind was so strong though, they kept losing the nails, and the tarp's edges would spring free.

"It's no use, Ace," Sabo shouted as another nail flew out of his fingers. "All we're doing is dropping sharp things into the wind to be impaled by!" He dropped the hammer as the tarp swept back over his face, and he cursed loudly, trying to drag himself free. "We should have done this as soon as we knew the storm was coming!"

"Yeah, yeah," Ace snapped, wrenching his side of the tarp down and trying to bunch it up enough that they could shove it into one of the metal boxes they'd found at Grey Terminal and had re-purposed as shelves. "Shit, I didn't think it was going to be a flippin' hurricane!"

"Me neither!" Sabo snatched at his hat as it tried to leave his head – again – and finally stomped over to the boxes and wedged it in one of the bigger ones, slamming the lid down. "I'm gonna lose it at this rate!"

Ace glared at the storm trying its best to tear down their home. He and Sabo had been looking forward to it, wanting to test out the true stability of the home they'd built for themselves. That was until Luffy had nearly been blown out the window, along with his ear-less rabbit and two of their pillows. They'd saved Luffy and one of the pillows. Ace had a feeling come morning they'd be on a hunt for Mr Bunny once Luffy registered he was gone.

Speaking of which... Ace cast another, paranoid glance at the pen, noting he could see the lump of blankets through the slats which meant Luffy was still in there. Luffy was still howling about how scared he was, calling their names, and since boarding the windows was a no-go, they might as well succeed at something and go calm their little brother down.

Sabo apparently had the same idea – he was already heading over. He didn't bother unlatching the gate, but hopped over the railing, landing with a thump next to the sobbing three-year old. "C'mon, Luffy, calm down. It's okay."

"Is scary," the toddler blubbered, tears and snot cascading down his face.

Ace sighed and reached into another metal cubbyhole for a new box of tissues and climbed into the pen, tossing them at Sabo. "Clean his face, will ya?"

"Yeah, yeah." Sabo wedged a training log under the blankets, making a tent-like structure, and then pulled himself and the snivelling toddler underneath, brandishing a handful of tissues and steeling himself for the disgusting job that awaited him.

Ace gathered up the remainder of the sheets and blankets that had been whipped around and pulled up one of the extra tarps they still kept there (still in the process of toilet training, Luffy was usually fine by day but still tended to have accidents at night. Makino had helped them by purchasing diapers that looked like big boy underwear to Luffy and sending the bill to their grandfather). The rain was still spraying in through the front of their tree house, and there was no need for any of them to get sick from the damp.

He spread the tarp over the pen walls so it blocked the open slats and tied it at the bottom with the string they'd looped through it. He grabbed another tarp and spread it out over them all, tucking the edges under the thin futons they slept on before ducking underneath to join Sabo and Luffy under the log-tented covers. The blond boy was lying on his side, with Luffy sitting up, leaning against his stomach and sucking his thumb. The rain and wind was muffled and softer thanks to the layers of cushioning over them. Ace remembered to keep one back corner free so they could get fresh air, and then lay down on his side, facing the other two.

"Well, we'll be warm and mostly dry until the storm stops," Sabo said with a grin. "That's something."

"Why so loud, Ace?" Luffy whimpered around his thumb, eyes still wide with fear.

"It's just the wind and the rain, Luffy. It can't get you." Ace yawned, suddenly feeling sleepy. It had been more work then he'd realized to try and put up a tarp during a storm. "If we go to sleep, I bet it will be finished by the time we wake up."

"Finish?" The toddler sucked noisily on his thumb for a moment, before nodding and flopping down between them both, smooshing his face into his pillow.

Sabo reached behind him and pulled out Luffy's teddy bear, the one he'd patched himself (after surreptitiously going to Makino for a quick lesson on how to sew a leg back onto a de-limbed bear), and tapped it next to Luffy's head. Luffy turned his head just enough to see it, grabbed it and stuck his nose under the bear's tummy. A few minutes later, he was snoring.

Ace let out a loud sigh, scratching his head. "And he couldn't have done that an hour ago instead of competing against the weather with his screaming?" His eyes began to slide shut. He was so tired...

"He needed us to be with him before he could sleep during all this, you know that Ace," Sabo chuckled.

"Whatever." Something occurred to him and he propped his eyes open. "You know, we're gonna have to repair the tree house tomorrow. I saw a few planks fly off the bottom, and I think we lost our rope ladder."

"That means a trip to Grey Terminal." Sabo chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Are we taking Luffy to Dadan's?"

Ace snorted and gave Sabo a small scowl. "After the last time? When we came home and found Luffy with three burns on his arm from the fire pit, and about to fall into the ravine because no one was watching him?"

Sabo winced at the memory. "We could maybe take him to Grey Terminal with us this time..." Sabo's voice trailed off, sounding reluctant. "We've done it before."

"Yeah – when Lu was small enough to be trapped in a backpack he couldn't escape." Ace rolled over onto his back and folded his arms under his head. "Nah, I'm thinking we get up early, check the damage, and then take Luffy to Foosha for the day. Then we can make a trip to Grey Terminal, get what we need, make the repairs and then go get him." He shot Sabo a mischievous look. "Maybe she'll offer to keep him overnight again."

Sabo rolled his eyes and reached over, poking Ace in the arm. "Like you'd leave him there, Ace. The last time Makino offered to watch him overnight, you barely slept, and we were up at five to go and pick him up."

Ace's face flushed red and he scowled again. "Shut up. I just didn't think anyone else needed to put up with his whiny baby butt anymore then they should. He's our responsibility."

Sabo smiled softly, and looked at the youngest, reaching one hand out to stroke his baby-fine hair. "Yeah, he is. And I think your idea is a good one. Makino did say she'd watch him for us when we needed."

"So it's settled then." Ace yawned again. "We should go to sleep so we can get an early start tomorrow."

"Sounds good. Night, Ace."

"Night Sabo."

o0o

Luffy had been happy enough to see Makino, but had voiced his displeasure in a loud, howling screech when he saw his two older brothers hightailing it back out of the village and up the trail that led to the bandits home. Ace and Sabo exchanged a rueful glance – Luffy was going to be hell to deal with once they got him home. He hated being left behind.

Before they reached Dadan's, the trail split, though only those who knew where to look could actually make it out. And even if someone stumbled on it accidentally, they still needed the requisite strength to jump up the rocky gorge, make it through the croc-filled river, and traverse the maze of massive trees and dangling foliage.

The split trail took them around the mountain at a less elevation than the bandits home. Along the way, there was another trail they'd made themselves over the last eight or so years of foraging through Mt Corvu that would eventually lead to their tree house. But they didn't need to make any additional pit stops this time, and so they kept to the original path that took them almost directly to Grey Terminal.

About fifty feet from the tree border that separated the forest and the dump, Ace came to a stop, checked his location and then scratched his head. "Where'd we leave the damn thing?"

Sabo snickered and leaped onto a pair of giant boulders. He twirled his staff in one hand and then pushed it down behind a third, smaller boulder in front of the two. Applying force, he wedged the smaller boulder out of the way. The round boulders were broken at the bottom, and their location against a massive log resulted in a small cave. Tucked away inside was the cart they'd found years ago, ready for use.

Ace rolled his eyes. "Well, it's been at least two years since we've needed to use it, gimme a break."

Sabo jumped down and helped Ace tug it free. "I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it," Ace grumped. He squatted down and checked the wooden wheels. Worn thin, but miraculously still intact save for a few bits that looked like some kind of rodent took a nibble or two out of it. Inside the cart was the grease can they used for the axles. It was thick and almost dried out but he was able to get enough onto a leaf to treat the wheels so it would be easier to pull once they had it loaded with everything they found. "We need wooden slats, rope, more nails..."

"I think we should look for more blankets and tarps too, thick ones. Or just thick fabric in general. Instead of nailing tarps to the walls, we could make thick heavy curtains that we could slide across," Sabo offered, wrinkling his nose. "We'd need hooks, a pole to hang it on..."

"Good idea. If we secure it good enough on top, we could keep some bricks or stones up in the tree house to weigh down the bottom during the next storm," Ace said, nodding his head. "Anything else?"

"I want to find a small table to write on," Sabo said. He gave Ace a mild glare. "My papers keep getting bits of our meals attached to it, no matter how much we clean the one we have now."

"Anything else, your highness?"

"A telescope would be cool," Sabo said with a grin. "Luffy loves spinning the wheel to 'drive' the tree house. Can you imagine his reaction to something that made little things far away look big?"

"Maybe it would keep his attention long enough for us to actually prepare food properly," Ace mused, shaking his head. He easily remembered the night before the storm and how they'd barely managed to get the crocodile steaks past the raw stage before Luffy had snatched a hunk and run off with it in his mouth, not unlike the ill-bred mutt that patrolled the bandit lodge.

Ace manoeuvred the cart out of the cramped little cave and then tossed it up to Sabo, who threw down his pipe in return. Ace picked it up with his and joined his brother who was already starting to head along the path that led to the heart of Grey Terminal.

Broken boards were everywhere and easy to find – most of the Grey Terminal residents preferred sheet metal to build their ragtag homes and mainly used wood to mend thrown out tables and chairs, or to burn in winter. The Terminal denizens also had a keen knowledge of the two boys and their prodigious strength, and so they were left alone during their search, save for a few pairs of eyes peering curiously at them, hoping the youngsters would overturn a few things worth scavenging for themselves during their hunt.

Ace and Sabo had their cart filled with enough wood in almost no time at all. Several of the boards had nails in them too, which the boys knew they could pull out with their hammers, and they managed to fill a small can with extras. Their search was going along fairly quickly.

"I'm gonna look for bits of rope and some more tarps," Ace said, waving at a pile of refuse that looked promising. "There's some poles – well, something that looks like poles over there. See?" He pointed across the way from the pile he'd chosen for himself.

Sabo looked, and grinned. "We're in luck, Ace," he said cheerfully, holding one hand up to shade his eyes from the sun's glare. Something fluttered amongst the sticks that pointed out of the garbage, and metal glinted as he watched. "It looks like someone threw out curtains just for us! See the fabric hanging from it?"

"I think I see flowers on that fabric," Ace said with a disgusted look. "Well, we need layers for thickness. Do me a favour and see if you can find better ones we can use to at least cover those up with."

Sabo chuckled and leaped over a barrel, hopping his way stack-to-stack. "Beggars can't be choosers, Ace."

"Shut up, Sabo."

It didn't take long for Ace to find several bits of cut rope. With some tape, tar, and a bit of knot-tying, they could repair it easily. He gathered as much as he could find, and paused, spotting an entire coil wrapped around a broken pole that must have belonged to the mast of a ship. More likely the sails, he thought, and began laboriously unwinding the rope from the pole, coiling it up as he did. There was even a small bit of sail cloth – ripped and torn, but patched with other bits of fabric, it would work even better as a water repellant for their 'windows'.

It took a while to gather up everything he thought he could use. Bits of wood and broken planks from old fishing boats, metal poles (always good to have a few spares hidden around the forest, just in case), a shelf with actual drawers missing one leg that Ace could easily repair (Sabo could put his hat in there during the next storm and use the top to write on) – all of it went into the cart.

He noted that Sabo had been by – the ugly, flower-laced curtains, complete with rods, were in the cart, as well as more planks like what he'd found. There was also a battered-looking door. He snorted – they'd been considering an actual door, ever since Luffy began showing a vague understanding of how the lock worked on pen. If he ever managed to unlock the pen and get out, there wasn't anything stopping him from falling over the side of the tree fort where they'd left a part of the wall open. The rope ladder usually hung there (and would again, after his finds today) but Lu was too small to use it. He'd fall before he'd climb, that much was for sure, and so a door was a good idea. They could have a key made for it in Foosha. Makino would know where to find someone.

He was contemplating an unbroken mirror in a pile of refuse that looked like it had all come from the same house, when he heard a shout. It was Sabo's voice – and he sounded upset.

Ace grabbed his pipe and tossed the mirror away, ignoring the tinkling sound of shattering glass as he vaulted an old sofa and began racing towards the direction the sound had come from. "Sabo?"

"Ace, stay back!"

Ace came to a halt between two piles of garbage and saw Sabo facing the same ugly man who had yelled at them back in High Town. His father, if Ace remembered correctly. His fists clenched. "Sabo-"

"No, Ace! Run-"

The man backhanded Sabo swiftly, but before Ace could leap forward in a rage, he found his arm being roughly grasped by one of the High Town guards. Before he could shake himself loose, he felt a very familiar pressure against the side of his head, and heard the click that accompanied it. "Shit!"

"Little boys shouldn't use such rough language," said the guard languidly. "Mr Outlook, sir, your orders please?"

"I'll be taking my heir back home," the man said in an oily voice, gripping Sabo's arm with one hand and stroking his moustache with the other. "You may do what you like with this... trash."

Ace saw red, and he tightened his grip on his pipe. Before he could move though, Sabo held up a hand at him and shouted. "Stop, Ace!"

Ace froze, red draining from his vision. "Sabo?"

Sabo was staring at him pleadingly, a healthy dose of fear in his eyes. "Ace, they have guns," he said shakily. "Don't fight them. Not like this."

"If you think I'm gonna just stand here and-"

"Father!" Sabo cut Ace off and turned around as much as he could in the older man's grip. "Let him go. Please. I'll come quietly – I won't give you any trouble. I swear. Just let him leave here alive."

Ace felt his heart in his chest give a vicious twist. "Sabo!"

"I mean it, Ace!" Sabo's head snapped back around and Ace found himself pinned in place by the power of Sabo's glare. "What would happen to Luffy if you died here? He needs you!"

"He needs you too," Ace croaked. He couldn't believe this was actually happening.

"I'll be fine," Sabo said calmly. His eyes burned into Ace's, almost begging him in their intensity. "Go back to Luffy, Ace. Everything will be okay."

"How can you say that?" Somehow there was still air in Ace's chest, and he was still able to speak. He felt like the world around him was pressing in on him, trying to smother him. "Why...?"

Sabo gave him a grim smile, and then Outlook was dragging him off through the path the guards had blazed through the Grey Terminal. The guards were glaring at him, but Ace couldn't care less. He vaguely realized he still had one hand up, outstretched, as if it were trying to entreat Sabo into coming back, into saying this was all a joke, a mistake.

But it wasn't. Ace remembered that face, that disgusted expression as though he were constantly smelling something particularly foul. That was the man Sabo had claimed as his father back in the woods, however reluctantly, and Sabo had made his choice to go with him. To leave Luffy.

To leave him.

"I'd get lost, if I were you, kid," said one of the guards, giving him a non-too-gentle whack with the butt of his rifle. Ace stumbled a bit, still lost and in shock. "He could turn around any moment and tell us to shoot ya."

"Why wait?" snarked another one, and Ace forced his feet to start moving.

He pushed himself until he was at the edge of Grey Terminal, practically blinded by horror over what had just happened. A routine trip to Grey Terminal had just cost him his brother and oldest friend.

Ace tripped over a branch, something he hadn't done since he was at least six years old, and fell to his knees, holding himself up with his hands. Everything around him was blurry – he couldn't figure out why.

"Gotta get Luffy," he breathed. Yes, he had to get his other brother. Had to make sure nothing happened to him, nothing like what just happened to Sabo. Then... what?

He shook his head violently, and roughly ran his arm across his face, ridding himself of the water he found there (strange, it wasn't raining). He'd make sure Luffy was safe and then he'd plan. Sabo may have been taken hostage by that overgrown prick calling himself Sabo's father, but there was no way he was going to let that man keep Sabo. He needed Sabo. He needed Sabo to help raise Luffy. He couldn't do it alone, he knew that.

And Sabo was the first friend he'd ever had. Like hell he was gonna let him get away.

"Just hang on, Sabo," he muttered as he got to his feet and began to make his way through the brush he knew better than the back of his hand. "I'll get you out of there, I promise. Just wait for me."

o0o

Marco watched with interest as the two new residents of the Moby Dick made their way on to the deck. Having recovered a fair bit from his ordeals, Ace and his little shadow had been moved from the infirmary to the cabin next to his – the cabin of their old second commander. It had been empty for a few years, but it was the best place to keep a temperamental hot head until he adjusted to being a member of the crew like his little brother. Or rather, until he gave in and became a member of the crew.

It had only been a few days since his release from the tender loving care of nurse Whiskey. There were still a few trace remains of the fire he'd set during his hallucination-induced attack and Marco had caught him staring at the charred marks Blamenco had yet to replace, looking guilty – until he saw he was being watched. Then it was scowl, glare, growl, stomp, 'LUFFY!' and back to their room they'd go.

Speaking of Luffy though... that kid was a card. One would almost swear the youngster had been born and raised aboard the Moby. The kid was constantly escaping his big brother's protective eye and zooming around the feet of whoever happened to be around. He smiled and waved at absolutely everyone and nothing fazed him. Not even Blenheim pulling a giant ladder out of his cheek sacks had stunned him. The word 'COOL!' was heard being shouted numerous times a day, from all over the ship.

On this particular day, approximately one week to the day Whiskey had released Ace from the dungeon that was the infirmary, the tiny hammer let go of his brother's hand and raced over to Marco, peering up at his location in the crow's nest. "Hi, Marco!"

If looks could kill – and if he weren't immortal – the one Ace was shooting would have got him good. As it was, it amused him instead. Marco waved back and let loose a flood of blue fire, transforming his arms into wings and pushing off the edge of the nest. "Hey brat," he replied as he touched down. He nodded congenially at the scowling man behind the kid. "Older brat."

"I'm not a brat!" Luffy insisted, a matching scowl appearing on his chubby cheeks. "And Ace's not a brat too!"

"Either."

"Huh?"

"Ace is not a brat, either," Marco repeated calmly.

"Ooohhhh..." Luffy's eyes were round with comprehension. "I don't get it."

Or not.

"What do you want?" Ace snapped.

Marco raised his eyes to stare at the fierce young man. It was easy to tell from his tense stance and twitching fingers that Ace didn't feel comfortable being out in the open. Or perhaps it was in interacting with Marco. Either way, Marco felt a need to try and reduce some of the obvious stress that Ace was displaying. "Just returning a greeting."

"Sure," Ace muttered.

"But I was hoping to have a chance to talk to you," Marco continued. He crouched down to Luffy's level. "I think Thatch has some cookies he's been hiding from me. Think you can go and force him to share?"

Little Luffy grinned and nodded hard enough to make his head bounce up and down like a yo-yo. "I can do it! I'll find the cookies!" He then turned to his brother. "I can go, right, Ace?"

Ace stared at his little brother before glaring at Marco. He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, as though trying to ward off a headache. "Yeah. Okay. But only go to the galley, all right? If you leave it, I want you back here where I can see you."

"Okay!"

Marco watched Ace watch his little brother disappear, and had to hide a smile at the look of protective concern that Ace just couldn't prevent himself from showing. When Ace's gaze switched back to him however, it was like watching a pair of silvery doors slam shut in front of him.

"What do you want?" Ace demanded, the scowl the Whitebeard crew was starting to suspect was his default setting, automatically coming to the forefront.

Marco grinned. The ups and downs of this kid's behaviour was like dealing with an emotional roller coaster. It was interesting, not knowing what to expect at any given moment. "I just wanted to talk to you for a moment. See how you're doing. How's the meds Whiskey gave you for that sleep thing she mentioned?"

"It's called narcolepsy," the teen snapped. "And the last time I checked, your medical records were supposed to be confidential."

"That's true enough," Marco allowed, deciding not to mention that that privilege only extended to the crew. Commanders were given access to all medical records at all times, so they could make mission recruitment decisions. "I haven't seen you pass out on deck though, so can I assume they're working?"

If the teen had fur, no doubt it would be bristling like an angry alley cat's. "You can assume whatever you want."

Marco chuckled. "I suppose so," he drawled. "I see Luffy's settling in just fine."

There was silence for a moment, then, unbelievably, there was a small snort of reluctant amusement. "Luffy always settles fine, no matter where he is."

And therein lay the difference. Marco had no doubt that Ace was confident that Luffy would be safe with them – Marco knew the Whitebeard's had a reputation for being safe for civilians, particularly women and children. And though Luffy was technically a pirate, regardless of his age, he was still a child which made him immune to the wrath of Whitebeard.

Was Ace under the impression that he was not? Marco watched Ace stare out at the sea, a faint scowl still on his face, arms folded in a self-defensive manner. Ever since waking up, the teen's temper had been kept to a low simmer, only boiling over whenever someone breached his personal bubble, or when Luffy appeared to be threatened. He was suspicious of all kind behaviours, as though he were waiting for a hand to slap him instead of reach out to him.

Marco found his behaviour to be confounding. If Ace were like this all the time, Luffy would be far more paranoid and hesitant among so many strangers. And his crew – his crew were amazingly protective of their captain and his little rubber brother – and hadn't that been a hoot, having the rest of the crew find out about Luffy's devil powers when the brat, apparently deciding that Ace being awake meant he didn't have to keep his secret anymore, had scampered halfway up the mast and then fell. Vista had lunged to reach him but had fallen short – only to watch, bug-eyed, as Luffy bounced like a rubber ball along the deck until he hit the cabin.

Shaking his head, Marco turned his thoughts back to the enigma before him. "I've been meaning to ask you a question for a while now."

Ace shot him a glare out of the corner of his eye. "Nothing's stopping you."

Marco shrugged. "Okay. Why did you bring your little brother onto the Grand Line with you?" He folded his own arms, leaning back against the railing. "You're so protective of him. You had to know that was a dangerous choice to make."

He watched, fascinated, as Ace turned red with apparent rage, muscled arms trembling as he struggled to repress what Marco had been convinced should have been an impressive temper tantrum. Instead, the teen took in a shaky breath, breathed out, repeated himself and then, gritting his teeth, replied, "I wasn't going to leave him behind. He was barely out of the toddler stage. Who the hell was gonna look after him?"

"There were no adults around to watch him?"

There was another snort. Then a laugh, but it was a dark laugh, not a trace of amusement in it. "Adults. Yeah, right. No, commander," he practically spit the word out like it left a bad taste in his mouth. "There weren't a lot of adults there that knew how to take care of a kid, much less one like Luffy."

"Dusty mentioned that you raised Luffy," Marco commented idly after a few minutes to let the kid calm down. "I didn't realize he meant that literally."

There was a pause, as though Ace were trying to figure out how much he could trust Marco with. Then there was a huff of released breath, and the teen shrugged. "He was left with me and my... guardians, when he was eight months old. I was ten." Ace was glaring out at the water now. "Those idiots thought the best way to deal with a crying baby was to shove him in a box and use ear plugs so they could sleep through the night."

There was a moment where Marco thought he'd heard wrong. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, real winners of society, right? Still, it wasn't really their fault. It's Gramps' fault for thinking bandits knew anything about child care."

Bandits?

...Okay, suddenly Ace's mood swings, and trust issues were starting to make a little sense. "SO I assume you just took over his care?"

"...More or less. I moved out with... I took Luffy with me when I moved out of there and just took over since they didn't even know enough to watch him when he was outside. Stupid idiots nearly let Lu fall down the ravine almost a dozen times."

Marco shook his head, not sure he was capable of understanding or completely believing Ace's words. But the grudging way in which Ace spoke, the anger in his tone and the clenched fists when he said the word 'ravine' made it hard to not believe him. "How old were you?"

"...almost eleven," came the reluctant response.

As Marco took that in and tried to comprehend the idea of a ten year old (nearly eleven) recognizing the dangers that adults (and bandits at that) did not and making the decision to move out on his own (at ten) and take an eight month old baby with him, he noticed Ace suddenly tense up, as though he had just realized how much he'd let loose.

"I'm gonna find Luffy," he growled, and pushed away from the railing, heading for the galley at a rapid pace.

Either he was anxious to get away from Marco and his questions, or Marco's questions and his subsequent answers had reminded him how much trouble his little brother was capable of getting into, which had prompted the urge to go and find him. Marco was willing to bet more on the latter. Like any parent, even one as young as Ace, the teen had found it hard to resist talking about his 'kid'.

Marco smiled. There so many ways he could use that to get into the teen's head to try and get him to open up. After all, the sooner he did that, the sooner Ace would see that the Moby Dick was the best place for him and the tiny brat to be.

Bad choices or not, misgivings or no, Marco liked Ace and Luffy. A lot. He knew his father did too, as well as most of the commanders who had met them. Ace would make a great addition to the crew, and Luffy was a breath of fresh air.

There were still some things Marco wanted to know, and settle before giving one hundred percent approval, but all in all, he was starting to understand why the Spade crew was so enamoured with their captain. The kid was young, but he was more responsible than most teens his age – hell, most adults too. Only seventeen, but with the air of a man in his mid-twenties or more. It was unique.

With a small grin, Marco decided to trail after the brats. Maybe Luffy had found Thatch's stash of cookies after all.

End Chapter 9

Note:

I have half of chapter 10 practically done (we see Ace explode – verbally) – just need to write the flashback, which will finally show you how Sabo and Shanks and the whole sea king and blah blah all mesh together in a way that pays tribute to canon, but also explodes into AU territory.

As always, feedback is loved, revered, and treasured - as well as found to be very inspiring. :)

[Edited for clarification - I thought it was clear that only Marco and Thatch knew about Luffy's powers from Ace's rampage, but it was not and I apologize. I hope it is a bit clearer now!]