Disclaimer: I have a new fanfic called Reverse about Ace and Luffy so check it out if you think you're interested!
Luffy had been acting strange that morning. He was distant and reserved. It was unnerving, especially to Ace who had never seen him like that before. What happened to the ridiculous man who ate a ton of food every meal and laughed no matter the situation? He still took his place at the figurehead, but all of his energy was gone. It was like he wasn't even there.
Luffy was thinking. He'd been doing that a lot. It was unlike him, he knew, but something was bothering him. Until his mind settled he couldn't be bothered with anything else. Or maybe it would be best to allow himself to be distracted. He didn't feel like it, though. He wanted to figure it out. He'd run it through his head so many time that he'd forgotten breakfast. That was the most shocking of all.
Ace sat against the wooden walls and simply watched the pirate's unmoving figure. He was worried. That man hadn't spoken since last night. He hugged his knees to his chest and waited. Before long, Robin took a seat next to him. She knew exactly what he was thinking about and simply smiled in silence, joining him in guarding the Captain. After the silence grew too thick, she thought it best to ease his worries.
"It's alright; this happens sometimes." Robin placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but didn't move away. "He's worried about something. Once he figures it out he'll be back to normal."
"…It's not like him."
"I know."
After hours without moving, Luffy noticed a carrier pigeon. He hadn't seen one in a long time and stood to catch the message it dropped. After carefully reading the paper he placed his palm to his forehead and laughed just as he always had. Ace snapped to attention at the noise; he was half asleep. Luffy was laughing louder than usual with more joy and excitement in his voice than he'd heard in the past few days. He'd snapped out of his stupor, but why?
Ace went to stand and noticed a blanket wrapped around his small body. Robin? He placed in neatly on the ground before inching closer to Luffy. The pirate whipped around enthusiastically and jumped from the figurehead to the deck. He hurriedly headed into the kitchen and stopped only to ruffle Ace's hair with more vigor than he had before.
"Sanji, food! I'm hungry!" he bellowed as his young companion trailed behind. When they entered they were met with the smiling faces of most of the crew. Luffy took his usual seat and Ace stood at the doorway, content with knowing that his worrisome friend was back to normal.
"So you snapped out of it, huh?" the cook said, more stating than asking as he handed his Captain a plate of food.
"Shishishi!"
"What's got you so excited?" Nami asked, looking up from her book with a soft smile.
"Shanks is coming!"
The room filled with blank stares until everyone's excitement erupted into a booming roar of cheers. Ace tilted his head questioningly as he watched the pirates' faces changed. They were genuinely relieved. It made him curious as to just what in the world this Shanks was. Whatever it was, it had to be amazing; it was able to snap Luffy out of his stupor. Nothing had worked before that. Now he was back to his childish, gluttonous self. Ace didn't mind that he was being ignored – it was enough to see everyone as happy as they were.
He turned to leave the galley when he felt a firm grip on his shoulder. He flinched and immediately realized that it wasn't Luffy's hand. When he turned to look, he spotted Sanji who gave him a wry grin. "Where do you think you're goin' kid?" Ace wasn't sure how to reply to that and just stared wide-eyed at the cook as he took a drag of his cigar. "Get your ass in here an' eat."
The blonde grabbed Ace by the back of his collar and dragged him into the galley. He was placed at a table next to Luffy and across from Robin and Usopp. They all looked to him with varying levels of excitement and he turned to the table to avoid the watchful eyes. He rarely went into the galley – too loud and crowded – and the stares he was getting felt like they were burning holes through his skin. Normally the crew would let him keep his distance and leave him be but now he had been forced into the middle and everyone was gawking at him like he was some sort of alien. Looking back, it was because he'd never been around all of them like he was then.
"Super!" Franky shouted as he gave the boy a hard, stern pat on the back. He watched as Ace trembled ever so slightly and realized just how much the boy had calmed down over the past week. Before when he did that he'd get a scream followed by a kick. His smile widened. "Don't look so down! This is a celebration, bro!"
"Huh?" he managed to ask after suppressing the instinct to attack and run. That man was the largest. Though he hadn't said much to him before, it wasn't overly uncomfortable to hear him speak. That was odd. It took him all month to get used to some of the others.
"Shanks said he'll be here soon!" Luffy interrupted, his voice sounding much younger than it usually did. The Pirate King was usually a very childish person, but something in his voice made Ace feel like he was no older than him. Looking at him that was obviously not the case, but seeing him like that just made it seem like Ace was supposed to be the older one. Like Luffy was his little brother. But that wasn't true.
He snapped out of his thoughts. What was he thinking? Shrugging it off, he finally took his eyes off the table and faced the raven-haired Captain. It was bothering him, but he had more important things to worry about. Luffy had said "he" so that meant that Shanks was a person. Weird name.
"He'll like you!" Luffy announced, swinging his arm around the boy and taking a swig from his glass. Ace blushed a little at this. He didn't know why. It was something about what the older man had said, but he wasn't sure what. Whatever it was, it made him happy.
"He'll want to do more than enjoy himself, Captain-san." Robin interjected before Luffy began going on a tangent about the man. They all saw Luffy's smile turn into an immature pout followed by a sigh. The pirate rested his head on his palm and leaned on the table. His mood had totally changed and now he'd returned to being depressed. No, not depressed – irritated.
"…I know." Robin smiled softly as she usually would and motioned for him to continue. "Said some guy's after a Yonko's head."
"What's the big deal about that? People are always going after the Yonko." Usopp stepped in, his interest piqued. It was rare for Shanks to meet up with the Pirate King, mostly because it always caused a big stir among the Marines. When they did meet, Shanks always had a serious discussion with Luffy about something. In other words, his arrival normally signalled bad news. Still, he and his crew always brought with them life, as hard as it was to understand. That's why the Straw Hats celebrated. That's why they were always so eager to meet with the man.
"Not sure. Said something was off about it in his message but didn't say what."
Sanji arrived and placed multiple plates on the tables around the room. When a plate arrived in front of Ace they all laughed at the sound of his stomach. His face flushed red and he hurriedly ate the meal before him. After smiling at the boy for a while, the others followed suit.
Four days had passed and the Yonko's ship finally came in into view. Luffy was bouncing in place in an attempt to contain himself. The rest of the crew went on with their usual tasks but Ace could tell that they were just all-around brighter than usual.
He'd spent enough time with them to memorize their gestures and mannerisms and had gotten to know them all well that way. He was more comfortable with observation than conversation – he'd grown up without language, after all. Because of that he was able to notice things that people didn't even know about themselves. Whenever Nami would think hard about something she would begin to play with her hair. She would tap her finger before getting angry and always sat in a certain corner of the galley when she wanted time to herself. Robin would always smile when she read a book. She also smiled when she was angry; it was hard to tell the difference sometimes. When she was interested in something she would lean in but when she was faking interest she would tilt her head.
He noticed some things about the others he hadn't gotten to know as well. For example, Chopper would laugh when he learned something knew from his medical books and experiments but sigh if something hadn't gone as planned. Usopp was quick to brag but immediately lied through his teeth as soon as he felt threatened. Ace knew this because not long after he had recovered and began exploring the ship he had an encounter with the man. When Ace glared at him it seemed that he showed a bit of fear and began spouting nonsense about having followers and being the strongest which had been proven wrong shortly after. He always found it strange that Usopp had been scared of him that time. Why was he scared when he was so much taller and older? Surely he had more experience with fighting than a boy who was stranded on an island. Still, it seemed that he wasn't looking at Ace himself, but at something Ace reminded him of. Well, whatever. Wasn't important.
Ace snapped back to attention and watched as Luffy and Usopp spun around and danced while the gap between the two ships closed. He did his best not to tense up because Luffy knew that Shanks person, but it was hard not to. He could feel the adrenaline course through his veins as figures from the other ship crossed onto the deck. His body was screaming at him to either attack or run but he did neither. He couldn't follow his instincts like that anymore. Pirates weren't enemies. He had to stay calm. Luffy knew those people and trusted them, so he had to try. He wasn't alone anymore.
The first to transfer onto the Straw Hat ship was a red-haired man with three gashed the crossed over his left eye. He looked a lot older than Luffy's crew. Ace felt something strange from him that he also felt around the Pirate King. Not only was the feeling the same, but he reminded him a lot of Luffy. There was something in his smile that reflected the same carefree joy Luffy's smile did. Still, he was far more intimidating. No doubt, that was Shanks.
Red Hair arrived on deck and was greeted by cheers from the entire crew. When his eyes met Luffy's they had a stare-down. Both held wry grins on their faces, brows furrowed and stances tense. "Looks like you've been taking it easy," he stated, giving the Pirate King the once-over and noticing his casual clothes and missing Captain's jacket.
"You too," the pirate retorted once he noticed the Yonko's usual half unbuttoned shirt and loose clothing – not something a normal person would wear to a formal meeting. After a brief silence the two broke into hearty laughter and patted each other on the back. It was only seconds before Red Hair had his arm around the Pirate King and they were chatting enthusiastically.
"Oh, right!" Luffy planted his fist into his open palm with a sudden realization. He guided Shanks over to where Ace was standing. The boy was leaning against the rail and attempting to bottle up the instincts within him that said the stranger was dangerous. His face held an inquisitive look, but his eyes were sharp and serious. If it wasn't for him already being up against the rail he would have backed away. "Meet my newest nakama!"
Shanks was interested in the kid after Luffy said that. "Kinda young, ain't he?" With that he bent down to get a better look at the boy. Before taking the time to memorize his features, he immediately noticed the fire in his eyes; he was holding back the urge to attack, no doubt. This made the Yonko's grin return and grow wider than before. He liked him. Only after tearing his eyes away from the boy's did he notice an eerie familiarity to someone he knew in his past. Someone he called friend. That puzzled him.
"This is Ace," Luffy stated proudly as he noticed the boy's restraint. It took a long time to get him to calm down that much – a lot of effort and weeks of rage-filled outbursts from the Pirate King – but it was definitely worth it. He didn't even want to think about what would have happened if Shanks showed up back when Ace was still attacking them. Ah, the memories.
When Shanks heard this, his eyes instantly narrowed. Now he knew who he reminded him of. He scanned the kid's face once more, ignoring how uncomfortable it made the other. It was no doubt that he looked like Fire Fist. He had to wonder about the name; why was even that the same?
"It's a pleasure," Red Hair stated with a smile. He held out his hand to greet Ace, but the kid inched away from him and nearer to the Pirate King. He thought there was something off about him and that confirmed it. "Scared?" he teased.
"He hates people," Luffy stated, sticking out his tongue as the boy moved close to him. "I guess being a Yonko makes you scary."
"You're the Pirate King – he should be more scared of you than anyone else."
The two laughed again and Luffy patted Ace's shoulder with a reassuring firmness before they both headed into a room alone. Once the stranger was gone and Ace had time to calm down, he admitted to himself that he didn't dislike the man. He felt a lot like Luffy, after all.
Jinbei took his place next to Ace and they both watched the door close behind their superiors. He saw the curiosity in the boy's eyes and felt obliged to explain it to him. He knew exactly what he was thinking about. "They feel the same, don't they?"
That surprised Ace. He hadn't expected anyone else to say that but nodded and turned to the large man questioningly.
"He's the man who made Luffy the Pirate King."
Once the two were inside, their acts were gone. Shanks knew they had to discuss the recent 'incident' he mentioned in his letter but it seemed there were a few other things they had to talk about as well. He'd noticed his fellow pirate's hat was missing, too. The visit would last longer than expected. He was fine with that, of course, because he and Luffy rarely got to see each other. When pirates made friends with other crews they were bound not to meet very often and that amount of time shrivelled when the pirates held high status. That's what made these rare meetings such a treat.
"We found him a while back." Luffy knew exactly what his old friend wanted to ask. He spared no time in explaining. He'd wanted to talk about it, too. "He was abandoned and he couldn't speak. Would've died if we'd left him."
"So that's it." It explained a lot, like his hostile glare and lacking trust. "And the name?"
"He said he liked it so I called him Monkey D. Ace. Was hard to get used to it at first." He smiled as he remembered the way Ace's eyes lit up back then. How could he refuse such an honest expression? That boy had been through enough, hadn't he?
"Monkey? Is he your son or something?" Red Hair teased. His smile returned when he saw his friend pout childishly at his comment.
"That's what Sanji said. I wasn't about to call him Portgas and have the Marines chase him down."
"You…don't you realize that if he has the current Pirate King's name he's going to be chased even more ruthlessly?" Luffy went quiet for some time before a look of shock and dread filled his face. His mouth hung to the ground, eyes widened and face lost colour. He never realized. That expression caused Shanks to burst into unceremonious laughter so hard that his eyes were tearing up. It was amazing how stupid the person who attained everything could be!
As Luffy defended himself, Shanks caught his breath and decided he knew enough. Clearly there wasn't much else his friend could say on the matter. What was he expecting? Well, he was ready to move on.
"Anyways, I have something important to discuss with you."
"About the Yonko and that guy?"
"Yeah."
Suddenly the air thickened and the mood went heavy. Luffy's muscles tensed. He knew that if Shanks felt it was important enough to discuss together it was something serious. One of the man's policies was to deal with your own problems. That only changed when the danger was great enough to affect others, especially his friends. It meant that whoever was behind it was a big enough threat to involve the whole of the pirate world. This was bad, but how bad?
"There's a man who's been targeting the Yonko. I don't care if one of us loses our title – that's our responsibility – but something's off about this."
"What?"
"Rumors have it that he has the powers of the Yami Yami no Mi." That caught Luffy's attention.
"Blackbeard?" He could feel himself perspire as he leaned forward in his seat. He'd killed that man right before he attained One Piece. That's what he thought, anyways. He looked pretty dead.
Shanks shook his head. "I'm not sure. Nobody's gotten close enough to get a good look at him. He destroys every battlefield he enters. People too."
"Name?"
"Haven't a clue."
They fell mute as the information replayed in their heads. If it was Blackbeard, he was acting strange. That man wanted to be known. He wanted his name to be carried throughout all of the seas. Greedy bastard. If he was keeping himself unknown then he had to be up to something. If it wasn't Teach then that meant he was dead – no two of the same Devil Fruit could exist at the same time.
"He after you?"
"No."
"Marco?"
"Trafalgar Law."
"Oh." Luffy thought about that. After thinking for a few moments, he remembered that Law had just recently attained the title of Yonko. He was excited to hear that – his old rival was reaching his level once more – but now he was worried. "Why?"
"He doesn't have experience like the rest of us. Whoever that guy is, he probably thinks it'll be an easy win."
"Law won't go don't that easily."
"Listen Luffy: we can't let him gain the power of a Yonko. It's unsettling."
"Then…" Luffy's grin returned ten-fold and he furrowed his brow in a show of confidence. If that was all he wanted to say he would have just said so in the letter. No, he wanted something and the Pirate King knew exactly what that was. "…an alliance?"
Red Hair sighed but returned the younger man's grin with one of his own. They were both determined. Nothing could stop them. "Never thought I'd team up with a kid like you," he teased.
"You're still calling me a kid? I'm the Pirate King!"
They both chuckled at this and went to leave, but there was one more thing Shanks wanted to know.
"What happened?" He pointed to the top of his head. It didn't take long for Luffy to realize what he was talking about. After Luffy became the Pirate King he sought his hero out to return it. When he finally did, Shanks just handed it back. Said he earned it.
"I didn't need it anymore."
The Yonko smiled at this. He could hear the words hidden behind what Luffy said and knew exactly what he wanted to say. He wouldn't bring it up. That was Luffy's decision and he was proud of it. After all, it took a lot to give up your treasure.
"I see."
A/N: Ok so now that I've slept I'm going to do a proper Author's Note. I did one last night but then the damn computer deleted it on me! Arghhhh! Ahem. So I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. This is where the introduction of the story ends and the man plot begins (like I said, this is going to be REALLY long - the longest of all of the stories I'm working on thus far). I put in a lot of hints and foreshadowing. Wonder if you guys can catch them all ;) But now down to business. Because of how awesome you guys have been I'm going to write a oneshot this weekend since my updates are going to be slowing down because school starts on Monday. Oh crap, I still have to pay tuition! Damn! Anyways, if you want you can submit plot ideas in reviews or PMs and I'll pick the one I find most interesting on Saturday. You don't have to give me any ideas if you don't want to, I just thought you might like it if I took requests for once ;) Of course, credit for the plot will go to you. Only requirements are that it has to be One Piece, focused on Ace and/or Luffy because I love writing about them, and no explicit sex. Gotta keep a T rating.
Oh yeah, also I'm sure you noticed for a while but this Ace is never goign to be a carbon copy of the original Ace because of his past. He'll probably get pretty close though. Hope you don't mind!
Now to reply to my lovelies since I didn't last night~
AkaNeko-san: Luffy was just being himself, he's kinda oblivious to the consequences of his actions XD Thanks for the review!
XxAcexLuffyxX: But if I keep if up forever I'll die without finishing it any then you'll never know the ending D:
XxSaorixX: Glad you like it! Kina made me feel lonely.
Neko-VongolaPrimo: Yep, Ace is learning :D Yes Luffy gets underestimated a lot by rookies and there's actually goin to be a whole chapter about that later. But that's later! And I think this chapter answers your question about the supernovas ;) But not all of them. Because there are a lot and I don't like a lot of them. I also answered your question about the Yonkos :D except the 4th one *cough* I remain undecided *cough* What? Who said that? You're hearing things. Anyways. If his crew suggested they sneak in Luffy would probably be like "I'm not sneaking in like some fugitive!" or something so I'll have fun writing that part when I get to it! I'm going to try to put Baratie in but it depends on how well it goes. I don't actually have an outline for this story so I'm just sort of winging it but I'd like to visit all of the homes of the Straw Hats. You know, maybe if I have time tonight after updating my other two stories I'll be able to come up with soem form of outlike (that I probably won't stick to). Yeah, Ace really shouldn't have done that. Well, I guess he had to so he could save Luffy. It's Oda's damn fault for putting them in that situation! Damn mangaka think they can do whatever they want with their stories! (Little voice: they can...) Shut up! Ok, I'm done now. And yes I read Pandora Hearts and I actually cried tears of joy at that part :D I miss Elliot...Skip should be up tonight since it's the first one I'm going to work on today. Reverse should have a chapter 3 as well tonight and A Pirate's Resolve is a possibility but unlikely since it has the longest chapters.
darkfalcom: I think I replied to you in a PM so I'll leave it at that :D
angelrider13: Lol that was my favourite part to write for that chapter! Well actually Ace asking about the Devil Fruit is-hey wait no spoilers! And it's ok, I'm over it by now! Happened almost a year ago after all. Though now I have no parents and I find it extremely irritating that the government things I can survive off of $233 a month for groceries and extra expenses. Plus in my city there are like no jobs so my searches have been running cold. But that's a side point. As bad as it sounds, my mom was NOT a lovely person. She was an angry drunk who said she wanted to die every time she was angry and she liked to blame me for all of the problems in her life. But she tried and I loved her for it. Yeah, you only really know about death once you've experienced it. But it surprisingly doesn't affect you as much as you think it will. Psychology 115: Humans over-exstimate how much an event will affect them because they underestimate their ability to adapt. Psychology is fascinating *squeel*
Son Goshen: Bet you found it even more eerie when you read this chapter and saw the part where he feels like Luffy acts like a little brother eh? XD And about haki, that's going to come into play later, so I'll just keep it at that. And I agree I hate those self-sacrificing deaths that happen to characters I think it's bullshit. Especially when it happened to Ace! I cried for DAYS. I'm not sure the ending will be a tragedy but there will be tragedy throughout. The ending might end up happy but not without losses because I actually have ideas for a sequel if this one gets popular enough (yes, I declared that the intro of the story just finished and I'm already thinking about what to do when it ends).
Darkspider: Stop! You're giving me ideas! I should only tease Ace so much in this story! But...but...! Oh crap now I'm going to have to make him jealous aren't I? You evil, evil person you...
angelrider13(BONUS): Don't worry I won't happen in the main story! Please don't kill me ;_; I just thought of wanting to write something like this and so I did. No connection to the actual plot! I swear! Lol it's good that your feelings are very torn XD And I somehow understand exactly what you mean. If Oda were to kill off Luffy in canon I would go on a manhunt /deadpan/
XxAcexLuffyxX(BONUS): Here's your update! I don't think I'll have the time to get the next chapter up today unless my hands suddenly learn how to type faster but tomorrow should be possible! Until then I'll be updating my other 2 stories if you're bored.
Neko-VongolaPrimo(BONUS): Cute? I wouldn't call it cute, just tragic XD And no I'm perfectly fine now. Been almost a year after all. Maybe I adapt to those types of things well or something because my sister and other family members still cry over it but I don't :/ Hmm...anyways I only have to worry about finances now. Me is poor. Bleh.
E(BONUS): Thanks! I always find that sad stories are more powerful and are easist to remember. Maybe it's because of the amygdala's emotional memory...I'm got going to get into psychology now, so hope you enjoyed this chapter!
AkaNeko-san(BONUS): If Oda did this in canon I'd fly down to Japan and...I'm sure you can guess the rest. Exactly! Besides I think that Ace wouldn't care if his head was attached or not, he'd just want to be with him one last time...probably.
XxSaorixX(BONUS): Thank you so much and Happy New Year to you too!
Son Goshen(BONUS): Well there was a reason for no one stopping the execution. I had a whole backstory but didn't write it because I thought it was unnecessary since it was just a oneshot. Basically Luffy did what Gold Roger did and I'll leave it at that. I hate self-sacridice as well, that's why this will never end up in the actual story line. The idea just popped into my head so I wrote it. Please don't kick a puppy. I promise this won't happen in the main storyline. For that I'll have much more graphic deaths :P I'm kidding, please don't hurt me.
Youkai Guardian(BONUS): It's not, don't worry. It's completely unrelated I promise. You too!
Stelra Etnae(BONUS): Thank you so much! Glad you liked it! Hopefully this chapter cheered you up! :D
Rex Link (BONUS): It's ok, I'm just glad you reviewed at all :D And no the bonus will not be the end of the fic. I assure you, it is completely unrelated. A Pirate's Resolve is goign to have a very different ending.
bbhelen3162(BONUS): Don't worry, won't happen in A Pirate's Resolve :D
Lily Noir: You should! It's not related to the actual story and I put lots of effort into it! But yeah, It's a depressing way to start the New Year XD I'm best at tragedies. And yes, luckily Ace knows better :3
Well now that I have rewritten everything I wrote last night, onward to lunch, reading and then writing! (my days off have been so repetitive lol)