Lots more Luffy! I hope you enjoy it.

She never had a younger sibling. Sabo considered if Luffy could be considered a normal younger brother.

A crocodile swallowed him whole. They settle on no, but they'd like him as their younger brother anyway. It's not even just that he makes Ace smile or how he obviously admired the freckled youth. It's not just the fact that Luffy hates being alone as much as them or loves hugs the same amount.

Luffy made Sabo feel real.

Although a part of it was by forcing them to pay more attention to the world than they ever had before. They and Ace made the crocodile spit him up and decided the oversized animal would make a pretty good lunch. Did Makino have any recipes that used crocodiles? Either way, she was sure to make it very tasty. Provided they and Ace stopped Luffy from trying to eat the dead animal raw.

He's got a lot to learn about hunting, but he's a kinetic learner. Ace and Sabo took Luffy hunting. He sucked but made surprisingly good bait. He was loud and weak, as well as a bit of a cry-baby. Not that Sabo had the grounds to complain about the last point. They felt like they cried a decade's worth of tears back at the end of June.

"Ne, Sabo, why's your hair so long? Even Makino's isn't so long!" Luffy asked, he was right by Sabo as they carried it back to Windmill. He wanted to help carry it and so Sabo did, giving him a little bit of the weight from their end. Ace was at the front, focused on getting them back.

Sabo smiled at Luffy, feeling pride in their hair. When they ate a midmorning snack at the party Bar before going off to hunt, Sabo had actually sat on their hair by accident. Just a hand longer and then it will be around the same proportion that hers was. Which was midway down their thigh. It's still less than half her final length used to be.

Forty-five centimetres was a lot, especially when one was less than a metre tall.

"Because I like it long." A very simplified answer without any baggage to Luffy's question but it was true, nonetheless. They expand on it a little. "It reminds me I'm free to be myself. It's how I show I'm a girl too."

"I like it too!" Luffy grinned. It wasn't unnaturally wide, but it was bigger than any grin Sabo had ever seen before. "It's shiny and looks like gold. It's also very soft so I like touching it."

Teaching Luffy how to take care of their hair was only made possible by the fact that Makino (re)taught them how to wash it. Brushing it was all well and good, but it was a tangly, greasy mess. The three of them were amazed at the difference in washing it with shampoo and conditioner made. Sabo managed to get Ace and Luffy to do the same with theirs.

They're pretty sure Makino planned on this happening. Luffy was very energetic and without a Devil Fruit sapping his energy, bath times usually ended in flooded bathrooms. Somehow, Ace and Sabo had been dragged in to help take care of Luffy by the bartender. The payments were typically in the form of either food or lessons.

Sabo hadn't realised Ace barely knew how to read. He was taught with Luffy when they went down to the village and Sabo got to read books at their leisure. It was strange, being in a learning environment again, but the presence of other kids and getting to read adventure books instead of dense texts brought up her memories of classes instead of theirs. It was one of the first times they've been truly thankful for her memories.

There was a bit of a commotion when the three of them returned to the village, crocodile in hand. It was worse the first time Sabo and Ace decided to drag a kill back here instead of to the bandits for a meal.

Honestly, the first time they did it, it was for the reaction. The village wasn't childless as her memories suggested it might be, but the kids there weren't very nice to Luffy who was much younger than them. She would have felt bad for sending them terrified and crying. Sabo only felt a petty satisfaction. The adults looked at Ace and them a little scared now, but they were willing to buy any extra meat they hunted from Makino. Some of the people at the docks even let the three of them, because if they were in Windmill then Luffy was sticking to them like superglue, help around.

Piracy could either be lucrative or result in bankruptcy. Sure, they weren't pirates yet, but they had a pirate fund for a reason. Any chance they had to make money; Sabo usually took it. They knew very intimately the appetite a D has. They sort of were one after all.

An early, tastier lunch here and then a free-for-all second lunch worked to fill their stomachs. They typically visited Windmill three times a week. Ace and Sabrina still showed up in Edge Town at least once but maybe twice a week. Stealing from the wealthier managed to make up for their lessened presence in the Grey Terminal. The bandits were happily selling and pawning off their skins, furs, treasures and miscellaneous, though they took their own cut for doing so.

Their Pirate Fund, now in the tens of millions, wasn't growing as fast as it could. Sabo admitted this to Ace, but he could apparently be a sap.

"Spending time with Luffy makes you happy." Their brain thought of ways it could have been even sappier, and Sabo didn't know if they could have handled it if Ace went on to say if their happiness was priceless to him or something along those lines.

They mentally glared at her memories. It knew what it did.

"How was hunting, Luffy?" Makino asked, meeting them out the back of the bar. She'd gotten a freezer built back there and a larger door that went to the kitchen after it became apparent that they and Ace would bring their kills back here.

"I got eaten!" Luffy should not sound so happy about that. Ace and Sabo stiffened in sync. The latter moved their crocodile spit-covered arm out of view.

Makino raised an eyebrow at them, arms on her hips. Sabo could relate to their past life and her inability to say no to their mother so hard right now. They mentally thanked Didit for being so lacking in maternal instincts that she never managed to arise such a weakness in them. It was the only time they ever thanked her for being terrible.

"He's fine now." They protested in sync.

"They got me out," Luffy added. "Getting eaten was kind of scary but they saved me!" He was almost vibrating in happiness at that latter statement. Sabo's heartstrings were lightly pulled at that, they made sure not to show it.

Makino nodded, accepting it. "You need to be more careful next time." The youngest brightened at the implicit permission to go again. Ace and Sabo knew there was a catch. Makino might not be able to prevent them from hunting again, but she must have something up her sleeve. "I've got a new book I want to go through with you three, we can get started after lunch."

In other words, no second lunch with the bandits today. Knowing Makino, she was probably going to make the three read it aloud. Ace and Luffy were going to stutter along, Sabo would be able to do it with inflection and slightly altered voices for dialogue, and the brunets would take it as a challenge and be miffed at them. Which meant they couldn't get any proper hugs later. They steal one from Luffy now, before it's too late. Ace was unfortunately out of reach.

Makino was an evil genius. They respected their last life for considering her as an alternate reincarnation for them. The only reason she didn't choose to be her instead of Sabo was that she didn't want to be a civilian which eliminated her from the running.

Sabo sometimes wondered what other reasons she must have had because that still felt like it could have been 'fixed' easily enough.

They got no more hugs from Ace or Luffy that day. Or the next. Sabo caved and took one from Makino when they visited next. This time having eaten lunch with the bandits first, just in case.

The saloon doors swung open and the wall next to it was spared. Sabo had enough time to wonder how Makino must have convinced Garp to use the doors instead of making his own before he was upon the three of them. They and Ace thought they had at least another week before the old man would arrive for training.

Finding out the opposite was a terrible Christmas gift. Even though it was still a week before Christmas, and the holiday itself didn't really exist so there was no such thing as a Christmas gift.

"You've met each other? Bwahahaha, I guess I can train you all to be great marines together!" Garp laughed, rolling with the fact they'd been found with Luffy.

"We're not going to be Marines, you geezer!" The older two shouted at him. The presence of Makino and her insistence on no swears around Luffy was the only reason Ace didn't call Garp "Shitty Gramps".

Luffy made no protest or even insisted he'd be a pirate instead. Sabo knew they'd forgotten to teach him something! The fate of the world was in peril, and they hadn't even realised it was. No wonder Garp didn't like Shanks. Luffy might have been a Marine without his influence!

They had known Luffy for almost eight months and they couldn't believe they had failed him so horrendously already.

After Garp's gone they're going to make it up to him. And to Makino, who managed to get Garp to wait until they finished eating first. Ace and Sabo had never eaten so slowly before. Ace even actually used manners! Now if only there were like, twenty spoons or fifteen knives so they could have delayed it further with Noble etiquette.

Luffy was using Sabo's stomach as a pillow, so Sabo used Ace's like one too. They weren't completely asleep when Ace had a conversation with Garp, but they were too tired to alert them that they were still conscious.

"Luffy's your actual grandson, isn't he?" Ace asked, sounding slightly bitter.

"He's my biological grandson yes, but that doesn't make you any less my grandson, Ace." Garp said, his voice not as loud as to not wake them and Luffy. He always sounds weird when he's not being boisterous. It sounded about as weird as Luffy introducing himself and not adding on that he's the future Pirate King.

Sabo blamed their mental state for not realising it sooner.

Ace was quiet but stiff. Shakily, he brought a hand up to their hand and started running it through their hair. It slowly grew surer. Sabo made a mental note to have Ace help with their hair more often. Maybe they could try learning how to braid the top half of their hair in such a way that they could keep it all out of their face. Like a crown braid. For a past life with such long hair, she never really did much besides normal plaits.

They made another mental note to see if Makino knew how to do a crown braid.

"Got to admit, I was surprised to see you two in Foosha. How'd you two find him?" Garp asked.

"Sabo wanted to look at more of the jungle, we just stumbled upon the village. It was Luffy's birthday and he was stupidly happy to share his meal when he saw me." Ace stated derisively then without that tone and even quieter he continued, "Sabo and I split up to explore the place. Sabo finished their area first and went to find me. I'd gotten distracted."

He stopped and unconsciously tightened his grip on their hair into a fist. It pulled a little at their scalp but only for an instant. It didn't matter and Sabo forced themself to stay quiet. The petting turned into braiding.

"What happened Ace?" Garp actually sounded concerned. Sabo should really get over their fear of the old man. It shouldn't be a surprise to hear him demonstrate his care. They knew and she knew that he loved Ace and Luffy.

"Sabo has chronic nightmares." It seemed a bit left field for a moment. "They bite themself to stop them from screaming when they wake up."

There was a hum from Garp, he didn't seem surprised to find out they hurt themself. How long have they been doing it?

"Makino said they had a panic attack. It was right outside the Party Bar. They bit themself to stop them from screaming then too." His hands were shaking badly. He wasn't braiding anymore. "They were bleeding. They hadn't even realised they were doing it. I couldn't even do anything as they kept hurting themself."

Sabo had to concentrate to keep their face lax.

"Luffy was the one to calm them down. He's able to make them happy but I ca-" Garp cut him off.

"You can and do." Garp reassured Ace. "Some marines get recurring nightmares and they're not easy to deal with. For the person with the nightmares and for the people close to them."

Ace gasped, voice tight with restrained tears. Sabo let themself snuggle into his stomach a bit more. A hand clutched at their hair. "Makino's been teaching me a bit, and I even went to Dadan for advice. But Sabo's still having nightmares and they still hurt themself, even if sometimes it's just letting themself get hurt when I know they can avoid it." He gasped. "I don't know how to help them, Grampa."

There was silence aside from Ace's attempt to be silent gasps and sobs. It went on for a while and it hurt to just listen to. But they're afraid to either reveal they're still awake or to 'wake up' now. Ace needed to talk to someone he could rely on, and it was a dishearteningly small list for him. Sabo would not take this from him.

"The nightmares will likely never go away," Garp stated. Ace and Sabo both felt the loss of hope it might. "Since Sabo's been biting themself longer than you've even known each other, then it might be near impossible to stop them from doing so anymore." Sabo barely resisted flinching when they heard how long it had been going on.

If it happened every time after they woke up from the nightmares… Ace said it was to stop themself from screaming. It happened so often back in the mansion. They couldn't even remember any time they had bit themself but the urge to scream and the knowledge that they couldn't no matter what was there. It continued after they left. The Grey Terminal wasn't a place they could show weakness or alert arseholes and animals to their sleeping place.

In the Bandit's hut, they still feared the other occupants. No one likes being woken up in the middle of the night. What if they made Sabo leave because they couldn't keep quiet? What if Ace thought they were annoying and weak and never wanted to see them again?

Sabo couldn't lose Ace. They couldn't!

… They'd never stop biting themself, would they?

"You're already doing a great job!" Garp sounded too cheerful for the depressing realisation they just had. Sabo could sense they'd missed a part of the conversation too. When Ace replied they couldn't really make sense of it.

They decided to block out the rest of the conversation and try to force themself to sleep. They imagined her arms weren't broken and glass didn't shatter on them because of the crash, but the metal was still removed from her gut. The nightmare came, she wasn't in as much pain as she died again. It didn't continue onto Ace dying and Luffy's mind shattering in his grief.

They were still off the next day. They couldn't feel the effects of every instance that something that should have hurt them happened, but they were a little better. Sabo tried to pay more attention to incoming attacks and even the little things that would have hurt her.

It… was a little alarming to see how much they missed or even noticed but then immediately brushed off. Sabo never hated having a high pain threshold before. Heck, they had trained to have one. It's useful yes, they won't deny that, but there were so many problems with having one that they forgot to consider. Things they had to now consider and keep an eye on. It felt like taking a step back in training and it felt incredibly aggravating. But they deserved it for not learning the basics properly.

Sabo kept an eye on Ace and Luffy to make sure they didn't ignore their own injuries. They could see Ace mentally punch himself when Luffy noticed their behaviour and almost unconsciously copied it. Nagging was so frustrating and infuriating to be on the end of, but all three of them still did it to each other.

It also spawned getting checked over for injuries during bath times. In other words, when they're all present, couldn't exactly run away quickly, and baring all of their skin. Hard to miss a bruise that would have otherwise been covered up if there's nothing to cover it up. There went any potential of using makeup to cover it up.

The female part of Sabo felt so, so awkward to be there. They'd felt that awkwardness all the other times because Dadan believed that they and Ace shouldn't waste hot water and made them share a bath. It continued when Makino got them to help Luffy bath regularly, but they'd never been stared at so much before.

Sabo was really not looking forward to puberty. Mainly because they didn't know how it'd affect them but also because they didn't know how it'd affect Ace and Luffy.

Her memories suggested Luffy was likely asexual. Heck, he'd stood, almost as bare as the day he was born (aside from his hat, of course), in front of the women of Amazon Lily and had no reaction. More prevalent to his likely asexuality, Hancock sat in front of him, on her bed, and took her shirt off only for him to ask about meat, specifically the food kind. The only time he'd shown anything that could counteract this was when Nami did her Happiness Punch in the Alabasta baths, but that could take out even straight women apparently so it could be overlooked.

Sabo's pretty certain Luffy's going to be Asexual. They didn't know about Ace.

She was somewhere in the Demisexual to Asexual range but there really wasn't a guarantee that they'd be like that too.

Sabo decided to firmly block off all this knowledge and the associated thoughts and theories. They'd look at it later, when it becomes relevant, and not a single second sooner.

In the meantime, they'll enjoy the fact that Garp gave the three of them permission to have sleepovers. Maybe they'll let Luffy come along to the Grey Terminal and Edge Town after his birthday. They and Ace survived there alone at five, so it should be fine to let Luffy visit at six, with their supervision of course.

Wait, when the hell did Sabo become so protective over the midget?! It's only been a few months and they know they have trust issues.

The fact that they wanted to ask Makino for answers just as she would have with her mother, sent another spike of alarm through them. It's made all the worse by the fact that although Makino was seventeen, she's still technically an adult. At least by this world's standards.

Sabo should ask when her birthday is. They're not going to be like her and spend over a decade not knowing specific people's birthdays.

Sabo regretted everything. Ace could go die now.

"HAHAHAHAHAA!" It was not that funny.

Face flushed with embarrassment and shame; Sabo contemplated the idea of killing their twin. They thank Goda that Luffy wasn't there at the moment.

"Hey, whatcha laughing about Ace? Why's Sabo so red?" They should never have thought about it.

Ace tried to answer. "HAHAHAHA! Sa-Sabo, they- HAHAHA! They called Makino- HAHAHA! Oh my fuckin-!"

"Language, Ace!" Makino called out.

Sabo sank to the ground. Makino carefully threaded a hand through their hair. Usually, such an act would help, but it only served to further embarrass them. It was acting like that that had them unconsciously refer to her as that in the first place. Her continuing to do so even after they accidentally uttered the term out loud was not helping.

"Why are you grinning like that Makino?" Luffy asked coming over to fiddle with their hair. They should really wear their hat indoors. Everyone kept touching it. Their hands were too busy covering their overheated face to knock the hands away.

"Well, Sabo just accidentally called me Mama." There was a bit of teasing in her voice. They heard it! But she did sound touched too. Sabo groaned at the reminder of their fatal mistake anyway. Fatal for their image at least. Ace was going to tease them about this for years, they could already tell.

"Shishishi," ah no, now Luffy's going to laugh at them too. "I've done that before too!"

They sat up, dragged Luffy into a hug, stared defiantly at Ace and announced. "Luffy's my favourite brother now."

They treasured Ace's shocked silence and expression for years to come.

I will stand by the fact that Makino is Luffy's (foster, not biological) mother in canon. But what's better than one mum? Two Mums! Dadan and Makino are all the ASL's Mums now.

Their parenting skills notwithstanding though. Garp's doing well at it (better than canon at least).