Ace groaned as he woke up, a sting on his face from where Luffy had smacked him in his sleep. He blinked, forcing his eyes to focus in the dark cabin as he removed the rubbery limb from his head. Luffy was wrapped around him, legs tangled around his waist and drool dribbling from his mouth and onto Ace's arm. He rolled his eyes, gently prying the little monkey off himself to stand and get ready for the day.
As quietly as he could, he snuck out the cabin and shielded his eyes from the blaring sun. He walked further out onto the deck and watched as the waves crashed into the side of the ship gently, the sails fully blown out in the stiff breeze. Their small ship was just large enough to hold five people comfortably, and all three brothers figured it was fine for now. Ace and Sabo both knew that they would need a larger ship for the grand line, but that was a problem for another time.
"Finally up?" Sabo's teasing voice carried over to him and he scoffed before turning to his brother at the helm. Blue eyes were filled with mirth as Sabo gestured towards the sun.
"You're lucky one of us gets up on time!" His brother laughed at his expense and Ace turned away, an embarrassed flush to his cheeks.
"Hey! It's not my fault! Lu is so snuggly, it's hard to get up!" He tried to sound angry, but remembering his baby brother's innocent face always made him mellow out. At least Sabo knew better than to laugh at him, after all they were both huge softies for Luffy.
"Yeah," Sabo's voice tore him from his musings and Ace tilted his hat down to hide his blush, even as Sabo agreed with him. The ship suddenly jerked violently and Ace stumbled, slamming against the rails and groaning at the pain in his ribs.
"The fuck?" He whipped his head around to the side and his eyes widened when a sea king breached the waters briefly before jostling their boat again. Ace cursed under his breath just as Sabo yelled out that there was another on the opposite side. Ace loved his baby brother, he really did, but this was the third time in five days that sea kings came by to check on Luffy. Without missing a beat he threw himself from the railing and ran back into the cabin, slamming the door open and watching half amused as Luffy fell out of the bed in surprise.
Ace laughed full and loud as he watched Luffy try to untangle himself from the sheets even as he went to pick his brother up. "Hey it's fine Lu, they just wanna see you again." Luffy immediately relaxed in his arms and pouted up at him, his dark eyes wide and pleading.
"But I was sleeping so well!" He complained, extending his limb out to grab his precious hat off the table. Luffy sighed when they stepped outside and he caught sight of the massive sea king. Ace wasted no time and tossed his brother overboard, blanket and all. He laughed at the shriek of surprise Luffy gave and watched as the two deep blue sea kings dove down to where Luffy landed in the water. When they didn't surface immediately he shook his head and went over to draw up the sails, knowing this greeting could take a while.
As he worked to grab the fabric up, Sabo climbed and joined him, both of them enjoying the pleasant weather. Sabo hummed next to him, the sleeves of his white button up pushed high on his forearms and his equally blue pants slightly damp from the splashes the giant creatures made.
"Any guesses today?" Sabo glanced over at him and sat up, balancing on the high beam of the sail to finish tying a knot.
Ace felt his brows furrow, looking over at the sea and biting his lip in quiet contemplation. This was a mini game between them, trying to figure out what Luffy really was. He always called the ocean his mother, and they both knew first hand that the ocean did in fact love Luffy like no other, but was it really so simple? He groaned and slumped forward, knocking his head against a pole.
"I'll take that as a 'no'" Sabo laughed out and shook his head in amusement. "If it makes you feel any better, I still can't think of anything either." His brother sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's been a month since we set sail, I was sure that we would have at least something by now."
"Damnit Luffy," Ace cursed out. "How can we keep such a troublemaker like you safe if we can't even come up with a good lie for you!" Ace ran an angry hand thorough his hair, pushing his orange hat back in frustration. A loud splash grabbed his attention followed by Luffy's cheerful laughter and the roar of a sea king. Ace glanced over at where Luffy was comfortably sprawled on top of the creatures head, nuzzling it with a smile.
"I don't think we could ever come up with a lie good enough to be believable." Sabo chuckled out next to him as he braced himself to jump back down on the deck. Ace had to begrudgingly agree. After all, how did you explain that your brother had a devil fruit, could swim, and had the creatures of the sea as friends? And that was just what was immediately noticeable! Ace's eye twitched involuntarily and his head began to throb the more he thought about it.
"Hey Sabo!" Luffy called out from the top of the sea king's head. The blue serpent like creature bowed and let Luffy off back onto the ship. Ace huffed and let himself fall down from the mast, landing heavily on the deck and causing the wood to groan.
"Mr. Slithers says that the calm belt is really close, but he said he could take our ship through it since it's pretty small."
Ace held in his laugh at the name Luffy came up for the creature and disguised any stray sound as a cough. Honestly, his brother was so bad with names he almost felt bad for the nameless things he befriended. Sabo held his chin in his hands, clearly having more self control than him as he thought about the suggestion. Sabo's slow nod grew more confident, and he smiled down at Luffy, ruffling his black hair. "That's actually perfect Luffy! Thank you!" Luffy beamed up at Sabo with a wide smile and gave a cheer, grabbing some rope from nearby and offering it up to the sea king so their ship could be tugged. Ace had to admit, that was pretty convenient.
xxx
Saying Sabo was stressed was an understatement. His grip was tight on the wooden railing of the ship and his teeth were clenched. Water splashed against him in large waves and he let out a shout of fear as he felt his stomach drop. Up ahead, he could hear Luffy's cheer of delight, his voice was still on the higher side and easily discernible from the roaring waves that surrounded them.
"Luffy!" He called out, hoping his voice made it through to him. "Why are they taking us to the grand line!" That hadn't been the plan, they only needed to cross the calm belt. They were also supposed to get a new ship first, hell they needed a log pose first. Sabo knew his gut was warning him earlier when the sea kings insisted on taking their ship upon their backs.
"I don't know!" Luffy's voice was growing hoarse from his cheering. "They said it'll be okay though! They won't let our ship sink!" Another rambunctious round of laughter trailed Luffy and Sabo prayed to whatever god listening that their ship would hold. He squinted past the pouring water and over to Ace who had wrapped himself around the mast, eyes wide in terror and adrenaline as he stared at where Luffy was atop the sea king's head. Sabo knew it all along, knew that his brothers would be the death of him. He never considered a heart attack for their safety should have been on the list, but now he was seriously debating that possibility. The wood under Sabo's hands groaned in strain and he loosed his hold slightly, not wanting to snap the railing before they even made it to the grand line. When his feet started to loose purchase on the ground Sabo scrambled to wrap his feet around anything that was nearby, his heart beating frantically as his body began to float.
"Fuck!" Ace's curse was loud and somehow overtook Luffy's screech of laughter. Sabo idly wondered if their grandfather had hit Luffy too much as a child, after all their baby brother did have to deal with Garp for longer than they did. Air rushing past him brought him back to the present and he found himself slamming into the ground, groaning in pain from where his face made solid contact with the deck. His stomach was no longer flopping around in his body and he heaved a sigh of relief as he realized that they had made it. The ship was jostled slightly and the sea king that was carrying them, Mr. Slithers if he remembered right, continued forward, seemingly with a destination in mind. Sabo sighed and flopped onto his back on the deck, pushing his wet bangs from his face and grimacing at how his thick, blue pants clung to his legs.
"Damnit Luffy," Ace groaned form somewhere to his left. "Warn us next time."
Sabo couldn't help but laugh at that, knowing full well they would be warned during it next time. When he didn't hear Luffy reply he tilted his head up and saw his baby brother whispering to Mr. Slithers, his eyes darting back and forth while he tried to hide a grin. Whatever it was, Sabo knew he wouldn't like it. Ace must have also seen the look because he untangled himself from the mast and stomped up to the tiny teen and pointed an accusatory finger at him since he couldn't reach Luffy while he was on the sea king's head.
"Luffy, no! Whatever it is, no!"
Sabo forced himself to stand and laughed at Luffy's pouting face. "But-"
"No!" Ace cut him off, his eyes blazing. "It's bad enough you can't stay away from fights but now we're in the grand line! You're not supposed to make your pirate debut yet, you're too little!" Ace's voice was harsh and Sabo grimaced, knowing what was coming.
"We brought you with us to protect you and you promised us you would try not to get a bounty until you were older! You're only 13 and-"
"But my birthday is next month it's not my fault you guys are born in the beginning of the year!" Luffy cut Ace off with a huff but Ace continued on as if he hadn't heard him.
"And now you're trying to devise a plan with the sea king that basically lied to us!" Ace's breathing was harsh, but Sabo could see the genuine fear he held in his eyes for their younger brother. He couldn't fault Ace for it, it was already hard enough to keep Luffy hidden while they stole and burned ships in the east blue, there was no way their little brother could remain hidden for long in the grand line now.
Luffy deflated and even the sea king looked cowed, both hunching over themselves with an air of gloom. Sabo saw Ace's eyes melt momentarily before he forced his scowl to remain firmly in place, he was a better man than Sabo. He sighed and wrung out his shirt, gesturing for Ace to come over so they could at least discuss what to do now.
xxx
Marco squinted as he looked through the spyglass, trying to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He brought the glass down and inspected it, making sure the lens wasn't smudged before bringing it back up to his eye. Yeah, he wasn't seeing things. Off in the distance a small ship was being carried on top of a sea king. A second sea king was swimming next to that one, occasionally rising out of the water to tilt the ship back on the first sea king more firmly when it swayed too much.
Next to him, Izo leaned forward against the crow's nest, his sharp eyes focused on the horizon. "What the fuck?"
Marco only nodded next to him, still keeping his eyes on the horizon. They were on a mini Moby gathering some supplies from paradise that were easier to obtain here in bulk than in the new world. They thought they left the weirdness of that sea behind but apparently it followed them.
"Yeah I thought I was seeing things at first too, that's why I wanted some opinions…" The crew member that had asked Marco to come up and check on it was scratching his head in bemusement, as if he still couldn't believe what they were all seeing. Either way, the ship being carried by the sea king had a jolly roger, and that was something they had to prepare themselves for just in case. Even though most people steered clear of them, it never hurt to be cautious.
"Keep an eye on them, but it looks like they've just entered paradise, yoi."
The scruffy man next to him nodded and took back the spyglass, settling back onto a comfortable crook in the wood. Marco spared another glance at the strange sight before he gestured for Izo to follow him back down to the deck.
"Come on, we still have to go pick up our shipment. Let's just ignore them for now."
Izo looked like he wanted to protest but eventually nodded, straightening his kimono in a smooth practiced motion. "Too bad, I was hoping for something interesting to happen today."
Marco let a lazy smile stretch across his face as he stalked across the deck, hands in his pockets. "Don't worry about it, yoi. I have a feeling that we will be seeing them again."
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Thanks everyone for the lovely reviews. Sorry for my lack of beta.
Also Jasmine, you're right on the money.
