Ace sighed as he wiped blood off of his pipe, tossing the dirty rag behind him as it landed on some other pile of trash. It was a quiet summer day like any other on Dawn Island; birds were singing, bandits were drinking, and two miscreants were abandoning their chores and complaining.

"There's nothing to do, Sabo. I'm bored."

Sabo rolled his eyes, cleaning off his own pipe in the process. "Trust me, I know. This is only the 20th time you've mentioned it."

Ace ignored him. "We beat up some bandits, hunted some animals, played pranks on Dadan, stole from some nobles, and had our 100th sparring match. It's not even sunset! What are we supposed to do?"

He drew out the "o" on that last word before it turned into a groan and he flopped back on top of the trash, closing his eyes to the sun on his face.

Sabo sighed. "Well, we could always just sail away," he muttered sarcastically.

Ace's eyes flew open as he registered the words. "That's it!"

Sabo turned to him, utterly baffled. "What's it?"

Ace just grinned at him as he said that, his smile as wide as the sea was blue, and Sabo felt that odd sense of anticipation in his stomach that he only got when his best friend was about to say something that was either utterly brilliant or downright stupid.

"Let's go sailing."

Sabo stared at him for a full minute before quirking an eyebrow. "We uh… in case you weren't aware, we don't have a boat, Ace."

It was Ace's turn to roll his eyes. "I know that, dumbass. Let's make one."

"Make one?"

"Yeah! We built our own treehouse from scratch; who says we have to wait to build our own boat?"

Sabo looked at him askance, a snide remark already forming on his lips, when he stopped. Ace watched intently as the gears turned in Sabo's head, and he could swear he heard the moment they stopped.

"Huh. Maybe we could."

"Right?! How hard can it be?"

Sabo begrudgingly had to admit that it looked like it was one of those brilliant moments after all. "Maybe one of the bookstores in High Town has something on shipbuilding. And before you ask, no, we can't just wing it, Ace. I'd rather not drown before I start writing my book."

Ace's mouth shut as soon as soon as Sabo intercepted his question. He let out a pout instead.

"Maybe I wasn't going to ask that."

Sabo snickered. "Sure, and maybe I'm not a-"

He cut himself off quickly, clapping a hand over his face. Ace turned to him quizzically, but he looked away.

"A...anyway. Let's go to High Town, ok? I wanna get some books that I know we'll need."

Ace grinned. "Right behind ya!"

"We're going to have to learn sometime, Ace!" Sabo yelled, waving a worn, yellowed copy of The Essentials of Being a Sailor in Ace's face as the freckled boy recoiled and smacked the book away.

"I don't want to learn about the boring stuff, asshat!" Ace retorted, gracing his best friend with a strong kick in the shin.

"Don't care!" Sabo replied, sticking his tongue out in retaliation. "The book says"—he brandished the book, shaking it slightly for emphasis and grimacing as a page fell out—"that we need to know the basics of navigation, shipbuilding, first aid, and, y'know, actual sailing before we set out. We don't need—"

"We'll pick up a bunch of it as we go!" Ace interrupted. "And besides, just 'cause we weren't taught anything about sailing doesn't mean we can't; it's not like shitty gramps will teach us anything 'before we're old enough' anyway," he complained, his voice deepening in a poor mockery of Garp the Fist.

Sabo just sighed before shaking his head, smiling. "Then I guess you're in luck, Ace," Sabo smirked, tipping his top hot to his hot-headed friend. "I've been reading about the finer points of sailing from the books we stole, and I think I understand the basics. I'll show you how it's done once we get on board."

Ace grinned back. "Yes! You're the best, Sabo!" he cheered, before looking away, slightly embarrassed.

Sabo also turned away, pleased. He knew he'd do anything for Ace, and staying up late every night that week in order to learn every nautical term in the book was nothing compared to Ace's happy smile.

The next day saw the two boys at the dump grabbing planks, paddles, nails, and cloth to begin constructing their ship. Several of the regulars shook their heads at the boys' antics; the two were familiar faces to the many bandits and pirates in Grey Terminal, but this was the first time in a long while that they had seen the brats so enthusiastic about anything besides beating people up or pulling pranks.

"Over here, Ace!" Sabo exclaimed gleefully. "This'll be our rudder!"

Ace turned to see what Sabo had grabbed and shrugged. It was a warped piece of wood that likely fell off of some other boat, but it was approximately the right shape and size and he was doubtful that they'd find another one.

He threw the rough cloth he'd found over his shoulder, sure that if Makino was willing to help him with the sewing, they could make it part of a patchwork sail, and then began hunting down rope. Not for the last time, he found himself humming under his breath as he worked, feeling somewhat satisfied at the prospect of getting back at the old man by learning all this ship stuff and then laughing at him when he tried to teach them things they already knew. Many of the subjects necessary for sailing still sounded pretty boring, but Sabo had assured him last night that it was all necessary, laser-focused on some navigation book with little "hmmm"s and "oooooooh"s punctuating the otherwise still silence of their treehouse.

Ace couldn't help but grin. Sabo had been getting more and more excited at the prospect of going out to sea. He'd made the suggestion on a whim, but now that they had a goal, he hadn't felt this energized in forever. They'd both agreed that this boat would just be for practice; they wouldn't leave the area around Dawn Island, but they did want to go far enough out to really learn the ropes and hone their skills before they made an even nicer boat and set out in seven years when they turned 17. Besides, it had been forever since Ace had eaten fish, and he was really looking forward to eating a new type of meat.

A call from Sabo jerked him from his thoughts. "ACE! I found something else!"

"Coming!"

"For the last time, Ace, we're naming it Lufia!"

"Screw you! We're calling it Fyre and that's that!"

"Fire isn't even spelled with a 'y'!"

"Shut up! It looks cooler that way!"

The boys growled at each other, locked in their stalemate as the object of their intentions sat quietly on the shore of the sandy beach, away from prying eyes. A month had passed since they had scavenged Grey Terminal, and they had finally completed their craft project just before noon, after which they broke for lunch. They were about to call their craft project done when this unfortunate little fight broke out, since neither of them had realized that they'd actually forgotten to agree on a name for the boat.

It was a simple sailboat with only a single mast and sail, and with a little luck and a lot of effort, the two boys had scrapped and scavenged for all of the necessary parts and planks. Makino had given them a suspicious look when Ace presented her with the sailcloth, but she merely hummed and helped him make it, so he was pretty sure she hadn't caught on—his "best blanket ever!" excuse was definitely a keeper. The boat itself wasn't much to look at, but for their first time building anything seaworthy, it was pretty impressive, and if nothing else, it was theirs, built as a labor of love. Therefore, it needed a fitting name—if only they could agree on one.

"Whatever! I'm the captain, so what I say goes!" Ace broke the standoff, grabbing a chisel he had stolen from a local store. He marched over to the hull of the ship, and began carving Fyre into the planks.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?! And we're co-captains, remember?" Sabo squealed, picking up a second chisel and shoving Ace bodily to the ground, carefully etching the beginnings of Lufia into the ship's side in front of where Ace had started carving. Ace spat out a mouthful of sand and glared at Sabo, ire evident on his freckled face.

"You're gonna regret that!"

They wrestled each other on the dunes, each trying to complete their chosen names and shake the other off at the same time, and by the time they were too exhausted to fight anymore, the sun had begun to set, lending the entire beach a beautiful orange glow and casting long shadows on the stone-faced cliffs behind them.

The two lay on their backs, panting, covered in scrapes and small bruises. A few moments of silence passed before they both broke into laughter.

"Well that was dumb," Ace snickered.

"Yeah," Sabo chuckled. "But I guess we still need to decide on what the name is…" He turned to look at the ship and began laughing harder. "Hey Ace."

"What?"

"I think we already named it."

Ace's laughter died off as he sat up, confused. "Whatddya mean?"

Sabo just pointed, and Ace read the word carved on the side of the boat before a loud groan escaped him.

"…Luffy? That's what we're going with?"

"Why not?" Sabo snickered. "Just means we both named it."

Ace sighed. "I guess," he muttered, not entirely pleased with the outcome. As names went, it wasn't what he'd had in mind, but he supposed it wasn't terrible. Besides, it wasn't like this was going to be their forever boat; they'd just have to make do, and a surprisingly large part of him was still proud at what he'd helped make.

"Hey Ace."

Sabo's voice broke through the quiet, causing Ace to glance over at his best friend.

"I read that if you become a crew member on a boat, it's good luck to make a wish on it. That way, the boat knows the hearts of the people it's protecting."

Ace snorted. "That's stupid. Besides, this is our practice boat. Can we even call ourselves a crew?"

Sabo scowled. "It's not stupid! I don't wanna jinx us, Ace. And besides, whenever you man a boat, you're part of that boat's crew. It's the law."

Tuning the other out before he began complaining about laws attached to lawless pirates, Sabo faced toward the boat, clasping his hands together and closing his eyes. In his mind, he saw flashes of pictures, people and places blending together as he thought about what he wanted most.

He thought of his birth family, and the bluebloods of High Town.

I want to leave this island.

He thought of the people of Grey Terminal and Foosha Village.

I don't want others to suffer because of the nobles' greed.

He thought of Dadan and the bandits, and of Garp the Fist.

I want to make my own choices.

But most of all, he thought of Ace.

I want to stay with Ace. I want a real family. I want him to be happy.

His chaotic thoughts coalesced into a single wish, a desire so raw that it danced through him, filling him with energy from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.

I want to be free. And I want to free others.

When he opened his eyes again, Ace was just staring at him, an unreadable expression on his face. Sabo stared back, slightly unnerved, blinking rapidly as he came back to his senses.
Finally, Ace turned to the ship and clasped his hands together as well, mimicking Sabo. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, in and out.

He thought of his mother.

Even though I shouldn't have been born… even though I'm a monster… I want to make her proud.

He thought of his father.

I want to be out of his shadow. I want to be remembered for me, not for being his son.

He thought of all of the people who laughed and jeered when he asked what would happen if Gol D. Roger had a child.

I don't want to listen to them ever again. Even if they're right, I don't want to hear it anymore.

But most of all, he thought of Sabo.

I want to sail the world with him. I want to be his friend, even if I don't deserve it. I want him to fulfill his dream.

He had a moment of profound clarity, a fire in his heart and soul that seemed to burn away the shadows of his past.

I want to be free. And even if it's impossible, I want to find where I belong.

He blinked, coming back to himself as Sabo eyed him with concern. "You ok, Ace?"

"…Yeah. Let's go back."

"Ok."

They hid their boat in the mouth of a nearby cave, tying it to a rock and checking to make sure it was out of sight of the beach. Without hesitation, they grabbed their pipes and packs, slinging them on their backs as they began the trek back home. Neither could repress the smiles on their faces or the excited chatter flowing from their mouths; the joy bubbling up from their souls was infectious. They couldn't put their fingers on what they were feeling, but they both got the sense that something monumental had occurred, and the foreign feeling put a spring in their steps as they bolted away from the sands, back toward their treehouse—and dinner.