(Je sais que je ne suis pas supposée écrire une nouvelle histoire mais celle-ci ne voulait pas quitter mon esprit, ha bye)
It's gonna be all in english now. Before we start with this let's say that english isn't my first language but I hope I can manage to make a readable story. Don't have an english beta either so it's gonna be all me I apologize if anything sounds weird.
So I didn't really plan on a long running story. It was supposed to be a cute and funny one-shot but that clearly got out of hand the second I started writing so yeah I'm gonna make it clear, I don't know how long it's gonna last but I really love the idea of the kids actually fending for themselves without any authority figure (something I found too redundant in other kids ASL or kids Ace and Luffy stories).
Even if I aged up some characters and made others younger for the ASL Pirates to be a thing, the events of Grey Terminal happened the same way than in canon, the kids are older and probably a bit stronger but we'll figure it out as we go.
Not 100% sure who's going to be joining their crew yet so you can comment and give me ideas, why not.
Ages:
Luffy: 9
Ace: 12
Sabo: 12
~ASL~
"Yes he's alive! I saw him at the old decks with a small ship." Magra said. They were sitting in the kitchen, Luffy was asleep in his plate all bandaged up from the fire, but Ace wasn't paying attention to him, he was focused on Magra's words, thinking fast.
"I think he was planning a trip but I can't be right, you kids are too young for..." The man continued but Ace was already leaving with Luffy, this one's plate was broken on the floor.
~ ASL ~
Ace was running as fast as his legs could pull him, he didn't have time. They didn't have time he thought, looking back at his little brother who managed to keep pace only because Ace wouldn't let his hand go. He wasn't about to leave him alone after... He almost lost Luffy again, he couldn't let Sabo leave by himself, there was no way! The forest opened on the beach and Ace saw red, Magda was right..
Sabo was still securing his boat, small dark vessel, when he got punched to the face. Falling into the sand he got ready to defend himself from the unprovoked attack but then he stopped. The oil lamp was barely enough to see but there was no mistaking them, Ace's furious form and Luffy, trailing not far behind. His younger brother immediately collapsed on the sand, panting, but Ace he… He looked absolutely furious.
In retrospect he knew he should have expected that, Ace would absolutely hate the idea of being left behind, even if it was for his own good. Sabo couldn't stay in Dawn Island, he couldn't bear the idea of still being stuck with as a noble, not after everything happened. Sabo was about to say just that when Ace spoke first.
"We're coming with you!" Yelled the freckled boy and Sabo could only stare.
"Wh-what?"
~ ASL ~
In the end not a lot of convincing was required, Sabo broke under Ace's glare and Luffy's tears as easily as a twig under pressure. If he was planning to leave and travel by himself it would be really hypocritical of him to forbid his brothers from joining. He had prepared (stole) enough food for him to last at least a month at sea but with his brothers he would need at least four times the amount, he wasn't even sure the ship could handle it.
"We should leave tomorrow then, and we need to hunt for more food..." Ace's punch still hurt and his glare was burning into his neck but Sabo couldn't really fault him. He was too relieved to see them alive and well after the fire.
"B-but we can't leave Sabo alone!" protested Luffy "He will try to run away again!"
Ow, Luffy, ow.
"I won't, I promise…" Sabo tried to placate him but his opinion didn't seem to be worth much at the moment.
"Luffy go with Sabo to get the food and our stuff, I'll guard the ship." said Ace, his voice was cold, his brother was still angry him and Sabo nodded with a small smile.
Luffy immediately sprung himself on Sabo's back, his limbs holding him tight.
"I won't let him go, Ace. We'll come back and then we'll sail all together!"
~ ASL ~
There wasn't much to bring in the end, the cabin was filled with cooked meat and the few belongings that were spared from the fire were fitted in one small chest.
A couple of minutes after the preparations, they laid to sleep on the deck. Or, to be more precise, Luffy passed out the second his head hit the pillow, snoring loudly, while the two other didn't. One of Luffy's arms was coiled around Sabo, and on the other side of the rubber boy, Ace was showing them his back. Sabo knew he wasn't sleeping and decided it was time to apologize. He took a deep breath, staring at Ace back.
"The nobles knew, all of them, about the fire." His voice wasn't much more than a whisper but he saw Ace's shoulder twitching at the sound of his voice, so he continued.
"I tried to warn someone, anyone but people knew and they just didn't care. I didn't even know if you were alive I… This country, these people, they're rotten." He continued, the memories flashing in front of his eyes, his voice getting thicker with emotion. Sabo tried not to think about it, when he stole the boat and bought it here he focused on stealing the ship that would free him, he didn't think about what happened. The preparations for the arrival of the Celestial dragon was actually a very good distraction and people didn't pay attention to him as he lead the ship out of sight.
Now he couldn't escape the thought of his family being still in the city, he wanted to prove how wrong they were, to show them that one one deserved to be treated like filth. If he saw his father or his mother again he feared he would just want to end them and everything they represented, thinking about Shelly's face even bought him some urges to kill. Sabo averted his eyes from Ace's back, looking at the sky.
"I should have told to you about it, but after I first got taken I… I couldn't face you, he said he would make sure you and Luffy would die and I listened." He could feel the tears rising to his eyes, he was still so angry. He didn't know if he actually hated the man but it was the closest thing to it.
The blond was surprised to feel Luffy's limb tightening around his arm, the younger boy didn't say anything, Sabo couldn't even be sure he was awake but his younger brother wasn't snoring anymore. A bubbling laugh left Sabo's lips, Luffy was really a treasure. He then noticed that Ace had turned around at some point and was staring at him. He wiped his tears and faced him, he trusted him not to throw him overboard but his words could hurt way more than any of his punches.
"Don't do it again." Ace said simply and laid to look at the sky. Relief flooded the blond boy, he smiled brightly and laid on his back again to do the same.
"I won't, I promise."
Sleep was peaceful and the three boys dreamt of their incoming adventures.
~ ASL ~
In the end they decided not to warn anyone, they could be certain that Makino, the Mayor and even Dadan would do everything to stop them. The idea was particularly hard on Luffy who was the most attached to the adults but his brothers convinced him that they could always come to visit when they were older and that settled the conversation.
Barely one hour after departure, Luffy dropped a bomb.
"Who's gonna be the Captain?" Luffy was looking at them innocently. Silence greeted him for a few seconds and as he decided to answer all brothers talked at the same time.
"It's very obviously …" "It's gonna be…" "I think…"
"ME!" said Ace and Luffy at the same time. They glared at each other and Sabo closed his mouth shut.
"What are you talking about, I'm not going to let my baby brother be captain no way!" said Ace
"Yes way! I wanna be a better captain than you!" screamed Luffy.
When Sabo and Ace planned to sail together when they came to age, they ended up deciding that Sabo would be the navigator and Ace the captain but with Luffy travelling with them it couldn't really happen. Or it could but Sabo would have to pick sides between his two brothers and he couldn't picture himself telling Luffy that he couldn't be Captain. Sabo looked at the nine-year-old-boy, his straw hat barely holding on his head, small, reckless, could barely fight. Indeed the youngest couldn't be captain either.
Ace hit his brother on his rubbery head and the blond made his decision.
"No way Ace-stupid, I'm the captain and Sabo is my navigator!" said Luffy hiding behind Sabo, he didn't want to be hit again.
"I want to be captain too" added this blond, a very calm smile on his face, he stared at Ace, hoping he'd get the message.
"Wh-what? No way!" screamed Ace, looking betrayed, it went over his head, obviously.
Disentangling himself from Luffy, Sabo explained.
"We beat the tiger king together didn't we? We can't sail alone anyway so we'll have to settle for all of us being captains of this ship. We can be the ASL pirates like on Goa!"
His two brothers stared at him for five seconds then promptly started arguing with each other again. Sabo just sat down, giving up for now, Ace would eventually figure it out. It didn't take more than three minutes.
"Then I'll find my own ship and get my own crew!" yelled Luffy, tearing up and ready to jump overboard. Sabo panicked, standing up to stop him but he was too far. Ace's eyes widened and fortunately he was close enough to catch his brother before he jumped.
"Hell no! ASL Pirates, we're the ASL pirates!" Ace yelled and Luffy pouted, not completely satisfied but Sabo ruffled his hair.
"You can have your own ship when you're older, will be way easier to find a crew when you're already a famous pirate, wouldn't it?"
Luffy blinked and a wide smiled replaced his pout, all was good. For now.
~ ASL ~
The first storm was kind of unexpected. Sabo knew how to read weather patterns but it wasn't his turn for the shift last night and he wasn't that good at reading the weather. Ace warned them before sunrise, not quite panicking but close enough. It took long enough for Luffy to be fully awake that's why the two elders took matters in hand to be able to lead the ship out of the storm.
"Tie the sails or the mast is going to break!" yelled Sabo over the wind as he was at the helm himself. Their rubber brother chose this moment to walk out of the cabin.
"Luffy!" called Sabo "Go to the rudder and direct it for me, we need to get out of this storm!" still yawning and not as worried about the situation as he should be, Luffy obeyed even though he didn't look like he knew what he was doing. "Move it to the left!" Sabo screamed over the wind, he could see Ace struggle with the sails but was successful in binding them without falling.
It took them a bit more than forty minutes before they could relax, that's when Luffy fell overboard. It seemed like he simply tripped on some rope and that was enough to send him into the waters. Sabo saw it first and jumped into the ocean, he was able to see Luffy sinking fast, the anchor, but the blond managed to pull him above. Ace threw them a rope and they got back on board.
"You stupid rubber brain!" Ace punched Luffy's head.
"Ow!"
"Be more careful next time, Lu. We're lucky we're out of the storm otherwise it would have been tricky to fish you out." said Sabo more gently.
"Sorry…" said their youngest brother. "But I know I can trust you guys to always get me back!" Ace and Sabo looked at each other and the blond sighed, they might have to tie the kid to the mast next time.
