Nothing happened for a while after the three swore themselves as brothers. They had fallen into a pattern, though, during the night. After dinner, they would play a game or two before turning in to go to sleep. Ace would lay on the right, Luffy in the middle, and Sabo on the left. Then, Ace and Sabo would ask Luffy to sing for them. He usually sang 'Danny Boy', but would sometimes sing other songs. He debated whether or not to teach his brothers the songs, but decided not to. He's not a good listener, so he didn't think he'd be able to teach very well.
It wasn't until months later that something happened. They had been hunting for their dinner and came back with a danpa. It was Luffy's first ever solo catch - he decided to not risk his brothers finding out about the whole time travel thing by suddenly being a lot stronger than they thought him to be - and they were all going back to celebrate. But, the Tiger Lord decided it wanted Luffy's catch, so it cornered them. They had no choice but to give it their dinner, but none of them were happy about it. Sneaking away from the large tiger posed to be a problem when Luffy stepped on a twig which made them noticeable.
Together, the three screamed and ran into the forest, the Tiger Lord hot on their trail. Luffy - who had been working on his Observation Haki in secret - intentionally led his brothers to where he could sense someone. He remembered that the old pirate Naguri had saved him and his brothers the last time he did this. The three ran past the old man and Ace and Sabo swung around to warn the old man of the incoming danger. Luffy just hid behind the man.
When Naguri saw the boys, he guessed that the large footfalls he'd heard had been chasing them. The one in the straw hat had seemed to know he was here, Naguri idly noted that he was showing signs of Observation Haki. Without saying a word, the old man lifted his hand with his palm towards the incoming danger and said, "Stop."
Ace, Sabo and Luffy all showed their amazement at what he'd done. The Tiger Lord stopped in its tracks because this guy told it to! Amazing!
"What were you three doing to provoke the Tiger Lord?" Naguri asked the three boys when he turned to face them after the Tiger Lord left.
Luffy was the first one to speak up, "Nothing! She stole our dinner, and when we tried to get away, I stepped on a twig and she started to chase after us."
Naguri raised an eyebrow at how the boy had referred to the Tiger Lord - a female according to this kid - but said nothing of it. Instead, he chuckled and invited the three boys to eat dinner with him. They accepted and he led them to where he was living.
"Hey!" Sabo realized about halfway through their meal, "You're Naguri!"
"Who?" Ace and Luffy asked.
"Naguri! He lives in the Gray Terminal and is always carting off really random stuff." the blond explained.
"Really?" Luffy considered the information for less than a second before saying, "Cool!"
Naguri chuckled at the three boys. They were entertaining to say the least.
Somewhere in the conversation, though none of them could tell you when, the subject of pirates came up. That's when Naguri revealed his former occupation. "I even challenged the Pirate King, once upon a time." Ace stiffened as Luffy asked for the story. About halfway through the tale, Ace stood up and left.
"What's up with him?" Luffy asked just after his brother was out of earshot.
Sabo sighed. He really didn't want to tell anyone; it wasn't their business! But, he figured it would come out sooner or later. "Gold Roger is Ace's dad." The blond was silent as he waited for any words of hate from either of them, though he doubted Luffy held anything but respect for the man.
"Really?!" Luffy yelled, although he already knew this information, "That's so cool!"
Sabo quickly shushed him. "You can't bring this up around Ace, okay? I wasn't supposed to tell you. Besides, he hates his father."
Luffy only hummed. The two thanked Naguri for both the meal and helping them with the Tiger Lord before they hiked back through the snow and to their secret base. "Thinking about it, I can see the resemblance between them, they're a lot alike personality wise. Is that why he asked me if I wanted him to live?" Luffy asked halfway back home.
Sabo nodded, "He has a bad habit of asking people what they would do if Gold Roger had a son. No matter how many times I tell him not to, he refuses to listen to me."
Luffy grabbed Sabo's hand as they walked, "Then we'll just have to change his mind." He looked up at the sky when reached the edge of the clearing, "I stand by what I said before, though. He's really fun to be around. You are, too!"
Sabo smiled as he watched Luffy start to climb the tree. "That kid." Shaking his head, he followed after him.
"Hi, Ace!" Luffy greeted his brother the second he got to the top, "Sabo told me why you hate Captain Roger so much." Luffy didn't let Ace interrupt him as he spoke, "You remember what I said the day we became brothers, right?" When Ace nodded he continued, aware that Sabo was now up there with them, "I stand by what I said that day. You're really fun to be around. And I don't care how many people deny it, you've got the coolest dad ever!" Turning away from the window, Luffy went up into the crow's nest after greeting Sabo.
Ace said nothing as he listened to the other two moving around behind him. He heard Luffy climb up to the crow's nest with a blanket while Sabo started to get himself ready for bed. "You really think he means it?" the raven haired boy asked the blond.
"Yeah," was his answer, "And I stand with him on this matter. You're great to be around. Yeah, your dad is pretty cool, but I don't expect you to change your mind about him. Just know that you keep asking the wrong people about him. His crew and friends and allies are all out there, waiting for someone to ask about their captain." Sabo sighed as he laid down, "Will you call Luffy down? He'll get sick if he stays up there too long." Ace nodded and did as told.
Luffy didn't mean to change the way this turned out, but he didn't think he would've been able to handle what was said last time. He could hear Sabo talking to Ace, probably confirming what he'd just said. He was glad he could return and try again. Now, he just had to get a hold of a den-den mushi and call Shanks or Mihawk.
"Luffy?" Ace called up to him, "Sabo says it's time to go to sleep."
Giving one last glance to the stars, Luffy wrapped the blanket tighter around himself before climbing back down. He didn't say anything as he laid down between his brothers. He didn't even make a sound when they asked if he was alright. After a long moment, he spoke in an almost whisper, "Don't tell grandpa," he gained their attention with that one sentence, "but I found a Wanted Poster in the newspaper a bit after Shanks left." He turned onto his stomach so he wouldn't have to face the other two. "I thought it was a coincidence, but something gramps told me made me think otherwise." He let himself fall into a pseudo sleep after he finished, "If you thought your dad was bad for being hunted by the Marines, try having a dad at the top of the World's Most Wanted list." He felt both older boys sit up faster than a blink at the information he let spill.
*
Luffy went back to where Naguri lived the next morning. He had waited for his brothers to be slightly awake to tell them he was leaving. He had found that little bridge over his lying problem a while ago. If the person or people are awake enough to open their eyes, then he isn't lying when he says 'You were awake when I told you!'. Whether they are capable of cognitive thought when he tells them or not is not his problem.
"What are you doing back here?" Naguri asked when he saw the Straw Hat wearing child arrive near his home.
"I want to help you."
"Help me? With what?"
"You're gathering stuff, right? I don't have any proof, but I think you're building something. I wanna help you build it."
Naguri laughed more than he had in a while. This kid definitely knew more than he let on! "Fine, kid, but I don't like owing people. What do you want in return?"
"Aside for some help with my mystery power," Naguri raised an eyebrow, "Do you have a den-den mushi thing? A friend gave me a number and told me to look for one of those things."
The old man smiled to himself and said, "I think I can help with the mystery power of yours. The den-den, though, I can't. At least, not right now."
Luffy smiled brightly at the old man. He was gonna help him with Observation Haki! He didn't want to perfect the power this early on, just get good enough at it to prevent a few unnecessary injuries in the future. He'd let Reighley teach him Haki officially. Hopefully, he'd get to that point under a lot better circumstances this time around.
Naguri led Luffy to a nearby cave down by the shore of his camp. Inside, there was a mostly built ship held up on some logs, just above the water. The gangplank was lowered to allow the two on. Happily, Luffy grabbed a hammer and some nails and followed Naguri to where he could put him to work for the morning. Luffy agreed to work until Naguri could figure out how to train him.
It wasn't until midday that Ace and Sabo showed up at Naguri's camp where the two were having lunch. "Luffy!" they yelled as they tackled him in a hug, "We thought you ran away! Why didn't you tell us you were leaving or where you were going?"
Luffy swallowed his food and then answered, "But I did tell you. Just after you woke up I told you I was gonna come ask Naguri to help me get stronger! It's not my fault you guys didn't listen."
Neither older boy could deny it. Though neither of them remembered, Luffy couldn't be lying because he can't lie. However, Luffy being able to wiggle himself around lying like that was a scary thought, almost as bad as the thought of Luffy being able to lie.
"How are you training him, Naguri?" Sabo asked the old man, sitting down on Luffy's right.
"Can we join in?" Ace tacked on as he sat on Luffy's left. He would ask Luffy about what he said last night later. The prospect of getting stronger was a more pressing matter.
Naguri regarded the three before nodding, "But I don't want you two owing me anything. You have to help me build something as my condition, okay?" The two boys nodded and the group of four headed down to the shore. There, the boys were briefed on what they would be doing and the training began.
The boys worked tirelessly for the next two weeks. Every morning, they would wake up at dawn and hunt down breakfast as they headed to help Naguri. After breakfast with the old man, they would get to work on the ship. Just before lunch, Naguri would go to the Gray Terminal to get more materials while the boys went to catch lunch. After lunch, they'd work on Observation Haki. Then, they would catch and eat dinner together before splitting off.
The training was solely Observation training. Naguri wasn't sure if the older boys could use that type of haki, but made them go through the training just in case. It was the right decision. He'd drilled memorisation into the three's heads before doing anything else. If the two ten year olds couldn't use Observation Haki yet, then they'd at least have a good head start with this. After memory drills, he had them blindfolded and he'd attack them at random. Luffy - for reasons only he knew - was miraculous with this and picked it up within a few days and was able to do it while moving around. Ace and Sabo, on the other hand, could not and were frustrated that Luffy was better at something than them. Their frustration was overtaken by amusement every time their little brother got hit or knocked down.
At the end of two weeks, the four found themselves back on the shoreline and admiring their finished project. In front of them was the boat they'd been working on. The three boys hadn't done much with it in the grand scheme, but their help had made the building process quicker. The old man had found himself slowing down recently and losing motivation. The three boys, however, had resparked something in him and pushed him to finish what he started.
"It took ten whole years," Naguri whipped a tear from his eye as he spoke, "But I'm finally setting my sails again." He walked across the gangplank, leaving the three boys on the dry land to let the ship off of the logs. "I hope you boys remember what I taught you over the past two weeks!" he yelled and pulled the gangplank onto the ship, "Let the logs go!"
Ace, Sabo and Luffy pulled on a rope and the logs holding the ship above the water gave away. They watched in amazement and awe as the ship cruised out of the cavern and into the open ocean waters. They waved to the renewed captain as he took his cloak off with flair and tied it to the top of the main mast.
"Bye!" Luffy yelled, "I hope to meet you on the open ocean some day!" Despite his saying this, he knew he never would. The old man either never left the East Blue, or died on the sea. Either way, Luffy respected the old man and would give him a proper funeral at sea after his brothers left the island. It's only fair.
"Hey, Luffy!" Naguri called just before he was out of earshot, "Look in the logs around the fire!" Luffy nodded, not able to respond to the man before he was out of sight.
"What's in the logs?" Ace asked his younger brother.
The younger raven haired boy shrugged and ran off to the campfire. Whatever it was must have been meant for him alone. It was a surprise! Oh, Luffy loved surprises, no matter how old and war hardened he got. As long as they were good surprises, though, and not too loud. Loud noises are scary.
The three got to the campfire and started to look inside of the logs sitting around it. After a few seconds, Sabo called out to the other two and held up a bag with Luffy's name on it. The youngest opened the bag and smiled.
"It's a den-den thingy!" Luffy cried as he pulled it out of the bag for his older brothers to see. The den-den mushi was just a standard den-den that could be bought in every big town. Its body was light blue and it had a wheat colored shell. The thing was softly snoring, clearly in working order and waiting to be used. There was a piece of paper that Luffy had Sabo read to him.
"It says, 'I hope you find what you're looking for, kid. Take this on your adventures with you, and give me a proper BAS when you set out. I have the feeling you know what that means, so I won't explain it. The number is XXXXX.'" When he finished reading, Sabo handed the paper back to Luffy who had taken the red ribbon off of the bag and was trying to attach it to the den-den's shell. "What a nice guy. I hope to meet him again some day."
Ace nodded. "Hey," he asked, "What does BAS mean?" Sabo was also confused, so they both looked at Luffy who had successfully attached the red ribbon around the base of the den-den's shell.
Luffy answered without looking at them, "Lucky Roo told me that it means 'Burial at Sea'. I don't know why he'd want me to do it, though. Besides, he's gonna live a long life." The boy put the sleeping den-den back in the bag and stood up, leading the way back to their tree home. The other two looked at each other and followed after their little brother.
*
Winter went by uneventfully. The den-den was put on a new shelf they'd put next to their sakazuki cups and was left to sleep. At some point, the still mostly full bottle of sake was put on the shelf as well, but no one complained. The number for the den-den was written down and nailed to the wall just above it, the letter Naguri wrote under the den-den.
It was Spring and the boys were walking through the forest and to the Gray Terminal. Luffy had been wondering since before he set out the first time which one of his brothers was older, so he decided to ask. "Ace? Sabo? Which one of you is older?" The two older boys looked at each other and shrugged. They'd never really thought about it, and they told Luffy so. "Oh." He was silent for another few minutes before he followed up with another question, "Ace? What day were you born?"
Ace hesitated, having to think about it, before answering, "January first, why?"
Luffy took in the knowledge before asking Sabo the same question. "What about you, Sabo?"
Sabo also hesitated, but only because he realized that Ace was two months and twenty-nine days older than him. "March thirtieth."
Ace grew a smirk at the information and Luffy just hummed. His crew usually made sure to celebrate birthdays, but he didn't really see the need. Maybe it's because he grew up not celebrating birthdays, so he didn't make a huge deal of the knowledge. He just wanted to know which of his brothers was the oldest and which one would be leaving the soonest. Because Sabo had left the island early last time, Ace chose to leave later in the year in his honor, though neither of them knew Sabo's birthday at the time.
"What about you, Luffy?" Sabo pushed Ace's teasing away, "When's your birthday?"
"Gramps said May fifth." Luffy answered.
They left the discussion alone as they continued to travel through Middle Forest.
"We should find some good stuff to repair the base when we get there." Ace brought up, "Just in case of a storm."
"I think that's the first time you've had a good idea!" Sabo teased his brother. He would never admit that Ace is older than him, never.
"Hey! I have good ideas all the time!" he defended, "I just don't tell you guys because you'd be too stupid to understand 'em!"
"Ahuh," Luffy nodded sarcastically, "Whatever you say." They all laughed together as they emerged out of the forest. That's when a sinking feeling settled in his stomach. "Sabo," he said quietly. He recognised this feeling, and he doesn't like this feeling.This is the same feeling he got just hours before the first member of his crew was killed. "Sabo!"
Finally, the two older brothers registered the sense of urgency in their younger brother's voice and started to panic. He never sounded like this! "What's wrong?" the blond asked.
"I-I think we should head back." Damn it, he thought he'd gotten rid of that stutter years ago! "I've got a really bad feeling about being here."
Ace didn't look as worried, "Don't worry, we can protect you, Lu-"
"It's not me!" The panicked feeling rose as he saw Bluejam's goons further off near the wall, "Something really bad is gonna happen here soon. I don't want to be here; I don't want you guys to be here; I don't even want Dadan near here!"
Sabo looked at Ace nervously. He knew that Luffy wasn't looking down on them, but Luffy was implying that they couldn't do anything about whatever was going to happen and Ace was not going to take that well. "Ace!" he said before the older could rant about being strong enough, "I've never seen him like this, and I doubt you have either. Let's go and come back when Lu's less freaked out."
Ace wasn't happy about it, but he agreed. He picked up Sabo and Luffy's pipes and Sabo picked up Luffy who had started to cry. He didn't like leaving the promise of a challenge, but Luffy was so freaked out that he was crying and that was strange. Luffy's a crybaby, yes, but he hadn't cried since that night they caught him crying in his sleep. He quickly took up the rear of the small line as they hurried away from the Gray Terminal. The further away they got, the more Luffy calmed down. Eventually, he fell asleep in Sabo's arms.
When they got back to their secret base, Sabo put Luffy on his back and tied his arms so he wouldn't fall off. Carefully, he climbed up the rope ladder and into the building. Gently, he placed Luffy on the pile of blankets in the corner and covered him up with his blue tailcoat. "I wonder what got him so freaked out?" He said when Ace pulled up the ladder and closed the trap door.
"I don't know," Ace responded, "But I hope there isn't a storm anytime soon. If there is, we'll have to go stay with Dadan. We don't have enough materials to fix this place up after a storm."
Sabo hummed in response and sat next to his younger brother. "It'll have to do for now. I think that whatever got Lu so freaked out is gonna be big."
"How big do you think?"
"Big enough to see it from here." And wasn't that an unsettling thought.
*
A week and three days passed by and the boys didn't go anywhere near the Gray Terminal. On the last day, the sinking feeling appeared for Ace and Sabo. Together, they ran as fast as they could to the bandit hut only to stop short and hide up in the branches of a tree.
"We're looking for this kid," the man said, "Have you seen him?" The group were all in protective white suits with glass helmets and were obviously from Town Center. By that information alone, it was obvious they were looking for Sabo.
"Yeah, I've seen 'im." Dadan answered and Sabo nearly swore, "He left the island with the Marines a while ago; Said it was his dream to become an Admiral."
"He told you? Why?" another of the men asked.
"He stayed here for about a year before the Marines came by to pick him up." Dadan took a drawl of her cigarette before she finished her story, "'Course, that was about four years ago."
"Ha!" One of the men yelled, "A hole in your lie! He's been missing for seven years now."
Dadan, however, didn't miss a beat, "I said he stayed here for a while, not the whole time. He could've been living in the Gray Terminal or even in the forest in the two years before coming to me! There's also the possibility that he was staying with a different group of Mountain Bandits."
The men clicked their tongues and left to go back to the kingdom. If the brat wasn't on the island anymore, then they can't do anything about it. Luffy, in the back of his mind, realized that the group didn't mention anything about Sabo being sighted in Town Center within the last year.
The brothers made sure that the group were long gone before jumping out of the tree and going into the hut. They didn't even knock before they entered. "Hey!" they yelled in greeting.
"Boys?!" Dadan screamed. She wasn't expecting them to come back…ever.
"We came to warn you, but I think half the warning just left." Ace glared in the direction the men had gone. Nobles; disgusting.
"Warn us?" Dogra asked, "Warn us of what?"
Sabo watched as Luffy ran around the main room before running to their old room. "Something bad is gonna happen tonight. We don't know what it is, but it's been bothering Luffy for a little over a week now. It's only been bothering me and Ace for about a day, but we thought we should warn you guys."
"Why's a feeling got you so worked up?" Dadan asked.
"It's not really the feeling that freaked us out," Ace told them, now sitting across from Dadan and Magra, Dogra having gone to keep Luffy occupied, "What freaked us out was the way Luffy reacted." The two raised an eyebrow and Ace continued, "We went to the Gray Terminal, but before we could even get out of Middle Forest, Luffy freaked out and said something bad was gonna happen. We haven't gone close to the Gray Terminal since."
Sabo picked up the explanation, "We figured we should come tell you guys to stay away from the Gray Terminal until we figure out what it is that's set us off like this."
The two bandits went over the information in their heads. Luffy was set off a week ago by a feeling something bad was going to happen, and now Ace and Sabo have the same feeling? Dadan normally doesn't trust anyone that's not a part of her family, but these brats had wormed their way into her heart…not that she'd ever tell them that. These kids are strange, and normally that means they're gonna have a few surprises up their sleeves.
"Alright," Dadan sighed, "I'll believe you and pass on the warning to the others as soon as-" She was cut off by the front door slamming open.
"Boss!" the bandit yelled as he ran into the room, catching everyone's attention, "The Gray Terminal! It's-it's burning!"
"What?!" Every person in the hut jumped up and ran outside. The sky above where they knew the Gray Terminal to be was clouded over with black smoke, the reds and oranges of the roaring fire made the smoke seem darker than it was.
Luffy glared at the smoke filled sky. It left a nasty stench in the air and it took every ounce of mental strength not to show he could smell it from where they were. He was glad, however, that no one he cared about was in the fire this time. He and Ace hadn't been caught up with Bluejam's crew, and Sabo was still with them; All was good, for the moment. Though, Luffy had no idea how these changes would affect the timeline moving on. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and instead thought about how to talk to Shanks or Mihawk.
"Luffy!" Ace and Sabo yelled, pulling the boy out of his thoughts.
"You okay, bud?" The blond had his hands on the raven's shoulders, a look of concern in his eyes. Luffy nodded, but didn't say anything.
"You sure?" Ace asked, oddly gentle, "You were staring pretty hard at the smoke over there." Then, he seemed to realize something, "Are you scared of fire?" At Luffy's flinch, the two older boys pulled him into a hug before moving him into the hut. He wasn't scared of fire as much as he was magma. The basic principles of the two were the same, though. "We're staying here until the fire and smoke clear!" The oldest stated as the three went into their old room.
The night passed uneventfully at the bandit hut. Everyone was warned not to go to the Gray Terminal - or even go further than three miles from the house - until the smoke was cleared. And even then, no one was to go there until a scouting party was sent to determine if it was safe or not.
Luffy rolled over in his place in between his brothers. He needs to call Shanks! But, the den-den mushi was back at the tree house. Sighing, Luffy closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. It didn't work. Every time he closed his eyes, he was reminded of how Ace was killed by magma; how Sabo was almost killed by fire before eventually dying by drowning; how Usopp died being stabbed; How Robin was killed by an explosion; how Franky and Brook were killed by being drown with the Sunny; how Chopper and Nami were shot and killed while distracting their enemies; how Sanji had disappeared; how Jinbe was killed by a fellow fishman who was stuck in the mindset that all humans are evil and any fishman who helps them is not a fellow; how Zoro bled to death after protecting Luffy from a fellow swordsman and captain.
Luffy sat upright between his brothers, breathing fast. He didn't know when he'd fallen asleep, but he knew he'd been out for a few hours at least. He had his pointer and middle finger over the pulsepoint in his left wrist to try and calm himself down. He didn't register that both of his brothers were trying to get his attention. When he got function back into his limbs, he abruptly stood up and ran out of the hut. He threw up after running a few feet into the underbrush.
"Lu?" Sabo came up behind him cautiously, as if he was addressing a scared animal.
Ace came up with Sabo and rubbed Luffy's back, "What's wrong, Lu?"
Luffy wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before turning and grabbing both of his brothers in a hug, his rubber arms wrapping around them several times. He was scared that this was all a dream, despite knowing it's not, and that his older brothers would disappear if he let them go.
Neither older boy complained about the hug; they knew how much Luffy craved and cherished physical attention. Instead, they looked at each other and nodded. Then, they led the youngest back to sit against the side of the bandit hut. They didn't make Luffy let go at any point and just held him. It was way earlier than they normally woke up, but they were too concerned to be tired. What could've possibly made their youngest brother react like this? Then, it hit them. The fire! The fire obviously uncovered something in his memories. What it was, they had no idea, nor did they have any plans to ask about it yet.
"Ace?" Luffy whispered from where he lay across both boys' laps, "Sabo?"
Hearing the quiet call, the two looked at their youngest brother. His head was laying on Sabo's lap and his torso and legs were curled on Ace's legs. His right hand was stretched from under him to hold his eldest brother's hand, while his left hand held his other older brother's pants in a vice grip under his head.
"Can I ask you something?" He looked so vulnerable at the moment, and he knew he did, but he didn't care. He never fully developed mentally, and being in a child's body again was messing with him. He couldn't think coherently and there was something taking over for him as he spoke. This feeling, though, was warm and comforting. It was kind of like when he first used Gear 5 and learned the truth of his Devil Fruit. Though the warmth was a lot more comforting this time.
"Go ahead, Lu." Ace prompted, his hand never stopping its motion of rubbing the younger raven's back.
"You guys aren't gonna forget about me, right?" As if sensing their apprehension, he continued, "I know we're all gonna leave the island, and that you guys are gonna leave before me, but you won't forget about me, right? I don't know what I would do if you guys left and forgot about me. I don't know what I would do if you guys left me all alone forever!"
Sabo's hand froze for a second before he continued to pet Luffy's hair. "What brought this on?" he asked.
"The fire at the Gray Terminal." the older two shared a look. "I don't like fire." He was silent for a few hours after that, all three just sitting and listening to what was going on around them. At some point, Dogra had come out and given them some food, but they didn't eat it right away. When the sun was right above them, Luffy spoke again, "I had a nightmare last night. Sabo was taken back by his father and Bluejam tricked me and Ace into helping him put explosives around the Gray Terminal. Then, they trapped us and wouldn't let us escape. But then Dadan and the rest showed up and helped us out! But, Ace didn't want to run, so Dadan stayed behind to help him. They didn't come back for a while. When they did come back, though, they were hurt pretty badly. And then Dogra came back and said that a boat was pulling into the Goa Kingdom harbor! Then he said a fishing boat sailed out flying a black flag and was shot by the big boat. He said that Sabo was on the boat and was killed by some guy called a 'Celestial Dragon'." He sniffled, aware that his brothers were staring at him. Luffy knew he shouldn't be telling them about what would've happened if he hadn't refused to go near the Gray Terminal all week, but he couldn't help it. He briefly considered the thought of telling them about Ace's death, but he decided to leave it. He'd have to call one of the den-den numbers he'd been given before telling them anything else.
"Th-there's supposed to be a storm tonight." Sabo said after a few false starts. He was understandably shaken up about the nightmare his younger brother had just shared.
Ace tsked and grabbed the food that had been left for them a while ago, "Nothing we can do about it. All we can do is hope that our base doesn't get too damaged."
Sniffling, Luffy sat up and joined his brothers in eating the meal. Though, he ate a noticeably smaller amount of food than normal. But, it was understandable considering the boy had thrown up only hours beforehand and was still obviously affected by the nightmare. The question weighing on Ace and Sabo's minds now was what had brought up the fear of them forgetting about him. Why would he ever think they could forget about him? They may have only become a trio a little under a year ago, but they could never forget the time they spent together; not even if it killed them.
Once the food was completely gone, the three boys continued to sit in each other's company. They didn't need to speak to one another in order to feel comfortable, and it was nice to just sit for once. Neither of the older two could tell when exactly the bond between them had developed to that extent, but they weren't complaining. Far from it, actually. Now that they'd spent a bit of time with their youngest brother, they couldn't imagine a life without him.
By the time the sun set, the bandit's dog, Pochi, had curled around Luffy and was giving the three boys a dog's equivalent to a purr. It was this scene that Dadan came upon when she came to give the boys some dinner. It wasn't much, but no one had been out to hunt for the day. She didn't have the heart to wake the boys, so she took the food and gave it to her bandits.