Mihawk arrived the next morning, looking as if he'd just waltzed with Death. Luffy normally would have laughed and said that that's not a good look on him, but this was not a normal circumstance. Instead, he opted to run up to help him. He was the only one outside of the house, so he was the first to see the former and present greatest swordsman.
"What happened?" Luffy asked, he's never been one to beat around the bush.
Despite his injuries, Mihawk smirked, "As straightforward as ever, I see." He gladly accepted the young man's help as he hobbled to the barely standing, but safe, building. "I had to take care of some pests that were following Shanks, Marco and myself. They were a bit more than I expected, but I handled them in the end."
Luffy nodded as he sat the older man on the couch in front of the fire, setting his now broken Black Blade beside the man and taking his coat. The man was soaked through to the bone, so Mihawk was glad when Luffy handed him a towel to dry off with. He even let the ghost of a smile show to the captain.
"Mihawk!" Shanks cheered when he saw the man sitting on the couch, "You finally made it!" No one addressed the relief clearly showing on his face and body language at the sight of the man. They all knew that it was a low chance of survival in groups, and an even lower chance alone.
"Of course I did, you idiot. I had to make sure that you bunch of idiots didn't do anything stupid." He set the towel on the arm of the chair and put his hat back on as Bonney and Marco arrived to take care of his wounds, "If you have a plan to leave, you should execute it sooner rather than later; they're getting closer and closer to this place."
Everyone stiffened at his words and Luffy felt a sense of dread fall over him. He didn't let anyone know, but he still felt - even after two years - that this whole mess was his fault. If only he hadn't fired on that damn Celestial Dragon!
"We've got a plan in place." Kidd unknowingly pulled Luffy out of a terrible rabbit hole before he dove too deep.
"Yes," Marco said, "You want to be a part of it?"
"If it's not too much trouble." the swordsman nodded.
Sighing, Law grumbled about having to redo calculations. Luffy looked as his friend and first ally in sympathy. He would help, but he knew he wouldn't be able to. One of the things he couldn't do was run complicated things in his head…or at all. In the middle of a fight, sure. When he's not full of adrenaline, no. Besides, the complicated stuff was always handled by Robin or Jinbe.
"There are two plans," Shanks explained to his friend and rival, "The first is the most complicated and works for the best situation. The second is less complicated, but is for the worst case scenario." Mihawk nodded along, not saying anything as the four Supernovas moved to continue whatever they were doing before. "How old were you when you first almost died?"
Mihwak blinked at the question, but answered regardless, "I was about fourteen." He was weak when he was a child and had only come close to death four times after that. Three of those times had been pushed to the back recesses of his mind, - not forgotten, mind you - but the last time was just before he arrived at this island. He didn't mention any of that, though.
Nodding, Shanks continued, "In order of everyone arriving in the past: You, me, Law, Bonney, Kidd, Luffy, Marco. Plan A, with you added, should go something like this: Me and you will both be in the past by the time of our first meet up in Paradise. We'll exchange den-den numbers. Then, I'll meet Luffy before he arrives and give him both of our den-den numbers at the same time I give him my hat. When he sets off, Law, Kidd, Bonney and Luffy will all be in the past by the time they reach Sabaody for the first time and will meet up there. Marco will be the last one to get there, so we're going to wait to meet up until he gets there. When he does arrive, he'll find us on his own and we'll all exchange den-den numbers." He let his rival absorb the information before he finished the first explanation, "In order to prevent anything like this from happening again, we're simply going to be an inconvenience to our enemies."
Mihawk let a smile slip at that. He'd never heard 'right time, right place' worded like that. He had the strange feeling that Luffy was responsible for the wording.
Shanks noticed the small smile and smirked. He knew repeating Luffy's words would get a reaction out of the stoic swordsman. "Plan B is based on the assumption that we won't be thrown back to when we were first close to death, and that we'll instead be thrown to a random point in time. We'll have to hope that one of the four-" they both knew exactly who 'the four' are, "-will be taken to before they enter the New World. Whoever it is will be in charge of getting everyone's den-den numbers. Me, you and Marco, though, will have to find them on our own."
Mihawk listened intently and absorbed all of the information given to him. These weren't the best plans, especially the second one, but they'd work. He still couldn't quite get his head around time travel, but that wasn't a pressing thought at the moment. Instead, he asked the red head if they had a code word. When asked what he meant, he sighed and said, "A code word or phrase, just to make sure that we've all arrived."
"We didn't think of that." Marco walked back into the room, "But, that'd be a good idea." He then walked out and called everyone back into the building. When everyone was there, he repeated what the hatted swordsman had said.
"What if we use 'Inconvenience to our enemies.' or some variation?" Bonney suggested.
Kidd scoffed but said nothing. It wasn't the best thing to say, and he would feel stupid saying it, but it would work. Law and Luffy shared their agreement. When it was decided that the phrase 'Inconvenience to our enemies' would be used whenever they met, they decided the reaction would be 'Only in the best of ways.'
"It's decided, then." Law spoke up, "When we all arrive in the past, we will use the call and response to make sure we're all here."
Marco, who had been the one to pull the chest from the wreckage and bring up the time travel, walked into the middle of the room and opened the chest for the second time. "This is what we found." He pulled something out of the bottom of the chest and held it up for everyone in the room to see.
It was a beautiful copper and silver astrolabe pendant on a silver chain. A pearl sat in the middle of the necklace. The moving pieces of round, copper rings sat atop a silver map of the stars. Numerals in several different languages that none of them recognised decorated each of the inner, moving rings. The smallest ring and the biggest ring both moved in a counterclockwise motion only, while the middle sized one moved in a clockwise motion. Encompassing the moving rings and the pearl was another copper ring that didn't move. The outer copper ring had signs of the Twelve Stars carved into it. Keeping everything together was a silver ring with three loops at the top.
"It's beautiful." Bonney said, and all of them agreed. As pirates, they naturally like shiny things and like to take what they think is valuable. The only two not entirely affected by this mindset were Mihawk and Luffy. Mihawk because he just didn't care about treasure, and Luffy because that's not what he thinks true treasure is.
Marco, still holding the pendant, asked if everyone was ready to go. After nods of affirmation, Shanks reviewed the plans one last time. Gathering in a circle, Marco held the necklace away from himself and towards the middle of the group. Then, he had Luffy read the engraving on the box. For a long moment, nothing happened. Then, all at once, a bright light overcame them all. Before anyone could react, they all blacked out.
*
When he woke up, Luffy was overtaken with pain. He wondered for a quick second what exactly was happening, but that was quickly thrown out when he realized that the world shouldn't be upside down.
"Forget it!" he heard a voice he hadn't heard in a very long time shout, "Get my sword."
He realized he must've blacked out, or that his heart briefly stopped so he could take over this body. Now that was kind of a scary thought. Too weak to do anything in the state that he was in, he let everything play out how he remembered it to. Though he was used to blood and being threatened and almost dying, he could never get used to the feeling of utter helplessness. Just like last time, the wall burst inwards as his not-yet brothers came to his rescue. He almost started to sob when Ace said that he never backs down. He really did start sobbing when Sabo dropped him to go to Ace. He managed to cover his tears, though, with the story that he was scared and in pain. He didn't stop crying until they were back in the forest.
"That's a nasty habit you've got, Ace." Sabo scolded his friend of six years.
Ace just ignored him. "It just doesn't feel right."
In the silence of the cliff they sat by, Luffy tried to get himself to stop crying. It didn't work very well, though. He just couldn't help it! Ace had died in his arms four years ago, and Sabo had died in front of him a year ago! He was slightly overwhelmed at seeing them, though he should be glad. He has a second chance! He can save them both! That's when something dawned on him. Before he could check his hat for Shanks or Mihawk's den-den number, Ace grabbed his attention.
"Quit crying!" the ten year old yelled as he jumped off the boulder he was sitting on, "I hate crybabies!"
Sniffling, he managed to slow his crying, but the tears still fell silently. There wasn't much he could do about that, though. So, he opted to say, "I'm not a crybaby."
Sabo glanced at him with a look of obvious disbelief while Ace said, "Yes you are!"
"Yeah?" Luffy challenged, vaguely remembering what to say here in order for it to go as it had before, "Have you ever been bunched with a spiked glove?!" He barely noticed the flinch both the older boys gave at the reminder of what they just saved him from.
"He's just being thankful," Sabo jumped back to the topic, "Give him a break."
Ace just scoffed. "Why didn't you tell them where we hid the money? It would've saved you a lot of trouble."
"I thought that if I told them, you wouldn't want to be my friend." his voice cracked when he said that. Ace had been in his life for so long that he couldn't even fathom a life where he wasn't with him. Though, he knew that wouldn't happen. Not if he could help it.
A look of surprise flashed across his face as the kid spoke. "Why do you want to be my friend anyway?" Ace didn't know how to react to this kid, "I gave you such a hard time, why follow me?"
Luffy almost hesitated as he spoke, "Because there's nobody else!" The two older boys look surprised at his words. "I can't go back to Foosha Village and I hate mountain bandits!" he let himself breath before he continued, "If I didn't follow you, then I would've been all alone." Before either of the other boys could interrupt, Luffy hammered the final nail into the coffin, "And being alone hurts worse than being hurt!" Neither ten year old knew exactly how much emotion had been put into those words, but it hit them hard.
Ace folded his arms and asked softly, "What about your parents?"
"Gramps is all I have."
"Is it easier for you when I'm around?"
"Yeah."
"Is it hard without me?"
"Yeah."
Sabo looked at his friend in pity. He knew what the next question was gonna be. Though, he was overly curious about this kid's answer.
"Do you want me to live?"
The look on Luffy's face showed absolute offense, as if he was insulted that Ace would think he didn't like him. "Of course I do!" The conviction in his voice left no room for either of the older boys to doubt him.
"Okay." Ace said, turning away from him, "But I don't like spoiled kids like you."
When Luffy denied the fact that he was spoiled, he and Ace butted heads. He was so lost in the useless argument that he could almost forget his brother had died in his arms when he was seventeen.
"This is great and all." Sabo interrupted the two raven haired boys, "But I've got a real problem here." When the two idiots gave him their attention, he continued, "Where am I supposed to live? Bluejam is gonna have his goons crawling in Middle Forest and the Gray Terminal looking for us. What if I get attacked while I'm asleep?"
The three stood in thought for a few minutes before Luffy suggested Sabo come live with him and Ace. They all grinned at the idea and went running towards the run down hut. Luffy pushed aside the thoughts of what happened to his bandit family and his brothers. He just wanted to relish in the feeling that his brothers are here; the bandits are here; no one is going anywhere for a long time.
It wasn't until his brothers had fallen asleep that he checked his hat for the den-den numbers Shanks should've given him. He grew nervous when he couldn't find them at first. Just as the doom that they'd have to use Plan B settled in his stomach, he found a tiny piece of paper. Sighing, he pulled it out, unfolded it, read the two numbers and put it back in its place before falling asleep next to his brothers.
*
It was surreal, waking up next to his not-yet brothers. Though, he didn't wake them up yet. He like Dadan's reaction to Sabo and he unashamedly wanted to see it again. So, he laid back down and pretended to sleep. About an hour later, the ginger haired woman came into the room and stared in surprise.
"One, Two, Three…huh?" She counted several more times. "Ace, Luffy, huh?" Before she gave herself a headache, she yelled at the two boys sent by Garp to live with her, "Ace! Luffy! Who is this?!"
Luffy sat up first, "Huh? Who's who?" Then, he fell back into his fake sleep.
Next was Ace, "You're too loud!" He, too, fell back to sleep.
Sabo, however, got up, which got the other two to finally wake themselves fully. "I'm Sabo!"
"Sabo, huh?" Dadan raised an eyebrow, "You're that brat Ace talked about."
"Ace told me that you're an old hag!" he smiled brightly at her as he spoke, "A real man among men!"
"I'm a woman!"
"Oh, yeah? Well, you knowing about me makes this easier. Thank you for taking care of me from today!" He took her hand in a handshake before she could stop him.
He stepped back and she yelled, "Who said you could stay here?!" Neither Ace, Sabo or Luffy answered her verbally. All Sabo did was let out a fart. "Don't answer with a fart!"
The three boys ignored her as they ran out of the building and into the forest. It was going to be a good day, they could just tell. Before they got too far, though, Sabo turned around and called, "Oh, yeah! Dadan!" when she gave him her attention, he finished, "We got a bit mixed up with Bluejam's crew, so they might come by here!" Then, he turned around and the boys ran further into the forest.
It was a good few days for Luffy. He was getting to spend time with his brothers and he was able to push the last two years out of his mind for the time being. Before he knew it, Makino and Woop Slap had come to the bandit hut to visit Luffy. She measured the three boys to make them some more clothes. When she was done, she made dinner for the bandits. Luffy completely forgot about Garp's surprise visit tonight.
"What did I tell you about spouting that pirate nonsense?" Ace and Luffy froze when they heard his voice. "I told you two that you're going to be Marines!" He used trace amounts of Haki when he hit their heads, not enough to leave lasting damage, but enough to hurt them a bit. Then, he turned to the blond boy, "Did you say something about being a pirate, too, squirt?"
Luffy decided to do as he had last time and make Sabo get hit, too. It was only fair. "He's not a squirt! He's Sabo and we agreed that we're gonna all set out and become pirates when we're older!"
Garp gained a dangerous look in his eye as he said, "Oh?" Then he hit Sabo's head, too, "I'm not gonna let any of you become pirates!" The three boys took that as their cue to run away.
Garp chased the three for about an hour before turning around and going back to the bandit's hut. Ace, Sabo and Luffy, however, continued to run until it started to rain. The boys decided to take shelter under the roots of a big tree. Comfortable with each other's warmth, the three fell asleep together; Ace on the left, Luffy in the middle and Sabo on the right. Luffy hadn't felt this peaceful in a long time.
*
The morning came and the rainstorm left. Sabo was the first to awaken out of the three. Seeing the sky and the early morning sun, he crawled out of the small root cave they'd slept in. He stared at the tree for a long few minutes before an idea came to him. Pulling a piece of bark off of a nearby tree and a twig he dipped in mud, the blond ten year old started to haphazardly draw the blueprints for a treehouse.
When Ace and Luffy woke up, they crawled out of the cave and up to Sabo, who worked tirelessly on the blueprints.
"What's that?" the seven year old pointed to the large piece of bark in question.
"Our secret base!" Sabo smiled proudly as he finished. Amazingly, all three boys could imagine the same thing: A wooden base high up in the branches of the large tree. They'd either make a rope ladder or carve footholds into the tree to get up; the small clearing they stood in would be filled with logs to sit on and a large campfire. The base itself would wrap halfway around the tree and have a crows nest overlooking the whole island. It was perfect. Now, they had to build it. Luckily for them, Luffy picked up a few things from Franky and Usopp, not that he'd ever tell them that.
It took a little over a week for them to build and complete their secret base. Every night, they slept under the roots after having a campfire meal of whatever they caught and killed. Every morning, they went to the Gray Terminal after breakfast and gathered materials to build with. The rest of the day was spent building their base in the tree. By the end of the eighth day, they were ready to move in. So, they climbed the rope ladder up to the top and all climbed into the crow's nest. There, they tied a black piece of cloth with ASL painted on it in big white, surprisingly neat, letters. This was their forest, and this was their way of staking their claim on it.
"It's beautiful," Sabo said as he stared out at the sea, his brothers joining his gaze. The sun wasn't setting yet, but the way it made the ocean sparkle with no breaks gave them all a sense of peace.
"Luffy!" Ace called, "Man the sails!"
Despite every part of him that screamed 'I'm the captain, you don't get to order me around!', Luffy cheered, "Okay!"
Again, Ace yelled, "Sabo, take our heading!"
"Right!"
The boys played for the remaining hours of the day. It was refreshing for all three of them. Ace was finally able to act like a kid, Sabo didn't have to worry about his parents looming over him with responsibilities, and Luffy was able to return to simpler times. When the sun was almost below the horizon, the three boys collapsed on the floor of their now finished secret base and laughed.
"I want this to last forever." Luffy said, almost asleep. He hadn't felt this relaxed and safe in a long time.
"It won't be able to," Sabo sat up, "We're all gonna set out to be pirates, right? If we do, then we won't be able to play like this."
"I know," the seven year old sighed as he let sleep overtake him, "But that doesn't mean I can't dream."
When the smallest of the three fell asleep, the two ten year olds threw a blanket over him and moved to the crow's nest to talk.
"There's something up with him." Ace said, Sabo agreed, "But what?"
"I don't know!" Sabo ruffled his hair in frustration.
"He looks so lonely when he thinks we don't notice. Why does he look like that?" Ace thought out loud, "He said he doesn't have anyone else but gramps, but the way he looks at the sea says differently."
"Yeah," the blond nodded, "And when I first went to stay with you guys, he took a piece of paper out of his hat." He noticed the look of confusion on his raven haired friend's face, so he said, "It had numbers on it."
"So?"
"So, that's probably a den-den number!"
"What's a den-den?"
"Doesn't matter right now-"
"Is it that dead snail thing we found a while back?"
"Yes, but that's-"
"Oh! Okay, I know what it is now."
"Listen!" Sabo huffed, "If that is a den-den number, then there's somebody waiting for him to call. Which means, he's not alone."
Ace's expression grew dark. That brat lied to him; them. How dare he! Standing, he jumped down before Sabo could stop him and went to wake Luffy up. But, he was caught off guard by the tears falling from the younger's eyes.
"Ace!" Sabo hissed when he came up beside his fellow, "What's- oh. Why's he crying?"
"I don't know."
"He was so happy, earlier…why's he crying?"
"I don't know, Sabo."
Neither of them said anything for a long moment as they watched Luffy sleep. He didn't toss and turn, but he did bring a hand up to rest on the hat laying next to him. As if it was some sort of invisible hug, his tears slowed to a stop. The only thing that gave away his dream were the tear stains on his face. Just as the two older not-yet brothers laid down on either side of the youngest, they heard him mumble out, "I'm sorry, please don't go." They didn't say anything as they fell asleep. They did come to a silent agreement to always protect him, though, lies be damned.
*
The three hunted alligator for breakfast the next morning. Nothing was said about the two's discovery the previous night, and they planned to keep it like that. They knew that he probably didn't want to talk about it if he had, in fact, lied, so they didn't push the topic. Instead, Sabo suggested taking the alligator hide into Town Center to sell. With the promise of ramen from Ace, they got themselves a cloak and wagon and headed to the Goa Kingdom capitol.
Just as they entered Edge Town, some guys with knives leaked out of the shadows and surrounded the boys. "Hey, old man," one of them said, "You'll give us that gator skin and everything you have if you know what's good for you."
Ace smirked from his place on Sabo's shoulders, "You guys should be a lot more careful about who you gang up on." Throwing off the cloak, the three brothers got in battle ready positions, their metal pipes at the ready.
"Shit!" another of the men yelled, the whole group backing away, "It's Ace and Sabo!"
Before the men could get away, the three beat them up and took any money they had on them. It wasn't much, but it would be added to their pirate fund. The two older boys didn't notice Luffy taking and hiding a knife in his pocket. That would come in handy at some point, Luffy thought. After they dusted themselves off, the boys restacked themselves, put the cloak back on, and continued on their way to sell the gator hide.
At first, they were avoided like they had a plague. The nobles all covered their mouths and noses, as if scared to breathe the air around this new person. The boys were unfazed as they continued on their way, eventually they found a shop that would take the gator skin.
With more money in their pockets, Ace took his friends to a restaurant. "I'd like a private room, please."
"Of course," the man smiled. Then, he opened his eyes and got a look at his newest customer, "Wait! You-you can't come in here!"
Before Luffy could complain, Sabo held out his arm, "I'd like a private room."
The shock on the man's face when he saw the engraving on the silver pendant almost made Luffy laugh.
"Oh! I'm sorry, sir! I didn't realize you were a noble! Please, right this way." The boys followed after the man as he led them to the third floor and into a private room. Shortly after he left, a young girl came in and asked for an order. Sabo said he wants three orders of ramen. Without questioning it, the waitress bowed and left the room.
"How'd you get us in?" Luffy asked.
"Yeah," Ace agreed, "What was that you showed him?
Sabo rubbed the back of his head, "I found it in the trash. It looked important, so I grabbed it." He was glad when the two accepted his answer.
It didn't take long for the lady to return with their ramen. They waited until she left before they dug in.
"This is really good!" Luffy exclaimed. Ace smiled, glad his youngest friend liked the meal.
It didn't take long for the three to order more ramen. Every time the waitress came in, she didn't question anything. Either because of ignorance, or fear, they didn't know, but were glad. They didn't know how they were going to explain their way out of it.
Their eleventh order of ramen came in, and Luffy didn't even try to hide his powers. Stretching his arms, he grabbed the tray for the waitress. Having never seen a Devil Fruit power, she screamed and ran out of the room.
"Good going, idiot!" Ace scolded as the three practically inhaled their food. Just as they finished, the chef and the host ran into the room. "Time to go!" was yelled and the three boys grabbed their pipes and jumped out of the window, shattering it in the process.
"Stop them!" the host yelled from the window, "They're thieves!"
The boys only laughed as they ran down the street, dodging and weaving between people. They knew no one could catch up to them, but they didn't slow or stop. The only time they hesitated and looked back was when a man dressed in blue and a top hat called out to them.
"Sabo?" the man stared and the boys looked back at him, "Sabo! You're alive!" He started to hurry after them as he yelled, "Come back home!"
"You know him?" Ace asked.
Sabo shook his head, "No. He must be mistaking me for someone else."
Neither raven haired boy took the bait on this lie, but they didn't say anything as they continued to run out of Town Center. They slowed a bit as they left Edge Town, but they didn't stop moving until they were out of the Gray Terminal. No one said a word as they made their way to the cliff where they'd officially become friends several weeks before.
"Spill it." Ace said to Sabo the second they got to the cliff, "Who was that guy?"
Sabo hesitated before he answered. Ace almost yelled at Luffy when he found out he might've lied. What would he do when he found out that Sabo had lied?
"Well?" the freckled boy tapped his foot.
Sighing, Sabo accepted his fate. "I lied. I'm not an orphan of the Gray Terminal… That man was my father." The blond didn't look up as he continued, "I'm sorry I lied and said my parents were dead! I just- I didn't want to go back there!"
"So?" Ace raised an eyebrow.
"I'm the son of a noble!" Sabo yelled.
"Who is?" Luffy tilted his head.
"I am!" The tears were now gone from his eyes. He wasn't scared that his friend of six years would leave anymore.
"So? That doesn't matter." When Ace said that, Sabo was filled with relief. He wasn't mad at him for lying. Ace looked both of his not-yet brothers in the eye and said, "Listen. When we set out, I'm gonna make a name for myself. I'm gonna be known by everyone throughout the entire world!"
Sabo, kind of understanding what was going on, followed up with, "I'm gonna travel the entire world when I set out, and write a book about my adventures!"
Luffy smiled at his not-yet brothers. Then, he ran to the edge of the cliff with a hand on his hat and yelled, "I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!" He'd done it once before, he was gonna do it again. This time, with a lot less fighting and war and bloodshed.
Ace and Sabo started to laugh when they got over their surprise, "Yeah, sure."
"You sure are a weird kid." The three continued to laugh with each other for a few minutes before Sabo brought up a good point, "It's fine that we all want to become pirates, but we can't all be the captain."
Ace nodded, "I had planned on you being my navigator, Sabo."
"No!" Luffy yelled, "You guys need to be on my ship!" He knew they'd never join his crew, and he was admittedly glad for that. He loves his brothers, but they can be very protective sometimes. Also, he wouldn't have had nearly as much fun with his crew if Ace and Sabo had been looming over him the whole time.
"What?!" the two yelled, "As if!"
Luffy only laughed. He knew this would happen, but it didn't change a thing. He wasn't angry they had decided to go elsewhere. The places they ended up made them better than being together ever could've.
*
Luffy woke up between his brothers the next morning, Ace's left arm under his head as a pillow and Sabo's right arm holding the blanket up on his chest. It was weird, they never acted like this last time, not even after they became brothers. It was strange, but comforting. Closing his eyes, he went back to sleep. The memories of the last few weeks playing on repeat.
Ace woke up soon after Luffy fell asleep again. He carefully moved his arm out from under the seven year old's head and gave his not-yet brothers his blanket. Then, he quietly moved around the secret base and gathered a few things. After claiming down, he ran to the cliff where they declared their dreams the day before and put the red cups he'd stolen on a stump near the edge of the clearing. The last thing he did for preparations was run to Dadan's hut and steal an unopened bottle of sake. He left it at the cliff before returning to the base just before the other two woke up. When they did, he had them follow him to their cliff.
"What're you on about, Ace?" Sabo yawned.
Ignoring his friend's question, Ace simply laid out the three cups in a triangle, "Did you know that when men share a drink, they become brothers?" Realization hit Luffy and a grin split his face as he picked up his sakazuki cup, Sabo doing the same. Ace poured a bit of sake in each of the three cups. Together, they lifted their drinks. "From now on," Ace announced with a smile, "even if we end up on different ships, we're brothers!" The three clinked their cups together before drinking. They would all remember this vow, no matter what!
Finishing their drinks, the three nearly gaged as the liquid burned their throats. Luffy had never liked the taste of alcohol, and this was one of the only times he'd ever drink it. Any other time someone would offer, he'd turn it down. Even if his crew all had a high alcohol tolerance, they could drink themselves under tables if they wanted, and someone needed to be awake and alert. Besides, he'd seen hangovers before and he did not want to go through that.
"I wonder where we'll end up going from here?" Sabo said from beside Luffy, the three now laying on their backs in the grass.
"I don't know," Ace said, "But I'm not gonna take orders from anyone." Luffy almost laughed.
In the middle of the relaxed atmosphere, Sabo decided to ask what had been weighing on his mind for a few days, "Luffy?"
"Hm?"
"When I first went to stay with you and Ace, I saw you take a piece of paper from your hat. What's that about?"
Luffy stiffened, noticed by his brothers, before he relaxed and answered, "Shanks's den-den number. He said to call him when I set off because he has something for me."
Both older boys bought it and let the matter drop. Then, it was Ace's turn to speak, "You keep mentioning this 'Shanks' guy, who is he?"
A proud look entered Luffy's eyes as he spoke, "He saved my life." His hand went to his left arm where he knew Shanks' was missing, "And he inspired my dream." He thought for a second before he added, "He told me he was a cabin boy on Gold Roger's ship, too."
Ace froze at this little tidbit of information. His kid brother knows the cabin boy on his father's ship? Impossible! The whole crew was rumored to have died after Gold Roger disbanded it! But, Luffy can't lie to save his life, literally, so he must be telling the truth. Ah! This is too confusing!
"Really?" Sabo asked. Maybe, if Luffy knows someone from Roger's crew, then he could change Ace's opinion of himself! Sabo didn't know what he would do if he had to watch a bar full of drunks unknowingly insult Ace right to his face again.
"Yeah! Shanks said that Captain Roger was the best captain he could've ever asked for." Luffy knew what Sabo was doing and what was going through Ace's head, but he didn't care either way. He normally doesn't get the chance to gush about his hero and his captain, so he was gonna take this opportunity and roll with it, "He could read a weird language that no one else could, and they had parties all the time!" The three boys sat in a circle as Luffy continued, "Shanks said that Captain Roger and Captain Whitebeard got into a fight once, and that they didn't even cross blades before their raw power exploded!"
The two ten year olds could practically feel the admiration Luffy held as he spoke. Who it was for, they didn't know. Ace hoped that none of that was towards his father, though. No matter how much anyone tried to change his mind, he would always hate his father. Sabo, on the other hand, was happy to hear about another side to Roger. It was refreshing to hear about the former Pirate King from someone who obviously doesn't hate him, even if it's from a second hand source. Both older boys noticed that Luffy always referred to Gold Roger as 'Captain Roger', and not anything else. Not even Shanks was referred to as 'captain'!
"If Captain Roger had a kid," Luffy said, catching both of his brothers' attention, "I would want to meet them. I bet they'd be really strong and really fun to hang out with." He stood up and walked to the edge of the cliff, not once looking at his brothers, "I'd want to share a drink with them."
No one spoke for a long few minutes. Luffy was still staring out at the setting sun, lost in the stories Shanks and Reighlay had told him about their captain. Ace and Sabo, on the other hand, were staring at Luffy. Now they for sure knew there was something weird about Luffy. There was no way that he could know who Ace's father was, so did he say all of that just because? It baffled them.
Sabo decided he didn't want to let Ace fall down that dangerous rabbit hole they both knew so well. But, when he turned to shake Ace out of his thoughts, he found a small tear falling from his brother's eye. Sabo just looked back at Luffy. Whatever had compelled him to say that, obviously was right.
When the sun had fully set, Luffy finally turned to face his brothers. To his surprise, they had both fallen asleep. Smiling with a look he started to wear two years before traveling through time, he carefully picked up his older brothers and walked back to their secret base. He laid them in the cave under the roots before climbing up and grabbing a few blankets. Then, he went back to the cliff and grabbed the sakazuki cups and the sake so he could put them in their secret base. Again, he looked out at the sea and a song Brook used to sing came to his mind.
"Cruel and cold, like winds of the seas; You will never return to me. Hear my voice, sing with the tide. Our love will never die." The story behind the song was explained to him once by Robin. It made him sad when he first heard it, but he didn't really feel too bad for the guy. Davy Jones was apparently a bad man. "Over waves and deep in the blue, I will give up my heart for you! Ten long years, I'll wait to go by, our love will never die. Come, my love, be one with the sea; Rule with me for eternity! Drown all dreams so mercilessly, and leave their souls to me." He didn't really understand that line, even after Robin had explained it to him. When he asked Jinbe what it meant, he explained that Davy Jones had become a pirate in order to escape the authorities. Apparently, according to the fishman, he wanted someone to rule the seas with him until the end of time. Again, Luffy asked what he meant, and Jinbe asked him if he believed in the legend of the Fountain of Youth. "Play the song you sang long ago! And wherever the storm may blow, you will find the key to my heart; We'll never be apart. Wild and strong; you can't be contained! Never bound, nor ever chained! Wounds you cause will never mend, and you will never end." No one gave him an answer when he asked what that line meant, so he gave up on trying to figure it out. Maybe Captain Whitebeard would know? "Cruel and cold, like winds on the seas, you will never return to me. Hear my voice and sing with the tide, our love will never," Luffy realized that he had made it back to the secret base and that his brothers were now listening to him, "die."
"I didn't peg you as a singer." Ace commented after a second of silence.
Luffy blushed and launched his arm up to hoist himself into the secret base. He was so embarrassed! He didn't think they'd be awake when he got back! He was hoping they'd sleep through until tomorrow morning.
"Hey!" Sabo smiled as his head popped into Luffy's view. The said raven haired boy had curled himself in a nest of blankets in the corner after putting the cups and drink down near the window. "Y'know, me and Ace haven't ever heard someone sing like that. Where'd you learn?"
Luffy didn't answer. He can't lie, and he didn't want to tell the truth because Shanks and Marco said not to, so he stayed silent. Though, when he meets his brothers when he sets sail, he'll gladly tell them that Brook was the one who taught him to sing. Luffy would tell his brothers that his skeletal musician got tired of Luffy singing out of key and worked him to the bone to get him to sing properly. Pun obviously intended.
Sabo sighed when he didn't get an answer and crawled closer to his younger brother. "Hey," he said, "Did Shanks and his crew teach you that song?"
"Nu-hu," Luffy shook his head.
Ace then climbed up and threw more blankets on the pile Luffy was buried in, "What songs did they teach you?"
Luffy wasn't sure how to feel about this new development. While he loves the attention his brothers were giving him this time, it wasn't what he remembered and he didn't know what to do. He figured he'd have to call Shanks or Mihawk and ask them about it. But, he answered his brother's question, "They really only taught me one song called 'Bink's Sake'. The rest, I heard them singing and just kinda picked 'em up."
The blond leaned his back against the pile of blankets and pulled one off for himself, "Do you know any other songs?"
"I've heard a couple from the villagers in Foosha, yeah. Why?"
"You should sing one." Ace said, also pulling a blanket for himself and leaning against the pile.
Luffy was about to deny him, but quickly changed his mind. There's not a lot that his brothers ever praised him for, so if they liked his singing enough to compliment it, then he was gonna make Brook a proud teacher. He opened his mouth and started to quietly sing, "Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling from glen to glen, and down the mountain side. The summer's gone, and all the roses falling, it's you, it's you must go and I must bide. But come ye back when summer's in the meadow, or when the valley's hush or white with snow. It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow. Oh, Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so!" He listened for a second to see if his brothers were asleep. When Sabo asked if that was all, he continued, "But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying; If I am dead, as dead I well may be, you'll come and find the place where I am laying, and kneel and say an Ave for me. And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me; And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be, for you will bend and tell me that you love me. And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me." This time, his brothers were actually asleep. Luffy hadn't had anyone to sing to or with in a while, so singing to his brothers brought a tear to his eye. Quietly, he hummed the song to himself as he, too, fell asleep.