The things that scare us the most are those we cannot avoid.
Change is one of them.
Luffy ignoring his brothers' warnings is another. "It's not fair! They always devour me!" Luffy complained while Ace scolded him for jumping into the river for the fourth time this week. The crocodiles never failed to eat him, however they never managed to digest him, thanks to his brother's.
"That's what happens to weaklings crybabies like you," Ace mocked Luffy, who immediately protested, "I'm not a crybaby!"
"Yes, you are!"
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are!"
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are!"
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are!" A blow to the head stopped Ace's shouts. "Stop fighting over nonsense!" Added an annoyed Sabo, to which the brothers reluctantly nodded.
After that short dispute, they quickly resumed their path to that little treehouse that always welcomed them with open arms. "Ace, don't you think you should be less harsh on Lu?" Sabo suggested to his brother, who responded dejectedly, "But Bo..." To this, Sabo gave him a look of understanding.
"I know, Ace..."
This twisted Ace's stomach, who finally decided to respond, "I'll try, but if he does something stupid again, you can be sure I'll kick his butt!" At that response, Sabo couldn't help but facepalm.
"I said be less harsh, and you come out with that?" Sabo started. He was ready to pull his brother's ears when he realized something. "Wait, where's Luffy?"
They both stopped in their tracks, realizing their little brother was missing. Anguish struck them in the blink of an eye. They didn't take long to go looking for him.
When they found him, Luffy was lying on the floor with a red, sweaty, and deplorable face. He looked like a tomato soup about to boil. "Sabo, what's wrong with him?" Ace asked, desperate not knowing what to do.
"I'm not a doctor, but it's clear he has a fever. The best thing to do is to carry him home," Sabo suggested.
Without needing to be asked, Ace carried Luffy on his back. To his surprise, Luffy was very still throughout the journey. That wasn't normal; it was different, a change that gave Ace goosebumps. But he trusted it would be the last change of the day.
"He doesn't seem to be getting better," Sabo placed his hand on Luffy's hot forehead. "What are we supposed to do?" He asked Ace, noticing that despite reaching the house and trying everything they could think of, nothing seemed to help. On the contrary, their brother's breathing started to worsen. This led them to several arguments that ended with Ace making a rather crazy decision. Instead of asking for help, as was usual with Ace's pride, he decided to go to Edge Town on his own, looking for medicines to steal.
In the pharmacy, there didn't seem to be anyone paying attention, which was the perfect moment for his theft. Or so he thought until he saw the absurd amount of medications. Ace didn't know what to take, so he grabbed a bit of everything and prepared to run when a lady grabbed him by the shirt.
"Don't think you're going to fool me..." The lady tightened her grip, making it impossible for Ace to escape. Apparently, she worked at the pharmacy and wasn't ready to get fired because of a kid.
"Let me go, damn it!" Ace snapped, trying to free himself from her grip.
"Sorry, but stealing is stealing. You'll have to return everything you took if you want to leave in peace," the lady concluded seriously.
"Who do you think you are to give me orders?" A furious and agitated Ace asked.
"Me? Your worst nightmare if you don't listen!" The lady didn't seem like she was going to give in either.
She ended up forcibly taking back what was stolen, something that exhausted Ace's patience. Making him shout and try to free himself even more aggressively. To the point where he bit the lady's arm.
But nothing seemed to work.
"I need to leave! Let..me..go!" Ace's voice started to break. He tried to hold back the tears by biting his lip. But it was in vain the desperation had consumed him. Change terrifies, especially when it's one where his brothers aren't there to accompany him. It is also terrifying to fail them. He had to return with those medicines, or he wouldn't know how to face Sabo.
"Why?" The lady asked.
"My little brother is sick..." Ace admitted, embarrassed.
"So? Your plan is to give him random medicines? Do you think that's a good idea? If the illness doesn't kill him, you will," she said bluntly.
The realization petrified Ace.
"So what the hell am I supposed to do?!" He shouted in desperate anguish that consumed every part of his tiny being.
"I have a proposal for you. How about you show me where your brother is?" The question took Ace by surprise. He wasn't a naive fool like his little brother; he wouldn't take a complete stranger to where his brothers were.
"From what little I've seen of your attitude, I know you won't ask for help. So let me give it to you." Even so, he ended up doing it.
On the Tree House some time later.
Sabo panicked; his brother was having convulsions.
"Sabo, what's happening? Why are you panicking?..." Ace asked, arriving at the house after what seemed like an eternity for the blonde. Sabo was about to respond when he noticed someone next to his brother. "Who is she?" He asked.
"It's true, I never asked for your name," Ace asked the lady who had promised to help them.
"You can call me Palila," responded the now known as Palila.
"What do you say we start with your brother's examination?" She said with a smile. She was determined to help these children.
Time skip, Palila perspective.
It was a miracle that the little one was still alive by the time she arrived to check on him. The disease he had contracted kills an adult in about four days. For this child to have survived all this time, he must have had tremendous willpower. Even so, that only bought him a few extra days. This is a disease with no existing cure, so she had to notify his brothers that their youngest sibling was going to die. Just the thought of doing so made her wish she had never caught the medicine thief. It was like seeing a painful reflection of her own past. A little brother saying goodbye to his older sibling, leaving them with a void that not even the happiest song could fill.
She wouldn't allow it. She had to use her secret to save him. If she didn't, she could never forgive herself for not preventing an older sibling from losing their little brother.
Not while she was around. Besides, she had promised Ace that she would help, and she always kept her promises.
"I can cure him," she assured the brothers while wiping Luffy's sweaty face with a cloth.
"I'll trust you, but if this turns out to be some kind of scam, consider yourself dead!" Ace warned or affirmed, whichever it was, she had been warned.
"I won't die, because I don't lie," she made it clear while trying to give her best smile.
Time passed as slowly as those freezing winter nights, but she managed to get the little one to recover enough for his brothers to start complaining about their noisy little brother. Even so, those same complaints alleviated the brothers' anxiety. It was something normal, not something unknown and new that they didn't know how to handle. At that point, they had nothing left but to thank her for her services.
"I want to eat!" Luffy complained, as was his usual.
"Quiet, Luffy! Miss, would you like to stay and eat with us?" To his surprise, the older brother offered to stay for a meal after having silenced his brother as a form of thanks.
End of her perspective.
From that day on, Palila was present in the lives of the brothers. Therefore, she soon noticed several things that did not sit well with her.
"Have you been living without supervision?!" she asked, bewildered.
"And is that relevant, because?" responded a confused Ace.
"It doesn't matter, I'm going to do what I want, and that is..." Palila smiled with a capricious grin. Ace was not happy with this change in their lives, nor was Sabo, who for the first time in his life agreed with him. The only one who was more than happy was Luffy.
"Nice lady, you're back!" he shouted excitedly every time she came to see them, unlike his resigned brothers. "Can you remind me why we let her come?" Ace asked with a grumpy tone, complaining about why they had agreed to let Palila accompany them on their morning hunt.
"She was too insistent," Sabo replied resignedly. Ace frowned at this.
"It's always the same with her! I'm not a crybaby like Luffy! I don't need anyone's supervision!" Ace complained furiously at the mere thought of being treated like Luffy.
"You know, I think it's not so bad that she's coming to supervise us," Sabo admitted with a slight smile spreading across his face.
"Why?" Ace asked, curious, not understanding what his brother was getting at.
"Think about it, once she sees us fight together, she'll realize we don't need her protection," a confident Sabo commented.
Ace returned a mischievous smile, now understanding that this was their chance to get rid of her.
Once they finished their conversation, they headed to the river. As usual, Luffy quickly made his leap of faith: "Crocodile meat!" without caring in the least about his brothers' shouts. The brothers prepared their pipes to face the crocodile, but the lady caught their little brother mid-jump, just before he hit the water.
They had already jumped, so they fell into the water. Luffy, being in her arms, didn't get wet, unlike her, who felt the icy water touching her skin, while a certain feeling of exhaustion consumed her. Even so, her embrace never lessened its grip.
The crocodile soon refocused its attention on the now-pair. It ground its sharp teeth in time with the growling of its hungry stomach as it prepared to attack. With the calm of a turtle, the lady locked eyes with the crocodile. Those seconds were the most unsettling for the children, but terrifying for the crocodile, which fled in fear.
"It's like what Shanks did!" Luffy quickly compared the situation to the time the redhead saved his life from the sea king.
"Don't scare me like that, little one," Palila said as she carefully emerged from the river with him in her arms. And with the same care, once out, she began checking that he didn't have a single scratch.
"She's really reliable," Sabo was impressed by the demonstration the lady had just given. "Really? I'm much more reliable..." Ace declared.
Throughout the day, Palila saved the brothers on several occasions, facing a giant caterpillar and even a bear. However, the most amazing thing was her knowledge, preventing Luffy from poisoning himself with some berry that caught his attention. As expected, this irritated Ace, who tried to prevent such events, but she was always faster, smarter, and more reliable. This was unusual for him, as he was not used to someone being more reliable than him.
Well, maybe Sabo.
Since her arrival, he no longer needed to try to be the fastest, the strongest, or the most reliable to protect his brothers. He was left without purpose because someone was fulfilling his duty more effectively. With the moon rising in the sky and the crickets singing their nightly song, Palila soon prepared a delicious dinner for everyone. Irritated, he retreated to a cave in search of solitude.
While his brothers enjoyed the dinner and Palila seemed surprised, she decided to propose something. "How about I tell you one of my many adventures?." Luffy quickly agreed, excited.
"Ace, doesn't that sound fun?" Luffy asked Ace, hopping with joy. Or so he thought until he realized his older brother was missing. "Huh? And Ace?" Luffy wondered aloud before going to complain to Sabo about his brother's absence.
Ace perspective.
Throughout his life, Ace has relied on himself to survive, at least until his brothers arrived. However, although he knows he can rely on them, it doesn't change the fact that he is the oldest. This implies one thing: he must keep them safe from any danger, no matter the consequences. It will always be this way, it has to be. But that lady arrived and changed everything. He is no longer the oldest, and now she even makes him question whether he is even needed.
Who is he trying to fool?
The only one who needs someone is him, someone to protect him from himself. Because he is a demon...
He depends on his brothers as much as they depend on him...
Right?
But then again, he is a demon. Wouldn't they be better off without him?
"Will you no longer be sad if I'm by your side?" Ace remembered asking Luffy that one thing he wanted to know so much.
If Roger had a son, it would be a real problem if someone like that existed! — The man answered amid mockery and laughter.
"Yes!" Luffy replied.
He wouldn't be allowed to be born, much less live! He would be a demon! — was what those drunkards said.
"Do you want me to live?" Ace asked.
"Of course!" Luffy affirmed through tears that he needed him. Of course they need me. Luffy hates being alone, and if just by existing he makes him happy, then he will.
But even so, he doubts that anyone else besides his clumsy little brother, or Sabo, could accept him with all his faults.
"Is everything alright, little one?" Palila asked as she stood outside the cave.
Ace looked up only to meet the eyes of that meddlesome leech. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked again, making him squirm in place. "Why do you pretend to care?!" he replied angrily, but it came out so soft it was barely audible.
"You know, you're doing an excellent job taking care of your brothers. If there's one thing I've learned these days, it's that they are an endless source of mischief," she said.
"Of course I'm doing it well! They are my responsibility!" he admitted loudly, mixing determination in his voice. "They are, but that doesn't change the fact that you're just a kid taking care of other kids." She stated, leaving Ace silent for minutes.
While grinding his teeth, kicking the dirt with his feet, or furrowing his brow, he felt the weight of reality. He had no other choice, it didn't have to be rubbed in. It's just the three of them; they have no one else. Dadan is an old witch and Garp is a crazy old man. He is a demon, and even so, he is the best he can offer to his brothers.
"Ace, it's no longer just the three of you," Palila added, making him turn to look her in the eyes. He found softness and understanding in them. He couldn't resist the temptation to come out of his hiding place. As soon as he did, he was met with a tender embrace, warm and understanding like a mother's.
"How about we go back to the house, I'll tell you some stories, and then I'll tuck you in to sleep?" she asked as she lifted him in her arms, like a tiger carrying its cub to its pack, where no one could hurt it. "Just the four of us," she began, only for Ace to finish, "together."