Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“My God, who in their right mind looks at a snow-covered mountain and goes ‘Oh, geez, this looks like a great place to hang out!’? It’s not a place you just think of hiding out in.” Ace gripped with a grin, holding onto his hat, “And it’s a little chilly.”

“Shut up, you’re made of fire, Ace. I’m freezing!” Sabo grunted, though he agreed with his brother’s remark if only a little, “And you’re just wearing shorts!”

The Island the Red-Hair Pirates currently made their residence was cold and harsh, but they were almost there, and Sabo would be damned if he gave up now. The half of the crew that followed them up the mountain resembled human popsicles by the time they found a cave with pirates filling the space.

Luffy had decided to stay down at the ship with a few crew members to keep him company, dedicated to sticking to his and Shanks’ promise despite how much he wanted to see the older pirate. He even argued about stopping by that particular island when Ace first mentioned it, whining about how it was unfair since he couldn’t see Shanks. He even said it was like dangling meat in front of him and expecting him to not eat it, which Sabo was slightly proud of. His brother knew how to make metaphors, even if they were reduced to being food related.

The Red-Hair Pirates all stopped their partying when they walked in, their gazes calculating as their hands fell to their weapons. Sabo kept a straight face and walked by Ace with confidence he certainly didn’t feel in his steps. If the crew around them decided they were a threat, there was little Ace and Sabo could do against their attacks. They weren’t part of an Emperor’s crew because they were weak, after all.

“ASL Pirates, huh. So, you’re the rookies everyone’s talking about.” Shanks said, eyes dark and calculating as he adjusted his sword, pulling the scabbard into view, “Came to say hello?”

“Ah, no it’s not that!” Ace said, waving a hand, “Our little brother used to go on and on about how you saved him when he was a kid.”

“We’re here to say, ‘thank you’.” Sabo finished, grinning warily and bowing his head without thinking into the action.

“Luffy?” Shanks’ demeaner changed instantly, a bright grin taking form on his face. “Well damn, I didn’t know he had brothers! Come on in, it’s nice to meet ya!” And then he turned to his crew, “This calls for a party!”

Food was laid out and drinks passed around. Sabo relaxed when he saw how the two crews mingled and turned back to Red-Haired Shanks while nursing his beer. He couldn’t really see a man who sat at a bar, laughing at a five-year-old and calling him friend, nor could he see a man who would dive head-first into a Sea King for said kid, in Red Haired Shanks. But, nonetheless, Sabo was grateful for the pirate in front of him.

“Before we get to the fun stuff,” Shanks said, grinning with steel in his eyes, “I have a question for you two.”

Sabo nodded, “Of course.” It was the least he could do after everything Shanks did and sacrificed for Luffy.

Shanks reached for something in his cloak, and a rolled-up paper was retreated. Unrolled, it showed Luffy’s first wanted poster. 

Sabo hated that slip of paper more than anything, and he felt the burns on his face, the burns running down his neck and arm flare at the memory of that particular incident. Luffy was young there, seven, almost eight, bloodied with tears in his eyes, but his chin tilted back in determination, eyes filled with anger and frustration and so much grief.

At the edge of the picture, one could see that he was clinging to someone with blue clothes, and anyone who knew the brothers and had their trust would know he was clinging to a barely alive Sabo while staring down the barrel of a gun. All three of them had gotten wanted posters from when that incident, but it made sense that Shanks would just keep Luffy’s as he cared for the rubber teen.

Shanks stared at them intently, “There were lots of rumors about three kids living in the East, how they destroyed half of an island before they slipped from the marines grasp.” Ace shifted by Sabo’s side, visibly uncomfortable. “What actually happened here?”

“A lot.” Sabo whispered, hand flying to his scarred eye, the echo of blistering fire crashing onto his skin rising from his memories.

“Too much.” Ace agreed.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

“You guys took foooreveeeer!” Luffy whined when the rest of the ASL crew and two co-captains finally arrived at the boat.

“Shut it, Luffy.” Ace said, though it was said with more fondness than any real heat.

“I can see why you ramble about Shanks so much.” Sabo grinned at the youngest co-captain on the ship, “He’s a pretty cool guy.”

“I know, right!” Luffy gasped, stars in his eyes, “Did he talk about me? Did he!”

“No,” Ace rolled his eyes, “We obviously didn’t talk about the reason for our visit, idiot.”

Sabo sighed as they started to shout at each other (“I’m not a idiot!” “Yes, you are!”) and turned to the crew with a tried grin, “Let’s head out!”

“Oh!” Luffy said suddenly, knocking his fist into an open palm, “I just remembered. A News-Coo dropped this off yesterday. Shishishishi~ Our bounties went up!”

“Did they?” Ace asked lightly, looking over at the paper when Sabo took it into his hands.

Ace’s bounty went up a dozen million, Sabo’s fifteen million, and Luffy’s five million, something the youngest whined about. It even talked about how they refused the Warlord title, which, obviously they would when the government tried to kill them since they were kids.

But, then again, they did send a Marine Warship to a random island with the crew tied up, their refusal painted on the wall in large letters accompanied by insults and their Jolly Roger. It had been payback for their last run-in with the Marines, at the very least.

“It sucks that they left that out.” Sabo sighed under his breath, a pout working onto his face. That would have been hilarious, he would have kept the newspaper forever if that was the case. Ace and Luffy nodded in agreement.

“Who cares, anyways.” Luffy said, disinterested as he picked at his nose, “We’re going to be King of the Pirates either way.”

Ace snickered, slinging his arms across his brothers’ shoulders, “How right you are, Luffy!”

Sabo rolled his eyes, but smiled, “We’re going to live without regrets,” he told them firmly.

Both brothers look at him, “Of course we’re not!” they chorused, giving Sabo, the smart one, a look that told him they thought him to be stupid. Sabo elbowed the eldest in the side, rushing towards the kitchen before Ace could retaliate.

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Jimbe was strong and he was just a Warlord. Sabo really didn’t know what Ace was thinking with his plan of going after a freaking Emperor, let alone the Strongest Man alive.

“’cuz you weren’t thinking!” Sabo hissed, glaring as his brother fell from exhaustion.

They were nowhere close enough to the strength of an Emperor, and Luffy wasn’t even fifteen yet! Sabo knew they should have waited at least another year – even with Haki and years of training with Rayleigh, they weren’t strong enough for this. Sabo rushed to his brother, taking him by the arm and pulling him up. He had won, but just barely.

Sabo didn’t get paid enough for this shit.

“Captain!” the crew shouted, and when Sabo turned, they were staring at the sea in terror. Sabo turned slowly, and there stood Whitebeard in all his glory.

“Gurararara!” the laugh wasn’t a happy one, Sabo realized, “So, you brats wanted my attention. Well, you have it!”

Sabo pulled his pipe from his back, gritting his teeth, “Luffy, take the crew and go!” Sabo could practically hear his brother’s refusal before he spoke it, and quickly added, “Protect the crew! I’ll take care of Ace, go!”

Ace’s fire flared to life, safe and strong unlike the fire Sabo was terrified of, and a wall of flames separated them and their crew. Good. Luffy wasn’t stupid enough to cross over, not when he had his nakama’s wellbeing on his mind too. Ace pulled himself away from Sabo’s assistance, jaw locked and flames dancing along his fists.

“Ready?” Sabo twirled his pipe, intent on saving their crew, their brother.

“’course I am, dumbass.”

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Luffy’s eyes widened when a fire bird landed in front of him. With the crew safely back onto their ship and setting sail towards where Luffy directed them (with Sabo’s order, of course), Luffy had headed back to his brothers. They were strongest when they were together, after all.

“The hell are you?” Luffy asked, blinking when the bird turned out to be a man. “How cool!” He yelled, sparkles in his eyes.

The man-bird-guy in front of him stared at him intently, the disbelief palpable in the air. “You…you’re Monkey D. Luffy?” he asked slowly, like he couldn’t believe it.

“I am!” Luffy yelled, “And I’m going to be King of the Pirates!”

Bird-guy’s nose scrunched up, “How old are you, yoi?”

Luffy turned to the large wall of flames behind Bird-guy, sensing the fight happening ahead of them. “I don’t have time for you, Bird-guy!” he yelled, rearing his arms back before launching them forward, grabbing onto the trees ahead of him, “Gomu Gomu Rocket!”

His arms stretched, and he went flying past the now shocked Bird-guy. He broke through the wall of flames, and his face connected with something, his arms snapping back into place a moment later.

Slipping to the floor, Luffy looked up and his eyes widened when he realized he ran right into Whitebeard…who didn’t have a white beard…?

Luffy voiced his question, staring up at the large man.

“Gurararara!” Whitebeard cackled, “Gusty brat, I like you three! Call me pops!”

“Oh hell no, you shitty geezer!”

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Sabo woke with a start, sitting quickly and instinctively reaching towards his trusty pipe. Said pipe wasn’t there, and that certainly wasn’t helping. Luffy was the first face he saw, and a deep sigh of relief left him when he saw that sunny smile and teary eyes. Rubber arms wrapped around him, and Luffy was slamming onto him a second later, but Sabo welcomed it, wrapping his own arms around his baby brother.

“Sabo! You’re okay!” Luffy cried, squeezing him tighter.

“Sabo, pl – please! Don’t die!”

Sabo hid his face in his brother’s shoulder, “I’m okay.” He agreed.

He was anything but.

Luffy reared back a few minutes later, smiling as he looked over to the side. Sabo followed his gaze and was met with a sleeping Ace. All of their injuries seemed to be tended to, and Sabo didn’t recognize where they were.

“That old Whitebeard guy brought us here.” Luffy filled in, pouting, “I think we got kidnapped, Sabo.”

Sabo made a face. Luffy laughed at him.

“What about the crew?” Sabo asked slowly.

Luffy shrugged, lips a worried frown, “I woke up here, I dunno.” He added, cheerfully, “I’m sure Masky has it under control!”

Sabo pulled his brother back into a hug, “I hope so.” He said.

He stopped relying on hoping a long time ago; back in Grey Terminal when Marines surrounded him and his brothers, looking at them like they were devils and not children. That had been the day they learned Luffy was bullet-proof, a lesson learned the hard way, with a gun in his face, Sabo bleeding at his feet and Ace under a marine’s boot not far away from them.

All because of who their parents were.

They would have died there if not for Rayleigh showing up at the right time.

Sabo’s scars burned. Luffy touched one burn lightly, like he knew.

Luffy was always an observant kid, and he wasn’t stupid despite what some people would like to believe. He was an idiot sometimes, but he was far from stupid. He understood so much without having to be told, like he could see what was left unsaid, and always acted how people needed him to. Sabo would’ve broken long ago if not for his precious brothers.

A groan broke the silence, and Luffy and Sabo looked over to Ace as he blinked his eyes open. Luffy was quick to wrap the oldest into his arms and pull all three brothers together. They were fine, no matter what happened, they would be fine because they would be together.

Facing an Emperor, setting sail, fighting their nightmares, they would be fine.

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Thatch wasn’t surprised when the new recruits didn’t join them for breakfast. He knew they were awake, and he knew that they were suspicious of everything and everyone. It made sense, though. Their suspicion wasn’t unfound, given who they were.

Some of the crew worried over everyone’s safety with Gold Roger and Dragon’s sons on board the ship, as their new brothers, but Thatch was certain everything was going to be fine. Marco had carried the youngest, Luffy, onto the Moby Dick with a soft, confused look on his face. He had said the kid wasn’t a killer, wasn’t anything the papers made him out to be.

Pops said Ace and Sabo weren’t the crazy, bloodthirsty pirates the world believed.

So, everything was going to be fine. All they needed was the kids to come out of the room their barricaded themselves into, some food in their bellies, and they would be starting their journey of becoming life-long brothers. Food was the way into someone’s heart, Thatch knew, so he grabbed three plates of breakfast and headed off towards the brothers’ room.

The door was thrown open before he could knock, the youngest grabbing the plates with drool running past his lips and turning without saying a word. “Food!” he yelled, joyful.

Thatch watched as Ace tackled Luffy, snarling about him needing to share. Sabo wacked them both on the head, sneering about Ace needing to take his own advice. It was downright savage as they ate, scarfing down the food at an inhuman rate while trying to shove and punch each other for trying to take their food.

Okay. Food was definitely the way to their hearts, Thatch stalked away before they could realize he was still there, and grinned. That was the beginning of progress, he could feel it.

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“When is he going to stop?” Marco sighed deeply as Sabo fished Ace out from the sea. One whack of Pop’s hand and Ace was sent flying; he should’ve realized it was useless after his tenth attempt.

“Ace, stop being an idiot, you adrenaline junkie!” Sabo scolded as he dropped the D. onto the deck.

“Shut up, I was close that time!” Ace coughed.

“Yeah, close to drowning, shishishi~” Luffy snickered, holding onto his belly when Ace glared at him. “You look like a drowned cat!”

Sabo snorted, placing a hand on his hip while the other adjusted his top hat. Marco eyed the scars on the blonde, and realized several burns trailed down his neck and disappearing under his cravat.

Sabo’s first wanted poster was from before he had those scars, a little kid with a missing tooth and a fierce but scared expression. Anyone with eyes could see that kid wasn’t some monster, nor was he someone who needed to die because he was decided to love and care for two boys who were born by criminal parents. The three were a tight knit, carefree and happy with each other but suspicious and distant with everyone in Whitebeard’s crew.

Marco had been a bit annoyed by it, at first, but now he understood.

Just imagining what they had been forced to go through made him nauseous. Luffy was only fourteen, but he fought and had a presence of a veteran pirate. He’s been chased since he was seven; Marco had no idea how he could still smile that brightly after everything.

The First Division Commander sighed and stalked towards the kitchen. He was going to help those kids, mark his word.

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Thatch didn’t really know what had happened. One moment he was walking and the next Teach, his brother, was literally trying to stab him in the back over a Devil Fruit Thatch would’ve happily given him! Somehow the betrayal hurt more than dying did, and Thatch was currently in a lot of pain…

“Oi, guess Ace and Luffy were right when they said you were just a dirty traitor.” Sabo smirked, eyes dark, and seemingly nonchalant.

“I’m gonna kick your ass!” Luffy declared, bouncing over to Teach with Ace by his side.

“Oh, Sabo, help the cook.” Ace said, arms turning to fire.

Thatch must have blacked out for a moment, because the next thing he knew, Teach was dropped next to him and several hands were on his back. “Hey, don’t die.” Luffy told him, “You make good food.”

Yeah, Thatch will ignore the hinted reason that they were only saving him because he was a cook. “Luffy, go get some of the other Whitebeard crewmembers here. We aren’t fucking doctors!” Ace called.

“Shishishi~ Okay!” Luffy laughed loudly as he hurried off and out of Thatch’s view.

“Oi, Sabo can I just burn the wound?” Ace asked.

“No, it could damage his spine or nerves.” Sabo responded, “Just keep pressure on it.”

“Gotcha.” Ace muttered, and Thatch flinched when a lot of pressure was added to his back.

“Don’t try to kill him, Ace !” Sabo interjected, “He makes good ham!”

“Shit, sorry!” Ace snapped, “You just said pressure!”

“Well I’m sorry.” Sabo said sarcastically, “I could’ve sworn you just had the common sense to not punch the guy’s back.”

“Why you–”

“Can – can you do…this later…” Thatch wheezed out.

“Oh, right,” the brothers said, “You owe us a whole lot of food, cook-guy.”

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

“Wow, this tastes great!” Luffy cheered, shoving a piece of steak into his mouth with a joyful smile.

“I’ve had better.” Ace said judgingly.

“It’s better than that crocodile you cooked that one time.” Sabo said, snatching the cup of beer from Ace’s hands the moment the Portgas went to drink it.

“OI!” Ace barked.

Whitebeard let out a laugh as he watched the boys fight for food even when they had plenty to eat. “Welcome to the family, sons!”

Three pairs of eyes looked up at him, and three voices chorused, “You kidnapped us! We aren't your sons!”

"Surprise adoption." Whitebeard offered, grinning.

"That's not even a thing..." Sabo sweatdropped.

“I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!” Luffy added in, as an afterthought, "I can't be anything but the captain!"

“Shut up, Luffy! You’re too much of a crybaby to be King of the Pirates!” Ace shot back.

“Am not!”

“You are too, right Sabo!”

“No, I’m not, you tell him Sabo!”

“…”

“OI YOU ATE ALL THE FOOD!”

“Gurararara!”

They would give in eventually; Whitebeard was certain of it.

Chapter Text

Of all the theories Sabo has come up with, he never once thought that one day he and his brothers would end up on Whitebeard’s ship, lying on their stomachs, and getting a tattoo of the Old Man’s Jolly Roger. Most of his theories involved either being in jail, being dead, or running from the Marines that were still on their ass about executing the spawn of Gold Roger (Oh no, he’s going to be the next king, kill him! Sabo rolled his eyes, the Marines were so pathetic) and the son of Dragon (He’s going to be his father’s successor, let’s kill him! They obviously haven’t done their research).

So, when Whitebeard asked them for the seventh time if they’d like to be his sons, Sabo was surprised when the answer that came out of his and his brothers’ mouths was a simple “Yes.”

Something about being called his son was just appealing. Sabo had been called son by his birth parents, but it was never said in the fond, loving tone that Whitebeard used. It had always been “Son, be good” or “Son, don’t do that!” with an underlaying threat in those stiff words.

“Remember,” Luffy had said when he agreed to call Whitebeard “Pops”, “I’m going to be the Pirate King. I’m going to be Captain of my own crew one day!”

Whitebeard (Pops) had just laughed, saying that, yes, he knew that. He believed it too. “You’ll set sail on your own one day, but you will always be my son.” He had said simply, like it was a fact. Like be believed it. And he did.

The Brothers were getting the same tattoo in the same place, worn with pride for all eyes to see. This wasn’t their first tattoos, Ace had his name worn proudly on his forearm, and they all had their original Jolly Roger (A skull with cracks running through it, ASL, each letter a different color, written over its eyes) tattooed on their chests. It served as a reminder, that they were still alive and wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon – that their brothers were waiting for them.

And this new tattoo, one for their Oyaji, was going to serve the same purpose. Sabo grinned despite himself.

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On Luffy’s seventeenth birthday, a celebration was held in the East Blue (per his request). They’d been with the Whitebeard Pirates for two years now, well known across the seas, and finally found a family that would watch their backs like they would theirs. It was nice, not peaceful, of course not, but it was nice. Moby Dick was their home, and these people were their family.

Ace wasn’t foolish enough to think that Luffy forgot about being his own captain, so when his brother finished off the plater of food, celebrated his birthday, and then grabbed a bag, hand on his hat, and high-tailed off the ship, laughing as the crew screamed out in shock, Ace hadn’t been surprised.

“Oi, brat!” Whitebeard yelled after Luffy as he set sail against the sea, “You better be here for my birthday!”

Ace snorted when Luffy yelled his confirmation; a year until he saw his baby brother again. They could manage that, him and Sabo most definitely could.

“I miss him already,” Sabo sniffed, snapping, “I’m not crying!” before Thatch could tease him about it.

Ace watched as their brother set off. They hadn’t been separated since that day on Foosha when they were hunted down like they weren't people - their names cursed and their death praised - and this was going to be the first time the brothers would return home and Luffy wasn’t there, and not just gone on a mission. Ace grabbed onto the railing, shouting, “You better be safe and you better not die, you hear me!?”

“Of course, Ace!” Luffy shouted back, raising his fists, “I’M GOING TO BE KING; I CAN’T DIE YET!”

And Ace believed him because Luffy was going to be King one day.

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“Oh,” Marco said when he opened the newspaper the News Coo dropped off, “Looks like it’s our favorite rascal.”

Sabo looked over Ace’s sleeping shoulder, the Second Division Commander having fallen asleep on his plate of food again and was greeted with a picture of his baby brother. Luffy was grinning, and behind him was a destroyed building and a person standing in the background.

“The Arlong Pirates, huh?” Sabo said around a mouthful of rice, “Good riddance, I heard they took over an entire village.”

“Yeah, they even hunted the people living there.” Thatch said as he slipped into a seat next to Marco, “Little Lu took them down, eh?” a grin, “Jimbe will be happy to hear that.”

“Why do you think he did that?” Haruta asked.

“For a crewmate.” They all settled on, because Luffy may be kind, but he wouldn’t overthrow a tyrant for no reason other than it being important for a nakama.

Sabo grinned, nudging his brother awake so he could read the paper. It was good to know his brother was okay.

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Zoro didn’t really know how he ended up being the unofficial first mate to Monkey D. Luffy; a powerful and well-known pirate who was once a Co-Captain of the infamous ASL Pirates and then later a co-division leader of the Second Division with his brothers for Whitebeard. The kid had sort of blackmailed him with his swords, but Zoro found that he actually enjoyed the younger’s company.

Something that Zoro noticed about the other members of the Straw-Hat crew (one that he helped his Captain find because Zoro had been the first to join a crew he thought had many members, another under sight of his,) is that they had no idea who Luffy was. They thought he was simply an idiot rookie like the rest of them, but it wasn’t true.

Nami would’ve never tried to steal from them if she had known Luffy had once been (and still is) a notorious pirate that has a high bounty of five hundred and fifty million belli, and Usopp would have probably passed out if he knew he had been trying to threaten a Grand-Line pirate that’s been wanted since he was seven. Sanji seemed to know that his captain was more notorious than he let on, he still couldn’t put his finger on it, but he didn’t seem all that worried.

One of their newest passengers, Princess Vivi, seemed to know who Luffy was (if how she paled and bowed several times, almost begging Luffy to help her was anything to go by). The newest member of the crew, however, didn’t. Chopper was probably going to praise Luffy on how awesome he was when the doctor finally found it out.

After Alabasta and taking out a Warlord (with relative ease, Zoro still wasn’t quite sure how Luffy managed to punch a Logia-user when the guy was in his sand-mode) Luffy’s new bounty came in along with Zoro’s first.

“Woah!” Usopp screamed, “You’re worth Six-hundred-million now! How is taking down one Warlord worth that much!”

“Eh, I bet it’s higher than Ace’s now!” Luffy just cackled.

“How are you so calm!?” Nami screamed, bonking his head.

"I've had a high bounty since forever!" Luffy cried back, nursing his head.

Zoro just snorted and leaned back, relaxing against the railing, they had no idea. It was hilarious.

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“Luffy,” Robin said softly, smiling into her palm when the captain turned to look at her. “I have a question.”

“Okay.” Luffy scooted closer to her, eyes wide and grin stretching his cheeks, “What’s up?”

“You were once a Whitebeard Pirate, no?” She asked.

“Oh, yeah, shishishi~” Luffy picked at his ear, “Me, Ace, and Sabo joined him a few years ago!”

“Well, why did you leave the crew, if I may.” Robin inquired.

Zoro looked up at the question, having thought it himself many times.

“Oh, well, I want to be King of the Pirates, and I have to be a captain to do that!” Luffy answered, tapping at the table, “So I left on my birthday!”

“I see.” Robin nodded, accepting the simple answer with ease.

Luffy ran off back to fishing with Usopp on the other side of the ship after he deemed Robin was done questioning him.

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“Mugiwara Luffy,” the deep voice made the Straw Hat pirates look over to the owner, and Nami almost had a heart attack when she noticed who it was. Trafalgar Law, one of the Supernovas that Shakky (who seemed to know Luffy, even going as far as saying “it’s been a while, kid, you look good” much to Nami’s growing suspicion) spoke of. This could be bad news for them if he decided to join the fight against them.

“That’s me,” Luffy responded, looking over to the pirate captain as he dodged a blade swiftly and with ease.

Nami wanted to throttle him. Seriously, couldn’t he just finish the fight instead of dodging so they could just leave!

“The Marines are already here, I wondered what they were after at first, but when you showed up, so did my answer,” Trafalgar said, and Nami squinted. Why would the marines show up just for Luffy? He was just a rookie even if his bounty was high...and even if he did raid Empel Down for Robin...and take down several Warlords...ah. Made sense... “I doubt they guessed you’d go and beat up a couple of Celestial Dragons, though. Seems you’re just as crazy as the rumors say.”

“Shishishi~ Maybe!” Luffy agreed, grinning.

Golden eyes narrowed and the captain’s smirk grew, “It’s nice to see you again, Mugiwara-ya. You haven’t changed a bit.”

“You haven’t either, Torao!” Luffy chirped, lifting a hand and grasping the sword that came swinging at him before he knocked the hilt back into the man’s face nonchalantly.

Trafalgar actually sputtered, “I have changed,” he replied, insistent.

“Not really,” Luffy tilted his head, “You lost the spots, though.”

“What the hell is going on, Luffy!? We need to leave!” Nami yelled, “And how the hell do you know Trafalgar Law!”

“Oh, I met him when we were kids,” Luffy jerked his thumb back at the Surgeon of Death, "We sailed together for a bit before he ran from Mingo, and we ran from the Marines."

Said Trafalgar just sighed, “How’s your brothers?”

“Eh, probably good.” Luffy said, having an actual conversation in the middle of a battle, Nami could hear another Supernova, Kid, laughing at them from his corner. “Haven’t seen them in a while, but I’m sure they’re fine! Well, gotta go save Camie, see you later, Torao!”

Luffy then proceeded to walk towards the stage. Just then, a large and powerful wave of…something spread throughout the area. Nami’s hands trembled as people around them dropped like flies, and she looked towards the stage in shock as a man appeared through the curtains.

“Dark King Rayleigh?” she heard the pirates around them utter, and she inhaled deeply. That man was supposedly the King of Pirate’s right-hand man, wasn’t he?

“Eh, didn’t know you’d be here, Luffy.” The old pirate said, grinning.

“Oh, hey Ray-san!” Luffy waved cheerfully, “They captured you?”

“Yeah, I was in debt.” The man said like that answered everything, and judging by Luffy’s nod and knowing look, it probably made sense to him. “But, who would want an old man as a slave? I didn’t really think this through!” he laughed.

Luffy laughed along with him, “Oi, can you help us with the collar?” he asked, motioning to Camie, “I’m going to handle the marines outside for us!”

“’course, kid,” Rayleigh started over to the mermaid, “I’m too old for marine fights!”

“Oi, I’m not going to let this shrimp handle it.” Kid said, grinning menacingly as he started to the exit, “You weaklings sit tight.”

“Yeah, not going to happen,” Law said as he stood, a sword resting on his shoulder.

“Oi, I said I would handle it!” Luffy yelled as he stepped in line with the other two pirates.

Nami had so many questions…

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

“YOU’RE A WHITEBEARD PIRATE!?” Nami, Chopper, and Usopp yelled, absolutely shocked the moment they saw Luffy's tattoo - the teen having taken his shirt off the moment they returned to the sunny and complaining it was too hot.

“You bros didn’t know?” Franky asked, “Luffy’s famous!”

“We obviously didn’t know!” the three yelled back.

“Shishishi!” Luffy cackled, “I’m not a Whitebeard Pirate anymore, I’m a captain!”

“YOU JUST LEFT THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES!?” Nami screeched, “They’re going to be after us now, oh my Belli, we’re going to be hunted by an emperor!”

“Shishishi~ On another note,” Luffy started, like it was normal to just deflect from a pirate crew such as the Whitebeards, “We can’t go to the New World yet, we’re super weak compared to Pops and Shanks!”

Nami banged her fist into the floor, “And what do you suggest?”

“We gotta train, obviously,” their captain said.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

The second the Straw Hat pirates resurfaced from Fishman Island, after being separated for two years, they were met with a large ship in front of them. Whitebeard’s ship, to be exact.

Nami accepted the fact that they were totally dead. There’s no way they would live after a fight; Whitebeard was the strongest person alive! Zoro readied his blades when he caught sight of powerful flames getting launched from the ship. Everyone was tense when the fire hit the boat, but instead of the Sunny under threat of being caught on fire, a man formed through.

Portgas D. Ace (better known as Gol D. Ace by the world) stood in front of them, smirk dancing on his lips as he stood in front of them, shirtless. Nami paused when she saw a very familiar ASL tattoo on his chest, one that was on Luffy's.

“Oi, Luffy!” he yelled.

“Ace!” Luffy yelled back, and then he was wrapping his arms around the Second Division commander happily.

“Oi, that’s cheating, Ace!” another voice called from the Moby Dick, showing Top-Hat Sabo, the Second Division Commander’s co-leader.

“Suck it Sabo, I get all of Luffy’s hugs!” Ace yelled back, tongue stuck out.

“Shishishi~” Luffy laughed, “Guys, let’s dock on the Moby!”

The crew did as request in a slight daze, and they soon found themselves standing in front of Whitebeard himself, in the flesh.

“Luffy, seems you brought me more children.” Whitebeard grinned.

“Yep!” Luffy cheered.

“Huh?” Nami asked.

“Welcome to the family,” Whitebeard said, taking a large drink of his sake bottle.

“Oh – uh, what?” Usopp blinked.

“Surprise adoption!” the ASL brothers chorused, grinning at their dumbstruck expressions.

“Gurararara!” Whitebeard’s laugh echoed throughout the deck, "I taught you brats well!"