Family Ties

by arLmy_07

Summary:

Garp never knew that having a grandchild could be so life-changing, let alone five of them. Good thing he's a 'D' and loves wreaking havoc just as much as the little gremlins.

[Or: A story about 'D's and honorary 'D's' being part of one big, (mostly) happy family and causing as much chaos as they possibly can.]

Chapter 1: Prologue

Garp prided himself on being the type of man that remained unfazed, even in the oddest of circumstances. Being a ‘D’ this wasn’t strange, and in fact he was typically the one unsettling others with his boisterousness and unpredictable whims. But nothing, not even his own unpredictability, could have prepared him for the series of shocking changes that Gol D. Roger’s last request brought to his life. Trust a fellow D to be the only one unpredictable enough to fluster one of their own.

 

The first change to Garp’s life stowed away on his ship as he was leaving Logue Town after the Pirate King’s execution. Two boys, lost without the man that was more of a father to them than he was their captain. They glared at him with red-rimmed eyes and dripping noses, neither willing to retaliate but defiant all the same. And Garp sighed, seeing in their eyes the pain of a child losing their father. Garp remembered then, when he was younger than they, that time he watched his father walk away, leaving behind a broken child and a dying wife and his world shifted. So he hid them in his cabin, doing his best to keep them hidden as they sailed back to Marineford. Under the guise of a much needed break, Garp took a vacation, sailing away on a smaller ship as his best friend watched from the dock with worry in his gaze. He left them with an old friend on his home island, if she could even be called that, Dadan the Bandit. Dadan and both boys protested the arrangement but Garp just laughed in their faces and sat down to eat. Before he left, he begged the boys to stay hidden with the bandits in their mountain hideout, just until he could figure out how to help them. They agreed with reluctance but Garp left knowing that they would stay, and that was all he needed.

 

The second change to Garp’s life came in the form of a dying woman and her newborn child. Roger’s child. The child Roger had asked Garp to care for after his death. Him, a marine, entrusted with the child of the man that the institution he worked for hated the most. There was a reason they celebrated the execution of “Gold Roger”. Nonetheless, he went out and found the woman, Hibiscus Rouge, and offered her his help. She had smiled at him, another D to upset his tranquility, and informed him that he should return in nine months. A little over a year after Roger’s death, Garp made his way back to that quiet island in the South Blue, silently in awe of Rouge’s strength that allowed her to push her child’s birth this far back. When he first laid eyes on the babe, covered in blood and other fluids and wailing louder than his little lungs seemed capable of, Garp felt his whole world shift yet again. As he watched Rouge cradle her son close, tears running down her face as she smiled down at the baby and whispered his name, Garp blinked back tears of his own and promised the woman he would protect her son. She died with a smile on her face as her child lay in Garp’s arms, smiling in his sleep.

 

Wasting no time, the vice-admiral made his way back to Dawn Island and sleepy little Foosha Village, eager to start on his new adventure as a grandfather. In a hut on a mountain, a red-headed woman felt a shiver go down her spine and she went out for a drink in preparation for the trouble she felt was coming.

Chapter 2: I: And Then There Were Four

Summary:

Dadan just wants to be a bandit leader in peace. Garp and the boys have other plans.

        Curly Dadan sat in front of her hut, smoking sullenly. Almost two years had passed since the day the bane of her existence, Monkey D. Garp, had dropped two pre-teens on her doorstep, laughed and ran away. The aforementioned boys were currently locked in a heated argument on who was better at sneaking. When their squabbling devolved into a physical fight, Dadan sighed as she stood, stomping over to where they were wrestling on the ground. Pulling up both boys by their ears, smirking at the sound of their pained cries, she dragged them to the edge of the forest and dropped them onto the ground face first.

“Go get dinner,” she said, turning back to the hut with another tired sigh.

The two boys stood, still bickering, and made their way deeper into the forest as Dadan made her way inside the hut. Once inside her own room, the large woman dropped onto her bed and groaned tiredly.

“Stupid Garp, that old bastard…” she muttered, “What was he thinkin’ anyways? Dropping pirate kids on me…disturbin’ my peace…”

Since the day Garp left the two boys in her care, Dadan had come to know their idiosyncrasies very well. They painted quite the picture together, contrasting each other not only in looks but in personalities as well. The oldest of the two, Shanks, was spirited and action-oriented whereas Buggy, the younger boy, was easily spooked but a crafty little trickster nonetheless. Where Shanks was tall and thin, Buggy was short and stocky. Shanks was an eager prankster but Buggy was the brains behind every trick they pulled. They fought often, Shanks teasing and provoking, Buggy shrill and indignant, and their fighting had become an expected occurrence at least once every day. But for all the trouble they gave her, Dadan didn’t hate the boys. Yes, they were little shits that were more trouble than they were worth, but they had grown on her and her men and now the group of bandits couldn’t think of their lives without the two there to disrupt the monotony.

 

Of course, that didn’t mean Dadan wanted kids, even less so an infant. Garp never got that memo apparently. Because the very next day there he was, standing in the doorway after kicking the door off its hinges, with a baby in his arms. Dadan felt the sudden urge to add another cigarette to the three she was already smoking.

“Yo! What’s that?” Shanks asked, full of curiosity and excitement.

“Your little brother!” the man replied, laughing heartily.

Dadan felt all the blood drain from her face. This had gone from bad to worse and she knew that no matter how much she protested, Garp wouldn’t take no for an answer. Doesn’t mean she didn’t try.

“What, no! I can’t take care of a baby! At least these brats can fend for themselves!”

Garp just laughed in her face and, much more gently than Dadan thought he was capable of, he placed the infant into Shanks’ outstretched arms. Buggy was leaning over the other boy’s shoulder, peering down with equal amounts of curiosity and nervousness at the child in the other boy’s hold.

“Garp-san…I think Dadan’s right. You shouldn’t leave a baby here of all places…”

Garp laughed and slammed his fist down on the blue-haired boy’s head.

“Nonsense! And I already told ya to call me Gramps!”

As Buggy rolled on the floor in pain, shouting profanities at the older man, Shanks was slowly falling under the baby’s spell.

“Gramps,” he whispered, face turning towards the old man but eyes never leaving the child’s face, “What’s his name?”

“Ace. Gol D. Ace.”

Silence fell across the room as bandits and boys alike turned to gape at the marine. Garp, for his part, merely stood there grinning goofily as he stuck his pinky up his nose.

“WHAT!?”

 

Garp laughed while watching the bandits fall over and Shanks and Buggy turn to each other with shocked faces.

“Old man, you mean that this baby is Captain’s kid!?” Buggy screeched.

“Yup!”

Both boys turned to stare again at the infant in Shanks’ arms, faces immediately softening as they leaned in close.

“Hi, Ace…” they whispered, smiling wide at the sleeping babe.

Ace shifted, his face scrunching up as a little grunt escaped his mouth and he attempted to stretch within the confines of his swaddle.

“Buggy, he’s so tiny…”

“Yeah…and he’s got freckles like Miss Rouge…”

“Look! He’s smiling!”

 

As the two of them cooed over Ace, Garp watched from nearby with a fond smile on his face. Dadan groaned internally, knowing full well that the old marine was going to leave the baby with her. At least the older boys seemed quite taken with the kid so maybe she could just leave the caretaking to them. Stepping closer, Dadan took a look at the infant and frowned.

 

“They wouldn’t hesitate even though he’s a baby.” she said in a low voice, turning to Garp with a pointed look.

“I know. That’s why I’m leaving him here, and why I left Shanks and Buggy here too.”

The two of them turned to watch the boys making funny faces at Ace who had finally woken up and was giggling at them. Dadan refused to acknowledge how adorable the baby’s laugh was because she didn’t want him. Besides, no matter how cute his giggles baby giggles were, he was kind of an ugly baby so she felt justified in not joining Shanks and Buggy, and everyone else, in fawning over the infant. Garp, as if hearing her thoughts, turned to the bandit with a wide grin full of amusement and fondness.

“Don’t worry, he’ll grow on you.”

 

That was honestly the least of her worries at the moment. In fact, the smell that had started permeating the room after Ace let out a little grunt was what currently worried her the most. Luckily, despite the overdramatic gagging Shanks was doing, the redhead didn’t hesitate to turn to Garp and ask how he might go about cleaning Ace up. With surprising eagerness, the old marine lifted Ace from Shanks’ arms and laid the baby on one of the sleeping mats that had been left out, carefully and slowly walking Shanks through the process of changing a diaper. The bandit who owned said mat bemoaned the loss of his sleeping spot and Dadan hit him on the head before Garp could.

“Just hand me that little bag over there, yes that one. See, these are the clean ones, there’s a few but they gotta be washed so you always have more…”

Buggy popped up near Dadan’s elbow, clutching onto the crook of her arm as he peaked out from behind.

“I won’t have to do that…will I?”

“So long as someone who isn’t me does it, I guess not.”

His arms and legs separated from the rest of his body which remained floating nearby and his feet scuttled back a bit as he shook his head wildly, eyes filled with fear.

“You couldn’t pay me to do that,” he declared, face paling when he glanced back over to see Shanks leaning back from the soiled diaper, “I wouldn’t do that, even for a billion berries.”

Dadan laughed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it in one motion before turning back to watch Garp showing Shanks how to wrap and pin up the diaper.

“Same here,” she said, nose wrinkling as Shanks ran past with the dirty diaper.

 

Garp stayed for a week, enjoying his time with the three boys before he had to return to his duties as a marine, and imparting as much training and fists of love as he could in the time he was there. Although they pretended they were glad to see him go, Dadan could tell that Shanks and Buggy didn’t want their grandfather to leave. She, on the other hand, couldn’t wait for him to stop hanging around and making her nervous.

 

As the months passed, Dadan and her bandits grew accustomed to the new addition to their family. While Shanks and Buggy did a lot of the work in taking care of Ace, they couldn’t do it all which left Dadan or the men to reluctantly step in every now and again. Out of all the bandits, Dogra and Magra were the most helpful, always adding anything Ace might need to their supply lists and getting some parenting books (which Dadan secretly read cover to cover. Twice.) so that none of them would be unprepared for any problems as Ace grew up. Magra had even built a little crib, with the help from the pirate boys, that was kept in a corner of the main room in their hut. Ace was a happy child, and very active much to Dadan’s consternation. He started crawling a lot sooner than any of them had expected given the information they had read in the parenting books, and he was insanely fast. Shanks and Buggy loved chasing him around though, which was fine with Dadan as she didn’t want to be the one racing after the infant, but Dadan did make sure that she, Dogra, or Magra were constantly taking pictures of the boys. For Garp to have physical evidence that the bandits were taking care of his grandsons. Not for any other reason, of course. It’s not like Dadan took candids of the boys making silly faces at Ace. Or helping him learn how to walk. Or of the three of them splashing each other in the bath. And she definitely didn’t frame some of those pictures and put them on her dresser. The very idea was preposterous and she told Dogra and Magra as much. They shared fond looks behind her back as she turned to snap a photo of the three boys who had just walked into the hut covered head to toe in mud. And then she tossed the camera to Dogra and proceeded to chase the boys out of the house with a broom shouting about mud on her floors.

 

Garp continued to stop by whenever he could get the chance. Shanks and Buggy were aware that he couldn’t visit too often or people might get suspicious, but Ace was still small and he always cried after Garp left. In the end, Garp suggested that Dadan take the boys down to the bar in the village that lay at the foot of the mountain every three days so that they could talk over transponder snail. She agreed, not without much grumbling and swearing, and so began a new routine for Dadan and her three boys. Every three days she would take them down the mountain and into the little bar in the village where she would ask for use of the snail and then sit back with a drink as the boys spoke over each other, eager to tell their grandfather about all their latest adventures. Even Ace, who was still barely learning to speak, would babble half sentences to Garp about one thing or another. It was clear to the bandit leader that this was as much for the boys as it was for the old man on the other line. She could see that, despite his aggressive nature, the man really did love his grandsons and they gave just as much love in return. It warmed her heart though she’d never admit it.

 

This new routine led to another new development in the lives of Dadan’s little brats and it came in the form of the bar owners’ daughter, Makino. She was a slip of a girl, demure and well mannered and the complete opposite of her three boys. Somehow she’d caught the brats’ attention just by doing her job around the bar, particularly Shanks’, and they began bringing little gifts to the girl or telling her stories of their adventures in the jungle surrounding their hut. On one occasion, Buggy teased Shanks about having a crush on Makino, to which the red-head protested vehemently before declaring that she was so small and puny she couldn’t ever catch his attention in that way. That was the first time Dadan had witnessed Makino’s feisty side, a part of the girl’s personality that only the boys were able to bring out, and it was mostly Shanks who caused such reactions in the typically quiet girl. When Shanks had protested Buggy’s teasing Makino had turned to glare at him in mock offense as she put her hands on her hips and stuck her nose up at him.

“Well that’s good because you’re so ugly you couldn’t ever catch my attention in that way, either!” she’d declared, turning to pluck Ace out of Dadan’s arms and take him behind the bar for a special treat.

Dadan couldn’t remember a time she had ever laughed harder than she did that day.

 

Eventually, Makino became just as big a part of the bandit leader’s life as the three boys in her care and, with feigned reluctance, Dadan took the younger girl under her wing and taught her a number of things she’d picked up during her time as a bandit. They spent their time together going on adventures in the village and in the fields and forests, laughing and playing and learning. Makino was very nurturing to Ace, a trait Dadan knew she didn’t possess, and the little boy really blossomed under her care. All in all, she was a wonderful addition to their little patchwork family and Dadan always gave in to the brats’ whining when they wanted to visit the town, albeit with exaggerated reluctance, because she had also come to enjoy Makino’s presence. And when Makino’s parents fell victim to the disease that spread through the town one winter, Dadan sent the oldest boys down to help at the bar with the excuse that they needed to learn other skills than fighting and hunting. When Garp visited that summer, finding Shanks and Buggy carrying barrels into the bar, he grinned fondly and fell into step behind them with a barrel of his own. Later that day, once Party’s Bar was opened, he joined Dadan in the corner and laughed at her with his eyes.

“I figured you’d want them not to be complete savages,” she muttered around her mug, sending Garp a halfhearted glare, “Makino keeps them in check well enough.”

“Oh, I have no doubt about that,” he said, leaning back to watch the three teens moving around the bar with practiced ease, “I noticed the roof was patched.”

Dadan didn’t bother to reply, knowing that Garp was very much aware of her involvement in that development. Besides, she knew he was the one who had bought all the new glasses that now lined the walls.

“Gramps, look what I got!”

The two adults turned to look down at Ace who was toddling over with a wide smile. In his hands he held a crystal tumbler filled with orange juice. Upon reaching the table, Ace pushed the glass onto the edge of the table before pulling himself up onto the chair to Garp’s left. Once he turned around to sit up on his knees and grin up at his caretakers.

“Makino gave me juice in a big boy cup,” he said, scooting to the edge of the chair to better reach the glass.

Laughing loudly, Garp reached out to ruffle Ace’s hair as he tapped his own glass against his grandson’s.

“Well, you’re old enough to start training now so a big boy cup seems appropriate.”

Ace’s eyes sparkled at that and he started bouncing excitedly in his seat.

“Really!?”

“Yeah, I think you could start joining me and the boys for training.”

As Ace cheered, nearly falling off the chair in his excitement, Dadan stared incredulously at the old marine in front of her.

“Garp, he’s four.”

“Yeah, I know, it’s kind of late but better late then never, right?”

 

Dadan just downed her beer and called for another in response.

 

For the next year and a half Garp would show up every month for five days at a time just to take Shanks, Buggy, and Ace into the jungle surrounding Mt. Corvo and toss them around with a lot more enthusiasm than Dadan thought was warranted. Shanks and Ace enjoyed being thrown to the wolves, sometimes literally, much more than Buggy who actually had a sense of self preservation that Dadan could completely understand. Despite his dangerous mode of training, Garp always looked over the boys’ injuries of the day with such tenderness that Dadan was tempted to think he was an imposter of the old man. But Garp really did love his grandsons even if his ways of showing it weren’t always normal.

 

Around the time Garp started training Ace with his older brothers, the boys also started sneaking off to the other side of the mountain to explore the trash dump that was there. The place was called ‘Gray Terminal’ by its inhabitants and lay in front of the outer walls of Goa Kingdom, where the monarchs of Dawn Island resided behind the innermost wall. During the spring after Ace turned five and Shanks turned sixteen, Ace made a friend in the Gray Terminal. After accidentally getting separated from Shanks and Buggy, Ace went wandering around the trash heap unbothered because he knew he was strong and that his brothers would find him eventually. A few hours into his solo journey he came across a blonde boy, about his age, who was surrounded by three drunk men. They were yelling at him about giving something back but he didn’t look scared at all. In fact, Ace noticed that he had a defiant look on his face and was holding his hands up in fists. As soon as the center man lunged towards the boy, Ace made his move. He grabbed a metal pipe from the piles of trash nearby, launched himself at the man and brought the pipe down hard against his head. He fell to the ground, unmoving and Ace wasted no time in turning to the man on his left. The blonde boy, meanwhile, picked up another broken pipe and threw himself at the other man.

 

Once all three men were laid out on the ground, unconscious, Ace turned toward the boy and looked him up and down. His clothes and hat were raggedy but they seemed to have been fine clothing at one point, much like what the High Town people wore, and he was much lighter in complexion than Ace and his brothers were.

“Who’re you?” Ace asked, tilting his head at the strange boy.

“My name is Sabo, and you are?”

“Ace. You talk funny, where’re you from?”

 

Sabo stomped his foot, face turning red as he glared at the other boy.

 

“I do not! And it’s none of your business!”

They stared each other down for a long while before Sabo broke the silence with a question.

“Do you live here?”

“Nah, I live on the mountain.”

“The mountain…?” Sabo repeated, eyes blown wide, “I’ve heard that it’s really dangerous up there.”

“Yup,” Ace said, grinning wide and confident, “But I’m strong.”

Preening under the reluctant awe that was in Sabo’s gaze, Ace placed his hands on his hips and grinned wider.

“I don’t believe it.”

Ace’s smile dropped at Sabo’s skepticism and he turned a glare on the boy.

“You can ask my brothers, we all live on the mountain. With bandits.”

Before Sabo could contest that declaration, Shanks and Buggy came around the corner, relief flooding their expressions when they noticed Ace.

 

“Ace, what have we told you about running off!?” Buggy screeched, running forward and pulling the younger boy’s limbs this way and that, “You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”

“Buggyyy! Leave me alone, ‘m strong, remember?”

Shanks laughed at that, reaching down to ruffle Ace’s hair as he crouched down next to his brothers.

“Well, sure you are, but we’re your big brothers so it’s our job to worry,” he said, snickering when Ace looked up at him with an adorable glare.

“Whatever, just tell Sabo that we live on the mountain and then we can go.”

Turning in tandem, the older boys suddenly noticed the little blonde boy nearby. He was standing very still, but his eyes held no fear, and he stared back at the boys as intently as they did at him.

“Ah, hello, I’m Shanks and this is Buggy, we’re Ace’s big brothers. You must be Sabo, are you Ace’s friend?”

“No, we just met.” A pause and then Sabo was inching forward, eyes sparkling, “Do you really live on the mountain, with all those scary beasts everyone talks about?”

“Unfortunately,” Buggy grumbled, finally letting go of Ace to stand back up to full height and dust himself off, “We kind of have no choice though, our uh…guardian lives there.”

“Is your guardian a beast?”

Shanks and Buggy glanced at each other before turning back to Sabo.

“Uh, no…but she can seem like one at times,” Shanks said, shuddering as he continued speaking, “But I’m pretty sure our grandpa is one. I love him but he’s scary.”

Buggy and Ace nodded, faces suddenly pale as they thought back to the new training regimen their grandfather had recently put in place.

“I swear that man tortures us for fun.”

“It was fun at first though, Buggy.”

“Not to me! You and Shanks are just weird!”

 

As he watched the three brothers bickering, Sabo felt a stirring in his heart.

 

I wish I had cool big brothers and a scary grandpa and a not-really-a-beast guardian, he thought, an idea popping into his head at that moment.

 

“Well, I’d best be going,” he said, after gaining their attention by clearing his throat, “My lean-to is quite far and I’d like to get there before dark. All the worst people come out later in the night.”

Turning slowly, Sabo took only one step before Shanks was calling him back.

“Wait, it’s already pretty late. How about you come with us, if your…parents won’t mind?”

“Oh they wouldn’t, seeing as how they’re dead and all.”

Buggy blanched at the casual delivery of such a statement and Shanks adopted a worried gaze.

“Yeah, you’re coming with us.”

 

Before he even had time to celebrate the victory or feign reluctance to join the trio of brothers, Sabo found himself being lifted onto Shanks’ shoulders. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Buggy doing the same with Ace. Once both of the smaller boys were settled in the two older ones took off running, Shanks letting out a whoop as they ran through the trash heap dodging the piles and people with an ease that spoke of their experience in running through the dump.

 

Soon enough the piles of garbage gave way to rocks and bushes which soon turned into trees that gradually grew closer and taller. Sabo let a wide grin cross his face as they sped through the jungle of Mt. Corvo, the wind whipping past his face at such a speed that he had to remove one hand from Shanks’ shoulder to hold down his hat. Before long they reached a clearing, in the center of which stood a large, weathered hut. Instead of coming to a stop like he expected them to, Shanks and Buggy put on more speed and began shouting ‘we’re back’ loudly. The door flew open and both boys launched themselves through it, causing whoever had opened the door to fall backwards inside and the other occupants near the door to scatter like bugs.

 

“What have I told you boys about doing that!?”

“Dadan! Look what we brought back!”

Dadan turned to look at Sabo, presented to her by Shanks holding him aloft by his armpits like a little puppy, and scowled.

“Another brat…”

“I can earn my keep, sir.”

Shanks, Buggy, and Ace snickered as Dadan’s face turned red.

“I’M A WOMAN!”

“My apologies, I have bad eyesight.”

That broke the dam and the three brothers fell to the floor, howling with laughter. Sabo had the unfortunate pleasure of falling with Shanks to the wooden floor and since he was being held like a puppy he wasn’t able to catch himself and his butt made contact with the hard ground. Dadan, the female bandit leader, and apparently the ‘not really a beast’ guardian, harrumphed and turned away from the boys while lighting a cigarette.

 

“Did you get dinner?”

“Yeah, ‘s outside,” Buggy replied, attempting to use Ace as a shield from the bandit’s glare, “W-we brought a boar and an alligator.”

Sabo watched her give non-verbal orders to her men who jumped into action without hesitation. Some of them ran outside, others made their way to the middle of the room where a large iron stove sat, and the rest of the men scattered around the room to complete various tasks. Sabo was impressed by the seamlessness with which the men worked and the clear authority the woman held over them.

“Listen up, Sabo,” Shanks said, pulling the blonde’s attention from the bandits, “These guys are bandits, so if you wanna get enough dinner you hafta fight for it.”

Tilting his head at the strange instructions, or warning rather, Sabo turned back to watch the bandits who had started cooking up the rice and the meat. He noticed that, just outside the circle of men cooking, Ace and Buggy were standing poised to pounce, Shanks joining them just a moment later. Ace turned to Sabo and waved him over, a feral grin on his face and a crazed look in his eyes.

“Just watch, it’s gonna get wild.”

 

Sabo nodded, still not fully believing that things would really devolve into that much chaos. Then again, he had very little experience with bandits and these boys seemed to have grown up with them. Taking notice of several other men mimicking the boys, Sabo was starting to believe there might be some truth to their strange warnings. Silence fell over the room as dinner was cooked by three men, and once it was finished and plated they stepped back and everyone fell still for a minute while bowls of rice were passed around. And then Dadan yelled ‘dig in’ and everyone pounced all at once. Little Sabo found himself left behind and bowled over as every man and boy and not-man descended upon the plate of meat. In only a few seconds the plate that had been stacked to the ceiling with meat didn’t even have any crumbs left. Sabo glanced down at his little bowl of rice and sighed, perhaps he should have taken the boys’ warnings more seriously.

“Here. This is a one time thing though.”

Sabo looked up to find Buggy standing over him, a small piece of meat being held out to him.

“Thank you…”

Shanks and Ace dropped down nearby, huge amounts of meat in their arms and mouths, and sent Sabo wide, food-filled grins.

“I tol’ ya!” Shanks said, laughing around the food in his mouth, “We move fasht.”

Sabo nodded, primly picking up his chopsticks and digging into his rice.

“Yes, now I know how bandits eat.”

 

The three boys laughed, casually batting aside a few of the braver bandits who tried to steal some of their meat, Shanks even going so far as to ruffle Sabo’s short cropped hair. As he sat there eating, Sabo had the sudden thought that he could get used to this type of chaos.

 

“C’mon Shanks! You’re not even going far, take me with you!”

Buggy sighed, scooting closer to Sabo and rolling his eyes at the other two boys.

“Here we go again,” he muttered, picking meat out of his teeth.

“Um…what are they fighting about?”

Watching as Shanks and Ace went from arguing to wrestling, Buggy shook his head and crossed his arms.

“Well, Shanks and I are going to be pirates, technically we already are but that’s a long story, anyways Ace wants us to take him with us.”

Sabo looked up, eyes sparkling in excitement.

“Pirates?”

“Yeah,” the older boy replied, grinning down at Sabo, “We’re going to start out here in the East Blue, but eventually we’ll head back to the Grand Line. That’s actually where I’m from originally.”

Awe colored Sabo’s expression alongside confusion.

“If you’re from the Grand Line, why’re you out here?”

“Gramps brought us here. It uh…wasn’t safe for us out there anymore.”

 

Noticing the discomfort in the older boy’s expression, Sabo wisely held back any other questions, choosing instead to nod in understanding and turn their conversation back to Ace and Shanks’ fight.

“So, Ace wants to be a pirate too?”

“Yes,” Buggy nodded, tugging at his long hair absentmindedly, “His dad was a pirate, he was mine and Shanks’ captain, and he’s gotten so excited ‘cause of all the stories we told him that he can’t wait till he’s older to set sail.”

“It isn’t very smart to set sail at five years old…” Sabo said, “Even though being a pirate sounds like lots of fun.”

“Of course it’s fun!” Shanks interjected, ignoring Ace who was gnawing on his arm, “Pirates are the freest people in the whole world!”

Before anyone could add to the conversation a sudden oppressive force entered the room causing all four boys to freeze in fear.

“Did I hear you boys talking about becoming pirates?”

 

Turning back Sabo found long legs, prompting him to look up. And up. And up. Right into the face of a man with a scar and a scary looking grin who was holding up his fist in quite the menacing way.

 

“Uh oh…”

 

Sabo wasn’t sure who said it, and he had no idea who this man was, but he echoed the sentiment in his heart. There wasn’t enough time to even think about reacting before that menacing fist fell and landed on each of their heads in turn.

 

“OW! GRAMPS!”

 

Looking back at the man, through the tears in his eyes from the harsh blow, Sabo suddenly realized why the brothers had called their grandfather a beast. He was standing in the doorway, blocking the whole space, laughing from his belly as his grandsons rolled on the floor in pain. Sabo felt then, that his life might suddenly be in more danger than it ever had been. And yet, for some strange reason, he wasn’t very afraid but rather he felt more at peace than he had in a long while. That is until ‘Gramps’ was suddenly right in front of his face, that wide, disconcerting smile still in place, and a suspicious gleam in his eyes.

 

“Hello new grandson…”

 

In that moment, Sabo suddenly regretted coming home with his new friends.

Notes:

If it wasn't obvious, I messed around with the canon timeline a bit to make certain character's ages work in relation to other characters. It'll probably be more noticeable later on...

I hope you enjoy!

Lena

Chapter 3: II: Call of the Sea

Summary:

Sabo spends more time with his new brothers (He has brothers!!)
Shanks and Buggy fight about setting sail, and Ace just wants to stick close to his big brothers. Makino intervenes and things are right again. For now...

Notes:

Not really sure if I like how this chapter turned out but...it turned out so ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Garp looked down at the little blonde boy, feeling the same thing he had the first time he saw Ace, and grinned.

 

“Hello, new grandson,” he said, grin widening when Dadan started sputtering in the background.

 

The little boy looked back up at him steadily as if he were eyeing a predator. Garp felt pride in the child’s inner strength.

 

“What’s your name, kid?”

 

“Sabo, sir.”

 

A small, pale hand reached out and Garp took it after a moment and offered a hearty shake.

 

 

“Call me Gramps!” he bellowed, stepping into the hut and dropping down in between Sabo and Buggy, “You’re family now.”

 

 

Sabo didn’t seem to know how to feel about that if the complicated look on his face was anything to go by. It was quickly replaced, however, with meek gratitude as Sabo bent his head and sat back down.

 

 

“Thank you…Gramps.”

 

 

Garp chose not to comment on the proper speech and manners of the boy, deciding to look into his parentage another day. For now, he would enjoy spending time with his grandsons.

 

 

The next morning, Garp woke his grandsons up bright and early to begin training. Shanks and Ace complained about the sun not even being up yet, Buggy tried to sneak off, and Sabo just stood there, blinking owlishly. Garp was eager to put them through all nine circles of hell to make them stronger. Unfortunately, his grandsons didn’t see it in the same way because they did everything they could to get out of it. By the time noon rolled around on the third day, all four boys were covered in dirt and scratches and glaring up at their grandfather with all the contempt their small bodies held. Garp just laughed in their faces and threw them into the creek before turning around and heading down to Foosha.

 

 

“Come find me in the bar when you’re all cleaned up!”

 

 

Shanks, who was in the process of pulling a drowning Buggy out of the water, turned to watch the old man stomp away before letting out a sigh.

 

 

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was trying to kill us,” he muttered, dragging Buggy behind him as he turned to head back to the bandits' hut.

 

 

Ace and Sabo followed after him, laughing at the squishing sounds their shoes made as they walked and trying to see who could squish louder. By the time they reached the hut, the sun had started its descent so they cleaned up quickly and took off down the mountain. Ace told Sabo all about Foosha, mostly about Makino, as they went down.

 

 

“Makino’s the bar owner, and she cooks really good,” Ace said, hopping over a root in his way, “Shanks has a crunch on her, Buggy says that means he wants to kiss her…”

 

 

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘crush’ not crunch…” Sabo said, at the same time that Shanks shouted about how much he did not want to kiss Makino.

 

 

“Yeah, that. Gramps says that Shanks shows off in front of Makino ‘cause he wants t’ marry her.”

 

 

Ace let out a yelp and fell to the ground when Shanks turned around and threw a dirt clod at him.

 

 

“I’d never marry Makino! Not in a million years!” he screeched, face redder than Buggy’s nose.

 

 

Sabo said as much, and both of the older boys spent the rest of the way down to the village screeching incomprehensibly. It made Ace and Sabo laugh so hard that tears came to their eyes.

 

 

When they reached the bar, Garp was already inside, half-drunk, as he sat with a few older men playing a card game.

 

 

“Ah, boys! You made it!”

 

 

Ace leaned in towards Sabo as he pointed at the pretty girl standing near Gramps’ elbow, refilling his mug.

 

 

“That’s Makino,” he whispered, nudging Sabo, “Watch Shanks, it’s funny.”

 

 

As soon as Garp had noticed them, Makino had also turned and offered a bright smile before turning back to her task. Buggy and Shanks wasted no time in heading towards the bar counter and sitting at the barstools there. Ace led Sabo in the same direction, and the both of them climbed up onto the stools to Shanks’ right. Once Makino made her way back to the counter, Ace stood on his stool and waved wildly.

 

 

“Makino! We got another brother, his name’s Sabo!”

 

 

Sabo stared at Ace in surprise, although he felt very happy to be so easily accepted as a brother. He'd seen how close Shanks and Buggy were with each other and how they doted on Ace, it made Sabo glad to know they saw him as one of them. Makino turned to Sabo and smiled, reaching out to pat his short hair before giving Ace a little pat too.

 

 

“It’s nice to meet you, Sabo, are you having fun with the boys?”

 

 

“Yes, it’s much better than having to fight for meals and sleeping spaces in the Gray Terminal,” he said, feeling warmth bubbling inside him at her gentleness.

 

 

“That’s good, and the bandits are treating you well, I hope?”

 

 

“Oh yes, they’ve been very accommodating.”

 

 

Buggy snorted at that, but Makino just nodded, eyes closing as she smiled again.

 

 

“That’s good to hear,” she said, wiping down the counter, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve noticed you’re a lot more eloquent than most five-year-olds are…”

 

 

“Hey! I’m el…ele…I’m that too!” Ace interjected, to which Makino responded with a ‘yes, of course’ before handing him a bowl of nuts.

 

 

“Ah, I got my hands on books quite early,” Sabo said, shifting uncomfortably.

 

 

Shanks, noticing his discomfort, interrupted by leaning towards Makino as he grinned, eyes sparkling mischievously.

 

 

“Oi, Makino,” he said, glancing around and dropping his voice to a whisper, “Don’t tell Gramps, but me n’ Buggy are gonna start sailing around looking for crewmates as soon as he leaves.”

 

 

“Oh? Do you have a ship yet?”

 

 

Shanks’ cheeks reddened slightly as he leaned back a bit, huffing in frustration.

 

 

“Not our own pirate ships, we bought an old dinghy off of one of the old fishermen.”

 

 

Makino smiled demurely, but her eyes held a teasing glint to them as she turned to place cups in front of all four boys.

 

 

“Aren’t pirate ships supposed to be grand and impressive?” she asked, turning and offering Sabo and Ace a conspiratory wink while filling their cups with juice.

 

 

Shanks spluttered, face gaining more tint as he tried to explain how it was actually better to start off with something small and that they weren't heading to the Grand Line any time soon anyway, but Makino just laughed at him and turned to ask Ace and Sabo what they wanted for dinner.

 

 

Once the four of them had eaten, Shanks and Buggy stood and went around the counter to help Makino out. Most of the men in the bar were from Foosha, but there were also a few traders and merchants filling up the chairs in the bar. As the night went on, several of the rowdier men had to be kicked out of the bar, a task which Shanks gladly took on, but they were only a few of the merchant ships crewmembers, and their disturbances hardly caused any real problems. After manhandling one particularly large fellow out of the bar, Shanks strode over to the counter and grinned at Makino cheekily.

 

 

"Did you see how big that guy was?" he asked, leaning against the bar, "Pretty soon, I'll be out on the sea beating up guys three times his size."

 

 

"I think he was about average-sized for East Blue men," Makino said, giggling behind her hand, "And how exactly do you plan on ‘beating up’ guys bigger than him when you can’t beat Garp-san yet?”

 

 

Shanks fell silent, red coloring his cheeks till he was nearly the same shade of red as his hair. On their stools, Ace and Sabo nudged each other as they snickered behind their palms.

 

 

“Well, Gramps is…a special case,” was the reply Shanks settled on, moving to join Makino on the other side of the counter, “And besides, my training isn’t done yet. I’m still getting stronger.”

 

 

Makino nodded, sharing a look with Buggy when Shanks turned to answer Ace and Sabo’s questions on how he planned to find his crew.

 

 

“Does this mean the both of you will eventually head to the Grand Line?” she asked Buggy, refilling his glass as she watched Shanks talking excitedly.

 

 

“Well, Shanks definitely wants to head out that way,” Buggy said, twisting his fingers together nervously, “I don’t know if I’m ready to go back there just yet.”

 

 

Makino smiled comfortingly, reaching out to pat Buggy’s hand as she did so.

 

 

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” she said to him, shrugging her shoulders as she glanced over at Shanks, “Shanks is a free spirit and eager for adventures. It’s no matter that you want to stick around out here.” She grinned then, a cheeky little thing that had Buggy smiling back, “Besides, think of all the fun we can have at his expense when he’s not hanging around all the time.”

 

 

Buggy snorted, lifting his glass and raising it in a toast to Makino with a bright smile on his face.

 

 

“Hear hear,” he said, taking a long sip, “I wonder if we can manipulate what pictures his bounty will have…”

 

 

“Oh, how devious,” Makino said, giggling behind her hand, “I’m looking forward to this already.”

 

 

Before the two of them could take their scheming any further, Sabo scrambled up onto the barstool on Buggy’s right, eyes sparkling as he pulled himself up.

 

 

“Makino! Sorry for interrupting, but Shanks said you have a library,” he said, his little body nearly vibrating in his excitement, “May I please have a look at it? Please?”

 

 

“Of course, go on right upstairs, it’s the bedroom on the left, right off the landing,” she said, smile softening into something warm and tender, “You can take anything that catches your fancy, okay?”

 

 

“Really!? You’ll let me take them?”

 

 

“Yes, anything you’d like.”

 

 

Sabo was too excited to speak, merely nodding rapidly before launching himself off the stool and racing off towards the stairs hidden behind the bar. Makino and Buggy turned to each other, both wearing looks betraying the fondness they’d already developed for the little blonde.

 

 

“Ace told me a little of how he came to you boys, but the story was somewhat all over the place,” Makino said, looking out over the barroom to make sure no one required her immediate attention, “How did Sabo come to start living with you?”

 

 

“Well, Ace found him in the trash heaps, and uh, when we asked about his parents, he said they were dead…So, we just took him with us,” Buggy shrugged, sliding his fingers over the perspiration on his cup, “Honestly, I’m a little worried. I don’t think he actually came from the Gray Terminal or the outer limits of Goa…so if he has some middle-class or even noble parents out there, looking for him…”

 

 

“It could cause trouble,” Makino finished, nodding in understanding.

 

 

“That’s not to say that we don’t want him around,” Buggy continued, expression falling into an exasperated yet fond thing, “Kid’s sharp as a tack and funny too. Plus, it’s good that Ace has someone his own age around now.”

 

 

Makino nodded, twisting her fingers around the rag in her hands as she turned to look at Ace and Shanks, who were currently engaged in an arm wrestling contest.

 

 

“Yes, I have been worried about him,” she said, dropping the rag in favor of fidgeting with the flowered kerchief on her head, “The last time Shanks mentioned leaving, he was rather despondent…”

 

 

“Ace doesn’t like being alone,” the cup now empty, Buggy turned it on its side and began rolling it back and forth along the counter, “For all his bluster and shocking strength, he’s still a little boy.”

 

 

“A little boy that needs his brothers,” Makino said with a pointed look.

 

 

Sighing deeply and resting his face on a hand, Buggy nodded, turning to sit facing Shanks and Ace, who had moved on from arm wrestling to a staring contest.

 

 

“I’ve tried talking to Shanks about it, and I know he knows that Ace doesn’t want us to leave no matter what he says otherwise, but that stupid idiot is hellbent on roaming the seas in search of adventures sooner rather than later,” he righted the glass and turned to Makino with a put-upon look, “Honestly, he’s such a meat-head sometimes. I don’t know how you put up with him, Makino.”

 

 

“I can’t run a bar without having patience in bucketloads, Buggy,” she told him, giggling as she refilled his glass once more and moved to attend to the rest of her customers.

 

 

Snickering as he once again raised his glass in a toast, Buggy downed the drink in one go before wandering over to where Garp sat at the poker table.

 

 

“You win anything, Gramps?” he asked, hooking his chin on the man’s shoulder.

 

 

“Yep! But then I lost it…”

 

 

Rolling his eyes, Buggy ducked underneath the old marine’s arm and settled himself into his lap before turning to the fisherman dealing and nodding at him.

 

 

“I’m playing for Gramps now,” he said, grinning to himself when the other men gave him incredulous looks.

 

 

People in the Gray Terminal always gave him those same looks the first time he stepped up to their poker games. And he quite enjoyed taking everything they had once the game was over.

 

 

Laughing wildly, Garp sat back, content to watch his grandson play these fools and rob them blind. He’d seen the blue-haired boy play with the bandits before, had even lost a few games to the kid himself, and it amused him to no end every single time. The other men in the game relaxed, falling into Buggy’s first trap, and before long, they’d changed their tunes, going from condescending laughter to outraged shouts as Buggy gleefully swept all his earnings into his pockets and hopped off Garp’s lap.

 

 

“I’m going to take Ace and Sabo up to bed,” he said, “Make sure you take note of everything Shanks does to make a fool of himself in front of Makino, okay?”

 

 

“Aye, aye!” Garp said, laughing loudly as he saluted the boy.

 

 

Making his way back to the bar counter, Buggy took note of the two bobbing heads in front of Makino.

 

 

“Is it alright if we use one of the upstairs rooms?”

 

 

Makino nodded, reaching out to gently brush her hand gently across each boy’s head in turn before stepping back to let Buggy scoop them up into his arms. Ace protested, struggling weakly in his brother’s hold as he mumbled that he wasn’t tired at all. Sabo simply let out a soft sigh and pressed himself closer to the older boy, a small smile crossing his face as his breathing evened out. As he turned to make his way upstairs, Buggy caught Shanks’ eye, and the older boy sent him a soft grin upon noticing the sleeping toddlers.

 

 

“Make sure they stay asleep, Mother Buggy,” Shanks teased as he passed by his brother with a tray of empty tankards.

 

 

“Shut up…”

 

 

Once upstairs, Buggy laid the two toddlers into one bed and tucked them in gently, a soft smile on his face as he pressed a kiss to each of their foreheads. Turning to leave, he was stopped by a small tug on his shirt, and he looked back to find Ace watching him with half-opened eyes.

 

 

“Don’ go…” he mumbled, tiny fingers gripping Buggy’s shirt with all the sleepy strength he had.

 

 

“Okay, I won’t.”

 

 

He knew this was about more than just him leaving the room. So he stayed. He lay down next to Ace, wrapped his arm around both of his little brothers, resting his chin just above Ace’s head, and before long, he was fast asleep.

 

 

Hours later, once the bar was closed, Shanks went up to find Buggy, and the sight that met his eyes brought a smile to his face. Buggy was in the center of the bed, Ace and Sabo pressed tightly against either side of him, all three of them laying with every limb sprawled out and soft snores creating a strange song as they echoed each other. Removing his shoes, Shanks carefully maneuvered himself to lay just above Buggy and Sabo’s head on the left side of the bed, and then he dropped his head on his arm and promptly fell asleep. 

 

 

Over the next few days, the four boys spent their days running from Garp’s training, not always successfully, terrorizing Dadan and the bandits and helping Makino out in the bar. Sabo was a quick study, able to slip seamlessly into the rhythm that the other boys already had with each other. In no time at all, everyone in the Gray Terminal, the outskirts of Goa, and in Foosha were no longer surprised that a fourth boy had fallen in sync with the three terrors they had known before.

 

 

Months passed, and the boys kept finding ways to cause more and more trouble. During this time, Shanks and Buggy also spent a few hours every evening fixing up the old boat they had bought. Throughout the time it took them to make the boat, Shanks and Buggy also spent time growing stronger, challenging the wild beasts in the forest of Mt. Corvo and the volatile men in the Gray Terminal. Sometimes, Sabo and Ace would tag along, learning from their older brothers’ tactics. Any time not spent working on the boat or working on getting stronger, the boys spent in Makino’s bar, helping her out or teasing Shanks about his crush, to both his and Makino’s consternation.

 

 

By the time Sabo’s fifth birthday rolled around, the boat was ready to set sail, and so was Shanks. Buggy, although he missed the feeling of being on the sea, was less eager to set out. This eventually led to a fight between him and Shanks, one which started verbally and ended with fists flying and a small portion of Makino’s bar counter getting destroyed.

 

 

“Boys!”

 

 

Shanks and Buggy looked up from where they lay among the debris of the counter, faces still twisted into scowls that immediately fell at the sight above them. There stood Makino, hands on her hips and her breaths escaping in heavy, raspy gasps, face flushed and eyes rapidly filling with tears.

 

 

“Stop! If you’re going to continue behaving so idiotically, then you can leave!” she shouted, face growing redder, “Now!”

 

 

Shanks pulled himself to his feet, face set in a dark scowl as he stormed out of the bar. Sabo and Ace sat at the counter, shock and some fear painting their faces. Makino hurried over to where Buggy lay on the floor, tears leaking from his eyes.

 

 

“Buggy?”

 

 

“…‘m fine, Makino…” he mumbled, rubbing furiously at his eyes as he sat up, “Go after that idiot. Usually, I’d say just leave him alone, but…something’s different this time…”

 

 

Makino only hesitated for a split second before gathering up her skirts and turning to run after Shanks. Ace and Sabo scrambled down from the barstool, rushing over to their older brother with panic in their eyes.

 

 

“Buggy!” Ace reached out, hesitating slightly, but Buggy pulled him close and lowered his head to the boy’s shoulder, “You’re hurt…he hurt you…”

 

 

Sabo also took up a spot in Buggy’s arms, the older boy resting his head between the two younger boys as he tried to quell his tears.

 

 

“It’s nothin’ I can’t handle,” he said, pulling back to offer them a grin, “Shanks ‘s just…he’s been real angry ever since our captain died and…”

 

 

“It doesn’t matter! Dad wouldn’t’ve wanted you and Shanks fightin’ like this!”

 

 

Buggy laughed wetly, ruffling Ace’s hair and pressing their foreheads together as he tried to stop sniffling.

 

 

“Yeah, but we would’ve anyways.”

 

 

Sabo tucked himself into Buggy’s side hesitantly, reaching out after a moment to wipe at the older boy’s face.

 

 

“Buggy…why don’t you wanna go to sea with Shanks?”

 

The blue-haired boy sighed, moving to sit against the unbroken side of the bar counter, pulling Ace and Sabo with him as he went.

 

 “It’s not that I don’t, it’s just…” Buggy tugged at his ear in frustration, letting out another sigh before he continued, “Look, I always thought that…that Shanks and I were gonna be captains together…but he wants his own crew. Said I should get my own, too.” Buggy sniffed, rubbing harshly at his nose, then, “I guess it’s just that, since we’ve been together so long, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if Shanks isn’t there…‘Sides, I dunno if I can even be a captain, anyway. I always thought Shanks’d be my second captain…”

 

Sitting up and nearly throwing Ace and Sabo from his lap, Buggy forced a laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. Despite their years, or lack of rather, the two younger boys immediately latched onto the false bravado in their older brother’s voice.

 

 “Well, no matter! I always knew Shanks was gonna follow in Captain’s footsteps, and I’ve never had such high aspirations. Besides, it might be fun to gather a themed crew for myself! Ooh! How’s a pirate circus sound?”

 

Ace and Sabo exchanged a look, too knowing for mere five-year-olds before they silently agreed to accept the change in topic and humor their brother.

 

 “Sounds like a riot,” Ace said, snickering, “And like you’re setting yourself up to be a joke to the whole world.” 

 

 “I agree; it’d probably be as ridiculous in reality as it sounds,” Sabo said, turning a scathing glance upwards, “A ship of fools if you would.”

 

 “Hey now! I think it might be fun, and pirates are all about fun,” Buggy retorted hotly, amusement and excitement replacing the previous downtrodden look in his eyes, “You know, just thinking about the possibilities has got me excited now!”

 

 “I think the nose is getting to his head,” Ace stage-whispered to Sabo, side-eying Buggy, who let out the most undignified shriek as he shoved the boys off his lap to stand, trembling with fury.

 

 “You’d better start running!” he shouted, arms raised menacingly, “I’ll give you a five-second headstart!”

 

There was no hiding the laughter echoing beneath their fearful shouts.

 

 After Makino left the bar, she ran through the town trying to figure out where Shanks could have gone. In her panic, she nearly forgot the one place he was sure to be, but as soon as she realized it, she turned and ran full speed in that direction.

 

 Upon reaching the seaside, Makino made her way to the farthest dock, not surprised when she caught sight of red hair and a worn straw hat peeking out from underneath the weathered wood. Sitting down on the edge of the dock, her legs tucked under her so she wouldn’t accidentally kick Shanks, Makino let the silence envelop her for a moment while she gathered her thoughts before speaking.

 

 “You didn’t just hurt him physically,” she said, eyes roving the glittering sea beyond their little island, “And it wasn’t just Buggy you hurt.”

 

 “Not really looking for a lecture right now,” Shanks huffed, ducking his head further beneath the end of the dock, “And I’m not changing my mind.”

 

“I’m not here to make you change your mind, nor am I here to lecture you,” Makino said, releasing a long sigh, “Ace and Sabo are making sure Buggy’s okay, and I’m here to make sure you are okay.”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

Rolling her eyes at the curt tone, Makino reached down, gripping one of the posts to keep her balance, and whacked the top of Shanks’ head.

 

 “Buggy told me, a while back, that you’re not going to look for it…” she said instead of calling him out on his lie.

 

 “It’s not in the cards for me,” he replied, craning his head to look up at her with a wry smile, “I’m needed elsewhere.”

 

 “Is that why you guys fought? Buggy was so sure you’d take up Captain Roger’s mantle…”

 

Shanks sighed, looking back out toward the ocean with a longing look in his eyes. Silence fell, the only sounds between them being the ebb and flow of the tide. Makino glanced at Shanks from the corner of her eye, waiting patiently for him to speak, reveling in the calming sounds of the sea and the distant cries of seagulls.

 

 “I don’t think I’ll never go after it,” he said at long last, “Just not any time soon. I feel like there’s something else I need to do before that. Don’t know what yet, but it’ll come to me eventually…”

 

 

“But that means you’ll need to part ways,” Makino said, understanding dawning on her, “That’s why Buggy’s upset. Because you’re leaving him on his own…”

 

 “Buggy’s got his own part to play and he needs to figure out what that is, same as me,” Shanks sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face, “And, as much as it sucks, we gotta do that on our own…”

 

Makino nodded, fiddling with the ends of her skirt, letting the ocean breeze pull bits of her hair out from under her kerchief as she formulated a response.

 

 “Is it really necessary for you to leave so soon, though?” she asked, voice small and watery, “Ace and Sabo are still very young…”

 

Shanks laughed wetly, pulling himself back up onto the rickety pier and dropping himself heavily next to the young girl.

 

 “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t be able to stay away for long anyway,” he said, laying his arm over her shoulders and pulling her close, “Besides, I still haven’t taught Ace and Sabo how to dine and dash properly!”

 

Makino shook her head, smiling wryly as Shanks let out a hearty laugh, shoulders shaking and jostling her in the process. 

 

 “You still need to apologize to Buggy and the boys,” Makino said, giving Shanks a stern look even as her eyes held nothing but fondness, “And the right way.”

 

 “Yes, ma’am!” Shanks said, sitting up straight and saluting.

 

The two of them dissolved into uncontrollable laughter, leaning against each other for support as they became breathless with their mirth.

 

 Hours later, as the sun was beginning to set, Makino and Shanks finally moved from the pier and turned to make their way back into town. Despite his best efforts, Makino was a woman on a mission, and nothing Shanks did made her slow down for a second. By the time they reached the bar, there was already a small crowd outside, mostly consisting of the townsfolk, waiting for Makino to open up. The two of them made their way inside, Makino politely asking her customers for just a moment, to find Buggy, Ace, and Sabo almost done with all of the preparations Makino usually did alone before opening the bar and have even, moderately, repaired the broken counter.

 

 “Ah, sorry, Makino, we didn’t realize what time it was, so we started a little late…” Buggy said as he took notice of her, “We’re mostly done, though!”

 

 

 “It’s no problem, thank you boys.”

 

As she moved to head behind the bar counter, Makino roughly shoved Shanks towards his brothers and turned her back on them before descending into the storeroom.

 

 

 “Hey Bugs…”

 

Buggy huffed, crossing his arms and turning away from the other boy. Ace and Sabo exchanged a look from where they sat at the bar before hopping off their stools and following Makino into the storeroom.

 

 “I don’t have anything to say to you,” Buggy said, trying to hide his pout with a glare, “And I don’t want to hear what you have to say either.”

 

Shanks let out a soft sigh, moving closer to his brother and best friend as he started to speak.

 

 “Look, Buggy, I’m really sorry about throwing the first punch…and I’m sorry for calling you a coward…” Shanks placed his hands on Buggy’s shoulders, ducking to get into his line of sight, “But I’m not sorry for my decision. I can’t really explain it, but I just feel like it’s what I’m s’posed t’ be doing…”

 

Buggy turned a frustrated look to Shanks and tugged at the ends of his hair before rolling his eyes and huffing half in fondness and half in anger.

 

 “I’m sorry too, I guess…” Buggy said, opening up his arms to Shanks, “As brothers, it’s a given that we’re gonna fight about all kinds of things…so I won’t bring this up again, and we’ll just let bygones be bygones. For now.”

 

Before Shanks could respond, Ace and Sabo barreled into their legs, both sniffling.

 

 “You aren’t gonna fight anymore, right?” Sabo asked, rubbing his snot all over Buggy’s pant leg.

 

 “We weren’t worried or anything,” Ace added, also covering Shanks’ pants in snot, “You guys are just annoying when you’re fighting…”

 

Shanks and Buggy looked at each other and burst into laughter, each of them reaching down to pat the head of their respective koala.

 

 “Chances are we definitely will fight again…” Shanks said, pulling Ace off his leg and lifting him up onto his shoulders, “But that’s just what brothers do, so you don’t gotta worry when it happens, okay?”

 

 “I just said we weren’t worried,” Ace said, burying his face into Shanks’ hair.

 

Buggy lifted Sabo into his arms, pressing the blonde’s head into his collarbone and petting the short-cropped hair as he laughed at Ace putting snot in Shanks’ hair.

 

 “Trust me, when you guys get to be our age, you’ll understand how little you’ve gotta worry about fights like this. I bet the two of you are gonna fight even harder than Shanks’ n’ me. do,” he said, snickering at Shanks’ failed attempts at removing Ace from his shoulders.

 

 “Isn’t it bad to fight so roughly with….with your family?” Sabo asked, his teary eyes turned up to his big brother, “Wouldn’t it lead to discordance…?”

 

Shanks moved closer, reaching out to give Sabo a noogie, Ace now tucked under his arm and thrashing around wildly.

 

 “Listen up, kiddos, pirates are a million times more aggressive and durable than normal people. And us? We’re pirates,” Shanks grinned down at his little brothers, fondness coloring his expression, “And that means we’re gonna fight like pirates. Even with each other.” He threw an arm over Buggy’s shoulders, squishing Sabo and Ace between them and leaning in close to the younger boys before continuing, voice dropping to a whisper, “But pirates also share bonds stronger than normal family bonds. The relationship between a pirate family is stronger than anything. And us? We’re pirates.”

 

The smiles that made their way across the two toddlers’ faces were blinding and prompted Shanks and Buggy to grin just as widely right back. From behind the bar counter, Makino shook her head with immeasurable fondness, letting them bask in there moment for a bit longer before she took a wooden spoon and tossed it at Shanks’ head.

 

 “As touching as this is,” she said, attempting sternness but betrayed by the joyous gleam in her eyes, “I still have to open the bar.”

 

 “Yes, sir, Makino, sir!” Shanks shouted, saluting how Garp had taught them, “We’ll get right on it, Makino, sir!”

 

Ace, Sabo, and Buggy offered their own perfect salutes before the four of them scattered throughout the bar to finish prepping it for customers while Makino made her way to the saloon doors to let the men outside in.

 

 A few weeks later, the ship was complete. Makino closed the bar for the night and invited the boys and bandits over for a celebratory feast. In contrast to all the partying going on, Ace and Sabo were seated at the bar counter, somberly eating. The tables in the barroom had been pushed against the walls, and some of the bandits had started singing shanties offkey while others moved in an uncoordinated mass in the center of the room. Shanks and Buggy had pulled Makino in with them, and the three of them were laughing loudly as they spun around wildly, occasionally trying to actually dance to the off-kilter beat being stomped out by someone’s boots. From their perch at the counter, Sabo and Ace turned serious looks at each other and sighed.

 

 “We can’t stop them…” Sabo said, expression far too serious for his five years of age, “Their hearts belong to the sea just as much as to us…”

 

“Doesn’t make it suck any less,” Ace replied, moodily pushing food around on his plate, “How long do you think they’ll be gone?”

 

“Not long. Shanks said they’re mostly looking for crewmembers and getting a feel for the sea again.”

 

Before they could further their serious conversation any further, Shanks popped up in between them, cheeks flushed with exertion and eyes sparkling madly.

 

 

 “Hey now! This is a celebration! We can’t have the two of you sittin’ over here bringing down the mood!”

 

He picked each of them up and tucked them under his arms, racing back towards the makeshift dancefloor with a yell.

 

 “Hey! Look who’s finally here!” Buggy said, laughing as he took in their disgruntled faces, “Makino, let’s make sure they have a good time!”

 

 

Makino laughed, plucking Ace out from Shanks’ arm and twirling him around once before settling him on her hip. Shanks positioned Sabo against his own hip as well and reached out to take Makino’s free hand while Buggy took one of Ace’s and Sabo’s hands each. The five of them then began to spin around in wild circles, laughter and happy shrieks escaping the older three as Sabo and Ace tried to stop the smiles threatening to overtake their faces. Eventually, they couldn’t keep it in anymore, and soon enough, all five children were running about dancing with whoever they could pull in long into the night.

 

The next day, in the early afternoon, Shanks and Buggy stood on the bow of their little fishing boat, looking down on the tearful faces watching them from the dock.

 

“Oh, come on now,” Shanks said, laughing heartily, “We’ll be back in less than two weeks! You’ll hardly have time to miss us!”

 

Ace and Sabo stood on either side of Makino, the former with his face buried in her skirt and the latter holding onto it tightly as Shanks and Buggy waved down at them.

 

 “I won’t miss you one bit!” Ace said, moving out from his hiding spot to reveal that he was bravely holding back tears, “You can stay away for…for…for two years for all I care!”

 

 “Well, we just might,” Shanks countered, leaning against the railing with a teasing grin, “Anyways, we’re off! Take good care of them, Makino. See ya in a few!”

 

Buggy’s arms, from the shoulder down, moved toward the front of the boat and pushed it off from the dock before reattaching themselves to the rest of him.

 

 “We’ll be back soon!” he called out as the boat moved away from the dock with the gentle current, “Don’t have too much fun without us!”

 

Makino lifted both arms to wave at the teens, Sabo following close behind. Ace simply lifted on hand in a quick wave and then took off running back up Mt. Corvo.

 

 “Should we leave him or…?”

 

Looking down at Sabo, Makino huffed and gently placed her hand atop his head.

 

 “Give him some time,” she said, turning and pushing Sabo ahead of her, “He’ll come down eventually.”

 

Sabo nodded, still holding tightly to her skirt, as the to of them silently made their way back into the main part of town. Upon reaching Party’s, Makino immediately busied herself with preparing for opening later in the day, while Sabo pulled himself up onto a barstool and dropped his head in his hands to think.

 

 He hadn’t known any of them very long, only a few months, but Sabo didn’t think he could ever go back to his life before. It would simply be too…lonely. Before he met Ace, he had been struggling through life in the Terminal all on his own. And a place like that was rough for a five-year-old, no matter how smart said five-year-old might be. Regardless of how much he’d adapted to that kind of a lifestyle, and despite the fact that he had enjoyed the freedom it offered even with all the danger, Sabo couldn’t find it in himself to even consider going back to the way he lived before. His brothers, the bandits, Makino, they’d all given him something he hadn’t even realized he had been missing. They’d given him a place to belong; they’d given him a family. And now a part of his family was leaving. Of course, Sabo understood it, the call of the ocean, but that didn’t make him any less sad about Shanks and Buggy starting the journey that would eventually lead them to farther places. He was determined to support them, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t allow himself a small moment of sadness.

 

 As he sat there, tears pooling in his eyes at the thought of his big brothers leaving, Ace stepped into the bar and took note of the redness in Sabo’s cheeks and eyes. He came to a hard stop at that, unsure of how to proceed at first, before deciding on joining Sabo at the bar.

 

 “They’re comin’ back,” he mumbled, face turned away, “Shanks ‘s stupid but he doesn’t break promises…”

 

 “I know,” Sabo rubbed harshly at his nose, laughing wetly as he did, “I’m just really glad I met you guys…”

 

 “Well…‘m glad I met you too, or whatever,”

 

Just then, Makino walked back into the bar from the storeroom, offering the boys a small smile as she passed. Neither of them commented on her red-rimmed eyes just as she didn’t comment on theirs. 

 

 In the silence that followed, the three of them turned their thoughts to two boys out on the sea with wistful quiet full of a thousand wishes and worries.

 

 “It’s gonna be a long couple a weeks…” Ace whispered.

 

Sabo and Makino could only nod their agreement as they all hardened their resolve and set to work fixing the bar up for opening.

Notes:

yeah I know, I know...this took a while. I am very sorry but I can't promise it won't happen again...
Turns out being a full-time student and working 40hrs a week isn't an environment very conducive to creativity ahahaha
BUT STILL! I WILL TRY!! TO GET CHAPTERS OUT!!! AS FAST AS I POSSIBLY CAN!!!!
Thanks for sticking with me, I really appreciate it!

I hope you enjoy!

-Lena

(Some notes for y'all: Ace doesn't have daddy issues...which would greatly alter his character...if I didn't give him...*drumroll* Other Issues™ Tadah!! Ace still wants people to think he's strong, so he doesn't tell them about the things he's heard people say. Yes, this does mean Ace still goes out and asks people what they think about Gold Roger and his "imaginary" son because he thought people would know him like Shanks and Buggy did. And when he found out it was the opposite...he was sad and hurt and angry. Which is why he's so pushy and bratty about joining his brothers at sea now rather than when he's older. Because he wants to prove that the things those people say aren't true and he wants to do it all NOW. And yes Ace still uses Portgas(for now! I'm thinking hyphenation later!!) because Dadan's nervous people will figure out The Secret if he goes by Gol D. Ace and Ace, despite being a stubborn brat, is also quite smart so he understood what she meant when she told him how dangerous that name was. More later.)

Chapter 4: III: The Cycle Continues

Summary:

Ace, despite all his bravado, has always been scared of being left alone. His parents left him. Gramps is always coming, but then again he's always going too. And now Shanks and Buggy are doing the same, and have plans to eventually leave for good. Ace just doesn't understand why Sabo isn't more worried about this. What if...what if they've wanted to leave him behind since the beginning?

Oh, Ace, that poor traumatized baby. But it's okay, there's a distraction on its way!

Notes:

IT'S HERE

THE LONG-AWAITED CHAPTER

ENJOY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Over the next few months, Shanks and Buggy alternated the times they left based on Garp’s visits, never leaving before the old marine showed up at least once to ensure he didn’t catch onto their plot. According to their grandfather, his workload was picking up. More and more men and women from all four Blues were setting out to sea in search of the One Piece, so his visits had gone down from two times a month to only once every other month.

 

Of course, none of the boys minded too much, even if they did love their grandfather they were all very happy to be receiving fewer Fists of Love. 

 

As the time passed, Shanks and Buggy started sailing farther and farther from Dawn Island, which meant they were spending more time at sea. Sometimes, they’d be gone for months at a time, often leading to Garp cutting his trips to Foosha short so he could go chase them down. During this time, Ace started sneaking off on his own, regularly heading into the Gray Terminal or the seedier parts of Edge Town, looking for fights. Sabo didn’t know, at first, that Ace was running off to fight men three or four times his size, until the day that Ace came back with a horrifically mangled arm.

 

It was the first time they seriously fought.

 

They were a little older now, Sabo was almost seven, and he was disappointed. He thought Ace would’ve known better than to willingly put himself into situations that could end with him hurt or worse.

 

Makino and Sabo were sitting in the bar, discussing a book Sabo had recently read, when Ace walked in, holding his left arm close. The both of them had immediately left the bar counter to check up on Ace, who simply glared and shrugged them off before moving to head upstairs. Sabo didn’t let him get very far.

 

“Are you an idiot or something?”

 

Typically he was much more eloquent, but Ace had been acting out a lot more often lately and it was starting to get on Sabo’s nerves. He’d really had enough at this point.

 

“Oh lay off, Sabo,” Ace said, rolling his eyes as he tried to step around his brother, “You don’t know shit so leave me alone.”

 

“No, Ace, I will not leave you alone,” Sabo said, grabbing the shoulder of Ace’s uninjured arm, “You keep running off and giving me crap excuses and I thought, ‘Hey, let me just give him some space, we’re brothers. He’ll come talk to me soon’ and this is what you were doing? Getting into fights?” 

 

Sabo frowned harder when Ace rolled his eyes and tried to escape from his grip, “Where you just not going to tell us until what? Until you never came home and we went out looking for you only to find a body? Is that it? What is your problem, Ace? Why’re you doing this?”

 

His voice progressively rose in volume as he spoke, leading to Ace shoving him off with his good arm and stomping back to the entrance of the bar.

 

“Leave me alone,” he growled, glare so sharp Sabo could feel the anger in it, “I can do whatever the hell I want.”

 

Sabo grabbed his arm once more, anger welling up inside him now that Ace was being even more difficult.

 

“Ace you’re going to get yourself killed!”

 

“Good!”

 

Sabo was taken aback, dropping Ace’s arm so fast it was like he’d been burned. The two of them stared each other down, Ace glaring and Sabo staring back at him in shock.

 

“You…you don’t really mean that, do you?”

 

Ace didn’t respond, electing instead to turn around and leave.

 

As he moved to push the saloon doors open, Sabo spoke up once more, voice full of grief and fear.

 

“Ace, please…I want to help. Me and Makino, and Shanks and Buggy too, we just want to help you.”

 

“If that were true,” Ace said, turning slightly to lay another glare on Sabo, “They wouldn’t be leaving.”

 

With that last statement, Ace stalked out of the bar and disappeared around the corner.

 

“Sabo…?”

 

Makino rushed forward to catch the boy as his knees gave way underneath him. Sabo turned his face into her shoulder, wetting her blouse with his tears as she wrapped her arms around him and started running her fingers through his hair.

 

“Makino, what do I do? He just keeps pulling further away from me…” Sabo clung tightly to her sleeves, dropping his voice to a nearly imperceptible whisper, “What did I do wrong?”

 

“Nothing Sabo, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Makino repositioned herself so Sabo was seated in her lap, “Ace’s just dealing with these changes differently than you are. You’ve been throwing yourself into studying navigation and the world, right? Wouldn’t you say that that’s also unhealthy?”

 

“Yes, but…but I won’t get hurt or…or… die because of it,” he said, looking up at Makino with teary eyes, “Makino, he’s gonna get himself killed…”

 

Makino wrapped her arms tighter around Sabo, shushing him soothingly as she ran her hand up and down his back.

 

“We won’t let him,” she said at length, “He’s not going to, because we won’t let him.”

 

Sabo couldn’t believe the family he’d always wanted, the family that had brightened his bleak future, was falling apart in this way. He wanted to believe Makino, he did, but Ace was just so stubborn that Sabo couldn’t help but fear the worst.

 

When Shanks and Buggy came back from their trip a few days later, Sabo was waiting for them at the docks. They had a new ship now, a little bigger and with less leaks, that they’d bought at another island the month before. Shanks adored the ship, a small caravel with a mermaid figurehead, evidenced by the way he gently ran his hands across her railing as he moved to descend and how he patted her side after dropping onto the dock.

 

“Sabo! Is it just you here?” Shanks said, bending down and lifting Sabo up onto his shoulders, something that both he and Ace believed they were too grown-up for now, “Where’re Makino and Ace?”

 

Sabo squirmed in Shanks’ hold, attempting to make his way back to the ground.

 

“Shanks, we need to have a serious talk,” he said, giving up on getting down after several failed attempts.

 

Shanks moved Sabo to his hip, stopping at the end of the pier where it met Dawn’s edge to wait for Buggy to catch up.

 

“What’s up, bud?”

 

As they left the dock and made their way across the shores of Dawn, Sabo looked between Shanks and Buggy before he sighed and crossed his arms.

 

“Ace’s picking fights with grown men in the Terminal and Edge Town.”

 

Both teens came to a complete stop, unreadable expressions on their faces, and turned to give Sabo their full attention.

 

“He’s doing what now?” Shanks asked, voice eerily calm.

 

“Picking fights with grown men,” Sabo said, ducking his head to hide the tears pooling in his eyes, “He came back with a broken arm a few days ago but he left before Makino and I could help him treat it…”

 

“Have you seen him since?”

 

“No,” Sabo said, shaking his head, “But Dadan said she has Dogra and Mogra tailing him. I guess he’s holed himself up in a cave somewhere on the mountain…”

 

Shanks hummed in response, lips pressed into a thin line and eyes shaded by the brim of his straw hat. Rather than speaking, he handed Sabo over to Buggy, ruffled his little brother’s hair, and took off towards the mountain.

 

“Well, how’s about we go see how Makino’s doing?”

 

Sabo watched Shanks disappear into the trees from over Buggy’s shoulder, silently hoping that he and Ace might actually talk and not end up blowing up on each other like they usually did. He wondered if maybe Buggy should’ve gone instead but said nothing as they made their way to Party’s.

 

Upon arriving at the bar, Buggy put Sabo back onto the ground, reaching to push the swinging doors open just as someone else started pushing them from inside.

 

“Ah! Buggy, Sabo, perfect timing!”

 

Buggy and Sabo blanched at the sight of their grandfather, both of them stepping back in their surprise and falling on top off each other when they missed the step.

 

“Gramps!?”

 

“Hahaha, where’d Shanks and Ace run off to?”

 

Exchanging looks, the two boys scrambled to their feet and sent strained grins to their grandfather, moving closer in an attempt to crowd him back into the bar.

 

“W-we weren’t expecting you so soon!” Buggy said, laughing nervously, “Or at all, really…”

 

“Yeah, you were just here a couple weeks ago,” Sabo added, “Been a while since your visits have been so close after the other…”

 

Instead of commenting on the awkwardness he most definitely picked up on, Garp grinned widely and ushered the boys inside with bar, laughing excitedly all the while.

 

“Well, I picked up a nice surprise on my way back to Marineford so I thought I might as well just turn right back around and deliver it right away!” he said, chuckling madly as they moved through the saloon doors.

 

Momentarily distracted by their relief, Buggy and Sabo failed to notice the “surprise” right away, but as soon as the giggling registered in their minds, they locked onto it.

 

Looking up, they found Makino standing behind the counter, a small child of about two or three years in her arms. She was holding out a rice cracker to him, which the boy took with another giggle and then stuffed whole into his mouth, making his cheeks puff out comically.

 

“Be careful now and take small bites.”

 

Buggy blinked at the child, turned to Garp, blinked at him, and then turned to blink at Makino.

 

“I think I’m missing something here,” he said, glancing down at Sabo who was in a similar state of shock, “Makino didn’t have a kid while we were gone and then never told us…right?”

 

“Of course not,” Makino said, voice full of reproach, “Luffy isn’t mine.”

 

Garp let out a bellowing laugh, clapping Buggy on the back and reaching down to roughly pat Sabo’s head.

 

“Yup! Luffy’s my grandson! He’s Dragon’s kid,” he said, once again pushing his grandsons forward, “Which means he’s your little brother! Congratulations!”

 

At the sound of Garp’s voice, Luffy turned to face them, cheeks still puffed out like a chipmunk’s and round eyes unblinking.

 

“Funny nose!” he said, words muffled by the cracker in his mouth and pudgy arms reaching towards Buggy.

 

“Wha-? Hey!”

 

Sabo snickered, clambering up onto a barstool to put himself at eye level with the toddler.

 

“Hi, Luffy, I’m Sabo!”

 

“Bo!”

 

“Yeah,” Sabo said, giggling when Luffy’s little hands landed on his face, “that’s me!”

 

Luffy pinched Sabo’s cheeks and pulled his face this way and that, giggling when Sabo stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes. He let go to clap his hands, the rice cracker that was once in his mouth now gone as he laughed.

 

“More!”

 

Buggy stepped forward, watching as Sabo made silly faces which Luffy found incredibly hilarious, and placed himself on the stool to Sabo’s left. The little boy’s attention immediately turned to him, round eyes peering up in curiosity.

 

“Funny nose!” he said again, causing Buggy’s cheeks to redden as he tried to hold back a scream.

 

“I’m Buggy, one of your big brothers,” he said seriously, crossing his arms as he stared Luffy down, “You’d better treat me with respect.”

 

There was a pause after he spoke, silence descending before Luffy broke it.

 

“Funny nose!”

 

Garp and Sabo’s laughter did nothing to quell Buggy’s irritation but he pushed it all down with a sigh and settled for patting Luffy’s head before turning him back to Sabo. The little boy giggled and started tugging on Sabo’s hat, laughing even louder when the blonde boy placed it on his head.

 

“Hat! Hat!”

 

“Yeah, this is my top hat!”

 

Turning back to Garp, Buggy raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

 

“So, Dragon’s kid.”

 

“Mhmm…Dragon’s.”

 

Sighing once again, the blue-haired teen slumped over the counter and placed his head in his hands miserably.

 

“You know, one day in the very distant future, when all these secrets can no longer be kept,” he said, sending a longsuffering look to Garp from over his shoulder, “You’re going to enjoy the show, aren’t you?”

 

Garp simply laughed in response, Luffy echoing his grandfather just a moment after. Buggy let out another sigh, subtly attempting to check his hair for any incoming grays.

 

As opening time for the bar rolled around, and still with no Ace or Shanks in sight, Sabo was left to babysitting duty while the others set about preparing the bar for customers. He took Luffy up to Makino’s library, to get him out from underfoot, and found a few colorful picture books to (hopefully) entertain the rambunctious toddler. Soon enough, Sabo found that, if he embellished the stories just enough, Luffy was thoroughly entertained, enough to sit in his lap and listen with rapt attention and eyes glittering with awe.

 

“Boat!”

 

Luffy slammed his hand repeatedly against the page, babbling indecipherable nonsense to Sabo with a wide smile on his face. The only word that was moderately intelligible was ‘boat’, so Sabo latched onto that.

 

“Yes, that’s a boat,” he said, prying sticky hands away from the watercolor image of a small sailboat, “Maybe we can go see some boats later, okay?”

 

“Boat!”

 

Luffy laughed, clapping gleefully at the prospect of getting see real boats and clumsily wrapped his arms around Sabo’s waist as far as they would go.

 

“Yay, boat!”

 

Laughing, Sabo patted the top of Luffy’s head as he tried to get him back into the story. Before they could continue reading, however, the door opened and Shanks stepped through, a soft smile already at home on his face.

 

“Well, look what we have here,” he said, crouching down to take a look at Luffy, “Just like Gramps said, a new little brother.”

 

Luffy looked up at Shanks, wonder coloring his expression, and extracted himself from Sabo’s hold to toddle over to the older boy.

 

“Hey, bud, I’m Shanks,” he said, carefully pulling Luffy into his arms, “You must be Luffy.”

 

“Mm! My name!”

 

“Yeah, that’s your name,” Shanks laughed, ruffling Luffy’s hair and making him giggle, “And my name is Shanks.”

 

“Shanks!”

 

“Yup, that’s me.”

 

Shanks grinned when Luffy laughed again, and then turned to face Sabo, reaching down to pat his head and give him a soft smile.

 

“Shanks what about…”

 

“I know,” he said, a sad look creeping into his eyes despite the smile still firmly in place, “We’ll talk later, okay?”

 

Sabo nodded, getting up to put the books away and follow after Shanks as he took Luffy back downstairs. In the time they had been up there, Makino, Buggy, and Garp had opened the bar and the place was already starting to fill up. An old fisherman from the village was banging a lively tune out on the old piano, a group of dock workers were starting up a game of poker, and some men from the merchant ships were seated at the bar counter eating.

 

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Shanks let Luffy down and watched him run off toward Makino. As soon as he reached her, he attached himself to her long skirt and laughed wildly as she walked around the bar dragging him along. Most of them ignored the little monkey hanging from Makino’s skirts, but a few of the villagers raised their eyebrows and sent questioning gazes toward the young barmaid, curious as to where the child came from. It wasn’t until Garp began loudly recounting his shock upon learning about his newest grandson that they stopped looking to Makino for answers and instead rolled their eyes and laughed in understanding. As she went around the bar, picking up empty tankards and making polite small talk with the patrons who stopped her, Shanks stood behind the bar counter, watching with a fond smile on his face. Sabo couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease his older brother, smiling slyly at Buggy who was standing nearby also grinning teasingly at Shanks.

 

“Makino would be such a great mom, doncha think?”: Sabo said, dutifully wiping down the counter, “I bet she’d want to have lots of kids too. She really loves ‘em.”

 

“Yeah, I think so too,” Buggy said, placing his tray of empty cups by Shanks’s elbow, “Now that you mention it, I think she did say something once…about wanting a lot of kids.”

 

Shanks’ cheeks pinkened and he turned around so quickly that he nearly knocked over the glasses on the counter. Holding back their laughter, Buggy and Sabo scooted closer, lowering their voices as if to whisper but still speaking loud enough for their brother to hear.

 

“You know Niko?” Buggy said, leaning close to Sabo’s ear.

 

“Mr. Daichi’s oldest son?” 

 

“Yeah, him. He has a crush on Makino.”

 

Shanks turned slightly, angling himself to better hear the boys but obviously trying to pretend he wasn’t interested in their conversation.

 

“How do you know?” Sabo asked, glancing at Shanks and holding back a laugh at the dark look in his eyes.

 

“He keeps bringing her flowers,” Buggy said, crossing his arms and nodding sagely, “I think he’s trying to court her. And of course, his mother and father approve, everyone loves Makino.”

 

“Well, did you know that Haku always comes over to see if she needs help moving heavy crates and things like that?” Sabo said, wiggling his eyebrows, “Apparently, his mother is the one that keeps sending him but I definitely don’t see him complaining. As a matter of fact, he always tries to show off when he’s here.”

 

Shanks’s shoulders tensed, as he filled the tankards of the men sitting at the bar counter, the tips of his ears matching the brightness of his hair. He cleared his throat and tossed a wet rag at Buggy’s face with a sour look on his own.

 

“Go do something productive,” he muttered, brushing past them to meet up with Makino in the middle of the bar.

 

He stopped before her, and his younger brothers watched with unbridled glee as he bent down and ruffled Luffy’s hair before straightening up and giving Makino the sappiest smile as he took the full tray of glasses from her hands. She offered him her own fond smile and thanked him with a nod before taking the empty tray he handed her and turning to collect more tankards, Luffy still attached to her skirt and giggling loudly. The two of them snickered and separated to do their tasks before Shanks could return and start scolding them even if watching him do so while red-faced would be funny.

 

Later on in the night, once most of Party’s patrons were drunkenly stumbling out, Shanks scooped Luffy up from where he lay sprawled out over some chairs and carried him upstairs, Buggy following close behind with Sabo cradled in his own arms.

 

“Hey,” Buggy said, leaning forward so Shanks could hear his whispers, “Is Ace…?”

 

“With the bandits,” Shanks whispered back, stopping at the top of the stairs, “Or at least, that’s where he was when I left.”

 

They stepped into Makino’s spare bedroom and laid the two boys on the bed, Shanks moving to the side as Buggy tucked them in. Fond smiles crossed their faces as Sabo and Luffy shuffled closer to each other, the smaller boy shoving his face into Sabo’s stomach while the blonde boy draped his arm over Luffy’s shoulders.

 

“Are you gonna go find him if he’s not there or leave him?” Buggy asked as they closed the room door behind them.

 

“I’ll go looking for him,” Shanks said, rolling his sleeves up as they made their way back down to the bar, “Hopefully he’s still there though.”

 

They walked down in silence, Buggy chewing on his words before speaking as they reached the landing.

 

“Did he tell why?”

 

Shanks sighed, stepping behind the counter and picking up a rag. Makino looked up from where she was wiping glasses and sent a questioning glance their way but remained silent as Shanks opened his mouth to speak.

 

“He’s been going around askin’ people what they think about the Pirate King,” he said, knuckles turning white as he gripped the rag tightly, “And what they’d do if he had a kid.”

 

Oppressive silence fell across the empty bar, all three teens choking on the thought of the most obvious responses Ace would’ve heard.

 

“Shanks, the things they say about him, that’s…”

 

“I know…”

 

Shanks leaned forward, bracing his hands against the counter and let out another sigh. Buggy reached forward, placing his hand on the other teen’s shoulder as he shared a concerned look with Makino. She too stepped forward, coming up to Shanks’ other side and rubbing her hand up and down his back.

 

“Ace is a tough kid,” she said, voice wavering with the weight of her emotion, “We’ll figure out a way to help him out. Plus, we have Luffy now.” A wry smile crossed her face and she let out a soft laugh, “I think his boundless energy will be enough of a distraction for Ace.”

 

Shanks and Buggy snickered in response, both of them thinking of the few hours they’d seen Luffy in action.

 

“He is quite the rambunctious three-year-old,” Shanks snorted, stepping back from the counter as he laughed, “I think we’ll all be pretty distracted keeping an eye on him for a while”

 

The three of them laughed, the burden weighing on their shoulders lightening just a bit as they thought of all the trouble the newest edition to their family would bring.

 

Once everything was cleaned and put away, Makino made her way upstairs after bidding the boys goodnight and the two of them made their way up to the bandit’s hut. They walked in silence, both lost in their own thoughts and worries. With the arrival of Luffy, and with him being so young, they were both thinking of how this might change their sailing plans. Luffy was much smaller than Ace and Sabo, and the two of them were also still very young to be taking care of another even younger kid.

 

“Well, seems like we won’t be getting any crew members for a little while yet,” Shanks said at length, a wry grin painting his lips, “I’m sure Gramps’ll be more than okay with that.”

 

Buggy laughed, slinging his arm around and Shanks’ shoulders and shaking his head.

 

“It’s just a few years,” he said, grinning at the put-upon look on Shank’s face, “We’ll get back out there when we need to.”

 

Shanks rolled his eyes and shoved Buggy off of him, putting on speed as the bandit’s hut came in sight.

 

“Well, that’s a problem for another day,” he said, pushing open the door, “Let’s see if that brat is still around.”

 

Upon opening the door, they found Dadan waiting for them. Her face was grim as she sat before the dying fire, a cigarette hanging loosely on her lips.

 

“He left?” Shanks asked, crossing his arms and sighing.

 

“About an hour ago…”

 

Buggy stepped further into the room, glancing between his guardian and his brother.

 

“So, what’re we doing? Are we going out to look for him or waiting until the morning?”

 

Shanks looked over his shoulder at Buggy and nodded, moving to take the torch that Dadan was lighting up.

 

“I tried talking to him earlier,” he said, handing the torch to Buggy and taking another, “But he wasn’t really in a talking mood and I thought I’d let him cool off first.”

 

“How was his arm?” Buggy said as they made their way out the door, Dadan close behind.

 

“It looked almost completely, healed,” Shanks said, stepping into the forest, “He had a good range of motion with it.”

 

They fell into silence, soon reaching a spot in the woods where they decided to split up. Dadan headed straight downwards, almost in the direction of Foosha while Buggy and Shanks went to the left and the right respectively. Buggy made his way down to the cliffside, thinking of checking that area first before heading back through the woods to the hut. Upon reaching the cliffside, Buggy cheered internally that his gut feeling had once again been correct. There Ace sat, feet dangerously close to the edge of the cliff and his face buried against his knees.

 

“Hey brat,” he said, sitting next to Ace gingerly, “You’re never gonna believe what Gramps brought us.”

 

“I don’t wanna know,” Ace said, voice muffled and hoarse as if he’d been crying for quite some time.

 

“Well, too bad, I’m gonna tell you anyway!” Buggy said, leaning towards his brother and gently pulling him into his side, “Apparently his son, that Dragon guy, he had a kid. And that kid is three and our little brother now!”

 

Ace peered out from underneath his bangs and glared up at Buggy, attempting to shake his arm off but failing.

 

“I don’t need another brother,” he said, still struggling in Buggy’s hold, “Especially not a drooling ankle-biter.”

 

“Aw, c’mon, Ace! I think a little brother could be fun!” he leaned all of his weight on Ace, snickering when the boy started struggling even harder, “I know Shanks n’ I had loads of fun lookin’ out for you when you were a baby.”

 

Ace huffed angrily, finally getting his head out from under Buggy’s arm and scooting over a little bit to properly glare at his older brother.

 

“I don’t wanna take care of a baby,” he said, face scrunching in displeasure.

 

“Well, he’s not a baby baby. He’s three.”

 

“That’s baby enough,” Ace grumbled, wiggling away from Buggy when he tried to reach for him again.

 

Buggy laughed then, pulling Ace close and playfully digging his knuckles into the younger boy’s head.

 

“Aw, don’t be like that,” he said, laughing and hugging Ace tightly, “Luffy’s really cute!”

 

Ace stopped struggling, going limp in Buggy’s arms and turning to bury his face in the older boy’s stomach. They sat in silence for a while, looking out at the ocean and the reflection of the moon in the still waters. It was a long moment before Buggy once again broke the silence.

 

“Hey, so what’s with all the fighting?”

 

Ace shifted, uncomfortable with the new conversation topic.

 

“I dunno,” he said, shrugging halfheartedly, “They just…made me mad so I fought ‘em.”

 

Buggy sighed, subconsciously tugging on his hair as he chewed over the younger boys explanation.

 

“Well, do you know what specifically made you angry? ‘Cause I know you’re a little hotheaded but to be starting fights with grown men like that?” Buggy looked down at Ace, eyes full of concern, “Ace, we’re your family, we just wanna help…”

 

Ace pressed his face further into Buggy’s abdomen, his reply muffled by the fabric of the older boy’s shirt.

 

“What did you say?” Buggy poked at Ace’s head, trying to hear his brother’s answer.

 

“I said, that I asked them about my dad…” Ace said, raising his head to reveal a tear-stained face.

 

Buggy grimaced, knowing exactly the types of responses Ace most likely heard. He felt guilty, that he and Shanks had started pulling away from the younger boys and left them in such a vulnerable position that lead Ace to the situation his was in now.

 

“Ace, that’s just cause they didn’t know Captain like me n’ Shanks did…”

 

“But they said…they said Roger’s kid shoulda never been born…” Ace whispered, voice thick with tears.

 

Fighting back his own tears, and nearly failing, Buggy pulled Ace close and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of his head, burying his face in Ace’s hair as he spoke comforting words.

 

“Ace, just because other people say that doesn’t mean it’s an absolute truth…Me, Shanks, Sabo, and Makino, Dadan, and Gramps and the bandits, even Luffy, we don’t think that at all and we know exactly the kind of person you are. How can people who don’t even know you decide what should be done with you if they don’t know a single thing about you?”

 

Just then, Sabo stepped out of the trees, running towards his brothers with tears streaming down his face. He threw himself at the two of them, wrapping his arms around them both as far as they could go.

 

“Ace, you’re so stupid!” he cried, landing light punches on Ace’s head.

 

Makino also stepped onto the cliff, Shanks close behind, and they joined the hug pile with tears pooling in their eyes. Shanks offered one of his own halfhearted punches to Ace’s upper arm before leaning over to press a firm kiss to the boy’s head. Makino also leaned forward to place a soft kiss on Ace’s cheek and moved to wrap her arms tighter around Shanks and Buggy.

 

The five of them sat there for a long while, Ace occasionally breaking the silence to complain about the hugging, before they all moved to separate from each other and to head back to the bandits’ hut. They bump into Dadan on their way back, none of them commenting on the relieved look that entered her eyes as soon as she caught sight of Ace, and they continued up the mountain together. That night Makino slept in Dadan’s room, after making sure Magra and Dogra would watch Luffy, and the boys dog-piled in their room, sleeping on top of each other in the most uncomfortable positions the whole night through.

 

When morning came Luffy was brought up to the hut and he and Ace met for the first time. They were all seated around the table someone had set up in the middle of the room and scarfing down their breakfast when the front door opened and Luffy sprinted through, in between Dogra’s legs. He ran right up to Shanks, plastering himself older boy’s back and giggling wildly.

 

“Shanks!”

 

Shanks laughed, reaching around to pull the toddler into his lap. He pointed to Ace and turned Luffy to face him, smiling wide at both boys.

 

“Luffy, look, that’s your other brother, Ace.”

 

Luffy turned his large eyes towards Ace and blinked at him owlishly before breaking into a wide smile and bouncing off Shanks’ lap and running to Ace.

 

“Ace!”

 

Ace leaned back, a little overwhelmed to suddenly find himself with an over-eager toddler wiggling around in his lap, but he cautiously wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and gave him an awkward pat on the head.

 

“H-hello…”

 

Luffy laughed, pressing his face into Ace’s shoulder briefly before wiggling out of his hold and running over to give Buggy and Sabo hugs as well.

 

Shanks moved closer to Ace, snorting at the mix of annoyance, confusion, and begrudging fondness on Ace’s face.

 

“You and Sabo will keep an eye on him, yeah?” he said, leaning back on his hands and staring up at the ceiling, “I mean, we’ll always be back, but when we’re not here he can’t just be left to his own devices.”

 

Ace’s shoulders hiked up to his ears, his hands fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as Shanks patted his head and continued to speak.

 

“You and Sabo gotta take a turn at being the big brothers,” he said, squeezing Ace’s shoulder after moving his hand from the younger boy’s head, “Just like me n’ Buggy taught you guys things, you both gotta teach Luffy now.”

 

Ace nodded, still adamantly facing away from Shanks. The two of them sat in relative silence, watching as Buggy and Sabo chased Luffy around the hut while Dadan screamed profanities at them.

 

“One day we’ll have to leave Luffy behind too…” Ace said, turning to look back at Shanks, “And getting left behind sucks…”

 

“It does, yeah,” Shanks thought back to when he and Buggy first felt that feeling of being left behind.

 

Shaking the thoughts of his past away, the redhead wrapped his arms around his little brother and hooked his chin over Ace’s shoulder.

 

“But remember what I’m always telling you and Sabo?” he said, turning to watch Buggy tossing Luffy into the air, “We’re always gonna be brothers, even if-”

 

“Even if we’re on opposite sides of the world, yeah, I know ,” Ace said, leaning back into Shanks with a sigh, “Doesn’t make it suck any less.”

 

Before Shanks could respond, Luffy came bounding over, laughing as he threw himself into Ace’s lap. He wiggled around until he was looking up at the older boy, smiling widely and giggling when Ace reached down to awkwardly pat his head.

 

“Ace!”

 

 Against all within him screaming to scowl at the boy and shove him off, Ace smiled instead, albeit awkwardly, immediately feeling the need to pull Luffy close and hug him tightly when the smaller boy smiled even wider. Instead of giving into the urge, Ace turned a wide-eyed stare towards Shanks who laughed and knuckled the top of Ace’s head.

 

“Now you and Sabo get the chance to understand how stressful it is being a big brother,” he said, laughing harder when Buggy began nodding emphatically from the other side of the room.

 

“Just wait, you’ll understand soon enough why we are the way we are,” he said, crossing his arms and staring down at both Sabo and Ace sternly.

 

Ace and Sabo shared a look, the blonde shrugging in confusion. Ace simply chose to ignore his older brothers and instead turned his attention back to Luffy, who was fiddling with the armband on Ace’s elbow.

 

Feeling a surge of protectiveness, Ace subconsciously hugged Luffy tighter and stored all of Buggy and Shanks’ words in the back of his mind, resolving in that moment to always protect Luffy’s smile.

 

Later that night, when all five boys were crammed into the only other bedroom in the bandits’ hut, Shanks and Buggy watched as their younger brothers sprawled across the blanket they had laid out, falling asleep quickly due to their exhaustion from the day’s excitement.

 

“This really changes everything,” Buggy said, dropping his head into his hands, “Gramps might start coming around more, and we can’t really leave Luffy to Ace and Sabo, not now…And then this whole thing with Ace, it’s just…”

 

“I know…” Shanks sat next to Buggy, tucking his knees under his chin, “It’s quite a wrench in our plans…”

 

They stayed silent for a moment, watching the gentle rise and fall of the younger boys’ chests as they worried over the troubles on the horizon. Crickets chirped outside the hut and the moon peaked in from the half-opened curtains, bathing the room in a soft glow. It was peaceful, and yet Shanks and Buggy’s minds were anything but. After a long while, Buggy leaned back on his hands with a sigh and spoke.

 

“What if I stay, and you go?”

 

Shanks stilled, letting out a slow breath through his nose before turning to face Buggy.

 

“Bugs, you…are you sure?” He leaned forward, reaching for Buggy’s shoulders, “If I go, there’s no telling when I can come back. If you let me go…I’m heading straight for the Grand Line…”

 

“I know,” Buggy said, grin contrasting the wetness in his eyes, “But I really think it’s better if you go now, like right this second , and come back when you have a crew. I’ll hold down the fort here, keep Ace in check, teach Sabo, and make sure Luffy’s safe. Then you can come back and we’ll swap.”

 

Shanks tightened his grip on Buggy’s shoulders, tears threatening to escape his eyes, and he leaned forward to press their foreheads together.

 

“Bugs, I’m scared. I wanna go so bad but…but I’m also afraid that things won’t turn out the way I’m hoping they will…”

 

Buggy laughed wetly, reaching out to lightly punch Shanks’ shoulder as he grinned up at his brother.

 

“That never stopped you before,” he said, shrugging when Shanks sent him a pleading look, “If you’re trying to get me to make you stay, I’m not going to. We both know why it’s better for you to go now and we both know we can’t leave them behind. So, we compromise.”

 

Shanks nodded, leaning back to look at the three kids asleep nearby. He reached over to move Sabo’s hand from off of Ace’s face and smiled softly. After a moment of contemplation, he stood up and nodded, looking down at Buggy who stood with him. They clasped hands in the quiet of the night, a promise in the watery smiles they sent to each other, and then Shanks stepped out of the room leaving Buggy and his other brothers behind and looking forward to the adventures that awaited him in the Grand Line.

 

Shanks silently picked his way through the sleeping bandits, being extra careful to avoid the floorboards he knew were creaky. He made it all the way to the door without getting caught but once he stepped outside he came face to face with Dadan.

 

“You boys are so predictable it hurts sometimes,” she muttered, stubbing her cigarette out against the hut, “Were you thinkin’ that leavin’ at the crack of dawn would keep Garp off you for a while?”

 

Shanks smiled sheepishly, shutting the door behind him and stepping closer to Dadan.

 

“Maybe,” he said, shrugging as he sent her a cheeky grin, “Or maybe I was hoping to avoid your bad breath.”

 

“Ungrateful brat,” she said, ruffling his head roughly, “Garp mentioned having to meet some pompous shitbag up in High Town so I think you’ll get more than enough of a headstart.”

 

Shanks nodded, stepping back from Dadan and sending her a stiff salute. She snorted at his proper stance and waved him off, turning to light another cigarette and also to hide her tears. Shanks turned then, attempting to hide his own tears, and made his way around the bend of the path down the mountain, never once looking back at the place he'd called home for so long.

Notes:

Hahaha it was only...okay too long yeah

Don't worry, the next chapter will definitely find its way here a lot faster ahaha...I hope...

Thanks for sticking with me this far! And please check out my other works!

I hope you enjoy!

- Lena