After 1 Month
They traipsed through the thickets and groves of Mt. Corvo. Garp held Luffy by the scruff of his dark blue 56 sleeve-less t-shirts while Luffy continued to grunt and struggle. He occasionally would try to shock Garp by reaching to grab Garp's hand, but Garp immediately saw it each time and slapped it away before rewarding him with another sore bump on his head.
Luffy continued to struggle for most of the way, biting and gripping various objects in attempts to free himself but with little or no success. Try as he might to channel the electricity through his shirt, but couldn't from anywhere but his hands.
"Let me go, Jii-chan!" Luffy would cry out as he hung awkwardly by his shirt. "I promised Shanks that I would be the King of the Pirates."
"Cut it with the Pirate Crap." Garp rebuffed Luffy while they continued up the trail.
"On top of eating a devil fruit, you talk nonsense." Garp acclaimed loudly, "Luffy; I won't allow you to become a pirate. You must become the STRONGEST NAVY MARINE! Befriending that Red-Hair .... Bah, you idiot."
The rant eventually died down once Luffy stopped struggling, but he still hung by his shirt uncomfortably. The air soon became quiet as they walked through Mt. Corvo.
"You'll be staying with a friend for a little while, and I'll be back when I can to check on you regularly and pick you up when it time..." Garp trailed off, leaving Luffy puzzled while he stared up at his grandfather.
"Time? Time for what?" Luffy questioned though Garp turned his head in the other direction and seemed to be thinking heavily.
"Well ..." Garp began very hesitantly, before his expression and tone changed, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Luffy." Garp suddenly shifted in tone and looked down into the baffled face of Luffy.
"There is someone else that will be staying with you while you're there. He was a very good person the last time I saw him, so the two of you should get along well; after all, He's your adopted brother, so be a good boy."
"Brother?" Luffy asked questioningly to himself.
They walked until they came to a large wooden house. Luffy stayed behind while Garp knocked on the door. "Hello! Dadan!" Garp shouted while Luffy examined the poorly-built shack.
"What is this place?" Luffy said before running around to explore a little.
The door suddenly burst open with a loud yell as the very angry Dadan slammed the door open in rage before a terrifying mean glare from Garp silenced her.
"G-Garp-san!" Dadan reeled back in fright as Dogra and Magra emerged from the curtain door, also in a frightened state.
"You're looking rather well," Garp commented casually
"Give me a break! Please have mercy on me! That devil of a child Ace is 10 years old already." Dadan pleaded desperately while Dogra attempted to reason with Garp.
"Putting that aside.." Garp began to say, prompting an angry response from Dogra. Dadan continued to watch Luffy chase a dragonfly before yelling at him. Garp grabbed the back of the neck of Luffy's shirt and held him up high.
"Look after him for awhile, too," Garp said nonchalantly with Luffy dangling in his left hand. Dadan and both Magra and Dogra were left silent.
"Luffy, say hello." Garp prompted, earning a quick "Yo!" from Luffy.
"Who is that kid?" Magra asked silently. His answer was probably both the least expected and the least welcomed. "He is my grandson," Garp answered. A brief moment of silence ensued before all 3 bandits burst out with loud shouts and howls of surprise.
"We cannot take him!" All 3 sternly replied at the same time. Garp stood in front of them with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
All 3 broke out in a cold sweat as Garp used his own methods of persuasion.
Meanwhile, The dragonfly teetered and tottered along in the wind while Luffy gave chase. A subtle irritating noise from the forest a short distance away broke his carefree chase, and he stopped in his tracks to stare at what seemed to be the source of the noise.
Shadowed underneath the trees, Luffy spotted a small boy. He sat on top of a large animal, carrying a long pole and was dressed in a sleeve-less orange shirt. His face was slightly obscured by the shadow of the trees towering above him.
Garp momentarily ceased his torture of Dadan, Magra, and Dogra and turned to greet the young boy politely.
"Ace!" Garp politely exclaimed and walked over. "Luffy, this is Ace. He's 3 years older than you. You'll be living with them from now on."
Dadan angrily stood up to protest, but Garp silenced them all with a deathly leer.
"We'll take him." All of them said simultaneously. "Good," Garp said politely before walking up to them as they stood upright. Much to their surprise, he leaned over and whispered to Dadan behind his left hand.
Garp whispered something to Dadan quietly. Dadan was greatly surprised by this and wanted to inquire further but waited patiently while Garp continued. "I'll be back to pick him up then." Garp lowered his hand and began to stride away before he felt Dadan put a firm grip on his shoulder.
"Hold on a second, why only 3 years? We've raised Ace for a lot longer than that, so why can't you take him with you?" Dadan pleaded, hoping for a desperately needed reprieve from dealing with numerous traps and falls of raising the devil's child himself.
Garp turned around and began whispering again, "I'm not at liberty to discuss it, but it's something that could change everything. I can hardly get off from work with Sengoku, though, and Luffy needs to find his own way and gain experience and strength. I'm leaving it up to you to just watch over him until he's grown up enough. I'll be back from time to time to check on him and see how he's progressing." Garp said in a hushed and covered voice, Dadan before she relinquished her grip on Garp's shoulder, and he walked down the road. Dadan, however, let out a slight gasp at the old man as he walked back into the forest and seemingly reached out to speak again.
Garp began walking back into the forest before stopping once more and glancing over at Luffy before whispering at Dadan from the small distance. "Oh yes, Don't tell Luffy that." Garp hush whispered, leaving Dadan even more stunned than before.
"W-Wait! Garp-san! W-What about contributing some child support for.." Dogra began to say before being interrupted, "Put it on my tab." he waved off care freely. "This isn't a bar!" Dogra angrily shouted as Garp walked off into the forest.
Luffy, however, stayed in a slight stupor for a few seconds until he blinked out of it and walked over to the young boy. "Hey!" Luffy said happily. The young boy was unresponsive and simply jumped down from the large animal and walked forward with his head kept low.
Luffy continued to advance cheerfully until He walked right past him. Luffy turned around, puzzled for a bit, before following after him. "Hey! Ace!" Luffy continued to shout and run while Ace ran into the opposite side of the thickets in the woods.
Luffy gave chase to the young boy, now introduced as Ace, running into the thick bushes. Ace moved fast through the passing trees nefarious bushes as Luffy persistently gave chase. A few minutes later, into the chase, Luffy emerged at an empty clearing surrounded by tall trees. He was covered in scratches from numerous prickly bushes and dirty from several falls. Luffy panted a little as he scanned around, looking for Ace, but finding nobody in sight.
He continued to glance around the clearing, looking and listening for anything that might give him a hint to where he was or which direction He went.
He only had to scan a few seconds before he heard a rustle in the bushes behind him. Luffy turned around and rushed for the bushes before pushing the thickets aside and gazing at what was also an empty space, save for a large rock that laid unevenly on the ground. Luffy scratched his head in confusion before he felt a slim arm wrap around his head and clamp around his mouth before he could turn around.
Luffy was taken aback and struggled while letting out muffled yells and arm waves. He immediately put electricity on his body, causing whoever had grabbed him to yell out in pain. Luffy dropped to the ground and panted a second to breathe in the fresh air and turned his gaze upon the perpetrator, who was none other than Ace.
"Alright, first off; Don't follow me." Ace bluntly stated, "It's annoying if I have you tagging along for the ride and." The boy said, standing straight up and seeming to be towering over Luffy.
Luffy started to speak, "But..." "No buts. You can get lost in this forest, and I'd hate to be responsible if something bad were to happen to you." A slightly evil look passed over his eyes briefly, though Luffy didn't notice it.
"But I just wanted to be friends..." Luffy said, only for Ace to laugh slightly. "I don't need friends. Go back to Dadan's cabin and stop following me; it'll be safer for you that way." Ace said firmly and started walking again towards the direction he'd been heading before. He was surprised, however, when he heard a loud voice from behind him.
"No, I won't go back," Luffy said out loud, causing Ace to turn around to stare at him briefly. He stared at him with an emotionless expression for a few seconds before turning back to the direction towards his destination.
"Suit yourself. But..." Ace said, bending down slightly to pick up a small rock. Luffy was a little confused at the cut-off sentence and got closer to look at what Ace was doing as he bent down a little. Ace mentally counted the amount of footsteps he heard and swiftly turned around and threw the rock he'd picked up to the near top of the closest tree.
Luffy stopped to gaze at the rock as it travelled upward and impacted a small bundle at the top. The rock had carried enough force to cause the bundle to sway a great deal. Luffy continued looking up as a the bundle suddenly dislodged itself and began falling straight at him.
Luffy just dodged the rocks; Ace ran while Luffy was still dodging. After the rocks stopped falling, Luffy stared back where Ace was but saw him nowhere.
"Well, very good Shanks trained my Haki," Luffy spoke to himself before walking towards wherever Ace was going.
Soon Luffy saw Ace again, and it didn't take long for Luffy to meet Sabo, who looked more open to the idea of having Luffy as their friend.
Ace wasn't sure, but after a month, Luffy had become their friend. Soon Luffy shared his desire to become The Pirate King, with Sabo stating that he wanted to become a pirate as well, and so did Ace.
Luffy showed his new friends his Devil Fruit powers before talking about Haki. To say Ace was excited would be an understatement; after one week, Luffy had started training them on how to use Haki, as much knowledge as he had on Haki.
After 6 Months
There was snow on the ground when they woke up that morning, so Luffy threw himself out of their hideout to land in the white fluffy stuff, laughing merrily all the while. Ace and Sabo were much more delicate about it, as even with snow on the ground, they didn't have bodies to blunt their falls.
They barely touched the ground before they took snowballs to the face, however, and while Sabo laughed, Ace shouted at Luffy and took off after him, fully intending to bury Luffy up to his neck in snow. Eventually, Sabo stepped in and rescued Luffy from his chilly fate while Ace and Luffy continued to snipe at each other.
This was their brotherhood now, and Ace and Sabo had fallen into their roles as older brothers. Sabo was the indulgent one, who encouraged and comforted, while Ace was the rough one, doling out reprimands and the occasional knock to the head.
Not because he didn't care. He did, which was the horribly embarrassing part of the whole thing.
Their breakfast plans were spoiled by the discovery that the lake had frozen over. While Ace sat and contemplated cutting a hole in the ice to do fishing, Luffy had whooped and taken off across the ice.
"Luffy! Get back here!" Sabo shouted before Ace could react.
"No way! This is fun!" Luffy laughed and slid over the ice, poorly mimicking skating but having the time of his life anyway.
Ace, meanwhile, had thoughts of thin patches of ice just waiting to collapse under the weight of an idiot like Luffy. "I'm not going to save you if you fall through the ice!"
"Sabo will!!"
That seemed enough for Sabo, who laughed and walked onto the ice himself. "Of course!"
Ace scowled and muttered "traitor" under his breath as Sabo slid after Luffy.
From the bank, Ace watched as Sabo skated over to Luffy, colliding with him as they both laughed and clung to each other.
Watching Luffy and Sabo, Ace suspected that Sabo had wanted a friendship like that all along. Unconditional brotherly love freely given, asking nothing in return but for that love to be accepted. Sabo was more than happy to both give and receive such love. The ease in which Sabo had slid into his role as an older brother was proof positive.
It made Ace's chest tighten. He wasn't jealous—how could he be jealous of Sabo?—but he did wish that it was that easy for him, too. Luffy was an idiot, sure, but he was an honest idiot who wasn't stingy with his affection. Sabo ate it up, but Ace was...
Well, he didn't know exactly what he was, but he brushed off Luffy's any attempts at affection like he'd been burned.
Suddenly both Ace and Sabo slipped and fell on the ice, causing a loud thud.
Ace tensed, waiting for the crack of ice and the screams that would follow, but they never came. Instead, there was a moment of silence before both Sabo and Luffy burst into laughter.
As Sabo and Luffy stood up, Luffy waved over to Ace. "Come on, Ace! This is fun!"
Ace scowled immediately. "What if something tries to eat us? We should be training!"
"We can have fun sometimes, Ace! Come join us!"
Once again, Ace muttered "traitor" under his breath in response to Sabo waving at him. It was clear that this was an instance where Sabo was going to side with Luffy no matter what Ace said.
With that in mind, Ace finally stood up and glared at Sabo and Luffy. Ace took a step onto the ice, half expecting it to collapse under his weight even if it had stood up to Sabo and Luffy's play. When it didn't, he clenched his fists and took another step towards Sabo and Luffy, who took a step back.
Then, all at once, Ace took off across the ice, half running and half skating. Sabo and Luffy yelped and tried to run, but they slipped instead, allowing Ace to barrel into them. The force sent all three of them sailing across the ice into a snowbank on the other side of the lake.
One by one, they poked their heads out of the snow, staying there in tense silence as the moments ticked by.
Finally, Ace was the first to snort, and then all three of them were laughing as they rolled out of the snow.
--
The remainder of the morning and much of the afternoon was spent skating on the lake, having a very intense snowball fight, and building a snowman with Luffy inside, much to Luffy's indignation and Ace and Sabo's amusement. There were no thoughts of the monsters that lurked in the forest or people saying that any son of Gold Roger would be an unwanted demon. It was just three brothers having a good time in the snow without a care in the world.
It was only when Luffy's stomach growled so loudly it scared all three of them that they realised they hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch. Then it was business as usual, with the three of them teaming up to take down a bear for dinner.
As they sat around the fire they made to cook the meat; Ace couldn't help but think of how easy it had been, once he stopped fighting it, to act like a normal kid. It had been fun to play with Sabo and Luffy, even if it hadn't aided them at all in getting stronger. Now that it was over, Ace was back to scowling at the fire and scowling at Luffy, who sat whining about how hungry he was.
Ace started to open his mouth to tell Luffy to stop whining, but Sabo spoke first.
"Not much longer, Luffy." He gave Luffy a friendly smile. "Why don't you just enjoy the fire and warm up a little?"
Luffy tilted his head with a frown. "Warm-up?"
Sabo mimicked the head tilt and frown. "We have been out in the snow all day."
Luffy blinked at him, then his eyes widened, and he wrapped his arms around himself. "Waah! It's cold!"
Ace groaned. "You just now noticed??"
While Ace and Luffy exchanged a glare, Sabo let out a resigned sigh.
The entire day had been a welcome change if Ace was honest with himself.
Getting Luffy to go back in the hideout and not go out and play some more was a bit of a challenge, but a solid knock to the head was a good incentive. Luffy rubbed his head and mumbled about how mean Ace was under his breath, but when he flopped onto his sleeping mat, he wouldn't stop squirming.
"Quit it and go to sleep, Luffy."
"I can't! I wanna go play some more!"
"If you don't quit squirming, I'll—"
"...tell you a story! Me and Ace will!"
"Sabo!!"
Luffy had taken the bait, though, and he beamed at them. "I wanna hear the story!"
Sabo gave Ace a look that actually made Ace freeze with its intensity. He then grinned at Luffy. "It's a story about a hero who saved the whole Grand Line from a group of nasty bandits."
Although reluctant at first, Ace eventually joined in on spinning a wild tale of piracy and heroism on the Grand Line with bandit villains that sounded a lot like a certain group they knew.
"...and he was a true hero. Do you know why?" When Luffy shook his head, Sabo grinned. "Because he shared his meat with everyone."
Luffy's eyes widened in horror. "I never want to be a hero..."
Ace had to muffle his snicker at that, and he could see that Sabo was biting his lip in an attempt not to laugh as well. Of course, Luffy would balk at heroism if it meant he had to share his meat.
He reached out and shoved Luffy down, feeling a little resistance as his body hit the mat. "You got your story; now go to sleep."
"But I wanna stay up and—"
"Ace is right, Luffy. Go to sleep."
Finally, Sabo was back on his side. Luffy just scowled and continued to whine, making Ace wonder why in the world he had included him in the vow of brotherhood. He was whiny and weak, a crybaby who needed help constantly and ate more than his fair share of food.
Ace was just about ready to hit Luffy over the head, the potential for Luffy to begin crying be damned. Then, all at once, Luffy fell back onto his mat, snoring away. Ace and Sabo blinked, then exchanged a look. Sabo chuckled nervously.
"...well, at least he's asleep?"
Sabo scratched the back of his head, but he carefully reached over to grab Luffy's blanket and cover him with it. The whole thing made Ace wrinkle his nose.
"He might get spoiled if you keep acting like that,"
Sabo made a face as he finished covering Luffy with the blanket. "Being nice to him isn't spoiling him. Our little brother's gotta grow up to be the Pirate King, right?"
Ace snorted and shook his head. "I can't believe he said that. He'll be lucky if he can even get past the Lord of the Coast."
"If he can stop crying long enough to even get in a boat."
They both shared a laugh at that.
This was why it was the three of them and not just him and Sabo. Luffy was annoying sometimes, sure, but he was good for both of them. Sabo obviously adored being a big brother and Ace...
Ace felt like he had a place in the world. He had a little brother who needed him. Two brothers to get him to relax and play in the snow. A little brother who was snoring like crazy and another brother sleeping nearby, making him feel like it really had been a good thing he was born.
He didn't think he'd be able to get over how embarrassing it would be to tell Sabo and Luffy that to their faces, but as he drifted off to the sound of their breathing, it was enough to have them nearby.
After 3 Months
Garp was making his way through the forest, all he could think was Luffy and Ace; as far as he could tell, Luffy wasn't going to change his mind, but Garp wanted Luffy to become a Marine, he knew a person like Luffy could potentially become a Hero of the World, but possibly do something about Celestial Dragons, for the world to be free of...
Inside the house, Luffy, Ace and Sabo were busy eating and talking.
"I will become the Captain while you two will become my servants," Ace stated with a grin, trying to take a bite, but Luffy grabbed it from his hand, much to his annoyance.
"Like hell, I will be the captain while you two will call me Captain Luffy, or better yet Pirate King Luffy," He said, grinning evilly with a puff at the end.
Sabo was watching silently in amusement; Ace was about to say something when the bandits, including Dadan at the other side of the table, suddenly spit out the water from their mouth.
Ace and Luffy looked confused at their sudden and strange new face of fear; he glanced at Luffy, who was looking behind them with terror written all over his face.
Ace felt a sudden dread feeling creep inside his body.
"So you brats still haven't learned a thing??" A voice yelled out; before Ace or Luffy could even comprehend what was happening, a fist hit both of them in the head, causing them to fall flat in the ground rubbing their heads in pain.
"Dadan," he called out.
"Yes, ser," she said before she took got a fist in the head.
"Wow, who is This?" Sabo asked, clearly intimidated by the person's size in front of him, not mentioning that he had never seen Luffy in this kind of pain before. Sure they would train and try to hit each other, but Luffy never showed pain.
Garp heard the little voice and turned to see a little boy with blonde hair and a strange hat.
"Who are you?"
Sabo felt nervous from the old man's gaze; he gulped and was trying to speak before Luffy stood up, ready to defend Sabo.
"Don't harm Sabo; he's our brother now," Luffy stated, standing in front of Sabo while Ace was questioning why Luffy was telling this to Garp.
Garp, on the other hand, grinned before he started cracking his knuckles.
"It seems I have an extra child in the baggage," the three brothers glanced at each other before running out in the wilderness like crazy, followed closely by Garp.
Later
After almost six hours of running around for their lives, Garp stopped chasing them, seeing as they were exhausted, but still standing on their legs and not giving up yet.
"Six hours, quite impressive, Now, you three will start a Fire," Garp ordered; the brothers didn't try to say anything against it despite their exhaustion.
Soon they started with the fire; Garp sat close while the other three were at the other side, patiently waiting for whatever Garp would throw at them.
The silence took over them; as Garp kept staring at the flames, the only sound heard was the sound of the wood burning and cracking.
Garp glanced at his grandson before letting out a sigh.
"You want to be Pirates?" Garp asked but more like a statement, his eyes looking at the three. They gulped, not remembering being so scared before, even Luffy, who had met the likes of Mihawk.
The three nodded since there was no reason to hide it.
"You, Sabo, tell me why you want to be a pirate," Garp asked; Sabo gulped before getting up.
"Because Pirates are people who are the most free, I want to travel the world and write a book perhaps," Sabo stated without fear.
Garp understood it but said nothing to the kid; his eyes turned to Ace.
"I want to become a famous pirate one day, to have my own name," Ace stated; all fear was gone and instead stood a boy who showed no fear, I will never run away, Ace thought determinedly.
Garp again said nothing before turning to look at Luffy, who had already stood up, his chest high and with a big grin on his face.
"I want to be...
.
.
.
"Huh," Was the only answer from Garp after hearing his grandson, who was grinning like crazy.
Sabo had laughed when Luffy said that when they became brothers, Ace had thought it was a childish dream, but Garp didn't laugh or thought it was stupid.
Instead, he felt Pride, pride like never before for his godson.
A smile erupted on his face before standing up. "If that's your dream Luffy, then You three will need to train," Garp spoke; the three brothers were quite shocked at hearing Garp.
"But I'm telling you now, Right now, Sleep, because tomorrow morning we will start the Torture. I meant Training..." Garp said, laughing at the horror-filled faces of Sabo, Ace and Luffy.