Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Year 1511

Ace was in the middle of a training session with Sabo, exchanging blow after blow, their metal pipes clashing loudly in the otherwise silent forest. It was something they had done so many times and would do so many more. They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, knew what the other would do next.

Suddenly both their bodies moved in a new way – in a way that screamed danger and power. The tension in the air was interrupted before it could grow further. The two young bodies froze in the middle of what would have been a strike too powerful to perform at that moment of their life.

"W-what? Sabo?"

"A-ce... "

"You are dead!"

"You are alive!"

The two boys exclaimed at the same time, eyes huge and mouths agape. The shock the two of them felt at seeing what they knew was their dead brother, caused them both to simply freeze in their positions, across from one another, and stare.

(Ace was alive.)

(Sabo was alive.)

Sabo, believing he had lost his chance to see his sworn brother ever again was the first to come to his sense and rush forward, taking Ace to the ground as their bodies collided.

It took but a moment for Ace to circle his arms around the blond and squeeze. He could not believe he was actually touching a supposedly dead person. His brother. His brother was alive. Ace was back in his small child body and Sabo was still alive. "How is this possible?"

"I... think I remember what happened. It would be best for us to go and find out what date it is. I will explain on the way."

"I don’t understand. You died, Sabo! I died! How is this possible!?" Ace was crying tears of happiness while he looked at the blonde’s face. Sabo was alive! Ace himself was alive! He wanted to enjoy this impossible happening, however his confusion and fear did not allow him. What if it was a dream? What if it was just an illusion his mind created as he died on the battlefield? Would Sabo disappear any moment now?

“Ace. Ace, please calm down!” Sabo’s worried voice reached him finally. The blond whispered calming words, trying to pull Ace out of his growing panic.

“We time-traveled. Luffy and I, we time traveled. It was a Devil Fruit user that owed us a favor. She sent us back in time. Ace this is not a dream. It’s real. I’m real. I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.” That seemed to do the trick, pulling Ace out of his panic, making him focus on understanding the situation.

He looked into his brother’s face, his blue eyes teary and worried as the blond looked straight back at Ace’s own tear-stained face.

“But S-Sabo” Several hiccups interrupted the freckled boy as he tried to calm down his cries, ‘’You died!”

“I’m so sorry, Ace. I didn’t die. I-”

“What? What do you mean!?”

“I was saved from the wreckage, but I lost my memories. I forgot you, I forgot Luffy. And I left. I- I didn’t know there was someone waiting for me. I only knew I didn’t want to be returned to my parents. So, I left.” It was now Sabo’s turn to be hysterical. His focus was slipping, the tears in his eyes finally spilling over. He had been so concentrated on trying to calm Ace down these last few minutes, but now that his mind had finally caught up, he was spiraling.

(Ace was here. In front of him. Ace, who he had never seen grow up, Ace who he had never seen again. Ace who had died without knowing Sabo had survived.)

“I forgot you and I wasn’t there! And you didn’t even know! You didn’t know I was still alive and then you died, and I didn’t even know I have brothers! And Luffy thought he was left alone, and you died thinking the same! I didn’t know what I had lost.” Sabo finally succumbed to all the guilt, all the rage and sorrow he had carried for years. He fell into Ace’s embrace as the freckled boy hugged him to himself, squeezing as much as he could, grounding him, crying together with him.

“I learned you died from the newspaper. I- When I looked at the photo, and it all came back. I collapsed and the memories finally came flooding back but they were too late. And then I woke up and my brother was dead, and my little brother was badly hurt, and then he hid himself for two years to train and I couldn’t find him even with all the information the Revolutionary army had at its disposal!”

“But you found each other, right?” Ace’s voice was soothing, his tears flowing but now they were from joy not from hurt. His brother hadn’t left them thinking he was dead on purpose. What had happened was awful, them not meeting, thinking the blond was dead, Sabo not remembering until Ace had actually died.

“Mn. We did.”

It took a long time for the two boys to calm down enough, to detangle themselves and finally sit up from their sprawled position on the ground.

“I found him two years after the war. We kinda destroyed Dressrosa while saving everyone. I ate the Mera Mera no Mi there, with Luffy’s permission.” Here Sabo looked at his brother bashfully, afraid Ace would be mad about his Devil Fruit being eaten by Sabo. Instead, Ace was glad.

“There’s no one else I would rather have eaten it.”

Sabo was still sniffing, trying to dry his puffy eyes with his dirty sleeve, his smile finally showing. Deciding they had sat around crying long enough, Ace stood up, patting down the dirt from his clothes and offering a hand for Sabo, so he could pull the blond to his feet.

“We should probably go to Dadan’s as you said and check the date. And you can tell me all I missed. Also, about the time-travel. I really wanna know how you accomplished that.”

The short walk back to Dadan took them far longer than they had expected. There had been more than a handful of breaks, tears being spilled again, but more often than not it was laugher which caused them to slow down their trek through the woods.

﴿۞﴾

Law was scared. His condition was worsening and he was exhausted and felt useless.  He had become a big burden to the man who was risking everything to save him.  Cora-san had left him in order to go and retrieve the fruit that could possibly cure him. Law felt sick – and not because of his physical condition. He was so worried Cora-san wouldn’t be coming back.

It took a moment to focus his vision enough to realize that someone was in front of him and startle harshly. He had only a second to feel fear before he recognised the tall and clumsy man he had recently accepted as a father figure.

The moment he swallowed the fruit his mind was assaulted by memories which were both confusing and precious for Law.

It took him but a moment to reorganize the chaos in his mind. He swore he would fucking kill his husband as soon as he got his hands on him. Right after he hugged him to death. But then that would be double kill.

The little shit may have grown a couple of brain cells but Law sometimes felt like Luffy had stolen them from him. It was either that or the Strawhats way of life was contagious. He had not found enough evidence to either support or contradict his hypothesis yet.

At least by the looks of it he had returned at the nick of time. Law had landed on the day when Cora-san had been killed. Now all he had to do was save his father figure and deal with the consequences.

(They had agreed: Knowledge leads to change, but change negates knowledge. Yet they were going back so they could save their precious people. That would not happen if they didn’t act on their knowledge. So they would change things in ways that didn’t cause too much chaos. At least until they managed to regroup and deal with any consequences together.)

Not hesitating Law was quick to stand up even with his exhaustion. He grabbed Cora-san's hand and started tugging him towards the shore.

"Law? Where are you going? Wait a second, I have to get back."

"No. He will kill you. We have to run. Now! Sengoku will understand. Doflamingo will not survive much longer either way."

"W-what!? Law? How do you know any of that?" Law could see the tall blonde feeling confused and suspicious. There was no choice at the moment. Law quickly made his decision.

"I time-traveled and just now this body received all my memories from the future. We need to go!“

Trying to take a deep breath and failing Law realized he might be in worse condition than he had thought. His physical condition was making his mind fuzzy from the pain and exhaustion. They had to leave Minion Island as fast as possible, and then Law could check on Cora-san’s wounds and start healing himself.

"Wait, what! You can't joke with such a straight face. Not to mention now is not the time at all!"

"It's not a joke." Law stopped dragging his father figure and turned around, his expression dead serious. The tall man doubted Law would tell such a lie, not in a moment such as this. It took only one look into Law's eyes for the blond to believe his adopted son. Eyes like those were not the eyes of a child, even thought they were still Law's eyes. “We have to go Cora-san.”

Rosinante straightened up and silenced the area around the two of them.

"What do you mean Doflamingo will not survive much longer?"

"Just that. I can guarantee he would either be imprisoned or killed in the coming years."

"Can you elaborate a little for the sake of my remaining sanity?"

"I will explain more on the way, but we have to go now Cora-san! Doflamingo is going to use the birdcage the moment he learns the fruit Is missing!”

"What! You should have said that from the start!” Corazon lost no more time, picking Law’s small body up hastily and running towards their boat, still docked on the side of the island.

“I told you we had to go! Several times!”

“Nevermind that, where do we go from here!? The marines will be after us, Doffy will be after us. We could hide somewhere for a while but what then.” Corazon was running as fast as his ruined body could carry them. His breath was coming in quick puffs as he tried to gather as much information as possible while they reached their way off the island.

"We will go to the idiot who made this crazy situation possible. He is in the East Blue. We will be safe there at least for a few years. But first – we need to go to Swallow Island. That’s where some of my future crewmates are.” Law gave Cora-san a toothy grin, one he rarely allowed to form on his face.

"You became a pirate!?”

"I became a Yonko.” Law’s smug grin survived but for a moment, quickly transforming in a grimace as Corazon tripped in snow and went down in a tangle of limbs. From where he lay, facing the gently falling snow, almost crushed under the giant blond man, Law groaned. “Thank god for your Devil Fruit, Cora-san, or we would have been found out by now."

"Have you gotten snarkier?"

"Oh? What gave it away?"

"It was a rhetorical question!!!"

They made it off the island, mere minutes before a huge bird cage made of white strings materialized around the entire island.

﴿۞﴾

Luffy was alone in his room. It was a constant he had grown used to in his short life. His gramps was always absent  - he only managed to visit Luffy around two times a year. Luffy wasn't sure if his grandpa was busy or just didn't care enough. The man was a high-ranking Marine – surely he was very busy, but he could try and visit his grandson more often. The young raven-haired boy had no parents and no friends on the small island he resided. He had no one outside of the island either.

He did have Makino. The green haired woman was his primary caretaker, and a very distant cousin. At this point she was a cross between Luffy’s mother figure and honorary older sister. Luffy loved Makino very much, and she loved him back, but she had to work most days and she couldn’t spend all her time with the small boy. Luffy hated being alone, but he didn’t wanna be a bother either – what if he was so bothersome Makino left him as well? So he tried not to go visit her workplace too often.

Brushing a stubborn pair of tears trying their best to escape, the small boy hugged his tiger plushie closer and burried his face it its short plush fur. A few more minutes passed with the small boy rolling on the bed and trying to think of what to do to save himself from the day’s loneliness and boredom.

Suddenly the six year old sprang back, hands still holding onto the plushie but gaze determined and excited. The small head swirled around, eyes taking in the details of his surroundings and coming to a conclusion which him to grin in satisfaction.

"Shishishishi, it actually worked! I‘m back." his voice was pure awe. He could not believe he had the opportunity to change the past, to save his precious people, to live even more adventures with his family.

Before jumping into their new adventure Luffy had instructed his crew to grow stronger, save their precious people and bring them along on their journey if they so wished.

He had also made sure everyone knew where to find him in case of an emergency, as he planned to stay on Dawn Island until at least his 14^th birthday.

(He had been 14 when Ace had set sail at 17. Sabo had been supposed to set sail at 17 himself. He wouldn’t miss the chance to spend time with his brothers. Therefore, he would not be setting sail before his older brothers.)

That gave the strawhats a constant and sure location to find him at for the next eight years. They had agreed to meet with everyone from the East on Dawn Island and maybe set sail together when the time came. Everyone else would be meeting up with them in Paradise or waiting for them at Sabaody.

Now he just had to grow stronger and prepare to set sail. Maybe he could have some new adventures on his home island as well.

Standing up from the bed and looking around for his sandals, Luffy hoped Law had managed to save his father. The future Pirate King knew his husband would be devastated if he was not strong enough or somehow unable to fix the past. Luffy couldn’t wait to see a child version of Law and meet his father figure.

Focusing on his Observation Haki, Luffy managed to feel Sabo and Ace – they were in the forest, near the village and barely within Luffy’s range. His eyes filled with tears at the feeling of Ace's Haki, burning bright even without his Logia Devil Fruit. Still, he decided to wait for Sabo to bring Ace to the village. After all, Ace was not his brother yet, and would not recognize him. Luffy would not be easily accepted by the boy if he bombarded him with his emotions and explanations of the future before Ace got to know him.

Releasing his hold on the observation Haki Luffy was instantly knocked out by the power’s backlash. Apparently his younger body wouldn’t be able to handle his previous powers, even if they were mental and not physical. Their benefactor had been unable to tell them how the past would affect their abilities. She had told Luffy that it was their soul and mind that was travelling so it was their physical abilities which would probably need the most work.

Finally, after way too long in Luffy’s opinion, the headache subsided enough for him to stand up and leave his room. Locating his sandals near the front door of the house Luffy was fast to run outside and head to the beach, to the part of it that wasn’t used often and would allow him to test his powers freely.

﴿۞﴾

Nami was drawing in the sand, using a stick she had found nearby. She was hiding from her adoptive mother and sister at her usual secluded place on the shore of their home island. The young girl's thoughts started spiraling in many directions and it took some time to realize where she was.

By the time she reorganized her memories and focused on her drawing she found she had drawn a rough map of the Grand line on the sand. A wave came and ate at half of her drawing.

She was ecstatic over what her crazy Captain had managed to accomplish. She would love him forever for giving them all the chance to make things better for their precious people. But she would still hit him when she saw him next. He always took such drastic and dramatic measures in order to accomplish what he had set his mind on.

Nami stood from the golden sands surrounding the shores of the Conomi Islands, her small hands going over her dress in order to rid it of any sticky sand, and headed towards the village (her mother, she wanted to see her, hug her, tell her she loved her) – she had abilities to train, a mother and sister to love and annoy, gold to steal.

If her calculations were corect - which they were, she had almost three years until Arlong had originally arrived . She was not overly worried about him.

Jinbe had promised her to prevent Arlong from leaving his crew and attacking her home. The former Shichibukai would stop him himself if he couldn’t convince him.

He had promised her.

And Nami trusted her Nakama.

So, she would focus on her training and on collecting treasure for their crew, and she would trust her Nakama. And when Arlong didn’t appear, she would go to see her Captain.

She wondered, as she walked back to Cocoyashi village, how different their path would be this time. She hoped they would be meeting Vivi again. She missed her.

﴿۞﴾

Franky had been going over the blueprints of a possible future project of his when he startled and dropped the papers he had been holding. Iceberg looked at him and then at the mess now at the floor, a curious eyebrow lifting in question. Franky payed him no mind. He dropped down to collect the scattered papers, taking some extra time, allowing himself to feel happy at the successful start of their Supeeerrrr adventure.

Standing up, papers in his hands, Franky was quick to deposit them at their usual shelf. Covertly checking to see Iceberg otherwise occupied, the future pirate grabbed some materials and moved to a working desk at the corner of the room.

Setting up the work station as he had started preffering it over the years, Franky’s mind was in overdrive. He had much to do. Tom could be saved. As long as Franky played his cards right he could stop all the events which had led Tom to his execution. His mentor deserved to live his elderly years in peace. That was the first piece of action Franky had to work on.

He had to upgrade himself as well. Right now he wasn’t Supeeerrrr enough to feel comfortable with himself. And he needed the extra firepower if he was gonna save his mentor. Not to mention all his other Super upgrades.

The last thing he was responsible of was the creation of their ship. Sad as it was the Strawhats knew they couldn’t ask Franky to completely replicate the Sunny. The ship could never be the same. It was not fair of them to expect their Sunny, or to ask Franky to build a copy of the Thousand Sunny.

So they had agreed, Franky was to build a new ship.

(And the ship would be in memory of both the Sunny and Merry.)

They had agreed to figure out a way to send any treasure they acquire to Water 7, so Franky could order enough Adam Wood for the creation of their vessel. But as of now, Franky had to start collecting any treasure he could find, as discreetly as possible.

With that in mind Franky started drawing the blueprints for their Supeeerrrr future ship.

﴿۞﴾

Robin was in the middle of a lunch meeting with Crocodile when she gained her future self's memories. She carefully made herself sneeze, successfully covering for her hand, which had frozen on the way of bringing the full fork up to her mouth. Crocodile hadn’t reacted beyond a raised eyebrow, but she couldn’t allow him to form even the slightest suspicion that something was wrong. Her performance complete, she finally brought the food to her mouth and chewed calmly as she analyzed her situation.

As always she kept her poker face and pretended to be listening to Crocodile as he continued thinking who to approach for his take-over plan. Internally she was trying to come up with the best way to contact the Revolutionary Army.

She had considered the possibility to return before she had joined Crocodile, it would be just a few months earlier than the others. But then, no one will be able to put a stop to Crocodile’s plan. So she had decided to travel back to the same date as her Captain and most of her other Nakama and deal with Crocodile herself.

It did not take her long to decide Crocodile as he was now was a treat she could probably take down on her own. Especially if she managed to trick him somehow. She was part of the crew of the Pirate King, and Crocodile while a Shichibukai, wasn’t all that accomplished in terms of Haki. So, she could defeat him by herself, but then what?

She couldn’t hand him to the Marines – he was a Shichibukai and hadn’t actually executed his plan yet. Furthermore, they would want to save face. There was no telling how the Marines would actually react, but chances did not point in her favor. That was without even counting the fact they would rather capture her, than Crocodile any day.

What Sabo had proposed, before all this time-travel plan had become a reality, was to contact the Revolutionary army. She did have memories of the Revolutionaries looking for her around this time, to recruit her or protect her maybe. She hadn’t really cared back then.

So, she needed to wait for them to start looking for her again. In the meantime, she had enough things to do, between collecting evidence against Crocodile, finding a safe space to train herself back up to what she was used to, and trying to do damage-control to Crocodile’s actions without the man noticing.

Her plans in order, Robin returned to her conversation with Crocodile just in time to answer his enquiry. Content from the received answer, Crocodile returned to his monologue without paying Robin any extra attention. She did not remember her former boss being so talkative. It did work in her favor at the moment, as she was too distracted to deal with the megalomaniac.

Maybe she could contact Franky. The Galei-La Company had a registered Den-Den number. No, that hadn’t come to exist yet, they went under another name still. She was sure she could find their Den-den number either way.  She could present herself as his girlfriend as a cover story.

That would be amusing.

She wondered how Franky would deal with the reactions from his colleagues and family.

﴿۞﴾

Usopp was running along the road leading to his village. He had been about to let out his usual yell, lying that pirates were coming. His plan was compromised however, the young boy coming to a stop and trying to organize the overflow of newfound memories in his head. It took him but a minute to start running again, this time towards his house. It took him three steps to realize something was strange and come to a stop again. Something was different. He wasn’t used to seeing the world as he was – and it wasn’t because he was shorter now.

It hit him like his Captain had rocketed himself from the other side of the village towards him. His eye, he had his eye back!

He had grown so used to only having one working eye during the last few years, learning to shoot again while not seeing well and having a change in perception. It had been difficult on him, but he had still become one of the best shooters out there and he was proud of himself.

And now – now he had his eye back! It would be a bitch to get used to the change in perception again, but he was sure he would handle it. He had done it once already under worse circumstances.

The villagers were surprised when they saw young Usopp running towards his house without his usual call for pirates but decided he had finally understood his lying was not appreciated. Little did they know Usopp was preoccupied with making plans which would actually help his mother.

The still un-famous sharpshooter had to find a way to contact his father. He already knew where the Red-Haired pirates would be in approximately a few months. And Law would probably have arrived at the island by then as well. He had to somehow talk his mother into moving to another island and he had no idea how to actually do it. Usopp was good at talking and a good liar, but how the heck was a six-year-old supposed to convince their mother to move to another island?

She would not die, not without Usopp doing his best to save her and to meet her with his dad.

In the back of his mind he thought about Kaya. He would probably never again be close to her. At least not as close as he had been with her in the past. He felt sorrow at the thought, but quickly banished it.

He had to save his mom. And he wanted the chance to finally meet his dad.

Kaya would be okay - her parents were still alive so she would still be healthy. Usopp would travel back to check on her, and make sure Kuro doesn’t infiltrate her house again. Maybe they would be friends again.

Usopp finally came to a stop in front of the door to his house. He could hear his mom singing to herself as she went around the house. His eyes teared up. His mom was alive.

He planned to keep it that way.

Taking a big breath in and standing straight with a bravery he wasn’t sure wasn’t a complete farce, Usopp pushed the door open.

﴿۞﴾

Sanji was hurting. He had just gone througth a hell of a training session in which his siblings had cleaned the floor with the blond‘s young body. He was so tired. He felt ready to just give up and die. It wasn't like his life was any good either way. If he could he would have run away but he would be caught with ease before he even tried.

His entire family was professional assassins – only problem was Sanji sucked at being an assassin. Or at least he sucked at being trained as one. Which was even more pathetic.

The eight year old was about to try and pick himself up from the floor in the training facility, where his siblings had left him a while ago, when an influx of new memories slammed into him.

Slowly he gathered himself up. Thankfully he had been already left alone when his memories had returned, so he had time to compose himself. It would have been really shitty if he had been hit with thirty years of memories in the middle of a fight.

Luffy, that bastard. Sanji would cook him a feast focused solely on meat when he saw him next.

But first, he had to get the hell out of the viper pit he was currently living in. Remembering how years later his family had caused so many problems for his crew Sanji thought over the possibilities again. He could take his previous escape rode. It was too early in time to board the same cruise ship he had joined last time, but he was sure he could find a vessel to get him away. Or he could steal a boat from his family and make his escape.

The blond had reached his rooms while he contemplated his possible escape roads and he was quick to find a big sturdy bag ad fill it with some clothes and personal belongings he hadn’t taken with himself last time. Like the picture of his mom he had in his drawer. Or his journal where he wrote down the recipes he had tried out. And the books his mother had read with him while she was still alive.

He packed everything important, making sure there was enough space for some provisions, and made his way to the kitchens.

Sanji was wobbling on a wooden stool trying to reach a bag of crackers that were way too fucking high – Seriously, why would you put those there! Didn’t these cooks know there was a better way to organize a kitchen!?

And then it hit him.

It hit him so hard he fell from the stool. His fingers managed to push the bag of crackers and it fell straight on his face after he landed on the floor back first.

This... This was a terrible idea. It was something Law would be crazy enough to plan and do – and Law wasn’t trusted to come up with ideas. His plans were good, even if they didn’t survive long with their crew, but his ideas – they were... well Dressrosa was a good example.

So his idea was on Law level of stupidity.

But maybe...

Maybe he could do it.

Sanji wasn't actually weak as an assassin in training, as his younger self had tended to think at this age. The younger Sanji had simply been unwilling to let out his strength and hurt his sister and brothers. As a child he had wanted family and love, and not to hurt others. This had translated into subconsciously holding back.

Older Sanji on the other hand had no such qualms. A little more of his family training and some time spent on Sanji training himself in Haki and his personal fighting style would make it possible for him to beat Judge. Maybe a year of training.

He was in the past – Sanji was weaker than he was used to, far weaker, but so was everyone else. After al he was in the past. And he knew how to train to make the most of his time.

He could possibly... actually do this!

There was a certain weakness in the kingdom Judge had built. There were expectations. And these expectations allowed Sanji to challenge his father for the position of King of Gamma 66. After all they only believed in power. Thus, they would not follow someone who lost to a child. They would rather follow the child.

By beating the head of the family Sanji would be able to keep his name, while still acquiring his freedom to move indeppendantly of the family business.

Not to mention if Sanji did not escape or improve soon, he would be imprisoned in the following days. And if he did escape now, his family would once again try to use him to further their goals sometime in the future. He didn’t want to deal with that again. All the stress and wondering of when and how they would appear would drive him nuts.

Truly, there was no other solution, at least not one which would bring such a positive result, as to beat the current head of the family and take his place.

Furthermore, as the new Head of the Vinsmoke Family, he would be King. Not that he wanted the responsibility – He'd much rather to deal with Luffy’s monstrous appetite, and the swordsman’s nasty attitude, cooking for Nami-swan and Robin-chwan and enjoying a new adventure.

He could leave his sister as the new head, allowing her to act in his stead. This way Sanji would still be the Head of the Family, all important decisions would have to go througth him. If the world went to shit again it would be far more useful to his Captain if Sanji was a known Vinsmoke, especially if he was the Head of the Family. It would secure them a useful ally for the coming years.

(Not that his captain ever cared for power. But he gathered it either way. And Sanji would rather his family name became an advantage, rather than a weight on their journey to be free.)

Only problem was staying here would mean a lost opportunity to meet Zeff and to study. And live and cook under his father-figure again.

In the previous timeline he had met Zeff approximately two years from the current moment. While Sanji would probably be able to usurp Judge by then, would he be able to leave and join Zeff?

Probably not.

Still, the geezer would need saving from starvation, if everything except Sanji’s presence stayed the same. Sanji would most definitely be there on time to save the geezer, allowing himself to get to know his father-figure once more. Maybe he could help him set up the Baratie and visit from time to time. It wouldn’t be perfect and he would miss what they had in his future, but..

Sanji had made his decision.

﴿۞﴾

Zoro had lost. He trained so hard and he still lost. He could do better than that. He knew he could.

(He knew.)

He didn’t understand. He had the drive. He wanted to be the best. He trained, always. Yet Kuina, who took others’ beliefs over hers instead of rejecting them and believing in herself, kept beating him. He didn’t understand how a girl so lacking in belief, so unsure of her dream could beat him every single time.

The young boy had to stop his training as he grew so angry that he couldn’t keep his form as he practiced his katas.

Growling softly in frustration the young swordsman took a deep breath and took his pose again.

He stayed like that for a few minutes, no movement being taken. His eyes were the only thing betraying how much was going through his mind.

With a grace and sureness his younger body had not possessed, Zoro sheeted his sword and sat down, his back leaning on the nearest three. Eyes closing, he took a calm breath, listening to the quiet of the surrounding him forest. His observation Haki expanded around him, his range not as wide as he knew it to be but wide enough to cover the dojo.

Kuina was alive. His rival and best friend was alive and breathing. He could stop her ridiculous death from occurring. Although that would cause him a lot of anxiety. How do you stop someone from falling down the stairs. That was a danger that could happen any day.

Maybe he could scare her somehow. If she knew it was a possibility, and the knowledge scared her, she would keep it in mind. She would be careful.

And of course Zoro would have to act as a borderline stalker until the date of Kuina’s death passed. Maybe even a couple days longer. Just to be sure.

He could train her, make her stronger than she ever imagined she could be. He would also have to remove the silly notion that a woman couldn’t be as strong as a man out of her mind. And maybe give hell to whoever had told her that. Honestly of all the irresponsible shit to tell a young impressionable girl.

He wished he had a drink near him. It was such a nice evening. Then he remembered his young, un-developed body, which was not trained to consume alcohol, yet alone the quantities Zoro was used to drinking. He would have to wait a couple of years on that front, unless he wanted to compromise his development.

Maybe he could drink juice and pretend it was sake.

Zoro grimaced at the thought. Even he couldn’t delude himself that much.

His eyes strayed to his hands, resting on his lap a familiar sword in hand. He would have to find his swords again.

His gaze stayed, as if stuck and he observed his hands.

Slowly the fingers on his left hand twitched, and Zoro let a surprised gasp. Focusing again he felt his muscles move, his arm working, and the fingers were squeezed in a tight fist, then released and squeezed again. Slowly he raised his hand, on the level of his eyes and turned it this way and that, expecting it as if it was someone else’s. He lowered the hand, slowly and carefully as if it would dissappear if he moved too fast. And grabbed the sword’s handle. Feeling the weight of a sword in his hands was what finally convinced him.

He had his arm back.

He had his arm back.

Holy shit, his arm was back!

It had been years since he had lost it while taking the title of Greatest Swordsman from his teacher.

He lifted his hand again, slowly turning it from side to side and expecting every little detail.

This was insane.

What was his life.

With no sake in sight, a still alive best friend to motivate and a newly returned hand, Zoro stood up and headed towards the dojo. Or at least he thought it was the direction of the dojo. Checking with his Haki, the green-haired boy made a quick 90 degrees turn and continued in the right direction.

„Stupid forest, stupid moving trees playing tricks again.“

Zoro had, after many years of denial, finally accepted that there were moments when he was a little directionally-challanged. Still, he held some belief that buildings and objects moved around him, and nobody could convince him of the opposite.

When the time came, it would be hard for him to make his way to Down island without getting very lost. Unless he found someone to sail with, or found a ship he could catch a ride on going in that direction, he was very much doomed to get lost at some point. Either way he had time until he had to figure that out.

He wondered how everyone else was doing.

﴿۞﴾

Brook was regretting being unable to get his shadow back. He regretted a lot more things. His crew dying off without him being able to save them somehow. The promises he had broken. The time he had lost, the life he had lost. The devil fruit he ate, which kept him alive, yet not, stuck in this hellish graveyard. Isolation. Lonesome.

Sometimes Brook wondered. He would sing and he would wonder. He would rage, then he would cry. He would laugh, with an edge to his laugh that was as far off amusement it could get. He would wonder as he heard only the echo of his own voice. And he would wonder again as he stayed as he was, never changing. Nothing was changing.

‘Is this worth it? What am I still living for? Will something ever change? Is this craziness worth it?’

For a long time there was no change in the sitting skeleton as the soul inhabiting it spiraled down the rabbit hole.

That is until suddenly the skeleton reanimated and stood up in rejoice, memories of his future Nakama overflowing his mind. The action was followed by a very girly scream,  and the skeleton was suddenly hiding behind a crate. It took him a couple of moments to peak over the crate, and then around the deck, searching for what had scared him. His movement was accompanied by something he had not realized he would have.

Who knew that time travel could automatically bring back one's shadow?

Althougth it made sense, in a way. Or maybe it did not make sense at all. It had been a gamble after all, to return so early. As many things, when it came to the Strawhats, you could bet on the impossible and watch it come true.

Spinning around and laughing Brook did not even remember his past self’s depressing thoughts.

(That had been another time. He no longer wondered.)

The skeleton lost no time as he made his way to a not too big boat he had been preparing during all the years he had been stuck there. With no hesitation Brook boarded the boat and chose a random direction to sail towards. He had no knowledge of which direction the closest island was, but he would reach an island at some point, and make his way from there.

Maybe he could collect some treasure on the way.

﴿۞﴾

Jinbe was about to leave his cabin and make his way towards the crew meeting the Captain had asked for. His hand froze just as he was about to open the door leading to the hallway of the lower level of the ship where the crew's sleeping cabins were located.

Jinbe heard someone passing by in a hurry and shook his head in astonished disbelief that he was actually back in time. Then again, being a Strawhat was special that way. Yet, even after all these years, it was still surprising, what their crew could get into.

Stepping into the hallway and making his way towards the meeting room Jinbe was trying not to get too emotional. He would see his old Captain again. It had been such a long time.

Jinbe had done so much, been so much – a guard, a pirate, a captain, a Shichibukai, a Strawhat.

Although he loved Fisher Tiger, he would not be able to stay in this crew. He had made his choice to sail with Luffy and he wouldn’t change it.

Still he had time. He had to first save Fisher Tiger and rescue Koala.

He had promised Nami to deal with Arlong. Whether that meant he would convince him to stay, or he would give him to the Marines himself was yet unknown. But he would not allow his fellow fishmen to destroy the navigator’s childhood and take over her home.

And now that he knew the truth behind Otohime’s death, he could save the queen and make sure princess Shirahoshi never had to be imprisoned in that tower for her protection.

He had time. Some of those events were still years away. After his tasks were done, he would see if he would go to the East or wait for Luffy at Sabaody.

Maybe, before going back to his Captain, he could have one more fight with Ace.

﴿۞﴾

Chapter Text

Year 1511

It was still early afternoon in Foosha village and the villagers were all out of their houses, each busy with a daily task of some kind.

Luffy had finished his inspection of his abilities and had accepted it as it is. Not much else to do about it but to train and improve.

His Haki was exceptional if you took into account his six-year old body. He could freely use Conquerer’s Haki both on a large scale and focused on a single target. Rayleigh had often repeated how the third type of Haki was an extension of one’s will. Despite his small and untrained body Luffy’s mind was that of the second Pirate King – suffice to stay he was not lacking when it came to will. Of course his body was easier to tire out while using the power so he would have to work on his stamina, but that would come back with time.

His Armement and Observation Haki on the other side needed much work. His observation was quite good on a small scale but his range was very limited compared to what he was used to having. He could barely feel what his neighbors had been doing. When he tried pushing himself to extend the range further Luffy lost focus on what he was sensing and even got a minor headache. His conclusion was that his child brain wasn’t used to processing all the information his Haki provided him with, thus the headache. He would have to keep using it daily to get his body used to it again.

His Armament wasn’t fairing much better. When he tried coating his fists the result was a small patch of black appearing on his knuckles and flickering out after several seconds. He had tried a couple of more times, getting flustered as he went. A tree at the edge of the forest had been the victim of his frustration. He hadn’t expected to do much damage, but surprisingly his fist had damaged the trunk. With Haki he had done some damage which a normal person would consider as deadly, but it was definitely not up to Grand Line standard.

Not to mention his body was lacking a lot of muscle development, thus even if he punched really hard, without Haki there would be no little effect.

(It has to be said that he was probably the strongest 6 year old around, but that didn’t matter. The fact he had years to train himself, while beneficial, wasn’t a satisfactory excuse. After all this was a time traveler – Luffy knew how hard he could kick ass. Now that he couldn’t he felt inadequate and wanted to be strong again. He had special people to protect.)

What had stumped the small boy the most had been the lack of elasticity. In just the few hours since Luffy had received his future memories he had fallen a total of sixteen times, just because he was used to moving a certain way, which was now not possible due to the lack of Devil Fruit.

He missed his powers. It was so fun to just jump, and not get hurt when you landed, or stretch yourself to reach a high place. He couldn’t even rocket himself places. It was terrible.

He couldn’t wait to eat his Devil Fruit again.

And Shanks! Shanks had given him so much - his precious hat, a Devil Fruit, and a dream to chase. Luffy couldn’t wait to see the older pirate.

Although that made him think if he should tell Shanks he was older than him, and the Pirate King. He wasn’t really sure if they should keep this adventure under wraps, or if he should share his knowledge.  

Meh, he would figure it out when the moment was right.

And if Shanks got told the truth then Shanks could deal – he had been to Laugh Tale, and had been sailing the Grand Line for a long time, he had to be used to very weird things by now.

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

The six-year old pirate King was heading to Makino's bar for a late lunch. Or maybe an afternoon meal. It was definitely not early dinner, since that would be skipping a meal and Luffy never skipped meals. He was positively starving from all the Haki he had been using.

Passing through the open door to Makino’s bar, Luffy looked around with what one could call nostalgia. He hadn’t been on Dawn Island in years. The local fishermen had already started their usual drinking after a successful morning, so half of the tables were occupied by villagers. It was early still so the atmosphere was more chill than rawdy, the men drinking and talking calmly as they appreciated their free time.

Pulling himself up on what Luffy had dubbed as his stool, the six year old called to the barmaid who was already looking at him appraisingly, as if to make sure he was alright.

„Hi, Makino! I wanna eat meat today!“ The green-haired young woman smiled a little, even though the worried look did not disappear from her face.

„You eat meat every day, Luffy.“

„Yeah! So today, too.“

„Coming right up!“ The barmaid smiled as she got busy pulling out a glass and filling it with juice. She passed it over to the small boy, so he had something to occupy himself with while he waited for the food. Everyone on the island knew how much trouble the boy could get into. Makino, being his caretaker, knew it even better.

„So, where were you all day? I was expecting you to come in before lunch.“

Taking a sip from his juice, Luffy was swinging his legs from the barstool while looking around. Soon he started swinging himself in a way which was causing the barstool to slowly turn around with his movement, making it even easier for him to look all over the place.

„Yeah, I was training!“

„Training? How come?“

„I need to be strong to protect my precious people! And I need to be strong to be the Pirate King!“

„Pirate King? Since when do you want to be a pirate, Luffy?“

Makino’s confusion was reason enough for Luffy to stop spinning on the stool and turn back around to look at her, equally confused. What did she mean since when? Since he and Shanks made a promise of course!

...Ah!

Luffy remembered too late he was still six, and hadn’t met Shanks yet. And as far as he remembered he hadn’t had a specific dream before he met Shanks and decided to be Pirate King. So him wanting to be a pirate was news to this Makino.

Putting his pinky up his nose, Luffy gave the obvious, for him, answer – „ I made a promise.“

His answer did not seem to reassure Makino. Maybe Luffy could try that thing Torao had thought him.

„I met these two kids and we promised to be pirates! And I am the Pirate King!“

That seemed to do the job. Makino returned to cooking Luffy’s late lunch, thinking the boy had just been playing with some of the other kids and they were being normal children. (Poor Makino, she had no idea.)

Luffy meanwhile was ecstatic that it had worked. It happened often, that Luffy caused problems in situations where he needn’t be as truthful as he tended to be. After one too many adventures started because of Luffy’s lack of ability to lie Torao had had enough and taken time to teach his lover how to confuse people with his words on purpose.

Law had had the genius idea that since Luffy couldn’t lie for shit, he could just tell the truth, but out of context. (Something the shorter man often did, but not on purpose. Also not to save them from trouble, but to accidentally bring more trouble on their heads.) It had taken some trial and error, but after some time Luffy could successfully answer a question by being truthful, yet making the person misunderstand his answer.

Luffy loved doing it – it was like pulling a prank. And everyone’s faces always got all weird and funny when they realized the actual truth.

Taking a look at Makino, he saw her talking with a couple of the villagers, something about selling her some of their fresh catch.

Luffy felt his lips stretch in his famous (in the future) grin as he enjoyed the presence of the barmaid again. Makino had always taken care of him, like an older sister, and he had missed her dearly. He was glad to be able to spend time with her again.

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

Putting a pause to her dealings with the local fisherman Makino returned to Luffy’s side of the bar and refilled his empty glass with more juice. A second later a plate filled with baked potatoes and meat was offered to him. Luffy lost no time and dug in right after saying his thanks.

Makino smiled gently at him. Luffy was such a precious child – so full of joy and wonder. His penchant for trouble was as large as his smile. Still, as his only present parent figure she couldn’t complain. For a lone child which had only an older sister figure for example Luffy was growing up wonderfully.

„That Garp. I should give him a word of my mind next time he dares to show his face here. How dare he leave this precious child alone for so long!“

Makino had a word with him every time he came to visit, but it did not change the old Marine’s habits. He still came at most two times a year to visit his grandson. Makino was so frustrated with the man.

Not that his son was much better.

„At least he has a reasonable excuse to never show up.“

In her opinion it was better that Dragon not show up and point the Marines towards his young son. She respected his decision, even if she thought he could actually try and create some connection with his child.

On the other hand Dragon’s only example as a father figure had been Garp. So Dragon had known an absent father, who when present had tried to turn him into a marine. Perhaps in his mind it was better that he never became a part of Luffy’s life. That part she definitely did not agree with.

As far as she remembered Garp had rarely been present in Dragon’s childhood. The son of the Marine Hero had spend a huge part of his childhood having dinner with her family and sleeping over at her house. He had looked after her a lot when she was younger.

That’s why although they were distant cousins Makino thought of Dragon as a brother, rather than a distant relative. Luffy was her nephew as far as she was concerned.

She had tried mentioning Luffy’s father to the boy, figuring that even though Luffy was too young to understand the whole story, he still deserved to know of the man, and that he was loved. But it seemed Luffy had no concept of a father figure, which was to be expected, therefore he didn’t really pay attention the few times she had mentioned Dragon.

(Makino knew Dragon had left his son in his father’s hands because he trusted Garp. Of course, he had also given her a call to ask her to look after Luffy, but that wasn’t the point.

Dragon trusted Garp, the Marine Hero, to protect the son of the Revolutionary Army‘s leader. She knew that he also had Garp’s den den number and called him with information when the Marines were needed, or just to see if his father was still alive and kicking.

He usually called a couple of times a year to check on her and Luffy, but every time she had wanted to pass the den-den to the little boy Dragon would refuse and soon he would put an end to the call. Garp also called, making sure she had enough money to provide anything Luffy might need, and run her business with no worries.

So she knew, that although their family appeared broken, in reality they loved each other and supported each other, even if they couldn’t come to an agreement when it came to their life choices.)

Garp, the Marine Hero, had fathered Dragon, the Leader of the Revolutionary army.

And now Luffy had mentioned wanting to be the Pirate King. With the luck this family had, he might just do it. (If only she knew.)

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

A day had passed since Luffy had found himself back in his six-year-old body. He had already trained some when he woke up and then went to see if any of the fisherman would accept help from him or tell him an interesting story. He wasn’t surprised they refused to let him help, even though he didn’t like it. But they had a lot of stories to tell him.

Although Luffy didn’t like them as much as some of the stories he had heard while on the Grand line it was enough to pass some time. He had even heard some rumors about the pirates in East Blue.

Apparently, Buggy had already appeared in the East and was taking some territories for himself. Luffy hadn’t known before. Apparently, the clown had been offering protection from other pirates in return for a place to stay comfortably and make his base.

Luffy wondered when the captain of the Buggy pirates would feel confident enough in his power to start acting like an asshole again.

Still, to learn the pirate had been a big reason why the East hadn’t been overrun by pirates preying on the weak had been surprising. Honestly the pirates Luffy had encountered on the start of his journey had been the only dangerous ones in the whole sea. That was all because Buggy was keeping an eye on things without anyone being the wiser and dealing with the biggest lowlifes when it was needed. Apparently, Buggy was also something of a test, keeping an eye on any rookies wanting to enter the Grand Line and making sure they could survive it.

Luffy could respect the guy now, and he was funny even though he was annoying as hell sometimes. Still Buggy was an asshole when his power got to his head.

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

Around lunchtime Luffy had waved goodbye to the fishermen on the dock and left to make his daily visit to Makino’s bar. She had served him his meal with a smile but couldn’t pay him much attention since a merchant ship had arrived the previous evening and the barmaid was busy with the extra customers.

Luffy found the room too loud and smelly for his liking, so he had eaten his meal quickly, thanked Makino and ran out of the building yelling over his shoulder that he was going to go play. Not knowing what to do with his time, Luffy had headed for the forest thinking he could stay in the outskirts.

He and Sabo had agreed that Sabo would give the signal it was time to meet Ace again, and Luffy trusted his brother. Therefore, until he saw the blond Luffy would be staying the hell out of the two’s usual territory.

Crossing past the tree line and into the jungle, Luffy zeroed-in on a nice big and sturdy tree. He took a stand in front of it and coating his fist in Haki as well as he could, punched the trunk as hard as he could.

A harsh sound was heard around the area as the tree bark broke and gave way. He had done a lot of damage his physical condition, but he needed to be able to break it even without Haki, before he was anyone near ready for the Grand Line.

Luffy took his stance again and coating his fist, punched the same spot.

He didn’t keep count of the times his knuckles landed on the tree bark or the time he had spent there. At some point his knuckles had started bleeding from the times his Haki coating had not been well formed over his fist but that did not stop him.

No one knows how long Luffy would have continued training his punch, but at some point, when blood had started running down his arm from the wounds on his knuckles, he felt two presences coming near him. They were so close he would be seeing them as soon as they took five more steps.

The first thing he saw was blue cloth and blond locks. A huge grin burst onto Luffy’s face, and he took a step forward, ready to launch himself towards his brother when he saw the second presence he had felt. Dark hair, freckles and a young face he was used to see with a frown, now with a gentle smile.

” A-Ace…?”

His brothers needed no more to race towards him.

“Luffy!”

The smallest boy found himself on the ground, squeezed tight between the arms of his brothers. It did not take long for Luffy’s eyes to fill with tears and spill over, soon wailing into the arms of the two older boys as he buried his hands into their shirts.

“Ace! You are here! And Sabo is back with us. We are all here and you are both okay!” was all Luffy was able to say as his cries grew more uncontrollable, his brothers hugging him tighter and comforting him.

“We are here, Luffy. We are here, little brother.”

“We are not going anywhere, Lu. Promise.”

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

“Luffy, you idiotic little brother!” Was what he heard from Ace's mouth, followed by a hit on his head.

Ace looked angry but there were still tears on the edge of his eyes and soon the Straw-Hat pirate, still without his signature straw hat, found himself pulled back in Ace's embrace.

Luffy's blinked owlishly, this time at Sabo's direction since he was positioned a little behind Ace and was pretty much all Luffy could see.

“Sabo?”

Sabo's grin was accompanied by a shrug, as if telling him he had no idea what was going through Ace’s head. Luffy knew better, Sabo just wasn’t gonna tell him. Not that he needed to.

„Why did you come to Marineford, you idiot. And charging into Impel Down! Are you crazy! You almost died!“

„But I had to save Ace! And I was fine.“ Luffy moved his eyes away from Ace’s face, making it clear he was lying.

„Don’t lie! Sabo told me all that happened after I died! You almost died as well!“ A second child-sized fist hit Luffy on the head.

„Owww!“

Sabo shrugged at Luffy’s accusing look.

„Sorry, Lu. I filled him in on everything. Our reunion was very... dramatic. So I just spilled everything, and then some more. It took so long that the sun went down and we decided it was best to spend the night at Dadan and come see you today.“

„I’m just glad you are alive! And back here with me! We can have adventures together again!“ With that Luffy giggled and jumped on top of his brothers, turning them into a pile of tangled limbs on the ground.

It took some time for all three of them to calm down their excitement and untangle themselves enough to sit in a loose circle facing each other. Sabo took his time to explain what had happened when he and Ace had found themselves back in time, and what the blond had told him concerning future events.

The ones Ace had not been alive to witness for himself.

“We should probably discuss how we are going to proceed, what we are going to do. What we want to change...” Sabo stated.

„We need to train! My muscles and Haki are toast.“

Sabo and Ace nodded along to their little brother. „Same.“

“We can save the people from the Gray Terminal before the fire.” Ace had always regretted what happened there.

“And make sure Sabo isn't found.”

“That's easy – We simply stay far away from High Town. If my father- “ Sabo made a disgusted face at addressing the man as such “- never sees me none of what happened will happen again. As for the fire... We would not be able to stop that, not without making ourselves known. Even if we stop it, they would just try again and again. We know when it will happen, so we can warn the people and make sure they leave the terminal.“

Ace and Luffy nodded in acceptance to Sabo's words.

„I want to built our treehouse again! I miss it.“

„And fly our flag!“

The boys were looking over tree tops as they remembered their childhood days with nostalgia. It was Ace who finally broke the serene atmosphere.

„What about Shanks?“ They were both looking at Luffy for an answer. Shanks was Luffy’s friend, his savior, so it was Luffy’s decision.

„He should arrive in the next few months - I don’t remember the exact time.“ Here the boy closed his mouth, deep in thought as his eyes trailed over the forest floor. „I’m thinking of staying to live with Makino for now. I don’t wanna miss his arrival and I wanna spend more time with Shanks while he is here.“

„That’s okay, Lu. We understand. Right, Ace?“

„Of course! Although I want to meet Shanks as well?“

„Ace wants to meet Shanks? I wanna see! Shishishishi - Shanks will love you! And Sabo too.“ Both boys flushed to their ears as their little brother laughed excitedly. Sabo turned towards Ace, a thoughtful look on his face.

„Hey, Ace. You know, Shanks used to be on Roger’s crew.“ Ace’s face transformed into a dark scowl and and almost growl left his throat as he waited for his blond brother to finish.

„I think you should ask him about Roger. He actually knew him and sailed under him.“

„I don’t want to know about the bastard!“

„But Ace -“

„No, Sabo!“

„Just- Just let me finish, please.“ Seeing as even though he had crossed his arms and was trying to use his gaze to kill some poor, innocent ants, Ace was still sitting in his place and obviously listening, Sabo continued. „It‘s another point of view of the man. You have never asked someone who knew Roger what he was like. And you actually have a first hand experience of pirate life now. I just think it would do you some good. You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. I just want you to be happy.“

Ace struggled for a couple of seconds in silence before sighing heavily and nodding his head moodily. „I’m not promising anything. But... I will think about it.“

Happy that his older brothers had come to an agreement, Luffy grinned and added.

„Maybe Shanks knows about your mom.“ Giggling as the freckled boy froze at the realization, Luffy was quick to change the topic. Ace would make his decision, but Luffy thought it would help him to learn about Rouge. Shanks had told him stories about her and she had been amazing.

„Hey, Sabo – when are you joining the Revolutionaries?“

Luffy’s rapid change of topics seemed to surprise his brothers. Ace and Sabo had been looking at him in surprise at the mention of Ace’s mother, but now Sabo had an unsure look on his face, while Ace had returned to glaring at the ground.

„I- I don’t know... Last time I was 10 when I joined. That's in a year. It seems so soon.“

„But you wanna join don’t you?.“

„I do want to join. We did a lot of good – I did a lot of good while a revolutionary.“

„You should go again.“

Looking up and ignoring the startled expression on Sabo’s face, Ace repeated his words, his voice strong.

„You should join them again.“

„But what about you? And Luffy. I can’t just leave you like last time.“

Ace rolled his eyes, while Luffy looked at the blond like he was an idiot.

„Silly Sabo. Last time we thought you were dead. This time we know you are alive and you are following your dreams.“

„Luffy is right. We will know you are doing fine, and we can always meet on the Grand Line later on.“

„Besides, we can just all meet Dragon and make him tell us his Den-Den number. That way we can talk with Sabo!“ Luffy’s logic once more surprised the two older boys, as they had not thought of that as a possibility.

Sabo snorted in laughter and soon he had teared up, unable to breathe properly as he tried not to roll on the ground from laughter.

„I – I can’t even- Just imagine Dragon’s face as we just walk up to him and ask him to give us his number. The Revolutionary Leader’s number!“ he barely got the words out before he erupted in a new series of giggles at the imaginary scenario.

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

„What about you, Ace – still joining with Whitebeard?“

„Of course – they are my crew. And I miss them already. I have much to make up for, even if they don’t know it.“

„Ohh, Mustache-guy – that geezer was strong. We have to keep him alive this time – I wanna fight him. Shishishishi.“ Ace and Sabo laughed at their brother’s proclamation. It was so Luffy to want to fight the strongest man in the world and a known Yonko.

„I will keep him alive this time, so you should be able to get your fight, Luffy. And I plan on eradicating Blackbeard before he can lay a hand on Thatch and that Devil Fruit.“ The reminder of Teach and his actions sobered up the joyful conversation, and all three boys stood straighter, a dangerous glint in their eyes.

Luffy, unsure who Thatch was, asked Ace about it.

„He was a Division Commander in the Whitebeard pirates, and a close friend of mine. He was the one who actually found the Yami Yami no Mi. Teach killed him for it.“

„Blackbeard, that bastard. I’m gonna kick his ass if I see him again.“

„I don’t think there will be enough of him left once Ace gets to him, Luffy.“ Sabo’s grin as he said this was truly that of an evil overlord.

„Anyway I will deal with Teach, but I don’t know what to do about the fruit. Thatch didn’t want it, but its too dangerous to just let it be, and only we know just how much.“

„Why don’t you eat it?“

„I want my Mera Mera no Mi. I miss being made of fire. I’m sure you understand me, Luffy. You have already fallen more times than I can count.“

Luffy blew a raspberry in response to Ace’s teasing. Sabo meanwhile was deep in thought.

„I have an idea, maybe.“ Once he came out of his thoughts and looked at his brothers he saw he had their full attention. „What if... I eat it?“

„What the fire fruit? But that's Ace’s! Wait no, that was also Sabo’s later. Um-?“

Seeing Ace’s conflicted look Luffy stopped talking and Sabo thankfully took over „No, nononono. Not the Mera Mera no Mi. I meant the Yami Yami one.“

Silence followed the blond’s statement and he grew nervous. „It’s not that I want it specifically, but I’ve seen its power, I know how it could be used to help, not only bring destruction. And I was already used to not being able to swim. Besides we need to do something with it, we can’t just leave it laying around, so its safest if someone we trust eats it and- “

„Sabo!“ „Sabo, stop!“ Seeing the blond taking a big gulp of air and finally shut up the two boys continued. „I think it a great idea.“

„Sabo is so smart!“

„Really?“

„Yes. We trust you. And you are right about everything.“

„I-  I guess so.“ Sabo was apparently still unsure about it so Ace was quick to bring a conclusion to the topic.

„I can contact you once I have it and we can meet up. And then I can introduce you to everyone in the crew!“

„Hey! No fair! I wanna fight Mustache-geezer first! You can’t fight him!“

„Don’t worry, Lu. I don’t want to fight with Ace’s captain.“

„Oh! That's fine then, shishishishi.“

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

„Hey, Ace do you want to set sail early?“

The three brothers were in the process of rebuilding – or was it just building, since it was the first time in this timeline? – their treehouse. This time they were making it bigger than before. They would need more space for treasures, not to mention possible visiting time-travelers.

„What do you mean? We agreed to set sail at 17, didn’t we?“

„But that was before. We already set sail at 17! And Sabo will set sail way before us again.“

„I suppose Luffy is correct. You two can set sail earlier if you want to. You will also be way better prepared this time around.“

„I guess we can... I hadn’t thought about it. I can join the Whitebeards earlier.... have more time with them...“

„And my crew can set sail earlier! We can have so many new adventures!“

„Okay, okay wait. Lets- Lets say we stay at Dawn until we are at least 15. That way we have enough time to train and we won’t be treated like complete kids once at sea.“

„Okay! But after I turn 15 I can leave whenever I want to!“

„Of course Luffy. We are free after all! Not even Gramps can stop us!“

„We better not mention setting sail to be pirates or he will most certainly try. It will be easier to get away under his nose, if he doesn’t suspect us as much. Although I am not sure you two can keep it from him.“

„Hey! I’ll have you know I am a great liar!“

„Me too! Torao thought me how to mis- misder- misdirect people. Gramps won’t know what hit him when he sees my Wanted poster!“

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

“Yeah! We can have everyone meet – it’s gonna be a big party! Imagine everyone’s faces. Shishishishi.” Luffy laughed brightly as he thought of Garp, Dragon and Whitebeard in the same space.

Ace and Sabo took a moment to imagine it.

“Just imagine Garp, Dragon and Whitebeard in the same room. It would be magnificent.” Sabo mumbled dreamily.

“Shishishishi, right? With my dad, and Ace's pops and Grandpa it would be like the funniest family reunion ever. We can also invite Shanks and all our Nakama.“

„The Marines will have an aneurism.“

„It will be soooo funny!“ Luffy joined Sabo’s giggles with is own.

Ace snickered at the image of Garp and his Pops next to one another when Luffy's words caught up with him.

“Wait... your dad?”

“Ace, you didn't know?”

“My dad is Monkey D. Dragon – Sabo’s boss.”

All Ace could think to say consisted of:

„That asshole. I’m punching him in the face after he gives us his den-den number.“

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

“If Revolutionary Dragon is Gramps’s son, then I finally get why the geezer is so crazy about making us into marines...” Ace grumbled as he dodged a swipe of Sabo’s pipe, Sabo nodding along with him as he moved back out of his range.

„Its quite something for the Marine Hero to raise the Most Wanted Man in the World.“ Sabo swung again, almost hitting Ace across his knees.

„If he was raised like us I am not that surprised that’s what people call him.“ Ace returned the favor by trying to swipe Sabo’s legs from under him, but his leg was met with a metal pipe before he could touch the blond.

„Makes you wonder, how Gramps expects us to not turn into pirates when we are raised by bandits.“ Sabo tried doing a cool looking turn of his pipe but it almost fell from in-between his child fingers and he simply sighted resigned to needing more practice.

„He’s crazy, don’t look for logic.“ Ace took a fighting stance again, his lips still pulled into a smirk from watching Sabo fumble with his pipe.

“It probably also has something to do with protecting us. I think Gramps hoped he could protect us from the Government if we were to become Marines.“ Luffy piped up from the other side of the forest clearing, where he was observing his brothers.

„Tough luck, probably wouldn’t have helped even if we did become Marines.“ Sabo was back at trying to behead his older brother with a metal pipe.

“True.“

„Who needs protection when you can be free!” Luffy laughed with the freedom of a Pirate King.

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

“You know, Acey – you are now the youngest brother.” Sabo had been waiting for the opportunity to deliver this information to his freckled brother for the past few weeks, waiting for that one perfect moment.

Luffy wanting to get the first kill for their dinner that night and Ace lording over him that he was older and so he had to get the first kill was perfect.

The blond’s words had the expected reaction, however seeing with his own eyes what his imagination had come up with was the best. Luffy’s gleeful laugh, Ace’s adorably suspicious eyes accompanied by a gaping mouth that was too confused to form words. Perfection.

“What.”

“What? Don’t tell me you haven’t taken our mental age into account, Acey.” Ace growled as the hated nickname left Sabo’s lips again.

“I am not the youngest! Luffy is.”

“Nope. Shishishishi. I am 10 years older than Ace! I am the big brother, shishishishi.” Luffy continued cackling like mad, repeating he was the older brother.

“And I am the oldest brother. You, Acey are the youngest. Our little baby brother Acey- Ugh.” Ace raced towards him and tackled him to the ground while Sabo was too busy gloating. The blond should have expected it.

At least the following fight was well within Sabo’s expectations, as was Luffy joining them, still giggling like crazy.

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

“You promised me you wouldn‘t die. After Sabo's death you promised me you would live. And then you went and sacrificed yourself for me!” Luffy was furious! How dare Ace make light of his death! How dare he try to joke about it!

“Luffy...”

“Never again. Do you hear me Ace – no more sacrifice play.”

“You say that but you know I cannot promise such a thing. In the heat of a battle everything can happen!”

„You have no idea what it was like to watch you take that hit, to see you dead in my arms! You have no idea how I felt thinking I was the last one, that you and Sabo both left me alone even though you promised me to live!“

Ace was finally realizing why Luffy had suddenly acted so harsh, felt so angry as to lash out back at him. Sabo stood aside, looking at his two brothers with devastated eyes.

“Lets promise each other to do our best to survive. This time for real.” The blond leveled a look at his freckled brother, asking him to understand they wanted him to live.

Luffy finally looked like he was calming down. The three brothers traded solemn looks, each of them realizing how important this promise was to them.

“Promise.”

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

Bonus:

“Stop staring at me Cora-san, I won’t sprout another head.”

“Well, how am I supposed to know that!? Yesterday I wouldn’t have believed I would be having a conversation with someone from the future. Now you are supposedly a time-traveler and older than me! It’s a little hard to just accept!”

A bout of silence followed Rosinante’s exclamation as the two thought it over. Finally, Law cut through the tense silence.

“Would you…. have preferred if I was still yesterday’s Law? If I was still a powerless kid who knew too little and was traumatized by your death?” Law did a respectable job of trying to hide his uncertainty, but not well enough for Rosinante to realize how his words had sounded.

“No, Law. I did not mean it like this. I just- I just do not know how to- I suppose I don’t understand how you came back in time. And I don’t know how to accept it. But I will. Because I love you, and I will always want you to live.”

Law shuffled closer to the bigger man and mumbled a quiet “Thank you.” Into the feathers of his coat.

“I just – I guess I will just get to know you again. This you.” His answer was a tight embrace by small and weak arms, that held on with all they had.

“Can I ask – what happened? What are you trying to prevent?” A bout of silence followed Rosinante’s question. The tall man was about to backtrack and wave the question away when Law opened his mouth.

“I already prevented the worst.” Rosinante took his time to go over his adoptive son’s words.

“But you didn’t come back just for me, did you?” A dark smirk appeared on Law’s face. It looked mature somehow – it wasn’t an expression he would have associated with a child’s face. Maybe it wouldn’t be that long before he completely accepted his son was a time-traveler.

“No. A lot happened – a lot of good, and a lot of bad. There was war. The world government became worse. We helped someone and were given the opportunity to go back in time and we decided to take it.”

“So… you came back to save the world?” Rosinante’s confusion was met with a grim laugh from Law.

“No, Cora-san. We are pirates. And we are selfish. We didn’t come back for the world. We came back for our precious people.”

It needn’t be said that Law counted Rosinante as one of these precious people. It was stated silently as Law looked him over and explained some of the events that had happened in the distant future.

Rosinante still wasn’t sure what to think of this new situation, but he was sure of one thing. This Law was his. Grown up, even more tormented by past mistakes and memories, with new experiences shaping him and an even fouler mouth, and far too skilled in medicine. But this was still his boy, even if he was a boy in body only. There was so much more to Law now, so much more to learn. Rosinante swore he would learn it all and love it just as he loved all he knew until this moment.

“You keep saying “We”. How many of you traveled back?”

“From my crew it was only Bepo and I. Sabo is from the Revolutionary army. And the whole Mugiwara crew.”

“Even the Revolutionary army is in this?”

“We fought together several times. And Sabo is Mugiwara’s family.”

“And these Strawhats? You keep mentioning him.”

“Yeah, I guess. It’s difficult not to mention all that crazy that their crew has gathered. The Strawhats are our allies. More than that, they are nakama.”

“You finally made friends!?”

“Somehow, I’m not surprised that’s what you took from it." Law rolled his eyes at his father figure.

“Shush and tell me about your friends.”

“Well… Their captain does not take no for an answer, so I didn’t really have a choice.”

Something told Rosinante that Law did not mind having found a family in the Strawhats, despite his words.

“You are being vague on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Well, we can’t have you getting lazy. So, I am leaving it to you to gather the correct information for now, mister super-secret spy.”

“… You little brat.”

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪

Bonus Bonus:

The three of them had just sat down to cook the wild boar they had caught earlier. Trying to light a fire without his Logia powers was super tedious. Ace couldn’t wait to get his fruit again, even if it would taste awful. He let out a forlorn sigh.

“I miss Marco.”

“Oooh, Pineapple-man. I like him, he is funny.”

“Pineapple? You called him that to his face?” Ace sputtered out a laugh.

“Yeah, all the time! He got used to it after a while.”

“More like, resigned to it.” Sabo mumbled under his breath.

“I can’t wait to see him again. I… hope we can get together again.”

“Well, why wouldn’t you?”

“Because I am different now? I have more experiences, different memories from when I first met him. Maybe he won’t come to like me this time.”

“Ace, that’s the dumbest shit you’ve said in a long time.”

“Mm, Ace is being stupid. Pineapple liked you because you are you. Of course, he would like you more when there is even more of you now.”

“Once again beaten by Luffy-logic.” Ace looked towards his blond brother, both flabbergasted by his knack to break logic and be right. The freckled boy couldn’t believe sometimes how wise Luffy could be.

“Besides, Marco never forgot you. He missed you all the time. A bond like that will not change because of a few memories.”

“Thank you, Lu. I hope so too.”

“It will, don’t worry! Marco loved you as much as I love Law. So, it will all work out.”

“I’m sorry, what? Luffy you love someone?”

“Yeah, Torao - he is the best husband ever!”

“What!?!”

Sabo had a great time that day. Watching Ace choke as his brain tried to comprehend Luffy in a relationship, and Luffy actually married, was a sight for sour eyes.

It took him a long time to stop laughing and go explain to Ace how Luffy got himself a husband. (Luffy was too distracted by the cooking meat to realize he had once again dropped a huge information bomb and provided no explanation to his poor confused brother.)

▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪▫▪꙱▪