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There was a legend about objects of destinies and desires. Items that once it found who it belonged to would always return to that person. At least until it found it’s next owner. These items would survive from generation to generation and could sometimes be tracked back to their original owner.
Garp had heard the legend. He had heard rumors about some of these items. He had even seen one. The crown of the prince of the sea. Whoever wore it was destined to rule the sea. He had seen it pass from one king to it’s next owner. He had even fought beside that king while he still wore the crown, and against both him and the young boy who the hat claimed next.
If Garp had ever thought to place a bet on who the next to don the crown of the sea prince he would have bet on the son of that king. If things were normal and by all rights both by blood and title that hat should have been Ace’s. Ace was Roger’s son after all. If Roger had been the king of the seas then Ace was it’s prince. He almost expected it when he heard that the current wearer was using the island both of his grandsons were hiding on as a base.
Garp knew he would have lost that bet when he saw that dam Strawhat on Luffy’s head. Surly it just picked the wrong grandson right? Maybe he was just a vessel for it to find Ace. Still the kid refused to take it off. The brat was also swearing that he would claim Roger’s title. Well Garp was not having any of this.
The marine took the kid and the hat up mt. Colubo.
Ace had knocked the hat off of Luffy’s head calling it a dumb hat. (If only he knew what it really was.) It almost landed on the ground as Luffy reached for it. The wind caught it blowing it straight back to the younger boy who promptly placed it back on his head.
Garp’s mouth dropped as he watched the scene before his eyes. The strawhat had truly claimed Luffy over Ace as the prince of the seas. Yet it hadn’t rejected Ace the way it had Roger’s second apprentice. The way the hat had treated Buggy and Shanks was completely different from how it was treating Ace and Luffy. Buggy could never seem to touch the hat to remove it from Shanks head when they sailed together. The hat would either fall or Shanks would grab it as if seining the hat was about to be removed. The marine had seen it several times while chasing the Roger pirates. Ace was able to remove it.
So Ace was still a prince of the seas but Luffy was the crown prince. Garp left knowing his efforts with these two were as futile as they had been with his son before them.
When he returned there was a third boy. Garp looked as him and noticed something about the new boy. The look in his eyes was the same he had seen on his son so many years ago. Well if Luffy got the crown of the sea over Ace why wouldn’t this new grandson, Sabo, inherit Dragon’s item of desire? The world was clearly in a state of chaos.
What would Ace inherit?
Years later he would learn.
Sure enough Dragon’s coat of freedom found it’s way to Sabo.
Ace had been chosen for an interesting item of destiny and desire. One Garp didn’t expect in a very unpredictable way. He desired family and to be accepted as well as to protect those. When Edward Newgate handed him the dagger of belonging he took it.
Ace was the last to be found by his item and the first to lose it. Luffy played the opposite roll. The first to be found and the last to lose it.