Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Take care of my kid for me, will ya?”

Roger’s words echoed in Garp’s mind as he made his way up to the house on the cliff, overlooking the coast of Baterilla. The town was quiet in the early morning hours, its inhabitants still asleep after the festivities last night to ring in the new year. It wasn’t the first time he made the trip, but after speaking to Rouge yesterday, he knew it would be the last.

As incredible as her perseverance and will were, they were running out, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

When Garp left her house hours later, he was cradling a baby in his arms.

Gol D. Ace, his mother had named him in her last breath.

Garp carried him through the port town, only stopping to pick up basic supplies like diapers and baby formula. Technically, he already had everything he needed on his ship, but actually seeing the little boy made him nervous. The journey to East Blue would be long, after all, and babies needed food to grow more than anyone else.

Why didn’t he know how much he’d need? How come he felt so insecure? This shouldn’t be so hard when he already was a father, but he really hadn’t been home enough to learn all these things for Dragon. That boy had been able to run away and yell at him before Garp had even really processed that he had a child.

But Ace didn’t have a mother that Garp could rely on, so until he got back home, Garp himself would have to take care of him.

Garp was Garp, though, and he didn’t even make it to the port before running into trouble.

And for once, it actually wasn’t even his fault.

Tsuru was waiting for him with a few men behind her, face set in an expression that let him know she wasn’t here on vacation or a standard deployment. She was here for him.

“So that’s the child?”

Well. Shit.

“This? Um. It’s a child, yes, but I wouldn’t say the child…”

“Garp.” Tsuru sighed. “Just hand it over and we can forget you ever tried this.”

Hand him over? And then?

They’d kill Ace. Tsuru would be kind enough to let it happen outside of Garp’s view, but that didn’t change the outcome.

Garp looked down at the child in his arms, sleeping soundly, completely unaware that his life was in danger.

His life that had only begun hours ago. Ace had done absolutely nothing yet. He hadn’t tasted any food, hadn’t laughed, hadn’t seen day turn to night or winter to spring, hadn’t made any friends, hadn’t learned anything, hadn’t had the chance to become a person.

Hell, per the old sailor’s tradition, he didn’t even count as fully alive yet because while he’d been named, he hadn’t seen the sea yet.

Garp couldn’t let his life end before it even began. He pulled Ace closer to his chest.

“He’s innocent.”

Roger, for as much as Garp liked him, hadn’t been. He’d broken laws, even perfectly reasonable ones, fully aware of the consequences. Over the course of his pirating career, he’d accumulated quite a lot of blood on his hands, and he’d have continued if he could. In the end, Garp hadn’t been able to do anything except watch him die on the scaffold.

But Ace was not Roger, and no child should have to bear the sins of their father.

“I know,” Tsuru said. Her voice was very diplomatic, which let Garp know there was absolutely no point arguing with her. She had her opinion and wouldn’t change it, and talking it out would only make it seem like Garp was in the wrong, like it really would be best for everyone if he gave Ace to her, like that was his duty, or ‘justice’. She had a way with words that Garp could never hope to emulate.

He had to remember that it was their job to kill Ace, to make sure no child of the Pirate King would be allowed to live in this world.

If he handed Ace over, Garp would be the one killing him. It would be the exact same as murdering Ace right here in his arms. The little boy wouldn’t even notice what was happening before all of his bones were crushed in Garp’s famous fist.

Bile rose in his throat.

He couldn’t do it. He’d closed his eyes to obvious injustice more than once in his line of work, had chosen the greater good over the life of individuals, but this time, he simply couldn’t bring himself to do it.

This was just too cruel.

His mind was blank as he slowly stepped forward until he was right in front of Tsuru. With one hand, he slowly let go of Ace. And then he balled it into a fist and rammed it into the face of the woman he’d called his best friend for the better part of his life with as much force as he could muster.

Tsuru reacted on time to avoid her entire face being broken, but she was still sent flying backwards into her crew, toppling a few of them over.

The rest immediately raised their guns and started firing.

And they were aiming at Ace.

If Garp had been alone, he would’ve fought. Tsuru was the most annoying opponent he could think of, but Garp was strong, strong enough to take on her and all her subordinates if he needed to.

But Ace wasn’t. At not even half a day old, he couldn’t fight, couldn’t protect himself at all, couldn’t even attempt to run.

So Garp did something he hadn’t done in decades: He turned tail and ran. He sprinted out of town and into the fields behind it, keeping Ace cradled in his arms as shots rang out behind him. He kept his legs moving and moving until he reached a forest and the sounds of his followers turned more and more quiet and eventually disappeared entirely. And even then he kept running until he found the sea again.

His steps only slowed when he saw a fishing boat moored to a tiny dock next to a tiny house. All of it looked quite abandoned, but from what Garp could tell, the boat was still functional. It would have to do, and if it did belong to someone, he really couldn’t offer them anything right now.

He jumped into the boat, dropping his bag without much care as he set sail, away from his pursuers.

It didn’t occur to him that he had essentially just committed treason until Baterilla was only a tiny speck in the distance. Not even Sengoku could or would just let him get away with this. Decades of serving the navy, and he knew none of it would matter anymore as long as he didn’t turn back to bring them Ace.

“Fuck,” he muttered, and of course Ace blinked awake at that. Garp would have to be careful, or the kid would swear like a sailor before he even knew his own name.

He’d have to do better. Garp could ignore for a moment that he just ruined his life without a second thought to what he was doing, and just try to take care of Ace the best he could.

“Good morning, Ace,” he tried again, smiling at the little boy in his arms who was curiously staring back at him. “Looks like it’s gonna be just the two of us for a while, out at sea.”

There was no captain, no first mate, and no crew, and Ace’ parents were both dead, meaning Garp really couldn’t do the sailor’s baptism, but it felt wrong to just do nothing, too.

So, Garp unwrapped all the cloth that was keeping Ace safe from the slight chill of early January in this tropical region, and gently lowered him into the water, careful to keep his head above the surface even through the small waves.

Ace squirmed when he first came into contact with the cold seawater, but soon started splashing around, eyes wide in fascination as he giggled happily.

“That’s the sea,” Garp explained, “it’s unfathomably huge and dangerous, but it’s the most beautiful thing in this world.” Ace answered with excited sounds, as if he could actually understand what Garp was telling him, and agreed. “You love it, huh? Already taking after your good-for-nothing father, I see. Though I guess your mother loved it as well, so there might just be hope for you.”

Pulling Ace back out, Garp dried him with the cloth before wrapping him up again and placing him on his lap so he could see the horizon where the sea met the sky.

“Welcome to this world, Ace.”

Chapter Text

“Up you go!”

With a giggle, little Haruta was lifted into the air. Whitebeard swung them around a little to the child’s great amusement, before settling them on his lap. They’d picked the rascal up on the last island they visited, and of course let them join the crew, after all, they had nowhere to go, and nobody who would look after them.

Jozu had been worried a bit – Haruta was younger than the kids Whitebeard usually picked up, and they had no devil fruit powers or height advantages or anything that would keep them somewhat safe. At four years old, no amount of training would help a kid against an adult enemy. But they were in the south, not even the strongest of the Blues, and far away from the Grand Line or the dangers of the New World, so Whitebeard was optimistic. Momonosuke and Hiyori had been fine even in those crazy seas, and nobody here would cause any problems to them.

The seas were filled with rookie pirates ever since Roger’s execution, and sure, every now and then a crew was stupid enough to try and attack them, but the difference in power was laughable, especially in the Blues. Plenty of them were shocked to see that devil fruits were in fact real and had never before tried to fight against even an incompetent fruit user. And of course they’d never even heard of haki.

All these youngsters brought back memories of when Whitebeard himself had only just set out to sea, filled with dreams but not much to back them up. It was nostalgic, but certainly not threatening. Haruta would be five, soon, anyway, so that was better, right? Kids grew up so fast…

“Is it reading time?”

Whitebeard smiled down at the child. “That’s correct. Look over there, Bay is just getting the newspaper for us from the News Coo.”

“Thanks, Bay!” With how far away she was, Bay probably couldn’t hear Haruta, but she saw them waving at her, and instantly made her way over. Once there, she handed the paper to Whitebeard, and climbed into his lap as well, settling in behind Haruta as Whitebeard unfolded the paper for them all to read.

Not a second later, Whitebeard felt talons on his shoulder and a heavy warmth pressed into his side as Marco and Jozu joined them for reading time.

Whitebeard was no teacher, and having been a pirate all his life, he couldn’t exactly provide his kids with much of an education besides practical knowledge of the sea, sailing, and how to survive even in the craziest of circumstances, but at the very least, he’d decided they should all learn how to read. Information could be crucial, after all.

All of his older kids long since knew that skill by now, but it warmed his heart to have them come and join him on their own regardless. Haruta was much less likely to get bored or frustrated if their older siblings were around to motivate and entertain them.

“Alright, let’s start!”

Finally, Whitebeard turned his gaze away from his kids and to the actual newspaper, almost biting his tongue in shock as he quickly scanned the headline.

“Hmmm,” Haruta pondered, staring at the paper, “the second big letter is an A!”

It took Whitebeard a second too long to register the words. “That’s right,” Marco chimed in for him, while Bay ruffled Haruta’s hair. After just a couple days, they were getting pretty good at recognizing the letters in their own name, while most others still left them guessing.

“And the next one is an R!”

“Indeed,” Whitebeard said as he finally broke out of his stupor, “but you should try and start with the first letter, or it will be difficult to understand the word, don’t you think?”

He couldn’t be blamed for his surprise.

‘Marine Hero Monkey D. Garp turned traitor! What will he do now?!’

Never in his life would he have expected to read that headline.

Sure, Garp wasn’t exactly the kind of marine to follow every order and blindly support every decision of the World Government, but he’d stuck with the organization regardless, for decades. And ever since God Valley, he couldn’t really imagine him being kicked out either. He was too important, too strong, too popular.

“I don’t know that one, Pops.”

“Maybe try tracing it with your finger? Or you can just guess.”

Damn, he wanted to read the article now, but he probably wouldn’t get far while constantly splitting his attention between the tiny paragraphs and Haruta’s reading attempts. So, he resigned himself to slowly spelling out every word letter by letter, and then giving Haruta the time to put those letter together to form a word with them.

They did pretty well, but stumbled eventually. “Tra-eye-tee-or? Pops, what’s that?”

“The word is traitor. It means someone who abandons or attacks their friends, or their crew.”

“That’s not nice. I won’t ever be a traitor. Pops, you won’t ever be one too, right?”

Whitebeard hummed, gently smiling down at his youngest child. “Of course not. And I know nobody here ever will betray us, so you don’t have to worry about it. We’re family, after all.”

“Right!” Haruta nodded emphatically. But then they turned around in Bay’s lap, looking a little scared. “Does this mean this hero is actually a bad guy? Is he dangerous? Aren’t heroes supposed to be good?”

“Well, he’s a strong guy, but not as strong as your pops, so we’ll be fine either way. Heroes are supposed to be good, and being a traitor is bad, but sometimes you have to do bad things to be good. Like when you lie, that’s bad, but you could be lying to bad guys to protect your friend who is being chased by those bad guys. That would be good.”

For a minute, Haruta contemplated that line of reasoning. “That makes sense. So, did he do something good or something bad?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t read the article yet. We’re not done with the headline, you still have to read the second sentence, don’t think you can just get out of that by distracting me.”

Haruta shrugged. “Worth a try.” Really, who was teaching this kid? Way too sneaky for such a young age.

“He didn’t do anything bad.” Whitebeard turned his head to look at Marco, and his expression was as dark as his voice. “It’s his friends who were wrong.”

“Why? What did they do?” Haruta asked immediately, and Whitebeard was curious as well. Apparently Marco had read ahead despite taking part in encouraging Haruta through the letters.

“They wanted to… hurt a baby. Just because they don’t like that baby’s father. As if it’s the baby’s fault.”

Finally, Whitebeard couldn’t stop himself anymore, and he read the article as quickly as he could. There was a lot of unnecessary background information and a whole lot of fearmongering sprinkled in for good measure, but Marco had gotten the gist of it.

Except, he’d sugar-coated ‘kill’ to ‘hurt’, and conveniently left out that the child’s father was apparently Roger, and the government was so afraid of him and his legacy that they saw the mere existence of that baby as a threat.

Personally, Whitebeard would’ve just sunk any and all warships approaching Baterilla if he’d heard about it sooner, but Garp had gone and saved one kid, which was more than could be said about any of his colleagues.

And since then, Garp hadn’t been seen, though it presumably hadn’t been long.

For once, the newspaper actually brought up a really good question: what would Garp do now? He wasn’t the type to hide, but damn, Whitebeard just couldn’t imagine him as a pirate or some other kind of outlaw either. Garp just was a marine, through and through. And he was stubborn. Would he just try to openly fight anyone coming after him and the kid?

Even Garp the Fist might end up in trouble if he tried a task so impossible.

For the sake of the child, Whitebeard hoped Garp would for once in his life not make the dumbest possible decision.

Garp had always been a lucky guy. He could fall asleep and fall overboard in the New World, and somehow get safely swept to shore instead of drowning miserably.

Right now, he wasn’t so sure whether his luck was still holding up or not.

At the very least, after three days of steering northwest because he vaguely remembered there being an island relatively close to Baterilla in that direction, he actually found said island.

It was about time, too. Garp had some snacks in his bag, but it had been three days, and, well, the snacks had been gone for about three days as well. He was starving. Ace had burned through all the extra baby formula Garp had gotten, too. The boy chugged his milk like his father had sake.

Garp took that as a good sign. Ace would grow strong quickly like this, and he clearly wanted to live. To eat was to live, after all.

That did mean Garp absolutely desperately needed more to feed him with, though, which would be a problem.

In theory, it shouldn’t be, at least for now. Garp had found an island of decent size, there were obviously shops selling baby formula in any of the multiple towns spread over the island. He had some money on him as well, there were just two glaring problems.

One, the newspaper had already branded him as a traitor, so he could kiss his job goodbye and with it the money it paid, even if they at least hadn’t put out a wanted poster for him. They may as well have put one out for Ace though, with how that horrifying article had been worded.

And two, Tsuru’s ship was anchored at the port. Knowing her, going to a different port upon seeing the ship would only mean finding some of her men waiting there, a transponder snail on the ready to call her the moment they spotted Garp.

Why did Tsuru have to be so smart and also know him so well? How the hell was Garp supposed to do anything like this?

He couldn’t afford to not land here. His stomach would not allow it. Ace was starting to get fussy, too. “Getting hungry, huh? We’re all out, but don’t worry, Gramps is gonna get you something delicious!”

Not that he had any idea how, but Ace didn’t need to know that.

Garp needed to think. Think. Come up with a solution. Something clever to solve the problem at hand with ease.

…

He hated thinking.

That was Bogard’s job. Or Sengoku’s. Or Tsuru’s. Definitely not Garp’s.

But Tsuru was currently using her thinking against him, and so would Sengoku even if Garp did somehow manage to contact him. And Bogard… well, it was probably better Garp couldn’t contact him right now, that way he wouldn’t get dragged into this mess.

Garp would’ve liked to at least be able to say goodbye to his partner, but whatever. Nothing he could do about that now. Bogard would take care of the rest of the crew, so that was one thing Garp didn’t have to worry about.

But it still left him with the absolute absence of a plan, and relying on 3-day-old Ace to do the thinking was probably an even worse idea than Garp doing it himself.

Whatever. Garp steered the ship away from the port. Maybe he wasn’t the brightest light out there, but he didn’t want to fight when he had no safe space for Ace. That was the one thing he’d decided on back on Baterilla, no fights with Ace around unless Garp had absolutely no other choice.

He’d promised Roger to keep him safe, after all.

It had been Roger’s last wish. Out of all the crazy, stupid, selfish, outrageous things he could’ve asked for when Garp came to see him off, of course he’d chosen one Garp couldn’t even consider turning down.

Damn Roger. Even in death, all he could ever do was cause trouble for Garp. And just like when Roger had been alive, Garp really only had himself to blame for letting him get away with it.

With a sigh that had little Ace looking at him funny, Garp brought their little boat to shore, not at a dock but just a random little edge. The island was rocky, and above the sea level by about two and a half meters, meaning Garp would have to climb up, but the boat would be nicely hidden unless someone walked very close to the edge.

For a moment, Garp considered just leaving Ace, that way Garp could get into a fight if necessary, but then, Ace would be alone, and if he started crying – and that kid could scream if he wanted to, he’d proven that when it had started raining yesterday – someone could find him, with Garp too far away to do anything about it.

So, Garp took most everything out of his bag, padded it a little with his suit jacket, then placed Ace inside of it.

Was this a good idea? He didn’t know, but he could hear little giggles when he slung the bag over his shoulder, so it was probably fine.

Climbing up to the island was no problem, and Garp cheerfully walked in the direction opposite to the one he’d seen Tsuru’s ship in. Thankfully the island had lots of hills, and large sections of it were overgrown with a jungle, meaning it was easy to walk around unseen. It also meant there was free food and water just waiting for him, no need to spend any money on that.

Ace would still need baby formula, though. Garp was no expert on babies, but they had to drink milk for a while, right? Ace didn’t have any teeth, he couldn’t eat meat like this. Maybe if Garp mushed up some fruit he found it would be fine…? He vaguely remembered feeding Dragon some kind of sweet-smelling mush, but of course he hadn’t asked what was in there, and he was reasonably sure Dragon had been a few months old at that point.

Maybe he’d take a few fruits later and try it, but for now, better to go the safer route and get baby formula. He needed to go into town anyway to get a map of the surrounding area. Garp may be an idiot, but he’d been a sailor all his life, he didn’t tempt the sea by sailing without any way to navigate if he didn’t have to, not after all the close calls he’d had.

That was his first step. He found a decently sized town after walking along the shore for like an hour or so, running into the forest whenever he noticed someone walking by in the other direction.

He hated hiding, but he genuinely had no idea where he stood right now. He was definitely fired, but was he considered an outlaw? Tsuru was likely still looking for him, but would anyone else be? Would the people of this island be on his side after reading the news, or would they believe what the newspaper told them?

All this thinking was making his head hurt, and he still didn’t really have any plan.

He just walked right into the busy town streets, hoping for the best. At the very least, it didn’t cause immediate panic. Nobody was paying attention to him.

Good. It wasn’t too hard to find a shop that specialized in sailing tools, clearly the town got a lot of visitors, merchants and pirates alike, so this was a lucrative business. Garp had no problem purchasing a map at a decent price.

He was glad he had a compass and a log pose on him at all times, because all other navigation equipment was way out of his current price range.

It was equally as easy to find a small general store that sold baby formula, but Ace started crying right the moment it was Garp’s turn to pay.

Garp sent an apologetic smile to the lady behind the counter as he placed his bag down and pulled Ace out, gently rocking him in his arms. “Shhh, it’s okay little buddy, I’m getting you some food right now, see? I’ll make you a bottle when we’re back at the boat, okay?”

Sadly, Ace was not satisfied with the reassurance or the gentle rocking, no matter how hard Garp tried. He could feel the teenager behind him seething with impatience.

The saleslady was thankfully much more understanding. “You want to come upstairs for a moment? You can make the bottle here, that way the little one won’t have to wait.”

“Yes, thank you so much.”

The lady led him through a small door at the back and up the stairs. “John! Go man the counter for a while,” she hollered into the hallway, and not much later, a boy of maybe 12 years slipped past them, grumbling about having to do work.

Meanwhile, Garp was led into a small kitchen, where the woman instantly started to warm up some water to mix with the powder of the baby formula.

Were you supposed to do that? He’d just mixed it with cold water, since he didn’t have a stove on the fishing boat, but Ace had seemed perfectly fine with it, gulping down one bottle after the other.

“Sorry for imposing on you like this,” Garp said as she handed him the filled bottle and he finally managed to shut Ace up by shoving it into his mouth.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” the woman reassured him, “I’ve got four kids myself, so I know how it is.” She smiled warmly. “You’re Garp, aren’t you? Your picture was all over the newspaper.”

Shit. Garp tensed. If she knew who he was, she knew about Ace as well. “And?”

“Ah, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not going to report you or anything. There were marines here warning us about you, but it’s not like you’re doing any harm, right? They’re still at the docks, so be careful.” Well, that was a woman very happy to admit she didn’t care about the law. “You’re free to stay here for a while, maybe take a shower if you want. No offense, but you smell like it has been a while. Are you at least bathing the baby?”

“Uh, I wipe his face and change his diapers?”

Ace wasn’t really old enough to make any big messes yet, so Garp had figured that was enough, but judging by the stern look on the woman’s face, it clearly wasn’t.

“Go wash up, then we’ll talk.” It was spoken with that tone only mothers could use, leaving no room for Garp to argue. All he could do was place Ace on the kitchen counter along with the empty bottle, and quietly slink away to where she pointed him.

The moment he stepped into the bathroom, a shudder ran down his spine.

Killing intent.

He whirled around and sprinted right back to the kitchen, slamming the door open to see the nice woman holding Ace in her arms, a knife above his stomach, ready to stab him.

“STOP!”

Panic rushed through him like never before, his mind completely blanking.

He couldn’t let Ace die. He wouldn’t. He refused.

The woman looked up at him in shock, the knife falling from her hand and landing on the floor with a loud thud. She sank to her knees, but Garp still didn’t waste any time, he rushed forward to wrangle Ace out of her arms into the safety of his own.

She stared up at him in fear, and Garp realized he’d let his haki slip, something that hadn’t happened to him in over a decade. He didn’t regret it one bit, though.

“What the hell do you think you were doing? Are you out of your mind?”

“No!” She scrambled backwards, trying to get some distance between them, but there wasn’t much space. “You have to understand… My children… I have to keep them safe.”

“Ace isn’t a danger to your children! He’s a baby!”

What the fuck was her problem? She knew how babies were! Totally useless and weak! And Ace would grow up to become a good man, Garp would make sure of it. Even Roger had never touched kids when he went on his rampages, she had absolutely no reason to think this!

“He brings death with him! He’s cursed!” The woman was breathing hard, a deranged look in her eyes, along with tears. “Baterilla was first, and now you brought him here! They’ll kill all our children, too!” She gasped for breath. “They tried to cover it up, but I know! My sister moved to Baterilla, and they killed her daughter! They killed all the babies, and any expecting mothers who wouldn’t agree to an abortion, all because of him! That demon child that should’ve never existed in the first place!”

Garp wanted to hate her. He wanted to be disgusted by her words. But did he really have any right to?

“That wasn’t Ace’ fault. You can’t blame him.” He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Your niece should’ve gotten a chance to live, too. I should’ve acted sooner.”

He’d just let all those other children die. Even though they’d been just as innocent as Ace. There was nothing he could say to this woman to justify himself, and nothing he could do to alleviate her grief.

In the end, he knocked her out completely with actually focused haki.

He took a moment to calm down Ace who was getting fussy again, probably because of how loud they were being, then walked back down the stairs, grabbed what he needed from the store and paid a little extra for the inconvenience he’d caused.

He could only hope little John would take a while until he got suspicious and went looking for his mother.

Garp wanted to be long out of town by the time he found her passed out on the kitchen floor.

Chapter Text

With a well-focused swing of his fist, the trunk of the tree was crushed, and it fell.

Perfect. Garp had been out to hunt, but stocking up on some firewood wouldn’t hurt, either. Ace seemed to like to sleep by the warmth of the makeshift hearth Garp had built, and besides, the roof of their hut was pretty leaky, so reinforcing it would be a great way to spend his time.

Garp was no shipwright and certainly no architect, but at least he’d helped rebuild enough homes after pirate attacks to do the basics, so he and Ace could sleep protected from the elements.

At first, Garp had wondered if it would be worth the effort. What if they’d be discovered after just a few days? But now, with a month of no major events and not even the hint of a navy flag on the horizon, he felt pretty optimistic.

From the map he’d gotten, Garp had simply chosen a random island to sail to, and while this was pretty densely populated, there was still some forest here and there, where Garp could settle down for a bit.

Really, even if Garp already missed the sea, living like this wasn’t too bad. It brought back memories of his childhood spent running wild and free in the jungle on Mt. Corvo. Not a bad place to give Ace some time to grow. The boy was already getting bigger, still drinking all the formula Garp made for him with vigour.

Babies really evolved insanely quickly. At first, Garp had been a bit worried, because Ace was doing nothing but eat and sleep and scream for more food or because he was cold, but now he was always trying to look around, curious about anything and everything.

And when Garp smiled at him, Ace smiled back.

The first time it happened, something shifted in Garp. He’d been serious about keeping him safe from the start, could never regret what he’d done – but in the end, he’d done it out of his sense for justice, and as a favour to Roger.

But with that smile, to Garp, Ace ceased being someone else’s child that he was taking care of, and became his own.

No, Garp would never ever let anyone else have Ace, he loved him way too much for that.

With every passing day, as Ace grew and developed, Garp’s desire to protect him and see him become an adult grew as well. And along with it, his regret of not having been there for his actual son grew as well.

He couldn’t remember ever feeling anything this intense for Dragon. He’d missed his first smile, his first steps, his first words, his first everything. Dropping by every couple of months for a few days at maximum, that just wasn’t enough to count as a father, Ace was teaching him that now.

It really was no wonder Dragon hadn’t talked to him in years, though honestly declaring war against the World Government was still a step too far for a rebellion against his absent father.

But Dragon was an adult now, he had to make his own choices, and it was certainly too late for Garp to try and fix their relationship.

Even if Garp was going against direct orders himself, he would never ever try and contact Dragon or anyone from that Revolutionary Army of his. All they did was cause chaos and war. Honestly, Garp had half a mind to go and find Dragon just to beat that nonsensical idea out of him.

He sighed. No, it was too late for that as well. Dragon was lost.

All he could do was raise Ace into an honest man with a good sense of justice. Maybe not into a marine like he’d hoped Dragon would become – because even Garp wasn’t stupid enough to truly believe the marines would want Ace in their ranks after all this effort to kill him – but one could do good without being a marine, even if it was more difficult.

Life was full of challenges though, and Garp would raise Ace to look forward to overcoming them, rather than get scared or disheartened. Not a problem at all.

Things would turn out just fine, he was sure.

Ace just had to grow a little stronger first.

As of now, Garp still got a bit anxious leaving him in their hut by himself for too long, so he quickly grabbed the tree and the two boars he’d gotten for himself, and started the trek back.

Was it just him, or was the temperature dropping?

The sky was still blue, but could a storm be rolling in? Ace would be scared. Hurrying up his steps, Garp felt a shudder run down his spine.

His haki stretched out to feel Ace’ familiar presence, only to realize he wasn’t by himself. There was someone else in the hut.

Instantly, Garp dropped everything he was carrying, sprinting to Ace as quickly as he could.

He should’ve paid more attention. He should’ve noticed way earlier, should’ve realized Ace was in danger, but he hadn’t, because…

Because when Garp stumbled into the hut, panicked and wheezing, it was Kuzan who knelt next to the pile of furs Garp and Ace had used as their bed, and Garp’s idiotic brain hadn’t made the connection between the boy he’d trained and mortal danger for Ace.

“Don’t touch him!” Garp hollered, though Kuzan was already stroking Ace’ chubby cheek with one of his fingers, even as Ace was crying and trying to squirm away from the contact.

Kuzan barely reacted to Garp’s loud entrance, but he did let ice creep over the hand he was touching Ace with, an obvious threat. Shit. Would Garp be able to punch him through the wall before he could freeze Ace?

“You know, I haven’t even made up my mind to kill him yet, but he still doesn’t like me. How come?”

Oh. Okay. Good. Garp didn’t exactly want to punch Kuzan through the wall. Maybe he wouldn’t have to. “He doesn’t like the cold.”

Kuzan huffed. “Sakazuki also volunteered to come, but I don’t think he would’ve liked him, either.”

No. If Sakazuki had come instead of Kuzan, Garp would’ve returned to nothing but a pile of ash. Ace wouldn’t even have had the time to cry. In that sense, his current distress was a blessing. At least he was alive to express that emotion.

“So how come you’re here by yourself?” Garp knew Kuzan often went to slack off by himself, even now that he was a Vice Admiral with heavy responsibilities, but they wouldn’t have allowed him to go by himself, not on this mission. The brat had grown strong, for sure, but HQ wouldn’t seriously underestimate Garp enough to think Kuzan on his own could fight him and win.

“There’s a bunch of warships on their way,” Kuzan admitted easily. “I just went ahead on my bike, because I wanted to ask you something.” He paused, and Garp balled his fist. Ace was still crying, and he wouldn’t be able to hold still much longer. “How come this boy is worth everything? Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices. Sometimes, justice is doing something you hate. Why is he an exception?”

Garp recognized the words he himself had imparted on Kuzan, back when he’d been a fresh recruit, unable to follow an order he couldn’t understand.

What did Garp look like now, from Kuzan’s point of view? Like a hypocrite? Or a failure?

Garp sure felt like one.

But he couldn’t go back on his decision.

“He’s not,” Garp admitted. “The correct course of action would’ve been to turn his mother in the moment I heard about her from Roger. That would’ve saved the lives of every other newborn on Baterilla. I failed to fulfil my duty, so their blood is on my hands.”

Kuzan let go of the still crying Ace, balling his hand into a fist. “Why?” he asked again, a little more tense, a little more desperate this time. “You’re my hero. I don’t want to fight you.”

But he would.

Garp had taught him well.

He wanted to be proud, so proud of the young man in front of him, but another, quieter part of him also wanted to tell him to choose to do whatever he wanted. There was no need to fight, if neither of them wanted to. Kuzan didn’t want to kill a baby, either.

Garp wanted to offer him to just come with him. Together, they’d have a much better chance of success. There’d be no questionable orders from above ever again.

But it would ruin Kuzan’s life, and it would take yet another good soldier from the marines. They couldn’t leave only the bad ones. If the navy would be led by men like Kuzan in the future, it was bound to improve the organization, and with it, the whole world.

Garp had already made one inexcusable, selfish decision. There was no need to make another one.

“Sorry.” Garp smiled, trying to convey he meant his apology. “I’m not giving you a choice.”

And with that, he lunged forward, haki concentrated in his fist, just as he’d done a million times when training Kuzan, and catapulted him through the wall.

Except that training had been years ago, and Kuzan had gotten stronger since. Garp barely had time to pick up Ace and cradle him against his chest, before giant spikes of ice pierced their hut from all sides.

Well. So much for making it less leaky.

Not that it mattered all that much, or at all. Garp had much more pressing concerns right now. Specifically, Kuzan. All this damn ice was so annoying, and once again, Garp was at a disadvantage. He had to carry Ace, or Kuzan would be able to just freeze him. Half the area was already covered in ice.

But with Ace, Garp could only use one arm to hit Kuzan, and he had a giant weak spot he couldn’t defend with haki for Kuzan to aim at.

And with the damn ice making the ground all slippery, running wasn’t quite as easy as it could be, either.

Garp could hold his own despite all of that, but fuck. It was risky. Ace was squirming and still screaming in his arms, making it difficult to hold him. Kuzan couldn’t get him with a single attack, or he’d die, he was just that weak. But Garp didn’t want to hit Kuzan with all of his strength and risk killing him, either.

This whole fight sucked.

At the very least, the sea wasn’t far.

Not only was the forest kind of small, but Garp simply felt more at ease when he could hear the waves and the seagulls’ cries, so of course he’d built the hut close to the sea.

He just had to slowly move the fight in that direction, and then risk a hit hard enough to knock Kuzan out that hopefully wouldn’t kill him.

Garp hadn’t just thrown away the boat. It was still tied to the shore, and it held the map he’d bought, plus baby formula and rations for Garp. Once they got there, they were ready to take off, as long as Garp could keep Kuzan from freezing the ocean.

Oh, what he wouldn’t give for a pair of seastone handcuffs right now. That would solve all of his problems.

Or, well, so he thought.

When he did finally arrive at the shore, his boat was already completely destroyed, melting ice indicating Kuzan had found and taken care of it before he’d ever made his way to the hut.

Shit.

Fuck.

Damn.

What now?

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

Steal another ship?

He could already see the sails of the warships Kuzan had told him about on the horizon. They weren’t far. They’d be here soon.

Could Garp sink them all? How many innocent navy soldiers would he kill if he did manage?

“I think you’ve realized there’s no way out.” Kuzan ceased his attacks for a moment, walking casually towards Garp. “Why don’t you give me that baby, and I’ll tell everyone none of this fight ever happened. Trust me, I know all the best excuses that convince the higher-ups. You can still come back.”

“You know damn well I can’t.” Garp wouldn’t give up Ace. He couldn’t.

Kuzan sighed. “You’re making this so difficult… If only you’d been less obvious, maybe nobody would’ve ever caught on… You could’ve just gone to look for a dead baby to hand over instead of hiding here… But now, there’s not really much you can do except give up.”

No.

“I won’t.”

Garp coated his fist in haki, and Kuzan pre-emptively turned to ice to escape the blow, and then cannon fire reached their ears just seconds before the ground shook.

Even Kuzan looked surprised.

Both of them turned to the approaching fleet to see it already engaged in combat. With a ship that looked suspiciously like the Moby Dick, Whitebeard’s flagship.

Huh.

Why the hell was there such a big fleet of navy warships here?

All they’d been planning on at this island was to restock supplies. Yes, they’d known there was a small marine base on the island, but honestly, they could’ve easily taken any attacks they might’ve tried, and they’d planned on leaving long before any backup could arrive.

But they were already here before the Moby had even moored at the port.

Smaller ships were breaking out of formation too, as if to surround the island. The island they, once again, hadn’t reached yet.

Marco was starting to get the feeling the marines were here for something else, and they’d just gotten unlucky and interrupted it. But what kind of criminal organization in the South Blue needed this much military force? This looked like half a Buster Call, on this tiny, insignificant island?

What for?

It had absolutely nothing to do with them, but Marco couldn’t help his curiosity.

A small forest on the island was completely frozen over, and Marco knew he’d find answers there.

Not like there were winter islands in South Blue.

That was no doubt the work of Vice Admiral Kuzan. Interesting. Very interesting, indeed.

A quick glance over to Pops confirmed what Marco already knew – they were fine. Kuzan was probably the strongest and highest-ranked marine on this mission, meaning there was nobody that could even come close to be a danger to Pops.

Which meant Marco was free to go.

With a grin, he spread his wings and set off.

It wasn’t difficult to find Kuzan, especially considering he was locked in a pretty intense fight, haki and ice spreading everywhere without any thought to the environment.

And suddenly, the extreme measures of the navy made sense.

They were trying to contain Garp.

As someone who’d once made the mistake as a young lad to try and fight Garp, Marco could only commend them for their bravery in attempting the impossible.

Alright.

He wanted absolutely nothing to do with this. No thanks.

“Hey, chicken boy!” Ah, fuck. “Catch!”

Through reflex more than anything, Marco did indeed catch the bundle Garp threw at him one-handed.

The bundle squealed, and Marco got the shock of his life.

“That’s a baby!” he screeched. “You threw a fucking baby at me! Are you insane? What is wrong with you? I don’t have hands! What if I failed to catch it?”

“But you caught him! All’s well! Now hold on to him for me till I settle this, will ya? And keep him out of range!”

What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?!

There was a baby. A baby that was making noises and moving around. Marco was carrying a baby, all of a sudden, and now Kuzan was casually aiming icicle spears at him – no, at the baby – while still fighting Garp.

Marco hightailed it out of there. That was just… no.

He didn’t want to stay there.

Also, he was gripping the cloth the baby was bundled up in, but not the actual baby, and now it was slipping. The cloth ever so slowly started to unravel itself, and they were above the sea.

Marco didn’t have hands.

He could turn his wings into hands to grab the baby properly, but then they’d drop out of the sky. He could keep going, but if the baby dropped, he couldn’t save it, because he couldn’t swim.

Panic surged in his chest, and he flapped his wings erratically, trying as best as he could to hold himself steady while flying faster than he ever had before. He needed to reach the Moby before he dropped the baby.

He was so close.

He could make it, he could-

“Pops,” he screamed, “help!”

The cloth unravelled, and for a second, Marco could feel the baby drop.

On instinct, Marco reached out for it, tightly hugging it to his chest to keep it safe.

They were falling, because his wings were gone, and so Marco closed his eyes, bracing for the impact of the cold, draining seawater.

Out of every pain in the world, he hated drowning the most, but someone had to have seen or heard him, and they’d come fish him out. He had to trust in that. He was bigger, he’d be easier to find than if he just dropped the baby. Besides, even if Marco somehow got hurt, he could heal as soon as he was out of the water. The baby could not.

They didn’t hit the water.

When Marco opened his eyes to see what they’d hit instead, he only saw Pops, precariously balancing over the railing, as he’d reached out as far as he could to catch Marco mid-air.

Relief flooded through Marco, and he beamed up at his father. “Thanks!”

Pops pulled them all back on deck, huffing a laugh. “No problem. But what were you doing?”

“Just checking out what was going on at the island. And then Garp threw a baby at me.”

“What?”

Marco wiggled around in Pops’ hands so he could properly see what Marco was holding, which was a baby now clad in nothing but diapers, looking curiously up at the both of them. “Garp was fighting Kuzan, and he chucked this baby at me. Kuzan attacked, so I came back as fast as I could. Almost dropped it, though.”

Pops looked between him and the baby for a few moments. “Is that… Roger’s?”

Oh. Huh. Right. The newspaper said Garp had taken off with Roger’s baby.

But nobody had said anything. Marco could only shrug. “I guess.”

Now that it was out of immediate danger, sort of – the marines were still firing at the Moby, but whatever – what the hell were they supposed to do with this baby?

Well, if the enamoured look on Pops’ face was anything to go by, Marco had a pretty good guess.

Chapter Text

Garp took a deep breath.

Blood dripped from his fist, so he dipped it into the sea to wash it off, trying not to think about the fact that it was Kuzan’s. He hadn’t meant to knock out a tooth, but damn, any softer hit and the boy just kept getting back up.

Garp had trained him well.

He swallowed around the bile in his throat, looking at Kuzan’s unmoving form on the ground.

Was this the right thing to do? Was he really still on the right path?

What kind of justice was this?

At this point, he actually didn’t know anymore.

But he couldn’t go back, and so there was nothing to do but go forward. Not like he had the time to think much, anyway.

The fight with Kuzan took him longer than he’d liked, and looking towards the horizon, he could see the navy warships already retreating. They weren’t leaving the island’s vicinity, but they were still fleeing from Whitebeard. One was clearly sinking, too, its deck barely visible above the water.

As much as his instincts made him feel horrified and angry, as much as it was ingrained in him to see this loss and fight it to the end to keep everyone else safe, he knew logically the Whitebeard Pirates’ victory was a good thing.

He’d given Ace to them, after all.

Garp certainly wasn’t happy with that, but it had been his only option to keep him safe.

Whitebeard, despite being a pirate, was not the type to hurt children. Garp couldn’t imagine him having a deep-seated grudge against Roger, either. Sure, their battles were legendary, but they’d never resulted in any deaths, and Oden had even jumped ship between the crews. Maybe they hadn’t been friends, or even allies, but surely there was nothing between them that would make Whitebeard break his pattern of protecting children just to get back at the dead Roger.

Still, even if they didn’t kill Ace, Garp couldn’t imagine them waiting for him.

Worst case scenario, they’d just leave him behind, and Garp would have to spend months or even years trying to locate and catch them just to get Ace back.

So he quickly went back to his hut, taking anything that wasn’t destroyed, especially the baby formula, then scoured the destroyed ship for whatever else he could still use, stuffed it all into his bag, and then jumped into the sea.

Swimming was his only option, but thankfully, Garp had always been a great swimmer, and his body was happy to get a real workout after a month of just chopping wood or building stuff.

Even without a ship, it was always better to be at sea than on land.

By the time Garp made it to the Moby Dick, it was turning around. The pirates had to have decided against landing what with all the marine activity here, and apparently they really would’ve just left Garp even when taking his kid.

As if Garp would let pirates get away with his sweet little grandson. No way in hell.

He grasped the bow of the Moby where a cannonball had hit it just above the water’s surface, giving him something to hold onto. With that much leverage, it was a piece of cake to lift himself out of the water and jump right up on deck.

Honestly, Garp wasn’t sure what he’d expected to see. The fighting was over, sure, so that wasn’t happening anymore. And obviously some people were busy turning the ship around and repairing any damages it had sustained. Alright. That he could understand.

But a large portion of the crew was sitting on deck, crowding around their captain, lost in a heated debate on which onesie would be best for Ace.

“That’s one of Hiyori’s, right? Will it even fit?”

“Of course it’ll fit, it’s not like we got form-fitting clothes for literal infants! I’m telling you, the turquoise will look great on him.”

“But the pastel pink is so cute. Babies wear pastel, everyone knows that, it’s an unwritten law.”

“Since when do we care about laws? In fact, let’s take one that has our symbol on it, not the Kozuki crest. Show the world he’s a little outlaw already!”

That was the moment Garp forgot to have any thoughts on the situation, like why they even had these onesies to begin with, or how strange it was to see Whitebeard with a truly tiny baby in his lap, smiling at his crew debating baby fashion.

“Don’t you dare put your flag on Ace! He’s going to grow up and become a defender of justice, not a filthy pirate!”

Everyone turned to him, but his words didn’t really have the desired effect of intimidating the pirates. Whitebeard even had the gall to roll his eyes. “He’s Roger’s, isn’t he? Even if he doesn’t want to become a pirate, I highly doubt he’s gonna become a defender of justice.”

Garp narrowed his eyes at him. “You don’t get a say in that. Thanks for keeping him away from that fight, but I’m taking him with me now.”

“Where to?”

That… was a good question, and really not what Garp had expected. Protests and possibly a fight would be much easier to deal with than this calm, rational question.

In the end, he could only shrug. “I’ll figure it out. Now give me Ace.”

Whitebeard didn’t move an inch. “You don’t have a ship, do you? The next island is at least four days of sailing away. You gonna swim there? With Ace? If you go back, you can’t hide on that island. They’ll find you. You could kill every single one of them, of course, but all that’ll do is make them put a bounty on your head for real. With pictures of such a massacre, they could turn the public even against you.”

“I’m not going to kill a single marine,” Garp growled, deeply offended at just the suggestion. Pirates thought like that, but how could he assume Garp was the same?

“Then what are you going to do? I don’t care if you do something stupid and die, that’s your own problem, but I’m not letting you take Ace with you.”

Anger flared in Garp’s chest. “Ace has nothing to do with you! This is none of your business!” Damn it, it had seemed like the best option at the moment, but giving Ace to that stupid blue chicken had been such a mistake. Garp had thrown poor Ace right at a bunch of kidnappers!

Whitebeard still didn’t budge, but his voice was now laced with a cold kind of anger. “He is not mine, but he is still a child of the sea. I will not hand him over to anyone who will kill him, whether that’s by accident or on purpose.”

With the severity of his voice and his haki building pressure, Whitebeard’s crew started to tense up as well. More than one drew a weapon.

Fine. If that was how they wanted to go about it, then-

Ace’ cries cut through the tense atmosphere.

Nobody moved as Whitebeard tried to shush him, gently rocking the little baby in his arms, but it had no effect.

Garp lowered his fists. “He’s hungry. He’s not gonna stop crying until he’s been fed.” Ace had perseverance like that, he really would scream for hours on end, until he was too exhausted to go on. No mercy for his caretaker.

At least everyone seemed to agree this would take precedence. Whitebeard looked between his crew. “We don’t happen to have any baby formula left, do we?”

“Even if we did, it would long since have gone bad by now. It’s been years.”

Garp had no idea who the guy who replied was, but that wasn’t important. He puffed out his chest. “Well, I have baby formula that I just recently bought. So give me Ace.”

“And where are you gonna mix it with water and warm it up? Our kitchen?” Whitebeard countered.

Well.

Looked like they were at a standstill, all while Ace was still crying his lungs out.

“This is stupid,” a guy in a kimono announced, striding over to Garp. Looking him directly into the eyes, he reached into Garp’s bag and pulled out a pack of baby formula. “Jozu, you take Ace. We’re gonna feed him. You can figure the rest out while we do that.”

A big guy who nonetheless looked like a teenager took Ace from Whitebeard, who simply let it happen. Together, the two of them disappeared below deck.

Garp could only balk at the sheer audacity. Didn’t Whitebeard teach his crew any respect?

Apparently not, as he seemed entirely unfazed. “And? Come up with a plan yet?”

“You know damn well plans are not my thing. Things will work out on their own.”

Garp was dead serious about this, his voice full of conviction.

For a moment, there was silence on deck except for the wind hitting the sails and the waves crashing against the ship. And then Whitebeard laughed. A low, deep grumble, that slowly developed into a full, boisterous laugh that shook the whole ship and the sea with it.

Perhaps Garp should’ve felt mocked, but strangely, he didn’t. He couldn’t feel any malice in Whitebeard’s voice, not even a hint, until his laugh slowly subsided.

“You really are one of a kind, Garp.” Whitebeard shook his head, still grinning. “I’ll make it easy for you then. I’m not giving you Ace when you don’t have a boat or a place to hide. So, you’ve only got two choices: You can leave while Ace stays with us, or you stay, too.”

“Stay?” Garp blinked. Was that an offer? A recruitment? “I’m never ever ever becoming a pirate. Forget it.” Yes, he’d been fired from the navy. Yes, he’d had to do some things he didn’t like. Yes, he had some doubts what his path of justice would be from here on out. But he still had that much pride and conviction left. He was a man serving justice, he’d rather die than raise a Jolly Roger.

Whitebeard shrugged. “Not like I want you to join my crew. At best, I’m tolerating you as an add-on to Ace. This is a pirate ship, not a charity for retired navy soldiers. We don’t carry deadweight. If you wanna stay, you work for it. And if you ever annoy me too much, I’m throwing you off anyway.”

“I’m not leaving without Ace,” Garp repeated, “and I’m not helping your evil pirate business either.”

“What choice do you have? If you don’t want to fight, just mop the deck or peel potatoes.”

Garp gritted his teeth. What was he, a cabin boy? Of course he had a choice. He could always fight. Garp the Fist wouldn’t ever let a pirate order him around. Nobody could ever stop him.

Sure, this was Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world, so Garp could at least admit that it wouldn’t be an easy fight – especially not with his whole crew also there, and Ace to take into consideration – but Garp didn’t subscribe to the meaning of impossible. He could totally win.

The only question was, what then?

He did not have a ship, and even if he could throw the pirates off this one, it was just a tad too large for him to sail by himself. He could swim back to the island with Ace, but the marines were there. Garp couldn’t fight them. They were good men in the service of justice, even if their orders were pretty shitty this time. By himself, Garp could probably just swim to the next island, but with Ace, that was a big risk. Garp’s bag was waterproof, but he wasn’t sure it would last days, and even if it did, how would he feed Ace then? It sounded like the kind of idea Sengoku would hit him over the head for and then steal all his rice crackers and lecture him for three hours.

Fuck, what he wouldn’t give to be able to call Sengoku and ask for a way out of this mess. He would have one. He always had one.

Garp could run headfirst into any wall and hope it would break, because if it didn’t, he always had someone to sigh and drag him around the wall instead.

How the hell was he supposed to find the way around now, by himself? Where was it?

He had no idea, and so he was stuck. He actually had to deal with these pirates, and in some way, accept their terms.

Whitebeard was one of the least bad ones, but he’d still be a terrible influence on Ace.

But for now, he would keep Ace alive.

Garp could always ditch him later, before he had any time to raise Ace into anything that resembled his father.

“For the record,” he announced, “I could beat you all up and take Ace if I wanted to. But it’s more convenient to sail with you, that’s why I’m doing it. Until I find a safe place for Ace. And I’ll work for my food because that’s the honest way to earn your living, though I’m sure you wouldn’t understand that.”

That made Whitebeard roll his eyes again.

Yup, he totally didn’t get it. He’d been a pirate for decades, probably all of his adult life, he’d never worked an honest job for a second in his life.

“Alright. Now that we’ve got that settled, Marco, go and get us more baby formula and some diapers before we’re too far away from land for that to be feasible, and hopefully before Kuzan wakes back up.” Whitebeard reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a wallet and handing it to Marco.

“Sure.” Marco grinned, already partially transforming as he pocketed the money. “Don’t sink the ship while I’m away~”

And before anyone could say anything else, he turned into a blaze of blue fire, shooting back towards the island they’d left behind.

Whitebeard just shook his head. “You raise these kids for years and then they become so cheeky… Ungrateful brats, every single one of them.”

Yeah, Garp would most definitely not let Ace be around these people for longer than absolutely necessary. He was gone at the first opportunity.