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Luffy was happy.
He was back with his crew, and all was right in the world. Sure, he may have lost a bit of blood, but he was fine! If only Chopper stopped panicking.
“I’m fineee.”
Chopper burst into tears, hoofs flailing in panic. “You lost liters of blood, you idiot! You're not fine!”
Luffy happily ignored Chopper's medical opinion and wanted to eat meat. Luffy looked around for any food. He was hungry, and Sanji hasn’t even started making dinner yet. He pouted. It doesn't seem like he will be getting food soon.
Jinbei was sitting next to him, arm wrapped in bandages from where the IV was. Luffy burst into a happy grin. Jinbei will join his crew! Maybe not right now since he said that he has things to wrap up, but he still agreed! Luffy was so happy.
He and his crew moved to the palace, where there was going to be a feast. A feast! Food!
With Luffy being the only one injured on his crew, Chopper was helping the royal family with their injuries. Luffy was just happily inhaling the food currently in front of him.
“Oi, Captain, leave some for us.”
Luffy laughed, “Sorry, Zoro.”
Zoro just rolled his eyes and drank from his alcohol bottle. Zoro had a plate in front of him, half-eaten. His swords were by his side, not attached to his belt.
Sanji came around, dropping off more food for his bottomless pit of a captain. He stopped and sat by Luffy, finally done cooking. The royal family allowed him to enter the kitchens, and Sanji was happy with the arrangement. The other Strawhats were scattered around the room, also eating their food.
Robin was reading a book while Nami looked over some maps. Chopper was still fretting over the injured and Brook was singing in the middle of the room.
Usopp was telling his awesome stories to the princes, who were nodding along with Usopp. Franky was fiddling with some metal. Luffy thinks that it was part of his cyborg machinery.
Jinbei was speaking with the jamon guy. Weakhoshi was eating her food, happy that she could finally eat out in the open like this.
Luffy smiled, happy to be with his crew again. It never did feel right without them by his side.
Then there was a bang, and a guard rushed into the room. He was breathing hard, and he made a beeline to the king.
The guard bowed when he got to Neptune, and everyone stopped to watch the interaction.
“My King! The Whitebeards were spotted near here, and it is probable that they are coming here!”
King Neptune touched his beard and stroked it in thought.
The Strawhats, on the other hand, were panicking.
Usopp and Nami clung onto each other, saying that they were going to be killed.
Chopper was hiding behind Franky, who had dropped his screwdriver in shock. Robin’s eyes widened and she stopped reading her book. Brook stopped playing his guitar, accidentally drumming the wrong chord.
Sanji stood up and lit a cigarette that showed he was nervous but was trying to act calm while Zoro clicked his swords, not fully unsheathed but ready for action at any given moment.
Luffy was just eating his food without a worry, the epitome of carefree.
“It’s rare for Whitebeard to come here without announcement. I think you guys should hide for a while. If you don’t provoke him, he may be calm, but the situation is chaotic as is right now, so you should be careful.”
Luffy stood up and finished with his food. He stretched, bandages hindering him.
His crew and the royals stared at him. Pops was here, and he wants to see Ace again. Pops did promise to see him when he arrived at Fishman Island. He was a bit late though, he’d missed out on all the fun.
“Come on guys, let’s go to the docks.”
There were noises of denial coming from behind him, but Luffy ignored them. He was going to see Pops and Ace, and nothing was stopping him.
“Luffy, don’t do anything stupid! That’s an Emperor!”
Luffy nodded at Nami’s words, not really getting why his crew didn’t understand. Of course, he knew that Pops was an Emperor. Ace said so himself years before.
Nami was attempting to drag him away from the docks, but Luffy was determined. Zoro just sighed and stayed by Luffy’s side.
His crew was also following him, no matter how scared Chopper, Usopp, and Nami were. Jinbei was also with them, a smile on his face that the crew didn’t know how to interpret. Jinbei knew exactly how this interaction will go down.
“It’s the Whitebeards! All the Commanders are here too!”
“What's going on?”
There was whispering around the Strawhats, afraid that they were going to pick a fight with the Whitebeards. Luffy pushed through the crowd of fishmen and saw the Moby Dick. He saw Pineapple head get off of the ship, along with some of the other Commanders Luffy had met a few times. His favorite was the one who played pranks on Ace when Luffy helped. That was a fun time.
Luffy couldn’t see either Ace or Pops, which was weird. They were the ones that normally said hi first.
It was when Luffy was steadily getting closer that Ace appeared. Luffy beamed and started running forward, pushing people out of the way. He heard the distant conversation on the Moby Dick. Ace was still on the boat but was getting off the ship when Luffy was halfway there.
“C’mon, Pops, it's time to go.”
“Calm down, brat.”
“Nooooo.”
Ace touched down on Fishman Island, and Luffy saw him smile. Luffy could see the huge frame of Pops getting off the ship. He hasn’t changed since the last time Luffy saw him, same with Ace. That was good.
“Ace!!!”
Ace turned towards Luffy, and he beamed as well.
“Luffy!”
Luffy jumped at Ace, completely ignoring the other Commanders. They just shook their head fondly and smiled at them. Izou just waved his fan in Luffy’s direction. Luffy hugged Ace within an inch of life. His face was pressed to Ace’s chest, and he felt arms wrap around him. Luffy smushed himself up against Ace, happy to be reunited with his brother.
“Oi, Luffy.”
Luffy made a questioning sound and let go of his big brother. Ace grimaced and pointed down to his bandages that were now getting redder.
Oops, guess he opened up the wound again.
“What the fuck happened?”
The Commanders were now listening, wanting to know what happened to their younger brother. The Strawhats were just watching the scene with exhausted looks. They now knew that it was just a reunion with Ace, their Captain’s brother, and there should be nothing to worry about. They were still slightly weary, though.
“Well, there was the guy, he wanted to take over Fishman Island. He was really annoying and kept eating these pill things to get stronger, but I beat him up in the end.”
Ace's face twisted, “That tells me almost nothing Luffy.”
Luffy shrugged. Ace then gave a grin that only promised pain, “Where is that guy? I just want to talk with him.”
“In the dungeons.”
Ace nodded and seemed to make up his mind about something, Luffy had no idea what, when a booming laugh echoed across the docks.
“Gurarararara! Not even greeting me, brat?”
Ace smirked and looked back, and Luffy followed his gaze. During his talk and reunion with Ace, he didn’t even notice Pops getting off the ship. He had his naginata in hand. Pops stood strong, and Luffy grinned.
“Oh yeah, hi, Pops!”
Everyone looked dumbfounded.
“What?!”
Zoro looked done with life and took a swig of his drink.
Chopper, Nami, and Usopp had a very shocked expressions. Sanji dropped his cigarette and Robin covered her mouth in surprise. Brook just gave a nervous ‘yohohoho’.
Franky’s hairstyle changed while Jinbei smiled.
The citizens were visibly trying to understand what Luffy said.
Luffy, for his part, just laughed.
Whitebeard smiled, “Looks like we missed out on some fun, son. Won’t you tell me about it later?”
Luffy nodded, happy to do so. Ace made a difficult face, then brightened.
“Oi, Marco! You owe me some money!”
The Pineapple grimaced and handed Ace what looked like a couple thousand berri’s.
“I shouldn’t have bet against you.”
Ace just counted the money in his hand, smug beyond belief.
“We should go somewhere else, we are kind of blocking off the docks.”
The Whitebeards seemed to realize the truth of that statement, spoken by one of their siblings. Ace smirked down at Luffy, and Luffy looked back at him.
“Race you to the palace?”
Ace’s gaze was filled with mischief, and Luffy grinned back, just as ready as Ace.
“Loser has to pay?”
Ace nodded seriously. They shook on it. Got into a sprinting position with everyone watching, and then bolted at a signal of some kind. They were off, and the Strawhats and Whitebeards were quite literally left in the dust.
“I hate him. Why did I decide to join that moron of a captain?”
Nami despaired, Usopp patting her shoulder sympathetically.
Whitebeard laughed.
“So that’s what happened.”
That was what Whitebeard said, after hearing the entire story from King Neptune, his old friend.
After the entire events were explained to the Whitebeard Pirates, they looked at Luffy, who was still stuffing his face full of food but now with Ace beside him eating along with him.
Chopper redressed Luffy’s bandages and made sure they were the sanitary white they were supposed to be. The Strawhats were originally watching the entire interaction with scrutiny but started relaxing after the Whitebeards made no threatening actions. Zoro was still vigilant, no matter how friendly they were, they were still a rival pirate crew.
Nami stood up and walked over to Luffy. She scowled and hit Luffy on the head, grabbed his ear, and pulled it. It stretched, and Nami smiled menacingly.
“Luffy, could you not have warned us that you were all buddy-buddy with an Emperor’s crew?”
She stretched it farther and let go, making Luffy meet it in the middle. He pouted and rubbed his ear.
“You didn’t ask.”
Nami threw up her hands in exasperation. She scowled and crossed her arms. “Warn us next time!”
Luffy just grinned, and Zoro got the feeling he wouldn’t. He just shook his head, used to his Captain’s antics by now. He will do what he wants and won’t ask for anyone’s permission. Zoro secretly smiled. It was one of the factors that kept things interesting. He never knew what to expect with Luffy.
Luffy then frowned and looked at Ace. Ace stopped eating and looked questionably at Luffy.
“Where is Sabo? He told me he was going to be here.”
Ace frowned and shook his head.
“He told me he wouldn’t be able to make it. Something about a revolution in the West Blue.”
Luffy looked down at that. The Strawhats were confused. They had no idea who “Sabo” was.
Usopp was the one to voice this.
“Oi Luffy, who is Sabo?”
Luffy then smiled his brightest smile. Zoro winced, temporarily blinded by the sight. He spotted some of the Whitebeards doing the same.
“My big brother! He’s a Revolutionary, like my Dad!”
Ace nodded, and the Zoro felt a sense of dread rise inside of him. There was another one!? Luffy and Ace were enough, and there was another? And a Revolutionary at that? That's a recipe for disaster. Nami just looked scared. The only one who didn’t seem surprised by this piece of information was Robin, but she always looked like that.
“Sabo was doing well, the last time I saw him.”
Luffy snapped his head to Robin and smiled. “Really? That’s good.”
She nodded and went back to her book. The rest of their crew just stared at her and decided not to bother. The archeologist was secretive like that.
“Oh, that reminds me. He told me to give this to you when I next saw you.”
Ace opened his pants pocket and grabbed something. He pulled it out, and there was a white Den-Den Mushi in Ace’s palm. Zoro widened his eye. Those were encrypted Den-Den Mushi's and were pretty rare. This Sabo guy must really treasure Luffy to give him one of those.
“He said to call whenever you need him. His number is on the paper, mine too. Don’t lose it, Lu.”
Luffy nodded seriously and put the Den-Den Mushi in his pocket.
They sat peacefully for a couple of minutes, the Whitebeard Commanders conversing with some of the Strawhats. Zoro was considering if he should go talk to Vista about swords, but he felt a presence before he did. Zoro scowled. It was familiar, and it annoyed Zoro. The Whitebeards noticed it as well. Looks like that man wasn’t going to escape. Ace looked especially annoyed at having an interruption when talking with his little brother.
Zoro just sipped his drink. It will be a good show, at the very least.
“We better get going now Luffy.”
Luffy looked a bit down, and Ace frowned at the sight. Ace punched him on the shoulder, and Luffy stopped doing that face.
“You just have to call me Luffy, and I will be there, same with Sabo. I will probably see you soon on the seas since you are finally in the New World.”
Luffy pouted, “You only just got here.”
Ace sighed and ruffled Luffy’s hair. The Whitebeards were getting ready to leave, and they were only waiting for Ace to get on so they could go.
“Teach has been targeting some of our territories. We need to be there in case he attacks.”
Luffy nodded, and Ace took that as his cue to get on the Moby Dick. Ace waved goodbye, and Luffy waved back. His crew was by his side and waved their goodbye as well.
Ace smiled.
He liked his brother's crew, understanding of his antics but willing to fight for him. Especially his first mate, Zoro. He was the only one who didn’t relax around the Whitebeards, always keeping his vigilance to make sure Luffy was safe. He could trust Luffy’s crew to keep him safe to the best of their abilities, and that was all Ace wanted to know.
Ace chuckled.
“I can’t actually believe Luffy was serious. A living skeleton, now I have seen everything.”
Pops laughed at that.
Ace smiled back at Fishman Island.
Yeah, Luffy was doing well. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
Ace walked towards the center of the ship and stood by Pops. He smiled deviously at Marco.
Marco did not like that look.
“Want to bet he picks a fight with an Emperor?”
Marco shook his head.
“I told you I wouldn’t bet against you again, and I fear he will do just that.”
Pops laughed and voiced, “He certainly is a gutsy brat.”
Ace chuckled. Yeah, everything was alright.
Now if only Teach would stop attacking their territories, they would be golden.
Good thing they knew about his Devil Fruit abilities. If they didn’t, Ace would fear that some of them would have been killed when Teach had attacked them a couple of months back. They managed to make him retreat, but there were some serious injuries after Teach struck in a surprise attack. His black hole did damage to some of his siblings that were caught up in it. He was surprisingly determined on attacking Pops but never managed to get near him. Thank god, because Ace really did not like Teach's face at that moment.
“Let’s go back to the New World, men!”
There was a resounding cheer, and Ace beamed. He would miss Luffy, but he was right where he should be, with his family.
And he would not have it any other way.