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Dadan knew from the moment the two boys met each other.
When Garp brought another brat to her mountain cabin she was more than displeased. She and her bandits had been caring for Ace since he was a baby and he was already ten, it was exhausting.
“This is my grandson, Luffy — Luffy, say hi,”
Dadan looked at the stupid little child Garp was holding up to her eye-line. He was smaller than Ace, so probably younger, but seemed to have just as much — if not more — energy than him. Dadan was already shaking at the thought of being forced to take care of another brat she didn't want. And what the hell was Ace going to think of the kid anyway? Ace was already an angry and petulant child without another boy to have to share space with, what exactly was adding Luffy going to do to the boy's attitude.
“No way,” Dadan said as Garp let Luffy down, “we've already been caring for Ace, and that's hard enough, I can't add another mouth to feed!”
“You're gonna have to get over it,” Garp said, arms crossed, “or, I could find you a nice cell to spend your days in, if you'd prefer that,”
Dadan growled and looked back at the younger boy making his way to the treeline. She saw Ace sitting just beyond where Luffy was chasing a bug, watching him very closely. Dadan's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Ace watch Luffy. In the ten years of raising the hellion, she didn't think she'd ever seen that look on Ace's face. She wasn't really sure what it meant, but she was hoping it wasn't what her first instinct was telling her. Once Luffy was close enough to him, Ace took the opportunity to immediately spit on Luffy. The younger boy erupted and Dadan watched as Garp introduced the two and explained Luffy was coming to live with them. Seems like it was decided.
Dadan sighed and turned back inside. As long as they didn't kill each other or her she should be able to handle it.
However, the daggers that Ace was staring into Luffy at dinner time worried her again. He's given her or her bandits death stares before, but this one was just different. It was very intense and somehow malicious without actually being malicious. She decided to give Luffy a lecture on her expectations to try to ignore the weird feeling she had about the situation. The boy seemed to have a head full of bricks and just as stubborn as Ace. She wasn't surprised when he ran off with Ace after dinner, and she wasn't surprised when Ace came back to the cabin without Luffy either. Dadan didn't think Ace actually had it in him to kill another kid, but she thought she knew everything about the kid after ten years, and it seemed he still had the ability to surprise her, especially when Ace acted like Luffy never had even shown up let alone existed for a couple of hours with them.
And that's when Luffy showed back up.
Dadan could feel the stress like a wet blanket when the kid turned up on the front step in the middle of the night. She had been worried about what would happen if Garp found out he had been missing, but she was honestly more concerned about how the two boys were going to get on with each other. She hated that she was so invested in them. She had never wanted to be a mother anyway, let alone have two beasts of boys thrust upon her without so much as consideration of her feelings. But she watched them and she couldn't help it.
Ace was rough with Luffy, this was very true, but it was definitely different than he was with anyone else. It was as if he wanted to keep Luffy at arms length but couldn't. Albeit, Luffy made it very hard for Ace to keep him at any kind of distance at all. If he wasn't chasing Ace he was trying to get into Ace's personal space. Dadan watched as Luffy chased Ace for months with no avail. Every day, whether it was sunny or storming, she watched as Ace ran away and Luffy chased him.
“I wonder if they know,” Dadan said, drunkenly one night to her two best bandits, Dogra and Magra.
Magra frowned at her. “What do you mean?”
Dadan laughed. Was it not obvious to them as well? “Oh c'mon,” she said, “you've had to have seen how they are with each other,”
Dogra and Magra looked at each other then back to Dadan.
“Luffy wants to be attached to Ace at the hip, and Ace is doing his damnedest not to be,” she said, “I've never seen Ace be gentle with anyone, but if you watch him enough you can catch him when he thinks no one is looking,” Dadan looked at the only two people who counted as her friends and laughed. “I've caught him…gazing at Luffy with the most tender look in his eyes…”
“Well, now that you mention it,” Magra said.
Dadan lifted up from where she was laying to prop up on her elbow. “Yeah?”
“I have also thought he seems to be trying to…avoid someone he likes way more than he lets on…”
“Right?!” Dadan said, flopping back onto her back. The boys were obsessed with each other, she could see it plain as day, and she's known it from the moment she saw them meet each other.
Sabo knew even before he had met Luffy. He knew before he had even known Luffy existed.
He and Ace were close, like really close, and though Ace would never admit it, Sabo could read Ace like a book. So, when Ace started showing up to their hideout absolutely flustered, Sabo knew that something was up. He started pressing Ace almost immediately, but it took him a few good weeks to pry it out of Ace.
“He's just a brat!” He shouted at Sabo one day when the pestering became too much.
“Who's just a brat, Ace?!” Sabo asked him, way too excited.
Ace's face turned red almost immediately and that was pretty much all the confirmation Sabo needed before slyly dropping the subject. Once it was breached, though, Ace couldn't stop talking about Luffy, always accompanied by a blush.
“He literally followed me for miles today! Miles! How is he so difficult to shake?!”
“He keeps trying to take baths with me like we're toddlers or something…”
“He's attempted to steal my food every night this week, I've no idea what he thinks he's doing…”
Sabo always listened intently, hiding his smile. The way Ace's eyes lit up when he was talking about Luffy — even when he was complaining — was almost intoxicating. It was most definitely extremely intriguing and Sabo lapped it up whenever he could.
Meeting Luffy cracked Sabo up. First Ace suggested that they kill him in order to keep their treasure hidden, then he let Luffy get captured by the pirates that were looking for them. After they both realized they could trust him, though, Sabo watched Ace act a little stupid to get back at the pirates for hurting Luffy. He also witnessed the moment Ace actually let Luffy in.
“D-do you…” Ace was trembling a little, standing in front of Luffy. “Do you think I deserve to live?”
Sabo knew how weighted that question was for Ace to ask. He studied his friend's face closely, trying to read his thoughts.
“Of course I do!” Luffy shouted back at Ace.
Sabo could see how those words physically hit Ace in the chest. He felt the butterflies in his own stomach watching the scene in front of him play out. Luffy had no idea how important the moment was, and that cracked Sabo up even more. Ace was making space for Luffy in his life. Sabo was well aware of the space he held in Ace's life, but also knew Ace had never intended to make more for others, especially not the kind of space Luffy was carving out for himself. Ace successfully blushed only slightly, though Sabo figured Luffy definitely was too dense to notice.
That was the night Sabo came home with them. The three became absolutely inseparable. They slept together, they hunted together, they bathed together. Over the weeks, Sabo began to care for Luffy, too, though not exactly how he suspected Ace did. He found himself pulling Luffy close to him when the younger boy would whimper in his sleep. He would make sure to put himself between Luffy and whatever beast or gang they were fighting. And when they were bathing, Sabo couldn't help but fuss over Luffy, making sure he washed properly or rinsed all the shampoo out of his hair.
Sabo loved his brothers, and he loved watching them together. The way Luffy was so attached to Ace was really cute, and Sabo would catch Ace accidentally being gentle with Luffy. He would see Ace brush Luffy's hair out of his eyes occasionally, and that was his favorite. It was such a small gesture, but spoke mountains. Ace would lazily stretch out his arms when lying down for bed, always under the guise of comfort, but he never truly complained when Luffy curled into one of his exposed sides.
And then there were the looks. Sabo would notice either Ace or Luffy just looking at the other. They always seemed to have the same expression when they were looking, as well. It was a combination of awe and tenderness that neither typically expressed in their day to day. And it was always when the other was occupied or distracted in some way.
Sabo witnessed once over dinner Luffy looking at Ace, only to be immediately distracted and giving Ace the opportunity to look at him. That was the first time Sabo and Dadan shared a knowing glance, and it wasn't the last.
It broke Sabo's heart when he had to leave, but he had to protect them.
When Sabo's boat was shot down by a Celestial Dragon, Dadan witnessed Ace and Luffy become even more attached to each other. They would run off and spend days in their tree house in the jungle. Dadan would occasionally walk past or send a couple of her bandits to check up on them, but they were always taking care of themselves perfectly fine, just independent. She knew they would always come back to the cabin when they wanted to.
Around when Luffy turned eleven she started noticing the way he would hang on Ace. Luffy was always clingy with Ace — and Ace never seemed to mind, though he would playfully protest Luffy invading his personal space — he began attaching himself to Ace in any way possible: He would jump on Ace's back when he least expected it, crawl into Ace's lap at meal times, and would interlace their fingers when they were walking together. Dadan had expected Ace, being fourteen, to desperately shy away from Luffy's physical touches, but he actually sometimes was more clingy to Luffy. She would catch Ace pulling Luffy into his lap, casually, and resting his chin on Luffy's shoulder as the younger boy would chatter on about whatever interesting bit of information he was occupied with. Ace would fuss over Luffy's hair or clothes just to have an excuse to touch him. He would also stand behind Luffy with his arms around Luffy's waist when he was bored. Dadan wasn't at all surprised Luffy was growing more publicly affectionate towards Ace — he never seemed to care for people's opinions about him or what he wanted, Dadan figured he hadn't even thought about how others would see his actions toward Ace — she was surprised whenever Ace eagerly reciprocated the actions.
“Did I tell you Ace asked me how to properly say ‘thank you’ the other day?” Minako mentioned one afternoon she came to visit.
“Oh?” Dadan raised an eyebrow, “Did he mention why?”
Minako's smile was sly but full of joy. “He said he wanted to thank Shanks,”
Dadan tried preventing her smile from spreading and failed. “Why?”
“Because he's the closest think Luffy has for a father,”
“He's so sweet on him,”
Minako smiled and gazed out the window toward where the boys were laying together under a shade tree. She had pressed Ace about his reasoning, but he had become flustered and turned beet-red before running off. She knew, though, how could she not know?
So, she taught him. She taught him how to give a proper thank you, and they workshopped the whole conversation so that Ace knew exactly what he wanted to say and ask. Even after months of them working together he still wouldn't fully admit why he wanted to thank Shanks exactly. He would just say he was Luffy's dad and look away from her.
Minako was the only person in their lives who ever pushed the subject. Everyone else around them just accepted their relationship as it was and never asked for any kind of clarification. Minako knew from experience that both of them avoided the subject. Ace would drastically change the topic or get angry when it was brought up, and Luffy acted literally oblivious.
“Does Luffy understand any of his or Ace's feelings?” Minako asked Dadan once.
Dadan gave a curt nod. “I've overheard enough to know he understands just fine,”
Minako's heart stopped. “What?”
“What?”
“Heard what?”
Dadan exploded in laughter. “Just their conversations!” She got out between laughs, “You…you should have seen your face!”
Minako sighed and shook her head. “What have you heard?”
Dadan shrugged. “Ace worries Luffy doesn't understand because he's so much younger and totally naive, and he thinks the feelings are too big for him to understand, so how could Luffy? Luffy aggressively explains how well he understands,” She trailed off, staring at a spot far away. “It's very endearing to hear Luffy speak about how much he cares for Ace, but I've only been privy on accident, I'd never've actually known how much they care for each other if I'd waited to hear it from them.”
“Why do you think they're like that?”
Dadan looked at her with a steady gaze. “Minako,” she said seriously for once, “we are not their mothers,”
“I know that!”
“Do you?”
“Do you?”
Dadan huffed through her nose and took a swig from the bottle she was holding.
Both of them loved the boys as if they were their own, but were also painfully aware that neither of the boys saw them in that way. It didn't stop them from worrying about them, though. Mostly they worried about whether they would get hurt or captured or killed. They were such independent boys except for each other, Minako and Dadan barely had any say in any of their decisions and that sometimes the boys’ well-being concerned them, but they never truly worried about them. As long as Ace had Luffy and Luffy had Ace they were going to be alright.
That changed when Ace turned sixteen.
They knew Ace still had Luffy for another year, but Ace was so much more invested in setting off to sea than he had been previously. Luffy was just as excited and almost seemed to not be concerned about not going with him. They would spend hours collecting newspapers with bounty posters in them to make Ace's plan for the sea. Luffy would surprise attack Ace more often, supposedly to help prepare him, but Ace was still so much more skilled a fighter than Luffy and he usually ended up easily pinning him down.
Minako and Dadan knew that Ace was setting off alone and Luffy would wait here. They had made the pact with Sabo years prior: they would set to sea at seventeen. It was an oath the women knew Ace could never break, and he would never allow Luffy to come with him. Their arguments about Luffy being too young were almost constant nowadays. Luffy argued he was strong enough to go and demanded to go. Ace insisted Luffy was not welcome on his boat when he set off, never explaining past that he was too young or weak. But it was because he really thought Luffy was going to get hurt if he set out at fourteen. He knew it was dangerous out at sea and Luffy might get hurt at any point when he sets out, but if Ace could keep him alive and well on Dawn Island for three more years he would.
The day Ace was leaving was a very hectic day. Ace was going back and forth making sure everything was set up the way he wanted it on his boat. It was small, barely bigger than a dinghy, but it had a small cabin he could use and an actual sail, so it was a little better than a lifeboat or something. Luffy was bouncing all over the place like he was the one leaving that day, and never more than a couple of feet from Ace.
“OK, do you have the lunch boxes?” Minako called from the kitchen.
“Already on the boat!” Ace said from his and Luffy's small room, throwing a few of his last things in a pack.
“Luffy didn't take any, did he?”
“I can't guarantee that!” Ace called back as he threw the pack over his shoulder.
Minako's laughter rang through the cabin. She wasn't there very frequently, but she was a facet of home now, and Ace was going to miss it either way. He smiled at her as she met him in the main room of the cabin. She was holding another box in her hands.
“What's that?” he asked with a chuckle in his voice.
“Dry ingredients,” Minako said smiling, “the lunchboxes will last you a good while, but you'll need to cook for yourself at some point,”
Ace's smile widened. “Minako, you didn't have—”
“You think I'm letting you out of my sight without knowing you'll be fed until you can get enough gold to fend for yourself?”
Ace pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, Minako,” he whispered to her, “for everything.”
Minako laid her head on her son's shoulder. She was going to miss him so much. He was taller than her already, she couldn't believe he was the same little boy who had asked for “thank you” lessons from her. He seemed to have learned a lot.
“You boys have been my whole heart,” she said.
Ace squeezed her slightly when she mentioned Luffy. Minako pulled out of the hug to look Ace in the eye.
“You remember what you're going to say?” she asked him, “When you meet Shanks?”
Ace's smile was wide and brilliant. “Of course! Don't tell Luffy, but it's one of my main reasons for setting out,”
“I know,” Minako said chuckling, “Speaking of, where is your counterpart?”
Ace shrugged. “Dadan pulled him away a bit ago, I figured he'd be back before—”
“ACE~!”
“Ah, speak of my devil…”
Luffy came bounding through the cabin holding a flower crown in his hands.
“Look at the flowers Dadan showed me!”
Minako stepped away as Ace's world became just Luffy. The younger boy already had a flower crown on his own head and was excitedly putting Ace's on. Ace looked at him with a steady gaze and a sweet smile. They were amazing together. Luffy had all the energy in the world, but Ace only seemed calm when looking at Luffy. Ace took Luffy's hand in his and tugged him towards the door.
“C'mere,” he said, low.
Luffy bounced after him as Ace led the boy outside. Dadan and Minako would watch from the window, but Ace didn't care. They knew. They had always known. They were his moms.
Ace pulled Luffy into a tight embrace and Luffy relaxed into his arms. Luffy's cheek rested on Ace's chest so that he could hear his heartbeat. Ace tucked his cheek and nose into Luffy's hair.
Luffy smelled of sunshine and adventure. His skin was warm and felt so solid under Ace's touch. To Ace, it was almost like Luffy was the only real thing in the world. He fit so nicely in Ace's arms, too.
Both knew Ace could never and would never stay, but it was bittersweet to say goodbye.
“Lu…”
Luffy looked up to those sparkling dark eyes that practically mirrored his. “Ace?”
Ace studied Luffy's face closely, wanting to memorize every detail. His hand slid up to caress Luffy's cheek. Luffy nuzzled his hand and laid a soft peck on his palm. Ace's heart swelled. They'd been physically affectionate for years now, but some things they still kept private and only did when they were alone. Like kissing. Ace had never thought he'd be tempted to be that openly affectionate with Luffy — wanting to kiss him right outside the cabin — but he felt safe with his younger brother and his moms being the only ones here. Besides, they knew.
Ace pulled Luffy's face to his and locked their lips together. Of course Luffy showed no signs of nervousness or shyness. He kissed Ace like he always did: hungry. Ace figured a long time ago Luffy was the least self-conscious person in the entire world. What Luffy wants, Luffy wants and he's going to get it no matter what other people tell him or or what they think.
Ace dove deep into the kiss. He was fully aware this was likely the last time he'd get to do this for a long while. Luffy wasn't going to set out to sea for at least three more years and it was untelling how long it'd take for him to find Ace again when he did. Ace knew they'd both probably be ravenous when they met again, but they had saved some things for then.
Tongues played with tongues, and hands were everywhere. If they had been alone there's no telling where this kiss would have led. Ace wanted all of Luffy, wanted every single part of him. And he wanted to be Luffy's, fully. His heart was already locked away in Luffy's pocket, he wanted to give him everything else too.
Tears sprang to both of their eyes, but neither broke away. The idea they'd be apart for some time was almost too much for either of them to bear. They were both dreamers, though, and even if they had found something special together they both had had dreams bigger than themselves since before they met. They were not going to put their dreams aside, even if this was heaven on earth. They made this kiss last longer, though, made it deeper and hotter than any kiss they'd ever shared. They both put everything they were thinking, feeling, and hoping into this kiss.
Breaking away was hard, but they eventually had to come up for air. When they did Ace rested his forehead on Luffy's and they stood together like that with their eyes closed for a few minutes.
“You ready?” Luffy eventually whispered.
“Yeah,” Ace said and squeezed his brother for the last time. He let his body go, but held firm to Luffy's hand.
Dadan and Minako came out of the cabin and followed the boys down to where Ace's boat was tied. Everyone Ace knew from the island and Foosha Village was there to see him off. Luffy was bouncing around from person to person as if he was the one they were there for. Ace got plenty of handshakes and slaps on the back as he made his way to the boat. Minako helped him with the last of the supplies they'd carried down and he scooped her into a big hug before climbing down into the boat.
“I'm going to miss all of you, thank you for everything!” He called out to them. “And you,” he said, pointing up at Luffy, “I'm going to miss you the most,”
Luffy's dazzling smile shined down upon Ace. “I'll be coming for you soon, Ace,” he said, “Just you wait — I'm going to be king of the pirates!”
Ace beamed up at him as he threw the rope from his mooring. “I'll be waiting!”
He was off. He was finally fulfilling his dream. Sabo's dream. He thought of Sabo as he steered his boat with the wind. Sabo was missed, but Ace had never felt closer to his missing brother than at this moment.
And then Luffy.
Ace grinned and gritted his teeth as he urged his boat onwards. Luffy was going to follow him one day soon, and Ace needed to be impressive when he did, just so he could rub it in Luffy's face. Luffy may become king of the pirates someday, but Ace planned on ruling the seas with an iron fist by the time they were reunited. Only a great emperor of the sea could stand on the same footing as the king of the pirates. He intended to be more than good enough.