His Legacy (One Piece x Male Reader)

AN/Prologue

Author's Note:

Holy shit okay, so this started out as a very "spur of the moment" fanfic, but I have been mentally obsessing over it for the past few weeks. I finally have things planned out for it and I know how I want it to go. This chapter went through intense editing, but I'm finally proud of it and I can leave it alone.

Updated as of 25/9/22

"My days are limited. We both know that, (Name). Which is why I need you to look after Luffy when I'm gone."

If someone had asked you a few years ago if you would ever look after your best friend's brother, you would've shot them between the eyes for mocking your loneliness like that. But this wasn't a few years ago. This was right now. The present.

Just a week ago, Ace had asked you to accompany him on a trip to the Grand Line. That's where this all started.

—————————————————————

Ace had invited you to travel with him for a few days to track down Blackbeard. You were slightly confused at first. That whole ordeal was something personal to him and had absolutely nothing to do with you, but you had tagged along anyway. You never questioned Ace- although you weren't part of Whitebeard's crew, Ace still frequently sought you out for companionship. He had actually brought you to Whitebeard's ship a few times in an attempt to get you to join him, much to Whitebeard's amusement.

You thought you were both going to part ways, with him wanting to meet up with his brother and you having to go collect payment at your usual rendezvous point outside of Rain Base, but you were met with surprise when Ace called you on your transponder snail just one day later, summoning you to his side.

"There's someone I want you to meet!" He had told you joyfully, snail imitating his excited smile. "Come find me as soon as you're done!"

Even though you hated traveling through the arid desert of Alabasta, you had done it anyway, and without complaint. You were fast, even with the large bags of Berries and jugs of water hung over your broad back. It had only taken you a little under a day to track down Ace through the vivre card he had provided you. By the time you got close to the camp, the setting sun had painted the desert in beautiful golds and reds. You weren't quite sure what to expect, but to show your good faith, you set aside a good amount of your Berries for the younger pirate- 400,000 of your 750,000, just over half. What pirate wouldn't want money?

Approaching the small camp where Ace was located, you groaned in irritation when you realized that there were more than two people waiting for you, but after mulling over it for a second, it made sense. Why wouldn't a captain take his crew with him? Along with Ace and who you assumed was his brother, Luffy, you could make out two animals (which you admittedly were looking forward to seeing) and five other people, who were chatting and laughing, filling the serene desert with sound.

"Yo! Ace!" You barked, waving an arm in an attempt to catch his attention. "I'm here!"

"Speak of the devil!" You heard Ace laugh as he walked Luffy up with him to meet you. "I was just talking about you! I was expecting you to get here sooner, though. How'd it go?"

"I would've gotten here sooner if we weren't in this damned desert." You grunted in response before smirking as you added on, "But I got more than I was expecting. He was uncharacteristically generous this time around, that bastard."

"Who's this? Is this the guy that you called earlier?" Luffy asked his older brother, head cocked to the side.

Ace laughed before slinging his free arm over your shoulders and guiding you to the camp. It was definitely an interesting group, that was for sure. A camel and a deer were sitting around a fire, and along with Luffy, there was a girl with blue hair that gave you a polite smile, an awkward tanned teenager with a long nose, some blonde guy who was cooking, a redhead with short hair, and a green haired man with three swords who paid you no mind.