It was almost noon, and the three siblings sitting together on the figurehead of the Moby Dick could already smell like the amazing food that Thatch and his team were making for lunch.
Ace and Sabo waited eagerly for the bell to ring, announcing the meal was ready. Lunch may not have been one of the most formal meals on the ship, but it certainly didn't go under the radar.
Luffy was satisfied with what he'd eaten for breakfast, though he did question himself as to why at some point.
Somewhere in the far away memories of his mind he remembered a time when he ate as much as his brothers. Somewhere called Dawn Island.
He remembered Makino, though it was faint, and he'd been trying to bring back memories of the Dadan women ever since Sabo brought it up. He'd remember pieces of things, whether it was something truly unforgettable or something traumatic enough to stay close, they kept flashing by.
Luffy didn't at all mind the memories, especially over the ones of the ship that were usually forced upon his mind by that thing that was with him, however, he wished he knew more about it
"Hey, Sabo?" Luffy asked while still blankly staring out to sea.
Sabo turned from his conversation with Ace to address Luffy. "What's up Lu?"
"The last with the orange hair, the one from earlier, Dadan," Luffy said slowly, watching the waves as they lapped against the ship, "Would you tell me more about her?"
Ace instantly flashed a worried look at Sabo, and then confusion when he found Sabo smirking with a sad understanding.
"Sure," Sabo replied, moving a little closer to Luffy, "What do you wanna know?"
"Mmmm Just whatever," Luffy said casually.
Ace listened as Sabo began describing their life on Dawn Island, and was happy when Luffy sometimes lit up as he remembered certain events. But the raven was still concerned, and very confused as to why Sabo wasn't. Was this not new? Or was it nothing to worry about and he just didn't get it?
Sabo drabbled on about hunting and Grey Terminal and Makino's Party Bar, as well as all the adventures they had in the forest. He talked about the bandits and Dadan and how she was supposed to take care of them, and did a good job. But, the preferred their tree house.I
"You were pretty little back then, though, I'm not surprised you don't remember it much," Sabo announced , sending a look to Ace.
And suddenly Ace understood. Sabo was right. Luffy was really little all that time ago. Even though he couldn't remember all of it, no wonder Luffy hardly recalled it all. How could he? Especially after so much more had happened. So much to replace the pleasures with the horror of being a captive to the Dragons.
Luffy was happy talking about Dawn Island, and really liked the stories about Makino and everyone else from Fuusha. He had lived there most of the time after all.
Sabo's soft smile twitched down slightly as he got to the topic of their adoptive and biological grandfather.
"Do you remember Garp Luffy?" Sabo asked with slight distaste.
Luffy did remember that slightly, and had a fuzzy image to put to the name. He didn't know why, but he didn't like the name, it brought a bad taste to his mouth.
"A little," Luffy frowned.
"He was our 'grandpa'. Garp the fist. War hero," Sabo listed with a sigh, "He wanted us all to be marines just like him. No way did we agree to that."
Sabo smirked and looked at Luffy, "Bet he'd freak out if he saw us now."
Luffy giggled quietly. He was proud of becoming a pirate, however it had happened. He was still determined to be King, though.
Ace and Sabo smiled brightly as they watched the younger laugh for the first time in what seemed to be months. Today was a good day for Luffy, and they sincerely hoped this was a good sign he was getting better.
Noon came quickly as the ocean breeze blew over the ship and the sun hovered brightly above them in the blue hued sky.
Ace and Sabo's stomachs growled hungrily as the clock came to twelve and the lunch bell was finally rung.
"I'm starving," Ace complained as he stood up on the whale head of the Moby, "What'd you guys wanna do for food?"
"Not sure, you hungry Lu?" Sabo asked while turning to Luffy.
Luffy's straw hat rustled gently atop his head in the gentle breeze, his black hair blowing like waves in the ocean and his eyes continued to be fixed on that watery mass as he shrugged his shoulders in reply to Sabo.
Though Luffy was having a good day, he did seem more daydreamy than normal, but the brothers let it slide, not wanting to ruin it or deter any sort of progress.
From up above and beyond the boys, Marco was contemplating something. He had been thinking about it since this morning, and seeing as Luffy still seemed alright, he was taking the option into more serious consideration.
He tilted his head in either direction as if to physically weigh the idea, before sighing and just going with it.
He jumped off the upper deck and landed on the small deck space just behind the figurehead of the ship with expertise.
The soft thump that came from behind the boys made the older two visibly tense and the younger jolt, turning with eyes wide as saucers. In another minute, all three simultaneously sighed in relief and relaxed, Ace and Sabo glaring daggers while Luffy just took a deep breath as Sabo had taught him to do when he felt overwhelmed.
"Er.... Sorry, yoi. Probably should've warned you first," Marco said sheepishly, running the back of his neck.
Ace snorted, "Ya think?"
Sabo rolled his eyes at Ace with the clock of the tongue before stressing the elder pirate with curiosity.
"What up, Marco? We were just talking about Lunch."
Marco smirked. "We're ya now? And what about it?"
"Well," Sabo glanced back at Luffy who was now quietly but intently watching the conversation. Almost like he wanted to talk but felt unable to intervene...
"Well," Sabo continued after the short pause, " Luffy says he's not sure, and me and Ace are really hungry, but we're also worried about, well you know."
Sabo's face twisted into one of a light disapproval and concern, and Marco nodded gravely in understanding. They were all worried about meeting up with Teach again. They effectively the first time, but for his long would that luck hold out.
Luffy was acting closer to normal for the first time in, well, forever as far as Marco was concerned. They didn't want to mess up whatever revelation the boy had managed.
Of course, unbeknownst to everyone around him, Luffy was having a "Good day" for quite a different reason. The extra voice in his head had decided to give him a break from the constant berating, giving him a chance to finally think for himself, the way he really felt about it all.
Sure, he really didn't remember a few things from long ago. And he really was a little afraid of what would happen if he stepped out of line with these people he still hasn't gotten a chance to know too well. And of course he was a little insecure, and fire and not metal was still on the list of things he would stay FAR away from (the mark on his back burner just thinking about it). But Luffy knew how to protect himself pretty well. Teach wasn't that scary. He was a little scary, but nothing compared to the giant tiger. (How could he forget that!?)
Luffy was finally thinking the way he wanted to think. About everything.
That's why today was a good day.
And he planned to enjoy it while it lasted, because his gut said it wouldn't last long.
"I think I have a solution to that, yoi," Marco announced with a grin, "Thatch could just let you three into the kitchen, it'll be the same as the galley except you'll be on the opposite side of the counter, the side Teach isn't on."
Sabo and Ace shared a look of thought, and shrugged in agreement.
"Sounds good," they answered in unison, "How 'bout it Lu?"
They both turned to look at their little brother, whose eyes were shining big and bright in the sunlight of approval.
"Yeah!" He agreed quietly.
Ace and Sabo couldn't help beam, and Ace ruffled Luffy's hair, throwing his hat onto the small boys back.
Luffy gave a small smile back up at Ace while his hand rested gently on Luffy's head for a few lingering seconds.
"Shall we go, yoi?" Marco asked from behind casually.
All three nodded as Luffy took each of his brothers hands into his own, walking side by side as they followed Marco to the kitchen entrance, which was a bit farther than the wide thrown-open Galley doors.
Once they reached the entrance the group stepped in and Marco called for Thatch, who appeared in a gash with a grin of delight on his face.
"Back so soon, eh!?" He greeted merrily, "I usually don't see you kiddos back here for another day. This must be the god of glorious days!"
Ace snickered and Sabo answered.
"It seems to be that way so far."
Marco chortled a bit with the siblings before turning his attention to Thatch again.
"You mind if they hang out back here to eat, yoi?" He asked casually.
Thatch nodded excitedly and beckoned them further into the kitchen.
"Of course. You're always welcome back - as long as you don't eat out while stock of food," he shot a playful glare who returned it in kind with a "tch", crossing his arms over his chest.
He couldn't keep the smirk from his face though, and Thatch merely laughed at the attempt.
"There's a table over here you can sit at," the chef continued, "I'll bring you some food, take a seat and I'll be back in a minute. We're almost done so I'll join you too, if ya don't mind."
Marco waved him off. "We don't mind, yoi," he stated blandly.
Thatch nodded and went off to go grab a tray for them while Ace, Luffy, and Sabo sat down at the round wooden table with Marco.
The table was tucked into a corner of the kitchen behind some shelves, so while the kitchen continued to bustle on around them, it at least felt secluded.
"You alright Luffy?" Sabo asked as Luffy hopped up into a chair between his brothers.
"Yup," Luffy replied, looking up at Sabo with genuine honesty in his eyes.
Sabo smiled back with a curt nod. "Good."
It wasn't long before Thatch returned with three full trays of food and the group dug in, Ace and Sabo even getting Luffy to eat some more.
Though the ever changing child refused just about everything that didn't have meat, and in the end settled for straight up ham.
They all finished eating quickly (Luffy first of course since he barely ate anything to begin with) and it was Marco who brought up a surprising topic of conversation.
"So, I was thinking," he said cautiously while fiddling with his fork, "How about today for meeting Pops?"
Everyone at the table had a different face in reaction to this.
Thatch was surprised.
Ace was conflicted.
Sabo seemed to be amused.
And Luffy was confused.
"Pops? Whose that? " He asked innocently with a tilted head.
The way only Luffy could do. The way that made you fall in Love with him at first sight.
The way that made you wonder how someone tortured him for so many years without a smidge of regret.
The entire table sounded off the the same answer to Luffy's query:
"It's Whitebeard (yoi)."
After a split second of transition from confusion to realisation, Luffy somehow seemed to brighten from the innocent excitement that flooded his chocolate eyes.
"You mean the Whitebeard!?" He gawked wide eyed.
Pleasantly surprised by the reaction, Marco chuckled and smirked.
"That's the one!" Thatch announced proudly.
"I wanna meet him!!!" Luffy nodded excitedly .
Ace and Sabo were just as surprised by the reaction as Marco, so much so that they almost couldn't believe it was really happening.
"Are you sure, Lu?" Ace asked with a worried look in his onyx eyes.
Luffy hardly ever responds to new people well as if late, and Whitebeard had such a large presence... The brothers weren't sure.
Luffy saw the worried look in his siblings eyes and smiled warmly to reassure them, still not fully, but brighter than anything else they'd seen from the tiny child so far.
Too tiny, the words refused to stop repeating in the back of Ace and Sabo's minds.
But the smile shocked them into approval for the meeting. After all, they had promised that if Luffy had a good day they'd agree to have Luffy see Whitebeard. And today seemed like the perfect circumstances.
Sabo and Ace nodded in agreement then to Marco and Thatch.
"Let's do it."
Marco and Thatch both grinned broadly; they'd wanted Luffy to meet Pops for so long! But they knew how intimidating the man was when you first saw him, and the way Luffy had been acting made everyone absolutely positive he wasn't ready for that encounter.
Which made them think.
Why was Luffy acting so different today? Usually he was skittish as all get out and after the thing with Teach? They were sure they wouldn't see Luffy for another week.
For all anyone could tell, nothing significant had changed from yesterday. So why? If it had been a slight change, it might have been improved or just a simple head nod exception that the boy was getting better.
But it was such a sudden and drastic improvement- it seemed unfathomable.
The brothers just enjoyed it, though they stayed skeptical, however Marco and Thatch kept note of it in the back of their minds, looking for anything different that might be cause for the change in behaviour.
"When are we going?" Sabo broke into the older pirates' thoughts, looking up at them with expectant blue eyes.
"If you're ready, we can go right now, yoi," Marco offered.
The table turned to Luffy, who nodded vigorously before saying, "Yea!"
Marco smirked and stood up. "Alright then, yoi. You coming, Thatch?"
Thatch sighed and shook his head.
"Love to, but I gotta help clean up 'round here," light danced in the chefs eyes as he ruffled Luffy's hair, "Tell me how it goes though, k sport?"
"Sure," Luffy replied distractedly, looking around the room toward the exit.
Thatch chuckled at the enthusiasm.
Then turned and caught Marco's eyes. They didn't have to say anything to convey the message, they just nodded a simple promise to keep an eye on the boy.
Though Marco had actually been ordered to, Thatch still considered himself closer to the three than most of their rambunctious family, and would protect them as such.
The four headed out, waving bye to Thatch as he left to help clean the galley. Marco, Luffy, Ace, and Sabo all made their way down the hall and out onto the open deck, where the sun beamed high in the sky above Luffy white clouds.
The moment you stepped outside you could smell the sea, the salty breeze wafting by and relaxing any pirate that sailed upon the deep blue waters.
No better place to call home for a pirate.
Marco led the boys nearby Whitebeard's throne, and told them to stay out a minute so he could catch the great captain's attention.
The Phoenix walked up casually to his Captain and called up to the giant man.
"Yoi! Pops!" He yelled over the bustle of the deck and laughter of his crewmates.
Whitebeard turned his head to Marco, smile only widening at his right hand man.
"Marco! How are you!?" He greeted joyfully.
Marco gave a lopsided grin. "I'm alright, yoi. But I'm actually here for Luffy- nothing bad," he quickly cleared up when he saw the brief flicker of worry waver the glee in the old man's eyes. I
"Oh? What then?" Whitebeard raised an eyebrow of curiosity.
"He said he wanted to meet you," Marco replied, the light in his own eyes reflecting to his father.
Whitebeard grinned a smile large enough to split the sea. "Well!? Where is the lad?"
Marco turned his head and beckoned the trio over, "Com'n, yoi."
Ace and Sabo stood securely behind Luffy as they walked towards Whitebeard.
Though Luffy was positive he wanted to meet the man, he had a sudden wave of anxiety wash over him and he found it harder to walk forward.
He could hear it, faint, and not strong, but there. The stupid voice was coming back. He didn't know why it had gone in the first place but he could hear it whispering that these people weren't trustworthy. That he had no right to even be near someone so great. That Teach could show up any second now and ruin everything.
Geez, couldn't you take a longer break? Luffy denoted to his own mind, or, whatever was in there.
Despite the dumb fight he knew would resume soon, he was determined to meet Whitebeard. He was going to whether someone said he could or not. He knew that the man was trustworthy, he could feel it. Not in his head, but I'm his heart and soul. And that meant much more to Luffy then the condescending tone in the background of his thoughts.
"You alright Lu?" Ace asked when Iffy stopped for a hesitant second before fully approaching Marco and Whitebeard.
Luffy shook his head and looked up with eager eyes, "yes," he replied with absolute resolve.
Ace smiled and they closed the rest of the gap between the groups, and suddenly seven-year-old Luffy was looking up at the current king.
"Lu, this is Pops," Marco said gently, not sure what the child's shocked silence meant.
Luffy's face broke into a smile and headaches back an arm and pulled himself up onto the arm of the massive chair so he was standing on par with the man.
"Hello! I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'M going to be King of the pirates!" He announced the man, forgetting his internal struggles in his current excitement.
Sabo face-palmed and Ace nearly cried that for the first time in ages Luffy had proudly announced himself to the world.
Sabo was happy, but sighed into his hand as his youngest brother told the current king he was after his spot without a care.
For heavens sake Luffy you're only seven, Sabo thought, but couldn't keep a smile off his face.
Whitebeard laughed, he already liked the kid.
"Is that so? You think you can beat me, kid?"
Luffy then said what only Luffy would say to such a question, "I don't think, ai know I can beat you."
Whitebeard blinked a few times as he tried to figure out the double negative, and then smirked as his laughter boomed across the ship.
"You're gonna make one fine Captain one day, kid, " Whitebeard said, patting Luffy's head with a massive hand.
"Shishishi I hope," he giggled along.
Luffy's eyes shifted slightly to the right, nervousness coming back at being in such close proximity with the large man. Luffy could feel how gentle the man was, and he was radiating a trustworthy vibe. But something made Luffy suspicious, and he mentally glared at the voice in his head as he told it to shut up.
Then Luffy remembered something and gasped, looking up at Whitebeard with bright innocent eyes.
"HEY! You know Ace's dad!!!"
Literally everyone in their small group simply based on either confusion or absolute horror.
"LUFFY!" Both boys shouted up at the child once they stopped gaping, "YOU MORON THAT WAS A SECRET!"
Luffy simply stared down at the two in confusion before his eyes widened in realisation that they were right.
"Nevermind! You don't know him!" Luffy raced to assure and get to fix his mistake.
Whitebeard arched an eyebrow and asked with curiosity and slight amusement, "And who is it I don't know?"
"Gol D. Rogers," Luffy immediately responded.
The siblings below groaned and slapped a palm to their foreheads, "Luufffffffyy."
However by now anyone in the nearby vicinity who had heard the conversation was staring jaw-dropped at the three.
"You three are just one surprise the next, yoi, " Marco said just above a whisper, still shell shocked from the discovery.
Whitebeard was probably the only one not stilled into submission, turning to Ace with a questioning glance.
"So you're Rogers son eh? And...." He turned to Luffy, "Earlier, you said Monkey D. Luffy... So we've got ourselves two D's. You've found quite the kids, Marco."
Whitebeard also recognised Luffy's surname as not only Garp the Heroes but also the current head of the Revolutionaries, Monkey D. Dragon. He decided to bring that up at a different time, seeing as the child seemed to already reveal some unsavory information by accident.
Ace huffed and turned away from the giant captain, lips pursed in distaste.
"I'm not his son," he demanded with malice on his tongue, "My name is Portgas D. Ace. My mother did more for me then that jerk ever did."
Ace had been told only too many times of how his mother had given birth to him and that she'd done it alone. His life has been riddled with too many hardships due to Rogers' name to consider him family. Just because he was the pirate king didn't change how he'd lived.
Ace shifted his eyes and mentally smiled at Luffy. He couldn't wait till his little brother took the title of King of the Pirates, maybe then Ace could see the title as something grand like the rest of the world.
Whitebeard smiled gently down at Ace, eyes reassuring upon the disgruntled ten-year-old.
"No need about that," he said calmly, "Doesn't matter where you came from, son, you're here now and that's all I care about."
The man gazed out to sea with a sigh, remembering the days he and Roger would set aside their differences to just talk like the friends they were outside of the world's view.
"Roger was my friend, but you're in no way obligated to live in your father's history," Whitebeard turned back to Ace who was now staring up at him with hardened black eyes, " I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. "
Ace held the old Captain's gaze for a moment, before turning his head with a click of the tongue. Though he seemed irritated, it was obvious he had accepted Whitebeard's view on the matter.
From beside Whitebeard, Luffy peered innocently over the edge of the massive wooden chair arm he stood upon, unsure what Ace was thinking. He looked to Sabo for enlightenment, and once noticed, the blond sent a smirk in Luffy's direction.
That alone made Luffy feel better about accidentally sharing Ace's heritage. If Sabo was smiling at them everything was usually alright.
Being away from them for so long had made it harder for Luffy to read his brothers sometimes, and he needed small hints such as a smile here and there to figure out how they were really feeling.
Luffy wished he could just know what his brothers felt, like he used to... At some point. But he couldn't, and so he had to rely on looks, gestures and things they say and how it was all done to put together the pieces.
And even then, sometimes he wondered if he was reading it right.
He'd been separated from the most important people in his life for who knows how long, and now he didn't even know what smiling meant. Was it fake? Real? Was it just to reassure him he hadn't messed up, or was there more?
What had happened on that island while he was gone? Was Shanks worried? Was Makino searching for them? Did they think they were dead???
Luffy looked down at the wood in a pained dazed expression, brows furrowed in thought and puzzlement.
It didn't take Ace and Sabo long to notice and recognise the off-standish way in which Luffy held himself.
They cast each other a look of concern, and Sabo called out softly over the conversation Marco and Whitebeard were having.
"Luffy!" The blond exclaimed, both of them edging closer to the chair at better chance of being heard by the distracted raven.
When Luffy didn't respond, they both frowned. The calling had gotten both Marco and Whitebeard's attention, and were now looking to the child as well.
"Luffy?" Whitebeard beard said gently, raising a hand and even so lightly tapping the red -vested shoulder.
At physical contact, Luffy instantly snapped out of inner thoughts, but also jumped back and ended up falling off the massive ledge of the chair and tumbling a few feet across the deck.
"Lu!" Both Sabo and Ace yelled out, running over to the raven who sat up, and looked around with an expression of perplexed surprise on his face, as if trying to figure out what just happened.
"Wha-" he pronounced in daze as his brothers fussed around him.
"Are you okay?" Ace asked, not sure what Luffy would do in response to anything that just happened.
"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" The seven-year-old responded, though he still seemed confused.
That was just Luffy being Luffy though.
Both brothers released a sigh of relief and helped Luffy to his feet, then walking back over to where they had been.
It was honestly a good thing Luffy was made of rubber because they weren't sure how many times the kid would have injured himself by now had He been normal. He was so clumsy they couldn't believe some of the things he did manage to do on his own. Especially back when they lived on Dawn Island.
He was a contradiction of himself to say the least.
They made their way back over, where a worried Marco crouched down in front of Luffy. "You alright there kiddo, yoi?"
Luffy still seemed kinda off, and it began to concern them. Luffy dazed off sometimes yeah, but he was just drifting along currently as if his thoughts simply couldn't be ignored. Maybe they couldn't?
"I'm alright," Luffy said with a taught smile.
Ace leaned over Luffy's shoulder and tested his theory.
"What'cha been thinking about, Lu?" Ace said it casually, but was hoping Luffy might say so. ergo g that's clue them in on how to help him better. They all knew today was only one of many, and Luffy wouldn't stay this way forever. They didn't want him to. This wasn't the carefree Luffy they knew way back when, and deep down they both knew Luffy understood that too.
Luffy tilted his head and scrunched his nose a bit, trying to gather up his thoughts and say them.
"I.... Do you... Do you think Makino knows we're alive?"
No one was expecting such an answer, and Ace and Sabo went wide eyed while the Whitebeard's had mild surprise on their faces. They hadn't thought about the boy's former acquaintances at all. They didn't even know who took care of the three beforehand, only that at some point Luffy had interactions with Shanks. He gave a very good point.
"I... I don't know," Sabo stammered , not sure how to reply. Just as everyone else, they themselves hadn't thought much about it.
"What if she is? What if Shanks is too? How would they know we're okay?"
Both boys frowned, they wouldn't exactly call this "okay" currently. But they were getting there.
Luffy looked up at them with glossy and anxious eyes. He slowly bent his head down and looked at the floor, suppressing tears that threatened to spill.
His hand gripped his shorts as he called them into fists, shaking just slightly.
Then he spoke in a hushed tone, just barely over a whisper, speaking what was really gnawing at him from the inside.
"What if they aren't for us? What if they forgot? "
Sabo and Ace's eyes filled with sympathy and guilt. They honestly should have sent letters ages ago, and how long had Luffy been mulling this over? It seemed unlike him to think about something like that for a long time without speaking his mind.
But then again, no one really knew much about this Luffy or his thought process. Not that they could predict it before, but at least they were prepared back then.
"Luffy...." Was all anyone managed to say for a few minutes. They just stood in shocked silence with their thoughts as the noise of the working ship fell on deaf ears in the background.
It was Marco who moved first.
He reached round the boy and pulled the yellow straw hat that hung there up onto his head, leaving his hand there as Luffy looked up with clouded doe eyes.
"How about we write them letters? I'm sure they'd be happy to hear from you, and even an emperor like Shanks gets mail, yoi." He looked over Luffy's shoulder and addressed the elder siblings, "You two too, you can all write letters and let them know you're safe."
All three boys brightened up at this, because even though they hadn't thought of it before, they did miss Dawn and were wondering if anyone knew how they were, even Garp.
Luffy nodded at the suggestion, though still seemed a bit anxious over the whole thing.
Whitebeard smiled at the group next to him and laughed merrily. "Why don't you kids go with Marco and write those letters? There's plenty of paper in the navigate room," the old Captain announced.
He turned to Luffy and smiled at him. "I'm happy I got to meet you kid, I hope you fulfill your dream."
A smile spread across Luffy's face and he nodded. The small boy turned to Marco with an expectant gazd, which made the man laugh.
"Haha alright then, follow me you three, yoi," the Phoenix beckoned and the youngest crew members followed like baby ducks to their mother.
The four of them walked off to the navigation room, Whitebeard bidding them good luck as they went.
The moment Marco owned the door to the map filled room that smelled of old paper and ink the cartographers inside greeted him with a chorus of "Welcome back" and " It's Marco! ".
Marco raised an eyebrow, stepping down a short stairwell in front of the door to the sunken birch floor of the room. The ASL siblings followed behind, Luffy back to clinging closing to his brothers.
He'd never been this far into the ship before.
"I was here just this morning, yoi," Marco retorted the cheers, "It's been here hours."
"We were but we missed ya, commander!" Someone near the front called out.
Marco just rolled his eyes and led the kids to an empty table, grabbing a stack of paper along the way. Four quill sets we're already in place on the table. Every surface in the room had at least one nearby quill for whatever it was needed for. If you were in this room you were either writing, reading, or a quick back and forth of both.
Marco placed a piece of paper in front of each of them and then took the extra chair in case he was needed.
And Sabo noticed quickly that this plan had one major flaw: He was the only one out of the three who could read or write with any decency.three
Ace could read alright but his handwriting was awful and his grammar and spelling even worse. Luffy had no formal writing or reading experience because Sabo had never gotten around to it and the bandits didn't care enough to try.
Reading and writing was all part of his training in being a noble, and though he hated that, he couldn't help but be grateful for that one fact, since reading had become one of his favourite things.
However, the lack of these skills in his brothers suddenly made this particular task much more difficult.
"Uhmm, Marco?" He asked.
"Yes, yoi?" The pirate answered.
"Luffy doesn't know how to read or write. And Ace is terrible at it." the blond stated blandly.
Marco scrunched his eyebrows together and looked between Sabo and the two Ravens who were staring back at him with equally confused expressions.
"You... Wait what!? How do you not know how to write , yoi!?" Marco said in horrified astonishment.
He couldn't imagine not knowing either of these things and couldn't remember a single day not knowing how to do them.
"Well I mean you kinda forget stuff when you're in the haul of a ship for three years," Ace grumbled from beside Luffy, who visibly winced at the comment.
Ace turned slightly, tone unchanging as he tagged on, "Sorry Lu."
Sabo sighed and three a slight glare at Ace, but nodded in agreement nonetheless, adding, "And I never got the chance to teach Luffy. The bandits weren't exactly the teaching type so we didn't really do much studying, mostly just training and hunting."
Marco stated at the three of them with an expression no one could make out. The more he learned about the three the crazier it got. He was starting to wonder if he'd ever not be surprised at hearing part of their backstory.
"Well.... I can help Luffy, you take Ace, yoi" Marco decided, though still somewhat baffled.
Sabo shrugged and Ace muttered something about not needing a letter.
A few moments later the group were writing and talking to their partners about what they wanted written down. Ace was pretty quick and to the point, pretty much saying "we lived, morons" while Sabo added a few pleasantries in between.
Luffy however chattered on quite a bit and kept asking if what he was saying made sense, to which Marco would smile and say it was fine, and then they got through another few sentences before repeating the cycle.
Writing the letters took about an hour, and it was nearly 1:30 by the time they finished. Most of this time was Luffy writing his letter, and Marco trying to teach the child a bit of writing, which failed. Miserably.
Sabo and Ace took to talking and doodling, to which they found out Sabo was an excellent artist. He became rather excited about this since his own dream involved becoming the navigator for a pirate crew, maybe even Luffy's. He began trying to copy some of the maps laying about while Ace just continued on mindlessly.
Every now and again Luffy would call them over to read what he had down and they both sincerely approved, and writing the letter did seem to bury some of the anxiety he had earlier. Luffy was now much more upbeat, though he still had a worried sort of vine about him.
The letter itself was also interesting. He asked how everyone was doing, ensuring them they're own safety, and then he went on to tell about his own current life. As well as asking them some things he'd forgotten over the years.
He made a note that when copying the letter (they'd decided to just create one and make a duplicate for Shanks to simplify the process) to add that his hat was safe and sound.
Marco chuckled and pulled a scrap piece of paper, writing down the note.
When they finished writing, the group went out to the deck and with the luck that only Luffy could bring, a mail bird just so happened to have arrived.
They sent all the letters off with the bird and then went back to their favourite spot on the ship, Marco following along for the time being.
"Now your island and Shanks know you're okay, yoi," Marco said to Luffy as they sat down on the whale's head.
Luffy nodded and smirked, clearly happy with the results. He then furrowed his eyebrows and looked out to sea where the silhouette of the mail bird could just be made out in the distance.
"I hope he doesn't mess up the places," Luffy mentioned with concern.
Sabo waved the idea off and grinned at the strawhat boy. "Don't worry, Lu! These birds are specially trained and really good at their jobs! They'll get there for sure."
Luffy smiled meekly and continued to look out towards the ocean.
They stayed like that for a while, all following Luffy's lead as they watched the foamy turquoise water lap against the ship gently.
Eventually, Marco bid them goodbye saying he had some work to catch up on and would set back up with them for dinner, if they wanted to.
The boys distractedly agreed and continued watching as the sun dipped lower and lower towards the water.
Luffy was once again having to struggle the voice for control, and it seemed closer somehow, though he wasn't sure why.
Ace thought about home, what were the bandits and Makino doing? He'd loved it there since he was a baby and though he wouldn't admit it out loud he did miss Dadan, her being the closest thing he ever had to a mother figure.
Sabo thought about the island they were heading towards. He'd looked at it on maps and found a book saying it had the best jams and jellies you could buy, and at a reasonable price since the civilians made it for themselves and didn't care how the outside world saw them.
He found this intriguing and was internally ecstatic to get off the ship for a while and explore a new place, as well as meet some of the island folk.
He liked how they didn't necessarily care about what others thought and the notion that an entire island had become partially known for this made the blond want to know more on the matter.
He smiled to himself as he watched the sun signal 4pm, all of them still in moving though hours had seemingly passed by.
"What's got you so happy?" Ace questioned, eyeing Sabo from his peripheral vision.
"The next island," he responded, then turned his head towards Ace, "What do you think it'll be like?"
Ace hummed in thought before replying, "It's a summer island right? So probably lots of sand and fauna."
Sabo nodded then glanced to Luffy. "What about you Lu? What do you think the next island will be like?"
Luffy stayed quiet a few short seconds, then tilted his head up slightly, eyes still on the ocean, cloudy and thoughtful.
"Lots of people. Some good, some not so good," he turned to Sabo with a weak smile and then announcing, "And lots of food!"
Sabo and Ace giggled and sighed. A quirky reply, but they expected nothing less from Luffy. They went back to watching the sea, waiting for Marco to reappear for dinner. They really didn't have much anything better to do, and something in their guys told them that this would be the last time they would be able to just hang out and relax for a long while.
And unfortunately, they were correct.
*****
*shuffles in*
*trips*
*falls on her face and stammers as she tries to get up with a string of excuses for why this took a literal month*
*fails miserably*
Yeet schedules am I right? I got so caught up and distraacttrreeddd. I got more one piece manga so I've been reading that, and I had to do panels for my Steven Universe Au, and I've also just been drawing and watching stuff. So yeah. Really sucks that this is so late. I did try TvT
But hey, this chapter is nearly 7000 words long so long wait for you all a long chapter. Woo hoo... I'm so sorry ;-;
On a different note you all are HILARIOUS. You're comments kept me going as fast as I could make my brain go! And some of you have given me ideas and brought back old things I had planned but forgotten about. So woo hoo to that. Honestly you have made me so happy. You have no idea.
So, random, but here's some songs/albums I listened to while writing this (cough cough at 4-7am cough cough):
Hamilton - Lin-Manuel Miranda
A Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak - Zach Callison (It's so good you should listen to it)
What's gonna happen - Sarah Styles, Tootsie
Dear Evan Hansen - Idk but it's good
Sweet Tooth -Scott something
Literally so much Steven Universe - Rebecca Sugar
A'ight! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully I'll be back much sooner next time round. I'm working on it!
Stay safe and have a good day/night!
Chão!!!
Word Count: 6872