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“Nami, you can’t be serious.” Usopp huffed as they talked over the plan for Luffy’s surprise birthday present in the navigation library while the man napped on Sunny’s figurehead. “What if Zeus doesn’t make it back in time for the party?!”
“You worry too much, just focus on your fireworks while I finish plotting our course. I had to call in a lot of favors to get us this island’s location, ya know.” Nami huffed as she pored over the map and log poses that had been delivered that morning. “I sent him out a few days ago so he should be back with the surprise before we even get to the island.”
“If you say so.” Usopp snarked throwing his hands up before walking out to head back to his workshop so he could continue helping Franky create enough fireworks for the display they had planned.
It was a quiet day on the Moby Dick and the crew was very thankful for it after spending the better part of a week being battered twenty-four/seven by a storm system that followed their ship like they had personally offended it somehow. So far though, the first of May was turning out to be a perfectly cloudless day and by the seas, they were going to take advantage of it. Every commander was on deck lazing about in one way or another. Marco was perched on Whitebeard’s right shoulder just like always, Izou sketched peacefully reclined back against the Old Man’s legs, and Thatch was at his side reading through a few recipe books from East Blue that he’d found in a market on the last island they restocked on. All the other commanders including their newly named second division commander Portgas D. Ace were sitting in a circle calmly playing cards as they all collectively enjoyed the first bit of sun that had graced their ship in days.
All in all, it was a perfect day. At least, it was until one of Big Mom’s main homies showed up and snatched Ace up before speeding back across the horizon. At the sound of Ace’s startled scream, everyone froze heads snapping back and forth between the place he just sat and the cloud rapidly growing smaller in the distance. Finally, they snapped out of it, Marco racing across the horizon just to somehow be met with no trace of the cloud or his newest younger brother.
His father was already issuing orders when he landed back on the deck without Ace in tow. It took four days to finally catch up to the cloud even with their father causing mini tsunamis to push their ship faster and faster in the direction Ace’s vivre card pointed. None of them had questioned how a New World rookie had already possessed a Wano quality vivre card and now that the teen had seemingly been kidnapped by one of the Yonko maybe they should have. Only to their surprise Ace’s vivre card never led in the direction of Big Mom’s territory instead it went deeper into the New World in areas only visited by Red Haired Shanks and Strawhat Luffy. Not a single one of them could figure out why Big Mom would be in those areas so soon after she had just gotten into another scuffle with Strawhat that had left even more of her Totto Lands destroyed than last time.
Much to their shock it wasn’t Big Mom that they encountered when they docked on the seemingly uninhabited island that they followed Ace’s vivre card to, instead they were met with the ship of Strawhat Luffy bobbing peacefully in the cove of the heavily forested island.
“There’s not enough destruction for two Yonkos to be fighting here, yoi.” Marco said warily as he eyed the seemingly empty ship from a distance. “I’m not feeling any outrageous haki levels either.”
“Is anyone on the ship?” Whitebeard rumbled softly.
“Yeah, feels like all of Strawhat’s crew is there except Strawhat himself, yoi.” Marco said. “None of their haki signatures suggest injury or anything of the like. We’re still too far for me to check out the island.”
“Dock the ship next to Strawhat’s ship and keep an eye out until you can tell where Strawhat or Ace is,” Whitebeard ordered. “Ace’s vivre card led us here so my missing son is somewhere on that island.”
“Understood, yoi.” Marco huffed closing his eyes as he focused on stretching his observation further inland the closer they got to the island.
Luffy smiled as he caught his little brother on his back when he fell prey to another narcolepsy attack. He’d been surprised when Ace was suddenly dropped onto Sunny’s deck by Nami’s Zeus before quickly laughing when his crew revealed they’d brought his little brother as a birthday present since it had been so long since they’d been able to visit the younger man. They’d tried to get Sabo too but according to Dragon, he was on assignment so no impromptu kidnapping was allowed.
Luffy had been happy enough that Nami had found him an island with game just as massive as back home for him to hunt and explore, but now that he got to explore the place with his little brother it was that much better. It was just like when they were younger, only now Ace could keep up a bit better when they stalked through the trees to find meat for Sanji to cook. They had even managed to find a lot before Ace had another narcolepsy attack bagging a bear, a tiger, and two gators each!
He’d have to send Sanji and Franky to get everything back to the ship though, Luffy didn’t want to disturb Ace while he took his sudden nap. Instead, he hefted his baby brother a bit higher on his back and calmly made his way back to Sunny. He didn’t expect to see his crew in a silent standoff with Ace’s new family upon emerging from the woods. None of them noticed him or Ace both all too used to suppressing their haki during hunts to the point that even asleep Ace’s haki was practically nonexistent.
“Is there a problem here?” Luffy asked calmly, letting his haki flare just a bit to warn that he wouldn’t be tolerating any trouble. Not today. Not when this was the first time he’d seen his precious baby brother in two years.
“That depends, Strawhat,” Whitebeard said with a glare. “What have you done to my son?”
“Eh?” Luffy questioned before answering with the obvious. “Ace is just taking a nap?”
“Why did you kidnap my son, Strawhat?” Whitebeard snapped his own Conqueror’s surging forth just for none of the Strawhat crew to react in the slightest to the force. Ace didn’t even so much as twitch in his sleep.
“Oh!” Luffy exclaimed with a laugh. “Shishishi, I didn’t kidnap Ace! Nami did! He’s my birthday present!”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell them!” Nami huffed tossing her hair over her shoulder.
“I’m sorry they crashed your party, Luffy, they weren’t invited .” The navigator continued giving the Yonko and his commanders a pointed glare.
“You stole my son!” Whitebeard snapped.
“Well, you stole him first!” Nami snapped. “Ace is ours! Do you have any idea how worried my Captain was when we arrived to meet him just to find him and his crew missing?!”
“Yeah, you should be real glad Ace kept sending his letters,” Usopp said with a shudder. “Luffy was ready to kill you, old man.”
“You got me in a lot of trouble with my Captain, Whitebeard-san.” Jimbei huffed solemnly.
“What do you mean Ace is yours?” Whitebeard questioned furiously.
“What they mean,” Luffy started as he leapt onto the Sunny shifting Ace’s limp body around into his arms before sitting down against the mast with their second division commander in his lap. “Is that Ace belongs to me .”
With that Luffy carefully removed the orange monstrosity of a hat from Ace’s head and carefully pushed the wavy black locks that hid his neck from view out of the way to reveal the Strawhat jolly roger proudly emblazoned on the back of the younger man’s neck. “And that has been true since long before you decided to kidnap him.”
“I gave him a family!” Whitebeard snapped.
“And stole him from another in the process,” Deuce said calmly appearing from below deck with the rest of Ace’s original crew before they all jumped from the Moby Dick to land on the deck of the Sunny. “There’s a reason none of us were ever upset when storms kept Izou from being able to tattoo the Whitebeard mark on us.”
The Commanders and Yonko all watched in shock as the Spades were welcomed with open arms, laughter and hugs flowing through the air as they were swarmed by the Strawhat crew. They were all New World rookies when they were brought aboard the Moby Dick just a few months ago. How could they possibly be familiar enough with a Yonko crew that one, they would feel allowed to board without ever asking permission and two, were welcomed by said crew as if this was a completely common occurrence.
“What are you on about, yoi?!” Marco questioned starting to get furious himself.
“One of Ace’s dreams was to join Luffy’s fleet when we reached the New World, we were supposed to be meeting them on the island you took him from but you all got in the way and wouldn’t let any of us go.” Deuce snarked. “So he joined when it became clear you wouldn’t drop the issue. He also got attached to the Commanders.”
“Why didn’t you call?” Luffy asked seriously ignoring how the Whitebeards were now all gaping at them.
“Ace told us no,” Deuce answered. “The old man’s crew is nice, none of us hate it there we just find their recruitment method disgusting.”
“You know how Captain is, Luffy-san, he didn’t want to have to call you anytime he got into trouble,” Banshee said as she looked fondly at the teen sleeping in Luffy’s lap. “He does like the old man, his haki persuasion didn’t do anything since Captain is used to yours.”
Immediately haki filled the air thick, heavy, and suffocating as Luffy glared at Whitebeard standing calmly and passing Ace not to any of the Spades but to Nami who took the teen without any problems before taking the seat at the mast that her captain had just abandoned. None of the Spades or Strawhats reacted but even Whitebeard felt sweat build on his brow as he upped his own haki to stave off the worst of the pressure. The same could not be said for any of his children though as across the deck, they fell unconscious until only he and his commanders were standing, even they were swaying on their feet.
“ You did what? ” The Yonko before him questioned eyes glowing a demonic red as arcs of red lightning began to spark from his skin.
However, before anything else could happen, Ace woke up sitting up from Nami’s lap with a massive yawn taking in the world around him with bleary eyes as he smacked his lips seemingly oblivious to the intense pressure in the air.
“Luffy-nii, wha’s goin on?” Ace slurred as he yawned again. “Thought we were in the woods hunting?”
“Shishishi!” The pressure in the air vanished as the Yonko spun to face their commander with a happy laugh. “You fell asleep, irmãozinho!”
“Ah, sorry!” Ace said with a sheepish laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck before looking around and finally taking in the presence of his old and new crew. “Eh, Pops, what’s everyone doing here? I thought I was the only one they told about the party?”
“You were kidnapped, yoi!” Marco exclaimed. “By Big Mom’s cloud! Of course, we followed you!”
“Kidnapped by Big Mom’s cloud?” Ace asked with a confused head tilt. “You mean Zeus?”
“Yes!” Thatch said with a frustrated groan. “ Big Mom’s cloud! ”
“... But Zeus is Nami neesan’s?” Ace replied still heavily confused what did the Yonko his brother took down five years ago have to do with Nami’s cloud? “He lives in her clima-tact.”
“ Oh, my Seas! ” Thatch groaned throwing his hands up.
“Ace,” Whitebeard’s voice cut above them all stopping whatever rant Thatch was about to go on in its tracks. “Do you mean to say you knew that the Weather Witch would be sending the cloud to pick you up from the Moby?”
“Duh,” Ace said bluntly. “We planned this over a week ago so that I could be here for Lulu’s birthday. I’m his present.”
“And just what is your relation to Strawhat Luffy?” Whitebeard responded.
“He’s my big brother, of course. C’mon, guys, I’ve been telling you about Lu since I joined.” Ace said.
“ You never said he was a Yonko !!!” All the commanders screamed at him with pointed teeth.
“Well, I am.” Luffy said bluntly glaring at Whitebeard. “Now, leave. As Nami said, you weren’t invited. If Ace and his Nakama want to come back then we’ll drop them off in a few days.”
“He is my son!” Whitebeard snarled
“The only Mark I see is mine, Old Man,” Luffy said with a sharp grin. “Ace is mine and you’d do well to remember that. Now, fuck off .”
Ace never said anything to dispute the claim, ignoring the conversation about him entirely. Instead, he tugged Luffy’s arm until it stretched after him as he whined, “Luuuuu, c’mon I wanna go get the meat before other animals take them! I’m hungry and I want those gators!”
Luffy felt a smile come over his face as he followed the pull of his baby brother but still twisted his head a full hundred eighty degrees to keep glaring at Whitebeard until he vanished into the woods after Ace.
The entirety of the Grand Line knew the rules Strawhat Luffy and his crew operated on and had ever since they blazed through and took the whole stretch of sea by storm.
A Strawhat will help anyone they can, especially if you feed them.
Never touch the Captain’s hat , he will kill you and laugh as he does it.
If you’re not strong enough to fight the man himself, never harm something or someone that Strawhat Luffy has claimed.
But there was one rule only the Strawhats and their Allies knew, Monkey D. Luffy is the oldest sibling of three brothers and if you harm one well you better hope you don’t. Because if the brothers didn’t kill you themselves… well, Luffy would .