Read & Review! I'm actually one of the authors who replies to each and every review I receive. :]
Warning: quite a bit of cursing. I'm not sure how the profanity filter portrays curses in stories, but... yeah.

There it was. Lurking behind a tree a few feet away, the badger kept its large nose to the ground and sniffed for fallen fruit. It lifted a clawed foot and stepped forward every once in a while, its black and white fur bristling with the movement.

Monkey D. Luffy was shaking with anticipation at the thought of catching the animal for dinner. Would the menu hold badger soup or grilled meat? Both sounded delicious!

Beside him, his self-appointed brothers, Portgas D. Ace and Sabo crouched nearby. All three of them were hidden behind a thick bush, the leaves and branches helping as an effective camouflage. Sabo was grinning, his excitement increasing like it always does before a hunt. Ace, however, kept his body low and his eyes fixed predatorily on his prey. A hunter's stance.

"Okay, this is the plan", he muttered quietly, his gaze pinned onto the creature. "Sabo will move in from the left and Luffy will do the same on the right. I'll charge head-on and take it down while you two have it distracted."

Sabo blinked and half-turned towards his friend. "You don't want us to attack first?"

"No. It's too risky", Ace said firmly, ripping his eyes away and looking at both of his brothers. "I'll get the first hit. That'll be the signal for us to take it down together."

Sabo nodded an affirmative, but Luffy didn't seem to pay any attention to the strategy. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet while he stared at the animal with eagerness.

"Let's hurry up, I'm starving!", Luffy insisted, his voice carrying along in a loud whisper. Sabo shook his head the same moment that Ace chided his little brother to keep his damn voice down.

"Shut up, idiot! If you chase it away again like last time, I swear I'll -"

"Come on, come on", the seven-year old boy whined insistently, cutting across his brother. "Let's go already!"

Ace clenched his teeth and barely suppressed a deep growl before nodding towards Sabo. The blonde boy took action immediately, creeping along behind the thick foliage to surround the creature from the left as instructed. Seeing Sabo on the move, Luffy quickly did the same, but on the opposite side. While his two brothers divided and settled into their positions, Ace held onto his lead pipe tighter. Any moment now...

With a loud battle-cry, both Sabo and Luffy jumped from their hiding place and held their weapons (both pipes, though Luffy's was shorter) towards the animal. The diversion was perfect; the badger, surprised and taken aback by the sudden invasion, kept swivelling its head from left to right, trying to keep both boys in its line of sight. Instinctively, it began to back up, its upper lip curling to show startling white fangs. It was the perfect moment to attack.

While Sabo and Luffy held the badger at bay, Ace rose up from behind the bushes and ran forward, raising the pipe over his head.

He shouted with disbelief at what he saw next.

Luffy acted impulsively because the badger's large size intimidated him. He screamed and launched himself towards the beast's head, swinging his weapon wildly. His aims were good, but had little to no effect. His attacks had no strength behind them. The badger only shook its head before taking a swipe at the young boy.

Luffy was thrown instantly to the side once a gigantic paw collided into his stomach. His body slammed against a large tree before crumpling and falling down to the roots.

"LUFFY!", Ace screamed frantically. His voice was unrecognizable, even to his ears.

When Sabo had realized what had happened, he barely had time to dodge as another paw came rushing towards him. Ace soon joined him in the fight, his eyes and actions blinded by rage.

After many beatings later, the badger lay motionless on the forest floor, clearly dead. Luffy continued to lie near the tree he was hit against, snoring loudly.

Sabo fell to the ground and took off his top hat. He ran his fingers through his short hair and panted, "That was more difficult than I expected."

Ace hoisted his blood-stained pipe over one shoulder with a confident grin. "Wasn't too hard for me. Maybe you're getting old for these things, Sabo."

Sabo rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. Ace turned, walked over to Luffy and stood there silently before whacking him with a fist.

Luffy bolted upright with a strangled cry, nursing his head. "Owowowowow, what was that for?"

"Shut up. That's for being weak and always getting in the way", Ace scolded with a frown before heading back over to the fallen badger. He thumbed his lower lip in thought as he wondered aloud, "How are we going to cook this thing?"

"What do you mean?", Sabo asked, getting to his feet and dusting his pants. Luffy joined him at his side, massaging the top of his head, while he eyed the badger with increasing fascination.

"Wow! You beat it!", Luffy laughed, nudging the badger's nose with a finger before lifting one of its eyelids. "Can we have badger stew? Or fried meat!"

"Shut up!", Ace repeated, "You didn't catch it so you're not having any. Besides, Sabo and I get to choose how we're going to eat it."

"Aw!", Luffy said in disappointment, falling back sadly. Sabo shook his head with a sigh. He forgot how many times he's heard that before. No matter how often Luffy caused trouble with huntings, he was still rewarded with food for his efforts.

"Come on, help me carry this thing", Ace grunted, lifting up a large furry arm over his shoulder. At his words, Sabo and Luffy hurried forward to give assistance.

During their trek on getting the monster to their hideout, Ace agreed upon cooking it into soup and frying some of the meat. It wasn't because Luffy had begged for both. Sabo had calmly pointed out that the combination would be good since they would have leftovers of the meat.

"Luffy and I can fry the legs", Sabo said to Ace as they grouped around near the base of their hideout. Ace nodded in agreement as they fell into a compatible silence. Luffy was a little farther away, giggling and feeling the softness of the fur behind the badger's ear. His face and arms were bandaged, but he looked like he was truly enjoying himself. His treasure, the battered straw hat, was tied around his neck.

"Don't be so hard on him. He's three years younger than us", Sabo said, nudging Ace with his elbow. Ace said nothing.

That seemed to be Sabo's defense on Luffy's behalf. He always blamed the latter's inexperience and weakness on Luffy's age. Whenever the young noble brought up this excuse, Ace didn't counter it. It was true, he felt that Luffy's age and strange Devil Fruit powers were too much of a burden on Luffy's little body, but Ace and Sabo wouldn't be around forever. They would leave the island soon, bringing their ambitions of becoming pirates into the light. Most likely, they would all part ways. Ace knew this, though he tried not to think of an adventure without his brothers and squashed the feelings of sadness deep down within. Luffy would need to get stronger somehow and fend for himself; He couldn't depend on Ace and Sabo for too much longer.

"You let him off the hook so easily", Ace said distastefully, folding his arms across his chest with a slight scowl.

Sabo chuckled, running his hand across the brim of his hat. "And you let him dangle on the hook too much. I almost think you like teasing him, Ace."

"I'm not teasing him", Ace said harshly, sending his friend a heated look. "I'm just trying to make him grow up. Fools can't live too long in this world, you know that."

"I know", Sabo said softly, his eyes landing on Luffy. The kid was pulling the badger's mouth, counting all of its sharp teeth with a joyful laugh. Sabo's eyes lost its usual light and was filled with pity. "I know all too well... but sometimes, I think it's good for us that Luffy is still an annoying little brother."

Ace remained quiet, but his eyes asked Sabo to elaborate. Sabo complied, hesitating only briefly.

"We both know how the world works, but Luffy is still a little innocent. When I'm with him, I forget how cruel the world is, and I become a kid again. It's a good feeling."

A long stretch of silence passed, occasionally punctured by Luffy's hoots of glee.

Ace pushed himself off the tree he was leaning against and shifted towards the ladder that led up to the hideout. "I'm going to get started on the stew. If you need anything, just call me."

"Right", Sabo grinned, his gap-tooth smile more pronounced than ever. Ace managed a smirk before steadily climbing up the wooden structure.

Luffy watched their exchange curiously for a second before helping Sabo get a fire going. An hour later, Sabo and Luffy sat next to each other on a tree trunk, both holding one of the badger's limb over the fire they built. Every now and then, Sabo would stoke the fire and feed it more wood, causing the flames to grow.

"Hey Sabo", Luffy called unexpectedly.

"What is it?"

"Why does Ace never smile at me?"

Sabo blinked at the strange and sudden question. Living with Luffy came with surprises. The boy was only seven years old yet his mind worked in a weird way. He seemed almost too dense at times, way too gullible, yet he struck others with such a brilliance when they least expected it. Had he always been so observant?

Unsure of what to say, Sabo sat and contemplated on what his response would be. He chanced a glance at Luffy, who was focusing on his sizzling meat.

It was true that at the beginning, Ace hated Luffy. He had no tolerance for the brat, but over time, his patience towards Luffy lengthened and he grew what Sabo liked to call a 'soft spot' for him. Ace was never one to convey and show his feelings. Sabo had learned this when he first became Ace's friend and accepted it without question. He simply assumed that Ace grew up in a rough family.

Lately, Sabo would note certain things. Such as how Ace seemed to open up a bit more, adding in his two cents whenever his opinion mattered. Or how he would give in to his little brother's requests no matter how reluctant. Ace was changing slowly, but there was still a barrier there. He only brought it down when he needed to act on familial duties, protecting his two brothers from harm when the time called. Yet, how could he explain this to Luffy without confusing him? Luffy had the shortest attention span out of them all.

He decided to take a straight-forward tactic of approaching the conversation. "Ace is just hard to crack."
Sabo shrugged, as if the matter was of no big deal and added, "Don't worry, Luffy. You're his brother. Nothing can change that."

Regardless of Sabo trying to ease his concern, Luffy's mind drifted away from the topic. It wasn't that often (since Ace's dominating trait was irritation) but whenever he smiled, Ace's features brightened up considerably. Even his freckles seemed to light up when he showed happiness. Luffy liked seeing that expression, but it was so rare. He usually had that look when they were all together, such as when they drank sake and declared themselves as sworn brothers. It was barely ever aimed directly at Luffy. Sabo is usually on the receiving end of them sometimes whenever they completed a mission successfully.

Yet Sabo was the complete opposite of Ace. It didn't take much effort to snag a smile or a laugh from him. He showered Luffy with affection almost constantly, helping him with whatever he needed aid with or by sharing his company. He was easier to communicate with out of his two older brothers.

A sudden thought struck Luffy and a smile lifted his mouth before it transformed into a full-fledged grin.

"I'm going to make Ace smile!", Luffy said happily in determination, a new goal set infront of him. A clueless and somewhat dumbstruck Sabo stared, not even noticing that his piece of meat was burning on the edges.

Luffy set plan A into motion the very next day. They started the morning by planning to catch a crocodile for breakfast, courtesy of Luffy wanting some. After a little bickering between brothers, they all headed towards the river, weapons in hand.

Everything had gone well at first. Sabo hid behind a large tree, scanning every reptile in the stream before silently pointing out the biggest one to the other two. Ace, standing on a large bark of a nearby tree, sent a signal down to Luffy. The smallest boy hid in a bush farthest away from the river, due to his inability to swim.

However, Sabo should've known that things wouldn't have been that easy. Just as he and Ace leapt forward to attack the crocodile simultaneously, the others crowded around. Their jaws snapped audibly as they tried to crawl over each other's backs to reach the boys.

Before they could warn Luffy to stay behind, the seven-year old burst forth, running straight towards their game. Unfortunately, their target was accompanied by two other crocodiles. One of them saw Luffy and deliberately opened its mouth. Luffy, unable to turn his course, sprinted right into the open jaws.

"LUFFY!", Sabo and Ace yelled, watching in terror as the crocodile shut its mouth and swallowed him whole.

An hour later, Luffy was saved by his brothers. His body had been twisted at an odd angle in the critter's mouth, preventing him from passing through the throat and into the stomach. After making sure that Luffy was alright, Ace's relief bubbled into fury as he scolded the idiot.

They didn't have any breakfast, and Luffy only managed to make Ace angry. Plan A was a failure.

It wasn't often that Garp visited Gao Kingdom. His workload as a vice-admiral kept him busy. When he did manage to spare some time from Marine Headquarters, his visits weren't pleasant.

He always forced the three of them into training regimes, putting them through intense workouts that left them half-dead.

Once, he seperated the three of them into different parts of the forest. He stood guard in front of Dadan's home and made sure that neither one of them set foot into that house without getting through him. Of course, they had to pass the animals in the forest first and somehow survive long enough to make it back home.

Needless to say, when none of the boys appeared after five days, Dadan put her foot down.

"I can't believe he came back", Ace muttered darkly, kicking up dirt from the forest floor as he walked slowly towards the direction of Dadan's place.

"I still didn't forget the last time he came to visit. Those bruises didn't go away for a week!", Sabo groaned, looking very put out.

Ace glanced sideways at Luffy, who was walking beside him quietly. Misinterpreting his brother's silence as fear, Ace turned his head back infront of him and said, "Don't worry. We won't stay long. We'll just see what he wants and leave."

Luffy nodded absently, too busy thinking about his plans on making Ace smile to pay proper attention.

They journeyed through the small forest before stopping infront of Dadan's front door. They each took a gulp in turn. Ace, being the bravest, seized the brass doorknob and turned it.

The second the door was open, they could hear Garp's loud voice carrying through the small household. After a shared glance, both Ace and Sabo stepped forward towards the kitchen while Luffy trailed behind.

Garp greeted them with the usual reprimand of them wanting to become infamous pirates. When none of the kids wanted to yield to his authority and accept the life of a marine ("I'm going to become a pirate, Gramps!"), Garp pounded on the table with a large fist. The salad bowl fell off the table and shattered across the floor. A shower of glass shards glistened under the low gas lamp.

"I won't see you grow up to be pirate scum! And I told you to call me 'Grandad'!"

"It's not up to you, Gramps!", Ace shouted back spitefully, his eyes shining with something close to a challenge. "Whatever we do is none of your-"

His words were cut off as he was punched across the face. Ace landed rather painfully at the other side of the kitchen, his back sliding down the wall.

"ACE!", Luffy screamed, but he was too slow to act. Sabo reached Ace first to check on his condition. Luffy, angry now, rounded on his grandfather with a burning gaze.

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO BECOME MARINES! ME, ACE AND SABO ARE GOING TO SAIL THE SEAS AS PIRATES! I'M GOING TO BE THE PIRATE KING!"

There was a deafening silence in the kitchen. Through a slightly parted mouth, Luffy breathed in raggedly while his shoulders were squared in defiance.

Garp faced his youngest grandson impassively. Dadan knew what was coming before it happened. Luffy was standing right where he was, at the edge of the dining table. The next second, he was sent flying across the other side of the room to accompany his brothers.

"Luffy!", Sabo called out in worry, unsure of whether to stand up to the marine or rush over to where his little brother lay motionless. Beside Sabo, Ace was holding his own shoulder, eyes full of murderous intent.

"Garp-", Dadan started, her body moving forward as if to shield the kids. No matter how much she cursed their existence and complained about them, she was their foster mother. Their safety was her top priority. But Garp held up a large hand to stop her.

"Fifty laps around the forest", he stated, his voice bordering on a whisper. A wicked smile twisted his lips. "You're still spouting this nonsense, maybe this will change your mind."

A few minutes later, all three kids were found running around the outskirts of the forest, skipping over falling tree trunks and tripping on roots.

"Damn it, what were you thinking, you moron!", Ace snarled. He threw a glare over his shoulder at Luffy, who was trying his hardest to keep up with his brothers' pace. "You only pissed him off more!"

"He hit you!", Luffy yelled back, huffing and puffing. "I didn't lie! I told him the truth! I don't want to be a marine!"

Ace bit his tongue to calm his temper, but it was proving difficult. Sabo shook his head and sighed heavily.

"Don't fight, you guys. It's always like this when Garp visits", Sabo says gloomily.

With their legs and arms feeling as if they would fall off any second, they endured the pain and continued their laps. All the while, Luffy's frustration rose at the fact that he couldn't get Ace to smile the entire day. He hoped that Ace would've been appreciative since he stood up to a scary Garp, but to no avail. Ace remained as furious as ever.

Being raised by bandits, the three children didn't have certain privileges, such as an allowance. They usually stole things from noblemen in the city and kept it as their loot. As for food, they preferred hunting. They didn't dine-and-dash as often, because half of the restaurants recognized their faces. It was too dangerous.

Recently, Makino, a nice woman from the village, comes by once in a while to deliver wine for Dadan. She was Luffy's friend and gave them pocket money every other week. They kept this money well-hidden and used it only when they absolutely needed to.

Luffy, mistaking a medicinal cream as food, had eaten all of it. Thankfully, his rubber body handled the product fairly well. He only had stomach aches to deal with, but otherwise, was in healthy shape.

This was why they were seen in the village together, huddled around the corner of a medicine shop. Ace, being chosen as the most capable, held out a few sheets of money.

"I don't remember how much it was the last time", Ace admitted, staring at the money in his palm with dull eyes. "Do we have enough?"

"It should be. If not, we can always come back later", Sabo said simply, looking up at the large sign infront of the store.

Luffy took this opportunity to show Ace that he could be responsible to redeem himself for his past mistakes. He jumped on the balls of his feet and held out his hands in earnest. "Let me do it! I'll get it!"

Ace stared at him skeptically, but Sabo understood Luffy's intention and grinned amiably.

"Let him try it."

Being pressed on by Sabo, he handed over the money reluctantly to Luffy, who took it carefully.

"It's the white one! The white one, Luffy!", Ace called to Luffy's back as the small boy ran into the store. Sabo laughed, noticing Ace's discomfort.

"He's not that stupid, he'll get the right one."

Luffy came out of the shop a few minutes later, holding a bottle in his hands with a nervous expression. His eyes kept shifting to the left as he bit his bottom lip. Noticing these signs as soon as he saw them, Ace's heart dropped into his stomach when he grabbed for the bottle.

Sabo looked over Ace's shoulder at the label on the container and held back a groan.

"Luffy...", Ace began slowly, his voice shaking slightly from rage. "You got the wrong one."

"I-I did?", Luffy stuttered, laughing. His voice shook even worse than Ace's as he scratched the back of his head. "I-It was the only one that was white so I-"

"This isn't cream, you dumb ass! These are pills!", Ace snapped, ignoring all of the passerby that stared. Sabo waved his hands rapidly to calm them down, but it was too late. An arguement broke out between them.

"I didn't know! How was I supposed to know how it looks like?"

"You ate out of the bottle!"

"I didn't read what it said!"

"Obviously! Now what are we going to do? We can't exchange it! You fucking-"

"Ouch, stop hitting me!"

"Ace, let Luffy go! Luffy, apologize to Ace!"

As another plan failed, Luffy was beginning to lose ideas and become very desperate.

Luffy tried everything.

At dinner, he helped as much as he could to prepare the food, but Ace either didn't notice his effort or saw it as something obvious to do and didn't comment.

During training, Luffy did his best to prove to Ace that he got stronger, even by a little bit. After one hundred battles split between both his brothers, he lost each and every one of them.

While searching through the Grey Terminal for materials to expand their hideout, Ace had another one of his narcoleptic fits and fell head-first into a large pile of rusty metal. Luffy wanted to be helpful and tried lifting Ace onto a more comfortable place, but dropped him in a heap of rubble when he got distracted by Sabo's findings. Ace, waking up with half of his face dripping with a foreign green liquid, looked extremely ill-tempered.

When they ran across a few amateur pirates at the cove (who were docked at the pier to retrieve supplies from Windmill village), Luffy had accidentally provoked them by speaking of Red-Haired Shanks. His initial scheme was to get on the pirates' good side and earn Ace's respect. Flabbergasted and offended by the mere mention of the Emperor, the captain of the ship ordered his crew to kill Luffy. Both Sabo and Ace couldn't stand for it ("Don't you dare touch my brother!") and had to teach the fully-grown men a lesson. Or rather, Sabo guarded Luffy while Ace dished out the punishment. In the end, Sabo had to drag Ace away before he inflicted anymore deadly injuries. All three returned home unharmed, but once again.. Luffy failed in his plan.

Eventually, he asked Sabo for some help one morning. While Ace was washing his face at the river and polishing his lead pipe, Luffy pulled Sabo aside.

The blonde looked thoughtful for a minute before he snapped his fingers. "You can make him a gift!"

"A gift?", Luffy echoed, tilting his head to the side.

Sabo nodded once, very sure of himself. "Everyone likes gifts. If you get him a present, he'll have to be happy, right?"

At the thought of giving Ace a present, Luffy brightened. Sabo was right! When Shanks had given him his straw hat as a promise, it made Luffy unbelievably happy. Luffy's face stretched into a large smile. "Thanks Sabo!"

Feeling that this was the perfect suggestion, Luffy dashed off through the trees. With a newfound spirit, he was determined to succeed. Sabo chuckled quietly under his breath, gazing after his brother fondly.

Luffy had disappeared and wasn't found throughout the entirety of the afternoon. While Ace and Sabo were out in the middle of the forest looking for edible plants, Luffy caught up with them. His open-mouthed smile was an indication that he was in a very good mood.

"Ace! Sabo!"

"Luffy!", Sabo called back happily, reaching forward to ruffle Luffy's hair as the boy skidded to a stop near them. "Did you get the gift?"

He nodded enthusiastically and pulled his arms from behind his back, retrieving two items. He held out both towards each brother respectively, his eyes shining with expectation. "I made these earlier! Sabo, yours is a little smaller than Ace's.."

"Uh..", Sabo muttered, looking down at the thing in Luffy's hand. He didn't have a word for it. It was wood, he could tell by the carved edges and the rough texture. The shape was weird; he couldn't tell if it was a bear or a sheep. However, one glance at the bandages wound around Luffy's fingers prevented him from saying anything discouraging.

Sabo took his gratefully with a smile. He tried not to look at Ace's reaction when he said, "Thanks Luffy, I'll keep it with me."

"Hee hee", Luffy sniggered, looking quite proud before he turned towards Ace. The other boy was looking down at the wooden shape, his eyes criticizing the poor craftsmanship. Without another word, he knocked the thing out of Luffy's hand. It fell down with a dull sound.

"Stop wasting time and help us find food for dinner", Ace said curtly, twirling his pipe idly like a baton. After his rude dismissal, he walked over a low branch and vanished into the darkness. Luffy, hurt and disappointed in himself, glared at the floor. He stomped on the fallen object once, burying it into the dirt, before turning and storming off in the opposite direction.

Sabo, torn between following his two brothers, chose Ace instead. Once he was on Ace's tail, he asked angrily, "Why did you do that? You could've just taken the damn thing!"

"It's useless. If Luffy has time to waste like that, he should spend it on getting stronger. He's the weakest link", Ace said simply, not even bothering to look at Sabo.

"Did you look at it closely?", Sabo asked quietly, his voice hiding some deeper emotion.

"Yeah, it looked like crap."

Sabo stopped in his tracks. After a few steps, Ace stopped too. There was a five-feet gap between them. Ace turned halfway to give Sabo an unimpressed look. "What?"

The blonde boy's eyes were hard and uncharacteristically cold. "You didn't look at it closely. If you did, you would've seen how carefully that thing was made. It looked like he took a knife to carve them. That's where he's been all day. His fingers were bandaged pretty badly too."

A tense and heavy silence descended upon them. Ace said nothing but looked a bit uncomfortable. Truthfully, he didn't notice any of those things Sabo had pointed out. He had felt infuriated that Luffy was off making those things and wasting time when he should've been helping his brothers with lunch and dinner.

Sabo stood by for a few minutes, watching Ace with a disappointed air.

"Apologize to Luffy, alright?", he sighed, long and hard, before leading the way back to their hideout.

Within the next hour, an excited Luffy burst through the forest clearing near their hideout. Leaves were stuck in his hair and his face was flushed as he waved his hand around. Three fish dangled in his grip by their fins, dripping water. In his other hand, a makeshift fishing rod was clutched tightly.

"Look! I caught these!", Luffy said happily, but his expression turned sour when Sabo pointed to the remains of a bear they had caught for dinner. "Aw man! That's not fair!"

Sabo laughed heartily and held out a plate of roasted bear meat towards his precious brother. "Sorry, Luffy. We saved you some though. Eat up!"

With a cheerful exclamation, Luffy grabbed his portion and quickly dug in, stuffing his face full. A couple of seconds passed like that, causing a wrinkle to appear in Sabo's brow.

"Luffy. Slow down a bit, will you?", he said, his voice rising an octave in concern.

His warning came a little too late. Luffy coughed, sputtering bits of food onto the grass before he clutched at his throat. His face turned pale within seconds and he couldn't find his voice as he choked on the thick bear meat. Tears gathered in his eyes because of the pain, and they fell everytime Luffy squinted.

"L-Luffy!", Sabo squawked, jumping to his feet in panic. He ran to Luffy's side but didn't know what to do and kept his hands infront, as if unsure of where to grab Luffy.

Ace eventually took action. He raised a fist and gave his brother's back a solid pound. There was a loud /thump/ and Sabo became hysterical. Did Ace just break Luffy's spine?

His worries weren't needed however, because Luffy fell to his knees and hacked, coughing up a bone. It fell against the ground, shining white under the moonlight filtering in through the dense canopy. Luffy breathed a huge sigh of relief before turning towards Ace with a glare. "Why did you punch me!"

Ace lifted an eyebrow coolly and remarked, "I had to or you would've choked and died."

"I could've died from your punch!"

"Oh yeah? Maybe I would've been doing all of us a favor then! Jeez."

"Ace is mean! Bastard!"

"Don't talk to me like that!"

The D. brothers' tempers began to rise drastically. The pent up anger from their previous meeting was lashing out hazardously, like whips of fire. Sabo pushed in-between the two, trying to pacify them and prevent a fight from breaking out.

"That's it!", Luffy bellowed, pulling one of his arms back. His eyes were wild as he called, "Gum-Gum Pistol!"

When the boy first created this technique, he envisioned his rubber arm to extend and send his opponent straight into the air with superhuman power. But Luffy could never make his attack work the way he wanted to. His fist bounced on the ground feebly before backtracking and slugging him in the face.

Ace chuckled, but it sounded harsh. His laughter only fueled Luffy's anger further. With a battle-cry, the seven year old launched himself at his step-brother and attacked him head-on, not even caring about the consequences his actions will result in later. He didn't even get one hit in because Ace grabbed his small arm and swung his own fist. His knuckles dug into Luffy's skin, and because of the close proximity, Ace was sure he did some major damage. He gained a sick pleasure from this fact.

"Ace! Luffy!", Sabo shouted, watching helplessly as his two brothers fought and wrestled. "Stop it right now! Stop! That's enough! Apologize right now!"

He was ignored. Somehow in their scuffle, Luffy was tossed to the side. He was sporting a bloody nose while Ace only looked ruffled.

"Ready to give up, crybaby?", Ace taunted, the darkness covering half of his face like a mask. "You'll never beat me."

Luffy panted and winced, but stood his ground. His legs looked unsteady, as if ready to give out at any minute. "I'm not a crybaby! And I will beat you! ACE!"

Luffy made a sudden move forward, as if planning to swing at his brother again. Sabo saw this and anger bloomed within him, taking control. He grabbed a lead pipe that was on the ground and slammed it hard against a nearby tree. He managed to form a dent against the wood, forcing a few woodchips to crack and fall.

This stunned both Ace and Luffy. They stopped in their tracks and watched Sabo with twin looks of awe. They had never witnessed Sabo so furious before; it was always Ace who commanded the anger department.

Sabo's shoulders fell up and down rapidly as he tried to push down his rage. Something snapped in him when he saw his two brothers fighting and he knew that he had to settle things before it got out of hand. He inhaled deeply and it helped calm his nerves, but there were traces of anger in his voice as he talked slowly.

"Ace. Luffy. We made an oath, remember? We're brothers! Brothers shouldn't fight, but when we do... We have to apologize and make up. We have to look after one another, because we only have each other.

Ace, you and I are the big brothers. We have to set a good example for him. We have to be reliable and protect him because that's what an older brother does. He might give us a hard time, but he's still our brother, right?

Luffy, cute little brothers like you should idolize big brothers like us and listen to what we tell you. We might do or say things that you don't like, but it's all for your own good. We're only thinking about you and your future.

Got it? I want you guys to think about what a brother does and apologize to each other, damn it!"

Ace and Luffy were quiet as they got scolded, allowing the words to sink in. Sabo gives an irritable huff before walking away, leaving them alone to smooth things over. An awkward moment passed as they both stood across from one another. Luffy sniffled and wiped his bleeding nose with the back of his hand. Streaks of red clashed horribly with his light complexion.

Guilt settled in Ace's stomach like a boulder, dragging him down. It was overwhelming, shadowing every other emotion. He sighed softly and opened his mouth to say sorry -

"Sabo's nicer to me than you are", Luffy stated bluntly, cutting to the chase.

Ace blinked before his eyes narrowed at Luffy's wounding words. His apology died in his throat as he tried to think of the most cruelest thing he could hurl back.

Luffy continued on, now wiping his nose with the hem of his shirt. "But you're still my big brother. All I wanted was to see you smile at me. I didn't mean for us to fight. Sorry, Ace."

Ace grew speechless, his mind wiping clear of any malicious thoughts he had seconds before. It suddenly dawned on him why Luffy had been more than eager to please in the last week. He was a fool not to notice sooner. He remembered being curious as to why Luffy was so helpful towards him when they made dinner the other night. It was oddly suspicious. Usually Luffy would let Ace and Sabo handle the food preparations while he ran off to god-knows-where.

He looked up in time to see Luffy walking forward with his arms outstretched. Too slow to react, Ace froze as Luffy embraced him.

Convinced that it was because of the physical contact and not the aching in his heart, Ace heard himself say, "I'm sorry, Luffy."

Luffy giggled, clearly happy that he could evoke a sincere apology out of the other. He pulled away and sniffed once, pointing at his left cheek with a large grin. A purple bruise was slowly forming under his eye, at the exact spot where Ace had hit him. "You're getting stronger, Ace! Your punch felt like a bullet!"

Ace grimaced at Luffy's expression. It was clear of any disdain it held earlier and was cheery instead, as if unbothered that his step-brother was ready to kill him minutes before. He raised a hand and brushed a finger across the bruise gently.

"If my punch is as strong as you say it is... then you must be getting stronger too, if you can withstand it", he commented softly, though he sounded almost strained.

Luffy's expression shifted from something remotely peaceful to uncontained happiness. "You're right! I'm getting stronger, aren't I? I knew it!"

Jumping up, he fell into his usual fighting form and steadied his arm. "Gum-Gum... PISTOL!"

Expecting something different, Ace felt his jaw slack but only to close it in disappointment. Like always, the pain was self-inflicted as the attack backfired. Luffy fell with a groan, his nose bleeding freely once more.

Ace laughed at his brother's antics. "What are you trying to accomplish, Luffy?"

"Shut up! It's not working the way I want it to!", Luffy said defensively, pouting at his stained fingers as he tried to wipe away the excess blood. Ace knelt down to his brother's level and pulled Luffy's face forward so that he could use his own shirt to wipe away the crimson fluid. Luffy grunted each time Ace pinched his nose with the fabric.

"Ouch! Aceeee, you're hurting me-"

"Idiot. You wouldn't be this way right now if you hadn't used that Gum attack."

"It's called Gum-Gum Pistol and just wait! I'm going to beat you with that move one day! I'll make you cry!"

"Only in your dreams, Luffy!"

When Luffy was all cleaned up, that was when Sabo wandered back. When he gave his brothers their privacy, he had left to the river near the Gray Terminal to clear his own thoughts. He took one look at his brothers and nodded to himself, pleased. Everything was back to normal.

"Sabo!", Luffy called, waving energetically from beside Ace. They were lounging near the hideout's ladder, holding plates of steaming food. "Let's eat!"

His chest swelled with happiness, like an ever-growing bubble expanding around his heart. Adjusting his hat against his blonde hair, he grinned at his two brothers before joining them.

That night, Luffy had accomplished his mission. It happened unexpectedly. Luffy wasn't up to his normal plotting. In fact, the thought of making Ace smile hadn't crossed his mind at all. They were fixing up their blankets and spreading out their pillows when Ace pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to Luffy.

"What is this supposed to be anyway?", Ace asked dryly, fingering the wooden shape in his hand.

"You have it!", Luffy exclaimed, looking thrilled. There were multiple band-aids stretched across his face, hiding every scratch and bruise he acquired in his previous brawl. "You dropped it back then so I thought you didn't have it anymore!"

Sabo laughed, catching Ace's eye and sent the other a sly smirk. "I guess Ace had a change of heart and went back to get it."

"Shut up", Ace grumbled, but he looked almost embarrassed as a pink hue touched his cheeks. He picked at one of the animal's hind legs with a fingernail while he inspected the shape. "What is it?"

"It's a danpa, because they're cool!"

Stunned at Luffy's easygoing attitude and reasoning, Sabo shook his head from side to side. He would never have guessed that the blob of wood was an actual animal. Ace only laughed, throwing a pillow in Luffy's direction. "I should've known it was a dumb reason like that!"

Luffy stared at his brother's lazy smile before a strong surge of contentment washed over him. Half a second later, he beamed back because Ace's smile was so damn contagious.

- End.