Written after staying up all night watching the Ace/Luffy childhood arc, for which there are spoilers. I'd already read it in the manga, but seeing it made me think a lot about the whole ASL gang (and cry some). So I decided to write this.

I do not know when Ace actually got his first tattoo. When he leaves Mt. Corvo, both in the manga and anime his upper left arm is hidden. You can't tell if it's already there or not, so I chose for myself. Likewise, I'm not sure of the exact way he decided to get Whitebeard's roger (pirate symbol) tattooed on his back; I only know it happened shortly after he officially joined the crew. This might actually have been shown and I just forgot, but as it was I made up the scene to suit my own purposes.

This fic has been translated into Vietnamese by HippoRobson; the link is on my profile page.

It's a shame that the entire world thinks Ace doesn't know how to spell his own name. He didn't even realize anyone would take it that way when he got it, since Dadan was the one who gave it to him, and she was too busy crying while pretending she wasn't to point out spelling mistakes – if she noticed them in the first place, but on second thought it is a pretty obvious conclusion.

So… an honest mistake. Nothing to get all fired up about. Really. Ace knows that.

But, you know…

Do they think he's an idiot or something?

WHO IN THE WORLD WOULD BE STUPID ENOUGH TO MISSPELL THEIR OWN NAME IN A TATTOO?

…

…Do they think he's LUFFY?

Ace tends to lose his temper a bit whenever people point out his 'misspelled' tattoo. Probably because they generally do so while laughing. And pointing. And occasionally offering to teach him how to spell his name properly.

After the third such incident, Ace's bounty goes up a whole 10,000 beli and the Spade Pirates all agree to watch their alcohol intake around their captain. A fire man, drunken teasing, and a bar full of flammable liquids don't exactly mix well.

The explosion did destroy half the town after all. And Ace still had the audacity to bow towards the flaming wreckage and say, "Thanks for the meal!" before leaving (dragging his heavily injured crew behind him).

But just because his own crew doesn't do it anymore doesn't mean no one does, and Ace never really learns how to deal with it. He kind of just beats up anyone who dares to comment, and eventually they learn from experience… or his insanely high bounty. One or the other.

Either way, it all works out because he's stronger than all the jerks who try to mock him about it. And in fact, by the time he's eighteen, no one ever mentions his tattoo anymore, in favor of other things like, "Oh no! It's Fire Fist Ace! Run for your lives!" or "Get back here and pay for this you bastard!" or "Any last words before I take your life and bounty, Fire Fist?" …or even, "WHA? You were just sleeping? We thought you were dead!"

So Ace forgets about the issue completely, at least until he's finally been assimilated onto Whitebeard's ship. He's failed to assassinate the old man at least a hundred times by now, and… and he's got a father, who loves him, and… Ace is just plain happy.

He only wishes Luffy and Sabo were able to share this feeling. Although Luffy probably wouldn't get what was so great about it, and even Sabo probably wouldn't trust anyone calling themselves a father after his experiences with his own. Still, though. Ace is feeling sentimental enough to spend a lot of time with his right hand gripping his left arm, right at the top of his tattoo. He actually does this for a couple days (the feeling just hasn't gotten old yet – he doesn't know that it ever will) without noticing, and the one in the end to notice first is Whitebeard himself.

Who then actually reads what the tattoo says for the first time. And laughs. And points. And offers to teach Ace how to spell his name properly.

The failed-assassinations count goes up again, things catch fire, and the crew gathers for the usual bucket-brigade while Ace sulks at his favorite spot by the rail.

A couple hours later, though, Whitebeard brings it up again. This time, he doesn't even let Ace attempt to start a fire; just catches his fist mid-punch, swings him through a wall or two head-first, then picks him up and asks, quite seriously, what's with the tattoo.

Ace would like to say he only answers because the concussion is throwing him off his game, but in reality this is his father asking like he really cares (he said, "What is it, son?") and there's no way Ace is able to refuse that.

So he tells. About his childhood and Sabo and then Luffy and the ASL flags they used to have, and the independent nations and no S left to put on a flag, and he wanted Sabo to be able to leave when he was 17 like he'd wanted, even if it was just as a single letter.

"What about the 'L'?" Whitebeard asks, looking mildly curious, and Ace scoffs.

"Luffy barged in on us while Dadan was doing the 'X' over the 'S' and made her stab the needle three inches into my skin. No way was I putting his initial on me after that."

It's kind of a stupid reason, compared to the brotherly bond and many memories associated with the original ASL, but Luffy is exactly the sort of guy who is infuriating enough to make people not care about stuff like that. Also he would've just claimed that as Ace acknowledging him as captain or something. Also the pain of having the needle jabbed in so far was enough to push out the tears that had already been hovering in his eyes at the time, and the whole situation was just too sentimental and needed something like his sudden pronouncement that he wanted the rest of his name, not Luffy's 'L' on his arm – and that'd show Luffy he wasn't afraid of the pain, too, which had been a serious consideration at the time.

But Ace doesn't need to say all that. Whitebeard just nods thoughtfully, and drops the subject. Though he does mutter, "So it's not the tattoo itself that bothers you… You don't mind tattoos?"

Ace has no idea how Whitebeard ever came to that conclusion, but he nods. And then the conversation kind of ends and isn't ever mentioned again, except that Whitebeard makes a point of glancing at Ace's tattoo every now and again for some reason.

And because so much attention is being placed on his tattoo, Ace begins noticing other people's tattoos. Most prominent is Marco's; but lots of other crewmembers have that basic symbol tattooed somewhere, or sewed into their clothes, and eventually Ace asks about it in passing.

Marco explains the meaning behind it – and all of a sudden Ace understands perfectly. The first thing he does is roll his eyes. The second is examine the simple symbol on Marco's chest, and compare it to the huge roger on the black flag above them.

The third thing he does is to steal one of the smaller black flags with the same complete symbol, go visit Whitebeard, and drape the flag across his back.

"Whaddya think? Much better than that little wimpy version, right?" Ace asks, and Whitebeard laughs his huge laugh. His captain, his father claps him on the back hard enough to send him stumbling forwards, and laughs loud enough to make the room shake, until his eyes water.

"It will look good on you, son," Whitebeard says, and Ace gets that same lighthearted, exuberant, just satisfied and proud feeling from before. He silently apologizes to the 'S' on his arm and the 'L' that never made it.

That tattoo makes him happy, but it makes him sad too. The one on his back is nothing but warm from the start, wonderful, and he's more proud of that roger than of anything else he's ever done in his entire life.

Plus, it's got no words. People can't accuse him of spelling it wrong.