Notes/Warnings: Hello! I'm finally getting around to posting this and I'm pretty excited about it! A rather cliché idea, I know, but what can ya do.

If you're looking for romantic pairings, you won't be getting any, sorry. There will however be plenty to Nakamaship and brotherly Ace/Luffy!

CHAPTER 1: Discovery

It all started, Nami supposed, when Ace came to visit.

Whenever he did, Luffy tended to be even happier and more energetic than usual; a feat the crew didn't even think possible until they had met the older brother.

Unlike Alabasta, Luffy had managed to convince Ace to spend the night, much too Luffy's utter delight.

They stayed close together and even decided to explore the abandoned island; which mainly seemed to be forest, that they had docked at just minutes before.

"It's fine; I'll watch over him and make sure he doesn't get into anything too dangerous. You don't have to worry." Ace reassured, watching his baby brother dance around while chanting "Pirate lunch box! Pirate lunch box!" with a very fond smile on his lips and a warm expression in his eyes.

Somehow, Nami wasn't completely reassured and neither was Usopp. The navigator and sniper shared a look before turning back to the Whitebeard pirate.

"It's not that we don't trust you,"

"But we're talking about Luffy here."

Ace seemed to find that a little too funny for their liking, but continued to attempt to reassure them. Until Luffy jumped on his brother's back, that is; wrapping his arms tightly around Ace's neck, and urging him to go explore because he had the lunchboxes and there wasn't any time to waste.

"We'll be back in time for lunch!" or so Ace had said, jumping off of the ship railing and walking off into the dense forest, securing Luffy's position on his back.

Really, they shouldn't have let the two brothers set off alone.

Every one knew something was up when Sanji made the lunch calls and Luffy nor Ace appeared.

It was more bizarre than anything, almost scary, because the crew as a whole understood perfectly well that both Luffy and Ace loved food more than anything and that the lunchboxes wouldn't have held off their hunger for long.

"Maybe they got lost and were found by cannibalistic natives." Robin suggested.

"YOU AREN'T HELPING!"

"Sanji-kun, Chopper, Robin, and Brook will go look for Luffy and Ace, while Franky, Usopp, Zoro, and I will stay on the ship, is that clear?"

"YES, NAMI-SWAN! After we find those shitty idiots I'll make you the most delicious snack from my love!"

"It'll probably taste shitty, then."

"WHAT WAS THAT, MARIMO?!"

"You heard me, Ero-cook."

Nami sighs and drags her hand down her face, intervening before a brawl can break out. "Sanji-kun, can you just go find them?"

"Of course, Nami-dear!" The chef replies, eyes gleaming before turning to Robin. "Robin-chwan, would you like me to carry you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. We'll return as soon as possible."

Nami sighs once more, but this time out of relief. At least she has some people she can count on.

"No luck, Chopper?"

The reindeer shakes his head and continues to sniff the air. "They were here but... their scents just disappeared. Almost like... They vanished."

The four Straw Hat pirates keep quiet for a moment; Chopper kicking at the ground, Robin looking into the distance, Sanji lighting another cigarette, and Brook looking up into the trees, worry effectively etched into his face somehow.

"Where do you think they are?" Chopper asks now in walk point, eyes darting around the large forest, reminding him of their time in Skypiea. The reindeer hoped that this wouldn't end up being another situation like that.

"Who knows. Shitty captain gets lost almost as easy as the shitty mosshead." Sanji says, rolling his eyes with flourish.

"Luffy-san! Ace-san!" Brook calls out almost melodically "Where are you? You missed lunch!"

Silence once again greeted the four pirates.

"Let's go in further." Robin says, taking the lead and crossing her arms over her chest, making eyes pop up around areas in the forest.

The deeper they went, there was still no sign of their captain and his brother.

Really, if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes (sans Brook, of course) or if Chopper hadn't smelled them, they would have thought that the two hadn't even entered the forest to begin with. The forest was completely devoid of people, not counting them, and all there seemed to be were the bugs that skittered along.

Robin accepted the hand Sanji extended to her and was pulled up onto the log.

But then Chopper gasps and jumps over the log.

"I...I think I found them! They smell different, but its them!"

The only woman in the group crosses her arms, a small gasp escaping her lips after a moment, her face otherwise calm.

"Its them," Robin wasted no time, jumping off of the log and going in further with Chopper, neither answering Brook or Sanji when they call out for her.

The men easily followed the two who wove through trees expertly at a quick pace before abruptly stopping, nearly causing Brook to run into Sanji.

Robin's eyebrows are furrowed slightly, Sanji curses, and Brook and Chopper cry out in confusion.

In between two trees is an unconscious Ace and Luffy, leaning heavily on one another.

However, the Ace and Luffy before them were clearly not the ones that had left the ship earlier on in the day.

"So, you're saying that somehow Luffy and Ace managed to get themselves turned into their younger selves."

"We can't be certain until they awake, but yes, that does seem to be what has occurred."

Nami groans and buries her face in her hands, eyes wide with disbelief. If she hadn't seen both figures for herself when they were being carried on deck, she would have dismissed it easily. But she had seen. "We shouldn't have let them go alone."

The crew sits in the galley, except Chopper, who is tending to their seemingly younger captain and his brother in the infirmary.

"How is it even possible?" Usopp asked, fiddling with his hands nervously. "A devil fruit?"

Robin places her tea cup back in its saucer and looks at the way, as if she can see through Sunny and into the forest.

The group that had gone into the forest had unanimously decided that they needed to bring both brothers back to the ship as quickly as possible, so they hadn't had time at all to explore the forest for whatever had turned the two smaller.

"I'm not sure, but it was certainly something. We'll have to go back to the forest and investigate once they wake up."

An unnatural silence hangs in the air, only to be broken when Zoro grunts and stands up.

"We can't do anything about it now. Don't dwell on it."

Nami scoffs. "Our captain has been turned into a kid and you're telling us not to worry?"

Before Zoro can answer, the door to the galley opens and everyone looks at Chopper standing in the doorway, looking a bit confused and concerned.

"I examined them better; their bodies are at least seven years younger than before... I'm not sure about mentally... We'll have to wait until they wake up. They aren't showing any signs of waking up soon, though. Also, theyre both hurt and... They aren't exactly healthy."

"So Luffy and Ace are what... twelve and.. fifteen?"

"Most likely... I-I have no idea how. There isn't any disease or disorder that makes the body younger... I just don't know." Chopper tugs at his hat with his hoofs, hiding teary eyes full of concern.

Sanji walks over in the thick silence that lingers and kneels down, gently removing Chopper's hands from his hat, handing him a glass of tea he had prepared.

"We'll figure it out Chopper. I hate to admit it, but the grass-head said something worth while for once. Worrying and panicking about this isn't going to get us anywhere. We'll find out a way to fix things; don't we usually?" The cook grins at the doctor as reassuringly as he can.

Chopper stares at Sanji before nodding frantically.

The rest of the crew smiles or grins and they all vow to find a way to get their captain and his brother back to normal anyway they can.

Zoro taps Chopper on his hat as he walks past, but the smile on his lips is clear to the others, even if his back is turned.

Ace is awake before he even realizes it. When he does, he wishes he hadn't because of the soft, comfortable bedding underneath him.

Which is weird in itself because he couldn't remember falling asleep, not to mention falling asleep in a bed. Okay, so maybe him falling asleep at random wasn't weird by now, but still.

Something inside of him tells him that something isn't right and he realizes that he can't hear Luffy. Sleeping or not, his younger brother made sounds at most times. Was Luffy gone? The thought made uneasiness settle in his stomach.

His eyes slowly blink open and he nearly jumps out of his skin, the uneasiness increasing ten fold.

Pristine white walls surround him, medical equipment scattered all around his vision. A desk is at the far corner near a door, where an unfamiliar green-haired man is sitting on the floor, seemingly asleep.

Where was he? Had something happened? And more importantly, where was Luffy?

Ace's last question is answered quickly enough.

Soft almost inaudible, snoring meets his ears and Ace's head snaps in the direction, where he sees Luffy in a small bed next to his; still too big for the rubber boy.

Luffy has bandages wrapped around his head and some on his nose and cheeks, causing a surge of protectiveness to rise because Luffy hadn't been that hurt when he had last seen him and whoever had harmed his little brother had to be dealt with it. His straw hat was on the desk next to the green haired man.

Ace looks back at the green haired man, wary. Had he been the one to hurt Luffy? Faintly he could feel bandages on himself, even registering a little pain.

Already he could tell this man was strong; the three swords at his hip, muscles, and the way he held himself even when sleeping told him so.

Sheets rustle and Ace looks over again to see Luffy squirming under and quickly getting tangled in the covers that cover his small body a little too effectively.

Tense situation or not, Ace's lips cannot help but twitch into a small smile at the sight.

Luffy was such a dork.

Ace waits for Luffy's dark blue eyes to open. The eleven year old blinks sleepily, before he notices Ace, every part of his body lighting up in response.

"Ace! Good morning!" He smiles up at Ace, sitting up. Before Ace can say anything to quiet him, Luffy looks around the unfamiliar room that has the older brother on edge.

"Eh? Where are we? Who're you Ossan?"

Ace's head snaps up, only to see unfamiliar brown eyes watching his every movement.

"They tried to swing their swords at me, but the king's army was no match for the great Usopp-sama! I defeated all of the forces in under two minutes; including my monologue! The king saw what I had done and he abdicated without further struggle! The civilians decided it was only natural that I be made next king!"

"Wow, really?! All when you were nine?!" Chopper asks, eyes shining in complete awe.

"Never knew that about you, Usopp-bro. That's SUPER!" Franky plays along, sitting on the deck next to Robin's lawn chair, tinkering with a small invention.

Usopp nods wisely, rubbing at his chin. "Mhm, mhm. I'm still the king to this very day."

Robin chuckles as she listens to the snipers tall tale, hands resting on her lap.

Nami sighs quietly, but the fondness on her face is clear as she flips to the next page in the newspaper. Usopp had been the only one able to convince Chopper to take a break and to let Zoro watch over Luffy and Ace.

It had been roughly a day since they had discovered the two brothers in the forest and ever since Chopper had barely left the infirmary. Luckily though, Usopp had caught him right after lunch and dragged him on deck to tell him one of his stories.

"Now, did I ever tell you about the time I-"

A loud crash cuts Usopp off, all members on deck sitting up in alert.

The sound had come from the infirmary.

Chopper is up first, as expected. He switches to walk point and is gone from the deck in two seconds flat. The other four follow without hesitation, dropping everything.

"What's wrong?!" Chopper asks, throwing the door to the infirmary open after switching back to Brain point. He felt as if his heart had jumped all the way to his throat, even if he knew it wasn't medically possible.

The young doctor freezes in the doorway, aware of his nakama skidding to a stop behind him.

In the infirmary, Zoro sits at the doorway, looking calm. He doesn't even bother to look at the group, more focused on the other two in the room.

The two that had previously been sleeping the day away without a sign of waking up.

One of the beds is turned over on its side; explaining the loud crash. Both boys are standing up; the younger looking Ace standing in front of the younger looking Luffy - as if to protect him from them. Luffy is looking at the group with innocent curiousity shining in those familiar, yet different owlish eyes.

In contrast, Ace is looking back and forth from Zoro to them with a glare that could peel paint.

"Who are you?! Where are we?!"

Nami felt something drop in her stomach and a thought that was becoming familiar to her raced through her mind.

They really, really shouldn't have let them go off on their own.

Notes: Chapter 1... Done! I'm really excited to write this story and updates should come out every week or two! Chapter 2 has already been written, so expect new chapter around next sunday or monday!

I checked for mistakes, but being on my sloooow phone I can't notice everything, so if you noticed any please tell me if you can! Also, I'd appreciate any reviews telling how you like this so far :)!

See you later~ - Sully