A Kid Again
Chapter 1 It Is Called Kako no Shima
Ace smiled at the sea in front of him and the sun that was floating above it. Luffy was talking with other members of the Whitebeard pirates, listening to stories about the New World and becoming very excited with each word and adventure that was said. The crew seemed to find Luffy's childish acts amusing even though he had been so serious throughout the war.
"What are you thinking about?" Marco asked walking up to the man who was perched on the railing of one of the ships that they had put in hidden in case of an emergency. All members were still showing signs of the war through bandages and Oyaji was still bedridden by the nurses.
"Not much, just what it was like before I became a pirate." Ace said not looking at the other pirate. He heard Luffy's laughter and smiled that his little brother was enjoying himself.
"He fits in anywhere, doesn't he?" Marco asked leaning against the railing and glancing at Luffy who was now talking to Jimbei and Vista, who were both giving stories of their own adventures.
"Ah, he either makes them his friend or makes them his enemy." Ace said glancing at the black haired boy.
"A lot of guys were shocked when he woke up and was so calm and light hearted." Marco said with a small chuckle. "They didn't expect him to be so childish."
"Surprised you too." Ace remarked and Marco full out laughed before watching the boy jump up and his eyes shine from something that had been said.
"He's almost two different people. In a fight he becomes serious and level headed yet normally he is the one that runs into the mast." Marco said glancing at the darkening sky.
"Only if needed." Ace said and Marco looked at the man confused. "Luffy goes at his own pace. He's only serious in a fight if needed even if he claims to always be serious. His own little shenanigans give people the impression that he can't be serious."
"So if we were to be attacked by marines or bounty hunters right now, he would just punch the one closest to him?" Marco asked and Ace nodded.
"Things will surprise him easily and he will become impressed by what the enemy can do before becoming a reckless idiot and nearly getting his friends killed." Ace said with a small sigh.
"So he's a younger and a bit less mature version of you." Marco concluded and Ace hit him in the head.
"Shut up." He said earning a laugh before the two of them walked up to Luffy who was still listening to stories.
"Ah~ I'm so excited to get to the New World now!" the boy said clenching his fist with a large grin.
"You really are easily excited." Vista commented and Luffy simply laughed.
"Just don't get yourself killed the moment you step in it." Ace said ramming his fist on Luffy's head making the boy look up at him with a pout.
"Shut up Ace. I can handle the New World." Luffy said sticking his tongue out at his older brother.
"Oh, so you saying that you can beat me?" Ace challenged grabbing the boy's cheeks and pulling them apart like he had done so many times before. Luffy followed up by grabbing Ace's hair which started a very childish fight that more of entertained the crew than anything else.
Ace glanced over at the island that had been bobbing up and down in the waves for the last half hour. Oyaji had finally been able to get out of his bed and was currently sitting in his chair and drinking sake much to the nurses' protests. Like the rest of them, he was covered in the bandages and showed signs of what the war had done to him.
Luffy was currently telling Marco about his crew and the man seemed rather interested in them. Marco seemed to have picked a liking to Luffy and would tell the boy stories of his own and Luffy being Luffy always loved to hear this sort of stuff and would gladly sit and listen.
"They call the island Kako no Shima." Izou said coming up next to Ace and watching the place as well. It seemed to be a normal island with cliffs and mountains along with hills and fields suggesting that it was either a spring or summer island.
"Kako no Shima?" Ace questioned not understanding what it meant.
"Oh, I remember Robin talking about it to Nami once." Luffy said trying to remember what had been said but completely failing at it. Marco smiled at the teen's frustrated face and chuckled to himself when Luffy became angry at forgetting.
"Island of the Past." The boy finally said smiling proudly that he had been able to remember what the meaning behind the name was which surprised Ace.
"I'm not going to ponder how he was able to remember that but as long as he doesn't say anything else about it I think I'll be fine." Ace said looking at his brother who seemed to be still thinking though he knew very well that it would make him sick.
"They said something about it being dangerous or what not but I don't care. NEW ISLAND NEW ADVENTURE!" the boy said shooting his fist in the air and laughing.
"You are easily excited." Marco said sweat dropping a bit at the boy's ignorance of the danger part.
"You'll have to wait till tomorrow Lu." Ace said walking up to his brother and placing his hand on the boy's head. "We aren't going to get to the island till later tonight. Going on an unknown island at night isn't safe." Luffy looked up at his brother and booed.
"But that's half the fun." Luffy said and Ace laughed.
"Okay, then going on one by yourself is dangerous." Ace said with a grin saying that he wanted to go on it as well.
"No, both of you wait till morning." Whitebeard said and Ace and Luffy became hear broken.
"Not fair." Ace said sitting next to Luffy with a small pout much like his brother's.
"I can still go on it." Luffy said with a smile knowing that since he wasn't part of the crew he didn't have to listen to the old man.
"No, I said you can't go on by yourself." Ace said reminding his younger brother who was now depressed as well. Ace smiled and looked at the sky once more as the sun began to set before glancing at the boy who was being cheered up by Marco.
Luffy had saved him and helped them escape, because of that Oyaji had agreed to help Luffy get to Shabody to meet up with his crew. The boy hadn't actually been told that the man was going to do this because like Ace himself, Luffy had been asleep for four days after the war. By then saying no was pretty much impossible especially with the boy's poor navigational skills.
They docked the ship and the sentries were in the crow's nest. Even though over a week had passed since the end of the war which they had won, the Whitebeard pirates had been on high alert for any marines that might come along. They all knew very well that the marines didn't care about Whitebeard himself; they were only after Ace and Luffy now. The two brothers were their biggest threat.
Ace and Luffy had both been given the same room because so many were filled and it made more sense to stick the boy with his brother though Luffy had said he can sleep on the deck. Light snores were sounded from the room telling anybody who walked by that both brothers were asleep and that they would be for a while.
Ace opened his eyes slowly and expected to see the sun. He and Luffy had always slept in late even though they knew that they would have to start the day off early. The freckled faced male sat up and ran a hand through his wavy black hair before glancing over at Luffy who was still sound asleep in the bed next to his. Luffy and him were in the same room…
A ten year old Ace instantly stood up and looked around the room that he and his brother were in. The walls and floor were made out of wood and a desk and book shelf were against one wall while the beds that he and Luffy had been asleep in occupied another. The third wall had part of Luffy's bed against it and a window.
Ace jumped over Luffy and looked out the circular window revealing an ocean that was calmly hitting the side of the ship that he figured out that they were on. Ace glanced down at Luffy and saw the seven year old hadn't changed much. Like he had expected, bandages covered the boy's body from having to run through the fire of that night. The freckled faced boy looked at his own body and wasn't surprised to see the bandages that covered him as well.
Ace looked at the snoring Luffy and rammed the boy in the head before covering his mouth almost instantly after expecting the scream that almost escaped his lips. Luffy looked up at Ace with slight tears in his eyes before realizing that they weren't in Dadan's house anymore.
Luffy grabbed his hat and followed Ace to the door that was on the final wall of the small room. Voices could be heard from the other side and Ace decided to use the desk legs as poles for him and Luffy to use since the ones that they usually used weren't there. This was getting better and better. First Sabo dies and now they have to deal with wherever the hell they were. Did Dadan finally get sick of them and sell them even though she had saved them the other day?
Ace heard footsteps that sounded like they were heading for the room and ordered Luffy to get on the book shelf and attack from above while he went under the bed and waited for the door to open. Luffy nodded after putting his over sized straw hat on and easily climbing on top of the thing and gripping the wooden pole that Ace had given him and got ready for whatever was going to come in the door.
"Oi, you two up yet, I thought you want-" Marco was cut off as two small boys rushed him, one at his head and the other at his gut. Marco easily caught both poles and threw the two boys onto the beds.
At first he thought that Ace and Luffy had decided to play a joke but then he noticed the size of the two attackers and stared at them. The larger of the two sat up and glared at the blonde who instantly recognized what seemed to be a younger version of Ace. The man wasn't positive until the smaller of the two sat up revealing a scar under his left eye and a large straw hat.
"Oh now this is interesting." Marco said looking at the boys, one who was glaring with suspicion and mistrust while the other was looking in more of curiosity.
Okay, I got about three or so people saying that they liked this idea so I went ahead and typed up the first chapter. I would have brought it up sooner but the sight has been a little messed up lately and I haven't been able to read some stories and such at random. When I put this on the document, it was all in bold and put together in a giant paragraph. I had to go through and break it apart and add the break lines which took me a while. Well, I hope you guys like my little idea.