#Garp messed up so so bad with Ace and Luffy that hes just like ''WHO TF CARES IF THEYRE GAY AND IN THE MARINES???''

[reineydraws]

@giurochedadomani this au is eating my brain.

someone in the replies of the last post brought up dogsred, a hockey manga where a figure skater becomes a hockey player so that could be zoro lol

i mentioned it there but he becomes a meme bc he was messing around during practice and managed to score with three hockey sticks, one of which was in his mouth! three stick style 😎

like u mentioned, ace is roger's son but it's not common knowledge bc he wanted to make it on his own name instead of under his dad's, who has like, gretzky-level hockey fame. also holds some resentment bc the peak of roger's career was when ace needed him at home.

also like u mentioned, garp totally doesnt believe professional sports is a reliable career in the long run, and despises that most of his grandkids are pro hockey players, and his son went into speed skating and eventually became the olympic coach for the country's olympic speed skaters (incl sabo). koala is also one and her and sabo are on the mix-gendered relay skate.

by the time luffy gets promoted to captain, he's somehow amassed the weirdest team of pirates players ever seen, where many of the regulars just. don't have backgrounds in hockey? where did he find them? how did he convince the league to take them? who knows.

cross guild productions is the brain child of crocodile, who lent buggy a bunch of money to start his company and decided to do this when buggy couldnt pay up when he chased him diwn years later. croc also coaches mihawk, so he decides to strong-arm mihawk into doing guest performances, since he's such a big figure skating name, having the most olympic golds ever win by a single figure skater. mihawk doesnt want to do it until he hears the storyline for the performance, sees his costume sketches, and holds the prop sword. he's just a huge goth dork underneath it all.

after mihawk's grand internationally-aired romantic gesture succeeds and he gets shanks back, shanks manages to convince the cross guild that he's still a good enough skater to do an easy ice show, as long as he doesnt fall on his bad arm like a dumbass. he never does tricks, but people love the character they write for him, as he's so charismatic. he plays mihawk's rival in that season's little show, and gets his own prop sword. every single performance sells out bc mishanks is till a hot topic among ice skating and hockey fans.

sanji comes from a very strict, very decorous mma family, and he never fit in bc he likes cooking and skating. he ran away from home and found a fister parent in zeff, and worked at the baratie growing up, where zeff put him in hockey bc his kid likes skating but he also needs friends his age. despite never wanting to be like his birth family, ironically sanji's one of the best fighters on the pirates.

usopp is a forward and their best shot, and generally always makes it into the net from wherever he's shooting. despite this, he finds being a forward absolutely terrifying and is refularly intimidated by the big guys they face that have no problem getting in his face and starting fights.

[wordy-little-witch]

Okay time for that marineford au I considered

Essentially just. The whole situation with Sengoku and Garp, where the latter point blank is pinned to the ground and begs Senny not to let him go-

Garp who is flawed and makes poor decisions. Garp who has put his job above most other things the majority of his life. Garp who lost touch with his son by these decisions, Garp who took in Ace (one of the biggest betrayals to the institution he has ever done), Garp who hid him and Luffy both away, Garp who pushed and pushed and pushed for them to become Marines because that was the only option he could fathom to keep them safe and keep his power over the situation, Garp who made bad choices with the best intentions-

Garp has lost one grandson already to the people he is meant to serve.

Garp had to watch on as Ace knelt on an execution platform, dead eyed and terrified - not of his own death, no, but of deaths of the people who showed up for him.

Garp had to watch as one grandson was nearly taken while another ran full throttle through a war ground to save the other. He accepts the hit and hits the ground in a mix of allowance and genuine pain. Luffy doesn't always know his own strength, especially when someone is between him and his goal.

Garp goes down and he prays to every deity he can think of that his boys will be safe.

Akainu moves, and Garp moves to lunge. Sengoku shoves him into the stone ground, cracking the rock and pinning him in place. And Garp? Garp is Done.

He has lost his son. He lost a grandson. He lost friends, he lost so much in name of the greater good, but is it even 'good' if all it reaps is suffering? After all the things he's done, is he even a good man?

He's made so many choices for the Marines that keep him up at night.

He refuses to continue that cycle.

He turns his head, eyes livid, and he snarls, "I will not lose them, Sengoku. Not like Rosi. If you value me at all, you will let me up."

And Sengoku... falters. He hasn't heard that name aloud in far too long, and he is taken aback. That's all Garp needs.

Akainu is closing in. Luffy is down, his tiny tank of a body finally crashing in the chaotic mess of the past few days, culminating at the worst possible time. Garp is still too far away, but he can see the moment Ace's eyes change, can see when his oldest grandchild makes his decision and moves.

So Garp moves faster.

Ace blocks Luffy with his body, anticipating the burning agony with welcoming arms if only to keep his baby brother spared the fate. Luffy is gaping up at him, and he tries a smile to the pale little face staring up to him. There is warmth at his back and it takes a moment to realize the haki signature is familiar, wraps around him in a way he hasn't felt in over a decade. Luffy is not looking at him anymore, he realizes. He turns his head.

Garp is back to back with Ace. He is staring down Akainu, a hole carved and cauterized in his gut. There is blood from his mouth, staining his chin, and yet even the magma now nestled in his abdomen holds no candle to the fire burning in his eyes. Akainu sneers at Garp, mouth opening to spit a comment on treachery and betrayal.

Garp's fist moves faster. Haki covers his flesh and knuckles, cracking across the admiral's face while his other hand holds the man by the collar to keep him in place. One, two three blows are delivered before Garp shifts, lifting and flinging the magma user towards the sea.

Ace stares. Luffy hiccups. Garp turns, staggering. Just as his knees buckle, both both lunge to him, lowering and supporting his weight. Garp clings, hands cupping their heads, pulling them close.

"I'm sorry," he chokes around the blood. "I am so sorry."

The battlefield is quiet, either literally or metaphorically, none of the three know. All they can know at the moment is grasping hands and burning eyes and aching hearts. Luffy curls as close as he can to Garp, huddled close as he can, limbs loose and throbbing. Ace is staring is disbelief.

"You boys..." Garp coughs. "Are my treasure."

"Gramps...?"

"No, Lu. Let grandpa finish..." He gives them both a squeeze. "I made... so many decisions.... ones I never should have." He turns his head, meets Ace's eyes. "Taking you in, calling you mine... that was one of the best decisions I ever made. Portgas D. Ace... you are mine. My grandson. My boy. And I am so... so fucking proud of the man you have become." He takes a shuddering breath. "Your roots do not define... who or how you grow. Whatever you become, you will be perfect. And you will be mine. And I will love you with all I have."

Ace's hiccuping sobs are quiet but jarring. Garp turns to Luffy.

"Lu... my baby, my boy." He cups the teen's cheek, thumb tracing a mirror to the scar on his face. "Since the day you were born, I knew you were destined for wonderful things. I'm sorry for the hurt I have caused. I'm sorry for the things I left unsaid. But you and your brother? You are the best things I have ever chosen. I chose you as a baby. I choose you know. I know you will shake the Seas and Heavens with your laughter, and I will laugh along with you." He pressed his forehead to Luffy's head, pulling Ace closer to cradle both boys close enough to feel their shaking breaths to his throat. He shuddered at the cloying cold that snaked up his bones.

The two boys clung hard to him, even as he began to sag. Between them both, they supported his weight, babbling pleas falling from chapped and bloodied lips.

"It has been... my greatest honor," he choked out, "to raise... the young princes of the sea." He gave them a weak smile. "May the waves carry you far," he recited weakly.

Ace choked. Luffy wailed. Both of them pressed closer, but finished the rite. "And may the winds carry your voice from the heavens."

Garp chuckled. He paid no mind to the blood that bubbled in his mouth from it. He gave them one final squeeze, a weak flex which was nothing like his normal strength.

Two grieving boys cradled the waning life of the grandfather on a war ground.

And with one sacrifice, the tides and paths laid out by Fate skewed.

Monkey D Garp gripped the rights bestowed to him by initial and forced the fates to obey.

A life for a life, an exchange of blood, and overhead, seagulls bathed in black screeched their agreement into the winds and waves and foam. A Deal was struck, the world shuddered, and with one decision, the very fabric of their reality unraveled a tapestry to weave into something new.

At the center of it all was a scarlet ribbon, an orange spark and a spiral of blue.

None on that glorified graveyard knew it then, but the blood of a vice admiral baptized a boy who would be king, purified a boy who renounced his crown, and moved to awaken a slumbering beast Seas away.

[beanghostprincess]

i need to know what you think about uta being ace's and sabo's sister too... like imagine a perfect world where uta existed without the mess of film red (i did enjoy it but also uhhhhhhhh there are a lot of weird things abt it bc i dont think shanks would actually take in uta like that considering he did experience piracy as a kid. so why would he put uta through that even if she'd stay put on the ship–) ANYWAY. so lets say shanks found uta after obtaining the devil fruit and takes her to the nearest island (dawn island.) then found makino and luffy and convinces her to stay w them or whatever.

i imagine that ace and uta do bicker w each other a lot. however sabo is very kind and excited to have a sister!! he's protective of her and enjoys her songs. (which brings out a surprising singing side from sabo ehe...)

i also imagine that uta is as rowdy and gluttonous as her brothers tbh. i mean, she's the only girl there so she's more than likely to be influenced by them. ALSO imagine uta being raised by dadan wheewwwww.... i think if she was raised alongside asl bros, she'd end up way different than she did in film red and well- actually become a pirate– (maybe rivaling with her brothers? that or she acts as luffy's biggest rival to be pirate king as her way of supporting his dream) (idk im just thinking as i type)

so everythings the same but uta is there with three insane brothers (shes as insane too... she is their equal). though it's lowkey clear dadan has a favorite (she loves a tough daughter) and god everything w garp would be so insane too like. before sabo was accepted and started living with the bandits, garp was happy to have a granddaughter (till she said she wanted to become a pirate too 😭) BUT he makes sure ace and luffy treats their sister right and is again being a favorite– however, she wouldn't suck up to him like that. like how the brothers would shield each other from garp, she would also shield them from garp !!

"leave my little brothers alone, old geezer!"

and yes, even if uta is a year younger than ace and sabo, she still would call herself a big sister (especially for knowing luffy longer than the other two. shes just used to being the older one)

anyway... lets say asul au is a tjing, now consider ASUL + S as we love talking about asl+s. with uta around, sanji likely thinks that all sisters are good because shes nice to him too. and how she clearly loves her brothers too. but ofc, uta surrounded by brothers while claiming to be the big sister, makes sanji incredibly jealous about their sibling relationship. it reminds him of reiju and his brothers, how they never really got along. while asul got along really well. they fight a lot but it's never with the intention to hurt each other or make the other feel worthless.

and who am i if i dont bring up sabosan at some point LOL. (also mb that this ask is so long i just love uta sm and i love aus sooo bad <<3) uta is definitely one of the first to notice her brothers' fondness of sanji. she is fond as him as well but not the same way as them lol. she tells sanji some secrets about sabo and sanji just cannot tell if shes actually serious or not because of how mischievous her smile is. and uta absolutely teases sabo about sanji, especially when hes not around like– that little song that little kids sing when it comes to someone havinf a crush.

"sabo and sanji sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g !"

and luffy definitely chimes in while sabo is beet red and begging them to shut up fkldjfldj. makino and uta Looooves gossiping about sabo and sanji. makino does ask to tone down her teasing, which she does, but she can't help but push each other's buttons.

idk theres just a lot to think about if uta was raised with asl brothers and uta growing up to be a pirate :^)

THIS IS SO CUTE !!!! Honestly, Film Red never sat right with me but not exactly because of Shanks' decision of keeping Uta. I see that pretty much in character for the guy-- What I don't like is the way they rushed the ending and the way it all ended, in general. It's just obvious they wanted to do Uta's story but in a way that didn't affect the canon and it's just- Stupid. Idk.

But let's say Shanks meets Uta and spend some years together and she does consider him her father (as I see it, because in this sibling group all of them have to have daddy issues. Except Luffy. Because more than daddy issues he just. Doesn't care-) but he leaves her with Luffy because he says it will be good for her. I think she wouldn't agree with his decision and something like in the movie would happen. Where he just... Leaves. And Uta ends up hating him or at least resenting him a bit. And it's obvious he did for her and he had good intentions but she's just a kid, so she genuinely takes it personal. So, yeah, the girl stays as Luffy's older sister, basically. At least this is how I see it.

Then Sabo and Ace appear and- It's chaotic.

Imo, she's still a diva and she still loves music because it's in her blood and also, she spent some time with Shanks so she already has a bit of her personality made. But being with them makes her learn more about protecting herself and being a bit ruthless, although I think she's more of the type to ler her brothers do the dirty work and only follow them in their shenanigans if they go "You only say that because you can't do it!!" (<- Ace, definitely) and she has to prove she can be as strong as them. So she's a diva but she's a bit more impulsive and reacts in a more violent way. Especially with food too.

I think she wouldn't get along much with Ace at first because he's a mess and she's also a mess and they're really similar when it comes to being Luffy's older siblings so they wouldn't agree on most stuff. But daddy issues are a good way of bonding and I'm pretty damn sure that if Ace ever said "Should I have been born?" in front of her, she would go insane trying to make him see that everybody deserves to live.

With Sabo, though, I think they'd get along pretty well. Sabo is still chaotic but a bit calmer than Ace and he has a strong ideology that Uta would definitely share. He wants to make a statement for freedom and Uta agrees and tbh, he's a writer and she's a singer and there's no better friendship than that one.

Her relationship with Luffy is pretty much the same, except that she now acts way more as a sister and not only as a past friend. Of course. She joins them drinking too!!

Ngl, you can hate me for this but I think the events of Red could easily happen... Again... I mean... Not exactly those events but-- Uta's dream would obviously be to reach everyone with her music. To make them feel seen and loved and making them see they should live. Because after spending so much time with her brothers, she wants to sing songs for the rest of the people that feel the same way they do. She always has them in mind when she sings and she always, always, tries to make them have fun and enjoy life. I think Uta's perception of living and freedom would clash a lot with Ace's and she'd try to make him want to live through music. Same with with freedom and Sabo/Luffy.

But then Sabo dies. And Ace dies. But Sabo comes back and-- I am sorry, and I know it partially was the mushroom's fault, but she's kind of unstable mentally (who isn't in this show tbh) and it wouldn't surprise me that her blatant optimistic views would make her want to do exactly what happens in Red again. But I think this time it should be Sabo and Luffy the ones saving her and, you know, idk, maybe Shanks is there too but this isn't about him today. Whatever. She doesn't hurt anyone and it has a good ending, but it's not the point of the post--

So Sanji is there with them! Following what we've already been saying about Sanji staying with the ASL bros but now adding Uta!!

Uta would absolutely. Adore. Sanji. He's the perfect little sibling. He's cute and knows how to cook and he's literally everything that's right in this world. She complains about Luffy crying but when Sanji does so she only says it's cute and that he deserves to cry-- Uta likes cute stuff canonically and Sanji is the cutest thing, so it makes sense. Also, Sanji just assumes every woman in the world is perfect from that very second because between his mom, Reiju and now Uta he has only had good experiences with girls. He does feel kind of left out at first remembering everything that happened with the Vinsmokes, but Uta always tries to include him in every little thing!

She really likes teasing him and Sabo, though. Uta might adore Sanji but that doesn't mean she isn't a little bit mean to him. It's obvious that they like like each other because, you know, they're kids. Look at them. It's obvious. Uta knows, Luffy knows, Ace knows... Sabo and Sanji spend so much time alone and Sabo always tries to be next to him and he looks at Sanji with like, literal heart eyes.

Uta: Do you like Sanji? Sabo: Sanji? No. No. No. Sanji's just a friend... Uta: Why are your eyes shaped like hearts? Sabo: Allergies...

Uta is an artist. A singer. She's 100% a hopeless romantic. I will die on this hill. So while Ace is extremely "ughhhh" *disgusted noises* by Sanji and Sabo's flirting and Luffy couldn't care less (he just likes teasing them because it's fun to see them panicking), Uta tries HARD to get them together. They're listening to her songs? She will sing a romantic one. They're alone? She will gently push one of them closer to the other. They eat spaghetti once and she goes all the way to try to do the thing where they eat the same one so they kiss. Etc etc etc. She won't stop being a little brat about it too, teasing both of them. And it's driving Sabo crazy. Makino asks Uta about the kids because she knows the girl is as invested as her in the relationship. Funniest thing in the world.

Now I can't stop thinking about them spearating when Sabo dies, following what we said etc etc etc And Uta becomes a famous singer. She doesn't kill anybody, okay? Let's leave it on her just- Doing a huge concert. Sanji and Sabo have already reunited but please, imagine these two not dating just yet. They're in love and pining but not dating. Everyone hates it. And then Sabo joins them for the concert, ofc, and when Uta sees them again (and sees Sabo is alive?? Because what the fuck why didn't they tell her???) one of the first thing she says is "Okay, okay... So you two are... You know?" and they don't understand what she's saying but literally all the crew is like "They're still pining. Please. It's awful". Girl makes it everyone's problem so she does this kiss cam thing to get them together finally. Like I said, good ending.

[pocket-jack]

OH DAMN OH FUCK I CAME UP WITH ASL AU IDEA

what if Roger decided to give Ace to White Beard instead of Garp? And Luffy just kinda got lost in the ocean as a child and... "Well, Ace, he's your baby brother know" kinda think happened.

And then Teach happened. And White Beard told Luffy to join Ace's angry vendetta to keep him grounded and save.

And they accidentally got on the pirate ship where they met a hostage noble guy named Sabo, who's parents just "Well, our son is lost and we better pronounce him dead than to give our money to some pirate scum. Luckily we adopted a new one, who is much better!".

And they just became brothers, searching for Teach and having adventures on their way.

Ace is "I will kill everyone who's gonna mess with my family" kinda guy, who will fight everyone who said something bad towards his old man. He really loves his family and won't betray it in any way, but he sometimes feels teared apart between Luffy and WB.

But Luffy is "I will kick your butt and become a King of the Pirates!" little piece shit, who will always fight White Beard 24/7. And White Beard just allows him to do so and even teaches him to use his Devil Fruit abilities right, because he really wants to have a serious combat with Luffy, when he will become stronger enough. Luffy wants to have his own start, his own ship and crew. He is not the guy who can be under someone's management, he likes being a boss himself (even if he is pretty bad in it). That's why he sees searching for Teach as his chance to form his own crew (and maybe make Ace and Sabo join him instead of WB)

And Sabo is "I just came along" kinda guy. He heard this stories about WB but never saw him in person. He likes adventures and he never knew freedom until he met his brothers. He can have a noble sassines sometime, but he also loves to procrastinate a lot, because his parents where torturing him with lots of noble child duties. He loves to write, and his brothers steal bought him a writer kit because he looked at it sadly in the store. He doesn't want to become a Pirate King like Luffy, or he doesn't want to make someone a Pirate King like Ace, but he really wants to travel with his brothers and see what they see, and write a story about their adventures together, because these two made him feel like a real person

[moongothic]

Still not unconvinced that if crocodad real Crocodile was made to think he lost his baby in childbirth. Why or by who I don’t know, but it would explain a few things.

I mean sure, that would explain why he has trust issues, why Crocodile couldn't recognize Luffy as his child etc, but like. While the scenario is interesting, it feels hard to believe because there are so many easier explanations to why things turned out the way they did. Like this concept would require so many leaps in logic that it'd feel unnececary from a pure writing perspective

Like, for example, if we just wanted an explanation to why Crocodile didn't stay with his baby/bring him along with him, and why he didn't know his child's name:

1) As I've talked about before, staying with the baby would've stripped that child of any freedom to choose their own path, instead becoming an immidiate target for anyone with a beef against Crocodile (anybody who wanted to mess with him could just target the baby instead) and/or the WG if they ever revoked Crocodile's Shichibukai status (which they could do if they ever found out he had been involve with the Revs). Luffy would've been doomed to grow up like Robin and Ace had the WG ever found out about him, so Crocodile and Dragon would've had to leave Luffy behind, for Luffy's own safety, so he could be free to become whoever he wanted to become. (And let's not forget how freedom is a hugely important theme in One Piece, how being "the most free person in the world" is literally how Luffy defines what the Pirate King is)

2) Knowing ^^^ it could've been too hard for Crocodile to name his child, knowing he might never see the baby again. Or maybe, knowing his child would end up in the care of Dragon's father, letting Dragon name the child was intentional. Maybe Crocodile had an idea for a name but The Divorce went bad and he never got to name the child. Or maybe it's customary to let the non-birthing parent to name the child in the world of OP, like it seemed like Roger was the one who named Ace too?? Point is, there may not be any clear answer, but there's many simple explanations we could work with.

But then if we wanted to make the "taken from childbirth and lied to" route, like. It just raises so many questions. Too many. 1) Who stole the baby 2) Why did that person get to be around Crocodile and the baby at this time 2.5) Letting anyone untrustworthy know about the pregnancy would be dangerous as hell, who the fuck would Crocodile have allowed even near him at this time 3) Who took the baby to Garp 4) Why/how did Garp know about the baby being his grandchild 5) How did Dragon find out about Garp having his baby in safety 6) Why didn't Dragon tell Crocodile the baby was alive 7) Who told Crocodile the baby had died 8) Why/how did Crocodile even believe that

And my personal favorite

9) Did they show Crocodile someone else's dead newborn baby as "proof" that his child had died, or did they just take the baby, lie to him, and Crocodile somehow believed it without ever demanding to see his baby? Like. I'm sorry, but there's no fucking way. There's no fucking way. Like sure, giving birth and your baby dying would be a horrific experience and maybe you wouldn't want to see let the parent see the corpse immidiately because. Trauma and all. But they can't just throw the corpse baby into a bin five minutes after birth without letting the parent see their child at all. Like what if the parents wanted to bury or cremate their baby??

Like I'm not saying you can't write an interesting story that could work, you could. I'm just arguing that there's far easier ways to explain how Crocodad could've happened. Like there's perfect in-universe reasons and thematic elements you could work with

[aloeanemonabee27]

OP ASL brothers older brother Ace au part 1.5

I'm just saying I had a lot of fun imagining Ace with the face of "I have a severe case of idiocie" while he was taking Sabo and Luffy with him lol. An order of angst? No? To bad, suffer with me. This is more of an internal monologue of Ace

When the trio left Dawn island, all what it was heard was the cheers of excitement of Sabo and Luffy. Ace of course, was doing his best for not ruining the mood and keeping their adventurous spirits. Unknown to the children, Ace was having a trainwreck of thoughts, the wave of realization crashed into him when he was just as far away from the island and he concluded that he indeed was very stupid and he was sure Deuce will say the same too. Just what in the actual heck was he thinking in inviting actual children to the Grand line? Of course they'll say yes! They were children!! They are naive against the dangers of the Grand Line, why didn't his logic screamed louder to beat sense to him that the Grand line aren't for children? Is an unpredictable place, it took time for him to take the hang out of it, but Sabo and Luffy are a different case. Sabo is intelligent of course, he survived on his own long enough in Grey terminal, but even with his intellect he has disadvantage in that place, they were threats much more greater than he can handle. And Luffy where do even begin: trusts easily, can't lie, gets easily distracted, gets in trouble fast as lightning... in conclusion, an easy target. Sabo is ten and Luffy is seven, they weren't prepared to be in the Grand Line, physically nor mentally and the fuck where his logic to warn him that the Spade pirates have enemy's too?! There was no enemy that will pass the opportunity to use his brothers against him, and oh hello! He just remember the Whitebeard pirates, the current major problem he has right now, ironic he was more concern about them rather than the wrath of his grandfather, with good reason, Whitebeard himself can kill them with his pinky finger without breaking a sweat and they will not pass the opportunity to hunt him down and risking to leading his brother into a painful short life. What a mess.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm down and just accepted the fact that it was to late to turn back. Ace looks down to see the glee of excitment on his brothers, he couldn't possibly just return them back, their dreams will be taken away from them and people will shattered it into pieces just to turn them in what the society wants and the dangers they will pass even inside of the system. Have the geezer once thought what would happened if someone discoveres Luffys father? How the world government wouldn't hesitate to end his life just because his existence is a sin for them, not caring if he has nothing to do in whatever things Dragon has done. Or Sabo, he never once liked being a noble, he followed his parents orders at first by mere innocence but when he found out their true nature he started to have despise and shame of his origins, have the geezer thought of that? Had he thought if the family had descendants they will make Sabo's life a living hell? Had he thought that rotten man, he so called father would "claim him" and control his life and he would be caged for the rest of his life? Even if Sabo change his lifestyle as a marine or whatever people would never stop pointing at him because of his blood family, people will be cruel with a kid who had no fault whatsoever of his rotten father's actions, the result would be the same, no matter where Sabo would turn to he'll be humiliated. He feared his brother's spirits broke in some point, that Sabo would grew hating the world and himself, he feard that Luffy wouldn't smile anymore whether because the world government would use him like a puppet or kill him. Have the geezer thought how cruel the world will be with them? Have he thought that his brothers would end up broken? Have he thought they'll ended up like him? The mere thought of it made him anxious, Ace is not mad at Garp, more like frustrated with him, he knows he means well, he knows his heart is at the right place that he wants the best for his grandchildren, but sometimes his actions cause more harm than good and he was no exception. Ace himself is the mere example of it, he understand why Garp kept him alive, he was grateful for Garp trying to ease his heart at his unique style, he was grateful for both Dandan and Garp for him but sadly keeping him alive only wasn't enough. Nothing prepared him for the raw truth of his origins, nothing prepared him for the opinions the people had of his existence, nothing prepared him for their cruelty, nobody told him how bitter and broken he would grew over time because of it, how his rage increased in time making him to do questionable things to calm it down. Not murder of course, but he was sure that beating up people in bars was not a healthy relief. Even so no matter what he did, the bitterness, the loneliness, everything that scarred him was still there present. He was suffocating in his mind over this heavy burden that no child should be carrying, it was tiring to live with so much hate more than his body can carry, it was tiring to live this lifestyle, to know if he was supposed to live or not, he wished he could be normal, he wished he never knew he was the son of Gol D Roger.

Ace knows that what he did was not right, but thinking of the future of his brothers, of the possibilities, on how they won't have a choice to face the situation they can't handle yet he couldn't help it, no scratch that he won't allow it. He won't allow that his brothers go through the thing that happened to him, he won't allow that his brothers to suffer the cruelty of the society at this young age. He made up his mind, he will give his brothers what he didn't have when he was younger, a chance to happy, a chance to go around the world without worry of what the world thinks of them, a chance to have peace, a chance to have free. Whether it was a blessing or a punishment he doesn't care, he won't turn his back on his brothers, when nobody was there for him he will be there for his brothers, what nobody did for him when they needed he will do it for his brothers, he will protect them so anyone and anything can't hurt them in any way shape or form. He'll be the role model that they can look out for, he'll raise them to be strong, he'll raise his brothers to face the world with the freedom they deserve and rest to be sure he will raise them so nobody can humiliate them. He'll do anything on his power for his brothers, his treasure, his brothers are the most valuable treasure he had encounter in his life, Ace is a pirate and as such he'll be the first one to take them before anyone else can and take them in the safety of his command and ship. Ace will value, love and protect his treasure no matter what.

[redsoul-writing]

Chapter 1 - Home

DISCLAIMER: I OWN THE PLOT AND ONLY THE PLOT.

Also, warning, this chapter is LONG. But I promise the next chapters (excluding 2) will be of normal length. I will be putting an explanation of what this story will consist of at the end of the chapter.

“Sir, reporting!”

“Report.” Garp answered

“The town seems to be all clear for now, but the townspeople say that the buck pirates came through here!” The soldier replies

‘Is this guy for real?’ Garp thinks to himself.

“You think I don’t know that? Tell me what they DID, did they kill anyone, is there a pattern in their theft, do you know where they’re going to be?” Garp sounded annoyed

“Ah! I apologize sir! There are a total of 7 casualties, citizens say that they fled as soon as they saw our ship in the distance.”

“I see… how are the injured?” Garo asked

“They’re being treated, some with major wounds but they’ll survive.”

“Good, I’ll catch up to you once I inspect this area.” He walked away

“Yessir!”

————————————————————————

‘Jeez. They did a number on this place.’ Garp moved aside the half broken door before stepping.

“What the—?” Garp hesitated

The house looked almost completely destroyed, rattled with bullet holes. There was broken glass on the floor, but what actually surprised him was the crying he heard in the house.

“Is there a baby in here?” He thought out loud

He walked closer to the sound, until he stepped in the kitchen. The crying is obviously coming from here.. but there’s no baby to be seen.

Garp looked in the direction of the crying and realized that the child might be in one of the cabinets.

He opened a cabinet, sure enough, there it is.

“How did we not hear you?” He picked it up

‘Did someone forget this kid? No, there no way you’d forget a kid in this mess..’ he turned and walked towards the exit

‘Maybe it’s one of the deceased’s kids.’

————————————————————————

“Sir, I checked the deceased’s history.”

“And?” Garp asked, still holding the baby.

“That child doesn’t belong to any of them.”

“Are you sure?” He raised a brow

“Yes, only three of the seven had kids, and even then they ranged from ages 4-8.”

“Did you ask the living citizens?” garp questioned

“Unfortunately nobody knows about the kid, sir.”

“Hm. Alright, you can go now. Good job.”

As the Marine soldier walked away, Garp was deep in thought.

*tug*

Garp looked down, the baby was tugging on his coat.. and it stopped crying too. Actually, now that he thinks about it, it had stopped crying since they left the house.

…

Garp chuckled

“What’s wrong sir?” The soldier next to him sweat dropped (how can he laugh at a time like this?)

“I think I’ve formed a habit of adopting abandoned kids.”

————————————————————————

“..y / n !”

‘What? Who’s calling my name?’

“Y/N!”

‘Oh no…that sounds like-!’

“YYYYYYY/NNNNNNN!!!!!”

*crash*

“SHUT UP!”

“HUH? What?!” Y/n looked around the room for the demonic monkey they call Luffy.

Her eyes landed on a knocked out Luffy laying on top of broken bookshelf. Her eyes trailed to her right, finding Ace.

‘Oh, that’s why Luffy’s in that state.’ she thought

“Oww.. Ace! That hurt!!” Luffy wailed

“You were being annoying!” Ace yelled

“I think you punched him a bit hard..” Y/n yawned

“Just a bit.” Said Sabo as he stood up

“Now you’re awake.” Ace looked at Y/n

“Mhm. Why did he want to wake me up so bad?”

Sabo walked over

“Well, Luffy wan—“

“WHAT’S GOING ON? WHAT WAS THAT CRASH?!”

A pissed off Dadan appears

She looks at Luffy, then at Ace.

Then at Luffy.

Then at Ace.

Sabo and y/n exchange looks.

“YOU BUNCH ARE SO DAMN NOISY, ALWAYS WRECKING THE PLACE!”

Ace had a look on his face that consisted of a ‘Yeah, time to go.’ kind of look

And so he went, with Luffy and Sabo following behind. Out the window.

Wait what-

*crash*

“AHHHH! MY WINDOW!” Dadan ran over to the broken window

y/n just stared in shock. They’ve never done that before.

“I’m sorry Dadan.” Y/n stood up, finally feeling awake enough.

“Oh Y/n! You’re the only sane one in that bunch!” Dadan cried over her window || :,( RIP window ||

“They’re just a bit energetic today..” y/n nervously laughed

“Why god, why me?” Dadan sulks.

‘She was pissed a couple seconds ago..’ y/n sweatdropped

“Why don’t we make some cookies, Dadan?”

“Huh? Oh…yeah. Okay.”

Dadan could use a cookie right now.

———————-———————-———————-——

‘I’m glad the cookies seemed to cheer her up a bit. I made a few extras just for the boys today.’

Y/n walked along the trees, looking for the trio.

“Luffy! Ace? Saaaaboooo!”

“Where are they?” She huffed.

*rustle*

‘Did the bushes just-‘

*rustle*

The bushes a couple feet ahead of y/n were rustling.

“Stop doing that, she’ll find us!”

“shh!”

‘Why are they hiding from me?’

“I guess I’ll enjoy these cookies all by myself!” She rustled the bag

“COOKIES??

“LUFFY YOU IDIOT!”

Y/n laughed

The Trio knew they were busted and stood up in defeat.

Well, two of them.

“COOKIES!!” Luffy lunged to where y/n was standing.

Luffy was about to grab them until y/n dodged him.

“Come on, no fair!”

“Ah, ah. You can have one only if you tell me what you’re hiding.”

“But..” Luffy looked at Ace and Sabo

They were frantically waving ‘no’ with their hands. It was a sight to see.

But Luffy had a weapon up his sleeve. He used his brain for once.

Y/n looked away from Ace and Sabo and back at Luffy. Big mistake.

He was doing his sad puppy eyes!!

Y/n gasped

She was not expecting that.

“Luffy..” y/n tried to look away but she just kept looking back at him.

She sighed and handed him a cookie.

Luffy being Luffy, gobbled it up.

“Fank you!” He said with his mouth full

This made her giggle.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Y/n caught Ace and Sabo tip toeing away.

“What are you talking about?” Sabo put his hands up, Ace doing the same.

That idiot.

Sabo looked over at Aces hand, occupied by a colorful flower crown.

Ace realized what he was doing and immediately hid his hands behind his back.

Y/n stood there trying to process what happened.

Luffy was licking cookie crumbs off of his fingers.

“Dude.” Sabo facepalmed

“OH MY GOD!” Y/n laughed

“STOP LAUGHING!” Aces face went red

“YOU WERE *wheeze* TRYING SO HARD- TO HIDE IT!” She struggled in between laughs

“It’s not funny!” Ace crossed his arms.

“Okay, okay!” She finally started to settle down.

“Let me see it.” She walked over to them

Ace handed her the flower crown. “I-It was Sabo’s idea anyway.”

“What-?!” Sabo looked betrayed

…

‘Why isn’t she saying anything?’ Sabo glanced at her

‘Does she hate it?’ Ace took a peak

Y/n was just smiling. Genuinely smiling. It’s like her (e/c) eyes were sparkling.

“Do you like it?” Luffy poked his head behind her

The other three jumped, not knowing when he got that close.

“I love it.” She grinned.

The trios doubts went out the window.

“Really?” Ace asked

“Mhm.” She stepped closer to Sabo

She pecked his cheek, earning a deep blush.

“Why does he get a kiss?!” Ace yelled

“It was his idea, no?” She giggled

“Well- it was also mine too!” He protested

“What? You said it was stu-“ Luffy was interrupted by a cookie to the face

“Oh well. Too bad, you can have some cookies though!” Y/n smiled at them.

Sabo took one, Ace grumbled as he followed.

Luffy snatched the whole box after that.

“Oi! Don’t be greedy!” Ace shouted

“Oh yeah, Luffy. Why did you want to wake me up so bad this morning?” The (h/c) sat down in the grass

“Huh? Hmm..can’t remember.”

‘Yeah, that’s Luffy alright.’ The other three thought

“He wanted to show you a flower he found, but after we ran away I told him we should make a flower crown.” The blonde explained

“Thanks Lu.” She put the flower crown on her head, before giving Luffy a peck on his cheek.

“Tch.” Ace looked away, crossing his arms.

Luffy being Luffy was just happy to be included, he didn’t know why Ace wanted one so much.

This amused y/n.

Those four were inseparable. They were always surrounded by laughter and joy.

Where did everything go so wrong?

“Hey! Stop it!” Luffy shouted

“You let him go!” Ace punched one of the men before being pinned down

“You kids don’t understand anything. Just stay out of this!” Ordered Sabo's father

“Tch! Let Sabo go!” Y/n ran up to the noble and head butt him, causing him to stumble.

“Ouch! Hey, grab her!” He said as he clutched his stomach

The men did as they were told and brought her up to the noble.

“No! Don’t touch her!” Sabo protested

“Y/n!” Ace and Luffy shouted.

“Hmm.” The noble inspected her face. “She’s cute, she’ll fetch a good price. Bring her along.”

“What- NO!” Ace struggled against the man holding him.

“LET HER GO!!” Sabo tried to free himself

“You will comply if you don’t want these three dead!” The noble threatened the blonde.

Sabo froze.

“That’s more like it. Come on, let’s go.”

“Don’t worry guys, we’ll escape.” Y/n smiled in reassurance

Sabo just hid his face with his hat.

“NOOO!” Ace shouted

“Y/N! SABO!” Luffy cried

_______________________________________________

Hi, hi, hello, yes I’m back haha you can stop clapping! I’m joking you’re probably mad at me for being gone for so long lmaoo.

Sorry I was gone, I was on a long, heavy writers block, and then came finals week.

ANYWAYS, I’ve decided that instead of that story I was going to do focused solely on Law x reader, I will instead be doing a one piece x reader, just to cater to more than one group. What if someone likes Ace? What if they like Zoro? Aw man.. what about Eustass kid? Don’t worry, I’ll include all of your favorite hotties. ;)

[arielxlazarus]

I almost forgot about that fanfic appreciation week, but I wanted to at least do something for it! So here's a rec list for some of my favorite fics in the one piece fandom!

This list is not at all exhaustive btw (there's still loads of other fics in the fandom that I love), so please don't feel bad if you weren't included! Also if anyone wants more recommendations from me, you can check out my bookmarks on my ao3!

Who Knows (what could happen) by Chromi

Rating: T

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: For as long as he could remember, he had wanted to set out to sea as an adventurer. His father, unfortunately, dictated that he was to follow the family tradition and become a doctor instead.

Following a lifetime of hurt and sorrow at the hands of his family, he eventually breaks free and takes to the sea alone - determined to keep it that way. Fate has other ideas in store for him; fate crosses his path with Portgas D. Ace's, a brand new pirate.

And what does he hate more than pirates?

Nothing.

Or: from Sixis to the Moby Dick - the lives of the Spade pirates.

First Time by Chromi

Rating: E

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: "Because it is Ace, and it will only ever be Ace, that he wants to see like this, and he wants to be responsible for unravelling him down to his core and loving him to his very center."

In which Ace and Deuce go all the way for the first time.

@chromiwrites

Seabound by AnkhPosts

Rating: T

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace is a selkie, making one of his periodic stops on land to catch a breather and get some ridiculously tasty human food, maybe see some sights if there are any. His pelt is safely hidden, he'll stay a day or two at most and be on his way.

Deuce is a mer, alone on the sea and traveling as he pleases for the first time in his life, and while he might not be terribly interested in actually interacting with humans it's hard not to see them as fascinating.

Ace meets Deuce. Deuce meets Ace. Neither knows the other isn't human.

@ankhposts

Death is only the beginning by Chizyk

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: “Ankhreshet?” he whipped his head round at the sound of a raspy voice so fast he almost got whiplash. He could feel his body going completely cold as he saw the mummy’s empty eye sockets staring right at him.

@chizyk

I'm Still Here (part of a series) by theprodigypenguin

Rating: M

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace (also Izou/Sabo later in the series)

Summary: "When I do die, don't bother burying me in that empty grave. Put my body in a boat and set me out to sea. Let me sleep eternal on the ocean that my father loved so much; because before everything else in this world, I am a child of the sea, and when I die, I want to return to it. Put me in a boat and set it aflame so I can go down in the same fire I lived."

Forget-Me-Not Fall by theprodigypenguin

Rating: M

Pairing: Izou/Sabo

Summary: “Most of the nobles I’ve met tonight look meticulously put together. They look like they were built to portray a certain image paralleled a hundred times over. People who were copied and pasted. Flawless clothes, flawless faces, flawless makeup, flawless hair.”

“Not me though,” Sabo stated, and Izou hummed.

“It’s comforting.”

“Huh?”

Izou met Sabo’s eye. “Everyone else in this place hides their worst attributes with a mask they modified to fit their faces. They don’t seem to comprehend that those perfect masks only make their worst characteristics more pronounced and defined.” His expression was terribly gentle as his eyes wandered across Sabo’s face. “It’s comforting to be approached by someone not trying to be something else.”

Sabo tilted his head. “How do you know I’m not manipulating you like some common Goa aristocrat?”

Izou smiled. “There are a few reasons.”

@theprodigypenguin

A Light To Guide You Home by TheSkyIsMyHome

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: In a world that despises mutants, Ace lives purely to protect his little brother.

Until the flames inside him find their perfect match and opposite, and he doesn't know what to feel anymore.

The Phoenix's Mate by TheSkyIsMyHome

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Marco is a handsome man. Ace really can't be blamed for being attracted to him. Nobody minds, either.

But Marco isn't always a man. Ace still loves him regardless, and his sexual urges are catching up to that fact.

Marco indulges him, but he might just find himself enjoying it more than he thought he would.

@evvazi

ASL in Red (series) by Kereea

Rating: G-T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law (both asexual), Koala/Sabo, Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Benn Beckman, Donquixote "Corazon" Rosinante/Aokiji | Kuzan, Roronoa Zoro/Sanji, and several other minor ones

Summary: In an alternate universe, forces conspired to put Ace, Sabo, and Luffy in the care of the Red Hair pirates as children.

The Grand Line would never know what hit it.

Mates (part of a series) by Deubatty

Rating: E

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Deuce just wanted to go searching for plants! A nice walk in the woods. Except, he ends up becoming the mate to a very persistent naga

His First Mate The Mermaid (part of a series) by Deubatty

Rating: T

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Instead of finding another person on Sixis, Ace finds a mermaid

@masked-writer

Being Human by MaiKusakabe

Rating: E (no smut)

Pairing: None (heavy focus on the platonic relationships between Marco, Whitebeard, and the rest of the crew as they form)

Summary: The line that differentiates human from object appears to be clear, but sometimes it blurs to the point where it is impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins.

The Unknown Devil by MaiKusakabe

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace hadn’t expected his last week of imprisonment before his execution to be any different from all the years preceding it. Then again, he hadn’t expected to have Marco the Phoenix as a cellmate for that week, or that Marco’s presence would shake his bleak world so much.

Ripple Effect by MaiKusakabe

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: After the incident with Shanks, Garp didn't take Luffy to Dadan's, unaware of how much that would change the life of his other grandson.

@maisstories

To Build a Home by endlessblankpages

Rating: G

Pairing: None (heavy focus on the platonic relationships between the ASL bros and the Whitebeard Pirates)

Summary: The ASL pirates are used to being accused of crimes they didn't commit. But when they're accused of destroying a small village in the New World, it sends them hurtling toward a deadly confrontation with the strongest man in the world, Whitebeard. The results are not what they were expecting.

Persistence & The Impossible (part of a series) by dragonsfall

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: In order to keep himself from losing his job, Ace takes on an impossible story. Get an interview with the ever-elusive Phoenix. Guess he might as well kiss his job goodbye.

Self Discovery (part of a series) by dragonsfall

Rating: E

Pairing: Izou/Sabo (sort of, it's technically masturbation)

Summary: Sabo has been waiting for a day like this for a while but it doesn’t go quite how he planned it.

@clockworkpanic

A Breach of Intention by Depths

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: It was unspoken, but some pirate crews and mermaids had an unspoken solidarity. Pirates throw their enemies overboard, and the merfolk will take care of them.

mer!ace au

@leviathiane

Running on All Sixes by lunarshores

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace, minor Izou/Thatch

Summary: The Whitebeard gang might be one of the most influential in the city, but to Marco they're just his family. Though he sometimes wishes they'd just leave him alone, especially when Izo's playing matchmaker, and Ace is his usual oblivious self. When a brother betrays them, they'll have to fight to show why no one ever messes with their family.

nothing is impossible with you by lunarshores

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Five times Ace and Marco accidentally mixed their flames on accident and one time that was entirely on purpose.

@lunarshores

I Want You to Look at Me by shockandlock

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: One night, Marco is missing from dinner, so Ace decides to bring dinner to him. He's surprised to see Marco wearing glasses and now he can't stop thinking about the way he looks. Now with additional chapter(s) including more miscellaneous MarcoAce PWP!

To My Dear Fire (part of a series) by shockandlock

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Living in the city is a new thing for Ace. After being raised near a cozy coastal mountain town through his childhood, it's definitely a change of pace, but it doesn't help when he loses his new job after an unfortunate encounter with actor Marco Newgate. He just wants to live-- and meet his long time pen pal, Phoenix.

Marco knows that being an actor is hard, so he takes the little things when he can: writing his pen pal (and honestly one of his best friends) Fire Fist, flirting with the cute new waiter at his favorite café-- not that he has a chance after a disaster on social media. But maybe fate really does give him a second chance when Ace shows up at Four Emperor Studios...

@shockandlock

Uncharted Territory by silverwolf_fox

Rating: E

Pairing: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: This was by far one of Ace's most ridiculous ideas.

When Deuce keeps getting flustered everytime he tries to dominate Ace, they created an opportunity where he didn't have to be afraid of messing up.

Now he's free to do and try whatever he wants...

...so long as Ace doesn't wake up.

Watching the Sunrise (part of a series) by silverwolf_fox

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Many years have passed since Rouge gave up her life for her son’s...except she didn’t die, but she thinks Ace did. Living her life on Baterilla, she’s mourned each and every day until the morning she receives his bounty poster. She sets off immediately to find him, but finds their meeting isn’t as easy as she’d imagined.

@the-devil-fruit-tree

never shall i forget, how you climbed out of a dream by siojo

Rating: T

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: “Kaido,” Ace smirks, flames burning around his feet as he shifts in preparation for Kaido’s next attack, already trying to decide what he’s going to do in response. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? You’ve seemed to have been enjoying yourself here.”

“I thought you would be smarter than this, Portgas. You’ve never tried to fight another Yonko before, your bounty won’t matter much when you lose.”

Ace barks a laugh, his teeth bared in a facsimile of a grin, “You must have missed out on the brawl I had with Big Mom after she sent two of her daughters and a son for me to consider marrying. This is a bit more personal than that.”

@wordsdrippinginink

Reborn in Fire by aerle

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Fireman Marco has earned the nickname 'the Phoenix' by saving numerous people from a certain death. After an accident however, he has to relearn to walk and gets a new job as arson inspector at a different fire station. There he gets confronted with a boy from his past, now all grown up and gorgeous.

Three's a Crowd, Four's a Double Date by aerle

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace (main), Izou/Thatch (secondary)

Summary: "We're not dating," Marco said definitively. "That we're sharing a bed tonight is a total coincidence."

@aerle

Universal Dive by EmpressKira

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace had been making his way through the city to go to one of his favorite cafes. Well, that was until this hole ripped in the sky and some pirate fell out with the flaming bird guy following. Getting targeted, he is dragged into a different world with pirates and everything defying the reality he is used to. Will he make it home? Will he go back when the time comes?

@empresskira

Blue moon (series) by de_Winter

Rating: T-M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Urban fantasy AU, werewolf Marco and witch Ace

Red Velvet by de_Winter

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: Ace already knew their routine by heart, just from observing them for a couple of mornings when he had early delivery, and from Izou’s daily long winded—and probably sexually frustrated—rants. Big Blond would come out of the bakery wearing a shirt too tight for him and too thin for the weather as soon as he was done setting up the tables inside the storefront, holding a take out cup and a small box in his big hands. They looked really, pleasantly big from where Ace was standing, and he honestly wished he wasn't standing that far away.

@dee-de-winter

We'll Look Back and Laugh at Ourselves by JuHuaTai

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace, minor Gol D. Roger/Portgas D. Rouge

Summary: Between his new boyfriend and his workaholic boss, Marco felt like he was surrounded by family issues of the father and son dispute variety. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Or maybe he should've listened to the office gossip more. Maybe then he'd figure it out sooner.

Gratitude of the Phoenix (part of a series) by JuHuaTai

Rating: M

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: [Based on 'The Crane Wife' Folklore]

One day, he saved a bird from freezing to death in a trap. Then, a stranger saved him from suffering the same fate, and a request to stay for one night turned into having someone to fill the void left in the small cottage and in his heart ever since his brothers left.

These two incident doesn’t seem to be related to one another, but they both changed Ace’s life in ways he could never have imagined.

Watashitachi wa Roger kaizoku desu (we still stand proud) by stereden

Rating: T

Pairing: None (heavy focus on Buggy, Shanks, and Crocus)

Summary: The Roger Pirates disappeared after their Captain's death, and were happy enough to let the Marines forget about them.

Until the Marines decide to execute their Captain's son, that is.

@stereden

This Bites! by Xomniac

Rating: M

Pairing: None (heavy focus on a main character oc and the strawhat pirates)

Summary: Sea Kings, sea-sickness, sunburns, a 95% genocidal Navy and more than a million and one other assorted ways to die. It's official: Being inserted into an anime sucks ass... Buuut I guess it could be worse. I mean, look on the bright side: At least I'm sailing with the future king of the pirates.

A Fortune that Never Grows Old by imperialmint

Rating: E

Pairing: Marco the Phoenix/Portgas D. Ace

Summary: It's one thing to get butterflies in your stomach when you seen an attractive person but it's another thing entirely for Marco to want to stomp out a courtship ritual and lay foundations for a nest when he meets the navy's new (hot) secret weapon.

@imperialmint

Most of the authors on this list have many other excellent one piece fics I'd definitely suggest checking out! Enjoy your reading and try to show them all some love if you can!

[unknownwriting]

Summary: childhood friends to lovers with the asl trio hc (modern au!)

Characters: Sabo, Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy

Notes: Uhhh...I didn’t just write more Sabo and Ace. 🙈 omg I really can’t get enough of these 2. Lol it was hard to write Luffy but I tried my best 😌

━━☆⌒*.

Sabo

Definitely love at first sight. When he first saw you, he wasn’t sure why, but he loves you. Maybe it the way you smiled, or laughed, or your playful eyes. Whatever it was, Sabo has always like you since you were kids.

now seeing how the world isnt perfect, Sabo had only barely got to know you before he was forced to move away to London (idk why London but Oda said that Sabo was British sooo....🤷🏼‍♀️ and like if you live in London or what not just don’t for the sake of the hc 😌)

Of course before he left he made sure to make a secret email so he could still email you and his brothers. Once he got his phone he did not wait to give you his number and call.

because he still lives over sea (assuming that no one reading this lives in England...) the 2 of you would call and text all the time. Text each other good morning and how y’all slept, text through the day about every little thing, and at night the 2 of you would fall asleep on the phone (I completely forgot about the time difference so just ignore it for this)

I can’t even tell you how many time you had your phone taken up and had Ace to steal it back.

even though the 2 of you couldn’t see each other in person, only being able to call and text didn’t seem to stop you 2. You still told each other everything, sent each other memes on Insta, and called when ever you got a chance.

no don’t think that just because Sabo is over seas, Ace doesn’t know about his crush on you. 100% knows about it and 100% teases you about it. You can’t really get mad at him because if it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t have realized your feelings for Sabo

but with Ace knowing about Sabo crush, he made sure to keep other boys away just because he can. Sabo really didn’t ask for it but he’s still greatful anyways.

and so with any boy that has ever like you being scared away by Ace, in your senior year of highschool (Sabo is 2 years older than you so he had to wait until your senior year) Sabo fianlly came out and told you that he liked you. And surprise, surprise you like him too and as soon as those words left your lips, he dropped everything and booked the next flight. He didn’t even tell you here was flying over till he landed.

you, Ace and Luffy wasted no time and drove right to the air port. You definitely made sure to wear your running shoes because you practically sprinted to one side of the air port to the other. As soon as your eyes landed on the blonde, you jumped straight into his arms and didnt let go for a solid 10 minutes.

with sabo now home, of course y’all throw a huge party. How could you not. Literally everyone’s invited. Garp, Daran (she complains, but she happy and everyone knows it), all the straw hats, most of the whitebeard pirates, even Shanks and his crews shows up even though they hardly know Sabo. It’s just a huge party

the party could’ve gone on for days but Sabo still had to get situated. So once the party ended the 2 of you began to unpack his stuff at your house. He came over with practically nothing so it wasn’t hard. And once that’s was done, the 2 of you began to do a bunch of couple-y shit to make up for the time spent apart.

touch starve, both of you, but most Sabo. Always had to be touching you. Whether it’s holding hands, kisses on the cheek , or just hugging. He feels the need to make up for all the years he was away from you.

and you better be ready for surprise dates, like this man will not stop making you feel loved. And in all honesty you could care less about the dates, simply being with him and being able to hug him after so long is all that you need. It doesn’t take a lot for the 2 of you to feel loved at all but just let Sabo spoil you. If you don’t he’ll practically throw a fit. And plus being smothered in kisses isn’t that bad from time to time

omg I so need a fanfic like that 🤧

Portgas D. Ace

At first Ace came out cold to you, just like he did Luffy. When Ace was a child he didn’t think he deserved to be love so he contuined to stay cold but just like Luffy, you didn’t give up. You tried to make conversation and play with him and sooner or later he did come around to you.

But what really sparked his so called curiosity with you was when Sabo had told you who his dad was and you simply shrugged it off, saying, “his dad has nothing to with Ace. As far as I’m consered he’s dad’s irrelevant at this point.” It was bold for you to say but Ace liked that. From there on out there aways seemed to be a glow that followed you, like a spot light.

Ace knows everything about you, even the things you don’t know. He doesn’t do it to be creepy he just couldn’t stop thinking about you. Ace knows your favorite color that changes every 3 months, how you like your pizza, how you always sleep talk, how you have a bad habit of speaking before you think and how you bite the inside of your cheek when your nervous, and how you dig your nails into your palms when your angry

He’s know you inside out and he really doesn’t mean it in a creepy way. It’s just hard to not watch you when your caught his attention. Now all throughout elementary school and middle school he didn’t think much of it. But once he was a freshmen in highschool and you were a 7th grader, and boys began to take interest in you that’s when he finally figured out: he was in love with you

of course, he had a little help from Sabo. Sabo’s best friends with Ace, how could he not notice? He thought it would be best to let Ace figure out that unknown feeling himself, seeing how Ace’s has never once thought about it. But as soon as Ace was able to figure out his feelings, Sabo was right there ready to help him out

It wasn’t hard, really. You were right by Ace when he slowly came out of his shell thanks to Whitebeard and his crew who took Ace in. And once you saw how lively and happy he got it was hard not to fall in love with him. Now that hard part was trying get together

Thatch was the the one who ended up actually getting you 2 together with the help of Sabo and Koala. Now of course, they waited until your senior year of highschool so things weren’t weird and then the plan was set into motion.

If the 2 of you had to be honest, you don’t even remember how it happened. You 2 just started dating The plan was all over the place, so the 2 of you just decided to tell each other you like them. And then boom, the 2 of you were a couple.

So like everyone always knows this but Ace won’t care of the relationship of the other one doesn’t love back. With his past he needs to know that he is loved, so while he always spoil you in kisses and acts like he is the giver in the relationship, you know well enough that he’s a receiver. You don’t mind at all anyways, seeing the fluster look at his face, is enough for you.

But that doesn’t means he does plan surprise dates, or random gifts. The relationship you 2 have is very balanced, nothing ever feels to overbearing. And I know I say this a lot but dating Ace is the best thing to ever happen

Monkey D. Luffy

Honestly the 2 of you probably met at some random park. You don’t even know how it happened. One minute you playing on the play ground, next thing you know your walking in the woods with a random boy that was about your age.

You couldn’t really complain though, the playground was getting boring and being pulling along for an adventure wasn’t bad. While on the adventure you were able to learn, surprisingly a lot about the boy. But the big take away is that his name is Luffy, he’s got 2 bigger brothers, and is around 7, about 2 years younger than you.

Definitely ended up spending the whole day with him in the woods. Y’all did everything from climbing trees, finding rare beetles, fighting animals, and playing in the ponds. You hardly met this kid yet and yet you had more fun than any other friend you met. By the time y’all headed back it was practically nighttime and, although he probably didn’t do it internationally, Luffy ended up walking you all the way to you house.

Before you could even knock on the door, your parents swung open the door and engulfed you into a crying hug while also scolding you at the same time. They were definitely giving off mixed emotions. From there, Luffy let out a loud laugh and ran off, waving by to his new friend. From that day forwards, you seemed to always be caught up in some mess with him. Y’all would meet at the park, at school, at stores, just any place where the 2 of you could have any type of fun.

This went on for a while, the 2 of you would adventure off to the woods, until Luffy’s brothers began to ask who you were. That’s when Luffy finally decided to take you to his house. It’s not that he didn’t want to take you before it’s just that he thought it would be more fun to go other places. But once Luffy brought you to his house, Dadan, the lady you learned who was taking care of them, practically had a heart attack. Seeing anything kid was the last thing she wanted. You had to tell her like 10 times that you were just here to hang out with Luffy. 

It’s not like it mattered though, you were already with him so it was really like Dadan had to take care of you. But just like the other boys she definitely came around to like you. And of course, Ace and Sabo came around to like you. How could they not? It wasn’t everyday that a girl would hang out with them. Whether or not he wants to admit it, Sabo had a small crush on you. But it didn’t last long after seeing your relationship with Luffy.

The think about Luffy is that he’s not gonna know he has a crush or even realize it on his own. He doesn’t really care that much. He knows all about dating and love and the birds and the bees, he just doesn’t care as much. So Luffy didn’t notice his crush on you until you brought it up. And even once you brought it up, not much changed between you 2. Not because he doesn’t like you he just doesn’t see what’s the difference between being friends and dating.

You ended up telling him you liked him early on but you didn’t want to actually get into anything until high school. So you waited until sophomore year then you asked Luffy to date you. Of course he got a push from Ace and Sabo but Luffy was gonna say yes anyways. And thus, the 2 of you began dating.

Dating Luffy is kinda a challenge. He not one to pick up on the little things or signals, so most of the time you have to tell him straight forwards. Whether you want a kiss, a hug, or to go on a date. Although the 2 of you are dating, Luffy acts how he was before beacuse he doesn’t see how the relationship changed much. He doesn’t do it to hurt or upset you, it’s just how he sees it.

And although you have to tell Luffy what you want most of the time. Dating Luffy is surprisingly easy, too. Depending on what it is, Luffy could either be a challenge or not. Beacuse you have to tell Luffy everything communication is really strong between the 2 of you. The both of you also trust each other very much. Because Luffy doesn’t just build relationships with anyone. Once the relationship starts though, you can expect him to be very trustworthy and reliable. Luffy adores all the friendships he makes, so he’ll never befriend someone who he doesn’t trust.

[victorie552onepiecespeedrun]

Reading One Piece pt 342: I Have My Crew

Chapter 590

Thoughts:

- Cover: Jimbei and Mihawk eat, uh, Takoyaki I think :)

- Garp is in the Windmill Village. In present day. Hm

- villagers like him! But they’re SUPER worried what will happen now after Whitebeard’s death

- “I just sank a pirate ship out there” badass

- “All the world’s seas will be unstable for some time to come” understatement :D

- lol

:)

- “Garp, we have another problem! Some bandits came down from the mountain and took over Makino’s tavern!” “Bandits” oh. Oh wow. Time of reconning has come for Garp

- “GARP!” It’s Dadan!

- yeah, you can beat him a up a little (a lot), Dadan, It’s not exactly like he doesn’t deserve it

- “You were at the battle! They were right in front of you! HOW could you stand there and do nothing to save Ace!!!???”  RIGHT???

- “Your job always came before your family! Isn’t that right, Garp!? Hero of the Navy, my foot! Go to hell, you worthless old geezer!” Dadan’s crying and beating him up again. While he deserves that beating, I DON’T think Garp considers his job more important than his family. It’s just… something ABOUT his job makes him disregard some family “duties”. It amounted to the same thing here but it’s not the same

- Makino is stopping Dadan by protecting Garp? …why?

- “Those two were within his reach, but he couldn’t save them! Don’t you see? Garp is hurting more than anyone!” …it is true. Both of these things. But, Makino, I think you’re very forgiving. You’re too good for this world, and it’s not a compliment.

- “…wrong. LUFFY IS THE ONE HURTING MOST!” oh shit, she right

- :( :( :(

- Garp says Luffy must be alive. Right, Navy doesn’t know where he is

- oh thank god, our family spat is over

*manga goes straight to Ace and Whitebeard’s funeral”

…  yay…

- it looks sad but badass. Exactly what I would like my grave to be if I was a warrior

- yeah, thank you, Shanks

- he’s worried about Luffy too :(

- he thinks that Ace was a lot like Roger :( and he wants Luffy to cry AND overcome his pain

- back to Amazon Lily. With Luffy

- Luffy, please somehow hear how worried all your friends and family are for you

- “Luffy…” or at least hear Jimbei

- “GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!” oh fuck

(it’s a normal reaction for a grieving person but with Luffy, who ABOVE ALL ELSE doesn’t want to be alone, it just hits you bad)

- “I can’t do that. I won’t let you go on hurting yourself” Jimbei, you are the BEST

- “It’s my body! I’ll do what I want to it!” “That’s how Ace thought. He died because he did what he wanted with his body.” Oh, building up to big revelation, I see

- and now Jimbei is letting Luffy fight him. Luffy, he’s a Warlord and you’re a mess, what are you expecting to happen

- yep, that’s what I thought

- oh, now JIMBEI’s mad at Luffy, what a twist

- “Are you blind to everything now? Where’s your confidence that you can overcome everything? What happened to that strength you never doubted?” somehow death of your loved one never comes up when you swear things like this and later it bites you in the ass. This is that moment

- “You can’t see the way forward right now! Regret and guilt are consuming you!” true

- “It may be painful for you now, Luffy! BUT FIGHT IT!”

- “Don’t dwell on what you’ve lost! What’s gone is gone forever! Try to remember… what you still have!!” …it’s so simple, yet it’s getting to me

- It’s getting to Luffy too

- he’s counting?

- we love you too, Luffy

-“…I see.” Yeah, Jimbei, good work

- flashback :)

- “Now he has a crew of his own that he can depend on. He’ll be okay no matter what happens. I feel… relieved.” I didn’t know our crew did such a good impression on Ace but I’m really glad it did

- “I want to see them right now. I WANT TO SEE THEM!” :D

Crisis both done AND averted. Happy One Piece, we’re back on track!

rOP 341  rOP 343

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

Don't feel like you have to make a list or anything but do you have any specific fic recs? I just really enjoyed that one you mentioned!

OH BOY DO I

Jonny Recommends a Bunch of OP Fics

(i know you said no need to make a list but i’m gonna anyways, here’s a bunch of junk grabbed from the mess that are my bookmarks. most of these will be gen and G/T rated unless indicated otherwise cause that’s how i roll. i feel like i’m not very good at describing things to make them sound appealing but i will try! if nothing else, know i’ve read everything on this list at least two or three times.)

Oneshots, AKA Most of What I Read

Ring Around by Maldoror_Chant - ~600 words - Platonic kisses!! It’s just so goddamn cute please read it.

Underwater by ThisCat - ~1000 words - In which Luffy almost drowns, and thinks about some stuff, and the author has one of the best grasps on his personality and attitude towards death I’ve ever seen. Also every time I reread this I find myself holding my breath, which should tell you something. 

✖ by Faktory - ~1000 words - Vivi gets a tattoo, for remembrance’s sake. We need more Vivi in fic just in general, and this one is just so warm and meditative and lovely.

reach up to me (if you even can) by guiltylights - ~1500 words - Look it’s just a fic about Ace getting to see tiny Luffy post Gear Third and laughing his ass off for a solid five minutes. Good shit. Brothers. 

In Another Life by marimoes - ~1800 words - Hey I know you guys love Doflamingo and Rocinante do yourselves a favor and just read this one? It’s not happy but man it sure is something. Closure? I dunno but it’s good. 

tomorrow never happens by midnightluck - ~2000 words - Pre-canon, Sabo runs into a Vice Admiral who seems to know him for some reason and everything works out pretty well. 

Back So Soon by Moriohno - ~3000 words - Post-canon, Brook keeps his promise, just go read it right now it might make you cry but like for happy reasons. 

A Way to Reach the Future by JadeFlicker - ~3000 words - The Strawhats accidentally land on the frozen wasteland that used to be Ohara. More hopeful than you’d think. Also one of the few fics I can’t read in public because I will cry. 

Interlude for Eight Straw Hats and One Giraffe by Maldoror_Chant - ~4000 words - Kaku has a terrible horrible no good very bad day, and probably has to falsify a mission report. Honestly just hilarious from start to finish. 

paint the flag and fly it high by Codedredalert - ~4000 words - Pre-canon fic about the baby Heart Pirates stealing a submarine, designing their Jolly Roger, and largely failing to paint said Jolly Roger on said submarine. 

disaster in the making (we’re not sorry for it) by guiltylights - ~4000 words - The original fic I recced that prompted this ask, but I’m putting it here again now that I’m making a proper list cause it’s just excellent and needs more appreciation. Law crashes a Shichibukai meeting with a big sack of hearts and Hancock and Doflamingo get to bear witness. 

Deliverance by Sarcasticles - ~7000 words - Listen, I know a lot of you who follow me love Sabo and Koala. Read this fic. Pre-canon, they have their first mission on their own, everything goes wrong, Sabo does some arson, it’s excellent. 

Prospects by BrambleFuzz - ~9000 words - Katakuri joins the long list of people who did not get the heads up that friendship with Monkey D. Luffy isn’t optional once he’s made up his mind about it. Rip.

Birds of Alubarna by kurgaya - ~29000 words - The Strawhats go to a masquerade and that’s kind of all I can say about the plot on this one- and okay listen I know it’s long and also kind of baffling at first but YALL this author’s prose is so floaty and magical and it goes so well with the sort of unreal fantastical nature of events and it’s just good?? It’s just good. Also Vivi is in it and that’s always a bonus.

Chaptered Fics, AKA Half of These are Fix-It Fics and I’m Not Sorry

Lionheart by cyan96 - ~28000 words, Unfinished - tbh I nearly didn’t put this one on the list because I feel like most people who follow me have probably already read it, since I read my tags and I know how many of you love Law and Cora, but, on the off chance you haven’t, go read it rn. Go. Do it. 

Sea of Monsters by WhirlyBird70 - ~32000 words, Unfinished but it’s more like a bunch of short stories anyways - Bunch of fucked up stuff in this one so mind the tags but like, it’s a The East Blue is Full of Demons AU and it’s good weird shit so if you’re into that go read it. 

Small Changes by sweetscentences - ~37000 words, Finished - More Law and Cora. Honestly this one is just… so happy and domestic and good?? Also it’s got baby Heart Pirates, and they’re fucking adorable. (Also the author says they’re working on a sequel, so go support that!)

our shores of starlight (come sailing in) by kurgaya - ~46000 words, Finished - First thing on this list to not actually be gen- it’s Zolu, kinda, but not really focused on that? Mostly it’s just about Zoro. He’s a ghost in a sword, which is absolutely not gonna stop Luffy from recruiting him. I already talked about how great kurgaya’s prose is somewhere above this and that applies here too, it’s just gorgeously written. 

Scylla by missmungoe - ~50000 words, Finished - Technically this one’s not gen either, it’s Makino/Shanks. Makino marries a pirate, becomes a pirate, gets a sword, nearly gives Garp an aneurysm. Please read it. 

Overcoming an Era by Beyond_Kailani - ~60000 words, Unfinished - Ace bumps into a very familiar blonde in a top hat while searching for Blackbeard and ends up dragging him along. Maybe my favorite ongoing fic? I’m a huge sucker for canon divergence with regards to the ASL brothers and this is just, that, and it’s wonderful. 

Within Risk of Reason by Depths - ~60000 words, Unfinished - Another Sabo-centric ASL fix it, I’m a simple woman with simple tastes- but really. It’s got time travel, and crimes, and vaguely dubious adoption. What more do you need? It’s so so good. 

Obligatory Shitty Self-Promotional Note

I’m not narcissistic enough to make a whole nother list here, but I also write OP fic and my ao3 is Origamidragons if you want to check that out! 

[chenziee]

hello, can i request lawlu and frobin from outsider pov? thank you

Thank you, anon, for giving me an excuse to write this xD I hope you don’t mind some absolutely ridiculous, silly first dates with non-consensual meet-the-family.

This fic is the continuation to my Lawlu fic [Good friends (don’t) kiss] that I have wanted to write since publishing the original fic. It is absolutely NOT necessary to read the prequel to understand this fic :)

Enjoy~

Boyfriends (do) kiss

The innkeeper sighed as he leaned against his broom, looking around the mess that his cozy little inn had become. And the day began so innocently; quiet and slow like any other day. But now there was a charred table and burn spots on the floor, several broken chairs, with cutlery and shattered plates scattered all over. And that was him being lucky. He had been kindly informed some places hit by a similar disaster ended up with broken walls or windows—or both.

It all started a few hours ago when a couple of pirates came in. It was nothing to fret about; once in a while those sea rats would dock at this island and have a meal, then they would run off. None of them tended to stay very long or cause any trouble because of the small navy base just outside town, and even if they did start something, they were usually dealt with quickly. This was no backwater island with no police or competent security, after all.

So, when the two pirates entered, the innkeep paid them almost no mind. That is, until one of his regulars who had been eating his lunch at the counter whispered, "Hey, aren't those two…" He let his sentence fade out, only gesturing frantically in the direction of the two young men, making the innkeep frown and finally take a good look.

They were sitting at a table pretty much at the centre of the room, as if uncaring if anyone noticed them. That alone was not exactly normal in a marine town where pirates tended to keep low and hide in dark corners. The louder, seemingly younger one of them was stuffing his face with gusto, even stealing all the bread off of the other's plate while laughing and teasing his companion, who ate at a much slower pace.

The other one wasn't laughing along, having a much calmer and quieter demeanor, but there was an undeniable, if small, smile on his face. There was also a really familiar, yellow Jolly Roger contrasting against the back of his long, black coat but the innkeeper couldn't for the life of him place it. Narrowing his eyes, he wrecked his brain for where he had seen it, and for just who these people were.

And then his eyes fell on the straw hat hanging on the younger one's neck and it clicked.

Fucking Straw Hat Luffy and Trafalgar Law were casually having lunch in his goddamned inn. He really hoped they weren't going to be planning some big raids while at it or he would have to call the marines. Which he absolutely didn't want to do; there was always so much paperwork involved.

Praying to all that was holy that it wouldn't come to that, the innkeeper observed their interactions, watching for any suspicious movements. After all, two of the Worst Generation captains starting a fight with each other would be just as bad as them planing coups or navy base raids, as well as it was the last thing this old building needed.

Thankfully, it seemed like they were getting along just fine. They were both smiling, speaking quietly with each other and… holding hands? Ah no, that was just Trafalgar handing over the salt. Good. That would be awkward. The touch did seem a little bit too long for a casual contact though.

Just then, the door to the inn opened and in came a couple, a man and woman. Or a giant robot and woman? The robot had his arm placed gently around the woman’s shoulder so it looked like they were together at least.

“Oh! Robin, Franky, are you here to eat, too?” Straw Hat called loudly, waving at the newcomers enthusiastically, and only then did the innkeeper make the connection—they were two members of Straw Hat’s crew, the ‘Iron Man’ Franky and the ‘Demon Child’ Nico Robin. The innkeeper really didn’t like where this seemed to be going.

“That’s right, Luffy,” the cyborg said, equally loud, when the couple reached their captain’s table. “How’s the food here?”

“It’s great! Their bread is amazing,” Straw Hat replied and the innkeep made a mental note to relay the compliment to both his cook and the the town’s baker.

Nico Robin chuckled. “Torao-kun looks like he doesn’t agree.”

Trafalgar made a disgusted face before he looked at her and spoke up, “No, I don’t. But this bottomless pit ate all of my bread anyway and the rest is pretty good.”

“Of course I ate the bread for you, you hate it,” Straw Hat stated matter of factly before he grinned and leaned towards the other captain to give him a long kiss on the cheek, a gesture that earned him an embarrassed click of the tongue from the other pirate.

Oh. Suddenly, the innkeep remembered the newspaper article from three days ago, the one which had claimed the two were dating and which he had discarded as ridiculous and promptly forgot about. Maybe it wasn’t so ridiculous after all.

“You two are super cute,” the cyborg announced, making Straw Hat laugh and Trafalgar roll his eyes.

“Wanna join us?” Straw Hat gestured to the two other, currently empty chairs at the table. “We could make it a double date,” he suggested then, glancing to his boyfriend who only shrugged in response, apparently not caring either way.

The other two, however, shook their heads, and Nico Robin spoke up, “It’s your first proper date. You should enjoy it, just the two of you.” She smiled warmly at the two of them before she glanced up at her own huge companion and placed her small hand over his large one which was still resting against her shoulder. “We’ll get another table and we can meet for deserts later?”

“Sounds good!” Straw Hat and the cyborg agreed, both grinning, while Trafalgar only nodded silently at her suggestion.

The innkeeper couldn’t decide whether he was glad the four of them weren’t going to be a concentrated in one place, smack in the centre of the room no less, or if he was annoyed he would now have to keep an eye on two tables with high bounty pirates.

He barely managed to take notice of where the mismatched couple of the Iron Man and the Demon Child—who looked more like an elegant, beautiful lady than either a demon or a child—when someone at the counter called him over. He wondered when this young man got there; he hadn’t noticed him coming in or sitting down. Maybe because he was so preoccupied by the cursed sea dogs.

“Thank you for waiting, sir. What would you like?” the innkeeper asked the man with blond, wavy hair and what looked like a burn scar over his eye. There was a black top hat with a pair of goggles around it lying in the counter next to him.

The man smiled, putting a ten thousand beri bill on the counter. “When Trafalgar Law asks for a drink, can you add this into it?” he asked, pulling out a small bottle.

The innkeeper blinked, staring at the bottle for a moment before slowly looking up to meet the stranger’s eyes. “Are you asking me to poison a man worth 500 million beri?”

“It won’t kill him.” An unhappy, maybe even angry expression appearing on his face before he continued, voice lowering dangerously, “It will just make him regret every decision he had ever made that led to him being here.”

The innkeeper scowled, folding his arms across his chest as he regarded the man. “There will be no poisonings in my inn, lethal or not. I don’t care what your issue with him is but settle it somewhere else.”

“Damn,” the blond cursed, pocketing both the bottle and the bill. “Guess I’ll have to light his face on fire after all. Thanks anyway.”

As soon as he was done speaking, he turned around in his chair to glare at the table where his apparent nemesis was now ruffling his boyfriend’s hair while Straw Hat giggled, trying to push his hand away. When he finally succeeded, he didn’t let go; instead, he laced their fingers together and mumbled something that made Trafalgar look away in obvious embarrassment.

Suddenly, something bright caught the innkeeper’s eyes and when he looked what it was, he gasped. “Sir, you’re on fire!” he cried in alarm.

The blond startled, looking at his hand as if he only just realized it was engulfed in angry, crackling flames. “Whoops. Sorry,” he simply apologized, shanking the hand until the flame died down to nothing. After a mere second, it was as if there was no fire at all. “Glad to know Ace is angry, too.”

“Sabo! What are you doing here?” Straw Hat cried a moment later, jumping up and basically bouncing in place, and the blond cursed at being spotted.

He waved at the pirate awkwardly. “Hey, Luffy. Just—” he paused, seemingly wrecking his brain for a plausible answer— “passing by.”

That was the worst excuse the innkeep had ever heard, and that was counting all the excuses men have ever given to their angry wives who came to pick them up after a night of drinking.

But Straw Hat grinned, nodding happily as if it made perfect sense. Trafalgar Law, on the other hand, eyed the man suspiciously. “Your brother probably came to check up on you, Straw Hat-ya. Since the papers wrote about us,” he said flatly, making the blond glare at him.

Wait. ‘Sabo.’ Straw Hat’s brother. The Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army? That Sabo? This day was getting seriously ridiculous. What was next, a Celestial Dragon?

He barely managed to finish the thought when the entrance door burst open and in came two old men and a goat. The innkeeper couldn’t believe his eyes. They weren’t Celestial Dragons but at this point they might as well be. The goddamn Hero of the Marines Garp and former Fleet Admiral Sengoku had just walked into his inn and he felt like he might faint. Between four infamous pirates, number two of the revolutionary army, and two legendary marines, it would be a miracle if his inn was still standing by the end of the day.

“Luffy!” Garp roared, stomping forward.

Straw Hat flinched in response, immediately raising his arms in a attempt to block the fist that was coming at his head from above. “Gramps! What are you doing here?”

“Dating a pirate? You brat, you’re a hundred years early to pull something like this!” Garp growled, hitting Straw Hat once more.

“Ouch! Why does it hurt even when I use haki?” Straw Hat whined after taking a step back at the impact, his chair clattering to the floor. “And what do you care who I’m dating?” He went to punch back.

Garp side stepped him, grabbing his arm and stopping it from hitting some of the innocent customers who were scurrying to get out of the inn. “Because it’s a fist of love,” Garp said, as if that explained anything.

The innkeeper really wanted run away like his customers did but he was frozen in place, watching the scuffle happening. This was honestly the most bizzare pirate versus marine fight he had ever witnessed, possibly the most bizzare one anyone had ever witnessed. Neither was trying to beat the other, there was no attempt at capture or escape—if you didn’t count Trafalgar quickly backing away from the screaming duo in the direction of cyborg Franky and Nico Robin, who both looked entirely too entertained. At least Trafalgar’s face said he was about as happy about the turn of events as the innkeeper himself was.

A second later, in a flurry of flames, the revolutionary at the counter jumped forward, standing in between Straw Hat and Garp. “Gramps, wait. You should be beating up him,” he said sharply, pointing at Trafalgar, who was by then lounging in the chair next to Nico Robin, coffee cup he was offered by the woman in hand.

“Leave me out of this,” he called back, raising his free hand in a vaguely threatening motion, the air swirling around under his palm with in devil fruit power.

“Yes, leave him out of this!” Straw Hat snapped, throwing a punch at Sabo instead.

The bartender watched in horror as the punch went through the blond, spitting flames all around and setting a table on fire. At least the man quickly put out the flames but the damage was done and the table charred black.

Garp’s attention turned to the revolutionary then, his hand landing on his shoulder and squeezing until Sabo hissed in pain. “Hello, Mr Revolutionary. Do you care to explain?”

“Why are you so angry, we told you we didn’t want to be marines right from the start!”

“Baa!” The innkeeper’s gaze followed after the sudden sound, dropping from the scene of disaster to his knees where Fleet Admiral Sengoku’s goat was gently chewing on the wash cloth he had hanging from his belt. At least someone in here looked like they couldn’t care less about whatever it was that was happening around them. The innkeeper let go of a long, deep sigh, and stroked the goat’s head.

“Thank you,” he said to the goat earnestly, to which the animal only blinked and continued chewing.

Raising his eyes to look for the goat’s owner, he found the man slowly approaching the remaining three outlaws, dropping in the last available chair at their table—after turning it around to get a better view of the fight at the centre of the room. The three visibly tensed up at their new company, but Sengoku only looked at them blanky before raising the packet in his hand.

“Want a rice cake?”

The pirates stared at him, the cyborg moving forward a little to shield Nico Robin from the old marine.

Sengoku, however, only crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, looking as uncaring as could be. “Relax. I’m retired. I have no obligation to keep up with any new wanted posters so I have no idea who you people are. I’m just here to enjoy the show.”

It was a transparent lie, there was no way the man didn’t know he was sitting at the table with a former Shichibukai and a woman who had been hunted by the world government for twenty-something years, and the innkeeper couldn’t help but stare at the scene before him with an open mouth. Was this seriously, seriously happening? In his inn?

When it became apparent that Sengoku wasn’t a threat to them right then, the strange couple and Trafalgar slowly relaxed and the marine smiled, gesturing with his packet again. Finally, Trafalgar reached forward, grabbing a rice cake and tentatively taking a bite.

Soon, he was followed by Nico Robin who pulled out two, handing one of them to Franky who thanked her with a quick kiss before he took it from her hand. For a moment all four of them simply munched on their rice cakes in silence, watching while Straw Hat, Sabo, and Garp bickered and wrecked the whole goddamn inn while at it.

The entire thing was so ridiculous, so completely absurd, that the innkeeper wanted to cry.

It took them almost an hour after that to finally file out of the inn, leaving behind only absolute mess and destruction. At least Sengoku had assured the innkeeper in passing that the Navy would pay for the damages while he had ordered a tea.

He really hoped the marines wouldn’t complain about it since he would be forced to bill them eight people worth of food on top of all this, as the four pirates didn’t even pay for their own food or drinks.

Pirates, he thought to himself, finally tossing his broom aside and opening a bottle of rum instead.

[wordsdrippinginink]

Prompt time! People's bonds are strings, nothing is predetermined and colour changes depending on their relationship. Either Ace or Marco can see these strings

"It’s not going to change colors just because you ask,” Ace says, shoving his pancake into his mouth, raising an eyebrow when Izou stares at him. “Your strings, right? They don’t just change you know.”

“I’m not asking them to change, I’m asking for the colors and what they mean. Marco refuses to admit they exist. Something about being too busy for them. Unless you’re busy?”

Ace sighs, staring wistfully at his bacon before shoving the whole rasher into his mouth and chewing messily, ignoring the look of disgust directed at him as he swallows, “Fine, but sit down. You’re too tall to look up at.”

“You’re just short, it’s okay though. You’re young. I hear that people keep growing until their mid twenties,” Izou teases, collapsing into the seat opposite him, a pair of traced hands on the page he sets down. “Alright. My threads.”

“There’s a big green one. Splits off in lots of directions, think it’s friends. Like the distant kind, the rest of the crew that you’re not as close to, I think,” Ace taps his index finger. “Tied up here. Used to wonder how people could write with all them.”

“Green. Do you have a shade or is it just green?” Izou asks, sketching the thread. “You mentioned some of them have more than one color. Not today, but in general.”

Ace nods, chewing on a pancake, “Green like new leaves or Haruta’s favorite jacket. And they are. Some of the green ones have orange or pink or even a little blue mixed in.”

“And those mean?”

“Orange for respect, pink for parental affection normally but also for affection to someone who acts like a guardian I guess, and blue is sibling love,” he pauses. “Like my hat, the dried coral you have in your room, and Marco’s flames.”

“Thank you,” Izou says noting down the shades. “Next?”

“Red one on your littlest finger. That one means romantic love.”

“A soulmate.”

“Nah, least not like the stories I heard on Wano. One person made for you, right?” Ace doesn’t wait for Izou to agree or disagree. “Strings can change colors, they’re not, not something that won’t change. When you love someone, it streaks red, if they love you back the same way it turns red fully.”

“But not predestined.”

Ace nods, “Nothing is predestined. If you hadn’t fallen in love with Thatch and he with you, that string would be green or blue or maybe even yellow.”

“Yellow?”

“Close friends. Like me or Vista. Marco’s blue and so is Jozu, that’s good,” Ace nods, grinning at Izou’s confusion. “Blue is sibling love.”

“You’re my brother too.”

Ace laughs, thumb sliding over the blue thread connecting him to Luffy, “I know. But you can say something all you want, but the feelings can’t be forced. You’re my brother and one day the threads will agree, but that doesn’t mean we don’t care for each other.”

“You’re much more adult about emotions than I would have thought.”

“I can see how people feel about me,” Ace says grinning widely. “Next is a pink string around your right wrist.”

“Pink is parental love, right?”

“Yep. Pretty sure that it’s pops, but it could be someone else too. I don’t trace them all that often. You’ve got orange on your middle finger. For people you respect but feel nothing else for, not really.”

Izou nods thoughtfully, “Marco mentioned black threads once?”

“Yeah, those,” Ace can feel them choking him, always there and so many of them tangled up around him. “Black is a weird color. Those directed at your are on your throat. Those you feel to others are on the opposite middle finger.”

“Do you, can you count how many there are?” Izou asks softly, his hand touching his throat, looking for stings he can’t see, let alone feel. “If there’s not too many.”

Ace sighs, “You shouldn’t focus on that. You’re a wanted pirate, one of the Whitebeard’s. Some of them are going to be marines, people who hate you for being a pirate. Who hate you for being from Wano.”

“It doesn’t discriminate, then. If it’s just vague or more focused?”

“No, hate is hate. It stays there even if it’s for something stupid,” Ace shrugs, forcing a smile when Izou studies him. “What?”

“Do you have a lot of black strands on you?”

Ace glances away, his throat throbbing with pain, even if the strings can’t hurt him, “It’s better you don’t ask questions that you don’t want the answer to, Izou. I’m going to see Marco about some paperwork, let me know if you have more questions about colors.”

Izou doesn’t call him back, but Ace does know that it’s upset him. Just like it had when Marco had first seen him, looked at him without ignoring the tangled mess of strings that he preferred not to see.

“You look like you need to rest,” Marco says smiling softly when Ace collapsed in his lap, pressing a kiss to his temple. “Did Izou want to know more about the strings?”

“He had a lot of questions,” Ace mutters, letting Marco shift them until Ace’s head is tucked under Marco’s chin, one of his hands warm on his hip. “He always does.”

“Shouldn’t push like he does,” Marco says softly, thumb rubbing softly on Ace’s side. “Tired?”

“Was on the last watch shift,” Ace yawns, studying the string connecting him to Marco. It had been yellow once, streaked on his end with hints of purple to mark his crush. It was more red now, strips of yellow and orange up the sides. “Do you hate it?”

“Hate it?”

“Seeing the strings?”

Marco laughs, “Not really,” and Ace’s stomach twists when Marco lifts their thread to his mouth, kissing it before kissing Ace. “I like seeing them. I like knowing where I stand with other people. I hate this.”

Ace can feel more than see the tangle of Marco’s fingers and the black strings around his neck, all the hatred that Ace inherited from being Roger’s son and the grudges that had passed on to him.

“I like seeing the good things, Ace. But I hate seeing this.”

“You have to take them both,” Ace states, repeating the lessons that Garp had given him when he had cried about the strings choking him. “The good with the bad.”

Marco snorts, sighing tiredly, “I love you, Ace. I hate seeing so many people hate you for nothing. Nothing will change that.”

“I know,” Ace says softly, smiling when Marco mutters something darkly to himself. “I love you too.”

“Get some rest.”

Ace yawns, shifting until he was comfortable and closing his eyes, “Night.”

“I didn’t mean here,” Marco whispers, but Ace knows that Marco won’t move him. That he’ll wake up with Marco playing with his hair or cuddled close. Just like he always did. “Sleep well.”

[inupibaldspot]

Saviour : Chapter 22

Emilia sat on her bed and looked at her sword, a silver sword with a few blue orbs on the handle.

It was still surprising that Zack gave her such an important item to her.

*Knock knock *

"Emilia~ I'm coming in." Zack said as he then pushed the door open. He looked at the girl, who was no longer the tiny brat he first saw. She was growing taller and often teased him about catching up to him, and between you and Zack he was scared that she will grow taller than him. She also lost most of her baby fats. But one thing which always remained same was...

"Your hair is still a chaos isn't it?" Zack laughed making Emilia pout.

The girl brought her hands on her hair and glared. "Its not my fault that my hair is super wavy at the ends."

"Hahahahha" Zack laughed, crossing his arms on his chest. "I'm sure if the Devil Fruit users touch your hair it'll make them weak since it reminds them of waves."

Emilia placed the sword on her bed and she stood up as she continued glaring, hands made into a fist. "Claire told me my hair is pretty." She fought back.

"That because Claire always had a bad taste." The older main continued to tease the young girl, who was slowly turning red in frustration.

Hearing that Emilia smirked. "I can see that." She huffed,placing her hands on her hips. "Especially since she choose you as her fianceé."

Even though Zack growled, inside he was quite happy. It still made his heart beat faster with joy knowing he would marry Claire. After much hesitation and pushes from Emilia, he finally proposed. You have no idea how much he cried when she said 'yes'.

"Anyways.." the girl said. "Did you come in my room to tease me?" She questioned,smiling softly.

"No..." Zack said as she walked towards her and sat on her bed. "Its finally tomorrow...your test."

"Yes." Emilia nodded. "I may end up with you guys or Vice Admiral Tsuru's team."

"Oh yeahhh.." Zack sweat dropped. Vice-Admiral Tsuru's team always consisted of women plus the older women showed interest in Emilia when she previously came on the ship to have a talk with Garp. "But I hope you will join us"

"Oya! Emilia exclaimed." Are you getting sentimental now?" Emilia teased. Before she smiled softly.

"But I guess.. I hope that too."

....

"You will under go only two tests"  The instructor said.

Emilia looked around. There were probably around 100 people on the field but undoubtedly she was the youngest.

People around her sneered and others smirked in confidence when she saw her. Why was this tiny girl who didnt even look like she was in her teens doing here. Emilia didnt like this at all. She clenched her fist keeping her emotions in check. I'll show them.

"The first test involves running. You will be running around this field 5 time which totals up to 15 kilometres." The instructor said as he pointed at the field behind him. "Within 45 minutes. Failure to do accomplish that will lead to direct elimination."

This made people gasp. This task was totally close to impossible! But that the same time who ones who do complete it show that they are not normal.

"Second round is simply to check your strength. Here people will fight against each other until only one person remains."  In other words,its just like a tournament. "There are two reasons for this. One is to simply eliminate people who are fast but have no strength even though usually people who are also fast are also strong. Other is to see where you will be placed. The First half of Grand Line or  The New World."

"Is there any questions?"  The instructor asked. "If not we will begin shortly."

"Excuse me!"  A voice started making all the examines including Emilia turn towards the voice. There stood a middle aged man,on hand in the air. "Are small kids even allowed to enter the test?"

Emilia's eyes twitched as the man turned towards her , lips pulled into a smirk.

The examiner understanding what the examinee was implying turned his head towards Emilia and nodded in assurances. "As long as the examinee is 13 or older, its fine. Personally I believe in the end age still doesn't matter much as long as you have the strength,skill or intelligence."

"But~ " The examinee continued,in a singing voice. "That girl doesn't even look like she is 10. I mean look at how small she is!" The comments made people around him laugh,some even adding remarks of their own.

Having enough Emilia turned towards the man with a glare. The examinee still smirking "Oh is the baby mad? Are you going to cry? Make sure you-"

"Enough!"  The examiner interrupted. "If you continue with this useless talk we may ask you to leave. If that is clear we will begin. You now may go towards there." He pointed towards the corner of the fields where a white line was drawn on the ground.

"Ready?" Another examine shouted in a loud voice. "GO!"

Emilia ran and she did not mess around. Covering her legs in haki she sprinted and leaving all other examinee to dust and with no surprise ended up completing the task first, will 30 minutes more to spare.

And as petty as it may sound she sat near the finish line, giving a smug smile at the examinee who made fun of her.

Soon the other examinee crossed the line one by one and completed trail. Of 100 examines now only 32 remained.

After that everyone was separated into a duo, each match examined by one examiner marine.

"Remember we won't intervene unless one of the participants say "give up" or unless we see injuries which might kill you. We are here to select only the strong, be it physically or mentally."

All of Emilia's match was short, all those training in Goa Kingdom plus the hard training of Garp's and Bogard's for the past 4 years made her strong than she already was.

"I give up!"

Emilia stood up, leaving the man below her on the ground and then looked towards the man who made fun of her earlier. The man was mercilessly kicking and stomping the guy who was given no chance to utter the  words 'give up'.

And this made Emilia frown.

....

"Okay! The last two remaining are Kusota" Emilia finally knew that bastard's name " and Emilia.Now...Start!"

Immediately Emilia jumped back making sure there was a distance between them. "Before we actually start fighting, I have a question." Emilia said carefully assessing the man's movements so that he would not be able to do any surprise attacks.

"What is it?" The man smirked,hands brought up placing on his hips. He was underestimating her!

"Your previous opponents." Emilia started. "Why were you making them suffer so much? You made sure they could not talk by breaking their jaws so they could not surrender. Then you proceeded to beat them up until you got bored."

Emilia then hardened her arms and legs using haki as the man walked towards her in a slow pace. "I can't imagine a guy like you being a marine."

And at once the man sped up, surprising Emilia and punched at her directing at her face. Fortunately the girl brought her hand up blocking with with her haki.

"Because if you are a marine you got power." The man whispered so that the conversation could only be heard by the two of them. "When power you are able to do anything. And with my strength I'm pretty confident I will be achieve a high rank."

Emilia felt uncomfortable, very uncomfortable with how the man in front of her was. He seemed to ooze out evil and malice.

"And when that happens, I'll be rich and have any woman I want. Of course not because of my pay but rather other things...you know" The man smirked. "Through kidnapping, human trafficking and ra-"

Emilia threw a punch but then Kusota dodged it. Then man continued to speak. "And you know I'll never be arrested. Why? Because I'll have the power and can call off any search and silence any suspicions."

Emilia ran in front of him swiftly and before be could react she jumped and kicked his face.

The blow made the man fly making the people watching gasps.

"You little shit!" The man shouted as he propped himself up. His nose was bleeding, it probably broke. "You know what?! I'll start by beating you to pulp" he shouted, as wobbled standing up.

His ego was definitely hurt.

"And when this is all over. I'll go after the people you care about next." Kusota said,hand wiping the blood of his nose. "And do all those things to them and make sure you will never see or hear from them again." He hissed.

People I care about?  Emilia thought. He mind immediately went to Luffy ,Ace, Makino, Dadan, Claire and Zack.

To those people who have nothing but kind to her.

Her eyes narrowed. And seeing the girl react to his taunts, the man started laughing. "HAHAHA How you like that now?! You-"

But before he could even finish his sentence Emilia was literally in front of him.

"Wha-"

Emilia then directly brought her hands up and punched him on his jaws making him fall down from the impact. "If I remember correctly that's how you dislocated the jaws right?" The girl spoke coldly.

"Strup oup!!!" The man tried speaking but words weren't coming out correct confirming that his jaws were indeed dislocated.

Emilia walked towards the fallen man and kicked him on his stomach making the man throw up blood. She tilted her head. "Huh? I thought you were going to beat me to pulp"

"I'll kirl you!!" The man continued dispute his injury. "I'll marke sure do kirll evryon asroticated wirth you tdo!!!"

Emilia mind went to Sabo. Her precious friend was killed. And now if she let go of this man here, he might do the same to others.... to Luffy and Ace. This man was strong, even Blue Jam didn't seem much of a threat compared to him.

This man had the power to kill Luffy and Ace.

And she might not be there by their saide to protect them due to her marine duties.

Emilia's eyes narrowed furthered and walked towards him.  This ...this man is  a threat,that means she should kill him right now !

" Candidate Emilia" The marine watching shouted. "The match is over. Candidate Kusota might die if you continue."

"Shut up..." Emilia said in a soft voice. And immediately after that other candidates and also some examinee immediately fell down. The girl used conquers haki!

Standing near the man, Emilia kick him making him now lie on his stomach. She won't let Sabo's incident repeat! She wont let any of the people precious to her get killed, even if it means killing other people.

Sitting near the guy, she held the man's hand and pulled it backwards immediately making a breaking sound.

"Ahhhh!" The man shouted in pain. "please..please.. please stop! I'll do anything-" The man stopped.

Emilia then held his other hand. "Huh? But that wasn't what you said to me earlier"

"Candidate Emilia. I repeat! Stop immediately. Forget passing the test you will be placed behind bars!" An examiner who was on the ground shouted,still a bit too weak to stand up.

Emilia did hear him but choose to ignore him. She grabbed his hands ,with intentions of breaking them , when suddenly a presence came near her immediately and held her hand.

Emilia stopped immediately. Not because she wanted to but because she could sense the level in between the person and her were far too wide.

"Admiral Akainu!"

"Medics!" The examiner called and a group of people in marine uniform came rushing in directly towards Kusota. Emilia simply stood up and gave space for the medic. In front for great power she had no choice but to be docile.

One of the examiner stood up and walked towards Akainu and saluted. "What brings the Admiral here?"

Akainu turned his head and looked at Emilia making her eyes widened in recognition. This man...this man is the one who will be killing Ace..!

" I came here to recruit her on the team." Akainu simply said. Emilia stood there in shock. She could attack him right her, right now!... but then it wont be of any use since she is far too weak.

"I apologize." The examiner said. "But seeing what had happened in front of us, we wont be able to pass candidate Emilia.She ignored all of our warnings and almost killed a candidate"

"She knocked out almost every one here and right now she is simply a child." Akainu said. "She has the potential to get stronger and will be a wonderful asset to the marine in the future. I say we should pass her."

The examiner clenched his fist. This girl is far too dangerous "But-"

"I said." Akainu's voice thundered as everything went silent. "We will pass her. Make sure she is assigned to my team."

With that the man turn and walked away.

....

Emilia walked back to Garp's ship ,head held down. Even though she didn't look , she could feel the people of the ship stare at her return. There was no doubt they were informed of Emilia's action.

"Emilia-" Garp said faking a smile, noticing the girls angered expression. He could lecture her later because right now the girl didn't look like she would want to deal with any of that.

"I'm sorry, Garp-san." The girl said in a low voice and bowed towards Garp in apology. "I want to be alone for a bit." With that she walked away towards her room.

No one spoke for a whole before Zack started walking towards Emilia's room. "I'll talk with her,Vice admiral."

Zack stood in front of her room and took in a deep inhale,knocked and walked inside. He looked at the girl who still had her head down and then closed the door behind him.

"The man you attacked-" Zack said. The girl in front noticeably stiffened uncomfortably. "He didn't die. But then on of his arms will no longer be functional. He might also not be able to talk properly ever again." Zack explained, looking at Emilia with a sad expression.

She must be feeling guilty. Zack's thoughts were immediately stopped when he saw the girls shoulder shake. She was crying  "Emilia calm down-"

"Hahahhaha" the girl laughed. "That's what he deserves.."

Zack took a step back. "What do you mean...The man almost died because of you."

Emilia finally raised her head. "That man was evil...He had no right to be a marine."

"But you were about to be the same thing... You would have killed someone if Admiral Akainu didn't intervene." Zack repeated his point again.

"Maybe he shouldn't have intervened."

When Emilia said those words,something within Zack finally snapped. " We are talking about a human life here, Emilia!"

Emilia's eyes widened. This was the first time she had seen Zack shout.

"You can't take life for granted. And if you do kill a person, even if that person is evil, or you belong in the marine, where we have to serve justice... Once you kill someone you are simply a murderer !  You're hands will forever be dyed red."

"Then what was I supposed to do?!" The young girl shouted back. "Was I simply going to accept that man. That man who was already telling his motives of human trafficking! Rape! And corruption?!"

"Should I have just let that happen...? " Emilia let out an shaky exhale. "He threatened to kill people...people who are precious to me..."

Zack watched as Emilia's eyes filled with tears. This girl...She..

"He threatened that he would kill Ace...Luffy and Grandpa ... Dadan and Makino..." Zack didn't know most of the names being said but he guessed those were the people she cared for.

"He threatened to kill Claire." Emilia noticed that she now started crying. "And you, Zack!!  I couldn't let that pass.. I don't want to lose anyone precious to me anymore..!"

Anymore... Zack registered those words , his head hanging low.

Zack walked slowly towards the girl. She was scared..  She was afraid and didn't know how to deal with the situation... She just didn't want to lose anyone..

Zack then kneeled down and pulled Emilia into a hug. "Its fine... No one will hurt anyone of us now..I'm fine...it's fine.."

Zack continued to hug Emilia, The girl slowly lifted her hands then on his shirt then slowly holding it tightly as sobs slowly started turning into wailing.

She was just scared...and confused.

[likemymask]

One Piece Daemon AU

Presented with only slight spelling corrections and some elaborations, the mess of a One Piece Daemon/His Dark Materials AU that would not leave me alone and would only let me work on it at 1-3AM.

Also now I’m writing snippets for it just like my Gundam Wing and Star Trek daemon AU. Because.

Luffy: sea king with Conqueror Haki so they can’t be controlled. Separated but not because that’s as free as you can get. Fuck yea, she’s in north blue chilling the fuck out (heh) half the time and being absolutely chaotic as shit the other half. Her attitude is diametrically opposed to what Luffy is doing at the time. LOL she runs/swims into Shanks when Luffy’s still barely a pirate so he has no idea (not that the marines do either) one time. This 2000ft tall monster is squinting at him, and he thinks he’s about to get ate and then she goes “oh you’re so much smaller now!” Cause of course she spent her formative years as a baby version of his daemon. The entire crew is goddamn losing it, cause what kind of monster is this that even Red Hair’s Haki can’t control it, until Shanks yells out her name and then everyone loses it further still. I have decided Eastern dragon aesthetic but water/earth theme as opposed to Kaido’s air/fire theme. Still blue, but blue-green, tiger stripes cause camoflage and also badass and maybe she settles after Luffy meets Zoro’s daemon *whistles*

Zoro: tiger obviously normal colors or green and black cause why the fuck not, Zoro is not into stealth really. ”The only one who can call me stupid is me. “ “.....stupid” Cat vs sword fight ensues. Can be found cuddling Chopper when Zoro’s tired, super sloshed, both.

Nami: monkey? Lemur: small, fast, quick hands, caring but only when you prove you deserve it. Absolutely torments Zoro’s when she’s pissed because tigers can’t normally climb fucking main masts but a) she parkours and b) when has that ever stopped Zoro/her? Likes to hang out in the tree grove, absolutely pick pockets people while Nami plays distraction.

Robin: cat some kind of cat not big CARACAL. Looks aloof but absolutely ready to be ridiculous at any opportunity.

Franky: dog or dolphin. Something excitable loyal ready to throw down Newfoundland? Big, friendly, over-excitable, likes water and sailing...yes.

Usopp: Corvid or monkey; curious, intelligent, stubborn, inventive, tool solving/using. Lives in groups/troops and cares for others. Probably corvid, too similar to Nami otherwise. Crow most likely.

Sanji: swan. Black, and absolutely a viper and very sorry about Sanji’s attitude towards woman cause she’s more refined about it. Same intensity though. Will bite the shit out of you. Tiger vs swan fight, GO. Do also groom each other though cause human affectionate displays are stupid sometimes.

Fishmen don’t have daemons its another conflict and excuse for racism.

Law: wolf but like starved and Eurasian crazy with it. LONG leggos. Spiky black fur around the head, grey black white speckled cause T R A U M A

Ace: was a fire hawk, no actual fire but red as hell and BIG tail and wings. Her species not liked on most islands cause they don’t leave once they’re settled. They stand their ground. More angst ha ha. Never met settled Luffys daemon because I’M A MONSTER.

Sabo: never settled until he learned Ace was dead and then she settled as fire hawk because trauma and angst and also he knows who he is now. Not being settled was useful for a while when he did infiltration etc but now they’re both happy/sad about it.

Garp. Big dog. Bull mastiff dog. Not good with kids only with attacking things and defending but very loyal. Also big. “ Bullmastiffs are also difficult even for adults to control, so they aren’t a good choice if your child wants to help walk the dog. They like to please and crave attention, but they’re so big that even a well-intentioned nudge can end up hurting small children. ” HMMMMM RINGS A BELL, THIS DOES

Chopper: also no daemon or if so then monkey because HANDS. OH BOI THAT MUST HAVE BEEN A FUN THING. EAT SOME FRUIT, WAKE UP WITH A SOUL. Wait no people think he’s a pet. No daemon then.

Mihawk: literally whatever Shank’s daemon is he insists this is why they’re friends while Mihawk wine aunts in the background. He’s more refined though than Shanks and his soul (this is not a challenge). Like absolutely cold as ice until he cracks a pun, but no one believes the victim cause no way Mihawk would do that. Soooo proud, regal, loyal but willing to have a good time. Some kind of dog or cat. Big and fast and POWER. Could do big cat to be more like Zoro or a dog/canid to foil it. Maned wolf?

Vivi: it’s lazy to say her bird Caracue I can’t spell it’s one am but imma do it. KAROO HOW THE FUCK DID I MISSPELL THAT.

Crocodile: big fuck off alligator cause fuck you that’s why. HOLY FUCK I FORGOT HE HAD THE BANANA ONES IN HIS CASINO THAT’S GREAT

Logias turn to same element so Ace’s daemon is now a literal actual fire hawk, fuck the history books I’m writing this shit.

Don fuck face Flamingo: is what it is but like Kipo And the Age of Wonderbeasts it got TEETH, cause anything that survived acid water and shit is not cool. In fact, you know what, she’s albino and thinks that makes her special, honey you just don’t got shrimp vitamins, you buffoon of a bird.

All the dino Zoans are modern descendant of those animals so chickens. Or birds. Chickens would be so goddamn funny especially the 3 foot tall fluffy ones...fuck what’re they called(Brahmas). Oh wait. Emus. Ohhhhhhh fuck emus as an option.

Mammoth Zoan can have a Mammoth daemon because I want to see that on a ship.

(Makino) Bartender lady I can’t remember her name starts with m capybara cause she’s chill as shit and friend shaped. 

Dadan: is not friend shaped but is friend. Big fuck off bear or buffalo or wildebeest

Brooke: Laboon, Lampoon whatever Moby Dick. There’s some trauma, they had to leave him, but they didn’t want to and Brooke offered to stay but Laboon thought he’d be fine. Spoiler alert He Is Not. No one is fine.

Ohhhhhhh fuck bad good idea: Rogers daemon also a Sea King but the marines never goddamn figured it out, hoooooo my gods Shanks is having goddamn flashbacks. 

Momo and Kaido both have Eastern dragon daemons cause fake fruit.mythical zoan fruit but Momos is the size of a gecko and black so she’s hide-able. Kaido’s isn’t as big but is still Fuck Off huge. Red because I said so. 

Beastmen also do not have daemons because fuck the amount of significant characters in One Piece

Cora(zon): also had a wolf, because yay trauma and repeats and trauma bonding!But she was like, pretty yellow white and dog-ish up until the moment she ripped your throat out for offending her/harming her pack. Law learned much from her about appearances, being underestimated, and then for the most part did the exact opposite.

Slime man: *Aka Trebol* has a hagfish cause fuck him and Doflamingo

Boa: her snake weapon thing. Big noodley boy. The skull is for A E S T H E T I C

   Ace's daemon named Picaro: Spanish for naughty/badly behaved and that is a synonym for rogue cause MOMMA'S BOI and I keep misreading Rouge as rogue cause PIRATES, and this way it's a little better than naming the fire hawk Red though Ace does call her that sometimes .          You know what, he has the same daemon as Rouge/mom actually cause stubborn enough to not go into labor for 20 months is bonkers and that shit deserves recognition. Also because FUCK the number of characters in One Piece.              Celestial Dragons don't have special daemons but they do splice/separate cause they're fuckers that's why              AU of AU        Luffy's daemon close enough to WRECK MARINEFORD'S SHIT THAT'S RIGHT BABEY ACE LIVES, ASL REUNION AND SUCH          Sabo's daemon settles as a dog but one of the CRAZY breeds, like poodle or husky.

AU OF AU PART TWO: originally when thinking about a One Piece daemon AU Luffy was gonna have a cheetah; long, fast, use recoil to increase speed and change directions, males live in groups with their brothers and are highly affectionate. Tendency to run into walls. Has a fur pattern presentation named King Cheetah, looks like a more Armament Haki version.

[neverwatchedonepiece]

648-649: "Making a Sortie! The Legendary Hero Usoland!" and "The Fierce Battle Coming to the End! Lucy vs Chinjao!"

*looks into the camera like in The Office*

The fight between Luffy and Don Chinjao is finally over! I think after what happened, Luffy might have found a new friend. Law also made a stressful phone call to The Krusty Krab Sunny and ordered delivery of one ship to Green Bit.

Zoro and Franky have teamed up with Sol at Resistance HQ in Flower Field, and if Usopp keeps perpetuating his fantastic bullshit, the entire Strawhat crew will be elevated to God status in the Tontatta tribe.

Slightly worried about Law and the Strawhats stuck on Sunny but I’m seventy percent certain they will pull through and won’t be captured by any Donquixote family affiliates. (The thirty percent left over remains a huge, nagging doubt.)

Luffy’s Tough Love Fight Therapy

The Colosseum showdown between Luffy and Don Chinjao picked up at the start of episode 649.

The action was fast and furious. Luffy pulled out all his quick moves: jet pistol, jet gatling, jet stamp gatling. All defended against by Chinjao. The crowd went wild. It was one of the greatest matches the Colosseum had ever seen! Some cheered for Lucy. Others cheered for Chinjao. The atmosphere was electric.

“You’re quite a fighter,” Don Chinjao said.

“Yeah, you’re strong too, as I thought,” Luffy answered. You know. Being honest as he is.

Don Chinjao totally overreacted. “WHAT U SAY? STRONG? U TRYIN TO INSULT MEH??”

Luffy was, quite rightly, bewildered. “Wtf, all I said was that you’re strong?”

Apparently, this was a grave insult to Don Chinjao. A huge kick in the ego. Chinjao had been much stronger before.

“I’m no better than a wolf without its fangs now. A skin-headed man without his drill. A brat like you can’t understand how miserable I feel living my life like this. I’m frustrated, disappointed and sad. But you can never understand.”

I laughed when Luffy yelled, “How can I understand? You keep messing with me without explaining anything!” (He’s just saying what we were all thinking, right?)

“You really want to know why I’ve become like this?”

“No, I’m not that interested.” (Lmao! We meet again, harsh Luffy.)

“Well, I’ll tell you before you die, since you insist.” 

Don Chinjao is one of those old dudes that is TELLING you that long and rambling story even though you have showed zero interest and have been glancing at your watch for the past half hour.

Suddenly, Luffy the Fight Therapist was unwilling and open for business.

According to Chinjao, Garp punched his head in thirty years ago. Literally. As in Don Chinjao once looked like Dan Akroyd from 90s sci-fi comedy, Coneheads. 

That was until his resplendent, pointy napper met Garp’s fist.

The whole flashback was hilariously weird. Turns out Chinjao’s drill-like bonce was the only means to access his remote family treasure vault under an ice sheet. Once Garp took away the key, Chinjao fell into a deep depression. Heartbroken, he retired from piracy, a lifeless shell, just idling away time.

That was kind of sad. I felt for Chinjao then. He’s like the model of the old, proud working man who suffers a physical injury, can no longer work and slips into anger and depression. Since Chinjao knows and values nothing but strength, wealth and power, he cannot and will not see another way forward. Unlike Luffy, Don Chinjao got his ass beat and never found the strength to crawl out of the gutter and retrain.

Instead, he decided to lay the blame for his misfortune squarely at Luffy’s feet.

Luffy, naturally, was outraged. “Wtf are you talking about? Grandpa and I are different people. Look, mate. I’m busy. I’m gonna win Ace’s fruit at any cost and become the Pirate King. I have no time to be your therapist.”

Then Chinjao made two Big Mistakes.

Wow, Chinjao has Really Specific Taste

Mistake #1?

Chinjao laughed off Luffy’s chances at becoming Pirate King. The reason was typical crotchety old man talk: “the media lionised you worst generation squirts and it emboldened you. But none of you are strong enough to sail across the sea *we* fought on. After Whitebeard’s death, I ain’t expecting much. The only guy who looks good is Blackbeard Teach.”

At the mere mention of Teach, Luffy’s eyes became two circles.

“If I had to pick one, it’s him. But anyway, if you’re only good enough to compete against me, just give up!”

Oh, Chinjao, I thought. Ohhhhhhhh, you just goofed. You goofed big time. You do not mention Teach in a positive light within Luffy’s earshot. You just do not. Teach was the asshole who captured Ace and handed him to the Marines. He shares Public Enemy Number One status with Akainu. Tell Luffy you believe Teach will become Pirate King and your fate is sealed.

Mistake #2?

Chinjao’s fighting style is kinda lame. People who spin during fights in shounen anime are always fodder (the one that sticks out is that spinning top guy in the HxH Heaven’s Arena arc.) This was not his mistake. It’s just a side thought.

The Teach comment pushed Luffy’s buttons. But what Chinjao said next was even worse.

“You’re not too bad but if a guy like Rayleigh chose a brat at this level as the flag bearer for this generation, he’s not as smart as he used to be. The Marines were smart when they squelched the most evil one of the lot: Ace. That man had demon’s blood in his veins. Do you think you can beat the Marine admirals, the Yonkou and surpass Roger? That’s impossible!”

Demon’s blood? Most evil one of the lot?

*cue Kill Bill red-mist music*

“Stop whining over one punch!” Luffy yelled, as he wound up a Thor Elephant Gun attack. “I can’t count how many times I got punched by Grandpa!”

When the attack connected and that spike popped back out of Chinjao’s head, I laughed like a drain. Luffy hit Chinjao so hard, he turned the clock back thirty years.

I’m sure Chinjao will be ecstatic. Take the L with good grace, mate. Your conehead is back! Go and wreak havoc on the high seas again. Recoup that treasure. The world is your oyster!

Up on the balcony, Bartolomeo still has not revealed his connection with Luffy. Cavendish is still throwing a strop. Bellamy is lurking in the shadows, clearly in two minds about his new assassination mission. And Burgess, thanks to Cavendish and his big mouth, knows that Luffy is Lucy.

Thanks, Cavendish.

(And Burgess really does walk around chortling and flexing all the time. He’s like an evil All Might.)

Thus the Legendary Heroes of Green Bit were Born

This cast reunion based on Usopp’s total bullshit was so much fun.

I loved Usopp and Robin’s expressions when the Tontatta took them to their airport. They were starry-eyed. And so they should’ve been. It was a miniature version of a proper, fully-equipped modern airport. I wouldn’t be surprised if the place had Duty Free, passport control and Starbucks concessions.

But it was not a holiday destination Usopp and Robin were flying out to. The entire airport had been overtaken by a military operation. Cub, the yellow bee squad leader, and Bian, the pink bee squad leader, reported for duty. Usopp picked up the bee planes and kept saying, “I wanna show this to Luffy.” (They are such good pals, it warms my heart.)

Unfortunately, Usopp and Robin were too big to travel by bee plane, so they had to take the local number 20 bus to Dressrosa. The buses were cute, vulpix-like foxes with huge, fluffy tails you can sink right into for a comfortable ride.

While they made their way through the tunnel, Master Roshi - the pervy little Tontatta chief - emerged from Robin’s cleavage. He bore dire warnings. “I should tell you because you will risk your lives for our cause.”

Usopp was thinking, “I ain’t gonna die for you but go on...”

“Doflamingo has been causing our tribe a lot of pain recently, but our connection with him goes way back before the last decade. Nine hundred years ago!”

Then the narrator interrupted and I was like, “So you’re just going to leave it there when I was about to get Doflamingo family history? I am not at all mad about this. No, sir. Not one bit.”

The action cut to Flower Field, where Franky and Sol descended a secret stairwell. Said stairwell led to the Resistance Army HQ! Some soldiers ran up to Sol and addressed him as “Captain”, so Sol is a Big Deal in the Resistance.

Franky was like, “Why are all these small people swarming me?”

Sol explained. The Tontatta people were called fairies in town, how they moved faster than the human eye could detect and how they were immensely strong. Franky put two and two together and realised one of them stole Zoro’s sword!

And guess who reached Flower Field before Franky? Before any of the other Strawhats!

That’s right. It’s our boy Zoro. (So proud he learned to follow directions.)

Zoro, hilariously, had made himself at home and was watching Luffy vs Chinjao on the big screen TV. He was absolutely fuming. Why hadn’t Luffy told him there was a fighting competition? THE BETRAYAL. Will he get over it? Probably.

He must’ve been distracted by the fight, as he completely forgot 

Then some intelligence scouts ran up. They had a report for Sol. “We already know what our enemies and Sugar are doing!” (Sugar? Who dat?) “And with the battle close at hand, some legendary heroes have appeared at Tontatta: Usoland and Robiland. They have brought with them Luffyland, Zoroland, Namiland, Sanland, Chopperland, Fraland and Boneland.”

Franky and Zoro exchanged a Look. They knew instantly Usopp was on the bullshit wagon again.

“Um, I think I’m Zoroland,” Zoro said. (Lmao, better get into character quick.)

“And I’m Fraland. Nice to meet you!” Franky added.

It was round about then that Zoro remembered that Nami, Chopper and Brook were in serious trouble back on Sunny. He now wants to skip the battle (he doesn’t yet know about) and rescue the other Strawhats.

I wonder how this will go? Wicka did say she would let Zoro go back to Sunny once he’d taken her back to Resistance HQ. But Leo and the others back on Green Bit were suspicious of Robin and Usopp escaping. Will they let Zoro go or will he have to fight the battle first? Hmmm... I’m fifty/fifty about this.

God damn it, Caesar

*curb your enthusiasm music kicks in*

Meanwhile, back on Green Bit, Law was under heavy bombardment. Fujitora took a step back in this episode and Doflamingo stole the limelight. The cool music from Enies Lobby (as I call it in my head. I have no idea what the real title is) played as Doflamingo pursued Law. 

As Doflamingo was about to land a finishing blow, Caesar shrieked, “OI, JOKER! Before you kill Law, I need you to take something back for me. Law took my heart and I don’t know what he’s gonna do with it!”

Doflamingo looked round like, “Wtf... are you talking about?” And while he was distracted, Law shambled his way out of trouble.

Doflamingo was furious. FFS, CAESAR. I bet he wanted to say that but couldn’t. Gotta keep your cash cow scientist happy..

Please send help. Our art teacher has locked us in class.

Unfortunately, Law didn’t have time for a breather. He had an urgent phone call to make.

While Nami, Chopper and Brook were brought up to speed on the Humans Turning Into Toys situation by Giolla, the ship’s DDM rang. Chopper hilariously ignored Giolla and answered the call (she was maaaaad).

It was Law. He said, “Is that Nami-san?”

To my disappointment, Chopper did not answer, “No, this is Patrick.”

“I don’t care what’s going on over there,” Law said. “Listen carefully. I need you to sail Sunny to Green Bit right now. I wanna leave Caesar with you guys. No time to explain. Bye!”

Okay, so I added in the “bye” part. Law abruptly hung up.

I like how he has faith that Nami, Chopper and Brook will be able to handle the situation, but their weapons have been rendered usless by Giolla’s Art Art Fruit power. I have no idea how they’re going to get out of this one (and I’m keen to see Oda’s creative solution).

The shitshow that is Law’s current existence continued once he hung up. Doflamingo is Doflamingo. He caught up with Law again near the end of episode 648. With that slasher smile, he shot Law with a string bullet and demanded to know who Law had called for help.

Doflamingo must be confident he has Law where he wants him because he spilled the beans on his diabolical plan to snare Luffy. “Give me back Caesar’s heart already. It’s so meaningless for you to keep hanging on here. Strawhat has already walked into the trap I set. He’s fighting in the gladiatorial contest at the Colosseum. Tough contenders from all over the world come to fight in it. Outlaws only. It’s a deadly competition. When someone loses, it’s a one way ticket to hell! He will never come out of the Colosseum alive! It’s the end of your alliance, Law. Just give up!”

I wonder if Law will use the heart as leverage. Maybe he’ll give up Caesar’s heart to escape, regroup and stop Doflamingo the old-fashioned way: with Tontatta military might. (Doflamingo better not kill him off...)

Don’t worry, Chinjao. Luffy will beat you until you feel better! :D