#warlord!ace au

[saphushia]

|| part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4 coming soon... ||

man sabo really thought he'd get away from ace that easy, huh? well tough shit buddy you just got the attention of one of the most stubborn men on the seas. i do wonder how this'll play out now that sabo's cornered... hehe >;3

textless versions below the cut for those who want to look at. pictures <3

(skipped page 5 due to. y'know. it not having any dialogue)

[blacklegsanjiii]

Y'know what's funny? That some of the Sanji AU's can exist in a same ASL+S childhood friends universe- (with Acesan or even Sabosan - Ace or Sabo having a childhood crush on the boy and just years later starting to date him, just to discover WHO is boyfriend parent's are)

Like, Warlord!Sanji who starts to "work" at Baratie to know how to cook a little early but from time to time go to Amazon Lily, Alabasta, Dressrosa, Kuraigana or Fishman Island. But meets the ASL while going at Foosha and ends up becoming friends with him. (Would be funny if, like-

Or Croc!Sanji when he is with Zeff, or even Golden!Sanji with Mihawk (even a little worried) let his son be in Baratie sometimes, even if Sanji is most of the time in Kuraigana until he's 15/16.

That is so fucking funny. I'm answering in a few parts because you gave me brain worms so thanks. Also there's a few different scenarios here. Croc and Golden!Sanji above the cut and rather short but sabosan warlord!Sanji below the cut!

Croc!Sanji with guardians Zeff and Sir Crocodile who fucking hate each other. Sanji tells Crocodile about his friends in Foosha who Zeff doesn't let them see anymore because of how often he's gone in Alabasta and he needs the experience and the work so Crocodile after picking him up sails to Foosha with him and Daz. Sanji being scooped up in a big hug when he finds Ace and Luffy and they're all yelling at each other happily. Crocodile and Daz watch because Sanji is mostly used to adults both in Alabasta and Baratie so to see him with kids around his age is strange. Crocodile gets them all dinner and watches his kid bolt off into the woods after as he and Daz look at each other.

Crocodile fucking knew it because that kid with the scar under his eye beat his fucking ass with his son and while he is proud he's ready to strangle his son's childhood friend.

Mihawk takes Golden!Sanji to eat and eventually work every few weeks if he's not on a job when Baratie is open. At some point their in Foosha for a few days when Ace accidentally bumps into him and Sabo starts laying into Ace because that's Dracule Mihawk you idiot and Sanji is looking at them from behind Mihawk and Makino is telling ASL off and to go sit and be quiet. Mihawk tells her and them it's okay, they're children and it was an accident.

Luffy points at Sanji and asks why there's a baby with him and Ace and Sabo immediately thump Luffy on the head but Luffy says Shanks doesn't let kids go with him why would any pirate? So Mihawk asks how Luffy knows Shanks and invites the three of them to join them to try to get Sanji socialized a little bit with kids his own age. Makino is staring at them with worry the entire meal but Mihawk easily guides them and answers most of the questions Luffy has about Shanks. Mihawk follows them into the jungle with Sanji and watches Sanji actually play with them.

He calls Shanks from the Baratie and tells him about Sanji and ASL playing which makes Shanks question because Luffy doesn't have brothers and Mihawk laugh that he does, and they're all insane.

Warlord!Sanji being taken to Baratie every time it's in port but for some fucking reason it's always in Foosha when they go. Sanji works the prep and lunch shifts and then during the evenings is sent out to the town with whichever parent is there with him.

He meets ASL and looks at them with his head tilted in confusion. Sanji asks where their guardians are and they say they don't have any. They live by themselves in the jungle and Sanji looks between them and the jungle and they convince Sanji to go with them for a bit and Sanji watches in curious horror at the fire they build and how they cook meat. When it starts getting dark Sanji apologizes that he has to leave so they take him back to the edge of the woods and Sanji promises to see them again next time he's in Foosha and runs off to where ever his parent

Sanji doesn't come by often, every couple of months but he teaches them how to kind of cook and leaves Sabo books on the importance of nutrition and some cookbooks. Ace might be good at building fires but Sanji shows him how to build them for cooking more easily. He leaves whenever it starts getting dark with waves and promises to come back soon. ASL think Sanji is weird because sometimes there's a man waiting for him in the road near the woods, sometimes a woman, but they think the guy is weird because he always looks different.

When Sanji comes after Sabo "dies" he cooks a bunch of food for Ace and Luffy. He doesn't cry in front of them, he doesn't want to show weakness to the toughest kids he knows. So when it's time for him to go and he meets with the woman who is there sometimes and she crouches down to talk to Sanji and look at them. They know Sanji is telling her they don't like adults, they live with mountain bandits sometimes but like the jungle more. She looks between them and waves at them with Sanji before they leave.

It continues that way for a few years until Sanji stops having an adult wait for him. He stays out longer than he used to. Ace and Luffy don't ask him about the adults. Everything stays the same until after Ace is saved from the execution and suddenly Sabo is staying with the crew as much as possible to make up for lost time. He confesses to Sanji and they start dating, Sabo is wooed from how knowledgeable Sanji is about food and nutrition and then a seeming too wide net of subjects that don't really make sense to anyone. Sure finances go well with cooking, his dream is a restaurant but why does he know that much about poisons and how to make them in various forms?

Why does he know how to synthesize so many drugs? Sanji knows a lot about body decomposition and weapons and so many forms of combat and a few languages which make Sabo and everyone look at him in puzzlement. Ace is constantly asking why he knows that shit and Luffy is just saying he's smart.

For some reason or another their meeting up with the other four warlords from Ace's botched execution and Sabo is asking why Sanji looks so pale and Sanji is apologizing to him as the warlords are looking at the hand of Sanji he is holding then to him, and then to Sanji. He feels a pooling sense of dread as all of a sudden Jinbei steps forward.

"This Sabo, from when Sanji was a child. Luffy and Ace's brother we thought to be dead." Jinbei says.

"So the dead kid is now the Chief of Staff for the Revolutionary Army and dating our son?" Boa asks to which Jinbei nods at.

"You're parents are the Warlords who helped at my execution?" Ace asks Sanji.

"They were the ones waiting on the road?" Luffy asks after.

"You guys never went to meet them?!" Nami yells at them.

"It's complicated!" Sabo exclaims.

"I want to hear this." Zoro grins.

"We hated adults!" Sabo defends.

"They did. They used to try to convince to me to stay." Sanji nods.

"They lived in a jungle. I heard about several incidents where they almost burned down the jungle." Crocodile nods.

"I'm sure we don't need to talk about what will happen to you if you hurt our son?" Mihawk asks Sabo who nods soberly as Robin giggles.

[grandpuppylight]

Check out this amazing AU

This not my story but the person who owns it doesn't have tumblr. So I decided that the one piece tumblr fandom needs this in their life. The synopsis is that king finds out the seraphim exit 7 days before marineford. Three hours before the execution is to acure Sengoku gets a call from Egghead. Chaos insues. Chapters 1-7 up now the author does not have an upload schedule. Now for just one interesting insight to the story, the author is making Moria a bigger threat than he already was.

The author has decided to call it the "Age of Emperors AU"

[fluffyartbl0g]

Ohh my God the most recent comic, when it's spelled out like that, speed running paradise, fighting an admiral sun God thing happening way early than any of this should be it's any wonder ace isn't in worse shape in this let alone seeing sabo again because it's two years early and he would probably be fresh into white beard crew im picturing *jinbei the warlord I just finished fighting days on end to exhaustion is joining your crew?* "I give up, it's too much at once, there are to meany others to be more concerned about" their concern on white beards ship should be warning about black beard before the bastard gets the 1st stupid strong devil fruit.

YEYSYEYSYESYEYSYRFSEUDYGTYUHSDOGUHFDGUDFUH!!!!!! Like I drew Ace getting kinda choked up in the second page when listing things because,,, man he really was worried. I dont think he was like losing sleep type worried until he found out Luffy and his gang had a pretty intense encounter with an admiral.

It's only been like 1.5 to 2 years since Ace last left Dawn Island and sparred with Luffy, so even if he's improved a lot, there just cant be any way his 15 year old baby brother would be able to handle an Admiral- HECK he can barely handle an admiral. So when he found out they had an encounter, I assume his stomach just dropped and full on big brother freak out mode started happening.

Like he always had a mild worry niggling in the back of his mind, but Ace has his own adventures and his own nakama now, he's got stuff to do and at the pace Luffy is going at, it seems like explanations will be coming soon anyways.

Luckily this whole admiral encounter thing happened shortly before Luffy found Ace again, because every second Ace was waiting on Whitebeard's ship after he found out about it was another second away from Ace just going completely ballistic and shooting off to find his baby bro. The Whitebeards were real good at getting Ace to just calm down and wait a bit, soo good job to them :D! Though, that like idk,,, week or two??? (im not good with timeframes tbh), that he was just waiting to see if his brother was okay was prolly one of the worst weeks of his life.

U know I really debated if I was making Ace recognise sabo too quickly and if I was making him like too emotional or what not,,, but like YEA HE'S SO CONFUSED AND TIRED AND WORRIED!!!! IF THOSE BROTHERS DONT SPEND THE NEXT HOUR JUST SOBBING AND GRASPING AT EACHOTHER LIKE NO ONE ELSE EXISTS THAN I DONT KNOW WHAT I'LL DO!!!!!!

[emeraldtart]

One Piece AU where the pirates have two factions; Peace Mains and Morgania. (Reference: Romance Dawn by Eiichiro Oda)

Peace Mains: Pirates who made a living by hunting Morgania.

Morgania: Pirates who made a living by pillaging and committing crimes.

Basically a more slice of life AU with some major lore, with Luffy looking for adventures rather than One Piece and meeting new friends along the way.

Ace and Sabo followed suit because Crocodile knows that his youngest won't be able to avoid trouble. All three aims to make a crew consisting of Peace Mains pirates.

They basically travel around for weeks and for 2 months and then they go back to their hometown. The rest of the Strawhats joined but they sometimes go do their own thing sometimes. Somehow they're always nearby when the brothers get themselves into trouble. Is it fate?

For the Shichibukai, they're made out of the strongest Peace Mains and they're the top amongst the pirates. They control a large region and prevents Morgania pirates from causing havoc. Unlike canon they don't work with the Marines and aside from nicknames from the public no one knows their true identity, the only exception being Kuma.

Crocodile: He guards Alabasta and the surrounding area. As a warlord, he is known for punishing Morgania pirates to near death as a warning. He is known as Mr. 0 by the Marines due to the number nickname given to his underlings and the Desert King due to the area he rules over. He often appear without his head during Baroque Works meetings, so not even his coworkers know how he looks like.

Dracule Mihawk: Known as the Sharp-Eyed Man and the Marine Hunter by the Marines, he is known for working alone. He takes down Marines and Morgania Pirates from the shadows, his hawk mask covering his face. He lives alone on an island until he met Zoro and Perona. He starts to leave his island more often. Used to be a normal hawk when he was hit with a Devil Fruit power that turns animal into humans.

Gecko Moria: Doesn't go by any epithet, but he is whispered amongst the Marines like an urban legend of the seas. Not much is known about him.

Kuma: Was called the Tyrant and the only one who the Marines know for sure his identity is. He never stays in one place for long, but wherever he goes the people said that a big, gentle man helps them.

Boa Hancock: Nicknamed Medusa, all who laid their eyes on her become stone, and they all forget how she looks like after turning back. Lives in Amazon Lily and send out ships to help free slaves to the outside world. Hopeless romantic. She and Jinbe are friends.

Jinbe: Known as the Knight of the Seas. He frees slaves and destroy human auction houses. Marines are not sure if he's human or something else. He went to Amazon Lily shore on weekends for tea with Hancock.

Donquixote Doflamingo: Known as the Heavenly Yaksha, he always foils Marines plans to capture Peace Mains pirates. His brother, Rosinante is still alive alongside their parents. Rosi joins the Marines and along with Sengoku resolves to make sure the Marines don't do much harm. He works at a boutique belonging to his parents when not doing pirates stuff. Law is his adopted nephew and Doffy isn't sure if the kid knows or not that he's a pirate.

[golgolfruit]

One of my fav little headcanons for my Crocodile raising ASL is that he has to explain that the Bananawani are friends, not food.

Ace ends up befriending one that follows him when he sets sail.

The first time the Whitebeard Pirates met Ember, Ace’s Bananawani, it was because a sea king got a little too close to the Moby. Marco nearly got eaten when Ember jumped from the water as Marco was flying to attack the sea king.

[rollinouttahere-writes]

I was thinking about the Little Lucky AU and found myself wondering how Ace’s reaction would have changed if he’d seen Lucky before she had a chance to heal, so here's that

Smile For Me

4.1k words

Not an experience in the world could top the feeling of the salty sea breeze whipping past him as he cut through the ocean in Striker. Ace was positive he would never grow weary of the sensation. The intoxicating views and endless freedom of it was enviable to say the least.

An unimposing wave headed straight for him, Ace only grinned and increased the speed. His prized boat ramped over the wave, temporarily becoming airborne before crashing back into the sea. Water shot up and coated him in a fine mist, enough to feel refreshing but not so much as to weaken the devil fruit user.

The figure of a ship on the horizon caught his eye. It was too far away for him to be able to identify whose it could be, but he changed course anyway. Might as well approach and ask if they know anything about that backstabbing bastard Teach.

Plus, if they turn out to be marines, he’ll get a much needed opportunity to blow off some steam.

As soon as the jolly roger was identifiable, a grin broke out across his face. It hadn’t been long since he’d last seen Luffy and his crew, but who was he to pass up such an opportunity? Besides, for all he knows they’ve heard or seen something related to Blackbeard. Though, admittedly, he’d prefer if that traitorous piece of shit never so much as made eye contact with any of them.

Especially not his niece. 

For most of his life, Ace would have never considered himself to be a family oriented man. Between the loathing for his father and complicated feelings regarding his late mother, the word ‘family’ left a bitter taste in his mouth. Sure, he eventually opened himself up enough to let his brothers in, but that felt different.

It wasn’t until his introduction to the Whitebeard pirates that he started to come around. At first, all he felt was a gnawing envy for the close knit family bond displayed by them, but as time went on and he grew closer the feeling subsided. Then he was properly assimilated into the crew- no, the family- and accepted Whitebeard’s offer to become one of his many sons. He’d never realized how badly he needed the unconditional love and support of a family until he was thrust into it. He wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Then there was you, his darling little niece.

Granted, calling you his niece wasn’t necessarily accurate. Luffy was distinctly not your father (Sanji would absolutely never let that mix up take place), but the term just felt right. Who cares if it wasn’t technically correct? Luffy isn’t technically his brother, and Whitebeard isn’t technically his father. Technicalities didn’t matter with them, so why should they apply with you?

Ace would be lying through his teeth if he said you weren’t the person he was most excited about seeing again. Despite not having known you for long, you’d wormed your way into his heart more than anyone ever could hope to. He’d even temporarily put his mission on hold to stay with you while in Alabasta. As much as he knew he needed to be hot on Blackbeard’s trail, he couldn’t bring himself to just leave you while in such a high risk situation. Luffy had barely set foot in the Grand Line and he’d already managed to pick a fight with a warlord. 

While that wasn’t necessarily surprising knowing his brother, what was shocking was that he was doing all this with a four year old in tow. Ace didn’t doubt Luffy’s strength by any means, but he was more unsure of his ability to multitask fighting a warlord and his army of assassins while also keeping you safe. 

That’s why he volunteered to hang back and keep an eye on you while Luffy proved himself, something he was relieved he did after seeing how banged up everyone got during the final battle. He can’t imagine you would have gotten out of that unscathed, and you were far too young to be getting caught in the crosshairs of fights of that magnitude. Just the idea of you scraping your knee made him feel sick.

He doesn’t know what he’d do if you ever got seriously injured. Or worse. He doesn’t want to even think about it.

As he closed in on the Going Merry, a familiar figure in a straw hat hopped onto the figurehead and waved his arms wildly.

Ace waved back while raking his eyes over the rest of the ship. He hoped to see your familiar head of hair peeking over the railings, but had no such luck. That’s fine, he supposes. You could be napping or simply hadn’t realized he was here yet.

The Striker slowed to a stop next to the much larger ship, and Ace barely managed to tie the rope attaching the two before he was yanked up into the rubbery arms of his brother. They both tumbled backwards on the deck with Luffy laughing boisterously.

“Ace! What are you doing here? Did you catch that guy you were looking for?” Luffy rolled off of Ace and pulled him up onto his feet.

Ace readjusted his hat, “Not yet. I was just passing by and thought I’d check in on you.” He snatched the hat off Luffy’s head with one hand and ruffled his hair with the other.

Luffy whined and swatted Ace’s hand away while trying to get his hat back. It’s then that he notices the massive burn on one of Luffy’s arms. It starts at his elbow and goes all the way down to his finger tips.

Grabbing him by the bicep, Ace pulls the arm closer to look at it, “The hell happened there?”

“Oh, that? I fought this guy with weird earlobes and he melted some gold onto my arm. I punched him with it though, you should have seen it!” Luffy grinned and puffed out his chest with pride.

“Only you would somehow neglect to mention that that psycho had lightning powers from a devil fruit,” Nami called out. She was leaning against the mast with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Small burns were littered across her arms.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” Luffy chuckled. It makes sense that he wouldn’t care as much about that part. Since Luffy is made of rubber from his own fruit, those powers would be essentially irrelevant to him. 

Ace dropped the straw hat back onto his brother’s head and playfully shoved him back, “I’ll ask more about that later. Where’s my niece at?”

Nami tensed, then shifted her weight from foot to foot, “She’s napping right now, I doubt she’ll wake up before you have to leave.” The words were spoken sharply.

“I’m sure she won’t mind being woken up when she sees her favorite uncle here. Plus, I’ve got a little present for her,” Ace replied. The last island he stopped at was known for a chewy candy made from a fruit that exclusively grew there. It was all the rage with the kids, so naturally he grabbed a couple boxes of it for you.

He made for where your room was, but Nami leapt in the way and pushed him back. “She needs her sleep, you can just leave the gift with me!” The navigator snapped at him. 

Ace’s eye twitched in annoyance. He was well aware that she wasn’t his biggest fan, but this was ridiculous. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’ll get her back to sleep myself if it matters that much to you,” he ground out. 

She opened her mouth to respond, only for Luffy to interrupt her, “Is she still napping? I thought Lucky was in the kitchen with Sanji.” 

Nami hissed at Luffy to shut up, but Ace didn’t care enough to stick around for whatever disagreement was about to break out between the two. He shoved past the redhead and bolted for the kitchen. His eyes rolled, of course she tried lying to him. He tries to smuggle his niece off the ship one time and she has to go and make a whole song and dance out of it. It was just a joke!

The door to the kitchen was thrown open with what was probably more force than necessary. The doorknob loudly collided with the wall, something that Thatch would scold him for doing if he was here.

The crack of the collision wasn’t the only thing he heard. It was immediately drowned out by a shrill scream. Yours.

He hadn’t even gotten a good look at you yet, all he’d seen was a blur as you leapt from the counter you were sitting on and clung onto Sanji like your life depended on it. Ace’s heart was in his throat from the sight. The last thing he ever wanted to do was scare you. He didn’t remember you being this jumpy last time he’d seen you.

The guilt was piled on more when a small sob could be heard, too.

Sanji cradled you to his chest, whispering soft words of assurance before whipping around with the coldest look on his face. Surprise momentarily flashed across his face before being replaced with an even angrier expression. A hand came up to push your head further into his chest.

“Don’t slam the damn door! What is wrong with you?!” He whisper yelled.

Ace held up his hands in defense, “I’m sorry, I didn’t think I would scare her.” He took cautious, quiet steps towards you and Sanji, “Hey, Lucky. I’m sorry about that, I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

Your hands were clamped over your ears, but his voice appeared to have still gotten through. Gingerly, you lowered your hands and whispered a tearful, “Uncle Ace?”

Ace, however, was too shocked to hear it. Actually, shocked wasn’t a strong enough word to describe how he was feeling. Horrified was more fitting. Your arms were covered in scabbed over burns. That was bad enough, but what really got to him was the bruising around your neck.

Someone had strangled his niece.

What happened to you? Who did this? And where are they right now? Ace needed to know so he could personally finish them off.

You’d finally turned to face him, and the tears and busted lip did nothing to calm him. The fire that made up his very being crackled dangerously beneath his skin, and it took every bit of self control he had to keep himself from torching the kitchen.

It wasn’t until you held out your burnt arms to him that he snapped out of the rage he was in and rushed forward to snatch you out of Sanji’s arms and into his own. Despite the cook’s protest, you eagerly clambered onto Ace. Your much smaller limbs locked onto him and you buried your face into his neck while sniffling pitifully. 

Ace bounced you gently, but refrained from speaking. His anger still had a hold on him, and he wasn’t sure he trusted himself to not let it show quite yet.

Nami entered the kitchen, appearing visibly uncomfortable and tense.

The control Ace had regarding holding his tongue went out the damn window. He all but snarled at her, “Is this why you didn’t want me to see her?”

“Don’t pick a fight with her, Ace,” Sanji put himself in between them. 

Ace scoffed at the warning, but he had no intention of starting a fight. You’d already been subjected to more fighting than you ever should have been. What you needed right now was some fresh air, and honestly he needed to step away from this situation for a bit before he exploded. Going for a ride on Striker should do the trick.

He shouldered past them, tightly clutching you to him. Nami and Sanji were hot on his heels as he headed straight for where his boat was tied off.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Nami demanded. Her hand shot out and latched onto Ace’s backpack, successfully bringing him to a halt. This was not well received by Ace, who then whipped around to shove her away.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Luffy came bounding over, looking thoroughly confused about the altercation. “What happened?”

“I should be asking all of you that!” Ace raised his voice, though immediately regretted it when he felt you flinch. He spoke in a lower tone next, “I’m taking her for a ride on Striker, she looks like she could stand to have some fun for once. You’re all going to tell me what happened when we come back.”

“Absolutely not! Are you insane, why would we let you run off with her?!” Nami made a move to come closer and grab you, but Luffy blocked her. If looks could kill, Luffy would be dead several times over.

Luffy ignored Nami’s venomous gaze and stepped close enough to rest a hand on your back, “Do you wanna go with Ace?” His tone was more soothing and gentle than Ace had previously thought it was capable of being.

You turned your head just enough to be able to look at him over your shoulder. For a moment you mulled over what to say. Your voice was hushed, like you were afraid to make too much noise. Or maybe because your throat ached too much to speak up. Both possibilities made Ace’s blood boil.

“Y-Yeah… It sounds fun, I guess.”

Luffy grinned warmly, patting your back before stepping away, “Alright! Have fun, Lucky!”

Nami and Sanji both started to protest, but Ace didn’t care enough to stick around and hear it. After muttering a quick ‘thanks’ to Luffy for being the most reasonable person here (something he never thought would ever be the case), Ace finished the rest of the short walk to where Striker was. He dropped down onto it and made quick work of untying the boat.

Just like that, you two were off. As much as he wanted to take off at max speed, he kept the pace leisurely. There was no rush, and he did not want to startle you again. 

Your face was back to being firmly planted in his neck, and you haven’t said anything since answering Luffy. You haven’t smiled at all since he’s seen you.

Ace didn’t know what to do. Comforting people has never been his strong suit. Luffy had learned to roll with the punches of his toughlove growing up, but you weren’t Luffy. And Ace wasn’t the same kid with a shitty attitude that he used to be, either. For now, he’ll wait for you to come around on your own. He’s sure you will, you did agree to come with him after all. 

Eventually, he felt your head move, followed by the sensation of you propping your chin up on his shoulder. At least you were finally taking in the sights. Feeling like he was making progress, Ace takes his chance and tries to start a conversation with you.

“It’s a nice view, right?”

“Mmhm.”

A silence fell over you two again. That was… something? At least he got a response, however brief. It was odd for you to be this quiet. Back when you all were in Alabasta you were a little chatterbox. 

The question of what exactly happened loomed over him. Who could do this to a child? What kind of a monster does someone need to be to do this? The idea that anyone could so much as think of hurting his niece made him feel sick. Learning who was responsible would have to wait until later, though. He wasn’t about to risk making you more upset by asking you about it.

This whole situation was extremely frustrating. You deserved nothing but good things in his humble opinion, not this horrible abuse and suffering.

A realization hit him. The candy! He’d completely forgotten about it after seeing you. Maybe that’ll be enough to put a smile on your face.

You’d traveled far enough that the Going Merry was barely visible, so he should be able to take a break and sit down with you for a moment. He might even be able to get you talking. Though honestly, just seeing you look happy would be more than enough for him.

The Striker slowed to a stop until it was doing nothing more than drifting with the current of the ocean. He felt you perk up and look around.

“Why did we stop? Is your boat broken?” The stress in your voice was palpable.

“No, no, no! Everything’s fine! I just remembered that I had a present for you, that’s all!” Ace hastily reassured you, feeling bad that he’d made you worry for even a second. He shifted you to one side and sat down. He attempted to put you down across from him, but the instant panic in your eyes and you clinging to his arms put a stop to that.

So now you were perched on his lap while he rummaged through his rucksack. While you did appear to be mildly interested in what he was doing, your eyes were lacking any real excitement. You were more invested in clinging to him and taking in your surroundings.

Ace was beginning to think he’d lost the candy when his fingers grazed the ribbon bound box hiding at the bottom of his bag. “Here it is!” The package was pulled out and the bag discarded to the side while he held it out to you.

There was a bit of hesitation on your part, but then you slowly took it from him with a small ‘thank you’. You carefully examined the box while lightly picking at the ribbon, “What is it?”

“You’ll know if you open it,” he jostled you a little while trying to encourage you.

Slowly, you tugged at the ribbon, watching with a blank expression as it came undone. Ace took it from you once it was off so you could keep your hands free. The lid was pried off next, revealing the candies inside. Sunlight reflected off the sugar coating the light pink treats, making them appear even more enticing.

Ace watched with trepidation as you eyed them, and almost sighed in relief when you picked up a piece. You scrutinized the candy, sniffed it, then finally popped it into your mouth.

Your face remained neutral briefly as you first bit into it. Then, finally, your eyes widened, and the faintest hint of a smile began to tug at the corner of your lips. You chewed more vigorously and dug two more pieces out of the box.

“That good, huh? I’m glad you like them, Lucky,” Ace moved your hair out of your face as the ocean’s breeze blew the strands about. 

An idea occurred to him at that moment. Moving the ribbon he’d been holding to his mouth, he gathered up your hair and pulled it back. After a messy attempt to finger comb it, he took the ribbon and wrapped it around your hair. He tried his best to tie it into a nice looking bow but… it was bad. One loop was noticeably bigger than the other and the way the knot was tied made it look extremely lopsided. 

Good thing you couldn’t see it.

Suddenly, you turned around in his lap and held up a piece of candy to him. Ace smiled at the gesture, “I got those for you, kid. You enjoy them.”

“I wanna share it,” your tone and serious expression left little room for argument, especially when you started persistently pushing the sugary treat against his mouth. Taking it into his mouth, the first thing he registered about it was how sweet it was. His face scrunched up involuntarily, this was much sweeter than he liked his food to be. Ace could only hope you would be content with this and wouldn’t insist on sharing any more with him.

A soft giggle cut through the air, surprising him so much that he almost choked on the candy. He looked down at you, and sure enough, you were actually smiling.

“Your face was funny,” you mumbled, averting your eyes back to the half empty box in your hands.

“Was it?” Ace laughed. He swore he could feel a weight being lifted from his shoulders thanks to seeing you in better spirits. He swallowed the candy, glad to be rid of it. Hazarding another glance at you, he noticed you were starting to absentmindedly pick at one of your scabs. His hand shot out and pulled the offending hand away, “Don’t do that, it’s not gonna heal if you pick at it.”

You flinched and whined from the contact, making him let go in a panic. In his rush to grab your wrist, he’d unknowingly squeezed one of your many burns. Well then. Now he felt like a piece of shit.

“I’m sorry, I should have been paying more attention to where I was grabbing,” Ace very gently brought you in for a hug, hoping that he didn’t accidentally touch any other injuries.

“It’s okay,” you sniffled. 

“All these must hurt a lot, huh?”

You nodded, “Yeah… It always hurts.”

Ace frowned. It wasn’t right that you had to be in agony around the clock because his brother’s crew dropped the ball when it came to protecting you. He might not know what happened yet, but he knows they’re all feeling guilty for it based on how shifty and defensive Nami got.

Wait.

Now that he’s thinking about it, there is a way to make all your pain go away.

“You know… One of my brothers could heal you right up.”

You cocked your head to the side, eyebrows knitted together, “Is he a doctor? Chopper is already doing that.”

“He is a doctor, but he’s a doctor with a devil fruit that can heal any injury. On himself and on others,” he leaned in closer to explain this, as if he was sharing a secret. “Not only that, but he can do it in seconds.”

“Really? That’s so cool!” Your eyes were wide and rapt with interest.

“Really! We can go see him right now, how does that sound?”

Uncertainty pulled at your face, and you shifted in his lap, “Now? But what about everyone else? They’ll be all worried if we don’t come back.”

“It’ll be fine! Besides, once they see you healed up they’ll be happy about it!” Ace knew they were going to be pissed about him leaving with you, but he didn’t want you thinking about that. He needs you to focus on how nice it’ll be when you aren’t constantly hurting, “Don’t you want to feel better sooner?”

“I do… Are you sure they won’t be mad?” 

“Of course! Seeing you happy and healthy will make your being gone for a little bit all worth it, I promise!” Okay, realistically some of them will still be mad, but only at him. He knows that Luffy will appreciate it at the very least, and his opinion is the only one that matters to Ace.

“Plus, if we go to Whitebeard’s ship now, you’ll be able to meet Kotatsu. You still want to see him, right?” If the medical treatment couldn’t get you over the barrel, he’s sure the promise of a cat will.

“The kitty?! Yeah, I wanna see him! Let’s go!”

Bingo. Convincing you was easier than he thought it was going to be. 

Ace tossed your box of candy back into his bag and scooped your excited self into his arms. You were downright giddy and it was relieving to say the least. It would be even better when those nasty burns and bruises were nothing more than an awful memory.

Now that you were in a better mood, he fully utilized how fast his boat could go. Small but delighted giggles came from you as the Striker effortlessly cut through the water.

Everyone was going to be more than a little surprised to see Ace come home with a kid given that he hasn’t gotten the chance to tell them about you yet, but he knows they’ll love you just as much as he does. If they could welcome him into their crew despite how hostile he was when they first met, you’ll be adored by them in a matter of seconds.

Ace won’t even need to ask Marco to treat you, he’ll be all over you the second he lays eyes on your battered form. And Pops isn’t exactly the type to turn away a little kid, especially one that’s family.

Honestly, they might not even want to let you go after they get a chance to know you.

[supermitskifan1234]

The Multiverse of Skitters

Inspired from wormblr idea of Skitter in Across the Spider-Verse, got me thinking of a long list of possible alt au Skitters in a similar Spider Society.

List;

Earth Bet-1: Taylor Hebert, Skitter, according to the universe of canon.

Earth Bet-7618: Tayloran Hebert, The Spider Witch, in the grim dark Kingdom of Brockton. A member of the Underhand, a hidden cult under The Serpent. Enemy to the Protectorate Knights and their enhanced Seraphim members such as Miss Huntress or The Dauntless One.

Earth Bet-151: Taylor Hebert, Team Undersider Admin, Pokemon trainer and admin of evil Team Undersider. A specialist in Bug types, with Heracross as her Ace.

Earth Bet-1317: Taylor Hebert, Avatar of The Corruption, Half alive with a swarm of living flying insects taking residence inside her body and emerging from her skin.

Earth Bet-1915: Tay Hebert, Raider of The Undersiders, from a universe where a post nuclear disaster in the 60s has rendered itself a wasteland. Scion appearing in the 80s could’ve been considered good but it just rendered the world further into warlords with powers.

Silly little autism idea feel free to add :3

[oz00ms2]

a question that’s been haunting me abt the capt firebug au (and one that, I don’t know if you’ve already answered-if u have feel free to ignore this lol I probably missed it) but like. the whole Marineford bit. How would that go down? The agony of seeing one of the kids you became uncle to (the kid you probably look at sometimes and think “yeah. He abandoned us both”) that kid. Up on the execution block. Just. AGHH!!!! You know? And I’m thinking of that scene with garp and ace and I’m thinking. Buggy is probably there again but in marine capacity this time rather than an inmate. Just how would that go down? Like!! He’s a marine for vengeance and bc he’s been abandoned and he’s got PLANS he needs to see through but this. This was never the plan

you know anon, the more I think about it, the more I can't imagine buggy not turning on the marines during marineford.

I haven't 100% decided what would change, but from the last question I had about that arc to now ...I think this would be the "buggy betrays the marines" moment and whether ace lives or not (because unfortunately his death is a major moment for luffy's character) it would be interesting to have buggy go off with crocodile who he's known from the warlord days, and that's the beginning of cross guild. 🤔

garp and tsuru would have to understand - plus the agony of shanks being there and buggy still goes off with a different pirate??? *chef's kiss*.

ugfhiagsu!! I just don't knoooow my dear anon!! there's so many options! must ponder further.

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

Do you have any shuggy fanfic recommendations? I already read and rearead (and reread) yours one piece ff…

i can certainly give you some recs!

everything's hosted on ao3 and set in the one piece universe; i do read modern/mundane AUs but i'm always really picky about how an author adapts a ship's canon history into an AU, so i've yet to find one that really grabs me except that one college AU i forgot to save a link to… i hope i'll find you again someday…

for all my life i’ve watched from afar, i’m too afraid to try by Badopportunities - complete, 18k

this is probably my favorite shuggy fic i've read so far. a canon divergence in which shanks hunts down ace instead of whitebeard to warn him off the blackbeard hunt directly, and just so happens to find ace while he's hanging out with buggy's crew. love the outside POVs on shanks & buggy before their history was common knowledge, love their dynamic while trying to keep that history secret, love the optimistic way the story ends.

uncharted waters by vestigialmoods - complete, 41k

a long, multi-POV sorta kinda get-together—this one written after we knew the warlord system was being dissolved but before we learned about cross guild. buggy tries to figure out what to do now that he's lost government protection; shanks is encouraged to go for what he wants for once, instead of passively letting fate decide his path. features very fun characterization for both crews, and a really well-crafted scene that deals with phantom limb pain and sexual tension simultaneously.

in the deepest depths i lost myself, i see myself through someone else by Badopportunities - WIP, 36k

it may be gauche to rec multiple fics by the same author but Badopportunities has yet to steer me wrong! this is set during the timeskip, while buggy is searching for an island to claim as his warlord base of operations and shanks is trying to look after former whitebeard territories. they clash. uses one of my favorite lines for a childhood friends-to-lovers ship: one of them says he's single because he's having trouble finding a partner with “similar life experiences.” iykyk

currently incomplete at 4/5 chapters, last updated in 2022… but they just posted a new chapter of their other shuggy wip (which i also recommend, buggy time travels and saves ace & uta) this week, so it feels like anything's possible!

I'll See You in My Dreams by doublejoint - complete, 4k

shanks keeps dreaming of being older, on a ship with only buggy for company, wearing matching rings and sailing for who knows where. i love how efficiently and effectively this fic explores his thoughts on these dreams over the years—are they visions of the future, his secret desires, bad gas? the ending is very sweet.

We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together (and other lies Buggy tells himself) by Transformatron - complete, 11k, explicit

i am not much for smut (being ♠️🏳️‍🌈 and all), but occasionally one gets in the mood, and this fic has some intense emotions to go along with the intense, kinda kinky smut. shanks has found out about cross guild and comes to see buggy, not convinced that this is a safe, sane, and consensual situation buggy's found himself in. they fight about it, and then… 😳

there is background established buggy/crocodile/mihawk, but crocodile and mihawk aren't present for the explicit portion of the fic.

i like lipstick on my neck by kiriya - complete, 20k, explicit

if i'm recommending smut-with-feelings, i have to rec this fic. genderbent butch/femme shanks and buggy run into each other in east blue, post-roguetown and pre-canon, and spend three chapters bickering, drinking, and… you know. absolutely fantastic characterization, buggy is an awful little gremlin and shanks likes her very much despite herself.

i don't know if the fic was inspired by this art or if the art was inspired by this fic, but either way… if you read the fic you should look at the art. that butch shanks is just. absolutely inspired.

[gizamalblythe]

BloodTide Au

In this Au instead of Blackbeard capturing and turning in Ace, he somehow manages to massacre the Red Hair Pirates and brings in the head of Shanks.

This event is managed to be kept so under wraps that Mihawk only finds out because at the warlord meeting to announce a new warlord, Shanks' decapitated head is placed at the end of the table opposite him.

Mihawk gazes into the dead, empty eyes of his husband. Someone is speaking but Mihawk does not hear a single word. There is only ringing, ringing, ringing. And then, he remembers his vows.

“Akagami Shanks, I swear by the Wind and Waves, I will love you everyday I draw breath, and for ever more after. Should any tear you from me in Eternity, I shall fight till the tides run crimson.

Yoru strikes the ground, the shock moving up his arm. Blood from the cowardly whelp splatters his face, as the two halves of the bastard fall to the ground.

Shouting erupts after a moment of silence, but Mihawk doesn’t listen. For the Red Emperor is dead, and the BloodTide Rises.

@blackcat2907 @manofbeskar @blackholesun321

[saphushia]

|| part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4 coming soon... ||

so, did you know ace was offered a position on the warlords that he turned down? well i mean... if he had accepted, it would follow that the revs would take more interest in him, yeah? i mean, it is their job to keep tabs on the government, you'd presume that extends to warlords as well.

and as far as warlords go, fire fist is interesting.

if only sabo could work out why... then maybe the man would finally get out of his head.

EDIT: textless versions of the pages can be found here!

[blacklegsanjiii]

We've seen the Straw Hats react to Warlord!Sanji, but now that you've brought up the Shichibukai declaring war against the government for their son--how does the world react to this reveal? You said in the notes that his new bounty name would be "Child of the Warlords," but I was thinking about it, and what if it's something like "Warprince"? Sounds cliche, but technically his parents aren't warlords anymore, and I doubt the government considers him their child due to the weird obsession they have with bloodlines :/ anyway prince would also refer to the Vinsmokes so they probably thought two birds one stone. Sanji's bounty is now higher than Zoro's. Zoro is perpetually enraged by this.

Also, imagine the reactions of people like Vivi and Law who literally witnessed Sanji helping take down his own parent. Or even Judge who's sweating over the realization that his failure son holds the devotion of some of the most powerful pirates alive. Zeff sees the updated poster and has PTSD flashbacks of Sanji's birthday party when all five parents visited the Baratie. He and the other chefs spend the night drinking.

I love this au you've made <3 I adore all of your aus really <3 <3 gorgeous breathtaking lovely lovely lovely

You make a good point, anon. They probably wouldn't give him the name 'Child of the Warlords' it probably would be 'Warprince' or 'Prince of War' or something similar. As for the world reacting? The shock that reverberates around probably leads to all their denden mushis and the Sunny's ringing all the fucking time.

Sanji's bounty has to be almost as high as Luffy's, given he escaped his execution and continued being a pirate after he was given the all clear to resume his normal activities. Zoro is pissed about the bounty and Sanji is like 'I don't know what to do about this' as he stress cooks in the kitchen. Luffy is probably happy about that but he knows Sanji is worried and it's worse than when he got back from Whole Cake. Chopper said what Sanji went through was extreme and it would take time but Luffy just wants him back to his happier self.

Ace probably shows up to the Sunny and talks to Sanji about it. Like his parents helped Ace and the White Beard fleet and he can relate about his parentage being open knowledge. How scary it is but Sanji has a lot of people to support him. Perona probably comes by and is just floating and holding onto Sanji while he cooks and is just pulled along while she talks his ear off about zombies and cute things. She also tells him all about Zoro getting his ass handed to him by Mihawk.

Vivi and Law call to ask why Sanji would help over them overthrow his parents. The answer is so dumb and simple because the answer is it made his parents proud. They knew when he inevitably would set off he would become a powerful pirate but that would always be second to him being a cook. Zeff calls and demands the numbers for his fucking parents and is screaming at Jinbei over the mushi because what fuck is he letting them do? The Baratie is closed for a week because everyone is too drunk and also too hungover to function because of the news about the eggplant. Zeff, Patty, and Carne have flashbacks to Sanji's seventeenth birthday party at the Baratie and also yell at Jinbei for that even though he only brought himself and booze.

Like and the other four, who already had high bounties and now they just keep climbing because of the destruction they're raining on the government? When Mihawk's passes Shanks' bounty Redhair calls him up and is like "is this worth it?" And Mihawk is like "If rouge and Roger we're here and that happened to Ace they would do the same thing" and like yeah. Mihawk has a point.

Judge stares at the paper and wonders how the fucking failure managed to A. Escape his execution, which he eyes Reiju for and B. Became the child of not one or two warlords but five warlords, four of which are currently waging a war on the government for trying to kill Sanji. Judge debates for a while whether he should try to get Sanji back again. Then he sees Mihawk and Boa's bounties are both fast approaching six billion beri and decides against it.

For now at least.

[local-fire-dumpster]

Reverse Au where instead of Ace, Sabo gets captured to be publicly executed.

Ace managed to overpower Teach by just a little, so the later makes a run for it and somehow manages to capture Sabo instead, which suits him just fine.He still becomes a Warlord as Sabo is the Revolutionaries No.2 and worth a lot.

When Ace finds out while tracking him he has a stroke. Likewise Luffy who is on Amazon Lily like in the canon timeline also has a stroke.

Basically both of them end up infiltrating Impel Down independently, in an attempt to rescue Sabo and join together once they find out.

With both Ace and Luffy working together the guards and Magellan couldn't stop them from reaching Level 6 and freeing Sabo.

There'd be a lot of angst and tears bc Sabo still got amnesia and straight up does not know who they are but ultimately it'd be a happy AU because they all make it out alive while the navy gets humiliated by Luffy once more.

[shranstan]

going full 'insane about my own au' but.

crocodile raising luffy -> crocodile raising asl bros

2. crocodile was a kuja empress -> boa hancock is luffy's cousin/aunt (and sabo and ace's too, but not like biologically)

3. crocodile and mihawk have a past -> stepdad mihawk or wine aunt mihawk

4. ace accepts the warlord position bc he has a different view of how pirates can use the marines for their own benefit/he learns to play the long game (the long game has always been croco's thing)

and all of that added equals:

croco + ace + hancock + mihawk -> the majority of warlords are related to each other

[namisweatheria]

I'm sure people have talked about this before BUT I AM thinking about an au where Rouge had a terrifying Devil Fruit power and ridiculously strong Haki (like Boa but... you know. not like that at all thank you.) and managed to have HER OWN ISLAND that The Navy refuses to touch. (Like Boa! Without the Warlord part.)

What if Ace got his good navigational instincts from her, and the island was somewhere basically impossible to get to. (Unless you're a navigational genius.) Which immediately connects it in my mind to a Bell-mere lives au.

Things I'm imagining happening:

-Rouge raising Ace herself on that island

-Garp finding her as he promised he would, and seeing a good opportunity, promptly dropping Luffy off forever

-Sabo sneaking on Garp's ship to get away from his parents, and managing to make it there as it happens to be where Garp is heading next for another quick visit to try to indoctrinate Luffy (and Ace) into The Marines

-ASL brothers again<3

-kid Ace being fucking crazy in an entirely DIFFERENT way. He didn't suffer from living under Roger's shadow (Rouge never even mentions that deadbeat) but he and his mom are very much alone on this island so he goes Insane

-Luffy and Sabo are still the best things to happen to him and slowly make him calm down a lot

-Rouge DOES want to bring more people to the island because obviously she does not want her son to be deranged but it's difficult to trust people when The World Government wants her son dead so badly. Also a nearly-impossible-to-reach incredibly dangerous jungle island is a hard sell. lol

-She is going insane in her own way but she throws herself into raising them well and training them and herself to be as strong as possible, so they can protect each other if the government comes for them

-She definitely knows about Dragon being Luffy's dad, tricking that out of Garp was Not Hard. lmao

-Sabo opens up about his backstory to her eventually too. Someone protect these kids from the damn government!!!!!!!

-In this au, Bell-mere is strong enough to get Nami, Nojiko, and herself out of Coco Village when Arlong takes over, but not strong enough to defeat them and free the village

-She tries to get Navy assistance but is met with bald-faced corruption. Extreme disillusionment follows

-They travel for a few years, Bell-mere always trying to get stronger so they can return and save the village one day.

-Nami studies hard and has plenty of opportunities on the sea to polish her skills as a navigator.

-Nojiko remains deeply hurt and outraged by The Navy's betrayal. Since she was older she had been told many more stories from her mom's time with them, and thus had a much stronger attachment to the idea of them. Being left by The Marines, with her whole community, to suffer and die, shook her entire world. She seeks out people who don't look kindly on The World Government everywhere they go, collecting stories. She has hopes of joining The Revolutionary Army one day

-This is also a Sora lives au. (@ Oda Stop killing all the moms! Let them unionize!) One day on their travels they come across a sickly woman and her two kids, Reiju and Sanji, who are on the run from a mysterious (in the East Blue) Mercenary Army.

-It goes like this: the two groups are in the same diner. Soldiers of Germa 66 bust in and try to grab Sora and her kids. They scream and cry for help. Nearby Marines intervene. This obviously doesn't look good for the Germa soldiers, attempting to kidnap a sickly woman and two young kids in broad daylight. They try to pay off the highest ranking Marine there to look the other way, with an absolutely outrageous sum. It works.

-Nojiko charges. Bell-mere didn't expect her usually cool-headed daughter to do something so reckless, and doesn't realize she'd gotten up until she heard the crash of Nojiko kicking the top Marine in the head. Nami had been paying more attention, and is already primed to hit the same Marine in the back with a diner chair before he can retaliate on Nojiko.

-Despite their training, they're kids, and these are Marines. If Bell-mere wasn't there, it would've been a world of hurt. But Bell-mere of course is right there, and takes down all three Marines before they know what hit them. In the chaos, Reiju takes down both Germa Soldiers with her superior strength.

-Now they're a group, standing in a public place, with a pile of Marines (and Mercenaries) at their feet. Yikes.

-They run together.

-Reiju and Nojiko, both being oldest girls about the same age, recognize each other and bond instantly. They convince their mothers' they'll be stronger together.

-Bell-mere was easy to convince, suffering from survivor's guilt from the occupation of Coco Village, she's very quick to take on other's burdens. Sora, despite feeling an instinctual trust for and deep attraction to this tough butch who saved her life, is much more hesitant. Putting her life and resources in the hands of one very powerful person was what got her into this mess.

-But it's not easy to make Reiju happy, a girl who takes responsibility for both her mother and younger brother, who orchestrated their escape, who defends them physically, who has a childhood of training to repress herself to unlearn. Sora saw Reiju actually laugh with someone other than herself and Sanji, and she can't take this new comrade away from her. Not to mention having another protector in Bell-mere could ease Reiju's burdens. She has to say yes.

-And it's a good thing she does, because the top Marine they knocked out kicks up an absolutely ginormous fuss. Suddenly Bell-mere, Sora, and the kids are wanted criminals with posters strewn everywhere. It takes all their wits and strength combined to survive.

-They're on the run together for years before they make it to Rouge's Island.

-Nami is younger than Sanji, but at this age she's bigger than him, and he's a huge crybaby while she keeps a very brave face. She's utterly delighted to treat him like a little brother, much to his annoyance. "I'm not the youngest anymore!" "Yes you are! Stop it!" "You can't be bigger than me when you're such a baby." "I'm a baby?! I saw you get scared too!" "No you didn't! Shut up!" They get very competitive.

-Reiju and Nojiko have the kind of weird little girl best friendship that has the intensity and power to destroy worlds. They are on levels of telepathic connection previously unheard of. And they are so serious about it and so fucking goofy. The SCHEMES they get up to.... And of course constantly being made to drag their little siblings along for the ride

-Picture this. They've been docked at the same island for a couple weeks. They're having an easy time, they've just gotten comfortable with a good doctor for Sora and a nice place to stay for a bit. The kids see a Marine Ship out sailing nearby while they're playing on the beach. If they tell their moms, they're sure to pack up and leave immediately. Of course the answer is to scare off the Navy ship themselves with a fake sea monster.

-Yes it's the end of the world if this mission fails. They'll have failed their families, and the concepts of bravery and justice, and they'll all die and get killed and never join the resistance or anything ever. Yes this fake sea monster needs to have extra whiskers.

-So serious. SO GOOFY.

-Meanwhile their moms are having the most repressed intense butch-femme erotic slow-burn romance of all time in the background.

-Bell-mere, in her head: How much of this is coming from my fucked-up desire to save people? Am I fetishizing her weakness? What's wrong with me? If I have to see the glow of her soft skin, shiny with the sweat of illness, peeking out from beneath her long dress one more time I am going to faint and die.

-Sora, in her head: How much of this is coming from my fucked-up desire to be saved? Am I fetishizing her strength? Do I just want to give up responsibility so badly? Am I appreciating her as a person or do I just want what she can give me? If I hear her loud laugh of victory after buying food for what barely counts as a bargain one more time I'm simply going to explode with love and desire.

None of the kids notice this at all even a little bit.

-Of course with Nojiko's story-gathering and Nami's navigational genius, and the Marines still hot on their tail, and Sora and Bell-mere's desire to find a place to finally stop for the sake of their kids, they do eventually make their way to Rouge's island.

-Rouge, at this point deeply deranged with isolation, fear for her sons, and suspicion, does not greet them well.

-Bell-mere does not take no for an answer.

-Their fight leaves a giant crater in the side of the island. It lasts for days, and only ends because while they were distracted all their kids did an enemies-to-best friends speedrun.

-Lead of course by Luffy, who despite loyalty to Rouge and natural suspicion of her apparent enemies, has little willpower against the smell of Sanji's cooking. His completely earnest undignified begging by the campfire endears him to the others, as well as his heartfelt thanks, and their kind and patient treatment of him endears them to his older brothers.

-Also they're all lonely as hell so it truly does not take much. They're running around the jungle, being given a tour of the best spots on the island by the ASL brothers FOR LITERALLY HOURS before at the same exact moment Reiju, Nojiko, and Sabo all go Oh Shit We Should Probably Stop Our Moms From Killing Each Other.

-Lol.

-I have other ideas involving Robin, and I want to save Banchina (Usopp's mom) as well. I think what this au needs is a doctor character. Someone Rouge trusts to help her give birth, who is also an enemy of the world government, who can stay on the island with them. Who can treat Sora when they arrive. (Treat not heal, her being chronically ill and disabled is important to me.) But I can't think of anyone who isn't needed elsewhere.... I guess I have to make them up....