My Big Bro, Now My Little Bro

My first One Piece fic!

1. Little Brother Ace

"Come on, Luffy! You've got to keep eating!" Jinbei encouraged. He had his goal set on what he should do after the loss of Ace. And currently, it was to keep Luffy going. The strawhat had to get over the shock of losing his brother before his eyes. And it wasn't going to be easy. Luffy, somehow, was managing to eat more than he did in the past few days. It was good news.

Perhaps he might be getting over this faster than I would have expected.

Jinbei clicked back to reality when Luffy finished eating and stood up.

"Where are you going, Luffy?" he asked.

"Just somewhere. I'll be back soon."

Jinbei stared at Luffy's retreating back.

Or maybe not.

No, it definitely wasn't going to be easy to bring back Luffy to his original self, and it was also going to take time.

Luffy walked along the edge of the island. His thoughts were all on Ace. No matter how much he tried not to think of his brother, images and memories would come back again, getting clearer and clearer every time.

"Ace…Why…Why did you have to-"

BANG!

Luffy's words were cutoff when a huge crashing sound rang through the island. He stopped dead in his tracks. The location of the crash wasn't very far. Luffy looked into the jungle. There was this little feeling he couldn't describe. He felt like, he just had to go and see what it was. Luffy started sprinting towards the sound. Excitement and hope surged through him as he got closer.

I wonder why?

As he was nearing closer, he heard a cry of a beast soon followed by a child's war cry. Panic went through Luffy. A child was in danger! He sped up. Soon after, he saw a little boy clinging on to a gigantic crocodile's back. The crocodile was snapping furiously at the boy.

Luffy flew into the air, then pulled down a crushing kick into the crocodile's head. He landed softly on the ground and stared up at the boy, who was still clinging onto the knocked out crocodile.

"Hey, it's alright to let go now!" Luffy called out.

However, instead of a thank you, he faced a kick on the face. The force made Luffy fell backwards.

"Ow, ow, ow!" he rubbed his face.

"I could have done that myself," said the boy standing over him.

Luffy froze. He couldn't breathe. The boy's voice was familiar. Too familiar. He slowly sat up and managed to look at the boy clearly. That moment, Luffy's heart and time stopped.

"A…Ace…?"

It was his supposedly dead brother. With his freckles and everything. Luffy was eye to eye with a 10 year old Ace. The freckled boy frowned.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" he demanded.

Tears started flowing out of Luffy's wide eyes.

"…Ace…Ace…!" He reached out for the boy.

"Damn it! Answer me! Who are you and how do you know my name?" Ace got into fighting stance, making Luffy stop. He couldn't believe it. He was certain the boy was Ace, but something was a bit off. Uncertainty crawled in.

"Ace? You…You don't recognize me? It's me! Luffy! Your brother!"

"I've never even seen you before! Besides, I don't have any siblings!"

Luffy couldn't stop crying. "You really… don't… remember me? Then what about Sabo? Grandpa? Dadan?" Luffy desperately said out names from his childhood. To Luffy's dismay, the young 10 year old Ace only replied no,

Before he could say anything else, footsteps echoed from behind him.

"Luffy! Are you okay?" It was Jinbei.

Ace scowled even more hearing the deep voice.

Damn it. Someone else's here.

However, when he saw Jinbei, Ace couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

What is that thing?

"Oi! You! What are you?" shouted Ace, ready to fight the enormous Fishman.

Jinbei, on the other hand, imagined if he had hurt his head or something. Despite usually being calm, he couldn't think straight looking at a child Ace.

"Ace?" he asked.

Now this time, Ace started having suspicions. What was with all these people calling his name? It was as if they knew him for a long time.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" he repeated the same question once more.

Jinbei was quicker at coming back from his hiatus state. Many thoughts went through his head and ended up with two conclusions. One, this young Ace had no memories of his past. Two, he should be hidden from the world, especially the Marines.

Questions can be asked later, he thought.

Jinbei cleared his throat.

"My name is Jinbei. I am a Fishman."

Ace looked startled.

Fishman?

But he wasn't going to admit he was an ignorant kid in front of strangers.

"Do you know me?" he asked.

Jinbei stood silent for a while, keeping Ace locked in his gaze. Ace kept his stance and waited patiently.

"No. I don't," was his final answer.

Luffy whipped around in anger.

"Jinbei! What are you saying? Don't you recognize him? He's Ace!"

"Luffy. Your brother Ace is dead.'

Luffy snapped.

"He's right before my eyes!" he growled.

"That's enough, Luffy! No one can save the dead! He is not Ace!"

"Yes he is!"

Jinbei had enough. He grabbed Luffy by his shirt and pulled him closer. He started whispering as quietly as he could.

"Listen Luffy. We both don't know what's going on but he is Ace. He obviously doesn't recognize us meaning his memories are gone. But that's only part of the matter. If the Marines find out that he's alive, then we'll be repeating the same war over and over again. So we need to keep him away from the entire world and information that will remind him of who he was!"

"But-"

"Look. This is Ace's second chance. We can't let it go to waste. We don't want things in the past to haunt him in his new life." Jinbei felt the younger flinch at the sound of 'second chance'

The Fishman let go of Luffy.

"So do you understand what we should do now, Luffy?" He looked down at the teen.

"…Second chance, huh…" Luffy fought the last of his tears from falling, "This is another chance for me as well…" A determined expression spread across his face.

"You're right! I won't let it go, Jinbei!"

"That's my boy!" Jinbei smiled along.

While the two were all back happy and excited, little Ace had returned back onto the crocodile, which he found a little more interesting than a man to fish conversation. He was trying to forget that strange conversation about 'Ace' by trying to cut out some meat from it. Unfortunately, he didn't have anything sharp on him.

"Uh, what a pain."

Suddenly, a surprised shout rang out.

"Wha! Where did he go?"

Ace looked down. The guy who seemed to know him was looking around.

Is he looking for me?

Their eyes met. A large grin he had never seen before spread across Luffy.

"Ah, there you are!"

The next second Luffy was rocketing towards him. Ace's eyes widened.

"Wait! Stop! We'll crash!" Too late. Luffy bombed straight into Ace, making both of them fall off the crocodile. They hit the ground with a large thud.

"Ow…what was that for?" exclaimed Ace, rubbing his back.

"Shishishishi! I just wanted to say, sorry for mistaking you for someone else," Luffy laughed. He held out a hand.

"I'm Luffy!"

Ace reluctantly looked at the hand. He ended up shaking it in the end.

"Ace."

Wasn't this guy crying a moment ago? Now he's all happy…What a crybaby.

His eyes turned towards the fisherman behind Luffy.

"So…are you two done with your private conversation?" he asked.

"Yes. Sorry for confusing you. We have mistaken you for someone else. Keep it in no mind."

"…Right…" As if I'll forget it… Yet Ace decided to push away the strange conversation. What's the point of thinking about it…It's about someone else anyway.

Luffy enthusiastically butted in without warning.

"Ace. Join me!"

"Huh?"

"What he means is if you are traveling alone, you could always tag along," clarified Jinbei.

"And why should I? You're strangers."

"This forest is a dangerous place you know."

"I can handle it. It's all part of getting stronger," retorted Ace.

"You couldn't even handle that crocodile," stated Luffy, picking his nose.

Ace's face flushed red.

"I don't want to hear that from a crybaby!"

Luffy's face scrunched up.

"What did you say?"

"You're a weak crybaby!"

"You're even weaker!"

Jinbei watched through the bickering in amusement. He could actually guess what their childhood was like by just seeing them fight. The bickering continued for a little longer until they ended up physically fighting. Luffy, having a large advantage, easily won.

"Ha! So who's weak now!" said Luffy.

"Damn it. That wasn't fair! A rematch!"

"Only if you promise to travel with me."

Ace clenched his fist.

"Fine."

I'll crush that guy once I have the chance!

"Yay!" Luffy cheered.

I'll never lose you again, Ace.

And so, here begins a new journey that will bring shock and surprises to the entire world.

please review and tell me about what the chapter felt like.