"Oh for fuck's sake," Ace grumbled to himself, "Not again."

For the third time that month, he'd been bundled into at least four different skirts and a corset, and stuck on board a train heading for another private academy that was dead set on teaching him to become a 'proper' lady.

The tight skirts of his petticoat and corset half crushed his stomach and ribs, and it made breathing a very difficult obstacle that he rather wished he'd be able to overcome by breakingthe damn thing. Still, no matter how much he wished to be in breeches and a nice cotton shirt, he knew that even taking off a single layer would cause an utter scandal at the prestigious Alvida Academy. While in a hurry to get off the damn train and as far away from the foul school as he could get, Ace knew that if he attempted another run away (this being his third in the last fortnight) he'd likely get handcuffed and then delivered.

It was better to bide his time for a better opportunity than it was to be kept under constant surveillance. After Garp's granddaughter had run away with some swordsman, Roger had practically kept Ace chained – he was never allowed even close to the sea, for fears that Roger's headstrong 'daughter' would jump aboard the first ship he could and never look back.

The trademan's son probably would've too, if it weren't for the fact that if anyone discovered that he were biologically a girl he'd get booted off the ship at first opportunity...

Even if first opportunity was on a tiny patch of sand in the middle of nowhere.

Eager as he was to sail the seas, have adventures, and prove his father wrong about his female body, Ace wasn't altogether too keen on starving to death.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Ace watched as the countryside blurred away, green fields and green trees all that there was to see. The last stop before Alvida Academy was only half-an-hour away, and while he doubted he'd get very far if he got off in the port town, he doubted he'd get anywhere at all if he were stuck behind the thick walls of the school.

Miserably, he resigned himself to being slapped with a ruler every time he tried to insist he wear breeches or do anything masculine. At least with Makino, she tried; Roger rarely ever did so, and everyone else even less. It was almost as though they forgot Ace's preferred style of dress and body as soon as he'd told them, and if that wasn't enough to set a low at the unjustness of it all burning in his gut, nothing was.

Then the door to his cabin slammed open.

Ace jumped, startled by the bang, and he turned just as the dark-haired person who'd invaded his space smashed the door shut again.

"What are you-," he tried to demand angrily, but in two steps the…man's? hand was pressed against Ace's mouth, preventing him from speaking anymore.

Ace's eyes opened wide as his only ability to call for help was silenced, and panic invaded his thoughts.

Oh God, was this a kidnapping? He'd had more than enough of those over the years! After the first few,when his father had sternly told him off for attempting escape, using words like 'high society ladies are damsels' and 'do not rescue yourself' Ace had rather given up on anything making sense and usually went along with any plot made to steal his father's wealth, but it never made him very happy.

To think, that this- this-

This stupid man-dressed feminine looking ass was going to try and make his already bad day even worse by kidnapping him!

Ace fumed, his temper rocketing inside him till it burned like a fire, but the man seemed absolutely oblivious to Ace's growing look of abhorrence. "Zoro, Zoro, Zoroooo," he half-chanted, as though expecting another person to walk through the door at any moment, and Ace decided right then and there; high society expectations be damned. He wasn't a lady in any sort of fashion but body, and the danger of being kidnapped and whisked away was painfully real.

He bit down on the person's hand as hard as he could, skin pinched between his teeth, and they yelped, pulling away their hand and unbalancing themselves thanks to the rock of the train. Ace was immediately up, barrelling into his assailant with all the might of the froufrou dress he'd been manhandled into, and as he pinned the person to floor he noticed a few things he hadn't before.

Namely, that they definitely had a pair of…those things.

"What the hell do you want!" he shouted, instead of dwelling on the new development, and saw that the person was gazing up at him in something like open curiosity.

"I'm Luffy!" he said, completely uncaring that in about five seconds Ace could have about twenty guards in his cabin and arresting them, "I'm gonna be the Pirate King!"

"But…kings are boys. You're not a-"

"Am too!" Luffy replied, screwing up his nose and pouting ferociously at Ace, "I don't know why everyone keeps saying that, but I am."

Well, that answered one question properly.

"What are you even doing here?" Ace demanded, his chest starting to feel breathless from the stupid bodice and corset. It definitely wasn't made for the sort of activity Ace was doing right now, and his damn boobs felt like they were going to pop out the top.

"We were looking for someone," Luffy admitted readily, shrugging, before his grin came back and he laughed, "but Zoro got lost."

Looking for someone? Ace thought to himself filing that information away just in case he needed it again but instead asking, "Zoro?"

"Yeah, my swordsman! He's probably around here somewhere… I'm sure he'll turn up again soon!"

Are you not worried, Ace thought to himself, staring at the boy incredulously and remembering the sheer numbers of Her Majesty's officers that patrolled the train, at all?

"Anyway," Luffy cut into his thoughts, derailing them quite effectively, "what's your name?"

"Ace," he replied distractedly, mind working a mile a minute, and he completely missed the look of astonishment and excitement that found its way to Luffy's features. "Alright, here's the deal. You got a ship, right?" Luffy nodded as Ace's attention once again sharply focused on him, and the trader's son silently thanked his lucky stars for leaving him with someone who seemed so blatantly useless in situations like this. "Well here's the deal. I can find whoever it is you need on this train, but in exchange when we get to Port you're taking me with you. I'll leave once we get to Alabasta or somewhere else that's far away, but if you want my help you won't dump me first tiny town you get!"

"I'm gonna do better than that!" Luffy said excitedly, sitting up and making Ace yelped as his skirts fluffed and he was deposited in the other boy's lap. The surprising show of strength almost made Ace miss Luffy's next words. "You're gonna come with me forever!"

No, Ace's mind immediately went, hell no. "All I want is passage to Alabasta, Pirate, I'm not sailing with your damn crew. I'm not joining any damn pirate cre-"

The train's brakes began to screech, cutting Ace off before he could continue, and Luffy practically picked him up, fluffy skirts and all, practically bouncing.

"Zooorrooo," Luffy whined to himself, shifting from foot to foot in a jittery fashion. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon I don't want Nami to hit me!"

"Are you listening to me?!" Ace demanded.

"'Course I am! You wanna go to Alabasta, so I'll take you there. But along the way you're gonna want to stay with me, so that's what's gonna happen! It'll be okay, you'll see."

Ace knew that his mouth was blathering much like a fish's now, no sounds managing to come out no matter how hard he tried, and when Luffy fastened his hand around his wrist, Ace let him get dragged along with no protest. Obviously the 'Pirate King' had gotten frustrated with waiting for his swordsman and now expected the man to catch up to the two of them when he could.

Considering he'd apparently gotten lost on the train, Ace had his doubts.

In brief moments that he could barely recall when looking back on it, they'd made their way off the train and Ace had been bundled into a carriage waiting for the two of them at the station. The only other occupant was a dark-haired lady who seemed almost relaxed as she clicked her pocket watch shut and closed the door behind Luffy before settling back into her seat. "This is her?" She asked as the carriage began to move.

"Him," Ace snapped on instinct, and saw only a flicker of surprise cross the lady's face before she smiled once more.

"Apologies, then," she said calmly, looking completely unflustered. "The captain also has different gender pronouns than one would expect, and I should have inquired first. Would you like a more suitable attire when we get on the ship, or would you prefer to stay in those garments until something can be properly outfitted?"

"I'm still-" Ace's face scrunched in confusion as he glanced towards Luffy, who was practically bouncing on his seat, and he tried not to feel as though he were being completely overloaded with information. This was turning into more of a giant fuck-up than even he could handle, and in one of his escape attempts he'd pretended to be dead. "I'm not even sure why I'm here."

"Ah," the lady said, the noise one of complete understanding, and the brief confusion on her features from his long reply cleared immediately. "Well yes, Luffy does have a habit of being rather inattentive to the details. Though I do believe you'd know him as Monkey D. Lucy? His grandfather was one of the Marines that protected and confiscated your father's supplies at different times…?"

Ace felt his mouth slowly drop open, eyes widening as he stared at the definitely not as feminine looking as he remembered to be Luffy sitting next to him. "But- marine- pirate?"

The carriage jolted to a stop, and the lady gracefully avoided any further questions that the stunned Ace was trying to form. "Oh, it looks like we're here. Let's depart."

"Let's go!" Luffy cried eagerly, practically rocketing past the two of them and only briefly giving the blue haired man driving their carriage a high five before racing up the gangplank of a large ship.

"By the way," the lady added, as Ace stared in awe at the gigantic ship, "My name is Robin. I am the historian of the crew. This is Franky, our shipwright. I'm sure we'll all get along famously. And if not…well, though Luffy may not like it, we are rather good at taking care of any broken ends."

Though Robin's polite smile never faltered, it almost seemed to sharpen, and Franky already looked deadly enough with his hulking body; the frown only proceeded to make Ace give a small gulp.

Still, he refused to let the deter him; with the sound of the sea in his ears and the buzz of excitement on his skin, Ace took his first step towards the gangplank and began to walk up the wood, the slow sway of the ship beneath him something he almost subconsciously – naturally – adjusted to, like he were born to sail.

Screw anyone who ever said that a high society lady couldn't rescue themselves, Ace thought to himself victoriously, as Luffy appeared at the top of the gangplank and raced down to grab onto his hand, lacing their fingers together and dragging him up even faster. I did it, and I'm not even a goddamn lady.

As Robin and Franky joined them on deck and then moved to other places on the ship to prepare her for a hasty getaway, Ace could practically hear the call of adventure singing.

Their white sails looked like bird wings as they slowly filled with air, and Luffy joined him at the side of the ship, staring out at the horizon.

"The whole wide sea, and you want to go to Alabasta?" he asked softly, and Ace was silent for a moment.

"Maybe," he said, tone uncommitted but heart beating fast at the promise of the adventures to be had if he sailed with this crew.

"OY YOU JACKASS! WAIT FOR ME!"

"Oh shit, Zoro!" Luffy yelped, their reverie suddenly broken by the indignant call, and his limbs flailed everywhere, almost knocking Ace overboard. Luffy quickly rushed to the red head navigating the ship and indicating back at port. Ace had to plaster his hands over his mouth to keep from his laugh being too loudly.

He was free…

And maybe Luffy's earlier words about wanting to stay with the crew did have some merit after all.