A Nest of Brothers

Summary: What if the 'D' meant they weren't completely human. After a tragic event youngest of three gets separated from his brothers. What will Luffy do and who are 'Whitebeard Pirates'?

Disclaimer: I don't own one piece, all that credit goes to Oda.

NOTE: Luffy's past is still the same so he's met Shanks who Luffy promised to that he'll become pirate king and has eaten the Gum-Gum fruit making him a rubber man. However, he was born few years later so when he meets Ace and Sabo there's a slightly bigger age gap.

Chapter one: Three brothers bond

A boy sat inside the crow's nest with a pout. Young eyes watched the flag that stood just above his head displaying 'ASL' proudly, raven locks dancing along with the wind.

"Nah~ I'm bored," Luffy whined. It wasn't that long ago that he was playing with his older brother, Ace, inside their treehouse. That is, until Ace had another narcolepsy attack and was now snoring away on the floor. Luffy tried to entertain himself with drawing, scavenging a few fruit here and there, before scaling up to their crows' nest. He really wished that he could fly, thinking back to when he first saw Ace fly.

Amazed by the quick movements, Luffy and Sabo watched him from the cliff. Luffy marvelled at Ace's wings, how the light had hit the black scales, displaying specs of orange, and when cutting into the surface of the waves they looked as if they were sparkling. As soon he had landed Luffy announced how cool and pretty he was. The comment had caused Sabo to laugh, only to be hit by a blushing Ace. Luffy raised his fists in the air as he yelled 'me next' and leapt off the cliff, leaving his two brothers with their jaws dropped.

Ace had managed to save him, though he received a hit to the head and was told how he was an idiot for doing that. It only made him cry even more and Ace yelled to 'stop being a cry baby'. Sabo stepped in, whacking Ace, and explained to Luffy that he was still too young to fly. Luffy whined saying that he wanted to fly. They promised that if he wanted to fly all, he had to do is ask Ace for a ride, but only if he didn't do anything like that again. Luffy agreed instantly, only a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be able to fly any time soon. He kept to his promise still, not to mention his brother would probably kill him if he tried again. The thought sent a chill down his spine.

Luffy scanned the space below him, noticing a lone figure a few branches below. He observed the top hatted, blue figure for a moment before grinning like a madman. He crouched onto his hands and feet, his nails growing into talons along with a long appendage sprouting from his lower back, partially transformed. Using the better form, he clawed down the tree, as quietly as he could. He crawled along a few more branches, hovering over the unsuspecting figure. He inhaled a silent breath before leaping into another boy's lap.

"Sabo!" As Luffy landed, he heard his victim cry from his sudden presence. Luffy giggled innocently while he straddled the body beneath him, watching his brother. Sabo tipped his top hat slightly to give an annoyed glare (which didn't last long) as he sighed at his little one's tricks. Sabo sat back up, adjusting to the new weight.

"Luffy, I thought you were playing with Ace?"

"I was, but Ace fell asleep again," Luffy replied gleefully, pointing down at said brother, who was sprawled out inside their treehouse. Sabo observed the figure, breaking out in a fit full of laughter.

"I take that it is your fine art work that's on his chest right now" Sabo stated as he stared at the bright colours that displayed on Ace's chest of multiple doodles. Turning to the culprit, Luffy smiled innocently. "It's alright. Want me to read you a story?" Sabo gestured down at the book that he picked back up.

"What are you reading?" Luffy tilted his head, curiously observing the book, not understanding the words decorating each page.

"I found a book while I was in Goa the other day. It's about dragons," the blonde then pointed to the said book. Immediately, Luffy perked up at the mention of dragons and looked eagerly. Right under Sabo's finger was a picture displaying a dragon that had blue scales along its whole body, yellow horns and talons. But what fascinated Luffy the most were the wings that spread themselves to the side, showing how large they were. He reached out to the picture, tracing one of the wings with his finger, and as he reached the tip he looked back up.

"You said that that there weren't any books on us," Luffy said, confusion plastering his face. Sabo just chuckled at the boy's expression before ruffling the raven locks with his hand.

"There aren't. This book is fictional"

"Fi- fictional?" he raised a brow.

"It means it's not real," Sabo scratched the side of his head.

"But we are real! Dragons are real! Me and Ace are real! That book is lying!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Yes, Luffy. Dragons are real and I know that. The book isn't lying, it's just a story that someone wrote," Sabo explained to Luffy, who responded with a drawn out 'oh'. "We'll it's supposed to be fictional but it's quite detailed and unusual. So maybe it is true. That's why I wanted to read it."

"I see. So it's a way to learn about us," he said in realization, leaning closer to look at the book. Sabo nodded, smiling down at him.

"Want me to read to you?" Luffy agreed with excitement, nestling against his brother's chest.

Sabo continued to read the book while Luffy sat in his lap, listening to the story. The story was mostly detailed, though vague in some areas such as not mentioning any names or even the size of the dragon. But it was interesting to both of them. It spoke how the dragon sawed through the sky, traveling to the most amazing places that were described, how it was so powerful that it was able to fight against giants as one picture displayed. It was only later on through the book that Luffy interrupted his brother.

"Sabo, what's a dragon bond?" Sabo looked to the section that he just read and continued to the end of the page.

"It's when dragons exchange blood by biting each other on the neck and drinking a small amount of blood," he answered, pointing to his neck.

"That must hurt. Why do that?"

"They do it to ones that are close to them. It's so they can link themselves together and share each other's feelings."

"Because they care for each other." It wasn't a question but a statement. Sabo smiled curiously at how his little brother interpreted it. It was a minute later that Luffy was grinning madly at him. The grin made him worry as it meant one of his Luffy ideas.

"Hey, Sabo. Let's do it!"

"What?"

"I want to bond with Ace and Sabo!"

"Why?" the word leaving Sabo's mouth without realizing it.

"Why not? Ace and Sabo are my brothers." Sabo was about to say something but stopped as Luffy continued. "Ace gets lonely, you do too. I love Ace and I love Sabo so I want share my love. So we are never lonely, so I can always have you two with me." Sabo stared down at him, his face showing multiple emotions. Luffy became worried when his face started to change colour. "Sabo, your face is red. Are you sick?"

At those words Sabo shoved straw hat down over Luffy's eyes, preventing him to see his blushing cheeks. Luffy struggled but Sabo refused to move the hat until the colour disappeared from his face. Luffy wrestled his hat off, staying in Sabo's hold, then reached forward. Sabo stopped in his movements once he felt rubbery arms embrace him multiple times. Glancing down he was faced with Luffy beaming up at him, burying his head into his chest. He surrendered and returned the smile with a sigh.

"You have to ask Ace," said Sabo, placing the straw hat back onto Luffy's raven locks. It wasn't even a second before he watched Luffy spring up from his lap into the treehouse. Sabo, following after him, smirked at Luffy's ways of thinking, how he always made him warm deep inside when he expressed how much he cared for him and Ace.

"Ace!" Luffy called as he leapt onto the sleeping figure that woke up instantly with a yelp, curling in pain.

"Luffy, you idiot! How many times have I told you not to do that?!" Ace growled, knocking his attacker on the head.

"Sorry, Ace. I won't do it again," Luffy rubbed the swollen bump while smiling. Ace gave a 'tsk', rubbing the soreness from his chest. He noticed the drawings covering his torso and glared at the culprit once again. "Ace, I want to do a dragon bond".

"A what?" The anger quickly shifted to confusion. A bad feeling settled inside him. After all, Luffy's a magnet to trouble.

"A dragon bond. Sabo's book says that it's a bond of shared feelings" Luffy replied, bouncing on his feet.

"Oh," Ace shrugged, "I guess that's cool. But it's probably not true." He walked away to a bowl of water, grabbing a rag to clean his chest, grumbling about his narcolepsy and troublesome little brothers.

"Eh?! But I want to do it!" Luffy was crawling onto his back, tail wrapping against Ace's waist. He pouted, face falling onto Ace's shoulder. "Come on, Ace. Let's do it~" Luffy whined but Ace didn't budge.

"Come on, Ace. Don't you want to bond with your brothers?" Sabo teased.

Ace noticed his presence as Sabo finished climbing into their treehouse. He groaned at the teasing. "Hey, Luffy. Why do you want to do the dragon bond?" he asked, still shaking his head, unaware of the sly smile stretching on the blonde's face.

"I want to share my love with Ace and Sabo. And feel closer to them," Luffy announced proudly, not a shred embarrassed, and Ace turned as red as a tomato. Luffy and Sabo both chuckled, watching him. In return, Sabo was smacked face first with a rag and Luffy drenched with water from the bowl.

"Alright, I'll do it. How does it work?" he asked. Sabo, annoyed about the dirty rag (that was now on the floor), handed him the book. Ace read the pages carefully. He was amazed at the contents at first but then he paled, shoving the book into Sabo hands.

"I've changed my mind. I'm not doing it!" he exclaimed, stomping off to the other side of the room.

"What?! Why? Come on, Ace!" Luffy whined.

"What's the problem?" Sabo looked at the pages again to see if he had missed anything like side effects or sacrificial price but there wasn't one. Sabo knew Ace wasn't scared of blood, after all they saw it on a daily basis. So what the issue? He pondered, and then Luffy said something.

"Ace, do you not love us? Is that why you don't want to do it?" Luffy stood there, eyes becoming glassy. "Is it because I'm annoying, a cry baby, 'cause I can't fly? I promise to stop and I will learn how to fly, I will!" His voice was slowly rising.

Sabo was frozen, his mind thinking quickly. He knew those weren't the reasons for Ace's refusal, but he had to do something quick. He glanced at the oldest brother who seemed shaken by the Luffy's words.

'It was only after he read how to do it that…' And then the thought hit him. He sighed, face relaxing. 'Why didn't he notice sooner?! Causing all this fuss. Stupid Ace.' Stepping up, he kneeled next to Luffy, whispering to him. It was a quiet moment before Luffy gave a loud 'eh', Sabo quickly shushing the boy. Luffy turned to Ace with wide eyes as he had taken in the new information before dashing towards Ace suddenly.

Luffy squeezed his leg, tears brimming in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Ace. I'm sorry. I didn't know that you didn't want to hurt us. Ace really loves us! Please don't be mad!" Ace's heart ached as he heard his little brother cry. He couldn't stand it when Luffy cried, especially when it was because of him. He reached down, running his fingers through the black hair.

"It's okay, Luffy. I'm not mad."

"Really?" Luffy sniffled. Ace smiled at him, holding him tightly. "I really want to do it, Ace. Ace won't hurt me or Sabo because I know you love us. I want to do this, so we're never alone. Being alone hurts."

"You really want this?" Ace asked again, just to be sure.

Luffy gave a quick nod. "I want this. I want to be with Ace and Sabo forever."

"Fine," Ace mumbled, causing Luffy mood to instantly brighten as he cheered. Luffy running around until he clung to Sabo telling the good news, while Sabo tried to calm him down.

"You're really alright with this?" Sabo asked.

"Yeah, can't say no after hearing all that. You?"

Sabo knew exactly what he meant. "Don't worry, I know you won't hurt me. And Luffy's right, that's if the bond is true. It would be nice to feel closer."

"It will work!" Luffy exclaimed. The older brothers just couldn't figure out why Luffy was so sure. Maybe it was his instinct?

"So we all exchange blood through biting each other, that's it?" Ace asked Sabo. He sat back on the floor, legs stretched as he leaned back on his hands. Sabo followed but crossed his legs instead. He opened the book to show him the picture Luffy had seen earlier.

"Basically, yes. The book states that both dragons bite each other on the neck, though it doesn't mention about it happening at the same time or individually. So we'll have to decide on that," Sabo explained.

"Dragons? Wait a minute, what about humans? Won't there be side effects?" Ace worried for his kin.

"Doesn't say," Sabo shrugged. "Not to mention my teeth aren't as sharp as yours. It'll hurt a bit more," he pointed to his teeth.

"Great," Ace grumbled, rubbing his neck. "You sure you want to do this, Luffy?" Luffy nodded repeatedly, getting excited by each passing second.

"It'll be fine," Luffy reassured them.

"So how'd you want to do this? We can take it in turns or do it together and swap," Sabo asked, snapping the book closed.

"Together! Let's do it together!" the youngest boy cheered.

"Okay then. Luffy sit on Ace's lap facing him," Luffy didn't hesitate as he followed the instructions. Sabo shuffled in front Ace, Luffy sandwiched between them. "Ready?" A nod was all they gave before sinking their teeth in each other's left shoulders. Sabo bit Luffy, who bit into Ace, and Ace leaned over Luffy to bite into Sabo. Pain tore in each bite, screaming to stop. But none of them pulled away, determined to fight through it until it was just an ache. The taste of copper filled their mouths and blood flowed down their throats. Luffy was the first to stop after few gulps, lapping at the wound. Ace and Sabo followed soon after.

"You okay, Lu?" Ace embraced the little body. Luffy gave an 'uh', nodding as his brother looked over him, concerned.

"Alright Lu, you need to turn around," the third brother instructed. Luffy was able turn with some delicate handling from the other two, and he was now facing Sabo. Like before, Luffy provided a short nod just before they bit onto skin a second time, the same place as the first. After removing their lips and lapping at the wound, they were able to see what they had done. Luffy gleamed at the two as he inspected the bites on his brothers' shoulders that would no doubt mark their skin for the rest of their lives. The other two looked at his with fondness, pride and delight expressed through their eyes.

It was later that night – as they were nestled together, sleeping with some bandages placed on their skin – when Luffy felt tender warmth forming on his left shoulder, spreading through his body. That night Luffy felt closer to his brothers than ever.

It would be a few years that a horrifying event will happen, an event that will cause the three brothers to feel so much pain and loss through each mark they hold on their shoulders.

(END)

AN: Hey everyone, Wow it's been awhile since I wrote a fan fiction. Hope I still got it or even improved. If not, those tutoring lessons have gone to waste. Well, as you can tell this is going to be a ASL fan fiction, which is amazing!

Now, my fantastic fellow readers, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know there's not much happening and it's slightly short but this is just the introduction. I would love reviews and any comments on your ideas or what you think might happen (evil grin). I mean it, I am powered by you amazing people. Thanks.

I also thank my beta Linda who put her time to correcting and helping me with this story. Not to mention she had to put up with me (clapping really hard).

Linda: my first time as a beta wah. everyone please love me and my friend's story, thanks! *peace sign*