Hey guys, Firefistphoenix here back with the next chapter. First of I would like to thank all of you for such a positive response with the story. I was overwhelmed with the support you guys have given as it has been a while since I continued this story. I hope this chapter lives up to the expectations you have had. Please continue to review and support this story. Also do let me know if there are any mistakes so that I can rectify them.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of it's characters.

"Anyways" Sabo said looking at them "I have a problem. I've lived in the trash heap but from this day onwards the three of us are going to be targeted by the pirates. So what should I do?"

As Sabo looked at Ace and Luffy the scene faded between them and the Whitebeard pirates looked at each other.

"Ten bucks says Sabo will stay with Ace and Luffy" Thatch grinned looking at them. Marco snorted at that. "All of us know he will, I can't wait for Dadan's reaction to this."

The pirates laughed at that. Marco smiled but looked towards the white surrounding them as he wondered what would happen next.

Another scene opened and sunlight streamed in to the room as the three boys slept peacefully. Thatch grinned at their curled up forms before looking at Whitebeard and Marco who were looking at the kids with a small smile on their faces.

"They look so small…" Whitebeard muttered looking at Ace.

Haruta snorted at that "Everyone is small to you Oyaji!" Everyone started laughing at that. Before they knew it a bleary eyed Ace was rubbing his face as he looked at Dadan who was looking at Sabo confused as though she could not understand how there were three boys now. Thatch started laughing at her incredulous expression. Dadan looked angrily at them.

"Ace and Luffy! Why is there a third kid here?"

"You are so noisy in the morning…" Ace muttered as he stretched and Luffy rubbed his eyes. Sabo grinned as he held his hand out.

"Yo, you are Dadan right? I'm Sabo"

"Sabo? I've heard that name before" Dadan stated looking at Sabo. He grinned as he plopped his hat on his head.

"That makes it easy then" Sabo grinned widely "Let's get along from today onwards."

"Get Along? Don't tell me you are also going to stay here from now onwards?" Dadan looked annoyed.

Marco chuckled at Dadan's expression. Thatch grinned as Sabo spoke and Luffy and Ace shuffled behind him.

"They look like brothers…." Vista stated looking at the boys.

"Ace and Luffy really look like biological brothers…" Jozu muttered noting both the boys features. They even act alike…"

Marco hummed musing if anyone wondered that Ace and Luffy were biologically related. He even thought they were blood brothers until Ace mentioned his father to him. Yet, both the brothers had a lot of features in common making them look like blood brothers. Also including their reckless behavior, yes, Marco chuckled slightly that a lot of people must have wondered that both of them were brothers. And from what he had heard about Sabo, even the blonde brother was equally reckless. Really, the three brothers were a pair of reckless fools.

"If you are the same Sabo that I know then you are supposed to be one hell of a brat" Dadan commented.

"Really? I have heard that you are an old hag" Sabo said grinning widely.

The Whitebeard pirates all burst out laughing at Dadan's expression. "Old Hag I can't…" Thatch wheezed out leading to him and Haruta into another peals of laughter. As Sabo continued to talk to Dadan and call her a 'man among men' both of them rolled on the floor laughing as the rest of the pirates chuckled to themselves.

Dadan growled "Ace, Luffy, Sabo since you are staying here now, you better hurry and get to work!".

As Ace and Sabo ran out of the house grabbing their pipes with them, Luffy trailed behind them putting his straw-hat on his head as the memory faded away.

"Ah, the start of brotherhood of the three brothers…." Thatch proclaimed dramatically as the others grinned at his statement.

"Wonder what happens next…" Vista wondered out loud looking at Marco who was looking at the white space where Ace was present in the memory.

Another scene opened and the three boys were in a clear area and Luffy charged at Ace with his arm stretching out. But the arm stretched before coming back and hitting himself in the face. Ace looked at him with an annoyed expression on his face.

"What are you trying to do?" he questioned looking at Luffy as he charged towards him and hit him in the face pushing him to the ground.

"His power has not developed…" Marco observed looking at Luffy "he must have eaten the devil fruit recently…"

"Did it take you a long time to learn to fly Marco?" Thatch asked looking at his brother curiously. Marco could fly very naturally but looking at how Luffy was with his powers even Marco would have had a bad time trying to learn his devil fruit powers.

Marco hummed at that, "It was a lot of trial and error. I read a lot of books on how birds flied before tying out myself. I had to strengthen my hands a lot. There were so many instances when I crashed into the trees and I once fell into the ocean but thankfully Oyaji had helped me." Marco smiled at Whitebeard who grinned fondly obviously remembering the instance.

"I had not eaten my devil fruit yet and had saved Marco. Come to think of it, it was the two of us alone that time right?" Marco nodded at that. "I remember Marco telling me that he could fly for a certain extent and I asked him to try to fly a bit higher. He went further but the sudden wind gush made him fall down. I was so worried…"

Marco chuckled at that "I remember, I was so worried that I was going to drown and you managed to pull me out. I later learned to glide with the wind."

Thatch looked at Marco with an awed expression. Jozu too smiled as he remembered how he got to know what his powers were.

The pirates turned to look at Ace and Sabo sparing with each other. They were evenly matched but Ace managed to win in the end.

"They fight really well…" Izou commented. Everyone nodded at that.

Sabo and Luffy then fought with each other and Luffy lost spectacularly. He jumped again yelling that he wanted to fight again.

"No more than a hundred fights per day" Ace stated looking at the score board.

"Hundred fights?" Haruta muttered.

"Well, explains Ace's tremendous stamina" Vista deadpanned and Izou nodded solemnly. Sabo totaled the score before declaring Ace as the winner of their matches and the scene faded away.

"Ace and Sabo are at par though…" Haruta mused.

Another scene opened and they saw a man in a cloak walking in a weird manner. Marco stared for a minute before he started chuckling using a hand to cover his mouth. Everyone shot him confused looks while Whitebeard looked at the cloaked man. He to suddenly grinned understanding why Marco was chuckling as he himself started laughing.

"Why are you guys laughing?" Thatch questioned looking at them.

"You'll see…" Marco replied as he continued to laugh. As they watched the hooded figure was revealed to be the three boys standing on each other. Marco and Whitebeard laughed at the astonished faces of the other pirates. Ace, Sabo and Luffy, now again hiding in the cloak, went to a nice part of the city. A lot of people were staring at the hooded figure but no one dared to approach the figure.

Luffy suddenly proclaimed that he was hungry. "Calm Down", Ace muttered "We will get to eat some ramen in no time."

"Ramen?" Thatch muttered.

"Ramen, what's that?" Sabo questioned "Is it good?"

"Anything will do. I want some food," Luffy groaned.

The disguised boys reached a very fancy restaurant. "This is the place," Ace said as they walked in.

"Welcome!" the host greeted with a deep bow as the trio walked through the door but as soon as he saw the hooded figure he proclaimed "Wait a minute! This restaurant doesn't serve your kind!"

"What do you mean you don't serve his kind?!" Thatch roared "Everyone deserves to eat!"

"Calm down Thatch." Izou muttered "It's one of those high end restaurants which serve based on your status…"

"Still…..." Thatch growled.

Sabo pulled out an elegant looking pendant that had a flower symbol engraved onto it.

"I would like a private room," Sabo stated with authority.

The host's eyes widened. "Th…that crest is..." He began to bow humbly. "Such an honor. A noble coming to our humble restaurant!"

"And now he is letting them enter…." Thatch muttered darkly.

"That's a handy thing you got there," Ace said.

"Well...I picked it up in town earlier," Sabo muttered but he sounded nervous.

"Why does he sound nervous?" Vista asked frowning as the boys were given a separate room and had their ramen served.

"I assume that the crest is the symbol of Sabo's family" Marco stated as the boys ate all the ramen.

The boys were eating and ordering. Thatch looked at them is awe wondering how were they able to eat so much. As the boys continued to eat, the bowls started to pile up. When the waitress entered with another set of bowls Luffy used his powers to grab them. Sabo and Ace seemed to have not noticed as they continued to eat. The waitress had a freaked out expression as she ran out.

"They are busted…" Thatch muttered but grinned at their appetite. The manager entered the scene again startling the boys who were not in their cloak. Ace, Sabo and Luffy burst out of the room with Luffy stuffing himself with a bowl of Ramen as they ran out of the restaurant.

"It's Ace's standard dine-and-dash" Marco sighed as they watched the boys ran.

Izou and Vista chuckled at that.

"Remember when Marco was searching for Ace and Ace suddenly ran out of the restaurant and suddenly turned and thanked the owner…" Thatch stated as they all started laughing "…I distinctly remember Marco's expression…he was looking so confused and shocked by Ace's action…"

Whitebeard laughed loudly "The owner had asked Marco to pay. Marco was glaring at Ace for the whole week!"

"I lost so much money that day…." Marco groaned remembering how much he had to pay because of Ace "Although Ace bought me a nice book later…"

"Out of the money he won gambling with us…" Thatch and Vista said looking frustrated as they remembered how Ace had won all the matches. The brat had gotten away with all of their money.

"Serves you guys right…" Marco muttered as both the pirates glared at him.

They watched the boys running when a man in a fancy purple suit and a top hat yelled out Sabo's name.

"You are still alive? Please come home!"

"Sabo, the man is calling you" Ace said as he looked at the man

"Who is he?" Luffy wondered.

Sabo frowned. "He must be thinking that I am someone else. Let's go!" The boys ran as the man continued to call for Sabo. The scene faded at that.

"I wonder who that is…" Izou stated looking at Marco who shrugged.

Another scene appeared and the three boys were standing near the cliff which gave them the view of the sea.

"I'm not hiding anything" Sabo stated looking at Ace who was frowning at Sabo.

"You are!" Ace said as Luffy looked between them "Do you think it's okay to keep secrets between us?"

Sabo turned to the side but continued to say that he was not hiding anything.

Ace and Luffy started choking Sabo demanding an answer. Sabo started turning blue due to lack of air and chocked out "I'll tell you!"

"I'm…." Sab muttered after Luffy and Ace had let him go "…a son of a noble."

There was silence amongst the three boys and the pirates looking at the scene were silent wondering what would happen.

Suddenly, Luffy and Ace put their pinkies in their noses to pick at them and were looking at Sabo.

"So?" both of them said and Thatch covered his mouth before he burst into laughter making them all laugh at their expressions and Sabo's stunned expression at their lack of response.

"Seriously, how are they not blood brothers is beyond me…" Jozu claimed as he tried to control his laughter. Whitebeard grinned down at him "Gurara…must be a D thing…"

"Didn't you want to know!" Sabo yelled annoyed before sighing "…. the truth is, both of my parents are alive. I am not an orphan and I didn't grow up in the gray terminal. That man who called me is actually my father…"

He looked down at the ground looking ashamed as Ace looked at him surprised. "I'm sorry…" Sabo muttered softly "…I lied to you."

"He apologized, so it's fine, right? So I forgive him," Luffy stated as Ace continued to stare at Sabo.

"I'm surprised though," Ace said as he turned to look at the sea. "If you were a noble, why would you want to get away from that place?"

Sabo was silent as he too turned towards the sea "The reason why I ran away from home…."

As he began to tell Luffy and Ace the stories about how his parents treated him like a property Whitebeard growled angrily at the manner in which Sabo was treated. That was not how one treats family! Some nobles were really of the worst type if this is how they treated family. He then remembered the condition Marco was in when he had saved him from some shitty nobles. They had treated his son like a property that time! Marco noting Whitebeard's inner turmoil placed a hand on Whitebeard's massive hand and smiled at him knowing that Whitebeard's thoughts had led to remember how once when some nobles who had captured Marco had treated him. Whitebeard shot his son a small smile before looking at Sabo who was telling Ace and Luffy how he was treated.

"All they wanted was an heir to protect their status and fortune," Sabo proclaimed resentfully. "Not me..."

As Sabo continued to explain his reasons to leave his blood family and nobility behind in bitter words, the pirates noticed how Ace was looking at Sabo worried and sad about the loneliness Sabo had faced. Thatch wondered if Ace had let both Sabo and Luffy beyond the walls which he had created to protect himself.

The boys were silent between themselves before Sabo suddenly stoop up and looked at Ace and Luffy and smiled. "Ace, Luffy, the three of us will set out to sea someday! We'll get out of this country and be free! I want to see the wide world and write a book about what I saw! Let's become stronger and become pirates!"

As Luffy grinned at Sabo, Ace laughed and then the three of them were laughing with excitement between them rising as they thought of their adventure in the future as pirates. Marco grinned at the three boys.

"Looks like this is the start of their friendship properly…" Vista stated as he laughed at the boy's excitement.

Ace turned to the cliff and looked at the sea. "I'll become a pirate even if you didn't tell me to. I will become a pirate and become known across the world! That will be proof that I lived! I don't care if the world doesn't accept me! I won't run from anyone, or lose to anyone. I'll make sure the world knows my name!"

"And they do know your name now…" Thatch and Haruta cheered as the rest of the crew smiled

"Really, alright!" Luffy exclaimed as he ran towards the cliff.

"Know what he is going to say…" Marco said grinning at Luffy.

As Luffy yelled out his dream Ace and Sabo looked at him in surprise.

"And here I was wondering what you would say..." Ace muttered but there was a small smile on his face

Sabo laughed out loud "You sure are an interesting guy, Luffy! I can't wait to see what the future has in store for you!"

As the boys laughed, the pirates smiled at them. Sabo then pointed out who would be the captain of the crew if all of them wanted to be pirate captains and then the brothers started arguing amongst themselves.

"Can you imagine if the three of them formed a crew together and set sail?" Izou asked.

"They will take the world by storm with their craziness." Marco deadpanned and Thatch chuckled at Marco's expression. "But they have already shaken the world with their craziness even in separate crews Marco…"

"The sea would be an even crazy place to travel in….and if you include Shanks…" Marco shuddered as Haruta grinned at him as the scene faded away.

Another scene came into view as Ace stepped into a clearing with a bottle of sake and three cups.

"We can decide our future later. Maybe we will end up on three different ships." Ace said as he placed the three cups on the and the bottle of the sake before he opened it.

"Did you steal the sake from Dadan?" Luffy questioned. Ace smiled before pouring the sake into the three cups. "Did you guys know that when men drink together, they become brothers."

"Brothers? Really?" Luffy asked as he and Sabo grinned.

"Maybe we'll not be pirates on the same ship, but we are united by our bond of brotherhood. No matter what we do or where we are, no one will ever break that bond!" Ace said smiling softly as Luffy and Sabo picked up their cup alongside Ace.

"From now on…" Ace said as he raised his cup "We are brothers!"

They slammed the cups into each other raising it to the blue sky sealing their bond as brothers.

"YEAH!"

The scene faded away.

There was silence amongst the pirates. Thatch sniffed slightly and burst into tears as Haruta grabbed him and was crying too. Izou, Vista and Jozu were wiping the tears flowing down their face. Marco's hand brushed against Whitebeard who looked at him and noticed Marco's tear filled eyes. Whitebeard himself was feeling very emotional about the manner in which the three small boys who were alone found a family in each other. It was heartwarming to see the relationship foster between them. Yes, he mused as he placed his arm gently on Marco's back, Ace had an extraordinary family.

And that's a wrap! Hope you all enjoyed it. See you all soon with the next update! Have a great day!