Path Towards Tomorrow

Summary: One Piece AU. People always want to adopt Luffy, not Ace and never them together. For three long years this has been the case until a very wealthy man offers to adopt them into his very large family. What will tomorrow bring for these brothers and their new family?

My first fanfic, please review and I hope you enjoy. This is a One Piece AU that's loosely inspired by the 1982 film "Annie."

Disclaimer: One Piece is not mine.

Chapter 1

Backside throbbing from its latest run in with Dadan's less-than-gentle—and very large—hand, Luffy joined his older brother, Ace, and several other boys huddled together in the tiny backyard filled with dead grass and prickly weeds. Curious, and wanting to completely forget about his most recent spanking, Luffy wiggled his way into the group.

"What'cha guys doin'?"

A newspaper was unceremoniously shoved into his face, courtesy of his big brother. "Says here that Edward Newgate, that really rich old guy, is interested in adopting a kid. He's been going around to all the nearby orphanages."

"Rumor has it he's a mafia boss or something like that," one boy supplied.

"That's not what I've heard. I've heard Newgate was a treasure hunter and stole treasures from old shipwrecks," another put in rather smugly.

Either way, it immediately sparked Luffy's imagination and his eyes grew wide. It sounded so exciting to the six-year old.

"Wow! Do you think he'll come here, Ace?" Luffy turned his wide eyes onto his brother, sounding just a tiny bit hopeful. Mostly out of his desire to meet such a cool sounding man.

Ace snorted loudly, rapping his brother lightly on the head with the newspaper. "Ha! Fat chance he'll ever set foot in this place. We're in one of the poorer neighborhoods remember? This guy's pretty damn rich which means, bonehead, he'll probably want a kid from a nicer orphanage than this shitty dump."

"Oi, Ace, careful what you say. Dadan probably won't like you calling this place a dump," Usopp, a kid with dark curly hair and an amusingly long nose, whispered through the side of his mouth. Just a year older than Luffy, Usopp had become one of Luffy's closest friends not long after his social worker dropped him off. Luffy especially enjoyed Usopp's exaggerated stories even if none of them were true, as Ace had to point out to his younger brother every single time.

Ace whacked Usopp in the stomach with the newspaper. "I don't really give a damn about what that old hag doesn't like. Besides, it's the truth, this place is a total dump and I hate it here. Soon as I turn eighteen, me and Luffy are ditching this place forever."

"That's five years away. A lot can happen between now and then, though," Usopp told him with a thoughtful frown on face. "Something like, I don't know, you guys being adopted."

"Hmph! Yeah, right. No one wants to adopt us together," Ace stressed, glaring. "Anytime someone comes in looking to adopt, they always just want Luffy not the both of us together. I'll be damned if I let anyone separate the two of us."

Luffy hugged his brother tight. He felt the exact same way.

As much as Ace might say otherwise, only Luffy knew how much it really bothered Ace that no one ever wanted to adopt him. Ace confided once to Luffy he had an idea as to why no one wanted to adopt him too. His age. Apparently, couples were not interested in adopting older kids like Ace. It explained—in Ace's eyes—why couples gravitated towards Luffy who was six and still in that adorable childhood stage.

A stage Ace had long since grown out of.

Some part of Luffy believed that to be the truth, however, another part of him imagined it was because the right person(s) had yet to show up. This he never told Ace. He figured it'd only upset Ace if he did mention it.

"You never know, it might happen," Usopp ventured only to be shoved to the ground by an angry Ace. "Hey!"

"Shut up, Usopp! It won't ever happen! I've been here long enough to figure that out!"

Ace stormed off immediately afterward. Before hurrying to follow his brother, Luffy helped his best friend up back to his feet, grinning apologetically as he did so. He didn't want his best friend to hate Ace. "Sorry about that, Usopp. You know how Ace gets whenever we talk about that. He'll cool off and then he'll be back to say he's sorry too!"

Luffy waved back at his friend encouragingly as he hurried to catch up with Ace who, by this point, had reached the sidewalk in front of the house.

Once he managed to catch up to his brother, the brothers walked in complete silence for three blocks until Ace stopped suddenly and exhaled through his mouth. The walk had helped him to cool down. Dropping his hand down onto Luffy's shoulder, Ace gave it a light squeeze. "Sorry for yelling at Usopp like that and knocking him down."

Luffy immediately grinned happy to hear his brother was sorry. "I don't think he's all that mad about it, but you should tell him you're sorry too, Ace."

"I promise I will," Ace glanced around them, his eyes landing on a couple walking hand in hand with their two kids across the street. They were happily chattering away with one another with big, happy smiles on their faces. The sight sent a sharp pang through his chest. If it wasn't for him, Luffy would have that right now. Would know what it's like to have loving parents and grow up in a warm home. Guilt ridden, Ace swallowed back the lump in his throat as he gently brushed a hand across the top of Luffy's head. "Luffy, do you hate me? It's my fault you haven't been adopted."

Luffy looked aghast that his brother would even think that. He'd never hate his brother. Never. "No, Ace! I don't hate you! Why would I? You're my big brother and I don't ever want to be taken from you. Never ever, ever, ever," he clung to his brother, burying his head into Ace's jacket. "You're all I got, Ace. Please don't let anyone take me from you. Please, please, please!"

Face becoming bright red from all the stares directed their way, Ace gingerly patted his brother on the back before gently pushing him away. "We won't ever be separated, Luffy, I promise," he reassured, face splitting into a wide grin. Luffy did the same. "Come on, Lu. Let's go get some candy or something from that new store that opened up on Seventh Street."

"Cool!" Luffy shouted, hopping about in an excited little dance that made Ace laugh under his breath. The youngest stopped suddenly mid-dance as a thought occurred to him. Wide, brown eyes settled on his brother. "But, won't Dadan be mad that we're not home doin' our chores?"

"Like I said before, I don't really care what Dadan thinks or says," snorting, Ace nudged his little brother into a walk. "She doesn't care about us anyway. Just uses us as free labor to keep the place cleaned up, not that it does any good since it's a shit hole to begin with. Anyway, forget about Dadan and let's go have some fun, alright?"

"Okay! Can we bring back candy for everyone else?" Luffy asked eagerly. Since the rest of their friends weren't with them, and because it might help smooth things over with Usopp, Luffy figured it'd be nice to bring back some candy to everyone. Because, in his mind, candy made everything all better between friends.

"We'll see. Come on, I'll race ya there!"

The brothers broke into a run. Matching grins plastered onto their faces as they raced, almost neck and neck, to the store. In that moment, neither of them had any idea that come tomorrow their lives would change forever.

-xxx-

On his way home from running several errands for Pops, Marco stopped at a convenience store to pick up a little something to snack on. A cup of coffee sounded nice too. As he pulled into an open parking space, he noticed a police cruiser parked in front and several people crowded just outside the doors. Something must have happened.

Curious, Marco stepped out of his car, locking it behind him, then walked up to the people standing about. He tapped the person's shoulder closest to him. "Hey, what's going on?"

The elderly man pulled a wry face as he turned to answer Marco's question. "Some kids were caught stealing. They're giving the officers a bit of a hard time—oh, looks like they've got them."

The doors swung open as two police officers stepped outside. One forcefully shoved a freckled youth who looked no older than twelve or thirteen, possibly fourteen, ahead of him while the second officer carried a small, clearly frightened child. The boys looked so much alike Marco automatically assumed they were brothers. It irked Marco to see the older dark-haired boy in handcuffs.

Twisting in the officer's grip the older boy shouted, "You bastards better not hurt my brother! I'll kick your asses if you do."

"We're not going to hurt him, kid. Now stop struggling and get in the car."

From beside him, Marco heard a woman mutter, "Should've known it was those troublemakers again."

"You know those kids yoi?" Marco asked her.

She nodded absently at him. "Most people who live in the area know them. They're wild brats and have been caught stealing from several other businesses around here."

"Now, now, they can't really be blamed since they don't have any parents to teach them otherwise," the elderly man interjected. He glanced back at Marco. "Those kids are orphans and live in a nearby orphanage run by a bear-like woman named Dadan I believe. It's rather sad when you think about it."

"Yeah," Marco agreed, watching as the police cruiser pulled away. "It is. Mind telling me where this orphanage is yoi?"

-xxx-

Coffee in hand, Marco knocked on his father's door before entering the spacious office. A triumphant smile on his face. "Pops, I think I've found some kids you might be interested in adopting."

From where he sat in front of a large, bay window, Edward Newgate turned yellow eyes to his eldest son. "Really?"

"Really. They are living in this orphanage run by a woman named Dadan," he handed his father a scrap of paper with an address written on it. "I've already called ahead and made an appointment to visit tomorrow around noon yoi. Is that alright, Pops?"

"Yes, thank you. You're an excellent assistant, Marco."

"I try my best yoi."

Newgate smiled fondly at his son.

His gaze dropped down to the address Marco had written down—he recognized his son's handwriting easily—and released a quiet sigh. "I hope you're right. I'm not getting any younger here, and this is taking much longer than I anticipated."

"I know, Pops. But, I honestly believe these kids will be the perfect fit," Marco reassured him.

Tomorrow, they would discover whether Marco's words held true or not.

-to be continued-