Disclaimer: I worship Oda, y0.
Notes: For 30kisses, theme #22, cradle. Also for Emily to cheer her up.
Ace was three when Luffy was born.
Luffy was a little thing with bright and curious eyes, and when he wasn't sleeping, he wanted to eat. He never cried but always made little noises whenever he wanted something, and Ace liked to stand on tip-toes and peek into the crib, little hands gripping the top tightly, taking in every detail of his little brother who always gazed up at him with big eyes, who was so different from all the other babies he had seen around the village yet so much more adorable than all of them.
Ace was the first thing Luffy seeked when he learned how to crawl.
When Ace and Luffy were both in preschool, Ace would push Luffy on the swing every day. The other children would strain by themselves, trying to swing high, but Luffy never needed to because Ace was always there behind him, pushing him up.
Ace thought to himself, this is what it means to be a big brother.
They went sailing when Ace was thirteen and Luffy ten. Their hammocks were right next to each other's, and at night, Luffy was always sprawled over Ace. Ace would always wrap an arm around Luffy, and he wondered what Luffy had felt when he was still a baby and Ace had held him, gentle and tight and thinking, he's my little brother.
Luffy's arms would be around him every morning.
Ace left his village at seventeen to be a pirate. Luffy sat on the pier the whole day, watching Ace disappear into the endless ocean.
Luffy was seventeen now, and Ace was twenty, and nothing had changed. Luffy's wide smile and bright eyes were still the same, and he was still that same simple-minded, easy little brother Ace remembered, the one lying in the crib and crawling up to him and laughing with him, the one who told him you'll always be my favorite person, even after I'm pirate king with a genuine smile and heart.
He's my little brother, Ace thought fondly. He'll always be my little brother.
Before Ace left, Luffy gave him a wristlet.
Don't forget me, Luffy had said, and Ace had leaned in close and whispered you'll always be the one I think of.
He kissed his fingers and pressed them to Luffy's cheek, and Luffy had looked at him with startled eyes before saying, I'll always be waiting for you.
Ace sailed away the next day.