? '------ {. ' 'DEVIL FRUIT ' '.} '------ '?

Portgas D. Ace sighed for the tenth time that day, huffing and puffing to himself. He ate a Devil Fruit exactly six months ago, and he still isn 't over it. Sure, he has damn good control over it ' thanks to his baby brother and his big brother 's lessons on how to control two of the three types of Devil Fruit. How to keep his body as human flesh other than pure fire had been a rough journey even with those lessons in his mind.

It didn 't help that Sabo teased him about it to the point where flames were literally in Ace 's hair. Of course, Ace imagined Law 's amused smirk, eyes laughing at him, and then Luffy 's actual, loud laughter, and that hadn 't helped make the experience any better.

He ate the Mera Mera no Mi on accident when his first mate was shoved into him when they were trying to figure out if the fruit in Ace 's hands was a Devil Fruit or not, and the fruit was shoved into his mouth, and he swallowed it. His crew spent hours apologizing for making him eat a literally Devil Fruit, and he had sulked for a day before sending a letter(s) to his brothers, telling them of his new status as a hammer in the water.

And they all sent letters containing varying levels of amusement.

Bunch of bastards, the lot of them.

Despite not purposefully eating the Devil Fruit, Ace made it his own, and he is proud to say his new moniker is 'Fire-Fist Ace '. Which is pretty badass if he does say so himself. Of course, his big brother 's title is

pretty

cool, he 'd admit that.

Surgeon of Death

has that scare to it that makes his sleep-deprived brother seem creepy. Which he was, Ace wandered around the forest without his head on his shoulders once because he pissed the other D. off enough, and Law had just smirked and offered to take off his arms when Ace yelled at him.

Which he will never tell anyone

. Ever.

Thinking of Law made Ace think of Luffy, and about how the youngest of them was planning on setting sail on his sixteenth birthday. He had collected his crew over the years since he had been seven, and he had a pretty solid crew that was pretty strong for rookies. He had a navigator, Nami, the liar sniper, Usopp, the swordsman who wielded the Three-Sword-Style, Zoro, the cook, Sanji, and Ace is pretty sure they were taking Kuina with them after Luffy demanded for her to yell her dream for all to hear when he was eleven and dropping Zoro back off at his island for a few months.

Thinking of Luffy also made Ace think of how he missed his brothers. Sabo was already in the Grand Line with a large bounty of two-hundred-million, a bounty he got after being an official pirate for almost seven months. Law was rocking a two-hundred and fifty-million bounty, something Ace knew was on purpose. Law could have a much higher one, but he was trying to stay on the down-low, hence making himself seem weaker.

People always looked at the number and decided their strength. Law was actually one of the strongest of the brothers. He was tied with Luffy, who was the hardest to beat because he was a freaking monster. Ace still has no idea how Luffy learned Haki when he was seven with no real teacher (he refused to believe Old Man Rayleigh taught him everything when Luffy had been gone from Dawn for three weeks-tops before he learned Haki) and then decided to teach

them

. Ace knew how difficult it was to learn such Haki, especially at such a young age.

Luffy was always mysterious like that, though, and Ace gave up trying to figure him out long ago.

'Captain, ' Deuce called, giving him a dry look, 'This island is covered in snow, are we seriously staying here? '

'Hey, ' Ace laughed, 'I can go by myself. '

'As if we 'd let you. ' the shipwright, Cassy, said with a raised eyebrow.

Ace smirked, 'Then let 's go! '

? '------ {. ' 'FAMILY '.} '------ '?

'Oi, Uncle Shanks! ' Ace called as he walked into the cave that was currently housing the Red-Hair pirates.

Shanks positively beamed, 'Firecracker! Long time no see, kid. '

Ace grinned, settling down in front of his uncle while his crew just gaped at him.

'UNCLE!? '

'Oh, yeah, Shanks has the hots for my dad. ' Ace looked over his shoulder, 'Did I not tell you guys? '

'Obviously not! '

'I don 't have the hots for C-Corazon... ' Shanks fumbled.

'Okay, sure, ' Ace waved, 'Anyways, did you know Luffy already wants to set sail? Damn brat is two years too early! '

Shanks laughed, 'You know he wouldn 't have it any other way. ' he said simply, 'The kid 'll be fine. '

Ace pouted, 'Still, Sabo and me set out when we were seventeen and Law left when he was almost twenty. '

Shanks grinned, 'Did you honestly think that land would keep Anchor for another two years? '

Ace laughed, 'Guess not. '

'Anyways, ' Shanks ' grin was sharp, 'Mind telling Uncle Shanks why on Earth you 're going after Whitebeard? '

? '------ {. ' 'PIRATES ' '.} '------ '?

'Gurararara! You have spunk kid! Run wild under me as my son! '

'Go to hell, you Geezer! '

? '------ {. ' '? ' '.} '------ '?

'Dear Brothers and Dad and Dadan,

I have been kidnapped by an old man named Whitebeard. Don 't mourn me if I die.

Portgas D. Ace '

'Damn idiot. ' Law smirked

Seven islands away, Sabo smirked and laughed for the ocean to hear. One sea over, Luffy cackled in the forest, his Navigator giving him a confused glance before parrying an attack from Zoro. On a little island in the kingdom of Goa, two grown adults sobbed.

'Ace, you idiot! ' Corazon cried, 'You don 't get to call me dad and expect me not to worry! '

'Ace got kidnapped by Whitebeard! ' Dadan sobbed into her handkerchief.

'I need to call Shanks! ' Corazon yelled, tripped over his feet, and scurried over to the Den-Den.

? '------ {. ' '? ' '.} '------ '?

The Whitebeard pirates watched with differing reactions as their newest brother/son stormed onto the deck, grabbed the News-Coo delivering the daily news by the neck, shoved several letters into its bag along with a few belli, snarling, 'You better tell those assholes that I 'm going to burn their asses for that! I know he laughed at me! '

The News-Coo seemed to slump in defeat, showing that this wasn 't the first time this happened. It cawed and it sounded judging.

'Oh, and tell Cora-san that I 'm not sorry, ' Ace then smiled cheekily and turned on his heel, 'Whitebeard, fight me! '

A certain First Mate sighed deeply, already prepared for the expected slap to the air and yelling as someone got sent overboard.

'Why won 't you just join? ' Marco asked as a sopping wet Ace was dropped onto the deck, 'Pops wants to call you son, what 's so wrong with that? '

'I already have a dad! ' Ace sputtered, 'I can 't call Whitebeard Dad! Cora-san raised me, not him! '

That was it...?

Marco looked over to the captain of the ship, shoulders slumping when he saw the glint in his eyes.

'Why don 't you call me Grandpa? ' Whitebeard suggested, 'I don 't have a Grandson yet. '

'My grandpa hits me every time he sees me because I 'm not a marine. ' Ace deadpanned.

That was concerning.

Ace placed a hand on his chin, humming in thought, 'How about Grandpops? '

'Gurarara! Welcome aboard, Grandson! ' Whitebeard said happily.

'I wonder what Uncle will say when he hears about this. ' Ace smiled gleefully, and Marco snapped to look over at the newest member of the Whitebeards.

He had a bad feeling.

? '------ {. ' '? ' '.} '------ '?

'Oi, Grandpops, ' Ace knocked on the door to the captain's room, entering the room when Whitebeard called for him to enter.

'What is it, my son? ' Whitebeard asked warmly.

'So, uh, ' Ace shuffled into the room, sitting at the foot of the bed when prompted to. 'My biological dad was Gol D. Roger. ' he said hesitantly, 'And I understand if you don 't want me to join your crew now... '

'Gurararara! ' Whitebeard chuckled, 'And here I thought you had something serious on your mind! Who cares who blood you share, you are the child of the sea! '

And Ace found himself another member of his patchwork family that he would give his dreams for.