The door to the bandit hideout opened and out ran Ace, Sabo and Luffy. The first mentioned had his pipes in his hand as they ran. "We're off then!" shouted the three. From inside the house, Dadan could be heard yelling, "Hey, Luffy! You're supposed to do the laundry and clean the house!" The person being addressed turned around, stuck out her tongue and pulled on her lower right eyelid. "No way!" Before she continued running. "Uh! Ace, Sabo wait!" Dadan, Magura and Dogura watched them go. "What a terrible bunch of children!" grumbled the woman. "Oh, right," Sabo said, stopping. Luffy couldn't stop herself, ran into him and fell down. The blonde turned around and said, "I forgot something to say!" He took a deep breath and called out, "Hey, Dadan! While we're gone, Bluejam's men might come by. Be careful!" "Bluejam's men might come by..." Dogura began, "Why?" The others just looked at each other until Sabo answered them: "We messed with some of his crew and beaten them up. See you later!" The three looked after them in shock. What had they gotten themselves into? 

"Dadan is certainly an understanding old hag." "But she's still an old hag," Ace replied. "That's correct! Despite everything, she is a bandit. And her face is scary!" Luffy agreed, before her hair briefly caught on some branches and she was stuck for a moment. However, the boys didn't noticed this. "So what do we do?" Sabo asked while running. Luffy had now reconnected with them. "First of all..." "FOOD!" "Alright. Let's get something to eat!"

The three had lit a fire by a river and above it were the remains of a large fish. Ace and Sabo ate from their prey while Luffy watched them drool. You could almost have mistaken her for a dog. "Luffy, you're a devil fruit user?" Sabo asked with his mouth full. "Yup." He turned around. "That explains why you can't swim. You have something too." With that he threw the big fin at her. She ran and grabbed it like a dog before landing on her bottom and beaming with joy saying, "Thank you!" "You're too nice, Sabo!" Ace said to him with his mouth full. "It's no big deal," he replied before turning back to her, "So, what fruit did you eat?" "The Gomu Gomu no Mi" she said with a big grin and threw the fin in the air, before she devoured it in one bite. "Gomu Gomu? Does that mean you're made of rubber?" "Yes, that's right." "So you lost the ability to swim and in turn became a rubber human? How lame," said Ace, who was picking at his teeth with a fish bone to remove leftover food. She stood up angrily and shouted: "That's not lame! I'm going to develop a bunch of unbeatable techniques!" Ace lay on his back before turning to the side and resting his head. "Oh, is that so? Someone who isn't even able to catch a fish themselves shouldn't say something like that." Luffy wanted to attack the older boy, but Sabo held her cheek and her face stretched. "You really are made of rubber, hum? That's so cool!" "Don't play with me like that!" grumbled Luffy. Sabo let go of her and she was thrown forward by the recoil of the contraction. Sabo laughed. "Despite it. Rubber can stretch, contract and expand. It could be very useful in battle." Luffy held her cheek. Just because she could stretch didn't mean you could do that to her again and again! But her grumbling was quickly forgotten when she heard Sabo talking. "I know! I even came up with a new technique yesterday! It's called it ' Gomu Gomu no Fusen '! It can deflect anything, even cannonballs!" "Really? Show me!" "Good! But it's a private screening!" she looked at Ace, "I won't show it to you, Ace! So don't watch!" Ace was lying with his back to her as she turned back to Sabo. "Here she comes! Gomu Gomu no..." She sucked in as much air as she could. Her stomach became larger and fuller and almost resembled a ball. Surprised, Sabo said: "What? What is that? It's incredible! It's getting bigger and bigger!" Ace slowly became curious. Meanwhile, Luffy covered her mouth. Her body had grown considerably and looked like a huge ball with a head, arms and legs. "...Fusen! What do you think? Unbelievable, right?!" she said, covering my mouth. "No, I really can't call that unbelievable." Luffy jumped up and down, not noticing Ace standing up. He kicked the bloated rubber girl and said, "Some exercise will help me digest food better!" The girl shot up into the air and did some rolling. "What are you doing?!" she shouted dully. "Sabo, shoot her back!" "Uh, sure." Luffy came closer and closer. When she was within reach, he kicked her back toward Ace. "Stop it!" She wasn't a ball! "This is supposed to be an unbeatable technique against cannonballs?" Ace dropped and jumped off. "Stop it!" "Then try to block my kicks!" "Stop!" And Ace kicked her in the direction of the river. She hit two rocks before threatening to sink into the water. The boys looked at her in shock. Suddenly she rose out of the water again...she had landed in a crocodile's mouth! Screaming, she disappeared into the beast's mouth as it closed. The boys watched in shock as the reptile spat out the straw hat and dived back down. They shouted angrily after him: "Wait, damn it! We won't just let you eat her and escape!" The reptile seemed to have heard them, because the next moment it came out of the water again. "You bastard!" they shouted and attacked. They threw their pipes into the crocodile's mouth. They got stuck there crisscrossed. "Here we come!" The reptile had no chance.

The three of them returned to the path; they had tied the killed beast to a tree trunk and carried it back. "Come on there is no reasen to be mad!" said Sabo, who was walking in the middle. Luffy, who brought up the rear, complained angrily: "Of course I'm mad! I almost got eaten!" "Oh, shut up! You can have as much of this crocodile for dinner as you want." This prospect cheered the girl up again. "Okay, I forgive you." Sabo looked over his shoulder in surprise. "You're just going to forgive us like that?" "I want to eat the crocodile now! I can't wait until dinner," she whined, drool already dripping from her mouth. The boys ignored her. "Ace, there's something I want to check! Come on you two." 

The three of them were sitting behind a bush and had camouflaged themselves with Ace and Luffy putting some leaves, she even had flowers, in their hair and Sabo on his hat. They watched as some men, presumably from Bluejam's crew, found the boys' former hiding place. "And did you find it? Look closely!" shouted one of the men. "It's a good thing we put the treasure somewhere else," Sabo muttered. "Yes. Do you want to look around Gray Terminal too?" "I think so. But you should go back to Dadan first," Sabo said and looked at Luffy. "No!" Ace covered her mouth. Why did she never think?! "She really won't listen," groaned the blonde. 

They had managed to get to the main gate without being seen. The three stood on top of each other behind a large piece of wood. Sabo sat on top of Ace's shoulders and he sat on Luffy's. She tried hard not to collapse. Why did she have to be at the bottom again? From there they could see some of Bluejam's men showing papers around and questioning people. "Oh oh! The town crooks and Bluejam's lackeys are scouring the entire area. They're not to be trifled with," Sabo said. "I can imagine," Ace began, "that Bluejam is furious, Sabo." Luffy gritted her teeth. The three of them didn't notice how someone was standing behind them and kept looking back and forth between the piece of paper in his hand and the three of them. Then Berrie falls for him. "Hey, look guys, there are the kids you've been looking for!" Luffy's strength weakened and she fell over. Pulling Sabo and Ace with her. "Yes, they are over there!" The three jumped up and ran, the men close on their heels. Some small pieces of wood got caught in Luffy's hair but she didn't have time to take care of it."Stop! You won't get away from us, you brats!" 

It took a while but the children managed to outrun their pursuers. Exhausted, Sabo fell against a tree. Ace was sitting next to him and Luffy was hanging overhead from a branch. Her hair was disheveled and there were small branches and twigs, leaves and pieces of wood and even one of the flowers hanging in it. "We're in real trubble! We can't show up anywhere anymore. Bluejam also has men looking for us in the Gray Terminal. It's best we go into hiding for a while until the situation calms down," the blonde said. "They won't let up! We'll have to fight them at some point!" Ace replied. "Yes, that cannot be avoided. But we shouldn't necessarily go for a fight, should we?!" Grinning, the straw hat wearer agreed with Sabo: "Exactly, Sabo is right!" "Shut up, gummy bear!" grumbled Ace.

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~ In the Dadan family's hideout ~

One of the bandits stood in the lookout and looked out. Inside, the others sat in front of Dadan in the main room of the hut. "Bluejam, huh? They picked really the WRONG guy." "Yes, knowing him and his crew, they will find our hiding place in no time!" "We don't have the slightest chance. We are not opponents for them!" said Magura. And Dogura added lamentingly: "This is the end of the Dadan family. I'm afraid we'll have to say goodbye to our humble, happy mountain bandit life FOREVER!" "We'll be lucky if we lose our business. But if the worst comes to the worst, then we're history!" Dadan began to get angrier with every word and whine from her men until she slammed her fist on the ground and stood up. "Stop this pathetic whining!" she thundered, "We will keep our business and carry on! I thought you were mountain bandits. Where has your pride gone?!" They looked at her with wide eyes. "It's easy! If they look for the snotty noses by us, then we will simply hand them to them on a silver platter!" "But boss, listen! What do we do after that? I mean, what are you going to tell Garp?" "Besides, Bluejam's definitely not the type of guy who's going to be satisfied with us turning over the kids. We have to expect that!" "Then...well, uh," Dadan looked perplexed. "Then what?!" the bandits wanted to know. Now good advice was expensive! What should they do? Then she had THE idea! "Then we lie as much as we can! That shouldn't be a problem. Come on, try it! We're practicing this now! Ace and Sabo aren't here at the moment, they're just gone for a short time. And now you!" "I don't know anything!" said the bandits and whistled. They looked exactly like Luffy did the day before. "Bad. Liar." Dadan hung her head, sighing. And these should be bandits? The lookout shouted, "Boss! Boss! The kids are back!" "Huh?!" There they came, carrying a huge crocodile. Ace looked serious, Sabo smiled and Luffy was drooling. 

After Ace's best friend Sabo had to break up his camp in Gray Terminal for understandable reasons, he also moved in with Dadan. Ace, Sabo and Luffy. The three kids were busy from morning to evening fighting against the wild animals in the jungle, against the criminals in the city and against the pirates in the bay. As a result, their bad reputation reached the capital of the kingdom. 

One morning Luffy stood in front of them with a pair of scissors. "Can one of you cut my hair?" she asked. "What?!" "I asked if one of you could cut my hair! I get stuck up wit them all the time and everything gets caught in them." "But that doesn't mean you have to get your hair cut!" Ace protested. He wouldn't admit it, but he thought her long hair was cute. "She's not all that wrong," Sabo said thoughtfully. "Excuse me?!" "Please imagine this, Ace. What if we had to escape from a dangerous animal or from Bluejam's men. Her hair gets stuck and we aren't quick enough to get to her. What do you think would happen?" He thought for a moment until he shuddered. No, that definitely wouldn't be good. Sabo just watched his friend. He didn't need an answer to realize that Ace had recognized the situation. He took the scissors from Luffy and motioned for her to sit in front of him. "Do you want a specific length?" he asked. Luffy thought about it before she said: "I want them as short like Ace's." The two looked at her in surprise. "Are you really sure? Once the hair is gone, it takes time for it to grow back again." She just nodded. Sabo suppressed a sigh and started cutting. "So, I'm ready. I've never cut anyone's hair before but I think I did a good job. What do you think, Ace?" He looked at his best friend's work. The cut away hair lay around the girl. She now had short, slightly disheveled hair on her head and was grinning broadly at him. If he didn't know she was a girl, he would have mistaken her for a boy. "Not bad. It could have been worse." "I'll take that as a compliment." Sabo handed her a small, slightly broken hand mirror. She looked at her reflection from all sides and said with a broad grin: "Thanks Sabo! That looks great! Now I don't have to spend hours pulling stuff out of my hair!" "Come on, let's go train!" said Ace. Laughing, the three ran off to their training site in the middle of the jungle.

"Ahhh. Here I come!" Luffy shouted and ran towards Ace. He stood still with his arms crossed while she rotated her right arm, "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" She grinned widely as her arm shot forward. Ace looked at her in surprise. But then her fist hit the ground, bounced off and she hit herself in the face. "What do you think you're doing?!" Ace shouted angrily and annoyed as he kicked her in the face. "One point," said Sabo and wrote this down on the wooden board that stood next to him. Luffy lay on the ground twitching. Then it was Ace and Sabo's turn. They punches and kicks were quick and precise. Neither managed to land a hit as they scattered. "I won't lose to anyone! And I..." thought Ace. Sabo had the same thoughts. "I will get stronger! I will become much, much stronger!" They jumped at each other and struck. Ace was able to block Sabo's attack. "I win Sabo!" Ace swung and sent his friend flying. He hit the ground with a groan. "Damn." "Damn! You two always have a good fight. Ace, Sabo," Luffy muttered from the edge before shouting, "Sabo! You fight me next!" Now Ace watched while Sabo ran towards Luffy. But she stopped. "Shouldn't you get out of the way? I won't hold back!" Luffy grinned. "Shishishi. Gomu Gomu no..." "Your rubber powers again?" She grabbed her fingers and pulled them out. "...Tate!" "You just stretched your fingers." He ran the last few meters and grabbed the surprised girl by her stretched fingers. "That's cool" He pulled her towards him... "S-stop that!" ...and let go. Once again she was thrown backwards by the recoil, bounced off the ground, rolled past Ace and up a tree before falling back down. Ace had watched the spectacle and followed the rolling girl with his eyes. He sighed. "I hate to ask this, but are your skills good for anything?" "Damn! It just doesn't work! And I was so close! Again!" screamed the seven-year-old. "No. 100 fights per day for each. You can try again tomorrow," Ace said firmly. "Luffy lost to Ace and me 50 times. I have 24 wins and 26 losses against Ace. Lost by two points, eh? Damn!" Sabo said as he wrote the final results on the board. "You two! I'll defeat you two when I'm ten!" "Then we'll be 13. Let's go and get supplies for dinner."

The three stood on a branch of a tree near the river. There they saw lots of crocodiles on the rocks and in the water. "Who wants crocodile today?" asked Ace, biting his thumbnail. "Crocodile meat tastes really good!" "Luffy, don't let yourself be eaten this time! The last time you only survived because your body was inflated." "Just watch us. You can't swim and would just get in our way." "Croco meat!" Luffy jumped off the branch with her pipe. Surprised and upset, the boys watched and Ace shouted, "I told you to watch!" Then they jumped too. The harsh circumstances of Mount Corbo made them stronger every day.

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~Gray Terminal~

North of the mountain was the final station, the Gray Terminal. And even further north there was a city surrounded by a stone wall. The only way in is through the Great Gate, which was known as the Gray Gate. Twice a day, gigantic amounts of waste from all over the kingdom were dumped there. Gray Terminal residents would occasionally enter the city to sell valuables. A strange, cloaked figure staggered toward the gate. In his hand he held a rope that pulled a scale on which something lay hidden. "Hey wait! What do you have there?" a gate guard asked the figure. "Crocodile skin. I want to sell them." "Crocodile?" The figure lifted the blanket and showed the killed animal. The guard backed away in surprise before letting him pass. As soon as they pass through the gate they reach the outskirts of the city. The outskirts are where the city's criminals hang out. The figure entered an alley full of criminals who blocked his path. One said: "Hey you! Just leave your cargo here!" The crooks laughed as they approached. The person with the coat remained silent. "Hey, say something!" the leader asks him and steps closer. "Shut up you pathetic criminal!" said a rather young voice. "What?!" An iron pipe came out from under the coat and pulled the man's legs away. He fell and said, "T-that one...!" "If you want to rob people..." the person said, taking off his coat, "then you should choose easier victims!" The person turned out to be three children. Two boys and a girl who could have been mistaken for a boy. The speaker of the three was Ace, sitting on Luffy's shoulders, who in turn was standing on Sabo's. All three had their pipes ready. The criminals became nervous when they recognized the children. "It's the group from last time!" "Let's go!" "Yeah!" The three jumped towards the crooks and took them down without any difficulty. Then, as before, they stood on top of each other and covered themselves in the cloaks again before continuing on their way. Deep in the city there was another stone wall. The nobles and aristocrats lived inside the upper town. This was the Goa Kingdom. It was known as the most beautiful kingdom in the entire East Blue and had not the slightest bit of waste. Even Foosha Village where Ace and Luffy grew up was part of this kingdom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~In the city center~

People stared suspiciously at the strange, staggering figure. "I'm glad we got so much money for the crocodile skin. Now we have even more for our darling," Sabo said quietly. "Hey, I'm hungry!" Luffy whined. "Wait a little longer!" said Ace, "I'll take you to a restaurant that has great ramen!" "Ramen, what is that? Is that really tasty?" Sabo asked, "It doesn't matter what it is, as long as I get something to eat!" They stopped in front of a building with the inscription "Good food - Eiichirou". "This is it!" said Ace and they staggered in. They were immediately greeted there. "Welcome, sir." The man bowed. However, he was shocked when he saw the figure. "Stop! Stop! Not a step further! You can not get in here! Guys like you are banned from here!" Sabo pulled something out of his pocket and stuck it out of the coat. It was a gold pendant with a flower on it. He said in a disguised voice, "I'd like the V.I.P room." The owner was startled before he backed away and scratched his head in embarrassment. "The royal coat of arms! Please forgive me! It is an honor for us to host a noble guest. Please follow me. Your room will be ready for you soon." Sabo had already made the pendant disappear back into his coat. The man immediately ran away. "Wow, Sabo. It's really handy," said Ace. "Uh, yeah, right?" Sabo started, you could tell he was nervous, "I found it on the street one day." 

The V.I.P. room was sumptuously decorated with the finest furniture and beautiful crystals. There were three hot bowls of ramen on the table. The children in costumes sat on the chair when the waitress said: "Here you go. Three bowls of ramen. I wish you a good appetite." With that, the waitress left the room and closed the door. As soon as they heard the door close, Sabo, Luffy and Ace slipped out of the cloak. "Hey, ramen is noodle soup!" Sabo said happily. "Wow, that looks delicious!" "Come on, dig in, guys!" said Ace before the three of them hungrily pounced on the soup. "It tastes great!" Sabo exclaimed. For a while all you could hear was the three of them slurping until Luffy shouted: "Second helpings!" The two immediately covered her mouths before Sabo cleared his throat and shouted in a disguised voice: "Service! Could I have three more bowls?" "Yes, they're on their way!" They were empty in record speed. "Three more!" This went on for quite a while. The poor waitress was almost constantly running up and down the stairs to the VIP room. Exhausted, she took a breath and knocked. "The soups are here!" The door was opened and the bowls were already piled up on the table. A hand stretched and grabbed the tray. The waitress screamed and the door slammed shut. Panicing, she ran back into the kitchen and shouted: "Come with me quickly, boss!" They ran back together and he opened the door. "Could I speak to you for a moment?!" The three children paused. They had been caught! 

"Crap!" "Damn!" "Let's get out of here!" they shouted at once before jumping out the window. The owner shouted: "These are boozers! Stop them!" The people on the street looked up. "Oh, the soup was really great, eh!" said Sabo as they fell. "I told you!" Luffy couldn't say anything. She held her hands in front of her mouth, which was full of food. They fell onto an awning and jumped from there to the ground. "They are? But they are still children!" said one of the passers-by. A police officer came running up and said: "That trio again! They also have completely different things on their plate! Why did you let them in anyway?" "Don't let them escape! The three of them cheated the bill!" What Sabo and Ace didn't know was that Luffy had left a message that said: ''We will pay them with our treasure! – Luffy'' The three of them were running through the crowds when their caught the attention of a black-haired man with a mustache. His eyes widened when he saw Sabo and he shouted, "Wait! You're still alive!?" Sabo stopped, causing Ace and Luffy to stop as well. "Please come back home!" "Hey, Sabo. He's calling for you." "Who is that?" You could tell Sabo was nervous. "He must be confusing me with someone. Come on!" With that the three continued their escape. "P-please wait!"

The three of them stood on a cliff, far away from the terminal. Ace and Luffy stared at Sabo expectantly. "What? I'm not hiding anything!" he said, the sweat falling from his face. "Really?" Luffy asked naively. "Of course he does! Spit it out Sabo!" thundered Ace. Silence. "Do you think it's okay if we keep secrets from each other?!" Luffy discreetly winced. She didn't like that Sabo seemed to be keeping a secret from them. But after all, she herself had one too and for good reason. "Spit it out!" they both said. Sabo literally had his back to the wall, in this case a tree. He turned his head to the side and said, "Like I said, it's nothing." The two black-haired kids grabbed him by the collar. "Just tell us or I'll beat it out of you!" Ace snapped, his temper getting the best of him again. They squeezed the blonde's breath away. He gasped: "I'll talk! I'll talk!" 

"Huh?!" Luffy's voice was heard. "The son of a noble?!" Sabo looked down depressed. "Who?" asked Ace and Luffy. "Me, of course!" said Sabo. How stupid could somebody possibly be?! Both Ace and Luffy stuck their pinkies up their noses and picked it. They seemed to have copied this from Garp. "And?" They didn't understand why Sabo was so upset. "YOU wanted to know!" he shouted at the two. "The truth is that my parents are still alive. I'm not an orphan and I didn't grow up in Gray Terminal. The man who called for me today was my father." Ace looked at his best friend in surprise. "I lied to you. I'm sorry." Luffy crossed her arms over her chest and said with a smile, "He apologized, so it's okay, right? I forgive him." "To tell you the truth, I'm shocked," Ace turned around and looked at the sea, "If you were born a noble, then why did you want to go to a place like this?" "The reason I ran away from home was..." The others turned to him as he talked about his past. The two learned that Sabo had grown up in a loveless environment. His parents were only interested in their status and the family's reputation. They didn't take his feelings into account. Luffy felt something stab her heart. Something like that couldn't, no, shouldn't exist! Sabo was lucky to have parents, but then they were like... like, she couldn't think of a suitable word for it. Children should have parents who loved and cared for them. Just like she had seen in Foosha Village for years! How could parents be so cruel to their child?! "...If I didn't marry a daughter of the royal family, I was nothing but trash to them. For this reason, they made me study with a tutor all day. My parents always fought because I wasn't good enough for them. I was nothing more than a burden in the house. I feel sorry for you, but despite having parents, I'm alone. The nobles despise the Gray Terminal. But I would rather live there than live the life they had already planned for me." "I see." Sabo stood up and said with an outstretched hand, "Ace! Luffy! The three of us will set sail one day! We will get out of this country and be free! I want to see the world and write a book about my adventure! But I don't study charts, so that's clear. Let's get stronger and become pirates!" Luffy looked at him with wide eyes before a wide grin spread across her face. Same with Ace before he said, "You don't have to tell me twice! I would done the same even without you. I'm going to be a pirate and I'm going to win, win and win again and make a name for myself on the world's oceans! That alone will be proof that I lived! Even if my existence is ignored everywhere or if they hate me. I'm going to be a great pirate and I'm going to show everyone! I won't run from anyone and won't lose to anyone. Whatever happens I will make sure the whole world knows my name!" "Shishishi. Okay, then listen up!" Luffy ran next to Ace and shouted: "I'll be...!" The boys looked at her surprised and confused but she just laughed. Ace scratched his head. "Oh man. What is she saying?" Sabo just laughed and said: "You're really awesome Luffy! I'm...I'm really excited about your future!" He fell silent when a thought occurred to him. "Eh, wait a minute! The three of us want to be pirates, okay, but if all three of us also want to be captains we have a little problem." The two looked at him confused. "That's right, that's not working," Ace came to the realization, "Sabo, I always thought you wanted to become my navigator." "You two can join my crew!" Luffy had the brilliant idea. "Out of question!" the two protested loudly. She looked at them in surprise before shouting: " Don't be like that! Come on my ship and join my crew, it'll be great!" "Forget it, that won't happen!" "No, never!" "What?! Oh, what ever." "Tehehe, what was that?" asked Ace. "You're a realy a nuts, Luffy" Sabo said before they started laughing.

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~ Hideout of the Dadan Family ~

It was night when the three lay on the plain above the bandits' sleeping place. Ever since Sabo came to live with them, Dadan had given them this place to sleep. But Ace couldn't sleep. His thoughts revolved around an idea of how the three of them would always stay connected. But there was something else that was bothering him and to which he finally wanted an answer. "Hey Luffy, are you awake?" Ace asked quietly, he didn't want to wake the others. His answer was a grumble. "Hey Luffy." This time he shook her slightly. "What's wrong?" she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "I wanted to ask you something." "Can't it wait until tomorrow?" She lay back down and snuggled up in her blanket. He hit her angrily on the head. "Ow, why did you do that?!" she screamed at him. Now she was wide awake. Ace put his finger over his lips and motioned for her to be quiet. "Like I said, I want to ask you something." Sabo was also woken up by her scream. "What are you screaming about? It's the middle of the night." "Tell that Ace, he woke me up!" What the three of them didn't know. Dadan had also woken up. She lay on her futon and listened to the children talking. 

"I overheard an argument between Dadan and Grandpa the night he brought you here," Ace began. Dadan's and Luffy's eyes widened. "How much had he heard?" thought the mountain bandit. "During the argument, Dadan said that you are the child of a monster, a demon child. Do you know what she meant by that?" Now Sabo's curiosity was piqued and he looked at her just as expectantly as Ace. Luffy, on the other hand, broke out in a sweat. Ace heard that?! She knew what that meant but she couldn't tell them! They wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore and she would be all alone again. Or someone else could find out and then she would be done for! "I...I don't have the slightest idea what that means!" she said unconvincingly. "You're a terrible liar, Luffy," Ace said, "Now tell us!" "Yeah, come on! It can't be worse than my origins!" Sabo added and sat up. They had no idea! "Dadan probably only said that because she didn't want to take care of you too." They didn't have the slightest idea! The eyes of the two ten-year-olds literally bored into their souls. She tried to reassure them that she knew nothing. But they didn't let it go. 

When Luffy couldn't think of any more excuses, she gave in. "You don't know what it's like!" she began, staring at the floor in front of her. Ace and Sabo looked at her confused and were startled when Luffy looked them straight in the eyes. Her large brown eyes, sparkling with joy of life, were filled with tears and an expression of deep sadness and pain stood in them. In a voice choked with tears, she continued: "YOU don't know what it's like to know that if someone found out WHO your father was, your life would be over! YOU don't know how desperate you can become if you find out indirectly WHAT the people wish happens to you, WHAT would be done to you or what they think about you! YOU don't ask yourself every time you are alone whether it was good that you were born!" During her speech, the tears began to flow. Dadan felt like a heavy burden was settling on her heart. Yes, she said it at the beginning and meant it, but she began to love the little girl. Even if it wasn't always easy with her. The same had been the case with Ace back then. She knew what a difficult fate lay on Luffy's shoulders, but she didn't know HOW hurt the always cheerful girl really was. 

Confused and speechless, they stared at the crying black-haired girl. What was that supposed to mean? Sabo was the first to find his voice again. "What do you mean, Luffy? Does that mean you know who your parents were?" "Of course I do! Gramps told me that and also told me when I was four that I could never use my real name!" Real name, what was that supposed to mean?! "The only people who know my real name and origins are Gramps, me, Dadan, Makino, the mayor and Shanks! The old man was so angry when he found out I told Shanks." "What does that mean 'real name'? Does that mean your name isn't Portgas D.?" "Portgas was my mother's name! I am the daughter of the Pirate King, Gold Roger, who was executed nine years ago! My real name is Gol D. Luffy!" Sabo and Ace froze at this information, while Dadan shed quiet tears beneath them. Before they could move again, Luffy had grabbed her straw hat, jumped up and down the level, throwing open the entrance door and letting it slam behind her as she disappeared crying into the darkness of the night.

The boys stared at the spot where Luffy had been sitting for a while. They first had to digest this information and her reaction. They knew who the Pirate King was and what he had done before his execution. Ace had heard plenty of stories from his grandfather, although he always pointed out that Roger was a nuisance. Nevertheless, he always seemed to have respect for him. Sabo, on the other hand, had always listened to the stories of the pirates and residents of Gray Terminal. They had been fascinated by the man who was freer than anyone else in the world and who had experienced lots of adventures. And now they had learned that their friend, three years younger than them, was his daughter. Now they realized why she hadn't wanted to say anything and they felt terrible for pressuring her like that. It was one thing not to know your parents, but have a grandfather or be the son of nobles who had never known love. But being the child of a felon and always having to live in fear that it would come to light was something different. "Damned! We're two huge idiots!" Ace said, holding his head. Sabo added: "We shouldn't have pushed her. We should have realized that there was a good reason for her not to tell us. Come on, we have to look for her!" Sabo jumped up and grabbed Ace by the arm. "Do you think that's a good idea, Sabo? Shouldn't we just leave her alone for now?" "No, you idiot! She probably thinks we don't want anything to do with her now. Besides, it's night and you know what kind of creatures walk around here in the dark!" Ace saw that Sabo was right before he asked, "And where should we look for her? At night in the jungle you can't see your own hand!" Sabo remained silent and thought. Ace's argument was apt, where should they look? Then he had an idea and asked Ace: "Where does she like to go?" "The sea." Ace's eyes widened. "Do you think she is..?" "It would be worth a try." The two grabbed their weapons and a lantern, lit it and ran in the direction where they hoped to find Luffy.

Luffy sat huddled under a tree on a cliff. She had put on her straw hat. It was over! Her hopes of finally having friends were dashed. They certainly wouldn't want to be friends with a demon child. Maybe...she should try to survive in the jungle alone? If she died, no one would care anyway. Sure, Dadan and the mountain bandits would get in a lot of trouble with Garp, but in the end everyone would gradually forget about her. As if she had never been there, as if she had never existed. Maybe that would be best for everyone. 

A crack caught her attention. She lifted her head and turned it towards the source of the noise. She saw a light and heard quick footsteps approaching. Judging by the sound, there were two people. "Luffy! Where are you?!" "Can you hear us?" It was Ace and Sabo. She sat still. The light came closer and the two emerged from the undergrowth. 

Out of breath, they looked at the area in front of them. Sabo held the lantern and moved it from side to side until the light hit the huddled girl. Relieved, they ran to her. "We've been looking for you everywhere!" said Sabo. "Why did you even run away!?" Ace thundered. He knew his temper wasn't helping, but he was so angry at the younger one's recklessness. Reddened eyes moved from one to the other before she said: "I did you a favor. You don't want me with you anymore anyway." Her voice was quiet and emotionless. Ace hit her on the head. "How did you come up with this stupid idea!?" She held her aching head. Did Ace also know Garp's Fist of Love? She looked at him confused. "But...you surely don't want to have anything to do with me anymore. I'm the daughter of a monster!" "So what? Then your father was a criminal," Sabo began, "but that has nothing to do with you." "Sabo is right! You are you and your father was your father. Or do you think I would be friends with Sabo if I judged him because of his parents?" "What does that mean?!" "That was an example!" he reassured the blonde. "The point is, we don't care who he was." Luffy didn't know what to say. They didn't care that her father was, as people said, a monster? She never believed that anyway, but how was she supposed to convince other people? Did that mean...did that mean that they wanted her...that they wanted her... "Does that mean that you want me to live?" Shocked, the two first looked at each other and then at her. They put their pipes aside and Sabo put the lantern on the ground, each knelt on either side of it and hugged her. Luffy's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that and even less that the two of them started to cry. She had never seen them cry before. 

"Of course we want you to live, you idiot!" "Why does that surprise you, Luffy? We've been through so much together and you even risked your life just to protect us! Even though we planned to kill you!" "And I tried to kill you for three months while all you wanted to do was befriend me! I'm so sorry, Luffy! So sorry!" Luffy didn't know how to react. That was the first time in her life that someone had said something like that to her. That someone showed her how much they wanted her to live. So much so that they even cried for her. Tears welled up in her eyes again. The three children sat on the cliff, crying, in each other's arms, in the light of the lantern. They sat there for a while until they calmed down again. "Thank you," she said, "Thank you!"

The next day, the three of them stood around a wooden stump in the middle of the jungle. There were three sake bowls on it. "Yesterday we talked about becoming pirates and who would be the captain," Ace began, approaching with a bottle of sake and placing it next to the bowls, "Let's decide when the time comes. It could also be that we all go our separate ways." "Hey, you stole the sake from Dadan!" Luffy said. The night's incident never seemed to have happened, the way she was acting. Ace grabbed the bottle and opened it before pouring some sake into each bowl and said, "Hey, did you guys know that if you swap sake bowls before toasting, you become siblings?" "Siblings? Seriously?" asked Luffy, her eyes seemed to shine and she grinned broadly. Sabo also started to smile. "If we are pirates, we may not sail the seas on the same ship. But we will be connected as siblings." He reached for one of the bowls. "No matter where we are, our bond can never be destroyed!" Sabo and Luffy also grabbed one of the bowls and looked at Ace. "So guys, that's it from today on we are," he said with a smile as he raised his bowl, "siblings!" The three clinked glasses with each other and shouted: "Yeah!" before drinking the sake. 

The reaction followed immediately. Luffy hung her tongue out in disgust, shaking herself as she tried to scrape the taste off her tongue. "Blah, that stuff tastes terrible!" said Sabo and fought against licking the wood with his tongue. Ace wiped the corner of his mouth. "How can Dadan drink this stuff?!" But this was a small price for the children, which they were happy to pay. They were now brothers and sisters, a small family and nothing could ruin this for them. Or so they thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~In the outskirts~

"Sabo! Who said you could just cause trouble in our area?!" said the leader of a small group of thugs who had caught the boy in question in a dead end. "Your area?" Sabo said mockingly, "Ha! Don't make me laugh! Don't just stand there and chat. Show me what you can do!" His top hat obscured part of his face. He had thrown his pipe over his shoulder. "It's okay for me." What they didn't notice, however, was that Ace was swinging towards them on Luffy's leg, which was hanging on the edge of the nearby house. His pipe ready to strike. He let go of the leg, which tightened again and threw her back, and struck the first criminal from behind. Shocked and surprised, one of them said: "Ace!" "Don't turn around!" Sabo shouted and struck. As the two fought, Luffy fell to the ground. She twisted into a ball, knocking one down before landing gracefully with her fists clenched. "You little wretch!" Luffy swung her left arm around to attack when the guy hit her in the face. "Her face is bruised!" he shouted in shock, his fist still stuck in her face. All she could hear was a muffled noise. 

A long whistle sounded as two police officers came running. "It's the cops. Let's get away!" shouted Ace and ran ahead. Sabo was right behind him but Luffy, whose face was still pressed in, was trying to orientate herself somehow. Sabo jumped onto a crate and over the wall. Ace did the same, but he stayed on top and shouted: "Luffy! Over here!" Through the voice she was able to find a point to orient to, she turned around and blindly threw her arm in the direction she thought Ace's voice was coming from. Ace grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. He had to smile when she hit her head against the wall, so her face was pushed out again, she slapped her cheeks with both hands and said: "I'm back!" Then he jumped off the wall and followed his siblings.

The sun was setting as they left the city and Gray Terminal far behind. "Let's hunt deer for dinner!" Sabo suggested. "They taste so delicious! "Let's go hunting!" Luffy shouted enthusiastically. "Wade for us!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Hideout of the Dadan Family ~

It was night when the three returned to the hideout. Luffy shouted: "We're back!" "Don't just come back like that, you brats!" Dadan said poisonously. The next moment a killed deer was thrown into her face. "Here's dinner!" "Cook it quickly!" "Food! Food!" Said Sabo, Ace and Luffy as they walked past her, unimpressed. 

A huge mountain of meat was piled on a plate. Drooling, the children and the bandits pounced on the meat. A real food fight broke out as Sabo pushed Luffy away and threw her against other bandits, before Luffy returned the same generosity. A small fight broke out between the two, in which the bandits primarily lost. One of the bandits tried to grab a piece of meat when he was grabbed by the wrist. It was Ace who glowered. The bandit began to sweat alarmingly profusely before the boy threw him over his shoulder and continued eating. Dadan sat on the edge, unfazed by what was happening, and poured herself some sake. She brought the bowl to her mouth and received a slice of meat against her cheek, followed by another slice against the other, before a bowl hit her square in the face. She had enough! She stood up and knocked over the plate, somehow Ace and Sabo also flew in the air as she screamed: "Stop wasting the food!" The next moment she felt something or more someone biting into her head. It was Luffy, who hadn't noticed in her eating frenzy. Dadan started running around in a panic. "She wants to eat me!" While Sabo and Ace ate like nothing was happening. 

Faster befor the three of them could see, Dadan had grabbed them, undressed them and thrown them into the bathroom of the hut. "Don't come out until you're 100% clean!" she yelled before closing the door. Dadan knew that boys and girls weren't usually supposed to bathe together. But A) they were still children and B) there was a risk that Luffy would somehow accidentally kill herself because she got into the bin. The water splashed as Ace jumped into the barrel next to Sabo. Luffy sat on a box with a wooden bucket. Ace began to splash Sabo, "Stop it!", before he retaliated. Luffy, meanwhile, tremblingly lifted the bucket and was about to pour the water it contained on herself when she lost her balance and fell backwards. The children's happy laughter could be heard for a long time from the room. 

In the main room, however, it looked as if a battle had broken out, which indirectly had. The walls and floor were smeared with the fat from the meat, there were bowls, chopsticks and beaten mountain bandits everywhere, and the pot over the fireplace lay dirty in the ashes. Dadan sighed and began cleaning the room with the bandits. "Grrrr! Why do we have to clean here every night after dinner? I swear, I'll kick the three of them out for this one day!" It had taken a long time but they had managed to clean the room. It practically glowed with cleanliness. Exhausted but happy, Dadan wipes the sweat from her forehead. "Finally finished." 

There was a laugh followed by the patter of wet feet before the three children, who were only wearing a towel, came running into the room. Ace and Sabo followed the laughing Luffy. "Luffy, wait you..." Luffy escaped Ace's grasp by hanging onto the pot's hook with her rubber powers and swinging to the other side. The pot fell into the ash again and the three of them left wet footprints everywhere. "B-Boss?" Dogura asked worriedly, standing behind the orange-haired woman. She turned to him, her face twisted into a frightened mask. She trembled and the broom she was holding broke in two. 

It was bedtime when the three faced each other in the triangle with their fists raised. "One last round of practice before we go to bed," Ace said. Luffy shouted enthusiastically: "I'll win!" "You never learn, do you?" asked Sabo. "Let's go!" Screaming, the three rushed at each other. Ace tackled Sabo, who retaliated with an elbow strike to the stomach. Luffy rotated her arm to launch an attack. They did this until Luffy was thrown to the ground and she fell through the floor. Directly onto Dadan, who had previously been sleeping, and who promptly lost her breath. Luffy bounced off her stomach and rolled into the wall, where she held her head and cursed. Ace and Sabo looked through the resulting hole and Ace shouted, "Luffy, are you still alive?" "The ground gave way," Sabo muttered. Luffy jumped up and shouted up to them: "You'll regret this, you idiots!" "Hey!" Dadan shouted and began to chase Luffy, who had fled. The boys watched from above for a while until Ace said to Sabo, "Let's go to bed." "Yeah."

The next morning, Magura, Dogura and Dadan, who had large and dark circles under her eyes, were sitting in front of the hut under some trees. "We have to get the three out of here. If things continue like this, they will take over the Dadan family. Actually, I don't think I can take this anymore!" "Well, well boss..." Magura began before Dogura continued, "The three have already taken control." "Shut up! I just can't take care of them anymore!" Dadan thundered, slamming her fist on the ground, "Let's throw them out! Who cares about the promise we made to Garp?!" "Hey!" an older voice came from behind her. She froze in shock, "Garp?!" 

The next moment she knelt in front of the person with her head on the ground and said in fear: "Please forgive me! I wasn't thinking clearly!" "Excuse me. But we heard that Luffy and Ace were placed here," said a young woman's voice. She looked up in surprise, it wasn't Garp at all! In front of her stood a young woman with short, green hair who was carrying a basket and an old man with a cane, a hat and a beard. Dadan didn't know who that was. Luffy came running out of the entrance. A broad smile graced her face when she saw the visitors and called out: "Makino!" "Luffy!" She happily took the girl in her arms. She noticed that her hair was shorter but she didn't say anything about it. There must have been a reason for it. "You look like you're doing well," Woop Slapp began and smiled, "It's been six months now. We were worried and wanted to see how you were doing." Now the black-haired girl also noticed him. "Oh, Mayor!" "Don't tell Garp about this." Makino said, putting a finger to her lips and winking at her. Woop Slapp's smile faded as he said, "Still, it's hard to believe that you should live with mountain bandits. It was bad enough that he did it to Ace!" "Do you have a problem with that?" Dadan asked provocatively. "Damn right! Don't talk to me like that, you damn bandit!" "What?! Are all the citizens of Foosha Village like that?!" Ignoring the argument between Woop Slapp and Dadan, Makino clapped her hands together and said, "I have a present for you!" She knelt down in front of the excited Luffy and got a new T- shirt as she said, "I guess Garp hadn't thought of such a thing...Tada! Some new clothes." "Great!" "I'm glad you like them. I can also adjust these a bit." She turned her head to the entrance where the boys were standing. "You two can come too." They looked at the bartender in surprise. Sabo blushed as Makino smiled at him before walking towards her with a smile of his own. "Hey!" Ace was surprised by his brother's reaction when he ran to Makino. 

He knew her briefly from the village. He knew she owned the only bar there. Previously, when he still lived there and his grandfather arrived with Luffy, he had often seen her walking with the little bundle. However, he never actually spoke to her. 

"You too," Makino said to him. His face also turned red before he turned his head the other way and finally went to her. Now he stood in front of the crouching bartender, shirtless. A slight blush adorned his face and sweat ran down his entire body. Makino held a top in front of him as she said, "I heard you're quite a naughty boy, Ace. So it's surprising that you're so well-mannered." She smiled kindly at him. Embarrassed, the black-haired boy turned his head away. "I-if you say so." Luffy and Sabo sat a little apart and tried not to laugh to loud. "He's embarrassed," Sabo giggled, only audible to the black-haired girl. She couldn't help but shout to Ace: "Ace, you're really red!" "Damn you guys!" "Don't move!" said Makino as Ace held out his fist to his siblings. "I'll get you two for that!" grumbled Ace. Sabo and Luffy rolled on the floor laughing. But Ace reallx looked too strange.

It was evening when a large table was set up in the main room of the bandits' hideout with all sorts of delicious-looking dishes. "I hope you like it," Makino said to the bandits and children sitting at the table. The latter sat with their backs to the entrance and marveled at the food. Everyone cheered in response. They had no idea that disaster was already at the door or that they had fallen into one of the children's pitfalls and were now quite tense. They ate happily when Sabo said with his mouth full: "It will be difficult to get such good food on our journey. When I set sail the first thing I'll do is hire the best chef in the world for my crew." "I'll be the first to become a pirate, so that'll be impossible!" Ace said to Sabo and stopped with his half-eaten meat in his hand. They didn't notice someone appear in the doorway behind them. "That's not fair! I'll become a pirate before you!" Luffy intervened. The figure's veins stood out and his eyes flashed with a familiar fury. Dadan and the other bandits sitting opposite the entrance spat out their water in shock and widened eyes. Ace and Luffy looked at the scene confused when someone behind them cleared their throat. A terrible suspicion began to arise in the two D's. They carefully turned their heads and looked at Garp's angry and tense face. "You two are still talking such nonsense?!" Just like the bandits they spat and stare at the person. "I already told you that you two are going to join the Navy! Is that so difficult to understand?!" the old man shouted before he headbutted each of the two children. The two of them lay on the floor, not moving. "Dadan!" "Yes, Garp?" Dadan was immediately next to him and, like the children, received a headbutt. The one lying on the ground asked: "Why am I getting hit too?" "Because I'm not happy with the way you're raising these children!" Garp said as he looked down at her from above, his fist still raised. Makino stood on the sideline with her hands over her mouth. Sabo saw nervously and shocked at the man in the Hawaiian shirt. "That's Garp? This old guy is Ace and Luffy's grandfather?" Garp looked at the blonde sternly. "Lad. You also talked about going to sea, right?" Luffy stood in front of Sabo and looked at the old man with first eyes. "He's not ''Lad''! His name is Sabo! We all toasted the siblinghood and vowed to become pirates!" Ace had propped himself up on his hands and knees. He hung his head as he mumbled, "You shouldn't have said that." A large bead of sweat formed on his bump. Why didn't she think before she said something? "Oh? So in other words, there are now three little idiots who want special training from me?" Garp cracked his knuckles as he said this. The three looked at him nervously as sweat began to run on them. 

The next moment the screams of three children could be heard from the depths of the jungle. "You can't get away from me!" Garp shouted. Woop Slapp and Makino made their way back to the village as the children had begun to flee from the Vice Admiral. "I'm happy for you, Luffy. You got two older brothers now," Makino said as she looked towards the forest. Meanwhile, the three children ran side by side through the undergrowth, screaming in panic. "I said wait!" Garp shouted and hit with enormous force at them. Luffy was able to jump to the side, Ace was able to weave under the hit and falling tree and Sabo was turned by Garp like a steering wheel. "This old man is a monster!" he said. During the escape, some trees fell victim to Garp's rampage. 

The old marine slapped his hands together to clear them from dust before making his way back to the bandits' hideout. He raised a hand in farewell and said, "That's it for today. Tomorrow I'll give you an even harder workout. So don't die now." What remained were a dented Ace lying on the ground, Sabo upside down in the bushes and a dented Luffy hanging over a destroyed tree. 

Garp was snoring peacefully in the main room of the cabin, surrounded by sleeping bandits, as the three siblings kept war wheel in their room on the plains. They were covered in bruises and had plasters stuck to them in some places. "If this continues, Grandpa will kill us tomorrow," Ace said tensely. "And even if we survive long enough to go to sea, we will have to endure this torture until we give up being pirates," Sabo worriedly stated his assumption. Luffy already looked worried and scared before the boys had spoken . But now pure panic rose in her as she said: "I don't want to die!" "There is only one option," said Ace in a firm voice and looked at her seriously, "It's time we make a choice, siblings!"

The first person to wake up the next morning was Dadan, as Garp had kicked her in the face while she was sleeping. Yawning, she sat up when she noticed something in the corner of her eye. A note hung on one of the posts. ''We're moving out - A.S.L.'' Dadan read. It took a moment for her sleepy mind to understand this message and she looked at the message again, screaming in shock. 

Garp yawned as Dadan and her bandits stood in front of him and the orange-haired woman showed him the piece of paper. "What should we do now?" she asked him nervously. He looked at the message while picking his ear with a finger and said boredly, "What a nuisance." "How can you be so calm?! They reputation has reached the capital of the kingdom! If they are not protected by us mountain bandits, someone could try to kill them at any time!" Without saying a word, he walked past them and out of the hut. The bandits followed him out. "My vacation is over. Make sure you've trained them to be good Marines when I come back!" he shouted as he walked away from the hut. Horrified, Dadan called after him: "You want to put the responsibility on me again?!" He stopped and turned to her. She took out a handkerchief and waved it goodbye. "See you again!" she called in a friendly voice and a smile. Garp turned back and continued walking. Dadan waved after him until he was out of sight. She angrily threw the handkerchief to the ground and hissed, "Why does he expect mountain bandits to raise marines?! The old man is crazy!" "Well, well, boss. You're really worried about the kids' safety, despite your constant complaints, huh?" Magura asked. Dadan blushed slightly before she sent him crashing to the ground. 

In the hut she lay down on her side and said: "The hell I do! Now that I think about it, it makes the whole thing easier. They left on their own. What a relief."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~In the middle of the jungle~

"We escaped undetected!" said Luffy, carrying her few belongings in her arms. Sabo also had a small sack in his arms while Ace carried his sack over his shoulder. "Dadan and her gang haven't started looking for us yet," Sabo said. Ace looked back again, they had been walking for a long time and the hut had not been in sight for a long time. Dadan's words came back to him as he had unintentionally overheard them. "But you know what people say: 'A devil's child also has devilish luck.' After all, she is also the child of a devil in human form!" "They are probably happy to be rid of us," said Ace and smiled slightly. Suddenly it began to rain. 

The three ran around and found shelter in a small root cavity of a huge tree. "Let's wait here for now," Ace suggested. "Shishishishi, this is so exciting!" Luffy said with a big grin on her face. The three of them were pretty soaked as they sat there. They were lucky that it hadn't gotten colder yet and there was still a summery warmth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Hideout of the Dadan Family ~

Magura and Dogura looked worriedly out of one of the windows as Dadan stretched and said, "I really don't want Garp to kill us. Now look for these damn brats!" The bandits ran out of the hut armed with umbrellas and began searching for the three runaways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~In the middle of the jungle~

By now the three children had fallen asleep lying next to each other. Sabo was the first to wake up the next day. He stepped out of the shelter and turned around. He took a closer look at the tree and a smile spread across his face. An idea came to his mind and he immediately started drawing. 

After Ace and Luffy woke up, he showed them his sketch. "Look at that!" "What is that?" Luffy asked in surprise. "This is the blueprint for a base. We can't sleep outside forever, you know. So we're going to build a secret base here!" "A secret base? This is so cool!" "Where are we going to get the materials?" Ace asked. "We'll have more than enough down there." And so they began collecting building materials in Gray Terminal. As the bandits continued to search for them, their base began to take shape. After days of work, the three finished their work by hoisting a black flag with crossbones at the top. The flag had, from left to right, a red A, a blue S and a yellow L. 

The three stood on the ground and looked at their base. "Incredible! It looks exactly like the blueprint," Luffy said, grinning broadly. "It turned out pretty well, I have to say," Sabo agreed when he noticed Ace's brooding face, "What's wrong, Ace?" "It's supposed to be a secret base," a grin spreads across his face. "Then we'll need some traps!" "I got it. Good idea." 

Luffy was standing in the lookout, which was built in the top of the tree and looked like a crow's nest, when she shouted, "Yay! The Gray Terminal, the Foosha Village and the East Blue! I can see everything!" "It's not a big deal, is it?!" said Sabo, who was standing with Ace in the lower part of the base. "You should see it with your own eyes." The two climbed up to her and were amazed at the sight. From up there they could see almost the entire coast, from the village to the capital. At this sight, the three began to dream of their future adventures on the sea, while in their daydreams they began to walk around their base and fight against enemy pirates. Satisfied, they fell onto their backs and lay next to each other in a circle. However, outside there were two familiar faces, Magura and Dogura, who had finally found them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Bandits' Hideout ~

"You still haven't found the children?!" Dadans snapped at two of her men. "We're sorry. People say they saw them at Gray Terminal and in the jungle. But nothing specific." "They've been missing for two weeks! You don't think they were eaten by huge tigers, do you?!" she asked in panic. "Boss!" "We found them!" shouted Dogura and Magura. "Really?!" "They're in the jungle, they built a tree house in a big tree!" Dogura said. And Magura added: "We can take you there." "I see," Dadan said, breathing a sigh of relief. "That's reassuring, isn't it, boss?" "You were really worried about them." Caught, Dadan tried to sound disinterested again, but failed. "W-what, they're still alive? These kids are pretty tough!" When the others looked at her, she blushed before yelling at them, "Don't just stand there, go and get something for dinner!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Secret Base of ASL ~

It was the middle of the night when the three children were sleeping peacefully in their tree house. In front of one of the windows, near the entrance, Dadan looked in. She could hear Luffy muttering in his sleep, "Ace...Sabo...wait..." A gentle smile crept onto her face as she said quietly, "In the end, their sleeping faces are no different from other children." Luffy rolled over in her sleep . The blanket slipped from her body. "Oh, you'll catch a cold like that," she said and went to the entrance. Her gentle gaze was still on the children when she lifted the curtain at the entrance and wanted to enter. Therefore, she didn't notice how she triggered a powerful mechanism by pulling a tripping rope at the entrance. She looked up when she heard the sounds of the mechanism. This ended when a huge wooden hammer swung from the ceiling towards her, hit her in the stomach and sent her out and down. 

Sabo and Ace woke up at the sound of her hitting the ground. "The trap has been triggered!" said Sabo and sat up abruptly. The two ran to one of the many windows and looked out. Ace asked, with his pipe in his hand, "Is someone already trying to break in?" They looked around but didn't see anyone. "Huh, maybe it was just a false alarm?" Sabo asked in surprise, "Well, we set it up in a hurry. So it shouldn't be too surprising." Luffy had also woken up by now and was rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Ace..." she murmured sleepily. On the ground, Dadan groaned in pain as she made her way back, holding her back. Grumbling, she said to herself, "I'll never worry about them again!" What she didn't know, however, is that Ace saw her leave. Without saying a word, he went back to the window and joined his two siblings.

However, the three had no idea that their happy times would soon come to an end.

____________________________________________________________

I know I barely summarized Sabo's backstory. But A.) the previous chapter was longer *cough*I sat on it for three days*cough* and B.) the next one will probably be long too, or I'll split it into two parts, that depends on the length.

I also need your help to make a decision! In the Baratie Arc I would like to give Luffy a basement outfit but I can't decide. Therefore you can now choose between Outfit A) 

and Outfit B)

[I mean that withe the red top]. Please simply write outfit A) or outfit B) in a review, depending on which you like! The outfit that has the most votes by the time the 8th chapter is uploaded will then be taken. I would like to thank you in advance for your help. (Unfortunately the vote is already closed and there was a winner, but I would still like to know what you would decide now) I hope you enjoy the story so far and will join us again next week.

P.S. These are not the original outfits that I chose because they were either no longer in stock (the picture was removed) or because the website can no longer be found. 

So you can still vote.