c2 Meeting Ace
Luffy is already 7 months old. He can sit up now, and he started crawling a few days ago. Luffy is always crawling around and always accidentally crawls to dangerous places, just like when he once tried to crawl under the bar counter in Makino's tavern and almost got stuck between the barrels. He needs them to watch him all the time. Maybe he should make or buy him a baby stroller, so that he can walk without falling, although nobody in Foosha Village sells such things and Makino once joked that even baby Ace didn't use one when Garp dumped him on Dadan.
Luffy is growing up, and watching him change every day, he wants to record every moment of his life. According to Makino, Luffy should stand up in a few months, and start learning to walk within a few months of standing up, and he wants to save these. She also mentioned how Ace learned to walk unusually fast, causing Dadan to panic because he ran straight into the forest. Luffy might do the same.
...
The sky was cloudless in the early morning. Colorful balloons were floating in the sky above the forest, and the sighs of children could be heard from below the balloons. This was one of Garp's infamous "training methods," the same kind of nonsense he once bragged about to Makino while saying, "Kids grow strong when you throw them into danger!"
Luffy is three years old now, and Lucci is almost seven years old. In the past two years, Garp came to give him special naval training from time to time. During this period, he was either called to fight with wild beasts or thrown into the center of the forest by Garp for a month to let him walk out by himself, or thrown to the bottom of the valley to survive alone. These were the same training methods Garp used on Ace and Luffy later on Mount Colubo. Now, a balloon was tied to him on the cliff and he floated in the sky at will.
Lucci couldn't help but sigh, "But now he has to find a way to get down. Don't fall into the water. There should be a forest below." Lucci thought and tried to struggle down, but there were too many balloons and he couldn't go down. The wind carried him lazily across the treetops like a toy.
Lucci stroked his chin and thought, it seems that he needs to get rid of some balloons. As the number of balloons becomes fewer and fewer, Lucci is getting closer and closer to the forest, and finally he successfully falls on a tree. The branches cracked under him like the ones Luffy often broke while trying to climb after monkeys.
It seemed like he had never been to this forest before. It looked like it should be the forest on the other side of Dawn Island. He had to get out as soon as possible. He had to go back early, otherwise Luffy would definitely cry again... But how could he get out? The forest was too big, and Garp had never thrown him this far before. Even Mt. Colubo felt safer than this place.
"Yoshi, let's just move forward, there will always be a way out," Lucci thought optimistically.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, a strong light appeared in front of him. It should be the exit. Lucci ran towards it quickly. When he came out, he didn't expect to find it was a ruin. He never knew the other side of the island was like this. It reminded him of something Makino once whispered: "Don't ever go past the forest. The place beyond is part of the kingdom's trash heap."
The air was filled with fog and a rotten smell was everywhere. Looking at the chaotic, dirty and lifeless crowd in front of him and the murder and treasure-stealing incidents that could happen at any time, Lucci hid in the corner and observed silently. This place seemed very dangerous. It matched the description of Grey Terminal, the massive junkyard where outcasts and criminals lived, a place Ace used to sneak into when he was younger just to pick fights.
"Stop right there, you little bastard! How dare you steal my money?"
A tall adult man was chasing a boy about the same age as Lucci. However, the child's speed was not as fast as that of an adult man, and the boy was quickly caught. His black hair was spiky and dirty, and his eyes were fiercely burning exactly like the stories Dadan's bandits told about young Ace.
"How dare you run? Return my treasure to me now."
"Bah! I stole this and I can't give it back to you," the boy struggled to break free, his voice full of fire and defiance just like Portgas D. Ace was known for even at a very young age.
Lucci looked at them, quietly pulled out a wooden stick from the garbage next to him, then rushed over quickly, and attacked the man on the back of the head while he was not paying attention. The wooden stick broke the moment it touched the man's head. This reminded Lucci of how sometimes even the thick branches in Mt. Colubo snapped instantly when Garp made him practice striking wild boars.
Lucci swallowed, and fortunately the man's hand on the boy loosened, and the boy successfully broke free. Lucci quickly ran to the boy and pulled him away quickly, and they ran to the forest together and soon succeeded in getting rid of the man. The two of them darted past piles of junk and makeshift shelters typical of the Grey Terminal, the lawless dump on Dawn Island where danger came from every direction.
Lucci and the boy were holding on to a tall tree and trying to calm their breathing. Lucci and the boy looked at each other for a while, and then Lucci spoke first, "My name is Lucci, what's your name, and why are you being chased by him?"
The boy was silent for a while and said, "My name is Ace, and I stole his treasure from him." His voice carried the rebellious heat that Dadan's bandits always complained about—this was unmistakably Portgas D. Ace.
"But who are you? I haven't seen you here before."
"I... ha... fell from the sky and found myself in the forest... and couldn't find the way back." Lucci said as he calmed his breathing which was disordered by running just now. It seems that he needs to strengthen his exercise, Lucci thought. He remembered how Garp always threw him off cliffs and said, "A Marine must stand tall even when dropped from the heavens!"
"From the sky? How is that possible?" Ace said in shock.
"Ace, you're back. How was your harvest today?" A blond boy ran over from behind the tree. He was wearing a blue top hat and a neatly tattered blue shirt that looked like a tuxedo. He looked the same age as Lucci, but didn't look like someone who could survive here. Lucci observed the new blond boy. This boy's attire was almost exactly like how he appeared in the manga: noble-born, but hiding it poorly.
"Sabo, I just made a deal," Ace said, holding up the bag in his hand.
"Sure, Ace, we're one step closer to saving enough pirate funds to go out to sea," Sabo said happily. His eyes sparkled with the same dream he once shared with Ace and Luffy in the Grey Terminal hideout before they built their secret treasure stash.
"Do you want to go out to sea as pirates?" Lucci asked excitedly beside him.
"Ace, who is he?" Sabo asked confusedly.
In fact, Sabo had seen him just now, but when he saw the treasure in Ace's hand, he forgot to ask Ace. That was typical of their early days: treasure first, questions later.
"Hello, my name is Lucci. Do you want to go to sea together? I also want to go to sea in the future and see the world," Lucci said excitedly.
"Really? Me too! I'm going to travel to all the islands and write a book about all the adventures I've had!" Sabo said excitedly. His words echoed his canon dream recording his journey and seeing freedom beyond the Goa Kingdom's oppression.
"By the way, my name is Sabo, where are you from?"
"My grandfather tied me to a balloon and floated me here, and now I can't find the way back," said Lucci dejectedly. His description made perfect sense; Garp's bizarre "training" was legendary, and both Ace and Sabo had heard stories about Luffy being thrown into the forest by the same old man.
"Uh" Ace and Sabo looked at each other, a drop of sweat on their faces.
"Can I stay with you for a few days? I can also help you collect treasures," Lucci said excitedly.
Sabo and Ace looked at each other and smiled, "Sure, but we won't protect you."
"I don't need your protection. I'm very strong, and definitely stronger than you," Lucci said angrily.
Ace and Sabo shouted at the same time "Impossible, I am the strongest!"
"Then let's have a competition," Lucci said excitedly.
"Okay," Ace Sabo said at the same time.
"We play one-on-one, each of us plays 50 games, and see who wins more," said Sabo.
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