Chapter Text
Ace was sitting next to Luffy's baby bouncer, where he was sucking on a binky and bouncing happily. Ace kissed his forehead and said he loved him. Of course Luffy couldn't respond other then smile around his binky, grabbing Ace's hand with his tiny one. He was now one year old, and Ace was five.
Sabo was drawing at the kiddy table, distracted from anything around him. He was humming a song. Rouge was cooking in the kitchen, and Ace made a silly face at Luffy, who giggled. Ace caught the binky before it fell. Ace made another silly face, the five year old loving making his baby brother smile and giggle. But one of his faces suddenly changed, and he felt things on his cheeks. He touched them, but it hurt to touch them. He stood up and went to the door with the long mirror, and saw he had more eyes on his face. He freaked out and started screaming, knowing that wasn't normal, it wasn't him!
Rouge ran in, but the eyes were gone, and Ace ran to her and hugged her legs. She crouched and asked what was wrong. "My face looked scary!" She was confused and asked for the details. "I-I was play-ing with Luffy and then more eyes were on my face!" he cried. Sabo came running over and hugged his brother. "Monster!"
"You're not a monster!" Sabo argued. Rouge picked Ace up and brought him to the kitchen and made him some hot chocolate. She handed it to him and said he wasn't a monster, but asked if she could see. She made sure he knew she'd never think he was a monster. Ace thought for a minute, not wanting to do it, but mommy would believe him if he showed it. Sabo, too.
He scrunched his wide eyes and felt the little ones appear. He opened them, but the sight didn't really change, even with four eyes that all looked in the same direction. Rouge kept her face carefully controlled, but Sabo said it looked very cool. The mother sat across from him and took his hands. "You're a very special little boy, Ace. Not a monster. But, outside, please don't show this. Some people might not understand."
Ace nodded, promising he would try not to do it.
-x-
The trash smelled really bad, but mommy and daddy were both napping, the five year olds looking over Luffy, who was two now. He was in the cage area, too. He couldn't crawl very well, behind in learning. He mostly laid on the carpet on his tummy, sometimes managing to pull himself forward for a few inches before bouncing on his tummy more.
Luffy was so cute and Ace and his twin loved him so much. So, Ace didn't like the stinky trash, but wasn't big enough to get it out because it was really heavy. He knocked the trashcan over to try and get it out, but all it did was throw smelly trash all over the tile floor! He frowned deeply, not wanting to touch it at all.
Sabo came over, wondering what the noise was. "Why did you knock it over? Ick, it smells so bad!" Ace agreed, saying he wanted to get rid of it, but couldn't drag the bag out. He said this wasn't what he meant to happen. But neither wanted to touch it, but also didn't want to get reprimanded for it.
So, it all disappeared, sort of fading into thin air. The bad, smelly trash was gone! "Wow!" Sabo exclaimed. He never thought Ace was freaky or anything, even with the extra eyes. He was always just slightly jealous, but never showed any magic. Ace pushed the bin back into place. He grinned and said the trash was all gone. Sabo gave him a double high five.
They both went back to Luffy, who had somehow gotten on his back and was kicking his feet and whining. Ace turned him back onto his stomach. He frowned softly, and didn't want to be alone with his powers. He didn't want to be the only one ever; what if people thought he was weird? Mommy and daddy told him not to do that in public, even when he dropped his ice cream cone on the floor!
"I wish you could a power, too. That would be so cool! We could be in it together!" There was suddenly a shock wave the emanated from the room. It didn't break anything, but it made Luffy cry. Ace was worried, asking Sabo if a monster had come. But Sabo started to float all of the sudden, and screamed.
Ace hurried to pull him back down and set him back on the floor. Sabo was frowning with wobbly lips, but then Ace said that maybe he had powers now, too! And he could fly! Sabo's frown instantly vanished, and he bounced around, trying to fly. But he just floated. "You're like a balloon!" Ace said.
Their parents came rushing out from the loud noise that Luffy had quickly moved on from watching his brother float in awe, his mouth open, his binky falling out. Rouge saw what was happening and gasped hurrying over to put Sabo back down. "Mommy, I'm cool now, too!" Sabo exclaimed.
She asked what had happened, and Ace said he just wanted Sabo to be cool, too. "You said it out loud and it happened?" Ace nodded with a smile. Sabo could float now, it was so cool! It was a lot different than Ace's, but now they were both cool. Rouge shared a look with Roger, who was troubled. When Luffy started to cry, wanting attention, Roger picked him up to bounce him, ending the tears. "Sweety, please don't make things like that happen. Don't make things go your way. It could be dangerous. Or at least ask us first. Then we can decide if it's okay."
Ace agreed to this, wanting to be a good boy. Rouge smiled and said he was very good boy. Then they had to deal with Sabo floating everywhere. He managed to make it one way by angling himself down. But then he slammed into the couch and started crying.
"Sabo!" Ace called, hurrying over to his upset broken who had a red nose, but it wasn't bleeding. Ace hugged him and asked if he was okay. Roger hurried from the other room to see what happened, but Sabo was already feeling better because of Ace's comfort. They both calmed down and watched cartoons, Ace keeping Sabo from floating by holding onto him.
Sabo liked his powers, now! He was so cool.
-x-
Ace was sleeping in the hospital bed with Sabo crying next to him, Rouge already having told him Ace would be okay. On their first day of kindergarten, Ace had tripped and hit his head on the jungle gym bar. So, he was in the hospital, being monitored. He was just fine, but would have some headaches. It could have been much, much worse.
He wasn't asleep long after being checked out, and woke up, looking a little confused. Sabo exclaimed his name and hugged him tightly, the six year old crying about Ace being hurt. He said he didn't hurt, his head just felt bad. "You hit your head, but should be fine from now on," Rouge assured him.
The boy sighed in relief. "I wish I could be better," he said, but nothing happened. He tried making a toy, but nothing happened. His powers were gone, even after he was better, and he sobbed uncontrollably.
-x-
Rouge and Roger were proud that Ace had been able to move on from losing his powers. Sabo had lost his, as well. They were both extremely upset in the beginning, but were resilient and forced themselves to move on, no matter how disappointed they were. Their parents were happy the powers were gone, but didn't show it. They showed sympathy for them, feeling for their sadness. But they felt both were safer now.
They returned to kindergarten, telling nobody of their previous abilities. It was so disappointing. But they made friends, and those friends distracted them. The two decided to never tell anybody, because nobody would believe them without proof, which was a bit sad to think about. Ace missed his ability, but he did his best to move on, and that effort paid off, since hedidmove on.
He had been much more upset about losing his than Sabo, but they were both big boys and didn't linger on that sadness. At least they didn't need to hide anything from their new friends. Ace had seen one boy in the other class, and just suddenly felt the need to meet him, be friends. So he had, he had approached the blonde boy and introduced himself.
The other was happy to make friends with him. He didn't have any friends there, only his brothers. So, Sabo and Ace made good friends. His name was Marco, and then Sabo made friends with a girl named Koala. They were both so happy to have friends, but said nothing of their previous powers.
Both had been so interesting before, and now they felt kind of plain. But when their friends liked them a lot even without their powers, well, that was okay. They had a play date not too long after meeting, and Marco and Koala came over, both of them meeting the three yeard old Luffy, who could walk and use the potty just fine. He was a slow talker, but was getting better very quickly.
He ran to Marco, and said his hair looked like a bird's nest. Marco took it fine, and said his family said that a lot, too. He just laughed about it, and Luffy asked to touch it. Marco crouched down, and Luffy touched it, and said it didn'tfeellike a bird's nest. "That's cause it isn't, Lu," Ace said patiently. Luffy just laughed and said if it did, it would be very itchy. They all smiled, and Luffy went back to drawing.
Ace really liked Marco. He was nice and funny and patient with Luffy when he was being silly. Ace felt some day he could tell Marco about his former abilities. But not yet, not anytime soon. Sabo liked Koala because she was funny, too. So, they both had best friends. They asked one another if they wanted to be best friends, and that was that.
When it was a play date for Ace to go to Marco's, and Sabo go to Koala's this time, Ace was excited, and was picked up in the car to go to Marco's house. He was excited to see it. "Is Pops still big? And Jozu, too! He's the biggest, right?" Marco looked at him in confusion. He asked how he knew the names of his family he'd never mentioned. "What do you mean?"
Vista was driving the car, and looking at him curiously in the rearview mirror. "But, you've never met them." Ace asked who he was talking about, confused. "Pops and Jozu. I don't think I've ever mentioned Jozu or that they're both tall." Ace looked at his hands, not sure. He was sure Marco must have said something, because how else would he know? "Maybe you're psychic!" Marco exclaimed.
Ace was careful to not say anything about his former powers. Nobody knew and he didn't trust Marco enough to tell him. Not to mention his parents didn't want him to either. When they got to Marco's house, it was so big! Marco said they hada lotof siblings. Fourteen of them! Ace had met Thatch and Izo before, but they didn't know him too well.
When they got out and Ace unclipped his car seat and waited for Vista to help him out, he looked up at the huge house. Three stories and very wide! It was like a castle! Ace's house was smaller, but he still loved it. "It's so big! How do you not get lost?" he asked in awe as they walked to the front doors, double doors. Vista unlocked it and opened it wide.
Marco said it was home, so he knew where everything was, but hide and seek was really fun there. "As long as you're not 'it' because then you have to search the whole house!" Ace said that sounded boring. Marco agreed, but said there were plenty of places to hide. He said they should play it some time. Ace excitedly agreed.
He was brought to the play room, which was big and had so many toys! There was a ball pit, too. It was amazing. Sabo would sure have fun here. Luffy might get scared of how big it was because big spaces scared him. He thought that there was a lot of room for monsters. All because he had a bad dream about scary ghosts in a big room with a tall ceiling. So for now, this place wasn't for Luffy.
Ace took off his shoes at the front door and jumped into the ball pit, Marco bragging about how awesome it was, and how long they'd had it. Many of his older brothers had used it when they were little. The freckled boy said it was so awesome. They then explored the house, Marco giving him a tour.
His Pops was gone for the moment, but many of his brothers were there and he was introduced to them, though they all felt familiar for some reason. Like he'd at least seen them before. But he knew he hadn't, so he kept that to himself.
Some of the brothers offered to play hide and seek with the boys, Thatch and Izo joining in when they heard. So Rayuko would be 'it' and all the kids hid. Ace didn't really know good hiding places, but he thought there was a good one! It was an alcove above the stairs. He didn't even think about if he fell and jumped off the railing and grabbed onto it, pulling his little body up and hiding there, below the skylight. They'd never find him there!
And they didn't. He was the winner, but didn't really know how to get down. Marco was calling that the game was over, and Ace called to where he was, big didn't know how to get down. Marco gasped and asked how he got there. "I jumped! It was cool!" But the adult wasn't happy, and helped Ace by going on the stairs below and having him drop down.
"I don't want anyone of you ever doing something so dangerous. Ace, if you fell, you could have gotten very hurt." Ace was teary as he apologized. Rayuko sighed and said as long as he knew not to do such dangerous things, they could still keep playing. Marco pat Ace's head and said they weren't mad, Rayuko was just worried.
"But how did you jump there? That's amazing!" Ace beamed and blushed at the compliment. He said he'd never done anything like that before, he just wanted to get there. "Lets go play outside! I have a jungle gym and everything! So many toys, you'll be amazed. And a sand pit, but sometimes stray cats poop in there, so we don't really use it."
Ace laughed at that, though it was pretty gross. They even had a pool! But there was a big fence around it for the safety of the little ones, so they didn't fall in and drown. But it was getting cold and rainy lately, so the pool wasn't "open for business", as Marco put it. They went to the jungle gym and had fun playing. Thatch was there, too, climbing up and down the loopy slide.
The Newgates were very well off, clearly. The massive house and everything in it showed it. Luffy thought it was amazing, but liked his smaller and more cozy house. When he went to Marco's room, it had so many books on the wall. "My brothers read to me a lot. Someday I can read those thick books, too." Ace nodded. Marco's room was really big with big windows, too.
Ace and Sabo shared rooms while Luffy had his own, so he honestly would get lonely sleeping by himself in a room. Not having Sabo under him on the bunk bed. "Do you ever get lonely?" Ace asked, jumping on his big bed with his best friend. Marco shook his head, saying he liked having his own room.
The freckled boy said he would definitely get lonely. He liked sharing with Sabo, cause sometimes if they couldn't sleep, they'd talk to each other to fall asleep. Marco said he was happy with his own room because then he could do whatever he wanted. And he admitted his brothers all snored really loud, so he was glad he didn't got to deal with that, too.
Ace admitted that was a valid point, and they laughed about. After they were tired of jumping on the bed, they went downstairs to the big TV and watchedSpongebob.When he was driven home, Marco was there and was very happy and had fun with Ace's visit. "We should have Sabo come next time, too! He would be amazed at everything, a ball pit, too!"
The blonde boy nodded, thinking the same. "I'm glad you're my friend! You're fun and nice," Marco said in a cheerful voice. Vista was smiling in the front.
"Bestfriend!" Ace corrected. Marco nodded.
