Chapter Text
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used at all. They all belong to their respectful owners/creators. The way I portray some of the characters is not to be seen as an accurate representation-nor for the overall story. This is purely for entertainment purposes only. One Piece is by Eiichiro Oda.
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PREVIOUSLY
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"So from now on, we're brothers!" Ace grinned. "And sisters!" Lucy added loudly, a wide grin plastered on her face.
"Yeah!!" They all cheered before raising their cups in a toast of their newfound siblinghood.
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独立
CHAPTER 5: Independence
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Streatching her arms up in the air, Dadan smiled as she let the warmth and light of the sun hit her face; it brightened her up and gave her a somewhat youthful glow. At the corner of her eyes, Dadan noticed the white dog they had kept and smiled. "How are you, Pochi?" Dadan asked, to which the dog responded with a bark.
Dadan had only gotten to take a few steps to start her day when she came tumbling down a deep hole that appeared out of nowhere. It has already begun. "Who dug a hole at the front of the door?!" She raged.
"It was Ace and the other two-to catch boars." Magra explained as he, along with Dogra and Pochi, looked down from the opening above her. "This is my house! They can't just dig a hole wherever they want!" Dadan yelled.
Her back will surely suffer for the rest of the day.
.....
As the months passed, the three children grew closer to one another, and a routine was established. Getting up, training, hunting, eating, sneaking into the city, escaping, hunting, returning to the bandit's den, eating, bathing, and sleeping-that's mostly what occurs in their new lives, and currently, they're in the city, specifically an alleyway in Edge Town.
"Sabo, who gave you permission to invade our territory?!" exclaimed one of the armed thugs who had cornered Sabo. "Stop talking nonsense and bring it on!" Sabo provoked them, grinning as he propped his pipe on his shoulder.
"Alright, get ready!" One of the thugs exclaimed as they prepared to attack the child. However, before they could, another child, Ace, swung himself using another child's-Lucy's-leg and came flying towards them from behind, knocking out one of the thugs.
"Ace!" The thug in front of Sabo exclaimed in alarm. "Pay attention!" The two boys took advantage of the thugs' shocked and unguarded states and began beating them up.
On the other hand, Lucy was sent flying due to the force of her rapidly shortening leg. "Dammit!" One of the thugs cursed, backing away from the other thugs and the two kids' fight, which Lucy violently collided with, knocking the thug unconscious. It's not what she had in mind, but it works.
Lucy drew back her fist, whirling it around for better force, but before she could actually deliver her punch to the other thug, the said thug beat her to it and punched her square in the face. "I made a dent!" The thug exclaimed as his fist literally made a dent and dug into the girl's face. Lucy tried to say something, but the fist on her face was impeding her.
Soon, they heard city officers approaching the alley to put an end to the fight. Ace left the beat-up thugs and dashed towards Lucy before striking the thug, who had his fist on Lucy's face, hard, sending him flying. "Here comes the sheriff! Let's go!" Ace exclaimed, smacking the back of Lucy's head hard enough to pop her face back into place. "It's back!" Lucy exclaimed, cupping her face, before Ace grabbed her hand and proceeded to run.
Turning away from Ace and Lucy, who were on their way to him to escape, Sabo ran towards the wall and jumped on a crate in front of it, using it as a solid ground to propel himself over to the other side. "Woah!" exclaimed Lucy, wrapping her hand around Ace's neck as he suddenly placed his hand on her back and under her legs, lifting her off the ground and following Sabo's lead.
Sabo blinked and stared at Ace as he landed on the ground from the other side of the wall with Lucy grinning in his arms, probably enjoying the ride. Ace flinched slightly, finally realizing why Sabo was staring as he looked down at Lucy, who was giggling in his arms. As a result, Lucy abruptly fell on her bum on the ground in the next second.
"L-Let's just go already! They're coming!" Ace exclaimed, sprinting away before Sabo and Lucy could even say anything. The two blinked in surprise, exchanging glances before shrugging it off. Quickly, Sabo helped Lucy up and fled with her to follow Ace.
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Reaching the top of a hill in the forest, the sun was already setting, and they had escaped just like always. "Let's get a deer for dinner!" Sabo exclaimed. "Yeah! I love venison! Let's go hunting!" Lucy cheered before bolting, leaving the older two behind.
"Hey, wait!!" Ace and Sabo exclaimed, sprinting after the girl before she could get herself into trouble.
.....
"We're home!" exclaimed the three children as they entered the cabin. "Don't come home, annoying brats!!" Dadan yelled. However, her words were cut short when a dead deer collided with her face.
"That's for dinner."
"Cook it now."
"It's mealtime!"
Sabo, Ace, and Lucy said, respectively, as they casually passed by Dadan, who was struggling to keep her balance before finally falling to the floor comically.
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Dinner was like any other day. A war. It's every man for himself. You'd better be quick on your feet, or else you'll have to go to sleep starving. People and food alike were flying everywhere. The three kids were like wild animals! They would threaten to send anyone who came into contact with their food flying.
Dandan, on the other hand, finally had enough of it all after someone threw food and a bowl in her face. "Don't waste food!" She shouted, but out of nowhere, Lucy bit her head. "She's gonna eat me!" Dadan screeched, running frantically as her head remained in Lucy's mouth, but the others ignored the two and continued eating.
.....
"Don't come out until you count up to 10,000!" Dadan raged, throwing the three naked monster children into the bathroom before slamming the door shut. Dinner has finally ended, and next in their daily routine is bathing.
At first, Dadan was initially hesitant to allow Lucy to bathe with the older two because she's a girl, but with enough persuasion, Dadan finally let her go. Furthermore, the three children see no issue with it. So what if she's a girl?
Lucy sat on the sidelines, sitting on a small wooden stool with a bucket to bathe herself with, while the older two bathed in the large iron barrel, splashing water everywhere. To her dismay, she can't join them in the barrel since she'll just sink like a rock and drown due to her DF (Devil Fruit).
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Dadan's eyes twitched as she returned to the cabin, irritated by the state of her household. The place was a total mess, and all they did was eat dinner. Sighing in defeat, Dadan began to order the bandits left conscious from dinner to help clean up the place.
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In the long run, Dandan and Dogra smiled with satisfaction and bliss as they managed to clean up the place. There were some complaints, mostly from Dadan, but her house is now so clean that it looks like it's sparkling. However, nothing lasts forever, and in this case, it's the cleanliness of her house. It hasn't even been a minute, goddammit!!
"Lucy! Wait, you idiot!" Ace yelled as he, along with Sabo, ran around the house after the wet, barely covered Lucy.
Dadan's grip on the broom tightened as she watched the three monster kids, once again, trash her newly cleaned house. "B-Boss..." Dogra stammered and flinched as Dadan turned to face him. "Hehe...." Dadan's smile strained, and her body trembled as the broom in her hand suddenly snapped in half.
.....
After a long, long day, it's finally time for sleep, which is the only thing Dadan actually looks forward to. She got ready for bed, extinguished the flame of her gas lamp, made her way to her futon, and pulled her blanket over herself. "The only time I can relax is when I'm on my futon." was the last thing she muttered before Morpheus slowly dragged her into the land of dreams.
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In the room above her, the three children slept soundly. Well, that's what they were meant to be-ASLEEP. However, instead of sleeping, the three stood in their fighting stances, facing each other. "The last training for today!" Ace exclaimed.
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Flowers of various types and colors surrounded her. The sky was a stunning combination of blue, purple, and pink. Her long, curly ginger hair and long pink dress flowed beautifully in the wind as she tucked some loose hair behind her ear.
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The three continued to spar roughly with each other, unconcerned about the others' sleep or the commotion they were causing. They punched each other in the gut before grabbing each other's throats and hurling themselves against walls.
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Hands in the air, she ran in glee through beautiful flower fields until, out of nowhere, a beautiful flying creature flew up to her, causing her to come to a halt. The creature had shoulder-length wavy hair, wore a knee-length white and yellow gradient dress with matching shoes, and had transparent, red-tinted wings that fluttered on its back. "Hi, fairy!" She smiled.
The fairy said nothing as its head hung low, bangs obscuring its face, before looking up and grinning at her. That face... She knew that face all too well! Before she could open her mouth to say something, the fairy violently punched her in the gut.
Eyes snapping absurdly wide open, Dadan was abruptly dragged out of her dreamscape as something or someone landed hard on her gut and knocked all the air out of her body. The thing, or more precisely, the kid, that fell on her, bounced off, and rolled into the wall "Damn!" cursed Lucy, clutching the back of her head where it had hit the wall.
"Lucy, are you alright?"
"What a crappy floor."
Ace and Sabo peered down the hole in the ceiling of Dadan's room at them. She should have known better. She really should have known better. Even when they should have been sleeping, they would find a way to wreck her house and cause a ruckus. "You bastard!" Lucy yelled at the two above her before Dadan raged, "HEYYY!!"
"Should we go to sleep?"
"Yeah."
Ace and Sabo sweatdropped before they walked away from the hole and went to sleep, leaving Lucy to deal with the enraged Dadan.
.....
"We gotta kick the kids out!" Dadan exclaimed. She, along with Dogra and Magra, is currently hiding behind some trees near her house, partly to avoid being overheard and mostly to avoid waking up those brats, who would otherwise cause more trouble. "If nothing is done, they're gonna take over the Dadan family!"
"First of all, it's ruining my health!" She exclaimed. And it's true. Her face looked paler than usual, which must be due to sleep deprivation if the large, dark bags under her eyes are any indication. They'll be the death of her!
"Easy, easy, boss." Magra tried to calm her down.
"They got control over us long ago!" Dogra countered.
"Shut up! It's just that I can't look after them anymore!" Dadan exclaimed angrily as she slammed her fist into the ground. "Yes, I'm gonna kick them out!"
"Forget about the agreement with Garp!" She yelled, throwing her fists up in the air. Out of nowhere, someone yelled "Hey!" from behind her, causing her to shriek and her eyes to pop out in shock. Garp?!
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Immediately, Dadan got on her knees, bowing frantically. "I don't know what made me say it!" She reasoned. However, the next thing she knew, a gentle voice spoke to her politely. "Excuse me. I heard that Lucy is here." Dadan is sure as hell that is not Garp. Thus, after a brief moment, she looked up only to see a young woman carrying a basket and an old man wielding a wooden cane.
The young lady has brown eyes and dark green hair that falls to her shoulders. She was dressed in a pink and white polka-dot kerchief, an orange blouse with black sleeves, a light blue long skirt, and orange sneakers with white soles. Meanwhile, the old man is a short, wiry, bespectacled man with something of a cleft chin. He sports a yellow button-up shirt, a sangria and white striped hat, and pants.
Dadan merely stared up at them, blinking in confusion, until the one they were looking for walked out of her house and stood at the doorway. "Makino-nee!!" Lucy exclaimed in delight and ran to the woman.
"Lucy!" The woman, Makino, exclaimed in joy, placing her basket down before opening her arms to catch the girl who came flying towards her. The two laughed heartily as Makino hugged Lucy and spun them around. "You look great!" The old man smiled serenely as Makino slowed to a stop, fixing Lucy and carrying her in her arms.
"It's been six months, so we came here to see how you were doing." The old man explained, causing Lucy to look at him and smile. "Hey, mayor!"
Shifting Lucy in her arms to look at her, Makino sheepishly smiled and whispered, "Don't tell Garp-san."
"So you're really living with the bandits..." The old man's smile faded, looking back at Dadan and the other two. "You got a problem?" Dadan retorted, crossing her arms and scowling.
"Yes, a big one! You're a bandit-don't give me an attitude!"
"What?! People from Windmill Village are all annoying!"
As the two began to argue at the back, Makino gently set the girl in her arms down. "I have some presents for you!" She exclaimed, pressing her palms together. "I assume that Garp-san wouldn't have time for these things..." Lucy waited with great anticipation as Makino dug into her basket.
"Here it is! New clothes!" Makino smiled, holding up a yellow dress for Lucy. In glee, stars began to appear and shine brightly in Lucy's eyes. "Oh, great!" She beamed, causing Makino to smile. "I'm glad that you like them."
However, before Makino could continue, Lucy abruptly removed her black tank top and tossed it to the side, causing Makino's eyes to widen in horror. "Lucy!" Makino exclaimed, hurriedly putting the dress she was holding on the girl to cover her up.
"Lucy, since you're a girl, you should never do that when you're outside where anyone can see you!" Makino began scolding the girl as soon as she got dressed. "There could be some ill-intentioned people out there that you don't know!" It's better to stop her now than later, or else it would become a bad habit for her to just strip wherever and whenever she wants. She's still a kid now, but that will surely become a problem when she grows older.
Lucy blinked up at her in incomprehension, but even so, Lucy eventually smiled brightly in an attempt to ease down Makino. Lucy doesn't like Makino-nee getting upset. "Shishishi, okay, I won't!" Lucy giggled, placing her hands behind her head, causing Makino to shake her head and sigh in defeat before smiling helplessly.
At the corner of Makino's eyes, she noticed the other two boys at the doorway. "I have some for you guys, too." She smiled, facing the two. "Though, I'll need to adjust the length, so can you come here for a moment?"
The two just stood there staring at her until Ace turned his head stubbornly, but Sabo smiled broadly before leaving his "hiding spot" and approaching Makino, causing Ace to gape in surprise. "Hey!" Ace exclaimed, but Sabo carried on walking.
"You, too." Makino said, looking at Ace as she held up a faded, dark purple tank top for Sabo. Lucy, on the other hand, was completely absorbed in her own world, smiling brightly and twirling around, inspecting her new dress. Ace's face flushed slightly as he turned his head away from them, but still, he approached Makino while placing his hand in his pockets.
"I heard that Ace-kun was mischievous, but you seem like a good boy." Makino said, smiling as she measured the size of the shirt for Ace. "N-No, I'm not..." Ace retorted meekly, avoiding eye contact with the woman as he stood stiffly, his face flushed with embarrassment. The reason? Those two at the back
"He's so shy!"
"You're blushing, Ace!"
Ace's face flushed, making him feel even more embarrassed and irritated as Sabo and Lucy teased him, crouching down and laughing amongst themselves, already dressed in their new clothes. "You jerks!" Ace raged, readying his fists to knock some sense into those two, but got stopped by Makino. "Oh, hey, you can't move yet!" Makino said, causing Ace's body to stiffen once again.
"I'll show you later." Ace glowered at the two, but instead of getting scared, the two burst into hysterical laughter.
.....
Makino and Mayor Woop Slap had stayed at the bandit's cabin while the three continued their routine, and a long time later, the moon had already replaced the sun in the sky.
The three kids and the bandits all sat around the long table that was placed in the middle of the room. Now that Lucy thinks about it, this is the first time they've used a table in all the months she's been here. Makino-nee was in charge of tonight's dinner, so it's not surprising that they'd have a decent meal for once, with no rough housing. After all, Makino-nee is a beautiful, refined woman who dislikes fighting, and that's a fact that Lucy knows well!
As a variety of delectable foods were placed in front of them, wide smiles and grins spread across everyone's faces. "I hope you enjoy it!" Makino exclaimed as she stood at the far end of the table, eliciting raucous applause. Lucy made quick work of grabbing and devouring a tempura from the table. Raising a brow, Ace discreetly smiled adoringly at Lucy as a red tint and an elated, blissful smile spread across her face, cupping her cheek and savoring the food. "Yummy!"
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After a long hike up the mountain, the cabin he was looking for finally came into view. He hummed to himself as he made his way to the cabin. However, not even a second later, he suddenly fell into a hole.
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"Meals should be good on the ship." Sabo smiled as he ate his food. For the first time in months of staying with the bandits, he was actually using utensils. "I'm gonna get the best cook first thing when I go out to sea!" He declared.
Unbeknownst to all of them, a large man approached them and came to a halt at the doorway behind the kids.
"I'm gonna become a pirate before you do, so just forget it." Ace grinned, a piece of meat in his hand, as he shuffled a little closer to Sabo. "That's not fair!" Lucy exclaimed, leaning her weight on Ace's body and drawing the two's attention to her. "I'm gonna become a pirate first!" She declared, confidently grinning as she placed her chin and crossed her arms atop Ace's head.
Before Ace could complain, suddenly, the bandits' eyes popped out, and they spat everything in their mouths in shock and horror at something they saw behind the kids. The three were initially perplexed, but soon enough, Ace and Lucy had an epiphany as their faces gradually paled and they broke out in a cold sweat.
Ace and Lucy turned cautiously to look behind them. "You're still saying crap like that?!" yelled the man the two were dreading seeing. It's now their turn to spit everything out and pop their eyes out. "Can't you both understand that you must become Navy soldiers?!" raged the man, Garp, and he punched the two in the head hard, causing them to collapse to the floor with growing bumps on their heads. Their iris' is gone!!
"Dadan!"
"Yes, Garp-san...!" Dadan abruptly rushed, standing straight a few feet away from Garp's side, and the next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground with the two kids, a huge bump growing on her head as well. "Why should I get hit too?"
"You're not educating the brats well!" Garp glowered, clenching his fist.
"He's Garp? He's Ace and Luffy's grandfather?" Sabo muttered, dumbfounded, sweating nervously. Sabo had an idea of what their grandfather was like based on the other two's stories, but seeing him with his own eyes now, the old man truly is terrifying.
"Squirt, you mentioned about going out to sea, too..." Garp turned to look at Sabo, causing the kid to visibly flinch. As Sabo backed up slightly, Lucy rushed in front of him to protect him from Garp. "He's not a "squirt"-he's Sabo!"
"We exchanged a cup of sake and pledged to become pirates!" Lucy announced loudly, causing Ace, who was on his knees trembling near them, to sweat. "She has such a big mouth..." He groaned.
"Oh, that means now there are three fools who want me to give them a real workout!" Garp cracked his knuckles, a malevolent grin spreading across his face. For a brief moment, the three kids merely stared until the realization finally struck them hard. "AHHHH!!"
"You can't get away!"
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"Oh, boy..." Mayor Woop Slap sighed as they began to make their way down the mountain and back to the village. "You must be happy, Lucy. You have two older brothers now." Makino smiled as she gazed up at the moon.
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The three children ran as fast and as far as their legs could carry them, barely avoiding every attack from the old man. "This old man is like a monster!" Sabo exclaimed as he was spun in midair like a ball. No matter where they ran, the old man was always right behind them, sending punches towards the three of them left and right. The poor trees that they were surrounded by did not survive. Sabo can only hope that they will.
In the end, Sabo couldn't feel his body any more, and neither could the other two. Even with his 7-year-old granddaughter, the old man didn't hold back! 'Fist of love'? Yeah, right, more like a fist of torture!
"That's it for today! I'm gonna be harsher tomorrow!" The old man exclaimed before leaving the three of them in the wreckage of what used to be a forest.
.....
As the morning arrived, Dadan was rudely woken up by a foot roughly colliding with her face. Looking around, her house was a mess, and everyone was sprawled out in different places. "Ughh..." She groaned until something caught her attention. She turned her head to look at it, squinting her eyes to see what it was.
"We will stand on our own feet.
-ASL"
It was a note. Dadan blinked as cogs in her brain began to turn, trying to process what she had just read. She looked away from the note, and that was when the realization struck her like lightning.
.
Dadan had asked Garp what to do; she wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was worried that those kids might get killed, so she got quite frustrated when Garp just brushed it off as a minor issue. Even in downtown, those kids are infamous! Anyone will try to kill them on sight if these kids aren't sheltered by them! Still, with all that information that Dadan told him, he was still indifferent and just decided to leave, saying his vacation was already over.
"You gotta shape them into full-fledged Navy soldiers by the time I come back!" Garp exclaimed as he began to head down the mountain. "Are you gonna leave everything to me again?!" Dandan exclaimed in exasperation and shock, her eyes popping out.
"Huh?" Garp came to a halt and turned at them. "Take care!" Dadan smiled immediately, waving a white handkerchief, which came out of nowhere.
As soon as Garp was no longer in sight, her smile became a scowl, and she threw the handkerchief she was holding onto the ground. "How can a bandit raise a Navy soldier?!" Dadan raged. "That geezer doesn't know what he's saying!"
"Easy, easy, boss." Magra smiled. "So you are worrying about those kids after all." This caused Dadan's face to flush slightly, and she fell silent before kicking Magra in the chin and knocking him to the ground.
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As soon as Dadan got inside her house, she said, "Who cares?! Come to think of it, this is good for us." laying on the ground on her side and resting her head on her palm.
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Stopping somewhere in the forest, the three of them decided the other night to permanently leave the bandit's den and live on their own, or else the old man would kill them in non-stop training. Thus, here they are now, in the middle of the woods, packed with all of their stuff. As the other two began conversing, Ace looked back at the way they came from, his hold on his bag tightening ever so slightly.
"It's true that "the devil's children have the devil's luck"!"
"He's the devil's son!"
"I can tell that she feels happy now because her troubles have gone away." Ace grinned but came to a halt when he felt something drop on his face, causing him to look up. It's starting to rain.
.....
"Oh no! It's pouring!" Dogra and Magra watched the rain outside from the window, worry evident on their faces. The air is thick with condensation, and a dull roar, much like a snare drum, reverberates across the sky. Trees cower from the harsh wind while leaves soar through the air. A steady drizzle of rain begins to descend from somber clouds.
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The three kids ran and ran, looking for a place to take shelter, and fortunately, before their clothes could get soaked, they soon found a shelter. "Let's stay here and hide from the rain." Ace said as they ran in and took shelter in the crevice under the large tree's roots. They made themselves comfortable in the hole, as it looked like the rain wouldn't go away for some time. "This is exciting!" Lucy grinned, hugging her knees close to herself, and leaned on Sabo's side.
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Dadan clenched her teeth, her brow twitching as she was on the brink of caving in to the worry. "I've changed my mind. I don't wanna get beaten by Garp," she announced, stretching her arm before looking at Dogra and Magra. "Go and look for the stupid brats already!" She ordered, causing the two to smile.
"Yes, ma'am!" Some of the bandits ran out of their den with umbrellas, splitting up and searching the forest for the kids in groups.
.....
Upon waiting, the three eventually fell asleep, leaning against each other. Meanwhile, outside the bandit's den, Dadan clutched the handle of her umbrella and waited anxiously for news about the other bandits' search for the children.
.....
The first to wake up was Sabo, and he had decided that they should build their hideout right there, on the large tree. When the other two eventually woke up, Sabo informed them of his plan and showed them the design he had made for their hideout while the two were sleeping. The other two also liked the idea. Thus, with a plan in mind, they made their way to the gray terminal to scavenge for things they would need to build their hideout.
The three worked together, and they actually enjoyed the time they spent building their hideout. There were some casualties, mostly with Lucy, that made them cringe as if they felt the pain, forgetting that she's literally a rubber person. But other than that, everything else went smoothly.
Meanwhile, as the kids were building their hideout, the bandits never stopped looking for them. They would find traces of them in different parts of the forest and Gray Terminal, but they couldn't find the kids themselves. Even so, they never stopped looking, as Dadan kept persisting in looking for the kids. She always stayed at the front of their den, waiting for information. Countless cigarette butts even began to pile up around her.
.....
"Great work, if I do say so myself!" Sabo exclaimed, grinning along with Luffy. However, noticing how Ace looked to have something on his mind, Sabo came to a halt and looked at the other boy. "What's wrong, Ace?" Sabo asked, drawing Lucy's attention.
"This is a hideout, so we've gotta set up some traps!" Ace grinned at the other two. "Okay, I'll think about it!" Sabo smiled, looking back up at their hideout, plans already beginning to form in his head.
.....
"We have a view of the Gray Terminal, the Windmill Village, and the water of the East Blue!" Lucy exclaimed from the crow's nest they had built at the highest, most sturdy branch of the tree, drawing the older two's attention. "It's not so uncommon, is it?" Sabo asked, raising a brow as he stood at the entrance of their hideout with Ace, looking up at Lucy.
"It's nice to see from up here!" She smiled serenely, placing a hand on her precious hat and another hand on the railing, watching the beautiful view as the wind picked up, blowing through her hair. The older two's breath hitched, and they stared in awe at the girl. They had never seen her like that. Thus, after some time, the two broke out of their trances and made their way up to join Lucy. She was right; it was different from all the way up there.
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Lying down on the ground to rest, the three smiled in contentment after they played out everything they imagined would happen if they were to become pirates. "This is nice!" Ace exclaimed, grinning. "Yeah, it's great!" Sabo agreed before Lucy giggled in a jovial mood. "This is our hideout!"
Meanwhile, just outside, somewhere near their hideout, Dogra and Magra hid behind a tree and inspected the hideout that the three built from afar. They finally found them! "Here they are!" Dorga exclaimed under his breath.
.....
"Can't you find them yet?!" Dadan questioned, prompting the two bandits to apologize. "We talked to people who saw them at the Gray Terminal or in the jungle, but we couldn't find them!"
"It's been two weeks!" She exclaimed before her face slowly lost its color. "Maybe they were eaten by the big tiger in the jungle!" She grasped her face in worry and horror at the thought.
"Boss!"
"W-We found them!"
Dorga and Magra came running towards them, interrupting her brooding. "Really?!" Dadan exclaimed.
"They built a hideout in the huge tree deep in the jungle!"
"We can take you there!"
After hearing the information that the kids were fine, after several days, the buildup of tension finally eased out of her shoulders. "I see!" She sighed in relief.
"I'm happy for you, boss!"
"You were worrying so much!"
The bandits smiled, causing Dadan to freeze in realization. "Oh crap! Are they still alive?" She scowled as she crossed her arms and turned away. "I can't believe those brats are so tenacious!"
"W-What?" She asked to their silence, reddening slightly, before she yelled at them to stop standing about and go fetch something for their dinner.
.....
Peering through the window, Dadan watched as the three children slept soundly in their hide out. She wanted to ensure herself that the kids were doing fine by themselves. "Ace... Sabo... Wait for me..." Lucy muttered in her sleep, eliciting a fond smile from Dadan. "When they're sleeping, they look like normal kids."
Lucy grumbled, shifting to lie on her back in an unseemly manner for a girl-but is that kid really a girl?-kicking her blanket aside. Dadan muttered, "Oh no, don't catch a cold."
She made her way to enter the kids' place when suddenly her feet caught a rope. She stared at the rope, perplexed, until a sound attracted her attention. Dadan looked up when she heard the sound and saw a (chain reaction) machine. She observed with interest as the machines moved around the place. Before she knew it, a big mallet struck her square in the gut, launching her out of the kids' hideout.
Sabo was startled awake by the loud noise. "A trap just went off!" he exclaimed quietly enough for Ace to hear him. "Someone tried to invade already?!" Ace remarked as he approached the window to look for anyone who had attempted to trespass on their hideout, his weapon already drawn, and Sobo beaming wide with excitement.
"Oh, maybe it was just a glitch." Sabo said, mildly disappointed when they saw no one. "Well, we did make it in a hurry, so it could happen." He shrugged before turning to walk back to bed, leaving Ace staring out the window.
"Ace..." Lucy murmured groggily as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, still half asleep. "It's nothing, Lucy," Ace said before returning to his bed after Sabo laid Lucy back down, who promptly fell asleep again.
.
"Damn!" Dadan cursed, a hand on her aching back as she made her way back to her own house. "I'll never worry about them again!!"
.
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END OF CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6: Apprentice
Lucy becomes the apprentice of the man who fought the pirate king!