Four Brothers

"Come on, you three, it is time to get up," Leo walked over and gave his hand to Sabo and Ace. He was helping them up from the ground easily, as though he wasn't even spending a little energy from the fighting.

Luffy stood up after he caught Leo's extended hand and smiled, "Leo, you're too freaking strong. But I won't give up! One day I will defeat you because I am the man who will be the Pirate King!"

The three of them looked at Luffy, who was filled with confidence on his face and all of them smiled together with him in happiness.

'I'm sure that he will one day be the next Pirate King,' Leo thought with a giant smile on his face as he put his arm around Sabo.

"You idiot, who said you're going to be the next Pirate King. I will be the Pirate King before you," Ace said and used a thumb to point back at himself. "If you want to be the next Pirate King, you will have to defeat me, haha."

"One day, I will defeat you too, Ace, hehe," Luffy laughed alongside everyone here as Ace put his arm around Luffy as the three started walking together back.

It was earlier than yesterday, so there was still the sound of the birds building their nests in the forest. On his way, he used Conquer's Haki to knock out the beasts in the vicinity as they all hauled a huge number of animals back to the base.

Back at the base, Dadan's eyes were glowing with happiness as they saw the mountain of animals stacking up over the little boy's bodies. But, in her mind, all she was thinking was, 'Look at all that food!'

The base of the mountain bandits was quite festive as everyone had their share of meat. There was simply too much food to go around. The four boys became the party's heroes as everyone danced and joked around.

"I don't think we can eat all of this," Dadan said, laughing loudly while eating a huge chunk of meat.

"I'm sure Ace and Luffy will have no problem finishing all of this food," Leo joked, pointing at Luffy, who had already finished a mountain of meat on his plate a second ago.

Seeing the disappearance of so much food into that little boy's stomach made Dadan's eyes widen in disbelief and shock.

"Come on, Leo, you got to eat more meat too," Luffy said as he handed Leo a giant drumstick from his plate. Of course, Leo wasn't expecting Luffy to be so willing to share his food with him, which caused him to smile even wider.

"You're not eating enough," Ace joked as he kept chewing the meat into his mouth. "We will beat you to the ground at this rate, haha."

"Alright, thanks, you two," Leo joked. Then, standing up from his seat as he took a small bite of the drumstick's meat and walked to the outside.

"Where are you going, Leo," Sabo, who was drinking a cup of water, stopped to ask Leo, who was already opening the door outside.

Leo turned his head to the side and smiled at him, "Doing some late-night training. Or else, you three will catch up to me soon one of these days." Leo waved back at Sabo as he headed out into the forest's darkness.

He found a quiet spot with a beautiful scenic view of the ocean on the beach. Leo sighs as he watches those little stars glitter like blue diamonds on the ocean water's calming surface. And the moon was the light of the night as it shone on the whole world tonight.

The water was so clear that it seemed like there were two worlds, one in the sky and one in the water. And it produces a sound that is quite soothing as the water pushes on the beach sand and washes back to itself.

The wind carried a warm breeze that lightly and gently blew his hair up as he closed his eyes to focus on his sword, which flows gracefully down as he slices vertically in the air.

He has absorbed in such a concentration on the practice of Haki and the Way of the Sword that the surrounding sound became absolute silence.

Deeper into his practice, he sensed the familiar presence of three little figures approaching him, which caused him to open his eyes and look back.

He looked back with a smile as his black hair floated in the gentle wind tossing, "Luffy, Sabo, Ace why are you three following me so late at night?"

He noticed Ace beaming a broad smile at him, holding a bottle of sake in his hand as the three of them walked closer in his direction.

Luffy was wearing a red shirt, and he hugged Leo before showing him the four white cups in his hand, "We had decided that from tonight onwards, we will be brothers!"

"Brothers?" Leo asked again. He remembers the scene of the three of them established their vow of brotherhood in the anime.

"Yep, over a cup of sake," Sabo added as he handed them a cup.

He didn't mind becoming a brother to the three of them through the Sakazuki (Ceremony) and smiled as Ace poured Sake into all of their cups.

"Haha, from now on, we will be brothers," Luffy said as he was the first to raise his cup in the air.

"Wherever we are in this world, we will always be as brothers until death," Ace and everyone raised their sake cups and exchanged the brotherhood ceremony.

That night, the stars twinkled a lot brighter in Leo's eyes. He never thought he would have the opportunity to bond with the three of them and become brothers. It just all feels so sudden to him on this mysterious night.

But from his heart, he said to all of them, "Until death does us part. I will always be there to fight alongside and protect each of you. And make our dreams come true."