Training.

The waiting didn't take as long as they'd thought. As soon as she'd calmed down, Akane turned back, though the ears and tails didn't disappear as easily as before.

"I guess it will take a while before those will disappear. Haah."

Akane couldn't hold back the sigh.

"So, who will begin?"

"Me! Me!"

Luffy immediately raised his hand.

"Haah, then I'll fight Luffy first, then Akane against Ace, after that, Luffy against Akane, then Ace against me, followed by Akane against me and Ace against Luffy."

So as followed, Luffy fought against Sabo first.

To be honest, the battle was one sided.

Every time Luffy tried to land a hit, his rubber attack would rebound and hit himself.

Akane laughed every time it happened. When it happened for the nth time, she couldn't take it anymore as her stomch started to hurt from the laughing.

When Luffy tried for thirty times, he lost all thirty.

"Then, now it's me against Akane. Akane, don't hold back."

Ace walked forward, holding his steel pipe in front of him.

"Um, I can use swords too, but isn't that too dangerous for the first time?"

Ace pondered for a while.

"Well, we can fight the first few with wooden branches. As soon as you get used to it you can try with swords?"

Ace didn't sound too confident, but decided on it anyway. Where would she get swords anyway?

He grabbed a pair of branches, one for himself and one for her.

When they took their stances, Akane initiated the attack.

Her movements were precise and accurate, giving Ace little space to dodge.

The first ten matches were her win.

After that, Ace started to catch up to her pace and managed to win a few, but most were still her wins.

To not drag it out too long, the results were as followed

Ace won thirty times against Luffy, lost twenty-one times to Akane and lost fifteen times against Sabo.

Luffy lost all his matches.

Sabo won against Luffy all matches, lost twenty-five times to Akane and lost fifteen time to Ace.

The strongest in their group was surprisingly Akane.

When they asked her how she could be so strong, she began to stutter.

"W-well…Baba taught me h-how to wield… the sword, while t-the rest was all c-continuously training."

"So that means all we have to do is work hard and do our best!"

Luffy yelled, getting all excited.

"Oi, Akane. You said you could use swords. Where is your sword, you do have one right?"

Sabo said, as he looked around.

He hadn't seen her wear a sword, nor seen one inside that belonged to her.

"Can you keep a secret?"

The trio nodded.

She took a short breath and summoned her swords from her mind.

Out of nothing, two swords appeared in her hands.

Ace and Sabo looked with wide eyes at the swords while Luffy was yelling 'Sugoi!' repeatedly. She could even see sparkles in his eyes.

"So how does that work?"

Sabo said as he inspected and touched the swords.

They felt cold to the touch, but he had the feeling as if the swords were alive.

"Ah, some time ago, after I got my devil fruit. I was practicing my powers when I suddenly saw a distortion in space. I was really surprised at the time, finding it really weird. I could see other people talking on the other side, but I didn't recognise them. They seemed important." She didn't mention the fact that the Bucket-head man met her eyes and was able to see her too.

Sabo and Ace nodded in union, absolutely sure they wouldbe surprised too.

"Then these two swords appeared. My curiosity got the better of my, as when I touched them, they pierced my chest."

The three of them winced as they imagined how it would look like.

"There was no pain, as the swords disappeared in my body. After that the information about them immediately appeared in my head."

She sat down, the swords in her lap.

"These swords are apparently a part of my soul, given the shape of a sword. These swords each have a special ability, though I don't know what at the moment. Anyhow, these swords use the same energy that is used for my devil fruit, so the only thing I need to do is train my body, so I can use them for longer periods. Currently I can't hear their voices yet, but when I do, their ability will be known and I will be able to use it."

Having spoken for a long time, Akane hugged her swords tightly, afraid they would think she was crazy.

"Umu, umu. I don't understand."

Luffy fell on his back and rolled around clutching his head. They could almost see steam coming from his red head.

"Well we just need to remember that they are like a devil fruit, some kind of special ability, right?"

Ace said, coming straight to the point.

Akane nodded.

"Well, the best way to train further, is to practice on the beasts in the forest. We can sell their hide for money and eat the meat ourselves."

Agreeing with Sabo's words, the four of them went to find some crocodiles.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

They sat on top of a branch high above the swamp, eyeing a group of crocodiles.

"Okay, now listen Luffy, Akane. You two stay here because you can't swim, then Sabo and me will…" before Ace was done with talking, Luffy had already jumped down towards the crocodiles, trying to hit one with his steel pipe.

Sabo and Ace sighed as they went after him.

Akane stayed on top of the branch, watching how they went to save Luffy who was almost eaten by the crocodile.

They managed to draw it on land, after which the four of them fought it till it died.

They dragged the crocodile back to Dadan's cabin and enjoyed their meal.

They kept the skin and fangs of the crocodile inside a tree house they made inside the forest. It had taken them a while to make, but when they had finished it, they spend most of their time inside of it.

The only time they went back to Dadan's cabin was to eat.

Weeks had passed this way, filling up their tree house with spoils.

They finally decided to sell it all in one go.

Again disguised like the last time, they pulled their cart full of materials through the gate of the city, selling it all.

They spend their time eating and fighting again.

When they ran away after almost getting caught by the authorities, a man started to call out to Sabo.

"Sabo? Is that you? Are you still alive?" the man looked at Sabo with disbelief.

"Do you know him Sabo?"

Sabo shook his head.

"I don't know him."

"He's still calling for you Sabo."

Luffy said as he looked back at the man.

"There are no secrets amongst us, Sabo."

Ace said with a cold look in his eyes as they ran towards the gate.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The four of them sat down at the edge of the forest near the sea.

"The son of a Noble?"

Ace said in disbelief.

"The man who called me today was my father."

"Why were you living here if you are from a noble family?"

Ace sounded a little accusing, but Akane knew how Ace felt.

At least now they knew.

She had heard from Sabo that Ace's father was Gol D. Roger, the pirate King.

Though she didn't think it was bad. It was more like amazing. Now they heard who Sabo's parents were, who apparently were nobles.

Sabo sounded angry when he continued.

"They love those who can maintain their status and defend their property. Not me! I'm sorry for both of you but I was all by myself even if I had parents! Nobles have a low opinion of the Gray Terminal, but it's better than the stifling Highland where your life has been arranged for years to come!"

Sabo stood up, a warm light rekindled in his eyes.

"Ace! Akane! Luffy! We gotta set out to sea someday! Let's get out of this country and live freely!"

Ace laughed happily at Sabo's words, in full agreement.

He walked towards the edge of the cliff as he started to look across the sea.

"You don't have to tell me to! I'm gonna become a pirate and defeat all the others and become the most notorious pirate in the world! It'll be the only proof of my life! It doesn't matter if all the people in the world reject me or despise me, I'll become a great pirate and show them what I can do!"

Luffy laughed at Ace's words, becoming all giddy. And began to yell at the sea.

"I got it! Alright then…! I'm gonna become the pirate king!"

Luffy laughed hard, while the rest was looking at Luffy in shock.

"You fool! I was wondering what you'd have to say…"

Sabo laughed too at Luffy's words.

"You're funny Luffy!"

Akane couldn't help but smile too.

"I can't wait to see how you turn out to be in the future!"

Sabo said, not mocking Luffy's dream.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

They stood around a tree stump, four red cups in the middle of it.

In his hand, Ace held a sake bottle he had stolen from Dadan.

"Did you guys know? We can become brothers if we exchange this cup of sake!"

Luffy became excited. "Brothers? Really?!"

Ace filled the cups with sake, each of them grabbing one.

"When we become pirates, we might not be on the same ship, but our brotherhood will always be with us! Wherever you are, whatever you do, we'll always be bonded together! So from now on, we're brothers!" Ace said, yelling loudly to declare it.

""""Yeah!""""

The four of them tapped their cups against each other and downed the sake.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The days of living together continued, pulling wild vegetables out of the ground, killing wild beasts, bathing together (except Akane), fighting for food, sleeping together, they even managed to kill the lord of the forest.

It was a really big tiger. With the teamwork of Ace and Luffy, they managed to bring it down.

After that were some unexpected visits from Garp.

It ended up with a fight, originating from Luffy's big mouth.

As usual he yelled he would become the pirate king, along with yelling that Ace and Sabo will become pirates with him.

Akane was so wise to keep her mouth shut; otherwise she would be caught up in it too.

At the end of the evening she came to pick the three up, which Garp left in the forest, all battered and bruised.

These happy times didn't last long.