Twist of Fate

3. Ace's Dilema

Wow! I honestly didn't expect this story to get so much attention! I honestly don't know what to say other than thank you! Thank you for giving my dumb little story a chance, and liking it! I made sure that this was a long chapter to show my thanks properly! Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

I do not own One Piece.

Marco watched the three boys walk away. He didn't really know what to make of them. From what he could tell the older two had trust issues, and the younger one trusted others too easily. Not only that, but one of them had eaten a devil fruit. They were something else to say the least.

"Did they just talk about hunting an alligator like it was a normal occurrence?" Thatch asked.

"I believe so." Marco said not taking his eyes off the kids.

"What is up with those boys? From the sound of it, they aren't from this island." Thatch rubbed his chin in thought.

"No they aren't. I think they were planning on leaving their home island later on in life, but something happened that made them set sail prematurely."

"What makes you say that?"

"The one in the straw hat said something about leaving at the age of seventeen, but something obviously went wrong and they had to leave early."

"Now that you mention it, I remember him saying something like that too. The other kids stopped him before he could finish what he was saying, though. I wonder what he was going to say."

"That doesn't matter, right now. What does matter is that three children are sailing the seas. And, from the looks of it, there are no adults watching over them. I don't care how tough they are, they are still children, and there are many people on the seas that will take advantage of that." Marco turned to his friend after the kids disappeared in the distance.

"Yeah, you're right. There are evil people who will take advantage of kids, even in the East Blue. We can't let them go on their own." Thatch started to walk in the direction the kids disappeared in.

"Wait." Marco grabbed Thatch's shoulder before he could get too far.

"What? We need to stop them before they leave."

"They aren't leaving yet, and you saw how the older two reacted to us. They appear to have a hard time trusting others. You can't just waltz up to them and expect them to listen to whatever you have to say."

"Well, do you have any other ideas?"

Marco glanced over to where the kids were heading. Whatever their situation was at their home island, it wasn't an ideal one for kids their age. They seemed to be used to taking care of themselves, especially if they hunt their own food. Marco didn't know if they provided for themselves because they didn't trust others, or if the time they spent providing for themselves caused them to trust no one else. Either way, getting the older two to listen would be a challenge, but Marco knew something about this island they didn't.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

XxXxXxXxX

"You really need to learn when to keep your mouth shut, Luffy. Those guys don't need to know our life's story." Ace said after they got out of hearing distance from the other pirates.

"Eh? I wasn't telling them our life's story." Luffy said while folding his hands behind his head.

"Yes, you were. They're pirates, Lu. They can't be trusted." Sabo pointed out.

"But we're pirates, and I trust you guys." Luffy said.

"Yeah, but we're your brothers, you moron. They are complete strangers. For all we know they could be planning on slaughtering us like Bluejam tried to do." Ace said.