c3 Going Home
It has been a few weeks since he met Ace and Sabo. During this time, Lucci would go to the waste terminal with Ace and Sabo every day to find useful items and rob other gangsters of their treasures. This kind of daily scuffling was common in Grey Terminal, where Ace and Sabo originally learned to survive before the manga showed them meeting Luffy.
At the beginning of each of their duels, Lucci could not keep up with the attacks of Ace and Sabo. After several weeks of forest training, with Lucci's attacking skills and strength, he can now fight them back and forth, and the three of them are now basically tied most of the time. They trained the same way Ace later forced Luffy to train brawling relentlessly and using whatever they found around them.
During these two weeks, Lucci was slowly looking for the way back, but every time he passed through the forest, he would be ambushed by many large animals, making it impossible to get through, so he could only explore bit by bit. These beasts reminded him of the ones Garp used to throw Ace and Luffy at on Mt. Colubo in the manga.
After three months of exploration, Lucci found a road in the forest leading to the village.
"I haven't seen Luffy for a long time. I wonder how he's doing recently," Lucci thought excitedly.
"But I have to talk to Ace Sabo first, and find some gifts for Luffy. Otherwise, it will be hard to appease that guy if he gets angry after not seeing him for so long," Lucci thought helplessly. Luffy hated being ignored, just as Ace complained in the manga that Luffy "kept following him around."
"Sabo" Lucci shouted under a big tree.
After a while, a boy with blond hair appeared.
"What's wrong, Lucci?" Sabo asked, yawning. His top hat was a little more worn-out than usual, covered in soot from the fires constantly burning around the Grey Terminal.
"I found the way back," Lucci said excitedly.
"Oh! Really? That's fine. Have you searched the forest in every direction?" Sabo asked with a smile.
"Yes, I plan to go back tomorrow, but I need to say hello to you. I may not come over for the next few weeks, but I will come to see you every day in the future. After all, we still have 50 training sessions every day," Lucci said with a smile. Their "50 sessions" echoed Ace and Sabo's competitive nature from the manga, where they competed in everything from catching animals to collecting treasure.
"Oh, then let's go to Gao Town today after Ace comes back. We just happen to have some crocodile skins to sell as well," Sabo said with a smile. This matched how Ace and Sabo often snuck into the Goa Kingdom's noble district to secretly sell or steal items.
"Oh, okay, then let's go hunting first and prepare our lunch," Lucci said with a smile.
"I must be bigger than you," Sabo said with a smile.
"That's impossible, it must be mine that hit the hardest," Lucci shouted.
...
In the afternoon, Lucci, Ace and Sabo successfully sneaked into Gaozhen City. The three of them hid in the alleys to avoid the guards and prepared to find buyers to sell their crocodile skins. This was exactly how Ace and Sabo operated before they were canonically caught by guards in the manga.
"Ace, Sabo, I have something to do. You go sell the crocodile skins first, and I will come to find you later," Lucci whispered to them.
Ace looked at Lucci suspiciously.
"Then you have to hurry up, we need to get out before the city gate closes," Sabo said to Lucci.
"Okay, I'll be there soon," Lucci said, then turned and ran into the crowd.
"Sabo, is there something wrong with Lucci? It feels like he is hiding something from us," Ace said with a serious face. Ace had the same instinctive suspicion toward strangers in the manga.
"Well, a little bit, but there's nothing we can do about it. He doesn't want to say it," Sabo said, scratching the back of his head.
"But today Lucci said he found the way back and plans to go back tomorrow. He said he won't be with us for the next few weeks, but he will come back later," Sabo said to Ace.
"Whatever he wants." Ace said disdainfully. His typical stubbornness and pride were identical to his early manga portrayal.
"Let's go sell the crocodile skin first." Sabo looked at Ace's arrogant expression with helplessness.
"What gift should I bring back to Luffy?" Lucci pondered, wondering how Luffy was doing now, and whether he had listened to Makino's words. A doting smile appeared on Lucci's face.
Lucci looked around and walked to a candy store without realizing it. Looking at the various candies inside, Luffy would probably like them. But the prices were too high, and Lucci looked frustrated. The noble district was filled with luxuries, just like the manga depicted when Sabo ran away from his wealthy family.
"Hehe! Looks like that's the only way I can do it," Lucci thought with an evil look on his face.
...
"Stop, the boy in front of you, stop right there..."
"Ace, did you hear anything?" Sabo asked doubtfully.
"It seems like someone is being chased." Ace looked at the commotion not far away.
"Never mind, let's go back first. The city gates are about to close, but a lot of crocodile skins are sold today." Ace shook the bag in his hand. He acted just like he did in the manga when he snuck into Goa Kingdom to sell stolen goods for survival.
Sabo nodded "But they seem to be running towards us." Sabo's sharp observation matched how he was always the most cautious of the trio in the manga.
"Ace! Sabo, let's run!"
"What, Lucci, what are you doing? Why did you attract so many people?" Ace shouted angrily. His temper was the same as when Luffy bothered him years later.
"Stop talking, let's go," Sabo said anxiously. He always acted as the calm mediator between Ace and others.
"Phew! Fortunately we arrived." Sabo wiped the sweat from his head. They barely escaped before the noble district guards closed the gate, much like Ace and Sabo's narrow escapes in the manga.
"Oh!"
"Lucci, what are you doing? Why did you attract so many people?" Ace said angrily as he punched Lucci on the head. Ace's punches resembled how he hit Luffy whenever annoyed.
"Ouch! It hurts, Ace!" Lucci held his head and yelled at Ace.
"Okay, okay, Lucci, what did you just do?" Sabo pulled Ace aside and asked Lucci curiously.
"I stole some candy from him," Lucci said with a smile, showing the candy in the bag. The candy looked like the high-priced sweets the Goa nobles bought, far too expensive for kids from the Grey Terminal.
"Just for this, are you still a child? You like eating candy!" Ace yelled at Lucci angrily.
Lucci dodged Ace's shouting "Hey, hey, kids like to eat this, you try it, and I'm not just taking it for myself" Lucci said as he stuffed some candy into Ace's mouth and also stuffed some into Sabo's mouth.
"You're not taking it for yourself? Then who are you giving it to?" Sabo asked curiously while eating. His tone resembled when he questioned Ace about his motives in the manga.
"Uh! It's my brother," Lucci said sheepishly.
"Brother! You actually have a younger brother?" Sabo and Ace shouted in shock. Ace had been shocked the same way when he learned Luffy was following him around as a "younger brother."
"Hey, hey! Why are you acting like it's weird that I have a younger brother?" Lucci yelled in dissatisfaction.
"But I didn't expect you to be the older brother, so are you going to bring him to your younger brother?" Sabo scratched his head. Ace was thinking beside him, not knowing what he was thinking. This reaction was similar to Ace's complicated feelings about having brothers in the manga.
"Yes, I'm going back tomorrow." Lucci asked excitedly, "By the way, do you want to go back with me? It's on the other side of the island, and my brother is very cute."
"No! I have something to do tomorrow," Ace said in a deep voice. Ace hated showing weakness and rarely agreed to visit villages—just like when he refused to let Luffy follow him.
Then he walked away alone, "Ace!" Sabo chased after him. This matched how Sabo often had to calm Ace when he got emotional.
Lucci followed with a puzzled look on his face.
"Sabo, what happened to Ace?" Lucci asked as he walked.
"It's okay, he may not want to leave the forest, let's prepare dinner first," Sabo said helplessly. Ace treasured their hideout on Mt. Colubo more than any other place.
Although Lucci was confused, he nodded.
...
"Ace, Sabo, I'm going back," Lucci said while waving.
"Okay, remember to come find us," Sabo said, while Ace watched Lucci walk away in silence. Ace often acted cold even though he cared deeply.
Great, I finally got out. Luffy walked to Makino's tavern, opened the door and shouted "Luffy, I'm back"
Foosha Village felt warm and familiar after weeks lost in Mt. Colubo's forests.
Before Lucci could enter, he was hit by a small cannonball. Just like in the manga, little Luffy sometimes attacked wildly due to his strange "training."
"Nisan, where have you been?" Luffy said while crying.
Lucci smiled and touched the head of the person in his arms, "Luffy, don't cry. Luffy is a man, and men don't cry, right?" This echoed Garp's words that "men shouldn't cry," which he frequently told Luffy.
Little Luffy pouted cutely and looked at Lucci with tearful eyes.
"Brother is on an adventure," Lucci said happily.
"Really? I want to hear my brother's adventure stories," Luffy said excitedly.
"Lucci!" Makino asked in surprise, "What took you so long to come back?" Makino always treated the boys like family in the manga.
"My grandfather tied me to a balloon and we floated all the way to the forest. I got lost in the forest and only found my way back recently." Lucci scratched his hair embarrassedly. This was consistent with Garp's dangerous and absurd "training methods."
"But I met two friends," Lucci said excitedly.
"I want them too. I want to be friends with them too." Luffy jumped up and down excitedly. His enthusiasm for making friends matched his manga personality perfectly.
"Okay, okay, as long as Luffy behaves and doesn't cry, I will take you to see them," Lucci said gently.
"I'm not crying, I'm a man," Luffy shouted angrily.
"Yes, yes, our Luffy is a man." Lucci touched his head.
"whee"
"Lucci, you haven't eaten yet, come over and eat something first," said Makino.
"Okay! Thank you Sister Makino." Lucci shouted quickly.
"I want a big portion of meat," Luffy said excitedly. Luffy's love for meat had already begun even as a child.
"Yes, yes." Makino smiled and touched Luffy's head.
After eating, Lucci and Luffy sat on the beach and played until the sky was gradually covered by the orange-red sunset. The same shore where Luffy once talked about becoming Pirate King.
"Sister Makino, Luffy and I will go back first," Lucci said to Makino as he looked at the gradually darkening sky.
"Goodbye, Sister Makino," Luffy said in a childish voice.
Ah! Luffy is so cute. Lucci showed a doting smile on his face. When Luffy grows up a little bit, I will bring Luffy to Ace and Sabo to meet him, Lucci thought. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy would eventually become sworn brothers Lucci felt excited imagining the friendships forming early.
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