【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

"I can!" Luffy now turned to look at Ace, barely keeping up with their team "You just don't want to share the meat!"

"I can catch my own fish," Ace retorted to Luffy, sticking out his tongue.

Luffy's breathing became a little faster and he fell behind a little "I can do that too!"

"He can try fishing," Sabo said, looking at Ace, "If he doesn't catch anything after a while, he can also pick up some firewood to burn."

"He never sits still!" Ace complained. "If he falls into the water, he'll scare the fish away."

"It's okay, he just needs to stay away from the shore. He can also find some firewood or mushrooms nearby." Lucci said beside him.

"I won't fall in!" Luffy insisted. "I'll sit still! I'll show you!"

"Yeah, you'll know it when you see it!" Ace muttered.

Sabo laughed off their exchange, Ace was probably right, Luffy couldn't sit in one place for a minute and would probably fall off or complain too much to grab anything that wasn't trying to grab him.

Still, no matter how much they shared and took care of each other, they were all trying to get stronger and teach Luffy to take care of himself as they could. Ace and Sabo or Lucci could easily catch enough food for all of them. But Luffy needed to be able to contribute, and Sabo didn't want Luffy to feel like he couldn't help.

It didn't take them long to reach the river, they put their cigarettes aside and used makeshift spears made from thick branches hammered with blades, Ace and Lucci immediately began hopping over the rocks in different directions to find a fish to spear, when Sabo stopped Luffy on the shore and offered him a fishing rod, a usable one they found from Waste Terminal. Sabo found an empty, relatively safe fishing spot for Luffy.

"I won't fall in, Sabo," Luffy assured Sabo with a bright smile.

"Okay," Sabo agreed with him, ruffling his hair, "I'm going to go help Ace and the others, just be a good boy."

"Okay," Luffy nodded, his cheerful face full of determination.

Sabo couldn't help but ruffle his hair again, grabbing his spear and jumping over the rocks to chase Ace.

Once Sabo arrived, Ace complained "You know, he doesn't have to catch anything, we can catch enough fish for all of us."

"Didn't you insist on letting him catch his own food the last time we did this?" Sabo asked.

"That was in the past. Now it can help as it pleases, but he really doesn't need to take risks here!" Ace said hesitantly.

"You almost sound worried about Luffy," Sabo couldn't help but tease Ace, his eyes observing the water as he waited for the shadow of a fish, waiting for the right moment to strike.

"I'm not worried!" Ace almost shouted, and all the shadows disappeared and the fish dived deeper.

"Ace, you just scared all the fish away" Sabo laughed "Anyway, he's on the shore and the current isn't very strong right now, so he should be fine."

"You guys are too worried! I heard you guys over there," Lucci came over with a smile and joked. Lucci looked back at Luffy and saw that Luffy's feet were standing firmly in place in an unbelievable posture. "It's okay if you're worried, you know, I mean, he's our brother, I won't tell him that you're worried," Lucci said to Ace with a smile.

Sabo chuckled beside him. Ace turned and walked deeper to find fish. Sabo could swear that he saw a blush on his freckled cheeks. Sabo saw Lucci pointing at Ace and smiling at him. It seems that someone else saw it too. Sabo chuckled and thought.

There didn't seem to be any bigger fish around, and Lucci glanced at Sabo and Ace, who seemed to have the same problem.

Luffy's voice came, "Ah! Sabo! Something is bitten!" Luffy said happily while pulling the fishing rod.

"Great, Luffy." Sabo looked helplessly at the shadow of the fish in front of him, which disappeared in an instant.

"Wow!"

Sabo's eyes instantly returned to Luffy, and he realized that Luffy was having trouble pulling the fish up. Luffy's eyes widened, and he tried to back away, but the pole was stretching his hands, and if he didn't let go quickly or pull the fish up, he would be carried under the water by his hands when his hands retracted. Sabo realized that Luffy didn't have the strength to pull the fish up, and he worriedly shouted to Luffy, "Luffy! Let go!"

"No!" Luffy stubbornly dug his feet into the ground and tried to pull back, but he only stretched his arms further.

When Lucci realized what was happening, he hurried over to Luffy's direction.

"Idiot!" Ace said harshly, he was already rushing towards Luffy, "Let go before you fall in" Ace had already rushed over the rocks.

At the other end of the line, a fish surfaced at that moment, leaped and bit the fish holding the hook.

"That's my fish!" Luffy yelled "Don't eat the fish I caught, you stupid fish!"

Then the line was pulled down, pulling Luffy off the ground. In the next moment, Luffy's arm retracted, launching him into the middle of the river towards the mouth of the aggressive big fish. Luffy did not let go of the fishing rod, but he screamed loudly, his eyes wide open, and his two legs kicked wildly in the air.

Lucci jumped to a nearby rock, used the rock's power to jump up, raised the pipe in his hand and hit the big fish's head.

"Sabo!" Ace yelled.

Sabo didn't even have to think about what Ace wanted, at the sound of his name he lifted his weapon above the water and held it with both hands, supporting himself. Ace's weight made him lean forward a little, and Ace jumped onto Sabo's pipe, almost like they had planned, Sabo raised his weapon with all his strength, just as Ace was about to kick it, sending him high into the air, attacking the fish with Lucci and catching Luffy, and then all three fell into the water, Sabo threw his weapon to the shore and dived into the water to find Luffy or Lucci.

"Ah!" Ace surfaced and cleared his throat with a cough. Ace looked at Luffy. He looked completely exhausted, his eyes a little blurry, and his little hands still holding the fishing rod. He was still conscious, which Ace thought was a good sign.

"Are you both okay?" Sabo asked, leaning against a rock. Sabo held Luffy's weak arm with one hand and pulled the fish's fin with the other hand so that the fish would not float away, trying to use it to support Luffy.

"Yes, we are fine." Ace first put Luffy on the belly of the fish, then took Lucci from Sabo's hand and put his hand on his shoulder, then he and Sabo stabilized Luffy and the fish while swimming towards the shore.

When Ace got close to land he pushed Lucci to the shore and swam back to help Sabo, Ace pulled Luffy into his arms and swam to the shore, placing Luffy where they planned to have breakfast, Lucci met Sabo on the shore and helped pull the fish up.

"Thank you," Sabo said to Lucci with a smile, then took off his jacket and shirt and wrung out the water. He took off his hat and prepared to put the wet clothes on the rocks to dry.

Lucci took off his clothes and helped Luffy take off his wet shirt, wrung it out, and put them on the rock together.

Ace said nothing, quickly took off his T-shirt, put it on the rock, and immediately went to collect firewood so that he could start a fire and grill the meat.

"Luffy, are you okay?" After putting his clothes on the rock, Sabo immediately went to Luffy to check on him.

"I'm fine." Luffy rubbed his eyes and wiped away his tears, then opened his eyes and said with excitement, "Sabo! I caught a big fish!"