As the Son of Mihawk in One Piece

Dawn broke over Mt. Colubo, painting the forest in hues of gold and amber.

While most of Dadan's hideout remained wrapped in sleep and snores, a solitary figure moved through the clearing.

Leon's wooden sword cut through the morning air. His blonde hair, now growing longer, stuck to his forehead with sweat despite the cool morning air. His golden eyes narrowed in concentration as he repeated the same sequence for the thousandth time.

"One, two, pivot, slash," he whispered to himself, feet moving in perfect rhythm.

The wooden sword was his own creation - carved painstakingly over the past week after Luffy had broken his previous one.

This one was heavier, designed to build strength alongside technique. The rough handle had already worn his palms raw, small bloodstains marking the wood.

Leon paused, examining his bleeding hands impassively. "This pain will only make me stronger," he murmured.

His thoughts drifted to Zoro, the swordsman - his father's future apprentice - who had trained until his hands bled daily, lifting weights that would crush normal men even as a child.

In this world, such determination wasn't just symbolic - will and ambition physically shaped reality. Dreams had tangible power here.

This world bends to will, ambition, and dreams, even affecting one's luck in a beneficial or harmful way, depending on one not having enough will, ambition or not following their dreams.

'This won't hurt my development,' Leon thought, resuming his forms. 'It will only make me mightier'

From the treeline, hidden in early morning shadows, Ace watched with narrowed eyes. The ten-year-old leaned against a tree, arms crossed, observing Leon's training with reluctant interest.

Leon sensed the presence but continued his routine, adding a complex flourish at the end - a move slightly beyond what he'd shown Ace previously. He completed the sequence with a final thrust, then lowered his wooden blade.

"Morning, Ace," he called without turning around. "Spying on my training?"

Ace stepped from the shadows, his ever-present metal pipe resting on his shoulder. "Not spying. Just wondering why anyone would be crazy enough to train before breakfast."

Leon shrugged, wiping sweat from his brow. "Early morning is the best time. No distractions."

"No Luffy, you mean," Ace corrected with a knowing smirk.

"That too," Leon admitted. It had been a month since Luffy's arrival, and while the energetic seven-year-old had his endearing qualities, peace and quiet weren't among them.

Leon walked to a thick tree at the edge of the clearing, setting his wooden sword carefully aside. Without hesitation, he began punching the trunk, his small fists impacting the rough bark.

"What are you doing now?" Ace asked, watching as Leon's knuckles quickly reddened.

"Building pain tolerance," Leon replied between strikes. "And strengthening my hands."

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Each impact sent small shockwaves up his arms. The bark began to scrape his skin, but he continued, focusing on maintaining perfect form.

"You're bleeding," Ace pointed out, though his tone suggested this was merely an observation, not concern.

"I know." Thud. Thud. Thud.

Leon switched to his left hand, continuing the assault on the unyielding tree. In his mind, he pictured Garp's fists - how they could shatter stone without effort.

The old Marine had explained nothing about Haki during his visits, but Leon knew the secret lay in channeling willpower somehow.

'Concentrate,' he thought, trying to inject some commonly invisible energy into his strikes. 'Focus your will into your fists.'

Nothing happened, of course. Haki wasn't so easily awakened, especially without proper guidance. But the attempt itself was valuable - planting seeds that might sprout later.

After fifty strikes with each hand, Leon moved to a collection of stones he'd gathered the previous day. He selected one about half his size and bent to lift it, muscles straining with the effort.

"You're a training freak," Ace declared, though there was a hint of respect in his voice.

Leon managed to lift the stone to chest height, arms trembling. "Better than wasting time," he grunted, holding the position for thirty seconds before carefully lowering it.

"Want to spar?" Ace suggested, twirling his pipe with practiced ease. "Real training, not just hitting trees."

Leon considered this, "Sure," he soon enough agreed, retrieving his wooden sword. "First to three hits?"

They squared off in the clearing, Ace with his metal pipe and Leon with his wooden sword. For a moment, they stood motionless, evaluating each other.

Then Ace attacked, pipe whistling through the air.

Leon parried the strike, deliberately making the block seem more difficult than it was - he was slightly stronger than Ace still, but kept it hidden.

He countered with a thrust that Ace narrowly dodged.

"Almost got you," Leon said with a grin, deliberately telegraphing his next attack to allow Ace to counter it.

Ace took the bait, spinning his pipe to deflect Leon's sword and landing a light tap on Leon's shoulder. "One-zero," he announced with satisfaction.

They continued exchanging blows.

When the score reached two-two, Leon decided to end with a tie, allowing Ace's final strike to land simultaneously with his own.

"Draw," Leon declared, stepping back and lowering his sword.

Ace nodded, seemingly satisfied. "You're getting better with that stick."

"It's a sword," Leon corrected automatically. He wiped his brow, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a strip of cloth. "Want to try something different?"

"What's that for?" Ace asked, eyeing the cloth.

"Training blindfolded," Leon explained, tying the fabric around his eyes. "If you can fight without relying on sight, you become more aware of your other senses."

Ace raised an eyebrow. "That's stupid. How can you fight what you can't see?"

"There are other ways to sense an opponent," Leon replied, thinking of Observation Haki. "Sound, air movement, instinct."

"Prove it," Ace challenged.

Leon stood in the center of the clearing, wooden sword held before him, world plunged into darkness by the blindfold.

He knew this was the perfect cover for developing Haki - a practical explanation for training something he a normal boy shouldn't even know exists.

"Try to hit me," he invited.

Ace didn't need to be asked twice. He circled Leon silently, then lunged with his pipe. Leon, felt the pipe graze his arm as he attempted to dodge.

"See? Stupid idea," Ace declared triumphantly.

"Again," Leon insisted. This time, he focused on sharpening his senses, reaching out with his mind as he imagines Observation Haki users doing - there isn't much one can know about the experience itself from reading or seeing it in a book or anime.

Ace attacked from a different angle. Leon turned slightly too late, as though he'd sensed the attack but couldn't quite respond in time.

"I felt that coming," Leon said truthfully. "I just need practice."

For the next several minutes, Leon gradually improved, blocking one strike in three, then one in two. Slowly, he was beginning to sense Ace's presence more clearly.

"Try throwing something at me," Leon suggested, wanting to test this emerging sense.

Ace picked up a small stick and tossed it directly at Leon's back while his attention seemed focused elsewhere. Leon, feeling a strange prickle of awareness, spun and cut the stick from the air with his wooden sword.

"Lucky hit," he said quickly, noticing Ace's surprised expression.

"Do it again," Ace demanded, picking up another stick.

Before their experiment could continue, the peaceful training session was shattered by an enthusiastic shout.

"ACE! LEON! WHATCHA DOING?"

Luffy burst into the clearing like a hurricane, all flailing limbs and insane energy. He skidded to a stop before them, eyes wide with excitement.

"Are you playing a game?" he asked, noticing Leon's blindfold. "I wanna play too!"

Leon removed the blindfold, sighing internally while maintaining a patient expression. "We're training, Luffy, not playing."

"Training? Cool! I'll train too!" Luffy punched the air enthusiastically, nearly hitting himself in the face in the process.

Ace's expression darkened immediately. "Go away, Luffy. You'll just mess everything up."

"I won't! I promise!" Luffy insisted, bouncing on his toes. "I can train super good!"

Leon, seeing Ace's irritation growing, intervened. "You can watch for now, Luffy. If you stay quiet."

"Okay!" Luffy agreed, immediately sitting cross-legged on the ground. His stillness lasted approximately five seconds before he started fidgeting.

Leon resumed his blindfolded practice, aware that the peaceful training session was effectively over. Behind him, he could hear Luffy's whispered commentary.

"Wow, Leon can fight with his eyes covered! That's so cool! Hey, Ace, can you do that too? Can I try? I bet I'd be really good at it!"

Each question made Ace's scowl deepen. Leon tried to focus despite the distraction, sensing Ace's half-hearted attacks while monitoring the growing tension.

Inevitably, Luffy couldn't contain himself. He jumped up and grabbed Leon's spare wooden sword that was leaning against a nearby tree.

"I wanna try the blindfold thing!" he declared, swinging the sword wildly.

"Luffy, be careful with-" Leon started.

CRACK!

The wooden sword connected with a tree trunk and snapped in half. Luffy stood frozen, holding the broken handle, his eyes wide.

"Oops."

Leon removed his blindfold to survey the damage. The sword he'd spent hours carving was now in two pieces - again. He felt a flash of genuine annoyance but suppressed it.

"It's fine," he said evenly. "I can make another one."

Ace wasn't nearly as forgiving. His face had turned an alarming shade of red, hands clenching his metal pipe so tightly his knuckles whitened.

"YOU IDIOT!" he exploded. "Can't you go ONE DAY without breaking something? ONE DAY without ruining EVERYTHING?"

Luffy backed up, still clutching the broken sword handle. "I didn't mean to-"

"You never MEAN to!" Ace shouted, advancing on Luffy. "You just DO! You're nothing but a stupid, annoying PEST!"

Leon watched Ace carefully, noting the white-knuckled grip on the pipe, the tension in his shoulders, the genuine rage in his eyes. This wasn't just irritation - this was Ace at his breaking point.

"Hey, it's just a wooden sword," Leon said calmly. "Not worth getting this upset over."

But Ace wasn't listening. Something in him had snapped - perhaps accumulated frustration from a month of Luffy's constant following, perhaps deeper issues bubbling to the surface. With a wordless snarl, he lunged at Luffy, pipe raised.

Luffy froze, eyes wide, finally recognizing the real danger.

Leon moved instantly, his body responding before conscious thought. He stepped between them, hand shooting out to catch Ace's pipe mid-swing. For a brief moment, his true strength showed as he stopped the metal weapon cold.

"Enough," he said firmly, golden eyes locked with Ace's dark ones.

Ace tried to wrench the pipe free, but Leon held firm. "Let go!" Ace demanded.

"Not until you calm down," Leon replied, voice steady. "You were really going to hurt him."

"So what?" Ace spat. "He deserves it!"

Behind Leon, Luffy remained uncharacteristically silent, watching the standoff with wide eyes.

"No, he doesn't," Leon said quietly. "Breaking a stick of wood doesn't deserve a metal pipe to the head."

"You don't understand!" Ace shouted, still struggling to free his weapon. "He follows me everywhere! He breaks everything! He never shuts up! He's always THERE!"

"He's seven," Leon pointed out. "And he looks up to you."

"I didn't ask for that! I didn't ask for him to be here!"

Leon maintained his grip on the pipe, studying Ace's face. "What are you really angry at, Ace? Because it's not just Luffy breaking my sword."

The question hit Ace like a physical blow. He stopped struggling, his expression flickering between rage and something more vulnerable.

"What do you know?" he muttered, but the fire had gone out of his voice.

"I know that people who are angry all the time usually aren't angry about what they say they are," Leon replied carefully. "They're angry about something deeper."

Luffy, finding his voice,: "Why are you so mad all the time, Ace? Is something wrong?" 

Ace's head snapped toward Luffy, but instead of renewed anger, his expression held shock at the simple, and so... calm question, from the otherwise constant hurricane child. He looked away quickly, shoulders hunching.

"Just... leave me alone," he said, voice barely audible. "Both of you."

Leon released the pipe, sensing the immediate danger had passed. "We're not your enemies, Ace."

"We're brothers!" Luffy declared with absolute certainty. "All three of us!"

Ace scoffed, but didn't storm off as Leon expected. Instead, he stood there, pipe lowered, seeming suddenly lost.

Leon sighed, as he with the back of his hand, wiped some sweat from his forehead. 'Gimme a break.' he began thinking to himself, 'Canon Ace also tried to kill Luffy many times... Do I really need to play babysitter, making sure that brat number 1 doesn't kill brat number 2?' He already felt tired at the thought.

"Look," Leon said after a moment of awkward silence. "We were training. Let's just... keep training. Together." He glanced at Luffy. "All of us."

"Really?" Luffy's face lit up with joy.

"If you promise to be careful," Leon added quickly. "No more breaking things."

"I promise!" Luffy made an X motion over his heart.

Ace looked between them, conflict evident on his face. Finally, he sighed. "Fine. But you have to actually train, Luffy. Not just play around."

"I will! I'll train super hard!" Luffy punched the air enthusiastically.

And so began an unusual training session. Leon showed Luffy the proper way to make a fist -"Thumb outside, not inside, or you'll break it" - while Ace grudgingly corrected his stance.

"Wider. You'll fall over if someone pushes you," Ace instructed, demonstrating a more stable position.

Luffy attempted to mimic them both, his coordination hilariously bad but his enthusiasm unmatched. When he threw his first properly formed punch, his face shone with such pride that even Ace's expression softened slightly.

Leon returned to his blindfolded practice, now performing slightly better than before, allowing his emerging sense to guide his movements more naturally. Luffy watched in awe, then demanded to try again.

"Me next! Me next!"

"This isn't going to end well," Ace muttered as Leon handed over his blindfold.

Predictably, blindfolded Luffy was a disaster. He walked straight into a tree, fell over a root, and nearly impaled himself on a broken branch. Yet he laughed through it all, his joy somehow infectious.

"I felt that tree was there!" he claimed after walking directly into it. "I just wanted to check with my face!"

Despite himself, Leon smiled. Even Ace snorted in reluctant amusement.

The three boys continued training until the sun climbed high overhead.

By late afternoon, all three were exhausted, sweaty, and surprisingly content. They made their way to the cliff overlooking the ocean, collapsing on the grass to watch the sunset paint the sea in fiery colors.

"Today I got stronger!" Luffy announced, flexing his skinny arm. "Soon I'll be strong enough to be Pirate King!"

"You're still weak," Ace said, but without real malice. "It takes more than one day of training."

"I'll train every day then!" Luffy declared. "Until I'm super strong!"

Leon leaned back on his elbows, watching the horizon. His hands were bleeding again from the day's training, knuckles raw and palms blistered. Yet the pain felt satisfying somehow - tangible proof of effort.

"Why do you want to be a Marine, Leon?" Luffy asked suddenly - having heard Leon and Ace's arguments once - turning his wide eyes toward him. "Pirates are way cooler."

Leon had his answer prepared, as he always did. "To protect people who can't protect themselves. To bring justice to those who deserve it."

This wasn't entirely false either. If Leon had to choose - and there wasn't the downside of the government being corrupt, he'd want to be a Marine. Leon has his ambitions, desires to be free, but he also doesn't like watching innocents hurt.

He's quite the empathetic person - especially since he knows this world is real now.

"Marines don't protect people," Ace scoffed. "They just follow orders from the World Government."

"Not all Marines," Leon countered. "Some follow their own sense of justice."

"Like Gramps?" Luffy asked.

"Like Gramps," Leon confirmed. "He doesn't always follow orders exactly as given."

Ace looked unconvinced. "Still means working for people who decide what 'justice' is. Pirates make their own rules."

"Pirates also hurt innocent people," Leon pointed out. "Not all of them, but many do."

"I wouldn't," Luffy declared firmly. "My pirates would only beat up bad guys and have adventures!"

"That's not how the world sees pirates," Leon said quietly.

"Don't care," Luffy replied simply. "I'll show them."

They fell silent, watching as the first stars appeared in the darkening sky. 

As night fell completely, they began the walk back to Dadan's hideout. The forest was dark, but they knew the path well enough by now. Leon flexed his sore hands, wincing slightly as the cuts reopened.

"Your hands are all bloody," Luffy observed, noticing the motion. "Does it hurt?"

"A little," Leon admitted. "But that's how you get stronger."

"By bleeding?" Luffy asked, confused.

"By pushing past your limits," Leon clarified. "Pain is just a signal that you're growing."

Ace glanced at Leon's hands, then at his own calloused palms. "You train even harder than I do," he said, a note of newfound respect in his voice.

"Different, not harder," Leon replied diplomatically.

"We should all train together from now on!" Luffy suggested brightly. "We're training brothers now!"

Ace rolled his eyes but didn't object. Leon smiled slightly, surprised to find himself warming to the idea despite himself.

What had begun as strategic was becoming something more... genuine.

'I'm getting attached,' he realized, 'That wasn't part of the plan.'

It wasn't, but neither was it unexpected.

He flexed his hands again, feeling the sting of open cuts, focusing on it.

'In this world, will shapes reality,' Leon thought, looking up at the star-filled sky. 'Dreams have power. Ambition has weight. And my ambition is the peak of all forms of ambition...'

Leon clenched his fists. 'Will is all that matters. And this world will either bend... or break beneath mine. This I promise.'

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(Author note: Hello everyone! I hope you all liked the chapter.

Do tell me how you found it.

I hope to see you all later,

Bye!)