Portgas D. Ace shifted awake to the sound of curtains being drawn back. Bright light flooded his eyes, accompanied with a cold voice.

"Wake up. Break needs you," Trafalgar Law said.

Ace groaned. "What is it this time?"

"Our troops up North were wiped out."

Ace's eyes flew open. He jerked up from the crumpled sheets. "Wiped out?" he repeated in disbelief," We had two thousand troops up there! And Marco was in charge!"

"I know," Law said grimly, "But they completely crushed us. That's why Break needs you."

"And Marco?" Ace's thoughts flashed back to the good natured smile and tuft of unruly blonde hair.

Law shook his head and turned away. Ace caught the cargo pants Law tossed at him and wordlessly pulled them on. There was no point in pushing the subject.

…..

"Luffy!"

Luffy turned around to see Nami shaking a frying pan at him, twenty or so feet away. "Come here!" she yelled, "We have to leave in fifteen minutes!"

"I'll be right there!" Luffy shouted back. He turned back to face the glittering surface of the sea, reflecting the high noon sun.

"Hurry!" Nami's insistent call summoned.

"Alright," Luffy sighed. He reluctantly clambered to his feet and leaped agilely off the rock he had been seated on. He glanced back at the ocean sadly. He had no idea when he would be able to see it again. All the civilians in Lone Island were being evacuated to the facility located in Alabasta- an impenetrable desert.

"I told you a million times we have to finish packing!" Nami snapped as he jogged back towards her.

"Sorry, sorry," he muttered, rushing past her, into the house. He almost crashed into Zoro who had three or four cardboard boxes precariously balanced in his muscular arms.

"Watch it," he growled.

"Sorry," Luffy said again.

"God damnit, I can't believe the war has reached us already," Usopp sighed, emerging from behind Zoro, He was saddled with four canvas sacks. "I thought we would be safe, this place being cut off from civilization and whatnot."

"No use grumbling over it," Zoro replied, loading the boxes into the back of the truck parked in front of the house. "We'll have to deal."

"He's right," Nami agreed, tossing the fry pan she had been holding into one of the boxes. "This is all for our sake. Zoro, are there any more boxes?"

Luffy wandered back into what had been his home for the last eight years as his friends continued to converse outside. He gazed at the empty rooms, a sudden feeling of nostalgia washing over him. Eight years ago, the celestial dragons had ripped his world apart. Windmill village had been eliminated from the map. Garp, Dadan and her crew, Makino, even Shanks had been brutally murdered in the massacre that took place. And Ace….Ace had been taken away from him. Luffy still didn't know if his brother was alive or dead.

He's definitely alive he thought furiously to himself. His hands balled into fists as he bit back a sudden surge of grief. If he was dead I would definitely know

Unconscious and half-dead, Luffy had been discovered by Zoro and Usopp who had been part of a rescue crew. They had taken him back to Lone Island where Nami nursed him back to health.

Luffy had been the only rescued survivor of the massacre.

….

"Heard a new group of civilians are coming in today," Kidd said gruffly. Ace walked in between the broad red-head and Law, towards Break's main office.

"Hn," Ace replied absent-mindedly.

"Wonder if they'll bring in anybody we know," Kidd continued.

"Doubt it," Law replied sharply. He narrowed his eyes at Kidd. "Don't get your hopes up Kidd."

"I'm not," Kidd grumbled, but Ace knew better. The light in his eyes had not died yet.

The light called hope Ace mused.

Everybody knew Kidd was still keeping an eye out for Killer, his childhood friend. They had been separated when Kidd's home town was attacked, almost ten years ago. Still, the red-head retained the belief that Killer was still very much alive. Ace's light had died. Eight years ago. With his baby brother.

Luffy…

Even the name brought him immeasurable pain.

Their conversation stopped there as they had reached the front door of Break's office. Law knocked and a voice bade them to enter.

Break was a diminutive man with a commanding presence. He was an albino by birth and thus had pale skin and hair the color of snow and cranberry-colored eyes. He folded his slim fingers in an elegant arch in front of him as he observed his top soldiers from behind a pair of immaculately polished glasses.

"Sir." Law bowed slightly. Ace and Kidd followed suite.

"You three must've heard about our forces up North?" Break inquired without greeting.

"Yessir," Law replied.

"It appears that the celestial dragons have united forces with Donflamingo," Break said emotionlessly. Kidd gnashed his teeth at the name and Ace's scowl deepened. Break studied them carefully, his own face betraying no emotion. "I'm sure you know what this means. They've broken down our strongest front that we've maintained for over a year now. Marco is dead. The next place they will target is here."

"We've the civilians here," Kidd said grimly.

"Indeed. If they ran us over here, the war is over for us. That being said, I'm deploying the three of you and only the three of you since we can't afford any more pointless sacrifices. The enemy troops numbers around five thousand."

"Piece of cake," Kid smirked, smashing one of his fists into his open palm.

Break stared at him. "I wouldn't be too confident yet," he said slowly. "You see, we're not sure if Donflamingo is with them or not."

"If he's there," Law gasped, "that means…"

"Yes. If he's there, it might be a close battle, even for you three." Break fixed his unwavering scarlet gaze on them. "But this is the only thing we can do at the moment. You three are the finest weapons I've ever created….Can you do it?"

Law didn't reply immediately. Kidd snarled in frustration.

"Yessir," Ace replied calmly. His comrades looked at him. Kidd shrugged. Law sighed.

"Yessir," Law replied.

"Can't help it," Kidd growled.

"Good." Break allowed a small smile to slide over his thin lips. It didn't reach his eyes. "You are to depart tonight."

….

"This place is huge!" Usopp exclaimed, looking up in awe at the ceiling stretching thousands of feet above them. The civilian-occupied area of the facility was essentially a tall cylinder, fifty floors high. Each floor had sixty rooms, arranged in a circle, and each room held four people.

"Well it does have to house over ten thousand civilians," Nami replied, crossing her arms. She glanced over and Luffy and Zoro, who were also staring up in awe. "You guys are sharing a room with one other person, aren't you?"

"Yeah, his name is Sanji or something," Zoro replied. He crinkled his brow, "Sounds like a pretty stupid name."

"I wonder if he's a nice guy. I hope he is!" Usopp said happily. He stretched his arms into the air. "At least we'll be safe here. Right? Right? Na, Luffy?"

"R-right," Luffy replied, forcing a smile.

"Why the hell do we have to do such low level grunt work?" Ace complained, striding down the hallway connecting the main facility to the civilian area.

"We're short on people," Law replied bluntly.

"Still, supervising the new civilians?"

"We'll be done in thirty minutes," Law snapped, "quit complaining."

The two men entered the circular building. Ace's eyes roved over the haggard crowd, standing around with cardboard boxes and leather trunks, packed with their worldly belongings. Most of the civilians, like most newcomers, were staring up at the ceiling, marveling at the sheer size of the place.

"Usopp! Quit spacing out and help me move our stuff!" a voice said loudly.

Ace's gaze shifted over to the source of the voice-a frazzled looking girl with bright orange hair drawn into a pony tail. She was nagging at a boy with long, curly, black hair and an abnormally long nose. Behind them was a tall, muscular boy with sea-green hair and a scar over one of his eyes. Next to him was….

Ace felt all the air leave his lungs. His eyes widened.

It can't be.

He's dead.

I couldn't protect him.

Luffy suddenly had the feeling that somebody was staring at him. He looked up, rubbing the prickly sensation away from his neck. His gaze searched the crowd around him for the perpetrator, when his eyes fixed on a man standing apart from the crowd. He was wearing a black uniform and thick-soled combat boots, making him stand out even more.

I guess he works here?

Luffy squinted so he could see the man's face and started. Freckles. Dark eyes. Thin lips.

The man was staring straight back at him. They locked eyes. Luffy felt his heart rate speed up. His breaths started to come in short pants.

Zoro noticed first. "Hey, Luffy, you alright?" he asked, placing a hand on Luffy's shoulder. "Oi, your face is completely white."

The younger boy didn't seem to hear him. He stumbled forward a couple of steps.

"Ace," he whispered. Tears welled in his eyes and streaked down his cheeks as he hurtled towards the man in the black uniform. "ACE!"