A.N. It feels like I try to do everything, so I wouldn't have time to write update for 'The D Family'… I'm a terrible person… Well this is dedicated to Zehirohope (Stephanie-san). :}

Warnings: yaoi – manxman, AU, SmoAce.

Disclaimer: If owned One Piece, Ace would have never ever died and Blackbeard wouldn't exist at all…

Long long time ago, between four to three years, in a far far away kingdom, the one that has a border with yours in south, there was a royal family, yes, that royal family. There were three princes in the family, yes, princes, not princesses. The oldest one was a typical prince – a player with a charming smile who never really got women in his bed 'cause that was forbidden, a really lazy slob who couldn't do his duties properly, and also a narcoleptic.

The middle prince was someone everybody had expectations for – he was hard working, nice to others, always did his duties without problems. Everybody thought that he will inherit the throne, of course that is until he ran away from the castle stating that he doesn't want to be king and wants to live his life normally with his loved one. Not many people knew that 'loved one' happened to be a man and that's one of the reasons why the prince ran away, he didn't want to burden his family with false hope of the country…

The third prince? No one ever expected anything from him and never had expectations that he could rule the country as he was known to be a real moron. And he was, the only thing he cared for was food and his nakama, of course he cared for his country greatly too and that made him a great general who led armies into battles without fear. But that was it, he never had the qualifications to be the king and the prince never wanted to become king. When someone asked if he wants to be a king he said that 'it's too bothersome…' And that is why no one expected the third prince to be the king.

So yea, that's why everybody's eyes once again fell on the first prince, who didn't change at all. For that reason, the king, the grandfather of princes, decided to take some drastic measures to change the behavior of first prince. He picked the most furthest from civilization tower he could find and put his narcoleptic grandson there, he hired a half dragon to guard the tower till the prince rethought his actions and became serious.

This is where our story begins…

Ace's POV

"Taisa~! Taisa~!"

The grey haired half dragon looked up, the window of my tower is really high and no normal person wouldn't be able to hear me in this high, but Taisa is no normal person.

"Taisa, I'm bored!"

The grey haired man turned away. "Taisa~! Play a game with me!"

No reaction, I sighed; why is it so hard to make him play with me? I just want a little bit attention form him… "Taisa~ if you won't come up, I will come down!"

I put one foot on the windowsill and in that moment the grey haired man was by my window with his grey wings shooting out of his back. "What do you want brat?"

I moved away from the sill, so Taisa could come in, my tower doesn't have a door or a staircase, everything I need is given to me by Taisa through this window. He sat on the sill and looked over me. "So…?"

"Let's play striping poker!"

The grey haired half-breed turned away from me and jumped from the sill. "If you invited me here just to tell that, there's no need for me here."

Shit, I over did it again… "Wait, Taisa, wait! It was a joke! Let's play simple card games!"

Taisa turned at me with suspiciousness, but nevertheless he flew back to the sill and sat back on it. "Fine."

Smoker's POV

I flew closer to the tower and noticed that the sill Ace always sat at waiting for breakfast was empty. Is he playing another prank of his? He usually would be already whining that he's hungry by now… maybe he fell asleep while waiting? Well, however it is I will just leave the food on the sill, he will take it when he wakes up… I put the food on the sill and flew down; I wonder how much longer does king intend to keep his grandson here?

I sighed; well it's not my problem; I put on my coat and let my scales cover my body, I sleep better with scales out. I coiled up in a ball and closed my eyes; it's been a long time since I could have a nap in the morning sun…

Sun stopped shining onto my body, so I woke up when I opened my eyes and my scales went back under my skin; huh? What time is it? I looked around better and saw that sun is already hiding behind the tower; it's already afternoon? Ace didn't wake me up? I looked up, but there was no figure in the window who could be watching me sleep. I felt worry in my stomach; that's so unlike that brat…

I spread my wings and flew up, the ball of worry got bigger as I saw untouched breakfast still standing on the sill; is it possible that brat found a way to run away and did so while I was away? I flew into the room and landed inside; this is the first time I'm inside… the room I was in was familiar to me as I often sat on the always open window sill and played games with him, or simply gave him food or stuff he asked me for. The room had several bookcases filled with books, a table in the middle and one chair by it, this is where Ave always ate. The room also had a sofa and a writing desk at the other side.

I walked to the wooden door at the other side of the room and opened them, it happened to be the bathroom; what stupid room arrangement is this? There where doors next to a medium sized bathtub and I walked through them. I found myself in a big bedroom with a huge bed in the middle and a big wardrobe. I noticed a lump in the middle of the bed and walked to it, the lump was covered in sheets, so I took them off. I felt myself ease up when I saw that it was Ace curled up in a ball, I sighed. "Brat, hey brat."

I shook his shoulder, there were several times when he had his narcoleptic attack on the window sill and I had to wake him up, it was pretty easy as it only took me to tell his name. "Ace."

I waited, for a minute, then for another. But Ace didn't open his eyes and didn't smile to me playfully saying 'Taisa came to my bedroom!' He was still sleeping soundly, I put several fingers on his throat to check if his pulse is normal; just in case… His heart was beating normally; is he just sleeping really hard? I shook his shoulder, but he didn't react, I pulled a strand of his hair and he didn't show any emotion. I felt worry build in me; what happened to the brat?

I gritted my teeth; maybe he's sick? I opened his wardrobe and looked through the variety of clothes; he has so many clothes and still prefers sitting on the sill shirtless… I took a winter coat and wrapped Ace in it; it cold when I fly really high, for me who has scales it's no problem, but for a human like him it's a problem…

-II-

I landed in the inner yard of the castle and guards immediately ran to me, but when they saw my grey wings everybody immediately retreated, only one person, probably the highest ranking, came closer. I could clearly see how nervous he was. "What brought you here sir dragon?"

I frowned at the guard; I hate when people are afraid of me, though it's convenient most of the time… "I need to see the king."

The guard nodded. "Follow me then."

The guard turned around and started walking to the inside of the castle, I shifted the bundle in my arms and followed. Ace didn't let out a sound or moved through all the time we flew here, it's already evening and it means he's sleeping for almost twenty four hours… We walked through various guard posts without stopping, when you're a dragon nobody checks your identity as there isn't many dragons around.

Soon we reached the dining hall. "The royal family is having dinner right now."

The guard bowed and quickly disappeared to continue doing his duty; they're having dinner? Well then it won't be any problems… I opened the door and walked in the mess this royal family called 'dinner'. King Garp was sitting at the end of the table and laughing while holding a chuck of meat in his hand, his grandsons were sitting at different sides of the table and fighting over last chuck of meat. I looked at the blond prince; didn't he ran away from the castle? There was another strange looking man beside the blond prince and he was laughing quietly.

The king stopped laughing as his eyes fell on me, his face became serious and a little worried. "Taisa?" Luffy and Sabo stopped fighting over meat and looked at me too, their eyes widened. "Why are you here?"

I looked at Garp and took off one of the covers from Ace so they could see what was I holding. "He doesn't wake up, at all…"

Luffy jumped up and ran to me, he looked at Ace and pinched his cheek, when he got no reaction his eyes widened in horror. "Graaaaamps, it's bad!"

Sabo also ran to us and looked over Ace, worry could be seen in his face. "It's been a long time since I saw him, but this was definitely not the way I wanted to do that…"

Garp said nothing as he stood up from his chair, he put the neat away and cleaned his hands. "Follow me."

He went out from the dining hall and I followed, the other three followed after me, we went through the corridors of the castle till the king stopped in front of big dark brown wooden door. He opened the door and we walked into the room, everything in it simply made me feel that it was Ace's room, damn, even though he has been in that tower for three months now, I could still smell him in this room.

The red curtains above huge king sized bed, orange ceiling with red flame tongues painted on them, the walls were carbon black with white flame ornaments; there's no one else who would have a room like this… I laid Ace in his bed and covered him in his sheets, I turned at Garp. "What happened to him?"

The king rubbed his forehead. "I heard that there's a new weird sickness spreading around, it gets only those who have narcolepsy and makes them sleep, they stay the same, they don't get weaker or nor they move, but they sleep and there's no way to wake them up…"

"What are you going to do?"

Garp looked at me, then his eyes fell on Luffy who was standing next to me. "First bring the royal doctor here." His eyes fell on Sabo and the stranger next to him. "Find the best doctor you can find and bring him here."

The three of them rushed out of the room and Garp's eyes fixed on me once again. "Thank you for your hard work during last three months, you're no longer in debt to me."

I nodded; because he helped me decades ago I was in debt to this king and looking after his grandson was what he asked me to in return. "I will stay."

"You don't have to feel guilty, it's a sickness you couldn't stop it from…"

"I'm a dragon!"

The king fell silent. "As you wish, you can take the room next to this one, this is where his nanny used to live when he still needed one."

I nodded and walked out of the room; I need to figure some things out… why did I got worked up so suddenly? Because he fell sick under my care? A low growl got from under my lips; I don't know why but I'm getting more and more irritated…

I took out two cigars out of my inner jacket pocket; it's been a long time since I smoked, for some reason I never felt a need for nicotine with Ace, even if he pissed me off… A low growl came from my lips; why do I keep feeling so irritated?! Ngh, I lived several centuries without being bothered, but then I just had to get in debt to that idiotic king…

The door opened and Sabo walked in, the blond was still by his side; is he his new bodyguard or something? "Gramps said you want to help."

I gritted my teeth; I said nothing about helping, but I guess I do want to help Ace… "What do you want?"

"We found location of the best doctor/surgeon around these parts, can you bring him here?"

The blond by Sabo's side spoke, I looked at his weird shaped haircut, for some reason it kind of reminds me a pineapple… I stood up. "Alright I will bring him, the sooner that brat is okay the better, but I've been eager to ask you, who are you?"

The blond guy smirked. "My name is Marco, I'm Sabo's lover."

I walked into the room where a tall tanned man, with a white, spotted, fluffy hat and tattooed arms was doing his daily check up on Ace. The surgeon turned at me. "Oh dragon-ya."

I looked over Ace; it already been a month, he didn't change at all, he has been lying without moving and he doesn't get weaker by the lack of food. The irritation in me was reaching its peak, I have already kind of missed this annoying brat. His daily calling with his 'Taisa, I'm bored!' somehow got under my skin and I miss it, I miss his voice, I found myself missing his teasing and especially those cheeky and glinting eyes.

"You miss him?"

I pulled away my arm that I unconsciously started extending towards Ace's face. "Dragons don't get attached."

"Yes they do."

I turned my head and pierced my gaze into the smirking surgeon, he shrugged. "I like to read and some of those books happened to be old books about dragon life style and history."

"So what?"

I know what he's talking about half-breeds just as real dragons have dragon breath, by it they claim themselves a mate, a partner, another being to stay for the rest of their lives. "It seems like this boy has gotten inside of you."

I turned away from so called 'surgeon of death' and walked out of the room; I do not want to develop this conversation. I have already considered this thought and I didn't like where those thoughts led me to, getting attached to a human is bad. Humans live almost seven times shorter than average dragon and it just happened that I came from the long living dragon clan, it means I live from ten to twelve times longer than humans. And I still only lived only one third of my life, giving someone your dragon breath means that you don't have it anymore and if your partner dies you're left alone. You won't be able to find anyone else and no one else will be able to make you their partner as when choosing partner your bounded with only that person and you will have that bond even after their death…

Ace is a human and the time I would spend with him would flow by in a blink of an eye and for the rest of my existence I would be left alone… I don't know much about dragon's breath as I haven't met a lot of half-breeds in my life and dragons don't like sharing information a lot… Besides giving your dragon's breath to human is rare, most of the time half-breeds share it with each other or themselves a suitable partner between nymphs.

I looked out of the castle window into river it was build next too; I know I want to give my dragon breath to Ace, but I don't know that if I do so Ace will stay with me. He can reject me, he has a full right to do so, when giving dragon's breath usually both sides agree on it, but in our case that's pretty much impossible. If he rejected me I would have wasted my dragon's breath and even if he accepted me that would mean that he wouldn't be able to be the king anymore. I definitely wouldn't share him with anyone - I tend to be over protective with things that are mine.

I sighed; what should I do, my gut tells me to use on him that would definitely wake him up as dragon's breath is a magical process chaining you with a dragon, or well in my case – half-breed. It's something that makes energy flow through your body and stimulates all of magical centers making a huge wave of energy flow through your body, or that's at least what I have been told.

I heard footsteps and turned to see who was running towards me – it was Luffy. He ran to me panting. "I heard you're gonna make Ace your mate!"

I gritted my teeth; is that self-confident doctor thinks he can make me make up my mind by telling Luffy? I glanced at the youngest prince and saw him looking at me with puppy-dog eyes; these brothers are too similar for their own good. "I don't know."

"Huh? Why?" I shrugged; why should I make him one at all? "Ace would be really happy! He likes you after all!"

I glanced at the smaller raven hair. "And what makes you think that?"

Luffy grinned. "Ace wrote it himself in the letters he wrote me!"

My eyes gazed back at the river; the brat likes me? Maybe it makes things easier… I looked back at Luffy. "You know that if I will give him my dragon's breath he won't be the king anymore? Everyone's hopes will fall on you."

A smirk that was so unlike Luffy appeared on his face. "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm able to take care of myself." He started pushing me back from where I originally came from. "Now go and bring my brother back!"

I sighed and started walking to Ace's bedroom; am I making the right decision? Maybe I shouldn't…? I silenced the small voice in my head which was objecting my decision; I'm going to do this. I walked into Ace's empty bedroom and came closer to him, I brushed my fingers through his cheeks; now or never…

I took a deep breath and felt it heat inside of me, I started thinking about Ace and how much I miss him, his cheeky remarks. I leaned down and put my lips on his, I blew out all of the air from my lungs into him as I soon as I did that I straightened and looked over the prince. He slowly started shining from inside and a small black cloud started slowly coming out of his body, I quickly took an empty glass that was placed nearby and caught the black mass in it. I put it upside down on the table and turned back to Ace – he was still shining, I sat on his bed and watched his glowing to fade away.

With the last bit of light disappearing Ace opened his amber colored eyes and his gaze met mine. "Taisa~!"

Irritation built in me; he sleeps for a month, but when he wakes up, he's as cheerful as ever? Ace stared at me for some time, then at himself and then back to me. "Um, it probably sounds weird, but I kind of feel connected with you?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's not weird, it's normal, you're going to feel this connection for the rest of your life – you're my partner from now on."

Ace stared at me shocked for a while, but then he grinned and jumped into my arms. "Taisa! I'm so happy!"

I instinctively hugged him back; this guy will make a softy out of me… Ace pulled away and started staring at my face again, well particularly at my lips, I rolled my eyes and smashed our lips together; if you want something – you take it, it seems I will have to teach him that…

Epilogue

Ace's POV

I happily walked out of the throne room with Taisa by my side; gramps understood that nothing can be done, now that I'm a dragon's mate, so I can't be the king anymore. That meant Luffy will be the next king, but I think he will be able to do it properly… I looked up at Taisa. "Hey Taisa~"

The grey haired dragon looked at me. "What?"

"What's your real name?"

He stopped and looked over me. "Smoker."

"Smoker?" I liked how that name slipped through my lips, exotic and tasty. "It suits you~"

Taisa, no Smoker rolled his eyes, I only grinned. "I'm gonna tell Luffy that he's going to be the next king!"

I ran off the corridor still thinking about my partner's name; there probably isn't a better name for him… Quiet soon I was by Luffy's room doors and opened them without knocking. "Hey Luffy! You're gonna be the next…"

Words died in my throat as my head tried to understand the view in front of me. Luffy was laying on his bed half naked and that new doctor, Law or something, was leaning above him and nipping his naked chest… When I barged in both of their eyes widened in shock; well damn… I started walking backwards. "Well it seems, gramps is gonna have to look for another candidate to be king…"

With an awkward laugh I went out of the room and closed the door, my every move was watched by my shocked brother and apparently - his lover. I sighed; gramps is going to be furious…

A.N. Whew, finished… Did ya like it? I hope you did! I know Sleeping Beauty isn't really like this, but I felt like doing it differently maybe one day I will do it closer to original, but for today, this is how it is… :}