Note: I don't think Surume was around when the WBP came through Fishman Island, thus Surume won't appear any time soon.

Again, skip to the line if you are not interested in my replies and warnings!

1) I apologize for any mistakes, I'm too tired to read through everything on my own yet again :(

2) Chapter starts where the old one left of and finally old man Whitebeard will appear. Still there is much left to do and to answer.

3) As always: if there is romance it will be boys love (though not as the focus of this story – most likely an unusual pairing, should I include anything…)

Thank you very much for all the reviews! I thought I wouldn't continue writing anytime soon, but I started right again the next day, to not make you wait for too long (I know I hate waiting for updates!)

Thank you to: Mr. Soze, dancingjadedragon, Lightningblade49, Mariachanne, iitrnr, adellealyla, NeoZero13, Guest, Thea, Jag, AnimagiPotter, mysteryreader6626, OnePieceeFan, Bluejay Blaze, Johnny Spectre, Rin-s666, Ginshi-chan, DMCP, OctaveTea, Nala1220, coolgamer

...


...

"Ship approaching!" The lookout of the Whitebeard Pirates was on high alert and had seen the ship long before anyone else actually saw anything.

"Sink it." Whitebeard ordered calmly. There'd been more than just one crew today who had tried to quickly challenge or stall them and they were all in a rather bad mood due to it. Whitebeard had told his crew to stay focused. With the uncertainty of Ace's whereabouts and the behavior of the Marines they couldn't afford any careless mistakes. That'd be just what Sengoku would want them to do in case of a trap after all.

About ten minutes later the next message came. "So far I don't see any canons or other weapons. I also don't recognize the ship." There were murmurs of agreement as more than one person was watching the ship above them now. "However it's sinking very fast. Almost as if a veteran was steering it. There's one more behind it and it's quite a bit slower."

"They're heading towards the Downward Plume!" another one called.

"Then ignore it." Marco rubbed his eyes.

"Wait… it's turning around!"

"Sink it after all, it is!" Marco sighed as the men prepared for yet another useless battle.

….

"Jinbe!" Luffy called out to the man at the steering wheel. "What kind of food do you like best? Do you still eat fish even though you're a fishman? What about sharks?"

"…" Jinbe eyed him warily. What was this sudden question about? Was the Straw Hat captain suggesting that fishman were only fish? He hadn't felt any hostility from the ship's captain until now, but he could have been wrong. He'd even understand it, with the history between the Straw Hat crew and the Arlong Pirates.

"Do you?" Luffy blinked.

"The sharks are my friends, so no, I don't eat them, nor will I allow my friends to eat them." He answered with some hesitation.

"Too bad, they looked tasty too. But you don't mind Sea King, do you? That's Zoro's favorite! And Sanji said we weren't allowed to eat those small fish before even though we still ate Takoyaki later." Luffy went on and Jinbe threw a questioning gaze to his friend who kept the little captain calm as well as he could, now that he had started moving more and more as he was talking. He was relieved to see that Ace didn't seem to have understood much more than him, aside from the fact that the other was talking about food.

"I don't know about small fish, or Takoyaki, but as long as you don't eat my friends I don't mind." Jinbe felt relieved as the other apparently wasn't thinking anything nasty about his race. He still felt as if he was missing quite a lot, but that was probably something that couldn't be helped when it came to Luffy and food, judging by Ace's reaction.

Luffy nodded and grinned "Great, then there is no problem. Though all that talking about meat made me hungry." He drooled slightly at the thought Sea King.

"You ate three times already today!" Ivankov shouted and the other three who'd been present for most of it nodded.

"But we were talking about meat! And I only ate twice!" Luffy frowned, not counting the little snack he'd had on Sabaody.

"Stop talking yourself hungry!" The Okama queen yelled.

"He started." Luffy pointed at Jinbe.

Before Jinbe could ask just how any of this was his fault (and how come he had been pulled into Luffy's pace?!) Ace's stomach growled, which quickly drew everyone's attention to him. "I'd like something as well."

"You really are brothers." Jinbe chuckled and shook his head and sighed. "Don't worry Luffy-kun, we'll reach Fishman Island soon and I'll make sure you can eat as much as you want."

With stars in his eyes the young captain turned to him. "Join my crew, Jinbe!"

"WHAT?" Even Rayleigh and Crocodile looked unsettled.

"Idiot! He's the captain of the Sun Pirates!" Ace exclaimed.

"But he said he wouldn't be a Shichibukai anymore. And he's cool and even though I won't be able to eat shark he still likes other fish and meat and Sea King and there is no problem anymore, so he should join the crew!"

"You can't just ask anyone who gave you food to join you." Ace once again hit his head.

"I don't!" Luffy exclaimed angrily. "I only invite people I like! I don't want a big crew, I want my friends! And I want Jinbe to join, he's cool! I like him!"

Feeling rather touched, Jinbe sat down next to the young captain and his brother and let Rayleigh take over the steering wheel. There was something he had wanted to ask Luffy for some time already.

"Don't you hate fishmen?" Jinbe questioned without preamble.

"Why? Because of those people on Sabaody? They're nasty!" Luffy remembered all too well what had happened at that Island and how Hachi had been treated there. A glare settled on his face. "They tried to sell Keimi too!"

"I'm not sure I understand what you are talking about, but I was thinking of Arlong." Jinbe told him.

"What?" Luffy asked totally shocked. "You're friends with Arlong?"

"I'm not his friend, not anymore at least. But we were on the same crew and it's my fault he came to the East Blue." The older man confessed reluctantly.

"What? You made your crewmate come to Nami's home?!" Luffy's mouth hung open.

"No I didn't! He left the crew because he hated humans too much. But by becoming a Shichibukai I kept him out of prison." Jinbe tried to explain.

"So you didn't make him attack those villagers?" Luffy wanted to clarify.

"Of course not!" Jinbe had much too much pride and honor to attack someone that hadn't done anything at all to deserve his wrath. Though if they did, then that was another story altogether.

"Well, then I don't understand what you are worried about or why you think it's your fault. You didn't tell him to hurt Nami and be an asshole." Luffy grinned relieved.

"Who is Nami?" The fishman asked.

"Our navigator. She was forced to join Arlong's crew before she joined mine." explained Luffy.

"And she doesn't hate fishmen?" Jinbe doubted someone who had suffered under Arlong wouldn't hate his kind. After all his own people hated humans to this day, though there were exceptions like Whitebeard who protected them. Jinbe himself had been no exception until he met the old man.

"Why would she? She even likes Hachi now and Keimi and Pappug. And can you imagine how sad Sanji would be if we couldn't go to see Mermaid's because someone didn't like them?" Luffy shook his head.

"So she doesn't hate us…" Jinbe whispered.

"She hates Arlong, and maybe that other weird guy that stole her map. And probably some of the others too, she wasn't sure about Hachi either, but now she likes him and his Takoyaki were great!" Luffy thought some more on this topic.

"None of us like Arlong. But we were all looking forward to Fishman Island and now I am the only one who will see it." Luffy sounded rather disappointed.

Jinbe, who felt rather humbled right now. It did remind him of Otohime and how she always wanted fishmen and humans to get along with each other. He wondered if there was a chance of that wish becoming reality. Hearing about the navigator he for the first time thought that maybe it could

"I'm surprised you didn't ask Rayleigh to join you." Ace said, mostly to bring Luffy's attention to other matters instead of his missing crew.

"I wanted to. I like him too." Luffy grinned. "But he knows all about One Piece and I'm gonna become Pirate King. It wouldn't be an adventure this way. And he also said he wanted to stay hidden, which is sad, but he has seen everything already."

Rayleigh roared with laughter at that answer, and all the others, except Ace, joined in. He had liked the young captain from the moment Shanks had told him about the kid he met in the East Blue all those years ago. Meeting him had cemented that opinion enough that he actually didn't mind being noticed by the Marines all that much if it meant keeping Luffy alive so he could continue his journey. He eyed Luffy's wound that had bled through yet another bandage and glanced at the submarine. It'd work out, somehow, he just hoped the sub could keep up with their pace.

Ace stared at his brother unable to form any words before resting his head against Luffy's shoulder in exasperation. He should have known better than to expect anything else, never mind Luffy's reason of why he wouldn't ask someone! Of course it wasn't something like the fact he had been the vice-captain of the most successful pirate crew ever.

"Be glad he respects you too much. He can be quite insistent if he wants you to come along apparently." Ace warned Rayleigh, causing another round of laughter.

"We're nearing the Downward Plume, however it looks like we won't be using it just yet." Rayleigh turned the ship around. "Take a good look below us, you should be able to see it now."

"Hmm? Is there another ship besides the bear's here?" Luffy asked.

Ivankov chuckled. "Aye, look below us, you two. It's quite the sight from this angle."

"Is it…" Ace's eyes widened.

"Ah, it's the Moby Dick." Rayleigh smiled gently.

"Oyaji…" Ace whispered before tightening his hold on Luffy, who apparently wanted to very much see the other ship now. "Stay still!" He hissed. "We don't need you putting your life in danger now. You heard Ivankov!"

"I want to see your ship!" Luffy yelled and was promptly given a piggyback ride which had him grinning again.

"WOAH! IT'S HUUUGE!" Luffy exclaimed once he could see the ship below them coming closer. He stretched his neck over the railing to get a better look and at once managed to pierce through the coating bubble coming back a moment later coughing and sputtering.

"LUFFY!" Ace seriously wanted to choke his overly idiotic brother, who was still catching his breath.

"Don't you get lost there?" Luffy asked excited a minute later. "You'll have to show me everything!"

"Tell you what, Luffy?" Ace gave in. "Let's go visit our kitchen… after I introduce you to some of my friends, okay? And then I will show you the rest of the ship."

Naturally Luffy loved the idea.

"Can any of you signal them? They might assume we're an enemy ship." Rayleigh reminded everyone.

"Sure." Crocodile drawled and quickly sent a flashlight signal, indicating that they were no enemies. Whitebeard usually was patient enough to not attack right away, though with the current situation they couldn't be too careful.

Luffy vibrated on Ace's back. He wanted to see this huge ship that, while not as great as their own Sunny, was something else altogether. It had to be, it was Ace's new home after all.

Ace was about to return to his crew and he would be alright, alive and well, as he should be. And he also was still stronger, though Luffy would catch up in no time! He took the Vivre Card out of its respective place and smiled at the paper's size and state. Then he carefully put it back under the band of his hat again, not noticing Jinbe, who was quietly watching him.

Afterwards he swung his legs around for a bit before quickly losing his patience again.

Having learned nothing from his previous experience, Luffy once again tried to stretch his neck outside to see more, but was quickly pulled back by Jinbe who, gave him (and by extension Ace) his own Flutter Kick Coating that would at least allow him to move away a little bit. Anything to keep Ace from erupting in fire and hitting the already hurt boy.

"OYAJI! It's the Straw Hats' ship!" At last someone could see the flag clearly enough to identify it (which wasn't an easy task, since they were below the other ship).

And finally their father's booming laughter filled the ship. "Put your weapons away. If that's the case then there is no need to fight."

"Are you sure?" Blenheim asked worried.

"Do you want to explain to Ace why you attacked his little brother's ship?" Marco asked. This sentence earned quite a few gasps. All of the second division, some of the commanders and of course Whitebeard had been told (in some cases quite often) about Ace's younger brother, but the other's didn't know about him, much less that it was Straw Hat Luffy, the rookie who'd been in the Newspapers regularly lately. (It explained so much too. Finally they knew why Izo had started to keep the articles with news about Straw Hat neatly stacked in his cabin ever since he started to appear more.)

"Remember, Delacuaji told us, that Straw Hat Luffy was seen with Ace. It seems like the little brat broke into prison and got him out" Their father concluded.

Under normal circumstances their crew would take someone else rescuing one of theirs in such a manner as an insult. However, having been told about Luffy in detail Whitebeard admitted to himself that he should have expected to meet the brat today, one way or another. He however hadn't believed the other captain to be crazy enough to pay a visit to Impel Down.

"They just sent a friendly signal." Curiel informed them and was ordered to return it right away.

Whitebeard felt a wave of Haki as a way of greeting, one he hadn't felt in a great many years, and laughed once again.

As if by magic most of the tenseness that had accumulated over the last few weeks, ever since the news of Ace's impending execution had reached them, evaporated and was replaced by an atmosphere of nervous excitement.

"Haki?" Blenheim, who'd felt the wave as well, asked.

"Don't worry." Whitebeard chuckled. "It's someone I haven't seen in a great many years. You will meet him in a few minutes."

"Kingdew, as soon as we have confirmed Ace's wellbeing with our own eyes, call our fleet and our allies. It shouldn't take much more than a few…" He trailed of watching curiously as two extremely stretched arms appeared in his sight and two hands grabbed on to the Moby Dick's railing.

The arms began to shrink rapidly, if their movements was anything to go by, before laughing and yelling could be heard from the ocean. A few of his sons noticed and managed to pull some others back just in time. The arms shrank back to their normal size and a black, blue and red ball broke through their coating and landed with a rather loud crash in a heap on the main deck of the Moby Dick where they finally could make out two human beings.

"ONCE YOU'RE HEALED I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!" A most familiar and most welcome voice roared enraged as one figure untangled itself from the other, with flames appearing on its skin, thus killing of even the last bit of doubt that it could be anyone or anything else than Ace. The other one meanwhile still laughed as he remarked about how the ocean had made him feel weak even though he had only stretched his hands through the ocean.

Then, to the surprise of all, Ace bent down to extremely carefully and gently help the one he just threatened to his feet.

To their father's dismay their apparent guest was bleeding rather badly, if the red on the previously pristine deck was anything to go by. If that boy was indeed Straw Hat Luffy (it was difficult to say, since he wasn't wearing a Straw Hat and looked rather pale), it was no surprise that his son was so uncharacteristically gentle, even as he was still yelling. He must've been worried sick. And he couldn't even alleviate any it, for their own doctors and nurses were all women and as such they left them in the New World. Whitebeard had been planning for war after all. Instead of a doctor he signaled for someone to bring their first aid kit, it was the only thing he could do right now.

For several minutes no one else said a word as the boy was being fussed over by Ace all the while laughing and staring around apparently very much curious about them and the ship until the moment he reached for something on his head and found nothing. Then he started to look around agitated and asked "Hat? … Where's my hat? Ace, my hat!"

Most of the crew, who had wanted to welcome their lost commander back, were watching fascinated and rather shocked as their commander picked the other up and started to look around for the missing hat as well, scolding the smaller one even more for losing it.

Finally Marco threw an old looking hat that had definitely seen better days to the boy. "Aren't you worried about the wrong thing, yoi?"

"My hat!" The boy yelled and smiled at him. "Thanks… hmmm… you're not the captain, are you? You don't have a white beard!"

Marco raised an eyebrow towards Ace in question. Had the boy really no clue who their father was. Taking Ace's sigh and exasperation as an indication he went for no as an answer to his unasked question.

"Gurararara. I'm the captain of this ship." Their father informed the still grinning boy who was dusting his hat off putting it on. Then he looked at Whitebeard with an even wider smile. Marco hadn't thought it was possible.

"Oyaji…" Ace whispered, watching him with so many mixed emotions.

"Welcome back, son!" the old man looked at his son who was still holding on to the Straw Hat captain (with the hat on no one doubted his identity anymore).

"I'm sor-"

"I'm glad you're home!" Whitebeard cut Ace off. His son was obviously distressed about a lot of things at this very moment. There'd be more than enough time to talk about whatever still mattered later, when he wasn't desperate to get help for his brother. "I'm sure you've been through a lot of trouble."

The two stared at each other for several moments until Luffy chuckled and freed himself to stand on his own legs.

"Shishishi. So you're the captain! You're huge! And you have a white beard!"

"Of course he has!" Ace yelled again. "Don't be disrespectful!"

"So this is Ace's crew and ship, right?" He asked the captain, ignoring Ace for the moment.

"It is indeed." Whitebeard replied, curious where this was going. The brat once again took a good look around, smiling widely. And finally Blenheim arrived with their first aid kit and it seemed as if this reminded Ace again of his brother's injury yet again.

"Oyaji! Please, a first aid kit isn't enough! He's in serious need of a doctor! He's losing too much blood!" Ace pleaded for the other man's help, and it hurt him to disappoint his beloved son.

"We left all of our doctors and medics in the New World, Ace. This is the best we can do at the moment. We'll hurry and get him proper help, Marco-"

"What? But Luffy won't make it!" Ace tensed up completely.

"Don't worry about that!" Luffy waved them off, which in turn was ignored by Blenheim who set to work.

All of a sudden Luffy's expression turned serious. "More importantly, you will make sure Ace is alright, won't you?" He asked as he locked eyes with Whitebeard.

"LUFFY!" Ace shouted almost embarrassed, however the other didn't take his eyes of Whitebeard's own.

Several members of their crew gasped in indignation. Ace was one of them! How dare the brat imply that they wouldn't care for their own! How dare he insult their captain and father!

Whitebeard however grinned. The other captain not only had guts but apparently also had a brother complex, just like Ace. He wasn't challenging or insulting him, no. He only wanted to confirm that his brother was well loved and accepted here. He wanted to make sure he had brought his brother back to where he should be. These kinds of feelings Whitebeard could easily respect and accept.

"Of course. Ace is my son."

The Straw Hat brat's smile returned full force at his answer. "Shishishi. Good. Then all is right. Oh, and don't worry about the guys on my ship." He told him and pointed to the smaller ship that was getting close enough to connect both of the coating bubbles before continuing to confuse many of the curious listeners. "Ah well… except for Crocodile, he wants to fight you or something. I didn't want to free him, but Iva-chan said we should and he was helpful because of Iva-chan, though Crocodile doesn't like him. I'd beat him again, but then Ace would hit me for moving too much again. Also I don't feel so good anymore. I need food."

Blenheim, who had finally managed to take the unhelpful captain's bandages of, cursed colorfully. "I don't think it's food you lack!" He was happy he was blocking Ace's view right now. The wound looked as if it went right through the Straw Hat kid's abdomen. As quickly as possible he bandaged him again and prayed the other would make it to the New World so they could help him. He, as well as most others, had realized that Ace would probably die along with his brother should it come to that, even if not in the literal way.

"EH? But Ace promised me food!" Luffy whined, reminding the older man of a kicked puppy and Ace quickly reassured him that he'd get to eat something soon. Blenheim eyed Ace warily and started the mental count of one to zero for Straw Hat, despite the serious situation.

"Oyaji" Jinbe, who had jumped onto the deck of the Moby Dick together with Ivankov greeted the older captain before turning towards Luffy. "… Stop thinking about your food for a moment and start worrying about your health."

"It's your fault." Luffy stated matter-of-factly. If it wasn't for Jinbe he wouldn't have talked about food after all, and if he wouldn't have talked about food he wouldn't have gotten hungry and probably wouldn't have thought about it right now.

"Sorry, but you soon won't have the strength to eat, Straw Hat-boy!" Ivankov was worried. "Any moment now and…"

"Ah, don't worry." Luffy smiled. "Ace is alright now, so I don't care if I make it-"

"LUFFY!" Ace paled drastically at his brother's words. "What the hell are you saying? Of course you will make it! Don't you dare save me and die for it!"

"I won't die! But Iva-chan's magic will run out soon so I'll sleep! I'm gonna be the Pirate King! Even if I should die, I will still become the Pirate King first!" He yelled while swaying a little, causing Ace to freak out and carry him once again.

Chuckling could be heard from the other ship, while most of the Moby Dick's crew watched the other captain with huge eyes, not believing their ears. The firm conviction with which the small brat had stated that he'd be the King of Pirates in his current condition was amazing and crazy at once. He absolutely made no sense.

He grinned at Ace and confirmed. "I will make it!"

"Ne Rayleigh," he called towards his own ship and the chuckling stopped. "Are the bear-pirates-" "Heart Pirates-" Ivankov tried to inform him. "-close now?"

"RAYLEIGH?!" Even the commanders of the Moby Dick now looked at the man at the wheel, who had answered, before turning back to the Straw Hat captain again in wonder.

"Ah, they're still following us and catching up. Maybe they'll hurry if one of you guys would send a distress signal and request help!" Rayleigh suggested ignoring all the curious stares. "You're lucky he followed us so far Luffy."

"Shishishi, I know."

"That captain followed us here?" Ace asked, torn between wonder and hopefulness.

"He did." Luffy smiled. "So I will be alright and you won't get out of your promise! Either of them!" Luffy said determined and Ace couldn't help but smile shakily and nod.

"Good, then I'm sorry, but I'll leave the rest to you." Luffy told him. All his own worries had been taken care of, so he finally could give in to his body's condition and went limp in his brother's arms, who grit his teeth and hid his eyes beneath his bangs.

"So who is on that submarine that we sent the signal to?" Whitebeard inquired, sure that Kingdew had done as requested by his old rival's right hand man.

"A doctor." Ace said, holding on to Luffy tightly.

"He's called the Surgeon of Death, the captain of the Heart Pirates, and offered to help Luffy before. Unfortunately we couldn't stay since the Marines had been sighted and we wanted to find you. His crew apparently also did have a run in with one before so he was about to leave as well. Their ship followed us so far, so maybe we will be lucky." Rayleigh further explained.

"Aren't you two coming over here as well?" Whitebeard turned to Crocodile and Daz Bones once the other ship had answered their distress signal.

"I'm not interested anymore." Crocodile glared. "I came here because they said you were going to war, but with your precious commander back I doubt that will happen anytime soon now, much less on such favorable grounds for the Marines."

"Gurarara." Whitebeard laughed. "Feel free to challenge me to a fight anytime, brat."

"Tch."

"Still, thank you for helping my son." Whitebeard knew when thanks were due.

"I had nothing better to do. Besides, that little shit is an interesting one." He said while pointing to Luffy.

A few minutes later the submarine appeared behind the sunny, followed by a blue circle which enveloped parts of all three ships and suddenly the captain of the Heart Pirates joined the group on deck of the Moby Dick.

"I didn't think I'd ever stand on deck of this ship." said the tall captain as he looked around and nodded to Whitebeard as a matter of greeting. Seeing the other supernova unconscious he moved to take him away from Ace but was almost burned by flames.

"If you do want me to help, you'll have to let me take him to the submarine. All my equipment is there, you know." He held up his hands to placate the older brother who glared at him.

"Isn't he your rival? What reason would you actually have to help him?" Ace demanded.

"None. I have no obligations towards him nor any of his crew. But I am curious. It'd be boring for him to die here. Still if he does, I won't lose any sleep over it." He replied bluntly.

"Luffy-kun was certain that he'd help him, so I'd go with his judgement for now, Ace." Rayleigh told him.

"Besides" Jinbe added, "it's not as if we have any other way of helping him since you heard that all of your doctors aren't on the ship right now."

"So what blood type does he have?" Law asked, already thinking of the surgery.

"F" Ace replied without hesitation.

"Then I'll need a donor. I don't have anyone on my crew with that blood type and I'm not normally helping others." He shrugged and eyed Ace. "You're his brother, right?"

"Not by blood." Ace admitted. "I don't have type F."

"Then use mine instead." Jinbe offered to Law's bewilderment. Fishmen usually didn't offer blood, quite the opposite actually.

"I'm still coming along." Ace stated.

Law shrugged. "You're not allowed in the operation room and stay out of the way of my crew."

"Mind if I come along as well, yoi?" Marco suddenly asked. "I'm worried he'll storm into the operation room should he hear his little brother."

"Straw Hat-ya won't be making a sound, he's too out of it." Law told him but allowed him to join anyway.

When no one else had anything to say the five vanished along with the blue circle.


So how did you like this chapter? Again it was rather slow moving…

If you found any mistakes, please let me know!

Sorry for the short part with Law. I wanted to write more, but I've rewritten the whole Whitebeard meeting (and Law's part) three times now and I am tired as it's past midnight yet again. Also I wanted Luffy to be in capable hands.

Next up is a time skip (of a few days) and then a few talks will happen. Law will appear again most likely. As of course will Whitebeard and his crew. I'm thinking of writing about doing a scene with Rayleigh and Whitebeard too, it could be interesting. Then there of course is Sabo and also the Marines' reactions, which will have to be covered sometime soon.

Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions (as long as you don't ask me to write fighting scenes – if I need them you'll most likely only hear about the results in a tiny back flash sort of way.)

Thanks for reading ~