Thatch enjoyed the gentle waves that hit the small raft. Though he was really hoping to find a boat to highjack soon, because as much as he loved the ocean, going swimming in it at least once a day was not what he wanted. Normally it was Luffy who fell in, because he wasn't focusing on what he was doing and since Law can't swim, he had to jump off the raft and go for an unwanted swim and get the boy back on it. Opening his eyes and looking to the dark sky above, which was covered in thousands of stars and the full moon, that shined brightly. He was seriously surprised, that they had not hit any kind of storm until now. He smiled at the boys calm breathing, before he felt something enter his range of Observation Haki. Humans. He grinned, before gently shaking the boys awake.

"Law, Luffy, come on. Wake up. We are going to have some fun." Groggily both boys moved off him, before they felt what was getting close to them.

"Thatch?" He heard Law say his name.

"Hm?"

"They idiots, because traveling while moon high?"

"Idiots! Idiots!" Grinning at the boy's insult in a question and Luffys singing of the word, but nodded to agree.

"But now be quiet. This is like a hunt. But a special hunt. Throw every human off the boat and don't destroy anything." Both nodded, crouching down, which didn't really surprise Thatch, after all he did say hunt. It really reminded him of the time when neither of them really knew him or he them. They had moved that way, running was copied from the wild animals, like wolves and Thatch even had to relearn them how to walk entirely on two feet and not their half four-footed animal-half monkey way, though it did look hilarious at times.

It didn't really take long for the ship to appear. Thatch whistled quietly. It was a nice sized ship, which he could comfortably steer alone without the help of the boys. But he had to admit, what kind of moron continued to sail during the night, when most likely the navigator was asleep and you could barely see a thing, even with the full moon. Using his Observation Haki to sense how strong they were, he was utterly surprised. They felt like what was comparable to a kitten.

"Thatch? All humans that weak?" Law looked up to the grownup, who just put his head to his palms. These people were either extremely stupid or just had a death wish. Sailing through the night was one thing, however everyone sleeping, while the strongest person on the ship was comparable to a kitten from the island was another. How on earth did they survive in the New World until now, without being sunk or robbed?! Oh well, that was about to change.

"Lu, throw on ship." Law muttered to Luffy, locking an arm around Luffys waist, who shot his arms to the railing of the boat.

"Thatch?" Grinning he grabbed both boys by the waist, before letting Luffy shot them over to the boat.

Landing would have been a rather loud affair, if Thatch wouldn't have been the one holding the boys close. While perfectly landing on the boat, causing it to rock on the waves with minimal sound, telling them that they had successfully landed. A noise, that should have alerted the lookout, which was actually asleep. This really reminded him of his family, when they raided/hightjacked a ship, more often for fun, than for need.

"Well now, throw the…" Thatch, in the middle of his sentence had bite his lip trying to muffle his laughter. Law had created a huge 'room', what could easily harbour the Moby Dick about 3 times, before swapping the sleeping people with pieces of fur, that they usually slept in. Looking down from the boat to the 5 sleeping people, he gripped an empty bottle of sake, which was laying around on the deck, before throwing it at them, effetely waking them. He could feel Luffy climbing up his back like a monkey, something he did very often, looking over Thatchs shoulder, down to the group of 5 people. Law stood next to Thatch, smirking down, while showing his rather sharp canines, a fact that Thatch just shoved to the ability to adapt from the D's.

"W-What!? Get off the boat, you prehistoric shit!" Thatch broke out laughing, something that confused the boys.

"Thatch!"

"Prehistoric shit! Haha That's a great one! Haha. I'll remember that one."

"You dare to laugh! I'll kill you! I'm a nob…" A loud band, the sound of shattering wood and loud a splash stopped Thatch's laughter immediately. He looked to the raft, that was completely shattered, the probably nobles, were floating around, clinging to pieces of wood. Thatch felt an extremely sinister energy from his back and from his right side. Looking at Law, he froze. In the normally rather warm golden eyes, there was no emotion other than one, which Thatch really couldn't explain, something crazy. A quick look to Luffy made a cold shiver go down his spine. The wild, crazy look in Luffys eyes, made him fear.

""Hurt Thatch and we'll kill you!"" Both boys spoke so clearly, like he never heard them before. While Thatch felt his heart warm by the words of the boys. He looked to the nobles in the water, who were from what he could see, as white as the sand of the island, while shivering, whimpering for mercy. Thatch frowned. That wasn't Conquers Haki, it was something different, something more savage and sinister. They raided off killing intent, which slowly died, when the men lost consciousness. It was rather quiet for a bit, before Thatch grabbed Law and pressed him into his side and ruffling Luffys hair, as best as it was possible.

"Thank you, boys. But you don't need to take someone like that serious. They're not worth getting all worked up for, okay? And besides, like a few words from a nobody could hurt me. By the way did one of these guys have something like a moving stick in a class container on him?" Looks of confusion hit him, like the emotion did. So that was very likely a no.

"That?" Luffy held a bracelet to Thatch, where the were four needles on. One was spinning around like wild, which made Thatch grin. That was probably where they came from. While two were rather stable, one was completely still. Suddenly realizing it was Luffy, who gave it to him. How on earth did he get it? He hadn't moved like more than a meter away from him. Did he nick it from those nobles, when he smashed the raft, because after all Luffy was the only one able, due to his stretching ability.

"Well boys. Now we found a ship and can move more freely, but don't destroy anything, it needs to get us back home."

"Thatch home!"

"Thatch always home." Luffy grinned at him, while Law smiled. Thatch stared at the two about 9-year-olds and felt the old familiar sting in his eyes.

"Lu, Law." They looked directly into his eyes, a bit confused, before they were in a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you so much. I don't think I could ever imagine life without you anymore. Now let's have a good night's sleep, before heading home. You'll love Haruta, Luffy and Law, I believe Marco will really like you." Thatch had to laugh, when they grabbed his hands, shy to go into an unfamiliar closed place. Yes, life without even one of them, would be hard for Thatch. They taught him so much, gave so much and expected nothing, but being there for them.

To Shahana-G : Thank you for your Review. To your question about Ace. He is still a kid and will soon make his debut. In this story Luffy is the same age as Law. Just to make things clearer.

Just for general information. Thatch isn't really sure how old Law and Luffy are. He completely lost count of the time he stayed with them. He believes they are that age, but isn't sure.

Well my updates should stay constant now… hopefully. But other than that, we have arrived at the half of the story, if I decide to not add another chapter or two. So that would be it. For whoever read all of this. Thank you for reading both the chapter and this.