Chapter 6

AN: sorry if this chapters not too exciting, I promise the next one will be though ^^


Ace had already been asleep for three days. Luffy hadn't left Ace's side since that first day. Thatch had convinced him rubber boy that he needed to leave and let the bandits know what had happened incase they went looking for them. Sabo had finally convinced Luffy that he wouldn't leave Ace's side until the younger boy returned. Reluctantly Luffy left the Moby Dick with Thatch and Marco.

The entire time there felt like there was something off in the forest. It was too quiet. Their suspicions were confirmed once they reached the boy's tree house which had been reduced to ashes. Luffy stared wide eyed at the scene before him.

"W-what happened!?" he cried once he came out of shock. He looked around franticly for any sign of what might have caused this. Not seeing anything he ran off towards the bandit's home, Marco and Thatch hot on his heels trying to get Luffy to stop and calm down. Luffy couldn't calm down, this was too much. First Ace had gotten hurt and may never wake up and now the only the tree house they had built together, the only home they had was destroyed.

"DADAN!" he yelled as the bandit shack came into sight. The large orange haired women or maybe it was a man, Marco and Thatch couldn't really tell, came out of the shack.

"Luffy!" Dadan yelled, looking relived to see the straw-hat wearing boy. "Where have you been and where are Ace and Sabo?"

"What happened to the tree house!?" Luffy asked ignoring her questions. Knowing he wasn't going to listen to her until she answered him Dadan sighed.

"That bastard up in High Town came looking for Sabo again," she said. "When he couldn't find him he burnt your tree house to serve as a warning." Marco and Thatch saw Luffy's features darken. They didn't think the carefree seven year old could make such a face.

"Luffy?" Thatch asked, concerned. Marco turned to address the bandit.

"Who exactly is looking for Sabo, yoi?" he asked. Dadan apparently hadn't noticed them and jumped when he spoke.

"Just who the hell are you?" she asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Forgive me," Marco said. "I'm Marco and this is Thatch. We're pirates. Your boys have been with us. That's why you couldn't find them yoi."

"I see," she said. "The man's a noble from the village."

"A noble?" Thatch asked confused. "Why is a noble after Sabo?"

"It's his dad…" Luffy replied in a quiet voice, not sure if he should tell but unable to stop himself. "Sabo hated being a noble so much that he ran away."

"I see," Marco said, understanding what was going on now. "We'll have to make sure that they don't find him then, yoi."

Luffy looked up at him in surprise. He hadn't thought they would want to help. Nearly everyone hated nobles and it was always Sabo's biggest fear that they would reject him once they found out.

"You still haven't told me where Ace and Sabo are," Dadan said with a frown. She wouldn't admit it but she had been worried about the brats.

"About that," Thatch said with a sigh.

It took a while to explain to the bandit about how Ace had been attacked and gone into the coma. By the time Thatch had finished Luffy had fallen asleep and was being carried by Marco and they had decided that it would be best for the boy's to stay one the ship until Ace woke. It would also be the safest and most effective way to keep Sabo out of sights of the nobles who were looking for him.

Ever since returning to the ship and informing Whitebeard of what was going on the two boys hadn't left Ace's side. There was also one of them with their older brother at all times. It was so bad that not even the promise of food would get either to leave the sick bay even to eat. The commandeered we're taking turns bringing them food. Izou had just left them with their lunch.

"When do you think he's gonna wake up, Sabo?" Luffy asked quietly, looking down at his food but not really feeling hungry at all.

"I don't know, Lu…" Sabo said just as quietly before turning his attention to Ace. "You need to wake up soon, Ace. Me and Luffy need you here…"


Darkness.

Endless black.

Everywhere…

That's all he could see. Ace felt lost. Wandering, searching for any sign of life. He didn't know where he was. He couldn't see only black everywhere he looked. Once in a while he thought he could hear faint voices but they seemed too far away to make any of the words out. They seemed muffled, like he had cotton stuffed in his ears.

The only thing Ace seemed to be able to do in the darkness was think. Oh did he have too much time to think. He thought about where he was and about how he had gotten there. The last thing he remembered was pain and a white light before everything turned black. Ace reasoned that maybe he was sleeping and this was just a dream. However when he wasn't thinking about those things his mind wondered back to something he had asked Garp before Luffy came to Dadan's hide out.

Was it good that I was born?

Garp had never given him a straight answer back then. Ace thought that maybe it wasn't good that he was born… but then along came Luffy who told him that being alone hurt worse then being hurt and that Ace being there made things better. He told Ace that he wanted him to live. For the first time someone had actually said it out loud and Ace began to have hope again. But what if Luffy and Sabo were better off without him? If not for him Luffy wouldn't have been eaten by that crocodile or attacked by that bear.

Maybe I should just die…

Ace shook his head as soon as the thought crosses his mind. No he wouldn't give in so easily. He wouldn't give all those bastards who called him a demon the satisfaction. He needed to get out of the darkness, if he only knew how.

You need to wake up soon, Ace…

He looked around. He heard it that time. It was Sabo's voice loud and clear.

Me and Luffy need you here…

They needed him to wake up. Someone needed him! Ace concentrated as hard as he could. He needed to wake up, he wanted to wake up. To return to his brothers. He had to thank Marco for saving him. He had to wake up so he could fight with Luffy over food and drive Dadan insane and make Garp made with their dreams of becoming pirates. He just had to!


A soft groan had Sabo and Luffy's full attention. They stared at Ace intently, afraid that they may have imagined it.

"His eye twitched!" Sabo cheered as he saw the signs of their brother trying to wake up. "Come on, Ace, wake up."

"Wake up, Ace!" Luffy cheered, hoping it would encourage his older brother to open his eyes. Another groan slipped past Ace's lips.

"Yes, that's it, wake up. We need you here!" Sabo went on.

"Hey, what's going on in here, yoi?" Marco said, walking into the sick bay. They could hear the boy's yelling all the way in the kitchen.

"You should be more mindful of the injured," Thatch said coming in behind Marco.

"Ace is trying to wake up!" Sabo shouted, not caring about being reprimanded for being loud.

"Ace! Ace!" Luffy cheered when Ace's fingers started to twitch. Marco and Thatch both saw it and grinned.

"Come on, Ace," Marco coaxed. "We're all waiting for you."

"Yeah, wake up, Ace," Thatch put in. "I'll show you some really good pranks."


Ace could hear them! He could finally hear them! He just needed to open his eyes. They felt so heavy, just like they did when his narcolepsy hit but he didn't care he needed to open his eyes. He needed to let them know he was there. He wanted to return to them. He had never wanted something as badly as he did now.

Another groan passed his lips and it sounded loud in his own ears. Mentally gritting his teeth he put all the strength he had into forcing his eyes open. It was hard and it took some time but finally, finally they fluttered open, letting in the blinding light. He groaned again, bringing a tired arm over his eyes to block the light. It felt so hard to move but he was alive and he was awake and that's all that mattered.

"Ace!" Luffy shouted. "Thank goodness…" Luffy's voice sounded watery in Ace's ears. Maybe it was because Luffy was crying, he couldn't tell until he felt rubbery arms wrap around him and wet tears falling on him.

"C-cr-" Ace tried to speak but his voice cracked and strained from disuse. A second weight was suddenly on his chest and he knew it was Sabo.

"You had us worried sick!" the blond scolded but Ace could hear the relief in his voice.

"Easy there," Thatch said trying to pull the boys off. Ace shook his head, letting them know that he didn't want his brothers pulled off of him.


Luffy wouldn't let go of his brother and Sabo was right on top of both of them. They needed this closeness thought never one of the older boys would admit to it or say it out loud. Sabo and Luffy had been so scared of never seeing their big brother again. The trio vaguely noticed Marco and Thatch leave the room but it wasn't long after that they came back with the doctor and a cup of water for Ace.

Reluctantly Luffy and Sabo realized their hold on their brother to give the doctor some room to work. Thatch helped Ace sit up to drink his water while Marco stood back with the boys and the doctor checked Ace's vitals.

"You're looking in good health," the doctor said after a while as he checked the wounds. "Now just to check to make sure the coma didn't do any damage."

"What do you mean yoi?" Marco asked, looking concerned once more.

"It's not uncommon for those who have gone into a coma to experience memory problems," he explained before turning to Ace once more and giving him an encouraging smile. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Portgas D. Ace," Ace told him looking bored.

"How old are you?"

"Ten."

"What island do you live on?"

"Dawn Island."

"Mother's name?"

"… Rouge," Ace said hesitantly, knowing what the next would probably be. "Don't bother asking about my father, I never meet the man." The doctor just nodded in acceptance, picking up that it was a touchy subject."

"Last question. Do you remember why you're here on this ship?" he asked.

"I was hurt by that bear," Ace admitted. "Marco brought me here…" he looked over to the man in question and bowed his head slightly. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, yoi," Marco said smiling lazily. He was just happy that Ace was alive and well.

"I guess we should go tell Pops the good news," Thatch said finally with a huge smile planted on his face.

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered while Sabo nodded.

After his examination Ace refused to stay in bed any longer. After a lot of arguing and yelling Marco convinced to the doctor to allowed Ace out on deck as long as he was taking it easy and not running around. After a little more arguing they settled on setting up a place for Ace to sit next to Pop's chair.

The trio ended up sitting there together finally eating their lunch and listening to stories about Whitebeard's earlier days as a pirate and captain of the Moby Dick. Thatch and the other commanders looked on with a smile. They had all been worried for Ace and were glad to see him finally awake. Marco and Haruta had left the ship to inform Ace's "family" that he was finally awake and to see if there was any more news about Sabo's father looking for him still.

Just the night before Whitebeard had expressed that he wanted to make the three boys his sons and take them out to sea but he wouldn't force them to go, it was a dissension they would have to make themselves. They just didn't know how to broach the subject with the kids. That was another factor as well. They had never had children so young on the ship before either and they were all more then aware that it would be dangerous for them if they did go. They were all growing attached to the three in such a short amount of time but in the end they couldn't force them to go. They also knew they would have to bring up the subject soon. They had already stayed on the island longer then they had intended already and would probably only be able to stay a few more days before they needed to get back out to sea, The Grand Line was calling to them and who were they to ignore such a call.


Three day away in the East Blue...

"When do you think we'll arrive, Captain Smoker?" Tashigi asked, adjusting her glasses.

The white haired captain took a long drag from the two cigars that were in his mouth as he thought about the assignment had had been given my Admiral Sengoku himself. He wasn't sure that he really agreed with it. Killing children didn't really suit his justice at all.

"Three days," he replied to his subordinate who was still waiting for an answer. "We shouldn't be long."

"Yes, sir," she said with a salute before going back to her spot on deck.

They would just have to see how it played out in the end.


AN: there you have it ^^ I hope you enjoyed reading it and see I told you I wouldn't make Ace suffer too long but now he's got an even bigger problem O.O wonder what's gonna happen... XD