Okay, let me first clear some stuff up. Apparently some of you think that was the ending and it wasn't. Nowhere near the ending. This is maybe halfway through? But it doesn't end until much, much later. Sorry about the misunderstanding. For Reviewers: Fanfiction is going through weird stuff (or maybe it's just my laptop). Replies will be at the bottom, since I can't reply through the site. Sorry.

It was hard to remember exactly when the last time someone had dared to take one of his children was.

Well, not really. It was exactly eight years, four months, and twenty three days ago, and Whitebeard was still seething over the very memory.

It wasn't hard to remember the possessive rage that had blinded his vision—and it wasn't hard to remember the destructive carnage that had followed.

"Oyaji? Oyaji?" Marco's concerned voice at his side snapped him from the rage filled memory. "We're going."

Whitebeard nodded as he stood up. "Of course." He agreed. Feeling a bit childish, (but couldn't an old man love his family?), he held out a hand to his son. "Humour me and sit on my lap until we get there, Marco. I'm feeling a bit lonely right now."

Marco's eyes filled with understanding as his arms lit pale blue and he sailed up to Whitebeard's lap. "Shall I report?" He asked, and although the words sounded professional, the soft tone of his voice revealed that he already knew the answer.

"No." Whitebeard replied as he wrapped a hand around his son. "Just stay here for a while. How are the others?"

"Doing well, as only to be expected." Marco replied. "Some are quite excited. It's been a while since someone worthy to fight has come along."

"Worthy, indeed." Whitebeard's eyes hardened. "Even death seems too small a punishment for anyone who dares to hurt my family. Not even Sengoku would be able to get away with that, if he so dared."

"But he wouldn't." Marco replied. "Do you know who it is?"

Whitebeard shook his head. "But whoever it is, it's a fool. Look where they're headed, after all."

Marco's features twisted in confusion, but for only a moment before his lips curved into a displeased scowl. "Fools." He hissed, distaste tightening his every feature.

"Fools indeed." Whitebeard agreed. "Do you feel up to a fight, my son? I'm feeling quite bloodthirsty tonight."

0o0o0o0o0

As Ace opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the frustratingly familiar drain of Kairoseki.

The next thing he noticed was the woman standing next to him. "I see you're finally awake." She hummed cheerfully. "Good, I was starting to get worried that you were damaged merchandise... or worse, maybe even dead. I always do hate the weaklings, all they get me is the bounty." Her tongue clicked against her teeth as she took a seat gingerly next to Ace. "I was a little worried, since the man with you was one of Whitebeard's boys, but I was quite relieved to find out that you weren't one of them. All a bunch of weak softies, they are... quite distasteful."

Ace stared at her for a moment, his mind churning away the feeling of hatred he felt at seeing her face as he wondered where he had seen her before. "You're one of the admirals." He realized.

"Indeed, I am!" She laughed and clapped happily as she crouched down and smiled sweetly at him. "I'm so glad you remembered me."

"You would've been happier if I hadn't." Ace growled as his fingers impatiently twisted at the chains.

"No, no, I doubt it." The admiral giggled again, an airy yet disgusting sound. "I'm flattered, really. I'm also quite glad you didn't decide to become a Shichibukai, as it would have taken away a lot of my chances at earning money." She sighed and tucked a piece of blue hair behind her ear. "And what an absolute tradgedy that would have been... although, honestly, with your personality, I'm sure you wouldn't have been protected for too long."

"You're rather garrulous, aren't you?" Ace asked. "How is it that the marines haven't sent you to a mental hospital yet? They must have figured out that it's where someone like you belongs."

"Someone like me?" She huffed indignantly. "How offensive! I'm absolutely loveable, you ought to know. Everyone loves me!"

Ace scowled. "I would love to see you burn up." He snarled.

"I'd love to hear you scream." She replied dreamily.

"You're insane." Ace accused.

A light smile quirked up the edges of her lips, as she sweetly asked with a laugh, "And you aren't?"

"I'm not." Ace replied. "At least, not like you."

"Interesting." She shrugged. "Well, good luck with trying to stay sane. You'll be just like me soon enough. Going insane is much easier than staying sane."

She smiled at him one last time, and began to walk away.

Then the ship exploded, and Whitebeard's voice cut in, "DON'T TOUCH MY SONS!"

There was a moment of eerie silence as cracks spread across the air and through the wood of the ship... and then an explosion of sound as they combusted and water flew into the air.

"ACE!" Whitebeard's shout echoed across the water as he leaped forwards and caught Ace from falling into the water. "Are you alright, son?"

"Fine." Ace replied, stunned. "That was... anti climatic."

A slight smile of relief lit Whitebeard's features. "Yes, I suppose it was." He agreed with a slight laugh. "I'd rather not go through that again, nevertheless."

"I guess not." Ace agreed. "Can we head back to the Moby Dick now?"

"I suppose we could." Whitebeard agreed wryly. "If I could have your permission to officially introduce you as my son."

A conflicted expression crossed Ace's features. "I..." He started, but was cut off by a roar of anger.

"How DARE you destroy my ship and take away my merchandise?" The blue haired admiral's features twisted in rage as she clambered onto the plank of wood that she had been hanging onto. "You'll pay!"

"That has got to be the most cliched villain phrase ever." Ace reflected.

"SHUT UP!" The admiral roared as she dipped a finger into the water. "Reflect on your mistakes in the afterlife."

"Again, cliche." Ace sighed.

"See if it's cliche once you meet Death." The admiral snarled.

"How on earth are you getting all these cliched threats?" Ace wondered.

"DIE!" A fizzing sound popped in the air as a crackling sound reached their ears. The admiral's features twisted in satisfaction as lightening swirled around and into the water. For a moment, the water was still, and then an unearthly sound pierced the air as lightening swirled inside the water.

"Oh, ****." Whitebeard's eyes widened as his arms tightened around Ace. "Ace, I'm going to throw you onto the ship. Stay there and wait for me, okay?"

"Wait for you?" Ace demanded. "What are you going to do? Why can't I help?"

Whitebeard shook his head, picked Ace up, and hurled him through the air. Ace slammed into Marco, who had flown up to catch him. "Stay there for a moment." He commanded them. "And call Namur... Thatch is drowning."

0o0o0o0

The aftermath was quite simple. Ace joined, everyone cheered, Thatch was saved from drowning (but feeling guilty and frustrated for being too weak to save Ace himself), and overall the mood was jolly.

As night fell and most had become too drunk to stay conscious, Ace slipped out towards Whitebeard.

For a moment he simply stared at the giant, unsure whether or not he was awake or not, when one of the man's eyes cracked open and a soft smile spread across his features. "Come here, son."

A lump found itself into his throat at the word... son, it sounded so strange... and for a moment Ace wanted to tell Whitebeard before the reminder that he couldn't, that when he did this wonderful dream of being accepted would fade away, and his feet moved before Ace's brain could catch up completely.

"What does that word mean?" The words slipped out childishly, and he turned bright red in embarrassment.

Whitebeard looked surprised for a moment, before he asked gently, "Do you mean son?" At Ace's flushed nod, he laughed and replied simply, "A son is family."

"Then what is family?" Ace demanded.

"Family…" Whitebeard leaned back and closed his eyes. "Now that's a hard question to answer. Family is too many things to explain in just one night." He sat up and smiled warmly at Ace. "Here's one thing to remember: Family is forever."

"Forever…" Ace swallowed and shook his head. "I don't believe in forever. Forever is just a fairy tale."

Whitebeard offered Ace a sad smile as he replied, "You may not want to believe it, but it's true. Family will always be there for you, will never abandon you, and no matter what—even if you're doing something utterly stupid and pointless, even if the world is against you—family will always be on your side."

Ace stared at Whitebeard for a moment, eyes wide in shock, before he stepped back and shook his head. "No." He answered quietly. "That can't be real. There's no way that you could all—there's hundreds in your family! Are you telling me that they'll all side with me, no matter what?"

Whitebeard frowned. "Perhaps not all of them." He admitted grudgedly. "But I will always be on your side."

"What if two of your children are siding against each other?" Ace asked desperately. "What then? You can't side with both of them!"

Whitebeard laughed. "My children argue, at most, over petty things. Our greatest argument most of the time is whether vodka or bourbon is preferable."

"But what if it's something serious?" Ace asked. "What if—what if one of your sons lied to everyone, and the others wanted nothing to do with him?"

"Well…" Whitebeard's thoughtful expression returned. "I suppose, if something like that happens, it will depend on what he lied about. If it was his past, nobody would hold a grudge. I have faith that my children won't care about the past. But if he did something serious—say, kill a family member without a good reason—then I wouldn't take his side." He leaned forwards. "Whatever you do, I'll forgive you, even if you cut off my limbs. But there's only one thing that I won't forgive—if you kill one of our family, I'll hunt you down even if it's the last thing I do."

Ace stared at him for a moment, his eyes steady yet distant, as though they were trying to see through him. For a moment, a dark look crossed his features, and then finally, a smile broke across Ace's features as he nodded. "I understand." He replied with a laugh. "I think I would feel the same way."

A relieved grin found it's way across Whitebeard's features, and he mimicked Ace's nod. "I know you do." He replied as a booming laugh found it's way out of his throat. "When you sent up that wall of fire to protect your crewmates—you're family—I knew that you'd understand."

Ace looked startled. "That soon?" He asked in shock, and then added hastily, "But they're not my family."

"It's not soon." Whitebeard smiled. "But I decided at that moment that I wanted you to become a part of my family. And even if they weren't your family, I could tell that they were your precious people."

Ace continued staring at Whitebeard for a moment, before he finally asked, "Hey, do you have any blood family on board?"

Whitebeard raised an eyebrow. "Blood family?" He asked. "I don't have anyone who shares my blood in my family, no. But that doesn't matter—we're all children of the sea."

Something that he couldn't quite understand crossed Ace's features, but the boy's chin finally dipped down in a nod. "I see." Ace said softly, and then raised his head. A smile broke over his features. "I've got a little brother, his name's Luffy. I think you would have liked each other."

"Oh?" Whitebeard raised an eyebrow and he patted his leg. "Come, and tell me about him."

Ace climbed up, and his grin grew even bigger as he began, "Well, he's a bit of an idiot, but…"

A/N: Yeah, I know, the rotten tomatoes now are upgraded to rocks. I'm sorry… (I have no excuses… but… I'm not that fond of writing battle scenes, so… yeah?) Being reborn as a slug seems nice… If you were reborn as something, what would you want to be reborn as? (other than a human)

REPLIES TO REVIEWS: (PLEASE reply through PM, not review.)

Lunapok: Sorry for the anticlimactic ending. How do you think I could have made it better?

Kitsune Foxfire: Thanks, although I personally thought it sucked. How do you think I could have improved it? (Also, huge fan.)

KamisoraInazumi-chan: Sure, thanks! Is there any way that you think I could have improved it? (Also, I loved Luffy's Birthday Special.)

GreenDrkness: Thanks! Were there any parts that you didn't like?