A/N: Hey everyone! It's too cold!

This fic has just passed 100 reviews! How the heck has this happened?! I don't understand! I'm thinking about making another bonus chapter about Sabo's makeover as soon as it reaches 150; what do you guys think? Would you want anything else in the bonus chapter?

Also, competition for this chapter: What's the real reason behind Ace's name 'Blossom'?

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece and I doubt I ever will.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The heavy pacing didn't stop. It had started ten minutes ago and the pacing man didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. He was wringing his hands around two large pieces of paper; documents maybe? Or wanted posters?

His teeth ground together as he halted his pacing just enough to glare with a worried frown out the window to the open sea. After six months of searching his grandsons had finally re-emerged from hiding, and they had re-emerged as Whitebeard Pirates...

...Ace...Sabo...Luffy...

Those three idiots were just asking for a fist of love.

Sabo woke up shivering. He pulled the blankets tighter around him, trying to get warmer. Namur had told him the other day that they would be passing a winter island that day but he hadn't expected it to be so fricking cold. Warm breath hung in the air like a sparkling cloud of dust before it dissolved into the air. He spent several minutes trying to warm himself up before deciding that his current method was not working.

Taking a deep breath to steady his nerve, Sabo quickly swung himself down from his hammock into the one beneath him, flailing slightly at the sudden shift in temperature as he landed on his personal heater; also known as Portgas D. Ace.

Having one of your brothers land on you would certainly wake most people...Ace wasn't most people. He continued to sleep on, oblivious to the brother he now had snuggling into his side, glad for the fire-user's increased body heat. Normally Sabo would never even think about clinging to his brother like a teddy bear but he had also never been this cold either. Plus, he was the only non-devil fruit user out of the three of them; Luffy's rubber skin insulated him really well from the cold and Ace was made of fire so he couldn't feel the cold. Sabo had no such luck.

After a few moments it became clear however that only Ace could stand the cold in the long run. Soon enough Luffy was climbing into the hammock as well, shivering violently because he hadn't thought to drag his blankets with him like Sabo did. Both of them quickly threw their arms around Ace's waist, fully prepared to not let him go for the rest of the day. In fact, by the time Marco descended into the second divisions sleeping quarters, many of the other crewmembers of the second division had gathered around Ace's bunk, huddling together for warmth as they all tried to reach the fire-user.

Marco took one look at their pathetic, miserable faces and let out a large sigh.

"I know for a fact most of you have winter clothes, yoi. Put them on and start on your chores. We'll only be passing this island for a few more hours; you can deal with the cold until then, yoi."

Whilst everyone reluctantly started to scramble around for jumpers and gloves (some of them even tried to pull their clothes on over their blankets) Marco walked calmly over to Ace's hammock and stared down at the three sleeping brothers. He felt a little bit bad (oh wait, no he didn't) as he pulled on the edge of the hammock, sending all three boys toppling to the floor in a heap of blankets and limbs. While Sabo and Luffy came up spluttering and shivering, Ace continued to sleep despite the fact he was face planting the floor with half his body still in his hammock.

"...Does he always sleep like a zombie, yoi?" asked Marco, raising an eyebrow as the rest of Ace's body tumbled out of his hammock to join him on the floor. Luffy looked up at him from where he was trying to steal Sabo's remaining blankets.

"Yep! Ace has trouble waking up so we usually have to help him."

"Most people don't count jumping on him until he gets so annoyed he has to wake up as helping him Lu."

"But it gets him awake." Luffy pointed out, pouting slightly at the disbelieving stares he was getting off of some of the other crew members.

Sabo merely sighed before giving up on keeping his blankets to himself and crawling over to rummage in one of their trunks for warm clothes for both him and Luffy. Quickly dodging the red coat that was thrown haphazardly at his head, Luffy quickly went about his 'wake-Ace-up' routine, stretching his arm to wrap around one of the ceiling beams. He quickly allowed his body to snap back, following his arm as he collided with the ceiling like a badly aimed rocket. The reason why soon became clear (as did the reason Sabo hid behind the clothing trunks). As Luffy collided with the ceiling he bounced off it, violently slamming into his brother below, only to be pulled up by his arms to repeat the process like some possessed, violent yo-yo. He didn't seem to care that sometimes his angle was thrown off and he ended up slamming into three other people, knocking them out cold before Ace finally decided to wake up.

And when Ace woke up, he exploded in a wave of heat that made all the pain worth it in the second division members' eyes.

The temperature of the sleeping deck rocketed upwards, until half of the division were convinced they had found a way to teleport to Alabasta. Ace slowly turned to glare at his giggling brother, obviously wanting nothing more to set fire to the annoying rubber brat. Thankfully Luffy's imminent death-by-pissed-off-older-brother was put on hold when Sabo chucked on of Ace's boots directly at his head, diverting his murderous rage on to the blonde instead.

"Glad to see you're awake Sleeping Beauty. Get dressed already, no one wants to see more of your boxers than we need to this early in the day." Sabo smirked before chucking a pair of black cargo shorts over to him, laughing slightly at the small blush on his brother's face. Quickly Sabo set about making Luffy dress in his winter clothes, trying to explain in the most basic way that just because it was warm in the sleeping quarters didn't mean it was going to be warm on deck. Needless to say Luffy didn't get it, Sabo got a headache, and Ace got some entertainment that made his mood lighten up again.

Ace was just glad it hadn't been up to him to explain why Luffy needed winter clothes, especially as one of Luffy's main arguments was 'Ace is just wearing shorts'...maybe he should put on a shirt today, just to get Luffy to wear proper clothing rather than any desire to wear the restricting monstrosities. Funny how a few weeks of not wearing a shirt can turn you into a shirt hating maniac who wanted to burn anyone who ever came near with one of those things.

Eventually they did all manage to get dressed and, as one big unit, the entire second division headed out of the sleeping deck, stumbling towards the galley, moaning and groaning about how hungry they were; even Sabo and Luffy slowed down their pace as soon as the frigid air of the corridors hit them.

Only Ace wasn't affected. He cheerfully continued his conversation with Marco, ignoring the murderous glares he was getting from the crew and his brothers for walking around with just shorts on.

When they all reached the galley they found the cooks going out of their way to make sure piping hot food was being served to every table; smoking hot sausages, boiling baked beans, sizzling lashes of bacon, warm buttery toast, there was even pancakes on the go! Thatch commanded the kitchen staff with the efficiency of a soldier going into battle, making sure that food never ran short and there was a constant supply of tea, coffee, and hot chocolate (a must have for weather like this).

When he spotted the second division traipsing through the doorway a large grin spread across his face. He too was bundled up against the cold but unlike most of the crew they could see, Thatch looked ecstatic. His face glowed with pure joy, cheeks rosy from heat of the kitchens but eyes twinkling madly in joy. He held up ten, glove covered fingers, signally to the brothers that he would be out with their food in ten minutes before turning to the monumental task he had set himself and attacking the ingredients with gusto.

"Commander Thatch has certainly given himself a challenge." Chuckled a gravelly voice from behind them. Sabo turned and smiled tightly at the large man who was casting his shadow over them.

"Good morning Teach." He greeted, trying not to tense up in the presence of the other man. For some reason none of them understood Luffy couldn't stand Marshall D. Teach, something that instantly set his older brothers on edge. Even as they spoke, Sabo could see Luffy inching away from them with a guarded expression on his face, an expression that didn't belong there. Ace and Sabo shared a look before the raven haired teen forced a grin and slung an arm round Luffy's thin shoulders, steering him towards their usual table, keeping up a forced chatter that continued until they both sat down, leaving Sabo to deal with Teach on his own.

"What problem do you have with Teach?" Ace asked, forcing Luffy down onto the bench before taking a seat next to him, not removing his arm from his shoulders. Luffy fidgeted slightly under his brother's concerned eyes, twisting and stretching his fingers as he frowned lightly, obviously trying to think how to explain himself.

"...he just...doesn't feel right..." he muttered, letting go of his fingers and picking up his knife, eyes widening as the silver flashed and sparkled in the light of the winter sun streaming through the window.

Ace reluctantly let it go seeing as his little brother was now clearly distracted, turning to greet Sabo who came over with a twitchy air about him. He slumped onto the bench opposite them, spared a brief smile to the still distracted Luffy, before wilting on to the table with a low groan. Ace chuckled gently, tilting his brother's hat back so he could poke his forehead.

"And you tell me off for sleeping on the table."

A mumbled curse word, muffled by the thick scarf that swallowed Sabo's neck, was all the response Ace got. Leaning backwards, Ace turned to look around the galley, smiling at anyone who gave him a confused look at seeing him looking at them upside down.

"What are you doing?" asked a curious voice from above him, causing Ace to turn his head to the left to stare at the imposing figure of Jozu, towering over him with a frown of confusing on his face.

"Passing the time." He replied with a grin, straightening up before grimacing as blood rushed from his head to the rest of his body. He quickly shook off the head ache though, turning his attention to the diamond man behind him. "It's fun to see how many people get disturbed when humour I stare at them for too long."

"And that's why we should not leave you alone with Thatch for any length of time." Grumbled Jozu, looking around at the other two as well before turning his attention back to Ace. "Speaking of Thatch do you know what he's planning?"

"Planning? Why do you think he would be planning anything?" Ace asked in a politely confused tone, tilting his head slightly to look up at the older man. Seeing Jozu relax Ace mentally smirked, glad he was still able to imitate Luffy's cute innocence so he didn't get caught. He and Thatch had been planning this for a week now, he wasn't going to slip up and give the game away now. Though they would have to tred carefully if Jozu was getting suspicious; if Jozu was suspicious then Marco would definitely be investigating. Ace had only just been taken off potato peeling duty and he would rather not be put back on it anytime soon; his hands still smelled of starch!

"It's been too quiet." Muttered Jozu, wondering off with a paranoid glance towards the kitchen. As soon as he was out of earshot Ace dissolved into snickers, slumping across the table as he covered his mouth helplessly.

Hearing his brother's snickering Luffy looked at him with a wide grin, starting to giggle himself as he tugged the sleeves of his coat down lower to cover his wrists properly so his hands weren't as cold. He couldn't hold his knife and fork if his fingers were frozen after all!

Sabo merely glared at them both through the folds of his scarf, obviously of the impression that no-one should be this happy in the chilly winter morning.

"You enjoy making them paranoid, don't you?" he asked grumpily, rubbing his bare hands together and blowing on them, trying to get feeling back into his fingers.

Ace grinned roguishly, eyes glinting in impish amusement.

"You enjoy the same thing." He pointed out with a smirk, pointing a finger of triumph at his brother's face. "Don't even pretend you don't. Also, you're nail polish is starting to come off."

Sabo let out a whoop of relief, cheering up slightly as he scratched desperately at the sparkly blue nail polish Izo had accosted his nails with. Though it was pretty, and complimented what he usually wore (never mind the fact it was his favourite colour) Izo had not let him use nail polish remover: so while the rest of the makeup was easy to get off the nail polish had stayed on his fingers for two weeks and was only now starting to peel off.

Luffy pouted as he watched the polish start to flake off.

"Sabo looked pretty." He whined, staring dismally at his brother's fingers that were slowly getting less glittery with every passing moment. Ace and Sabo shared a look, shaking their heads at their little brother.

"How about after breakfast you go and ask Izo to paint your nails for two weeks, see how pretty you feel then." Sabo sighed, cheering up a lot more when he noticed Thatch and two other chefs heading their way with their XXXXXXL breakfasts.

Luffy simply hummed in contemplation before attacking his mountain as soon as it was on the table. Ace and Sabo quickly thanked their friend before they too were lost to the world of warm, delicious food, letting out appreciative moans as soon as they started. Thatch chuckled good-naturedly and sat down beside Sabo, watching the boys carefully to make sure they still ate everything on their plates. He knew it was silly (food stood no chance of survival against those three monsters) but he still needed to make sure they were eating enough for their metabolisms to break down; for his own peace of mind if not for their health.

As soon as they finished their meal, Ace and Thatch left the galley, heads low and whispering excitedly to each other; causing many paranoid glances to follow their departure. Luffy looked around quickly before spotting Izo and bounding over to him, causing Sabo to pale and go the opposite direction; needless to say that after Izo had kidnapped him, Sabo was keeping a wide birth between them...at least his nails stopped being blue and sparkly. He hoped Luffy hadn't taken his joke seriously. Knowing Luffy he would be pleased for the first few hours before growing bored and wanting the polish off his nails.

The deck had turned into a winter wonderland overnight. As soon as Ace stepped up on deck his eyes were dazzled by glittering white snow covering every space on deck. It sparkled gently in the harsh winter light, gleaming and magnificent against the dark grain of the wood. Snow continued to fall, shimmering slightly in the air before it settled lightly on his skin, melting into water as soon as it touched his bare flesh. The pale flecks stood out starkly against raven locks, studding his hair with silvery stars. The redhead beside him grinned happily, gazing up into the bleak grey sky like it held all the wonders of the world. He didn't even twitch as snow landed softly on his skin, gathering in his eyelashes as he stared up in the sky.

Trenches had been dug by the footprints of many crewmates, carving paths through the wonderland around them but not tainting most of the pure landscape. Ace and Thatch started to walk towards the railings, compressed snow and ice crunching delicately beneath their feet.

They gazed out at the iron-grey sea that lapped gently against the hull. Out of the corner of their eye they could see the winter island, sparkling softly in the frost air. Their breath puffed out in clouds of glittering smoke, obstructing their vision as it twisted through the frigid air.

"I love the winter." Thatch said suddenly, breaking Ace out of his thoughts as he turned to see his friend grinning brilliantly at him. "The snow always makes me happy."

"Why?" asked Ace, holding out his hands to try and catch some snowflakes, willing his body temperature to drop to a normal human's just so that they wouldn't melt as soon as they touched him. It was one of the things he missed about life before his devil fruit. Sabo had once told him when they were seven that no snowflake is the same and they had spent a whole afternoon catching snowflakes on their fingers and trying to compare them. He supposed that was what made snowflakes so beautiful; they were so fleeting in their beauty that you rarely had the chance to notice it before it was gone.

Thatch shrugged, watching him with an amused smile. "It always has, ever since I was a kid. Where I came from snow was rare so it was always something amazing to see. Do you not like snow?"

"It's not that I don't like it." Ace explained. "It's more like I'm impartial to it. It made hunting for food harder back home, and it was harder to hide from Shitty Gramps when it was snowing. Luffy loves the stuff, he always enjoyed snow because it meant Christmas was coming. Sabo loves looking at it and playing in it, but he hates being cold so as long as he's got an endless supply of hot chocolate he'll be happy as a daisy."

"Or a buttercup?" Thatch suggested with a grin, expertly hiding the concern he felt when Ace mentioned having to hide from his grandfather. Anytime the three boys had mentioned this 'Shitty Gramps' they had always looked completely terrified, as if even referencing him made him appear like some form of demon. Now though Ace seemed more relaxed; hopefully being in a safe environment was lessening the paranoia all three boys held towards their grandfather.

Ace laughed and nodded, grinning broadly as he leant on the railing behind him.

"Do you mind me asking how you got that nickname?" asked Thatch, wanting to know more about his younger friend but not wanting to make him uncomfortable. They still knew very little about the brothers, so any new information was quickly absorbed and memorised. Thatch was a naturally curious person, it was what made him and Haruta such good friends (that and their love of pranking but that didn't matter too much at the moment). He wanted to know what made Ace the likable, polite, but devilish teenager he knew and if Thatch knew anything, it was that a person's nickname could reveal a lot about them.

For a moment Thatch thought he had asked too early, as Ace frowned slightly at him before averting his gaze to the floor. That was something Thatch had learnt about Ace through observation alone; the seventeen year old would always avert his eyes downward if a subject was making him uncomfortable but would avert his eyes upward if a subject was making him curious. Fighting back the urge to apologise, Thatch waited patiently for Ace to respond.

"We told you one of our caretakers gave us those nicknames...She called me Blossom because she took me to the Mother's Day festival in the village near where we lived. There were cherry blossom trees as one of the main attractions and the blossoms kept getting stuck in my hair so she called me Blossom." Ace explained with an uncomfortable shrug, cheeks stained pink like the blossoms he was talking about. Thatch smiled gently at him. It really surprised him sometimes that this brave young man could be incredibly cute when he was embarrassed, it was something he shared with Sabo too (Luffy never stopped being cute so he didn't count). And it was this cuteness that reminded Thatch how young his friend actually was.

"Do you know what cherry blossoms symbolise?" he asked abruptly, receiving a negative response from his raven haired companion. Thatch nodded in understanding before smiling gently. "Well don't worry about it then, I'm sure your caretaker didn't mean anything by it."

"Flowers have meanings behind them?" Ace asked, curious. It was the first time he had ever heard anything like that, though in retrospect that might explain why Dadan used to get slightly emotional around some specific flowers.

Thatch nodded.

"Some people spend a lot of time learning the language of flowers. Izo knows a bit of it if you're interested, and I think Hana knows a little bit too if you really want to know about it."

"Sabo like learning about codes so I might mention it to him." Mused Ace thinking about how they could pass messages to each other just by showing each other a flower. That could be incredibly useful on missions that required stealth or if they had to exchange information without another person knowing. It would be a pain trying to teach Luffy but it might just be worth it.

Suddenly Thatch let out a low groan, looking out to sea with an annoyed glare on his face. Ace turned to see what he was staring at, only to see a marine battleship with a strange dog-like figure head approaching them on the horizon.

"Marine." Ace noted with a grim smile. "Does that mean there's a fight coming up?"

"That's just Garp." Thatch explained calmly, still glaring out at the approaching battleship. "Sure the guy may be bat-shit insane but he doesn't usually fight us when he comes to visit."

Thatch turned to look at Ace, only to realise Ace was now looking at him like he had just said there was no more meat or rum left in the world: Absolutely terrified.

Thatch blinked.

Ace stared.

Thatch blinked again and waved his hand in front of Ace's face to try and get a reaction.

..

If it a reaction he wanted he got it. The fire user let out an ear shattering wail of fear, clutching at his hair as he turned his frantically this way and that. The temperature on deck started to rise, melting the snow around their feet as Ace's terror caused his concentration to break and his internal thermometer to rise again.

Thatch quickly grabbed his shoulders, spinning him around to face him as he tried to calm the fire-user down.

"Ace, calm down! What's the matter with you?" he yelled as Sabo and Luffy burst out on to the deck, obviously summoned by Ace's shriek. In fact most of the crew now had the tough decision of watching Garp's ship come closer or watching Ace's meltdown. When Ace saw his brothers he started flailing, trying to get out of Thatch's hold to go to his brothers.

"Shitty Gramps alert!" he screamed at them, making Sabo run to the port side to make sure (only to let out a scream that was very similar to the one Ace made). When Luffy heard his other brother scream he broke down into terrified sobs. Half the crew expected Ace and Sabo to reprimand him for crying; only it looked like they wanted to join in.

Why were they so scared? Half of the commanders crowded round the three brothers with confused expressions. They knew they were terrified of the thought of their grandfather but he was...nowhere...near them...

You could hear the penny drop over Luffy's sobs and the other two's terrified chanting.

Their grandfather, the 'Shitty Gramps' that they had all heard about, was marine hero Vice-Admiral Monkey. D Garp. Marco felt like hitting himself. Luffy even shared his last name with the crazy old man yet none of them made the connection. What next, Ace would be the son of the pirate king? Or maybe Sabo would be half-mermaid?

"Luffy calm down, yoi." He said, kneeling down next to the frightened fourteen year old. "As long as you're a Whitebeard pirate Garp can't take you away. We won't let him, yoi."

"But Luffy doesn't have the tattoo." Sabo pointed out frantically. "He's terrified of needles which is why he doesn't have it yet!"

"If you think a tattoo will stop that shitty geezer you've got another thing coming." Ace yelled in a panic before turning around and grabbing the front of Thatch's coat, turning pleading eyes towards him. They weren't as good as Luffy's puppy dog eyes but they were going to have to do.

"Hiding places. Now." He demanded, shaking Thatch slightly when he didn't immediately replay. "We need to hide Luffy, and we need to hide him now."

"He can hide in my room." Suggested Rakuyo, raising his hand in the air so Luffy could see him. "I could leave Macey with him as an extra security measure."

Marco nodded slowly before turning to look at Izo. "Is there any way you can give Luffy a temporary tattoo, yoi? That way Garp can't say Luffy isn't one of us."

Izo frowned thoughtfully before nodding slowly, grabbing Luffy's arm while mumbling about the things he'd need as he dragged their youngest brother below deck, Rakuyo following closely behind.

After making sure Luffy was safely below deck Marco turned to the still panicking brothers who were twitching where they stood, obviously fighting the impulse to run.

"Do either of you want to stay on deck and try to explain your decision to Garp, yoi?"

With the speed at which they shook their heads Marco was surprised they didn't fly off their necks.

"He's been trying to make me a marine since I was three." Ace whispered in horror, a nervous sweat breaking out on his ashen face. "He's not just going to accept this."

"As soon as he heard I wanted to be a pirate I got subjected to the same training." Sabo revealed, staring up at Marco with round, petrified eyes. "That old geezer is a monster!"

"Don't we know it." Muttered Thatch before turning to address Marco. "I'll take these two below deck; find a place to hide them. Can you tell Pops what's going on?" Seeing Marco's nod of understanding he quickly ushered the remaining two brothers below deck, running through all his hiding places in his mind.

Marco quickly turned to the rest of the crew, barking out orders for them to prepare for a fight but hoping Garp wouldn't force their hands by trying to take their brothers away. He quickly hurried to his father's side to explain the new development.

"Hmm, let him come aboard." Grumbled Whitebeard. "I wont deny him the chance to see his grandsons. But if he tries to take them against their will then be prepared to intervene."

"Can't we just lie and say they're on a mission, yoi?" mumbled Marco, casting a steady gaze over the bustling crew, making sure they were going about their orders as the marine battleship grew closer and closer.

Whitebeard chuckled slightly.

"We could but that would be a cowardly thing to do. The marines have obviously learned about our new family members and we must confront them about it anyway. Thankfully the still remain oblivious to Luffy's existence otherwise they would have given him a bounty when they increased Ace and Sabo's."

"Well let's hope it stays that way for a little while longer, yoi."Marco sighed as he left Whitebeard's side and approached the main deck, waiting by the rails as the gangplank lowered and the man of nightmares crossed over onto the Moby Dick.

Garp was scowling as he stood on the deck, casting suspicious eyes over the pirates grouped all around him. He did not trust them, and they did not trust him; especially not after everything the three teenagers had revealed about their time under his tyranny (maybe they were overreacting slightly on the little bits of information they had managed to get out of them but what they had learned was that he had thrown Luffy off a cliff! Adorable little Luffy!)

Suddenly Garp turned and stalked over to the stairs, obviously intending to get up to Whitebeard's chair. Marco quickly cut across him, scowling ever so slightly with his arms crossed lazily over his chest as he gazed at the angry old man with dispassionate eyes.

"Is there a reason for this visit, yoi?" he asked with a delicately polite tone which did nothing to hide the frostiness in his words. For a bird made of fire, Marco was radiating nothing but ice towards the aged marine in front of him.

"Get out the way Pheonix." Garp demanded through gritted teeth, not in the mood to talk to anyone but the Captain. "You know exactly why I'm here. Give me my Grandsons back right now."

Marco still didn't move.

"What if they don't want to leave, yoi?"

"They need to. As if I'd leave my Grandsons in the hands of pirates."

"Hate to break it to you old man." Came Jozu's voice from where the diamond man was glaring at him. "But your Grandsons are pirates; they're Whitebeard pirates and they're our family now. So if they don't want to leave, they won't be going anywhere."

Agreement rang out from all sides as the crew echoed the third division commander's sentiments. Those three were their little brothers now and if Garp wanted to take them then he better be prepared for a war to get them back. But Garp was not deterred.

"Where are they?" he growled, advancing on the imposing figure of Jozu. Though Garp may be imposing in his own right, Jozu towered over him, negating the fear Garp may have otherwise inspired.

When it was obvious that no one was going to give him an answer he turned to glare around the circle the pirates had formed around him before bellowing at the top of his lungs:

"ACE! SABO! LUFFY! GRAMPA'S HERE TO TAKE YOU HOME! COME OUT OR YOU'LL TASTE MY FIST OF LOVE!"

Garp was glaring at the doors that lead below deck with a fierce intensity that seemed to be daring the aforementioned brothers to refuse his orders. After ten minutes of glaring, a blonde curly mop of hair poked out of a small gap between the doors. Wide, terrified eyes stared out on deck, and the blonde let out a small squeak of fear when his eyes met Garp's. It took another minute for the blonde to work up the courage to leave the refuge of the doorway, just enough time to wake the crew up from the shocked stupors they had fallen into. Mentioning Garp was enough to make them terrified yet here one of them was, about to confront the only person they seemed to fear.

Garp beamed at Sabo, apparently very pleased with himself and his ability to terrify his grandsons into appearing.

"Good, now come over here so we can get your brothers and leave. Then I can continue your training."

If possible Sabo paled even more: While Sabo's complexion was always pale he was now the colour of off-milk. Slowly he started to shake his head, curls swaying slightly as the brim of his hat cast shadows over his eyes.

"...no..." he whispered.

Garp blinked before laughing loudly, obviously not believing Sabo's refusal.

"...no..." he repeated, voice growing louder as he clenched his fists, straightening up to glare at the laughing marine. "No! We're never going to be marines! We're Whitebeard pirates, and we're proud to sail under Pops' flag and we want to sail with our brothers and sisters forever and ever!" he screamed, pulling his retractable bow staff out of his pocket and extending it in front of him, bending down into a defensive stance.

Garp stared at him, stunned slightly. The boys had often run from him (cute kids loved playing hide-an-seek with Grandpa) but never had they tried to fight him (Ace and Sabo trying to hit him after he punished Luffy didn't count). They never pulled their weapons on him...

He lunged forward, aiming a Fist of Love right at Sabo's head causing the blonde to drop to the deck and roll out of the way, bringing his staff up to block another punch to his chest.

"You have no legal claim over me, or over Ace." Sabo shouted as he continued to dodge the man's fists. The surrounding pirates were confused over this, but not thinking too much about it as they waited for a moment they could intervene. "We've all taken Whitebeard's mark; you have no claim over any of us now!"

Garp grunted before finally landing a successful hit, punching Sabo solidly in the head, causing him to drop to the floor and clutch his head in pain. Garp moved to hit him again only to find his path blocked by bright blue flames as Marco shielded Sabo from further harm.

"Leave." he hissed, glaring dangerously at the violent old man. "You hurt our brother and we won't let you do that again. Say your goodbyes or we will open fire on you and your ship."

It wasn't an empty threat either. All around the ship the crew had guns, swords, and their own specialised weapons pointed either at Garp's ship or Garp himself. Slowly, the old marine straightened up, glaring around at the pirates. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy were his brats, dammit! As if he would let them continue on as pirates and be hunted by the world.

"Garp." Marco started, calling the marine's attention back to him, staring him evenly in the eye. "Let them be free, yoi...don't cage them because of your own insecurities."

Garp felt himself deflate. Cage them? No, he never wanted that. To be stripped of freedom is something he would never wish on anyone. But that didn't mean he was wrong! If they joined the marines they would be safe from the world...

"Garp."

Whitebeard had stood from his chair, moving over to the rails so he could look down onto the deck. His voice carried through the ship, causing Ace and Luffy to poke their heads around the doors, having been lured out of hiding when they noticed Sabo had left his hiding place. When they saw their brother on the floor with Marco standing over him they immediately abandoned their small safety of the doorway and ran to his side, glaring up through their fear at their Grandfather.

"They are my sons. They will be free here, and safe from anything the world could throw at them. With me they will never know the pain and fear of being caged ever again, and they will learn what it's like to have a guardian who will care and love them no matter what."

Garp turned to stare at the three boys he had raised, and for the first time in so many year he really tried to look at them.

Ace, with his unruly wavy hair and freckles he inherited from his beautiful mother. His unique silver-grey eyes that shone like his father's did, blown wide now in fear but when they flickered over to stare at Newgate a strange wonder filled them, as if he didn't believe a person could ever care for him that deeply. Had he really done that? Had he really been so focused on protecting his first grandson from the World that he became blinded to the pain he was causing him?

Sabo too, had that look on his face. Sweet, smart, sarcastic little Sabo who joined their little family one day and was there to stay forever. He could see Newgate's mark tattooed on the juncture of his neck and shoulder but for the first time he didn't see it as a brand, he saw it as the Whitebeard's did; a symbol that they belonged somewhere in the world.

And then Luffy, his only flesh-and-blood Grandson, the little boy that caused his son to come home, even if it was for a day; yet another father who begged him to hid his son from the government. He thought he could do to Luffy what he had failed to do for Dragon, but obviously he had failed him as well. He had left his baby grandson alone too many times and when Luffy had finally found someone who cared for him, Garp had taken him away. The Whitebeard's mark showed brightly on his right bicep, a tribute to Garp's failing as a grandfather.

Would it really be right to take them away, now they had found a home, just because he didn't want to have to support the men who wanted them dead?

Garp bit his lip before turning to look at Whitebeard.

"This isn't over Newgate. I will come visit them and any time I see something I don't like I will take them with me."

Whitebeard inclined his head in acknowledgment.

"I will not stop you from visiting them. But if you carry on with your abuse you will have all my sons and daughters ready to fight you."

With one final nod of acknowledgment Garp walked steadily towards the gangplank, determined not to look back at the three boys who were breaking his heart to them go. They would not see his tears, nor would he see theirs as their grandfather finally set them free.

A/N: There we go everyone~ Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and tell me whether you would like another bonus chapter, and what you would like to see in it~ R&R!

DragonFire Princess: Thank you~

Weird-Sunny-Chan: Twas the night before Christmas and all through the ship, many sailors made merry, and drank till they tripped~ I can't do poetry. Yes they certainly are but he isn't suspecting anything at the moment~

DMCP: I'm starting to think that's all people take from this story XD I'm glad you like it though. Luffy is such a loving child to his Mama and his Papa, why on earth would he mention them? ;p Oh my gosh, I hadn't even realised they were the names of the powerpuff girls when I wrote it but I'm really happy I chose those names now! 'No Regrets' is an amazing fic, I could go on all day about how much I love it but I'm very flattered you think this fic is anywhere near as good as it. And I'm honoured you kept on reading! Thank you so much!

yukiko hyuga-chan: I try to update every Wednesday so here's an update for you! I love ASL so much; especially in fics were they have gotten to grow up together because it's really interesting how different circumstances change different characters. ...Psst, I love your profile pic...

Iris sundaraneedi: I'm really looking forward to writing it~ hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Guest 1: No he didn't...at least not yet~ Thank you very much, I like writing fluff scenes especially seeing as what's coming up...

Sarah132cs: *sweats nervously* I-I'm not m-mean to him, hehehehehe... it'snotlikehe'smyfavoritecharacteroranything...

Guest 2:Shiz what's Garp doing here! Abort! Abort!...sorry the laugh is the same as Garp's, I had to~ I didn't, it's just a happy coincidence.

Kid: Ahh buttercups~ XD Thank you very much, I'll need it!

Shiningheart of ThunderClan: The Powerpuff thing was a coincidence, that's why their names don't match up with their personalities! Ace goes into a little bit of detail about his name but you're still going to have to wait for Sabo's to be revealed!

Reira-Layla: I'm glad you liked his reaction; it was pretty hard to write and keep him in character! I'm glad you think so and I made up for it with this one which is my longest to date!

Please start your next chapter soon! You're such a meanie XP I understand that feeling, of course everyone interprets characters differently, it's fanfiction for a reason! And so what if you explain things in a way others might not understand? Until Oda gives us every single piece of background/character trait of a character I say we're free to play with them to our hearts content!

Thank you very much and I will try to pass everything XD

Krystal 'Demon' Sanate: I'm not really any good at writing Omakes but if you really want to see it then hope I get enough positive response for the bonus chapter!

MissJenca: I formally apologize for this coincidence claiming your life through cackling, you have my deepest condolences. Is there any way I can ease the pain of your passing? I'm glad you enjoyed though!

Olympian-King: I didn't mean to! Ohmygosh if you ever did I would love to see it! Sorry for the added inspiration?

AaliyaIronHeart: *update gets thrown at your face!* I'm glad you're liking all the fluff!

Kurogitsune Yue: I'm glad you liked it~ You're going to have to wait and find out why Sabo is called buttercup~ I hope you enjoy this chapter!

TheCaptainOfShips: *grins evilly*

JadeOccelot: Ace may be a little thick at times but the crew are steadily wearing away the ways around his heart. I enjoyed writing Marco and Luffy, Mama Pineapple's got to take care of the crew's baby right? A lot of people want to see that, I'm even considering drawing it as well as writing the scene in the bonus chapter XD

Phonenix: Well even though it was accidental I'm glad you got to reminisce good memories~