Author: woooo new chapter! Enjoy! I have to go study now! ^_^

" Stupid fucking freckled jackass!" Ai snarled as she stormed back towards the castle, her warm breath whirling around her as she went. " STUPID! FUCKING! FRECKLED FACED! JACKASS!"

" Are you talking about Ace?"

" GYAH!" Ai squeaked in surprise as Luffy seemed to manifest out of thin air beside her, grinning from ear to ear. " LUFFY! YOU STARTLED ME!"

His grin growing wider before saying, " Sorry Ai, but it was to tempting not to sneak up on you! Did you know you grumble when you're mad?"

" Y-Yes, I'm aware." Ai stuttered coolly, her heart rate becoming slightly more stable. " Did you need something from me, Luffy?"

" Well…"

Ai watched Luffy warily as he began to fidget uncomfortably. Bells and whistles started going off in her head as she watched him think of what to say. Luffy very rarely thought. He normally just acted on impulse. So seeing him think before he did something made her slightly uneasy.

" Well what, Luffy?"

" …are you going to stay here in six weeks?"

The sincerity of his words were like a punch in the gut. " Wh-What?"

" Once you're able to leave here without getting sick…are you going to stay?"

" Luffy…why are you asking me this?" Ai asked in discomfort. " Did Ace ask you to ask me this?" The moment she asked her question she already knew the answer.

" N-No! He wouldn't ever want me to ask you this!"

It was true.

Ace would never have someone else ask her something as important as this. " Then…why are you asking me this?"

" Well…" Luffy fidgeted again, his ears drooping slightly. " It's cause Ace has been so happy since you've been here."

" Happy?" Ai said in surprise. " We argued for the first two weeks I was here!"

" Well yeah, cause ace was being a asshole." Luffy said, grinning from ear to ear. " But lately he's been super happy and I know it's because you're here."

Ai felt heat flood her cheek's at Luffy's words. In truth she didn't hate being here and she liked being around Ace, when he wasn't being a complete jackass. But…she missed her family. She missed the chaos of her brothers rushing around the castle. There's plenty of chaos here but it was different.

" Well?" Luffy's voice jerked Ai from her thoughts. She saw him giving her a hopeful look on his face.

" Luffy…" She broke off sadly, not knowing how to continue. How could she give him an answer when she herself didn't even know the answer.

" I hope you stay!" Luffy said grinning eagerly over at her. " It's fun having you here!"

" Really?"

" Yeah! Nami, Robin and Koala have another person to do dumb girl things with. You like to spar too! So Koala finally has someone other then Sabo to do that with! Plus you like my pranks! You don't get mad when I pull one on you like Nami does!"

Ai felt a smile spread across her face. Luffy was sweet. He had big innocent eyes, like a little fawn, and a smile that was contagious. He was slowly starting to feel like brother to her.

Luffy quickly grabbed her hands in excitement, his smile somehow managing to grow larger. " I hope you stay, Ai!" Her own smile growing larger, Ai leaned forward and kissed his forehead gently.

" Thank you, Luffy…" She said calmly. " I was really upset before but now I'm alright now."

" Aw geeze, Ai!" Luffy said rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand, a small blush on his cheeks, his eyes avoiding her's childishly. " You had to go all girly on me!"

Laughing happily, Ai linked her arm with his. " Come on, we should go inside. It's starting to get cold out here."

" It's cause you're human, Ai!" Luffy said teasingly. " Maybe if you weren't a human you wouldn't get cold so often!"

" Luffy…" Ai groaned.

" You don't have to be a Vampire like Ace and the others. You could be a wolf like me and Hancock!" He saw her quickly raise a blue eyebrow before he continued. " Think about it, though! You could have cool ears and a tail like these!" Pointing at his ears, his eyes lit up once again in excitement.

" Were you born a wolf, Luffy?" Ai asked him, desperately trying to change the subject. What was it with these people with trying to change her?

" Nope!" Luffy said in a cheery tone. " I got bit when I was real little…like maybe three or fourish."

" R-Really!" Ai said going pale. She had heard that the wolf Changing, along with being bitten, was extremely painful. That even most adults didn't survive it. For Luffy to have been bitten at such a young age and to have survived said a lot about his strength.

It also made Ai also extremely angry to know that he had been bitten as such a young child. Who could possibly do something so cruel. Then again…she knew first hand how someone could do something so cruel to a child.

Wincing as painful memories that she had been trying to bury for years threatened to resurface. Subconsciously she raised a hand to the spot on her neck where her bite marks were hidden underneath her scarf.

" Ai?" Luffy's voice brought her back from the pain. " Are you okay? You look a little pale."

" I'm fine, Luffy." Ai said, attempt to sound like it. " So how did you come to live here?"

" My grandpa brought me here after I got bit."

" Your grandpa?"

" Yeah, maybe you've heard of him!" Luffy said going back to his normal cheery self. " His name is Monkey D. Garp!"

Ai almost face planted directly into the snow. " YOUR GRANDPA IS MONKEY D. GARP!" She yelled in disbelief.

" So you have heard of him!" Luffy said excitedly.

" Your grandpa is a Vice Commander in the Order!"

" YEP!"

" And he brought you here? To the home of the Vampire King!"

" YEP! He hoped that someone here would be able to help me control my abilities! That's how I met Ace and Sabo and Shanks! Shanks taught me how to control my powers and Ace and Sabo were there for me when I was scared and lonely."

" What about your parents?"

" Never met them and Gramps has never mentioned them."

" I'm sorry."

" Don't be." Luffy said calmly. " I may not have met them but I don't hate them. If I were to live with them then I would never have met my brothers or everyone here. Sure I would like to meet them if I ever had the chance to, but this is my family…and nothing will ever change that."

" That's good." Ai said calmly.

" What about you, Ai?"

" What do you mean?"

" Is Whitebeard your real dad?"

" Biologically speaking no." Ai said quietly. " My birth parents died shortly after I was born."

" I'm sorry, Ai." Luffy said, his eyes showing the truth of his words.

" It's fine, though." Ai said. " Pops is a great father and my brothers spoiled me pretty bad when I was growing up. What I love about them though, is that they were always there for me. They love me no matter what and I love them for that same reason. A lot of them were outcasts from their villages or Seethes…and Pops took them in and accepted them for who they were. He gave them a home and a place for all of us to feel safe."

" Do you ever miss your birth parents?"

" I always wondered about them growing up and I don't really know a lot about them. All I know is that they were apart of Pops' Seethe. I would ask my brothers about them but they would always change the subject. I realize now that it was probably to painful for them to talk about."

" What were their names?"

" I don't even know that." Ai said calmly. " All I know is that my birth father died fighting against the Order to save my mother."

" I'm sorry, Ai. I shouldn't have brought it up." Luffy said sadly.

" Don't be, Luffy." Ai said quietly. " I started it…Luffy? What's wrong?" Noticing how Luffy had gone suddenly rigid, his nose lifted slightly up into the air, sniffing. Ai saw his fist clench tightly quickly then relax just as quick. " Luffy?"

She didn't like this, it made her extremely uneasy to see him like this. " We should get you inside…quick." He finally said, in a tense voice, before grabbing her hand and dragging her towards the castle.

" LUFFY!" Ai coughed as she struggled to keep up with the wolf boy. " What's going on?" Yet he said nothing as he continued to drag her along.

TWAG!

" AH!" Ai cried out loudly as something sharp pierced her left shoulder, causing her to stumble and then fall flat on her face.

" AI!" Luffy yelled hurrying over to her. Anger flooded through him as he saw an arrow buried deep in her left shoulder.

" I'm fine, Luffy." He heard her whisper shakily as she attempted to stand. " AH!" She cried as pain ripped through her left shoulder and down into her arm.

" You're not fine, Ai!" Luffy said hurriedly as he helped her to her feet. " You were shot!"

" I-I know, but it doesn't hurt to bad." Ai lied. " Maybe we should g-LUFFY, WATCH OUT!" She yelled, shoving the dark haired teen out of the way of another arrow, this one silver. She fought back tears of pain as the pierced her right side.

" Ai!" Luffy yelled pulling her to him. " Why did you do that?"

" I-It would have hit you!"

" But it wouldn't have hurt me as much as it does you!"

" It's silver, though-AH!" Luffy quickly lifted her up into his arms and darted swiftly towards the castle. " LUFFY!"

" We need to get you inside! You're bleeding and it's really cold out here!" Luffy growled, his black eyes flickering to gold, his pupils becoming slits.

" Who's attacking us?"

" Someone from the Order! SHIT!" Luffy snapped, skidding to a halt as he caught sight of their assailant. He spied a very tall and slender, yet muscular teen boy. He had arched eyebrows and a closely shaved goatee. His shoulder length wavy black hair was pulled into a low ponytail. " Lucci…" Luffy snarled angrily.

A grin spread evilly across the boy's face as he lifted his weapon and aimed it directly at them. " Now…" He said in a deep voice. " …where to hit next? The leg? An arm? Heart? Abdomen? Or how about that pretty face of her's?"

" BASTARD!"

" Luffy…" Ai whispered, a chill running through her body as the teen's eyes flicked from one area of her body to the next, drawing another arrow back. " Who is he?"

" A sick bastard who never fucking learns his lesson." Luffy said setting Ai down protectively behind him. " Sorry Ai, but I need to beat him before I can get you inside."

" B-But-"

" Don't worry, Ai!" Luffy said flashing her his normal goofy grin. " I'm not going to let my new sister get hurt." Ai felt hear rise in her face and before she could say anything Luffy had shifted into an all black wolf and charged their attacker.

Lucci lifted the bow and shot an arrow at Luffy, who dodged it easily. " Luffy…please be careful." Anger flooded into her as she saw Luffy fighting hard to keep her safe and she just sat here like a lump.

Reaching down with her good hand she grasped the arrow embedded in her side and gripped it tightly. Wincing as a sharp stabbing sensation shot through her she steadied her nerves, she wrenched it quickly from where it was buried. " AH!"

Sweat rolled down her face s she fought back the darkness that threatened to overcome her. At the sound of n angry snarling sound aided in her fight. She saw Luffy in his wolf form lock his jaws securely around their assailant's bow arm, dragging him to the ground.

Determination flooded through her at the sight before her. She couldn't just sit here and let Luffy put himself in danger for her. Reaching once again towards the arrow buried inside her shoulder, she gripped it firmly and jerked it out. Standing on wobbly legs she held the bloodied arrow lightly in her fingertips and aimed.

" Please don't."

Ai yelped in pain as a hand grabbed her hair and yanked her head backwards, exposing her throat to a cold steel dagger. The hand forced her onto her knees and pain rippled throughout her entire body. Squinting her eyes open she saw a tall thin boy with pink hair and black eyes, a pair of round-framed glasses pushed onto his forehead. She saw an x-shaped scar on his right forehead, covered mainly by a brightly colored bandana.

" Please stay out of this, Miss!" The boy said nervously. " I don't want to have to hurt you more then you already a-"

COBY, DON'T!

Ai and the boy, apparently known as Coby, jumped as they both heard Luffy's voice in their heads. " L-Luffy?" Coby stuttered in surprise.

COBY, DON'T DO IT! Luffy thought angrily, tightening his jaws onto Lucci's forearm. LET AI GO! YOU CAN'T HURT HER! YOU'RE TO GOOD FOR THAT!

" I-"

" Do it, boy!" Lucci snapped, whirling around Luffy, managing to break the wolf's hold on him. Lucci grabbed him by around the neck with his uninjured arm and placed him in a chokehold. " Kill the leech's whore!"

" I-I can't!" Coby yelled. " Sh-She didn't choose to be Ace's Bride!"

" It doesn't matter! She may not have wanted it but she'll eventually spread her legs and let the Devil's Seed Change her! Slit her throat and be done with it!"

" I-I-" Coby stuttered, the hand holding the knife began to tremble. " I can't! She's innocent!"

Before Coby could continue Ai grabbed his arm quickly and flipped out of his hold. Kneeing him in the abdomen, Ai quickly subdued the teen into an armor, holding the arrow in her hand to his jugular.

" Let Luffy go now!" Ai yelled to Lucci. " Or you lose your partner!"

A sick smile spread evilly across his face. " Go ahead, little gnat." Lucci said, tightening his hold around Luffy's neck, wringing a painful yelp from him.

" Wh-what?" Ai spluttered in disbelief. Did he really just say what she thought he did? Did he really not care about his partner?

" I-I mean it!" Ai said, placing the pointed edge of the arrow closer to Coby's pulse. " I'll slit his throat!"

" So do I." Lucci smirked. " Do it. Kill the pathetic whelp. I was planning on doing it myself once I finished with you." When she failed to move he continued. " What's wrong, little gnat? Have you never killed anyone before?"

Ai, no! Luffy thought quickly. Don't hurt Coby! He's my friend! The desperation and urgency in his voice made her pause. Why was Luffy's friend working with the Order? Was he one of the spies that Ace had mentioned weeks ago?

A painful yelp caught her attention. She saw that Lucci had thrown Luffy against a large rock, causing him to go limp. " LUFFY!" Ai and Coby yelled worriedly in unison. Seeing the normally cheerful boy lying crumpled on the ground caused her to lose her grip on her weapon. Before she could blink Lucci had vanished before her eyes.

" Pity." The assassin's cold voice from behind wrong out in a deadly tone. " I would have enjoyed seeing you ending the whelp's life."

Ai cried out in pain as what felt like five sharp daggers sink into her shoulder. Looking behind her she saw a clawed hand dug deep into said shoulder.

" But now," Lucci whispered eagerly into her ear as warm blood ran down her body. " Now I get to tear you apart, limb from limb."

Ai's vision began to blur and her body started to become heavy. One name flashed into her mind. The name of the one person she wanted to see one more time more then anything else in the world.

" A-Ace…"