Hi there everyone, first off wanted to say sorry for the late update - I have been majorly sick :(

But I'm back and somewhat better :)

Hope this chapter will make up for it, a little more of Luffy's insight and him getting his mind strong again.

"A woman must not depend on the protection of man, but must be taught to protect herself."

Octavia sat on Whitebeard's large bed with Ghost and Stefan circled protectively around her. She looked down at the wanted poster in her hands and felt her lip begin to tremble. The person that was staring back at her was something out of a horror story, this wasn't her. It couldn't be her.

But she knew it was.

She remembered when that photo was taken. She remembered the night they dragged her away from her wooden prison and forced her to sit in front of a camera. She refused to look at it. She could remember the grip the man had on her chin as he forced her to look forwards. She could remember how her jaw bruised and how it was hard for her to open it for the next few days.

Her heart started to pound in her chest faster and faster as she recalled those days. It was the time before the slavers, the time when the marines had hold of her. She spent so long with those people who killed her mother, with those monster who destroyed her home.

"Princess," she looked up from the wanted poster and saw Thatch staring at her anxiously.

She didn't know what to say. She knew that these people wouldn't stop looking for her, but now there was proof. Her picture was being spread around the world like wild fire. They were hunting her.

She was being hunted.

"The buster call?" she barely whispered seeing the words written as if they meant nothing. As if it wouldn't destroy countless innocent people's lives and tear apart an entire island. Erasing it from history.

"Nothing for you to worry about child. You will not be seeing another buster call." Whitebeard announced firmly and she nodded. She has been told this line over a thousand times since she had returned to the ship, and ever a few dozen times from Whitebeard himself. Thatch even went as far as showing her some of the old warrants they had out for their heads that included threatens of buster call attacks if they didn't surrender.

"What does this mean?" she pointed to the amount written at the bottom in big letters. She understood numbers and she knew how much things were, but here it looked strange. She noticed the familiar money sign but the rest she couldn't understand. It was a symbol she hadn't seen before.

"This symbol means, infinite." Thatch whispered not really wanting to answer her question.

"But then…" she looked at the paper again. They were offering an infinite amount of money for her.

"Child, the World Government is offering any reward to the person who captures you. A name your price deal." Whitebeard spoke explaining it better.

"Why do they want me?" she whimpered looking at the large man. She still didn't know, she couldn't understand what she had done to provoke these people. Why did they have to kill her mother and take away her life?

"I do not know my child. But together we will find out." He smiled down at her and she looked back at the paper. She read the words over and over again, but she couldn't get them out of her mind. There were going to be a lot of people hunting her for the rest of her life. She didn't know if she would be able to keep her small promise to Smoker-san, she didn't know how long she would be able to stay hidden for.

"You will always be safe here Princess, you know that right." Thatch knelt down beside the bed and gentle took the paper from her hands. He wanted to shred that piece of paper into a million different pieces and then light it on fire and then spread its ashes in a box and send it to the bottom of the sea. He never wanted anyone to see that thing ever again.

"Remember, you can borrow my muscles anytime you want." Thatch reminded her which got her to smile a little.

"You'll help me get stronger?" she whispered as Ghost jumped into her now free hands.

"Yes, every day we will all help you." He patted the dogs head and she finally smiled. "The Whitebeard Wolfpack is a force to be reckoned with, remember."

"Alright," she spoke looking at him then back up to Whitebeard.

Thatch had been worrying since the moment she asked about the buster call. She wanted to see the poster that her bothers had spoken about. She wanted to see what the World Government had written about her for her own eyes.

"Octavia, what can you remember anything from that day?" Whitebeard sat down on the bed next to her and she shivered. She didn't want to remember that day, but that was the only thing she could remember. Anytime she tried to remember her mother smile or her laugh all that flashed before her eyes were the screams and shouts as she was ripped from her arms. There were no happy memories left of her mother, or the home she used to have. All that was left was the pain of that day.

Shaking her head she crawled into the man's lap and buried her face into his jacket. Her brothers had confessed to her that they told the guardians about the day she was taken. But she didn't mind. If the situation was reversed there would be nothing she wouldn't do to save her brothers.

"Please Princess, we need to know." Thatch knelt down at the edge of the bed and placed a hand on her back.

"I don't remember." She whispered; "Not all of it." She looked at Thatch who quickly took her hand.

"Whatever you can remember, might help." Thatch spoke softly and she nodded.

"Mama screamed for me to run. But I couldn't. I was too scared." She clamped her hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut; "She fought back but there were too many of them."

"Marines?" Whitebeard asked and she nodded. She would never forget their uniforms as they stormed her village. She remembered sitting in a tree with her two friends below her. They were playing tag when they first saw the sails. That was the first time she saw flashes of her friends faces come across her vision.

She remembered them.

They were killed because of her.

Her only friends in the whole world who gave her a chance.

Her first friends.

And they were dead because of her.

"We saw their sails, and I ran back home." She could remember hearing her mother's voice calling out to her; "Mama was scared, she knew they were bad." She looked up at Whitebeard who smiled gentle down at her, hiding all his thoughts to himself.

"They came to our home, and mama hid me under the floor in our secret room. But they found me." Her eyes went wide as her memories flooded her visions. She could remember the stale smell as she hid in the secret room below the floor. She clutched her small toy to her chest as she peaked through the cracks. She listened as they stormed into her home and yelled at her mama, they demanded to know where she was. They came for her.

"And they killed her."

Whitebeard pulled her closer to his chest and made a mental note to investigate into this buster call attack. In all the reports and findings they had discovered over the countless years, he knew of only one buster call attack and that was on Ohara, and that was earlier than this attack. It is quite possible that after the word spread of the attack on Ohara they learned; learnt that secrecy is the key.

But to hear of another that has been kept in the dark for so long was a mystery. What did the World Government know of this child that they would resort to a buster call to capture her?

He listened to his son comforting the young girl and managed to break her away from the pain of her past and get her to smile back at him. He was more than proud of his sons and how they each rose to protect the four newcomers aboard his ship. He knew his sons were kind by heart, but he'd never imagined they would adopt the children as though they were their very own blood. It was something he treasured more than anything in this world.

"How about we go see what those troublesome brothers of yours are up to." Thatch scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. She giggled and waved goodbye to Whitebeard as she was carried out of the room.

"Say something kid," Marco stared down at the dark haired boy who had yet to say anything; "We can change them if you don't like them," his hand went to move the metal weapon away when Ace's hand snapped out and stopped it.

"They're perfect," he whispered looking at the four metal pipes laying perfectly on his bed. There were three different sizes; two large, a medium and a small one. Picking up one of the large ones he bounced it in his hands feeling the weight of it. It was just like the ones from Dawn Island but better, these felt stronger and sturdy. They wouldn't have to worry about them breaking during a fight. They could rely on their weapons.

Twisting it in his hands he noticed a small engraving at the top of it. Sliding the pipe down till it was at his eye line he noticed a small picture engraved. There was a large top hat with a wolf on it.

"Sabo's?" he asked looking up at the commander.

"There's one for each of you," he lifted up the other large one and turned it to face him; "Do you like it?" he looked at his own and saw the same wolf from Sabo's but this one was on his hat. Dropping them both back on the bed he picked up the smallest one and saw a straw-hat, and then the last one there was a sphere around the wolf.

"You did this?" he asked looking up at the man.

"Yes, I thought it would add a little character." He smirked, "And you will each know which one is yours. So I don't want any fighting over them if someone loses theirs." He laughed and ruffled the boy's hair.

"We won't lose them," Ace stated firmly. There was one thing they each took pride in and that was their weapons, Luffy's straw hat and Sabo's books. They wouldn't lose something to help protect them.

Twisting the pipe around, he felt a long engraving down the length of it. Looking from the top to the bottom he noticed the worlds etched into the metal, Whitebeard Wolfpack.

"You guys are really trying to make us one of you, huh?" Ace smirked at the man. He had noticed over the last few days the more and more times they were labelled with the name Whitebeard, or their clothes would have the small insignia of Whitebeard's flag on a shirt, or their shorts.

"Just accept it brat, you're one of us now." Marco picked up the weapons and wrapped them back in the cloth.

"Maybe," he shrugged and helped pick up the covered weapons. He couldn't wait to show his siblings the pipes he had designed for them, better yet, he couldn't wait to actually begin training with them. He wanted to get stronger, and he wanted to get stronger now.

"Marco," Ace stopped and turned to face the commander. Fidgeting with the cloth in his hands he looked down at his feet. He wasn't very good at this, and the last time he remembered ever doing something like this was back at Dawn with Makino.

"What is it Ace?" Marco knelt down in front of him.

"Thank you," Ace quickly turned and walked out of the room, feeling the blood rush to his cheeks he ran through the hallways with his head down and his hat covering his face.

Marco stood in the room a little shocked. He never imagined, Ace of all people, to actually stop and thank him. The boy rarely ever showed his true emotions, and right here, right now he got a glimpse of the boy beneath the tough mask.

With a grin plastered on his face he followed the boy and headed towards the galley.

Luffy stared at the man, who stared back at him. Neither of them wanting to lose their little battle. It was a matter of life or death, or in Luffy's case meat training or no meat training.

"Hit the target without meat." Izo growled.

"Target is meat," Luffy argued back.

"Reward is meat." Izo counted wanting to slap himself on the head for resorting to Luffy's language.

"No, meat is target." Luffy growled back not liking the new training arrangements. He didn't understand what was wrong with their current training methods. It was working perfectly.

"Kid, you need to learn how to hit a target without meat. What will you do in a real battle?" Izo rubbed the back of his neck trying to release some of the tension the young boy had given him.

"How about a deal?" Izo slumped back in his seat and watched the young boy copy his movements, "For every target you hit, you will get a piece of meat. After we complete your training. Sound fair?" Izo asked preying that the boy agreed.

"So, I'll still get the same amount of meat then?" he asked sceptically.

"Yes, you will still get the same amount of meat." Izo sighed not wanting to think about the impending argument with the cooks about the missing food again.

"We should teach you how to fish brat," Izo shook his head.

"I know how to fish, Sabo and Ace taught me." He beamed up at the man proudly.

"Oh really, maybe we should relax and enjoy a fish this afternoon." Izo stood up from his table and ushered the boy towards the deck. He was more or less wanting to haul the boy over to the side of the ship and start his relaxing now. He needed it after the morning he had.

"Hey Izo," Luffy sighed hitting another target. He had managed to hit each of his targets with ease. He was getting stronger every single day that he was training with his guardian.

"You can have your meat after you finish your exercises." Izo sighed watching the last three targets get hit by the young boy. He was impressed. He hadn't seen anyone with the worst aiming skills in all of history to come so far and be able to hit one hundred percent of is targets. They had even upped his difficulty to moving targets, but the kid was determined if nothing else.

He didn't want to admit that the harsh life that the brats had all been brought up in, didn't help motivate them to become stronger, but it was true, they were going to be a force to be reckoned with.

"No," he watched as Luffy sunk to the ground and rested his fist under his chin. Now this was something different. Izo moved towards him and sat down mimicking his position opposite him. There had been very rare occasions when Luffy would actually take on a serious air to him, and right now that was one of these times.

"What is it Luffy?" he flicked off his precious hat and forced the boy to stop hiding beneath its shadow.

"I'm worried." Luffy spoke sitting down and crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at the empty space in front of him.

"What about?" Izo mimicked his position and sat opposite him. He stared at the boy who had suddenly gone silent. This was unlike Luffy, he was never quite. And when he was, everybody knew that they needed to be on their guard for the possible prank attack or loss of food off their plates. But this time was different.

"What's going to happen to us know?" Luffy whispered the question that had been haunting him for so long.

"What do you mean?" he pressed gently.

"We can't ever go back home. To our jungle or to Makino. Will I ever see her again?" with the small tremble of his lip, Izo pulled the sad boy into his lap.

"Luffy," he whispered as the boy slowly broke down in his arms.

"I'm not crying." Luffy sobbed and buried his face into his chest and for once he wasn't the least bit upset about the possibilities of his kimono being ruined.

"It's alright to cry Luffy, keeping things bottled up inside is not good for anyone." He reassured the boy but was granted with another round of sobs.

"Ace doesn't like cry-babies. He will call me weak." Luffy broke down and tried to furiously wipe the tears that fell from his face over and over again.

"You are not weak Luffy." Izo spoke firmly. He had no idea what it was with men and believing that showing emotions were weak. In fact he thought it was quite the opposite.

"Luffy look at me." He pulled the crying boy from his chest and forced his puppy dog eyes to stare up at him. "Crying is not a sign of weakness. Neither is showing your emotions. In fact a man who can proudly stand up for what he feels, and what he believes, is a stronger man than any other. Your strength and your power strives from your feelings. Do you understand?" he wiped the boy's snotty face with his sleeve and already admitted defeat with the loss of his kimono.

"It's okay to cry?" Luffy whimpered.

"Yes, in fact it will make you feel better and make you stronger." He whispered seeing the boy's eyes widen. "A real man, faces his feelings and proudly uses them." he pulled the straw hat back onto his head and was rewarded with Luffy's signature smile.

"One day Luffy, when you are strong enough, you will return home. And you will make Makino so very proud of you and of how far you've come." He whispered the truth.

"Promise?"

"I promise." And Izo did. He believed that the boy had all the potential in the world to complete whatever he set his mind onto. And he would be there every step of the way to make sure that none of his other stupid brothers messed with his head. He was going to make sure Luffy grew up with pride of his emotions and with his already large heart rested on his sleeves.

Luffy will be the greatest pirate the world has ever seen.

He will be strong.

He will be loyal.

He will be honourable.

He will have perfect aim.

Sabo stood at the entrance of the galley with his book wrapped tightly in his hands. He had been reading any book he could get his hands on lately, and then he found one book that caught his interest.

He stared at Namur who was currently talking with the other commanders. Taking in a deep breath to steady his nerves, he walked towards his guardian with new determination. He wasn't an idiot. He could tell that his supposedly appointed guardian was avoiding him like the plague and he wanted to know why.

At first he was angry, then he was hurt, and now he was confused. He didn't know what he had done wrong to offend the man. He thought they had started off on a good note, what happened to change that.

Whatever it was he was going to find out why.

"Namur," he spoke interrupting the group's laughter's.

"What do you want brat?" Namur stopped laughing and looked down at the blonde boy.

With practice ease Sabo flipped the book onto the table and pointed to the chapter heading. He had read this chapter over a thousand times, so much that he could almost recite most of it word for word. He wanted this so badly.

"What about it?" Namur read the lines and then looked back at the boy.

"Teach me." Sabo commanded; "Please," He ignored the snickers from the men behind him and continued to stare at the commander.

"Why would I teach you fishman karate? Why would you assume that I know it?" Namur grunted.

"I know you do, and you are my guardian. You are the one who is meant to help me when I'm in need. You're the one I'm supposed to turn to when I'm in trouble. Mister Whitebeard allocated you to me." Sabo smirked. He knew he was semi blackmailing him, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He would give anything to spend some time with his guardian like the rest of his siblings had with theirs.

He wanted to learn different styles of fighting, he wanted to be the one to catch his enemies off guard. And what better way was it then to learn a different animalistic way of fighting. Plus he was the ships navigator. But most of all he wanted to have something to share with his guardian.

He was jealous of the bonds his siblings had with their guardians. He wanted that too.

"No," Namur turned back to his friends completely ignoring him.

"I don't think you understand," Sabo interjected trying to keep his calm composer. He kept his hands on the table for he knew that if he lifted them, everyone would see how badly they were shaking. He didn't want to be rejected again, he didn't know if he would be able to handle it.

"What is it that I don't understand boy," Namur raised his eyebrow at the kid. He had spunk that was for sure.

"You are my guardian. Plus Mister Whitebeard already approved." He smirked.

"No he didn't, now go and annoy Marco." Sabo frowned. He thought that his little threat would work. Looking down at his hands he felt them start to shake along with his body. Letting them fall to his sides he tried hard to control the emotions that were running through him.

"Please Namur," he pushed all his pride aside and begged the man. He just wanted to learn something from him, he wanted him to be more than a commander who only showed up in a battle or when one of them went missing. He wanted to bond with the commander, he wanted what the others had with their guardians. He would settle for even a small conversation with the man, anything that showed that his guardian acknowledged him even in the slightest.

"No brat, now scram."

Sabo stared at the man's back. His entire resolved crumbled, he didn't understand why he wouldn't help him. The other three commanders did everything to help his siblings, and yes they included him with everything they did, but it wasn't the same. He didn't know what he did to make his commander guardian not want anything to do with him.

He refused to see him during their training sessions, he didn't want to be partnered up with the guardian and charge competition. Any time something big came up Namur was missing.

"I want to be different." Sabo spoke softly feeling his frustration rise; "I want to be able to defend my family. I need to be able to protect them. I don't want to be weak anymore, can't you see that." Turning around Sabo left the group and made his way up to the deck. He ignored the comments of the others passing by and headed straight for the side of the ship.

Throwing his arms over the side he let his chin rest on the wooden rail. He watched the fierce ocean as it lay calm for once. Closing his eyes he let the salt water rush through his senses and he sighed. He could feel this wash of anguish run through him. Rubbing his sleeve across his cheek he pushed away all signs of the rejection he felt. He hadn't felt like this in such a long time, not since his parents all but abandoned him as their son and only looked at him as their future reputation.

He was about to push off and look for Marco when a large shadow appeared next to him and blocked out the sun. He saw his large blue arms fall over the railing and mimic his own position.

"Why would you come to me kid?" Namur spoke looking out at the water; "Plenty of other men on this ship could teach you something different."

"You're different." Sabo whispered not looking at the man. "You're stronger than they are."

"It's because I'm a fishman?" Namur added with a little bit of spite.

"Yes and no," Sabo answered truthfully; "I've read many books about Fishman and Merman. Books created by men who have no idea about the real world, only about money and power." He spoke of the countless books his parents would force him to read. The way of nobility.

Namur looked at the kid.

"Is that why you don't like me? Because of where I was born?" Sabo asked not daring to look at the man. It wouldn't be the first time he was cast aside because of his heritage. He wouldn't blame him if that was the case, his parents, and people like them were horrible people. He just wished people would see him for who he was.

"Yes and no," Namur answered back in the same honesty that he had given. "When I first found out where you were from; I won't deny it, I hate them. But you're different." He looked up at the fishman for the first time.

"My parents," he scoffed at the idea of naming them parents, "forced me into my studies as soon as I could open my mouth. I read book after book about the world and the hierarchy, and their idealistic world. It sickened me." He looked down at his own hands.

"I ran away after I overheard them talking about buying a slave." Sabo spat.

Namur stared at the kid with new eyes. He knew the kid was from a family of nobles, and he hated that he judge the kid a little on that alone. But to hear his words and his thoughts was quite a surprise.

"Ace and Luffy remind me every day. If you want something you have to fight for it. No one is going to give it to you, you have to earn it." Sabo spoke with a hint of pride in his voice. He looked up at the sky and remembered those times in the jungle, their lives in their makeshift hide out. Life seemed so simple back then with just the three of them. "And blood means nothing, blood does not define who we are."

"I hate my parents, I hate the World Nobles and I hate the Celestial Dragons. They don't know what life really is, or what it truly means. They just take what they want, when they want, and they don't give two shits about who gets in their way." He scoffed remembering sailing towards the large ship docking at their island. "They just blow up your ship for just being there." He rubbed his arm where he had gained a scar from his burning ship.

"Wait what?" Namur caught the last of his statement.

"I wish I was never born from them." he whispered letting his guilt come out.

"Back to the blown up part," Namur turned and bent down forcing Sabo to turn towards him.

"Well yeah, it was back at Dawn. It's a long story but we crossed paths and my boat didn't survive. Hell I was lucky I made it out with just a few scars." Sabo tugged at his shirt and tried to cover up his mark. The scar on his face however was something he could never hide.

"And this one?" Namur pointed to the pink skin just below his eye.

"Yeah, was close too. Lucky I didn't lose my eye huh," he laughed and turned back towards the sea. To him it was in the past now. They had a lot more troubling things happen to them that shadowed those days.

"So why fishman karate?" Namur asked actually curious to hear his response.

"It would be quite the scandal to see the son of a noble fighting back with a style they deem created by the trash of the world." Sabo smirked. He'd love to see the look on his father's face as he destroyed his men with such a style.

"I want to show the world that everyone is the same. In the end, we all live and die, we all breathe the same air, we have a heart, lungs, hands, feet. I don't get why people see us so differently. A person should be judge on their actions not their blood." He whispered the last part.

It was something that he held true to himself, not just for him but for his brothers too. Ace's blood was his weakness. No matter how many times he told his brother that blood did no matter, it never truly changed his thoughts on it. To him he always viewed himself as the child of a monster, someone who never should have be born. But, his brothers were just people who were crazy enough to accept him.

"You better be prepared kid." Namur pushed off the railing and headed towards the training rooms.

Sabo stared at the man not sure what he meant. He went to call out when Namur waved at him to follow. A grin plastered on his face as he followed his guardian towards the training rooms.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Marco shouted looking at the four kids sitting on the railing of the ship. That wasn't the problem, the problem was what they were holding.

"We're fishing Mister Pineapple Head." Luffy beamed tugging at his makeshift fishing pole.

"Those pipes are weapons, they are not to be used for fishing." Marco steamed looking at the brand new weapons in each of their hands. He had spent so many hours making sure that they would come out completely perfect, he did not spend those hours making fishing poles.

"But, we always use pipes." Sabo spoke up not quite sure what was wrong with the situation. All you needed was something strong and some line and bam you have fishing pole.

"We have real fishing rods," Marco sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. No matter how many times the kids did something strange, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness within his frustrations. He knew it wasn't their faults, this was what they grew up with.

"Reel them in, let me show you how it's really done." Marco headed towards the storage unit and grabbed the fishing gear out.

"I want to catch a sea king, I bet it tastes really good." Luffy beamed up at his brothers.

"Yeah, and maybe we can use you as bait," Ace flicked the top of his hat and watched as it got caught on the back of his neck.

"I'm not bait!" Luffy shouted standing to his feet. Sabo was quick to grab his pipe fishing pole and held onto it before it was tugged overboard.

"You would catch the biggest fish ever," Ace continued to joke. He liked seeing this side of Luffy compared to the depressed Luffy that had been appearing more and more lately. He did have to wonder what Whitebeard and Marco had said to him to at least get him to talk more about his dreams. But he was still yet to shout the words that he and Sabo were longing to hear.

His dream was to be the kind of the pirates.

It was that simple.

As much as he used to give his brother a hard time about his dream, he never doubted for a second that he wouldn't be able to accomplish it. He just wanted to hear his brother scream those words at the top of his lungs, he wanted to see his eyes close and his signature smile on his face as he clutched his straw hat to his head against the wind. This was his wish at the moment.

Only then would he really know that his brother was alright, that he was back to normal.

"Flick, tell Ace to stop being mean." Luffy's whine snapped him back, that and the hard slap on the back of the head from said girl.

"Don't be mean." She spoke firmly but kept a smile on her face. That was another thing he was happy about. These men on this ship had changed Flick. They changed all of them.

"Alright brats," Marco appeared and took their pipes out of their hands. "Repeat after me, weapons are not for fishing."

"But what if you're stranded on a boat, with bait and fishing wire but you don't have a pole? Would you rather us die of starvation, or use our weapon to help fish and effectively save our own lives?" Octavia sat on the railing with an incredibly smug expression on her face.

"You can starve," Marco grinned at the girl.

"I'm telling Thatch," she responded earing a small whack to the back of her head.

For the next few hours the five of them sat on the railing of the Moby Dick and collected several different types of fish. After each catch Marco would explain what type of fish it was and whether or not they would keep it for food or throw it back as it was too small.

Slowly each of their guardians had wondered around trying to find the little brats and they each ended up beside them with their own fishing rod in their hands.

"Whoa," Luffy laughed as he was tugged forcefully forwards. His hands gripped onto the fishing rod tightly as he tried to pull it back. His arms stretched out as the pole was being ripped from his grip, but he wasn't letting go.

"Luffy!" Izo screamed out seeing his charge getting overpowered by the fish below. Izo wrapped his arms around the boy and held his back against his chest as he still tried to pull in the catch.

"Let it go," Izo commanded but Luffy just laughed.

"It's a sea king, it's a sea king." Luffy beamed seeing the tip of the monster reach the surface.

Thatch was quick to grab hold of the pole with Luffy and helped the boy tug in the thing.

"Damn, that's a big one." Thatch laughed feeling its force resisting against them.

"Go Luffy!" Octavia cheered passing her pole over to Marco who was quick to reel the lines in and move to help with the disaster waiting to happen. Ace and Sabo quickly untied their fishing wire from their pipes and readied themselves for the attack.

"Vista! Kill it!" Marco yelled out seeing the other commander walking towards them. A flash of panic flashed across the commander's eyes as he rushed towards the railing. Leaning over he could see the top of a very, very large fish below them.

Unsheathing his weapons he jumped from the railing and aimed his blades downwards.

Octavia ran to the side and watched with wide eyes as the commander unleashed a series of deathly blows to the fish below. That man had a hell of a lot of skill.

"That was incredible!" Sabo cheered joining his siblings on the side of the ship. Vista was standing on top of the dead monster with a smug smile on his face.

"Can we eat it now?" Luffy beamed letting go of the slack line and peering over the edge at his catch.

"Sure thing kiddo," Thatch ruffled the boy's hair and could just imagine the look on Lyon's face when they dragged that thing into the kitchen.

"You can't cheat like that!" Ace stood up and yelled out at his sister. He was annoyed. Not once in his life had he ever lost a game of Marines vs Pirates, but he couldn't for the life of him catch his sister. And then to make matters worse, she would always trick him and then free his captured pirate brothers from their make shift prison of wooden crates.

"You never said no powers," he glared at his sister who was sitting on top of the mast with her arms placed smugly on her hips. He hated it.

"It's a given!" he yelled back feeling his face go red with anger. He didn't like cheaters. Not when he was the one they were using it against. He looked at Sabo who was the first person he had managed to tag, and then capture.

"You're the marine this time." He grumbled and moved to stand next to Luffy who was bouncing on his feet ready and waiting for the next found to start.

"Fine, but no powers Flick." Sabo laughed seeing his brother face. Ace was not someone who liked to lose, ever. Whether it was a real fight or just a pretend game he didn't like losing, ever.

"Turn around Admiral," Octavia sung and quickly grabbed Luffy's hand as Sabo's back was turned towards them and he started counting out loud.

"Let's go," she yanked onto Luffy's hand and pulled him across the deck of the Moby Dick thinking of the best place to hide from the big bad marine. But most of all the room she was thinking of had two doors and a window if she had to do a last minute dash to escape.

They dodged through the crowd of pirates who all but stood still and let the kids run around them.

"We're going to find the best place to hide right Flick," Luffy beamed up at his sister. He was so happy playing with his family. Even happier that he had actually won a round or two, mainly because his sister helped him. But for once he got to see Ace lose and that was the funniest thing he had ever seen in his life.

They were running down the stairs off the deck and heading towards the commanders quarters.

"Of course," his sister laughed and she tugged on his hand to turn down the next corridor. He didn't know where they were going, but he didn't care. She was smart enough to know where to hide, if he had to hide by himself he would have hidden behind the crates next to the mast.

They rounded the final corner but both stopped in their tracks when they came face to face with Teach.

Octavia tried to pull Luffy behind her, but he wouldn't budge.

Luffy glared at the tall man who stood in front them with a blank look on his face. They all seemed too shocked to even speak. It had been a week since the event and they had yet to see him, and that was something that everyone was grateful for.

"Octavia," Teach spoke softly.

"Don't call her that." Luffy growled, "Only special people can call her that." He stepped in front of his sister and spread his arms out protectively. If it came down to it, he would protect his sister with his life.

"I'm sorry Flick-"

"Or that." Luffy snarled. He didn't get to call his sister her special name either. He didn't deserve to speak to his sister after what he had done. He wouldn't forgive the man. Teach glared down at him and any other time he would run for his brothers. But this time was different. He had to protect his sister. He had to stop her from feeling that feeling.

"Look brat, I'm trying to apologise here." Teach sighed getting frustrated.

"Good, you did it. Let's go." Luffy tugged on her hand and headed down a different corridor. He didn't feel like playing anymore. He was angry.

He didn't like that man.

He didn't like his apology.

That wasn't how you apologise for something.

He led them both towards their bedroom where he would be able to shut the door and be alone with his sister. It was their safe place.

"Luffy," Octavia whispered as he slammed their bedroom door closed and crawled onto her bed. She slide in beside him and lay her head next to his. She had never seen Luffy so angry before. She had never seen him like that, and it somewhat scared her. She wasn't scared of him, scared of his changing and she wasn't sure if it was a good change or not.

"Thank you, for standing up for me." She whispered and pulled him into her chest. Finally she felt him sigh and wrapped his arms around her.

"Ha, found you!" Sabo pushed the door open quickly, "you're under arrest!" he jumped onto the end of the bed ready to tag his siblings when he froze. "What's wrong?" he sat down all thoughts of the game completely disappeared.

"Silence is the most powerful scream"

So what did you think?

Little bit of each of the brats and their guardians. Many people have asked the significance of Izo with Luffy - well I wanted him to give Luffy a sort of nurturing bond. Someone who will show Luffy that it's okay to be different and that he should embrace is and not hide from it and in a way it makes Luffy so accepting to so many different types of people in his future - like a skeleton for a crew member... etc

But also Luffy is growing - mentally that is - he is starting to accept what happened to them and is growing from it. :D

Sabo and Namur :D Finally they can bond yay

Thanks for everyone who reviewed - and my new reviews thank you :D

Will always answer your questions quires etc - Love your ideas too - many of you are kinda on the right path to what i'm thinking anyways.

Next up : Attack of the Moby Dick! - but by whom!