Ace had woken up early that morning with dozens thoughts racing through his head. He, Sabo, and Luffy had all decided that they were going to share the bed that Luffy originally had to himself. Ace looked towards his sleeping friends and knew that out of all the people in the world, the two people right there beside him could be trusted to their cores. Now, Ace was not normally one to show his affections for others, but he felt he absolutely had to show them the trust he put in each of them. And, after thinking about it for days on end, he had come up with a way. Ace slowly crept out of bed and tried to quietly leave the cabin, hoping since it was still dark out that everyone was asleep. Thankfully, he could tell by how quiet the ship was that no one was up yet. Using the stealth he had learned while sneaking up on animals bigger than himself, he made his way to the galley.

He looked around the large kitchen, thankful that the cooks kept the place clean. Not at all like Dadan, who shuddered at the mere mention of the words 'clean' and 'organized'. He climbed up on the counters, opening cupboard door after cupboard door in search of something in particular. Each time he opened a door, he would close it just as quietly, hoping that no one heard the soft squeak the hinges sometimes made. Opening a door closer to the corner of the kitchen, he finally found what he had been looking for: a bottle of sake.

Grabbing it excitedly, he gently put it down on the counter and hopped down. He smiled widely looking at the drink; this was exactly what he needed. Now if he could just find something to drink from, everything would be perfect. After rifling through several drawers nearby, he found 3 red sake sakazuki practically begging him to take them. Seeing his plan come together made the boy even more excited. His smile practically split his face. Pocketing the dishes and holding the bottle tight, he raced back to the room to put his plan into action.

Thatch watched from the shadows his brow raised. He had woken up early, as per his usual routine, to plan out the crew's meals for the day, only to find a 10 year old child stealing a bottle of sake from his kitchen. The kid had guts to steal from the chef of the Whitebeard pirates, he'd give him that. He could have easily stepped out from his observation point and stopped Ace, of course, but his curiosity as to why a child wanted a bottle of booze outweighed his anger. As such, he decided to simply wait and see how things went. Marco, of course, wasn't going to be told anything. An angry Marco was the last thing he needed. An overprotective brother was never a good thing, especially if somebody his little brother liked to associate was misbehaving with sake. No, it would be best to just wait this out and see what happened for himself.

It was a bit less than an hour later, Luffy and Sabo woke up. As they did, they saw Ace sitting by the door a huge grin on his face.

"What's with that look? It's too early for your craziness!" Sabo sighed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"I was planning on doing this on the next island, but I can't wait. Luffy, get up or you'll miss something good!" Ace said and called to the little boy who shot up looking around excitedly.

"Izzit a new type of food?" he asked searching excitedly around him, making Sabo laugh.

"Nope, something better," Ace grinned and placed the three cups in a circle in front of him. Luffy jumped off the bed and sat in front of a cup while Sabo looked at the other in confusion.

"Did you know that when men drink together they become brothers?" Ace smiled, carefully pouring the sake in the three cups so as not to spill any.

"Brothers?' Luffy asked in wonder.

"Mnn."He responded with a smile. "From today on we shall now be called brothers!" Ace said, picking up his cup and toasting it with Luffy and Sabo. The three chugged it down quickly, ignoring the sudden burning through their throats.

"Someday we may not be crew mates on the same ship, but no matter where we go, we will be bonded by our bond of brotherhood!" Ace said, putting his glass down looking at his friends-no-brothers in pure happiness.

Thatch, who had been listening in with his observation Haki, couldn't stop the large tear that made its way down his face. His family was expanding, and growing even closer. Putting on a large grin, he made his way to the galley to cook up a fabulous breakfast to honor the new brothers, his new brothers.

-Line break-

Marco had been keeping a look out on some ships coming their way. He had spotted them an hour ago and signaled the crew just in case. Of course they were probably super weak, but still, it was never a fun thing dealing with the piddly little pirate crews who thought they had some chance at beating Pops.

"Oi! The ships are approaching rather quickly now, and they've got a flag I don't recognize yet either-yoi," Marco called down to a commander, who was quickly relayed the report to Pops. Whitebeard was entertaining his three youngest sons on his lap, telling them a story of one of his sea battles. Luffy was his usual cheerful and excited self while Sabo paid close attention to everything that was being said. Ace seemed to feel uncomfortable being on the old man's lap, but he was happy nonetheless with his brothers beside him.

"Pops, some ships have come into view and Marco doesn't know the Jolly Roger," the man said. Pops nodded his head and dismissed him.

"Do I have to go below deck Pops?" Luffy asked, feeling a bit worried.

"No my son, you can stay here this time. Those ship are small, so I doubt any danger will come from them." His words calmed Luffy down right away. After all, Pops was the strongest man in the whole world!

Sabo looked excitedly curious. He had never seen real live pirate battle before. Sure he had beaten up thugs with Ace but small-time thugs were way different from rival pirates. Ace had the exact same thoughts and felt more excited than anything else. He couldn't wait for the battle to start.

Pops continued with his story, Marco joining in and picking Luffy off of his father's lap, placing the kid on his own. Luffy snuggled in right away happy to get cuddles. During the story, cannons were beginning to be fired from the other ship towards the Moby Dick. Ace and Sabo were still on Pops' lap, so they were beyond safe, and Marco had firm grip on Luffy. Marco didn't move yet in spite of the cannon fire, since he knew one of his many siblings would help defend the ship when the time arose.

When the closer ships began to fire and the ship began to rock, Luffy burrowed a bit deeper into Marco's chest, making the man hold him tighter trying to calm him some.

"It's all right Lu; no one can hurt you while I'm here-yoi." Ace hopped down from Whitebeard's lap and sat down beside Marco and Luffy, with Sabo following close behind.

Sabo rubbed the his little brother's back in soothing motions and Ace just sat there watching the battle ensue, a protective aura surrounding the group.

This was one of the first times Marco felt close to the other two boys. It was obvious that they cared for their new little brother just as much as he cared for Luffy. His eyes locked with Ace's for a moment, but that was all that was needed. Ace nodded his head at Marco and Marco nodded back, a new bond forming between the two. They both would protect their brothers to the best of their ability. Sabo smiled at his brother finally forming a connection with someone outside his current life.

Marco stood up, feeling content leaving Luffy in the care of the two children, something he had never felt before. If he had the time, he might have stopped to contemplate the new feelings of trust that were building inside him, but their ship was under attack at them moment, so he had to simply file those thoughts away for later and be ready to defend his family.

"I'm here to challenge Whitebeard!" a man that appeared to be the captain called out. Thatch rolled his eyes and the others shook their heads, laughing at the thought of their father being defeated. Luffy looked on in interest but still held nervously onto Sabo's shirt.

"You're thirty years too early to challenge me, brat!" Whitebeard boomed. The man charged at him with his sword drawn and ready to attack.

Whitebeard simply punched him, sending him flying into his ship fast enough to throw him through a wall.

Luffy jumped up, finding his pops even cooler than ever now that he got to see him fight.

"Wow! He really flew!" Ace said, attempting to be cool about his surprise but clearly being impressed.

"GURARARA! Cheeky brat," Whitebeard bellowed with a grin.

"Oi! What did you do to our captain!" a man from the rival ship demanded, jumping from his ship onto the Moby Dick and pulling a gun from his sash.

"Oh look, another idiot here to challenge pops. Can't they just go away?" Izou asked feeling rather bored now that the captain was beaten.

"I'll make you pay for that!" He frantically aimed his gun at Whitebeard, who only frowned at the man in annoyance. The complete disinterest Whitebeard seemed to show outraged him beyond belief. Just before he pulled the trigger, he jerked the gun towards Whitebeard's feet, right where Luffy was watching. His eyes widened when he heard the bang of the gun being shot. Ace reacted instantly, shoving the kid to the ground as Vista deflected the bullet with the flick of his wrist. Marco's eyes narrowed in anger. How dare this man shoot towards his little brother, how dare he even shoot at a child! Marco gave Pops a look, asking for permission, but Whitebeard was already on top of the problem. He stood up straight, glaring down at the trembling opponent with his full height.

"I thought your crew was here to challenge me?" he stated, his voice booming. "And instead, you dared attack not only an unarmed, defenseless child, but my youngest son?! Get off of my ship!" The whole world shook for a moment as Whitebeard used his powers, sending the opposing ship flying along with all of its crew members.

Kneeling down to look at Luffy, Pops did a quick look over to see if any damage had been done.

"Luffy, are you alright?" He asked softly.

"Mnn!" His hands were shaking a bit, but other than that, he seemed okay. "I had my big brother here to protect me!" he exclaimed, looking up at Ace. Ace grinned down at him ruffling Luffy's hair affectionately.

"Thank goodness. I'm glad you have two strong big brother's Luffy-yoi." Marco said giving Ace a fist bump in recognition. Ace returned it with a smile.

Thatch's eyes widened at the scene. In only a short time, Marco had opened his heart to the other children and accepted them as his brothers. He relaxed a bit, knowing now that things were going to be alright. Ace had proven himself to all of them by protecting Luffy. He had earned his title as a brother and Thatch was going to start making use of that.

Hey guys I'm back! I was out getting my wisdom teeth removed this week T-T I also cut off of all sources of caffeine this week as well so I was a bit out of whack :) I have just to point out something wonderful with this story now :D I have a beta now! Strange1331 will be editing my work to make my story so much more enjoyable for you readers :) I have another chapter typed already and in the process of being looked over for you guys but for now enjoy the fluff :) DR