Sorry this chapter is late. There was no access to the computer yesterday. I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of its characters. The OCs are mine.

Hotaru awoke in an all-too familiar room, feeling as though her body had been through hell and back. All the infirmaries on every ship of Whitebeard's fleet were designed to look and function in exactly the same manner. Hotaru knew she couldn't be on the Moby Dick, because that had been sunk by Akainu. The thought of that bastard brought to mind the battle at Marineford, where the Whitebeard Crew had suffered a greater loss than she'd ever before experienced. Their captain, their father was dead because of those bastard Marines. Lifting an achy arm, Hotaru rested her right hand on her forehead with a light groan. She brought her mind back to the battlefield, trying to remember all that had happened prior to her losing consciousness. She remembered the pain of Oyaji dying, still standing on his feet, and a sharp pain shot through her chest again.

Hotaru turned her head, resting her hand back where it had been on the infirmary bed. Her gaze found a bright orange cowboy hat with two blue smilies staring back at her. One was grinning maniacally, the other frowning like the mask of a tragedy. Tears clouded her eyes as those two little smilies watched her, and she suddenly was brought back to the most painful wound she'd received on that battlefield. It was not a physical one.

Her body began trembling as the tears spilled freely from her eyes and onto the pillow beneath her head. The heaving sobs brought a new wave of pain through her body and she was reminded of the severe burns she'd gained not only on her upper back, but across her stomach. Ace's final words were engrained into her mind, as was the final smile he gave her before breathing his last breath. That damned bastard Akainu was going to pay dearly for what he'd done.

"All hitting you at once?" a familiar, comforting male voice asked. Hotaru whipped her head to the right and saw Marco sitting on a nearby stool, staring down at her with… something deeper than sympathy. Empathy. That was how she could best describe it. He knew exactly what she was feeling; knew exactly what kinds of things must have been going through her mind. Hotaru nodded numbly, swiping at her eyes in an attempt to rid them of her tears.

"They're gone… both of them," she whimpered, her voice breaking. Marco leaned forward and carefully rested a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay to cry, Hotaru. We've all been through a lot."

The twenty-one-year-old woman gave no response, but she finally let the dam break and allowed her emotions to run without restraint. More sobs ripped through her abdomen, bringing a wave of pain with each hiccup and her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides. Marco let her cry on her own for a moment before moving to sit beside her on the bed. He wasn't surprised when her hands found his arms and clung to them for dear life. If she hadn't been so injured from her burns, he would have scooped her into his arms and held her like he had when she was only a child.

What surprised him was when she began pushing herself into a sitting position, her arms trembling under the weight of her body. Instinctively, Marco's put one arm behind her back to support her, only to pull away when Hotaru arched her back and cried out in pain. Marco quickly replaced his hand on a lower part of her back, keeping her body supported while refraining from touching the tender area around her shoulder blades.

"Son of a bitch," the young woman hissed through gritted teeth.

"Lie back down, Hotaru," Marco commanded. When she shook her head, Marco pressed his free hand on her collar bone and forced her to lie back on the bed. "Don't argue with me. You need to let your wounds heal."

Hotaru scoffed. "Which ones?"

Marco sighed heavily at the young woman's words. He would never have wished this upon her, the same pain he'd felt at Anne's death. Hotaru was still young; still a child in his mind. She shouldn't have had to watch Ace die, especially not in that manner. Losing both her mother and her lover to the Marines was too much for Hotaru to have to bear. Even worse was losing Thatch and Whitebeard to Teach. Macro couldn't help but wonder how much more Hotaru would have to go through before it was enough. He feared it would never be enough and she was doomed to suffer for the rest of her days.

"Just… promise me you'll rest for another day or two before you try moving around the ship."

Hotaru let out a slow breath. "Fine. How's Jozu?"

"He's fine. His arm was able to be saved, so he'll be just fine."

"And what happened after I passed out? I thought I saw Red Hair on the battlefield."

"Yeah. Red Hair showed up and put an end to the battle. His ship is traveling with ours. We're going to bury our fallen," Marco answered carefully.

Hotaru's gaze shifted towards the door, but she knew better than to try and get up yet. She knew Marco would simply stop her again. Her best bet was to wait, as he'd ordered, and then take a walk around the ship to see the damage for herself. There was a part of her that didn't want to believe this had all happened and that she needed to see it to believe it. Some would have been happy to live in that blissful denial, but Hotaru hated it. It simply made the truth harder to accept later, and she wanted to get the pain over with as quickly as possible. Like pulling off a Band-Aid.

"Marco," Hotaru murmured softly, almost commanding the commander's attention, "I'm going to make sure the bastards who killed our family pay for what they've done. I don't care how long it takes, it's going to happen."

"Hotaru-"

"I don't care what you say, Marco. I can't promise you that I'll be particularly safe with what I'm going to do, but I'll be smart about it. I'm not going to take unnecessary risks and I'm not going to rush into anything blindly. I'm going to take my time, and I'm going to make sure those bastards know exactly why I'm killing them." Marco frowned, but he knew he wouldn't be able to dissuade her with simple words.

"Just don't try anything until after you've healed and become strong enough to take them out. Don't get cocky or impatient, either."

"You know me, Marco."

Only one more chapter left. It's a 3D2Y chapter to close everything out. Please R&R.