Okay, first up I have to say how incredibly sorry I am about how late this chapter is. Basically, my Beta has had this chapter for almost a month but still hasn't had a chance to look at it.

I know I said I didn't like publishing without my Beta reading it first, but it isn't fair on you guys for me to keep saying 'it's coming soon' when I now have no idea. So, I've edited it the best I could. Please forgive any mistakes that there might be in the chapter!


Ace felt everything haze over around him.

Luffy's limp body clenched tightly to his chest.

He'd never meant for this.

He'd never wanted this to happen.

The tears leaked from his eyes. Akainu would not get away with this.

Lowering Luffy's body to the ground, he brushed his hand across her forehead, the blood on his fingers smudging along her face.

A feral growl rumbled out from the depth of his chest.

His vision faded to red as he watched the Admiral in front of him. Akainu was smirking, pleased with himself. To him it was one less pirate in the world.

The calls of his comrades fell to nothing as Ace launched himself towards Akainu. The thirst for the Admiral's blood was an insatiable hunger that he couldn't stop even if he wanted to.

Ace's fist was alight as he came closer and closer to connecting with the feared Admiral.

Before he could hit his intended target, a blue shadow collided with him, forcing him away from the Admiral and back towards Luffy.

Whilst Akainu's reaction was initially smug that Fire Fist had been taken out without his assistance, his smirk was destroyed when a mighty fist sent him flying into the ground.

"Those are MY brats you asshole!"

Ace meanwhile struggled beneath the figure that had him precariously pinned to the ground.

"GET OFF ME!"

"ACE! Ace calm down! It's me! It's Sabo! You have to calm down!"

As if a switched had been flipped, the fog that clouded Ace's vision receded as he finally paused to look at the figure above him.

"Sabo?"

Ace examined his 'dead' brother closely. He hadn't changed all that much. He looked older but his hair was still a short, curly blond, and the gritted teeth revealed a single missing tooth in his upper row.

"Am I dead?"

Sabo rolled his eyes at his brother in exasperation.

"No, it's the Bogey-man. Of course it's me, you idiot. Not to disappoint you, but you're not dead either."

Moving to his feet, Sabo extended an arm down to Ace, who grasped it without hesitation.

"You're alive then?"

"It would appear so."

"But–"

"Leave it for another time Ace."

Ace conceded with a nod, his focus returning to the Admiral who was now being pummelled into the ground by an irate Whitebeard.

As he remembered why Whitebeard was lashing out at Akaniu, the bile rose inside him.

"Lu–"

"She'll be fine Ace. It's Luffy we're talking about. It was just a graze. She's just exhausted herself."

Ace's eyes widened. Was it really possible for her to be okay? Her heartbeat had been so faint and her warm body had felt–

Warm.

Her body had still been warm and hadn't been getting any cooler.

Sabo shook Ace out of his realisation.

"Come on Ace. We've still got to get her out of here. Leave Akainu to Pop's. He won't get anything less than he deserves."

Ace nodded as Sabo swept his sister up into his arms, her back still bleeding slightly, but nothing that time wouldn't heal, even if some scars remained.

Picking up her fallen hat in one hand, Ace used his other to blast a column of fire at the Marines charging towards Sabo and an unconscious Luffy.

Ace glanced behind to Pop's as he ran beside his brother. His eyebrows furrowed as he replayed Sabo's words, a smile trailing along his face.

"You called him Pop's."

Sabo took a step back to avoid an oncoming attack, dropping low to sweep the marines legs from underneath him.

He was admittedly struggling slightly with his sister in his arms whilst still holding his staff.

He moved closer to Ace's side before he answered the question with a huff.

"Well yeah. He's family isn't he?"

Ace smirked at the response as he rotated his upper body to cover an attack to Sabo's back.

Sabo huffed again as he dodged another attack to his side. This wasn't working.

It was taking them too long to get where they needed to be.

He looked down at Luffy apologetically, and then he tossed her (as carefully as he could) over his right shoulder.

Shifting his grip on his staff, Sabo changed his tactics to offence, allowing he and Ace to move more swiftly towards the boats.

Finally making it to the edge of the ice that surrounded the slightly damaged but not irreparable Moby Dick Ace looked back to the scene behind him.

Whitebeard had left Akainu in a poor state. His unconscious body was being dragged away from the battle field by two small marines, one with an uncommon shade of pink hair.

His Captain was now having a whale of a time splintering off patches of the ice that had already been vacated by his sons, but still held a number of unfortunate marines.

Vista and Jozu were working together to keep Akojii preoccupied whilst allowing their nakama to make their way back to the ships.

Subtly he could see the pair allowing Akojii to push them back, making it easier for them to make it to the ship.

Haruto, Izo and Speed Juro were dealing with Kizaru, but it was evident that even with the three of them they were struggling against the Admirals abilities.

Glancing up to the ship, Ace could just make out the calls of Marco, organising the ship and the crews to be ready for departure, as soon as Whitebeard gave the word.

Luffy still remained limp over Sabo's shoulder beside him.

She needed medical treatment, sooner rather than later.

His thoughts were interrupted by a growing speck of yellow that was emerging alongside their ships.

The door of the submarine opened as the water finished pouring off its sides, and from the darkness inside Ace could make out a single figure.

Ace's eyes narrowed as he continued to stare at the figure. It looked like a...

Rubbing his eyes to make sure that his vision was distorted, the action proved to be futile as a white bear in an orange jumpsuit stepped into the light, a second, shady looking character following behind.

"That's the Surgeon of Death, Trafalgar Law."

Sabo's proclamation sparked something in Ace as he manoeuvred himself to stand between his brother and the submarine.

"I know what you're thinking and you cannot be serious!"

Sabo shifted Luffy back off his shoulder and into both arms.

"Ace we don't have much of a choice. He's a doctor and Luffy needs treatment now."

During their exchange Law hadn't made any comments however, his fixed gaze on Luffy's severely injured body gave a clear indication of what he was hanging around for.

Ace's eyes flickered between the submarine and the Moby Dick.

He felt torn.

His brothers still required his help in getting away, yet he wasn't willing to trust a stranger with his sister, especially not one with the epitaph 'Surgeon of Death'.

Sabo took the dilemma out of his hands, making the decision for him.

"Go help Marco out. I'll take Luffy and make sure she's taken care of."

Ace nodded, handing Sabo Luffy's hat.

"Keep her safe."

His eyes narrowed as he watched the dark doctor suspiciously.

Sabo smirked at the extra meaning in his words.

"She's my sister too you know?"

Not giving him a chance to respond, Sabo boarded the yellow vessel, the door being shut behind him by the panicked polar bear.

Akojii who had managed to slip away from his previous attackers, lunged towards the submerging submarine, ice splaying out from his body in a desperate attempt to stop the pirates escape.

His efforts were destroyed as Ace moved in front of him, a wall of fire blocking him in his tracks.

The heat of the attack forced Akojii to move away from the blaze, his arm that had been melted reforming out of ice.

The majority of the Whitebeard Pirates and their allies were boarded on the ships that hadn't been destroyed during the firing of cannons.

Those that were left on the platform of ice either being Commanders or others still being assisted on board.

The Commanders were quickly closing their ranks, forming a line between the remaining pirates and the Marines, Whitebeard at their centre.

With Akojii backed out of the way Ace moved towards Whitebeard, taking a position to his left.

Marco, confident that all the necessary preparations had been made, flew down to take his position on Whitebeards right.

The battle field once more came to a standstill. With no orders coming from Sengoku or the two remaining Admirals, the marines ground to a halt, unsure of how to proceed.

"Everything's, ready for us to go Pop's."

Whitebeard made no indication of whether he'd heard Marco's comment, as he continued to keep his eyes locked on the haggard looking Fleet Admiral, who had a similarly haggard Marine Hero, Garp, wedged under his foot.

Still muttering curses at the Admiral who had dared attack his biological grandchild and trying to free himself from Sengoku's restraining foot.

"That bastard! I'm going to kill him! I won't have Whitebeard do my job! Let me goooooo!"

Garp's incessant whining ceased as a new ship sailed into the bay.

The Captain of the vessel stood at the front of his men, each armed and ready to go if their Captain's Plan A, didn't achieve the desired result.

"Are you okay Ace?"

Ace gave his sister's hero a nod and a smirk.

"I'll live."

"Good."

Shanks turned his focus to Sengoku.

"This war is over."


Have I ever told you how much I love Shanks? I absolutely love the guy! Definitely in my top 5 One Piece characters! On that note, does anyone care to share who is in their top 5? They can be in any order :)

Thank you so much to everyone that has review/followed and faved Expected the Unexpected. Your support is amazing, and I absolutely promise that the final chapter will be up soon regardless of whether it has been properly edited.

To my Guest Reviewers:
ReVeaLxMeMoRieS - Was my explanation acceptable? You were closer then you knew! I must be losing my edge ;)

Kouru-Kage - After I got this, I was straight onto the Wiki confirming what you said. I'm so sorry! I'm usually really thorough when it comes to checking the small details! I remember I checked about 5 times to make sure that it was his left arm that he lost not his right one, but with how good he is at wielding a sword in his right hand I totally forgot to check which arm was actually dominant! I do have some plans to rewrite a few of the earlier chapters, so I might add that chapter as one that needs refining. Thank you for picking up on it :)

Guest - Here is your update ;)