HOLAA913: I'm sure everyone will be shocked! lol.

sairakanzaki: Yeah, Stefan can't die. I can't kill a dog, lol.I won't be changing my posting schedule. It will always be once a week.

Simitria: It's a fix it story for a reason. *wink* And I can't bring myself to kill animals. I've killed off baby Luffy multiple times, but not dogs! Lol.

Sorry about the late posting! Other things came up and I forgot. But it's still on the right day! Only 2 more chapters after this one! Enjoy~

After Ace saved Stefan, he was incredibly clingy. So clingy that he'd take turns sleeping in Ace's room and sleeping with Pops. That was hard, since he had to have the door open for Stefan to walk through, though it was best to keep it locked for Ace's sake, so he didn't get up and do something while half-dead. So, Fossa made a doggy door for him, which could lock from the inside if he wished. And that worked very well. Ace's rug didn't have thread, so Stefan couldn't eat it and choke.

And while Ace liked the dog, he was unused to constant attention in that way. But he could do nothing for him to stop following him around. Pops expressed joking jealousy about Ace stealing his dog away.

"At least he's getting some exercise," Haruta pointed out, lounging in the reclining chair on the deck, along with Ace and Marco. All three of them had their shirts off (which wasn't a change for Ace) because it was so damn hot. They were nearing a summer island and a heat wave. Ace was the only one who was fine and not affected by the heat, which everyone was jealous of. Even Marco was sweating more than usual.

Thatch refused to "sunbathe" because when he had, his pompadour had blocked the sun from half of his face and left the bottom half with a sunburn while the rest was a normal shade. It was absolutely hilarious to everyone but him. So, he didn't sunbathe anymore.

Ace was perfectly happy before he got a bad feeling, and sighed, waiting for what was going to come. Part of him worried it would be something else about him being pissed at an unknown person, but it wasn't that.

Pops! Don't move, you broke your ankle.

Damn.

Ace's eyes shot open, and he looked down at Pops' feet to see one of his thicker IV tubes, resting over his foot. Ace stood up, Marco watching him intently, and walked to Pops, bending down to move the cord behind his foot so he didn't trip.

Clearly, Whitebeard had been meant to trip and hurt himself, because when Ace did something about it, he felt the familiar and unwelcome spike. He grunted and covered his eyes. Marco got up and ushered him inside and out of the bright sunlight. Pops watched in confusion and worry as Marco escorted Ace away suddenly and without any clear reason.

"You okay?" Marco asked quietly once they were more alone. Ace nodded, and explained that Pops was going to trip on the IV tube, so he moved it. "Thanks, Ace. Do you want me to get something for the headache?"

Ace shook his head. "It'll pass in a few minutes." When the door inside opened, they heard Stefan's claws clicking on the floor as he stopped and whined outside the door for the storage room they'd entered. Ace sighed, and Marco chuckled.

Marco opened the door and Stefan bolted in and jumped against Ace's leg. "You should be calmer, old man. Don't want to hurt your hip or back. I may be able to stop you choking, but I'm not a miracle worker," Ace scolded as he crouched to pet the white dog.

Pops was then there, smiling at his precious dog but then looking serious. "May I speak to you two, and gather Thatch, as well?" he asked. Marco looked a bit worried, but not at all surprised. He nodded, and said he'd get Thatch.

"It's time, Ace," Marco said, putting his hand on his younger brother's shoulder. The headache had passed, thankfully. He looked up at Whitebeard, who was giving him an encouraging smile. Ace bit his lip and sighed. It had been four months since he'd joined. He was closer to Marco and Thatch than Pops, even if he shared a secret the others didn't. Pops was the only one on the ship who knew about his father. Besides Deuce.

But how would he react to something so much more different? Ace didn't think he'd turn him in or anything, or spread it much. He didn't know if he would think Ace was a freak, or something was wrong with him.

Marco had said none of them had come across anything like Ace's situation, so there was no precedent to analyze the reaction for that. Ace nodded, hands in his pockets, before he left to get the paper from Marco's room as he went to get Thatch. The paper was old and overused. The ink on the back was smeared, and you could tell it had been folded and unfolded many, many times. He was also completely out of room. The more important ones had stars next to them. Those that had changed something or had been recurring.

He wondered how Pops would react to Ace thinking he was a commander when he very obviously wasn't. Would he be upset? Would he name Ace commander just because the voice in his head told him he was? That would be awful, and he'd always feel unworthy if he was given the position in that way.

Ace met Whitebeard in the meeting room, Thatch and Marco arriving not long after. Thatch had a milkshake, and handed it to Ace. It had whip cream, chocolate sprinkles and sticks of chocolate out of the foam. All of Ace's favorites. He smiled at Thatch in thanks, and took a long sip.

The three sat on one side of the table with Pops across from them. "I notice the secrets, my sons. I don't know what they are, but I know they have to do with Ace. And I truly want to know and be trusted with whatever bothers you that you feel you must keep a secret from everyone," Pops said calmly.

Marco and Thatch looked at Ace, who was looking at the table. He finally sighed and unfolded the list, sliding it across the table to the captain. The man looked curiously at the list before taking it and reading the whole page, turning it over not much longer after. "That's all the stuff I know that I shouldn't know." Whitebeard was confused.

"Can you explain a bit more?" he asked patiently.

Ace did his best to explain without sounding crazy, and he didn't know how well he'd done it. Started off by knowing Thatch's name to knowing warnings, like a dangerous island or situation. To getting snippets of random thought or dialogue to knowing Stefan was choking and when he lost control and shattered the ink bottle. What caught the most attention or curiosity was when Ace told Pops about the whole thing surrounding his mapping and charting skills.

Thatch had taken Ace's hand on the table to make him feel better. All three of them looked nervous. "So you think you came from the future?" Pops summed up pretty good. Ace shrugged, as he still didn't know. "It does not explain why you can't remember the previous two years," Whitebeard said curiously, sounding thoughtful. "As far as I'm sure, there is one time travel fruit, but Ace has a devil fruit already. Hmm…"

Ace's eyes were wide and Thatch started laughing. Ace looked at him in embarrassment and Marco joined in. Ace didn't get the joke and neither did Pops. "We told you he wouldn't think you were a crazy freak." Ace blushed and looked down, brows furrowed.

"My son, even if there had been zero evidence that fits with your story, I would not have seen you as a crazy freak. You are still my son. You just have an extra layer of mystery to you now, that's all," Whitebeard said with a grin. "I'll do my best to help you get to the bottom of this," he vowed.

"Nooooo, I was special! Then Marco had to come along and now Pops!" Thatch whined. Marco hit his head.

Ace grinned. "You're still my closest friend, don't worry," he promised. Thatch started blubbering again and Whitebeard laughed loudly. Ace had a new confidant. And he'd not even asked if Ace wished to tell the others. He knew that he would want to keep it secret, as he had for the last four months.

-x-

Ace put the pen down and capped the ink bottle, blowing on his new map before grinning. They hadn't mapped the island they were on, and Pops gave him the order to be the one to officially map it. A heavy responsibility, since they'd be using this map for important reasons, but he felt he'd worked hard and that the map was accurate.

He picked it up once it was finished and held it up to the light. The paper they had was of wonderful quality. It was midnight by then, but he knew Haruta was on watch. And he wasn't tired enough to go to bed yet.

Stefan was thankfully clingy to Pops that day and hadn't been bothering him or distracting him while making the map. "Haruta!" Ace called. A sleepy face looked down, and asked what he wanted. "I finished my map!" he replied. Haruta stood up and gave him a bright smile and thumbs up.

"That's my favorite navigator!" Haruta cheered. Then he yawned. "Now, go to bed! It's past your bedtime, young man," Haruta said. Ace flipped him the bird, which Haruta returned with a smile. If Ace were to flip off anybody but Haruta or Thatch, he'd be in very deep trouble. And many disapproved of his familiarity, but it had been a week since Pops found out, and it changed Ace.

Well, multiple things changed him. After saving Stefan, it seemed like people who didn't pay attention to Ace just suddenly discovered this new kid and wanted to talk to him all the time. Ace was shocked by it, and just pegged it as people wanting to be with Stefan who happened to follow Ace around now.

It made him more social, even if it was to just take the pup along to them. Then, there was the rescue of Aioba. There hadn't been a single nother problem after that. They ignored one another still, but the change was that with Aioba out of the count for bullying Ace, he didn't hear the whispers, never having realized how many of them had their opinions linked to the original asshole.

He didn't hear many people calling him perfect after he got very sick, which he pegged down as a coincidence. And he was so happy that saving Stefan hadn't pissed off anybody else again. So, for the first time since joining almost 5 months ago, Ace felt like he truly belonged.

Some things, of course, were still not ideal. He was still insecure about what Pops liked to call his "second ability", even though Ace didn't want it. He'd predicted a marine attack two days earlier, but it was too late. He had known what would happen, but the second he got up to tell someone, he had a sleep attack and was unable to do anything to help.

It had made him absolutely ashamed. He felt incredibly useless. Nobody had died, thank god, but several had been injured badly. And if Ace didn't have narcolepsy, he could have stopped it. His fellow navigator wouldn't be missing an eye.

Ace had hidden in his room after that, in a ball on the bed with Stefan trying to cheer him up. Pops had knocked on the door and walked in, sitting on the floor next to the bed, the mattress much too small for him. "You can't be our savior every time, Ace. It was unfortunate timing, son. Nobody died, and only a few were hurt.

"Still, I coulda' done something," Ace murmured into his pillow, loud enough for the captain to hear.

"Nobody is perfect here, or anywhere. And nobody here expects anyone else to be perfect. They don't expect me to be perfect, or any of the commanders. You do so much to help us in every way you can and ways others can't. This was the first time something has happened like this, do not let it eat you alive with worry. Or guilt."

Ace still felt like shit, but knew he'd feel so much worse if everyone knew about his sporadic visions. They weren't vision to him, but it was easier to talk about them like that when he said he "saw" something. He just was unsure about how to describe the feeling to others accurately.

So, with people not hating him, the minority shrunk considerably, and with Pops knowing and still loving him as one of his sons, things were good.

He put his map in the slot in the catalogue, proud of himself very much, before he headed to his room to sleep after using the bathroom and brushing his teeth. He remembered to lock the door, like he had for a week straight, which he was proud of. Things were great.