Hello everyone, here is the next chapter

This is a bit of this and that and such and hope it is good

Also, I have a lot ready right now as I've been excited for this story, really excited, so the next updates will happen rapidly, so be prepared for that

Hope you enjoy

Read and relax

Whitebeard sat out on deck, enjoying a good day. Ace was supposed to return soon, and he had been a lot gone the last week, doing a lot of work. And an hour after dinner, Ace appeared on deck, and Whitebeard frowned as Ace had one eye closed, not seeming to want to open it. Trevor seemed to think the same as him. "What's with your eye?" Asked the silver-haired assassin, and Ace sighed, opening his closed eye, and at first, Whitebeard saw nothing, before he noticed the color of his eye. It was grey, not black. Trevor hissed. "What did you do?" Ace shrugged, closing his eye again. "Beats me. I didn't do anything to deserve this I think." Trevor hummed. "Well, you've been doing a lot the last few days, probably because of prolonged use." Ace rolled his eyes. "Still, I hate this." Whitebeard could understand that. Ace was blind at one eye, he gave a worried look to Ace. "How long will it last?" Ace shrugged. "It's been an hour already, so over an hour. Hopefully not more than a day." Trevor nodded. "Cool." Ace didn't seem to agree on that, but Whitebeard got that, Ace was blind at one eye.

When evening came, he stood out with Ace, most were asleep as they had had a birthday party during the evening, and everyone was either asleep or hungover. But as night moved by, an enemy ship came into view, and Ace hummed beside him. "Want a fight?" Whitebeard hummed, before he shook his head. "Not really. Everyone is hungover or asleep." Ace nodded, before Ace held his hand up. "If this takes my other eye, oh my God, I will be mad." Whitebeard blinked, he hadn't thought about that. He was about to tell that Ace didn't need to do this, when he snapped his fingers, and Whitebeard knew it was too late, Ace had done it already. He then sent a look at Ace, who had closed his eyes, and when he opened his good eye, it was still black, which had Ace breathe out relieved. "Thank God." Ace still had his sight, which was good.

He stood out with Ace for a few more hours, before he got a job and left. It would take a few hours. The day then started and went by fine, everyone sobering up from their hangover. But as a few hours had passed, Ace appeared on deck, and when he did, he looked at Trevor, a look on his face that said 'I'm done', and Trevor gasped. "Oh no! Bunny! You're blind!" Whitebeard blinked, and looked at Ace, and yes, both his eyes were grey. Ace was blind on both eyes. "What did you do!" Almost yelled Trevor, and Ace sighed. "I tried to make a boat disappear." Trevor snorted. "Did you do it?" Ace nodded, moving a hand to point to his eye. "Yeah, but it cost this." Trevor shrugged. "You knew you were close to that. you've already lost one eye." Ace rolled his grey eyes. "Still, I thought it would go fine." Trevor shook his head. "How long will you be blind? Got any ideas?" Ace shook his head with a sigh. "No, I don't. Hopefully not long." Whitebeard hoped that as well.

The day went by fine and they didn't see much of Ace, probably being in his room as he was blind, being out now and then and he seemed to move by as normal. Ace probably used his haki to avoid bumping into them and knew the layout of the boat. But as evening came, something happened. "Trevor!" Whitebeard heard Ace yell, before Trevor came running out a door. "Fuck fuck fuck!" Said Trevor as he ran, and Ace came running after. For being blind, Ace seemed awfully good at running. But as Trevor ran, he ran past a couple that was carrying a piece of railing, and as Ace neared, he was sure Ace would run head first into it, and him saying it was there wouldn't be fast enough. But as Ace was close, he moved to slide underneath it, before he stood up and continued the chase. How did Ace do that? The two then ran inside the ship again, Ace right behind Trevor.

A few minutes later, Trevor came back out on deck, a black eye, probably from Ace. When the captain saw Trevor, he looked at the silver-haired man. "How did Ace evade the piece of railing?" Trevor chuckled. "Either he used his haki, or Dust told him. Ace is amazing. You can't escape him, even when he's blind." Whitebeard nodded, Ace was amazing.

Ace was blind for a week, before his eyes slowly got back to normal and his sight came back. Marco was usually close to Ace, which was good. And things continued normally after that, Ace and Trevor leaving for a work thing that would take some days, but would most likely go by fine as it wasn't anything dangerous or bad, for once.

-x-

Trevor stood with Ace in a vault, having a quick work-related thing here, and having just explained the routines, as they had important information here, as well as money. But as they were about to leave, Ace frowned, before he nudged him. "Wait, Trevor, look." Trevor frowned, but looked to where Ace motioned with his head, seeing a man that was checking the safe in the building, as scheduled, just as the manager said. What was Ace seeing? Ace hummed. "Is he stealing the money? His right hand." Trevor looked at the man's right hand, as Ace said, and had to hum. He was. Very subtle. He was taking the money out while his left was checking the safe. "Well I'll be damned. He is. Think he's the regular guy?" Ace shook his head. "No. Look, his throat, small dots, like a rash, that's from a beard he has had for years. Bandages on his hand means a fight; his eyes have lenses, they're too big." Trevor wished he was as good as Ace at seeing those things that fast, Trevor wished he was more of a natural. Why couldn't his dad have thought him this instead of fighting and survival.

Ace gave a motion to him to stay behind, most likely if the man ran away. Ace then headed towards the man that was stealing. "Excuse me," Said Ace calmly, and as Ace was about to continue, the man stood up and moved his hand out, creating some cloud. Did he have a smoke bomb? And why was it blue? That was a weird color. As the smoke went away, the man was gone, and when Trevor looked down when he heard a sound, he gave a swear. What the fuck was this?

-x-

Whitebeard sat in the galley with his children, the weather outside cold. He was looking forward to Ace, Mika, and Trevor returning today. They had been gone for a week now and it was as if something was missing, the three gave an aura off that was missable. And as all three were gone, there was no one to run the second division, meaning it came to Marco and Jozu to share that responsibility. As they were sitting and relaxing, speaking about this and that, the door opened and Trevor came inside. "Trevor!" Started Thatch. "How have you been?" Trevor sighed. "The mission went fine, but now, no, I am not good. We're not good." That had all of them frowning. "Did something happen? Is there a problem? I hope not." Said Whitebeard, wondering what had happened.

Trevor sighed. "Yeah, no. We actually have a huge problem." Whitebeard blinked, never having heard Trevor say they had a problem, let alone a huge problem. "What? Did something go wrong? Where is Ace?" Seeing as Ace wasn't with Trevor, the captain had a sinking feeling it had to be about Ace; he was always close to Trevor when they returned. Or it could be Mika. Trevor sighed. "Yeah, that's the problem." Whitebeard hoped Ace was fine, that just something minor had happened. Although he had a feeling it was bad since Trevor said they had a huge problem. "What happened? What's wrong with Ace?" Whitebeard could see Marco looking worried too. Trevor let out a breath as he looked lost, motioning to Mika when the door opened and she came through. "That happened. And I have no idea what the fuck to do." Whitebeard blinked as he looked at Mika, who was holding a small baby that was maybe a year old, with a handful of black hair, green eyes, some blue clothes and a blue pacifier. Whitebeard didn't really see what this had to do with Ace. Had he found a baby? Or rescued it? The baby looked fine.

Thatch made a motion. "Okay, a baby. So what? What about Ace?!" That was what was on his mind, and Trevor moved a hand to his face, the other motioning to the baby. "The baby is Ace." Whitebeard frowned. What? How did Ace become a baby? "Wait," Started Marco, looking confused as he had a frown. "That's Ace, yoi? Ace has black eyes, not green. That can't be Ace." That was a point, Ace's eyes were completely black, this baby had bright green eyes. Trevor gave an annoyed breath, moving to take something from his pocket. "I knew you'd give me shit for this. Or Daisuke knew, and was prepared. Here." Trevor took a picture out and handed it to Marco, who looked at it with amazement, while Trevor sighed. "Ace's eyes are black because of his powers, his fruit. Before he ate it, he had bright green eyes, as in the picture. And try to tell me that's not Sabo and Luffy with him." Marco shook his head, handing the picture to Izou, who looked shocked before he handed it to him, seeing what was a young Luffy and Sabo with Ace, and Ace had bright green eyes. "Okay, yoi. I believe you, that's Ace. How is that Ace?" Trevor shook his head. "Don't know, think a devil fruit. This guy was stealing some large money and Ace tried to stop him, and suddenly, Ace is a baby after the guy did something and made a small cloud. Daisuke is tracking him down with some help, and I hope I soon hear something, since this won't do. I can't do this." Whitebeard got that, this was a weird situation.

Mika then placed Ace on a chair, getting a few chefs' coats to keep him safe, so he didn't fall. And Thatch brought over some food he could eat safely as a baby. an hour later, when meal time was. "So, food time. You can't eat with the pacifier." Said Thatch, and Ace didn't react. When Thatch tried to take said pacifier, it was clear Ace didn't want to let it go as he got a sort of annoyed or grumpy face, biting down on it. "Really?" Started Thatch. "How are you so strong?!" As Thatch tried again, Ace moved a hand up to his, grabbing Thatch's finger, and it was clear Ace was stronger than a normal baby as Thatch almost instantly fell to his knees, face morphed in pain. "Oh God! I give! I give! Let go!"

Ace did, and Thatch moved a hand to cradle his other hand, obviously being in pain. "Oh my God! That's no baby!" Trevor chuckled. "No, it's not. It's baby Ace. Not that surprised he's still strong, it's Ace. And this baby age thing is just weird and not normal." That made sense, and Thatch slowly managed to stand up, the captain seeing Thatch finger, the one Ace had held, was blue and swollen. When he was up, he looked at Trevor. "How's he going to eat then! And why doesn't he want to let go of the pacifier?!" Trevor shrugged, moving the bowl of food closer to Ace, who moved one hand to take a piece of food, the other taking the pacifier out as he put the food in, before taking the pacifier back in, chewing while it was in his mouth. Trevor hummed at that. "I think Bunny is in there somewhere. Not baby Ace, but 21 year old Bunny. Like his mind, but not in control. He's a baby, and if he takes the pacifier out, he will grunt, gurgle, squeal, laugh, screech, and other baby sounds. And Ace doesn't want to do that. So he keeps the pacifier in so he can't make sounds like that." Whitebeard could understand that. Ace liked to have control, and to be a baby would be the opposite. "So he remembers everything?" Trevor hummed. "I don't know. Let me see, I should have maybe tried this before." Said Trevor as he moved to crouch next to Ace, looking at the baby with a thoughtful look.

"Okay, let's try." Started Trevor. "Bunny, are you, you? Or there?" Whitebeard didn't expect anything, but to his surprise, the small baby nodded, making Trevor nod back. "Okay, hopefully not coincidence. Bunny, can you speak?" The baby shook his head, and Trevor nodded again. "Okay. Are you in control?" The small baby blinked, before holding a hand up and shaking it. The captain didn't know what it meant, but it seemed Trevor did as he nodded. "Not completely, that's fine. Are you always there?" Ace shook his head, which had Trevor sigh. "Do you feel you're getting more control, or less?" Ace shook his head, which had Trevor take a breath. "That's bad. We'll get you back to normal, okay? I promise." The baby nodded, and Trevor did too, moving a hand to Ace's shoulder. "We will fix this." The baby nodded again and ate the rest of his food.

When he had eaten, Trevor sighed. "Well, we need to make the best of it. Come, let's at least head out, babies like air, and need it. It should be a bit warmer out." As Trevor moved to lift Ace, the baby moved his arms in a pushing manner, Ace obviously not wanting Trevor to pick him up. And before Trevor could react to that, Ace moved to his left, holding his arms out to Marco, who blinked. "You want me to carry you, yoi?" The baby nodded, which had Trevor chuckle. "No wonder actually. You're Ace's fiancè, probably like you better than me. He's more comfortable with you carrying him." That was true. Ace might be close to Trevor, but it was clear Ace and Marco had a good relationship, and he had seen Ace sitting in Marco's lap, and he was sure Marco had carried Ace before, and they even slept in the same bed, which had taken time based on what Marco had hinted to. Ace had opened up with Marco over time, in a different way than Ace had with Trevor.

Marco then carried Ace out, and it was warmer out, and Ace seemed content in Marco's arms. It was probably better than crawling around. The day went by fine, and when evening came, they headed to bed, Jozu having made a sort of bed for Ace to sleep in as a baby couldn't sleep in a bed, as they could fall down and potentially harm themselves or die. They wanted to keep Ace safe.

-x-

Marco woke up as he felt the bed somewhat dip, waking up groggy as he moved to look to his left on the bed, seeing Ace doing his best to climb up, making Marco blink. "How did you get there, yoi?" He said as he sat up, looking over to the crib and seeing the crib broken by it's bars. Marco sighed as he looked at Ace, who crawled up to him. "You want to sleep here, yoi?" Ace answered by lying down next to him and looking up at him with the bright green eyes, as if waiting for him to lie down, which he did. And when he laid down, Ace moved to scooch closer, arm out and holding his vest, obviously wanting to lie close to him. Marco gave a breath as he moved an arm to be over Ace and resting against his back. "You better not fall off the bed, yoi." They had a crib for a reason, since Bay, Trevor, Mika, Izou, Rakuyo, and such, said babies could damage their heads if they fell down, since their skulls were fragile. Ace didn't respond, but closed his eyes, keeping the pacifier in his mouth as he drifted off to sleep. Marco chuckled as Ace looked cute when he slept like a baby, literally. But Marco still couldn't wait for Ace to come back. He had missed Ace just the days he had been gone before this whole ordeal happened.

When the next day came and he carried Ace out and was with the others. Trevor did say Daisuke had found the guy and was headed to them to get Ace back to normal. Ace couldn't be a baby. He just hoped the older assassin would get here fast so Ace could come back to normal, he missed Ace.

-x-

Whitebeard sat out on deck, enjoying a good day, and Ace was seated a bit away, and Marco had told he had managed to get into bed and slet there fine, so they didn't need to keep him stabilized as Ace could do that himself. But as they were out, a spider had made its way onto the ship and was behind Thatch on the railing, and when Thatch noticed it, he jumped.

Whitebeard couldn't help but chuckle as Thatch gave a scared sound as he jumped away from the small spider on the railing, Mika moving to shoo it away into the ocean. It was a normal event, seeing Thatch's phobia of the small creatures. But, what had all of them blink and turn to their left, was the sound of a loud and lively laughter, seeing Ace who sat on the deck laughing as every baby did, laughing so even the pacifier fell out and into his lap. Trevor moved over to Ace. "Bunny?" The baby looked at him, before gibberish got out of the babies mouth, a hand moving to his mouth so he could suck on it. Trevor sighed. "And Ace is gone. He's a baby." Whitebeard frowned. "Will he stay like that?" Trevor shrugged. "Don't know. Hope not, I hope it will only be small times he's a baby and then turn back to himself again. But we can only hope." Whitebeard nodded and hoped for the same. Ace seemed to be a baby for about half an hour, before he blinked, looking serious, or as serious as a baby could as he looked at Trevor, who nodded. "You went full baby. It was cute." The baby gave a huff, and Trevor moved over and handed the pacifier back to Ace, who took it in his mouth, giving a glare to Trevor, or his best of a glare. Trevor just chuckled at it.

After that, Ace was himself, or, not a baby, and when two hours had passed, Daisuke showed up, making Trevor breathe out relieved. "Thank God. You can fix this?" He asked as he motioned to Ace, who was in Marco's arms. Daisuke nodded, but sighed. "We need to feed him this and he will grow into himself again. It will take time as he will grow during the night. It is different for everybody apparently, some grow each night, some grow every other night. We should just hope Ace will grow up fast." Trevor nodded. "How will it go? Will he be himself? Or his age?" Daisuke sighed again. "He will be his age most of the time, more so when he gets a few years up, but have his memories in the back of his head. But mostly be his age, but he will be himself at small times." Trevor sighed at that. "What will we do?" Daisuke hummed. "Our best. I will stay, I will, as young Ace has issues." Trevor gave a relieved breath. "Thank God I'm not alone in this. I barely knew him as a young Ace, we met when he was 14, and he hated me at the start." Daisuke nodded. "I know, the reason I am here. I didn't meet him until he was 12-13, but still. He had heard about me since he was 11."

The day went by fine, and Ace became a baby once, but otherwise was himself, before Marco headed to bed when Ace suddenly just fell asleep. Daisuke did say it was because Ace would grow, he needed to sleep to grow, so this was a good sign. Hopefully, tomorrow, Ace will be older.

-x-

Marco blinked when he woke up, seeing Ace next to him as usual, but this time, he was definitely older. He was maybe 3 years old now. "Ace, yoi?" Ace blinked, before he woke, a hand massaging his eye, before he looked at him shocked. "Who're you?" Ace looked around. "Where am I?" Marco held his hands out. "Think, okay. You're on the Moby Dick." Ace frowned. "Did you kidnap me? Where's Dadan? How did you take me? Wait, why are we in the same bed!" Marco moved his hands calmly. "Don't worry. Let's head to Trevor, he can explain." Ace blinked. "I don't know any Trevor! Where am I!" Marco needed to calm Ace down. "Let's head outside, someone you know is there." Ace nodded. "I hope so. This is scary." Of course it was for the young child. They then headed outside, and when they ran into a few of the crew, Ace moved closer to him, hand moving out to his hand, obviously scared. "It's okay, yoi." Ace didn't seem to believe him, which he got. He was a stranger. They then got to the main deck and Marco was glad Trevor was out. "Trevor, help me, yoi." And he motioned to the 3-year-old. It had Trevor blink, before he smiled. "Hey! Ace! You're older!" Ace frowned. "I don't know him! Why do everyone know my name!" Trevor's smile went away. "Oh, I see. Well, how to explain. You're actually 21 years old, and you're a pirate. You got de-aged. Isn't that funny?" Ace blinked. "This isn't funny! I don't like this!" When Trevor tried to move closer to them, Ace hid behind him. "No! Stay away!" Trevor moved his hands up. "Okay, I won't come close. But I don't lie. Do you remember a Daisuke?" Ace frowned. "What's a Daisuke?" Trevor clapped his hands. "And we're screwed."

Ace then blinked, standing still for a second, looking down, before he looked up. "Trevor?" Trevor gave a hopeful look. "Bunny?" Ace blinked. "Yes? What is it? Why is everyone looking at me." He then looked down. "Why am I so tiny? I'm tiny!?" Trevor chuckled. "You got de-aged. You're 3 I think, 3 or 4." Ace blinked. "You're serious? This won't do!" Trevor moved his hands. "Welcome to my life! Now, you just became your age before, you didn't know anyone. How can we calm you?" Ace thought for a second, before he snapped his fingers, or tried to as it didn't work, making him look at his hand in shock, before he shook his head and looked at Trevor. "Tell me Dadan sent me here. You came to our island and I went with you willingly after Dadan said I should. That should work until I'm 9. Then you're screwed again as I didn't meet Daisuke until I was 12, so hope I skip that." Trevor blinked. "Wait, screwed again? You remember I said that?" Ace nodded. "Shouldn't I?" Trevor shrugged. "I don't know. This is still a weird situation." Ace snorted. "Tell me about it. I was a baby yesterday. I remember some of it." Trevor nodded. "That's good. Now, do you know when you're going back to your age?" Ace shook his head. "It just happens I think. And I don't like being this tiny!" Trevor smiled. "You're cute! Come on! Someone agree with me!" "I agree," Said a voice to their right and they turned to see Daisuke. "You're a child, Ace. Children are cute. How do you feel?" Ace crossed his hands. "I feel tiny! I don't like this!" Daisuke chuckled. "We'll, we have to make do. You need to grow up again. You grew like 2-3 years this night, and let's hope you keep that up, or go faster." Ace nodded. "I hope so. I really hate this." Marco got that.

The next days went by okay, Ace was a child now and then, more and more often a child, and on day 3, he was 10, and they had some issues calming him down, but when Dadan was mentioned, he calmed down and went with it, even though you could see him being careful. Marco just hoped Ace would grow up fast.

-x-

Whitebeard sat out on deck, and when another day had passed, Daisuke came out alone, and Whitebeard looked at Daisuke, having a feeling Ace was older. "How old is Ace now?" Daisuke sighed. "13, not a good age." Whitebeard frowned. "Why not?" Daisuke let out a breath. "He went through a lot of trauma now." Okay that made sense, and he hoped it wouldn't be too bad. When they saw Ace, he looked like a regular 13 year old. Ace was also carrying a book and the captain guessed he would read. So when he sat down on deck, he started to read his book.

As he was reading, Trevor came out. "Ace! You're older again!" Ace didn't react to the man, eyes fixated in his book, which had Trevor frown as he looked at Daisuke. "13?" Daisuke nodded, and Trevor nodded too. The captain guessed the other assassins knew this was a bad age for Ace. As day moved by, Ace just sat and read. A few did try to speak with him, including Marco, but there was no reaction. They also held their distance, as Ace tensed a lot when they were close. The only time he had reacted was when Daisuke mentioned they would eat in the galley in a bit, which he reacted to with a nod. But before the meal started, Ace finished his book and went to get a new one most likely. But as Ace was gone, he looked at Daisuke, having a question. "Why won't Ace speak?" Daisuke sighed. "He went through a lot of trauma now, so he was silent for a while. Just go with it."

The captain nodded, and would try that. As day moved by, Ace didn't speak at all, only reacting at times when Daisuke spoke, ignoring them completely. When they moved to the island, to just look around, Ace joined them, the captain having a feeling Ace wanted to go with Daisuke, as the man joined them. He was the only one Ace knew. When they passed a store, Ace headed inside, and the captain followed, to see what Ace wanted. When he got inside the shop, the captain watched as Ace took a pair of sunglasses on, seeming to like them, looking in a mirror. As Ace was, the shopkeeper moved over to him. "Look, kid, you either buy it or not. Don't try it on." The man then moved to take the glasses, and Ace held on to them, and the captain expected Ace to speak, but instead, he let out a loud scream, or yell more like it, looking at the man, who backed off, hands up.

Ace then went back to looking in the mirror, seeming calm again. The shopkeeper gave them a look, and Daisuke walked forward, now coming inside the shop. "Sorry about that, we'll pay for the glasses. He's young." The shopkeeper frowned. "And that's not a good reason to yell like that. You should be better with learning him to act nice." Daisuke sighed. "We will. Here, for the glasses." The man gave some money to the shopkeeper, who accepted it, before they left, Daisuke walked close to Ace after it. Ace still didn't speak at all during their trip, even when spoken to by Daisuke. When evening came and Ace had gone to bed, Daisuke joined him until he fell asleep, and when the man came outside again, the captain was about to speak, when Daisuke did instead. "Ace is a bit hostile now. I hope it will pass fast, but we need to see. This is normal for this period." That was sort of good. He was curious about what trauma Ace had gone through, but it wasn't a question he wanted to ask, sure he wouldn't get a response from either Trevor or Daisuke.

When the next day started, Ace was still the same as yesterday and didn't speak at all. The most he reacted with was a nod or shake of the head, using most of the time to read a book. A couple times a few had gotten a bit close to Ace, one being Thatch and he was asking what he was reading, and Ace reacted by screaming at them, which had everyone back off. Whitebeard did tell his children to let Ace be. Right now, Ace didn't need them close. The only one allowed close was Daisuke. When evening came again and Ace went to bed, falling asleep while Daisuke was with him and the man came back out, the captain spoke. "Does he speak at all?" Daisuke nodded. "He spoke a bit yesterday, before he fell asleep. He remembered I called this the bad age, so he wondered if it got better from here on out." Whitebeard nodded. "What did you tell him?" Daisuke sighed. "The truth. It will be easier to handle it, but it doesn't get much easier for a while. The next years are rough. He gets much better after this half year, he goes back to being a child, but the trauma is still there." Whitebeard nodded. He got it.

The next day, when Daisuke came out with Ace, he said Ace was older, but not by much, but enough he was more like a child. And it was clear as Ace was running around and seemed to have fun, speaking with many of them, a few times being found hanging upside down from the mast, a couple times even falling down, but he didn't get injured, just a few bruises, which faded quickly. Ace's powers were still amazing.

Things were calm for the next day, and when the next day came, Ace hadn't aged, but ran around like a child and had fun, before he once just stopped dead in his tracks, before he looked down at himself. "Why am I still tiny!" Trevor chuckled to his left. "You're still growing up. It's been slower. Don't you remember?" Ace shrugged. "It takes a bit before I remember." Trevor nodded. "Makes sense. I hope you'll stay for a while. I miss you." Ace lifted an eyebrow. "Kid me not fun?" Trevor snorted. "Fun? You legit yelled at people for a couple days." Ace let out a breath. "13?" Trevor nodded, and it had Ace sigh. "Not a good time, but it has passed I hope. I look like I'm 14." Trevor nodded. "I think so too. We just hope it will speed up again. Last time you aged like half a year, not a few years as you have." Ace nodded. "I see. Let's hope I will age fast. I don't like this." Ace then blinked. "Wait, did I fall down from the mast?" Trevor chuckled. "You did. You hung from it upside down and fell down." Ace let out a sound. "Huh, weird. Why would I do that?" Trevor shrugged. "You're a child, children do weird things." Ace nodded. "True. I hope I am myself soon."

After that, it took a few days for Ace to grow again, and when he was 15, he calmed down, and seemed more in control, stronger and calmer. Daisuke said this was when he started going on more assignments and training got harder. Ace was a huge help with them and even helped them with training and giving away tips on weapons as he knew that well, even though he was just 15, Ace was a prodigy, that was easy to see. It was good to see Ace being calmer, speaking, and seeming to have fun as he spoke to people and ran around. He helped them a lot.

After dinner, Whitebeard sat on his chair and looked at his children out on deck. Ace was still getting calmer and more like the Ace they knew. The captain both took this as something positive and negative. He liked the calm and funny Ace since he looked and seemed much more relaxed. According to Trevor, Ace was still 15 now. He also stayed far away from Trevor, obviously not being fond of him. He wanted to ask, but had a feeling he wouldn't get an answer, he would try and ask when Ace was older.

An hour later, Ace was walking over the deck, Thatch walked up to Ace, looking to be on his way to show his sword to Ace, having it out. He knew Ace still knew a lot about weapons and fighting, even though he was 15. "Hey Ace! Can you look-." "Don't!" Everyone looked to Trevor as he barked out, Thatch having his sword in front of Ace, Trevor moving quickly towards them. Before anyone could speak, Ace's eyes rolled up and he went slack, Trevor barely managing to catch him before he hit the deck. Everyone was shocked, not expecting anything like that. As Trevor held Ace, he carefully lowered them to the ground, moving a hand to snap his fingers in front of Ace. "Ace! Ace! Ace!" There was no reaction from the young kid, still unconscious. Trevor gave an annoyed sigh. "He's out." Whitebeard was just about to ask what it was about, when Trevor looked at Daisuke. "Take him to his room. I'll deal with them." Daisuke gave a nod and lifted Ace carefully, walking away. When they were gone, Trevor gave a sigh again. "What was that?" Asked the captain, wondering.

Trevor gave a sigh, moving a hand to pinch his nose. "That was the most basic instinct we have. People say we have fight or flight, but when the situation gets too bad, or triggers a memory too much for one's brain, it shuts down. That was just what happened." Whitebeard gave a frown, before he realized Thatch had scared Ace so bad he had fallen unconscious. Trevor had said Ace had gone through a lot of trauma now, the reason he acted so hostile before. Thatch just made Ace relive one of the bad things happening to him. Thatch had seemed to realize this himself and was on his way to speak. But, before he could, Trevor held out a hand and stopped Thatch, before looking at him with a glare.

"You don't do that. Now, before I start, I don't raise my voice a lot, simply because I don't need to. But what you just did, deserves it. You," The pirates could see the glare looking more mad, even feeling some haki as Trevor continued. "Don't hold a sword suddenly in front of anyone like that! Never! And this is why! You literally caused Ace to panic so bad he couldn't handle it! Now for your sake, I hope Ace will be fine. And if not," A murderous glare was given to Thatch. "You better run."

Trevor then turned and left, heading after Daisuke. Thatch stood shocked, scared, and guilty, swallowing as he looked at Whitebeard, looking to regret doing it. Whitebeard wasn't too glad Trevor threatened Thatch, but he shouldn't have done that. "I- I d-didn't mean to." Said Thatch. Whitebeard gave a nod. "I know, son. Let's just see and hope everything is going to be fine." He had heard about people getting bad setbacks from stuff like this, so he hoped that wouldn't happen. After ten minutes, Daisuke came out on deck. Before anyone could speak, he silenced them by raising his hand. "I know you think this Ace is more relaxed than the adult one. The reason for that is this: Ace trusts people now. He doesn't expect people to try and kill him. Adult Ace never relaxes; he's always on the alert, in case anything close to what just happened happens. You might have ruined everything that might make him trust you, both now, and if he remembers it, as an adult." Thatch swallowed. "I- I'm sorry." Daisuke shook his head, turning around. "Right now, sorry doesn't cut it." And he was gone, heading back into Ace's room. Thatch swallowed again, sending a look at the captain. Whitebeard could say nothing to comfort him. Daisuke was right. Thatch had really messed up.

-x-

Trevor sat and watched Ace, Daisuke next to him. Ace was still out and would most likely and hopefully wake soon. Trevor hoped it would go well, knowing Ace would be in a panic, and that could be bad as it was only them here, Ace not too familiar with them at this moment of his life. He was more familiar with Daisuke, but still. Whenever this had happened when he was young, even the times that were nowhere close to this bad, it was always Azuruko who handled it. Ace had managed to somewhat keep his old memories half with him, and hoped it would still be like that now. If not, it would be only worse for everyone.

After half an hour, Ace made a gasp as he sat up, panting, hand on his throat, and obviously panicking, breath hitching and Ace choking on nothing.

Trevor did his best at giving a calm and familiar aura to Ace, Daisuke doing the same. Daisuke was the one that moved a hand to Ace's shoulder, making Ace flinch and look more panicked as he turned to look at them. Daisuke gave a clam look, speaking calmly and seriously. "You are fine. You had a trigger. Just breathe." Ace tried to nod, but was still panicking and choking on nothing as he tried to get air into his lungs, looking around in panic. Daisuke moved and tried to make Ace calm down, but it was not really working well. Ace was still taking gasping breaths, choking at times, and Trevor could see tears starting make its way down his cheeks. Trevor felt even more mad at the chef as he watched Ace unable to calm down.

Trevor wasn't far away from going and telling the chef his mind on this. But he knew it was harder for Daisuke to calm Ace down. Had Azuruko been here, Ace would have been calm already; the man worked wonders on Ace. At times, he was the only one who could calm Ace down. If this turned to one of those, they couldn't do much. After Daisuke said some more words to calm down and breathe, doing his best to calm Ace down, Trevor felt relieved when Ace managed a deep breath. That meant it worked.

Ace still was panicking, but he was calming down. He still had tears streaming down his cheeks, sometimes giving a small choke, mixed with a sob, but it was getting better since he was at least taking breaths. As Ace calmed down more, or tried to, Daisuke doing his best, Ace soon moved to lay down on the bed, an arm over his eyes as he tried to breathe, his entire body trying to get oxygen. There were still some small sobs and chokes, but it was getting better. Trevor was glad it wasn't too bad; it could have been much worse. He was still mad at the chef. Thatch should know better. One does not hold weapons in front of someone like that. If Ace remembers this when he gets back to his old self, he would never trust the chef. Not that he wanted Ace to not trust the chef, but this should have some consequence.

Ace was out of it for a while, before he calmed down enough to breathe normally and stop crying. Trevor then left, to let Daisuke deal with this, as he wasn't on terms with Ace just yet. They did come out after two hours, and Ace still looked a bit shaky, but fine, and stayed far away from the chef. When the chef tried to approach Ace, Ace would hide, and the chef noticed this, and thankfully stayed away. He knew he messed up, he looked wretched. Which is what he deserved. You don't do that to someone.

Ace was trying to act normal the rest of that day, before he just fell over asleep when it was 8pm, which was good. It meant Ace would age. He did have a serious talk with the chef, who understood he did wrong, but still. This was bad.

-x-

Whitebeard sat out when morning started. He felt bad for Thatch, who was really upset he had done what he did, but he couldn't take it back. Hopefully, Ace wouldn't remember it. When morning started for full, Ace came from around a corner, looking to be older, just by a bit, maybe being 16 now. When he got out on deck and before he could speak, Trevor was in front of Ace, moving a hand to his face and tilting it, making Ace frown. "What are you doing, Trevor? Let go of me!" Trevor hummed as he did. "Just checking if you're high." Whitebeard frowned. High? Ace frowned as well. "High? Why would I be high?" Trevor shrugged. "You're 16, you got high real bad when you were 16. Oh. by the way, you got de-aged, you're actually 21 years old. We both hate and love it." Ace blinked. "What?! I am what! Is that why you look so damn old?" Trevor huffed. "I am not old! I am just 31!" Ace snorted. "Well, when you're supposed to be 27, you look old." Ace then moved a hand towards Daisuke. "But he looks worse." Daisuke hummed. "Careful Ace, dangerous waters." Ace just chuckled, and Trevor hummed. "I am just glad you're older again. I really do miss you." Ace blinked, before he frowned. "Are we close?" Trevor nodded. "Yes, we are." Ace blinked again. "Huh, wouldn't have guessed that."

The day went by fine, Thatch keeping his distance, but Ace had aged so he didn't remember it. When the day was nearing its end, Ace blinked, before he looked at his arms. "Am I still young?" Trevor looked at Ace. "Bunny?" Ace hated the Bunny now, which was normal for now, and Ace just looked at Trevor, who sighed relieved. "You're yourself. You're also 16." Ace nodded. "Okay, good, good." Trevor nodded as well, before he looked at Ace. "You remember anything specific." Ace shook his head. "No, falling down the mast, going around being a child and moody, that's it. Should I remember something?" Trevor nodded. "Yes, or yes, I wish. The chef made you have a flashback, but it doesn't seem you remember." Ace nodded and seemed to think, before he shook his head. "Nope, nothing." Trevor sighed. "I wished you did." Whitebeard blinked, he wished Ace remembered? Wouldn't that just make Ace not trust Thatch?" When Ace headed on with his day, Whitebeard looked at Trevor. "Why do you want him to remember it?" Trevor hummed. "Actions have consequences." Whitebeard blinked, before he got it. Actions did have consequences. But he was glad Ace didn't remember. And hoped it would stay like that.

When evening came and he saw Ace again, he was no longer himself and back to 16. As evening moved by, Whitebeard blinked when he heard a loud sound, like a bone breaking, and as it had, Ace groaned, hand moving to his hip, looking at Daisuke. "Please tell me my hip gets better?" Daisuke nodded. "In about a month, you have surgery to check, and we find bad damage, which we fix, and you are fine. It will still hurt a bit on cold islands." Ace nodded. "Looking forward to that." Whitebeard frowned. "Are you in pain?" Ace nodded. "Yes! I am! And to know I actually have damage, as I have said since day one! Pisses me off!" Daisuke sighed. "I know. We felt really bad for you. We should have listened. Even Graham felt a bit bad." Ace blinked. "What? He is able to feel?" Daisuke nodded. "He is. At rare times." Ace blinked at it, not saying anything. Whitebeard still had his frown. "What happened?" Ace gave an exasperated breath. "Some ass shattered my hip. It healed, then it hurt, and I have been saying it is still damaged, but no one will listen!" Trevor sighed this time. "I know, but we fix it." Ace gave a glare to Trevor. "I will live like this for another month more! Don't you try and say it is fine!" Trevor shook his head. "Wasn't going to. I know it hurts, but it will only last until you're older again, maybe a day or two." Ace nodded, seeming glad by that.

When evening came fully, Ace just fell asleep again, which was good. It meant he would age. But as Ace was gone, he looked at Trevor. "How did Ace shatter his hip?" Trevor gave a breath. "Some guy, about your size actually, stepped on him. Not just a light accidental one, but he did it to crush his hip, to say the least. We thought it healed well, but it didn't. Ace was in pain for almost 2 months before we actually decided to check, and found bad damage still there, as well as it had set wrong. We had to re-break it." Whitebeard nodded. That sounded painful.

He was glad it would be fixed. When the next day came, Ace came out on deck, giving a look to Daisuke, who was out. "Why am I on the Whitebeard's ship?" Ace looked to be 17 now, which was good. He was older. Daisuke chuckled. "You joined them. You're actually 21 years old. You got de-aged." Ace blinked. "I'm a pirate? What happened to being an assassin?" Daisuke chuckled again. "You are still an assassin, but also a pirate. Here, your wanted poster." Daisuke then took the poster out of a pocket, showing it to Ace, who gave a 'huh'. "Death'? That's my suffix? And, am I a mercenary? Aren't I an assassin?" Trevor nodded. "You are still you. You kill many, for the suffix. And you're also a mercenary in your free time. You enjoy it." Ace nodded. "Okay, I can work with that. Anything else I should know?" Trevor nodded. "You are engaged!" Ace moved a hand to his face. "Oh my God. I am? With who? Wait, no. I wanna try. It is someone on this ship?" Trevor nodded, and Ace moved a hand towards Marco. "It's Marco." Trevor nodded. "Right!" How did Ace know? He hadn't met Marco yet.

Ace gave a laugh. "This is horrible, in a good way, though. It's a lot to take in. I just recently helped them." That was true, that was about now, a few months back. from Ace being 17 or 18, about now. Trevor nodded. "But then Sabo and Luffy wind up on their ship and you join them for a few days. Before they one again winds up here, and you join them again. After that, Luffy and Sabo head to train, and you join them. You're their second commander." Ace nodded. "What happened with Marshall D Teach?" Trevor moved a hand. "You killed him." Ace blinked. "What? Are they okay with that?" Ace moved a hand towards him with the last sentence. Trevor nodded. "Yeah. He was evil. He has started convos with Sari Sabine and Jarl Jasmine, as well as nobles, bad ones. He also betrayed the Whitebeards by attacking Thatch." Ace nodded. "Makes sense. So I killed him and took his spot. That's cool. I still can't believe I am a pirate, and a mercenary. Why are you guys here?" Trevor chuckled. "I joined you here with Mika, and Daisuke is here since you were a kid and kid you have huge issues. But we're past the worst." Ace nodded. "Seems so. This is still a lot to take in. How old was I when I joined them? 19? 20?" Trevor hummed. "20. You joined a bit before your 20th birthday." Ace nodded. "Make sense. I can work with that."

Trevor nodded, before he gave a look to Ace. "How did you know you were engaged to Marco?" Whitebeard wondered about that himself. Ace chuckled. "Secret~." Trevor gave a small groan. "I wanna know!" Ace chuckled. "Ask me when I am back to myself, maybe I will tell. You speak as if we're closer." Trevor grinned. "We're friends! Good friends!" Ace blinked. "Huh, not that surprised. You're the only one close to me in age. Good we got over our issues.." Trevor nodded. "I know and I am glad too." Ace nodded. "What has happened while I've been here?" Trevor hummed. "You've killed many and have a strong reputation. You've changed outfits 3 times, but now back to your old one, Izou made you a new one. You got a drug addiction, again, and you almost killed yourself, again." Ace laughed. "Oh no, I did? Oh no! I did it while being a pirate!?" Trevor nodded. "You did. They were so worried for you. It was so awkward to watch, especially as we joked about it. We got banned from joking about it." Ace nodded. "Sounds right. Oh no, how did Marco take it? Were we engaged then?" Trevor nodded. "Yeah. So worried! But Benn showed up and fixed it a bit." Ace nodded. "Sounds like Benn." Trevor nodded. "Yeah, Benn is awesome." Ace nodded. "How long will I be like this?" Daisuke hummed. "You grow at night, and we hope it will grow faster. It's been speeding a bit up, but it was slow a bit ago." Ace nodded. "Anything I need to do?" Daisuke sighed. "You won't like it, but you need to wear a seastone bracelet. If you wake up tomorrow and are 18, there is a chance you're at a really bad place." Ace groaned . "Oh no. Violence or depression?" Daisuke sighed. "Depression. Bad." Ace sighed. "Worse than 16?" Daisuke nodded. "Much worse. You had to go on medication." Ace blinked. "Wow, that bad? Really?" Daisuke nodded. "It was bad."

Whitebeard had a frown, listening to the conversation Ace and Daisuke had. Ace had gotten depressed at 18? It sounded to be really bad as Daisuke wanted Ace to wear a seastone bracelet in case. He must have really gotten depressed. Maybe even tried to kill himself again, and it seemed to be the thought as Trevor also nodded. "Yeah, you slit your wrist, and you were so sad you woke up." Ace blinked. "Wait, really? I feel fine, and you just tried to drown me, and I didn't want to die." Trevor nodded. "I know. I was pissed at you. But then I felt bad for being angry." Ace blinked. "Wow, it must have been bad if you felt bad for that." Trevor nodded. "It was. So you better listen and wear a bracelet." Ace nodded, looking at Daisuke. "I can agree, but I only want it before I sleep, not during the day if I'm fine." Daisuke nodded. "That's fine." Ace nodded, seeming glad. Thatch then moved his hand up. "Okay, are we going to gonore how you are making a deal of this and it's making me nervous. Was Ace that bad?" Ace blinked. "You feel nervous? How do you think I feel?" Thatch blinked, as if forgetting that. "I- you're right. I'm sorry." Ace waved his hand. "It's fine. I just need to prepare myself for this. Do I remember previous days?" Daisuke shook his head. "Each time you age, back to scratch." Ace nodded. "That's bad. But I am sure it will go fine." Trevor nodded. "It better. I am not going to lose you yet." Ace chuckled. "And you won't. I will manage somehow." Trevor nodded, and Daisuke hummed. "Over to something lighter. How do you feel? Do you remember being a child?" Ace shrugged. "Just my normal childhood." Daisuke nodded. "You, at rare times, get back to your normal self, and you remember some of being de-aged." Trevor nodded. "Yeah, but just some. I hope you will remember more as they have acted unfavorable." Said Trevor with a hand towards Thatch. Ace blinked. "What did they do?" Trevor sighed. "Thatch made you have a flashback, and you forgot about it. And I wished you would remember it so it has some consequence." Ace nodded. "I agree with that. Let's see when I get back to normal. Real normal, maybe I will remember more." Trevor nodded. "I hope so."

Thatch swallowed. "I hope you won't remember it. I don't want to ruin the trust I have." Ace lifted an eyebrow. "Then why make me have a flashback?" Thatch shook his head. "I didn't know it would make you have a flashback." Ace gave a slow nod. "What did you do?" Trevor hummed as Thatch didn't answer. "He walked up to you from behind and held his sword out in front of you, as in almost over your throat. You were 15." Ace snorted, before he looked at Thatch. "Then, I hope I remember. You don't do that, you don't approach from behind without sound and do that. It should have a consequence." Thatch swallowed with that, and Whitebeard got it. He hoped Ace wouldn't remember, but knew action should have a consequence, but he wanted Ace to trust the chef.

The day went by fine and Ace was jolly and like himself, the Ace he knew. A bit more childish, but not much. When evening came, Ace was handed a bracelet and put it on, before they headed to bed. Ace didn't age that night, but did the next night, and he seemed to have skipped being 18 as he was 19, that was good. Ace hadn't joined them yet, but knew that was something he might do, so he wasn't surprised he had joined them. He knew Teach was evil and had killed him by this point. He did seem glad he joined them, and was glad when he was told Luffy and Sabo was training and was doing good. He was then told on how things had been since he had joined, and Ace took it all well, even the news he had almost killed himself again, even the fact he had a drug addiction. He did know he was close to Marco, which made him curious on how he knew, but he wouldn't answer that when Trevor asked. And since Trevor wasn't told, he was sure he wouldn't be told either.

The day went by fine, and Ace didn't age that night, before he aged the next night, and aged back to himself, which was perfect. He also didn't remember what Thatch had done, which had the captain glad, same with Thatch.

The day then went by fine, being told what he didn't remember, frowning when he was told what Thatch had done, but said he didn't remember. Thatch was super glad by that, and Trevor thought it was bad, this meant it had no consequence. But, for now things were fine, and Ace was back to himself.

And that's the chapter, hope you enjoyed

This was just a bit on Ace and him growing up

This story is also not finished. I know it is marked finished, but that is since the main part I had planned is over and now it is just the rest as well as ideas that I have. We still have some loose ends, like the wedding, the thing about Marcus, and other things.

Also, come check out the one shot series to this story! It contains one shots of missing scenes, past events, and alternative scenarios, etc.

If you have any scenes you would like to see, don't be afraid to leave a comment, or send a PM

And I love feedback too; it is what keeps me going!

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