Author notes:
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I posted new Fic called Shanks's Choice, check it out and share your thoughts ^^.
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Chapter 1: rewritten and beta'd by Kurapikababu.
Chapter 2: rewritten.
Chapter 3: small mistakes corrected.
Chapter 4: posted again and beta`d by Gerbilfriend
Chapter 5: written and beta`d by gabrielsangel23 and Gerbilfriend
Chapter 6: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend.
Chapter 7: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend
Chapter 8: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend
Chapter 9: written, beta`d by Gerbilfriend
Chapter 10: written and here, beta`d by Gerbilfriend
Chapter 11: planned.
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I don't own one piece!
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This chapter was beta'd by Gerbilfriend. As usual she is an awesome help, correcting my grammar and making it all clearer for your enjoyment. ^^
Thanks a million XD
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Warnings:
English is my fourth language. The story will include thoughts about suicide, self-harm, and Ace self-worth issues.
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Thanks to all of you that followed, favorite and especially reviewed. You are seriously amazingly amazing :D
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GreenDrkness
Thank you for the review. I hope the confusion is the good kind? :)
Read on, and you will know more about Dragon and Lina similarities.
Thank you for your encouragement, hope you enjoy the new chapter, and please share your thoughts.
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Rodina. Ashraf
Thank you for the review and your continuous encouragement. Right! I enjoyed myself while writing the song. I am glad that you are enjoying my humor. Lina is developing and changing in front of our eyes.
Happy to hear you enjoyed Marco POV, it was hard to write, I thought I was overdoing it in places. But I liked him like that.
Welcome to the club, should we open one for those that hate Doflamingo and Akainu and Blackbeard. :)
About her conversation with Whitebeard, I am looking forward to hear your thoughts.
For Izo, you will have to wait.
About cliffhangers, sorry, I can't promise anything, I have to finish the chapter somewhere.
Enjoy yourself, and let me know your thoughts.
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Wolfiesilvestar
Thank you for the review and the wishes. I hope you enjoyed yourself.
Yup, Marco is awesome, I enjoy writing him in my other Fic too. Someone should rib Doflamingo on, and who is better than Marco!
Enjoy the new chapter, and let me know your thoughts.
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Guest-chan (anon-chan) or My mile long reviewer ;)
Thank you for your encouragement. I am quite happy that you enjoyed the last chapter. Yup, Shank's crew will hold anything and everything against their captain, and we will see more of him in the future.
Marco is so amazing. Right? :)
Oh, Ace. I am not going to give any spoilers here, but when he hear about what happened, well….
You get that right sister ^^, "though we would love Ace no matter what". Indeed we will.
Lina would learn, she would not be given choice in the matter.
I hope you enjoy this chapter, it wasn't easy to write.
Looking forward to read your thoughts.
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her wife
Thank you for the review. Agreed, Marco is awesomely savage. Happy to hear that you enjoyed yourself.
Oh, Shanks` cape would appear again ;).
"she takes after Dragon doesn't she?", well, I would let you decide, shishishi.
I am looking forward to hear your thought, and friendly advice before you scream look around you ;) LOL
Hope you enjoy yourself, waiting to hear your thoughts.
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NightsBlackRose13
Hello!
I am sorry, if I ever missed a review and didn't reply. You are hard to miss, let me tell you. YOU are quite unique.
You somehow are able to make me blush to higher degrees, being called senpai… ohhh, a ripe tomato for the taking.
The yo-yo part, took me like three times reading it before I understood and then I snickered so hard. Let me tell you whenever I see yo-yo I think about you, I don't think that will change in the near future. LOL
Yup, chaos would rule it all when Luffy and Lina are there.
There was something that you mentioned that I planned to happen but not gonna tell you which.
Oh, I enjoyed the pun indeed. Thank you XD.
Looking forward to hear your thoughts, this chapter was quite the tricky one.
Enjoy yourself :)
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NCM
Thank you for your review. Happy to read that you're enjoying the chaos :). Indeed, Shanks was fun to write, here and in my other Fics. I hope the new chapter does not disappoint, waiting to hear your thoughts.
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Lizziecats
Hello, I see you found another one of my stories ^^. Happy to hear that you loved it. I am gonna give you a thick hint, I am writing this story because I wasn't happy (understatement) with how the war indeed. ;)
Enjoy yourself, waiting to read your thoughts about the new chapter.
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Anonymous
Hello and welcome to the world of AaC, I am happy to hear you loved my stories (which one you also read?).
Thank you, Lina and Sabo's moment was extremely heartwarming :). I am glad you liked it.
Oh, believe me, they would need all the luck in the world.
Here it is, enjoy yourself, waiting to read your thoughts about the new chapter.
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Rizuki Dhan
Welcome to the world of Anchor and Compass, thank for your review, I hope you enjoy yourself and share your thoughts with me. :)
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Lady Syndra
Hello and welcome to the world of AaC. Thank you for your kind words. I like writing different POV's, it isn't easy, but it certainly fun to do. I am glad that you think that I am doing a good job.
Chaos will come to those who wait.
Hope you enjoy the new chapter, and share your thoughts with me.
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Yare
Hello, and welcome to Aac. I am happy that you like my story and that you find it thrilling. I hope you continue to feel this way.
Hope you enjoy the new chapter, looking forward to read your thoughts.
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To all the lovely anonymous "Guests" thank you for your reviews, every review is important to me, as to be able to personally thank you and answer any questions , please use a name, or nickname in your review (if it isn't any trouble).
The nickname Guest is taken by Guest-chan:).
THANK YOU and for the Guest that asked about Lina's title on her wanted poster (the old one) the answer is written somewhere in this chapter, her new title would change after the war.
Hope you all enjoy yourself, let me know your thoughts.
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Read notes at the END, IMPORTANT.
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Hope you enjoy,
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Law POV
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"We need to sail faster, much faster," Trafalgar Law, one of the Eleven Supernovas, demanded for the fourth time in the last ten minutes.
Dammit, they should have left earlier.
The second he knew where they were, where she was.
"The engines are running at maximum capacity," spluttered Shachi.
"Captain, why are you this anxious?" asked Bepo worriedly and began apologizing right after for daring to question his captain while kneeling.
"Yeah, you have been in bad mood for more than two weeks," concurred Penguin in annoyance.
The captain in bad mood meant the crew suffered.
"We need to perform a surgery to take out the stick from his ass," Shachi muttered irritably to Penguin, their captain's mood was getting worse with each passing day and nobody even knew the reason. (If they did they would happily destroy it, dammit! Breathing in the submarine was hard as it was, no need to add a foul mooded captain to it).
Law narrowed his eyes, clutching his sword, "ROOM" He uttered coldly.
"Sorry captain, sorry," Bepo was the first to react, still in the floor.
"We are going to make sure the engines are working properly," said both Shachi and Penguin backing away, trying to get out of the room as quickly as possible.
"We will tell Jean Bart to hurry up," shouted Penguin, crossing the doorstep, pushing Shachi out of the way.
"and set the engine on fire if need be," Shachi hurriedly added, running out of the door.
Law dispelled his power, mentally cursing all the while.
Dammit..
Dammit...
"Dammit," he muttered loudly, having Bepo mutter sorry again and again, before crawling out of the room after the other two.
These two morons, what the hell were they f**cking doing?
Dammit.
He was a moron too, an utter moronic idiot.
Why didn't he do anything when he had the chance.
He shouldn't had let her leave without explaining what she meant .. what did she know .. how did she know it… the whole thing was gritting on his nerves, making his bad mood hold tighter, worsening it with every passing minute.
What did she f**king know, that question was stuck in his head, repeating like a broken Den Den Mushi recorder.
He was furious with the shitty situation as much as with himself.
Shit.
Law took a deep breath, trying to focus, to keep his head straight on his shoulders. The irony of that thought didn't escape him (when you took his ability into account), he relaxed his shoulders and once again examined that memory.
The memory that put him in such mood, he grimaced inwardly as it played for the who knew how many times on this day alone, trying to see if he could glimpse something new, learn what she meant .. what she knew.. Why did she approach him? Anything!
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Law was admiring the destruction and the trashed marines lying everywhere that he, Strawhat and Eustass were responsible for (he could have handle it alone, but oh well). They were known as ones of Eleven Supernovas for several reasons, one of them was their abilities to create havoc and destruction.
He looked at Strawhat, Monkey D. Luffy, who was having a loud conversation, (more like a shouting match) with some of his crewmates, an orange haired women and a curly haired man with long nose, the others were observing casually or fighting the remains of the marines.
When he read the name Monkey D. Luffy for the first time he couldn't help but want to know more, his curiosity overflowing, could he be …
Reading about his adventures, and the mayhem he left in his wake got Law even more and more interested.
Law definitely wasn't disappointed when he finally met Strawhat, punching the Celestial Dragon right in the damn face, no thoughts or cares about the consequences, yes, someone like him could be the .. He was ..
Law was trying to find the right word to describe him… when a voice from behind him announced.
"He is magnificent, isn't he?"
Law hand clutched Kikoku (his sword) reflexively as he tensed.
Who, when and how long? Flashed in his head as he spun around to look behind him.
He didn't hear her getting close to him and she was only several steps away from him. How long was she there observing him observing Strawhat?
Law didn't answer, just tensed same more, trying to calculate when was the best time to use his devil fruit powers, what was the best course of action, and should he attack or defend.
Who was she? What did she want?
If she wanted to attack him, she missed her chance, his back was wide open and he was unaware (dammit, he need to be more vigilant. Not to be so absorbed in his own observations so much as to be caught unguarded .. ). She wanted something and it wasn't him dead, Law concluded.
His mind was running a mile a second, in reality it had been five seconds, but it felt like forever.
She took a step getting closer to him, then another and Law was still undecided, should he attack her? She yet to do anything hostile against him or show her true purpose. The only thing she did so far was catch him unaware.
Another step.
She was standing beside him now, looking ahead at the chaos while he looked in the opposite direction.
He stayed frozen, undecided.
He observed her from the corner of his eye, his hand not leaving his sword.
Her hands were crossed behind her back, and he wondered what she was hiding.
She seemed familiar.
Where had he met her before?
He turned slowly, standing beside her, three small steps between them, both of them facing the scene of the destruction, but their eyes were scrutinizing something else.
She was eyeing him from the corner of her eyes, like he was doing.
"Well, he is my brother so it's natural that I think like that, I guess," she added as afterthought, but Law had the feeling she said it for his sake, for him to know who she was, which meant she knew that he wouldn't recognize her or had expected him not to know her.
Hmm, Strawhat's sister…yes, he knew her from the wanted posters of the Strawhat crew and yet he was unable to remember her name or any information about her, she wasn't one of the main players, or at least that what had it seemed to him when he scanned them.
Law eyed her looking her up and down again from the corner of his eye, she was a small slim girl and was wearing black long sleeved dress and there was nothing striking about her, except her eyes, black like endless abysses, looking at him, staring straight out now, she was searching him, judging him.
"It's the D fate," she said conversationally, her tone of voice not changing, but to Law it seemed like she was whispering.
He understood a bit too late that this, whole meeting, catching him alone unguarded was all planned for this moment, a trap and he fell right in it.
He was right, she wanted something from him, she wanted to see his reaction.
He had no idea what kind of face he was making but the gleam in her eyes told him she got exactly what she wanted whatever it was.
Someone was shouting loudly and he concentrated on the voice to pull himself from the trance he was immersed in.
Strawhat was shouting someone's name.
Calling for a Lina.
She turned to look at the source of shouting, her eyes finally leaving him, and took several steps away, leaving him, no, ignoring him, her back wide open for him to attack (but he didn't move, he couldn't), and she waved enthusiastically back to…. Strawhat, calling back to her brother that she was coming.
Lina.
Lina D. Monkey was who she was.
And then without turning back to face him, she spoke with the same conversational tone she had used earlier, just like she was speaking about the nice weather.
"But you should know all about it! Shouldn't you?"
And then she was gone in the blink of an eye.
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He doesn't know how long he stood there, staring at the air, until Bepo came looking for him, calling his name loudly, looking distressed and worried.
Law somehow registered that he just had a conversation, he can't describe it otherwise, without him uttering a word, not one, where one of his most important secrets, the thing he wanted to hide as much as he wanted to learn more about was carelessly and casually remarked upon, without him being given the chance to react in anyway or form.
He immediately tried to look for the Strawhat crew afterward, but they had vanished.
He even searched the stacks of paperwork in his room in the submarine for more than two hours to find her wanted poster.
Law touched his back pocket, where the crumpled poster was. It was a standard poster, her nickname by the marines was stupidly unimaginative: Black-haired Lina, 25,000,000 Beli, wanted dead or alive, nothing much was known about her abilities. Law could remember her face in details from staring at the poster for hours trying to find a clue to his questions. She was wearing a black blouse (maybe the black thing had a basis) her black hair flying around as she was stared blankly ahead, nothing showing on her face and the only thing of interest was a small injury on the left side of her neck. Law didn't remember seeing a scar when he met her in the flesh, did it already heal? (but then again he was busy with other things.)
After some time looking around the island and making discreet inquiries, he was able to find their ship, but not the crew themselves and those who were guarding the ship, some gang called the Flying Fish but they knew nothing about where the crew was or when would they return.
Something fishy was going on (no, he doesn't mean the useless gang), he came everyday to ask, even helped them to defend against some attacks on the ship (it was always good to have people think you were in their side, to make their tongues loose) but nothing changed, there was no glimpse of information about them.
He was considering just leaving this island because wherever they went to, they had left their ship here and they were not coming back soon, when he remembered about the execution of the second commander of Whitebeard (since their conversation, he was rather occupied to remember such minor details) and the war which it would bring, which meant that he would be there. The one he wanted to kill. No matter what the price was, Law would kill him, he will avenge his heart.
Law and some of his crew were watching the Whitebeard war as it unfolded on a screen at Sabaody, and as he expected he was there, Donquixote Doflamingo, Law gritted his teeth, tensing then as he did now at the mere mention of his name.
A war between the strongest power in the world, Yonko, Admirals and Shichibukai, was an eye opener, knowing something and seeing it in your own eyes was quite different. Doflamingo was part of this unbelievable stage where the strongest and most powerful stood. Pirates and marines fighting and they all had names that echoed fear and respect all over the world. Law was yet to be ready to take the first step to reach such stage, none of the new pirates had the power or the reverence to take such huge step.
He needed to become powerful, much much more, enough to take him down, even if it meant sacrificing his life in the process but for now he would bide his time and train, more and more…. or at least that was the plan.
Until he saw them standing there, besides Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world, they were standing not quailing in fear, but like they deserved to be there, no, not even that, but as equals, as challengers.
Law was clenching his teeth, his hands clenched into fists, his nails drawing blood from the palm of his hands, when he saw Strawhat and Lina D. Monkey plunging into the fight without as much as a scrap of hesitation, he knew then it wasn't in the far future when he would take step into that stage.
No, it was today.
Trafalgar D. Water Law also deserved to be standing on that stage, and Lina would answer all his f**king questions, until he was truly satisfied.
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Whitebeard POV
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Whitebeard narrowed his eyes.
For some reason his son seemed quite distressed, maybe distressed was not the right word.
His eldest was being quite vicious in his attacks on the little shit Akainu which was very unusual behaviour for his always calculated and measured eldest, right now he seemed like he was taking his frustration out on the unlucky (poor didn't fit) admiral.
Whitebeard was sure that it had to do with the look that his son gave him when he arrived with Ace's little sister in tow (or on his back to be accurate) which screamed 'this is your problem now, I want nothing to do with it'.
Whitebeard might have even believed him if it weren't for the frequent short glances he would shot the little brat, who was sitting on the frozen ground far from him surrounded with his sons for her protection (Marco ordered them to watch over her, muttering that she had no survival instincts), explaining what she wanted to be done to his allies, gesturing and waving her hands in the process, to Whitebeard immense amusement.
Whitebeard was even more sure of his first assessment of her the more he saw of her and her plans, or more accurately the consequences of her plans.
Whitebeard smiled, remembering the first thing she said to him after jumping hurriedly from the Phoenix's back before he had landed and she stumbled, falling down. Marco had to help her stand, after transforming back, while shaking his head and muttering under his breath the whole time.
The cheeky brat took a long breath and said to him straight out, well, demanded it more like it, to call his allies and introduce her. The please she later added, after several long seconds was as an afterthought, or maybe his raised eyebrow had just reminded her to be polite.
Whitebeard did as she asked, Squard was the only one not to answer him. The last he heard from him was after Sengoku revealed the biological fathers of Ace and his siblings. That was another interesting surprise, to think that the Dragon brat actually had children and they became Ace's brother and sister, the irony, fate was one interesting and twisted gal. Roger was probably laughing himself into oblivion watching the show, drinking a bottle of good sake (this cheeky brat did remind him a bit of her father, he did see a similar commanding presence in her. He would know more about her in a bit).
Anyhow, Squard asked if this was true, and Whitebeard didn't lie, and since then nobody knew to where he disappeared to and he didn't answer any calls.
It sadden him to see his son consumed by hatred that he became blind and forget the most important thing, grudges should never linger longer than one's own lifetime, if at all, and grudges should never be inherited or transferred to another person from either end. He would have to have a long talk with Squard, but now wasn't the time or the place.
In their meetings in preparation to the upcoming war, Whitebeard considered telling his allies and the commanders about Ace's parentage. He had feeling that the marines would reveal it and use it as one more reason to justify their execution, and present themselves as the ultimate seeker of justice, but he decided against it. It was Ace's secret to reveal, and he would not break his trust, and if the marines were to reveal it then the fact that his brothers and sisters stayed and fought would be the best evidence for Ace that his blood doesn't matter. Ace is Ace.
Whitebeard had worried about Squad's reaction in particular, but he decided he would respect his choices, it was time for Squard to face his dark-self.
Whitebeard sighed sorrowfully in his mind, he wished for all his sons and daughters to be free, but sometimes the shackles that were restaining them were not concrete ones, but ones that they put on themselves with their own hands.
Whitebeard did ask Ace's little sister when he handed her the Den Den Mushi, if she was okay (he saw Doflamingo's attack on her) and she had several prominent bandages sticking out in her body. The look she gave him was telling him quite clearly that she didn't appreciate his question, and he should worry about himself. Yet she answered, her face blank, that she was fine and even added a thank you while grasping the Den Den Mushi from his hand and began immediately to give instructions.
Whitebeard was still observing her when she stopped abruptly in mid-sentence and turned to face him and said without hesitation, no, to be truthful, she ordered him, and for a second he felt like he was sixteen again in his first ship, the voyage of lifetime, eager to be helpful and ready to obey.
He doesn't know what was it with this family and making old memories surface.
She ordered to take care of the nauseant quickly, they had things to discuss, she paused and looking at the direction of the nauseant, sheadded that Marco had other things that he should be doing.
He didn't have the time to react (he swallowed a laugh), she was already back to explaining plans to his allies via the Den Den Mushi. Whitebeard snorted at the memory, he thought with what he had seen and experienced in his lifetime that nothing could surprise him anymore, yet Ace's small family brought one surprise after another.
He should probably hurry up and finish the nauseant. He didn't think she would appreciate it if she finished her call, to find him not finished with what she had asked (ordered), mused Whitebeard. He was looking forward to their conversation, it promised to be extremely entertaining.
Whitebeard turned fully to face the fight in front of him, and stepped forward readying his attack.
Akainu was using his lava attacks and armored Haki (somehow carefully, they were fighting on thin ice) to try to stop his son's claws coated with Haki from viciously clawing him. The fight seemed to had reached an impasse, neither was getting the upperhand.
Marco soared high (didn't matter how frustrated his eldest was, he was always taking note of his surroundings) giving Whitbread the opening he wanted, with Akainu busy firing lava fists on Marco's soaring and far form. Whitebeard immediately fisted his hand cracking the air, using his Gura Gura no Mi power, and punched Akainu's from the sky above intending in pulverizing him and any unfortunate souls near him, his punch sent devastating shock waves through the air and right into where Akainu was standing.
Whitebeard was able to glimpse the flash of fear and panic in Akainu's eyes before the ice melted and the gushing water swallowed him. Whitebeard jumped several feet away from the point of impact, just to see his eldest in his phoenix form gently clutching Ace's little sister in his claws. She was flailing around unhappily and shouting at him, yet still clutching the Den Den Mushi in her hand securely.
Whitebeard eyed the newly created pool with huge waves erupting in its middle that his attack generated, it was pity that he couldn't physically touch Akainu, water was a weakness to every devil user, but he was certain that his attack damaged the shitty brat. But he was also sure that shitty marine brat used armored Haki to defend the worse of the attack impact.
Nevertheless, that would not be of any of use if he drowned like a heavy anchor.
The damage from his attack and the echoing waves were cracking the whole ice surface for miles in each direction but it didn't destroy all of it thanks to Aokiji immediate response, who was trying to minimize the effects of Whitebeard attack and save the blasted and drowning marines (most of his sons were smart enough to keep their distance when they saw his posture change, and those unlucky were helped immediately) as Whitebeard expected, by trying to freeze the cracked and broken ice again. Aokiji was finding it hard to do so while fighting his son Jozu, who took advantage of the latter momentary distraction to unleash several attacks in succession.
Now, where was the little cheeky brat, they had a conversation to begin.
Whitebeard turned to see his eldest son crouching near the sitting cheeky brat who seemed to be busy with shouting match with however she was speaking with, her hand waving wildly, via the Den Den Mushi.
Whitebeard frowned, and hurriedly moved, wondering what had happened to spark these kind of reactions. It wasn't the time or the place.
Marco seemed flustered, not sure if he should join the shouting or calm the brat down.
Curious, very curious.
Whitebeard get closer in time to hear the cheeky brat shout in rage, flinging her hands at the ground.
" ...people like you are the kind that I hate the most," her voice was slightly shaky.
She took long breath, she was shaking all over, her hands clenched into fists in her lap, she was going to burst, Whitebeard noticed, opening his mouth to stop the avalanche a bit too late.
"F**cking seriously, people like you are the reason that Ace thinks he should have never been born."
Marco had noticed him and was giving him a look pleading for help. Whitebeard understood immediately why when he heard the answering voice.
"Listen, you..."
He immediately recognized the voice, it was an angry Squard.
Dammit, it was about the brat Roger, from all the times, he should put stop it, before it spread unrest and doubts amongst his listening sons and daughters, this could destroy the whole momentum that they built.
"Shut up. I don't care what that piece of trash did to you. Who the hell do you think you are to put the blame on Ace. As if he doesn't blame himself enough for every f**king thing."
Whitebeard eyed the still shaking figure, shaking with unconcealed rage, no, he wouldn't stop her, he doesn't think he could (without making things worse or have all this rage unleashed on him). He gave a shake of his head to his tense son indicating to Marco to let it play out, he didn't seem convinced, but continued to observe (still fretting quietly beside her).
"Ace never even met that trash. Ace hates him, no, despises him. You can take your whole hatred and it wouldn't be even a drop in the ocean of the hatred that Ace feels." She continued her voice getting louder and angrier with every word. It felt to Whitebeard that it was something she wanted to say out loud for so long but never had the chance or the audience, instead she had to keep it buried deep inside to fester and spread, never seeing the light of the sun.
But now it was oozing nonstop.
"I mean he refused to use the word father, dad, oyaji forever, even casually. Do you know how happy I was to hear him tell me that he found a place to belong, and that he called a person with title father, out of his own choice. That he willingly used this title to call someone he loved and respected, that he had somehow took some of the darkness purging it and turned into something good..." she trailed off, lost in her own visions.
"That piece of trash killed …" Squard was no less angry, Whitebeard sighed, comparing your pain, lose and hatred was never the answer, those thing couldn't be scaled, it would only create more division. She was smart enough that she should know that.
"I don't care. We all have grudges against someone. We had another brother that was killed when he was eleven. Eleven. His only crime was that he wanted to be free. I hate, despise the one that killed him. I want that scum of earth to suffer and to have the most gruesome death imaginable. Him, not his son, his mother, his wife, him, anything else will not satisfy me. But this is not my purpose in life, because if I did, when I meet my dead brother in the afterlife he would be so pissed if I lived only for revenge and didn't pursue my own dreams".
She paused enough to take breath before adding.
Ace lost a brother before? A young one. Pasts full of overcoming hurt and lose forged the bonds of this family.
"So put it in your thick mind, Ace is Ace, you want to hate him, be my guest, but be a man enough to hate him for what he had done, for his own choices. He has to deal with enough shit as it is."
The cheeky brat was deflating right in front of him. Her anger and rage run out awhile ago, she was running on fumes.
She finally quieted down, but nobody spoke.
She took a long breath, her eyes a bit misty (Marco had a uncomfortable look on his face and was glaring at the Den Den Mushi), she lifted her hands to rub her face violently, and mumbled loudly enough for her words to be clearly heard, the sorrow and sadness evident in each word.
"He's gonna have the whole world against him, he doesn't need his chosen family to join in."
This declaration was met with utter silence, a different type of silence this time, a heavy one.
Even though the brat was young, the wisdom and knowledge she showed was that of someone many times her age, yet it wasn't her job to put things into perspective. She should leave it to old men like him, and savour her freedom.
Whitebeard quietly grabbed the Den Den Mushi in front of her, startling the brat, her face turning white for second then blank after. She hadn't noticed his arrival until this second.
"Squard," Whitebeard said firmly.
"Oyaji?" His voice was quiet and hesitant, the rage from few minutes ago was missing.
Some of what the brat shouted had seeped into his thick head, making him stop and think.
"You shouldn't hold children accountable for the sins of their father."
Sugarcoating the truth was never his way, his sons were strong to handle anything, and now was not the time to discuss things slowly.
"If there anything I wish fervently for is that my own sins never came to hunt you, my sons and daughters."
"Oyaji …"
"Don't worry .. "
"Oyaji, we will.."
"We can handle any…"
Whitebeard cut off his sons and daughters fervent objections to his words.
"I appreciate your feelings, but as father, I wish to take my own sins to the grave with me and leave you with all the good. I am not delusional to believe that there are not people with grudges against me that would take aim at you, especially when I am gone."
"Oyaji .."
"You will live .."
"What are you saying.."
Whitebread carried on ignoring their words and the raised eyebrow from Marco. Only the brat had no reaction, her eyes pouring at him, face blank, observing calmly.
"But I am not worried, because you have each other. The Whitebeard family stands with each other no matter what. And that's why we are here today."
He bellowed his rage, "Someone dared to hurt one of our own." His voice resounding around with its power.
Whitebeard took a second to calm his thoughts and to let his previous words be absorbed in before he said softly.
"Squard, It doesn't matter what your misgivings with Ace are. It doesn't change the fact that he is my son, just as you are my son."
Whitebeard paused, to let the words sink in, before adding.
"He is your brother, that you fought, laughed and cried with, today didn't change that fact."
Whitebeard finished with his piece, he hoped that his words reached all of them and that they would remember them in their hour of need, the ball was in his son's court.
The silence continued for few long seconds as he waited patiently...
"I am sorry, oyaji," came Squrad reply, no hesitation underlying his words. "You are right."
Whitebeard smiled a soft smile, seeing his son grow, and overcome a dark part of him, was a glorious to witness.
"My son, apologies are never needed in our family," told him Whitebeard.
"Thank you, oyaji," he said, his voice had a bit timidness to it that reminded him of the first time Squrad called him using this title, and he continued.
"Erm, brat….."
The brat in question jumped and announced loudly.
"My name is Lina, you can call me Ace's little sister."
Whitebeard moved the Den Den Mushi in his hand closer to her. The brat was not the kind to be down for long. It was back to business for her, Whitebeard mused.
"Ace's little sister, what do you need me to do?"
"The Decalvan Brothers can explain it to you the details, but basically I want you to divide the marines to small group and to push them to the direction of the walls as much as possible, use your judgment for the how and be ready to play your role when the time come."
"Role?"
"Don't worry, we will explain," one of the Decalvan Brothers cut in.
"We better get onto it," his twin added.
"Don't worry oyaji, we will save Ace and be on our way home soon." Doma declared.
"We are going to have an awesome banquet after this," A.O agreed, you can hear the impatience in his voice.
"I hope you like meat, Ace's litter sister," Blondie playfully added.
"Oi, this Ace's sister we are talking about, of course she likes meat," Delacuaji answered for the cheeky brat, who was blinking, looking at the Den Den Mushi with bewilderment, the change of pace too fast for her to wrap her head around.
"Probably in HUGE quantities," Brocca chimed in.
"You don't know half of it," the cheeky brat murmured to herself, but her voice carried over evoking laughter and hoots.
Whitebeard eyes softened and his features relaxed seeing his family come together in high spirits.
"Oh?" A.O intoned.
"Do tell?" Karma encouraged.
The cheeky brat sighed, rubbing the back of her head in the process and then revealed...
"Luffy is obessed with an imaginary big meat popsicle."
Stunned silence welcomed her declaration followed by thunderous laughter and guffawing, Whitebeard found himself chuckling along with them.
"Tell him not to worry, we will make one for him, somehow," Delacuaji remarked between snorts of laughters.
"Huge meat popsicle," Blondie promised snickering.
Snickers and snorts were their goodbye's and the uncertain mood had vanished completely.
Whitebeard put the Den Den Mushi back in his place, and turned to Marco who was still eyeing the brat with look that he couldn't decipher. Whitebeard narrowed his eyes and said,
"Marco, isn't there something that you should be doing."
Marco turned to look at him uncomprehending until the cheeky brat turned to look at him as well, her hands coming to her hips, staring disapprovingly at him.
Marco gave him a dirty look, muttering "yeah, I am going, yoi" and turned to his phoenix form and flew in seconds. Pleased Marco was not.
Finally, he can have few words with this intriguing brat, without anyone's scrutiny.
She was staring at him, he stared right back.
The showdown continued for few seconds, Whitebeard was considering if he should be the one to begin..
"Are you intending to die?"
Whitebeard was startled, it was as if a physical blow knocked the wind out of him. He recovered his balance almost immediately.
The question surprised him out of his wits, he didn't expect this, but then again the whole meeting with those brats only brought surprises, so what was he expecting. First blood to the brat. Excellent surprise attack.
"Nobody knows when death would come knocking on his doors," he answered her evenly.
She made an unhappy face, Whitebeard could read her thoughts plainly written on her face, in great amusement. Don't get smart with me, you know what I mean. He would give her points for not saying them outright.
"Let me paraphrase, do you intend to sacrifice yourself for your sons' sake?"
Whitebeard was ready this time.
"If that's what need to be done, then yes."
"Well, that won't do."
So was she.
She had her hands crossed in front of her. In anybody else he would have thought that this was some kind of defense gesture, trying to protect herself, but with her he wasn't so sure.
"So you have to change your plans, because really, Ace will need all the help he can get after this, I am not going to be alone trying to collect the broken pieces."
Protecting Ace was something she took as her job, he wondered if he should be honored that she thought of him as a partner or if he should be offended that she didn't think he had considered this.
"Ace has a big family now, and of course you and your brother are there for him." He answered calmly, not to be shaking by the heavy responsibility she was trying to put on him. He was already carrying it for more years then this cheeky brat was alive.
Nice try thought.
She was shaking her head at him disapprovingly.
"Not enough."
Her eyes left him, to stare at the ground for the first time since the beginning of their conversation.
"Guilt would eat him to the bones."
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes observing her posture, her face hidden from his eyes, not sure if her words were calculated or genuine. The way she said them seemed like a fact, no, like she almost saw it happen before and stopped it by the skin of her teeth. The dead brother?
"He will survive," Whitebeard replied stubbornly. Death was natural thing, lose, separation and death came too easy in the pirate life. A life Ace had chosen freely.
She looked up, her face a mask of blankness, and with deliberately raised eyebrow she said.
"With a huge target stuck on his head and without any power backing him, maybe, and maybe is not enough.."
Whitebeard realized a bit too late, that they were speaking with the concrete assumption that he came here today to die, and not that it was just one possibility as much as the possibility of her own death.
"Marines, bounty hunters, pirates, and even civilians will be after him." She counted the words off on her fingers as she said them.
And then she paused, narrowing her eyes, and said, "That bastard that put us and Ace in this place. He would be also after Ace, no, Ace would probably go after him, with his damn stubbornness, Ace will never learn..."
Whitebeard toned her speech about Ace's stupid stubbornness and their consequences down, his own mood darkened at the mention of Teach, the one to stab them in the back for something he could've had if only he had asked, showing his true colors after twenty years, telling them without even a bat of his eye that he never saw them as family but as means to an end. He didn't only take one son for his arms but dared to take...
" … he gave me the creeps.."
Whitebeard was startled to reality hearing this and he barked immediately.
"You've met him!"
"Huh, … Luffy didn't tell you." She was startled by his response, but kept her wits about her, "Of course he didn't, what was I thinking," she mumbled quietly.
What was Teach planning...
"He was in Impel Down when we were trying to save Ace, he released some of the most notorious criminals from level six to join him. He betrayed you and then betrayed the marines. Trash through and through, the fact that he is a D makes me want to puke and as much I hate to say this, thanks to him our escape was considerably easier."
A D she said. How much did she know about the will of D? She was a bearer of fate like no other, mused Whitebeard, her words distracting him from his dark thoughts.
An enigma with D in the middle of her name. The coming days promised to be unforgettable.
She also seemed to be lost in thought, her body tensed as if thought just came to her, and she blurred out.
"Do you think he will come here?"
"Ahhh," Whitebeard said while considering what he knew of someone he once considered part of his family, "He will." If only to gloat in their faces as much as the marines.
"Well, good, he can't leave here alive," the way she stated it was so matter of fact that it startled a chortle out of him.
She ignored his reaction and continued
"Anyway, if the balance of power was to be destroyed, everyone would be after Ace. The marines for the glory and their stupid justice. Bounty hunters for the money and reputation. Civilians out of fear and money of course. For pirates, he will became trophy, like One Piece is, in their minds the one to take him down will be one step closer to be the pirate king," the vision she was drawing was quite grim, and unfortunately not that far from reality. She put quite the thought into this, how would the world be with Ace alive and him dead. He couldn't help but wonder what other futures she had considered and what her bleak conclusions were.
"And the other Yonkos, would try to use him, well except Shanks…. Actually it's kind of weird that Shanks didn't try to do something.."
"He did," cut her Whitebeard. The noisy Red Hair brat liked to butt in where he wasn't needed or wanted. Hmm, Whitebeard did owe him though. Maybe after this day ended he would find Red Hair and bring him same real good sake, imagining the surprised reaction on the Red Hair brat's face made the corners of his mouth rise ever so slightly.
"Ehh?"
The surprised reaction of the brat in front of him made them rise into full blown smirk. Now, it was her turn to be surprised even though she recovered swiftly, and was looking at him awaiting an explanation. She can dish it out and take it, applauded Whitebeard mentally.
"Red Hair came to speak with me after Teach killed one of my sons and Ace gone to hunt him down," he paused letting the words sink in, "and he intercepted the brat Kaido.."
"Another Yonko," Whitebeard added seeing the confused look on her face for second and carried on.
"..when the brat tried to attack us when we were on our way here."
"When was that?" her question came immediately after he finished the last syllable of the word, she was waiting impatiently for him to finish, well, at least she waited.
Whitebeard took his sweet time answering, he saw how she forced herself to relax and not put her feet down and demand to know Right Now like a toddler, even though she clearly wanted to know.
"Three days ago," he finally said.
She had a thoughtful look at her face, her eyes becoming unfocused, then a big smile grew on her face, a true one like the one she gave him when she thanked him for taking care of Ace, and she began to hum under her breath.
She suddenly blinked, back to the land of the living.
She looked at him, he raised his eyebrow in turn, assessing her.
She coughed into her hand, and then her hands come to her hips, just like few minutes ago when she stared disapprovingly at his son, and announced.
"And that's why you can't die today."
Whitebeard first impulse was to ask her: when will it be appropriate for him to die? Should they choose a date together? He was quite amused and he did wonder what her answer would be (he would not be surprised if she had an exact date and hour under her sleeve).
Whitebeard had to concede that the cheeky brat did raise several points that he did not consider deeply. It had been a while when he had a war of wits, it was refreshing and fascinating (He may just stay alive only for the encore, he thought playfully, and wondered what would her reaction would be to this statement). She had a way with words, similar to her father, but the way she had utilized it and her mannerisms were quite different from him. They still shared the same stubbornness, her twin brother too, as their grandfather (even though Garp had seemed undecided, wavering since the two brats joined the fray and this was the first time Whitebeard was seeing him in such state).
"As I said brat, if death would come then I will welcome him."
She was making that unhappy-disapproving-unacceptable face again (how could she show so much emotions in one second to have blank face the next second was a mystery or was it a unique ability), he continued before she could open her mouth.
"I am not seeking him, but neither I am afraid of him."
She didn't seem happy (an understatement) with his answer, it didn't sit well with whatever she was planning apparently, she muttered angrily.
"Leaving your children in their hour of need, what kind of father are you."
Her words alarmed him, this was a personal attack, a first, neither of them had stooped to use such tactics before.
Whitebeard narrowed his eyes scrutinizing her, she was looking at him but seeing something else, beyond him. Her hands were clenched tightly.
"When you are gone you don't hurt but those left behind ache."
"Careful now," intoned Whitebeard softly but with cold tone underlying his words which succeeded in bringing her back from wherever she had gone to, her eyes widening.
"Sorry, I take it back," she said immediately, she was more startled by her own words then by his reaction to it, "Didn't mean it, sorry."
Her words were genuine and she seemed upset with herself, but she had to cheekily add, "But you understand what I mean."
Whitebeard couldn't help but laugh, she was a stubborn little shit alright.
He nodded his head in acknowledgment.
"I promise nothing, but I will keep your words close to my heart."
She didn't seem happy, but she appeared to realize that this was all what she would get from him, she took a deep breath, her posture changing as her eyes and began.
"Now, about the ship that you have under the surface..."
Whitebeard, changed his mindset from mental war to physical one, listening in attention.
Her whole plan was built on the fact that the other cheeky brat would be able to save Ace. It was quite curious indeed, how for the whole exchange they assumed a lot of things, but neither he nor the cheeky brat in front of him ever doubted that Ace would be saved. Neither of them even considered a scenario of him not being whole and healthy when everything was done with.
When Whitebeard pointed out that to her, she nodded her assent and only added when the silence continued.
"So?"
"Will he save Ace?" Whitebeard asked, he was not doubting the brat (his determination to save his brother did earn him Whitebeard's respect by the end of their brief encounter), he was more curious about her reaction, and she didn't disappoint.
"Of course he will," she scoffed and added stressing every syllable, "Luffy promised."
And that was that. Discussion closed.
No doubt was evident anywhere, not in her eyes, voice, face, or body. Absolute trust.
They discussed some problems that could arise, and what kind of counterattack would be best to use. She had a different kind of insight and her thought process was phenomenal. Not that surprising, after all, she outmaneuvered both Sengoku and himself.
Speaking about Sengoku, the bastard was still shouting nonsensical orders but he seemed to have finally noticed the danger near him, and was sending some forces to stop the storm steadily bowling to his direction, it was too little too late, he probably still thought rescuing the brat Kizaru was the priority.
It was real pity Whitebeard's wouldn't be able to see Sengoku's reaction to that.
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Your thoughts? This chapter was tricky to write, I don't know how many times I rewrote the scene between Lina and whitebeard. I even considered writing it in Lina's POV instead.
Waiting eagerly to hear your thoughts :)
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I am not going to abandoned any of my stories. After getting many reviews and PM's in this story and others, I thought I should make it clear, barring something happening out of my control, I would see all of my stories to the end. I hate to leave things unfinished. Things may take time, because I am writing five Fics (two are yet to be posted), and I have real life projects to finish (three by the end of the new month), and I just recovered from an eye operation.
That doesn't mean I don't want you to review or PM me, feel free to do so about anything (I love hearing from all of you, especially about my stories) just don't worry about me abandoning any of my stories, and to my lovely anonymous new Guests, please use a name or nickname when reviewing as for me to be able to answer you (the nickname Guest-chan is already taken ;) ).
Thank you all, hope to hear from you soon.
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