Apparently our journey back home is much faster compared to our journey from East Blue to Sabaody, as it only takes us around 2 months to finally reach back home.

With my new look, no one really recognized me or even was able to relate my connection to 'Garu'. I read the newspaper the day after my hunt; apparently my bounty was raised to 500 million Berry. That's a huge leap, but that's to be expected if you kill 2 Celestial Dragons.

Throwing a candy into my mouth, I crunch on it as I read a section of the newspaper where it says that Marine is doing a worldwide search for 'Garu', after the criminal's apparent disappearance from Sabaody Archipelago.

And from the info about my apparent clan, I decided to name my weapons Deimos the keris and Phobos the staff. Both weapons thrum in agreement and I suppose that settles the problem of naming them.

I'm laying low, so I didn't do any infiltration into Marine bases and just spent most days reading and hunting for mushrooms. With 'types of mushroom' book in hand, I began to hunt the edible ones for me to eat, and the medicinal ones for me to sell.

Takao is a carnivorous bird (despite the fact that he can change his appearance into a small bird), so he doesn't eat anything but meat-only meals and all the mushrooms are for me to eat.

I wonder what will the boys react when I'm finally home?

Will they be angry? I did miss their birthdays this year, so that's possibly one of the reasons. They might kick my ass for leaving home, that's for sure. Or Ace will, considering Luffy is too much of a sweetheart and a crybaby to do that because he'll be too busy crying and clinging to me.

I chuckle in anticipation when we finally see Dawn island. There are plenty of windmills in a village, so it must be Foosha village.

"Let's drop by Makino's. I miss her." I tell Takao and he nods as he glides down to Party's Bar. I see there are some people around and they seem dumbfounded to see a huge blue bird with a kid on its back suddenly landing near the bar, but I ignore them as I enter the bar excitedly.

"Makino! I'm home!" I exclaim out when I see her behind the counter, and she widens her eyes in disbelief and relief.

"Eris-chan!"

I run up to her and give her a hug, in which she returns it tightly before we pull away and she crouches down to check up on me.

"Where have you been, Eris-chan?" Makino asks softly.

"I've been on an adventure! I've had it, so I'm going home." I simply tell her, "I don't bring any souvenirs from the Grand Line though, so sorry." I add and she just giggles in return before shaking her head.

"Well, I'm just glad you're alright, and your new haircut fits you." She says with a sweet smile and I blush a bit at that compliment.

"T-thanks." I sheepishly reply as I play around with my braided side hair and Makino just smiles at that.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't delay you any longer. I'm sure Luffy and Ace-kun are waiting for you." She says and I nod.

"Yeah, I'll see you around, Makino!" I bid her as I ran off outside, where Takao is still patiently waiting with the villagers looking at him curiously. "Let's go home, but I'll walk there." I tell him and he nods as he flies off and I walk toward the forest.

Guiding myself through the forest using what seems like Kenbun-Haki (kinda convinced that it is), I can feel the presence of the animals around. Avoiding places with dangerous ones, I navigate myself through the forest at ease until I finally see Dadan's crappy shack.

Hmm, Luffy and Ace don't seem to be in the shack. Only Dadan and the other bandits are inside.

Takao perches down on my shoulder as I stand in front of the door and knocks. I can hear shuffles and lots of thumping before the door gets ripped open, revealing a very familiar orangehead with her usual grumpy face before it slowly distorts into disbelief.

I grin at Dadan, "Heyo! I'm home." I greet her and quickly cover my ears as she immediately screeches out in either disbelief or shock. "Dadan, you're too loud. Calm down before you pop a vein. You're not that young anymore, you know." I tell her calmly and she seems annoyed by that as the other bandits start to gather up and seemingly as shocked as her before.

"And who's fault was it?!" She asks in annoyance and I blink at her.

"Is it Luffy?" I reply dumbly.

"IT WAS YOU, YOU STUPID BRAT!"

"Well anyway, where are Luffy, Ace, and Flame? Are they in High Town?" I ask Dogra who shows up behind Dadan, ignoring her outburst and that seems to annoy her even more.

"I suppose so. I'm sure they'll be home soon enough." He replies and I hum.

"Well, that's fine. I'll just wait here for them. I want a warm bath and a nap." I say as I walk past them all to my room. Takao flies off from my shoulder to his nest, stretching out before making himself comfortable as he gives himself the rest he deserves.

I take off my things and put it in my corner before exiting the room and walking to the bathroom. I need to prepare my own hot water, so I'm doing it manually because Flame isn't here. Once the fire was lit, I left the bathroom and went back to my room, grabbing myself a towel and cleaning clothes. Hmm, they seem to be a little smaller than I remember, so I guess it's just me getting bigger.

I give myself a good, warm soak and it feels heavenly. I miss a good, warm bath in a barrel.

After a nice bath and wearing my old clothes, I go back to my room and slip into my mattress of a bed before drifting off to sleep, fatigue suddenly overwhelming me.

For the first time, I don't have nightmares of those I killed.

XXX

"We're back!" Luffy announces loudly as he, Ace, and Flame enter the shack with their hunt for the day. "Is Eris back yet?" He asks with hopeful eyes and Ace just lets out a sigh.

Luffy has been asking that every day for the whole year now, and despite the answer remaining the same, he keeps asking Dadan and the others when they return. He's about to tell Luffy that no, Eris is probably not back yet, but Dogra beats him to it.

"Eris is asleep in the bedroom. She seemed exhausted when she arrived this afternoon." He replies and yelps when both boys grab him by his collar and looks at him intensely with bloodshot eyes.

"SHE'S BACK?! WHERE?!" They ask in sync and Magra seemingly regrets his decision to tell them.

"B-Bedroom! She's sleeping!" He quickly answers and both of them immediately let him go to run off to their bedroom and slamming opens the door. Inside is dark, but they can make out a figure is curling up under the sheets and absolutely fast asleep without a care in the world.

While Luffy is absolutely delighted, Ace is furious.

He approaches the sleeping figure and gives her a hard hit on the head, which wakes her up as she groans in pain and slowly sits up.

"What the fuck…" Eris groans out as she rubs the bump before turning to face him with a furious but sleepy expression, "That hurt, you asshole!" She exclaims out.

"Shut up! That's what you get for making us all worried, you huge idiot!" Ace yells back angrily and Eris is about to retort back, but Luffy stops her.

"Eris, you're back! I miss you!" He exclaims out as he jumps to her and absolutely clinging onto her like a koala, binding her using his stretchy limbs, "You're not leaving again! I won't let you!" He pouts and Ace absolutely can see Eris is smitten by him as she smiles at him with that weird expression of her.

"I'll try not to." Eris replies and rubs her cheek against Luffy's rubbery one as he just laughs in return.

Ace just watches them before letting out a sigh and sits down facing the younger ones. "So? Mind explaining it to us on why you left?" He asks seriously, "You better not lie to us. We're brothers; brothers don't keep secrets to each other." He quickly adds.

"Yeah! Tell us, or we'll kick your ass!" Luffy joins in and grins, "I'm getting stronger, y'know! I bet I can kick your ass now! Shishishi!" He adds with a laugh.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can." Eris replies nonchalantly before going serious, "I guess I'll tell you guys what I found about myself then, but Ace," he looks at her and grunts for her to continue on, so she does. "I met old man Rayleigh, your dad's right-hand man. He said to send you his regards."

Ace freezes up at that before furrowing his brows in annoyance, "So? What does it have anything to do with the reason why you left?"

Eris blinks dumbly, "Huh? That's because he just happened to be at the same place, so I visited him and I asked him what Roger was like." She answers and he growls.

"And what makes you think I want to hear anything about that demon?"

"Because whatever you hear about him are just lies that the Marine spreads."

This time, it's him who blinks dumbly, "What?"

"Yeah. I don't know about you, but remember what I told you how humans always feared the unknown? That's what the Marine did by spreading lies about your dad." Eris explains, "And because of that, who's better to ask about him than his First Mate? Surely the point of view from someone who knew and was close to Roger is better than those who consider him their enemy."

He's silent, not having a response to return for that argument and Eris is silent, waiting for his response and his approval for her to continue on. Luffy, who's been surprisingly listening along, is looking at them with an unreadable look.

Does he want to know about his old man? What if he's just like those people who imagined him as some kind of demon? And if that's the case, what then?

Sometimes, what Ace does when it comes to Roger is to either run away, or beat the shit out of it. He mostly did the latter, but what should he do this time around?

Damn it, he wished Sabo was still around to knock some sense into him.

Unlike Sabo, Eris is the type to either patiently wait to knock some sense into you or literally do it to you with her fists 5 minutes later. From the short two years they live together with Luffy, there is no in-between from her and that's pretty annoying of her.

Nosy brat that has no sense of leaving things be, just like Luffy.

If he didn't know any better, Ace would mistake both of them as twins. Heck, they even synchronized when they talk sometimes. It's kind of creepy.

Suddenly, Ace got a hit in the head, and he growls at Eris that has her fist up and bored look.

"Hurry up because if you don't, I'm gonna tell you anyway and beat you up." Eris promises seriously.

"Fine. Tell me." Ace replies as he rubs the bump. Damn, that hurt.

"Okay. Well, based on what old man Rayleigh told me, the crew didn't even know you exist. Not even him, the First Mate and his closest friend, even know that." She starts and he widens his eyes, "The reason why is because Roger didn't want to burden you with his actions or even want anyone to make a connection between you and him being related. After all, children should not pay for their parents' sins."

"…Then why did he leave me and mom?" Ace softly asks, looking down at his clenched hands. Eris is silent before she's reaching out to hold onto his hands. Her small hands feel hot against his sweaty palms, and he can feel her cringing at that but she holds her ground.

"Because he was dying." Ace looks up at her in surprise, and she looks back straight into his eyes. "Sure, it was said that the Marine caught him on papers, but they didn't. He surrendered himself up to the Marine because he's dying. He had only a few years to live by the time he became the Pirate King."

"I'm sure gramps said jack shit about his condition, or he probably even knew about it, so that's why I left not only to find out about my identity, but to meet that 'Mei-O' to find the truth about Roger too. So he can give you some closure on the reason for your existence, while I'm just a mere messenger for you." Eris continues.

"And honestly, if anyone told me that they should pay for my parents' sins… Well, I'll tell them to fuck off because I'm me, not them. I'll do whatever I want." She tightens her hold on his hands as she looks at him with that determined look she always had, "Don't let anyone tell you what you should do. Pave your own fate, and never succumb to whatever shit some strangers give us."

Ace stares into her eyes, looking at his own reflection in those pairs of weird eyes. He wants to believe that. He truly does, but for the years since he was born, he doesn't even believe in anyone, much less himself. Sure, Sabo is a different case, but that's because their goals are one and the same; to become free.

As if reading his thoughts, Eris hits him again in the head and huffs in annoyance.

"Stop brooding like some depressed adults. You're still a kid, so act like one!" She spats out, letting their hands go to put hers on her hips.

"You're also a kid." Ace argues back, rubbing on his other bump and she just ignores him.

"Just remember; whatever your dream is, I will believe in you. We both will believe in you. Heck, I'm sure even Sabo will too. And you wanna know why that is?" Ace just blinks as Eris and Luffy exchange knowing looks before looking at him.

"That's because we love you, Ace." Both Eris and Luffy say in sync, both with that similar toothy grin of theirs. Luffy's big dimpled grin with his pearly white teeth that arranged neatly, and Eris' equally big dimpled grin with her crooked, fanged teeth. Both giving him a genuine smile and sentiment of this emotion called 'love', which is something unfamiliar to him.

Ace is stunned by the fact that he just…stares at them both.

He doesn't know how to respond to that declaration, nor does he know how to react to that.

And it just left him with confusion.

"…Why?" Ace asks, "Why do you…love me?"

Both of his brothers blink and look at each other with the same confusion before looking back at him. "What do you mean by 'why'?" This time, Luffy asks with the same confusion as him as Eris nods along.

"I mean…why me, of all people? You both have each other; you two are friends before you met me, and surely now that Sabo is…gone, I'm just an intruder to your friendships." Ace tries to explain, "Sure, we're brothers, but… I don't know. I'm just…confused on why do you two…love me."

And the expression both of them give him is one of pure annoyance.

"Luffy, should we beat him up for thinking of that?" Eris asks as she cracks her knuckles.

"We're gonna kick your ass!" Luffy announces before both of them literally jump at him.

Taken by surprise, they both easily tackled him down and pinned him on the floor, with the younger ones sitting on his back and high-fiving for their synchronized victory.

"Now listen here, Gold Boy," Eris starts and Ace twitches at that other nickname of his, "without you, we'll never be able to have parties. And I'm sure Luffy doesn't want to have parties without you. Heck, a party with only two people as participants is not fun! That's super boring! Two people hanging out isn't a party!"

"That's right! I don't want to have parties with only Eris! It's not fun and Eris can't even play music for the party!" Luffy adds and Eris nods in agreement.

"I can't either! So you guys should find a new guy to play the music!" Ace argues back and Eris hits him in the head.

"We'll do that later after we both set sail! Until then, you're stuck with us." Eris replies with a huff.

"Yeah! It's gonna be fun!" Luffy adds excitedly.

Ace doesn't know how to respond. Sure, he hates himself, but he hates it more to disappoint those he cares about. Ever since gramps dropped these two brats here, they easily filled up the empty hole in his chest. Sabo filled it up at first, but it was still not enough.

And then his confidant is gone, leaving that part of the hole empty again.

With the younger ones happily chatting while still sitting on his back and him lost in thoughts, Ace has come to one conclusion.

That maybe… Maybe living on for them isn't so bad.

"So Eris, did you manage to find out your identify?" He hears Luffy ask and he can see in his head that Eris is rolling her eyes.

"It's 'identity'. And yes, turns out I'm an Otherworlder and the Ancient Weapon of the D." Eris simply replies, giving movements that he thinks is a shrug, "Dunno much about the latter one, but that's one mystery solved, I guess."

"Ancient Weapon? What's that?"

"Some ancient weapon that can destroy an island, I guess. Dunno how accurate it is, though."

"That sounds cool! …But you're not a weapon."

"I don't mind being one, if it's for your safety."

You know, being a sofa for two preteens while they're having conversations is not a good pastime for Ace.

He pushes himself upright with a war cry as the younger ones roll off of him with a yelp, before giving them a hit on the head each.

"That's what you get for making me your sofa." Ace huffs in annoyance while both Luffy and Eris just pull out their tongue at him before going back to their previous topic of conversation. Seeing that, Ace just shakes his head in amusement and endearment.

He supposes…loving some people and letting them love you back isn't so bad, after all.

(Posted on May 20th, 2022)