Mentions ~

MR97: You translated just fine!!!!!! And yup this is a fast paced fic so it was important that everyone really hated Teach xD.

QueenEirelyn96: ヽ( ຶO ຶ)ﾉ!!! Ahhhh you read my mind!!! Get outta there!!! AND YEAH that'll be fun! Wonder what path I'll take... :P

Onto da Chapter!

"Pops."

The large pirate looked down to where he was called. He located it and found Marco, the second commander as well as his daughter Aria approaching. He smiled a large grin down at them.

"Hello my children! What can I help you with?" He boomed at them.

Aria flashed a nervous glance over to Marco before looking up at Whitebeard and saying, "We need to talk."

There was a tense pause before she tagged on, "About Luffy."

Whitebeard could since the serious air with which the two held themselves. Whatever it was they had to say, it was important, and maybe even bad.

He nodded in recognition of this and stood up, prompting them to follow.

"Alright, shall we go to my quarters and talk?"

Marco and Aria nodded curtly.

"That would be best," Marco stated, "But we have to get Izou first."

Whitebeard arched a brow, a curious expression plain on his features. He decided it'd be better to wait instead of Sal my 'why', since he knew he'd probably get his explanation in a bit.

"I think he was in a meeting, might still be," Whitebeard commented thoughtfully, eyeing the pair before him, "I think he said it was about his division and their strategies. Is it necessary to have Izou? I'd feel a bit bad interrupting."

Aria and Marco exchanged another glance, but Whitebeard couldn't figure out the meaning behind it. They both seemed on edge, and Marco appeared more tired than usual. Not to mention Aria hardly left the medical ward due to her timidness, which meant that whatever was the matter had to be seen in detail, otherwise she would have sent someone else along with a summary of her findings.

"We need Izou. If we don't then..."

Aria trailed off, turning a tad pale at her own thoughts. Marco looked down at the floorboards below with a glare that could cut steel. Whitebeard was beginning to get worried about their news, but stayed patient.

He nodded once more. "Marco, go ahead and get Izou. Me and Aria will go on ahead... And maybe give me a run down on the situation?"

Whitebeard sent a questioning glance towards the young doctor who nodded and gave a meek smile.

It was so blaringly fake that it sent a pang through the old Captain's heart, worry growing larger every passing second as he continued to inspect the two's behavior.

They agreed to that and split, Aria and Whitebeard leaving for his quarters and Marco running to the meeting hall where Izou was.

He walked briskly down the dim sun-lit hallways of the cabin. There were two main cabins, Both exceedingly large, but then again, the Moby Dick itself was often larger than your average pirate ship; even that was an understatement.

He walked along the right side out of the hall and turned quickly, taking a sharp right for the intersecting corridor. This was it, the meeting hall. There were about five rooms, each of various sizes, but all for meetings. The largest was reserved for division meetings and Commander briefings from the Captain himself.

Though Izou's faction was one of the smaller ones, it would still easily consume the largest room. That was most certainly where the cross dressing commander would be.

Marco stopped in front of said room and rapped lightly on the door, not waiting for a reply before opening it up.

"- In case you are surrounded, your best option is up and-" Izou looked up in mild surprise as Marco edged into the back of the room, "Oh! Marco? What's wrong?"

Judging by the grim look on his tired face, he figured it was a matter dealing with the higher ups. The whole of Izou's division had turned to face the Second Commander.

"We need to talk, it can't wait." Marco's tone matched his expression with unsettling ease. There was an underlying... Anger? To his voice. Izou couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was obviously something that he'd have to deal with right now. Marco made a point to try and leave division meetings alone until they were all the way through.

A knot of concern nagged in the back of Izou's brain and he found himself subconsciously biting his lower lip as he considered his options.

Finally, he sighed and pulled a stray strand of inky black hair behind his ear.

"Alright!" He announced, lowering his porcelain like hand back down to the side of his pink kimono, "We'll pick this up tomorrow. After lunch! It seems I have..." He glanced over at Marco, "a few matters to attend to. You're all dismissed!"

Izou quickly made his way through the mass of pirates to meet with Marco outside, wood sandals clopping on the golden wood planks of the deck. Marco was waiting just outside the door frame, letting the many division pirates through.

"What's wrong? It's not like you to interrupt a meeting? What happened?" Izou asked hurriedly, wondering what could be the matter.

He followed Marco as they began to make their way towards the deck, waiting for an explanation.

"Luffy, Izou," was all he got in reply.

Izou's eyes widened and his face paled slightly at the implications. Something horrible must have happened. Was he hurt? Did he have another panic attack? Was he missing?

Marco didn't seem so much worried more than calmly mad and maybe even a bit mad himself. As if whatever had happened was taboo.

He blinked rapidly as they made it out to the deck and the sun beamed down on them through a blue partly cloudy sky. The glowing star was already high overhead, just barely past noon. Lunch had probably just finished up a bit ago. It was more like a "come eat if you feel like it" meal and pirates came in and out whenever they felt hungry. Dinner and breakfast were more formal.

The pair crossed the bustling deck and over to the second surface cabin. Izou didn't have to be an observant person to notice that Whitebeard had been missing from his usual throne. Though none of the other pirates seemed to take much mind of it, the sudden and immediate emergency Izou had been thrown into gave the empty chair an eerie sort of feel. Like someone had cast a large shadow over the haul of the ship.

They swiftly made their way back into the maze of corridors that lay within the second cabin. This was where Whitebeard resided. And... Izou became aware that they were in fact heading towards Whitebeard's quarters. Izou wasn't in any way worried about Pops, no, if there was something wrong with him Marco wouldn't miss a beat telling him. He had said it was Luffy. Luffy? Last time he had seen Luffy he'd left the child in the care of Teach. Was that it? Had something happened after that? That had to be it...

Izou was pulled from his thoughts and nearly ran into the back of Marco as the pineapple-like man abruptly stopped.

He opened the door and gestured Izou in. Izou nodded and entered the room, where he found a nervous Aria and her very own Captain. He turned slightly as he heard the soft click of the door closing behind her. Marco had followed in and pulled up a chair, turning it and sitting down backwards, arms folded comfortably on the backrest. Aria was sitting in a chair similar to it, correctly, facing Pops.

Whitebeard was seated upon his bed with a bottle of saki in his right hand, a smile on his face as usual.

Izou took to leaning against the wall, arching an eyebrow to hide the underlying concern.

"So, what's all this fuss about?" He inquired carefully, "Is Luffy okay?"

Whitebeard laughed and gestured toward Marco. "Com'n boy! You could've at least let him know the boy was alright," Whitebeard chuckled, then turned to Izou, "Luffy's fine, or at least, no worse off than before."

He hadn't said that last part with the normal cheeriness Izou was used to.

"It's... Not all about Luffy," Aria said quietly.

She wasn't the boldest of women, but the way she was now, just sitting on the old wooden chair in that bleach white lab coat, her own skin tinted with its colour- she was so small. Whitebeard seemed to tower over them all, but with every passing second her face seemed to look more...

Izou had no word for the ever growing emotion on the young doctor's face, only that it was a swirl of tainted images.

Aria took a shallow breath, then began her explanation.

"I gave Pops the rundown. So he knows the basics," she spared a brisk nod at Marco, who returned it in kind, "Luffy was... Attacked. "

Izou's mouth dropped open and he stood rigid as the words floated through the air.

"What do you mean Luffy was attacked!?" He asked in horrified astonishment, "Is he okay? Who did it?"

Aria looked up to Marco, and he took it as a signal to continue. He had been the one to get a direct story from the inflicted child after all.

"It was Teach, yoi."

Marco's baritone gave the words an icy cold that seemed to fog up Izou's capability to process. And once the words echoed in his head enough times to lose count, they got him like a bludgeon to the head.

"No.." He said in a hushed whisper. He then furrowed his eyebrows in a vision of anger and beauty, raising his voice to match his fleeting emotions.

"No! There's no way! This is Teach we're talking about! He's family!"

Izou turned to Whitebeard, only to see his face lined with a frown as he listened quietly to his children, taking a swig of his saki every few minutes.

"We trust Luffy's account, yoi. And from the way He was when we found him, it adds up," Marco said begrudgingly, as if he himself hated the information.

Izou calmed his rage and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean found him? When did this happen?"

Marco sighed and cast a solemn glance at Izou. "Right after you left for your meeting."

This time Izou paled. His already painted face draining to a paper white colour.

"So that's why..." Izou out the pieces together, this is why he was here.

It was his fault? And Teach...

As if reading his mind, Marco piped up quickly, "It's not your fault! We just wanted to see what you thought of the whole situation, yoi. I mean, you were the last one there before Teach, so..."

Izou nodded mechanically in reply, still stunned to the high heavens from all the new information.

After a moment of processing, he set his pinkish red lips in a thin line and stared hard at the doctor and Commander.

"Tell us everything," Izou said, sparing a glance at Pops, who was nodding in agreement.

Marco sighed and repositioned his arms in the back of the chair.

"Yoi, according to Lu, after you left he could sense that he wasn't necessarily..." Marco hesitated but finished the sentence lamely, " the safest person. Evidently shocked and unsure what to do he just put right told Teach that he wasn't safe, and it escalated from that point. "

Izou's eyes widened a bit as he thought this over. That didn't sound much like Teach at all. He was one of the friendliest people in the ship. Aside from his pie obsession, he was a pretty normal pirate.

Izou's eyes were drawn to Whitebeard as he commented for the first time since Izou'd arrived.

"You said he sensed it?" He queried, one large hand stroking his mustache, "Could it be possible a child that small has haki?"

Marco nodded and shrugged. "We're assuming, yoi. The boys always said Luffy had great intuition. I'm thinking maybe it was more like an uncontrollable power. It'd make sense."

This time Izou decided to speak up. "If..." He chose his words carefully before bringing them to light, "If we do somehow find that Teach is... Is guilty of this. What are we going to do?"

Izou's voice had dropped to a small whisper towards the end, it was just too much to consider. They were family. This had never happened before.

An uncomfortable silence lay thick over the room like a condense fog. Eventually all eyes found their way to Whitebeard, worried and sorrowful. The great pirate grimaced and huffed, weighing the options.

"Let us hear the rest of your story son," He said slowly, "We have much to consider in this matter. Tell us all you know and after we can prove Teach really did have malice in his intention. Then we'll deal with it."

"Sounds good Pops, yoi," Marco said, voice wavering ever so slightly.

"Teach advanced and cornered Luffy - We're assuming that part, his explanation was a little... panicked. Anyway, yoi, he tried to attack Teach to get away, but his aim is horrible."

Izou couldn't help but giggle a touch at that, and even Marco and Pops couldn't compress their own little smirks.

Marco continued nevertheless. "He hurt his hand and totalled one of their beds, after that Teach threatened Luffy, saying that if he didn't stay quiet or told anyone that he'd kill everyone on board."

Marco scoffed at his own words, and on the other side of the room, Izou was in a breathless rage.

Whitebeard had a good laugh and a smile pulled at his lips.

"Bold of him to assume he could take on twelve fleets of Whitebeards'!" Laughed Pops.

Izou felt incredibly conflicted. Even though the claim made his blood boil, he couldn't imagine the black-bearded happy-go-lucky pirate even saying such a thing.

"That's just what I thought, yoi," Marco said casually. He sighed and then finished the tale.

"After that Teach left him alone. Lu didn't call for anyone, even though he knew Aria was just 'cross the hall. When we found him he'd nearly blacked out he was hyperventilating so much. He'd forgotten his hat too. I've never once seen the kid without it in his hands, but he'd left it on the floor, yoi. In my opinion, that alone is enough to prove the story."

Izou's jaw dropped. "He forgot his hat!? You know Shanks gave him that hat, I was sure it was glued to his fingertips. When I played cards with him he kept his hand up so he could hold the edge while we were playing," Izou stated, more to himself than anyone else.

He was a bit startled to look up and find everyone looking at him in a blank state of pure shock.

"GURARARA! So it came from Shanks then!" Whitebeard boomed out suddenly, "I thought I'd seen that hat somewhere! Used to be Rogers."

Izou couldn't suppress the smile on his painted lips. "That's fitting," he snorted, "kid says he's gonna be the next King of the Pirates. Shanks gave it to him as a promise."

Marco ran a hand through his blond hair and shook his head, though the smile on his face betrayed him. "Geez, yoi. That kid."

Next to Marco, Aria shifted uncomfortably in her own seat, well aware that this conversation wasn't over. She never had been a people person and was terrible at explaining things. She was sharp when it came to medical practices, but socializing? She could leave well enough alone, thank you very much.

She cleared her throat, penetrating the quiet that had fallen over them with what seemed awkwardly loud. They all turned to her and Marco's eye lit up, and then dulled as he realised what she meant.

"The doctor found out something else, yoi," He announced, gaining everyone's interest for her, "About Luffy's time in the ship."

Whitebeard's eyebrows raised and he gave her a curious look. "Really now?"

Marco nodded to Aria, tempting her to explain.

She repositioned herself in the chair once more, squeezing the clipboard full of notes in her hands for extra support.

"Right," she stated, "as I said at the meeting this morning, I've been doing some tests on Luffy's blood. I was pretty sure I found something and..." She paused, but continued despite her nerves, "I figured it out."

Izou gave a slight tilt of the head. "What was it?"

Aria took a deep breath, and pulled up the clipboard in her hands. She looked over the notes -and partially hid behind it- and then explained the situation.

"Well, it seems that he was a test subject. There were many drugs in his system, though I wasn't able to identify anything specific. That alone makes me suspect that they were testing new drugs, probably to sell in some underground business, most likely illegal for anyone who isn't a Celestial Dragon."

"Despite my inability to recognize them, I was able to figure out the compounds and find what type of drugs they were. Some were steroid like, the rest were incredibly strange mixtures of things. Not unheard of, just hard to define and...different. I'm not sure..."

She trailed off a minute, considering the types and wondering what else had been put into Luffy's system in earlier years. When had they started the experiments? How long had Luffy known? Does he know?

She sighed and put the clipboard down. They really needed to talk to the kid once they were done sorting all this out.

She then summed up the rest. "Anyway, the fact that they're still in his system after this long means they could have been testing some long lasting drugs. Though months is a little hard to believe. Unless it's something about Luffy specifically."

She made a mental note to ask Ace and Sabo about that later.

"These could be affecting his mental state and that could be why he has such random swings. From totally fine to can't handle anything more than familiarity. Although, ptsd can sometimes do that to a person."

Marco added, saying, "We also think this could do with why he avoids food. If he knew he was being drugged by it, then maybe he decided it was all untrustworthy. He was really young when he was first separated from his siblings, so I doubt he even remembers much besides the trauma of it all."

Izou let out a long, disgruntled sigh. "So basically they looked at the kid and said 'hey! Let's throw everything at him but the kitchen sink!'."

Aria looked down sadly. "Pretty much."

Whitebeard smiled and laid a hand on Aria's shoulder. She looked up with surprise and met the captain's kind eyes.

"You've done well, my child. We can help him better now," Whitebeard praised in a gentle voice.

Aria flashed a half smile at him. "Thanks, Pops."

Whitebeard patted her shoulder and then raised his large hand up to his face, stroking his mustache once more. "You know," he declared thoughtfully, " The more I hear about Luffy the more interesting his story gets. "

He turned and grinned widely at Marco. "I wanna meet him."

Marco smirked and chuckled. "Not sure if he'll see it the same way. I'll ask him though."

While listening along to the conversation, a thought suddenly struck Izou.

"Hey Aria?" He called out from his corner of the room.

Aria looked at him and hummed.

"Do we even know the kids' full name," he furrowed his eyebrow and added, "Any of them?"

Aria's eyes widened and she glanced down at her clipboard. She giggled and put a hand over her face, then looked up, still laughing, and chuckled, "Nope. I forgot to ask them. Of all the things-"

Marco laughed with her. They had just heard the boys calling each other by their names and learned who went with which. They hadn't even considered asking them after learning them.

Whitebeard chuckled and waved his hand as if pushing something away. "Doesn't matter what their names are. They're still them no matter where they're from. Our goal is to get back their fighting spirit!"

Izou laughed this time. "I'll tell you what, Pops. If those kids still have anything, it's their spirit to punch things."

The whole room was filled with giggles and jokes now. Even a serious matter couldn't bring down the ambiance of the whole ship. It seeped in from every corner. The trio of trouble themselves couldn't bring it down, although, considering the current topic, it seemed they simply added fuel to the fire.

After a good couple of minutes they all finally calmed back down enough to finish the discussion. Aria had taken to standing, getting ready to go back to her clinic.

"Alright, yoi. What happens now, Pops?" Marco asked in a semi-serious tone, however he was still smirking.

Whitebeard stood, making him tower over them even more than he already was. "Well, leave Teach to me. Can't exactly ask him directly, if this is all correct it'll cause trouble for little Luffy," he turned to Aria, "You, my dear, can handle this whole drug frenzy, right?"

Aria nodded. "I'm going to call in Lu as soon as this has all settled down. Hopefully I can do a few more tests and get him to tell me a little about back then," She grimaced and added, "Maybe even get him to actually eat something."

Whitebeard returned her nod and then addressed Marco.

"I want you to keep an eye on those boys, Marco. Keep them safe. Watch out for them," He smiled and continued, "We're approaching our next stop, maybe take them out to see the island. Heaven knows they need it with all the havoc they've caused."

Marco smirked and pulled a two fingered salute. "Aye Aye, Captain."

"Izou"

The kimono-wearing pirate looked up at the giant man with a touch of nervousness. To his surprise, the man was smiling brightly.

Whitebeard hugged Izou and then pulled away, looking him straight in the eyes.

"This wasn't your fault. You didn't know any of this; anymore than I myself did."

A light took hold in Izou's eyes and he relaxed, lips twitching up in a small, pretty smile. "Thanks Pops," he said quietly.

Whitebeard laughed and patted Izou's shoulder. Then, with a grand gesture, he declared, "I want to meet my youngest son!," He glanced down at Marco, "It's about time this old soul met Roger's successor, don't cha think?"

Macro laughed and raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Ya think, yoi? I'll tell Lu."

Whitebeard nodded happily. After that, the group dispersed. Their conversation had lasted a good hour or so, which meant it was about evening.

Izou went to his own quarters to think about the discussion they'd just had, still feeling guilty and worried about their youngest member.

Whitebeard stayed behind and decided to rest until dinner. Aria, on the other hand, practically burst out the door and scurried back to her safe in the medical ward.

Marco followed her as they speed walked across the ship. He was surprised at how quickly the introverted women could move when she did not feel like socialising. He followed her to her clinic and shut the door behind him.

"Yoi, you okay," Marco asked jokingly as he took in the young doctor's frazzled appearance.

"I am not going out for a very long time," she responded firmly, slightly out of breath from her commute to the room.

Marco laughed. "I'm going to go check on our boys alright?"

Aria nodded, then, a bit clumsily, pulled out a bottle of pills from her coat pocket.

"Could you give these to them," she asked while walking over and handing the marked bottle to Marco, "They're for Lu. I've been meaning to give them to him but keep forgetting."

Marco smiled softly, taking the small blue cylindrical container from Aria's pale hands.

"Sure, I'll give them to Sabo, what's the dosage?"

"One a day, with food," she replied smartly, "They're for his... Mental health. They might make him a bit tired, but honestly, that child could use all the rest he can get."

Aria scowled to herself. She had given his brothers medicine to help Luffy sleep, but he still looked utterly exhausted. Either they weren't working, or he wasn't taking them.

She hoped it was the second one.

Marco waved goodbye to her and then went back out the door and across the hall to the brothers bedroom.

He knocked lightly, and opened it quietly when he heard a soft "come in" from the other side.

He smiled at the sight he found.

Sabo was awake, reading on his bed. Cuddled up in his lap was the little Luffy, and on his right, was Ace. Both boys were snoring, though Ace sounded more like an animal of some kind with how loud he was.

"Yoi," Marco greeted in a hushed tone, "how are you?"

Sabo sighed and put aside his book, face down, pages still open so he wouldn't lose his spot.

He offered Marco a sad smile. "I'm alright. I woke up a little bit ago. Ace had a narcoleptic fit and fell asleep halfway to the bed," the boy giggled softly and looked down at the freckled raven sprawled out on the bed beside him, "Had to heave him up here 'cause Lu wanted him nearby."

Marco nodded, and gestured to the straw hat child in Sabo's lap. "How's Luffy, yoi?"

Sabo frowned, and placed a gentle hand atop Luffy's hat and head. "He's probably not going anywhere for a while," Sabo answered coldly, "he was really shaken up. He started crying again once we got in here."

Marco nodded, and let a calm quiet fill the room for a minute.

"Pops wants to meet him," Marco said after a while.

Sabo looked up, blue eyes filled with surprise, and slight shock.

"I'm not sure-"

"I know, yoi," Marco said quickly, "I told him that. We'll pick a day where Luffy's feeling up to it. I'm just informing you so he can be ready whenever the time comes."

There was uncertainty shining clear in Sabo's ocean eyes, but the blond nodded slowly and looked back down at his sleeping brothers.

"What do you want to do for dinner, yoi?" Marco asked patiently.

He had noticed that it wasn't just Luffy who seemed "off" this time round. All three brothers appeared a bit more cautious than they were before the incident. Sabo looked tired, even though he had just taken a long nap, and was answering in short explanations and soft tones- though he knew that was partially due to his sleeping siblings.

In the clinic, Ace was radiating a 'protective brother' aura, ready to strike if anyone dared hurt Luffy again.

It would take a while to gain back their trust after this one; but Marco couldn't blame them. They had been promised safety, and they were betrayed by the very people they were told they could trust.

Marco clenched his fist and almost missed it when Sabo answered his earlier question, slightly startled out of his stupor when he heard the kids voice. Luckily, Sabo had still been looking at his brothers and didn't notice, or if he did, made no sign of it.

"I doubt Luffy will eat anything," Sabo sighed, "We don't mean to cause you extra trouble, but do think you could bring us a plate of something? I'm not very hungry... "

Marco nodded sympathetically. "No trouble at all. It wasn't any of your faults for what happened, and let me assure you we will talk to Teach. Pops himself said he'd handle it, yoi."

Sabo smiled, somewhat reassured by the kind words.

"Thanks, Marco."

"Of course, yoi. "

Marco turned to leave, and then remembered the pill bottle in his pocket.

"Oh! Yoi," he exclaimed, surprising Sabo.

Sabo gave the man a curious expression as Marco walked over and placed the bottle on the bed stand.

"These are for Lu. One a day, with food. They help his mentality over all. Maybe you can convince him to eat something if he decides the meds are good."

Sabo gave a slight smile and nodded. "I'll try to get him to take them."

Marco smiled fondly, and began walking back to the door.

He then left, closing the door quietly with a soft click. The Phoenix headed off to his own room and sat down at his desk. He didn't feel like pondering everything, pulled out a thick stack of paperwork and proceeded to fill them out for a few hours.

By the time he'd finished the stack, it was nearly dinner. He stood up and stretched, walking outside and lingering in the open deck for a bit. The sky had an orange-red tint to it and coloured the clouds pink.

Marco then went up to the Galley and decided to inform Thatch of the current circumstances, even sitting down at the bar that opened up to the kitchen and explaining the situation.

Thatch had grimaced through most of it, asking similar questions as they had in the report from a few hours ago. Marco answered them all, and told the head chef to keep this on the down low till it was all settled.

"As if those kids needed anything else," Thatch said bitterly, then, a bit less harsh, "... You're sure it was Teach?"

Marco tapped his fingers against the wood countertop distractedly. "That's what Luffy said, and he was so spooked it was kinda hard to say anything wasn't true. All we have is Luffy's account of the whole fiasco. "

Thatch nodded thoughtfully, then slapped the table and smiled brightly. "Well, if Pops is handling it, then I'll consider it handled! I might as well get working on the youngins' meals."

Marco laughed fondly at his friend and commented, "Nothing ever could bring you down for long!" Marco leaned in closer and asked, "I know they didn't ask for it, but mind making some sorta soup for Lu? Even if we do think we know the cause, we're still getting worried about his weight. He's so small... "

Thatch nodded. "'Course! I was gonna do that anyway, I'll bring them to 'em once they're done. You can go ahead and eat though, Marco. We're about to ring the dinner bell. "

Marco thanked Thatch and went to sit at one of the long tables in the enormous room. He began eating and heard the bell ring, watching as siblings from all over the ship came to eat.

Thatch rapped on the door with his knuckle, balancing a tray with three dishes on it carefully in his other hand.

Once welcomed, Thatch opened the door and stepped over the threshold into the three youngsters room.

Before he could say anything, he saw both Ace and Sabo gesture to keep his voice down. Luffy was sitting on Sabo's bed, as his was still in splinters, though the older brothers seemed to have tidied up what had once been a disaster zone. The strawhat boy was awake, sitting on the edge of the bed with his legs over the side, but had a cloudy distant look in his eyes as he rubbed the thick blanket between his fingers.

"He's kinda out of it, and we sorta want it to stay that way as long as possible," Sabo whispered as the Chef set down the tray on a nearby table.

Thatch nodded and asked, "Is he okay?"

Both brothers shared a glance, what it meant Thatch couldn't figure out, before answering, "He's processing. "

Thatch took this to mean "He's in shock and will probably have a fit later once realisation hits him", though he didn't admit this out loud.

Thatch gestured to the food with a smile and said, "I brought you something to eat, as well as Luffy, if he wants it. It's just some soup, mostly broth."

Both brothers smiled at this and glanced at the dazed kid on the bed.

"He might try that. Not really sure what he does and doesn't avoid," Ace scowled and finished with, "Though he seems to avoid everything. "

"He'll come around sometime soon, don't worry," Thatch said with a wink, "No one can resist my cooking for long."

Ace smirked and Sabo giggled

"You do make good food," Sabo pointed out.

Thatch scoffed. "Good!? My food is the best!"

"Yeah, yeah. "

Thatch decided now probably wasn't a great time for small talk, and bid farewell to the boys, leaving them to their own devices.

He went back to the kitchen and helped his staff as they continued to make food for the hundreds of ravenous pirates.

Among all his siblings, Thatch spotted a certain pie loving pirate eating happily and having what seemed to be a fascinating conversation with his crew mates.

Thatch walked past as he normally would, but kept his eyes on the man all night. Even though he was still one of his brothers, he now found it difficult to place trust in the black-bearded pirate.

Especially if the stories turned out to be true.

This chapter was really hard to write~

Hi guys! I know its a bit of a mess, not too consistent but this is my first One Piece fic so I'm tring my best (-﹏-；)

Any of you have a guess at what's happening behind the scenes? I'd love to hear your theories. I tried to spell the word 'mad' at some point and when I went back over it during editing, I found I had spelled 'paw' instead. Which is mad upside down. My brain spelled it upside down i-

Think I might be going crazy xD

Lil social media buzz- (I know, I know I'm sorry) I also own a Tumblr dedicated to One Piece! It's pretty fun mostly. My user is incorrectone-piece if you wanna check it out! Maybe even say hello! o

Alright! That's all for now! Thanks again for reading! I Hope you all have a wonderful day! Stay safe!

Chão!

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