Chapter Twenty-Six : Lesson

"No more..." Luffy whined as he fell dramatically to the ground. His breathing was heavy, gasping for every breath.

"That's enough, then." Roger agreed.

Luffy removed his blindfold and saw his brothers. Ace still had a few stones in his hands. He was staring at Luffy with his usual bored expression. Sabo went over to Luffy and offered a hand. Luffy gladly accepted it and he stood up on his feet, still panting.

It had been five days since the fire. After taking a break during those days, they were more than ready to go back to their routine. Currently, it was their first training in the morning. And they had been focusing on Observation Haki at the moment.

"When will we learn it anyway?" Ace asked his father. His attention was immediately turned to Luffy. "Don't go wandering around!"

"Nu-uh!" Luffy exclaimed. The boy was now busy playing with the bugs he and Sabo had caught earlier. Gone was his fatigue and now back to his playful self.

"Don't be impatient, Ace. The time shall come." Roger replied simply.

"Impatience that I got from you?"

"Stingy." Sabo put his hand on his mouth and choked his laughter.

"Cheeky brat..." Roger commented with a small huff. At that point, he was used to his son's side comments.

"We have all the time in the world." Sabo said with a small smile. "Your Dad's not going anywhere."

"Yeah!" Luffy agreed, looking at the man. "You will finished our training, right?"

Roger didn't reply.

"Ace! Sabo! Luffy!"

All eyes were turned at the source of the yelling. It was Magra running towards them frantically while waving his hands.

"Magra? What is it?" Ace asked. It was unusual for the bandits to call them these days. They all knew that his father was there to handle them three.

"Makino's at the hut. She came to visit you three." Magra explained.

"Really!?" Luffy questioned with a huge grin. The bug in his hands had the chance to escaped and flew away. But Luffy was too excited to care or notice. "Then let's go! It's been months since Makino last visited! I hope she has some new clothes for us and— oh! Maybe she can cook lunch! Her cooking is really—"

"Makino? Who is he?" Roger asked, stopping Luffy from ranting.

"It's she." Ace corrected.

"She's from Fuusha Village. She is the one who raised Luffy." Sabo explained with a smile.

"C'mon! We need to see her now!" Luffy commanded excitedly.

And they were all dragged away.

"Makino!" Luffy exclaimed with a huge grin on his face.

"Hello, Luffy." The young woman greeted as she crouched down. She opened her arms, ready to accept his hug.

Roger watched as Luffy dashed towards a young woman. She gladly accepted the boy in her arms, hugging him warmly. She has dark green hair that was way past her shoulders. Her eyes were brown in color and it was twinkling with happiness. She was wearing a yellow handkerchief over her head.

Roger was not worried at all. It was easy for Luffy to find people who adored him. The boy always radiates a wholesome personality that is easy to love. He has a charm that no one can resists and Roger regards it as Luffy's best asset.

"My, my..." Makino said with a soft laugh. She released Luffy from the hug allowing him to breathe. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Nn." Luffy nodded, his smile not faltering.

"Hello too, Sabo-kun and Ace-kun." She acknowledged, glancing at them.

Sabo had rewarded her with a grin while waving his hands. Ace, on the other hand, was looking away and fidgeting. The woman's eyes then landed on Roger. She stared at him with eyes laced with curiosity.

"Makino, this is Roger!" Luffy proudly introduced. "And Roger, this is Makino!"

"You're so bad at introduction, Lu." Sabo shook his head while smiling sheepishly.

"I know right." Ace agreed with a deadpan.

But Luffy was not the one to listen and continued to talk. "He is Ace's Dad! He's been training us how to be a pirate. He's awesome and great and he is Shanks's captain, too!"

Roger grinned at the young boy's words. Being praised by Luffy gave him a good feeling. Roger was always unsure of how to react when someone had praised him.

"Shanks's captain?" Makino echoed out.

"Former captain," Sabo added.

"Hello." Makino greeted as she stood up. She offered him her hand. "My name is Makino. It's very nice to meet you."

"Pleasure is all mine," Roger said as he shook her hand.

They were interrupted when Luffy's stomach started growling. Luffy pouted, then he looked up at Makino with wide eyes similar to a puppy.

"Ne, Makino. Can you cook for us?" Luffy begged with a pleading tone.

"May, Luffy." Sabo corrected with a frown.

Luffy just stared at him innocently.

"You know what? Nevermind." Sabo released a heavy sigh.

"Idiot..." Ace jeered.

"Of course, I will! Do you miss my cooking?" She asked while patting Luffy's head.

"I do, it's always the best! I'll pay you someday with my treasure." Luffy promised.

"That'll take years..." Sabo joked.

"Probably never," Ace added while he put his hands on his hips.

"On again with bullying Luffy?" Roger questioned with a burst of laughter. "Anyway, I'm going to hunt down some deer. Just stay here to catch up."

"Make sure it's a lot!" Luffy added before Roger could leave.

"They are lively," Makino said, starting a small conversation.

Roger let out a laugh. "That's them. And as the saying goes by, boys will always be boys."

The meat brought by Roger was quickly cooked by Makino. Roger admired at how efficient she was at cooking. She cooked more than enough for everyone. The taste of the food did not disappoint either. Roger couldn't remember the last time he had a great home cook food.

"Sabo mentioned that you're the one who raised Luffy," Roger said. "Are you worried about him?"

"No," Makino faced him and gave a genuine smile. "Not anymore. I used to but I realized Luffy can handle himself."

"Ace and Sabo are always there to help him."

"Help him? It's more like beating right now." Makino joked as she watched the scene taking place. Ace were busy scolding Luffy after the boy stole his meat.

"Ah," Roger exclaimed. "What can I say? It's brotherly banter."

Makino chuckled. "At first, I am worried about him. He's a nice boy and yet I could tell that sometimes, he's lonely. But I guess Shanks changed that. In the whole year of Shanks's stay on Fuusha, he would always made sure to hang out with Luffy."

"Luffy would beg me of stories about Shanks every time." Roger grinned.

"Pardon, but did you really used to be Shanks's captain?"

"Yes, I am." Roger nodded. "But that's long ago. Technically, it's been twelve years since I last saw him."

"He is well as far as I could tell. His crew is reliable, too." Makino shared, before biting on her meal.

"What kind of relationship did they have? Shanks and Luffy?"

Makino stopped momentarily from eating. Her gaze fell upon the straw hat on Luffy's back. With a smile, she started speaking.

"Luffy view Shanks as his mentor and savior," Makino answered after a while. "Shanks had lost his arm saving Luffy from a sea king..."

"Yeah, he has mentioned that." Roger couldn't help but ponder at the thought. He knew that Shanks can handle it better than that. But then again, who was he to judge his decision especially when it comes to saving someone like Luffy.

"Shanks also inspired Luffy to take the journey to be the Pirate King. I think Shanks was impressed by him. He gave his straw hat and told Luffy to gave it back to him once his name is known."

"To tell you a secret, that straw hat used to be mine." Roger laughed.

Makino blinked. "Really?"

Roger nodded. He remembered the early days with Shanks. The boy had impressed him so much. The straw hat was a gift that Roger had given.

"Shanks was overprotective of it back then. If he gave it to Luffy, I'm pretty sure he was impressed of the kid." He mused.

Makino chuckled again. "I'm just happy that Luffy finds himself brothers. At first, I was really worried that he'd be alone here on the mountain."

"The kid hated it when he's alone." Roger sighed. He learned of it the hard way.

Makino gazed at him with a thoughtful look. "Your face is familiar. Are you the person who I think it is?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Roger chuckled, giving an enigmatic answer.

She seemed to accept that answer and not inquire any further.

"Would you like to hear some stories about that trio?"

Makino's smile brightened. "Sure."

After lunchtime, Ace was in the doorframe just silently watching his little brother, Luffy, interacting with Makino in the distance. They were both sitting on the grass, telling each other some stories and catching up. It was mostly Luffy who did the talking and Makino just listened to him wholeheartedly.

Ace got used to the idea of Luffy always chasing after him or Sabo. It's not like Ace was jealous about Luffy's attention on Makino, he was just not used to it.

"What's on your mind?" Sabo asked out of nowhere.

"Do you have to sneak up on me like that?" Ace asked in annoyance.

"Your Dad's napping over there. Don't you wanna cuddle with him, Acey?" Sabo asked with a teasing grin.

"Don't joke around with me like that, Bo." Ace frowned as he rolled his eyes. "And please stop referring to him as my Dad..."

"But he is your Dad." Sabo pointed out with a snap. And then he flinched as his eyes widened. "Don't tell me that you still don't—"

"No, I acknowledge him as my father now, Sabo." Ace interrupted, pausing. "It just feels... weird."

"Well, you did hate him all your life. Meeting him is not something any of us would have imagined."

"I know. And now, I kinda feel guilty about it..."

"You do?" Sabo questioned. He raised his eyebrows as he stared at him.

"I promised myself that I would live my life without any regrets, Sabo." Ace revealed while sighing heavily. "And if I don't apologize to him, I know that I'll regret it."

Sabo just stared at him for the longest time. Both brothers were now lost in their thoughts. The only thing they were hearing was their younger brother's laughter.

"You called Roger 'Dad' last time..." Sabo pointed out after a while.

Ace shrugged. "I don't know what came over me."

"Doesn't it feel nice though?"

"It's nice... I'm just not used to it."

Sabo nodded firmly. "You don't have to force yourself. The time will come when it wouldn't bother you anymore."

"I hope so, too."

"You know, I don't think Roger will like you to apologize. He told me that it was the government's fault for saying all those things." Sabo explained briefly with a shrug.

"But still, I want to apologize. I regret my past actions, Sabo."

"And you're wondering how..." He clicked his tongue.

"Yeah."

Sabo then kept looking back on Luffy and Ace. Ace was worried about that smile on his brother's face. He always had that smile when he had planned something. And most of the time, Ace hated his plans.

"I'll go distract Luffy while you talk to Makino." Sabo grinned widely, obviously pleased with the idea he had thought.

"Wha—" Ace reacted.

"Oi, Luffy! I have some watermelons here. You want some?" Sabo called out, making Ace stopped mid-word.

"Watermelons?" Luffy repeated. He quickly glanced at his brothers. His black eyes were shimmering in excitement as drool started spilling from his mouth. "Gimme!"

And Luffy dashed towards them, leaving Makino alone. Sabo gave Ace one last smirk before escorting Luffy inside. Ace swore that he would make Sabo pay later. For now, there were more pressing matters.

Ace pinched himself in the cheeks, trying to calm himself down. He started walking towards Makino. Makino was just staring at him with curious eyes. She was wearing a smile that always gave him a warm feeling.

"Hello, Ace-kun." She greeted while waving her hands smoothly. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I... Uhm..." Ace said incoherently. Shaking his head, he tried to hide his embarrassment. He was never good at talking to people, never mind girls. Dadan never counted for obvious reasons.

"Hmm?" She hummed sweetly.

Ace sat in front of her and slowly took a deep breath. "Can you please teach me how to apologize?"

"Oh," Makino exclaimed.

"I'm not good at apologizi— I have never said sorry to anyone before. My pride is high and I don't interact with others that much..."

"It's not always easy to apologize. But when you do, it proves that you are brave enough to admit your mistakes." Makino's smile brightened.

Finding no reason to hide it, Ace began explaining. "I used to hate my father and he knows it... I have done things to him that I regret."

Ace remembered telling his father not to apologize. And yet, here he was now trying to come up with an apology. He sounded like a hypocrite but he did regret his actions in the past. He always wanted to live without regrets so apologizing to his father was a good start.

"You know, it's unusual for kids to say sorry to their parents. It's mostly the other way around." Makino explained. "You're a good boy, Ace."

"No, I'm not..." He looked away, clenching his fist. He bit down his lips but not enough to make it bled.

He felt like a disappointment. He was ashamed of what he did in the past. He believed the whispers of the men who had never even met his father. He spent most of his life hating him when he was far from those stories. His father just wanted to be free and yet, people disagreed with it.

To make peace with himself and with his father, this is what he needed to do.

Noticing the change of his attitude, Makino dropped the subject. "Well then, let's work on your apology, shall we?"

A/N: Thank you for the follows, favorites and reviews. See you next week.