A/N: Wow! There was a pretty big response last chapter! Sorry it's taking me so long to reply to the reviews; busy month (but my October stress is gone!) and I've been sorting a billion other stories in the works. I finally figured out what I'm doing for the OP Big Bang! Yay! But seriously, thank you every single one of you. You absolutely make sharing my story worthwhile, and I appreciate all of you more than I can express.

I've also decided to reveal Snow White's identity in this chapter.

Huge thanks and shout out to my glorious beta, Beyond Kailani, who did a wonderful job fixing this chapter for me. As always, this story is dedicated to her! She has a new story up as well called "Clipped Wings" which you should go read if you love ASL :D I bow down to the queen.

jou-chan = little missy, or young lady. (I don't like either of those English equivalents so I kept it as jou-chan in the story)

Bonds of Sea and Fire

Chapter 16: If It Bleeds, It Gets Bandaged

"It's been over a week, yoi," Marco pointed out, shooting Vista a mildly amused look. "When do you plan on taking those off?"

Thatch snorted into his hand, tears forming in the corners of his eyes as he struggled to hold back his giggles. "Y-yeah Vista," he added. "It's not even sunny out!"

Vista smirked, reaching up to tip his hat and keeping his fingers on the rim. "It's a beautiful day, Marco." Marco merely raised his eyebrow, but Thatch completely lost it, falling to the deck and rolling with laughter. Sighing, Vista straightened and tapped the side of the glasses. "Someone decided I shouldn't be taking these off any time soon," he admitted. "And since there were apparently no witnesses, I don't know who to punish."

Marco turned his gaze to Thatch, but the other man held his hands up. "It wasn't me," Thatch said. "I wish I'd had a hand in it, but I was serving breakfast when it happened. With Ace and Luffy."

"It must have been Haruta," Vista sighed. "But that makes it your fault all the same. You're the one who influences the little whelp."

"Haruta swears he didn't do it," Thatch said with a sunny grin. "He swore on his life as a pirate - in front of Oyaji."

"I don't see who else could have… oh bloody hell," Vista sighed.

"Just figured it out?" Thatch laughed, holding his stomach now. "Sabo's not as well-mannered as he looks, is he?!"

Vista rubbed his temples, and despite the displeased tug at the corners of his mouth, the sunglasses made him look comical and relaxed. "That little scoundrel."

"Never trust a pirate," Thatch said with a grin.

Marco rolled his eyes, but a small smile twitched on his lips. Sabo appeared to be the least likely suspect, and now he had to wonder if that was an intentional play on the younger blond's part.

"Where are the boys, anyway?" Vista sighed. "It's unusually quiet on deck."

"Sparring," Thatch answered, wiping away tears of mirth and finally standing back up. "Haruta's taken the lead on showing them around. They saw the training room a couple of days ago and the rest is history. You should go watch if you can see with those things on. Luffy's a riot, but Ace and Sabo have some really interesting matches."

"Oh?" Vista rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then turned to Marco. "What do you make of it?"

"Excuse me," Thatch huffed. "I'm perfectly capable of gauging their capabilities-"

"Ace has more raw strength, but Sabo is more disciplined," Marco answered, ignoring the wounded look Thatch shot him. "They're using pipes from the supply room right now - I forbade them from using swords, just trust me on that - but Ace tends to drop his and fight with his fists, yoi. Eventually, Sabo should make a good sparring partner for Haruta."

"What about Luffy?" Vista asked.

"I haven't seen much of his potential yet," Marco admitted. "He wants to use his devil fruit for combat but he doesn't seem to know how. They have some kind of rule about how many times a day they spar each other and Luffy loses all one hundred of his matches, yoi. That makes three hundred total so far."

Vista whistled. "Poor kid. They aren't taking it easy on him?"

"Of course not," Thatch puffed out his chest, putting his hands on his hips. "Well, maybe not on purpose."

"What Thatch means is, more often than not, Luffy knocks himself down or gets disabled before they can land too many hits," Marco explained. "But with his abilities, he's never really hurt."

"Ah, blunt force, of course," Vista said with a slight nod.

"Sabo and Ace don't hold back at all when it's against each other, yoi," Marco added. "Bay's already concerned. And since none of them seem to know the meaning of holding back, Oyaji started talking about letting them spar on deck to give them more space."

"And it would be easier for him to watch, gauge their potential, all that," Vista guessed.

"He's already attached to Luffy, yoi." Marco couldn't help but smile a little as he recalled the way the old man's eyes had glinted with endearment that morning when Luffy had rocketed onto his chair.

"I knew it would be a trend once he took Haruta in," Vista muttered, shaking his head with another one of his trademark grins. "He enjoys having kids running around his ship, relying on him a little more than us old folks do."

"You're only as old as you feel, Vista," Thatch said, playfully smacking him on the back.

"Then I'm a fossil," Vista griped, waving him off. "I'm going back to bed. Wake me up when I can take these damn things off."

Bay suddenly appeared on his other side, punching his arm. "Well, fossil, if you really want to take them off, you should head to the infirmary. I'm sure you could sweet talk your way into a solvent that will help dissolve the glue faster."

"I'm not falling for that."

Bay stared at Vista's face for a full minute before she burst out laughing, collapsing against Thatch. Her laughter nearly had him doubling over again, and it was all he could do to keep them both upright. "I can't tell if you're skeptical, annoyed, or even curious!" Bay cried.

"Right? I really need to hand it to Sabo on this one," Thatch said, beaming like a proud parent.

Vista rubbed his temples. "Let's go with annoyed and skeptical."

"Well, fair enough, there's nothing in the infirmary that can help you," Bay responded cheekily, straightening back up. "But I'll take pity on you. Go ask Fossa."

"Fossa? Oh bloody hell!" Vista swore, jaw agape. "The little bastards used shipwright materials on my face?"

"I'm sure you'll still be beautiful once you melt those sunglasses off," Bay reassured him, letting go of Thatch and smirking.

"Fossa has a gentle touch," Thatch added. He barely held back another fit of giggles. "We trust him to repair the ship - I'm sure we can trust him with your beauty too!"

"Okay, okay, that's enough, yoi," Marco interrupted, shooting Bay and Thatch a mild warning look. "Vista, I'm sure Fossa knew about the prank, so I'm fairly confident you'll be fine."

"Fairly confid- oh for the love of…" Vista growled, turning and stalking off to track Fossa down.

The moment Vista made it out of earshot Marco smirked, barely containing his chuckles.

"I'm guessing Fossa already knew his glue was missing?" Thatch teased, elbowing Marco.

"He said Vista will be fine, but he'll have red lines wherever the glue set, yoi," Marco answered. "And he also said there was no rush in telling him."

"Of course he said that. He's the one who gave the glue to Haruta when he couldn't find anything in his own stash," Bay added.

"That's because we used all our glue on - ah, never mind, wouldn't want to spoil the surprise," Thatch backtracked, laughing nervously. "See ya!"

"That worries me on so many levels," Bay sighed, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "You guys were talking about the trio, right?"

"Is that what we're calling them?" Marco teased.

"Well, I'd call them Snuggles, Freckles, and Curly, but somehow I don't think they'd like that," Bay quipped. "So, are they sparring again? I'm worried about Ace's arm."

"His arm?" Marco raised an eyebrow, refraining from commenting on the nicknames.

"Do you think he wears that brace for fashion?" Bay poked him hard in the chest. "He clams up whenever I mention it - which is twice so far - but I know injuries, birdy-boy."

"It didn't seem like it was giving him any trouble, yoi," Marco argued, frowning. "Has it been?"

"I'd know if he answered," Bay said, poking him again. "Does it look like he's having difficulties in daily activities or sparring? No. But, if he's ignoring pain and discomfort, he could cause future injuries. I'm used to dealing with stubborn boys like him for a living, Marco, but he doesn't trust me so I'm not getting anywhere. Maybe you could talk to him? If he just doesn't want to go to talk to me because I'm a girl, you could try getting him to talk to Jiru."

Marco placed a hand on his hip. "None of them have a problem with women, Bay."

"But?"

"But Ace is still keeping to himself. He isn't trying to reach out to anyone - not even to Haruta," Marco explained with a sigh. "Anytime you see Ace start a conversation with anyone here, you'll notice myself, Thatch, or Izo is around."

"Poor kids," Bay sighed. "Anyway, that brace probably fit him perfectly when he was younger, but it's going to need adjusting within the next few months. He might even need a new one all together."

"I'll talk to him, yoi," Marco promised.

Bay grinned and reached up to ruffle his hair, but he expertly dodged her hand and shook his head.

"No fun, as always," she sighed in a singsong voice, before waving and heading off.

Marco rolled his eyes, fighting back a grin. The past week had been relatively uneventful in terms of enemy pirates or marines edging into their comfort zone. There had been one navy ship that had gotten a little close, but Namur had taken care of it before any of the more volatile members of the crew had decided to let off steam. It wasn't like they'd had the audacity to actually attack, and as such hadn't forfeit their lives.

They had no destination in mind. Rather, there were no specific islands Whitebeard intended to visit. Marco had charted the course after a lengthy discussion with Bay on what they were actually looking for and where they could potentially find it, but there was an unhealthy amount of luck being relied on in his opinion.

Still, it wasn't like bringing up his concerns would have any change anything. Whitebeard himself knew they were operating on chance, and he'd promised to be completely honest about his health if Marco or Bay asked. With neither of them sensing anything dire, there was no point in rushing.

...

Luffy puffed his cheeks out, doing his best not to complain. Ace had already told him he was on his second strike, and one more strike meant… well, he couldn't remember what a third strike meant, but as long as he didn't get one, his brothers would have to reward him with meat.

At least, he hoped they'd reward him with meat.

"Why are you moping?" Haruta asked, plopping down beside him and lightly knocking him upside the head. "Aren't you paying attention?"

Luffy scowled, pulling his hat down over his eyes with a huff. "I'm paying attention."

Haruta raised an eyebrow, then tilted his head to watch as Sabo parried another one of Ace's attacks and the clang of the pipes they'd chosen to use as weapons echoed through the training room. Despite the fact that their fights were nothing the pirates hadn't seen before, and far less flashy than the New World scuffles, Ace and Sabo had started drawing a crowd every time they sparred. Some would stick around and chuckle at Luffy's attempts to fight, but the real draw was watching the two older boys fight. Thatch had explained to him that it was because Ace and Sabo were evenly matched and it was more interested than watching someone getting trained by an experienced fighter.

He understood but he disagreed. Maybe it was because he was usually the student, but he enjoyed watching someone learning and adapting. It was more interesting to him to see the moment the teacher started to use a bit more strength to test their student, or the moment the student surprised the teacher with something unanticipated. In an equal match, it may have been exciting to wonder who would finally win, but to Haruta, it was harder to see individual growth. Sabo and Luffy's matches were incredibly interesting to him for that reason. He thought Ace seemed better suited at training Luffy's stamina and physical strength while Sabo seemed more intent on training Luffy's adaptability and creativity.

"You're moping because they won't let you go again?" Haruta guessed turning his attention back to the sulking boy beside him.

Luffy's cheeks puffed even farther. "I'm not tired or hurt or anything. I should get to have more fights!"

Haruta turned to watch Ace and Sabo meet in the middle again, the two at a tense standoff that neither wanted to back down from. Sabo faltered just slightly, gritting his teeth in obvious annoyance when Ace noticed the opening. The blond tried to twist to the side as he was forced to break his stance, but Ace spun around and clipped him in the shoulder as they jumped away from each other. The force nearly caused Sabo to lose his grip on his weapon and he staggered as he landed.

"Well, you did your one hundred fights and they still have another ten matches against each other after this, right?" Haruta asked.

"Yeah," Luffy sighed.

"So why don't you try some techniques on me?" Haruta suggested. "So you're not just sitting here watching?"

Luffy perked up, then hesitated. He shot Haruta a slightly confused look, tilting his head to the side. "Ace said I can't have more than a hundred matches, though."

"Not matches," Haruta corrected. "I'm still under strict orders not to overdo it while I'm 'in the final stages of healing' or whatever, and you're not supposed to, right? So you can just show me some techniques or something. Oh!" He abruptly jumped to his feet, eyes lighting up. "Stand right here, okay?"

Confused, Luffy did as told, rising as well and watching as Haruta dashed over to a bag he'd left by the door. He came back over a moment later, holding his hand up. Dangling between two fingers was a shiny wrapper that Luffy instantly recognized as delicious candy. Haruta had shared some of it with them - but not much, since it was from Fishman Island and hard to come by - and had promised to give Luffy more at a later date. He started to move towards Haruta, but the older boy shook his head and held his other hand up in a halting motion.

"Stay back there," Haruta said, grinning. "I'll hold the candy out, and you use your rubber powers to stretch and grab it."

"And then I can have it?" Luffy demanded, drool building up in his mouth.

"Only if you can grab it without moving closer," Haruta said. "I won't move at all."

Haruta had barely gotten the words out before Luffy was pitching forward, feet firmly planted, his arm stretching towards Haruta with purpose. His aim was off though, hand grasping at the air near Haruta's knees before the recoil kicked in.

"I almost got it," Luffy claimed, looking rather petulant when Haruta's grin widened. "I can have it, right?"

"Nope," Haruta said with a shake of his head. "You can't have a reward for missing the target. What if you were aiming at an enemy pirate? You just missed him!"

Luffy scowled, then shot out with his arm again. Haruta was positive Luffy was making a grab for his arm and not the candy, but he missed both by a wide berth.

"Damn it!" Luffy swore. He tried again, and Haruta watched with mild fascination as every attempt went too low or hit the ground and rebounded. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

"Luffy," Haruta interrupted with a small yelp, struggling to contain his laughter. "Man, we really gotta work on your aim."

"My aim is fine! You're moving," Luffy complained.

"I'm not moving," Haruta insisted. "You just can't aim."

"It's a mystery, then," Luffy said, shooting out to try and grab the candy again. His hand hit the ground and rebounded into his own face, knocking him down like it had multiple times in his sparring matches.

"Luffy," Haruta said again once his laughter had died down and Luffy had dusted himself off. "Focus on the candy right now, okay?"

"I'm focused on the candy," Luffy answered, barely holding back from lunging. His mouth was filling with drool again.

"When you try to grab it, aim higher," Haruta said. His arm was shaking just a little, but he did his best to keep it steady. Their training exercise had lasted through Ace and Sabo's sparring match and midway into the next; he hadn't lowered his arm once.

"But I want the candy," Luffy argued.

"Try to grab above my hand," Haruta prodded. He could see that Luffy really was trying to aim for the candy, but he was running into one of two problems that Haruta himself had struggled with in his basic training with Vista. The first was not accounting for the weight of his own hand as it stretched farther away from his body, and the second was a lack of depth perception. Until Luffy was able to improve his aim and control his ability better - which would also require building his muscles and learning proper techniques rather than going off brute force and determination - then all Haruta could do to help was try to adjust based off his current skill. Having Luffy aim higher than his target would get him closer to actually hitting it, and if Luffy saw even a slightly more successful outcome from the advice, he would likely be more receptive to further instruction.

"But Haruta," Luffy whined, reaching up to wipe the drool from his face.

Both boys jumped at the sound of a crash from the center of the room along with Ace's very loud shout of pain and surprise.

"Ace! Are you okay?" Sabo dropped his pipe and rushed over to his fallen brother, who had crashed into a rack of weapons near one of the walls. Several other pirates were yelping in concern and rushing over, though it was Marco who got there first and started pulling weapons off of him. One of the swords had sliced through Ace's shirt, a line of blood appearing on his skin from a shallow cut just above his hip.

"Ace!" Luffy tried to push past the gathering pirates to get to him, but Haruta snagged him around the chest and held him back.

"I'm fine," Ace protested angrily, trying to shove Marco away. Marco barely batted an eye, catching his right wrist and pulling him to his feet while Rakuyo took over handling the weapons.

"I thought you'd block it," Sabo said lamely, guilt creeping into his voice.

"I said I'm fine," Ace snapped, yanking on his arm when Marco refused to let go.

"Five seconds after I step into the room you take a pipe to the face and crash into a weapon rack, yoi," Marco said. "You're coming to the infirmary with me now." When Ace continued to scowl, he lowered his voice. "Before you worry Luffy," he added.

Ace's struggles died down almost instantly. He gave a loud sigh, his arm dangling limply in Marco's grasp. "Sabo, keep an eye on Luffy."

"I want to go with Ace," Luffy protested.

Sabo opened his mouth to object, then sighed, looking to Haruta and Luffy. "Ace is fine," he said. "Come on. Let's back up so they can pick up the weapons - sorry everyone…"

"Happens all the time, don't worry about it," Rakuyo waved them off, watching Ace in concern while absently stacking swords under one arm.

"Yeah, hey, let's go sit down," Haruta suggested, still struggling to keep Luffy from tackling Ace. "You can have the candy now."

Luffy hesitated. "I can?"

"Yeah, you can. Right, Sabo?" Haruta asked, glancing at the blond with a distinctive 'help me out' look.

"Yeah," Sabo agreed, shooting one last worried look in Ace's direction before giving Haruta and Luffy his full attention. "You know Ace is tough. He'll be fine."

Luffy scrunched his face up for a moment, then nodded. "Ace is really tough," he agreed, twisting his head around to stare up at Haruta despite the fact that his body was still facing away from him. "Okay, I want the candy now."

"Gah!" Haruta let go of Luffy, staggering backwards and clutching his heart. The candy landed on the ground, and Luffy happily scooped it up. "Damn it, that's creepy!"

Sabo burst out laughing. "You get used to it."

Haruta shook his head. "I will never get used to that."

"Oh, come on," Sabo argued. "Bay told me one of your brothers pulls a giant hammer out of his face, and Luffy twisting his head around creeps you out?"

"I didn't say I was used to Blamenco either," Haruta argued, cheeks darkening. "Let's go bug Thatch." The part where they were bugging Thatch to keep Luffy distracted didn't need to be said, and Sabo answered with an appreciative grin.

"Before you get into mischief, how about an alternative?" Rakuyo offered, watching Luffy happily devour his candy.

"An alternative?" Sabo questioned.

"I wonder… just how much candy do you think he can fit in those cheeks?" Rakuyo asked with a playful smirk.

"Well, that'll distract him," Sabo laughed as Luffy perked up and started pawing at Rakuyo, boasting claims of being able to fit an entire ship's stock of candy in his cheeks.

...

"I got cuts like this all the time back home," Ace argued. "It's not even deep enough to need stitches. You're making a big deal out of nothing."

"Humor me, yoi," Marco said, smoothing the bandage over Ace's side. "The rule is if it bleeds, it gets bandaged. Oyaji's rule, not mine."

Ace sighed, but he remained sitting on the infirmary bed while Marco retrieved his shirt and handed it over. As he moved to put it on, a sharp twinge in his left elbow had him wincing and almost dropping it.

"Your arm bothering you?"

"No," Ace immediately snapped, yanking his shirt on the rest of the way and pulling his arm against his chest, almost cradling it.

"Ace," Marco sat in the chair next to the bed. "If you don't want me to treat you like a kid, I'm going to need you to act like an adult, yoi."

'What the hell's that supposed to mean?" Ace griped, narrowing his eyes at Marco. His posture was more relaxed once Marco was no longer towering over him, and when Marco merely raised an eyebrow rather than answer, a heavy sigh escaped. "Fine. My arm hurts a little but it's no big deal. I'm used to it."

"Being used to something doesn't make it 'no big deal'," Marco corrected. "Let me see."

Ace continued to scowl, holding Marco's gaze for several moments before finally offering his arm. He tried to hide a flinch when Marco took his wrist, even though there was no actual pain. "I don't need pity because I let my guard down in a match, you know."

"Why did you let your guard down?" Marco asked, avoiding the subject of pity. He had a feeling it would take a long time to convince Ace that their concern for him was not the same as pity, and there was no point in pushing the subject when he'd already made up his mind.

Ace was silent for several moments as Marco bent and extended his left arm. He could tell Marco was watching him for signs of discomfort, but it honestly wasn't bad enough to cause a reaction. He only frowned once when a full extension had his arm perfectly straight.

"I came into the room right about the time Sabo got you with the pipe - we should put some ice on your jaw, by the way."

Ace sighed again, the reminder causing the ache in his jaw to become more pronounced. He was lucky Sabo hadn't broken anything. "Why are you messing with my arm, anyway?"

"Bay noticed the brace. Seems to be fine for now, but you're outgrowing it. I'm not an expert here, yoi, but you should probably ask Bay or one of the doctors to take a look and get you fitted for a new one."

"I don't need a new one," Ace argued. "This one works just fine."

"Well when it stops working just fine, you'll need a new one, won't you?" Marco reasoned.

"Luffy."

"Luffy, yoi?" Marco asked, accepting the change in topic in the form of an answer to his earlier question. It wasn't surprising in the slightest, but it had seemed like Luffy had been out of the way of any danger, confined to the sidelines with Haruta keeping him company.

Ace seemed to struggle with himself for a moment before he answered, picking his words carefully. "Luffy was whining at Haruta."

Ah. Marco didn't need him to say anything else, expression one of understanding. "You're not used to Luffy relying on anyone else. Pestering them for attention."

"It distracted me… that's all," Ace insisted.

"I understand," Marco answered, waving off Ace's look of shock. "I'm better at hiding it than most."

"You?" Ace asked.

"You don't need to sound so skeptical, yoi," Marco teased, releasing his wrist. "I have a lot of siblings. I worry about them. When there were only a few of us, I got used to them coming to me for decisions on everything. Every. Little. Thing." Marco chuckled as if recalling a fond memory, then shook his head. "It's strange when that changes."

"That's not the same," Ace argued quietly, looking away.

"I know," Marco answered. When Ace snuck another glance at him, he grinned in response. "Anyway, you and Sabo have been putting on quite the show these past few days. Have you two always sparred like this?"

A grin broke out on Ace's face before he could stop it, but rather than squash it and try to act aloof, he rubbed the back of his neck and appeared proud. "Yeah, me and Sabo have always been pretty evenly matched. The pipes you guys found for us aren't the kind we're used to, but they work well enough."

"Why only fifty matches, though?" Marco questioned.

"We only put a limit on it after Luffy came around," Ace answered. "Sabo's pretty reasonable about stuff like that, but Luffy never knows when to quit. To be honest, Sabo and I used to do more, but if we don't stick to a hundred total, Luffy tries to argue he should be able to have more fights."

"I've caught a few matches," Marco said, handing Ace some painkillers and a glass of water. "We might be able to set up a training dummy for Luffy to practice his aim on."

"That'd keep him busy," Ace said once he'd taken the medicine.

"Is that a good thing?" Marco questioned, hearing hesitance in Ace's tone. He offered Ace a hand to get down, but Ace jumped off the bed and started walking. Marco simply followed, lazily hooking his thumb into his pocket.

Ace glanced at him, then looked to his hands and began to fidget as they headed back to the training room. "You've seen some of the matches, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Marco agreed, inclining his head towards Ace and patiently waiting for him to continue.

It took several moments before Ace got to the point. "What do you think? Of the matches between me and Sabo."

"What, you think I analyzed your matches and studied your strengths and weaknesses?" Marco teased. When Ace didn't answer, he grinned. "Alright, fine, yoi. I've noticed while you're both pretty evenly matched, Sabo relies heavily on intuition and strategy. You rely more on instinct and brute strength."

Ace's footsteps stopped, causing Marco to pause as well. Lidded blue eyes studied the tension in Ace's body and how tightly his fists were clenched. "So basically Sabo's the smart one and I'm just the idiot who charges in, right?"

"Is that what you think, what others think, or what you think others think, yoi?"

"It's- wait, what?" Ace scowled. "Are you trying to confuse me or something?"

Marco snorted, but he did grin at Ace's indignant tone. "It's a legitimate question, Ace. Is that what you think is true? Or did someone tell you that's what they saw?" His grin faded. "Or, is that just what you assume based off the way you think people perceive you?"

"Tch," Ace resumed walking, shoving both hands in his pockets and hunching his shoulders.

"You're not the dumb one, Ace," Marco continued, matching his pace. "Or the irrational one. Or-"

"I didn't ask," Ace snapped.

"You didn't have to, yoi. It's written all over your face."

Ace froze in his tracks, shooting Marco an uncertain look. "What?"

"Look," Marco came to a stop next to him. "We spent a few weeks together on a much smaller boat. I couldn't have ignored you three if I tried, and I wasn't trying. You and Sabo look after Luffy. The three of you have a dynamic where Sabo is the responsible and patient one, and you're the temperamental one who doesn't appear to think before he acts."

"So what?" Ace muttered.

"So neither of you can be defined in a single sentence like that, yoi," Marco explained patiently. He smiled at the uncertain, almost longing look in Ace's eyes, his own expression one of understanding. "There's no set role or list of rules. Nine times out of ten, Sabo can be the one who comes up with the strategy or acts as the voice of reason, but that doesn't mean you don't know how to strategize. It doesn't mean you can't be the voice of reason."

"Sabo's better at it," Ace said quietly, averting his eyes as if worried he'd given away too much.

"Doesn't matter, yoi. The two of you might fall into a set pattern where you charge in and he analyzes the situation first, but that doesn't define your roles. You define your role. You're the one who stays up late to keep watch even when it's safe, and you're the one who acts without caring about the consequences if something important is at stake. You're also the one who trusts Sabo to keep watch when you're too tired to keep doing it, and the one who carefully weighs the options before making a decision. It doesn't matter which one you do more often or which one is more comfortable. You're just you, yoi."

Ace fell silent at those words, gaze dropping to his feet as he turned to keep walking. He was grateful that the halls were empty, not wanting any of the pirates he hadn't even met to be hearing what he felt was a very personal conversation. In all his time as part of a trio, no longer a lone outcast in the woods, he'd never worried about how others had perceived him. When he and Sabo had started to gain infamy, their reputation had given them labels. He was the dangerous, unpredictable one, while Sabo was the brains and the one who came up with the plans.

He'd told himself it was fine. He liked being viewed as dangerous, and he especially enjoyed the idea that no one could try to guess his next move. There wasn't even a time he could pinpoint when it had started to bother him - just that eventually, it had.

"I've heard some of the others here say Sabo's the smart one," Ace mumbled. "Or when Luffy's being difficult, they ask Sabo to rein him in because he knows how to deal with him."

"That's because they don't know you, yoi," Marco explained.

"They don't know any of us," Ace snapped.

"No," Marco stopped him with a hand to the shoulder. They were only a few feet away from the doors to training room, and the laughter from inside had Ace tensing. It sounded like Luffy was doing something amusing again. "They don't know you. Luffy's an open book, and Sabo's making an attempt to get to know all the commanders, but you only talk to someone if they talk to you, or if one of your brothers is already talking to them."

"So?" Ace asked. "It's not like I'm ignoring them."

"You're guarded, yoi," Marco clarified. "You're holding back, and I can't figure out why. Everyone knows the only way you three will stay with us is if you agree, but no one has any idea what you're thinking. They'll nickname and joke around with Sabo and Luffy, but no one's getting close to you because you don't want them to." When Ace remained silent, Marco softened his tone again. "No one's rushing you, yoi. But if you ever want to talk - about anything - you know where to find me."

"What if you change your mind?" Ace blurted out, causing Marco to pause.

"About?"

"Wanting us to stay. Wanting me to stay. What if you change your mind?"

"We won't," Marco said simply, heading for the doors again.

"You can't know that," Ace argued, hurrying forward to catch up with him.

"I can, and I do," Marco answered.

"No, you can't!"

"Mm," Marco chuckled, aware that his non-verbal answer had Ace bristling.

"Don't ignore me!" Ace swore, reaching up to grab Marco's arm and stop him. Marco easily sidestepped, pushing the door open and heading inside. Ace gave up trying to grab him when everyone turned to welcome them back, scowling and pushing past to get to his brothers. Luffy's cheeks were stretched impossibly far for a normal child, an open bag of candy in his lap. He tried to wave cheerfully at Ace, but his arm kept hitting one of his cheeks and causing him to tilt.

"Rakuyo gave him candy," Sabo explained with a helpless shrug, grinning at Ace. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Ace answered. "I barely scratched myself, but there's some kind of rule on this ship about bleeding wounds."

"Ah, yeah," Haruta chuckled. "If it bleeds, it's bandaged. I heard Oyaji made that rule because of Thatch."

"Happened before I came along. You'll have to ask Thatch or Oyaji," Rakuyo joked.

"Or Marco, since Marco knows everything about everyone," Haruta teased, waving at Marco.

Marco grinned in response, choosing not to confirm or deny Haruta's statement. "Ace is fine to spar again if you two still want to," he told Sabo.

"I could use a break for the day," Sabo admitted. "Besides, Izo wanted me to come see him when we were done. He's going to help me with something. I figured I'd wait until Ace came back to wrangle Luffy before going to see him."

"Oh sure, leave me with Luffy after you guys gave him all that sugar," Ace complained. He couldn't help but feel a slight warmth in his chest over the fact that Sabo hadn't left Luffy with Haruta, even though Haruta had proven to be both capable and trustworthy when it came to wrangling Luffy.

"Hey, Ace," Haruta said, ignoring the jumbled mess of sounds that came from Luffy. The rubber boy was clearly trying to protest Ace's words in some way, but there was far too much candy in his mouth for anything he said to be coherent. "While Sabo's off with Izo, let's go talk to Thatch. He said he had some ideas-"

"I knew I had a bad feeling about this," Rakuyo groaned.

"-and we can fill Sabo in on it afterwards," Haruta finished. "Wanna?"

Ace shifted uneasily, but with Sabo, Luffy, and Marco watching him, he felt like he had no choice but to comply. Besides which, it wasn't like he wanted to decline the offer. Not really. "Yeah, sure. Luffy, finish that up and let's go."

"Awesome!" Haruta cheered, jumping up. "Rakuyo, as a thanks for all this candy, I'll make sure we leave you out of it."

"You're my favorite brother right now," Rakuyo sighed in relief.

Luffy quickly swallowed the entire mouthful of candy, wiping his face on the back of his arm. Despite knowing it would be sticky and unpleasant, Ace reached out and took his hand. "Well, let's go see what Thatch has planned."

"I'll catch up with you guys later," Sabo promised.

"Need any help finding Izo, yoi?" Marco asked.

"Nah, I think I've figured out how to navigate this place. It's not as confusing as it was when we first got here," Sabo answered. "Thanks, though!"

Marco nodded to him, watching as he dashed from the room like he hadn't just spent the afternoon locked in intense matches against his brother.

...

"Act natural," Thatch murmured.

"I'm trying," Ace hissed. His shoulders were completely tense and he kept shooting glares over his shoulder if he thought anyone was looking.

"Act natural," Thatch repeated under his breath, avoiding eye contact with anyone else.

"Whatever you're trying to hide, it's not working," Izo cut in, looking across the table at them. Haruta quickly averted his gaze, while Sabo managed an innocent and blank stare. "Sabo's the only one with a working poker face."

"Plus all we have to do is look at Luffy," Bay added, motioning to the youngest boy. Luffy appeared to be whistling, his gaze locked on the ceiling. He wasn't even trying to steal food off anyone's plates anymore. "Should I be alarmed?"

"This is the safe table," Rakuyo stated, looking completely at ease. "Haruta gave me his word."

"That was in the agreement, yes," Thatch nodded, elbowing Ace. "Lighten up, Ace. It's not like they can prove it was us."

Ace grumbled, glancing around again with narrow eyes. "They're all looking this way."

"You're imagining it," Sabo promised. "No one's noticed yet."

"What did you do?" Izo sighed, rubbing his temples. "Can't we have one peaceful dinner around here?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Thatch answered, affecting an innocent tone.

"We definitely didn't put glue on all the seats," Luffy added rather loudly, his eyes wide as he looked to Izo.

The entire galley seemed to go quiet at Luffy's voice, all eyes turning to the table they were sitting at.

"You didn't… what?" one of the nearby crewmembers asked, narrow eyes fixed on Thatch.

"Why would we do something like that?" Thatch attempted to laugh it off while Sabo and Ace tried to cover Luffy's mouth. The youngest of the trio flailed, struggling free and facing the room. Realization was beginning to dawn on the faces of the ones who were trying to stand up and failing.

"We didn't glue everyone to the benches!" Luffy chirped, holding his hands up in a show of surrender. The brushes they'd used to apply the glue were stuck to his arms, and the sight had the guilty party freezing.

"Consider yourselves lucky I wasn't caught up in this prank or I'd be using you all for target practice," Izo sighed, standing up.

"Will you look at the time? Gotta go," Thatch laughed, scooping the trio up in his arms and making a run for it. Haruta was hot on his heels, the five of them bursting out of the galley as the shouts began, mixed with the sound of pants being ripped.

Luffy couldn't contain his giggles as he held onto both Ace and Thatch, Sabo laughing in Thatch's other arm.

"Don't let them catch us," Haruta gasped,struggling to catch his breath while laughing and running. "Quick, find Oyaji! They won't attack us if we're with him!"

They burst onto the deck where Whitebeard was sharing a drink with Marco, the two seemingly having a nice chat under the starry night sky, but before they could reach their goal, Thatch collided with a broad, hairy chest. He bounced off, landing flat on his ass and letting the trio land on him rather than the hard surface of the deck.

"Oh, shit," Haruta swore, screeching to a stop next to Thatch.

"Now, that language is hardly befitting of a young lad such as yourself," Vista said, grinning down at them all.

"I promise I had nothing to do with it?" Thatch tried, sweating a little from the intensity of Vista's grin.

"I think you know I can't very well take it out on them," Vista answered. His grin widened, and one look at the dark red outline where the sunglasses had been on his face told Thatch he wasn't going to enjoy Vista's retaliation at all.

"No violence in front of the kids?" Thatch pleaded with a nervous laugh.

"Haruta, weren't you going to visit Oyaji?" Vista asked.

"Sorry, Thatch," Haruta breathed, grabbing Luffy's arm to help pull him up. Sabo and Ace were already getting up on their own. The shouts from the galley were drawing closer. "Good luck!"

"Traitor," Thatch whined, watching Haruta usher the boys away. He knew from a survival standpoint, it made the most sense for the kids to flock to Whitebeard, but that left him to take the brunt of the blame and it didn't look like Marco or Izo were coming to his rescue this time.

...

A sharp gasp escaped as she sat up in bed, clutching the blankets to her chest. For several tense moments the room around her closed in, giving her the irrational fear that she was still in her nightmare, but it slowly began to ebb away. Slowly, her breathing returned to normal and her hands stopped trembling. The nightmares were hardly new, and it wasn't like they'd increased in frequency or severity since she'd started trying to survive on her own.

As expected, the symptoms passed with careful breathing and grounding reminders that she was free. The weight of the collar that once shocked her if she strayed too far from her room was gone. She extended her arms to look at the bends of her elbows where faint marks from countless needles had faded. Her eyes flickered to her tattoo - #106 - and a sharp jab of irritation broke through her calm. It took her a few moments to locate the ribbon she'd started using to hide it, tying it more securely before lying back down. Even if she wanted to get up and take a walk, it was the middle of the night. The dark didn't bother her, but the family that had taken her in probably wouldn't understand.

All in all, she couldn't complain. It hadn't taken her very long to find a sympathetic family to work for, and they'd even given her a room of her own. In exchange for cleaning and helping with their newborn baby, she was given food and clothes in lieu of money. They'd been justifiably wary of an eleven-year-old helping with the baby at first, but their worries had dissipated quickly. Now the mother was teaching her to cook, and it turned out she was adept at following directions despite a lack of experience.

Another exhale helped the irritation fade away. There was no way she'd be able to fall back asleep, even if she tried listing the following day's chores and responsibilities over and over in her head.

A sudden wail had her jerking up in bed, a bright smile blossoming over her face. Walking around alone in the dark would surely be cause for concern, but walking around to soothe a baby back to sleep was within her job description.

Part of her wondered why she felt so at ease with such a small child - even the baby's father looked nervous at how fragile the little boy was - but there was no sense trying to sort her nagging feelings of familiarity to a life she still couldn't remember while she had the present to focus on.

She had just reached the crib when she heard the father trying to stumble out of bed. "It's alright," she called softly, lifting the baby into her arms and gently cradling him against her shoulder. "I'll give him a bottle."

"You're a blessing, jou-chan," the man answered, his voice slurred from sleep disorientation.

"Try and get back to sleep. I'll come knock if I need any help," she said, rubbing gentle circles on the baby's back. The answer was an affirmative grunt of some kind - exactly what she'd expected - followed by the thud as the older man went back to bed. A soft giggle escaped as she made her way to the kitchen, doing her best to keep herself moving while preparing a bottle. The baby had calmed down, but in only a week of living with the family, she knew he'd start back up the moment she stopped moving.

"It's okay," she cooed, trying to soothe him while he waited for his food. "Auntie Snow…" she had to exhale at the reminder that she'd stopped using that name once she'd found her real name engraved on the back of the cross at her throat - the same cross the little boy was gripping in one chubby hand, likely by accident. "Auntie Lami is here."

...

A/N: BWAHAHAHA Okay so yeah, I revealed Snow White earlier than planned, but trust me, I have a plan for her :3 Some of the guesses were spot on, and EternalOblivion pretty much NAILED the clues right from the beginning.

Fun note: Lami's favorite food in this story is bread. #106 is a play on the fact that 10-6 is Law's birthday :3

Thank you everyone for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

~Mithril