Warnings: Dark themes, lots of mentions of death, strong language, human experimentation, experimenting on children, child abduction, graphic descriptions of experimenting, lots of needles, lots of violence, poor descriptions of panic attacks, descriptions of blood, rated M for safety.

*If I need to add anymore warnings please tell me in the reviews or a PM and I'll be sure to add it!*

Chapter 53: Heavy Thoughts

After coming back from the island the brothers stayed in their room for the rest of the day, only leaving to take bathroom breaks. The crew seemed to understand that something had happened and left them alone, Thatch making sure to bring them food since they didn't leave for meals either.

Marco had informed Whitebeard and the Commanders of what had happened and they all understood why the brothers were acting the way they were, realizing that this could possibly become a common occurrence if the brothers decided to stay. It wasn't an issue, though, it was just something they would have to be cautious of from now on.

As the next day came, the brothers tossed and turned restlessly in their bed. Nightmares plagued all three of their minds and no matter how many times they woke up and fell back asleep, they always had another. It was at 3 in the morning that Ace was the first to give up on sleeping all together, tired of closing his eyes only to see flashes of needles and grinning doctors hovering over him.

Looking over at his brothers he saw that they both had their faces scrunched in discomfort, obviously having more nightmares as well. Frowning at that Ace decided to get up and walk around for a minute, hoping it would help distract him from the repeating memories in his mind. Shuffling carefully out of the bed Ace silently tiptoed to the door, opening it without so much as a creak and slipping out into the hallway, shutting the door just as silently behind himself.

As much as he wanted to wake his brothers up, stop them from experiencing their nightmares, he knew that they also needed as much sleep as they could get, regardless of whether it was filled with bad memories or not.

Walking silently down the hall Ace made sure to keep an eye on his surroundings, straining his ears as much as he could. Sometimes he took for granted Sabo's amazing hearing, the blonde able to detect anyone heading their way before he could even see them. Now that he wasn't with his brothers and he just had his normal hearing he was a bit more jumpy, nervous that he would accidentally run into someone.

Maybe he should have just stayed in the room.

Despite his thoughts, Ace continued on down the hall, trying to use his better sight to compensate for his lack of hearing. It was still pitch black in the halls, but thanks to his vision he could easily maneuver his way to the door, having no problem reaching and opening it. It was slightly lighter outside, despite the fact that they where underwater where there was no moon or stars, but the light from the island illuminated the deck just enough to allow those with normal vision to see at least their hands in front of their face, but left them unable to see a few feet ahead of themselves.

Ace looked up to the crows nest, spotting the ones who were up for watch and quickly made his way to their blind spot, not in the mood to deal with anyone who might think it was a good idea to chat. Sitting down, Ace looked up to the sky- sea?-, watching the fish swim back and forth outside the bubble protecting them, allowing his mind to wander. He knew there were a few crew members walking the perimeter of the deck, but there was nothing Ace could do to hide from them unless he gave up his view off the sky, and that wasn't something Ace wanted to do.

Ever since leaving the facility all three of the brothers had found that just being outside, being under the sun, the moon, the stars, even the ocean, in this case, was immensely calming to them. After nightmares, after painful memories, it was always good for them to relax outside, looking into the sky. After being forced to live underground, the freedom of being able to just sit outside showed that they were free, that they weren't back in the facility anymore, and after having unwanted memories or dreams, just seeing the sky gave them all the confirmation they needed to tell them that they weren't there, that they were never going there again.

Ace let time pass, ignoring the curious glances he got from the crew members out and about. He only let himself stay out for around half an hour before deciding he should return to their room. It was inevitable that Sabo or Luffy would wake up soon if they hadn't already, and Ace would much rather get there soon to calm them down when they realized he wasn't there. Sabo would probably be able to hear where he was, and Luffy might smell that he wasn't too far away, but that didn't mean they wouldn't freak out, not when they were disoriented and groggy, memories of the facility fresh in their minds.

It only took a minute to make his way back. He opened the door, peering in and noticing that Sabo was up now, though it didn't look like he had been up for long.

"Ace?" The whisper clued him in even more to the fact that Sabo was extremely groggy, his voice layered with sleep.

"Yeah, it's me, don't worry." Ace muttered quietly, knowing Sabo would be able to hear him. Ace saw Sabo give a sigh of relief, sagging down a bit from where he was sitting up in the bed. Ace walked over to the bed now, climbing in carefully, not wanting to wake Luffy up.

"Where'd you go?" Sabo asked, laying back down, eyes closing.

"Just went outside for a bit." Ace said with a shrug, closing his own eyes now as he lay back down, though he didn't see himself getting any more sleep tonight.

"Mm... tonight's a bad night," Sabo said, stating the obvious with a sigh. Ace held back a scoff at that.

"No shit. Guess we're not going out tomorrow either." Ace said, a bit annoyed about that. He wanted to go to the island, he wanted to go eat in the galley, but because of these stupid nightmares, they would all be on edge, grouchy, and jumpy, which was not a good combination to be, especially not when they would be around a lot of people. One wrong move and the brothers would flip out and reveal something they would rather not. It was safer for everyone if they stayed in their room for the day, better for everyone to deem this another one of their bad days and let them be.

"Yeah, probably not." Sabo agreed, thinking back to the last time they'd had a bad day. That had been around when they first met the Whitebeards, when everything was still new to them. It hadn't been all that long ago, not even a whole month yet, but it felt like ages had passed since then.

The room lapsed into silence after that, and Ace was sure that Sabo had fallen back asleep. Luffy woke up not too long after, but Ace managed to get him to go back to sleep for a little while longer.

As the sun rose and Sabo and Luffy decided that they were going to remain awake the brothers also decided that they would stay in their room for the day. Thanks to the nightmares they were exactly how Ace and Sabo predicted they would be, tense, on edge, and jumpy.

Time passed slowly for them as they stayed in the room. The only interesting things that happened were Ace having narcolepsy attacks, and Thatch bringing them their meals. At one point Sabo heard Shirahoshi, her brothers, and Jinbe coming and asking where they were, but once the crew explained that today wasn't a good day they left, promising they would be back tomorrow and that they hoped the brothers felt better.

The morning slipped to noon, and then into night. Falling asleep wasn't difficult, all three of them were exhausted, bags under their eyes, so the second they lay down to sleep, they passed out immediately.

Time after that passed quickly. The next day came and the brothers were met with the princess, her brothers, and Jinbe, just as they had promised. Shirahoshi and her brothers wanted to get to know the brothers and thank them for everything, while Jinbe was there to escort them and make sure they didn't get into trouble.

Although they were a bit reluctant to go with a group that they didn't really know well, Luffy had convinced them to go and so they did. It had been a peaceful day and the group went wandering around the island, though the brothers were sure to steer clear of the shops, not wanting to run into any more doctors. Shirahoshi insisted they go to someplace called the sea forest, and they agreed to go after learning that no one would be over there. It was a beautiful place, and they stayed there for the rest of the day.

The brothers made quick friends with the princess and her brothers, though Jinbe was still a bit iffy to them. By the next day, Shirahoshi and her brothers returned once again, this time without Jinbe, and they once again left the Moby to go hang out together. Again, they spent the day together and the brothers found it easy to hang out with them. They never really had friends before besides each other, but after hanging out with the mermaid and men they were honestly able to say that they had become friends with them, despite the fact that Shirahoshi still annoyed Ace to no end with her incessant crying.

Finally, it was the final day, the day they were leaving. Shirahoshi and her brothers were there, along with Jinbe and King Neptune, all of them ready to see off the Whitebeard crew as they made their way back to the surface and into the New World. The crew was bustling around the brothers who stood at the railings, talking with Shirahoshi and her brothers as they waited to leave.

They hadn't stayed long, but it had been long enough to get close to their new friends, and now that they were leaving it was a bit sad for them to have to say goodbye. They knew they would most likely see them again, but that didn't make it any less painful to say goodbye.

Shirahoshi was, not surprisingly, crying while her brothers surrounded her, talking to Sabo. Ace was doing his best to not yell at the princess, not wanting to deal with Sabo's lecturing if he ended up doing something like that, and Luffy was smiling happily, laughing as he talked with Shirahoshi who, despite her sobs, was still chatting away with the youngest of the brothers.

"Ready to set sail!" The shout from one of the Whitebeards signaled that they needed to wrap up their goodbyes and only made Shirahoshi cry more.

"Thank you three once again for all of you're help. You'll always be welcome here on Fishman Island should you ever return, Jamon." Neptune said with a grateful smile. Sabo smiled to the king, bowing.

"It was no problem, and I'm sure we'll be back someday," Sabo said, Ace and Luffy nodding their agreement.

"And when you do we'll be here to take you to the palace for a visit!" Fukaboshi said with a smile, his brothers nodding their agreement.

"We sure will, la-ti-do~!" Ryuboshi sang, doing his strange dance from where he stood slightly behind his older brother.

"Yes, we will~!" Manboshi sang as well, also doing his dance. Luffy laughed happily at the dances and quirks of the princes while Sabo also thanked them as well. Finally, it was Shirahoshis turn to say goodbye, and through her sniffles and sobs, she managed to get out a soft goodbye. The brothers all easily said goodbye, minus Luffy because he didn't say goodbye to anyone, he knew he would see them again someday, and right as the ship was about to leave, Shirahoshi swam up to the railing, tilting the ship a bit from her weight.

"Y-you'll come back and visit someday right?" She asked, tears creating puddles on the ship's deck that left the crew freaking out, one of them calling for a mop.

"Of course!" Sabo said, sweat dropping as he watched the puddles grow in size.

"Promise?" She asked, holding out her pinky, and once again Sabo nodded, smiling as he touched her pinky with his, Luffy mimicking easily while Ace scoffed, but did it as well. Even the Princes came to join.

"We promise we'll be back, don't worry," Sabo said.

"Yeah, of course, we'll come back to visit someday!" Luffy cheered happily. Shirahoshi smiled, wiping away her tears with her free hand and nodding.

"When you do I'll be stronger so that you won't have to save me again!" Shirahoshi promised happily.

"Its a promise then!" Luffy agreed, nodding his head affirmatively, feeling the resolve spread throughout the giant princess. With that said Shirahoshi let go of the railing, the Moby once again shifting back into place while the crew let out a sigh of relief, a group already working hard to mop up the tears.

"Goodbye Luffy-san, Ace-san, Sabo-san!" Shirahoshi called, waving to them as the Moby left the port. The brothers waved back, Ace doing his best to not look too grumpy, and soon, they were out of Fishman Island and back into the murky depths of the sea.

The brothers, like always, stayed at the railing until Luffy and Sabo could no longer see the island in the distance, at which point they decided to go sit near Whitebeard. The Moby was slowly ascending to the surface, and according to some of the chattering pirates, it would take around a half hour to get back up safely. The brothers were actually a bit excited to get back to the surface, back to the real sky, not the one that they had seen for the past week on Fishman Island.

The crew milled around the deck, everyone having something to do in way of chores or other work they needed to have done, like cooking or keeping watch. It was then that the trio remembered just how easily they got bored when there was nothing to do but sit around. As minutes ticked by slowly the three did what they could to entertain themselves, Sabo listening in on conversations, Ace watching the surface get closer and closer, Luffy watching the fish swim by in amazement.

At one point, Ace had a narcolepsy attack, though it was easy to hide seeing as the eldest had already been laying against the railing. The only thing Sabo and Luffy did differently was focus their attention more on their surroundings. Sure, they had come to feel much closer and safer with the crew, but they still weren't ready to let them get too close when one of them couldn't do anything to defend themselves. No matter how trusting these pirates seemed to be they were still unsure of them.

Ace woke up soon after, eyes shooting open after having yet another nightmare. He tried to force the memory out, instead closing his eyes into barely open slits and trying to focus back on watching those around him, but it didn't matter how hard he tried, he could still see that damn doctor standing over him, asking him how he felt after yet another injection.

Scowling, Ace looked over towards Whitebeard, trying to find peace in being near the old man. Luffy seemed to be able to do it easily, although he could literally feel the peace coming from the man, but that was beside the point. It was nearly a month that they had been there, and they had said that they would give them an answer on whether or not they would join by then. So far, no one had done anything to make them not want to join, if anything, they only made them want to join more, but that also didn't sit well with Ace.

He was distrusting by nature, it was just who he was, so for him to make such a big decision in just the span of a month put more pressure on him then he would have liked. He needed more than a month to know if these guys were safe to hang around, he needed, at least, a hundred days to decide. Why a hundred? He didn't know, but it felt like a good number.

Regardless, he wasn't getting that time. They were pushing it with a month, he wouldn't ask for more time than that, but that didn't mean he liked it.

Even after telling them about the man he still refused to call his father they had been nothing but accepting. Sure, it had only been Marco and Whitebeard, but that wasn't the point. No one had ever accepted him, parents and all. The second someone even pondered the idea that the late pirate king could have a child, they sneered and demanded the child die. Demanded that he die.

For someone to accept him as a person, not a monster, it was different. Sure, Sabo and Luffy accepted him, but Luffy was a strange person, to begin with, and Sabo just wasn't one to judge.

Ever since they had brought up the fact to the pirates, they hadn't said a word about it. They hadn't told their crew, they hadn't spoken to each other about it, and they hadn't blabbed to any marine either, Sabo had listened in to make sure of that.

So were these people good? Or were they trying to get something from them? If so, what? And he couldn't forget about Teach either, the man that he wished he could kick off the crew immediately, but knew he couldn't. True to his word, Whitebeard had been keeping an eye on the bastard, even now when he wasn't even on the ship. He had believed them when they mentioned he was dangerous, and that spoke volumes to the brothers that, despite knowing his crew better then he knew them, he still listened to them, still took precautions against the man.

But what was Teach after? A man with as black an aura as Luffy had described could be up to nothing good, that was for sure, but for the life of them, the brothers didn't know what it was.

Breaking out of his thoughts Ace listened as there was a loud crashing of waves around them. The Moby broke to the surface of the water and the bubble around them disappearing. Birds flew overhead, the sun shone brightly, and only a handful of clouds dotted the sky. It was peaceful, it was quiet, and it was calm.

Whatever Teach was up to could wait until another day. Their decision on whether they wanted to join or not could wait as well.

For now, they were going to enjoy the peace and calm while they could.

This chapter was more of a filler chapter and pretty short, but that's mostly because, soon, we'll be transitioning into something else. In just a few more days, the brothers will have to decide whether they want to join the Whitebeards officially or not, something that they're still up in the air about. Its a big decision for the three, and we'll see more of their thoughts on the subject in the coming chapters.

I think the last few days of Fishman Island was a bit too rushed for my liking, but I couldn't quite figure out how I wanted it to go and after many revisions, this is what I came up with. Not the best, but its alright. I thought about writing more in depth about their final days on the island, but I didn't want to spend too much time on Fishman Island, especially when I know all of you are excited about the brothers telling the Whitebeards about themselves. Originally, there was going to be two more chapters on Fishman Island, but that felt like overkill to me.

Oh well, I hope you liked it anyways! The next few chapters are going to be some of my favorites, I already know it, and I can't wait for you all to read them. The countdown to next Thursday begins!