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 63: A Nice Peaceful Day

The brothers did end up sparring before the day was over. It was only a few rounds, nothing like how they used to, but it was enough for them to brush up on their skills. Sabo was a bit rusty with the pipe at first, which was to be expected, but within a few rounds he was just as good, if not better, then he used to be way back when.

"Ah! Damn it, that pipe of yours hurts!" Ace whined as he rubbed his head, a scowl on his face.

"Sorry, you big baby. If I'd have known you'd cry so much, I would have stuck to fighting Luffy." Sabo said with an eye roll, ducking underneath one of Luffys kicks and immediately swinging his pipe into Luffys back, knocking the youngest onto the ground.

"That's another win for me, Lu." Sabo noted before Ace could say anything.

"Aw! Again!" Luffy pouted as he shot back up to his feet, ready to go. Deciding to indulge him, Sabo crouched again with a smile, Luffy cheering as he saw this.

"I am not a baby..." Ace muttered quietly to himself, knowing that Sabo and Luffy were too caught up in their spar to pay him anymore attention. Huffing, Ace crossed his arms and rested against a tree, watching his brothers.

Luffy was as quick and nimble as ever, ducking under Sabo's pipe and flipping through the air without problem. The blonde, however, was still stronger and smarter than Luffy, and when his brother was still flipping through the air, he hooked his pipe on to Luffys side, flinging him back to the ground and ending another match in record time.

"Again!" Luffy cried.

Both Ace and Sabo smiled at the word.

When the brothers finally finished sparring amongst each other, Sabo and Ace fighting a few more times before ending with one big free for all, it was nearly dark. The brothers lounged around for the rest of the evening before heading to the Moby and going to bed. Sure, the newspaper about them was a bit annoying and infuriating, but it was nothing they weren't used to by now. Their lives were always being controlled by others from the day they were born, so why would it be any different now?

As the sun started rising and breakfast started being made the next day, the brothers found themselves waking up feeling much more optimistic then they had been in a long time.

Sure, they had been given a pretty shitty life so far, but it was up to them to make their lives better from here on out. They weren't going to let anyone control them any longer.

"Breakfast," Sabo said with a yawn and a stretch as he forced himself out of the bed, Ace and Luffy following without complaint, the two of them also stretching. After getting their tattoos, Ace hadn't been wearing a shirt, and today was no different. Luffy was wearing a vest that he left open to show off the tattoo, and Sabo had been wearing more sleeveless shirts as well.

He knew that, once his tattoo was healed up enough, he would start wearing long sleeves again. It was what he was used to, what he was comfortable with. Besides, he wasn't a big fan of showing all the scars on his arms, only reminding him of everything that had happened.

"Mm, do you think Thatch made muffins again?" Luffy asked, lazily sniffing the air for any hint of the smell.

"Dunno let's go find out." Ace muttered back, yawning again as they double-checked to make sure they were awake enough to leave the room, not wanting their senses to get overwhelmed. When they deemed themselves awake, they left the room, Luffy beginning to chatter about all the food he could smell, one of those being the muffins.

"I really like the chocolate chip ones! Oh, but there's also the blueberry ones, those are pretty good too!" Luffy said cheerfully, in a good mood this morning.

"What about the banana nut ones?" Sabo asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.

"Oh! Those ones too!" Luffy said as he looked over to Sabo with a smile.

"Or the cranberry nut muffins," Ace added, which made Luffy swivel his head to look at him now, still smiling.

"Yeah! They're all so good!" Luffy said, drool starting to pile up. Ace and Sabo laughed at the sight as they walked into the galley. All the smells hit the two older brothers at once and made their own mouths begin to drool, the thought and smell of food making their stomachs growl.

"Good morning you two." Izo greeted as they sat at the usual table. Sabo and Luffy smiled back while Ace opted to nod in Izo's direction, keeping his normal glare off of his face for the time being.

"Good morning Izo, how are you this morning?" Sabo asked as a few more people filtered into the room, all looking groggy and hungry.

"I'm doing well thanks for asking. I'm assuming you three are heading to the island again today?" Izo said with a smile, nodding his head to their wrists which were wearing the band that he had made for them.

"We are. We were planning on leaving after we finished up with our chores for the day." Sabo said, noticing Thatch coming out of the kitchen with their food. Most of the Commanders were still absent, even the Captain himself, but that wasn't unusual. The brothers had shown up a bit earlier than usual.

"Do you mind if I join? I haven't been out yet, I was planning to later." Izo said, turning to his own meal that he had in front of him as Luffy and Ace started digging in.

"Yeah, you can come!" Luffy said happily, smiling widely to the man. He had been meaning to hang out with the crossdresser, wanting to know if he was someone that they could trust like Whitebeard, Marco and Thatch. Ace and Sabo looked to Luffy before shrugging, assuming their brother knew what he was doing. Izo looked mildly surprised before he smiled as well.

"In that case, I can't wait. I'll see you three then." He said, finishing up his food which had nearly been finished when the brothers got there. They said their goodbyes and the brothers continued to eat in peace. The rest of the Commanders and Whitebeard slowly made their way in the galley during their meal. They had a bit of conversation with them, Marco saying he would join them again today while Thatch lamented over the fact that he wouldn't be able to.

The morning passed quickly as the brothers finished their food and went on to their chores, finishing them within record time.

"Can we go to the island now?" Luffy asked excitedly, bouncing in place as he looked up at Sabo.

"We can, first we have to go get Izo and Marco," Sabo said, ruffling Luffy's hair.

"Yay! Izo, Marco, come on!" Luffy shouted, some of the crew turning to look at the youngest with smiles, amused by the boys' excitement. Ace and Sabo shook their heads but followed Luffy who used his nose to find the two Commanders, finding them on the upper deck talking to each other.

"Izo, Marco, we're ready to go to the island now!" Luffy said, earning smiles from the Commanders as they nodded.

"Then we should get going then, huh?" Izo asked.

"Yeah, come on!" Luffy cheered, leading the way off the boat.

"He seems to be in a good mood today, yoi," Marco noted as they all followed Luffy off the Moby.

"He is. I guess he slept well last night." Sabo said with a shrug, not quite sure what was influencing Luffys good mood. Come to think of it though, all three brothers seemed to be in a better mood than usual. Sabo wasn't going to question it too much though, because it had been a while since the trio had been able to actually enjoy a day. It would be a nice, welcomed, change.

"If we don't hurry Luffy's gonna cause some sort of trouble." Ace said from experience as he watched the straw hat bobbing its way into a crowd of people that was formed in the streets of the town. Sabo sighed, but still wore a smile as they all picked up the pace to catch up to the youngest. It only took a few seconds for them to catch up, but when they did they saw that Luffy had stopped and was watching something with a small frown on his face.

"Luffy?" Ace asked, looking over to where Luffy was looking. He hadn't even had a chance to fully turn his head before Luffy was walking off towards whatever it was.

"Luffy, wait!" Sabo called as he reached out, trying to grab his brother's shoulder, but missing by only a few inches. Sabo had noticed Luffy's look, and it was slowly forming into more and more of a scowl, one he knew his brother only wore when he was going to fight someone he didn't like.

"What's going on?" Izo asked, looking around as they caught up to the brothers, having gotten stuck in the crowd that surrounded them.

"Luffy's just being Luffy," Sabo said with a sigh and a shake of his head as he and Ace pushed their way through the crowd and after their brother. None of them were fond of crowds, and if it weren't for the fact that they were more focused on Luffy, they probably would be more on edge right now. As it was, they were easily pushing through, and soon they broke out of it and stood in front of everyone, seeing what was happening. Marco and Izo pushed through as well, also stopping to watch.

A woman was sitting on her knees, picking fallen flowers up off the ground. In front of her were three burly men who all wore scowls, but their attention wasn't on the woman, it was on Luffy who looked up at them with a glare.

"Oh yeah, what're you gonna do about it you tiny brat?" The man closest to Luffy asked. Sabo and Ace both frowned as they realized there was a threat now, but didn't do anything more than watch Luffy carefully. If they tried anything, they would jump in, for now however, they would just watch.

Izo and Marco seemed wary, both glancing at Ace and Sabo as if wondering if they were going to do anything. When neither brother moved, the two Commanders decided they would wait as well, turning and watching Luffy carefully.

"H-hey, isn't that Whitebeards mark?" One of the guys asked, pointing to Luffy's chest where the mark sat proudly. The man closest to Luffy scoffed.

"Yeah right, why would a brat like him be on Whitebeards crew?"

"I don't know man, I don't think we should mess with him..."

"Well, it's a good thing no one asked you. The brat wants a fight, he'll get one." The one who seemed to be the leader said, raising his fist in preparation. Marco and Izo tensed, and Sabo noticed that Izo's hand moved towards his gun and Marcos's arms were glowing a faint blue, practically itching to transform into the bright blue flames Sabo remembered seeing.

It made Sabo happy that the two were ready to help their brother, but the blonde could see that Luffy would have no issue with the men. Two of them were already terrified just from the Whitebeard mark and the one who actually wanted to fight looked like he would only be a little bit of a challenge for him. He didn't look like he had any weapons on him, but it was best to be cautious.

The fist swung forward in an attempt to hit Luffy, but in a flash, Luffy had disappeared. Everyone besides Ace and Sabo watched in confusion, all wondering where he had gone, but in an instant, he reappeared behind the leader, his own fist pulled behind him.

"Gum Gum Jet Pistol!" Luffy announced, the leader turning to look at Luffy just in time for the fist to hit him square in the face, sending him crashing into the ground below, unconscious. The other two only watched with wide eyes before turning and running.

Sabo sighed but smiled as he shook his head, walking over to the woman who had managed to gather the rest of the flowers off the ground before the fight started. Not that it was much of a fight to begin with.

"Are you alright ma'am?" Sabo asked, Marco and Izo walking over as well, while Ace went over to Luffy.

"Man Lu, you sure did a number on him." Ace said with a whistle, leaning in to get a better look at the fist imprint on the man's cheek.

"He was being mean. I don't like mean people." Luffy muttered, looking at the man with a frown for a minute before turning to the woman and smiling.

"Ne, lady, you ok?" Luffy asked, leaving Ace to wonder about his brothers' sudden mood swings. Realizing he would never understand Luffy, Ace shrugged, walking up to the woman with Luffy while the crowd around them started to disperse.

"Oh, uh, yes, thank you!" She said, standing quickly and dusting off her dress, swiping a strand of hair out of her face.

"So what was all that about?" Ace asked, everyone wondering the same thing.

"Some guys were being mean so I stopped 'em," Luffy answered easily, though it did nothing to inform the group. The woman gave a smile at the words before explaining further.

"I was on my way back to my shop when those three came. They wanted my money, but the thing is, I don't exactly have much in the first place which only made them mad." She said with a sigh, readjusting the flowers that she held in her arm.

"And then I beat 'em up." Luffy repeated simply, crossing his arms and wearing a proud smile. The woman laughed while the others shook their heads.

"You did. Thank you again for that. Though, I have to ask, when did the Whitebeard pirates get here? Normally those thugs steer clear whenever you come to town." The woman said, raising an eyebrow as she glanced over to the fallen thug.

"We got here yesterday." Izo supplied before Luffy could give any more vague answers.

"Strange, I would have thought they would have noticed." She said with a thoughtful look, but shrugged, smiling again.

"Oh well. Would you all like to come back to my shop with me? I can't offer much, but we do have some pretty good candy in stock!" The woman said. Luffy's smile lit up at the mention of sweets.

"Yeah! Can we go? Please~?" Luffy pleaded to the others who watched with amused expressions.

"Alright Luffy, but only a few pieces, you can get hyper if you eat too much," Sabo said, to which Luffy agreed to easily, cheering.

"Well, in that case, let's get going! It's not terribly far away, only a couple of minutes." The woman said as she turned and began walking off, the group following.

"Oh, excuse my poor manners, my names Winnie." Winnie said as they walked, introducing herself.

"I'm Sabo, and this is my brother Ace and our younger brother Luffy," Sabo said, pointing to each of them as he did.

"I'm Marco, yoi."

"And I'm Izo." The Commanders said, Winnie nodding.

"It's still a bit surprising to me to be walking with the infamous Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates," Winnie admitted, everyone smiling at her words.

"Honestly, we weren't expecting today's events to happen either," Izo admitted, looking over to Luffy who showed no sign of the scowl he wore previously, only a happy go lucky look on his face now.

"When Luffy's involved, nothing ever goes how you expect it too." Ace said, Luffy smiling again as if it was something to be proud of.

"We'll have to keep that in mind," Marco said with a smile of his own.

"I'm guessing you three haven't been apart of the crew too long, right? At least, I haven't seen anything about you three." Winnie said, unknowingly having read about them in the newspaper yesterday. After all, everyone had read about the 'Trio From Hell' and many were, understandably, scared of the mysterious children.

"You're right, we joined about a month ago now," Sabo said.

"Oh? I have to say, it is surprising that you three are so young." Winnie said in response, though there was nothing in her voice that was condescending, only genuine curiosity as to how three young teenagers had managed to join the strongest crew in the world.

"Honestly, we're a bit surprised as well," Sabo said, because never in his wildest dreams had he thought this was how his life would turn out. Luffy and Ace seemed to share the same thoughts as him as they both nodded their agreement. It was quiet after that, but soon enough they were walking up to a shop that had lollipops and caramels sitting in the window.

"Here we are!" Winnie announced, unlocking the door and stepping in, the group following close behind. She walked over to the counter, setting the flowers down.

"I'm gonna go get a vase for these, but please, go ahead and find anything you'd like," Winnie said as she walked off into a back room, leaving the pirates in the entrance.

"Yeah! Candy!" Luffy cheered, rushing off in between shelves to look at the many choices.

"Hold on Luffy, don't break anything!" Ace shouted as he followed. Sabo sighed, but before he could follow, Izo spoke, stopping him.

"I have to say, Luffy is full of surprises." The crossdresser said as he looked around, picking up a few candies that looked interesting and looking at them before putting them back.

"That's an understatement," Sabo mumbled to him as he headed off, wincing as he was sure he heard a crash. Izo and Marco watched him walk off with a smile. It was easy to see that the brothers were much more comfortable around them then they had been when they first got to the ship. It had taken a long time, and there was still a long way to go, but it was nice to know that the brothers weren't forcing themselves to hide so much from them, that they were finally beginning to trust them.

"This is why you have to wait for us Luffy." Sabo's voice could be heard from a shelf over as the two Commanders walked over, seeing Ace and Sabo on the ground, picking up wrapped candies and placing them back on the shelf while Luffy watched sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry!" He apologized, laughing a bit before something caught his eye and he was off again.

"Luffy!" Ace and Sabo shouted, picking up the candies as fast as they could before they charged off after him again, the commanders trailing behind slowly while laughing.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting! Have you found anything you'd like?" Winnie's voice had everyone's attention, all of them turning to see the woman walking out of the backroom with a vase in hand, moving to the counter and placing the flowers she had in them.

"Yeah! I got all of this!" Luffy said, running up to the counter with his arms full of candy, Ace and Sabo chasing him up to the counter and catching their breath.

"How much?" Sabo asked, standing straighter after catching his breath.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly charge you guys, you did save me after all! Consider it my thank you to you." Winnie said with a smile. Luffy tilted his head, thinking about it for a second.

"Alright, but then we're paying for these ones!" Luffy said, gesturing to most of the candies in his arms.

"What? But-"

"Cause these ones aren't for us, they're presents! So we can pay for them!" Luffy decided, Sabo already pulling the money out and handing it to Winnie who looked a bit flustered.

"No, I couldn't-"

"It's fine, really, like Luffy said, we'll pay for the ones that aren't for us. We don't mind." Sabo said, putting the money on the counter, the three brothers turning to head off with the Commanders.

"W-well... thank you! It was nice meeting you all!" Winnie called after them. Luffy turned to her, walking backward as he waved.

"See you later Winnie!" Luffy called. Once the group had left the store, Luffy turned back to look at the Commanders who were eyeing all the candies they had gotten.

"I thought you said you only wanted to get a few pieces," Izo said with a raised eyebrow.

"For Luffy, yes. However, he wanted to get all of you something too." Sabo said, Luffy nodding as he beamed up at them and handed both Izo and Marco a box of assorted chocolates.

"These ones are yours! And this one's Thatch's, and that one's for Whitebeard, and that one's Jozu's, and that one's Ruta's, and-" Luffy said, pointing to the boxes in his arms as he named off every commander. The two Commanders were a bit surprised by the gifts.

"Thank you, yoi," Marco said eventually once Luffy had finished speaking, smiling to gratefully as he held onto his box. He wasn't usually fond of sweets, but they were nice to have every once in a while.

"Thank you as well, Luffy, that's very thoughtful of you," Izo said, holding his own box close.

"Its a thank you for helping me and Sabo and Ace! Come on, we gotta go give everyone theirs too!" Luffy chirped happily, practically skipping off towards the Moby.

"Are we sure he's not being influenced?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow as he watched the cheerful teen skip off.

"Unless one of us is weirdly happy, I don't think so," Sabo said with a shrug, heading off to follow Luffy who was paying little to no attention to his surroundings, nearly knocking down a display for someone's stall.

The two Commanders laughed at that before following as well, along with Ace. The walk back was silent except for a few reprimands by Sabo as he told Luffy to be more careful, but otherwise, it was a nice, peaceful walk.

When they reached the Moby, Luffy wasted no time in running onboard, and Marco and Izo could already hear him shouting out Commanders' names as he passed out the candy.

"And Whitebeard, this one's yours!" Luffy said as he took a much bigger box compared to the others from Aces hands and held it out for the giant.

"Gurararara~! Thank you, Luffy." Whitebeard said with a warm smile, taking the chocolates and putting them on his armrest. Luffy beamed, enjoying the pulse of warmth that came from the Captain.

The brothers didn't have many good days, but when they did, they were sure to make the best of them.

Look at that, an actually nice day for the brothers! They even got the Commanders gifts, too. These three are my favorite and I just had to give them a nice, peaceful day after all the chaos and trauma I've put them through. A day where they beat up thugs and get chocolate seemed like the perfect idea, so that's what I did.

On a real life note, work is going to be super busy for me for the next few weeks so there may be a chance that I'll upload later than Thursday, but I will try my best to not miss a chapter a week. Just know that, if there's no notification exactly on a Thursday, it will come, it will just take a bit of time. Once Septembers started though, I'll be right back on schedule (Or at least I should).

Who knows, I'll probably be able to get these up on Thursday anyways and this warning will all be for nothing. If thats the case, I'll see you all then! If not, I'll do my best to get these chapters out as soon as possible!