Shorter chapter this time and some emotions in this chapter. Enjoy~

Marco sat at the table with his father and captain, both drinking some bloodwine. Usually, they would have drunk it earlier, but it seemed that Ace and Sabo had refrained from teaching Luffy that the thing he lived on was blood, and not some sort of juice. They could see why, though didn't know if it was the best thing to do. Luffy was part, or even mostly, human, so maybe knowing he drank blood from humans would have upset him.

On the other hand, if he had been told it was blood from the start, it may have never bothered him. They would never know whether that was true. So, asking for bloodwine instead of "juice" would have given it away. Maybe. Luffy seemed like a clueless child. He definitely acted his age. And Ace and Sabo had taken remarkable care of him considering they would have been middle aged teenagers when the boy was born. More specifically, miscarried.

No one could imagine how horrible that situation must have been. What the boys would have had to do to deliver the baby from a turning mother. Whatever had happened then, it could be the reason Ace was so terrified of the vampires, even if he did an okay job of hiding it. But the two oldest vampires could tell his true feelings. He must have mastered hiding his emotions from Luffy.

"Their ship is very quaint," Marco said. He had just finished delivering all of their belongings to the bedroom, making sure to be silent while the humans slept. "Luffy's room seems to be the one most lived in. Toys and drawing papers scattered all over the floor, a big and comfortable bed for all three to fit on, bookshelves full of books and pictures. It was a very loving room.

"I honestly could never live on a ship that small, even if we had a small crew. I don't know how Luffy can deal with being in a dark room most of his life, and then never allowed off of the ship," Marco sighed, feeling bad for the boy.

Whitebeard took a bug gulp of his massive mug and said, "They are doing it for his protection. Luffy is one of a kind, who wouldn't want to get their hands on him? Probably would sell for a good price honestly. It's sickening, but true. You know that." Marco nodded sadly in agreement. "Plus, he has no choice but to be in his bedroom most of the time. He's fully nocturnal and needs a lot of sleep. Human children require a lot of sleep as well. Luffy is just lucky he has such a loving family to stay up with him.

"They had the right idea about not sailing with a black flag. Not only would they be targeted by Marines, but other pirates asking for a challenge, or looking down at their small vessel that is clearly not suited for the Grand Line," the older vampire said.

They were quiet for a moment, both wondering what the Spade's plans were after getting their ship fixed. They couldn't continue to the New World, and didn't know how to get back to the Blues. "What did you feel when you touched Luffy? Alby saw his dead daughter," Marco said with interest. Whitebeard smiled.

"I saw all of my sons happy and healthy," he replied. "It was a nice sight to see after Julian passed. We still have to fill his seat." The second division commander had grown sick from poisoned blood on an island and had died when he passed out and left in the sun to burn to death. They found his body, since younger vampires could die but not disintegrate once in the sun too long. "What did you see?"

Marco gave a small smile. "Saw my old family alive and happy." It had been hundreds of years since Marco was turned and his family murdered, but he still missed his little siblings. That's why he enjoyed having a big family of younger siblings, even if they were all adults.

Though honestly, having a child sibling again would be nice. But, the "guests" were only with them out of necessity for safety, food, and water. Plus, Luffy needed blood. The vampires could tell that Luffy had never fed off of any of the sailors who came with him. Not even his brothers. You could always smell when another vampire had fed off of a human. There was an underlying scent of the vampire who did it.

Ace and Sabo seemed to be mostly raising Luffy by his human side. Though they still made handicaps for Luffy's difference. Like the "juice" and making sleep changes so he wasn't all alone at night and the only one awake. Though he seemed extremely happy to be around other vampires. He was the only one on that ship, so seeing and meeting others like him was exciting for the boy.

"Do you really think that was haki? What kind of haki makes you feel good? Usually, strong haki is uncomfortable. Not soothing and nice," Marco pointed out. The captain paused for a moment, knowing that he must have seen through his bluff.

He took a large sip of his rapidly disappearing mug of bloodwine, and replied, "No, I think that wasn't haki. I just felt it would be best for them to not worry if something was abnormal about Luffy. More than already. I've never met anyone, human or vampire, who felt like that. Luffy truly is one of a kind," the yonko vampire explained.

Marco then remembered the meeting that day with the guest crew. Really, it was a tiny crew, but they weren't pirates, so that shouldn't be too strange. Although they didn't have a shipwright, at least they had a doctor and cook. Speaking of the cook…

"Have you ever seen Thatch so flustered?" Marco asked with an amused smile. Whitebeard laughed too, though quieter since many of his children were asleep and his laugh was loud and echoed through much of the ship.

"Well, he was speaking to a pretty, female chef. The only women we have on this crew are the nurses, and there are no attractive, female cooks. And the fact that she isn't squeamish around blood made it even better. It was entertaining to say the least," the captain replied. Marco chukled.

"The cook, Jojo, right? She could totally see what Thatch was acting like. Wonder if she was just manipulating him to fluster him," Marco wondered.

"You mean like the way you and all of your brothers do?" Whitebeard pointed out with a cheeky grin. Marco look unashamed of the fact that that was true. Everyone did their best to fluster Thatch, mostly because it was entertaining, but also payback from his pranks.

"They all seem like a good bunch of people," the captain said. "A close-knit family. Did you notice Ace and Sabo were the only ones uncomfortable? The brothers of a vampire? Something must have happened to them involving a bad vampire. Poor brats."

"Probably something to do with the vampire who almost killed baby Luffy. But no one will ask them that, like Sabo had demanded."

"They're good kids. And considering that our shipwrights might be good, but they aren't professionals and the fact that the rudder has been damaged inside the ship, too. They'll need professionals to fix that up. It's a good thing we're in Paradise and can reach Water 7. It'll take awhile, but the Spades don't seem to be heading to one place in particular, so time isn't a problem," Whitebeard said. "The sun is up, so I'm gonna hit the sack. You should get some sleep, too."

"Roger. Goodnight."

-x-

Ace woke up to gentle patting on his cheek and a whisper of his name. "Ace, Ace, I gotta go to the bathroom," Luffy whispered tiredly. Ace sat up slowly and uncovered himself from the blanket, yawning. There was no clock in here, and he wasn't going to wake the others by opening the curtains.

Well, that would be a problem for Luffy, but it seemed everyone else had already gotten up. Ace wanted them to all have the same schedule, since the captains would need and wanted to speak with them. Ace and Sabo would do what they did on their own ship and take turns sleeping with Lu.

Luffy crawled off of the bed next and lifted his tired arms to be carried. "Gotta hurry," he mumbled. Ace quickly walked through the halls, passing a few people who were decent enough to pause in their conversations to not disturb the very tired little boy. Ace quietly asked directions to the nearest bathroom, which was thankfully just around the corner.

It seemed to be a single stall bathroom, so Luffy went in by himself. He didn't take long, but had to stand on the toilet to reach the sink sideways and wash his hands. He left the bathroom, jumping to turn off the lightswitch, and met Ace back out in the hall. The brother carried Luffy back, and he fell back asleep in his arms.

Ace was almost more uncomfortable with humans looking at Luffy. He just couldn't win. Scared of the vampires and suspicious of the humans. But he just couldn't help either. He gave off warning looks to the curious humans. Ace knew he was making himself seem unlikable, but these were all strangers. He had trouble building trust with people. They had to meet too many conditions to be trustworthy to him.

Once Ace tucked Lu back into the bed next to Sabo, he quietly left the room, finding a pad of paper in the desk drawer in the corner and writing a note for Sabo and that he'd switch in a few hours.

It was after lunch time, so the galley was nearly empty, though the kitchen wasn't. Jojo was in there with Thatch, with some blindfolded pirates sitting at the counter. A cook-off most likely. Jojo seemed right at place in this kitchen and was using the massive stove easily, like she'd been using this kitchen her whole life.

Ace could tell that she liked the large area and plentiful counter-space. Enough so Thatch was cooking just fine, neither in the other's way. The whole galley smelled delicious from whatever the two were making. When Ace got closer, he could see that both of them were making the same thing, but in different ways. Definitely a cook-off then. He wondered how Thatch would react if his crew liked Jojo's more than his own food.

Ace sat down, unblindfolded, and waited for them to be done cooking. When they set the large plates of seasoned chicken no the counter, Jojo finally came back and was out of cooking-mode. "Hey, Ace. How're Lu and Sabo doing?" she asked as she served the plates of her own chicken to the five pirates. Thatch did the same.

"Luffy is enjoying it here. He's happy to meet more people and vampires," Ace replied honestly. Thatch seemed to brighten even more about that. Ace wondered how much sleep this guy needed if he was awake all night and now after halfway through the day. He wasn't a vampire. It was curious.

"That's good. How is Sabo?" she asked again.

"I think he's okay. Not nearly as happy as Luffy, but that's to be expected. Before you ask about me, my answer is: I'm fine," Ace said pointedly. Jojo got it and didn't ask again, not in front of strangers.

"Now, my brothers, tell me which ones taste better," Thatch said excitedly as the pirates took off their masks. It was hard to tell the dishes apart, though one had a glaze on it and the other looked to have grill marks on it. They smelled similar, but probably tasted differently.

The judges tasted both of them, and apparently they were both delicious. Thatch leaned against the counter while Jojo was wiping her hands on a washcloth. Four of the seven pirates voted for the glazed one, while the other three voted for the one with grill marks.

Thatch's face formed a pout. "You like her food more than mine?" he whined. Jojo had a triumphant grin on. She thanked the pirates for their compliments, though the four looked guilty for voting on another's food and not their own chef's. Ace then got his own serving, and recognized the honey-orange glaze on Jojo's chicken. Though Thatch's was delicious as well, it was clear to Ace who had won, even if Jojo hadn't been his own chef.

"I'm glad they got my apron for me," the female cook said as she washed the pan she'd used, scrubbing the sauce off with a rough sponge. "This is a really nice kitchen," she added, wiping down the counters next. She always did a thorough cleaning of her kitchen after cooking anything. "How on earth did you find such large kitchen ware?" she asked as she returned the pan to the cupboard it had come from, glancing at the side that had the massive mixing bowls in it.

"Elbaf has some of the best large cooking ware. That's where we got most of our kitchen supplies, besides utensils us normal sized people use. Pops also needs big kitchenware and utensils, since he's so damn big," Thatch replied, cleaning up his own place, and taking the orange peels from the orange Jojo had used and putting it in the compost bin on the other side of the room.

Ace took a drink of orange juice given to him and asked something he and his brothers had been wondering. "Why is he so big? Is he part giant?" he asked curiously.

"Nah, he's just big. If you think he's big, then you clearly don't know who Big Mom is. She looks like a giant, but she is human! It's insane, how could normal sized humans have such a huge child without the mother dying during childbirth?" Thatch didn't mean to, and didn't remember at the time, but the wording of the end of his sentence made Ace glower and the air around him feel cold, despite being made of fire.

Jojo looked nervous with Ace's expression. When Thatch realized he must have said something very wrong, he remembered about the trio's mother dying after giving birth. They didn't know the whole story, but Thatch felt very bad for what he said, even if he meant no harm. "I'm sorry, I didn't think before I said that," the cook apologized sincerely.

"Don't say anything more," Ace said and left the room, heading back to Luffy. Part of him knew it was unreasonable to get mad at a near-stranger for an accident like that, Ace had a temper and he didn't want to say or do anything to mess the whole thing up.

He entered the room Lu and Sabo were sleeping in and sat down on the bed next to Luffy's head. He gently ran his fingers through the soft hair. Sabo was still asleep, so Ace didn't wake him and stayed silent, not moving the bed much after sitting on it. Neither of his younger brothers woke up, and Ace was content just to see how relaxed they looked. Unlike him.

-x-

Ace didn't come back out until two hours before Lu came out. He was in the room for over six hours, alternating between reading and sleeping on the shared bed. Sabo must have been extremely exhausted since he stayed asleep almost the whole day.

When Ace left, he went to go eat an early dinner. He was very hungry, and couldn't believe Sabo hadn't woken up yet. When he thought about it, Sabo had missed lunch and hadn't eaten since 4 AM. Then, Ace got worried. Was Sabo sick? Did someone on this ship poison him?! Jojo didn't cook their breakfast and Luffy's dinner. Thatch did. But Ace didn't feel suspicious of Thatch. He seemed too honest to pull off an assassination.

Plus, he had to have known one of the Spades would have retaliated. Ace would have murdered him and anyone else he was capable of before the vampires stopped him. When Ace took servings of the freshly made food, with pirates slowly trickling in, Thatch had apologized again. Jojo was gone somewhere else.

"I really am sorry, Ace," Thatch practically begged. The teen finally caved, and forgave him, though the response was a bit snappy. Thatch seemed fine with it though, and grinned before walking back to the kitchen, looking much happier than he had before. Maybe Ace overreacted. Thatch didn't kill Sabo.

After he finished his food, Ace went back to the shared room to see Sabo was comforting a crying Luffy. The eldest brother quickly closed the door behind him and hurried to the bed, kneeling next to Sabo holding the boy.

"What happened?" Ace asked desperately, very worried. Luffy rarely cried, well besides when he was scared of Grand Line things.

"He had a bad dream," Sabo said while rocking the four year old gently. "Dreamt that we were both gone, and then when he saw you absent, it scared him. But, Luffy, Ace is right here. We'd never leave you alone, especially now that we're some place other than home."

"I wanna go home. I want my bed," he cried. Even in the darkness, Ace and Sabo could tell his face was bright red.

Sabo hugged Luffy tighter and Ace ran his hand through Luffy's hair gently. "Home isn't safe right now. We know how much you love your room and bed, and this bed isn't nearly as soft or comfortable, but we have to make due until the next island, where the pirates said they can fix our ship up."

"How long?" Luffy whimpered. When Sabo said he wasn't sure, Luffy burst into louder tears. The brothers didn't know what to do to make Luffy feel better, so Ace went out on a whim and started singing a song that their mother sang to him and Sabo when they were little. If their mother had lived, Luffy would have been sung the song every night to put him to sleep. A normal, human baby, being sung to by their mother.

Knowing that Luffy would never have a mother still hurt their hearts. By the end of the song, Luffy was singing it quietly, too, while Sabo continued to rock their baby brother. Sabo didn't have a good singing voice. Luffy and Ace were much better singers. Even if Lu weren't a vampire, with the gifts he had, Ace and Sabo felt he would have been a good singer anyways. Like their mom.

Once Luffy calmed down a bit, he couldn't go back to bed and asked to be read a story. Sabo was the best with story time, as he was a good voice actor for the different characters and narrator. Luffy was moved to Ace's lap as Sabo sat next to him, the light by the bed on, so the boy could see the pictures in the book.

Once the first book was read, Luffy requested another, and another, and all of the ones that had been moved to this ship. They only stopped once Luffy's stomach grumbled. "I wanna go home. I don' wanna go outside," Luffy mumbled.

"How about Sabo goes and brings our dinner to us? We can eat in here, where it's just us until the others come to sleep. Then we can keep telling stories quietly or go outside. We can climb the crowsnest and look at the stars. Our crowsnest is nowhere near as tall as this ship's. Sound good?"

When the boy nodded, Sabo left to fetch his and Luffy's dinner, as Ace had already eaten. He hadn't had time to tell Sabo about what happened with Thatch. Maybe he shouldn't say anything. Being with Luffy had calmed him, and now he had to focus on turning that pouty frown upside down.

"Ace, what's a mom?" Luffy suddenly asked. Ace froze, not knowing what to say. He knew that they had never talked about their mother, but he didn't know Luffy never even knew what a mom was. He hadn't been around people with families, so he wasn't exposed to what was a "normal" family dynamic. With a mother and a father with their children.

"Why do you ask?" Ace questioned gently.

"I heard you say 'sorry mom' when you were sleeping. What's a mom?" Luffy wondered. Ace grew pale. He didn't know Luffy heard that, or was conscious at all when he was asleep during the day. Was he aware of what was happening around him as he slept, or did he just wake up at the right moment?

Ace sighed, before starting his explanation. "Well, a mom is someone who makes a baby. Then, she takes care of her baby and raises it to be an adult."

"Are you my mom then?" Luffy asked, confused by the explanation.

"No, Lu, me and Sabo are your brothers. Our mom isn't around anymore. That's why we never have talked about her," Ace said.

"Where did she go?"

"She… she died, Luffy. That means she's gone away for good. You'll never get to meet her. I'm sorry," Ace whispered, tears in his eyes. Part of him knew it wasn't completely his fault she was dead, and Luffy never got the warmth of a mother, but he also felt so responsible for stealing that from Luffy. Taking that wonderful person who would have loved him - had loved him - away. Luffy would always be the baby of a broken family.

The boy looked concerned when Ace started to weep. Luffy had never seen Ace cry before. He brushed the tears away from Ace's face, still not understanding where the mom went. "Ace and Sabo are good mom." Ace let out a choked sob at this and held Luffy close and tightly. He wanted to get rid of the tears before Sabo came back. He didn't want the pity, or to pass along the pain to Sabo.

"Let's not tell Sabo about this. We don't want him to feel sad, too. It happened a couple of years ago, but it's still hard to talk about. Your mom loved you very much. Just know that. She loved you with all of her heart. And she'll always be with us, even if you never knew her," the teen said soothingly. Ace would some day show Luffy photos of their mom, but not yet. It was still fresh, what happened, even if it was almost five years ago. He would always carry the guilt, even though she had begged for it.

"Is Whitberd a mom?" Luffy wondered. Ace then explained what a dad was. Luffy was less curious about that, since Ace never cried about that. "But, what is the difference of a mom and dad?"

"A dad is a man, while a mom is a woman. A woman like Jojo, but she isn't our mom," Ace was quick to add. He didn't want Luffy to start assuming Jojo was a mom by using her as an example.

"Can she be?"

"No, Lu. Our mom will never be replaced, even if Jojo wanted to." Luffy frowned. Why did Ace and Sabo get to have mom but he didn't? That wasn't fair. But Ace was looking sad, and as much as Luffy still wanted to know and understand more, he didn't like seeing Ace sad.

So, he caved with an, "Okay."

Sabo entered the very next moment, and didn't see Ace's red face, even when turning the lights on. Ace didn't want to worry his other brother, too. Sabo set down the meal, having a trolley that had four servings on the top rack and bottom, for Luffy and Ace and Sabo to share. Ace was glad Luffy was completely distracted by the food, which was delicious, though neither knew whose cooking it was.

Luffy wanted to ask Sabo about mom, but he didn't because Ace asked him not to. He just ate contently, forcing himself to not think of mom… But it was hard not to. He wondered what mom looked like. Was she pretty? What was pretty? Luffy wanted a mom, but more a fluffy one! Like a bear. A bear mom! But bear moms don't have people babies and they can't talk. But what if they could? Luffy let his mind wander as he ate, staring at the wall, but completely distracted. And no longer crying, to his brothers' relief.

-x-

Marco sat on the highest yardarm, feeling guilty for hearing a conversation that was clearly private and intimate. He had walked past the Spades' temporary room and heard Ace and Luffy speaking. It was hard not to overhear things when you had both vampire senses, and a phoenix's senses.

So, even as he walked away down the hall, his mind focused on hearing that conversation. Why would Ace feel sorry regarding his mother? Was it a reason that Sabo had commanded them not to bring up family history with Ace? It was curious. And sad. Luffy clearly didn't understand death well, and didn't like the fact that Ace and Sabo had a mother but he didn't, even if it was out of anyone's control what had happened.

But, Marco had a sinking feeling that the brothers' mother had died in a much more tragic way than during childbirth. For, if that was the cause, why would it make Ace feel guilty? With the knowledge that the mother was turned while heavily pregnant, she must have been on the cusp of being completely turned when she miscarried.

All vampires knew how violent and volatile, not to mention ravenous, newborn vampires were. And not newborn like Luffy had been. Vampires who were just turned. And a newborn vampire would go after anything smelling like blood, no matter how much they didn't want to deep inside.

A baby was born covered in blood. She would have killed her baby and her older children. He couldn't imagine any mother wanting to go through that. Marco could only guess that one of the brothers, or someone else at the scene, had killed their mom to protect Luffy. Ace probably killed their mother, and that was why he felt guilty.

Marco didn't want that to be the truth, but he had a feeling it was. Which was why Ace was more reactive to that subject than Sabo was. Sabo had been upset, but his warning conveyed the reaction would be much worse if brought up with the other brother.

He would mention his thoughts to no one, not even Whitebeard.