myzmsandraa99: Ace will always love Luffy. 3

Samster7241: I hope I didn't lose you with that chapter!

I hope that dark previous chapter didn't make anyone stop reading! I had to add some angst, it wouldn't be a story by me if it didn't have a bad dream and a dash of angst. But now we know the history of Luffy's birth. Been going through some hard times right now, so your reviews always mean a lot to me, especially now. Enjoy~

Sabo woke from the flashback dream when the room suddenly grew extremely cold. He opened his eyes slowly to see the room was full of snow, drifting from the ceiling and onto the white floor. Luffy didn't seem bothered, and Ace didn't either as it was impossible for him to get cold. But, the rest of the Spades who had filtered in felt it and a couple woke up. Sabo shivered, but looked at the room in awe. He reached down from the bed and into the snow that should not be there. It was cold and wet and solid, making sabo incredulous that it was an illusion. A dream, as Luffy was still asleep.

Thankfully, the dream was short, and soon the snow disappeared, taking the chill with it. Sabo shared eye contact with Jojo and Aggie 68, who just shrugged it off and went back to bed. Sabo decided he'd stay up longer and see if anymore dreams happened. By the time the next one hit, he was the only one awake.

The second was much more pleasant, even though the snow had been pretty. The room was once again transformed, with an illusion of Luffy and Ace hunting for the puppies, with Marco then appearing, only he looked different in Luffy's dream. He was taller and the blue fire wings were coming out of his back instead of enveloping his arms. He picked Lu up and tossed him in the air, with the real Luffy making a little giggle in his sleep. Puppies ran around happily, playing with Ace and pawing at Marco's legs to get to Lu.

It looked like Luffy had taken a liking to Marco. And knowing Luffy like he did, Sabo knew that Luffy would everything to try and impress Marco. When Jojo had come, even though Luffy had been three, the boy had gotten into the fridge a few times and insisted to whoever was awake with him that he'd cook Jojo a yummy meal for once. And when he was praised by the chef, Luffy was extremely happy and pleased with himself, even though it always ended up being Ace or Sabo who cooked the meal for their much-appreciated chef.

Sabo thought silently about what Whitebeard had said earlier. How would the pirates feel if they knew what had happened to their mother? Would they shun Ace for what he'd done, both to their mom and the vampire? Well, they would never learn. It wasn't as if Ace or Sabo would tell them about it, as they were the only ones who knew about the whole ordeal.

But… why now? They had only come onto the ship less than a week ago, and the captain thought he knew all of them enough by then to want to recruit them? Sabo wished that he and Ace were able to trust that easily. But no, after hiding Luffy away inside for two years, and having their mom betrayed twice by the same man even before he attempted to forcibly change her, trusting wasn't easy unless you gave off an extremely good impression, like Deuce had.

Sabo eventually fell back asleep after he was sure no more dreams would occur. Luffy's powers sure were fascinating. Sabo would do what Whitebeard suggested, as it was a good idea to get on top of this quickly before something bad might happen. Luffy had an amazing imagination, but that didn't mean it was only limited to good things. Everyone had their share of nightmares. Ace and Sabo knew that especially. Luffy rarely had bad dreams, which the brothers were very grateful for.

Luffy was first of the brothers to wake up that night, and looked to the side to see Ace drooling onto his pillow and Sabo laying on his back with his mouth wide open and breathing loudly. Luffy shuffled to the side and climbed up onto Sabo's chest and laid down. Sabo woke up, but didn't give it away. But, when Sabo suddenly moved his hands and tickled them ruthlessly up and down Luffy's back, the boy erupted into giggles, waking Ace and the other two Spades in the room.

Waking to Luffy's laughter wasn't unpleasant, so Sabo didn't feel too bad about it. "Sto-o-op!" Luffy squealed before Sabo gave mercy and stopped ticking the child. "Sabo, guess what? I had a fun dream," Luffy said cheerfully. Ace had sat up beside him and yawned. Zeno and Saber were the other two who were now awake in the room. It was dark outside by then, which was why Luffy had woken up when he did.

"Let me guess… Were you having fun in the snow?" Sabo questioned. This would prove whether what he'd seen really was Luffy's dreams. Luffy looked shocked, and exclaimed, "How did you know?!"

Sabo chuckled and pinned the boy to the bed with tickles to his tummy. "I'm psychic," was Sabo's reply. Luffy, of course, believed him fully, as he didn't grasp the concept of lies, and was amazed.

"Like magic?" the boy wondered. Were all of the brothers magic? Ace already had superpowers, and Luffy could do cool things, too, now. Not that he knew the extend of said power.

"Nah, I'm not magic. Only you and Ace had super cool powers," Sabo replied with a grin. "I know what you were dreaming about because I could see it," the teen explained patiently. Luffy cocked his head to the side, not understanding what Sabo meant. "Well, when you were dreaming, the room turned into your dreams, too. So, the room was full of snow. Then, you dreamed of playing with Marco and Ace."

Ace listened in awe, slightly jealous that he was now the only one who hadn't witnessed Luffy's dream power. But Luffy moved on quickly from this amazing fact and began to go into his dreams deeper. Sabo had seen it, but hearing about what Luffy felt when it was happening was fascinating.

Right when Luffy was about to start talking about the bird-man, his tummy rumbled, followed by Ace's stomach roaring in agreement. It was meal time. Ace got up and walked to their dresser that was full of clothes collected from the Spades' ship. Most of Luffy's outfits were pyjama-like. Comfortable and soft for wearing around the ship, in an environment that would not usually be dirty or dangerous.

Ace and Sabo changed their clothes as well, changing into day clothes that they didn't sleep in. The more they stayed on this ship, the closer their internal clock got to Luffy's. They were both enjoying being able to spend time all together, something that had been rare ever since they set sail, and even before that one of the brothers would always be sleeping with Lu while the other went to hunt or do something else important.

The brothers and the two Spades in the room left and headed to the galley for food. It was a good feeling knowing that their crew liked them enough to share their sleep schedule just so they could all be awake at the same time. Ace and Sabo would have understood if they wanted to continue with a normal schedule, but felt warm inside that, even if they didn't hang out all the time, they shared their time with the three brothers.

On their way to the galley, Ace and Sabo each had one of Luffy's hands and swung him back and forth. Being so tiny allowed them to do this easily. Luffy gleefully giggled, attracting attention from those they walked past. Luffy cheerfully said hello to each pirate they passed. Ace and Sabo wished they could be this comfortable around others than their crew, but that just wasn't happening for now. Or maybe ever.

Sabo had decided not to tell Ace about Whitebeard's words. The fire-teen might get angry at the boldness of them. That they didn't need a new family, they'd already had two. Two was more than enough. He also hadn't told him about the state of the ship yet, as Luffy was with them and he didn't want Lu to hear about his home possibly being unfixable. Ace wouldn't like it, but he was co-captain, so he deserved to know. Sabo would tell him when Luffy was distracted.

Thatch, for once, wasn't in the kitchen. It appeared he'd gone to bed early that night, and instead of him his sou-chefs had made and served dinner. The food was still warm, and the three brothers and two Spades all dug in. it was as good as Thatch's food, though not as well presented. Thatch seemed to like decorating dishes, while these ones were just normal.

Ace and Sabo looked to the side more and saw Jojo on the far side of the kitchen, making Luffy's blood-candies. Ace pointed this out to the boy, who grinned excitedly about eating his yummy candies. It had been awhile since he'd had any. Jojo was no doubt making a lot of them, as Luffy would consume them quickly.

The brothers didn't monitor Luffy's intake of the candy, as most of it was blood, with only enough sugar to caramelize it. It would take awhile for them to be finished, so Luffy would most likely get to have them tomorrow night. The boy wanted them now, but for a four year old, he was good at not pestering things to go faster, though he did ask many times whether something was ready or not, or how close they were to a new island.

Marco was awake, and when he entered the galley, hands in his pockets and walking leisurely, Luffy suddenly dropped off of his bar stool and ran over to the man. Marco smiled kindly when he came up to him, Ace and Sabo following behind, Ace much faster than Sabo, who seemed more relaxed about Luffy being close to Marco.

"What's up, Luffy?" Marco questioned as he crouched in front of the youngest.

"You're a bird, right?" Marco didn't correct him, and nodded in affirmation. "Can you fly me?" the boy asked, bouncing on his toes. Marco had no problem with it; he would never drop the boy. But, it was best to ask Luffy's guardians for permission.

Marco ruffled Luffy's hair, and said, "Why don't you ask your brothers first?" Luffy turned around and looked at his brothers with wide eyes.

"Ace, Sabo, can I fly?" he begged. Everyone watching could tell that Ace would do anything for Luffy. Sabo would be the most likely to say no. If it wasn't Luffy asking, no one had any doubt that he would decline. Ace looked to Sabo, who nodded. Ace seemed to share a silent conversation with Sabo in just a few seconds, and turned back to Luffy.

"You can, but you have to do everything Marco tells you to or not to do, okay?"

"Kay!"

"We have to go outside, first. There's not enough room in here and people are still eating," Marco explained. Luffy chirped an agreement and went running before Marco and his brothers, following the scent of outside and zooming down the halls. Ace and Sabo had to all out sprint to keep up with the tiny vampire. Marco chuckled and shared a look with the captain before following the trio of brothers out on deck.

Ace was clearly uncomfortable when Marco told Lu to hold onto his neck and rest on his back. Marco turned to look at Ace and gave him a genuine smile. "Don't worry. I won't let Luffy get hurt." Marco didn't miss the flaming cheeks and pursed lips. Like the first time it happened, Marco didn't comment.

Unlike Luffy's dream, Marco's arms turned into wings, and unlike Luffy's portrayal that they came from his back. Marco very slowly raised both of them up into the air, maybe ten feet up, so it wasn't too high and the vampire didn't want to make Ace and Sabo uneasy.

"Higher!" Luffy squealed. Marco looked down at Sabo, who minutely nodded his head in permission. Ace didn't want Luffy up there in the first place, but the boy wanted to, and it didn't look like Marco would drop him. Plus, he and Sabo stood directly under the phoenix and his passenger so, in the off chance Luffy decided to jump, one of them would catch him.

Marco rose himself and Luffy up another six feet before slowly flying forward and in little, slow circles around the deck. This was fine for Luffy, and he was having a great time. Some of the pirates out on deck watching the blazing bird and laughing child with small smiles. None of them knew Marco was good with children, as you don't find many on the sea in the Grand Line and especially in the New World.

When Marco lowered them back to the ground, Luffy hopped off and ran to Ace and Sabo, asking if they saw him flying, even though they'd been watching raptly the whole time. Ace picked up Luffy under his armpits and tossed him up so he was sitting on Ace's left bicep.

"We both saw you, Lu. Was it fun?" Ace replied. Luffy nodded his head vehemently.

"I'm gonna learn to fly, too!" Luffy said in a determined voice. Sabo suddenly looked worried. They would need to watch Luffy very closely. If he tried to form wings, he could get injured, and Ace and Sabo vowed to never let that happen. To protect him at all times, even from himself. His new powers seemed limitless so far, but the puppies had disappeared after a certain amount of time. If he was midair, and the wings suddenly left, Lu would fall, and they were on a ship with a wooden floor and deck. Not soft grass or carpet to weaken the blow.

The other pirates who didn't know about Luffy's powers looked confused with Luffy's words, before just taking it as a childish statement by an excited four year old. However, it would prove later that Luffy was not just making a childest statement.

Luffy sat in the bedroom with Ace and Sabo, who were the only ones in the room as they tried to regulate Luffy's "training". Really, it was just the boy creating things happily. He wasn't very good at it. Most of what he created was impractical and failed at working. It made them wonder how Luffy couldn't construct any sort of machine, but had been able to create living creatures.

Sabo and Ace had decided that Luffy's dream power and the power to conjure anything he wanted were two completely separate abilities. The vampire child did his best to create wings, but went about it in a way that would not make him able to fly. Instead of trying to create wings onto his back, he tried to build instead.

He used glue, wood and purple feathers, but all of his conjured items seemed to have an expiration time of twenty four minutes. So, when he finished building one wing, which was messy and clearly done by a four year old, it disappeared the second he tried making the next one.

Luffy didn't cry about it, but became frustrated and pouty when nothing was working. "I have an idea, Lu. I'll be right back," Sabo suddenly announced before standing up and leaving the room. Luffy watched the door close behind his brother and looked to Ace, expression looking questioning. Ace shrugged in response.

"He'll be back soon," the teen said with a smile. It was only five minutes later that Sabo entered the room with three books. They were books about animals, one encyclopedia of birds. Sabo sat down on the floor and pulled Luffy into his lap.

"Why don't we look at real bird wings, and try and make one of those? I'm sure it would work much better than arts and crafts bird wings," Sabo said with a kind smile. Luffy returned the smile, and the three brothers studied the pages of the book. Luffy didn't understand the anatomy much, and there were too many words for him to remember, but he was able to make a sloppy proto-type, though non-functional.

Ace eventually closed the bird book as he could tell Luffy was getting sleepy, and hadn't had his dinner yet. Luffy was very tired, but the older brothers knew he needed to eat, as he only consumed two meals "a day". He needed two large ones. It was three AM by the time Luffy was carried to the galley. The cooks were done for the night, with all the left overs tucked neatly away into one of the refrigerators.

When the three brothers reached the counter, Luffy sat down and Ace raided the fridge for food, not caring if Thatch was upset about it in the morning. After all, there were no cooks there. Ace saw the blood-candies in the freezer, so they were done and Luffy would eat some tomorrow night. He'll be so happy to.

Ace got out some cereal and milk for Luffy, as he requested sleepily, and gave him the big bowl, with some toast on the side. The boy was so tired that Sabo ended up moving him to sit in his lap to eat so he didn't fall off of the stool and potentially hurt himself.

Luffy didn't finish his bowl of cereal before he finally fell asleep, an hour earlier than usual. Ace picked him up gently and Sabo went to the kitchen to put the remaining cereal and milk down the drain and wash the bowl. Then, the brothers walked back to their cabin and tucked Lu in, changing his shorts into PJ shorts, but leaving the cotton t-shirt on.

The twins, Jojo, and Deuce were all already in the bedroom, Deuce changing into pajamas. "Hey guys," the blue haired man said quietly while Luffy was tucked in. Deuce seemed to noticed Sabo's pinched face. Even Ace didn't see it. However, Deuce said nothing of it. Sabo would talk to them when comfortable. The two older brothers never did well when pressured to do something. Sabo would get closed off and Ace cranky and irritable.

"Hey, how are you?" Sabo replied. Deuce said he'd been hanging out with Izo, helping him make new clothes for the crew. Deuce didn't like to brag about it, as Zeno and Saber teased him about it, but he was the one on the crew to fix up clothes that were in poor condition. He'd made Luffy a little bathrobe once when he was three, and so then he became the seamster. He didn't mind much, and since Luffy never went off the ship to shop, most of his clothes had been fitted or made by Deuce.

"H-how do you feel about this crew?" Sabo asked curiously, both still being quiet so as not to risk waking Luffy up, not that they thought he would, with the sun up and already being quite tired.

Deuce shrugged, but wore a smile. "They seem like good people so far." Sabo and Ace saw Aggie 68 nodding in agreement as he climbed onto the bottom bunk, as he was much too big to sleep on the top. "I still don't trust them completely, but I feel like they won't be killing us." Sabo had to agree with that statement.

Ace, predictably, did his best to ignore their conversation, not liking that his crew and family were starting to like the Whitebeards. He never thought they would join them as a whole, because Ace enjoyed the small sized crew and being a captain, but he didn't like that the Whitebeards were being so cozy with his friends and family. The Spades were only using them for security and convenience. That was it, wasn't it?

Then, there was his annoying reactions to things Marco did. He was nice to Ace. Even from the beginning, Marco hadn't jumped to conclusions about Luffy's status as human or vampire, and was downright wonderful to Lu. Ace was glad the pirates were nice to him, but Marco was especially nice. And Luffy seemed to like him a lot.

Honestly, blushing was getting annoying and it had only happened twice. But he knew, deep inside, in a place he never let anyone see was raw, no one on this crew or his own crew would ever want to be around him if they knew what he'd done.

He killed his mother. Circumstances aside, Ace had killed his mother. Stabbed her in the heart, right in front of the baby she'd never see grow up. Ace was a devil. The only way he could ever atone for it was to protect and raise his baby brother in the way his mother would have wanted. He would do that anyways, but with the backstory, it just made him want to dedicate everything to his brother.

-x-

When Thatch walked into his kitchen and saw that a bowl was in the wrong spot, he knew someone had been in his kitchen, and he grumbled about it the whole time he was cooking breakfast. But, maybe it had been Jojo and she was still making blood-candies, which he found in a sealed bag in the freezer. They looked like regular, strawberry hard candies. He wondered what they tasted like to Luffy, and if the rest of the crew's vampires would like to try them.

He took calm breaths and focused on breakfast to distract himself from his irritation about someone being in his kitchen. Thatch wondered how the Spades felt about everyone. They hadn't met all of the pirates since the Whitebeards had a very unique schedule, and someone was bound to be asleep when the Spade's were awake.

Thatch, and many of the others, were positive that not many ships could function like the Moby could. With someone always being awake and always being asleep. There were times when Thatch would go weeks without seeing one of the commanders. The Whitebeards were the biggest crew, with the most allies, so it worked that not everyone would be active at the same time.

The only other crew that Thatch thought might be able to function like this was the Big Mom Pirates, as they were a large crew as well. As far as he knew, though, vampires were the only creature besides giants who weren't found in Totto Land, so this set up wouldn't work out for them anyways.

The cook had no problem with vampires, and loved all of his family, but he sometimes wished they could all be awake at the same time. All hang out together. The only times they usually all stayed together at once was when there was a party, as they always threw them at night after the sun set.

He remembered how hard it had been for Haruta, and was glad he hadn't ever been turned. Though the Whitebeards welcomed vampires with open arms, they did their best not to let any of the human crew members change. Newborn vampires were a nightmare to deal with and a danger to the humans on board.

Plus, many of the vampires had never wanted to be vampires. It was either out of their control or they were dying and someone did it to "save" them. Thatch wished he could tell Ace that the vampires he was so afraid of hadn't wanted to be like they were. But, that wasn't his secret to tell. Besides, with Ace being on their ship for a couple months at least, maybe they could get him to not be afraid of them.

From what Thatch knew, they had come across a bad apple that killed their mother and complicated Luffy's life. He wished he could get Ace to realize that most vampires were just like normal people. After awhile, the bloodlust disappears, and the vampire does his or her best to blend in with life again, even if he couldn't go out into the sunlight again.

Namur was first to come to breakfast, being one of the early risers on the crew. He always got first serve with hot food. "Hey, Thatch. What's wrong?" the fishman asked at Thatch's still slightly pinched expression. So, Thatch explained about someone having been in his kitchen, other than Jojo most likely.

"Is anything broken?"

"No," Thatch replied. Namur didn't seem to get why it upset Thatch if no harm was done. "It's just that the kitchen is my safe space!" Thatch complained dramatically. "My space!"

"Okay, okay," Namur said, both hands held up in front of him in a peaceful gesture. "I'm sure whoever it was meant no harm. Probably was Ace or Sabo. You were asleep for their meals," the fishman commander pointed out.

Thatch huffed and went back to the next batch of pancakes, as more human pirates were coming in. Namur was probably right, about who it most likely had been and that they did no harm. Still, he wasn't used to things out of place in his kitchen. His sou chefs were allowed in, but other than them, everyone knew not to mess with the space. The head chef had given Jojo permission, but she was also a fellow head chef and had asked Thatch first.

Just thinking about her made Thatch blush like a schoolgirl. He ignored the laughter coming from the fishman behind him at the bar counter. Namur and everyone else all knew there was only one reason Thatch blushed. Not even when he was embarrassed. Ever since that one island four years ago, where Thatch had a cook off with another female chef and lost to the crowd that had gathered.

Nothing had happened from it, but he'd been mopey for weeks after they parted from the island, the other chef going to her own crew. He was teased mercilessly, and dubbed the easiest person on the crew to develop a crush. Might be because he loved cooking so much, and there were no female chefs. So, he knew he jumped the gun a lot, and felt he couldn't help it.

Besides, Jojo seemed very entertained and amused by his actions and reactions. Not in a mean way, though, or else Thatch's family would have reacted negatively to it. The truth was that they found it quite entertaining as well. And, as long as Jojo wasn't being cruel or mean, some amused chuckles and smiles weren't exactly crimes.

Marco walked over and sat at the counter, looking uneasy, and asked for some B negative. Thatch went to the blood fridge and fetched what his brother wanted.

-x-

The first time it happened, Marco didn't think much of it. Something had made Ace blush when Marco reunited him with his precious little brother after the puppy-hunt. Luffy had said nothing embarrassing, but Marco brushed it off. Besides, it had been a long time since he was around anyone young, and a human, too.

It had been over 190 years since he was a human teenager. He didn't remember much of it, honestly. Maybe it was just what they did. But, the second time it happened, it was different. When Marco had been interacting with the tiny child, Ace was openly uncomfortable with someone else touching his brother. He was clearly very protective and possessive about the boy. So, when Marco assured the teen he wouldn't let Luffy get hurt, he had expected Ace to look grumpy, disagree maybe.

Instead, he blushed. Again. But that's not only what happened. Sabo, Luffy, his crew, they couldn't tell. Those who were around hadn't noticed it either. It might be that Marco was just close enough, or that since he was one of the oldest, he had the best senses. So, he was the only one who smelled the pheromones.

It embarrassed Marco greatly, but he didn't let it show. He had a feeling Ace wasn't happy with it, so he would tell no one else. He saw the pinched face and narrowed eyes when Ace blushed. It was out of his control, and Marco didn't miss such things.

But, he wouldn't tell anyone else, as it was no one else's business how Ace felt about anything. And Marco wasn't about to spill something Ace might not even know about to who he considered strangers. The vampire had no doubt he would be teased, even slightly, if anyone knew how Ace had reacted. But, it was only once.

Marco looked down at his attire, the open shirt, and wondered if he should wear a closed shirt for now. Make it easier on the uncomfortable teen. Poor kid. Marco may not like some things about being a vampire, like being unable to eat anything other than blood, but he did not miss the human body's complications and disadvantages.

He was just grateful he'd been turned at 37 and not 68 like his father had been. He wasn't as eternally young as someone like Haruta, who had been changed at 24, but he was very grateful he wasn't stuck in old age for forever.

Marco asked for a second glass of blood, deciding he'd be dressing a bit less revealing for now.

-x-

Sabo woke at noon, and slowly and quietly stood up from the bed, leaving Luffy curled up in a ball still, covered by thick blankets and sucking his thumb. He had his stuffed animal tucked between his inner elbow and chest. Luffy was adorable, and it would never change to Sabo and Ace.

The middle child walked around the double bed and gently woke Ace up. They needed to talk about the state of the ship. Deuce and Jojo were both in the room, and were awoken by Sabo as well. Ace was groggy, but trusted Sabo that it was something they needed to talk about without the littlest member hearing.

When the other three heard about the state of their home, Ace was the most upset. Deuce was stoic, like usual, but Jojo was upset as well. It had been her home for two years. Two of the best years of her life.

Yes, they all thought this was a nice environment, but it wasn't home. Ace looked devastated, and it broke Sabo's heart. "If it needs to be replaced, then we'll buy a new one," Sabo insisted.

"With what money, Sabo?" Ace snapped. "We're not pirates, we don't raid and steal from other pirates. Especially now that we're on the Grand Line, stealing from cities isn't gonna work well. We're fucked."

Sabo was a bit surprised by the curse. He might say damn, but he rarely said "fuck". Almost never, really. Though Sabo had noticed he was swearing more since they entered the Grand Line.

"Calm down, Cap. We don't even know if the ship is too damaged to be repaired," Deuce reasoned. "Besides, for now, we are safe and secure. These pirates don't seem too bad, right?" Ace glared and shrugged. None of the other three said anything about Ace's childish actions. When he was stressed or worried, he closed off others, besides Luffy. Even Sabo was shut out. They hadn't been in a stressful situation like this, but when the rudder of their home was decimated, he'd steadily become crankier and crankier.

Luckily, young Luffy hadn't been affected or noticed. Ace was good at faking happiness around Luffy. He didn't want to worry the boy. To Luffy, Ace and Sabo were very happy people.

"Ace, I think we can trust these pirates," Sabo said gently, knowing that just that sentence contradicted itself. But, these pirates didn't seem like bad guys. At all, really. Ace frowned at the ground but didn't reply.

Instead, he grumbled unintelligible words and walked back into the bedroom to sleep with Luffy again to make him feel better. Ace wished he could be as young and naive as the four year old. Sabo didn't walk back in, and neither did the other two, knowing that Ace would only calm down with Luffy. They'd enter again in a few minutes.

Ace picked up the blanket again and draped it over himself as he laid down next to Luffy again. He touched the hand whose thumb wasn't in his mouth, and Luffy gripped it tightly. Then, the room changed colors and Ace knew he was finally seeing one of Luffy's dreams.

It was simple. The room was now a beach, and Luffy was playing in the waves now far from the furthest bunk bed to the door. The sounds of sea gulls flew over them, the ceiling completely gone and now the vast expanse of cloudless sky. Ace and Sabo were there, along with Marco.

The only way that anyone could tell this was a dream was that both Ace and Sabo had cat ears. And it was also daytime, with Luffy under the sun and in perfect health. Did Luffy want to be in the sun? The thought of that made Ace a bit sad.

The dream wavered for a second before Luffy was now sitting on the floor behind Ace. He experimentally crouched in front of dream Luffy and touched him. It was like he was made of some thick substance. Not completely solid, but not an illusion. The dream didn't notice Ace's presence.

Wings sprouted from dream Luffy's back, but they were much too small to work correctly. Ace smiled softly. Luffy was an angel, and now he had wings to match. The dream didn't last long, and dream Luffy hadn't learned to fly before it faded away. No more dreams came, but they had successfully distracted Ace, who went back to sleep in a good mood.