I am so sorry for this being so late. This chapter did NOT want to be written. I tried to make it good despite my small writer's block, but I have my doubts. I'll try to make the next chapter better, and hopefully get it up quicker.

On another note, congratulations to Illusion-of-an-Icy-moon for being my 100th favorite! And thanks to everyone for reading my story!

I do not own One Piece.

"But Saaaaabooooo!"

"No!"

"Can't I just have a little more?!"

"I said, no!"

"Whyyyyy noooooot?!"

"Didn't you hear me when I said we have to ration it?! Do you want a repeat of our last journey?!" Sabo crossed his arm and frowned at Luffy.

"But I'm hungryyyyyyy!" Luffy whined.

"You're always hungry! And stop whining! We aren't eating anymore until dinner tonight!" Sabo scolded.

"Aaaaaceeee! Make Sabo share the food!" Luffy turned to his other brother who was looking out at something. Ace didn't answer. He just kept looking at the sea.

"Aaaaaccceeeeee!" Luffy yelled in his ear.

"Gah! Luffy! Why the hell did you do that?!" Ace rubbed his ear.

"I'm hungry, and Sabo isn't letting me eat!"

"So?! You're always hungry!" Ace angrily turned back to the sea. Luffy pouted. He couldn't help it that he was hungry all the time! And Gramps told them to eat whenever they were hungry. So why couldn't they eat the food they had now?

"What are you looking at, Ace?" Sabo asked and Luffy stopped pouting to listen.

"I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but I think that dot in the distance is following us." Ace pointed to the horizon. Luffy looked, and sure enough, there was a dot.

"What do you think it is?!" Luffy asked completely forgetting about the food.

"From the shape, I'd say it's a ship. They're too far away to identify, though." Sabo said on Ace's other side.

"A ship? Do you think they're pirates?!" Luffy asked jumping up and down. He hoped they were pirates. It was always fun meeting other crews, even though he only met Shanks, his crew, Thatch, and Pineapple Head.

"I can't tell. Are you certain they're following us, Ace?" Sabo asked.

"I think so. I remember seeing them in the distance yesterday, and they're still there." Ace frowned.

"Do you remember seeing them earlier than that?" Sabo scratched his chin.

"We left the last island only a few days ago. I didn't think to look behind us. After all, we'll see the next island in front of us." Ace admitted.

"I would get onto you for not paying attention, but I'm guilty of it too. Even if I have the excuse of trying to keep Luffy from eating all the food." Sabo patted Ace's shoulder.

"Hey! I can rocket over there and ask them!" Luffy volunteered.

"THE HELL YOU WILL!" they both yelled.

"Why not?!" Luffy asked.

"Do you see how far they are?! If you rocketed over there you wouldn't even make it to the half-way point!" Sabo pointed out.

"So? If I fall in you will save me." Luffy picked his nose. He didn't see what the big deal was. His brothers always saved him before. So why wouldn't they now?

"Dumbass! You'd be too far for us to get you out!" Ace punched Luffy in the head.

"Ow!" Luffy rubbed his head.

"And even if you did make it, we don't know who they are! They would probably kill you on the spot!" Ace turned back to stare at the ship in the distance.

"But they might be nice! Maybe they'll share their food with us!" Luffy said with a smile. They'd be nicer than Sabo if they shared their food, and Luffy was so hungry.

"We don't know that, Lu. Not everyone is like Shanks." Sabo said.

"Well, we can sail towards them and find out who they are." Luffy suggested.

"Then we'd be walking right into their trap!" Ace said.

"Something is bothering me. Ace, you said you saw them yesterday, right?" Sabo asked.

"Yeah?"

"And they're just as far away from us now as they were yesterday?"

"Yeah, what's your point?"

"Judging by how far they are, the ship should be much bigger than our boat. That means they should've caught up to us by now." Sabo rubbed his chin in thought.

"So that just proves that they're following us. If they weren't they would've passed us up already." Ace glared at the dot in hostility.

"Either that, or we're hallucinating, but I doubt that. The odds of all three of us hallucinating the same thing is laughable."

"Hey it could be a marriage!" Luffy said.

"A marriage?" Sabo asked.

"Yeah, one of those things that makes you think you're seeing something, but it's not there." Ace clarified.

"Do you mean a mirage?"

"Yeah, that!" Luffy smiled.

"Well, whatever it is, we need to keep our eyes on it. If they are hostile, we need to be ready to fight back." Ace grabbed his pipe from the bottom of the boat.

"Yeah! And then we take all their meat!" Luffy lifted his pipe in excitement.

"You guys are hopeless." Sabo put his face in his hands.

Luffy looked at the mystery ship. It didn't seem to be very big, but if Sabo said it was big then it had to be big. The only big ships he ever saw were Shank's ship and Gramps' ship. He like Shank's ship better because it was a pirate ship. Gramps' was okay, but it was a stuffy marine ship.

Luffy felt a chill crawl up his spine. He had a horrible thought, and he hoped against hope that that wasn't the case.

"Are you okay, Luffy? You look pale all of a sudden." Sabo asked.

"Don't tell me he's sick! The last thing we need is to take care of an ill brother!" Ace griped.

"Guys, you don't think…" Luffy pause and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. It was then he noticed that his mouth was dry.

"What is it?" Sabo asked.

"You don't think…" Luffy started to tremble.

"Spit it out already!" Ace yelled.

"You don't think that's Gramps, do you?" Luffy finally squeaked, and his eyes felt watery.

Ace and Sabo fell silent. Luffy tore his eyes away from the ship on the distance to look at his brothers. Both of them looked panicked, and their faces paled to the point where they looked like ghosts. Ace was gripping his pipe so hard that his knuckles blanched, and Sabo bit his lip so hard that he drew blood.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Sabo chanted.

"Dammit! I didn't expect to run into that shitty old geezer so early!" Ace glanced at the dot with a mixture of fear and anger.

"SAVE ME ACE!" Luffy hid behind his brother. He felt like crying. He didn't want to face his Grandpa's "Fists of Love."

"Wait!" Sabo had calmed down and tried to get the others to calm down.

"What, Sabo?! We need to start paddling! That geezer isn't getting us today!" Ace tried to use his pipe as an oar, but Sabo stopped him.

"Will you stop and think for a minute?! If it really is Gramps, then why hasn't he attacked us yet?!"

"Maybe he's waiting for us to realize it's him!" Luffy suggested.

"Yeah! And now we know, then he'll come get us, and take us back to Dawn. Then we will have to go through his twisted idea of training!" Ace tried to get around Sabo to paddle, but Sabo wouldn't let him.

"I doubt that he would wait for us to start panicking. He usually just barges in after us, and starts 'training'."

"You can never know with him, though! He did leave us with mountain bandits, and expected us to become marines." Ace calmed down some, but he still looked at the ship in fear.

"It could still be Gramps! Maybe it's a new part of his training. Maybe he wants us to survive on our own until we reach the next island." Luffy said.

"Yeah! How do you know it's not the old geezer?!" Ace pointed his pipe at Sabo in accusation.

"How do you know it is?" Sabo pushed the pipe out of his face.

"Do you want to take that chance?!"

"You're being ridiculous, you know!"

"But Sabo! What if it is Gramps?! I don't wanna go back to Dawn, and I don't wanna go through Gramps' training!" Luffy squeezed Sabo around his torso.

"Gah! Luffy!" Sabo toppled over, but Luffy didn't let go.

"Ace, help me get him off!" Sabo struggled, but Luffy squeezed tighter to keep a strong hold.

"Oh, how the tables have turned." Ace smirked widely.

"What?!" Sabo yelled, and continued to struggle. Luffy tightened his grip more. He didn't want to let go until Sabo agreed that the ship was Gramps'.

"I seem to remember Luffy doing the very same thing to me back at the other island, and you did nothing while he slowly choked me." Ace kneeled down next to Sabo.

"You wouldn't." Sabo said.

"Luffy, tighten your grip more." Ace ordered and Luffy complied.

"Gah! Ace… you bastard!" Sabo said as loud as he could, which wasn't very loud. Luffy squeezed harder. He didn't know why first Ace, then Sabo got like that when he squeezed hard enough. Luffy was always okay when someone squeezed him.

"He won't let go until you agree with us." Ace smirked.

"Fine… it's… Gramps. You… win." At those words Luffy let go. Sabo took several deep breaths like he had been running all morning.

"I hate you." Sabo deadpanned after he caught his breath.

"So we agree that it's Gramps. What now?" Luffy asked and kept Ace and Sabo between him and the ship.

"We paddle." Ace went to paddle again but Sabo stopped him.

"Hold it, Ace. If it is Gramps, he hasn't attacked for whatever reason. We are still several days away from the next island. If we start paddling now we'll tire out before we even get close to the island." Sabo pointed out.

"So? At least it'll put more distance between us and that old fart." Ace picked his nose with his pinkie.

"Yes, but for how long? The fact is he hasn't attacked. As long as we keep calm and sail at this pace, he won't attack."

"What makes you say that?"

"He's been following us at least since yesterday, right? He had every chance to attack us, but he didn't. If we keep this pace we'll draw less attention. We can start paddling once we get close enough to the next island." Sabo said.

"Sounds smart, but what if he attacks us at night? We need to sleep in shifts."

"Fine, but I'm not letting Luffy take a shift alone."

"Why not?!" Luffy puffed out his cheeks in outrage. If Ace and Sabo could stay awake alone, he could too!

"I'm not letting you stay awake while the food is unguarded." Sabo said.

"Good point." Ace agreed.

"You guys are jerks!" Luffy pouted, and looked at the ship. He really hoped that it wasn't Gramps. He loved his Grandpa, but he hated the training. He also hated being told to join the marines. He told the old man over and over that he wanted to be King of the Pirates. Sometimes his Grandpa was just way too stubborn.

XxXxXxXxX

"What are they doing now?" Thatch asked.

Marco looked through the spyglass, and looked at the small boat they've been following for the past few days. The two older brats were talking about something, and Luffy was looking towards them while pouting.

"They've calmed down now, and Luffy seems to be pouting over something." Marco answered and put the spyglass down.

"Do you think they know it's us?" Thatch asked.

"I don't know why you want to keep it a secret, Thatch. They'll find out it's us when Pops and the others get here." Marco really didn't understand Thatch's thinking. Marco was willing to sail right next to the brats, but Thatch thought it'd be a good idea to keep their distance.

"I thought it would put them at ease." Thatch shrugged.

"And an unknown ship off in the distance will definitely help them sleep at night." Marco said sarcastically.

"Okay, so I didn't think it through."

"That's obvious."

"But I had good intentions."

"Look, can we sail up to them now? I think not knowing who we are is what caused their earlier freak out."

"How do you think they'll react when the mysterious ship turns out to be us?" Thatch frowned.

"I understand your concerns, Thatch. After all, Ace only recently started to tolerate us. However, I think sneaking around will do more harm than good." Marco turned away from the small dot ahead of them.

"How so?"

"They may not like it, but being honest and up front is always the best way to earn someone's trust."

"Yeah, you have a point."

"Also, it'll takes us a little while to get to them if someone attacks."

"Okay, you win. Let's unfurl the rest of the sails." Thatch turned to the mast to do just that. In order to stay the same pace as the smaller boat they only had one sail open. It worked like a charm.

Marco turned back to the small boat in the distance. He knew Thatch thought he was doing good, and Marco let him go along with it for a little while, but some damage was done to the trust they were trying build. Marco knew it was best to be openly honest about what they were doing. He only hoped it would be enough.

XxXxXxXxX

"Hey, the dot is getting bigger!" Luffy tugged on Ace's sleeve. Ace felt his blood run cold when he saw that the dot was indeed bigger.

"DAMMIT! START PADDLING!" Ace grabbed his pipe and started rowing. This time Sabo and Luffy joined in. He just knew that the shitty geezer would pull something like this. But everything be damned if he let his brothers go back to that island without a fight! He could almost hear the lecture that would no doubt take place. "Marine this! Marine that! You aren't going to be pirates! Blah, blah, blah!" And all the while being shown his "Fists of Love".

Ace turned around to get a peek at the approaching ship. It was closer despite their paddling, but it was still too far away to identify. What he could tell, though, was that it wasn't a marine ship. This caused Ace to calm down.

"Hey, relax! It's not a marine ship!" he told Sabo and Luffy.

"Oh thank God! I thought it might've actually been the old man when it started to approach!" Sabo sighed and put his hand over his pounding heart.

"I'm relieved!" Luffy smiled and flopped onto the floor of their boat. Ace felt annoyance toward them and hit them both on the head.

"What the hell, Ace?!"

"What was that for?!"

"Just because it isn't Gramps doesn't mean we can relax! Did you forget that they were following us for at least two days?!" Ace scolded. Sabo looked embarrassed for forgetting and Luffy just stared at him blankly.

"You're right. Sorry, I did forget." Sabo sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"But if it isn't Gramps, then what's there to worry about?" Luffy deadpanned while picking his nose. This time Sabo bonked him.

"Idiot! Did you forget that there are people like Bluejam out here?!" Sabo yelled.

"Eh?!" Luffy actually looked surprised.

"Dumbass." Ace muttered and looked at the approaching ship.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Ace yelled. The ship was now close enough to identify, and it was familiar. It had the Whitebeard Jolly Roger, and there were too very familiar figures on the deck. Ace felt nothing but fury at the sight of them. Were they stalking them or something?!

"Oh, what are they doing here?!" Sabo sounded more exasperated than anything.

"Hey, it's Thatch and Pineapple Head! Hi!" Luffy waved at them.

"Hi brats!" Thatch yelled and their ship got right next to theirs. Marco rolled up all but one sail, and Joined Thatch at the railing. Ace put himself between the older pirates and his brothers. He tightly held his pipe in his hands.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Ace growled at them. He felt nothing but hostility right now.

"Hi guys! It's good the see you!" Luffy chirped and Ace whacked him with his pipe.

"NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO BE FRIENDLY!"

"Ace is right, Lu. That can't be trusted right now." Sabo agreed.

"Why not?!" Luffy yelled while rubbing his head. Ace felt a migraine coming on. He had to deal with the two bastards in front of him. He didn't need an overly stubborn, whiney Luffy to go with it all.

"Why are we here, you ask? To make sure you three reach your destination safely." Thatch said, and Ace felt like killing them.

"THAT'S NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!" Ace started to lose feeling in his hands from gripping the pipe so hard.

"You may not like to hear this, but we aren't going to let you three sail alone." Marco said and Sabo had to hold Ace back.

"WE AREN'T JOINING YOUR CREW!"

"We know. We won't make you if you don't want to, but we couldn't sleep at night knowing you are out on these cruel seas by yourselves." Thatch answered casually, and it only angered Ace further. Who the hell did these bastards think they were?! As long as they were together they could handle anything! They didn't need anyone hovering over their shoulders!

"Hey, do you have any food?! Sabo won't let us eat what we have!" Luffy somehow got past both Ace and Sabo, and he was standing on the other ship's railing.

"LUFFY GET BACK HERE NOW!" Ace was at the very end of his patience. If Luffy didn't get back of his own volition, Ace was going to drag him back by his earlobes! As if he sensed what Ace was thinking, Luffy quietly landed on their boat.

"We don't need babysitters!" Sabo yelled from Ace's side.

"Whether you need babysitters or not, we aren't leaving you kids alone." Marco said.

Ace felt something snap in his mind. He couldn't stop himself from attacking, nor did he want to. These assholes had crossed the line, and they needed to pay the price. Ace was more than happy to be the one to give them the payment.

Ace had lunged at Marco, but he dodged it. This didn't faze Ace in the slightest. He turned, and swiped it him again. Marco dodged it again. Ace kept swiping at the older pirate, and he missed each time. With each dodge he felt himself grow angrier and angrier. He even tried a surprise attack on Thatch, but he too dodged Ace. Ace was now in a blind rage, and violently attacked the others. He never once got a hit on them. After a while he felt himself grow tired, but his rage kept him going.

"DAMMIT ACE, I SAID STOP! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?!" Sabo yelled as he grabbed Ace from behind.

"LET GO OF ME! THESE BASTARDS HAVE IT COMING!" Ace struggled against Sabo's grip, but Sabo held fast.

"NOT UNTIL YOU CALM DOWN!" Sabo's grip slipped some, and Ace struggled harder. He was just about free when he felt a pair of rubbery arms join Sabo's.

"DON'T ATTACK THEM, ACE!" Luffy yelled in his ear.

"Luffy, keep holding him." Sabo said and let go. Ace felt Luffy's grip tighten, and something in the back of his mind screamed at him to stop before his breathing was cut off again. He blatantly ignored that small voice. All he wanted was to bash these guy's faces in.

"I'm sorry about this, but do you have any chains we could tie him up with?" Sabo asked, and Ace felt his air get cut off.

"Chains?" Marco asked.

"Well, you see, he can chew through rope. So, we're going to need something stronger." Ace's vision started to swim and his struggled became weaker.

"Isn't this a bit much?" Thatch asked.

"Trust me, it's the only way. Unless you want him to keep attacking you." Sabo's voice sounded far away.

"I think we have some in the storage room." Marco answered.

The blackness that started at the edges of Ace's vision had almost blocked his sight altogether. The sounds he heard sounded muffled and far away. The only things he could feel was Luffy's vice grip, his burning lungs, and his pounding head. He only had one thought go through his mind before he gave in to the darkness.

Sabo, you traitor!