What?! A fairly quick upload?! Yes! I'm back in my writing groove! I'm sure you're all excited for the plans I have in store. I know I'm excited to be writing them again. Even if this chapter isn't the best... and it's short... But I'm optimistic! I hope you enjoy!

I do not own One Piece.

"It's Whitebeard!"

"What's Whitebeard doing here?!"

"I'm getting out of here!"

Various customers yelled when one of them spotted Whitebeard's ship approaching the sea restaurant. Zeff had just walked out of the kitchen when the commotion started, and frowned at the people leaving. It wasn't that they didn't pay. Zeff couldn't care less if they paid for their food or not. No, he was upset that they were leaving plates full of good food behind.

"Hey! You bastards had better come back here, and eat the rest of that food!" Zeff sighed as he held Sanji back from the retreating customers.

"Relax, Little Eggplant. We can use what's left to feed the approaching pirate crew." Zeff said, and Sanji calmed down after hearing that the food would not be wasted. Then he stopped as if something dawned on him.

"Wait, did they say that Whitebeard was here?!" Sanji asked with a wide eye.

Zeff walked over to the window to see for himself. There was a chance that it would be Whitebeard, but there were a lot of people out there who wouldn't hesitate to imitate a famous pirate crew to take advantage of people. He looked out the window and saw that it was indeed the Moby Dick.

"It appears that he is, though I have no idea why he's in the East Blue of all places." Zeff said, and turned to Sanji who looked like he was about to pass out from shock. The old chef waited for Sanji to snap out of his stupor.

"Why is he here?!" Sanji yelled.

"Didn't you just hear me say that I don't know?" Zeff responded in annoyance, and walked out front to meet the oncoming Emperor.

Sanji followed, and the chef studied the small sous-chef's expression. While he was still getting over some shock, he held only a hint of fear. Zeff didn't hold it against him, though. Any child would be intimidated if they were going to cook for the strongest man in the world. No, he was actually rather proud of the Little Eggplant for not showing any signs of running. Not that he would let the brat know what he was feeling, of course.

All of the boats the other customers arrived in were long gone by the time the Moby Dick had docked at the restraunt. Zeff waited patiently for one of the Whitebeard pirates to say something, and Sanji stood rigidly next to him. Soon Whitebeard himself came into view.

"Long time, no see, Red Leg." He greeted.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Zeff called back.

"Wait, you've met him before?!" Sanji questioned in shock.

"We've had a few run-ins." Zeff answered.

"I seem to remember you being on the losing end of each run-in." Whitebeard said, and Zeff couldn't help but smirk. He was younger and more reckless back then, and had foolishly challenged Whitebeard to several duels. He lost all of them.

"Those were the days. So, what are you doing here in the East Blue? I don't really see you coming all the way over here to pay me a random visit." Zeff asked.

"You'd be right to assume that. While I was curious after I heard you lost your leg, I'm afraid another matter has brought me to this sea." Whitebeard got off his ship, and stood before the two chefs. Sanji was staring up at the giant of a man in awe.

"Shall we discuss this further over a hot meal?" Zeff offered.

"I thought you'd never offer." The pirate captain smirked, and led a good chunk of his crew inside. Zeff thought Sanji's eyes were going to fall out if they got any wider.

"Come on, brat. We have a lot of food to prepare." Zeff said, shaking the child out of his trance, before he walked in the restraunt, himself.

XxXxXxXxX

Garp stared at Sengoku in shock of what he just said. Whitebeard had been spotted in the East Blue, and no one knew why. It didn't sound like Whitebeard to just come to the weakest sea for no reason. He had no territories there, nor did it seem like he was interested. It made no sense.

"We do have earlier reports of Whitebeard's commanders coming to the East Blue. Apparently they took out Arlong, who was about to enslave an island. They were spotted at other islands around that area according to various reports from citizens. We have no idea what this means. So, we need to handle this with care. The World Government can't afford to go to war with Whitebeard without a really good reason." Sengoku finished, and Garp felt a twinge of worry.

The Whitebeard Pirates' activities were close to Dawn Island, and by extension, his three grandsons. He knew it would be out of character for any of Whitebeard's crew to attack an innocent person, but they were still pirates. The last "good" pirate that appeared in the East Blue was that Red Haired brat, and he influence Luffy to become a pirate. That settled it for Garp.

"Fine, I'll go see what he's up to." Garp said, and stood up.

"Garp, this is serious. You know as well as I do that you can't take Whitebeard lightly. One wrong move could cause a catastrophe that we are trying to avoid." Sengoku said in a warning tone.

"Relax, I've dealt with Newgate before, and besides, I want to visit my grandsons too." Garp said, and paused. Whoops, he let it slip that he had grandsons… again.

"Forget that last part." Garp said while he turned to the wall.

"Well can you at least-" Garp interrupted what Sengoku was going to say by punching a large hole in the wall.

"…use the door this time." Sengoku finished with a defeated sigh.

Garp ignored Sengoku's mumblings of paperwork, and walked out the hole he just made. He was worried for the three troublemakers back in the East Blue. He hoped that they had the sense to stay away if Whitebeard's commanders did, indeed stop on Dawn Island. If he knew the brats, they wouldn't. He picked up the pace, and prayed to every god he knew that they were still on that island.

XxXxXxXxX

"But I'm boooooorrrrreeeedddd!" Luffy whined.

He was stuck in bed until his wounds healed, by doctor's orders. He thought it was stupid. His wounds didn't hurt so much anymore, and he was tired of being stuck in one place for a long time. He would've snuck out earlier, but either Thatch or Marco would be keeping watch over him to make sure he didn't do just that. He was itching to go out and see the island again. At least his brothers, Usopp, and Kaya were keeping him company.

"Cheer up, Luffy. The doctor said that you were healing really fast, and you can leave bed in a few days." Kaya said with a small smile.

"But that's when we're leeeeeaaaaaavvvvvviiiiiiing!" Luffy whined again.

"Hey, why don't I cheer you up with a tale about one of my many adventures?" Usopp suggested while sticking his chest out.

"But I wanna explore the iiiiissssslllllaaaaaaannd!" Luffy whined again. Usopp's stories helped entertain him the past few days, but he was fed up with staying in the same spot.

"Luffy…" Ace said with annoyance, and Luffy turned to look at him.

Ace stopped what he was going to say when they made eye contact, and Luffy frowned. Ace had been acting weird ever since he came back from the fishman's ship. He refused to hit Luffy for anything, and even seemed to avoid yelling at him. This confused Luffy since Ace was always yelling about something. He wanted to ask Sabo what happened, but he didn't answer and would always change the subject. Luffy didn't like this. Something happened to his brothers, and they wouldn't tell him anything. This only made Luffy even more frustrated than he already was.

"I know! How about a game?" Sabo suggested.

"But the only games we can play are really boring ones that don't involve moving." Luffy pouted. He was going to explode if he didn't get out of his bed soon.

Marco sighed deeply and suggested, "What if I carried you? That way you can explore the island without needlessly exerting yourself."

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered. He may not be able to run around, but anything was better than staying stuck in one place.

"What about his wounds?" Ace protested.

"Look, he's not going to stop whining until he leaves this room. If we do it like this, he won't get hurt. And I don't know about you, but his complaining was getting on my last nerve." Marco said while he lowered himself so Luffy could climb on his back.

"Fair enough." Sabo said while Luffy got comfortable on Marco's back.

"I know, Luffy! I can take you to the spot where I wrestled the giant penguin that was trying to steal the town's money!" Usopp said, and Luffy smiled widely.

"Yeah! Can we, Marco? Can we?" Luffy begged into Marco's ear.

"I don't see why not." Marco shrugged

"Yay! Lead the way Usopp!" Luffy demanded, and he saw the outside for the first time in days.

XxXxXxXxX

Ace leaned against the headboard of the bed he and his brothers were sharing. Well, it was originally Luffy who was going to sleep in it, but his youngest brother insisted that he and Sabo slept with him. He gazed at Luffy's sleeping form fondly.

Of course, he was probably still scared from what those damned fishmen did to him. Just thinking about it made his blood boil, and then it froze when he remembered that the whole fiasco was his fault to begin with. He didn't understand why Luffy still wanted him as a brother after he let that happen to him, but he was just as bright and cheerful as ever toward him. If Ace was in his shoes, he would never speak to himself again. He didn't deserve Luffy's forgiveness.

"Ace?" Luffy's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Go back to sleep, Luffy. You need your rest." Ace said while Luffy rubbed his eyes.

"But what about you? You aren't sleeping either." Luffy sat up, and Ace refused to meet his gaze.

"Ace, what happened?" Luffy asked in the most serious voice Ace ever heard from him. Ace continued to look away, and didn't answer.

"I know something happened. You and Sabo have been acting weird ever since I came back from the fishman's ship. Why won't you tell me what happened?" Ace's heart skipped a beat. He thought Luffy didn't notice his odd behavior. He remained silent for several more seconds.

"Fine! Don't tell me then! See if I care!" Luffy yelled, apparently fed up with not being answered, and Ace flinched.

"It's not that Ace doesn't want to tell you, Lu. He just doesn't know how." Sabo spoke up. How long had he been awake?

"Well, why don't you start from the beginning? That's always a good place to start." Luffy said, sounding a little better when he knew he wasn't purposefully being excluded.

"It's not that easy, Luffy." Ace said gazing at his knees.

"Sure it is." Luffy said.

"How about you start with the thing you have yet to tell him?" Sabo suggested pointedly. He was trying to get Ace to apologize. Ace took a deep breath, and looked into Luffy's expectant eyes.

"Luffy…. I'm sorry." Ace said, and Luffy tilted his head in confusion.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Luffy asked.

"For letting this," Ace gestured to Luffy's wounds, "happen to you."

"Huh? But you didn't do that! The fishmen did!" Luffy frowned.

"But I let it happen! I was the one that left you with Usopp, and Kaya when I knew you were likely to run off! If I had put my hatred for Marco and Thatch aside for that one afternoon then I would've stopped you from getting on that ship!" Ace yelled, and Luffy's frown deepened.

"But I was the one that got on the ship. I let this happen to myself." Luffy said.

"No! I should've stopped you! I'm the one that messed up!" Ace tried to get Luffy to understand.

"I'm so confused." Luffy said, and appeared to be trying to piece everything together.

"He's upset because he convinced me to go with him, leaving you all alone." Sabo said, and Ace gave him a thankful look.

"Oh, is that all? Don't worry about that, Ace. Everything is all better now, and I even got Usopp to join my crew because of it!" Luffy said, his smile returning to his face. Ace face palmed when he heard that. How was it that Luffy got a future crewmate with every island they visited?

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me." Sabo said in an amused tone.

"Cheer up, Ace. Everything is fine now, and we're together again." Luffy said while pulling all three of them into a group hug. Somehow, Luffy managed to oversimplify the situation, and had proved to have long since forgiven Ace. Ace felt a warm feeling in his heart. What did he ever do to deserve a brother like Luffy?

"Now that that's settled, let's all get some sleep. We leave tomorrow." Sabo suggested once the hug was over.

"Right! Goodnight, Ace, Sabo!" Luffy said, and plopped back down into a lying position.

"Night." Ace and Sabo replied to at the same time.

Ace got into a comfortable position, and stared at the ceiling. Luffy always seemed to amaze him with his forgiving nature. He truly didn't deserve him, but there he was, regardless of all of Ace's flaws and shortcomings. Ace vowed then and there to make sure that Luffy was never in a position like that again because of him. He would also do his best to be a brother that Luffy deserved. He would reach those goals even if it cost him his life. Luffy was just that special.

XxXxXxXxX

"Bye everyone!" Luffy called out to the crowd of people that gathered to see them off.

Luffy, Ace, and Sabo had taken all of their belongings from the small boat, and brought them to the ship that they would take to meet Whitebeard in. Sabo had even taken down their Jolly Roger to hang up in their room. They were still the ASL Pirates after all. They were just sailing with friends until further notice.

"Goodbye, and thanks for all your help!" shouted Mr. Rutherford, Kaya's dad.

"Hey, Usopp! Don't forget that I'm coming back in ten years, so be ready for me! Okay?" Luffy yelled.

"Yeah! I'll be the greatest captain ever!" Usopp yelled back.

"I'm the captain, idiot!" Luffy yelled back.

"He'll be the best sniper ever!" Kaya corrected for him.

"Yeah!" the both of them shouted.

"Take care, everyone!" Thatch called, and the cheering started to fade as they drifted further away.

"Where are we going, Marco?" Luffy asked once he couldn't make out what the villagers were saying.

"To a sea restaurant called, The Baratie." Marco said, and Luffy got excited.

"Ace, Sabo, did you hear that?! We're going to a place with food!" Luffy cheered.

"That's great, Luffy." Sabo said with a smile.

"I bet they have better food than what Thatch can make." Ace said, and Luffy laughed at Thatch's annoyed groan.

"Yeah! I can't wait!"