Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, i'm back. I was discouraged when no one reviewed my last chapter, but not that i blame you. It was pretty random. But this one is too, but it doesn't hurt to review. But, i've also been busy with stuff at school and things too. I started watching other animes during my wait for the recent episodes of One Piece to be subbed CORRECTLY. So, i hope you enjoy this chapter. Oh yea, once again, any spelling mistakes please tell me. I caught most of them myself already.

EDIT: I spelled "Tashigi"'s name wrong the first time. XD Sorry.

" " - Dialogue

' ' - Thoughts

OoOoO - Scene Change

Chapter 15

"What?" yelled Luffy, shocked and enraged at the same time. He ran down to Shanks and grabbed him by the shirt. "What happened to him?" he yelled again. Shanks gently jerked off his hands and placed his own on Luffy's sholder, feeling him shudder.

"Don't worry so much. He's still alive, but hurt badly," he remarked, not helping the situation much. Terin stood where she was, stunned at the information, and speechless. Luffy stood there in front of Shanks and began sniffling, trying not to cry. Tashigi proceeded down the stairs to try and comfort him to no avail.

"Well," began Terin as she made her way down the stairs, "there's only one thing left to do. We'll have to go see him now." Luffy looked up towards at his friend, though her eyes were in their usual blank expression. He turned and gave her a hug, quickly letting go since he didn't know why he hugged her.

"Can we Shanks?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. He nodded and the three went to the car. Tashigi watched as they left, worried about Ace and what Luffy's reaction would be.

The car ride there was silent except for the car engine and rushing wind. Terin sat staring out the window, occationally glancing at Luffy to see what he was doing. He sat with his feet on the seat, knees bent, and his chin rested on them. She wanted to comfort him, but she knew it would be useless.

As soon as they made it to the hospital, Luffy jumped out of the car and rushed into the building. He stopped at the reception desk, asked where Ace's room was, and rushed up the flight of stairs to the 3rd level. After nearly knocking down two doctors while running, he made it to Ace's recovery room. He stood panting, hesitent to open the door.

"Ace," he whispered. He slowly lifted his hand, reached for the handle, gently turned it and opened the door. He saw his brother, laying with his right eye shown while the other was bandaged. Luffy walked into the room, his eyes wide with terror for he didn't want to believe this was real.

"Ace," he said, his voice choking up. He bit his lower lip to keep from crying, but it didn't stop the tears. He kneeled down and rested his arms on the bed next to his brother. He listened contently to the monitor beep, and his brother's heart faintly beat.

"Luffy, there you are," said a familiar voice. He turned around and saw Terin at the door. She came in as well, followed shortly by Shanks, who was apologizing to the staff. Ace's one eye opened and he glaced over at his teary eyed sibling.

"Hey," he weakly commented. "What are you doing here?" Luffy, surprised his brother woke up, couldn't help but feel a burst of joy. He shot up and hugged his brother. Ace winced in pain, his face extreamly contorted. But it seemed to heal quickly as he wrapped his bandaged arms around his brother.

Terin stood a distance, watching as the two stayed embraced. She noticed his pain no matter how hard he tried to hide it. She tried to understand why he'd put up with that even with all the pain, but she just couldn't lay her finger on it.

"Luffy, I think you're hurting your brother," noted Shanks. He quickly let go of his grip and beamed at Ace. Ace patted his brother on the head when he noticed Terin was also in the room. He narrowed his eye a little and turned back to his brother.

"I'm a bit thirsty. Will you go ask the nurse for a glass of water for me?" he requested. Luffy shot right up and ran out the door in search for a nurse.

" I better go and make sure he doesn't end up staying here too," mentioned Shanks as he left. The door shut and only the two of them were in the room. Terin made her way to the bed and leaned against the wall by it. Both of them were silent while all was heard was the constant beeping of the heart monitor.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" asked Terin, breaking the silence. Ace glanced up at her, and smiled.

"I just wanted to thank you in private," he answered, staring back at the white walls. She bunched her eye brows in confusion.

"What have I done to deserve this thanks?" she asked, running her hand through the short hair on her head. Ace laughed, a short laugh that confused her even more.

"For taking care of my brother of course. And also… for something else," he added, lowering his voice. Terin glanced in interest as he continued. "You helped him in more ways than others. When he gets home, he doesn't just ask about me anymore. He tells stories about what he's done at school, and with the rest of you guys. Especially you." Terin blushed and looked the other way, but Ace was more clever than that.

"Are… are you just saying that?" she asked, a bit intrigued. Ace heaved a deep sigh and answered, "Nope. He really does. Why lie when it's so clear what is there?" She turned her head as the door opened up again. Luffy was dragged in by Shanks while a nurse came with a pitcher of water.

"Sorry. I got in trouble with some big looking guy in a white suit. He looked really scary, so I started to run but ran into a couple of things," he explained, rubbing his sore head. Ace laughed as Terin looked back at him, thinking of what Ace meant.

'That can't be it. That'll never be the answer. Not for me…" she thought.

OoOoOoOoO (A week later…)

"Ace! Are you sure about this?" asked his paranoid brother, Luffy. Everyone was at the airport today for Ace had to go to America for further medical treatment. He laughed again and pat his brother on the head.

"Don't worry so much. This isn't the brother I used to wrestle with until he tried to really hurt me," he playfully added. Luffy pouted, but laughed along anyway. Terin stood away from them, watching the busy crowds pass by. Shanks spoke to Luffy about something as Ace slowly limped over to Terin.

"Well, I guess this is good-bye for me," he said light-heartedly. Terin remarked, "it's not like you're going to be going to the after life. There'll be a way to contact you, right?" He laughed, shortly stopping from the pain in his chest.

"I think it won't be bad to leave Luffy in your hands then," he added. "I trust you with my little bro. Take care of him for me, like you have been." Terin slowly nodded, not entirely sure if she really understood what was happening. He patted her on the back, leaned in, and kissed her on the cheek. Terin pulled away, blushing as she held a hand to where he kissed her.

"Just something to remember me by," he snickered as he left to join Shanks. Luffy shared one last hug with the both of them before they left through the gates. He ran to the window and stood waiting, but Terin didn't mind. After a few minutes, the plane took off. He watched it go until he couldn't even see it as a dot anymore.

"Luffy, we should be getting back. Tashigi is waiting in the car," she said, placing a hand on his shoulders. He reluctently pulled away from the window and followed her outside. They stood on the sidewalk, waiting for Tashigi to pull by through the traffic.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking at his feet. Terin glanced at him, and smiled a bit. She turned him around torwards her, and looked into his eyes.

"There's nothing to apologize about. Just study for the exams we have next week and brighten up, alright?" she said playfully. He smiled his unique, wide smile and agreed.

Yes, stupid ending i know, but the chapter was long enough anyway to add more to it. It was already random enough, too. See? i'm even putting down my own work! Well, i'd really appreciate it if you'd review this one, since i recently got out of my creative block. I literally could not do ANYTHING requiring creative thinking... including drawing, writing, and other random activities. BAH. end of rambling.