Cinnamon-Fudg3 - I can't help but to involve Marco. I love him. At first I wanted to pair Luffy with him, but I made decision for him to be big brother for her instead. Maybe next time... :) Glad you love it and I had lovely weekend, thaks for aksing. What yout you?

mugiwarafan1 - I sure hope it's cool, this is part of my soul you're reading :D Like I said updates should be every Saturday, thought now I have little writer's block and have problems with finishing chapter 26 :(

Kouzoi Chisei - Thanks a bunch for making me aware of it. I already put in the right chapter, so I hope there're no more complaints :) Thanks again.

Last time:

"As I mentioned already, Roronoa Zoro has defeated me. This makes him my successor, and now the title 'Greatest Swordsman' belongs to him," Mihawk added.

"Ah, whatever… I'm hungry. Sanji! Meat!" I cried out and headed toward Sunny's kitchen.

Sanji followed on my heels, sniggering. "Right on it. I was wondering when you were going to ask."

Luffy' POV

"Oi, Luffy! Can you come here?" yelled a voice from outside. I was currently sitting in the kitchen and cleaning the plates (of food), but on hearing that, I made my way curiously onto Moby Dick to see what the fuss was about.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUFFY!" howled the pirates as soon as I was on board.

"W-What?" I stuttered out, my brain completely frozen from surprise.

"We promised you a party once we were all together. How could we not include your brothers as well?" Zoro said casually, already chugging down a bottle of sake.

"Besides, the Whitebeards turning down a party? It's unheard of…" added Haruta, receiving nods of agreement.

"That's right. But really, we're doing this because you're our troublemaking little sister!" chuckled Thatch, and started gesturing at me to come closer to a large object covered by a cloth. He pulled it off to reveal...

"And what birthday party would it be if we didn't have a cake?" he said, as he presented the monstrous mountain he called a cake, but it looked really delicious to the point that I started drooling.

"Now wish for something and blow out the candles, yoi!" voiced out Marco with a small smile.

I quickly did so. "Okay, the candles are out. Let's eat!" I roared loudly, to make sure everyone knew the party was starting.

"Hai, hai." Thatch ignored the howls of agreement and sliced the cake, dividing it between my crew and the commanders. The others had their own cakes, but this one was only for us, specially made by Sanji and Thatch.

"So, what did you wish for?" Ace asked me, and I smiled mischievously.

"If I say it aloud, it won't come true. That's what they say, isn't it? Don't you want for my wish to come true?" I replied to him, teasing.

Ace immediately started shaking his head. "Of course I want your wish come true," he smiled.

I smiled back, albeit sadly, and muttered, "But even then if I keep quiet, it won't come true."

Ace's POV

After I answered Luffy, her mood turned sour and she said something. I only managed to catch 'it won't come true'. I wondered what the wish is, for her to think so negatively. Luffy was, after all, a very happy-go-lucky girl.

I was then dragged over to the food by Sabo, making me forget my thoughts.

That night, we feasted and drank. Some people gave Luffy her gifts. (Sabo and I didn't; we wanted to give her our presents when the three of us were alone.) There was dancing, singing, duels, and bets. And laughter, of course, lots of it. Everyone was simply having a good time.

It was close to midnight when Sabo got my attention, and we finally went to give our presents to Luffy.

I was getting nervous, not knowing if she'd like our present. Sabo and I thought it was a great idea at the time, but now I was starting to doubt myself.

We found her at the bow of the ship. She was leaning against the railing, talking quietly with Marco. Sabo hesitated for a moment, but I started to drag him over to them before I could change my mind.

"Ace, Sabo. You're still awake? I thought you would have passed out by now, yoi," Marco murmured softly and we glared at him. He chuckled. "Alright, I'll leave you guys alone to talk. Good night, Luffy." He turned on his heel and left.

I was nervous, but that didn't stop me from giving Marco a glare; what were they talking about? Why were they even alone in the first place?

"What brings you here? The last time I checked, Ace was doing some weird dance and Sabo was in a drinking contest." Luffy said, looking at the sea.

"We're here to wish you a Happy Birthday as well." Sabo answered with a gentle smile.

"Also, we wanted to give you your presents." I added with a grin.

"You didn't have to get me anything," she said, still gazing at the ocean.

"We didn't have to, but we wanted to. What kind of brothers would we be if we didn't get our little sister presents for her birthday?" Sabo chuckled. "We each have a present for you, but they belong together."

I handed her my gift first. Luffy ripped the paper off and looked at the box, slowly opening it. Her face was priceless, she looked so bewildered… and was she blushing?

"This is a ring. Are you asking me to marry you?" Luffy asked, head tilted cutely to one side. I started blushing hard.

"W-what? N-no, of course not!" I vehemently denied, but my mind was already providing me with images of Luffy in a wedding dress, looking like an angel that descended from heaven; I blushed harder, which I didn't know was possible. "I mean. If we were to marry, then we would have to love each other." I sputtered out finally.

Luffy looked devastated and said in a small voice, "You don't love me?"

"What?! No, of course I love you, as my sister. But to marry you, I would have to like you more," I said, trying to calm Luffy down.

"So you love me, but you don't love me enough to marry me?" Luffy said, somehow managing to say it like I had betrayed her.

"No, I wouldn't say that. It's just a different kind of love. It's about relationships, spending your life together and…" this wasn't helping, so I just blurted out, "romance, it's about romance."

Strangely Luffy perked up, hearing this. "You mean that if we three married then we would have to have sex. That kind of love?" Luffy said bluntly, and shit, I almost had a nosebleed just thinking about what she said.

"That kind of love," confirmed Sabo, before voicing, "Three?"

"You said your gifts belonged together, so I thought you were asking me as well."

I blinked. The three of us together? That would be… *smack* I hit myself, to stop thinking about this.

Then Sabo had to make it worse. "What do you know about s-sex exactly, Luffy?" At first I wanted to punch him for asking Luffy, but he was right; her thinking may have been completely different from the truth.

"Robin told me." she said and I growled, how dare she corrupt our adorable Luffy! "I asked her after I walked in on Zoro with Sanji. I've walked in on men and women having sex before, but after seeing those two, I asked her because I was curious."

Scratch that, not just Robin, but also painfully torture the 'marimo' and the 'love-cook'. Very, very slowly and painfully. I had a nasty grin on my face. I looked over at Sabo. He looked calm enough, his arms crossed and eyes closed as if in thought. But I could tell from the tic on his forehead that he was just as pissed.

"Okay, so if it isn't an engagement ring, it's just a ring?" asked Luffy curiously, completely disregarding our dark auras.

"I guess you can say it like that. Now look open Sabo's and I'll explain," I said to her, glad for the change in conversation.

"Okay, so a ring and chain." Luffy said, showing them to us.

"Yes, we first noticed the ring. It's the same silver and red your wings are colored, but you don't seem like the type to wear rings like that. That's where the chain comes in," Sabo explained.

"We bought the chain so you can wear the ring on it. We didn't really know what else to buy. We just knew that we wanted something that you can always have with you, so that even if we're far away from each other, you'll have something we gave you," I added.

It was true. She had that old straw hat from Shanks that she wore all the time. We wanted to give her something she could treasure as well.

The ring was plain silver without any gems in it, but had scarlet red designs around the band. It was very simple, but it fit her angel form.

The chain was… well, a chain, not too thick and not too thin. It was silver and red as well, and went well together with the ring. And it was perfect for Luffy.

"Well, if you don't like it, we can always return it and give you meat," Sabo teased, already making a grab at the jewelry.

"NO, I love it! Thank you, it's perfect." Luffy said and hugged us.

She unclasped the chain and strung the ring on. Then she turned her back to me and asked me to clasp it together.

She held the chain lovingly. Turning back to us, she gave both of us a peck on cheek, murmuring 'thank you' once again.

"We're just glad you like it," Sabo said for the both of us.

I stared at her. She looked beautiful in the moonlight with that happy expression. My gaze found her lips and it was hard not to kiss her, but I couldn't. If I did then she would hate me or be disgusted with me; we were siblings! Well, not by blood, but we still called each other 'brother' and 'sister'.

"I don't like it. I love it!" she said correcting Sabo's statement and spun around, so she was facing Sabo. Their faces just inches from each other. If one of them moved just a little, they would be kissing.

For some reason I found this strangely arousing, the thought of the two making out. I stood transfixed, not moving a muscle, waiting for them to do something.

"SABO!" yelled a girlish voice. The two jumped from each other. I jumped as well, surprised by the yell.

Luffy's POV

I turned my head and ended up with my face really close to Sabo, our lips almost touching. If I tilted my head a bit, we would be kissing.

We stared in each other's eyes, neither one moving. Our breath mixed and I shivered. Sabo noticed. His eyes darted to my lips and my breath hitched. Sabo's muscles tensed, and the look in his eyes changed, like he wanted to devour me.

He was about to kiss me and I was going to let him. Of course I would let him.

"SABO!" We instantly jumped from each other. I blushed. I sneaked glances at Sabo and Ace who were blushing just as hard.

I didn't have more time to think about it when some brown-haired girl glomped Sabo. "Koala?! What are you doing here?" Sabo asked, stunned.

The girl didn't answer. She simply started making out with Sabo. This was… Sabo's girlfriend? I felt tears pricking my eyes. It was foolish to think he might have feelings for me. Him or Ace. I would always be their little sister, nothing more.

I thought back to what had almost happened and I internally cursed. I really had the feeling that he would kiss me, but how foolish I was. I just saw what I wanted to see.

I didn't want to watch the girl together with Sabo any longer. I didn't want my brothers to see me like this. I wasn't about to tell them that I loved them both more than I should.

I unfolded my wings and quickly flew away, my heart hurting and tears freely falling down.

Ace's POV

"You know her?" I asked skeptically. He had never told me anything about her, and she acted way too familiarly to be just some friend.

Before Sabo replied, he and Koala became lip locked to each other. My mouth dropped open. What the hell?! He was only seconds from kissing Luffy and now this?

I paled. Luffy. I didn't know what emotions to expect from her. Whether she would be completely oblivious to what had almost happened between her and Sabo, whether she would be angry, or heartbroken, or…

Luffy wasn't standing there. She was gone. I looked wildly around, but I didn't manage to even get glance of her.

"Sabo, I missed you!" the female piped.

"Koala, what the fuck?!" Sabo wore a stunned expression as he yelled at her. He touched his lips and I had to keep myself from hitting him or, better yet, the brown-haired brat.

"Ah, come on, Sabo. You were more fun than this." Koala pouted and I stood dumbstruck, not knowing what to do.

"Yes, but you can't just go and kiss me!" Sabo yelled exasperated.

"Don't act like it's your first kiss."

Sabo didn't answer right away. "What? Are you telling me you've never kissed anyone before?" She laughed. "Sorry, if I had known that was your first, I wouldn't have done it. Besides, I just came to say 'hi'. I was close by because I have a mission from Dragon in this area," she said, finally answering Sabo's first question.

"I see. Right, Koala, this is Ace and Luffy," he said, gesturing to my fuming form and the place where Luffy had been standing a while ago. Then he froze, looking like deer caught in the headlights.

"Shit, Luffy, it's not what it looks like!" he quickly defended himself. "…Luffy? Where is Luffy?" he asked with dread, not seeing her anywhere.

"Obviously not here." I growled.

"Ace, where is she?"

"Who knows. I'm going after her. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll be able to find her." I said and walked away, my posture stiff.

I didn't know what we were to Luffy, or if she liked us romantically. But it was easy to say that Sabo and I liked her more than brothers should. And now I couldn't find her, just my passed out crewmates.

I even tried to ask Marco if he had any idea where she could be, but he only told me places where I already looked. I gritted my teeth. This wasn't going well.

Luffy's POV

I flew to Boa's ship. I didn't want to risk Sabo or Ace finding me, not before I could get my emotions under control and act like my normal self.

"Luffy, what are you doing here?" asked Hancock as soon as I was standing on the ship. I looked at her and went to hug her, hiding my face in her shoulder.

"Don't ask. Just leave me like this for a minute. Please." I mumbled into her. I could feel her nod. She tried to calm me by stroking my hair. I had to admit it was working.

"Thanks, Hancock," I said to her and pulled away.

"You're welcome. Wait, you called me Hancock," she said, bewildered.

I ignored the last part. "Why does it hurt so much?" I quietly murmured. I wasn't crying anymore, but my heart still ached.

"Did someone hurt you?" Boa asked, enraged.

"Not intentionally. I was just foolish to feel that way about them," I answered her. "Can we not speak about it?" My question was quiet, but Hancock heard and promised not to ask anymore.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at your party?" asked Hawky, coming on board with Jimbei.

"I just left there. Why are you here instead of Moby?" I was wondering.

"It was getting boring as almost everyone is out cold by now." said Jimbei.

"Here you go." Hawky handed me something wrapped. I looked at it curiously.

"What is it?"

"This is what you left at Mariejois. Kuzan had me promise to give this to you," he replied and I instantly unwrapped it, knowing what was inside.

I started smiling brightly. It was a katana, its length about 65 cm. The katana was kokuto, a black-colored blade. The hilt was simple, without any gems or decorations. The only carving was on the blade, where her name was written; Jiyu.

"Yes, I was afraid I would never get it back, so I asked uncle to deliver it to me later." I made a few swings with the katana. "Her name is Jiyu, otherwise known as Freedom. Isn't she amazing?"

"I didn't know you could fight with a sword." Jimbei said. Hawky studied the sword. He liked what he saw, if the glint in his eyes was any indication.

"I can. When Shanks and I met, I persuaded him to teach me. I was only six that time, but once Shanks was drunk enough he agreed to my request. The last time we saw each other, you didn't see me with a sword because my last one shattered. Uncle gave me a new one on my birthday, but I never had the chance to try her."

"How about a fight? I would like to know how she sings as well." Hawky asked me, and I gladly accepted.

"You two are going to fight? Even if Luffy isn't a swordsman, this will be a breathtaking duel," Hancock informed Jimbei.

That night I fought with Hawky. We didn't aim for to see who would win, we just tested each other.

Boa asked me again to marry her, but I said no, as always, and tried to explain that I liked her like a sister. It was ironic. Someone who loved me, I only loved as a sister, and the ones I loved, only saw me as their sister.

Jimbei was shocked when he heard Hancock asking that question. Hawky was already used to it and merely looked bored.

After we talked, we went to sleep. Boa rented me a room on her ship, and I fell asleep almost instantly. I had a nice, dreamless night.

Narrator's POV

The morning after the party was slow, as almost everyone had a huge hangover. In the galley, even the commanders' table was quiet and that was very rare. Most pirates were, after all, already used to drinking.

Marco was reading a newspaper. Thatch and Haruta are talking in hushed tones, not wanting to bother the others, or perhaps planning new pranks. Sabo and Ace looked like they hadn't gotten a wink of sleep; there was also a brown-haired cutie, who wasn't part of either the Whitebeards or the Strawhats.

"And who you might be dear? I don't believe we've met." Izo asked her.

"I'm Koala, one of Sabo's friends."

Sabo nodded and said "Right. Koala, this is Izo, Marco, Thatch, and Haruta."

Thatch blinked. "What's with you, Sabo? You and Ace look like you had your heart crushed. And where is Luffy? Aren't you guys always with her?"

The two brothers started to look even more depressed. Izo's eyes narrowed. "What happened?"

"I wish I knew," Sabo said, but it was obvious he wasn't telling the complete truth.

"Oi, guys!" yelled Fossa from the doors, preventing the commanders from questioning the brothers further. "Come here, there's someone you'll to see!" Everyone in the galley went out, wondering what the commotion was about.

"Hey guys, it's nice to be back." yelled the tall person.

"Teach! You're back!" They welcomed him back with a smile, and no one noticed the way Marco stiffened.

Ha, I don't know if I should feel proud of myself or not. Either way from now on, things should get more heated. Can't wait how everything ends, I hope I don't get stuck with writing anti-climactic ending. It happens a lot, cool story and then totally boring end. So wish me luck and let me know what you thought :D