Little Lady Slytherin - Here comes your update. However, I'm not sure when I'll get to upload next chapter. I have too much work and little time to actually write something; and when I finally have the time my mind is sudenly blank... = IT CAN TAKE EVEN 1 MONTH TILL NEXT CHAPTER! So sorry!
TheCaptainOfShip - The answer is... LIKE hell I tell you! That would be spoiler! xD So read and find out
leska - Of course I'll continue, but like I said already - it will be some time until I have next chapter...
Last time:
How could they think she was capable of killing her nakama?
"How the mighty have fallen. It seems that the blood of a demon will always make itself known." Luffy heard a familiar voice and turned her head to face the person.
He didn't even give her a chance to run as he punched her hard. Her last thoughts before blacking out went out to her nakama and her brothers.
Narrator's POV
Luffy slowly woke up; she felt like someone had made a punching bag out of her. She blinked her sleepiness away before she remembered. Thatch being stabbed. Her escape from the ship. The beach. Akainu.
When she looked at herself, she grimaced. They'd handcuffed her hands and ankles with thick sea-stone chains. Even if she was in her best condition, there would be no way for her to break it off.
The next thing she noticed was that her katana wasn't with her anymore.
"Listen, Luffy," Shanks said to the six year old, "A sword is the soul of every swordsman, so be sure to take care of it. I gave you one, and now you need to keep it safe. This one won't last much longer, but it's perfect for a beginner like you."
"Ehh?! But I don't want to be a swordsman! I wanna be a pirate!" The little girl exclaimed, and almost threw the sword away.
"Luffy, you can be both. And I'm gonna teach you how. It'll be fun!" the red-haired man laughed and patted her head.
Little Luffy swung her sword and Shanks dodged it, sticking his tongue out at her.
"If you're gonna fight like this, you won't ever hit me, Anchor!"
Luffy growled in annoyance and attacked again. This time, however, she had a plan. She raised her katana and moved for Shanks' side. As anticipated, he blocked it and sent her sword flying like every time before. This time, Luffy counted on it and went forward, fast as lightning. She kicked Shanks' legs from under him, which send him sprawling on the ground.
"What are you doing?! I'm trying to teach you swordsmanship, not brawling!" Shanks yelled, sitting up.
"Yes, you are. But I'm a pirate, and pirates don't fight fair. Besides, I fight like this better." She grinned at Shanks, who shook his head in exasperation.
"Whatever." The red-haired pirate begrudgingly agreed. This sent his crew, who had been watching on the sidelines, laughing like there was no tomorrow. It wasn't every day they found someone more stubborn than their captain.
"A little runt like you!? You would sooner impale yourself on that thing you call a sword than actually stab someone else!" Aokiji teased the girl as she pouted.
"I can too fight with it; Shanks taught me how! Just because I like fighting with my fists better, doesn't mean I can't use a katana."
"Holy hell! That brat took down 6 captains and 2 rear-admirals!"
"She's a demon; and she isn't even using that sword she has on her hip!"
"Look again. She just unsheathed it!"
The girl in question threw herself at another few marines. They consisted of two commodores and a vice-admiral, yet Luffy took them down with relative ease. It was partly due to her skills, but also due to the marines' arrogance in underestimating her.
The marines had been amazed when they saw her brawling skills, but watching her wield a sword, they were totally gobsmacked.
Memories ran through her head and she gritted her teeth. She may not have been a true swordsman and cared about her katana enough, but it bothered her, because Jiyu had been a present from Aokiji.
"Look who's awake." Akainu came through the door, looking down at Luffy. The girl was sitting on her knees behind sea-stone bars. Her clothes had tears in them, revealing scratches all over her body.
"You thought you could get away from me. How foolish of you. I'm going to make you tell me everything you've learned from those cowardly bastards." He had an expression of pure disdain on his face as Luffy glared at him.
"They are not cowards, and I won't tell you anything, no matter what you do to me!" Luffy spat at him in loathing.
"I'm going to break you, and I will enjoy every second of it."
Luffy glared at him, but didn't offer a reply.
"Take her out and bring her on board!" Akainu barked orders at the marines who guarded her. They immediately saluted and unlocked the cell.
Luffy struggled to stand up but failed, and the marines hauled her up, none too gently. She was led up the stairs, and when the door opened, she was blinded by light.
Akainu sat on a chair and Luffy was forced to kneel before him. However, she never stopped glaring.
"Let her go or you'll get burned." Akainu said, and activated his powers to press his hands on Luffy's bare flesh. The two marines instantly pulled away and went two steps back.
When Luffy felt her skin begin to melt she pressed her lips tighter, refusing to make a sound. She wouldn't give them that satisfaction. If anything, she wanted to laugh; they wouldn't hold her forever, her nakama wouldn't let them.
The meeting was a complete disaster. Not only did they fail to find out who had attacked Thatch, but Teach was now missing as well, making it impossible for the Whitebeards to question him. Some had changed their minds about Luffy being the attacker after that discovery. Marco felt like a failure. He was supposed to keep an eye on Teach so something like this wouldn't happen! Meanwhile, Ace and Sabo were chained to the mast so they couldn't run off to find Luffy. Whitebeard was, for once, not drinking, not since he found out that one of his children was traitor and a killer. The other commanders were similarly depressed.
"Thatch is awake!"
It was like someone flipped a switch. The mood did a one-eighty and everyone started yelling in glee. The poor nurse who brought the good news was completely surrounded by pirates and questioned about Thatch.
"Is he okay?!"
"He woke up?!
Everyone in the room shouted different questions, but once Marco spoke up, they quieted down.
"I thought he wasn't supposed to wake for another few days, yoi?"
"We thought so too. We really don't know how he managed to regain consciousness so quickly, but he wishes to talk to you and Pops and…" the nurse made a strange face before adding, "Just go see him." Marco nodded.
In the end, only Marco went with the nurse, as Pops had to keep the other commanders from storming the infirmary.
"Ah, Marco. How's the weather? The nurses don't want to let me out to feel sunshine on my skin." Thatch pouted at Marco, whose eye was twitching.
"Seriously yoi, we thought you were dead, and now you're cracking jokes?"
"Jeez, no 'Thatch we were worried' or 'Are you alright'? Mean pineapple…" Marco's first instinct was to slap Thatch upside his head; he hugged Thatch instead.
"Don't do that ever again. Do you know how much paperwork that would mean for me, yoi?"
"What? That's what you were worried about?!" Thatch yelled in mock anger and Marco chuckled.
Thatch then looked at the door, like he was expecting someone else to enter.
"Oh, right. Don't wait for Pops, he's making sure our brothers don't do anything crazy." Marco said with sigh of exasperation.
"And Luffy? I asked for you, Pops and Luffy." Thatch said in confusion, and Marco looked at him.
"Didn't Luffy stab you yoi?"
"Luffy? Like she could ever harm her nakama. That would go against everything she believes. Bad joke, man." He then noticed Marco's behavior. "Please tell me that was a joke, and you didn't really think Luffy did that to me." Thatch was almost begging.
"We didn't know what to think. We still don't know what to think, yoi. It was her word against Teach's, and before anything could get sorted out, the both of them vanished."
"Teach was the one who stabbed me! If anything, Luffy saved my life. She healed me, Marco!" Thatch was shaking the other, trying to get it through his thick skull.
"Tell me everything from the beginning."
Thatch finally calmed down at the sound of Marco's serious request and asked what happened from Marco's point of view. Marco told him about how he was with the D brothers when he heard the commotion and that Teach claimed that Luffy killed Thatch.
"That's not how it went. Luffy, she warned me when she saw Teach behind me, though I didn't react fast enough. I blacked out a little after that bastard stabbed me in the back, but when I opened my eyes again, she was kneeling over me and there was that silver light everywhere. She told me not to move and that she was trying to heal my wound, but she didn't know if she could do it. The only one she'd healed before was Sabo and Luffy had no idea how she did it, at least from what she told me."
"If she healed you, then why were you unconscious when we got to you yoi?" Marco looked at him, bewildered. 'How the hell did Luffy heal him?'
"Because healing takes a 'helluva lotta energy'; her words, not mine. I must have had to sleep off the rest of the damage. But Marco, you need to find her, I have a bad feeling about it."
"I'm going to talk with Pops yoi. He'll know where to go from here."
It had been two hours since they threw her back into the cell and Luffy hurt all over.
"Damn Bakainu. Couldn't he at least leave the guards here? It's soooo boring!" Luffy muttered to herself. "And I'm hungry! Ugh, I want meat! Can you hear me?! I'm hungry, bring me meat!" Strawhat yelled, but she didn't get a reply and huffed in irritation.
Suddenly, the door cracked open in the distance and Luffy could hear steps coming closer. When she could finally see the person, she blinked.
"Oi, what are you doing here? This is not a place for kids." Luffy scolded as Anika let out a gasp of horror upon seeing the raven-haired girl. Luffy had bruises all over her, some of the skin on her arms was charred, and her lips were bleeding, yet she was smiling like she was in no pain.
"How can you smile? How are you not screaming in pain?! I've never seen anyone hurt as you; you should be dead from those injuries!" the little girl screamed and tears pooled in her eyes.
"Why wouldn't I smile? They won't break me. I had worse than this, so calm down. Besides, you must have not seen many injured people, or you would know that this won't kill me," Luffy said with a gentle voice.
"Luffy, you don't deserve this. I know you're a pirate, but you're so kind, and you saved me. I'm going to help you out." Anika said with determination.
"NO!" Luffy yelled. "You can't! If you try anything, they'll throw you in a cell too, if not kill you first. They won't care who you are or that you're just a kid."
Anika looked terrified. However, she was set on saving Luffy. "Then I'll find your nakama. Please, Luffy. I can't just go back after seeing you like this!"
"…Alright then. In that case, could you do me a little favor? You see, my hat is a little singed and I don't want it damaged any further. Can you pass it to my friends?" Luffy slowly grabbed the hat and handed it to the other girl, who winced when she saw Luffy's wounds up close.
"Don't give up. We will save you. Your adventures aren't over yet. Besides, Ace and Sabo are waiting for you." Anika tried to cheer Luffy up.
"Ah, adventures. I still need to become Pirate king, don't I?" the two girls laughed, before Anika left to pass Luffy's message to her nakama.
Two people were circling the forest, but they couldn't find a lead on what they were looking for. They were slowly starting to get irritated about their lack of progress over the last three days, Zoro even more so than Robin.
"Swordsman-san, is there something troubling you? You seem a little off."
"It's nothing Robin. I just want to get away from these damned flowers. It's like we've been going in circles this whole time!" Zoro grumbled in annoyance, and Robin chuckled at his name-calling; really, who calls trees 'flowers'?
"However, would I be correct in assuming you have another reason for being anxious?" The archeologist asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"It's just a feeling I have. I think Luffy may be in trouble." Zoro mumbled, but Robin's eyes narrowed. Zoro and Luffy often operated on the same wave-length, having an instinct for the other's wellbeing. Robin was left uneasy by Zoro's reply.
"In that case, we should head back, to look for Luffy."
"What about the Poneglyph?"
"I'm beginning to suspect the rumors were false. Even if that isn't that case, we can come back later after checking on out Captain." Robin smiled and Zoro nodded, relaxing visibly.
He quickened his pace and turned left to get back to the Sunny.
"Zoro-san, you're going the wrong way." Robin deadpanned.
"I knew that!"
Everyone on the Moby Dick felt immensely guilty about not believing in Luffy, her brothers being the worst off. One could feel the depression rolling off the ship in waves. After Marco relayed Thatch's side of the story, Whitebeard changed their course back to the island. It was the most likely place where Luffy would be. Many of the pirates were terrified of breaking the news to the rest of the Strawhats. They all knew how over-protective Luffy's nakama could be.
"We're getting close to Hand Island," said Namur, entering the navigation room. "You should rest, Sabo, or you're going to drop dead before you can find Luffy."
Sabo tried to smile. "Just one more minute, Namur." Sabo replied to his crewmate, who frowned.
"Not a minute more. We won't get lost without you, you know. The people in this room are navigators as well. Most of them have guided this ship even longer then you've been alive."
Sabo glared at Namur who chuckled, but nodded and went to his room.
When he reached his cabin. He was surprised to find Ace sitting on Sabo's bed, slouching.
"Ace, what are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad I see you, but you've spent the last few days holed up in your room, refusing to talk with anyone. Including me."
Ace looked at Sabo, unamused at his attempt to lighten the mood. He sighed heavily and then stared up at ceiling.
"Do you think she'll forgive us?"
Sabo raised his eyebrows at his brother, before he seriously thought about Ace's question.
"Yes. It's Luffy. She will always forgive us. I'm more worried about whether we deserve her forgiveness," Sabo replied, and sat on the other side of the bed.
Ace didn't react at first, sitting in silence for a few minutes before letting out a humorless laugh.
"How could we even think that Luffy would betray us? I should have stopped her from vanishing. Now she might be in the hands of an Admiral, for all I know! Why couldn't I have listened to my heart instead of believing what was in front of me?! Logic doesn't apply to Luffy, everyone knows that!" Ace yelled and didn't care that the whole ship had probably heard him.
When Ace stopped, the room was left in awkward silence. Sabo contemplated the other's response.
"We." Sabo said and at Ace's confused glance he added: "It's not 'I should have stopped her' but 'we'.I… hell, even Marco, we knew Luffy wouldn't do something like that, yet we didn't do a thing!"
Ace abruptly stood up and went to the door, while Sabo watched him, startled.
"Where are you going?"
"We lost Luffy once. I refuse to lose her again. I'm going to look for her. With Striker, I'll get on the island before anyone else!" Ace exclaimed, and Sabo instantly blocked his path.
"I won't let you go! I know you want to save her; we all do. But we can't just go to the island without back-up when we know there's an Admiral nearby. It's too dangerous, and it could put Luffy in even more danger! Besides, you think you're the only one feeling this way?! I love her too!"
"Then let me go Sabo!"
"No!" Sabo answered, refusing to step aside for Ace.
The other gritted his teeth at Sabo's reply and all the frustration he felt at the loss of Luffy, at their nakama turned traitor, and at Thatch almost dying, resurfaced at the same time, and he punched Sabo.
The ex-noble was shocked at Ace's reaction and didn't dodge soon enough. However, Sabo wasn't about to get beaten, so he fought back. They both punched each other again and again. It wasn't something like a fight, or even a brawl. It was like two feral beasts trying to kill each other.
After a minute or two they both collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. Both were breathing deeply, with busted lips and new bruises.
"Do you… feel better… now?" Sabo wheezed out, and Ace hummed in agreement.
"Y-yeah, what… about you?" Ace replied when he caught his breath.
"Me too…guess we just needed to release some steam, hmm…?" Sabo said and then looked at Ace. "Sorry about the black eye, though."
Ace chuckled. "Nah, I can see I gave you one as well, so we're even. Luffy, though, would probably laugh really hard if she could see us now."
The two were laying side-by-side and finally felt a little more relaxed. They grinned cheekily at the thought of Luffy, because no matter what would happen, they were going to get her back and apologize.
"Ace?" Sabo asked and Ace looked at him, inches separating their lips. This time Ace didn't hesitate like he might have before, and closed the distance between them.
The kiss was chaste at first, before it turned passionate. Both boys fought for dominance, neither winning. Their hands were searching for naked skin and they were moaning in pleasure.
They rolled over, so Sabo was on top, and he didn't waste his time. He left Ace's mouth to kiss his neck and then went lower, his hand playing with nipples, the other on the hem of Ace' shorts.
Ace moaned again before he switched their positions again. Along the way, they bumped a table and something broke, not that either of them cared. They were far too gone in their pleasure.
Ace, once on top, kissed Sabo's earlobe before gently sucking it. Sabo moaned and arched his back. The motion also caused their crotches to touch, which sent both of them moaning even louder.
"Sensitive much?" Ace managed to pant, and Sabo growled.
"Shut up!" Before anything could be said after that, there was a knock on the door.
"Ace!? Sabo?!" Both of them froze before the door flew open.
Izo, Thatch and Marco marched in and their eyes widened at the two boys before the three separated the brothers.
"I know you're in a bad mood, but you won't solve anything by killing each other!" Izo scolded them, and the two looked confused at each other.
"We heard the yelling and crashing," Thatch added. "It wasn't that hard to figure out you were fighting. Besides the busted lips and black eyes are giving you away."
The two brothers finally understood what their nakama thought had happened, which they were partly right about, and started laughing. That confused the commanders, but they quickly shook their heads and sighed. They would never understand the D's.
"Nah, we're okay now." Ace said to them. The three left the room, shaking their heads, but not before Marco told them to clean the mess they made.
Ace and Sabo were left in silence and started cleaning the room, their mood lighter than before. Only then did Sabo remember what Ace had told him.
"She would laugh, wouldn't she?" Sabo's smile was real this time, for the first time in three days.
I know this isn't probably what you expected from this chapter, but at least I gave you some AceSabo fluff, so please don't hate.