Disclaimer : I claim no rights to the anime One Piece.

"Memory is a child walking along a seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things." - Pierce Harris.

Chapter Seven : Wind Waves.

Antaeus grunted as he used the crutch to step down the small set of stairs, wincing when the movement jarred his broken arm. He could definitely see the next couple of weeks being a pain in the ass.

"Sure you don't need any help?" Sabo asked, leaning against the handrail. "It's no shame in asking-"

"I'm fine." Antaeus sighed heavily as his sandaled feet hit the sand. "If I start depending on you or Drake then I'll never get around on my own."

"Get around on your own?" Drake echoed, coming towards him and laying a steady hand on his arm. "Where do you think you're going to go with that bad ankle and arm?"

"Where do you think I'm going to go?" Antaeus hobbled forward, secretly grateful for Drake's strong body behind him. "I'm going to work and the beach-"

"You can't be serious?" Sabo graced him with an amused look. "Do you honestly think that Robin is going to let you do anything with your injuries?"

"Well, no," Antaeus sulked. "But I can at least check-out books for the little ones. She'll let me do that, won't she?" when neither Sabo or Drake replied, he sighed in despair. "She's not going to let me do a damn thing is she?"

"Nope."

"I'm afraid not."

Groaning, Antaeus hobbled along, making sure to keep his injured ankle away from the sand. He didn't feel like going back to Kureha to have it re-bandaged.

"Come on now, don't sulk." Sabo raced ahead of him, turning and walking backwards. "There's plenty to do around here."

"Oh? Like what?" Antaeus snickered when Sabo suddenly looked hesitant and sheepish. "Yeah, I thought so. It's not going to hurt to convince Robin to let me work while I heal. I mean, what's the worst can happen?"

"You could get injured again." Drake responded flatly. "Robin is very capable of kicking any grown man's ass."

"It's true." Sabo put in. "It happened to me."

Antaeus stopped, they were only down the road from Robin's house at this point and he was quickly tiring out. That did not stop him from asking what he wanted.

"What did you do?"

"I got a little hands on when Robin and I first met." Sabo looked embarrassed and Antaeus didn't blame him. He would be too if he got his ass kicked so soundly.

"You should have seen it, Antaeus." Drake chuckled heartily. "Kureha had to patch him up from his head down to his feet. That beating was well deserved."

"I'm through talking about this." Sabo huffed, jerking a thumb in the direction of Robin's home. "Let's get you back to Robin so I can sulk in peace."

"Can you make it okay, Antaeus?" Drake asked, laying a hand on his elbow. "I can carry you."

"I'm fine, Drake." Antaeus grinned. "I'm not a maiden that needs to be carried, you know."

Sabo clapped his hands gaining his and Drake's attention. "By the way, Kureha wanted us to interrogate you."

"Interrogate me? About what?"

"About your memories." Drake responded softly. "She wanted us to ask if you remembered anything during the incident with Blackbeard."

"I don't remember anything." Antaeus lied, hobbling down the dirt road leading to his temporary home. "Why would I?"

"The fact that you're getting angry suggests that you did remember something." Sabo stated running in front of him and halting his advance. "You don't have to tell us, but it would be best if you talk to someone about it."

"You mean Robin or Kureha." Antaeus snorted bitterly. "I don't mean to sound like an ass but I don't want to talk about it. Not now. It's something I want to keep private."

"We understand." Drake soothed. "Just know that we're here for you, okay?"

"Okay."

Like Sabo and Drake predicted, Robin barred him from the library and prevented him from doing anything except for the light exercises Kureha told him to do. Sitting here and doing nothing at all drove him up the wall, but Robin remained steadfast and even threatened bodily injury if he didn't stop complaining.

So, he sat on the patio in the backyard and watched the waves of Robin's private beach. He wouldn't deny that the peacefulness of his situation gave him the time to think about his memory, which at times made him angry, sad and weary. It also gave him the opportunity to think about Marcellus who was showing up more and more as time drifted by. Thinking about Marcellus so much made him think he was turning into a girl with a huge crush. That was a bad comparison, but it was close enough.

Adjusting himself on the small bench, Antaeus breath skipped as images flashed before his eyes again.

It was warm and sunny, the seagulls were flying above and the waves were crashing against the ship gently. Antaeus found himself watching a scene that including himself and Marcellus.

Marcellus went down on one knee, holding a box in his hand. "Will you marry me?"

"Marry you?"

"Yeah, marry me."

Antaeus stared down at Marcellus, gaping. "Y-You want me marry you? Where in the world would we get married?"

Marcellus grinned, mischievous and bright. "Don't worry! I'll find the place where they'll marry the Pirate King and his shipwright."

"Oh?" Antaeus grinned. "You want to marry, Franky? I mean, if you want to then that's great! He's very handsome."

"Please. Stop. No more."

Laughter rang out throughout the ship, happy, sad, and excited all at once. "Yes, I'll marry you."

"-teaus! Antaeus!"

Gasping, Antaeus looked up into Robin's concerned dark blue eyes. "R-Robin?" he looked around, he was still sitting out on the patio. "W-What..?"

"I think you were having a memory flash." Robin took a seat next to him, laying a hand on his knee. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"N-No, I-I-I." Antaeus took a deep breath. "It was him, Robin. It was him."

"It was who?" Robin leaned closer, curiously. "Who did you see?"

Antaeus shook his head, tears rapidly rolling down his cheeks. "My husband, I saw my husband." he chuckled bitterly. "And the bastard is a pirate!"

Baterilla, Ace decided, was homey and small as hell. The people were wary, but openly polite with him as he looked around. He didn't blame them for acting suspiciously toward him. From the looks of it, Baterilla was just raided or was on the verge of being raided. He didn't have the guess this was why the marines were lingering around.

Ruffling his hair, Ace stopped by a small cafe, waving a waitress to him as he took a seat in the white chair. Setting his pack down, he reached into his pocket and brought out a picture of Luffy. He rubbed the glossy finish of the picture and smiled. He remembered the day he took this, they had just finished coming back from the New World and it was a bonus that it was their anniversary.

"Sorry for the wait! What can I get you?"

"Just a beer and a steak, medium done." Ace held up a picture to the waitress. "You wouldn't happen to have seen this man before, would you?"

The blonde-haired waitress leaned down to take a closer look. "Oh, he's the guy that was on the shore three weeks ago."

"Three weeks ago?" Ace pulled the picture back. "Are you sure it was him?"

"Yeah, the whole town was talking about it. Dr. Kureha took care of him. Poor guy."

Ace took a deep breath to calm the excitement racing through his veins. He couldn't believe it. Luffy was here. Luffy was really, truly here. Appetite forgotten, Ace rose from the chair and pulled out a few thousand beri, placing it in the waitress hands.

"Thank you, do you know where Dr. Kureha is?"

"Oh," the waitress pointed down a stone road. "Her small hospital is right up that hill. Be careful, she's a willy one."

"Thank you." Ace bowed deeply. "I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, I suppose he means something to you?"

"Yes," Ace rose and touched the necklace with his and Luffy's wedding rings. "He means everything to me."