Got most of chapter 11 written out so I thought I'd update! :D This chapter there's a bit of overlap, just to warn you :) It's necessary, though. Feel free to drop a review~

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece. Nope.

A loud grumble came from Luffy's stomach. Almost on instinct, he headed into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge door, searching the inside for something to quell his hunger. When he was met with nothing but empty, white shelves and a container of half-rotted pasta he groaned, face falling into his infamous pout. As usual he was hungry and, as usual, there was nothing to eat. Oh how he hated being poor.

He shut the fridge with a heavy, depressed sigh and dragged himself over to the kitchen table, plopping down on one of the chairs and dropping his head onto its wooden surface. He needed a job—badly. Sadly his record hadn't been so good for the past while; he kept getting fired within the first sixteen days. It wasn't his fault his employers kept leaving him alone with their food! What did they expect would happen when they left a starving teen in the back of a grocer to take stock? It was only natural! He was hungry! If they didn't want him to steal then they should have given him a lunch or snack or something!

Pulling his mouth into a taut line, he thought of his most recent failure. A sob story or two later, he found himself hired to work at a small convenience store off the city's main highway. It was a minimum wage job but hey, he would take whatever he could get. The problem was that he went all day without a single meal and then began his shift alone. There were so many edible things in there… they even sold meat! He tried his best to resist but his stomach was like his second brain and, well…

Luffy closed his eyes, taking in slow breaths as he attempted to ignore his stomach's wails. To take his mind off it he continued his train of thought involving his past employment, which all ended the same way; either he'd eat their food or break something or make some stupid mistake and his bosses would tell him not to bother coming in the next day.

There was only one job that he wasn't fired from—that he quit instead—which was the first place he worked. He spent years there. The pay was excellent, his employers were friendly and they let him have all of the leftovers to take home. It was great. There was just one problem and it was a big enough one to force him to leave his lofty position and enter a life of poverty. He heard that problem moved out a while back, though… and he was getting pretty desperate…

"Ah!" Luffy shouted, bursting from his seat and stretching in an attempt to rid himself of such depressing thoughts. It wasn't like him to be so negative. One way or another, he would end up alright in the end, even if he had to resort to stealing!

To get his mind off of such a saddening topic, Luffy took to the streets. He figured if he combed the area long enough he would be able to spot a few places that were hiring. Maybe if he whined long enough he could get someone to hire him, even just for a temporary job. Anything that put money in his wallet and food in his belly was okay with him.

Despite trying to remain his usual, enthusiastic self, his mind kept solemnly sinking back to his first job and the thought that maybe there was a chance his old employers were in need of assistance. Maybe they had a position open that he could fill. If his problem was gone, then…

Luffy's face broke out into the widest of grins when he saw a 'hiring' sign in the window of the local butcher shop. His feet automatically turned to head towards the place but he stopped himself, using all of the strength he could muster. Though it sounded like the perfect job for him, with his track record of eating the stock of grocery stores and restaurants, it was pointless to even try. He didn't need yet another failed job where he didn't end up getting paid, so staying away from the food business was probably for the best, even though he was craving a sampling from the butcher. In an effort to cheer himself up, he thought back to his friends' warnings of the dangers of him being within arm's reach of any sharp, pointy objects. There was yet another reason to avoid working there.

At some point, as he continued to walk and stare longingly at the meat hanging in the window of the tiny shop, he managed to hit something. The force sent him tumbling to the ground, landing on his back. He winced—not so much because he was in pain but because of instinct—and sat up, trying to figure out what just happened.

As he stared at the pavement he saw someone bend down in front of him, assuming he was likely the person he bumped into. Still, the man had to have been walking pretty fast himself if the impact was enough to knock Luffy off his feet.

"Are you okay?"

Luffy rubbed a sore spot on his back as a hint of nostalgia entered his mind when he heard that voice. "Yeah, I think so," he replied, feeling a bit guilty for causing the stranger to worry. It was his fault for being so fixated on the meat, admittedly.

A hand reached out to him. "Sorry about that; I wasn't paying attention," the man admitted sheepishly.

It seemed he didn't realize that Luffy was practically walking backwards when they hit. He found it kind of funny that the stranger thought it was his fault and he began grinning like a madman. Then he took the hand offered to him, ready to be pulled to his feet. "It's fine," he assured as he moved to look up at the man.

When he saw his face he froze. His blood ran cold. He recognized those freckles, that black hair and the unmistakable dark irises that stared back at him.

He was staring into the face of his problem.

"O-oi…"

Luffy must have looked like he was about to die or something because the man reached out to him. Memories replaying in his head, Luffy flinched and backed away, ripping his hand free of the other's grasp. For a few moments he stared into those unreadable gray eyes, trying to make sure what he saw was real—that he wasn't just imagining the person in front of him. He didn't linger too long, though, and jumped to his feet, taking off in a sprint before the other could react.

After fifteen minutes of running, Luffy turned into an alley and stopped to catch his breath. He doubled over, hands on his knees, panting harder than he had in a long time. For a while he just stayed like that, wondering if what he saw was real or if he just imagined the whole thing. What was Ace doing there?

Luffy took in a deep, shivering breath. He hadn't seen that man in a long time and yet his first instinct was to run. As he thought back, though, he realized that the older youth was wearing ordinary clothing. After seeing him in formalwear all of the time, it was a bit odd seeing him in anything else. Maybe that's why he didn't realize it was him at first. But if he was wearing that then it could only mean that the rumours about the infamous Portgas heir leaving home were true. If that were the case, then…

Ace lay on his bed, arms behind his head, staring blankly at the ceiling. "Hey, Marco," he began, attempting to catch the attention of the blonde who was sitting at his desk reading the newspaper. He glanced at the man for a moment, watching him take a sip of his coffee, before turning back to the ceiling.

"Hm?"

"Was I a thug?"

Marco jerked forward, choking on his coffee and sending a spray of musty brown liquid across the room. He moved to wipe the drink from his mouth with his sleeve, gasping out when his lungs were finally allowed air again. "Wh…" His voice faded. "Why would you ask that yoi?"

Ace shot up into a sitting position and stared hard at the blonde, suspicion clear in his eyes. "Third drawer," he said simply.

The 'temporary butler', as his mother so delicately put it, peered down at the wooden desk he sat at. He curiously opened the third drawer and his eyes widened when at the bottom he spotted a simple, black 9mm pistol. He traced the engraving on the head of the gun with two fingers, then looked up expectantly at the freckled youth on the bed, knowing full-well his amnesiac friend would be unable to provide answers.

Ace shrugged as though to reply to the blonde's silent question. "That's not all," he declared as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and hopped off. Strutting over to the walk-in closet, he motioned the other to follow.

Marco complied, although reluctant.

When Ace opened the door he immediately headed to the back. Along the edges of the walls were drawers and he began opening some of them. "Found these when I was looking for socks," he stated as he moved over, allowing the blonde a look.

Marco's eyes were met with dozens of weapons. From daggers to guns to homemade bombs, each drawer had some sort of tool for assault at the ready. It was definitely not a collection the average adult would invest in.

"Was I a terrorist or something?"

After stealing a few more glances at his friend's arsenal, Marco sighed, swiping a hand across his forehead. "No; nothing like that. You were just a bit… eccentric."

"But I was a thug," Ace noted.

Marco turned to him. "What makes you think that yoi?"

Ace deadpanned, gesturing to his collection.

"There's no sign of these ever being used."

"But…" Ace groaned as he shut all of the drawers and left the closet, the blonde following close behind.

Marco narrowed his eyes. He could tell from the look on the boy's face that something was bothering him. After living with him for a year and a half he became pretty easy to read. "What is it yoi?" he asked as he plopped down on the bed next to the youth, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Ace looked at him a bit brokenly, then turned to face the floor. "I bumped into this kid yesterday," he began, folding his hands together as he slumped over to rest his arms on his knees. "He, uh, he was scare of me. Terrified," he added before glancing at the blonde. "I had to have done something pretty bad if people see my face and run."

Marco raised an eyebrow at the last bit. Ace was certainly a scary person if you didn't get to know him—he could turn violent in an instant and didn't exactly work within the law—but for someone to actually run away…

Before his friend had a chance to reply, Ace changed the subject. "We live together, right?"

Marco blinked, wondering about the random question before nodding.

"Then why are they making me stay here? You'd think they'd trust you enough to keep me out of trouble if I share a place with you," he mused.

Marco thought that over, removing his hand from the younger's shoulder. "I don't think that's the problem yoi."

"Then what is?"

There was a long, drawn-out pause. If things were as they were before, Marco would have worded it bluntly without consideration, knowing that his friend wouldn't take it the wrong way. Seeing as he no longer remembered any of that, though, the blonde thought it best he reworked the wording in his head to something more appropriate. "They're probably worried that if you went back home you'd forget about them."

Ace blinked. "Huh?"

"You don't remember them. If you stay here then you can get to know them, but if you went to live at our place right after getting out they'd still be strangers to you yoi."'

The freckled boy's eyes widened as he thought about that. It was true that even then he didn't feel particularly close to them. Being in the same room as Roger felt awkward and he could never think of anything to talk about. He didn't hate him but… yeah, he would admit that if he wasn't living there he would probably never think about them. While he felt a connection to Rouge, it was small. Maybe he would stop complaining about being there.

Luffy gazed through the thick, barred gate and to the mansion behind it. Taking a deep breath, he noted that it was just as he remembered. He still couldn't believe he was actually there, at the gate, ready to buzz the intercom. After an internal battle that lasted a few days he found himself at the front door of his former employer, prepared to ask for a job despite quitting when he was last there.

He pressed the button and waited.

"Who is it?" came a soft, feminine voice from the speaker.

He swallowed. "It's Luffy."

A/N: So... watcha think? Any theories? Oh yeah, and Luffy is going to sometimes be OOC. You'll see why later, but... yeah. Hope you enjoyed ^^

To my lovelies~

BluePhoenix0101: That's the question ;)

buslimpan: It doesn't, but there's a reason for it. I can't explain this early on, though :P Yep, VERY different. And I'll have flashbacks to show just how much he's changed XD Thank you~

mrsfirefist: Hehe well I'm glad you're enjoying ^^

Sully-van: Yep, you'll find out! But it'll be later rather than sooner :P Their fight is VERY significant to the plot, but that's all I can say. Good, because there will be A LOT of those 4 in this fic XD

jam klaoo: Thank you! I update randomly so I can't say when the next chapter is out. Normally it won't be more than two weeks, though.

scarletlovecharlie: Isn't he?! XD

StrawberryGirlKairi: Lol as much as I love MarcoAce as a couple, they are not one in this fic. That would be interesting to see, though. You are correct: the gun was in that drawer for a minimum of 1.5 years. I love amnesia stories mainly for the drama XD

azab: You'll have to wait and find out ;)

key46812: Maybe, maybe not ;) Haha glad you like! I will!

Diclonious57: Isn't he?!

Kuro Neko Kaizoku: Lol interesting theory but Marco's not like that in this fic. He'll probably be the most likeable person in the story, actually ;) Lol Thatch causing romantic drama, that I'd like to see! XD

siqwithaQ: Lol XD It would have been pretty interesting, I'll admit, but hopefully you'll still find the memorabilia intriguing. Yeah, I can't really see Ace every being comfortable with being rich. Who knows? :P Haha XD I think both Luffy and Ace are to blame for the halt in the plot this time. Oh well, that leads into more interesting stuff! Rapist, huh? Interesting theory! I won't say yes or no, but very interesting!

Red-The-Drawing-Ninja: Glad you're interested! Hope you enjoyed!

Kitsune Foxfire: You shall find out... eventually :P Ace was mixed up in a lot but, well, you won't find that out for a while. Oh yes. There's a reason they're hovering, but if I were him I'd go insane. Gotta love Marco.

Guest: Lol you'll find out eventually! Shanks, Rayleigh and Garp are in it to some extent. Some of the Straw Hats will be in it, but I'm not sure if I'll write in all of them. Vivi... I'll see what I can do for her ^^

(And that's all. I'm curious to see what you guys think is going on (like what happened in the past or what will happen in later chapters) so feel free to tell me in a review! Adieu~)