Here it is - the next chapter :D I'm tired and don't really have anything to say, so... enjoy!

Disclaimer: Be careful when choosing which pizza to but e_e Oh, and don't own One Piece

Luffy finished his long trek up the cement path to the mansion, stopping at the front door. He took a deep breath. Rouge seemed pretty excited to hear from him; maybe that visit wasn't pointless, after all. In any case, he needed an income. He couldn't keep bumming food off his friends and finding the money to pay rent was getting kind of tough. He sighed.

Before he had a chance to open the door it flung open, narrowly missing his nose as it revealed an older woman with long, blonde hair. Her face lit up as she looked him over and within seconds he found himself wrapped in a tight embrace.

"Look at you," she cooed as her hand tangled itself in his dark strands. "You're all grown up."

Luffy couldn't help but grin. He'd been nervous because of how many years it'd been since he last saw Rouge and Roger, but after seeing her again he was reminded of how kind they were. They got along well when he was working for them.

After releasing him, Rouge grabbed him by the hand and dragged him inside wordlessly all of the way to the dining hall. She sat him down at one of the nearest chairs and leaned on the table. "Hungry?"

Luffy's eyes widened and his mouth stretched into an even larger smile. He didn't expect to get fed right away like that. "Yeah!"

Rouge trotted over to the entranceway and said a few words to the servant Luffy saw standing outside the room before returning to sit across from him, folding her hands together neatly as she looked him over with that same, soft gaze she always had. "So what brings you here, Luffy? It's been a long time."

Suddenly the teen felt nervous and began sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. He tried to think of how to word his request without sounding rude. "I was actually wondering… if you have any positions open."

Rouge's face fell and immediately Luffy's heart sank. He waited for the inevitable refusal, the letdown he just knew would come. But it never did.

"We just hired a temporary butler, but there is one job I could give you."

Luffy looked at the blonde with renewed hope, another smile tugging at his lips. "Really?"

She nodded but didn't seem as enthused as she usually was. For a while she didn't respond and simply watched as the blonde butler from before brought in a large tray of food, placing it in front of the dark-haired youth. As much as Luffy wanted to immediately begin stuffing his face with the delicious meals the Portgas family was known for, he waited. He wanted to hear the woman out first.

Finally she spoke. "I don't think you'll like it, though."

"Eh? Why?"

The butler placed a cup of steaming tea in front of her. She traced the rim with her finger before looking back up at the teen. "It's your old position."

Luffy's eyes widened and his body felt cold. There was no way he could do that again. "…But… but I thought he left…" he stuttered out as a shiver ran across his back.

Rouge took the cup in her hand, the scent wafting her nose and the steam dancing in front of her eyes. "Ace had an accident," she stated bluntly before taking a small sip and placing the cup back down. She turned to the butler with a soft smile. "Thanks."

The butler smiled back and nodded before leaving the room.

"An accident?" he repeated questioningly. When he thought to their encounter a few days ago he couldn't recall any noticeable damage. Ace staying at his parents' place would explain why he was in the area, though.

She nodded. "He's staying here because of it. He's… he's not the same." She paused and stared at her reflection in the tea. "We're trying to help him adjust."

Luffy was about to ask what, exactly, was wrong with him, but as he thought about it he realized he didn't care. In fact he didn't want to know anything about the man. So long as he kept far away from him, he was happy. But… there was only one open position at the mansion—his old position—and that was as the young heir's personal servant. Luffy swore he'd never go back to that. Even then, years later, the thought of being in the same room as that man terrified him. He needed the money, though…

"I'm not going to force you into anything," Rouge continued, sipping from her teacup once more, "but if you accept the job I doubt it'll be like it was before."

Luffy swallowed, reluctant to press on. "…What do you mean?"

"Like I said, he's different," she declared, massaging the outside of her cup absently. "And you wouldn't be alone. There are others taking care of him."

"…Others?"

Before the blonde had a chance to reply, the muffled sound of a gunshot rang through the room. Instinctively Luffy stood from his chair and ran to the window, opened it and peered outside, searching for the source of the noise. In the back of his mind he was wondering why Rouge wasn't reacting but quickly he brushed the thought aside.

Off in the distance he spotted two figures and what looked like a slab of wood with a target painted on it. As he looked closer he saw that one of the figures was Ace, who happened to have a pistol resting lazily against his shoulder. He felt his body tremble at the sight.

The other figure—a redhead who reminded Luffy of Elvis—whistled. "Perfect score!"

Ace bowed playfully.

Suddenly Luffy saw the blonde butler from earlier approach the pair, appearing from the side of the house.

"The hell do you think you're doing yoi?" he asked with a bit of irritation evident in his voice. Luffy was intrigued by him; he never heard someone take that tone with Ace.

The freckled youth smiled at the blonde. "Wasting bullets," he replied simply as he reloaded the gun. Looking down the sight, he raised it again to the target and replaced his earplugs. "Thatch said I'm a good shot."

After the butler and redhead covered their ears, Ace fired again, hitting the bull's-eye dead in the centre.

His accuracy only scared Luffy more.

The blonde removed his hands from his ears, stormed up to freckled youth and snatched the pistol from his hands. "Stop fooling around, you morons; we have a guest."

Ace and Thatch blinked and tilted their heads. "We do?"

Luffy felt Rouge come up behind him. He turned to face her with clear worry in his eyes and she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "They're his friends," she announced.

"Even the butler?"

She nodded. "We hired him to work here until Ace can go back home."

The teen had a lot of questions swirling around his head. For one, he wanted to know why Rouge wasn't reacting to her son firing a gun outside her home. For another, he wanted to inquire about Ace's friends. He didn't trust them at all. Forget the redhead encouraging Ace to test out his accuracy; Luffy was more worried about the blonde who could actually stand up to Ace. The latter scared him more than anything in the world—with good reason—and there he was obeying that strange new butler without question. Plus, if they were Ace's friends then there was a good possibility they were just as bad as him.

Still, the threat of losing his apartment was looming over his head.

Ace and Thatch were doing some target practice—until Marco put an end to their game, at least. He thought it was the best way to use up all of the ammo he didn't remember collecting. Though he didn't say anything to the others, he felt uncomfortable having all of that weaponry in his room. It was unsettling. He just wanted to be rid of it all and felt that was the best way.

He didn't inquire as to how Thatch knew he was a good shot—didn't want to know.

After cleaning up and storing their target inside the overly-large shed at the back of the mansion, the two went back inside. He was pretty curious about who the visitor may have been and felt kind of bad for likely scaring the shit out of them with his shooting. Still, he wasn't going to go see who it was unless asked, seeing as the person likely wasn't there for him.

Right as he was starting up the stairs he heard someone lightly call his name. Turning, he spotted his mother standing quaintly outside the dining hall.

Ace blinked. "Yeah?" he asked, leaning on the railing.

She smiled up at him. "Can you join us for lunch?"

The freckled man was hesitant and shared a look with Thatch, wondering what he should do. He didn't really feel like he had much of a choice, though.

"I'll come back some other time," the redhead stated, giving him a mock salute. He waited for Ace's grunt of acknowledgement before heading down the stairs and out the front door.

Ace watched his friend go before turning back to his mother, suspicious of her intent. Perhaps her true motive was to get him to apologise to their guest, or maybe she had some other ulterior motive. She didn't seem the type, though.

Begrudgingly he followed her into the dining room. As soon as he entered he was met with the small, thin frame of the boy he bumped into a few days earlier. Just to be certain, he briefly scanned his features, sure enough met with the same owlish eyes and scarred cheek. He didn't know what to make of him. And, just as with their last encounter, as soon as he looked at him his face contorted in fear.

Ace tried to act like he didn't notice as he walked further into the room and sat a ways away from him, trying to be considerate of his fear by keeping their distance. He hoped that would calm him down so that they could move past that and eat normally, although he was really curious to ask why he was so scared of him, since Marco didn't seem to be willing to give him answers.

The more he looked in the boy's direction, the more the boy shook. Noticing that, Ace decided to stare out the large windows, trying to lessen the tense atmosphere that surrounded them. He also tried to shoo away thoughts of the boy being cute—like a puppy or something.

Rouge took a seat across from the boy and looked between him and her son. She cleared her throat, grabbing the attention of both boys. Once she saw that all eyes were on her, she spoke. "Ace," she began, looking to her son and gesturing to the teen, "he's going to be your personal servant during your stay here."

Ace narrowed his eyes, studying the boy. Apparently the look on his face was intimidating because the other turned pale instantly. "No," he said simply as Marco entered with a tray, gently placing the plates, bowls and cutlery down in front of them.

Rouge was a bit taken aback by the brash decline of the boy. "No?"

"I have Marco for that," he stated.

Marco slammed the tray into his skull, causing him to wince as the metal collided with the back of his head. "Oi, I'm not your damn slave."

"It was a joke, asshole," he defended, rubbing the sore spot from the blow.

Marco sent him one last glare before folding the tray under his arm and exiting the room.

Ace turned to his mother. "Either way, we don't need him."

Rouge furrowed her brow. "He needs the money, Ace."

"So?" He could see anger in her eyes for the first time. "Let him find work somewhere else."

"Ace!"

Now he was the one who was getting irritated. For the first time since he lost his memories he glared at his mother. How could she not notice? "Don't you see how scared he is?" He saw the anger leave her face, only to be replaced with surprise. "The kid's terrified, Rouge. I'm not going to force him to stay around me just to earn a few bucks; it's sad."

Luffy's eyes widened. Was Ace… pitying him? He seemed different, just like his mother said. Speaking of, why did he call her by her name? He hadn't been told what was wrong with Ace, just that he wasn't himself. Why, though? Whatever the case, the situation was taking a turn for the worst; he needed that job. If he wasn't so desperate he never would have accepted a position working under Ace.

"Please," he choked out, catching the attention of the two others at the table. He faced the table and swallowed hard in his throat, feeling Ace's eyes on him, intimidating as always. "I… I really need this job." He was having trouble getting the words out since it was his first time talking to Ace in years. He was still scared, but he couldn't risk losing an opportunity like that.

He heard an exaggerated sigh and peeked up at the freckled man at the far and of the table, shocked to see him wearing a sympathetic smile, scratching the back of his head.

"Guess I have no choice, then."

A/N: Poor Luffy. Poor, poor Luffy. Anyways, please leave a review and tell me what you think! :D

To my lovelies~

samettikettu: Lol same XD That was a fun part for me to write :P

Sully-van: Isn't it? Last chapter was really hard for me to write because I'm so used to Ace and Luffy getting along... But I'm starting to get used to writing him like that. Hehe worrying is part of the fun!

mrsfirefist: Here it is! Nope, it won't be explained for quite some time. I like taking my time with reveals.

StrawberryGirlKairi: Lol a lot of people seem to think that XD You'll find out eventually ^^

buslimpan: I hope you enjoyed their reactions ^^ And no, it's not wrong at all. Who knows? :P

jam klaoo: Here it is :)

Diclonious57: You bet what's Robin? o.o

Guest: Here it is~

: So far no, I don't think any of them will be in it. Some of the supernovas and warlords are already in some of my other fics. Hancock just doesn't really appeal to me as far as writing. I like her character but I find adding her into a story only adds annoying complications. Smoker's in some of my other stories as well, he just hasn't shown up yet. Hope that helps :)

Kuro Neko Kaizoku: Lol everyone keeps bringing up rape XD Yep, the mansion is Rouge and Roger's. Hehe well I'm glad you seem to be enjoying it.

azab: Call? o.o Luffy didn't call anyone... Here's an update!

MysteriousEyez: Awe, not sure if you like it or not? :/ Let's just say Ace had a lot of secrets :P

spoons-are-evil: Yep, Luffy's awesome XD Yep, pretty much. Yes, Sabo is in the story. In fact, I've already written him in :) Nope, Ace is pretty blunt. Lol nope, the cause of his amnesia was not attempted suicide. He'll mainly be OOC around Ace :)

siqwithaQ: Hehe really glad you're enjoying it ^^ Lol everyone keeps bringing up rape... you guys are making me nervous XD True, it's possibly, but not likely. But it could be. But it's doubtful. Well they interacted a bit this chapter but don't worry, more it coming! :) I've already written Luffy's reaction. It's sadly not as suspenseful as I intended u_u

Holmesz: Glad you're enjoying it ^^ I know, I love Thatch but everyone always kills him off T^T It's actually marked as Ace, Luffy and Marco but only Luffy and Marco show up for some reason :/ You'll find out later ^^ Lol well, at least their time together will be interesting! Hehe you flatter me XD

Kitsune Foxfire: It's nice to have you back :D He should, honestly, but... he's not really comfortable with them. More on that later, though. Yep. I kind of feel bad for Luffy this time around XD Though, honestly, I should feel bad for a lot of things I put him through in my stories...

(And this, my friends, is the end. For now. Hope you enjoyed! :D I'ma go eat my pizza now. Adieu~)