Updating on my birthday... is that pathetic? Ah, well, so long as I'm having fun, right? Yeah, that's it. Ahem. So this really will be my last update for a while, since school starts soon. Guess what? My textbooks this semester equal over $500. Yeah. So, I'm probably going to have to drop out after this year due to financial issues. Unless I go on OSAP. But then I'll be in debt tens of thousands of dollars when I graduate... Sorry, you guys don't need to know this. I'm stressed, really stressed, but because of that I got chapter 18 written out :D Writing's my stress reliever. I'm sorry for being so off-topic. It's the new meds, I swear!

ALSO! If you want an awesome amnesia fic to read, you HAVE to check out siqwithaQ's oneshot, Everything Began Again. As a warning, though, it's extremely sad. Read with tissues and ice cream. Ah, if only I could write tragedy as well as he can... Actually, read all his stuff. It's amazing. Like, seriously, I'm addicted and I hate myself for it. I'd put him up there among the ranks of Kitsune, Elri and Mountain97. Why am I hyping him up so much? Well, I've been reading his fics for months and just realized last night that I've never recommended him, despite recommending so many others ;_; He deserves every word of praise. But his writing is masterful, so make sure to check it out!

Disclaimer: Oh, look! A fly! *Stares*

Luffy watched with a saddened gaze as his employer ate, his mind fixated on the orange hat that still remained in his hands. When he saw how interested the servant was in the object, Ace allowed him to hold onto it. Doing so only seemed to make him feel worse though, forcing him to relive that first, painful memory over and over again whenever he so much as glanced at it. He hated that day more than anything. No, wait—the last day of his employment was just as bad, but… the day that hat was discarded was the start of it all.

Yet there it was, in his hands, aged but not damaged.

"You recognize it?" Marco asked from beside him, low enough that Ace wouldn't hear. The servants stood in the doorway to the dining hall so as to not intrude on the family's meal. They would have a chance to snack while Ace bathed after breakfast.

Luffy turned to stare up at the blond pineapple, giving him a curt nod. "I gave it to him," he stated.

"That so?"

Again, he nodded.

"Not a very good memory yoi?"

The teen broke eye contact, settling his gaze on the gift once more. He bit his lip as the memories from beyond that day surged through his mind and the urge to flee swelled within his chest. He was reminded of just why he hated the master—why he was so scared. What was he doing there?

A touch to the straw hat atop his head quieted his worries and quelled his racing heart. Ace—the new Ace—hadn't done anything to hurt him. In fact, he was almost gentle. At some point his mind separated the old heir and the amnesiac, treating them as two different people. He couldn't think of them as the same with how different they acted. It was too hard. If he hadn't, he would still be too afraid to go near the heir.

"Seems to be a common thing," Marco commented, watching the family of three quietly consume their meal. Luffy looked at him but said nothing, allowing his questioning eyes to do the talking. "Ace was alone back then."

The teen blinked. "What do you mean?"

After allowing the silence to stretch, the butler closed his eyes and started walking away, towards the kitchen. "It's nothing."

The servant, sporting his new white shirt and black vest, an outfit matching his colleague's, leaned against the white wall, staring off into the waiting room. It was packed, with every seat being taken up by a patient or one of their family members, making him feel even more out of place knowing that he didn't really belong. Hell, he didn't even know why he was there!

Sometime after eating, Rouge informed Luffy that her son had to go to the hospital later in the day. She didn't say why and he didn't inquire, figuring that he would find out when he got there. He didn't, of course, as one of the nurses whisked the young master away without the slightest hint of what they were going to do with him. Not that it mattered to Luffy—he still held a grudge against the heir so what did he care if something was wrong with him?

Despite his best efforts to convince himself of that, Luffy grew worried. If it was like before he really wouldn't have cared, but Ace was different. He'd been nothing but accommodating since he met Luffy, keeping his distance and immediately ceasing any action that made him uncomfortable. The Portgas heir was considerate—as much as it baffled him that such a word could even apply to a brute like himself. He'd feel guilty if he didn't show at least a little concern for the man after all he'd done for him.

Glancing at the blond standing leisurely beside him, then at the clock above the doorway, Luffy began to fidget. Ace was taken over two hours ago and he'd be lying if he said he felt at ease. Being stuck in the neurology department waiting room didn't help, either. Was there something wrong with his brain other than the amnesia? He didn't seem all that out of sorts aside from his flipped attitude. But… Luffy didn't know much about the brain. He wasn't well versed in any sort of bodily function, actually, and thinking happened to be his weak point…

"Worried?" questioned a calm voice from beside him.

Luffy looked up to see a small, almost unnoticeable smirk playing on Marco's lips as he stared off into the room, his blue eyes looking over every detail to pass the time. "Well…" He wasn't really worried, per se, more like… concerned? Was that any better?

"Don't be. They're just doing some follow-up exams yoi."

"Why?"

Finally those lidded eyes settled on his much smaller frame, looking him over before returning to their scan of the room's occupants. "The crash was pretty severe. He was the only one seriously injured and at one point they weren't sure if he'd make it out alive."

The teen froze, taking all that in. He never thought it was that bad—that Ace managed to hit his head and got a little banged up and that was it. Looking back, though, he should have clued in the other day when he saw all of those bandages littering his torso. With them covering up the injuries, there was no way he could tell the severity.

"To top it off, he hit his head pretty bad," Marco stated, tapping his finger against his temple. "They're being cautious yoi."

The servant's shoulders sagged, releasing pent-up tension with the completion of those words. Relieved, he was suddenly reminded of the emptiness of his stomach. He was so hungry! He didn't realize before because, well…

A nurse appeared from around the corner. She turned her head right then left before her eyes settled on the pair, motioning them over. Giving her a quizzical look, they complied.

"We've completed the tests. Please follow me to his room," she said, turning to begin the long walk down the ward's corridors.

"Is something wrong?" Luffy asked automatically as a knot formed in his stomach. If it was just tests then why did Ace have his own room? After finishing shouldn't they have left?

The woman smiled at him and shook her head, silently continuing on her way with the two servants following behind.

Eventually they were led to one of the private rooms. As the door opened, they were met with the resting form of the heir, his legs sprawled across the bed haphazardly, a thin blanket covering the areas that the hospital gown did not as the man snored away.

Luffy turned a bright tint of red as he took in the rather revealing image of his boss before turning away to look at the nurse. "H-he's asleep?"

She nodded. "He had an attack halfway through the psychological evaluation," she stated with a hint of amusement in her voice.

The teen blinked. Attack?

From his side, Marco sighed, pacing up to the sleeping youth and eyeing him with no surprise. After studying his face for a scant few seconds, he looked back at the woman standing in the doorway. "How thorough were the tests?"

"Very," she replied, fiddling with the clipboard in her hands. "We were extra cautious, seeing as he's Gol D. Ace, the son of our largest benefactor." Luffy blinked. He hadn't heard that name in a long time. Ever since he was little, the heir told him to go by 'Portgas' instead. "Fortunately there doesn't seem to be any problems. We'll have to wait for the results to know for sure, though."

Marco nodded. "Thanks for your hard work yoi."

Her smile grew. "Not at all! It was an honour. I was happy to be of service," she declared, soft gaze settling on the sleeping male on the bed.

The blond turned once more to the freckled youth and sighed. "Dinner," he said simply, watching as the man's eyes shot open without delay, followed by the loud protests of his stomach.

Ace sat up and looked around as wakefulness returned, slowly realizing where he was. As understanding swept through him, he settled his eyes on his butler and scowled. "You did it again, didn't you?"

"I did," the pineapple confirmed, crossing his arms.

"Jerk," Ace mumbled before turning his gaze to the other two in the room. He visibly brightened when he was met with the nurse. "Morning, Vivi," he greeted before stretching his arms.

The newly named nurse laughed a bit, giving the heir a gentle smile. "It's midday, Ace."

"Minor detail," he shrugged.

The two servants shared a look, a little dumbstruck when faced with the familiarity expressed in the heir's words. Luffy didn't recognize the woman, but they seemed to know each other.

"You remember something yoi?"

Ace smiled. "I remember Vivi, if that's what you're asking," he replied. "We met when—" The youth cut himself off, a blank look crossing his features. He moved to press his figure against his chin, brows furrowed in thought. Clearly he hadn't recalled much. "When…"

"It's okay, Ace," the nurse began, a sympathetic smile crossing her lips, "you shouldn't try to force it."

The twenty-year-old pouted, displeased with that response. "But it's frustrating, being surrounded by people I don't know anything about." As those words passed his lips, Luffy swore the patient glanced his way. The enthusiasm in his voice washed away, replaced by something a little more worn down. "…I'm getting tired of it all."

Luffy watched with sad eyes as Marco closed the front door behind him, leaving the teen alone in the house with Ace. He really hoped that wouldn't happen. Rouge said he wouldn't be left alone with him, but there he was, with everyone he viewed as his safety long gone.

Rouge and Roger had a meeting. That wasn't surprising; it happened all of the time when he worked there before. They were busy people and, holding as demanding positions as they did, they often needed to travel the country—the world, even—to sign deals with various companies and whatnot. Luffy didn't care much for the details, but it meant they were away.

That was fine and all but the sun had long since vanished from the sky, closing his first day back at work, and Marco just requested he stay there for the night to watch over their charge. Why? Because he was worried. That was all the blond said, giving no further explanation other than that he was unable to do so himself because of his other job which operated on a night shift. When did that man sleep? And why did Luffy have to stay the night? That wasn't in the job description!

Groaning and running frustrated hands through his hair in show of his stress, he spun his torso around to glare at the staircase. The second floor would be the death of him one of those days. He had no choice, though. His stupid self was the one who agreed to watch over the rich youth, after all. Why couldn't he keep his mouth shut?

Reluctantly he clambered up the stairs and dragged himself to Ace's bedroom door. He hesitated to knock as memories whisked about his mind and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. You'll be okay, he assured himself. It's not the same as back then. Satisfied with his self-comfort, he knocked.

Some shuffling could be heard inside. "Marco?"

"It's Luffy," the teen corrected.

"Luffy?" There was a pause. "Alright, just—"

A loud thump shot Luffy's senses into full alert as he remembered just why he was there. His eyes widened and he turned the knob to look inside. At first he didn't see anything, leaving him standing in the doorway with a dumbfounded expression. His eyes trailed across the room, searching for something that was out of place—the cause of the sound. His gaze settled on the still form of the room's occupant.

His eyes widened.

Running to the man's side, he flipped him onto his back and looked him over. The youth's eyes were shut and body remained motionless and silent, causing the servant to pale. "…Ace?" Hesitantly he reached out, pushing back his fear of the man to nudge his shoulder, silence his only reply. "A-Ace," he called again, voice shaky as he, once more, received no response. Mind going blank, he had no idea what to do. What was wrong? Was he hurt?

"Oi, Ace, this isn't funny," he said, voice trembling, oozing shock and disbelief as he shook the man lightly, hovering over his still face. What should he do? Should he move him? Call for an ambulance? Was it too late?

Luffy frantically pushed his fingers to the man's wrist but he was shaking too much to tell if there was a pulse.

"I'm worried about Ace yoi."

The boy stared into his master's face, dumbstruck.

"Can you keep an eye on him for me?"

He never felt so helpless. Ace was going to be okay, wasn't he? He wasn't dying… right? Those thoughts repeating in the forefront of his mind, the teen shut his eyes tight and allowed the film of water that accumulated over them to sit at the corners of his eyes. "…Please wake up…"

A soft groan met his ears and he froze, opening his eyes once more to see the stirring body beneath him.

Gray, tired eyes opened to stare up at him. "…Lu?" He still looked half asleep, not fully sure what was going on.

Luffy's eyes widened and his heart nearly stopped when he saw that Ace was alright. He ignored it when a few small tears rolled down the surface of his skin, trailing down the sides of his face as an overwhelming relief washed over his body. Behind that, though, was embarrassment for overreacting. "Y-you're alright…"

Ace's eyes narrowed in confusion and he absently reached up and pressed the pads of his fingers to Luffy's cheek, stopping a tear from completing its path. Immediately Luffy tensed and flinched away, but his legs were too weak to move from the touch. He was too exhausted.

As Ace's mind grew more alert, he realized what he was doing and pulled his hand away, still lying flatly on the floor. "What's wrong?"

Luffy swallowed, trying to calm his shaky limbs, nerves still shot from his earlier panic. "I thought you were…" His voice faded, allowing the other to mentally finish the sentence.

The youth blinked, staring blankly up at his servant's face before bursting into laughter, causing the other to fluster an embarrassed red. Eventually his giggles subsided, leaving an amused smile on his face as he caught his breath and sat up.

"It's not funny!"

"Sorry," he apologised, taking a deep breath. "I just had a fit."

Suddenly Luffy went from flustered and worried to curious, his owlish eyes staring at the other. "Fit?"

It was Ace's turn to be confused. "I thought you knew," he stated.

"Knew what?"

"That I have narcolepsy," the heir elaborated.

Luffy went silent before tilting his head. "What's that?" Can I eat it?

Ace groaned, showing that he didn't want to take the time to explain. "To put it simply… I fall asleep at random, or sometimes I lose muscle control and… stuff." It didn't seem like he was very well-versed on the subject himself, though amnesia was a pretty good reason why.

"Oh," Luffy noised, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He allowed his muscles to relax and suddenly he felt exhausted. Looking at his boss' face, he was reminded of his fear for the man and backed away to a more comfortable distance. Still that freckled smile remained, even when they separated, almost unnervingly constant. "W-what?"

"Thanks," Ace began with softness in his eyes that wasn't present before, "for worrying."

A/N: There you go. That, ladies and gentleman, is called progress. But I think some of you guys might be confused about Luffy's reaction, so I'm going to try to explain it, okay? If you've ever been in a situation where you found someone unconscious (or dead) the way he did, you might get it. This doesn't apply for everyone, but a lot of people (like myself) don't think rationally in situations like that. When you're faced with something stressful like the possibility of someone you know being dead in front of you, you don't follow procedure and act with common sense. (Again, this doesn't apply to everyone) For example, when I found my mom I couldn't tell if she was breathing or not, and when I felt for her pulse I didn't know whether it was there or if I was imagining it. Another person I know started going into hysterics when her friend passed out in the middle of her living room. And with what Marco said to Luffy right before then, I figured this would be a more natural reaction for him, though it might not seem very natural. Does that make sense? I don't think I'm explaining it well. Well, hopefully you'll get it. If not, sorry. Blame the meds.

To my lovelies~

Mon Esprit Libre: Did you know there are technically zombies out there? Well, zombie ants and other insects. It's pretty cool :D The plot has been continuing. In fact, if Ace remembers it'll mean that we're practically at the ending.

samettikettu: Lol that would make an interesting crossover XD I'm not planning to stop writing AceLu altogether, I just meant I have enough AceLu stories going at the moment and won't start another one until one of the current ones is finished :P (They ARE fun games)

Frostheart D. Blaize: Glad you liked :)

siqwithaQ: You're quite welcome~ (Though it wasn't intentional, I'm happy it turned out that way :D) Ironically the update after your birthday update was my birthday update XD Funny how that works. That fight... Let's just say it'll be fun for me to write and leave it at that :P Thanks ;_; I tried really hard with that part, because it's so important. Actually, yeah, I think that might have been the first Luffy POV flashback o.o Huh, never even occured to me. Very interesting. Hehe, you know me well~ My other story has a different headcanon for Ace's hat! :D In The Divide it was a memorial of his mother, who got it from... someone. I can't say who. I don't know if you read it or not, but if someone else reads this, I wouldn't want to spoil it for them. Hey, random person reading this! How's life? ;) Back on-topic, yeah, I've seen a lot of stories with scenes like that. Most have really cute, happy, fluffy scenes involving the hat's origins, but I thought I'd take a different interpretation. When I was thinking of what the first instance of Jerk!Ace would have been when I first started writing the fic, Ace lashing out at Luffy when he was given the hat came to mind because it's so different from usual, and it just stuck.

jam klaoo: Awe, don't hate Ace! He has... issues to work through e_e There are plenty of reasons, but whether their reasonable or not is for the readers to decide. Dragon and Garp will be mentioned at some point, but I'm not sure if I want to include them or not. You can do it! Live!

mad100101: Actually, Luffy's not strong in this AU, mainly because of what happened in his past. That's why he's so scared of Ace. I cannot say what Luffy's trauma involves, just know that it's bad :) Lol you'd certainly make a scary parent.

mrsfirefist: You'll have to wait a little longer to see what he was really like back then :P

TheAnalei: You might be able to find hints if you reread the flashback ;) Thanks ^^

Bluebird42: He has his reasons, trust me u_u

azab: Glad you like.

Diclonious57: Isn't it?! :D

ichigi111kurosaki: Here's more!

Honeydee: B-but... the last chapter didn't end in a cliffhanger... a-and neither did this one ;_; I just finished writing chapter 18 like an hour ago, so I'm still fairly far ahead. I don't think I'll post the next update until I get up to chapter 20 finished, though, just so I can stay ahead because school's really going to slow down the amount I can write and I otherwise wouldn't be able to update regularly :/

ion-la-revolution: You'll have to wait a while, but I hope you enjoy the journey :) Thanks! I promise, I'll be back as soon as I've adjusted to the workload!

Lover's Red Rose: Well, he did ask Marco, "How do you kill a monster?"so... :P

Kitsune Foxfire: Lol so true, but actually there are holes in Marco's knowledge, which is a big reason he's remaining quiet. More on that later. Honestly, most of the characters are confused in one way or another :P

lone green leaf: Lol I didn't mean I was going to stop writing AceLu, I just meant that I have enough AceLu fics going for now so I won't start another until I finish one. Besides, my favourite pairing is MarcoAce so it should be a lot of fun to write~ You'll see another flashback like that in a few more chapters :D

Guest: I only work on this site, I don't read stories on other sites often and I hate the layout for that one in particular. You're welcome :) Sorry, but I don't think I'm going to continue reading. If you want a critique, PM me so that I can write it to you privately. Glad you like!

ssspooky: What was confusing about it? o.o If you're wondering why Ace reacted so negatively, you can find hints if you pay close attention to his reactions to what Luffy says. Actually, you won't know shortly ^^; It'll be a while. You're welcome~

luffylova: Sorry D: It wasn't my intention to make you cry... Sadly, we can't have everything.

MysteriousEyez: Yep, pretty much. You're onto something, but there's a lot more to it than that. Still, it's a start, right? But yeah, the reason's a little darker =w=

yukiko hyuga-chan: Interesting observation ;) Thanks! I'll do my best to reach a 9.0 GPA! *determined*

Guest (2): Sorry, there be waiting in yer future :P He's not just scared of him, you know. There's progress but I'm not going to rush it because I hate when stories get unrealistic and suddenly have characters getting along. Luffy's fear is deeply ingrained. It's not going to be easy to get rid of. Compared to their first interaction where Luffy took one look at him and ran away as fast as he could, I'd say we've come a long way. Hell, in the beginning Luffy could barely speak to him. But if you look this chapter, he's actually worried about him. That's progress. And actually I'll be writing less than before because of university.

(So, this concludes my last update before my break and marks the beginning of my 3 week hiatus. Keep in mind that I may still update occasionally until it's over, but it'll be a lot slower. Once I'm settled into my new schedule I'll be able to think up a day or two to update every week, but until then, I hope what I've uploaded so far will tide you over. Thanks so much for all of your understanding and support! I'll see you lovelies again in three weeks! Adieu~)