What was supposed to be the last chapter was shaping up to be excessively long (like, over 10,000 words) so I decided to split it. Yay?

So, I think people are either going to love or hate this.

The POV kind of goes all over the place in this chapter. And shameless reference to a filler anime episode for comic, and a little realistic, effect. Also, have mercy on me I don't know how those snails or radio waves work. Or childcare, for that matter.

Luffy flitted across the chaotic deck, bashing heads together and laughing manically. This alone made most of the soldiers draw back from him with alarmed stares. He didn't care. There had been other pirate-looking people on board when he had first started, but they seemed to have retreated when he arrived. He didn't give it much thought as he just dove right back into the fray.

This is so fun! When was the last time he had been in a good skirmish? Too long!

He felt a vaguely familiar presence behind him and brought an arm up to catch the musket that was swung at him. He blinked in surprise at the disheveled marine with a bucket on their head. …a bucket hat. COOL! Maybe Nami would let me-

"Strawhat, what are you doing here?!" The marine hissed frantically.

On closer inspection, the bucket had had a large 'G-5' painted on it. Luffy scrunched his brow in a colossal effort to remember why that was significant. "AH!" He suddenly exclaimed. "You're with Smokey!" He whipped his head around like a hyperactive owl. "Is he here?!"

"Strawhat! Why are you here?! This is horrible timing!"

Luffy blinked at the statement. "No, this is great timing! We're on a rescue mission!" The soldier only had the time to express his surprise and confusion with a look before Luffy seemed to remember something. "Ah, that was supposed to be a secret. Oh, well." And promptly knocked out the marine. "Sorry."

He got off easy compared to Clarkson's soldiers.

The re-encouraged swarm lunged for the Strawhat captain, intent on making some mark with their numbers, but he simply stood there with a calm expression.

A furious whirlwind of slashes and barrage of flaming kicks sent the horde flying back across the deck. Luffy looked over at the two with a cheeky grin. "Finally, you're here! A little longer and there wouldn't have been anyone left!"

"Tsk! Blame Marimo, he kept getting us lost."

Luffy exploded with laughter while Zoro fell into another fight with the cook.

"Anyway, we can't stay much longer, let's hurry and finish them off." Zoro turned towards the marines with an eerie grin.

"ENOUGH! You've gone far enough, pirates!"

The three turned towards the deep voice, shaking with rage, and saw an unfamiliar marine in an immaculate three-piece suit glowering down at them from the upper deck. He wore one of those 'Justice' coats around his shoulders.

"I am Vice-Admiral Clarkson of Marine HQ! Strawhat, you and your crew have wreaked havoc on the world for too long! You've met your match and I intend to arrest you all!" This raised his men's morale, and they gave a hearty shout of agreement despite the beating they had already been subjected to.

Luffy fixed Clarkson with a scowl and, before either of his crewmates could react, he leapt the distance to land on the railing right in front of the Vice-Admiral who, despite flinching a step back, stood his ground. "You're in charge here?"

"Yes, of course!" He glared at the pirate's nerve.

"Robin said someone hurt Makino, was that you?"

Now, Clarkson was a born and bred marine. His father had been one himself and taught him everything he knew, particularly of the cruelty and cowardice of the pirate scourge, and he had dedicated his life to weakening their numbers. He had dutifully accepted a position at HQ when it was offered and had spent the last few years training new marines as per his father's recommendation, but regretted moving away from the field. Particularly now.

The pirate had fixed him with an almost impassive, wide-eyed, stare, but he felt his skin crawl at the coldness of it, his namesake shadowing his eyes. The silent, waiting, fury. For the first time since he was a child, he felt the urgent need to run. To escape whatever that gaze promised. Then, evidently getting his answer, Strawhat let his true feelings spill onto his face in a murderous glare and raised his fist.

Clarkson barely had time to raise his hands in defense when they were both thrown down by a thick cloud of smoke, Luffy ending up back on the lower deck.

The smoke condensed into Vice-Admiral Smoker as he pinned the pirate with his boot. "Strawhat, it's been awhile."

Luffy gave the marine a sunny smile, despite his position. "Hey, Smokey, how're the kids?"

Smoker automatically scowled at the friendly banter, even though he had been the one to initiate it. "Home." He interrupted Luffy's pleased response. "I can't let you continue this rampage, Strawhat. I'm under orders to protect this vessel now that it's carrying a prisoner."

Luffy frowned, that couldn't be right. "But my crew already-"

Before the idiot could say any more, Smoker swung his Jitte around and slammed him against the ribs, sending him flying into his swordsman who had managed to lower his weapons in time to catch him. The blow didn't really hurt, it hadn't been infused with Haki, but the brush with sea stone made it sting a bit. He brandished the Jitte at the three. "So I'll be your opponent now."

Luffy had coughed a little but before he could reply a sudden gale overtook the ships, making everyone kneel closer to the ground.

Sanji had to catch his captain's namesake before it blew away but tucked it away when he noticed the effects of the wind. Primarily, it had blown away nearly all the fog. And it hadn't been natural. He grabbed his two crewmates while the marines were still cringing and Sky Walked over the crowd to land on the outer railing of the hull. "Nami-swan's given us the perfect opportunity to escape. Let's not waste it, shit-heads." He tensed his legs, readying to Sky Walk the distance to the Sunny, when he was abruptly grabbed and smashed against the shit-swordsman by a rubbery appendage.

"Don't worry, I'll get us there! Bye, Smokey!" Luffy called back before shooting them all towards his colorful ship; his crewmates violent curses were whipped away by the wind, and they were shortly pulling themselves from various landing indentations only to be met by Franky's displeasure.

But it was only a moment of calm before the rest were scrambling to tie everything down in preparation for their escape. The marine ships had started after them now that they could actually determine their location. It didn't take long, despite the conspicuous absences on deck. Especially one.

"Where's Makino?"

Usopp replied with an incoherent squeak and the rest gave him concerned glances, but it was Nami who answered. "She's in the infirmary with Robin and Chopper. He says she collapsed from fatigue and he'll come get us when they're settled in." She said it firmly, as though thinking he might run in there any second, but not unkindly.

Luffy did give the infirmary a worried glance, but quickly determined that there was nothing to worry about if Chopper was taking care of her, so he went to pester Sanji for food, who was worrying about it.

In the infirmary, things weren't going so well.

Makino had been out like a light for the last 15 minutes, barely caught by Usopp as she collapsed on the grass, and Chopper didn't expect her to wake up any time soon. He had a couple tests running just to make sure there weren't any dangerous, underlying condition, but he was sure it was mainly accumulated stress and lack of sleep so they had drawn the curtains around her bed to give her privacy. They'd move her to the women's quarters later. That wasn't really the problem, though.

The baby she had had with her had not stopped wailing since his mother had fainted. The infirmary's walls were muffling it somewhat but, once the noise outside died down when they landed, it would become quickly noticeable. And Chopper had quickly found his medical and life knowledge lacking quite glaringly. Even Robin seemed to be at a loss.

"I'm afraid there haven't been a lot of pirate crews, criminal organizations, or rebels who took child care training as a priority." She stated dryly to the unspoken question.

Chopper slumped and together they did their best, but the impact of landing did not help their efforts to calm the child and soon they had crewmembers coming over to see what all the fuss was about. By this time both the child and Chopper were in tears. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" For some reason, he took this as a personal medical failure on his part.

Robin's eyes suddenly widened on the person who had just poked their head into the room, irritated scowl in place. "Zoro!" She exclaimed rather desperately, eliciting shocked looks. She didn't care, neither did she care about the secret she was about to expose. She strode over to him and offered the baby to him. "You're going to have to take care of him until his mother wakes up." She at least tried to suppress the smile threatening to overcome her.

"What?!" He still had not taken the squalling baby and instead tried to lean away from her, trapped by Franky behind him. He tried to ignore the confused stares running between the two. "Why should I?!" He regretted the question as soon as it left his mouth. He was done.

And she knew it. A small, victorious smile graced Robin's lips and she said: "As far as I know, you're the only one with childcare experience. Should I go into detail?"

Zoro took the baby with a piercing glare and kicked everyone else, except Chopper, out of the infirmary.

The curtains to the small window were drawn, so they couldn't tell what was going on inside, but within five minutes there was silence.

"You don't think he killed him, do you?" Usopp asked dubiously. Nami responded with a harsh slap.

A few minutes later Chopper emerged with a list of items they would need to come up with to feed, clean, and clothe the baby. Chopper refused to answer any Zoro-related questions, as he had been sworn to secrecy. Robin giggled at that but also complied. Sanji took a look at the notes on food and busies himself to work something out as Chopper turns to Robin.

"Zoro wants to talk to you." He states meekly, and by the tone she can tell those weren't his exact words.

She chuckled and stepped over to the door with the young doctor.

Zoro holed himself up in the observation deck when he, Chopper, and Robin emerged with the pacified child and refused to give any answers with anything besides a death glare.

Robin told them to let him be and started a small lesson on basic childcare from her newly acquired knowledge. Everyone was roped into at least watching, since they had all been gathered out of curiosity anyway. "I'm not sure how old he is, probably one or one-and-a-half, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's very active and curious."

"I thought you didn't know about babies, Robin." Nami stated questioningly to the older woman.

"It's just something I read in a psychology book somewhere on usual development; it was mostly on adults though, there were only a few passages on infants and children." She explained before turning to them all. "That means that someone needs to keep their eyes on him at all times, unless he's in a secure, enclosed, space. We wouldn't want Makino-san to wake up and find out a pirate ship is less safe than a marine ship."

There were a few chuckles at that, except from the captain. Luffy had been staring intently at the child, now in Nami's arms, as he stared right back with equal intensity.

"Hey, Nami, can I hold him?" He opened his arms in invitation as his crew stared at him in surprise.

Nami glanced at Robin briefly but quickly shifted her arms so her captain could take their place. "Uh, yeah, sure." She and Robin reminded him of how to properly keep him secure, which he impatiently waved off and they were soon watching in fascination as the two continued to seemingly have a silent conversation. They started a bit when Luffy suddenly burst out laughing as if hearing a joke.

"I thought his hair would be red or green when I heard from grandpa." He stated curiously, looking at the tufts of soft almost-black hair.

"It's like a really dark brown, maybe 'cuz those colors are opposites?" Usopp theorized.

Luffy and Chopper were voicing their admiration over his wisdom when Nami reprimanded the remark. "That's not how it works, they're not colors on a palette. It's genetics! Makino or Shanks probably just have genes for brown hair from their family that their kid inherited."

"Oh, so it's mystery hair." Luffy stated with certainty.

"It might as well be, yes." Nami replied with a resigned sigh. She didn't know why she bothered anymore.

Sanji obviously thought this was the opportune moment to pay the navigator a compliment, so he did. "Nami-swan is so knowledgeable! Oh, I completely forgot! Thank you for saving our asses back on the marine ship! I don't know how, but that extra fog really saved us!" He gushed exuberantly.

Nami stared at him in confusion. "What extra fog?"

Brook explained. "Just before we escaped on the Lamb-chan we were almost found by a group of soldiers. The fog thickened around us just as we were about to be in their sight and they passed by. That wasn't you?" Nami shook her head at the question, perplexed.

Robin lifted a finger to her chin. "Zoro had said it might not be." She muttered almost to herself, then closed her eyes and activated her powers for a moment. Her brow lifted in surprise at some new piece of information. "It seems…" She opened them again. "Zoro thinks it was Smoker's doing." Her mouth quirked. "He said the dissipating smoke felt faintly solid when he inspected it with Haki, like a logia fruit might."

"What, Smokey did?!" Usopp exclaimed. Sure, they had parted on fairly good terms but still…

Luffy looked up at them. "Yeah, he also said all the kids got home." Nami and Chopper looked very happy to hear that. "We should call Torao and tell him too!"

Nami privately thought that the Surgeon of Death probably wouldn't care, but he had helped save them. Still… "I doubt we could get in contact, they're probably too far away."

"But we have that new snail, don't we?!" The baby made an encouraging noise at the excitement of Luffy's question.

"Well, yeah, but… the guy said the marines would know it was stolen. They'll probably be keeping an eye out."

Franky and Usopp looked thoughtful. "I wonder if there's a way we can mess with the signal so it only delivers to the intended line, but sounds like static anywhere else." Usopp thought out loud.

"Hmm, you might be onto something there, bro. Do we have any books on the snails?"

"I believe I have one on radio transmission, yes." Robin answered.

"Great! Let's go have a look at it! Maybe we can rewire the Den Den Mushi." Usopp stated in excitement, and the two rushed out to the library and then to their workshop.

Nami seemed to snap herself back to attention at the activity. "That's right! We still need to meet back up with Hancock in a couple days; and we can't get complacent just because we're back in the Blues, got that?!" She snapped to unanimous agreement and left soon after to ready their course.

Luffy took a seat at the benches at the far wall and let the baby sit facing the rest of the room. He mostly just watched whoever was talking at the time but soon took a particular interest in Brook, making the musician both uncomfortable and flattered. Sanji came over with a bowl of small apple pieces that he handed to Brook, since he seemed to be in the kid's graces for the moment.

"We should find a way of contacting Red Hair right away; a modified Den Den Mushi might be just the thing. The marines won't be able to keep this a secret for too long but they might not broadcast who took Makino-chan and her kid. We should at least let him know they're okay, maybe he had people in the area waiting for a chance to rescue them." Sanji reasoned.

"That seems likely." Brook said as he scooped a few pieces of apple with the small wooden spoon Sanji had provided. "But what do you think will happen to them after? A pirate ship is not an ideal place to raise a child. I'm sure that was one of the reasons Makino-san stayed behind." They were all silently thoughtful at that.

"That's true…" Robin said sadly. "They're now exposed to the government and marines, not to mention enemy pirates. There aren't a lot of places they'll be able to hide, especially if the government decides they're too valuable to let go. They might even put a bounty on them." She finished in a disturbed whisper.

"Do you think they would?" Brook asked, aghast.

She stayed silent, she didn't want to think about it.

After Chopper confirmed that Makino was otherwise healthy, they moved her to the women's quarters where Nami and Robin insisted she be put on their bed. They then managed to convince Franky to build a secure crib to put in the room for naps. Luffy stayed stubbornly attached to the infant the whole time and regularly stepped into the room to check on Makino or put the crib to use when the baby was sleepy. It was during one of these times that Makino slowly woke up.

The first thing that pierced through the haze was a soft, irregular, popping sound. Sometimes short and fast, other times with longer pauses. Which made it impossible to fall back to sleep. With a soft sigh she opened her eyes and turned towards the sound, somehow already knowing what it was.

Luffy popping spit bubbles in her son's face for the child's amusement.

Despite this, she felt a grin start to stretch across her face. She felt the soft lull of waves beneath her, oddly different than how it felt on the marine ship. It was very quiet, it might be late evening or night; everyone was probably asleep. She wondered how long she had been asleep and how long she had left the baby in this crew's hands. She winced inwardly and hoped someone had a little experience, hoped it hadn't been too hard on them. The child seemed content, though, lazily swatting at the teenager's waggling fingers and fighting to keep his eyes open. A fight he eventually lost.

They watched his chest rise and fall for a few seconds before Luffy turned his knowing eyes on her and grinned. "Hi, Makino!" He chirped.

She put a finger to her lips and spoke softly. "Hello, Luffy. I didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon."

He made a visible effort to keep his laugh low. "I know! I thought I'd be pirate king the next time I visited Windmill Village!" He frowned a bit. "I was gonna pay back my treasure tab."

Makino laughed lightly and sat up against the headboard. "That's all right, I can wait." She suddenly felt a pang at those words, though. Would she be able to return? Had she spent her last day working in her little bar? She tried to dispel those thoughts from her mind and looked around the room, it was quite spacious with a very pronounced feminine touch. "Does this room belong to those women?"

"Yeah, this is Nami and Robin's bedroom, they're sleeping in the aquarium tonight." He pouted in envy at that, why hadn't he thought of it before?!

An aquarium? "I see…" She felt a little bad for taking their bed. "I've had all their wanted posters in the bar since they came out, even Brook's re-issued one, but it's nice to finally meet them in person. They seem like a nice bunch."

"They're great! I'll introduce you!" He looked about ready to jump up and wake everyone right then and there so she quickly stopped him.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea for tomorrow, Luffy. I'm sure everyone is tired, though, let's let them rest."

"Oh, ok."

Makino looks down at the sleeping infant and lets out a slow breath. Now would be best. "Luffy?" He looks at her. "I never had the chance to introduce you to my and Shanks' son." She rested a hand on the edge of the crib but kept her eyes on Luffy. "This is Ace."

There were a few beats of surprised silence where Luffy blinked at her, not the shocked or painful reaction she had feared though. But it looked like it was finally starting to dawn on him.

"What?! You got an Ace too?!" He quickly clapped his hands to his mouth at the outburst and glanced at the child in question then back at her apologetically.

Makino blinked in equal surprise. "What?"

Luffy looks back at the baby thoughtfully then nods to himself, as if a question had been answered for him. "Ace is a great name for a great man." He gently poked the sleeping boy's nose. "Right?"

Makino seems a bit distressed. Confused. "Luffy, listen, I-"

"No, Makino." Luffy stopped her with a serious expression, and then smiled. "It's okay. It's a good name."

Makino was speechless. She tried to think of something to say but the effort just made her eyes sting and throat constrict.

"Shishishi! Makino, are you crying?" He teased. "Sanji will kick me if he finds out I made you cry."

She gave him a shaky little laugh. "…Yeah, it's a perfect name."

They sat in silence for a bit, listening to the light breathing and soft sound of waves breaking against the hull.

"Thank you for saving us, Luffy." She finally expressed in a thick voice. "I'm sorry you had to go through the trouble."

"Don't be stupid." He laughed. "It was fun!"

She chuckled. "Even so, thank you."

"No problem. Sanji thinks Shanks was probably on his way to rescue you too. But we beat him to it! Shishishi!"

The blond boy, she remembered. "He may be right, if I know the captain." Her stomach suddenly protests its fast, making Luffy laugh again.

"C'mon, I bet Sanji is still in the kitchen! Let's get a snack!" He jumps up, eyes twinkling in anticipation, and his shirt falls open for the first time, giving Makino an unobstructed view of his chest for the first time.

Years of newspaper articles and pictures but she never noticed. Before she realized she was holding onto his arm, keeping him still, and staring at his chest.

"What happened?" She whispered, horrified by the huge, jagged scar.

He looks down at it and raises his unobstructed arm to touch it. "I got it at Marineford. I don't really remember, I was unconscious when it happened."

She didn't want to know. She wanted to shut her ears and forget. Forget the news articles, the waiting. But she heard herself: "Who…?"

A stormy look overcame his young, so young, face. But it wasn't directed at her. "Akainu."

Makino felt sick. Of course she knew. She only read that article once, but its words would forever be burnt into her mind. That man, the hero of the war. Of course she knew.

Luffy saw the recognition and lowered his eyes sadly. "Yeah…" His eyes clouded with memories. Memories of that day, of childhood, who knows…? But…

Impulsively, Makino reaches forward and pulls the boy into an embrace. He's still short for his age, she notes, and his chin barely passes her shoulder, resting there now. He freezes a second, surprised, then returns the hug, a bit confused. "Makino-?"

"Thank you." She says, voice low and trembling. "Thank you for coming back, Luffy. I know it was hard. I know you probably had days where you blamed yourself and wished it had been you. But you were so strong. So strong. You found the strength you needed to pull yourself back from despair and return to us. So thank you." She pulled away a bit and gave him a watery smile, placing a hand on his cheek. "Thank you for surviving."

Sanji closed the door to the storeroom and made a final note of the supply reduction after the day's meals. One sweeping look of the kitchen asserted him of its spotlessness so he sat at the table with pen and paper to work out the next day's meals. He had a handful of scraps where he had noted everyone's requests throughout the day; he was just wondering what to arrange for their guests when Luffy threw the door open with a shout for food. The cook had a half-formed retort on his tongue when he caught sight of the angel walking in behind his captain.

"My dear, sweet Makino! It is my pleasure to see you awake and well; please sit, Chopper said you shouldn't move around too much on that leg. What can I do for you? Yeah, I know you're hungry, shit-captain. What would you like to eat, Makino-chan?"

Makino blinked at the rush of words and uneven reaction to her and Luffy, then smiled. So, Sanji must be their cook. "Oh, something simple, I'm afraid I haven't taken to sea very well."

He gave her a worried look. "If it's serious, we can have Chopper prescribe you something."

"Maybe tomorrow, if it doesn't settle, I'm just a bit queasy."

"Ah, well then, how about some ginger tea? We just got some very good honey a couple weeks ago, too."

"That sounds lovely, thank you."

He sets the kettle to boil and starts cutting up the ingredients, as well as those for Luffy's late-night snack, when Robin walks in and smiles at the company. "Good evening, it's good to see you up, Makino-san."

"Thank you. Oh, and thank you for rescuing us." She says to both Robin and Sanji.

"Of course."

"You don't need to thank me, Makino-chan, I'm your Mr. Prince, after all!" He gushes.

"Mr. Prince, hurry up with the food!"

"Shut up!"

That reminded Makino of something, and she turned to Luffy with a worried frown. "One of the vice-admirals and captains said they knew you. Miss Tashigi and-?"

"Smokey?!" Luffy finished in his excitement. "Yeah, we saw him just before Sanji made us leave." He pouted at the older male.

"Yes, him. I'm a bit worried about them, they were so nice to us…"

"I wouldn't worry about them." Robin said reassuringly. "From what I overheard from the soldiers you and your son were originally under their custody but Vice-Admiral Clarkson forcefully overrode Smoker's authority and transferred you both to his ship." A small, pleased, smile graced her features. "That's going to be difficult to explain to his superiors."

Makino didn't look entirely reassured but she supposed nothing could be done about it; and at least Captain Tashigi seemed to have decided to let them go.

Once again, the door burst open for the long-nosed sharpshooter of the Strawhats. "San-! Oh! Everyone's in here, huh? Sanji, me and Franky want some snacks! We're really close to keeping noise over the transmission so we're just gonna work through the night." Sanji complies to making extra snacks so he sits down on Luffy's other side and leans over to look at Makino. "Did the others tell you what we're working on?" She shakes her head at the unexpected question and he grins madly. "Me and our shipwright, Franky, are adjusting the radio frequencies on our long-range Den Den Mushi to allow a secure transmission! Uh, it means the marines or other pirates won't be able to overhear the calls." He adds at Luffy's blank look. "Some of us thought we should try calling Red Hair Shanks before he declares war on the Navy or something." Usopp seems to realize something and he asks, "Do you have his number?"

They all look at her expectantly. Well, all except Luffy, who's begun to bug Sanji again. She smiles though. "Yes, he did give me a way to contact him in case of emergencies." She confirmed.

"Oh, good." The sharpshooter replied in relief. "This would be pretty useless if not, huh?" He laughed. Makino blinked at the reaction, having a strange feeling of familiarity.

"Oh, I don't know about that, Usopp. We could always find ways of giving it use." Robin responded enigmatically.

"I guess…" He was a little unnerved by her reply.

Makino caught the boy's eye again. "I'm sorry, but are you Sogeking, from the wanted poster?" She asks, certainly not expecting the following reaction.

Sanji flinches and turns to the table sharply, expertly catching the falling ingredients, Robin's eyes widen a fraction, but an amused smile stays in place as she watches the boy's reaction, and Usopp seems to be speechless for once. He quickly realizes he should say something and begins to formulate a denial, glancing swiftly at his captain, when Luffy bursts into laughter.

"Usopp isn't Sogeking, Makino! Sogeking has a cool mask and cape! He's a superhero, after all. He went back to Sniper Island after he helped us rescue Robin. Usopp's friends with him, though, right?" He looks at his sharpshooter with utmost trust.

Usopp laughs a bit shrilly. "Of course! Why, I even taught him a few things about ammo that even he didn't know!" And puffs out his chest proudly to Luffy's cries of admiration.

Makino looks at Robin in confusion, seeking answers to their strange reactions. She had been sure it was him, just looking to confirm. Robin shrugged a shoulder and mouthed 'later'. Makino nodded and looked back at Usopp. "So, Usopp then?"

"Uh, yeah, nice to meet you!" His smile faltered a bit and he squirmed in his seat self-consciously before looking up at her hesitantly. "Um, can I ask you a question?"

She tilts her head to the side, curiously. "Of course. What do you want to know?"

He takes a steadying breath and continues. "My father used to sail with Red Hair Shanks, Luffy told me. I was wondering- Was he still with him the last time you saw him?" Luffy had assured him that he had been sailing with Red Hair, but that had been over 12 years ago! He had to know…

Makino, Robin, and Sanji looked at the sharpshooter in surprise. "Your father?"

Luffy intervened. "Yeah! Yasopp is Usopp's dad, Makino! Isn't that cool?!"

Makino's eyes widened in realization. So that's what it was! "Oh! Yes, of course he was with the captain!" She laughed at Usopp's thrilled expression. "You shouldn't be so surprised. Yasopp is the captain's top marksman, after all, and one of his closest friends. He's doing well." She smiled widely as Usopp bounced in his seat, elated by the news. It faltered a bit as she remembered one bit of news she had gotten from them and wondered whether or not she should share it. He has the right to know. "They stopped by your island before Windmill." She stated gently and Usopp looked surprised. "I think he was looking for you, but of course you weren't there. He heard from some villagers that you had taken to sea with a young boy with a straw hat." She raised an eyebrow at said boy, who giggled. "He looked so proud."

Usopp seemed to have forgotten how to speak. Or breathe, for that matter. His face slowly turned red until his best friend laughed at the reaction and he stuttered out a reply. "I- I s-see… Did he- Uh, did he say anything… else?" He kept his eyes fixed on the table, feeling inexplicably guilty.

Her gaze softened at what he was asking. "He visited your mother too. It was quite a shock for him, but… I think he was more worried about how you took it. He was afraid you'd hate him for leaving…"

Usopp started at the notion. "What?! Of course not! I've always been proud of my old man! He went out to chase adventure as a brave warrior of the sea, there's nothing greater!" Luffy cheered in response.

Makino beamed at him. "That's good to hear."

Sanji stepped over with two trays, one laden with food which he handed to his captain and the other with a tea & coffee set and two plates of small sandwiches. He set the tea and coffee in front of the ladies, along with one of the remaining plates, and handed the rest to Usopp. "Thanks! Well, hopefully we'll have this figured out by tomorrow. Isn't this exciting, Luffy?! We'll be able to talk to Red-Hair and my dad!"

"I'm not going to talk to Shanks." Luffy stated with an almost-surprised tone, as if it should have been obvious.

There was a shocked silence.

Usopp floundered a bit. "W-what? Why not?!"

Luffy crossed his arms and looked at him with mild disapproval. He took off his hat and started twirling it in his hands. "I told him the next time we met I'd be a great pirate. Even if it's just over the Den Den Mushi, it still counts as 'meeting.' So I won't do it. I'm not there yet. The next time we speak needs to be as equals, face to face." He finishes with a decisive nod.

Usopp looked pretty surprised through the speech but it morphed into an agreeing excitement. "Yeah! You're right! I want the first time I meet my old man to be memorable, too! I'll be a brave warrior, of equal standing as a sharpshooter too." He turns to Makino with a sheepish expression. "Would you tell him what I said though? That I'm not angry with him and all that…?"

"Of course."

He beamed and swept out of the room, energy renewed. "All right then, night everyone!"

Makino turned to Luffy thoughtfully, then reached out and ruffled his hair, making him laugh.

"What?"

"Nothing." She just smiled proudly.

Robin smiled softly at the two while Sanji seethed a bit.

Gaaah! It's so emotional! Writing the Strawhats always makes it seem like I'm writing less than I actually am. Maybe it's all the banter? I had planned on ending this chapter right after Luffy and Makino's talk but it didn't seem right so I continued with this last piece. I'm not sure how long the next chapter will be, though… But this was already nearly 6,000 words so I figured I'd better split it.

Sooo… I was really nervous about revealing littleAce's name. Maybe not so much to Luffy, he's so altruistic, but more to the crew I guess. Let's see how that goes.

I'm not really sure how to go about starting the next chapter and stuff, although I'm pretty sure I know how it'll end it's just the execution of it, so don't expect anything for at least another couple weeks. I'm moving right after Christmas so I'm hoping to finish this before then or it'll be another month after before I'd update.