Chapter 15 (It's been a little while, huh? In case you didn't notice, I raised the rating of this fic. The polls were saying 75% to 25% in favor of M pretty consistently, so that's what it's going to be from now on. Don't like it? I'll leave the poll open and you can keep voting. :)

Guest (no name): Thanks! I always try to update ASAP for you guys!

Guest (also no name): Thank you! I'm glad you like the story so much! I will be finishing this story. I know how it feels when something you enjoy gets abandoned. It sucks majorly.

CJ: Thank you! I'll try to update while I'm away, but no promises. ;)

Thank you so much! That's good to hear. I'd hate to be too predictable. :) I've even stumped someone who can guess plots? SUCCESS! XD

Hope this chapter's up soon enough for you.

(PS, do you usually have an account or did you never give a name on your past reviews? I don't think I have any other ones from a 'CJ'…)

Those were the only anonymous reviews for last chapter, so let's get on with the story!)

Shanks woke up to the sound of gentle knocking on the door. He drowsily got off the couch and stumbled over to the door, opening it and coming face to face with Makino. She had a basket on one arm, and one hand was still raised, prepared to knock on the door again. Shanks blinked sleepily at her a few times. She smiled and chuckled.

"Not used to getting up this early, captain?" She gently pushed past the still half-asleep pirate and into the house. "I thought I'd bring you all breakfast this morning since Ace is probably going to want to sleep in." She set the basket she was carrying on the table and opened it. She brought out fruit salad, scrambled eggs, toast and jam, and a pot of coffee and cups. She poured a cup of coffee, stirred in a little milk and sugar, and handed it to Shanks. "That should wake you up a little. Maybe make you at least semi-cognizant." She was smiling at him amusedly. Shanks took a sip of the coffee and sat down in one of the table's chairs. Several moments of silence passed with Shanks drinking his coffee and Makino unloading breakfast. Once she was done, she sat down across from him. Shanks was remembering what had happened last night, one bit of conversation repeating over and over in his head. Taking a last sip of coffee, Shanks set down his cup and looked up at Makino.

"Makino…there's something I need to ask you about." Makino looked at him in surprise. "Last night Ace said something, and I don't understand what he meant by it." Makino looked troubled, but nodded.

"I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I'll try to answer your question." Shanks looked down at the table for a moment, then back up at Makino. His face was serious.

"Last night Ace asked me if I hated him. I said no, and asked him why he would say that, and he said everyone hated him. Why would he say that?" Makino was looking at him in surprise. She opened her mouth to speak, hesitated, and looked away.

"I'm sorry, but…it's not my secret to tell." Shanks opened his mouth to speak again, but just then the sound of footsteps came charging down the upstairs hall. Makino and Shanks turned to see Luffy come running down the stairs, still wearing his pajamas and his hair still mussed from sleep.

"I smell food! Is breakfast ready?" He was grinning widely, nearly bouncing with excitement. Makino laughed and stood from the table.

"Yes, Luffy. Help yourself." The boy practically leapt across the room, hands reaching for a plate. He froze for an instant, face showing deep concentration, then, very carefully picked up the plate. Makino gave him an amused look. "What's the matter, Luffy?" The boy looked to her, but then went back to staring at the plate in his hands seriously, still moving in slow motion.

"Ace told me to be very careful when carrying glass stuff." He continued moving slowly, carrying the plate with both hands and staring at it as if he thought it might try to jump out of his hands and break itself on the floor. Shanks laughed and Makino giggled.

"Is Ace awake yet?" Luffy shook his head, never once taking his eyes off the plate. After what seemed like an eternity, Luffy reached his place at the table, setting the plate gently on the wooden surface. As soon as the plate was no longer in his hands, he leapt up into his chair and began eating ferociously, nearly inhaling the food. Makino laughed and shook her head. She turned to Shanks.

"I'm going to go check on Ace. I'll be back in just a minute." She walked across the kitchen, glancing over her shoulder at Luffy before heading upstairs. Once upstairs, she walked as quietly as she could down the hallway, opening Ace's door slowly and sticking her head inside. Ace was still sleeping, facing away from Makino. His limbs were flung ungracefully and the blankets were half-falling off the bed. Makino smiled and tiptoed across the room, standing over Ace. Moving gently, she pulled the blankets back onto the bed and over the sleeping boy. He stirred a little, making a small noise and rolling over, but he didn't wake. Makino smiled again, and turned away, heading back towards the door. She heard a rustling coming from behind her.

"Makino…? 'S that you?" She turned back around to see Ace push himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes blearily. Makino walked back over to him.

"Yeah. I brought you and Luffy breakfast." He seemed to wake up a little at that, turning to look at her.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that! I could have made breakfast…" Makino smiled. A faint knocking sound came from downstairs. Makino turned her head briefly, but then looked back at Ace. He didn't seem to have heard it. She shook her head, returning to the conversation.

"I know, I just figured you'd like to sleep in a little for once." Ace blinked, looking around the room absently.

"Thank you. Is Luffy already up?" Makino nodded. Ace looked out the window, seeing the sun already fairly high in the sky. "…What time is it?" Makino turned away and began walking back towards the door.

"It's probably about 10 o'clock. Luffy's downstairs eating breakfast. Shanks is here too. You should come down and get some food before it's all gone." Ace chuckled, rubbing his eyes again.

"Yeah. I'll be down in just a minute." Makino headed back out the door and downstairs, still smiling. She reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped, shocked. The knocking she had heard was someone at the door. Shanks had answered. That had led to the current situation.

Garp stood, glaring at Shanks. Shanks glared back just as hard if not harder. Garp took a step forwards.

"I don't care what you say, pirate. I need to talk to him." Shanks blocked the door, voice angry.

"I already told you, he doesn't want to speak to you right now." Shanks and Garp went back to glaring at each other, neither willing to back down. Finally Garp's glare broke and he looked down, guilt on his face. His voice came out quiet.

"Don't you get it? I'm trying to apologize. I'm leaving on assignment again and I…I have to tell him I'm sorry before I go." Shanks didn't step down. His anger didn't fade.

"Look, I don't know exactly what was said last night, only that I have never seen Ace that upset. You don't deserve his forgiveness. Ace has raised Luffy all this time, took a bullet for him three months ago from the bandits you were oh-so-sure didn't live on this island, and the only way you thank him is by tearing him apart? I had never seen Ace cry before last night. Not once. Not when he was shot, not when Sophie died, never. He's not your grandson because you don't deserve him as a grandson. He's more family to Luffy then you'll ever be, and if he hadn't been here all this time, Luffy would probably be dead since you don't care enough to actually support either of them. Normal 10-year-olds are worrying about what they're getting for their birthday. Ace worries about what he and Luffy are going to eat-if they're going to eat-come winter. Last night Ace told me he was going to die alone. Those don't exactly seem like his words to me. For once why don't you actually think about what you've done and then you can come here on your goddamned knees and beg for his forgiveness. Now get out." Garp's head was hanging low, face turned away in shame. He nodded brokenly to the pirate, then turned away. Shanks shut the door.

"Who was that?" Shanks turned to see Ace walking down the stairs. Shanks put a smile on his face.

"Nobody. Just a traveler looking for a sibling of theirs. Wrong address." Ace blinked.

"Oh." Shanks thought he saw a hint of disappointment in Ace's eyes, but Ace turned away, facing turned the kitchen. "Whatever you made, Makino, it sure smells delicious!" Ace went into the kitchen, faking a smile. Inside, he was a mishmash of emotions, but mainly anger and a little bit of sorrow. Not even going to apologize, are you Garp? The last words of his and Garp's argument replayed in his head, and the smile faltered for a moment. Seeing Luffy, he shook away his dark thoughts and faked an accusing look.

"You'd better have saved me some of those scrambled eggs." Luffy swallowed, then pointed to the bowl on the table. Ace looked in and saw there were, in fact, some scrambled eggs left. He smiled. "Good." Ace grabbed his own plate and began eating. No one looked out the window or saw the marine ship sailing away, its forlorn officer staring back at the island with guilt-ridden eyes.

Ace's clock woke him up at 1 AM the next morning. He reached out blearily, groping around until he found it and turned off the alarm. The ringing bells stopped instantly. Ace sat up, rubbing his eyes. He glanced out the window, seeing the stars and moon shining brightly over the quiet sea. Rubbing his face once more he stood, making his way across the room. He walked carefully, stepping over the boards he knew would creak, and made his way downstairs. He splashed his face with some cold water, waking himself up a little. He grabbed a cloth shoulder bag hanging on a peg near the door and headed outside into the chilly air. He shivered as a cool breeze hit his wet face and began hiking into the woods.

The trees stood tall and pale in the moonlight, their shadows a stark black contrast to their silvery bark. The moonlight caused a spattering of pearly medallions of light on the forest floor. It was utterly silent, save the gently sighing of quiet winds through the opalescent leaves. Most animals were asleep by now, but as Ace walked he passed a raccoon, its masked face staring with garnet eyes out of a nearby bush. The hike was hard, but Ace didn't mind. The chill air kept him cool and the moon shone bright enough that he could see without any other source of light.

Ace was panting when he reached the timberline. He had been hiking for nearly two hours, and the moon was getting lower. Leaning against a tree, Ace took a moment to catch his breath. Looking out at his destination, he smiled. It was worth the hike. The sinking moon shone off the broad flat leaves, the few remaining white flowers seeming like small pearls dotting the field. Ace walked out into the ankle-tall plants, cool dew staining the bottom of his pants with water.

The field was full of wild strawberries.

Ace started at one side of the field, picking the bright crimson fruit and putting them into the bag. His work put him into a kind of trance, calming his mind with the hypnotic repetition. The emotional stress from the day before yesterday slid off his shoulders like rainwater. His mind cleared, focused solely on his current task. It's almost winter, so how can I make these last? Should I dry them or make them into jam? I have to preserve them somehow; even if they were kept cold they'd go bad after about a month, and having some kind of fruit in winter really is nice…

He worked for maybe an hour, barely getting through a third of the field. His cloth bag was full to overflowing by the end and with a satisfied smile he began the hike home.

By the time Ace reached his and Luffy's house, the sun was just beginning to rise. He stared out at the colorful scene, smiling as a salty sea breeze came up the cliffs from the sea. The world was quiet, holding its breath as a new day was born. That's one nice thing about being so removed from everyone else…you get to really hear the world as well as see it. Ace looked down the long slope to Fuushia village. It was an hour-long hike through the woods on the best of days, and one winter a couple years ago he had had to hike it with Luffy in the snow, making a treacherous ice crossing since the bridge had been destroyed by a flood. Then it had taken 2 days. Staring out at the sunrise for another moment, Ace considered his life. A small smile came to his face. There's nothing, not one damn thing in the entire world I would trade this life for. Still smiling, he stepped inside the house. It was only about 6, so Luffy would still be asleep. Ace set the bag of strawberries on the table and started making breakfast.

It was now about 11 o'clock in the morning. Ace was outside, just hanging up the laundry to dry. Inside, Luffy was lying on the floor on his stomach, drawing. Ace shook out a bed sheet and hung it up on the line. He yawned. Damn I'm tired…I'd take a nap except I don't trust Luffy not to blow up the house while I'm asleep. Giving another wide yawn, he turned back towards the house, calling to Luffy inside.

"Hey Luffy, what do you want for lunch?" No reply was forthcoming, even though if anything got Luffy excited it was food. Ace walked into the house and stuck his head into the living room. He froze. Oh hell no. It was no wonder Luffy was so quiet. He was asleep. On the floor.

With strawberry stems littered all around him.

Ace marched into the room, making a beeline for Luffy. Luffy continued sleeping obliviously. Ace's face was tightened with annoyance. He stopped, standing above his little brother, looking him over, head to toe. His face was still sticky with the juice from the strawberries, and the stems were littered all over the floor around him, some of them even sticking to his clothes. Ace crossed his arms, opening his mouth to scold his little brother but all his anger evaporated upon seeing Luffy's drawing. He stood there for a moment, frozen, but finally a smile came to his face and he closed his eyes. He opened them again and ran a hand through his hair, still smiling. He shook his head. You make it so hard to be mad at you. Ace bent down and picked up the pad of paper Luffy had been drawing on.

On the paper, two lumpy, disproportional people stood. One was shorter with dark hair, brown eyes and a white shirt. Above this figure the word "me" was scribbled sloppily. The other figure was taller with dark hair, what might have been an attempt at hazel eyes, and brown spots, which Ace assumed were supposed to be freckles, covering the face. Above this figure "Onii-san" was scribbled in the same uneven handwriting. Ace looked down at his sleeping brother, warm smile still on his face. Looking back at the paper, he tore it gently out of the book, folding it and putting it in his pocket. Shaking his head, he picked up the stems-all that was left of a 5-hour effort-and brought them into the kitchen, throwing them in the trashcan.

Shanks and his crew were in Party's Bar, as usual. Their ship was docked prudently on the other side of the island in case Garp or any other marines decided to stop by the island on their patrol. Shanks was laughing and joking, as usual and Makino was in back, cooking them all lunch. Benn was sitting near the wall, looking out the window. Makino came back in with the food, large platters of fried rice and various kinds of cooked meats and instantly the crew flocked to the table she set them down on. Makino stepped back, smiling, and returned behind the bar. After the initial rush the crew settled down into the quiet of satisfied eating. After a few moments, the noisy conversations began to return. Abruptly, Benn sat up straighter, eyes focused on a point outside the window. His voice was clear and serious.

"Captain." Shanks stopped speaking mid-sentence, turning away from Lucky Roo and walking over to his first mate. Once he was there, Benn pointed silently out the window. Shanks' face grew even more serious.

"Shit. That's not Garp, is it?" Benn shook his head.

"My question is what they're here for, and whether or not they know we're on the island. Someone might have spotted the ship and called in the cavalry." Shanks considered the problem.

"Should we fight them?" Benn shook his head.

"We'd just cause a commotion. And we don't know who that is yet. Better to know exactly what we'd be getting into before we dive in." Shanks nodded his agreement. The room behind them had fallen silent, the crew awaiting the results of the hushed conversation. Shanks turned towards his crew, face serious. "Alright. We're pulling back for now. The East Wind is-" Just then Makino stepped back into the room.

"It'll be a problem if they see you, right? If you try to make your way back to the East Wind, it's highly likely you'll be spotted by a patrol." Shanks turned to her, face still serious, showing none of his usual mirth.

"What would you suggest?" Makino took a deep breath.

"If you're willing to, you can all hide in the storage cellar of this place. Nobody ever goes down there, and the marines have no excuse to search it." Shanks looked seriously at her.

"…You know that would mean you could be convicted of harboring fugitives, right?" Makino took a deep breath and smiled bravely.

"What would I tell Luffy and Ace if I let you get arrested?" Shanks walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking into her eyes. From here, he could see that despite the brave face, she was scared. He tried to smile reassuringly.

"Thank you." He turned to look back at his crew and nodded. Makino took a deep breath, setting her shoulders firmly.

"Follow me."

Ace hummed quietly to himself, rummaging through the kitchen for something to make for lunch. In the living room, Luffy was still asleep on the floor. Hearing movement behind him, he turned to see a sleepy Luffy rubbing his eyes and walking slowly across the kitchen. He walked up next to Ace and blinked owlishly.

"What's for lunch?" Ace continued rummaging through the cupboards.

"Well, what would you like?" Luffy clapped his hands and bounced.

"Meat!" Ace laughed and lifted an item from the cabinet.

"Hmm…would you prefer beef soup or pasta with meatballs?" Luffy stared up at Ace with wide eyes, face soaked with indecision. After a moment of silence, he snapped his fingers, apparently coming to some great conclusion.

"Both!" Ace laughed again, turning back to the cupboard to get out the necessary ingredients.

"Alright. And why don't you get yourself something to drink-" Just then, there was a series of fast, loud bangs. The bowl in Ace's hand exploded, shards of glass falling to the floor, the cupboards showing holes and the windows shattering. Ace had instinctively flinched at the first gunshot, but now came back to his senses. "Luffy, get down now!" He tackled Luffy to the ground, rolling over in midair so that Luffy would land on top of him. They took shelter behind the counter, the gunshots continuing to tear up the house, breaking the dishes and putting holes in the cupboards. Luffy was cowering against Ace, pressing his face into Ace's chest and clinging to him tightly. Ace was covering Luffy's exposed ear, holding him close and trying to figure out what the hell was going on and how to get them out of it.

After what felt like hours the gunshots stopped. The floor was littered with glass, most of the cupboard's doors hanging off their hinges. Ace held perfectly still, listening for any sounds of movement from outside. It sounded like a large group of people were moving around in a somewhat disorganized way, but based on the shouting they were going to come in. Ace listened to the continued movement from outside, trying to remain as still as possible so as not to alert whoever it was to his and Luffy's presence. He pulled Luffy away from his chest and looked into Luffy's wide, frightened eyes.

"Okay, Luffy? I need you to hide for me. I'm going to put you in a small place and it's going to be dark, but you'll be safe there. There's going to be some people moving around in the house probably, and after they go away I want you to wait half an hour before you come out, do you understand?" Ace tried to speak in as calm of a tone as he could. Luffy nodded, still looking frightened. "Good. Once you come out, I want you to go to Makino. Can you do that? Tell her what happened and if you can, I want you to go to Shanks' ship. But only go if it's safe, okay?" Again Luffy nodded. Ace gave him a smile and carefully, silently, moved the two of them across the floor. Reaching a spot near the sink, Ace grabbed onto a tiny, nearly undetectable lip in the wood floor. Pulling it slowly, a section of wood slid away. Beneath it, a small, clean space was revealed. Ace slowly lowered Luffy into the space, laying him down on his back so that he'd be able to get out when the time came. "Remember, you're going to wait here until the people have been gone for half an hour, okay? No matter what happens, don't come out until then." The movements from outside were growing closer, and Ace could tell they were going to come in soon. He looked down into Luffy's eyes, and suddenly Luffy sat up from his place, grabbing Ace and hugging him tightly. Ace squeezed him back just as hard. They stayed that way for only a moment, each desperately seeking reassurance that the other would still be there by the end of this. Ace pressed his face into Luffy's hair. He swallowed thickly. "Be safe, okay?" He felt Luffy nod against him and he released him, laying him back down in the floor and pulling the panel back over him.

Ace slid himself back against the counter. A knocking sound came from door. Ace didn't even think of answering it. Moving slowly, he raised himself enough to get a glimpse of what the rest of the house was like. The same wreckage and destruction was everywhere. Darting out with a hand, Ace grabbed a sharp knife from the rack. He took a deep, calming breath. The knocking on the door had turned to rhythmic pounding as if someone were trying to break it down. Ace took another deep breath. I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. I must face my fear and I must stand against it and it will pass through me. Then there will be nothing left, only I will remain. He shut his eyes, taking more deep breaths and listening to the pounding on the door. I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. I must face my fear and I must stand against it and it will pass through me. Then there will be nothing left... Ace heard the door break down and footsteps began pouring in. He opened his eyes slowly. ...Only I will remain.

.

(A/N: SUP GUYS? I love me some cliffhangers. Who's excited for the next chapter? *raises hand* ME! Finally getting back to some legit plot progression. Although writing the scene with Luffy eating all the strawberries was pretty fun. Maybe I should just make a fluff collection on my profile and post all the cute fluff I didn't feel like boring you all to tears with. XD Anyway, please review. I make no promises on when the next update will be out. I'm going on vacation, so it depends on whether I'm allowed to take my computer and whether or not we have Wi-Fi. So, we'll just have to see. :/ Anyway, please review! I love you all so much and I love to hear what you guys like and/or dislike. Thanks to those of you that voted! I'll leave the poll open, but if I had to guess, M is probably where this fic is going to stay. See you all next chapter! ~Mountain97)