Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, the god of epicness Oda-sama does.

Family Affairs

Episode 3 Part II

Luffy stood before his front door petrified. It had never occurred to him that he could one day be afraid of stepping inside his own house, his personal temple of comfort with its special divinity included. Thus at the present time, he did not presume such possibility a fact, nor did he presume anything else much deeply.

The numbness in his legs completely caught him off guard as he stared at the door with dread. It wasn't Garp's presence inside that bothered him the most, Luffy was already too used to the old man's character to be that surprised now. It was looking at Ace's face that disgruntled the chief of his being. He didn't know exactly why, but the feeling was there, only thinking about it pulled at his heartstrings. Unfortunately, he had to deal with it, liked it or not.

After mustering an affordable amount of courage, Luffy knocked at the door more feebly than he expected. He decided he had to do it sooner or later, and considering his grandfather's temper sooner would be better. Seconds trailed by and then following loud steady footsteps the front door slammed opened and revealed Garp's bulky figure. He looked just like he always did, with his prim broad chest demanding respect and the grey beard sculpturing his self-important smug.

"Finally my youngest grandson arrives!" Garp cried pleased. A voice from the back then resounded after his, coming from the depths of the house.

"Not so loud old man!" there was some anger attached to it and not even a bit of awareness towards its own degree of noise.

Luffy's heart fluttered unconsciously for a second while recognising Ace's voice. He was inside! Angry of course, as he always was when he had to put up with Garp, but still, he was really there! Since Usopp had informed him no other but Garp had been on the phone, Luffy had begun to worry if Ace had abandoned him to their grandfather after their fight. However, that casual, familiar scowl just now had brimmed Luffy with relief. At least he thought it was relief, but that didn't matter much to him anyway.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of Luffy's brief distraction, Garp swung his arm, ready to deal some justice to the situation. His punch hit Luffy right in the face and the younger D. stumbled backwards, ending up sprawled against the rail of the narrow hallway.

"It huuurts!!"

"It's your punishment for not coming to greet your grandpa on time!" Garp scolded earnestly.

"I forgot about it!" Luffy said defensively.

"You forgot? You forgot?" Garp stammered perplexed. There was a slight pause in his speech and then he delivered another blow on Luffy's head strictly "Is that what you say to your grandfather who came purposefully from Marine Headquarters to see his grandsons? HMM?"

"Damned geezer…it hurts oi!" Luffy muttered between gritted teeth.

"Call me grandpa!"

"Ossan!"

"Grandpa!"

CRASH!

A loud shattering noise echoed throughout the apartment. Garp and Luffy immediately looked backwards towards the source of the disturbance and locked their stares on the tiny hallway that led inside.

"What was that?" Luffy asked worriedly.

"It was probably Ace…" Garp mumbled, and then he strolled into the house. Luffy took his own time absorbing the words and consequent logic, and once his brain made the math he jumped to his feet.

"Ace?!" He rushed away, not even closing the front door behind him as he entered. He followed Garp to the living room and when he stepped in, his expectations and fear fell short, though he was kind of relieved. Ace was lying on the floor in a weird position, most likely surrendered to of one of his sleeping fits. Next to him were two fallen bowls shattered into small pieces.

"This boy, he will never lear-" Garp's sentence was left unfinished as he too succumbed to an unexpected surge of sleep. However, this time, it wasn't only two little bowls that were knocked in the process, the big nabe pot resting alluringly in the middle of the kotatsu was trashed to the floor as well, spilling its contents all over the tatami floor.

"NOOO!" Luffy bellowed. He hurried to the fallen ingredients with utmost care and, with his hands on his face as if holding the whole horror he scanned each and every one of them with dismay.

"My poor little meat! Tofu-chan! The udooon! Nooo! The meatballs! The meatballs! Another one here!" he turned to the surface of the table where most contents were still flowing down with the sauce and grimaced. "Don't think I'll let you all go to waste!" he stated to the inanimate pieces of food. Luffy grabbed the nearest set of chopsticks and the only bowl left undamaged and began picking the spoils at an unbelievable speed. Unfortunately, his blatant delight did not last long. Perhaps woken up by the sudden second crash, Ace's eyelids flickered and he soon sat up, quite dazed at first. When his gaze fell upon his relatives and the messy kotatsu table a new wave of rage ran through him.

"WHAT is this?!!!!"

Luffy, who had six chunks of meat in his mouth at the moment, did not stir. He looked at Ace with a mix of fear and anxiety, searching for any subtle consent to swallow. Regrettably, he was allowed none. Ace fiercely turned to Garp and kicked him on the stomach. The latter rapidly woke up from his slumber and took a moment to acknowledge the place he was in. After a few seconds he finally spoke.

"Aah~~ I fell asleep"

"Are you serious?!" Ace yelled in disbelief.

"Ace!! How dare you hit your elder!" the old man replied in a surprised earnest manner. Ace felt like fuming.

"How dare YOU destroy my beloved nabe!! It took me hours to make!" he cried furiously.

"What nabe- AH! Look at that! The nabe pot fell!!" Garp exclaimed as he looked at his left "Luffy you ungrateful child! Are you taking everything for yourself after others put so much effort into it?!" Garp snarled. He then picked up another set of chopsticks and started eating the spilled contents as well.

"What do you mean others?! I made it! And what effort are you talking about? The only effort you put into it was in destroying it, old man!" Ace reasoned. His patience had stretched to the limit.

"What the hell are you babbling about there, Ace? If you don't hurry up your brother and I will eat all of it!"

"Hmgnh!" nodded Luffy ungracefully. His mouth was overly full for him to be able to spell any coherent word.

Ace sighed. He looked at the stained tatami floor with grief and then to the two slobs leaning over the knocked nabe pot. When and why did he associate with such people he didn't know, in fact he didn't want any answer to that. Half the nabe dish was already sunk to the ground and while he roamed among such thoughts, the messiness of his household (which he so utterly disliked) was deliberately put on hold.

"Oi, I'm still hungry~~~" Luffy complained, slouched in his seat after all the edible food was eaten.

"We can eat the rice cakes I brought, bwahaha" Garp said with a loud laugh.

"Yeaah!" Luffy cheered, though by his side Ace glared at the old man with guarded apprehension.

"Are you sure? Last time we all had a bad trip to the hospital after eating the dango you brought" A bitter silence installed itself in the room and all three D.'s grimaced at the recollection of said memory. The look of the horrifying blue and orange dangos Garp had offered was enough to make them vomit, not to mention the taste.

"I don't want to visit the old hag any time soon…" Luffy mumbled to himself.

"Let's see those rice cakes" Ace said with a menacing voice. Garp complied and placed two small green boxes on the table. He opened the covers of both and put them aside. After this, all three peeked over the sweets. Inside each box were six colourful mochi some more elaborate than others.

"Hmmm…"

"The pink one looks nice" said Luffy greedily and instantly he reached his hand to the pastry.

"Don't even think about it!" Ace cut harshly, slapping Luffy's hand away "The one who is going to test them is old man over here" he said gesturing to Garp. The latter glared at his grandsons in response.

"What are you saying? Are you going to let your poor grandfather die of indigestion?"

"So they are rotten!" Luffy said outraged.

"No, that's not what I meant" Garp said hiding a bit of embarrassment.

"You brought them, you eat them" Ace stated. Luffy nodded with his head.

"Very well then…" Garp gave a long stern look at the rice cakes and stiffened. He took a deep breath before grabbing one of them and then he brought it up to his mouth. However, wouldn't this be the D. family, everything went wrong afterwards. In a swift, agile reflex Garp thrust the mochi into Ace's mouth and shoved it down his throat. Luffy gasped in shock and Ace, in all his horror, tried to swallow the damned sweet between muffled coughs. Garp and Luffy assisted to the whole spectacle with awe and fear but never took their eyes from Ace. When he finally managed to swallow it down, Ace found himself gasping for breath.

"You damned geezer… I could have died!"

"But you didn't! I had trust in you my dear Ace!" Garp said proudly. Ace was too tired to retaliate.

"So, was it good? Can we eat them?" Luffy asked innocently.

"I don't know. I didn't taste anything strange"

"Yaay!"

"See, see! I was right, the rice cakes are-" Garp then abruptly stopped his speech. He stared intensively at Ace as if trying to uncover a deep secret. The other, who was still catching his breath, looked back at Garp confused.

"What?"

"I don't think you always had that rash" the elder said casually, eyeing Ace with a hand under his chin. Luffy too turned to look at Ace.

"Yeah, I don't think he had it before either"

"Rash? Where? Where?" Ace asked looking down to his own body. He glanced at his arms and lifted his shirt looking for any kind of oddity. Then a soft tender finger came to press down on his skin and Ace flinched.

"Right here" said Luffy, touching Ace's neck.

"Don't touch it Luffy! It can be contagious!" Garp warned him.

Ace touched his neck with his whole palm. While he processed the irritation on his skin and its rough surface, another part of his brain was absorbing with all efficiency as possible the brief, though welcome warmth of Luffy's finger on his collarbone. Unwillingly as it was, he could not help it. He had been separated from his brother for far too long. They had been apart for the whole day until dinner, and it bothered Ace to great extents. He wanted to deny it but Luffy's clinginess had spoiled him way too much. How could it be that even after spending the whole night closely embraced Ace still craved this much? He tried to dismiss such thoughts from his mind though to no avail. His usual rational self wasn't responding diligently as always.

"It seems they really are bad" Garp said eyeing the rice cakes "Did you eat any Luffy?"

"No, but I was about to" he said sadly.

"Why must you always buy stupid rotten sweets? You're haunted" Ace muttered while scratching his neck furiously. Garp shook his head disapprovingly.

"Everything I do is to make you two fine marines! Be it buying rotten sweets or not!"

"Marines my ass! I told you already- ow!" Ace suddenly clung to his head "It hurts…" he whispered cowered on his knees. A strong jab was digging its way into his skull and he felt his temples close to exploding. The feeling of a splitting brain stopped momentarily only to return short afterwards.

"Headache uh? Hang in there, it'll pass" Garp said with a serious face.

"Oi Ace? Ace!" Luffy could only look at his brother with worry.

"It iches too…"

"Luffy don't let Ace scratch it, it will only get worse" Garp commanded.

"I think we should take him to the hospital…" Luffy said. He grabbed Ace's wrist and pulled his hand away from the nasty erupted skin. Nevertheless, Ace fought back and struggled against Luffy's grip, trying at the same time to pound some sense into his brain, though with the intermittent headache all seemed futile. He felt his eyes swell and soon the unexpected pain in his body became overwhelming, impossible to cope with. He gritted his teeth to prevent from yelling and seized his hair violently, as if wanting to pull it out. The rash on his neck was not going easy on him either. He wanted to scratch the flesh beneath and he didn't care if it bled. However, he didn't want to hurt Luffy amidst his discomposure and consequently, he gathered all the self-control possible to withstand his physical agony.

"Just take me there… please" he muttered barely capable of speaking. His restraint was sucking his strength to the limit. Garp consented.

"I guess I'll have to choose daikufu next time"

"You never change do you Garp?" Doctor Kureha's dry voice rang inside her small office with amusement. Ace was on the room next door being treated by Chopper and Luffy was there as well, being more annoying with his questions and worries than helpful.

"Every time you stop by I have to tend to those two kids. You're a mess you know? You should put all that fat to work since your brain doesn't seem to function" Kureha laughed.

"What fat? This is muscle, all muscle!" Garp said offended "And have you taken a look at yourself lately? I'm surprised you're still alive, 200 old baba!"

"WHAT?!" she screeched. The bottle of plume sake in her hand instantly flew away as she attempted to kick Garp in the face. Her feet missed its destination a few inches and she ended up hitting Garp's throat. He did not falter but felt obliged to bring his hands to his injured neck and massage the spot.

"Damned witch, always the butch…" he muttered to himself in a low voice.

"What did you say?!"

"Nothing, nothing…"

"Hmph! That's payback for Ace boy over there" she said coolly, picking up her fallen sake bottle.

"So, he will have to stay here overnight?" Garp asked now more seriously. Kureha glanced at the door that led to Ace's room and sighed.

"I'll also have to keep him here tomorrow. Chopper's doing all he can but I don't think Ace will get much rest at home with that brat over there"

"I'll leave him in your hands" Garp bowed slightly in thanks and walked up to the annex room "Luffy let's go. Ace is staying"

"What? Then I'm staying too!" he exclaimed loudly. Chopper who stood in a high bench next to him tapped his shoulder with his little arm.

"You can come and visit him tomorrow morning"

"No way! I'm staying right here!" Luffy pressed again more stubbornly. However, sharp medical objects suddenly flew his way glazing his cheeks softly with their speed. A minute of deadly silence followed, and Kureha threw him a dark, cold glare which he certainly did not return.

"You get your ass outta my ward and next time I won't miss" she hissed menacingly. Luffy gulped down obediently and nodded with his head.

"Good. Now get going annoying brat"

Garp who stood by the door frame smiled to himself and turned his back before vanishing from sight "I'm waiting outside Luffy", he added. Kureha shot the older man a befuddled look which made her spit an offended "Tsk", and proceed after him. Chopper tidied up his desk filled with small jars and utensils and later trotted behind Kureha waving goodbye to Luffy as he closed the door.

The latter waved back, rather perplexed, and then turned around to survey his brother. Ace was soundly asleep under numerous drugs given to him by the short doctor and his body was comfortably tucked inside the bed covers, except for his two arms who rested on the top mildly affected by the brute rash. It was in moments like this that Luffy felt his stomach filled with weird butterflies that fluttered about incessantly. He didn't understand why he became so nervous, but, seeing Ace's weak demeanour imbued him with a sort of calmness and resolve beyond measure. Obviously, part of him mourned sadly as if Ace's pain was his own, though in the absence of the latter's strong will and perseverance, Luffy felt like he had to replace them with his own and that was why he felt so compelled not to go back home. He had to stay here by Ace's side and take care of him as much as he could, even knowing he would be of scant help.

Luffy raised his hand to Ace's face and stroked his cheek. He was really glad everyone had left or this would be an extremely embarrassing scene to behold, he could acknowledge that much. Either way, his impulses kept getting the best of him and before he knew it, he was placing a soft kiss on Ace's forehead. It was an innocent affectionate enough gesture that barely had any impact on his current train of thought. However, his tender feelings froze not long after a startling interruption.

"What are you doing?"

Luffy's eyes met Ace's with distress, and although his swirling emotions were hastily boiling up, they couldn't quite catch up to whatever was going on inside his brother's stare. Nonetheless, being Luffy the dense, happy-go-around kind of person he was, he merely smiled and replied.

"It's a goodnight kiss"

"Ace my boy! How are you today?" Garp greeted cheerfully the next day. Ace nodded with his head, not prone to open his mouth.

"You know, we should change your name"

At this Ace's usual throbbing vein began nestling his irrational anger.

"What the hell are you rambling about this early?"

"Luffy kept mumbling your name the entire night in his sleep. I'm sick of hearing it! I need my rest too you know? Sheesh, children these days get so attached, I thought that I had raised you two to be independent little rascals, but it seems I missed something halfway. Well, you can't expect me to do everything. I suppose I'll have to talk to that Red-Haired chap soon. I don't want him spoiling my younger offspring like this, and that Whitebeard… oh! He is the same old rock! I called him yesterday to tell him about your ill condition and by the way, he is giving you this week off …"

Ace lost track of Garp's speech rather quickly, in fact, it didn't take much beyond the first five seconds to haze his thoughts away. Go figure.

AN: Ok, so now a little afterword for those who care. I intended to make this chapter a trip to an onsen but I failed miserably at it. To tell you the truth, as I kept writing away the story came up on its own and I had to leave my initial intentions aside. However, after finishing it, I think the chapter stands quite well as it is and gives off that In-Character D. family I wanted to show. Also, near the end I left Ace's thoughts to the reader's imagination. Feel free to speculate. Hehe. Also, thanks so much for all the reviews, favourites and alerts. They touch my heart as much as the D. brothers do! Thank you!