Hanashi o suru: You don't fuck with Bellemere's kids, ever. And seeing as how she's taken Luffy in, and how attached Nami is to him, that just made things worse. Porchemy picked the wrong kids to mess with.

F-ckthesystem125: Indeed she is. Thank you. And yes actually, she's in this chapter in fact.

Now then, here's the next chapter, so please read, enjoy and review.

It's been a little over a month since the Porchemy incident and despite the trauma inflicted all around that day, everything was just about back to normal. The only real changes were that Luffy and Nami now shared an even stronger bond, and they, along with Nojiko, were no longer allowed anywhere near Goa city. They didn't offer any resistance to that new rule, mainly because they had been lucky enough as it is, because if Nojiko hadn't told Bellemere that they had gone to Edge Town way back when they first tried to get through the Gray Terminal, then she wouldn't have come to check on them, or come all the way to town because she knew they would be there because they weren't anywhere else, and in turn they'd all be dead right now. Besides, not one of them was in a rush to go back to that place.

Despite the fact that everything was normal once more, none of the individuals involved in that day would ever forget it, for a multitude of reasons.

For Bellemere it was the day that she had seen a boy she had come to care for greatly nearly die, the day her daughters had been forced to watch as one of their friends was beaten nearly to death, and the day she was reminded of exactly why she had become a marine in the first place, to protect the innocent.

For Nojiko it was the day that she was shown just what pirates were capable of, the day that she saw just how much that little straw hat wearing boy would endure to keep her little sister safe, and the day that she realized just how important her family was to her.

For Sabo it was the day that he realized that, despite his personal experiences, that anyone could be a despicable, vile, and downright evil human being, the day that he realized just how tough Luffy was, and the day he realized just how much he cared for the straw hat wearing boy.

For Ace it was the day that he saw his own little brother all but murdered before his very eyes, the day that he realized just how fragile Luffy really was, and the day that a great protective instinct in him was awoken.

For Zoro it was the day that his best friend nearly sacrificed his own life to protect that damned girl, the day that he vowed he wouldn't ever let anyone harm his bumbling and innocent buddy ever again, and the day he found his true reason to grow stronger.

For Luffy it was the day that he realized how weak he was, despite the fact he couldn't come to grips with that, the day he realized that none of them stood an actual chance against real pirates, and the day that he realized he had to get much stronger if he wanted to protect those precious to him, let alone be able to survive with the kind of life he wanted.

For Nami it was the day that she watched as her best friend in the whole world was beaten to near death before her very eyes, simply to keep her safe, the day that she saw how brutal and vile pirates could be first hand, and the day that her feelings for Luffy began to evolve beyond that of friendship and infatuation.

The group of six was currently in the forest in the mountains once more, Luffy, Zoro, Ace and Sabo all training together, while Nami and Nojiko watched from where they sat under a tree. Since what happened back in Edge Town, the boys had agreed to begin training with each other on a regular basis, and on a much more frequent basis than Luffy and Zoro trained together, or Ace and Sabo trained together, that way they could all get stronger. This was the eighth training session this week, which spoke of how serious about this they were. They would have started this much sooner, but even though Luffy had healed well within about two weeks, Bellemere had insisted they wait at least a month before beginning such exercises, so they had as they feared her wrath.

The four boys continuously clashed in the fiercest battle they've had yet, a free for all with three different fighting styles, Luffy pounding the others with his fists, Zoro thwacking them with his bokken, and Ace as well as Sabo bludgeoning each other as well as the other two with foot long metal pipes. And as this training fight continued, it became obvious that while Luffy was very physically strong for his age, he was the worst fighter of the four, with Ace and Sabo tied for the best, and Zoro just on their heels.

This of course frustrated the young boy to no end, and that was made clear as his attacks grew sloppier and sloppier, as well as the fact that he became easier to read. Which just made it easier for the other three to land even more hits on him, causing him to nearly cry out in frustration. And he would have, except before he could, his eyes met Zoro's and for the first time, they were able to communicate with each other without so much as speaking a single word, as they came to an understanding with just their eyes.

So the youngest of the fighters calmed himself, before jumping back into the fray, watching Zoro intently as he did so. From doing this, he saw how the green haired swordsman trainee fought, and it helped the raven haired boy realize he was going about this all wrong. What that meant exactly was a bit of a mystery to him, so he bowed out from the battle for a moment, without actually doing so as he just stepped back, and watched all three of the other young combatants duke it out.

After observing them for a bit, he finally understood that he needed to hone his skills, he needed to refine his technique...more importantly he needed to come up with a technique first, as everyone needed a fighting style to build off of. Which in case the young straw hat wearing boy had none, as he just threw punches wildly and indiscriminately. Knowing that, the dark haired boy would begin working on that, but first he had a spar to get back into, as he didn't intend to miss out on any more of it than he already had.

Across from where the four fought, where the two girls sat, Nojiko sighed for what was probably the tenth time since the boys's training session began. "Why exactly are we out here again? I mean it's not like we're participating, not that I would given the chance."

However there was no comment on her words from her younger sister, so wondering if she was even listening, the blue haired girl turned to look at the orange haired six year old, "Nami?"

Said young girl currently had her eyes transfixed on Luffy, as they refused to leave him even as he jumped around and fought with the other boys. Her attention was solely on him, and as she continued to stare at him, she couldn't help but replay the memory of when she talked to him after he had been patched up over and over again in her head...

Several hours after the Porchemy incident...

Luffy lie in his bed, unconscious and covered in bandages, looking like a mummy, his eyes and mouth the only things not wrapped up. Nami sat in a chair right beside him, his beloved straw hat still resting on her head as she held his left hand with both of her hands. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying so much, and even now she was still choking back sobs, as she still feared for her best friend's life, and on top of that, guilt consumed her as she believed this was her fault. Her head was hung as she muttered apology after apology to the young unconscious boy, "I'm sorry Luffy. I'm so sorry that this happened. But please Luffy, please, just wake up. Wake up and tell me that you're okay...please..."

At that a groan escaped the dark haired six year old, as his eyes slowly began to open up. As he came to, Nami dared to look up, and seeing him conscious, even if not fully yet, caused her eyes to go wide and for relief to flood her being. "Luffy...?"

Even though his eyesight wasn't a hundred percent yet, the raven haired boy could still tell it was Nami, and as new tears began well in her eyes, he asked with concern, "Nami, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? You idiot! What's wrong is that you almost died! All for...for...for me...an-and...this is all my fault! I'm so sorry Luffy!"

As she began crying in full force once more, Luffy forced himself up to a sitting position and decreed, "No it's not!"

Not even a moment later and he leaned forward to wrap his orange haired friend into a tight hug, despite his body crying out in protest as he did. "And anyone who says it is is dumb."

The young girl shook her head as best she could while being embraced, as she continued to blame herself. "Yes it is. It's because of me that you had to go through all that pain. He hurt you so much, and you took it all just so he wouldn't do the same to me."

The young hatless straw hat wearing boy pulled back for a moment because of the girl's words, "Is that what you're crying about? That he hurt me? Nami, that was nothing."

Raising her head so they were face to face, an angry look came over her, though the tears didn't disappear, and she said, "Nothing? Nothing!? Look at you Luffy, you look like a mummy with all those bandages! That isn't nothing!"

Luffy didn't take back his words even though she was angry and trying to convince him he was wrong, as he shook his head, "You're wrong, I've felt much more pain than that before, so it is nothing."

Her frustration growing, the six year old girl then rebutted, "How? How can anything be more painful than what that monster did to you!? What could possibly be more painful than-than this!?"

"I was alone."

Those words caused Nami to pause, her anger leaving her as confusion replaced it, "Wha-what?"

As an almost haunted look came over the young boy's face, he looked into her eyes and replied, "Being all alone hurt so much more than what that guy did to me, it hurts more than anything I've ever had happen to me, it's the most painful thing I can think of. And before you and Zoro came along, that's what I was, alone."

Nami was speechless, as she just stared at the dark haired boy, her eyes wide, as his expression changed once more, going from haunted, to a sincere smile as he said, "But you guys made it where I wasn't alone anymore. And now, I've got you, Zoro, Ace and Sabo, so I won't ever be alone again."

After saying that, Luffy pulled his friend back into a tight hug that he had stopped only so he could look her in the eyes and speak. In doing so, he was able to feel it as a particular strong sob racked her body, and as it did, she wrapped her arms around him, so as to return the embrace. "Oh Luffy..."

The two held each other for several moments, before Luffy, mirth in his voice, said, "I do look kinda like a mummy, huh."

Despite herself, Nami was unable to stop herself from bursting into laughter at her best friend's words.

Nami was snapped out of it when her older sister snapped her fingers in her face, "Earth to Nami, anyone in there?"

She shook her head a bit before turning her head to look at Nojiko, and asking, "Huh? What is it?"

A small wry smirk crossed the blue haired girl's face as she responded, "You've just been staring at Luffy for the past five minutes, and in case you didn't know, that's the worst way to keep your crush on him a secret."

As a red hue came to the orange haired girl's cheeks, she rebutted with, "I-I wasn't staring! I just spaced out is all!"

"Yeah right!" The older of the two then proceeded to burst into a fit of laughter after saying this, and it only intensified as Nami looked ready to maul her, and yet retained the redness her cheeks had from blushing.

However both of the girls, as well as all the boys, stopped in the middle of what they were doing, as someone who had just entered the vicinity cleared their throat, drawing everyone's attention to them, said person being none other than Kuina. Now that everyone's eyes were on her, more specifically Zoro's, she spoke, "So this is where you're always running off to."

As a group everyone blinked at that statement, before the four boys, who were all mid attack, pulled back and stepped back from each other, turning to look to the new arrival as they did so. As they did, the girl who carried a bokken of her own made a remark, "Well, at least you're training. Not that it'll ever make a difference...at least not against me."

Zoro was already scowling, clenching his fists, as she got under his skin like no one else...except for maybe Nami. Also annoyed by her words and attitude, seeing his green haired friend's reaction was just the thing needed to get Luffy to speak up, "Oh, come off your horse high!"

Sabo then proceeded to butt in, as everyone was staring at Luffy incredulously for what he had said, and corrected his young friend, "You mean high horse."

"Yeah, that!"

The nine year old girl scoffed at that, "This coming from a two-bit pirate to be? Don't make me laugh."

Sabo was about to explain that one as well, but seeing Luffy gritting his teeth in annoyance and anger, told him he already knew what she meant. "Two bit!? I'm not going to be a two bit pirate! I'm the one who's gonna be king of the pirates!"

The older girl couldn't help but laugh at that statement, "Yeah, right. So your highness, that makes Zoro your swordsman then?"

Having had enough of her attitude, Zoro spoke up as well, "Yes, it does. And the one who's to become king of the pirates deserves no less than the best on his crew, so I vow here and now, in front of him and you, I will become the world's greatest swordsman!"

Her smirk disappeared at those words, as she replied with, "To ever hope to reach such a goal, first you'll have to surpass me."

The beginning's of a fierce look in his eyes, Zoro responded with, "I intend to."

Taking ahold of her training sword, though it wasn't an actual sword, with both her hands, she took her fighting stance and let a genuine smile cross her face. "Come and show me then."

Several weeks later...

"Nope, I'm good." The blue haired girl who said this was currently walking away from the other six kids who stood in a tiny clearing within the Mount Corvo forest.

As she walked away from them, three of them tried to convince her to come back...

Nami, "Come on Nojiko, it won't kill you to play along."

Sabo, "Yeah, lighten up."

Luffy, "It'll be fun!"

Still walking away, the eight year old responded to their words, more specifically the straw hat boy's, "Yeah, right, loads of fun I bet. No thanks, not interested."

Ace was the next to try and get her back, "It's not like you're signing yourself up to become one just by playing."

Even Zoro made some kind of attempt, "Even Kuina agreed to go along with it, guess that makes you even more stubborn and uptight than she is."

Just about to exit the clearing, Nojiko came to a stop for a moment, before turning to face the others, huffing and then speaking, "Fine, I'll at least stay to see what the big deal is about this game of yours is."

She then took a few steps to where she was under a tree, before she made one last comment, "But don't think that means I'm going to participate in any way! Because I refuse to play pirate, no matter who else is playing, that understood!?"

Both Luffy and Nami, their smiles wider than they had been a minute ago, nodded their heads in understanding, so as to appease the blue haired eight year old. And with that, said girl took a seat underneath the tree, her eyes on the others just as she had agreed to.

With that out of the way they were almost done setting the game up, and now it was time to form the teams, which was done rather quickly.

The first team was made up of Ace, Sabo and Kuina.

The second team was, of course, made up of Luffy, Nami and Zoro.

And with that matter settled, that only thing left was the objective for the game to be decided. Ace and Sabo were the ones to come up with that one...

"Regardless of what kind of pirates they are, the fact is that all of them love to plunder, whether it be food, treasure or anything else of value."

Being able to tell where his blonde friend was going with this, Ace picked up where he left off, "And a navigator with a talent for what they do would also be at the top of the list of things for a pirate to want to steal, especially if it was the only thing of value among the people they're stealing from."

The top hat wearing nine year old picked it up once more, "And since that's the case, you'd be priority number one Nami."

Said orange haired girl's eyes widened at those words, as she realized exactly what he intended. But before she, Luffy or Zoro could react, Ace lunged for her, rather than Sabo, which also surprised her. And even though that was the case, the six year old girl was still able to make a run for it, the nine year old black haired boy just barely managing to miss her as he made a grab for her.

As her two teammates were about to turn to Ace and keep him from her, they were rushed by the other two. Kuina rushed Zoro, just as Sabo rushed Luffy.

Zoro's attention was immediately on Kuina as she charged him, having to abandon his target to defend himself from the strong strike said nine year old girl was going for, doing so by raising both his bokken and crossing them in an x. As their bokken slammed together, neither gave an inch, and only a moment later they both began to push forward, so as to try and overpower the other and leave them open to further attack. This lasted for several seconds, before Kuina won out, causing the green haired swordsman trainee to stumble back, the older girl lashing out with another strike with her bokken as he did so, hitting him in the chest, causing him to hiss in pain. He quickly recovered however, and blocked the next attack his rival went for, using his right bokken to do so, allowing him to go around her guard and strike her with the left one. Though it did hit her, she moved back at the last second, causing her opponent to score only a glancing blow on her right arm. Not letting the pain show, she quickly corrected her stance and prepared herself to clash with her younger opponent, just as he did the same.

Luffy's eyes left the form of Ace and glued themselves to Sabo, as he ducked under a swing from his pipe and tried for a right jab to the chest, but was denied as the blonde managed to bring the pipe back fast enough to guard with, causing his fist to slam into it. As it did, he tried for a left hook, which the older boy sidestepped to avoid, before bringing his pipe up and slamming it down onto his younger friend's hat covered head, knocking him flat to the ground. Before he could do any more than that though, the younger boy grabbed ahold of his right leg by the ankle with his right hand, and pulled it out from underneath him, causing him to fall back onto his back with a surprised yelp, which also allowed the raven haired boy to get to his feet without interruption. Once on his feet, he turned to attack Sabo once more, however he was halfway to his feet, and swung his pipe from where he was, causing the younger boy to step back to avoid the blow, allowing the blonde nine year old to get fully to his feet. This put the two of them at a stand off, with about five feet between them, as they both prepared to attack once more.

Nami was running as fast as she could given her late start, since she had been surprised by the older brother of her best friend jumping at her, trying to grab her like that. Given the fact that she wasn't looking back to check, she wasn't sure how close he was to grabbing her, but she figured it was close, as after she ran by her sister, she saw her eyes on something just a little bit behind her. So she rounded the tree the blue haired eight year old sat under, and ran back towards her team, hoping they would get the nine year old boy off her tail. Unfortunately they were busy with the older boy's team, or 'crew' if you would, since they were playing pirate, not that she expected herself to be the objective. Nevertheless she didn't complain, at least not yet, and continued to run, passing by Luffy, Zoro, Sabo and Kuina as she did, sure of the fact that Ace was right behind her. And that was proven, as only a few moments later, she felt him grab ahold of her, before taking her off the ground and tossing her over his shoulder.

Everyone's attention was on Nami and Ace, as they came running by, her over his shoulder, pounding her fists into his back and shouting at him, in his ear in fact, something Zoro pitied the guy for. "Put me down darn it! I didn't agree to this! Let me go right now!"

Despite all her yells and shouts, the nine year old continued on running with her, and just before he past Nojiko, he looked back and called to his hostage's team, "If I can get her back to Fusha village, then my team wins!"

Hearing that got the two other members of the orange haired girl's team to disengage from their battles with their opponents, before proceeding to chase after them, in hopes of keeping their team from losing the game.

Luffy and Zoro were racing after Ace as fast as they could, not sure how long they had been at it, probably eight or nine minutes, possibly longer than that. That didn't really matter, what did matter was that they were getting close to the village, which meant if they didn't hurry they would lose the game. They also had to worry about Sabo and Kuina, who were surely hot on their heels, catching up to them and delaying them even more than they already had. And despite the added weight of carrying Nami, Ace was still pretty fast, since that was the case, the green haired swordsman trainee couldn't help but ask aloud, more to himself than anyone else really, "How is the extra weight not slowing him down?"

At those words the orange haired girl, who could see her two 'crewmen' since she was facing them, seemingly forgot about her predicament, as shark like teeth filled her mouth and she began shaking her fist at Zoro as she cried, "Are you calling me fat!?"

The two bokken wielding eight year old was quick to retort, his annoyance quite clear in his voice, "Oh shut up!"

Before the two could argue further, Luffy lunged forward, managing to finally get his hands on his older brother, tackling him to the ground from behind and causing him to let go of Nami. While Ace hit the ground, doing so with a grunt of surprise, his younger brother landing on top of him, Nami rolled two or three feet, and Zoro came to a stop, Sabo and Kuina doing the same just a few feet behind him.

The first of the three to their feet was none other than the navigator to be, and by the fact that her shark teeth had yet to disappear, and that they were grit together hard, it was safe to assume she had yet to calm down. Now on her feet she whirled around to face Ace, who had managed to throw Luffy off his back and was currently halfway to getting to his feet, before stomping over to him. She then brought her right fist up above her head, before bringing it down and slamming it down into the top of his head, punching him as hard as she possibly could, causing him to yelp in pain as he was knocked back down to the ground. "I didn't agree to that you jerk!"

She turned to Zoro after that and closed the distance between them, before proceeding to nail him in the face with a strong right hook, also knocking him to the ground, saying this as she did so, "That's what you get for calling me fat!"

The raging orange haired six year old turned once more, this time to Sabo, who got to his knees and put his hands up in surrender now that he was on the receiving end of her anger, while giving a cry of, "I give!"

Despite his proverbial waving of the white flag, the young girl still strode over to him and cold cocked him, knocking him to the ground as she spoke once more, "Like I care! This stupid stunt was your idea in the first place!"

As she whirled around once more, Luffy, who had gotten to his feet by that point, flinched as he thought he was next, "I'm sorry, please don't hit me!"

But after a few moments and no pain, he looked at where she had been, to see she was still there and was huffing and puffing in only partially quelled anger, but was thankfully not making her way towards him.

Kuina couldn't help but snicker, as she had enjoyed watching the entirety of that scene.

That's when Nojiko finally caught up, coming to a stop just a foot or so from the only female there besides her and Nami, before quirking an eyebrow at the sight of Ace, Zoro and Sabo all unconscious on the ground, with large bruises, or in Ace's case a large bump on his head, and her younger sister breathing in and out as she tried to reign her rage in. "So...does that mean the game is off? Or does this qualify as a tie?"

The younger of the sisters then turned to face the older one, giving her a glare as she did so, and in response she merely let a somewhat smug smirk spread across her face. "Told you playing this stupid game wouldn't end well."

A few days later...

All seven of the children were in the small clearing once more, spread about the small area.

Nojiko sat under a tree, while Kuina was leaned up against the same tree, both looking disinterested to what was currently going on.

Nami and Zoro stood a few feet to the side of Luffy and Ace, who were both facing Sabo, in the midst of an 'interrogation' that the older black haired boy had started. "Don't lie to me Sabo."

The young blonde threw his hands up in an almost surrendering motion as he said, "I'm not, I swear!"

It was immediately obvious that answer didn't appease Ace, as he still had a look of suspicion on his face, and knowing how he was, the nine year old who was being questioned knew it would be too much to hope for him to drop it, as he knew him well enough to know that wasn't going to happen.

That's when Luffy proceeded to ask, "Sabo, why are you sweating so much?"

That question was a fair one, as many beads of sweat were rolling down the top hat wearing boy's face, which if that wasn't enough to make it clear he was lying, the fact that his face was plastered with an expression of severe nervousness was. So, the older of the black haired brothers pressed further, "I was there in town with you, I clearly heard that guy say your name, calling to you, I just want to know how he knows you."

Waving his hands as if that would actually wave the question off, Sabo replied with, "Don't be silly Ace, why would one of those stuck up rich people call my name? They wouldn't take the time to find out the name of a simple street urchin."

With every word the young blonde spoke, it became clearer and clearer he was lying through his teeth, and Ace was quickly becoming fed up with it, "Just what are you hiding!?"

"Nothing! You've got to believe me!"

Ace's voice softened at those words and the almost desperate look on his blonde friend's face, "We're friends aren't we? You can tell us anything, you know that."

Luffy nodded his head firmly at his older brother's statement, "That's right! No matter what it is you tell us, we will always be friends! But...if you really don't want to tell us, then that's okay too."

As he finished saying this a large smile spread across his face, and seeing all the trust he had in him, Sabo could feel his resolve crumbling.

The older raven haired boy had a different reaction, as he gave his younger brother an annoyed glance and said, "Not helping Luffy. We want him to tell us his secret, not encourage him to keep lying to us."

"But I'm not! I just think that if he really doesn't want to tell us, then he shouldn't have to! And we shouldn't make him either! We're friends, and that's not what friends do!"

The nine year old's annoyance was quickly building into anger, as he glared at his younger brother while saying, "Friends don't lie to each other either!"

Despite that statement, Luffy didn't take back his words, in fact he looked ready to fight his older brother over this, he wasn't the only one, as said older black haired boy looked ready to do the very same. However before things could get physical, Sabo caved, letting out a big sigh of defeat and letting his arms drop to his sides, as he spoke, "Alright, fine, I'll tell you. Just don't fight, please."

That got the dark haired brothers's attention, so they did as he asked and focused solely on him. "My father is...I'm the son of...I've got..."

It was obvious that whatever it was, it wasn't easy for the young boy to talk about. But he had agreed to do so, so he did so, though hanging his head as he did, so as to keep himself from seeing all his friends's expressions. "I'm the son of a noble!"

He had expected gasps, maybe some cursing from Ace, however no one made a sound, and with his head down all he could see were his feet. So, in spite of what he feared seeing, he raised his head to see what their reactions were.

First his eyes went to the two girls under a tree, as they weren't exactly his friends, so he felt he could handle however they felt about him the easiest. The younger one seemed somewhat surprised, the older one though didn't seem to even be paying attention. Then his eyes went to Nami and Zoro, both of whom seemed a little confused, the orange haired one of them more so than the other. Finally, he let his eyes land on his two best friends before him, both of whom he had been dreading their reactions, and what he saw surprised the hell outta him.

The two were picking their noses with their pinky fingers, looking wholly uninterested in the young blonde's statement, and as his eyes met theirs, they said in unison in equally bored tones, "So?"

Sabo's eyes widened, and he couldn't but say aloud, sounding exasperated and disbelieving, "You have got to be kidding me!"

Seeing as how the two brothers didn't seem like they were going to stop looking as if they had just been seriously underwhelmed, the top hat wearing nine year old sighed once more, before speaking further on what he had just revealed, his tone becoming quite sad as he did. "The truth is, my parents are alive. I'm not an orphan, and I didn't grow up in Gray Terminal either. The man who called me out earlier, when we were in town, was an acquaintance of my Father's."

Lowering his head so all he could see were his shoes once more, Sabo continued, shame evident in his voice. "I really did lie to you guys, I'm sorry."

Using his simple logic, Luffy proceeded to say, "He apologized, so it's fine, right? I forgive him."

The nine year old's head shot up at that, his shock and disbelief evident on his face at Luffy's quick forgiveness.

Ace seemed just a little taken off guard, and it showed in his tone as he spoke, "To tell the truth, I'm shocked, as well as a little confused. I mean, if you were a noble, why on Earth would you want to run away, let alone to a place like Gray Terminal?"

Sabo was silent at that question, at least for a few moments, before he finally decided to answer. "The reason I ran away...is because to my so called Father and Mother, I'm nothing more than property."

Those words got everyone's full attention, as all eyes were now on the young blonde as he continued to speak, his tone becoming quite bitter as he did. "I was forced to study for ungodly hours, so as to become a 'proper' noble, just so I could later marry some kind of princess, all so as to increase my family's rank. All they wanted was an heir to protect their status and fortune, not me."

Sabo stopped for a moment, so as to keep himself from shedding any of the tears that were welling up and threatening to spill out, before continuing on, the bitterness leaving his voice as anger took it's place. "If I couldn't marry a royal girl, I'd be nothing more than trash to them. For that reason alone, they made me study with a crazy mean and strict tutor every single day. And on the days I didn't live up to expectations, which was most of them, they would fight over what to do with me since I wasn't good enough for them. I was just a bother in that house, nothing more."

The nine year old proceeded to clench his fists as tight as he could, trying to rid himself of some of the anger and sadness he felt, but to no avail. "As for why I chose the Gray Terminal, the nobles despise it, and I'd much rather stay there than live a life that has been planned decades in advance for me in that suffocating High Town that they love so much."

Kuina's eyes were shut tight after hearing all this, as she did not wish to show that tears were building in her eyes.

Nojiko couldn't help it as a few tears began to roll down her face, as despite the fact that she wasn't close to Sabo, or that she didn't know him that well, his story was awful and saddening.

Zoro had only a simple scowl on his face, as while he was somewhere in between a friend and acquaintance when it came to Sabo, the thought of anyone being treated like that seemed wrong to him.

Nami was crying a little more heavily than her sister was, as she had on a few occasions wished that hers was a wealthy family, and hearing all this showed her what deep down she already knew, money doesn't buy happiness.

Ace's face was almost blank, though not because he didn't feel for his friend, no, it was because he was lost in deep though about everything said friend had said. But after a few seconds he snapped out of it, and a look of sympathy came upon his face, as he said, "I see...I'm sorry Sabo..."

The top hat wearing nine year old gritted his teeth, as clenching his fists still wasn't working to relieve any of his sadness or anger, but it didn't help either. Through clenched teeth he spoke of his parents, "Just the thought of them...my Mother and Father...fills me with rage. I hate them so much!"

Luffy too was upset, as he couldn't bare the thought of one of his friends being hurt or sad, tears were in his eyes and were threatening to spill out at any moment. "Ace..."

The younger black haired boy then turned to his brother and asked, "...is that how you feel when you think about your Dad?"

Those words got everyone's attention on the young straw hat wearing boy, and before either Ace or Sabo could stop him, the raven haired six year old continued, "Is that how you feel...when you think about Gold Roger?"

After those words were said, you could have heard a pin drop. All was silent as no one knew what to say, or how to react, but everyone's eyes were wide in shock, aside from the dark haired brothers's that is.

Ace slowly looked to the ground as his secret came out, his eyes were shadowed over by his hair, and his body was almost shaking in anger, as he clenched his fists so tightly they almost brought blood.

That's when Luffy realized what he had done, his eyes widening in said realization, "Ace...I'm sorry, I didn't meant to-"

The younger black haired boy didn't get to finish his sentence, as the older one lashed out, hitting him with the hardest right jab he could manage, causing the straw hat wearing boy to hunch over from the blow. The older of the siblings then followed up with a hard knee to the face, knocking his brother back onto his ass, before taking two steps closer and grabbing him by the front of his shirt collar, pulling back his right arm, and shooting it forward, hitting him with the hardest right straight he could. He didn't stop there, he lifted the six year old up a bit more by his shirt, before proceeding to begin hammering away at his face with the same fist over and over, near screaming as he did so, "Damn you Luffy!"

Luffy didn't put up any resistance as his older brother began to beat him, he simply began to cry and beg for forgiveness. "Ace, I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking! FORGIVE ME!"

He did this, not so that he would stop hitting him, but so that he wouldn't hate him. As his eyes were staring into brother's, and they were filled with hate, and that filled him with pain. Because he was made of rubber he didn't feel much from the beating he was receiving, however he was filled with pain at the thought of his older brother hating him because of a stupid mistake he had made.

Despite the fact that Luffy made no move to stop the fist pounding he was taking, it didn't last for more than ten seconds at the most, as Zoro, Nami and Sabo quickly intervened.

The green haired eight year old knocked his best friend's older brother off of him with a strong right hook, causing said dark haired nine year old to stumble sideways away from Luffy. The swordsman trainee didn't stop there, proceeding to tackle the older boy to the ground, and return a few of those blows he gave to his younger brother. After dealing those few blows to the black haired boy, he had to stop him from struggling, as the punches weren't doing it, so the eight year old placed his right arm against the raven haired nine year old's throat, making it to where if he struggled too much, he could cause himself some serious harm.

"GET OFF OF ME!"

"Not until you calm down!"

"I have every right to be angry!"

"Maybe so, but something tells me you don't even realize just what you were doing, so look over at your brother and see for yourself!"

Those words got the nine year old to cease his struggling, and while at first he didn't do as he was told, after several deep breaths, he did so, turning his head, so as to allow him to see his younger brother.

He was lying on the ground, his face tear stained, his nose broken and bleeding, as well as a bit of blood leaking from the right edge of his mouth. Seeing that nearly caused Ace's heart to stop, as it took a lot of hard physical blows to make Luffy bleed.

Nami was currently on her knees beside him, trying to make sure he was okay. While Sabo stood in front of the two, with his arms out to the side, and his anger at Ace evident on his face.

That's when the nine year old's attention was brought back to the one keeping him on the ground, and the look on his face said what needed to be said, "You went too far."

That's when Kuina walked up beside the two boys, looked down at Ace and said, "If he wasn't made of rubber, that little fit of yours could have caused him some serious injuries, including brain damage with how hard you kept hitting him."

Ace's attention was pulled to Luffy once more, as Nojiko came to help Nami, and Sabo spoke up, his anger clear in his voice. "I know your Father is a touchy subject, but what you just did was wrong on so many levels. It was an accident, and even if it hadn't been, that doesn't justify your actions!"

The dark haired nine year old knew he was right, and he felt shame consume him over his actions, and felt tears begin to well up in his eyes, so he closed his eyes tight.

Kuina the asked, "So you already knew who his father was?"

Sabo nodded at that, "Yeah, he told me a long time ago."

That's when everyone's attention was drawn to Luffy once more, tears continuing to roll down his face, as he cried out as loud as he could, "I'M SORRY ACE! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

The nine year old's eyes shot open at that, and the tears that had been threatening to spill began to do so, sliding down his face one after another. And seeing this, and all the regret in his eyes, Zoro let him up, which the dark haired boy took advantage of to get to his feet and scramble over to Luffy, "No Luffy, I'm the one who should be sorry! Forgive me for hurting you!"

Nami moved aside so as to let the dark haired boy reach down and pull his younger brother into an embrace, where they both proceeded to cry even harder and apologize to each other over and over again.

As they did this, Kuina spoke a thought she had aloud, "If you were just going by how they act, it would be impossible to guess they weren't related by blood."

Zoro nodded his head in agreement, as he made a remark of his own, "At the core they're a lot alike, but it was thanks Luffy's stubbornness and refusal to give up that they ended up brothers in the first lace, not the things they had in common. That little knucklehead just has a way of getting to you and making you want to be there for him."

Kuina couldn't help the smile that crossed her face at that, "It seems he's gotten to you the very same way."

A small smirk of his own made it's appearance, as he replied with, "Yeah, I suppose he has."

To Be Continued...