From Caged Marines to Whitebeard Pirates

by Kanra Nakura

When Blackbeard was caught in the action of stabbing Thatch, a fight ensues, causing Marco to be thrown to the sea in his Phoenix Form, hearing the laughter of the traitor and the cries of his siblings as he submerged. Locked in a cage and kept as a pet bird for the Tenryuubito for months, Marco was saved by Marines under Monkey D. Luffy. Full Summary in the First Chapter. FemLuffy

10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

~Nine Years Ago, Mt. Colubo~

"Ace! Sabo! Wait up!" Luffy shouted, running towards the two aforementioned boys, who stopped and sighed, rather fondly, at her.

"Mou… you guys are leaving without saying anything again!" Luffy pouted, stopping right in front of them, making them wince. Ace looked away while Sabo rubbed the back of his neck, blushing slightly.

"Sorry, Lu. You were sleeping when we left, so we planned to get breakfast first before going to Makino-san." He said, as their little sister then beamed at them. Honestly, how can their sister be this cute?!

"We can get breakfast at Makino's then! It's been a while since I ate her cooking!" Luffy declared, immediately grabbing her older brother's hands and leading them in the direction of the village, ignoring the blushing figures of the two boys she tagging along with. Months have passed since Shanks left and went back to the New World, then it followed by her getting dropped off in the house of the Mountain bandits, who she's having a hard time deciding whether she likes them or not, by her grandfather and then meeting Ace, who eventually lead her in meeting Sabo.

Of course, like everything in Luffy's life, everything wasn't smooth sailing when she met Ace, considering that the boy had tried to kill her for three months, and then she met Sabo, who was curious why there was a girl following after his friend. And not even a day after meeting the blond-haired kid, she was taken (again) by the pirates that the boys accidentally stole from. Withstanding the torture that was inflicted on her, no longer feeling the pain after hours of being used as a punching bag. Her devil fruit at that time kept her alive but in a way, it also made her miserable as Porchemy kept on punching her. But that was okay because in the end both Ace and Sabo saved her, patched her wound, and let her be friends with them after a tearful conversation… and, a month later, became brothers and sister.

Of course, Luffy's brother didn't know about her devil fruit at first and it is not because she doesn't want them to know, they just didn't ask and Luffy didn't bother to tell them as they were always with bandits or hunting in the forest… of course not until a few days ago.

~ (Flashback) 3 days ago~

"Luffy!"

"LUFFY!" Ace and Sabo shouted, running around the forest, looking for their beloved treasure, who they had lost sight of an hour ago, which is something they didn't, shouldn't, do. It's been a silent rule between the two brothers to always keep an eye on their youngest troublemaker (Sabo more so than Ace, as he's the most intelligent one, while Ace was their fighter).

They had lost Luffy after eating breakfast. Ace and Sabo were arguing again about what to do, Luffy making some noises in the background once in a while, when suddenly everything became quiet, and then the next thing they know their sister was missing, which lead them to search the forest.

"Damn it! Where is she!?" Ace tsked, looking around for a yellow straw hat. Sabo bit his lips before shouting again for Luffy but like in the past hour, there was no answer. Their grip on their pipes tightens before they continue to run again and shout, stopping after an hour, panting.

"Damn it…" Ace cursed while Sabo panted as his eyes tried to look around their area. Why couldn't they find their sister? She could always find them when they're separated, so why couldn't they do the same? The only place they haven't checked yet is the Bandits and the Village, but Luffy wouldn't go to the bandits without her brothers or Dadan present and Dadan is currently not there.

They could try checking the Village but Luffy said that Makino isn't at the bar for at least two days and thus they had no purpose to go to the Village, which made Ace and Sabo confuse and scowl as they couldn't believe that, aside from Makino and the Mayor, no one cares about their sister enough to look out for her. Then there's also this one tidbit of information where Luffy seems to always know what is happening around the village, especially with Makino, but they didn't have any tools that would give them information around them aside from the news coo.

"Luffy!" Ace shouted once more, but he could only hear the echo of his shout. Sabo bit his lips before sighing and looking at Ace, glaring darkly at the forest.

"Ace…" Sabo said and blinked when he realized that they missed one place where Luffy could be at. "The Cliff! We haven't checked the cliff yet!" He shouted, Ace turned immediately toward him before nodding and they immediately run towards the cliff where they swore to be siblings. It didn't take them long enough to arrive at the edge of the forest which would lead them to the cliff. Panting heavily, the two boys bent down, putting their hands on their knees, wiping the sweat that was dripping down on their chin or forehead.

They nodded at each other, tightening the grip of their pipes, and preparing for the worst. Taking a step towards the cliff, they froze once they pass through it, eyes widening and mouths gaping as they took in the sight in front of them.

There was their sister, standing near the edge of the cliff, spinning with her hand out. Their sister was dancing so beautifully, but that wasn't what amazed them as they knew Luffy was beautiful and cute when she wants to be. The thing that froze them was the thing that their sister is holding and playing with, and every time she spins seemingly white fireflies would scatter around her and drift toward the surrounding area. Ace reached as one of those fireflies got closer to them, both brothers watched as it landed in his palm, gasping when it wasn't a firefly like they thought it was but a small ball of light, of fire, which soon after disappeared into Ace's body.

Sabo gaped before looking up and noticing that nearly the same ball was gathering towards them slowly. Soon it was touching his body and disappearing not a second later, when he glanced to the side, he notice the same thing was happening to Ace as well.

"Oh?" The two of them looked up, blinking when they saw Luffy standing in front of them. "I was wondering where they went." She muttered and watched as her brothers' skin regained some color and the scratches they acquired while looking for her disappeared.

"AH!" Ace and Sabo yelled before running towards their sister, temporarily forgetting about the lights that they saw. Upon reaching her, Ace immediately punched, albeit softly, Luffy on the head making her yelp, Sabo waited for a second before hugging her tightly and then moved away to grasp her shoulder and shook her.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"Why did you go here all by yourself?!"

"Why did you leave?!"

"Do you know how worried we are when we realized that you were missing?!" Both brothers shouted at once, Luffy could blink before bowing her head.

"Sorry…" She mumbled.

"Are you truly sorry?!" Ace shouted while Sabo pursed his lips.

"I didn't know Ace and Sabo would be worried." She added, her teary eyes looking to the side. "You guys always left me behind when you hunt or go near the outskirt of the Gray Terminal and so I thought it would be okay for me to do the same as well." At that, both brothers flinch back in guilt. They didn't realize that their desire to protect their little sister from any possible harm would result in her leaving them without notice.

"Sorry Lu, your brothers are stupid," Sabo started patting his sister's head as Ace gaped at him in shock before glancing at Luffy who was looking at them with teary eyes, which made him sigh and rub the back of his head.

"Yeah, we're idiots." He agreed, Luffy looked up and blink her eyes at them, as if waiting for something, they gulped and smiled at her, which made her smile back and jumped at them, wrapping her arms around their necks. The two boys readily accepted her hug, even if led to them falling to the ground, and laughed.

"Oh yeah, by the way, Luffy," Sabo said, blinking and looking at his sister as they lay down under the shade of the tree. "What was that earlier? They looked like Fireflies."

"Ah…" Luffy blinks, and then lifted her hand, and soon the light that the boys saw earlier appeared. "It's my devil fruit." She added bluntly, both siblings blink their eyes at her before Sabo's eyes slowly widen and then gaped at her, sitting up abruptly.

"What?!"

~End of Flashback~

Since then the brothers tried their best to make sure not to leave their sister alone, especially when she's practicing her devil fruit. It was quite shocking to both siblings that their sister had a hidden ability that they didn't know nor did she bother to tell them. It took Ace a couple of hours later to understand what a Devil Fruit is from Sabo and minutes to understand how vulnerable and in danger their sister would be when it comes to water, especially with rivers, ponds, and the sea.

Luffy could only smile in confusion when both of her brothers suddenly looked at each other with determined eyes and gave each other a nod of agreement. Upon finding out that Makino knew about Luffy's devil fruit, Ace and Sabo decided that they would go and visit Fuusha when the bar maiden comes back. Their sister is more than happy to visit her mother figure and didn't bother to ask her brothers why. Both boys watched as their sister swings their joined hands together, humming something about islands and idiots. Not long after they arrived in front of Makino's, who greeted them with a smile upon their entrance.

"Ace, Sabo, Luffy!" Makino waved at them as the youngest of the three let go of their hand and immediately runs towards her bar counter.

"Makino! Breakfast!" Luffy declared, immediately receiving a punch on the head from Ace, while Sabo sighed in defeat.

"Ouch!" Luffy yelped as Makino blinked before giggling.

"Idiot! Is food the only thing on your mind?!" Ace yelled, only to blush together with Sabo at their sister's response.

"Not true! I think about Ace and Sabo too!" Makino giggled as Luffy pouted at her brothers who tried their best to avoid looking into her eyes. The bar maiden began to prepare food for the sworn siblings as Luffy asked her brothers why their faces were red, and if they were sick, fussing over the two of them. Sabo tried to answer their sister's question but because they never received the sort of affection Luffy's giving them from someone else for years, it resulted to him having no idea what to say, and even though they were exposed to Luffy's type of affection for months, it didn't help that much. Makino was no help to them either considering she found it amusing and even encouraged Luffy.

"Luffy, breakfast~!" Makino stated, putting three large plates in front of her, distracting Luffy from her brothers and preventing them from gaining more color. The brothers look at her with grateful eyes as the youngest of the group turned to the counter again and went to sit down and ate. Ace sighed in relief and went to sit beside Luffy's chair, while Sabo took the empty one on her other side. Makino smiled as she wiped her glasses and watched as the three children ate, especially Luffy, who seemed to be eating absent mindlessly.

Glancing at her brothers they were busy eating the meat in front of them, sometimes stealing from each other's plates, she hummed in thought, wondering why the kids are visiting her so suddenly (it's not that Makino doesn't want them to, it's just that there is sometimes some rowdy customer that would cause chaos in her bar and she rather not have Luffy experience another near kidnapping situation again… but considering Luffy's ability, she doesn't have to worry too much.)

It was Sabo who snapped out from the delight of eating homemade food first, nearly dropping his spoon, and coughed rather harshly upon realizing that they were visiting Makino for a reason.

"Sabo?" Ace asked, munching on a piece of meat while looking at his brother, who was drinking the glass of water that Makino put in front of him. Ace swallowed and waited for him to gather his composure.

"Thanks, Makino-san." Sabo smiled before looking at Ace with a look followed by a quick glance at Luffy, who wasn't bothered by Sabo's choking. Ace's eyes widen in realization before nodding and they both look at the only grown-up in the room.

"Makino-san…" Sabo started, as the aforementioned adult looked at them with slight confusion. "What do you know about Luffy's devil fruit?"

Makino blinked at that question before smiling at the boys, eyes close.

"What are you talking about?" She asked and that made both boys blink in confusion, they glance at each other for a while before looking back at Makino. Luffy had told them that Makino knew about her devil fruit but here she is, denying that she knew about it. People would assume that Luffy lied, but they knew their sister, she couldn't lie, and doesn't have the ability to do so, especially not to them. So why was Makino pretending that she doesn't know anything?

"Luffy…" Ace started, only for Makino to cut in.

"Boys…why would you ask something that's only a myth?" She then discreetly glance to the left, making the boys do the same, and froze upon seeing a silhouette of a person standing at the window near the door of the bar. "You guys should really stop listening to those types of stories."

They looked at Makino, who gave them a sad smile then a glance at Luffy before mouthing. 'Later.'

That later happened that evening, when they sleep in the room that Luffy used before and said sister sleeping peacefully, tired from playing at the beach earlier.

"You shouldn't talk or ask about Luffy's devil fruit in the open," Makino told them, patting Luffy's head as the brothers sat at the end of the bed, looking at her. "I'll tell you boys about her fruit, in return…" Here she looked them straight in the eyes and said. "Watch over her carefully."

And then the story of how Luffy got the devil fruit, the full consequences if people knew about her Devil Fruit, and what little knowledge they had about the fruit was shared. That night, the brothers swore that no matter what happen, they will make sure that no harm will come to their sister, not even if it meant risking their lives.

~ A few months later~

"Keep running Luffy!" Ace shouted, his grip on his pipe tightening, glancing at his sister once in a while, who panted and panted, before tripping.

"AH!"

"Shit, Lu!" Ace shouted, running towards her. He gently touched her shoulders, frowning at her harsh panting and thin body. It's been a while since she has appropriately eaten and now… now… her body is reaching its limit, her devil fruit is not helping in their current situation at all.

"ACE!" Ace blink before he was thrown to the side, with Luffy's body holding him rather tightly, and when they landed back on the ground, a burning pile of wood landed on the spot they were previously on.

"Fuck…" Ace cursed before sitting up and then grabbed Luffy's hand before lifting her and carrying her over his back and then runs. 'This is all my fault… everything is my fault!'

Ace couldn't help but blame himself, after all, they wouldn't be in Gray Terminal which was currently burning like an inferno, if he wasn't so weak. But that's not the whole truth and Ace knew it… The fact was, that if they hadn't bothered to come to this place after that storm a month ago, searching for materials to fix their tree house… Then maybe Sabo wouldn't be taken away by his 'family' and… and… Ace bit his lip, listening to Luffy's heavy breathing… He and his sister wouldn't be the cause of this fire that was killing people that are living in the Terminal… They wouldn't be in the middle of this inferno, running.

"Ace, jump…" Luffy whispered and her brother did as commanded, just in time for a gunshot to ring and a bullet passed through underneath them. He landed safely away from the group of Pirates standing behind them and the fire surrounding them.

"Where do you think you brats are going, huh?!" Ace gritted his teeth, letting go of his sister, and made her stand behind him.

"Seems like you got betrayed by them." He sneered. Bluejam snarled and began to talk, Ace blink, his eyesight getting blurry, he tried to focus, he really did… but it seems that he wasn't focused enough because he didn't realize that there was already a pirate sneaking behind him. His sister did, however, and then the next thing Ace knows is his sister screaming in pain. He immediately spun around and froze at the sight of Luffy falling to the ground, her hand holding the left part of her face which was bleeding, and a grinning pirate holding a sword standing above her.

"LUUFFFY!"Ace shouted, immediately running towards the pirate that was hovering over his sister and immediately slamming his pipe on his head and kicking him away. "Luffy! Luffy!"

"It hurts… everything hurts…" Luffy mumbled, not feeling how her brother cradled her against his body. The only things she notice were the pain she was feeling, despite her fruit trying its best to help, and… the voices and screams of the people that were screaming in agony. "Ace… Sabo… it hurts…"

"Luffy…" Ace mumbled, looking at the bloodied face of Luffy, who was mumbling softly. The fire began to gather around them but Ace ignored it as he glared darkly at the Pirates that hurt his sister.

"You bastards…" He growled at the Pirates who were the reason this is happening, the reason this fire is happening, the reason why his sister is bleeding and her devil fruit not healing her as fast as it did months ago. Luffy panted through the pain of her injury, slightly snapping out from the voices that were screaming around her, letting go of her face and immediately grabbing her brother's hand.

"Ace… let's go…" She whispered, her brother flinched, but didn't look at her, instead he tried to cover her body as much as he could, especially with how they were eyeing her so intently.

"Hmmm… It seems that you don't care about your sister…" Bluejam grinned, darkly, pointing at Luffy, who was glaring at him. "There's flame all over her and yet she's acting like it's nothing… you're acting like it's nothing… how entertaining it would be if your sister has high pain tolerance."

"Ace…" Luffy whispered with dread as Ace gritted his teeth as the pirates slowly began to surround them with just a single gesture from their captain.

"Prepare yourself Luffy." Ace whispered, slowly standing up and helping his sister do so as well. Luffy panted as she tried to stand up, grabbing her brother's arm rather tightly, having no weapon to protect herself or even her brother as her pipe was cut in half and thrown to the side after she tried to protect her brother's back earlier.

"Hurry and grab those kids!" The captain shouted and Ace immediately turned and ran to the one spot that wasn't blocked by the pirates, holding his sister's hand tightly. However, not even 15 steps after they ran, Luffy was wretched away from Ace's hand.

"ACEEE!" Luffy shouted as she was grabbed by one of the pirates. Her brother immediately turned to look at her and tried to get her back but then he was immediately tackled by the other pirates, holding him down, and watched uselessly as his sister was taken close to their captain.

"Captain, it's amazing!" The pirate holding Luffy exclaimed. "The fire on her is completely gone, including the wound!"

"What?!" Bluejam exclaimed, completely ignoring the fire that was surrounding them.

"Luffy!" Ace shouted, struggling against the weight above him, even more so when the slimy bastard of a captain touched his sister's face. "Let her go, you bastards!"

"It couldn't be…" The captain mumbled, eyeing Luffy before grinning rather crazily. "A devil fruit user…. Ahahahahahaha! I didn't realize that the true treasure was you… no wonder your bothers didn't really leave you alone huh?"

Bluejam eyed Ace before looking back at Luffy, who was glaring at him. "I wonder how much I could get from selling you?" He declared loudly before turning around. "Let's go! We'll bring the girl with us, those treasures that they hid are nothing compared to this brat!"

"Yes, Captain!"

"NOOOO!" Luffy shouted, struggling against the pirate holding her.

"Luffy! Let her go! Let me go! Luffy!" Ace shouted, making the Pirate Captain annoyed and declare.

"And kill that older brat!"

"NOOO!" Luffy shouted, and with a surprising amount of flexibility, bit her capturer's hand, who screamed in pain and let her go. Once the aspiring Pirate King touched the floor, she turned and punch the pirate in the gut, then jumps back as the pirate fell, unconscious. Luffy then turned to run and Ace smiled in relief but then it was gone in an instant and was replaced with horror and despair.

Bang!

"Luffy!" Ace shouted as he saw his sister get shot in the back by Bluejam, who tsked and went towards his sister.

"Annoying brat!" The captain pirate shouted as he stepped on Luffy's head. "Why don't you behave like the worthless girl you are?!"

Ace's fury slowly rose as the pirate won't stop cursing his sister and kicking her body.

"Stop…" Ace mumbled and watch as Luffy's finger didn't twitch. "Stop…" and then Bluejam went to stomp on her body, directly on where the bullet wound is.

"...!" Ace then snapped upon seeing his sister's blood flows underneath her hand. "STOP IT!"

WHAM!

And then suddenly the pirate who was holding him down fell unconscious, the pirate captain, however, stopped hurting Luffy and immediately looked at Ace in shock. Said boy was also shocked at the sudden freedom he gained but ignored it, immediately standing up and grabbing his pipe, running towards the pirate captain.

"YOU BASTARD!" Ace shouted, hitting the captain, and successfully knocking him away, land immediately stood in front of his sister. Looking slightly over his shoulder, Ace blink upon realizing that Luffy was awake, looking at him with proud and happy eyes before fainting.

"Luffy…" Ace growled, before turning to look at the bastard who injured his sister. Said bastard was slowly standing up, looking at Ace in confusion, then at his crew, and back at Ace before grinning.

"Looks like you're something useful after all." He said darkly. Ace readied his pipe, crouching slightly, ready to beat the man down just so that he could take his sister to safety. As Bluejam took one step closer to them, a huge figure suddenly slammed into him. Ace blinked before gaping.

"DADAN!" He shouted. "What are you doing here?!"

"You brat!" The Boss bandit shouted. "If you've got into something like this, you should have told us!"

"What…" Ace muttered, confused, before shaking his head. "This got nothing to do with you! So what are you doing here!?"

"Shut up brat! No parent, even a foster parent, would stand by while someone tries to kill the kids they care for!"

"Boss!" Magra's voice made Ace turn and realize that a few of the mountain bandits were surrounding Luffy while the rest were making sure that the pirates stayed down. "Luffy is bleeding badly, we need to treat her immediately!"

"Luffy!" Ace shouted while Dadan looked over her shoulder before glaring at the pirate that hurt her 'children'.

"Take her away immediately! I'll handle this guys!" Dadan shouted. "Do your best to heal her! Ace you go as well!"

"What?!"

"Your sister needs you now!"

"NOO!" Ace protested as the bandits prepared to take Luffy away. The Son of the Pirate King went to stand beside the curly-haired bandit. "He hurt Luffy… I can't turn my back and leave that bastard be!"

Ace gritted his teeth before shouting. "I… will not run away!"

Dadan eyed her brat before turning and facing the pirate again, who finally gained the strength to stand up.

"Annoying bitch!" The Pirate growled.

"Dogra! Magra!" Ace shouted as he tighten his grip once more. "Luffy better be alright when I get back!"

"O-okay!" And then the two left, carrying Luffy in their arms, not noticing the Devil Fruit user woke up slightly and saw her brother's back standing bravely before it was covered by flames.

'Ace…' She thought, before closing her eyes and trying to hear her other brother's voice, frowning slightly when she heard slight despair and… determination. 'Sabo…'

"Hurry! Luffy's fading!"

~Three days later~

"Ace…" Dadan started as they slowly walk on the path that leads to their hut. "Why didn't you run away with your sister that time? If you went with her that time… you wouldn't be so wound up right now."

"Shut up..." Ace muttered, glaring at the path, all the way making sure he assisted Dadan as best as he could. "Something doesn't feel right."

"Huh…" Dadan raises an eyebrow at that. "That still doesn't answer my question, brat."

Ace glared at her, gritting his teeth, before looking up and then sighing. "Sometimes… the blood just rushes to my head, and I feel like if I run away, I'll lose something important."

His mind then went to the night he last saw his sister.

"I've always had that feeling, even when I had nothing important to lose. I guess it looks like I just don't back down, but… that night…" Ace's voice grows softer. "Luffy was right behind me."

Dadan's eyes widen before looking back at the path, not commenting on what Ace said as she understood what she meant and it wasn't long until they saw the bandit hut. Ace grinned and ran, eager to see his sister, Dadan following after him as well.

"Luffy!" Ace shouted excitedly, hoping to see her standing up and okay. However, his enthusiasm was gone in an instant when he could see the bandits looking all over the hut as if looking for something, it wasn't until he was in hearing range did his blood run cold.

"Luffy!"

"Where are you?!"

"LUFFY!"

"Dogra… Magra…" Ace muttered, standing right behind the bandits mentioned. Said bandits flinched before turning to look at the young kid.

"A-Ace…" Dogra stuttered, all bandits, who saw the young raven, flinched at the sight of his eyes getting covered with his hair, a dark aura slowly surrounding him.

"What's going on?" He muttered.

"T-That is…"

"I asked you something…" Ace then looked up at them, glaring. "What's going on?"

"..."

"Luffy…" Ace muttered, narrowing his eyes when they all flinched. "Where's Luffy?"

The bandits shifted, looking away from him as Ace gritted his teeth before running towards the hut. He then slammed the door open and ran towards the room where he and his siblings used to sleep. Upon arriving at the room, Ace eye's immediately went to the tattered mat, that was in the middle of the room, where he saw his sister's beloved hat on top of the pillow but without a body wearing it.

"Lu…" Ace mumbled and then searched around the room, hoping that said sister is hiding in the corner of the room but she wasn't there. "Luffy…"

The older raven then runs out, heading towards the bandits who were surrounding Dadan, and immediately grabs Dogra by the collar of their shirt.

"Where is she?!" Ace roared.

"ACE!" The bandits shouted as he shakes the bandit he captured.

"WHERE'S MY SISTER?!"

~With Luffy~

Two pairs of eyes, one warm brown and one obsidian, stared at one another, it started when they made eye contact mere minutes ago. The people in the room eyed them as well, not knowing what to do.

"..." Luffy watched the obsidian eyes that were taking in every detail and injury that her body has, sensing nothing harmful from the man in front of her, aside from desire, longing, pain, and love(?).

"What were you doing there?" The man in front of the girl asked, this made Luffy tilt her head to the side, and then broke away from the staring contest and eyed the body that was laying mere feet away from her, before looking back at the man and points her hand at the bed and said.

"My brother is being an idiot… so I went for him." The man in front of Luffy blinks at the blunt statement before frowning slightly.

"You two were drowning there." He said.

"If you didn't save us then King would." The response he received made him frown furthermore, not knowing who King is. He knew that the boy on the bed is a noble as he saw him days ago, warning him about the fire that happened in the terminal, and then the next thing he know about the boy is how he started to sail away from the Port, unfortunately, he was sailing right beside the Celestial Dragon that was visiting the Kingdom and it resulted in his boat being shot at.

Luffy knew the man standing near her had questions, questions that she isn't sure that she could answer. Everything happen so fast after she woke up hours ago, but what she did know is that when she woke up, Ace was alive, and her other brother was planning something that the voices warned.

'Save him! It might be his destiny but we don't want to let you feel any more pain!'

And without hesitation, Luffy sneaked out of the hut, leaving her precious hat behind, and headed to where the voices were guiding her. She arrived at the port of the Goa Kingdom where she saw a huge and expensive ship sailing by, her eyes then snapped to the side where she can see a small boat sailing beside it.

'Noo! Save him!' The voices shouted again, Luffy glanced up, before her eyes widen and she immediately looks at her brother.

"SABOOO!"

Bang!

The blond-haired brother didn't know what happen, he was just sailing peacefully beside the ship of the Celestial Dragon and then he heard his sister's voice screaming his name followed by an explosion and then he was on his back, the stolen boat covered in flames.

"Sabo…" the aforementioned boy glanced to the side, eyes widening at the sight of his baby sister panting rather harshly.

"LUFFY!" Sabo shouted, grabbing his sister's flaming shoulders. But then her sister looked up, making him do the same, both of their eyes widen before immediately he turned, covering his sister with his body but then he felt that he was thrown to the side followed by a smaller body covering him, and they rolled towards the sea just in time to avoid the next cannonball that destroyed their ship.

Sabo's body hit the seawater first followed by his sister and so he was the first one to struggle in opening their eyes and the first one to notice a metal part of the ship sinking fast towards his sister, and without any hesitation, he turned his body to cover Luffy's and the last thing he saw was his sister opening her warm brown eyes, that used gazes at him so lovingly, now shrouded with fear and despair before everything went black. When Sabo's body went limp, Luffy felt the Sea slowly pushing them away from the ship, then up and up to the surface where she could see a shadow standing right at the shore. And when they broke through, she could see how the man's eyes widen and she could only mutter.

"Help my brother please…" And then everything went black. This lead to the present where the man, who saved them, stares at Luffy intensely, and the young girl would do the same but then would look away once in a while to look at her sibling.

"Why did you save us?" Luffy muttered after half an hour of silence, looking directly at the man, who blinked. "No one would save children they don't know, even if they asked for help."

"... I'm doing this for my benefit." The man muttered, this made Luffy tilt her head to the side.

"I see." She muttered before moving from her bed, ignoring the people who tried to stop her and then moved towards the bed where her brother is sleeping.

Dragon eyed his daughter that was moving towards the blond-haired boy, who was in no way related to her by blood but have claimed the status of big brother. He had hoped that by letting his Father raise Luffy with Makino, she'll be living a peaceful life (and not being hunted by Marines) and can decide what she wanted to be in the future, he forgot that his Father is useless when it comes to raising kids, even if they're family.

Eyeing the children in front of him, he glanced at Ivankov, who glances at him and then at the kid, then back at him, scowling in confusion. Dragon gave the Okama a shrug but then his eyes immediately snapped back to his daughter upon hearing her make a muffled groan, upon seeing her looking through the window of the ship, slightly pale and sweating, he immediately glances at the same place that she was looking at, wondering what made her react like that, only to frown when it was nothing but the sea and the Dawn Island.

"Mister…" Luffy muttered, still eyeing the sea, wincing when she 'heard' her other brother's 'voice.' "Can you take me home?"

"... Your brother is still sleeping." Dragon commented, eyeing Sabo, who was sleeping far too deeply. Luffy nodded at his words, but flinch soon after, which made him frown in concern.

"I know… but we can take care of my brother at our place…" Luffy said and then look straight back at the man in front of her. "It's better if we're home in fact. My other brother is currently mad and searching for me."

Dragon had to blink multiple times when his daughter mentioned having another brother and how did she know that her brother is mad. Luffy had this feeling that the man in front of her knew her for some odd reason but she doesn't care if he knew her or not, what she did care is his decision about bringing her back to Dawn Island or if she had to escape with her brother. Her devil fruit is itching inside her, wanting to spread as it did hours ago when she rushed to help her brother avoid being hit directly by the cannon, as well as wanting to help her as it did before this whole fiasco happened.

"..." Dragon looked into his daughter's eyes before sighing. "Alright," He conceded and then turned heading towards the door, ignoring the noises his crew that were present inside the room gave. Ivankov blink before running after Dragon, who already had plans on what to do next.

"Hold on, Dragon!" The Okama shouted as they both exited the hall and went to the navigator's room. "Why did you agree in letting her go? Especially with a boy that is literally in a coma?!"

"She's my daughter." The Revolutionary leader bluntly stated this made the Okama freeze and blink as they processed the word in their mind.

"..."

"..."

"... WHATTTTTTT?!" Ivankov shouted and runs toward his friend and began to shake him. "Since when?!"

"Years ago… had her during the time you were away for a while and then gave her to Garp for her safety." The Okama let him go, cross their arms across their chest, and nodded.

"Of course, of course…" He then paused and glared at Dragon, before grabbing the collar of his cloak once more. "Then why is she here?! More importantly, why are you letting her go back!?"

"..." Dragon glanced at his friend, before looking away then donned an exasperated and defeated expression. "She's also 'her' daughter… and knowing her attitude… If I didn't agree, then Luffy would escape this ship with that boy she called brother just to be back on Dawn Island."

"..." The Okama looked at him as if he were crazy. "We're in the middle of the sea and Dawn Island is an hour or two away by this ship… and you think they will escape with what? A rowboat?"

"That didn't exactly stop 'her' before," Dragon muttered, looking so defeated yet there was a hint of fondness in his eyes. Iva blink for the nth time that day, before letting Dragon go again and thought about the person he was referring to as they continued to head back to the navigator's room. At the end of their thought, the Okama couldn't help but sweatdropped, silently agreeing to Dragon's statement and decision, because if the kid in the room is really their daughter… well… hmm…

'I rather not think about it.' Iva shivered. Dragon glances at his friend from the corner of his eyes, smirking at the pale and scared expression they gained, before looking back at the front. Would she kill him if he told her about what he had in mind? Probably… would it be worth it? Definitely.

"Iva," Dragon said as he opened the door.

"Hmmm?"

"I'll be staying at the Dawn Island for a while. You, Kuma, and Inazuma are in charge while I'm there." Dragon said, grinning at the distracting hum and answer the Okama gave.

"Sure, sure…" The Okama then blinked, as it finally registered what was commanded to him. "Wh-what?! Hold on, Dragon!"

SLAM!

Dragon smirked as the last thing he saw from the Okama was their dumbfounded expression before looking at the navigators that were eyeing him in suspicion, he merely shrug as he went and talk to the head navigator. The next few days would be fun.

~ A few hours later~

Dragon raised an eyebrow as he, Iva, and a few of the most loyal and trustworthy men he had, followed after his daughter, who lead them deep into the mountain instead of the village as he first thought, maneuvering against the path and trees like an expert. Slowly, Dragon is filled with dread when some of the paths began to look a bit familiar.

"Shit…" He cursed softly, making Iva look at him. Luffy made a choking sound before she immediately run a lot faster.

"Hey, kid!" One of Dragon's men shouted, trying not to jostle the body that they were carrying by the stretcher. Their leader merely sighed and followed after his daughter, making a signal to his men to follow after him. Iva shrugged when their men looked at them for assistance, they then sighed in defeat before following after their leader, it didn't take too long for them to realize why the girl ran considering they could hear it all, a young boy screaming as if he was in pain and despair.

"LET ME GOO! I NEED TO FIND HER! LET ME GOOOO!" When they arrived at the area, they all could see the girl standing near the edge of the clearing in front of them, tears slowly falling, as they all looked at the sight of an older raven-haired brat tied to a tree, struggling to escape.

"LET ME GO! DADAN!" Ace shouted, struggling as hard as he can against the binds that were holding him back. He had to go! His sibling, his baby sister, is still out there, probably in danger! He needs to find her! "DADAN!"

"AAACCCCCCEEEEEEE!" At that, the brother froze, before snapping his head up, breath hitching at the sight of his sister running towards him with tears in her eyes and immediately slamming her body to his. "I'M SORRY, ACE! I'M SORRY!"

The older raven-haired kid had to blink multiple times when Luffy apologized, hugging him tightly and never letting go, crying.

"Luffy?" Ace asked rather hesitantly, not believing that his sister is back and hugging him with all her might.

"I'm sorry!" Luffy cried, and then suddenly the door of the bandit hut slammed open, followed by Dadan rushing outside with Dogra and Magra

"Luffy! You brat where have you been?!" The bandit leader shouted, while at the edge of the forest, Dragon slapped a hand to his face, sighing in exasperation and realization.

BAM!

"Ouch!" Luffy yelped when the bandit leader punched her head, she then immediately crouched in pain, Ace snapped from his shock and then immediately glared at their foster mother, who glared back.

"Why the hell did you hit Luffy?!" Ace yelled, as his sister sniffed and then proceeds on untying the rope that was bound around her brother.

"Don't pretend like you won't hit her!" Dadan shouted before blinking when Ace looked over her shoulder and a shadow then loomed over. She turned with a grunt before turning around and then immediately turned white. Because there standing right behind her, was a huge man… and not just any man… it was someone she knew and feared, other than Garp.

"Hello…" The man then slowly gave her a dark grin. "Dadan…"

"D-D-D-Dr-Dragon!" The bandit leader shouted making the rest of her members scream in fear at the sight of Luffy's father hovering over their leader, menacingly.

"Yes…?"

"... Kyaa…" Dadan then fainted.

"BOSS!" Dragon snorted as the members of the Dadan family went and hovered over her, before gesturing to his men to put the comatose boy inside the hut and set up the room. He then glanced over where his daughter is and nearly smirked in amusement at the sight of Roger's son (because who else would that be? He looks exactly like Rouge if they knew exactly where to look… he also has information that his father had sworn to protect Roger's child and then he suddenly showed up with a baby months after the Pirate King's death) scolding his daughter, who sniffled, before hugging her rather tightly.

"...idiot." Ace mumbled, not yet hearing the story of what happened and why his sister left the hut without letting anyone know. He then glared at the man that was staring at them, tightening his grip on Luffy's body.

'Dragon…' He thought, glancing at Luffy before looking back at the stranger that was in their territory. 'Why does that name sounds familiar?'

"Who the hell are you?" Ace snarled as he put Luffy behind him. Said sister looked at the man in front of them and then at Ace before clutching the back of his shirt, which made the boy tense up before relaxing when he felt the familiar warmth that was always with her.

"He saved me, Ace." Luffy started, looking at the back of her brother's head, who blinked and looked at her over his shoulder. "He saved me and Sabo."

"..." Ace looks at Luffy then at the Man standing there, scowling heavily, before seeing people that his not familiar with entering the hut, then back at Luffy again. "Explain…"

~A few minutes later~

"Those fucking bastard!" Ace shouted, cursing rather vehemently, as he eyed the body of his other brother and best friend, completely ignoring the wide eyes stare that the people, who were standing outside the room and helping his siblings, gave him. "I'm going to fucking kill them!"

"Ace!" Luffy shouted, immediately grabbing his hand as he went for the door. The man who saved his siblings immediately stood at the doorway, blocking him before gesturing for his men to leave, which was pointless considering his attention is on his sister, who was begging at him with her eyes.

"Let go, Luffy." Ace stated, somehow managing to resist his sister's eyes, who shakes her head and tighten her grip. "Let go…"

"Please… please don't…" Luffy mumbled, her hand turning pale as she roughly shakes her head.

"Luffy…" Ace muttered eyeing her trembling body.

"Don't go… don't leave me alone…" She continued to mutter, Ace's eyes widen before he went and kneeled in front of her and grabbed her shoulder, realizing that she was having one of her episodes again.

"Snapped out of it, Luffy." Ace said, shaking her, but the only thing he could see was her unfocused eyes, filled with fear. "Luffy!"

It took a while and a lot of shouting from Ace, while Dragon hovered over him before Luffy finally snapped out of her trance and then looked directly into Ace's eyes.

"Please… don't go… don't leave me… don't die…" She whispered before fainting, the day's activities finally catching up.

"Luffy!" Ace shouted, worried as he caught her body. Dragon immediately went to his side and checked his daughter before nodding.

"Looks like today's event finally caught up to her." He mumbled and watched as Ace nodded and lifted his sister and went to the direction where their mat is before laying her down. After tucking her in, Ace sat down, making him stay between her and Sabo, who was laying down on a futon. He glances at Sabo then at Luffy, before sighing and saying. "Stupid… I will not die, Luffy. I promise you that."

Dragon raised an eyebrow before deciding that the brats won't be making any rush decision and then turned around to talk to his men and Dadan. Ace eyed his siblings first before blinking and snapping out of his trance when he heard Dadan muffled shout, which made him purse his lips, before standing up and then heading towards the door, opening slightly before her words reached his ears.

"...YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SEEN BY ANYONE! DO YOU HAVE ANYONE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE WORLD FOUND OUT THE WORLD WORST CRIMINAL IS VISITING US?!"

"You're doing them the favor just by shouting."

"GAAAHHH! DON'T YOU DARE BE A SMART ASS TOWARD ME! WHAT DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF THE DANGER YOU'RE BRINGING TO YOUR DAUGHTER JUST BEING HERE?!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You just shouted to the world that I have a daughter."

"Gahhh!"

"Also… I need to talk to you about you punching Luffy."

"You have no right to talk about me punching the brat when you weren't here to raise her, to begin with!"

"Ouch…"

"What?" Ace muttered, watching as the man who saved his siblings stood in front of Dadan, who glared and shouted at his siblings' savior, while the said man was mostly neutral and let her vent. But that was not Ace's focus, the only thing that was on his mind was that the stranger in their territory is Luffy's father. His precious sister's father… just… who…

"Who do you think you are showing yourself in front of us, in front of Luffy, after all those years of neglection?" He snarled, glaring darkly at Dragon, who raised an eyebrow upon feeling a slight pressure that he is pretty sure is coming from the brat in front of him.

'Conqueror's haki… on a kid so young…well… considering who his parents are, it shouldn't be that much of a shock.' Dragon thought before speaking, ignoring the panic gestures the Bandits are showing him. "I really didn't have the plan to show myself to Luffy… meeting her at the shore was just a coincidence."

"You fucking bastard…"

"A kid like you shouldn't be saying such vulgar words."

"Shut up!"

"Also I didn't want to neglect Luffy…" Ace paused and looked at the man, who was looking at him rather sadly. "I didn't want to neglect my only child, but I have no choice since I have plans to overthrow the World Government."

"Hey Dragon! Don't spout such nonsense!" Dadan shouted as she moved toward them but she was ignored by both males.

"I am labeled as the World's Worst Criminal for a reason, and because of that I have to give my only child to my father… a mistake on my part."

"..." Ace bit his lip, if that was the reason why Luffy's father never visited them then he could understand because he's the son of the Pirate King, if words got out about his bloodline then he's dead, and to think Luffy is the same as him… probably worse since her father is still alive… however… "That doesn't explain why would you leave her to Gramps! You could have protected her!"

"I could but she won't have the life of a normal child."

"That doesn't mean shit!" Ace shouted before gesturing to their environment. "Look at the place we're at! Luffy isn't having the life that you seem to want! You should have taken care of her despite everything!"

Dragon narrowed his eyes, understanding what the boy wanted to say, that he should have given Luffy the chance to be with her family.

"You're a shitty dad!" Ace glared at him and this made Dragon blink before smirking slightly.

"I appreciate your care for my daughter and I am glad you found one another but…" Dragon glances at the room where his daughter is, making Ace do the same, before glaring back at him, tense. "If I have Luffy with me at our base, she wouldn't be happy as she is with you."

Ace blink before remembering the time when the three of them are so lively and having fun in the forest. Hunting for food, rescuing Luffy from crocodiles, sparring with each other, watching her dance as she practices her Devil Fruit and sometimes dancing with her, playing at the beach, playing hide and seek… they have done so many things that Ace could always see his sister smiling never sad or upset (except of course when he and Sabo fought because Luffy doesn't like it when they fight for some reasons).

'Was Luffy truly happy with us? With me, who is the son of the devil?' Ace thought, looking at the floor with wide eyes, hoping and believing his thoughts even though knew that his siblings, especially his baby sister loves him, loves them, with all her heart.

"Besides…" Dragon then eyed the boy from the corner of his eyes. "Do you think you can live a life without my daughter?"

Ace flinched at that, clenching his hand into a fist, and gritting his teeth. Can he live a life without Luffy? Of course not! He experiences love from her, he experiences everything because of her, she taught her everything that is good in this cursed world, and if… if by chance Ace didn't meet Luffy… then he would be nothing but a kid who bears nothing but darkness. Dragon nodded to himself when he saw the resigned look the boy had. He might be a bit biased but he knew the effect of having Luffy in his life. It changes at first when he first met Luffy's mother and then it changed again when he first saw and hold Luffy in his arms, all smiling brightly, ready to take over the world and bring a new era.

"Are you here to take Luffy away?" Ace mumbled, fear coursing through his veins, looking at Dragon through the lashes of his eyes, relaxing slightly when Dragon shakes his head.

"No…" He muttered and eyed the door. "Just… here to watch over her for a few days before leaving."

"More like running away." Ace muttered before straightening up and looking directly at Dragon's eyes.

"Listen here ya bastard." Dadan and the other bandits whimpered at Ace changeling the Leader of the Revolutionary, who merely looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but they all could sense that he was amused. "Luffy is my and Sabo's baby sister! If you want something from her… or if you dare take her away, you'll have to get through the two of us first."

"..."

"You better watched your back…" Ace growled and then point his finger at Dragon. "If my sister got hurt because of you, or got hurt by you, we'll be your worst nightmare."

"..." Dragon then grinned darkly. "Impressive… but you could do better." He stated before turning and leaving the hut, going towards his men standing outside. Ace snarled, then turned, immediately heading back inside their room, closing the door gently behind him and shaking his head, before heading toward where Sabo is. He glanced at Luffy, who was sleeping rather peacefully despite the tears in her eyes, and then kneeled beside his sleeping brother. Lips pursed and eyes on the floor.

"Wake up, Sabo…" Ace muttered. "Luffy's asshole of a father is here… He said that he won't take our light away… but… I'm not sure, Sabo. I need you here and awake please."

Turns out Ace didn't have to worry about Luffy and her father because after a proper introduction…well…

"Dad? What's a dad?" Luffy asked, rather innocently, tilting her head to the side. "Wait… I have a dad?"

"Umm…" Ace mumbled before looking back at the man standing in front of them, who merely smirked, clearly amused at how innocent his daughter is, while the bandits merely fell to the ground. The raven-haired boy sighed before looking back at Luffy, who was staring at her father rather intensely.

"Oh… okay." Luffy suddenly stated, nodding her head. "You're just like Shanks then, but I don't call him dad."

"..." Everyone, aside from Dragon, who grinned, blinked. "What?"

"I might be." Dragon stated, clearly remembering the days when he visited and checked on his daughter only to find that she was having fun with the Red-Haired Pirate Captain, Shanks, who treated her like she was his own daughter rather than someone else's, and Makino, who treated Luffy the same.

Now, any parent would probably be jealous of the bond a stranger has with their child, but not Dragon, and neither did his wife because the only thing they saw is that their precious child was loved by someone and would never lack the love of a parent. So Dragon was fine that Luffy saw Shanks as her father, and that her definition of a father, and probably of a mother, is a Pirate Captain and a bar maiden of a village because those two did a lot more for Luffy than he could ever do. It did pain him however that those first two years he spent with Luffy are nothing but a blurry memory for her.

Luffy tilts her head to the side once more, before smiling gently at Dragon, who blinks, while Ace tenses up. "Thank you for the gifts."

"Gifts?" This time, Dragon blinked.

"Yep! The 'voice' said that you're the one who left those gifts behind." Luffy then beamed. "And Makino said to say 'Thank you' to the people who gave you something!"

"I see…" Dragon mumbled, eyes narrowing at Luffy's statement, especially when she mentioned 'Voice'. But when he glanced around them, he noticed that most of the people surrounding them are confused at Luffy's first statement, although the Son of the Pirate King is giving him stinky eyes, he seems confused as well, only hiding it better than the bandits. He looked back at his daughter, who was still beaming at him, before raising a hand and reaching for her head.

"Oi!" Ace barked as Dragon patted his daughter's head before stopping, he then turned around, heading towards the forest, leaving.

"Hold on! Where are you going, Dragon?!" Dadan shouted, as said criminal merely waved his hand. They blinked before turning to look at Luffy, who was jumping near her brother. Said brother is seen frowning in the direction where her father had gone, before looking down at his sister.

"Don't worry Ace," Luffy said, smiling so wide. "I'm not going anywhere."

Ace blinked before smiling at his sibling in relief. For the past hours, he feared that Luffy's father would take her away, despite him saying that he won't, the fear is lingering and is slowly consuming him and it is the reason why he was so tense the whole time Dragon introduced himself to Luffy, completely forgetting that Luffy had this weird ability to know how everyone around her is feeling.

"Of course, you're not." Ace said, patting her head. "We'll never let our baby sister leave and go somewhere without us."

"I'm not a baby!" Luffy puffed her cheeks while Ace grinned and then teased her. The bandits watched them interact as if the past few days were nothing but a fading nightmare.

"Hey, Ace!" Dogra shouted, running towards the siblings, who stopped and looked at him. "I got a letter for you! It's from Sabo!"

"Sabo?" Everyone asked in confusion, glancing at the letter, then at the hut where Sabo was sleeping, then back at the letter, and lastly at Ace, who was pursing his lips, before grabbing it. He patted Luffy's head and walked away, this made the younger siblings follow him rather eagerly, telling him to read the letter already. During that time Ace only smirked and raised the letter up, teasing her, and making her pout. It was only when they arrive in their room, did the two of them quieted down, and then sat right beside Sabo.

"Read it, read it!" Luffy whispered, bouncing excitedly on her spot.

"Quite!" Ace snarled, punching his sister in the head, who whined and pouted. The oldest brother smirked, before looking at the letter, then at his brother, and back again, before giving a shrug and opening the envelope.

'Dear Ace and Luffy,' Ace raised an eyebrow at that while Luffy giggled.

'Did you get hurt at the fire? I'm worried about you guys, but I know you're alright.' Ace narrowed his eyes, before glaring at the sleeping blond.

"Your better believe that we are alright…" He then glances at his body, then at Luffy, who was smiling at him in confusion. "Well, mostly…"

"Ace~ read it!"

"Ah, right…"

'Unfortunately for you two, by the time you get this letter… I'll already be at the sea.' Ace scowled, while Luffy tensed up. 'A lot of stuff happened, but I decided to set sail before you guys. My destination is anywhere but here.' Luffy's breath hitched before inching closer to Ace, who pursed his lips.

'I'm going to become stronger so I can be a pirate. Pirates are freer than anyone else in this world. We siblings should become pirates one of these days! Then we can meet again somewhere out there. This ocean is vast and free! We'll meet again someday!' Ace glances at Luffy, who seems to be getting sadder and sadder as he continued to read the letter.

'Another thing, Ace, are you the oldest brother, or am I?'

"I'm the oldest dumbass." Ace muttered under his breath.

'It might be weird to have two oldest brothers and one little sister, but the bond we share is the greatest treasure I have. Luffy is still weak and a crybaby to boot… but she's still our little sister. Take care of her.' Ace clenched his fist tightly around the letter before glaring at the blond once more.

"Of course, I will. You don't need to say that!" He snarled, before pausing when he heard a sniff beside him. He turned his head slightly and blinked at the sight of his sister crying. "Luffy?"

"S-Sabo said… that he's going to set sail… he said that he doesn't to be here…" Luffy then looked at her older brother, who felt his heart clenched and the despair the current dull brown eyes held. "Is… is… Sabo going to leave once he wakes up?"

"Of course not!" Ace denied it immediately, trying to calm his crying sister, who continued to rub the tears from her eyes. "He won't go anywhere without us, Luffy!"

"B-but!"

"If Sabo decided to go, then we will go as well!" Ace declared, shocking his sister, whose tears stopped and looked at him with wide eyes. "We will not be separated ever, Lu…"

"But… but…"

"Shut up!" Ace slammed a fist on his sister's head, a lot harder than his previous punch, Luffy merely whined. "The only time we will be separated is when we set sail as pirates and we will still be siblings, you understand!? And if someone tries to separate us then I'll just beat them up!"

"Promise?" Luffy whimpered, making her brother sigh in exasperation with a hint of fondness.

"Promise." Ace smiled. Luffy smiled again… but then Sabo woke up…

~A couple of days later~

"Who are you?" Sabo asked, looking directly at Ace, who was so happy to hear that his brother woke up that he was grinning, which slowly disappeared once he registered the question asked.

"What?" He whispered rather harshly. The older raven's heart clenched in pain when he saw distrusting blue eye, as the other was covered with a bandage, looking at him.

"I asked who are you? And where am I?" Ace's hand clenched into a fish when he realize that the blond wasn't kidding about asking about their identity. That was when he realized that when he saw his sister run out just a few minutes ago, tears nearly falling from the corner of her eyes.

"Did you ask that question to Luffy?" Ace asked while Sabo looked at him with confusion.

"Luffy? Was that the girl who was here a few minutes ago?" Ace gritted his teeth at his response, before immediately grabbing Sabo's collar and bringing him near his face.

"How dare you, you bastard!" Ace shouted, raising an arm to punch his sworn brother in the face but then he was grabbed by the bandits that were watching him.

"Ace!"

"Hold on!"

"Let me go! How dare you! How dare you forgot about us!? How dare you forget about our sister!?"

"Ace! Stop!" The bandits shouted, as Dragon merely watched them and then at the blond-haired by, who looked confused with a hint of despair.

"ACE!" Luffy voice's shouted, making her brother stop struggling and turned to the door, but seeing her teary face only made him angrier. Said sister glancing at Sabo once in a while before flinching as if in pain, then back at the oldest raven-haired kid. "Stop it, Ace…"

"Luffy…" Ace mumbled, but his sister merely grabs his hand.

"It's okay if Sabo forgot about us…" Luffy stated, looking up at him. "What matter is that he's alive."

Ace's eyes narrowed at the sight of his sibling crying before glaring at the very person who brought them pain and then back at Luffy. "No, Lu." Ace stated, leading his sister away from the room. "He's better off dead."

"Eh?"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Sabo shouted as he watched the siblings leave, an unknown pain in his heart, not knowing why he had this feeling of wanting to reach out to them, especially to the raven-haired girl who keeps on glancing at him and the older boy.

"It means…" Ace snarled, glaring at Sabo. "You're not our brother."

Sabo and Luffy's breathed hitched at his declaration, then more so at his next statement. "You're not our brother who we shared memories with. That brother of ours is dead and you are nothing but an imposter wearing his skin."

"Ace! Wait!" Luffy shouted even as she was dragged away from Sabo, who was looking at the bed, clenching the sheets rather tightly as the words that were spoken to him drilled into his mind. The bandits glanced at him and then at door before looking at Dadan, who sighed and left.

"Out we go. We have no business with this." She muttered. Though it pains her that one of her boys has lost their memory… she can't do anything about it, especially when it will bring nothing but pain, more so if Sabo doesn't remember anything. Dragon looked at the boy and then at the window where he could see Ace and Luffy seemingly arguing with one another, his daughter pointing in their direction, while the older shakes his head in rage before grabbing her hands and dragging Luffy away.

He then glanced at the bedridden boy, who was struggling to get out of the bed, making him walk towards him, asking. "What are you doing?

"I'm leaving." Sabo panted, but a hand grabbed his shoulder, stopping him from moving further. "I don't like this place… I need to leave this place… I hate…"

"You need to rest." Dragon said. "If your that desperate to leave this place, then rest for a while, and once your better I'll take you away from this place." The Revolutionary Leader couldn't help but promise that, though he knows that it will give pain to his daughter if this boy left, she would probably like it if he'll be safe and healthy.

"Noo!" Sabo shouted, shocking Dragon, who blinked.

"Didn't you say that you want to leave this place? That you hate it here?"

"No… not this place… never here… I don't hate this place…" Sabo mumbled, grabbing a part of his clothes where his heart's at. He didn't know why but he didn't hate this place, the only place he hated was… was… where is it? Where was that place that he hated? He knew it was just somewhere around here, nowhere near the area but somewhere, the question is, where is it exactly?

"Do you have any idea what this place is to you?" Dragon asked.

"I don't…. I don't know…" Sabo mumbled, crestfallen.

~With Ace and Luffy~

Luffy could only cry quietly and watched the back of her older brother that was dragging her away from the Bandit hut where her other older brother is resting.

"Ace…" Luffy whined, but Ace ignored her and continued to drag her back to their tree house. "Even if Sabo forgot about us… he is still our brother."

Ace remained quiet, making Luffy sob again as the wind ruffled her hair rather gently, the grass she passed by caressed her naked ankles, and the trees creaked and groaned softly, singing a song that they can only understand but they still sang it to calm her down. Luffy knew what they were trying to do, the wind, the sea, the land, and the sky gently told her so. The 'Voice' itself is silent, but the others are telling her that they were fine. That they were doing something to help her elevate the pain she has.

Ace pursed his lips, looking at his sister over his shoulder before looking away. He knew he was being irrational, he knew that his sister is right, even if Sabo lost his memories, he is still their sibling, their bond is their greatest treasure and it is something that cannot be broken measly by losing one's memory. But… Ace remembered his baby sister's tears, remembers how broken she looked when she came back to stop him from hurting Sabo… he remembers the pain when blue eyes looked at him filled with distrust and slight fear.

And he just wants to avoid that… he wants to avoid anything that will bring him pain, that will bring Luffy pain. His crybaby of a baby sister, who loves too much, who feels too much… who is so sensitive to everything around her that it's probably how she knew exactly what other people felt. But he can't really tell her those, can't tell her that it hurts to see her cry because he knew Luffy.

If his sister found out the real season then she would hide from him and then he can't find her because Ace doesn't have Luffy's ability to find the people she wants to find… and when he finds his sister, she would act like nothing happen… or worse people would take her from him and he will know nothing about it. He and Sabo wouldn't know and when they do… she would already be beyond their reach.

(Years later in the future when they found that their sister was taken from their island, that she was forced to never contact them, when they found out what happen to her and their family for the past years they sailed as pirates… They will make the people who hurt their 'light', their precious baby sister, a million times more, burn their bodies and throw them to the sea for the Sea Kings to eat… And then they would make sure that no one will hurt her ever again before blaming each other, then they would smother her with their love until she gets sick of it, which won't happen, Luffy loves them too much to be sick of their love.)

(In the future as well… they will make sure that a certain pineapple will not get their sister that easily… but it's not like their sister will listen to them… however, what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her… they just need to make sure that the turkey is good enough for her.)

"ACE!" Luffy whined. This made her older brother stop and sighed, before turning to look her straight in the eyes. The young raven-haired girl looked at his eyes, looked deep into his soul before her breath hitched, and then looked away when all she can see is nothing but pain. "Sorry…"

Ace looked at her again for a few more seconds before they moved again and headed towards the tree house. Sabo can stay in the room and rest… they'll probably come back when… when they're ready or when he leaves.

~Later that evening~

Luffy quietly sneaked inside the hut, avoiding the floors and steps on the stairs that could make any sort of sound. The bandits were scattered around the floor as per usual, she couldn't find her Father but with the help of the voices she found out that Dragon was sleeping inside Sabo's room, guarding the boy. When Luffy entered the room, she could see her other brother sleeping, but it wasn't a peaceful sleep, he was clutching his blanket rather tightly, sweating and panting as if he was in a horrible nightmare and trying to run away from the monster that is haunting him. Luffy pursed her lips before moving toward her brother quietly, silently aware that her father is slowly waking up.

"Ace will be mad if he found out I went and visit you," She mumbled. Hearing, his daughter's voice made the Revolutionary Leader open his eyes and looked at her. "But… I can't stand the thought of you being in pain…"

As tears silently fall down Luffy's eyes, Dragon straightens from his spot, wanting nothing but to reach out for his daughter. Luffy inhaled rather shakily and turned to look at him straight in the eyes, raised a finger, and put it in front of her lips.

"Shhh…" Luffy hushed her father, who blink in confusion before nodding. Luffy gave him a small smile, before turning to look at Sabo, wiping her tears away. Dragon watched his daughter as she walked toward the futon where the ex-noble kid is sleeping.

For the past few days that Dragon stayed with his daughter and her brother, he made sure to at least bond with them, though not too much as the older brat is very protective of Luffy, and wary of him as well, his daughter, however, didn't hesitate in accepting his affection. Though when he visited Makino the time after he introduce himself to Luffy, the bar maiden was shocked in seeing him, and that shock turned to fear and slight anger thinking that he was there to take Luffy away.

It took a lot to convince Makino that his purpose wasn't to take her daughter figure away, but only to asked information about her, as the information he had about her is never enough for him. By the end of it, Dragon had learned a lot more about his daughter and left Makino a den-den mushi behind. The bar maiden didn't hesitate in accepting it, especially when Dragon mentioned that they can contact him through the snail in case of emergencies.

And while Dragon is not close to Luffy as she is to Shanks, as stated before, that is fine with him, what matters is that his daughter is free and can achieve her dream, and if she wants to be the Pirate King then he will accept it and wait for her to arrive at the top.

Dragon blinked when Luffy suddenly began to glow, a wisp of red, yellow, and white began to surround her and extended outward. This made him remember that about the information Makino gave him, his daughter ate a devil fruit because she was told it was fine… she was told by the Voice of All Thing that it was okay for her to eat it. Out of all things that his daughter could have, it had to be something that isn't known to the world, something that will be coveted by those with wicked hearts. There's no doubt that people will then try to cage his beloved daughter and used her for their own gain and that is something Dragon will not allow.

(Dragon didn't know how right he was by then, but the people who took his daughter only knew about her fruit and not her most secret ability, fortunately. However, when the time comes… those who caged his daughter will regret it deeply.)

With the information provided to him, Dragon promised to get more information about Luffy's devil fruit and secret ability, then any information he had will be shared with those who cared for Luffy, except for Garp (there is no way Dragon will share it to his loose mouth of a Father), and the Red-haired Pirate Captain is included in that list. He has no way to contact the said Captain at the moment, but that doesn't matter as he has the resources to get what he wanted.

Dragon snapped out of his thoughts when Luffy moved, reaching a hand toward her brother's head. The moment her hand touched Sabo's forehead, a huge bright yellow flame emerged from the back of her hand which slowly engulf the two kids. Dragon slowly stood up and watched as the flame grew bigger and bigger before it slowly dispersed, leaving no burn marks, not even a sign that there was any sort of flame at all.

The Man dubbed as the World's Worst Criminal glanced at the boy laying on the bed in awe, before glancing at his daughter.

"Luffy…" Dragon muttered, his daughter flinched before turning to look at him.

"Shhh…" She put her finger in front of her lips again. "Don't tell anyone, not even Sabo."

"... Okay." Dragon agreed, watching as his daughter made to move away from the bed. "Do you want me to carry you back to your tree house?"

Luffy shakes her head. "No, I can manage." She slowly took a step forward, and then another before nodding to herself and smiling at him. "Ace will wake up if he felt you near our tree house. I can go back home safely. Just watched Sabo for me." She added before leaving, swaying slightly but still managing to avoid the noisy parts of the floor and stairs. Her Father watched her as she left, wanting nothing more than to reach out to her and drop her at their tree house… but… Dragon sighed before sitting back down in his chair and looked at the boy, who began to sleep peacefully, smiling.

"You really love your brothers… you're just like your mother when it comes to family." He mumbled, before closing his eyes, dreaming of past memories.

~The Next day, afternoon, with Ace and Luffy~

Ace glanced at his sister over his shoulder, who, for some reason, was panting heavily, and weak after a couple of minutes of walking… but she was not weak yesterday and for some odd reason, there were some silver highlights at the tip of her hair, something he didn't see before and he always, always, notice anything different about her… well as much as he can at least.

"Luffy." Ace called out to his sister, who was lagging behind, making him narrow his eyes and twist his body in her direction.

"Hmm?" Luffy hummed, blinking before looking up at Ace and giving him a weak smile.

"What's wrong with you?" Ace's eyes narrowed, eyes examining her whole body for any injuries or answers on why she was so weak.

"I'm fine," Luffy mumbled while Ace growled.

"Clearly, you aren't." He snapped. Luffy remained silent, eyes on the forest floor, before looking at her brother's grey eyes.

"Are we going to visit Sabo?" Luffy asked, Ace suddenly glowered at her.

"No." Ace said, before turning around and walking away.

"Ace… Sabo is still our brother." Luffy began once more, making her older brother's grip on the pipe tighten. They already had this particular conversation yesterday and they didn't even finish it, and the reason they stopped is because Luffy understood her brother's pain, and when they arrived at their damaged tree house, Ace immediately laid down and turned his back to her, pretending to sleep. But both sworn siblings knew they shouldn't ignore the problem they were facing right now, but it doesn't matter to Ace… it doesn't… (Lies… it hurt him so much…)

''Ace…'' Luffy pursed her lips, trying to stand still despite the black spots slowly appearing in her vision. Ace looked away from her. ''No matter what, Sabo is our brother. It doesn't matter if he lost his memories… the bond we share won't disappear.''

''Why the fuck are you so obsessed about this?!'' Ace yelled, swatting his hand in front of him, Luffy stepped back to avoid being hit but her eyes seemed to be focused on Ace. ''He forgot about us! If he cared about us, he shouldn't have forgotten about us!''

''Ace…'' Luffy said, trying to explain to her brother that it doesn't work like that, at least it doesn't according to what Sabo and Makino taught to her, but everything is so blurry and she's been hearing this buzzing sound for quite a while.

''No, Luffy!'' Ace finally snapped. ''If you want Sabo then why don't you go with him when he leaves?!'' He then turned and left, leaving alone his shocked little sister, whose tears slowly fell from her eyes before her vision went black.

With Ace

The son of the pirate king gritted his teeth in anger as he walk farther and farther from his sister, who wasn't following after him as she did before.

'Dumbass,' Ace cursed internally, mindlessly kicking a stone away from his path. He knew he was being irrational and that his sister is just worried about him, after all, she did tell him and Sabo before that being alone is a lot worse than being hurt. He still didn't know why his sister said that or what she had to go through to shout that out… guess, he'll never figure it out or will he know the answer… considering… Luffy will definitely go with Sabo.

'After all, who would stay with the son of a demon?' Ace thought rather bitterly. He stood there for a few more minutes, not realizing that someone was rushing towards him.

BAM!

Ace blinked rather dazedly, wondering why he was looking at the side rather than ahead of him. It took a while to process but then he felt a sting on his cheek before realizing that someone punched his face.

''Who…'' Ace growled, immediately facing his assaulter, only to freeze upon realizing that it was his blond-haired brother who punched him. Said brother was panting rather harshly as if he run a mile within seconds just to punch him, which he probably did, Ace then blandly noted that while there were still bandages wrapped around him, he acted as if it never bothered him at all.

Sabo watched as his brother stood here stunned at him seeing and receiving a punch from him. He glance around, looking for his sister but when he didn't find her, he frowned and looked at Ace, who seems to gather his thoughts and glared at him.

''The fuck do you want?'' Ace cursed, Sabo tightens his hand into a fist and exhaled,

''Am I really not your brother?'' Sabo asked, making the raven-haired boy freeze and looked at him with wide eyes. ''I probably deserve a punch or two, but am I really not your brother?''

''Wha–?'' Ace stuttered, blinking at him, confuse. Sabo pursed his lips, before sighing and relaxing his stance, then he looked directly at Ace in the eyes.

''I remember everything now, jackass.'' Ace breathed hitched, before glaring at the blond.

"The fuck you did." Ace growled, and Sabo pursed his lips before stating.

"Yeah?! Well, you are nothing but an idiot who has so many daddy issues, and very low self-esteem, that no matter how many times our sister and myself proved to you that you're not a son of a demon and that we love you! That our sister loves you soooo much that she risked following after you no matter how many times you hurt her!" Sabo shouted while Ace growled.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm pretty sure that I said I remember everything Jackass," Sabo growled, before sighing in defeat and looking at him sadly. "Why did you deny me being your bother Ace?"

"..." Ace gritted before snapping and punching Sabo in the face. "Because you made Lu cry, you bastard!"

Sabo blinked before looking at him, blankly. "I… made her cry?"

"YES!" Ace snarled. "When I arrived at our room yesterday, she was running away with tears falling from her eyes!"

"I… I didn't…" Sabo muttered, frowning trying to remember if he did make his sister cry, but the only thing he could remember after waking up was Ace yelling at him, everything before that was all blur, so the chances of him making his sister cry, even unknowingly, is high and then it made him angry to himself.

"Well, you did…" Ace growled. "And brother or not, I will not let you, or anyone else for that matter, make Luffy cry anymore, not after what we've been through for the past month your gone."

Sabo blinked at that and looked Ace directly in the eyes, flinching when cold gray eyes met his. "I didn't mean to…" The ex-noble uttered, while Ace rolled his eyes. Both sworn siblings were quiet for a while, the son of the pirate king eyed the boy in front of him before scoffing and turning to leave.

"Wait!" Sabo shouted, reaching out for Ace, who sighed and looked at him rather coldly. This made the former noble flinch before inhaling deeply and stating. "Punch me."

BAM!

Ace grinned darkly, the satisfaction of punching their blond-haired brother, releasing all of his anger, annoyance, grief, pain, and relief, all at once in one single punch.

"SHIT!" Sabo cursed, covering his nose, where his tempered brother punched him, with his hand, bleeding. "You didn't even hesitate, you bastard! And this is the second time you punch me without hesitation."

"You told me to." Ace stated, fist still itching for a third punch and Sabo knows it too, because he grinned rather nervously and stood up.

"I only allow that twice, you shithead."

Ace snorted, "Weak."

Both siblings eyed one another before Ace went towards Sabo, who braced himself for more pain, only to blink in shock when a body slammed into him, followed by arms wrapping around him so tightly.

"You fucking dumbass," Ace muttered, Sabo laughed breathlessly and hugged him back. They then slowly let each other go after a few minutes. Sabo eyed his sibling for any injuries, but seeing that he can only see scratches and a few bandages wrapped around his arm, he felt relief and a bit of guilt. Ace did the same, though he did wonder if his brother felt anything.

"Don't you feel any pain?" Ace asked, looking at Sabo, "You still have bandages wrapped around your body."

"Oh," Sabo blink before touching the bandage wrapped around his left eye and then began to unwrap it. "I don't feel anything now that you mentioned it. After I remembered everything, when I woke up, the only thing in my mind was the words you told me yesterday and that I have to find you and Lu."

The bandage fell to the forest floor, Sabo blinked his eye, adjusting his sight, sighing in relief when he could see totally fine in both eyes.

"Luffy?" Ace asked, arms crossed above his chest, Sabo sighed.

"I, honest to Oda, don't remember making her cry. And after I remember everything, the next thing I was doing was leaving the hut and searching for you and Lu."

"Hmm…" Ace hummed, eyes narrowing in thought.

"By the way, where's Luffy?" Sabo asked, looking at the older raven-haired boy, who flinched and looked away rather guiltily, this made the blond narrow his eyes at him.

"Ace…" Sabo growled, making him sigh in defeat, and then look at him.

"Punch me." Ace stated, making Sabo blink before doing the favor. "FUCK!"

"You asked for it." Sabo grinned before frowning as Ace nursed his nose. "Why did you ask me to punch you?"

"I made her cry and left." Ace suddenly stated, standing up.

"...What?"

"She was asking me to go back to you, to talk to you…"

"And because I made her cry, you rejected it, and you're a stubborn idiot, you hurt her feelings." Sabo finished, glaring at his brother, who glared back albeit weakly. "You're an idiot."

"I know… you can beat me as much as you want on our next spar." Ace mumbled, turning around and heading back in the direction he left Luffy behind.

"You better lead me to the place you left her behind, ya bastard," Sabo growled, itching for a pipe so that he can use it against Ace like he usually did whenever he made their sister upset, and his brother knew that based on the way he flinched before glancing at him rather nervously, but his brother just grinned at him, darkly. Ace growled back, before looking back ahead, he peek at Sabo again, who began to walk beside him, like he always did months ago, and couldn't help but feel happy… so, so happy, that his brother, his twin in all but blood, is back with them, memories intact.

'Luffy would be so happy!' Ace smiled, snickering internally but then he heard something that made his blood freeze.

"A-A-ACCCCEEEEE! S-SABOOOO!" Luffy voice's shouted, this made them look up and then at each other. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" That made them snap and ran, they ran and ran, following after the screaming voice, a screaming voice that he heard before, a noise that he hated dearly but then… it stopped. Ace felt his breath has left him before pushing forward.

"LUFFFYYY!" He and Sabo screamed, bursting through the clearing. The Son of the Pirate King looked at the forest floor, where he saw the beloved hat of his sister lying in the grass, instead of soft raven-haired locks. Ace blinked before looking around, searching for his sister, but what he saw was a large bear, one of the lords, disappearing into the trees.

"L-Luffy!" Sabo's stuttering voice, made him look in the direction of where his brother had gone, his breath hitched when he saw a raven hair lying on the ground Sabo was kneeling on, blood slowly spreading.

"Luffy…" Ace called out, rather hoarsely, feeling something clogging his throat, but he is already moving towards them. What he saw made him freeze, eyes at the huge claw wound that was on his sister's body, slowly letting out more blood… but it's wrong… something's wrong… what's wrong?

"A-ace…" Sabo stuttered, hands trying to cover their sister's wound. "Luffy's devil fruit… it's not healing her."

…Devil Fruit?

Ace looked clearly as blood slipped between Sabo's hands, and realized that his brother is right. Luffy devil fruit is not healing her, it's not doing anything!

"NO, LUFFY!" Ace shouted, pressing her wounds as Sabo moves to remove his coat and then used it to cover Luffy's wound, ignoring that it will stain with her blood, and will probably not be removed, ever. Ace watched as they waited for flames to erupt from Luffy's body as it usually does when she's injured, but there was NOTHING!

"Damn it!" Ace cursed, before turning around and then crouching in front of his brother. "Let's go, Sabo!"

Sabo blink in confusion for a second, before immediately understanding what his brother wanted, and gently moved Luffy towards Ace's body, making sure that his coat is wrapped around her wound, her body, and then once settled… they run. Ace bit his lip as he felt blood sipping through his clothes, and then it began to rain.

"Damn it!" Ace cursed as Sabo runs ahead of him. "Hang tight, Luffy…"

"We're almost there!" Sabo shouted having Ace's pipe and Luffy's straw hat in his hand. When Sabo saw the hut, he started to run a bit faster and then braced himself.

BAM!

"SHIT!" Sabo cursed when the door didn't open after he slammed himself into it, he felt a throbbing pain in his shoulder but ignored it as he immediately knocks on the door. "OPEN UP!"

"HELP US!" Ace shouted, suddenly arriving beside him, kicking the door with his foot. "DRAGON!"

The door suddenly opened, Sabo gulped upon seeing an intimidating man, the one who first saw after opening his eyes this morning and the one that was watching him the whole time he was in the room yesterday, looking at them but when his eyes landed on his sister, he saw fear and worry, before immediately grabbing Luffy, rather gently, from Ace, who surprisingly let him. Dragon glanced at them, searching for any injuries, but when he found nothing, he turned and left, going deeper inside the bandit hut.

"What happen?!" Magra asked as he stood by the boys.

"Bear… there was a bear and…" Sabo whispered, Magra nodded in understanding and went after Dragon. Both brothers stood there for a while and then looked at their hands, but when they saw Luffy's blood on them… they moved to the side of the hut and vomited, their minds repeating the scene of their sister bleeding out, her insides slightly showing through, over and over. Dogra and Dadan waited for them by the door, before gesturing for them to get inside once they were done puking their guts out. They robotically accepted the towels that were handed to them, as well as clothes, but they merely stood in front of the door where they knew their sister was… until Dadan forced them to wash up. But once clean and dry, or as dry as they can get, they immediately went to sit in front of the door again and stared.

'Please…' Both brothers prayed at the same time, over and over. 'Let her live… don't take her away… take anything from us, but not her… not our baby sister…'

"It's all my fault…" Ace suddenly mumbled, making Sabo to looked at him in confusion. "I shouldn't have left her alone… I shouldn't have… I shouldn't have been born!"

BAM!

Ace blinked before looking at Sabo, who punched him, tears flowing from the ex-noble's eyes. "Shut up… even if you're my brother, I won't hesitate ob punching you if you talk badly about yourself again."

"But isn't that the truth?! I left her alone and now, she's inside there and possibly d-d-d-!"

"Luffy is still alive! Her devil fruit won't let her die! We have no idea why her fruit didn't work, but it still doesn't change the fact that she is still alive and being helped by Magra and that man who took her away!"

"Still doesn't change the truth that I hurt her!"

"You're not the bear who hurt our sister! You're not a son of the devil nor are you a demon! Because if you're a demon, then so am I, as well as Luffy! We are called a monster trio for a reason, but you are not a son of the devil!" Sabo then grabs Ace's shoulder, immediately shaking him. "You're Portgas D. Ace! Brother of Sabo and Monkey D. Luffy! One of the treasures of a young girl who gave light and happiness to us! One of my treasures! You need to get it to your head that you are not a son of the devil or demon… and that we love you as for who you are…"

Ace sobbed as Sabo slowly stopped talking before hugging him, a physical affection that they used to avoid but one of the changes that Luffy made them experience and adapt. "We love you, Ace… Luffy more so…"

"She loves you too, idiot." Ace mumbled as he felt tears fall on his shoulder. "She loves the two of us equally."

"Yeah…"

"..."

"..."

"...Are you done being an idiot?"

"... Don't push your luck with the name calling… but yeah…"

"Are you two done screaming?" Dragon voice's rang out, making both brothers snap out of their trance and immediately turned to look at him, they glanced at each other before wiping the tears from their eyes and then back at Dragon. Sabo frowned at the unfamiliar man, the one who had offered him an escape yesterday.

"How's Luffy?" Ace asked, looking at Dragon, who glanced over his shoulder, then at the boys.

"She'll be fine, but I will have a few of my doctors, that were left behind, come here to take a look into her further. For now, let her sleep." Ace nodded at the answer and followed after Dragon, who gestured for them to come inside. Sabo grabs his wrist before he can go in further.

"Ace…" Sabo started, looking at the Dragon's back, while Ace looked at him. "Who is he?"

Ace blankly looked at him, then at Dragon, who was sitting on the floor near the futon where Luffy was. "That's Luffy's Father." Ace pursed his lips making Sabo to snapped his head toward him.

"WHAT?!" Sabo snapped, before glaring at Dragon once again. The said adult merely ignored them, eyes focused on Luffy's sleeping body. "What is he doing here?"

"He rescued you and Luffy from your bombing incident… Well… after you fainted that is," Ace answered, glancing at Sabo, who flinched.

"Is he here to take Luffy away?" Sabo asked, eyeing the man in question, his brain creating multiple plans to escape and make sure that the man won't have their sister. But Ace's answer made him stop and looked at him blankly.

"No, he's not here to take Lu away. He just wants to bond with her, according to him," Ace grumbled, before heading towards Luffy, sitting across from Dragon. Sabo narrowed his eyes at them, before following his older brother and sitting down beside Ace. Their eyes stayed on Luffy's vulnerable form. Ace bit his lip when his sister's devil fruit is not doing anything at all, then lifted his knees to his chest, the older raven-haired boy then buried his face with it. Sabo leans against Ace, his eyes on the bandages wrapped nearly around his sister's face and body.

"Why didn't Luffy's fruit heal her?" Sabo mumbled. Ace twitched, while Dragon looked at them.

"What do you know about her fruit?" Dragon asked, while Sabo shrugged.

"Enough… Makino told us that her fruit is very rare though." Dragon nodded, eyes going back to his daughter's form, and gently touched a fringe of Luffy's hair.

"I can only think of one reason why Luffy's fruit didn't help her this time." Dragon stated. "It's not known as it rarely happens but when the fruit is not helping the user then it could mean that the user has already exhausted their fruit's ability or they exhausted themselves." The Revolutionary leader looked at them once again, specifically at Sabo. Ace blinked, slowly looked up from his legs to Dragon, and, then ever so slowly, looked at his brother, dread filling his entire being as he finally realized something that he should have known since he first saw Sabo. The reason why Luffy was weak when they woke up and hunted for food, why Sabo felt nothing despite the numerous wound he received from the Bazooka that was fired at him, and Luffy days ago… why said wounds is no longer on his body.

Sabo realized it a bit later than Ace, and when he did, his eyes widened, unable to say anything as he felt a lump on his throat. "She…."

"Don't let her know that you knew. She told me not to tell you." Dragon started before standing up and heading towards the door. The boys merely watched him leave, and when the doors closed, Sabo punched the floor in anger, while his brother merely looked at him blankly then at his sister, hands closed in tight fists, lips bit tightly until they started to bleed. It was silent between the two of them before Sabo inhaled deeply, before looking up and then at his sister with determined eyes.

"Let's get stronger Ace," Sabo stated. Ace glanced at him with the same determined eyes. "Get stronger and stronger…"

"Until no one can hurt us… until no one can separate us…" Ace added, they both nodded at each other, before turning to look at the baby sister, the one who gave them happiness, the one who found a treasure in a form of two broken boys. "Until no one can hurt Luffy anymore, not even us."

(They're not strong… they're not strong… they're weak… Luffy's gone forever hurting and it's all because they weren't strong enough to protect her.)

The next couple of weeks were hard for the brothers and Father. Luffy was asleep for nearly a whole week and when she woke up she was delirious because even with the help of Dragon's doctors, an infection still sets in, which then resulted in a very high fever. She screamed and screamed, calling out for the people who she cared about, her brothers more so, begging them to not leave her… yelling for the voices for help. And when she wasn't screaming, she was crying softly, her brothers grabbing her hand, while her father patted her head softly, all three whispering reassuring words and promises they're willing to keep.

And while her devil fruit slowly started to heal her and remove the infection that settled in, it was still not enough for Luffy to be coherent, though she did stop screaming (something that will forever be engraved in their minds) she was still crying and begging for them. The only time that it will fully stop is when her brothers and her father gave her physical contact, though it was her brothers who did it most of the time, hugging her rather tightly, never letting go even when she's being hysterical and when she's no longer being one, they merely loosen their holds and stayed put until they have to eat, wash, or go to the baths.

Ace was the one with the most contact with Luffy as he finally realized how much he meant to his baby sister… how much his presence is a huge healing factor for her, both his and Sabo, and even though his siblings had told him multiple times that they love him and wanted him, he didn't fully realize that it was only until Luffy was in so much pain for him to fully understand their words.

"I'm here Lu… don't worry, no one will take us away from you." Ace muttered every time his sister begged for them, for him.

"Yea, we're here Lu… we're here," Sabo said, putting his head on top of hers.

"We're here and we love you so much."

And finally, nearly three weeks later, Luffy's fruit regain its strength and healed her.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy smiled brightly at her family, who was standing at the door, staring at her with wide eyes. They just went out to eat, they didn't know that upon coming back to the room, they would see their previous light awake and smiling brightly at them.

"Lu-Luffy…" Ace stuttered, his breath hitched further when she gave him a very soft smile.

"I love you guys too!" Ace and Sabo felt something clenching their heart, not realizing that their sister heard them during she was hysterical.

"..." Sobs resound throughout the whole room before Dragon went further into the room and hugged his daughter.

"Hi, Tou-chan!" Luffy chirped, Dragon smiled, tightening his grip.

"Hello, Luffy." He breathed out rather shakily before standing up and letting her see her brothers again, both crying rather heavily before they run towards her and tackled her back to her bed, hugging her rather tightly and receiving a hug in return.

"LUFFY!"

"Shishishishishi! Sorry for making you worry."

And then three days later, Dragon had to leave in a hurry after hearing the news that his father is already on his back to Dawn Island, and as much as he wants to take his daughter and brothers away… he rather not have his men pressure the children to join their army, even if it just for education, especially his daughter, as they all wished to be pirates.

"Are you going to visit sometimes?" Luffy asked, her brother standing a few steps behind her, frowning in disapproval and warily.

"I cannot fully promise to you that I will visit, considering the work I'm doing, however, I will try." Dragon smiled as Luffy nodded in acceptance, giggling when he ruffled her hair. He glances at the boys who Luffy called brothers and smirked at them before disappearing.

"I swear I will kick his ass the next time we spar with him." Ace growled as Luffy turned and headed towards them. "I don't want to be in contact with him as well."

"Same here… let's get stronger so that we can beat him enough and threaten him to never come back," Sabo said, looking at his sister, who was smiling at them, before reaching his hand out. "For now, our priority is Luffy."

"Of course." Ace scoffed, reaching his hand out as well, making their sister beam at them, before skipping and grabbing the hand that was reaching for her.

"Crocodile?" Luffy asked, looking at them with puppy eyes.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Crocodile…"

"YAY!"

~Present Day~

"Are you sure we need to do this now?" Yu asked, frowning deeply. Zoro eyed their Rear Admiral, who was preparing to leave and head for Mariejois with Robin. "You just went there weeks ago."

"I was lucky that I only stayed there for a day," Luffy stated and looked at her vices. "And yes, I have to do this now, otherwise we'll be unprepared for what plan they have for me."

"And we can't be caught off guard," Zoro mumbled, making Luffy nod. "Especially with what those women told Luffy a couple of days ago."

"Still hate it," Yu mumbled, as Luffy smiled and grabs the small satchel she prepared and hangs it on her shoulder.

"I know…" Luffy mumbled as she heads out with the two swordsmen following behind her. "Pretty sure everyone hates it when I'm going there Yu, but your treasure, as well as Gray's, don't know what the celebration is about and I don't want to force them to think more about it, not with their condition."

"..." Yu sighed sadly, looking to the side before he was elbowed by Zoro, who nods at him.

"We can protect her, but we can't do it right if we're walking to this blindly."

"I know… still…" Yu pursed his lips as Luffy hummed and when they were at the dock, they could already see Robin there, waiting.

"You ready, Robin?" Luffy asked, while Robin smiled and fingered the necklace Luffy gave her.

"Of course." Luffy nodded and looked back at her Vendetta Marina and Operation Team Leaders, who were looking at her rather worriedly, as well as half of her Marine Crew.

"Come on guys, this is not the first time I'm going to Mariejois without their knowledge." She reassured them, giving them a soft smile. Her crew tried to smile back but it merely turned into a grimace and Luffy's heart twinges before it got replaced with happiness. It still shocked her that she now had a crew, a Nakama, who cares and shares her beliefs, who is willing to protect her, and that treasures her as much as she treasures them when at the beginning of her time as a Marine she has no one at all. "We'll be fine."

Robin smiled slightly at the sight of their crew struggling to be happy and not show how worried they are for their Rear Admiral but it was pretty much useless, especially when Luffy sighed in defeat and headed toward them.

"We'll be careful. I promise." Luffy said, kneeling and hugging Copper, who hugged her tight before letting go. Luffy smiled at him before looking at her crew and smiled brightly. "We'll be back before you know it."

"Got it, Captain." The crew mumbled.

"We'll tell the Fleet Admiral that you're staying at the 'Dawn Cliff' if he called for you," Nami stated this made her Rear Admiral smile at her. Luffy eyed them once more before nodding in satisfaction then turns and headed back to where Robin is, who waited for her. She eyed her Archaeologist for a while before nodding in satisfaction, she looks back to her crew and then at the sea. The crew blinked once, then twice, and on the third blink, both Luffy and Robin were already gone from the port and into the sky.

"At least Robin's with her," Nami mumbled, eyeing her savior and crewmate going farther and farther away from them. They all made noises of agreement before they left and headed back to their base, their citizens smiling at them reassuringly, though with a hint of sadness.

"..." Zoro sighed before inhaling deeply and shouting. "Alright! Time to train!"

Yu smirked at the sudden change of atmosphere the crew got, especially when they turned to look at Zoro, who smirked darkly at them. "Good idea, we can work on your Rokushiki, Haki, Weapon style… and hand-to-hand combat."

"...Can't we just skip training for now?" Peter mumbled, as they slowly backed away from the Demons in front of them.

"NO…" The crew gulped in fear at the thought of the two demons training them, for their level of training is a lot, lot, worse than Luffy's and that's saying something. It was silent between them before the rest turns and runs, leaving Zoro, Yu, Sanji, and Gray.

"..." Sanji looked at Zoro, who glanced at him, giving him a look.

"On it." The blond cook stated, before turning and walking back to the base. The remaining trio watched his back before Gray turned and headed in a different direction.

"I'll check on Makino and the others," He stated. Yu sighed as Zoro glanced back at the sea.

"I hope everything is ready when the time comes." The Leader of Vendetta Marina stated, making Zoro grunt.

"We can't really do much as it seems that the Gorosei are rushing everything, but Franky and his team are doing everything they can to make sure that we're all set. The Ero-cook and Gin are doing their best to make sure we have enough food supplies ready. Nami, Chopper, and Brook are giving updates to every island that is under our jurisdictions, and Robin, Usopp, and Jimbei are doing their best to make sure we aren't trackable by anyone, aside from our allies."

"This is something that we've been preparing for a whole year since we got reunited… but even with our preparation I can't help but feel like something terrible will happen."

"That's a given." Zoro snorted before continuing to walk back to the base. "We're trying to break the cage that we, no... that Luffy is trapped in."

"...There's also the fact that we don't know what exactly they did to her whenever she's in Mariejois… heck, it took us a while to figure out that she wasn't even with us whenever we head to Sabaody after staying in Mariejois…"

Zoro stayed quiet at Yu's word because it was the truth, they never knew what they were doing to Luffy whenever she was not in their sight and the only reason they found out that she was staying at Mariejois while they left for Sabaody was purely accidental, and it was because Luffy's Operation Team Leaders were out lingering on the deck of their ship, while the rest of the crew were having fun at the park. They were talking to one another when Luffy drop down from the sky to their deck all weak, shivering, exhausted… and with a pale face shrouded with pain. Those who saw her that day can never forget the sight of Luffy looking so weak and vulnerable (and that was the third time they were reminded that no matter how strong Luffy is, she's still human… the first time was when they saw her desperation she was in protecting them during the Sabaody Incident, the second was the one on Fishman Island).

"Makino is thinking of adding those who were unaware…" Yu sighed, Zoro glanced at him with narrowed eyes.

"It would be awesome if we do have a backup aside from him, especially with someone strong as Whitebeard…" Zoro grunted. "However, pretty sure Luffy will have them change their mind. We can't risk having another one of the powerhouses declare war against the government, more so when the Red Dragon is already working with us behind the scenes. "

"We're not heroes, and yet we seem to be fighting for the sake of the world," Yu said as they both entered the building.

"Isn't that what we're doing? After all, the people that Luffy's protecting are her world, while she, the one we're protecting, is our world," Zoro mumbled, glancing at Yu before adding. "Aside from you and Gray, the two of you have your own world, but it doesn't change the fact that it was Luffy who made it happen." His statement made Yu tilt his head in agreement, not able to disagree with the swordsman, after all, without the young girl helping him, he won't have the very treasure he had now that was stolen from him nearly a decade ago.

"Can't argue with that."

~With Luffy and Robin~

Robin inhaled deeply, liking how the sea breeze felt against her skin and how it made her hair fly freely.

"Having fun, Robin?" Luffy asked, giggling when she smiled at her.

"Of course," The older raven stated, clenching her hands against Luffy. "It's very rare of us to be with you, especially through the sky."

Luffy merely hummed in response, before Robin flapped her winged hands and lifted herself a bit further into the sky, Luffy following after. "If everyone can use Geppo then we could spend time with each other through the sky."

Robin giggled, liking the sounds of wings flapping in a rhythm. "Everyone will do their best in training for Geppo."

It was silent between them for a while but the silence didn't last long enough.

"I wonder if it's my fault…" Luffy started, making Robin blink and looked at her.

"Luffy?"

"Everyone at the base, the people who joined me… the whole crew… I wonder if it's my fault if they felt like they were trapped in a cage."

"Never." Robin immediately responded, making Luffy glance at her. "You didn't wish for this. We joined you because we care and love you."

"But…"

"We're not trapped in a cage, you are the one who is trapped in a cage. The crew may seem like we're trapped but that is because the World Government, and you, see that we are one, sees we're trapped because they saw you, our leader and commander, trapped." Robin firmly stated, Luffy looked through her eyes and into her soul before looking away.

"... Thank you…" Luffy stated, smiling softly as Robin gave her a soft look.

"Everyone is preparing for anything that comes our way… we're prepared for anything that stops you from being happy, Luffy."

"... Let's just stick to the plan," Luffy stated, face grimacing as if she was in pain, Robin merely nodded, knowing that the words they say are not enough for her dear Luffy. They flew through the sky as fast as they could, resting on an island they passed by for an hour or two before moving on. It wasn't until the sun started to set that they saw the Red Line and with a few more boosts, they were already flying above the gate of Mariejois. Luffy's eyes turned from warm brown to cold, slit blue, while Robin touched her necklace again, and with a glint from Robin's necklace, a spark of flame joined soon after, and the two of them got shrouded with a white transparent mist-like flame. A boost is added once more and the two raven-haired ladies are flying above the center of the city, frowning at the sight of slaves and Celestial Dragons crawling in the area.

With a gesture from Luffy, Robin slowly started to glide down, while Luffy looked around, checking to make sure no one will see them (this is more like a habit rather than fearing they'll get caught, her devil fruits always made sure they won't get caught) and once the Archeologist touches the ground and immediately hid at the nearby corner, Luffy dive down and landed besides Robin, who watched their surroundings.

Luffy crouched against the wall, inhaled deeply, eyes closing, and tried to listen to the voices, ignoring the screams of pain, suffering, and yearning for freedom.

'Go!'

Luffy's eyes snapped open and with a nod from Robin, they immediately went out of the Alley they were hiding in and immediately headed to their destination without any hesitation or fear of getting caught. It took awhile but then the two Marines arrived at the wide open gate of their destination, the castle of the Gorosei.

"..." Robin watched in slight fear at the sight of the building where the people that were after her since she was 8 years old. But when she saw her Rear Admiral from the corner of her eyes, her Luffy, standing tall and looking at the building without a slight hint of fear, and full of determination, despite visiting this place since she was 14 and having unknown and terrible things was done to her, the Archaeologist inhaled deeply before nodding to herself, clutching her treasure, her necklace tightly, and then exhaled.

Luffy glanced at Robin from the corner of her eyes, before looking ahead when she saw her gathered her strength to face her fears. Luffy doesn't fault Robin for her fears like this, especially when this is the first time she'll enter the place.

"Stay close to me, Robin," Luffy stated. "This is the lair of the Gorosei, tighten your hold on your haki, and don't go anywhere where we'll lose sight of each other." This made the older woman glance at her before nodding in agreement.

"Understood." Both women inhaled deeply once more before taking a step forward and then another and soon enough they walked confidently towards the open gate and then through the open door. Luffy's eyes stayed in their blue color, flickering around their surroundings, her hand slowly reached out to her companion, who didn't hesitate in grabbing it tightly. Whenever they rounded a corner, Luffy would slowly pause and look before continuing forward, because despite knowing that they cannot be seen even if someone passed by them, it's a bit different if they bump into someone.

It wasn't long before they reached a door that was quite familiar to Luffy, the meeting room of the Gorosei, to which they slowly opened it and looked inside. When they saw no one but chairs and a sofa surrounding a table, they relaxes before continuing inside and closing it. Robin crosses her hands above her chest, summoning an eye and ear outside the room, out of sight, to be a lookout for anyone that will enter the room. Luffy watched her before snapping her fingers and then the room was covered with red-mist-like flames, and after giving each other a nod, the two of them separated, Luffy towards the table that was found on the other side of the room, Robin on the opposite side where numerous bookshelves are found.

Upon arriving at the table, she could see 4 drawers, and… Luffy's lips pursed upon seeing that there was a lock on each one of them, she sighed in defeat, and then raised a hand, fiddling with her hair, before moving her hand away, holding two hairpins. She glance at Robin, who was skimming through the books as fast as she can, wearing a pair of gloves, which is good, as they can't afford in leaving fingerprints behind, with that in mind, Luffy put the pins to her mouth, biting it, as her hand went to her pocket and removed the pair of gloves she has and wore it.

Once it was snuggly fit between her fingers, Luffy grabs the pins again and began to fiddle with the locks, she will be forever glad that Nami taught her lock picking. It took a while, but then Luffy was able to successfully unlock one lock, she carefully opened the drawer, and looked through the papers found their, frowning when she found nothing, before doing the same to the other drawers. It took a while but when she finished searching through every single one of them, the information she needed wasn't there.

"Robin?"

"Not yet." The older ravenette stated, putting the book she had taken back to the shelves and grabbing another. Luffy nodded in understanding, before looking back at the table, frowning heavily.

'Where? Where else can we get more information?' The Young Rear Admiral thought. 'The Elders have no important papers in their personal offices, in fact, their office is bare from any papers!' She screamed in her mind, memories of the times she sneaked and spied after the Third Elder flew into her mind, and she was pretty sure he didn't have any hidden rooms and this goes with the other Elders as well, so the only place left behind for information would be this place. Luffy began to bite her nail, a nervous tick she gain from her time as a marine, but before she could injure her finger, the Young Rear Admiral's breathed hitched, and then calmed down, closing her eyes.

Robin gritted her teeth in frustration as she skimmed further through the books that the Elders have, she looked through every book that could hold any information about the celebration and devil fruit, but so far she's seeing none and it was frustrating her. She and Luffy are on a time limit at the moment and she needs to get the information they need or at least information about Luffy's devil fruit! She took glanced at Luffy, before blinking when she only closed her eyes, meditating.

Seeing that, the Archeleoghist inhaled deeply as well before exhaling and looking once more at the books on the shelves. She glanced around before summoning her hands from the ceiling and then eyes on the palms that aren't holding any arm. She then had a few books, that seems to hold information about devil fruits, lowered to her, and then a couple more of anything that states any celebration the Gorosei and Celestial Dragon held. Once the books were on the floor, she immediately descents upon them, skimming through everything.

Meanwhile, Luffy finally opened her eyes and then exhaled deeply before looking back at the drawers and gently removing every single thing that are inside them. 'I'm an idiot for forgetting one thing.' She thought and then gently knocks at the bottom of the drawers, smirking when she heard a hollow sound coming from all of them.

'I have the same thing in my office in Marineford, why didn't I think that they would have it as well?' Stupid.' And with nimble fingers, she was able to remove the cover of the bottom drawer, revealing a hidden compartment and papers. The Rear Admiral smirked like a fox that had successfully caught a huge prey.

"We're panicking too much." She heard Robin start, which made her look at her Archeologist, who was standing beside her, at least three books in hand. "We were in a rush to find everything and trying to avoid being caught, that we forgot that things could be found in the simplest way possible."

"Are those…" Luffy trailed off, eyeing the books Robin had, but the woman merely shakes her head.

"Only Devil Fruit books that we haven't read before and…" Robin glances at the books and then at Luffy. "They seemed to be decades old so it may contain information about your Devil Fruits that we missed."

Luffy's eyes snapped at her, then at the shelves, and back again before smiling. "That's good enough."

"Will we be bringing this with us to the base?" Robin asked as Luffy went back and began to gather the papers she found hidden.

"No. We'll stay at the safe place while we copy every single piece of information we found…" Luffy paused and glanced around, pursing her lips. "My devil fruit can't help us if we leave with all of this information and let them think everything is as it was before we arrive."

"I don't like the fact that we're coming back here multiple times a day than we have to." Robin pursed her lips making Luffy smile as she glances at the files she found and then starts to gather them. "Can't you make the same thing we have on the islands under our protection?"

Luffy shakes her head as she stood up and looked at her. "I can't, not with them touching everything here, especially not this sudden and in a place that I don't feel safe at all."

Robin nodded in understanding because, although the Gorosei knew about Luffy's abilities, they don't know the ones that she developed secretly, hidden abilities that only those she was close to and felt safe to share knew about. If by any chance, the Gorosei heard about these abilities of hers then Robin doesn't want to know or even think about what they will do. Once Luffy had the papers on hand, followed by putting everything back in their proper spaces, she stood up, and they nodded at each other before heading to the door. Robin close her eyes first, checking if someone is waiting or walking outside, and when she come up with none they moved out, slowly opening the door and then closing it. Soon the two of them are already on the streets heading in one direction where they will feel safe, for now.

It wasn't long before both ladies arrived near the edge of the cliff, Robin then spread her wings, while Luffy merely falls from the edge, her companion following soon after. The Young Rear Admiral enjoyed her free fall, loving how the wind brushed through her hair, eyes closed. A beat and then another… then one more beat, Luffy's eyes snapped open, and then she was already flying with Robin, who made sure that she won't be separated from Luffy. They slowly descended from Mariejois, the moon slowly rising from the horizon. Robin flapped her winged hands as she and Luffy turned slightly to the right and headed to a small island that was quite far from the Red Line and not seen with naked eyes, but still close enough for them without extorting too much energy.

Upon landing, Luffy rolled her shoulders before stepping forward, heading straight to the forest line, Robin following soon after, their current precious cargo in her hands. After a few minutes' walk, they arrived at a house which is big enough for their crew to live in, temporarily. Luffy opened the door and then snaps her fingers, and a second later, candles lit up.

"It seems that they just recently left the place," Robin commented, seeing no speck of dust even though they haven't been in this place for weeks. Luffy giggled as she steps further into the hut.

"He really dislikes things messy." She started before sitting down at the chair in front of the coffee table found in the middle of the room. Robin smiled slightly before following Luffy and sat down on the chair across from her, putting the paper and book on the table. They slouched slightly, relaxing after the day had been through, though they both knew that they need to gather enough information as fast as they can and then put the papers and book back in their places, they can't help but rest for a bit, just a tiny bit and then they'll work their butt off. When half an hour had passed, Luffy sighed heavily, while Robin began to doze off before shaking her head when the Rear Admiral stood up and headed to the cabinet found on the other end of the room. She then opened the cabinet and saw tons and tons of paper, a container filled with feather pens, and two bottles of clear liquid.

Grabbing a pile of paper, the container, and a bottle, Luffy turned and headed to the coffee table. Robin cracked her neck and then reached underneath the table, grabbed two small plastic boxes, and put them in front of her. Her Rear Admiral put the stuff she was holding on the table as well before sitting on the floor with Robin, who had already begun to flip through the books she found, hands sprouting and then putting a piece of paper in front of her and then handle her a feathered pen, while a couple of them were pouring some liquid on the boxes and filled it up. Robin flipped through the books, skimming all of them until she arrived at the section she wanted.

Mythological Devil Fruits

Robin frowned when it was quite obvious that this section is the one that is always read upon, considering the papers are all worn out, especially the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Kyubi no Kitsune. This made her glance at Luffy, who was reading through the papers, unbothered, then back at the devil fruit, before disregarding it, viewing its information as useless, after all… the information it contains was already something they had and it didn't help them that much.

She flipped more pages before stopping, lips pursing in disdain as she ran her fingers on that particular page she stopped at. She found finally found the page she needed and it seems to contain a bit more information than the one they previously got before. She's not surprised about that though, the information they got about Luffy's fruit was based on what she knew from experience and the information gathered by Shanks and Dragon. The information she's seeing right now seems a lot more than theirs combined and that's something.

She looked at the back of the book, trying to see who the author is, but there was no information about the author. The cover itself merely contains intricate designs and the title itself… though it looks so old and used multiple times. Glancing at the other books she got, they all look the same, one book a bit better than the rest, and that's probably the reason why she grabbed them. Robin then grabbed one feathered pen and dipped its tip on the container, before making it hover over the paper that was laid down in front of her by her hands earlier. Her eyes went back to the page she was reading before writing on paper immediately, not letting any details escape her although some of them were the things they already knew. Luffy was glancing at the paper she was holding and then wrote the information she deemed worthy, which is everything.

The two of them wrote the information they needed mindlessly, not even registering the words they wrote, even though they both knew that the information they were gathering is important, especially Luffy's. But she merely ignored what she was seeing, merely copying everything down to the T, not worried that she might get the wrong information, after all… Luffy paused for a bit, before glancing at the front of the folder that contained the papers she was currently holding, eyes narrowing as its title says the reason why she choose it.

---

Test Subject: Monkey D. Luffy

The Beginning of the Cycle

---

She then glanced at the others folders that she got, pursing her lips, before going back to the papers and mindlessly began to write again, the two titles seared into her brain.

---

Test Subject: Monkey D. Luffy

The Beginning of the Cycle

---

Test Subject: Monkey D. Luffy

The 'Perfect' Angel of Mariejois

---

As Luffy and Robin copied everything without thought, a seemingly ominous folder lay in waiting for Luffy to pick it up. A very old folder that could have seen better days, a folder that she subconsciously picked up earlier.

~3 hours later~

Luffy sighed heavily as Robin, even though it was very out of character for her, slumped against the chair behind her, both of them tired from copying nearly everything that could be related to Luffy and her fruit. Robin was finished with her books, but Luffy had one more folder left and the Rear Admiral isn't sure whether to copy it still or just to hell with it and bring them back to the base.

The latter is tempting, but a glance at it tells her how many times they actually looked into the folders, thus if the Gorosei actually find it missing, then they will surely investigate everyone, especially her, it doesn't even matter if she told them it's not her, as they knew a few of her abilities. With that in mind, she sighed and then reached out for the folder, reads the title before freezing.

"What?" Luffy mumbled as she grab hold of the folder and then flipped it open, eyes narrowing when she saw and realized that every time a name is mentioned it would be scratched out and her name would be written down instead.

"Luffy?" Robin called out, watching as slowly her Rear Admiral paled, shivering. Luffy blinked before shaking her head and then putting a hand on her forehead.

"This is the reason why I don't like to absorb any information there is when it comes to reconnaissance." She mumbled, eyes on the last part of the very last paper of the folder. "Should I just burn them all?" She sighed before laying on the floor.

"Luffy!" Robin exclaimed, standing up from her spot and worriedly heading over toward the laid-down Marine.

"I'm fine," Luffy mumbled, eyes on the ceiling. Ignoring Robin, who was kneeling beside her, worriedly, she began to think about the consequences of burning the files she currently had. In the end, she sighed in defeat and asked Robin to help her write down the information the folder held, down to the T. Robin was confused at first, but when Luffy gave half of the old stained papers in the folder and then reads it, she began to understand her reaction.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Robin gritted out.

"This folder is probably for someone before," Luffy stated as she wrote down the words she read. "It seems that they had a plan for someone in the past…"

"And considering that the name is being scratched out and instead, your name is on it…" The Hana-Hana no Mi user trailed off, looking at Luffy, who smiled grimly.

"That person is probably dead, and I'm a replacement for this… project." The two of them continued their work, however, their aura was something they can't explain, aside from the fact that they were both worried about the future. An hour passed and with Robin's help, they were able to gather all the information they copied from the folders and books, though they both have to carefully arrange the papers considering the words they had written down aren't visible to the naked eyes, yet. Robin rolled the papers separately and then tied them up with a string, before putting them inside the bag. Luffy was in the small kitchen, preparing a slight meal for them before they leave for Mariejois, again.

"A few more hours and it'll be Morning already," Robin stated.

"We didn't get enough rest today." Luffy started, heading towards the Coffee table, tray in hand. "Are you okay, Robin?"

"I'm fine." The older ravenette smiled, grabbing the tray from Luffy before sitting beside her, eyebrows furrowed at the sight of a single plate for each of them. "You're missing a few of your meals again."

Luffy blinked at that, glanced at the plates, and smiled sadly. "It's okay…" She stated.

"Luffy… you know it's not okay, your Devil Fruits consumed too much of your energy."

I know…" Luffy mumbled, before smiling at Robin, though it was so forced that it looked like a grimace rather than a smile. "But I don't feel comfortable enough to eat that much," she stated and this made Robin frown before they began eating, and then they were on their way back to Mariejois. Upon arriving, Luffy sighed deeply, tilting her neck to the sides, and listening for cracks, before looking at Robin, who was looking around the area. It's nearly two hours before dawn, and they're pretty sure, that everyone is asleep, however, there are guards that would patrol, even if it's half-heartedly, thus they can't exactly let their guard down.

After a minute, Robin looked at Luffy, nodding, and then the young Rear Admiral snapped her finger and soon they were moving, walking as fast as they could, but not fast enough for them. They were able to successfully arrive at the, fortunately, empty, before putting the files and books they'd taken back in their respective places, their own copy safely tucked in at the very bottom of Robin's satchel. They were about to head out when the door suddenly opened, and then two members of the Gorosei entered the room. Their arrival shocked the two ladies so that they froze for a couple of seconds before they then huddled together and stayed near the window.

"Shit, it's the First and Third Elder," Luffy cursed softly and could only wait with bated breath with Robin for them to leave immediately. The Archaeologist grabbed Luffy's hand rather tightly at the sight of the people who ordered the destruction of her island, taking a good look at their appearance. Based on Luffy's story about them she could guess which Elder is which.

"What's the status of our next vial?" Asked the First Elder, who is a tall and thin bearded man with long white hair, wearing a dark blue suit. The Third Elder, a man with blond hair and a beard, wearing a dark red suit and buttons open, revealing a scar on his chest, chuckled as they both stopped on the desk where Luffy just put the papers back. Luckily they didn't open the drawer she opened, but instead opened the first one and took out a folder and a few blank papers.

"Doing well, it should be ready on the next visit." Luffy had to hold Robin's hand when it looked like she was about to let go. "I honestly can't believe how fast things are going, and to think she doesn't have our blood."

"Hahahaha!" The First Elder laughed as he went to a bookshelf that was farther from the two spying marines while his companion grabbed the folder and put the papers inside it. "She is the Granddaughter of the Legendary Garp the Fist and Revolutionary Dragon," Luffy froze at this, before inhaling slowly and looking in the direction of the Elders.

'So they did know that I'm his daughter… they're just ignoring it for this… project.' She thought.

"Who her mother still brings us a lot of questions, but the results are amazing and I am not complaining and neither is he."

"Speaking of Revolutionary Dragon, it seems that he doesn't know we had his daughter as he isn't making a move, that or he simply didn't care."

"As long as he's doing nothing with regards to his Daughter the better." Here both elders shared a dark grin. "With how fast things are proceeding, the failed celebration that was supposed to happen three and a half decades ago will happen within this year or the next."

"Hahaha! I really thought that we would never experience that! It's been hundreds of years since the last celebration, the failed one not counting seeing that it didn't work."

"The previous Elders and him should have chained that woman down."

"...et!…n!" Luffy's nose twitched in confusion and tried to listen to the voice but the conversation between the Elders was too hard to ignore.

"Now, now, don't be like that." The First Elder tsk-ed as he went and grabbed a few books and moved them away. "If they were successful, we wouldn't have the joy of experiencing this project ourselves. Seeing results of the test after test is worth it."

"But of course." The Third Elder agreed, before holding his chin with his thumb and pointer finger. "However, I wonder since when did that woman die?"

"Uiet…un…" The First elder hummed and put the books down before putting his arm through the empty space he created and began to rummage through it. "Probably for a long time, considering that it was together with that devil fruit before it was once again stolen."

"And then the very perfect replacement had landed in our palms." The Elders grinned, and then the arm that was through the shelf jerked as if it pulled something.

"Quiet! Run!" Luffy jerked before grabbing Robin and dragging her away from their spot just in time to avoid the shelf, which they were standing next to, began to move forward and the side revealing a hidden door. They stared at it quietly before moving to the other side of the room, making sure not to step or bump into anything. The two Elders then went to the door and the two ladies were prepared to see if it contains more files or books with information, but what they saw were only vials some empty, others half full or full. There's also a worn-out chest at the bottom, but they couldn't see what was inside seeing the two men didn't open it and instead took two half-full bottles and then closed the door, before moving back to the previous shelf and then began to put the books they taken away back. Slowly the shelf went back to its place and the Elders began to leave.

"By the way, your grandson…" The First Elder started, looking at the Third Elder, who merely grinned.

"Don't worry, he'll be ready as well."

"Good."

Bang!

The two ladies waited with bated breath and Luffy listened as the steps grew farther and farther away. Once gone, both ladies sighed in relief, before looking at each other with slight fear.

"We let our guard down," Luffy stated, while Robin nodded in agreement, they were so confident that no one would visit the place during the night, and it was still hours away from dawn, that they didn't bother to have Robin use her abilities to be a lookout outside the room.

"Do you want to take a look on the shelf?" Robin asked, but Luffy shakes her head.

"No…" She mumbled, eyeing the shelf.

"Don't… please don't look…"

"It's better not to." And then she turned and left, Robin following behind her, leaving no sign that they were inside the office and the land itself.

~Late Morning, G6 Base~

Rin yawned as he look around the base and then the ocean, it was his turn to be the lookout, which is something he loved that he always requested to be a part of the lookout team, either on the base or on the ship. After all, nothing is better than to see a member, family, of the crew coming back from their mission, especially if the one that is coming home is their Rear Admiral. With that in mind, the Marine Soldier perked up and began to use his own binoculars, and scout the area, and then suddenly he paused, before leaning closer to the edge. Slowly, his lips turned into a smile and then a grin, he then reached for the rope that was beside him and pull.

"They're back!" Rin shouted, eyes on the horizon where he could see the image of Luffy and Robin coming closer, ignoring the noises of the bell as he continued to yank the rope. "Our Rear Admiral and Archaeologist are back!"

His announcement made everyone in the base and town actually stop what they were doing and immediately went out the door or to the windows, while the people who were holding something either drop it or put it to the nearest surface before doing the same with their comrades.

"They're back?!" Nami asked excitedly as she stood up from her chair, in her office that she shared with the twins, who did the same and looked at each other before sighing in relief. Nami then head out followed by the twins, upon arriving at an intersection they met up with the rest of the Vendetta Marina, they merely nodded at each other before they all run outside, knowing to head immediately to the Town Center. When they arrived at the door, they immediately saw the other Operation Team Leader, well… excluding Zoro, to which Nami sighed in exasperation.

"Did that idiot got lost again?" She asked, putting a hand on her forehead.

"Seems like it…" Gin said as he eyed Sanji, who was bringing flowers with him, eyes narrowing when he saw a specific flower that should be thrown away. "Luffy's allergic to Orchid, Sanji."

At his snarl, Sanji froze while the rest immediately turned to glare at him.

"SANJI!" Nami roared as the chef whimpered when it was ripped from his hands by Nami before it was given to Franky, who then burned it.

"Nami-swan~ that was a present for our sweet Rear Admiral and Robin-chwan!"

"And you dare gave her Orchids? Remember the last time she received an orchid?!" Nami roared as she began to punch the whimpering chef, while the rest face-palmed.

"Sanji has a good intention, but…" Hana started, and Mina pursed her lips before finishing.

"His infatuation towards us sometimes blinds him from what is harmful and not…" They all glance at each other before smiling in defeat.

"Pretty sure the Rear Admiral will let him be, after all, aside from learning how to defend himself against women, we won't change him for the word," Brook stated before laughing.

"He just needs to use his brain properly and open his eyes when it comes to women, especially towards the Rear Admiral." Gin muttered, making them all nod in agreement, and then they continued on their way towards the town center, Nami following behind them, panting, while Sanji crawled.

"N-Nami-swan~!"

The others ignored him, while the people and other marines, looked at the scene with amusement, already used to the sight of Sanji crawling after his 'ladies'. When they arrived at the town center, the bell was still ringing, but they could already see the shadow figure of their missing members, and surprisingly Zoro was already there with two familiar women.

"What took you guys so long?" Zoro asked, looking at them lazily, before smirking at the sight of a crawling Sanji. "Heh, the Ero-cook did something idiotic again, I see."

"What was that you damn Marimo!?" Sanji roared, standing up immediately, and went head to head with the Marine Captain, who growled at him, and soon enough the two of them were fighting one another. Everyone watched them bicker before Gray turned to look at the two women that Zoro was with and asked.

"He got lost, didn't he?" When all he received was a giggle, he sighed in defeat.

"At least he knows how to find his way toward Luffy," Yu mumbled, remembering the times when the swordsman got lost, and then appeared beside Luffy at a very crucial moment.

"And the brat always knows that your swordsman there will always show up." One of the women commented.

"It's actually amazing to watch, yohohohoho!"

"Now, if only the two of them… no if everyone listens to doctors' order of staying put and rest when injured then everything is good." Chopper stated, smiling a bit darkly, which made them flinch, while the women laughed. The ringing bell suddenly stopped and then when everyone looked up, Luffy and Robin were already descending.

"Hello, everyone." Luffy smiled at them, while Robin nodded. The people cheered, the marines louder than the civilians. Luffy went towards where her Operation Team Leaders and Vendetta Marina are, said group pursed bit their lips, gritted their teeth, or gave her a grimacing smile, eyeing her pale complexion and body, which they noticed lost a bit of weight. They eyed Robin, who was eyeing Luffy, before looking at them with a slight shake of her head.

"Luffy!" One of the women shouted, making the Rear Admiral look up and beam at the sight of the two women. Everyone, who saw the smile, stumbled despite not walking, some even blink a lot of times trying to disperse the image they were seeing, because aside from the smile, they could also see flowers and stars in the background.

"Kufufufu…" Robin giggled, as she closed her eyes to avoid looking at Luffy, even Yu and Zoro weren't safe from the smile.

"Makino!" Luffy greeted, giving a hug to the woman, who shouted her name. Said woman hug her back, as tight as she could before letting go and letting the young Rear Admiral to looked at the person she was with. "Dadan!"

Dadan, the Former Leader of the bandits in Mt. Colubo, gave a huge smirk at her foster daughter and received a hug in return. Dadan, the big old hag with orange curly hair, had changed, not much of a shock there, with what happened to Luffy over the past years. She wasn't big as she used to be, no longer drinking as much rum as she could, this goes the same with her bandits, and there's also a scar on her chest, hidden within her clothes. But this change didn't matter, especially not when Luffy herself, changed as well.

"What are you doing, you brat?!" Dadan gruff out, pushing Luffy away, and took in her appearance. "Why the heck are you so thin?!"

"You weren't that thin when you left yesterday, Luffy," Makino added, patting her daughter figure's head. Luffy merely looked away, while Robin sighed as the people began to worry about their savior, who was so selfless that she didn't take care of herself a bit better.

"How about we head back inside the base? We can talk there." Robin stated, the people began to murmur to one another before moving away as their Superiors headed towards the base, the Vendetta Marina and the Leaders forming a semi-circle behind Luffy, who merely gave a sad smile to everyone, that she saw. The rest of the marines nods their head, before herding the people away, with the promise to keep them up to date, after all, everyone needs to know what's happening towards their saviors and thus they need to know what their plan is. And the G6 Marines didn't have to worry about spies, after all, the people that are living here are and always will be rescued slaves, the marines and the families of either party, all of them swearing loyalty to no one but to the who rescued and protected them.

It didn't take the group quite long to arrive at the room where Luffy held the meeting during the time Marco was with them. They all sat in their respective chairs, though they did move two chairs beside her where Makino and Dadan immediately on the moment Luffy did. Hana and Mina put three den-den mushi at the table as well, two of them were connected to a white one. As the two of them dialed a number on each snail, Nami was putting lit up candles on the table together with Usopp and Chopper, Robin was taking out their collected information and then passed it on to Yu, Gray, Gin, and Zoro, while Franky and Brook watched as the four men hovered the papers above the burning candle, letting it heat up, and then grabbed it when it was handed over to them, eyes narrowed at the words than appeared, before putting it into a pile, categorized accordingly to how their reconnaissance separated them. Peter and Sanji were putting plates and bowls of fruits and sandwiches on the table, though they did put a separate plate for Luffy and Robin, said plates were filled with food that could satisfy them enough but not upset their stomach. Soon enough, the papers were all heated up and then put near Luffy, and the den-den mushi that was ringing the whole time was finally answered.

"Anchor?"

"Starlight?"

Two voices answered, nearly at the same time, calling out for Luffy using different names that they have. Hearing their voices, the people in the room relaxed, Luffy even went as far as slumping against her chair.

"Shanks… Tou-chan…" Luffy stated, voice trembling slightly.

"What's wrong?" Dragon asked, a scowl appearing on the snail's face, as Robin frowned, while the rest of the people in the room looked at them in confusion, glancing at the papers once in a while.

"Anchor?" Shanks called out again, and a frown is seen on his snail's face. Luffy reached out for a pile of the burn-out paper, and glanced at it before looking back at the snails and then at the people with her.

"Robin and I were able to get more information last night…"

"And?" Yu asked when Luffy stopped and seems to hesitate. Robin closed her eyes before opening them and stated.

"Luffy… is a replacement for a project that has been postponed for decades."

"...What?" Shanks growled while Dragon remained quiet as the rest looked at them in shock.

"It's here," Luffy said, showing the paper to her crew, Dadan, and Makino. "I'll send a copy later, Shanks, Tou-chan." She immediately added, and when she received nods in agreement, she glanced back at the paper she was holding.

"Out of all the information that Robin and I got from last night, this one had a huge impact on me."

"...What is it?" Dragon asked.

"The Fallen Angels of Mariejois… Test Subject… Monkey D. Luffy." Slams could be heard in the room as well as through the snails but it didn't bother Luffy and Robin, who added.

"The folder it was on is very old, the letter 'S' on the angels is newly added… and a name is also on the folder but it's scratched out making it hard to decipher it."

"Aside from the scratched-out name on it, the name's on the papers are also scratched out and replaced by mine," Luffy added, and then it was quiet after that before Dadan began to speak.

"You mean to say… the reason they took you from Dawn those years ago is because you're a replacement for whatever sick fuckery they planned out decades ago?" The woman growled, Makino tightened her grip on Luffy's hand as she remembered the time when her daughter figure was taken away from her forcefully. Shanks growled while Dragon began to mutter curses under his breath, the rest of the crew were only silent.

"What are the plans they put there?" Yu asked. Luffy lets go of Makino's hand and skimmed through the papers, as the Leader of Vendetta Marina added. "Why did they put the title of Fallen Angels of Mariejois?"

"..." Robin glanced at Luffy, who nodded her head slightly at her and then stated. "Clipped wings."

"What?" Zoro asked.

"To summarize their plan, they want Luffy to be caged forever to them. The epithet 'Angel' gives an image of a woman with wings… now the only way to make that angel stay forever is to either cut off the wings from the body or clipped it."

"And if the wings don't have the ability to fly anymore… it's nothing but a fallen being, something easy to prey on." Hana stated as Luffy put the papers down.

"And they all plan to do so according to the celebrations, blackmails, experimentation, or tricks that they have already laid out." She stated, tapping a finger on the papers. "All of these papers that I manage to get are all linked to each other, one paragraph here even stated…

….to guarantee that the Test Subject: Luminous Monkey D. Luffy stays binded to Test Subject: The Heir Presumptive…. both Test Subjects must undergo The Beginning of the Cycle (see page 5).

… I haven't looked into that information yet, but yeah…" Luffy lamely finished.

"It seems that they also have a different folder for that 'Heir Presumptive'." Shanks sneered, and Robin and Luffy shake their head when it seems that everyone is waiting for their response.

"If there is, then they might have hidden it somewhere or had it all memorized and burned the papers as we didn't see anything related to that… " Robin stated.

"Unless that information is actually on the hidden chest, but…" Luffy trailed off, looking at Robin who shakes her head.

"To find the chest is a bit easier, it's making sure that we aren't busted is a bit harder."

"What do you mean?" Sanji asked as Luffy hummed, putting a finger on her cheek and closing her eyes, remembering the scenario when the First Elder grabbed the vials from the hidden closet.

"When Robin and I were about to leave, the First Elder and Third Elder arrived, which shocked and nearly got us busted but they were focused on their conversation, not even seeing if anything is amiss."

"They were grabbing a folder and paper, and when we thought they were about to leave they actually went into a shelf and took out books from it."

"The books were arranged in a specific order, we couldn't see in what order because we were distracted when another shelf that was closed to us, moved and revealed a hidden door, where we saw vials and a worn-out chest."

"Why did you believe that the books were arranged in a specific order?" Usopp asked, stopping Luffy from adding more information, it was Robin who answered his question.

"Because I scrounge on every bookshelf in that room and not once did a hidden lever or even an opening showed in my visions." This made every to frown or glare at the direction they were looking at.

"Damn, just went we thought that this reconnaissance can actually give us answers, it only provides more questions," Shanks growled, while Luffy slumped.

"I'm sorry…" She muttered, and everyone nearly protested.

"What?"

"Anchor, what are you sorry about?"

"Luffy, what are you saying?"

"It's not your fault, Captain…" As everyone began to assure Luffy with words, Dragon kept quiet before speaking, and this made everyone stop.

"Starlight… the vials that were hidden do you know what they are?" Dragon asked, Luffy blinked before looking away and hugging her arm close to her chest.

"Pretty sure those are vials that were given to me… during 'that time'," Luffy answered and this made Dragon scowl as Shanks growled, while the rest were confused.

"That time?" Makino asked, looking at Luffy and then at the snails, before looking at the present crew, who merely shakes their head, confused as well. The Young Rear Admiral merely smiled bitterly, eyes glazed over as her brain began to conjure her past memories that are filled with nothing but pain, flames, and more pain. Her Father and Father figure remained quiet, not wanting to tell anyone the story behind their sudden anger, because as much as they want to… Luffy doesn't want anyone to know about it, not until she's ready.

"..." On the other side of the snails, Shanks shakes his head, before leaning back on his chair and putting his arm over his eyes, trying to control his Haki that was threatening to actually spill out, while Ben was watching him with sad and angry eyes. He was always present at these meetings of theirs as it helps stop Shanks from doing something irrational or risk fighting/declaring war against every pirate crew they encountered or on the World Government itself, and Luffy knows he was present as well, he's just keeping quiet because there is nothing that he could do or even say to help the situation unless he has a better plan. And thus, he could only look at what was happening between his Captain and their Anchor.

With Dragon, however, he had no one to calm him down and that is fine because, unlike Shanks, he can actually vent out his anger to corrupted kings and nobles that he plans on bringing down. He is already declaring war against the World Government, he just can't risk being put into the spotlight as it would, most likely, endangered his daughter more than ever. Thus, he can only attack those kings and nobles that are only a speck of dust in the eyes of the World Government that can be ignored. However, just because he has an outlet doesn't mean that he will let the Gorosei do whatever they want with his daughter, the past years that was filled with nothing but test experiments for Luffy are more than enough for him.

"Luffy." Dragon started, making his daughter look up and then at the snail. "... Don't you think it's time to tell them?"

"...What…?" Luffy muttered, looking at the den-den mushi with wide eyes, Shanks pursed his lips before opening his mouth and started.

"We're talking about adding Firecracker and –"

"NOO!" Luffy shouted, slamming her hands on the desk, while standing up immediately, knocking her chair back. The rest of her crew looked at her in shock, while Makino and Dadan flinched back at the sudden action, only Dragon and Shanks were calm enough to continue talking or at least tried to.

"Luffy… it's better if they–"

"NO!" Luffy panted, her hands turning into a fist as they stayed on top of the table. "They don't need to know!" Here, the young Rear Admiral snaps her head and looked directly at the snails.

"I don't know if the reason you want to let them know is to add another powerhouse to our plan… but leave my brothers out of it!"

"Luffy, they have the right to know," Makino said, putting a hand on Luffy's back, who began to shake her head.

"No! You don't understand!" She cried as tears slowly fall from her eyes. "If they knew about what happened… if they knew a slight smidgen of what happened to me during the time they sail as pirates, the time they had their own adventures, then they will blame themselves…"

Here Luffy looked a bit desperate as she looked at everyone and then tried to convey her emotion through the snail as much as she could. "They will surrender themselves to the Marines if that would make me free…"

"Anchor…" Shanks muttered, wanting nothing more than to hug his crying daughter.

"I did not spend the last three years of my life under the marines just so that my brothers, or even everyone in the base, suffer in my stead!" Luffy then sobbed before wailing as she fell to the floor and covered her face with her hand. Makino kneeled and hugged her, making circular motions on her back, and watched as the others looked away from the crying Rear Admiral. Shanks and Dragon closed their eyes, their hands gripping the nearest surface they had, as they could only listen to Luffy cry.

"..." Dadan watched her foster daughter before looking away and stating. "They also didn't sail the seas and become Pirates so that their Baby Sister can be hurt."

Luffy's breathed hitched, as her eyes widen before they slowly began to close and she continued to cry.

"I know…" She mumbled. "I know…"

---

TBC

A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating my stories as much as I want to. I know you guys love this story too much and I love it too, especially with all of your supports. This, however, may sound like an excuse, but I'm actually having a hard time updating my stories, especially with my job as it left me exhausted, passing out immediately the moment I lay on my bed (this is not good for my health, got hospitalized twice this year) and what little spare time I have on my work off will be spent to create chapters, which is not much... and thus I'm sorry to say...

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I'll be needing help from you guys!, I decided to at least dedicate myself to my stories and my readers, (it would also help my health) to do so, I'll be quitting my job, however, I'll be needing something to help me financially, and thus I created an account.

I would appreciate it soo much if you guys actually become my patrons and support me further with my goal, and dream.

The link is on my profile.

Please help me.

Thank you and I love you guys!

Reviews:

galdonesgwyndyl: Um… well, it looks like your wish came true! We got the update a day after your review hahaha. I hope you will like this chapter as much as you did with the previous ones.

ZeelainYOLO: Yes! Yes, I am reading every review that is given to every chapter of every story I have, and I really appreciated that you loved my story. I actually didn't mean to have you guys wait so long but… as I already explained in the note at the end of the story… yeah… I need help… umm… hmm… yeah I can start Luffy's romantic moment with our birdie-san within the next… hmm… 5 chapters? Hehehe. Thank you soo much for the review and the support, please continue to do so.

Kurosaki Yukia: To be completely honest, I really want Ace and Sabo to slip Luffy's name in front of Marco so that we can actually have bro-con moments as well as for the two of them to finally figure out what's wrong, but then I remember that this one is actually important to the story… so… yeah… we're stuck with this hahaha. Shanks and Dragon are awesome! Makino is wonderful! Garp is… welp… yeah… Garp.

Shall I create a story of parental shanks and baby-lulu? Hahahaha, Thanks for the review!

KanaeAnne: Thank you! I'm so glad your enjoying it and are also waiting for this story. As for the devil fruit… well… as much as I want it to be a nine-tailed fox, this one is already under Blackbeard's hands, so sad to say, it's not the one. But I did drop another hint of Luffy's fruit, so let me know what you think. ^_^. Thanks for the review!

Galdonesgwyndy: It's happening slowly and surely.

Leilasecrets: Thank you! I hope you will continue to enjoy this story!

Kawaiidoll14: I'm actually shocked that there was a pairing like this before, and after reading that one story of MaLu (I forgot which one), I just shipped them so hard, it's such as shame that this pairing doesn't have that many stories, but I plan to make more in the future. ^_^ Thanks for the review!

Kawaiidoll14: Awww, thank you for the support. I hope that this chapter is actually worth the wait. ^_^ Thanks for the review!

Kate-Kitkat: I'm doing well as I can be. Well, not that well, since as stated on my A/N I have been hospitalized twice this year. I really appreciate your patience with me and thank you for waiting for the updates! The bloody reunion is coming up, kindly wait for it~ The reunion between Luffy and those who care for her will be so much emotional, I think. Hahaha. Thanks for the review!

: It going to happen soon! Watch out for it! Hahaha

Godfanfic: Well, I hope this update made it a wonderful Christmas present! Pretty sure, aside from getting beat up, those two, and those who care for Luffy, will actually do a lot worse... I can only imagine it hahaha. Yeah Makino is an awesome mother for Luffy and Shanks is an awesome Father, and as much as I want him to be Luffy's father canon-wise, it cannot be and thus we are stuck with this! I really hope you like this chapter and will continue to support me. Thank you!