Sabo had came back with some things to allow them to get the blood off and a change of clothes. Some simple shorts and shirts, but the quality of the fabric told them that it was clothes for rich people. They stayed a moment in the cellar. One entire day, probably. Sabo hadn't reappeared before the night had fallen. He had tried to get Ace out of his muteness, but the deathly paleness of the oldest of the D. showed that it was hopeless. The little blond, curiously, didn't stay nervous for very long in front of the silent and armed black-haired boy. He didn't try to take away his weapon, understanding that he was clearly in a state of shock, still rolled up around the rifle. Luffy had tried everything to help his big brother, but there was nothing to be done, so, he tried to get to know the blond.

A second day passed in this cellar, with once again, Sabo, who had joined them once the night had fallen. Some words for a silent Ace, to try to lower a little the tension, before handing out some supply to the siblings and to give news about the hunt which seemed to have slowed down.

It was the third night that their savior noted that Luffy wouldn't be able to stay in place any longer. Not having seen any marine since the first day, Sabo proposed to help them get out of the town. He would be their vanguard.

So, Ace simply stood up, and it was the sign for the four years old to understand that they were going to move. It was to the advantage of the fallen night that they slid one after another out of the window, walking one behind the other to go back further in the city. Their ransack of the other day just a vague memory in the heat of July. In the shadow of beautiful homes, they walked deeper into the less rich and favored ward, soon joining the wall. They found the same chipped fountain with the fish who was spitting plants to compensate the fact that they had cut its water. They walked around it, less in a rush than the last time, and slid outside the city under the falling sun.

The Grey Terminal was before them, with its homeless and criminals who survived the best they could in those mountains of garbage.

"Even if I sometime come here, I don't really know the place well after a point," confessed Sabo seeming embarrassed. "This said, I know where to go to avoid a maximum of people to reach the jungle. But I won't be any help inside it to help you get to your home."

"We just have to avoid Doudou and Dadan, otherwise it's a straight line," commented Luffy.

"What… sorry?"

"Dadan is an old bat in the mountain. Her and Ace can't stand each other. And she doesn't like uncle Ray. Dunno if uncle Javier met her…"

Luffy took a pensive look while Ace began to walk forward like a robot, bare feet in the trash without it seeming to bother him at all.

"… okay and this Doudou?"

"It's a big tiger! Ace and me, we wanted to adopt him but he doesn't like us and uncle Ray got mad of always having to come pick up each time we go see him."

"… you know what? Forget that I asked. HEY! Wait, don't go alone!"

The blond had just realized that the oldest of the duo had walked away from them. And still without saying any word, stopped. He didn't turn around. He stayed there, motionless, waiting for them. The two rushed to join him; Luffy grabbed immediately his brother's hand and held with a big smile Sabo's coat full of hole who let him do it. But it wasn't this that stop their move forward. Nor the scouting missions of the blond who regularly ran beyond an obstacle of their field of vision to make sure that they weren't expected or ambushed, to then come back again beside them, either to confirm to them that the way was free, or to tell them that they had to walk around. But each time he came back, Luffy clung onto him with his big grin.

Then, it wasn't by the cloth anymore, but by the hand. And clearly, it surprised the young blond who stared at the little hand in his with a stunned expression. Believing that the gesture wasn't appreciated, the little four years old tried to take back his hand but with an unsure smile, Sabo held it back. Until he wished to act as the vanguard again. There, he took Luffy's hand, tapped it a little clumsily before releasing it and walk up the front. When he came back, the kid immediately held his hand to him and the blond didn't hesitate in grabbing it again.

For a while, they walked like this, with the only noise being the endless babble of Luffy and some words from Sabo, as their steps made crackling noise on the trash and rubble from which the slum was composed of.

After a small hour, as the moon began to show up, Sabo went once more acting as the vanguard. It was a good thing too, since the light that they had seen was actually a campfire with some people around it chatting around a photography that an old man in a long cape was passing around. An old man that noticed him as he was just about to go back.

"Wait, kid ! Just a moment."

Wary, Sabo turned once more around toward the old man half hidden under a hood. He had one arm in a sling, a short beard and long white hair from what he could see, the rest was hidden behind the clothes.

"I searching for my nephews. Ace is seven and Luffy four. Look, it's them. You didn't see them, did you, young man?"

And he showed the picture of the two boys that he was actually escorting into the jungle. On the image, they were both on a beach, covered in sand but smiling wide as they made sandcastles like any kid their age would do in those circumstances.

"Never saw," lied the little boy. "I have to go home."

And without another word, he turned around to join running the two brothers making sure that the strange man didn't follow him, even if he had straightened up to see him go, apparently. So, the blond decided to make a little detour to be careful. And he was happy to see that the two brother had sat on a pile of garbage. Ace was still with his arm around the rifle while Luffy was chatting with him without taking offense of his brother's silence.

"Onii-chan said that we had to wait for you and that you would come back!" informed Luffy as he saw Sabo return.

Ace didn't say anything and just stood up to cross his arms. Even if he didn't say a word, his attitude was clearly saying that he would like to know why the blond was away so long. And Sabo was happy to retell him everything. Pointing with his thumb the direction of the faraway light of the campfire, he told them seriously:

"A strange old man was asking question about you with photography saying that you are his nephews and he is searching for you."

The two brothers shared a look and as one, they took a surprised Sabo by an arm each and dragged him to the campfire after them. The old man hadn't moved. He was patiently waiting. And seeing the three children come back, an invisible tension disappeared from his shoulders.

"JI-CHAN!" yelled Luffy as he jumped on him.

"Thank Davy Jones, you're alright."

Luffy had already hidden himself under the old man's coat, said old man had thrown off the hood to show the face of a guy with a tan caused by the sea, the salt, the sun and the open air, whom some wrinkles were mark of age that his behavior hide very well. Behind his thin round glasses, smart eyes were shining, playful, relieved and full of love and affection for the two black haired boys. The scar on his eye and the sword that Sabo noticed at this instant both said that he wasn't some normal old man.

"Thank you for protecting them, young…"

"Sabo. My name is Sabo."

"Thank you, Sabo-kun. I'm Silvers Rayleigh, the guardian and uncle of those two mischief makers… and Ace, why are you with such a rifle?"

The black-head's grip tightened around the said weapon. He hadn't joined his brother in the hug to their uncle, staying beside Sabo as if the boy was his anchor.

"Silvers Rayleigh? Like…" whispered Sabo, dumbfounded.

"I am not Roger's first-mate anymore and haven't been for years, all of this is behind me. I am but a peaceful man that take care of his nephews."

"You're hurt?" noted Luffy with some worry as he saw the arms in a cast.

"It's nothing, I'm just getting old, that's all. Come on, we should go back home."

"Riiight… See you soon Sabo!"

And Luffy grabbed, smiling, the hand of the old man as Ace ended up joining them. As the family was walking off, the dark-haired boy with his rifle turned toward Sabo one last time.

"We'll see each other again?" asked softly the boy.

"Oh! So you didn't lose your tongue!"

The oldest of the D. begun blushing violently.

"This would be my pleasure," smiled Sabo. "See you later."

And with a gesture of goodbye, he greeted the siblings as they walked away with their uncle who threw one last glance toward Sabo. And before disappearing, the old man turned one last time toward Sabo.

"I live with the boys in a little house away from the Foosha Village. If you want to visit us, don't hesitate. Follow the west beach, it's the less dangerous path to reach the town. See you soon.

.

.

Ace woke up with a startle in the bed, damp with sweat. Beside him, Luffy was deep asleep. The younger had decided to leave his room to join him in his, surely in search of comfort. But there, at this instant, it was the big one that needed it. He felt sick, dirty, a freak.

He had killed a man.

He put his hands against his mouth to push back a wave of sickness and ended up getting out of the bed. He was going to get a glass of water, he would feel better after. Advancing in the darkness of the sleeping house, he left the bedroom and went down to the kitchen on tiptoe, one step after another in the large creaking stairs.

All the house was silent.

The boy almost hit his toes against the sofa as he walked through the living room to join the corridor further, then the kitchen where he lit the light above the sink with the switch beside the door. On the tip of his toes, he took a clean glass that was on the drainer and opened the cold water to fill it. He then closed the water and sat on a chair to drink it. His eyes wandered around the room to stop on the top cupboard, the one most unattainable. The Reserve, like Rayleigh and Garp called it. Ace had seen some bottles with strange liquids in them, but they had always forbidden him from drinking any of them. The adults took one out sometimes. Even more so when things were bad. He remembered the first time that Javier had came into their house, Rayleigh had put a big drop of one of those bottles in the cup of the blond before serving it to him.

To think that this drink was magical and it can heal everything.

Maybe it could help him with the hurt he felt in his guts. That monster that whispered things in his ears, reminding him of his actions. That life that he had taken. That man had as much right to live than he did, to be happy, to have a family. And he had broken everything with a shot.

The half empty glass of water was put on the table and the boy pulled the chair to the worktop under the cupboard full of mysterious liquids. He climbed on the chair, then on the wood surface before holding out his arm to open the door. The bottles were there, with more or less old labels. Whiskey, Tequila, Bourbon, Saké… so many words that didn't really mean anything to the little boy. He hesitated, then grabbed one of the bottles. One of the fullest, like this, Rayleigh would never know that he had drank some of it.

"Ace? What are you doing up?"

Clang!

The bottle that the child had taken ended up crashing on the floor to break on the tiled floor, spreading a dark fluid with a strong smell everywhere in the middle of the broken pieces of glass. The both of them stared at the disaster on the ground before raising their eyes to look at each other. Rayleigh, in his sport wear and his injured arm covered in bandages and held against him with his good hand, watched the little one standing on the kitchen cabinet in his summer pajama.

"Don't come down," demanded Rayleigh as he saw his nephew's move. "You are bare feet, you'll hurt yourself."

Pushing with the edge of his sandals some pieces of glass, Rayleigh walked closer to the child and released his injured arm to use the good one to lift his nephew from his perch and bring him back closer to the entry of the kitchen.

"Go sit in the living room, we're going to have a talk, the both of us. But first, I'm going to clean this mess."

Without a word, Ace left the room and soon, the light in the living room lit up, proof that the little one had obeyed him. Gritting his teeth to manage to clean the broken things despite his injured arm, Rayleigh began to work. The pieces of glass went into the right bin before taking out an old rag. It was late, Rayleigh was beginning to rather feel the hurt, and he had others things to do. Also, he only wiped the mess with his foot before throwing the rag in the machine. He would clean this better tomorrow, when it will be sunny. He looked at his bandage and noted that it was beginning to let a little blood pass through. He would just have to prey that he didn't rip a stitch. He prepared some hots chocolate that he then took to the living room. Ace was curled up in one of the sofa's corner, his legs against his chest. Luffy must had woken up because he was standing beside his brother, looking at him with a puzzled expression half bundled up into Rayleigh's old coat.

"Luffy, go back to sleep, please. I have to talk with your brother, he did something wrong," demanded calmly the old man. "I'll come tuck you in after."

"What he did was very bad?" asked softly Luffy. "He protected me, you can't punish him!"

"It isn't about that that I will punish him, champ. Come on, go to bed little man."

The old man put the cup on the table and crouched down in front of Luffy who was pouting hard.

"I need to have a very important talk with him, please. If he wants to talk about it, it will be tomorrow, after everyone had slept. Okay?"

The little one nodded slowly with sad eyes. He hugged his uncle, then his brother who stayed motionless, before going back to bed. Rayleigh suspected that the child wouldn't go back to sleep, but he would see that when he would have finished with the oldest.

The old man sighed and sat in the sofa beside his godson still curled up.

"The chocolate is for you, Ace."

No reaction.

"Do you know what you did wrong?"

"I touched the bottles that you don't want us to touch and I broke one."

"That you broke it, in itself, isn't as bad as the fact that you touched it. At least not at your age. You will do whatever you want when you are older, but for now, you can't think about it. Why did you want one of those bottles, my boy?"

"They are magic."

It wasn't any of the answers that the old man expected.

"In what way?"

Ace swallowed and disappeared a little more behind his knees.

"Talk to me, please. If you don't tell me anything, I can't help you, little prince."

"...saw you do it," whispered the child. "When… when you're not well… you take a glass… sometimes the bottle or more… you… you looked better after… So… I though… that it could help me… that if I drank some of it, too, I would feel better…"

"Does it have anything to do with the reason why you refuse to get rid of this Marine rifle?"

Ace nodded slowly.

"What happened ?" inquired Rayleigh as he came closer to his godson.

The child swallowed with difficulty. It was like a weight in the depth of his throat half smothered him. Gritting his teeth, Rayleigh took the child in his injured arm and brought him into a hug. It appeased somewhat the child, and the ball dissolved itself in his throat and made the tears come into his eyes.

"There was this guy with a dog… they found us…"

"You ran away, right?"

"Mm. In a tree. But he began to climb, so we jumped… Luffy brought down the dog, and I, the Marine… I grabbed on his rifle and the strap broke… we ran toward the Grey Terminal… but he was still following us, he was gaining on us… I didn't think… he was there, Luffy was behind me…"

And he broke down crying against his uncle who stroked his hair with his good hand.

"I-I… I shot…"

"That's why you're feeling bad, right? That's normal, Ace. That's completely normal. It's human. It's because you are human that you feel bad. And even if you wanted to get rid of this feeling, you need to keep it. Because it's this feeling that will keep you from becoming a monster. A murderer. It's your fence to not fall on the bad side."

"I don't want to feel like this anymore…"

"You are too young to understand, but it is important for you to remember what I am going to tell you tonight, Ace. So listen and listen well."

Sniffing, the boy straightened and wiped his eyes with his uncle's help.

"You only have two choices… either you keep all of this inside yourself, like a safeguard. You continue your life, as you keep this feeling inside of yourself, like a warning. That you continue on living even with all of this. Or else… you make of the blood and death a thing of your everyday life. You begin to kill everyone, as you breath. After a point, it will become so often, so normal, that you won't feel anything bad about this moment. But it will be at the price of your humanity, and you will vindicate those that wanted to kill you, Luffy and you. Do you understand what I mean, Ace?"

"I… I think so."

Rayleigh then lean toward the cup of chocolate, grabbed it and gave it to his godson.

"For the alcohol, Ace… it isn't a magical solution. The bottle… is just an escape. For a moment, you forget what is wrong. But after it is worse. It only exacerbates your feelings about the event, your guilt, your discomfort. So, you go back to it. Again. And again. When you realize that it is becoming your clutch, it is already too late. It broke you. If you use the drink to make this situation pass, then, you lost the fight. And to get out of it, it is very hard. I walked that path, Ace. I got out of it with your father's help, but it come back. It helps one instant, but only hide the problem, as if you pull the curtains to hide the monster outside. But you will have to put away the curtains. And the monsters are still there. You can use the alcohol to have fun, to give yourself a boost mentally, but don't rely on it. And most of all, not at your age. Wait to have more experience of the life before trying. Meanwhile, when you feel badly, you have a solution in several steps. The first, take a hot chocolate. The second is to hug someone close to you. The third, is to talk, tell what is wrong, externalize, to share. And fourth, is crying. Let everything out, don't keep things that eat at you to yourself. Okay?"

"Yes, uncle…"

"What are you going to do then?"

Ace took a sip of his chocolate and put it back down to go back against his uncle's arms.

"Say, ji-chan… Why were they after Luffy?"

"We will talk about this when he is older, alright?"

The kid nodded calming down.

"What are you going to do with the rifle?"

"I… I'll keep it. For now."

Rayleigh nodded and continued rubbing his hair to appease him.

.

.

A duo of blonds was walking in Goa arguing. The adolescent had a wicker basket covered with a blanket to hide what was inside. And clearly, what she was saying to her father wasn't making the man happy as they get out of a school with the patriarch of the Portgas browsing the files he had under his arm. He had put on decent clothes, as if he was infiltrating the noble side of town.

"I don't WANT to!"

"I'm not giving you a choice, Amelia."

"There always is a Portgas at the hacienda! It's my time to take that place!"

"But I don't want that for you. I want to get you out of all of this, nena. Come, we still have some others high-schools to visit."

"I can go to Bliss if you want so much for me to go to a high-school. But in the facts, you know that I will be a barmaid at the inn of Baterilla and the rest of the time, if I'm not working on the information network, I'll make sure that the hacienda keeps standing while you are on the seas living your life."

"Even more reason for you to listen to me and that you take this opportunity to get out of all of this."

He took the map of the city and stared at it frowning.

"To the left, the next school is more in the heart of the city."

"But I don't want!"

Javier ignored his daughter as they began once more to walk into the depth of the city. Passing in front of a shop, the blond man noticed from the corner of his eye the far away reflection of a man with dark skin and red eyes in civil, accompanied by an adolescent too, but he didn't react more than that, continuing his scolding to his fourteen years old daughter, soon to be fifteen.

They finally came upon a new school and the two blonds entered inside the high-school, Amelia visibly not enthused behind her father, the basket still against her.

In any case, the marine in civil found very funny to see that even pirates had troubles with their live of single father.

It was a wait of a good hour that followed, but it didn't seem to bother the duo in ambush. Soon, the Portgas duo came out and walked straight toward the Rhyddid clan as they continued arguing, even if the fact that Javier was staring straight in Aarch's direction showed that the man was busted.

"Hello, vice-admiral Rhyddid. On a break, I see. With the charming Carmen, from what I can see. Hello to you too, young miss," greeted the well-dressed pirate in comparison with the utterly casual civilian wear of the Marine.

If the tone of voice of the blond had been cold toward the marine, it warmed up and was more friendly toward the black and red haired teen who was standing close to her father.

"Bore Da, Portgas-san" answered the young girl.

"On a day off," sighed Aarch. "So rather surprised to see you of all the places in the East Blue."

"It was the goal. Less of a chance to search for my daughter in a place we don't expect to see me," said coldly Javier.

Amelia turned her head, making her golden curls fly with an annoyed sniff.

"But I can say the same to you. To my knowledge, it is Genkotsu's playground. I thought that you mutts were more territorials than that."

"My wife is buried in the East Blue," replied coldly Aarch. "And one of the most complete library on the medical subject is in this stinking country."

"I see. Well, then, we will find a high-school on another island. If even a marine can't stand the smell around here, that say it all."

"Let me go to Bliss, joder!" Amelia got upset.

"I want you out of South Blue, the talk is over, young lady! Out of question that I let you die for Baterilla!"

Clearly irritated, Javier came back toward Aarch.

"See you never, griffin."

"You are a bad actor," said the young Carmen, then.

"Carmen, please." sighed the marine. "People don't need to say each time what they have in mind or when they have some shits going on. Well… see you never too, Araña. I still have some books to find, me."

Amelia squinted and walked closer to the girl that was about her age with a smirk.

"You should spend a little less time with your feathery godfather, you would learn that there is moment you should shut up or others where you can open your mouth. Now, mind your own business, we have other things to do."

And she turned around, her head held high.

"Continue to search for school from which I'll run away, for me, I'm going back to the Demonio."

And she walked away as her father was pinching his nose, wearily,

"Diva," hissed Carmen.

Aarch hit his forehead annoyed as his daughter seemed to absorb the city's feelings. In any case, Amelia reacted swiftly. She put the basket down and turned around to slap the dark haired girl but was stopped by her father.

"Carmen, you apologize right this instant," growled then Aarch.

"She shouldn't judge me for saying what I was thinking. I'm sorry. This time."

"Amelia, you too, you apologize," demanded Javier.

"No way. She excused her behavior, she isn't apologizing. To excuse his behavior is simple, everyone can do it, but she doesn't think it."

"AMELIA! Apologize! Now!"

The blond smirked.

"I'm sorry," she hissed throwing the words of the other girls to her face.

"I think it is better for us to stay on our own side before it escalate," grumbled Javier.

Aarch though so too and looked at his sole daughter sighing. She took a deep breath and turned toward Javier.

"I apologize Sir, for talking when I wasn't prompted to."

"We're leaving you to your search of a school. But I advise against going to the high city. Your daughter would kill them all after the first week. And mine would try to drown them. That's why I don't put her there."

"Just to contradict you and to make her understand the lesson, I should do it," answered coldly Javier. "Goodbye"

He took the basket in one hand to put it back in his daughter's arms and held her shoulder.

"I accept them for this time, young Carmen. For this time only."

And he led his daughter toward the high city. He had to find a way to warn Rayleigh to keep the kids inside.

From a window high up, in a close by estate, a little blond head watched them curiously.

In the early afternoon, the Demonio wasn't anchored in Goa's port but in Foosha's. And Javier was directly attacked by a very excited little Luffy, happy to see the blond, before getting interested in Amelia. And most of all, he was curious about the basket that the girl still had in her arms. Sighing, Javier loosened his tie and put on his back the hyper kid that was telling his last adventures and his meeting with a very sympathetic boy of Goa, as they walked with him toward his home.

.

.

"Happy to see you, Portgas," greeted Rayleigh before the front of the door with his arm in a sling.

"Same."

"Hello, Silvers-san" greeted Amelia with a bow.

"I'm curious to know how you managed to get Senny to walk away."

"One or two words on the right ear in the South Blue put a fire to enough barrels that only Sengoku could calm things down. We found something to help the boys get used to the situation. A… moral support."

Luffy watched Javier curiously when he put him down.

"Ace isn't doing very well, so, I do hope you have a very good solution. And maybe you should pull Ace from his hiding hole, Luffy."

"AAACE!"

Luffy ran inside the house searching for his brother as the father and daughter followed Rayleigh in the living room.

"Ace killed a man at the start of the hunt. And since they stayed hidden inside of Goa with the help of a very smart local kid, I only learned about it yesterday night when I caught him trying to get himself drunk."

"Tell me that you don't let him drink," growled darkly Javier.

"The bottle ended up in thousand of pieces on the ground and he had a hot chocolate as a substitute. We had a big talk. I would like to think that he will stay away from it for a looong while."

The two visitors from the South Blue took off their shoes at the entrance before going deeper into the hall.

"I'm going to join the monkey and the roach, papa." stated Amelia.

Javier nodded and went to join Rayleigh in the kitchen to help him get out the coffee and the fresh drinks.

"An idea as to how the information was leak ?" inquired Javier.

"Garp."

"Does he do it on purpose?"

"The worse is that I think that in his head, he tells himself that there isn't any risk, even now, when I did told him what Ace had to do. If you want to make him pay, please do. Personally, I'm just happy that the boys are well. Would you like to take out the ice cubes from the freezer, please, and put them in this bowl ?"

The old first-mate of Roger put a bowl on a tray that he was preparing and so Javier went to pick the ice cubes.

"You have for how long?" inquired Javier. "With your injury, I mean. My doctor can examine you."

"Oh, no worry, it'll be alright. It's more disabling and sensible than serious. The price of getting older."

An excited cry came to their ears from above, with the origin being clearly the children.

"I think that the children saw their surprise. I had to talk to you about this, but... with what had happen, I told myself it would be a good thing to give them another type of emotional support," smiled Javier ruefully.

And he picked the plate up to follow Roger's old first-mate in the living room where the two children had showed up very excited.

"Sorry, papa. I know that you wanted to wait a little for the surprise, but I saw the roach's face and…" Amelia justified herself as she put the empty basket on the coffee table.

"JI-CHAN! LOOK!"

Luffy showed off a baby white feline with black spots and an adorable face. The smile of the child was bright. As bright and shiny as the sun. Ace had another white baby feline in his hands and was staring at it as if hit by lightning.

"They are endangered species that we found in the cargo hold of animal traffickers," explained Javier. "This little one…"

He tapped the end of the spotted plush's nose in Luffy's hands who ended up licking the tip of his finger in answer.

"…is a snow leopard. And the little miss…"

He rubbed the base of the neck and the head of the baby panther in Ace's hands. In answer, the little one turned blue with a weak meow, clearly fearful.

"Is an Amur Leopard and she ate a Devil Fruit. The two species were present in the North Blue and some Islands of the Grand Line, but the hunting and farming reduced greatly the number of them. I would have taken them back to their home with pleasure, but I don't know where it is, actually. So, if I'm going to find a new home for them, at least it should be somewhere safe. And I know two young boys who can protect them. Right?"

"Yessss!" screamed Luffy with enthusiasm.

Ace just stared at the panther in his hands who stared back at him, before licking his face. The boy so moody ever since the incident wore a small smile. Another lick and the little ball of fluff took a sunny color.

"I think that it is a good idea you had here, Portgas," commented Rayleigh as he saw the way Ace brought the little panther closer to his heart.

This animal presence, so small, fragile, and innocent, would be a good starting point to help the kid get better. To stand up from all of this. To go forward. Javier made a little gesture with his head to ask Rayleigh to talk to him in private and the two adults left the room. Then, the oldest of the two boys lowered the little panther that he was patting to look at his cousin.

"You look pissed," noted Luffy as he leans his head on the side as he too observed Amelia.

"We crossed path with the Rhyddid duo in Goa. The vice-admiral Aarch is in charge of internal investigations. He was sniffing around. And let's say that I almost got into a fight with his daughter when she said that my father's acting was bad," hissed Amelia. "We're talking about the Araña there, and he already tricked Kong in the past, so…"

"The Zorra is showing her teeth… Ooooh, that's scary…" mocked Ace with a very heavy sarcasm.

"Shut up Roach."
"Say… Melia…" asked Luffy. "The Marines… they were searching for both of us, Ace and me. Ace, we know why…"

The two Portgas looked at the younger one raising an eyebrow. He knew about Ace?

"I eavesdrop too you know, it's not only you, the blond," justified Luffy, undaunted. "But I want to know why they were after me."

"-Melia…" said Ace lowering his voice. "I know that your father wants to take advantage on the fact that I am outside of the family circle to spare me all the traditions from Baterilla, but…"

He swallowed before saying:

"I killed a man, Amelia. And we only have half of the explanation as of the why they were after us. Beside that, your father only had to say some words for Sengoku to call back his dogs to send them elsewhere. If we want to defend ourselves, we need to know. But your father don't want us to learn. So, you, you can teach us. If we don't know, we can't move forward and protect ourselves."

Luffy caught a piece of the wide skirt of the girl.

"What do they have against me?" asked softly the kid.

The blond exhaled and went to pick the basket up. She searched inside and took out an envelope that she gave to her cousin.

"Make sure that Silvers don't find this letter and what is written inside. Neither what you'll do with it. Are we agreed? Those are hibiscus seed, I didn't know if I should give them to you, you are the age we usually began to learn in the family."

Roger's son picked the envelop and hid it in his t-shirt before bringing back the panther that had taken, until now, a black color as it began to fall asleep in his arms.

"And as for you, Luffy… you don't know who is your father, right? Search there."

And she fell silent when they heard the adult come back with the glasses.

"What were you talking about, young ones?" inquired Rayleigh.

"Names," lied simply Amelia shrugging.

"Name?" repeated Rayleigh puzzled.

"We're not all unimaginative to decide to name our sole son like the weapon of our dead companion." answered the blond girl.

"Amelia, some respect for your aunt's memory," scolded Javier.

"Meh. At least, it can be said that I am dangerous," commented the one mentioned shrugging, "Without saying that the first Portgas got this name too, if you had forgotten."

"I think that this time, it was more of Roger's than Rouge's decision," sighed tiredly Rayleigh. "But to come back to the question, why were you talking about names?"

Before the teen could get stuck in her lie, with childlike innocence, Luffy came to her help as he showed of his new fluffy friend.

"Now it's King its name!"

"King?" repeated the adults.

"Mm! He'll be the king of beasts!"

The two adults shared a look and shook their head. It was a very Luffy logic after all.

"And you, Ace, how are you going to call her?"

Ace looked at the panther in his arms and got a small smile.

"Iro."

"… Iro?" repeated Rayleigh.

"The lack of imagination appears to be genetic," said Amelia as if she was stating a universal truth.

"Or simply because she is the proof that you only need to really search when you are in the dark to find some color and comfort," justified himself her cousin, seeming vexed.

His answer made everyone fall silent. Then, finally, Rayleigh laughed and then smiled.

"Those are two very beautiful names, I think. You chose well my boys."

The two boys shared a smile.