A/N: Okay, so first of all, I am back~ Sorry you guys had to wait for a year. Also, thank you so much for being so patient with me and so understanding too, it has meant the world to me over the past year as I really needed the break (and also I'm not technically supposed to be putting excess pressure on myself at the moment but I promised that I would return to posting today and so goddammit I'm going to post today!)

However, I am going to warn you and apologise now: this is only part 1 of this chapter. I have fallen out with one piece a lot lately but I'm trying to finish this story because so many people are invested in it. Therefore, it has gotten a lot harder to write this story but, as I said before, I have promised an update today. So even if it is only part of the chapter, it is still an update.

So yeah, I hope you enjoy this and that I will soon be in a position to give you more updates with better quality.

Disclaimer: As always I do not own One Piece and sorry in advance for the amount of fluff~


"- big, glowing crystal tree. It grew up from this pool, I guess and filled most of the cave. As I looked at it, it just got brighter and brighter until I couldn't look at it anymore."

"And it affected you that badly that your physical body hurt?"

"You were the one who woke me up. You know that it bloody well hurt."

Ace let out a gusty sigh and flopped back onto Shanks' bed with a huff. It had been two days since his eventful trip into his mind had taken a turn for the worst and Shanks was still suspending their training. He knew Luffy was becoming slightly stir crazy and Sabo had taken to making up stories about random things Luffy found on the island to keep the energetic teen entertained. But even Sabo's creativity couldn't last long when confronted with every mundane rock Luffy could pick up from the beach.

Needless to say Ace did not envy his brother at all at the moment though he was starting to wonder whether keeping Luffy entertained would be as headache inducing as trying to figure out what the heck he had seen in his mind.

"Normally I would guess it was a representation of your Devil Fruit as this cave was close to the sea and the bright crystal was growing from a pool of water." Shanks mused, frowning slightly as he voiced his thoughts. Usually his first reaction to anything that grows from a pool of water would be Devil Fruit, but it didn't make sense in this case.

"But my Devil Fruit is fire and there was no fire in that cave." Ace sighed, pointing out the hole in that idea immediately. "And besides the obvious fact that my fruit is fire, not light, how would you explain the crystal then?"

"That's why I said normally, brat." Shanks chuckled, leaning over to ruffle Ace's hair gently. It would be no good to either of them to get frustrated about this puzzle. Anger and frustration were not friends to careful thinking after all. Or at least, that's what Benn always said.

"That's why I don't think this crystal thing represented your Devil Fruit at all. But think; is there anything, any source of light in a metaphysical term for you that would come from sea water? The crystal could represent something spiritual after all. Not everything in your inner world has to represent a physical aspect you possess."

Ace sighed but accepted what Shanks said easy enough. Maybe he was thinking about this in the wrong way. Thinking back on it, it was the light from the crystal that guided him to that cave in the first place; so maybe the light was important? And if this light was supposed to represent something important to him the first thing that came to mind was Luffy.

To his brothers, Luffy shined brighter than even the sun when he smiled and he brought hope and warmth and family into their lives. The pool of water around the crystal could have been showing that he had eaten a Devil Fruit or representative of the fact he was a pirate or it could even be a representation of Sabo if Ace thought about it that hard. But this was all subjective; the truth was he had no clue what that crystal was.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Ace groaned, pressing the heels of his hands to his temples. Thinking in the metaphysical was more Sabo and Luffy's area of expertise. He was no good at working out symbols and motifs and figuring out what part of himself represented what things. Maybe he would be if he had a book on this subject but this was verging dangerously into psychology territory and he had taken one look at those books before and had a headache for about a week. He had no desire to find out how his brain worked because it would just screw him over in the long run. And Ace was already insane enough for his own taste, thank you very much.

"Exploring my mind and asking questions." Shanks replied with a grin before getting up and walking over to the two family portraits on his wall. A manic grin and gentle smile whispered softly to him from the glass and years gone by and he let his fingers trail delicately over the frame. His first family had helped him so much and honestly he was honoured to be able to teach their son all that they had taught him.

"There was a lady I once knew a long time ago who was very good at this kind of stuff. Often it felt like she could see into your soul and inner mind as well. She could easily read anyone and often knew things about you that you didn't even know yourself." He turned back to face Ace with a cheerful smile though sadness and grief darkened his eyes.

"You have that gift too, you know. You don't apply it to yourself very often but when you're calm and happy I get the same feeling I did all those years ago. I'm sure others have noticed it too."

Ace looked down with a small blush. The tone with which Shanks had talked about that woman was almost reverent; filled with respect and admiration so to hear that he was even remotely like her was slightly overwhelming. Besides he didn't think Shanks was all that accurate. The only people he really knew how to read were Sabo and Luffy and they knew how to read him just as well.

I mean, sure, he might be the first to notice when Marco was overworking himself even if he wasn't showing any physical signs yet. And yes he was able to tell when Hanna was mad angry as opposed to sad angry, and when Cory was feeling self-conscious about his cooking even though he was laughing along with whatever Thatch teased him about. He didn't think it was all that special; he just spent a lot of time with these people that's all. Of course he would know them well by now.

"Well think on it for a little bit." Shanks advised as he picked up his sabre and attached it to his hip. "Apparently there are hibiscus flowers on this island and I haven't seen one of those in years so I'm off. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah, see you later. Happy hunting." Ace replied, lying back on the bed with a tired sigh. Maybe he could take a nap before returning to the Moby Dick. Even better, if Shanks was off chasing flowers then maybe that would mean Ace and Luffy could get some training done now that he wasn't hovering over them like a fretting goose.

He lay there for a while, willing sleep to come to him but it never did. He got up with a huff and glared moodily at the pillows. Just typical: the one time he wants to go to sleep and sleep buggers off but any other time he doesn't want to go to sleep (dinner being the prime example) narcolepsy has to say hello with a fucking fanfare, doesn't it?

Maybe it was because he was in an unfamiliar place? He highly doubted it remembering some of the places he had fallen asleep but it was the only explanation he had. (Ace seemed to have conveniently forgotten the ten cups of coffee he had downed that morning as a dare from Thatch).

He got up from the bed, fully intending to go and find Luffy and Sabo, but the glare of the photographs distracted him. With a gentle smile he gazed at the immortalised image of his sleepy baby brother, back when he really could be called a baby. An ache started to form in his chest as he looked at the peaceful and proud smiles on Makino and Shanks' face as they gazed down at little Luffy; it was happy and warm but also terribly painful from an unknown emotion that Ace did not ever wish to name. It hurt, a lot.

To distract himself from the ever growing feeling he turned his eyes to the picture that Shanks had been looking at earlier and nearly had his eyes bug out in shock.

Three people smiled up at him whilst the fourth looked away with a pout. Shanks was easy to recognise though he looked roughly Ace's age, scars and horrors not yet marring the handsome face. He had slung his arm around a blue haired boy with a big red nose and was pushing a familiar straw-hat out of the way to beam at the photographer. The blue haired boy was trying to get Shanks' arm off him as he scowled in annoyance. Behind this boy was a man, tall and imposing with shaggy black hair and a haunting grin that burned in Ace's mind like a funeral pyre.

Gol D. Roger was a man that Ace would always recognise and would always hate with a passion. He had no idea that Shanks had even known the man, let alone been close enough to have a picture like this taken; as if they were a family.

Did that mean Shanks knew? Knew that Ace was Roger's son? If he was close enough to Roger as this picture portrayed then surely he might have known that Roger was going to have a child...which meant that the woman...

Ace's eyes drifted over to the gentle smile, the freckled cheeks, and the warm brown eyes of the woman who was leaning into Roger's side with her hand on Shanks' shoulder like she didn't want to be anywhere else.

Portgas D. Rouge.

His mother.

Garp had often told him that his mother had been a beautiful and wonderful woman but not once had he ever shown Ace a picture of her. Now here she was, with a soft smile and happiness radiating from her face. Ace never knew his mother had been blonde. Or maybe it was red? In the light of the sunset it looked like waves of copper and gold, threaded so finely together that it created a shimmering waterfall of waves around her face.

A trembling hand reached up to tug at his own wavy hair as reluctant eyes flickered back to Roger's beaming face. Roger's hair was spikier, so did that mean Ace had inherited his wavy hair from his mother? All at once Ace had one more reason to love his hair and regretted every moment he had ever called the tangled waves annoying in the morning.

Hungry eyes roved over Rouge's features, trying desperately to find more similarities now that he had finally seen what his mother had looked like.

A single hibiscus flower was pinned to the side of her head and something clicked in Ace's brain. All the hibiscus flowers in his inner world...could they be because of his mother? Happiness flooded his veins and he almost staggered from the intensity of it. Even in his innermost place his mother was more prominent than his father. Surely that had to say something about him?

Ace's head snapped up as he heard footsteps echoing down the hall and suddenly he remembered what Shanks had left to do. Could it have been that the last time Shanks had seen the blood red flowers had also been the last time he had seen Rouge?

A window into his parents' life had appeared to him out of the blue and he felt the familiar curiosity burn inside of him at this opportunity. Here was someone who wouldn't lie to him after all. Here was someone who wouldn't want him dead just for who his father was. So maybe now, after almost sixteen years of wondering, Ace would finally get the chance to know the good side of his parents rather than just the horrors his father had inflicted on others. But more importantly, he would be able to ask about his mother.


"Where's Ace rushing off to?"

Thatch frowned in confusion as he bobbed in the clear, sparkling water, watching his fire-cracker brother hightail it off of the Red Force and hurl himself into the jungle. That was very odd. Normally after Shanks and Ace parted ways Ace would come back home. Maybe they had reached a conclusion that had troubled the young man? If so then Thatch had to get his mind off of it as soon as he came back.

"No clue." Sabo watched his brother rush away in confusion before shrugging as best he could whilst treading water. Sucking in a large breath he soon dove back down under the waves and Thatch tracked his progress through the shimmering turquoise sea. The water was so clear that he could still see the large expanse of burnt skin that coated Sabo's back as he picked his way among the coral reef below them.

Back at the surface, Luffy bobbed along on a surf board, watching his brother swim with a huffy pout on his face. It did seem quite unfair that the youngest could never go swimming but that was life with a devil fruit. A collection of pretty shells and corals was slowly building up beside him as his brother kept returning with more treasures from the ocean.

"Cheer up Luffy." Thatch grinned, splashing a little water in Luffy's face and smiling in relief when his youngest brother burst into giggles at the action and didn't just frown at him. "Ace will work out what happened soon and then you'll be back to training. It's just taking longer than you thought, that's all."

"But what if Ace gets hurt again?" Luffy mumbled, staring hard into his reflection like it held all the answers he was seeking. It worried him a lot when Ace was in pain and it scared him slightly to think of it happening again. He hated it when his loved ones were hurt because he couldn't do anything to help them. Fists weren't any help towards healing.

"Well you'll just have to protect him from getting hurt again, won't you?" Thatch smiled sadly, reaching out to flick Luffy on the forehead gently, not wanting him to linger on such a depressing topic. They were out in the sun and not doing chores and he wanted to enjoy this time before he had to go and cook lunch.

Luffy hummed noncommittally before going back to staring into the water, lost to the world around him. Thatch let out a defeated sigh, not sure how he could go about getting Luffy's energy back up. It was unnerving to see him so lifeless.

He was brought out of his little cloud of worry when Sabo surfaced next to him with a gasp and a splash, coughing and grinning as he unloaded his hands of the treasures he had found. Pearly bones of broken corals, glittering rocks as smooth as satin, brittle shells of sea creatures long gone; they glistened and shone under the light of the blond's smile which only increased in size and joy when Luffy popped his head up from his moping to fire off question after question. Which would have been all fine and dandy if Sabo hadn't splashed water all over him when he surfaced.

"Sabo!" Thatch complained, flicking his wet hair out of his eyes and scowling when the brother in question just looked at him like he hadn't done anything wrong.

"What? Your hair's stupid any way, I don't see how it's gotten any worse."

If they had been on land Thatch would have fallen over in shock. As they were in the water it was slightly harder to do but he got by by clutching at his heart and staring at the giggling brothers in betrayal.

"My hair is fabulous I'll have you know." He tried to scold them, pouting when all they did was laugh harder.

Well if that was how it was going to be he was going to see Marco. At least Marco couldn't laugh at his hair. Not with how his looked.

He swam all the way back to the Moby Dick, feeling slightly better when Izo noticed him coming and lowered a ladder for him. Scaling up the sides of his own home would be a little bit embarrassing. The rough rope of the rungs bit into his wet palms but he was used to that pain by now and he hauled himself over the side with a cheery grin, all annoyance vanishing at the sight of Izo holding his hems away from the deck as Thatch dripped water everywhere.

"You're cleaning that up." Izo remarked with an unimpressed look before leading him away from the side and heading towards the commanders' cabins. It would be just Thatch's luck to catch a cold from going swimming on a tropical island. Don't ask him how that worked, it had happened too many times in the past to argue with.

"Hey Izo, you don't think my hair is stupid right?" Thatch asked as he walked alongside his effeminate companion. Normally he wouldn't ask such a question but his pride was at stake dammit! Nobody made fun of his hair.

"I wouldn't say stupid." Izo eyed him strangely, unused to Thatch even thinking about his hair let alone asking an opinion about it. "It's uniquely you and while I may like it unstyled, I've gotten so used to it that it's weird seeing you with it naturally."

"That's not answering the question." Thatch whined, flicking the wet strands out of his eyes and pouting. Didn't Izo realise how serious a question this was?

"Fine then; it's not stupid. Are you happy now?" Izo asked with a dry look, rolling his eyes when Thatch just beamed and nodded. Honestly, how did he get the energy to act like a child every minute of the day?

Thatch followed after Izo until they reached his room. There he bid his brother a cheery 'see-you-later' and quickly entered his cabin to dry off, intent of restoring his hair to it's proper glory once more. As he was drying his hair however, Ace rushing into the forest brought itself to the forefront of his memory and he couldn't help the frown that crossed his face or the worry that nagged his heart as he let his towel droop over his shoulders.

What had happened to cause his little brother to rush like that?

He just hoped that whatever it was Ace would talk to him about it. Or talk to Marco maybe. He just knew that he couldn't let their fire-cracker sit on this for too long. The explosion that Ace could cause was not worth risking if they left him alone to deal with his problems.


"The revolutionaries are on the move again, yoi."

Marco turned the page in his newspaper, scanning the article warning about the current war. More government propaganda glared out at him through the printed words and he could barely hold back his disgusted scoff at the bitter sweet lies.

Whitebeard chuckled beside him, staring down at his oldest friend with a fond look.

"More trouble for the World. That young rascal sure knows how to stir up a ruckus."

"He sure does. Should we be on alert?"

"No. They know not to bother us unless they need access to our territory. We'll be fine son."

"Have you thought about what we would do, yoi? If we did run into them?"

The unspoken 'if we run into him' hung between the two of them like the drifting seagulls, circling lazily around the mast. It was a concern the both of them had had ever since Garp's fateful visit. What to do if Luffy ever ran into his father…

Neither of them knew (though they were leaning more towards doubtful) if Luffy knew who his father was. They didn't know whether to be worried or relieved with either outcome. Marco especially didn't know what to think; he didn't want his baby brother hurt by the knowledge of what that man was capable of.

Whitebeard had a greater worry of how Luffy's father might effect his two brothers. Both older brothers had come to him in confidence, spilling their demons in the quiet hours of the night, both together and on separate occasions since that night when they agreed to join his family. If neither of them knew of Luffy's heritage, how might it effect them?

Ace, who had been hunted by the world since before he was born- a fate his baby brother could have shared. Sabo, a noble born runaway- saved from death and brought home by his little brother's father.

Oh Whitebeard knew he had Dragon to thank for Sabo still being alive, but he still worried.

"Let things run their course. I will talk to Ace later to see if there's anything we should know."

"Ace has gotten pretty dependable recently, yoi."

Marco glanced at his father out of the corner of his eye, raising an eyebrow when he noticed the quiet chuckles that shook the wide shoulders. It was rare for the great captain to hide his laughter and whenever he did, Marco felt a bead of trepidation roll down his neck.

"He certainly has. The little brat tries too hard sometimes."

"Or he doesn't try hard enough." Marco muttered, thinking of the mess that surrounded the three brothers' bunks down in the sleeping halls.

"Still, let him relax for today. He could use a break once in a while."

A meaningful look gave away that Ace wasn't the only one due a break. Still, Marco waved the look away. He had too much to do; commanding two divisions wasn't as easy as it appeared to be.

"Don't know how much rest he'll get with Akagami being here, yoi. Still, maybe today will be a good day for them."

Ignoring the disgruntled look on his first son's face, Whitebeard turned to look off into the dense jungle that covered the island. He had seen Shanks wander there earlier, had observed the way Ace dashed after him like he was being chased by a pack of wolves. Whatever Ace had realised must have troubled him a lot. Maybe that was something else he could enquire about this evening.

"They still don't know what happened to Ace, do they?"

"No. They don't."


The forest flashed by him in a blur of green and brown. Lea over logs, duck beneath branches, ignore all animals, just keep running. He had to find him, had to know the truth.

Ace burst into a clearing and took one of the paths he and Luffy had made a few days earlier, pushing on to get to the cliffs that were on the south side of the island. He remembered red flowers growing there and he only hoped they were the ones Shanks was headed to. The smell of the sea grew stronger with every moment he raced ahead, allowing the salty scent and sunlight to guide him out of the jungle. It may have been easier to walk around, go along the cliffs and the shore, but it would have taken too long.

He needed to know now!

Bursting back into sunlight, Ace blinked harshly to adjust his eyes, chest heaving in both exhilaration and nerves.

Sitting on the edge of the cliff was Shanks, his legs dangling over the drop to the sea, twirling the gentle petals of a hibiscus flower in his remaining hand. Glancing over his shoulder, surprise filtered into the warm brown eyes before a welcoming smile called out to him.

"Ace! We're finished for today, why didn't you go home?"

For a second, Ace didn't know how to respond. He wanted to ask, wanted to know, but his throat clogged up, his questions and demands choking him until he couldn't even make a sound of distress. Worry creased Shanks' brow and he beckoned for the young man to come and sit beside him. Once Ace was seated, Shanks threw his arm around his shoulders, drawing him into his side.

"Just breathe Firecracker. Talk when you've calmed down."

Ace leaned further into Shanks' side, focusing on the waves far below them as he tried desperately to think of a way to ask what he wanted. He was scared of coming off confrontational (and while he was angry that Shanks hadn't told him that he knew his parents, Ace could also understand why Shanks hadn't. His hatred of Roger wasn't exactly a subtle thing.) But he wanted to know so badly that it was causing a rift to open up in his chest, enveloping and engulfing him in dark questions and niggling insecurities. And the whole time, he had his mother's smile in the back of his head, reassuring him from behind a glass pane that she was still there for him.

"...What was she like?" Ace winced as his voice cracked, shaky and unsure. He frowned, mentally berating himself; he couldn't let himself go to pieces over such a small thing. He had never let himself break over his parents before- not unless you counted years of self-loathing and anger- and he couldn't fall apart just now! Not when he had answers in his grasp.

Thankfully Shanks only need to look at his pale face, see the wild need in his eyes, the way he bit at his bottom lip, to know exactly what he was asking. A soft smile over took the older man's face, and he faced the open sea as he stared brushing Ace's hair away from his face.

"She was kind. That was the first thing I noticed when I met her. She had this kindness about her that drew you in, almost like a hug. She always smiled when she saw us, and she was a fantastic listener. I told you she could look into someone's eyes and know their whole story; she never once judged someone for what she saw. You really are a lot like her..."

Ace didn't understand why Shanks would say that but he soaked up every word like a flower did sunlight, shifting in excitement as the mental picture he had built of his mother was reformed, filling in the blanks with a gentle smile, auburn waves and kind, brown eyes.

Shanks saw that he had a captive audience and gladly continued, a little saddened at the joy in Ace's eyes from such little information. Had no one told him about his mother before?

"I don't know much about her past- she didn't like to talk about it. Rouge was much more concerned with the present; living every day for all it was worth. I suppose that's why she was so relaxed all the time. She was never worried about her future...

She used to live on a small island in the South Blue. She lived right at the edge of a cliff so she could see the sea no matter where she looked. And she gardened a lot- some of the best food I've had came from her garden- but her favourites were hibiscus flowers. They grew all over her island."

Shanks gestured to the brilliant blossoms they were sitting amongst with a fond smile. The amount of times Rouge would send them off with hibiscus flowers was always a fond memory for him. With every trip to her island they would leave with flowers in their arms, and a little more in love with the gentle woman by the sea.

"Did you go there a lot?"

"We went often enough." Shanks confirmed, trying not to focus on the spark of jealousy he could see tucked away behind the silver of Ace's eyes. "The sea would call to us and we would leave again. But she was never sad to see us go, and she always welcomed us back. It got a little harder to leave every time..."

Ace tried not to look too disheartened, wishing more than anything that he could have met his mother. Just once.

He tried so hard not to regret the things in his life, tried so hard to keep moving forward and to never look back, but this was always going to be his anchor. The memory of his mother, of her death, weighed on him with all the force of the sea, dragging him down to the dark, empty depths below. He thought that, maybe, hearing all these things would give him a feeling of closure but instead it ripped the hole in his chest even deeper.

"She loved you a lot."

Shanks had seen darkness in Ace's expression before, almost like he was slowly being crushed under some invisible weight, but he had never seen it all come crashing to the surface. And he needed to lift that pressure in some way, or there was no chance of Rouge ever forgiving him when he died.

"How could you know that?" Ace scoffed, turning away but not leaving Shanks' side for now, too confused to run off again, but also too conflicted to look at the man who had known his parents better than he ever could.

"Because she would talk to you. She glowed whenever she got to talk about you."

Ace's head snapped back around, gawping when he noticed how serious Shanks looked at that moment.

"But Gramps said nobody knew about me!" He spluttered, trying to squash the hope fluttering in his heart- because Shanks couldn't have known about Rouge's pregnancy. There wasn't any way he could have known...

"Well Garp didn't understand Roger as well as he thought he did." Shanks smiled bitterly, watching Ace's face reflexively scrunch up in distaste at the mention of his father.

"Roger told three other people about you; his first mate and his two cabin boys."

"You and the other boy in that photo?" Ace guessed, remembering briefly the way the rest of the crew would talk about Silvers Rayleigh, and the respect so many had for The Dark King.

"That's right. We all knew Rouge was pregnant, and the last trip we took to her island together was to congratulate her and Roger."

"The trip you took together?" Ace asked, frowning as he tried to figure out what Shanks was talking about.

"...I went to see her after Roger's death..." Shanks admitted, turning his eyes away from Ace for the first time in the conversation, looking up into the sky like it held all his answers, holding them just out of his reach.

"...I wanted guidance, and to make sure she was safe. Roger had told Garp that she was expecting a child and had asked him to protect you, but the rest of the marines were also hunting down any pregnant woman, and interrogating them. So I had to be careful. Rayleigh had left to return to the Grand Line, Buggy had left as well; he didn't see the point of remaining crewmates once Captain had gone...

...I went to Rouge about a month after Roger had been executed and she still welcomed me as she always did. I remember panicking because her due date was soon and I was so scared of you being born whilst the marines were searching so hard. But Rouge just smiled at me, said I was panicking over nothing. She knew you would be killed if anyone ever found out who your father was, so she just prolonged her pregnancy. She reassured me that you would be fine and that she could manage on her own. Said she wanted me to keep on sailing the seas, having adventures, exploring all the things she couldn't. I never realised she was saying goodbye to me forever."

"So I took her from you too..." Ace whispered, feeling guilt cripple him at the sight of tears pooling in Shanks' eyes. He had hurt Shanks too by killing his mother. Why had she continued her pregnancy? Wouldn't it have been better for everyone if he had been born and then killed as soon as possible? Maybe he wouldn't have hurt so many people that way...

"No. She died so that her brilliant, kind, brave and wonderful son could live a life she could have been proud of." Shanks said fiercely, gripping Ace's shoulder tightly to try and shake him out of his crushing guilt. The last thing he wanted to was to make Ace feel worse about himself.

"She would always talk about how her child was going to be a pirate, going to see the world. She laughed at all of us whenever we were freaking out about her having a baby- she said her baby would grow up to kick all of our asses any day. She knew you were a fighter, a survivor, before you were born. Don't prove her wrong now.

You are Portgas. D. Ace, you've hidden from the world for eighteen years, carving out your name as soon as you set sail, burning as bright as she said you would, so don't give up on such a wonderful life. And don't you dare throw it all away because you think you killed your mother. She was proud of you whilst you were still kicking her womb, and she'd be damn proud of you right now."

Ace sniffed and tried to turn away but Shanks wouldn't let him. Curling his arm around, he brought the young man into a crushing hug, fierce pride and love surging through him, along with a healthy dose of rage at the state the world had left Ace in.

As for Ace, he could barely believe what he was hearing. It had always been a vague dream that his mother had loved him once. He'd always wondered whether he was shaming her memory or not, doing what he did. So for Shanks to say that she'd be proud of him, with no shred of doubt or dishonesty, meant more to him than he could verbally express. Instead he just clung to Shanks' shirt and tried desperately not to blubber like a baby.

"Trust me little brother, Rouge loved you so much."

"..Little brother?" Ace croaked, pulling away from Shanks' chest after a long pause filled with sniffling. He had never been called 'little brother' from someone outside of Whitebeard's crew before- it left him feeling a tiny bit lost on how to respond.

Thankfully Shanks looked as embarrassed as he felt, lifting his arm from Ace's shoulders to rub at the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Sorry. Before Garp took you, I was pretty excited about having a little brother. Both Roger and Rouge treated me like a family when I had none of my own. Same with Buggy. Our ship was very much like the Old Geezer's in that sense; we were family. You were going to be either our little brother or our little sister. And before I learned that Garp took you, I spent nine years searching all over the Grand-Line and the Blues trying to find you."

"What made you stop?" Ace murmured, trying to assimilate this new information. The idea that while he was struggling to survive, fighting bandits, bears and beggars, Shanks was out looking for him, searching for a brother that could have been dead for all he knew.

"I met a little boy with a terrifying Grandfather who was hiding my brother from the entire world. I fell in love with a little village in East Blue and a little boy who shone like the sun. I knew where you were and I knew that Luffy would be with you soon. I knew you were safe."

Shanks shrugged as much as he could, smiling a soft grin that was so different to the one he usually wore for everyone to see. It was bizarre to imagine that, in another life, Ace might have grown up with his mother and father and crew-brothers beside him, might have not met Luffy unless he had sailed with Shanks, might have never met Sabo at all. But that was the original plan for his life and, as all plans did, it fell apart around them.

Yet, looking at the young man in front of him, and knowing the family he had surrounded himself with, Shanks couldn't be more content with the turn in destiny that brought his little brother back to him. Though he wasn't really little anymore.

"So, Ace, what else did you want to know?"

"Did Mum ever get mad at things?"

"Oh all the time! The words she used to scream at Roger after he'd done something stupid..."


A/N: yeah, I didn't want to leave it there but hey, at least it's an update. Sorry again for such a long break and then not being able to deliver the full chapter but I hope you all understand (and sorry for the amount of fluff I crammed into this one).

Now, several people have complained about the way I handle reviews and how I reply to them. The reason I reply to them the way I do is so that everyone gets a reply and no-one gets left out, even if it does take a while and roughly 10k+ words to reply to you all OTL So, what do you want me to do? Keep replying the way I do, or do you have any suggestions on how I could change it?

See you next time for part 2~

Scarlet~