Genre: Family/Humor/Hurt/Comfort

Warnings: Fluff, language, blood. There are moments near the end that you can take as Romantic AceLu if you squint really hard, but this is intended to be brotherly AceLu. Also, I converted Fahrenheit to Celsius a few times.

My Ball of Energy

Ace stared at the infant in a carrier on the floor as his ears listened to Gramps' loud yelling in the next room with another man. Even with the door closed, it made his ears hurt. The little baby especially didn't like it though and he was squirming about, whining loudly. Ace didn't know who the baby was, only that the other man brought him over. The sound of the TV droning on in the background was a dull sound now and Ace no longer cared for the colorful images playing on the screen.

The yelling reached a peak and there were loud crashes and bangs in the next room. Ace stared at the door, frightened. He'd never heard Gramps get so angry before. The baby didn't like it either and he began to wail. Ace didn't like the sound and covered his ears, hoping to drown it out. It didn't work. The yells only got louder. Ace looked back at the baby and suddenly felt bad for the little thing. It was probably more scared than he was.

Ace jumped off of the couch and moved to sit next to the carrier, staring down at the baby. He wanted to get away from the loud noises coming from behind the closed door. The kitchen was right there and, though there wasn't a door to block out the noise, it was farther away from the noise than the living room was.

Ace grabbed the carrier and began to drag it into the kitchen. The sudden movement startled the baby and he stopped wailing for a moment to look around with wide, still frightened eyes.

Ace pulled him far into the kitchen, where the noise wasn't so loud anymore, and sat down in front of the carrier. The three year old reached out, poking at the baby's belly. The baby sniffled and hiccupped, reaching out. Ace blinked and lifted his hand to the baby's small ones, allowing him to grip onto his fingers. The baby cooed and began to settle down. The loud noises seemed easily ignorable now. Ace smiled down at the baby and was a little surprised to see the baby smile back at him with a big, gummy smile.

There was the sound of doors slamming and feet stomping, startling Ace and the baby began to whine once more. Ace quickly reached up and began to rub his head in a soothing way before he could start to cry again.

Gramps walked in then and stared at the two before walking over and sitting next to Ace.

"Ace, this is Luffy. He's going to be your new baby brother now," Gramps said with a tired voice despite the smile on his face. Ace looked back at the baby and smiled, even if he didn't really understand what was going on.

Ace stood next to the crib, staring through the bars at the crying baby. Ace was now four and Luffy was one. And Luffy was sobbing. Ace felt bad that he couldn't do anything but he didn't know how to work a crib and he didn't want to tip it.

He wished Gramps was here, but he had run out a few minutes ago into a fierce storm, saying that he was going to go pick up some medicine, that it wouldn't take more than a half hour.

Ace didn't know how long that actually was, but it felt very long.

Luffy being sick made it seem even longer. Ace wished Gramps took them with him, but he said it would be faster and safer this way. He looked very upset about leaving them though and told Ace to stay with Luffy. Ace just wished Luffy wasn't stuck behind the bars of the crib.

Luffy's sobs sounded painful. Ace bit his lip before nodding determinedly. He couldn't take this anymore. He moved to grab one of the chairs in the corner of the room, the one where Gramps would always read bedtime stories, and dragged it over next to the crib. He clambered onto it and sighed with relief when he was able to see just over it. Luffy was staring up at him with watery eyes. His cheeks were red but the rest of him was pale and he was drooling more than he usually did, hiccupping as well. "Eshu," He whimpered pitifully, sitting up, but he couldn't do more than that. The baby was ill and moving hurt his head. He just began to cry more. Ace tried to reach him to lift him out, but his arms were too short.

He had to figure out how to get Luffy out.

He remembered Gramps always did something with the left side of the crib and looked over, seeing a weird contraption. He didn't know how it worked so he pushed and pulled and punched while pushing down the crib side until finally it went down.

Ace picked up the baby carefully and, extremely carefully, got off of the chair. He moved to sit on the floor, trying his best to carry the baby as he moved. When he finally sat, he held Luffy against his chest. Luffy sniffled and sobbed lightly, reaching his small, pudgy hands up to Ace, whining his big brother's name, "Eshu". Ace held him close to his chest and hummed a strange, off-beat tune that he could faintly recall hearing before. It seemed to calm Luffy, which made Ace smile. Luffy cuddled himself against Ace, cooing softly. Ace didn't mind the feel of drool on his shirt.

And that was how Garp found them fifteen minutes later, when he arrived frantically, his short hair somehow windblown, freezing due to the terrible storm, but content because he knew that his two grandsons were safe, and Luffy would get better. That was all that mattered to him.

Ace was really happy that he met Sabo.

The boy understood him really well and was actually his age. It was nice to play with someone who could speak at the same level at him. He loved Luffy to death but sometimes the two year old could really get on his nerves.

They actually met at the same daycare. Well, they were only there when preschool ended, but Luffy was there all day.

Right now, they were actually hiding from the two year old and the daycare owners cause they did something mean to the toddler. Ace felt guilty, but he really didn't want to apologize.

So they were sitting in a tree, staring down from the branches.

"We probably shouldn'a done that," Sabo said after a few minutes of silence. Ace sighed.

"I know, but I don't wanna say sorry."

"But won't your Gramps get mad?"

"He can deal with it…Hey, Sabo, did you watch that hero show yet?"

And just like that, the two boys had forgotten about what they did and were laughing over the show they watched and the funny things that had recently happened to them over the weekend.

Ten minutes later, Sabo was about to tell Ace a knock-knock joke when he was cut off by loud, obnoxious laughter.

The two looked up and their eyes widened in shock. They were pretty sure that those were some older boys standing in front of Luffy, laughing at the for some reason soaking wet child, who seemed to be holding back tears.

"Those jerks!" Ace exclaimed, quickly climbing down the tree. Sabo followed right after as Ace ran over to the direction of the group. Then one of them pushed Luffy and the toddler fell back.

Sabo knew they wouldn't get out of this unharmed.

So while Ace pounced and a fight started between the five kids, soon joined by a few other kids Ace and Sabo and Luffy had befriended, Sabo lifted the toddler up and pulled him away from the fight.

"What did they do Luffy?" Sabo asked, kneeling down to be at eye level with the boy. Luffy sniffled and held up two wet pieces of paper. It looked like it was once one piece.

"I was gonna say sorry for make you mad and I drawed a pishure. B-But they pushed me into the kiddie pool and baded it," Luffy sniffled, looking utterly downtrodden as his lips trembled and tears streamed his cheeks. Sabo frowned, feeling guiltier, because honestly Luffy did nothing wrong and tried to apologize for it and just got hurt because of it.

"Stay away from my brother!" Ace suddenly yelled. Sabo looked back and saw him standing there with Law and Kid, both older but they all got along. Ace huffed as he stared after them, crossing his arms triumphantly. But then he blinked and turned around, concerned eyes landing on Luffy. The two year old walked up to him.

"I maded you a pishure, but it's all bad now," The soaking child said, pouting at the two soaked pieces of paper he held in his hands. Ace sighed and pat the child on the head.

"Sorry, Luffy. I shouldn't have done that earlier," Ace said guiltily, not looking Luffy in the eye. The younger boy smiled widely and giggled, hugging his brother around the waist. He heard muffled laughter and looked behind him, glaring at Law with annoyed eyes. Kid just rolled his eyes at the older black haired boys actions while Sabo sighed.

For now, everything was going to be okay.

They had been having a who-could-swing-the-highest contest when Luffy came running toward Ace's swing, forcing the boy to stop and stand, just in time for Luffy to envelop him in a hug, the younger crying loudly.

He stood there awkwardly, mouth opening and closing as he tried to come up with something to say. Nothing came to the six-year-old's mind though. He stared down at the small head of raven hair buried into his chest as arms closed around him tight. The sound of sobbing was muffled against his body.

Ace looked to his blond friend, a look of confusion on his face. The blond, Sabo, stared right back, a little shocked but also concerned. Still, it seemed he didn't know what to do either and he just shrugged.

Ace looked back down and, unable to think of anything else, put his arms around the smaller body. The toddler looked up with big, watery eyes.

"Asce," The boy whined as tears streamed down his red cheeks. Ace registered the fact that there was a scratch on his chin and a forming bruise on his cheek. He inwardly began to seethe as he brought one hand up to brush lightly against the bruise as the other began to rub soothing circles on his back.

"What happened, Luffy?"

Sabo, curious, walked over to stand next to the two brothers. He frowned at the injuries on Luffy's face. The child sniffled and brought one of his fists up to his face to wipe away the tears.

"I-I was playin' in the san'box an', an' some kids took my toys. I triedda get 'em back bu-but they hurted me," The child managed to get out despite his choked-up voice. More crocodile tears fell down his cheeks and he wiped at his face.

Ace and Sabo were both frowning, but it was obvious that Ace was trying to fight of a growl as his lips twitched. He let go of his little brother and knelt down to be at his eye level to get a better look as he smoothed down the little boys hair in a hopefully comforting gesture. He was covered in scrapes, especially his hands, elbows, and knees, and covered in dirt. There was also a little blood at the corner of his mouth. Ace scowled. He looked up at Sabo and the boy nodded.

Ace stood again and ruffled his little brother's hair. The toddler looked up at him with big, confused eyes.

"Where are these guys, Luffy?"

The boy sniffled and Ace used his own shirt to wipe the snot from Luffy's nose. Luffy fused for a second before he pointed his finger in the general direction of the sandboxes. Ace grabbed his hand and pulled him over, Sabo following on the other side of Luffy. There weren't many kids at the sandbox, only three boys around Ace and Sabo's age. But Ace immediately recognized the toys they were playing with as Luffy's – he had been there when Luffy picked them out while Ace had chosen a skateboard for himself. The younger boy had been excited and couldn't stop bouncing in his car seat over the thought of playing with the new toys.

Ace glared.

"Oi!" The three boys turned to them and Ace got even angrier – these were three of the idiots from his and Sabo's class! He saw Sabo glare at them from the corner of his eye. The boys glared right back at him and stood.

"What do you want, Portgas!" One of them said, crossing his arms and trying to look threatening.

"You beat my brother up."

"He was being stupid. We told him to give us these toys and he didn't listen. He deserved it."

Ace growled. He and Sabo looked at each other over Luffy's head and they both nodded, looking back at the other boys. "You need to learn that you can't pick on little kids!"

Luffy could only watch the fight in awe, sniffling as he wiped away his tears. Ace and Sabo were easily winning. Of course, the boy's yelling ended up getting the attention of the adults. Gramps wasn't happy, and neither were the other kid's parents, and everyone ended up having to apologize. But Luffy was happy – his brother got his toys back for them.

Later, while they were waiting next to the bathrooms as Gramps was yelling over the phone about something at work, Luffy hugged Sabo and then Ace. Ace looked down, confused, until Luffy spoke.

"Thanks, Sabo, Asce! You guy's 're really cool!" He exclaimed, smiling widely. Sabo and Ace both smiled at the boy, who tried to snuggle into Ace's chest. He yawned then and tried to rub the sleepiness from his eyes. But Ace turned around and kneeled before him, allowing him to climb onto his back with ease. Within a few seconds, the toddler was sleeping.

A snowball smacked him in the face.

Ace growled, wiping the white snow from his eyes as he glared over at his friends. Most of his friends were older than him, except for Sabo, because everyone else who was seven was a wimp and scared of him.

"I'll get you for that, Marco!" Ace yelled, grabbing some snow from the ground. His blond friend, nine years old, was laughing hysterically. Still, he managed to dodge the snowball Ace threw.

Ace would admit that he was still pleased when it hit Thatch, a ten year old. He tended to overreact about…well, everything. So they were all laughing when Thatch, predictably, screeched like a girl at the unexpected cold feeling. Then Kid got a snowball in the face from Law, causing a mini snowball fight to break out.

They were walking home from school. None of them lived far away from the school, so they all ended up walking. As a result, they were all there for when Ace had to pick Luffy up from the daycare everyday. Last year when he started first grade, Sabo's father ended up hiring a babysitter, so they just went to his house everyday afterschool.

They arrived at the daycare within five minutes, all covered in snow – and not just from the snow falling down on them, especially thanks to Marco. He loved throwing snowballs at everyone, probably because they loved to perpetually annoy him. This was his revenge.

"Asce!"

The raven haired boy grunted as a small force rammed into his back, nearly knocking him over. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at the child, who turned his head up to grin at him. But then, Ace frowned. He unwrapped the small arms around his chest and turned around, grabbing his brother's face and staring at his eye.

"Luffy, why do you have a black eye?"

"Eh? He has a black eye?!" Sabo says, shocked, and they all begin to crowd behind Ace, looking over his shoulders at the four year old. Sure, Luffy's a terribly clumsy person, but he's not so bad that he would give himself a black eye…right?

Luffy sucked in his lips and looked away, looking very nervous. "W-what black eye? I don't have a black eye."

Ace glared down at the child before sighing in annoyance. The boy was awful at lying. He grabbed his little brother's hand and looked up at the daycare, waving at the owner before walking away with his brother and friends.

"Asce, Asce, today Miss Nico let me help make cookies and I has some with me and they're really good but I couldn't eat the dough and I got frosting all over me so I had to change clothes but making cookies, it made the other kids jealous cause they couldn't help but the cookies are really, really good, but not as good as meat because meat's the bestest thing in the world and oh! She let me make a pirate ship and crossbones and we made lots! I gotsta bring home the most though!"

Ace just smiled as his brother rambled and all of the boy's eyes light up at the word "cookies". Still, it was nice to see that the boy could be so happy, even with a black eye.

"Can we have some now?"

Luffy nodded his head enthusiastically. "Yeah, but I made one 'specially for Grampa and you Ace! You gotta let me get those out for you!" Ace nodded, grinning at the younger boy.

But before Luffy could move, there was a strong gust of wind, blowing over all of them and pelting their faces with snow. Luffy slipped on ice and almost fell back, but Ace grabbed the boy and pulled him tightly to his chest.

"My house is right there!" Sabo shouted over the gust. They all got the message and moved toward the house, running as fast as they could without slipping toward the door. The door was opened for them by a tall figure and they all ran inside. They sighed once the door closed.

"Thanks, Lucci," Sabo said, looking up at the teen. He merely shrugged before staring back out at the storm.

"You guys should probably wait until your parents can pick you up. They said it will be snowing really bad for a while and the winds are going to be fast as well."

The older boys collectively sighed.

"I'm gonna call my mom first before she has a freaking heart attack," Kid grumbled, moving to the kitchen where he knew the phone was.

"Wanna play video games?" Sabo asked them after a few silent moments. The boys all grinned and hurried to take off their shoes and extra layers. All of them ran into the living room except for Luffy, who struggled with the zipper of his jacket. Lucci kneeled down to help him pull it off and when it was off, his eyebrow quirked upward with curiosity.

"What happened to you?"

The boy looked down at his arms, or more specifically his bandaged left arm. He looked at the living room where the boys were all yelling over the controllers, growing in volume when Kid entered from another door, before looking at Lucci again.

"There's a mean kid at daycare but I can't tell Ace."

"Why can't you tell Ace?"

Luffy fidgeted a little bit, looking down as he gripped the edges of his shirt. Lucci noticed he was shivering a little then and wondered if he was cold. He looked at the backpack next to the boy and saw a sweatshirt – it seemed like it was Ace's.

"They called me a crybaby and weak. If I go to Ace for help, they'll just make more fun of me."

Lucci hummed exaggeratedly as he hung up the jacket and opened Ace's backpack, taking out the rest of the sweater he saw poking out through the edges earlier. He had Luffy lift his arms and put the slightly large sweater over the boy – okay, it was extremely large and he was practically drowning in it, but he seemed happy to be wearing it.

"You go over with your brother, alright?" Lucci said and Luffy nodded before looking as seriously as a four year old could at Lucci.

"You won't tell Ace?"

"I won't tell Ace."

The boy giggled before thanking Lucci and running into the living room and crawling into his big brother's lap, snuggling into his chest with a grin.

"What is it, Luffy?" Ace asked, totally undisturbed that his brother crawled into his lap even though he was playing Mario Kart. Normally Luffy only crawled into his lap if he was upset or it he was tired.

"'M tired," The boy replied, leaning against his big brother.

"Sleep then – Thatch, how do you keep driving off the edges?! It's not that hard to control!"

Even with all of the shouting and laughing, Luffy easily fell asleep against his big brother's chest.

He was awoken maybe an hour later by a hand on his left arm. He whimpered a little as whoever it was touched the bruised area, and the shaking stopped. "Luffy?" The boy opened his eyes and saw Ace's freckled face staring down at him with concern. "Luffy, what's wrong?" Luffy blinked, confused. The other boys, he noticed, were still playing Mario Kart. "Luffy." Ace shook his left arm again and Luffy winced and bit his lip. Ace stared at his brother and yanked the sleeve up, staring at the bandages underneath. "Luffy, what- oi, what's wrong?"

Luffy was pouting, his eyes watering. Ace frowned and hugged his brother closer to him, allowing Luffy to silently cry into his shoulder. He was really glad that his friends only glanced over once before pretending that they never looked. They knew that lately Luffy had been getting frustrated over crying. Suddenly Luffy muttered something, but it was too quiet for Ace to hear.

"What?"

"I can't tell you," He mumbled, burying his face into Ace's shoulder. Ace frowned, getting angry. He pulled Luffy back and forced the child to look at him.

"Luffy, what happened?"

Luffy bit his lip before speaking. "A kid your age had a snow day and he says he knows you and I annoys him so they hurted me. He calls me a crybaby and weak."

Ace was fuming inside, grimacing. At least now he understood why Luffy didn't tell him how he got hurt.

"Who was it, Luffy?"

The boy bit his lip, averting his eyes. "It was that Anthony kid," The little boy mumbled, fidgeting.

"Anthony?" Ace exclaimed, his anger rising. He thought he already beat that kid up for picking on Luffy in the fall! Guess he didn't get the message.

"What about Anthony?" Sabo asked, pausing the game (despite the protests) and looking at Ace and Luffy.

"He's picking on Luffy again," Ace replied, growling.

"But Ace! Don't fight him! He'll just make fun of me again!"

"He shouldn't be picking on you Luffy! He's my age! If he wants to fight, he can fight me, not a four year old!" Ace looked at his brother as he yelled. Luffy became upset, sucking his lips in. "Don't pout about it!"

"Do you need help beating up this Anthony kid?" Kid asked, looking eager for a fight. But Ace shook his head, crossing his arms.

"I'm gonna do it myself," He said determinedly.

"But Ace," Luffy began to whine, only to cut himself off when he got a sharp glare from his older brother. Luffy sucked in his lips again, his eyes watering, and Ace flinched at the puppy dog look. He glared at his snickering friends as he pulled the younger boy back into a hug.

True to his word, Ace did end up beating up the kid named Anthony. Both of them got in trouble, but Ace told Luffy he didn't care as long as his little brother was safe. Luffy forgot all about the teasing and hugged Ace tightly, chanting "Thank you" over and over to the older boy, who just grinned and hugged him back.

Luffy was holding tightly to Ace's hand, jumping up and down and cheering about all of the candy that he had gotten for Halloween. His bag was being whipped around in his hands and Ace really hoped he wouldn't break it because then the candy would go flying and he'd have to deal with his crying little brother as they tried to get the candy back.

"Ace, how much longer do we have? Can we get more candy?" The five year old looked up at his brother, the pirate hat on his head tilting forward and covering his eyes. Ace lifted his hand (that wasn't covered by a hook) and tilted it back again for the child. They were both wearing pirate costumes and had large crossbones printed across the backs of their jackets. Gramps had wanted them to be Marines, but they were adamant about being pirates, so they got help from Makino, their babysitter, to make the costumes.

"I don't think we have much longer. It's getting late, nah, Sabo?" Ace turned to the blond – also in a pirates outfit – who just nodded.

"Yeah, we have to be back at my house by seven thirty. We'll probably only be able to get three more houses." Luffy whined, but Ace shushed him and told him he already had a lot of candy. "You guys are coming to my house, right?" Sabo turned to the four other boys beside him.

Law – who was dressed as a doctor with fake blood all over his front – nodded. Kidd had a hockey goalie mask shoved onto his forehead, fake blood all over his clothes, and a fake chainsaw in hand. "Where else would I be going?" He looked at Sabo with a raised eyebrow.

"Home?" Marco looked at the red head. His hair was dyed black and he was dressed in a Dracula costume, fake fangs in his mouth. Kid growled at him while Thatch laughed. The brunette was dressed as if he were from the 20s, his hair done up fancy with a hat on his head and a fancy suit to go with it.

"Shut your trap Marco!"

"I don't have to listen to an eight year old."

"You're only one year older than me, you bastard!"

"Hey! Don't swear around Luffy!" Ace kicked his friend in the back, subsequently knocking him over. Kid growled.

"I'll get you for that Portgas!"

Sabo just sighed as the two began to run around, screaming at each other. "They can be so immature," Law grumbled. Marco looked at Law pointedly before shaking his head and looking away, ignoring the glare the raven haired boy sent him. Sabo looked down when he felt a tug on his sleeve and saw Luffy staring up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Sabo, can we get more candy?"

"Yeah. Oi, are you two done yet?" Sabo yelled at the two. Kid was pulling Ace's hair and Ace was biting on the red head's arm. Thatch sighed and walked over to the two, grabbing them by the backs of their jackets and pulling them off of each other.

"You can keep fighting or we can go get more candy," Thatch said, staring at the two meaningfully. The two glared at each other for a moment and then pulled away from Thatch, nodding at the older boy. He grinned.

"Let's keep moving!"

As Sabo predicted, they managed to get to three more houses. By then, it was getting late and they had to hurry to Sabo's house. Lucci – who had been silently watching from the back – had to help them return home.

When they got there, they were cold and tired, but at the same time they were excited. It was a Saturday and Sabo's dad was letting them all sleep over at his house. As soon as they were inside, they ran upstairs, dragging their bags of candy behind them. As soon as possible, they were in pajamas and trading candy.

"Ace, do you have any more skittles?" Sabo looked up at his friend. "I have some Reeses," He waved them in his friends face. Ace looked at the Reeses longingly before looking back down at his bag. He pulled out the candy and tossed it at Sabo, grinning when the chocolate and peanut butter treat landed in his pile.

"Awesome! I got a Jawbreaker!" Thatch exclaimed, holding it up in pride.

"No way! Give it to me!" Kidd yelled, jumping at him.

"No way! It's mine!"

"Give it! I want it!"

"No!"

"Ace, do you have any chocolate?" Luffy asked, pulling on his brother's sleeve. Ace looked around his pile before pulling out two small Hershey bars and handing them to his little brother, who smiled widely and giggled. "Thank you!"

"Hey, guys," Law said, smirking a little. "Do you wanna tell scary stories?"

"Oh, I have a good one!" Kidd yelled. Sabo turned the lights off and the story telling began…

Luffy held his pillow over his head as he curled up in a ball on the ground in his sleeping bag. He trembled as he thought of the stories that the older boys had been telling. He tried not to act scared, but they had really scared him! But he couldn't cry! He was a man and men didn't cry…

To bad his eyes didn't want to listen to him.

Luffy sniffled and pulled the pillow further over his head. Those stupid stories about zombies really scared him! Why did the heroes all have to die?

"Luffy," A voice whispered as something poked at his side. "Luffy?" It repeated again. He lifted his pillow, looking up from under the edges. His dark blue eyes met gray eyes. "Luffy, are you alright?" Ace asked quietly. Luffy sucked his lip in. "Scared?" Luffy nodded almost unnoticeably. Ace stared for a moment before lifting up part of his sleeping bag, looking questioningly at his brother through the dark. Luffy blinked before crawling out from his and into Ace's, burying himself into the older boy's chest. Ace looked around at his friends, sleeping and snoring, before lying back down in his sleeping bag. He made a soft shushing sound as he rubbed soothing circles on Luffy's back.

"Asce, there's no zombies, right?" Luffy mumbled into his shirt.

"There's no monsters. Now, go to sleep, Luffy. Nothing bad will happen. I won't let anything happen to you," Ace whispered to the boy, trying to keep himself awake. He felt Luffy snuggle himself into Ace's shirt. His eyes slowly began to droop as he listened to his older brother's heartbeat and felt his hand move in circles against his back without pause. It was not long until he fell asleep. Ace was about to sleep when a whisper roused him.

"You're a good big brother, Ace."

Ace looked up, his eyes meeting Thatch's. The brunette smiled at him before letting his head fall back onto his pillow, immediately falling asleep. Ace was quick to follow with a smile on his face.

"Ace, do you think we'll catch a fish for dinner?" Luffy asked, sparkles in his eyes as he looked up at his brother, who grinned down at him.

"I hope so. I'm tied of having Gramps' stupid travel food," Ace said sticking his tongue out.

"That stuff's nasty!" Luffy whined, pouting. "I'd rather eat bugs!"

Ace chuckled. "Luffy, you already did eat bugs."

"Oh yeah."

Ace laughed at his little brother, who grinned in response, before both were cut off when the younger yelped. Luffy whined as he grabbed at his face, pulling a straw hat off of it.

"Whose is this?"

"Ah, sorry, that's mine," A guilty voice said from behind. The two boys turned around and came face to face with a man with bright red hair, his clothes from his stomach down wet and dripping, and his skin tanned. "Thanks for catching it." Luffy smiled at the tall man, giggling as he held it out. The man smiled. "Thanks. So, what are you two trying to catch here?" He kneeled down next to the two, looking at them expectantly. Ace was staring at the man warily, but Luffy had no such qualms about talking to him.

"We're trying to catch diner! Grampa's food is really gross," The little boy stuck his tongue out at the thought of it. The man chuckled.

"Is that so? You know, there's some really big fish that way," He pointed further down the river. "I come out here every once in a while and I can always get some pretty big fish down there."

"Really?!" Luffy turned to his brother and, jumping, pulled on his sleeve repeatedly. "Ace, Ace, can we go down there? Please!"

Ace sighed. "Luffy, hold that fishing pole tight," He demanded. The younger boy quickly wrapped both of his hands around it. "Remember what Gramps said? We can't go down that way without him."

Luffy whined and began to beg Ace to go down there, but Ace just yelled at him. The red headed man laughed loudly at the two. Ace turned and glared at him hard – not that it affected the man – while Luffy turned to him and pouted. The pout soon turned into a grin.

"I'm Luffy! Who're you?" The child asked, staring up at the taller man, who grinned down at him.

"My name is Shanks. What's your name?" He asked, looked at the freckled child.

"That's Ace!" Luffy replied, whining again when Ace smacked him over the head. He stuck his tongue out at the older before making a shocked sound. He looked up at his fishing pole, grinning widely as it began to pull. "Look! Ace! Ace, I think I have something!" The child exclaimed, trying not to bounce in place as he began to reel in whatever was on the end of his line.

"Really?" Ace was grinning with excitement as he watched his little brother begin to pull in his line. He gasped when he saw Luffy begin to slip on the slippery rocks, though, and instantly moved to grab him, saving him from taking a plunge. Shanks helped him immediately after, holding onto the rod with Luffy as Ace held his own, watching as Luffy let out cries of joy over his catch.

The fish was actually quite large. And it looked really good. Ace felt really proud of his little brother and ruffled his hair to show him his pride. Luffy grinned up at him.

"Ace! It's really big! We can have a lot of fish for dinner!"

Shanks was laughing at the child's joy. "That's a good catch, Luffy! Is this your first catch?"

Luffy blinked before his smile grew even more. "It's my first fish!" He shouted happily as he held the line the fish was attached to, watching it flop around on the hook with a grin.

Shanks looked back when he heard his name being called and saw his friends waving at him, telling him they had to get going.

"I have to get going, but, I might see you tomorrow, right?"

Luffy nodded with a large smile. Ace watched, still slightly wary, but he still nodded. He watched until the man was gone before he turned back to the river and began to reel in his line.

"Let's go bring the fish to Gramps," He said to his little brother, who cheered, bouncing up and down as he waited for Ace to reel in his line before running towards their camp.

They were camping for a week and a half in total. They met Shanks on the fourth day and ever since, whenever they went fishing, he was there. He would talk to them and laugh with them and even gave them tips about fishing, which thankfully helped them to catch bigger fish.

On the last day, Ace woke up in the tent around midnight. Normally, a small body was curled up next to his, drooling on his shirt. Maybe that was why he woke up uneasy – the little ball of energy wasn't there.

Ace sat up, rubbing at his eyes as he stared at the empty sleeping bag. He looked over at his Gramps, who was so deep in sleep he doubted a nuclear blast would wake him.

Ace grumbled as he stood, slipping on his shoes as he exited the tent. He looked around the dark encampment, grabbing a flashlight from next to the entrance and shining it over their campsite.

"Luffy," He whispered, over and over as he walked around. When his flashlight moved over the fishing gear, it immediately stopped. There were only two poles. They had brought three. He looked back at where they kept their flashlights, realizing the one that Luffy loved to use – red with pirate crossbones decorating it – was missing.

"That idiot!" Ace muttered to himself as he began to run in the direction of the river. He vaguely registered the air was oddly cold for summer as the fireflies flew around him, their light flickering. An owl hooted overhead, the only noise mixing with the sound of his feet pounding against dirt, which soon turned to sand, and then stone, lastly water.

Ace jolted to a stop and flashed the flashlight up and down the river. His heart froze when he saw where his baby brother was – at the place Gramps had told them not to go. Ace backed up onto the shore once more and ran over the slippery rocks to reach his brother. But then the unthinkable happened.

His brother disappeared from his sights, followed by a splash.

Luffy couldn't swim.

"Luffy!" Ace yelled as he froze, shining his flashlight along the river as panic began to settle in him. "Luffy!" He heard frantic splashing and a yelp mix in with the sound of the river moving downhill. "Luffy!" He shouted as soon as he saw the boy and began running after the child.

"A-Ash" His head went under again before he came up once more. "He-" He went under again.

Ace knew it was dangerous to swim at night. Gramps had pounded it into his head to never swim in anything not a pool at night – and even if it was a pool, never be alone or without an adult. He threw all thoughts of safety out the window as he sped up, sprinting down the riverside. There were some rocks he knew he could get onto and grab Luffy from and he didn't care he had to swim to them.

Luffy was further back and Ace could tell he was slowly sinking, so he worked fast. He held the flashlight firmly, knowing it was waterproof, and dove in. The river was quickly bringing him toward the rock. He held his hands out, grabbing onto it, ignoring the water rushing by him fast. The surface was slippery and dark, and he swore he cut his finger, but he managed to climb up it without much of a hassle. He shined the flashlight down the river and saw Luffy literally seconds away. Ace reached out his arm and grabbed onto the small hand sticking out of the dark water without hesitation, holding onto it with a firm grip. The smaller hand held tightly to him as he pulled, up and up, until the small form was on the rock with him.

Ace felt relief and anger swell in him all at once as he helped his little brother to cough up a lot of water – too much water to be in a small boy. He knew his little brother was crying but he turned Luffy to him and punched him over the head, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him.

"What do you think you're doing Luffy?! You know not to go down there!" Ace yelled at his little brother, who was crying heavily as he stared at Ace with shocked eyes. "Don't do that ever again!" Ace shouted as he pulled Luffy to him, hugging him as tight as he could. He felt small fingers dig themselves into his now soaking wet shirt as the smaller form trembled. He knew he was crying.

"Ace? Luffy? Is that you?" A familiar voice called from the bank. Ace directed the flashlight up and saw Shanks standing there. The man's confused look quickly became one of worry. "Don't worry! I'll come get you!"

True to his word, ten minutes later, they were both on solid land. Luffy clutched onto Ace with a death grip, sniffling. Both were shivering from the cold and Ace thought if he looked closely, Shanks was too.

He accompanied them back to their camp and there was Gramps, looking very worried, even more so at the sight of the two boys. To Ace's surprise, Shanks and Gramps seemed to know each other. It didn't look like they got along well, but they seemed to tolerate each other at the moment, likely for Luffy, who was still crying.

A half hour later, they were in warm clothes, covered in blankets, around a fire with hot chocolate in their hands. It really was a good idea to bring thermos'.

Ace doesn't know what happened after that. He had a narcoleptic attack and woke up hours later in his sleeping bag, Luffy cuddled up next to him. But now Luffy had Shanks' straw hat, the red haired man was gone, and Gramps looked annoyed, relieved, angry, and happy all at once.

Ace was going to smack Luffy upside the head.

They were at the hospital right now, Ace's shirt covered in dry blood, as he waited in the waiting room because his little brother, for some stupid reason, decided it would be a good idea to stab himself right under his eye. There had been blood and tears – I'm not crying Ace! I'm a man! Men don't cry! – and an infuriated Garp, but not as angry as Ace because Ace had seen it happen and could do nothing and it pissed him off to no end.

Didn't his brother's stupidity have a limit? Or was his idiocy boundless? If it was, Ace was sure he was going to be gray by the time he hit twenty five, maybe even twenty, because this was ridiculous and who thinks it's a good idea to stab themselves?!

And then there was Luffy, led out by a nurse while the doctor was trying to calm down Garp – good luck to that poor soul Ace thought – while the boy sucked on a lollipop.

At least he wasn't crying anymore.

Luffy spotted Ace immediately and thanked the nurse with an impossibly big smile before running over to where Ace was and sitting on the seat next to the ten year old. The seven year old stared down at his lap, and Ace knew that for once his brother was actually thinking. About what, he didn't know, but right now he didn't care.

"Sorry for scaring you," Luffy whispered. Ace blinked and looked at his brother. Luffy had just apologized. Luffy had apologized. Normally it was Ace doing the apologizing. Now it was Luffy. His little brother looked up at him with big eyes, his lollipop now held between his fingers. "You were yelling at me but you looked really scared…sorry."

Ace struggled with himself for a moment, stuck between smacking Luffy over the head for being all gushy with his feelings because bleh, Ace hated talking about feelings, or hugging the life out of him because he was ok.

He settled with a flick to the forehead and pat the dark locks on the younger boy's head. He gave a small smile before he looked away, crossing his arms with a flush. Then there was a wrapped lollipop in his face. He turned to the little boy, who was grinning up at him with those innocent eyes. Ace took it and vaguely registered it was his favorite flavor, flushing again and avoiding meeting his brother's eyes as he muttered a thank you.

Maybe a ghost or angry spirit had it out for him, because to Ace, Luffy got in trouble more than he thought was humanly possible. He didn't understand how he continuously got himself into these situation, and then he had the audacity to laugh after almost giving Ace a heart attack every single time.

Right now, Ace was staring up at his brother in annoyance, anger, and fear because there was his baby brother, dangling from a tree branch. Of course, Ace was currently climbing said tree to try and reach his brother because that stupid branch was unfortunately, unluckily breaking and Luffy had literally no other foothold to get out of the stupid, dangerous situation he had once again gotten himself into.

Ace pondered over the fact that he might go gray young. Maybe in a few years? Because this was too damn stressful – especially when Gramps just laughed at these perilous situations most of the time and called it training. Training for what?! They were not going into the military, if that's what he though.

And then there was a snap and a crack and Ace cursed – Garp really needs a mouth filter – as he reached out and latched onto his brother's wrist as their friends below ran out of the way of the falling wood. Ace sighed as he looked down at his brother, bleeding from his forehead but still had the balls to smile at Ace despite the death glare Ace was giving him because this was getting ridiculous.

So when they were safe, Ace punched him, because Luffy needed a good punch, and then held him tight because he almost just lost his baby brother again and that really was the worst thing he could think of. Ace needed Luffy. Luffy knew about his lineage – something Ace hated – and still accepted him despite the sins in his blood. Luffy pulled Ace out of a depression over learning who his father really was – he managed to get Ace to smile again, to get Ace to believe that there was good in the world. His little brother did that all for him when he could have easily ignored Ace, especially since they were blood related. But he didn't. He embraced Ace even closer and went on about how he couldn't ask for a better big brother.

Ace wasn't really mad about Luffy being stupid. He was used to Luffy being stupid. Luffy and stupid were, at this point, synonymous with each other. They went together like peanut butter and jelly or milk and cookies. Ace was mad about the situations he got himself into. He wasn't sure that Luffy understood what death was, that he understood how Ace would feel if he was gone. Ace feared it more than anything in this world and he would do anything to prevent it. Even if his friends laughed and called him over-protective, he would not let anything bad happen to his baby brother.

"Ace!" Luffy ran up to his brother from the school entrance. His older brother was standing there, waving. Luffy turned around and waved goodbye to his friends – a long nosed boy, a boy with green hair, a blond kid with swirly eyebrows, and a red haired girl – before sprinting up and slamming into his brother. Ace grunted at the impact as he began to lead his brother away with Sabo, Kid, and Law.

"Hey, Luffy. What's got you so excited?"

"Because someone left a lot of chocolate and cookies on my desk for Christmas! It was a secret Santa! It wasn't Zoro or Sanji or Usopp or Nami and they were all angry, I dunno why though, cause it's chocolate! How can you get angry over chocolate?"

Oh, Luffy, if only you knew, ran through Sabo, Law, and Kid's head's at the revelation. That must be one major crush someone has on Luffy, especially for a kid. It was kind of weird. Especially since this was not the first time this has happened.

It was comical to watch Ace, though. Whenever they had sleepovers – like they did that night – and Luffy was asleep, Ace would rant about this supposed secret admirer. Thatch always got a kick out of teasing him for his brother complex, but the kid didn't care. And Sabo's cousin Marco would always smirk and chuckle. Kid would just outright laugh while Law would purposely make somewhat lewd comments, just causing Ace's ire to explode into flames. Like right now.

"I'm going to kill whoever it is that keeps giving Luffy these gifts. It's getting out of hand!" Ace yelled, arms crossed as smoke practically came from his ears.

Thatch laughed. "C'mon, Ace, aren't you overacting, just a little bit? Is a little crush that bad, or do you just want Luffy to yourself?" Thatch smirked, only to get a pillow in his face.

"Luffy is nine! And he's getting legitimate love letters in the forms of poetry! Poetry! Luffy doesn't even understand poetry!" Ace pulled at his hair. "They're not innocent poems either! What person would tell a nine year old all of that?" Ace shivered and moaned in despair. "They're going to defile Luffy!"

"Oh, deeper, faster, please."

Ace's eyebrow twitched as he glared at Law with the heat of the sun. The other boy just smirked at him while the others were all staring at him with shock and amusement, trying not to laugh.

"Law, you bastard!"

And eventually, it would wake Luffy up, like it did right then.

They all quieted down as the child grumbled, poking at Ace. "Ace, why're ya bein' so loud," The youngest of them all whined, sleepy eyes glancing up at his brother. Ace sighed as he flushed lightly, glaring daggers at Law. But then he turned back down, ruffling his brother's hair.

"It's nothing, Luffy. Go back to sleep," Ace said softly. And as always, Luffy quickly fell back asleep, leaning against his brother, snoring softly.

Ace vowed to himself that whoever this poem-writing, obsessive person was, they would not get to have Luffy.

"Ace! Ace! Can I go put the water on the stove? I'm starving," Luffy whined as he bounced up and down, walking backwards in front of his brother. Ace sighed and gave a nod. Luffy immediately ran off.

"Luffy! Do not turn on the stove!" He yelled after the smaller, who yelled back his assent before he disappeared further down the street into their driveway.

"He's such a ball of energy. I doubt he'll ever calm down," Thatch commented. He was holding some bags of groceries, like Ace was, as he walked next to the young teen. Ace snorted.

"The day he calms down will be a miracle," Ace muttered while next to him, Sabo snickered. He turned to glare at his friend. "What are you laughing about, Sabo? At least I don't have to live with stuffy Stelly."

Sabo's face immediately soured. "Please don't bring up my obnoxious cousin. I don't understand why Dad took him in."

"Well, Sabo, your Dad is crazy," Marco said. "I mean, why does he even wear that stupid pink jacket all the time?"

Sabo never got to answer as a loud boom was heard, echoing down the street. Ace immediately looked to his house where he saw the beginnings of quickly moving flames on the bottom floor. He didn't have to think. He knew Luffy was in danger.

Ace dropped everything and sprinted forward, ignoring his friends, who he heard screaming his name. His feet pounded against the pavement as he ran, approaching his house. He ran over his neighbors lawns as he made his way to the back door, closest to where Luffy should be.

The door was hot, but he didn't care as he pulled it open. His face contorted with fear as he looked in on the house, burning fast. He put his arm over his face and ran in, screaming Luffy's name as he looked around the orange surroundings. There was no sign of the boy, something that immediately caused his heart to pound even faster than it already was.

He ran through the kitchen, careful of burning pieces of floor or ceiling falling from above, as he made his way to the hall. He only vaguely registered that the water was on the stove and it wasn't light, so something else caused the fire.

He looked right down the hallway, seeing nothing except quickly encroaching flames. Looking left caused his heart to momentarily pause as he saw his baby brother lying on the ground, next to the bathroom which was, at this point, completely devoured by flames.

"Luffy," He whispered worriedly to himself, trying not to use too much oxygen as he ran over, kneeling next to his brother. Luffy was curled in on himself, shaking, but the second he felt the larger hands on him, he looked up. There were tears in his eyes.

"Ace!" He exclaimed, reaching out for the elder, who pulled him into a hug. "Ace, I don't know what happened! I just flipped the switch and it – it exploded!" Luffy clutched onto the elder as Ace slowly began to stand, holding Luffy close as he did. Ace could feel the younger hyperventilating and heard the panic and desperation in his voice increase. He took Luffy by the shoulders and shook him.

"Luffy! You need to calm down! Nothing is going to happen, do you understand? Calm down!" Ace shook him hard until the hyperventilating stopped. Luffy nodded shakily and Ace nodded, taking the boy's hand as he turned back to the hall. "Don't let go of my hand, Luffy!"

Ace realized that the kitchen was no longer maneuverable, so he brought them to the living room. He cursed when he saw the pile of rubble in front of the door leading outside and inwardly cursed. The only way out was the window, but it wasn't able to be opened. He felt Luffy clutch his hand harder and move ever so slightly closer. Ace was getting scared. He had to figure out how to get out.

And that was perfect!

His eyes fell next to the fireplace, where they had several of those old fireplace pokers, all made of metal. He grabbed one and went up to the window, climbing onto the sofa and pulling his arms back.

"Cover your eyes Luffy!" He shouted as he covered his own, swinging one handedly at the window. He heard it shatter as glass went flying everywhere, but when he opened his eyes, he grinned. He turned to Luffy and ushered him onto the couch and was about to help him out of the window when Thatch showed up.

"Ace, you reckless little bastard, what were you thinking – Luffy! Oh God, give him here," Thatch exclaimed, taking the ten year old carefully and carrying him to safey before turning back to Ace. The thirteen year old had already climbed out the window, but he was on the ground and he looked like he was very pained. Thatch quickly ran over to him and helped him over to the sidewalk, where Marco, Sabo, and Luffy were, and set him down next to the younger boy.

"Ace you idiot! What were you thinking?!" Sabo grabbed his shirt and shook him hard. Ace's head shot up and he glared.

"I was thinking I was going to lose my baby brother!" Sabo stared at him, shocked, before his face contorted in relief, frustration, and fear all at once. He pulled Luffy and Ace into a hug and Ace could tell the blond was shaking.

"You two are going to be the death of me," Ace's closest friend muttered quietly. Ace smiled softly as he patted Sabo on the back.

"Thought you were used to our stupidity by now," Ace joked with a grin, only causing Sabo to laugh and Luffy to grin, leaning into his brother as best as he could.

To tell the truth, both were injured in the fire. When the explosion happened – which was due to faulty old wiring – Luffy had taken the brunt of it in the chest. And when they were escaping, some ceiling came down and smacked Ace dead center in the back. They scarred their skin but neither seemed too worried about it. That is, until Garp came in and started screaming at them for reckless behavior even though Ace kept reminding him that for once, Luffy was not at fault. Still, they were both scolded heavily and Ace was grounded for only God knows how long. It's Garp they're talking about here. For all Ace knew, he was grounded until he died.

Still, Ace was happy about what he did. Luffy was safe and nothing was going to happen to him. Not while Ace was around.

The birds were chirping and the sun was shining down on the expanse of green. They were on a hill, overlooking the town on the seaside, the shimmering water beautiful despite making his eyes hurt with its brightness. But he didn't want to look away. It was rare that he got to see the ocean, so this was something he didn't want to miss, like Makino's cooking on Christmas.

"You like the ocean, Luffy?" He turned around, chocolate still in his mouth, and looked up with large eyes at Ace. Luffy grinned as he finished his chocolate and began to lick the rest of it off of his fingers.

Luffy was really happy that Thatch was able to (legally) drive them all now (even if they had to bring Law's weird older sister Hammock with them). They had all saved up money to stay in this town for a few days during the summer. It was their third day and right now, they were at a baseball field.

"Law, what are you doing?! You're not even trying to hit the ball!"

Luffy looked back at the field and grinned in amusement as he saw Law standing there at home plate like a wilted flower. Their friend really hated the heat and today, it was ninety degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius).

"It's too hot to move," The teen groaned. Thatch, who was on the pitchers mound, was yelling loudly at him and for some reason Ace covered his ears. It's not like he hasn't heard them swear before, but Ace was just a weirdo like that.

Still, he could hear Kid yelling. Kid was always really funny when he got angry. His whole head turned red and then he kind of looked like a turnip or a beet. Of course, Kid was really angry when he told him this, but then Thatch brought up how Luffy called Marco pineapple head and birdman. Still, now they called Kid turnip head.

Luffy suddenly felt a weight against his side and the hands disappeared and he realized that Ace had a narcoleptic fit again. Luffy laughed quietly and put his brother's head in his lap, something he did whenever Ace had a fit. He'd been doing it since he was little and Ace told him he remembered waking up to Luffy hugging his head like a teddy bears when they were really small.

"Luffy, this is what you wanted, right?" The boy looked up and grinned as he took the drink from Sabo, who sat down next to him. He looked down at Ace and laughed. "Man, it must suck to be narcoleptic like that," Sabo mused as he sipped his own drink, looking out at the field. "They're really bad at baseball," He commented quietly, making Luffy laugh again.

"It's funny to watch!"

"Shut up, Luffy!" Kid screamed from where he was as catcher, currently fighting with Law. Thatch sighed, undoing his ponytail and running his hand through his hair.

"How are you two fighting when it's so hot out?"

Marco whispered something to Thatch, causing the older to burst out laughter, while Sabo turned to Ace.

"They're all crazy."

Luffy just laughed once more.

"Luffy~" A voice sang. Luffy noticed all of his friends shivered and paled as they all turned around, but Luffy didn't understand why. Hammock was weird but she wasn't scary.

"Hi Hammock!" He raised his hand and waved, smiling brightly at her. Why was she blushing? And next to him, Sabo was muttering something under his breath. She approached and glared down at Sabo.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" She asked and Luffy could only laugh as he stammered.

"My sister is going to be the death of us all," Luffy heard Law moan in terror from the field. The next thing he knew, Hammock had taken off her high-heeled shoe and aimed it at his face. There was a yelp and curses, but he ignored it as she knelt down before him.

"Luffy, I brought you some jerky. I remember you talking about how you really wanted some so I went and bought it for you."

"Really! Thank you, Hammock!" Luffy cheered, smiling widely at the woman as she handed him the jerky. And why was she blushing again? Her eyes looked really weird too – they were all big and sparkly and he thought he saw hearts floating around her head. "Hammock, are you alright?" Now she was muttering about marriage and next to him, he thought Sabo was turning green and maybe even a little blue. Next thing Luffy knew, he was enveloped in warm arms and his face was stuffed between boobs. He couldn't really breathe, but Hammock's grip was tight and there was no way he was getting out of it. And she was saying something really happily above him but he couldn't really tell what it was.

He was yanked backwards and he was leaning against Ace's chest. He swore he heard hissing and growling. Luffy looked up at Ace, who was glowering at Hammock, who was glaring, and both seemed to be on fire.

"Ace, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Luffy. This bitch just doesn't understand I'm not letting her have you."

"Letting me? You don't seem to understand. He's already mine. I will marry him and there is nothing you can do to stop it, Ace," She hissed out angrily like a snake. Luffy felt Ace bristle (sometimes Luffy wondered if Ace was part cat) and shudder behind him, growling.

"He's not yours. He's my baby brother and you are a pedophile for wanting to marry him! He's eleven, you psycho! I won't let you touch him!"

"Pedophile?! Psycho?! At least I'm not a pyromaniac, you male beast!"

They were yelling really loudly now and both of them had one of Luffy's arms in their hands, pulling on him. Luffy just wanted to eat his jerky. It was right there lying on the ground in front of him and he may have been a contortionist, but there was still no way to reach the jerky.

"Oi! Let me have my beef jerky!" Luffy whined, and both of them smiled at him. They reached down and grabbed the bag at the same time and Luffy swore he saw lighting strike when their eyes met, and then they started fighting again, this time over the jerky and Luffy and why weren't the others giving him his beef jerky?!

Then something horrible happened.

They ripped his beef jerky bag in two. Luffy watched, horrified, as the beef jerky went flying up in the sky and both of them stared at where the bag once was in their hands as it all landed on the ground far from them. They all watched, horrified, as a dog came by and snatched it all up before running away with the jerky in it's mouth, and Luffy swore it smirked at him as it swallowed it whole, to it's owner.

Luffy wilted.

"My beef jerky," Luffy whined. He was pretty sure he heard Law and Sabo yelling at Hammock and Ace respectively while Thatch and Marco tried to give Luffy some other food, but he just wanted his beef jerky.

Later that night, they had just left an Irish pub for dinner. Luffy really liked the burgers and steak they served at that pub. He still wanted more food, but he wasn't allowed to have more than forty dollars worth of food, not counting desert. But now he was tired and he just wanted to sleep, but they had to walk back. It wasn't terribly far, but the day was filled with adventure. After the whole incident at the baseball field, they went to the beach and walked along it's perimeter before actually settling down and finding a place to keep their stuff until the sun began to set.

Luffy yawned and rubbed at his eyes as he looked up at the town clock. It was around ten or eleven. He couldn't tell, his eyes were blurry with sleepiness. Maybe that's why there was a drunk man over there and some people making out on that bench.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a hand on his head. He looked up and saw Ace look down at him and grin before kneeling before Luffy. Getting the message, Luffy hopped onto his back and buried his face into the teen's shoulder. Even if Ace did end up losing Luffy's beef jerky, he still loved his brother.

Luffy let his head fall to the table with a groan. He really hated homework. Normally, he understood it, and he would often hear people whispering about how it was unfair that he was an idiot and a genius at the same time, whatever that meant. He especially loved math and science. But right now, he was getting sick, he was tired, and he had, once again, been beaten up by Ace during their daily fights. He was happy that Ace was always helping him to get stronger, but right now, he wished they postponed the fights for tomorrow.

Ace walked into the kitchen then and grabbed an apple from a bowl on the counter. He looked around and when his eyes landed on Luffy, he blinked curiously. It was odd for Luffy to not be done with his homework, especially at this hour. He walked over and poked at his brother, who grunted and swatted at his hand. Ace's brows furrowed slightly.

"You alright, Lu?" He asked, pulling a chair over and sitting down next to his brother.

"I don't get it," Luffy whined, staring at his brother with upset eyes. Ace blinked. His brother didn't understand his homework? But it was math, and the kid was pretty good at math.

"What is it?" Ace asked, grabbing the sheet from under Luffy's head and looking at it. It was fractions. Ace blinked. Luffy loved fractions. He used them all the time to try and get more food than everyone else! Then, there was some of that stupid (a*a) + (b*b) = (c*c). What was that again…the Pythagorean theorem, and if he remembered correctly, Luffy liked that too. It helped him when he was aiming things at people's (Ace's) heads in water gun fights or bouts of brotherly guerilla warfare. "What don't you get about it?"

"I don't know. I'm just having a hard time," Luffy whined, sniffling and coughing.

"I can help you," Ace said. Luffy immediately shot up, staring at him with a grin.

"Really?!"

"Yeah, but, you have to go to bed right after. You look like you're getting sick," Ace said, pointing the pencil at Luffy. The younger grinned and nodded enthusiastically. Ace grinned back and turned down to the problem. "Let's begin."

An hour later, Ace realized he had really underestimated the amount of homework that Luffy had. Still, he had helped his brother to finish it all…only for said little brother to get sick right after they finished. So now Ace was slowly lowering his brother into his bed. He thought something was wrong earlier during their spar, but too late now. At least he could rest now. There was a bowl on the nightstand and the room was dimly light as he lifted the covers and tucked them up tightly around Luffy. Ace felt his forehead and frowned at the heat he felt. Luffy leaned into his touch, mumbling something about how his cool hand felt good on his forehead. Ace smiled fondly as he kept his hand there.

"You got to go to sleep Luffy, alright?" Luffy nodded as he seemed to sink down into the mattress until he was in a deep sleep. Ace smiled softly and chuckled a little as his brother immediately began to snore with a little drool and he swore he heard him mumble something about meat. He ruffled his hair softly before standing. He moved to his bed and grabbed his pajamas and went to take a shower. He hoped he didn't get sick, because then that would leave Gramps caring for them, and then Ace was sure they would go to sleep in bed and wake up in the woods.

He took some Vitamin C before he went to bed, just to make sure.

"Ace, I'm fine," Luffy whined from Ace's back. The young teen was covered in scrapes, bruises, and he was bleeding a little from his forehead and his mouth. Ace sighed angrily.

"Luffy, I know you beat those guys, but you twisted your ankle, remember? Besides, you need to get patched up. Just wait until we get home. What were you thinking, taking on high schoolers? You're only thirteen, Luffy!" Ace scolded as he walked along the street to their home. The setting sun made them appear in shades of orange, red, gold, and yellow. Since the sun was behind them, it made them shine.

"They were messing with my friends! No one can mess with my friends!"

Ace sighed, slightly annoyed. He understood where Luffy was coming from, but he took on eighteen year olds. He was lucky that Ace showed up when he did to help because otherwise, he would've been beaten badly. Still, Ace had to admit that Luffy was getting strong. He was pretty proud of his brother. He had been able to take down three of the seven guys today. That's pretty good, considering the age and size difference of Luffy and his opponents.

Ace opened the door and walked in, heading immediately for the bathroom. He set Luffy down on the toilet and demanded that he stay put as he took out the first aid kit. Luffy scowled (pouted) and crossed his arms, looking away from his brother as he took out the Hydrogen Peroxide and began to put it on the worst cuts.

"Ow! That hurts Ace," Luffy whined, glaring at his brother. Ace grabbed Luffy's cheek with one hand and pulled it hard.

"It's your own fault for getting hurt, idiot! Deal with it!" Ace smacked him over the head and ignored his whining as he went back to treating the wounds. He put Neosporin on some of the cuts as well as he bandaged up his brother. He ended up wrapping Luffy's ankle, hoping to at least stabilize it. Luffy was practically covered in Band-Aids and bruises at this point, but there wasn't much that could be done for the bruises.

"That should be everything. Now, wash the blood off and go change. Don't take a shower until later, alright? We have to reapply the Band-Aids after that," Ace said as he stood, beginning to put away the first aid kit, but he was stopped by Luffy.

"But Ace has a cut too."

Ace blinked and looked down at his arm where there was, indeed, a cut. It was long and it was somewhat deep, but Ace didn't notice it. It barely stung when he moved his arm. He supposed he should've realized because of the dried blood, though.

Luffy put the Hydrogen Peroxide on the wound for Ace, followed by Neosporin and then he had to wrap the wound because there was no way an actual Band-Aid would be able to cover it. Luffy grinned when he was done.

"Now Ace can feel better too!"

Ace blinked down at his little brother before he ruffled his hair, smiling fondly. Luffy laughed until Ace unexpectedly pulled him into a headlock and gave him a nuggie on the head. Luffy grunted as he laughed and tried to pull away, but Ace was too strong.

Though he would never admit it, Luffy was actually pretty happy that Ace came to help when he did, because otherwise, Luffy had a feeling he would lose, and that wouldn't help anyone, now, would it?

Ace was really happy that his body temperature was normally higher than normal. It helped him a lot when the weather was cold as it was, especially this winter. Some winters there was almost no snow and the weather stayed around 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 Celsius), but others there was constant snowfall and snow covered the ground, sometimes up to three feet of it, and the weather was around zero degrees Fahrenheit (-17 Celsius).

Luffy, on the other hand, did not like the cold. He absolutely loved the snow, but he was a wimp when it came to cold weather. He was so cold right now that he had to give Luffy his scarf.

Well, he wasn't really wearing it right now, but they were in a heated mall right now. It was decorated in every manner possible for Christmas – there were colorful lights hung around the inside perimeter of the walls and there were fake Christmas trees with fake snow with fake presents spread around the mall. And then there was obviously Santa and his elves. It was only the start of December too.

Still, they had to get Christmas presents. They had gone in a group, with Sabo, Marco, Thatch, Kid, and Law. Luffy was going to go with his friends later in the week, but he wanted to come today as well.

Probably because he knew that they had really good food around this time of year.

"It's so difficult to even try and shop for Hancock," Law groaned. They had just gotten there and already Law was grumbling about his sister.

"It can't be that hard, can it?" Luffy asked, looking up at the man. He glared at the younger.

"This is Hancock. Whenever I buy her something, it's the wrong size, the wrong color, the wrong brand, the wrong design, not what she wanted, or she doesn't like the store I get her a gift card for. Shopping for women is unbearable," Law put his fingers on the bridge of his nose and pinched, sighing. Kid snorted next to him.

"I'm glad my Mum's nothing like that. I can get her jewelry and she'll be fine."

"Yeah, Koala's not hard to shop for either," Sabo said, looking around. "Then again, it's probably easier since we have the same interests."

"You guys don't know what it is like to shop for a shopaholic," Law grumbled. Marco rolled his eyes next to him.

"Stop complaining, Law. It's not going to be the end of the world."

"It's Hancock!" Luffy had the balls to laugh right then, which just caused Ace to smirk even wider at Law's misery. "What are you laughing at? You have to shop for Vivi, Robin, and Nami, don't you?" Law asked, glowering at the youngest teen. Luffy just grinned up at him, carefree.

"Nami likes anything to do with tangerines and anything expensive, or even something about the weather. Vivi really likes ducks and Robin likes anything having to do with history and the color purple."

Law's eyebrow twitched as they looked at Luffy, shocked.

"You actually know what you're getting for your friends?" Thatch asked, only getting a nod in response.

"Yeah. I'm only going shopping with them later in the week to pick up some last minute stuff. Neh, Ace," He began, suddenly turning to his brother. "I have to go get some stuff before it sells out. Usopp warned me about all the sales and told me I should hurry. Can I go ahead?"

Ace sighed. "Yeah, you can go ahead. But," He began, grabbing his brother before he ran off. "I want to see you in an hour and a half at the food court. You hear me? That's around six thirty. You got that, Luffy?" Luffy nodded enthusiastically and Ace ruffled his hair before lightly pushing him forward. "See ya soon, Luffy!" He shouted after the boy, who waved back at his older brother before running off. Ace sighed. "At least now I can get his gift without him knowing what it is."

"What are you going to get him?" Sabo asked, turning to his brother. Ace turned to him with a grin.

"He really likes that Romance Dawn series, but he's spending all his money on his friends right now and has none to get any of the other books. I'm going to get the latest ones for him."

Sabo grinned. "That's a good gift. He really likes those books." Ace laughed and grinned back at Sabo.

"So, where should we go first, then?" Marco asked, and they all looked around. Ace immediately spotted a jewelry/accessory store.

"Well, since you guys have to get stuff for girls, want to try that store first?" Ace pointed over at the store. Law sighed deeply.

"Let's hurry to get this over with."

An hour later, after shopping in book stores, jewelry and accessory stores, clothes stores, game stores, and sports stores, they were waiting at the food court. They were all generally surprised at how fast they were able to find goods – well, except for Law. He had to go through four stores alone before he found something for Hancock while the others went to stores to try and get other gifts.

"I can't believe Stelly likes this Soap Opera crap," Kid said, holding a DVD box set of a TV show. Sabo sighed.

"He's stingy about not getting anything for Christmas so I have to get him something, otherwise he'll have my head. Not even Dad wants to deal with his whining."

"I don't blame you, yoi. He's really annoying," Marco said, looking through his bags. Thatch looked over his shoulder into the bags.

"What are you looking for?"

"I have a gift card to some alcohol store along with this sake I want to give to Pops. Ah there it is," Marco sighed in relief. They all looked up when they heard Ace groan in frustration, annoyance, and anger. "Calm down, Ace. I'm sure he's on his way. It's only been ten minutes since six thirty."

"I know, but this is Luffy. For all I know, he got in trouble with mall security and you know that's a possibility, it happened before, so don't laugh."

Sabo sighed. "Ace, he'll be fine. Oh, isn't that him?" Sabo moved closer to Ace and pointed at the figure they could easily point out due to his red jacket. Ace was really glad that Luffy's favorite color happened to stand out easily. It helped when he got lost. Ace sighed, relieved.

"Oi, Luffy!" He threw one arm in the air and waved. He saw his brother grin and begin to run toward Ace. Just then though, he tripped over something and bumped into someone. Ace sighed. "He's such a klutz," he trailed off slowly and quietly, his blood running cold as he watched the scene with slow motion. Luffy turned to apologize to the man but out of nowhere, the man pulled out a knife and stabbed his precious baby brother. They all saw the look of pain and shock on Luffy's face and the shoppers around the two screamed in fear. He pulled the knife out and Luffy dropped his bags, beginning to curl in on himself.

Ace thought he screamed his brother's name as he ran to his brother. The man was running and he vaguely registered his friends going after him. Ace dropped his bags as he reached Luffy, arms reaching out for the teen right before he hit the ground. Ace still couldn't hear anything. He was just focused on Luffy, who was bleeding. There was too much blood.

Ace looked fearfully at his brother, trembling in Ace's larger arms. He was gasping for breath and his eyes were glazed over with pain. Ace pressed his hand against the wound but then Law was there, taking off his own jacket and helping to press that against the wound.

"Asce," Luffy whispered, pained, the only thing Ace heard, and Ace's eyes widened. Luffy hadn't called him that since they were little and he was scared of the dark and monsters and needed Ace to protect him from bullies who bullied him because he was Ace's brother. He hadn't called Ace that since he was little and cried because of the smallest things.

The blood of his brother was spilling slowly out of his wound, pooling on the ground and approaching their bags. It glittered in the Christmas lights and camera flashes. It made Ace feel physically sick.

Ace felt tears stream down his cheeks as he gently held Luffy's head. "I'm right here, Luffy. Ace is right here," He whispered, rubbing his hand over Luffy's back in soothing circles. "You need to stay with me Luffy, okay? Luffy, do you hear me? Are you excited for Christmas this year?" Ace didn't expect Luffy to talk back, but whatever happened, he knew the teen couldn't close his eyes right now. If he did, he knew Luffy might not wake up.

He just prayed help got there soon.

It was after ten o'clock at night. It smelled of cleaning chemicals and the walls and floors were a sickening white. Ace was hunched over in an uncomfortable chair, his hands clenched together so tight his knuckles were white. He didn't dare to look down at his own shirt or at his hands, both of which were covered in his brother's blood.

There was a hand rubbing along his back and he vaguely registered the fact that the police were still there, talking to Thatch and Marco.

Three hours. They'd been waiting for over three hours, waiting for news about Ace's little brother, to know if he would make it or not. Ace felt sick to his stomach, knowing his brother was hurting and he was unable to help. It was the worst feeling in the world.

He hated that man. What reason was there to stab his brother? He bumped into him, yes, but he turned around to apologize. He was obviously still a child. So why? There was no reason for this. Ace wished he could've punched the man until he was unconscious, but apparently Sabo, who was like another brother to Luffy, took care of it.

Ace stilled wished he could punch him, though.

"Family of Monkey D. Luffy?"

Ace's head shot up and he saw a nurse standing in the doorway, staring at him with kind eyes. He stood and looked at his friends, nodding at them, before walking after the nurse with them right behind him.

"Your name is…"

"Ace. Portgas D. Ace."

She smiled at him. "He's awake. He asked for you right away," Ace blinked in shock.

"Is he okay? Nothing's wrong, right?"

She shook her head. "He was really lucky. The spine was missed as were major organs and arteries. It will scar and he will be on bed rest for at least a week, but we expect him to make a full recovery."

Ace felt all the tenseness from his shoulders leave. She smiled and he felt someone – Sabo, he thought – hold him up from behind as he felt his knees almost give out on him. Ace gulped as he smiled at his blond friend in thanks before turning back to the nurse.

"Can we…"

"Yes, you can see him, but, you must be quiet. Also, make sure he doesn't move. He keeps squirming around. We don't want him to reopen his stitches. Here's his room," The nurse stopped and looked at Ace. "Good luck."

Ace sent her a shaky smile as she walked away before turning back to the door.

"Ace, do you want to go in first?" Sabo asked, right before he opened it. Ace felt unable to speak and only turned to them and nodded. Sabo gave him a smile and patted him on the back. "Just tell us when we can come in."

Ace smiled. "Don't worry. I will."

Ace opened the door and stepped in, closing it softly behind it and internally thanked his friends thousands of times for letting him enter alone first. Absent mindedly, he wondered where Garp was. Maybe he was the one in charge of this case. Ace wouldn't be surprised.

"Ace!"

Ace looked at the bed, where he saw Luffy leaning against the bed. His brother was pale from blood loss and he looked exhausted, but, his smile was still bright like the sun and managed to warm Ace's heart.

Ace speed walked over to Luffy's side and, minding his injury, pulled him into a protective hug. Luffy brought his hands up to clench at Ace's shirt. Ace felt drops of water hit his neck and he smiled shakily as his own tears fell from his own eyes.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Luffy," He whispered, rubbing up and down on the boy's back when he felt him start to shudder with his cries.

"I'm sorry Ace. I'm sorry. I thought I was going to die and I couldn't do anything and I know I scared you. I'm so sorry," Luffy mumbled into his shoulder. Ace quickly made soft shushing sounds, hoping to calm the younger.

"Luffy, none of this is your fault. You don't have anything to be sorry for, alright? You're not at fault for any of this," Ace said to the other teen. He pulled back from the hug and cupped his brother's cheeks, wiping away the tears in his eyes. He smiled through his own tears. Luffy turned his big eyes up to Ace, who chuckled softly at the apologetic, regretful look in them. "Luffy, you don't have to apologize, alright?" Luffy nodded again and sniffled. Ace kissed the top of his head, something he hadn't done in years and only did when Luffy was really upset. He let his brother and himself cry for a few more minutes until he finally calmed himself. "Luffy, the others really want to see you. Can I let them in?" Luffy nodded with a grin against Ace's chest. Ace grinned and gently ruffled his hair before standing and moving to open the door for his friends, who immediately, quietly swarmed the room and crowded Luffy.

At this moment, Ace knew he had never felt so scared or so relieved before in his life.

On Christmas morning, after their presents were opened and Garp had taken probably one hundred pictures, Ace and Luffy were both sitting next to each other, leaning on one another. It was snowing outside and they were close to the fire, wrapped in blankets.

"Thanks, Ace," Luffy said, his eyes drooping with fatigue. Luffy was easily tired after the stabbing, but they weren't surprised. He lost a lot of blood and though nothing vital was hit, it still hurt for him to move about. "I really wanted those Romance Dawn books. Now I can catch up with what I missed!" He grinned up at his brother who laughed softly.

"No problem. I love what you got for me. How did you know I wanted that hat?" He said, looking at his little brother with raised eyebrows. Luffy laughed.

"You stared at one page in one of our magazines for ten minutes. It wasn't hard to figure out what you wanted."

Ace flushed a little, annoyed that he had been caught staring at a hat in a magazine, before smiling and putting an arm around his brother. He kissed the top of Luffy's head as his brother had a narcoleptic fit, something he had become prone to having. Ace chuckled. It was odd seeing Luffy tired like this, but he knew that as soon as he was fully healed, he'd see the ball of energy once again.

"Merry Christmas, Luffy."

AN: I know it's late, but to all who celebrate it, Merry Christmas! I know I should be working on my other stories, but on the 24th, this plot bunny invaded my brain and refused to be ignored. This is my first oneshot too! I feel proud! Especially since it's so long. I don't think I know how to write short. Everything I write feels long.

And yes, if you haven't guessed, they live in New England. That is the weather here. Recently it was like, two degrees, without snow for once, and I'm not even in the north of New England. I went to Quebec last year and I have to say, you Canadians have freaking nerves of steal. My class (since I went with my French class) all looked like marshmallows, all bundled up with like five layers, and then there were Canadians walking around in just jeans, some in shorts. I don't know if I would survive one winter up there...

I hope you guys liked this one! And I know I said it twice before, but remember, I have a poll open for my next 2 stories! It's open until January 13th!

Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review! :)