Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

Luffy was bored. Extremely bored. It was raining and no one was home. He ignored the pangs of loneliness that travelled trough his chest as he lay sprawled across the couch. In no way was this supposed to be a day for boredom. All of his friends were busy, he knew.

Zoro had all-day training rounds with Kuina. Nami was on a trip with Nojiko to a special weather class thing-Luffy hadn't really paid attention to that explanation. Usopp was on a hunting trip with his father. Sanji had to work at the Baratie. Robin was in Mexico doing some excavation stuff. Franky was working on some new crazy project. Chopper was working with Dr. Kureha on a new vaccination. And Brook was on a tour around the country as "Soul King."

He had known that his friends wouldn't be able to hang out with him for days. That's why he had planned around them. Today was supposed to be what he had designated "brothers day". The only thing missing? Ace.

Luffy sighed as he glanced at the clock. It was 11:15 on a rainy Saturday morning and Ace still wasn't back from Sabo's. The TV wasn't working so he couldn't watch anything and reading was definitely out if the question. He began to fidget more and more as the time passed. Eventually he gave up on lying down and started pacing. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. It was almost noon and Ace still wasn't home.

He didn't bother to grab anything but his cell phone despite the torrential down pour. It no longer mattered that just Ace wasn't there. Luffy could take no more of the empty house that threatened to consume him. Just the thought of staying there any longer made Luffy want to throw up.

As he walked up the sidewalk, Luffy could see that he was the only one stupid enough to be out in this weather. He didn't know where he was going. Maybe to Sabo's, maybe to Law's.

He ended up not going to either. He didn't know how long he had been walking, but when Luffy looked up through the buckets of rain pouring down upon the street, he found himself at the entrance to a bar. His feet had unconsciously led the fifteen year old to Makino's bar.

Luffy didn't hesitate. He immediately walked into a bright atmosphere, a mood that was unusual for a bar.

The moment Makino saw him, soaked to the bone, pale-faced and shivering, she stopped cleaning her glass and ran towards him. "Luffy! What happened? Where's Ace? Aren't you supposed to be spending the day together?"

Luffy didn't answer. What happened? He could no longer stand the pain of loneliness that weighed heavily upon his shoulders. Where was Ace? Who knew. Weren't they supposed to be spending the day together? Of course they were, but that didn't mean that Ace had showed up to make due on that promise.

Makino grabbed a couple of towels and draped one over his shoulders before pushing Luffy into a chair in the back room and moving to towel off his hair. The gentle rubbing motions soothed Luffy's mind and his body slowly began to relax under the barmaid's touch.

"Luffy?" Makino asked quietly. He hummed in response, feeling sleepy as the tense muscles relaxed. Makino continued in a worried tone, "Why were you out in such a bad storm? You could have caught a cold.

Luffy grinned and laughed. "I needed to find Ace. He didn't show up at home, and I somehow ended up here.

"Without an umbrella?" Luffy could hear the smile in her scolding tone and couldn't help but chuckle again.

"I forgot."

Makino shook her head but went back to drying off the young teen. After another few minutes of comfortable silence, Luffy sneezed.

"Oops.

Makino frowned and put a hand on the boy's forehead only to pull he hand back quickly. Luffy was burning up, his eyes glazed over with fever and his pinks were tinged with pink. She quickly hustled him into dry clothes and got him something warm to drink.

It wasn't unusual for Luffy to end up at Makino's; she even had the boy bring extra clothes over so if he ended sleeping there he wouldn't have to wear the same thing. By the time Luffy was settled down at a bar stool with a cup of coffee, it was almost one in the afternoon. She knew it was best if Luffy waited out the storm here. If his brother went home and found an empty house, the first place Ace would look was Makino's bar.

Right on cue the door opened to reveal a shirtless-thankfully dry-Ace. Luffy turned and smiled at his big brother. When Ace came closer, Luffy couldn't help but notice the angry look on his face.

"Luffy? Why weren't you at home? I thought you wanted to-" Ace cut off his statement when Luffy began to laugh, loudly. "Luffy? Are you okay?" Ace's gaze wandered to his younger brother'a flushed cheeks and frowned. Gently, he put his hand on Luffy's forehead, only to find a fire burning on Luffy's face. "What the hell, Luffy! You're burning up!"

Ace's frown deepened when Luffy's laughter began to pick up again, growing stronger with each passing second. "You weren't home. I got bored and came here," was Luffy's response when he calmed down some.

Ace huffed out an exasperated sigh when Luffy's giggles started up again. "Yeah, sorry about that. Sabo's neighbor needed some help with something and why are you looking at me like that?" Ace watched as Luffy gave him a wide grin before poking him. It was obvious the fever was having some sort of affect on the boy.

"Know what?" The boy whispered

What was he going to do with this kid? Not that Ace minded. Ace smiled and ruffled Luffy's hair in affection. "What?

The boy's face almost split in two to show his happiness as he looked Ace over. Luffy poked him one more time before wrapping his arms around Ace's torso.

"You make me happy."

I should probably not be posting anything right now as I'm on my two week trip to New York but this one was bothering after my friend asked me this question. So Luffy's answer is his brother! There might be more if I get inspired any time soon. So if you liked this just watch out. Please Read and Review!