Disclaimer: Still wishing One Piece was mine, but it's not.

Warnings/Notes:

1) This chapter wasn't nearly as much of a bother as the last one, though with my personal goal of writing three scenes for each chapter I do take quite a while, Sorry. On a positive note two people really helped me a lot with this chapter:

Special thanks to: Blushing Green Apple for letting me throw plot ideas at her and Black' Victor Cachat who even beta-read this chapter for me. It was nice getting feedback on a scene without having to wait for the whole chapter to be finished!

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2) Though someone else read it, there is no such thing as a mistake-free story. If you still find a mistake (grammar, word repetition, spelling), let me know.

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3) Boys love warning.

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Thank you all for your amazing reviews! Between 40-50?! O_O Best encouragement ever to continue writing, even if I'm busy as hell! And thanks for all the well wishes too. My nose seems to be back to normal for the moment ^_^

So thanks to: SoulMore, DeborahBee, GreenDrkness (he always is!), Yana5, Guest, Charlie *grins*, Lunapok, kid, Titania1796, StarliteOracle, vampireharry the 2, Dp11 (thus the warning), xxXxx, 125b, Guest, Dareagon, Guest, madworld27, AnyMoreBrightIdeasGenius, OfMoonsAndStars, EmeraldEyed, Guest

Kurama-hime. Rocky-hime: Luffy is well protected with the WBP ;) And yes, my nose seems to be back to normal again. Lets keep it that way This chapter was finished a (tiny bit) faster.

Lightningblade49: Whitebeard sees Luffy as his son. Glad people got that vibe :) And yeah, they will keep in contact. Though he has to make his way on his own as well. Glad you liked Sunny's tour as well. It was not really a necessary scene for me, but a lot of people wanted to see everyone's reaction to her. I doubt Ace would want to share his past. As for training: the main factor was time, since he doesn't have more time than before he won't get stronger (though maybe defend a bit more efficiently).

Blushing Green Apple: Let's both escape. Hope this one lives up to your expectations :)

yuriko. hueixin: Why still attack Marineford will be explained later on. Nope, he'll train together with Ace and Sabo just outside WB's territory, still in the calm belt. Luffy's bounty will be official sometime soon as well ;) Ace's… that's something I have to think about yet. If Hancock attacked, she would be attacked in return, so nope, she doesn't. And nope, ask more if you have more questions :) As for nose block… hope it's gone meanwhile. They're nasty!

CrystalKnight: Yes he has, but he isn't overprotective ;) And nope, the girl was Ivan in woman form. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

The Richmaster: Thanks! Am glad you enjoyed that. I had some difficulties deciding on what everyone could be like since Oda never really said anything about the WBP yet. You really want me to spoil it for you?

I wonder if it's possible to send a picture all that way. The News Coo idea I don't think would work over such a long distance. Wouldn't make sense for Ace to not have sent at least some notes now and then over the three years. And Garp will have to come up one way or another, but certainly not that soon. There is something else waiting at Marineford if I get it right. Chopper's poster did get updated! By 50 Beri :P Anyway, hope you have fun with this chapter as well ^^

KHR-Yunalesca: You can see his reaction now, hope it doesn't disappoint. By the time he leaves the WBP for his training I hope I have at least a short scene with all of the commanders in it. (One of my goals! It's difficult however … ;A; As for Whitebeard, he decided on Luffy being his son, so that's that. All of his children can get alone time with him if they wish. Namur *hearts*

MissSexyRain: Whitebeard escaped!

Black' Victor Cachat: *hearts* thanks so much for all your help with this one!

rose7anne101: Whitebeard likes spoiling his children, I think he'd also be rather cuddly if his kids would let him. Maybe I should find a way for Luffy to hug him for once. Can you guess the pairing now? Oars… jeez, so many people to meet yet :) I will see if he can come into the story… Hope this chapter will amuse you just as much.

yuzukikuran476: O.O thanks for reviewing all of the chapters! And don't worry. Ace will never die in my story! I agree, he shouldn't have died :( Hope you enjoy the newest chapter :)

lilcielo: Glad you liked it so far. And yeah, he's their ninjaed-little-brother. Though he will have his romance. Hope you aren't against BL (thus the warning since chapter 1). If there was someone stupid enough to attack him in front of them all I think they would watch and let him take care of it unless there was a real danger. Luffy doesn't like others protecting him (doesn't mean though that the guy's ship will not get destroyed though… Bad luck follows evil guys…) Enjoy the new chapter :)

myanimeobsession: Well that comment came from the manga really. He did say Ace was his most important person there, so I used that fact. I find it somewhat stupid that he spent 7 years with Ace and then we only see his crew (love em, but seriously?) Ace is a factor for names, but only if there aren't many to remember ;) And sorry, while I do love ASL as couples more they will not be involved. Maybe you can see it now? Despite romance, the brothers are most important to each other, before anyone else.

Iincho: Thank you so much for reviewing all the chapters! I know I messed Kizaru ^^; WB won't be involved in the training much I think… I'd like more ASL interaction in the real story and Ace alive :( Please enjoy this chapter as well :)

BlueMoonChaos: You said the right word… try XD Poor Marco :p Hope you liked everyone's reaction. This chapter held quite a bit of my believes when it comes to ASL dynamics. Either way… when are you going to update your story? You wrote such an interesting and difficult piece! (Seriously wonder how you're gonna turn the WBP into 'good guys' o.O)

pull harder: Well his majesty isn't Luffy's captain or official family. He can however 'protect' Marco ;) Glad you still enjoyed it! Enjoy this one too please :)

NonchalantxFish: Did you still find lots of mistakes in this chapter? It has been read by someone else before I posted, so hopefully no grammar mistakes (or at least not many). Chapter is rather long, so maybe some have been missed. Also do you mind BL?

Nala1220: Glad you still reviewed. I love getting reviews ^o^ Thanks. And yeah… any pirate really should be able to cook at least a little bit :P

On with the chapter!

…

Burning Birds and Surfing lessons

….

"TORAOOO!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs as he barged into the submarine without invitation or permission in the middle of the night. He'd taken of his cardigan in hopes of damping the fire. Whitebeard had told him not to throw his bird into the ocean after all. He didn't know why, but since the old man had sounded serious he did the next best thing and searched for Torao, just that it took so long and the fire had spread to the bird's neck.

"TORAO! Where are you?!" He opened several doors on the first floor, startling a few half asleep crew members, in his desperate search. As he went into yet another room he was suddenly encircled by some blue light and found himself dropped onto the floor in a completely different room.

That was so cool! He had teleported somehow and he didn't know how! He so had to do it again. Maybe it was something that only worked in the submarine? Luffy shook his head in an attempt to stay focused. There were more pressing matters to be taken care of first, his newest crewmember had to be taken care of. Looking down he panicked even more, again the fire had gotten stronger.

"TOR-"

"What in all hells name are you doing here at a quarter to four in the morning?" A very grouchy and low voice came from behind. "I have half the mind to dump you under my submarine, where your brothers won't find you in time, so speak quickly!"

"Torao!" Luffy's relieve was palpable and the death threat went completely ignored. "You have to help me! My crow, it saved me, but now it's burning! Please, save it!"

The teary eyed face gave Law a headache, the weird explanation didn't help either, nor did the early hour of the day or his lack of sleep. "Throw it into the water and get it out."

"I would, but giant-ossan said not to." Just why had Law saved this idiot again?

"I'm not a veterinarian." Law hissed angrily.

"Of course not, you're not old! But help my bird now before it's cooked!"

Law twitched. "I'm not a doctor for animals!"

Naturally the one time he went out of his way to save someone who wasn't a member of his crew, it'd come back to bite him in his ass. At an ungodly hour in the morning. See if he'd ever save someone again!

"But you have Bepo!" Luffy shoved the poorly wrapped and maltreated bird into his face just as Law was about to make good on his threat and had built a room again.

"That was you!" Luffy sucked in a breath at the sight of the blue light. Law ignored him in favor of watching the burning bundle, his attempt at dismembering the other halted for the time being as his half asleep brain caught up with the picture his eyes took in. There, in his rivals arms, laid the rather big form of Marco the Phoenix. Somehow the young D. had managed to take down one of the most notorious pirates in recent history. The bird seemed completely out of it. It was most likely close to being unconsciousness. The only explanation Law could come up with for this was that the older pirate had looked dead on his feet even before Law had left in favor of getting some rest himself.

Either way, fact was that Marco the Phoenix had been downed by Straw Hat, who was still staring at him with wide teary eyes. Law couldn't help it, his shoulder's started to shake more and more as his stomach clenched and he slowly seemed to lose control of his whole upper body and facial expression. His mouth formed a grin and opened on its own accord as he kept looking and breathing suddenly became a lot more difficult.

When a tired rasping sound from the bird followed it was too much. He left his own room on shaky legs and had to lean against the door outside, coughing a few times, until he had his body under control again, though his gleeful smirk was still in place.

"My bird is about to die, you ass!" snarled Luffy as he came back in. "What the hell were you doing?"

"It won't die." Law said easily.

"It's burning!" Luffy stressed. "Help it before it's roasted and I have to eat it!"

Again Law coughed surprised at the image this reply sent. If he wasn't feeling so gleeful, he'd feel sorry for the first division commander.

"Didn't you realize that the fire is neither burning your clothes nor hurting you?" Law coughed at long last.

"You're right!" Luffy blinked. He hugged the bird even tighter than before. "My crow is protecting me even now!"

"He's a phoenix, not a crow." Law informed him and suddenly Luffy's eyes lit up with understanding and admiration.

"So it's normal that he burns and they're immortal, right? I've never seen a phoenix before!"

"Big surprise with how common they are." Law pinched the bridge of his nose when Luffy yelled in surprise if they were. "They always burn a tiny bit, but the more they are hurt, the brighter and stronger their fire gets."

"But it's gotten worse since I carried him here." Luffy fretted.

"Have you seen the way you carry him?" Law deadpanned.

Once again his comment went ignored. "You're still a doctor, right? So if you help him, he'll heal faster, won't he?"

"Not really. His fire takes care of him."

"Even Chopper needs medicine." Luffy insisted and Law hesitated. It could be interesting to see the reaction everyone's reactions the next day.

"Actually I might be able to help." He said slowly. "You'll have to tell me how this happened however. Also, why did you call it a crow?"

"He sounded like one. I saw him a few days ago already and wanted to catch him then, but Ace got in the way at that time." Luffy laid the phoenix down on the bed when Law came with bandages and handed him back his cardigan.

"What you heard was not the phoenix, but a real crow. There are quite a few around here." Law rolled his eyes at the simplemindedness.

"I thought it was a blue crow. He looked even more beautiful tonight, all bright and shiny. So I wanted to catch him to have him join my crew, or maybe eat him, but I can't do that anymore. He saved me! Well I tried catching him, but he had moved so I missed and grabbed his neck. We would have landed in the ocean, but he changed our course and flew into the mast instead. And then he even turned us around, so I landed on top of him and went up in flames." Luffy carefully patted the bird's burning head.

Law nodded, of course Marco would protect Fire Fist's idiotic little brother. Whitebeard had also seemed fond of the idiot. He'd be angry if something would happen to the younger D.

"I'll wrap the bird up, then I'll take a look at your state, you're probably in worse shape than the bird."

"I'm fine, he helped me. How come you know it's a he? Did you see his family jewels? He's still burning, so I didn't think anything could be seen. Can he poop?" Luffy asked curiously.

Law coughed and snorted. "I just know. Ask him, if you really want to know."

Luffy nodded and Law was absolutely certain that Luffy would indeed ask the phoenix as soon as possible. He shook his head and put a sleeping pill into the bird's mouth. The animal was still too dazed or maybe even unconscious to reject it, and while the bandages were totally unnecessary and just for show (it could be fun, if Marco would show up all bandaged the next morning), the pill would get him some much needed rest as well as help him feel more refreshed, even with only a few hours of sleep.

A few minutes later he sent Straw Hat on his way with the phoenix held securely in his arms again. Marco had indeed managed to prevent any possible injuries the teen could have sustained. Luck was on the fool's side.

… …

With a huge yawn Luffy made it back to the big ship. Despite being tired all of a sudden, he wanted to show the giant mustache man his bird still. He had seemed worried as well, so it might make him happy. It was a bit difficult since he now had both of his arms full and didn't dare to move them. The surgeon had insisted he hold his phoenix in a certain way and not to move as it would make Law feel sorry. He had agreed then, but now he just wanted to lie down and sleep and show the male bird to Ace and Sabo.

He grinned as he came to a halt in front of Whitebeard again, holding out the extremely well bandaged bird, so the old man could see him. "Look, he's better already!"

"I see… but why is he bandaged? He doesn't need them." Whitebeard wasn't too happy at the sight. Depending on the answer he might have to go pay a visit to the doctor. He wouldn't tolerate disrespect in this case. The surgeon had a bit of a nasty streak in him and he didn't appreciate someone making fun of his first division commander when he had in fact saved his youngest.

Luffy's brows furrowed. "Why are you all so mean just because he's a bird? Torao said the same, but he will heal faster this way."

Whitebeard relaxed slightly. So the reason was his stubborn brat and not the other trying to make fun of Marco. "He truly doesn't need them."

"But he looked like he was hurting!" Luffy argued and the older captain had to agree, that Marco certainly had been hurt, but nothing that some fire wouldn't take care of. The phoenix had not gotten hurt enough to warrant bandages. He hardly ever needed them, especially not when it came to injuries sustained outside of a battle.

"Why is he so still now?" Whitebeard wondered. Marco had been dizzy from the impact into the mast, but he should still be better now, if the surgeon had indeed taken a look at him. Also why hadn't he transformed back?

Luffy poked the bird's beak and it opened slightly. "That's how he did it. He gave him something to make him fresh again, cause apparently he was really tired too. He didn't give me any though, said he'd rather do the opposite, which would be awful. I sleep so much already."

The surgeon hadn't just gone along with what the brat insisted on after all. The old captain didn't oppose this course of action. Marco certainly could do with some rest, enforced or not. "In that case you should make sure he gets plenty of rest."

"Of course I will, we're going to bed now, before Sabo or Ace notice I was gone for so long." Luffy smiled brightly, hopping towards the stairs, which lead to the division commander's room.

"Goodnight brat, don't squeeze him." Whitebeard called.

Luffy turned and smiled brightly. "Shishishi. I'm not gonna squeeze my future crewmember!"

Whitebeard's eyes widened "Stop!" But the door fell shut behind the teen and the older man sighed. He briefly considered following the brat, but maybe it was better this way. He didn't feel like seeing his son's face fall when he realized that the bird was not in fact a bird but his first division commander. He knew even someone as happy as his brat would be disappointed then (though he'd most likely get over it given an hour or two and some meat).

Instead he turned to his barely hidden children who were supposed to be on watch duty, but had had the time of their lives watching the continuation of what had started about an hour ago. "Don't tease Marco about this."

… …

"What the f**k is going on here?!" And loud laughter woke Luffy up around breakfast time on the next day. He beamed at his two brothers, one hanging half off the bed, the other looking up at the ceiling with a pained expression on his face.

As he tried to rub his eyes he remembered he had his hands tangled in front of him, so his bird wouldn't get flattened by anyone and had it nicely warm during the night (he was a fire bird, so he liked heat, right?). He freed his bird and was rewarded by a tired cawing-noise.

"See, he's healed now. He's burning less, though still a bit." He held the bird up so Sabo and Ace could see him. Ace howled and fell of the bed completely while Sabo coughed and told him he was hurting his phoenix, then showed him how to hold the overheated bird properly, explaining to him that fire or not, fresh air was a must.

"Care to explain what happened from yesterday to today and why he is here now? He has his own room." Sabo asked, Ace was wheezing on the ground now, still chuckling now and then.

"I don't know where his nest would be. He was flying and I caught him, or actually he caught me." Responded Luffy.

Ace shot up in alarm and glanced over Luffy's body. There were fresh bandages. To ask or not to ask? Marco was involved so Luffy had definitely done something stupid again. He was well, so it might be better … "Why is he now bandaged? And how did you get fresh ones as well?"

"It's a phoenix", their brother patted its wrapped head, "because he was burning, I brought him to Torao so he could help it before I could do nothing else with him than eat him. But it's normal for a phoenix right? They're immortal, but bandages still help. And Torao also redid mine then."

Good thing the other Supernova was so patient, otherwise they might have had to search for Luffy somewhere in the ocean Sabo thought as Ace once again cackled loudly. Seriously, he was having too much fun at his crewmembers expense.

The phoenix made a cawing noise and Luffy beamed. "Great you're waking up! I gotta go see Torao."

"Before breakfast?" Ace asked shocked.

Luffy grimaced, halfway through the door already. "Ahh… Save me meat… a lot of meat! My future crewmember is more important!"

This time it was Ace who was dumbfounded and Sabo who ended up laughing. "Future… crewmember?"

"We better save him a lot of meat! He's not going to like finding out it's Marco."

… …

Luffy hurried up the stairs and onto the deck, almost running into some of Ace's crewmates. He waved at them and shouted his apology. He didn't notice the shocked looks of those he passed, or the eyes like saucers that followed his every move.

"Morning!" He yelled to Whitebeard who was already sitting in his chair again. "Did you sleep outside?"

"… What… are you carrying around, Straw Hat?" Rakuyo wondered if he was seeing right. He could hear Curiel gasp while Kingdew coughed on his food and Atmos guffawed, so he believed his eyes hadn't deceived him yet.

"Morning brat. No I didn't." Whitebeard replied as his youngest held out the phoenix to Rakuyo, so he could see him better. Obviously their father was already informed about (and resigned to) poor Marco's fate.

"A phoenix." Luffy cheerfully answered. "He's still burning now, so maybe Torao was right that he wouldn't need bandages. We're going to see him now."

"Why did he need bandages in first place?" Curiel asked, ignoring all the snickering from behind. At one glance from Rakuyo most turned around, trying to hide their laughter. The shaking bodies all around made this useless.

"Cause he was hurt of course." Luffy said distractedly, following the sandwich in the commander's hands with his eyes. Said commander noticed, scowled and quickly finished of his breakfast before the brat would once again steal his breakfast. It had happened way too often these past few days.

"Stingy!" he complained then eyed Kingdew's plate who followed Curiel's example posthaste.

"Get your own. What did you do? He's still out of it." He pointed to the manhandled phoenix. Whatever the brat had done must have been quite something for Marco to not escape. Also why was he still in his phoenix form?

Luffy scowled deeply now, his stomach growling loudly, so Blamenco held out his own breakfast, feeling sorry for the bothersome kid, whose expression did a hundred-eighty degree turn just before it was shoveled down. "That's why we were going to Torao before you guys started to talk and hog all the food, except for Blamenco, thanks."

"Maybe a bit of water might help him?" Rakuyo suggested, holding out a bowl of water. Luffy set the bird down and accepted it with a big smile.

"Thanks. Old giant mustache said to not extinguish his fire." Before Rakuyo could snatch the bowl back the young captain had doused the bird with its content.

Whitebeard winced as the water immediately affected the devil fruit user and the bird became sluggish until most of the water had gathered in a puddle around it and Luffy had picked the soak bird up again. It still had the wanted effect of waking the bird up, who wheezed then looked around disoriented.

With an angry caw the bird flapped his wings, spraying water everywhere and hitting the brat.

"Uwah!" Luffy almost fell and lost his hold on the phoenix. "Shhh… don't worry, you're alright. I got you healed just fine."

"Whaaaat?!" The Whitebeard Pirates who weren't rolling on the floor shouted in unison completely shocked.

The phoenix however didn't calm down instead flapped even more agitatedly, hitting the brat's face and finally breaking free. It fluttered to the ground, unable to stay in the air for long with the bandages and the water interfering with his ability, where he transformed back into his human form at long last.

"WHAT THE F**K STRAW HAT?!" The man roared, so enraged that he even forgot to add his customary 'yoi' at the end. It was at this point that most of those rolling on the floor decided it might be a good idea to weather the storm somewhere from a safe distance. Marco as good as never shouted!

The aforementioned captain stood stiff as a poker, his jaw dropped to the floor, eyes bulging. Only when the enraged commander had fully transformed back did he scream. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH?!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN EEEH?! YOU LITTLE SHIT CA-"

"YOU'RE MY PHOENIX?" screeched Luffy.

"I'M NOT YOUR PHOENIX!" Marco's voice could probably be heard even at the other end of the island right now. "Do you have ANY idea AT ALL how dangerous your stunt was? And you USED HAKI to boot! Do you even have a shred of self-preservation, yoi?!"

"You're not a phoenix?!" Apparently the brat was a master at selective hearing.

"Of course I am!" shouted Marco, red from anger.

"So you were my phoenix! I wanted you to join my crew! You tricked me!" Luffy accused, now also angry.

"Oi oi, I never tricked you! I'm a Zoan!" Marco defended then realized just what he was doing and shook his head. Straw Hat didn't have any right to be angry. "And I was never your phoenix!"

This was apparently the wrong thing to say for Luffy all of a sudden looked utterly crestfallen, making Marco feel… guilty? "I mean… it wasn't even a secret, yoi…" Marco trailed of, unsure of how to react now that the usually very animated face all of a sudden sported a look that was extremely out of place on it.

He helplessly turned towards the others who just shrugged. Blamenco frowned and gestured towards the small captain, a clear sign to do something about this.

"I'm… sorry… yoi." He tried, feeling at a complete loss, now that his anger had left him again.

"You should be!" Luffy glared "You should have told me last time I saw you, when Ace stopped me from catching you!"

"I don't even know what you're talking about! And most people know about my ability! It's even mentioned on my wanted poster, yoi!" Marco had a hard time keeping up with Luffy's mood changes, he didn't dare calling them swings. One glance at his father told him that this was exactly why the old man hadn't interfered yesterday. He looked amused, if a bit sympathetic.

"Well I didn't" Luffy exclaimed and Marco sighed, it felt like arguing with a brick wall.

"And you looked really beautiful already during the day. So I kept looking and last night you looked even better and so cool all sparkly and shining!" Luffy gushed as Marco coughed and blushed. Then his pout returned full force.

"You're so mean." Luffy informed him.

"This is my fault, yoi?!" Marco asked indignantly.

"Of course it is!" Luffy yelled.

"You're the one who tried to catch me with haki!" Marco shot back, at long last remembering why he was angry.

"What are you talking about? All I wanted to do was make you a part of my crew! And you flew into the mast!" Luffy snapped.

"You mean you don't even know what you were doing, yoi?" Marco's eyes widened. "You… You're a menace!"

"Well whatever I was doing, I wouldn't have had to do it if you hadn't changed directions!"

"THEN WE BOTH WOULD HAVE FALLEN INTO THE W- … no wait… enough… you're giving me a headache."

Luffy blinked then nodded. "Right. I was about to take you to Torao anyway. You're still not healthy." He grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and latched onto the submarine's railing.

"WHAAA-?"

Deafening silence followed the forceful departure of their first division commander who had once again been manhandled, this time in human form, and pulled along through the air towards the submarine.

"Is this really alright with you?" Sabo asked the old captain, when no one else seemed to be able to move. Both he and Ace had come up just in time to watch Marco transform back.

"I didn't see you two interfering either. Are you telling me my sons can't handle my youngest brat?"

"Huh? Your youngest?!" Ace whipped around, grin falling from his face. "I don't think he will wear your-"

"No…" Whitebeard interrupted. "Your brother, Luffy, without a doubt is my youngest at the moment. He probably won't bear my mark, doesn't mean that he isn't my son. Almost all of my children already think of him as a brother anyway."

"He's our brother!" Sabo hissed.

"Gurarara. We're not stealing him. Instead of this, with two of your brothers my sons, why don't you become one of mine as well?"

"You're just deciding things on your own without giving us a choice?!" Sabo yelled.

"I admit, I can be a bit selfish and stubborn. Like father like son, isn't that how the saying goes? My youngest is just as stubborn after all." chuckled Whitebeard.

"A bit… right…" Ace cleared his throat. "You actually have a choice, but in this case Oyaji's mind is made up, no matter if you resist or not."

"That's the same thing!" Sabo insisted and sighed. "Sorry, I'm a revolutionist. I don't want a father."

"Ace didn't want one either." Whitebeard told him. "At the beginning he wanted to take my head. Quite the opposite of my youngest really, though he did say he wants to fight me. I will have to ask him about that. I am an old man after all, I'd rather not fight my son."

"Right." Sabo's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Your reasons for not wanting to fight our brother aside, aren't you worried about your kidnapped older son as well?"

"Gurarara, not at all. Marco can take care of himself. Keeping up with the brat might be a good experience. It certainly is a novel one."

"I still think you're going too easy on Straw Hat." Kingdew commented.

"And yet not a single one of you helped Marco either. None of you got angry, despite the brat's insults."

"He wasn't insulting." Blamenco defended Luffy.

"Indeed, he wasn't." Whitebeard nodded. "Had anyone else said or done something similar all here would have been up in arms thinking Marco would have been insulted, yet not a single one went to stop it. All of us let Marco deal with this on his own, most even siding with the brat or secretly laughing about it, because all of us knew that for all that the brat lacks a bit of common sense, he means no harm or insult to any of us. Quite the opposite, he'd help if we so much as asked, not only because Ace is part of our crew, but also because he likes us. And we like him in turn."

"Not to mention that it was very interesting seeing the brat set the pace, and Marco unable to do much but follow and react." Blenheim added.

Atmos shook his head. "Marco apologizing when he was actually the victim…"

Curiel laughed "So when it comes to the brat it seems like everyone is left to their own devices."

"Interesting rule." Kingdew could live with that.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the count of Whitebeard Pirates versus Straw Hat." Blenheim grinned. "So far its 2:0, as for the official siblings… well they have yet to score. The count against them is quite high."

"Hey!" Sabo shouted.

"We do resist often enough!" Ace defended.

"Only when his health is concerned, thus that doesn't count." Blenheim waved him off. "He's reckless so someone has to take care of him, he won't do it on his own. It's easy to resist in such a case."

Meanwhile Luffy had successfully dragged a rather resistant Marco into the submarine, once again asking loudly for the other captain to appear.

"Would you finally let go, yoi?!" The Phoenix growled furiously. If the other wasn't still wrapped in bandages he would have kicked him off both ships to teach him a lesson, whether or not it would stuck was another question he'd rather leave unanswered. "If I need a doc I'll see one on our ship!"

"But you don't have any!"

"They returned yesterday! You were even introduced to them. Remember all the women, yoi?" Marco freed himself of the other's grip.

"Oh right… but we're already here now, so let's go see Law. He helped you yesterday!" Luffy smiled.

"You mean he wanted to make fun of me?" asked Marco interested now. "I didn't need any help and unlike you he knew that!"

"Oh he said something like that too, but don't bandages still help? You healed faster, didn't you? And he did help you stay asleep."

"If you keep talking, I might really throw you off the boat and let you drown." Marco warned. "Does that mean he helped me cause you insisted?"

"Torao wasn't very happy about that either. I think I woke him and he was moody, but then he still smiled at the end." He wondered if he was going insane, but Marco could actually picture quite well what must have happened after the brat had taken him out with just those few words.

Their search ended when Penguin came and brought them to the doctor, whose shit eating smirk made Marco believe in the accuracy of his guesses. He'd more than once witnessed the other's rather dark humor after all.

"Pleasure to see you again." Law invited them to sit down.

"Not by choice I can guarantee that, yoi." Marco responded, though he sat down.

"He has a headache," Luffy told Law at once "so I brought him here. Is it cause of the sleeping thing you gave him yesterday?"

Law's eyebrows were raised as he took a good look at the first division commander. He did seem a lot more rested than during the last few days, so the sleeping pill and maybe even a bit of Luffy's care must have helped. He'd anticipated the two to be back here a lot earlier actually. As expected he'd been woken up by shouts again, even though this time they came from a rather nice distance and were fun to hear.

"I wonder. You look healthy." Law stated.

"I am. The brat was giving me a headache." Marco muttered.

"So you do have a headache. Can we have some medicine for it? Also does he need fresh bandages?" Luffy already was gesturing towards the drawer where Law had taken out his bandages yesterday.

"It's a figure of speech. He has no headache." Law smirked. He was in a rather good mood and who wouldn't be with such a wake-up call.

"And bandages?" Luffy already had taken one from the desk behind Law.

"… He didn't need them yesterday, he doesn't today. He's a phoenix after all." Law reminded and was rewarded by Luffy's face showing rapidly changing emotions until it settled on sadness. Apparently the younger captain had quite a few thoughts on the phoenix.

"Right… phoenixes don't die…" Luffy said solemnly and suddenly patted Marco's head, just like he had done when he was still a bird.

"… What are you doing?" Marco was unsure of whether he wanted to know what went through his head or not.

"I'm sorry."

"Why? What are you doing now? Aren't you mad at me for being the phoenix?" Marco wondered, pushing the hand away.

"I was… but you're a phoenix. That means you are immortal, you can't die. If you can't die you shouldn't be on our crew after all, no matter how cool you look. It's really sad." Luffy replied.

"And why is that?" Law inquired, once again intrigued by whatever the young captain had come up with.

"Well isn't your crew your family, or your best friends? Mine is at least, I love all of them. But if Marco is a phoenix then he can't die. All of us will die one day, so then he'd be all alone. In that case it's better to not be part of my family. At least your crew is bigger." This time Marco didn't stop Luffy from patting him. Both he and Law were rather busy staring at Straw Hat.

"You don't want immortality?" "Immortality is something bad?" Law and Marco asked at the same time.

"There's nothing good about living forever. If I couldn't die, then no adventure would be interesting." Luffy's nose wrinkled as he confirmed both others' believes about him being slightly suicidal, even if he didn't exactly go out of his way to find death.

"Also," continued Luffy, "everyone else still dies, and I'd miss them way too much. And even if they didn't, it'd still be boring after a while. When I was a child and Sabo died I always thought I'd live long and have many adventures cause he was watching and wanted me to live. And if he wasn't watching then I would be able to tell him everything when we'd meet again. Not seeing Sabo again is a lot worse than dying."

"So… if someone offered you immortality…" Law broke off, thinking of the man he'd sworn to defeat.

"No way!" Luffy declined at once. "I live my life without regrets and then I will die and hopefully see all my friends and Ace and Sabo again. Ah… that still doesn't mean they're allowed to die before me. No one could tell me whether or not what Makino told me was true and I'd still miss them like hell if they died. Stupid Ace let his card burn!"

Marco appeared lost in thoughts for he almost fell from his chair when Luffy hugged him. "Maybe we'll find someone else who won't die for you."

"I… I will still die." Marco said slowly, never having thought that this sentence could have a positive meaning to it.

"That's good for you then." Luffy smiled relieved.

Both of the other men turned towards him then, taken aback, and not in a bad way. Straw Hat was serious about dying being a good thing, at least if death didn't come too early and even if it did he'd prefer it to eternity. Just how many other pirates could say this?

No one Marco met had ever thought about this before, even when it was common believe that "the Phoenix" was immortal. After all, no matter the damage he received during a battle, he always came out without a scratch and his looks hadn't changed over the years.

Then this boy appears, who seemed vibrate with life, set on living to the fullest and looking for fun everywhere, and yet he talked about death as if it was something good. What was more, seen from his point of view it really was.

Law eyed him contemplative, not having considered that there might be anyone who'd think it inconvenient, much less a bad thing, to be immortal. Straw Hat kept on surprising him, in both a good and a bad way, making him remember things that right now he didn't want to think about. With his fruit's ability he'd never thought he'd ever meet a person who wouldn't be interested in that, if they knew. He suddenly could believe Nico Robin would stay with this crew, for better or worse.

"You certainly know how to surprise people." Marco stated slowly, noticing how Luffy was getting impatient with their inaction, swaying left and right on his chair.

He'd watched the young captain from the moment he'd appeared on their ship, and even now he was able to pull the rug from under his feet, leaving him feeling unbalanced. And for once in his life he didn't mind too much, even if he would bring even more chaos to them in the future. He could understand their second division commander all the more now. Ace's little brother was precious, no matter the chaos and wreckage he brought along. He was a different captain from Whitebeard, but their morals were similar.

"I'm hungry." Luffy's stomach growled loudly, breaking the atmosphere that had kept them silent.

"Good, get out of my ship and don't come back anytime soon." Law muttered. "Oh and… you're allowed to take a bath now. Make use of it, you need it."

"I'll make sure he does, yoi." Marco agreed.

"FOOD!" Luffy whined then shouted in excitement when Law built a circle and dropped all of them of at the beach.

… …

The next day the coating engineers were still hard at work, getting all the ships coated. There were quite a few working on the Moby Dick right now and even then it still would take more than the three days Rayleigh needed for the Sunny. They'd need about a week to get all the ships, including the Heart Pirates' submarine, coated. Again the Whitebeard Pirates were rather grateful to the surgeon. No one had thought that the supernova would still have unfinished business in Paradise and would want to go back. The captain really had gone out of his way to help his rival.

Of course there was Luffy, who didn't seem to understand all the trouble Law had gone through for him or why the submarine needed to be coated in first place (he also thanked the supernova however, even if only for staying so long).

Vista had taken it upon himself to explain things to Luffy. Needless to say the ones listening in were impressed by how many ways one could use to communicate the simple fact that the water pressure was too big and would destroy even a submarine. Unfortunately his efforts were in vain and Luffy still asked the very same question ('But why does a submarine need to get coated? It always is under water!') afterwards.

By the time Ace found his little brother and decided to pitch in the commander was already pulling on both sides of his mustache, clearly at the end of his wits.

"You're doing it wrong." Ace commented. "See Luffy, if they don't get it coated it gets mysteriously crushed."

"So it's a mystery!" Straw Hat seemed to be perfectly fine with this explanation.

"Rayleigh! Please coat Torao's submarine too!" He ran off to find his soon-to-be teacher.

A while later Luffy was lying on the deck, he was totally bored. Normally he wouldn't mind sitting at the tip of the Moby Dick, but that was when the ship was moving, not when they were anchored at an island. Ace was busy with his division now and helping his crew restock and Sabo had been reading but had fallen asleep when he was chatting with Rayleigh. For a moment he had wanted to wake his brother up, but then decided against it. He couldn't remember if he had ever seen Sabo taking a nap and he did look so peaceful right now, so he had asked Rayleigh if he could keep an eye on his brother for him. The elder man was helping on getting the Moby coated and said he'd need a few hours on the deck still anyway, so it wouldn't be a problem. He would start with the Sunny later.

In his search for finding something to do he had looked for Blamenco, who had disappeared somewhere with his division, his visit to Torao had been cut short since they were all outside as they were coating their sub too and he wasn't allowed to enter. Then Bepo had vanished as well, which was mean, he might have taken a nap with the bear. The huge grey bearded guy and the pretty one were bringing lots of boxes and barrels on board, but turned him away when he had offered to help for the same reason Ace hadn't let him come. Torao thought he shouldn't carry heavy stuff yet.

The older smoking one had glared at him and asked him if he remembered his name now, to which he had answered how he should know if the man himself didn't, seriously. And then he had started yelling as if it was his fault! So all in all he wasn't very lucky to find anything to do.

Luffy already considered waking Sabo after all so they could go on an adventure or something when he suddenly saw some guys in the water. Now of course he hated water and wouldn't do something as stupid as swim (even if Marco had made good on his promise and thrown him into the Moby's rather large bathtub, he could be worse than Nami!), but he could have some other fun.

"Ah… but Ace and Sabo would get mad... I could ask Ace, but he can't swim anymore either… Wake up Sabo after all"

"What are you mumbling about, Straw Hat?" Speed Jiru appeared behind him.

"I need someone who can swim! Ace can't swim anymore." responded Luffy.

"Well fishmen are the best, Sabo can swim, most of us here can swim, I can swim." Jiru counted off.

"A fishman!" Luffy exclaimed. "Thanks! JINBEEEEEIIIII!"

It didn't take long for the excited teen to land in front of the older captain, where he usually could find Jinbei.

"Jinbei! Ossan, have you seen Jinbei?" He asked with a huge smile on his face.

"What do you need him for?" The old man questioned curiously what his youngest had come up with now.

"Oh, the knight said fishmen are the best swimmers and Ace and Sabo would be mad if I went alone. Also Sabo is sleeping so he can't come."

"You plan to go on swimming?" Whitebeard coughed. Even for his youngest this seemed a bit extreme.

He sighed in relieve when the lad made a face "Of course not. I hate water! So have you seen Jinbei?"

"I'm sorry, he left this morning. He said he'll meet you in a few days." Whitebeard relayed Jinbei's message.

"Eh… but I want a fishman." Luffy insisted.

"Well if you want just someone who can swim you can ask almost all of my sons, well Jozu here can't either. He's also a Devil Fruit user. All the others around can swim pretty well. We also have Namur who is a fishman. He should be on the second ship from here." He pointed to their other ship that was also getting coated.

"I totally forgot you had a fishman on your crew! Great! Thanks ossan!" Luffy in his usual fashion stretched his arm towards the mast of the next ship and hopped over. Whitebeard had long since stopped worrying about his son landing somewhere he shouldn't. He wasn't bad at it, his first division commander must have been a special occasion. Instead of that, he now worried what the kid had thought about. Should he already inform Ace or should he try to make sure neither Ace nor Sabo would discover… it surly would cause undue worry for both older brothers.

His youngest wasn't helping his whole healing process at all. Whenever either of the two were busy or lost sight of him (which actually almost never happened with how well both of them worked together), the young one started something reckless again. He'd not go swimming so it must be something else quite reckless. If it was fishing Straw Hat had deemed him the man to watch out for him and keep him company during that, now that he'd done it once.

Whitebeard didn't mind indulging his affectionate youngest at all since the things his youngest wanted (fun, people to surround him, attention, love) were all things that Whitebeard liked to give. The only thing he really demanded was food, but between the Kuja Pirates and them the three black holes on their ship were well fed, even if they did have to keep close watch on their provisions.

… …

"NERUUU!" Luffy yelled as he landed on the ship he was directed to.

"Whom are you looking for?" One of Whitebeard's many sons asked.

"Neru… the fishman. The old giant man said he was here." Luffy grinned and the other nodded.

"His name's Namur." Everyone meanwhile knew Ace's younger brother and how bad he was with names. That's why he didn't even try to introduce himself. "If you want his help with something remember his name."

Luffy nodded. "He's here?"

"Over there, he just got back…" The pirate trailed of remembering the second fact everyone knew. Never mention any form of food or mealtime to the kid (unless he had already used his devil fruit ability to change into his ball-form and was satiated for a little while), otherwise he would demand a wagonload of things to eat.

Luffy's eyes landed on the commander, who currently didn't seem to be busy and just watched the proceedings of the people at the beach. Luffy thanked the guy who had already gone back to his book. Then he jumped to Namur, landing on his back with some difficulties due to his fin and startling the commander pretty badly.

"Namur, you're a fishman!" Luffy stated the obvious.

"Damn brat!" The gruff looking fishman cussed. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Huh? No. I was looking for you!" Luffy clutched Namur's arm as the other tried to shake him off.

"And why were you looking for me?" Namur very reluctantly asked with a feeling of unease. He already prepared to decline whatever request the brat had. He would not help him learn how to pick locks, neither would he tell him who had the key to the storage room on the Moby Dick, or any of their other ships (all of them had been sealed off against unwanted intruders). The brat had indeed asked all of the commanders and anyone else Ace had introduced to him.

"Cause you're a fishman. And the giant ossan said you'd be here."

"Oyaji sent you?" Somehow this wasn't reassuring. If Oyaji had sent him he couldn't deny the brat easily.

"I wanted to ask Jinbei, but he left for now and you're also a fishman and can swim." Luffy replied.

"Most pirates can." Namur said drily.

"But you're a fishman!" Luffy beamed.

"… And what do you need me for?" The fishman had given up on shaking Luffy off for the moment.

"Let's go surfing!" Luffy suggested excitedly.

Surfing. Namur relaxed slightly. The brat hadn't asked him anything too bad. He didn't demand food, neither did he ask to be taught how to pick locks again. This should be… "Wait! Aren't you a Devil Fruit user?!"

"Yep. I'm a rubber man!" Luffy pulled at his cheek.

"And you want to go surfing." Namur repeated.

"Let's go!" Luffy nodded eagerly.

"You can't swim." Namur pointed out.

"That's why I had to find you. You can pull me out when I fall into the water." Namur at once noted the use of "when" and not "if".

"And what about your injuries? Trafalgar Law said no strenuous activities and no water." The fishman reasoned.

"Torao said I could now." Luffy assured. "Marco already threw me into the big pool when I didn't want to!" Luffy remembered grumpily.

"No wonder with how the poor guy suffered." Namur deadpanned.

Pretty much everyone knew what had happened before. Unlike most Namur truly felt sorry for his fellow commander, though he had come back in a much better mood from the submarine than anyone could have expected. Still, all things considered the Phoenix had gone easy on the kid.

Luffy chose to ignore that statement in favor of getting back on track. "You're a fishman and they swim best, so let's go surf!"

"No." Namur denied his request as he cursed the surgeon for allowing it. He already could see Ace's reaction.

"What? So mean! You're not even doing anything special!" Luffy complained loudly.

"I just had my… break. I'm busy with my division." Namur lied through his teeth. Anything to stop the brat from begging or being an annoying little shit. Ace so would blame him if something happened.

And now he was whining, but at least didn't try to stop him from his 'duties'. They were getting the ships ready to help the kid after all.

"Fine… What's the name of that guy over there?" Luffy pointed to the one who had helped him find Namur, after a few more minutes of complaining.

"That's Dan." The fishman automatically answered.

"I'll just ask him then. Zoro and the others pulled me out dozens of times before, even though none of them is a fishman." Luffy relented remembering that even without a fishman he had always been fine. It was a pity, he had really wanted to see a fishman swim. They were so cool!

Namur felt a chill run down his spine. Oyaji had told the brat where to find him and even though he doubted their father knew about the plans of the brat, he trusted Namur to keep him save. And if something out of the ordinary would happen and Namur had known about it, he would be angry. Not to mention all the problems Ace would cause then. And then there was that blond brother…

"Instead of that, why don't you join me and get something to eat?" Namur suggested.

"FOOD! … But Hancock said to come to them later and I want to surf now. It looked so fun." Luffy ended up declining the one thing that normally always worked according to pretty much everyone who had to deal with the brat.

Swearing up a storm Namur resigned himself to his fate of watching over the stubborn idiotic brat. "I'll join you for a while then."

"THANKS!" Luffy hugged him tightly. "Awesome! I always wanted to go swim with a fishman!"

"No… you wanted to surf… I will swim and make sure you don't drown just in case." Corrected Namur.

"I can't really surf. My record is around two minutes. Maybe I can get it to three now." Luffy crushed all his hopes, making the suddenly tired commander wonder if it was too late to plead a bad case of migraine.

… …

In the end the commander of the eight division had to stay with the brat for the better part of one hour. He only spent twenty minutes of it in the water. Luffy ended up falling into the ocean four times: twice right after Namur helped him stand on the board, one more time after breaking his record, when he turned around to grin at Namur. They took a little break afterwards. And the last time after Namur had given him some tips on how to stand on the board without falling off right away. He lasted for over five minutes. He stopped moving after he fell into the water that last time, much to the panicking fishman's horror.

Later on he found out from an extremely pissed of surgeon that Luffy had once again been lucky and just fallen asleep due to the water sapping all of his strength, he was not fit to do exercises yet after all. For all the trouble the brat had caused the fishman he could openly admit to enjoying the sight of the surgeon giving him a dressing-down. Luffy seemed shocked that being allowed to bath and doing water sports like surfing were not the same thing to the surgeon.

Some innocent surfboards were lost that day when Ace got wind of what had happened and the brat was chewed out by both his brothers. It was the first time anyone had seen the three of them argue and both older brothers ganging up on their younger one, though they blamed each other as well for being careless when this was apparently something that was very much foreseeable.

Straw Hat however didn't seem to be repentant at all, after all, Law had said he could bath again! When the older two stopped arguing with him he turned to Namur, waved cheerfully and asked him to teach him again when the surgeon would finally agree that swimming was also alright again. Despite all the trouble and Ace's ire he couldn't find it in himself to dislike the brat, nor to decline.

Everyone halted their breath then, when both Ace and Sabo turned to him then. However, instead of a fight or shouting Ace bowed and thanked him for taking care of their brother. Sabo only reminded him to not repeat it while Luffy was still injured. It was clear that both brothers deemed him being dragged of sometime soon again inevitable.

… …

"Ace isn't spending more time with his division?" Luffy questioned a while later, as they were all sprawled out on the deck again watching the sun set. Ace's division was still busy with restocking and other people were still at work as well.

"If I do, you'll find some sort of trouble again." Ace grabbed him in a headlock.

"Shishishi, will you stop worrying once the stupid wound is healed?" Luffy didn't try to free himself.

"Never." Ace growled and roughly tousled his hair then pushed him to Sabo who wholeheartedly agreed with Ace.

"That means both of you have to get stronger as well then. Rayleigh said things will get a lot more difficult from now on." Luffy sounded extremely pleased with Rayleigh's prediction. "It'll be so much fun!"

"I told you so." Ace muttered as Sabo groaned, they'd really have to keep tabs on the Straw Hats once they set sails again. That and make sure Luffy was the strongest he could possibly be within those two years. There was only so much they as older brothers would be allowed to do. While spending time with him and cuddling was something Luffy wouldn't ever get tired off, coddling was forbidden and really, both understood that only too well. None of them would allow for anyone to coddle them either after all.

The only reason why Luffy at the moment wasn't actively looking for an adventure, besides their promise (that Sabo had just recently found out was extremely limited and had lots of loopholes), was his physical state. Luffy understood best of all what the limits of his body was at the moment. For all that he was reckless their little brother knew his own limits well. Thus he hadn't gone off to look at the island.

"So what did you do today, Ace?" Luffy asked curiously. He only knew his brother's division had been busy carrying things. "Did you restock the food storage?"

"That's one duty that they don't let me do often. Much less with you around. There's a reason why I don't have the key yet." Ace snorted.

"Will you get the key when we're gone?" Sabo inquired.

"No. The moment you two are gone I'll burn down the doors if they don't take them off." Ace promised.

"Doing that now wouldn't be a bad idea." Sabo advised. His stomach was growling again. Whitebeard had ordered his sons to get back to Paradise as soon as possible. Even the cooks were helping out so it would still take a while before dinner was ready.

"Let's find Marco then. He still owes me." Luffy commented.

"What?" Ace bellowed. "How did that happen?"

"Well first he tricked me, then he still can die and afterwards he threw me into the water." Luffy glowered. "He promised me food afterwards but I haven't really seen him since."

So Luffy had probably whined or annoyed Marco long enough for him to give in, though why the Phoenix hadn't already settled the 'debt' Ace didn't know. It was unlike Marco. And he could've sworn he'd seen him today as well, even though he was truly busy.

"Did you even look for him? He was around at breakfast and I've seen him fly around at midday." Sabo clearly remembered seeing the Phoenix around midday before he fell asleep.

Luffy shrugged. "I did try to find him this morning. Giant-ossan said the sleeping things worked wonders and I asked Torao for more. He wasn't there so I left them with ossan."

"So that's where you went. You owe Law quite a bit so don't annoy him too much." Ace cautioned.

"Don't worry, he doesn't mind. He only was mad when I woke him. If he would ever laugh I think he would laugh quite often when I'm around. He's usually in a good mood." Luffy reassured them. "He's similar to Namur like that."

Once again Ace was reminded why he trusted his brother when it came to other people. Few people realized that Namur wasn't nearly as gruff as he looked and if Luffy said Law was actually amused then there wasn't a reason to doubt him on that.

"Well if he owes you, we should look for him."

"I want him to make lots of meat for me!" Luffy drooled.

"He's not a cook." Sabo pointed out.

"Neither is the giant-ossan and yet his fish tasted delicious! If we don't find him let's go fish with him. We can fish and he can prepare the food again!" Ace shook his head. He'd prefer finding Marco. Watching him cook for his brother was something he didn't want to miss. Also he wasn't sure how his father would react to Luffy's request. He didn't know what could be more disturbing. The old man turning Luffy down or the old man indulging him.

Sabo on the other hand would find anything amusing, as long as it ended with his stomach full.

... ...

... ...

What's up next? Uhm… right now I actually am a bit stumped. Some Whitebeard + Marco scene with Ace most likely, more preparations to go back to Paradise and maybe Hancock will make another appearance. Also please note the warnings ;)

Please let me know if you found any mistakes! (There shouldn't be too many since I had help with this chapter *_* )