Forgiven.

Summary: There is one day in which Luffy talks to no-one. Hardly speaks. Doesn't eat. Tries to kill anyone that comes near him. Once a year this happens, but this time his Aniki is stepping in. Warning; SPANKING FIC. SWEARING INSIDE.

Disclaimer; ...I don't own this. If I tried to own it, Ace would light a fire under my ass. Probably. Unless I bribed him with cookies.

PLEASE REVIEW! =)

MugiwaraAkagamiKaizoku.

Brook went to open the door to the mens quarters at eleven o'clock in the morning, only to find it devoid of anyone except a bundle of blankets in the corner that was breathing heavily. With a frown, Brook went over to the bundle and poked it gently, recieving a groan and an angry mutter from what he recognised to be Luffy's voice.

"Ah! Luffy-san! I have written a new song, want to come and h-"

"I SAID GET OUT. GET OUT NOW. GO. LEAVE." Luffy yelled, his eyes ablaze with anger as he glared at the skeleton from where his head had swiftly risen from the pile of blankets to look at him.

Someone rushed in behind Brook and grabbed the skeleton around the waist, dragging him back outside and swiftly shutting the door to the sound of Luffy breaking things. What mostly sounded like ship walls that Franky would have to repair later.

Brook was in a state of shock, and he didn't notice that his savior was dragging him to the deck, to where he was gently sat on the steps that led onto the grassy on-deck lawn. The figure sat beside him, the three katanas at his side clinking heavily.

"Best not to go near the Captain today, Brook." Zoro said quietly.

Brook turned to look at him, and had he any eyes, they would have held confusion within them. "Zoro-san, what is wrong with Luffy-san?" He asked, crossing his legs as Sanji walked over to them both, bearing a cup of tea for Brook.

The swordsman shrugged. "No idea. It's always like this though."

Sanji sat down on the ground in front of them, and started to elabourate for the skeleton. "The Marimo means, that once every year, on this day, Luffy goes into this...state. We don't know why, and we daren't ask him, just in case he throws a fit. But by now, we've booked this date on the calendar. The day where no one goes near Luffy."

"No one?" Brook repeated hesitantly, sipping his tea as he cast a look around. Indeed, people looked quite distant.

Nami was sat up on the Sunny's head, staring out across the water. Ussop and Chopper were laying on the grass and Ussop was silently letting Chopper teach him how to make daisy chains. Robin was reading from where she was sat at the mast, but her back was rigid, and her eyes not really reading the words on the page in front of her. Franky was in his workshop, but no sound was being emitted from the usually hard-at-work shipwright.

The whole ship was silent, which seemed rather unnatural for the usually hyped-up crew.

"So...What do we do?" He asked finally, his voice dropped to a whisper.

It was Sanji's turn to shrug this time as Zoro answered. "Nothing...There's nothing we can do. Everytime we try to talk to him, he goes mental and starts throwing things at us and trying to hit us. We leave him to his muttering and silence, knowing that he'll be better by tomorrow."

Brook nodded, and looked down at the sun that was reflected in his tea in contemplation. He cocked his head to the left slightly as he noticed a small black speck appear in the sun's reflection, watching as it started to get bigger. "Eh...What's this?" He asked, turning his skull up to look at the sky whilst holding onto his hat as he placed his tea calmly down on the stair he was sat on.

Confused, Sanji and Zoro followed his gaze, shielding their eyes from the sun. They too watched as the speck dove towards them with incrediable speed.

"Ehh, is that-" Zoro started as he narrowed his eyes and squinted beneath his palm.

"WATCH OUT!" Sanji yelled grabbing both the musician and first-mate, throwing them out of harms way as he followed them. At the shout, everyone scrambled up, and Franky came running out on deck. Sanji, Zoro and Brook lay sprawled out on the grass, and the rest of the crew excluding their Captain ran up to them and helped them up, shielding their eyes at the bright light that had landed where the three men had previously been sitting.

The bright light that was currently laughing hysterically as it dimmed before going out all together to reveal a young man.

"Hahaha, sorry about that you three. Long time no see I guess, not to mention you've got a couple of additions." A familiar voice laughed, rubbing his short black hair sheepishly. Immediately the crew lit up with welcoming smiles and laughter, apart from Robin, Franky and Brook, who looked on in confusion.

"Ace!" They cried, Nami, Ussop and Chopper dashing towards him and enveloping the older teen's bare torso in a hug.

Ace laughed, the necklace around his neck shaking as he held onto his hat and kept his other arm out wide so that he wouldn't be squished. "Woah guys, it's been awhile, but I didn't think you'd miss me that much!"

"I thought you were out hunting Teach?" Sanji asked curiously, holding a cigarette out pleadingly to Ace, who lit it for him with a laugh.

"I was." Came the reply. "But I missed him. I stopped off for a bit too long because my narcolepsy hit for a longer time than usual, which is great, because that means it hopefully happen again for a while now, but the bad news is I missed Teach, and have no new leads at the moment. So I thought I'd pay my little brother a visit to see how he's doing since I left him." Ace laughed.

Franky raised an eyebrow. "You're Mugiwara's brother?" He asked.

Ussop raised a finger as he remembered. "Ah, course! Robin, Franky, Brook...you guys weren't with us in Arabasta. Luffy met up with Ace, and we learnt that the two of them are brothers." He explained roughly.

Nami rolled her eyes as she introduced the new members to their Captain's brother. "Ace, this is Robin, our Archeolegist. Franky, our shipwright, and Brook, our musician...who is a skeleton."

Ace nodded as his took the information in, and he dipped his hat to the three of them individually as they were introduced. "It's very nice to meet you." He said politely, causing a light smile from Robin at his manners.

He then looked around suddenly as he noticed something...or rather...something that wasn't there. "Hey, where's Luffy?" He asked with a frown. He stared at them suspiciously when they all looked away, and instinctively, he looked to Zoro questioningly.

The green-haired swordsman sighed and ran a hand though his hair. "He's locked himself up in the guys cabin for the day." He admitted.

Ace was taken aback for a second. "He...Wait, what? Why?" He asked.

Zoro winced slightly. "It's...it's weird. He does this once every year on this day. He...Hell Ace, he goes mental. I've never seen anything like it in Luffy. Every year today, he holes himself up in there, and talks to nobody, eats nothing, mutters to himself about the celestrial dragons, and if anyone goes in there or tries to talk to him, he starts screaming and tries to attack us. Couple of years back, he nearly killed Ussop, but luckily Nami had remembered and she managed to get Ussop out of there." He explained with a sigh, and Ussop coughed awkwardly.

There was a silence, in which Ace merely blinked a few times before sighing himself.

"Damn it...I would have thought he'd have got over this by now." Ace muttered.

The crew immediately turned their attention on him, wordlessly demanding to know what he meant as he ran his hand through his hair and let loose an irritated huff. "Ok...Luffy isn't my only brother. When we were little, we had another, called Sabo." He revealed. "He was a part of our united dream to become pirates, but he was the son of a noble family, which as you can guess, caused problems. Unfortunately, Sabo tried to leave early, on the day that the celestrial dragons visited our island...They blew his ship up with him on it, killing him. Today is that day."

Nami pressed a hand to her mouth with a small gasp, and Chopper felt tears well up in his eyes. Even Sanji blinked furiously. Franky was being restrained by Ussop, who was doing his utmost not to let Franky release one of his loud sobs as the cyborg's eyes spilled rivers.

"Have you tried doing anything?" Ace asked. The crew shook their heads, no. Ace pulled a slight face and thought for a seoncd before nodding decisevely to himself. Then he turned to address them once more, his face serious. "Ok, I'm going to go and deal with Luffy. Whatever you hear, stay away. Yeah?"

Zoro was the first to nod, and the others warily followed suit, shrugging and nodding as they put their faith in the brother of their Captain. Ace grinned. "Guys quarters you say?" He asked rhetorically, running off in that direction.

"Now what should we do?" Chopper asked timidly, tugging on Robin's sleeve as he looked at her worriedly.

"Do as he says." Nami answered for her, taking Chopper's hoof comfortingly with a smile, leading them all up to the prow of the ship.

Ace took a deep breath, and opened the door to the mens quarters.

"GET OUT. GET OUT. GET OUT." A muffled voice yelled.

He immediately noted that the voice came from the pile of blankets in the corner, and his eyes widened as an arm stretched up to a desk and grabbed a pen-kinfe that was on it, flinging it at the intuder. He expertly dodged it at the last second and the pen-knife embedded itself in the wood behind him. Ace narrowed his eyes as he quietly stalked over to it and leaned down, filling his lungs with air as he steeled his face into a stony expression, which wasn't too hard to do, considering how annoyed he felt with his younger brother.

"LUFFY. GET UP." He roared in his brother's ear, making the boy nearly jump out of his skin as he yelled in pure fear and fell out of the blankets, ending up on his back at his brother's feet, looking up into Ace's furious face.

"A-A-Ace!" Luffy exclaimed fearfully, sitting up and shuffling backwards as Ace leant towards him and followed him.

"I heard something interesting when I decided to come and visit you today." Ace said, smiling dangerously.

Luffy shook his head violently. "No! They were wrong, Ace. I-"

"You see I heard, that you go a bit crazy on one day every year...which funnily enough...happens to be the day...that Sabo died. Now...didn't I tell you to get over it, for Sabo?" Ace said, his smile even more dangerous as Ace leant down so that he was eye-to eye with his brother, who was trembling with fear, sadness and anger.

Despite that, Luffy leapt up and ran out of the door as fast as his legs would carry him, suprising his older brother slightly. "Oi!" Ace yelled running after him as he followed his little brother out onto the deck.

Luffy raced acrossed the lawn, attempting to get away from his brother. When he saw his crew staring at him in shock, he stopped and grimaced, swiftly taking a left as he heard Ace come up behind him.

"GET BACK HERE." Ace yelled.

"NO." Came the response.

"NOW."

"NEVER!"

"Fine then. I was hoping it wasn't gonna come to this." Ace muttered, coming to a stand still and putting all of his weight in one leg as he had his other leg at a right-angle to it. He took his hat and necklace off, throwing them over to Ussop who neatly caught them. Folding his arms over his bare chest, he looked at Luffy sharply, causing his brother to stop and his eyes go wide with an audiable gulp. "You have until the count of three." He said calmly.

The crew stared at him incredulously. "Ehh?" Ussop muttered, wondering whether or not Ace was feeling alright, but nonetheless, it seemed to have an effect on Luffy.

"A-Ace-"

"One." Ace started expressionlessly, drumming his fingers rhythmically on his well muscled arm.

Luffy backed away slightly, holding his hands up in front of him defensively.

"Two." Ace continued, raising a questioning eyebrow.

Luffy grimaced and started running away, thinking that it would be his best chance of escaping what he knew was coming.

"Three." Ace said firmly, uncrossing his arms. "I warned you little brother." He said loudly, letting his body heat up and let small wisps of steam emitt from his skin. Luffy started to speed up as he heard this, but he came to an abrupt halt as he found that Ace was stood directly in front of him.

"Wha-How did he get there?" Franky asked in disbelief, voicing everyone's thoughts as the watched the events unfold.

"Wh-When did he get so fast?" Sanji questioned, stuttering slightly.

"If he's that fast, no wonder he's the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates..." Zoro muttered.

Nami narrowed her eyes as she figured it out. "It's the flames from his body. He's heating up the air around him and using it to propel him forwards at a ridiculous speed." She explained.

"Hm...Looks like Luffy-san's in trouble then. Perhaps we should help him?" Brook pondered.

Zoro shook his head. "No, leave this to Ace. He's Luffy's brother after all."

Luffy changed direction and took off like a bullet, sweat streaming down his forehead as he ran. He had to stop even more abruptly when Ace appeared infront of him again, and as he went to change direction, he found a wall of flames blocking his path, their ferocity and brightness blinding him momentarily, making him shield his eyes with a yell.

That was when he found his arms being grabbed and a pair of shackles locked onto his wrists. He struggled to free them for a second, and tried to use his gomu-gomu powers to stretch up to the mast. But he soon realised that they were made out of seastone, which made him start to panic.

But before he could run, he felt himself being grabbed around the middle. He shouted in fear as the flames disappeared and he felt himself being bodily lifted and hoisted up over Ace's shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he slammed the seastone shackles against Ace's unprotected back, only for his big brother's hand to come up and cuff him around the ear sharply, which to Luffy's suprise, hurt. "Oh no you don't little brother. Seems like it's time to teach you some manners." Ace grunted as Luffy started kicking and scratching at him.

He gave Zoro a grimace that was followed by a small grin and a quick wink, telling the first mate everything he needed to know as his angry, shouting Captain was carried below decks, cursing like a true sailor.

"LET GO OF ME ACE. PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN OR ELSE I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS INTO THE SEA WHERE YOU CAN GO FUCK THE SHARKS AS YOU DROWN IN THE FUCKING ABYSS." Luffy hollered. Ace obliged, unceremoniously throwing his brother to the wooden floorboards of the guys cabin, closing all the windows and doors.

Then he turned back to his brother, fire in his eyes as he glared down at him, making the next insult that Luffy had been about to come out with die in the back of his throat in fear.

"Luffy. I told you years ago, that if I caught you crying over Sabo, I would drag you behind a ship and let you trail in the ocean for an hour, because Sabo would have wanted us to live our lives without regrets and become true pirates." Ace said, pointing at Luffy accusingly. "But this...this is worse. You have all but abused your nakama if they try to come near you, nearly killing them in a frenzy. This is unforgivable." He hissed.

Luffy gulped worriedly as he felt the shackles draining his energy, feeling that his powers were just out of reach. "L-Look Ace...I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, I miss Sabo, and I wish he was here, and I wish he hadn't died, and I wish-" He cut himself off with a yelp as Ace grabbed his ear and lifted him upright by it until he was nearly standing on tip toes.

"No, 'Sorry' won't cut it this time. As your brother, I'm gonna make sure that this doesn't happen again." Ace said angrily, leading Luffy over to the chair that was stationed beside a small desk that Franky had built for Ussop. Ace sat himself down on it, and Luffy struggled in fear as Ace all but threw him over his lap.

"A-Ace, I j-"

"You can plead all you want Luffy, you are NOT getting out of this one." He said firmly, placing his left arm over Luffy's back so as to pin him down before raising his strong right arm and bringing it down hard on the seat of Luffy's shorts. The cabin was filled with the sound of slaps hitting clothed skin, along with the suprised, sharp intakes of breath as Ace's firm palm stung even through two layers of clothes.

Luffy whined and arched his back, gripping the leg of Ace's own shorts and locking his jaw to keep from crying out as Ace's firm palm rained down on his bottom. "Aaaaaaacccccceeeeeee... Please, nooo..." Luffy mumbled pleadingly through his locked jaw, his voice laced with pain.

Suddenly, grabbing the waistband of the thin shorts and yanking them down so they no longer covered his bottom, Ace revealed the plain black boxers underneath in response. "I said no, Luffy." Ace replied shortly as he narrowed his eyes, his voice hard.

Luffy hissed through his teeth as the hard swats seemed to come harder and faster, not giving him much time to recover from the stinging pain. Luffy felt the tears he had tried so hard to keep back earlier come to surface once again, and he kicked his legs involuntarily as his first few muffled cries started to escape.

"ACE. STOP IT." Luffy finally yelled, the first tears starting to spill over the rims of his eyes.

Upon hearing this, Ace sighed once before hardening his heart, upping the pace slightly as he smacked his little brother without break, his well muscled arm having no trouble as it fell continuously with ever firmer smacks.

The Strawhat Captain finally started to crumble as he clutched his brother's trouser leg, and his legs bent slightly as he squirmed, fighting to shuffle forwards and off of his brother's lap, however unsuccessful due to Ace pinning him down. Luffy's cries resounded through the cabin as he strained to get away, feeling the burn on his rear end like a hail of fire brought upon by his brother.

Ace felt Luffy go limp as he caved in to the inevitable, and the slight shaking of his smaller form made him stop after another ten swift smacks to Luffy's boxer-clad bottom.

Ace smirked slightly as he pulled Luffy's shorts back up over the warmed flesh concealed beneath the boxers, causing him to whimper quietly. He then pulled his brother gently to his feet, letting him lean on him for support. Ace felt something tug at his heartstrings when he heard Luffy's quiet sob, and he cleared his throat, making his younger brother stiffen. "Luffy...are you crying?" He asked.

Luffy shook his head. "N-Nuh-uh." He said, miserably failing at lying. "Y-You don't l-like it when I cry..."

His older brother sighed knowingly and pulled his brother upright, tilting his chin so as to make him look him in the eyes, showing the small smile on his face as he unlocked the seastone shackles and put them away in his pocket. "Oi...Luffy..." He said gently, "sometimes, it's ok to cry."

The Strawhat captain's bottom lip wavered violently for a second before throwing himself at his brother and hugging him tightly, taking the second division commander off guard and nearly unbalancing him from where he was perched on the chair. It took a few seconds to figure out why he was shaking, but he smiled knowingly when he heard Luffy's broken sobs coming from where Luffy had hidden his face in his brother's bare chest. "I'm s-sorry Ace!" He cried.

Ace merely ruffled his brother's hair with one hand whilst he clasped Luffy tightly to him with the other. "I know Lu...I know." He said quietly, rubbing the boy's back in circles, lulling him to sleep as he sang a verse from an old lullaby that Sabo had once taught him, repeating the same two verses over and over since he had forgotten the rest.

"Deep in the meadow, under the willow. A bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes. And when again they open, the sun will rise...Here it's safe, here it's warm. Here the daisies guard you from every harm. Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true. Here is the place where I love you..."

Checking to see that his little brother was asleep, he snorted quietly and rolled his eyes, picking him up effortlessly and tucking him into one of the hammocks, making sure that he was not laying on his recently bruised area. Taking his leave, he quietly shut the door, once more checking to make sure that his brother was definately sleeping before heading up above deck.

"Ace!" Zoro hailed him as Ace made his way over to them with a grin. "How's Luffy?" He asked.

"Sleeping, but he should be fine." Ace responded, dipping his head slightly.

Ussop raised his hand to gain Ace's attention. "What did you do? We could hear Luffy screaming at you, but-"

Ace laughed and waved his hands as though getting them to back off. "Ah don't worry. All you need to know is that you should probably ignore him if he sits down funny or something."

Sanji grinned through his cigarette, and Brook chuckled quietly. "Poor Strawhat." Franky said with a smirk, making Ace shrug.

"I'll be staying here for a few days, because last time I encountered this with Luffy, he was still a little unstable afterwards. So I'll be monotoring him, not that he'll know that, but I need to make sure, ok?" Ace said, his tone becoming serious.

The strawhats nodded in unison and Sanji grinned again, putting his cigarette out. "Well, looks like I've got to feed another bottomless pit that you call a stomach." He joked, rolling his sleeves up and heading to the galley.

Nami rolled her eyes as the cook left. "You're always welcome Ace." She said politely, knowing that she could finally talk to a guy that was normal and had manners.

Ace bowed in return. "Thank you Nami, I appreciate it." He said with a smile, also bowing to Robin on Nami's other side in acknowledgement.

"Ace! Come and play with me and Ussop!" Chopper cried, smiling cutely at their Captain's brother, making him grin widely in return.

"Uh, maybe later Chopper. I need to grab a drink first...Any minute now I'm gonna fall asleep. Man, I'm exhausted." He said, feeling a hot flush coming on for when he knew he was about to go through one of his narcoleptic phases.

"You would if Luffy was your brother." Zoro snorted, clapping him on the back as they headed towards the galley.

Ace leaned back in his chair with a content sigh as he held his stomach. "This cooking is absolutely oustanding. My compliments to the chef." He said, winking at Sanji, who grinned back and dipped his head in pleased acknowledgement.

Before anyone could say anything, an angry roar shook the entire ship, making Brook drop the laden fork he had been holding with a yelp as the others clapped their hands over their ears. Ace stood up with both hands over his ears, and he stumbled over to the door, peering out of the small porthole of a window. He rolled to the right until his back met the wall, taking his hands off of his ears as the roar faded.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Sanji asked, his eyes wide as he too dropped his hands, depositing the spoon he had been holding into the sink as everyone else also dropped their hands cautiously.

"Was that Captain-san?" Robin asked, her face portraying worry.

"I thought you took care of him!" Franky exclaimed, making Nami nod in agreement as she looked from him to Ace.

Zoro held his hands up to silence them before turning to Ace, but as he was about to speak, everyone heard a yell and a smashing of a wooden crate from the deck, and Ace winced. "Ace, what's happening?" Zoro asked, trying to keep calm even though he was probably the most worried out of all of them.

Ace ran his hand tiredly down the side of his face. "Gahhhhhh. Ok. I was hoping this wouldn't happen. Sometimes Luffy goes into hysterical...fits, I guess. Normally, I would have sorted him out, and put him to sleep, and then he wakes up fine. However, these hysterical fits have only happened twice before. It's where he doesn't sleep for long enough, and in that short time of dreaming, he's still thinking about Sabo and I, and in this instance, how I've betrayed him and Sabo. Which as we know, is a load of rubbish, but that's what he sees." Ace explained roughly.

The crew stared at him wide-eyed. Nami shook herself for a second before addressing Ace."So what do we-"

More smashing and crashing reached their ears, this time accompanied by Luffy screaming one name. "AAAACCCEEE !"

Ace grimaced and chanced another look through the porthole, but he quickly withdrew it. "MOVE!" He yelled, gesturing at the seated mugiwara's. They hastily scrambled up and dived away from the table just in time as a barrage of knives broke through the glass of the porthole and thudded randomly into the table, handles up, whereas some missed the porthole and embedded themselves in the door.

"Ah hell." Sanji muttered, taking a drag of his cigarette rather shakily.

"AAAAAAACCEEE YOU TRAITOR!" Came Luffy's roar, making everyone tense.

Suddenly, a huge barrell flew through the door, taking the door off of it's top hinges so that it swung down at an angle as the barrell exploded on impact, releasing its contents of rum all over the door and floor, splattering everywhere. Ace cursed under his breath, as did Sanji and Franky to the damage of supplies and the ship itself.

Ace looked slightly taken aback, and he gulped as he stared at the kitchen's broken door wheras the rest of the crew stared at either him or the door. "W-Well I knew he was going to be a little mad...But I didn't foresee it on this scale..." He said, rubbing the side of his face tiredly. "And I can't do it again..." He muttered.

"Why not? It worked the first time, right?" Zoro asked, wincing with everyone else as there was a sharp crack from outside, ignoring Franky's muttering of how the little brat was breaking the ship.

Ace smirked sadistically. "Zoro, are you asking me to spank your Captain?" He snorted.

Zoro shrugged slightly, folding his arms over his chest.. "Well...in not so many words...yes."

The D. brother shook his head. "I can't. Not on this scale..." Suddenly he seemed to remember something, and he took out a small lighter from his back pocket, drawing curious glances from the strawhat crew. "But I can notify the situation to someone who can, someone with this lighter's twin..."

Somewhere overseas in a small cabin, three people were discussing a ship's course of action over a sturdy wooden desk that heralded a world map, pens and pencils, navigational objects, several bottles of rum and whiskey, a few chart books and a lighter.

"Captain, if we were to take that route we would be running into unnessesary trouble."

"Oh lighten up, the Captain is only looking for the route that provides the most fun, you know that Benn, escpecially since he paid that Law guy to give him a new arm."

"Yes, as his first mate, Yassop, I know it very well. But in this instance I think that we should bypass it, just this once."

"You're just getting too old for adventure Benn."

"Hold your tongue Yassop, I may be older than you, but i'm not so old as to not be able to kick your ass for such remarks. "

"Oh yeah? Lets take this one outside shall we? If you'll excuse us Captai-" Yassop stopped mid-word and his grin faded slightly as he realised that their captain had completely spaced out."Captain? Captain?"

Benn followed his captain's gaze, and his eyes found the small lighter that had been flipped open, and a small flame was burning fiercely, appearing with the same numbers each time, ones that Benn hastened to copy down onto a spare note of paper. They flashed one final time, lighting up the room to reveal the Captain's deep red hair, before suddenly spelling out a name in the fire and the lid snapped shut with a click.

Yassop and Benn stared for a second, not understanding what they had just witnessed.

"Luffy." Shanks said quietly.

Ace felt his vision blur for a millisecond, and he grabbed Zoro to get the attention of the Strawhat's first mate. "Zoro...It seems that I might actually have one of my narcoleptic fits any minute, where's your onboard doctor? I need to see if he has any tablets that can hold it off for at least half an hour." He said quickly.

"What?" Zoro asked in confusion, ducking instinctively as a glass went sailing over his head.

"Doctor. Tablets. No Narcolepsy. Half an hour." Ace stated as though talking to a child. However, Zoro seemed to get the message because he nodded.

"You. Chopper. Sickbay. Now." The green-haired swordsman replied with a smirk, turning away and whistling, beckoning to Chopper who came running over, quickly explaining what he needed.

Chopper's eyes went wide. "You want me to run across the deck with Ace on my back and get to the sickbay whilst Nami distracts Luffy?" He asked incredulously. Nami's sharp ears caught her name, and she flitted over to them, ducking low as Sanji shielded her and kicked away a piece of wooden crate that Luffy had launched at them through the broken door from where he stood on the deck.

"Distraction? !" Nami exclaimed. "Me? ! How am I supposed to do that? I'll DIE!"

Zoro rolled his eyes. "You have your climatact right?" He asked, making Nami nod in confirmation as she frowned in confusion. "The technique you used for that woman from CP9, the mirrage thing. Create one of Luffy and keep his attention on it. At the very least, it'll confuse him and make him try to attack that instead of us."

The three around him blinked once in unison. "That...could work." Ace said as he thought about it.

"That's...genius, Zoro." Nami agreed haltingly, quickly grabbing her climatact and starting to make the mirage as fast as she could whilst the cautious battle raged on behind them.

Zoro rolled his eyes. "Tch, always the tone of suprise." He muttered as Chopper grew to being a full-sized reindeer, minus a lot of the fluff. "Now, get ready. Nami'll send the mirage out to Luffy, and when he starts attacking it, Chopper, bolt for the sickbay." He instructed.

The reindeer and D. brother nodded, as Nami called out to them to tell them that she had sent the mirage out to meet Luffy. As Zoro had predicted, the mirage Luffy confused their captain. "MORE TRICKERY ACE? IS THAT WHAT THIS IS? ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ME? ARE YOU LAUGHING AT SABO? DIIIEE!" Luffy screamed, hitting out at his mirage in a frenzied Gatling attack, all of which the mirage dodged easily, keeping the real Luffy's attention easily, allowing Ace who was laying flat on Chopper's back, to slip by unnoticed below decks and into the infirmary.

Ace disembarked from the reindeer's back, who transformed back into his usual cuddly size and started to quickly sort through the tablet bottles from his store, picking up one, identifying it, and then shaking his head and putting it back.

"Come on Chopper..." Ace said, blinking dazedly as another wave of tiredness overcame him.

"Here! Ace, take one of these." Chopper said, triumphantly holding a small white pill out to him. "Hang on, I'll get you a drink to wash it down wi-ACE!"

Ace took the pill and put it in the mouth, dry swallowing it and nearly choking in the process, even though he successfully managed to keep it down. "N-No time." He coughed. "Need to be awake until he comes."

Chopper frowned at him in confusion. "Until who comes?" He asked, making Ace grin.

"Someone more powerful. Much, much more powerful than me." He answered, making Chopper's eyes become nearly as big as saucers.

"More powerful than you?" He gasped. "Who is it? One of the Shichibukai?" He asked.

"Close." Ace said as he headed out of the infirmary. "Someone from Luffy's past. One of the Yonkō."

Chopper's jaw hit the floor, and it trailed along as he ran after Ace. "Th-That's impossible! How would you and Luffy know one of the Yonkō?"

"He saved Luffy's life when he was little. He was drowning and about to be eaten by a seaking, and he dived straight in and saved him, but the seaking took one of his arms." Ace explained, making stars of wonder and excitement appear in the young reindeer's eyes.

"Awesome!" Chopper squealed, and then he remembered what he had been called for. "Wait...he won't be too hard on Luffy will he?" He asked worriedly.

Ace stopped on the stairs leading up to the deck, and he turned to the reindeer, squatting until he was on eye-level with the reindeer, smiling at him comfortingly. "Chopper, this guy is like a father figure to him. But Luffy's in a lot of trouble, by the time this guy's finished with him, Luffy's ass will be as red as the guy's hair." He said honestly. Chopper gulped and nodded as he processed the information and realised which one of the Yonkō Ace was hinting at.

"Does this mean I'm not allowed to heal him?" He asked sadly.

Ace nodded with a sad smile. "Yeah, but hopefully, this will never have to happen again. If anyone can stop this from happening every year, this guy can." He reassured the reindeer as he stood up fully.

Chopper's eyes suddenly grew wide. "ACE!" He yelled, reaching for the second division commander a second too late as he turned around in what seemed like slow motion.

A fist came flying towards him and caught him square on his chin. The impact was so great that it took Ace off of his feet and he was sent crashing up the stairs and flying into the air, crash landing upon the soft grassy deck, coughing as the wind was knocked out of him. The same fist caught him again in the side of the face as it punched him again, making him splutter in pain into his hand, which was covered with flecks of blood.

The crew were motionless, knowing that if they tried to help, they'd only end up hurting them both and probably themselves. They watched as Luffy unleashed a barrage of punches upon his brother's bare torso, forcing up more blood from Ace's mouth.

Ussop withdrew a small pellet and carefully took aim at Luffy's unprotect back. "Sorry Luffy..." He whispered, closing one eye and focusing on his target, his arm wavering slightly before opening his eye again and letting go of the taut string, letting it hurtle towards his captain.

Before it could land a hit, there was the sharp bang that resounded in the air, the sound of a gun being fired. It's bullet pierced Ussop's pellet dead on, making it explode mid-air before carrying on and embedding itself in the deck.

"N-N-No-one is that good a shot..." Ussop breathed.

Everyone but Luffy and Ace stared at the huge ship that had drawn alongside them to see three figures standing on the deck looking at them, one holding a smoking gun. Ace and Luffy, however, were still locked in their one-sided battle. Luffy's eyes were bloodshot, and as he pinned Ace down, he continued to punch him, mostly in the head. Ace did not struggle, or fight back. Merely accepted it and rolled with each blow so as to make it less painful.

Luffy raised his arm back to strike once more, but his fist was caught in a vice-like grip. The boy paused, and everyone held their breath in shock as they recognised the cloaked figure that held their captain's fist.

"Get up." A stern voice commanded. The Strawhat captain went rigid, as though having been given an electric shock, and his bloodshot eyes faded slowly as recognition ran through him, making him gulp in fear.

"I said, up." The voice repeated, hauling the captain to his feet by his fist. "Someone tend to Ace, whilst I handle Luffy." He said, addressing the crew as he released Luffy's fist and caught the pair of seastone shackles that Zoro silently threw to him. "Benn, Yassop. I'll join you later and the Strawhats later."

"Sh-Sh-Shanks." Luffy stuttered, his wide eyes refusing to look at him, staring at the deck instead as he numbly felt the Yonkō place the shackles securely on his wrists, barely noticing the draining of his powers.

"Good Evening Anchor." Shanks said icily, making the boy flinch at the nickname being used in such a tone. "It seems there's been a bit of trouble on board your ship." He said, grabbing Luffy's ear tightly and twisting in sharply, making Luffy yelp in pain and try to drop to the floor. Shanks pulled him back up by the ear and led him to the side of the ship and up onto the gangplank that joined the Thousand Sunny to the Red Force, hauling him alongside him onto the deck of the Red Force and nodding to Benn with a wry grin before disappearing below decks with his charge.

Shanks closed the door to the captain's cabin, and he threw Luffy forwards, making him stumble into the middle of the room, lit only by one small lamp in the middle of the ceiling. Shanks turned back and stalked over to him, and noticed that Luffy was glaring at the floor between his feet.

"Monkey D. Luffy, look at me." Shanks commanded, using Luffy's full name, which had the desired effect. Luffy reluctantly raised his head and let his eyes meet Shanks's, as he knew that Shanks was being serious.

"What?" He asked dejectedly. As soon as he'd said it, he wished he could take it back.

"What?" Shanks repeated incredulously. "WHAT?" He shouted, making Luffy wince. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'VE BEEN DOING? IF THERE WAS ONE THING I TAUGHT YOU TEN YEARS AGO YOUNG MAN, IT WAS TO TREAT YOUR FRIENDS AS JUST THAT, YOUR FRIENDS. NOT TO LOSE YOUR HEAD OVER A PAST EVENT AND TAKE IT OUT ON THEM." Shanks roared.

"I LOST SABO ON THIS DAY. I LOST A BROTHER. DON'T FUCKING TELL ME I'M NOT ALLOWED TO MOURN FOR HIM." Luffy yelled.

"THIS IS NOT MOURNING, THIS IS A KILLING FRENZY." Shanks yelled back.

Luffy took several deep breaths and shook his head. "Sabo was taken away from us by those...bastards...the Celestrial Dragons...I should be going after them, and be damned with anyone who gets in my way." He said, brushing past the Yonkō as though he weren't there.

Shanks scowled in annoyance and stepped back into his apprentice's path, his arm shooting out and grabbing Luffy's shoulder, forcing him back as he cuffed Luffy around the ear with his other, suprising the boy. "Ow! What the-When did you get your other arm back?" He asked, his tone fearful.

"I went to one of the super rookie's called the Heart Pirates. Their captain, Traflgar Law, is known as the surgeon of death, but for a price, he operated on me to give me a new arm. Bad news for you in this instance." Shanks said, his voice getting dangerous at the end, making Luffy take an involuntary step back. "You, are in deep, trouble." He said darkly, grabbing Luffy's arm and leading him over to the chair behind his navigation desk.

"Sh-Shanks...Y-You wouldn't." Luffy said, scared but hoping that it wasn't really going to happen.

"Oh yes I would." Shanks retorted sharply as he sat down, proving it by hauling Luffy over his lap, making the younger captain start to squirm in a panic, unsuccessfully trying to shuffle forwards and off of his lap even with the shackles on his wrists.

Shanks sighed as he expertly slipped Luffy's shorts down until they slid down to his knees, to reveal his boxers. "H-Hey...Sh-Shanks, don-" Luffy's voice was cut off by the red-haired pirate captain smacking him firmly five times, making him yelp in pain as it hit some of the already slightly bruised area from Ace's earlier punishment.

"DON'T YOU FUC-" Luffy yelled, trying to roll sideways off of his lap, only for Shanks to catch him and pin him down with his left hand, spanking him once more with his other, making sure it was even harder. "OW!" Luffy cried, squirming slightly.

"Luffy, cut it out with the language. You are not, I repeat not, getting away with this young man." Shanks said sternly.

"B-But-"

"No buts." Shanks said, letting his hand fall another five times, leaving a stinging pain in the sensitive area as Luffy bit his lip to keep from crying out again. After that, he spanked Luffy with a continuous rythm, and the boy was shoved forwards slightly with each blow, making him wince in pain as he scowled angrily.

Shanks raised the leg that was supporting his prisoner's lower body up slightly so that his bottom was pushed into the air and his hips were raised high enough for him to hit even more sensitive spots. He grabbed the waistband of Luffy's boxers, yanking them down to join the shorts before deepening the now bright red on Luffy's butt.

Luffy gasped slightly as he gripped Shank's leg, his eyes widening. Shanks scolded him in a firm voice as he began spanking his upper thighs as well.

"Luffy. I never want to hear of this happening again. Do I make myself clear?"

Luffy flinched, and his last wall of defense came crashing down when Shanks's stern voice scolded him. He felt tears trail down to his chin and fall off of his face as he began to kick his legs a little.

"I said, do I make myself clear?" Shanks repeated, adding a little more force.

"U-Uh-huh." Luffy replied, his eyes screwed tightly shut.

"Do you understand why I'm doing this?" Shanks asked, giving him a somewhat lighter smack. Luffy didn't reply, and instead he gritted his teeth and dug his nails into Shanks's leg, making the man's eye, and the three scars over it, twitch as it travelled up the nerve in his leg.

Shanks grimaced and hardened his heart as he reached over to the navigation desk and grabbed a metal ruler that they had been using earlier. Giving himself no time to hesitate, he brought the ruled down hard across both cheeks, making Luffy howl in pain, releasing his nails and trying to scrabble at the floor as he legs bent at the knees.

"Answer me." Shanks said sternly.

"Y-Y-Yes." Luffy answered.

"Why am I doing this?" Shanks asked, bringing the ruler down, a little lighter.

"Because life hates me." Luffy said bitterly, a few tears escaping through the corners of his eyes and slowly sliding down the side of his face.

The ruler was brought down again, and the tears started to flow. "Try again."

"Ok! Ok...Ow...OW! That was harder on purpo-OWW! THIS HURTS YOU KNOW." Luffy screeched.

"Good." Shanks said, thwacking it down again, the slapping noise resounding in the cabin, as well as Luffy's accompanying howl.

"Because-I-got-upset-over-the-past-and-took-my-anger-and-sadness-out-on-my-friends!" Luffy rushed before Shanks could get another smack in. Shanks paused, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Say that again more slowly." He said, listening carefully.

"B-Because I got upset over the p-p-past and took my anger a-and sadness out on m-my friends..." Luffy said, taking a few gulping breaths.

"Are you going to do this ever again?"

"N-No."

"Promise?"

"P-Puh-Promise."

"Good. Maybe you are learning something." Shanks said, in his mind feeling quite relieved that he was getting through to his apprentice.

"A-Are you d-done now?" Luffy asked timidly.

Shanks raised his eyebrow. "No, you don't get off the hook just yet." He said, swatting Luffy's backside with renewed vigour and without pause, making sure he hit every spot and not twice, saving the escpecially hard spanks for Luffy's sit spots and upper thighs.

Luffy couldn't hold back the tears that now spilled down his face uncontrollably, and his hips bucked wildly as an agonizing inferno started to build. His wails built in volume too, and his legs thrashed as he fought to get away from his punishment. "SHANKS! PLEASE!" He begged, sobs cracking his voice. After another five, the boy went limp, and succumbed to the inevitable as a final ten, firm spanks were laid into his rear-end.

"Now we're done." Shanks said quietly as he put the ruler down, gently pulling the boxers and shorts up over the burning flesh that was a deep crimson colour, and not a shade lighter than his hair. Luffy whimpered as the material brushed over the tender area, and his body went stiff.

The Red-Haired pirate captain lifted Luffy up and set him gently on his lap, causing Luffy catch a small sob in his throat as he whimpered again. "Well, let this be a lesson, Anchor. Ok? Don't do it again, otherwise Mr short-sharp-spank will have to take a trip to botty-land." Shanks chuckled lightly. Luffy sniffled, and he bit down on his bottom lip hard, making Shanks frown. "Hey, hey...Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself." He said, tracing Luffy's lip once, making Luffy pout slightly instead as his tear-stained face looked to Shanks for comfort.

"Come here, Anchor." Shanks said finally, gently embracing the boy and ruffling his hair slowly. He gave a slight 'oof' as Luffy wrapped his arms around Shanks and buried his head in his shoulder, crying unashamedly and loudly. "Let it out Luffy, let it all out." Shanks said comfortingly as he rocked him like a baby, ignoring the fact that he was clutching his shirt so hard that it was sure to crease it.

They stayed like this for a while, with Luffy occasionally saying mid-sob 'I'm sorry Captain', and repeating it like some kind of mantra, to which Shanks automatically replied 'I know' and 'It's alright now' to reassure him as he continued to rock him, finally managing to get him to fall asleep in his arms, and even then Shanks continued to rock him, a troubled look on his face.

A little later, Benn Beckman opened the door to find Shanks putting one finger to his lips to tell him to be quiet, nodding to the boy that was sleeping deeply in his arms. Benn nodded and picked up a key from the desk, unlocking the seastone shackles that bound Luffy's wrists before smirking.

'Coming up?' He mouthed.

'Yeah, give me one second.' Shanks replied, making Benn nod and go to wait outside the room.

Shanks stood up with Luffy limp in his arms, carrying him over to his own bunk and gently laying Luffy down in it, drawing the covers up over him and smirking at his still form, the only signs of life being the rise and fall of his skinny chest.

With that, he dimmed the lamp, and slipped outside to join the party that was still raging on aboard the Thousand Sunny.

Five hours later on the chair laden deck of the Thousand Sunny, tankards of finished rum were lifted into the air asking to be refilled, to which Sanji ignored, merely pointing to the barrells that lined the side of the deck, each with a small tap on them so that they could fill them up themselves.

The two seperate crews were getting well aquainted with one another, and there was music, dancing, drinking, singing and the occasional challenge. One in particular that was currently ongoing was between father and son, Yassop and Ussop.

"Come on Ussop!" Franky cheered, raising a triumphant fist in the air.

"Yassop, you show that young whipper-snapper what you can do!" Rockstar encouraged, making Yassop smirk at his son challengingly and raise an eyebrow.

"Go for it Yassop!" Someone else from the red-haired pirate crew laughed.

"GO SOGEKING GO!" Chopper shouted with a laugh, making Ussop wink at him.

"3, 2, 1, GO!" Someone chanted, making them both reach forwards towards the seperated parts of a gun that they had each been given, and they both started to reassemble their gun. Yassop, having had that much more experience with a gun, was a little faster, but Ussop had the hang of it, and was easily able to see which part went where.

Yassop managed to finish it, and he started to pull the trigger to one of the two targets that was fastened high up on the main mast. A shot rang out, and everyone stared at Ussop who had managed to pull the trigger of his own before his father could. Ussop smirked cockily at his dad, and Brook jumped up to stand on the mast to grab both of the targets, keeping them seperate. He showed Yassop's clear one, and then produced Ussop's, which had a clear bullet hole in the dead centre of the target.

"That's my boy!" Yassop laughed proudly, clapping his son on the shoulder and drawing him into a hug as the others whooped and clapped, whistling too as Ussop grinned and hugged his father back, dragging him over to sit with the rest of the crew, who were talking to Lucky, Benn and Shanks. To where Shanks had just finished giving Sanji his den-den mushi code.

"I gotta say, I feel rather privilaged that your captain named your crew the 'Strawhat Pirates', Captain Gol D. Roger would have been proud that a crew like yours is carrying on his legacy." Shanks said, feeling pride swell within his chest. "It makes me glad that I gave that hat to Luffy."

"Ehhhh?" Nami screeched. "You gave that hat to Luffy? The hat that he treasures just as much as he treasures us and his own life?"

Shanks laughed and ran a hand through his blood red hair. "How do you think your Captain got the strawhat of the former Pirate King?" He asked. Exclamations came from the mouths of everyone on the deck aside from the Red-Haired Pirates.

"But that would mean that you knew the Pirate King when he was alive!" Franky said in shock.

"Either that or he stole it." Robin added.

"I did not steal it!" Shanks huffed indignantly. "Buggy and I were the cabin boys on the Oro Jackson thank you very much, and Captain Roger was a trouble magnet! Silvers Rayleigh had a tough time of being first mate, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who wanted the captain to turn back sometimes." Shanks said wistfully, his eyes glazed over, lost in another time.

Everyone else's eyes were glued to him, most of their jaws hanging open as they stared at him incredulously.

"Buggy?" Zoro asked in confusion. "As in Buggy the clown? I can't believe that...He's a coward if ever I saw one."

Shanks laughed raucously. "Buggy never was one for adventure, so he decided to stick to terrorizing East Blue. He hates me for some reason. Can't figure out why, but then again we were always trying to get each other into trouble with Rayleigh-san."

"I need time to process this...My brain can't take it...Oh wait, I don't have a brain, yohohohoho~!" Brook laughed, making Shanks join in too with a chuckle.

Benn Beckman's head tilted suddenly and he nudged his Captain, who merely nodded. "I know Benn, he's starting to come up." He said. "You stay here with the strawhats and enjoy yourself, look at Yassop, he and his son are getting along splendidly!" He grinned, clapping Benn on the shoulder and handing his sword to him as he headed to the gangplank, his black cape flying out behind him.

He stopped short however, upon seeing Luffy standing at the other end of the gangplank with his eyes slightly red-rimmed, and looking rather sheepish with one hand behind his back whilst one sandaled foot scuffed the edge of the plank. "C-Can I...Uh...Join in? Please?" He asked, as though fearing he would be refused and sent to bed.

Shanks merely grinned and opened his arms wide. "Get over here Anchor."

Luffy grinned back and ran over the gangplank throwing himself at Shanks, letting the older Captain pick him up and spin him around, his cape flying out even more as they both laughed, even when Shanks set him down.

"Hey! Where's my hug?" A familiar voice called out. They both turned to see Ace standing up and staring at Luffy with his hands on his hips. His face and torso had been bandaged, but it didn't stop Luffy from hugging him as hard as he could.

"Right here." Luffy mumbled into his shoulder. "I'm sorry for earlier Ace, and I love you, kami damn it."

Ace grinned and hugged him back just as tightly. "S'alright. A bundle of mischief, that's what you are, you troublesome little brother." Ace teased, tugging on the ends of Luffy's hair slightly.

Luffy pouted. "I don't get into trouble. It sits and waits for me to walk into it."

Ace rolled his eyes and guided him over to sit with his crew, and a few of the Red-Haired pirates. "Shut up and eat." He joked, handing him a piece of meat knowingly. Luffy grinned and sat down, but he very nearly leapt back up again with a yelp. He managed to contain it, and instead his face screwed up a little and he let out a small whine before hiding his face in the meat and biting a huge chunk out of it.

Zoro and Shanks shared a knowing look, and Zoro raised a questioning eyebrow, to which Shanks merely shrugged with a grin. The exchange did not go unnoticed, and the Strawhats sniggered quietly.

The elder D. brother suddenly raised his tankard in the air in the middle of the large circle.

Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Ussop, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook, Lucky, Yassop, Benn and Shanks all joined their tankards to meet Ace's who cleared his throat.

"To live with no regrets!"

"To become the Pirate King!"

"To be the World's greatest swordsman!"

"To draw a map of the world!"

"To be a brave warrior of the seas!"

"To find all blue!"

"To see the world with my own eyes and be the world's best doctor!"

"To find the Rio-Phonoglyph!"

"To sail around the world in the ship that I built!"

"To reunite with my nakama, Laboon!"

The Red-Haired pirates shared a glance and shrugged in acceptance.

"To eat!"

"To watch my son become the best sharp-shooter the world has ever seen!"

"To try and keep my nutter of a Captain sober."

"To watch Luffy defeat me when earning his title of the Pirate King, if he can."

"KANPAI!" Everyone yelled, thrusting the tankards at one another so that rum went everywhere as they laughed and drank up. Luffy finished his quickly and launched his tankard at Shanks's head, who neatly caught it before it hit him in the forehead.

"OF COURSE I'LL DO IT. I'M GONNA BE THE PIRATE KING!" Luffy yelled with a mischevious grin, letting his hand form a challenging fist.

"Not if your ass is still as red as my hair you won't." Shanks commented slyly, taking another gulp of his rum whilst everyone around him exploded with laughter.

"MEANIE SHANKS!" Luffy shouted, folding his arms over his chest.

Ace laughed and looked up to the stars, and he could have sworn that Sabo was up there laughing with them, and in that instant, he knew everything was forgiven. With a grin, ruffled Luffy's hair good-naturedly. "S'good to have you back Lu."

Hope it was ok!

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MugiwaraAkagamiKaizoku.