Previously

"We are going to have some time for ourselves." Harry added with a smile, as he was starting to actually feel excited about all this as this meant having some peaceful time with his mates and their daughter.

The three of them looked at the horizon in front of them with a sense of peaceful happiness, reveling in just being together right now and looking forward to what was waiting for them.

Back in Present

Harry was standing at the prow of the ship, looking at the horizon, seeing the sight of an island appearing.

"We're almost there." Marco said, as he walked up to the his mate, putting his arms around his waist and resting his head on his shoulder.

"Yeah…" the other replied in a calm low voice, leaning back against the taller male, letting out a sigh of content, "I hope we can stay there for some time. I really want to spend time just the four of us."

"Don't worry love we will." the blond man told him, kissing him on the cheek before tightening his arms around him.

"Where is Ace?" the green young man suddenly asked as he wondered what his other mate was doing

"He's with Luffy." his mate said, adding with an amused smile, "It seems his little brother is sticking to him worse than glue, having fun annoying him and finding any excuse to start a fight.

"They don't like each other?" Harry asked worriedly with a frown, "Is it because of me?"

"Oh no don't worry it's not." Marco quickly replied, not losing his smile, giving him a reassuring peck on his temple, "Luffy and Ace have been raised kind of in a rough way. I don't know if he already told you but Luffy's grandfather raised both of them in his own way. He put them under the care of a band of mercenaries and would come once in a while and train them to fight and all."

"He actually hoped for them to become Marines." he finished by saying with a chuckle.

"Well I guess that plan backfired." the petite male commented with a chuckle of his own.

"What are you two talking about?" Ace asked as he was approaching the two of them.

"About how much of a rebel you are." Harry replied with a cheeky grin as he turned to look at his other mate as he went to stand next to the

"Well that's what makes my charm." the dark haired man said with a grin of his own.

They settled into a comfortable silence as they watched the island, where they were going to spend some time on, getting bigger and bigger as they got nearer.

As they got to the island Boa Hancock led them to a side of the island with a big beach of fine white sand and the jungle in the background. When they finally got off the boat, Harry with Aiko in his arms with Marco and Ace right behind him. They were then led to a camp site with big arabian style tents that the amazons had put out for them to stay and live in as men were not allowed in the amazon village.

"Here is our home for the next few days." the petite male said softly to his daughter who was awake right now, looking with big eyes, a big smile spreading on her face at the sound of her daddy's voice, making the latter smile as well.

He felt his mates each putting an arm around his waist and he smiled at them as he leaned on them, relishing in the feeling of their embrace. Aiko was cooing happily in his arms, looking at each of her daddies with a toothless smile.

"Are you happy sweetie? Are you happy to be on this island with your daddies?" Harry cooed back at her with a silly smile before blowing a raspberry on her belly, making the infant giggle gleefully.

The two older male looked at their daughter and their mate with affection. Although only one of them was the father they both saw Aiko as their child, not really caring who was her biological father. She was two weeks old and she had already grown so much it was unbelievable. She had already won the hearts of everyone. She already had a horde a infamous ruthless pirates from not only the Whitebeard crew but also the Mugiwara crew acting as foolish in love uncles.

Speaking of uncles, the three men turned around when they heard someone enter the tent reserved for the four of them and saw Luffy standing with a big goofy grin.

"Hiya!" he said loudly with his infamous laugh before approaching them closer and looking down at Aiko and starting making funny faces at her, "Hello little cricket!

The little girl looked at her silly uncle with big eyes before giggling at the funny sight, while the others looked at the young captain with a both incredulous and amused expression on their face.

"Luffy can you tell me why you are calling our daughter 'little cricket'?" Ace asked with an eyebrow raised in question.

"Because she is very little right now. I can't call her big cricket." the straw hat pirate replied, looking at his brother as if it was the most obvious and logical thing in the world.

At hearing this, Marco couldn't contain himself and exploded in laughter, almost bending over as his stomach was starting to hurt. At this moment the rest of the Mugiwara crew entered the room as well.

"We should really think of putting a sign on the door to tell people that they can't come in our tent however they please." the freckled pirate commented when he saw all of his brother's crew members entering with a sigh, having wanted some alone time with Marco, his mate and their daughter.

"Well too bad Portgas. But don't worry we are not here to see you." Nami replied with a huff with her hands on her hips before looking toward their little girl, her frown melting to be replaced by a huge smile and her eyes shining,"We are here for this precious little girl. Hello princess. Oh you're so cute~!

The little girl seemed to really enjoy the attention and cooed at the new arrivals, giving them big gummy smiles. Everyone seemed to melt at the sight of her, Ussop joining Luffy into making funny faces while Franky and Brooke cried while talking about the miracle of life. Sanji was cooing at her as well, gushing about how beautiful of a lady she would be later in life and Robin tickling her with a hand she had sprouted from the blanket wrapped around her. Even Zoro was looking tenderly at the infant, having a hard time not showing his smile.

"Well it seems that we won't have to worry too much about her seeing how she has an army of possessive and protective uncles and aunties to take care of her and protect her." Marco commented amusedly to Ace as he looked at the way the Strawhat pirates were acting, knowing full well that their crew mates would be exactly like this if not worse.

"Tell me about it…We might actually have to fight to get to hold and have her." Ace said jokingly with a chuckle, a cheeky smirk and his eyes shining brightly as he suddenly got an idea, "Hey how about we let Aiko with them for a few hours so that we can spend some time with just Harry? We haven't been able to do this since we got her in our lives. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to elope, relax and have some quality time together."

"Hmm that's very tempting." Marco replied thoughtfully with a small smile before a slight frown on his face, "But do you think Harry will accept? It's only been 2 weeks that Aiko has been born and he has never left her side for more than a few minutes. Don't you think he will have a hard time with the idea?

"We can always try." Ace told him with a shrug before they both turned toward Harry, who was looking at everyone gushing over his daughter with a happy and proud smile, holding his little girl tightly in his arms, and said hesitatingly, "Harry?"

"Yes?" the latter replied, turning his head toward his mates, his eyes shining inquisitively

"How about we leave Aiko with them and go spend the afternoon somewhere just the three of us?" The dark haired man blurted quickly, suddenly feeling his courage to ask his mate flying away slowly.

At hearing this the petite male frowned, not looking extremely thrilled at the idea.

"Why?" is the only thing he asked, staring at his mates intently, making them squirm slightly under his gaze.

"Well we haven't had some alone time for a while now. And seeing how there is a lot of people who we think could take care of her we thought that it could be a nice opportunity to spend time just the three of us." Marco tried to explain, diplomatically trying to not upset his mate.

They knew that it had only been two weeks that Aiko had been born and it was very normal for Harry who had been the one to give birth to her to feel over possessive and over protective. But they thought that it would be good not only for them but also for Harry to spend a few hours away without her. Not only to relax and recharge but also because as much as they wanted to be near her at all time they needed learn that this was just not an option. They would need at one point or another to leave her in the care of someone else for a few hours or more.

This is when something unexpected happened. Before Harry could reply anything, Zoro stepped up and looked at them with a very serious look on his face.

"I'll look after her." he told them with a determined expression on his face.

Everybody except for Robin looked at him with both a shocked and skeptical expression on their face.

"Are you sure...?" Harry asked, feeling unsure himself of letting his baby girl with that man who looked so rough.

"No offense but do you know anything about taking care of a baby...?" Ace asked with a bit of a blank face.

"He is better than you would think at handling kids." Robin replied for her boyfriend before the latter could defend himself with a mysterious smile, making everyone look at them suspiciously, especially when they saw the blush that appeared on Zoro's face at the words of his girlfriend and the slight scowl he threw at her.

"Okay well…if Robin says so then I guess its okay…" Harry said, trusting and feeling at ease with the dark haired woman, therefore believing her when she vouched for the green haired man.

He then carefully handed Aiko to Zoro who took her in his arms with ease. He then settled her comfortably into the crook of his arms, looking as if he had done that a thousand times, shocking everyone with how comfortable he seemed to be with those kind of things.

"Well now that we have found someone able to take care Aiko we can go." Marco said with a smile, putting a hand on his smaller mate, looking down at him with a reassuring smile, his eyes trying to convince him there would be no problems and nothing would happen during their absence.

With a defeated sigh Harry lowered his head in surrender and with a pout went to kiss his daughter's forehead one more time before he and his mates started leaving the room.

"If there is any problem come get me immediately." he told Zoro, turning his head around and not walking anymore, gnawing on his lower lip worriedly, "She can get fussy when she is hungry so you need to feed her every 4 hours or so. There are milk bottles in the cabinet over there and the diapers are over there. And she really likes her stuffed blue bunny and if…"

"Don't worry love I'm sure he'll be able to handle her, he has Robin and everyone else to help him." Marco told the phoenix hybrid with a gentle tone, taking him by the arm and coaxing him gently toward the door once again.

After some more reassurances from both of his mates and Zoro, they finally managed to get out of the room, leaving Aiko under the supervision of the Mugiwara crew and most precisely Zoro.

"Finally!" Ace said in an excited voice, a grin on his face as he grabbed one of Harry's hand and threaded his fingers with his, looking both at him and Marco, "Let's have fun together this afternoon."

"Yeah let's enjoy our time together." Marco added with a smile as well, taking Harry's other hand and also threading his fingers with his.

"You two are impossible you know that?" Harry replied with a sigh and a shake of his head, looking amused at his mates.

"But you love us for that." the fire user told him cheekily, squeezing his hand.

"Sadly I do." the petite male said in a dramatically sigh, a playful smirk on his face.

"You cheeky little kitty." the man growled with a playful glint in his eyes as well as a hint of desire.

Wanting to wipe that cheeky smile on his face off and replace it by a much more entertaining expression he grabbed the young man's chin and tilted it to give him a deep sensual kiss. When he pulled away, you could see a big bright blush on the phoenix hybrid's face and his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

"Now here is a face that I like!" Ace commented, letting out a loud laugh at the face of outrage of his mate at that comment.

"I have to say that it really suits you love." Marco commented with a chuckle, turning his mate's face toward him before leaning down and capturing his lips into a sweet kiss.

"You guys are seriously unbelievable!" Harry exclaimed exasperated, his face beetroot red as he shook off their hands and with a pout left for the forest.

"Do you think he is really mad?" Ace asked Marco, turning to look at his best friend with a worried frown.

"I don't think he is seriously mad…" the blond man said his voice sounding a bit unsure before he added quickly before starting to walk toward the forest himself, "But we should go after him nonetheless and apologize."

With a nod Ace quickly followed the other man, jogging into the forest to catch up with their feisty mate.

"Harry! We're sorry~!" both of them cried out as they finally found him brooding near a natural water spring with a cascade, sitting on a large moss covered rock.

"You're sure you're not here to make fun of me more?" he asked them with a wary scowl, his lips still jutting out slightly and a pink tint still present on his cheeks.

"We promise love." Marco said as he got nearer from their mate and kneeled next to him, putting a hand on his cheek and caressing it along with his hair, "Me and Ace just wanted to have a playful banter with you. It's our first time just the three of us since Aiko was born so we are excited.

"Yeah we didn't think you would react like this." Ace added hesitantly, approaching his mate carefully and sitting next to him.

Harry let out a sigh and looked back at the cascade before mumbling softly something that the older men didn't quite catch and asked him to repeat.

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have reacted like this." the green eyed man repeated a bit louder before turning toward them and gnawing on his lower lip as he looked at them a bit embarrassed, "Aiko hasn't been really sleeping through the nights those past few days so I haven't been able to get a good rest."

"Why didn't you tell us? We could have taken turn looking after her so that you can sleep." the blond man told him with a frown still on his knees, putting a hand on his petite mate's knee and rubbing circles with his thumb on it.

"I didn't want to bother you." the other replied low with a small blush.

"Harry, she is our responsibility as much as she is yours. We are her fathers and we can also take care of her." the freckled pirate told him, putting an arm around his shoulders, bringing him close to him in a side-hug, "We need to support each other and take turns in being the ones to take care of her during the night.

"Okay." the young phoenix said with a small smile, leaning further into his mate's side, relishing in the comfort it brought him

"How about we go take a dip into that pool?" Ace suddenly proposed with a grin toward both of the men, "It's not sea water so we can all enjoy a swim together."

A mischievous smirk then appeared on Harry as he stood up and stepped away so that he was facing both of his mates, who were now both sitting on the rock he had just left, looking at him with curiosity. Then slowly he untied the sash holding his kimono together, letting the fabric softly slide down his pale shoulders until it was on the floor along with his underwear, leaving him stark naked. Then with a teasing smirk at his entranced mates who were now watching his every move with rapt attention, he jogged to the pool, jumping into it and splashing the men at the same time.

The water seemed to wake them from their trance, as their face quickly got a huge grin on it and they quickly undressed before joining their mate into the natural pool. When they finally got to their mate, they pulled him roughly in between them, preventing him from escaping as they hugged him close in between them.

"Harry Potter you are going to be the death of us." Marco said with a smile before leaning down capturing the petite male's lips into a searing kiss, making the latter moan and latch his hands around his neck as he kissed back as passionately.

When they finally parted with a gasp for air, Harry didn't get much time to get his mind back, as his head was turned a bit by Ace who then proceeded to kiss him with as much intensity, making him in turn place a hand on the nape of his neck as well to prevent him from losing his balance.

"You guys are not any better." the young man panted when he parted from Ace, resting his head on the man's shoulder and closing his eyes as he caught his breath and calmed down his heart that was beating crazily right now.

The three then started chuckling together, not really knowing why they were laughing but not caring either, staying in the position that they were. They enjoyed the rest of their afternoon playing in the water and then resting on the grass next to it, the sunshine drying them quite quickly. After a while the growling of their stomachs made them decide to put their clothes back on and go have some food.

Not wanting to go back to the camp and see everyone yet, they decided to find fruits and hunt in the forest for something to eat. Marco went to go hunt while Harry and Ace went to pick up fruits and wood to build up a fire to cook the meat. Half an hour later they had built up quite a nice fire and Marco was coming with a huge boar that they proceeded to cook. Once the meat was cooked they ate in a comfortable silence. They talked for a while after that, enjoying their time together and barely noticing the sun going down before they started feeling the chill of the evening enveloping them.

As such, they finally decided to walk back to the camp. When they arrived there everyone seemed to be grouped around something and were making quite a lot of weird noises. When the three men got nearer they realized that what got the attention of almost everyone was Aiko, who was laying calmly in the arms of Zoro, smiling and babbling at the men who were looking at her and cooing. The swordsman looked anything but happy that he had all these men around and so near him but seemed to bear it because they were there for the little girl.

"And those men are supposed to be feared ruthless pirates." Ace said with a deadpan expression on his face as he watched his men act like complete fools just to get a smile out of his daughter.

"I think it's adorable." Harry said with a smile, looking amusedly at all those grown men being at the mercy of an infant before he asked with a grin, "What do you think? Should we relieve Zoro of his babysitting duties?"

"I think it's wise. I don't think he will stand much longer the fact that the men are in such a close proximity of him." Marco replied with a chuckle as he could see the scowl on the green haired man deepen.

And so they went to help out the man, giving the latter an opportunity to escape as soon as they had gotten a hold of Aiko. As soon as they had her back, the other men began to ask if they could hold her as well, whining about how Zoro had categorically refused to give her to any of them.

"Whoa whoa guys calm down!" Ace said in a loud voice, raising his hands up in the air to try to silence the men, "We just got back so let us have her for a while."

"But Ace...~!" the men started whining at hearing this, a pouting expression that didn't suit them at all appearing on most of their faces.

"When dinner time comes you guys can have her for a moment." Marco proposed as a concession.

That seemed to calm the men down, who then turned around and then attended to other tasks.

"I swear those guys are worse than children." Ace commented with a shake of his head.

"I think it's great. We have an unlimited amount of people who can babysit Aiko for us." Harry replied with an amused voice, a smile on his face as he thought of all the people they could count on already.

"You are quite popular aren't you." the fire user said as he leaned down to look at his daughter, tickling her belly and cooing at her, making not only Aiko but the other two men laugh.

This is how later in the evening, while everyone was eating and drinking around a big bonfire that had been built not long before, a bunch of men were more interested in a certain little girl, cooing at her and making silly faces while she babbled happily back at them.

"Who would have thought we would see the day where those men that people see as brutal pirates act as a bunch of fools for a smile from a baby girl." Marco said with a chuckle, sitting comfortably against a tree trunk.

"Well at least we won't have to worry about her security. With a bunch of uncles like them she will be the most protected and doted girl in all of the New World." his freckled friend who was sitting next to him replied with a smile.

"Indeed. I'm actually thinking that boys will have a hard time approaching her, with such protective uncles. The poor boys might not even be able to look at her without being attacked by them." Harry commented with a chuckle of his own, sitting comfortably in between Ace's legs while he was munching on some fruits he had gotten for himself as dessert.

When his comment was met with silence, the young hybrid turned around and saw his mates looking with horrified faces, as if they had just heard something horrendous.

"What?" he asked, feeling uncomfortable under the intense gaze, almost glare, of the two men.

"How can you say such a thing?" the blond man asked in almost a whisper, his mouth wide in shock, a troubled frown on his face.

"Huh?" the petite male said feeling completely lost by the reaction of his mates, turning around completely to face them properly.

"Our daughter will never be approached by boys!" Ace exclaimed in an indignant tone of voice, crossing his arms over his chest and adding with a childish pout, "She will stay forever with us and we will live happily ever after.

Sudden realization fell upon Harry, as he realized that his mates were acting like overprotective fools.

"Oh come on it will be a long time before she starts getting interested in boys." he told them with a roll of his eyes, "She is only a baby right now.

"Exactly! And she will stay as such." Marco replied with a pout of his own

"This is so silly. She will at some point grow up and want to move away and have her own life you know." the young man snorted, "There is nothing you will be able to do about it.

"Not if we have a say in the matter." Ace and Marco both muttered darkly at the same time.

"Yeah yeah whatever." Harry said with an amused shake of his head, sitting in between them and snuggling up to them, "Let's just enjoy the present time we have with her.

He could hear the grumbles of his mates before they calmed down and pulled him close to them, as if needing comfort from the traumatic thought of their daughter one day growing up. He chuckled at their behavior while leaning into them, enjoying their warmth as well as the one of the fire. Some men had taken instruments and were now playing songs merrily while drinking and having fun, the Weasley twins along with some others entertaining Aiko with small tricks and fireworks.

The next two weeks went on in a calm and peaceful demeanor, the Whitebeard crew along with the Mugiwara crew spending their days having fun, relaxing, drinking, and eating. Harry, Ace and Marco would spend most of their time together with their daughter, sometimes even enjoying a day just the three of them. After all, they had quite a group babysitters ready to take care and dote on Aiko, whom everyone seemed to have taken a liking to.

Although Harry had to give it to his daughter. She was quite the little actress, faking to be an angel in front of everyone when she was clearly a little devil as she would wake him and his mates up almost every night, having a hard time sleeping through the night. Don't get him wrong he loved his daughter to death. But several days without proper sleep tends to make you see everything with a bit of cynicism.

Even though his mates did help quite a bit, it didn't change the fact that they would get all woken up when she would start crying. This is why most of their "free" days where they would give Aiko to either Zoro or someone else, they would spend them resting and such. But as weird as it might sound, with all of those little inconveniences, they were really happy to be parents and they wouldn't exchange it for anything in the world.

However something, or more importantly someone, happened that shook up the whole camp. One day in the morning, Harry and his mates were having a lazy morning in bed as they had given Aiko in the care of Zoro, the swordsman having proven to be a very reliable babysitter. Everyone was doing their thing when suddenly some people realized that a Marine ship was approaching the beach they were camped on, which was already quite near.

"Oi what the hell is the Marines doing here?" one man exclaimed alarmed,

"I thought nobody knew we were there!" another asked in panic.

People all scrambled around to take arms and prepare for when the ship would dock on the beach. They didn't notice the imposing figure that was calmly sitting near the fire camp, eating some donuts while watching everyone running around. It was Harry who first noticed him as he was stepping out of his tent after he had heard the commotion. Immediately Zoro noticed him and went to him, handing him Aiko before saying anything.

"You should stay here." he just told him, leaving the petite male even more confused than before

Then he saw the person sitting nonchalantly there and frowned as he tried to remember if he had ever seen that person was facing the person's back who was wearing a hat in the shape of a dog's face that seemed to cover not only the head but also the face of the person. Although he couldn't actually see the person's face, he quickly determined that this person was a man at seeing the broad and muscular body that he was sporting.

Not being able to see who it could be, the young hybrid approached carefully the relaxed man who was still eating his donuts. Keeping Aiko very close to him, as he went around to face the man.

"Excuse me but who are you?" he asked, staring at what looked to be an old man, looking at the white/grey beard peeking out from under that dog mask.

At the petite male's innocent question, almost everyone stopped and turned dreadfully where he and the masked old man were, their eyes going as wide as saucers as they realized who was sitting by the fire.

"EH!" they all exclaimed in shock.

"Harry what…" Ace started saying as he was getting out of the tent before his own eyes widened, his face then hardening into a glare.

Before Harry could ask why everyone was reacting this way, he felt himself being pulled away from the old man to a safe distance by Ace while Marco and the twins quickly joined them. Although Fred and George had no idea what was going on either, the tension they could feel in the air had made them quickly jump into action to protect their little brother and Aiko.

"What the hell is an admiral doing here?" someone asked, sounding very nervous.

"Huh? An admiral...?" Harry repeated with a frown, looking at the man who had just finished his donuts, still sitting comfortably near the fire.

Now that he looked at the clothes, it indeed looked like the clothes he had seen on some of the higher up Marines at the battle in Marineford.

"Oi oi you are causing quite a ruckus among my men." Whitebeard commented in a mock scolding voice as he looked at the sitting man with an intense gaze while gulping down some sake, "What exactly are you doing here Garp?

"I heard a rumor that my grandsons were here so I decided to come visit and have some bonding time with them." the old man addressed as Garp said, standing up and taking his dog-hat of

"Why is everyone looking so shocked?" the voice came up from somewhere, sounding like he had just gotten here and he was going through the crowd, approaching the center where Garp the others were, "What happened? Did someone steal all the meat? Oh Kami is that it?! We don't have any more meat?!"

As the young pirate was starting to freak out at the idea of having no more meat, he finally arrived at the center and quickly his eyes settled on Garp, widening suddenly in a mix of shock and slight fear.

"G-G-Grandpa?!" he almost shrieked, taking a step back, his eyes never straining away from the old man.

"Grandpa?" everyone except Ace, Whitebeard and Marco repeated in confusion at first before the astonishment settled in, "Eeeh?

"W-what are you doing here?" the straw hat wearing youth asked.

"To see you of course! After you and your brother caused quite a mess in Marineford, you put me in quite a trouble with my superiors." the other replied with a snort before letting out a sigh and shaking his head in a disappointed manner "Between you and your father I don't know what to do anymore to save our family name. I don't understand why you have decided to become pirates when you have such potential. You should have become a Marine and proudly serve the government.

"When he says his father he is talking about Monkey D. Dragon, the man from the revolutionary army right?" Harry asked in a whisper to Marco who standing not far on the side in front of hi

But before the blond man could do anything else other than nod, a loud exclamation from Luffy made them all jump slightly in surprise.

"I do what I want and you can't tell me what to do! I'll sail all over the world and become Pirate king!" the young man said loudly in a rebellious way

Then to their shock, before they could comprehend exactly how he had done it, everyone saw Garp get to Luffy in a flash and punching him hard on the top of his head, making the latter double over at the force of the blow, holding his poor head while yelling that it hurt.

"Don't you talk like that to your grandfather you brat!" Garp yelled at him as he punched, "I think it's time for some fists of love to straighten you up.

Meanwhile the young man's crew was looking at him weirdly, seeming confused.

"You are a rubber man how could a simple punch hurts?" Sanji asked, looking between Luffy and Garp with a calculating look, trying to figure out what had happened.

"It's because he infuses his fists with haki in order to affect devil fruit users." Ace was the one to reply to that, his gaze still fixed on the old man with a glare.

Harry noticed that his mate was less than thrilled that Luffy's grandfather was here and wondered why. Was it because they were on opposite camps? Was there more? He didn't really know why but he felt sad that their relationship wasn't really good. The old man seemed to apparently consider him like a grandson despite having no blood ties. It felt like a shame that they were on opposite sides of the law, making it hard to have a proper relationship.

Not knowing if it was a good idea or if his mates would approve, the young man walked up to the admiral who was his in-law in a way, giving Aiko to Marco and passing by Ace quickly before they could stop him. Once he arrived next to the imposing man, he stopped and extended his hand toward him

"Hello my name is Harry." he presented himself with a soft smile, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice, "I am Ace's mate.

A bit taken aback by the straightforward approach, Garp stared at the phoenix hybrid for a moment as if measuring him up before his face then broke into a wide grin and took Harry's hand in his and shook it with a bit too much enthusiasm.

"Ah so Ace finally settled down huh?!" he commented merrily, adding with a wink, "That's great! He seems to have found quite a lovely young woman."

"Harry is a man." Ace replied as he walked up to Harry's side, putting an arm around his waist and throwing him an unreadable look before focusing again on the man in front of them.

"Ah…Eh?!" Garp exclaimed, looking dumbfounded at the young man as if looking at him for the first time again

"Marco is also Harry's mate." Ace added with a small smirk, seeming to enjoy the shocked state that Garp was in, gaping like a fish out of water.

"And here is our daughter Aiko." Marco said as he walked up to Harry's other side, presenting to the old man their little girl.

This seemed to calm down the other almost instantly as he looked down and stared right into those deep green eyes, his face melting into a huge smile as he watched the little girl make noises and gurgle as if enjoying the sudden attention. He then began making cooing noises out of nowhere, making everyone laugh at the sudden change in attitude.

Harry watched his 'grandfather-in-law' fuss and play with a smile, happy that Aiko seemed to be accepted and that she had a great-grandfather who could dote on her. Everyone visibly relaxed now that they were seeing the great admiral Garp holding up the little girl high in the air and making silly faces at her. They did not even twitch when Garp's ship finally docked on their beach. The Marine crew was watching them from the ship with a torn expression, looking like they wanted to join the assembly but at the same time not daring to leave it.

Without asking for permission Garp declared he would be staying here overnight, saying he wanted to spend some time with his great-granddaughter and get to know his grandson-in-law as well. Although the others were a bit reticent at first, Harry's big smile and enthusiastic acceptance made everyone acquiesce as well.

However there was one person who had kept completely silent. The petite male had noticed that Ace was being rather hostile to the presence of his 'grandfather' but had not expressed his displeasure openly, most probably not wanting to cause a scene. Not wanting his mate to brood in his corner and wanting to understand exactly the reason he was feeling this way and maybe try comforting him, the phoenix hybrid went over to him, taking his hand in his to get his attention.

"Let's go inside." he told him, starting to walk, pulling him with him toward their tent.

Once they were inside the tent, the door closed, they went to sit at the feet of their bed.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked softly, intertwining his fingers for the other man's hand, caressing the back of it with his thumb.

"I'm fine." Ace replied with a sigh, his eyes avoiding the gaze of his mate by staring at the wall in front of him.

"You don't look fine." the young man said with a concerned frown, "What is bothering you?"

"Nothing it's just…" Ace began before letting out a heavy sigh and looking at Harry for the first time since they had gotten in the room, "I have never really considered that man family, I've never really liked him. I have a healthy dose of respect for him. Respect for his strength and for the way he stands firmly for his beliefs. But there has never been real affection between us."

"The fact that he always claims to be family or have any right on my person has always angered me. And now, he waltz in after he was about to condemn Luffy then me to death, pretending like nothing happened." he added, his face features hardening, his fingers tightening slightly around the other's hand, "It just makes me so angry.

"But…he was the one who raised you didn't he?" Harry asked with a confused frown, trying to understand everything.

"He didn't raise us. He put us in the care of a group of mountain thieves and would come only to check on us once or twice a year." Ace told him, his face closed of emotion at this point as he recalled his childhood, "Every time he would come see us he would fight with us to see if we had become stronger. He wanted to make Marines out of us but unfortunately Luffy and I had a completely different idea on the subject so we would always bicker with him about it. In the end both of us became pirates, going against what he wanted for us.

They both stayed quiet for a few minutes, Harry registering everything in and analyzing it. The latter then put his hand on the freckled pirate's cheek stroking gently, making him look into his eyes. Without saying anything, he leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips, offering comfort and support not through words but by a gesture of affection, knowing it would have more impact.

He could feel his mate's tension almost melt away like ice under the sun, responding to his kiss by pulling his body closer and deepening the kiss. They enjoyed the physical closeness for a while, soaking in each other's body heat and comforting one another. When they finally parted they rested their foreheads against one another, staring into each other's eyes as they regained their breath.

"I know you do not like him very much but maybe he will change a bit and show you another side of him at the contact of Aiko?" Harry suggested softly, staring into his mate's eyes, their foreheads still connected, "I think it would be good if she had a grandfather figure."

"I guess I can tolerate him once in a while at least." Ace conceded with a small smile, giving a peck to the petite male's lips before standing up and extending his hand to him in an offer to help him stand up, "Come on let's get back out there before every one wonders where we are."

Outside the tent the atmosphere seemed to have become quite relaxed to the point that the men had begun to take bottles of alcohol out and meat had begun to get grilled on the fire, the Mugiwara crew's cook preparing actively diverse dishes, delicious smells wafting all over the camp. Everyone to have now assimilated Garp as if he was part of the background, interacting with him very little but still treating as a 'guest' by bringing him liquor and such. Whitebeard was even sitting not far and you could see him exchange a few words with the admiral, while also trying to get the favors of Aiko as well by cooing at her or tickling her.

"Well it seems that even pops has become Aiko's slave." Harry commented with a chuckle as he looked at the fearsome captain reacting at every noise his little girl was making and responding to it.

"It does seem like it." Ace agreed with an amused smirk on his face.

They saw that Marco was sitting not far from the two men, apparently surveilling that everything was going well. Watching them like a hawk and making sure they didn't drink too much while having his daughter in their arms.

"Shall we go sit with them and help Marco?" the petite male asked with a point of humor

"Yeah let's save him from a possible heart attack." the fire user replied with a chuckle, putting his arms around his mate's waist as they approached the group, seeing the relieved look on Marco's face as he saw them.

"Ah Ace there you are!" Garp exclaimed as he saw them as well, then turning toward Harry, "And Harry I must say I never would have expected Ace would end up with someone like you but I'm glad he did. This is a lovely little girl you have there.

As he said that last part he looked down at Aiko and then blew a raspberry on her belly, making the baby girl giggle loudly.

"Thank you." the interested one said with a smile, giving a beaming grin to both of his mates as they both squeezed his hand affectionately.

"This little one is very strong." the old man continued with a chuckle as one of his finger had been caught in Aiko's grip, "She will be a fine Marine in the future."

"What?!" the ones near who had listening exclaimed in astonishment.

"In your dreams old man! My daughter will not become one of your goons that you call Marines." Ace replied with a loud snort, crossing his arms defiantly, a frown of disapproval on his face.

"Whatever brat." Garp retorted petulantly, "You'll see I'll make her into the finest Marine officer there ever existed. Like that she will reestablish balance and atone for the fact that her parents are pirates."

"What about we just let her decide herself what she wants to do later in life hm?" Harry asked in a clear authoritative voice, looking at everyone around with a scolding look on his face.

"Yes sir..." everyone mumbled, calming down instantly at the calm severity emanating Harry, looking like they were properly chastised.

TBC

Hey guys~! How did you like this chapter? Sorry about having to wait so long for each chapter to come out. I've gone through quite a bad blank page phase but it is over now hopefully. ^^ Anyway I hope you enjoyed the whole interaction that everyone had with baby Aiko.

See you next chapter!