So...been a while, guys. I'm actually surprised people have been reading this story, especially since I haven't uploaded anything for about an eternity. I've been slowly writing this bit by bit, but it never really came to a point where I wanted to post it.

The two people who recently reviewed and asked for an update is pretty much the reason why I decided to get to some kind of concluding end-of-chapter thing and get this out. So thank you for that motivation, it really did help reading about how you enjoyed the story thus far and really wanted more.

I do not own One Piece, only my original

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

After the unexpected but completely welcomed news that Thatch was alive, awake, and rowdy as hell, the entire ship nearly tipped over in excitement. No, really; for a brief second it was as if a Whitebeard was testing gravity. Let no one doubt the strength of the Whitebeard Pirates. It turns out that Thatch actually woke up that night and the only people who knew were Izou, who was already with Thatch when he woke up, Whitebeard, for obvious reasons, and Doctor Theresa, because...well, she was the head doctor. When Izou released the news, the infirmary was flooded with pirates in seconds. Eleison managed to shove in a quick 'hi I'm glad you're alive you look weird without your poofy pompadour' before getting herself nearly overrun by a couple of mad men in their haste to throw themselves to Thatch's side, sobbing and wailing into the sheets.

Marco and Ace, the more resilient of the Whitebeard Pirates, claimed permanent spots next to their brother's side and silently dared for anyone to challenge them. Izou allowed nearly the entire ship to try to cram themselves into the infirmary and left for a shower, but when he came back the crowd parted like the Grand Sea.

Eleison, on the other hand, didn't fight for a spot and chose to slip outside, made a detour back to Ace's room to grab her cloak, climbed up to the Crow's Nest and sat down with a quiet sigh. This was better. This was easier. Safer. Calmer. Nicer.

This lasted fifteen minutes.

"HEY SION ARE YOU HERE? NO? HOW ABOUT HERE? NOPE? GUYS SHE ISN'T HERE!"

Eleison blinked out of her quiet meditation and peeked over the railing. What in the name of-

"SION! HEY WHERE ARE YOU!? THATCH DEMANDED FOR YOUR PRESENCE. OKAY DIDN'T REALLY DEMAND BUT-"

A cacophony of voices screaming bastardizations of her name started growing louder and louder, and for a long fearful second she was worried that if they did find her, it will be with a battlecry and a scream of terror.

"Ah, there you are, yoi."

Eleison, having had focused entirely on the chaos in front of her, startled at Marco's voice, but turned around with a quizzical look. "Um. Why are they after my blood? I didn't do anything? And if I did, I didn't do it I swear."

Marco grinned and walked to her side and leaned out of the Crow's Nest. "Oi! I found her! Tell the others to stop destroying the ship!" There was a loud crash and yells that echoed in five other locations throughout the ship that was followed up with a earth shattering war cry of triumph.

"So. Um. Do I...run?" Eleison asked hesitantly. Her eyes darted between the Phoenix and the warzone laid in front of her, calculating the distance and time it'll take for her to dash back into the safety of Ace's room and, as a backup plan, to the nearest island. Warm puddle of light or not, there was no way she was going to sit out here and be trampled on.

Marco shook his head and waved his hand in the general direction of the infirmary. "No, Thatch wanted to see you. And so they were basically tripping over themselves to complete the will of Thatch."

That made no sense. Why would Thatch want to see her?

"He wants to say thank you," Marco said, answering the silent question that stood out in her puzzled expression "You know. For saving his life?"

Oh. Ohhhhhh…

"Ah. No thanks then. I don't need to be thanked," Eleison sat back down and curled up, humming at the pleasant warmth. The near silent sigh was her only warning before her world flipped around as Marco plucked her off the floor and swung her over his shoulder.

"Nope. Let's go," Marco cheerfully announced and secured his arms around her legs to prevent her from kicking him in his stupid face. Eleison flushed in embarrassment about becoming a potato sack and reflexively curled her fingers into Marco's jacket.

"M-Marco!" She reached back and tried to hit face, "Put me down!"

"This is faster," Marco jumped out of the Nest and made his way to the infirmary, easily ignoring the loud snickers and catcalls from the others. Eleison, on the other hand, not so much.

"I will destroy you," Eleison threatened.

"You can try," the phoenix allows.

Everything hurt, breathing felt like it was tearing into his lungs, exhaustion was always a second later after breathing, but Thatch was elated.

He was alive. That's more than enough reason to force himself to stay awake and in the company of his brothers, even if they were bawling rivers of snot everywhere. Besides, five days of sleeping was more than enough to get better. If only the nurses and Witch (of awesomeness, he hastily tacked on when said woman glared at him) Theresa saw his way, he'll actually be able to get out of this death trap.

"I swear to the Four Emperors, Marco, that if you don't put me down RIGHT NOW-"

That was Thatch's only warning before Marco kicked the door open and unceremoniously dropped Eleison at the foot of his bed, the girl seething and hissing wildly at his dearest brother. Sometimes Thatch likes to think Marco is out to get him in revenge for all those pranks over the years. Leaving him defenseless with an angry Sion was not on his bucket list. Then again, getting (literally) backstabbed by a brother also wasn't his idea of fun.

"Sion! Hey! Fancy, uh, fancy seeing you here!" Thatch chirped cheerfully, mentally smacking himself for painting a bright red target on his forehead. Deep, deep down, he knew that she probably wouldn't attack him...much.

Eleison snapped her jaw shut and shut her eyes, physically reigning in her anger and annoyance, before turning to Thatch with a softer if slightly tense smile.

"Fancy? You sent your brothers on me. I thought I was going to lose my soul," Eleison replied dryly, reaching out and touching his hand. Thatch beamed in response, silently thanking his brothers for risking life and limb to the Goddess of Death (and if Sion ever learns that nickname she will either laugh or emasculate them. Or both.)

"Ah well, I wanted to see you!" Thatch scratched the back of his head with a sheepish expression. "You didn't even come visit poor old Thatch!"

Eleison rolled her eyes and flicked his forehead gently. "I did visit you. And then I nearly died as the rest of them," she gestured vaguely to the crowd of pirates, "nearly shoved me three floors into the Moby Dick as they came in like a stampede of elephants."

There were embarrassed coughs and weak denials but Thatch ignored them all and barked in laughter before wincing in pain. The amused smiles quickly morphed into worry, and soon Thatch had his hands full of brothers bombarding him with questions about his health.

"You okay bro?"

"You should take it easy!"

"I bet some booze will get you right back up on your feet!"

"Is your back hurting? I got this mean massage technique-"

"Maybe Witch- I mean Doctor Theresa is right!"

Question after concern came and Thatch tried his best to calm the near frantic flow of worry with calm, placating gestures.

"Alright, yoi," Marco's Commander voice rang out and immediately everyone fell silent out of habit. "Thatch should rest. All of you out before Theresa loses her patience and rips the lot of you a new one."

"Damn right I will," the doctor muttered, glaring at the pirates' sheepish looks as they slowly made their way back out the infirmary door. "And I better see that door correctly in place by tonight!"

Thatch chuckled as he watched the rest of his brothers scramble out of the gaping archway, throwing a few more 'get better soon, Thatch!' his way before disappearing from sight. In a span of a few seconds, only Izou, Ace, Marco and Eleison were left.

"So what did I miss the past few days?" Thatch asked brightly, nudging Ace with his shoulder. Before Ace could speak, Marco surprisingly answered first.

"I'm going to spar with Eleison later," Marco dropped the bomb and Thatch nearly fell out of his bed. Last he remembered, those two were still circling around each other for the better part of the year. Actually, Eleison being here in the first place is surprising in itself. Why was she here?

His meandering thoughts were cut off when Ace actually toppled out of his chair in shock. He shot back up in the next second and pointed an accusing finger at Eleison and Marco, the former giggling quietly behind her hand, while the latter had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.

"W-What! I didn't hear about that! Why wasn't I invited?!" Ace pouted and crossed his arms like a true four year old child who didn't get it his way.

"You can join," Eleison's eyes sparkled in mischief. "You'll have to be careful getting in the crossfire of a...what did you call me? A Haki-wielding maniac and an immortal mythical bird of destruction, if that's alright with you, Second Commander."

Ace snapped his jaw shut. Thatch could almost see his little brother trying to calculate his percentage of survival if he actually did throw himself into battle with two people who managed to destroy an island the last time they clashed. So roughly zero percent if he's lucky.

"He would probably run away again, just like last time, yoi," Marco baited, eyes glancing over to Eleison who was trying and failing not to laugh at her best friend, her shoulders shaking in the attempt to hide her amusement.

"Assuming he doesn't start testing gravity again, I think he might be able to take about five steps before tripping over a pebble," Eleison watched Ace spluttered in outrage and shot out of his chair, glowering with the intensity of a drenched cat.

A normal human with the smallest bit of survival instinct would have backed out to spare their life and sanity. Ace, on the other hand, neatly fell into the category of 'idiot'.

"I could totally take you guys on, now! Watch! I got a whole lot stronger this past year!" Ace challenged with a haughty grin. Immediately, Marco scoffed and shook his head, which set off a round of bickering of 'I can fight!' from Ace.

Out of the corner of his eye, Thatch saw a ghost of a smile on Izou's lips as he looked on the growing banter in front of him. And just because he can, he leaned over and swiftly pecked his lover on the cheek. He grinned when Izou blinked and redirected his attention back to him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not bailing you out just so you can watch the show," Izou informed dryly. Thatch pouted, but agreeably hooked his arm around Izou's waist and pulled him to his side. Warmth seeped in past his bandages and he sagged against his geisha's shoulder with a sigh. The quiet sound dispelled the growing argument and six pairs of eyes zoned in on him.

"Well, I think we should leave Thatch to rest now," Eleison stood up first and straightened out her cloak. For a brief moment, Thatch was hit with an overwhelming worry that Eleison was going to vanish before he could fully repay her for saving his life. Eleison glanced up and her features softened. "I'll be here for a while, I think. Probably? I have to stay here because- I mean...um, if you all will have me here...I don't want to impose. Just, um-"

Eleison suddenly looked extremely flustered, her eyes darting around as she took several steps back. Thatch frowned in confusion. What is she actually panicking about? He knew from Marco that Eleison seemed to have anxiety attacks when she's unsure about herself, but he actually never witnessed one himself. It was surprising to watch the normally cool and collected Eleison suddenly look meek and timid, unsure of her own existence.

Thatch reached out to try to calm his wayward friend, but suddenly Marco cut in smoothly, setting a hand on the small of her back and ushering her out the door without a second of hesitation.

"How about that spar? I haven't had a good fight in a while, with Thatch trying to block a knife with his stomach and all that," Marco corralled Eleison straight out the door, ignoring any weak protests that died as quickly as they came up. Ace moved to scramble after them, but Izou's hand held Ace down, and the three of them watched the duo disappear around the edge of the door.

For a long minute, no one uttered a sound. And silence never suited Thatch.

"What just happened," Thatch darted his eyes from Ace, to Izou, to the door, and then decided the ceiling should have the right answers. Surprisingly enough, it was Ace who offered the answers.

"Sion...has problems about feeling trusted and wanted," Ace started hesitantly, voice clearly unsure if he should say this at all, "she lies and pretends no problem when it's to someone she doesn't care about, but to her friends?" Ace helplessly gestured to the door as proof. "If she plans ahead, she does fine, too. But when she doesn't see it coming she freaks out a bit."

Thatch took this all in, and pieces that seemed odd finally seemed to fit together. A glance over at Izou had him realizing that he also came to the same conclusion.

"So the Bet Incident. Something set her off, and since she and Marco are good friends, she decided the best course of action was to, what, fly off the ship and never return?" Izou seemed to have reverted back to his 'give me information or I'll castrate the lot of you' mood, and that had the other two pirates slowly leaning away from the trigger-happy geisha.

"Yeeeesss?" Ace darted his eyes over to Thatch, silently pleading him to step in before Izou decided to go into the infamous 'I feel like shooting something, namely someone, more specifically you' mood. "I think...it's not really a mood swing? It's really hard to explain; I think she said it's like being calm one second and then everything that is wrong, could go wrong, and will go wrong hits her all at once, and she can't handle that stress?"

That...didn't make any sense at all. Or well, it kind of did, if he didn't think too hard about it and ignored whatever normal parameters he set up for people. It did explain why Sion took off last time, and that brief awkward episode that happened not that long ago.

Thatch, however, was more concerned how Izou was taking this information. Much to Ace's surprise and Thatch's grim confirmation, all Izou did was exhale deeply and adopted a haunted look.

"I see. Shall we go see this spar of theirs?" Izou neatly redirected the conversation and stood to his feet. Before Thatch could call him back, the geisha took steady steps out the door, calling out behind him, "I'll even overlook you leaving the infirmary to watch, Thatch, so I'd suggest you hurry before Theresa decides to shackle you to the bed."

Never one to look for a gift in the horse's mouth, Thatch grabbed onto Ace as a crutch and hobbled as quickly as possible for freedom before the Witch would pop into existence and rain hell on them all. Izou disappeared almost immediately after he crossed the threshold of the infirmary, leaving Ace to steer his crippled ass around and not drop him into a bloody heap on the floor. Twinging pain crawled up his back in bursts of red sparks, but let no one say Thatch was not a trooper. For one thing, it was tenacity that got him to live this long as a Whitebeard Pirate. Not only he survived a Kraken, but he survived pranking Eleison.

The only problem with getting stabbed in the back is that it can't be solved by 'walking it off', a favorite solution of his. It was sheer luck that Izou walked off ahead and Ace was too busy trying to get there as fast as possible without physically hauling Thatch across the ship.

"Damn! Sion wasn't slacking for the year she's been gone. Look at her go!"

Sure enough, Sion was definitely giving Marco a run for his money. Their little fight a year ago looked tame compared to the absolute shitstorm they were summoning around them due to their clashes. The handicap of fighting over the ocean was enough to make Marco wary of any of her attacks, since it'll only take one to send him sinking.

All around him, cheers filled the space in between the ship and the spar, sides being drawn and bets made within the supposedly honorable Whitebeard Pirates. Ace wasn't stupid enough to try betting again, seeing as the last time ended in disaster. Thankfully Izou thought so, too.

"As much as I enjoy a good bet, we're not having one for this one," Izou walked over and immediately, his brothers clammed up and meekly parted to allow the Commander to stand at the railing. The promise of pain almost radiated off the sharpshooter's shoulders and anyone within a ten foot radius visibly shivered and scrambled even farther away.

Izou shot them all a very unimpressed look before turning to watch the battle. Ace and Thatch managed to hobble their way next to Izou, propping the supposedly bed ridden patient against the railing before turning their attention to the fight. Almost immediately, Thatch lost Ace as the younger pirate nearly tipped over the edge in his eagerness to watch the fight, eyes sparkling in respect and awe every time Eleison and Marco went on the offensive.

Marco spared no thoughts as he literally chucked Eleison over the side of the railing, ignoring both her yelp and his brother's shouts as he vaulted himself over the side of the ship after her. His wings flared to life as he caught the disbelieved outraged etched on Eleison's expression seconds before she exploded into the air after him. He laughed and hovered a few feet away from her with what most people would describe as the biggest shit-eating grin. In his opinion, his smile is quite charming and brings all the ladies to the ship, because he isn't First Commander Marco the Phoenix for nothing.

For a level headed person like Marco, throwing someone overboard would at least warrant some consideration, but sometimes spontaneity is good and fun. Keeps everyone on their toes. Being First Commander isn't all shits and giggles, and regardless of what Ace likes to claim how he's as interesting as paint drying, Marco knows he has his moments. Of course, those moments are few and far between because being First Commander takes precedence over pranking his brothers, so it's understandable that a good majority of the new brothers think the most fun Marco has would probably be night duty. To be fair, some of the more veteran brothers have also forgotten the Great Fiasco of the Sea, so they also think he's as fun as watching water boil. They're wrong, but they'll learn that when the blue moon comes back.

So throwing Eleison overboard might've been a bad decision, but it'll be the fun decision. Besides, he was about sixty percent sure Eleison won't actually try to kill him. And if anything, Marco is also eighty percent sure he can get out of it without mortal wounds if she really called for his blood.

Probably.

Well if all else fails, he is kind of immortal. Nothing short of seastone through the heart would kill him. But knowing Eleison, she'll probably take that as a challenge, and a Haki sword through the heart probably isn't much better.

"I never did have a spar over the ocean before; might be a fun experience," Marco made a show of unfurling his entire wingspan, catching the awed stare before it disappeared behind a mask of mock anger. Eleison huffed, but Marco could still see the reluctant smile twitching at the corner of her lips.

"Well, I did promise to destroy you," Eleison casually unsheathed her sword, glinting like a dark promise. All it did was make Marco grin wider.

"And I did allow you to try," Marco nearly got impaled for his cheekiness when she flew at him, sword poised for his gut as a silver spear. He barely managed to twist out the way and returned the greeting by dropping a kick on her in response, but Eleison flicked her wrist and somehow Marco ended up getting tossed away like a sack of potatoes.

"You don't think I'll let you dropkick me again, do you Marco?" Her teasing tone had him internally smiling at successfully distracting her from her earlier near panic attack and mentally patted himself on the back for a job well done. Challenging her to a spar is much more effective than whacking her over the head, although he's sure that he will be doing that at least once today, just because.

Assuming Marco makes it out of this with all of his limbs attached.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Marco cheerfully replied, a teasing grin challenging her. A rush of adrenaline spilled into his blood and the call for battle sang in his veins. If Eleison even provided half the fight she did back at the island, that would be more than enough. As he morphed to full phoenix form, he caught a glimpse of competitiveness glittering behind molten gold in reply.

"I guess I'll have to remind you then, don't I?"

If Marco had a reply, it was lost within the roar of the ocean and the sudden clash of sword and talons.

Ah, well, actions were just as effective words, anyhow.

Ace glanced up in time to see the two fighters clash again, the shockwaves causing ripples felt all the way to the Moby Dick. For the first time since Eleison has stepped foot on the Moby Dick from her year long absence, an ever present smile had him calming and relaxing.

He wouldn't admit it to a soul, but he was painfully worried about Eleison this past year, and especially these past few days. Her refusal to stray within a three hundred mile radius of the Moby Dick and any and all of the Whitebeard Pirates did very little to calm him, and despite saying that he would go meet her off the Moby Dick, neither had the chance to. Or to put it more accurately, Eleison never seemed to want to. In the year she had traveled with him and the Spades Pirates, she never showed such an extreme reaction for an anxiety attack. It was actually very surprising that she even agreed to come to the Moby Dick for his birthday, that was just a last ditched attempt to get her close enough to resolve any of the old problems she had with the whole bet fiasco. In the very far back of his mind, he desperately wants to believe that Eleison agreed because she not only she wanted to come back, but she missed her best friend as much as he missed her.

Thinking back, Marco wasn't really all to blame for it, but it was the easiest course to take, labeling Marco as the guilty party. He regrets it now, of course, and will probably be spending the rest of his life making it up to the phoenix. Starting with fixing whatever friendship Eleison and Marco has. Which led to the long convoluted year of begging Eleison to come back to the Moby Dick. He's only glad that he finally wore her down from her original stance of 'never in a million lifetimes'. Now, if he could just persuade her to let him go after Blackbeard….

A sudden trill and a flash of bright blue flames snapped Ace out of his reverie in time to see Marco's pelt Eleison with fire bullets that glittered over the rising ocean. Eleison merely stood still in the air and brought a single slash down. In a split second, the attack tore the ocean and an unfortunate Sea King in half and Marco barely managed to fly away before he was subjected to the same fate.

Was it just Ace, or Eleison's Haki was steadily getting more ridiculous? He clearly wasn't the only one thinking that, judging by the slack jawed expression on several of his brothers and even the growing surprised look on Oyaji's face. And was he hallucinating, or was Eleison kind of...glowing?

Eleison suddenly released her Soru skill and fell down towards the ocean. He wasn't the only person who shouted for her as she plummeted to the ocean below. Above them, Marco couldn't decide if he wanted to dive down and scoop her up or stay back and watch. It was sheer luck and probably experienced instinct that had him choosing to not follow her down.

Because the moment Eleison touched the water, the whole world exploded in white and water.

"I-In my defense, I didn't expect doing that would, uhm, tip the ship over."

"In her defense, I don't think anyone would have imagined that anything could tip the Moby Dick over, yoi."

"THE SHIP FLIPPED. A WHOLE. NINETY. DEGREES. INTO THE OCEAN. THATCH ALMOST DIED. AGAIN."

Eleison shrunk back at the hysterical screaming and shuffled closer to Ace until her small frame was dwarfed by his shadow. Ace easily took position as her guard dog and was all but snarling at his own brothers with flames nipping at his shoulders. For once, though, the Whitebeard pirates were so deep in shock that they ignored the danger Ace was blatantly about to cause and continued to seethe in anger at Eleison.

"I just...I've done that before, but it never- I didn't think it would do that? I-I really am sorry…I'll pay for the damages! A-And-"

Izou waved away Eleison's attempt to take blame and crossed his arms. "Nonsense. It was surprising, I'll give you that, but no one was hurt in the end. The ship itself isn't any worse for wear; I'm fairly certain we've done much worse ourselves, before. "

A scoff in the background was quickly silenced when Izou decided to point the gun at the offender. Izou's glare was enough to have him slink away in fear of his balls and cut down any further argument. Eleison tried speaking up again, but her weak protests to put the blame on her shoulders went unheard by her unspoken protectors. Marco was on Izou's side when it came to defending Eleison, and Ace was just ready to set fire to anyone who came in a five foot radius. Thatch, while also on Eleison's side, was banished back to the infirmary when Doctor Theresa finally found out Thatch escaped to watch the fight and then nearly ended up drowning in the end.

"Indeed, for such an attack I am more surprised that the ship didn't flip over instead of merely tipping slightly," Vista added in, standing in front of Ace as another wall of defense.

Another pirate spluttered in indignant rage, taking up the mantle of "giving Eleison shit" with a glare. "Slightly?! We nearly capsized! Do you know how many Devil Fruit users we have on this ship?! They could have died, and it would have been her fault!"

Any color that Eleison recovered immediately drained away into pale white fear. Izou could see the faint tremors in her fingers as she wrung them nervously in front of her as she hid behind Ace's much larger figure. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Marco turning to the young swordswoman in concern, a frown marring his lips as he turned away to stare at his brothers once more. Several of the other Commanders were forming a sort of wall in front of Ace as the first line of defense against their more hostile and arrogant and prideful brothers.

This was hardly the worst thing that happened to them in their time as a Whitebeard Pirate. The many incidents Ace himself set nearly the entire ship on fire was much worse. Or when Marco accidentally set the ship on fire, and immortal phoenix fire is much harder to put out. Hell, Thatch's more creative pranks easily had a worse outcome. Eleison merely tipped the ship a small bit, no one even got hurt. The only major difference is that it was nearly death by water instead of death by fire. You would think, as pirates, they would be more prepared for that.

"Look. We were sparring, and thought we were far enough that the ship wouldn't have felt the damage. Eleison said it herself, already: she didn't expect that to happen at all. She already apologized, no one got hurt, so there is no need to argue about this, yoi."

The same indignant pirate (and if Izou was honest probably an arrogant newbie who was still riding high on the fact that he is now considered Whitebeard's son) angrily stepped forward to glare at Eleison and Izou swears on Thatch's pompadour if this idiot makes the situation worse-

"Why is this bitch even here!? She ran away last time, after causing so much trouble for all of us; she should just leave! No one wants her here!"

Dead silence came nipping with the wind and whatever support the idiot previously had immediately vanished the moment he turned on Eleison. The idiot himself seemed to realized that he misspoke and paled when Marco turned his calm 'I am the First Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and you are going to pay' expression on his own brother and walked forward.

Izou had to wonder, why were they all suddenly turning against Eleison? It wasn't that long ago they were thanking her for saving one of their brothers from a traitor, and now they're screaming for her blood? Only thing Izou could think of why they decided to be assholes is that they still actually blame Eleison for Blackbeard's betrayal. Which was absolute Sea King dung if he's ever seen one.

"First, you are going to apologize to Eleison for your crude bullshit complaint. She is welcomed here as Ace's guest, as my guest, as Oyaji's guest, frankly nearly all of us welcome here except for a handful of you, and that is only because of this blip of an incident. Second, we are going to have a very, very long talk about what you think is a reasonable thing to say to something that was obviously a mistake that she has apologized for. Lastly, we're going to Oyaji so we can discuss about your obvious arrogant assholeness that should be beaten out of you as soon as possible. Fortunately for you, I believe your Commander, Ace, is more than happy to teach you about that."

While the fire starter was practically breathing fire in anger, Eleison was deathly silent and seemed to stopped breathing entirely. Izou swore that he could actually hear her heart trying to implode on itself from sheer panic.

"Ace, take Eleison back to your room," Izou snapped and whirled around to face his brothers with his second pistol drawn, "I have a few fools to eviscerate."

While Marco turned to him in alarm and a couple of the smarter pirates turned and ran with their tails between their legs, Ace immediately scooped Eleison without a second to waste and took off. Marco casted one more contemplative look at Izou before following his fellow fire friend at a subdued pace, a clear dismissal of his other brothers if he ever saw one.

Like hell Izou was going to let Eleison run away from the ship again. Like hell he was going to let some of his more idiotic brothers who have empty skulls and barely know how to hold a gun push away someone who saved Thatch (a fact they clearly all have forgotten) and indirectly Ace (by stopping his stupid ass from chasing Teach). If it means Izou has to pop some caps into some knees as a reminder, well, he's more than happy to oblige.

Ace was furious. Beyond furious. Set-shit-on-fire furious.

Alright so it was absolutely batshit insane that Eleison nearly sank the ship, he can admit that. Okay, he can also admit that he was also scared shitless when he nearly flopped into the ocean and sink like a Luffy anchor. But in all honesty, the prank Thatch pulled a few months ago was a whole lot worse than what she did; it takes a true madman to create, what Thatch called, the "Death Gauntlet Obstacle Course of Absolute Manliness" and then persuade nearly three quarters of his brothers to try it, only for part of the ship (or roughly half of the ship) to accidentally get set on fire, piranhas unleashed on the deck and nipping at their asses, and most importantly, a very, very disgruntled Oyaji since the alcohol also disappeared for "recreational uses".

Needless to say, it took weeks to repair the ship from that mishap. Thatch was forced into servitude for the entire duration of the repairs, becoming the Whitebeard gopher to his brothers, much to their sadistic delight.

Hell, even that one time when Marco somehow managed to catch the flu and inadvertently set shit on fire when he sneezed was worse than this.

"I-I shouldn't have g-gone outside….I knew it. I'm such…I-I...I'm not…." Eleison's voice was barely audible past the tight ball she curled herself up in, her shoulders violently trembling as her own hatred threatened to overtake her mind. The moment Ace set her down in his cabin, Eleison immediately took refuge in a corner of the room and tried her best to hide herself away from the world. Barely a minute into the safety of his room, and her words already sound like they were on the edge of panic, and Ace was right there with her. A loud crack had the Second Commander flinching back, eyes darting around in crazed confusion for the source. It took a while to realize that it was Eleison causing the world around her to creak and bend by the sheer panic of her Haki.

"That wasn't your fault! Alright, so that was kind of crazy, I didn't know you could actually do that, but no one got hurt! Even if the boat tipped over, we got more than enough non-Devil Fruit users to save the anchors, we would've been fine! It's not like the ship was destroyed, either!" Ace hastily kneeled in front of Eleison, babbling as many comforting words he could to stop his best friend from tipping over into a well of despair. The closer he got to his best friend, the more oppressing the Haki became until it took his own Haki to keep him upright and alive.

Eleison let out a near broken sob that might as well have broken Ace's heart. He ignored the crushing pressure and gathered her up as best as he could into his arms and let warmth seep into her clammy skin, but the physical contact only had her stiffening up in his hold and then trying to curl away from him, as if she believed she didn't deserve any sort of affection or care.

Ace was at his wit's end. He has never seen Eleison so close to breaking before, hell this one makes the Bet Incident look tame and a small blip. His usual solution of "hugs makes everything better" isn't working in the slightest, arguably making the situation worse. That was his literal answer to any kind of sad, or so he's learned from Luffy. It isn't like he could just call her stupid and be done with it!

The door creaked open and shut behind him, but Ace was too busy freaking out to pay much attention to it, instead trying to babble reassurances into Eleison's hair in hopes of snapping her out of her spiraling self-hatred.

A hand landed lightly on his shoulder, immediately cutting off his words as he snapped his head up to the owner of the hand before recognizing it was Marco. Ace glanced back down at Eleison before flitting his eyes back to his First Commander, silently asking "what the fuck do I do?!".

Marco kneeled next to them, completely ignoring the destructive Haki that Eleison seemed to have lost control of. He placed a hand on Eleison's neck so gently it was barely a feather touch, but it still had her stiffening up even more than Ace thought was possible in a human, and for a long, endless second he was scared Eleison was just going to snap something and die.

"Take a deep breath. Count to five. Everyone is alive. Take a deep breath. Count to six. You're wanted here. Take a deep breath…." Marco's voice snapped Ace out of his thoughts and he immediately returned his attention to Eleison, who was struggling to follow Marco's instructions or hear his words at all. Marco continued, slow and relaxed and undeterred, guiding Eleison out of her own storm and into the calm sea.

Like a miracle, Eleison slowly started relaxing, the actions coming easier than the first attempts. It took a while, but soon enough Eleison was leaning into Ace's hold, loose and limp in his arms as Marco's voice washed over any tension left in the room. The Haki slowly dissipated with the tension and with it, Ace's panic.

"Take a deep breath. Count to fifty. Your friends will never leave," Marco finished softly, pulling his hand away as gently as possible. When Eleison didn't stir from the newfound silence or Marco's movement, Ace took the risk of glancing down, only to soften at the sight of Eleison fast asleep.

"Put her in bed, yoi. It's been a long day," Marco instructed as he stood up. Ace nodded, taking careful measures to not wake the sleeping swordsman as he lifted her onto the bed. Ace took the extra minute to tuck her in and wiping any tear stains on her cheeks before following Marco outside, shutting the door with a quiet click.

"Thanks, Marco, god that was terrifying. I didn't know what to do…!" Ace ran a frustrated hand through his hair, hating himself for being absolutely useless in the face of his best friend having a breakdown. All he did was watch Eleison throw herself into self-loathing, unable to do anything but offer meaningless support.

"You were there for her. Don't think yourself useless, Ace, she just needed something to focus on," Marco shot him a tired smile before walking off, beckoning the other fire user to follow. "I've dealt with panic attacks and the like, before, yoi. Doesn't seem like it, but I've had them myself. I know what it feels like and what it needs."

Ace hesitated. He always hated asking for help, but…. "Do you think...can you tell me what to do? In case it happens again?" Ace bit his lip before continuing, "She's always been there for me, so I just...she'll probably say something dumb like how I don't have to care about it, but she's still my best friend, and I don't leave my friends behind."

Marco glanced over his shoulder and smiled warmly. "No problem. We can talk more about it later; let's do damage control first. Last thing we need is Eleison waking up and feeling guilty for whatever murders Izou did."

As logical as that sounded, Ace would be much more happy in joining Izou in his murderous hunting spree and toasting some idiots into a nice pile of smoldering ash. Judging from Marco's smirk, he was doing a pretty shit job at hiding his thoughts. Not like that mattered, Ace was pretty sure that Marco wouldn't actually stop him if it came down to it.

The two Commanders set a brisk pace to where the screaming seemed to be the loudest. Out of all the Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates besides Marco, Izou probably ranks as the scariest when pissed. The marksman might not be the strongest, but his creativity and bloodlust makes up for it in spades. Something that his newer brothers are having a first hand experience in learning.

"How dare you even utter a word of anything other than sincere, worshipping gratitude?! Next time you see her, I expect you to grovel for forgiveness, literally prostrate yourselves at her feet and beg. And you better pray to Oyaji that she does decide to stay, or else you all are shit out of luck for a place to stay, yourself! "

That...that was definitely not Izou.

The two Commanders exchanged confused glances before speeding up their pace until they rounded the corner before stopping dead at the sight.

Somehow, Thatch managed to escape the infirmary again, and is apparently dishing out verbal annihilation of his brothers. Thatch himself looked positively livid, face red from anger and eyes so filled with fury that the only person who had the guts to even stand near the raging chef was Doctor Theresa, who seemed to be torn between allowing her patient to continuously tear the pirates a new one, or drag him back to the infirmary before he busts a stitch.

As much as Ace felt absolutely gleeful how his brothers that were accusing Eleison looked like they would very much like to throw themselves overboard in the face of Thatch's anger, he was too concerned over Thatch himself. Marco clearly had the same idea as he stepped up and placed a comforting hand on Thatch's shoulder, cutting the man off mid rant.

"You should be resting, yoi. We just nearly lost you not even a week ago, you wouldn't want to put Eleison's" several of the pirates winced at her name, guilt clearly eating them up, "work on saving you be for nothing, right?"

Marco briefly glanced over to Theresa, who looked equal parts relieved and annoyed. "Besides, Theresa doesn't look too happy with you up and about, come on, yoi. Ace, help Theresa bring Thatch back to the infirmary. Izou and I can take it from here."

Ace felt a flare of indignation rise in his gut and swell hotly on the tip of his tongue at Marco's command, but one look at Izou had the anger smothered as quickly as it came.

Izou looked like he was ready for war, and nothing short of the apocalypse, and even then that's debatable, will stop him.

And Ace was not going to get in the way of that. Second scariest Commander, not a lie, you know. That's not someone you want to get on their bad side. Ever. Exhibit A. Murderous Izou. Exhibit B. The unconscious (and probably not dead) bodies littered behind Izou.

"Right. Yeah, uh," Ace quickly made his way to Thatch, who huffed angrily but did nothing to stop Ace from supporting him. Thatch only resisted for a second, but after some weird silent conversation he had with Marco from a half-a-second glance, he nodded and leaned into Ace for support.

As much as Ace loved to set people on fire, he did not want to get caught in the crossfire, despite what Eleison like to joke about him courting death on a regular basis. He does have some level of self-preservation, thank you very much.

"Give them hell," Ace muttered under his breath as he passed Izou, and the sight of the geisha's bloody grin widening had him shivering and pull Thatch along a little bit faster.

All in good hands.

Well, that's all I had. I REALLY hope I don't take another two years to update again. I have this half idea in my head about how I want this to go and I really want to see it take shape.

Again, sorry that I didn't update for two years (I have a bad habit of working on this during my finals...don't be like me. Focus on your exams...).

Thank you all who took the time to read this. Thank you especially to the people who took the time to review and tell me what you loved about this.

Please favorite, follow, and/or review on your way out, it helps a lot!

See you all next time!