Oh my gosh, I am so sorry for the long wait! I kind of hit some writers block, again, but I am back.

Also, my updates may take a longish time like this more often. My grades are dropping quite dramatically, so I need to start focusing on them a little more.

Not that anxiety helps at all.

Any who, onwards to the fanfic!

Disclaimer: One Piece and all it's glory belongs to Eiichiro Oda

"When do you think people die? When they are shot through the heart by the bullet of a pistol? No. When they are ravaged by an incurable disease? No. When they drink a soup made from a poisonous mushroom!? No! It's when... they are forgotten. Even after I'm gone, my dream will come true. The ailing hearts of the people will be cured." ~Dr. Hiruluk

Not-Ace was not happy, to say the least. First, he tells the odd crew the most guarded deal amongst the Whitebeard Pirates, but when he asks about their strange world, nothing! They kept tight lips about everything besides the fact Lu was a pirate captain and Sabo was somehow a revolutionary.

All the more reason to be suspicious of the so called alternates. They all held a look of knowing something they probably not say aloud. It made him angry, especially the look of longing and sorrow that tended to cross Lu's face when he first spots the freckled man.

The straw hatted boy and Sabo both had flashes of guilt cross their faces before being covered up by a joyous mask. Not-Ace could see it on the crewmates' faces as well, but at less of a magnitude.

Oh, if this was because they hurt his little brothers, there would be hell to pay and no ashes would remain.

Not-Ace sighed and looked over to the horizon. The story circle had disbanded a while ago, leaving the whitebeard commander to his thoughts and the endless sea.

"Still out here, eh?" observed a voice from behind. Ace did not even have to turn an inch to know who spoke. Not-Ace would never forget his brother's voice.

The freckled man looked to the side to see Sabo move and stand beside him. "Yeah," Not-Ace trailed off. Truth be told, he only wanted answers to the screwed up mess he found himself in.

Sabo let his eyes linger the cobalt blues. "You have questions, don't you?" It came out more as a statement, despite the wording.

Not-Ace side eyed the blond in shock. It was as if he had read his mind. Slowly, Not-Ace nodded his head in agreement.

"Then ask away," the revolutionary commanded the slightly older male. "I'll try and answer them, but there are some things I can't tell you due to … reasons." Sabo could not think of any other word besides 'reasons' to fit his comment.

Really, the whole Marineford chaos scarred them all, whether they were there or not.

Not-Ace glanced at the top hatted blond. "Why are you a revolutionary?" he asked. The second division commander would have rather asked where his other self was, but he was pretty sure that question was in no-no territory.

Sabo stiffened in place. "It's a bit personal, but I guess I could tell you," he admitted. "When we were little, I was taken by father," he hissed the word in distaste, "because he spotted us. To escape, I tried to sail away. Unfortunately, I ran into the Celestial Dragon's ship that was taking a visit, and they shot me down with a damn bazooka."

"When I thought I was surely done for, Dragon found me and saved me. He said that I would not be able to return, so I stayed and trained with him, so I could one day find you guys again."

Not-Ace's eyes widened. "So, that's what changed," he muttered softly as he looked at the scar on the younger's face.

"Huh?" Sabo questioned at Not-Ace's statement.

The pirate looked down at the railing he was leaning on. "In my world," he began to explain, "when we found out your father was looking for you, we staged a fake death. It involved a fire in Grey Terminal, and you almost didn't make it. You have the same scar, you know."

Not-Ace gestured to the scar on the younger male's face. He really hated that scar. It just reminded him of the endless pile of guilt and regret he had.

It never did fade away.

Sabo chuckled and rubbed his scar. "Guess it reminds me of what I have to protect," he sighed. "Anything else?"

"Where is my counterpart?" he found himself saying as he gave into the temptation. Not-Ace immediately bit his lip. Dammit, where was the control over his thoughts that Makino taught him?

Sabo visibly flinched and saddened at the question. "I wish I could tell you," he admitted after a few minutes, looking up at the now fully risen sun. "That is one Lu will have to tell you when he's ready."

The freckled man frowned. So, something bad did happen. Taking into account the blond's downcast mood, Not-Ace patted his back. "Thank you," he said softly, "for the answers, that is." With that, he walked off to another side of the deck.

They would reach the Moby Dick soon. If one looked closely, they would see the faint outline in the distant horizon.

Not-Ace grinned wholeheartedly as he saw his crew, his siblings, crowd around the deck with eyes wide of amazement. This predicament would be fun to explain.

"Oi!" he greeted with a wave above his head. Luckily, the Strawhat crew managed to hold Lu (and Sabo, but he simply did not care) inside the kitchen, so they would not have the problem of explaining the situation so soon.

It had been almost two whole days since he had last seen his beloved crew. No matter how much the Mugiwara crew seemed to rival it, the insanity of the Whitebeard Pirates was what he felt at home with.

He nearly broke into a fit of laughter when he saw the shell shocked expression of Marco. "Oi! Fire Turkey!" he called out excitedly. Oh, how he loved to tease the first division commander.

Marco glared at the younger. "Watch it, Dragonnapper –yoi!" he warned with a bit of a mug look when he said the nickname.

Not-Ace glared back. "That was one time!" he defended himself, throwing a fist in the air. You bring a dragon back after exploring once and suddenly you are a dragon kidnapper.

Marco just did not understand.

Before either could make another word, a sudden scream of "Ace!" resounded throughout the ship, and the freckled man was toppled over by a straw hatted boy.

Not-Ace groaned and pushed the rubber boy off of him. "Dammit, Lu," he cursed. "You were supposed to stay inside the ship!" Shit, now he had to explain this mess before he even got a 'hello.'

"But, Ace," Luffy pouted as he quivered his bottom lip at the older male. "I want to play!" He was about to grab the man's arm to drag him to play, but he noticed the ship he was next to.

The rest of the crew plus a revolutionary were escaping the kitchen at that point and came out with expressions of awe of the Moby Dick.

"Cool! You rebuilt it!" Luffy exclaimed cheerfully with stars in his eyes. None of the crew members dared to correct the boy. They never mentioned anything about that cursed war.

Not-Ace looked about ready to question the statement, but was quickly silenced by a glare from Sabo. Another question left on hold, eh?

"Lu," Not-Ace finally spoke up, "this is my crew." Hopefully that was good enough for Sabo. He learned a long time ago that one should never anger the blond unless they wanted a Haki infused pipe to the head.

"Oi!" the irritated voice of a certain blond haired first mate shouted trough the scene. Once Marco was sure that he had all eyes on him, he continued. "Luffy, weren't you just training with Sabo? How did you get here so quickly –yoi?"

Not-Ace threw his head back. "This is going to take a while," he groaned. Bringing his head back up, he put the orange cowboy hat –that fell on the floor via pervious action- back upon his head. He really was not looking forward to explaining everything.

He seriously doubted that Luffy would be of any help.

Well, at least now he knew that this Mugiwara crew was not scamming him and hurt his brothers. Marco did just say that his Luffy was training with Sabo. It was the younger blond's day today.

As Not-Ace motioned for the other universe crew to follow him on to the Moby Dick so explaining would be easier, Marco shouted a protest. "Ace, who are these people, and what happened to Lu?" his voice was ruff and frustrated. The phoenix motioned to the scar on the straw hatted boy's chest.

Sabo sighed in the background. No one ever noticed him.

"Oi," Not-Ace interrupted the older blond's rant. "Give us a sec; I have to speak to Oyaji."

That shut Marco up. Not one crew member would ever stand in the way of a fellow sibling that needed to speak to Oyaji. Never.

Not-Ace grinned in relief and guided the Mugiwaras to the Moby Dick. His smirk was somewhat cocky. There were two persons he was waiting for his crew to see. It was neither Luffy nor Sabo. No, who he had in mind would make much more priceless expressions. With Sabo and Lu, faces would be protective and ready to fight.

He wanted to see shocked and humorous ones.

"What the hell?" screeched many on deck when the walking and talking Brook made his way on board. If a skeleton could, the living dead would have a wide smile.

And then there was Chopper, who, naturally, was trying to hide behind Zoro's leg. Not that it helped at all, he never did hide the correct way.

"Gomu Gomu no…" those few words sent the last few members on the smaller ship into panic. "Rocket!"

Many colorful curses sang loudly when rubbery arms attached to the railing of the Moby Dick and flung them up onto the ship. If they were to describe what it felt like, it would most likely be like being thrown by Usopp's slingshot, just in a more careless way.

"What the hell, Luffy?" Nami growled, punching the Gomu Gomu no Mi user's head. "You don't just do that!" Fellow members mumbled in agreement.

Luffy pouted as he rubbed the newly formed bump on his head. "That hurts, Nami," he complained, standing up with the bump quickly fading.

The rubber boy finally took notice of the draw dropped men surrounding him. "Hi! I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" he greeted with his usual wide grin, white teeth sparkling.

Just as Marco opened his mouth to speak, Not-Ace stepped in. "I can explain!" he exclaimed. "But I need to speak to Oyaji first."

The talk with Oyaji did not take as long as Not-Ace had thought it would. The elder man had been in the New World long enough to expect the unexpected. In reality, Oyaji Shirohige seemed to consider this normal compared to what he had experienced in the vast sea.

The elder had told the other worldly crew that they could stay as long as they wished as long as they did not harm his sons. Luffy immediately promised because 'Ace likes this old guy, so he will protect them.' None of the Mugiwara crew found this odd, but Not-Ace sure did.

Oyaji saw the war tainted eyes of the young boy, so he already had a theory of what happened on the straw hatted boy's side. He was not about to say something, though. The rubber man could tell him on his own.

Then came the debate on how to tell the whole crew. Not-Ace was no way in hell going to repeat everything over and over again for the huge crew. No doubt would everyone would ask questions and interrupt him, and he just did not have the patience for that.

So, in the end, Oyaji and Not-Ace decided to tell all the commanders, and, from there, they would tell their respective divisions.

Not-Ace was going to scream if he had to tell it more than once to his division.

There was also the two Luffys and two Sabos issue. Each side refused to call their Sabo and Luffy with a Not in front like the Mugiwaras had with Ace- not that they really needed to anyways. After a while of curses sent to each side, they had decided on call the Mugiwaras' Sabo 'Revolutionary' and Luffy 'Lu'.

Not-Ace did not take kindly that he could not call his Luffy Lu. That was his nick name for his little brother dammit. And just because he was calling Luffy 'Lu' on the Thousand Sunny did not mean a thing.

Oh well, too late now.

As Not-Ace got up from his perch in the semicircle that was created to explain the situation, realization what he had to do now hit him in the face. "Shit," he groaned. Not only did he have to say everything again, but he had to explain it to Sabo and Luffy. Luffy would be accepting as always, but Not-Ace knew for sure Sabo was going to be a negative little shit again.

Another bridge he was going to burn when he got there. Sadly, that bridge was only a few minutes away.

Life never did take kindly to the son of a demon.

"Ace!" sang the voice of a more mature younger brother. Not-Ace barely had enough time to brace himself for the sudden impact. "Ace~"

"What, Lu?" he asked, a bit irritated at that. He really should not procrastinate as much as he was on telling his crew about the Mugiwaras.

Lu ginned his usual wide grin and laughed. "I want to meet other me, of course," he explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it was, but Not-Ace was not about to admit that.

"Ok," was all Not-Ace had said. He really did not know what to say.

In the distance, he could see Revolutionary shake his head. Lu was now Not-Ace's problem, and he was going to enjoy the tiny amount of Lu-less time. Times like these were rare and were far and wide.

And he was sure Lu would be back in less than five minutes, begging for food.

Not-Ace sighed and plucked the younger boy off of him. "They'll be in the training grounds," he pointed out, motioning for they nineteen-year-old to follow him. It was only a few minutes away from this deck anyways.

Lu cheered and jumped on the freckled commander's back. "Yosh!" he shouted as he waited for Not-Ace to begin in the direction he earlier motioned at. The boy was grinning like an excited two-year-old.

Not-Ace swayed a bit to regain his balance with the new weight. He should have expected this, really. This was Luffy after all. Alternate universe or not, Luffy would act like an overgrown child- much to the displeasure to those around him.

Muttering something about ridiculous rubber boys, Not-Ace shifted Lu up in a more practical piggyback position and walked off to the training grounds. He could jog, but he just was too tired and Lu was laughing quite loudly in his ears.

Oh, the amount of shit he puts up with for the rubber brain.

He maneuvered through the large crowds of people who were making their way to their division commanders with ease. Only the second division stood awkwardly, not knowing where to go. Their captain was running in the exact opposite way of the meeting area with Lu on his back.

It did not take long to reach the other duo of brothers who were looking around in confusion. Poles tightly in their hands, the two co commanders seemed to be judging their surroundings- most likely Sabo's suggestions. Well, probably. One never knows with Luffy when his nakama are involved.

Not-Ace smirked before giving out a loud 'Ahem' to catch the attention of the curious boys. Startled, they turned quickly to face a freckled commander with a smiling rave on his back.

"Huh, Ace," Sabo muttered as he pieced together the situation. "Wait…" he jerked his head back and forth from the two Luffys. Man, his neck hurt now. Probably not his best idea.

"Shishishi," Lu giggled when he jumped off the elder male's back. "Hi, other me!" he greeted happily, holding out a hand for the other rubber boy to shake.

Luffy tilted his head to the side in confusion. "You're me?" he questioned. When the scarred captain nodded his similar head, stars sparkled in the other young boy's eyes. "So cool!"

As the children danced around, Sabo directed his attention to Not-Ace. "What shit did you get involved in, this time?" he inquired, a Haki infused pipe twirling through his fingers.

"Uh," the other commander stuttered. "Well, I'm not quite sure myself. All I really know is that that Luffy-" he pointed to the one with the open cardigan "-is from an alternate universe."

It was at that moment, Not-Ace realized how crazy that sounded.

"Mhm," Sabo hummed. "You know, I really shouldn't be surprised. This is the New World. Insanity is what we signed up for."

Not-Ace blinked. Well, this was a better reaction than he had expected. Was it just him, or was everyone oddly accepting lately?

Must be the Lu influence.

"Well," Not-Ace began, "he has an entire crew and another you. It was decided that the other Luffy will go by 'Lu,' and your counterpart will go by 'Revolutionary.' Don't ask me, ask him."

Sabo only nodded and put his pipe against the wall. "Oi Luffy! Lu!" he called out to the energetic straw hat wears. "Meat." Instantly, both rubber teens whipped their heads towards the blond. "The mess hall should be open by now."

Without saying a word, Luffy grabbed his counterpart's wrist and darted off towards the scent of meat. Not-Ace and Sabo chuckle softly as they follow the dust that was left in the wake of the two younger boys.

"Sanji~" Lu chirped when he wiggled his arm free of his alternate self's death grip. He ran ahead of the other boy in search of his blond chef. "Sanji. Food."

It did not take long at all for the Mugiwara captain to reach the front deck. There, most of his was scattered about, doing their own thing. A large, toothy grin plastered upon his face when he noticed Sanji cooking on a makeshift grill on the shore nearby.

"Sanji makes the best food," the supernova informed the honorary Whitebeard Pirate. He held a prideful stance when he looked at the chef who was furiously working on creating a meal that would last three D's.

This was Sanji's worst nightmare come true. One Luffy was enough, but now he had to feed two and an older brother. Even though he never actually had to feed the pirate prince, he knew damn well that the whitebeard commander ate almost the same about as his adoptive brother.

Hopefully, Sabo would not be the same.

Sanji glanced at his captain and let out an irritated grumble. "You can wait until it's done, rubber baka," he shouted, flipping the meat on the grill.

Lu pouted. "Meanie Sanji," he whined as he went to find something fun to do on the massive ship.

Maybe he could play tag with Ace again!

And there goes another chapter. Again, sorry for the long update.

I have a basic idea of where this story is headed, but my motivation likes to hang an inch out of reach when idea hit me in the face.

There's also the fact I never thought people would read this fic- it's my first, it was made mostly to get a plot bunny out of my head, and, frankly, I have no confidence in my writing. If you see anything wrong in my stories, please point it out. Thanks!

You guys rock!

Until next time!