In my defense I started college, also I didn't realize it had been a year. Sorry. Please enjoy!

Also to the new people, welcome to the shit show that is my update schedule!

Thatch very nearly vaulted off the ship the moment they arrived at Drum Island. It was only a hand on his arm from Jozu that kept him from leaving. He shot his brother a betrayed look.

"We don't even know where they're at," Jozu reminded him.

Well, Marco was supposed to be meeting them or he was sending someone to meet them. Either way, the meeting place was way outside of town, but they had the landmark so they could find it.

"Pops said to not let anyone go off alone," Jozu was scolding him.

After he had told Pops what had happened with Marco, the man had been understandably upset. His eldest had disobeyed him and gotten hurt in the process. The unknown doctor had bothered his father as well, claiming something about not knowing someone on Drum.

Surely Marco wasn't that desperate that he would lose his combat prowess? Thatch shook his head, even when he wasn't at peak efficiency The Phoenix was still a threat that very few could take out.

So he waited. The small village hadn't been razed to the ground, even if there were spots of damage. In fits of anger Marco was destructive and when he was protecting something he was single-minded, usually property didn't survive. It only raised more questions. Even the people working the dock weren't acting any more afraid than they usually were of pirates.

Had it been an isolated incident? Thatch shook his head, there was no way. Someone had to notice a giant blue bird. If they hadn't... well that didn't give the chef much hope for their future with pirate raids. Benevolent pirates were the rarity.

After what seemed like ages, but was only a couple of hours Pops called a meeting of the commanders. Thatch felt a pang of sorrow at the state of their father. Dark bruises formed under his eyes and there was a slight tremor in his hands. The stress was finally getting to him, and Thatch found that this incident couldn't be over soon enough.

"I will now say who is going on to this meeting, as per an agreement I made with our ally, I will only be sending two commanders One will report back once the meeting is complete and the other will travel to the location of where Marco is. Once there our ally will give further instructions.

Thatch was aghast. Those terms were ridiculous, and he wasn't the only one that was complaining about them. The room erupted in shouting. Pops listened patiently for a minute before he cleared his throat causing the room to go silent.

"We have no choice but to agree to their terms, it would take to long to try and locate them with conventional means, and they would notice us before we ever found them. It is not ideal, I understand."

No one seemed to agree that it was their only choice, but Pops had made up his mind and he was still the captain as fatherly as he appeared to be. Now with a plan, anticipation filled the room. Everyone one of them would want to be on that mission, too concerned to wait for news.

"Jozu and Thatch will be those going to the meeting, they can decide between each other who will return," Pops announced.

Thatch let out a sigh of relief. He would be able to convince Jozu that he should be the one to go. This was the one time he was grateful that there was a minor chain of command with the commanders. Usually no one paid it any mind since the divisions all had their own specialties, but at times like this Pops usually defaulted on it so that it would be fair to everyone.

"Dismissed. Jozu, Thatch, go now. We don't want to keep them waiting."

The two commanders nodded before walking out of the conference room before any of the others. Thatch gave Jozu a look that the other man shook his head.

"We'll talk when we're off the ship."

Quickly they made their way towards the village. A few of the crewmates called out to them, asking about what went on in the mission. Thatch brushed them off with a smile and laugh, which alarmed several of them and they went running off. He sighed, everyone's feelings were getting too much. Especially if he couldn't even keep a smile on his face and make it genuine. They couldn't get off of the ship fast enough.

Jozu was silent most of the trip, which on any other day would've annoyed Thatch, but today it was grating on his nerves. To add to it, the village almost seemed deserted. He could see that there were people living there since they were quick to move away from the windows but no one was outside. It could be because of the Moby sitting out in their dock, but Thatch figured there was something more to it.

"So, can I be the one to go?"

"Are you sure you'll be able to defend yourself?" Jozu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll be fine," he shot back, Jozu was just being practical he knew.

"Hey! Pirates!" A stranger yelled.

Both commanders turned around to see a young man dressed in heavy winter gear. He was holding a shovel, "no one wants you here! The last group hasn't even left yet!"

Thatch rolled his eyes, apparently, someone had decided to be the brave one of the village. He was about to reply when Jozu beat him to it.

"Get out of here. It's dangerous."

The kid read into the threat that wasn't there and bolted down the way that he came. Thatch was about to make a comment about it when he felt something, Quickly he jumped backward, narrowly avoiding the sword aimed for his heart, it tore through his coat. Jozu had turned to diamond and swung towards the unknown attacker. Who flipped over the fist and made contact with Jozu's side which had instantly turned into diamond to avoid the blow.

Now that he had a good look at their attacker, he could see that it was a young female, she wore a thick fur coat and had a long scar that ran down her face and disappeared into her collar. Thatch could make out a tattoo of a snapdragon that appeared to cover burn scars on the other side of her neck.

"She's one of them!" Thatch yelled to Jozu, "careful!"

Evidently, the attacker wasn't impressed with his observation and swung her foot up, it caught Jozu in the throat and the large man stumbled backward choking. She has haki. Thatch noted and drew his own sword.

The attacker kept an eye on Jozu but the rest of her was turned towards Thatch, she hummed and then laughed.

"You have no idea how arrogant you appear!"

"You're the arrogant ones, thinking that you could get away with taking one of our brothers!"
She laughed even harder, "you think capturing Ace was hard? It was easy, you're the ones overestimating him!"

Thatch fumbled for a reply, and the girl shrugged to herself her laughter finally died down, "I was there you know? When we got him, I don't know how you could let someone so pathetic on your crew."

He snapped, rushing towards her. She could talk all she wanted about him directly and she could even make jabs at Jozu, but calling Ace pathetic was crossing a line. Although he didn't know exactly why, but everything he knew about his brother pointed to the fact that he was anything but. He was extraordinary even if Ace himself didn't see it.

With speed, he usually saved for his most dire battles he swung his sword towards her. The first blow she deflected and she spun the blade so that it would slash upwards. Thatch sidestepped it and tossed his sword into his other hand which happened to be closer to her body. It was a weaker strike than usually, but he felt cut into her flesh. She let out a grunt of pain and tried to bring her elbow back into his body.

The blow made contact, but the angle was bad enough that it had weakened the strike. Thatch slid to a halt and spun so that he was facing her again. She had turned and her feet were shoulder width apart, there was a rip in her coat where his blade had cut her and her face was full of fury.

"You think you don't need to go all out against me? Remember pride goeth before the fall," she said while changing her stance, putting both hands on the hilt.

She's traditionally trained. He thought, and he wished that he had a shield with him. More than likely her blows would be heavier now, and while his sword was strong he was worried about it getting nicked. The blade already caused his movements to be slowed and now he was going to have to use it as both his offense and defense more than he usually did.

Seconds later and the girl was charging at him, from the angle of the blade he couldn't tell which was she was going to go so he gave his senses fully to his haki. It was going to be an overhead blow and he skipped out to the side to avoid where it would fall once she would be unable to switch her attack, and thrust his blade upward and through her chest. Her momentum carried her all of the ways to the hilt. Without remorse, he quickly pulled the blade from her body and let her fall to the ground.

Thatch shot a look over towards Jozu, "when will people learn that Whitebeards actually live up to their reputation?"

Jozu shrugged, stepping around the spot where blood was quickly staining the snow, "maybe when we start doing things that the government thinks all pirates do?"

"Oh, that boring stuff?" Thatch laughed.

The fight had eased out some of his emotions. He was glad that he had gotten to take a form of revenge on these people, especially if she really had been with the group that originally took Ace. It was a shame too, that girl had a lot of potential and would've been a lesser skilled man's death with her quick movements. Knowing that they had at least some skill made Thatch feel better and worse about the situation, better because they knew the Whitebeards weren't to be angered lightly and worse because it meant that they could've done serious damage to Ace.

More than Marco could tell and maybe more than the mysterious doctor could treat. He shook his head, now wasn't the time to think about such things. They had some of the best doctors on the crew, they'd be more than able to take care of any injuries or illness Ace had.

"So, still think I'm too emotional to go with this person?" Thatch asked Jozu.

"I only wanted to make sure you thought you could do it," Jozu replied.

Thatch sighed, Jozu was incredibly good at making his face and voice neutral and it would be impossible to get his true thoughts about Thatch's ability now. He let out another sigh when he saw the villagers openly gawking at him and the fallen girl. I forgot to ask her name, oh well. When they were storming the citadel, as it were, he'd make sure to corner someone and get the name. It wouldn't sit well with him as a swordsman until he learned the name.

Thankfully the rest of the trip was uneventful other than the villagers keeping "safely" out of the way while they kept themselves informed. They were able to pick up their pace and reach the forest earlier than their estimated time.

"So we go in on the western side and walk straight until we find the dead pine that's split three ways," Thatch recited, "but where do we go in?"

Jozu grunted towards a hardly used game trail. Thatch shrugged, it was a good of a guess as any, and Haruta relayed that the tree should be found within ten minutes of being on the path. Not that he wanted to play guess and check with paths all day. Luck was holding out on them today as Jozu pointed out the tree. It was a nice change from the previous couple of months where it seemed that they couldn't catch a break.

Thatch frowned at the creature sitting in front of the tree. It wore a pink hat and had antlers but it was about the size of a young child. Surely this couldn't be the creature they sent to meet with them?

The creature sniffed at the air, apparently catching their scent as it yelped and jumped being the tree. Effectively hiding only its face. Thatch laughed and stepped out into the clearing. It watched him warily.

"The snow likes to show old wounds," he repeated the phrase.

That seemed to calm the creature down, "you're Marco's friends!"

"Yeah," Thatch nodded, "I'm Thatch and this is my friend Jozu."

The other commander grunted.

"I'm Chopper. Remember what Doctorine told you, only one!" Chopper's voice was shaky but his stance was firm.

"Don't worry, we're keeping our promise," Thatch continued smiling.

"I'll head back now," Jozu said, before taking a couple of steps back.

"When I have news I'll make sure Marco gets ahold of you guys," Thatch replied.

Chopper watched between them frowning, "Doctorine won't let you bring your crew."

"Didn't figure she would, but I'm sure Pops would want to meet her since they've met."

Apparently, that was a good enough reason to Chopper for them to keep in contact and Thatch couldn't help but feel relief that the tiny creature (deer?) was land-based, (he?) they were too naive to be out on the seas. Maybe in several years, but not right now. He laughed at the thought, this little thing wouldn't leave home, Thatch would put money on it.

The first several minutes of their trek was silent. Chopper kept looking over at Thatch like he wanted to ask something but then seemed to scare himself back into silence. Thatch held in another sigh and looked towards the sky, any conversation would be better than this silences. It was one of the main reasons he couldn't stand the snow very long, everything was too quiet. It was eery.

"So, are you friends with Doctorine?" He tried.

Chopper shook his head, "no, she's training me to become a doctor!"

This was new, even for him, "a doctor but you're a deer?"

"Reindeer," Chopper corrected on reflex, which ended the conversation.

Thatch wondered what the little deer's story was, but figured that he was stressing Chopper out enough if the tenseness of his shoulders were anything to go by. In the distance, he could see some kind of tree that looked like it had a door. He could even hear some yelling. Chopper's gait faltered but he pressed on, and out of habit Thatch eased his sword out of its scabbard.

Marco narrowly avoided the scalpel being thrown at his head. The old witch was crazy, he shot her a glare only to have to duck underneath another scalpel. He wasn't even sure where she was pulling them from.

"Now, you're going to stay out of that room," Kureha said.

"He's a crewmate, I have to know how he's doing, and you won't tell me anything!" Marco replied back.

The doctor was not impressed with his argument, "all you need to know is that he's alive. I can't work if you're going to be breathing down my neck."

"Is he getting any better?" Marco pleaded, he was getting anxious with no report.

Kureha push her second pair of glasses so that they rested on the top of her head, and she smirked, "come on, who do you think I am?"

Marco shot her an unimpressed look, "I don't know who you are other than a-"

The door opened and effectively cut Marco off, which he was grateful because he was about to say something that he would regret. The interruption allowed him to take a deep breath and get his nerves under control, obviously, Kureha wasn't going to back down. She wasn't intimidated by him, and they were in her home territory. Not to mention she's the only one with access to Ace.

Somehow she knew that he was trying to get in and check on his brother, he was sure that she hadn't been in the clinic. It was scary how she knew, and the thought of witch rose in his mind although he wouldn't say it allowed. To his surprise, Chopper walked through the door with Thatch following after him. His brother seemed to be annoyed, a telling sign since Thatch never wore annoyance so obviously.

"Marco!" The chef grinned before rushing over to him.

He let himself be hugged for a couple of seconds before he pulled out of the embrace. Thatch seemed to take in in stride as he pulled back, leaving a hand on his shoulder briefly before turning to Kureha.

"You must be Doctorine!" He greeted.

Marco had a couple of seconds to pull Thatch out of the way of the scalpel and he looked reasonably alarmed.

"Thatch, this is Doctor Kureha."

"Wait," Thatch frowned, "as in the Doctor Kureha that Pops knew when he was a teenager?"

"That's the one," Marco nodded.

"I'm not going to tell you the secret of my longevity!" She yelled.

"I didn't ask!" Thatch yelled back, confused.

Marco shrugged. He hadn't understood the miscommunication either, but he'd learned that it was best to take it in stride. Kureha had rarely spoken with him unless it was about his own recovery or the plan to bring one of his brothers here. A couple of seconds passed where everyone was trying to gage the room.

Finally, Thatch spoke, charging in like he usually did, "so how's Ace?"

The question itself was directed at Kureha but Marco knew that Thatch wanted him to answer it with his own analysis. Which unfortunately was from Kureha's report of he's alive and that he had some kind of infection. Which he knew from when he rescued him. It was incredibly frustrating.

"He's alive," Kureha answered blandly.

"How is he thought?" Thatch pressed on.

Kureha shrugged, "the medicine is working, the infection should be gone within the next few days."

Marco caught onto the phrasing, "but the recovery?"

"I can't say until he's recovering," Kureha replied.

Thatch crossed his arms, "I can't just call and say he's alive and that the infection should be gone within a couple of days!"

"Well, don't call them. That's all I'm telling you, and get that Captain of yours up here," she cackled and left the room.

Marco raised an eyebrow as Thatch sputtered. Chopper took this time to escape after his mentor. The reindeer could probably be talked into telling them something, but he was never really in the room long enough to ease into the conversation.
"Is she always like this?" Thatch asked.

"Usually she isn't even in the room," Marco shrugged, "but she's always been that evasive."

"And who does she think she is? She practically ordered Pops up here!" Thatch exclaimed.

Marco jumped back on the table that he had been sitting on prior to nearly being stabbed with utensils. Thatch stood across from him with his arms crossed and frowning towards the door.

"She's probably checking on Ace now, I haven't been able to get near to his room," Marco said noticing his brother's train of thought, "I know he's still alive, so we have to trust her for now."

"When you found him, how was he?" Thatch frowned, "I know you said that he was bad."

"I'm no doctor, but it smelled like he had a severe infection," Marco began, "he was exhausted, barely conscious and it looked like he'd been beaten."

"Those bastards!" Thatch clenched his fists, "tortured?"

Marco shook his head, letting air out through his nose. It wouldn't do him any good to get angry at them at the moment, "no. I think it was from the fight and if he tried to escape from them. Everything was too random."

Thatch nodded. Which Marco was glad about, he was certain that Ace hadn't tried to escape on his own or at all. With his condition, it would've been a death sentence so more than likely he just got mouthy and that was how they shut him up. Marco knew he could also be wrong. Too much about this situation was unknown and their best source of information was presumably still unconscious.

"We ran into one of them in town," Thatch spoke suddenly, "I killed her, but these guys aren't rookies. How do you think they've gone unnoticed for so long."

"I've been wondering that myself, usually Haruta picks up any signs of large sea stone purchases. They're good, they stay under the radar," Marco replied, glad to have something else to think about, "I probably would've bought the excuse of them having a sick crewmember if I hadn't been suspicious of them already."

"They're so obvious that it hides their true objectives?" Thatch guessed.

"Even the clues they left, their name and the dock worker," Marco replied, "whoever is their leader is incredibly crafty. We'll have to take them on with nothing less than full strength."

Thatch laughed, "I don't think that will be a problem, the whole crew is looking for a fight."

"Good. Call Pops, see if he wants to make the trek up here, and tell him who the doctor is. She might talk more if he's present."

"Sure, let me know if Kureha decided to share any information."

Marco nodded and turned his gaze back towards the door, wishing not for the first time that could just morph his senses so that he could know something of what was going on in the next room. Thatch left the room and went back outside to make the call. Which meant that he was also getting reported on since it was a call that could be made in front of him. He didn't care, if there were any punishments he would take them as they came. Ace just needed to be alright for them to be worth it.

Kureha inhaled deeply before entering the room of her patient. The two pirates were sure to rally with each other and get her to say more than she wanted. Usually, she didn't mind sharing what was wrong with her patients, the people she told needed to know in the first place. When the boy went back on his ship she would tell the nurses what he needed in order to fully recover. There's the problem, she thought, he might not be able to fully recover.

The infection had wrecked his system, more than she would have liked to see, leading her to believe that he had already been compromised beforehand. Even his devil fruit might not be able to fix it, which could hinder him as a pirate. On the desk, she had written a list of potential complications. Kureha checked that Chopper was gone before she read it one more time.

There were only five complications on the list, the most minor was a permanently weaker immune system meaning more colds and a higher chance to catch an illness. She wasn't too worried about that one, the doctors on the Moby could handle that, it was the weaker heart and/or blindness that she knew could happen.

Out of the hundreds of patients, she had treated for something similar this boy's case was one of the worst she had seen. While she couldn't be sure, in her postoperative examination she thought there was some damage to the eyesight, and until he was awake all she could do was check that his eyes could react to light. Which they did, and were slower than she would like.

To her surprise, the boy was awake and slowly trying to sit upright when she looked up from the list. His arm was shaking with the effort and he let out soft grunts of effort. Muscle weakness, but from what? The captivity or infection or both? He was malnourished which could also account for tremble. She already had half a dozen treatment plans made up when he noticed that he wasn't alone.

"Who are you?" He asked, and his voice was rough from disuse.

Slowly she made him a glass of water, he had an IV of fluids, but she wanted to judge how well his stomach was going to hold with substances administered orally. It'd give her a better guess on how bad his other organs had been damaged. She held out the glass for him to take, but he didn't reach for it... or trace the movement at all. Curiously she changed tactics and pressed it into his hand.

That time he did wrap his hand around it and carefully lifted it to his mouth, sipping slowly. Part of her was relieved that she didn't have to remind him not to drink too fast or too much, but another part of her wondered how he knew to do that.

"So, who are you?" He asked again, and his voice sounded smoother.

"I'm your doctor, call me Kureha."

He nodded, "Ace. Where am I?"

"On Drum Island still, in my clinic to be exact," she took the glass from him and set it to the side.

"Did-" he cleared his throat, "was someone with me?"

"Marco?" She guessed, "he's in the other room."

"That's great!" Ace laughed, and it was filled with disbelief, "is he okay?"

"As fine as can be," she responded, "how do you feel?"

"Awful," Ace answered honestly.

"Awful where?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Head, chest, everywhere."

Kureha nodded, she had expected as much. But what was confusing her was that she was expecting a fight to get him to tell her anything. She felt a sinking in her gut, the boy was probably traumatized. At the very least he had learned from his captors that if he went along with them then he wouldn't get hurt. Illnesses of the mind weren't something that she was trained in, so she'd have to work on her best guess.

"Do your eyes hurt?"

"No," he replied sounding confused.

Judging by the lack of panic, Kureha assumed that his eyes were fine, but something was still off about them, "mind if I look at them?"

That time Ace did tense up and looked unsure of his answer. He played with the hem of his shorts for several seconds instead of answering, "do you have to?"

"The infection might've damaged them."

Ace let out a bitter laugh and she frowned again, "go ahead."

She pulled out the needed equipment and Ace stared blankly at the wall. Kureha frowned, he was showing signs of mental trauma, but it hadn't manifested itself violently which would make it harder for his family to catch the signs if it should evolve into him having full-blown panic attacks. It was unlikely he was just that well-adjusted, she had never met a sane D.

"This will be bright," she warned.

Ace's lips quirked upwards and Kureha flicked the switch on the device. As it was when he was unconscious the pupils reacted sluggishly, it could be a concussion she hypothesized but she had felt no obvious head trauma and the bruising on his face was fading. Kureha placed her eye next to the magnifying mirror and let out a silent gasp. The retina showed signs of severe deterioration, and if she had to guess the ocular nerve was in a similar or worse state.

"You're blind, or close to it."

"That bad now?" Ace replied.

Kureha took a step back in shock, "you knew?"

Ace's face shifted into a scowl, "it would be hard to miss, wouldn't you think?"

"How long ago were you diagnosed with this illness?" Kureha asked.

"When I was a kid, I'm surprised my eyes have held out this long," he shrugged.

"How much can you see?"

He glanced towards the far wall and then back to Kureha and chewed on his bottom lip, "I can kind of differentiate the colors, but it's difficult."

"So you're almost nearly blind then," Kureha said, "well, the medicine I gave you should kill any infection, which should keep your eyes from getting worse."

"Does it matter at this point when I go blind?" Ace sighed, "I know its coming, and as much as I don't want to be completely in the dark…"

Kureha frowned deeply, she could see the underlying tenseness around his eyes. Likely the boy was lying, anyone would be terrified of losing their vision no matter how little of it they could see, "I think it does matter, it possible for me to stop the progression."

Ace tilted his head up sharply, and for the first time, Kureha realized how he had been able to keep his secret. He had impressive acting skills, she would likely be fooled had she not already known. Is he able to keep it up even in front of so many people on the Moby?

"I- no," Ace replied, "if I started taking medicine people would ask about it."

"You could say that some of the damage from the infection is permeant," Kureha replied.

"Is any of it permanent?" Ace asked his voice tight.

Kureha shrugged, "at this stage its difficult to tell. Its possible, but considering everything none of it should be debilitating." Unless it weakened his heart.

There was a knock at the door, both Kureha and Ace turned towards it. Ace seemed almost eager about the new arrival so Kureha guessed it was the Pompadour.

"Doctor, I was just coming to tell you that Pops agreed to come up later today, probably around dinner."

Ace turned towards her and pushed his lip into a pout.

Kureha thought about rejecting the request but then sighed. It did him no harm to have a friendly face around- she amended her thought- a friendly voice. In fact, it might help him heal. At the very least she would be able to see how well he acted towards someone who had no clue that he was missing a primary sense. She flung the door open and both Commanders toppled onto the floor of the infirmary. Really, they should know better than to lean against doors.

"Ace!" Marco greeted once he untangled himself from Thatch.

"How are you feeling?" Thatch jumped up.

Ace looked overwhelmed for a second before an easy grin slipped onto his face, "man, it's been so long since I talked with you guys!"

"Too long," Thatch replied darkly, "but how are you feeling?"
"Like I got run over by the Moby," Ace shrugged, "so decent."

Marco rolled his eyes fondly, "I wondered how you have to feel to feel horrible?"

Ace pulled his bottom lip into his mouth before answering it, "someone yanking my heart out of my chest? Like physically?"

Kureha winced at the image before continuing out of the infirmary. She'd kick the commanders out in an hour or two, right now she had a rare illness to research, she couldn't shake the feeling she had heard something like this before and wasn't sure where. There also might be a hidden treatment in long-forgotten pages.

The sun was starting to sink below the horizon when Whitebeard was able to see the familiar tree-clinic. He was relieved to hear that Kureha had taken a personal interest in the well-being of his sons, but he was more than annoyed to hear that she was keeping Ace's condition from his eldest and Thatch. There could be a reason, he guessed, but it didn't sit well with him.

As it was, the door opened before he even raised his hand to knock. A tiny reindeer was hiding awkwardly behind the wood and proceeded to yell when he realized who was at the door.

"A giant!" He yelled, "Doctorine! There's a giant at the door!"

"Chopper!" A screechy voice yelled back, "mind your manners, you're talking to an Emperor of the Seas!"

That made the tiny deer scream louder. Whitebeard watched the scene with some amusement, remembering fondly the days when his children were still young enough to publicly argue without the threat of weapons. Has it really been that long since I took Marco and Thatch in?

Without being invited he squeezed himself into the doorway, and the interior was short enough that he had to hunch over to fully fit inside the building. Of course, the action sent the deer running off down the hallway, barreling directly into Marco's legs. The Phoenix seemed unperturbed but the child clutching the back of his pant leg. In fact, Marco seemed to look less stressed than he had these past few months.

"Pops!" Thatch greeted, "you actually managed to fit?"

Marco stomped on his brother's foot, "it's good to see you, yoi."

Whitebeard chuckled, "I'm glad to see you're in good health, any lasting injury?"

"None, all of the sea stone was removed," Marco replied.

He nodded, grateful that their luck seemed to be turning in their favor, "and any news on Ace?"

Thatch grinned, "he was awake, we talked to him for about two hours before he got drowsy. All of his injuries are superficial, but it was the infection and lack of proper nutrition that made him so sick."

"Nothing seemed lasting?"

"Not that I could tell, I don't know anything about the internal stuff," Thatch shrugged.

"It seems we'll have to wait before we know for sure," Marco said.

Whitebeard turned his head towards the newcomer, Kureha had left the room that his two sons had just vacated. That meant that it was likely Ace's room. The doctor scowled at him before nodding approvingly.

"See if you can get your brats to leave for a few hours, I want to check your health."

As much as he didn't want to subject himself to a check-up, Kureha was an extremely talented doctor and she might find something his own staff missed. Not that he would fault them of course, but the woman had been able to determine when one of his previous crew was poisoned before he had begun to show symptoms or obvious symptoms. It was one of the great mysteries of the seas, this woman's healing ability.

"Marco, make sure that the ship is still standing," he said, "and Thatch go help with dinner."

Both of them opened their mouths to protest, but Whitebeard raised an eyebrow that silenced the pair, "and give your siblings an update on Ace since we know more and we know that he's nearly out of the woods."

Thatch pouted, but Marco took the order for what it was. He was sure that his eldest was comforted with the thought that Kureha would be looking him over and Thatch really was needed in the kitchen. The four division was filled with splendid cooks, but as they say, too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the soup.

The two departed after that and Kureha led him to a taller room. He could at least stand straight, even if he had to cock his head to the side so it wasn't pressed on the ceiling.

"How have you been feeling?" Kureha asked fiddling with tools.

"Overall good, that last treatment you sent was helpful, thank you."

Kureha flicked the end of the syringe before pushing it into his skin, he barely flinched at the pain.

"Skipping all of the basic things then?" He chuckled.

"Your vitals won't be normal, so why waste the time?" She scowled.

Whitebeard smiled, "your bedside manner hasn't improved, what would Roger say?"

"Something stupid, I'm sure." Kureha had her back turned towards him but didn't fail to notice the odd set to her shoulders.

"Is everything all right with my son?"

"Ace, well," he was relieved she wasn't trying to play dumb, "he may never be able to reach his true power potential, the conqueror's haki might be too stressful on his body if he uses it too frequently, but I expect no lasting damage he can't overcome."

Whitebeard blinked, "conqueror's haki? How can you be sure he has it?"

Kureha turned towards him and flicked her glasses to the top of her head, her gaze was sharp, "I might be old and I might have outdated information, but I'm not stupid."

"I would never imply otherwise," Whitebeard raised a hand in a placating gesture, "but I just wondered how you knew he had it?"

"I don't," she shrugged.

He blinked, and silence settled over them for several minutes before Kureha spoke again, "some conditions are hereditary, and it's easy to trace patients when the condition is so rare."

"Ace has an illness?" Whitebeard asked concern filled his heart.

Kureha's gaze turned unimpressed, "you don't need to hide his heritage from me, he's Roger's boy- at least Rogue's he has her eyes."

Whitebeard frowned as he tried to figure out what Kureha meant by that statement, he knew that Rogue hadn't been a frail woman, but she had left the pirating life early. There was something about a condition, he had thought the pregnancy but that was years before Ace should have been born, even with the extended pregnancy. Rogue's eyes-why had she retired- Rogue's- Rogue had been going blind.

Wait.

Ace has Rogue's eyes.

"He's going blind?" He finally found his voice.

Kureha spun around, "I don't know why you're surprised, he's practically blind now- you didn't know."

Whitebeard shook his head, "I knew who his parents were but I never thought-"

"Shit," Kureha stormed out of the room, "stay here, don't breathe a word of this!"

Ace is blind?

Uhhhh, so. That happened. I'll be back with the next update, hopefully soon, but finals might actually kill me. Hope you enjoyed! Leave your thoughts below!