Errmm, hi? Sorry it's been a while? Almost two months was it? Ah, I finally graduated bachelor's degree, and now I'm preparing for a profession course. I mean, I can't exactly find a job without the working permits.

*Sigh, why did I pick Pharmacy again? Oh right, trying to avoid Physics, but apparently Pharmacy had Physics in it too.

Ah well, what's done is done. Enjoy the chapter. Made a bit of change on some parts of the manga but probably not really important.

'G..p! I'm going to be a father! But I'll die by the time it's born.' A feeling of remorse slithered through his heart. And yet, he felt happy.

'Why are you telling me this Ro…? I'm with the navy! We mean to hunt down anyone who was ever associated with you!' the man in front of him was blurry. He had black hair with some gray in it and wore a white coat.

'My wife and our unborn child are innocent G..p! We've been fighting for years. I trust you as much as my shipmates. Save my child!' he felt a wild grin stretched across his face. He only knew of his child when he was preparing to surrender himself. He never had the chance to contact his friends, but out of all marines, the man in front of him had the best morals. He can trust him.

'Stop talking nonsense!' the man yelled, his face contorted in frustration. But he knew the man would keep his promise.

'I know you'll do it. Take care of my child!' Yes. The man in front of him would fulfill his promise. His moral code will demand no less. A child is innocent after all, regardless of what the government thought about their bloodline.

Luffy woke up with tears brimming in his eyes. A sense of regret and satisfaction warring within him. 'Oh, I wonder if I'll meet him again,' he thought. And yet, he knew he already met the man from his dream.

It was a week after the Red Hair Pirates left for the Grand Line. Luffy continues to run around the village. Most of the time, he could be found on a short cliff near the port and in Makino's bar. Today, he was cleaning up his room. The wind and the sea had whispered to him of an old monkey coming home. If that wasn't his grandpa he didn't know who. Better to clean up his room rather than having the fist of love.

After he finished, he grabbed Shanks' (his) straw hat and went the cliff. He whistled rather loudly to call Moomoo-chan. He didn't appear alone, the lord of the coast was with him. Luffy was worried. He knew Moomoo-chan won't hurt him, but his encounter with the lord two weeks ago still haunted his mind. He prepared himself, he wasn't in the sea anymore so he should be able to fight back. Instead, Moomoo-chan told him the lord was sorry about what he did. The lord crooned lowly and lower its head to him.

"Is that so? Don't randomly eat human okay?" he asked. The Lord nodded and crooned again to Moomoo-chan.

"Okay. Have fun you two!" Luffy waved at the beasts as the beasts left to play at the coastline.

Luffy then left to go to Makino's. It was lonely now that the pirates have left, but the weather is nice and the whispers kept him company for a while. Luffy kept on humming his song, Bink's sake as Shanks said. The upbeat tune cheers him up a bit as he continued his journey.

"Makino! I'm hungry!" Luffy shouted as he opened the door. Makino smiled from behind the counter, she asked if he wanted the usual and Luffy said yes. They spent the entire afternoon talking about the two beasts and about the pretty shells Luffy found on the way.

It is still lonely though, in his mind, Luffy could hear the random people singing Bink's sake and partying. With someone on the background yelling to stop drinking since an enemy ship was nearby.

'Sigh, I want to meet those weird blurry people,' (I missed my crew)

Garp returned five days later. He was worried about Luffy since he heard of the Red Hair Pirates were staying in Dawn Island. He quickly went to his house (house, never home. Home was gone the moment his darling wife died and his idiot son chose to destroy the government) to check on Luffy. He wasn't at the house, but his room was tidy. Weird, Luffy always knew when he would come back.

After checking every inch of his house, he went to the Mayor's house. After knocking rather loudly and being yelled at by Woop Slap he was directed to Makino's bar. There, he found Luffy scarfing down several plates of food.

"Bwahahahaha! Healthy appetite as usual huh, Luffy?" He laughed, feeling glad that his grandson was okay. Luffy turned from his meal. A smile took over his face as he saw his grandpa back.

"Grandpa! You are back!" He launched himself to his grandpa, winding his arms several times across Garp's waist. Instantly, Garp was shocked. His grandson arm just stretched. His grandson ate a devil fruit, and he saw red.

"FIST OF LOVE!" he slammed a fist on Luffy's head. The child cringed and quickly scooted away from Garp, holding his throbbing head.

"Why are you hitting me?!" Luffy shouted. "And why is it hurt?!"

"You ate a devil fruit! That's why! Where did you even find a devil fruit in this village?"

"Ah! I accidentally ate it! I thought it was a dessert shishishi!" Luffy laughs sheepishly. He truly thought the fruit was a special dessert by Makino.

Meanwhile, Garp facepalmed. Trust his family to think with their stomach, even Dragon did the same when he was younger. Only when he turned into an adult his eating scaled down considerably. And then, he noticed a familiar thing hanging from his grandson's neck.

"Luffy, where did that straw hat came from?" he asked, dread filling his gut.

"Oh, this? Shanks gave it to me. It's our promise to gave it back to him when I became a great pirate," Luffy answered. If Garp saw the nostalgic look on his grandson's face he didn't mention it. Instead, he had a flashback of when he was still a newly promoted rear admiral and Roger pirates were still establishing their name. At the time, Roger still wore his iconic straw hat. The same straw hat hanging from Luffy's neck. He itched to grab the damned straw hat and ripped it apart, yet he knew Luffy already attached to it. Taking the hat away from him will break Luffy, and Garp can't do that to his beloved grandson. So instead, Garp decided to focus on something else.

"A pirate?! No way! You'll be a marine!"

"No! I don't want to be a marine! I want to be the pirate king!"

"Marine!"

"Pirate king!"

"Marine!"

"Pirate king!"

"Marine!"

"Pirate king!"

"That's enough! I've been too lax on you! It's time to start your training!" Garp howled as he grabbed Luffy from his scruff.

"Wait! Mr. Garp! Where are you taking Luffy?" Makino yelled in concern.

"To a friend!" Garp yelled back. Makino stood in front of her bar in uncertainty as she saw Luffy being dragged away by Garp to the mountain.

"Let go! I told you I wanna be the pirate king!" Luffy tried to swat his grandfather. It's just too bad that Garp had a strong grip on his cheek.

"Nonsense! Not only you ate a devil fruit, but you also spouted this nonsense! You and Ace both! You're going to be the best Marine ever!" Garp shouted back. At the mention of the new name, Luffy froze for a second.

'Ace for a boy, Ann for a girl. What do you think?'

Garp's grip on his cheek forced Luffy to return to reality, the voice just now immediately gone from his mind.

"I shouldn't have left you in that peaceful village!" Garp grumbled. They finally reached a hut in the middle of the forest that seems to be Garp's destination. He rapped the door numerous times while calling someone called Dadan. The door opened slowly opened, and three scared bandits came out. Garp talked to them for a bit, while Dadan, the bandit leader seemed to be complaining about something. Luffy didn't pay any attention, he just found Hercules beetle and tried to catch it.

"AAAAAAA! Another one of your grandson?!" he heard Dadan screamed. Again, Luffy didn't pay any attention to their protests or Garp's laugh. He saw another beetle and wanted to catch it too. Right when Luffy almost caught it, someone spits on him.

"Agh! Yuck! Who did that?!" Luffy turned to see the one who spits on him. He saw a boy, with very familiar freckles and wavy hair. As soon as he saw the boy, he remembered seeing a woman watching the sunset, smiling softly at him as if she had been waiting for him. A very fond feeling arose in him, he wanted to hold that woman close and never let go. He felt tears swimming in his eyes. Distantly, he saw Garp, the bandits, and the boy looked so confused. But he can only cry, he truly missed that woman. Even if he can't remember who that woman is.

When Luffy finally calmed down enough, Garp told him that the boy's name is Ace and he will be his brother from now on. Luffy still felt upset about the fact that Ace spit on him and his complicated feeling about his new brother ( son ), but the urge to be a friend ( father ) to Ace was so strong he couldn't help but forgive the boy.

Or maybe not, the little shit kept on evading him and almost killed him numerous times. That fallen log alone could kill a normal human. Though, with the way Ace kept trying to kill him, he could train himself in using the mystery voice better. The wolves, the crocodiles, the snakes, the falling rocks, and everything else helped to train him on using the mystery voice. And then, in the third month of chasing after Ace, he found it. A huge mountain of junk piles. The smell alone almost dissuaded him, the voice of discontent and despair, of anger and everything else, didn't help. But he saw Ace came here, he saw Ace mugged several men in the entrance and then came here. So Luffy listened to the mystery voice to find out where Ace has gone.

It was underneath an old giant tree that was on the edge of the piles that he heard them talking.

"I wonder how much a pirate ship cost?"

"Don't know. Could be tens or even hundreds of millions. Hurry up and close it. Somebody could see us," he heard Ace spoke. And Luffy never heard him so excited. Cautious, but excited. It's as if Ace only felt excited when talking about his dream, and Luffy wanted that. He wanted Ace to be as excited as that when he talked with Luffy. Most importantly, he wanted Ace to stop feeling so lonely. And so, feeling a little bit bold, he yelled at them.

"A pirate ship?! You guys wanna be pirates!? Me too!" he smiled brightly. Weirdly, the two boys looked scared at seeing him there. Really, how rude. He just wanted to be their friend since they shared the same dream. Though, the next thing he knew, he was tied up at the base of the tree with the boys planning to kill him.

"WHAAATTT! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" He shouted.

"Hey shut up! Sabo! Hurry up and kill him!" Ace told the blond boy.

"What? You kill him! I never killed anybody before!" the blond spat back.

"Me neither! I don't know how!" Ace said.

"Y'know, if you don't wanna kill me, then don't. Taking a life has a rather heavy consequence," he told them. Ace and Sabo were a bit surprised at the deep insight. They hesitated on killing the boy, but they need to make sure their treasures were safe. In their hesitation, they didn't notice the angry group that was closing in on them.

"Are you sure it was Ace that stole it!?" a huge man snarled.

"Yes, it's embarrassing, but we were caught off guard," a spiky-haired man said.

As the suspicious men were talking, Luffy managed to escape his confinement. He noticed that both Ace and Sabo ran and hid from the men and so he decided to go to their place as well. The thing is, the straw-hatted boy didn't notice the pebble near him so he stumbled right to the men's path.

"ARGH! LET ME GO!" Luffy struggled when the blue-haired man caught him. He kept yelling for Ace to help him when the big man slapped him hard.

"You know Ace?" he asked. Luffy knew this meant bad news. These men wanted to hurt Ace for whatever reason and he can't let them. Maybe, if he lied to them Ace would be his friend ( son )?

"Oh, you know an ace?. You see, I got lost in the road of life so I need an ace to put me back to the right path. Huh, doesn't really make sense ain't it?" Luffy said with a straight face. Meanwhile, everyone around him was flabbergasted that he could tell such a ridiculous lie with a straight face like that.

"Hrmph. Whatever, maybe some incentive would make you remember who Ace is," the man said.

It was dusk when Luffy came to consciousness. He had been beaten by a hammer at first, but when the man, Porchemy as he called himself, switched to a pair of spiked gloves, he started to drift off. Luffy never screams though. He had never screamed when the marines tortured him during his captivity, he will never scream against these low-level pirates. ' Huh, the marines never caught me before, right? ' Luffy thought. He dismissed the fleeting thought ( memory ) as caused by the torture.

Luffy could dimly hear Porchemy demanding him to tell him where Ace and Sabo kept their treasure. But Luffy won't tell. If he did, Ace won't be his friend. He doesn't want that. He wanted to have at least one friend so he won't be lonely. 'But if I had to die to protect someone, then that's fine, ' he thought with a smile. Apparently, his smile disturbs Porchemy so much because the beating became harder than before.

But then, just when Luffy thought he was going to die, the wall was kicked down.

"STOOOPPP!" the two children yelled. Happiness surged through Luffy's heart when he heard the voices. ' They didn't leave me! ' he thought with a teary smile.

"Porchemy! They are the ones who stole our treasures!" the spiky-haired man shouted.

"Is that so? Thanks for saving the trouble of finding you, brats!" Porchemy snarled as he hit Ace. Ace didn't stay down for long. Both he and Sabo tag-teamed the pirates to free Luffy until Sabo managed to steal a knife and cut the rope holding Luffy. Sabo then brought Luffy's battered body to safety while calling Ace to hurry to escape with them.

"Go on without me! Once I faced an enemy... I never run away!" he said determinedly. Luffy, amid his pain, heard what Ace said. He wished to yell at Ace, not all enemies had to be faced. He could run away to live and fight another day, but Luffy couldn't. He had to protect Ace, Ace is his son, but Ace was to be his friend right? The contradiction hurt his head so much, it was like something split his head open. He was who? He is Luffy, but also, who? He didn't know. He didn't want to know. The one he used to be was over. He should be all Luffy, not with the added parts.

And so, with a terrible headache, he passed out. ' At least, they came back for me '

A beautiful golden bell covered in vines stood above the clouds. "How are we going to carry this, captain?" a blue-haired boy with a red nose asked eagerly.

"You can come back and get it when you are captain yourself, I don't have time for this now," he said. Secretly, he wished to clutch his chest. They were too high and the air was too thin. It was rather difficult for him to breathe.

"Aww, not even a little piece?" the boy asked sadly.

He ignored the boy, the air was thin and it was hurt just to breathe, but he was too excited by the future possibilities. "Hey, O***! Carve a message for me! 'I hereby guide this to the end!'"

"What? Just like that?" his friend carved his message just as he wanted to.

"Yup! That's perfect! Well done O***!" right there on the side of the bell, is the words his friend carved for him. He didn't know what each word means, but he trusted his friend to do it right. Maybe, someday, someone will reach this place and followed his trails to the final island.

When Luffy woke up, his wound was bandaged and his headache gone. He was sure his headache wasn't caused by the beating, but he can't remember why. He sat up and saw Ace and Sabo were staring at him. He felt his tears leaked out and tried to hold back a sob. He can't do that, "HUAAAA! I thought I was gonna die!"

"Shut up! How long are you gonna cry?! I hate cowards and crybabies! It's annoying!" Ace shouted at him. Luffy immediately pursed his lips and tried to hold back his tears. But then, he remembered the manners painstakingly taught to him by Makino (The old orphanage lady) and bowed his head.

"Thank you, hic" he sobs-muttered. Somehow, him saying thanks made Ace angry instead.

"Dumbass. Why didn't you tell them where the treasures are anyway? You know they'll kill women and children without care!" Ace yelled again. But Luffy, he shook his head and clutch his straw hat tightly as if it was his lifeline.

"If I'd told them, I couldn't be your friend anymore," Luffy answered with a small voice.

"So what?! It's better than dying! Why do you want to befriend me anyway?!" Ace yelled at him.

Luffy was annoyed, he just wants to befriend the lonely boy and Ace asked him why? Why did Ace need a reason anyway? That's silly!

"BECAUSE I GOT NOBODY ELSE! Grandpa said I can't go back to the village and I hate Bandits! I don't want to be alone! Being alone hurt worse than being dead!" he heaved after shouting that much. If Ace still didn't want to accept him, well, tough luck. He will stubbornly follow the boy wherever he went until Ace accept him. Shanks always said Luffy is more stubborn than a mule after all.

Ace looked stunned though, he seems to be considering something. And then, he asked Luffy, "What about your parents?"

Luffy shook his head, "Don't have any. Only had grandpa."

"So, you feel better when you're around me? You... You need me?" he asked again. Luffy nodded at both of his questions.

"Do you... want me to be alive?" Ace asked, his usually frowning face softened into something that looked unsure.

"What kind of question is that?! Are you stupid?! Of course I want you alive! I want to be your friend after all!" Luffy shouted annoyed. He kept his glare on Ace's stupefied face. In the background, he can hear Sabo snickering.

Ace sighed, he rubbed his face and muttered something before finally let out a great exhale. "Fine, but I still hate babies like you."

"What do you mean baby? Why don't you try getting hit by spiked gloves huh? And I'm still seven, when I'm your age I'll be tougher than you!"

"Huh?! When you are ten I'll be thirteen, you idiot!" Ace shouted back. They continued to bicker for a while until Sabo had enough and hit their head.

"Alright! That's enough! I got a problem here," he said. When he was done talking about his problem, both Luffy and Ace just looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Are you stupid or what? Just come with us and sleep at the bandit hut," Ace deadpanned.

Sabo looked confused, "Are you sure I'll be allowed? Won't they get mad?"

"Shishishi! Who cares? Let's go already!" Luffy said as he picked a random direction to go.

"That's the wrong way, you idiot!" Ace shouted as he dragged Luffy by his shirt. Sabo meanwhile just smiled and followed them to the bandits' hut.

"What! You are pregnant?!" he exclaimed with a cough at the end. His darling R**** helped him to sit down.

"How long have you known?" he asked softly, he ran out of breath so easily now. His voice too was not as strong as usual. It seems today is another bad day.

"I found out four months ago. Right after you went on your final journey," she said softly. Inwardly, he felt so deliriously happy. A child of his own, a family, finally! But then, he remembered what he found at the final island and of the government breathing down his neck.

"Oh my dearest, I'm so happy. But you know my illness, Crocus said I would be lucky if I last another six months, and the government won't stop at nothing to kill me and my bloodline," Roger sighed sadly.

"I know. But I won't give up. This is our child, even if the government decreed that he must be killed, I won't let them," she looked so beautiful at that moment. Sitting in a rocking chair with the sun rising behind the window. Truly like that of an angel. An angel deciding something more important than her own life. At that moment he knew, this woman he truly loved will sacrifice herself for this unborn child of theirs. But then again, so will he. This child didn't choose to born of his bloodline. The child will live, even if he himself has to die.