Our New Home

Chapter 10 (Revised)

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

When Ace, Sabo, and Luffy made it to the galley, and they got their food Thatch waved them over. Sabo and Ace hesitated but Luffy walked up to him happily.

"Hello~" Luffy said with a smile before he began eating. Ace and Sabo took a seat on his left and right. The two felt way more comfortable with Luffy sitting between them. As the three began to eat, they noticed Thatch perk up before a smile broke out.

"Dude! Welcome home!"

While his two brothers comtinued eating, Sabo paused to take a look at the person Thatch was talking too. Upon his eyes landing on the approaching figure, Sabo immediatly tensed which alerted Ace and Luffy.

Recognition was momentarily seen in the dark eyes of the man aproaching. He grinned, a large smile that showed yellowing teeth and bright pink gums. He slid into the empty seat next to the fourth division commander as they shared a brief hug. The three boys were all tensed as they tryed and failed to remember where they had seen this man's face before.

"Commander! It has been far to long since I've seen you're ugly mug." The man said with a hearty laugh. Luffy froze, and felt the air in his lungs leave him. The eight year old reached down to tug at his siblings arms. The three shares similiar looks of distress.
"Excuse us." Sabo mutter as he stood, pulling the other two with him. Thatch looked up from his conversation with the stranger, "Wha? Why? You haven't even finished your food!" Ace glared, "We're not hungry, is that a crime?"

Thatch looked confused, "No, but at least take the time to meet this guy." The man seated next the Thatch fixed his stare at the three of them. "I just got back from a long term mission. My name is Marshall D. Teach, from the second division."

Thatch grinned, "At the rate he is going Teach will be the second division commander!"

Sabo nodded with a strained smile, momentarily ignoring the way Luffy was tugging at his wrist. "Amazing," Ace said sarcastically. "We really need to go though. Like right now, so bye." The freckled boy then practically dragged his brothers away. "Uh, bye?" The chef called out after them with a confused expression.

The moment the three were out the doors they sprinted for their room. They ran on ignoring the surprised shouts or the call of their names as they ran past pirate after pirate. Adrenaline, fear, and the flood of memories they did not want to remember clouded their minds. The need to hold on to each other, and to find a safe place to hide were too strong to ignore.

Upon reaching their room, the three entered and slammed the door shut. "What was that!?" Sabo asked as he took deep breaths of much needed air. "Not safety," Luffy answered with a frown. "No, that was not safe at all," Ace whispered.

"I think it's safe to assume I'm not the only one who remembers that bastard?" Sabo whispered as he turned his gaze to the two beside him. "Why is he here? Why is he on this ship? Dammit! I knew it wasn't safe to trust these pirates. They're trying to trick us!" Ace said harshly. Luffy felt tears prickle at his eyes, "N-No! They said we were safe!"

"Face it, Lu. They probably want to sell us to the highest bidder," Ace clenched his fists. Small beads of blood appeared where his dull nails dug into flesh. "Let's take deep breaths as we try to figure out what is going on," Sabo suggested. "Deep breaths!? Deep breaths!? DEEP BREATHS AREN'T GONNA PROTECT US! NOT FROM HIM!" Ace hollered as his eyes narrowed.

"Well freaking out, and getting mad at each other isn't gonna help either! Now calm down!" Sabo yelled while Luffy collapsed as he cried. The two froze before Sabo put his arm around the younger boy. Ace sank down as he vigorously wiped at the tears gathering at the corner of his eyes. "Then what do we do?" Ace asked softly.

"Well, let's think. Our biggest, and worst tormenter is on the same ship.as us. Good news is that this ship is packed with people who said we're safe. Bad news is that they all trust the monster, and if we tell anyone we risk them taking the enemies side." Sabo said for the other two to hear. "So?" Ace asked as he watched Luffy wipe away his tears. "So our best bet is to wait. We wait for Blackb - I mean Teach to make his move." Sabo said quietly. "What else can we do?"

Ace agreed with a nod, and scooted towards the two to hug them. They sat there clutching each other in silence.

~^-^~

The three stayed in their room all day, clinging to each other in hopes that the memories of pain filled days would fade away. They skipped dinner time as they just couldn't find the strength to potentially run into their biggest enemy. A knock sounded at the door.

"Are you three okay, yoi?" They had tensed at the knock, but hearing the familiar verbal tick calmed them to am extent. "We're fine," Sabo called out as he momentarily paused from running his hands through a sleeping Ace and Luffy's hair. "Well then can I come in? I have your dinner, yoi." The blond boy hesitated before agreeing. He only hoped Ace and Luffy would understand.

Marco gently pushed open the door to find Ace, Sabo, and Luffy on the bed. Sabo was sitting down with his back to the wall, and the other two were curled up near him. Ace and Luffy were sound asleep as Sabo ran his fingers through their dark brown hair. They looked adorable, and reminded Marco just how young the three truly were.

"What is that?" Sabo asked quietly. Marco looked down at the semi large tray he was holding. "Some kind of stew. This is supposed to help with your current dieting issues, yoi." Sabo nodded and gestured for Marco to set it down on the empty desk on the other side of the room.

"Thanks, Marco."

"Not a problem, yoi."

The two went silent. Marco watched the three while Sabo looked up at the ceiling in thought. The older blond almost felt bad for ruining this almost comforting moment.

"We missed you today. Thatch said you three were acting weird this morning, and then you pulled that stunt of running franticly though the halls. Mind providing an explanation, yoi?" Marco said seriously leaving no room for a way out of this talk as he watched Sabo's face carefully.

Blue met blue, as there eyes met. "He," Sabo gestured to Ace, who was practically curled up in his lap. "was not feeling well, so we rushed here in hopes some rest would help ease his pain." Marco silently raised an eyebrow, "Why not the infirmary, yoi?" Sabo gave a small grimace, "With the amount of time we spend there with all the injuries we sustained in captivity, is it really a surprise that we'll avoid it until absolutely necessary?"

Marco sighed, "I suppose not. You should really consider going to see a nurse though, yoi." Sabo smiled, "This is nothing. A small headache that rest will surely fix. Ace will be fine in the morning." Marco gave a questioning look one that he knew Haruta had dubbed as Mother Hen mode. "And if he isn't?" Sabo blinked in surprise before the smile slipped back into place. "Then I'll take him myself."

Marco nodded, bid the other a good.night before leaving. As he walked to his own room he couldn't stop the feeling that Sabo was hiding something consume his thoughts. Maybe Thatch was right, he needed a break.

Author's Note:

Woo! Another chapter done. This one really wore me out. Now I really need sleep. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Until next time, Luckies! *waves franticly*