Luffy stood up from the ground. He took a deep breath and let his arms loose. "ACEEEEEEE!" Ace couldn't believe it. Was he happy? Was he angry? "Garp! It's your darn family again!" Sengoku crossed his arms as he scolded Garp, who had the same expression on his face as Ace. (Mama Sengoku lol)

"LUFFFFYYYYY!" Ace shouted back, making himself present. Luffy grinned and straighten up himself before shouting Ace's name again, action which Ace repeated as well. "I finally found you! Ace... Just you wait! I'm going to save you!"

Ace bit his lip, trying his best not to let his emotions conquer him. He was having an inner war inside of him, not knowing what was right for him to feel and what was wrong. He wanted be happy that everyone came to rescue him, however getting him out of here would cost a great price; the lives of many of his nakamas. So was it right for him to feel happiness or not?

Out of the many people that are here fighting for his life, (Name) and Luffy, are the only two persons he never wished they would show up. But the more he thought about it, the more hypocritical he started to feel. He would do the same thing if they were in his shoes, without any doubts.

But this was his fault that he got captured. If only he was stronger than this, none of this would've hap-

"Yeah, Ace! We're going to get you out of there! Just you wait!" A, oh so familiar voice yelled. When he looked in the direction of the voice, (Name) was standing next to Whitebeard, while she had a huge smile on her face. "(Name)... Luffy..." Ace said under his breath. Thank you...

------------------

You were standing next to Whitebeard as the ship fell from the sky. You began to worry when you saw Luffy falling into the water but, you got relieved once you heard him yell Ace's name. However, Luffy wasn't alone. He didn't come with his ordinary crew - Ivankov of the Revolutionary; the former Shichibukai, Crocodile; a pirate clown that you've never heard of, and the Knight of the Sea Jinbe - are one of the top faces that were standing next to him.

You furrowed your eyes once you saw Crocodile flying towards Whitebeard, probably to attack him. You knew that Crocodile had some past issues with Whitebeard but him thinking that he can beat Pops was just childish. He does not possess that power.

"Long time no see, Whitebeard." Crocodile said as he pointed his metal arm at Pops. "You don't know when yo stop..." You were ready to attack but Luffy appeared out of nowhere and attacked Crocodile using his Second Gear. You also noticed that his body was wet from water, which made you wonder if that's Crocodile's Logia Devil Fruit's weakness.

"Now that we're here, out agreement has been fulfilled. Why do you want to protect Whitebeard?!" Crocodile asked angrily. "As I thought- this old man really is Whitebeard. The leave him alone! Ace likes this old man!" Luffy answered. Just as he finished his sentence, some of your crew mates pointed their swords and guns at Crocodile, forcing him not to make any movement.

Luffy glanced at you. Something seemed different. He wasn't sure what, though. You tried to keep your eye contact with Ace. Your heart would skip a beat everytime you saw his eyes.

After all this time not seeing each other, you just wanted to hold him close and to tell him what happened during his absence. However before you could do any of that, you needed to break Ace free and you were very sure that you will not be able to do it on your own.

Being pregnant, you also had to be extra careful. So because of all those reasons, you decided to only back-up Luffy in case of any emergency. You knew how much Ace loves his little brother. He would give his life for him without without a second thought.

"Luffy, it's been a while." You greeted him properly. Luffy gave you a big smile and then he continued to glare at you with a confused yet serious face. "Hmm, you seem different. Did you got fat or something?" He asked innocently. You were taken with surprise by his question while some pirates that were around yelled at him for asking such an impolite question without thinking about it.

You decided to play it safe and you laughed at his question without giving him a proper answer. Telling him the news would only bring trouble, especially since you remember Ace's words about Luffy being the bad liar he is. Luffy keeping a secret is probably something impossible to achieve since everybody would find out immediately that he is lying while trying to avoid the truth.

"I see you haven't changed a bit, have you?" You asked as you sat down on the platform. Luffy furrowed his eyes a little, probably confused over the fact that you weren't fighting. You decided that you needed to address that issue and spoke up. "Yeah...I can't really fight at the moment." You started to play with your fingers. You sighed a little before continuing. "Pops made me a promise that he'll bring Ace back home safe and Luffy, I don't want to bring more pressure, but... Promise me you'll also try your best to bring Ace back?" You looked up at him.

Luffy didn't move an inch. He kept his arms crossed as he watched the battlefield. "Bringing Ace back... I can definitely do that! Shishishi!" He laughed. You smiled back at him. Even if you two didn't talk that much when you were given the chance back in Alabasta, you felt that maybe this truly strength up your bond with this adorable little dwerp.

Whitebeard stared at the kid that caused the war to be put on hold for a few seconds, making everybody look up at the sky, trying to figure out why was there a ship falling from the sky in the first place. Something about this kid seemed familiar. He was sure that he had seen this kid's bounty poster but he couldn't bring himself to remember who in the world he was. Ace seemed to know him so that made him an ally but even so, what intrigued Whitebeard the most was why was there a kid here, out of all the places. Young pirates like him shouldn't adventure around a war of this importance.

But once he noticed his hat, he began to get curious. "Kid... That hat you're wearing... Looks awfully lot like the one that Red Hair used to wear." Whitebeard said.
You looked towards Whitebeard and so did Luffy, who was excited to hear the name of his hero. "Old guy, you know Shanks?" Luffy asked surprised, probably unaware of the power this man before him had. "I'm actually holding it for him."

Once he saw Luffy's face, everything clicked. The kid in front of him was the little brother that Ace would always talk about. The fool came all the way over here to save his older brother, an admirable act but extremely foolish. He stepped in a total different league.
He might be a Supernova, however his power is nothing compared to what is here.

"You came to save your older brother?" Whitebeard asked. Luffy was quick to reply with a yes. Whitebeard's right eye twitched. He raised his staff and then slammed it into the ground. "Do you understand what you're up against? Someone like you doesn't stand a chance here!" Whitebeard yelled. Everybody who was near the ship, stopped battling and started to listen at the conversation the two of them were having.

"Shut up! It's not up to you to decide! I know perfectly well! You want to become the Pirate King, don't you?!" Luffy yelled angrily. Some tried to shush him, however he placed his hands on his hips and yelled proud and sure of himself. "The one who is going to become the Pirate King is ME!" And with those words, everybody was left stunned. You started to laugh as the others watched in shock as this Supernova was proclaiming himself the future Pirate King.

You weren't sure what you saw in Whitebeard's eyes at the moment Luffy yelled those words. A hint of annoyance? Curiosity? Or was Whitebeard satisfied by Luffy's answer? Whitebeard grabbed his staff again and he started to swirl his staff. Once he slammed in onto the ground, it made a huge gush of air which made some fall off their feet.

"You're pretty damn cheeky. I won't have any mercy if you slow me down, kid!" Whitebeard's frown turned into a smile. However, Luffy wasn't satisfied by Whitebeard's words. "I'm going to do whatever I want! I'm going to save Ace myself!"

You smiled at the two of them. Everyone else however, seemed to be very shocked by the exchange of words. No one could believe that this little brat would have the balls to stand up to the man that is the nearest to become Pirate King.

"I-I can't believe it!"

"This idiot is standing up to Whitebeard?!"

Luffy paused for a moment. He remembered the podcast from the ship he previously arrived with and he was very sure that these people do not know anything about it. "Old guy..." Luffy started. Whitebeard looked towards him. "I heard while I was on a Navy ship that..." Luffy started to explain.

You gasped a little. If they're moving Ace's execution sooner than expected, the whole plan can crumble. "So they're gonna execute Ace immediately? Are you sure?" You asked, feeling the concern take over your mind. "They said they would after getting 'all set' for something but they were using codes so I couldn't understand." Luffy explained while looking at you.

"I know that you wanna rescue Ace, too, so I wanted to share that with you!" Luffy said to Whitebeard.
"I see. That was important information. Thank you." Whitebeard answered. "No problem." You wanted to face-palm. Why were they having such a friendly conversation, now?!

"Yosh! Aceee~ I'm going to save you!" Luffy yelled as he jumped off the ship. You watched as he attacked the marines that got in his way. Everything started to get chaotic again since the new commotion was over.

But why did they decided to move Ace's execution? They weren't intending to stick to their schedule? The sudden change of plan seemed too easy. There had to be a reason behind it all; most likely something to do about Whitebeard.

"Damn that Sengoku! I bet he thinks that he doesn't need to stick to the schedule of the execution of a mere pirate. The key is - after they're 'all set' for what?" Whitebeard mumbled.

You stood quietly as you watched Luffy punching everyone in his way. You knew that he was strong, however, you wanted to make sure everything will be okay. You thoughts were interrupted by Marco, who flew behind you and the old man.

"Pops! I heard that they're moving Ace's execution forward!" Marco said. You smiled at him and stood up. "Yeah, we heard. How's Squard and the othets doing?" Whitebeard asked. "They're tied up with the vice admirals at the bay head. I'm gonna fly over there and help-" Marco was interrupted by Pops before he could finish his sentence. "I bet it must be a part of his plan that we'd get some leaked information and advance. Sengoku wouldn't let his enemy know his strategy so easily. He's not that foolish."

Marco looked at you. You knew that he was most likely worried about since he never wanted you to be here in the first place. "How are you, (Name)? Are you feeling alright?" He asked. "Everything's okay. I'm just worried about everyone." You answered.

"Ace's little brother really is something. To think he'll speak up to Pops." Marco laughed. "What's most impressing is his determination of bringing Ace back. He is really careless however." Marco said as he looked at Luffy running towards Kizaru. "He is his family after all." You joked. Marco couldn't agree more on it.

He decided that it was time to go back to the battle. He gave you a one last smile before flying back to the battlefield. You searched for Luffy again. You were surprised to see that he wasn't fighting Kizaru anymore. He defeated his enemies one by one and yet nothing seemed to stop him from rescuing Ace. By now, you began to get more confidence about winning this war. However, winning a battle doesn't mean winning the war. Ace still had to be rescued.

Ace watched in despair as his little brother got hurt over to protect and save him. He, once again, started to regret his decisions.

"Stay away, Luffy!" With that scream, everybody looked towards Ace. "You know it too! We're both pirates! We both sailed on the sea as we liked! I have my own adventures! I have my own friends! You have no right to interfere with that!" However, Ace's words didn't seem to affect Luffy in any way. He kept going, he kept fighting. "A weakling like you coming to rescue me... Do you think I'm gonna let that happen?! That would be too humiliating. Go back, Luffy! Why did you come?!"

Please Luffy... This is my failure. I don't want to drag you into the same fate.

"I'm your brother!" Luffy yelled back. He will keep fighting no matter what. He will always walk forward to rescue him. Because they were family.

But just as that vow was made, you felt a sharp pain in your lower stomach.

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I hope the wait was worth for! Finally a long chapter! High-five me!

So I want to take a moment to say a few words about Johannah Deakin (Louis Tomlinson's mom). She was an amazing woman, a great inspiration to a lot of people and a great mother. The world has lost once again a wonderful person that will sure be missed. She was still too young to die and my heart goes out to Louis and his family.

I want to apologize for taking so long to write this freaking chapter and I'm sure a lot of you have been waiting for this so I hope it was worth the wait.

I totally forgot the Marine Ford arc like 60% of what it's actually happening (Lmao) so I have to rewatch and then write and then rewrite the chapter etc etc.

I also have like no time and that sure helps. It doesn't. I've been really busy with school recently. I've tried my best to correct my grades if it needed to. However, next week I have all my finals so fml. I have to learn so much it's not even funny.

BUT I'LL BE FREE IN JUST TWO WEEK CAUSE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY WOHOOOO!

I freaking love Christmas.