Homecoming

(A/N: Creation of the cover was a fail, i'll try it again sometime but not soon, tomorrow I won't release a chapter as i'll have a day out with the family. Enjoy the chapter.)

Akane looked out over the sea as she started to have mixed feelings about this. She really wanted to stay with Sabo, but at least he was with good people who would treat him well and shared the same goal as him.

Ace and Luffy were probably thinking they were dead. She needed to go back as soon as possible to let them know she and Sabo were still alive.

Akane looked across the sea as her destination was coming closer and closer. "I wonder what Sabo is doing right now." Akane thought as her thought started to drift again. He was probably training. Hack seemed really reliable with his teachings. Sabo would become really strong if he learned well.

"Then what about Ace and Luffy?" Was Akane's next thought. Well, Luffy was a bit hopeless as all the attacks he thought of would just rebound and attack himself. Ace however could only train by fighting crooks and whenever Garp decided to come back.

Akane sighed again as she knew her decision to go back was the right one. Fortunately Kuma had thaught her how to practice Haki, otherise her training would become stagnant and she wouldn't develop any further.

Deciding not to think anything more of it, Akane went back inside her cabin and started her observation haki training. She would try to sense what was around her. Not that she had ever succeeded, but it wouldn't hurt to keep trying.

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Akane woke up from her training with a slight frown on her face. Still no progress. It seems she had to train using the hard way.

Akane preferred if she didn't have to go through that, as it would really hurt, but now there was no other way. She'd have to train it while battling. Luckily there were enough wild animals to try it with.

Getting quite bored, Akane left her cabin and hoped to see a new view, instead of the endless blue sea and she was happy she could already see Foosha village. She remembered how it looked like when she came back with Garp. It looked exactly the same.

She couldn't wait to leave the ship. She could see Makino and the other villagers again. After that would be her reunion with Ace, Luffy and the mountain bandits. In the distance Akane could see the villagers waiting at the dock. It wasn't often that a ship would visit their village, so they were curious what that ship was doing here.

The faces of the villagers lightened up when they saw the little Akane come off board of the ship. Makino in particular was really emotional as she ran forward and pulled Akane in a hug.

"Makino, can't breathe." Akane said, though a smile was on her face as she hugged Makino back.

"I'm so glad you're okay, I've been so heartbroken when I heard what happened, Ace and Luffy especially." Makino said as tears streamed down her face. Izana gently patted Makino on the back as Makino's crying became soft sobs.

Makino finally released her and wiped away her tears. She grabbed Akane's hand as they walked towards her bar. Arriving inside, the bar was typical to what a bar normally looked like, bar stools, normal chairs, tables and bar counter. Makino placed Akane on one of the bar stool and went towards the kitchen. Within a minute she came back with a plate filled with fried rice.

Akane's ear twitched and her tails began to sway in happiness as she quickly digged in.

"I'm glad to see you still have your appetite. After you've eaten, we'll go up the mountain. I'm sure Ace and Luffy will be so happy to see you." Makino said as she couldn't take her eyes of the little fox girl in front of her. In the couple of months she hadn't seen her, she didn't even grow up one bit. She was still the same little girl Garp brough back with him.

Akane quickly ate her plate sparkily clean and followed Makino up the mountain towards Dadan's cabin. Akane looked around and saw that nothing had changed over the past couple of months she had been gone, everything looked the same, not that she could differentiate how the forest looked from the months she was there till now.

As they arrived at the door, Akane could hear Dadan shouting at the others, followed by soft wailing. Makino smiled a bit uncomfortable towards Akane before she knocked on the door. It took a while before someone opened, but Makino was patient.

The one who opened the door was one of the bandits, a small man with a turban on his head opened the door. This ma was none other than Dogra, a fellow bandit of Dadan, one of the caretakers who truly cared about them.

"Oh Makino, today isn't really that great. Boss is still a bit upset from the past situation and has started drinking again. You'd better come back tomorrow." Dogra said a bit apologetic.

Makino giggled softly as she pushed Akane in front of her. She bent a bit and placed her head besides Akane's. "Look who's managed to come back." Makino said, genuinely happy at the surprise and glee she saw in Dogra's eyes.

"Boss! Boss! You have to see this!" Dogra yelled as he ran back inside. Makino and Akane could hear Dadan curse at Dogra, followed by a big gasp. Heavy footsteps sounded through the corridor as the saw Dadan running towards them.

When Dadan saw Akane, she happily hugged Akane as the tears spilled out again.

"You're okay. You're really okay and alive." Dadan muttered through her tears, quickly letting go as she felt really embarrassed. Though she let go of the hug, Dadan was still crying a lot, as she furiously wiped away the tears with a handkerchief though it didn't really help.

Magra, another one of Dadan's bandits, quickly ran outside after seeing Akane was alive and well. He quickly went towards the two bases in the backyard, as both Ace and Luffy occupied one.

Magra told the two boys what happened as they were both curious why Dadan's bawling sound had become louder. When they heard Akane was back, they both ran towards the entrance, having completely forgotton about the fight they had.

(A/N: if you don't know which fight i mean, then look on youtube for the video where Ace and Luffy made their own countries, cause I'm not going to explain.)

When they saw the familiar fox girl at the entrance, they both bolted forward and tackled her to the ground in a firm hug. Both boys were bawling their eyes out as they refused to let go. Akane seeing this also began to cry.

They continued crying until they were tired, letting Akane explain the situation as soon as they woke up, including how she and Sabo survived, though she wouldn't mention where she'd been. Only that Sabo joined the Revolutionaries.