Gift Giving.


Ace began to tap his foot with impatience as he stood by the street light, waiting for the light to turn so he could cross the street. Snow was beginning to fall again, but it wasn't the cold that was bothering him.

To be honest, he hadn't really thought that so many people would be out this late on Valentine's Day night.

He had been away from home for a while now and, seeing as he was roughly five minutes away from the little shared apartment on the third floor and a certain someone, it was only normal that he was getting a bit irritated, to say the least.

The light finally turned and Ace took no time in crossing the street.

And he would like to say that he totally didn't almost slip and fall on his butt over an icy patch when he reached the other side of the street.

He shouldered his duffle bag a little higher and grinned a little wider when he turned a corner and the apartment was finally in sight after many months.

If he said that he hadn't been waiting for this moment for a while now, he would totally be lying.

Irritation turned into excitement with each step that he took and by the time he reached the apartment, he was almost running. When he reached the stairs he climbed them two at a time until he reached the third floor, only stopping for breath once he had finished climbing.

He reached into his pocket and fished out the key to apartment 3-01 that was now in front of him.

Ace shook his head free of snow and prepared himself mentally before sticking the key in the lock and twisting the doorknob and pushing, only to stay locked out. He sighed and turned his key again.

Really, Luffy never changed.

He twisted this doorknob again and, this time, he was actually let in to his apartment only to be greeted with the sounds of loud snores and an ocean of clothes and trash on the floor. He was really glad that he prepared himself mentally.

(The ocean would get worse now that Ace was back.)

Following the sound of the snores, Ace closed the door being him with his foot and placed his duffle bag on the coffee table near the couch.

And, surely enough, Luffy was asleep on the couch, his black hair sticking up in all directions, mouth wide open, and a blanket draped over his body. Ace crouched down next to the couch, not being able to help the fond smile on his lips at the sight.

Really, it had been too long.

He moved to shake Luffy, only to get a hand swatted in his face and a 'five more minutes.'

"Oi," he shook Luffy a little harder and spoke a little louder. "Lu, wake up."

That seemed to do the trick.

An eye sleepily opened, before both eyes flied open. Luffy sat up quickly, missing a collision with Ace's head by an inch or two.

"Ace!" He wasted no time in wrapping his arms around Ace's neck and placing a kiss on a freckled cheek, mumbling "Missed you," against the skin.

Ace chuckled and wrapped his arms around Luffy's torso, burying his nose in Luffy's hair. "Missed you, too."

Luffy pulled back and smiled that smile that never failed to make Ace's stomach flip.

"Happy Valentine's day!" This time he pressed a kiss on Ace's lips, who gladly returned the kiss.

They pulled away from one another for air about a minute later, cheeks tinted red and not from the cold.

"I got you a present." Whispered Ace a few seconds later, reaching for his bag and unzipping it.

"Eh? I got you one too!"

"I didn't know what to get you," Ace said, automatically finding the present and grabbing it. "so I got you this box."

And, sure enough, he was holding a box out to Luffy, whose eyes grew big and bright. He jumped up and dove behind the couch, coming up with a box that was almost identical to the one that Ace was holding.

"That's what I got you!"

Ace grinned and placed Luffy's box on the coffee table and grabbed his own, placing it on top of the other.

He grabbed Luffy's face and kissed his lips once more.

"Thanks, Lu; I love it."

Luffy laughed and threaded his fingers in Ace's hair.

"I love you."

"Love you too."


A/N: Ace and Luffy would get each other really stupid presents and they would totally love it. Also this is really stupid and I love it (probably because AceLu). Happy Valentine's day.

(I don't own One Piece or Spongebob, btw.)