A Country Girl's Letter
Mouda could remember it clearly, the first time she had seen him. It was a very memorable moment because he had been floating limply down the river, and she was shrieking her head off at the horror of finding a dead body on her property.
After the screaming had stopped she dragged him up out of the water and onto the small wooden deck above them. It hadn't been an easy task since the man was heavy- not because he was overweight, but because he was a fair bit bigger then her and all of him was muscle, not to mention drenched in water. Once she had painstakingly pulled him onto the wooden planks and rolled him onto his back, her face was beet red from effort. Pressing heavily on his chest, she hoped desperately that he was at least a little bit not dead.
Her hopes were rewarded when he quickly sputtered up water, the man coughing and hacking as she skittered backwards, heaving a sigh of relief and trying to calm herself. The fact that he was actually still alive did a good job of surprising the girl. The man opened his eyes to no more then a sliver's width, rolled his head around in various directions, and then promptly began snoring.
Mouda smiled brightly. A sleeping person was a much better thing then a drowned person, after all. Puzzlement crossed the girl's face. But what was she going to do with him now? She couldn't leave him soaking like this, what if he caught a cold?
"Take him back to the house!" she cheered to herself. "It'll be a good deed done!"
She paused in her happy monologue.
How on earth was she going to carry him back to the house?
Looking around curiously, she spotted one of her cows grazing nearby and felt an idea spark in her brain.
"Moo-moo!" she called to the animal, which lifted its head up slowly, staring at her with big, clueless eyes. "Moo-moooo!" she cooed. "Come here, sweets! C'mon!" with continued beckoning and a few claps of her hands the cow waddled over leisurely, finally interested in what its owner wanted.
"Be good and still now…" she asked of it while starting up the difficult task of lifting up the unconscious man. The cow lowered its head, sniffing the unfamiliar human while Mouda nearly fell over in the middle of placing him stomach side down on the cow's back. Once he was safely positioned on the animal she sat down with a breathless thump, the black and white creature giving a small noise of protest with the uncomfortable weight on its back.
"Hush…Moo…moo…" Mouda panted, getting to her feet weakly. "Lets…go to…the house…" nearly tripping over the forgotten buckets she had meant to collect water in, the girl walked fumblingly to her home. The barnyard animal followed after, its passenger's head and feet brushing against the grass as it took heavy steps behind her. She removed the man from Moo-moo's back, grimacing as he hit the welcome mat with a harsh thud of his head.
"Oh!" the girl squeaked, sweating bullets. "I-I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!"
A soft snort was her answer, followed by light breathing. Mouda held her breath, waiting for him to get up and yell at her, though it didn't happen. Just more snoring.
"Still asleep" she sighed, hand on her chest.
He must be exhausted, she thought sympathetically. To receive a blow to the head and still not wake up, I bet he's really tired…
"Then to bed!" she told the air enthusiastically. "Oh, but then…" she looked back at the unconscious man who was still snoring with his face planted on the doormat. "Taha…how do I get him there?"
After what felt like and quite possibly could have been an hour worth of tugging, panting, dragging and gasping for breath as her arms and legs shook from pulling him across her house to her bedroom, Mouda crumpled at the foot of her bed, exhausted.
"You're really heavy, mister!" she told him after she had caught her breath, planting her hands on her developing hips as she looked down as his sleeping form. "No wonder you almost drown! I bet you sink like a rock"
While not knowing just how right she was- though it was for a different reason then his weight- Mouda skipped to the bathroom to fetch a towel, her legs still a little wobbly. Returning speedily, she set to work in making her guest more comfortable. Having him being in such a deep sleep was helpful to her as she removed his knife and gun belts, as well as his boots, as the items would only provide him with the unneeded water they were holding.
Without much wait she began to dry him off with the towel in hand, starting with his feet and working her way up from there. For modesty's sake she pressed the towel to his hips and surrounding area only briefly, moving onwards to his stomach a second later. She slipped her hand underneath the slumbering figure and rubbed at his back as well, sucking up her breath as she mustered the strength to lift him up high enough to get at his shoulder blades.
After setting him down as gently as possible with her trembling limbs, she wrung out the towel a little and worked on brushing it over his face, pausing every now and again to observe him as he continued to sleep, something that amazed her all on its own.
He has a handsome face, she confided in herself while running the material in her hand over his brow. Much cuter then any boys my age. I wish he lived here. I'd be with him everyday.
Her hand stopped moving at the thought, cheeks flushing.
Red faced, Mouda let loose on his hair, scrubbing it with furious effort until it was dry and fluffy. The new look made her laugh and forget the thoughts that had just drifted through her head.
After she had ceased her giggling she worked up a final burst in strength to toss him onto her bed. His feet were hanging off the end of it and the now fluffy haired man looked absolutely ridiculous when she covered him with her blanket, which was a lavender color with many tiny white fishes printed on it.
For a brief moment he seemed to stir, his hand moving to grip her white, frilly pillow as he buried his face in it. Mouda watched the scene with interest, slowly moving out of the room as he started to snore again, convinced he wouldn't be making many more movements. She paused at her doorway, scooping up the things she had removed from him before peeking back at the slumbering man, who still looked very silly.
Silly but cute, said that older part of her mind which she promptly disregarded, closing her door behind her as she exited the room.
"Why had I taken him to my room, though?" Mouda pondered, walking down the hall with her free hand on her chin. "Mom and dad's bed would fit him better…"
She settled with chopping it up to be a simple act of habit, her room being the first place for the girl to go when she entered the house.
The farm girl placed the man's belongings on her kitchen table before cantering to her parents' room, looking through the dressers that occupied it. Stealing one of her father's shirts while giving a silent promise to return it, she dug into their closet and swiped a pair of old sandals as well. The stranger must have lost his shirt in the river, and his boots wouldn't be done drying for a while, given their thickness.
Smiling merrily, she poked her head into her room and noted that he was still sleeping, though the surprise that she had felt about his ability to remain unconscious was starting to loose its effect. Tip-toeing inside, she placed the shirt and sandals on her nightstand where he could find them, scurrying back out into the hall when the task was complete.
She recalled that the man had been wearing a hat, which had fallen off during her rigorous session of dragging his limp body through the grass. Dashing out of her house and down to the river, Mouda was glad to see that the still wet hat was where she had left it. Picking up the headwear, the farm girl eyed it curiously.
It was a very flashy hat. That was the first thing to come to mind- the second being that the stranger himself looked pretty flashy, tattoos all over him, all muscular while wearing a bunch of cool accessories. The third was that she should probably get back to work, because the farm wasn't going to take care of itself, no matter how cool and flashy her unexpected guest was.
After collecting several buckets of water like she had set out to do at the beginning of her day, she filled a large basin with the clear liquid and watched on peacefully as the cows drank from it. Getting down to the river was too steep a walk for the barnyard animals, so water needed to be brought to them. Moo-moo lapped up quite a lot in particular, but Mouda patted her on the head instead of shooing her away like the other times the dairy cow got greedy- she had earned the extra drink this time.
For a while she picked the ripened apples from the apple tree out back, placing them gently in a basket which was later set on her kitchen table beside the sleeping stranger's possessions. Afterwards the farm hand went back outside and resumed overlooking the cows as they roamed about, drinking water or eating or swatting at flies with their tails.
The day had reached its hottest hour, and Mouda sighed peacefully as the afternoon sun heated her skin. A faint creaking and the click of a door closing caught her attention, the farm girl getting up from her crouched position and turning towards the noise, which was in the same direction as her house.
The stranger way there by her doorway, clad in her father's sandals and shirt, though buttoning up the article of clothing had been neglected. His hair was smoothed out now, no longer fluffy as he buried his fingers in it, scratching at his scalp. His expression made him look rather disoriented, the man's brow furrowed as he walked towards her.
"Hello there!" she chirped, the common greeting being the first thing to pop into her head. Placing a new smile on her face, she brushed her hands over her skirt. Mouda found herself wishing she had changed into something nicer as the possibly half-asleep man looked her over with dazed eyes.
"Uh…" was what he first said to her.
It wasn't anything like a conversation, not even a word. But the instant she heard his voice, with that tiny, meaningless noise he made, Mouda was positive she liked it. It was deep but not raucous, soft but not quiet, and altogether warm. A very friendly, inviting voice that gave her the same feeling as what she would get looking at a cozy fireplace.
'Come sit by me' was the voice translated to in her head, and the girl was amazed by how much she found herself wanting to run to him that very instant and curl up in a blanket.
"…Where am I?" was the rest of the sentence that he finally managed to put together, snapping Mouda out of her cuddling fantasies.
"Oh!" she squeaked, hoping her cheeks weren't too red. "You're at my farm! I mean my parent's farm!"
"Uh…" he said again. "Yeah. But where is it on the island?"
"Y-yes, of course!" she stammered, pulling at the hem of her skirt in embarrassment. "You're on the southwest end of the island! I found you floating in the river!"
"Oh, good, not far away from my boat then…" he scratched at his head some more before changing his expression to something less stressed. "You saved me?"
"Yes!" she breathed, taking a few steps towards him and holding out her hand. "I'm Mouda, by the way!"
"I'm Portgas D. Ace. Thanks, Mouda"
His large fingers curled over her little hand, their palms meeting in a handshake. Mouda's skin seemed to light up with the contact, the girl almost pulling away as sweat built between the crevices of her fingers.
He- he's really, really hot! She thought with near shock, fairly certain her words weren't directed at his appearance. Ace grinned at her while they continued their handshake, though he broke the contact to put his hands in his pockets, looking to the side for a moment.
"Er, so…" his partly bare heel dug into the pasture grass as he spoke. "I know you saved me and all, so I shouldn't go asking for any more favors, especially since I don't have any money, but I couldn't help but notice some nice looking apples on your table there and I'm pretty hungry…" he trailed off with a laugh, grinning at her with something that might have been an unsaid please.
"You can have as many apples as you like!" she encouraged with a nod, walking to the house herself while he followed after.
"Oh, good, because I sort of already ate them-" he jerked back suddenly, clearly expecting her to be angry with the sudden news. Instead Mouda looked back at him with a beaming smile.
"Actually, I was just about to have lunch!" she informed him, her expression so inviting he probably wasn't sure what to make of it. "Do you want to join me?"
"Well, I should probably get going…" he stomach growled loudly. "But I guess a quick bite couldn't hurt!"
While making lunch- just a few simple sandwiches and cut up fruits served with cold milk- she found herself peeking at him continuously, studying his freckled face and strong looking shoulders, the man's well muscled chest and stomach, toned arms and legs…everything on him caught her eyes' interest and made her heart pound.
What is it? She wondered to herself while placing a hand over her chest, feeling the rhythmic beating of her heart. What's making me feel like this?
She had seen good-looking men before, but never had they gotten such a reaction out of her. Looking at Ace, she almost felt like her insides were blazing. His very presence seemed to kindle the fire in her body that had remained dormant until meeting him. Taking in a quiet breath of air, she smiled a pink faced smile while handing Ace his portion of the food, which he began eating almost rabidly.
Am I in love? She asked herself tentatively. Is that what's happened to me? Did I fall in love with this stranger? Is that even possible?
Mouda had listened to the other girls on the island gush about their wondrous boyfriends- or those they wished were their boyfriend- and how they made their insides go to hot, gooey mush and their hearts fluttered and pounded at the sight of them, how the boy- always a boy, never a man- was absolutely perfect.
Ace is absolutely perfect, said her heart.
He's a man, though, argued her logic. He's not a boy. And you're a girl, not a woman. Girls love boys and men love women. That's how it's supposed to go, Mouda.
But none of the boys I've ever met made me feel like this, her heart said with some sense of pleading. I'll be a woman soon enough. Ma always said that love doesn't care about someone's age.
I bet he's at least three years older then you! Her brain told her, while her heart thumped loudly in protest.
Da is six years older then ma! Was the rapid beating's meaning.
But their both old, so that makes it okay, snipped her sensible half- as sensible as she got, anyways.
"Um," she squeaked, stepping back into reality long enough to speak. "I…I forgot to do something. I'll be right back"
"Weren't you going to have lunch too?" he inquired while wiping some crumbs off his chin.
"Oh, I'll be fine…" Mouda mumbled, watching as the crumbs sprinkled down his bare chest onto his lap. Quickly, she snapped her head back up. "You can have my share!"
"You sure? A farmer needs lots of energy to work, and you look pretty skinny"
"I- I had a big breakfast!" she sputtered as an excuse. "Really, help yourself! I'll just…I'll just…be over here for a minute!" she dashed down the hall to her room, shutting the door with considerable force as she clutched at her burning face.
"What do I do?!" she whined, palms against her eyes. "I…I've never liked anyone like this before…!"
Heck, her mind continued. It'd be hard to say I've even talked to someone of the opposite gender for so long, asides from the occasional customer. What should I do…?
"I want him to know" she mumbled, walking over to her bed. The blanket was strewn about messily and she busied herself with straightening it. "But I've never confessed to anyone before…how could I convey my feelings…?" She sighed, feeling a little helpless. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something white on a lower level of her nightstand.
"Oh…?" she breathed curiously, picking up the envelope. Inside was an advertisement she had meant to mail to the nearby marine base, but had forgotten about it after supposedly losing it. "Mail…"
An idea hit her, not unlike how Ace's head had hit the welcome mat several hours earlier.
"A letter!" she squealed, flailing her arms about like an excited octopus. "I'll give him a love letter, and he'll read it and then he'll know how I feel without me having to tell him directly!" she put a little hop in her steps as she went to her desk, pulling out her stationary kit.
A blank white paper in front of her and pen in hand, she licked the tip of the writing utensil while thinking deeply.
"What exactly should I write…?"
Mouda shut her eyes, picturing the object of her affections in her mind. Shaggy hair the color of coal, with eyes darker then forged iron. An interesting smile on a handsome face dappled by freckles. A muscular, athletic figure that suggested he knew how to fight, and knew how to protect others. Tattoos printed on his skin and accessories that gave him a personal style. Hot, hot skin that only made her want to come closer…
Her pen moved as her eyes remained shut, writing out the single thought echoing from her heart.
I love you dearly
Mouda watched as Ace chugged the milk she had brought for him as a departure gift, two letters pressed against her mouth to keep a squeal from escaping. Some of the milk dribbled down his chin and he wiped it off with the back of his hand, taking a breath of air as well, his chest heaving.
A snapshot of this should have been my add instead of some words and picture of silly little me, Mouda thought vaguely while being entranced with the show in front of her.
Ace looked at her unexpectedly and cocked a brow, perhaps catching on to why she was looking at him so unwaveringly. Her cheeks reddened but she kept the envelopes safe against her lips.
"What's that?" he asked while gesturing the hand holding the mug at the envelopes in question.
"Um…" she managed to sound out, placing the letters on her lap. "Um, I was wondering, since the mail office is probably on your way, if you could maybe deliver something for me…? It's a far walk for me, and I need to watch the farm…" she held up the ad. "T-this is to go to the nearby marine base…"
He took it from her, grinning. "No problem! I own you for saving and feeding me, after all!"
"A-and…" her stammering caught his interest, the man leaning closer to her. Swallowing her heart which had inconveniently jumped up into her throat, she held up the second letter- the special letter. "This is just to the mail office…to somewhere else…" almost trembling, she released it as he went to take it from her.
Now he'll see who it's addressed to, thought Mouda with building anticipation. Then he'll read it, and I'll have succeeded in presenting my feelings to him. Whether he accepts them or not…I won't regret it…my first love!
Without even glancing down at the second letter he shoved it into his pocket and gave her a thumbs-up. "Leave it to me, Mouda! A hard working girl like you shouldn't have to walk all that distance, after all"
The farm girl felt her boiling, giddy emotions deflate. Her face almost went to mirror the sensation, but she held her thankful smile in place.
He didn't look?! Shrilled both her heart and mind, which were thinking in unison for once. Why didn't he look? He was supposed to look! He was supposed to see that it was from me to him and he was going to read my words of love for him! Curses!
Ace quickly busied himself with attaching his gun and knife belts to his waist, adjusting his now dried boots and placing his hat firmly on his head.
"Shall I see you off to your boat?" she spouted randomly, yearning to spend at least a few more moments with him.
"Sure" he grinned, waiting for her to hop off the ledge she sat on before he started to walk towards the property gate. "So," he started conversationally. "You run this farm by yourself?"
"For now I do" she answered, surprised at how her tongue didn't become tied like she had expected it to. "Ma and da are away working right now, but they'll be finished their contract soon so then I'll just be a farm hand rather then the owner, taha…"
Why did I laugh at that? Was it supposed to be funny? Stupid Mouda, she scalded herself.
"Still, that's pretty amazing" he told her, tucking his hands behind his head as they walked. "You're really good at being independent! Most girls your age back in my home town cling to their parents for help"
The compliment made her flush, and she pretended to shake the bangs out of her eyes to lessen the color on her cheeks.
"W-where is your home town, Ace…?" daringly, she managed to call him by his first name without even adding in an honorific to it. Would he think a younger girl being informal as something rude?
"It's a little town in East Blue called Fuchsia. You probably haven't heard of it, right?"
He didn't seem upset at her unexplained informality, so she smiled and shook her head at him. "No, I've never heard of it. Is it a nice place?"
He shrugged at the question. "Same as any old town, I guess. We have a good bar though. The bartender, Makino, she's great"
Makino? Mouda repeated in her head distressfully. "Is she your girlfriend?" the question had meant to stay in her head, but her mouth wouldn't stay shut long enough for her brain to process this.
"Makino?!" he exclaimed incredulously. "No way! Sure, she's nice, but she's also old enough to be my mom!" he laughed loudly at the words. "That's crazy!"
"Tahaha…" Mouda laughed on the sidelines, feeling embarrassed at asking something so personal on impulse while another part of her cheered with relief.
The sudden noise of heavy footsteps was heard behind them, and Ace whipped around, looking alert. Mouda turned around as well in reaction to this, only to spot Moo-moo waddling towards them as quickly as she could manage.
"Oh, Moo-moo, go back to the house!" the girl pleaded, pushing at the cow's head as it tried to lick her face. "Stop it, Moo-moo!"
"Your animals must be really attached to you to follow you off the property" Ace commented, snickering as the cow mooed loudly at its owner's protests.
"Actually, I think Moo-moo was just wondering where I was going with you" Mouda explained as the animal calmed itself. "She was all curious with who the new human was, after all. You were unconscious at the time so you couldn't introduce yourself, though" the farm girl patted the cow's head. "This is Portgas D. Ace! Say hello to the nice man!"
Moo-moo waddled up to him, giving the man a nudge with its head. He grinned at the barnyard animal, patting it on the head as Mouda had done.
"Heya, Moo-moo!" he told the animal fondly. "Don't be causing trouble for Mouda, alright?"
The girl blushed at his request, smiling as the cow mooed in response, Ace turning back round.
The trio was walking, and before Mouda knew it Ace had hopped onto a raft-like boat and was waving at her with the ad envelope in hand, saying some sort of farewell to her. The wind picked up and the plain white shirt Ace had yet to remove rippled in the breeze, and the girl found herself thinking that he made the boring old shirt look amazingly good.
Stunned, she waved at him with a hand fisted at her chest, heart pounding as he smiled at her one final time, the motorized boat speeding quickly out of sight.
Moo-moo started to chew on the grass at her feet, and Mouda lowered her hands to her sides, a faint sniff escaping her.
With her small pink mouth turned downwards, tears welled in her eyes as a hot feeling different then the one she experienced when looking at Ace filled her, the sensation nothing close to pleasant as it scorched her insides.
"He didn't…read my letter…"
Ever since seeing volume six through nine of "Ace's Hunt for Blackbeard" on the cover pages of the One Piece chapters, I though that Mouda looked absolutely smitten with Ace. Ace going through all that trouble to deliver her letter (though he got a little side-tracked) was also nice of him even though he must have been pretty busy with looking for Blackbeard.
Consequently, I thought this would be a lovely little pairing to support, its fandom no doubt being even more obscure then Shanks/Makino.
However, there was a problem of Mouda having almost no background information or personality, as she's only seen a little bit, mostly looking cheerful, if a bit flustered. So I felt at home filling in the holes in her character, being the OC author that I am, and I look forward to fleshing her out! I hope everyone is as excited as I am at seeing where her feelings will take her!