AN: Another story whipped up in 2011. Guess I was in a fanfiction writing mood then? This time my OC had ties to Jimbe. :)

The Whitebeard pirates stood about their ship lazily. It was not normally like this, but today was special. It was today that Jimbe the fishman would be bringing to them a new crew member. It was decided that the ship would wait in this specific spot this day, though Jimbe did not say when he was coming, only to wait for his crew. Whitebeard himself had spoken to him through the den-den mushi, and he had merely told the rest on board that there was going to be another person joining their pirate family.

Everyone was excited. It wasn't unusual that there was a new member, but it was the fact that it was a human recommended by Jimbe, a fishman. Fishmen were almost never seen with humans. The relationship between Whitebeard and this particular fishman was rare; they were friends.

Portgas. D. Ace was lying on the cabin roof, staring at the clouds above him, bored. Like everyone else, he was excited, sure. However, until he actually met the guy, he would be bored as hell. Not like he did much anyways, despite the fact that he held the title captain of the second division, which was Whitebeard's right hand man.

Ace wore no shirt- he had refused to wear one ever since he had the Whitebeard symbol tattooed on his back. He wore black boots, black knee-length shorts with an eyelet-studded orange belt, and a blue pouch belted around his left leg. On his left hip hung a dagger in a green sheath, and on his left arm, he wore several accessories along with his "ASCE" tattoo with the S crossed out.

He wore a red beaded necklace and an orange hat with two blue smileys, one frowning and one smiling, and a string of red beads sitting above the rim. Two long orange side straps hung down sides of his hat and met at a large medallion of a bull's skull with orange tassels on his chest. Ace already had his hat before he became a pirate about a year and a half ago. He found it one day, and rather liked it, so he kept it since.

The sky up above was clear, and the sun had Ace shading his eyes under his hat. Seagulls circled called out in the distance. The ocean, other than some creatures breaking the surface, was relatively calm as well. Waves rolled softly against the giant boat, but only made it rock slowly and Ace sleepy. He yawned, and covered his face with the hat. A nap didn't sound too bad right about now.

"Greet Jimbe-san properly! Bow!" one of the captains hollered.

Everyone who was on deck bowed. Jimbe was a very respectable fishman, as he was very powerful. Whoever he brought along would surely bring promise- it was a given.

The fishman pirate had anchored his ship right beside the Whitebeards, and had a bridge connecting them. Many of the crew aboard the ship were leaning over the edge of the boat, awaiting their new member. They spoke among themselves quietly as Jimbe ambled over and bowed politely before Whitebeard, who was sitting on his large chair.

"It is great to see you," Whitebeard boomed heartily.

"You as well, old friend."

The two powerful pirates discussed things for a minute.

"Now then, Jimbe, show me my new family member."

"Of course, Whitebeard," he said, and turned towards his ship. "Alice!" he bellowed.

At that moment, a shadow sprung from the deck of Jimbe's ship to in front of the two giants.

"Yes?" the small girl answered.

Alice stared at Whitebeard for a moment with her amethyst coloured eyes, taking him in. She lifted her black hat, placing it on her chest and bowed. Her red waist length hair fell over her shoulders like a curtain and reached her knees.

"So you wish to join our family?" Whitebeard asked. He was not surprised that it was a girl, unlike the rest of the crew. The majority of them were gawking at her childish face.

The girl's brown shorts revealed her slender legs, and the two blue diamond encrusted daggers hanging from her thighs seems to weigh her down. She glanced around through her hair, but showed no signs of fear towards anyone. Although Whitebeard could tell that she was wary of him. Carefully, she placed her hat back on her head and stood up.

"Yes, sir." Alice tipped her had, and it loomed over her eyes, so that they no longer appeared amethyst, but a dark blue color. She gave him an ominous smile.

Ace awoke with a start.

A chill had suddenly crept up his spine while he was sleeping. Even though he was known as Fire Fist Ace, the right hand man of Whitebeard, and quite strong, the man still shuddered. What was this uneasy feeling?

He cast a glance around, but no one was in sight. Strange, he thought. Ace realized right away that it was noon since his stomach was already growling, but usually, even during lunch there would be a few more of his mates on deck, to keep watch. Whatever, it's not like they upped and disappeared, he laughed to himself. Ace hopped down easily from the roof and hurried along to the eating quarters. By now, his stomach was throwing a fit due to the lack of food. He frowned irritated, and quickened his pace.

Ace flung open the door with so much force that it left a dent in the wall. The carpenters glared at him devilishly, and Ace laughed nervous at them. "Crap! S-sorry guys...I didn't mean to..." he managed to stutter, and made his way to the empty seat that was farthest from them. No doubt that later, he'd be getting an earful from the bunch.

As the chef greeted the man warmly, and served him food equivalent to the amount ten grown men would eat, the new girl stared at him with curiosity. The shirtless man seemed to have ignored her completely- no, he was simply oblivious to her presence. He appeared to be too busy stuffing his face, already on his third plate.

"Oi, Ace," someone called. Alice and Ace shifted their glance to the speaker. It was Marco, Alice recognized from this morning. Marco was a lean muscular, blond-haired man of average height. He looked like a normal person, except with a rather sleepy look and some stubble around his chin (Alice thought this made him look old). He wore a jacket and a light blue sash adorned with an elaborate belt around his waist, and looked like your average pirate.

"Ah, Marco, I'm eating. What do you want?" Ace asked quickly, and resumed his eating.

Marco stared at him. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Huh? What? This is my food. Get your own."

"Er, no." Marco scratched his head and gave a small sigh. "New mate, remember?"

Ace paused for a moment, slowly chewing his drumstick. A slow realization came upon his face and he stood up abruptly. As soon as he had done this, he sat right back down. "I completely forgot. So who's the rookie?" The excitement from before his nap was gone now- all his concentration was on his food.

"Hello," Alice spoke from her spot, raising her hand slightly so she would stand out from the small crowd of people around her. Ace turned in his chair to stare at her. They met eyes for a moment and he raised an eyebrow at her appearance. It wasn't the fact that she was a girl that surprised him, but that she looked like a doll. Her stare was slightly curious, but she seemed to not particularly care.

"Hey," he replied easily. The girl had an air about her with the way she glanced around, aware of the people around. She didn't seem to trust anyone in the room, with the way her guard was up. It seemed that he was cleared from suspicion, whatever he was suspected of, because she didn't look at him again.

"Hey," Ace greeted her. It seemed to be the only word he could say to her. He didn't know how to talk to her at all- she was rather unresponsive.

"Hi."

AN: Sorry for the abrupt end. I guess I stopped there and never finished it... ^^"