ALRIGHTY! HERE YOU ARE! THE NEXT CHAPTER! ;D I hope you all like this one~ I had a ton of fun writing it XD Also! I might go and rework the first chapter a little bit... It felt a bit to fast pace in my mind... If I do edit it, I will tell you XD But anyways! Here you are!

Living Louder

Chapter 2: Where We All Belong

Trafalgar Law was on his ship. It had been a pretty normal day. Even as the day went on, it went quietly. Law didn't like it. Something must have been off.

"Jean… Are we headed on the right track?" Law asks his navigator, glancing over to him.

Jean glances at the log post and nods his head, "Of course we are! I would never get us lost." He says grinning.

Law raises an eyebrow before walking away, "Then why do I have a bad feeling…" he mutters under his breath.

"MARINES FROM THE NORTH!" A yell from the crow's nest sounds out. Everyone quickly rushes into position.

Law moves to see the ships. "Everyone get ready for an attack! Don't start slacking now!" he yells out to the crew. The marine ships were just out of his reach with his devil fruit ability. He curses their luck. "Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin, make sure no cannon balls hit my ship. Jean, get us out of here as fast as you can." He calls out instructions quickly to the crew.

Law turns back to the marine ships that had gotten closer. He quickly moves his fingers up, "Room." He states making a dome appear around the ship just as a cannon ball came into range, they froze in midair. He catches a few more, a couple slipping past him, only to be thrown back by Bepo, Shachi, or Penguin.

"Jean! Faster!" Law calls to him, the marines now gaining speed. He curses letting a few of the cannon balls fall into the ocean.

Suddenly out of nowhere, the marine ships catch on fire, burning many of them in an instant.

Law watches in surprise at the sudden combustion before groaning out. "Please don't let it be him." One man comes to mind with that ability. He had managed to stay away from the man for a few months. Why would he have to show up now.

"Now that is just rude." Ace's voice sounds out from behind him. "Yo!" he adds on.

Law swiftly turns around to glare at the individual, "What are you doing here? And how did you get on my ship?" he mutters to Ace.

"Not even a 'how are you? You just saved us from certain death how may I ever repay you.'" Ace says lowering his voice to sound more like Law's.

Law's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "You are on my ship."

"And a nice ship it is." Ace says nodding his head. "A bit smaller than I was expecting."

"Captain…?" Shachi is the first of the crew members to speak up. "Who…?"

"Name's Ace. Portgas D. Ace. Yoroshiku!" Ace speaks up bowing to them. "I am a friend of Law's!"

"We are not friends." Law mutters under his breath, shaking his head.

"But we are! I already said we were the last time we met. We had a dine and dash!" Ace says pouting lightly. He turns back to the crew, "Who are you?"

"Shachi…?" Shachi says, not really knowing how to react to the intruder.

Penguin walks over to his captain, "Captain. I didn't know you had friends…" he says in mock horror.

Law glares at Penguin, "I won't have any soon if you keep that up."

"I am Law's friend!" Bepo speaks up going over to hug the captain.

Law allows the hug feeling even more annoyed. "Bepo. Get off me. Now."

The bear lets go of him, doing as his captain asked.

"Why not let the guy… bear hug you? He seems to really care for you." Ace says, putting an arm onto the taller man's shoulder. "Give the bear a chance."

Law pushes Ace away quickly. "You still haven't answered my question." He crosses his arms.

"I got on from my ship." Ace says frowning slightly. "I tied it to yours." He points over to a small rope on the side of the ship. Law gets interested and walks over to the ledge. He looks down to find a single boat with a strange contraption on it.

"That is your… boat?" Law asks not believing it.

"Do no disrespect my ship. It may be small, but it gets me where I need to go." Ace says rolling his eyes.

Law's crew watches the interaction with mild interest. The way the captain acted around Ace was very strange compared to everyone else.

"How did you two meet anyways?" Penguin asks the two, not really trusting the Whitebeard pirate.

"He blackmailed me."

"I saved his life…"

The two of them replied at the same time. One met the other with an icy glare. "I was fine on my own." Law replies.

"I found that out after." Ace says rolling his eyes, "Anyways… he was going to get me food after but he didn't have his money-"

"Did you lose your wallet again?" Bepo looks up at the captain with concern. "You can have mine again if you need." He says already digging through his pockets.

"No Bepo. I don't need your money." Law says shaking his head towards Bepo with a sigh.

"Anyways, we had to run from the restaurant. We talked a bit. I thought he was pretty alright." Ace says with a shrug, "I consider that a friendship."

"How many times do I have to tell you, we are not friends." Law moans out in agitation.

"You know you love me." Ace says laughing out at the man.

Penguin glances at the tattoo on Ace's back and recognizes it, "Law… Why are you friends with a Whitebeard pirate?" he questions, now becoming even more suspicious.

Law pivoted around and glowers at his crew, "WE ARE NOT FRIENDS. Mister Portgas is an associate. That is all."

"An associate…? I like the ring of that." Ace says putting a hand on top of his hat. "Better than not friends."

"You are an annoyance." Law replies calmly.

"If you think I am bad, you should meet my brother." Ace says chuckling again.

Law thinks a moment, "I highly doubt I could take two of you." He agrees with Ace sarcastically.

Ace grins towards Law and nods his head in agreement. After a second Ace glances back to the crew with a raised eyebrow, "Can I stay on here for a bit?"

"No." Law replied quickly without hesitation.

"Why not?" Ace whines to Law, "I won't cause any trouble. I just want to talk with my friend."

Law sighs out at the friend part, "Mister Portgas, as entertaining as this has been, I have a ship to run."

"I will even help there! I am only searching for someone anyways. Not like I would get in the way." Ace responds already sitting down near the edge of the ship and leaning back. "You will barely even know I am here."

"No."

"I think that is a yes." Ace says to him, "Wake me when something happens." He puts his hat over his face so he can sleep. "I doubt anything will."

Law hears a few chuckles come from the crew. He turns to them, silencing them with a heated glare. "Shouldn't you all be working?" He hisses to his crew. The group quickly started to walk away and work on different things. Penguin gives Law one last knowing look before turning away and leaving. Law looks back down at the man in exasperation. "You can't just fall asleep on my ship!"

Law awaits a response, only to hear soft snores coming from the man. The captain felt frustration build in him. With a low growl, he moves his foot forward and kicks the man in his chest. "WAKE UP." He grits his teeth as he does so.

"OW!" Ace wakes up quickly, "That hurt!" he says looking up at Law, "I was just going to take a quick nap! Do you not allow that on your ship?"

"You really know how to anger someone." Law says to him with a dark look.

Ace raises an eyebrow, "What did I do?"

Law looks at the man with an incredulous look, "Would you like me to compile a list?"

Ace pauses a moment and shakes his head, "Naw. I bet you are just controlling like the old man."

"You…" Law sighs not knowing how to deal with the man at his point. His hands go to pinch his nose, feeling a headache coming back full force.

"I promise I won't be on here long. Just a few days." Ace says putting his hands together and looking up pleadingly at the man, "Please?" Ace pauses, "I don't have much food left as it is."

Law twitches, "Do you ever have food." He growls out before removing his hand from his face, "I am going to regret this." He crosses his arms, "You have three weeks. After that, you are getting off my ship." Law concludes, "You are to help with chorus on the ship including washing the deck, taking the hawk's nest, and other duties. Your first… Go ask Penguin if he needs help organizing his inventory."

Ace smiles widely to Law, "Aye, Aye Captain!" He salutes the man quickly. "You truly are giving." He says rushing over to where Penguin had gone off to.

Law watches the man head in that direction. Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would be. Even if Ace is a bit… extreme, he seemed like a hard worker. If he listened to what Law said, it wouldn't be so bad.

Just as Law thought that, a loud crash was heard from that direction.

"GET OUT!" Penguin yells out as Ace exits where he had just entered.

Or maybe not.

Oh Law... That was an awful decision. You don't know what you just did to your crew! XD