Edited: May 17, 2016
Now there you go again
You say you want your freedom
Well who am I to keep you down
It's only right that you should play it the way you feel it
But listen carefully to the sound
Of your loneliness
{ Dreams by Bastille }
She tried to control her shaking as much as she could while she waited for what he would do. It seemed that the entire crew was held in suspense as well. It felt like all the self-assurance she once held was wilted away in the span of a minute.
"Akane huh... Gurararara" His laugh bellowed and she could feel the vibrations seep into the area surrounding them. "When I first saw one of my sons roughed up, I thought I would need to step in myself. You've piqued my interest brat. Now tell me, who is your family?" He took a swig of something that was in a very large jar.
The question caught her off guard. Akane didn't really know how to react or what to make of the situation. If she continued the conversation would she be spared, if for just a little bit longer? "My mother's name was Elizabeth... We were from the West Blue." She responded, her voice soft. She wasn't too fond of picking at old scabs, but if it meant getting out of this alive... she was willing to talk about it.
"She has followed you to the New World?"
"Was killed, actually. Bunch of pirates attacked our village when I was younger... she protected me." Her gaze lowered as she remembered the day, her hand drifting towards the gold chain around her neck in an absentminded manner. It was the only memento she had left of her mother. A golden chain with a heart pendent. The back of the jewellery had a symbol engraved in it, but she had never found out what the odd carving meant. Her mother told her she would tell her when she was older. Unfortunately now she would never know. Regardless, it was still an important token to her.
"Your father?"
She frowned, "Don't know. Don't care." Akane really wished he would stop asking these questions because she knew she had to answer them if she valued her life, and being so honest wasn't a hobby of hers.
He let out that odd laugh again at her juvenile response. Well, the girl was just a child after all. Something was different about the girl than the usual run of the mill marine. Whitebeard already had a strong hunch about what it was, but decided that it'd be much too soon to dwell on it. Nonetheless it would be a shame to squash out such interesting potential developments to his crew. He contemplated the different courses of action he could take until he finally spoke again, "We'll be arriving at the next island in three weeks. We'll decide what to do with you then."
The crowd observing the whole ordeal choked on their own breath, and Akane spotted a certain hot-headed pirate's jaw drop in shock.
"But Pops! She-"
"No but's, Ace." He then turned his head back to address her and the rest of his crew, "This young lass, Akane, will be travelling with us as a guest on the ship until we reach the next island. I expect you to treat her as you would any other guest, my sons."
What? She really couldn't understand how he had arrived at that conclusion, but she was relieved by the verdict. With no immediate threat she could now plan her escape out of their grasps. She mentally thanked the man in front of her for his mercy.
With the orders given to them, the gathering was brought to an end. The Whitebeard crew looked at each other with a bit of confusion, but began to disperse, returning to their usual duties. It really was like a nightmare turned miracle for Akane. She knew very well she could have just been crushed under the Strongest Man Alive's foot if he wished to do it. With the fear beginning to leave her, her shoulders slumped with the disappearing tension. Her body was still exhausted and injured from her fight with Fire Fist though. She hadn't realized how much she exerted herself in their battle, but in her relaxed state she noticed how tired and hungry she was even after having slept for two days straight.
Whitebeard must have taken notice of this as well because he spoke up again, "Ace, take her to the mess. She needs to eat." Ace stood dumbfounded when he was told his orders, as did Akane.
Okay, maybe the old man did have it out for her. There was no other reasonable explanation as to why out of all the people on board he would tell Ace to guide her. The panic that was ebbing away just a few seconds earlier rose up in her throat again. Damn it, why did she have to be so injured? She felt pathetic. She spent years training and getting stronger, and now in only a few short days she was reduced to having been carried around like a sack of potatoes! It was humiliating and her blood boiled. She knew she should have been thankful because she was given mercy, but she had an odd feeling that these three upcoming weeks would be the longest in her life. That's saying a lot, considering she was taken under Vice Admiral Garp's wing for advanced training the first year she was enlisted. She shuddered at the painful memories.
Ace controlled his emotions and let his features relax. He would follow Pops' orders, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy doing them. He looked over to the girl that was still sitting on the deck in front of Pops' chair, the tips of her scarlet hair feathering over the wooden boards. He took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. He walked over to the 'guest' and his eyes darkened as he remembered their battle. She definitely wasn't anywhere near strong enough to destroy the Moby Dick, but she could probably reek some havoc once she was healed. What the hell was Pops thinking! He really wanted to know... People who attacked the Whitebeard pirates got what they deserved, so why was she spared?
As he reached where she was on the deck, his gaze lowered to meet hers. He took in the sight of her face which sported a large, purple bruise where he had punched her in the jaw during their fight. Her features were moulded into a deep frown. The grey eyes that bore into his, the scarlet hair framing her face, the slender nose, and her plump lips pulled into an angry pout... It all pissed him off even more. He must have shown his irritation on his face because her defensive glare darkened, if that was even possible. She seemed just as much unhappy of the set-up as he was, but she be damned if she spoke up about it. Without too much care he bent down and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder like Marco had when he first brought her out on deck. With a small yelp from the girl on his shoulder, he turned around and began walking towards the mess hall below deck.
"Like a guest brat."
"What? She's weak, can't move."
As the pair made their way below the deck, disappearing out of sight, Marco who was standing by his father's side the whole time stared up at the larger man.
"What is it, Marco."
"I'm just a little surprised. That's all, yoi."
Whitebeard closed his eyes and tried to explain his reasoning to his son, "Her and Ace were the ones who had fought. If she is going to stay on this ship for a prolonged period of time I need them to get along. Making them spend time together is bound to lead to some sort of truce. Last thing I need is two brats fighting on the deck every morning."
"Ah, I understand that much, but why keep her on the ship at all?" Marco looked up with a questioning brow at his father figure. He had been with Pops the longest, but he still had trouble understanding his thoughts from time to time.
A deep chuckle left Whitebeard's toothy grin after he took a swig of his sake, "That red hair and defiance in those eyes... seems awfully familiar, doesn't it? Marco?"
He was caught off guard by the odd question and the gears started turning in his mind to contemplate it. He thought back to the girl. Marco was positive he had never met the girl until then, but it seemed that Pops expected him to know something. Even he himself had an odd sense of deja vu when he looked at her. He thought over the question for awhile before his eyes widened at the realization... "Pops, you don't really mean to tell me that..."
"Gurarara, don't jump the gun too early yet boy! But I do think we stumbled upon something interesting. Keep an eye on her would you."
With another swig of his sake, the conversation was brought to an end and Marco started making his was below deck. His usually calm features were now laced with a bit of curiosity. If Pops was meaning to tell him what Marco thought he was telling him... then why was the girl a marine?
She lifted her head to observe all the different corridors Fire Fist was passing through, she never really took in just how massive the ship was. She was jostled out of her thoughts when she began to bounce a top the man's shoulder. She glared at the steps coming into her line of sight. Another set of stairs?
Looking over her shoulder, she stared at the back of his head, watching his wavy hair under that outrageous hat swish with his movements. She let out a deep breath and lowered her head again, face to face with the middle of his muscular, yet bandaged back. Looking at the bandages, a small satisfied smirk tugged at her lips. Of course she had lost in the end, but managing to inflict that much damage to him was no small feat from what she had heard. There was still the question on whether he had just been playing with her though...
They had been walking, or rather he had been walking, in total silence. Fed up with the brooding atmosphere, Akane spoke up, "I'm capable of walking y'know."
"Good. We're here." The curt response surprised her. She expected he would spit something rude back at her, but he already placed her down on her feet without another word. He walked away from her, passing many tables and disappearing behind a door on the other side of the room.
She stood in the large room void of people. The crew probably had eaten when she was still asleep. With not much other choice, she followed Ace's path and pushed the swinging door he had passed through.
The door led to the ship's very large kitchen which was empty save for Ace, who was placing leftover food on a plate. He was doing the job with a small frown on his face, seemingly reluctant of the task. He turned his head to the side when he heard the door open but chose to ignore the girl's presence in favour of completing his stupid orders. Finishing filling the plate with various foods that were served at dinner, he picked up a fork and walked past the girl and back into the cafeteria-like room. The girl, Akane was it? Followed quickly behind him. He could almost feel the irritation radiating off of her and he had to admit it gave him some sort of satisfaction.
He placed the food on one of the numerous tables and motioned for Akane to sit down. With her stomach almost painfully empty she complied without arguing one bit, sliding onto the bench and eating almost right away. It was a bit painful to chew the food. Her jaw hurt and she deduced it was probably from some sort of injury from their fight. As Akane continued to eat she expected him to leave, but out of the top of her eye she noticed Fire Fist sitting across from her.
"What?" She grunted through bites of food.
He rested his cheek against the palm of his hand, looking away with indifference, "Nothing, just surprised at how you eat like a brute." His eyes moved to meet hers along with a smug smirk.
Her stare bore into the idiot across from her, killing him inside her mind. They were brought out of their staring contest of death when they heard footsteps approaching them.
"Can't you two get along for two minutes yoi?"
"No-" They stared at each other again, surprised for having spoken in unison.
Marco heaved a sigh at their juvenile behaviour and took a seat across from Akane. "You two better behave, 'else Pops is gonna throw both of you overboard."
Akane gave a small scoff and muttered, "'least I can swim."
A grunt of frustration left Ace's throat at the comment. It looked like she set him off again and Marco observed the two of them with interest. It would seem they were both capable of getting under the other's skin with one method or another. How Pops expected them to arrive to a 'truce' on their own was beyond Marco, so he decided he would help lead the young ones to an understanding. It was his job to keep an eye on her anyway.
Ace began to stride away but before he could get far, Marco grabbed his wrist and tugged him back onto the bench. The girl stopped mid-bite and stared in question at the spectacle in front of her, Marco simply gave her a calm smile.
"Marco! What the fu-"
"So, Miss Akane, I recall hearing that you and your crew were on the island busting some criminals? Tell us about it, yoi." He grit his teeth on the emphasized word and threw a side glance at Ace, daring him to even make a move to leave. Marco hoped the small talk would help the girl relax in his presence a bit. He had much more important questions he needed answered later on after all. From the corner of his eye, Marco saw Ace almost pout and turn his head defiantly to the side, refusing to contribute to the conversation.
Akane stared perplexed at the older of the two men across the table. Realizing she still had a fork of food hovering right in front of her open mouth, she took a bite and chewed. Call her stubborn, but she would prefer prolonging having to talk about her life to anyone if she could. She chewed her food for an extensive period before swallowing it. Marco was patient though, and he was still staring at her waiting for an answer. Without much other choice, she chose to respond in the most curt way possible.
"Omega Crew. They were small time pirates and sold some illegal substances. Their base was at the island. Shut the operation down. That's all." She gave a shrug at the end and resumed her meal of leftovers. Apparently the answer wasn't enough for him because his interest seemed piqued.
"Oh? Never heard of them. How long were you on the case?"
She was beginning to get irritable but kept her face composed. There was no way she would lose her cool now, not after her life had been spared. Before she answered, she took another bite of food and took a good look at the two men sitting across from her. One of them- Marco, was staring at her with interest and relaxed features while the other, Ace, refused to look at her, his lips in a small pout and his brows furrowed. The whole scene was actually quite comical due to how opposite they were acting. A small chuckle left her lips before she could catch it and she cursed herself for dropping her composure.
"What is it yoi?" He continued to smile at her.
"N-nothing, don't pay me any mind." She replied, waving her hand in a dismissive manner.
Marco wore a contented expression; this was going better than he had planned. It seemed she was quite friendly, even towards pirates. She just needed to be encouraged. He watched as she finished the last bits of her food and placed the fork on her plate, showing that she had finished her meal. He was amused at her subconscious actions. Seeing a little etiquette was refreshing when living on a pirate ship.
"Uh, the plate... I should..."
"Oh don't worry about it Miss Akane, Ace will take care of it." The latter addressed whipped his head around and glared at Marco. "Won't you? Ace?" He said through a tight smile again.
Ace's jaw jutted out in a peeved manner, but he stood up and grabbed the plate. He strode towards the galley and pushed the doors open angrily, leaving them swinging in the aftershock after he passed through. Marco exhaled a quick breath through his nose and closed his eyes. He opened them again to find that the young girl sitting across from him was starting to look drowsy. It appeared she was fighting an internal battle with her exhausted body to stay awake, but she was losing.
She really didn't want to fall asleep here, but she couldn't help the feeling washing over her. Sleep meant that she would be defenceless. Against her will, her head started to lull and her eyelids began to weigh down on themselves. Despite Marco being a pirate, he was rather kind to her their entire encounter. He had even brought stew to her room without knowing if she would be awake or not... And his smile was kind... Submitting to her body's will she fell into a slumber, content with the thought that Marco wouldn't hurt her in her unconscious state.
Her head fell to the wooden table with a dull 'thunk' and Marco let out a chuckle. The action reminded him a lot of a certain angry crewmate that was, at the moment, washing a plate in the kitchen. He stood up from his seat and walked around the table to where the small sleeping form was. He bent down and wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders, slowly slipping her out of the bench. When she was out far enough, his arm that was around her waist moved to underneath her lower thigh, giving him enough grip to lift her up and hold her against his chest. He had decided against carrying her over his shoulder again.
Ace walked out of the kitchen with a scowl on his face but the expression was wiped away when he did a double take at the bundle in his friend's arms. What the hell? He was only in the kitchen for about a minute and he came out to Marco carrying their passed out 'guest' in his arms?
"Uh... What happened?"
"Fell asleep after eating, yoi."
He scoffed, "How stupid." Falling asleep in enemy territory, was she out of her mind?
"Reminds me of you."
And the scowl was back. He stared at the sleeping girl. She was a hell of a lot cuter when she didn't speak, in his opinion. Ace watched as she nestled closer to the crook of Marco's neck in her state of unconsciousness.
Marco chuckled. If he didn't know any better, he'd say Ace was jealous. He knew the boy held interest for the girl. He had ever since he had to be bandaged up 'for the first time in years'. Whether it be with good or bad intentions, Marco knew that Ace would follow the girl around even if he wasn't given orders to. The blond wore a playful smirk when he felt Akane nestle against his neck and puff out a sigh in her sleep, the small action further deepening Ace's frown. Marco admitted to it: he liked poking fun at his dear little brother. He had a feeling that the next three weeks would be quite the unique experience on the Moby Dick.
"Taking her back to 'er room, I'm assuming you're relieved of your duties now, so you're free to go."
"I'll come too." The answer made Marco's usually half-lidded eyes widen. "Nothing better to do." Ace added on in justification. What? He really didn't. He hadn't received orders to do anything else since he was still 'injured', and it was already late in the evening...
He watched as a playful expression adorned Marco's features, the older turning around and making his way out of the mess hall. Ace followed a few steps behind him, taking a peek at the bit of scarlet hair visible over Marco's shoulder. Did their battle really exert her that much? She had already slept for two days and now she passed out again. He guessed having to face Pops for the first time could drain someone of their energy, but still this girl was ridiculous and that was coming from him.
"If you keep that expression on your face it'll get stuck like that yoi." Marco said, looking over his shoulder.
Ace muttered in reply, "Shut up." But the reminder was enough to make Ace relax his features. Constantly glaring and scowling made his face cramp and put him in a forced sour mood. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and let his anger leave along with it. The girl, Akane, didn't really do anything that wrong. They were pirates and she was a marine. She was only doing her duty and he supposed he found her more bearable than most awfully persistent and annoying marines he had the displeasure of running into. She even let her crew escape in place for her own life, a noble act of a captain. He had done it himself when he was once a captain over a year ago.
"That doesn't mean much coming from you!"
Akane hated him, rightfully so, and it wasn't like he favoured her that much either. Ace would not expect her to like him, hell he didn't care for her to, but he felt a desire to know more about her. If only to quench his curiosity.
"Was killed, actually"
"Don't know. Don't care."
Were her circumstances a little like his?
"...she protected me."
He shook his head and shut his eyes as an act to physically push the thoughts out of his mind.
They reached her given room, a private resting quarters that was in the medical wing. Ace opened the door since Marco's hands were full and then they both walked towards the unkempt bed. Marco placed her down on the mattress with careful movements, took off her shoes, and pulled the covers over her. She let out another soft sigh in her sleep and shifted under the covers to a more comfortable position. She lay there, letting out quiet even breaths, content and relaxed.
Marco was making his way out of the room to let the girl have some quiet, but stopped when he noticed there weren't any footsteps behind him. He turned around to look at Ace's relaxed shoulders, the younger man staring at the sleeping girl with his face no longer adorning the scowl he had once worn around her.
A warm smile crept up to Marco's lips at the sight. Ace was probably reasoning with conflicting thoughts over the marine girl. "You coming or not, yoi?"
Ace's snapped out of his daze and began to walk over toward Marco, "Uh, yeah... I just..."
"What?"
"Nothing. Doesn't matter."
The pair made their way out of the room and Marco slowly closed the door behind him. They walked side-by-side to the top deck in silence, the sound of talking and laughter growing with each step they took. The sun was almost set, the top of it touching the distant water and slowly disappearing behind the horizon.
Marco was making his way over to Whitebeard's large chair where he and the rest of the crew were gathered for their night-time festivities. As he reached his destination, he noticed Ace continuing to walk off for what Marco guessed was a secluded area to sit and think. The blond shook his head but let it go. The boy was stubborn and would need time to adjust to the changes on board, specifically a certain extra passenger. Ace wasn't one to miss celebrations, but this situation was an exception wasn't it.
Ace found a place on deck away from the crew and sat down. He looked out onto the sunset, the last bits of the sun painting the expanse a deep red as it disappeared below the horizon. The scarlet sky made his thoughts drift to the girl unwarranted. He closed his eyes and tried to clear the muddled thoughts of the day away and instead began thinking of a way to sort this problem out.
Sengoku sorted out reports on his desk when the door to his office opening took his attention away from what he was doing. He watched Akainu enter the room, not notable or surprising in itself, however the Admiral wore an even deeper scowl than usual. The expression etched into the contours of his facial features.
"What is it Sakazuki."
"A report reached me yesterday night about a Captain being taken hostage by pirates."
"So? It isn't my job to babysit. Get on it."
"The pirates are the Whitebeards, and the hostage is Akane."
Sengoku's eyes widened, "What? Why didn't you report this to me sooner? That damned Whitebeard, what is he up to!"
"It only reached me just recently. Something like this isn't that uncommon of an ordeal so the report was slow to reach the higher ranks." If it was even possible, Akainu's frown deepened. "But since it's Akane... and since it's that damned Newgate..."
A low rumble of frustration rose in Sengoku's throat. That Whitebeard... he never took hostages, so was it possible he already figured out...? No, that was impossible. Although she bore a resemblance, it wasn't something that would cross most people's minds... But Newgate wasn't just an average person. Sengoku cursed at the situation. That girl... would be better off dead than an enemy to the Navy. He had an idea of what Whitebeard was thinking and if that bastard played his cards right... the Navy could lose a prodigious solider and gain an enemy that would cause lots of trouble in the future. He knew it was possible too. That girl did not hold the same type of loyalty to the Navy as other soldiers did.
Sengoku stared down the line of the top eighteen ranking recruits from the new group of marines enlisted. The top scoring would always be sent to him so he could assess them and assign them as apprentices to fitting Vice Admirals for enhanced training and experience. This way, the exceptional would develop their skills further and become the leaders of the Navy in the coming generations. It was an investment.
He walked up to the first soldier in the line. He could see the young man flinch under his gaze. "Soldier! Why did you join the Navy?"
"To uphold the truth of Justice, sir!" The man squawked in response.
Good. He continued down the line, asking the same question to each soldier and receiving an answer along the same lines. It was to be expected. The Navy drilled the importance of lawful justice into every new recruit.
Sengoku stopped in front of the last soldier in line, having to lower his line of sight more than he had to with the others. A young girl with shoulder-length, red hair and smokey grey, unphased eyes stood in front of him. He was a bit surprised at the sight since she couldn't have been older than sixteen or seventeen... Such a young girl beat the testing scores of almost all the other new recruits? She did appear to have a very athletic build and intelligent eyes, but this was still a rare occurrence to be seen. The last time this happened was with Hina, if he wasn't mistaken.
"Soldier! Why did you join the Navy?"
"To sail the seas with freedom... Sir."
Sengoku always kept an eye on her records and reports. She was set apart from most marines in the sense that she was indifferent towards pirates. She followed her orders and would get her job done, but she never held a strong sense of lawful justice. It was peculiar, however he never questioned her about it since she was competent in her duties. That didn't stop him from having an extensive investigation done on her background though. When the reports had come back, he knew he had to have a strong hold on the girl. She was potentially dangerous to them if she were to ever discover her origins, but a valuable and strong asset if she was left in the dark about them. In all honesty it would have been better if she were to have never existed, however since she does, it was best to use her for the Navy rather than anything else. He opted to having a special watch on her and her movements in case they needed to subdue her. Now with her in Newgate's hands though... Nothing good could come of it.
"Sakazuki, set up a rescue mission immediately. Track down the Moby Dick. Be as cautious as possible. Avoid as much conflict as you can." Sengoku's brows furrowed, "Hurry."
"Of course." Akainu made a swift exit out of the office, intending to get to work right away. The Fleet Admiral and the Admirals were the only ones who were aware of her origins. He never liked the idea of having the brat Akane in the Navy at all and should have just executed her from the start. He pulled out a transponder snail from his suit and dialed a call.
Buru buru... buru buru... kachank! "Borsalino, looks like we're going on a little retrieval mission."
"Oh? A rescue? Interesting, eh?"
A/N:
Akane's Stats
Age: 19
Height: 5'6" (167cm)
Weight: 145lbs (65kg)
Body Type: Athletic
Hair Colour: Scarlet red
Eye colour: Smoky grey
Skin tone: Olive, tans when she sails
Abilities/Weapons: Observation and Armament haki, strong hand to hand combat skills, basic firearms knowledge because of marine training
