Hello there, here's a chapter with a bit more bite. Will build much more from here onwards now that set up is over.
I loved your reviews so far thank you so much!
And just to clarify, Shanks is her father, not her uncle. I haven't said who her uncle is yet...
Enjoy
Pleasant Sensations and Terrible Dreams
When morning finally broke over the horizon and Ace still wasn't showing any signs of waking, Blaize called down to the first person she saw up and about for help. It just so happened to be Zoro. Shit.
"Oi, what's up?" He asked, and then noticed the chest bare man snoring beside her, "Eh? He pass out up here or something?"
"Yeah or something, will you help me get him down?"
With a grunt the moss headed swordsman hoisted Luffy's brother up onto his shoulder and descended with ease. He placed him none too gently against the mast before turning to Blaize just as her feet touched deck. 'Note to self, don't get caught alone with the green swordsman' she scolded herself for not checking first before yelling.
"Yes?" She rounded on him tersely.
"How did you come by those swords?"
He really wanted to know? Fine, "my uncle gave them to me when I turned eleven, right before he tried to kill my father."
Zoro frowned, "didn't know Shanks had a brother."
"Oh he doesn't, at least not as far as I'm aware."
The hot morning air did nothing to defuse the growing tension, "you said you're looking for your uncle?"
She nodded in response, a cold glare flickering dangerously in her dark eyes. Zoro held his ground however unflinching.
"There's only one person I can think of who'd be in possession of two Shodai Kitetsu katanas."
"Just ask me what I know you're thinking Roronoa."
"Who's your uncle?"
Very clearly, she held his gaze and said the name he'd already guessed. A wide grin spread slowly across Zoro's face.
"Will you give him a message from me when you find him?"
"Sure."
...
She managed to avoid seeing anyone else for most of the morning until Nami caught her in the hallway below deck, a sack slung over her shoulder.
"Oh hey, you're just who I was looking for."
"Really?"
Nami smiled and beckoned her into a room a few doors down. Maps covered every surface, the table, walls, even the floor in places. A small bed was in one corner, full of cushions and there were various chests and shelves full of odd assortments. A few pictures scattered the walls in the spaces not covered by maps and the table had some unusual tools and drawing utensils; Nami's room, not hard to deduce.
"I saw that you only carried a really small sack with you, not much room for clothes right?"
"Um..."
"So I was thinking you could do with some more and I have far too many that I've grown out of." Blaize's eye twitched, "and you're so small...I mean, no offense," she added, suddenly sweating under the cool glare. "Ah ha ha, well, I also thought we seemed fairly close in measurements up top too, and I know how hard it can be to find clothes that fit."
She shrugged nervously. Nothing about this seemed off...unless, "are you looking for payment?"
"Well I mean if yo – " her eyes shifted to the door for a split second, "No, no, of course not. None of them fit me so they'd just end up getting thrown out." This looked like it pained her a little. Warmth prickled the back of Blaize's neck. A pleasant shiver ran down her spine. With a frown she cast a quick glance over her shoulder to the doorway. Empty...
"If you're sure..." She replied hesitantly. Nami's tight grin belayed her as she handed over the large sack.
"I need to go check our position, but you can use my room to try anything on if you need to." This offer at least, did seem genuine. She left in a sweep of orange hair and jangles closing the door behind her.
Cautiously Blaize opened the sack and began to look through. "Oh god..." these clothes, they were so, so, "girlish." she groaned. Still, perhaps she could salvage something. Her wardrobe really was in need of replenishment.
...
The full length mirror in Nami's provided an unwelcome view of how the clothes looked on her. Most were completely unusable, and hardly any came without showing a good amount of cleavage, including what she had on now. Soft, pretty green satin material crisscrossed around her neck and over her heavy breasts securely, unembellished, just plain and simple. Matching it were a pair of belly-dancer trousers and some black sandals. Nothing else, she didn't like jewellery. Still, this showed a lot more skin than usual, her entire stomach and most of her back and her breasts...god.
She took one more over view of herself in the mirror; dark red hair fell in untamed waves and curls down her back, over lightly sun-kissed skin and brushed at high cheek bones and black, almond shaped eyes. No freckles on her creamy skin, just a few scars, the worst being her right shoulder, and a black, spiralling sun tattoo just below her neck. It would do.
A knock on the door interrupted her just as she had finished folding the last of the clothes she intended to take. "Come in Nami, I'm pretty much done. Thank you for - Oh"
It wasn't Nami. Ace stood there, his half naked body filling the small doorway. Blaize watched frozen as his eyes swept over her with scorching intensity. The room was too hot suddenly; she could feel sweat beading on her bare skin. Ace locked on her dark eyes.
"And you say I'm a distraction." Fuck, his voice was like nothing she'd ever heard from him before. It was deep and rough, licking at her insides like flames.
"I never said that," hers wasn't much different. Did it have the same effect? A blush threatened to engulf her and she furiously fought it down. She was too warm. He wasn't helping just standing there, muscles bare and so well defined. She had a sudden, unwelcome thought.
"Were you looking for Nami?" She asked quietly; this was her room after all.
"No," Blaize let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, "I was looking for you." he said, his voice so low and tight. He twitched, rocked on his feet ever so slightly.
"What for?" Oh god, she couldn't look away from those eyes, half lidded but so sharply focused on her. What the hell was this feeling? She could barely breathe. Fire swept through her veins, the whole room seemed to shrink down to just his sharp, intense gaze. He took a step towards her and Blaize felt her throat constrict. Another hesitant step closer, then another and another, each more sure than the next until he was stood just a few inches from where she stood, rooted to the spot. His scolding hot presence pressed in on her. The air between them seemed to vibrate with tension.
"I – don't remember." He muttered. Unwittingly her eyes focused on his lips. They looked so... delicious... "Blaize" Ace damn near growled...
"BLAIZE-SWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
Ace snapped away quicker than she could blink.
"Oh there you are Blaize-swan! OOOOH you look so beautiful! So beautiful! How can one woman look so lovely..." Sanji continued on, oblivious to the neck breaking tension still filling the tiny room. "I was wondering where you were, I asked Mr. Ace here to inform you of breakfast."
"Ah, sorry," Ace suddenly smiled politely and turned from her completely, "we got talking about the journey and I completely forgot." He lied, albeit apologetically.
"That's alright, just come up before your brother steals it all. I can only hold him off for so long," Sanji went to leave, "I'm only human after all," he muttered. Ace chuckled forcefully until Sanji's footsteps were gone.
He didn't turn around, "my brother can be a lot of trouble, I better go up and help."
"Sure," was all she could manage. He waited half a heartbeat and Blaize fully expected him to just leave, but Fire Fist Ace surprised her yet again. He turned back, walked right up to her and offered her a hand.
"Can I help with your new luggage first though?" His voice was still tight, but the roughness was gone and he was smiling pleasantly. Blaize felt her taught body relax and with a soft sigh and she gave him a rare smile.
"That'd be great, thank you."
...
When Ace handed Blaize a spare cloak to cover herself up from the sun Sanji almost had a heart attack. She thanked him whilst the poor cook spotted Nami and Vivi's choice of clothing too and proceeded to roll around haplessly on the floor.
"Thank you."
Ace smiled; it didn't slip her notice that he stood a little closer than before. He was so much taller than her as well.
After a small delay concerning Luffy acquiring some weird new friends, they set off into the baking hot desert. Blaize kept her scarf low over her eyes as the blistering sunlight threatened to blind her. They were headed for Yuba, where Ace's informant was and supposedly, the rebel army of Arabasta. Her own lead was a little further on but not too far from the other's destination. In fact it didn't take long to reach the first signs of a town...or what used to be a town.
"Oh my god..." The whole place was a sack of rubble, covered in sand. It was dead.
"What's this?" asked Zoro coming up beside her "is this Yuba?"
"No," Viva looked on, and for the first time, there was nothing sweet about her face; she was strong. "This is Erumalu. It was once known as the Green City." She told them all how this had happened, how everything had gone so wrong in Arabasta. Blaize had had no idea how bad things were. It was horrible. This was no way to live and the princess was a brave woman to be fighting against such fierce foes.
"The cities were abandoned...and then, the Green City came to ruin." She finished, stopping in the middle of the ruins. Blaize wasn't good at comforting anyone, so she didn't try, but her eyes blazed with fury. They didn't deserve this.
Very discreetly a wind picked up under foot. Unremarked at first as everyone pondered Vivi's words it grew and grew until it buffeted the group wildly. A noise like nothing she'd ever heard kicked up with it. Moaning cries reverberated off the ruins, carried by the harsh winds. It seemed to send the crew's imagination a little array.
"What is that?"
"Are those people? Is it the Rebel Army?"
"Could it be assassins from Baroque Works!?"
Ace shook his head calmly, "Nah. It's just the wind."
"They sound like voices." Shouted Luffy.
"I can hear them all around us! What should we do?" Usopp nervously wrung his hands.
"It's nothing dangerous." Blaize remarked, "The winds are passing through the town and reverberating among the building ruins."
Despite her calm words, she dug in her feet harder as the wind picked up around them. It threw off her scarf just before doing the same to Vivi's and she winced against the direct sunlight.
"It's as if the city of Erumalu is crying!" the princess sobbed.
Oh god, this wind was not natural! A great gust of sand and dust hurtled towards them with frightening force. She hadn't slept in three days and while walking was fine, holding herself up against something like this was exhausting. It hit them full force and Blaize felt her legs go out from under her.
"Ah!" She gasped, but it was lost to the cries of the others and the tremendous moans of the wind. It battered her relentlessly, knocking sand and grit against her exposed face. Suddenly, someone stooped down and pulled her into a shielded embrace, protecting her from the onslaught. They pulled their robe up and around them both, effectively blocking the brunt of it, and hunkered down until it passed. And it did pass...Blaize's heart still thumped in panic though; she was fading.
"Man, what kind of wind was that?" She heard someone ask, but it seemed faint and far away.
"Hey, are you alright?" Ace asked quietly as he pulled away from her, his brow deeply furrowed.
"There's someone lying there!" Cried Nami; no, please don't pull attention to this. But the others ran away from where Ace had her propped up. Only Sanji stayed behind, looking for once, very serious. He crouched down behind Ace.
"Miss Shanks? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Blaize when was the last time you slept?" Asked Ace very seriously; no, NO, she couldn't fall asleep! Not here, not around other people.
"Please..." she whispered, her lips weren't cooperating, "please don't...let me...sleep..." Her whole body gave out but Ace caught her, supporting her against his chest. "No...Ace...don't..."
"It's alright," she could feel his voice vibrating against her cheek; "I won't let anything happen. You have my word."
Whether he would be able to defend the others from her or not, she didn't have a choice as blackness enveloped her whole.
...
She couldn't go home. But she was so cold, so alone. NO! No one missed her; they would kill her if she went back. Oh god...she could hear their screams. Screaming, roaring and crying fervently rose around her, swirling, getting louder no matter how much she tried to block her ears. She was so cold...and no one loved or missed her. Why would they, how could they. She could breathe or die and no one would care. She couldn't breathe though. They were screaming so loudly, so high pitched. It cut her. She couldn't move! Something was trapping her! She screamed as everything began to get too hot. Everything was so black but she could hear flames crackling above the screams. She pushed and pushed at the heavy weight trapping her. With a thump it rolled, and she could move...she could see; she could see what – who had been trapping her. Her heart crumbled and a horrific cry tore her throat apart...
She jolted awake, heart pounding painfully hard, sweat beading on her skin. Where the hell was she! How could she have let herself fall asleep!
"Oi, oi, you're finally awake, I was beginning to worry."
She whipped her head up to see Ace's pleasant face looking down at her. As reality crept back into her foggy brain she realised she was lying curled up against his side, her head in his lap, his arm rested lightly over her small body. She jumped back as if she'd been shocked and instantly regretted it. It was night and the desert was frigid and Ace was very, very warm. The shivers began almost immediately.
"I fell asleep," she whispered, pulling back again when he moved to follow her, despite the cold, "What did I do? Is everyone...are they..."
"Everyone's fine. You've slept soundly, until just now." He said calmly.
"Did blow anything up?" She sounded so small.
He hesitated and she felt her knees go weak, "Not exactly." He reassured her quickly, "Your hands started to heat up just now but...I held them. My fire just absorbed the energy. I told you I wouldn't let anything happen."
At first her brain couldn't process what he'd said. Panic still swirled in her blood, slowing her understanding; but eventually... "You stopped my devil fruit?"
He smirked softly, "I suppose. We have such similar fruits I had a feeling we might cancel each other out. Besides, you're not around weak civilians anymore. You're not risking lives out here."
Still unable to accept this she covered her face in anguish, "But I could've so easily hurt som –"
"Don't, you were never a danger to anyone" He cut across firmly. How could he have been so certain? Why hadn't he run a mile as soon as she'd fallen asleep? She shook her head, not understanding this man at all.
"Why didn't you run?" She whispered, almost angry; he obviously didn't fully understand the danger she'd put everyone in. "What if you'd fallen asleep too! Then who would've stopped me?" She was angry, at herself and at him. He regarded her silently for a moment, before looking to the tents around the camp.
"No one here is weak. If they'd seen something was about to happen, they would've been able to handle it. Please, relax, you didn't hurt anyone Blaize."
He held her gaze firmly until it finally hit her; she'd fallen asleep and everyone was still alive and unharmed. Relief poured down her spine.
"You're an idiot Portgas D Ace." She said weakly. He chuckled and got up; she didn't back away this time. Even when his arms wrapped around her she didn't fight the rare human contact, instead sinking into his warm hug.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"Anytime." He murmured his chin resting gently atop her head.
An icy chill blew through the camp, fluttering the tents. Blaize unconsciously pulled him closer, seeking his amazing warmth. One would think, with such similar devil fruits she might possess the same warmth. However if she tried to warm herself up using her power, she'd either blow up or scorch people when the touched her. See, Ace could still use his for good.
A chill nothing to do with the frozen wasteland slivered down her spine. She remembered her nightmare. She wanted to cry but she'd never cried in front of anyone and she wasn't about to start now. Still, she couldn't suppress the shiver and it was enough to catch Ace's attention.
"You ok?" He asked, pulling back but not letting go completely.
No, in truth she was still shaken from falling asleep, but she nodded and pulled on her mask. Every bit of emotional turmoil was instantly hidden from the outside world, away from the young man in front of her; the young man very much in front of her. As if both realising how they were at the same moment they pulled away as quickly, but casually as possible. They both sat down but without Ace's warmth, Blaize began to shiver instantly. With a sigh he pulled her against his side, hushing her protests.
"You'll freeze." He said simply.
"Maybe I'd rather freeze." She grumbled.
"Ah! There you are; I was beginning to wonder."
"Don't be facetious."
He laughed, a deep rumble which she felt reverberate through her pleasantly. A comfortable silence fell between them. Blaize closed her eyes and tilted her head against his shoulder tentatively; she was still so tired.
"It's alright," He murmured as if reading her thoughts, "if you need to sleep go ahead, I'll be here."
"And if your narcolepsy hits?" She retorted.
"I'll pinch you."
She sighed tiredly, "I can't take the risk Ac –"
"Sleep." He commandeered. "You protected me last night, now let me return the favour."
Blaize started and looked up. He was smiling beneath his pulled down hat, "what, you think I didn't know about that?"
Shaking her head she gave up and settled down against him. She wouldn't sleep; she'd just rest her eyes for a few moments to preserve her energy. "Who said I was saving you Portgas? Maybe I just wanted to sit and watch the stars all night." She mumbled and felt him smirk.
"If you want to watch real stars just look up."
She did and gasped. She sat up under his arm, eyes wide, taking in the magnificent sight above her. As far as her eyes could see, there was a blanket full of billions and billions of bright stars, stretching across the night sky in a wide arching dome. This was not the first time she'd seen a sight like this, but it was something she never got used to and one of the reasons she loved to travel far from civilisation, into untouched waters and wilds.
"Would you like to move into a tent?" He asked, the corners of his lips twitching. She shook her head.
"Later."
"I need to ask your permission then."
"Hmm?" She turned to look up at him. A familiar tingling squirmed in her stomach. His eyes were in shadow but they were focused directly on her; and they were burning again.
"There's only one tent left." She frowned not really sure what he was getting at. "I need your permission to enter with you, if you do fall asleep." Oh...well, hadn't they slept side by side already? Technically it was no different. Then why did it make her heart flip? Oh pull yourself together!
"That's fine Portgas, just keep to your own side." She said frigidly. He tipped his hat in response and began to draw away, "Not now!" she cried. A hand clamped down on her mouth and she looked at Ace, shocked.
"You'll wake everyone, I was only kidding." DONK! "Ah! Sss" He withdrew his hand and hissed, rubbing the spot she'd thwacked.
"Don't ever do that again."
He chuckled roughly, but offered her his arm again. She said nothing, just settled back onto Ace's shoulder and watched the stars until her eyes couldn't stay open a minute more and Ace's soft humming rocked her close to sleep again.
"Ace."
"Mm?"
"You don't have to sleep on the other side of the tent..." She said sleepily. He shifted beside her. His head came to rest on top of hers.
"Good," he murmered, "I wasn't planning to." And with that, she fell into a sweet, dreamless sleep. Well...not quite dreamless...
Next chapter will be an M so buckle up.
Please let me know if anything's not clear up to this point. Of course it could be I just haven't revealed it yet ;)
Review, review, review! I read every single one!