ZabuzasGirl : Haha thank you! Whitebeard will be introduced very soon! For Shanks, I'm still deciding on how I want to incorporate him into the story xD

Ace Portgas D ; K.C.96 ; reem mohammadi :I'm glad you guys like it:) Thank you!

Heritage – Chapter Two

"I don't understand," Alice says, almost glaring at the cards in her hands.

"It's really not that complicated," Jordan, the self-proclaimed poker expert smirks, sitting forward on the wooden chair. This is too easy. "You just have to have to end up with the highest valued hand Alice."

Hitori snorts from next to John on the other side of the table and Jordan shoots him a withering glare. He does this every time. Every time Jordan is in a game of poker with a beginner, Jordan would use the clueless amateur to his advantage. In a way, he was a hustler.

"Flush." Maurice says as he places five spades on the table. Two, four, seven, jack and king.

"Not so fast my man." Jordan grins. "Four of a kind."

Groans reached his ears as he gleefully claps his hands like a child.

"You're a pro Jordan, it's not fair to us commoners." Ace cries as he unwillingly hands his beli to Jordan. "Hey Ali-chan, what cards do you have?"

Alice glares at the freckled man. "Don't call me Ali-chan." Annoying. She places her ten cards flat out on the table. I still don't understand this game.

The sound of money being collected stopped abruptly as the boy's mouths gapped wide open.
"Th-That's a Royal Flush!" Hitori exclaimed excitedly. "Alice got a Royal Flush!"

"What's a Royal Flush?"

"That's the highest hand!" Ace laughs. "You're not that great after all neh Jordan,"

"Beginners luck…" Jordan grumbles as he hands the beli over to Alice. "I want a rematch," Jordan hits the table and glares at the amused woman next to him.

Alice only laughs as she places her money in her kimono sleeve. [dang, she can fit a ton of stuff in there haha] "Maybe next time," Yeah right, as if I'd play this ridiculous game ever again. Thinking back, she did recall Marco and Thatch playing this game a couple of times on the Moby Dick. Though, she was just never interested in playing. Hell, she didn't even know how she was convinced to play with the Spade Pirates in the first place. All she remembered was eating lunch with the crew then ending up with cards in her hands.

Okay, maybe she did agree to play because she had time before her log pose set, or maybe because she found the crew rather fascinating, especially the freckled captain. No matter what the reason was, the fact is, she played. First time ever and last. Even after a ten minute brief on how to play, she still didn't understand how anyone could completely memorize what hand was what and what hand was better than the other. It was complete luck that she won.

"It was nice meeting you lot, but I better get going." She smiles. There's no way, I'm sitting through another game. She knew her log pose hasn't finished setting yet, but the first game was bad enough. Sitting through another game will only bore her to death.

"Aw c'mon Ali-chan," No sooner than the words left Ace's mouth, Alice shot the man another smoldering glare. However, the hat-wearing brunette simply ignored her gaze and laughed. "What's the rush? Lets play another game."

"No." Alice got up and gave the crew a short bow. "I'll see you around." Ignoring the group's protests, she walked out the casino.

Alice knew she was being followed. She rolled her eyes as she stopped at a market stand. Childish. She picked up a small hand-mirror and arranged it in an angle where she can see her stalker.

Behind the cobblestone corner, Ace watched as the masked woman picked a small mirror. What is she…. Oh shit. It was too late. She already saw him. Oh well. He let out a small chuckle as he walked over to her. "You caught me." He says as he scratches the back of his head sheepishly. He wasn't expecting her not to catch him following her. He just didn't anticipate her to catch him so quickly.

"Why are you following me?" Alice asks while placing the mirror back on the stand. Shouldn't he be playing poker with his crew?

Ace laughs nervously. "Ah... um... I wanted to uh,"

"Never mind, what do you want?" Alice dismisses his poor excuse to create an excuse. She didn't particularly care what his reasoning was. Fifteen minutes till the log pose sets.

"Nothing really." He smiles. Alice rolls her eyes. Buffoon. She turns around and proceeds to walk away from speckled man.

"Hey Ali-chan, wait up!"

Alice gave up on correcting Ace. He was obviously intent on calling her 'Ali-chan'.

Maybe if she ignored him, he would go away. She needed to leave this island and head to Windmill Hill. She was already behind schedule.

"Ali-chan~," Ace sang. Alice resisted the urge to giggle. "Ali-chan, I know you can hear me~," By now, they were walking side by side, Ace's eyes on her the entire time, while singing her name.

"What?!" She exclaimed, halting her steps as she faces the grinning man before her. "Stop following me!"

"No can do~,"

"Why not?!"

"Because I don't want to~,"

"…"

She sighed. This man was something else. He is definitely an interesting character, an idiot, but interesting none less. "Go back to your crew. I'm about to leave this island anyway." She says as she continues to walk towards the shore.

"Neh, don't be so-"

Alice stopped. Is he not going to finish his sentence? She turned around and panicked. Did he die?! …. Wait. "Who the hell falls asleep while walking?!" She exclaims. "Oy, idiot! Wake up!" She grabbed Ace's shoulders and shook the sleeping man.

"Uh... huh?" Ace blinks. "What are you doing here Ali-chan?"

"You fell asleep while walking you buffoon!" Alice was fuming. What the hell is wrong with this kid?!

"Oh," He yawns. "Sorry, sorry Ali-chan."

Alice lets out a sigh, "Does this happen often?"

"Yeah," he laughs sheepishly.

"You narcoleptic idiot,"

A/N: Check my profile bio for link to Alice's appearance.