Urrr, I'm two weeks and a day late, sorry, so so sorry. School started up and I needed time to adjust to the workload, I actually had to force myself to put time in for this chapter haha :P I wrote a lot of it this Thursday but the majority of it today, I figured that I should just do it all today since it's my only free day of the week now.

I struggled writing out this chapter, mostly because the plot could go down so many different directions and I was thinking a lot on which one I should choose. Thankfully, I think I have a clear one set out now.

I'll try to keep up with the update schedule, but consider it more of a default update day. I'll try to do Friday's but it won't always be doable, nonetheless, I really like where this story is going.

I read over this once as of now so when I read it again I'll fix any errors in spelling or grammar, but for now Enjoy! :D

[Kids – Vitamin String Quartet]

She had hardly slept at all. She had spent the whole night tossing and turning in frustration. The fact that she stayed up all night frustrated, frustrated her more. It wasn't like she was a newbie to the whole romance scene, she flirted with her fair share of men , but never this. The kiss. Her first kiss, caught her off-gaurd, and yet she still returned it. Even though she scampered off after it happened, she had to admit she enjoyed the feeling of it as well- not that she would ever tell that damned pirate that, and God forbid he ever found out it was her first kiss. The thought of him using the information as blackmail made her shudder and stuff her face into her pillow.

So now here she was, twisted in covers and thoroughly exhausted. The early morning light shone through the small porthole. The Moby Dick was probably already anchored off shore to Helios, she didn't feel the ship rocking like it usually did. With nothing else to do, Akane threw the covers off of her and dressed in her day clothes: her black tank top and black shorts she got from the nurses a long while ago. After slipping on the soft clothing, her eye caught shiny pink hanging on a hook to the side of the room. She hadn't worn the kimono as of late, maybe she should wear it today. She walked over to the hook and took the pink silk off, dressing herself in it. Standing in front of the slim, vertical mirror she looked at her reflection, content.

Stepping out of her room, she noticed that the ship was quiet all around her. It made sense considering how early in the morning it was, she did jump out of bed as soon as she could. The red-head routinely made her way to the galley, seeing as there was no where else she could go at that time in the day. Walking through the eerily quiet hallway reminded her of her days of waking up first as the captain of her own crew. Her brows furrowed, where would she go from here? Would she return to her crew and continue where she left off, receiving and completing missions for the government?

Her legs carried her to the galley as she was lost in her muddled thoughts, she stood in the middle aisle in a daze as she stared into space.

"You're up early."

The voice was unexpected and it surprised her, she turned to face the owner of it. She was met with a tired-eyed redhead sitting at one of the tables, resting his chin on his knuckles.

"Thatch? What're you doing here?" Akane was genuinely surprised, did these people ever sleep at all? She walked over to where he was sitting and sat across from him.

"Ah well, a few of us had to wake up real early to dock the ship. Most of them just went back to sleep afterward, I'm not that kind of guy though, can't go back to sleep once I wake up." He opened his fisted hand and let his cheek sit comfortably in it, sleepily smiling at her.

She gave an exhausted chuckle at his tired state, "I know the feeling, believe me." The talk of sleep made her instinctively yawn. She jumped when the kitchen swing doors opened, revealing a chef walking through with a plate of breakfast and a coffee on a tray.

Thatch's eyes lit up at the sight of the food, "Ah, thanks! Hey could you bring another plate for the lovely Miss as well?" He turned his head to give her a toothy smile, seemingly instantly energized.

"No, I'm fine," she mumbled, waving her hands in defense, "I don't really have an appetite."

"Oh nonsense!" The insistent pirate turned back to the chef, "Just bring a little something for the lady alright?" The confused chef simply nodded in response and headed back to the kitchen.

Akane sighed, tired and defeated, "I told you, I'm really not-"

"Is this all cause you're worried about what's going to happen today or something?" Thatch was looking at her with a serious expression, his eyes steady and piercing, much unlike his usual upbeat self.

"What? No, I just..." She really didn't know what it was, it was a mix of everything. The separation to come, the memories, the kiss, the new friendships, her duty, her future from here, it was all tied tightly in a tangled web and she couldn't decipher her emotions from one to the other. She dug her hand into her hair and rested her elbow on the table, "I don't know."

"I know what you're going through you know." He took a mouthful of eggs into his mouth and swallowed the chewed food, washing it down with a sip of coffee, "It was a long time ago, I was a bit older than yourself, and I had to choose between joining the Whitebeard's or staying with the crew I was with before. Of course, Pops said he would kill me if I didn't join him- if I tried to return to my old crew."

She hummed in response. "Doesn't seem like you had much of a choice."

He chuckled through a mouthful of food, "Guess not. But you know what? It was better that way. I know in my heart I secretly wanted to join Pops, he's super strong and I instantly held respect for him when I first spoke to him. Pops cutting down my options to only one helped push me towards what I already wanted but was too scared to choose on my own. I happily chose to stay with Pops, and he granted protection to me when my old crew tried to kill me for betrayal." He paused in his story-telling, taking another sip of his coffee with a serious face, "The crew I was in before I met Pops was bad, the worst of the worst. No matter how long I live, I'll never be able to repay for the sins I committed. But having a family like this one, it makes it easier to get through the day."

She stared at the man with an enlightened face, she responded quietly, "Not that I don't appreciate that you're willing to tell me this, but why are you telling me this exactly?"

He flashed his natural smile, "Well, I thought it would help you out. See right now you think that your path is opening in too many directions and you feel lost," he leaned in closer to her over the table, "but it's really only two paths for you right now: returning to the Navy, or doing what you want to do, and you know in your heart which path you want to pursue don't you?" He wore an all-knowing smirk as he leaned back into his seat.

Akane sat surprised and blinked for a few moments before she could mouth words for a response, "And how are you so sure that those two paths aren't one and the same?"

He chuckled and shook his head, "I'm better at reading people than I look." He shrugged his shoulders and sighed, "Listen, stop over complicating things. I'm not going to tell you what to choose, but a little piece advice: pick what you truly want, even if you'll have to deal with the consequences afterward, because, believe me, it's worth the baggage." He downed the last bit of his coffee as the same chef returned with Akane's food. He stood up and looked down at her with a gentle smile, "Just sit down and think for a bit alright? I have to go start waking up the rest of the guys so just enjoy your meal quietly alright Miss Akane?" He ruffled her hair as he passed by her on his way to leave.

She mumbled more to herself than to him, "I've been thinking a lot, believe me."

She ate her breakfast alone in silence as she mulled over what Thatch had said to her. Akane just finished eating as the earlybirds of the crew were pouring in for their share of food. She got up from her seat to make room and put her plate away. As she was passing by the slowly filling tables she was given morning greetings by the pirates she had gotten to know over the past few weeks and the imminent feeling of closure was continuing to creep up on her with each table she passed and each smile she received.

Finding it hard to breathe, Akane hurriedly returned the plate to the kitchen and strode out of the galley. She made her way through memorized hallways to make it to the deck. The fresh air hit her and she found that she was intaking gasps of it through her mouth as if she were breaking through the surface of water, deprived of it. Her knees felt weak and her mind swirled in dizziness. She couldn't take in the area around her because she couldn't focus, but in her dazed state she felt someone shaking her shoulders quite violently as if to jostle her awake. Her blurred vision tried to center as she was forced to fight the strange feeling washing over her. Her hearing felt like she was underwater but she could pick up someone trying to call out to her.

"-ane, oi! Miss Akane!"

Her vision was covered in black spots but she could make out who it was. She had to search for her voice through gasps of air, coming out raspy, "Marco..." Her body weight fell forward and he supported her up.

"It's alright, just breathe alright? Can you hear me? Breathe slowly." His voice was the only thing she could focus on at that point and she let herself go, giving him all her weight to hold as she let her vision drown in black. The first commander looked up to acknowledge the crowd gathered around the scene, "She'll be fine, nothing to see now yoi, move along." He shooed away the worried crowd, but they complied, returning to their original plans of filling their stomachs.

Marco picked up the unconscious girl into his arms and strode in the opposite direction. It probably wasn't anything too serious, but it didn't hurt to get her checked up. The bundle in his arms murmured nonsense as he made his way to the infirmary hall.

When he reached the girl's door, he hip-bumped it open and walked over to the bed, placing the girl gently on the mattress. Marco habitually ruffled her red locks before going off to find one of the nurses.

"It seemed like she had a panic attack. Stress coupled with things like sleep depravity can cause strong attacks. She fell unconscious because of the lack of oxygen to her brain from hyperventilating, but she'll be alright with a bit of rest." The nurse gave the synopsis of her diagnosis as she was putting away her equipment. "I don't know exactly what's going on with her, but I think she's dealing with a very heavy burden right now and it's taken it's toll on her. She's such a young girl as well, no matter how mature she is for her age, the mind isn't fully developed at that age. Immature minds are easier to stress and break down..." She finished packing the equipment and looked up at Marco, "Commander, please don't let anyone do anything to stress her out more, she's... exhausted, mentally and physically." Her eyes lingered a bit before she nodded to him and walked out of the room carrying her bag.

Marco sat on the bed and watched the sleeping figure, "Exhausted, huh." He brought a hand up and gently swept away strands of her hair with the sides of his knuckles, bringing the locks away from her face and stroking her forehead with his thumb. He shook his head and chuckled to himself. He absentmindedly added the rest of his fingers to the stroking movement and began to softly pet the top of her head. "Spoiled brat."

[Kiss Me – Ed Sheeran]

The first thing Ace registered when he woke up was the relentless pounding on the insides of his head. He moaned and rolled over, burying his face in his pillow. The light outside from the porthole was too bright for his tired eyes, it was probably already late morning and he sighed when he realized he probably missed breakfast yet again.

He closed his eyes and recalled the dreams he had last night, or were they reality? He couldn't tell or remember quite right exactly so it didn't matter. His dreams were all over the place last night, he could still remember the chaos of it all. Things like a circus show, talking animals, a banquet, and a whole mess of things he couldn't quite grasp from his memory were there. There was something else too, something he felt like he should remember but couldn't.

He groaned and rolled out of bed, landing on the floor on his butt. Running his fingers through his hair, he stumbled over to pick up his shorts and put them on, fastening them loosely with his belt. He located his boots thrown haphazardly across the floor and trudged to collect them and put them on.

Ace squinted and looked at the light coming from out of the small window. If his memories weren't completely a mess, he was sure that they should be ported at that island today. His eyes widened, was the thing he wanted to remember have something to do with the island? He sighed and made his way out of his room, entering out into the Commander's hallway.

As he walked through halls, his legs stopped moving on their own accord. Surprised at this own actions, he looked around to see what had influenced him. His eyes landed on a sign that had 'Sick Bay' in black paint written on it.

His head throbbed and he held a hand up to his forehead to support it. So the memory has something to do with the Sick Bay then? Ace heard a door creak open and he looked up to see Marco slipping out of one of the rooms.

"Marco? What's up?" It was a rare sight to see the regenerative phoenix anywhere near the infirmary.

"Akane caused a bit of a scene a little while earlier, she's resting now yoi."

Akane. The memory definitely had to do something with her, he was sure of it. The blank wall in his mind frustrated him and he found himself walking towards her door, that is, if Marco didn't sidestep in his way.

"Oi. The nurse said to let her rest." Marco looked down into Ace's eyes as he spoke, just hoping the one-track-mind behind them understood what he meant.

"Damn it Marco, just move! I need to see her, it's important!" Maybe if he saw her he would remember what the hell has been swirling out of reach in his mind.

"It can wait, yoi. We're going to wake her up when we set foot on the island anyway." He swung an arm over the shorter male's shoulders and began to guide him out of the hallway, "It'll only be about two hours before we can start getting off the ship. Pops said once we get the provisions storage ready we can start gathering supplies from the island."

Ace slipped out of his hold and turned around, intending to see Akane. "Enticing as that sounds, I need to see her now. I won't wake her, I just need to see her for a sec alright?"

Marco sighed but complied, "Fine yoi. Just be quiet when you're in there." He looked at the younger male a moment longer before continuing out of the hall, leaving Ace alone.

Ace took a deep breath in before turning the knob of the wooden door, the sound of it creaking echoed throughout the quiet room. He slowly made his was to the bed at the other end of the small space, his eyes on the person sleeping under the covers. He stood there, at the head of the bed, as memories from last night began to creep out of his foggy mind.

"Give me one good actual reason for me to stay."

He had kissed her- or atleast he thought he did. Was that a dream or reality? No it couldn't have been one of the crazy dreams, he could vividly remember how soft and warm her lips felt against his.

"You belong here."

Ace hesitantly sat down on the mattress, tilting his head to get a better look at her relaxed features. His eyes rested on her parted lips, quietly breathing in air. They enticed him and he decided that he would quite enjoy tasting them again, this time with a sober mind.

He gently placed his hand beside her head on the pillow and used it as support as he slowly leaned down to her. He rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes, taking in the feeling of his lips hovering a hair's breadth away from hers.

"You damn drunkard."

Ace opened his eyes and bit the side of his lower lip. Reluctantly, he shuddered a sigh and pulled away from her. He remembered how upset she was after he had kissed her, and after that she disappeared for the rest of the night. He lifted his hand off the pillow and brought it to her cheek, holding her gently so she wouldn't wake up. He absentmindedly stroked her bottom lip with his thumb as he remembered how it felt the night before.

Suddenly, he felt dirty. There he was, stroking an innocent, unconscious woman's lower lip as he thought about taking it in between his own pair. He's dirty down to his bones. He's a pirate, he has done more wrong than he could ever recount, he has the blood of a demon in his veins, and right then he just felt like any old pervert. He recoiled his hand and stood up, stumbling a few steps away from the bed.

He pressed the palm of his hand to his forehead as he quickly made his way out of the room. He knew better than anyone that he didn't deserve to be loved, but he couldn't help his damned self. Thinking things and letting his mind wander over her was pointless, because in the end she was ultimately a Marine and today was likely the last day he would ever see her again. The world is big, who knows where she could be by tomorrow, by then she would have already forgotten her time on the Moby Dick.

The throbbing hangover he had ignored was returning among the list of turmoil that was growing in his head. He tried to get away from the room as far as possible, escaping to the upper deck.

[Nuvole Bianche – Ludovico Einaudi]

"Mommy, do I have a dad?"

The woman she was looking up at met her eyes and giggled, "Of course you do sweetheart, everybody is born from a mommy and daddy."

She tilted her head in confusion, "Then how come I never seen daddy before?"

Her mother crouched down to meet her eyes, "Daddy's been a bit busy, but you'll meet him soon."

"What?" She looked down at her body and noticed that she was grown up now. "Dad... he's still alive?"

Her mother stood up and was eye level with her daughter, "Without a doubt," Elizabeth reached out and held the heart pendant that hung around her daughter's neck with her thumb and index finger, "I think you're old enough to know now."

"Really? You'll tell me?" She spoke hopefully to the smiling woman across from her.

"Of course," the hand that was holding the necklace then rested on her shoulder, "You see..." She started to violently shake her, "Akane! Akane! Aka-"

"Ow! Stop it! Mom, stop!"

"-ne!"

"Ow! Stop it! Mom, stop!" She instinctively swung an arm out and felt it make hard contact with something.

"Ah! Damn it. Haki in your sleep, seriously, yoi?" Marco rubbed his quickly healing bruised temple. "I was trying to wake you. We're readying to set foot on the island, you can't stay in here."

"Well hell, I'd love to be woken up like that all the time." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Her mood was definitely foul and despite the well needed rest she felt tired.

He frowned, "Are you alright? You called out for your mother yoi." His voice sounded a bit concerned.

Akane froze. Did she? That's right, she had dreamed about her mother. It was surreal. Vivid. For the first time, she was her present self speaking to her mother, not a little girl. It wasn't just another memory this time, she had actually dreamed up a completely new scenario.

"O-oi.. Miss Akane..." His arms reached out and wrapped around her shoulders, bringing her upper body in to his chest. "You're crying."

"So?" She sounded just as defeated as she felt. She hated to cry in front of others... But her mother! She saw her mother! For once it wasn't a violent, bloody nightmare either, her mother was there and she felt warm and she sounded happy and Akane never realized just how much she missed her until then.

"C'mon yoi, let's go," He pushed her away from his chest just enough so he could look into her eyes. He smiled as he spoke, "This is the moment you've been waiting for all this time isn't it?"

She wiped her tears away with the sleeves of her kimono and nodded into the pink silk.

"Alright, then what are we waiting for? They're all waiting for us up top." He pointed above them. He shifted so he could stand up from the bed and turned to look at Akane still sitting there.

He sighed, the concern the nurse had earlier about her condition still lingering at the back of his mind worried him. He began to hum an old tune in an attempt at relaxing her like one would with a child, "Little soldier girl..." He hummed, "come marching home, brave soldier girl, comes marching home..."

A small smile played on her lips as she heard him sing. His singing was relaxed and soothing, his voice a smooth tenor. She let out a small giggle, "Alright, alright, I'm not a baby that has to be lulled out of a fit. I'm fine."

"Really? I'm not so sure." One of his hands rested on his hips while he waited for her as she stood up.

"I'm not a baby! You're just an old geezer!"

The immature bickering continued as they made their way up to the deck. Marco simply played along, figuring the teasing was a coping mechanism the girl used to relax herself during nerve wracking situations.

People on deck were already loading barrels and crates onto rowing boats. The massive ship has to be anchored quite a far distance off the shore, so once the vessel reaches a certain point the crew has to manually row to the island in groups. Whitebeard was standing and watching over the work being done, his bisento in hand.

"We're ready to go Pops, there's no one left below deck yoi." Marco said as he walked over to Whitebeard with Akane in tow.

"Good. Then I guess it's time." Marco nodded in response, waiting for his Captain's next move. Akane jumped when Whitebeard pounded the bottom of his bisento on the deck, drawing all attention to him. "Men! Tell me, how did you find the visitor these past few weeks?"

Happy roars and shouts erupted from the crew all over the deck, almost everyone seemingly having a more or less positive view on the soldier girl.

"I thought it was so. Akane," The addressed girl craned her head up and swallowed, Whitebeard had never used her name before and the thought of it made her a bit nervous. "I give you two options: Die here... or become my daughter as a Whitebeard Pirate."

Her jaw slackened, he wasn't... going to let her go? All this time she was sure on the fact that being in good terms with the crew would mean that she would leave alive, not that it would entice them to have her join their crew. Her mind blanked. But... was it really a bad thing? Truly? She had admitted it to herself that being with them had given her back a part of herself she lost years ago, didn't that mean being here was better for her? But did he really have to threaten to kill her otherwise?

"I know in my heart I secretly wanted to join Pops, he's super strong and I instantly held respect for him when I first spoke to him. Pops cutting down my options to only one helped push me towards what I already wanted but was too scared to choose on my own."

Her troubles cleared with the epiphany; he had known what she wanted more than she knew it herself.

"Pick what you truly want, even if you'll have to deal with the consequences afterward, because, believe me, it's worth the baggage."

Her features relaxed and she wore a small smile. "Sure thing, Captain."

Whoop, so there it is, the big reveal! So everything is going to go well from here... or will they? (:

A few things about this chapter:

-Since Thatch's past was never revealed in canon, I decided to make up a bit of my own. I feel like that sort of past suits him, since he's always acting positive and happy in fanarts and in the little canon that we saw him in. I feel like he would act like that since he realizes that he's lucky for the life he has with the crew.

-Writing the panic attack was kind of hard, I experienced a mild one with hyperventilating before but nothing too intense so I had to kind of just guess what would happen, of course backed up with real symptoms but yeaah. I feel like it would only be normal for her, since she had so many things burdening her and stressing her out. If you noticed, one of the bigger reasons she felt that way was because of 'the separation to come'. I wrote this out because Akane hasn't felt that attached to anyone since her time with her mother. Her separation from her mother was violent and traumatic, so the thought of parting ways with all the people she formed bonds with made her subconsciously panic and it pained her.

-Ace woke up very late in the morning so by the time he talked to Marco, how much time had passed while Marco sat in the infirmary? ;D

-It's not that Ace didn't care about what happened to Akane, it's just that he was hungover and frustrated out so he wanted to get answers to clear his mind. Plus, he knows she's strong and that she can take care of herself.

-I really wanted Ace to kiss her, I really really really did. I was tempted to do it too, but I couldn't. We know up until the moment he died, Ace considered himself undeserving of love. "Even though I have the blood of a demon, thank you for loving me." So I feel like his self-hate would hold him back from truly being involved with someone romantically, he would ultimately feel unworthy of it. (In my idea atleat, idk some people may interpret his issues differently) So that's definitely something that needs to be resolved before the end of the story. (Besides, I don't want my bby to hate himself ;-;)

-Hmm, the foreshadowing of Akane's dream.. (:

-Okay okay, I dont care if Marco singing is ooc, or if it even is ooc, I really wanted to put that in there. It was kinda spontaneous and wasn't supposed to be there but I really liked it. & did I really use Leaves From a Vine in a fic? Yes. What? What crossovers are you talking about? haha

-I really like Thatch's character and up until now I haven't given him much time in the plot, so I wanted him to have kind of an influence on Akane's choice to stay. Also, he'll be in the story a lot in a later arc, just a hint: we'll start flowing into canon territory eventually.

Replies!

Guest: Hmm are you the same guest that was Akira-chan? Heehee, yes they did! Oops, I didn't write it fast, please don't kill me D: lol

Lanny: LOL believe me, I was giggling like an idiot when I was writing Marco acting like a pervert. Hmm, I really have to think about reactions, but tbh I really think most of the crew would be like "hahah it's about time!" & Marco's a grown man, I don't think he'll be too butt hurt over it. Unfortunately, the romance side of the plot is going to be pushed to the side a bit because I'll be starting on "actual" plot as of now. Of course there will be development between characters, but the atmosphere is going to be too serious to be worrying about "Oh my gosh, you guys kissed?" haha :P & I'm glad you like the songs, I kind of like adding them, it helps with the atmosphere.

desirae668: Ahhh Im so sorrrryyy, please forgive me? :D To be honest I felt like holding off writing the chapter even longer because I was too lazy to write it but then I read your review today and it got my ass on the computer to type this shit out LOL spent most of my day doing it but it's worth it. I gotta say, it made me supper bubble to hear that you actually check up on this fic for updates, haha :$

So that's it for this update. I wil try to update every week, but again, with school now it'll be a bit hard to keep it punctual. I'm honestly so giddy at the thought that people are actually keeping up with my writing hahaha :$ Thanks everyone!

Review? (: