A/N Thank you for reviewing this story guys, it's great to know that you're enjoying it. Makes me that much more excited to update it for you!
After the whole ordeal with beating up a whole bunch of Marines, the trio of Spade Pirates had decided to lay low and hide out in a small bar and restaurant deeper in the town, away from the scene of the crime.
The rest of the crew knew that they could get whatever they wanted from the island and do whatever they wanted as long as they returned to the boat by the end of the day and didn't cause too much trouble.
Ace wouldn't leave without any of them but he would be very annoyed if he had to go out looking for them. They were his crew, not his children.
Ace, Lucy and Samson were sat around a small table tucked in the corner of the restaurant part of the building with a mountain of food piled in front of them. Neither of the men were too sure as to what Lucy liked so they pretty much ordered something of everything, which she thought was very thoughtful of them.
And also very pricey but that was their choice, not hers. It wasn't exactly like she could foot the bill. She wasn't even entirely sure as to what currency they used in this land.
"Here." Ace mumbled through a mouthful of food, he pushed his dagger across the table for Lucy to take. "You need it more than I do. For protection. You have a knack for getting lost and in trouble." Samson snorted out a laugh.
She looked down at the curved weapon and pushed it back. Shaking her head, she started to munch on some crispy chips and ignored the dagger.
"You need it." Ace insisted, pushing it back. She chucked a chip at his face and shook her head again.
"No. I'm not taking anything else from you, I don't want to be a freeloader that pushes her way into your crew, steals your clothes and takes your lucky dagger from you." Ace raised his eyebrow and played with the tassel on his hat.
"I wouldn't say it was lucky." He mumbled quietly.
She sighed heavily. "Please, just let me earn my own way. Give me jobs like you do the rest of the crew. Anything at all. I just don't want to be a burden on any of you anymore."
Samson and Ace were quiet as they both stared at Lucy's serious looking face. Then Ace pulled the dagger back off the table and returned it to it's sheath situated on his belt.
"Alright then, I'll give you more jobs aboard the ship. But we're getting you a weapon, today. Let me do this for you."
Samson nodded his head in agreement. "I know the perfect place full of deadly little weapons that would be ideal for you Lucy."
"This one's pretty cute." Samson whipped a small combination knife from the stand that was spinning in front of them. Lucy examined the weapon and traced a finger over the pink finish. She was about to take it from him but Ace smacked her hand away and replaced the small weapon with a giant sword.
"She needs something that'll actually do some damage, not a little butter knife." There was a tint of irritation in his voice as he shoved the huge sword in her face. It looked like a samurai sword of sorts, but much thicker.
Her fingers wrapped around the handle and immediately, she knew she wasn't going to get along with something like this. When she returned it to Ace's hand with a shake of her head, Samson pulled a smug face and held the pocket knife out again but Lucy ignored the both of them and stepped forward, her eyes set on something entirely different.
Something that would feel familiar but still do the damage that was needed for the savages that were in this land.
Ace's eyes widened and Samson's mouth fell open at the weapon of her choice. She grasped the handle and sighed happily at the familiarity. Throwing it over her shoulder and sending it zooming forwards, the metallic smack it made when it made contact with the floor made her mind up. This was the weapon she wanted.
"You want that? Are you sure?" Ace said, emphasizing on the word that. Samson's eyes were sparkling as he spoke.
"You seem to know how to work with that weapon." Lucy nodded and smiled shyly. "Back where I'm from, I have a few of these but none quite like this." The weapon of her choice was of course a whip, except this one had something the others she'd had in the past didn't.
She'd had a standard leather one and one that she had been gifted from the celestial spirit realm. This one was fully metallic.
It had a sharp arrow like edge at the very end that was sure to leave a mark on her enemies, the rest was a chain link metal that she would be able to grasp if she had the right pair of gloves. It would shred her skin if she tried to hold it otherwise.
After leaving with her purchases, the day was pretty much over as the sun was setting and it was time to return to the ship.
The walk to the harbor was short but the trio stopped dead in their tracks when a woman shrieked Ace's name. Freezing on the spot, he pulled his hat down to cover his eyes and started to walk faster. Lucy looked behind them and saw a woman pushing past people to try and reach them. Her auburn hair was trailing behind her as she ran towards them.
"Yoohoo Sam, Ace. Wait up!"
Samson made a noise as he saw her approaching them, pulled his shirt up to cover his mouth and he too picked up the pace. Lucy trailed behind them, still looking over her shoulder at the girl who was slowly gaining on them.
"Uh guys, that girl's trying to get your attention, don't you want to say hi?"
"No!" They said in unison and carried on. The ship was in eyesight now and escape was near but Ace let out a low groan as he was tackled from behind. The girl had finally caught them. She rolled Ace onto his back, pulled his hat off and popped it onto her head.
"Hey there cowboy, why were you running away?" She was straddling him now, like he was a horse and Lucy wasn't entirely thrilled about it. Ace snatched his hat off the girl and shoved her off his body.
"Get the hell off me Candy, what do you think you're doing?" Getting to his feet, Ace wiped off some of the dirt that had now gotten on his light yellow shirt and glared at the newcomer.
She pouted and twirled a ringlet of her hair around her finger, then her attention settled on Lucy and a look of understanding settled on the girl's face.
"Ah, have you gotten a new toy now? She's quite cute but is she enough for you?" Trailing a finger down Ace's exposed chest, he took a step back and looked a little bit sick from the contact.
The girl didn't look fazed and continued her assault on the boys, but moving over to Samson who looked absolutely terrified.
"And here I was thinking that we had a lot of fun the last time we were together? We could do it again if you want? I'll come with you to your ship and-"
"No." Ace said firmly. "Get out of her, we're not interested. You know the ship is out of bounds anyway, members only."
Lucy stared at the floor, feeling slightly awkward being in between this conversation. Clearly these three had a past of some kind and she was getting in the middle of it.
"I can go wait at the harbor if you guys want to have a catch up before we leave?" Lucy had her hand secured on her hip where she had her new whip in it's holder, begging to be used if anybody caused trouble for her. Ace and Samson both grasped her wrists, halting her movements. Their eyes begging her to stay.
"We're coming, she's going." Lucy was secretly happy that they had decided to come with her. This girl seemed like trouble and these guys were her friends. They could do a lot better than her if that was the type of relationship they did have.
"I'll see you both in a couple of months then once this one is thrown away?" The girl's voice was full of spite and it made Lucy snap.
With one leather covered hand, she pulled her whip out, holding half of the chain, she twisted her wrist so it extended towards the girl's face but just stopped short. It was enough to scare the living daylights out of her but not to do any damage.
"They're not interested in you sweetie, go home and save yourself the embarrassment." Lucy smiled sweetly at her and turned back around to walk back to the ship.
Candy's face burnt with embarrassment at being shown up. "Who do you think you are? You're just another slut that he'll be done with soon. You're not special."
Samson pulled Lucy against his body and molded his lips against hers, catching her completely off guard. Her body went completely stiff and she stared at him with wide eyes.
'Why the hell is he kissing me?'
"Ugh." The girl huffed loudly and could be heard stomping off into the distance. Samson's body was ripped off Lucy as Ace held him up by his collar, his fist a bundle of flames, ready to strike.
"What do you think you're doing Sam?" His voice was an angry growl.
"Candy had a knife, she was going to stab Lucy as soon as she had her back to her. The only way to get rid of that crazy bitch was to prove that we aren't interested." His gentle blue eyes connected with Lucy's and an apologetic smile stretched his face.
"I'm sorry about that darlin' I meant no harm." Lucy smiled back, all of a sudden nervous and nodded her head.
"No it's fine, thanks for saving me." She tried to not get angry at the fact that Samson had actually stolen her first kiss.
Ace released his friend but still had a sour look on his face. "Don't do something like that again, Lucy didn't like it."
For the rest of the night, Lucy had been extremely distracted. She had been nursing the same drink for the past hour so it had gone warm and flat. Her eyes kept glancing over at Ace, he was smiling now thankfully, his foul mood now completely gone.
He was more angry about Sam kissing her than she was. He was protective of her, like the big brother she never had.
It made her sad to think about it because she knew that she would have to leave soon. She had asked her spirit Horologium to keep a count down on how long it was until the next full moon, until it was time for her to make the decision to stay or to go.
Grandpa Crux had been very vague on what was going to happen when her month was up, she assumed that the tear in time would appear and she could make the choice whether to go through it or not.
On the one hand, her whole life was back in Magnolia, she missed her guild and all of the rowdy fights that came with being a part of Fairy Tail. Natsu, she missed him the most.
His fiery personality shone through in Ace though, but where Natsu was a child, Ace was a man, despite the fact that they were around about the same age. Her fingers traced Horologium key and his voice spoke in her mind.
"7 days until the full moon rises Miss Lucy."
One week, that was all she had to make her decision. It felt like her heart was being torn in two, it was too hard. "What's on your mind blondie? You're scrunching your face up and it looks ugly so I thought I'd come over and check on you." Samson slid himself onto the seat opposite Lucy and rested his head in his hands, eager to listen to her.
"Oh you know, stuff. Going back home, staying here. Big decisions." He smiled sadly at her.
"I wish I could help you with that decision, but that is all on you." Taking a hold of her gloved hand, he wrapped her fingers around a fresh glass of beer that he had brought over.
"You need a drink love. Forget about your problems for tonight, worry about them tomorrow."
So that's exactly what she did.
Drunken laughter echoed down the empty hallway as a soberish Samson helped the intoxicated Lucy to bed. He had been a perfect gentleman and did exactly what she needed him to, listen to her problems and offer kind words when it was necessary. He had apologized profusely about kissing her earlier on, which made her then admit that it was the first time she had ever actually kissed someone.
He hadn't said a whole lot after that and had insisted that she be taken to bed. When they arrived at the door, Lucy clung to his back and giggled. "You're big Samson, it's like i'm hugging a bear. Where's Ace?"
"He's in there Lucy, go get some sleep, bye." Pulling away from her, he scurried away, leaving her alone. She slipped down the wall and landed on the wooden floor with a loud bang.
"Pah." She burst out laughing as she tried her best to reach the door handle but it felt like it was meters higher than it was. "Come back handle, I need you." She whispered as the door flew open and Ace stared down at her.
She pulled a 'don't be mad at me.' face and held her hand out for him to pull her up.
"Come on you, bed time."
As Ace tucked her into bed, she sighed happily and closed her eyes.
"I like this place, I think I've made my decision."
