Title: Of Dreams and Desires
Pairings: Smoker x Ace, Sanji x Zoro, and other side pairings
Ratings: T - NC-17
Chapter: 9 of ?
Summary: His story is never really told, yet his death impacted so many people and altered everyone's course in life. This is Portgas D. Ace's story. All the love, pain, and tears will be shown. Understand his story and learn just why he was meant to live. Char Death, Res, Slash, Yuri, Het, Yaoi, Nudity, Language, Strong Violence and Sexual Content. You have been warned. Read and Review.
Disclaimer: I do not make any profit from this story; all props go to Eiichiro Oda.
Author Note: Prepare for longer chapters after this one.
Reviews: Thanks Saix for reviewing.
Beta Reader: descriptionsalive21, thank you so much!
Portgas D. Ace
Ace pulled his boat to the docking bay of Nanohana, it was early morning and the only townsmen awake were the fishermen, readying their boats to get the catch of the day. The commander tied his boat down and, with the sun barely peeking over the horizon, he started his journey into the city in search for the nearest inn so that he could crash for a few hours before he commenced his search for the bounty hunter named Scorpion. He entered a resting establishment called Sand Dunes and walked up to the front desk. "Room for one please."
The mustache-wearing man glanced up at Ace over the rim of his glasses. "New in town?"
Ace took his hat off and ran a hand through his seawater soaked hair. "Yes sir," he leaned his padded elbow on the desk to get closer to the man. "I'm looking for someone that goes by the name of Scorpion. Do you know of him?"
The elderly man removed the frames from his face and cleaned the lenses them with a cloth he'd pulled from the pocket of his vest. "Mm, well, I've never heard of a Scorpion before. If I were you though, and I were looking for someone, I'd check at the Spice Bean–many a folk go there. I'm sure someone there has either seen or heard of him."
"Spice Bean, got it. I'll keep that in mind." Ace smiled at the man.
A sudden crash and someone shouting, "Hey!" came from the other side of the establishment, snatching Ace's attention from the clerk as he quickly turned, watching two drunkards bickering over who was the winner of their domino game. Their altercation turned physical and a nearby bouncer intervened before throwing the men out the inn. Ace then heard a low gasp and turned back to face the old man.
"You're a part of Whitebeard's crew," he whispered so only the two of them could hear.
Ace straightened his back, puffing out his chest in pride. "Yes, sir, I am."
The elder smiled as he stared off to the distance. "That Whitebeard is a good man–he saved me and my family from starving to death when our boat crashed at sea. I'll never forget his kindness and care." He handed Ace a rusted key and said, "The room's on the house. My entire family owes our lives to him, so therefore we all owe our lives to you. We own inns all throughout the world, all you have to do is look for a sign with a red star on the upper left corner. You and anyone you consider an ally are more than welcome at my establishments free of charge, I'll pass word down to my kin."
Ace took the key and gave the man a bright smile. "Thank you, it's greatly appreciated." He stepped away from the desk and asked, "Before I forget, what's your name?"
When the old man laughed, his mustache danced under his nose. "Call me Vancy, that's the family name."
Ace bowed in appreciation once more before he proceeded on to his room. Once there, he dropped his bag near the door and flopped down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling in contemplation of his next move. If someone were to know of Scorpion's location, it'd be easy to gather any information regarding Blackbeard, but if the Spice Bean proved to be a dead end, he would have no choice but to go about finding another way to get the information on his own. That thought pulled a sigh from Ace–this hunting trip was taking longer than he expected. He had this foolish idea that he would find Blackbeard the first place he checked, kill him, and bring proof back to his father and crewmates. Clearly, this wasn't going as plan and there were still questions that remained unanswered in his head.
Did Blackbeard sell the devil fruit or did he eat it? What devil fruit could he have wanted so bad that he had to kill Thatch over it?
Ace rolled over to his side to stare out the window, his hand rubbing slow circles over his chest, noting that the pain that had almost been a constant had begun to ebb away. He had gotten comfortable enough to fall asleep but before he had the chance, he caught a glance of a white sail coming into the port from out his window. He jumped off the bed and walked over to the window, cursing under his breathe at the sight: a Marine ship. He watched the ship dock and the sailors hustle about the ship preparing to touch land.
If the Marines get sight of me, I'll have no choice but to leave town. I need to keep a low profile until I've gathered enough information.
A loud rumble pulled Ace from his thoughts and he rubbed his belly. It'd been a while since he last ate, and the food he'd gotten from the previous island was long forgotten. Figuring he'd forgo sleep and start his search early, Ace left his room and returned to the lobby of the inn, tipping his hat to Vancy as he exited.
After he'd spoken to some commoners to gather information as to where the Spice Bean was located, Whitebeard's second division commander started his trek towards his destination. Ace decided to take a shortcut through a side road when he stumbled upon two Marines and a woman carrying a katana standing at the exit of the alley. He ducked behind one of the trash bins and waited for their conversation to come to an end, but seeing they would be there for a while, he inched closer to hear what they were talking about.
"Smoker-san has requested we scout the area. Also, make any reports if the Straw Hats are spotted."
The black haired woman pushed up her glasses before dismissing the two men. It was at that moment that Ace's stomach decided to make its presence known and it growled loudly, grabbing the attention of the woman. He placed his hand over his abdomen and pressed closer to the trash can.
"Who's there?" She called out.
He couldn't see her anymore but he could hear her walking towards his location, her feet now in sight as she was almost around the trash bin when a white cat jumped out the pile of trash bags opposite of Ace.
He heard her chuckle and say, "Oh, it was just a cat."
Ace waited against the wall until he couldn't hear the woman's footsteps and the feline mewled, turning to him as it rubbed against his leg, purring softly. He smiled and ran a hand down its spine. "You got my back, don't you, buddy?"
The cat meowed once more then ran off in the opposite direction while Ace's stomach protested again as he stood up. He glanced around the corner to make sure there was no one else there and seeing the coast was clear, he walked briskly towards the Spice Bean, avoiding the Marines that began to crowd the street. Ace pushed open the door to the restaurant harshly, gaining the attention of the nearby occupants, but he ignored their looks as he stepped in and surveyed the area, checking for Marines and exits. Only after finding everything to his liking did he walk to the front of the bar and sat on a stool.
A man with a bizarre shaped head approached him, asking, "What can I do ya for?"
Deciding to see if Lady Luck was on his side today, Ace replied, "Just looking for someone. Do you so happen to know anyone by the name of Scorpion?"
The man stroked his chin then used the towel attached to his waist to wipe off the counter in front of Ace. "Hmm, I know a man who goes by that name. Fella comes in here quite often, always sits in the corner back there," he pointed to the corner nearest the door.
Ace nodded as he looked in the direction the man was pointing. "Do you think he'll be in today?"
The man grabbed a menu and placed it in front of Ace. "No, not today I believe. He normally has a pattern, comes in once every three days or so–he was here just yesterday."
Ace huffed when his stomach growled as one of the barmaids passed by him with a tray of food. "Order yourself something to eat and then we can talk more. You look new to town so the first drink's on the house. Welcome to Nanohana."
Ace thanked the man and placed his order and a barmaid set a pint of beer in front of him before continuing on with her duties. The freckled man played with the tassels on his hat while he waited for his food.
The Straw Hat Pirates, he remembered. I wonder who that could be; a different name for Shanks's crew? Or perhaps they were talking about Luffy?
The smell of spices and sizzling meat captured Ace's attention, causing his mouth to water as he watched the waitress place his plate in front of him. Thanking her, Ace ate in silence for a while before stopping the man who he assumed was the owner of the restaurant. "Excuse me, sir, what is this?"
Ace pointed to his plate at a piece of dark red fruit sitting on top of his bread. The man chuckled saying, "Oh that's right, you aren't from around here. That's what we call a desert strawberry. Depending on when you pick the fruit and the time of year, the berry can either be really sweet or very tart. Give her a try."
Ace let out a hum before he popped the berry in his mouth, forehead hitting the table with a loud thump immediately afterwards.
P.D.A
"Is he dead?"
"Not sure; never heard of anyone dying from eating a desert berry before."
"Should we alert the authorities?"
Ace felt a hand on his shoulder and he straighten from his slumped form, swallowing the now soggy desert berry. "Whew, that was good!"
The Spice Bean owner, barmaids, and surrounding customers jumped back in surprise. "You're alive!?" They exclaimed.
Ace bellowed out a laugh around the food he'd just shoveled into his mouth. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I got sleepy all a sudden."
The owner with the oddly shaped head slapped the food out of Ace's mouth, screaming, "Boy, don't do that! Give us some warning!"
Ace smiled sheepishly and apologized again before he returned to his food. The patrons of the restaurant reverted to normal and for a while, all was good. That was, until the doors to the restaurant burst open again for the second time that day and a tall, well-built, white haired man entered the building. He stopped just short of his entry when he noticed the tattoo covering the back of the hatted man sitting at the bar. The citizens, upon observing a high ranking Marine entered the restaurant, stopped what they were doing to pay attention to him.
The red eyed man pulled two cigars off his sleeve and lit them. "That tattoo…" he trailed off as he noticed the man wearing the hat had stopped eating and sat up a little taller. "That's Whitebeard's Jolly Roger."
A collective gasp came from the restaurant's occupants and the owner of the eating establishment took a few steps back from Ace, visibly shaken about the revealed information. "What's a member of Whitebeard's crew doing in my restaurant?"
Ace sighed, upset that he didn't even get to finish his meal before his cover was blown, and turned around to face the Marine that had the balls to call him out. He was surprised to see something he liked and his eyes taking in all of the skin shown from the open jacket. He tipped his hat and leaned back on his elbows against the bar. "You've found me out." He said as he looked the Marine from boot to crown–red eyes clashing with black when their gazes met. "Now what will you do?"
All were quiet so they could hear the exchange between Marine and Pirate, everyone prepared to make a quick exit in case things got out of control.
"As a Marine, I should arrest you." Smoker said as he stepped forward slowly.
"Well," Ace opened his legs a little bit wider and cocked his head back to look at the Marine down the bridge of his nose, "you could just forget about that and we could have a little fun."
He watched as the Marine eyed his crotch, contemplating the invitation given before throwing a glare at him. "As long as I am a Marine and you are a pirate, there will be no fun," Smoker answered, a disgusted look gracing his handsome face as he called upon his devil.
Ace gave a laugh and shook his head. "That's the most dumb-ass reason I've ever heard, but if you insist," he tapped his inner thigh and grinned at Smoker, "then bring it on, baby."
Smoker raised an eyebrow at the nickname and took more determined steps towards the pirate, already thinking of ways to subdue the man.
The poor Marine.
Honestly, he didn't see it coming; he just felt the wind knocked out of his lungs as a force pushed him from behind and his body propelled forward into the equally stupefied Ace.
Ace's back then hit the bar behind him so hard they easily broke through it and the men were thrown into the wall of the restaurant. Unfortunately, the cement wasn't enough to stop them either, and Ace could feel the plaster cracking behind him; and to his horror, the wall gave in and they went through. The two flew through yet another wall before the heavy body of the Marine was tossed off him and Ace flew through one more wall before landing on the ground, the momentum finally wearing off.
Smoker laid there in a daze while Ace, who was thrown into some poor surprised couple's living room, stood up on two shaky legs. "What asshole," he kicked some rocks out of the way, "fucking pushes two conversing people through," he looked through the many holes his body created, "three fucking walls!" He muttered angrily as he walked out the living room of the house he was in and into the kitchen where the couple sat flabbergasted, spoons raised half way to their mouth, their child staring out the hole in their kitchen.
"Ah!" Ace bowed to the couple. "Sorry for interrupting your meal," he bowed again at the waist before continuing through the hole.
Smoker sat up, pushing debris off his chest and lap. Son of a bitch! He thought, today was not his day.
The Marine saw Ace walking across the opening in the wall going into the next house and he stood up, lighting two cigars, his previous ones having had fallen out of his mouth sometime during his trip to Far-The-Fuck-Awayville. Tensa stepped out of the house before seeing that the tattooed man had stopped walking and was staring at something in the restaurant. Looking past him, Smoker noticed no one other than Mugiwara sitting at the stool next to the hole in the bar, shoveling food into his mouth. Anger coursed through Smoker and he noticed the Whitebeard pirate was about to approach Luffy, but not if he had anything to say about it.
Smoker marched over to Ace, took a handful of his hair and slammed him down into the rubble. Seeing that he had subdued one pirate, he screamed, "Mugiwara!" and stalked over to his next prey.
One would think that if another created a hole in three buildings using human bodies to do it, they would be conscientious about their next actions–if only a little bit–but did the kid sitting at the now-broken bar give any fucks?
Nope, not the notable Monkey D. Luffy.
Even with a furious Marine Captain glaring him down, the boy just stared straight ahead with a blank look over his face while he mechanically shoved one item after another in his mouth, occasionally pausing to swallow. Irritated by the lack of concern and attention Luffy showed for his conduct, Smoker felt a vein twitch in his forehead as he yelled, "Say something!"
Luffy paused as if in thought before spitting out the food in his mouth, spraying it all over Smoker. "Smokey?! What are you doing here?!"
Smoker glared at Luffy as food dripped off his face, a piece of chewed pork cooking a little before falling off the end of his cigar. "Boy, you better run," he took a gloved hand and wiped his face down, "cause I'mma kill you."
Snickering a shishishi, Luffy grabbed one more bite of pork before he jetted out the door with Smoker hot on his tail.
And Ace…
Poor Ace, he was still laying face first in the rubble of the restaurant's wall, groaning.
Lel, I had fun writing this chapter and I hope you all enjoyed. R & R and stay tune for next chapter: Tashigi - Huredhiel
