Freckles
chapter 9

"Need help Captain ?" asked a familiar voice.

Eli threw a glance on her side to see Ace, Usopp and Zoro comfortably seating at a table. "When did you... Well never mind..." Eli turned back to watch Don Krieg and Luffy, their heated discussion was way more interesting.

"No, I don't need help. Just sit here." Luffy replied coolly.

The boy seemed completely confident, well he always was, but that was the first time Eli had seen him actually facing a "bad guy", and she had to admit he looked kinda cool.

Don Krieg started laughing loudly "Captain ? And I suppose that's your crew ? You're just a bunch of kids." His eyes narrowed when they fell on Ace. "I've seen your face somewhere kid."

The young man smirked, lifting his hat a bit. "I'm Ace, nice to meet you."

"A Ace ?! Fire Fist Ace !?" Krieg cleared his throat and tried to to put on a bold front in the face of the young man. "I though you'd been killed in Grand Line."

"Obviously I'm still alive." Ace replied with an arrogant smirk.

Eli was a bit surprised, first Luffy now Ace, they both acted really manly, cockily would be even more accurate.

"I ain't scared of you kid, you got your ass kicked just like me and in my case that was just because I lacked informations."

Ace's face darkened. "You mean you can kick my ass ?" He got up and cracked his fingers.

"Hey Ace ! This is my fight !" Luffy yelled grabbing his old brother's shoulder.

"Oi ! This man just insulted me." Ace frowned.

"He insulted me first !"

The two brothers started wrestling in the middle of the restaurant. Eli rolled her eyes, a minute ago she was impressed by their manly behaviors, and now they were fighting just like when they were kids.

Don Krieg laughed loudly. "See, just a bunch of kids." He took the bag of food on his shoulder. "Listen ! I'll give everyone a chance. If you don't want to die leave while my crew is eating." he looked at Zeff. "I'll be back to take your journal and your ship."


After Don Krieg left, the cooks turned to Sanji "This is all your fault shitty cook !" they yelled angrily.

"Shut up idiots !" Zeff intervene. "Have you ever starved in the middle of the ocean ?"

"What do you mean Chef ?" Patty asked astonishingly.

"I don't have time to talk about the past" He pointed the door with his thumb. "If you want to leave, do it. I won't hold you back."

"We'll protect the restaurant. It's is our home !" The cooks yelled cheerfully holding their weapons up in the air.

Don Krieg's crewmate who had stayed behind stood up. "Are you crazy ! You know how strong my Captain is, you must leave now !"

"If he's so strong, how come his entire fleet was destroyed in seven days ?" Patty taunted.

The man sat on the floor. "I'm not sure if it was a nightmare or the truth... It happened so fast." He brought his hand to his forehead. "We've been there for seven days and in an instant our entire fleet was wiped by one man."

The audience gawked "What ? You must be kidding."

"If it wasn't for a storm, the mother ship would have been destroyed too." he continued with a shaky voice. "When we saw that man's eyes we felt like we were already dead. That damned hawk eyes..."

Zoro stood up. "What did you say ?" he was almost yelling.

Zeff crossed his arms "Hawk eyes you say ?"

"He's the man I'm looking for." Zoro said a serious look on his face.

"Wow this is so exciting we really have to go there !" Luffy said raising a fist in the air.

Ace smirked at his little brother's craze.

"Yeah ! Sure ! Let's go to the place where a man alone can destroy an entire fleet." Eli said sarcastically, giving the thumbs up.

"You are crazy... You're going to die there." Sanji said not bothering to look at the group.

"When I decided I'll become the world's best swordsman I left my life behind." Zoro said coldly.


The cooks and the crew were waiting for Don Krieg's crew to attack any minute now, when the most unbelievable thing happened. Everyone was smitten with terror as the witnessed the huge pirate ship cut in half.

Eli felt a shiver running down her spine, fascination and a dash of fear. If that was the power of Grand Line, she had to admit, she wanted to see more.

After a few seconds of extreme gawking, Zoro came to his senses. "Damn ! Nami Yosaku and Johnny are still on the Merry !".

The crew rushed in the direction of their ship only to find Yosaku and Johnny in the ocean trying hard not to be swallowed by the huge waves.

"What happened ? Where is Nami ? Where is the ship ?" Luffy yelled.

The two men who were heavily panting on the deck of the Baratie. "Nami left... with the... treasure...and the...ship." they finally managed to say.

Luffy, Usopp, Zorro and Ace gawked.

"We are so sorry ! She tricked us !" they began to tell them what has happened.


"Can you turn around please ?" Nami asked smiling.

The two men were puzzled.

"I'm going to change my clothes, and I'm a bit shy." she said blushing. "Turn around please."

And so they did, a second later Nami had pushed them over the railing.

"What did you do that for Nami ?" they yelled.

She smirked. "I'm doing my job boys, you see I'm a pirate thief." she looked away "I really had a good time with Luffy and the others, tell them I said bye."


Eli rolled her eyes. "Boys..." She sighed.

"That wench !" Zoro gritted his teeth.

Luffy looked out over the sea. "I can still see our ship ! Let's go after her !" he said pointing out the ship. "Eli ! Zoro ! Usopp ! go after her."

The swordsman shrugged. "There's no reason to follow that manipulative woman."

"I want her to be our navigator." Luffy claimed.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at the boy.

Ace smiled, patting the swordsman's shoulder. "You heard the captain !"

Eli trusted Luffy's judgment above all. "Let's go."

"You can use our boat." Yosaku said showing a little boat still attached to the restaurant's dock.


Walking toward the boat Eli almost crashed in Zoro's back as he had come to a sudden stop.

"Hey watch it..." Eli looked at the swordsman his face had turned pale, she followed his gaze and turned to see a man in boat resembling a coffin with candles that burned with green fire on the edges. The man wore a black and purple mantle, and a black hat decorated with a large feather. He had a very large sword with a black blade attached to his back.

"Why did you follow us ?!" yelled one of Don Krieg's crewmate.

The man looked at him with his piercing eyes. "To kill time."

"Luffy ! I'm sorry but I can't go after Nami." Zoro walked toward the hawk eyed man. "I have looked for you for a long time."

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow "What do you want from me ?"

Zoro tied his bandana on his head. "I want to fight you." he smirked.


"Ace go with Eli and Usopp. Zoro and I will take care of things here." Luffy ordered.

Ace hesitated a second, before jumping on the boat. "Be careful Luffy."

The fight between Zoro and Hawkeye was about to start and Eli really wanted to watch it but as the boat sailed away, she couldn't see anything anymore.

She sighed disappointedly. "I wanted to see that fight." She sat down next to her companions.

"He's probably gonna die." Ace said fixing his hat. "It's too soon for him..."

"WHAT !?!" the rest of them yelled insanely.

Eli frowned. "Why didn't you stop him then ?!?"

Ace sighed, and turned his head to look at the Baratie. "No one could stop Zoro from this fight."

Yosaku and Johnny sighed. "It is his dream and promise to an old friend."

to be continued


Yeah I changed events a bit, Zoro is not going to Arlong park with Usopp, but later with Luffy and Sanji.
Thanks to Art-sama's review and advices I've been thinking about changing things since Ace and Eli are there some things HAVE to be different.

I hope you'll like it.

ThexWhitexPhoenix : If you meant you want more interactions between Ace and Eli, it's on coming. I won't guaranty romance too soon though :P I don't want to rush things.

Art-sama : My first constructive reviewer, thanks again for your help :)