Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. I only own Yami.

Chapter 10: A Desert's Tricks

"Aaaaaah …"

"Would you stop moaning already, Luffy? You're just wasting energy!" Nami scolded the straw hat-wearing boy, and Yami smiled, thinking about how the two would make a cute couple.

"Aaaaaah … I'm burning … can't even sweat …" he went on.

Indeed, it was hot – really hot, as they were in the desert of Alabasta. They were not even walking for four hours, and almost every crew member plus Yami felt like burning. Especially Chopper, who had grown up on a winter island, as he had explained to her earlier. Zoro had to drag him along on an improvised hand barrow, for he couldn't even walk anymore.

Poor boy, Yami thought compassionately. When she was hot underneath that cloak, how must the reindeer with all his fur feel now? She really didn't want to imagine.

"I can't stand the heat … I'm fine in the cold …" he panted with his tongue dangling out of his mouth.

"It's because you're all fuzzy," Usopp informed him, and then, with an innocent grin, asked: "Why don't you take that hat off?"

Chopper immediately grew to his human form (Yami still had to get used to that). "WHAT DID YA SAY? DON'T MESS WITH A REINDEER, PUNK!" he yelled at Usopp who screamed in fear.

"GYAAAAA! A MONSTER!"

Zoro rolled his eyes. "Don't get huge like that, Chopper, or else I won't pull you!"

Yami chuckled as the two friends almost started to fight – the heat must make them crazy – before Zoro put an end to it by making Chopper small again with his fist.

The only ones not bothered by the heat were Vivi, who had grown up in such environment, and Ace. As a fire user, the heat apparently didn't matter to him, and Yami really envied him. He seemed to be in his natural surroundings.

After awhile, Luffy asked for water and Nami allowed him to take a mouthful – jeez, girl, that was the wrong thing to say to a rubber man! –, and then punched him, together with Usopp, so that he spilled all the precious water on the ground. In the end, it ended up in a fight between Luffy angry to have been made to spit the water out, and Usopp and Sanji, who wanted their turn on the water. Vivi screamed at them for wasting the water and their energy, and Zoro face-palmed. Yami hadn't enough energy left to laugh out loud, so she just grinned tiredly. She hadn't sensed her stupid cold the whole day (how should she in that heat?), but now it mad her rather exhausted – and it went worse with every minute. She nevertheless tried to carry it off well, especially as she felt Ace's eyes on her more often as they went on. Chopper, fortunately, was too busy with panting to remember he had a patient here.

Yami sighed silently as they went along. She would never admit it, but momentarily she even envied Chopper – for being dragged along.

"I told ya," Ace said as he walked up next to her. "Do you know now what I meant with being well and recovering and all?"

"Do you think this is funny?" she growled and looked up at him. "Just shut up now, I'm not in the mood." She had to concentrate on her feet at the moment so as not to stumble and fall down. She didn't really know if she had the will to stand up again if she did.

Ace, much to her surprise, really kept silent. He walked casually at her side as if it were nothing, hands in the pockets of his cloak, and as she fell behind for not keeping up with the others' speed, he remained next to her. She didn't know why he did this, he didn't have to do that and from his other behaviour, she could tell that he only found her annoying – at least, that was what he thought to feel, and what he always wanted to show her.

But she hadn't much time to muse about it since she needed all of her concentration for marching on and not losing the others. She wanted to throw herself on the ground right now – but no, that was not an option, she had to convince herself.

After an hour of boundless effort, Ace sighed and stopped. She followed suit and looked at him. "What's it?" she asked and tried not to pant too heavily while doing so. The others were already out of sight, damn desert.

He lowered his head. "On my back," he commanded without looking at her.

She flinched back, then frowned. "Never!"

"Come on, crazy girl. You're slower than my grandmother," he stated, lowering his rucksack and holding out his hands.

Yami stared incredulously. "No!" she insisted and then started walking on.

He let out an annoyed sigh. "The Queen of Stubbornness, that's what they should call you," he muttered as he caught up with her – which was not too difficult. "Now come on and don't act all childish."

"I don't!" she pouted and refused to look at him.

He chuckled involuntarily. The gap between what she had said just now and her current behaviour was just as large as it could be. She knew that but wasn't able to think of another response. This shitty sand was tricky, just one false step and – "Kyaaaaaa!"

Ace stopped in front of where she had fallen down on the sandy ground, her right foot stuck in the sand up to her calf. "What are you doing?" he asked with a smirk. "I didn't allow you a break at all."

"Shit! This fucking desert is the silliest place I've ever been!" she cursed lowly and came up to her knees to stand up, ignoring his saying.

"Hey crazy girl, be sensible and come up here," he said as he watched her crawl out of the sand-trap on her knees. She had lost her hood in the process, and her red hair glistened in the sunlight. Her bangs were damp from sweat but she didn't care.

"We'll lose them if we keep up that pace," he pointed out.

"They'll sit down and have a break and then we'll reach them …" she said, still struggling with the sand. She was determined to stand up and go on, she would show the freaking sand that it wasn't almighty and couldn't hold her back.

But just as she was on her feet again, she felt two arms wrapping around her waist and lifting her up. "And then what? Then you won't get your break, baka."

"Stop that already! I can walk by myself!" she bitched as he took her up and threw her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing.

"Asshole! Let me go!" she yelled and pounded on his back, but he didn't seem to care as he just got under way, one arm wrapped around her kicking legs and the other holding the rucksack. She heard him chuckle, which made her even angrier.

"Hey, what d'you think you're doing? Let me go!"

"Nope. We'll lose the others, and you know that," he just said. "Man, you're thin …"

"I'm not thin! Shut the hell up! The hell!" She kept on pounding his back with her fists and tried to kick him, which only made him clutch her legs even tighter.

"Stop it, crazy girl. I saw how you eyed Chopper on his barrow. Just relax."

She sighed, knowing that she had lost. He was right, he was damn right, she had none of her strength left, but that didn't mean that it was easy to admit it. Deep inside, she was relieved, but this way of being carried was just humiliating. Sighing again, she propped herself up on her elbows resting on his back and tried to make the best of it.

"You know, if you promise to behave I'll let you ride on my back," he said after a while, and she could almost see him grin.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, I promise. Asshole cowboy."

He chuckled and let her slide to the ground. When her feet touched the sand, she struggled to keep standing – everything seemed to whirl around, a strange feeling clearly caused by the rush of blood from her head. He held her wrist in a firm grip to steady her, but she only scowled up at him, momentarily cursing the big grin on his freckled face. She hated to be weak. She absolutely hated it. And she hated him just now.

Without saying a word, Ace turned around and held his arms out backwards. She climbed his back and wrapped her arms around his neck from behind while he wrapped his around her naked legs on each side. And so they went on, both remaining silent on the way, and she had to admit it was better this way. Better because she wasn't flung over his shoulder like some freaking kidnapping victim anymore, better because she could rest a little and better because they advanced faster now that she wasn't slowing them both down (even if he could have easily caught up to the others instead of staying by her side; he surely was improving).

She rested her chin on his shoulder, right next to his ear, and felt him tense beneath her. This time, it was her turn to grin. "I'll behave, I promise," she muttered. "I won't try anything … for now."

"You'd better do as you say, or else I'll drop you," he stated dryly.

"Not that you could, cowboy," she chuckled right next to his ear. "Oh, which reminds me … did I have hearing problems when I heard you say something like you wouldn't wait for me if I fell behind in the desert?"

"Don't tempt me, crazy girl," he growled.

She laughed. "Yay! Now I have a nickname too. That's so sweet!"

"Oh shut up."

After three more hours the two of them reached Luffy and the crew. They would have reached them much earlier, had it not been for Ace having a narcoleptic fit in the middle of the desert. He had fallen down onto his face, and Yami had had to turn him over so as not to let him suffocate with all the sand in his face. When he had woken up, he had needed some time to spit it all out before they could go on.

Yami was relieved they had already put up tents around a campfire, for it started to get dark. And cold. Ace had carried her all the way and showed no single sign of tiredness or exhaustion. She really envied him.

"Oh, there you are. We already wondered where you were," Luffy welcomed them with his usual face-splitting grin. The others looked curiously at Yami being carried but said nothing about the matter, except Chopper. Now that it was beginning to grow colder, he seemed to regain his strength.

"Oh Yami, is it your fever? I'm so sorry, I didn't think of it, let me have a look at you …" he muttered worriedly and cast an excusing glance at her.

She shook her head as Ace released his grip around her legs and she slipped off his back, embarrassed by all the attention to her weakness. "It's nothing Chopper, don't worry. I found a nice vehicle to ride on," she told him with a wink at Ace, who huffed and rolled his eyes, but waited patiently for the little reindeer to finish his inspection of her. He gave her some medicine which she gulped down obediently.

Sanji had already started to cook, obviously animated by Luffy who was complaining the whole time. "I'm hungry!"

"Don't be so greedy, the meat is nowhere near done … Hands off!" Sanji yelled as he rapped him over the knuckles with a cooking spoon.

"Oww!" Luffy whined.

"Nami-swan, Vivi-chan, Yami-san! You'll be delighted, this is gonna be a feast …"

"Hey, I'm hungry too!" Usopp interjected, but was immediately hissed at by the cook.

"You wait, got it?"

Yami smiled as she watched them bicker. She could get used to that, really. Even at the rubber boy's grabbing hands all over her food, which she tried to defend with a fork.

"Stop that idiot, Yami-san is ill!" Sanji shouted and kicked him in the head. She knew he had only the best intentions, but being reminded of her stupid illness – weakness – all the time was not at all helpful. She couldn't even feel it anymore by now.

After dinner (which was really, really good, as Sanji's meals usually were), they sat around the campfire to warm up, for it had gotten freezing. It was amazing, all day it was so hot in the desert, but at night temperatures sunk rapidly, even below freezing point.

Usopp, Zoro and Chopper sat grouped together, and she could overhear a conversation about the stars. She looked up at them with an expressionless face. The stars always reminded her of her mother. Of the good side of her mother. Not the reckless one … No, she had stopped thinking about it long ago, putting it off after the incident with the Marine station. Her past had ended there.

She smiled as Usopp cuddled up against Chopper who struggled to escape his tight embrace before he grew to his strong form, shouting "DON'T MESS WITH A REINDEER!". Apparently one of Usopp's comments about his soft fur had aggravated him, and Usopp screamed in fear – again.

"Minimise, Chopper," Zoro commented. "It's not so bad after all."

"Yahooo!" Luffy exclaimed and jumped at Chopper who immediately shrank, completely taken by surprise. "You're so soft and cuddly …"

"Yeah, such a nice reindeer …" Usopp approved, even if he had feared him just seconds ago. Now the two of them cuddled against the reindeer, almost crushing him by doing so. Yami chuckled and put the cup of hot chocolate, which Sanji had made for the three girls, aside. Ace sat a bit off, preoccupied in thoughts as it seemed, and she decided to entertain him a bit to distract him. He deserved it, he had carried her across half the desert after all.

"Hey," she said calmly, smiling at him as she crouched down next to him.

"Hey." He didn't seem that eager to start a conversation but just stared at Luffy amidst his three crewmates (Zoro was involved now too as they crowded him, and at the moment he was busy with shoving them away while Chopper still tried to get Usopp and Luffy off himself). He seemed … sad?

She sat down next to him and tried to keep silent, but she had never been good at that. "How's it in Whitebeard's crew?" she asked after only a minute. She had failed miserably.

He turned his head a bit to look at her. He seemed surprised. Just as she thought he wouldn't answer, he sighed and a small smile sneaked upon his face. "It's thrilling," he said and stared into the flames if the campfire. "He's the greatest man I've ever seen. Literally." He gave a little laugh. "He cares for us like we're his sons."

"I've heard about that," she smiled. It must be great to be cared for … "The First Division Commander's name is Marco, right?"

He raised his brows as he looked back at her. "Right. You know him?"

"No, just heard about him," she said with a smile. "Is he nice?"

"He's my brother," Ace said as if she was crazy asking him such a question.

Yami's head jerked up. "Eh? Really?" she asked, surprised.

Ace curled up the right corner of his mouth into a half-smirk. "Not in that way, of course …" He looked at Luffy who had obviously overcome Chopper's struggling and slept cuddled up against the reindeer together with Usopp. "It's like Whitebeard is my father, got it?"

"Ah." She tugged a strand of her hair back behind her ear. "You miss them." It was a statement, not a question. It was obvious … someone who had always been with his crew must feel terribly lonely when travelling alone for such a long time.

He frowned and opened his mouth so as to let out an indignant response but finally just sighed. "It's been a long time."

She nodded. "You could always go back …"

"Not until I found Blackbeard," he said determinedly, furrowing his brows at the sand in front of him.

"What if you find him?" she suddenly asked and looked him in his pitch-black eyes.

He just shrugged. "I'll punish him," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Punish," she mumbled. "You mean, you'll kill him?"

"No. That would only put me on the same level with him. I'll defeat him and then take him back to pops."

"Pops?" she asked and raised one eyebrow.

He let out an annoyed sigh. "I already told you he's like a father to us, didn't I?"

She involuntarily smiled about his temper. "So, what will he do to him?"

"I don't know. That's his funeral. He's the captain after all." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, his hat concealing his eyes. "And would you stop cross-examining me now?"

She chuckled. "Sorry. I was just interested."

He said nothing at that, but his body visibly relaxed.

After awhile, Yami saw the two girls stand up and decided to go to bed too. "Night, cowboy," she yawned and went after them.

Sleeping in the desert was harder than she had expected, even with the tent and the cloak and everything. It was so cold that her teeth chattered all the time, no matter how hard she tried to clench them, and she was afraid her stupid freaking cold would come back with all the fever and stuff. That wouldn't be cool, she couldn't stand another day like this, having to choose between either being carried along or stumbling like an invalid. Not that it had been bad to be carried, though. But she would rather not repeat that.

Freakin' stupid asshole idiot cold …

Outside the tent, Ace sighed in annoyance. Even at night she had nothing better to do than making so much noise that it really was some kind of a wonder that everybody else seemed to sleep soundly. He, for his part, could not with all that chattering of teeth.

With a low groan, he rose to his feet and made his way inside the girls' tent. He really wanted to sleep outside alfresco as the cold didn't bother him, but that didn't seem to be granted to him.

She turned her head as the tent's fabric rustled, with her teeth still chattering violently.

Now get this bullshit out of the way … he groaned to himself.

He stepped over Nami's and Vivi's feet, who didn't seem to have such sleeping problems as their tent-mate, and went on his knees.

"Wh-what …" she tried to ask but failed as her jaws decided to move on their own.

"Shhh!" he hissed and lay down next to her, pulling the shivering girl into a tight embrace.

It was … weird. But somehow … good.

This was the first time he consciously noticed her scent, she smelled sweet and fresh, like a flower. No, like a bouquet of flowers. A whole field of flowers …

"H-h-huh?" she uttered, absolutely taken by surprise, but as she felt the stunning warmth of his body surrounding her completely, she immediately felt at ease. Oh God …

Okay, now this was pretty much the only thing she had absolutely not expected.

"How was I supposed to sleep with all that noise?" he mumbled as a half-hearted explanation. "And I don't want to drag you along tomorrow."

"T-thank you," she muttered and could already feel her shivering decrease. His arms around her and her body tightly pressed up against his, she soaked in the abnormal heat he radiated and snuggled her face into the crook of his neck.

"Even for the dragging."

He mumbled something she didn't understand, and she smiled at his collarbone. One moment later, they were both sleeping.

Author's note: Ohhh that came out cuter than I'd expected … I'm in love with my own story?!

(If you're too, please review! Or, if you're not, please review regardless ;-) I love your reviews …)