Yeah... let's not comment on how much I utterly fail at updating on schedule. lol. So, here's Monday's and today's chapters. :) Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or any of its characters. I only have my OCs.
The next day, Fire Fist had finally awoken and, after ranting and raving about how he was going to murder the captain for dragging him on "this God-forsaken ship", resigned to sulking away from the rest of the crew. Hotaru had spotted him when bringing up unusable scraps from the kitchen to toss over the side of the ship. Ace had been sitting on the deck, his back against the hull of the ship and his knees pulled up to his chest. Hotaru almost laughed at the sight of him acting so childish. She approached him, carrying the large wok of scraps, with a friendly smile on her lips.
"It's too good a day to be sitting here by yourself," she said as she tossed the waste overboard, careful not to let any of the pieces hit Ace as she hauled them over the railing. She received no answer from the moody teen beside her and a slight frown came to her features. "Why don't you go talk with some of the crew members, or at least your ex-Spades?"
"My what?" he asked vehemently, his voice barely more than an angry hiss.
"You're all part of this crew now. You're all nakama."
"Don't say that." Hotaru quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Relax. It's not the end of the world. There are worse things than joining Oyaji's crew."
"Just leave me the hell alone," Ace muttered, earning a shrug from the young woman who stood beside him with the wok resting on her hip.
"Do whatever you want. Just try not to cause us too much trouble," she said with a wink. "My name's Hotaru, by the way." When Ace gave her no acknowledgement or indication he would respond, Hotaru walked back down to the kitchen to return the wok.
"You're done until dinner, Firefly. Go have some fun," Emile told her with a smile and the hearty laugh he always gave. Hotaru didn't need to be told twice and she quickly ran through the galley and up to the deck, where she nearly ran into Thatch.
"Whoa, Hotaru. Where's the fire?" he asked and she gave his arm a playful punch.
"So long as Ace doesn't get in any fouler a mood, there shouldn't be one… unless Marco gets pissed," she answered with a chuckle.
"I see you've tried talking to the newest addition to our crew."
"Tried being the keyword. Did you try too?"
"Yeah, and he asked me why we didn't put him in shackles," Thatch answered, earning a highly perplexed look from Hotaru.
"Why would we do that?"
"That's what I said!" Hotaru was about to say something when she noticed Ace in the background—now standing—suddenly fall over the side of the ship. Her eyes widened at the sight and Thatch turned to follow her gaze, only seeing the empty deck. "Hotaru?"
"Oh, hell!" she yelled and ran across the deck, her feet pounding against the wooden boards beneath her.
Thatch called after her, but she completely ignored him. All she could think of was the new member of her nakama taking a nose-dive into the ocean, with a Devil Fruit ability. Was the kid suicidal? Hotaru leapt over the side of the ship and dove into the ocean to retrieve the Fire Fist. The instant she hit the freezing water, the current began pushing against her. Her eyes stung from the salty sea water as she searched for the Devil Fruit user who had fallen in.
It wasn't long before her gaze feel upon a pair of black boots and the moody pirate they belonged to. Hotaru could see air bubbles drifting from Ace's nose and she quickly swam deeper to catch him. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thanked Thatch for teaching her how to swim like a champ when she was younger. Her lungs began to burn as she wrapped an arm around Ace's torso and put one of his arms over her shoulders.
She propelled the both of them to the surface as quickly as she could, hoping Ace hadn't taken on too much water in his plummet. He'd been unresponsive thus far, which puzzled her somewhere in the back of her mind—where the thought of get the hell out of the water wasn't reigning supreme. As they emerged from the water, Hotaru released gasping breaths while trying to keep Ace's head above the water.
"Don't die, kid," she muttered under her breath.
"Hotaru!" Marco yelled from aboard the ship. Judging by his tone, Hotaru figured he was either mad or worried about her… or some combination of the two.
"Throw down some rope!"
A long, thick rope was tossed down from the deck. Hotaru swam to it, struggling to keep Ace from slipping from her grasp—thank goodness Marco had trained her in the Busōshoku Haki. She tied the rope around herself and Ace and tugged twice. They were slowly lifted up the hull of the Moby Dick. Finally, Thatch, Emile and Marco pulled them over the railing and Hotaru quickly turned Ace onto his back, their waists still tied together by the rope.
He hadn't stirred through the whole ordeal and she was afraid he was on the verge of drowning. She placed a hand on his chest, ready to push the water out of his lungs, and allowed the other hand to hover over his mouth to feel for a breath. Before she could figure out if he was still breathing, Ace started coughing and turned to the side to rid himself of the water in his lungs. Hotaru grabbed his shoulder to keep him from moving too far.
"Don't move yet," Marco warned him. "You nearly drowned."
"What are you talking about?" Ace asked, shrugging Hotaru's hand away.
"You fell overboard, kid. I just pulled you out," she answered, untying the rope that held them both together.
"Don't call me kid." Hotaru held up her hands in a peace-keeping manner. She smirked at him, though, happy to hear his statement. It meant he wanted to be known by his name, that he had an identity that he refused to be known as otherwise. It was just like she had been upon meeting the crew members, and she admired him for it. After a moment, Ace murmured a "thanks" for dragging him out of the water, to which Hotaru gave him a light punch on the arm.
"Don't worry about it, Ace."
Hehehe. Any readers of "Sleepy Waters" in the crowd? I'm sure you recognized the second half of this. :) Please R&R.