Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
Hohoho Merry Christmas!
A/N: What have I been doing all this time? Just squandering away my life after a tough month of assignments and tests. I'm sorry, I could have done it sooner but my energies refused to cooperate with my attempts at channeling them into doing something productive.
Feast
She was dead to the world until she bonked her head against the headboard real hard. It throbbed as she cursed groggily, burying her face into the pillow. It took less than a minute to suffocate her and curses flew right out again. She opened her eyes, shut them again and tried to adjust her vision. It was bright out there. What time must it be? Noon? Afternoon? She groaned. Even her body clock had become so screwed. She moved sloppily, noticing she was sprawled across most of the bed. Ace must have probably gotten up way before. He should've woken her up too—was that too much to ask?
Rubbing her eyes, she set foot on the floor. And literally jumped in shock at the man lying there, snoring softly without a care in the world. Had she kicked him off the bed in sleep? It wasn't news that she'd, quite often, woken up in her tiny bed sprawled at odd angles… sometimes missing a blanket, sometimes a pillow—things she would constantly throw off in her restless thrashing about. She'd even woken up on the floor sometimes with rather sore sides. It was the embarrassing truth that she wasn't the most placid sleeper in the world. But to have bashed her own head against the headboard—that was a new high. So much damage you could do to yourself while asleep. She rubbed the sore spot that was beginning to bulge just a little.
She sighed. All this after she had of her own accord offered him that side of the bed… there—another thing she could add to her list of things-that-embarrassed-her-in-front-of-her-new-nakama. Really, it was criminal she'd pushed him off the comfort of that cozy bed though. Even if he looked almost too blissful lying there on the floor. Some sound sleeper. She snatched a pillow from the bed and slipped it under his head before tiptoeing out of the room. Now that her foot didn't hurt half as bad as it had the previous day, she was going to see if doc could remove the cast—which was much more of a hassle now.
The ship was bustling with energetic crew members who all greeted her with huge smiles. Like she were some kind of celebrity—she rolled her eyes. These people were way too nice for pirates.
"O-ha-you~ Xena-chin," a midget pounced at her out of nowhere.
"Eri-san?" Xena blinked, shocked out of her sleepy oblivion. "O-ohayou… and what's with that… '-chin'?"
"Heehee suits you better," the foxy little female flashed her a grin and started walking next to her. "Did you just wake up? Man, you guys sure sleep a lot."
"—or maybe they don't." Somebody commented offhand and Xena rolled her eyes.
She was just about starting to get used to the genuine overly nice and familiarising attitude of pirates which sometimes made her feel bad for having to deceive them. A bubbly Eri would pop out from places out of the blue wherever she went like she'd just attached herself to Xena so. A smiling Mocha would find Xena almost every time she was in need of help and so would her new—and only—okama friend Kyuu-pin. Crew members she didn't even remember the names of were scrambling over each other to be overwhelmingly sweet to her.
All through the day, they kept adding to her guilt—which she tried to remedy by offering her help wherever she thought she could—which was basically everything she found anyone doing. While Ace just ate more than his fair share and lazed around, he watched her mop the decks, pick apples in the little orchard on the ship, move quite some load of cargo around and even try to help in cooking—which she evidently was not very good at. He caught her questioning expression a couple of times—like, hey if you have enough time to laze around, maybe you could help a bit? But if only she knew his present laziness was all thanks to her thrashing about and finally shoving him off the bed last night, she would understand. He was so sure she'd done that on purpose while pretending to be asleep until he pinched her nose for a long moment and she still didn't blink an eye. He hadn't known she was such a sound sleeper. The woman was so weird, it kept him amused to no end.
By the time she got to catch her breath, the sun was already setting and the crew was lazing about, snacking and laughing. She was just wandering around the deck when she caught the doc yawning at the helm. Considering the weather was all calm and the ship just had to head straight, she offered to take on the watch for a while. No matter however bad her direction sense, she knew to read the log pose at least. The nakama watching down from the crow's nest wasn't so sure.
She stared at the distant horizon, where the sinking sun scattered the last of its orange light into dusk. She could almost taste the sun-kissed salt on the sea breeze. It lightly ruffled her hair as a smile ghosted at the edges of her mouth. This was the romance of the pirate life. Sailing into the sunset. To places unknown. In search of treasures buried and forgotten. And treasures that weren't material. This was the true adventure of pirate life. A life filled with wonders and mysteries.
"Someone is feeling deliriously happy out here in the sea," she heard his subtle teasing tone but chose to ignore it.
"It's not a state of delirium, Firefist," she replied, not taking her eyes off the sun. Any minute now, it was going to disappear. "I've never been more aware."
"Tell me the sea scares you now." He grinned.
"No… it doesn't scare me at all," she said. She finally fixed her gaze at him and there was something about her face that made her look serious and happy and young and old all at the same time. "Ace, I'm going to say this only once so listen well."
He raised an eyebrow. He always listened—even when she were screaming and whining. But something about her expressions told him it was going to be more incomprehensible.
"I… I want to thank you. For tossing me into this mess, for bringing me out here on this adventure, and for being with me all this while. For everything. It's because of you that I faced my biggest fear and discovered things I would've been completely ignorant about even when I grew old and senile. You had me face the other way and look at things in a new light. Thanks to you, it feels like my life has circled out of the loop it was stuck in. Like I'm beginning to move forward. When I return to my village now, I'll be a changed person. Changed for the better. And it's all thanks to you."
Ace looked at her odd for a moment and then just grinned in reply. If he'd uttered a single word, she was sure she would've gotten all embarrassed and run away to hide her ass somewhere. But in that stupid honest moment, she felt she was getting to connect with him in a new way. With the dusky horizon in the background, she wondered if a handshake or maybe a hug or a peck on the cheek would make for the perfect ending. But then her new self-attached tiny friend Eri pounced at her out of the blue with a loud singsong "Xe~na-chin", completely disrupting her train of thought—thankfully enough.
"It's party, party," she grinned. "We're celebrating tonight."
"Celebrating? Celebrating what?" Xena asked.
"Nothing in particular." Eri replied. "Just the usual pirates' feast. But much bigger. More food. More music. More sake. Much, much more!"
"Ah sou…" Xena smiled, not being able to comprehend her excitement. Well, if the other day hadn't been feast enough, she wondered how much bigger it could get. Looking at Ace's face, she could tell she was the only one clueless about this pirate thing.
"Also, I should give you a change of clothes," she looked her from head to toe and shook her head in disapproval.
"Eh?" Xena looked down at her shirt. "Isn't this fine?"
"No. You've been working all day and honestly," she pointed out the botched stains. "A white shirt isn't the best of choices for work-clothes."
"But I already borrowed this from you," Xena said. "I can't have you keep lending me stuff."
"Iindayo," Eri waved her hand in dismissal. "I have more than enough. Besides, you should dress up for a change—" she shot a glance at Ace and then winked at Xena inconspicuously, only earning an exasperated roll of eyes from her. If only, she knew the truth of the matter! Besides, Ace wasn't the kind of person who'd ever get interested in her just because she dressed up—that much she had absolutely certainly gleaned from his attitude. He didn't much care about anything about her, really. Only those weird little things which were somehow amusing to him… and downright embarrassing for her.
"Well… okay," she shrugged letting the uncontained excited girl drag her away, gushing about all kinds of food and whatnot as her narcoleptic nakama yet again dropped off to sleep on the deck.
It was only when she saw Eri and Mocha grin at her like an evil scientist about to conduct an experiment on his lab rat that a faint alarm bell set off. She was ushered into changing before she could even begin to protest. It was a plain white top that clung to her frame and a flowy skirt in the lightest of pink shades that reached just below her knees. She checked herself out in the mirror as she brushed her tangle of brown-red hair down her back. It wasn't like the dress stood out too much. It was the plainest of feminine clothes—only she hadn't ever cared much for particularly feminine outfits. Living in the monotony of that small sleepy village, the occasions warranting dressing up were few to none and her work at the bar just required her to be most unkempt with her dressing. She had never owned a skirt. Standing there all awkward in front of the mirror was a new feeling for her as she looked at herself. It was her life's first intersection with something so plainly feminine in its essence, it stirred something in her. It wasn't like she hadn't been aware of herself as a woman. But she found herself admiring her appearance and that was a very new womanly feeling, the ridiculous nature of which made her roll her eyes again. Honestly, hadn't she been doing that a little too often lately? She decided she liked the skirt though.
"Look at you looking all modest and pretty," Mocha whistled from behind.
"It's just the dress," she replied.
"It's just sharp Eri's perception and selection," Eri chimed in.
"Yeah," Xena agreed. "Thanks, Eri-san."
She gave her reflection one final look before she went up the deck. Holy gods she did not want to turn into a narcissistic snob of a woman.
The crew was beginning to gather around on the deck which smelled of all kinds of delicious food and overflowing with an unlimited supply of sake. Everywhere she looked, they all appeared to be more energetic and boisterous than she had surmised of their capabilities and a merry captain Kyuu-pin was in the middle of an awkward tap dance on an upbeat music when she greeted him and he dragged her into it. And even though she did not know the first thing about tap dances, she found it easy enough to follow and soon she was laughing her head off and tapping and bumping into this crew member or that, already down with half a barrel of sake.
It was only when the music changed to an easy beat and she found herself pushed to the center of the crowd facing her nakama cum pretend-lover that she began feeling a little queasy and self-conscious. He tipped his hat and she grew hot under his intense gaze. Was that a bit of appreciation in his eyes? They danced to the background of mostly whistles and hoots and a shower of endearing words from a teary-eyed Kyuu-pin overwhelmed at the innocence of love—all of which mostly drowned out the music.
It was either the sake or the proximity to this ever-shirtless man or a combination of both that was making her feel all giddy inside and she blamed all the crazy girlish bubbly feelings on her stupid girlish dress that was somehow leading her train of thought in all but foolish girlish ideas. Not like she was looking at him as a man or wishing he'd look at her as a woman at least this once—no she was definitely not straying over that insane line. She wasn't.
So she was quite thankful to get away with the distraction when the amiable cook started calling out loudly that the food was going to get cold. She settled to drown out all the confused stupid sensations she was having this pleasant evening in more sake and food that was more delicious than any heavens. Everything was starting to swim before her eyes and she knew she was way past her limit. That sake would be a huge, huge pain the next morning. But she was quite pleasantly past giving a damn. She was having the time of her life and boy if she didn't enjoy the pirate feast like a real pirate.
She liked pirates. Especially the okama captain seated next to her talking about all sorts of things that didn't cohere in her brains. She giggled at some question he probably asked her and instead slurred out a rather incoherent confession of her liking him and his crew and his love-love ferry. His confused eyes widened as she started to lean really close to his face and Ace just barely saved her from an embarrassment of lifetime when he tucked her head under his arm and pulled her back, stuffing a huge piece of meat in her mouth. The world took a 360 degrees whirl in front of her eyes and she lost her balance—only, she was seated firmly in her chair. It was only her head that was swimming. Also, the food, and the sake, and the whole world around her.
She let the nausea settle before deciding to get some fresh air. Only, when she walked, her legs didn't feel her own. I'm having an out-of-body experience. She wasn't sure if she'd just thought that or said it out loud. In one corner of the deck overcast with shadows, she discovered some drunken inebriated person making out with another and decided she was starting to hallucinate too. She giggled for no reason, stretching her arms either side to balance herself. It looked like she could just about walk straight in the direction of her nose in that fashion. An amused Eri was observing these antics from a little way off and giggling. Xena whipped her head in the direction of the giggler and there, the world took another 360 degrees whirl. Before she could focus her eyes again, Eri caught her by the shoulder.
"Xena-chin, you're dead drunk," she said.
"Am I? No, I'm not. Or am I? Or no?" she shook her head vigorously and the kaleidoscopic world changed its orientation again.
"Trust me, you are," Eri said.
"Pardon me madame, then I shall take your leave," Xena tried to execute a formal bow and almost tumbled on top of her.
"I should probably help you to your room." she said.
"You're too nice Eri-san," Xena slurred. Always so nice. Lending her clothes and always helping her around. She was such a sweet little precious thing. For a moment, Xena was overcome by a sudden desire to tell her how she was the nicest friend she'd ever made and how she loved her. She smiled and leaned a little towards her, coming eye to eye.
"Xena-chin?" Eri cocked her head, confused at her sudden sober expression.
"You got some sauce on your chin," Xena said, wiping it for her. Her hand hovered there for a moment as she leaned in and closer and the next instant, she was whirled off her feet and the sea and the stars met and exchanged positions in the kaleidoscope world. Her feet were dangling in the air. She was half dangling in the air. What had snapped her contact with the ground? Who dared to toss her off her feet so casually as a second nature?
"Sorry for the inconvenience caused by this wild kid," it was Ace's voice. Of course, it was her annoying nakama. Who was he calling a wild kid? "I'll take her off your hands now."
"Ah~ okay," Eri, still confused about the moment just past, gave a casual wave.
"Firefist, put me down," Xena whined as he swiftly carried her out of earshot.
"No can do," he said firmly.
"But I don't want to go to bed." she whined again but seized her feeble attempts at wriggling free of his hold. "I wanna dance more with Kyuu-pin."
"You can't even stand on your feet in this state," he replied.
"But I don't want to be alone," she mumbled. "I don't like it."
"Then you won't be alone," he said simply.
"Then…" she flailed her arms, trying to figure out how best she could hug him from her dangling position from his shoulder. "First, I want you to tuck me in?"
"Okay. I'll tuck you in," he agreed, throwing open the door of their room and gently letting her down on bed. He tried to ease her into the blanket but suddenly she had grown into a needy, clingy thing and wouldn't let go of him.
"Xena-chan, lie down please," he said gently.
"Don't go," she whined sleepily.
"I'm right here," he said and she let go of him for half a relieved second before she caught hold of his bead necklace, pulling him down with her. He felt warm and nice and his shoulder made for a really cozy pillow, and she decided she was going to keep it.
"You don't run away okay," she yawned and then everything blacked out.
A/N: This stupid, fudgy chapter does not justify or make up for the long absence of updates. I think I'm going to start editing them once I'm halfway through this 'cause now that I think about it, there's quite a lot of unnecessary, fuzzy details I have ruled out of use.
This chapter's been lying finished for two days and I didn't even have time to upload it. BUT two more chapters rolling out before we hit new year. I promise.
So, this chapter marks the completion of the first phase of the story. Say one third of it is done. Next chapter on, familiar characters start to pour in *winks*
Now, I'd like to thank calicat197, Morietachibana, kelly. corbeil2, I see you see, Leontodon, Lady Syndra, Littlebirdd, OniKuShita and KeepHopeStayWhelmed for their favorites/follows. And thank you SNicole25, I see you see and Lady Syndra for the reviews :3 it's always so nice to know what the readers feel about my crazy brain's random creation.
Also, all the followers still hanging on. For keeping patience with this story. Thank you so, so much.