Warnings: this chapter will contain language, mild sexual activities, and mild violence

Disclaimer: Just in case you were wondering I don't own One Piece

Chapter 10

Cassie woke up with a light kiss to her cheek. She rolled over stretching out her limbs to see Ace smiling at her. He was fully clothed. Well, fully clothed for Ace anyway.

"Get ready and grab some breakfast," he said. "We have work to do."

"I actually have to work," Cassie groaned. "I didn't sign up for this."

"Yes you did." Ace leaned half way onto the bed to move her unruly hair out of her face. "I think you need a shower."

"I think I need more Ace," Cassie said tugging him onto the bed.

Neither of them wasted time and crashed their lips together. It didn't take long for the kiss to escalate when Cassie ran her tongue over Ace's bottom lip asking for entrance. He surprised her by becoming the dominate one and moving fully onto the bed. She moved a hand to tangle into his black hair finding it softer than before. Then he stopped kissing her.

"You should get ready," he said pulling away from her. He was out of the room before she could say anything.

Cassie took in a deep breath trying to calm herself. It always turned out like this now.

Ace couldn't seem to bring himself to touch her anymore. One second he was all for it, the next she was a thin porcelain doll that could break at any second. It was so frustrating to her that the male in this relationship had his hormones under control. From what she was told this should be happening the other way around.

Cassie crawled out of the bed and entered the small bathroom. From her knowledge of the ship it didn't actually contain any showers, she would have to go to a public bath for that. It had the basics for water though thanks to a beautiful blue bucket.

She managed to get her hair in a ponytail that seemed to look all right. Usually she wore it down, but there was no reason to now. While brushing it back she noticed the bruises on her wrist. They looked like they hurt, but they didn't.

That made her think about Aster the man who had given them to her. He had to be older than Ace he looked mature. He was good looking, but he gave off the same pompous feeling nobleman did. That was not a good thing. Cassie vaguely hoped she would never meet him again. He had tossed her around like it was nothing. He was not someone that should be made into an enemy.

Cassie sighed, she had some money maybe she could buy a long sleeve blouse instead of a short sleeved one. It would be smart to have one just in case anyway.

She left the room making her way onto the deck where breakfast would be served. No doubt it would already be filled with hungry crew members hoping to eat a nice meal before doing their daily work. Some would stay back and monitor the ship, while others would go out to search for the tomb of an ancient king of the island. His tomb supposedly contains a treasure that has about ten times the amount of the ruby necklace Cassie previously owned. That was some serious treasure.

She walked onto the deck and noticed a few familiar faces. A lot of the members were from Thatch's division and weren't familiar to them. Cassie was surprised that nothing had been found out about the location yet. The leaders here were fairly intelligent, so it shouldn't have taken so long. The island wasn't as small as Ruby Island, but it wasn't large by any standard either.

Cassie entered the line and got her food silently searching for Ace. When he noticed her a familiar grin crossed his face as he waved to her. Cassie let a small smile come across her face, some things never change. She felt relief just by seeing that smile. She made her way to sit down next to him. As soon as she sat down he planted a kiss on her cheek and she giggle.

She briefly reprimanded herself for giggling. Cassie was not a giggling girl, but somehow Ace just made her want to giggle.

"So what exactly are we doing today?" Cassie asked. Ace scratched the back of his neck. That meant she would be upset at what he was going to say.

"Well…" he trailed off. "I'm going off with the rest of the crew to continue looking for the tomb and you're…"

"I'm what?" she demanded. She hated when he didn't say what he wanted to. As cute as it was he should just say what he wants.

"I actually brought you here for a purpose," Ace stated. "You know how you were talking about knowing a lot of different languages. Well a lot of books that contain information about the tomb are in languages we can't read or translate." He paused noticing the disappointment that flickered in her brown eyes. "So I need you to go to the library and read some history books."

"I'm no genius," Cassie informed. "However, I will try my best."

Ace smiled weakly at her. Lately he felt like such a jerk. First he accepted this mission and he wasn't sure if Cassie knew he had the option not to take it. Then as soon as she gets here they got into a fight and she ran away. Now he was sending her away from him.

"There's an ice-cream place by the library," Ace said, drawing her attention. "I'll try my best to be there around one o'clock."

"That's fine I guess," Cassie sighed. "Where exactly is this library?"

"About two blocks down on the main cross road," Ace answered. He watched her stand up.

"I'm heading there now," Cassie said. "It's probably going to take a while."

Ace watched as she hopped over the side of the ship and ran into the town. Had he not known her he would have said she was angry, but she was actually excited. He knew she liked to hide it from him. In a way it was cute he just wished she would smile a little more.

OO00OO

"What the hell am I doing?" Ace whispered to himself. He was currently supervising the digging of a suspected area of the tomb site. So far they had found nothing, but that was becoming a daily routine.

"I don't know, but you look like hell," Thatch said patting him on the back. "You actually look worse than you did a few days ago. Is Cassie distracting you from your work?"

"Not in the way you're implying," Ace muttered. He could hear the teasing tone that the other pirate had.

"Then why do you look so troubled? If you keep thinking that hard you'll fry what little brain you have left."

"It's just that…" Ace trailed off. Thatch watched as Ace seemed to choose his next words carefully. "She's young."

"So are you so I don't see the problem," he replied to Ace quickly. "Besides Cassie has more intelligence than some who are double her age. You're worrying about the wrong things."

"Am I really?" Ace questioned. "We're young she could fall in love with another. I'm a pirate and could die leaving her all alone. All the endings I think of don't end well for one or both parties. Cassie wasn't supposed to live on a ship or have to run from the navy. She was a princess, for God's sake."

"She's acting more like a pirate than you are right now," Thatch stated. "I have no idea why you're treating her like she's glass. The girl has never been weak. I remember her being daring enough to jump onto a ship belonging to a great pirate captain and trash it. She killed a man who was maintaining a super empire and most importantly she lived with a family of all women. That must have been hell."

"Well she's at the age where she should…" Ace didn't want to finish it.

He was not going to finish that sentence with experimenting like he wanted to. When he was seventeen he was bed hopping for older women, which had taught him a great deal. However, it wasn't without consequences. He had accidentally broken up a marriage and some had lingering attachments. Holly, who was a friend, was one of them and he regretted it. He would never change it, but he still felt guilty.

Cassie had been so pure and innocent, until he came along. He'd been trouble and yet she accepted him. Sure she had a devil fruit, but she could have lived on without ever having to use it. She could be married to someone of her class and stay at her home. She was living a life of uncertainty for him that was what made him feel guilty.

"You were wilder than most in their teenage days," Thatch agreed. "However, you're still in your teenage days. As for worrying about Cassie going to someone else I wouldn't worry. She has that unbelievable loyalty. She's only leaving if you screw something up, big time."

"I guess you're right, but I feel like I'm doing something wrong," Ace muttered. "What exactly does a girl want in a relationship?"

"In Cassie's case I'd guess loyalty. She wants your effort and quite possibly your comfort. Men tend to over complicate women and that's when they get into trouble. Here's a good rule. Always apologize first. Always. Try a romantic gesture or something."

Ace broke into a grin he could practically here Cassie's pleased sarcasm. She liked to pretend that she didn't like something and it was rather cute. The best moments were when she got embarrassed.

"Send someone to Cassie at the ice-cream place," Ace said. "I think I have an evening to prepare for."

That was all Ace said as he stood up and walked away. He left the older man smiling proud of him.

OO00OO

Cassie was not a happy person.

She was never a sugar and rainbow type of girl, but right now there was a twenty percent chance of death for the next stupid person that talked to her.

She had spent the morning search through books and decoding the different languages. That alone had taken a long time. That wasn't it though the books and journals were all full of riddles.

Cassie decided that if she ever had treasure she would give it away in her will. This hell of boring reading was not worth wishing on anyone. To top it all off Ace was no longer meeting her for lunch. He was currently engaged in important activities.

She was now eating ice-cream alone, outside, on a busy street. She must look like a lonely girl just waiting for her prince. Well her prince currently though some dead guy's belongings were more important than her.

She sighed before getting up keeping her ice-cream and books she had. Intent on making her way to the beach. It wouldn't be good for the books, but it's not like anyone had touched them in ages. More than likely she would spend the afternoon tying up loose ends. People kept looking at the bruises on her wrists and quite frankly they still pissed her off.

When Cassie reached the beach she looked out at the ocean. It was almost as blue as Alayna's eyes. Since she was stationary she would have to send a letter to her sister to see how things were going. The last she heard her sister and was courting with an unlikely party. Who would have guessed Jack knew what courting was or maybe she should say he allowed Alayna to court him?

Cassie sighed looking at the waves as the rolled onto the sandy beach. She pulled off her boots once she sat down. She had made sure to select a place where no one would disturb her. She released her curly mane from its ponytail letting it blow in the wind.

This was one of the few times she could enjoy silence. She had tuned out everything around her. She had even managed to tune out her own thinking. Centering herself and bending into the environment around her.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Cassie felt her whole body go rigid. Of all the fucking people it had to be this bitch. That blonde haired bimbo had to wreck her quiet place.

"I'm relaxing," Cassie answered. She hadn't even bothered to open her eyes. She would have seen the dissatisfied face Holly was making.

Holly had expected the younger girl to lash out at her or maybe just insult her. This calm and collected persona didn't fit the girl physically, but it somehow wasn't totally out of place. This girl was interesting to say the least, it would be fun to provoke her.

"You look stupid like that," Holly stated.

"Well, at least I'm not actually stupid like you," Cassie replied. She still looked calm. "Is there a reason that you're talking to me?"

"I've slept with Ace." Holly smirked as the girl snapped her brown eyes at her and a scowl came across her somewhat childish face.

"I'm sure for someone like you it would be easier to list those who you haven't slept with," Cassie sneered. "If you have something intelligent to say do it and leave."

"You sure are commanding. I thought I'd warn you I'm serious about Ace, so be ready for it. We could settle this now. A simple swimming contest would be good enough."

Cassie narrowed her eyes. There was no way Holly knew she would drown in the ocean. The girl was clever, but in a more manipulative way than intelligent one.

"Sorry, but that would be like suicide not knowing the area and currents," Cassie replied. "I'll get back to you on that one. I'd actually prefer to kick your ass, but if you want to take a nonviolent approach I'm okay with it."

Holly couldn't help the grin on her face, a challenge. She would admit she enjoyed watching the crushed expressions of women who had men stolen from them. Lately no one had even put up a fight.

"Very well be prepared then," Holly answered. "I hope to see you around, Cassie."

"Bitch," Cassie whispered under her breath. She turned and frowned at the stack of books. Her ice-cream was melted and gone. Damn her.

OO00OO

Aster had been minding in his business when he spotted a familiar head of black hair.

"Ace!" Aster called. Ace turned around and shot him a grin.

His former crew had interacted with Ace while he was still new to Whitebeard's crew. He had introduced Ace to the wilder side of things, but alas he had chosen to stay tame. Aster graciously chose not to hold it against him.

"Aster? I take it that means you're actually working with your crew," Ace said with a grin.

"Hardly," Aster deadpanned. "I simply watch over things about once every week. I'm a captain I have a crew for that shit."

"You're just like I remember you," Ace said to the older man. "Did you grow?"

"Yes actually," Aster answered. Then a thought came into his mind and a smirk slithered across his face. "So you're engaged? I'd like to hear all about that."

Oh god, Aster wanted to puke. Ace had brought his hand to scratch the back of his head and a blush tinted his cheeks. It was utterly disgusting. This woman must be the root of all evil. Most were fine just a little idiotic, the ones men had to worry about were the ones who wanted commitment.

"Yeah I will be eventually," Ace replied. "We're waiting a little while because we're still young. Hey look I got to go, but see you around."

Aster waved to Ace's back watching the boy run off. Aster could only think he was an idiot. Most people were idiotic that's why he'd avoid them.

He walked away to the beach shore hoping to escape the noise and stupidity of the people around him. He had often come to spend time walking along this island's shores when he wasn't people watching.

It wasn't long until he spotted a familiar figure in the distance. He seemed to be luck to spot the princess in the distance. She looked like she was immersed in her thoughts. As he walked closer he saw her boots were off her feet as she stood deep enough in the water to tickle the beginning of her calves.

A glorious idea popped into his head. If her green blouse was wet he could see all that's underneath. He licked his lips at the thought. He slowly and silently made his way to her. Surprisingly she was lost in her thoughts making it easier to get close to her. When he reached her back he pushed her down without delay.

He turned around to run away expecting her to be chasing after him, but all he heard was splashing. He turned around to see her flailing her arms around and trying to gasp for air in about a foot of water. He laughed at her until all of her motion stopped and he noticed her body sinking, not floating.

He rushed to her and pulled her out seeing her eyes closed as he lifted her and carried her to the beach. He set her down and checked her pulse seeing it was still there. Cassondra wasn't breathing though.

Aster took his hands and placed them together on her chest. He gave a few pumps and saw nothing happened. He tipped her head back, plugged her nose, and gave her one breath. He watched her chest start to move and she rolled to her side coughing out sea water.

"What the hell were you thinking?" she sneered at him.

"That you could swim in a foot of water," Aster answered with a smirk. "So I was right you are special."

Cassie felt her body go rigid. He knew. He was smarter than she thought he was. The way his brown eyes looked at her was predatory. He liked control and as far as he knew he had it.

"I'm sorry that I was breathing when you pushed me?" she asked. "I took a deep breath of sea water."

"No you didn't," he stated. "You're a devil fruit user. Probably something to do with air or speed. That would explain why you were able to attack so strongly every now and then. Now the only question is why you're here?"

"That is your business," she growled out.

"It is," he teased. "I know I seem like a good person, but I'm not above tipping off the navy. So how about a drink?"

He loved the fire that was burning in her eyes as they pierced through him. It had been a while since he saw such a look of hatred. The girl was still very exciting.

OO00OO

"I refuse to have alcohol," Cassie repeated, for about the tenth time that night. Aster just wouldn't stop offering it to her. She had been forced to sit on a bar stool for around four hours as he flirted with women. There was no point in her being her at all.

"Why won't you have just one little drink?" he pressed.

"I'm under aged," Cassie replied curtly. She watched as his bright smile wavered slightly as she realized something. "Ha! You thought I was older."

"I did how old are you then," Aster admitted. Cassie tried to keep the happiness of being mistaken for being older from showing on her face.

"I'm seventeen," Cassie answered. "And you?"

"I'm twenty-three," Aster replied. He noticed her surprised look. "I know my skins amazing."

Cassie gave the man a suspicious look saying that she didn't believe him. She was not stupid she knew he wanted something from her. She didn't know what, but everyone makes mistakes. She would just have to wait until he made one.

"You want to know why you're here," Aster mused out loud. He watched as Cassie glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "I have nothing to hide. I'll tell you. I plan on breaking you into submission. I'll push you to until you practically worship me and then I'll leave you. You'll be lost and all alone. That is my livelihood."

"That's cool," Cassie stated. "I hate to tell you this, but I'm actually famous for not being submissive. If I ever do become submissive be ready for that plan of yours to back fire. I am not a stupid helpless woman with low self esteem. I happen to have a solid support system also known as a fiancé. If you want to take that away be prepared to die."

He surprised her by laughing. He looked like that was the funniest thing anyone had ever told him. Aster was completely pissing her off. The smirk he gave her when he finished made her eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

"That will just make this more interesting," he said moving closer to her. Cassie could feel his breath on her neck as he began to whisper to her. "I don't lose ever. Before you know it you will be withering in true ecstasy underneath me. Something your fiancé will never be able to give you. You can leave now."

He had expected to see a look of shock on her face when he pulled back from her, but the only thing he saw in her brown eyes was determination. She left strutting at the door without a glance behind her.

She was playing hard to get, but he, like any other predator, loved the chase.

OO00OO

"Ace, are you still mad?" Cassie whined following behind him.

She was touched by the romantic gesture he had made. However, she showed up late with a not to happy Ace waiting for her. He had been worried sick about her and was close to sending out a search group.

"I mean it isn't that late," she argued.

"That's not why I'm mad," Ace said entering his bedroom with Cassie close behind him. "You lied to me I can tell. You are certainly not careless enough to fall asleep on a beach where the tide would raise around five drowning you. You're lying to me."

Cassie cursed in her head. She had forgotten about the rising tide on this island. It was the one flaw in her story. What was she supposed to say? By the way, Ace, I have this crazy, handsome guy stalking me trying to hump and dump me. Yeah, she wasn't going to tell him that.

"You don't trust me at all do you," Cassie said sighing. "Look, it would be easier if you would tell me what you're thinking."

"That you might find someone else." Cassie had barely caught what he said. He sat down on the edge of his bed with his hands in fists. She could see the tension through his body.

She moved to crouch in front of him on her knees. She wasn't used to it. Considering she used to be royalty she was taught not to bow her head to those of lower rank than her. She lightly placed her hands over his trying to relieve the tension in them.

"I saw Holly again today," Cassie said, catching his attention. "I got mad all over again. I needed some time to think. I'm sorry. Sometimes I just feel like I'm not good enough for you."

Ace looked her surprised to see the vulnerability in her eyes. She was sincere and how could he resist her being so cute?

"We make quite the couple don't we?" Ace said with a laugh. "We're both afraid of the other leaving even though they never will."

Cassie looked at him and sent him that stunning real smile. It was like he was falling in love all over again. He pulled her up into a kiss, quickly flipping her under him. The kiss turned heated and he pulled away. He heard whimper in protest as he trailed kisses down her gorgeous neck.

As soon as he found her pulse he nipped at it and licked it in apology. He started sucking on it and pulled a moan from her. Before Cassie could say anything he moved from over her leaving her on her back with him lying on his side facing away from her.

"Think of this as your punishment," Ace said to her. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight you stupid tease," Cassie complained. She wrapped her arms around his waist waiting for sleep to claim her.

OO00OO

This got done a lot sooner than usual. Probably because I'm going through a pissed off mood and I relieve stress by writing, or in this case pounding the keys on my poor, innocent keyboard. Oh well, like I always say stupidity is the world's worst disease. Hopefully some people in my life get over it.

Next chapter you can expect to see… well I don't know. I haven't decided what to do with it. I'm guessing it will take longer to get out than usual. I'd love some reviews that point things out or have suggestions. Thanks for reading!

Thank you to Lady Syndra(Love your new picture btw. I almost died), my lovely guest, Caramel27, girls-luv-manga, RedneckChick, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, and kid23jk7 for your reviews.