And…
Hi?
My apologies for another long update. On my defense. Those hags were on my way again and I got on a slump halfway while doing this chapter. My head kept jumping on future chapters instead of this one.
And by the way I'm gonna continue all those hanging stories on my list.. XDD
Finally had the inspiration to watch them from the start and continue them. But do not worry folks I still have my hands on this one. Not that I'm thinking that there are other who reads this one. Haha.
Here it is lovely people.
Me: I own—
Zoro: still nothing brat.
Me: ¬3¬.. stingy!
Zoro: go ahead and don't mind the brat in here.
(~pagebreak~)
Ace is grumpy.
No scratch that.
He is downright pissed off. Ever since that Surgeon of death decided to ask his fiancé for a date, he couldn't stop himself from feeling edgy every time he sees the tanned male. Law's smug smirking face dent help to lighten his mood either. It was like he was taunting him, daring him to say something. But of course he couldn't. He doesn't want to upset the blacksmith by starting a fight.
He had been a constant figure beside Sei, a somewhat bodyguard making sure that that gray-eyed dangerous Surgeon of Death won't do anything unnecessary to his fiancé. Better guard his grounds before it's too late. Of course he is a pirate, and just like Luffy he isn't good at sharing. Especially when it comes to his fiancé. Good thing Sei isn't romantically involved with any of the straw hats or he'll flip a table or two.
Ace practically ignored all the glares and reprimands of the blacksmith beside just, just to make sure that Law would stand in a safe distance—which is practically several meters away from his fiancé. To his disappointment, the Heart Pirates and Straw Hats had been close than they originally were. Of course Ace expected these to happen now that Law saved the three of them –Luffy, Sei and him.
After making sure that the blacksmith is already asleep, Ace decided to bring the finished tray of food to the kitchen. Sanji greeted him. "Oh, thank you for your trouble." The cook gathered the tray and pt them on the counter beside the dirty dishes.
"Say Sanji, what do you think should I do?"
Sanji raised an eyebrow at the sudden question from the fire user. "The brat?"
"…"
"Why did you ask her to marry you in the first place?" The cook stopped washing the dishes to turn to the pyro who had confusion written all over his face.
Why did I?
Before Ace could rummage his fire head for answers he noticed one thing. Everyone in the StrawHats asked him about his intentions to their resident blacksmith. Even Luffy himself questioned him!
He could only ask, 'what the hell is happening to him.'
"Don't hurt her Ace." Sanji warningly threatened his grip tightening on the knife he is currently holding. His captain's brother or not, no man should ever hurt a girl at all no matter what reason.
Ace nodded at Sanji before leaving the kitchen.
The girl was already awake by the time he went back to the room and is now sitting on her bed. "Are you feeling better?"
Ace's voice managed to get the blacksmith's attention from her stupor. Sei lifted her head, acknowledging the pyro's presence inside her room. The said man had been on his mind ever since she woke up from that kidnapping incident with Mendell. Honestly, she had been wondering why Ace would bother with her like that. She knew Ace wasn't serious at all with her, yet she realized that he was trying to get her back from her kidnappers.
She could vaguely remember his face by that time but somehow the look on his eyes were etched in her memory.
They were made of absolute rage.
She knew he had been furious, those eyes contained indescribable rage for the whole Demon pirates.
Her musings were stopped as Ace's voice broke the silence between them.
"hey…"
Noticing the she had been spacing out, she smiled at the pyro assuring the man that there is nothing wrong with her. Ace's face had been flooded with worry. She doesn't want to trouble the pirate anymore. He had worried for her enough as it is. She knew she had troubled the man too much, though she couldn't suppress the small happiness bubbling inside her that Ace would go for such lengths for a person he just met.
And it was frightening.
How should she react to such care?
He treated her like the most important person for him.
She had nothing to offer back, yet here he is…
Offering her his name.
"Ace-san I…"
But before she could finish her sentence, a soft flick on her forehead was felt. It wasn't really a flick but rather a soft poke by Ace's finger.
"Baka. You really like thinking about useless things huh. Don't worry about it." Ace smiled to her as if he was able to read her thoughts. "We're pirates remember? Just live free as you like, and worry nothing about tomorrow."
"…."
"…"
"That doesn't make any sense, Ace-san."
Ace just laughed at the girl's reaction. She was somewhat confused trying to understand what Ace really meant by his words.
Ace fondly ruffled the lavender locks softly, making sure that he won't aggravate any of the wounds on her head. "You're always think too much, Sei. Just take it easy."
"Take it easy you say…"
"You're home now, what's there to think about?" Ace stated as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
'Home'. It struck her hard, it made her breath hitch and she stared at Ace in shock. Disbelief must have been obvious on her face because Ace just chuckled at her while ruffling her hair fondly. Ace knew that he finally got his point through. The pyro could see light slowly shining on her eyes just like he did few years back when he joined the Whitebeard pirates.
Then Sei found herself smiling at Ace. It was stupid of her not to realize that she already belongs to a family. The StrawHat family. "Thanks, Ace-san."
Ace didn't know how to react with the sudden smile, but he found himself being drawn. It was actually the first time the blacksmith smiled at him. As far as he can remember the girl had been ignoring his presence like he wasn't existing at all, she greeted him occasionally but never smiled.
"And I think I missed a lot of things.." Ace mumbled to himself.
"Like what?"
"A miracle."
"Huh?"
Ace laughed at the confused face of Sei, obviously not understanding what he meant by his words.
Cute. really cute. Before Ace could stop himself he found himself leaning forward and kissing the blacksmith forehead.
Sei wasn't able to react. He just stared at Ace who was sheepishly smiling at him. Slowly she could feel her face heating up, but before the Fire Fist could see her reaction she managed to hide underneath the bed covers at the speed of light.
"Sei?" Ace called out.
"OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTT!" Sei screamed at the top of her lungs.
And Ace was kicked out of the room stumbling ungracefully on the deck and sprawling on the grass.
Luffy, Usopp and Chopper who happened to be playing around, noticed Ace's 'unique' entrance and asked. "What are you doing, Ace?"
Instead of answering, the Fire Fist chuckled, his body shaking with mirth by just remembering the reaction of the blacksmith which turned to full blown laugh.
A "SHUUUUUUUUUUUT UPPPPP!" was the heard coming from the Sei's room.
(~pagebreak~)
"What the hell are we doing in here?!" Usopp hissed to his companions who were hiding behind his back. Right now, all of them, aside from Chopper—who was guarding the ship—were currently tailing two people.
No scratch that.
Make that three.
Ace, who is also tailing…
Law and of course…
Sei.
Luffy had gone to God-knows-where the moment they entered the town followed by Sanji who was muttering something about looking for fresh ingredients, and Zoro who was walking to a random direction.
"To watch them of course! Don't you want to see what's going to happen?" Nami watched the trio with starry eyes. Obviously, her fangirl side just cannot stop poking her nose when she can clearly still romance.
"No." Usopp sighed. "I don't want to know what would be Sei's reaction if she finds out that we have been following them.."
"No she won't found out if you keep your mouth shut!" Nami glared at their sharp shooter.
It was you who makes the noise.
(~pagebreak~)
Sei's direction…
The girl had been fidgeting her clothes for a while looking down on the pavement as she walks. Not once did she glance at her companion, mentally grumbling about their current situation. How the hell did she ended up walking on the streets with Law? And what's with Law asking her on a date?
"Law…" Sei sighed. The pirate did nothing to confirm that he heard hear but she knew she have his attention. "Please tell me you are not on drugs,"
"What makes you say that hhmmm.?" Amusement is clearly lacing his voice.
"Problem? Reason? Because this is so out of character for you! You! The SURGEON OF DEATH asking someone on a date? That's the last thing that will enter my mind! This kind of thing only happens in a fanfiction and I don't even know what that is for Roger's sake!" The blacksmith sudden outburst only earned a look of amusement from the doctor and a couple of stares from the bystanders.
Instead of being bothered by both Sei and the people's reactions. Law just calmly walked back and removed his hat only to put it on the blacksmith's head. "Have you ever thought of the possibility of me…" Law closed the distance and whispered on Sei. "Wanting you to become mine?"
The blacksmith could do nothing but stand still and pull her hair out.
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!
I don't remember signing up for this!
In confusion, Sei just started removing one of her boots and throwing it to the doctor which he successfully caught without looking behind. With one look at the surgeon she could tell that he's smirking at her without even seeing his face. Damn him for playing around.
"Go talk to yourself!" And the blacksmith walked out despite one of her boots still on Law's hand.
Unknown to Sei, the surgeon of death was trying to hide his smirk as he took a quick glance on a certain street corner. He quickly caught the shadow of a man who was tailing them since they left the Straw Hats ship. Clearly, it had been an amusing thing to see a great pirate—Second Division Commander of Whitebeard Pirates—loose his cool.
Playing around with the pyro's reaction had not been his very intention. Rather, he's curious of the real reason behind Ace's interests. As the pyro's had been saying a lot of times, he had dedicated himself to marrying Sei on the near future. The fact itself seems to baffle Law to no end. He needs to know how far is Ace's joke taking him and how much is the actual joke itself.
(-)
Still not over with her encounter with Law Sei started going to a random direction wile huffing. Heck, she didn't even notice her uneven walks due to her missing boot. "Stupid Law and his stupid jokes! I knew I shouldn't have involved myself with that kind of person! What the hell is with his statement? Is he on drugs! That lunatic!" The blacksmith continued to grumble not noticing where she is even going.
"The hell?!" a large man shouted at her which immediately grabbed her attention. Before she knew it, the man grabbed the collar of her shirt and tugged it upwards making her feet somewhat dangle upon the air.
Huh?
"Weren't you looking where you're going damn brat?!
Seems like she somewhat hit the man as she was inside her thoughts. But isn't his reaction too much? With their faces being close he caught a whiff of the man's breath. Urgh, Alcohol. Of course. And an ugly face to match.
She was about to swat the man's hand away from the collar of her shirt, somebody already did it for her.
"Would you mind bringing the lady down, pal? It's the best suggestion I could get for you if you don't want to get hurt." Came a deep voice which she knew so well.
"Ace-san."
The man seemed not to recognize Ace in his drunken stupor, he glared at Ace. "Who are you huh? A knight and shining armor?! Wahahahahaha!"
Sei crinkled his nose smelling the stench of alcohol escaping the guy's mouth.
"Seriously, you need to brush your teeth man." The blacksmith mumbled which was unfortunately heard by the drunken man.
"What did you say you little—"
Before Ace could stop the man's hand, Sei caught it already and at the same time swatted the man's hand away from her shirt. She had enough dealings with men for the day. All she wants is a good rest (despite the time still being morning). But it seemed not to be the case when the drunk guy appeared in front of her.
"Move, oji-san." She huffed in a bored tone. Really, can't anyone understand that she is out of her elements today? Can't anyone stop messing around with her?
Ace watched from the sidelines, reading the blacksmith's bad mood. He wanted to confront her about what happened to her 'date' but it seemed to be a bad time to do so. "Maybe later—"
His eyes widened when he suddenly saw the drunk guy—whose height and built are times larger than Sei—being thrown to the ground with a loud crash. The ground underneath the fallen guy cracked at the large force.
Sei huffed in annoyance while dusting the dust of her skirt. "So much for being polite."
Ace gulped. "Tomorrow… perhaps?"
Good thing Ace didn't follow her when she left the scene. Crap, she really needs to sort herself out. Well thinking about it she haven't done that in a while. A few months ago she was on a with the Demon Pirates, creating weapons like there's no tomorrow, but then she learned that the captain was only using her for his gain.
Flashbacks entered her mind as she walked towards the outskirts of the town and towards the forest.
She was sailing on the seas with the Demon pirates chasing her back. Then she met Law and made a deal with him. She fought, run, hide. Until she got lost on a forest and met her current captain.
The man who she had helped escape the marines in exchange of her life and freedom. Actually back then she wasn't thinking of helping the StrawHats at all. When she saw the marines, she felt tired of running from her past. She was ready to hand herself to the marines but the StrawHats stopped her.
In an instant she found herself aboard Sunny. She became a pirate once more, sailing under Luffy's flag.
"And the Ace-san appeared."
And everything about her went down the hell hole.
Ace proposed to her.
She met Law again
Demon Pirates came to retrieve her.
She chose death.
She was saved by Law and asked to date her.
Nothing made sense at all. "Arrrrghhhh! What is with this stupidity?!" Sei slumped on the ground beneath her. Grabbing her twin swords handing on her belt, she asked. "How do you think I should react Yoruyuki, Mahadara?" Talking to her swords is one of things she do when something troubles her.
The wind blew as someone was actually answering to her questions.
"I guess it would be better if I camp out here tonight." She doesn't want to face those two male who is causing havoc in her system right now. "I really need this break." Sei started gathering firewood and looking for food.
Ace who is actually watching from a distance sighed. Yeah, he followed the girl till she got to the forest. Nah, he wasn't even worried that she might catch danger—after all after seeing her abilities he was sure she could handle herself just fine—but of course it does not reassure his male instincts to protect his woman to keep calm.
"What am I going to do with you?" Despite saying that, Ace found himself smiling. Why not? He found himself an independent and strong woman who doesn't give a shit about him.
And don't forget that she clearly spelled it out on my face that he doesn't want me. A side of his mind chirped.
Tch.
He almost forgot that she didn't want him. For some reasons she seemed not to settle with the fact that he just proposed marriage to her. And more over she is seeing Ace as a visitor and a his captain's older brother nothing more and nothing less.
"Sorry Sei but I can't accept being friendzoned." Ace mumbled out as he waited for the blacksmith to come back on her potential camp site. His head hit the grass when his narcolepsy decided to attack.
A few hours had past pest Ace stirred up from his sudden sleep. Yawning, he scratched his head and wandered his gaze on his surroundings. "Where is this?"
Trying to remember what happened before he slept, Ace snapped out of his trance and hid himself carefully on the tree, hopefully that Sei didn't managed to spot him. When he decided to peek, it was only then that he saw that Sei isn't back to her supposed to be camp site.
He remembered what Strawhats once said to him about the greatest swordsmen lacking sense of direction.
(~Flashback~)
On the dining area….
"Listen Ace, listen carefully." Usopp's lowered voice got his full attention especially when the sniper's face looked so damn serious. "Don't ever let her out of your sight whenever you are together. NEVER EVER."
Ace nodded Thinking that there were bounty hunters after her head as well as marines too and other pirates. "I'll protect her."
Usopp shook his head and stared at the fire user with more seriousness in his voice. "You are not getting me Ace. You need to watch her and make sure that you will not let her out of your sight. And I assure you even if there are enemies she can perfectly take care of herself. But still you need to watch her all the time.
Ace raised his eyebrows in question.
"Believe it or not she really is hopeless with directions. Tch. That troublesome kid will get into trouble whenever she gets lost." Zoro supplied.
Sanji who had been listening to the conversation automatically glared at the swordsman. "You are not the one to talk!"
"What the hell did you say you Love cook?!"
Before an argument ensues, Ace interrupted the two who are already on their fighting stance.
"Please clarify."
"Well you see Ace." Usopp patted the fire user's shoulder like a good 'ol pal. "We all have the same conclusion that all members in this crew who are wielding swords save for Brook has I-can't-find-my-way-Disease."
"Oi!"
"It's true. We already proved it!"
Sanji blew some smoke. "You and that brat had the tendency to wander off on your own and had the difficulty to find your way back!" Sanji tsk at the swordsman. "Imagine the worry that we had when Sei joined this crew and got herself lost inside Sunny."
Usopp piped in. "We thought that because she's just new, it is just a matter of time before she could get herself to remember the parts of the ship. But we apparently concluded that it will never happen when she went with us on the first town after she joined us."
"It took us three days to find her! Three days!" Nami exasperatedly stated.
Robin good naturedly smiled at the stunned fire user. "Well, it seemed like she had wondered to the outskirts of the town and was trying to find her way back. We thought that she was captured by the marines."
Zoro snorted. "Like those wusses could capture even a child."
Obviously the Strawhats decided to annihilate the marines on the town thinking that their nakama was captured. Ace sweatdropped. "She got lost in a small town for three days?"
All Strawhats gave him an affirmative nod which he couldn't retort.
(~Back to present~)
"And I think I'm given the firsthand experience on search for her." Ace adjusted his hat and started searching the wilderness for his lost fiancé. "Better me than anyone." Ace grumbled upon remembering the Surgeon of Death.
(~pagebreak~)
And this is it! Finally another chapter!
Thanks for reading! Please read and review!
NightHunterDeath: Oh by the way. Sei's devil fruit will be revealed at the next chapter. =w=V
Ciao~
Zoro: Brat. Of all the people to chose why that woman?! *glares at authoress*
Me: Perona? Well one she's awesome, two I like her timeskip version than the previous one, three is that the way to talk about the one who led you to Sabody?
Zoro: *glares*
Me: huh. That wouldn't work with me. I've decided! I'll be cosplaying as Perona next~ I've done her hat what's left is her bear, umbrella and finally the dress~
Zoro: whatever. *walks away*
Me: you're on the wrong direction again Zoro~ *smirks*
