Chapter 25

"So… this is it right?" Amaya asked even though she already knew the answer. The two were on Ace's ship, heading towards the following island. The moment Shinji returned, Amaya and Ace had been on high alert but they weren't attacked once which was unsettling.

"It is, Amaya." They quickly arrived to shore and both finally stepped on solid ground. "You know I can always talk to Pops. I'm sure he'll let you join." He tried to convince her to change her mind but she only nodded.

"I have things to settle first, alright? Then I'll ponder on that possibility." She winked at him as the smile on his lips grew wider. "Will you be alright without me?"

"That's my line, Amaya!" His remark made her laugh loudly but subsided when she saw that the serious expression didn't disappear from his features. "Are you sure you'll be fine?"

"I'll manage, do not worry about a thing!" She smiled and just as those words left her mouth, her ears caught the sound of hissing that approached the two at high speed. Upon her alert state, her Kusarigama snaked upward to protect its owner, blocking a small knife from hitting her.

"I'll never grow used to that weapon of yours." Ace commented, although his eyes were fixated on the person that casually approached the two, holding three small knives in one hand. It was a male and much taller than herself: he had light coloured armour that she had seen Samuru wear quite often when certain missions were required to be done during daytime. A mask covered half his face, leaving only his eyes and hair to be exposed: brown eyes and brown hair. Could be a lot of other assassins that worked for him. Most looked quite plain. "Friend of yours?"

"With that attire? Most definitely no. A possible former co-worker… than yes." She answered, quickly finding herself in a fighting stance only to see a ring of fire surround the assassin that had attacked her. He easily jumped upward but ace was quick to burn his legs making the assassin shout out in pain and fall clumsily to the ground. "That is awfully unbalanced, Ace."

"He attacked you, what did you expect me to do?" He shrugged as he stepped aside so that the raven haired woman could approached the burnt assassin that was still grunting in pain.

"My dear, was it Samuru that finally decided to send you to kill me?" She smiled down at him only to receive a glance towards her from the man in pain that confirmed her words. "Very well. Now, you have one of two choices: either we help you and you won't kill me in return and say no word to Samuru or we'll kill you on the spot. Can't promise it will be a quick death though." Her hand caressed his cheek before she sat down next to him. "So what's it going to be?"

"If you let me live, he'll kill me like he did to that Shinji guy that failed to do so."

She shouted every kind of curse word she could think of in her mind but her face stayed stoic as her icy blue eyes pierced the brown ones of the grinning assassin. Instead of killing him instantly or actually letting him live a peaceful life, she casually got up with her weapon dancing around her protectively.

"Stage 3: Poison Blade." She stated the command that made her Yoru gain a purple like tone to it. With a flick of her finger the blade opened small wounds on the arms and legs of the assassin. She then proceeded to search his armour for any possible antidotes, finding three small bottles that looked like it and removed them from his body. "Have fun." Amaya's voice came out cold as she crushed the bottles on her hand and let the blue liquid drip to the white sand, which she proceeded to kick away from him. "Ace, I'm going to stay here, alright? You go on your merry way."

"Do you want me to keep watch over this guy?" He raised an eyebrow, his eyes move focused on her bleeding hand rather than the guy that was squirming on the ground, the poison taking quick effect at rotting away his muscles and skin.

"Leave him be. I highly doubt Samuru will send someone to get him back." She finally turned to face the man that had saved her life. The man she had grown to adore and look up to. Amaya noticed that his attention was turned to her hand rather to the assassin on the ground or her face. "Not much of a smart idea from my part, I know." She brushed him off, digging away the shards of glass left on the wound, hissing occasionally. Warm hands quickly grabbed her wounded one and scurried to clean the wound meticulously. "You worry so much, Ace."

"Shouldn't I? You are an expert at calling danger towards you, you know?" He was paying close attention to take care of her and failed to notice the light blush that appeared on her cheeks, her blue eyes taking in his adorable features.

"Isn't that why you stayed with me for longer?" Her words made him laugh loudly before hugging her tightly. "Ace…?"

"Don't be so reckless while I'm gone, please." His words were muffled by her black hair while his hands were busy, holding onto her small frame. "Promise me that we'll meet again and you'll be safe and sound."

"You're turning into a softy, Portgas." She chuckled and, despite her attempt to look strong, she couldn't help but snuggle against his neck, hiding away her sad smile. "I promise that we'll meet again, Ace." Her voice came like a lullaby to him, making the man hold her tighter than before but she didn't mind at all. Instead she took in the sweet moment shared between the two, and definitely their last for the time being. "Ace?"

"Yes?"

"You know that we are having this cute moment but… the guy is dying right behind us. You know that, right?"

He laughed loudly, letting her go so that he could head to the boat that had carried them both for quite some time now.

"I know, Amaya, I know." He stepped on the boat before facing her and flashing her that signature smile of his. "We'll see each other again. That's a promise."

"Well then Portgas, until then, farewell."

…

Amaya shook lightly in her sleep and, as consequence, woke up the swordsman she was using as a pillow for a couple of hours. She had been sleeping between his legs, her head against his chest. She stretched her arms above her head, hearing the soft sound of her back cracking before starting to get up but Zoro caught her wrist, pulling her back to him.

"What is it, Zoro?" She mumbled, taking this opportunity to snuggle her face against his neck, feeling him shiver lightly.

"I was comfortable with you here. Stay a bit longer."

"Aren't you a cute one?"

"Shut up."

He poked her forehead, making her smile before he quickly fell asleep. It still amazed her how quickly he could do that and at such weird times during the day: if he wasn't drinking or training he would be sleeping, even when it was his turn to keep watch.

Her blue orbs scanned the ship and amusement shone in her eyes when she saw Luffy sprawled on the wooden surface, constantly calling out for meat. The captain was such an interesting character, so different from his brother and yet there were so many similarities between the two. Both had that signature smile that cheered her so easily but Ace was more mature while Luffy was… reckless and so childish.

Exactly like a baby brother.

"Amaya-swan!" Sanji sang out her name a bit too loudly, waking up Zoro a second time.

"Oi, shit cook, keep it down!" The swordsman roared before letting out a yawn.

"What was that, marimo!?" The blond man growled with flare shinning in his eyes.

"Please, why can't you just kiss and make-up?" Amaya called out and that was enough for the two to cease their senseless argues.

"It's this marimo we're talking about." Sanji knelt down before Amaya, holding a bowl of ice cream to her. "But if I get to kiss you and I would gladly do so!"

"Don't you dare, pervert cook." Zoro's eyes were… menacing to say the least but all this lost meaning when Amaya suddenly got up, handing the swordsman the ice cream, her eyes fixated on a bird that was flying high. "Amaya?"

The sound she made startled the ones that were outside and the most surprising thing was that the bird answered with the same sound: the caw of a crow.

"We're close to land!" Amaya shouted out, making Luffy jump up from the floor and shouting 'MEAT' at the top of his lungs. She ran to Nami's room, remembering to knock on the door just in case she was doing her very scrupulous drawings of maps.

"Come in." The navigator's voice reached her ears and the assassin opened the door carefully. Just as she had expected Nami was indeed drawing maps.

"We'll reach land soon. Just wanted to warn you."

"I'll be out in a minute then."

"Alright!" With that Amaya ran outside towards the front part of the ship, resting her hands on the rail. This time she whistled twice and that made the bird fly down towards her.

"Are you sure we'll reach land?" Zoro called out from the crow's nest, putting away the telescope so that he could look at the raven haired assassin. "I see nothing."

"Just give it a minute." She informed as the crow finally landed on her forearm, cawing cheerfully at her. "I know, I know."

"MEAT!" Luffy shouted and raced towards Amaya but she just raised her foot so that she would hit him on the face, stopping him on his tracks.

"He's not meat! He's Sky." Her eyebrow twitched but she quickly calmed down when Chopper and Sanji approached her.

"Sky?" Chopper asked, his huge eyes staring intently at the big black bird that was resting on her arm.

"He's my friend." She smiled before gently rubbing her nose against the top of the bird's head. "Oh, I missed you so much and your never ending caws." Her voice was sweet when she spoke to the animal that cawed cheerfully at her.

"He says: I have missed you too." Chopper translated to her and she chuckled.

"It's amazing that you can speak to animals, Chopper."

"It's not like I'm flattered about that, you asshole." The small reindeer danced around in a failed attempt to hide away the blush.

"How long until we reach land?" Nami's voice reached the small group that was at the front part of the ship.

"Haven't seen anything yet." Zoro informed, still looking at the horizon in search for an island.

Nico Robin joined the navigator's side, looking into the distance and her face showed some doubts towards the promise of arriving to land soon. Amaya was questioning herself that when she finally realized a small detail.

"Sky, why are you so far from home?" She asked but her question was soon answered by a warning from the swordsman at the top of the crow's nest. He was facing the opposite direction the boat was heading and spotted four small ships approaching them rather quickly.

"Luffy!" He shouted before jumping down and heading to the end of the ship, behind his captain and followed by the rest of the crew.

The straw hatted pirate looked into the distance before a smile appeared on his face.

"PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"

A/N:

Chapter 25 done and I'm so excited to write the next one as well. Oh I'm going to have so much fun with this!

I did have a little bit of trouble with this one at the part of Amaya's and Ace's departure but I think it turned out good.

I hope you enjoy this chapter! I certainly did.

I do not own One Piece

I only own Amaya, Yoru no Ame and Samuru.