Chapter 29
Déjà Vu
When Eli walked into the lounge room, she didn't look very surprised to be welcomed by Sanji wearing a large penguin costume. He gave her a warm mug of tea, and she went to her seat at the kitchen table. Across from her, Luffy, disguised as a monkey, was gobbling a large amount of bananas, and Usopp was sitting next to him wearing a duck outfit.
"Good morning," Nami greeted with a smile. She was dressed up as a sexy cat, and behind her, Vivi joined in wearing a blue pony costume.
Seeing Sanji hobbling around to serve breakfast, Eli stood up. "I'll go warn the others," she said happily.
She found Zoro on the upper deck training intensively but with difficulty since his caterpillar costume restricted his movements.
"Breakfast is ready," Eli informed him.
Zoro grumbled putting his weights down and followed the girl to the kitchen. Seeing Chopper on her way, Eli couldn't resist jumping on him and hugging him tightly.
"You're so soft..." she whispered happily.
However, when she raised her head, Eli realized that she was in Ace's arms. He was disguised as a tiger and looking at her with a large smirk on his face.
"Roarrr..."
Oh, god...
Eli woke up at once, sweating and panting heavily. She sat up briskly and ran fingers through her messy hair. After a minute to gather herself, the girl couldn't quite shake the cuteness of the crew in their animal costumes off her mind. She wondered if there could be any circumstance in which they'd actually agree into disguising themselves like that.
They were all so cute... she thought longingly.
Eli tiptoed out of the bedroom and through the storage room, efficiently avoiding all the obstacles in her way thanks to the guiding rope she had installed a few weeks ago. Once outside, she took a large intake of fresh air, rolling her head upward to gaze at the clear night sky... but soon the welcomed freshness reminded her that she was scantily clad and goosebumps quickly covered her skin.
Rubbing her arms furiously, she dashed into the kitchen and firmly closed the door behind her.
"What are you doing ?"
"Ace ?" Eli breathed, surprised to find out she wasn't the only one still awake at this late hour. "I was going to drink some milk." She walked to the refrigerator. "Want some...?"
Sounds like déjà vu...
"What are you doing ?"
Eli narrowed her eyes. "Ace ?" She could barely recognize the boy's shadow in the darkness. "I woke up, and I was going to drink some milk, want some ?"
"No thanks," he replied, getting closer to the girl.
Eli opened the door of the refrigerator, picked the bottle of fresh milk, and filled herself a large glass. As she sipped her drink she glanced at the boy standing silently next to her.
"Are you okay ?" she asked, a bit worried by his silence.
Ace nodded, but his expression contradicted him.
He must be scared about tomorrow, she thought, walking to the sink to rinse her glass.
"Hey, you should get wasted, Freckles !" Eli grinned. "That's what pirates do, right ?"
She reached for a bottle of her favorite liqueur hidden above the cupboard, picked two small glasses, and went to sit in the middle of the living room. Ace followed her silently.
Eli served him a glass and handed it with a wide grin. "Here you go !"
The boy looked at the glass absently.
Come on, Ace, cheer up, Eli thought, pouring the sweet nectar in her own glass.
As she raised it to him cheerfully, he mimicked her and they gulped down the fiery liquid at the same time.
It didn't take more than half a dozen litchi shots for Eli to be affected by the alcohol. On the other hand, Ace seemed really sober and still depressed. The tipsy girl was telling jokes about pirates, and imaging the boy's future adventurous life, trying her best to cheer him up, fruitlessly.
After a while, Eli's growing laughing fit, and particularly the convulsions that went with it, made her spill the bottle on the floor. "Okay, you'll be the barman now," she said, wiping the tears in the corners of her eyes.
She was still giggling when he started moving toward her on his hands and knees. Eli didn't notice how close he was, nor did she see how heated his eyes were. Her wake-up call was his hardness pressed against her thigh sending shivers through her veins. Ace slowly lifted his hand to her face, and brushed his thumb gently against her warm lips, his dark, half-lidded eyes diving into hers.
Feeling temperature rising between her legs, Eli bit her bottom lip nervously.
He was going to kiss her, of that she was certain, and that couldn't be happening. Kisses are for lovers, and she had no right to be loved, and to love even less.
"... You can't kiss me, Ace," she said, taking a hold of his wrist.
Hearing those words, the boy's lust apparently weakened. His previously heated eyes were now offensively staring at the object of his desire.
Gazing at him, she brought her hand to her chest as if to calm her erratic heartbeat. He was really attractive... She had always thought he was, but he was her friend, and he was quite popular among the girls... Eli never thought he'd ever look at her with desire in his eyes.
After all, she was so plain, so tall, and so skinny. To sum it up, she had nothing to deserve his arousal toward her. The alcohol and his impending departure must have been the trigger for his desire. Not really flattering... yet at that moment she didn't care, and Eli wanted him... She wanted him so much, she felt her insides burning and twisting painfully.
Her trembling hand still curled around his wrist, she stood up slowly and pulled him through the corridor and inside her bedroom without saying a word.
"I... I don't understand..." he stammered, looking around questioningly.
Eli closed the door quietly. "You just lust for me, Ace..." The nervous girl took a deep breath. It was hard to talk through her tightened throat... "If you want, we can... do it." She turned around to face him. "But we'll skip the romantic act."
NONONONO ! Eli shook her head repeatedly to clear it of the memory she had carefully sealed away years ago.
The troubled girl sighed thinking how stupid they were back then. Stupid, hormone-driven kids... Yet somehow, Eli felt she hadn't grown up that much, and the cavern incident was a clear example of that...
"Why don't you ever wear a shirt ?" she snarled, annoyed to be forced to face his appealing bare chest at a time like this.
Ace turned his head to face her, raising an eyebrow. "And why don't you ever wear trousers ?" he countered sharply.
"What ?" Eli looked down to observe her clothes. She was wearing her usual sleeping outfit; a rather large and short white t-shirt. Did he actually care...? "It's not like I wear nothing under, though..." she said, rolling her eyes.
"..." Ace silently stared into space.
"Oh, god..." Eli's eyes widened. "You're totally picturing it, aren't you ?"
Eli marched over to him and poked her finger repeatedly in his ribs. "Shigan ! Shigan !" It elicited nervous laughs from the young man. Fortunately, thanks to his laughs and soon hers, the tension lightened. After a while, Eli finally stopped torturing her victim. She served herself a glass of fresh milk and sat next to him on the table's bench.
"What's a 'shigan' ?" Ace asked, resting his chin on the palm of his hand.
"That's a very good question, my dear Freckles." Eli grinned. "It is one of the six techniques of a secret and deadly martial art from my country," she said proudly.
"Deadly ?" Ace questioned smugly. "Didn't seem really deadly to me."
Eli huffed. "It's because I never learned it," she pouted. "Girls weren't allowed to learn... Even though my father was a Master of this art..."
"Really ?" The young man smiled heartily. "Tell me about him."
Despite of the time they had spent together, Eli had never shared anything but some superficial facts about her past. Not that she wanted to hide anything, but the subject never really came up.
It felt so good to speak about her father. Eli proudly told Ace that he was one of the few Masters of Rokushiki. It meant that during his time, he was a guardian of the teaching of this martial art. His duty was to train the more advanced students, and he also had to complete researches to improve the six techniques.
Since he had a girl, he couldn't pass on his knowledge to his daughter... Eli explained regretfully, but that didn't keep them from being really close. They used to spend nights stargazing. It was him who taught her the names of the stars and constellations. The girl's voice was filled with emotion and love as she remembered the good times spent with her beloved father. Ace listened attentively as she told him about casual things like the litchi orchard behind their house, their happy days spent at the beach, and how he always tucked her in bed at night, telling her legends of their country...
"I really miss him." Eli sighed staring into space for a few seconds before shifting her gaze to him. "What about your father, Freckles ?"
"My father..." Ace said quietly.
She looked at him questioningly as he rolled his head upwards inhaling deeply, and exhaling slowly.
Heh ? Watching him gathering himself, Eli wondered if she had brought up a sensitive subject.
Eli cleared her throat. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me..."
"No it's okay, I want to tell you." Ace shifted one of his legs over the bench. Straddling it, he slid slightly closer to the puzzled girl and fixed his dark eyes onto hers. "My father is-"
"ACE ! ELI !"
The sudden interruption of the intense moment startled the pair so violently that loud squeaks of surprise escaped their mouths.
"Luffy..." Eli breathed, a hand on her racing heart, watching her captain and Usopp walk to the refrigerator.
"Heyh leksh plhay Pirakh Khngh" Luffy said, his mouth full.
"What ?" Usopp asked.
"He said 'Hey, let's play Pirate King'," Ace translated.
Eli was amazed at the young man's ability to understand his little brother despite of how much food he had in his mouth.
"I'm not sure..." Eli sighed deeply, resting her chin in her hands. "Luffy always wins, it's not really fun anymore..."
"Gatsh nohk kuuuhh ! Piihj piiiijhh leksh phaayyhh !"
Usopp and Eli looked at Ace tilting their heads questioningly.
"That's not true. Please please, let's play," Ace translated dully, taking his share of food.
"And what about another game ?" Eli proposed, smiling cheerfully.
"Ah gonhk wannkh agh ojerh guhmm ah wank Pirakh Khnngh..."
"I don't want another game, I want Pirate King."
"Yeah... I could have guessed that one..." Eli sighed.
After explaining the rules to Usopp, the four of them took position. Ace was paired with Eli and Usopp with Luffy. Like always, Eli put her foot on Ace's thigh and they started playing Pirate King.
In spite of her previous lack of motivation for the game, Eli was dead serious and ready to take her revenge once and for all. She had warned Ace that if she happened to lose because of him, she would make him pay, painfully. Which, of course, only made the young man laugh.
During the game, Luffy and Eli were extremely focused, an unnatural behavior that earned them mocking faces from Usopp and Ace, but they didn't care. The girl was prepared to resort to any means possible to win this game, and when Ace inadvertently gave her the wrong card, in spite of her very clear foot tapping, she glared at him with pure hatred in her eyes and kicked his knee. He must have found her reaction highly comical since he slammed his hand on his mouth, apparently holding back a laugh. Annoyed, Eli rolled her eyes and quickly refocused on the game until... she felt his warm hand slipping from her foot up her leg.
"WHAT THE HELL !" she yelled, jumping back on the floor.
"Eli eliminated," Luffy announced on the spot.
Ace howled with laughter watching the bewildered girl scrambling away, a crimson blush all over her face.
"Ace eliminated."
"What-"
"Usopp eliminated," Luffy said. "Woo I won !" He raised his arms up in the air happily. "This one was easy."
"MORON !" Eli dashed toward Ace and kicked him violently off the bench.
Yet that didn't kill the young man's laughing fit. On the contrary, he was now on the floor holding his stomach, tears in the corners of his eyes, under Usopp's questioning gaze.
"What happened ?" Usopp asked, a bit curious at the girl's sudden fit of rage.
You're so dead, Portgas... Eli clenched her fists looking at him with blood lust in her eyes...
"Hey Eli, can you run on water ?"
Heh ? She blinked.
"Run on... water...?" Eli repeated slowly, looking at Luffy while still a bit dazed by her fit of anger. "Where did you get that idea ?"
"Dunno, I thought it'd be cool," Luffy said, before choking himself trying to swallow a large piece of meat whole. Sanji's wrath would undoubtedly be upon him in the morning for stealing from his refrigerator once again.
Running on water... Eli quickly studied the involvements of such an experiment in her mind. If it failed, it could be quite dangerous for her, but if it succeeded... Eli smirked.
It would be frakingly awesome !
"Okay !" Eli said, all pumped up. "Let's do it !" She turned to face her brilliant captain. "I suppose it is your wish to accompany me, Pirate King ?" she said, bowing slightly.
"Damn right !" Luffy grinned, shooting his fist and the piece of meat it contained into the air.
Ace cleared his throat. "And what if-"
"Hush !" Eli slammed her hand on his mouth, smirking. "You lost your prerogative to talk, jackass."
They waited for the morning to ensure their safety in case of failure. Under the whole crew's stares, Eli equipped herself with gumboots and tied Luffy's rubbery limbs around her. The boy was heavier than the last time she had carried him. She hoped that it would not compromise the experiment.
"Ready ?" Eli asked.
"Yeah !"
Without wasting one more second, she dashed off the Merry and onto the sea at her full speed.
Woah... Looking down, Eli watched with amazement as her feet skimmed smoothly on the water. It works... It actually works...!
It was so simple, yet she had never even thought of it. Luffy was really a genius for this kind of thing.
Running around the ship to stay close in case of drowning, Eli slowed down a bit since it seemed she didn't need to go all out. She smiled, hearing Usopp and Chopper whooping in awe. But the one that sounded the most amazed was Luffy, his cries of utter joy and excitement almost deafening her.
Eli felt so confident that she gradually drew away from the Merry.
"COME BACK !" Ace yelled out.
And just to contradict him, Eli stubbornly ran further away. It was so great... Running so freely on the open sea... Eli thanked Luffy inwardly for his great idea. However, after a few minutes, weariness began to diffuse upon her legs, and breathing was becoming harder, so she pulled a U-turn and soon reached the Merry and its worried crew.
"Uh... oh..." Eli muttered, running around the ship.
"What ?" Luffy asked.
"How do... we... get on...?" she asked between pants.
"Oh..." The boy made a series of thinking sounds while Eli's racing pace kept slowing down threateningly. "I have no idea !" Luffy finally said, and quite proudly at that.
Great...
Luffy could have easily caught the railing if his arms weren't tied around the girl's body... Damn ! Eli took a mental note to remember about that the next time...
She gritted her teeth, feeling her feet starting to dip in the water as her strength left her.
"Sorry... Luffy... we're.. going... down..."
"SAVE US !" Luffy yelled before sinking in the sea...
to be continued
Betaed by Iwin Ulose.
That was fun, wasn't it ? :)
"Roarrr"
For those who think that I made a mistake saying that Rokushiki was reserved to men since Califa can use it, well don't worry. I didn't ;)
Oh and for the ones who haven't read it yet, I published the second chapter of 'Twig'.
And I would really appreciate to read your comments about it.
See ya~
