Like A Boy
Chapter 32 Youko the Puppy
Ace looked down at the small almost puppy sized dog next to him before finally realizing what had happened to his girl. The man went wide eyed and picked the girl up and out of her pile of clothes and looked her over, making sure she wasn't injured and satisfied when she wasn't. Ace held the puppy happily though Youko wasn't all that pleased with being carried.
The girl looked up at the man and whined about being held but Ace simple smiled and ran a hand across her forehead, annoying the girl into nipping him though Ace laughed at the futile attempt. "Old man, Youko had better turn back to normal, you understand me?" Ace told the elder who nodded.
"You'll get your lady back when you burn this flower." He said and Ace nodded before placing Youko in his bad. "The puppy has to stay here."
"No way in hell." Ace said before walking in the direction that the dogs had gestured to. "Don't trust you completely."
"Now that I think about it, maybe I should have asked where exactly the flower was." Ace said after he had been walking for almost three hours.
Youko sighed as she looked at the sky from inside the bag that Ace was currently carrying on his back, trying her hardest not to fall asleep on the man. They had missed their chance at getting onto the Moby Dick and she was a dog, she couldn't even talk to Ace now and he was going to need help in this case. The female looked at the back of her man's head and another sigh escaped her muzzle; she wanted to be of some form of help but at the moment she was completely useless.
"Hey Youko, don't worry about anything." Ace said looking back at the small dog who glanced at him, "Leave this to me, I'll make sure that I get you back to normal."
Youko looked at the freckled faced man's smiling face and a warm feeling filled her and she smiled though she wasn't sure if Ace could see it or not. the man looked at the puppy and happily picked her up out of the bag and looked her over once more. Youko looked at him curiously before Ace nuzzled her against his cheek happily, confusing the poor dog until the man spoke.
"God you look so cute like this." Ace said happily. "You being like this might be nice too."
A tick mark formed on Youko's face and she bit Ace on the cheek causing him to release her and she easily landed on the ground which had gone from rock to loose soil and was now beginning to be filled with vegetation. The girl looked up at the man who was rubbing his sore cheek and a triumphant 'humph' came from her for she was still able to teach Ace a lesson even in her lacking form.
The man noticed the sound and kneeled down in front of the black dog and scratched behind its ear and even though Youko didn't want to admit it, it felt nice to be getting this attention. Ace however did notice the pleasurable feeling that Youko was emitting and smiled making the small pup flinch as to what was going through the black haired pirates mind.
"So you can even make faces like that." He said though the girl never actually made a 'face' to begin with. "Well, let's get going."
The man stood up and began to walk in a certain direction, not bothering picking up the girl for he knew how much she hated being carried even though he loved to carry her. Youko quickly followed behind him as fast as her legs could take her, never letting Ace out of her sight.
"We've been walking FOREVER~!" Ace finally said and Youko had to admit that they were getting nowhere.
It was already pass midnight and they hadn't seen a single flower even if they were now walking through a very lush vegetation filled part of the maze. The walls were still made of stone but vivid green ivy decorated the wall and gave you the feeling that you were in a fairy tale like garden though at the current moment that wasn't going through the two pirates' heads.
"Curse that goddamn old man!" Ace cursed to the starry sky much to Youko's displeasure. "Give us more of a hint then what it looked like! I can't even remember that!"
Youko sighed and stood up and walked over to the man, nudging at his leg and making the guy look down at her. ace looked at the girl before sighing and sitting down next to her before placing the black pup on his lap. Youko looked up at the man and Ace smiled at her before beginning to groom her fur making Youko's small tail wag though that was more of reflex than anything else.
"Sorry, I shouldn't be complaining since you're the one who got turned into a dog." Ace said and Youko nudged at his hand.
Ace smiled again and brought the girl up to his face, for the first time noticing that Youko, even though her blue hair was now black, still kept her bright forest green eyes. Ace touched his nose to the girl's happily and Youko gently placed her paws on his face though the carrying was very much disliked.
"I promise to get you back to your normal self, all I have to do is burn that flower and everything will be fine." Ace said and Youko licked his face which surprised Ace. "What the..?"
Youko didn't do anything more but jumped down, back into Ace's lap and curled into a ball before finally falling asleep. Ace looked at the girl before smiling once more and gently leaning back against his bag and falling asleep as well, a protective hand covering the pup.
"Damn that's a lot of flowers."
Ace and Youko stared at the field of flowers that they had finally found in mid afternoon the next day though just how many were there was something that they couldn't count. The colors were all bright and brilliant, almost blinding the two as sunlight shown on them at full intensity, not giving either of them any mercy from the intense colors.
The flowers blended together creating an abstract painting that could not be described by words and Ace's stupid mark was evident to that as it was. Youko seemed not able to say anything even if she had had the ability to speak for there were no words to describe what was in front of them.
"Ah, I have no time to be sitting here and gazing in awe." Ace said snapping out of his trance and looking at the flowers. "There's only one problem though… HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND A SINGLE FLOWER IN THIS MESS!"
I'm sorry that this is really late again! I've been sick lately and Kinda in a block and I have been busy and I hope this is good enough and I promise to make it better then next chapter and add in a bit of humor and god I feel crappy. WHY CAN'T IT BE BREAK YET~~! My school get's off two days before Christmas that is not fair man. But I am getting a kitty for Christmas and I'm naming her Monkey.