(A/N) Boo, its a ghost from your past. This chapter has been half done for a year, and after getting a new laptop and transferring all of my files I feel in love with Mil's story again. I'll try to keep posting and not disappear again for a year, but I don't make any promises

LB

Chapter 36

Third POV

It was well past midnight and Mila was uneasy. She had left Ace in the port and blinked into Yukihira early this afternoon, and he had yet to find his way to her.

She shouldn't have put so much faith in the flame brain, and now she was stuck in their room worrying. Even after taking a nice long bath, reading while her toes turned into tiny prunes in the rose scented water, she was still uneasy. Even after she put deep tread marks into the fluffy white carpet of her rented room.

It was a small island, how lost could he have gotten?

Maybe he wasn't lost, just dead.

"Ugh," Mila flung herself onto the bed, ruffling the soft bedding. Worrying did nothing but crease her ageless face with frown lines.

He may be stupid, but no on this island was stupid enough to kill a Whitebeard on one of their own territories. But then again, she would have guessed that no one would be stupid enough to start an illegal drug trade and kidnap her crew mates on their island either.

Ok, ok, Mila thought, he may be an idiot but we have a bunch of idiots on the crew and the one thing they do know is fighting.

She flopped defeatedly down onto one of the two beds in the room. Why was guilt such a nasty emotion. Rarely felt, she didn't enjoy the gnawing feeling that had taken up residence in her gut. Rolling on to her side, she came face to face with the room's sleeping transponder snail.

Numbly, she twirled the dial on the side of it's shell. While the snail rang she pushed herself up onto her elbows and waited for the other side to pick up.

"This is Marco," the snail spoke.

"Since when have you been a secretary?" Mila joked, grinning after hearing her brother's voice.

The snail frowned, "Well, I wasn't going to let it keep ringing while I was sitting right there. Where are you Mila? Everyone thought you were just heading to Marineford, but this isn't you snail you're calling from."

Shit, Mila cursed herself. "I left a note, you know."

"A note? I haven't heard of anything of a note. Where did you go that you would have to leave a note?" The snail perfectly mimicked Marco's sleepy glare he like to give Mila when she assisted Thatch and Haruta with their pranks.

She may have used the note as a bookmark in one of her novels she had been reading by the kitchen stairwell. Maybe not the best place she could have left it. After a beat of silence, Mila said, "I followed Ace to Foodvalten."

She thought she heard him mumble a curse off to the side, "Are you serious, Mila? What were you thinking?

Taken aback at his complete incredulity, she became defensive "I was thinking I wasn't going to let a rookie go and look for my missing brothers, brothers he doesn't even know!"

"It dangerous, we don't even know whats happening over there."

"Even more of a reason for me to be here," Mila protested, "Why even send Ace, all he's good for is blowing shit up."

"Because its dangerous," he sounded tired, Mila could imagine him running a hand through his yellow tuft of hair, "This mission is for him to prove himself as member. Pops and I discussed it thoroughly, this will be the perfect opportunity for him to show us he is willing to do anything for his new family, even for brothers he hasn't met."

Mila took a few measured breathes, soaking in the sound reason, but still fuming with irrational emotions. "Was I even considered for the job?"

"Of course not," Marco said simply.

"Wha-" before she could get out any of her myriad of protests, Marco interrupted her.

"You may be a great pirate, a good fighter and quick as a whip, but you're still young. Mila, you can't even go everywhere on the island you're so young. Pops and I thought it would be obvious why you wouldn't be the right fit for the job. It's not anything you did wrong, you were just born too few years ago." He assured her.

She didn't say anything, because Marco was right, she was young, practically a baby in his eyes. Looking at it from a logical view, she wasn't right for the job at all, but at the moment Mila was running on illogical emotions. So as the teenage girl she was, she gave Marco the silent treatment.

Defeated, Marco sighed, "Give the snail to Ace, I need to talk to him."

"Um."

"Um?" Marco repeated, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Um, I lost him," Mila admitted with a shrug.

Silence passed between the for a second before he asked solemnly "What do you mean by lost?"

On her end, Mila twirled a piece of stray hair and looked at the ceiling, "Its more of the 'I don't know where he is' kind of lost. I mean I left him at the docks and haven't heard from him since this morning."

"Mila, you're killing me," he sighed.

"Only figuratively," she said, feeling slightly bad after admitting she had left Ace, "Its not like we know he's dead, its only an assumption at this point."

A series of bangs traveled through the snail that greatly resembled the sound of Marco hitting his head against his desk.

"He's a big boy, he can take care of himself," she tried to assure him as the banging continued.

"Whitebeards are going missing on that island, and you just go off by yourself and leave Ace alone. I don't even know what I'm more mad at, you going off alone or you abandoning Ace." He ranted in between bangs.

"Honestly, probably both," Mila supplied.

"I can't deal with this now," Marco mumbled to himself. "Mila," he barked through the snail, "go out and look for Ace, bring you tonfa. I expect someone to call me within the next 24 hours saying you're both alive. Are we clear?"

Mila grumbled a half hearted "Yes Marco," before hanging up the transponder snail.

Groaning, Mila thought about rolling over and getting up to go look for the flame brain, but instead she slide off the bed and onto the plush carpet beneath. Why did Marco always have to be right? He thought she was killing him? No, constantly being proven wrong was what was going to kill Mila.

Guilt was now the most prominent emotion taking host in her conscious. Puddled on the floor, she had trouble fathoming on how she was going to get up and look for Ace. That icky emotion was using her gut as target practice.

Still on the floor, Mila half shimmied and half crawled to her bags at the end of her bed. She pulled out her tonfa and regarded them curiously, as if it was her first time seeing them. A year or so ago, she considered getting something with a blade, maybe a dagger or even an axe. Something with a bite to it. When she had brought it up with Atmos, he had said the tonfa suited her, they were just as blunt as she was.

Gripping them in each hand, Mila pushed up from the ground. When she found Ace, she was going to tear him a new. Yes, she was the one who left him and it was his mission she piggybacked on, but he had caused guilt to set up camp within her. For that reason alone, he was going to wish that he wasn't so stupid that he forced her to leave him.

With this new plan cemented in her mind, Mila set to the streets with purpose.

The streets of Yukihira were brightly lit for being so late. The town still seemed a buzz even after the last dinner rush was long gone. Cooks, waiters, bus boys and all other sort of restaurant personnel were drinking in their empty store fronts recounting the horrors from the long day behind them. Dim laughter filled the streets from the closed down restaurant fronts. Though the flowered lined cobble stone streets were pleasant and sweet, Mila tried not to forget about the Whitebeard kidnapping drug trafficking criminals lurked somewhere on the island.

As Mila paused under a street lamp, looking down the intersecting street she noted a particularly loud restaurant down to her right. An open air styled front, a group of workers were laughing loudly at one of their compatriots who was avidly telling a story. She couldn't make out faces, but they were mostly males.

Deciding on turning left down the street, she paused when she heard one of the men yell.

"Damnit, he fell asleep again!" Roars of laughter were followed after,

He fell asleep again? Mila thought it was strange thing to say till she recalled Ace's debilitating case of narcolepsy.

"Flame brain," Mila mumbled to herself as she pivoted on her heel to head down the street.

Sure enough, Ace had his face flat against the top of the table, his mouth ajar with a little drool seeping out. The other men at the table were in a mixture of restaurant uniforms. A few had chef jackets while others wore the slimming black of waiters uniform. The thing they all had in common was that they had a drink in their hand and were relaxing back in their chairs.

"Oi, thats the Whitebeard mark," one of the wait staff pointed out as she approached their table.

She was wearing a plain black cropped tank with her mark clearly on display, just how she like it.

"I'm a Whitebeard," Mila confirmed.

"Oh, oh I know this one, I've seen her wanted poster!" One of the chefs said excitedly, wagging his finger at Mila as she gave them a half smile.

"Oh yeah, I've seen her," another commented exuberantly, "she's that Devil Child."'

Before Mila could correct them, another staff member chimed in, "Nah dude, thats Nico Robin. She's the Blue Girl."

"Blinking child," Mila intercepted, "But my name is Mila, if thats easier."

Nodding, the chef asked, "You're the girl he's traveling with?" jabbing a thumb in Ace's direction, who was still snoring.

Shaking her head at the sleeping doofus, she said "Sadly, yes. How long has he been here for?"

They exchanged looks, mentally gauging the time that has passed. "I think he showed up about an hour after closing," the chef answered for the group.

That had to three hours ago them, what an idiot, Mila thought. He had been this close and had just been drinking while she was worrying up a storm, he was going to get it. She walked around the table to stand behind his chair. She shoved away his bright orange hat and grabbed a fistful of his hair.

"Woo girl, what are you doing?" one of the waiters asked, concerned for Ace's well being. He should be.

Mila yanked back his head, his mouth still hanging open like a dead fish, and shoved it back into the table. The restaurant workers jerked back in their chairs as the table rattled on impact and their drinks spilled and tipped.

Ace bounced up after a second, his forehead and nose bright red. He should be glad that upper body strength wasn't her strong suit or he would have had a broken nose.

"What happened?" He asked groggily, whipping his head back and forward.

The man across from him pointed to Mila behind him, who had a stern glare and had her arms crossed over her chest.

Turning around in his chair, Ace met her steely gaze, "Shit," he mumbled.

"Hi Ace," Mila said in a sickly sweet voice, her smile twisted in anger, her guilt being previously evicted and replaced, "How's it going?"

"Good?" He ran a hand through his shaggy black hair. "What's up with you?" He asked hesitantly, looking at his drinking buddies in desperation. They weren't offering any help though.

"Marco wanted to talk to you," she tilted her head to the side slightly, still smiling, "But I couldn't seem to recall where you went."

Ace frowned, "Whose fault is that? 'Cause I remember you leaving me, not the other way around."

Mila looked at Ace for a moment with a heated glare before scanning the table, "I'm sorry men, but I'm going to have to confiscate your drinking partner for the night."

"No problem."

"Go ahead."

"See ya," they all chorused, thankful not to be in the middle of what looked like a battle between Whitbeards.

Ace got up reluctantly, chugging the rest of his drink before trailing after Mila, who was heading back to their resort.

After putting some space between them and the men, Mila hissed at Ace "You're such an idiot."

"Excuse me?" He asked, taken aback, "Why am I the idiot in this situation?"

She whipped around to glare up at him, "First of all, I am never the idiot in any situation, flame brain. Second of all, you're the one who was wondering around the island all alone today, not me. Or did you forget that Whitebeards have been going missing on this island?"

Ace rolled his eyes, "No Mila, I didn't forget one of the only reasons why we're here. But since you abandoned me, I thought I would get to know the island a little without you pestering me."

"Pestering you?" She nearly screeched, "Are you kidding me? If I'm pestering you its because you're doing something stupid. Which is always!"

"You do remember I'm the older one, right?" He accused, "That I'm the one who's supposed to be looking out after you, not the other way around?"

She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "You're not doing a very good job," she mumbled.

"'Cause you left!" He yelled.

Mila looked away, struggling to find a way to push the blame on him, but was coming up with nothing. She had already been reprimanded by Marco, she didn't need Ace getting all preachy with her too.

"Whatever, did you find anything on the island?" She said, redirecting the subject.

Ace continued to glare at her, trying to dissect her with his eyes. After he came to the conclusion that he did not get her at all, like usual, he said "No, not really."

"Probably because you were drunk," she mumbled under her breathe and Ace pretended not to hear her for the sake of both their sanities. "Tomorrow we start the real work, we're going to Broadus to start the investigation in the morning. Sober up."