I pulled several all-nighters to get this done, I hope you all find it satisfying.

One Piece and its characters belong to Eiichiro Oda. Mirim belongs to TWP.

Mirim hit the ground hard, a crater being formed beneath her body as she landed, trying hard not to lose focus and gather air in her lungs again. She knew they would not be pulling any punches on her, not in the beginning, and not now almost three months later. While she had gained some extra muscle and new techniques she was still far from capable of challenging any of the commanders when it came to physical prowess. It was hard trying to become stronger while still being able to retain her speed. While her brothers complimented her and told her she was growing at a fast rate she still felt like she lacked too much. She needed to get stronger much faster, she may never be able to reach her brother's levels but she would at least grow strong enough to be able to hold her own against an admiral without almost dying and holy crap she needed to get out of the way from that incoming giant fist!

She moved her arms behind her and rolled backwards, just in time to avoid Jozu's fist, which sunk deep into the ground where she had previously been resting. Doing a series of backflips she created some distance between herself and her opponent before unleashing a counterattack. Her heels dug into the ground and Jozu braced himself to keep from falling as the earth shook terribly, watching with narrowed eyes as the girl, without any trouble, ran towards him. She raised her scythe, gave a battle cry and hurled it at him, the blade coming ever closer to him but the chain remained in her hands. He turned his one remaining arm into diamond and deflected the weapon. She quickly yanked the chain and the scythe was back in her hand before she dodged to the left, avoiding Vista's blades only to block Haruta who attacked from the air.

The two females pushed back and forth, one trying to overpower the other. While Mirim may not have been the physically strongest she was no stranger to these kinds of struggles so she pushed back with all her might until Haruta moved to the side, not because Mirim was winning but to surprise her opponent and take advantage of the green-haired girl's confusion to deliver the finishing blow. Mirim though, was used to this move. While no one had ever used this technique against her she had used it against her own opponents several times and though it was true that she had indeed been confused for a moment, she had quickly gathered her wits and leaped up into the air. While she was above them, using her powers to keep her afloat, she surveyed the battleground. Jozu and Vista had moved to stand close together, watching her carefully while Haruta rested her saber on her shoulder. Ace stood close by, arms crossed, and that infernal cocky smirk framed by freckles adorning his face.

Wait… Where was Marco?

"You're wide open, oy!" She turned just in time to see Marco soar towards her in his hybrid form, half human, half bird.

"Oh fuck me!" She brought her scythe out to defend but thought better of it and instead turned into her element which caused Marco to fly straight through her. She turned back to normal quickly and moved to plant her heels into his back, sending him crashing to the ground but before they were even close he recovered and did a backflip in the air, causing her to lose her balance and fall herself. She righted herself and landed safely on her own two feet, ready to leap back up and continue the air battle, but a hand grabbed her scythe and pulled her backwards, trapping her between her own weapon and her opponent. A knife was held to her throat and she paused.

"You lose." Ace said victoriously and she growled, her head falling forward in defeat. She had been so close too…

"You lasted much longer this time, oy. Stop beating yourself up." Marco said as he landed in front of her while Ace removed the knife. "We've gone one-on-one most of the time. That you managed to keep yourself in the battle for hours against the five of us is remarkable, oy."

"It's not good enough." Mirim muttered while glaring at the ground.

"Pushing yourself will do you no good, girl." Jozu said and she knew he would have crossed his arms if he could, giving her a stern look. She knew very well that rushing things would only cause her to do her training half-assed, but she felt as if she was short on time for acquiring more strength. Something was coming, quickly.

"Besides, you've learned how to use your powers more efficiently." Jozu kept on talking. "You depended mostly on air before, now you're using earth, water and fire more efficiently as well."

During the last few months the mark of fire had appeared on Mirim's body as well. The girl had wasted no time in learning how to use it right and while Ace, who was fire, had helped her come up with many techniques, she had to learn the basics herself. She needed to feel it, to bend it to her will, which was no easy feat. It was a volatile power, and if she lost focus on it for a moment it could rage out of control. Mirim no longer wondered why Hi had seemed so quiet and disciplined when she had first met and spoken to her. To have it as her primary power it must have taken a lot of effort to control it.

"True." She shrugged and made a move to walk forward and sheathe her scythe, but Ace held her weapon in an iron grip and no matter how much she pushed he refused to budge.

"Ace…" She growled and something told her he was grinning goofily behind her.

"Yes?" He answered innocently and she raised an eyebrow, turning her head to look at him. He seemed way too innocent and she turned back to Marco, about to ask for help when she noticed that the other four commanders were walking away.

"Let's leave the two of them alone, oy?" Marco said while folding his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, let's call it a day and let the love-birds enjoy the good weather we're having today." Haruta smirked evilly over her shoulder and Mirim knew that this was all a conspiracy. The commanders were all conspiring against her for not being satisfied with her level of strength after months of rigorous training. She tried one last time to break free but the Second Division Commander did not budge and she gave up. Now that she thought about it, her muscles ached and she was tired, which made her welcome the heat from Ace's body. His Devil Fruit power was quite convenient in times such as these.

"You're enjoying this way too much." She sighed and he chuckled. "Well, we've been going at it since breakfast. If we keep on going for much longer we'll miss dinner." She opened her mouth to answer, but paused before whirling around in his grasp, staring at him in disbelief.

"Wait, you stopped our training because you wanted dinner?!" His rumbling stomach answered for him and she groaned before letting her head collide with his chest. "You're unbelievable, asshole." He merely laughed again and pulled the scythe away from her back and grabbed her hand with his free hand, leading her back to the ship.

"Come on, let's eat, then we'll explore the island some more." She would agree to that. This island was not in Whitebeard's territory, but another Yonko. Mirim was not quite sure which one it was and at the moment she did not care to know either. She was far too obsessed with getting stronger, she did not have time to bother with finding out what everyone else already knew. She was the lieutenant of her division, and for all she cared her duty was to protect her commander, their crew and captain. For the moment she left everything to Ace and focused on herself for a change. Dinner had already begun when the two of them entered the mess-hall, rowdy and hungry pirates already having slung themselves all over the place in their fight to get to the food. As usual there were a few mock fights during dinner, in which Mirim was always a healthy participant, though no one got seriously hurt. There was but a few bruises which were shared by everyone who joined in.

After dinner, though, the two leaped off the ship and raced towards the town closest to the ship, ignoring the others calling after them to come back and do their chores. The inhabitants of the town all turned silent as the two pirates entered the town and Mirim began to wonder whose territory they were in. It could not be Red Hair, he was good to the people under his protection so it had to be either Big Mom or Kaido to garner such frightened expressions from the people living on the island.

Mirim noticed that many eyes trailed to the scar stretching over her upper body, the adults flinching, the children staring in awe. It was hideous in many people's eyes, she would not deny that she at first hated it too, but now she thought it to be a trophy, a constant reminder that she participated in the War of the Greatest and survived.

She was badass!

As she had decided to become stronger she had also taken instigated a long overdue war with her closet, having thrown out most of her old clothes and put in new outfits. Now she was wearing a wide-sleeved, see-through yellow cardigan and a black tube-top, showing off her scar in every way possible, and tighter and a shade darker blue shorts. The sash around her waist she did not change though and her shoes stayed the same as well. There was no need to change too much. A pair of steam-punk goggles hung loosely around her neck as well, not because she needed them or even used them, but because she thought they were cool and therefore wanted them. She had traded the black hat she bought Ace when she had amnesia for them, thinking that it would look way too bizarre if the two of them fought together while wearing those hats.

There was no way she and Ace was going to be like those mushy couples who wore the same outfits to match each other. She had made that very clear. Izo thought it a shame, Ace had let out a breath he did not think he had held in relief. He had been so close to be forced to wear a shirt.

"Booze." Mirim said sourly and Ace raised an eyebrow at her but knew not to argue. He quickly spotted a bar and led her there. He gave the order and the barman, a man in his late forties who seemed to try to keep a calm face but were betrayed by the sweat on his bald head, quickly filled their mugs and claimed it to be free of charge after glancing at Mirim. The girl was scowling, her eyes almost burning a hole into the bar counter. Ace wondered what caused her to be in such a bad mood. It could not have been because he stopped their training earlier than usual, could it? Now that he thought about it, she had been a bit rougher than usual in the mock fights during dinner. He counted on that the amount of alcohol she would consume would put her in a merrier mood and grabbed his mug, taking a huge gulp. Mirim grabbed her mug as well but she barely sipped it before she put it back on the bar-counter and stood up, grabbing a few belies from her pocket and dropping them on the wooden furniture.

"Sorry for the trouble. Keep the change." She said and walked out, leaving Ace to stare wide-eyed after her. He stared at the door for a few moments before turning back to her mug.

'A sip… She barely took a sip.' He pulled it over and stared some more. Mirim would never just abandon her booze, not when she finally managed get her hands on some despite her brothers trying to stop her. By now she should have finished this one and started on a new mug. Something was bothering her now, he was sure of it, and he wanted to find out what it was but for now he would let her keep her distance. She seemed to be in no mood for talking so he would let her cool off for a bit. Meanwhile he would finish her drink as well, since she paid for it. After all, she said herself that one should not let booze go to waste.

Mirim somberly walked down the streets, ignoring the frightened looks she would often receive and paused at the harbor, looking around for her ship. She seemed to be quite absentminded for she had entered the harbor far from where she had exited it. With a sigh she turned towards the New Moby Dick, walking the gangplank slowly. The cheery crew greeted her as she boarded the ship and she gave half-hearted waves back.

"Where's Ace, oy?" Marco called and she shrugged. "Left him at a bar." She simply said and went below deck, leaving a confused Marco behind. Said man scratched the back of his head and turned towards the town, trying to spot Ace heading back but the freckled man was nowhere to be seen. Obviously something was wrong with Mirim and the First Division Commander jumped off the ship, heading into town to find the younger man and have him explain what was wrong. It would maybe have taken more than fifteen minutes to find the other man if it was not for the fact that people took a wide berth when they walked past one specific bar. Since it seemed like the inhabitants of the island were terrified of pirates Marco put two and two together and figured Ace was inside.

The man was indeed sitting by the bar-counter.

"Ace, what's going on, oy?"

"Hey." The head nurse, Sonera, looked up from her papers and turned to Mirim who stood in the doorway.

"Mirim, what are you doing here, my dear?" All of the girl's wounds had healed a long time ago and there was nothing neither the nurses nor doctor needed to check up on.

"I… I need some help." She nervously wrung her hands and the head nurse cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Something's… wrong… or right or I-I don't know…" The green haired girl trailed off, looking everywhere but Sonera. The older woman stood up on her feet and walked over to Mirim, grabbing her hands to stop the nervous, twitchy movements, effectively calming Mirim down, if only for a moment. Then she made the girl look up at her instead of her feet and asked what was wrong.

"What is the matter?" The lieutenant took a deep breath before releasing it, opening her mouth to answer before closing it again after a moment's thought, not sure how to articulate her answer.

"I-I…" She furrowed her brows, seemingly more conflicted now than when she had walked in the door. It was by no means something embarrassing to say after all, so why was it so hard to tell the nurse what was wrong? "I'm late… very, very late." She whispered and the nurse immediately understood what she meant. She let go of Mirim, walked around her and closed the doors to the doctor's office, locking it before turning back to Mirim. With one arm wrapped around the younger girl's shoulder she led her deeper inside before shutting the curtains to the window. This was a private matter.

"Come here, darling. We'll figure it out, just do as I say." With her heart in her throat Mirim proceeded to follow the nurse's orders and once she was done with the preparations she sat in Doc's office chair, her legs pulled up to her chest, chin resting on her knees. She was terrified. She had felt fear before, during her first battle, during the War of the Best where so many of her friends had died, where almost her and her brothers had died, where Whitebeard and Ace had almost died but this was different. When she fought she was, most of the time, in control, she knew what to do, she could fight. How could she fight against waiting? There was no such thing. All she could do was sit in the chair and wait and hope for the nurse to come in with the right answer.

But what was the right answer?

She was a twenty year old pirate, what was the right choice for her? What was the right choice for Ace? If one was to consider that they had only been together for a little over three months, what was the right answer for her and Ace? If worst came to worst, what would happen? What, if the head nurse came back with an answer Mirim dreaded, would happen between them then? Would he be happy or would he be angry? Would he be disgusted or terrified like she felt now? What about the rest of the pirates? Her brothers? Whitebeard?

Would she be happy?

'Oh god!' She thought and her hands shot up and fisted themselves in her hair and she tugged on it harshly in despair. What if she was not happy with it? What if, whatever the results were, it would devastate her? She couldn't do this, she could not do this! She could not sit in this chair, in Doc's office, and wait for news which could literally throw her world upside down! She jumped up on her feet but they felt like jelly and she wobbled for a moment before falling back into the chair. She groaned and rubbed her forehead.

She was freaking out. She needed to calm down; losing her mind would get her nowhere. She needed to breathe, to calm down.

'Deep breaths. Deeeep breaths.' She thought and put her thoughts into action. One breath, two breaths, three breaths. She sat up in the chair and closed her eyes, envisioning her life without this tiny little road bump…

Her eyes snapped open in horror. Who the fuck was she kidding? This was not a tiny road bump, this was a huge road bump and if that nurse came in with that answer then she would become a giant road bump! Then the door opened and she sat up quickly, eyes wide as she stared at the nurse who paused as she saw how utterly terrified the young girl was. She closed the door silently and walked over, kneeling in front of the girl who leaned forward, eager to read the papers the nurse was holding.

"It's positive." The head nurse said and a wide smile spread across her face as she laid the papers on the desk before grabbing Mirim's hands, keeping them in a tight yet gentle grip.

"Congratulations, to both you and Commander Ace." The smile slid off her face though when she saw how the color drained from the girl's face. Mirim's eyes widened more than the head nurse thought possible, her pupils constricted to the point Sonera thought she had lost consciousness if it was not for the fingers which gripped hers tightening their hold to the point the younger woman's knuckles turned white. Sonera almost lost her balance where she was kneeling by the sheer, violent tremble which passed through Mirim. Sonera realized then that Mirim may not have been as thrilled about the news as she had thought the girl would be and quickly got up, carefully detached herself and ran over to the sink, filling a cup with water.

When she turned however, she saw Mirim hunched over the desk, the papers with the results in her hands. At first she merely stared, eyes moving back and forth as she read but then she tightened her grip on the paper so hard the material began to crumple in her hands. Before she ripped it apart due to her terrible shaking Sonera grabbed a hold of her wrists and stopped her movements before slowly prying her fingers off the paper.

"S-Senora, this has to be wrong! It can't b-be true, it's t-too s-soon and I-I… I'm not ready for this- I really ain't! It's too fucking soon, I'm not ready, I'm so not fucking ready, I'll- Oh god I feel sick!" The girl blabbered, still shaking like a leaf and she moved her hands to her hair again as the distress began to take its toll on her mind. She needed to throw up, she really needed to throw up. How many times had she and Ace been together, clinging to each other in passionate embraces? So many times Mirim had started to believe she was either incredibly lucky or that something was wrong with her body. She had never given it much thought before the symptoms appeared and now she almost regretted what had transpired between her and Ace.

She slapped herself, hard. Beside her Sonera gasped and grabbed a hold of her hands yet again and kept her from hitting herself a second time. The stinging sensation on her cheek told Mirim one thing though.

She was not dreaming…

'Fuck!' She was not ready for this, she was a pirate! A pirate! She had no time for this! And now she was hyperventilating and her sight was turning blurry.

'Great, fuck, fire, hell, no no no, fuck this shit!'

"Mirim. Mirim!" Said girl turned to see Sonera looking down at her worriedly. "Are you alright? Isn't this something to be happy about?" First then did Mirim realize why her sight was so blurred. Her eyes were filling up with tears and she tried to keep them from falling but she was so afraid, so terrified of the situation she was finding herself in, not knowing what to do so she did the only thing she felt was right. She wrapped her arms around the head nurse's neck and cried. Sonera returned the embrace and held the girl close, comforting her as best as she could though she knew that she was not the person Mirim needed the most now.

"Come, I'll take you back to your room."

Ace and Marco boarded the New Moby Dick, the both of them still wondering what had Mirim in such an unusual somber mood. Marco had quickly realized as he had entered the bar that Ace knew nothing, and Ace, who expected the forever dependable big brother Marco to know what was going on, figured out that the blonde was just as clueless as him. This caused the two to worry a bit, for if Mirim did not tell Ace, then she would tell Marco and the others. Knowing that no one knew what was wrong with their comrade made the two wonder and worry. The mood onboard the ship was cheery as usual though, so while Marco went over to his men Ace made his way down below, heading for the quarters he shared with his lieutenant. It was an unspoken agreement between the two men. Marco may have been the big brother, but Mirim was an adult now as well. She was able to take care of her own business and she had Ace now as well to stand beside her.

When Ace opened the door to see the head nurse stand in front of Mirim, turning to look over her shoulder as Ace entered. Questions quickly filled his mind, as he became worried about the many reasons as to why a nurse was with Mirim, who looked crestfallen and afraid, her hair free from its usual ponytail looking quite disheveled. Sonera turned back to Mirim and while Ace could not see it she gave the girl a sympathetic smile.

"I'll leave you to it." She said and walked out the door, giving Ace the same, tiny smile. This only made him worry more and once the door was closed behind him he quickly turned back towards Mirim, who had drawn her knees up to her chin and he could hear the rustle of paper which she tried to hide with one hand while the other played nervously with her hair. He only needed to take one look at her face to realize she had been crying, her eyes red and puffy, cheeks reddened… It only took three quick and long strides before he was sitting beside her on the bed, one arm wrapped around her shoulder, the other curling around her other shoulder as he frowned.

"What's wrong, Mirim?"

She bit her lip and looked away for a second before looking back at him, then her knees, then the roof, before she finally opened her mouth and let her feet sink to the floor again.

"I… Sorry I don't know how to say this… Something happened… We did…" She struggled to find the words, to phrase it right. One would not think it would be hard to tell the man the news, since he was a part of it. Maybe it was because they had only been together for a little over three months, though that would be stupid, since she had known him for three years already. She knew what kind of man he was, his values, his beliefs and how much he valued family and friends. By all means this should not be hard for her to tell him! Before she could say anymore though he noticed the paper in her hands and took it from her before she could react.

"O-oy-" She began, but when his expression turned unreadable, she paused and swallowed. She reached out to take the paper back but he crumpled it into a ball with one hand before throwing it across the room, not paying any attention to the fact that Mirim threw herself after it and caught it before it hit the ground, cradling it carefully to her chest. She turned around, ready to ask what he was thinking when she saw the anger on his face.

"That's bullshit! No fucking way its true!" And then he stormed out the door, slamming it so hard behind him the walls shook. His lover sat on the floor, staring at the door, not quite believing what had happened, what he had said when he had stormed out before she glanced down at the crumpled paper. He had been angry… Ace had been absolutely livid, angry at her, angry at the paper and the words written down in Sonera's neat handwriting. And he had just run out the door without another word. The tears pressed on again and ran down her cheeks in rivers as she held the paper to her chest.

Ace, in the meantime, had stormed up on deck and passed his men without replying to their calls before he literally raced down the gangplank, but instead of heading towards the city he made a beeline to the left and went towards the forest beside and around the town. He was angry, no absolutely furious. This is not happening, that paper was just one of Mirim's pranks, a sick joke only to mess with him, except he would never look back and laugh at this one. It had been a cruel joke and it made him sick to his stomach that she would do something like this. Without him noticing it, his body had caught fire and unbearable heat rolled off of him in waves making the air shimmer around him. With a roar of anger he unleashed an attack, causing an explosion, scorching the many trees around him. It did not lessen his anger but it did make him feel a tiny bit better. He did it again and again, as many times as he could until he was exhausted.

Why had she done it? Why had she done something so stupid - this couldn't even be called a prank anymore! One does not just joke about such things! He readied himself to let lose another surge of angry power when he thought back to how he had found her in their quarters. She had been crying before he walked through the door, she had seemed absolutely terrified and she had played with her hair. She only did that when she was extremely nervous about something and he knew for a fact that Mirim would never act like that if she was indeed pulling a prank on him. What he had tried to desperately to tell himself was a joke for the last twenty minutes seemed to turn more and more real with each passing moment. He knew she had not been playing around. Considering their backgrounds being so similar he knew she had not been joking around. Not about something like this.

'She wasn't… she was telling the truth.' It hurt so much to admit it. He had done it to her, hadn't he? And he had even yelled and marched off in anger, probably leaving her more torn up and frightened than she had been before he entered the room. His hands flew to his face and he rubbed viciously. He had probably hurt her far worse than he could imagine. The guilt welled up in him and he grit his teeth, continuing to rub until his skin hurt. Then the anger returned, though not at Mirim this time, but at himself.

He had done this - he had created this - this thing! And Mirim was the one who had to suffer for it and he had left her in fury….

'She was so afraid… What kind of an asshole am I?'

"Goddammit!" He roared and another heat wave escaped him. The ground beneath his feet was black and the ashes of the long dead trees swirled around him. He pinched himself for a moment, making sure this was not a nightmare he would rather wake up from that same instant, but it stung and he cursed again. Why couldn't this be just a dream, a silly dream which his subconscious cooked up, because no matter how he looked at it, he did not want to believe that this was reality. If it was it would only spell pain for Mirim and the very thought made it feel like a hand was clutching his heart, squeezing it so hard he found it difficult to breathe.

"What are you doing, oy?" Marco had followed him, no, if he had followed him immediately he would have stopped him before he turned the area into scorched tinder. Ace did not turn around because he could feel that the air was too tense. Marco was the laidback one and he usually eradicated tension with his presence, which was a stark contrast to what was happening now.

"Burning things." Ace answered coolly, gesturing to the destruction around him.

"You feel any better, oy?" There was a steely undertone in his voice and Ace glanced over his shoulder noticing that Marco may have looked calm on the surface, but the man was far from calm. He was furious. Ace could very well understand why. Considering the fact that Marco used so much time to find him, which should not have been hard since he had been unleashing a fierce attack on his surroundings, he had talked with Mirim first.

"Can't say I do."

"I'm not happy either, oy." Marco said and suddenly he was behind Ace, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around to face him with such speed that the force in which his fist connected with the younger man's face amplified causing more damage than it originally would have. Ace soared through the air, crashing into a tree before sliding down.

"I didn't hit you when we were recuperating after the war because you could see reason back then, oy." The First Division Commander said while cracking his knuckles, stalking towards the dumbfounded freckled man.

"Mirim is crying, in your shared quarters… My baby sister, Ace!" He pounced on Ace, pinning him to the tree and drove his fist as deep into the man's stomach as he could. The freckled man doubled over, coughing, trying to catch his breath, but Marco was not done with him yet. A swift kick in the ribs sent Ace rolling across the ground and Marco followed closely, pinning him to the ground. It did not escape the older man's notice that Ace was not fighting back, not even trying to defend himself from the barrage of fists coming at him. It did nothing to quell his fury though.

"My sister is alone in your room, terrified and when she needed you the most you just ran out angrily, as if it was all her fault, as if she had done something wrong, oy! The hell is up with that, huh?"

"It's not her fault!" Ace screamed and Marco paused his assault. "I get it, okay? It's mine, I know it's all my fault." He took a deep shuddering breath.

"I did something horrible to Mirim, I know I fucked up!" The First Division Commander was a bit unsure of what Ace was talking about. Did he mean that he had screwed up everything by storming off or was it the other thing?

"I never meant for this to happen… I wish it was someone else's-" A pair of hands grabbed his red-bead necklace, pulling him up in a half-sitting position and Marco narrowed his eyes and spoke in a dangerously low voice.

"If you're insinuating that she was unfaithful-"

"I'm not!" Ace cried out, effectively stopping Marco from finishing the horrifying sentence. "I know she never would do something like that. I just wish she had!"

"Why would you wish for that, you moron?!" Marco did not understand Ace's logic and he did not really care much for it either. Mirim was crying, Mirim was crying, something she never did because she had too much pride.

"Because then she wouldn't be in so much danger!" Both of them said no more after that, just breathing heavily from all the fighting and screaming, and glared at each other. The silence was heavy with tension still until Marco sighed and moved off of the younger man. Ace fell back and covered his face with the palm of his hands.

"Fuck…" He whimpered. "She doesn't deserve this, no one deserves this." Ace desperately wished that it was not his, though he knew that Mirim would never cheat on him. Those goddamn papers she had been carrying… Why had this happened? If the Government found out about this then there was not even a snowballs chance in hell that they would leave them alone. Even now that the whole world knew that he was Gol D. Roger's son and the Navy was on their heels all the time to catch him and execute him there was still peaceful times in between. If they ever found about Mirim's condition…

"No, no, no." He groaned. The very thought was horrifying.

'I should never have been born. I should never have joined the Whitebeard pirates, I should have just died at Marineford!' The thoughts continued to tumble around in his head, he couldn't stop it. He had during his whole life been, even if no one knew it, the son of a demon, the most hated man in the whole world. He had often heard he should never have been born, that no one would have wanted him to be born, that he had no reason to exist. He was a plague on the earth, a parasite who, like his father, only spread misery and pain wherever he went. If anyone found out that his bloodline would live on after him… No, there was no way the Government would let that one slide. Mirim was already a well-known pirate with an incredibly high bounty, she did not need to have this added to the list of why she was wanted by the Government.

'Why can't it be someone else's?' While he was thinking this, Marco was watching him, studying the body language. Ace alternated from whimpering, to whispering words he could not understand to terrified shaking.

"It's not going to be like it was with you, oy." He began. "Mirim is crying, but it's not like she was regretting what happened, oy."

"This isn't right, Marco. She doesn't deserve this shit, not from me. As if I haven't screwed up everything by just being Roger's son-"

"Do I have to hit you again, oy?" Marco turned with his fist raised and Ace rolled out of the way instinctively. "You being his kid doesn't mean shit, oy, and it's the same with any offspring of yours. Pops told you that before, I'm reminding you about it now. Just because you're his kid doesn't mean you're carrying Roger's sins, oy. They died with him, you only carry your own and they don't belong to any kid of yours either. Any baby whom you've fathered is innocent, oy."

"What would you have me do then?" Ace sat up, brushing ash off his hat. "Just because you see it that way doesn't mean the world agrees with you."

"Who the fuck cares about the rest of the world, oy?" Clearly Marco was still agitated, he did not curse often and usually let things run their own course without a care in the world.

"I sure as hell don't care about what the Navy, Government or civvies think of you. They don't know you so they don't really have any right to judge you, oy. I know you, pops knows you, the crew knows you and Mirim knows you. Now you get your ass back on that ship and do what is right for both you and her, oy!" Ace stared at Marco who still sat with his back turned to him before looking up at the sky. No clouds, only a canvas of baby blue and the sun in the middle. It seemed to be so simple, as if it was telling him that the conflict in him could be solved easily, as if there was nothing dangerous about it. There were so many things which frightened him by just thinking about accepting their situation as reality.

With a sigh he got up on his feet and turned towards the New Moby Dick, plopping his hat on again.

"What is the right choice?" It was a rhetorical question, not meant to be answered, but once Ace was gone Marco stood up himself and dusted off his clothes before staring after the younger commander.

"How should I know, oy?" How should he know, indeed? The only ones who would ever know what the right choice was would be the ones who had to decide. No one could decide for them, no one could ever take that right away from them and if the Navy and Government tried the Whitebeard pirates and their allies would rally against them again.

She had stopped crying a while ago. She still had difficulty breathing properly as her throat felt tight and every other sob tried to force its way out now and then. She had laid the paper beside her on the bed after she had calmed down and had now pulled her legs up to her chest again, rocking back and forth in a calming motion. To recap what had happened, she had been terrified of the test results, and when Sonera came back and told her they were positive her brain might have short-circuited for a tiny moment. Once she recovered, Sonera had to calm her down and convince her that the situation may not seem as bad as Mirim envisioned it to be and that Ace would help her through it. Mirim had calmed down, she had believed Sonera's words, she had believed in Ace. It had been hard to form the words, she had actually utterly failed at telling him herself. He had seen the paper with the results, he had taken it, read it and stormed out absolutely livid. She had not expected that. For all his pranks and reckless actions he was still a responsible man. She had expected him to be shocked, yes, maybe even a little afraid like she was, but she had not expected him to become angry.

'This is pathetic…I'm crying, acting like a little baby.' She was Kazemi P. Mirim for god's sakes! She jumped up on her feet and rubbed her eyes before waving her arms around to get the circulation back. She was the lieutenant of the Second Division of the Whitebeard pirates, she had a huge bounty, she had fought in the war, she had defeated the admiral Kizaru and survived it all. She could hold her own against the commanders of the fleet! So why was she crying over something so stupid? What was done was done! She did not regret anything she had done in her life, and she did not regret what was going on inside her body now either. If Ace did not like then that was his problem. Just then Ace himself walked in the door and paused when he saw her stand in the middle of the room. He had the decency to look ashamed for a moment and she felt the tears press on again.

'Oh come on! I'm supposed to be angry, don't cry, it's freaking pathetic.' Her hands went up to her face again and began to rub her eyes before the tears began to run down her cheeks again. While she did so Ace had walked over and taken off his hat, falling to his knees in front of her and settling his hands on her stomach. Mirim froze and looked down, seeing him stare intently at her abdomen before he looked up at her. His eyes were apologetic and she was not quite sure what was going on. Was he apologizing for running out? Was he saying he was okay with this?

"I'm sorry for storming off."

'There we go.'

"I know it seemed like I was angry with you, but really, I wasn't. I swear, I wouldn't be angry with you for this since I… kind off pitched in." He ended the sentence sheepishly and she couldn't help the quiet, nervous giggle which escaped her. He took that as a good sign and ploughed on… well, he tried to anyway.

"It's just… my whole life I've been told that I was scum, that I shouldn't have been born, that I should have paid for all of my father's sins with my life… I don't want that to happen again, so I never thought about having children. I don't want them to go through the same thing as me." He frowned before turning his eyes back to her stomach.

"I'm not gonna… disappear or anything. I'm not running away… so… what I'm trying to say is that… if you want to keep it then I'll… I'll stand by your side." He was struggling with the words, finding it hard to come up with the right thing to say, just like she had earlier. He did not want her bursting into tears again, it was not how she was. She was the strong, confident, loud-mouthed, and quite clumsy, lieutenant of the Second Division. She was no crybaby.

"It's my child too and I'm sure I'll love it... No, I know I'll love it just as much as I love you. I… I want you to keep it, b-but it's up to you. You're the one who'll have to carry it and - and nurture it until it's born so it's really up to you but…" He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her forward, his cheek pressed flush against her flat stomach and he rubbed his face against it childishly with a wide grin, causing Mirim to clench her teeth together to keep from bursting out laughing at the tickling sensation. He continued on in a rush, speaking so quickly she barely understood a word of it.

"I want this, and I want it to be with you. I get that it'll be hard, since we're pirates and wanted criminals, but it could work out. I'll make it work out, I promise so…" He stopped his movements and she could have sworn that the skin beneath the freckles reddened a tiny bit.

"Won't you carry my child?" She took a deep breath and looked up at the roof, letting it out in a loud sigh.

"You're a freaking sap." She said before she let her hands tangle with his hair and curled herself over him, hiding the both of them in a curtain of green hair to hide the few tears which escaped her eyes though these were not sad tears. These were tears of relief.

"But apology accepted, dumbass."