Tell it to the Marines

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Chapter 53

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They've kidnapped a guy.

Riskua and Luffy have kidnapped a guy.

A very, very important guy.

This can't be happening, this is the end of life as they know it.

They've taken his strange little boat too and Usopp can barely stand with the fear, he feels so sick. It's not like they're stealing the guy's boat; they're stealing the guy himself and just pulling his boat along for the ride. Is this what a heart attack feels like?

Well, at least he'd gotten to see the 'cherry blossoms' of Drum Island before they left, when the snow had started falling as they'd set sail. He'd gotten to see one last nice sight before he found out the guy they'd picked up during their escape was a mother-fucking Whitebeard Pirate.

Head cradled in his hands, Usopp bangs his face against the table-top, moaning in despair.

"Why is Usopp so worried?" Chopper, their cute little doctor whose heart is too pure and is gonna get crushed because their captain is a ginormous idiot who'd fight a god if he looked at them the wrong way, doesn't seem to have a clue why he's so worried.

Which is why Usopp shall have to take up the honoured role of big brother and inform the little reindeer of just why they are so very doomed right now.

Even Vivi looks pale, though given that she's a princess, he's not surprised she recognises one of the most famous emblems out there.

"Because Luffy is an idiot and Riskua's lost her mind to that fever because she agrees with this kidnapping thing!"

"Riskua's fever is cured," Chopper insists, earnest black eyes staring up at him and Usopp just wants to pinch his cheeks, he's so darn cute.

It's a shame Usopp won't get to appreciate it anymore.

"Those idiots have kidnapped a Whitebeard Pirate! Maybe if we just throw him overboard we can continue in blissful ignorance," the last part is more mumbled to himself, fingers rubbing against his chin, praying desperately that such a thing were possible.

"Who's Whitebeard?" Chopper asks quietly, all inquisitive eyes and eager little hooves clicking for a writing utensil. No doubt to start taking notes on this short little life he's going to live as a pirate.

If they're lucky, maybe Whitebeard will just smite Luffy and Riskua and let them all go home?

Even as he thinks it though, Usopp knows that'd never happen. Because he wouldn't be able to abandon Luffy and Riskua, and if a coward like him can't do it then the rest of the Strawhats never would either.

Which means everyone is going down with this ship.

"Tony-kun," Vivi says quietly, nervously worrying her lip back and forth as she looks down at the little reindeer, "Whitebeard is one of the four emperors of the New World, he's the Strongest Man in the World. And we've kidnapped one of his men."

Silence descends in the room, broken only by Luffy's joyous laughter, his mouth half-full of the snacks he's stolen from the fridge.

"It's okay, I bet he's a really cool guy!" Luffy giggles to himself once he's finished speaking, a look of pure amusement glittering in his eyes and Usopp wants to wrap his hands tight around the idiot's neck. How does he not understand how bad this is?!

"He's gonna get us all killed," Nami bemoans, rubbing her palms against her cheeks whimpering to herself before she just crumples across the table.

Usopp would quite like to do the same, but even though it's like he's just pouring more gasoline on himself as Luffy dances about with a lit match, he still finds himself asking, "and how could you possibly know this?!"

Blinking, Luffy stuffs the last of the bowl of food into his mouth, pointing down the table to the second bowl of food.

The second bowl of food that the Whitebeard Pirate is happily dining on.

"Yo."

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Luffy's strange, long-nosed crewmate screeches, flailing back and falling off the bench. Ace watches it all happen from around the mouthful of food (it's good food, really good. Trust Luffy to recruit a damn fine chef) as his hands reach for the edge of the table cloth, wiping the corners of his mouth.

"I was drawn here by the scent of your excellent food, my name is Portgas D. Ace; it's nice to meet you."

"Ace!"

Just like that his cool introduction is ruined by an overexcited Luffy, Luffy who physically throws himself right at him.

They both go tumbling off the bench, Ace's back hitting the wooden floor with a sound thump as Luffy goes for a headlock. Not on his watch.

Flipping the both of them, Ace gets one hand on his brother's arm, wrapping it tight around his chest and pinning his other arm to his ribcage, trapping Luffy in a headlock in recompense.

"Still years too early to beat me, Lu."

Luffy grumbles from where his face is pressed into Ace's side and Ace can't help but laugh, the first true laugh he's managed since Thatch got attacked. That tempers his good humour for a moment, but only long enough for him to recall how exactly he'd ended up here.

He'd woken up on a sofa in what he assumes was the men's quarters, presumably after an unplanned nap. Given that the last thing he could recall was seeing a sleigh go ploughing the snow fast enough it could have potentially raced Striker, then it's probably safe to assume he'd fallen asleep.

So really, it's a good thing Luffy and Riskua had come back for him; what are the chances of them meeting up like that? And just after he'd finished leaving his message for the locals to pass on to a strawhat wearing pirate too.

It'd been pretty easy to conclude that he was on Luffy's ship, and if this was Luffy's ship, all he needed to do was follow the scent of food to find his errant little brother.

Teeth sink into his side and Ace only just manages to stop himself from instinctively bursting into flames.

"Ace! I missed you!"

There's a snap as Luffy somehow wriggles himself free, rubbery limbs wrapping thrice around Ace's torso so that his little brother can climb up his tall form and start slathering those sloppy sibling kisses of his childhood all over his cheeks.

"Ack! Lu! No, stop that!"

God damn it, he'd been going for the cool big brother angle; these guys would've already met Sabo when he dropped Riskua off with them and Ace needs to out-do his older brother. That's not easily accomplished with Luffy showing him up like this.

"What the hell is going on?!"

The ginger haired girl, the one with a log pose on her wrist, slams her hands down on the table top with a look of furious confusion on her face, making Luffy straighten up from where he's sitting on Ace's shoulders. Even though he's still got his arms still wrapped around his torso. How?

"Eh? Nami? What's wrong?"

Luffy's limbs snap back into their usual place and Ace absentmindedly catches Luffy's legs before the momentum can send his little brother flying from his shoulders.

Nami (that's what Luffy calls her anyway) stares, hands half curled like she wants to wrap them around Luffy's neck (oh, he knows that hand motion very well) but is forcing herself not to.

The other two (three? Does the little reindeer count?) are also staring at them both.

Luffy's inspecting his hat, he can feel the other pirate pawing at it, making sure it's all okay and just as he remembers it.

"Why are you so friendly with this guy, Luffy?!"

"You really didn't tell them anything, did you, Lu?" Ace mutters, amusement interlacing with annoyance as he turns his full focus on the little group. There's got to be more of them, but right now they're clearly not here. He assumes Riskua's with the rest; he knows for certain there's a swordsman with a bounty on board, he'd seen that poster.

"My name's Ace, as I said. I'm the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates and Luffy's other older brother."

They all gape at him as he bows, mouths open and eyes bugged, before Nami (the only one he knows by name) slams her other fist down on the table.

"Damn it, Luffy! Are you hiding anymore hot older siblings?! Ah!"

She slaps both hands over her mouth the second she's done talking, cheeks taking on a rosy tint and Ace's lips quirk up into a proud smile.

She thinks he's hot, does she? She doesn't know anything yet.

Then the words really register and his expression falls into what Sabo had once called his 'thinker face'.

Siblings, as in plural? Not just brothers, but siblings?

She's got a crush on Riskua.

That's cute. It's also upsetting his stomach.

"Nope, I'm the last one. Unless you've managed to trap another poor sod into siblingship in the last three years, Lu?"

"Nope! Just you and 'Skua and Sabo. ASLR! See!"

Luffy proudly presents his tattooed arm before Ace's face, leaning over his head to do so and pressing the brim of Ace's hat uncomfortably against his skull.

"Okay, time to get down."

Plucking his brother up by the sides of his ribs, Ace forcibly removes him from his shoulders, dumping him down on the bench and ruffling his hair.

Luffy scowls, snatching up his hat from where it hangs by string at the back of his neck and planting it firmly atop his head.

"Luffy's brothers…" the long-nosed one begins, tone a low, disbelieving babble as he continues to stare at Ace, "one in the Revolutionary Army, the other a Whitebeard Pirate. And that's not taking into account Riskua's Hawk-Eyed dad! Why did I sign up for this, why?!"

Through some holy power, Ace manages to hold his tongue, manages to stop himself from pointing out that actually, Hawk-Eyes is only Riskua's uncle and it's a whole lot worse than what he thinks.

The door to the kitchen is kicked open, a suited blond filing up the threshold it'd once occupied as he stares at the lot of them. Ace takes him in quickly; a lack of weapons, nothing in his stance to indicate a Devil Fruit user; close combat specialist then?

"Nami-swan! Vivi-hime! Would you care for lunch?"

Oh hell. He's like Rakuyo.

"Sanji! Sanji! Food and make it double! Ace eats just as much as I do!"

"More than you do, brat," Ace corrects. It's not technically true, but the look of horror on whom he presumes to be the cook's face is worth it.

"M-more than Luffy?" he repeats, rolling an unlit cigarette back and forth between his lips as he considers the words. The cook then groans in dismay.

As Ace sits himself down, two more figures slip in through the door, one he only just registers before arms are wrapped around his shoulders and a cold cheek is pressing against his own.

"Hey there, Freckles."

Grinning, Ace cocks his head back as Riskua draws away, just in time for her to plant a welcoming kiss to his forehead in greeting.

"Budge up, Lu." Ace orders, not giving his little brother much chance to argue; pushing his thigh against Luffy's until they've both slid down to the left of the bench, Riskua slotting herself in to Ace's right. All he needs is Sabo and the nostalgia would be running rampant right now.

"You know this guy, Ri-flower?"

The cook, Sanji asks, jabbing a thumb in Ace's direction as he goes about pulling all sorts of food from the fridge.

Riskua hums, leaning into his side with her head on his shoulder, all the while grinning brightly.

"Of course. We grew up together. Nearly ten years ago, I punched this guy in the face."

Luffy falls into helpless laughter at that, probably forgetting the condition he himself had been in at the time and Ace's cheeks burn. It's not to say he didn't deserve the punch (he'd deserved a lot worse than that, looking back on it) but does she have to tell that story so, bluntly?

"Sshhh," Ace grumbles, pinching Riskua in the sides and flinching a little when she full out jolts in surprise.

"Don't do that," she snaps, cheeks pinking and oh?

"Are you ticklish?" Ace blurts out, a delighted little smile crossing his face. All those times she'd gotten him and Luffy and Sabo as a child; had she really been hiding this? How had he not noticed?

"No."

But Ace doesn't believe that grouchy denial in the slightest.

He grins, jabbing his finger into her side again, shoulders shaking with mirth when she jolts again. Until a Haki-coated hand clamps down on his fingers and bends them back.

"Shit! Ow, okay, I'll stop."

Riskua sticks her tongue out at him but thankfully, she releases the hold she has on his fingers and Ace shakes the hand out, flexing the abused digits in an attempt to work through the pain. It doesn't stop him from slinging his arms over both her and Luffy's shoulders, hugging the duo close.

"We went rooting through your bag and found an eternal pose for Alabasta, you don't mind us borrowing that, right?"

"Nope. Got it off some pirate that got in my way when I was coming over her. Fourth or something."

"Mr Four?" Turning to look at the blue haired girl that's not yet been introduced, Ace nods.

"Yeah, that was it."

And just like that, he finds himself swiftly brought up to speed on what's happening, one of his thighs pressing against Luffy's, his side cooled by Riskua leaning against his chest. Just like back on Dawn; all that's missing is a smug little look from Sabo about his proximity to Riskua and everything would be the exact same.

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It takes exactly forty-nine minutes for Luffy to lose interest in bragging about his adventures in East Blue, and even then, that only stops because the swordsman and the cook demand to continue training. Something which is apparently Luffy's turn to 'oversee' today.

Unsurprisingly, Riskua sits atop the railing of the upper deck to watch what's happening below; Luffy is armed with a large stick he probably picked up in Drum's forests, and seems exceptionally happy to be smacking his crewmates.

Ace does not miss those early days of Haki, not in the slightest.

"Don't take any offense, Ace," Riskua begins as he comes to join her by the railings, leaning upon them as she twists to better face him, "because I'm in no way unhappy that we ran into you. But why are you here?"

"Why are you wearing shorts on a winter island?" Ace fires back, wincing as Luffy lands a particularly loud smack to the back of the cook's head.

"I've got thick, knee-high socks on."

Riskua turns fully now to look at him, swinging her legs around until they're on the same side of the railings as he is, one crossed firmly over the other. Small hands rest on the wood, fingers half curled around the surface as Riskua's suddenly poisonous yellow eyes burn.

"Don't fuck around with me, Ace. I know you. Even if I didn't, I've very proficient in Observational Haki; I can tell when something is bothering you."

There's worry on her face, genuine worry. Not that he's expect non-genuine worry. It's just, hard to explain.

Why does it feel like he's failed, having explain that Thatch had been attacked, that his brother had very nearly died? He could have died, and Ace wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. If it weren't for Riskua tipping the chef off about someone being after a specific Devil Fruit… no, if it weren't for Thatch listening to Riskua… He might have actually died.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, to know that even a family Pops built could still be harmed, still be hurt. By one they thought their own.

"Thatch got attacked for a Devil Fruit," Ace finally admits, hands clenching tight around the railings and it's only as the wood starts to smoke that he releases his hold, gritting his teeth while attempting to reel in his temper. "Thatch got attacked by one of our own. I- I thought Teach was my brother. We all did."

Ace'd been so torn; he'd wanted to go tearing off after Teach, to bring the man who'd been in his division to justice. But they hadn't been sure that Thatch'd pull through, if he'd survive or not. No matter how much Ace'd wanted to go chasing vengeance, he had to be there in case his brother woke up. Thank the seas Thatch had done just that, but it'd been a tense few days.

"Is Thatch-"

"He's okay," Ace cuts in, raking a hand through his hair, looking down at his palms when he runs out of actions to distract them with. He's itching to do something, to get on with his hunt for Teach but he's out of leads now.

The locals of Drum had been too busy focusing on helping the wounded, on saving what they could to notice which way the damn traitor and his 'crew' had gone.

Which means Ace shall have to hit up some other information sources in he wants to figure out where the snake has slithered off to.

"I'm glad. That he's okay, that is. I like Thatch," Riskua smiles, uncrossing her legs and shifting slightly on the railings until she's comfortable once again.

She holds one hand out towards him and, confused, Ace puts his own hand in hers. She flips it until his palm is facing the sky, thumb tracing the lines his open hand boasts.

Ace remains still as she examines each crease, her thumb a bit too short to manage tracing the full length of the one that bisects the upper half of his palm.

"You've got a long lifeline, Ace," Riskua finally murmurs, tapping thrice at the 'lifeline' in question and he pushes down the urge to scoff.

He highly doubts that. He's a pirate after all, and not just any pirate. He's the son of that man, no matter how much he would wish otherwise.

He's been living on borrowed time, time his mother sacrificed for him, ever since he was born. It's sure to run out at some point. It's why he lives without regrets, because the next day might be his last.

Sitting himself down on the railings besides Riskua, Ace twists his torso until he's comfortably facing the other pirate, wondering just where she's going with her 'lifeline' talk.

"We met the doctor of the Oro Jackson," she whispers quietly and Ace grimaces. That Crocus guy at the lighthouse if he remembers right. Ace'd gone out of his way to not have to make any contact with the former pirate.

He's seen the Pirate King's old bounty posters, back before he became the devil of the seas. He's aware of the resemblance between them; it's why he's always clean shaven. He'll never grow a moustache. No matter how well Pops pulls off his own magnificent facial hair.

"You can't go to South Blue, Ace. That man did, and he died for it. Some kind of weakness in the genes and he might have passed that onto you. Crocus said he'll look back into it, but… Please don't go to South Blue?"

The poison in those eyes is gone now, extracted and replaced with an antidote that offers to soothe all his worries, if only he will accept it.

"I won't go to South Blue," Ace promises, and it's not something he has much of a problem vowing to. Teach isn't going to be interested in sleepy South Blue and there's no way Ace's gonna risk sharing another thing with the Pirate King. He has no desire to catch whatever sickness that bastard's genetics mean he's susceptible to.

That Riskua grins at him, veritably delighted he's agreed so easily… it's a shot of warmth to his stomach.

"Well, since you're in such an agreeable mood… take someone with you. Marco maybe."

"What?" Bemused, Ace quickly questions Riskua because that makes no sense at all. Take Marco to South Blue? But she'd just asked him not to go there.

The redhead seems to realise she hasn't transitioned to her new topic very well, cheeks pinkening as she glances away.

"I mean, take Marco with you when you go after this Teach guy."

"Risk-"

"No, Ace. Just hear me out, please?"

She glances up at him, eyes huge and imploring and holy fuck, they're glistening in that early warning sign of oncoming tears.

Abort. Abort.

"Okay, I'll listen," Ace spits out through gritted teeth, even though he wants to scream he can handle it, that Teach was from his division and it's his responsibility to deal with it.

"He went years, years without ever being noticed. He gave Papa those scars over his eye," Riskua confines and there's so much worry on her face he can't find it in himself to point out that Shanks isn't infallible.

She has a point; Shanks is a Yonko, and if Teach managed to cause that kind of damage…

No. Doesn't matter. Teach is still from his division and Ace is plenty capable of dealing with him.

"Please take Marco with you."

Ace's pride won't allow such a thing. But Riskua also looks close to tears.

For the first time since they met, Ace lies.

Oh, he's lied plenty of times (yeah, you've wiped all the chocolate off around your lips. No, I have no idea what happened to those cookies. Of course I wouldn't put my red shirt in with your white washing, what do you take me for, an idiot?) but a big lie? One that will genuinely upset Riskua once he's voiced it aloud?

He's never done that before. It has him gritting his teeth behind closed lips the second he agrees, waiting for Riskua to read the lie from his body movement, from the flicker of his eyes as she always does.

But she doesn't understand; Teach is his responsibility. Ace should've seen it coming, should've been able to stop it from happening before his brother got hurt. But he hadn't and now Thatch has months of rehabilitation to worry about. Two inches to the left and he wouldn't have been able to walk again.

Teach is his problem and he won't drag anymore of his brothers into that, and he waits for Riskua to call him on his lie.

Only, she doesn't.

She just looks into his eyes for a moment and then nods, a relieved smile on his face. It's even worse than actually telling the lie.

Because she believes him.

She has that much fucking trust in his word, trusts him so much that even though he's probably screaming he's lying with his body language, she's dismissing it.

Because she trusts him.

And he feels like a piece of shit for it.

"Thank you," Riskua whispers, squeezing once at his hand before she lets go.

He doesn't want the contact to stop, but he sure as hell doesn't deserve it. Not anymore.

When Riskua disappears below deck, Ace doesn't follow, instead turning his attention to Luffy in an attempt to forget.

The haunting whisper of 'liar' remains in his mind regardless.

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Hours pass and Luffy finally grows tired of beating his crewmates with a stick.

"Come on! I wanna show you all my cool new moves, Ace!"

"Luffy! No fighting on the Merry! She can't take the kind of damage you can dish out!"

Luffy laughs off the screeching of the long-nosed worrywart, but nevertheless agrees to wait for his little show n' tell.

Instead, he bellows that he's gonna go find his bounty poster to show Ace, disappearing below deck before Ace can inform his brother he already knows what it looks like; he's got six rolled up in his bag should he ever need to use them. Or brag, probably to brag. Hmm, that's dangerously close to becoming some kind of strange fanboy, come to think of it.

"So, why are you so close to me now?" Ace asks, tilting his head to a side to look at Riskua.

He's found the strange gathering of fruit trees at the back of the ship and sat himself down there, even if the cook had glared something fierce at him. Probably worried he's like Luffy and will just steal one if he fancies it.

Still, given that Nami (who seems to have Sanji firmly under thumb) appears to trust him and the princess is just pleased that he had a way to get them to Alabasta, it looks like he's not got a guard while he spends his day beneath the trees.

"We're not outside of Drum's climate yet," Riskua murmurs, having seated herself beside him upon her return, bringing delicious snacks up from the kitchen and they're close enough that there's only an inch or so of space between them.

Riskua seems to consider it for a second before she abandons all pretext of… well, whatever was stopping her from getting closer, moving closer until she practically crawls into his lap, curling up with her head on his chest.

This… this is new.

This is new and Ace has no idea where to put his hands, no idea where he's allowed to put his hands… He doesn't know what to do.

"You're a lot warmer than Zoro," Riskua hums, shifting about on his lap until she's comfortable, cold cheek pressing against his collarbone as she lets out a little sigh of content. If he'd still been wearing his cloak instead of leaving it down in what he now knows to be the men's quarters, they could have snuggled up here beneath it quite comfortably. It's not they haven't done that in his bed, after all.

Not that Ace'd been aware she was there at the time. Here, there's just no Sabo enabler. And he's an absolutely awful person he lied straight to her face and he doesn't deserve this warm acceptance.

"Well I am fire," Ace murmurs, tentatively settling his arms around Riskua's waist (because fuck it, he's gonna make the most of his time before she figures out he lied), hugging her closer, "and how many times exactly have you snuggled up to Zoro?" That's the swordsman, isn't it? Ace's got his poster; his bounty is practically nothing, he's still a Grand Line newbie.

In a fight, he'll be no threat to Ace.

Not that Ace's planning to go picking fights with Luffy's crew. That'd be stupid and Riskua'd spend a lot of time frowning at him for it, probably. He's already going to need to pull out all the stops when his lie comes to light.

But that he can accept.

He'd regret not dealing with Teach himself; Riskua once forgave him for endangering Luffy's life years ago. That was a far greater offence than what he's just committed. He'll earn her forgiveness just like he did back then.

"Not a lot, he's always too busy training. It's nice to just sit and relax for a bit."

"Yeah, it's been a while since I did that." Too long. Everything had been going fine, everything had been okay, but then Teach and gone and attacked Thatch had nearly killed Thatch and ruined what sense of secure family Ace'd managed to build up. This is his first peaceful moment since… well, since he'd last seen Riskua actually. Back before everything went to shit.

He can remember sitting with Thatch, having that conversation about not 'fucking things up with his best friend' and yet, here he sits with her nestled in his lap. After lying to her for the first time. It's fucking with his head.

If he even tries to chase after something more (and if he has a lucky moment for once in his life and she actually starts feeling the same) then that'll only put a bigger target on her back when it comes to the Marines. Nevermind if word gets out about just who his blood-father is.

But he's also promised to live a life without regrets. And it'd be a lie to say he wouldn't regret not trying.

When had life got so difficult? When did things go from simply wanting to become a pirate, to become free and (if he's brutally honest with himself) to find out if he ever should have been born. Two of those he's achieved, that last one… Ace isn't sure if he'll ever have the answer, if it'll come to him at any point in time.

Maybe in his dying moments, but he's got things he wants to do before that happens. Hunt down Teach and find out why, why throw it all away. See Luffy and Sabo and Riskua achieve their dreams.

He's not ready to die yet, but that doesn't mean he won't accept it if it comes.

A tap on his nose snaps Ace right out of his thoughts, glancing down at Riskua.

She's staring up at him, a worried frown on her face.

"Heavy thoughts there, Freckles?"

"Nothing I can't carry," Ace confirms, giving a small, bashful smile before sharply pulling the brim of her hat down, just until it hides her eyes. Riskua splutters at the sudden loss of eye contact, punching him in the chest and Ace laughs.

"Ace! I found it!"

And that's Luffy, here to ruin the moment once again.

As if sensing that, Riskua begrudgingly clambers off his lap, lingering a little longer than necessary to bask in his heat. Just as Ace's hand remains on her hip for as long as he can possibly manage before it slowly slips free from the contact.

"I'll keep the air up here warm," he promises, watching Riskua curl up in the spot he's just vacated.

Then Luffy barrels into him and Ace is sent rocketing down the side of the ship, narrowly missing being catapulted over the edge.

"Damn it, Luffy!"

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When he wakes up, it's no longer the sunlight that's peeking through the tree leaves, but instead the night's sky and it's thousand eyes looking down upon him.

He's leaning against one of the thick pots the trees rest in, head resting on Riskua's shoulder. And he's drooling. Great. Because that's an attractive feature.

"Awake, are we?" She asks, running her fingers through the hair of the two that occupy her lap.

Luffy's all but sprawled across Ace's lap in order to rest his head on Riskua' thigh, fast asleep and leaving his own little downpour of drool soaking into the thin cotton of Riskua's pyjama bottoms.

When she'd even gotten changed into them, Ace has no idea. Though, judging by the way the matching shirt hangs loose around her chest, he'd hazard a guess they aren't actually her clothes. Maybe Nami the Navigator's. Or the princess'.

On her other leg, the head of the little reindeer doctor resides, Riskua's fingers also working their way across his skull and even unconscious, the newest Strawhat sinks into the sensation.

If they're both getting their heads rubbed, that means there's no hand to thread its way through his hair, Ace realises, disgruntled. That sucks.

"Sorry about the drool," Ace grumbles, looking around for something, anything, to dry Riskua's borrowed shirt off with, but there's nothing. Luffy's own pyjamas are smeared with gravy and other food related juices, and the reindeer's… well, even Ace can admit they're too cute to use as a towel.

"It's okay. I'll get you back somehow."

Ace snorts, the hot exhale visible in the cool night's air.

Riskua's cold pressed against his side, even though she's got a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. It doesn't take much effort to snatch up a corner and wiggle himself under it, pressing Riskua into his side by replacing his arm around her shoulders and she all but melts against him.

"Are you really sure you don't' want to stay?" she teases, eyelids fluttering closed as her own head comes to rest on his shoulder.

"Pretty sure; me and Lu would eat your cook out of kitchen and his stores."

"That's true... Hey, Ace?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell me about how you joined the Whitebeards? I've not heard it yet."

She's still stroking Chopper and Luffy's heads; this must be a of spur-of-the-moment slumber party but Ace's hardly gonna complain.

"Sure. Where do I start…"

"At the beginning, usually."

"Shut up and listen to the story."

Retelling how he'd come to become a Whitebeard Pirate is like a balm on his soul and maybe that's what Riskua was going for.

She certainly couldn't have been invested in hearing the whole thing because she nods off halfway through.

She starts drooling on his shoulder moments later.

Get him back indeed.


Enjoy. I only have one more chapter fully planned out, so after that, I'll be on break. And also after that, I'll be starting a PGCE, which will swallow up about 90% of my free time, so chapter updates are gonna grind to a near halt I'm afraid. But never fear, I'm not giving this up. I promise.

Also, 300,000 words of this now (including Authors notes, but hey ho) that's an awful lot for less than a year of writing,

Lots of love,

Tsume

xxx