-Gracie POV-
"Hey, Lilith?" I asked as dinner was winding down, "About that thing with-" She was asleep. Not face planted in her food, I'd never let her live that down, but leaning back in her chair, head lolling over the too-short headrest, completely out of it and dead to the world. "Never mind then," I decided, "I'll just have to talk to you later."
"What were you hoping to talk about?" Law asked.
"Oh nothing!" I tried to sound casual but ended up sounding more like the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I couldn't look him in the eye. "Noting major! See you tomorrow morning!" and I kind of ran away after that. It's really difficult to lie to hot people, nearly impossible really. At least if you're me. Best if I just get out of here before he can ask more questions.
-Law POV-
That was interesting. Miss Gracie didn't try to keep secrets from me. She had always been honest, almost brutally honest so, about her past and her feelings. But now I ask her such a simple question and she starts avoiding me. I really wanted to know what it was she wanted to talk to Lilith about now. I glanced at Lilith. No, she wouldn't know what's bugging Miss Gracie, not yet anyway. I'll have to ask Miss Gracie herself if I want an answer. I nodded to myself and went to bed. I'd been given a very nice room even if I did have to share. The books were interesting and Miss Gracie had said I was free to read them.
-Lilith POV- -Dreamscape-
I was running and I didn't know what from. Something was after me though. I kept tripping and I couldn't seem to transform and I didn't know why. I glanced over my shoulder to see something moving through the bushes behind me. I tried to increase my pace but the thing just started moving faster to match me, constantly closing the gap.
Suddenly I collided with something because I was too busy paying attention to things behind me. Akainu loomed over me - eyes glowing red like magma, taller than he actually was in real life, broad shouldered and fist pulling back for a punch. But I couldn't move. I thought he was going to kill me.
The fist moved towards me slowly and then all of a sudden Ace was in the way - a fist through his chest. I screamed but it did nothing. Akainu disappeared and Ace fell forward, collapsing into my arms. He was dead. I was screaming for him to wake up and he didn't move. I scrambled back, afraid. Ace couldn't be dead, right? He promised me! I was still moving away but tripped over something and fell. I didn't want to look but I did it anyway. Gracie was dead too. Eyes open and staring. Suddenly everyone was here. And they were all dead. Sabo had a massive gap in his chest. Gecko-chan had starved to death, nothing but bits of bone and skin and his ever present rings on his fingers. Dad had a sword through his stomach and blood trailing from his mouth. Luffy's head was on a pike and I couldn't see the rest of him. Doffy was so filled with arrows I could only recognize him by his coat, red now because of the blood. The Hag Witch had been hung. Uncle Smokey executed as a traitor. Iva and Inazuma. Marco. Kuma. Mihawk. Whitebeard. Dragon. And most horribly, taking centre stage amidst the carnage, was my mom. Brains splattered as they must have been before she was found. Gaping hole in her head. Still-fresh tears on her too-pale cheeks. Gun on the floor beside her. She opened her eyes and lifted her head to face me. "We loved you. This is your fault."
I bolted awake, flailing wildly and falling to the ground with a bang. I put a hand over my chest and felt my heart beating at a million miles an hour. I wasn't getting enough air. That was the first time I'd had a nightmare since the War. When I was unconscious I was lucky enough not to dream - I'd been too exhausted. Then Doc had given me some decent tranques and I'd caught a few hours. Somehow, I hadn't had any nightmares last night but… I guess I broke my streak. It wasn't so bad really. I've been putting up with nightmares since I was a little girl and they're not that dangerous. Disturbing, sure, and it freaked me out for a while even once I woke up but I knew nothing that happened in my dreams was real. Unlike Gracie, I never saw the future. Nobody was going to die. Not while I was still alive. Not again anyway. Never again.
I'd finally managed to slow my heartbeat to a somewhat tolerable pace. Getting my bearings I realized I was on the floor in the dining room, sprawled over an upturned chair and flat on my ass. I must've fallen asleep… at the dinner table… huh. What a very Ace thing to do. Somehow the thought squeezed at my heart. The dreams with dead people in them were the worst. And hey were bad when my mom was there, always. I clutched at my chest. Even though I'd calmed down I was still upset. I sighed. There's no way I'm going back to sleep tonight. I don't want to repeat that experience any time soon.
Going to the kitchen I checked the time. My grandfather had put that clock there - not that I'd ever met the guy - so I had to stand on tip-toe to read it. 11:46. Apparently I'd only gotten a few brief hours of sleep. I've had worse. And I'm not risking it. What to do until morning?
I went to the one room in the house I knew no one would be sleeping in.
-Ace POV-
I woke up when something fell over downstairs, a loud band echoing through the house. I was apparently the only one to wake up. Sabo was still asleep. I was glad. The bandages were still on but Law said he was recovering surprisingly quickly which was good. I still felt a little bit guilty but I knew better than to blame myself. I'd been asleep at the time so there was nothing I could have done. I rolled over. Luffy had been taken by Hancock. I wondered where he was now. Had he met up with his nakama yet? I knew he was probably safe but I couldn't help but worry. Luffy had a habit of getting himself in trouble.
I couldn't seem to go back to sleep. Something was bugging me. So I might as well get something to eat. You never know, it might just be my stomach. But on the way to the kitchen, I heard something. Singing. I identified it as Lilith's voice, coming from a part of the house I hadn't actually been. The building was small enough that Gracie never needed to give us a tour. Curious, I followed the voice - I hadn't been that hungry anyway. It was an incredibly sad song.
When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missing you
When you're gone
The face I came to know is missing too
When you're gone
The words I need to hear to always get me through the day
And make it okay
I miss you
Standing In the doorway, realized it wasn't Lilith singing, despite the fact that the voice sounded identical. She was sitting on a still made bed, back to me, legs pulled up to her chest completely silent and just listening. Instantly I flashed back to when she was sitting in front of her mother's grave. She looked the same.
I've never felt this way before
Everything that I do reminds me of you
And the clothes you left, they lie on the floor
And they smell just like you,
I love the things that you do (*)
The song stopped when Lilith reached out her hand. Apparently it was a recording on a Tone Dial from Sky Island. I guessed it was from her mother by the way she listened. Lilith wouldn't care about recording her own voice like that.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" Lilith asked. Her voice sounded a little bit weak, like she hadn't been using it recently. And sad. Very sad.
"No, I was already awake," I informed her. "Why are you up?"
"No reason," she said. It was obviously a lie. She sighed, knowing I'd see through her and decided to tell the truth instead. "It was just a dream," she dismissed, "I don't need much sleep anyway."
"You want to talk about it?" I asked.
Lilith wasn't usually one to talk about her problems, but it would probably be good for her if she did. She always kept things so bottled up. Sure enough, "No," was the only answer I got. I stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. Inspecting the room, I saw that it was mostly neat but dusty and unused. Small glass figurines lined the windowsill and some of the shelves. Windchimes hung inside the window, clearly just for decoration. Even in the dark I could see the main decorations though. There were pictures on the all walls, covering the space not occupied by shelves or windows. Lilith as a little girl, arm over a young Gracie's shoulder and grinning at the camera. A redheaded baby in the lap of a beautiful, green eyed woman, sitting next to the Hag Witch (who looked exactly the same back then as she did now). Lilith showing off some missing teeth as she grew older. Smoker smiling (wait, he knew how to smile?) with a young Lilith on his shoulders. "This was my mom's room," Lilith informed me after a while. "Nothing's changed... Nothing but me anyway." I wasn't sure what to say to that so I just stayed silent. Lilith paused as if waiting for an answer but then kept talking. "I don't fit here anymore," she confessed sadly. "I grew up here, and there were so many times I wanted to come back but… I know now that I won't end up staying here. I've outgrown my own home. Kind of stupid right?"
"It's not stupid." Why did Lilith always think her emotions were stupid? She's one of the smartest people I know. "Everyone misses home sometimes." A smile pulled at the corner of my lips as I remembered how crazy we used to drive Dadan when Luffy Sabo and I were little. "It's not a bad thing."
Lilith let out a puff of air and lay on her back, hands folded over her stomach and staring at the ceiling. "What am I going to do now?" she asked. I don't think the question was directed at me. "I've done everything I ever wanted. And I'm not satisfied."
"Akainu's still alive," I told her, "Are you sure you're okay with that?"
Lilith shrugged into the bed. "I told you from the beginning: I wanted to destroy him, not kill him. If he's alive that means he had to live knowing what he lost. And that I took it from him. I know what that feels like. He deserves every second of it."
"He could come after you," I realized. "You could be in danger."
"I don't mind," Lilith informed me. "I've never had the greatest sense of self-preservation and all."
I frowned. "You know I hate it when you put yourself in danger. It's reckless," I told her.
Lilith propped herself up on her elbows and turned to look at me. She raised an eyebrow. "I'm reckless?" she asked. "Me? Who was it again who went after Teach on their own without even knowing what Devil Fruit he'd eaten?"
I winced. "That…"
"I didn't even know you were missing until your vivre card started burning. You know I don't handle that kind of thing well." Yeah, I remember her borrowing a den den mushi before she went anywhere one time. Whoever was on the other end got a serious tongue lashing and a promise of a real beating later. Lilith didn't like it when her friends were in danger.
I frowned in realization. "When did you realize that I got caught?" I asked. "I was in prison for like, a week. I'm surprised you didn't just bust in from day one."
"I was scheming," Lilith dismissed. "Planning for Marineford."
"Then why did you break into Impel Down?" I asked, "If you were prepared for a fight, why risk yourself going in alone?"
"Why risk thousands of lives at the War of the Best when I could just risk mine?" Lilith replied coolly. Clearly she'd thought this through. But it wasn't an equation. It didn't balance out like that.
"That doesn't mean I have to like it when you intentionally charge headfirst into danger," I decided petulantly.
"This from the one who I was trying to rescue," she countered. "You don't seem to have realized just how much you managed to scare me. I thought you might die. It's not a very cheerful feeling you know."
I hadn't realized she would feel the same way. "Lilith, I-"
"Why are you awake?!" a voice hissed behind me. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Turning I realized it was just Gracie. Granted she was hunched over, had some serious bed-head and was glaring at me in a way I didn't know she could but Gracie seemed generally harmless. "It's the middle of the night. Sleep," she ordered dangerously.
"Sorry," Lilith whispered nervously. Why's she nervous? It's just Gracie. "Please don't do anything evil to me for waking you up," she begged.
"Meh," Gracie decided grouchily, "I'll think about it. Go to sleep."
"I promise I'll be quiet," Lilith promised. She nodded eagerly. Is she seriously afraid of what Gracie's going to do to her? This is Lilith we're talking about here! "I won't disturb you anymore."
Gracie narrowed her eyes. Turning slightly she faced a picture frame, reflecting the faint light from the kitchen. For a second or two her eyes glowed white, temporarily blinding me with the light. "You'll be fine," Gracie announced, returning to herself, "Go to sleep. I get the feeling we won't be getting much anytime soon."
"Anything more specific," Lilith asked, suddenly all business.
Gracie shrugged. "Nope," she decided, "And I'm not checking now. Got to sleep. Let me go to sleep."
"Goodnight, Gracie," Lilith said, smiling slightly. I imagine it had been a long time since she had been able to say that in person. "See you in the morning."
"I'm sorry we disturbed you," I apologized, bowing.
Gracie wandered off back from whence she came muttering something about hot butlers and narcoleptic insomniac D's as Lilith and I watched her go. Mildly I wondered just what she was talking about but I was too tired to worry about it. I decided to just go back to bed before I had a narcolepsy attack.
-Lilith POV-
Ace went back to sleep. In my bed. I don't think he realized it was my bed he was borrowing. After Gracie left - I was still hoping to escape her revenge for disturbing her sleep, even against the odds - Ace's brain seemed to shut down and he stumbled back to my room. I was unsurprised to find Sabo and Bonnie already sleeping there - both on the floor - because of the lack of space in the house. Ace face planted on the bed, not bothering to get under the covers or anything and instantly passed out. I looked around. There wasn't much floor space left, but I wanted to sleep in my own room for the first time in ten years. I looked down at Ace, debating.
There's probably some sort of social convention against it but… It's not like he's a pervert or anything. Ace is harmless. Besides, I'm fucking tired. So I pulled up the covers - the ones not completely pinned under Ace's body - and shuffled under as quietly as I could. It was warm, nicely so. As soon as my head hit the pillow my eyes glued themselves shut. I don't think I'd felt quite so safe for a good long time. I'd almost forgotten how nice it was.
-Shanks POV- -Next Morning-
"You think we should wake them?" I asked. Lilith and Ace were both sleeping on the same bed when I checked on them earlier. It was clear that nothing had happened though. They were both fully dressed - by their standards seeing as Ace never wore a shirt and Lilith's shorts could be considered practically bikini bottoms - and on opposite sides of the covers. Ace was face planted with his feet hanging off the bottom of the bed and Lilith was hugging the pillow to her chest more than she was resting her head on it.
"Let them sleep," Gracie ordered, nose in a leather bound volume marked 'Logbook' in golden lettering. "I've got a feeling something's coming up soon. Lilith's going to be right in the middle of it… again."
"Is this a good feeling?" I asked, turning away from Lilith and Ace's sleeping forms to frown at the girl, "Or should I be worried?"
Gracie shrugged, still not looking up from her book. "It's just that something's going to happen. It's vaguely bad but mostly good as far as I can tell, which I honestly know isn't very specific but it's all you're getting out of me right now."
"So you only get vague feelings?" I asked, frowning. "I was under the impression you could predict the future more accurately than that."
"I can, I'm just too busy at the moment," Gracie dismissed. She glanced up from her book briefly and then back to the page. "We'll find out sometime this afternoon so it doesn't really matter anyway. I've learned it's not always a good thing to know what's coming. While it is my job to stick my nose into things, sometimes doing that messes things up. It's best to just let this be. They need sleep… and I kind of want to hear their reactions when they wake up." A smile crept onto her lips.
"You're pretty smart for your age aren't you?" I asked amused. Gracie clearly knew what she was talking about but hadn't lost her sense of humor. That wasn't an easy thing to do in this world. Gracie didn't respond. She'd gotten sucked into her book too firmly. I let the conversation die. There was something else I had to talk about.
-Smoker / Uncle Smokey POV-
It was weird. Super weird. Red Haired was just walking around the house, completely at home and - perhaps just as strange - I was perfectly okay with it. After all those years in the Marines I thought I'd have some sort of aversion to this - some kind of deep, buried instinct that wouldn't let me rest easily under the same roof - but there was nothing. Red Haired seemed on okay guy and he was clearly planning on acting as a proper father to Lilith. Millie had loved him and Lilith was newly in love with having a father. The only reason I could find to dislike the guy was he was encouraging my niece to continue pirating but in all honesty, at this point it was kind of too late to worry about that. Anyone could see that he had no intention of hurting anyone, but…
I frowned. He was sitting in the armchair across from me in the living room, having some sort of conversation with Gracie and making it seem perfectly natural. I was still staring at him thoughtfully, not even trying to hide it. "You know if you ever hurt my niece I'll kill you, but aside from that you seem okay," I decided out loud.
Red Haired looked up. "I take that as a compliment coming from Lilith's uncle," he replied honestly. "And I have no intention of letting her get hurt."
I nodded. "Well good luck," I told him, "She's far too reckless, trying to do everything on her own and never listens, even when you're just trying to help her."
Red Haired smiled to himself. "I am sorry to have missed her childhood," he admitted, "I get the feeling Lilith was a handful as a kid. That would have been entertaining."
"You have no idea," I told him. Somehow the conversation became me explaining what the Brat Races were and how much trouble they caused. Shanks just laughed.
(*) When You're Gone by Avril Lavigne. Only part of the song (Ace came in at the middle and Lilith paused it after.) but you get the idea. I will use songs or parts of songs from time to time but this story is still mostly plott and not about people singing. The songs are just something I'm adding to help me make my point from time to time. From now on I'll just give you the song and artist so you don't have to read and I don't have to type these long footnotes anymore.
