The time was now upon them.

Staring up at the mountain of a man in front of her, Lucy daren't move, let alone breathe. Fear had her frozen in place. His torso was covered in jagged like gashes inflicted by god knows what, she couldn't imagine anything strong enough to get a hit off on a man like this. Captain Whitebeard was renowned for being unbeatable, or so Ace had told her. That was why he had wanted to defeat him in the first place.

The concept was laughable, Ace was powerful, but was this guy in front of them even human?

"Don't be frightened sweetheart, he won't bite." Ace's rough fingers tickled her lower back as he sought out her skin. His touch was warm and soothing. Gazing up at the famed captain with doe like eyes, she finally felt a wave of relief rush over her. She was so scared of his body that she hadn't finished the journey up to his face. The place where a person's true personality resided.

Warm, friendly eyes greeted her. Letting out a giddy laugh, it quickly transformed into a bellowing howl as Whitebeard broke the silence. "My word, Ace, you lucky boy, you have got yourself one fine little lady." Bending down to kneel, he made it so he was at her level as to seem less intimidating. He held out his giant of a hand for Lucy to shake. She tried not to panic as she lost sight of her own hand once he enclosed it in his calloused fist.

"Look at you, all dainty and pretty. No sea wench I ever saw." His voice was raspy but booming all the same. Raw power simply radiated out of his pores, yet here he was, soft as a peach. While still on his knees, he brought Lucy's hand up to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss against her knuckles. "Thank you for being a part of Ace's life. I'm happy to finally meet you, he's told me so much about the girl from a different world."

Glancing backwards at Ace, she was shocked at the red hue that had taken over his face. It made his adorable freckles that she loved so much stand out. Whitebeard really was like a father to him and he clearly took on the role well. Everyone knew that fathers were supposed to be mind numbingly embarrassing in front of their child's significant other. Raising a delicate eyebrow, she turned full circle so she was standing next to Whitebeard and facing Ace. With her arms crossed, she let out a small giggle. "Oh really? All good things I hope sir."

Barking out another laugh, Whitebeard had to smack the floor to contain his amusement which the boat was clearly used to but the creaking of the wood didn't go amiss. "Pop come on, quit embarrassing me. I didn't have to bring her to meet you did I. You promised you'd be on your best behaviour."

The two began playfully bickering with each other, it was adorable. Samson and Natsu reappeared from somewhere below deck with someone else in tow and for the first time since the dragon slayer had appeared in this strange land, he didn't look green with sea sickness. "Natsu, you have a normal skin colour again." Grinning at the stranger stood next to him, he nudged his shoulder with his closed fist. "This guy is a miracle worker. Apparently since getting sea sick is so common here, he's created a home recipe to remedy it and man it works a treat."

Smiling warmly at the man at Natsu's side, she all but yanked him in for a hug. He let out a grunt of surprise as he was held by the celestial mage. "Thank you so much for helping him, you are an absolute lifesaver."

"I see you've met Thatch. Maybe I should put down a no touching rule for you and the other pirates Luce?" Ace's tone was light but she could tell he wasn't a fan of her hugging someone else. Pulling away from Thatch, she examined Ace's face which was now mostly covered by his hat. "Don't pout, I still love you the most." Going on her tip toes, she allowed her lips to delicately brush over his in a teasing manner, he let out a groan of displeasure at the minor touch and pulled her back against his body. As their lips were about to meet again, Thatch began to laugh.

"Wow, keep it PG kiddies, there's randy pirates watching."

With the heat of the moment now thoroughly gone, Ace cleared his throat and reluctantly let go of Lucy's hips which he had a vice like grip on. Smiling sheepishly at Thatch, Ace cleared his throat and gestured around the boat. "So what are we waiting for? Me and Samson have been away for a long time, let's get the party started already!"

Cheers echoed across the deck and Lucy couldn't help but laugh. What a wonderful atmosphere this ship held. All of them equals, all of them family.

The night dawned on them quick and the festivities began. Alcohol was free flowing, everybody was having a great time, celebrating the return of Ace and Samson. Allowing them to have their own fun with their crew, Lucy and Natsu sat against the edge of the boat in their own little world.

"Only one week left." Natsu said softly as he lit a small flame in the palm of his hand. Gone were the days were he would of lit up half the ocean in his eagerness. It flickered softly against his tanned skin, illuminating their faces.

Leaning against his side, they sat silently listening to the crashing of the waves and the drunken laughter behind them. Soon, the dragon slayer's flame began to die out. Glancing at his now darkened face, she could see it was because he had fallen asleep. After so long feeling constantly nauseous, he could finally rest peacefully. Removing her woollen shawl that Samson had given her with the instruction of not asking where it had came from, she rolled it into a ball and slid it under Natsu's neck. His lips curled up, a ghost of a smile, she would miss his toothy grin.

With glazed eyes, she gently brushed his ever singed bangs out of his face, the deep salmon colour would forever remind her of her precious dragon. As her fingers continued to slowly caress his soft locks, a cold shiver slowly climbed up each vertebrae in her spine, leaving an unpleasant tingling in it's wake. Slowly moving her hand from Natsu's head, she trailed it down to her hip where her keys lay…

As she encased her fingers around her key for Loke, the shadowy entity began to encase itself around her neck, squeezing tight.

"Lucy, my dear! Why are you sat all the way over here?" Whitebeard's voice broke the spell that had taken over her body, the dark presence dispersed into nothingness. Was she imagining things? Whatever it was had seriously made her head foggy. Maybe it was just the fumes from the copious amounts of alcohol that was being drunk and splashed around her.

But the now tender skin around her neck begged to differ...

A wheezing sound and a few cracking bones later was what it took for Captain Whitebeard to realise that he was actually sat on someone, that someone being a deeply asleep dragon slayer. With a small chortle, he placed his large hand around Natsu's bicep and gently pulled him out of the way so he was safely against the edge of the boat where no more harm could come to him from Whitebeard's humongous frame.

"Sorry about that, he's just so small I didn't-." Lucy waved off his apology and nodded her head towards Natsu. "He won't feel a thing tomorrow, with the amount of times he's broken his bones I'm surprised he can still walk properly." The grizzly captain seemed impressed by how nonchalant she was being about it. With a twinkle in his eye, he eyed up Natsu's sleeping form. "I could use another strong spirited man on board my ship, do you - "

"No way old man." Ace suddenly appeared at his side, drink in hand and a rosy blush across his cheeks to match. Slumping against the wooden edge of his ship, her eyes watched his breath warm the icy air surrounding them. "We'll burn this ship to the ground before agreeing on who deserves Lucy the most." Letting out a drunken hiccup, Ace tilted his head and smiled brightly at her. "You're mine and I won't let you go."