Chapter 3: Turn the heat up
I do not own One Piece or any of these characters.
This fanfiction does not encourage crime or violence and is merely done for the plot and so on.
It contains a lot of foul language, since I don't believe that after hanging around bars and pubs a lot that Ace would be clear of using them.
This is rated M for violence, excessive language and also because I am a bit paranoid.
Luffy was growing more hungry as time passed by. It has been a very 'shitty week' as Ace would put it and Luffy found that it was quite true. He hadn't had meat for almost five days now and even before those five days, it was less the amount he usually ate. To say it was a 'shitty week' is an understatement. Ace looked even worse than usual, grumpy, jumpy and angry to no end! It was almost the same as before again.
After what had happened with Sabo, Ace seemed more sad and easier to anger the first weeks. After a while it was barely noticeable and now, three years later, it was as if it never happened. But Luffy could sometimes see the pain buried underneath many emotions, Ace wasn't fooling him. Luffy could understand Ace, of course, they lost someone precious to both of them.
And how he hated it. He knew he would never ever be able to see Sabo again. Watch him smile, hear him laugh, see him teasing Ace. It was the end.
He disliked it, really. He just felt so lonely again and he didn't even understand why! He had Ace!
He hated the numb feeling in his chest, gnawing at his heart. The emptiness he felt whenever he was reminded that Sabo was just not there anymore. The feelings of missing something. The feelings of regret. But Luffy pushed them away, at least he could get the regret away from him with thoughts on how Ace wouldn't want that. On how Sabo wouldn't blame him. Because it was neither Ace's nor Luffy's fault, it was those stupid Celestial Dragons.
He wasn't going to give up so easily. Luffy loved his brothers and while he was already living on without any regrets after Ace's and his oath to live without them, that didn't mean Ace actually did. Even if the older thought that Luffy was a stupid idiot, it didn't mean he was necessarily unobservant. As years passed by Luffy was happy to see that Ace had gotten better than before, after Luffy did his best at distracting Ace from those emotions that he must be feeling. It had worked!
But suddenly Ace's mood seemed to drop again and it made Luffy sad. He hated seeing his brother like this, when Ace had already started feeling so much better! It saddened Luffy, really. So what should he do? At first he had planned to gift him some hugs and ask him to go hunting with him, it was a good way to distract oneself and he was speaking from exeprience! Or was it experimence?
Currently Ace and him were standing in the middle of what looked like a kitchen and Luffy just couldn't find anything edible, it was throwing him off and he was going to seriously eat the house instead. "Aceeeee, I'm hungryyyyyyy!", he whined, peeking into another cupboard. "Shut up, I'm trying to find something to eat right now", Ace huffed from behind him and Luffy pouted. "But Aceeeee! I need fooood", he continued to speak, letting his eyes wander around the kitchen, before settling on the sink.
"Ne, Ace? Can you eat this?", Luffy asked, pulling something from the water. He didn't know what it was, but it seriously looked weird. It seemed like a long piece of bread, but it was a bit green on the side and smelled bad, one side of it looked to have been eaten and a bit of foam was dripping from it. Still, Luffy was hungry. He wouldn't let such food go to waste. He opened his mouth, ready to take a bite, as someone suddenly slapped the thing from his hand. "You idiot! You can't eat this! It's already rotting!", he shouted and Luffy tilted his head in confusion.
But it's food, isn't it? You can eat food, right? Luffy voiced his thoughts and Ace rolled his eyes at him. "No, dumbass. Food can go bad, just like this...sweet corn. If you want to eat this, you'll have to cut out that part first", Ace said, looking around. So it was corn, not bread. "There should be a spoon or something around here that we could use to scoop out the bad parts", he mumbled. "Maybe it's in the bathroom?", Luffy suggested, earning him a smack to the head. "That's mean, Ace! It could really be in there!"
Luffy watched as Ace pulled out a small spoon from the sink grimacing, quickly washing it. Just what else is in there? Leaving the bread-no, corn to Ace, Luffy stared into the sink, as Ace held the corn under it. Maybe there's a treasure in there? Or a ship? And suddenly Luffy noticed the wood growing from the sink, it was a chair! "Ace! Ace! Is this a mysterious sink? Look, it has a chair growing from it! Can we take the chair with us? Hey, hey, chair! Can you poop? Can you talk? Hey, what's your name?", Luffy rambled, a bright grin on his face.
"Luffy, that chair isn't growing out of the sink. It fell into the sink", Ace grumbled and Luffy turned to him. "What are you talking about, Ace? The chair is made out of wood and wood comes from a tree! Tree grows with water and the sink is filled with it, so the chair is growing out of the sink! You're so silly!"
Ace stared at him blankly, giving Luffy the corn which he happily accepted. "Luffy, your fucking brain defies all logic", he growled and Luffy couldn't help, but laugh. Ace was making funny noises, after all. "Thanks for the food!", he hummed, biting into the corn, before almost spitting it out. It was sour. Very sour. He then suddenly remembered what Makino had once said about fruits, or to be specific- Apples. Apples that aren't ripe yet, will be green. They will taste sour, if you pick them too early, so you'll have to wait until they grow red. Then they will be sweet.
Luffy managed to eat it all, swallowing it, grimacing at the taste. He looked up at Ace who had a mischievous grin on his lips. "It was sour, huh?" Luffy gasped dramatically. "No fair! Ace, did you poison it? That's why it was green?", he yelled and Ace facepalmed. "No, you idiot! The corn was green to begin with!"
Then Luffy heard Ace's stomach growl and Ace turned red. Was he intimating an apple or a tomato? Then it suddenly hit him. Ace hadn't eaten yet! Immediately Luffy frowned, looking around again. "Sorry, Ace! I ate all the food!"
"You idiot just noticed?", Ace exclaimed. "I was hungry, alright? And I still am very much!", Luffy pouted. "And besides, we can still look, if there is more, right?", he suggested and Ace shook his head. "I don't think there's more. Even if there is, it's most likely rotten as fuck", he explained, Luffy could once again feel his stomach growling at the mention of food. He was still very hungry after all. But before he could even continue to think about his hunger, he earned a smack from his brother, telling him to 'look for useful things again'.
"Holy shit, look at this!", he heard Ace exclaim. Luffy turned around curiously, only to find himself staring at a beaming Ace, holding up three circle-shaped stone-like things and one green paper. "What's that? Can you eat it? Is it food?", Luffy asked confused on why Ace would be showing him this. His older brother scowled."No, you dumbass! Don't you remember our treasure? Where we put our savings for the future? That was money, you know? Just like this here!"
"Oh. Right", Luffy mumbled. "And what're we gonna do with it?", he asked and Ace grinned brightly. "This is 1016 Berri, I think? We can buy a few things at town! Or, if you want, we can start a new treasure again and save it for later!" Luffy thought for a bit and seeing as he was still a bit hungry, he settled on one thing. "Meat! Let's buy meat!", he shouted cheerfully, before Ace hissed, slamming his hand over Luffy's mouth. And god damn, his hands were really cold! "Quiet! What if someone hears?!"
"I don't think anyone would hear us, do you? I mean, there is snow everywhere and nothing else!", Luffy frowned, prying Ace's ice cold hand from his face. Ace in return rolled his eyes. "Well, we can't be sure, can we?", he replied. "But Ace-" Another growl interrupted their conversation, the culprit Luffy's stomach. He grinned at his older sheepishly, thinking 'When do I finally get to eat?'.
Ace looked to be thinking at first, before slamming his fist into his hand, the money stuffed into the pocket of his jacket. "You're hungry, right? Well, so am I. Wanna go to town now or explore first?", he exclaimed. "Ace, you're being noisy!", Luffy scolded, pointing his finger at Ace who glared at the other. Luffy, however smiled, unaffected by the glare, seeing as his optimism was overflowing. Then he suddenly remembered what Ace had said. "Ah, did you say food? Food, where's food?",, Luffy shouted, looking around excitedly. At first it seemed a bit difficult, trying to choose between food and adventure, but even so, food won.
"To town, it is then", Ace huffed and Luffy jumped into the air happily. "Let's go", he said, carefully walking to the door, in order to avoid the glass shards, the younger boy following the other jumpily. "Walk carefully, idiot! What if you get hurt?", Ace hissed, causing Luffy to pout. "I won't!", he said, the older brother scowled. "Oh, really? We'll see about that, when a glass shard gets stuck in your stupid rubbery foot!"
Luffy gasped. How dare Ace! "My rubber isn't stupid, idiot!", he exclaimed and Ace glared at Luffy in return who remained unfazed. "What the fuck did you just call me?" Luffy nodded. "Idiot! I called you an idiot!" Needless to say that Ace punched Luffy. "Ouch Ace!", Luffy exclaimed, rubbing his head, as Ace huffed, opening the door with a creak. "Shut up! You are an idiot! And your rubber power is stupid!", the freckled teen shouted. "It's not! You're just jealous!"
Suddenly the cold air embraced them again and the brothers both shivered, but continued their argument anyways. "Jealous? Of what, huh? Definitely not of your stupid powers!" Luffy huffed, suppressing a sneeze, as he waved his arms exasperated, making Ace look at him disturbed. "My powers are not stupid! You'll see when I become the Pirate King!", he huffed and Ace raised an eyebrow mockingly. "You? Pirate King? We'll see about that if your aim doesn't equal one of a 3-year old's"", Ace replied, smirking provocatively, as they both stomped through the thick layers of snow, the cold air and snow barely causing the two to react to the temperature anymore, as they bickered back and forth.
The snow was covered with foot steps, one pair of big boots, the other of smaller ones, the crunching sounds of the snow beneath the siblings' feet while they continue to go forward, as the big snowflakes soon erased all the traces of the two ever being there.
"Wait. Let's see if there's anyone here first, alright?", Ace whispered, holding his arm out in front of Luffy protectively, stopping him from going further. Luffy nodded. "Alright" Ace let his arm fall to his side, as Luffy watched him peek around the corner, before turning back to him with a disgusted expression.
"This town is too damn empty. There're barely people here...And those shitty-ass snobby-fuckers must really be enjoying themselves in their little fuckhouse with all that shit. Don't even bother closing the fucking curtains, too busy fucking", he growled, the part where he had started to cuss out the nobles of their town whispered, but not quiet enough for Luffy to overhear and Luffy shifted nervously. And the things Ace had said were a little confusing. Why would they need to close the curtains? What were they doing? What was the word? Fishing?
Luffy shook his head and stared at Ace who was a little red in the face. He seemed to be really mad too.
Ace always swore a lot more, when he was angry or nervous, it was a matter of fact. Just like how when Sabo lied, he smiled brightly which was a big problem, when trying to see if he was lying because he was always smiling, as if already knowing it and trying to cover it up. Luffy only discovered the fact because at first, he didn't always smile and when he lied to the civilians here in order to trick them and smiled, he always seemed to tug at his sleeves a bit which was a tell-tale sign that he was nervous. But as time passed by Sabo seemed to get his feelings a little more under control and barely seemed nervous when lying and acting.
"Let's go in already", Luffy said, pulling his older brother by the hand through the gate to High Town behind him. Ace responded by snatching away his hand from Luffy's, only to hesitantly take it again, this time, however, walking beside Luffy instead of behind him. Their footsteps echoed through the city, as they walked through the streets, covered in layers of cold snow. The freezing wind whipped through the few trees in the city, tall buildings painted in different colours shone through the snow. The shops all seemed to be closed and only a small amount of people actually did dare to go outside in this raging snowstorm.
The people were dressed in expensive-looking winter clothing, with an expression of disgust as soon as they noticed the two brothers. Some, on the other hand, just ignored them, instead of whispering to their companions, if they had one. Luffy stared at the city that was now 'drowning' in snow, in astonishment, not noticing the awful looks the people gave him. As he looked around, he spotted a sign hanging in front of a door with what looked to be a drawing of some sort of food, bread and soup to be precise.
Luffy was immediately hooked, as he sped up excitedly, almost letting go of his older brother's hand, but the older managed to hold onto him last minute. "Lu, what the-", Ace cursed, but Luffy had already lost all patience-not that there was much- and blocked out his surroundings.
Stopping in front of the wooden door, he looked around for a bell of some sort, singing loudly about food, as if his life depended on it, the citizen near him, looking at him disapprovingly. Luffy saw Ace glaring at them out of the corner of his eyes, as he continued to hum and finally found the bell that was located at the bottom of the door. Why it was there was a mystery... "Does anybody live here? Can I have some meat? Can I have some food?", he shouted, ringing the bell endlessly.
Suddenly the door opened, revealing a frowning young woman. Her blond hair was tied into a ponytail, as dark green eyes scanned the two boys in front of her, seeming a little annoyed, but as she saw the happy grin on Luffy, her facial expression seemed to soften. "What d'ya want? You shouldn't be out here with his weather", she asked, crossing her arms, as Luffy watched her. She seemed very cold.
"I'll have lots of meat, please!", he exclaimed. The lady looked nice enough, hopefully she wouldn't chase them out, like most of the restaurants and bars often did. "Why the hell would you just-!", Ace whispered, interrupting himself, flailing his arms angrily, but Luffy just laughed. The lady frowned again, as she looked around. "It's closed, can't you see?", she raised an eyebrow, pointing at the sign that read 'CLOSED' in bold letters. Luffy lowered his head in a disappointed manner, as his stomach growled and he pouted. Then she looked back at Luffy and Ace again, before shaking her head.
"You know what? You guys look like you're freezing, come inside", she sighed and opened the door wide enough for the two to come in. Luffy giggled, followed the woman and ushered Ace inside who, however, seemed more hesitant to do so, as he watched the lady warily. As they both stepped inside, a nice mixed smell of caramel, light burnt wood and wet cardboard washed over them.
The bar was small, wooden tables and chairs standing there in order, the light dim, as curtains fell over the windows, a small fire burning in the small fireplace in the corner, warming the room a little. The atmosphere gave a nice homey feeling and made Luffy feel a little...nostrilig? Nostanding? What was that word...ah, yes! Nostalgic!
A door in the other corner, was painted in white and on it was written KICHTEN. Or KITCHEN. Luffy wasn't quite sure, as he couldn't read all too well, but he was guessed that it was probably the latter.
"You two wait here. I'll go whip you up something quickly", the woman said, disappearing into the room, labeled as the kitchen.
"So? Who're you two? And what were you doing out there in this dangerous weather without your parents?", the lady, Jessica, as she had introduced herself, asked, watching the two eat the warm chicken broth and steak with mashed potatoes, she had prepared, like starving animals, occasionally stealing each other's food. Jessica just observed the two, smiling amused, as if it was normal. It made Luffy happy since she reminded him a little bit, just a tiny bit, of Makino in a way.
Luffy turned to Ace who quietly hissed at the asked question, before looking back at Jessica who stared at them interested and curiously. "This is Ace! And I'm Mon-", Luffy interrupted himself, when Ace kicked him in the shin, glaring at him, as Luffy grinned back at him. "And I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who is going to become Pirate King!", he exclaimed,as Ace face-palmed, letting out a string of curses, but didn't do anything else, as he still seemed wary of Jessica.
Jessica looked surprised, different emotions showing on her face-shock, anger, confusion. "Why would you want to become pirate? Why not become a Marine and be praised as a hero instead?", she asked and Luffy watched Ace gritting his teeth, the feeling of anger surrounding him. Luffy did not like that and chose to steal his food, distracting him, as Ace nearly stabbed Luffy's hand with the fork he held. "I want to be free! And I don't want to share my meat with others! I don't want to become a stupid Marine like Gramps!", he replied beaming, as she smiled at him fondly.
Ace rolled his eyes, but he couldn't fool anyone with that amused smile on his face. "Is that so? Seems like I'll have to have my husband arrest you, if that happens", she hummed smiling. "What do you mean?", Luffy frowned and Ace stopped eating, looking at her cautiously, his hand unconsciously reaching for his pipe leaning against the table. She grinned.
"Head chef of a Marine Base, Jessica. I'm on vacation currently, good to meet ya"
A/N: So, since I didn't really wanted to create another OC, I decided to use one of the already existing characters from One Piece that don't show up in the actual Anime (the canon plot). Jessica is the Head Chef from the G-8 Base and appeared in the Filler Episodes. Seeing as she doesn't appear anymore, I thought I'd write her, after a lot of thinking. Since I also don't remember much of those Filler Episodes, mostly reading the manga, I'm not sure what her personality is like exactly. From what I know, she seems very friendly and confident, and I ended up choosing to give her a little soft spot for kids.