Sorry sorry I know it's been a while so let's just get on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of the characters. The credit goes to the amazing, creative people who did. :)

Chapter Nine

Ace was not happy.

Here he came to hang out with Luffy like usual but someone had to come and ruin it. And he had that brilliant idea of getting her cuffs off and letting her out. But here he is sitting in the corner, pouting, while Luffy is giggling and laughing with Thatch.

Earlier

"AHHHHHHHHH"

"AHHHHHHHHH, WHY ARE WE SCREAMING" the man who just popped out of the bush said. Ace quieted immediately when he heard the familiar voice. The man was wearing a white chef uniform with a black belt around his waist and brown shoes. He had light orangish brown hair and a goatee. "Thatch?" Luffy perked up a bit at this. She heard the name Thatch before, multiple times! And that hairstyle looked really familiar. It was the guy from the party! The one that popped his head through the door.

Thatch walked through the bushes and stopped in front of Ace. "What are you doing here Ace? And who is this?" he pointed at Luffy. She squeaked and hid farther behind Ace. Sure she is becoming more and more like her old self but she is still a little scared of strangers. But he is a friend of Ace's, someone Ace sees as a brother. So maybe she could trust him.

"Oh um this is my new friend, Luffy. Luffy, this is Thatch." Ace said pointing from one to the other. Luffy slowly walked out from behind Ace. Thatch's eyes widened at the name.

"Oh, so this must be the famous Luffy we have been hearing so much about." Thatch grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. Luffy had a small blush on her face. Ace talked about her when he is not around her? "And you're absolutely right Ace, she is beautiful." Ace and Luffy blushed deeply at that. Luffy turned to Ace shocked while Ace ran to Thatch to beat the ever-living sh!t out of him.

"You talk about me with your brothers, Acey?" Ace stopped beating Thatch and froze. Thatch wiggled out of Ace's grip and walked back to her. "What does he say about me? It's not anything bad is it?" She looked up at Thatch worriedly.

"No no don't worry. He says you're a sweet girl and he loooves hanging out with you." Thatch said with a devious smirk, dragging out the loves and wiggling his hips to emphasize his point. Luffy smiled softly and looked anywhere other than the two boys. Meanwhile, Ace runs back to try, and fail, at beating the ever-loving sh!t out of him again. "Wait, did you just call him Acey?" Thatch turned back to Luffy.

She looked back up and smiled at him. "Yep, that's his new nickname. He gave me one so it was only fair to give him one back. And only I get to call him that okay." She said glaring at him slightly. Thatch turned back to Ace with a teasing grin, Ace did not have a good feeling about this. He put Ace in a headlock and gave him a big hard noogie.

"Well, that's fine with me. You're probably the first girl he has talked to … ever." Luffy tilted her head to the side. "I mean he is not very great with people. He's mean and he always scares everyone away."

"Really? Wow, I would never guess he seems so nice." She looked at the floor thoughtfully while Thatch burst into tears and laughter.

"Really, Ace, the Portgas D Ace. Nice. Ace is the farthest thing from nice that I have ever seen. There was this one time …" and then Thatch proceeded to bring up every, mean or embarrassing, moment Ace had with his time on the whitebeard pirates.

Which brings them back to the present. Ace is still in the corner pouting. And the other two were laughing.

"Okay, I think she gets it. What are you doing here?" Ace said getting up and pulling Luffy away from Thatch. Thatch smirked and stood up as well.

"I just wanted to see where you were going every day. You've gotten so secretive lately. And you're gone all hours of the day. I was just worried about you." This was probably the sweetest thing that has ever come out of Thatch's mouth. Ace felt that Thatch actually cared for him, he really was a great big bro-. "I also wanted to meet this Luffy." He said mischievously and ruined the sweet feeling Ace had in his heart.

Ace gave him a look and walked towards Him turning him around and pushing him back towards the bushes. Leaving a confused Luffy, she thought she would get to hang out with this Thatch more. "Well, it was nice having you here. We enjoyed your company but it's time for you to go, isn't it? Luv ya see you back on the ship."

Thatch turned around, out of Ace's grip, and walked back towards Luffy. Causing Ace to fall on his face. Luffy put her hand in front of her mouth and giggled at that softly. "No, I think I can stay. I got nowhere to be right now." He smiled at Luffy and grabbed her hands. "Why don't you tell me a little bit more about yourself?"

She smiled back at him. "Sure if that's okay with Ace." They both turned to Ace. Ace stood back up as fast as he could and turned around to them. He saw the pleading eyes of Luffy and he knew he wouldn't be able to say no no matter how much he wanted to. He nodded silently and Luffy cheered. She pulled thatch with her to sit on a bench by her cage.

"Okay, what do you want to know?" Thatch put his index finger to his chin like he was thinking.

"Anything, how old are you, your hopes, dreams … oh." Ace gave him a hard glare to tell him to shut up about that type of stuff. They don't know if that would make Luffy upset. He turned back towards Luffy.

"I'm sorry-"

"No no, it's okay. I did have a dream." She said softly. As she was about to speak again they heard a loud, definitely noticeable, rumble. They looked at Luffy and her face turned bright pink.

"Are you hungry, I brought some extra food if you are?" Thatch said and pulled up the bag he brought with him. "Here eat up, I made it myself." Luffy thanked him for the food and started eating.

"Yeah, I heard from Ace that you cook. And he brought some once. It was really good." Thatch smiled and thanked her.

"Okay as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by my stomach, yeah I had a dream. I was actually going to be the Pirate King." Thatch and Ace spit their drinks out and their eyes went wide. It wasn't just that she wanted to be the pirate king, it was that she said it like it was going to happen. She was 100% sure that she was going to be the pirate king.

"That's a pretty big statement." Thatch said as he and Ace calmed down from the initial shock.

"Yeah well, I was going to work and work till I became the Pirate King. I promised someone important to me that I would be a great pirate." She said with a small sad smile.

Ace's ears perked up at that. "I'm sorry did you say someone important?" He asked with a hint of jealousy. Thatch turned to Ace with a shocked expression. Ace was so obvious. He turned back to Luffy to see if she noticed this too but she just acted the same.

"What do you mean?" she asked, tilting her head.

"I mean, who is this someone important? A boyfriend? Or something like that." He asked with a little squeak at the end and crossed his legs and folded his arms. Thatch held his hand to his mouth trying not to laugh at how ridiculous Ace was being.

"Well he is a guy and he is my friend, so yea I guess he is kinda like that." She said holding her chin like she was thinking.

'Is she that oblivious?!' Thatch screamed mentally.

"Well anyways, when I was younger I met a captain who came and stayed at my island for a couple of months, maybe even a year. I befriended him and I may or may not have asked him if I could join his crew. Hundreds of times. He was one of my closest friends and before he left he got hurt saving me." She looked down with a small smile.

"But when he did leave I promised him I'd be an amazing pirate and meet up with him again." She stopped and felt her eyes get wet and a big lump in her throat. "I guess I can't anymore huh?"

She tried to stop them but she felt the tears start falling. Just the thought that she was actually never going to follow her dream. That she would never be free.

And it was no better for Ace and Thatch. Thatch felt so horrible for making Luffy remember this and making her cry. And Ace feels bad and a little mad. He found out at this point that he hated seeing her cry. And that he would do anything in his power to make sure she never cries again.

"Why don't we bust you out of here?" He said fast and loud, startling the other two. He jumped up and pulled Luffy up as well. He couldn't believe he didn't think of this sooner.

"Wait what?"

He yanked her towards the bushes that lead to the forest. "Yeah, we will bust you out and help you achieve your dream." He kept on running, not noticing Luffy trying to stop him.

"Wait … Ace … STOP," she said desperately and tried to pull her arm out. And Ace just stopped before crossing the bushes.

"What, what's wrong?" he turned around fast. Confused about why she won't leave.

"I can't leave, remember." She said pointing to the big collar around her neck. Ace looked down and" remembered the big obvious bomb collar around her neck. He turned Scarlett and let go of her hands.

"W-well the key could still be here why don't I go get it. It could be in the slave manager's office right?" He said and tried to run past her back inside the house.

She grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Derek, our slave manager, takes the keys to the bomb collars with him everywhere he goes. And there is only one copy." She said sadly.

"How far can you go with that on?" Thatch asked while he stood up himself. He felt bad for the young girl. She seemed really happy when she was talking about her dream. And when she said it, he's not gonna lie, he can see it coming true. But she was trapped here, been trapped for years. Thinking that she would never fulfill her dream.

"Well um, I can't leave the estate. And right past the bushes is where it ends. So if I pass it, my head will blow up." She said sadly sitting back down by the food to continue eating.

Ace was not having any of this. He was not going to give up on her or her dream. And he is not going to lie, a little part of him wants to help her, see her smile and be happy. A little part of him wants to protect her. And he does not know why. It can't be that he…

No, he doesn't, they're just friends.

He shook his head and brought himself back to reality. "Well, I'm not giving up. I won't stop till I find a way to get you out of here. I promise."

Luffy looked back up at him and was hesitant. She never thought of escaping, or that she would ever get out. She thought her dream was dead. She never gave herself the chance to think she could travel the seas. She has been let down time and time again.

Should she give in to the hope? She doesn't want to be let down again.

…

She then decided that she wanted to try again. To be that same girl who always yelled about being the pirate king and being the freest person in the world.

"Okay." She replied softly while looking up at him hopefully.

Ace smiled brightly and pulled Thatch to sit next to her and they discussed ways to escape.

~later~

Ace and Thatch left when it was getting dark. They were walking through the forest in a comfortable silence far away from where Luffy was. And Thatch thought this was the perfect time to bring up a topic he has been having on his mind for a while.

"So Luffy, just a friend right?" He asked softly. Ace side-eyed him and nodded slowly. "Are you sure?" He asked with a teasing smirk.

"What are you implying Thatch?"

Thatch raised his hands as if he was surrendering. "Nothing it's just, she doesn't seem like just a friend to you."

"Oh really? And what evidence do you have to back that up." Ace folded his arms and was trying to push his blush down. Why was he blushing! Q

Thatch, clearly seeing the blush, smiled softly and went on. "Well, when you talk about her you have a smile and a blushing face." Ace blushed even harder at that. "How you spend all day, every day, with her. Sometimes skipping meals. Which is outrageous in its own way, the Portgas D Ace, skipping meals!" He clutched his heart with fake shock.

"Well-."

"How recently you've been asking for an extra lunch for her specifically to eat so she can have a decent meal." He stopped abruptly and turned to Ace.

"Heck, even how you were so eager to help her escape so she can achieve her dream."

"Well anyone would do that if they were in my position." Ace shot back.

"Yeah, but you've only known this girl for, like what, a week."

"Again anyone wou-"

"Ace, you look at her like she is the only girl in the world. With hearts in your eyes and everything. And I don't think anyone would go as far as you're going for a girl they've only known for a week. So forgive me if I'm a little skeptical about her just being a friend." (Author: He clearly doesn't know Luffy)

Ace stood there shocked. He doesn't like Luffy like that… right? I mean he's only known this girl for a week.

"There is also the point of how you've known this girl for a week, yet you treat her like you've been best buddies your whole life." Ace glared at him a little bit.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"I mean that it took you a lot less time to trust her and like her than it did for you to join our crew or to accept us, your family." Ace stood there stunned and silent. "I'm just saying, she seems special to you. So if you like her. Don't hold back and give her the chance to leave."

And with that their conversation ended. They continued their walk back to the ship in silence once more. But Ace couldn't stop thinking about it.

Did he really like Luffy?

Sorry sorry I forgot to mention in the last chapter a, very very VERY late, happy birthday for Luffy. I was swamped with school work and stuff like that, and my summer turned out to be way busier than I hoped. A lot of stuff happening and yada yada. But I am still sorry. But anyway happy birthday Lu we love you. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Till Next time. :)