Author: I apologize if this chapter isn't very good. I wanted to finish it to be better but my best friend moved today so I'm not much in the spirits of writing. I also have to start packing for when I move in a month.
" How could you lose your Bride this early?" Sabo asked his brother, grinning at the sight of a small red hand print across his face. " And she beat you up too! You got beat up by a dainty little human girl!"
" Shut up Sabo, and help me find her!" Ace snapped. " And she didn't beat me up! She just caught me off guard a little."
" And managed to disappear into thin air." Sabo grinned even more. " Pretty good for a human."
" Shut up, I can't believe I'm gonna say this but I wish I would have found Luffy instead of you. He might be less annoying about this." Ace caught sight of the raised eyebrow his blonde brother was giving him. " Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I know. It sounded better in my head."
" I wonder where she could have run off to." Sabo said. " The castle is pretty big, it could take us a while to find her. Hopefully she hasn't run into something unsavory."
" Shut up and keep looking." Ace grumbled. Why did his Bride have to be so damn stubborn? Him Changing her into a vampire was for her own good. It was a sign that he cared for her…but nooo! She had to hit him…several times! " I swear, I'm going to tie her to a chair when I find her!"
" And you wonder why she ran off." Sabo said smirking.
" Shut up, Mr Sensitive."
" This color would look adorable on you!" Koala said excitedly, lifting a rose colored dress to show Ai. " So cute! Or would you prefer pants?"
" Pants?" Ai asked in surprise. If she were at home she would have no issue wearing pants but she understood that most women in her time did not approve of wearing pants. She was surprised for that reason that the girl asked her if she'd like a pair.
" You know, the thing that men wear." Koala said cheekily. " But that might not work, you are a tad shorter then me after all."
" I think she should wear the dress!" Ai jumped that the sound of a cheery feminine voice. Ai saw a door to her right open to reveal a teen girl with long orange hair and brown eyes along with another teen girl with long black hair and blue eyes. " She'd look really cute in it!"
" I don't know," The black haired girl said thoughtfully, smiling over at Ai. " If she's trying to get away from Ace then I think she should wear the pants. They'll be easier to move around in."
" How-"
" Well, I'm assuming you're trying to get away from him or else why would he be running around frantically with Sabo and a red hand print across his face." Koala burst into laughter at the girl's words.
" Oh yes!" She laughed. " I would have loved to ave seen his face when you hit him! I bet it was priceless!"
" That's so funny!" The orange haired girl laughed. " I also heard she kneed Commander Shanks in the groin!"
" I-"
" Oh don't worry, you're adorable! So I'm sure Ace is going to forgive you!" Koala said. " Even if he more the likely deserved to get smacked. I've seen him get a little handsy when he's with a pretty girl."
" He's also kind of a who-"
" Nami, you shouldn't say things like that to his Bride." The dark haired girl said. " She may get the impression that he will fool around on her." Smiling down at Ai she said. " He is always respectful of the females he courts."
" Obviously he overstepped himself with her or else he wouldn't have gotten himself slapped, Robin." Nami said hurriedly.
" Ace is a good guy, but a bit dense when it comes to common sense or understanding other people's feelings." Koala said cheerfully shoving the dress to Ai. " Cute but stupid, which is why I'm glad my Groom is Sabo!"
" Wait…his-"
" Yep! Technically I'm Ace's sister-in-law!" Koala said. " There are times Sabo can get that stupid macho man crap, I smack it out of him pretty damn quickly. Ace…just will need a lot of smacks to the head." Ai fidgeted uncomfortably as she began to undress.
" You are Whitebeard's daughter correct?" The girl called Robin asked.
" Y-Yes…" Ai replied warily.
" Then you must be very uncomfortable with being at this castle then." Robin said giving Ai a comforting smile. " I am very sorry, this must be very frightening for you."
" I…" Ai paused, pondering her next words. " I am very confused."
" That is understandable." Robin said. " Meeting so many new people so suddenly. Then having some guy tell you that you are his Bride. It is a lot to have thrown at you at once."
" I-It is…"
" Especially when the guy is the son of your father's most dangerous rival…your head must be spinning." Robin said softly. " Your father put up quite a display to retrieve you, though. The Great Hall was almost destroyed before Queen Rouge managed to calm him." Ai found herself smiling at this news. Her family hadn't just left her here. She wanted to kick herself for even thinking that they would.
" But why am I here?" She heard herself ask quietly.
" Because you are Ace's Bride." Robin said. " There's strong and ancient magic that manifests in the Groom when he finds his Bride that urges him to claim her. Whether it is a kiss or…some other way, once he claims her, their hearts and life forces sync up…it becomes impossible for them to be separated for at least Three Moons. It becomes so physically painful that they could very well die from being separated."
" But why am I here? Why couldn't he come to my home?"
" Obviously because he is the prince." Nami said. " There would be no way the king would allow Ace to go to Whitebeard's castle."
" And my father allowed for me to stay here?"
" On certain conditions." Robin replied calmly.
" What c-"
" HEY AIIIIIII!" Ai screamed in surprise as Ace's dark haired younger brother Luffy appeared out of no where. Ai's face turned as red as a tomato as Luffy grinned excitedly at her, his wolf ears and tail stick up. " SO THIS IS WHERE YOU'VE BEEN! Did you know Ace has been looking for you? He's really worried that something bad had happened to you!"
" LUFFY, GET OUT OF HERE!" Nami yelled angrily.
" Why?" Luffy asked in confusion.
" BECAUSE SHE'S NAKED!"
" So?"
WHAM!
" KOALA! WE HEARD A SCREAM!" The girls looked over to see the door to Koala's room fly open as Ace and Sabo rushed in. " IS EVERYTHING AL-" Sabo froze as he saw his brother's Bride completely full frontal naked; he had to quickly cover his eyes, not wanting to feel the wrath of his brother and Bride.
" LUFFY!" Ace snapped angrily. " COVER YOUR EYES!"
" Why? She only naked." Sabo quickly grabbed his younger brother, covering his eyes and whispered something into his ear. Luffy's ears went up quickly in surprise before he ran out of the room, yelling a quick: " I'M SORRY, AI!" as he went.
" Ace! Avert your eyes!" Nami said angrily, stepping between the freckled teen and Ai.
" I'm allowed to look at my Bride if I want to, Nami!"
" Not if she doesn't want you to!" Nami snapped as Ai pulled the dress on hurriedly. " So stop leering at her like a piece of meat! It makes her feel uncomfortable!"
" I never asked for your opinion, Nami!" Ace said, stepping around the girl and grabbing Ai by the arm, pulling her against him. " Don't ever run off like that again!"
" Oh no!" Koala snapped angrily, pulling Ai away from him. " You aren't going to touch her like that!"
" S-"
" NO! I'm not going to stay out of this!" Koala said angrily. " You're not going to man handle her like that! She's your Bride! She's not some property for you to handle roughly! Your mother would be so ashamed of you if she saw you treating her like this!"
" Koala-"
" No wonder she ran away from you! Let me guess! You tried to jump her bones and turn her the moment she woke up! That's not how things work, jackass!" Koala said determinedly, eyes locked on him. " Actually try to get to know her! Find out more about her, moron! Let her see that she is more then just property! Treat her with some respect!"
Ace looked over at his brother for some assistance as his sister-in-law layed into him. No such luck as Sabo just held his hands up in defeat. " I-"
" You what! You better be sorry! If not I'll beat those freckles off your face myself!" Koala said crossing her arms angrily. Ace just stared at her, wide eyed and pale. " WELL!" Koala yelled angrily making him jump.
" I-I-"
" Just do it, bro." Sabo said hurriedly. " She'll do it!" Ace felt his face begin to twitch before bowing stiffly to Ai.
" My deepest apologies." He said forcefully.
" You better mean that!" Koala said angrily as she hugged Ai. " Because she is now my best friend and I will know if you mistreat her!"
" I would never mistreat her!" Ace snapped.
" You might not think it but not letting her make her own choices is controlling and is abusive!" Koala said glaring over at him. " Now get out!"
" B-"
" SABO!"
" Come on, Ace." Sabo said grabbing Ace by the scruff of his shirt, pulling him from the room. " I love you but my lady has spoken and I like sleeping in a warm bed soooo."
SLAM!
Ai flinched as Nami slammed the door shut in front of Ace's startled face. She was confused by what just happened. People she just met had just defended her to the prince of vampires.
" Stupid jackass." Koala grumbled under her breathe. " Be a jerk to your Bride around me I'll knock those freckles off!"
" She'll be like that for a while." Robin said cheerfully. " Would you like to go see your brother now?"
" MY BROTHER!" Ai said in surprise.
" Yes," Robin said. " Did you really think your father would have left you here all by yourself?"
" What just happened?" Ace asked in confusion in the Great Hall.
" You incurred the wrath of my Bride." Sabo said taking a sip of sake. " It's not like you didn't deserve it though."
" What are you talking about?"
" How about you try to get to know her before you Change her." Sabo said coolly. " Did you really expect any other reaction from her other then to fight?" Ace looked away at his brother's words.
" I was hoping she'd see reason."
" Reason?" Sabo snorted into his cup. " Come on, Brother. The girl wakes up and the first thing she sees is your ugly mug? Then you tell her she's going to be your Bride. I'd run too, especially at seeing your face."
" Shut up, asshole."
" But seriously," Sabo said looking over at Ace. " First thing she sees when she wakes up is the son of her father's most powerful rival and he tells her that she's his Bride. First thing that would come to my mind if I was her would be that I'm a hostage. How many of my brothers are dead? Why did my father let me be taken? What's going to happen to me now?" Ace tensed up at Sabo's words. " Then she has said rival's son tell her he's going to Change her into a vampire. Let me guess she got pretty freaked out and that's why she smacked you and ran off."
" And?"
" There's probably a reason why she reacted that way." Sabo said pouring another cup. " Maybe you should try to figure out the reason why she reacted like that. Try finding out what happened to her."
" I already asked her and she told me it was none of my business."
" That's just woman talk for I'm not going to tell you anything because I'm either mad at you or I don't trust you. Considering the position she woke up in this morning then I'm going to assume the meaning behind her words was both of those."
" Look at you being Mr. Sensitive. What are you? A women's code talker?" Sabo laughed at his brother's words.
" Nah, I've just passing on a bit of wisdom from past experience." He said patting Ace on the back. " Koala was a puzzle when I first met her."
" But you managed to claim her as your Bride and Changed her."
" More like she claimed me and let me Change her." Sabo laughed. " I was never so stupid as to force Koala to do anything that was for her own good."
" It doesn't matter." Ace said coolly. " My Bride will eventually be Changed. There will be plenty of time to get to know her afterwards."
" You might want to actually start using her name if you want her to take you seriously." Sabo said. " Treat her like someone important to you. It will show her you actually care for her."
" I do care for her."
" Well you're going to have a difficult time convincing her of that." A stern voice said. The brothers looked up to see the disgruntled face of the Whitebeard Third Division Commander Thatch glaring down at them. " My precious baby sister can be rather stubborn and hard headed. Once she's made her mind up it is rather hard to change it. So if she's made up her mind that you're an ignorant pig then it is going to be hard to change her mind."
" How would you like me to change her mind?" Ace asked.
" With all do respect I don't care if she ever changes her mind about you." Thatch said crossing his arms angrily. " The only reason I am here is to make sure no harm comes to Ai. Whatever her opinion of you is right now, I hope it doesn't change." Ace growled angrily at Thatch's words, standing to met his gaze. " Then she will come home were she belongs at the end of the Three Moon wait period."
