You and your Uncle had a long talk after Monday evening which had resulted in a few more tears on your behalf as you had never meant to hurt him. You had also come clean about the break in, telling him you were pretty sure it was Grant who had also been in the house. Now it was late Friday evening and the pair of you sat on the steps outside waiting for Thatch to turn up with the summer camps mini-bus, since the moment Luffy had heard his oldest brother was going to take you to Sabaody he instantly also wanted to come, which then caused Newgate to suggest all the boys go. Soon after, Luffy had pretty much invited half your friends too, he had tried to invite all of them much to Thatch's annoyance but luckily Law and Kid's groups were going to be busy so they couldn't come. Rayleigh suggested using one of the camps minibuses since they were currently being unused anyhow and should easily fit everyone in. You rest your head on your Uncles shoulder and chuckle as you watch Luffy being chased around the yard by Marco after the boy had pounced on the older blonde from a tree just in front of their house as he walked past.
"I don't think Luffy is going to cope with the long journey," Rayleigh notes, you snicker,
"Sabo has made sure to pack Luffy's switch and Sanji is bringing a boat load of snacks. That should occupy him for at least a couple hours," you grin,
"I wish you all luck for the extra ten hours after then," he pauses for a moment, "you'll be stopping overnight midway right?"
"Yep, at the usual place," there was a motel your Uncle always used when coming to visit you and your mother, you had also stayed there the few times you had come to visit your Uncle also. Moving your gaze over the group and watching as Ace and Sabo join in trying to catch Luffy now, you wish you had gotten to know them during those times. The minibus finally pulls up and Thatch blares the horn loudly, "God, I forgot they had a giant jolly roger on the side," you grin looking over the brightly painted minibus with the camps logo on,
"Yeah, Shanks repaints them every few years," Rayleigh smiles and both of you stand as Thatch calls out to everyone,
"Pile in everyone, I want to be at the half way point before it gets too late as we will be up bright and early tomorrow for the rest of the journey!"
"When are you setting off?" you ask your uncle,
"I'll be leaving once you lot have," he ruffles your hair, "be good kiddo and give your mother my love,"
"I will," you give him a tight hug before picking up your bag and running over to the others, Luffy is already in the bus, up at the front. Everyone piles in and with loud goodbyes and lots of waving to Rayleigh and Newgate, Thatch pulls away and your off.
Everyone was more than relieved when you announced that you would shortly be arriving in Sabaody, you were currently crossing the long suspension bridge to the island city and in the distance could already see the bubbles rising. You were sitting up front so you could direct Thatch once you exited off the bridge when Luffy leans over your seat and points ahead,
"Are those bubbles?" he asks,
"Luffy sit back down!" Thatch growls, Sabo yanks the boy back into his seat and you turn around slightly to look at them,
"Yeah, Sabaody is actually a massive mangrove forest. Each tree is effectively its own small island, the trees are Yarukiman Mangroves and there are seventy-nine in total. The bubbles are created by the sap the trees give off,"
"They make vehicles and stuff with them, don't they?" Ace says followed by a yawn, "I remember seeing them at the finals last year,"
"Yeah, we call them Bon Chari, don't be convinced into buying one though, you can only use them on the mangroves due to the specific atmosphere, anywhere else and they will just pop." You knew you had to warn them, because you got the feeling Luffy would want one to keep. You turn back to face the front, "You will need to head towards grove thirteen Thatch," you get a nod from the brunette and gaze out the window as you get closer and closer to the city, you feel a mix of excitement and nerves. Eventually with a few directions Thatch finally pulls up outside your house, and everyone piles out. Thatch looks shattered as he places a hand on Marco's shoulder,
"They are your responsibility now, I need a nap," Thatch yawns and follows you up to the door where you unlock it and wave him in,
"You can get some rest in my mother's room, sorry if it's a little dusty no one's been in there for a few months now," he gives you a smile and pats your head before going off upstairs to sleep. Everyone moves into your house and explores a little, you look at your watch, "Guys, I'm gonna head to the hospital now and see my mother for a while, when I come back, we can go to Sabaody Park if you like?"
"Isn't that an amusement park?" Robin asks,
"An amusement park! With rides?!" Luffy grins,
"Yep, I figured you might enjoy it," you chuckle,
"We should all go once Thatch has had a proper rest yoi," Marco suggests while dropping onto the sofa then looking over his shoulder at you, "don't go to the hospital alone, take at least one of the idiots with you,"
"Why do I feel like you're referring to us boys rather than all of us as a whole?" Sabo asks with a small scowl,
"Because I was," Marco grins,
"I'll come with you if you like?" Ace offers, you give him a grateful smile,
"OH! I want to meet (Y/N)'s mom too!" Luffy bounces over,
"I'd like to go shopping," Nami says,
"The mall is over on grove thirty, one sec, we have a map somewhere," you head into the kitchen and rifle through the junk drawer before finding it and bringing it back to Nami, "you can get there by bubble bus,"
"Brilliant, I can't wait to see what kind of clothes they have," Nami grins looking over the map, Sanji looks at it over her shoulder,
"I think I'll go out and get some ingredients to make dinner for everyone for when you return (Y/N)-chan," in the end the group splits up, Nami, Robin, Koala, Usopp and Franky are going to the mall, Sanji, Chopper, Brook and Marco are going shopping for food and Ace, Luffy, Vivi, Sabo and Zoro are joining you to see your mother, it was decided Zoro was coming with your group because no-one trusted him to not get lost with the other two groups, you just hoped the hospital would be okay with such a big group visiting. Leaving a note for Thatch and finding the spare keys so you could give one each to Nami and Marco you all split up.
"Will we get to meet Camie this weekend?" Vivi asks you as your group settles down on the bubble bus to grove twenty-four, Sabo had to practically hold Luffy down so that he wasn't bouncing around,
"Yeah, she's at work right now but she really wants to meet you guys, she's going to meet up with us at the park later,"
"Who's Camie?" Zoro asks suddenly zoning into your conversation,
"She's a friend of mine, I've known her since forever," you chuckle,
"I can't wait to meet her," Vivi squeals a little making you giggle more,
"Luffy stop! What are you trying to do!" Sabo shouts, everyone looks to see Luffy trying to sit on top of the bus, you cringe,
"Luffy you're going to get us kicked off," you groan. Luckily you weren't kicked off the bus, the driver found Luffy too amusing. Sabo and Ace however both gave the boy a stern lecture as you lead the way into the hospital, making sure to grab Zoro's arm as he turned the wrong way, "Dude... I swear your sense of direction is the worst, I said right and you turn left," the greenette just scowls and blushes a little making both you and Vivi giggle. You had to make sure you had permission to bring the lot of them into your mother's hospital room and were thankful when the doctor okayed it. Popping your head inside you see your mother is awake and reading, she pauses before snapping her head up and giving you a bright smile,
"Sweety, I wasn't expecting you to come until tomorrow,"
"Hey Mom," you smile back and step into the room, "I couldn't wait that long, I brought some friends with me,"
"Then get them in here, I want to meet them all," she ushers you towards her, you pause long enough to look back at the group,
"Be nice, and Luffy no jumping on beds," you give him a pointed look then move fully into the room. Walking over to your mother and giving her a long hug,
"I missed you baby girl," she hugs you back and kisses the top of your head, "now, introduce me to your friends," you sit on the edge of the bed next to her and introduce each of them,
"This is Vivi, Zoro, then Ace, Sabo and Luffy, they're brothers,"
"Oh, Newgate's boys, right?" your mother asks getting a nod from them, "Hmm, you know actually, Camie has told me about you Ace," you blink and look at her,
"What?"
"Apparently my little bird here talks about you a lot," great your mother is purposefully trying to embarrass you, Vivi snickers and Ace looks at you with a cheeky grin,
"Oh, does she now? Can I know what's being said?"
"I haven't a clue what she's on about," you shake your head, your mother wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you against her side,
"I think she might be a little smitten with you,"
"Mom!" you groan and cover your face, "must you be like this?" Vivi has had to turn away as she starts to giggle more,
"What does smitten mean?" Luffy asks innocently, drawing all eyes to him,
"It means she really likes him dear," your mother explains, Ace just grins wider at you and you give him a small glare, Luffy frowns then turns to Sabo,
"Okay, now I'm getting even more confused! Are they boyfriend and girlfriend or not?" the boy asks, Sabo throws you an apologetic smile as you try to hide against your chuckling mother, Vivi might be dying with laughter now, Sabo attempts to explain to Luffy but it just makes the boy more confused. You kind of wish to disappear when you suddenly notice something,
"Wasn't there another one of you before...?" your mother frowns, everyone looks around the room,
"Zoro..." he's vanished, you want to know how he does it,
"How..." Vivi shakes her head,
"We'll go look for him," Sabo suggests and drags Luffy with him towards the door, he pauses and bows a little to your mother, "It was a pleasure meeting you Ms (L/N)" he forces Luffy to also bow a little before they then leave, the four of you are quiet for a moment before Ace turns back to you,
"So, you've fallen for my charm?" he gives you his cheeky grin and you roll your eyes,
"If anyone fell, it was you," you reply with sass, "guess you were just lucky I was nice enough to catch you," you don't notice the smile your mother gives the pair of you. The conversation moves onto other topics, like school, your other friends and recent events to which has your mother thanking Ace for rushing to your side. Eventually Ace receives a call from Sabo letting him know they found Zoro and were outside, apparently, he had managed to end up in the next grove while looking for a bathroom, you say your goodbyes to your mother and the three of you head out. But not before your mother pulls you back briefly to whisper in your ear that she approves of Ace, chuckling when you blush brightly. You wave off Ace's questions when you exit the room red faced.
You met back up with everyone back home, had dinner made by Sanji with some assistance from Thatch and then all headed out to the amusement park. You spotted Camie instantly at the entrance and as soon as she spotted you, she rushed over and tackled you to the floor with a bone crushing hug making you laugh, "(Y/N)! I missed you so much!" and now she was crying. It takes a few minutes for her to calm down before you introduce her to everyone, she guessed right away who Ace was which made the freckled boy raise his eyebrow at you, you chose to avoid meeting his gaze. The group then all headed into the park. You watch Sanji dance around Camie as Ace drops an arm around your shoulders,
"So, how much do you talk about me to Camie then?" you peek up at his grin,
"Not anywhere near what is insinuated, don't get too big headed about it," you huff and turn your gaze back over the group, happy that the others like Camie even with her qwerkiness, Ace chuckles and pulls you closer to his side to whisper in your ear,
"I like the fact you talk about me to your best friend," he teases then presses a quick kiss to your temple making you blush. You elbow him in the gut making him laugh and stalk off towards the others willing your racing heart to calm down. Luffy then pretty much dictated where the group went, although they did have to split up at one point when they lost Zoro, again. Your small search group consisted of yourself, Ace, Luffy, Nami, Camie and Vivi.
"If we find a high vantage point, maybe we can spot him?" Camie suggests, she found it hilarious that Zoro getting lost was a common occurrence,
"How about that?" Luffy points, looking in the direction he indicates you grin,
"Yeah that could work out great Luffy," he was pointing to the Ferris wheel, you then note the three girls share a look and a nod, narrowing your eyes wondering what they were planning you barely have time to react to Luffy suddenly yanking you towards the ride. Stumbling after the boy you manage to not face plant the ground. The others rush after you and Nami takes control as you enter the queue,
"Okay, we will split into pairs so we don't crowd the carriages, I'll go with Luffy, then Vivi with Camie and lastly, Ace and (Y/N)," you snap your gaze to hers and she gives you a sly smile, before you can even say anything the others are agreeing it's a great plan. You gulp a little, this would be the first time you had been truly alone with Ace all day and it made you feel rather nervous after all the teasing. But you all head onto the ride in your pairs, you sit quietly staring out over the park as your carriage rises up,
"You okay with heights?" Ace asks, you turn to him and find him much closer than you had expected him to be,
"Y..yeah, I'm fine with heights, small crowded spaces though, nope," you chuckle nervously and he gives you a smile,
"Guess it's lucky we didn't all pile into this bubble carriage then," you both look around the small space, it could probably just about fit four at a squeeze,
"Yeah... somehow, I get the feeling Luffy would try to shake it..." you shudder at the thought and Ace nods glancing down at the carriage Luffy and Nami were in,
"He better behave," he sighs looking worried, you take his hand and squeeze it,
"I'm sure Nami can keep him under control," you tell him, he looks down at your hand for a moment then laces his fingers with yours before giving you a big smile,
"True, she's one of the few who can," he reaches up and tucks a stray strand of hair behind your ear with his free hand, before running his knuckles over your cheek, you blink at him as a heated blush very quickly rises. The pair of you simply stare at each other like that for a moment until the sounds of shouting registers in your ears,
"I see him! ZORO! ZORO UP HERE!"
"STOP IT YOUR GOING TO FALL OUT!"
"Please... please tell me that isn't Luffy halfway hanging out of their carriage?" Ace whispers closing his eyes, you take in a small shuddering breath before looking to the side and cringing,
"Um..." well, you couldn't exactly lie to him, Ace lets out a sigh, his hand dropping onto his knee, you both share a look,
"God, I really want to kiss you," he groans a little, "but doesn't seem appropriate with my kid brother trying to kill himself," you stare at him a little bewildered and turn a very deep shade of crimson. He lifts your hand and presses a quick kiss to your knuckles before standing as your carriage comes to the bottom, he pulls you up to your feet and leads you off.
You had to take a moment to compose yourself after that, not sure how exactly to fully react. Ace wanted to kiss you!? The freckled goon was currently shouting at his youngest brother as his other brothers rushed to them. You take a deep breath and move to the security officers making their way towards your group, hoping your mother's name still had some sway in the park. Once you managed to calm things down and promise the guards you would take your friends and leave you start heading back towards them when someone suddenly stops you,
"Ha, I knew I wasn't seeing things, look who it is guys," the tall wide shouldered boy grins down at you menacingly, you instantly feel sick, your eyes widen and you take a stumbled step away from him as his group of friends move in on you,
"Eww, what is this freak doing here? Come on Damien, why are you talking to it?" a girl turns her nose up at you,
"Aww don't be like that, (Y/N)'s our favourite plaything, we missed you," he coos at you, "Did you miss us (Y/N), come play with us," he grabs your arm and pulls you close to him, "we can have lots of fun like the last time,"
"N..no," you mumble and try to pull away from him, his gaze turns hard on you and you freeze in his grip,
"Now, now, be a good little girl (Y/N), you don't want to upset us now do you?" Damien asks with a low dangerous tone. A familiar strong arm wraps around your waist and your pulled away from the brute suddenly before being pushed towards Camie and Vivi, you stumble into their waiting arms. You glance back to see Ace squaring up to Damien, your friends shifting into position around you, the boys standing at his sides and the girls surrounding you almost like a secondary line of protection,
"Hey, easy, easy," Damien chuckles,
"Don't touch (Y/N)," Ace growls lowly,
"You wanting to start something pal?" Damien growls back, his friends all grinning and eyeing your friends, "Because I seriously don't mind putting you in your place, pirate," he spits on the ground at Ace's feet, Thatch quickly places a hand on Ace's shoulder,
"We're not looking for a fight," the brunette says calmly, "just a friendly piece of advice for you, (Y/N) is one of us, you cause her problems, it involves all of us then, so think on that before you try something. I won't always hold my brother back," he gives Damien a bright smile which clearly confuses the guy before turning to the group, "okay, time to head home," as your friends slowly back away and leave, Damien catches your eye one more time, he smirks a little at you before miming a gun with his hands and pointing at you. Then all his friends start laughing, Ace has also noted this and quickly pulls you into his side and leads you out of the park.
That night you have your worst nightmare yet. Your pretty sure your screaming and thrashing has woken everyone in the house and neighbourhood, Vivi who had been sharing a room with you hadn't known what to do. But she didn't need to, as some of your friends appeared at the bedroom door, Ace pushed through them, the only one willing to enter the critical range of your swinging and thrashing. He quickly got a hold of your arms before pinning you down,
"(Y/N) wake up!" he shouts, his voice manages to reach you and you snap awake, if he hadn't been pinning you down with his whole strength you would have head butted him. You lie there for a moment gasping for breath as your eyes clear and you realise Ace is hovering over you and that a few of your friends were at the door, Thatch was encouraging them to go back to sleep and Koala gently tugs Vivi out of the room and to the guest room where she is staying with Nami and Robin. Your whole body begins to tremble and the tears start to build up, Ace releases his grip on you for a moment, only to shift to lie beside you and pull you into his arms in a tight embrace, "it's okay, it was just a dream," he whispers, he glances over at the door and Thatch nods, closing the door almost the whole way and leaving the pair of you alone. You grip onto Ace's shirt and try to stop the tears but they keep coming, he rubs your back and keeps whispering nonsense to you until you finally calm down. The house becomes quiet except for the few snores of the boys who are sleeping downstairs, "You should try and get some more sleep," Ace suggests quietly and shifts to get up, but you cling tighter to him,
"Please... will you stay?" you mumble without looking at him, he kisses your forehead before settling back into position beside you,
"Course I will," you both lie there for some time, sleep never comes sadly. "Do you want to talk about it?" you don't respond at first, but eventually let out a shuddering breath and press your face into his chest,
"Seeing Damien at the park today made me think back to the last time I saw him," you mutter quietly, you don't know if Ace hears but you decide to keep going before you lose your nerve, "it happened during the football game final..." his grip on you suddenly tightens, "you probably heard at least something about it," you voice squeaks out a little, getting even quieter, "I... he..." you take a deep breath, "he pulled a gun on me..." you couldn't actually bring yourself to say the words, to say that he shot at you, the silence that follows is a little suffocating until Ace mutters,
"The scar on your shoulder...?" he pulls back a little to look at you, you nod and tug down the collar of your oversized t-shirt that you were using as a nightgown, revealing the scar willingly to someone for the first time,
"It wasn't a very powerful or big gun... but..."
"That doesn't make it any better or worse," Ace frowns, he gently runs a finger over the scar and you shiver, "sorry, did that hurt?"
"No, just sensitive," you shrug, "I only get pain when pressure is applied, like a dodge ball," you let out a quiet nervous chuckle and he gives you a small smile before leaning over you and pressing a very brief and gentle kiss on the scar. Your face flushes red and you wonder, considering how often that has happened today, maybe your face is going to end up that colour permanently. He then pulls you tightly against his chest, holding you as closely as he can,
"I promise you, I won't let anything like that ever happen to you again," he whispers with a serious tone, "I won't let anyone hurt you," you finally fully relax, feeling more at ease and safer than you have in years, believing his words completely. And for the first time in a very long time, you fall into a deep and undisturbed sleep.
