Lucia's unfinished revenge
Lucia's POV
I wake up tired and rub my eyes lazily. Slowly I look out of the window and see that the sun has not yet risen. Oh no, it's much too early! Yawning, I lay my head back on Ace's chest. Tired, I close my eyes again, fully intending to sleep another round. Then I tear my eyes open, when I am actually already awake I can finally carry out my prank. Carefully I stand up and nudge Ace. He just snores and turns over. Grinning, I go to the cupboard and fetch my necessary utensils. I sneak into the bathroom and prepare the shower head there. Then I go to Ace and embellish him with permanent marker. I have to stifle a giggle. It's a good thing they were so drunk yesterday!
I go to the wardrobe and clear out all the clothes, except for my souvenir from the shopping trip. I pack the clothes in a bed sheet to take them out of the room. Quietly, I sneak out of the room to go to Marco's. Carefully I open the door and hear a loud snore. Grinning, I am pleased to see that the phoenix has also given himself the edge. "Marco?" I ask quietly, but again there is no answer. Silently I go to the commander's bathroom. At his place I prepare his towel and make a mess of the commander's wardrobe. I put all my things in the bed sheets here too and disappear. How good that I know that both commanders sleep naked, even if this is more information than I ever wanted to have.
Laughing suppressedly, I leave the room while Marco grumbles and turns over in bed. Ok now I have to hide the clothes of the two, not that they will get them back. Where would those two never look? I grin at the answer and walk further down the corridor. I knock quietly on the door of Whitebeard, who I know is always awake very early. By now the sun has risen and the corridors of the Moby are bathed in a warm light. "Come in!" I hear father's voice. I enter the room with my stolen goods and greet the old man. He looks at me with a smile. "What do you have there?" he asks me. "Spoils of war! Can I hide them with you?" I ask with a grin. Whitebeard, who can already guess who the victims are, nods with a laugh and is already looking forward to the spectacle. I chat a bit more with father and ask permission to visit my family. In between, the nurses come and look after Whitebeard. He wants to go on deck now, while I have something to do. I wake up the commanders and crew members and ask them to lock the doors, which they do with a grin. Now only Ace and Marco have to wake up.
Hungry, I go to the galley where the people I woke up are already. "What have you done?" Vista asks me curiously. "Wait it out and drink tea!" I say with a grin, stuffing my face with food. I can already tell that this pregnancy is going to be exhausting. I'm already eating double my actual portion and yet Mini D is still very small. "You'll get that back, you know?" Haruta asks me with a nasty grin. "Well firstly, you're looking forward to it already, secondly yes I know, thirdly I'm pregnant, the punishment can't be that bad, this is the perfect opportunity." I explain. "Ah well, Marco won't care, he'll think of something to get even with!" says Haruta laughing. "I know, that's why Ace and I are going to visit my family for now, but first his brother!" I say laughing. Haruta laughs and we finish breakfast. How long are these snoozers going to sleep? I'm getting impatient!
I am chatting with Haruta as we make our way onto the deck when suddenly a more than angry "LUCIA!" rings out through the ship. I grin, Marco has discovered my little mess. Haruta grins in amusement. She is about to say something when I tell her to be quiet. Actually, there should be something more! " PREGNANT OR NOT, I'M KILLING YOU!" uh he noticed the second part. Ace should actually start waking up too. Haruta looks around in wonder. " Technically, Marco should be chasing you now." she says, confused and amused. "He's still gathering courage, he'll come when he realises that the paint won't come off," I explain. "Paint?" asks Haruta. I nod with a grin. "LUCIA!" roars Ace's voice. "Hey Ace woke up!" I say laughing. Haruta giggles and says she will make sure the crew gathers on deck. I just nod with a grin. It won't be that hard to lure them on deck, I just have to get there before them, then they'll come all by themselves.
Narrator's POV
Whitebeard sits comfortably on his throne while all his children on board, slowly gather on deck. No one wants to miss the spectacle of whatever Lucia has done. Haruta has made sure everyone is here. "MARINE FORWARD!" one of his sons roars from the crow's nest. Whitebeard looks in that direction, his daughter has picked the right day, Ace must be getting a visitor! Ace storms out of the cabin, with some reluctance when he gets his hands on Lucia! At the same time, a door in the hallway slams open and Marco comes out. "WHAT DO YOU LOOK LIKE!" they both yell at the same time. Marco looks so stupid, well Ace doesn't look a bit better. "I'm going to kill your wife!" growls Marco and if Ace didn't know better, he'd be really scared for Lucia at the pitch of his voice. But as it is, he just growls back, "Get in line!" Marco just snorts and both commanders look around at the ship demon who has once again lived up to his name.
Speak of the devil! Lucia leans against a wall and tries to stifle a laugh. "You look like shit!" this little devil also yips. But she's also really right: Marco's face is yellow with black smeared stripes so that he really looks like a caricatured pineapple now, plus he's wearing pink pants with a white cute unicorn in the crotch and a rainbow on the butt. Even though Lucia can't see it at the moment. That's why Lucia has removed all the clothes from the room, they shouldn't have any other choice! Ace has it better for a civilian, but for a pirate who grew up under Garp's thumb, this is probably even worse than the unicorn. He's wearing a pair of blue and white boxer shorts with the marine logo on the butt and the slogan 'All for justice' embroidered on the front right leg. Besides, Ace is blue and white anyway, because Lucia, filled the colour into the shower head. Now smudged blue and white stripes adorn the fire fist. Lucia clings to the wall and laughs at the top of her lungs. Growling, the two commanders walk towards the demon!
Lucia's POV
Ok time to show off my handiwork to the rest of the crew! As angry as they are, they won't notice where I'm running to. I quickly run off laughing, which proves to be really difficult. Lucky that they are both so angry that they don't even think about teamwork and get in each other's way. Laughing and panting, I run along the corridors, hoping that Haruta has managed to get the others onto the deck. They mustn't miss this under any circumstances!
I push open the door to the deck as a, not serious, fireball hits above my head. "Ace, you're destroying the Moby!" I yell, panting, and run onto the deck. Now I'm in desperate need of shelter! I look at father, who is already eagerly watching the door. And really, the two commanders are so intent on the hunt that they miss where they are running. For a moment it is quiet on the Moby, then everyone bursts out laughing. Ace and Marco get red in the face and twitch their fists. Ok now bye and away! I look around for an escape route and recognise someone strange and yet familiar on the deck.
Garp is standing on deck, eyes wide open, looking stunned at the two pirates. Good for me! I run towards him and hide behind his broad back. Oh look, there are Corby and Hellmepo, both standing more or less trembling behind Garp. If they only knew how they were going to do! I wave at them and am stared at in bewilderment as I claw at Garp's coat. He turns his head in my direction and asks, "Who are you?" I smile at him and say, "Soon to be dead!" Garp turns his head back towards the two figures of laughter. "Your work?" he asks tonelessly. "Yup, can I actually ask the marines for asylum?" I ask him, laughing, and duck my head as Marco scowls at me. Ace, on the other hand, is pale, I think. Hard to tell under all that colour. "Lucia come here!" growls Marco at me, but I'm not stupid after all. I stay behind Garp, he won't hurt me and I'm safe from the angry pineapple. My comrades, on the other hand, continue to laugh at the fire fist and the phoenix. Oh, we're all so nice to each other!
"Lucia, get away from him, he's dangerous!" says Ace and holds out his hand to me. I'm sure it's for him, but I doubt Garp will hurt me, quite the opposite of Marco, who is already lurking in front of me. I crawl deeper behind Garp's back, who is probably overwhelmed by the whole situation. He tilts his head. "You decided to join the marines, after all, boy? A good decision," he finally says, nodding. I take back what I said, he's not overwhelmed, he's stupid. Ace's mouth drops open in disgust and I collapse in laughter behind Garp. The others can't stand on their feet laughing either. Garp scratches his cheek and wants to say something to Marco, but Marco beats him to it. "The little girl behind you is pregnant with Ace's baby!" boar, Marco, you comrade pig!
Garp's face turns red and I'm now sure Ace has gone pale. "ACE!" he yells and charges at Ace as he makes to get away. I roll on the floor laughing at this scene. Wait a minute! Shit, along with Garp, my shield has gone. I stop laughing and look towards Marco, who comes towards me grinning smugly. I snort, I just can't take him seriously like that! "Lucia, come here!" says Marco sweetly.
"What do you dream about at night?" I ask him laughing and crawling on my arms away from the approaching phoenix. "Of throwing you overboard, fortified with stones!" he says, smiling devilishly. I nod and say, "I even believe THAT!" he leaps towards me and I roll away. Stumbling, I get to my feet and run away from the phoenix, which immediately starts chasing me. Not one of them cares about the marines. They're only here so Garp can visit Ace anyway. Who is currently running away from his angry grandfather. "LUCIA THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" he yells over to me. I dodge Marco's gargling hand, what good is training, I've made real progress! Well Marco is definitely not happy about that right now, but what the hell! "THIS IS MARCO'S FAULT I SAID NOTHING!" I yell breathlessly over to Ace. He dodges his grandfather's fist, which leaves a hole in Moby. Poor Moby!
"IF YOU HADN'T ANNOYED MARCO, WE WOULDN'T HAVE THIS SITUATION!" roars Ace back at me. "IF YOU HADN'T KNOCKED ME UP, WE WOULDN'T HAVE THIS SITUATION EITHER!" I yell over. " IT TAKES TWO!" yells Ace at me from the other side of the ship. By now even father can barely contain himself from laughing. But it must also look too stupid. Ace and Marco in their masquerade, while Marco chases me and Garp chases Ace and we reproach each other. I'm running out of steam.
"Soon I'll have you!" says Marco behind me, confident of victory. Ok now, only sneakiness will do! I stumble and drop into the arms of a pirate while pretending to have a circulatory collapse. Cheers to my baby, he's given me the perfect excuse!
I am carefully lowered to the ground and I can already hear Ace yelling anxiously. I keep my eyes closed and do my best to look unconscious, actually Ace should understand that I'm not, but here I guess Ace's concern plays into my hands. "Marco what have you done?" he asks sourly. "Nothing!" Marco says seriously. Oh man, I'm going to have a guilty conscience! I feel father's worried look myself. Then I hear Garp's voice: "Circulatory collapse. That can happen to pregnant women! Put her legs up and get her something to drink!" Ace hisses at him, "How would you know!" a clonk sounds and Ace whines. Ace I love you but that headbutt was deserved!
I open my eyes fluttering not to worry the others further. Ace and Marco are bent over me worriedly and I really have to pull myself together not to laugh. Ace helps me to sit up carefully. "Are you okay?" he asks me, looking at me out of his dark eyes. I nod at him smiling and just don't dare open my mouth, I'd start laughing again right away. "The others are getting the doc," Ace tells me, stroking my head. Please don't, he'll only send me back to the infirmary for acting. Garp is standing a little further back and also looks at me worriedly. What the others don't see is the loving and proud look he gives Ace. He can say what he wants, he is proud of his grandchildren and loves them more than anything. "I'd better get going, otherwise Sengoku will just grumble again!" he says. Which makes me jump up. "Lucia!" Ace and Marco admonish me in unison. Great, two of a kind. I walk up to Garp and hug him. He is surprised and we both ignore the clamouring Ace. He returns the hug and I whisper something in his ear. He looks at me in surprise and then nods. I beam at him. He strokes my head and lets me go. Garp may be a marine but he's also Ace and Luffy's grandfather who only wanted the best for them. Ace is immediately behind me as Garp makes his way to his ship. I hope he makes it, Ace would be thrilled as hell!
"You Ace? We still have to tell your brother. We can go and see him after all!" I say. "How? We don't know where he is!" says Ace. "Yes we do!" I grin. Of course I know where Luffy is and that's where I sent Ace's surprise. He beams at me and pulls me along, "Let's go then! When Luffy finds out I'm going to be a father!" beams Ace at me. Promptly, Ace gets punched in the head. "You have to prepare for the journey, especially in Lucia's condition!" says Marco sternly. "Maybe you two should change as well," I say innocently and suddenly get a nasty look again. "We'll make a deal, I don't get punished and you get your clothes back!" clamouring and growling, the two agree, just wanting them out of the embarrassing clothes as quickly as possible.
"It's in Father's cabin!" I admit and already, no longer am I the one being looked at reproachfully. Father suddenly finds the flag on his mast highly interesting. He tries to hide his amused grin behind the bottle of sake, which doesn't work very well. I giggle softly and let the doctor, who has just arrived, examine me. But surprisingly, he gives the all-clear. Unfortunately, he finds out about Ace and my little trip and gives me a lot of good advice. I nod with rolling eyes and don't tell him where I'm going. No one would let me off the ship otherwise! I go to my cabin and start packing the bag. We're going to stay away for a while, after all, I've agreed with father that I'll go and visit my family straight afterwards.
Finally I pack the wrapped knife, the knife that started the whole journey. The knife that led me home. Here on the Moby, to Ace and the Whitebeard pirates. I don't know what fate is responsible for that, but I thank him for it. Sighing, I place my hand on my stomach. Another big hand comes over mine and I feel Ace standing behind me, still wet from the shower. "Thank you!" I hear him say. I don't need to ask what for.
Next chapter
Off to Luffy
... I try to disguise my laughter as a cough when I see Rayleigh's eyebrows twitch. He gives Ace a dark look that has as much effect as it did on Ace's father, which is none. Ace merely grins proudly. ...