Everything belongs to Oda, just borrowing it for fun.

I had to change some stuff of course, but I wish it still keeps the essence. Hope you like it!


Life was pretty unpredictable.

He didn't expected to meet her again, even less as a friend of his brother. But he was so excited to see her, his heart was racing.

Ace had met her a couple years earlier, when Whitebeard sent him to Alabasta.

After the proper introductions, they sat down to eat. Sanji, the cook of Luffy's crew, was really talented, he reminded him of Thatch.

Luffy's crew seemed nice, even if the redhead girl was a bit scary when the guys made her mad. They seemed trustworthy, his brother had a special talent to see the best in people, and he inspired loyalty. His dream was so ambitious he would need to surround himself with that kind of people.

Ace would've loved for him to join Whitebeard, but he knew it was a lost cause.

He was happy to spend some time with his brother, but he was dying to approach Vivi.

As they were finishing their meal, he remembered the first time they met.


He thought his father was punishing him by sending him to Alubarna, but the truth was he needed to spend some time apart, even if he didn't wanted to, and they both knew it.

At first, Ace grew tired of just looking at white everywhere. His place was quite nice and the wheather was no problem, he was used to heat.

He wondered why Whitebeard had a small house in the capital city of the desert kingdom, but he decided he didn't wanted to know. He went everyday to buy food, and he had a gecko for transport so he spent some time just riding along the city.

After a few days of fighting the boredom, he got used to a simple but comfortable routine.

It was one of those rare cloudy days, but still warm.

Ace went to the market. Cooking was becoming one of his hobbies, and eating something besides meat could be good for his health.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" he excused himself after bumping into a girl "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine" the girl answered "I'm Vivi" she introduced herself.

"I'm Ace" he said as he tipped his hat. The super-duck that was beside her caught his eye, Alabasta was famous for its renowed fast ducks.

"Nice to meet you, Ace" she smiled "This is Karoo" she petted her duck, Ace could've sworn the duck was analyzing him.

Underneath the veil she was wearing, he could see she had bright turquoise hair. She was Nefertari Vivi, the princess of Alabasta.

Many women complimented his manners, as he always tried to be nice and polite to everyone, but he had no idea how to deal with a princess who was humble enough to introduce herself to a stranger who bumped into her.

Ace always had pictured princesses as pampered mean girls. Not that he had met many princesses in his life, but she seemed quite down to earth, she had a sweet voice, and seemed to act nicely towards the shopkeepers.

It was weird to see a princess doing her own shopping, but then again, those were his own prejudices.

"Well..." she said as she mounted her duck "See you around!" he just waved goodbye at her, still speechless.

What the hell had happened? He stood in his place a while longer. People were looking at him like he was crazy, but he felt like a thunder had struck him.

After gathering everything he needed, he headed back home.


Ace decided to spend the night close to them, but not in the same spot. He knew the kind of threat he would eventually had to face and couldn't risk anyone, they had their own issues to deal with.

His gecko was deeply asleep and he couldn't help feeling envious about it, but he was just rolling in the sand, unable to keep his mind quiet.

He wanted to talk to Vivi, but wasn't able to seize enough courage to do it, and time was running out.

In her very own way of making things happen, she was the one who approached him.

"Hi" she said behind his back, her voice was unmistakable.

Ace turned back to see her, she seemed more mature, but still the same nice and pretty girl he met at the market.

"Hey..." he didn't know what to say, once again. She always made his mind go blank.

The princess sat down right beside him, with her hands crossed on her lap, as if she didn't knew what to do now that she was there.

For an instant, his mind was clear enough to know what to do. Ace hoped he had everything he needed. He liked traveling light, so no one could grasp the fact that he carried a little tea set, but it reminded him of better time so it was worth it.

After mixing all the herbs and spices, he heated the little cup with his finger. One of the many bright sides of being made of fire.

"Oh... I remember this one" she said with a smile as he handed her the warm cup "I always tried to explain the cooks in the palace how it tasted, but they never got it right"

"Well, your majesty" he said jokingly, he liked teasing her with royal titles and treating her as if she was already the queen "It's a secret, if I told you how to do it, I would lose my charm" she laughed as he sat down with a cup for himself.

They raised their cups and had a silent toast.

"You could never lose it" she sighed, Vivi was aware that they were borrowing moments from a life they couldn't share, but that didn't meant she wouldn't enjoy them.

In another life, maybe. If they were completely different persons, then they could actually fulfill the promise they made. They both knew it was symbolic.

As she was sleeping with her back towards him, he put his coat on top of her. The desert was freezing cold during the night, but he didn't needed to cover himself. Another good point about the Mera-Mera no mi.

He had to keep hunting Blackbeard, she had a rebellion to stop and a kindgom to save.

Ace knew it would be better to leave now, but he couldn't find the strenght to do so.