Chapter 8: Enter Ace and Sabo

It has been a couple of weeks since Shanks and his crew left. Shayla has been staying with Makino and was sometimes helping her in the bar, "Shayla can you clean table 3" the barmaid asked, "I'm on it, Makino". She was eating and sleeping here for free so, helping her from time to time was no problem.

After 3 hours of work, she was free to go and met up with Luffy. She found him not too far away and was trying to play with some kids. They were playing with each other and totally avoiding given the ball to the young boy, "Oi, let me play too" he said, "We don't want to play with you or your freaky powers" an older boy threw the ball in his face.

The whole situation annoyed Shayla. She has seen enough and went over to them, "If you think his powers are freaky then watch mine". She caught his feet into the earth and he fell backward, and she caught his hands too. She trapped the ground so hard that he was thrown into the ocean like a catapult. The stars in Luffy's eyes made her smirk.

The other kids she beat without her powers easily. There was no force to her kicks and soon they all got scared and ran home to their mommies, "Come, Luffy I'll play with you" she said and he smiled gratefully at her, "Thanks Shay". The girl's eyes widen before softening a bit. His nickname for her was the same as her family.

They played for some time, when Luffy suddenly stopped, "What's wrong sunshine," she asked, "Why don't the other kids like me" he asked sadly, "Because they are spoiled brats that don't know what a great boy you are." She went over to him, "I want to have friends" he complained.

"And you'll get friends that value you for who you are. Remember Luffy don't ever settle for less than what you deserve" she encouraged, and the boy gave her one of his heartwarming smiles, "mmhh" he nodded, and she ruffled his hair.

-x-

The two were having fun the next day when a marine ship arrived at the docks. It had a dog head figure and a man with a strong aura came towards them, "Shay run!" Luffy backed away and puff… he was gone.

The man didn't scare her, maybe he'd intimidated her a little. His aura reminded her of her father and Roger. A strong one. Who was he? "Oi girl, where did Luffy run of to," he asked with an annoying sigh, "Why did he run away like you were going to kill him," she asked feeling brave.

"He's my grandson. I would never kill him. I would just give him a workout" he explained and Shayla looked at him curiously, "Oi old man, can you show me how to do that". He looked confused, "Do what?" he asked, "Show me how to make people so afraid of you, that you very present scares them", she said with stars in her eyes, "Bwahahaha, you are a funny kid. Alright, I'll show you. Let's find Luffy first". They went to look for the missing boy.

Since Luffy was an idiot, he wasn't hard to find and hid behind a rock with his head exposed for the world to see. "Lesson no. 1: beat the person into a pup so many times until they can't help but be afraid." He said before charging at the small boy. Shay watched as Luffy's grandfather greeted him with a punch to his head and a big lump emerged as a result, "Wow this old man is crazy" she said with a smile. She loved it.

"Let's start your marine training, Luffy," his grandfather said, "I'm not going to be a marine. I wanna be a pirate." he declared proudly. Shayla sighed, 'Smart Luffy tell a marine that's not afraid to kill you, that you want to be a pirate'. "What was that?" the old man asked as a warning for him to change his answer.

"I'm going to be the pirate king. That's the promise we made when Shanks gave me this hat" Luffy replied not getting the ammo. This of course made the man angry, he took Luffy by the cheek and went straight to the mountains.

Suddenly the cheek started to stretch, and it surprised his grandfather, "Luffy, what's this" he didn't want to think, "I ate the Gum-Gum no mi. I'm a rubber human". Shay could feel some kind of power in his hand and she ran after the two.

"Hey old man, where are we going" he looked at her, "I'm taking Luffy up to an old friend to be a marine. You go back" but she ignored him, and the boy just bounced up and down, "As I said I'm going to become a pirate like Shanks". Shayla wasn't paying attention anymore and walked in her own thoughts.

Soon they came to an old house in the middle of the forest. Luffy's grandfather went up to the door and knock or maybe slammed would be the right word. Three men came out, one looking a little like a female, "Stop it. Whoever you are, do you want to get killed" he screamed and when the big one saw who it was, he panicked. "Garp-san". 'So, that's his name?' Shay smiled, "What a crappy looking dump" Luffy commented before running after a dragonfly.

She listened to their conversation for a little bit and heard there was a kid named Ace here. Interesting. Garp introduced Luffy and looked at her, "Who are you" he asked, "I'm Shayla" he stirred at her a couple of seconds more before going back to his conversation, "Take care of them, too". The people complained. Luffy and Shay walked around a bit when someone spat on him and the same person was about to spit on her too, "If you value your life you'll stop right there". But the boy didn't stop and did it anyway.

Shayla stopped it right before it hit her face and throw it back at him, but he dodged. The two starred at each other as if it was a competition. One doesn't want the other to win whatever it was.

"Oh, Ace. Luffy, Shayla this is Ace. He's 3 years older than you Luffy. You are going to stay with them" Garp said. The youngest boy was still trying to get an apology out of this Ace guy, but his grandpa punched him instead, "Try to get along". The bandits complained and with one look they agreed, "See that what I'm talking about, old man. I want it. What's lesson two" Shayla asked, "I'll tell you another time," he said before he left.

The boy on the bison walk past them and they all went into the hunt to eat, "It's time to eat, scum bags" the leader yelled and a giant bowl of meat was served to them. The meal was a battle in itself.

Shay ran over to the meat, but someone grabbed her arm to stop her, and she kicked him instead. She fought everyone that stood in her way and when she finally reached the plate, she stuffed her face with it. The others were too scared to face her, except Ace who just took six. Then Shay took two more and Ace did the same and it continued until everything was gone.

Luffy didn't get any and was eating a small bowl of rice, "I want one more, old man". Apparently, Shayla had misread something because she just found out that the bandit leader was a woman. Who would have thought? Dadan was her name and she tried to tell him stories to scare him, but it didn't work. Instead, he accepted everything she told him because when he grew up to be a pirate. He had to be able to help himself. Ace got up and went out, "Where is he going," the younger of two asked.

They both got up and went after him. When Ace noticed that they were following him, he kicked a tree down. Luffy ran back to avoid it but Shay jumped over it and continued after the boy again. She didn't help Luffy because she wasn't going to be here forever and as he said, he'll have to learn to take care of himself especially with his new home.

They came to a ravine with a bridge. Shayla admired nature and looked down as Luffy caught up and followed Ace on the bridge. But only to be hit by the older boy and he fell screaming. Shay tried to use her bending to catch him but was too late. Hopefully, he would be back soon anyway.

She followed Ace to see if he'd dare to do the same to her. The nerves when he tried to hit her too, but she blocked it with her forearm almost broke the pipe in the process, "Don't know what's your problem nor do I care. But this isn't the way to make us go away" There was no hint of joking in her voice. Ace looked annoyed before walked away. She doesn't really know why she kept running after him but there was something about him that felt familiar and she was determent to find out.

Shayla followed him to a big tree far into the forest. Ace was sitting with a blond kid and by the sound of it, probably counting their treasures. it sounded like they were talking, laughing, and having fun. 'So, there is this side of him, too' she thought and sat by the root of the tree.

They jumped down about 15 minutes later and were shocked to see she was sitting there, "Who are you and what are you doing here" the blond yelled, "Oh nothing much, just enjoying the day" she leaning back and closing her eyes.

The blond not liking the answer pointed his pipe at her, "Ace, would you kindly tell your friend to stop pointing that thing at me if he values his life." The boy laughed, though it was a joke but Ace didn't laugh and the blond stopped, "Like seriously?" he asked shocked, having a hard time believing it. Ace looked away embarrassed.

"Great, now that's out of the pictures; Hi, I'm Shayla. Let me be your friend" she smiled at them, "No way," they said at the same time.

Shay knew how to deal with boys, "What if I beat you both" she said, maybe they thought she was a dumb or spoiled rich girl. A way for them to understand how much stronger she was, was to kick their asses so badly that they can't do anything about it, tihi.

Shayla showed them her water bending by making some water circling her and attack them with ice she froze. After 5 shots they decided to split up 'smart' she smirked. Ace attacking her from the right and the blond kid attacking from the left, both of them having their pipes in their hands.

The girl let them both get closer until they could almost touch her. That was the moment she used her water and froze it around herself like a shield. When they both hit it, she moved her wrist, turned it into the water again before slammed them both to a tree, and freeze them there.

The two boys didn't understand how this girl could be so strong or why she wanted to be their friend. Ace knew she got along with Luffy quite well, then, "Why do you want to be our friend" he asked, "I have never had a friend my age and I want to see the real you behind that tough scale" Shay said in a teasing tone but was serious.

She saw how he reacted as if he didn't think it was worth it and she let them both go. She knew at some point Luffy would charm his way into their hearts as he had hers. Until that happens, she would have a little fun with them.

"What are you guys saving up for with all that treasure" she pointed to the branch and they looked shocked, "Relax, I don't want nor need your probably stolen money" which calmed them down. "We are saving up to be pirates," the blond said, "My father is a great pirate," she smiled, but she didn't notice their faces looking at her in disbelief.

"Ace's father is- oww why did you hit me" The blond screamed, "Learn to keep your mouth shut, Sabo" Ace said angrily. It was clear that there was something he didn't want her to know, at least yet.

It was like the duel never happen as the three ended up getting along quite well. They got hungry and decided to go fishing by a river nearby, yet somehow still making a little competition out of it. Shay took her feet into the water and stood there waiting.

Sabo and Ace took their pipes and beat the fish out of the river like it was a ball they were supposed to hit, "Oi, what are you doing?" Sabo asked after they both caught seven fish each. Shayla didn't say anything and took her foot forward and moved her arms in a circular motion.

After doing that four times eight small water bobbles with two fish in them each emerged from the water, "I win, boys" she was smirking at her two new friends. They didn't care about the fish anymore, "What's that power" Ace asked, "Which devil's fruit did you eat" Sabo asked a little smarter.

"Try and guess," she said while throwing the fish to the grass. "It might be the water devil's fruit" Sabo guessed, "That's an interesting guess. But if that was true how can I do this," she said and raised a hand before lit her fingertips on fire.

Shayla laughed at their funny faces and wished that she could draw them. It felt like forever since she last draw more like 12 years, but she has been here for about a month now.

Suddenly it clicked for her. She hasn't drawn anything because her book was back on the ship, "oh God oh God oh God" she panicked back and forth.

The two boys looked, "What's wrong" Ace asked. She couldn't tell the two she just beat that she was upset over a sketchbook. They would laugh at her for overreacting, "I lost something important to me and it's part of my dream" she was a little depressed now.

"What was it," Sabo asked concerned. "Nothing…" she said shyly and the topic was dropped.

By sunset, the three decided to go home meeting again in the morning. Ace and Shayla walked back together to the bandit's house, "Since your father is a pirate, is he a famous one?" he asked carefully, "Yeah. He's at the top" she smiling remembering her crew.

"Did he leave you here?" Ace asked again, "No. I fell over the rail at his ship and woke up in a village close by" Shayla said sadly. "Why don't you go back then?" he said before looking away. She smiled at him, "You already want to get rid of me? Just as I thought we've become friends" she joked and a blush appeared on his cheeks. "Don't worry, I'll be here a bit longer" she ruffing his hair playfully.

They soon came to the house, "Where's Luffy. I thought that he was with you," a tall man looking like a chicken asked, "I don't know," Ace said before the two walked past them. They had just delivered the bandits some food.

Luffy didn't come home that night.

The next morning Shayla felt someone trying to wake her up, "Oi Shayla, get up" it was Ace, "Leave me alone" she said and turning around. "Come on, we are going to catch breakfast and meet up with Sabo" he shook her again, but this time she looked at him with a dark aura, "Stop it" and almost breathed fire.

He didn't say anything else and walked out to meet with the blond kid. A few hours later she woke up and was looking for her friend but remembered the incident before. Shayla got up and went outside, "Hey, is Luffy back yet?" she asked one of the mountain bandits, "No. he didn't come back last night", She was a little disappointed. Maybe she should look for him but decided against it and ran into the forest to look for her friends.

She found them near a lake eating fish, "Did you save some for me?" she asked them, "Oh, we're almost done. But you can get the fishtail," Sabo threw it to her, and she looked at it like it was trash which for her it was. "No thanks," she threw it back to him and went to the river to catch her own food. Shay bent the water so she could walk at the bottom and felt someone following behind her,

"I'll keep it up and you guys will catch me breakfast," she said while swinging her arm around so they wouldn't get wet, "That's so cool. How are you doing this, again" Sabo cheered, "I'll tell you later if you catch me something good" the two took the challenge.

The boys just ate but they could still stuff themselves even more. Good, because she didn't want to be the only one with a big appetite, "What's this power you have, Shay" Sabo used is the same her family used to call her, and she smiled. "To be honest, I don't know much about it but it's the power to control the element, you know fire, earth, water, and air" she demonstrated, "It doesn't come from a devil's fruit. I got it after my mother died" remembering the memory. They wanted to ask more but could see it was a sore topic and dropped it altogether.

A week went by and the three grew even closer if it's even possible. And that night, Luffy was thrown into the room that the two older already shared. He had been chased by wolves at the bottom of the ravine and found his way back. Shay treated his wounds and let him sleep after. He was clearly tired.

The next morning, he was ready to chase the two again. Shayla didn't mind him coming, but Ace was against it for whatever reason. "Where are you going today, Ace" Luffy yelled after him

Shayla decided to stay for now and go after them later, so the two boys could try and get along. It was actually getting kind of annoying that they couldn't all be together, yet she could see that Ace was very slowly warming up to him. He followed him for in rain, wind, and in storms. No matter what, the two boys refused to give in to each other. Ace refused to let Luffy follow him and Luffy refused to give up and it went on for days, weeks, months.

"Can't you just let him come" Shayla was tired of it all, "No" was the only answer Ace gave before standing up to go out, "You're coming?" he asked when he saw she was still half-sleeping. "Go ahead. I'll be there later" she turned around, "You're doing that a lot lately" he responded, "The two of you are giving me a headache" he just hummed and went out. "Wait for me Ace" Luffy screamed following him yet again. Shayla just closed her eyes ready to fall asleep. Finally some quiet.

Shay woke up a few hours later and went over to the big tree they used to meet at, "What are you guys doing" she saw them putting their treasure into boxes, "We stole from Blue jam's crew and now they are after us. They almost found our hiding spot" Sabo told her. Shayla's eyes widen and helped them move it to a different place. She has never met this Blue jam before but she didn't want her two friend's money to be stolen when they worked so hard to get this far.

Deep into the forest they found another tree and thought this would do for now. Sabo went out not long ago for some reason and she turned to Ace, "How did they almost find it" she questioned, "Luffy was screaming and they followed the sound. We managed to hide but had to move it before they came back again" Ace explained, "So, where's Luffy?" he maybe ran away, "He got caught by them" Shayla looked at her friend trying to understand what he was just said, "What now?" she wasn't sure if she heard right.

"Ace, Shayla" Sabo called them, "Did they search our old place," Ace asked. Sabo looked shocked, "No, there's no way for them to know. He hasn't told them anything" the two boys panicked, "What? You actually meant it!" Shayla screamed and jumped down before running to their hideout. "Where's their hideout? You know what, never mind" she took her shoes off and slammed them into the ground. "The gray terminal," she said and ran towards it with the two boys followed behind her.

As she got closer, Shayla could hear Luffy's cries for help and it broke her heart, 'I'm coming sunshine' and broke the wall to the house.

She was faced with an ugly pale-skinned man and was wearing spike gloves. It had blood on it, and he stood in front of a badly hurt Luffy, "SHAYLA" he yelled. She was about to lose it when Ace and Sabo stopped her, "Shay, we'll handle this. You take care of him" referring to the young boy.

"I'm going to kill him" she was more focused on the older man, "He needs you more right now. Don't let this anger blind you" Sabo encouraged. She knew he was right, she let her judgment get clouded, "Alright" she nodded and went over to Luffy.

Shayla cut the robes with her wind and caught him before hitting the ground. "Ace, she got him, let's go" Sabo was about to run, "Go ahead. When I face an opponent, I won't run" he stubbornly said, the two friends were kind of already used to this.

Shayla let Luffy down and stood by Ace, "It's a habit you have to get rid of" she told him. Sabo came up to them too, "If I lose to kids, I might as well quit being a pirate" the man said, "Then we'll make you quit" the three attacking him.

After the battle, the four of them went over to a safe place to get their wounds checked. Shayla had a little experience with wounds as she sometimes used to help Marco and the nurses. Luffy was crying because he thought that he was going to die while she clearance and help him getting bandages on.

At some point, Ace got sick of his tears as he jumped down from the hill he was sitting on, " You're so annoying. Shut up! How long are you going to cry? I really hate weakling and crybabies" he screamed at the boy.

Luffy shut up right there surprising the three older, "Thank you… for saving me" he bowed as he was about to cry again, which made Ace angrier, but Sabo calmed him down, "Come on now, he's just thanking us".

There was something the older of the two black-hair didn't understand, "Anyways why didn't you tell them? Those guys would kill women and children without a second thought" the younger one's eyes were covered by a hat, "If I told them… I couldn't be your friend" Luffy said in a low voice.

"That's better than dying, right? Why do you want to be my friend that much anyway? After all those things I put you through, why did you still follow me out here?" Shayla smiled a little, it was his first step of opening up to him.

Luffy looked at him with sad eyes, "Because… because there's no one else. I can't go back to windmill village and I hate those mountain bandits… if I didn't follow you, I'd be all alone. Being alone is worse than getting hurt" Ace somehow soften at the younger boy's broken voice.

"What about your parents" he started, "I only have grandpa," Luffy said firmly. The next questions were what got her attention and it was like Ace was searching for acceptance from him when he asked, "Was it good that I was born?". He didn't seem convinced when Luffy yelled, "of course" and she could see a big scar on his heart.

Shayla didn't know what came over her when she hugged him, "Oi, what are you doing" he asked not expecting her to do that. "I'm sorry for whoever made you question yourself like that" she whispers in his ear and she could felt him tense.

It made the two others look at her confused not understand why the girl would do that, but they didn't say anything. Sabo then explained that Blue jam was after them for beating his subordinates and stealing his money. He would be done for if he was ever caught. Ace and Luffy agreed with him clearly not understanding why he was saying that.

Shay hit them over the head, "He wants to stay with us, idiots" she sighed at their stupidity, "Finally someone with a brain" the blond almost cheered. She went over to him, "Even if they aren't blood-related, they are very similar" they watch the two argue about something.

-x-

The next morning was kind of weird when Dadan stood before them and started screaming when she couldn't figure out who the new kid was. Shayla wasn't really listening to the conversation and tried to keep the noises out. But what she did hear was Sabo farting, not only once but twice and she blew him into the wall with her wind to clear the air in the process.

"Oi, what are you doing" the blond complained, "You are making the room toxic. It's disgusting" she turned around to go back to sleep.

The three boys were used to the girl's long sleep and just went ahead. When she woke up she was so hungry and went out to hunt with the boys. It was right about lunchtime when she found them fascinating by something, "What are you guys doing" she looked over Luffy's shoulder.

"Shay, see what we found, it's a beetle. We want it to fight this spider we found" the youngest showed it to her as a trophy. "Aaaaaah, get that thing away from me" she screamed quickly stepping back. "Is the great Shayla scared of insects" Sabo laughed as he took the spider from Luffy and walked over to her with it.

"No. No, stay away" she was literally shaking, and her voice broke a little. "Guys stop," Ace said when he noticed her sudden change, "But Ace she scared of this awesome beetle" Luffy had a hard time believing someone didn't think this was cool. "Look Shay, it's is amazing. Here hold it, you'll love it" the boy ran over to her with it but she didn't like it one bit so, she ran away. Sabo thought this would be the best time to get revenge from this morning and took the spider chasing her with it too.

It went on her about a minute when, "Stop it both of you, now" Ace scream at them and they froze in their track. He went over to his friends and realized that the girl kept running into the forest. "I'll go after her" leaving the two in regret for hurting their friend.

Ace found her a little far into the forest and she was laid her head to her knees. He could hear her sobbing and it hurt him. Why would it hurt so much, it never felt like this with the others. The raven-haired kneed down in front of her, "Go away, Ace" she said in a broken voice making it obvious that she had cried.

"Why. I didn't do anything" he wanted to help her. "I don't want anyone to see me like this, especially you" she lifted her head a little up so her eyes were visible.

"Me? Why is that," he asked curiously, "I- you probably think that I'm weak for crying over small animals" putting her face away again. Ace didn't like seeing the confident stranger he had grown to call a friend so sad. He grabbed her arms gently removing them from her face showing it for the world to see.

Even though her eyes were all red from tears, she still looked beautiful, "There is no way I think of you as weak. If anything, I think you're fierce for being able to show your emotions like that," while giving her a bright smile.

His words shocked her and she never expected he was capable of saying something so… right. "You really think that" she looked desperate and afraid he might change his mind. "Without a doubt" his eyes were telling her everything. "Thank you," she said while tears ran down her cheek.

"If you ever doubt yourself like that. I'll always be there to knock some senses into you" he teased, "Dummy that my line" she smirked, removing her tears with her bandana.