Navy

"Why don't you just tell me why you have such a problem with Whitebeard?" Ace said. The young man was leaning against the side of the ship.

Cara, sprawled out beside him, sighed, her eyes remaining on the pristine sky. A few fluffy clouds hovered above them. A couple birds flew overhead, revealing some form of island was near.

They had been sailing together for three days now. And every single day, multiple times a day, the young man asked her that same question. "Will you stop asking that? It's none of your business."

"Just making conversation," Ace said. "We have plenty of time to get to know each other."

Cara propped up on her elbows and gave him a skeptical look. "Why bother?"

"Why not?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because once you dump me back on Sphinx you'll head back to your new crew and never think about or see me again."

Ace laughed. "That's not true. I guarantee I'll remember you for a very long time. Besides, Pops stops by Sphinx on occasion. I'll be able to see you then. I'm sure I'll be sailing with him at several points in time."

Cara snorted and laid back down. Despite the tension that remained between them things appeared to have settled down. Of course that was mostly due to the chain that bound them together. She lifted her arm and looked at the cuff on her wrist. So far Ace had kept his word about not peeking on her when she had to use the bathroom. Though it was still embarrassing to have him there and to have to hear him relieve himself. Despite that the worse had yet to come. She was going to need a shower soon. It has been days since she last had one. She was starting to smell herself. Her hair was greasy.

"I'm serious," Ace continued. "The rest of the crew will want to hear about this little adventure. Some of them even wanted to come."

"Why didn't anyone else come?" Cara asked, lowering her arm and turning her eyes to him. "Why only you? I figured if that old man sent one person it would be Marco. He's known me longer."

"Beats me." Ace shrugged. "All he told me was to get you and take you home. Even when I ask why the others couldn't come with me he said to just get to it and that there was no time to waste." He locked eyes with her. "Do you know why he was in such a rush?"

Cara looked back at the sky. She knew. Of course she knew. But she wasn't going to tell him. She couldn't. Well, she could, but she didn't really want to. No one was suppose to know. Very few people on Sphinx knew.

"Are you hiding something?"

"I'm not hiding anything." Cara could feel Ace's eyes watching her, studying her, for several minutes. He didn't ask anymore questions. Soon his eyes were off her. She stole a quick glance and found he was asleep. "Ugh! Really?!"

That was something she noticed rather quickly. Ace had a bizarre habit of falling asleep out of the blue. Because of that she came to the conclusion that when she put the sleeping potion in his food he naturally fell asleep. The potion didn't work on him at all. So in the end it didn't matter that Ace smashed the vile. But it did leave a few questions in her mind. Why didn't it work? Was it something about him? Sometimes people could fight against sleeping tonics, though it was rare. Or was it because of his devil fruit power? Did the fire inside of him burn the tonic up?

She had no way of knowing. So she forced it from her mind.

Turning her eyes back up to the sky, Cara watched the clouds shift and flow. Before she knew it her eyelids grew heavy and she started to drift off to sleep.

A sharp whistle jolted her awake. Before she could sit up something landed near the ship. Water came up over the side as the ship rocked. Another sharp whistle went off. Gunpowder filled the air.

"Oh great." Cara stood up. Looking behind them she spotted the navy ship coming towards them. She kicked Ace's leg. "Get up!"

Ace jumped. "Huh? What?"
"We're under attack by the navy." Cara pointed to the ship.

"Oh. Is that all?" Ace yawned and let his hat all over his eyes.

"What do you mean 'Is that all'?!" Cara grabbed his ear and pulled.

"Ouch! Hey!" Ace winced but did nothing to pull from her grip. "Let go!"

"No! This is your fault!"

"How is it my fault?!"

"How stupid can you possibly be?" Cara waved at the flag above them. "You've got a pirate flag hanging. If this is suppose to be a rescue mission then you shouldn't be flying that flag."

"I won't stop sailing with Whitebeard's mark." Ace frowned. He knocked her hand off his ear and stood.

Cara shook her head. "Your blind loyalty is going to get us killed."

"Really?" Ace flashed her a smile. "Is that was you think?"

"Well, duh!" Cara waved a hand towards the navy ship as more cannons were fired. "We're being chased by a navy battleship. And we're in a small ship." She shook the chain that attached them together. "And you're refusing to release me so you can fight them. Or are you going to release me so we can get away?"

"I'm not letting you go until we get you back home." Ace headed for the back of the ship. "Besides, I don't have to be free from you to take care of those jokers."

Cara rolled her eyes and followed.

Ace's fist flared up. Pulling back he thrust it forward. "Fire Fist!"

The flames shot out in a lot stream, engulfing the ship that was following them.

Cara stepped back, lifting an arm as if it would stop the heat from touching her skin. A gasp left her. She had seriously underestimated Ace's devil fruit power. As the fire died down she lowered her arm. Her eyes locked onto what use to be a navy battle ship. It was blazing with fire. Some marines were running around trying to put out the fire, a few were lowering life boats into the water, while a few others were jumping overboard.

Ace turned to her, his smirk still present. "Well?"

Cara's jaw bobbed. "How did... Why... That..."

"Impressive, huh?"

Cara shook her head to come back to her senses. "Wow. I'd like to lie and say no, but that was amazing. I can see why that old man wanted you on his crew."

Ace shrugged.

"I still think it's a bad idea to fly a pirate flag." Cara crossed her arms, bring Ace's hand dangerously close to her chest.

Ace laughed. "Well, I am a pirate."