Title: Ace: King of Pirates
Genre: Hurt/ Comfort, Adventure, Friendship, Family, Romance
Pairing: ? X Ace
Summary: This is the story of Portgas D Ace and how, despite everything and even his own misgivings, he became the King of Pirates.
Or
Where being reborn as a fictional character from a favourite anime is not what fanfictions made it out to be. Mistakes are made… and some cannot be reversible. Instead of saving everyone and having a grand adventure like in those stories, you end up ruining the whole story by killing the most important characters.
Warnings: Slash (Yaoi, Boy X Boy…), Semi-Self Insert, Canon Divergence, Suicidal thoughts, No OC
Chapter Two
"He left the swords in his room," the marine said. "It's this way." The man indicated another corridor to the two pirates following him. Inwardly, he wondered how the situation had even come to this. There he was, a faithful marine, helping two young pirates getting around in their headquarters. However, he was the highest-ranking officer after the Captain and he would rather do it himself instead of dragging someone else in this. "It's in here," he opened the door to a bedroom full of pink, ruffles and perfume. He tried not to allow his eyes to linger; this room always made him want to either throw up or stare in stupefaction that such a room even was possible. On another thought, now they could actually burn this whole room down since no one was going to stop them. Besides, what a better way to get morale up?
The two pirates entered the room, both stopping for a moment to stare at all the pink, the self-proclaimed pirate Captain gawping at the ruffles, refusing to put another step forward, while the green-haired previous pirate hunter resolutely marched to the three swords waiting for him, a brief shudder being his only reaction.
"That looks like a Barbie doll room," the strange befuddled whisper came from the young Captain. The marine had no idea what the young man meant and honestly, he would not like to know either.
"Alright, done. Let's go," the swordsman came back to them determinedly without a backwards glance. Quickly, they closed the door behind them.
"Now," the marine quickly said before another comment could be made – and to distract them from the room they had left behind, though he would never say this aloud – "while we are all thankful to you for saving us from Captain Morgan's tyranny, I have to ask you to leave. Since you are pirates, I cannot look the other way but because of all you have done for us, I can at least allow you enough time for you to gather supplies to leave the island. But, please, do not ask more of me."
"That's alright," the young Captain grinned. "That's more than I expected anyway so thanks." With that, the two young pirates turned to make their way out of the building.
Well, he did not know who was more surprised: Zoro and he who stared half-surprised, half-amused at the young girl frozen in front of them, said girl who held the evidence of her crime in her hand or the marine who had been escorting them and stood there spluttering. You could almost hear crickets in the background.
And then, of course, the girl latched onto Ace's arm and let out in a loud simpering voice, "Boss! There you are! I've got the thing like you asked."
"What – You – She –!?"
Reacting quickly and not showing just how bewildered he actually was, Ace nonchalantly turned his head from the marine and continued to make his way out of the base.
"Oh, yeah, that's my crewmate, so… bye!" And then he bolted from there, dragging the girl with him since she was still clinging to his arm. Zoro followed with a snort, leaving the spluttering marine in the dust.
The three of them stopped when they were well outside the marine base, hidden by some surrounding trees. While the girl panted, leaning heaving with her hands on her knees, Ace took the time to really examine her. She seemed not that much younger than he was, with short orange hair and dressed in a simple white tee and blue mini shorts. His memories of Before were blurry at best by then but he could definitely recognise one who would have been his crewmate. Well, things were looking up!
"So, is she really your crewmate?" Zoro leaned against a nearby tree, crossing his arms in front of him. The man was clearly fatigued and yet he was not only still standing but also not hurrying to fulfil his body's basic needs.
Before Ace could even open his mouth to reply, the girl snapped forward towards him and shouted, "AS IF I'LL EVER BE A PIRATE!"
Zoro cringed and stuck a finger in his ear. "Oi! No need to shout. Beside you're the one who needed our help out!"
The girl huffed, crossing her arms indignantly.
"What was it that you took from there anyway?" Ace asked.
"None of your business," she snapped without pause.
"Fine, fine. It's not that I care anyway but maybe you could be more careful next time," Ace shrugged, lips pulling into a wry grin.
"I don't need to hear that from filthy pirates!"
"Alright, alright." Ace chanced a look at the girl. She was looking away from them, a scowl on her overwise pretty face and her hand clenching the paper she had apparently taken from the marines. Well, might as well… "Hey, want to join the crew?"
"Hah!? There's no way I'll ever join a pirate crew!"
"You want her on the crew?" Zoro raised an eyebrow at him.
"Sure!" Ace grinned. "Anyone with the guts to steal from marines would be a great addition to the crew."
"What in 'no way' do you not understand!?"
"Come on," Ace cajoled with a cheerful grin. "It'll be fun."
"I'd sooner die than become a low life like a pirate," she spat.
"You're one to talk, thief," Zoro drawled.
"Better a thief than pirate scum," she hissed back. "There's no way I'd ever be the kind of person to pillage innocent people!"
Ace blinked. "We're not that kind of pirate."
"Oh? And what kind of pirate are you, huh?"
"The kind that looks for adventure and treasure of course!"
The girl snorted derisively. "Like there's a difference. All pirates are the same."
Zoro sighed from where he was, closing his eyes as he slumped against the tree, "Clearly she doesn't want to join the crew. We should go. Didn't you say we'd go to the Grand Line?"
Ace frowned, his lower lip falling in an exaggerated pout. "But I want her on the crew…"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!? FIVE!?" Zoro shouted at him.
Neither saw as the girl looked down at the paper in her hand contemplatively and narrowed her eyes. She glanced at the two men in front of her and pursed her lips.
"Wait." At her voice, the two bickering males turned and blinked at her. "You two are strong, right? How about a deal instead?"
"HAH!?"
"Alright!" Ace grinned. "What kind of deal are you thinking about?"
"Seriously!?"
The girl narrowed her eyes at the grinning Ace, ignoring the exasperated Zoro. "You help me get something from a pirate crew and I'll help you get to the Grand Line. That's where you want to go, right?"
"Okay!"
"DON'T JUST AGREE THAT EASILY, DAMN IT!"
"So, what's your name anyway? And what are we getting and from who?"
A few hours later, the newly-formed small crew of three left the island, an exasperated Nami rubbing the bridge of her nose as she glanced at the tiny dinghy tied to her small boat. She could not believe she actually got herself stuck with those two idiots. Apparently, in all the excitement with getting Zoro and then getting said swordsman food before they had to run, Ace had forgotten that he no longer had navigation tools. Zoro on the other hand had never even owned any before despite having been sailing for a while. They were both lucky enough that Nami was a navigator and now she was left having to guide them.
She chanced another look at them. In the dinghy, Zoro was already sound asleep, his swords resting in his arms. Ace was sitting not far from him. He seemed to be writing in a small book. Neither seemed to be particularly threatening at that moment but she had seen them fight. Even with the little she had seen she knew that they were both dangerous men.
For better or for worse, she was stuck with them for the time being. The least she could do was make sure they had their uses.
Getting Zoro was easy. He felt uneasy, however, when Nami was concerned.
He had honestly not expected the orange-haired girl's vehement refusal to his proposal to join the crew. Nami seemed to really hate pirates and for the life of him he could not understand why. She had been part of his crew so she could not have hated them Then.
He gritted his teeth. For all he knew, he had done something else wrong and now the navigator was not going to join them. What was he supposed to do then?
At least the girl was sticking around for a while. He could only hope he would be able to convince her to join them permanently.
'What should I do… Luffy? …Sabo?'
One Week Before
Two figures stood at the helm of a ship, looking out towards the deep blue sea. They both wore heavy cloaks that concealed their identities and yet despite their mistrustful appearance they both also seemed comfortable in each other's presence. The taller of the two glanced at his companion, dark eyes undecipherable as they stared down at the only other person on deck. The smaller figure had his whole face shrouded in shadows and when the sunlight hit his face under the cowl, all that could be seen were dark grey eyes that glared at the horizon, the rest of his face hidden under a cloth face mask that hid everything from the nose down.
Looking back towards the sea, the taller of the two asked, "Are you sure about this?"
Through the face mask, the other tightened his jaw and gritted his teeth. Glaring harder at the sea, he replied, "yes."
"I see."
There was a moment of silence when none of the two said anything and all that could be heard were the waves hitting the ship.
Then, as if unable to remain silent, the shorter of the two asked, voice tight with tension and frustration, "why wouldn't you teach me –"
"No," the other interrupted the now familiar question. "You are not ready."
The other hit his fist on the rail. "According to you, I'm never ready! It's been ten years!"
"You are still not ready."
"When the hell will I be ready then!?" he hissed through gritted teeth, clenching his fists.
The other turned, staring at angry grey eyes before turning back to the sea. "Not now."
The other clicked his tongue. "Whatever. It's not like it matters anymore. I'll be out of your hands soon." He turned to walk away but was stopped when a hand griped his shoulder. He did not turn back around and instead glared ahead, waiting for what the other was going to say.
"Tomorrow we reach Dawn Island," the other started. "You won't have my backing anymore; as from tomorrow, it's all on you."
"I know," the smaller of the two replied still refusing to turn around.
There was another moment of silence before the taller man sighed. "Here." A small black leather book appeared in the other's line of vision as the taller man hung it in front of his face.
"What's that?" he asked, automatically reaching to take a hold of it. Leafing through it, he found that the pages were all blank. With a frown, he finally turned back to his companion and gazed up at the other with confused grey eyes.
His companion looked back at him before turning to look at the sea, towards where Dawn Island was supposed to be. "You said you were going to write your adventure, right?" When the other just blinked at him in surprise, he added, "You can use that."
The smaller of the two stared at him before looking back down at the small book in his hand. The book was not too big but it had a lot of pages, perfect to carry around while also having enough space for a lot of writing.
"Huh."
A day later, the same two cloaked figures could be seen moving through the darkness of the night as they climbed a hill on Dawn Island. They walked for a while in complete silence. They had left behind the crew that had accompanied them; a crew made up of only the most trustworthy people for this particular journey. Neither said anything even when they exited the forest and came across a cliff overlooking the sea.
The most prominent landmark in this particular place were the two small graves in the middle of the clearing. It had been years, ten in fact, since either had been there. And yet, there they were again.
The taller of the two stopped at the back, allowing respectfully for the other to walk up to kneel between the two graves. They were small, too small, but that was what was most tragic. The only markings to indicate the two graves were the two wooden crosses planted firmly in the ground. It had been years since they had been established but they remained untouched even after all this time. Weeds had started growing around but the graves were still distinguished among the wild plants.
The masked and cloaked figure knelt there for a moment before he took out something from his cloak. It was a bouquet filled with red hibiscus flowers, not the most common or recommended for the dead but he knew that neither he had come to see would mind. What mattered, after all, was what was in the heart. He put the bouquet between the two graves, fingering one of the petals before he stood up.
As he stood there, he could see the two wooden crosses ad beyond the deep blue sea opening up in front of him.
"I'm setting off now. Luffy. Sabo."
AN: I was going to have Coby in this chapter but when I was writing, I found that it did not... really fit? So instead I wrote this One Week Before bit. I would really want to know what you think. I'm so excited for this fic! Seriously
Anyway, leave behind your thoughts and tell me what you think!
Leight